Friday, September 2, 2011 Pancho Harrison

Theme: These PUNS really raised my IRE. Each phrase is a sound alike of a common phrase with a word rhyming with the "IRE" replaced with a homonym. Really very clever, with the first three in the first word and the remaining two changing the second word. I have a soft spot for Mr. Harrison as he was our first LA Times constructor when the change was made, and his interview warned of his interest in music and puns, both of which make this a Friday delight. Lemonade back again, and found this a real treat, inspiring many musical links (remember, you do not have to click all of them, just the ones you want) and some fun stuff. let us see where we go. Oh Pancho!

17A. Sign some new sluggers? : HIRE POWER. HIGHER Power, like a deity, unlike the Indians getting Jim Thome back from the Twins.

24A. Henna and such? : DYER NEEDS. DIRE Needs. Henna makes hair red for you boys.

40A. Stand-up gig for Richard?: PRYOR ENGAGEMENT. PRIOR Engagement. My favorite pun in the puzzle, not just because of the wit of this COMEDIAN (please do not link if you are offended by profanity) but the humor within humor is appealing.

50A. Instrument in need of cleaning?: DIRTY LYRE. Dirty LIAR. Ok, I lied, this is my favorite.

64A. Augustine, for one?: DEEP FRIAR. Deep FRYER. Another witty pun with the deep thinking St. Augustine compared to a turkey fryer.

ACROSS:

1. Some rentals, in ads: APTS.

5. "Gimme just __": A SEC. Really, what can you do in a second?

9. Chew the scenery: EMOTE, ham it up so to speak.

14. Aquatic bird: COOT. In the rail family, strictly by perps for me.

15. Rowlands of "Gloria": GENA, a fine actress who appeared in this odd mob MOVIE.

16. Deteriorate: DECAY.

19. Word with time and space: WASTE. No need to comment, it would be a....

20. __ nous: ENTRE. French lesson: Between Us.

21. Like some nests: EMPTY. My boys have been gone for 4 years.

23. Wartime submachine guns: STENS. The British weapon along with the BREN; crosswordese. Why is it "SUB" machine?

29. Giant legend: OTT. By far the most famous baseball player in puzzledom and two time home run king of the National League.

31. Nagpur native: INDIAN. Really? Seemed too easy.

32. Granola grain: OAT.

35. 1805 Vienna premiere: EROICA; originally Beethoven's Third Symphony was written as a tribute to Napoleon Bonaparte, but the name was changed when Napoleon like Julius Caesar before him, declared himself Emperor.

39. Lambs: Lat.: AGNI. We are more used to the single "lamb" in AGNUS DEI.

43. Old wrap: TOGA. Gee, speaking of Caesar...

44. Original Speed Stick maker: MENNEN. Does someone else make it now?

45. Children's author Asquith: ROS; this was my obscure clue of the day, but it Friday and the perps were there, so I pass. Apparently a cartoonist as well, in England. Nice Cuppa?

46. Composer/violinist who taught Menuhin: ENESCO, luckily Devin studied Violin for a few years so I know this name and Yehudi.

48. U.S. Army E-5: SGT.

54. Sci-fi character whose first name, Nyota, was first revealed in film in 2009: UHURA.

58. Did a little courting: COOED. Don't you all love puzzles that have COOT and COOED both?

59. Like some denim jackets: LINED. For you of the Northern persuasion.

60. Flop with fins: EDSEL. Fond childhood Memory.

66. Best Actress nominee for "Ordinary People": MOORE. Put this MOVIE on your Netflix, I forgot how good it was.

67. Miss Megley's charge, in a Salinger story: ESME. With Love and Squalor, JD stood for Jerome David.

68. Lavish affection DOTE. Lavish the verb, not the adjective.

69. 1830s revolution site: TEXAS.

70. Grand jeté, e.g.: LEAP. A particular ballet move.

71. Go bananas: SNAP. Did you hear about Beyonce's sister, the inflatable banana and the switchblade?

relax, it is time to go:

DOWN:

1. More than twinges: ACHES.

2. Salient feature: POINT. You catch my drift?

3. High-calorie cake: TORTE. Which I guess brings us to Marie Antoinette to complete the Napoleon reference. Not to be confused with TORT, a civil wrong.

4. Jellied fuel: STERNO. Got me through Hurricane Wilma.

5. Past word: AGO.

6. Hemmed but didn't haw: SEWED. Really cute.

7. Ones not with you: ENEMY. If you ain't for me, your agin me.

8. __ diem: CARPE; Latin, Seize the Day.

9. He voiced Disney's Mad Hatter: ED WYNN; his voice helped make the Disney ALICE so special.

10. Drop-line link: ME A , not MEA Culpa.

11. Mil. training site: OCS. Officer Candidate School.

12. Ink spots, briefly?: TAT. Tattoo. Another clever clue.

13. Center: EYE How appropriate, the center of the storm in hurricanes. (and a nice personal reference).

18. Bedevil: PESTER. My fan club.

22. "M*A*S*H" procedures: TRIAGES, the initial exam to see who needs what.

25. Queso relleno cheese: EDAM; Queso means cheese in Spanish.

26. Peak in an Eastwood film: EIGER. THe peak in the Alps where Clint's CHARACTER had to perform his last SANCTION (assassination) in the eponymous movie.

27. Chin Ho co-worker, in a TV cop show: DANNO, now played by Scott Caan, son of James. Book 'em.

28. Miffed states: SNITS. Is this a word which applies only to females?

30. Vibrating effect: TREMOLO, more music. I defer to JzB for detail.

32. Made a choice: OPTED, yes, I opted not to discuss tremolo.

33. Product suffix created in San Francisco in 195: A-RONI a San Fransisco treat (try and keep that jingle out of your head).

