Tuesday, May 3, 2016 Janice Luttrell

Title: Word Combinations - The first word of the first three long climbers can be placed ahead of the word, FIGURE.

3. Manual transmission : STICK SHIFT. Stick Figure

9. Husband of a fabled storyteller, in an L. Frank Baum title : FATHER GOOSE. Father Figure

24. One on the FBI's "Most Wanted" list : PUBLIC ENEMY. Public Figure

31. Ship's bow decoration ... and, literally, the first word of 3-, 9- and 24-Down : FIGUREHEAD. 3-, 9-, and 24-Down are the FIGURE HEADS.

Argyle here. Neat getting the reveal into the last spot. I had 3-Down and 24-Down filled in and looked for a theme. I thought I had it but thought, "EWW!". They had TICKS and LICE. I was relieved to find there weren't any more, shall we say, nits.

Across:

1. Old West chasers : POSSE

6. Child in the kitchen : CHEF

10. Sleep under the stars, with "out" : CAMP

14. Stage performer : ACTOR

15. Dance often accompanied by a ukulele : HULA

16. Heavenly bear : URSA

17. A Marx brother : CHICO

18. Be the lookout for, say : ABET

19. Angler's gear : REEL

20. Sounds of time : TOCKS. I know where the TICKS are.

21. Pretense : CHARADE

23. Hold on to : KEEP

25. 43-Down alum Cheri : OTERI. "Saturday Night Live" alumna, Cheri Oteri.

 

26. __ of thousands : CAST

28. GM labor group : UAW. (full name: International Union of United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America)

30. Seaman's double-breasted jacket : REEFER. This link may be TMI but interesting. LINK



 

 

34. "Excuse me?" : "HUH?"

35. Fit for the task : ABLE

36. Upscale chocolate brand : GODIVA

37. Bush spokesman Fleischer : ARI. White House Press Secretary.

38. Take to the skies : FLY

39. Letters in some email addresses : AOL

40. Ring insert : GEM

41. Spotted cats may be spotted on one : SAFARI. Cool cross with AFRICA.

43. Column-lined walkway : STOA

 

44. Game name often shouted during play : UNO. Kids love this game.

45. Like grams and liters : METRIC

46. Wii forerunner : NES. (Nintendo Entertainment System)

47. __ and crafts : ARTS

48. Immune system component : T-CELL

50. Otherwise : ELSE

52. Miss Teen USA contest, e.g. : PAGEANT

55. Cigar remains : ASHES

58. Proctor's handout : EXAM

59. Like a frittata : EGGY

62. Talk show interviewee : GUEST

63. Height: Pref. : ALTI. (altitude)

64. Glutton's demand : MORE. Was Oliver a glutton then?

65. Use a soapbox : ORATE

66. Some undershirts : TEEs

67. The "Y" in YSL : YVES. (Yves Saint Laurent)

68. Honda Accord, e.g. : SEDAN

Down:

1. Treaty : PACT

2. Tres y cinco : OCHO. 3+5=8 (Cinco de Mayo Thursday)

4. Place for a plug : SOCKET

5. Unevenly notched, as leaf edges : EROSE

6. "__-ching!" : CHA or "KA-ching!

7. Wheel center : HUB

8. Vote into office : ELECT

10. Like a spicy Indian chicken dish : CURRIED

11. Locale : AREA

12. Teacher's graduate deg. : MSED. The Master of Education (M.Ed., Ed.M., M.A.Ed., M.A.E., M.S.Ed., M.S.E., or M.Ed.L.)

13. Lacking color : PALE

22. Colored part of the iris : AREOLA. I'm confused; the iris is the colored part of the eye. I did enjoy searching for an image of an AREOLA though but nothing iris related showed up.

25. What borrowers do : OWE

26. Deep gap : CHASM

27. Surrounding glows : AURAE

29. Prince __ Khan : ALY

32. Blessed __ : EVENT

33. 1990s Philippine president : RAMOS. Fidel V. Ramos, Wiki LINK.

35. Kilimanjaro's locale : AFRICA

39. Wolfed down : ATE

42. Greek goddess of the hunt : ARTEMIS

 

43. NBC sketch series, briefly : SNL

47. Guarantee : ASSURE

49. Statehouse official: Abbr. : LT.GOV. (lieutenant governor)

51. Old Nigerian capital : LAGOS. 1991, the Federal Government was relocated to Abuja. However, Lagos still remains the financial center of the country.

