Friday, December 23, 2011, Mike Peluso

Theme: No F words here! The letter F is taken from the end of the second word of a common phrase and is replaced with either a sound alike or the word without the F to create a new and witty phrase. This is my second Mike Peluso puzzle to write up, and like the other it has many 3 and 4 letter words, which should be easy, but they are not. It also has lots of themeage, so let us see what we have to work with today.

18A. Answered on "Name That Fabric"?: CRIED WOOL. Cried wolf. My favorite, and seeing the theme really helped.

20A. Just the binding?: BOOK SHELL. Book shelf. Here the F leaves but an added L comes in to play.

36A. Scale model of an ancient rival of Rome: MINIATURE GAUL. Miniature golf. Here we lose the F sound and have a sound alike. As Julius Caesar said, "Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres."

54A. Burger queen?: GROUND BEE. Ground Beef. The F is gone, no sound alike. Queen Bee, a convoluted pun with Burger King as well. A shout out to our amazing BEES.

57A. Non-contraband cheese?: LEGAL BRIE. Legal Brief. This one also just has the F removed. Brie the french soft cheese.

The unifier: 65A. Disappearing sound, and a hint to this puzzle's theme: PFFT. Not much help, but I had the theme long before I git here.

Time for the rest of the story.

Across:

1. Tic, for one: SPASM. Like that of Inspector Dreyfus.

6. Arcade trademark word: SKEE. Skee Ball, the first game where we teach kids to gamble to win prizes.

10. Its website has a "Rodents 101" section: DCON. Gotta love em, CLIP (0:18).

14. "__ Go Again": Whitesnake #1 song : HERE I. CLIP.(4:33).

15. Brand at Petco: IAMS. The founder of the company was Paul Iams.

16. Pats on a buffet: OLEO. No, not on the waitresses' bottom.

17. '30s-'40s Kildare portrayer : AYRES. Lew, who ironically studied to be a doctor at the University of Arizona.

22. Pocatello sch : ISU. Idaho State University.

23. Texter's "Oh, before I forget ..." : BTW. By the Way.

24. Pah lead-in: OOM. Is this too close to 40A. Oomph: ZING?

25. Car radio selection: PRESET.

28. Hedger's OK: YES, BUT...what if? See below?

30. Land measurement ACRE.

32. "Discreet Music" composer: ENO. Sounds better than elevator music.

33. Surrealist Jean: ARP. A regular in our world.

34. On the __ vive: alert: QUI. From French, who lives, being the inquiry of the guard of the gate.

35. City south of Fort Worth: WACO. I guess forever linked to David Koresh, the wacko from Waco.

41. DOD arm: NSA. Department of Defense. National Security Agency.

42. Aus. currency : DOL. Austrailian Dollar.

43. Seasonal helper: ELF.How many liked the Will Farrell movie?

44. Olds 442 rivals: GTOS. My brother has a 1967.

45. Honolulu's __ Palace: IOLANI. The only real PALACE in the US.

49. Mouth formations: DELTAS. Mouths of rivers, my favorite was Miss Florida.

51. H.S. dropout's exam: GED. General Educational Development are the tests not the diploma.

52. Author Yutang: LIN. Out of my knowledge base, perhaps other can give some history. (From C.C.: Lin Yutang was a giant in Chinese literature, known for his beautiful prose.)

53. High dudgeon: IRE. An odd word never used by itself, and with no known origin like its cousins BLUDGEON and CURMUDGEON.

60. Rock's Burdon et al : ERICS. and the Animals.

61. He lowered the New York Times' price from 3¢ to 1¢: OCHS. And raised circulation from 7,000 to 900,000. Interesting MAN.

62. Doofuses : OAFS.

63. Reds, maybe: WINES.

64. Clothes alterer of a kind: MOTH. Cute, but I do not see many moths here.

66. Tex's "What if ...": S'POSE. This one fooled me for a while even after I filled in all the letters, I suppose I just did not see it.

Down:

1. Ramshackle: SHABBY. I started with SHANTY, thinking of an old house.

2. Native American hallucinogen: PEYOTE. When I was in college lots of people wanted to be indigenous Americans so they could experience the ritual of mescaline, the hallucinogen in Peyote.

3. Pointers: ARROWS.

4. Tuner option: SEEK. Being from New England I like my TUNER to be Albacore. Also and Anagram for SKEE, and the derivation of SIC.

5. Where Clark met Lewis in 1804: MISSOURI. The state or the river?

6. "Attack!": SIC EM. likely from "seek them."

7. Jazz great Malone: KARL. This was so cool, not the music, but the NBA team.

8. Oscar winner Jannings : EMIL. A silent film star who won the first best Actor award in 1929; he later became a Nazi propagandist, and his Hollywood career was over.

9. Toledo-to-Akron dir : ESE.

10. Not spare the rod?: DOWSE. The art of finding water with a stick, not to be confused with DICKY the STICK promoted by Johnny Carson.

11. Sellers role: CLOUSEAU. Truly in a class by himself with his tormentor/tormentee 57D. Herbert who played 11-Down's nemesis Inspector Dreyfus: LOM. A perfect FOIL for Seller's silliness.