34. Blake title feline: TYGER . A nice poem, you think CA?

36. "A Chorus Line" song: ONE

37. Starter: Abbr.: IGN, IGNITION. Meh.

38. Axe: CAN; Cleopatra records are going to re-release all of the AXE albums; yipee.

41. Hops drier: OAST. The now familiar brewing reference.

42. Swallow up: ENGULF.

47. Economic series: CYCLES, is it a cycle or a roller coaster off the tracks?

49. Bs in the key of G, e.g.: THIRDS, more music, need more help.

51. Sing "The Lonely Goatherd," say: YODEL performed by some favorites.

52. Entrepreneur inspired by Hershey: REESE, Peanut Butter Cup?

53. Fluid buildup: EDEMA, don't you love a puzzle that has EDAM and EDEMA?

55. U.S.S.R. part: UNION.

56. Gaucho's rope: REATA.

57. One concerned with the spot market? AD REP, cute advertising spots, not commodity prices.

60. 911 respondent: EMT, Emergency Medical Technician, well not too many Acronyms this week.

61. Female rabbit: DOE, who knew?

62. Chi-Town team: SOX, Nellie Fox was my childhood hero.

63. Historical span: ERA, also clothes washing product and an amendment that didn't.

65. __ rally: PEP, just in time, as I have run out of mine. Great long holiday weekend all, be careful and no more white pants or belts.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Friday, June 3, 2011, Pancho Harrison

Theme: Sounds Like I ate it. The first word in each of the two-word theme answers is transformed  from a  "EYT" sound ending into a different word with the similar "EYD" sound ending, creating  a new, and rib tickling phrase. There is a A B B A pattern to the replacement word ending.

Well, our first offering in some time from Mr. Harrison, who was the very first constructor we encountered when the original cast of the Corner was switched to the LA Times puzzles. Lemonade here, so let's see what Pancho has learned in the last two years.  

17A. Family member whose age is showing?: GRAYED UNCLE. The beautiful boy and girl whose pictures I have posted make me a GREAT UNCLE, who also happens to have GRAYED.

27A. Horse-cavalry soldier who's hardly capricious?: STAID TROOPER. Most STATE TROOPERS are rather serious, scaring looking people.

46A. Aggressive drug enforcement strategy?: RAID INCREASE. I wish the bank would arrange a RATE INCREASE on our savings accounts; my first thought was it could have been clued as needing more bug spray.

61A. Bride's unraveling problem?: FRAYED TRAIN. Well, I guess a few honeymooners without any cash hopped on a FREIGHT TRAIN to see the world, and the brides were likely to have an old gown.

On to the show:

Across:

1. Pilfer: SWIPE. Well, STEAL also has five letters, starting with S, tough start.

6. Massenet opera: THAIS. Wow, follow that up with this opera (pronounced TA EES) based on the novel of the same name by Anatole France, and we are going very slowly. It is from the French lack of a soft TH we get T'ank You, T'ursday and T'em.

11. JFK, but not LGA: DEM. Not the airports, but the politicians they are named after, as Kennedy was a Democrat, and Fiorello LaGuardia was a Republican.

14. Distinctive characters: AURAS. I think this must be a typo, as an aura is a distinctive CHARACTERISTIC.

15. Wrap-up: RECAP.

16. Chill: ICE. Dear, it is time to chill the champagne.

19. Co. led by David Sarnoff until 1970: RCA. They owned NBC also for many years; his son went to the Rectory School, which is the reunion I am just back from attending.

20. Tivoli's Villa d'__: ESTE. This magnificent home and grounds were built by Cardinal Este, who was a son of Lucrezia Borgia, if anyone is watching the new miniseries. It has magnificent GARDENS.

21. Staff entry?: REST. This tricky clue refers to a musical notation, I believe. JzB?

22. Worn down: EATEN. The waves of the ocean eat away the shoreline.

24. Solid alcohol: STEROL. Sterols are also known as steroid alcohols. We all are familiar with the important animal one called CHOLESTEROL. They are not Scotch, frozen and eaten with a fork.

26. Vortex: EDDY. A shout out to Eddy B.

33. Line of clothing?: HEM. My mother was a wonderful nurse, but we used to have to stand by a staircase to mask the different lengths of our pant legs.

36. Jubilant cry: HOORAY. Hip, hip!

37. Pool game, perhaps: POLO. Nice deception, as water polo is played in a pool, a serious game, unlike its cousin MARCO POLO. Not to be confused with 11D. Unsportsmanlike conduct: DIRTY POOL. And as Jerome would point out a POOL can become a POLO.

38. "Unlimited free mileage" rental pioneer: ALAMO. This company began in Florida back in the 70s and was a boon to the business traveler with mileage free.

40. Washington Sq. campus: NYU. Greenwich Village New York.

41. Bikini, e.g.: ATOLL. Not the bathing suit, the islands.

42. Vacation site: ISLE. More islands.

43. Baker's container: PIE PAN. Whatever happened to the Mother Butler's Pie Shops?

45. Golfer Westwood who replaced Tiger Woods as World #1 in October 2010: LEE. Since replaced by Martin Kaymer and now Luke Donald.

49. H.S. math course: CALC. Calculus, not your easy math.

50. One who digs your jive: HEPCAT. Old beatnik talk from the 50s.

54. Swindle decoy: SHILL. The paid associate who plays the game and wins, so others will try.

56. Feint on the ice: DEKE. Any BRUIN or CANUCK fans out there? It is just an abbreviation of DECOY.

59. 39-Down recipient: HERO. 39D. Award for a 59-Across: MEDAL. One of those combinations that can't be solved on their own.

60. John of England: LOO. Not Elton, but the WC.

64. Homer's donut supplier: APU. Are you doubters beginning to see the Simpsons are an important part of Americana?

65. Dog-__: EARED. As a reader, I do not like when people do this to books.

66. Western party: POSSE. Again, deceptive, not a hoe down, but a group put together to chase bad guys.

67. Junio, por ejemplo: MES. June for example, months. We have had this before.

68. Titles: DEEDS. Titles to real property, and our first legal word of the day.

69. Unsettling expression: SNEER. My favorite is this FACE

On to the other half.

Down:

1. Wise guys: SAGES. Not the Sopranos, actual smart people.

2. Knack attachment?: WURST. This German food is not spelled KNOCKWURST

3. Hot: IRATE. I wanted to put in HOT DOGS in the wurst way.

4. Sugar daddies, e.g.: PAYERS. Finally old enough to be one, and I spent all the money already, damn.

5. Ethnic ending: ESE. Japanese, Portuguese etc.

6. "__ Lies": Schwarzenegger film: TRUE. I liked the MOVIE but maybe not anymore.