52. __ moss : PEAT

53. Wheelbarrow shaft : AXLE

54. Scandal suffix : GATE

56. This, to a señora : ESTA

57. WWII machine gun : STEN. British tommy gun.

60. LSAT cousin : GRE. (Graduate Record Examination)

61. Word of assent : YES, and a roundabout way of saying I'm done.

 

Argyle

Sunday July 27, 2014 Ed Sessa,

Theme: "Double Talk"- Clues, all in quotation marks (hence "talk"), serve dual purpose (hence "double talk"), explaining both words in theme answers which are all in the pattern of *ING *

23A. "Uh-oh, there's a ball and glass shards under the window"? : BREAKING NEWS

45A "Give 20% for great service"? : TIPPING POINT. Tipping was new to me when I first arrived in the US.

61A. "You shoulda seen the one that got away"? : FISHING LINE. The Annandale flea market we go on Saturdays are surrounded by many many lakes.

70A. "The children were angels and in bed by eight"? : SITTING BULL

86A. "Hooray, you're up!"? : ROUSING CHEER

112A. "Here's a good way to use your comb"? : PARTING WORDS

17D. "Who's ahead?"? : LEADING QUESTION

43D. "A daily jog is good for you"? : RUNNING ARGUMENT

So, all the theme entries are completely re-interpreted with amusing effect. It takes imagination & humor to execute this type of gimmick. Ed is a pro.

Also I love the fill today. So clean for a 140-worder.

Across:

1. Be a slacker : DOG IT

6. Soft-bodied swimmers : OCTOPI. The meat is chewy.

12. Kin of raspberries : CATCALLS. Not other fruit.

20. One may be seen with glasses : OPERA. Opera glasses.

21. Forgoes : WAIVES

22. Like sloths : ARBOREAL

25. "No sweat" : REAL EASY!

26. Prohibited : BANNED

27. Organ with a drum : EAR

28. Small strings on the Big Island : UKES

30. Presages : BODES

31. Destroys, as illusions : SHATTERS. That's why I disliked Juiced.

33. Forced with a crowbar : PRIED

35. 68-Down maker : DELI. 68. 35-Across order : BLT. I already harvested two tomatoes from our garden.

36. __Kosh B'Gosh : OSH

37. Rhone feeder : SAONE

38. "The Great Schnozzola" : DURANTE

41. Taj Mahal setting : AGRA

48. St. leader : GOV. "St" can stand for quite a few things.

49. Dull-edged : BLUNT

51. Trekkie, to some : NERD

52. Get into : DON. Oh, clothes.

53. "__ se habla español" : AQUI. Here. Spanish is spoken here.

54. Wrigley's Big Red flavoring : CINNAMON

56. Silver lining : UPSIDE

59. Pitch : HURL

60. RR stop : STN

64. Composer Camille Saint-__ : SAENS

65. Link up with : TIE TO

67. "The Dark Knight" director Christopher : NOLAN. I confused him with the creepy X-Men director Bryan Singer.

68. Brazilian dance opener : BOSSA (Nova)

69. Jamboree quarters : TENTS

74. "Enough already!" : TMI

76. Therefore : ERGO

77. Like this answer : ACROSS. So meta.

78. Things : ENTITIES

80. Indian flatbread : NAAN

81. Mauna __ : LOA. "Long" in Hawaiian.

82. Part of a family business name : SONS

84. Unmanned flier : DRONE

85. Copier size: Abbr. : LTR

91. Hold 'em opener : ANTE

92. Most monumental : BIGGEST

94. Aloe targets : SORES

95. Batt. terminal : NEG

97. Sources in a modern bibliog. : URLS

98. Playwright Chekhov : ANTON. Masha, one of  "Three Sisters",  was modeled on his future wife, a stage actress.

99. Mason : STONEMAN

104. '50s first lady : MAMIE

106. Cocktail hour spread : PATE

107. Hieroglyphic serpent : ASP

109. Wisconsin city on Lake Michigan : RACINE. Not familiar with this city. Siren, Wisconsin has a Burnikel Road.

110. Mass approval : AMEN AMEN

115. Beltway : RING ROAD

116. Each : A PIECE

117. Like a good watchdog : ALERT

118. Chant : INTONATE. Only know the noun "Intonation".

119. Headed for the Styx : DOOMED

120. Helps through difficulty, with "over" : TIDES

Down:

1. Lou of Fox Business Network : DOBBS. I used to watch him faithfully in his CNN days.

2. TV book club creator : OPRAH

3. Actress Davis : GEENA

4. "__, Therefore I Am": Dennis Miller book : I RANT

5. Become fond of : TAKE TO

6. Possess : OWN

7. Cockatoo quarters : CAGES

8. '90s "New Yorker" editor Brown : TINA. Sharp wit. She bought this famous cartoon & published it immediately. Like LA Times crosswords, "New Yorker" has a long queue of cartoons.

