Thursday, August 13, 2015 Mark Bickham

Theme: "Holding Company" 4:01


18-Across. "Hang on for a sec" : BE RIGHT BACK. I'm not holding back, I'll tell it like it is!

23-Across.. It can be white or red : BLOOD CELL. Oops - don't want to ever see the inside of a holding cell.

31-Across.. Way with words? : SPEECH PATTERN. Sometimes I feel as if my life were in a holding pattern: same old, same old every day.

40-Across.. Cry from a daring biker : LOOK MA NO HANDS. I just finished a great book, "Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands" by Chris Bohjalian.

50-Across.. French Open surface : CLAY COURT. I enjoy holding court here every Thursday!

57-Across.. Type of tax ... or how the ends of the other five longest across answers might be seen? :
WITHHOLDING.  You have to read it a different way to see the connection: They might be seen "with" HOLDING. Lots of themage from Mark today, with six entires. It's not easy to do that without compromising the fill. Lets see how he did.

Across

1. Hypotheticals : IFs. No ands or buts?

4. Casino conveniences : ATMs.

8. Painfully bright : AGLARE. I'll let it go this time, since I enjoyed the puzzle so much.

14. Medical research org. : NIH. National Institutes of Health.

15. Cool, in '90s slang : PHAT.

16. Military builder : SEABEE.  Their name is from "C.B." - Construction Battalion.

17. Subject of many 10-Downs : DNA. And 10-Down. Doctor's order : LAB TEST. Ummm, "bed rest" also fit. Just sayin'...

20. Banjo virtuoso Scruggs : EARL.

22. Most slimy : OILIEST.

25. "Better information. Better health" resource : WEB MD. I have blocked this site from DH's computer.  He keeps thinking the worst every time he gets a rash, ache, ingrown toenail, gas pain...

29. Barbershop voice : TENOR. Hmmm, Husker Gary. Which one do I choose? 4:13

30. Run for again, as office : RESEEK.

36. Act decisively : OPT.

38. Capital near Casablanca : RABAT.

39. "30 Rock" star : FEY. Tina. I loved her book, "Bossypants."

45. Literary breakdown : GENRES.

46. Actress Sonia : BRAGA. She was in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." No wonder I had no clue - all perps.

49. Had leftovers, say : ATE IN.

54. Checking the parts list, e.g. : STEP ONE.

56. Jr.'s exam: PSAT. Preliminary SAT. SAT was Scholastic Aptitude Test, then the Scholastic Assessment Test, then the SAT Reasoning Test, and now simply the SAT.

61. Oaf : APE.

62. Jeans appliqué : IRON ON.

63. Words to a double-crosser : ET TU?

64. Some fridges : GEs.

65. Nickel and cadmium : METALS.

66. Frequent fast food flavoring : SALT.

67. Ballpark fig. : EST.imate.  I never know whether to put in RBI or ERA or EST. But ERA got ruled out with 32-Down. Bullpen stats : ERAs. Earned Run Average(s).


Down

1. Financially behind : IN DEBT.

2. Often-dramatic movement : FINALE.  Like this famous one played in Boston every Fourth of July. 1:56

3. "Casino" Best Actress nominee : SHARON STONE.

4. BOLO equivalent : APB. "Be on the lookout" and "All Points Bulletin."

5. 2000s teen drama set in Newport Beach : THE O.C.. The "O.C." stands for Orange County.

6. Callender in the food business : MARIE.

7. To this day : STILL.

8. "A Hard Road to Glory" writer : ASHE.

9. Jumps in the pool : GETS WET. Duh, I was thinking of a different kind of pool, and wanted "antes up."

11. Esq. group : ABA. American Bar Association.

12. DirecTV remote button : REC.ord.

13. "A spider!" : EEK.

19. Hodges of the Dodgers : GIL. I actually remembered his name!

21. Chicago area, with "the" : LOOP.

24. Dr. who founded the Aftermath label : DRE.

26. Link often smoked : BEEF SAUSAGE. Hmmm...anyone else think of "brat" sausages?

27. Just : MERE.

28. High-fashion letters : DKNY. Donna Karan New York.

30. Pro __ : RATA.

33. Preservation container : CAN. Ummm..."jar"???

34. "True Detective" network : HBO.

35. "Phooey!" : PAH...."bAH"??

36. 10th-century Russian Orthodox saint : OLGA....Olaf? Sheesh!!

37. Well-versed one? : POET.

41. Avatar of Vishnu : KRISHNA.

42. Lozenge flavor : MENTHOL.

43. "30 Rock" network : NBC.

44. Word before kick or pass : DROP.

47. Market bunch : GRAPES. We will be traveling through the Wachau wine region in Austria, where we will see acres and acres of these.

48. Declare to be genuine : ATTEST.

50. Mil. rank : CPL. CoL??

51. Rich veins : LODES.

52. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" novelist Loos : ANITA.

