Thursday April 19 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: To Enlightenment - find the path.

17A. *Look for a specific passage in, as a book: PAGE THROUGH. Flip, flip, flip - there it is! I've done this a thousand times. I like the phrase.

26A. *About 22% of an average 18-hole golf course: PAR THREES. A "classic" par-72 18-hole golf course will have four par-threes, four par-fives and 10 par-fours. Of course (ha!), all is variable. Muirfield, one of the "classic" links courses in Scotland began with just 14 holes. St. Andrews began life with 22 holes. They met in the middle at 18.

37A. *Point where it starts to hurt: PAIN THRESHOLD. Ow!

51A. *Like baklava layers: PAPER-THIN. Food! You should be able to read a newspaper through the pastry when it's rolled out.

61A. Explorers ... and ones who can determine what the answers to starred clues have in common?: PATHFINDERS

Nice clean puzzle from Mark, the reveal is nicely-placed at the foot of the puzzle, and the hint is clear - look for "PATH" in the theme entries. Symmetry with the theme entries starting with "PA" and broken with the second part beginning with "TH". Pleasing, maybe just to me.

Let's go and look around:

Across: 

1. Space station wear: G-SUITS. Nice enough entry, but you don't wear a G-suit in the space station, where there's zero G's - you don't need one. Fighter pilots wear them.

7. "Walk Like __": Four Seasons hit: A MAN. The best version of this I ever heard was by a British a cappella group I saw performing in a pub in London in 1980. Sadly, no recording of that survives, but here's the single they recorded in 1983 that went to number 1. They were quite amazing. No special effects, just voices.

11. Sharp-tack link: A SA

14. Stage of intensity: DEGREE

15. Pitch a fit: RANT

16. Happened upon: MET

19. It's near the midpoint of the Miss. River: ST. L. St. Loius. No "on scoreboards" reference?

20. Rap sheet data: CRIMES

21. Place Sundance liked to see: ETTA. Very nice. Etta Place, mysterious associate of the Butch and Sundance "Wild Bunch".

22. "Gotcha!": PSYCH! I'd never heard this before - the "gotcha" moment after a teasing lie. "Hey - your car is getting towed! Psych!".

28. Every time: ALWAYS

30. Key: ISLET

31. Salt formula: NACL. Good old Sodium Chloride. Don't under-use it when you cook.

32. Sprain application: ICEBAG. I'd be more likely to use an ice pack, but that's just me.

42. Watch creepily: LEER AT

43. Corn syrup brand: KARO. My sister-in-law in England asked me to bring some over on my last trip. She's just starting a cake-decorating business, and apparently neither corn syrup nor marshmallow fluff exist across the pond. Who'd a thunk it?

45. Chimney plumes: SMOKE

49. Largest cat in the genus Leopardus: OCELOT. Pretty! They can hunt by low speed-stalking, or high-speed in-your-face full-on assault. They like to swim too. Don't be a small mammal or an iguana.

56. Change as needed: ADAPT

57. Musical meter maid: RITA. The Beatles "lovely" one.

58. Exposes, in a way: RATS ON

60. Gender-neutral possessive: ITS. No apostrophe. If you're not sure - "It's an apostrophe". Contraction of "it is".

66. Numeric prefix: TRI-

67. Tête output: IDEÉ. "Je pense, donc je suis"

68. Canadian dollar coin: LOONIE. I liked the story that a loonie was smuggled in and frozen in the rink at center ice in the hockey arena at the Salt Lake Olympics and Canada won the gold medal in the men's tournament for the first time in 50 years.

69. Buddhist school: ZEN

70. Give up: CEDE

71. Con target: STOOGE

Down: 

1. Macroeconomics abbr.: GDP. Gross Domestic Product. I studied Economics at school back when Adam Smith wrote "The Wealth of Nations" and no-one could agree how to measure GDP. I don't think it's changed.

2. Bering, for one: SEA. Thank you, Dutchman Vitus Bering for exploring it, so the rest of us didn't have to go up there and freeze our nadgers off.

3. Footwear brand: UGG

4. Wrath: IRE

5. Easily peeved: TETCHY

6. Very, to Schumann: SEHR. Your German lesson for the day.

7. Candle emanation: AROMA. We had "SMOKE" earlier, so here's an alternative.

8. Catcher Joe with a trio of consecutive Gold Glove Awards (2008-10): MAUER. Thank you, crosses. C.C. would have known this without pause - he is the first baseman for the Minnesota Twins.

9. Fretful feeling: ANGST

10. Indefinite ordinal: NTH. It must have been tempting to clue this with reference to 14A.

11. Heineken brand: AMSTEL. They used to be competitors. The Amstel river flows through Amsterdam. Heineken bought them out in 1968. The best bargain in Amsterdam used to be the Heineken brewery tour before these things were common. The tour lasted about 30 minutes, then you could spend as long as you liked in the tasting room for the princely sum of about $2. Eventually word spread too wide, and like all good things, the tour came to an end.

12. Parlor piece: SETTEE

13. Finally: AT LAST

18. Material flaw: RIP

21. LPN workplaces: ER'S. Emergency Rooms where those amazing Licensed Practical Nurses ply their trade.

22. __ for gold: PAN

23. Open-handed hit: SLAP

24. Fem. advocacy group: YWCA. Young Women's Christian Association. I was a member of the London Central YMCA for quite a few years - they had the most amazingly affordable gym and swimming pool for many, many miles around and slap-dab in the center of London. I even made the swim team. I believe that year they were short of talent.

25. City WSW of Bogotá: CALI

27. Expensive: HIGH

29. Where it's at: SITE. I didn't see this until now, crosses filled it in for me.

33. 2008 biopic starring Benicio del Toro: CHE. The famous "Che Lives" poster from the 70's. My sister had one on her bedroom wall:

34. Blow it: ERR

35. Arthur with two Emmys and a Tony: BEA

36. Concerning: AS TO

38. Met or Nat: NL'ER. More baseball to keep C.C. happy!

39. Signed off on: OK'ED

40. Refrain syllables: LA LA.

41. Stop talking about: DROP

44. Legendary Giant: OTT. Mel. Baseball!

45. Quick squirt: SPRITZ

46. __ d'hôtel: MAÎTRE. The one you need to impress to get a table at a popular restaurant.

