L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Friday, September 2, 2011 Pancho Harrison

2011-09-02T02:30:00.007-05:00

Theme: These PUNS really raised my IRE. Each phrase is a sound alike of a common phrase with a word rhyming with the "IRE" replaced with a homonym. Really very clever, with the first three in the first word and the remaining two changing the second word. I have a soft spot for Mr. Harrison as he was our first LA Times constructor when the change was made, and his interview warned of his interest in music and puns, both of which make this a Friday delight. Lemonade back again, and found this a real treat, inspiring many musical links (remember, you do not have to click all of them, just the ones you want) and some fun stuff. let us see where we go. Oh Pancho!

17A. Sign some new sluggers? : HIRE POWER. HIGHER Power, like a deity, unlike the Indians getting Jim Thome back from the Twins.

24A. Henna and such? : DYER NEEDS. DIRE Needs. Henna makes hair red for you boys.

40A. Stand-up gig for Richard?: PRYOR ENGAGEMENT. PRIOR Engagement. My favorite pun in the puzzle, not just because of the wit of this COMEDIAN (please do not link if you are offended by profanity) but the humor within humor is appealing.

50A. Instrument in need of cleaning?: DIRTY LYRE. Dirty LIAR. Ok, I lied, this is my favorite.

64A. Augustine, for one?: DEEP FRIAR. Deep FRYER. Another witty pun with the deep thinking St. Augustine compared to a turkey fryer.

ACROSS:

1. Some rentals, in ads: APTS.

5. "Gimme just __": A SEC. Really, what can you do in a second?

9. Chew the scenery: EMOTE, ham it up so to speak.

14. Aquatic bird: COOT. In the rail family, strictly by perps for me.

15. Rowlands of "Gloria": GENA, a fine actress who appeared in this odd mob MOVIE.

16. Deteriorate: DECAY.

19. Word with time and space: WASTE. No need to comment, it would be a....

20. __ nous: ENTRE. French lesson: Between Us.

21. Like some nests: EMPTY. My boys have been gone for 4 years.

23. Wartime submachine guns: STENS. The British weapon along with the BREN; crosswordese. Why is it "SUB" machine?

29. Giant legend: OTT. By far the most famous baseball player in puzzledom and two time home run king of the National League.

31. Nagpur native: INDIAN. Really? Seemed too easy.

32. Granola grain: OAT.

35. 1805 Vienna premiere: EROICA; originally Beethoven's Third Symphony was written as a tribute to Napoleon Bonaparte, but the name was changed when Napoleon like Julius Caesar before him, declared himself Emperor.

39. Lambs: Lat.: AGNI. We are more used to the single "lamb" in AGNUS DEI.

43. Old wrap: TOGA. Gee, speaking of Caesar...

44. Original Speed Stick maker: MENNEN. Does someone else make it now?

45. Children's author Asquith: ROS; this was my obscure clue of the day, but it Friday and the perps were there, so I pass. Apparently a cartoonist as well, in England. Nice Cuppa?

46. Composer/violinist who taught Menuhin: ENESCO, luckily Devin studied Violin for a few years so I know this name and Yehudi.

48. U.S. Army E-5: SGT.

54. Sci-fi character whose first name, Nyota, was first revealed in film in 2009: UHURA.

58. Did a little courting: COOED. Don't you all love puzzles that have COOT and COOED both?

59. Like some denim jackets: LINED. For you of the Northern persuasion.

60. Flop with fins: EDSEL. Fond childhood Memory.

66. Best Actress nominee for "Ordinary People": MOORE. Put this MOVIE on your Netflix, I forgot how good it was.

67. Miss Megley's charge, in a Salinger story: ESME. With Love and Squalor, JD stood for Jerome David.

68. Lavish affection DOTE. Lavish the verb, not the adjective.

69. 1830s revolution site: TEXAS.

70. Grand jeté, e.g.: LEAP. A particular ballet move.

71. Go bananas: SNAP. Did you hear about Beyonce's sister, the inflatable banana and the switchblade?

relax, it is time to go:

DOWN:

1. More than twinges: ACHES.

2. Salient feature: POINT. You catch my drift?

3. High-calorie cake: TORTE. Which I guess brings us to Marie Antoinette to complete the Napoleon reference. Not to be confused with TORT, a civil wrong.

4. Jellied fuel: STERNO. Got me through Hurricane Wilma.

5. Past word: AGO.

6. Hemmed but didn't haw: SEWED. Really cute.

7. Ones not with you: ENEMY. If you ain't for me, your agin me.

8. __ diem: CARPE; Latin, Seize the Day.

9. He voiced Disney's Mad Hatter: ED WYNN; his voice helped make the Disney ALICE so special.

10. Drop-line link: ME A , not MEA Culpa.

11. Mil. training site: OCS. Officer Candidate School.

12. Ink spots, briefly?: TAT. Tattoo. Another clever clue.

13. Center: EYE How appropriate, the center of the storm in hurricanes. (and a nice personal reference).

18. Bedevil: PESTER. My fan club.

22. "M*A*S*H" procedures: TRIAGES, the initial exam to see who needs what.

25. Queso relleno cheese: EDAM; Queso means cheese in Spanish.

26. Peak in an Eastwood film: EIGER. THe peak in the Alps where Clint's CHARACTER had to perform his last SANCTION (assassination) in the eponymous movie.

27. Chin Ho co-worker, in a TV cop show: DANNO, now played by Scott Caan, son of James. Book 'em.

28. Miffed states: SNITS. Is this a word which applies only to females?

30. Vibrating effect: TREMOLO, more music. I defer to JzB for detail.

32. Made a choice: OPTED, yes, I opted not to discuss tremolo.

33. Product suffix created in San Francisco in 195: A-RONI a San Fransisco treat (try and keep that jingle out of your head).

34. Blake title feline: TYGER . A nice poem, you think CA?

36. "A Chorus Line" song: ONE

37. Starter: Abbr.: IGN, IGNITION. Meh.

38. Axe: CAN; Cleopatra records are going to re-release all of the AXE albums; yipee.

41. Hops drier: OAST. The now familiar brewing reference.

42. Swallow up: ENGULF.

47. Economic series: CYCLES, is it a cycle or a roller coaster off the tracks?

49. Bs in the key of G, e.g.: THIRDS, more music, need more help.

51. Sing "The Lonely Goatherd," say: YODEL performed by some favorites.

52. Entrepreneur inspired by Hershey: REESE, Peanut Butter Cup?

53. Fluid buildup: EDEMA, don't you love a puzzle that has EDAM and EDEMA?

55. U.S.S.R. part: UNION.

56. Gaucho's rope: REATA.

57. One concerned with the spot market? AD REP, cute advertising spots, not commodity prices.

60. 911 respondent: EMT, Emergency Medical Technician, well not too many Acronyms this week.

61. Female rabbit: DOE, who knew?

62. Chi-Town team: SOX, Nellie Fox was my childhood hero.

63. Historical span: ERA, also clothes washing product and an amendment that didn't.

65. __ rally: PEP, just in time, as I have run out of mine. Great long holiday weekend all, be careful and no more white pants or belts.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Thursday September 1, 2011 Steve Salitan

2011-09-01T05:30:00.003-05:00

Theme: ROUNDS (64A. Clue for this puzzle's four longest answers) - Theme entries are four definitions of ROUNDS.

17A. See 64-Across : AMMUNITION UNITS

24A. See 64-Across : SPARRING PERIODS

42A. See 64-Across : TOURNAMENT PARTS

56A. See 64-Across : TRAYFULS OF BEERS

Boomer here. Good Morning and Happy September Fool's Day to all.

I found this puzzle difficult and also tough to cheat. After all, you cannot Google "See 64 Across" and get any help from the techno know-it-all. We had to rely on the Downers a lot. But once we got it figured out, I am thinking Trayfuls of beer is not correct. Traysful of beer seems better, but if it's truly a round, there better be a Manhattan for me on one of the trays. I don't like beer.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend. Why do they call it Labor Day and then give 90 per cent of the population the day off work??

Across:

1. "Close!" : ALMOST

7. Cartoon monkey : ABU - From Disney's "Aladdin"

10. __ bonding : MALE

14. Create trouble : CAUSE A STIR - Highlight of the puzzle.

16. Mount near Olympus : OSSA

19. Marx's "__ Kapital" : DAS

20. Smallish quarrel : SPAT - I had to read the clue twice. I was trying to think of a small squirrel.

21. With attitude : SASSY

22. It may be painted : TOE - Yeah, ladies polish their toe nails, but I could think of a thousand better clues for TOE

23. NASA moon lander : LEM - Acronym for Lunar Excursion Module

33. "Alfred" composer, 1740 : ARNE - Thomas Arne, a British Composer

34. Study fields : AREAS

35. Something golfers often break : TEE - I first wrote in "PAR". I never break a tee. (I never break PAR either.)

36. Martial arts facility : DOJO - This is a Japanese name. In the US it's called a Chuck Norris Movie.

37. Molasses-like : THICK - Okay, but I'd rather have a chocolate malt.

38. LaBeouf of "Transformers" films : SHIA - Shia Saide LaBeouf. You had to know this. I didn't. I suppose it would have helped if I saw the movie.

39. Latin 101 word : AMO - "I Love." I learned this in Brother Albert's Class. Amo, Amas, Amat, I love, you love, he loves - but nobody loved Latin class.

40. Drummer in Goodman's band : KRUPA - Gene Krupa, a very famous percussionist. My Mom listened to Benny Goodman. I was more of a Ringo Starr fan.

41. Crammer's concern : TEST

46. Quite a while : EON

47. Unsafe? : OUT - I had to think awhile to realize this was a baseball reference. I never heard an umpire holler "Unsafe".

48. It's sometimes shaved : SCALP - Again, it didn't hit me right away, even from a Jesse Ventura state.

51. Smith's item : SHOE - Making it tough - they could have maybe said "Blacksmith"

53. Contend : VIE

60. "__Cop": 1987 film : ROBO - Beverly Hills didn't fit

61. Plant-based weight loss regimen : HERBAL DIET - One of many

62. Former cygnet : SWAN - Well known in Hans Christian Anderson's "The Ugly Cygnet"

63. Scale notes : FAS

Down:

1. Riding sch., e.g. : ACAD

2. Dharma teacher : LAMA

3. Rose Parade flowers : MUMS - Mostly roses are featured, but I suppose there are a few mums.

4. Home of the Woody Hayes Athletic Ctr. : OSU - Ohio State - Woody is the only coach I ever knew who actually went on the field during a play and tripped or tackled an opposing player who was running for a touchdown. A colorful and ultra successful coach.

5. Electric eye, e.g. : SENSOR - Speaking of football, a tight end Joe Sensor played a number of years for the Vikings. Now he has a few restaurants in town.

6. Capital SSW of Seoul : TAIPEI - In Taiwan. I think we called it Formosa when I was a kid.

7. Going head to head : AT IT

8. Vita : BIO -Curriculum Vitae?

9. Spigoted vessel : URN - Well a coffee urn has a spigot, but I also know of others that do not.

10. Parisian words of friendship : MON AMI - I had only one year of French, my friend.

11. Sale caveat : AS IS

12. WWII transports : LSTS - LST is an acronym for Landing Ship, Tank

13. Lenient : EASY

15. Short stop? : STA (Short for Station)

18. Windows openers : USERS - this would be for Microsoft Windows. Another window opener could be a rock.

22. Palm in one's palm? : TREO - Some kind of Smart Phone. Please put them away when driving.

23. Reporter's source : LEAK - Deep Throat Mark Felt was the most famous

24. Co-Nobelist with Begin in 1978 : SADAT - Anwar tried for peace in the Middle East, like those before and after.

25. Teaser : PROMO - Way too many on TV these days

26. One variety of it remains green when ripe : ANJOU - I was thinking of a grape. When you pare a pair of pears, it's hard to tell the difference.

27. Book after Micah : NAHUM - One of the twelve prophets

28. Kvetch : GRIPE - I guess I've been kvetching about some of the clues in this puzzle.

29. Hard nut to crack : PECAN - Actually, pecans have an easy to crack thin shell, but hard to harvest the nut in two pieces.

30. Questionnaire catchall : OTHER

31. Certain believer : DEIST - A religious belief. I stay away from religion and politics.

32. Election prizes : SEATS

37. Air__: Southwest subsidiary : TRAN

38. BA or HR : STAT - Baseball leads all sports in stats.

40. Titan of publishing : KNOPF - Alfred Knopf founded his publishing house in 1915, It was acquired by Random House in 1960.

43. Put trust in : RELY ON

44. Where distasteful humor often goes : TOO FAR - But may be okay on September Fool's Day.

45. Hopi home : PUEBLO

48. Violas, cellos, etc.: Abbr. : STRS (Strings)

49. Bad thing to eat : CROW - I wonder if anyone has ever really eaten crow. Does it taste like chicken?? Colonel Sanders Kentucky Fried Crow.

50. "Rubáiyát" rhyme scheme : AABA. Whatever.

51. Georgia and Latvia, once: Abbr. : SSRS - Once a Soviet Social Republic

52. Fireplace shelf : HOB - I thought the hobs were the side pieces that hold the grate. Shelf seems a bit misleading.

53. Gold source : VEIN

54. Really ticked : IRED

55. Some attendance figs. : ESTS (Estimates)

57. TV dial letters : UHF (Ultra High Frequency). LOAITP - (Lots of acronyms in this puzzle)

58. Herd dining area : LEA

59. Prof's address letters : EDU

Answer grid.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

Here is a photo of baby Boomer. I just couldn't remove the right camera light on his left leg. (Added later: Photo fixed. Thanks to Kazie and Fermatprime.)

Wednesday, August 31 2011, Gareth Bain

2011-08-31T05:30:00.007-05:00

Theme: BE MINE

aw. this would be a good valentine's day puzzle. each theme answer ends with a synonym for either kiss (x) or hug (o).

18A. Method of looking for keys? : HUNT AND PECK

28A. Finishing by the deadline, sometimes : TIGHT SQUEEZE

48A. Bad-mouthing someone : TALKING SMACK

64A. Call waiting diversion : MUSIC ON HOLD

the unifier:

63. Love letter closing, and in sequence, a hint to the ends of 18-, 28-, 48- and 64-Across : XOXO

and a few bonus entries:

24A. Love god : EROS

67A. Big name in kitchen gadgets : OXO

54D. X-rated : ADULT

55D. Hale : LUSTY

melissa here.

gonna make it a quick one, got a late start.

Across

1. "Les __" : MIZ. short for les miserables.

4. As a friend, in French : EN AMI

9. Actor Romero : CESAR

14. N.L. West team, on scoreboards : ARI. arizona diamondbacks.

15. Noble gas : XENON

16. Latin stars : ASTRA

17. MLK birthday month : JAN. holiday for most in the u.s.

20. Relay race closer : ANCHOR. several sports include relay races, including track and swimming. the anchor is usually the fastest competitor on the team.

22. Peace Prize winner Wiesel : ELIE

23. Wide shoe size : EEE

26. Working parts : INNARDS. evokes an image, but i'll leave it to your imagination. you're welcome.

32. Computer pioneer Lovelace : ADA. who knew?

33. Young newt : EFT

34. Many Semites : ARABS

38. Reveal : TELL

40. Knight's ride : STEED

43. Harald V's capital : OSLO. king of norway. made a touching speech after the recent attacks in norway. "I cling to the belief that freedom is stronger than fear. I cling to the belief of an open Norwegian democracy and society. I cling to the belief in our ability to live freely and safely in our own country."

44. Capital on the Willamette : SALEM. willamette river, oregon. according to the usgs, 100% of u.s. rivers and streams are contaminated with carcinogens.

46. Future fish : ROE

47. World games org. : IOC. international olympic committee.

53. Food packaging unit : CALORIE. technically, it is a unit of heat required to raise one gram of water, one degree celsius. amazing the things that stick in your head from school.

56. German river : SAAR. looks so still and peaceful.

57. Soccer star Freddy : ADU. born in ghana, at 14 years of age, became one of the youngest athletes to sign a professional contract in the u.s., just signed with philadelphia union.

58. In __: moody : A PET. not sure i've ever actually heard this phrase used.

60. Like Chris and Pat, genderwise : UNISEX. it's pat.

68. Violet lead-in : ULTRA. ultra-violet.

69. Steve of country : EARLE

70. Nth degree : MAX

71. Eyelid annoyances : STYES

72. In small pieces, as potatoes : RICED

73. Punk rock offshoot : EMO

Down

1. Whom Goya painted both nude and clothed : MAJA. should be a gimme by now.

2. OPEC co-founder : IRAN. organization of the petroleum exporting countries.

3. Penultimate element, alphabetically : ZINC. the last would be zirconium (zr).

4. Encourage : EXHORT

5. Couch disorders : NEUROSES. psychiatrist's couch.

6. Raggedy gal : ANN. raggedy ann. i can't stand the word 'gal.'

7. Speck of dust : MOTE. "... every saint and sinner in the history of our species, lived there on a mote of dust, suspended in a sunbeam." carl sagan's pale blue dot.

