Monday, October 11, 2010 Kristian House

Theme: Don't Push Me - But they can be pulled. Four in language phrases that end in a smaller version of one of man's greatest inventions, ROPE.

18A. Engages in fanciful storytelling: SPINS A YARN

28A. Bench squad: SECOND STRING. AKA, the B team

46A. Connecting idea: COMMON THREAD

61A. Start acting independently: CUT THE CORD. An allusion to the umbilical cord.

Argyle here with an easy Monday.

Today's constructor is a math teacher in western Massachusetts (Pic, courtesy of the Xword Info) and had a puzzle on Tuesday August 4, 2009.

Across:

1. Payroll tax with Soc. Sec. and Medicare components : FICA. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA).

5. Tibet's capital : LHASA

10. Joe in a cup : JAVA. AKA, Coffee.

14. Show that launched Kelly Clarkson's career, familiarly : IDOL. American Idol.

15. Vague emanations : AURAs

16. Actor Wilson : OWEN

17. "Give" or "take," e.g. : VERB. Great clue.

20. Mukluk wearer : ESKIMO

22. Mine access : ADIT. Monday word ONLY to long time solvers.

23. The Beatles' "__ Just Seen a Face" : I'VE. You might not have recognized the title but you will the song, I think.

24. Trap : SNARE

26. Subjects of wills : ESTATES

31. Only defenseman to lead the NHL in scoring : ORR. Bobby Orr spent most of his National Hockey League (NHL) career with the Boston Bruins before joining the Chicago Blackhawks for his final two seasons.

32. Ballpark entrance : GATE

33. Watson of Harry Potter films : EMMA. Oh my, how she's grown. Image. She isn't really a member of 51D. Modern witch's religion : WICCA

37. Middle Corleone brother : FREDO. AKA, Frederico "Fredo" Corleone, brother to Santino "Sonny" Corleone and Michael Corleone, their sister is Constanzia "Connie" Corleone (previously Constanzia Corleone-Rizzi).

39. Band booster : AMP. AMPlifies(or boosts) the sound from a band.

41. Carrier renamed in 1997 : USAIR

42. "... __ forgive those who trespass ..." : AS WE

43. "__ in Boots" : PUSS. I've provided a link to the Wikipedia article because it is an interesting read. Kids today just know him as a character in Shrek movies.

45. Seventh-century date : DCI. 601.

51. "Yee-haw!" : "WHOOPEE!"

54. Prepare to drive : TEE UP

55. K+ or Na+ : ION. K+ = potassium / Na+ = sodium.

56. McDonald's symbol : ARCH. C'mon, we know it should be ARCHES, right?

58. Father to many? : PRIEST

64. Intl. defense gp. : NATO. International defense group.

65. Ornery type : CRAB

66. Seasonal sleigh driver : SANTA. Ho, Ho, Ho! Santa likes alliteration.

67. Micro or macro subj. : ECON.

68. Egyptian vipers : ASPS

69. Disapproved vocally : TSKED. Or if an Egyptian king, TUTTED

70. Damp at dawn : DEWY

Down:

1. Nine-to-__ : FIVE

2. Mid-month time : IDES

3. Wine cellar tool : CORKSCREW

4. White whale, e.g. : ALBINO

5. Hall of Fame manager Tommy : LASORDA. Baseball. Image.

6. Drill sergeant's "one" : "HUP!". I think there was a discussion about HUT or HUP on Thursday September 23, 2010.

7. Diva's moment : ARIA

8. Potential splinter remover : SANDER. It would smooth the wood, eliminating splinters.

9. Saint Francis's home : ASSISI

10. "Ode to __" : JOY. Performed by Beaker, of the Muppets. Video

11. Watch for : AWAIT

12. Zeal : VERVE

13. Authors Rice and Tyler : ANNEs. Rice writes about Vampires, Tyler wrote The Accidental Tourist.

19. Bus. letter directive : ATTN.. I remember it use to be on the lower left corner of the envelope. Is there an email equivalent?

21. Salsa fruit : MANGO

25. Juanita's "this" : ESTA

27. "Middle" period : AGES. Or the Third Age of Middle-Earth. Oops, not on Monday.

28. Family room piece : SOFA

29. Goofs : ERRS

30. Conductor's beat : TEMPO

34. Came to terms (with) : MADE PEACE

35. Flaky mineral : MICA. Used in isinglass.

36. Like the Mojave : ARID

38. 1920s-'40s art style : DECO

40. Usual fourth down play : PUNT

41. Wedding party member : USHER

44. Blended-family parent : STEP-DAD

47. Colorful fish : OPAH

48. Most insignificant : MEREST

49. Tourist draws : MECCAS

50. Unrepairable : RUINED

52. Doctor's time in the office : HOURS

53. Like much pub ale : ON TAP

57. Traffic complaint : HONK

59. Pack away : STOW

60. Cereal spokestiger : TONY. He's GRRREAT!

62. "Very funny" TV station : TBS. TBS is an American cable television channel owned by Time Warner that shows a variety of programming, with a focus on comedy. TBS was originally Turner Broadcasting System.

