Tuesday, January 19, 2016 Tom Pepper

Theme: Double Your Fun - The clue is the clue. No reveal needed.

17A. Dickens classic, itemized : A TALE OF CITY CITY. "A Tale of Two Cities".

28A. Smugly prudish sort, itemized : GOODY SHOE SHOE. Goody two-shoes.

47A. Country/western dance, itemized : TEXAS STEP STEP. Texas two step.

63A. Chime in, itemized : ADD ONE'S CENT CENT. Add one's two cents.

Argyle here with the return of Tom to our corner. It's been too long(2013). Two (of course) grid spanners and sparkly fill moves us on to hump day. (From C.C.: No wonder we're out of negative territory this morning in MN. Tom is back! )

 Andrea Carla Michaels,  Tom Pepper, C.C. and Boomer

Across:

1. Wading bird in ancient Egyptian art : IBIS

5. __ of March : IDES

9. Dessert "there's always room for" : JELL-O

14. Like pre-stereo sound : MONO. I understand some albums are more valuable if they are monaural.

15. Geek Squad pro : TECH

16. Stayed home for dinner : ATE IN

20. Attempt to get : GO FOR

21. Natural history museum item : RELIC

22. Type of symbol or appeal : SEX

23. Prefix with skeleton : EXO

24. River inlet : RIA

26. Most fit to be drafted : ONE A

34. One who makes your skin crawl : CREEP

35. At rest : STILL

36. Diner handout : MENU

39. "All in the Family" wife : EDITH

42. Beehive, e.g. : UP-DO. (hair do)

43. St. Teresa's home : ÁVILA. Situated 1132 metres (3714 feet) above sea level on a rocky outcrop on the right bank of the Adaja river, a tributary of the Duero, Ávila is the highest provincial capital in Spain. It is built on the flat summit of a rocky hill, which rises abruptly in the midst of a veritable wilderness; a brown, arid, treeless table-land, strewn with immense grey boulders, and shut in by lofty mountains. ~ per Wiki.

45. Force out of bed : ROUST

51. Chocolate-caramel candy brand : ROLO

52. "__ Blinded Me With Science": 1983 hit : SHE

53. Fury : IRE

56. Pro vote : YEA vs. 65D. Anti vote : NAY

59. Word before or after "coming" : FORTH

61. Sherpas' land : NEPAL

66. Yamaha with a bench : PIANO

67. Syllables before di or da, in a Beatles song : OB LA. (Life Goes On)

68. "Les Misérables" novelist : HUGO. (Victor Hugo)

69. Proverbial backbreaker : STRAW

70. "Ghost Hunters" channel : SYFY

71. Candid : OPEN

Down:

1. Publicist's concern : IMAGE

2. Wrinkle-removing injection : BOTOX

3. Befuddled : IN A FOG

4. Song sung alone : SOLO

5. "Who am __ judge?" : I TO

6. Offset, as costs : DEFRAYED

7. Caesar's "Behold!" : "ECCE!"

8. 1862 Tennessee battleground : SHILOH

9. Leadership training group, familiarly : JAYCEES

10. List-shortening abbr. : ETC.

11. Hawaiian wreaths : LEIs

12. Lo-cal : LITE

13. Black gemstone : ONYX

18. Fielding mishap : ERROR

19. Ex-Yankee Martinez : TINO

25. Tête product : IDÉE. French head/idea.

27. On the ball : ASTUTE

29. Eye-related : OCULAR

30. Steeple top : SPIRE

31. Joint that may be swiveled : HIP

32. Former : OLD

33. "Xanadu" rock gp. : ELO. Electric Light Orchestra)

36. Pilates class need : MAT

37. Grandmother of Enos : EVE

38. Negative word often spoken in pig Latin : NIX.  (ixnay)

40. Of the best quality : TOP SHELF

41. "Quit complaining!" : "HUSH!"

44. So far : AS OF NOW

46. Surgical tube : STENT

48. Wild plum : SLOE

49. Upper bodies : TORSOs

50. Make oneself heard : PIPE UP. Add your two cents.

54. Mountain chain : RANGE

55. John with nine #1 hits in the U.S. : ELTON. (Elton John)

56. Jabbers : YAPS

57. Improve text : EDIT

58. Jewish month before Nisan : ADAR

60. Beriyo smoothie maker : TCBY

62. Repeat : ECHO

64. Put __ show : ON A

Argyle

Thursday, July 11, 2013 Tom Pepper

Theme: "Those Creepy Crawly Things" (Thanks, Tom, for supplying me with the title!)

No unifier is necessary for this type of theme. Each of the theme entries is a different definition for the common clue:

17. Bugs : HIDDEN MIKES. I had hidden wires at first.

23. Bugs : BEETLE CARS. I thought this was going to be a literal definition at first.

37. Bugs : SOFTWARE DEFECTS.

48. Bugs : ELMER'S BANE. Bugs Bunny, of course!

59. Bugs : DRIVES CRAZY.

I really enjoyed this puzzle. Sometimes definition type puzzle have strained theme entries, to fit within the constraints of the grid size, and to come out symmetrical.  But all five of these entries felt like normal phrases. There was some fun stuff in the fill, too. So let's get to it.