7. Brooding group: HENS. Nice imagery.

8. Invoice abbr.: ACCT. Usually followed by NO.

9. Editor's add-on?: IAL. Editorial.

10. Muscle beach brand: SPEEDO. Tight and tighter.

12. Behold, to Livy: ECCE. A bit of Latin crosswordese, meaning BEHOLD.

13. Ornery: MEAN. A good western word.

18. Traveling circus organizer in a 1964 film: DR LAO. A wonderful MOVIE with Tony Randall

23. Take in: ADOPT. I would love to adopt those four puppies.

25. First century Roman emperor: OTHO. Ah, the unexpected benefit of having a son who wants to be a Roman Archaeologist, and explaining to me about the YEAR OF FOUR EMPERORS . A very obscure answer.

26. Hatch back?: ERY. HATCHERY, another way to disguise a suffix.

28. Greek column style: IONIC. Which do you like best, Doric, Corinthian or Ionic?

29. Where some pairs are separated: DRYER. The case of the missing sock.

30. Brownish gray: TAUPE.

31. Glamour rival: ELLE. The magazines.

32. Part: ROLE. In a play.

33. Narrow margin: HAIR. He won by a hair.

34. "Lohengrin" soprano: ELSA. If you click no other link, listen to this MUSIC .

35. Motivated by spite: MALICIOUS. From the Latin MAL, meaning bad.

41. "As I Lay Dying" father: ANSE. One Faulkner's best NOVELS .

43. __ Park: Pirates' field: PNC. I can never remember if this is for Pittsburgh National Corporation or Provident National Corporation, so I looked it up, and they merged to form PNC.

44. Sounded satisfied: AAHED. Are you ooers or aahers?

47. Skinny or small, probably: ILL-FED. I associate this with skinny only, but I guess it is correct.

48. "You've Got Mail" writer/director: EPHRON. NORA is a very talented woman.

51. Belay: CEASE. A nice nautical term as we near the end.

52. Surface: ARISE. What kind of problems were coming out for Jim Tressel at Ohio State?

53. Office supply: TONER. Messy stuff.

54. Grand __: SLAM. How fitting during the French Open.

55. Optimism: HOPE. I hope you have enjoyed this Friday presentation.

56. Show gumption: DARE. I dare to believe it has turned out well.

57. Got a load of: EYED. Once you have eyed the work of this resident eye patient.

58. Converse competitor: KEDS. Yes, I wore, as converse were for basketball players and I was too short after 7th grade.

62. Actress __ Dawn Chong: RAE. Tommy Chong's pretty little daughter is now 50 .

63. Decorates in a prankish way: TPS. Toilet Papers, which I guess will be my exit line as we have put another Friday to bed. Enjoy all.  No French lesson, but a very fun and doable puzzle with a couple of very hard clues, and a witty, concise theme. Thanks Pancho (oh Cisco!).

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Thursday December 2, 2010 Pancho Harrison

Theme: Wacky Business Slogans. In each theme answer (all phrasal verbs in *ing + adv format), a pun is made about a type of business or job activity. No unifier clue.

17. "So I hear your job as exercise class instructor is __": WORKING OUT.

29. "So I hear your job as a burlesque dancer is __": TAKING OFF.

46. "So I hear your trash removal business is __": PICKING UP.

62. "So I hear your scuba diving business is __": GOING UNDER.

This was kind of fun. I couldn't find one, but there must be a name for these, right? I hear running your muffler business is exhausting. I hear the awning business is kind of shady. I hear the window business is kind of a pain. I hear that sod farm salesmen are easy to get a lawn with.

And the rest:

ACROSS:

1. Thread bearer: SPOOL.

6. Classic name in shoes: MCAN. Thom. Now owned by CVS/Caremark but sold at Kmart (which is owned by Sears) and Wal-mart.

10. Dressed: CLAD. Past participle of clothe.

14. Aquarium concern: ALGAE.

15. Fabled craft: ARGO. Jason and the Argonauts.

16. Old: YORE. Related word: year.

19. Word with belly or blast: BEER. Cerveza, (spanish for beer), sounds so much more refined, doesn't it?

20. "Forget it, comrade!": NYET.

21. Ancient Andean: INCA. From Quechea: "lord, king." Technically, only of the high Inca, but it was used widely for "man of royal blood."

22. Davenport shopper, probably: IOWAN. Right across the river from Moline, Illinois. There are also cities named "Couch" in TX, FL, WV, and MO.

23. Artist Magritte: RENE. Surrealist.

25. Branch honcho: Abbr.: MGR. Manager, as in a bank.

26. Pops (out): FLIES. Baseball?

35. Choice: SELECT. Used in the sense of "quality" (select cuts of meat), not the sense of "option" as it appears, because that would have to be "selection".

37. Big, outmoded piece of equipment: DINOSAUR.

38. Paris pronoun: TOI. You.

39. Accountant, at times: AUDITOR. From Latin, "a hearer", related to audience, "a hearing". Auditing was formerly done and vouched for orally.

41. Airport safety org.: TSA. Transportation Security Administration.

42. Carousing: ON A SPREE. Likely from French esprit, lively.

44. Shiny fabric: SATEEN.

48. Revenge seekers in a 1984 film: NERDS.

49. Dollar sign shape: ESS.

50. Baltic resident: LETT. Of Latvia. The other Baltic states are Lithuania and Estonia.

52. Early afternoon hr.: ONE PM.

55. Disease attacker: DRUG.

57. Helps out: AIDS.

61. Demagogue's delivery: RANT.

64. Wine region south of the Matterhorn: ASTI.

65. "Got it, Daddy-o!": I DIG. Peter, Paul, and Mary.

66. Party person: GUEST.

67. DEA agent: NARC. Because NARCO was too long an abbreviation for narcotics agent.

68. Frosty's button: NOSE. With a corncob pipe and a button nose...

69. Honshu city: OSAKA.

DOWN:

1. Felled, in a way: SAWN.

2. Queen sacrifice in chess, e.g.: PLOY.

3. Shrek or Fiona: OGRE.

4. Yellow ribbon site of song: OAK TREE. Obligatory link.

5. Island welcome: LEI.

6. Lodestone: MAGNET. From Greek Magnes lithos (Magnesian stone). Magnesia, region of Thessaly where magnetized ore was obtained.

