Sunday August 23, 2009 Gary Steinmehl

Theme: Changing Sides - The first and last word of familiar phrases are swapped.

23A: Miners' detritus?: LITTER OF THE PICK (Pick of the Litter, the best of the bunch.)

38A: High ground at Graceland?: HILL OF THE KING (King of the Hill, the most powerful person in the group.)

61A: Like an estate seller?: FREE OF THE LAND (Land of the Free, America.)

85A: "Nova" episode about out sun?: SHOW OF THE STAR (Star of the Show, the headliner.)

103A: Heirs?: PEOPLE OF THE WILL (Will of the People, upon which democracy is founded.)

15D: Manor owner's jewelry?: RINGS OF THE LORD (Lord of the Rings, Tolkien novel)

48D: Moments when an omen appears?: TIMES OF THE SIGN (Sign of the Times, something that signifies the nature of the current society.)

I have never heard of idiom "King the Hill" before. Dictionary says British call it "King of the Castle".

I do love the entry HILL OF THE KING a lot. Joe Jackson should learn from Priscilla Presley, though I doubt he could transform Neverland into another Graceland.

I did not jump around today. Solved the puzzle systematically from upper left to lower right. Struggled with the multiple-word entries again.

Across:

1A: Knotted sash: OBI. Nice to have a gimme start.

4A: Easy __: AS ABC. Thought of DOES IT first. Easy DOES IT.

9A: Magnitogorsk's river: URAL. I've never heard of Magnitogorsk, a Russian mining and industrial city located by the URAL River.

13A: "Green __": ACRES. The Eva Gabor TV series.

18A: Cool, in a way: FAN. Verb here.

19A: Attacked: CAME AT

21A: She played Roz on "Frasier": PERI (Gilpin)

22A: Toast indicator: CLINK. Nice crossing with CLANG (14D: Sound from a forge).

26A: Like Mr. Fix-it: HANDY

27A: One way to think: LOUD

28A: Prepare for a job transfer, perhaps: RETRAIN. And REHIRE (78D: Brings back to board). I like both of the clues, neither indicating a RE answer directly.

29A: Fictional oil family name: EWING. Of "Dallas".

33A: Mag. stand item: ISS (Issue)

34A: Tries to hit: SWINGS AT

41A: Plastic __Band: ONO. No idea. According to Wiki, it's a conceptual band (1969-1975) formed by John Lennon and Yoko ONO before the dissolution of Beatles. Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Ringo Starr were once members.

42A: "Wonder Dog" of comics: REX. Nope. Have never heard of Rex the Wonder Dog.

43A: "Free" gym gear: Abbr.: WTS. Weights? Why is "Free" in quotation mark?

44A: Operate with a beam: LASE. LASE/LASER. TASE/TASER.

45A: __ concern: OF NO. Had problem obtaining this multiple world answer.

46A: Fragrant extract: ATTAR. And LEI (94A: Fragrant gift). The latter stumped me.

51A: Spread choice: PATE. Tried OLEO first.

52A: Subbed: SAT IN

53A: Cheats: CHISELERS. New word to me. Looks like a person who chisels.

55A: Passé demo item: TAPE. Passé indeed.

56A: Tries to sell: PUSHES. I can't stand CNBC's Jim Cramer.

57A: Hit the trail, in a way: CAMPAIGN

58A: Thames islets: AITS. Often clued as "River islets".

59A: "Purgatorio" writer: DANTE. "Divine Comedy" writer as well.

60A: 2002 baseball All-Star Game result: TIE. An embarrassing moment for Bud Selig.

64A: Word in southwestern place names: LOS. As in LOS Angeles.

67A: Go after: SET AT

69A: Lofgren of the E Street Band: NILS. Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band.

70A: Democracy, e.g.: IDEOLOGY

72A: Does an Act of Contrition: ATONES. Did not know "Act of Contrition" is a prayer. No wonder the phrase is capitalized.