8. How perjurers may be caught : IN A LIE. how else would they be caught?

9. Concerto highlight : CADENZA

10. Sixth sense, briefly : ESP. extra-sensory perception.

11. Brisket source : STEER. beef.

12. Curved : ARCED

13. Works in the garden : RAKES.

19. Lofted iron : NINE. golf.

21. Villainous laugh syllable : HEH

25. Acre's 43,560: Abbr. : SQ. FT.

27. Prefix with space : AERO

28. Fashion statements in the 'hood : TATS. Tattoos. not so much just in the 'hood anymore.

29. "Eureka!" elicitor : IDEA

30. Sass : GALL. okay then.

31. Early development sites? : UTERI. didn't we just have this?

35. 2-Down's location : ASIA

36. Political group : BLOC

37. __ puppet : SOCK

39. Actor Jared : LETO. guess i should know him, but i don't.

41. Ages and ages : EONS

42. He succeeded Coty as French president : DE GAULLE

45. Latin percussion pair : MARACAS

49. Plastic surgeon's job, for short : LIPO. no thank you.

50. Sharper, as eyes : KEENER

51. Smoothed in a shop : SANDED

52. Hosp. picture : MRI

53. "The Stranger" author : CAMUS. novel by albert camus, published in 1942.

59. Pad __: Asian noodle dish : THAI. popular cuisine in california.

61. A portion (of) : SOME

62. Checkup : EXAM

65. Wrath : IRE

66. Hobbit enemy : ORC

Answer grid.

melissa

Tuesday, August 30, 2011 Nancy Salomon

2011-08-30T05:30:00.003-05:00

Theme: Get Thee Gone - The unifier would have us start each part of the themes with it's own start.

17A. *Sydney's locale, familiarly : DOWN UNDER. Go Down(Be nice.), Go Under.

21A. *Man, according to a longtime Desmond Morris best-seller : NAKED APE. Go Naked(Be nice.), Go Ape

33A. *Bluntly : STRAIGHT OUT. Go Straight(Be nice.), Go Out.

42A. *Skip-over-ads button : FAST FORWARD. Go Fast, Go Forward.

55A. *Hosting squad : HOME TEAM. Go Home, Go Team.

61A. Overachievers, and a hint to a word that can precede both words of the starred answers : GO-GETTERS

Argyle here. Lois should have blogged this one. Sort of doubled up on yesterday's theme. Very good fill.

Across:

1. Beat to a pulp : MASH

5. Dapper Dans : FOPS. "A dilettantism in nature is barren and unworthy. A fop of fields is no better than his brother on Broadway." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.

9. Very cold : GELID

14. Mental block buster : IDEA

15. Guinness who played Obi-Wan : ALEC

16. Memorable mission : ALAMO

19. Bantu-speaking South Africans : ZULUs

20. Ain't right? : AREN'T

23. WWII bond designation : SERIES E

26. Mental block buster : MUSE. I like my first choice better. MASE(maze).

27. Spoiled-rotten kids : BRATS

29. Doggone : DAD-GUM. Dictionary prefers DAD-GUMMED.

37. Sun Devils' sch. : ASU. Arizona State University in Metro Phoenix, Arizona.

38. Work like a dog : TOIL

39. Clumsy dummy : OAF

40. Iditarod racer : SLED

41. "I'm with ya" : "YUP!"

46. Like porn : X-RATED

48. Very strange : EERIE

49. Skyline-blurring phenomenon : HAZE

51. One begins parallel parking in it : REVERSE

59. Lucy's landlady : ETHEL. Mertz.

60. "It was you," in a Verdi aria : ERI TU. Musical interlude Clip(4:35)

64. Odom of the Lakers : LAMAR.

65. Pianist Gilels : EMIL. Gilels plays the Prelude in B minor(3:22).

66. Case for notions : ETUI

67. Annapolis frosh : PLEBE

68. Smelling awful : RANK

69. "Look __, I'm Sandra Dee": "Grease" song : AT ME. Clip(1:35).

Down:

1. Big name in muffler replacement : MIDAS

2. Love to bits : ADORE

3. Runoff collector : SEWER

4. Memorable Alps crosser : HANNIBAL

5. Bleacher creature : FAN

6. Stale : OLD

7. Rounded hammer part : PEEN. Image.

8. "Get outta here!" : "SCRAM!"

9. Feasts one's eyes on : GAZES AT

10. Gave the slip : ELUDED

11. Tra-__ : LA-LA

12. "No need to wake me" : "I'M UP"

13. Two caplets, say : DOSE

18. Wombs : UTERI

22. Twisty-horned antelope : KUDU. They will never replace reindeer.

24. Droop : SAG

25. Cultural credo : ETHOS

28. Hillary's department : STATE

30. Big shindig : GALA

31. Web browser : USER

32. Emmy-winning newsman Roger : MUDD

33. River of Hades : STYX

34. Take to the road, as a rock band : TOUR. Styx on tour, cute. Memorabilia.

35. Philbin co-host : RIPA. Kelly.

36. "I'm gonna make him an __ he can't refuse" : OFFER. From Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather"(1972).

40. Popular Dixie drink : SWEET TEA

42. Main movie : FEATURE

43. Wood-shaping tool : ADZE. Here someone is using a small adze to form the interior of a bowl. Clip.(1:39)

44. Rock in a seam : ORE

45. Transfix : RIVET

47. What a treater picks up : THE TAB

50. Gung-ho : EAGER

52. Suave Butler : RHETT. Dashing.

53. Red Cross supply : SERUM

54. Borden's spokescow : ELSIE. Image.

55. "SOS!" : "HELP!". "Mayday! Mayday!"

56. Like some vaccines : ORAL

57. Play charades : MIME

58. NYC gallery : MOMA. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). Tim Burton Entrance to MoMA's Special Exhibitions Gallery.

62. Bathtub booze : GIN

63. "Benevolent" fellow : ELK. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, August 29, 2011 Jennifer Nutt

2011-08-29T05:30:00.044-05:00

Theme: Res - It's a legal matter. The unifier explains it quite well.

16A. *Not animated, in filmmaking : LIVE ACTION. Legal action, a judicial proceeding; one party prosecutes another for a wrong done or for protection of a right or for prevention of a wrong.

23A. *Like replays that reveal bad calls : SLOW MOTION. A motion is a procedural device to bring a limited, contested issue before a court for decision.

49A. *One who can't function under stress : BASKET CASE. A legal case may be either civil or criminal. A dispute between opposing parties to be resolved by a court.

10D. *Ineffective executive : EMPTY SUIT. A lawsuit is a civil action brought by a plaintiff, a party who claims to have incurred loss as a result of a defendant actions and demands a legal or equitable remedy.

33D. *Hunk or babe's attribute : SEX APPEAL. After a final decision has been made, either party or both may appeal from the judgment if they believe there had been a procedural error made by the trial court.

59-Across. Where the ends of the starred answers are filed : COURT OF LAW

Argyle here. How did I get Lemonade's puzzle? It might be because I was trying to watch "Amistad" on TV at the same time I was blogging. It is the 1997 Steven Spielberg movie about the 19th century slave ship, events, trial, politics and eventually, the Supreme Court.

Six theme entries proves a Monday doesn't have to be minimal. I checked; Jennifer is proficient in this format. Always a pleasure.

Across:

1. Cookie holders : JARS

5. Baseball feature : SEAM

9. What gears do : MESH

13. Lake into which Ohio's Cuyahoga River empties : ERIE. "Cuyahoga" means "crooked river".

14. Alabama march site : SELMA

15. Austen novel : EMMA

18. Rotating cooking rod : SPIT

19. Grassland : LEA

20. Plunked oneself down : SAT

21. Disco dance : HUSTLE. You may avoid this ear worm if you like. Do the Hustle(4:00)

27. "Affirmative!" : "YES!"

28. Traveler's guide : MAP

29. Dental fillings : INLAYS

31. "A Doll's House" playwright : IBSEN. Henrik Ibsen.

34. __ noire: literally, "black beast" : BÊTE

35. Enveloping glow : AURA

38. "I __ Pretty": "West Side Story" song : FEEL

39. Doves' homes : COTES

40. Do-it-yourselfers' buys : KITS

41. __-Coburg, Bavaria : SAXE. Map, city of Coburg.

42. Like speaking : ORAL

43. Wee parasites : MITES

44. Word with power or reactor : ATOMIC

46. "Casablanca" pianist : SAM

47. iPhone download : APP

53. Mealtime lap item : NAPKIN

55. "That feels great!" : "AAH!"

56. Org. issuing many refunds : IRS

58. Garden of Eden's __ of life : TREE

63. Emblem of authenticity : SEAL

64. Proverbial waste maker : HASTE

65. Movie lioness : ELSA

66. Online business review site : YELP. Yelp was founded in 2004 to help people find great local businesses like dentists, hair stylists and mechanics. The name "Yelp" comes from a friend of the founders who simply liked the word. But it also serves as a nifty contraction of "yellow pages."

67. Cut with acid : ETCH

68. Medvedev's "no" : "NYET". Dmitry Medvedev is the current President of the Russian Federation. Related- 34D. '90s Russian president Yeltsin : BORIS

Down:

1. Come together : JELL

2. Astrological Ram : ARIES

3. Opponent : RIVAL

4. "Get it?" : "SEE?"

5. Spat : SET-TO

6. Quarterback Manning : ELI. NY Giants.

7. __, amas, amat ... : AMO. One of the first things many people will learn when taking Latin.

8. Ways to get under the street : MAN HOLES

9. Army meal : MESS

11. Look happy : SMILE

12. Can't stand : HATES

14. Rascal : SCAMP

17. Nile dam : ASWAN

22. Italian "a" : UNA

24. Brunch staple : OMELET

25. Neckwear pin : TIE TACK

26. Santa Clara chip maker : INTEL. The world's largest semiconductor chip maker, based on revenue.

30. Central Washington city : YAKIMA. Map.

31. Uncertainties : IF'S

32. Actress Arthur : BEA. TV's Maude.

36. Numbered hwy. : RTE.

37. Barnyard brayer : ASS

39. Old buffalo-hunting tribe : COMANCHE

43. Like a he-man : MACHO

45. Kimono accessory : OBI

46. One of 50 : STATE

47. Unable to sit still : ANTSY

48. City of Light, in a Porter song : PAREE. Name That Song.

50. Mars neighbor : EARTH

51. Goofy : SILLY

52. Wipe off the board : ERASE

54. Brown seaweed : KELP

57. Whack : SWAT

60. Cheerios grain : OAT

61. Trojans' sch. : USC. University of Southern California.

62. Quagmire : FEN. "Feather-footed through the plashy fen passes the questing vole." - Evelyn Waugh.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday August 28, 2011 Robert A Doll

2011-08-28T04:00:00.006-05:00

Theme: Fish Heads - The first word in each familiar phrase can precede (head) "fish".

23A. Constant threat, metaphorically : SWORD OF DAMOCLES. Swordfish.

33A. Confederate Memorial Carving site : STONE MOUNTAIN. Stonefish. Wikipedia says "It is the most venomous fish in the world".

42A. Pianist who claimed to have invented jazz : JELLY ROLL MORTON. Stranger to me. I love jellyfish salad, sprinkled with sesame seeds and flakes of red pepper. Try it, Bill!

71A. Doomed duo : STAR-CROSSED LOVERS. Great entry. Starfish.

97A. Esso ad phrase : TIGER IN YOUR TANK. "Put a tiger in your tank". Tigerfish. Look at his teeth.

105A. Light dessert : ANGEL FOOD CAKE. Not familiar with angelfish.

123A Source of spy movie suspense : CAT AND MOUSE GAME. Catfish.

C.C. here. I hope all our East Coast readers in the path of Irene are safe.

The puzzle title gives the theme immediately, yes? "Fish heads" & "Fish tails" style gimmick just can't fool me any more.

Slow-cooked soup is a daily must in Guangzhou where I worked for several years, and fish head soup is very popular. Supposed to make you smart. Fish is regarded as a good brain food there.

Across:

1. Building supports : I-BEAMS

7. Dirty dog : SCALAWAG. Scoundrel has one more letter.

15. Calyx part : SEPAL

20. Sarge, e.g. : NON-COM. Non-commissioned.

21. Drive off : ALIENATE

22. Said in an ugly way : SNIDE

25. Inscribed pillar : STELA. Read this about Stele Forest in Xi'An. It's half an hour from our home.

26. Floor square : TILE

27. Is deceptive, in a way : LIES

28. Nile reptile : ASP

30. Russian communications acronym since 1992 : ITAR. Itar-Tass.

31. Vacation area : SEASIDE. Sea unnerves me.

39. German article : DER

40. Healthy as __ : AN OX

41. Do goo : GEL

50. Yellow-fever mosquito : AEDES. New word to me. Wikipedia says the name comes from the Ancient Greek aēdēs, meaning "unpleasant" or "odious".

54. Bullfight cry : OLE OLE

55. __-de-France : ILE

56. Get the better of : ONE UP

58. Watch : EYE

59. Controversial orchard spray : ALAR

60. Comic Carvey : DANA. He's in Rich's DC Comics puzzle.

62. "On His Blindness" poet : MILTON. What's the poem about, Clear Ayes?

64. River to the Rhein : AARE

65. Places to pick up cats : NAPES. Tiny "cats" dupe with 123A. Used to bother me a bit. Not any more. Sunday puzzle is too big.

67. "La Loge" artist : RENOIR. Here is the painting.

69. Deep-seated : INBRED

76. Tiberius' villa at Sperlonga included one : GROTTO. Been there, Husker Gary?

78. Current events? : EDDIES. Water current.

79. Dabbling ducks : TEALS

82. Hot stuff : LAVA

83. 1951 Lanza role : CARUSO. Mario Lanza.

87. Early '60s Polo Grounds team, nowadays : JETS. NY Jets. I used to associate Polo Grounds only with Mel Ott's NY Giants until I read Marti's write-up last time.

89. "Dragonwyck" author Seton : ANYA

90. Island strings : UKE. LEIS too.

91. Country estate : MANOR

92. In place of : FOR

93. Trojan War counselor : NESTOR. Did you know he was an Argonaut?

95. Land in old Rome : TERRA

101. Amsterdam street adornment : ELM. Really? I only stopped at their airport once.

103. Results : ENDS

104. "Oz" airer : HBO. I've never heard of the show. You, Kazie?

111. Aardwolf's diet : INSECTS. And 84D. Aardvark's tidbit : ANT. "Aard" means "earth".

116. Apply in a slapdash way : DAUB

117. Wood on a diamond? : ASH. I bet every baseball fan thought of Cubs' Kerry Wood. I did.

118. Peek-__ : A-BOO

120. Seed pod : ARIL

121. Literally, "to God" : ADIOS

129. Irritating : PESKY

130. Places for duds : ARMOIRES. I drew a blank. Sometimes I feel incredibly dumb.

131. Made square : EVENED

132. Head lock : TRESS

133. Foolhardy : RECKLESS

134. Ones who excite devils? : DARERS. Oh, daredevils.

Down:

1. MIT and others : INSTS

2. Alamo hero : BOWIE (Jim)

3. __ Gay: WWII plane : ENOLA

4. Plots that may be developed : ACRES. Lovely clue.

5. In style : MOD

6. Existed in a suppressed state : SMOLDERED. Do you say "Smoldering hot" or "Smothering hot"?

7. "Smooth Operator" singer : SADE. Love Sade, sad, but "Someone Already Broken My Heart".

8. Word with act or action : CLASS. Jim Thome is a real class act.

9. Draw a bead : AIM

10. Denebola's constellation : LEO

11. Mandela's org. : ANC (African National Congress)

12. __-Mart Stores, Inc. : WAL

13. TV group with B.A. Baracus and Hannibal Smith : A-TEAM. All I know about "The A Team" is Mr. T.

14. Bas-relief medium : GESSO

15. Barbecue sound : SSS

16. Authorize : ENTITLE

17. St. Peter's Basilica masterpiece : PIETA

18. Dwight's two-time opponent : ADLAI

19. Get wind (of) : LEARN

24. '80s Pontiac : FIERO. Wikipedia says it means "proud" in Italian and "wild", "fierce", or "ferocious" in Spanish. Looks fiery to me.