63. U.S. 1, for one : RTE.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Tuesday August 4, 2009 Kristian House

Theme: A Whole New Ball Game (idioms derived from baseball)

20A: Completely unexpected: OUT OF LEFT FIELD

28A: Fail to get a job done: DROP THE BALL

45A: Be super-successful: HIT A HOME RUN

53A: From day one: RIGHT OFF THE BAT

And FANS (56D: Bleacherites, e.g.). Sweet puzzle. Quite scrabbly too. Three X'es, one Z and one J.

A very pronounced car sub-theme too:

37A: Wheel shaft: AXLE

66A: Old Pontiac muscle cars: GTOS

33D: Car for which a law in named: LEMON

52D: Roomy auto: SEDAN

53D: Patronize Hertz, say: RENT

1D: Powerful shark: MAKO. Does this refer to the real shark or Corvette's MAKO Shark car?

I guess the constructor could clue ALAMO (44A: Crockett's last stand) as "Car rental name" too. Our own Crockett just visited ALAMO last year.

Does ANTH (44D: Lit. collection) stand for anthropology? (Note: It's short for anthology.) I am not familiar with this abbreviation at all. Only know ANA.

Across:

1A: CEO's degrees: MBAS. Bush is a YALIE, but got his MBA from Harvard.

10A: Pull up stakes: MOVE. "Pull up stakes" is a new idiom to me.

15A:___ vivace: quite lovely, on scores: MOLTO. Literally "very"/"much".

17A: Casino numbers game: KENO

18A: Oater saloon fight: BRAWL

19A: Leafy green that's high in vitamin K: KALE. You've got to eat some fat with KALE, otherwise the nutrient is wasted. Vitamin K is only fat-soluble.

25A: Speedster at JFK, once: SST

34A: Halloween witches' blemishes: WARTS. Crossing TREAT (27D: Halloween goody).

36A: Brazilian hot spot: RIO

38A: Yesterday, to Juan: AYER. I only know Mañana.

41A: Muslim leader: IMAM. Leader in a mosque.

42A: Spicy Asian cuisine: THAI. Yes, indeed. THAI food quite spicy.

49A: Tandoori bread: NAN. NAN/naan is baked in tandoori oven.

51A: Tolkien tree creatures: ENTS

61A: "... bombs bursting __": IN AIR. American National anthem, Martin.

62A: Martial arts school: DOJO. Japanese DO is just like Chinese TAO, meaning "way", JO is "place". So, DOJO is literally "place of the way".

64A: __ Park: Edison lab site: MENLO. Edison is called "The Wizard of MENLO Park".

65A: Sixth Jewish month: ADAR. Purim's month

68A: First in the waiting line: NEXT

Down:

2D: __ cheese dressing: BLEU. What's your favorite salad dressing?

3D: "__ Misbehavin'": AIN'T. Got the answer from the crosses. Have never heard of the song.

5D: "Epitaph for a Spy" author Eric: AMBLER. See the book cover. I learned his name from doing Xword.

6D: "West Wisde Story" Oscar winner Rita: MORENO. The only Hispanic female to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.

8D: Foot package amt.: NT WT

9D: Pitch or chip: GOLF SHOT. Pitch shot has a high trajectory and the ball rolls a little bit upon landing on the green. Chip shot has less of a air time & more roll.

10D: Puts up get-out-of- jail money: MAKES BAIL

12D: South African grassland: VELD. Pronounced like VELT. Afrikaans for "field". New word to me.

13D: Program file suffix: EXE

21D: T-men and G-men: FEDS

25D: Strip of mowed grass: SWATH

29D: Babble on and on: PRATE. I really miss my grandma lately. I wish I could talk to her about my life. She's a woman of very few words. She just listened.

30D: Metal in solder: TIN. I actually got the answer by misreading the clue as "Metal in soldier". TIN soldier.

31D: Forest feller: AXMAN. Alliterative clue.

32D: Camel cousin: LLAMA. Also alliterative.

35D: Sources of romantic conflict: TRIANGLE

39D: When the curtain rises: SHOW TIME

40D: Web video gear, for short: CAM

46D: Half an evil laugh: HEH. Got the answer from Across fills.

47D: Submit an amended 1040: REFILE

48D: Having no paths or trails: UNTROD. Or untroden.

54D: "Othello" conniver: IAGO. He is so evil.

55D: Top draft status: ONE A

57D: Be an omen of: BODE. I don't believe I've seen AUGUR in a puzzle before.

58D: "Foaming cleanser" of old ads: AJAX. Here is a commercial clip. Again, I obtained the answer from Across fills.

59D: Legal wrong: TORT. Civil wrong.

Answer grid.

C.C.

PS: Here is our fellow LAT solver Kathleen Wolf's (WM) beautiful American Landscape for an online competition. Do vote and rate her painting. Five-star would be lovely. Thanks.