12. Antipoverty agcy: OEO. Office of Economic Opportunity.

13. Exiled Cambodian Lon __ NOL. My favorite palindromic leader.

19. Like some consequences: DIRE.

21. Revealing '60s-'70s fad: HOT PANTS. I remember Goldie Hawn.

25. Literally, "pray G-d : PRIE DIEU. Where people kneel to pray.

26. SASE, e.g.: ENCL. Enclosure.

27. Overly: TOO. Like SOFIA sometimes?

29. Slam: BANG. Thank you ma'am.

30. Blue hues: AQUAS. Very big here in Florida.

31. Heel : CUR. An old fashioned word.

35. Medieval fortification: WALL. Anyone watching the mini-series made from Pillars of Earth?

36. Sports Authority Field altitude: MILE. The only stadium anyone cares about altitude is in Denver, home of the Broncos and now Tim Tebow, a Gator.

37. Like some movies: IN FLIGHT. This was really hard for me to parse. The perps finally filled, but this was a struggle.

38. Chicken general?: TSO. A staple both in the restaurant and the puzzle.

39. It may be a relief: GOOD NEWS. Very obscure clue.

40. Last of 26, in Chelsea: ZED. The British way to designate the letter "z."

44. Erse speaker, perhaps: GAEL. Gaels, the Celtic peoples of Scotland, Ireland. Erse became Irish.

46. White rat, e.g.: ALBINO. Or my favorite...

47. Reunion attendees: NIECES.

48. Actually existing: IN ESSE. Literal Latin.

50. Contentious talk: TRASH. The language of the NBA and NFL.

51. "Whither thou __ ...": Ruth: GOEST. "whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people..."

54. Five-time U.S. Open champ: GRAF. Wife of Andre Agassi; you think their children will pay?

55. Jazz phrase: RIFF. Riffs are found primarily in rock music, Latin, funk and jazz, classical music is also sometimes based on a simple riff, such as Ravel's Boléro.

56. Coffee choice: DRIP. I much prefer having my coffee with an interesting person.

58. Green prefix: ECO. Ecology and all that.

59. Gillespie's genre: BOP. John Birks 'Dizzie' Gillespie was a major figure in both bebop and JAZZ. (3:47) Listen and enjoy as he ends my return to the saddle. JzB, cheeky bastard wasn't he.

Answer grid.

Thanks and it is good to be back, if still a bit out of shape. Have a very happy holiday week all.

Lemonade

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our Capricorn Misty! Found the Capri pants yet?

Tuesday, August 9, 2011 Mike Peluso

Theme: Show Me the Money - The unifier instructs us to put CASH before the last word of the starred entries.

18A. *Duplicator in an office : COPY MACHINE. CASH MACHINE aka ATM.

24A. *Great Chicago Fire scapegoat : MRS. O'LEARY'S COW. CASH COW brings in a very high profit margin. Down on the farm, the cash cow not only produced a lot of milk but the milk had a high percentage of cream, where the real money is.

39A. *Classic chocolate treat : MARS BAR. CASH BAR, magic words on any reception notice. (My mistake, it is OPEN BAR we like to see!)

49A. *Take a path of least resistance : GO WITH THE FLOW. CASH FLOW - May yours never be negative.

60A. Seller's assurance of payment, and a hint to what the last words of the answers to starred clues can have in common : CASH UP FRONT. PSA: You should never give CASH IN ADVANCE for any online claim that you have money coming to you.

Argyle here. Typical Tuesday. Some names that are gimmes to some and unheard of by others. Some mild misdirection but four solid themes. All-in-all, a good continuation of the week.

Across:

1. The NFL's Montana and Favre, e.g. : QBs. Football quarterbacks.

4. __-wip: "real cream" brand : REDDI. The stuff in the can.

9. Rap's __ Rhymes : BUSTA. This gent.

14. Suffix with script : URE

15. Apply, as pressure : EXERT

16. Not cool, man : UNHIP

17. Marksman's skill : AIM. I'm not happy with this answer. Anyone can aim, the marksman can hit what he aims at. The answer needs a modifier, like 'steady aim', to be a skill, IMO.

20. Former boxer Ali : LAILA. She is the daughter of boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

22. Musician's gift : EAR

23. Makes a decision : OPTS

28. Apt. complex unit : BLDG.

29. Ohio rubber city : AKRON. Four major tire companies, Goodrich Corporation, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company and General Tire, were headquartered in the city.

32. Canonized Fr. women : STEs

35. Grand Coulee, for one : DAM

37. Thief-turned-sleuth Lupin : ARSÈNE. Unknown to me; a French rival of Sherlock Holmes.

38. Nonpro sports org. : AAU. Amateur Athletic Union.

41. "Proud Mary" pop gp. : CCR. Creedence Clearwater Revival.

42. Throbs : PULSES

44. Watchdog's warning : "GRR"

45. Prog. listing : SKED. Sked is shortened version of the word schedule and often isn't indicated as a abbreviation as it is today.

46. Spot on TV : PROMO

47. Aptly named fruit : UGLI

56. Narrow cut : SLIT

58. Filmdom's Farrow : MIA. First gained wide acclaim for her role as Allison Mackenzie in the prime time soap opera Peyton Place.(1964)

59. Short vodka order : STOLI. Stolichnaya, but it is also trademarked as Stoli.

64. Sewing kit item : PIN

65. Starts the pot : ANTEs

66. Army base near Petersburg, Va. : FT. LEE

67. 12/24 or 12/31 : EVE

68. Iraq's main port : BASRA. Even though it is 34 miles from the coast. Map.

69. Ritual celebrating the Jews' liberation from Egyptian slavery : SEDER

70. __ Moines : DES. Iowa, "American Heartland".