29. Curly-tailed dog : PUG. And 88D. Like a 29-Down : SNUB-NOSED. Hey, there, do you like this clue?

32. Poem of everyday life : IDYL

34. Hardly racy : TAME

35. Notable 1969 bride : ONO

36. "The world will little note, __ long remember, what we say here": Lincoln : NOR

37. Heap praises on : EXTOL

38. Ebb's relative : NEAP

42. Shaw title saint : JOAN. "Saint Joan".

43. Cinders of old comics : ELLA. Ella Cinders. Learned from doing Xword.

44. Vaults : LEAPS OVER

45. Lynn from Kentucky : LORETTA

46. Titanic, e.g. : LINER

47. Grassy plain : LLANO

48. Can. province : ONT

49. Con opener : NEO. Neo-con. The likes of Scotter Libby & Richard Perle, who's incredibly convincing.

51. Hopeful letter opener : DEAR SANTA. Argyle would be pleased to see this entry. Hope he has the internet connection.

52. Rochester's love : EYRE

53. __ money : SEED

57. TCU part: Abbr. : UNIV

61. S part : ARC. Feeling dumb again.

62. Botch : MISDO

63. Plenty mad : IRED

64. Up with, with "of" : ABREAST. Jazzbumpa would have given you a cute link.

66. Remained : SAT

68. Psych ending : OSES. Psychoses.

70. Surfing site : NET

72. Almond __: candy : ROCA. Have never had it before.

73. Tangy mustard : DIJON. Needs drops of honey.

74. On one's guard : LEERY

75. Düsseldorf direction : OST. East.

76. Oversupply : GLUT

77. Croupier's tool : RAKE

80. City about 200 miles from Marseille : LYON

81. Cutty __: Scotch : SARK. Let's hear from Tinbeni and eddyB.

85. "Vive le __!" : ROI

86. More than suggested : URGED

91. Shopping venue : MALL

92. Hall of Fame catcher Carlton : FISK. Another great player whose baseball card value does not match his achievement.

94. Libido symbol : EROS. It seems that I'm the only one who has never heard of Splynter's horndog before.

96. Nikes alternative : REEBOKS

98. Something besides the ltr. : ENC

99. Nutritional stat : RDA

100. Sch. in Athens : OHIO U

102. Writer's deg. : MFA

105. Show flexibility : ADAPT

106. Perennial '90s-'00s presidential candidate : NADER

107. False front : GUISE

108. One may be present when an envelope is opened : OSCAR. Pinkerton provides the security for those statuettes.

109. Midwest hub : O'HARE

110. Chair designer Charles : EAMES

112. Anxious : EAGER

113. Film set contraption : CRANE

114. Track official : TIMER

115. They may follow teams : SLEDS. Oh, dog teams.

119. Honcho : BOSS

122. Procedure: Abbr. : SYS

124. Cinephile's TV choice : TMC

125. Hunky-dory : A-OK

126. Nothing at all : NIL

127. Doctor of music? : DRE. Dr. Dre.

128. Stowe girl : EVA. From "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday, Aug 27, 2011 Kyle T. Dolan

2011-08-27T04:41:00.016-05:00

Theme: None

Words: 70

Blocks: 34

Well I just love a Saturday that moves along this smoothly - I hope you all felt the same way ~! Constructor Kyle had one other offering back in Dec. '09; this time, we have triple stacks of eight, one grid spanner, one grid climber:

34A. Calls at home : BALLS AND STRIKES - I am sure this one was a real pleaser for C.C. - I knew it was "home" in the sense of baseball, but was thinking "safe!" and "out!" until I had '_ALLS_ _ '.

7D. Could choose : HAD ONE'S DRUTHERS - not a phrase I am familiar with, and the section surrounding the "TH" ate up all my time on this puzzle. Druthers is a colloquialism, an age-old contraction of (I)'d rather....

and two other 10-letter entries:

4D. Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," e.g. : ROCK BALLAD - ah, my youth, spent emulating the "hair bands" of the '80's, and every single one of them was REQUIRED to write the next "Stairway" - personally, it got overplayed; my favorite is Mötley Crüe's "Home Sweet Home" - what about you?

27D. Highfalutin : HOITY-TOITY - putting on 'airs', snobby - based on the defunct word "hoit"

Onward~!

ACROSS:

1. Gum with a jingle that began, "So kiss a little longer" : BIG RED - Cinnamon flavored, but the Trident version is much hotter - love a Saturday with a 'gimme' 1A

7. Seconds in the air, to punters : HANG-TIME - and followed with a 'gimme' second across; literally, the time a football is airborne, so that the kicking team has a chance to get on the receiving team - I love the "chess match" tactics of the game, but not into the fantasy aspect or players as much

15. Wicked : UNHOLY

16. Penance component : AVE MARIA - Hail Marys (another football term, too)

17. Poker chips are often seen in them : STACKS - was thinking antes, and pots

18. Chocolaty treats : DOVE BARS - ice cream

19. Some charity races : TEN-Ks - ugh, this got me today; I am usually wise to this

20. Second crop of a growing season : ROWEN - new word for me - exactly what it means

21. Reason for a prep course : S.A.T. - Standard Aptitude Test

22. Healthy piece : SLAB - but not really healthy, if you think in terms of cake

23. Picky person? : MINER - a slight misdirection, I had to wait on perps

24. Brought down : ABASED

26. Bangladesh capital : DHAKA - map

31. Guiding light : POLARIS - a bit vague, but I know my astronomy; the North Star, in the Little Dipper, is presently aligned with the Earth's pole, and therefore stays "fixed", allowing for sailing at night. In about 11,700 years, Vega will be the new North Pole

33. Longhorn rival : SOONER - a WAG. College football - I am guessing Kyle (and others) can't wait for football season

36. Etta James classic : AT LAST - ah, the memories - this was the song my wife picked out for our wedding - I had no choice in the matter, but I didn't care - she was happy - too bad it LASTed only 2 years....

37. New Jersey river : RARITAN - I was born in New Jersey (hey now), but don't recall this name - map - sort of in the middle

38. Exhilarating : HEADY

39. Folly : LUNACY

40. Threadbare : RATTY

41. Words spoken after Polonius says, "I hear him coming: let's withdraw, my lord" : TO BE - a WAG, I just tried TO BE, as it was "words", and only 4 letters

45. Tie up loose ends? : SEW

48. Air Force pilot who became a pop star : DON HO - I did not know this

49. Right to play first, in golf : HONOR

50. Grace : ELEGANCE

52. One of Penelope's 108 in the "Odyssey" : SUITOR - those horndogs - she must have been a subject of ogling, too ( 49D )

53. Disdainful : CAVALIER

54. Chant : INTONE

55. Diving concern : THE BENDS - Nitrogen, boiling in the blood after coming to the surface from great depths too soon.

56. Phoned on a computer, in technospeak : SKYPED - not really technospeak, since Googled is now a word, too.

DOWN:

1. Marble works : BUSTS

2. Espionage aid, for short : INTEL- INTELligence, knowledge of what the "other side" is doing

3. Country that eliminated the United States at the last two World Cups : GHANA

5. FDR and Truman, fraternally : ELKS - the benevolent order of elks

6. Bad opening? : DYS - as in DYSfunctional

8. Swore : AVOWED

9. Word heard before and after "say" : NEVER - James Bond again; this movie

10. Fed personnel : G-MEN

11. Someone has to pick it up : TAB

12. Savings choices, briefly : IRAs

13. Sorvino of "Mighty Aphrodite" : MIRA - Image

14. Rose point : EAST - Compass Rose

20. "__ to the Top": Keni Burke song : RISIN' - I'll leave the links to you

23. French Revolution figure : MARAT - I had this guy before, not too long ago

25. Having strong low tones, as headphones : BASSY

26. Column style : DORIC

28. Co-composer of "Johnny's Theme" : ANKA - Paul Anka, prolific songwriter.

29. Not dull : KEEN

30. Married couple? : ARS - the "R's" in maRRied, like I used to be

31. Spread with drinks : PATÉ

32. Cantina cooker : OLLA - Ceramic pot

33. Pickup for a pound : STRAY - Dog pound

34. "Nuts!" : BAH - Humbug....

35. Pedro o Pablo : SANTO - ah - I had SENOR first

39. Pierced surgically : LANCED

40. 1998 De Niro thriller : RONIN - another movie link

42. Leading : ON TOP - yeah, in football standings, too

43. Cumberland Gap explorer : BOONE - Daniel

44. Stumbled : ERRED

45. Branch : SECT

46. Valley where David fought Goliath : ELAH - total WAG

47. Bob Seger's "__ Got Tonight" : WE'VE

48. Low area : DALE

49. Object of ogling : HUNK - Ogle, ladies, ogle - I had the guys covered last week with Bond Girls - and I had a UPS package go to Carey Lowell yesterday - one of my top three

51. Speak idly : GAB

52. Cheer syllable : SIS - um, this one I am not sure; SIS BOOM BAH ~!?!?!?

Answer grid.

Well, for those in the path of Irene, like me, stay safe, above water, and below deadly winds....

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our Friday Sherpa Lemonade. Thanks for the consistently informative and entertaining write-up every week.

Friday, August 26, 2011 James Sajdak

2011-08-26T05:30:00.009-05:00

Theme: Cutting some Zs. Each of the theme answers is a phrase containing the letter "Z" which is removed and is replaced by the pluralized D sound to make a similar sounding but very different phrase, fraught with humor. This is the third James Sajdak puzzle I have had the pleasure of blogging, and like his June 24, 2011 farmhouse puzzle, sound has much to do with the theme. In his interview, Mr. Sajdak, who is an English teacher by trade, emphasized his goal was to entertain, so he fits in perfectly for the Corner and myself. Let's see where he takes us today, P.S., shh but it is Lemonade here as the tour guide today.

20A. Easy-to-use sock drawer organizer?: PEDS DISPENSER. This morphed from PEZ DISPENSER, the famous collectable candy holding toy, into a really nice image of a drawer shooting out little socks, PEDS being footie socks.

28A. Dog show eye-catchers?: COOL BREEDS. COOL BREEZE. As you can see the changed word can be first or second and the replacement is not just D for Z, but to accomplish the sound.

36A. Feline alpha groups?: TOP PRIDES. TOP PRIZE; we know lions come in prides, do other cats?

48A. "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are the Champions" : QUEEN SIDES. QUEEN SIZE. A song on one side of a 45; these are two by the irrepressible late, great FREDDY MERCURY. I wonder where the idea that royalty meant bigger? Why are there no Jack sized beds?

56. Winter Olympics winner's wall hanging?: BLADES OF GLORY. This theme is going out in a BLAZE OF GLORY, unlike the MOVIE, which brought a new dimension to the world of Olympic pairs skating; funny or lame?

Across:

1. Henri's here: ICI. We begin in my wheelhouse with a simple French word, which means "here."

4. Sci-fi psychic: EMPATH. We have had Ms. Troi before.

10. Druid's sacred hill : TARA. This was my LEARNING EXPERIENCE. I only knew GWTW and Sookie's friend on True Blood.

14. What Lin's D.C. wall commemorates: NAM. I was moved to tears when I first went and traced the names of friends who perished. Maya Ying Lin.

15. Craps table tactic: PARLAY. Letting your winnings ride, never have played.

16. Like some terrible reviews: ACID. Acid tongue I know, but this did not come easily.

17. Wee: SMA. We have has this Scottish version of small often, usually with a Robert Burns reference, but not a favorite of Ms. Hearti who spoke out against it earlier this month.

18. Bandit feature?: ONE ARM. Back in the day when you actually had to pull on a lever, this slot machine reference made sense; no longer.

19. Watch lights, briefly: LCDS. Liquid Crystal Displays like the James Bond Pulsar.

23. Emphatic words: I REPEAT.

24. Run-of-the-mill: USUAL.

27. Track position: RAIL. Very important in horse racing; bet on it.

32. Cornerstone abbr : ESTAB. Established.

34. Just outside of: NEAR.

35. Rolls in the grass?: SOD. Very clever picture of rolled up sod.

40. Palm Sunday carrier: ASS. Avoiding religion as a topic, we all must agree there are an awful lot of asses in the Bible.

43. German battleship Graf __: SPEE. The ship is long gone, but it lives on in VIDEO GAMES.

44. 1945 "Big Three" conference site: YALTA. Your HISTORY LESSON.

52. Slangy negatives: NAHS.

53. 14th-century Russian prince: IVAN I. A prince of Moscow. Like the Popes, the "I" makes it hard to parse.

54. Retro tees: TIE DYES. Another difficult to suss letter combination, looking like TIED YES.

60. Prussian pair: ZWEI. Alliteration for the Germanic Two.

62. Stimulate: INCITE. Calm down we are here to entertain, no riots.

63. 36 for nine, often: PAR. There really are many golfers in the puzzle world.

64. Votes for: AYES. A half shout out to our Poet Laureate.

65. Semi-sheer fabrics: VOILES. Back to the French, meaning VEIL. You like?

66. Owner of Abbey Road Studios: EMI. Electrical and Musical Industries, Ltd. is one of the oldest companies in music. They are now wholly owned by Citigroup.

67. Orkin target: PEST.

68. Speak with conviction: ASSERT.

69. Decoding org.: NSA. National Security Agency.

Down:

1. Fire up: INSPIRE. In contrast to the earlier INCITE.

2. Set pieces?: CAMERAS. What you will find on the TV or Movie SET.

3. Cry from one reaching the top: I MADE IT. Also part of my night time ritual for another day.

4. Lyrical poetic form: EPODE. CA, you are on.

5. Zealot-plus: MANIAC.

6. Appearance announcement: PRESTO. What they say when the bunny shows up from the hat.

7. Gain __: get further ahead in the race: A LAP.

8. Empty weight: TARE. We have many clues about ships and LADING.

9. Mass music: HYMN.

10. "Honor Thy Father" author: TALESE. A poor man's Mario Puzo.

11. Grows: ACCRUES. The interest in your account.

12. Purged: RID.

13. Spots with slogans: ADS. I wonder when they started calling radio and TV ads, spots?

21. Egg toss miss indicator: SPLAT. Very nice visual clue. You were supposed to catch the egg Jeannie not sell it to BK.

22. Light carriage: SURREY. My mind went immediately to the FRINGE.

25. Flap: ADO. A new clue for an old fill.

26. Dr. Leary's turn-on: LSD. Turn on, tune in and drop out.

29. No right __ : ON RED. I was shocked when I moved to Florida and you could turn right at a red light.

30. Jasmine neckwear, perhaps: LEI. Hawaii people, do they have Jasmine on the island?

31. Wicked: BAD. As opposed to Massachusetts, where wicked is good.

33. Sarajevo's region: BOSNIA.

37. Forgetful writer's letters?: PPS.

38. Louvre Pyramid designer: PEI. I M impressed, two famous designer in one puzzle.

39. Subj. of an '80s-'90s financial crisis: S AND L. Savings & Loan, a tough one to see.

40. EPA concern: AQI. We are getting acronym intensive, Air Quality Index.

41. Toyota RAV4, e.g. : SUV. Sport UtilityVehicle.

42. Navy builders: SEABEES. The name comes from a pun on Construction Battalion. Like all our service men, they should be HONORED.

45. Expose: LAY OPEN. Wow, talk about your DF, getting laid out in the open; oh, you mean lay bare!

46. St. Louis team, familiarly: THE RAMS. Football team that moved from LA, after starting originally in Cleveland.

47. Ancient kingdom on the Tigris: ASSYRIA. Modern Iraq.

49. Sign on: ENLIST. We daily bloggers enlist, after we are drafted.

50. Star of France: ETOILE. Just another lesson, STAR = ETOILE.

51. Bakery utensil: SIFTER. Must get the flour flowing.

55. Discharge: EGEST. From the Latin gerere to carry, with the prefix E, which means from; so literally to carry from. A fancy way of saying pooping. DIgest goes in, Egest goes out.

57. Price or Battle: DIVA. Opera stars Leontyne and Kathleen.

58. Genesis grandson: ENOS. More Bible, a son of Seth, the third child of Adam and Eve.

59. H.S. courses: SCIS. Sciences.

60. Cook quickly, in a way: ZAP. Microwave mania.

61. Three-switch railroad track section: WYE. The word is very descriptive of the tracks coming together, and featured in this MOVIE, which was suspenseful, but like the blog has a happy ending (or does it?). I finished another Friday, did not hurt myself and get to watch Devin and his band play again tonight. They had four paying gigs this month, the most yet. Have a great week end and celebrate, and for those in the path of Irene, we pray the cold front pushes her out to sea. Take care.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Thursday, August 25, 2011 David Poole

2011-08-25T05:30:00.399-05:00

Theme: Stock Exchange. Common two words phrases used on Wall Street are clued with wacky new definitions. This puzzle is also a pangram, using every letter of the alphabet - a rare gem for constructors!

