L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Sep 7, 2014

Sunday September 7, 2014 Julian Lim

Theme: "I Owe You One" - I O is added to each theme entry, changing spellings when needed.

23A. Outdoor dining area with no chairs? : STANDING PATIO. Standing pat.

32A. Become adept at aerobic exercise? : MASTER CARDIO. MasterCard

55A. Spanish neighborhood known for its kisses? : CHOCOLATE BARRIO. chocolate bar.

80A. Contest to win an objet d'art? : RACE FOR THE CURIO. Race for the Cure.

101A. Brit's New York signoff? : BRONX CHEERIO. Bronx cheer.

112A. TV station mascot? : STUDIO CHICKEN. Stewed chicken. Is it a southern dish? I never had it. I was wondering what a "stud chicken" is. It's Argyle, who has been using this avatar for a long time.

16D. Contact a provisions room on a shortwave? : RADIO THE PANTRY. Raid the pantry.

50D. Buyer of "Gangsta's Paradise"? : COOLIO CUSTOMER. Cool customer. Coolio wrote "Gangsta's Paradise".

So, 3 IO's are added to the end of the first word, 5 to the end of the last word. Very consistent.

I love grids where theme entries intersect. Julian is very very good at it. Luck & skill. We wouldn't see chunky corners today had Julian put all his theme entries in Across.

Sep 6, 2014

Saturday, Sep 6th, 2014, Don Gagliardo

Theme: DonG~!

Words: 70 (missing X)

Blocks: 26

Half of our Dynamic Duo makes his second Saturday appearance for the LAT, to the best of my knowledge, with an impressive low block count of only 26, no less. Big chunky 8x5- and 9x6-letter corners, two 10-letter fills in the middle, and one 15-letter climber, which I did not see at first glance. Have to admit, had to cheat with red-letters for ONE lousy cell, and it was NOT in the SE corner, I might add. Still, there was a gratuitous shoutout to yours truly, and so I am pretty happy overall. The longer answers;

7. Flying cartoon hero, formally : ROCKET J. SQUIRREL - Before my time; must be hard up for work these days as he's appearing in Geico commercials now

31. Gang leader of old comics : BAZOOKA JOE - The Joe that you will no longer find in the comics wrapped around your Bazooka Bubble gum; the Wiki

43. Stewed : LIQUORED UP - ah, now this is a phrase that I AM familiar with....

10d.~!!!!!

ACROSS:

1. Some daily activities : HABITS - Let's see; coffee, cigars, Monster energy, cursing, bathing, brushing teeth - but I did not drink, just for today - but there's a toast to all at sunset, right Tin~!?

7. Restored vigor to, in a way : REPOTTED - Maybe for the marijuana plant, but most of the people I know who get "re-potted" don't usually show much vigor

15. Big Sur retreat : ESALEN - Sounds like a place I might like to visit; spirituality, holistic healing, and education - more from their website

16. Chef's assortment : OVENWARE - because CUTLERY was too short

17. Philosopher de Beauvoir : SIMONE

18. 1992 Michelle Pfeiffer role : CATWOMAN

19. Wright-Patterson, e.g.: Abbr. : AFB - Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio

20. Certain laundry load : DARKS - my first fill

22. "This is just __" : A TEST

23. Titicaca feeders : RIOs - Educated WAG; lake in South America

25. Forest mom : DOE

26. Turning points : CRISES

27. __ Lodge : ECONO - who else went with MOTOR~?

29. "Fats" Waller piano style : STRIDE

33. Trick : RUSE

37. Goethe's "The __-King" : ERL - I think I have seen this before in crosswords, but it was all perps today

38. To begin with : FIRSTLY

40. Yvette, e.g. : NOM - Frawnche

41. Soup vegetable : LEEK - My first guess, but I left it blank

45. "Free," in "land of the free" : ADNOUN - New to me - the Wiki says it's an adjective used as a noun

47. Wheat used in health food : SPELT - Nailed it

48. Gets clean : BATHES - nothing to do with "sobriety" getting clean

51. 19th/20th-century civil rights leader __ B. Wells : IDA

53. Marching band? : ARMY - har-har....could've flown without the "?", too, IMO

54. On the wrong side (of) : AFOUL - "He ran afoul of the law."

55. Ceremonial lineup : GRADs - meh

57. Disallow : BAN

58. Common ore of mercury : CINNABAR - My high school paper was called this; not sure picking an ore of a poisonous metal is such a good choice in terms of 'what's good for you'