Down:

1. Uneasy feeling : QUALM. Good word. Germanic?

2. Prickly bush : BRIAR

3. 18-wheelers : SEMIS

4. Automaker's bane : RECALL. Haven't had any lately.

5. Lead-in for skeleton : EXO

6. Bank statement abbr. : DEP.osit

7. Laundry appliance : DRYER

8. "Be that as __ ..." : IT MAY

9. Tampa Bay athlete, briefly : BUC

10. Opens, as a gate : UNHOOKS

11. Marine salvage crew's job : SHIPWRECK. It used to be the big job was bringing up the treasure; now it is keeping possession once it's up.

12. Glass darkener : TINT

13. Big galoots : APES

19. Latin art : ARS. You might find this interesting.

21. Throws softly : LOBS

25. Old Norse works : EDDAs

26. Biochemist's gel : AGAR

27. Singer Vikki : CARR

30. "... __ and for all!" : ONCE

31. Bookish type : NERD

32. '90s-'00s NFL Pro Bowler Warren : SAPP. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Oakland Raiders.

33. Bull: Pref. : TAUR

34. Speakers at memorial services : EULOGISTS

36. Chow mein additive : MSG

37. "I can't believe this!" : "AARGH!"

39. "Feed me," in Siamese? : "MEOW"

40. Champagne word : BRUT. Very dry.

43. Cover completely : SMOTHER

45. Prepare, as flour : SIFT

48. Red Sox pitcher Jon : LESTER. LaLa Linda, care to comment?

50. Brat : IMP

51. Little fights : TIFFS

52. Bret who wrote gold rush stories : HARTE

53. Ran with ease : LOPED

54. Fruit yielding oil : OLIVE

55. Some cellar contents : WINES

56. Union underminer : SCAB

57. Head-turning Turner : LANA. Back in the day. Image.

61. Mex. neighbor : USA

62. Trite : OLD

63. Originally called : NÉE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday, July 31, 2011 Mike Peluso

Theme: Oohs and Aahs -"Ooh" sound in the last word of each familiar phrase is changed into "aah" sound.

21A. Charity that rewards golf talent? : ALMS FOR THE PAR. Alms for the poor.

33A. Treat a Saudi king with TLC? : COMFORT FAHD. Comfort food. King Fahd's look terrifies me.

56A. Timid officer? : CHICKEN COP. Chicken coop.

67A. Miniature B-17? : BABY BOMBER. Baby boomer.

88A. Hall of Famer Warren after garage work? : GREASY SPAHN. Greasy spoon. Warren Spahn. Remember the poem "Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain"? No, Marti/Splynter, no baseball for you?

106A. Padding in an Easter basket? : CHOCOLATE MOSS. Chocolate mousse.

15D. Stuffy trio? : THE THREE STODGES. The Three Stooges. But stodgy is an adjective, how can it be pluralized?

41D. Onset of boredom? : BIRTH OF THE BLAHS. Birth of the Blues.

Fun theme, isn't it? I would have enjoyed the theme more if I spoke English properly.

Notice how Mike spread out his theme entries in the grid? I like puzzles with Across & Down theme arrangement. More impressive is the intersection and overlapping.

Chopping solving for me. Again, the names gave me trouble.

Favorite clue today is AHAs (31D. Clicking sounds?). Awesome! Totally click with me.

Across:

1. Look up to : ADMIRE

7. "Zen and the __ Motorcycle Maintenance": 1974 best-seller : ART OF. Unknown to me. But anything motorcycle related can't be Zen.

12. Tournament slots : BERTHS

18. Gradually removed (from) : WEANED

19. When Lear banishes Cordelia : ACT ONE. This clue is very Mike.

20. University of Delaware mascot : BLUE HEN. Delaware the Blue Hen State.

23. Jockey Angel : CORDERO. Stranger to me.

24. __ Rebellion: 1786-'87 insurrection : SHAYS'. What's it about?

25. Liqueur flavoring : ANISE

26. Rim : EDGE

27. Overly : TOO

28. Stitching on Li'l Abner's towel? : HIS'N

29. Enemy : FOE

30. Feeds amply : SATES

32. Phenom : WHIZ

38. Travesty : FARCE

39. "Hang on a sec," online : BRB (Be Right Back)

42. Off : DO IN. Off is a verb here.

43. Forearm bones : ULNAS

44. More than just worry : OBSESS

45. '70s Struthers co-star : REINER (Rob). Sally Struthers. "All in the Family". I drew a blank.