74A: People Magazine's 1999 Sexist Man Alive: GERE (Richard). I guessed PITT (Brad).

75A: Idealist' bane: REAL WORLD

76A: Support: BE FOR

77A: "Symphony in Black" artist: ERTE. Gimme to you, right? I've linked "Symphony in Black" a few times before.

78D: Fishing gear: RODS

79A: Where lines met: NODES. Why? I wanted CORNER.

80A: Two-timers: RATS

81A: Tug's burden: SCOW. Flat-bottomed boat.

82A: Alter, perhaps: SEW

84A: Pompeii burier: ASH

89A: Outsourced item, perhaps: JOBS

92A: Timon and Uncle Max, in "The Lion King": MEERKATS. New word to me. They are also called suricates. Members of the mongoose family.

95A: Where It.'s at: EUR (Europe). It.=Italy.

96A: Guitar __: video game: HERO. Unknown to me.

97A: Like a fleabag: SEEDY

98A: Inn Crowd member: BOARDER. Wordplay on "In Crowd".

100A: "Foolish Games" singer: JEWEL. Here is the clip. Reminded me of Samuel A Donaldson's "Closing Acts" puzzle, PINK, JEWEL, SEAL & PRINCE.

101A: Not exactly vertical: ATILT

106A: It makes sense: LOGIC. Yes, indeed.

107A: Tombstone lawman: EARP

108A: Looked happy: SMILED

109A: Fed. income supplement program: SSI (Supplemental Security Income). Unknown to me.

110A: "Dune" director David: LYNCH. I've yet to experience the utter bliss David LYNCH often experiences in his Transcendental Meditation.

11A: Chop __: SUEY. SUEY is literally "pieces".

112A: '90 "SNL" regular Cheri: OTERI. Friendly vowel & consonant combination.

Down:

2D: Pearl of "St. Louis Woman": BAILEY. Got the answer from Across fills. Have never heard of this singer/actress.

3D: Sing, as Gregorian chant: INTONE

5D: Fraternal org. since 1889: SAR (Sons of the American Revolution). DAR is Daughters of American Revolution.

7D: Happened to: BEFELL

8D: Friend of Anthony: CATT. Carrie Chapman CATT & Susan B. Anthony. Both suffragists. Stumped me.

9D: Snooty: UPPISH. Wanted UPPITY.

11D: It's measured in degrees: ARC. True.

12D: "Me, too": LIKEWISE

13D: Sore: ACHING

16D: Nip in the bud: END

17D: Word with jack or box: SKY. Skyjack = Sky & (Hi)jack.

20D: Using coupons, say: THRIFTY

25D: Bridge positions: EASTS. Could also be WESTS.

30D: Choice from a list: WINE. I was thinking of the computer drop-down list.

32D: Fan mag graphics: PIX. Singular is PIC.

34D: Inline item: SKATE

35D: Poker whiz __ Duke: ANNIE. I recognized her face when I googled.

36D: Popeye et al.: TOONS

38D: Next life: HEREAFTER. Do you believe in next life?

39D: Dominates, in sports lingo: OWNS. PWNS in computer talk. Easy to accidentally hit the P instead of O key when typing.

40D: Slip by: ELAPSE

42D: Sing like Satchmo: RASP. Did not know RASP can be a verb. Satchmo is the nickname of Louis Armstrong.

45D: Hops drier: OAST

46D: S & L holding: ACCT. S & L= Savings & Loans.

47D: Cuisine using jasmine rice: THAI. Love THAI food, not jasmine rice though. Dislike the taste.

49D: Father, biblically: BEGET

50D: D-day invasion river: ORNE. See this map. The "Caen river".

51D: Maze option: PATHS

52D: Evening cocktail, to a Brit.: SUNDOWNER. Drink taken at sundown. New to me.

54D: Turkey tender: LIRAS. Turkish money. Got me. I was picturing the bird turkey.