60. Pin down : LOCATE

62. Form a union : ORGANIZE - Nailed it; but then again, I'm at UPS....

63. Sees the light, maybe : AWAKES - Sorry, but a BIG MEH here - either WAKES, or AWAKENS, but halfway in between~? meh.

64. Like many sales : SEASONAL - Like "Peeps" half off the day after Easter

65. Devote, as time : INVEST

DOWN:

1. 1962 Crystals album with cover art of a biker : HE'S A REBEL - The REBEL part came from perps; the rest was an educated WAG - before my time

2. "Whatever" : "AS IF I CARE"

3. Hoodwink : BAMBOOZLE - Got it with "---OO-E" in place

4. Workers' rights gp. since 1919 : ILO - Dah~! I tried CIO, then AFL; we are looking for the International Labour Organization - and the "O" was "A" for me - my bad cell; in hindsight, SimAne does sound a bit off....

5. Look after : TEND

6. Three-time Masters winner : SNEAD - Sam, of golfing fame

8. Some NASA missions : EVAs - Extra-Vehicular Activities; in other words, space walks ( I know, it's more than just that, HuskerG)

9. Favorite : PET

10. Ahead : ONWARD~! - Thank you, kind sir~!!!

11. Wedding cake specification : TWO-TIER

12. Tones down : TAMES

13. Backspace, usually : ERASE

14. Reasons for as-is sales : DENTS

21. Actress Dawson of "Men in Black II" : ROSARIO - Good movie, but not as good as the first Men In Black - and I am ashamed to admit I have NOT seen "III" yet

24. Wintry commercial prefix : SNO - Sno-Cat, e.g.

26. Spanish sky : CIELO

28. Doubled-over reaction : "`OOF`!"

30. Capitol center : ROTUNDA - Nice slight mis-direction

32. Where some artists' firings occur : KILNs

34. Cook poorly, in a way : UNDERBAKE

35. Ideal pairing : SOULMATES - I sometimes think I have already met her....now for the next step

36. 1980s-'90s Richard Mulligan sitcom : EMPTY NEST - I liked him in "SOAP", and this show was pretty good, too - featuring Kristy McNicol and "Isuzu Joe"

39. Age abbr. : YRs

42. Hawaiian priests : KAHUNAs - I must link Pulp Fiction~!

44. AQI monitor : EPA - Air Quality Index, and the Environmental Protection Agency

46. California city near Bakersfield : DELANO

48. Salad bar items : BACOs - Mmmm, Baco's....did anyone else try TONGS, and then get to 50D~?

49. Burning : AFIRE

50. Pacific island nation : TONGA

52. Grover's 1890s vice president : ADLAI - Stevenson, the "I"; I am more familiar with "II", who was 20th century

55. Troubled Mideast region : GAZA - Timely

56. Ready to grow : SOWN - It's harvest time for the sod farms here on L.I.

59. Garbage holder : BIN

61. James, again, briefly : CAV - this one was super MEH - I had to dig deep to get the reference, which is LeBron James, who played for the Cleveland CAValiers, twice - with a stop in Miami in between - and I do NOT like Basketball~!

Splynter

Sep 5, 2014

Friday, September 5, 2014, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: Take two aspirin and add a J.

I often complain that constructors do not use enough imagination to add the letter "J" to their creations, being prejudiced by my name. This puzzle by our new Friday fixture, JW, takes out all of the stops and uses a really cute reveal to explain all the Js 'popping in' the four in the language phrases, each of which is clued with wit and becomes a fun visual. Mr. Wechsler seems to be on a good Friday run with his usual array of fill such as KNELLED, SEXISTS, ST JAMES, WII MINI, IN A STATE, MILLINER, SOMEWHAT, TO AND FRO. TOOL SHED, UNBURDEN. Like yesterday's puzzle, the reveal is really entertaining and fair and no Naticks, though a few Massachusetts ties. So let's unburden ourselves and see what this First Friday in September has to offer.