"No, Thursday's out. How about never - is never good for you?"

9. Didn't shop around, maybe : OVER-PAID

10. Benchlike seat : PEW

11. Distributing : ISSUING

12. Liked, with "for" : CARED

13. Greek war god : ARES

14. Not decided, in skeds : TBA

15. Comic with a satiric news show : COLBERT. I prefer Jon Stewart. Who's your favorite comic, Jayce?

16. Colorful ring : AREOLA

18. Zap : LASE

19. Stone and others : SLYS

24. Caesar's "that is" : ID EST

29. Maintain : KEEP

32. Endangered Sumatrans : RHINOS

34. Kim Possible's sidekick __ Stoppable : RON. No idea. Never watched Kim Possible.

35. "An Inconvenient Woman" novelist : DUNNE

37. Three-mo. period : SPR

38. LED component : DIODE

39. Open, for one : TOURNAMENT

40. Bad things : EVILS

41. Kindergarten basics : ABCS

42. People people : GLITTERATI. People magazine.

44. Gothic novelist Radcliffe : ANN

46. Phnom __ : PENH

47. God in both Eddas : ODIN

50. Political family spanning three centuries : TAFTS.  I even remember Bob Taft. Must be some scandals.

53. Cries of discovery : AHAs

55. Mine in Milan : MIO

56. Citrus hybrids : UGLIS. Very juicy.

57. It may contain steps : PLAN

58. Perform, in a way : SING

62. Digging : INTO

63. Have-__: disadvantaged ones : NOTS

64. Reliable, as a citizen : SOLID

66. Prince William's alma mater : ETON

69. Workout wt. : TEN LB

70. Jamboree attendee : SCOUT. Have any of you read "The Mockingbird Next Door"? Harpee Lee called Truman Capote a "psychopath".

71. Some savings accts. : IRAS

72. Prefix with diction : BENE

73. Not posted yet : UNSENT

75. "Understood" : I SEE

77. Puzzled, after "at" : A LOSS

79. La-la lead-in : TRA

82. Script outline : SCENARIO

83. Aptly named Quaker cereal : OHS. I've been enjoying the Test Kitchen steel cut oatmeal D-Otto mentioned on the blog a few months ago. Too bad he does not like it himself.

86. Master again : RE-LEARN

87. Ain't good? : ISN'T. Grammatically.

88. Place for a to-do list : NOTE PAD

89. Garden product word : GRO. Miracle-Gro.

90. Bankruptcy result, briefly : REORG

93. "__ Viejo": Carlos Fuentes novel : GRINGO. Carlos Fuentes said Spanish was the only language he could make love with. That's why he only married Mexican women.

96. Plague : GNAW AT

98. "Duck Dynasty" airer : A AND E

99. Rub ingredient : SPICE

100. Bacteria found in the GI tract : ECOLI

101. Stuck in muck : MIRED

102. Wrestler known as "the Giant" : ANDRE. He was in The Princess Bride.

103. Tweeting locales : NESTS. Not Twitter tweet.

104. Spouse on the Seine : MARI. Husband.

105. Ugandan despot : AMIN

106. Organic fuel : PEAT

108. Poppy prop : STEM

111. Minn. shopping mecca : MOA. Mall of America, where Gary & his wife will visit next month.

113. GI's address : APO

114. Beatty of "Deliverance" : NED. Wish I did not see the movie. 

C.C.

Thursday, May 9th 2019 Roland Huget

Theme: North/South Divide - The theme entries separate the poles, as the reveal succinctly explains:

58A. In complete opposition ... and a feature of the four other longest answers: POLES APART. Or a Warsaw couple when one of them is away on a trip?

And the themers:

17A. *Finds flaws (in): PICKS HOLES, usually as relates to someone's argument. Polemicists are adept at this.