53. 1983 Streisand film : YENTL.

55. Geologic periods : EONS.

57. Director Wenders : WIM.

58. Soreness? : IRE.

59. Tater __ : TOT.

60. Instinctive, as a reaction : GUT. As you can see, I went with my GUT reaction on a lot of answers, and had to back-pedal.

I finally fixed them all, and had fun doing it!
Marti

Friday, July 10, 2015, Mark Bickham

Theme: Order in the Court! Courtroom DRAMA?

A quick revisit from Mark Bickham who provided Sunday's 21x21. Mark is one of my favorites and this puzzle was happily easy for me based on the subject matter, but it is an odd one. Each of 4 common legal phrases is re-clued in witty fashion and then tied together with an equally deceptive but amusing reveal. I cannot tell if the terminology is tricky for those who do not have a legal background, so I am not sure if the puzzle will be hard for anyone, but it was a quicker than normal solve for me.  The 5 theme related answers use 67 letters, so like last week, we have lots of short fill to balance. Overall this one has a very un-Friday like average word length under 5 letters with lots of black squares. The few non-themers over 5- ALYSSA,  GROSSE,  LIED TO,  NATION,  SPEARS,  SUMMON, INSECTS, INTERNS, BEQUEATHS and  PRE-ASSIGN are okay, and none seem too obscure. Let's look at what happened.

17A. Rating for a recap? : SUMMARY JUDGMENT (15). A recap is a summary; a rating is a judgment; a summary judgment is a legal term referring to the disposition of a case without a trial.

29A. Advice on paper size? : LEGAL COUNSEL (12). I do not use apple computers (at least not until the end of the month) but on all of my print functions, one of the decisions one must make is paper size, letter or legal. If you ask someone to suggest one...legal counsel is one phrase for the attorney.

44A. Dibs on kitchen space? : COUNTERCLAIM (12). Dibs is a great invention, like calling shotgun; while kitchens all have counters. A counterclaim is where a Defendant files an action against the original Plaintiff in a law suit.

58A. Displeased wave of the hand? : MOTION TO DISMISS (15). I can picture many famous hand wave dismissals, while a Motion to Dismiss is a pleading to end a case based sole on deficiencies in the language of the original complaint.

and the reveal:

36A. Fooled by one's imagination ... or, another way, what the four other longest puzzle answers are? : HEARING THINGS (13). All relate to matters which will go to a hearing before a judge.

Okay let's plunge in the rest....

Across:

1. Hybrid carriers : MULES. Great misdirection to begin Friday, if you did not think about cars you are smarter than I.

6. Hardly next door : AFAR.

10. Shelter gp. : SPCA. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a long HISTORY worldwide.

14. Functional : UTILE. One of those words that sounds like more trouble than it is worth.

15. Winter Olympics event : LUGE.

16. __ Mountains: European border range : URAL.

20. Start to state? : TRIstate. I just did the New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania part after Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island part.

21. Land east of the Suez Canal : ASIA.

22. June portrayer in "Henry & June" : UMA. Do we like her or not? LINK. (1:28).

23. Trainees : INTERNS. We have a summer intern at the office this year. Her name is Stephanie, we now call her Charlie.

26. __ Pointe: Detroit suburb : GROSSE. An old COMMUNITY.

32. Rock and Roll Hall of Famers since 2010 : ABBA. This would have been hard except that the only bands I could only think of with four letters were ABBA and TOTO which was mentioned yesterday, and TOTO never made it to the hall.

34. Word with sick or cold : OUT. Out sick, or out cold.

35. Press : INK. A term I learned from reading where comments were made about how much ink did a story get.

41. __ au vin : COQ. Who makes this at home?  RECIPE.

42. Ornamental fish : KOI. let's not carp about what they are.

43. Stapes, for one : BONE. Earie?

49. Artist with the 2011 album "Femme Fatale" : SPEARS. A little glimpse of dear BRITNEY. (3:33).

50. Antennae holders : INSECTS. A very fun clue, hey John Lampkin.

54. Took in : ATE. Reminds me of this LIST.

55. Cooperate with in a caper : ABET.

57. Eggs : OVA.

63. Point-of-view intro : IMHO. In My Humble Opinion.

64. It may need cobbling : BOOT. I really like this one.

65. Shafts on the road : AXLES. Don't get cranky if you think they are actually above the road.

66. AAA part: Abbr. : ASSN.

67. Magazine filler : AMMO. Nice classic clue.

68. Erroll Garner classic : MISTY. Worth a LISTEN. (2:48)

Down:

1. "Can't you get someone else?" : MUST I?

2. Political surprise : U-TURN. I had trouble parsing this one. Flip flopping?

3. Cap : LIMIT.

4. Shade provider : ELM.

5. Source of shells : SEA. So simple, I was afraid it was wrong.

6. "Mistresses" co-star Milano : ALYSSA. She and ex co-star Shannen Doherty supposedly cannot be in the same room.