47. Tiffs : SPATS

48. "Go fly __!" : A KITE

49. Sitting still : AT REST

50. Terrible twos, one hopes : PHASE

51. Coach Parseghian : ARA

52. Big petrol seller : ESSO

55. Danish explorer Bering : VITUS. You all know his given name?

58. Hoosegow : STIR. Jail.

59. Durham sch. : UNH (University of New Hampshire)

60. All-time RBI leader : AARON (Hank). 2, 297. Guess how many grand slams he has? Don't google.

62. Diarist Nin : ANAIS

64. Medical suffix : OMA

65. Crucifix : ROOD

71. Army doc : MEDIC

73. __ Romeo Spider : ALFA

74. NYC-based securities gp. : ASE (American Stock Exchange)

75. After-school treats : OREOS

76. Player with an orange and black-striped helmet : BENGAL. Cincinnati Bengals.

77. Junk : TRASH

79. Did well on the quiz : GOT A "B". Trick to parse.

80. "What's My Line?" regular Francis : ARLENE

81. Pennsylvania university : LEHIGH. Is it very famous?

83. Like some casks : OAKEN

84. Aromatherapist's supply : OILS. Melissa or Barbara B introduced Jojoba oil to me some time ago. I love it.

86. Sound after a pop : SSS

87. Alaskan native : ALEUT

91. Lobster house freebies : BIBS

92. Wicked one : FIEND

94. Hall of Fame pool player __ Mataya Laurance : EWA. Wow, no idea. She looks cool

95. West Coast sch. : UCLA. And 102D. West Coast sch. : UCAL. Not the same?

99. Handy communication syst.? : ASL. Good clue. (Added later: ASL is American Sign Language.)

100. Allure rival : ELLE

101. When repeated, "Hungry Like the Wolf" band : DURAN

103. Greek promenades : STOAS

104. Noxious fumes : MIASMAS

109. Artsy district : BOHEMIA

110. Run roughshod over : MARAUD

111. 2009 aviation biopic : AMELIA

112. Comeback : ANSWER

113. Little silvery fish : SMELT

114. Words on some Montana license plates : BIG SKY. Their nickname.

Down:

1. Overrun (with) : AWASH. I've only used "awash in".

2. City NE of Jodhpur : DELHI

3. Words from dolls : MAMAS

4. On the same page : IN SYNC

5. They sometimes count to 10 : REFS. Boxing, right?

6. Shogun's capital : EDO

7. More uncomfortable : ACHIER

8. AAA suggestions : RTES

9. Reach for the Skyy, excessively : TOPE. Spell checker doesn't like this verb.

10. __ roll: winning : ON A

11. Backin' : FER

12. Promotes oneself online : BLOGS. Verb here.

13. Chartres's river : EURE. I can never remember those European rivers.

14. The color of money owed? : RED

16. Daring rescue, say : HEROICS

17. Grabs some shuteye : SNOOZES

19. When many a whistle blows : AT NOON. I don't get this clue.

20. A train? : BCDE. A B C D E. Alphabet. Meh entry, but saved by an excellent clue.

22. "Bananaphone" singer : RAFFI. Here is a clip.

26. SFO listings : ETDS

30. South Carolina river : SANTEE. Named after the Santee tribe. Learning moment!

32. Fails to recycle : WASTES

34. Black Sea port : ODESSA

35. Cartoonist Walker : MORT. "Beetle Bailey".

36. Rapper __ Shakur : TUPAC

37. Lab container : FLASK

38. "Most Wanted" org. : FBI. And 78D. 38-Down employee : AGT.

39. Dazzling performance : BRAVURA. I like this word.

40. Vitamin A : RETINOL. It reduce the wrinkles.

44. Giraffe relative : OKAPI

46. Fresh out of the box, in Berlin : NEU. New.

47. Freshly minted : SHINY

48. Like a loud crowd : AROAR

50. Suffix for techno : PHOBE. Technophobe.

51. Dermatologist's cases : ACNES

53. Monkeys, e.g. : SIMIANS

54. They have all the answers : ORACLES. Including answers to this puzzle!

56. Computer problem : CRASH

57. Big cheese : NABOB

61. Bring shame to : ABASH

63. Bond nemesis : SMERSH. Weird looking word.

66. Persian king, 522-486 B.C. : DARIUS. Darius the Great. Stumper.

68. Unavailable, as for appointments : BOOKED

69. "Coffee __?" : OR TEA

70. Wherewithal : MEANS

72. Like mil. volunteers : ENL (Enlisted)

76. __ Cynwyd, Pa. : BALA. No idea.

79. Former Utah senator Jake who flew aboard Discovery in 1985 : GARN

81. Ritchie Valens biopic : LA BAMBA

82. Apostrophe's purpose, often : ELISION

83. Curved molding : OGEE

84. Role in Stone's "JFK" : OSWALD. "Life" magazine with Lee Harvey Oswald on the cover is a collectible item.

85. "Brusha, brusha, brusha" toothpaste : IPANA

89. Ump's call : YER OUT!

90. Eggnog topping : NUTMEG

92. Distinctive style : FLAIR. Do you miss Jerome?

93. "Casablanca" heroine : ILSA

96. Becomes safe to eat, in a way : COOLS. Simple in retrospect.

97. Cornea-reshaping surgery : LASIK. I just don't feel it's safe.

98. Test for purity : ASSAY

100. Former "Fashion Emergency" host : EMME. Unaware of the program.

101. 19th-century French book illustrator : DORE (Gustave). French & 19th-century spell out nothing for me, unfortunately. Interesting read in Wikipedia.

103. Cargo hauler : SEMI

105. Embroider, e.g. : SEW

106. Ruler amts. : CMs

107. Breakfast side : HAM

108. Folder user's aid : TAB.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday, July 1, 2011, Mike Peluso

Theme: Get Real! 62A. "We're on to you!" (and a hint to how this puzzle's other four longest answers were created): DROP THE ACT. Each of the four central theme answers are in the language phrases with the word ACT removed to reveal a new, and witty phrase.

17A. Free garden supply?: COMPACTED SOIL. COMPED meaning given as complimentary item.

24A. Cost at a Walmart competitor?: TARGET PRACTICE. Target is catching Walmart.

38A. Become more forgiving?: LACTOSE INTOLERANCE. Being milk intolerant, this is my favorite, as the original phrase and the new are both very positive.