47. Decides to join: OPTS IN

48. Mauna __: KEA. or LOA. Wait for the crosses.

50. "All the Light We __ See": 2015 Pulitzer novel: CANNOT. This is really fantastic book that I read a couple of years ago. If you want to see a brilliant mind at work, read Anthonys Duerr's wonderful novel.

52. Woodworking, e.g.: TRADE

53. Despised: HATED

54. "With this ring, __ ... ": I THEE

55. Bad check letters: NSF. "Not Sufficient Funds". This can have rather unhappy consequences.

59. Lubricates: OILS

61. Photo: PIC

62. __-wop: DOO

63. Roxy Music co-founder: ENO. Brian, he of "Elevator Music". Roxy Music really were ground-breakers in pop - here's their first big hit from 1972. I remember watching Bryan Ferry and wondering which planet he came from! Brian Eno is the guy with the blond hair and psychedelic tie on the other side of the stage from Bryan Ferry. David Bowie and his "Ziggy Stardust" persona landed the same year. Good times.

64. Fix badly?: RIG. But if you rig it well, is it still fixed badly?

65. Observe: SEE.

That's about it from me - I've still got Roxy Music rocking in the background, so I'll sign off with the grid!

(with Roxy Music seguing into the Bob Dylan-penned song "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall")

Steve

Wednesday, March 21 2018, Mark McClain

Theme: CHECKING IN- The first words can be CHECKED.

17. *Many a museum piece : OIL PAINTING. Oil Check.

36. *Choice spot at the opera : BOX SEAT. Checkbox.

11. *Family crest : COAT OF ARMS. Coat check.

27. *Ellington genre : SWING MUSIC. Check swing. (Baseball.)

56. Words to a server ... or a hint to the first words of the answers to starred clues : CHECK PLEASE.
 

Melissa here. I struggled more than I should have with this one, due to a handful of tricky clues and a few unknowns. The theme didn't help with solving much because sometimes CHECK preceded the first word of the answer, and sometimes it followed. Only short a Q and Z of a pangram.

Across        

1. Jordan's capital : AMMAN

6. Amounts to : COSTS

11. Cleveland hoopster : CAV

14. Tour leader : GUIDE

15. Popcorn brand whose logo resembles a movie marquee : ACT II

 
16. Corrida cheer : OLE

19. "MSNBC Live" co-anchor Velshi : ALI

20. Big Dipper's constellation : GREAT BEAR

 
21. Birth-related : NATAL

23. Couple of gags? : GEES. Wording of clue seems odd. Couple IN gags would make more sense.

24. Tied-on protectors : APRONS

25. Without : ABSENT

28. Not even close : WAY OFF

30. Vise features : JAWS

31. British nobles : EARLS

32. Roger Federer's org. : ATP. Association of Tennis Professionals (males). Female counterpart is WTA (Women's Tennis Association), founded by Billie Jean King in 1973.

35. French buddy : AMI. AMIE is the feminine form.

38. Pi follower : RHO

39. Stood for office : RAN

40. Powerful Japanese dog : AKITA. Much like yesterday's SHIBA INU.

41. Black bird or black cat, to some : OMEN

42. Go round and round : GYRATE

44. Messed (up) : LOUSED

46. Obtain : COME BY. Stumped me.

48. Is not misused? : AINT. Nice clue.

49. Very serious, as a water shortage : ACUTE. Medically speaking, ACUTE does not always mean serious, but indicates sudden or recent onset - as opposed to chronic, which is long-lasting.

50. Blunder : FALSE STEP

55. Humanities degs. : MASE. Master of Arts in Special Education. Not sure why this clue is plural. (Correction: the answer is MAS. Master of Arts. Thanks, everyone.)

58. "The Book of __": 2010 Denzel Washington film : ELI

59. Exorbitant interest : USURY

60. Ceremonial place : ALTAR. I like this clue 💕.

61. Fond du __, Wisconsin : LAC

62. Closed : ENDED

63. Braid : PLAIT

Down

1. Twittering : AGOG. In this internet age, twittering has a new meaning.

2. "Studies in the Sierra" writer John : MUIR. Originally appeared in 1874 and 1875 as a series of seven articles in the Overland Monthly, which were later (1915 to 1921) reprinted in the Sierra Club Bulletin. 

 
3. Fitbit unit : MILE. Not STEP.

4. Much of the Sunday paper : AD PAGES. Not ADVERTS.

5. Spruce (up) : NEATEN

6. Walking sticks : CANES

7. Penta- plus three : OCTA

8. Cup-a-Soup direction : STIR

9. Pewter component : TIN

10. Footpath aid : SIGNPOST 

12. Poe's middle name : ALLAN

13. Concealing accessories : VEILS

18. "Probably not" : I BET. Sneaky because it's sarcasm - normally "I bet" indicates total agreement.

22. "Wanna go out?" response : ARF

24. Protagonist of Auel's "Earth's Children" novels : AYLA

25. Somewhat open : AJAR

26. Auburn rival, familiarly : BAMA

28. Squander : WASTE

29. Surface product : AREA. For rectangles and squares - height x width = AREA. Area calculator.

31. Bright word in a dark theater : EXIT

33. You, back in the day : THEE

34. Koi habitat : POND

36. Kansas City cuisine : BARBECUE. Variation is BARBEQUE. That and a Z would make for a pangram.

37. Not bad : OKAY

41. Fly off the shelf faster than : OUTSELL

43. To date : YET

44. Struggle with sisters? : LISP. Great clue.

45. 400 meters, on many tracks : ONE LAP

46. It has one hump or two : CAMEL

47. Florida's __ National Forest : OCALA

48. Binder for some paints : ALKYD. New to me.

50. 2017 FX miniseries subtitled "Bette and Joan" : FEUD. Anyone watch this series?

