Tuesday, February 18, 2014 Robert E. Lee Morris

Theme: Woof! - Stereotypical dog names found at the back of the entries.

20A. Phrase on a treasure map : X MARKS THE SPOT. "SEE SPOT RUN."

31A. Luxury SUV since 1970 : RANGE ROVER. "Red Rover, Red Rover, let Susie come over."

41A. Sophocles tragedy : OEDIPUS REX. Rex the Wonder Dog

53A. One of the things little boys are made of, and a hint to 20-, 31- and 41-Across : PUPPY DOG TAILS

Argyle here. Heel! Mr. Morris made an appearance here back in '09. Glad he made it back.

Classic song for today. Link (2:07)

Across:

1. JFK announcements : ETAs

5. Athletic shoe brand : PUMA

9. __ Haute, Indiana : TERRE

14. Red dessert wine : PORT

15. A party to : IN ON

16. Advil competitor : ALEVE

17. Two-toned treat : OREO

18. Bibliography, e.g. : LIST. Hand up for reading it as Biography. No excuse.

19. Washer cycle : RINSE

23. Sycophant : YES MAN

24. Captain of industry : TITAN. Titans are a mythological race of giants.

26. Novelist Deighton : LEN

28. Sinking ship deserter : RAT

29. Illuminated : LIT

36. Hard-to-hit tennis server : ACER

37. Black wood : EBONY

38. Vigor's partner : VIM

39. Locale : PLACE

40. Criminal, to a cop : PERP

43. Giant Mel enshrined in Cooperstown : OTT

44. NBC late-night comedy hit : SNL

45. Pull : TUG

46. First film to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature : "SHREK"

48. "Take care of yourself!" : "BE SAFE!"

57. Take as one's own : ADOPT

59. Desert tableland : MESA

60. Pirate booty : LOOT

61. Confused struggle : MELEE

62. Cool and collected : CALM

63. Blackthorn fruit : SLOE

64. Message limited to 140 characters : TWEET

65. Lotion additive : ALOE

66. __-de-camp : AIDE

Down:

1. Glue for a model kit : EPOXY

2. Mel, "The Velvet Fog" : TORME

3. Fields of study : AREAS

4. Nor'easter, for one : STORM

5. Light lager : PILSNER

6. Part of BTU : UNIT. (British thermal unit)

7. Dance wildly : MOSH

8. Bet all players must make : ANTE

9. Fossil-preserving spot : TAR PIT

10. "The Waste Land" poet : ELIOT

11. Budget vehicle : RENTAL CAR

12. Natl. park campers : RVs. (recreational vehicle)

13. Wide shoe size : EEE

21. Actress Cuoco of "The Big Bang Theory" : KALEY. Penny, on TBBT.

22. Guide for the Magi : STAR

25. Female relative : NIECE

27. Best-seller list entry : NOVEL

28. Make payment : REMIT

30. "Jurassic Park" predator, for short : T-REX. A little puppy repeat.

31. Auto loan default consequence : REPO

32. Helps, as a 40-Across : ABETs. ...and you don't need to ante.

33. Santa's home : NORTH POLE. Warmer than here.

34. Econ. statistic : GNP. (Gross National Product)

35. YouTube clip, for short : VID

36. Pacino and Capone : ALs

39. Washington's __ Sound : PUGET

41. Peeling potatoes in the mil., perhaps : ON KP

42. Darts, commonly : PUB GAME

44. Seven-person combo : SEPTET

47. Indian currency : RUPEE

49. Tostitos dip : SALSA

50. Garlic mayonnaise : AIOLI. Do we know it now?

51. Monsoon aftermath : FLOOD

52. Makeup maven Lauder : ESTÉE

54. Gym site, briefly : YMCA

55. Negotiation goal : DEAL

56. Northern European capital : OSLO

57. Qty. : AMT. (amount)

58. Beads on the grass : DEW

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:
 
1) Happy Birthday to Santa's favorite naughty girl Lois, whose appearances on the blog always brighten up my day. Windhover, do you have a picture of you & Lois? I found none in our Blog Picture Archive.


2) Happy Birthday to Awol as well! Haven't heard much from you for quite some time. Hope all's well.

Awol

3) Glitch continues with Mensa. Please click Merriam-Webster site or Yahoo Game (Thanks, Old Sage). Both have the same format as Mensa.

Wednesday December 9, 2009 Robert E. Lee Morris

Theme: Bad Boys - The surname of each theme answer is synonymous with "malicious".

17. Bassist for the Sex Pistols: SID VICIOUS. He died of heroin overdose in 1979. Sex Pistols pioneered the punk rock music.