7. Hook nemesis, for short: CROC. Characters in Peter Pan.

8. Monterrey water: AGUA. Spanish.

9. "__ a chance!": NOT.

10. Bionic beings: CYBORGS. Portmanteau of "cybernetic organism" could explain how this is possible.

11. MGM co-founder: LOEW. Marcus. On November 3, 2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

12. Field of expertise: AREA.

13. "Coming Home" actor: DERN. Bruce. OK, now I recognize who this is.... He always seemed to play the nut-job character.

18. "Delta of Venus" author: NIN. Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell

22. "Everybody is __, only on different subjects": Will Rogers: IGNORANT. I never read a Will Rogers quote I didn't like.

24. Watching "Avatar," say: ESCAPISM. The blue guy (Sam Worthington) without makeup.

25. Cretan king of myth: MINOS.

26. SLR setting: F-STOP. Single Lens Reflex (camera). The F-number indicates "speed". The larger the number, the longer you need for exposure. An F number twice as large as another one takes four times as long to get enough light.

27. Téa of "Spanglish": LEONI.

28. Of a pelvic bone: ILIAC.

30. Gascony good-bye: ADIEU. Gascony, France.

31. Caboodle partner: KIT. The whole thing, tools and possessions. Likely why we have the word "oodles".

32. Lash LaRue film, e.g.: OATER. Alfred (Lash) Larue, a Western film star in the 40s and 50s. He was very skilled with a bull whip, thus "Lash".

33. Joined by melting: FUSED. Parts is parts, Wendy's commercial. Fused at about :23 in.

34. Artist __ Hals: FRANS. Dutch Golden Age painter, mostly portraits.

36. Parts of directions: TURNS. Google maps makes a funny at the driving directions for step 17 of this route. You need to scroll down to see it.

40. MBA, for one: DEG. Master of Business degree.

43. One looking askance: SKEPTIC. "Skeptic does not mean him who doubts, but him who investigates or researches as opposed to him who asserts and thinks that he has found." [Miguel de Unamuno, "Essays and Soliloquies," 1924]

45. Lockjaw: TETANUS. More properly, trismus, which can be caused by tetanus, but also by MDMA, Meth, Ritalin, radiation therapy, infection, anesthesia, needle prick, several other diseases and drugs.

47. Drop dramatically: PLUNGE. Like a neckline.

51. Breakfast fare: EGG. Only humans habitually eat specifically designated foods at different times of the day.

52. Algerian port: ORAN. Across from Spain.

53. Apollo 13 gp.: NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration

54. __'acte: ENTR. Between the acts, as during a play. Could be an intermission or just an interlude piece of music.

55. Bygone bird: DODO. Another shout-out to our bloggers?

56. Teddy Roosevelt biographer: RIIS. Jacob. A Danish American social reformer, muckraking journalist, and documentary photographer. Was dedicated to helping the impoverished in NY City.

58. "I have an __!": IDEA.

59. Student's spot: DESK.

60. Arg. miss: SRTA. Argentina, senorita.

62. Cry while showing one's cards: GIN. Rummy.

63. Actor Tognazzi: UGO. I'm not sure a crossword answer gets any more obscure than this, an Italian actor. The only movie I recognized was La cage aux folles, but he was in a lot of films.

Answer Grid.

Al

Wednesday June 16, 2010 Pancho Harrison

Theme: MUSIC, MAN! - Three long theme answers, two of them grid-spanning, employ homophone puns to transform mundane phrases into humorous musical references.

17 A. Songs by German wolves? LIEDER OF THE PACK. Play on "leader of the pack. LIED (pl LIEDER) is the German word for song. So - songs of the pack. This got a chuckle and a groan.

36 A. Obvious melody?: AIR APPARENT. Play on "heir apparent," the most likely successor. An AIR is a melody, obviously.

58 A. Intonations from the monastery locker room?: CHANTS OF SHOWERS. Oh my. "Chance of showers," meaning it's probably going to rain. Or, here, some very clean Gregorian chant.

Each play is on the first word in the phrase, substituting a homophone or near-homophone. Nice and tight. YMMV on puns and their quality. I thought these were rather long stretches; but that doesn't make me like them any less. And I do like them, quite a lot.

Plus, these musical encores:

57 A. Haggard of country music: MERLE

39 D. Roxy Music alum Brian: ENO

53 D. Jerry or Jerry Lee: LEWIS

Not being a country music maven (I'm more of a city boy) I'll leave it someone in the know to find the best links for Merle and Jerry Lee. And, yes, comedian Jerry Lewis did also sing, occasionally. I actually know nothing about Brian ENO, except he's in puzzles a lot.

Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, your humble resident trombonist and music appreciator. I was pretty much in tune with this one, and able to wood-shed it in 15:27. Pancho Harrison has composed a verbal symphony for us today with only a few sour notes. Let's get inside the score.

Across:

1 A. Glass in a frame: PANE. Why is a piece of glass called a pane? I worked in the industry for 17 long, miserable years, and never gave it a thought. We called a piece of glass a "light" which is even ODDER.

5 A. Motivation target, often: SELF. In my 20+ years as a supervisor, I learned that if you won't motivate yourself, nobody can.

9 A. Hold forth: OPINE. I do this rather a lot. Opinions are cheep, or even free.

14 A. Site of a Biblical plot: EDEN. Nice double meaning: plot of land, and site of the Eve-Serpent cabal.

15 A. Flash in the brainpan: IDEA. Another clever clue, playing on "flash in the pan." I first heard this in the context of baseball, meaning a promising rookie who turns out to be a bust. The phrase comes from panning for gold, where sometimes things that glitter are worthless.

16 A. Like some ancient characters: RUNIC. Another great clue. "Characters" here mean letters or other types of symbols. RUNES were characters used in Old Norse. They are composed of straight lines so they can be easily sliced into wood or scratched onto stone.

20 A. Farther out?: ODDER. Farther out, man.

21 A. Like some highways: TWO LANE. Though not necessarily.

22 A. Huaraches, e.g.: SANDALS. Hecho en Mexico. Es verdad!

25 A. Stubborn one: ASS. Yup!

26 A. Blunderer's cry: DOH!

28 A. Final conclusion?: IST. Referring to a finalIST, one of the last standing in a contest. I offer this to the Navajo gods.

