Monday, September 20, 2010 Samantha Wine

Theme: Have you seen my... - Three common phrases start with a word that may indicate, say, our car keys when we are in a hurry.

20A. Daydreaming: LOST IN THOUGHT

36A. Failing to grasp a key element: MISSING THE POINT

52A. Not expected back at work until tomorrow: GONE FOR THE DAY

Argyle here.

A compact Monday puzzle from our editor. Samantha Wine is an anagram of "What's in a name?").

Simple theme. Lively theme answers, none of which have been used in any major newspaper puzzle before. The sparse theme entries allow Rich to place 20 six-letter or more non-theme fill, including a wonderful BAILOUTS.

A bit harder than usual, perhaps.

Across:

1. Persian Gulf emirate : DUBAI. A small nation with a big footprint.

6. Aptly named novelist : READE. Charles Reade (1814 - 1884) was an English novelist and dramatist, best known for The Cloister and the Hearth. I must have missed that one.

11. Check for drinks : TAB. Goes well with 38D "Drinks are on yours truly" : "I'M BUYING"

14. Rocket scientist Wernher von __ : BRAUN. We had Eva Braun yesterday.

15. Use for dinner, as dishes : EAT ON

16. Realm from 800-1806: Abbr. : HRE. The Holy Roman Empire (HRE). The first Holy Roman Emperor is generally considered to have been Otto I, King of Germany. Charlemagne, crowned Emperor of the Romans in 800, was the forerunner of the Holy Roman Empire, largely because he had inaugurated the tradition of imperial coronation by the Pope.

17. Jazzy O'Day : ANITA. Singing Ain't Misbehavin'.

18. On the __: broken : FRITZ. Origin unknown.

19. Approx. landing hr. : ETA

23. More intimate : CLOSER

25. __-mutuel: type of betting : PARI

26. Funny Costello : LOU. Partnered with Bud Abbott.

27. Abel's slayer : CAIN

30. Tsar or emperor : DESPOT. It doesn't mean tyrant, necessarily.

32. It follows the overture : ACT I

34. Pressed for time : IN A RUSH

41. Conceived of : IDEATED, Didn't need to see this word again.

42. IRS agent : T-MAN

43. What ballerinas dance on : TIPTOE

46. Slangy agreement : YEAH

48. HVAC measure : BTU. British Thermal Unit (BTU or Btu)

49. Utah city near Provo : OREM

50. Uproar : TUMULT. Taken straight from Latin

58. Econ. yardstick : GNP. Gross National Product

59. Nebraska city : OMAHA

60. Tee shot : DRIVE. Golf.

63. Mauna __ : LOA. Active volcano on the island of Hawaii.

64. Lees competitor : LEVIS

65. Ocean ship : LINER

66. Bigger picture: Abbr. : ENL.

67. Kosher deli offering : KNISH. Knish Nosh.

68. Sharp-eyed bird : EAGLE

Down:

1. Trade name abbr. : DBA. Doing Business As.

2. Caterer's vessel : URN

3. Controversial financial rescues : BAILOUTS

4. Cars : AUTOS

5. "Be right there!" : "IN A SEC!"

6. Get a better int. rate, probably : REFI. Refinancing.

7. Make on the job : EARN

8. Working busily : AT IT

9. "The lady __ protest too much": "Hamlet" : DOTH. We had DOST yesterday.

10. Automaker Ferrari : ENZO

11. Store to "fall into," in old ads : THE GAP. Can you buy both Levis and Lees there?

12. Prefix with -scopic : ARTHRO. And often followed by surgery.

13. "Scram!" : "BEAT IT!"

21. New employee : TRAINEE

22. End result : UPSHOT. 1531; originally, the final shot in an archery match, hence sense of "result, issue, conclusion" (1604).

23. Littleneck, e.g. : CLAM

24. Centers of activity : LOCI. Plural of locus, (in many legal phrases) a place or area, esp the place where something occurred.

28. Actress Swenson : INGA. She was on the TV show, "Benson". She is the one standing behind Benson(Robert Guillaume), on the left. Image.