16A. Exceptional practical joke? : GREAT JAPE.(9). Am I alone in wondering about the oxymoronic concept of a "practical" joke? Certainly the great ape friend of Cesar had no sense of humor. Jape appears in so many of the British mysteries I read, but it is not a word I would use.

23A. What bearded men get in blizzards? : SNOWY JOWLS. (10). Being a bearded man who is getting more jowly with age, this was easy and revealed the theme quickly. For obvious reasons, the beautiful BIRD does not make it to Florida.

34A. Short hike for a beginner? : MAIDEN JAUNT. (11). This seemed so perfect, especially with my mental picture of the Maiden Aunt out in the woods with her binoculars, looking for Snowy Owls.

48A. Jack's friend resting on the hill? : JILL AT EASE. (10). While this is the outlier, with the J added to the first word, I wonder if it wasn't the seed entry to the theme. The question always remains unanswered; why DID they really go up the hill?

And the reveal:

57A. Pretentious showoffs, or, another way, what one would do to create 16-, 23-, 34- and 48-Across : POPINJAYS. (9). I just love a well thought out reveal like this which make the theme so cool. Another nice word from British mysteries.

And the gratuitous bonus fill

5D. NBA legend, familiarly : DR J. Julius Erving, UMass graduate and NBA hall of famer. 63 here.

Across:

1. How an airport shuttle travels : TO AND FRO. Because Back and Forth would not fit.

9. Savors, with "in" : BASKS. In the sun, to...

14. Take a load off : UNBURDEN. from the days stresses.

15. Hwy. paralleling I-95 : US ONE. I live one block west of US 1 and two miles east of 95.

17. Wrist brand : TIMEX. Back in the early days TV commercials never pitted products by name, it was always PRODUCT and brand X, with brand x a poor substitute. I wonder if that inspired the name of this timepiece?

18. Condos, to the management : UNITS.

19. Arrest readings: Abbr. : RTS. An accepted abbreviation of rights, but clued on a Friday level.

21. Lunch spot : DELI.

22. Michelangelo's "David," e.g. : NUDE. 2nd time we have had this recently, and of course fitting that it adjoins...

26. Place to luxuriate : SPA. where people often parade around naked.

27. Band from Birmingham, Eng. : ELO. Electric Light Orchestra. LISTEN.(3:43)

28. Glorifying work : ODE.

29. Distressed, with "up" : HET. They say it derives from situations which 'heat up'. In modern usage, HET refers to a heterosexual person.

30. Cast aspersions : SNIPE. Not my definition.

32. Plenty : SCADS.

37. Goodman's forte : SWING. Benny and his licorice stick.

39. Prepare for a siege : DIG IN. because stock up would not fit.

40. "Voices Carry" pop group '__ Tuesday : TIL. Not in my knowledge bank. They did not last. Their lead singer was names Aimee MANN; they were from the Boston area.

41. 1964 Nobelist's monogram : MLK. Martin Luther King. There are so many famous initials, but few reach his level. If you think only of scientists, this was a very tricky clue.

44. Destroy, in a way : GUT. Once owned a duplex, rented half to a client/friend and he gutted the place. Lesson learned.

45. Discreet email letters : BCC. Blind Carbon Copy, originally.

51. Pull up stakes, briefly : RELOcate. I am not a fan of this form of abbreviation: 7D. Dupe : REPROduction.

52. 1975 Pure Prairie League hit : AMIE. No relation, just french for girl friend. The band keeps working thought the line up of players has changed many many times; they help Vince Gill to become a star.

53. Comfy room : DEN. This room has gone through more changes without ever changing.

54. "A Few Good Men" playwright Sorkin : AARON. My oldest son's name and a prolific and successful WRITER who also created the TV drama the West Wing.

55. Supply near the register : MINTS.

60. War need? : ENEMY. An ironic clue, juxtaposed with...

61. Perturbed : IN A STATE. For which one might need a

62. Warning sound : SIREN. to let the world know of the impending danger.

63. Storage place : TOOL SHED. Do they build these with houses any more? I loved ours growing up, it was dark and dank and a fun place.

Down:

1. Appear : TURN UP.

2. Iroquois League tribe : ONEIDA. One of the Six Nations: Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora.

3. Wane : ABATE.

4. "Shoot!" : NUTS.

