Monday, August 3, 2015 Ray Hamel

Theme: Poor grade (or an appropriate title for this puzzle) - D-plus. The target word starts with 'D' followed by phonetic long vowel, progressing from 'D-long A' to 'D-long U'.

17A. Thanksgiving, casually : TURKEY DAY. D + Ā

21A. Actress/activist who was Ossie Davis' life partner : RUBY DEE. D + Ē

38A. Crooked craps cube : LOADED DIE. D + Ī

60A. Anonymous man : JOHN DOE. D + Ō

65A. "Where Are You!" toon pooch : SCOOBY DOO. D + Ū

Argyle here. Impressive looking grid for a Monday; triple seven columns in all the corners. The long fill keeps this easy theme puzzle from being too bland.

Across:

1. Receives : GETS

5. Slide downhill on runners : SLED

9. Long stories : SAGAs

14. Water color : AQUA

15. Frankfurt mister : HERR. German.

16. Chat room troublemaker : TROLL

19. "Humble" home : ABODE

20. River through Rome : TIBER

23. "Give me __!": start of a Hoosier cheer : AN I

24. Becomes slippery, as a road : ICES UP

28. Dirty dishes site : SINK

29. Negative aspect : CON

30. Hot chili pepper : CAYENNE

32. Parisian summer : ÉTÉ

33. Wood choppers : AXES

35. When repeated, a former breath freshener : SEN

36. Hard luck case : LOSER

42. "My bad" : "SORRY"

45. __ Nineties : GAY

46. Nepalese staple : RICE

50. Tres menos dos : UNO. Spanish 3-2=1

51. Finds : LOCATES

55. Doze briefly : NAP

56. Alpha follower : BETA

58. In the best shape : HALEST

59. Part of TGIF: Abbr. : FRIday

62. Storage auction buys : UNITS

64. Argentine icon played by Madonna : EVITA

69. Roman agriculture goddess : CERĒS

70. Quattro automaker : AUDI

71. Texting button : SEND

72. Garbage : TRASH

73. Film holder : REEL

74. Other than that : ELSE

Down:

1. 1997 Hawke/Thurman sci-fi movie : GATTACA. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a pretty good review.

2. Semiannual astronomical event : EQUINOX. So is the solstice.

3. Many a windmill : TURBINE. Redux c/a.

4. Sushi bar cupful : SAKE

5. Hardly outgoing : SHY

6. Was in first place : LED

7. Stretch of history : ERA

8. Practice session : DRY RUN. The Word Detective says the term comes from fire companies doing practice sans water.

9. Wild guess : STAB

10. Fast food chain known for its roast beef : ARBY'S. Current ad campaign, "Arby's | We Have The Meats".

11. Halloween treats : GOODIES

12. Like firm spaghetti : AL DENTE. (firm to the bite)

13. More smooth : SLEEKER

18. Guitarist Clapton : ERIC

22. "Star Trek: Enterprise" network : UPN. (United Paramount Network)

25. Bambino's home : CASA. Not Babe Ruth's.

26. Watched with suspicion : EYED

27. Mali neighbor : SENEGAL. African west coast.

31. Yale student : ELI

34. Digital camera type, for short : SLR. (single-lens reflex)

37. Poet's "above" : O'ER

39. Popeye's Olive : OYL

40. See socially : DATE

41. Salon colorings : DYES

42. Topic : SUBJECT

43. Bogey, vis-à-vis par : ONE OVER

44. Nest egg named for a Del. senator : ROTH IRA

47. Nonbeliever, to some : INFIDEL

48. Moving day stack : CARTONS

49. Show in a television series : EPISODE

52. "Look what I found!" : :"O HO!"

53. Shaw's "__ and Cleopatra" : CAESAR. (George Bernard Shaw)

54. Ticket part you keep : STUB

57. Feeds the kitty : ANTEs

61. Smidge, as of salt : DASH

63. Org. at 11 Wall St. : NYSE. (New York Stock Exchange)

66. Actor's aid : CUE

67. Poetic tribute : ODE

68. It may be crude : OIL

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our beautiful Melissa, whose life was turned upside down the past few years. Melissa is the most courageous and selfless sister I know. Find her the sweetest cake, Dave!