20A. Chicken, beef, or fish? : STOCK OPTION. Stock options are offered to employees as a non-cash compensation, and as an incentive to make the company profitable. Chicken stock, beef stock and fish stock are different options a chef can choose, when preparing his delicious recipes.

58A. Expensive bottle of wine? : LIQUID ASSET. Liquid assets are those which can be sold easily, without loss of value. Wine is a liquid that can really be an asset, especially at a party!

11D. Shop specializing in Winnie the Pooh merchandise? : BEAR MARKET. A bear market is a general decline in the stock market, leading to investor pessimism. Winnie the Pooh is a cute little bear who has been merchandised to excess. Does anyone have a WTP watch?

29D. Money set aside for garden mazes? : HEDGE FUNDS. A hedge fund is a special investment that is aggressively managed to offset losses in a bear market, often by using fluctuations in currency exchange rates or commodities. A maze hedge requires frequent trimming and upkeep, so you'll need that money to pay for all the gardeners!

Marti here, and I chuckled as soon as I filled in the first theme entry. I have many stock options in my pantry, liquid assets in my wine cellar, and 100 feet of hedge in front of my house. I do not, however, own a Winnie the Pooh watch...

Across

1. Beatles film : HELP. Four letters, Beatles didn't make many movies. Easy peasy lead in to this delightful puzzle, and BAM, a chance for a musical link right off that bat. Did you know the inspiration for this film was the Marx Brothers classic "Duck Soup", and was a take-off of the James Bond films?

5. Globetrotter's need : VISA. Passport wouldn't fit.

9. TV choice : CABLE.

14. x, y and z, in math : AXES. Plural of "axis".

15. Israel's Barak : EHUD. Ehud Barak, for those who were wondering if "Barak" was his first or last name. He is the Minister of Defense.

16. Curved moldings : OGEES. O, gee...crosswordese, and plural, no less. But these types of entry give us a "freebie fill", so you can use the perps to fill in other answers. Don't complain!

17. Hard to spot : TINY. Is this "tiny"?

18. Muddy up : ROIL. Stir up the waters and get them all muddy.

19. Chestnut-hued horses : ROANS

23. Bar order : RYE. OK, hands up for all of you who put in "ale", "ice", "gin", "nip", "pop" or "rum" before RYE emerged from perps?

24. Sweetie : HON. My favorite nickname for DH.

25. Three-time Oscar winner for Best Foreign Language Film : BERGMAN. Were you thinking of Ingrid? She did win three Oscars, but not for best foreign film. The winner here is Ingmar Bergman, one of the great directors our our time. The films? "The Virgin Spring", "Through a Glass Darkly" and "Fanny and Alexander".

27. Saw : APHORISM. An old saw is a saying that teaches a lesson, like "A penny saved is a penny earned."

32. Membership list : ROTA. Mainly a British term (Nice Cuppa?), but it is also used in the Catholic Church to mean a tribunal of prelates in an ecclesiastical court.

33. Slangy morning cup : JOE. Some people have a cuppa tea, others need their cuppa Joe (coffee).

34. Tabloid exclusive : SCOOP. Or, what I do in the litter box every day. (Where does it all come from???)

36. Inferior : WORSE

39. Director of the last episode of "M*A*S*H" : ALDA. Alan Alda. He was also the first person to receive Emmy Awards for acting, writing and directing for the same series.

41. Concerning : ABOUT

43. Hershey's toffee bar : SKOR. Yumm!

44. First name in daytime TV : REGIS. Regis Philbin. Did you know that he holds the Guinness world record for the most time spent in front of a TV camera?

46. World-weariness : ENNUI. General feeling of boredom.

48. Gin maker Whitney : ELI. The cotton gin, of course. But I really wanted Bombay. What's your poison?

49. Jazz and swing periods : ERAS. (And a shout-out to our own "bumpa"!)

51. Word with crew or key : SKELETON. Skeleton crew is the bare essential staff needed to keep things afloat. (Or, it could be the members of the Black Pearl?) Skeleton key is an old-fashioned master key for locks.

53. Gridiron call : OFFSIDE. American football...it's complicated, but basically it's a five yard penalty if a member of the offensive team is over the line of scrimmage at the snap.

56. Respectful title : SIR

57. French vineyard : CRU. "Cru" indicates a specific growth place, or it's wine.

64. River including Livingstone Falls : CONGO. Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

66. Major in astronomy? : URSA. Ursa major, the "Big Dipper". Cute clue.

67. Balm ingredient : ALOE

68. Milk dispenser : UDDER. And here is one for the guys...

69. Hardly handsome : UGLY.

70. Loads : TONS

71. Run for the __: Kentucky Derby : ROSES. Run for the Roses is a nickname for the Kentucky Derby, so called because of the blanket of roses that is draped over the winning horse.

72. Understands : SEES. Oh, I see it now.

73. Gusto : ZEST

Down

1. Boaters and bowlers : HATS. Your weren't thinking sports, were you?

2. Auditorium sign : EXIT

3. "Leading With My Chin" author : LENO. Jay Leno, who else?

4. Film with a creepy motel owner : PSYCHO. One of Hitchcock's finest, starring Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh.

5. Archie's heartthrob : VERONICA. Comic book from the 40's. Were you thinking Edith Bunker?

6. Denny's competitor : IHOP

7. Diamonds, but not emeralds : SUIT. Playing cards.

8. Robin Williams forte : AD LIB.

9. Tight braid : CORNROW. These look painful.

10. Gone by : AGO

12. Lotte who played Rosa Klebb in "From Russia With Love" : LENYA. Call her "Colonel". We have had her before...it is Lotte Lenya, and she was married to Kurt Weil, who wrote "Mack the Knife" for her to sing. Remember? (I won't link it again...)

13. German steel town : ESSEN

21. Fashion designer Michael : KORS. I'm not much into fashion: jeans and a t-shirt are fine for working in the garden.

22. Anthem contraction : O'ER...the ramparts.

26. Pontiac muscle cars : GTOs. I bet Dennis, Windhover or Bill G. could fill us in!

27. Slightly cracked : AJAR. Hand over the V-8 can: I was thinking "loony".

28. Angler's need : POLE. Not reel, line, fish, bait, pier...

30. Drink brand with a lizard logo : SOBE. Pepsi brand of teas and juice blends named for South Beach.

31. Mars pair : MOONS. Phobos and Deimos. Memorize them. You never know when they will show up in a puzzle!

35. __ rock : PUNK. Not folk, hard, acid, soft...

37. Alone : SOLO. Not many chances for music links today, so I give you this solo...

38. Joyce's homeland : ERIN. OK, how many times have we had "Erin" in xwords? So, here is the scoop on the name:

The Irish word for the homeland is "Éirinn". "Erin" is the Irish-English derivative of that name. So poets and Irish Nationalists use the word "Erin" as a romantic name for Ireland. Got it? (There will be a quiz later...)

Oh, and James Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, who likely used the name "Erin" for his homeland. Clear Ayes?

40. Ostentatious behavior : AIRS

42. "__ With Morrie": Albom best-seller : TUESDAYS. Subtitled "an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson". An incredible non-fiction novel about a beloved professor with Lou Gehrig's disease. If you haven't read it, put it on your list!

45. Salts on the ocean : SAILORS. We all know that "salt" is a nickname for a sailor, right? But, do you know why?

47. Hip bones : ILIA. And what are dem bones connected to?

50. Star Wars prog. : SDI. Strategic Defense Initiative, proposed by President Ronald Reagan.

52. German sub? : ERSATZ. I loved this clue/answer. Ersatz means "substitute", and is the literal German word for "substitute", derived from the word "ersetzen", meaning "to replace".

53. Present itself, as a thought : OCCUR. It just occurred to me, that I have to go get a snack. Don't go away, I'll be right back....

...OK, I'm back now.

54. Tolkien ringbearer : FRODO. Frodo Baggins, bearing the ring to Mordor to destroy it, in J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. (But you all knew that.)

55. 1975 Tony-winning play about a stableboy : EQUUS. A very disturbing play.

59. The munchies, e.g. : URGE. I have my snack, so I'm good!

60. Cruise stop : ISLE. Port, dock, pier...I have to stop over thinking these things!!!

61. Dark purple fruit : SLOE. Why did "sloe" pop into my head, and not "plum"? ("Because it's Thursday!!")

62. Eternities, seemingly : EONS

63. Midterm or final : TEST. I always think of midterm "exams" or final "exams", not tests.

65. "Golly!" : GEE. Gee, I think I am done. Goodnight, all!

Answer grid.

Marti

Wednesday, August 24, 2011 Michael Daems

2011-08-24T02:00:00.003-05:00

Theme: FACE splitting grins. Each asterisked clue announces a theme entry that splits the word FACE down the middle and uses the halves as BOOK ENDS. They're not really intended to be amusing, but I do have to smile at the cleverness.

20A. *Miss : FAIL TO NOTICE An ineptitude in keen powers of observation.

28A. *Simulated living room feature : FAUX FIRE PLACE. A decorative mantle, perhaps a hearth, a psuedo-fire chamber, but not a place for a fire.
45A. *Feature of many Bee Gees songs : FALSETTO VOICE Description here.

And the unifier 51A. Headline that would shock the Internet community (or put another way, hint to the divided word in each of the answers to starred clues) : FACEBOOK ENDS or FACE BOOKENDS. And a nice word play at no extra charge.

Hi gang, JazzzBumpa here. Let's see what these BOOK ENDS hold for us.

Across:

1. Cellar process : AGING. For wine, cheese, or pickles

6. Incline : TILT. Or slant

10. Shady plan : SCAM. Yesterday this was a con game.

14. Hilo veranda : LANAI. Nice view.

15. Freshly : ANEW

16. Scrabble piece : TILE

17. Panache : FLAIR

18. He caught Don's 1956 World Series perfect game : YOGI. Don Larsen and YOGI Berra. A happy moment.

19. Bickering : AT IT. Be careful how you parse this.

23. Tolkien's Elrond, e.g. : ELF. He was called Elrond Halfelven, though that is not quite accurate either. I believe he had both elven and human lineage from two of his grandparents.

26. One way to pace : FRO. The other is TO.

27. Hold dear : PRIZE

32. Confounds : ADDLES

33. Poem of the countryside : IDYL. Clear Ayes . . .

34. Fort Meade-based govt. org. : NSA. The National Security Agency, a frequent visitor to crosswords.

37. Standards, briefly : REGS REGulations

38. Ottoman officer : AGA

39. Dan Patrick's channel, formerly : ESPN, the all sports cable network. Daniel Patrick Pugh can now be heard on Premier Radio Networks.

40. Portland-to-Boise dir. : ESE.

41. Frosh, next year : SOPH. Freshman and SOPHomore (the wise fool.) I wanted someone who was going to be a Frosh next year, not what this year's Frosh would be next year.

43. Scientific __ : METHOD. You can go through the process here.

48. Respectful address : MADAM

49. Louis XIV, par exemple : ROI. Head of France is TETE; King of France is ROI.

50. Some 12-yd. soccer shots : PKS. Penalty Kicks, I assume.

55. Takes steps : ACTS. An actor steps across the stage, but that's not what we're getting at here.

56. Land of Rama I : SIAM. Now Thailand.

57. Poke : ELBOW.

61. Gait slower than a canter : TROT. More specifically, this is gait of a horse in which the diagonal pairs of legs move together, not to be confused with the PACE, in which the two legs on the same side of the horse move together. Racing TROTTERS and PACERS may not break stride.

62. 'Enry's greeting : 'ELLO. 'Enry 'Iggens, I presume.

63. More-than-disappointing crowd? : NO ONE. For some reason, I had a hard time parsing this.

64. Miffed : SORE

65. Textile worker : DYER. I wanted BRIM POUNCER

66. Amarillo's home : TEXAS. Amarillo is yellow in Spanish. The city is likely named for the abundant yellow wild flowers in the area or the yellow soil in the banks of near-by Amarillo creak.

Down:

1. The Tanners' adoptee, on TV : A.L.F. (Alien Life Form) I am only vaguely familiar with this character from yet another show I never watched

2. Lass : GAL A youthful female.

3. Garten of the Food Network : INA. I don't know her.

4. Newbie : NAIF. This word means "a naive or inexperienced person." The correlation with "Newbie" is a bit fanciful, IMHO.

5. Long-necked mammal : GIRAFFE. The LW's favorite critter.

6. Five-time Grammy winner James : TAYLOR. This song is not one of them.

7. Playing a fifth qtr., say : IN O.T. Overtime

8. Kid's building block : LEGO. Dang! I always want to spell this with two "L"'s.

9. Reinforced, as some dust bags : TWIN-PLY. Wow, this was slow to develop.

10. Radio interference : STATIC

11. Immigrant test taker's goal : CITIZENSHIP. A call out to C.C.!

12. Rocker Cooper : ALICE. I won't use a link on him.

13. Dole (out) : METE. Middle English from Latin for "turning post" or "boundary" via Norman French.

21. Pupil's place : IRIS. Class room wouldn't fit, no matter how much I eyeballed it.

22. Uttered : ORAL. Tricky, using a verbal adjective where I was expecting a verb.

23. Online airline deal : E-FARE

24. Fills with cargo : LADES

25. Arbitrary allowance for error : FUDGE FACTOR

29. T-shirt sizes, for short : XLS. Extra-large.

30. Black ball : EIGHT. Here, I was looking for a verb and got a noun. In billiards, the 8 ball is solid black.

31. BlackBerry Bold, e.g. : PDA Personal Data Assistant. Actually, a full-featured smartphone.

35. Logical character : SPOCK. The guy with the pointy ears from Star Trek.

36. Aconcagua is its highest peak : ANDES. South American Geography fact of the day.

38. Mimic : APE. Old crosswordese.

39. Command for DDE : E.T.O. European Theater of Operations. No play acting there.

41. Generous slice : SLAB. Mmmmm -- pie.

42. Diffused through a membrane : OSMOSED. This awkward back-formation actually is a word.

43. Night light : MOON. Thou pale evanescent orb . . .

44. Clear : EVIDENT. Plane to see. On an EVIDENT night, you can planely see the MOON. It is now just short of midnight, and the rain has begun.

46. Carol opening : ADESTE. "O come" in Latin.

47. Aftershock : TREMOR. Any news of tremors from Tuesday's shock?

48. Computer shortcut : MACRO. Yesterday, this was a lens.

51. Domino's nickname : FATS. So much easier than Antoine Dominique, Jr. And deserving of one last link.

52. Slick : OILY

53. Curly cabbage : KALE. A headless, leafy variety.

54. Gin flavoring : SLOE. The SLOE plum. I guess the word "gin" by itself doesn't mean anything specific, hence the need for London Dry Gin.

58. Spar in the ring : BOX

59. Stop __ dime : ON A. A very sudden stop.

60. Filmmaker Craven : WES. Producer, director, writer and actor with a long list of film credits including Nightmare on Elm Street and several Screams.

Answer grid.

Jazzbumpa

Note from C.C.:

Our "Hard to Believe" series continues. Look at these amazing photos & the incredible changes they chronicle. Now, who's he? (Added later: It's Windhover!)

"My Dear Watson"

2011-08-23T05:31:00.005-05:00

This is #4 of our "Curious Conundrums" series.

Don (his idea and grid) and I thought some of you (esp you, Tinbeni, Happy Birthday!) might be amused by this punny theme. I don't recall seeing similar gimmick in any major newspaper before. The fact that the answers sound too much alike makes it unsuitable for publication.

Our clue for 16-Across is rather long and Across Lite can't handle it. Just click View, then Notepad. You should be able to read the whole clue.

Puzzle:

Here is puz file (Across Lite).

Here is PDF.

Spoiler: Here is the answer grid.

Thanks for solving and do let us have your comments.

C.C.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

2011-08-23T05:30:00.003-05:00

Theme: Hogtied - The four themes are tied together by clues with the word HOG in them.

17A. Road hog : DANGEROUS DRIVER

27A. Hog heaven : ABSOLUTE BLISS

44A. Hog wild : OVERLY EXCITED

56A. Whole hog : WITH NO RESTRAINT

Argyle here. I confess I sat looking at the answer grid trying to figure out the connection between the four theme answers before I remembered to look at the clues again. D'oh! If you hadn't noticed, the constructor is our own HeartRx. Good job, Marti.