50A. Pessimistic brat?: NEGATIVE IMPACT. These on the other hand are quite negative.

Hey all, it is I, Lemonade, so it must be Friday, and we have another seemingly easy Friday, that does have some very tricky clues and a very fun letter removal theme, so on with Mr. Peluso's masterpiece.

  

Across:

1. South American plain: CAMPO. Okay, again with a difficult start; my Spanish is not great, but I believe this means field. or country (like Casa de Campo- country house) and not Plain which is a flat field mostly devoid of trees. Ah well, I am probably wrong again.

6. Fifth pillar of Islam: HADJ. Okay, the end of our lesson for the week in the religion, HADJ (or HAJJ) is the pilgrimage; the other four are: (1) the shahada (creed), (2) salat (daily prayers), (3) sawm  (fasting during Ramadan ), (4) ( zakat alms giving) ).

10. Back country transports, briefly: ATVS. All Terrain Vehicles. Lots of acronyms.

14. Poppy product: OPIUM. Mini-clecho: 15. Bean product?: IDEA. Not a green one, but your head.

16. Antihero?: GOAT. This meaning comes from the old Hebrew tradition of send out a goat to take on the sins of the people, the SCAPE GOAT.

19. Tahoe bar, say: AXLE. The Chevrolet SUV, not the beautiful city on the lake.

20. Cheese from Veneto: ASIAGO. Cheeses like wines have regions, you can read this LINK .

21. Cognac designation: VSOP. I am not sure if this was intention but Cognac is a region as well, and it is graded as Very Special Old Pale.

23. It may follow sex: ISM. A cigarette? A loud scream, oh, I see....sexism.

27. Main response?: AYE SIR. The main, meaning the sea, the bounding main.

29. Feminine principle: YIN. After Al's explanation, you are supposed to know this.

30. Bass, e.g.: ALE. The beer reference so I do not feel lonely.

31. Boomers are swelling its ranks: AARP. The old reference so I don't get uppity.

34. Vast expanse: OCEAN. Danny?

42. Only brother not in any Marx Brothers films: GUMMO. He was born MILTON .

43. Foreign minister under Meir: EBAN. Abba Eban, a very fascinating and intelligent man that I had the pleasure of meeting when he was here appearing on a locally produced Israeli TV show.

44. Comic Margaret: CHO. The Kontroversial, Korean Komedienne, watch unless you are AFRAID .

45. Petting zoo chorus: AWS. How cute!

47. Metaphorical hiding place: CLOSET. Where we have our skeletons, and our gay people; it must be crowded in theirs.

54. Palme __: Cannes award: D'OR. Of gold, in French.

55. Words of agreement: NOR I. I kept seeing seaweed.

56. Super Bowl party array: SALSAS. The Tijuana place next tome has 23 salsa for your burrito, some will curl your eyebrows.

60. Work: OPUS.

64. Sci-fi shots: ZAPS.

65. Shekels: GELT. More Yiddish, as well as the currency of old Israel. Money honey.

66. Hartford-based insurance giant: AETNA. Hartford is the Insurance Capital .

67. Harper's Bazaar artist: ERTE. Romain de Tirtoff .

68. The same, to Alain: EGAL. French lesson, not only the same as Equal, it is the root word.

69. Discomfiting look: SNEER. I already did my Snidely Whiplash, so use your imagination.

DOWN:

1. First name in soft drinks?: COCA. Coca Cola, first name, get it!!!!!

2. Mil. addresses: APOS. Army Post Office.

3. "La Bohème" role: MIMI. My grandmother was called that from the French mémé.

4. Leave the larva stage  PUPATE. really, sounds like fun.

5. James Bond and JFK have worn them: OMEGAS. The watch.

6. __ Honor: HIS. Speaking of sexism, why HIS?

7. "... and gentle as __": Matthew: A DOVE.

8. Jefferson, notably: DEIST. A practical form of Christianity, devoid of miracles.

9. Heap: JALOPY. They are uncertain where this word comes from, but it means an old, badly maintained car.

10. Turkish title: AGA. And a cooker in England, where are you our limey friend?

11. Destructive, as a relationship: TOXIC. Man, we have all been in those with beautiful but bad for us partners.

12. Sibelius's "__ Triste": VALSE. This was a work written by the most famous Finnish composer, for a  play written by his brother; truly awesome MUSIC ; I think the title means Sad Waltz, in French.

13. Keep from flowing: STEM. Stem the tide boys!

18. Gray painted by Basil Hallward  DORIAN. The only novel written by Oscar Wilde, ever published, not a color of paint, but the central character. A truly well thought out and frightening book and movie.

22. Conviction, maybe: PRIOR. In TV cop talk, how many priors?

25. Fireplace insert: GRATE. Gitta out the logs someplace.

26. Old empire builder: INCA.

27. Winningest manager in Expos history: ALOU. Felipe, the oldest of the three brothers, who all played in the same outfield for one game with the San Fransisco Giants; because the Montreal Expos do not exist any more, Felipe will keep his record.

28. Polite rural reply: YES'M.

30. Subj. for solvers: ALG. Al Gebra, or old math friend.

32. Steal from: ROB. I won't quibble, but there is a big difference in the law, as robbery requires the use of force in confrontation.