6. Org. that regulates vaccines : FDA. Food and Drug Administration.

8. Damaging combination : ONE TWO. Really nice misdirection with boxing the hidden ingredient.

9. On the other hand : BUT. and, 11D. To a degree : SOMEWHAT.

10. "Just like me" : AS I DO. Do as I do. 49D. "I'll take a shot" : LET ME. What do you have to lose?

12. Rang tragically : KNELLED. The ringing of a bell to signal a death (Death Knell) goes back centuries; bells also toll for the dead.

13. Some discriminators : SEXISTS. Damn those people who send naked pictures in the cloud!

16. Tries (for) : GUNS.

20. Barrett of Pink Floyd : SYD. He was a founder, the lead singer and guitarist who did not make it past the second album with Pink Floyd.

23. Lost one's footing : SLID. Rhymes with Syd.

24. "Uh-uh" : NOPE. Rhymes with Pope.

25. Pope Francis, e.g. : JESUIT. This religious order was a logical response to the reformation efforts of the Protestants.

27. Brain teaser : ENIGMA. Wrapped in a riddle inside a crossword puzzle.

30. __ Jose : SAN. On my way....

31. Word with living or bitter : END.

33. "The Situation Room" airer : CNN. Cable News Network.

34. Top designer? : MILLINER. Cute, a top (a hat) designer, NOT a TOP Designer. Did this have you spinning?

35. Reel relatives : JIGS. YR must have eaten this clue up about Virginia Reels and Irish Jigs; started me thinking about old movies and old music.

36. Fever with chills : AGUE.

37. Place in Monopoly's orange monopoly : ST. JAMES. One of the boring properties along with New York and Tennessee, not cheap but not exciting unless you can get the aqua and red to make the trip hell for your opponents.

38. Lower-cost Nintendo offering : WII MINI. Their PROMOTION. Never saw one, let alone played one, though I have many WII hours logged.

42. Relative of Inc. : LTD. Many other countries use this designation for privately held companies.

43. "Consider that a gift" : KEEP IT. Usually said after someone has either taken a bite or a sip of your drink/food.

45. Dress down : BERATE. With employees this should always be done in private.

46. Was too sweet : CLOYED. I am used to cloying, so I guess CLOYED should not have been hard.

47. Pen occupants : CONS. many of whom are pros.

50. Reprimand ending : A NO NO. Charlotte is learning about no nos.

51. Hindustan ruler : RAJAH.

54. Single-file travelers, at times : ANTS. Where do those damn sugar ants come from?

56. Numbers for songs?: Abbr. : SYNonym. A nice deception asking to compare the words.

58. Kung __ chicken : PAO.

59. Alcatraz, e.g.: Abbr. : ISLand. Now open for tourists? LINK.

Thanks JW, lots of nice clues and musical inspiration. I thought the theme was great and overall a smooth Friday. Fall is coming and I am out. Lemonade.

Sep 4, 2014

Thursday, September 4, 2014 Bruce Haight

Theme: HERE We Go!

17-Across. Keep one's landlord happy : PAY THE RENT. Even better, pay in cash!

23-Across. Box instruction : OPEN OTHER END. And the instruction there? "Open Other End..."

37-Across. Optional learning : HIGHER EDUCATION. For my sisters and me, it wasn't optional!

46-Across. Usually not a good way to get married : ON THE REBOUND. Uh, not even a good way to date.

57-Across. "You listen to me," and an instruction about what to look for in 17-, 23-, 37- and 46-Across : NOW SEE..."HERE."

HaHa!! You got me, Bruce! I had absolutely no clue what the unifier would be, and I chuckled when I finally "saw" it. I believe this is Bruce's LAT debut, although he has several NYT puzzles under his belt. This was a very typical Thursday solve for me. Some gimmes, some question marks and a couple of "Huhs?" Let's see how it goes.

Across

1. Gusto : ZEST. Elan? (Check perps: has to start with "Z.") Zing? (Nah, that doesn't work with EL AL...) Z-E-al? (Nah, the 4-letter vodka has to be SKYY...) Z-E-S-... (Bit of ink? Hmmm...) AHA! TAT!! Z-E-S-T. And so it went...