51. Spacious lot : ACRE

52. Part of TTFN : TATA

53. Actor Morales : ESAI

54. Cheeky : PERT

57. QVC sister station : HSN. Home Shopping Network.

Thursday February 22 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: Timber Trickery - as neatly explained by the reveal, but can you see the wood for the trees?

63A. Primitive area, and what's literally found in this puzzle's circles : BACKWOODS

The circled letters, reading backwards, contain the timber:

17A. Longtime PBS news anchor : JIM LEHRER. Elm. Most of the elm trees in the UK were wiped out by an outbreak of Dutch Elm disease brought into the country by a shipment of logs from Canada. It literally changed the face of the country.

23A. Site for a railroad signal : GRADE CROSSING. Cedar. Moths hate cedar, hence the cedar planks in your sock drawer to stop the buggers from chewing holes in them. The term "grade crossing" was new to me when I moved to the US. I knew them as "level crossings".

39A. Statistic including farmers and their neighbors : RURAL POPULATION. Poplar. Here's a fine stand of them on a roadside in France:

51A. Kielbasa : POLISH SAUSAGE. Ash. Most baseball bats are made of ash, although MLB also sanctions maple, hickory and bamboo.

Nice theme and nice crunchy theme entries concealing the wood. This was quite a challenge for me for some reason, I had to stare down the north-west corner for some time before I started to unravel the mystery up there. Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Word with rose or road : BED

4. AMA part: Abbr. : ASSOC. American Medical Association.

9. __ Bornes: card game : MILLE. I finally remembered this from a prior crossword. The NE corner gave me a lot of trouble today. It translates from the French as "Thousand Milestones" according to my French colleague, but the French name is used for the English version.

14. Caen comrade : AMI

15. Thick-skinned herbivore : RHINO. Is the "-ceros" redundant now?

16. Big Apple stage honors : OBIES. I simply could not remember this. Off-Broadway awards, hence the name. The Tony awards are for Broadway theater.

19. Open, in a way : UNZIP.

20. Delon of cinéma : ALAIN. Came easily, but I'm not sure I've seen any of his movies.

21. Exactas, e.g. : BETS. Pick the horses to win and place, in exact order (hence exacta). An "exacta box" bet allows the horses to come in any order, which rather blows the "exacta" definition.

30. Part of __ : A SET

31. Hawk or eagle : RAPTOR

32. Tic-toe link : TAC

35. "That was close!" : PHEW!

38. Buckwheat dish : KASHA. Food! Putting "PASTA" here didn't exactly help matters in this section of the puzzle. Kasha can refer to the grain itself, or the porridge-like dish made from it.

43. "25" album maker : ADELE. Very talented artist. She won the "Album of the Year" Grammy for this one.

44. Wedding invitation encl. : SASE.
.
45. Yellowknife is its cap. : NWT. Canada's Northwest Territories.

46. Mournful artwork : PIETAS. Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus in Christian art. The most famous is the Michelangelo sculpture in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.

48. Abhor : HATE

55. Anorak part : HOOD.

56. Really cool place to live? : IGLOO. Nice clue.

59. Grouchy look : SCOWL

66. Ventricular outlet : AORTA

67. Thar Desert country : INDIA. Never heard of it, so thank you, crosses. It forms part of the natural border between India and Pakistan.

68. JFK Library architect : PEI. Nailed it! Thank you, crosswords past.

69. 180-degree river bend : OXBOW. When a meander breaks through from one side of the loop to the other, the remains is an oxbow lake.

70. __ Heights: Mideast region : GOLAN

71. Serpentine letter : ESS

Down:

1. Mexicali's locale : BAJA. Baja California. The town on the other side of the US/Mexico border is Calexico, fittingly.

2. Oscar winner Jannings : EMIL. More crosses to the rescue.

3. Joltin' Joe : DIMAG. I was all down the caffeine route with this one, and couldn't find anything to fit. It didn't help that I'd never heard the "DiMag" moniker before. Writing this up, I just went to do a Google search, and DiMaggio doesn't show up until half-way down the second page. I think that might be a little obscure for non-Yankees fans.

4. Bull-riding venues : ARENAS

5. Warning to a chatty theatergoer : SHH!

6. Chivalrous title : SIR

7. Year not designated as such until centuries later : ONE BC. ONE and wait for the crosses. It could quite easily be ONE AD.

8. Kitchen gizmo : CORER. I've got a lot of kitchen gizmos, but I don't own one of these things. I'm amused that the soundalike Iron Chef Cat Cora is sitting next to moussaka, one of her go-to dish styles. She has a Greek background.

9. Greek menu staple : MOUSSAKA. Food! Eggplant-layered ground lamb dish.

10. Hebrew : Ben :: Arabic : __ : IBN. I tried BIN first which again messed me up in the North-east.

11. Lemon on "30 Rock" : LIZ. Crosses all the way. I was at a meeting at 30 Rock last week - here's the rather gloomy view out of the window of the conference room.

12. Floral neckwear : LEI

13. Clairvoyant's gift : ESP. Extra-sensory perception.

18. Turkish dough : LIRA. I can never remember LIRA or LIRE. I wait for the cross.

22. Only Canadian MLB team : TOR. The Toronto Blue Jays.

24. "Murder on the Orient Express" (2017) actor : DEPP. I didn't see the movie, so solid crosses necessary.

25. Value system : ETHOS

26. Irritated words : SPAT

27. "__ the bag" : IT'S IN

28. "Not gonna happen" : NO HOW. Tried NO WAY, was wrong.

29. Researcher's request : GRANT

32. "The Sound of Music" name : TRAPP. Strictly, the name is actually Von Trapp, but it's pretty obvious what is being asked for here.

33. Sound : AUDIO

34. Fish basket : CREEL. One of these things:

36. #TestforRadon org. : E.P.A. Not heard the hashtag before, but it didn't take a lot of figuring out.