29. Smartly dressed : NATTY

30. Obstetrician's calculation : DUE DATE

31. Psychic's asset, for short : ESP

33. "Surely I'm not the only one?!" : "IS IT ME?"

35. South Korea's first president : RHEE. Syngman Rhee (1875 – 1965) was President from 1948 to 1960.

37. Altar promise : "I DO"

39. MLB league : NATL.

40. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT. An image of one style of T-nut.

43. Flip back and forth, as an on-off switch : TOGGLE

44. Like some denim patches : IRON-ON. Hell, now days, they are ripped on purpose!

45. Letter-writing friend : PEN PAL

47. Circular gridiron gathering : HUDDLE

51. "West Side Story" heroine : MARIA

53. Music genre that experienced a '50s-'60s revival : FOLK

54. Sign of the future : OMEN

55. Sitarist Shankar : RAVI

56. That's partner : THIS. This and that.

57. Corned beef dish : HASH

61. Commercial prefix with -cro : VEL

62. Prior to : ERE. Ere there was Vel-Cro, there was Duct Tape.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, December 14, 2009 Samantha Wine

Theme: Keep It Under You Hat - Three items that you can cover with a lid. (Both cover and lid are slang for hat.)

17A: Comical character in "Star Wars" films: JAR JAR BINKS.

33A: Novel by a hack: POTBOILER.

41A: Ticket-selling place: BOX OFFICE.

59A: "Stop complaining!" (and what you might do to the start of 17-, 33- or 41-Across): "PUT A LID ON IT!".

Argyle here. Tough for a Monday. Things like 35D: Fitzgerald of scat: ELLA. are ok but 6D: Elephant boy portrayer of film: SABU. seem like they are later in the week entries. I'll admit 39D bolloxed me up but good!

Today's constructor Samantha Wine is Rich Norris himself. Anagram of "What's in a name".

Nice looking lay-out. Scrabbly too. Three J, two Q's, 1 X and five K's.

Across:

1A: Trumpet mufflers: MUTES. Trombones, too.

6A: Like pretzels: SALTY. Like Popeye, too,

11A: CD-__: ROM.

14A: Observe Yom Kippur: ATONE.

16A: Latin lover's verb: AMO.

19A: __ Bartlet, "The West Wing" president: JED. President Josiah 'Jed' Bartlet (Martin Sheen)

20A: O.K. Corral event: SHOOT-OUT.

21A: Old enough: OF AGE.

23A: French designer's monogram: YSL. Yves Saint Laurent

24A: Father of Isaac: ABRAHAM.

26A: Takers of pics: CAMS. As a mechanic, I don't think of pics when I hear CAMS.

29A: Be superior to, as in the military: OUTRANK.

32A: Japanese sash: OBI.

37A: Hit on the noggin: BONK.

39A: Davis of "Dr. Dolittle": OSSIE. He portrayed Dr. Dolittle's father, Archer Dolittle, in the 1998 Eddie Murphy film.

40A: "Golden" principle: RULE.

43A: P. Hearst's kidnappers: S.L.A.. Symbionese Liberation Army. She was kidnapped in February of 1974.

44A: "Is the gamble worth it?": "DO I DARE?".

46A: London guy: CHAP.

47A: "Fencers, prepare to duel!": "EN GARDE!".

50A: Sine __ non: essential: QUA.

52A: Seismic event: QUAKE.

53A: "Could be": "I SUPPOSE".

58A: Suffix with sub: URB.

62A: Lead-in for metric: ISO.

63A: Whisky __: Hollywood disco: A GO-GO. Note the spelling of "Whisky".

64A: Dad's brother, in Bordeaux: ONCLE.

66A: Excited cry: WHOOP.

Down:

1D: They're above capts.: MAJS..

2D: Great Salt Lake state: UTAH.

4D: Gets a kick out of: ENJOYS.

7D: Not very much: A BIT.

8D: Data-sharing syst.: LAN.. A local area network (LAN) is a computer network covering a small physical area, like a home, office, or small group of buildings, such as a school, etc..

9D: Displeased cluck: TSK!.

10D: "Make up your mind!": "YES OR NO!".