55D: Mr. or Mrs.: TITLE

56D: Comics frame: PANEL

58D: Smoking, probably: AFIRE

59D: Tots' pops: DADAS. Chinese babies talk the same thing: DADA/BABA.

62D: Ali's pair of socks: ONE-TWO. The ONE-TWO punch, a left-hand jab immediately followed by a right cross. Nicely misleading "pair of socks".

63D: Spread canards: LIED

65D: Eye up and down: OGLE. Too bad EYE is also the answer for 37A: Check out.

66D: Pink Floyd's Barrett et al.: SYDS

68D: Space chimp: ENOS. Of 1961.

71D: Life rival, once: LOOK. I have this RFK issue. The tears.

72D: Norm of "This Old House": ABRAM. Immediately thought of our Al.

73D: Get on: TEASE

74D: Becomes: GROWS. Becomes/GROWS fond of.

75D: "Lady Jane Grey" playwright: ROWE. Can never remember the playwright's name.

77D: Adaptable subspecies: ECOTYPES. New word to me also.

81D: Atlantic catch: SHAD. Roe source.

82D: Diamond theft?: STEAL. Baseball diamond. Nailed it immediately.

85D: Police artist's work: SKETCH. Cool word, with only one vowel.

86D: Obsolescent data holder: FLOPPY

87D: Deem appropriate: SEE FIT

88D: One with a shell: TURTLE. Was picturing oyster.

89D: Like some delis: JEWISH. Wrote down KOSHER first.

90D: Ominous words: OR ELSE

91D: Mess (up): BOLLIX. Need to use this word often.

93D: Trace of the past: RELIC

96D: Chop down: HEW

98D: Put to sleep, so to speak: BORE

99D: Major -__: DOMO. New word to me. Chief steward/butler. DOMO/Dome, house.

100D: Sci-fi knight: JEDI. The "Star Wars" knight

101D: The whole shebang: ALL. Love the clue.

102D: Happy meal throw-in: TOY. Not any more, right? I used to collect those Madame Alexander McDonald's toys. Very cute.

104D: __ minérale: EAU. French for mineral water, like Évian.

105D: Self starter?: HER. Herself.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday August 5, 2009 Gary Steinmehl

Theme: MONKEY AROUND (53A: Spend time idly (and a hint to what can precede the last word of 20-, 25-, 38- or 47-Across))

20A: Stage, screen, etc.: SHOW BUSINESS

25A: They have latte charges: COFFEE BARS

38A: Action in court: LAWSUIT

47A: Oxford brighteners: SHOESHINES

I always associate MONKEY BUSINESS with Gary Hart/Donna Rice scandal. MONKEY BARS are not part of my childhood memory. Only learned a few months ago that MONKEY SUIT is slang for tuxedo. MONKEYSHINE is a new word to me. Dictionary says it's usually in plural form, referring to "a frivolous or mischievous prank", similar to MONKEY BUSINESS.

Quite unusual to see the two non-theme Across fills SQUATTERS (17A: Occupants of abandoned buildings, e.g.:) and REPLAYING (61A: Using a DVR, say) have more letters than the center theme entry LAWSUIT.

MONKEY is one of the 12-year cycle of Chinese zodiac animals. People born in the year of MONKEY are highly energetic and inventive. Here are more traits. I am a pig. Generally I don't get along with those who were born in the year of snake.

Across:

1A: Wire wearer: SPY. Alliterative clue.

4A: Low men: BASSI. "Low men in an opera/choir" to be precise. Plural of BASSO. I was in the SERFS/ESNES direction.

14A: Witness stand oath: I DO. I really liked Merl Reagle's "Two words Oprah hasn't said" clue for I DO (forward to 6:03).

16A: Shire of "Rocky": TALIA. She played Connie in the "Godfather".

30A: It follows that: ERGO. Latin for "Therefore" or "It follows that...".

35A: Scientology's __ Hubbard: L. RON. Just learned that L stands for Lafayette.

36A: Big name in Arizona political history: UDALL. Learned from doing Xword. They are Democrats in a historically red state.

