Monday, March 22, 2010 Robert Fisher

Theme: Body Parts - Four theme entries containing two parts of the body in a common idioms.

20A. Hopelessly, as in love: HEAD OVER HEELS

29A. Field sobriety test: FINGER TO NOSE

46A. Fierce way to fight: TOOTH AND NAIL

56A. Facetious: TONGUE IN CHEEK

And a single NAVEL (31D. Umbilicus).

Argyle here. Another serviceable Monday puzzle from Mr. Fisher. Doesn't need much explanation but still fun to do.

Across:

1A. Prefix with brewery: MICRO

6A. Quite a ways away: AFAR

10A. Field furrow maker: PLOW

14A. Like a specially formed committee: AD HOC. Latin, for this

15A. Infrequent: RARE

16A. Learn about aurally: HEAR

17A. Track shoe part: CLEAT. SPIKE would be better; CLEATS are for field games.

18A. Canon shots, briefly: PICS. Canon, the camera, not cannon, the big shooter.

19A. Dark and murky: INKY

23A. Meal remnant: ORT

24A. Cribbage piece: PEG

25A. Writer's coll. major, often: ENG.

26A. Piper in the air: CUB. In flight. Check out the leg stuck out the door and what is that; the wash drying on the line to the tail wheel?

32A. Fossil fuel: COAL

35A. Draw a bead: AIM

36A. Keeps for later: SAVES

37A. A single time: ONCE

38A. Theater chain founded in 1904: LOEWS

41A. __ Beach, Florida: VERO. On the Atlantic side, a little over midway down to Miami.

42A. Firestone products: TIRES

44A. Bit of a chill: NIP

45A. Formerly, previously: ERST

50A. Reply: Abbr.: ANS.

51A. __, dos, tres ...: UNO

52A. '50s car embellishment: FIN. Probably should have been plural; a rare sports car may have had a single fin.

53A. "Antiques Roadshow" airer: PBS

60A. Forte of a certain "doctor": SPIN

62A. Eye blatantly: OGLE

63A. Throw with effort: HEAVE. Caber Toss.

64A. Political alliance: PACT

65A. Mass transit option: RAIL

66A. Game show host: EMCEE

67A. "The Sun __ Rises": ALSO. The first major novel by Ernest Hemingway, 1926.

68A. Somewhat: A TAD

69A. Competed in a bee: SPELT. This will draw some comments.

Down"

1D. Virile: MACHO

2D. Work shirker: IDLER

3D. Copy from your classmate's paper, say: CHEAT

4D. Willie Nelson's "On the __ Again": ROAD. Clip.

5D. Squid cousins: OCTOPI

6D. Broken chord, in music: ARPEGGIO. I'll leave to our experts to discuss.

7D. Expo: FAIR

8D. Shooter with a quiver: ARCHER

9D. Bristle at: RESENT. William Tell bristled at being called an archer. He used a crossbow and was known as a bowman.

10D. Golfer Mickelson: PHIL

11D. Camera's protective cap: LENS COVER

12D. Cask material: OAK

13D. Droll: WRY

21D. Bribable: VENAL. VENAL bad; VENERABLE good.

22D. They're big in Hollywood: EGOS

27D. Online surfers, e.g.: USERS

28D. Stupefy with booze: BESOT

29D. Hertz inventory: FLEET

30D. Edit: EMEND

32D. Terra __: pottery clay: COTTA. The TERRA COTTA ARMY.

33D. Burger topper: ONION

34D. Puzzles involving quotes, usually: ACROSTICS

39D. Hall of Fame outfielder Dave or actor Paul: WINFIELD

40D. Madrid's country: SPAIN

43D. Steer clear of: SHUN

47D. Long-haired cat: ANGORA

48D. Chewy candy: NOUGAT

49D. Yard's 36: INCHES

53D. What a V-sign may mean: PEACE

54D. Slanted edge: BEVEL

55D. Trapshooting: SKEET

59D. Natural rope fiber: HEMP

60D. Place to be pampered: SPA

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a sweet photo of our fellow LAT solver Barry G, his lovely wife from Tianjin, China and their adorable son.

Argyle

Monday December 7, 2009 Robert Fisher

Theme: Shady Deals - Three ways that you can be conned.

20A: Prospecting swindle: SALTING THE MINE Planting bits of gold in the ground to make the mark think that a mine is valuable.