33. Not quite win: PLACE. Horse racing, Win, Place and Show. I like this clue, both for me and my degenerate friends.

35. Confer ending: ENCE. Conference.

36. Vier times zwei: ACHT. Four times two = eight, German lesson.

37. Paleo- opposite: NEO. Neo mean new, Paleo ancient, prehistoric, both from Greek roots.

39. Slate, e.g., for short: E-MAG. I learned from the puzzles, I have never seen this online publication.

40. Hoover, for one: IOWAN. Herbert Hoover the 31st president and the one who presided over the beginning of the depression. Other famous Iowans include Johnny Carson (who moved to Nebraska) Marion Morrison, better known as John Wayne, and sadly a transplanted Chicago boy whose family moved to Waterloo,  named John Wayne Gacy, who became known as the Killer Clown. A presidential hopeful recently opened her campaign in Waterloo, Iowa because it was the home of that great American, John Wayne, but she had the wrong one. It may be her Waterloo.

41. Join: ENLIST.

46. Stuffy type: STODGE. I guess one who acts stodgy would be, but eh.

48. Midwestern natives: OMAHAS. This references the Native American Tribe, not Omahans, I think; HG, help.

49. It may be vented: SPLEEN. I have had this also in previous blogging days.

50. Without face value: NO PAR. Corporations determine a basic value for each share of stock, which would be the minimum they would pay to redeem shares.

51. Blow: ERUPT. Like a volcano, or that prom night zit coming up. It surely blows to have a pimple at the prom.

52. Thrift store abbr.: IRREG. Irregular.

53. One of two in Mozart's string quintets: VIOLA. Do any of you Ryders play Viola or Cello?

54. Drop off: DOZE. Hey, WAKE UP,  I am doing my best.

57. Bloat, maybe: SATE. When I was little my parents hid the Halloween candy on the sun porch so my brothers and I would not eat it too quickly. On the morning of the 31st when they went to get it, there was a mouse in the bag, his stomach five times bigger than he was; he was dead, but he had a big smile. He was sated and bloated.

58. Promgoer's concern: ACNE.

59. Have the lead: STAR. Not first dog, but the lead in a play or show.

61. Captain's hdg.: SSE. An attempt to make random letters sound good.

63. Scandalous '80s initials: PTL. Praise the Lord, and pass the mascara. The televison ministry of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Did not end so well for them, but my work is ending well, as we have conquered another puzzle, one with deception, wit and I am telling the truth, NO ACT here either. Enjoy your holidays and Happy Birthday USA, and many more.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few sweet photos from Don "Hard G". He and his beautiful wife Barbara adopted two Havanese (Pansie & Cosmos) from puppy mills earlier this year after their dog Violet passed away.

Wednesday, May 11 2011, Mike Peluso

Theme:

couleurs du drapeau français

3D. Stuffed chicken dish : CORDON BLEU. blue ribbon. chicken stuffed with ham and swiss cheese. in french culinary tradition, the cordon bleu is awarded to food or chefs of particularly high quality.

5D. Loire Valley grape : CHENIN BLANC.. a white wine grape variety grown in california and the loire valley of france.

25D. Paris nightspot : MOULIN ROUGE. red mill. cabaret in the red-light district of paris.

31. Its colors appear in proper sequence at the ends of 3-, 5- and 25-Down : FRENCH FLAG

melissa here. The theme entries are arranged vertically for visual effect.

i expect a few groans from solvers who dislike foreign words.

Across:

1. Letters on some pre-1992 Olympic uniforms :CCCP. soyuz sovyetskikh sotsialisticheskikh respublik, i.e. union of soviet socialist republics. In the russian alphabet, the equivalent of "s" looks like the Roman "c", and the equivalent of "r" looks like our "p."

5. Suze Orman's network : CNBC

9. Bygone Mideast leaders : SHAHS

14. Landlocked Asian country : LAOS

15. Take on : HIRE

16. Best Supporting Actress before Paquin : TOMEI. marisa. needed perps. would anyone besides marisa or anna know the answer from that clue?

17. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA

18. Verve : ELAN

19. To the left, at sea : APORT

20. Divinity : GODLINESS. next to cleanliness.

22. "Gadzooks!" : YIKES

23. '70s-'90s Atlanta Hawks home : OMNI. coliseum.

24. __ day: Wednesday : HUMP. timely.

26. Intuiting : SENSING

29. Puffed-up fare : SOUFFLE

34. Stand waiter : CAB

35. Obsolescent slope conveyance : T-BAR. mostly found at beginner slopes or in locales where high winds may prevent chairlifts from running.

37. Embryo's home : UTERUS

38. Woody's boy : ARLO. welcome back.

40. Germ-killing brand : LYSOL

42. Left : WENT

43. Medit. spouter : MT ETNA. holy hotwick lava bomb.

45. eBay caveat : AS IS

47. Never, to Heinrich : NIE. german.

48. Convalescents, maybe : SHUT-INS

50. Empties upon arrival : UNPACKS

52. Some VCRs : RCA'S

54. Like some orders : RUSH

55. Fox series with Alfred E. Neuman in the opening credits : MAD TV

59. Title of respect : HONORIFIC. great word, don't remember seeing this in a puzzle before.

63. Coming or going word : ALOHA. and then the japanese say going for coming - so no one knows if they're coming or going.