7. Big name in film : FUJI.

8. Río contents : AGUA. A River holds water (Sp.).

9. __ cell : RED. A clue out of the 50's and 60's when people saw communists everywhere.

10. Call : SUMMON. Sounds like a word to use with demons.

11. Designate in advance : PRE-ASSIGN.

12. Has the power : CAN.

13. Either of two space bar flankers : ALT. For the online solvers a gimme, but did you have to look?

18. Checked out of the store, with "up" : RANG.

19. Wise teacher : GURU.

24. Island off Tuscany : ELBA. I was able to get this.

25. Bottom : REAR. PC, PC!

26. Black-clad subculturist : GOTH. My youngest hung out with the goths in early high school, but i believe it was the girl goths who got him.

27. Sight, say : SENSE.

28. Image on Idaho's state flag : ELK.  If you want to see, LOOK.

30. Detective's skill : LOGIC. Elementary my dear Watson.

31. Song on a record : CUT. This used to be literally true.

32. Renoir's "Girl With __" : A HOOP. This was before they realized you could do the Hula with it.

33. Wills : BEQUEATHS. A bonus legal term.

37. A Clanton and a president : IKES. Quite the logical pair. IKE 1. IKE 2.

38. Fish-fowl link : NOR.

39. Sacred wader of ancient Egypt : IBIS. The Miami Hurricanes like this bird, which I did not know comes in red.

40. Seward Peninsula city : NOME. How many of the Corner have been to this Alaskan CITY?

41. Engine units: Abbr. : CCS. Cubic centimeters.

45. Turkey, for one : NATION. Fooled me at first.

46. Old Smartphone : TREO. I had a friend who loved hers, until Blackberry came along.

47. Betrayed, in a way : LIED TO.

48. Unwilling to stand up for : ANTI. Iffn you aint fer me, yer agin me.

51. Some are tightly wound : COILS.

52. Den focal point : TV SET. More from the 50s and 60's.

53. Impudent : SASSY.

55. Smashing target : ATOM. My favorite clue.

56. Mike holder : BOOM. Hand held.

58. Girl's name that's a verb spelled backwards : MIA. This is a really obscure clue; are there other possibilities?

59. Serene sounds : OMS. For those who meditate.

60. Org. with Kings and Wizards : NBA. National Basketball Association. And the free agent parade continues.

61. "I can't remember it, Miss Ilsa" speaker : SAM. Great movie.

62. 11th-century year : MXI. 1011, a kind of pun?

Thank you Mark B. and thank you all for tuning in. Hard to believe we are already in the second half of the year. Lemonade out.

Notes from C.C.:

1) Belated Happy 45th Birthday to our Anon-T (Tony), the computer geek, foodie and an incredibly caring friend, on and off the blog. He also solves LA Times puzzle with his mother-in-law at times. So sweet!

 

Anon T, Giza, Feb 2014

2) Happy Birthday to my mentor and close friend Don G, who turns 61 years old today! We've collaborated on over 100 puzzles for various venues the past few years. The time and attention he's given me are truly unparallelled.

Don & his wife Barbie

Sunday July 5, 2015 Mark Bickham

Theme:  "All Together Now" - Each theme answer is a group of surnames of well-known people with the same given names hinted in the clue.

22A. Gene pool? : KELLY RODDENBERRY AUTRY. All in entertainment business.

39A. Bills piling up? : GATES MURRAY COSBY BLASS. I recall seeing  OUTSTANDING BILLS clued with a group of Bill's.

68A. Art gallery? : GARFUNKEL MONK BUCHWALD

92A. Robins' nest? : QUIVERS TUNNEY WILLIAMS. The first two might be challenging to some. Robin Quivers is with The Howard Stern Show. Robin Tunney is known for her role in The Mentalist. 

113A. Buddy list? : RICH EBSEN HACKETT HOLLY. All famous. Works perfectly with the clue.

In the old Tribute Media Daily puzzles, this type would be clued just as "Three Mikes", "Three Toms", "Three more Toms",  etc, regardless whether the clues are solid in-the-language phrase hinting at the collection of surnames.

Mark furthers restricted his theme entries to 21-letters, hence the omission of Carney and Linkletter for 68A, in case you wonder. Five spanners are very hard to maneuver on Sundays.

 Across:

1. National animal of Malaysia : TIGER. I know this trivia.

6. Place for a speaker : DAIS

10. Paper pieces : OP-EDS

15. Hand-off recipients: Abbr. : RBS. Running backs. Got me.

18. Tone sequence : SCALE

19. Many an Indian : HINDU

20. It doesn't happen often enough : RARE TREAT. Love the clue/answer.

25. 1989 World Champion figure skater : ITO (Midori)

 26. Plant : SOW. Not SPY.

27. Unimpressive bunch : SAD LOT

28. Beatles song with the line "And she promises the earth to me" : GIRL

29. 1898 chemical discovery : NEON. Look at this neon text message. Amazing.