Across:

1. Close-up lens : MACRO

6. Jazz jobs : GIGS

10. Con game : SCAM. Report them to 37A. Truth-in-advertising agcy. : BBB. The Better Business Bureau.

14. The American dream, e.g. : IDEAL

15. Colosseo city : ROMA. The Colosseum(Colosseo) in Rome(Roma), Italy(Italia)

16. "__, Can You Hear Me?": song from "Yentl" : PAPA. Clip.(3:18)

20. Pvt. driller : SGT.

21. Drips in the ER : IVs. Emergency Room/Intravenous

22. Arm-twisting : DURESS

23. Ritzy apartment feature : TERRACE

26. __ mater : ALMA

32. Frank topper : RELISH

34. Diddly, in Durango : NADA. Spanish.

35. Nietzsche's "never" : NIE. German.

36. Bush's undergraduate classmates : ELIs. Yalies.

38. Disconcert : FAZE

39. Candy with collectible dispensers : PEZ

40. Flying start? : AERO

42. I-beam, e.g. : GIRDER. Nice reversal of the usual clue/answer.

47. River in central Germany : EDER. Map, it is top, center between Keller-wald and Kassel.

48. Diamond-patterned structure, as a trellis : LATTICE. Image. Back in the day, under the porch, hidden by the lattice but able to see and hear everything; the summer place to be.

51. Black suit : SPADES. Standard playing cards.

54. Hither's partner : YON

55. Beach shade : TAN

60. GI's supply : AMMO

61. Mindless learning : ROTE

62. Shrink in increments : ERODE

63. It's history : PAST

64. Rephrase, say : EDIT

65. South-of-the-border sir : SEÑOR

Down:

1. Center : MIDST

2. "A watched pot never boils" is one : ADAGE. Conventional sayings.

3. Bring under a single control : CENTRALIZE

4. Dusting aid : RAG

5. __ Miss : OLE. The University of Mississippi.

6. Kowtow : GROVEL

7. Chits in the pot : IOUs

8. Baseball VIPs : GMs. General Managers.

9. Got ready to ride : SADDLED

10. Slinky shape : SPIRAL

11. Auel's "The Clan of the __ Bear" : CAVE

12. King Kong's kin : APES. Kin can be a collective noun.

13. Viking's landing place : MARS. This Viking.

18. Big name in copiers : RICOH. Ricola is a big name in cough drops.

19. Cuban dance : RUMBA

24. Baseball scoring stats : RBIs

25. Shrek's sidekick Donkey, e.g. : ASS

26. Run __: postpone the bar bill : A TAB

28. Take out of the carton : UNBOX

29. Also : IN ADDITION

30. Fitting description? : SIZE

31. Nostradamus, for one : SEER

32. Auto taken back, briefly : REPO

33. Topog. map stat : ELEV.

37. Uncle Remus appellation : BR'ER

38. Stew : FRET

40. First Mayflower passenger to set foot on Plymouth Rock, so it's said : ALDEN. “Why don't you speak for yourself, John?"

41. Neighborhood improvement target : EYESORE

42. Beanstalk threat : GIANT

43. Hairy TV cousin : ITT

45. Sizzling : RED HOT

46. Room for a broom : CLOSET

49. "No prob!" : "CAN DO!"

50. Sign up to compete : ENTER

51. Trade : SWAP

52. Arizona tribe : PIMA. Short write-up.

53. Bread machines, for short? : ATMs

54. Hairy Himalayan legend : YETI

57. Valance holder : ROD

58. Legal thing : RES

59. "__ you serious?" : ARE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, August 22, 2011 Kelly Clark

2011-08-22T05:30:00.006-05:00

Theme: Look! Up in the sky... - it' a bird. And bird related things start our theme entries.

1A. Sound from a tree : CHIRP. It's short and there is no symmetrical entry so we'll consider this a bonus.

20A. *Resolve once and for all : LAY TO REST

38A. *Savings for later in life : NEST EGG. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.

56A. Lyric in a Porter song that ends "Let's fall in love," and a hint to the starts of the starred answers (and 1-Across) : BIRDS DO IT. "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love" is a popular song(3:01) written in 1928 by Cole Porter. It was introduced in Porter's first Broadway success, the musical "Paris" (1928).

11D. *Like unreliable short-term businesses : FLY BY NIGHT. Don't put any of these eggs in yor basket.

27D. *Do some scheming : HATCH A PLOT

Argyle here. I hope you had your stars but they weren't really necessary. The unifier was pretty clear. It is similar to Kelly's puzzle , back in June. The grid even resembles a nest, especially if you highlight the theme entries. I picture CHIRP as the mama bird sitting on the edge of the nest.

Across:

6. Range between soprano and tenor : ALTO

10. Cpls.' underlings : PFCs

14. Flamboyant evangelist __ Semple McPherson : AIMEE. Clip(1:23) from an upcoming show at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle.

15. Boston Bruins or Chicago Bears, e.g. : TEAM

16. Inter __: among others : ALIA

17. Baseball's Nolan and actress Meg : RYANs

18. Bath towel word : HERS

19. Natasha's no : "NYET!"

22. Many an October baby, astrologically : LIBRA

23. A __ alfa : AS IN. Phonetic alphabet spelling of Alpha.

24. Nairobi native : KENYAN. Map.

25. Satirical Mort : SAHL

28. Arrive after a tough trip : MAKE IT IN. Thru Kenya?

31. Schoolroom group : CLASS

33. Travelers' lodgings : INNS

34. Hypotheticals : IFS. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

37. PC key : ALT

41. Miracle-__: garden brand : GRO

42. B'way setting : NYC

43. Slender woodwind : OBOE

44. Reacted to fireworks : OOHED

46. The Beatles' George : HARRISON

50. Salt Lake City college team, aptly : UTES

51. "Happy I can oblige" : GLAD TO

53. Cop's route : BEAT

55. Lassos : ROPES

61. "__ well that ends ..." : ALL'S. Shakespearean play.

62. Rani's garment : SARI

63. Cease-fire : TRUCE

64. Coagulate, as blood : CLOT

65. Treater's words : "ON ME"

66. Levels, as a building : RAZES

67. Italian noble family : ESTE

68. Fava or lima : BEAN

69. Illegally off-base GIs : AWOLs

Down:

1. Poet Sandburg : CARL

2. Breezy greeting : "HI YA"

3. "__ be wrong, but ..." : I MAY

4. Avis offerings : RENTALS

5. Cuban cash : PESOs

6. Zeus' daughter : ATHENA

7. Popular jeans : LEEs

8. Small fruit pie : TART

9. Mantric syllables : OMs. Ommm... Ommmm...

10. Italian sandwich : PANINI

12. Olds Cutlass model : CIERA

13. The devil : SATAN

21. Canyon edge : RIM

22. "Come on, we're late" : "LET'S GO"

24. Goal in checkers : KING

25. Read, as a bar code : SCAN

26. Treaty partner : ALLY

29. Flying toys : KITES

30. U-turn from WSW : ENE

32. Stable sounds : SNORTS. Pigs, horses...Farmer John up in the haymow.

35. Available for a date : FREE

36. Puts in a lawn the fast way : SODS

39. River of Spain : EBRO. OMG, it's a gimmee for me now. Map.

40. "... or __ thought" : SO I

45. Beat in a Western showdown : OUTDRAW

47. "__ Fideles": carol : ADESTE

48. Conan of "Conan" : O'BRIEN

49. Simpsons neighbor Flanders : NED

51. Pre-meal blessing : GRACE

52. Lounges around : LOLLS

54. Stars, in Latin : ASTRA. ASTRO is the common prefix.

56. Undoing : BANE

57. Cookbook writer Rombauer : IRMA. Her book.

58. Greek liqueur : OUZO. Better know what you're doing if you drink this stuff.

59. Its cap. is Reykjavik : ICEL.and

60. Tracy's Trueheart : TESS. Comic's Dick Tracy.

62. Cry out loud : SOB

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday August 21, 2011 Pamela Amick Klawitter

2011-08-21T04:30:00.002-05:00

Theme: Scrambled Signals - The first word of each common phrase is an anagram indicator. The last word is an anagram of another word referenced in the clue.

24A. 91-Across? : GARBLED SPEECH. And 91A. Aviary sounds : CHEEPS. SPEECH and CHEEPS anagram. GARBED is the anagram signal.

49A. 1-Down? : ALTERED STATES. And 1D. Tries : TASTES. STATES & TASTES anagram.
ALTERED is the signal.

92A. 111-Down? : SHIFTING GEARS. And 111D. Barracks bigwig : SARGE. GEARS & SARGE anagram. SHIFTING is the signal.

121A. 58-Across? : MIXED BLESSING. And 58A. Lack of sincerity : GLIBNESS. BLESSING & GLIBNESS anagram. MIXED is the signal.

3D. 129-Across? : TWISTED SISTER. 129A. Put up a fight : RESIST. SISTER & RESIST anagram. TWISTED is the signal.

61D. 79-Across? : CHANGE OF HEART. The only three-word theme entry. 79A. Milky Way planet : EARTH. HEART & EARTH anagram. CHANGE/CHANGE OF is the signal.

All the long theme entries are symmetrical, the short ones are not. Too impossible a task.

Just a great theme! Pamela is one of few constructors who consistently give us creative puzzles. Her grid is never boring. Always challenging though. This theme has a bit of Dan Finan flavor, another innovative constructor.

Across:

1. Popular tank fillers : TETRAS. Fish tank.

7. First word in many addresses : LADIES

13. Aurora borealis region : ARCTIC

19. If all goes wrong : AT WORST

21. Venue for newsgroups : USENET. Sounds so old.

22. Slain Tejano singer : SELENA. J-Lo played her in the movie "Selena".

23. Chills : SHIVERS

26. Immobilizes, as a perp : TASES

27. She played Dottie in "A League of Their Own" : GEENA. Not a fan.

29. Florentine evening : SERA

30. Where to see the Kon-Tiki : OSLO

31. Sinusitis doc : ENT

32. Give the go-ahead : OKAY

34. One with "Esq." on the door : ATT (Attorney).

36. Xing people? : PEDS. Ped Xing. In Chinese, Xing means "doable". Xin means "new". So, Xin Nian = New Year.

38. "Woo-__!" : HOO

39. Flow slowly : SEEP

41. Utah city on I-15 : OREM

43. Hi, in Honduras : HOLA. Chickie's signature greeting.

45. "__ Peculiar Man": Paul Simon song : A MOST

47. React to humidity, in a way : DROOP. Does this refer to flowers or people?

53. __ Friday : CASUAL

55. Stir up : AROUSE

56. Gave a whirl : SPUN

57. Actresses Gray and Moran : ERINs

60. With a cast of thousands : EPICAL. Always thought the adjective is still EPIC.

64. Japanese-American : NISEI. Ni = Two. Sei = Birth. Literally "second birth/generation".

65. Sharp dresser's standard? : NINES. Dressed to the nines.

66. Directional finish : ERN. Western, for example.

68. "I get it," humorously : AH SO

69. Grounded flier : SST

70. Three sheets to the wind : SAUCED. Drunk.

72. Beethoven's "Pathétique," e.g. : SONATA

75. Both of racing's Unsers : ALS

76. Seine summers : ETES. And 126A. Hot months in Chile : ENEROS. Hot!

78. Colour suffix : ISE. Colourise. British spelling. Not fond of this clue.

80. Things of passing interest? : LANES. Nice clue.

82. "Do I __ eat a peach?": Eliot : DARE TO. Definitely a "Yes" from Argyle. He even dared to link this clip. You wanna give it a go?

84. StubHub competition : SCALPERS

87. Wistful remark : OH GEE

88. Thing to play : ROLE

90. Colored ring : AREOLA. Splynter already gave you the correct link yesterday.

96. White Owl alternative : TE-AMO. Both cigar brands.

97. Future, for one : TENSE

98. Has second thoughts about : RUES

99. Members of the flock : EWES

101. Bay Area blues, briefly : SFPD

104. NYSE figure : ARB (Arbitrager)

105. Parking area : SPOT

107. Spinning toon : TAZ. Tasmanian Devil.

110. Beaux-__: architectural style : ARTS

112. __ polloi : HOI

113. No longer worth discussing : MOOT

115. Some tabernacle singers : ALTI. OK, plural for alto.

117. Lacking integrity : LOOSE

119. 1990s-2000s Irish leader : AHERN (Bertie). Unknown to me. Here, the guy on the right.

124. Arranged in sequence : SERIATE. This is a word?

127. "Stand By Me" director : REINER (Rob)

128. Largest African country : ALGERIA

130. Pull out : SECEDE

131. Rice creation : LESTAT. the vampire. Anne Rice.

Down:

2. Fuel gas : ETHANE

4. Drift : ROVE

5. Sandbox comeback : ARE SO

6. Abbr. on outdated maps : SSR

7. Vehicle for supine sledders : LUGE

8. Hatha yoga posture : ASANA

9. Clear of vermin : DERAT. Spell checker doesn't like it either.

10. Having five sharps, musically : IN B. Whatever.

11. Skinny swimmers : EELS. Yum!

12. Skyline highlight : STEEPLE

13. Big name in Syrian politics : ASSAD. His days are numbered, it seems.

14. Gym unit : REP

15. Geppetto's goldfish : CLEO. Do you all know this?

16. Opening stroke : TEE SHOT. "Fore!" I could picture Husker Gary shouting.

17. How a macro lens is used : IN CLOSE

18. (In) partnership : CAHOOTS

20. Fictional author of "The World According to Bensenhaver" : T S GARP

25. Hates the thought of : DREADS

28. Private __ : EYE

33. __-Aid : KOOL

35. This and that : THESE

37. Suddenly paid attention : SAT UP

40. Danish fruit? : PRUNE. Danish rolls have prune filing. Tricky clue.

42. Iwo Jima figure : MARINE. Our Marine is frolicking in Boca.

44. Unrefined finds : ORES

46. Craze : MANIA

48. Welcome desert sight : OASIS

50. Like lungs : LOBED

51. Winery casks : TUNS

52. Out of gas : SPENT

53. Perfumed, as a chancel : CENSED

54. Label founded in 1975 by Clive Davis : ARISTA

55. Eatery "just a half a mile from the railroad track" : ALICE'S. "Alice's Restaurant".

58. Serengeti roamers : GNUS

59. Popular Nissan : SENTRA

62. Dead to the world : ASLEEP

63. Red ink entries : LOSSES

67. Three cheers, maybe : RAHS

71. Garlicky spread : AIOLI

72. Palate stimulus : SAPOR. Sure looks bland.

73. "... otherwise, you'll be sorry!" : OR ELSE

74. Wailuku welcome : ALOHA

77. Feudal laborers : SERFS

79. Ancient home of Parmenides : ELEA. I only know it's "Zeno's home". Don't know Parmenides.

81. Reminders to conversation monopolizers : AHEMS

83. Rainy day brand : TOTES. Umbrella brand.

85. Exercise wheel site : CAGE. Oh for pets.

86. "Give it __!" : A REST

89. Join the club : ENROLL

91. "__ Magnifique": Porter tune : C'EST

92. Barely get the words out : STAMMER

93. TV's Buffy, e.g. : HEROINE

94. Where work piles up : IN BOXES. I have TO-DO folder for those piled-up work.

95. Alley boundaries : GUTTERS

96. Saint of Ávila : TERESA

100. Isn't anymore : WAS

102. Shylock's adversary : PORTIA

103. Give business to, as a café : DINE AT

106. Longtime beer experiencing a 2000s resurgence : PABST. Why the resurgence, Windhover?

108. Dress with a flare : A-LINE

109. Divided into districts : ZONED

114. Actress Garr : TERI

116. Words with a nod : I SEE

118. Grimm heavy : OGRE

120. Makes tracks : HIES

122. Bob and flip : DOS. I like this clue.

123. [Not my mistake] : SIC

125. Allen wrench shape : ELL

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday, Aug 20, 2011, Doug Peterson

2011-08-20T04:46:00.014-05:00

Theme: None

Words: 72

Blocks: 30

Hello, gang ~! I was fooled into thinking this was a "walk in the park" but I simply could not WAG my way through the NE corner, despite having a pretty good foot-hold. I blogged Doug's last offering just over a month ago, and did well on that one - I must have made him mad....

Onward ~!

ACROSS:

1. They're dirty pool : CHEAP SHOTS - reminds me of this Addams Family scene

11. WNBA positions : CTRs - not fooled by the "W", but still a WAG, since basketball is not my thing

15. Muse of sacred music : POLYHYMNIA - I got it, even with "HY_N" to start; a little background

16. Brest milk : LAIT - LOTS of great, subtle DF cluing today, a play on breast - or is it just me?

17. Does a bit of informal polling : ASKS AROUND

18. Paquin of "True Blood" : ANNA - so not into the latest Vampire thing - I was happy with "Underworld" and Kate Beckinsale

19. Note : SEE

20. Puzzle (out) : SUSS - Clued exclusively for us "Corner" types

21. Model born Lesley Hornby : TWIGGY - Did not know this; I know of her, but not part of my world

23. Equinox mo. : SEPtember - closing in on hockey season ~!

24. Accepted : NORMAL

25. "GoodFellas" Oscar winner : PESCI - this one was a real gimme; I was just watching "My Cousin Vinny" and they mentioned this in the commercial break

28. Reckon, in the boonies : SPOSE - as in "I s'pose y'all city folk?"

30. OR abbr. : NEG - wha? I thought it was EKG; I mean, I get it, but does the Operating Room doc say "NEG"? And blood (type) isn't ONLY in the OR....meh

32. One who's done stretches? : EX-CON - nailed it

33. Texas Rangers CEO : NOLAN RYAN - did not know this, knew him only as a pitcher

35. Leap on blades : AXEL

36. Story writer/poet Grace who studied with Auden : PALEY - her

37. Classic Leontyne Price role : AIDA - here

38. Honey Ryder and Xenia Onatopp, e.g. : BOND GIRLS - "Bond, James Bond" - my top three Bond Girls; (1) - (2) - (3) - what's yours? Sorry ladies....