21A. *Casino fixtures where blinds might be used: POKER TABLES. This one might need some explanation. In some poker games, famously Texas Hold 'Em, after a new hand is dealt there are two "forced" bets to get the action started, the "small blind" and the "big blind". Two players must bet, irrespective of what their cards look like. The blinds rotate around the table as each hand is dealt. The amounts of the blinds are posted at each table so you know what you're getting into before you sit down, e.g. "$5/$10".

36A. *They make nuts healthy: POLYUNSATURATES. The "good" fats found in nuts, fish and other foodstuffs.

50A. *Skilled debaters: POLEMICISTS. Word of the week for me. Excellent.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable solve. It took me just over half an hour which is quite a bit longer than I'm used to on a Thursday. I didn't see the theme until the reveal, and that let me go back to 17A and fill in a lot of gaps in the Northwest. And some great words - polyunsaturates, polemicists, some long entries in the downs and I don't recall any clunk in the fill.

Great job from Roland. Let's take the Grand Tour.

Across:

1. Award named for a goddess: CLIO. Advertising awards. The muse was "the proclaimer, glorifier and celebrator of history, great deeds and accomplishments".

5. Put down: ABASE

10. First choice: FAVE

14. "You're __ luck": OUTA. I looked askance at this one, I'd always seen "outta" before. I acquiesced in the end.

15. __ shorts: BOXER

16. Truth stretcher: LIAR

19. "Star Wars" sentence inverter: YODA

20. Baseball bat wood: ASH. I thought it was ELM at first, but it's too heavy for modern-day bats.

23. Sign-off word: YOURS

25. River through Tours: LOIRE. Beautiful part of the world, the Loire valley.

26. Shot water?: RAPIDS

28. Rash: HASTY

31. Citation ender, briefly: ET AL. Texts with multiple authors in citations are shortened by citing the first author's name, followed by "et al".

32. Usually multilayered dessert: TORTE

33. Place to unwind: SPA

40. __ card: common phone component: SIM. A Subscriber Identity Module, if you ever wondered.

41. Closes in on: NEARS

42. Half of sechs: DREI. German, natürlich.

43. Alaskan cruise sight: FJORD

44. Iris ring: AREOLA

46. Milan's La __: SCALA

49. The Huskies of the NCAA's Big East: UCONN. The women have won 11 basketball and 5 field hockey national titles.

54. Tank contents: GAS

57. Tip: APEX

60. Wild, all-night party: RAVE

61. Tiny swimmer: AMEBA. I still can't get used to not spelling this AMOEBA.

62. Marine threat: ORCA

63. Kept in one's sights: EYED

64. Fixes: SPAYS

65. Urban bane: SMOG. Much, much better here in LA than it was when I first moved here. The worst smog I've ever experienced was last year in Delhi, when the AQI was 440 (out of possible 500); anything over 300 is categorized as "hazardous". I came down with bronchitis and tore a rib cartilage one night I was coughing so hard.

Down:

1. Historic NYC club, with "The": COPA. Crosses filled this in for me, it didn't spring to mind.

2. '60s-'70s All-Star pitcher Tiant: LUIS. Thank you, crosses. Way before my USA time.

3. Sensory omen regarding money: ITCHY PALM. Lovely clue and fill.

4. Wine barrel wood: OAK

5. Can't stand: ABHORS

6. Financial records: BOOKS

7. Roadster rod: AXLE

8. Oracle: SEER

9. Formerly, formerly: ERST. From whence "erstwhile".

10. Airman, slangily: FLYBOY

11. Pungent mayo: AIOLI. Pungent? Odd choice of adjective. Is the aroma of garlic pungent?

12. "Star Wars" heavy breather: VADER. Darth. I like how this crossed YODA. It was world Star Wars Day last Saturday "May the Fourth be with you". Makes me laugh every year.

13. Wipe out: ERASE

18. Source of fries: SPUD. Peeled, chipped and double-fried. Yum! Not OILY at all.

22. Let out, e.g.: ALTER

24. Like some fried food: OILY. Yech. No excuse for this. Usually caused by not having the oil hot enough before you start cooking, and not keeping it up to temp.

26. Gym iterations: REPS

27. French possessive: À TOI. "Yours".

28. Squirrel away: HOARD

29. Fine __: ARTS

30. "The Simpsons" disco guy: STU

32. Old Russian ruler: TSAR. Always need to wait for a T or S to decide between this and CZAR

33. Coerce: STRONG-ARM. Nice fill. A lot of quality in the fill today.

34. Thurman's role in "The Avengers" (1998): PEEL. Diana Rigg played Emma Peel in the original British TV series back in the '60s.

