Monday, April 25, 2011 Jennifer Nutt

(Note: The Notepad in today's puzzle says:  Saturday's puzzle had no e's in either the clues or answers.)

Theme: Tonsorial Requests - The last word in the answers indicated by the unifier is what you might get if you visit the unifier.

16A. Near miss : CLOSE SHAVE

22A. Boxer's fit condition : FIGHTING TRIM

37A. Neckwear accessory : TIE CLIP

49A. Specially edited version of a film : DIRECTOR'S CUT

61A. Establishment where the ends of 16-, 22-, 37- and 49-Across take place : BARBERSHOP

Argyle here. The theme and the entries are pretty much self-explanatory so I'll move right on to the rest. A good start to the week.

Across:

1. Shire of "Rocky" : TALIA. "Yo! Adrian!"

6. Mortgage insurance org. : FHA. Federal Housing Administration.

9. "__, poor Yorick!": Hamlet : ALAS. Cemetery scene, Act 5, scene 1.

13. Giving the old heave-ho : AXING

14. Flippered mammal : SEAL

15. Tibetan spiritual master : LAMA. It may be because it was close to Easter but there are several religious entries.

18. And others, in footnotes : ET AL.

19. Casino game : KENO

20. Make smooth, as a transition : EASE

21. Glacial ridge : ARÊTE. A view of ARÊTES in Peru.

25. Texas city across the border from Ciudad Juárez : EL PASO

28. Bottle opener, e.g. : TOOL

29. Pine (for) : YEARN

30. "Phooey!" : "DRAT!"

32. Betray sleepiness : YAWN

36. Musician's asset : EAR

40. Hush-hush fed. gp. : CIA

41. Design detail, for short : SPEC. This SPEC stands for specification. Building ON SPEC stands for on speculation.

43. It's younger than a yearling : FOAL. A yearling is a young animal of either sex that is between one and two years old, hence the name. Except, the official age, for racing, a one year old horse is dated from January 1 of the year after the year of foaling.

44. Deserves : EARNS

46. Police action : RAID

48. Police action : ARREST

54. Regal pronouncement : EDICT

55. Equine restraint : REIN

56. Cuba, por ejemplo : ISLA. Spanish.

60. "Candy is dandy" poet : NASH. "but Liquor is Quicker". I can't find out who added "but acid`s like lightning", anybody know?

63. You, to Quakers : THEE

64. Load to bear : ONUS

65. Worldly-unwise : NAIVE

66. Turgenev's "Fathers and __" : SONS. Easy guess. Russian novelist, Turgenev's most famous and enduring novel, appeared in 1862.

67. RR stop : STN. Railroad station.

68. Building wing : ANNEX

Down:

1. Notice holder : TACK. Clever clue.

2. Bridge toll unit : AXLE. Often trucks are charged by the number of axles they have, figuring the more axles, the heavier the weight.

3. King of the jungle : LION. A legend in his own mind. Cartoon.

4. To such an extent : IN SO FAR

5. Go gray, maybe : AGE

6. Lavish dinner : FEAST

7. Succeed in every way : HAVE IT ALL

8. Brown or pale quaff : ALE

9. With vigilance : ALERTLY

10. "See ya __" : LATER

11. Valuable violin : AMATI

12. Oregon's capital : SALEM

14. Persian king : SHAH

17. Lily that's Utah's state flower : SEGO. Google images.

21. In the past : AGO

23. George Harrison's "__ It a Pity" : ISN'T. Isn't It a Pity [Version Two](4:51)

24. "Me? Never!" : "NOT I!"

25. Storm centers : EYES

26. __ of faith : LEAP

27. Cut the peel from : PARE

30. Underarm product : DEODORANT

31. "His Master's Voice" co. : RCA. Image.

33. Field measure : ACRE

34. Pitching successes : WINS

35. Democratic donkey designer : NAST. A quick story about it.

38. "__ makes you happy ..." : IF IT

39. Bolivia neighbor : PERU

42. Nativity scenes : CRECHES. Image

45. Craftsperson : ARTISAN

47. Take steps : ACT

48. Teen facial woe : ACNE

49. Fender dings : DENTS

50. The Snake flows along much of its border with Oregon : IDAHO

51. (Has) ascended : RISEN

52. It's not an all-new episode : RERUN

53. Sis and bro : SIBS

57. Knee-to-ankle bone : SHIN

58. Zero, at Wimbledon : LOVE. Tennis.

59. Acme : APEX

61. Logan Airport city: Abbr. : BOS. Boston Map. Built into Boston Harbor on fill and reclaimed land.

62. Messenger molecule : RNA

Answer grid.