40. Out of line : ASKEW

41. Inseparable : ONE

42. Some rectangular bars : OLEOS - a little ruse here, oleo the fake butter bar in the fridge

43. Feinting spells? : SPARS - meh, I get it, but I think of feinting as part of fencing

44. Ore.'s highest point : Mt. HOOD

46. Broker's advice : BUY - I use Scottrade

47. Any regular on "The View" : CO-HOST - too much estrogen for me

48. Numbers for closers : ERAs - Earned Run Average, a number for Nolan

50. Cone head? : SNO - oh, very good, Sno-Cone - I was not on this wavelength to start

53. __ Bacon: "East of Eden" character : ABRA

54. Got at : INSINUATED

57. Structure on piles : PIER

58. "When pigs fly!" : NOT ON A DARE

59. More than asked : PLED

60. Safari sights : GRASSLANDS - ah - not Gorillllas, Gazelllles, Giraffffes,...

DOWN:

1. They're no. experts : CPAs - Certified Public Accountants - I caught the "." after "no"

2. It may wind up around the house : HOSE - we have two hose bibs, so we do not have to wrap the house, but I have seen this

3. Paul's "The Prize" co-star : ELKE - Paul Newman, Elke Sommer in this movie

4. Bard's interjections : AYs

5. Introduce by degrees : PHASE IN

6. Stack sweetener : SYRUP - pancake stack

7. GP gps. : HMOs

8. Weight : ONUS

9. Can across the pond : TIN - a tin of tobacco, in England and other places on the other side of the Atlantic, affectionately known as the "pond"

10. "I'm afraid the news is not good ..." : SAD TO SAY

11. One may be filed : CLAIM

12. It merged with Zanzibar in 1964 : TANGANYIKA - man, I thought I knew this, but it totally eluded me; map - the Lake is now on the left, Zanzibar to the right

13. Gangbuster's target : RINGLEADER - Rum-runner, etc., but I couldn't "suss" it out

14. Inn time : STAY - Argh~! - Trying too hard on this one

22. Singer of complex songs : WREN - not a DIVA

23. Baste : SCOLD - completely filled in via Perps - otherwise, I might have screwed this one up

24. Phrase of emphasis : NO LESS

25. R&B singer Bryson : PEABO

26. Dow 30 company : EXXON-MOBIL

27. When, in Act Two of "Macbeth," the Porter knocks at the gate : SCENE THREE

28. Caught : SNARED

29. Taquería meat : POLLO - Chicken

31. Irritates, with "at" : GNAWS

34. Far from mellifluous : RASPY - Sassy, no, Rusty, no, Risky, no....

36. At the helm of : PILOTING

39. Nursery sounds : GOOs

40. Like much business? : AS USUAL - Men at Work and a little ditty for you

45. Put away : HOARD

46. Wedding announcement : BANNS - new one for me; and intended notice of marriage

47. Stupefyin' Jones creator : CAPP - Al Capp, Li'l Abner - Wiki

48. First-year Spanish verb : ESTA

49. Mexican waterways : RIOs

50. Persian for "place of" : STAN

51. One needing social work? : NERD

52. Confucius's "Book of __" : ODES

55. Bergen's home: Abbr. : NORway - Second largest city

56. Org. working on bridges : ADA - The fake teeth bridges of the American Dental Association - got it

Answer grid.

Splynter

Friday, August 19, 2011, Jeff Louie

2011-08-19T05:30:00.223-05:00

Theme: CG the old fashioned way; not Computer Graphics, just C and G. Food phrases with the first letter of the first word beginning with "G" have the first word replaced with a sound a like word starting with "C," resulting in a new and colorful phrase. This may be the debut puzzle of another blogger gone bad, I mean gone to creating puzzles; I have seen comments from Mr. Louie on other blog sites and solving results. His effort is very theme heavy, with some cute fill, but overall a relative speed run for a Friday. In any event, welcome Jeff, I am Lemonade and I will lead our group through your paces, while we fill in the spaces.

16A. Dairy food for a haunted house?: CREAK YOGURT. GREEK YOGURT, the new favorite of health conscious eaters.

23A. Boxed Brie?: CRATED CHEESE. GRATED CHEESE. This is the only one where the spelling does not change, just the G to C.

38A. With 41-Across, pancake-flavored drink?: CREPE. 41A. See 38-Across: JUICE. GRAPE JUICE. A most unusual central theme answer, actually divided by another fill, and not a perfect sound alike.

50A. Snacks for an all-nighter?: CRAM CRACKERS. GRAHAM CRACKERS.

62A. Dinner dish decorated for a king?: CROWNED BEEF. GROUND BEEF.

Now on to the rest....

Across:

1. Espresso concoction: LATTE. I am just a coffee drinker, no frothy milk for me.

6. Pile: HEAP. We had this clued as a junk car earlier this week

10. With 13-Across, coming-out phrase?: IT'S. and 13. See 10-Across: A GIRL. I liked this combo clue, because it fooled me a little, as I was thinking of DEBUTANTES.

14. Surprisingly, the Rays don't play there: TAMPA. They play at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

15. Something to pick: NIT. Oh goody, a shout out to Marti, a fellow butterfly form the caterpillar world of blogging and constructing.

18. "CSI" proof:: DNA.

19. Campfire whopper: YARN. He has lots of double words, like this and 17D. Be homesick (for): YEARN, which always brings this Song to mind.

20. Mer flow: EAU. French again; not only our Crepe, but MER = Sea and EAU = Water.

21. More revolting: ICKIER. Probably a derivative of sicky-poo, when little ones were nauseous.

26. Shower head, maybe: METEOR. Meteor shower, a nice clue.

29. Georgetown athlete: HOYA. An old Greek word meaning What or that, which somehow got combined with Latin SAXA meaning rocks, as all college student used to study Greek and Latin, what rocks became Georgetown's rallying song.

30. Outlet store abbr.: IRR. Irregular, i think get this in 1/2 the puzzles i write up.

31. Thwart the re-election bid of: UNSEAT. No politics, but it comes from the literal taking away of the seat in congress.

34. Sask. neighbor: N DAK. Saskatchewan is just north of North Dakota.

40. Priest's vestment : ALB. This is the long white gown like vestment worn by priests and other clergy usually adorned with a colorful sash. From the Latin meaning white, the same root word for albino.

42. Drifting, maybe: ASEA. My mandatory A word.

43. Pedicure stone: PUMICE. The result of volcanic eruption, the bubbles help this rock to be an excellent exfoliant for all the metrosexuals in the audience, especially on those nasty heel calluses.

45. Parliament vote: NAY.

46. Literary __: LION. I like alliteration as much as the next guy, but I am never going to use this phrase to describe a famous person.

48. Runs the show: REIGNS. From the king ruling.

55. Goldbricks: DOGS IT. Like Beetle Bailey who is often accused of being a gold brick or dogging it by Sgt Snorkel. I guess because gold bricks don't do anything but sit and look pretty and dogs do eat often.

56. App with a Buddy List: AIM. AOL Instant Messenger.

57. __ vez: Spaniard's "again": OTRA. Literally "another time."

61. Flee: RUN.

65. Sugar suffix: OSE. Lactose, sucrose, dextrose...

66. Filled a hold with: LADED. In shipping, hence the manifest being the bill of lading.

67. Western: OATER. For the horsies to eat, silly.

68. Kitten's cry: MEW.

69. Checked out: EYED. See, we made it again.

70. Set of principles: CREDO. From the Latin meaning to believe, and I do believe we have made it to the turn..

Down:

1. Like some lingerie: LACY. Your Vote?

2. Uttar Pradesh tourist city: AGRA. The Upper Provinces in India, more details from our friends?

3. Stratum: TIER.

4. Medium state?: TRANCE. I like this one as it also took me a moment to suss the idea.

5. Bugler with horns: ELK. this also reminds me of 33D. Popular street name: ELM.

6. With "The," city with a lake called the Hofvijver at its center: HAGUE.

7. It has six toes: EMU. Why, I wonder?

8. Fuzzy fruit: APRICOT. My first thought was Boy George, but it did not fit.

9. Weather forecast word: PATCHY. Patchy clouds, patchy fog, you name it they have it.

10. Sundance entry, usually: INDIE. Short for Independent Film, meaning not commissioned by a studio, and looking for distribution.

11. Pitchfork parts: TINES. Also known as a PRONG.

12. Gape: STARE. Please do not just sit there staring.

14. Perfectly: TO A T. An old favorite that can distress when you do not take the letters apart.

22. Name that means "cool breeze" in Hawaiian: KEANU. I wonder what happened to all of our Hawaiian contributors?

24. Casanova: ROUE. A dissolute dedicated to only sensual pleasure; the word comes from the French (yes, dammit French again) ROUER meaning to "break on the wheel" that wonderful medieval torture device used to dispel sexual ardor, of those who were to easy to 51D. Stir: ROUSE.

25. Abu __: DHABI. Father of the Gazelle, and the site of the government of the UAE.

26. Flaky mineral: MICA. Not to be confused with the cheap imitation FORMICA.

27. Boots an easy grounder: ERRS. ESPN's not top ten.

28. Arbor Day planting: TREE. Abror is the Latin word for tree, and this celebration began in Nebraska started by J. Stirling Morton, so thanks HG and others.

32. Spa offering: SAUNA. Dry heat from Scandinavia, rather than Steam heat.

35. "Correct answer" sound: DING. Ding Ding Ding for all of you, as this puzzle unfolded.

36. "... Prince Albert in __?": A CAN. As a child, I really did call Gagne's (pronounced GAHN YAY's) drug store and ask the question, and then start giggling, "Well you should let him out."

37. Ring jinglers: KEYS. Some people can be really annoying.

39. Conceals sneakily: PALMS, in case you want to learn.

41. Boo bird's call: JEER.

43. Depict: PORTRAY.

44. Cupcake filling: CREME. If cream filling is not classy enough for you.

47. Emotionally unavailable type: ICICLE. I always thought they were cold fish.

49. Weather map line: ISOBAR. Not a place where you drink ISO, but the lines of consistent pressure used by weathermen to predict weather.

50. Drive insert: CD-ROM.

52. One of Nixon's vices?: AGNEW. Love this clue, but not this man.

53. Made like a crow: CAWED. Why do we do that?

54. Good-hearted: KIND.

58. Spot for un chapeau: TETE. More French, chapeau = hat, tete = head.

59. Lou of The Velvet Underground: REED. Melrose Plant's favorite singer, right WM?

60. __-Cuban music: AFRO. My WAG of the day, and the music to get ready to say we are done.

63. William Browne's "Awake, faire Muse," e.g.: ODE. All yours CA.

64. Sawbones: DOC. What's up, time to go, another Friday and another fun ride; be careful, school and school buses and kids are coming to highway near you.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

P.S. For my fellow New Englanders it is the 56th Anniversary of the Flood of 1955 when hurricanes Connie and Diane hit 6 days apart. A time I will never forget.

Thursday August 18, 2011 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

2011-08-18T05:30:00.020-05:00

Theme: It all ADDS UP (to a sinister riddle)!! The first three letters of the theme entries are synonyms for "add". But, Don G. and C.C. have taken it a step further by using words that change the pronunciation of the "add" synonyms. I have provided links to the theme entries, so you can hear the difference. Just click the speaker next to the entry, and you will hear the correct pronunciation. C.C and Don G. have also provided us with a nice visual, in the form of "plus" signs within the grid. I noticed those immediately when I opened the puzzle, did you?

16A. Rikishi's contest : SUMO MATCH. Did you learn to do "sum" math in grammar school? A "rikishi" is the Japanese word for a professional sumo wrestler. It is also the ring name for professional wrestler Solofa F. Fatu, Jr. I watch him all the time...(not ! - see 62A)

28A. City known as the political capital of Africa : ADDIS ABABA. After your ABC's, I bet you learned how to add two and two! Addis Ababa is located in central Ethiopia.

43A. Pacific Northwest cedar monuments : TOTEM POLES. To "tot" up figures sounds like an old-fashioned phrase. Because of the moist climate in the pacific northwest, few examples of totem poles carved before 1900 exist today.

And, (wait for it!!...) the unifier:

55A. The three in this grid are a hint to the starts of 16-, 28- and 43-Across : PLUS SIGNS

Marti here, and I am delighted to blog another one of our dynamic duo's offerings!

Across:

1. Altar constellation : ARA. I hate it when the lead-in fill is something I don't know (or forgot 2 seconds after I had it in the last puzzle...) So we are going to have a little astronomy lesson right off the bat: Ara is latin for "altar". And it kind of looks like one, don't you think?

4. Picked locks? : AFRO. Great misdirection. These "dos" sometimes still have the "pick" stuck in them!

8. Where to see Goyas : PRADO. Museo Nacional del Prado, in Madrid.

13. Translating computer program : COMPILER

15. Had pizza delivered, say : ATE IN. Got indigestion...

18. Vice __ : VERSA.

19. DFW airport home : TEX. Dallas - Fort Worth, Texas.

20. Lei presenter : WAHINE. The Hawaiian word for "woman". Can also mean a surfer girl.

22. Bit for the dog bowl : ORT. Why do they always get the orts?

23. Tapped-out character : DIT.

24. Popping up all over : RIFE. From old English rīfe; related to Old Norse rīfr generous, Middle Dutch rīve. Who knew???

25. Plaintive wind, perhaps : OBOE. The oboe does sound sad, especially when used to portray the poor duck in "Peter and the Wolf". Interesting narration by David Bowie.

26. First-year law student : ONE-L. Scott Turow's book One L says it all.

30. Battlefield display : HEROICS. Billy, don't be a hero...

32. King's problem in "The King's Speech" : STUTTER. Wonderful movie! Have you all seen it?

33. Polo Grounds #4 : OTT. Dang! Why can I never remember my baseball facts? I knew Mel Ott from, oh, about a thousand crossword puzzles. But "Polo Grounds" threw me for a while. Remember? That was the name of four different stadiums in upper Manhattan, used by the New York Metropolitans, Giants, Yankees and Mets...

34. Place to see bull horns : LEA. They share the lea with the sheep, you know.

35. Reorganize, and then some : SHAKE UP. Great fill.

39. Thrill : DELIGHT

45. NYC neighborhood : NOHO. Short for "North of Houston". I have heard some New Yorkers pronounce this as "how-sten". Is that a local thing?

46. Make __ dash : A MAD. What is everyone so mad about?

47. Scandinavian saint : OLAF. Also a college in Northfield, MN. You can get tickets to listen to Garrison Keeler's "Prairie Home Companion" live broadcast from there on November 19.

48. Rascal : IMP

49. Like Gen. McChrystal : RET. An outspoken and sometimes controversial four-star general, he RETired in July of 2010.

50. Quite soon : ANY DAY. Yep, "Any day now, I'll get to those weeds in the garden..."

52. Bearded beast : GNU. Who gnu?

53. What a case may go to : TRIAL. Yeah, but we have Lemonade and Hahtool on our side!!

58. Gravy no-no : LUMPS. I always leave a few lumps in my gravy, just so everyone knows I made it from scratch, and not from a can...

59. Billie Holiday's real first name : ELEANORA. I forgive you guys! My oldest sister's name was Eleanor (R.I.P.)

60. El primer mes : ENERO. "The first month", in Spanish: January.

61. Houston MLBer : STRO. I guess this is short for "Astro"? And Major League Baseball?

62. "Just kidding!" : NOT.

OK, time for a sip of wine, and then lets continue to

Down:

1. Rm. coolers : ACs. Abbr. and plural in the clue lets us know it's not "fan".

2. Stand-up performance : ROUTINE.

3. Current contraption : AMMETER. This one gave me fits, as I was thinking of "ohmmete..." but I ran out of spaces.

4. Align the cross hairs : AIM

5. Fly in the ointment : FLAW.

6. Slows : RETARDS. Phew! This one could have been a very un-PC clue.

7. Prom corsage : ORCHID. Does anyone grow orchids besides Vidwan and me?

8. Work on the street : PAVE. Heh, heh..I had a totally different kind of work in mind...

9. MapQuest output: Abbr. : RTE. Route.

10. Pilot in a show : AEROBAT. Another one that gave me fits. I wanted "aeronau..." Dang! Ran out of spaces again! But, it's a real word - aerobatics are performed by - what else? - Aerobats!