44A: Vena __: CAVA. Latin for "hollow".

45A: Nest egg initials: IRA (Individual Retirement Account)

46A: War honoree: HERO. Thought of VETS first.

52A: Homer Simpson's neighbor: NED

60A: Prestigious university octet: IVIES. The Ivy League.

66A: New parent's lack?: SLEEP. Great clue. Nice pair with NAPS (59D: Is off guard).

67A: "The Company": CIA. Does FBI have a nickname also? I only know G-MAN.

70A: Big fat mouth: YAP

Down:

1D: Skipper, to Barbie: SIS. Skipper's friend is Skooter. Tough to find a vintage barbie in mint condition.

2D: Brief "At once!": PDQ (Pretty Damn Quick)

3D: Uncle Sam poster word: YOU. I want YOU.

4D: LPGA Hall of Famer Daniel: BETH. Ah, the next Solheim Cup captain. She just picked Michele Wie as a wild card. She also tapped Julie Inkster.

8D: Bank named on a credit card: ISSUER

9D: Skylit areas: ATRIA. One letter away from ALTRIA (parent company of Philip Morris/Kraft), Latin for "high".

10D: Discouraged: DAUNTED

22D: Bring relief to: SOOTHE

23D: Catered event: AFFAIR. Waiting for it to be clued as "Extramarital relationship". Two people can have AFFAIRS without sexual relationship, correct?

25D: Potato's place?: COUCH. COUCH potato.

27D: Proctor & Gamble detergent: ERA. Nice new clue.

29D: Inexpensive former camera brand: ANSCO. Not familiar with this brand. It stands for Anthony & Scoville Co.

31D: Formation from steam erosion: RAVINE

32D: Stared angrily: GLARED. Not fond of the clue. Too many letter repetitions.

33D: Southwestern crocks: OLLAS

36D: Six-sided state: UTAH. Jazz-y too.

39D: Dubai's federation: Abbr.: UAE (United Arab Emirates). Dubai is one of the 7 Emirate. Also the city name.

43D: Cargo pants features: POCKETS

47D: Limit, in a saying: SKY. The SKY is the limit.

48D: Publisher who was the inspiration for "Citizen Kane": HEARST

49D: Race since 1911, informally: INDY. INDY 500. The Memorial Day weekend race.

51D: "The Lion and the Mouse" fabulist: AESOP. The man of morals.

53D: Junk drawer label: MISC

54D: Lionel layout, maybe: OVAL

55D: 15th century caravel: NINA. Pinta & Santa Maria. Columbus's ships.

57D: Receptive: OPEN

58D: Beekeepr in a 1997 movie: ULEE. "ULEE's Gold". Starring Peter Fonda.

63D: Peeples of "Fame": NIA. She is also in "Walker, Texas Ranger".

Answer grid.

C.C.

Monday June 1, 2009 Gary Steinmeh

Theme: "Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them"

20A: "Hands up!": REACH FOR THE SKY

39A: "Hands down!": NO MORE QUESTIONS

55A: "Hands off!": LEAVE THAT ALONE

Argyle blogging.

I'm sorry but my computer/ISP is very slow this morning so my comments are abbreviated. I can count on the rest of you to put in their favorite links, can't I? I should say I didn't look at all the video links I used, so I hope they're all right.

Across:

6A: Deer little one: FAWN. And 10A: Little cow: CALF.

14A: __ Litella: Gilda Radner's "Never mind!" character: EMILY.

17A: "The Thinker" sculptor: RODIN. Pic. Was he thinking, "This is one uncomfortable pose"?

19A: Payroll tax that funds Soc. Sec.: FICA. Federal Insurance Contributions Act

23A: Fit for the military: ONE A.

24A: Do a slow burn: SEETHE.

27A: Backside: DUFF. It's not just a beer on the "Simpsons" Here are four other meanings derived from different roots.