And to wrap this up...clip.(0:05)

Argyle

Tuesday, November 16, 2010 Jennifer Nutt

Theme: Confectionery Fixes - The ends of the starred clues answers are ways to get your cacao bean fix. What's your favorite?

18A. *Chicken soup dumpling: MATZO BALL. Image. A dumpling made from matzah meal of white plain flour and water.

35A. *Paleontologist's lucky find: DINOSAUR EGG. Image. Mere coincidence they look like matzo balls.

43A. *Cappuccino seller: ESPRESSO BAR. Image. Espresso Bar in Melbourne.

61A. Confection that can start the ends of the answers to starred clues: CHOCOLATE

3D. *Basic computer component: SILICON CHIP. Image. Mere coincidence they look like matzo crackers.

27D. *Parting smooch: GOODBYE KISS. Clip.(0:35) Warning: Equal Opportunity Kisser.

Argyle here. Oh my, you should have a cup of hot cocoa instead of coffee this morning.

Ambitious lay-out for a Tuesday with the crossing of the long theme entries twice. Visually appealing but not affecting the solving, which was quite easy with some new cluing.

Across:

1. Cold shower reactions : GASPS

6. Chicken or turkey : FOWL

10. Hair tamers : GELS

14. Sacro- ending : ILIAC

15. Athletic shoe brand : AVIA. It isn't Latin for "fly". Right, Bob?

16. Stratford's river : AVON. Stratford-on-Avon is a popular tourist destination owing to its status as birthplace of William Shakespeare.

17. Seward's Alaska purchase, to some : FOLLY. At the time, 1867, but they changed their tune when gold was discovered there, 1896.

20. National flower of Scotland : THISTLE. Image

22. Neophyte : TYRO. Beginner

23. Anatomical bag : SAC

24. Zeus' wife : HERA

26. Fight-or-flight response generator : DANGER

30. Ajar, say : OPEN

32. Atop : UPON

34. Typical studio apartment room count : ONE

38. Punch-in-the-gut grunt : "OOF!"

39. "Batt. not __" : INCL. "Batteries not included."

40. Bon __: witticism : MOT. French for 'good word'.

41. Sit in traffic : IDLE

42. Utmost degree : NTH

47. Baseball's Diamondbacks, on scoreboards : ARI. Arizona

48. Apollo program org. : NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

49. Wee : TINY

50. Bunny or kangaroo : HOPPER

52. Came out with : SAID

54. Recede : EBB

57. Ahmadinejad's land : IRAN. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the sixth and current President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

59. Body surfer's ride : BREAKER

65. Come up : ARISE

66. Crest : PEAK

67. Coup d'__ : ÉTAT. French, overthrow of the state.

68. Correct, as a stitch : RESEW

69. Torah holders : ARKS

70. Geologic stretches : EONS. Should this be ERAS?

71. A barque has at least three : MASTS. This image may clear up your questions about what a barque is.

Down:

1. Birthday buys : GIFTS

2. Hawaii hi : "ALOHA"

4. Buddies : PALS

5. Grain-cutting tools : SCYTHES. It is an art to swing a scythe and this painting shows a very important part of it. It is nigh on impossible to cut without a razor sharp blade. Windhover, do you swing one?

6. Hall of __: athletic standout : FAMER

7. Breakfast for Brutus? : OVA. The old Roman is having eggs for breakfast.

8. Two-time 1980s skating gold medalist Katarina : WITT

9. Quick brown fox's obstacle? : LAZY DOG. "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is an English-language pangram, used in typing lessons.

10. Cameroon neighbor : GABON. Africa Map.

11. "The Loco-Motion" singer Little __ : EVA. Clip.(1:16) On Shindig 1965.