11. Prepare for the hot tub : DISROBE. OK, I will refrain...

12. Painting the town red : ON A TEAR. "On a spre...". OK, I'm just going to have to stretch this grid out a little bit, to fit in all my answers.

14. "A __ upon thee!" : POX. Who said that?

17. Oldies players : HI-FIs. Oldies? OLDIES? Who you callin' "old", Miss C.C.?? My Hi-Fi was the latest thing in H.S. !!

21. Gets cozy : NESTLES. Every morning, I like to nestle into the crook of DH's arm when I wake up. My favorite part of the day!

23. [Facepalm!] : D'OH. The Urban Dictionary defines "facepalm" as "The act of dropping one's face / forehead into one's hand. Usually accompanied by a "thunk" or a cry of "D'oh!" " We here on the blog just use a V8 can...

25. Lay one's hands on : OBTAIN

27. Undid the blindfold : LOOKED. No fair peeking!

28. Do more than just consider : ACT UPON

29. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" writer : AUEL. I have her latest, The Land of the Painted Caves, on my iPad, waiting to be read. (It's #11 on the list...).

31. Tabloid pair : ITEM

35. Scare : STARTLE

36. Jeter's 3,000th hit, e.g. : HOME RUN. Derek, if memory serves me...

37. Unit by unit, in succession : AT A TIME. One at a time...

38. Coral component : POLYP

39. Foreclosure cause : DEFAULT. Oops!

40. In progress : GOING ON

41. Author better known as Saki : H.H. MUNRO. "Saki" is a reference to the cup-bearer in the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám.

42. Word with seed or banana : TOP

44. Tureen utensils : LADLES

50. Besides : ALSO. And furthermore...

51. Strategic WWI river : YSER. Through France and Belgium.

52. Gibson need : GIN. Marti's need, at this point...

54. Spring mo. : APR. Let me check my calendar...

56. Common word on Brazilian maps : SAO. (Forgive the lack of punctuation accents): Sao Paolo, Sao Luis, Sao Jose de Ribamar, Sao Lourenco de Mata, Sao Goncalo do Amarente, Sao Cristovao, Sao Mateus... you get the idea!

57. Watched the kids : SAT. While they were studying for their college admission tests...

Answer grid.

Whew! That was fun, and I'll see y'all again real soon!

Marti

Note from C.C. and Don:

Don cooked up this idea. We wanted to see if we could use plus signs in the grid to convey meaning in a phrase. Since plus signs are addition, we thought the theme phrases could begin with words that mean "add". We kept it to three letter words, and noticed that the pronunciation in one of the theme phrases was different than the "add" word. We liked that idea, and followed it through for the other two theme answers. The real challenge, though, was trying to get three plus signs into the grid. Hence, we ended up with ELEANORA in 59-Across, if you will forgive us. Does this puzzle remind any of you Don's L-BARS grid image?

Wednesday, August 17 2010, Jack McInturff

2011-08-17T05:30:00.006-05:00

Theme: LADYLIKE - the first three theme answers begin with a word that, when preceded with the word lady, forms a common phrase. the fourth theme answer is the unifier.

17a. Gourmet treat sold in gold boxes : GODIVA CHOCOLATE. lady godiva. gimme. i pictured the box immediately. wikipedia: "according to legend, lady godiva rode naked through the streets of coventry, in england, in order to gain a remission of the oppressive taxation imposed by her husband on his tenants." it would be more entertaining if the tea partiers took this approach. she has inspired at least two movies, a painting, and a statue.

25a. Backdrop for tangerine trees, in a Beatles classic : MARMALADE SKIES. lady marmalade. another gimme. lyrics from lucy in the sky with diamonds. interesting information about the lyrics. the song lady marmalade was originally made famous by patti labelle, and more recently by christina aguilera, lil' kim, mya, and pink in the soundtrack to the movie moulin rouge.

41a. Enduring fortune, ethnically speaking : LUCK OF THE IRISH. lady luck. needed a few perps to get this one.

54a. 1978 #1 hit for the Commodores (and this puzzle's title) : THREE TIMES A LADY.

i thought of BIRDS OF A FEATHER (ladybird). ladyfinger and ladybug also come to mind. can you think of a 14- or 15- letter phrase beginning with finger, or bug?

easy solve with very few unknowns. grokked the theme early. felt a little more like a tuesday level.

across

1. Crime writer Paretsky : SARA. didn't know her.

5. Name on an NYU arts building : TISCH. another unknown. ny school of the arts was renamed the tisch school of the arts after a donation in 1982 from laurence a. and preston robert tisch.

10. Goes (for) : OPTS. hello again.

14. Declare openly : AVER. hello again.

15. Toaster, at times : EMCEE. hello again.

16. Bucket of bolts : HEAP. slang for a clunker of a car.

20. USN rank : ENS. stands for ensign, a junior officer.

21. Bow-wielding god : EROS and 50d. 21-Across, in Rome : AMOR

22. Edd's "77 Sunset Strip" role : KOOKIE. before my time.

23. Approximation phrase : OR SO.

24. Brand served on the floor : ALPO. dog food.

31. Thief : BANDIT

32. Cabbage roll? : WAD. slang, wad of cash.

33. L.A.-to-Bakersfield heading : NNW

34. Follow, as a tip : ACT ON

35. Bit of a pickle : JAM. like this clue.

36. Yes-man's phrase : SO DO I. reminds me of larry tate from bewitched.

38. Hawaiian tuna : AHI. mmm.

39. Ballot markings : X'ES. or kisses.

40. Take off : DEDUCT

45. "Law & Order" figures: Abbr. : ADAS. assistant district attorneys.

46. Swedish explorer Hedin : SVEN. not familiar to me. he made many discoveries during four expeditions to central china. died in 1952.

47. Former "Today" co-anchor : COURIC. katie. recently left cbs evening news.

50. D-delta connection : AS IN. d as in delta.

51. Fashion bottom line? : HEM. clever.

57. Gentle slope : RISE

58. Maine campus town : ORONO

59. Godmother, often : AUNT

60. Good earth : LOAM. liked this.

61. Harder to find : RARER

62. Ho-hum : BLAH

Down

1. Guru : SAGE

2. Royal Shakespeare Theatre river : AVON

3. Primary colors : REDS

4. Ex-press secretary Fleischer : ARI

5. Excitedly removes, as wrapping : TEARS AT. sounds so uncivilized.

6. "Works for me" : I'M COOL

7. UCLA and USC : SCHS. i guess this is just abbreviation for schools. looks funny.

8. Boardroom VIP : CEO. chief executive officer.

9. Harassed from the peanut gallery : HECKLED.

10. "You have to see this!" : OH LOOK. with all the recent teacher discussion, you have to see this. (language warning)

11. Heyday : PEAK

12. Jacques of "Mon Oncle" : TATI. french filmmaker. another unknown.

13. WWI admiral Maximilian von ___ : SPEE. perps to the rescue.

18. Rats and such : VERMIN

19. Cry over spilled milk? : OOPS

23. Great Seal word : ORDO. lifted from c.c.'s blog of the 11/26/10: See here . "Novus ordo seclorum" = "New order of the ages". Novus = New. Ordo = Order. Seclorum = Age.

24. Sandler of "Spanglish" : ADAM. liked the movie.

25. Peru's __ Picchu : MACHU

26. Playful prank : ANTIC

27. Up to one's neck (in) : AWASH

28. Pakistani river : INDUS

29. Tennyson's "__ Arden" : ENOCH. poem published in 1864. calling clear ayes.

30. She played Houlihan on "M*A*S*H" : SWIT. loretta. great tv show, great character.

31. False god : BAAL

35. Airbus products : JETS

36. Williams of tennis : SERENA

37. Viking war god : ODIN

39. Hard-to-define element : X-FACTOR

40. b, in a ÷ b : DIVISOR

42. Laker teammate of Magic : KAREEM. abdul-jabbar.

43. "Garfield" drooler : ODIE. big-tongued dog.

44. Reputed Dead Sea Scrolls writer : ESSENE. jewish sect. story of the discovery of the dead sea scrolls is fascinating.

47. Laptop key : CTRL

48. Taft's birth state : OHIO

49. Minor start? : URSA. ursa minor, meaning "smaller bear." constellation.

51. Do a trucker's job : HAUL

52. Novelist Ferber : EDNA. hello again.

53. Urban legend, e.g. : MYTH

55. Rollover subj. : IRA

56. Scientist's milieu : LAB

Answer grid.

melissa

Note from C.C.:

This is a fun picture from Kazie, who visited Miller Park for the first time on August 15, 2011. She said: "Here is a picture of (L to R) me with husband Barry and son David at the Brewers Game Monday night taken with the "racing sausages".

It really was the first time I've ever gone to a real ball game of any sort, other than school events I had to attend. So quite an experience for me at age 65!"

Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Alex Boisvert

2011-08-16T05:30:00.008-05:00

Theme: Modified - The end word, with an added letter or two and a long E sound in different spelling, is placed in front of itself as a modifier AND the modifier has a different etymology. There are three in the rows and two in the columns.

17A. Meat used in place of a puck? : HOCKEY HOCK. HOCKEY, the game, from the "hook" like nature of the sticks. HOCK, Old English hohsinu (literally, heel). Not much meat there. Image.

39A. Surcharge for a cab ride? : TAXI TAX. TAXI, 1907, shortening of taximeter cab (introduced in London in March 1907), from taximeter "automatic meter to record the distance and fare". TAX, from L. taxare "evaluate, estimate, assess, handle".

61A. Davy Jones at an abbey? : MONKEE MONK. Davy Jones was with the musical group, The Monkees. MONK ; Greek monachós hermit.

11D. Intimidator on the bovine playground? : BULLY BULL. BULLY originally had a positive sense of the word, "sweetheart", uncertain origin (cf. Ger. buhle "lover"). BULL came from O.E. bula "a bull, a steer".

35D. Short-term Arizona State employee? : TEMPE TEMP. The original campus was in TEMPE, The sports teams are the Arizona State Sun Devils. TEMP is short for temporary, a worker hired for a short period of time.

Argyle here. At first glance, I thought 'meh' but as I had to parse it, I discovered it was much more complex than I thought. Finding a modifier that is based on a different word but still uses the same letters? Well.... Still a good share of names but a bit more common. Some good stuff you might care to comment on.

Across:

1. Big Harley, in slang : HAWG

5. "Marching Along" autobiographer : SOUSA. The March King.

10. "Mamma Mia!" group : ABBA

14. Soap Box Derby state : OHIO

15. Hearth debris : ASHES

16. Off-peak period : LULL

19. Untidy type : SLOB

20. John Williams quintet? : OSCARS. A prolific composer. Link to his nominations and wins.

21. Fridge sound : HUM. "Hummm" as I stand with the door open deciding what I want to eat.

22. '70s Olympics name : OLGA. Korbut.

23. Fab Four member : STARR. Ringo.

24. Prepare beans, Mexican-style : REFRY

26. Scary fly : TSE-TSE

30. Place for care instructions : LABEL

33. Mouse catchers : CATS

36. Expected : DUE

37. Professor's goal : TENURE

38. Corrida cry : ¡OLÉ!

41. English __ : LITerature

42. Drum heard in Westerns : TOM-TOM

44. Actress Basinger : KIM. Image.

45. Bar brews : ALES

46. Mar. parade celeb : ST. PAT

47. Presario PC brand : COMPAQ. Can you believe I messed this one up and I'm sitting in front of a COMPAQ!

49. Significant period : EPOCH

51. Comfortably rewarding : CUSHY

55. Dinner and a movie, say : DATE

57. D-backs, on scoreboards : ARI. More Arizona.

59. Gillette razor named for its blade count : TRAC II

60. One with a password : USER

63. Gimlet garnish : LIME. "gin, a spot of lime, and soda"

64. Game show host : EMCEE

65. Throw in a chip : ANTE

66. SoCal force : LA PD

67. Country singer Rimes : LEANN

68. Tabloid loch : NESS. Monster or misunderstood?

Down:

1. Hostess snack cakes : HO HOs. Ho, Ho, Ho! One for the ladies. Image.

2. "__ of golden daffodils": Wordsworth : A HOST. "Daffodils" (1804). I wander'd lonely as a cloud. That floats on high o'er vales and hills,. When all at once I saw a crowd,. A host, of golden daffodils; ...

3. Neopagan religion : WICCA

4. Some Soap Box Derby entrants : GO-KARTS

5. Articulates : SAYS

6. __Kosh B'Gosh : OSH. The children's apparel company founded in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1895.

7. "Rats!" : "UH OH!"

8. Out of harm's way : SECURE

9. Invitation on a rep's button : ASK ME

10. Losing candidate : ALSO RAN

12. Online journal : BLOG

13. Jessica of "Sin City" : ALBA. Another for the boys. Image.

18. Slips up : ERRS

25. Show off one's muscles : FLEX. And another for the girls. Image. Are you keeping score?

27. Dutch cheese : EDAM

28. Prom duds : TUX

29. Bulova competitor : SEIKO

31. 14-Across's Great Lake : ERIE

32. Tennis net grazers : LETS

33. Summer cabin beds : COTS

34. Boatloads : A LOT

37. Pack (down) : TAMP

39. Four-legged Oz visitor : TOTO

40. Comical Conway : TIM

43. Like a pencil point : TAPERED

45. Sea-dwelling superhero : AQUAMAN. Sending out a message.

47. Car trim : CHROME

48. Farmland division : ACRE

50. Skating maneuver : CAMEL. Camel spin.(0:18)

52. Teatime snack : SCONE. No dunking today.

53. Help for the clueless : HINTS

54. "Omigosh!" : "YIKES!"

55. Boring : DULL

56. Where most people live : ASIA

58. Bygone Peruvian : INCA

59. Not-so-little kid : TEEN

62. Barbie's guy : KEN

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

A belated "Happy Birthday" to dear Chickie.

Monday, August 15, 2011 Jeff Chen

2011-08-15T05:30:00.004-05:00

Theme: Ghoul Rhymes - As per the store displays, it's time to get ready for Halloween and so here are four theme entries that end with a rhyme for GHOUL, in case you want to write some poems.

17A. 1956 #1 hit for Elvis Presley : "DON'T BE CRUEL". Clip.(2:04) A couple of things; it wasn't lip-synced and there is some German narration(Perhaps we could get a translation?).

27A. Mr. T catch phrase : "I PITY THE FOOL....". He played B.A. Baracus on TV's The A-Team.

47A. Cornerstone principle of democracy : MAJORITY RULE

61A. Eight-time Best Actor nominee who never won : PETER O'TOOLE. Wikipedia article.

Argyle here. I don't think CRUEL is a perfect rhyme but we'll give it poetic(or constructor) license. The spelling is different for each word. There are some names that might cause some trouble but smooth sailing, for the most part. It's what I expect from a Jeff Chen puzzle.

Across:

1. Shish __ : KABOB

6. 2008 "Yes We Can" sloganeer : OBAMA

11. ACLU concerns : RTs. Rights, to the extreme sometimes.

14. Prefix with -clast : ICONO. One who attacks cherished beliefs.

15. Group of secret schemers : CABAL. From Latin [kuh-bal].

16. Neighbor of Wash. : ORE.

19. Cartoon collectible : CEL

20. De Matteo of "The Sopranos" : DREA. Image.

21. Fat-based bird feed : SUET. There have been some cases of it being bear feed, too, this year.

22. '80s-'90s "Did I do that?" TV nerd : URKEL. Image from Family Matters.

24. Having one's day in court? : ON TRIAL

26. "Revenge is __ best served cold" : A DISH. "Old Klingon Proverb"

31. Choir section : ALTOs

34. Cold War country, briefly : USA

35. Chimney passage : FLUE

36. Scratch or scuff : MAR

37. Ostracized one : OUTCAST

41. Prefix with metric : ISO

42. Recipient of a princess's kiss : FROG

44. Suffix for no-good : NIK. A pair of them.

45. Like days gone by : OLDEN

51. Henry __ Lodge: WWI senator : CABOT. (from Boston, Massachusetts.)

52. Final stage of a chess match : END GAME. When only a few pieces are left on the board.

56. "Sesame Street" resident : ERNIE

57. "Get lost, kitty!" : "SCAT!"

