Sunday November 16, 2014 Drew Banneman

Theme:  "PC Lab" - C is changed into P in the starting letter of each theme entry. All first words go through spelling changes.

24A. Challenge for one with an array of walking sticks? : CANE MANAGEMENT. Pain management.

26A. Perspective on a heist? : CAPER VIEW. Pay-per -view.

52A. Farmer? : CROPPER NOUN. Proper noun. Somehow I thought "cropper" is a machine.

 

71A. Sweatshirt part with wrinkles? : CREASED HOOD. Priesthood.

95A. Anthracite storage site? : COAL VAULT. Pole vault.

100A. Judge? : COURT AUTHORITY. Port authority.

33D. '40s-'50s first lady with her dog? : CORGI AND BESS. Porgy and Bess.

37D. Place for a collection of pub mementos? : COASTER BOARD. Poster board.

There are ten P's in the grid, but none in the theme answer. 

Sound changes all occur in the first letter, all have spelling changes. You would think CAIN MANAGEMENT works for the first theme entry, but it doesn't. It would break the spelling change consistency.

Lots of creativity and hard work went into today's theme selection. No USA-style loosey goosey two BAR contained in front & one isolated in the back as Argyle highlighted two days ago. Rich would have rejected that puzzle immediately.

Across:   

1. Don Rickles specialty : INSULT. Not my cup of tea.

7. Really wants : ACHES FOR

15. Reykjavik-born singer : BJORK. Aren't glad the answer is not Reykjavik?

20. Be relevant : MATTER

21. Sophist's forte : RHETORIC

22. Geometry measures : RADII

23. God, in Hebrew : ADONAI. Same root as Adonis.

28. Display aid : RACK

29. Chou En-__ : LAI. Loyal to Mao until the end.

30. Many a comic book collector : NERD

31. At a Lakers home game, e.g. : IN LA

32. Mortgage limitation : RATE CAP

36. Large chamber groups : OCTETS

39. Novelist Nin : ANAIS

40. Granite State campus: Abbr. : UNH

41. Hockey immortal : ORR. He'll always be a solid fill in my book. Same with OTT.

42. Hair cover : SNOOD

43. Former boxer Ali : LAILA

44. Adventurer Jones, familiarly : INDY. Indiana Jones.

45. 85-Across rival : RKO. And 85. 45-Across rival : MGM. I like when one of them is clued.

46. Writers' degs. : MFAs

47. God of lightning : THOR

49. Barrage from bleacher "birds" : BOOS

50. Opposin' : AGIN

51. Oktoberfest rocks : EIS. Ice.

56. Edge : BRINK

57. Session with a model, maybe : ART CLASS. And 42. Paint problem : SMEAR

59. Ore holders : VEINS

60. Pond growth : ALGA

61. Put back in : RE-ELECT

62. Clued in about : HIP TO

63. Clobber : TROUNCE

66. Like some collectibles : RARE. I like this better than his rookie card.

67. After-school helper : TUTOR. Hi Bill!

68. Joined : SIGNED UP

69. Man with a cube : RUBIK

73. Pal : BRO

74. Minuscule bit : ATOM

75. Hail in a harbor : AHOY

76. Baltimore-to-Dover direction : EAST

77. Set an example : LEAD

78. Mauna __ : KEA

79. Not out of the game : IN IT

80. Swiss peak : EIGER

83. Social division : CASTE

84. Stumble : ERR

86. One in a firing line? : AX MAN. Oh, Donald Trump style firing.

87. Just look : BROWSE. My specialty.

89. Fountain order : SODA POP

91. Tach readings : RPMs

92. North Sea feeder : YSER And 94. City west of Caen : ST. LO

93. Seminary subj. : REL

105. One may evoke ahs in spas : OIL RUB. Never had an oil rub.

106. Noted Beethoven interpreter Claudio : ARRAU. Guilty of using him in my own puzzles.

107. Rank follower, for short : SERIAL NO. Name, Rank & Serial number.

108. City known for wool : ANKARA. Angora goat is named after Ankara (also known as Angora).

109. Show prizes : TONYs

110. Immaculate : SPOTLESS

111. Test drive offerer : DEALER

Down:

 1. Teacher's Apple : iMAC

2. "De __": "Gracias" response : NADA

3. Point on a train schedule : STOP

4. __ Reader : UTNE

5. Well-educated : LEARNED

6. Hot pot spot : TRIVET. Three-legged. Hot pot is very popular in Xi'An, winter or summer.

7. Like Delaware's northern border : ARCED. Learning moment to me.

8. Tobacco wad : CHAW

9. Farm girl : HEN. Cute clue. We also have 13. Farm sound : OINK.

10. Always there : ETERNAL

11. Mogadishu's land : SOMALIA

 

12. Brawl : FRACAS

14. Color TV pioneer : RCA

15. Like Marilyn Monroe's voice : BREATHY. Wish she had not left Joe DiMaggio.

16. Farr of "M*A*S*H" : JAMIE

17. Dedicatory opus : ODE

18. __ Tin Tin : RIN

19. Word after mess or media : KIT

25. Sweat __ : GLANDS

27. Org. with involved schedules : IRS. Indeed.

31. Pasta suffix : INI

32. Long sentence : RUN-ON

34. Oscar winner Alan : ARKIN

35. Jump with all four feet off the ground, gazelle-style : PRONK. New word to me. Pronking.

36. Burning : ON FIRE

38. How-__ : TOs

39. Group with many boomers : AARP. Baby boomers.

43. Cuts short : LOPS

44. Promises to pay : IOUs

47. Hint : TRACE

48. Large number : HOST. A host of.

49. U2 frontman : BONO

50. Present in court : ARGUE

52. Store employee : CLERK

53. 1980 Tony winner for Best Musical : EVITA. More familiar with the 1996 Madonna film.

54. Some picked-up pickups, briefly : REPOs

55. Brit's saltpeter : NITRE

 

56. Fair-haired : BLOND

58. Assertion : CLAIM

60. Specialized jargon : ARGOT

62. "Hip to Be Square" rocker Lewis : HUEY

63. Familia members : TIOS. Uncles. I call my mom's brother "Jiu", but I call my dad's brother "Da". Different words for aunts also: "Yi" for mom's sister, "Gu" for dad's sister.  All my Jiu, Da, Yi and Gu had arranged marriages, same as my own parents.

64. Manage, as a museum : CURATE

65. Lyrical work : EPODE

67. Home run run : TROT

68. __-Pei : SHAR

69. Lawn maintenance tools : RAKES

70. In __: awaiting delivery : UTERO

71. Bonzo, in a '51 film : CHIMP

72. "Paula's Home Cooking" host : DEEN. Paula Deen. Southern Cooking is foreign to me.

75. Zambia neighbor : ANGOLA

77. __ school : LAW

79. Driving force : IMPETUS

80. Use : EXPLOIT

81. Wicked : IMMORAL

82. Freeway sign word : GAS

83. Like crows : CORVINE. Also a new word to me.

86. Joint: Pref. : ARTHRO. Boomer put Knox gelatin in his coffee yesterday. I heard it takes 3 weeks to notice the effect. Do you have any tip to relieve the old age arthritis pain?

87. Org. with Eagles : BSA

88. Prepare for more shooting : RELOAD

90. Impressive spread : ARRAY

92. Toys on strings : YO-YOs

94. Pace : STEP

95. Warehouse stack: Abbr. : CTNS (Cartons)

96. Commercial word with Seltzer : ALKA

97. Caspian feeder : URAL

98. Attract : LURE

99. One way to get to the top : T-BAR

100. "'Meow' means 'woof' in __": Carlin : CAT

101. Gold, to Gomez : ORO

102. Server with a spigot : URN

103. __ Arizona : USS

104. One may be seen from La Tour Eiffel : ILE. French for "isle".

Happy Birthday to Ergo (Husker Chuck). Chuck is the author of these three books. Gary is an expert in "Nursing the Corn" :-)  Hope you all have a chance to meet someday. Also, Chuck, why did you choose Ergo as your avatar handle?

C.C.

Monday, April 22, 2013 Drew Banneman

 

Theme: Help - The start of the unifier can also precede the first word of the themes.

20A. Behavior of a community : GROUP DYNAMICS. SUPPORT GROUP.

30A. "Star Trek" catchphrase : "BEAM ME UP". SUPPORT BEAM.

36A. Storage items near outdoor faucets : HOSE REELS. SUPPORT HOSE. (my favorite)

48A. Military officer's ride : STAFF CAR. SUPPORT STAFF.