5. Reynolds Wrap maker : ALCOA. Gimme.

10. Reptile house attractions : BOAS. Asps? (Check perps: Has to start with "B"...)

14. __-Seltzer : ALKA.

15. Luxury hotel with a YouFirst rewards program : LOEWS. Tough one. There are only 20 locations in the US and Canada, so it might not be the first hotel that solvers would think of.

16. Nothing but : ONLY.

19. Cross the threshold : GO IN.

20. Tricky : SLY.

21. Big name in dangerous stunts : EVEL. Knievel, the late motorcycle daredevil. You'd think he would have died in one of those crazy stunts. But no, he died of pulmonary fibrosis at the age of 69.

22. Sierra follower, in the NATO alphabet : TANGO.

26. Not familiar with : NEW AT.

29. Staff symbols : RESTS.

30. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT. Quod Erat Demonstrandum.

31. __ Belt : ORION'S. Were the pyramids purposely situated to align with it?

Orion Correlation Theory

34. Jan. honoree : MLK. Martin Luther King.

40. Suffix with concert : INO. Hands up for filling "ina" at first?

41. "__ Fideles" : ADESTE.

42. Back in the day : ONCE. upon a time...

43. They may be counted : NOSES.

45. Golden number? : OLDIE. Great clue!

51. Exposed : BARED.

52. Film with talking bugs : ANTZ. It's the only movie with Woody Allen (the voice of "Z") that I ever enjoyed.

53. NFL's Jaguars, for short : JAX. Jacksonville, FL.

56. "The Year of Magical Thinking" author Didion : JOAN. It won the Pulitzer prize for autobiography. It chronicles her grief during the year following her husband's death in 2003. It is a heart-wrenching account, and a must-read for anyone grieving the loss of a loved one. Her only daughter died in 2005, and led to a second book, "Blue Nights."

60. Qatari bigwig : EMIR.

61. Chicago's __ Planetarium : ADLER. America's first planetarium.

62. Roughage source : BRAN.

63. Facetious nickname for a big guy : TINY.

64. Gnocchi topping : PESTO.

Looks terrible - tastes great!

65. Kan. neighbor : OKLA.

Down

1. Prepares, as leftovers : ZAPS.

2. Mideast airline : EL AL. It means "To the Skies," which is a great lead-in for the the next answer:

3. Absolut rival : SKYY. Vodka. Cheers, Tin!

4. Bit of ink : TAT.

5. Naproxen brand : ALEVE.

6. "Two Women" Oscar winner : LOREN.

Sophia

7. "Fool for You" Grammy winner Green : CEE LO. No clue. 4:06

8. Have : OWN.

9. PEI hours : AST. Prince Edward Island. Atlantic Standard Time.

10. "The African Queen" co-star : BOGART. Husker Gary, I know you nailed this one!

11. Under consideration : ON ONE'S MIND.

12. Straighten : ALIGN.

13. Church council : SYNOD.

18. Oct- minus one : HEPT. Huh? Prefixes for eight and seven.

22. "The Gondoliers" girl : TESSA. Gilbert and Sullivan Opera. Nailed it!

23. Four-letter word : OATH. HaHa...not what I had in mind.

24. Rainbow __ : TROUT.

Hatchery Image

25. As a result : HENCE.

26. Fruity soda : NEHI.

27. Yeats' home : ERIN. Ireland, to natives.

28. Top-rated evening TV show of 1961-62 : WAGON TRAIN. My parents used to love this show. Me, not so much...

31. Turkey on rye, e.g. : ORDER.

32. Actress Witherspoon : REESE. She's such a cutie.

33. Some badges : IDs.

35. Centers of activity : LOCI.

36. Seat for a dummy : KNEE. Dummy, as in Mortimer Snerd.

38. Relaxed : EASED.

39. Ratted (on) : TOLD.

44. Literary award named for a writer : O'HENRY.

45. Dix et un : ONZE. 10 + 1 = 11 in French. (Funny...it adds up to the same thing in English!)

46. __ d'art : OBJET. More French.

