Tuesday, December 19, 2017 ~ Grant Boroughs

                          Theme: Musical Ascension - 

17A. Music medium that succeeded the cassette tape: COMPACT DISC

24A. Music legend known as the First Lady of Song: ELLA FITZGERALD

38A. Equipment for rock bands: GUITAR AMPLIFIER

48A. Lennon-McCartney collection whose publishing rights were once owned by Michael Jackson: BEATLES' CATALOG

58A. When strung together, musical sequence represented by the initials of 17-, 24-, 38- and 48-Across: C MAJOR SCALE

Argyle here. It's been over a year since Grant's debut, a Monday. Quite a different follow-up, I'd say. Ol' Man Keith has his diagonal solve but from right to left, bottom to top, aptly for this puzzle, eh. It certainly had me wondering until the reveal. The entries are all somewhat musically connected.

Across:

1. Fire remnants: ASHES

6-Across is at the end.

11. Dazzle: AWE

14. Companion of reduce and recycle: REUSE

15. Log dwelling: CABIN

16. Composer Rorem: NED. Amazingly prolific. Selected works

19. Martini liquor: GIN

20. Confer knighthood on: DUB

21. Camping gear retailer: REI. (Recreational Equipment, Inc) We've had it often enough that I remembered the letters if not the exact order.

22. Verdi creation: OPERA. Ned Rorem has a few.

29. Yale grads: ELIs

30. State strongly: AVER

31. Gelatin dish: ASPIC

33. Lucy's old sitcom partner: DESI. Desi Arnaz, Sr.

35. 42-Across doubled: TWO

42. 35-Across halved: ONE

43. Grandson of Adam: ENOS

44. Formally gives up: CEDEs

45. Test for an aspiring atty.: LSAT.(Law School Admission Test)

47. Anti-fur-farming org.: PETA. (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals)

54. South Beach city: MIAMI. Life's a beach.

55. __ Baba: ALI

56. Michelle of the LPGA: WIE

57. Bath's land: Abbr.: ENG. (England)

63. Birthday count: AGE

64. Gold purity unit: KARAT

65. Lives like a nomad: ROVES

66. Partner of neither: NOR

67. Searches for: SEEKS

68. Stockholm native: SWEDE

Down:

1. Paris' __ Triomphe: ARC DE

2. South Korean capital: SEOUL

3. Comeuppance that's "eaten": HUMBLE PIE

4. Seer's claim: ESP. Not 'every single perp' like some claim.

5. Watery expanse: SEA

6. Group of eight: OCTET

7. Spanish port city: CADIZ. And this concludes today's travelogue.

8. __-Wan Kenobi: OBI. Star Wars. Has anybody seen The Last Jedi yet?

9. Prefix with spell: MIS

10. "Play more music!": "ENCORE!"

11-Down is at the end.

12. Really out there: WEIRD. 13. Flamboyant Dame: EDNA. 12-, and 13-Down, now there's a pairing!

18. NFL sportscaster Collinsworth: CRIS

23. Golf course standard: PAR

25. Came down to earth: ALIT

26. Pay stub acronym: FICA. (Federal Insurance Contributions Act)

27. Surprised sounds: GASPS. Kids with their first pay check and discover FICA.

28. Rotten to the core: EVIL

31. Before now: AGO

32. Daylight provider: SUN

33. "Divine Comedy" poet: DANTE

34. Revealing rock genre: EMO

35. Coastal flooding cause: TIDAL WAVE

36. Tiny: WEE

37. Surgery ctrs.: ORs. (operating room)

39. Genuine: REAL

40. "Law & Order: SVU" actor: ICE T

41. Greek cheese: FETA

45. Go on the __: skip town: LAM

46. Hangs (around): STICKS

47. Au __: live-in nanny: PAIR. Originally, French for ‘on equal terms’ but now a young foreign person, typically a girl, who helps with housework or child care in exchange for room and board.

48. "You got it!": "BINGO!"

49. Raring to go: EAGER

50. "Wheel of Fortune" host: SAJAK. Pat.