12. Texter's guffaw : LOL

13. Tina Fey was its first female head writer, briefly : SNL

19. Asian ape : ORANG

21. Singer Horne : LENA. One of the greats.

25. Sky lights : AURORAS

28. __ Gay : ENOLA

29. Send for consultation : REFER

31. D.C. go-getter : POL. Yes, but is he just going to get our money?

33. Tennis's Sampras : PETE

35. Shore of Hollywood : DINAH

36. Words before the talk show guest enters : INTRO

37. Masked men at home? : UMPS

41. Charged particle : ION

43. Diciembre follower : ENERO. Spanish December / January

44. Frozen cake maker : SARA LEE

45. Recipe direction : STIR

46. Holstered pistol, e.g. : SIDEARM

51. Selections : PICKS

53. Looks out for, as a partner in crime : ABETS

55. Plague : BESET

56. Beer and ale : BREWS

58. Belg.-based peacekeeping gp. : NATO. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.

60. Place : AREA

61. Tax pro : CPA

62. "I've Grown Accustomed to __ Face" : HER

63. Wine barrel wood : OAK

64. Brown shade : TAN

Answer grid.

Here are a few wonderful photos of the Lopez family making & enjoying traditional tamales. Click here (2:35pm) to see Lucina's secret recipe.

Argyle

Wednesday March 31, 2010 Jennifer Nutt

Theme: FOOT PARTS (35A. This puzzle's theme if you listen to the beginnings of 20-, 40- and 59-Across and 11-Down) - The start of each theme answer is a homophone of foot part.

20A. Proverbial advice to a physician: HEAL THYSELF. (Heel). The epithet of St Luke, a patron saint of doctors, as used by Paul in Colossians 4:14. Early 15th century King James version, the meaning is that before attempting to correct others you should make sure that you are not guilty of the same faults. "First do no harm" is part of the Hippocratic oath all doctors must take. If you read the warnings about any drug, "no" must have a rather loose definition.

40A. Scold vigorously: BAWL OUT. (Ball).

59A. Certain no-parking area: TOW-AWAY ZONE. (Toe).

11A. Motown genre: SOUL MUSIC. (Sole). Also a book by Terry Pratchett.

Al here, guesting once more. Yesterday's many three-letter answers have been upgraded to fours and fives, but still a pretty easy puzzle for a Wednesday.

Across:

1. Basic Latin lesson word: AMAT. He/She/It loves.

5. Bedtime story preceder, perhaps: BATH.

9. '70s dance club: DISCO.

14. Dancer Falana: LOLA. Appeared on the Muppet Show and posed for Playboy. Not at the same time.

15. Canyon effect: ECHO. A nymph in Greek tragedy who was condemned to speak only by repeating what others had spoken. She also fell in love with Narcissus, who did not return her love, so Echo prayed that he would fall in love with himself. On his death he was transformed into the flower narcissus and as some varieties of this flower contain a sleep-inducing drug, the word "narcotic" was used to describe it. So, from the interwoven Greek myth, we have gained the word "echo", "narcissism" meaning self love, "narcissus" the flower and "narcotic" the effects of certain drugs.

16. Not whispered: ALOUD.

17. Response bias may affect one: POLL. Very difficult to compose neutral questions, especially around politics. Do they really care about your responses? Or is the whole point to simply influence the person being polled without seeming to...

18. Weak, as a novel plot: THIN.

19. Piccolo, e.g.: FLUTE. A half-sized one.

23. "__ Miz": LES. Les Misérables, the miserable ones.

24. Stick: ADHERE.

25. Reasoned belief in a supreme being: DEISM. Derived from the latin word "Deus", meaning god, which also gave us Zeus.

27. Scaredy-cat: SISSY.

30. Appoint as a posse member, say: DEPUTE. This word is technically correct, but my preference outside of crosswords would be to use "deputize" instead. Too many old westerns, perhaps.

33. Huck's transport: RAFT. Huckleberry Finn.

36. Consider: DEEM. To pronounce judgment on something or someone.

38. Obama's younger daughter: SASHA. Natasha. Her older sister is Nalia, lots of vowels and common consonants. (Correction: It's Malia, not Nalia.)

39. "The Name of the Rose" writer: ECO. Umberto.

42. Damaged, as mdse.: IRR. Irregular is not necessarily damaged. Navajo blankets anyone?

43. BP merger partner: AMOCO. Beyond Petroleum. They kind of downplayed the original British Petroleum name when they bought the AMerican Oil CO.

45. Stretch of time: SPAN. Interminable if you are forced to watch C-SPAN.

46. Bra size: B-CUP. Made you look...

47. Falling star: METEOR. Meteor vs meteorite vs meteoroid

49. Lesley of "60 Minutes": STAHL.

51. Model's array: POSES. What were they thinking?

53. "Get lost!": BEAT IT. Don't 'cha make me repeat it.