47. Wynonna's mom : NAOMI. The Judds.

48. Cries : BAWLS.

49. Commencement : ONSET.

50. In __: unborn : UTERO.

53. Sudden movement : JERK.

54. __ Sea : ARAL.

55. Lawless character : XENA. Lucy Lawless, that is.

57. Go out in the afternoon? : NAP.

58. Keats poem : ODE.

59. "The Leftovers" airer : HBO. No clue. Oh, I see that it just premiered on June 29th, and "The Leftovers" are those people left after the "rapture" took 2% of the world's population.

That's it for this week!

Marti

Sep 3, 2014

Wednesday, September 3, 2014 Ned White

Theme: GET IT IN GEAR. The first word of each two-word theme answer is the name of one of the gear selections for an automatic transmission shift lever.

17. Canadian natural resource manager : PARK WARDEN. An unlikely looking clue, but sussable with perp help and a little head scratching. You can read about them here. PARK is the selection for keeping the vehicle stationary.

24. Dramatic backwards hoops move : REVERSE DUNK. Better seen than explained. A car in REVERSE goes backwards.

36. Photon, e.g. : NEUTRAL PARTICLE. Protons and neutrons are polarized, photons go lightly down the middle of the road. NEUTRAL is a resting position between REVERSE and DRIVE.

46. Push one's buttons, and then some : DRIVE INSANE. Is there someone who knows how to push your buttons? I can be maddening. DRIVE is the selection for actually going somewhere.

56. Like many diets : LOW CALORIE. Weight watching strategy. LOW gear is for low speed and controlled power.

64. Shift letters spelled out in 17-, 24-, 36-, 46- and 56-Across : P R N D L Vide infra.

Source

Strangely, in the following video London gets it right - at least that part of it. In the industry this bit of apparatus is indeed called the PRNDL, just as she pronounces it.

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here, your chauffeur for the day. Let's DRIVE on through Ned's puzzle and see if we can avoid pot holes and speed bumps.

Across

1. Plentiful : RIFE. This old Anglo-Saxon word might have originated with the Old Norse word for "acceptable."

5. Green-lights : OKAYS. Allows or permits. Looks odd spelt out.

10. Fruit-bearing trees : FIGS. They are native to the Middle East and Western Asia, now cultivated throughout the temperate zone.

14. "Tiger Beat" cover subject : IDOL. As in pop star. Per Wikipedia, Tiger Beat is an American fan magazine marketed primarily to adolescent girls.

Souce

15. Pentagon quintet : SIDES. Tautologically true.

16. Cumming of "The Good Wife" : ALAN. A legal and political drama on CBS.

Source

19. Desi Arnaz's birthplace : CUBA. More specifically, Desiderio Alberto Arnaz y de Acha, III (March 2, 1917 – December 2, 1986) was born in Santiago, where his father was the mayor.

Wiki

20. 10 to the 100th power : GOOGOL. Just a really big number.

21. Party amenity : FAVOR. A trinket given to party guests.

22. Get on : AGE. No comment.

29. Play to __ : A TIE.

30. "Carmina Burana" composer : ORFF . Carl ORFF composed this cantata in 1935-6, based on 24 poems from a medieval manuscript of the same name containing 254 poems in Latin and vernacular languages. The entries are ribald, irreverent and satirical. Here is the most famous segment.

31. Polio vaccine developer : SABIN. Albert Bruce Sabin (August 26, 1906 – March 3, 1993) developed an oral polio vaccine.

33. Bk. after Galatians : EPH. The letter to the EPHesians, traditionally attributed to Saul of Tarsus [aka Paul the Apostle] is the 10th book of The New Testament.

40. Photo lab prod. : ENLargement. When a right click is not enough.

41. Words said while folding : I'M OUT. Of a poker game, not putting away the laundry.

42. Outer Banks st. : N. CAR. North Carolina.

43. Island near Corsica : ELBA. Everyone knows this as the site of Napolean's exile, but he spent his final six years confined at the British island of St. Helena.

44. Result : EFFECT.

51. Facial feature above la bouche : NEZ. The mouth and nose on le visage.

52. Fluttered in the breeze : WAVED.

53. Passionate : ARDENT.

55. School where part of "The Madness of King George" was filmed : ETON. British school, four letters, fill it in and move on.

