Joseph Knecht

  MISMATCHED MALAPROPS Constructor Tim D'Alfonso is back for his 4th appearance in the LA Times, his first being about 2 years ago and like today's puzzle it was just in time for Summer . Like our frequent contributor from Norfolk , I don't think speling is one of Tim's strong suits, as he leads off with 3 punny themers with mismatched homophones for the IPA pronunciation of raɪt (the International Phonetic Alphabet that is, not the ALE ):  17A. Formal induction ceremony for a league of pickpockets?: SWIPING RITE .  As a leftie who can't tell my right from my left, I stay away from social media because I never know who I might accidentally pick up. 27. Bicycles and aviation, notably?: THE WRIGHT STUFF .  The Wright Brothers were the first to fly a heavier than air craft on 12/17/1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.  Historian David McCullough has pointed out that every time they flew they were risking th...

Today Tim D'Alfonso makes his LA Times Crossword puzzle debut just as the Summer season approaches, and he greets us with a real scorcher ... "Bad Girls" is one of the twists on today's theme that Tim doesn't broach, but here are the ones he does ...   18A. Author's dream: BEST SELLER .  This dream was answered for these authors . For another author, see themer 67A below. 26A. It's rated 10+ on the Scoville Scale: GHOST PEPPER .  Don't let Tim's rating fool you.  According to " Cayenne Diane " the Ghost Pepper is actually rated at 1,041,427 SHU's ( Scoville Heat Units ).  The nursery I bought plants at today was carrying some,  but after reading this , I passed them by ... 56A. Haul, in a bad way: STOLEN GOODS .   67A. "Fifty Shades of Grey," for one: EROTIC FILM .  In the obscenity case of Jacobellis v. Ohio (1964 ) Supreme Court Justice William Brennan, writing for the Court, said that for the material to be obscene, i...