11D: Indian bigwig: RAJAH.

12D: Last Greek letter: OMEGA.

13D: Digital data transmitter: MODEM.

18D: Hershey's caramel-and-chocolate brand: ROLO.

22D: Hindu wonder-worker: FAKIR. Alt. sp., fakeer, faqir, faquir.

24D: More hoity-toity, in a cultural sense: ARTIER.

25D: Ruth of the Yankees: BABE. "The Sultan of Swat"

26D: Actor Lee J. __: COBB. He had a long and illustrious career in film and on Broadway. He died in 1976.

28D: Hussy: MINX.

30D: Rising trend in the market: UPSIDE.

31D: Puccini title heroine: TOSCA. She is Floria Tosca, a celebrated singer in Rome about June 1800.

38D: Instamatic maker: KODAK.

39D: "The Wizard __": OF ID. Oh, yeah, I had OZ. Messed me up for quite awhile. The Wizard of Id is a daily newspaper comic strip created by American cartoonists Brant Parker and Johnny Hart. The Wizard.

42D: Cat's front foot: FOREPAW.

45D: Same: Pref.: EQUI.

47D: Furnish with gear: EQUIP.

48D: Emergency room VIP: NURSE.

49D: Eva or Zsa Zsa: GABOR.

51D: High hair styles: UPDOS.

53D: Othello's betrayer: IAGO.

54D: Sty food: SLOP.

55D: In days gone by: ONCE. In days gone by, my boyhood job was to slop the hogs.

56D: Fancy hat fabric: SILK.

57D: Sorbonne summers: ETES.

60D: "That's icky!": UGH.

Answer grid.

Here are a few wonderful pictures J.D. took during her recent trip to Las Vegas. Click on each one for clearer photo. J.D. has been busy babysitting and helping her daughter moving out.

Argyle

Monday June 29, 2009 Samantha Wine

Theme: Adobe Hacienda

21A: Overtaken and easily surpassed: LEFT IN THE DUST

38A: Classic 1924 novel by Ole Rolvaag: GIANTS IN THE EARTH

56A: Old fogy: STICK IN THE MUD

(Note from C.C.: A special 16*15 grid to accommodate the central theme entry GIANTS IN THE EARTH, which has 16 letters. We had a similar clay-themed puzzle by Norma Steinberg earlier in January. Her theme entries are: MUD SLINGING, EARTH MOTHER, DIRT CHEAP & DUST DEVIL. Today's theme answers are even better, all of them contain "IN THE". Very nice.)

Back to Argyle.

Quite hard for a Monday, I thought.

GIANTS IN THE EARTH was O. E. Rolvaag's most influential novel. It chronicles the story of a group of Norwegian pioneers who make the long trek from a fishing village in Norway through Canada to Spring Creek, in Dakota Territory. The novel details the triumphs, hardships, and ultimate tragedies of South Dakota farmers as they try to wrest a livelihood from a land that, while fertile, often proves actively hostile to human habitation.

Rølvaag was born in Norway. An uncle who had emigrated to America sent him a ticket in 1896, and he traveled to South Dakota to work as a farmhand working as a farmhand until 1898. He earned a bachelor's degree and a master's from St. Olaf College.

Giants in the Earth is part of a trilogy.

Across:

1A: Relaxing soak: BATH.

5A: Confined, with "up": PENT. As in, 'PENT UP' emotions (take a relaxing soak). Cousin to 'penned in', restricted or confined.

9A: Send back, as into custody: REMAND. Often followed by, "Bail will be set at...."

15A: Chat room "I'm just saying ...": IMHO. In My Humble Opinion.

16A: "It depends": I MAY.

17A: Fled to wed: ELOPED. Cute rhyme.

19A: Each: A POP.

20A: __ mignons: steaks: FILETS. I find it odd that the plural requires an S after both words.

24A: Wall St. trader: ARB. ARBitrageur, one who works different markets to profit from unequal prices of the same item.

25A: Like a tinkerer's kit, briefly: DIY. Do It Yourself.

26A: Try: ATTEMPT.