29 A. Rational: SANE. Good thinking!

31 A. Motion support: SECOND. From Robert's rules of order. May I have a motion? Second? All in favor, say "DOH!"

33 A. Overhaul: REVAMP. Is something ever VAMPED? If not, how can it be REVAMPED? English is ODDER, sometimes.

35 A. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" author: Jean AUEL.

39 A. Exile isle: ELBA. Napoleon was exiled here, and given the job of cleaning the place. It took a lot of ELBA GREECE. That's when he said, "I may not be Abel, but I do the best I Cain," which is no kind of palindrome.

41 A. Accent: STRESS.

42 A. Loch legend nickname: NESSIE. The Loch Ness Monster, not to be confused with her brother Elliot Ness.

45 A. Reb's opponent: YANK. Short for Yankee. Not necessarily from New York, but we can't rule it out.

46 A. Hoo-ha: ADO. Possibly a reference to Willie Shiverjavelin's play, "Much Hoo-ha About Nothing." What else could it mean?

49 A. Feedbag morsel: OAT. We do eat a lot of these in puzzle land.

50 A. O'Neill's "The Hairy __": APE. The Hairy Ape, a play by Eugene O'Neill, has a character in it called "Yank."

52 A. Wooden in manner: STILTED.

54 A. Tread roughly: TRAMPLE. Don't trample on me!

61 A. Right-hand page: RECTO. What is the left hand page called?

62 A. "An Essay on Man" poet Alexander: POPE. He also translated The Odyssey.

63 A. Horned goddess: ISIS. From ancient Egypt, horns and all.

64 A. Big name in lawn care: ORTHO. They make Scott's Miracle-Gro.

65 A. Notable periods: ERAS.

66 A. Plato's promenade: STOA. In ancient Greece, a public covered walkway or portico. Where you been, Plato? I had to go to the STOA.

Down:

1 D. First female Speaker of the House: PELOSI. Nancy from CA.

2 D. Reebok rival: ADIDAS. We run into these a lot, too.

3 D. "You __ bother": NEEDN'T. I needn't, but I can't resist this link.

4 D. Ran out: ENDED. BP's time ran out, but the oil flow didn't. Also: 7 D. Ran out: LEFT. This is the "I've had enough" kind of ran out, as in exit, stage LEFT.

5 D. Anthony Hopkins, for one: SIR. Aha - Anthony is a knight. My oldest grandson made up this joke: Why could they fight after dark in the middle ages? They had knight lights!

6 D. Tokyo, before 1868: EDO

8 D. Islamic decree: FATWA

9 D. Threat words: OR ELSE

10 D. Insect stage after larva: PUPA. It's when insect pups go through PUPATY .

11 D. Hard to reach at the office, say: IN AND OUT. I used to be in the office every day. Now I'm always out.

12 D. "Good shot!": NICE ONE. A complement on the golf course.

13 D. Luther opponent Johann __: ECK. He defended Catholicism. Turns out, his real name was Maier. What the ECK is that all about?

18 D. Corrective tool: ERASER. Well, nobody's perfect.

19 D. Ben Cartwright's middle son: HOSS. Plus Little Joe and . . . Luke?

23 D. Soap brand with pumice: LAVA. I didn't know this was still around. Lava los manos!

24 D. Goes nuts: SNAPS. Loses it. Goes around the bend. Flips one's lid.

27 D. "Good" cholesterol, for short: HDL. You want your High Density Lipids to be High, and your Low density lipids to be low. Easy mnemonic.

30 D. Totally drained: EMPTY. They way you felt after you RAN OUT.

33 D. Narrow inlets: RIAS. Are they the same as estuaries? I learned the word here at the Corner.

34 D. Legal aides: PARAS. Evidently referring to PARAlegals. Ugly partial. Meh.

36 D. Like a Jackson Pollock painting: ABSTRACT. Could be. I thought this was a wiring diagram.

37 D. Temporary use fee: RENT. I'll do the cookin' honey, I'll pay the rent, if I can use you temporarily.

38 D. Inuit, once: ESKIMO. Not necessarily. Could also be a Yupic or an Aleut.

40 D. Elbow patch material: LEATHER. Especially on tweed jackets.

43 D. Words of agreement: I AM TOO. Are you tired?

44 D. Omar of "House": EPPS. Never watched it.

46 D. Not in motion: AT REST. I had STATIC, which made my hair stand on end.

47 D. Texas border city: DEL RIO.

48 D. Texas oil city: ODESSA. Evidently having been moved there from the Ukraine.

51 D. Run off to join a union?: ELOPE. Very clever.

55 D. Lit. compilation: ANTH. Short for anthology. Abrev. in cl. & ans.

56 D. __ effort: E FOR. I always got an A for effort. Well, not really, but it IS in the language . . .

58 D. Vel attachment?: CRO. Velcro. I'm torn over this one. There's my aversion to affixes, or - as in this case - psuedo-affixes, which are even worse. But, OTOH, VelCRO is an attachment. I'll give in to the cleverness here, and let it go, but not without reservation.

59 D. Relaxing retreat: SPA. Or the kind of whirlpool tub found in my bathroom, and lots of puzzles.

60 D. Dudes: HES. He and he are HES - he he! The musician's first rule is to always end on a good note. Didn't happen here, alas, as this puzzle runs out with a big, flat blat at the end. Wie Shade.

Other than that, though, a fine, harmonious composition, and a fun romp. Hope y'all enjoyed it.

Answer grid.

JD's Crossword Story continues. Here is the updated version with letter F.

Cheers!

JzB

Monday, November 30, 2009 Pancho Harrison

Theme: "Going Down the Road" - Just three of the Fifty Ways to Leave you Lover.

20A: Shed some pounds: TAKE OFF WEIGHT.

38A: Divide earnings equally: SPLIT THE PROFITS.

57A: Talk to the answering machine: LEAVE A MESSAGE.

Argyle said: Nice little Monday starter. I have no problem with the first answer being two words and the others just one, but then, I'm not a purist other than wanting the words to show up in a dictionary somewhere.