37A: Multilevel investment swindle: PYRAMID SCHEME This is not the same as a Ponzi scheme which investors are paid out from the funds from new investors. In a pyramid scheme, those who recruit additional participants benefit directly. (In fact, failure to recruit typically means no investment return.) It is bound to collapse because it requires exponential increases in participants to sustain it.

53A: Sleight-of-hand sidewalk swindle: THREE-CARD MONTE The mark has to pick the target card from the three face-down cards presented to him. The three shells and the pea is a similar swindle. TUTORIAL

Argyle here. Trust me.

Across:

1A: Ringing phone on stage, e.g.: PROP A classic blooper from the days of live TV was the phone that wouldn't stop ringing even after it was picked up.

5A: Place to unwind: SAUNA

10A: Complacent: SMUG

14A: Medal recipient: HERO Finally, a HERO that isn't a sandwich.

15A: Panama divider: CANAL Bisects the country

16A: Ice cream parlor order: CONE I like this clue for CONE better then a construction site marker, especially if it's chocolate.

23A: USN rank: ENS Navy Ensign.

25A: Shadow: UMBRA Nothing shady about this shadow.

27A: Suffix with farm or home: STEAD I guess you could have a homestead on the farmstead. Currier and Ives

29A: Fly in the ointment: SNAG

32A: North Pole toy maker: ELF They better be busy!

33A: Thinner, as smoke: WISPIER

36A: Temptation on a hook: BAIT

40A: Stratagem: PLOY

41A: Accomplished with a single try: ONE SHOT

43A: Quiche base: EGGS

44A: Inuit craft: KAYAK Inuit are members of the Eskimo-Aleut family.

48A: Essence of roses: ATTAR

50A: Sigma follower: TAU Greek alphabet.

52A: King beater: ACE

58A: Brit's elevator: LIFT

59A: Cube or sphere: SOLID

60A: Similar (to): AKIN

61A: Load to bear: ONUS

62A: Reclassified planet: PLUTO

63A: Golfer Ballesteros: SEVE Spanish professional golfer has announced that he is planning to play in the 2010 Open Championship at St Andrews. He has been treated for a brain tumor. Now he's 66A: Ready to drive, as a golf ball: TEED

64A: Like the stepsisters in "Cinderella": UGLY

65A: Red Sea republic: YEMEN

Down:

1D: Parts of a cycle: PHASES

2D: Stinging crawler: RED ANT

4D: Big name in breakfast cereal: POST They began in 1895 with the first Postum, a "cereal beverage". The first cereal, Grape-Nuts, was developed in 1897

5D: Barely adequate: SCANT

6D: Stereotypical pirate's cry: AARGH!

8D: Poet Ogden: NASH A short NASH poem: "Fleas" Adam had 'em.

10D: Curtain material: SCRIM Not familiar with this word. The Dictionary has two main entries; the second is: "A transparent fabric used as a drop in the theater to create special effects of lights or atmosphere."

11D: Ray from a natural satellite: MOON BEAM Ray Walston

12D: Be situated beneath: UNDERLIE

13D: "My goodness": "GEE"

21D: Gandhi's land: INDIA

22D: Java holder: MUG

26D: Shipboard direction: AFT

28D: Bad way for plans to go: AWRY

29D: Go-with dishes: SIDES

30D: Loch of lore: NESS North-West of St Andrews.

31D: St. Louis's Gateway __: ARCH

35D: Bullet-on-metal noise: PING Also, makers of golf clubs. I think our constructor today might be a golfer.

36D: Second in a series: BETA

37D: Cooking up a coup: PLOTTING Jeannie, do you have a recipe for cooking up a coup?

38D: Like kids' enthusiasm: YOUTHFUL

39D: Folderol: HOKUM Not a good match.

40D: Actress Zadora: PIA In her younger days

43D: Before, of yore: ERE

45D: Derek Jeter, e.g.: YANKEE

46D: Busy: ACTIVE

47D: Wailed: KEENED

49D: Culturally pretentious: ARTSY Old coots would say someone was artsy-fartsy.

50D: Hackneyed: TRITE

51D: Home builder's afterthought: ADD-ON

54D: Notice: ESPY

55D: Nat or Natalie: COLE

56D: School reunion attendee: ALUM

57D: Hops oven: OAST

58D: Singer Rawls: LOU R&B and Soul.

Answer grid.

Argyle