31. Eye or sun : ORB

33. Chairman __ : MAO

34. Emilia's husband : IAGO.  "Othello".

38. Wedding column word : NEE

44. Jazz guitarist Montgomery : WES

45. Hammock happenings : NAPS. I could not find that picture of you solving crossword in a hammock, Dave. Where did it go?

46. Animal groups : FAUNAE. Crossing 43. Onion cousin : LEEK. So no *E or *S dilemma.

47. Rock band with the hit "Edison's Medicine" : TESLA

50. Square with roots : SOD. Nice clue.

51. Name names : SING

52. Shoulder muscle, for short : DELT

55. Come into : INHERIT

57. Map of Alaska, often : INSET

60. "Think this looks good on me?" : LIKE IT?

62. Frozen Four org. : NCAA

63. Bar entertainment : KARAOKE. Weekly actively when I lived in Tsingtao area.

65. Pool color : AQUA

67. Rain-__: bubble gum brand : BLO

72. Seer's supposed skill : ESP

73. Work with feet? : POEM. Noun "Work" here. Also 122. Type of 73-Across : ODE

74. Part of it is now a desert : ARAL SEA

75. Staging __ : AREA

76. Go back and forth : SEESAW

78. ___ Islands: Taiwan Strait archipelago : MATSU. It's spelled as Mazu in Chinese.

79. Flash drive slot : USB PORT

81. Mouth build-up : SILT. River mouth.

82. Utah city on I-15 : OREM

84. Shipping rope : TYE. Wow, have not seen this word for a long time.

86. Conditioner bottle directive : RINSE

87. (Having) come up : ARISEN

89. Hatchet relative : ADZE

91. It may be made or laid : BET

100. Member of the fam : UNC (Uncle)

101. Morales of "Caprica" : ESAI. He needs to get into a big movie to stay relevant.

102. Deadly snake : ASP

103. Toledo title: Abbr. : SRA

104. Lose it : SNAP

105. Busy : AT IT

107. Sugarcane-scraping machine : RASPER. Learning moment to me. Like this?

110. Pack animal : ASS

112. Warning from a small house : GRR

119. Showed, in a way : TELEVISED

120. Picked : CHOSE

121. Ninja Turtles' human pal April __ : O'NEIL. Stranger to me as well.

123. More than ready to go : ANTSY. Boomer got his National Senior Games credentials on Friday. Inspiring crowd. The guy behind us in the check-in line is a 91-year-old golfer from New Mexico.

124. Company with collectible trucks : HESS

125. Very small : TEENY

Down:

1. It may be accompanied by finger-wagging : TSKING

2. Arnold Palmer ingredient : ICE TEA. I still prefer Iced tea.

3. Stumblebum : GALOOT.  Also 70. Hardly dexterous : KLUTZY

4. Legal side? : ELL. Legal.

5. Husband-and-wife creators of Curious George : REYS

6. Impersonated : DID

7. Afterthoughts : ANDs

8. Brainstorming tool : IDEA MAP

9. Components of a very long month? : SUNDAYS.  Month of Sundays.

10. Milk go-with : OREO

11. Biased : PARTISAN

12. Goof : ERR

13. "N __ Say": Nelly song : DEY. Not familiar with the song. What does N Dey mean?

14. RR stop : STA

15. Eye part : RETINA

16. Dance studio aids : BARRES

17. Dos : STYLES

19. Texter's greeting : HOW R U?

21. Persian, e.g. : RUG

23. Shares a place (with) : ROOMS. Those idealistic college years.

24. Allied group : BLOC

30. Symbol of a fresh start : NEW LEAF

32. Moravian city : BRNO. Largest city there. Second largest in Czech.

35. Put __ in one's ear : A BUG

36. MD for women : GYN

37. One of the Minor Prophets : OBADIAH. Here is the list.

40. Barely burn : SEAR

41. Goodyear offering : RADIAL

42. Out __: confused : OF IT

47. Nuances : TINGES

48. Fully surrounds : ENCASES

49. Chinese dog breed : SHAR PEI. Literally "Sand skin". Cantonese.

50. Claim, with "out" : STAKE

51. Taken for : SEEN AS

53. Early upscale Chrysler : LeBARON. Another unknown to me.

54. Farm machines : TILLERS

56. "__, right?": "You said it!" : I KNOW

58. Polite refusal : NO MA'AM

59. Hybrid tennis garment : SKORT. Golf too.

60. Vader creator : LUCAS (George)

61. As of now : TO DATE

64. "Everybody Hurts" band : R. E. M.

65. Six-pack makeup : ABs

66. Netflix list : QUEUE

69. In hot water : UP A TREE

71. Forest rangers? : WAPITIS. Cute clue.

77. Pole, for one : SLAV

78. Source of many an order : MENU. Have any of you tried sesame balls before? For many years, two freshly-made sesame balls were my standard breakfast.

