SUN 7-22-12 Indulged in some capers? / Their empire was the Land of the Four Quarters / 1% group / Pork-on-a-stick? / Copter's forerunner

Constructor: Brendan Emmett Quigley

Relative difficulty: Medium (= I had to Google, once)

THEME: "A.A. Meetings" — Theme answers are created by inserting two As into common phrases, creating wacky new phrases, clued by wacky questions.

 

Word of the Day: LARRUP (129A: Lick but good) —

Synonyms: bang, bash, bat, beat, belt, biff, bop, box, buffet, bust, chop, clap, , clout, crack, cuff, dab, douse [British], fillip, hack, haymaker, hit, hook, knock, blow [dialect], lash, lick, pelt, pick, plump, poke, pound, punch, rap, slam, slap, slug, smack, smash, sock, spank, stinger, stripe, stroke, swat, swipe, switch, thud, thump, thwack, wallop, welt, whack, wham, whop (also whap). (merriam-webster.com)

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Hello Puzzle People! Once again I am Pam, in Seattle, subbing for Rex, who is still in New Zealand. It's starting to feel like we haven't seen him IN AGES (115A: For years on end).

The prolific B.E.Q. provides a solid Sunday puzzle, just right in terms of difficulty, with a spattering of fresh cluing and much chortle-worthy wordplay. My one disappointment is that the theme answers aren't, as the title suggests, about people getting sober. Or are they?

Theme answers:

• 23A: Like the winner of the Miss Influenza Pageant? (SICK AND TIARAED) AA members talk about "being sick and tired of being sick and tired."
• 36A: "I can see Mexico's southernmost state from this ship!"? (CHIAPAS AHOY) Newly sober people do eat a lot of cookies.
• 123A: Far Easterners signed to a St. Louis baseball team? (CARDINAL ASIANS) One of the twelve steps requires AA members to atone for their bad behavior.
• 56D: Answer to "Did you see which Greek goddess walked by?"? (THAT WAS ATHENA) "That was then" could be an AA slogan.
• 17D: Dos Equis-filled item at a birthday party? (PINATA OF BEER) and 63D Filthy kid's laconic question? (BATHTUB AGAIN) Aha!

But also:

• 105A: Funding for a Spanish seafood dish? (PAELLA GRANT)
• 14D: Steam bath enjoyed just before bedtime? (MIDNIGHT SAUNA)
• 46D: Pork-on-a-stick? (PIG SATAY)
• 52D: Scent coming from a Netflix envelope? (DVD AROMA)

The detailed cluing helped me fill in a lot of partial theme answers (Chiapas, Cardinal, pinata, DVD) which made finishing the puzzle easier than it might have been, given some of the more obscure fill. There was a lot of "you know it or you don't," from GROH (34D: "Rhoda" co-star David) and HAIM (2D: Onetime teen idol Corey), which I did, to VYE (104D: Eustacia ___, "The Return of the Native" woman) and TANAKA (6D: Tomoyuki ___, creator of Godzilla), which I didn't. But the YKIOYDs are well scattered, with reasonable crosses, so I never got Naticked.

Another highlight was the fresh cluing for familiar fill, such as SENECA (130A: Philosopher forced by Nero to commit suicide), MR. T (76A: Entertainer with a Mandinka warrior haircut), and NIKON (102A: Company with the slogan "At the heart of the image"). The grand prize goes to the decidedly non-Jabberwockian clue for TWAS: "___ like a Maelstrom, with a notch" (Emily Dickinson poem) (99A). B.E.Q. earned his $$ there.

Bullets:

• 21A: Sexual drive (THE URGE) - I wasn't expecting a "the" phrase. I had "th" and was looking for something Greek like "thanatos." And is "the urge" confined to sex? I feel like I've heard it used more broadly, re eating ice cream, buying shoes. stuff like that.
• There's another "the" at 54A: Rate setter, informally (THE FED). Not sure how I feel about this trend.
• To me, a HIBACHI (61A: Literally, "fire bowl") is a non-bowlish miniature grill popular with apartment dwellers. But Wikipedia set me straight. It's a fun word and I was happy to see it here.
• 67A: ___ dish (SOAP) - I'm a fairly slow solver because once I enter an answer I'm reluctant to change it. Here, I stuck with "side" for way too long.
• 120A: Game whose lowest card is the 7 (ECARTE). Can we please call a moratorium on olde card games?
• 39D: Hyundai model (AZERA) - I rent a lot of cars but don't know this one. It sounds vaguely Middle Eastern (not that there's anything wrong with that).
• 68D: Some  Facebook friend requests (PENDING) - Lovely clue that stumped me as I was thinking "old flames" or "co-workers."
• 117D: Copter's forerunner (GIRO) - This is the one I had to Google. I was stuck in that corner; EARN (118D: Make) and SNUG (119D: Tight) were clued too generally for me, IN AGES (115A: For years on end) and SPONGY (132A: Like mushroom heads) just weren't coming, and I've never heard of LARRUP (129A: Lick but good). GIRO gave me enough traction to figure out the rest.