59. Adorn, as a birthday gift : WRAP

60. Below-the-belt : LOW

64. Musician's deg. : MFA. Master of Fine Arts.

65. Dodge, as the press : EVADE

66. Address the crowd : ORATE

67. Cellos' sect. : STR. Strings.

68. Flew off the handle : RAGED

69. Gumbo vegetables : OKRAs

Down:

1. Friendly term of address : KIDDO

2. Oak tree-to-be : ACORN

3. Lisa of "The Cosby Show" : BONET. Image.

4. Easternmost Great Lake : ONTARIO

5. Reggae's Marley : BOB. Jammin'.(2:56)

6. Supernatural : OCCULT

7. Au naturel : BARE

8. Stand next to : ABUT

9. West of the silver screen : MAE

10. Refer (to) : ALLUDE

11. Dependable beyond doubt : ROCK SOLID

12. Kids' secret club meeting place : TREE HOUSE

13. Dispose of via eBay : SELL

18. Morales of "La Bamba" : ESAI. Also, Lt. Tony Rodriguez on NYPD Blue.

23. Jazz motif : RIFF

25. __ facto : IPSO. "by the fact itself"

26. Cries of triumph : A-HAs

28. Totally gross : YUCKY

29. Luggage-screening org. : TSA. Transportation Security Administration.

30. "Exodus" author Uris : LEON

31. Car radio button : AM/FM

32. "Tomb Raider" role for Angelina Jolie : LARA CROFT. From the game.

33. Conflict involving a fake horse : TROJAN WAR

38. Workbook chapter : UNIT

39. __ for tat : TIT. Image.

40. Sang like a canary, so to speak : TOLD

43. Mongolian desert : GOBI

46. Out-of-the-office detective duty : LEG WORK

48. Ebert's partner after Siskel : ROEPER. Image.

49. Parented : REARED

50. "Do __ others ..." : UNTO

53. Bustling with noise : AROAR

54. Island nation near Sicily : MALTA. Map.

55. Fencing swords : EPEEs

56. Shade trees : ELMS

57. Just for guys : STAG

58. Formally relinquish : CEDE

62. Perón of Argentina : EVA

63. As well : TOO

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday August 14, 2011 Matt Skozsen

2011-08-14T03:30:00.003-05:00

Theme: Keeping Quiet - SH is inserted into common phrases.

23A. Where Persian rulers rough it? : SHAH WILDERNESS. "Ah Wilderness!", Eugene O'Neill's comedy.

34A. Agnostics' reactions to grace? : PRAYER SHRUGS. Prayer rugs.

52A. Vaudeville hook? : SHTICK COLLAR. Tick collar.

74A. Pet predator that survived the Flood? : NOAH'S SHARK. Noah's Ark. No way Noah put a shark on his boat.

76A. Organization of river herrings? : SHAD AGENCY. Ad agency.

91A. Analyst for Kings and Senators? : HOCKEY SHRINK. Hockey rink. LA Kings and Ottawa Senators. (Sorry for the error earlier.)

110A. "Help, I'm stuck in this tree!" e.g.? : SHOUT ON A LIMB. Out on a limb.

126A. Where to find many cookie jars? : KEEBLER SHELVES. Keebler Elves.

Lovely puzzle. Easy to grok theme and smooth fill, at least to me.

Again, two fingers along the four edges of the grid, so lots of nice 6 & 7-letter words. But the total word count is still 144 (maximum for a Sunday grid), so lots of 3 & 4 letter word in the middle.

Matt Skoczen seems to be specialized in Sunday puzzles. Today is 4th this year.

Across:

1. "Don't make me come over there!" : I'M SO MAD. Great start.

8. Time's 1930 Man of the Year : GANDHI

14. Courtroom fig. : ASST DA. A bit hard to parse.

20. "Let's talk privately" : NOT HERE (Thanks for the correction, Barry G & Splynter.)

21. Sneaker brand : ADIDAS

22. Turkish shelter : IMARET. Turkish "Inn".

25. "Tender Mercies" Oscar winner : DUVALL (Robert). Drew a blank.

26. "__ Can Cook": PBS show : YAN

27. Mrs. Smith's competitor : SARA LEE. Is Mrs. Smith's a regional brand?

28. Colorado natives : UTES

30. Semana seventh : DIA. Semana = Week.

31. Shaving mishap : NICK

33. Polite title : SIR

38. Ontario natives : CREES

40. Like Aleve and Advil, briefly : OTC

42. Cancún coin : PESO

43. Shoveling aftermath : ACHE

44. Same old same old : RUT

46. Arts acronym : ASCAP

49. Brunch menu heading : OMELETS

57. Org. giving NC-17s : MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America)

58. Spanish preposition : POR. Por favor.

59. Gravy base : ROUX

60. __ point: only so far : UP TO A

62. Alpaca relatives : LLAMAS

67. Habituate : ENURE

69. Earl Grey dunker : SCONE. Dunk scone into the tea? Strange!

71. Mailbox opening : SLOT

73. __ Bora: Taliban stronghold : TORA

78. First 007 film : DR. NO

79. Zither's cousin : LYRE

80. Strait-laced : STAID

81. Sch. with a minuteman mascot : UMASS. See here. I bet he doesn't look good as a bobblehead as our Goldy Gopher.

82. Starts : SETS TO

84. Puccini classic : TOSCA

86. Stone and Stallone : SLYS

88. "O Sole __" : MIO

89. Moistens : WETS

94. Dinner buffet item : HOT DISH. I've been on a cold avocado Sushi rolls kick.

98. Dionysian reveler : SATYR

99. Loser at Gettysburg : LEE

100. Suffix with decor : ATOR. Decorator.

101. Moscow news acronym : ITAR. Itar-Tass.

103. Bldg. coolers : ACS

106. Bedroom brand : SERTA

115. GWB successor : BHO. Obama. And DDE (11D. He was elected 56 yrs. before 115-Across).

117. Reason to shake : DEAL. Shake hands, right?

118. Males : HES

119. Volkswagen competitor : OPEL

120. Tutor, perhaps : RE-TEACH. Hi Bill! So what do you have for breakfast normally?

123. Peyton's quarterback brother : ELI (Manning)

124. Mistreatment : ILL-USE

130. Like many fairways : SLOPED. Hate severely sloped fairways.

131. Inbox fillers : EMAILS

132. Least verbose : TERSEST

133. Mandel and Long : HOWIES

134. Sad songs : DIRGES

135. Lights a fire under : AROUSES

Down:

1. On the same wavelength : IN SYNC

2. Sweater material : MOHAIR

3. Batting instruction subject : STANCE

4. "I get it now!" : OHH

5. They come out of a kitty : MEWS. Cute!

6. La Scala highlights : ARIAS

7. Seat of Texas's Val Verde County : DEL RIO. Another border city

8. Certain Celt : GAEL

9. "Mad Men" type : AD REP

10. CBer's number : NINER. Don't get this clue, Argyle!

12. Contains : HAS

13. Platform components : ISSUES

14. Helpers : AIDES

15. Flatten, informally : SMUSH

16. Part of some discount store names : SAV. For savings, right?

17. Badmouth : TRADUCE. New word to me.

18. Make happy : DELIGHT

19. Country albums? : ATLASES. Nice clue.

24. Move like a dragonfly : DART

29. Batch of Brownies : TROOP. I like this clue too.

32. "All day soft, All day smooth" lotion : KERI

35. To one side : APART

36. "Okey-dokey" : YEP

37. "Too Ra Loo Ra Loo __": Irish classic : RAL

39. Old Ecuadoran coins : SUCRES

41. "East of Eden" son : CAL. Great movie.

45. Bout outcome : TKO

47. Exited red-faced, with "away" : SLUNK. I always thought "slink away" means "walk away secretly". Not red-faced connection.

48. Matador's need : CAPE

50. Smallest European Union country : MALTA

51. Ether ending : EAL

52. Lays out : SPENDS

53. Novelist __ de Balzac : HONORE. He's just Balzac to me.

54. One who is not class-conscious? : TRUANT. Have seen similar clue before.

55. Easy and profitable, as a job : CUSHY

56. Heavy-duty haulers : OXCARTS

57. Not-so-good feeling : MALAISE

61. Dept. of Labor arm : OSHA

63. "Lemme __!" : AT 'EM

64. Friendly words from François : MON AMI

65. Inverse trig function : ARCSIN. Headache! No idea what it is.

66. Gives a thumbs-up : SAYS OK

68. Frat letters : RHOS

70. After-school treat : OREO

72. "This is weird, but ..." : ODDLY

75. Dark purple fruit : SLOES

76. Mike Hammer portrayer Keach : STACY. He looks familiar. I don't know his name though.

77. Displays some histrionics : GUSHES

80. Carnegie, by birth : SCOT. New trivia to me.

83. __-night doubleheader : TWI

85. Puppeteer Lewis : SHARI

87. Couture monogram : YSL

90. It was once yours : THINE. Another great clue.

92. Malay Peninsula's Isthmus of __ : KRA. See this map.

93. Stalk by the river : REED

94. Contents of some hookahs : HASHISH

95. "The Moor of Venice" : OTHELLO

96. Like art house films, for some : TOO SLOW

97. Actress Joanne : DRU

98. "Do the Right Thing" pizzeria owner : SAL. No idea.

102. Turned state's evidence : TALKED

104. Driver with a handle : CBER

105. Cascades peak : SHASTA. Pretty photos from Melissa.

107. "The Matrix" star : REEVES

108. "Unto the Sons" author : TALESE (Gay). I only know his "Honor Thy Father".

109. VIP rosters : A-LISTS

111. "I'm dying __ it!" : TO SEE

112. Pundits' pieces : OP-EDS

113. Head honcho : MR BIG

114. Ball focus : BELLE. What ball were you picturing?

116. Pigment of iron oxide : OCHER

121. Durbeyfield daughter : TESS

122. Rescuer, often : HERO

125. News initials : UPI

127. U.K. record label : EMI

128. Corn serving : EAR

129. SEC founding member : LSU. Easy guess. SEC is Southeastern Conference.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday, August 13th, Barry Silk

2011-08-13T03:59:00.017-05:00

Theme: None

Words: 70

Blocks: 31

Saturday, "the Thirteenth" Silk - Not the horror I thought it was going to be....Good day to you all, and a Barry Silk puzzle that (for me) was solvable with a lot of letters filling in via the "hunt and peck" method....

ACROSS:

1. Way to measure brightness : IQ TESTING - Since I swapped to the DOWN clues and had ISLE, the "I" made me think INCANDESCE....

10. Group whose name contains a deliberate misspelling inspired by the Beatles, whom they ardently admired : BYRDS - I know them for their two cover tunes, Turn!Turn!Turn! and Tambourine Man

15. Pressing need : STEAM IRON - I figured IRON was in there somewhere

16. Web search option : YAHOO

17. Augustine St. Clare's daughter, in an 1852 novel : LITTLE EVA - From Uncle Tom's Cabin, not the "Loco-motion" singer that came 100 years later

18. Immune system component : T-CELL

19. Grand-scale poetry : EPOS - Def: a number of poems that treat and epic theme, but are not formally united

20. Largest living toothed animal : SPERM WHALE - didn't get fooled by the "tooth" thing

22. Strategic math game : NIM - we just had this Thursday, with matchsticks and muffins

24. Nixon attorney general Richardson : ELLIOT - the guy in the middle

25. __ asada : CARNE - thank you, Taco Bell....

27. Black-and-tan tans : ALES

28. Tuber with eyes : SPUD

32. Schedule : SLATE

33. Tot's tea party guest : TEDDY & 13D. Tot's tea party guest : DOLL - I did not have a "little sister", so I did not see a setting like this

35. Like Brahms's Piano Trio No. 1 : IN B - I like this key; the half-step below "C" makes for some interesting bits

36. Some reds : PINOTS

38. "Hubba hubba!" : OO-LA-LA

40. Fielder's fig. : AVG - Average, more on this from C.C.? (From C.C.: Coincidentally, Brewers' first baseman is Prince Fielder, son of Cecil Fielder.)

41. Render speechless : SHOCK

45. Thinker Diderot : DENIS - What's your profession? I am a "thinker" - actually, in the Personality Types Enneagram, I AM a Type Five "thinker"

46. Aid criterion : NEED - As in financial AID for college, e.g.

48. "My Country" author : EBAN - this man

49. Cybermemo : E-NOTE - meh

50. "Swan Lake" princess : ODETTE

52. Abbr. for dumbbells : LBs

53. Windows icon : MY COMPUTER - I was going to cheat, since I have my desktop set up with the icons visible to the left - but I renamed "MY COMPUTER" to Richie's Computer...go figure

57. "__ girl!" : ATTA - anyone else start with "IT'S A" ?

60. Slide presentation : AMEBA - had _ _ EB_, so I figured this was missing the usual "O" from Amoeba; I was thinking pics, pix, fotos, etc.

61. Place for pitchers? : SALES ROOM - cute, but what really is a sales 'room'?

63. Mormon Tabernacle feature : CHOIR - Pipe Organ didn't fit....

64. Conductor in a circuit : ELECTRODE

65. Goalie Dominik who won the Vezina Trophy six times : HASEK - ~TA-DA~!!! A hockey clue/answer that's not ORR ~!!! Yea~! BONUS - it's a Goalie, to boot~!

66. He came out of retirement to play Winston Churchill in "Inglorious Basterds" : ROD TAYLOR - Loved Quentin's remake; here's Rod

DOWN:

1. Archipelago part : ISLE

2. Stick in a medicine cabinet : Q-TIP - I was thinking "DEOdorant", but it wasn't working. Q-Tip, a brand name that has become synonymous with the product, even if it's 'generic'; also Band-Aid (bandage) and Kleenex (tissue), although in my home growing up, we didn't say "Kleenex" - can you think of others?

3. Mountains containing the Cathedral Group : TETON RANGE - map ; in Wyoming, next to Idaho

4. Erodes : EATS INTO - had EATS AWAY to start

5. T selection : SML - T-shirt size; Sml, Med, Lge, XXL

6. Pairs of even numbers? : TIES - Like hockey games at 1 - 1

7. "Once more ..." : I REPEAT - made me think of this book, since about two years ago, I started on my pilot's license journey, and found the whole communications part of the challenge to be more daunting than the flying; as a private pilot, you are ALWAYS talking to someone - at least here on LI, with 3 major airports surrounding NYC

8. It's longer than a Kurzgeschichte (short story) : NOVELLE - I thought it was Novella, but who's checking....

9. Knotted up : GNARLED - Like a tree, like this

10. How one must sometimes win : BY TWO - Net games, like tennis, badminton, and volleyball - I was supposed to play tomorrow, but we're getting washed out by the rain Husker Gary sent my way....

11. Blue blood vessels? : YACHTS - oh, such a knee slapper. Barring some invention or song I write that becomes a super-hit, I don't expect to EVER own a "yacht"

12. Three-toed bird : RHEA

14. Seafood selection : SOLE - Shad, Crab, Fish; think of any more 4-letter words?

21. Bungle : MIS-DO - I had _ _ SD _, so what else could it be? meh, too

23. Sits : MEETS

25. Political junkies watch it : C SPAN - that channel dedicated to our Congress

26. Breathing : ALIVE - Made me think of this song

29. Keyboardist's support : PIANO STOOL - I had Piano STAND at first, which is OK for a keyboard, but for a piano...?

30. Off : UNLIT

31. Early statistical software : dBASE

34. High air? : YODEL - this one does not fool me anymore

37. They may be counted : SHEEP - the Serta guys

39. Singer with the 1965 hit "1-2-3" : LEN BARRY - never heard of him, or the song; does sound familiar - did it end up in a commercial?

42. Not as quick on the uptake : OBTUSER - With O_ _ _ ER, again, what else?

43. Beefy hybrid : CATTALO - More from Wiki; I like Buffalo burgers, never had Bison

44. Used a prayer rug : KNEELED - not KNELT

47. __ Brothers, who sang "Black Water" : DOOBIE - Love the "a cappella" section; the problem with "Classic Rock" FM radio is that they are forced to play ONLY one or two songs from a band/group - did you know Ozzy Osbourne wrote more than just "Crazy Train"?

51. 100 pfennigs, briefly : DMARK German money, deutsche mark

53. Speed-of-sound name : MACH - as a pilot I NEVER went this fast

54. Jewish youth org. : YMHA - Young Men's HEBREW Association

55. Corp. bigwigs : CEOs

56. A sq. is one : RECTangle

58. List heading : TO DO - my new apartment TO DO list runs into pages....

59. NAFTA part: Abbr. : AMERican - North American Free Trade Agreement

62. Place to get a tkt. : STAtion - Trains; I had MTA at first, knew it couldn't be right, but for Long Island and NYC, the Metro Transit Authority sells tickets

Answer grid.

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Here is a nice picture from JD's Lake Tahoe trip. Front (Left to Right): Irene (Dick's wife), Carol & JD; Back (Left to Right): Joe (Carol's husband), Bob (JD's husband) & Dick.