Tuesday, October 4, 2016 Sam Buchbinder

Theme: Field Sobriety Test - "Don't move your head and follow the tip of my pen with just your eyes"

20A. "Bro, I thought you were gonna help": "LEFT ME HANGIN"

49A. Follow the ethical path: DO WHAT'S RIGHT

10D. Moving around: UP AND ABOUT

30D. "You're talking too loud": "TONE IT DOWN"

Argyle here. The theme entries are placed in their appropriate places but still rather bland Tuesday.

Across:

1. Home for Pogo: SWAMP

6. Affirmative answer: YES

9. Silences, as a TV: MUTES

14. Artist's prop: EASEL

15. Pie __ mode: À LA

16. Wagnerian work: OPERA

17. "Farewell, chérie": "ADIEU"

18. CBS forensic drama: CSI. (Crime Scene Investigation)

19. Antianxiety drug: XANAX

23. Many a GI: PVT

24. Jerry Garcia's band, familiarly: THE DEAD

28. Socializing with the queen, maybe: AT TEA

31. Avril Lavigne's "Sk8er __": BOI

32. Bullets and such: AMMO

33. Lots and lots: A GOOD DEAL

35. Accessories for the highchair set: BIBS

36. Decide in advance: PLAN

37. Gonzalez boy in 2000 headlines: ELIAN. Where is he now?

39. Look at lasciviously: OGLE

40. Hourly charge: RATE

41. "I expected as much": "IT FIGURES"

43. "... __ saw Elba": ERE I. “Aibohphobia” : a fear of palindromes.

44. Owns: HAS

45. More like a button?: CUTER. Clue doesn't sit quite right for me. Close enough.

46. Is really boiling: SEETHES

48. Reggae kin: SKA

55. Set to simmer, as a burner: ON LOW. Won't get 46-Across that way.

58. Spanish eye: OJO

59. Sag: DROOP

60. Southern inflection: DRAWL

61. Looking sickly: WAN

62. Novelist Zola: EMILE. The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work. ~ Emile Zola

63. Suddenly occurs to, with "on": DAWNS

64. Computer program suffix: .EXE

65. Went out with: DATED

Down:

1. Close securely: SEAL

2. Stroll in the shallows: WADE

3. "Yeah, sure!": "AS IF!"

4. Track event: MEET

5. Made fluffy, as pillows: PLUMPED

6. Millionaire's boat: YACHT

7. "Frozen" princess: ELSA

8. Minnesota college named for Norway's patron: SAINT OLAF

9. Spunk: MOXIE. The soda came first, before the "spunk" meaning. Moxie History

11. Morning break hour: TEN

12. Historical period: ERA

13. Classic doo-wop horn: SAX. It takes me back to slow dancing in the gymnasium.

21. Slip past: EVADE

22. Phone button letters next to a 4: GHI

25. Political fugitive: ÉMIGRÉ

26. One strolling: AMBLER. Back in the gym.

27. Medicine measures: DOSES

28. Harshly bright: AGLARE

29. Perfectly: TO A TEE

31. Puts the worm on: BAITS

33. __-ski: APRÈS

34. Sewing machine inventor: ELIAS HOWE

38. Shaving mishaps: NICKS

42. Covered, as in a man-to-man defense: GUARDED

44. Axe: HEW

47. Coyote cries: HOWLS

48. Rosetta __: STONE

50. "Stronger than dirt!" cleanser: AJAX

51. "Joy of Cooking" writer Rombauer: IRMA

52. __ alone: have no help: GO IT

53. Putting target: HOLE

54. Adorned with Angel Soft, say: TP'ed. Strewn with toilet paper.

55. Like every other number: ODD

56. Food service trade org.: NRA. (National Restaurant Association)

57. Attorney's field: LAW

Argyle

Friday, January 23, 2015, Sam Buchbinder

Theme: Sure Auric, we will be happy to make some gold paint for you; we will just add gold to the base.

The periodic table symbol for Gold (AU) is inserted in existing phrases to create new and entertaining fill. Two phrases have the AU added to the final word, at the end thereof; one added to the end of the fist word; and the final before a one letter phrase. Mr. Buchbinder, who is 28 and a teacher had his debut in the NYT August 19, 2014. There are two gridspanning theme answers. As marti pointed out yesterday, the big challenge for a theme is establishing symmetrical theme fill. 15, 10, 10, 15 is a common format; here we have the central reveal also at 9 letters, giving 59 in the theme. As a result we have many 3 and 4 letter words, but there are also some nice 7 letter fill to make this a Friday, such as BIG DATA,  CURTAIN, DRIVE-IN, FEATURE, HAN SOLO,  IT’S TRUE, NEUTRAL, OBJECTS, ONE EACH, SYNERGY, TRAPEZE, TRUCKER . Welcome to our world Sam.

16A. Striking painting of paddles, net and ball? : PING PONG TABLEAU (15). Ping pong table and crowd the plate are both sports references. I like the visual of the painting, but this fill does not really change the meaning of the phrase in the same way the two of the other themers change their phrases.

23A. Extraordinary northern bird? : SPECIAL AUK (10). We go from a cereal to one of our favorite crossword birds.

46A. Alaskan insects? : JUNEAU BUGS (10). June bugs might emigrate to Alaska and be Juneau bugs, I guess.