37. Chinese martial arts : WUSHU. Learning moment for me. Looks pretty dangerous!

40. Meter opening? : ALTI-

41. Rule governing intentional walks? : LEASH LAW. Nice one. I enjoyed the punning here.

42. Open fields : LEAS

47. "Ray Donovan" network, briefly : SHO. I had the "O" and was tempted by HBO, but I refrained from jumping in with both feet.

49. Ang Lee's birthplace : TAIWAN

50. Its main product was originally given the portmanteau name "Froffles" : EGGO. French toast and waffles. Who knew?

52. Ferber novel : SO BIG

53. Hersey's "A Bell for __" : ADANO. A crossword staple. Has anyone actually read this book?

54. Skip church? : ELOPE. Nice one. Skip the church wedding.

57. Pindaric verses : ODES. Pindaric: "Relating to or characteristic of the Greek lyric poet Pindar or his works".

"I will not steep my speech 

in lies; the test of any man lies in action."

58. Malady suffix : -OSIS

59. __ Paulo : SÃO

60. Regatta chief : COX. The smallest and lightest person you can find to steer the boat, and, optionally, depending on experience, call the stroke rate.

61. Marble, e.g. : ORB

62. Geneva-based commerce gp. : W.T.O. World Trade Organization.

64. XLV x X : CDL. Simple Roman math. For some reason it always takes me a minute to dig the letter for "500" out of my head.

65. Sedona, for one : KIA. Took me a while to cotton on to this one. Nice misdirection.

That about wraps it up for this week. I've been on terra firma this week which makes a nice change. Back in the air next week though!

And  ... here's the grid ....!

Steve

Thursday, February 1st 2018 Mark McClain

Theme: Price Hikes - Common phrases fall prey to inflation, as the reveal suggests:

59A. Economic factor that affects three puzzle answers : INFLATION RATE

So we get:

20A. Really cheap : QUARTER A DOZEN. Up from "dime a dozen". Apropos of Sunday's "Big Game" (shh, you can't say $üperßøw£ without getting sued by the NFL!):

37A. Precisely : TO THE NICKEL.Up from "to the penny." Accountants need to tie their books to the penny, especially in the corporate world.

44A. Worthless item : PLUGGED DIME. Up from "plugged nickel". A plugged nickel is a coin where the center disc has been removed, reducing the value of the metal in the coin. Used as a colloquialism for "worthless".

I liked this theme - "TO THE NICKEL" gave it away for me, so then it was a simple matter to backtrack and fill in 20A then I was off and running.

The puzzle is also a pangram today - all the letters of the alphabet appear. When you start to collect the higher-value Scrabble letters like X, Z, Q, K and J you know you're probably in for a full set.

A couple of nice longer downs kept things moving along nicely too. Let's see what else jumps out:

Across:

1. Rankles : IRKS

5. Go higher : CLIMB

10. Burgoo or ragout : STEW. Food! One of my favorite recipe sites Epicurious has a recipe for Kentucky burgoo with bourbon in it. Sounds worth a try to me!

14. Harvest : REAP

15. Speeder spotter : RADAR. Nice alliteration in the clue.

16. Dance for a lei person : HULA. I like the play on "lei".

17. Cornstarch brand in a yellow-and-blue container : ARGO. I've got a tub of this in my pantry but I had no idea what the brand name was! Thank you, crosses.

18. String in a kids' song : E-I-E-I-O. Old MacDonald earworm .... I'll spare you a link.

19. African antelope : ORYX. There's a few four-letter antelopes in Africa. You need to be careful before jumping in.

23. Baltimore's __ Harbor : INNER

24. Enjoy Vail : SKI

25. Podded plant : PEA

28. Fountain output : SODAS

32. Sully : TAINT. Because "Nickname of US Airways pilot who ditched in the Hudson" doesn't fit.

34. Rest area freebie : MAP. Do they still give these out? Gas stations stopped handing them out for free years ago.

40. Mother Nature's balm : ALOE

42. "The Glass Lake" writer Binchy : MAEVE

43. Trillion: Pref. : TERA- I have a 2 terabyte external hard drive for backups. When I started my computer career that kind of capacity was pure science fiction. The IBM mainframes I first worked on had disks with a capacity of 300MB. My external drive holds more than 6,500 times that much data.

47. "Mamma Mia!" number : S.O.S. Catchy stuff from from those Swedish pop-tastic greats Abba. The videos have a fantastic Seventies look too.

48. Slow movement : LARGO

49. Move through muck : SLOSH

51. Kennedy twins? : ENS. Two of 'em in the name. I wanted "EES" first. Was wrong.

52. Luthor of the comics : LEX

55. Infield fly : POP-UP

64. Naan relative : ROTI. Food! I had a couple of them with my first dinner in Delhi earlier this month.

66. Demand and obtain, as vengeance : EXACT. Or revenge. Nice clue.

67. Adopt-a-Pet pet : MUTT

68. "Dilbert" intern : ASOK. He's one of my favorite characters in the strip.

69. Comparatively friendly : NICER

70. Geek Squad client : USER

71. LGBT Pride Month : JUNE

72. 2017 A.L. MVP José Altuve, for one : ASTRO. Houston ball team. I was changing planes in Houston on Monday. I like the airport, it's one of the NICER ones I pass through.

73. Zip : ZERO

Down:

1. Kirkuk native : IRAQI

2. "Seinfeld" episode, now : RE-RUN. I could watch every episode all over again.

3. See 53-Down : KAGAN

4. Reproductive bodies : SPORES

5. Hudson Bay nation : CREE. Nailed it! Thank you, crosswords past.

6. Bear's home : LAIR. Tried CAVE. Obviously a bad idea.

7. One may be called bright when it isn't : IDEA. Lovely.

8. "Downton Abbey" figures : MAIDS. We recently binge-watched all six seasons of Downton on Amazon Prime. Totally got into it.

9. Forest babbler : BROOK

10. Christian Louboutin creation : SHOE. Barney's has a men's shoe with his trademark red soles for $850 a pair. I think I'll stick to the outlets.