80. Belgian balladeer Jacques : BREL

82. Mount between Pelion and Olympus : OSSA

83. Ones out of work : RETIREES

85. Conifers yielding elastic wood : YEWS

88. Org. with complex schedules : IRS

89. Susan of "Five Easy Pieces" : ANSPACH. Another stranger to me. This puzzle is quite name-heavy.

90. __ Mode: English band : DEPECHE. What's their most famous song?

91. Great time : BLAST

92. Book size : QUARTO

93. Trip-inducing, as shoelaces : UNTIED

94. Eaves dropper? : ICICLE

95. "Candy is dandy" poet : NASH

96. Fuming : IRATE

97. "Eat Drink Man Woman" director : ANG LEE. I saw the movie ages ago. Food feast.

98. Miami athlete : MARLIN

99. With pep in one's step : SPRYLY

106. Widely read article? : THE. Indeed. I often skip THE. Chinese does not have definite article.

108. Hardy of old films : ANDY

109. Bygone theaters : RKOs

111. No longer usable : SHOT

114. Green of "Penny Dreadful" : EVA. Also the Bond Girl in Casino Royale.

115. Bargain __ : BIN

116. JFK sight, once : SST

117. It has two of itself in it : ESS. Easy in retrospect.

118. Unified : ONE

C.C.

Sunday, May 24, 2015 Mark Bickham

Theme: "Hatch Job" - Nine birds are hidden in the theme answers.

25A. *Dreamt of : ALWAYS WANTED. Swan, a hard bird to hide, unlike OWL. The *S WAN* pattern phrases are limited.

27A. *Type of surplus store : ARMY NAVY. Myna. The one I visited is run by a private guy.

 32A. *Forgot the past : STARTED OVER. Dove.

64A. *Yellow Monopoly property : VENTNOR AVENUE. Raven.

94A. *School in-crowd : POPULAR KIDS. Lark.

 

101A. *Tape width, perhaps : HALF-INCH. Finch.

33D. *"Be My Baby" singers : THE RONETTES. Heron.

38D. *Alpine feline : SNOW LEOPARD. Owl, probably the easiest theme entry for Mark.

49D. *Like some flats : LOW RENT. Wren. Crossing the central Across theme answer. Expert gridding work.

 104. Signs of spring that are literally hidden in the answers to starred clues : NESTING BIRDS

  

I had no idea what the theme was until I came to the reveal. I love puzzles with reveal entries, provided that the gimmick was not obvious from the get-go.

Also loved the title, "Hatch job", very clever. Mark managed a low 138-worder despite a heavy 10 themers. I'm convinced that you've got to have themeless construction experience to pull off a 138 or lower.

  

Quite a few clue echos in this grid also.

Across:

1. Mound site : INFIELD. Pitcher's mound.

8. 1996 Olympic tennis gold medalist : AGASSI

14. Track fastener : SPIKE

19. Jim Brickman fan, perhaps : NEW AGER. Not familiar with the musician.

20. Gathered in a mass : LUMPED

21. Darlings' creator : BARRIE. Peter Pan.

22. Stay with doggedly : CLING TO

23. Dishes set in gelatin : ASPICS. My grandma always had fried tofu inside her aspics.

24. Canine coat? : ENAMEL. Nice clue.

29. Couple maker : AND

30. Equal : ARE

31. Question of concern : YOU OK?

 

37. Dope (out) : SUSS

38. Eponymous Belgian town : SPA. Good to know this trivia. And 75. Belgium-based imaging company : AGFA. Have not seen this brand for quite some time.

41. Nincompoop : SCHMO. Joe Schmo.

42. German article : DER

43. Word with dive or drops : NOSE. And 59. Words before dare or ever : DO I

44. War of the Ring force : ENTs. The Lord of the Rings.

45. Pact : TREATY

47. Fix, as a model airplane : RE-GLUE

51. Bleep : EDIT OUT

53. Discernible range : EARSHOT

55. Hinduism's Chandra, e.g. : MOON GOD. Never heard of Chandra. We have a moon goddess called Chang'e in Chinese fairy tales. Same name as China's lunar exploration program.