55A. Nurturing network of family and friends, and a hint to the starts of 20-, 30-, 36- and 48-Across : SUPPORT SYSTEM

Argyle here. A Monday debut for Drew, gender unknown. I hope Splynter may find a suitable pic for SUPPORT HOSE. Two corners with 7-letter vertical stacks with the long themes connected to them. All-in-all, a good Monday debut puzzle. I hope Drew will drop by.

Across:

1. Switchblade : SHIV

5. French revolutionary who was murdered in a tub : MARAT. (Jean-Paul Marat) More of a Tuesday entry.

10. Hard to outwit : WILY. Wile E. Coyote

 

14. Trumpet muffler : MUTE

15. Rolled out of bed : AROSE

16. One-named Gaelic folk singer : ENYA. I'll come back and link her song if I don't find anything else.

17. Bear in two constellations : URSA. Major and minor.

18. Pro cager : NBAer

19. Folksy Joan : BAEZ. I like Joan.

23. Martini liquor : GIN. Or...

 

24. AOL chat components : IM's. (Instant Messages)

25. Turkish __: spas : BATHS

28. 24-hour auto race city : LE MANS. South-west of Paris. 67A. 500-mile race, familiarly : INDY. Indianapolis, Indiana, a long way from France.

33. Standing straight : ERECT

34. Aim for pins : BOWL. Get 'em all, Boomer.

35. "How come?" : "WHY?". It comes after the "NO!"s of the terrible twos.

40. Satisfied sigh : "AAH!"

43. Sox player, e.g. : ALer. First basketball, now baseball.

44. Preface, briefly : INTRO

51. Attempt to cool, as steaming hot soup : BLOW ON

52. Prefix with foam : STYRO

53. Maglie or Mineo : SAL. Ball player or actor.

54. Unlock, poetically : OPE

60. Corncob pipe part : STEM

62. "The First Time __ Saw Your Face" : EVER I. Forget Enya.

 

63. Speech problem : LISP

64. Stay fresh : KEEP

65. Dig artifact : RELIC

66. Send out, as rays : EMIT

68. Phones on stage, e.g. : PROPS. Maybe we can get some links to when props fail. I'd look now but I probably wouldn't come back.

69. Contradict : DENY

Down:

1. Bring across the border illegally : SMUGGLE. There have been some horror stories about smuggling people.

2. One in a rush : HURRIER. Clunk! We were doing so good. Why not HARRIER?

3. "Your money's no good here!" : "IT'S ON ME!"

4. Calf meat, in Provence : VEAU. French veal.

5. Coated buttonlike candies : M AND Ms. I read it as candles; that gave me a pause!

6. "Slicing Up Freshness" fast-food chain : ARBY'S

7. Reddish horse : ROAN. 21D. Ford named for a horse : PINTO

8. On the ocean : ASEA

9. __ paper: school composition : TERM

10. Device for a Skype chat : WEBCAM. Marvelous device, I understand.

11. Very agitated : IN A STEW

12. Soap ingredient : LYE

13. '60s-'80s Red Sox legend, familiarly : YAZ. Carl Yastrzemski, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

22. Selectric maker : IBM

26. "Whadja say?" : "HUH?"

27. Double agent : SPY

29. "Oh" de Cologne? : "ACH". Cute clue but doesn't make up for HURRIER.

30. Drilling tool : BORER

31. Potter's pitcher : EWER. Alliteration.

32. Tavern brew : ALE

34. Lugosi who played Dracula : BELA

37. Cul-de-__ : SAC

38. Pharmaceutical giant Eli : LILLY

39. __-Globe: shakable collectible : SNO. I remember Grandma's. Today's don't cut it.

40. Balaam's mount : ASS

 

41. Lawyer: Abbr. : ATT.

42. Country bumpkin : HAYSEED

45. Double-cross : TWO-TIME

46. Lures by phishing, say : ROPES IN

47. Afraid of running out, gas gauge-wise : ON EMPTY

49. Drably unattractive : FRUMPY. A descriptive word.

50. Ascot wearer : FOP. FOP-a man who is excessively concerned with fashion and elegance.

51. Fundamentals : BASICS

53. Word after comic or landing : STRIP

56. Cop's suspect : PERP. Perpetrator, to a cop; perpendicular, to us.

57. Eggs __ easy : OVER

58. Move, in brokerese : RELO

59. Winter toy : SLED. Sledding is a gateway sport to skiing?

60. Tackle a slope : SKI

61. Olympic diver's perfection : TEN. On a one to ten scale.

 

Argyle