11. Tolls are taken on them : TURNPIKES. Nice. Took me a while to see this one.

12. Bridge expert Culbertson : ELY

13. Candle stuff : WAX

21. Easy gait : TROT

22. Tubular pasta : ZITI. Food! My kind of puzzle today.

26. Summer month in Uruguay : ENERO. January, in the Southern Hemisphere. More of a tricky Thursday-level clue for this Spanish month.

27. Book with 11-Down : ATLAS. Another one a long time a-coming. Turnpikes, among other things, are represented in a road atlas.

29. St. Paul's feature : DOME. The famous cathedral in London designed by architect Sir Christopher Wren. As recently as 1967 it was the tallest building in the city. I'm off to London tomorrow, the flight path into Heathrow passes above St. Paul's. and the rest of Central London. You get a great view of all the landmarks if the weather is clear. The dome gets a little lost among the tall buildings, but I've outlined it here:

30. Minimally : A TAD

31. Drops, as pounds : SHEDS

33. Part of ACA : ACT. The full name is The patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, familiarly known as Obamacare.

34. Scott Joplin's "__ Leaf Rag" : MAPLE. I learned this on the piano when I was a kid. I loved Scott Joplin's music after first encountering it in the movie "The Sting".

35. Literary middle name : ALLAN

36. Goes all out : POURS IT ON. Took me a while to parse this.

38. Downright nasty : EVIL

39. "Finding Dory" character : NEMO

41. __ salad : EGG

45. Club sport : GOLF. Nice clue. Could refer to the institution or the equipment.

46. "Around the Horn" channel : ESPN

50. Strait of __: Persian Gulf outlet : HORMUZ

53. With 3-Down, justice since 2010 : ELENA

54. Graph line : X-AXIS. Could be Y- or Z- so wait for the cross to confirm it.

56. Hesitation : PAUSE

57. Unmitigated : UTTER

58. Chemical prefix? : PETRO-

60. Maker of LeBron 15 basketball shoes : NIKE. More expensive footwear. Foot Locker has them for $185/pair. Not bad for a pair of sneakers.

61. Delicate handling : TACT

62. Pastry prettifier : ICER

63. Other, in España : OTRO. Second Spanish reference today.

64. British rule in India : RAJ. "Raj" is the Hindustani word for "Rule".

65. The Cowboys of the Big 12 Conf. : O.S.U. Oklahoma State University.

And with that, I think I'm done. Here's the grid - and I'll see you all next week from Blighty!

Steve

Thursday, December 7th 2017 Mark McClain

Theme: No, Why? The "Y" is dropped from the end of the theme entries and the resulting phrase is clued accordingly. As the hint says:

61A. Make smart remarks ... and a phonetic hint to the answers to starred clues : WISE OFF

And the themers:

19A. *Award-winning defense unit? : TOP FORT. Top Forty.

31A. *Manchester hospital hookup? : ENGLISH IV. English Ivy. Hedera Helix, aka common ivy, or simply ivy. This theme entry is interesting as the pre- and post- "Y" versions are homophones, and techinically "IV" is an abbreviation and not clued as such.

38A. *Either of a historic PGA pair? : ARNIE'S ARM. Arnie's Army. Golfer Arnold Palmer's legions of fans were known as "Arnie's Army". Notice that the pre- and post- versions of this entry actually refer to the same person.

49A. *Enforcer of greenhouse gas restrictions? : CARBON COP. Carbon Copy. I wonder if carbon paper actually exists any more?

Well, good day to you all. An interesting theme from Mark today. I got ENGLISH IV first, and as I mentioned above I thought that all the themers were going to be homophones, so that put me off track for a couple of minutes. I put myself firther off-track in the north-east corner when I jumped to an IAMS conclusion without waiting for any cross-confirmation, but that was easily fixed.

The Z was my final fill, and actually a WAG - Both ZESTA and AZERA were unknowns; the alphabet run turned up Z as feeling the most likely, and I guessed right. Phew!

Let's see what else we've got going on:

Across:

1. Not insignificant : BIG

4. LeBron's hometown : AKRON. Basketball star LeBron James, who famously decamped from Cleveland to Miami to win "not one, not two, not three ..." championships. He got his ego under control after a couple of years. He won two championships with Miami, then returned to Cleveland and won his third in one of the best Finals for years against the Golden State Warriors.

9. Pet food brand : ALPO

13. Discontinued iPod model : NANO. I've still got one of these somewhere, it's probably at the bottom of one of my laptop backpack pockets.

14. Saltine brand : ZESTA

15. Action word : VERB

16. Words after an estimate : ORSO

17. Divisions politiques : ÉTATS. I enjoyed seeing the close proximity of ROI in the grid; it reminded me of Louis XIV and his famous statement "L'etat c'est moi."

18. Those, to Pablo : ESOS

21. Sculler's blade : OAR

23. Capri suffix : OTE. A couple of entries filled themselves in for me today, this was one of them. A native of the island of Capri is a Capriote.

24. Trattoria menu suffix : INI. Two suffixes in a row. One would suffix - I mean suffice.

25. Chaucer offering : TALE. The Canterbury Tales. Bane of many a schoolboy's life when read in medieval English.

27. "Stagecoach," for one : OATER

29. Birdcage feature : PERCH. 

34. Multichannel : STEREO. I guess two is "multi." Quadrophonic was all the rage when I was growing up, but if you didn't sit dead center of the four speakers it was rather a waste of time. Great for lonely audiophiles though.

36. Saturn SUV : VUE

37. One of the Nereids : IONE. This was another of the entries that filled itself in for me. There are 50 of these sea-nymphs, daughters of Nereus and Doris. You've got a minute to name them all - GO!

41. Neatnik's opposite : SLOB

44. Pioneering ISP : AOL

45. Warm-weather wear : SHORTS. I wear shorts in most weathers, I've got so used to the California climate. I got some odd looks in England a couple of weeks ago, I guess an overcoat and a pair of shorts is an odd sartorial combination.

52. Three-time Wimbledon champ : EVERT. The great Chris. Her record is quite amazing - she reached the semi-finals or better in 52 of 56 of the Grand Slam tournaments she entered, and she one at least one Slam tournament for 13 consecutive years.