Tuesday, December 24, 2013 Ray Hamel

Theme: i is for Apple - The start of each theme entry is a iPod type.

17A. Score before an extra point : TOUCHDOWN. iPod Touch.

25A. Ship deck game : SHUFFLEBOARD. iPod Shuffle.

41A. Microscopic bit : NANOPARTICLE. iPod Nano.

54A. Part of many a Mod wardrobe : MINISKIRT. iPod Mini.

61A. Popular Apple, versions of which begin 17-, 25-, 41- and 54-Across : iPOD

Argyle here. There are plenty of Raymond Hamel’s CrosSynergy / Washington Post crosswords but this appears to be his first LAT in recent years. He certainly shows an adept hand at construction. Perhaps he will drop by and give us an update on his status. I hope so.

Across:

1. Peak : ACME

5. Morning co-host Kelly : RIPA

9. Sub finder : SONAR

14. Paint layer : COAT

15. "An apple __ ..." : A DAY. Sly entry.

16. Japanese cartoon art : ANIME

19. Annapolis frosh : PLEBE

20. Slide down a slope : SKI

21. Artist's choice : OILS

22. Actress Sissy : SPACEK

23. Extinct emu-like bird : MOA

24. Ones who don't stay off the grass? : STONERS. A Christmas story.

                          LINK

30. Juan's "Enough!" : "NO MAS!"

31. Australian canine : DINGO

32. Put bucks on the Bucks, say : BET

35. Droid downloads : APPs

36. Fashionable beach resorts : LIDOs. "The Lido" is a byword for a beach resort. It started in Venice, Italy. History

37. Do away with, as a vampire : SLAY

38. Foot, in anatomy : PES

39. Bit of info : DATUM

40. Delivery specialist? : STORK. Good one.

43. Fan mail sender, e.g. : ADMIRER

46. Rower's blade : OAR

47. Grouches : CRANKS

48. Far from daydreaming : RAPT

50. Hawaii's Mauna __ : LOA. One of the five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii

53. New staff member : HIREE

56. Spring water brand : EVIAN

57. Screen symbol : ICON

58. On the briny : ASEA or 10D. Not 58-Across : ON LAND

59. Reckons : DEEMS

60. Instrument hit with a mallet : GONG

Down:

1. Takes steps : ACTS

2. Kitchen worker : COOK

3. Haleakala National Park's island : MAUI

4. And so on: Abbr. : ETC.

5. Firestone offering : RADIAL

6. Fan mail recipient : IDOL

7. Furry feet : PAWS

8. "Atlas Shrugged" author Rand : AYN

9. Japanese city that hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics : SAPPORO. Portland, Oregon, is a sister city.

11. Sister's daughter : NIECE. No idea what city that would be.

12. "America the Beautiful" shade : AMBER. "...amber waves of grain"

13. Stinks : REEKS

18. __ it: travels on foot : HOOFS

22. Antler sporters : STAGS

23. Museum curators' degs. : MFAs. (Master of Fine Arts)

24. California wine valley : SONOMA

25. Pic : SNAP

26. Keep the faith : HOPE

27. "Steee-rike!" callers : UMPS

28. Manuscript recipient : EDITOR

29. Make more expensive, as on eBay : BID UP

32. Political coalition : BLOC

33. Actor James __ Jones : EARL

34. Tot : TYKE

36. Pool paths : LANES

37. Use a swizzle stick : STIR

39. Grows dimmer : DARKENS. As it latens.

40. Baseball card figures : STATS

41. Common workday starting hr. : NINE AM

42. Rodeo skill : ROPING

43. Was sore : ACHED

44. Motivation : DRIVE

45. Nobelist Curie : MARIE

48. Loaded, in Lima : RICO. Rich in Spanish, Italian is ricco and French is riche. German is reich.

49. In a short time, quaintly : ANON

50. Speech therapist's target : LISP

51. Sandwich cookie : OREO

52. Ever so slightly : A TAD

54. Russian jet fighter : MIG

55. Chiang __-shek : KAI. He ruled mainland China for 22 years, and Taiwan for 30 years.

Argyle