35. Home to K2: ASIA. The world's second tallest mountain, and most demanding and second-most dangerous to climb behind Annapurna.

37. Clear, as a copier: UNJAM. My printer has an annoying habit of reporting a paper jam when there isn't one. I still have to go through the rigmarole of "clearing" the non-jam before it'll start working again.

38. Prefix with natal: NEO-

39. Yemeni port: ADEN

43. Showed off a muscle: FLEXED

44. Fills in for: ACTS AS

45. Soprano Ponselle who debuted at the Met opposite Caruso: ROSA. Thank you, crosses.

46. Slash on a score sheet: SPARE. Bowling. Easy for the bowlers among us, less easy for me.

47. Insured patient's obligation: CO-PAY

48. Advil alternative: ALEVE

49. "Best before" cousin: USE BY

51. Hoppy brews: IPA'S

52. Freebie: COMP

53. Intestinal sections: ILEA

55. Violin music instruction: ARCO. Use the bow, as opposed to pizzicato, pluck the strings.

56. Unaccompanied: STAG. Took me a while to see this. I wanted SOLO first.

59. Bldgs. with many boxes: P.O.'S. I was trying to fit apt, condo, some other multi-dwelling building, then the Post Office penny dropped.

OK, I've run out of runway so time to post the grid and take off.

Steve

Thursday, December 31, 2009 Bill Thompson

Theme: CATCH (65A. Verb associated with the beginnings of 18-, 26-, 43- and 57-Across)

18A. Impossible to get close to: COLD AS ICE. Catch a Cold.

26A. Surrender: WAVE A WHITE FLAG. Catch a Wave.

43A. "Jerry Maguire" catchphrase: SHOW ME THE MONEY. Catch a Show.

57A. Right-click result, often: POP-UP MENU. Catch a Pop-up (fly ball).

I like how CATCH is gridded at the very end, providing the ultimate "Aha" moment. And of course, at my solving level, I'd prefer the unifying clue to be "Seize, or verb associated with the beginnings of 18-, 26-, 43- and 57-Across).

Was surprised to see VETCH (28D. Climbing legume). I faintly remember Lemonade mentioned that this plant often appeared in his parents' old old NYT puzzles. No relationship to kvetch.

A bit of slog for me. I was not engaged and did not give the puzzle its deserved attention. Still in shock and saddened by the news of Dan Naddor. His family told me that Dan passed away on the eve of Dec 28, 2009, from the complications of the cancer treatment (radiation to head/neck). He was considered cancer-free.

Dan began constructing crosswords 5 years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer at the back of his throat at the age of 48. He quickly became probably the most prolific LAT constructor in the last few years. He told me constructing crossword distracted his brain so he would not focus on how lousy he felt physically. He family believed that this prolonged his life and gave him something to strive for & enjoy. Dan enjoyed reading our comments and "entertaining my friends each week in puzzle-land".

His family have started a Facebook page under Dan Naddor and said the crossword people are welcome to visit and post. They also mentioned that he had several puzzles on queue in LA Times and NY Times, so we will see his byline in 2010. Dan, you will be deeply missed!

Across:

1. Sluglike "Star Wars" crime lord: JABBA. Jabba the Hutt. Scrabbly corner.

6. Sound from someone who's down: SOB

9. Legal orders: WRITS

14. To go, in Grenoble: ALLER. French for "go". Grenoble is a city in SE France.

15. Supermarket chain founded in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance). Obtained the answer with the crosses.

16. Wore: HAD ON

17. Scrabble 10-pointer: Z TILE

20. Lifetime-guaranteed lighters: ZIPPOS. Did quite a bit of Intellectual Property investigation for Zippo in China.

22. Soft drink choice: DIET COKE

23. Out of balance: A-LOP. Yep, it exists in some dictionary Argyle checked last time.

25. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone: LIA. Lia Fáil is pronounced like "Lee-a Fall". Had a ton of DF fun in the old TMS Daily puzzle.

33. Having a lot to lose, maybe?: OBESE. The clue sounds very Dan Naddor, doesn't it?

34. "Waiting for Lefty" playwright: ODETS (Clifford)

35. Mme. in Madrid: SRA

37. Beach toy: KITE. PAIL too.

38. Circle Line : Hudson :: Bateaux-Mouches : __: SEINE. Bateaux-Mouches ("Fly Boats". Bateaux = boats. Mounches = Flies) are open excursion boats that provide visitors to Paris with a view of the city from along the river Seine, a la Wikipedia.