31A: Like a childhood stage, to Freud : ORAL. Is the term fixation used anywhere else?

33A: Like fantastic tales: TALL.

35A: Do-__: desperate : OR DIE. DO-OR-DIE. The quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem is Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die. "Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda.

43A: Right triangle ratio: SINE.

44A: Razor-billed birds: AUKS. Their eyes are hard to make out.

47A: Doofus: DOLT.

49A: Fed. auditing agency: GAO. The Government Accountability Office

50A: "Pet" sources of irritation: PEEVES.

53A: Speed-of-sound word: MACH.

60A: Two-thirds of Santa's laugh: HO HO. A gimme for me!

61A: Old-time drummer Gene: KRUPA. Gene Krupa, 1909 – 1973, was born in Chicago. clip

63A: Refreshing rapper/actor?: ICE-T. and 9D: Summer refresher with a three-leaf logo: NESTEA. pic

65A: Pentium maker: INTEL.

68A: Letters before tees: ESSES.

Down:

3D: Purchase for your Xbox: VIDEO GAME.

4D: Gonzalez in 2000 news: ELIAN.

5D: Matched, as dubbed dialogue to mouth movements: SYNCED.

6D: Feudal estate: FIEF.

10D: Food fight site: CAFETERIA.

11D: Make-__ Foundation: A-WISH.

12D: English philosopher John: LOCKE.

13D: Chef Bobby: FLAY.

21D: Terre __, Indiana: HAUTE.

22D: Serf of ancient Sparta: HELOT.

26D: Camaro __-Z: muscle car: IROC. International Race of Champions. They have their own web site.

28D: Web pages with basic site info: FAQS. Frequently asked questions. Constructors get to use a Q without a U.

29D: Lighter __: Zippo filler: FLUID.

32D: Years on the job : LONGEVITY.

36D: Dunked snacks: DOUGHNUTS.

37D: Durante's "__ Dinka Doo": INKA. clip

38D: "Happy motoring" gas: ESSO.

40D: Christopher who played Superman: REEVE.

41D: Alabama march city: SELMA. Integration and civil rights march.

48D: Nonsilent film: TALKIE.

50D: London change: PENCE.

54D: Preserves, as beef: CORNS. Corned beef; one of those things where I like the cheaper cut better.

55D: Let go, with "off': LAID.

57D: Corrida critter: TORO. Is the editor putting in all these alliterations just for you, C.C,?

62D: Capp and Gore: ALS. A cartoonist and a subject of cartoons.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Thursday May 14, 2009 Gary Steinmehl

Theme: LINCOLN CENTER (37A: Performing arts site where ground was broken 5/14/1959, and a hint to the shared features of the answers to starred clues) - ABE is embedded in the very center of each theme entry.

17A: *Era in which Shakespeare wrote most of his plays: ELIZABETHAN

60A: *Put in order, as files: ALPHABETIZE

11D: *With no tags: UNLABELED

33D: *Veggies of Andean origin: LIMA BEANS

LIMA BEANS is an odd entry, the only ABE that spans two words. A bit of inconsistency here. The theme title entry LINCOLN CENTER is very clever, and it's gridded in the central row # 8. I wonder if the puzzle was originally created for the big 200th Anniversary of Lincoln's birth. (Added later: According to Orange, today is the 50th anniversary of when they broke ground to build LINCOLN CENTER.)

Some sweet baseball sub-theme:

11A: Official in black: UMP

66A: Cobb and others: TYS

8D: Only team besides the Yankees to win three consecutive World Series: ATHLETICS (1972-1974)

61D: Manager Piniella: LOU

ATHLETICS is an easy fill, though I was not aware of their consecutive World Series wins (1972, 1973 and 1974). Neither the Yankees nor the Athletics has won since I arrived in the US in May 2001. Then LOU Piniella was still the manager for the Mariners and Ichiro had all the media attention. Pineilla is currently with the Cubs.

Nice scrabbly upper left corner & lower right corner. I liked those 6 long non-theme words in the Down entries.