Across:

1. Shake, as one's tail : ELUDE. Oh,  I was sooooo thinking of this. 2:30

6. Apple polisher : TOADY. From the 16th c. "toad-eater." Fascinating story here.

11. "Ri-i-ight!" : HAH. Hah! Nailed it! And a clecho at 25-Down. "Ri-i-ight!" : AS IF.

14. Patient's share : CO-PAY. It seems to be more and more the "lion's" share lately...

15. Els only about six feet above the ground : ERNIE. I love golf, and enjoy watching ERNIE Els, a.k.a. "The Big Easy."  (BTW, he is actually 6'3".)

16. Big name in kitchenware : OXO.

19. Animation collectible : CEL.

20. "Double Fantasy" artist : ONO.

21. Carnation spot : LAPEL.

22. Booked solid : BUSY.

26. Says it isn't so : REBUTS.

29. Annual Queens sports event : US OPEN. Tennis, not golf. It is held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, and runs from August 26-September 9 this year.

32. Seals, as a deal : ICES.

33. One may be given to a detective : ALIBI.

36. ___ diet : ON A.

41. "Don't Bring Me Down" rock gp. : ELO. Listen here. 4:04

42. Hits the trail : HIKES.

43. Mongolian tent : YURT.

44. Try to better understand, as difficult prose : RE-READ.

46. Bandleading brothers' name : DORSEY. Tommy and Jimmy.

52. Moo juice : MILK.

54. Lofty nest : AERIE.

55. Get-up-and-go : VIM.

58. Kerfuffle : ADO. I want to see the word "kerfuffle" in a crossword...

62. X, at times : TEN.

63. "Peer Gynt" playwright : IBSEN.

64. Lincoln's side : UNION.

65. Withered woman : HAG. (Hey, I'm not all that withered...)

66. With 67-Across, San Diego Zoo attraction : GIANT. and 67-Across. See 66-Across : PANDA.

Down: (...worth repeating.)

1. Letter before Foxtrot : ECHO. Have you memorized your NATO phonetic alphabet yet?

2. Pork purchase : LOIN.

3. Bridesmaid's coif : UPDO.

4. "American ___!": animated sitcom : DAD. While I was doing this write-up, the show came on TV and I suffered through it, just so I could report to you. My report? .... judge for yourself.

5. Ornamental embroidered hole : EYELET.

6. Bait : TEMPT.

7. Projecting window : ORIEL.

8. Popular tat spot : ANKLE. Bicep also fits. Just sayin'...

9. Conk out : DIE.

10. "It's a go!" : YES!

11. Words before disappearing, perhaps : HOCUS POCUS.

12. Fires : AXES.

13. First word from Robin : HOLY. Holy You Tube!

18. Laddie's turndowns : NAES.

22. "My man!" : BRO.

23. Pedestal sculpture : BUST. Like this?

24. 8 or 64, e.g. : CUBE.

26. Choir support : RISER.

27. Place for élèves : ECOLE. French for "students" and "school"

28. Any day now : BEFORE LONG.

30. ___ nous : ENTRE. "Between ourselves..." ("Keep it confidential.")

31. Vile : NASTY.

33. Object of Indy's quest : ARK. Indiana Jones and the "Raiders of the Lost Ark."  (Why, all they had to do was look on top of Mt. Ararat!)

34. Sea side : LEE. Nice misdirection.

35. Tags on bags : IDS. Identification tags are about the only things many airlines still give away for free.

38. Impact sound : WHAM!!

39. Camp staffer : AIDE.

40. Rochester's bride : EYRE. Plain Jane.

45. Antlered critter : ELK.

46. Place of honor : DAIS.

47. Like small coffeemakers : ONE CUP.

49. Madame Gorbachev : RAISA. She died in 1999 of leukemia. In 2009, Mikhail made an album titled "Songs for Raisa" made up of old Russian love songs. Who says the Russians are cold-hearted??

50. Atomic number for nitrogen : SEVEN.

51. Bush adviser Scowcroft : BRENT.

52. It has roots and branches : MATH. Great misdirection!

53. Think tank output : IDEA.

55. Unable to merely walk past a mirror, say : VAIN.

56. Brand that once sported a reptile : IZOD.

57. Flying talker : MYNA.

59. "Get it, man?" : DIG?

60. Slugger's stat : RBI. I am finally getting the hang of this: slugger = Runs Batted In, pitcher = Earned Run Average. And then we have : 61-Down. Transfer ___ : RNA. Runs Not Allowed. (^0^)

Have a great week, everyone. See you next Thursday!

Marti