Across:

1A: Vikings quarterback Brett: FAVRE. He had a great game this weekend but some credit must go to the 25A: Some NFL blockers: RTS. and the rest of the line. Can't call him a 55D: Golden __: senior citizens: AGER. quite yet

6A: Recipe amt.: TBSP.

10A: 1960s-'70s NBA center Thurmond: NATE. One of the greatest rebounders and shot blockers in basketball history, Nate owns a well-known restaurant, Big Nate's Barbeque in San Francisco.

14A: Former Apple laptop: I-BOOK.

15A: Eurasian boundary river: URAL. Or mountain range, as we just had.

16A: Expel: OUST.

17A: Marsh grass: SEDGE. Remember SEDGY?

18A: Italia's capital: ROMA. In the Italian language.

19A: "I'll be there in __": A SEC.

23A: City square memorial: STATUE.

28A: Begins: STARTS. and 22D: Beginning, informally: GET-GO.

31A: Woodsy route: TRAIL. where you don't want to meet 33A: Bear: Sp.: OSO.

36A: Logger's tool: SAW. Like my Stihl MS 361

37A: Either of two Modesto-based vintner brothers: GALLO. Ernest & Julio Gallo, here in their younger days.

43A: Fella: KIDDO.

44A: Charlotte of "The Facts of Life": RAE. She is still working! The 82-year-old recently played one of the big screen's most, ahem, mature "cougars" when she had a romp with Adam Sandler's titular hairdresser in 'You Don't Mess With the Zohan.'

46A: Ancient Indo-European: ARYAN.

47A: "Blue" evergreen: SPRUCE.

51A: Topeka is its cap.: KAN.

53A: Mariner: SEAMAN.

63A: Move, to a Realtor: RELO.

64A: Scatter, as seed: STREW.

66A: Former Lacoste partner: IZOD. Former partners, huh. Who gets custody of the croc?

68A: Ashram advisor: GURU.

69A: Caustic fluids: LYES.

70A: __-craftsy: ARTSY.

Down:

1D: Dukes in boxing gloves: FISTS. "Com'on, put up your dukes"

2D: Pound __: cover one's route, cop-style: A BEAT.

3D: Screwdriver liquor: VODKA. Which can lead to 26D: Leans to one side: TILTS. and 27D: Wade through the shallows: SLOSH. Not the wading part, the slosh part.

4D: Classic thesaurus: ROGET'S.

5D: Barely make, as a living: EKE OUT.

6D: Gang land: TURF.

9D: Checkered pattern: PLAID.

10D: Biblical helmsman: NOAH.

11D: Koala's home: AUSTRALIA. The koala was featured in "I hate Qantas!" commercials

12D: Prufrock creator's monogram: TSE. T.S. Eliot, wrote the poem, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock".

21D: Famine's opposite: FEAST.

30D: Insignificant one: TWERP.

33D: Schindler of "Schindler's List": OSKAR.

34D: Former veep Agnew: SPIRO.

35D: Classic boy-and-dog Disney film: OLD YELLER. I won't say much about it, in case C.C. hasn't seen it.

39D: Actress Lupino: IDA.

47D: Dwarf who needs tissues: SNEEZY.

48D: Big name in small planes: CESSNA.

49D: Day to put all your eggs in one basket: EASTER.

52D: Pop singer Lavigne: AVRIL.

54D: French Revolution journalist: MARAT. Jean-Paul Marat (1743 – 1793) was a Swiss-born physician, political theorist and scientist better known as a radical journalist and politician from the French Revolution. He was murdered in his bathtub.

56D: Full of the latest happenings: NEWSY.

60D: Stylish '60s Brits: MODS. The Mods were in conflict with the Rockers. In a nut shell, the Mods(modernists) wore chic clothes and rode motor scooters, while the Rockers were in denim and leather and rode motorcycles.

62D: "The Simpsons" Squishee seller: APU.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday November 2, 2009 Pancho Harrison

Theme: Time and Time Again - "Time" can start both parts of a two-word common phrase.

17A: *Like secret military facilities, to civilians: OFF LIMITS

64A: *Furniture with folding legs, usually: CARD TABLE

10D: *One-armed bandit: SLOT MACHINE

24D: *Novel that evokes prior times: PERIOD PIECE

71A: Given moment, which can begin both parts of the answers to starred clues: TIME

Argyle here.

A lot of action for a Monday; a sort of two for one, hey?

17A: TIME OFF & TIME LIMITS

64A: TIME CARD & TIME TABLE

24D: TIME SLOT & TIME MACHINE

71A: TIME PERIOD & TIME PIECE

Outstanding theme. One noticeable flaw is the clue for ERASE (13D: Clear, as a tape), which intersects CLEAR (16: Not Cloudy).

Across:

1A: Shapely legs, slangily: GAMS. From an older time.

9A: Makeup maven Lauder: ESTEE.

14A: Actor McGregor: EWAN. Such a bad boy.

15A: Flightless South American bird: RHEA.

19A: "Lucy, you got a __ 'splainin' to do!": LOTTA. It seems what he really said was "...some 'splainin' to do." but this quote has been used quite often by others.

20A: High on the hwy.: DUI. Driving Under the Influence covers drugs, DWI - Driving While Intoxicated covers alcohol. [ Dick said BTW in western PA we now use DUI to cover both drugs and alcohol violations. Is that customary in other areas of the country? Come to the comments area and let us know.]

21A: Scatterbrained: DITSY. And 43A: Screwy: LOCO. Lucy, before she became DITSY, showing off her gams.

22A: Gillette razors: ATRAS. The usual suspects.

23A: Slip by: ELAPSE. Funny how time slips away. Willie wrote it.

25A: Give life to: ANIMATE.

34A: Not worth debating: MOOT.

36A: Chowder ingredient: CLAM.

40A: Actress Spelling: TORI.

42A: One who saves the day: HERO.

46A: Souse's affliction, for short: DTS (Delirium Tremens). Souse is slang for a drunk.

48A. Red-breasted bird: ROBIN. This should delight our own ROBIN. Hey, Robin!. Sort of a bird undertone. See BASTE (41A: Moisten the bird) and COO (32D: Dove sound)

50A: "The Avengers" heroine, to Steed: MRS PEEL. Emma's gams.

