Sun., 12/14 Paul Hunsberger

[magus]

THEME:   Familiar expressions applied to inventors (rather inventive, I'd say)
   
GOOD ONES:    
In inventing his elevator, Otis __   ROSE TO THE OCCASION   
… joybuzzer…   SHOCKED EVERYONE   
… modern toilet…   FLUSHED WITH PRIDE   
…modern engine…   BLEW OFF SOME STEAM      
Concert finish?   INA   
Helper with a hunch   IGOR [movie character hunchback]   
Burgundy bud   AMI [the country not the grapevine]   
Buck back?   AROO [not the verb or deer]   
Holders of glasses   NOSES   
Tut relatives   TSKS [not the king]   
   
BTW:   
Square on a game square   TILE [only if the game is in 2D]   
   
Not allowed   A NO-NO [when I did these things, an indefinite article in front of a noun was a no-no.  But "a no-no" substitutes perfectly for "Not allowed" as in "That's a no-no."]   
   
Portugese pronoun  ELA [right, and never used in English]   
   
   
RATING:   
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

I was baffled by the clue "Alternative to 10" in the New York Times crossword. The answer turned out to be OCT. When writing a date, I can use "10" as a substitute for "October"...but "October" is not a substitute for "10."

Merl Reagle's crossword in today's Los Angeles Times is titled "It's Always Christmas In L.A.: Among the answers: SANTAMONICA, HOLLYWOOD, TINSELTOWN, WRAPPARTY and THECITYOFANGELS.

A Merl Reagle crossword also appears in the February 2015 issue of Mad magazine. Yes, really! Mad reproduced the completed "Mad Movie Mania" puzzle which included the titles of several movie parodies that have appeared in the magazine. The editor said, "An idea that dumb is right at home in the pages of Mad!"

[Thomps2525]

Jeff Chen's puzzle in today's Daily News is titled "Holdup Man" and includes SUPPORTINGACTOR, PILLAROFSTRENGTH, WEIGHTOFTHEWORLD, HEAVYDUTY, SHOULDERTHELOAD and other phrases that hint at the name of ATLAS. As a further hint, the center of the puzzle is round---or as round as it can be, considering that the shape is surrounded by black squares and rectangles.

Many people have the misconception that Atlas supported the earth. In classical mythology, Atlas was condemned to support the sky on his shoulders. Early sculptures and paintings depicted him supporting the "celestial sphere" in which all the planets move. Of course Atlas did not really exist---he was only a myth. But when we say that he supported the sky and not the earth, we at least perpetuate a correct myth.