30A: Flips of hits: B SIDES. "Single Records" Although, sometimes the B side made it big, too.

34A: Frosty's button, e.g.: NOSE. Frosty the Snowman, "With a corn cob pipe and a buttoned nose and two eyes made out of coal..."

36A: "__ if I can help it!": NOT.

37A: Dental thread: FLOSS.

45A: "Total Request Live" airer: MTV. Music Television "I want my MTV".

46A: Arabian chief: EMIR.

47A: Low-cost home loan org.: FNMA. The Federal National Mortgage Association commonly known as Fannie Mae

52A: River mouth area: ESTUARY. They are located at the lower end of a river and are subject to tidal fluctuations, not necessarily just the delta area.

55A: Atmospheric pollution meas.: AQI. Air Quality Index

60A: Four pecks: BUSHEL. A Bushel and a Peck.

63A: Exude: EMIT.

64A: Caesar's 53: LIII.

65A: Orwell's "__ Farm": ANIMAL. British author George Orwell, pen name of Eric Arthur Blair, 1903-1950, wrote "Animal Farm" where the animals take over their farm but things become worse than they were before. He also wrote "Nineteen Eighty-Four".

66A: Au naturel: NUDE.

67A: Jose's hand: MANO. And 61D: Juan's one: UNO.

68A: Web surfing tools: MODEMS. Computer hardware.

69A: Letters on a phone's "0" button: OPER. OPERator

70A: Red sky, to sailors: OMEN. Red sky in the morning, sailor take warning. Red sky at night, sailor's delight.

Down:

1D: H.S. class with slides: BIO LAB. Biology class.

2D: Yellowish-brown colors: AMBERS.

3D: J. Edgar Hoover's org.: THE FBI.

4D: Country singer Axton: HOYT. Hoyt Axton. You might be surprised to learn he wrote "Joy to the World", the big Three Dog Night hit and "The Pusher". Steppenwolf's version was in the movie Easy Rider.

5D: Keyboard players: PIANISTS.

6D: Like a useless gas tank: EMPTY. I liked this one.

7D: Sodium hydroxide, to chemists: NaOH. Caustic soda solution, to laymen.

8D: Work at a keyboard: TYPE.

9D: Disprove: REFUTE.

10D: Online mailing tool: E-LIST. A direct mail list containing Internet addresses and used to distribute promotions messages over the Internet. Unknown to me.

11D: Volcanic output: MOLTEN LAVA.

14D: Cavity filler's deg.: DDS. Doctor of Dental Surgery.

22D: Imagine: IDEATE. If anybody finds this word out in the real world, let us know.

23D: Evil Vader: DARTH. Star Wars.

27D: Heath-covered wasteland: MOOR. Heath is evergreen shrubs such as common heather. A heath moor.

29D: Pianist John: TESH. Love him or hate him; he is good at what he does.

31D: "I'll finish it when finish it!": DON'T RUSH ME. And 58D: "Still in bed?" response: I'M UP. "Got teenagers?"

32D: Year in old Rome: ANNUM.

33D: Terra: COTTA.

37D: Magical object: FETISH. Synonyms: talisman, amulet.

38D: Cloud-nine feeling: GLEE.

39D: Pet food brand: IAMS. This is becoming a regular.

40D: Going __: squabbling: AT IT. See above.

41D: Where MoMA is: IN NYC. Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

42D: Rankle: EMBITTER.

47D: Bells and whistles: FRILLS.

49D: Green eggs and ham promoter: SAM I AM.

50D: Horse: EQUINE.

51D: "Play It As It Lays" author Joan: DIDION. The book is NOT about golf.

53D: Top-notch unit: A TEAM. "I pity the fool who didn't get this one" - AB

54D: Nastily derogatory: SNIDE. See above.

57D: Number-picker's game: KENO.

59D: Saint with a fire: ELMO.

60D: Emeril exclamation: BAM !

62D: Caesar of comedy: SID. 50's TV, "Your Show of Shows".

Answer grid.

Argyle

(Added later: Samantha Wine is another alias name of our editor Rich Norris. It's an anagram of "What's in a name". Thanks, Jerome.)