57. Defense gp.?: ABA. American Bar Association. Why "Bar"? In the 1550s, from the railing that separated benchers from the hall in the Inns of Court. Students who had attained a certain standing were "called" to it to take part in the important exercises of the house. After c.1600, however, this was popularly assumed to mean the bar in a courtroom, which was the wooden railing marking off the area around the judge's seat, where prisoners stood for arraignment and where a barrister stood to plead.

62. Brink: VERGE. Edge, rim. Different origin than Converge, which is "bent together".

64. Hit the ground: ALIT.

65. 1814-'15 exile site: ELBA. Napoleon technically ruled there during exile, but wasn't allowed to leave.

66. River romper: OTTER.

67. Titicaca, for one: LAKE. Borders on Peru and Bolivia, one of the highest navigable lakes in the world. The largest lake in South America by volume.

68. Cause a stench: REEK.

69. Natural homes: NESTS.

70. Author Bagnold: ENID. National Velvet.

71. Norms: Abbr.: STDS. Standards.

Down:

1. Top dog: ALPHA.

2. Was heard from the herd: MOOED.

3. Muslim god: ALLAH. Apparently has more than 99 names.

4. Like a basketball team's center, usually: TALLEST.

5. National Institutes of Health city: BETHESDA. Maryland.

6. In need of a massage: ACHY. I'll spare you from linking Billy Ray Cyrus today...

7. "Now hear __!": THIS.

8. Sharpened: HONED.

9. Most goofy: DAFFIEST.

10. Laid up: ILL.

12. Adorable: CUTE. A Japanese Bento box. (someone's lunch)

13. Shelley works: ODES. Percy Bysshe Shelley.

21. Prefix with sect or cycle: TRI. Trisect: to divide a line or an angle in three equal parts.

22. Captained: LED.

26. Hot tub: SPA. Balneotherapy

28. Monopolizes, with "up": SEWS.

29. Kennel sounds: YELPS.

31. No __ traffic: THRU.

32. O.K. Corral fighter: EARP. Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan.

33. 500 sheets: REAM. 24 sheets: quire. 10 reams: bale.

34. Zenith: ACME. From the Greek word: Akme. Apex is from Latin.

37. Defensive trench: MOAT. Similar to a ha-ha around a British garden (to keep cattle out originally).

40. Fans: BOOSTERS.

41. With sustained force: UNABATED. Unlike your breath, when you wait for something important.

44. Jobs, vis-à-vis Apple Inc.: CEO. Steve Jobs, (not employment jobs).

46. Oregon NBA team, familiarly: BLAZERS. Portland Trailblazers.

48. Old touring car: REO. Ransom Eli Olds.

50. "Yo!": HEY. Yo, Adrian!

52. Low, moist area: SWALE.

54. Apartment sign: TO LET.

55. Asleep, probably: IN BED.

56. Tropical hardwoods: TEAKS. That would be multiple species of teak, I guess...

57. Stratford's river: AVON.

58. __ noire: BETE. Literally "black beast", an insufferable person.

60. Actor Rickman: ALAN. Professor Snape from Harry Potter, Hans Gruber in Die Hard, and Metatron (the voice of God) in Dogma. He can play any character type, good, bad or in-between.

61. Collaborative Web site: WIKI. "Simple" database software so that anyone can contribute without having database experience. A Hawaiian word for "fast", it has been "bacronymed" to mean "What I Know Is". A Bacronym is a made up phrase after a word is already in use to try to make an acronym of it, such as POSH, which does not actually come from port out starboard home...

63. Figure out: GET.

Answer grid.

Al

Monday, February 22, 2010 Jennifer Nutt

Theme: How's that fit? As we grow older (not me) we like to wear pants that are more comfortable (ok, me). The first word in the theme entries combined with "fit" is a euphemistic term for bigger pants. (Update from C.C.: The first word of each two-word familiar phrase is a synonym of "leisurely"/"laid-back".)

21A: Dangerously uncontrollable type: LOOSE CANNON.

27A: Weekly dress-down times: CASUAL FRIDAYS.

48A: Music genre heard in elevators: EASY LISTENING.

55A: Chemically treated tresses: RELAXED HAIR. Go to 5D: Salon dos: STYLES. and have your curly hair straightened or your straight hair curled. Either way, money in the bank for the salon.

Older but no wiser Argyle here. I think this is our first look at a Jennifer Nutt puzzle. Her themes can be ...elusive. Good fill but some cluing could use some work.