60. Dubliner's land : EIRE. Or ERIN. Always need perps.

61. The Little Mermaid : ARIEL.

Source

62. Little woman : GIRL. Not so sure about this one.

63. Photographer Pattie who was married to George Harrison and Eric Clapton : BOYD.

Photo of the Photographer

65. Ripoff : SCAM.

Down

1. Mending target : RIP. Sew it up.

2. St. with a panhandle : IDAho. I wanted FLA.   Can we use that pan to fry up some potatoes?

3. Absent-minded : FORGETFUL. Again, no comment.

4. Nevada county or its seat : ELKO.   In the North-east corner of the State on the Humboldt River.

5. Oklahoma natives : OSAGES. Originally from the Ohio River valley, they migrated West of the Mississippi by the mid 17th century to avoid the invading Iroquois.

6. Renamed Russian ballet company : KIROV. Earlier the Imperial Russian Ballet, now the Mariinsky.

7. Throw for a loop : ADDLE. Confuse, befuddle.

8. "__-haw!" : YEE. I wanted HEE.   Eiher way a western or rural expression of joy or exuberance.

9. Form 1040 ID : SSN. Social Security Number.

10. False front : FACADE.

11. Sweet tweet : I LUV U. I somehow misread this as sweet treat, and was thoroughly ADDLED.

12. Equatorial African country : GABON. On the West coast, below The Gulf of Guinea.

13. Snide commentary : SNARK.

18. Apple invader : WORM. Of the pome, not the computer.

21. Fencing ploy : FEINT. A deceptive or distracting movement intended to create an opening.

22. Do a makeup job? : ATONE.   To make amends, and thus make up for some transgression.   I love this kind of clue.

23. Bridge immortal Charles : GOREN. Charles Henry Goren (March 4, 1901 – April 3, 1991) was a player who wrote many books about the game and did much to popularize it. He was the leading American bridge personality in the 1950s and 1960s.

25. Moroccan capital : RABAT. Just up the road from Casablanca.

26. The hoosegow : STIR. Alternate slang words for jail.

28. Immature newt : EFT.

31. Memorial __-Kettering: NYC hospital : SLOAN. The world's oldest and largest cancer center.

32. Manjula's husband on "The Simpsons" : APU.

33. Quirky : ECCENTRIC. Literally, off-center, into English from Greek.

34. Venue : PLACE.

35. Alamo competitor : HERTZ. Car rental, not the Mexican-American war.

37. Rankled : RILED.

38. Both: Pref. : AMBI-. Could be ambiguous.

39. Like Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 : IN F.   The Key of F Major.

43. Reached equilibrium, with "out" : EVENED.

44. Final goal : END ALL.

45. Experience : FEEL.   I'm trying to experience the equivalence here, but don't quite feel it.

46. One who may be "adorkable" : DWEEB. Dork, DWEEB, nerd - a socially inept intelligent person. Think Sheldon Cooper.

47. Proportional relation : RATIO. Math. It represents for some quantity of thing A how much there is of thing B. It can look suspiciously like a fraction.

48. Target of elephant poachers : IVORY. Tusks.

49. Politely admitted : SAW IN. Escorted to one's seat, frex.

50. Parabolic, e.g. : ARCED.   The classic arch.

Curvy

54. Yuletide quaffs : NOGS. Eggy drinks.

56. Race unit : LAP. Once around the track.

57. Bruin great : ORR. Bobby, the Boston hockey player.

58. Tax shelter initials : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

59. Spreading tree : ELM. Are there any left?

Okay, folks, the DRIVE is over. No traffic jams nor detours, and only a couple of minor bumps along the way. Hope you enjoyed the journey. Now it's time to put it in PARK.

Cool regards!
JzB

Sep 2, 2014

Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Kurt Mengel and Jan-Michele Gianette

Theme: 2's - Four words, to be exact, that indicate 2 start off the theme entries.

17A. 1971 road film co-starring James Taylor : "TWO LANE BLACKTOP". Classic cult film.

26A. Treachery : DOUBLE DEALING. Classic soap opera feature.

41A. Spectacles : PAIR OF GLASSES. Classic quote: "Men seldom make passes / at girls who wear glasses / but it really depends on their frames."