51. Coagulates: CLOTS

52. Quieted, as noisy hinges: OILED

53. Birds in a gaggle: GEESE

54. Not at all nice: MEAN

59. Sassy West: MAE

60. "Roses __ red": ARE

61. H.S. grads-to-be: SRs. (seniors)

62. Dairy farm animal: COW

6. "__, all ye faithful ... ": O, COME. 11D. Heavenly being: ANGEL

Argyle

Monday, September 19, 2016 Grant Boroughs

Theme: ARR! - I'll be hornswoggled; it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day 2016.

17A. Ship-fouling organisms, on Talk Like a Pirate Day?: BARRNACLES

32A. What kids ask on a long trip, on TLAP Day?: "ARR WE THERE YET?"

38A. Ship's right-front section, on TLAP Day?: STARRBOARD BOW

57A. Cold northern region, on TLAP Day?: THE ARRCTIC

3D. Food storage area, on TLAP Day?: LARRDER

40D. Bill for drinks, on TLAP Day?: BARR TAB

ARRgyle here, matey and we have a new skipper, Cap'n Boroughs. I feels he's done a fine job and if'n ya don't arrgree, you'll hang by your thumbs from the yarrdarm 'tils we get back in port. If you check among the booty, you will find many seafaring entries.

http://fotoforum.fr/photos/2014/02/04.5.jpg

Across:

1. Dangerous wind for small boats: GALE

5. "You're gonna need a bigger boat" movie: JAWS. Completely off-script ad-lib.

9. Barbecue rod: SPIT

13. Actor Sharif: OMAR

14. Verbal exams: ORALS

16. Actress Lollobrigida: GINA

19. Lights-out tune: TAPS

20. Horse hue: ROAN

21. Spyglass component: LENS

23. With 48-Down, mediocre: NOT 48-Down. See 23-Across: SO HOT

24. "Alas ... ": "SADLY..."

26. Cry of fright: [EEK!]

27. Burning: AFIRE

29. Key lime __: PIE

30. Pigpen: STY

31. Story surprises: TWISTS

36. What George Washington could not tell, according to folklore: A LIE

37. Oregon Trail wagon pullers: OXEN

43. Sends to the Hill: ELECTS

45. Agrees to: OKs

46. Wonderment: AWE

47. Wood-shaping tool: LATHE

48. Urgent distress signal: S-O-S

49. When right turns are sometimes permitted: ON RED

51. Tax agcy.: IRS. (Infernal Revenue Service)

52. Dire fate: DOOM

54. Two of a kind: PAIR

55. The color of tropical seas: TEAL

61. "The Sopranos" actress Falco: EDIE

62. Human trunk: TORSO

63. Ring of light: HALO

64. Flatfish sometimes served stuffed: SOLE

65. Recipe amts.: TSPs. (teaspoon)

66. Online auction site: EBAY

Down:

1. Dollop: GOB

2. Doctors' org.: AMA. (American Medical Association)

4. Swashbuckler Flynn: ERROL

5. __ of 6-Down: French heroine: JOAN

6. 5-Down of __: French heroine: ARC. (Joan of Arc)

7. Minnesota's state fish: WALLEYE

8. Like a smooth-sailing clipper ship: SLEEK

9. Rank above cpl.: SGT. corporal/sergeant

10. One tickling the ivories: PIANIST

11. Sitting at the dock of the bay: IN PORT

12. Tries a bite of: TASTES

15. Taxpayer ID: SSN

18. Dissenting vote: NAY

22. Fictional Tom or real-life Diane: SAWYER

24. Massage facility: SPA

25. Balloon filler: AIR

26. Old anesthetic: ETHER

28. Wicked one: FIEND

30. Mixes: STIRS

31. __ Hold 'em: TEXAS. Poker game.

33. Enjoy, as television: WATCH

34. Overjoyed: ELATED

35. Chess castles: ROOKS

38. Shove off: SET SAIL

39. Post-WWII babies: BOOMERS. CSO.

41. Be indebted to: OWE

42. Married: WED

43. Upper crust groups: ELITEs

44. Rio Grande city: LAREDO

49. Rowboat propeller: OAR

50. Specialized market segment: NICHE

53. Giants slugger Mel: OTT

54. All in favor: PROs

56. Director Ang __: LEE

58. Deadly snake: ASP

59. Dockworkers' org.: ILA. (International Longshoremen's Association)

60. Playfully shy: COY

Argyle