Across

1A: Surgery marks: SCARS.

6A: "Hawaii Five-O" setting: OAHU. TV series from 1968 to 1980. Hawaii Five-O centers on a fictional state police force (named in honor of Hawaii's status as the 50th State). The term "Five-O" was adopted by American youth culture as a street slang term for the police.

10A: Heist target: BANK. What Five-O might investigate.

14A: Sully: TAINT.

15A: Whirled, as a top: SPUN.

16A: Opposite of windward: ALEE.

17A: Impressive display: ARRAY.

18A: Kids' plastic brick maker: LEGO.

19A: "What's in a __?": Juliet: NAME. "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)

20A: Sales agent, briefly: REP.

24A: Taken by a shoplifter: STOLEN.

26A: Pub order: ALE.

34A: Requests: ASKS.

36A: More than requests: PLEADS.

37A: Detroit-based labor gp.: UAW. (United Auto Workers)

38A: Supportive sound from the crowd: CHEER.

40A: Sidekick: PAL.

41A: Best-seller list datum: TITLE.

43A: Sch. near Harvard: MIT. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA.

44A: Ukrainian seaport: ODESSA.

47A: Dover flatfish: SOLE. Other flatfish may share the name but Dover remains the true king of sole. Dover sole is what soles caught in the Atlantic, off the coasts of France and England, usually are called. The city of Dover in England figures in by virtue of having been a main fishing port for the London market.

51A: Slithery swimmer: EEL.

52A: Letter-shaped shoe fastener: T-STRAP. On a high heel.

61A: Gallery display: ART.

62A: All done: OVER.

63A: Honey spirits: MEAD. Fermented honey and water.

64A: Still-life fruit: APPLE.

66A: Whimper: MEWL.

67A: Puzzle with only one way out: MAZE.

68A: Old anesthetic: ETHER.

69A: Artist Warhol: ANDY.

70A: Greek god of war: ARES.

71A: Cowboy's rope: LASSO.

Down

1D: Clear-night twinklers: STARS. Starry Night Over the Rhone. And 53D: Setting for van Gogh's "The Night Cafe": ARLES.

2D: Insertion symbol: CARET.

3D: Causes of in-flight "bumps": AIR POCKETS.

4D: Protein synthesis molecule, for short: RNA.

6D: Norway's capital: OSLO.

7D: Gibbons, e.g.: APES.

9D: It may direct you to skip, draw two, or reverse: UNO CARD. Fun for all ages.

10D: Forbidden: BANNED.

11D: Astronaut Shepard: ALAN.

12D: Nautilus captain: NEMO.

13D: "Peachy-__!": KEEN.

22D: "Movin' __": "The Jeffersons" theme: ON UP. TV sitcom 1975 to 1985, a spin-off of "All in the Family".

23D: Elite invitee roster: A-LIST.

25D: Cut with a surgical beam: LASE.

28D: European peaks, to Pierre: ALPES.

29D: "It's the __ I can do": LEAST.

30D: Spurious: FALSE.

31D: Celebrity signatures: AUTOGRAPHS.

32D: Southern pronoun: Y'ALL.

33D: Popeye's __' Pea: SWEE. In the comics, Swee'Pea is a baby found on Popeye's doorstep (actually delivered to him in a box), in a 1933 strip. Popeye adopts and raises him as his son, or, as he puts it "boy-kid".

34D: Very top: ACME.

35D: Denomination of Islam: SHIA. Shia Islam (sometimes spelled Shi'a), is the second largest denomination of Islam, after Sunni Islam. The followers of Shia Islam are called Shi'as but are also known as Shiites or Shi'ites.

39D: Wimbledon's official timekeeper: ROLEX.

42D: Stevie Wonder's "__ She Lovely": ISN'T.

45D: Perplexing problem: DILEMMA.

46D: Against: ANTI.

49D: Annual: YEARLY.

50D: Six-Day War country: ISRAEL.

54D: Wing: Prefix: PTERO. As in PTEROdactyl.

55D: Fontana di Trevi city: ROMA.

56D: Tied, as a game: EVEN.

57D: Lascivious: LEWD.

58D: Darling: DEAR

59D: Mist: HAZE.

60D: Fruity summer drinks: ADES.

65D: Educ. support group: PTA.

I'm making no comment on 57D and 58D.

Congratulations to Dan Feyer for winning the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament!

Answer grid.

Argyle