57. 2005 horror sequel : SAW II

58. Singer Tori : AMOS

61. Scottish export : TWEED

62. Where texts are often read : CELL. Cell phone.

63. ISP option : MSN

67. "Speak up" requests : EHs

70. Base path? : EVIL. Base ="Despicable"  here.

72. Cutting beam : LASER

73. Bouncer's handful : SOT

74. In short order : SOON

75. Some saxes : ALTOS

77. Law office visitors : CLIENTS

79. Part-time player : SEMI-PRO. Not AMATEUR.

81. "I'm outta here" : GOTTA GO. Tiny dupe with 48. Ship out : GO TO SEA

83. Potters' wheels, e.g. : LATHES

85. Home of Mandrake the Magician : XANADU.  Another unknown to me.

86. Part of BOGOF : FREE. "Buy one, get one free"

87. Annoyances : RUBS. "Ay, there's the rub" .

89. They're often found in mice : AAs. Computer mouse.

91. Sign of an omission : CARET. ^.

92. Spots : ADS

93. Deere rival : TORO. Based here in MN.

98. Look forward to : AWAIT

99. Game with an Angry Birds version : UNO

100. Cal. column : TUE

111. Tennyson's "lily maid of Astolat" : ELAINE

112. Cuthbert of "24" : ELISHA

114. Steak __ : TARTARE

115. Thought quite a lot of : ADORED

116. More promising : ROSIER

117. In : ELECTEE

118. Downed with a jolt : TASED

119. Wheelhouse : SPHERE

120. Elizabeth I or Prince Harry : REDHEAD. Prince Harry alone is enough for me. I hope he gets back to that pretty girl he used to date. They were a great couple.

Down:

 

1. Sapa __: ancient South American ruler : INCA. Guessable.

2. Jodie Foster title role : NELL. Nailed this one, though I never saw the movie.

3. Relative of IMO : FWIW

4. Collector's suffix : IANA. ANA is more common, right? Americana.

5. Like rich batter : EGGY

6. Sics on : LETS AT

7. Overwhelmed, with "out" : DROWNED

8. Jackson with a 2015 "Keepin' It Country" tour : ALAN. We also have 102. "The Aviator" actor : ALDA.

9. Austrian painter Klimt : GUSTAV. Marti saw his works in person.

10. Word in current news? : AMPERE. Not current news I had in mind.

11. Scorpion cousin : SPIDER

12. Texas A&M joined it in 2012 : SEC

13. "You're probably right" : I'D SAY SO

14. Some HDTVs : SANYOS

15. Trick : PRANK

16. "Joy of Cooking" author Rombauer : IRMA

17. Capital ESE of Warsaw : KIEV

18. Hard to control : EELY

21. In a fog : BEMUSED

26. Puff __ : ADDER

28. Woke up : ROUSED. Read this, guys.  So many LOL moments. Which is your favorite? Mine is #23.

32. Gets out : SCRAMS

 

34. Pile up : AMASS

35. "American Pastoral" Pulitzer-winning writer : ROTH (Philip)

36. City near Provo : OREM

39. Spitting sound : PTUI

40. Wine commonly served chilled : ASTI

41. Momentum : STEAM. Lose momentum/steam.

43. Beersheba's region : NEGEV. Hebrew for "dry".

44. Series ender : ET AL

46. Feature of some Roy Rogers numbers : YODEL

  

50. Expose : UNEARTH

52. "Understood" : I SEE

54. Weigh station unit : TON And 105. Weigh station concern : TARE

56. The __: Horace works : ODES

60. "__ be fun!" : IT'LL

62. Polish brand : CUTEX. And 65. Does masterfully : NAILS. Also 76. Master : LORD

64. Credit giant : VISA

 

66. Crunched things, for short : NOs (Numbers).

68. Large groups : HORDES

69. Weevil feature : SNOUT

71. Poll position? : VOTE. Great clue. Pole/Poll.

74. Egyptian peninsula : SINAI

 

77. Journalist who has been a host on all "Big Three" networks : COURIC. So sweet and cheerful.

78. 12-time NFL Pro Bowler Junior : SEAU

80. Connie __, winningest MLB manager : MACK. See this list.  He also lost more games than any other manager.

82. Responded to a bad joke : GROANED

84. U.S./Soviet pact : SALT I

88. Gets to : BOTHERS

90. Walk easily : SAUNTER

93. Twisted together : TWINED

94. Ground, say : PUNISH

95. Garment easy to get in and out of : ONESIE. For babies!

96. More swank : POSHER

97. Throw a big party for : REGALE

98. Burning : AFIRE

101. Cops, or pressure from them : HEAT

 

103. Landlocked land : LAOS. More sticky rice is eaten there than any other country.  I love mochi balls.

 

106. Brought up : BRED

107. Hard-to-ignore feeling : ITCH

108. Fixed __ : RATE

109. De Matteo of "Sons of Anarchy" : DREA. She's also in "The Sopranos".

110. Apple product : SEED. Real apple.

113. Cut off : LOP

 

C.C.

Monday, April 27, 2015 Mark Bickham

Theme: Thumbs

17A. Color named for a fruit : LIME GREEN. Green thumb, the ability to grow healthy plants.

37A. Legendary Lady Godiva watcher : PEEPING TOM. Tom Thumb, disambiguation There are several.

42A. Stiff from horseback riding : SADDLE SORE. Sore thumb, something you don't want to stand out like.

62A. Clumsy ... or what the ends of 17-, 37- and 42-Across are? : ALL THUMBS

Argyle here. Bit unusual to have entries longer than the themes but not confusing. They add some panache to an easy-peasy Monday.