53. Directive : ORDER

54. One of the three bears : PAPA

56. Mai __ : TAI

57. Arctic coast explorer : RAE. Scotsman John Rae. He probably didn't wear shorts - he would have been wearing a kilt.

58. Consume : EAT

63. Mosque figure : IMAM

65. Big name in craft stores : JOANN. This had me foxed for a little while - I knew the store, but I didn't realize the name lacked a final "E"

67. Response to being slain, in texts? : ROFL. "Slain" in the "Wow, that's funny" sense. Rolling On the Floor, Laughing".

68. Khartoum's river : NILE

69. Match : AGREE

70. "Would __?" : I LIE. Usually the answer is "Yes, through your teeth."

71. Notable deed : GEST. Learning moment for me. I know the French "Geste", I didn't realize there was an English equivalent, but there it is in the dictionary.

72. Saratoga action : RACES

73. PC panic button : ESC. Escape. It usually doesn't do very much.

Down:

1. British nobleman : BARONET

2. Motivate : INSPIRE

3. Mess (up) : GOOF

4. Korean sedan to be discontinued in the U.S. after 2017 : AZERA

5. Whistling vessel : KETTLE. It took me a loooong time to see this, and it was so obvious when I did.

6. Nation surrounding 10-Down: Abbr. : R.S.A. The Republic of South Africa.
.
7. Director Preminger : OTTO

8. "Hidden Figures" org. : NASA

9. "__ Maria" : AVE

10. Enclaved African land : LESOTHO.  The beautiful Maletsunyane Falls:

11. Tofu nutrient : PROTEIN

12. Watch : OBSERVE

13. Custom on some cruises : NO TIPS. I've never been on a cruise; at least not one where I wasn't sailing the boat myself.

20. Multiple-choice choice : OTHER. I like this one. I was thinking of different letters at first.

22. Louis XIV, par exemple : ROI

26. Wrap around : ENVELOP

28. "I, Robot" writer : ASIMOV

30. Champion swimmer/actor Buster : CRABBE. Clarence Linden Crabbe II. He made over a hundred movies and played Flash Gordon in the TV series. However, I'm sure his middle child didn't thank him for the name "Sande".

32. Director Van Sant : GUS

33. Where ewes can hang out : LEAS. Meadows, by another name.

35. __ even keel : ON AN

39. Biennial games org. : I.O.C. The transparently honest and wholly uncorruptable International Olympic Committee.

40. Flightless birds : RHEAS. I always forget these fellas, I get stuck on EMU and go no further.

41. Making a touchdown : SCORING. Except you don't actually have to touch the ball down. The equivalent in rugby is a try, and you do have to touch the ball down, under control, otherwise the try doesn't count.

42. Metro area SSE of Casper : LARAMIE. Wyoming. I've flown over it a ton of times, but never actually been there.

43. Major hassles : ORDEALS

46. Updates the plant : RE-TOOLS. Of course I was on the flora track for the longest time.

47. Rush hour report topic : TRAFFIC. 

48. Suppress : STIFLE

50. Vein contents : ORE

51. Plains tribe : PAWNEE

55. Source of hard and soft lumber : PINES

59. A bit cracked : AJAR. I was thinking "cracked" in the mildly insane sense. I was wrong.

60. Forum attire : TOGA

62. Lackawanna's lake : ERIE. Nailed it! Thank you, hundreds of crosswords.

64. Ran into : MET

66. __ welding : ARC

That's all from me!

Except that's not all from me - here's the grid!

Steve

Monday, November 27, 2017 ~ Mark McClain

Theme: The Three Amigos - synonyms.

20A. Seaside shade provider: BEACH UMBRELLA

37A. Philatelist's volumes: STAMP ALBUMS

44A. Practice that develops a variety of employee skills: JOB ROTATION

59A. Kid's imaginary companions, and what's literally found in this puzzle's circles: SECRET FRIENDS

Argyle here. Bit more secret with out the circles but you should know where to look for them, spanning the two words. Definitely a male slant to the entries but are there feminine equivalents?

Across:

1. The "m" in E = mc²: MASS. This formula states that the equivalent energy (E) can be calculated as the mass (m) multiplied by the speed of light (c) squared.

5. Put into force: ENACT

10. Wood-shaping tool: ADZE

14. Severely damaged sea: ARAL

15. Morning show featuring Al Roker: TODAY

16. Drubbed or whipped: BEAT

17. Calf-length skirt: MIDI

18. Lady's canine love: TRAMP. "Lady and the Tramp" Disney Movie (1955)

19. Omar of "The Mod Squad": EPPS. Popular guy in crossword land.

23. Bone: Pref.: OSTEO

24. Second person: YOU. I am first person.

25. Grammy category: RAP

28. "Don't play" music symbols: RESTS

32. "I'll do that!": "LET ME!"

34. Opposite of pos.: NEG.

40. Soothing succulent: ALOE

42. Inclined: ATILT. 'A' words. 53D. Come to light: ARISE

43. Sitter's nemesis: BRAT

47. Letters after ems: ENS. Alphabetically speaking.

48. "Not __!": "Quiet!": A PEEP

49. Macho guy: HEMAN

51. Not agin: FER

52. Musician's gift: EAR

55. Curriculum __: résumé: VITAE

64. Remove a rind from: PEEL

66. "Ask me if __": I CARE

67. Pigeon banter: COOS

68. Drops the ball: ERRs

69. Country south of Egypt: SUDAN

70. French I verb: ÊTRE. (to be)

71. Path behind a ship: WAKE

72. Poet's muse: ERATO

73. Taken in, as a movie: SEEN

Down:

1. Cuban dance: MAMBO

2. Spring zodiac sign: ARIES

3. '70s-'80s Egyptian president Anwar: SADAT. Ended in assassination.