54A: Log-on need: USER ID.

58A: Old photo tint: SEPIA.

59A: Muscat resident: OMANI. Map.

62A: Suffix in enzyme names: ASE. and 11D: Prefix with -cycline: TETRA. Our daily chemicals. Tetra is prefix for "four".

67A: Cancel, as a newspaper story: KILL. Have you seen "A TIME to Kill" ? It's a pretty good thriller.

69A: Villainous look: SNEER.

Down:

1D: Crystalline stone: GEODE.

2D: Beyond bad: AWFUL.

3D: Cosa Nostra: MAFIA. Their code of silence is called omertà. Cosa Nostra is literally "our thing" in Italian.

4D: NBC show with Baba Wawa skits: SNL.

6D: IOU: CHIT. Obsolete chitty, from Hindi ciṭṭhī, note, letter, from Sanskrit *citrikā, *citritā, note. (I always wondered where CHIT came from.)

7D: Queens ball team: METS. Queens, NY. And another National League team STL (31D: Initials on a Cardinal's cap: STL). Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals. Yankees won again last night.

8D: Unchallenging college course: EASY A.

12D: Trouble greatly: EAT AT.

18D: "My guess is ...": I'D SAY.

26D: TV's Nick at __: NITE.

28D: 'Zine on the Net: E-MAG.

29D: Runner-up: LOSER.

32D: Dove sound: COO. And 39D: Cow sound: MOO. Now what does the ghost say?

33D: Golf ball path: ARC. Not necessarily, with some of my shots!

35D: Other, in Mexico: OTRO.

37D: Had followers: LED. Nice clue.

41D: Military command center: BASE. Might be OFF LIMITS.

45D: Stop in on: VISIT.

47D: Ad to lure you in: TEASER. Like ads for LOSS LEADERS.

49D: __ of joy: new baby: BUNDLE. Ahh...

50D: Popular PC interface before Windows: MS-DOS.

55D: Synagogue leader: RABBI and 56D: Muslim's faith: ISLAM and they are right next to each other.

60D: Letters in a box: MAIL.

61D: Singer Guthrie: ARLO.

65D: Lawyer: Abbr.: ATT. Hahtool/Lemonade, do you use ATT or ATTY often?

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday September 6, 2009 Pancho Harrison

Theme: Great Direction - Films/plays directed by ELIZA KAZAN (123A: Born 9/7/1909, he directed the answers to starred clues), who would have been 100 years old tomorrow.

23A: *1947 Tony winning Arthur Miller play: ALL MY SONS. Not a familiar play to me. Strange marriage between Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, who should not have left Joe DiMaggio.

28A: *With 113-Across, 1947 Tony-winning play starring Lee J. Cobb: DEATH OF A

113A: See 28-Across: SALESMAN. Arthur Miller play also.

42A: *With 45-Across, 1945 film based on a Betty Smith novel: A TREE GROWS

45A: See 42-Across: IN BROOKLYN. Have vaguely heard of the book. Nice left to right placement.

68A: *1947 Tennessee Williams play: A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE. Nailed it. Watched the Marlon Brando/Vivien Leigh movie. Quite heavy.

94A: *1955 film based on a Steinbeck novel: EAST OF EDEN. Great movie. James Dean played the explosive Cal.

97A: *1952 biopic starring Marlon Brando: VIVA ZAPATA. Senator John McCain's favorite movie.

A surprisingly fun puzzle. I went from "Oh no" to "Oh, wow!". What a finely constructed tribute puzzle.

Thought it would be hard when I read the first starred clue, but then "DEATH OF A SALESMAN"(perfect rotational symmetry), grid-spanning A STREET NAMED DESIRED, EAST OF EDEN & ELIA KAZAN (great to see his full name) all crumbled easily.

My favorite fill today is ZHIVAGO (98D: Title hero who married Tonya Gromeko). I just loved "the movie". Chief Justice John Roberts listed "Dr. Zhivago" & "North by Northwest" as his favorite movies. Julie Christie played the beautiful Lara, Zhivago's true love.

Across:

1A: Anabaptists, e.g.: SECT. Know Baptists, not Anabaptists.

9A: Philosopher William of __, known for his "razor": OCCAM. OCCAM's razor, law of succinctness, the simple, the better.

14A: Name on a WWII bomber: ENOLA. ENOLA Gay.

20A: Inter __: among others: ALIA. Sometimes the answer is ALII.

21A: "Moi": WHO ME. Not an ideal clue due to A MOI (78A: Mine, a Marseille).

25A: Go after, puppy style: NIP AT

26A: Static problem: CLING. And 35A: Sta-__: fabric softener: PUF. Obtained the answer from Down fills.

27A: Pinocchio's creator: GEPPETTO. I forgot. Last time STAR was clued as "Geppetoo wished on one".

30A: Cartoonist Keane: BIL. "The Family Circus" cartoonist.

33A: Alsace __: French region: LORRAINE. Quiche LORRAINE is from this region.

38A: Use up: EXHAUST. Wonderful answer.

53A: Crooked: ASKEW

57A: Boot add-ons: SPURS

58A: "__-haw!": YEE. Wanted HEE.

59A: Ivy League city: ITHACA. Cornell city.

65A: German pastries: STRUDELS. Yum! German for "eddy/whirlpool".

67A: Head, in slang: NOB. New to me. Knew noggin'/bean though.

75A: Patriotic women's org.: DAR. "Patriotic men's org" is SAR.

76A: Rats: STOOLIES

77A: Pantry concern: ANT. Not my concern. I've never seen an ANT in our kitchen. Fruit flies, yes.

81A: Disco guy on "The Simpsons": STU. Learned from doing Xword.

84A: Nine Inch Nails founder Reznor: TRENT. No idea. This guy is a musician who founded the Nine Inch Nails musical project.

88A: Auctioneer's word: GOING. Reminds me "the Red Violin", in which a precious red violin is being auctioned throughout the movie.

90A: Layer: HEN

91A: Greeted and seated: SAW IN. Then ADAGE is clued as "68D: Saw".

93A: Shankar's repertoire: RAGAS. The Hindu music. I penned in SITAR.