Across:

1. Flat-topped hill : MESA. Not loma this time.

5. Bash thrower : HOST

9. Arctic or Antarctic : OCEAN

14. "Are you asleep yet?" response : "I'M UP". Would not be my response.

15. Not tricked by : ON TO

16. Modeler's wood : BALSA

19. Like a mosquito bite : ITCHY

20. "Ah-oo-gah" horn : KLAXON

21. __ rally : PEP

23. Howls at the moon : BAYS

24. "Hold on a __" : SEC

25. Seek the affections of : WOO

27. Stop producing opportunities, as a financial market : DRY UP

29. Prefix with red : INFRA

31. What a musty room needs : AIRING

34. Ancient invader of Rome : GOTH

39. Converse competitor : AVIA

40. Gets rid of, as weight : LOSES

41. Park path : LANE

44.Soon, quaintly : ANON

45. Set aside a day for : PLAN ON

46. Word before house or plant : POWER

48. Oafs : LOUTS

50. Tyke : TOT

51. Eric Stonestreet's "Modern Family" role : CAM. In his role as Cameron Tucker on Modern Family, Stonestreet has earned three consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2010, 2011 and 2012), winning the award in 2010 and 2012. He also received three Golden Globe Award nominations (2010, 2011 and 2013) for his work on the series.

54. New Zealand fruit : KIWI

56. Affirmative vote : YEA The other side. 13D. Negative votes : NAYS

58. Pepsi competitor : RC COLA

60. Slip past : EVADE

64. Judge's hammer : GAVEL

65. Jacob's first wife : LEAH

66. Lewd material : SMUT

67. Go on tiptoe : SNEAK

68. Like centerfolds : SEXY

69. Glazed Easter meats : HAMS

Down:

1. Does a farm job : MILKS. I guess mucks isn't a Monday word.

2. Author Zola : ÉMILE. "J'accuse"

3. "Poison" plant : SUMAC

4. Peak : APEX

5. Cornucopia : HORN OF PLENTY

6. "__ Life to Live" : ONE. A soap opera that had a 43 year run. Any fans?

7. Dance move : STEP

8. Got into shape, with "up" : TONED

9. __-Wan Kenobi : OBI. Star Wars.

10. Agile thief : CAT BURGLAR

11. Yosemite monolith popular with rock climbers : EL CAPITAN

12. Pale as a ghost : ASHY

18. Red-carpet garment : GOWN

22. Commendable : PRAISE WORTHY

26. Black-and-white cookies : OREOs

28. Yang counterpart : YIN

29. "That never occurred to me" : "I HAD NO IDEA"

30. Ancient storyteller : AESOP

32. Forbidden act : NO-NO

33. Fed. agents : G-MEN

34. Quick inhalation : GASP

35. Running track shape : OVAL

36. Seaside disaster cause : TIDAL WAVE

38. 1995 Reform Party founder : PEROT. (H. Ross Perot)

43. Singer Reed : LOU

47. Engrave on glass, say : ETCH

49. Makes watertight : SEALS

51. Punctuation mark in large numbers : COMMA

52. Scrapbook : ALBUM

53. Supports for sails : MASTS

54. Tapped beer holders : KEGS

55. Tennis great Lendl : IVAN

57. Out of the wind : ALEE

59. Like an easy job, slangily : CUSH. (cushy)

61. Moose relative : ELK

63. Southern Cal. airport : LAX

Argyle

1) Belatedly Happy Birthday to Lea's grandma Kay (Kazie), who joined this blog the year I started. I'm awfully sorry that I blanked on Saturday morning, Kay! We've been in a frenzy to prepare for our card show next week. I hope Barry and you did something special.

Kay and her husband Barry on Tamborine Mountain, overlooking Brisbane

2) The real Big Easy sent me these pictures of Justin Rose, the winner (22 under par) of the Zurich Classics. Big Easy has been volunteering for the event for years.  The other Big Easy skipped the event.

Saturday, Sep 27th, 2014, Mark Bickham

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing W)

Blocks: 35

  Well, I saw Mark Bickham's name on this one, and figured I was in for the long haul, but then I noticed that the grid was not so daunting, and as a result, I have to say I just smoked through this puzzle.  Lots of "Z"s, and we got the "Q" and "J", but alas, no place for the "W".  Oh well.  Two spanners, and two 11-letter climbers, and not much else lengthwise.  Splynter is suffering from a prolonged head cold, and a stiff back from hockey, so it's going to be a short one today;

23. Popular '60s-'70s garb : BELL BOTTOM PANTS - threw it right in there, and it worked

46. Some sightings : CLOSE ENCOUNTERS - one of my favorite movies - the Third Kind, that is

4. Pioneers : TRAILBLAZES - The verb, not the noun - I couldn't get blazeRs to fit

27. "Chicago" song : ALL THAT JAZZ - I had the "Z" from OZONE, and that helped


OW, darn~!