Happy Sunday,
Pam de Puzzler

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Jump accompanier? / SUN 7-8-12 / Actor Alain / Where "it's fun to stay" in a 1978 hit / Words heard at a birthday party

Constructor: Joel Fagliano

Relative difficulty: Easy (= I didn't need to cheat)

THEME: "Make the Change" — Theme answers are homophones of common phrases in which the prefix "de" substitutes for "the," making you sound like a Damon Runyon character when you say them aloud. Fun! (I don't get the title, though; someone please explain it in the comments.)

Word of the Day: TIRANE (18A: Capital city formerly behind the Iron Curtain)

Tirana (indefinite form in Albanian: Tiranë; in the regional sub-dialect of Gheg Albanian: Tirona) is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania’s capital city in 1920 and has a population of 400,000, with metro area population of 763,634. The city is host to public institutions and private universities, and is the center of the political, economical, and cultural life of the country. (Wikipedia)

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Hello Puzzle People! I am PAM (11A: "The Office" woman), subbing for Rex, who is in New Zealand. I am in Seattle, where it is not currently raining. You should visit. We have a new Ferris wheel, plus King Tut, and even a YMCA (26A: Where it's fun to stay, in a 1978 hit).

Although it was easyish, I slogged through this puzzle. For every gimme like AL QAEDA (95D: War on terror target) there was a stumper (at least to my sun-addled brain) like TSARS (86D: Old Russian line), which I wanted to be transportation-related. I don't blame Fagliano - the clues and fill were (mostly) fair - I just couldn't get on his wavelength. I enjoyed the theme answers, though, some of which made me LOL. 

Theme answers:

• 22A: So happy you can't see straight? (BLINDED BY DELIGHT)
• 34A: Argument about a fork-tailed bird? (SWALLOW DEBATE)
• 50A: Circle above the airport? (PUT OFF DESCENT) - I prefer DESCENT OF A WOMAN, which would be fun to clue. (Hey lady, go write your own crossword! OK OK.)
• 70A: Making one's way down the corporate ladder? (GOING THROUGH DEMOTIONS)
• 88A: Breed hatred in? (TEACH TO DETEST) - My favorite; I am picturing Harry the Horse in a roundtable discussion on education reform.
• 110A: Woman who's the very best at saying no? (QUEEN OF DENIAL)
• 122A: Really enjoy giving specifics? (LIVE TO TELL DETAIL)

Bullets:

• 49A: Bear's cry (SELL) — Got stuck here, as I thought this was going to be a sports thing ...
• 129A: Get ready for a bomb, say (GO DEEP) — ... but this was the sports thing. All I could think of was "duck and cover."
• 77A and 67A: "That's not true!" (YOU LIE)  — These two-part answers annoy me, especially when they're in the wrong order. There oughta be a law. YUP.
• 101A: Canterbury can (LOO) — Cute. I was thinking Middle English/Chaucer.
• 13D: Hair line? (MOHAWK) — I suppose. SNORT.
• 16D: Some are mean (STREETS)  and 90D: Words heard at a birthday party (OPEN IT) —  Couldn't get either of these but loved 'em once I did.
• 93D: Jump accompanier? (GERONIMO) — Fresh and funny.
• 103D: Combines (POOLS) — One of my many erasures. I had "pairs."
• 104D: One of the five Olympic rings (AFRICA) — I am mortified to admit I have no idea what the rings symbolize. I am guessing they are continents?
• 113D: Traffic Crossing ___ Bridge (Pioneering 1888 film footage) (LEEDS)  — Yes, it's on YouTube!

Happy Sunday,
Pam de Puzzler

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