Wednesday, August 31 2011, Gareth Bain

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

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

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

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

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.