Across:

1A: Sign in a reserved parking area: STAFF. Except OFF & EFF, we seldom see a single ?FF ending word, not even BUFF.

6A: Time's Person of the Year 2008: OBAMA. He will probably be again this year. Or his wife. Or both of them.

14A: Screen dot: PIXEL

15A: Communion bread holder: PATEN. Chalice and PATEN. I completely forgot about this word.

19A: __ Palmas: LAS. Have never heard of this remote Spanish province. What's it famous for?

22A: Indifferent: BLASE

26A: Unadorned: NAKED. BARED came to me first.

28A: Border: ABUT. Verb.

29A: "Rocky III" actor: MR. T

31A: Quick-drying paint: TEMPERA. Only one letter difference from TEMPURA, the Japanese deep frying battered veggies.

34A: Jumps (out): BAILS

36A: Article in Elle France: LES. The French definite article (plural). Good clue. I like Elle China.

43A: Leave in the lurch: ABANDON

45A: A followers: BCD

47A: Keats's "__ Psyche": ODE TO. Easy guess since he wrote so many ODES. Here is a sculpture of Cupid and Psyche at the Louvre.

50A: Kennel chatter: YAPS. No plural form for "Chatter"?

56A: Work on the cutting edge?: STROP. Great clue.

58A: English __: LIT. Thought of TEA first.

59A: "Ghost" psychic __ Mae Brown: ODA. Played by Whoopi Goldberg. Loved "Ghost".

63A: Wasn't colorfast: RAN

64A: Foolish: GOONY. Only knew goon. Strange. Why its adjective is not goonish like thuggish? There is no thuggy after all.

65A: "Hungarian Rhapsodies" composer: LISZT (Franz)

67A: Idlers in a jam: AUTOS

Down:

1D: Command to Fido: SPEAK

2D: El Niño feature?: TILDE. Nailed it immediately. Saw identical clue before.

3D: Geometry truth: AXIOM. I don't know what "Geometry truth" is. But AXIOM is truth any way.

4D: Tasseled topper: FEZ

5D: Wing movement: FLAP

7D: Dying art: BATIK. Of Javanese origin. New word to me. Dictionary explains it as "a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with a color or colors, and dissolving the wax in boiling water".

10D: "The Brady Bunch" actress Davis: ANN B. Got her name with Across help. I wanted ANNE or ANNA. Did not expect the B abbreviation.

12D: Calibrated tool: MEASURER. If you say so. What do you call the person who measures then? Not MEASURER?

13D: Old dinero: PESETAS. I forgot. It's the Spanish currency from 1869 to 2002. Then it's replaced by Euro.

18D: Crooked: BENT

23D: Computer site, sometimes: LAP. I was in the wrong direction, thinking of web site.

27D: Editing marks: DELE. And STETS (53D: Leaves in).

32D: "Hardball" airer: MSNBC. I think Chris Matthews has the best job in the world.

34D: The right side-view mirror compensates for it: BLIND SPOT. Nice theme-long non-theme entry.

35D: Farm crawler: ANT. (ANT farm. Thanks, Al)

37D: Symbolic end of summer: LABOR DAY

40D: Garage alternative: CARPORT. New word to me also. We only have garage.

44D: Marshal at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). Learned his name from doing Xword also. Napoleon called him "th bravest of the brave"

45D: Nincompoop: BOOB. Wrote down BOZO first.

48D: Culture: Pref.: ETHNO

49D: Fast-food carriers: TRAYS. And PIZZA (52D: Lunch slice).

55D: It's a long story: SAGA

57D: Hide: PELT

62D: __ Maria: Liqueur: TIA. Coffee liqueur. Made originally in Jamaica using the Blue Mountain Coffee beans, according to Wikipedia. New to me.

Answer grid.

C.C.

PS: Due to some changes in my life, blog posts will be brief from now on, and I will only respond to questions in the Comments section. Thanks for the understanding.