36. Muttley's evil master in Hanna-Barbera cartoons: DICK DASTARDLY. No idea. Wikipedia says he's a racer who aimed to win "solely through cheating and trickery".

59. "The Wonder Years" star: FRED SAVAGE. I only knew his brother Ben Savage. I really liked watching "Boy Meets World" when I first arrived in the US.

Wish DICK DASTARDLY were a real person. The theme would have been tighter and more focused.

Quite a scrabbly puzzle, with 3 J's, 2 Z's and several K's. A rather smooth solving for me, despite several unknowns. The crossing sure helped.

Across:

1. Hurts with a horn: GORES. Gruesome start.

6. Trudge: PLOD. Not today.

10. Where E.T. came from?: AFAR. Could only think of UFO. Nice clue.

14. As vertical as possible, as an embedded anchor: APEAK. New word to me. And ROPE (15A. Anchor attachment). Nice 'anchor" sequence.

16. Charm: MOJO. Tiger's is fading fast.

19. Run off at the mouth: BLAB

20. Made the trip: CAME. Awful storm outside now.

21. Uncommonly big: OUTSIZED. Like ego.

28. Friend you probably never met: PEN PAL

30. Spread with cocktails: PATE. Who doesn't like pâté de foie gras?

33. Leopardlike critter: OCELOT. Nice to see you again.

35. Skye of film: IONE. She's in "Say Anything ...".

40. Like many a 45-Across: DANK. And CELLAR (45A. Underground room).

41. Hitchcock classic: PSYCHO. Wish I had never seen the movie.

42. Swing voter: Abbr.: IND. And JAN (43D. Pres. inauguration month).

43. Singer Feliciano: JOSE. Got him today. See, I am capable of learning.

49. '50s Kenyan revolutionary: MAUMAU. Great to see the full name rather than the half MAU. "When doubled, Kenyan revolutionary" is just as bad as the old "Half fly" for TSE.

51. PBS funder: NEA

53. Cancún coins: CENTAVOS. Spanish for "cents". Alliteration again.

56. Hebrew prophet: AMOS. Got the answer from crosses. He's a minor prophet.

57. Fast fliers: JETS. SSTS too.

61. War god: ARES. In Greek myth. TYR is the Norse war god.

62. "Law & Order: SVU" actor: ICE-T. Yawner.

63. Sloping edge of a chisel: BEZEL. See this picture.

64. Author Zane: GREY. Again, strung his name together from crosses.

65. Big name in lawn equipment: TORO. Or DEERE. Toro is based here in MN.

66. Fish basket: CREEL

Down:

1. It's replaced after a fill-up: GAS CAP. Its symmetrical partner in the grid is RESELL (48. Transfer for a price, as a used car: RESELL). I like the car connection. Good bookends for the grid.

2. Sedative: OPIATE

3. St. John's athletes, until 1994: REDMEN. Now Red Storm. Native American sensitivity issue.

5. Go downhill fast?: SKI. Can't fool me.

6. Toyota hybrid: PRIUS. Latin for "prior".

7. Pirate's haul: LOOT

8. Music with a number: OPUS

9. Stop: DESIST. Cease and desist.

10. The color of honey: AMBER. Sweet! I love honeyed nuts.

11. Nonsense: FOLDEROL. Often see the answer as clue.

12. Steely Dan album pronounced like a continent: AJA. Pronounced like "Asia".

13. Stick up: ROB

18. Air-conditioned: COOLED

22. Ballet-dancing Muppet: ZOE. I've never even seen one episode of "Sesame Street".

24. Pass rusher's success: SACK

26. VAIO computer maker: SONY. Our old editor once clued VAIO as "Sony computer".

27. Golfer's gismo: TEE. I spell gismo as "gizmo".

30. Rapper's entourage: POSSE

31. Mem. of the bar: ATTY. Much better than ATT.

34. Indy 500's 200: LAPS

35. Golden calf, e.g.: IDOL

36. Agent Scully of "The X-Files": DANA. Not a fan of "The X-Files" either.

37. Hall of Fame guest of honor: INDUCTEE

38. Permission to use: ACCESS. Access to database. Permission to use the database. OK.

39. Perlman of "Cheers": RHEA. Danny DeVito's wife.

44. Uniform: OUTFIT

46. Childbirth education pioneer: LAMAZE. I like the answer.

47. Orbital high point: APOGEE. Low point is Perigee.

51. Acknowledge with a head movement: NOD TO

54. Sacramento's __ Arena: ARCO. Home to Sacramento Kings.

56. Say assuredly: AVER

57. Binge: JAG. Both mean "a drinking spree".

60. "Desperate Housewives" network: ABC

Happy Birthday, Hahtool! Thanks for bringing us inspiring QOD every morning.

Answer grid.

C.C.