ACROSS:

1. Early 20th-century Met baritone Pasquale : AMATO - With -M-TO in place, I went Italian....

6. City on the Nile : GIZA - ah, I forget it happens to be a city, and not just a plateau

10. "'Sup" : "HI YA" - I have a UPS logo shirt, but the letters are S'UP

14. Three-time Oscar-winning director : CAPRA

15. OS X basis : UNIX

16. Scholarly Islamic title : IMAM

17. Rasp : CROAK

18. Place to pick up some pets : NAPE - Dah~! Went with SPCA, knowing there was no abbr. in the clue - nice misdirection

19. Yankees coach Tony : PEÑA

20. 10% of MDX : CLI - I needed Husker's calculator again; 1510 x .1 = 151

21. Common file folder abbr. : MISCellaneous

22. Reno and others: Abbr. : AGs

28. Thick-trunked tree : BAOBAB

29. Put on a pedestal : IDEALIZE - IDOLIZE was too short

30. Bee product : QUILT - Dah~! Not HONEY, but I know better on Saturday

31. Followed : RESULTED

32. Makes a decision : ACTS - Not OPTS, but I was 50% correct

35. Word with lake or lick : SALT - Salt Lake, and salt lick - I had a bunny growing up

36. World's largest user of cheese, according to its website : PIZZA HUT - DOMINO'S was too short, but I bet they could give them a run for the title

40. Goes after, as flies : SHAGS - Yeah, baby, yeah~!!!!

44. Alternative-medicine staple : ALOE VERA - Fresh clue for a crossword staple - and the full answer, too

45. Fastball, in slang : HEATER - the season is running out, and the hockey is coming in~!

48. Airline with headquarters in Amstelveen : KLM

49. Energy source : ATOM - I tried WIND first

50. Improv session : JAM

51. Premium factor : RISK - like for your 17yr-old son's car insurance payment

53. Two-band : AM/FM

54. Bashes : GALAs

56. Etonic competitor : AVIA - Sneakers

57. Extend one's service : RE-UP - Military

58. __ layer : OZONE - Nailed it

59. One might be staked : TENT - Vampire did not fit....

60. Mallorca, e.g. : ISLA

61. Quetzalcoatl worshiper : AZTEC

DOWN:

1. Clemson Univ. is in it : ACC - All perps

2. Only actor to speak in Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" : MARCEAU - The mime, and his only word is "No."

3. Ill-fated 1967 mission : APOLLO I - Capsule fire took the lives of three astronuats; Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee

5. Poison __ : OAK - OAK or IVY~?  IVY or OAK~?

6. Hit the gas : GUN IT

7. Agitated : IN A STIR

8. Routing aids : ZIP CODES - Yesterday I caught a package bound for Southold, but with a Brooklyn address - bad zip code

9. Send packing : AXE - Dah~! Not CAN

10. Not square : HIP

11. "Seriously" : "I MEAN IT"

12. Asia's longest river : YANGTZE - got it with the "A" and "T" in place; the Three Gorges Dam displaced 1.3 million people; more facts here

13. Got a lot of : AMASSED

21. __ mentality : MOB

23. Summer party invitation letters : BBQ - DAH~! Not BYO....

24. Part of Wayne's world : BATCAVE - Clever misdirection, and I did not fall prey to it; BRUCE Wayne, not Wayne & Garth

25. Neighbor of Tempe : MESA - Cities in Arizona

26. Eponymous skater Axel : PAULSEN - The Wiki

33. What you once were? : THEE - Cute - "...but I wish I could wrap myself / in thee"

 Blue Öyster Cult

34. Last things written on applications? : SURNAMES - Har-har

36. Super saver? : PACK RAT

37. "No harm done" : "I'LL LIVE"

38. Enhances the details : ZOOMS IN

39. Considerate : TACTFUL

41. Got stuffed, maybe : ATE A LOT

42. Material : GERMANE - by definition, relevant; pertinent

43. Yearbook sect. : SRs

45. Buzz : HUM

47. __-Loompas: Dahl characters : OOMPA - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

52. Dennings of "2 Broke Girls" : KAT

53. NPR journalist Shapiro : ARI

54. __ long way : GO A

55. Hardly a long time : SEC

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

I got below sweet note & picture from Irish Miss last night. Never saw Ruth or Mantle play in person, I have to agree with what Jorge Posada said about Jeter. To me, he is the #1 Yankee, on and off the field.

"My great (grand?) nephew and his wife went to see the Yankees vs the Red Sox game tonight.  They first had dinner in the Italian North End of Boston and who was there, dining alone, but Derek Jeter.  Since the main reason for them attending this game was to see Jeter, this was an added plus, more so because he didn't play tonight.  However, being the class act that he is, he very graciously posed with my g-nephew's wife."