64. Baseball family name : ALOU. felipe, matty, jesús, and moisés (felipe's son). the first all brother outfield.

65. Food for Fido : ALPO

66. Sure to end badly : NO WIN. a no win situation.

67. Criminal group : RING

68. Astonished reaction : GASP

69. Medicinal plant : SENNA

70. Chick follower? : ADEE. chickadee.

71. Ornate molding : OGEE

Down:

1. Stop up : CLOG

2. Opponent of Caesar : CATO

4. Longest Bible book : PSALMS

6. River through Sudan : NILE

7. Foolhardy : BRASH

8. Population profile : CENSUS. did everyone complete your form last year?

9. Remain in place : STAY PUT

10. Early Grand Canyon settlers : HOPI. moonrise from hopi point.

11. Out of control : AMOK. great word.

12. The Beatles' "__, There and Everywhere" : HERE

13. Is in session : SITS. clue feels a bit awkward.

21. Not out of contention : IN IT. so does this one.

26. Puts one over on : SCAMS

27. One of eight, now : EARTH. planets - pluto was demoted.

28. Merry : GAY. anyone see the jason jones bit on the daily show yesterday?

30. Not a whole lot : FEW

32. Soviet moon program : LUNIK. also a band from switzerland.

33. __ Park, Colorado : ESTES

36. Pretoria's land: Abbr. : RSA. republic of south africa.

39. Polo Grounds legend : OTT. mel.

41. Corvallis sch. : OSU. Oregon State University.

44. Kurt Cobain's group : NIRVANA

46. Boot attachment : SPUR

49. Much of Libya : SAHARA

51. Italian cheese : ASIAGO

53. Well-built : SOLID

55. Provides with personnel : MANS

56. Burn balm : ALOE

57. Consume : DOWN. like it.

58. Slender : THIN

60. Zero : NONE

61. __ dixit: assertion without proof : IPSE

62. Manage : COPE 

Answer grid.

melissa

Sunday February 6, 2011 Mike Peluso

Theme: Subtraction (Parse it as "Subtract Ion) - Letter string ION is deleted from each common phrase.

23A. "Most Difficult Woman" pageant winner's title? : MISS IMPOSSIBLE. Mission Impossible. Fun clue.

35A. What Nadia Comaneci gave her Olympic opponents? : TEN'S HEADACHE. Tension headache.

57A. Batch of itch reliever? : CALAMINE LOT. Calamine lotion.

79A. Native American Washington baseballer? : CHEROKEE NAT. Cherokee Nation. I think Senators sounds better than Nationals, don't you? Of course, the old Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.

99A. Timeless witticism? : PERPETUAL MOT. Perpetual motion.

118A. Deal between thugs? : MUSCLE CONTRACT. Muscle contraction. Muscle = Thug.

16D. Restrictions on Cupid? : EROS CONTROL. Erosion control. Don't think Eros is controllable. Love is so irrational.

69D. Number in an Amtrak report? : RAILWAY STAT. Railway station.

Nice theme and theme title. I figured something was dropped after scanning the byline & puzzle title. Just not ION. So unexpected.

Washington National is not the only baseball reference in the puzzle, Mike also gave us:

22A. 1939 retiree who said "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" : GEHRIG (Lou). The Iron Horse. Babe Ruth appeared as himself in the "Pride of the Yankees".  I cried watching the movie.

56A. Former Cub slugger : SOSA (Sammy). Sigh. I have his rookie card. Worth nothing now.

83A. Hall of Famer Sandberg : RYNE. Inducted in 2005. Spent most of his career with the Cubs.

Looks like Mike had some trouble filling in the lower middle part of the grid. I bet he tried hard to get rid of DELICTO (95D. Flagrante __: in the act of committing the offense) & the adjacent PARSER (99D. Grammar student, at times), but the two helper squares didn't help much.

Across:

1. Hale : ROBUST. The crossing BESO (3D. Cancún kiss) brought out this answer quickly. Learned BESO from Paul Anka's song "Eso Beso".

7. Powerful Chevys, for short : 'VETTES

13. Fall bloomers : ASTERS

19. Newtonian concern : INERTIA. Newtonian sounds so sophisticated.

21. Unrestricted : AT WILL

25. Establish a new foothold : REROOT. Help! I don't get this clue.

26. Weasel cousin : STOAT

27. Nashville-to-Louisville dir. : NNE

28. Laced : TIED

29. Stacks like Tupperware : NESTS. Nice visual.

30. Alberta native : CREE

32. Playground retort : CAN SO

34. Middle x or o : TAC. Tic-tac-toe.

41. Paparazzi, briefly : PHOTOGs

45. Too violent, maybe : R-RATED

46. Baby in blue : BOY. Baby in pink is GIRL.

47. Final Four org. : NCAA

49. Eliza's mentor, to Eliza : 'ENRY. From "My Fair Lady". H is dropped.

50. Urged (on) : EGGED

51. Nite times : EVES

53. Compete : VIE

54. Soup legume : LENTIL. Not to my taste.

60. Sales __ : REP

61. Angry with : MAD AT

64. Sm., med. or lge. : ADJ. Tricky clue. Not size.

65. T-man or G-man : AGT

66. __Kosh B'Gosh : OSH

67. 3 Musketeers relative : MARS BAR. My ex-boss (a Marine) lives on Snickers & cigarettes.