53A. Status of a multiple passport holder : DUAL CITIZENSHIP. Classic ???

Argyle(the one and only) here. An apt puzzle for today, if a bit uninspired. A couple of grid spanners, all in-language theme entries but I didn't warm to it. Your temperature may vary.

Across:

1. Gather for oneself : AMASS

6. __ accompli : FAIT. "fact accomplished" - or what we might called a 'done deal'.

10. Brontë or Boleyn : ANNE

14. Video game hedgehog : SONIC

15. Up to the task : ABLE

16. Cambodia neighbor : LAOS

20. Cozy stopover : INN

21. Golfer McIlroy : RORY.

# One.

22. Shaggy : HAIRY

23. City SW of Bogotá : CALI. Down in Colombia.

24. Prefix meaning "loving" : PHILO. "philosophy" = "love of wisdom" What would be "love of crosswords"?

30. Church organ features : PIPES. But don't tell the organist she has a nice set of pipes.

31. Two-masted vessel : YAWL

32. "Do You Know the __ to San Jose?" : WAY

34. Got older : AGED

35. Gets hot under the collar : BOILS [eew, bad image.]

37. Taste, as of a sandwich : BITE

38. Mangy mutt : CUR

39. Tight-knit family : CLAN

40. "Funeral Blues" poet W.H. __ : AUDEN

45. Hearty meals : STEWS

46. Ugh-producing : ICKY

47. Assume the role of : ACT AS

49. Poet Pound : EZRA

50. New Deal agcy. : WPA. Works Progress Administration (renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration)

57. Longfellow's bell town : ATRI It was in C.C.'s Sunday Aug. 17th puzzle.

58. Indian princess : RANI

59. R&B singer Sam : COOKE

60. Flat-topped hill : MESA

61. Fencing weapon : ÉPÉE

62. County in SE England : ESSEX

Down:

1. Piedmont wine region : ASTI

2. Cut with a Snapper, say : MOWN. (past tense) Forrest liked his.

3. Shortly, to Shakespeare : ANON

4. __ vous plaît : S'IL. "if you please"

5. Sacred Egyptian beetles : SCARABs. very pretty colors.

6. Spenser's "The __ Queene" : FAERIE

7. "Dear" advice giver : ABBY

8. Feeling poorly : ILL

9. Celestial Seasonings offering : TEA

10. Acid neutralizer : ALKALI

11. Company that's "on your side" : NATIONWIDE. Also, sponsor of the junior NASCAR circuit.

12. Jordanian queen dowager : NOOR. Biography

13. Catch sight of : ESPY 40D. With suspicion : ASKANCE

18. Hall of Fame NFL coach Chuck : NOLL. Biography

19. Kick back : CHILL

23. Prompted : CUED

24. Ring loudly : PEAL

25. Partner of hems : HAWS

26. Unearth : DIG UP

27. Big names at the Met : OPERA STARS

28. Fading away : DYING

29. Garden swingers : GATES

30. Source of some D.C. funding : PAC

33. Strong desire : YEN

35. Low __: cheap shot : BLOW

36. Clumsy sorts : OAFS

37. On a tight schedule : BUSY

39. Getting gradually louder, in mus. : CRESC. (Crescendo)

42. Bologna's land : ITALIA

43. Tin __: Model T : LIZZIE

44. Parcel of land : ACRE

47. Sandler of "Grown Ups" films : ADAM. There is a third one in the works.

48. Like kitten videos : CUTE

49. Berlin article : EINE

50. Start of a "Knock, knock" response : WHO'S [there]

51. Toll road : PIKE

52. Mountain climber's goal : APEX

54. Wrath : IRE

55. Sink feature : TAP

56. Sailor's distress signal : SOS

Argyle

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Sep 7, 2014

Sunday September 7, 2014 Julian Lim

Sep 6, 2014

Saturday, Sep 6th, 2014, Don Gagliardo

Sep 5, 2014

Friday, September 5, 2014, Jeffrey Wechsler

Sep 4, 2014

Thursday, September 4, 2014 Bruce Haight

Sep 3, 2014

Wednesday, September 3, 2014 Ned White

Sep 2, 2014

Tuesday, September 2, 2014 Kurt Mengel and Jan-Michele Gianette

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