4. Deli machine: SLICER

5. Caesar's ides-of-March words: "ET TU?"

6. Good name for an average guy: NORM

7. Not much (of): A DAB

8. Top-selling Toyota: CAMRY

9. Blood bank spec: TYPE 'O'

10. Second son: ABEL

11. Act of leaving: DEPARTURE

12. Microwave: ZAP

13. Sci-fi beings: ETs

21. Long-handled garden tools: HOEs

22. Break in the action: LULL

26. Capital of Jordan: AMMAN

27. Annoying types: PESTS

29. "Now!" in the OR: "STAT!"

30. Brit's sign-off: TA-TA

31. Northampton women's college: SMITH. Smith College is in Northampton,MA. Established 1871 (opened 1875).

33. Flow back: EBB

34. City south of Baghdad: NAJAF. Minneapolis and Najaf are Sister Cities since 2009.

35. Wed on the wing: ELOPE

36. Lose it big-time: GO BERSERK

38. Ballet dip: PLIÉ

39. Tiny physics bit: ATOM

41. Poetic palindrome: ERE

45. Oil gp. that includes Iraq: OPEC. (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)

46. "Avatar" race: NA'VI. The movie.

50. Nephews' sisters: NIECEs

54. Happen multiple times: RECUR

56. Govt. security: T-NOTE

57. Love dearly: ADORE

58. German steel city: ESSEN. "European Green Capital 2017"

60. Beyond that: ELSE

61. "Look what I did!": "TA-DA!"

62. Group with pledges: FRAT. (college fraternity)

63. Nevada gambling city: RENO

64. Church bench: PEW

65. Notable time: ERA

Argyle

Monday, November 13, 2017 ~ Mark McClain

Theme: Triple A - They will give you a TOW.

17A. Saber-rattling: THREAT OF WAR

27A. Shed a few pounds: TAKE OFF WEIGHT

45A. Romantic triangle figure: THE OTHER WOMAN

60A. End up just fine: TURN OUT WELL

69A. Highway breakdown need ... or, initially, feature of 17-, 27-, 45- and 60-Across: TOW

Argyle here with what may be one of Mark's easiest puzzles. It's cool none of the 'O' words are repeated.

Across:

1. Position at work: JOB

4. Busy as __: A BEE

8. India neighbor: NEPAL

13. "You __ here": mall map words: ARE

14. Banquet, e.g.: MEAL

15. Top-quality: SELECT

16. With 36-Across, Polo Grounds great: MEL. 36-Across. See 16-Across: OTT. Back when the Giants played in Manhattan.

19. Ravel classic: BOLERO

21. Car dealer's no.: MSRP. (manufacturer's suggested retail price)

22. Bro's sib: SIS

23. Carry on wildly: RANT

25. Regatta propellers: OARS

32. California's San __ Obispo: LUIS

                                       The Nine Sisters

34. Disco __: "The Simpsons" character: STU

35. More up-to-date: NEWER

37. Shed purpose: STORAGE

40. Dismantled Brit. music conglomerate: EMI. An initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, it broke-up in 2012.

41. Truckee River's lake: TAHOE. The Truckee is the outlet of Lake Tahoe and empties into Pyramid Lake. Pyramid Lake has no outlet.

43. Crude __: OIL

44. Small cut: SNIP

49. Continuous change: FLUX

50. "__ le roi!": French Revolution cry: À BAS. "Down with the king!"

51. Relaxing retreat: SPA. Retreat - A place providing peace and quiet.

54. Drop from a list: OMIT

56. Rose garden pests: APHIDS

63. After-tax: NET

64. What a password provides: ACCESS

65. Not working: IDLE

66. Rocks in a bar: ICE

67. Giggly sound: TE-HEE. I prefer tee-hee.

68. Little dog breeds: TOYS

Down:

1. Vertical door part: JAMB

2. Two-toned cookie: OREO

3. Inventor associated with telephones: BELL

4. California Zephyr operator: AMTRAK

5. "Tell it like it is": "BE HONEST"

6. Sensory organ: EAR

7. Sch. before junior high: ELEM. (elementary)

8. Wetsuit material: NEOPRENE

9. North Pole assistant: ELF

10. Seats for the flock: PEWS

11. Palm tree berry: ACAI

12. Acronym parts: Abbr.: LTRs. (letters)

15. McDonald's freebie: STRAW

18. Starting on: AS OF

20. Important periods: ERAs

24. Dorothy's dog: TOTO

26. "Sprechen __ Deutsch?": SIE

27. Ten percent donation: TITHE

28. Public commotion: FUROR

29. Edmund who played Kris Kringle: GWENN. Miracle on 34th Street

30. Prefix with sphere: HEMI

31. __ odometer: TRIP

32. Ronnie in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: LOTT. Number 42 with the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Defense.

33. Beehive State: UTAH

37. Let free: SET LOOSE

38. Old Sony brand: AIWA

39. "Think __, act locally": GLOBALLY

42. Cartoon fight sound: [OOF!]

44. Merit badge holder: SASH

46. Garden fertilizer: HUMUS. Don't mix your HUMUS with your hummus.

47. Red sign over a door: EXIT

48. Syrup trees: MAPLEs

51. ASAP, to an MD: STAT

52. Brownish purple: PUCE

53. Foot part: ARCH

55. Silly goose: TWIT

57. Not yet eliminated: IN IT

58. Art __: DECO

59. Hearty bowlful: STEW

61. Word seen between married and maiden names: NÉE

62. Old name for Tokyo: EDO

 Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to the real Big Easy (George Simpson), who volunteers at the annual Zurich Classic where he has met the other Big Easy a few times. Off the blog, George is a very caring friend to me. I enjoyed working with him on our puzzles.

Big Easy and his wife Diane

Thursday, October 26 2017 Mark McClain

Theme: FAN-tastic. Four FAN definitions, four different results. Three nouns-based, one verb-based.

17A. FAN : RANGE HOOD DEVICE. Really? OK. My range hood doubles as a microwave, so I've got two devices in one, I guess. I treated myself to a new range last week, the old one went kaput in the oven-ignition department. I'm not fond of the smell of gas in my kitchen.

26A. FAN : GEISHA ACCESSORY. Can be very ornate.