70. Old photo tone : SEPIA

72. Anglican church officials : BEADLES. New word to me. So close to beagles. .

74. Zeta follower : ETA

75. Likely : APT

76. In bed, maybe : ILL

77. Parson's house : MANSE

78. Thrice due : SEI. Italian for "six". Due is "two". Sometimes TRE is clued as a misleading "Amount pass due?".

87. Luther contemporary : CALVIN (John). I drew a blank.

89. Hall & Oates, e.g. : DUO

90. Fail to take the heat? : MELT. Hot clue!

91. Smudge : SMEAR

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

93. Large-screen format : IMAX

95. Part of una semana : DIA. Semana = Week.

96. Egotist's array : BOASTS

97. Like buffalo, red meatwise : LEANEST. Oh, really?

102. Golf hole meas. : YDS. 18 holes in golf. I was thinking of the real holes (cups) & inches.

103. Verbally insistent : VOCAL. Always thought "vocal" just mean "outspoken".

106. Royal display : POMP

107. Speed, for a running back : ASSET

109. Actress Petty : LORI. Recognized her face when I googled. She's in "A League of Their Own". I've seen almost every baseball movie. I can watch "Field of Dreams" again and again.

110. White wine apéritif : KIR

111. "The Thorn Birds" and others : SAGAS

116. Conspicuous terrain features : BUTTES. Same as MESAS, right?

121. Thrilled : ELATED

122. 2,000 pounds : ONE TON

123. 1962 World's Fair site : SEATTLE. Needed crossing help.

124. Kobe mat : TATAMI. Literally "folded". Same as Chinese character.

125. Walk in the park : STROLL

126. A player might be cut after one : TRY-OUT

Down:

1. Tire holders : RIMS. Your ABS too.

2. Taking care of business : ON IT

4. Bear up there : URSA

5. Sutured : STITCHED

6. "Tool Man" Taylor of TV : TIM. "Home Improvement".

7. Ming artifact : VASE

8. Aliens, for short : ETS

9. Acting like one has something to hide : TWITCHY

10. Shinbones : TIBIAE. So is TIBIAS.

11. 2010 panelist with Kara, Randy and Simon : ELLEN (DeGeneres). Those names are all  "American Idol" panelists for the last season.

12. Luges, e.g. : SLEDS

13. Cabinet dept. : AGR (Agriculture)

14. Handled : SEEN TO

15. What black clouds do : THREATEN

17. Funny one : RIOT

18. PD ranks : SGTS

20. Sleep ailment : APNEA

24. Linear, briefly : ONE-D. One-dimensional. Always tricky to parse, same as TWO-D, THREE-D.

31. Claret, e.g. : RED

33. German grandpa : OPA. Kazie or Spitzboov mentioned this before.

35. "__ bien!" : TRES

36. Sum preceder? : ERGO. Cogito, ergo sum.

37. Bothers : NAGS

38. Cooks, in a way : STEAMS. Chinese bread are often steamed.

39. Genesis victim : ABEL

40. __ Nostra : COSA. Literally "our thing". Mafia.

42. Chlorine or iodine : HALOGEN. Guessable.

43. Starting Miami quarterback in three straight '70s Super Bowls : GRIESE (Bob). Hall-of-Famer. Not on my radar.

44. Graceful women : SYLPHS

47. One of a reptilian comics quartet : NINJA

48. 2.0 GPA component, probably : CEE

51. French card game : ECARTE. Literally "discarded" in French, écarté.

52. Wine holder : VAT

53. Middle of a boast : VIDI (I saw). "Veni, vidi, vici".

55. James and Jones : ETTAS

58. Syrup source : MAPLE

59. Molson competitor : LABATT. Beer is too filling.

62. Eastern counters : ABACI. My sweet childhood memory, carrying a heavy abacus all the time.

63. Chloe's love : DAPHNIS. Daphnis and Chloe. Read the plot summary of this love story. So pure. I dimly recall an exchange between Jazzbumpa & Fred Jackson on Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloé". Isn't it beautiful?

67. Maguey plant liquor : MESCAL

68. Order to relax : AT EASE

70. Iowa's __ City : SIOUX

71. NE Nevada county or its seat : ELKO. Stumped me last time. Again today.

73. Skin-related : DERMAL

77. Adjusted opening? : MAL. Maladjusted.

80. Old vitamin bottle abbr. : RDA

81. Islamic leader : EMIR

82. Semimonthly tide : NEAP

84. Polite backwoods response : YES 'M

85. Alliance formed under HST : NATO. Just had a Warsaw reference last week. Fair & Balanced.

86. Once, once : ERST

88. Subject of a "Rigoletto" duet : VENDETTA. Didn't know the story line of "Rigoletto".

91. Afternoon TV idol : SOAP STAR

94. "Jersey Shore" airer : MTV. Snooki is all I know about "Jersey Shore". She's in the news all the time.
 
96. Rear in Liverpool : BUM

98. Look up to : ESTEEM

100. DeMille specialty : EPIC

101. Pamplona runners : TOROS

104. "Stand and Deliver" star : OLMOS. Edward James Olmos.

105. Mean something : COUNT. Everyone's blog post counts. But it's unrealistic to expect your every post to be commented upon. Clear Ayes expressed the posting philosophy perfectly on Saturday.

107. Create a distraction during, maybe : ABET

108. Toni Morrison novel : SULA. Have you read the book?

110. __ Ration: dog food : KEN-L

112. Culturally affected : ARTY

113. Castilian cat : GATO. JD or Warren mentioned Los Gatos & cats connection a while ago.

114. Anti-Patriot Act org. : ACLU

115. Ignore a Time change? : STET. Time magazine, right?

117. Reagan era prog. : SDI. How timely. Reagan's 100th Birthday today.

119. AOL guffaw : LOL

120. It's less than gross : NET. Sweet clue.

Answer grid.

C.C..