99A: Unlock, poetically: OPE

100A: "Yikes!": OMIGOSH

102A: Berlin article: DER. German "the". Sometimes it's DAS, as in Karl Marx's "Das Kapital".

103A: Sinuous comics villain: CATWOMAN. Here is Halle Berry's CATWOMAN.

108A: Flying Cloud et al: REOS. Got the answer from Down fills. Have never heard of REO Flying Cloud.

109A: Former comm. giant: ITT. I misinterpreted "comm." as "communist".

115A: Loner: MAVERICK

120A: Lyric poet: ODIST. Still don't understand the brouhaha over Dan Naddor's ODIC last time. It's a legit word.

122A: Praiseful hymn: PAEAN

124A: Sign with scales: LIBRA. Zodiac sign.

125A: Nicholas Gage memoir: ELENI. No idea. It's the Greek variation of the name Helen. Nicholas Gage is a Greek-American author. ELENI is his mother's name. I actually misread the clue as Nicolas Cage the actor.

126A: Artistic Chinese dynasty: MING. I don't really know why Pancho thinks MING Dynasty was "Artistic". I suppose he means MING Vase?

127A: Old king of rhyme: COLE. "Old King COLE".

129A: Pick up on: SENSE. Took me a while to "Pick up on" the answer.

130A: Longtime Yugoslav leader: TITO. He advocated neutral foreign policy during Cold War.

131A: Goofing off: IDLE

Down:

2D: First name in courtroom fiction: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.

3D: Cosby's "I Spy" costar: CULP. No idea. Have never heard of Robert CULP.

4D: Largo, e.g.: TEMPO. Stumped. Largo is slow TEMPO.

7D: Bolivian boy: NINO. The "Bolivian" is picked mainly because of alliteration I think.

8D: Lots of fun: GAS

9D: Sports negotiations side: OWNERS. The other side is PLAYERS.

10D: Tuscan red: CHIANTI. Oh, red wine. I thought the clue was asking for Italian word for "red" rosso, unknown to me anyway.

11D: Egyptian Christian: COPT. No, no, nope! I bet they suffer from religious discrimination.

12D: Menotti title lad: AMAHL "AMAHL and the Night Visitors".

13D: "Ditto": ME TOO

14D: Snail on la carte: ESCARGOT. People really eat everything. Dog meat is a delicacy in North China/Korea.

16D: African grassland grazer: ORIBI. Hi, buddy, what's your favorite breakfast?

17D: Red Square honoree: LENIN

18D: Reporter's slant: ANGLE

24D: Bow wood: YEW

29D: Cold, to Carlos: FRIO. New to me. What is Spanish for "hot"? Salma Hayek is very sexy.

32D: "Training Day" actor Ethan: HAWKE. Uma Thurman's ex-husband.

34D: Pharaohs' crosses: ANKHS (angk). Often confuse this word with SIKH (seek), both end with KH.

35D: They hang together: PALS. Nice clue.

36D: Lone Star State sch.: UTEP (University of Texas, El Paso). Trouble again.

37D: Haus wife: FRAU. Haus is German for "house".

39D: It precedes Yankee in the phonetic alphabet: XRAY. D'oh, NATO phonetic alphabet.

40D: Hornswoggle: HOSE. Hornswoggle is a new word to me, to swindle.

43D: Diamond flaw?: ERROR. Baseball diamond. Excellent clue.

46D: Book before Habakkuk: NAHUM. Nope. Not easy to remember either.

47D: Cutting edge: BLADE. Oh, literally.

49D: Sped: RACED

51D: "Like __, all tears ...": Hamlet: NIOBE. The Greek mythical crier. I know nothing about Hamlet, except "To be, or not to be". Yesterday we had OSRIC (Courtier in "Hamlet"), so easy to confuse him with YORICK the jester. "Alas, poor YORICK...".

54D: Courtroom expert, often: WITNESS

61D: "M*A*S*H" star: ALDA (Alan)

65D: Hindu honorifics: SRIS. Another alliteration.

66D: Nissan compact: SENTRA. I wonder what SENTRA means in Japanese.

69D: Pago Pago's nation: SAMOA. Lots of coconuts there.

70D: Un + deux: TROIS. One+two=Three.

71D: "Takin' it __ Streets": Doobie Brothers hit: TO THE. Here is the clip. Have never heard of the song before. It's a 1976 hit.

72D: Cut out the middle of: CORED. As an apple.

73D: Coeur d'__: Idaho: ALENE. Anyone from there?

74D: Guitar attachment: STRAP

81D: Sips' opposites: SWIGS. I think Americans eat/drink too fast.

82D: Record, nowadays: TIVO

83D: Some, in Seville: UNAS. French would be UNES.

87D: Ivan IV, for one: TSAR. Ivan the Terrible.

89D: Snap: GO POSTAL. Loved the answer.

92D: Orly lander: AVION. French for "plane". Par AVION.

95D: Disaster relief org.: FEMA

96D: 11th century conquerors: NORMANS. The Norman Conquest, 1066, led by Williams the Conqueror.

101D: Bad guy: MEANIE

103D: Becomes less angry, with "off": COOLS

105D: Navajo, e.g.: TRIBE. Jerome said the Navajo rug makers always weave a tiny flaw into their work to show humbleness.

106D: Suisse range: ALPES. French for "Alps". Here, Suisse is the French name of Switzerland.

107D: Author Zora __ Hurston: NEALE. No idea. She wrote "Their Eyes Were Watching God".

110D: Shatner's "__ War": TEK. TEK is a drug.

111D: Actress Bingham or Lords: TRACI. Got the answer from Across fills. TRACI Bingham looks familiar. Wikipedia says TRACI Lords first achieved notoriety in porn movies.

115D: Mid 11th century year: MLII. 1052.

116D: "It __ over till it's over": Berra: AIN'T. Yogi also said "I really didn't say everything I said".

117D: Eddie Bauer competitor: IZOD. KQ loves Eddie Bauer.

118d: Summon: CALL

119D: "Trick" joint: KNEE. I liked the clue.

Answer Grid.

Should you have extra time today, have a try at Fred's Universal and Doug Peterson's CrosSynergy (Washington Post) puzzles.

And a warm welcome to Mary, Susie, Annette and all the new commenters. I hope you stay and play. It's fun!

C.C.