43A. FAN : GO DOWN ON STRIKES. It took me forever to parse this. Baseball - you fan the batter when you have him swinging and missing at for strike three. World Series time is on us! I won't claim to being an ardent supporter of my LA Dodgers. I am a fan, though.

56A. FAN : ARDENT SUPPORTER. Now, that's me! Chelsea F.C. When I'm back in London next month I'll be at the ground being ardent. I still renew my annual club membership each year even though I get to one game every goodness knows when.

Four grid-spanners is always a nice construction job - things can get tricky making this kind of pattern work. I thought we were onto a pangram when X, Z, J, K and the other usual suspects started showing up, but no Q, so close, but no cigar.

Lots of nice fill to go with the solid 60 (count 'em!) theme letters. Let's see:

Across:

1. "The Hobbit" figure : DWARF. Makes a nice change from ents, orcs and what-not. There were 13 of the vertically-challenged, pugnaciously-bearded bunch in The Hobbit

6. Moneyless deal : SWAP

10. It may involve an exchange of letters : CODE. Also known as a substitution cipher - you change one letter for another.

14. Like a raucous crowd : AROAR. Your honor, I refer to my previous blog entries on this particular word.

15. Grassy "pet" : CHIA

16. Binged (on) : OD'ED

20. Donkey Kong, e.g. : APE. I'm old enough to remember the first Donkey Kong machine in my local pub in London. I'm also old enough to remember the first Pong machine, and the first Space Invaders machine. I retired after Missile Command and saved my money.

21. Tiny bit : IOTA

22. Gas in an arc lamp : XENON

23. Cultural opening? : AGRI-

24. Working away : AT IT

33. Dark : UNLIT

34. Holy Week season : LENT.

35. Menagerie : ZOO

36. Organa family royal : LEIA. I don't know why I have a problem with this "Organa" family clue. I know I know it's Star Wars, but why was I playing around with LENA and LEDA as possibilities?

37. Outback youngsters : JOEYS. Sing after me the Australian kids' show theme tune: "Skippy, Skippy, Skippy the bush kangaroo". The show came on right after "The Magic Boomerang" on the BBC. I'm guessing cheaply-acquired programming.

39. Cover up : MASK. Verb and noun. Nice.

40. Is for many : ARE. Singular/Plural hint.

41. Trombone's symphonic neighbor : TUBA. Twinned with the 38D clue/answer. Nice.

42. First two-time Nobelist : CURIE

47. False move : FAKE. Sporting term - faking someone out.

48. Try in court : HEAR

49. "Star Wars" genre : SCI-FI

52. Contrary girl of rhyme : MARY. How did her garden grow?

53. Relaxation spot : SPA

60. Oblique look : LEER

61. Lowland : VALE. I wait - DALE or VALE?

62. Din : NOISE

63. Bigelow products : TEAS

64. Cut without mercy, as a budget : AXED

65. Maker of iComfort mattresses : SERTA. I'm surprised lawsuit-happy Apple haven't sued over the name.

Down:

1. Swimmer Torres with 12 Olympic medals : DARA. She's a motiviational speaker now and lives up the street (actually, up quite a few streets) in Beverly Hills.

2. Sub alternative : WRAP

3. As good as it gets : A-ONE

4. Joplin work : RAG

5. Train load : FREIGHT

6. Nova __ : SCOTIA

7. "Just a doggone minute!" : WHOA

8. Legal __ : AID

9. Legal __ : PAD

10. Longs for enviously : COVETS

11. Mr. Wednesday's real identity in "American Gods" : ODIN

12. Artistic style of L.A.'s Eastern Columbia Building : DECO.  A beautiful loft building downtown. Here's the entryway:

13. Churchill's 1955 successor : EDEN

18. Hand-holding celebratory dance : HORA

19. Be real : EXIST

23. Where Vladivostok is : ASIA

24. __-deucey : ACEY

25. Arithmetic column : TENS. Please complete the following as your homework. It's due back to me tomorrow.

26. Solzhenitsyn subject : GULAG. I read "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" when I was a teen. Quite the eye-opener.

27. Día de Reyes month : ENERO. Nailed it! January, the twelfth day of Christmas in Spanish-speaking countries.

28. "That wasn't quite true ... " : I LIED

29. Do housework : CLEAN

30. Netflix drama set in a Missouri mountain resort : OZARK. Never seen the drama, but easy to guess.

31. WWII riveter : ROSIE

32. Devices used with oxcarts : YOKES. As one ox said to the other: "This plow is heavy. No yoke".

37. Rubbish : JUNK

38. Flute's symphonic neighbor : OBOE. I like the pair of orchestral maneuvers today. Let's use that as an excuse for some 80's pop. And some hilarity with the video production standards of the day.

39. Sierra Club founder : MUIR

41. With "the," East and West, in a Kipling ballad : TWAIN

OH, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,
Till Earth and Sky stand presently at God’s great Judgment Seat;
But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth,

When two strong men stand face to face, tho’ they come from the ends of the earth!

From "The Ballad of East and West" by Rudyard Kipling

I've got a beaten-up old copy of Kipling's "Barrack Room Ballads" that belonged to my Dad and which followed him around his pre-war British Army postings to Hong Kong and Palestine and his WWII assignments in North Africa and Burma. No wonder it's a little rough around the edges.

42. Colorful set : CRAYONS

44. They're music to job-seekers' ears : OFFERS

45. Molded : SHAPED

46. Maryland athlete, familiarly : TERP

49. Cellar contents : SALT. Wanted WINE. A recent addition to my pantry is a Himalaya black salt that smells sulfurous. It's used to finish a couple of Indian curries that I'm fond of. Not to everyone's taste.

50. First Nations tribe : CREE

51. Thought : IDEA

52. Backless shoe : MULE. I tried MOCC first, a bad decision on more than one front.

53. Start to wake up : STIR

54. Sitter's challenge : PEST

55. Geometry figure : AREA

57. Power agcy. since 1933 : T.V.A.

58. Jazz band staple : SAX

59. Landmark '70s case anonym : ROE vs. Wade.

That's about it from me.

Steve