55A. Overdevelop a high plain? : CROWD THE PLATEAU (15). A baseball reference really transformed.

34A. Mythological figure who touched 16-, 23-, 46- and 55-Across? : KING MIDAS (9). The poor man could not eat or fool around.

Across:

1. "Mad Men" productions : ADS. Madison Avenue Admen.

4. Bark elicitor : SPEAK. I love the simplicity of this clue.

9. Lax : SOFT. The modern parent?

13. Force (open) : PRY.

14. Close-fitting dress : SHEATH.

15. Powerful dept.? : ENERgy. Pun one.

19. Uber : VERY. German. Our first clecho 48D. Uber : ULTRA.

20. Facebook button : LIKE. How many of the Corner use FB? A show of hands?

21. Truncation abbr. : ETCetera.

22. Austin of "Knot's Landing" : TERI. She had lots of HAIR.

26. Statistician's challenge : BIG DATA. Computers have created an exponential increase in data.

28. Plot component : ACRE. Misdirection two. Land, not a novel.

29. "__ thoughts?" : ANY.

30. Reasonable : SANE.

32. Purim heroine : ESTHER. A wonderful story. LINK.

36. Available : ON HAND.

39. Anthony Hopkins' "Thor" role : ODIN.

40. Channel for old films : TCM. Turner Classic Movies.

43. Noodle : BEAN. Interestingly I can find no references to why bean means brain or head. I just know in baseball throwing at the head is a "bean ball" and people are rewarded for "using the old bean."

44. "I'm not kidding!" : IT'S TRUE.

51. Chief Justice Warren : EARL. Appointed by Dwight Eisenhower, he led a court which drastically reformed the interpretation of individual rights.

52. Subjects of some conspiracy theories : ETS. Extra Terrestrials.

53. Specks on cartes : ILES. Carte is French for "MAP."  Along with 9D. Sprinkling on French fries? : SEL, (which means salt) and all the EAU words, I might guess Sam likes French.

54. Enthralled : RAPT. Do I have your attention yet? I want to warn you, I have a...

60. It may be cautionary : TALE.

61. "I shall be late!" speaker of fiction : RABBIT. WATCH? (2:00). Oh how punny?

62. Letter director : ZIP. Code.

63. Narrow opening : SLOT. Started with SLIT, picturing some of Splynter's favorite dresses.

64. Indo-__ languages : ARYAN.

65. Nixon has two : ENS. Not ears, or eyes, but the letters. Misdirection three.

Down:

1. Angry Birds, e.g. : APP. I know this but have never actually seen it.

2. "Happy Days" setting : DRIVE IN.

3. Cooperative action : SYNERGY.

4. "Dexter" airer, for short : SHOwtime. Anyone watch the entire series?

5. Write : PEN.

6. Scout rank : EAGLE.

7. Top story : ATTIC. At 11? Nope of my house, misdirection 4. So we get the clecho two 11D. Top story : FEATURE.

8. Uniform material : KHAKI. Urdu?

10. Free sample limitation : ONE EACH. Do you think you can pay for your Sam's Club, COSTCO etc membership just from eating the free samples?

12. Cab driver? : TRUCKER. At least the answer was not TAXIER.

14. One of a pair of Mad adversaries : SPY.

17. Off the __ : GRID.

18. Arthur of "The Golden Girls" : BEA.

22. Sched. uncertainty : TBA. To Be Announced.

23. Witness __ : STAND. In the US we sit so it all sounds silly.

24. Sharp feeling : PANG.

25. Rowing beneficiaries, for short : LATS. Latissimi dorsi. Side back.

27. Z-zebra link : AS IN. I doubt that will be Sue Grafton's choice.

31. Dashboard Confessional's genre : EMO. No idea. Still rock and roll.

32. Changes, in a way : EDITS.

33. Without : SANS. A French word now accepted in English.

34. Rosebud's owner : KANE. Orson Welles' sled.

35. "Cool, man!" : I DIG. Maynard G. Krebs.

36. Things : OBJECTS.

37. __ color : NEUTRAL.

38. Fictional pilot with the iconic line, "Laugh it up, fuzzball" : HAN SOLO. I told you last week Star Wars references were coming.

40. Circus staple : TRAPEZE. With the greatest of ease....

41. Sun block : CURTAIN. Meh.

42. "The Producers" screenwriter Brooks : MEL. Too many wonderful scenes and movies to link.

45. Milk dispenser : TEAT. We had the the bird TIT, the idiot BOOB and now we actually have a milk dispenser. Udderly amazing.

47. Help : AID.

49. "The View" alum Joy : BEHAR. The word BEHAR is Hebrew for on the mount.

50. Milk carton words : USE BY.

54. Snitch : RAT.

56. 18th Amendment opposer : WET. This was the Prohibition Amendment. Our HISTORY.

57. Cops' org. : PBA. Patrolmen's or Police Benevolent Association. Unions for the police.

58. Harvard grad Jeremy who's now a Laker : LIN. Made a brief splash with the Knicks, signed to big money by the Rockets, and now exiled to the Lakers.

59. Rises : UPS . Man, ending on a downer.

Well another Friday in the record books, I had fun. I hope you all did and for those who do not wake up to 70 degrees and sunny, stay warm. Lemonade out.