39. Smart guy?: ALEC. Smart Alec.

40. Wall St. enforcer: SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

41. Wooden shoe: SABOT. Same root as sabotage, according to Kazie.

42. Send, so to speak: ELATE. Slangy "send", right?

46. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Gai is literally "chicken" in Cantonese.

47. Apartment manager, for short: SUPE. Only in crossword world.

48. Lark: ESCAPADE. One of my favorite entries in this grid.

53. Indiana and Purdue, e.g.: RIVALS. Oh, I was unaware of this fact. Don't follow college sports.

59. Knot over: RETIE

60. Spitting __: IMAGE

61. Oven cleaner component: LYE

62. "__, Therefore I Am": Dennis Miller book: I RANT. See the book cover. New to me. Dennis Miller does rant a lot though.

63. Checked out before a heist: CASED

64. Nonexpert: LAY. Wrote down HAM first.

Down:

1. Cat's passion: JAZZ. Cool cat jazz.

2. Some glee club members: ALTI. Plural of alto?

4. Semi-soft Italian cheese: BEL PAESE. Literally "Beautiful Country" in Italian. I've never had it.

5. Anatomical rings: AREOLAE. Singular is Areola: Are(a) + Ola. The nipple rings.

6. [thus]: SIC. [error left as is].

7. Common prayer opening: O GOD. Not O LORD?

8. Island in the Java Sea: BALI

9. Hypotheticals: WHAT IFS

10. Imp: RASCAL

11. Personal: Pref.: IDIO. Or "Peculiar: Pref". As in idiosyncrasy.

12. Pendulum sound: TOCK. Tick too.

13. Bygone dagger: SNEE. Learned from doing crossword.

24. "Friends" friend: PHOEBE. "Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat ...".

26. Stir-fry cookware: WOKS

27. "__ Irish Rose": ABIE'S. Abie is Irish Rose's lover.

29. Nincompoop: IDIOT

30. Tithe portions: TENTHS

31. Narnia lion: ASLAN. Turkish for "lion". I've never seen "The Chronicles of Narnia". The "Born Free" lioness is ELSA.

32. Norwegian marathoner Waitz: GRETE. This lady won a record nine-time New York City Marathon. Not a familiar name to me at all. Is Grete pronounced like "great"?

36. __-deucy: ACEY. Guessed.

38. "I do not like them, __": Seuss line: SAM-I-AM. From "Green Eggs and Ham".

39. Medicinal plant: ALOE VERA

41. Traded: SWAPPED

42. Derived from observation: EMPIRIC. John Locke is the founder of Empiricism.

44. Model railroad scale: O GAUGE. Or O SCALE. We had this clue before.

45. Part of EEC: Abbr.: EUR. EEC = European Economic Community

48. Like "Lawrence of Arabia": EPIC

49. Vedic drink for an immortal soul: SOMA. The drug in "Brave New World".

50. Balancing experts, briefly?: CPAS. Nailed it.

51. Valley: DELL

52. One-named New Age singer: ENYA

54. Rat tail?: A TAT. Rat-a-tat. Good clue.

55. Friend of Pete and Julie on "The Mod Squad": LINC

56. Brother of Abel: SETH. Broth of Cain too.

58. One-eighty: UEY. Slang for U-turn?

Answer grid.

C.C.

Sunday January 4, 2009 Ed Voile

Theme: Old/New Things

23A: Any date in 2008? OLD YEAR'S DAY (New Year's Day)

25A: Replacement dog?: NEW YELLER (Old Yeller)

40A: City in ancient France?: OLD ORLEANS (New Orleans)

53A: Recently made?: NEW FASHIONED (Old Fashioned)

83A: Past eras in a city near Leeds?: OLD YORK TIMES (New York Times)

98A: Ebonics, e.g.?: NEW ENGLISH (Old English)

111A: Pink slip of a former GM Car?: OLDS PAPER (Newspaper)

116A: Waterway named for Paul?: NEWMAN RIVER (Ol' Man River)

"Ol' Man River" is a new song to me. As for 98A, Wikipedia says Ebonics refers to "Black English" or "African American Vernacular English". Why is it called NEW ENGLISH then? And How is it related to Old English? I guess I don't understand the rationale for his clue buildup.

Very nice and timely theme. Of those 8 theme answers, OLD YORK TIMES is my favorite.

Sunday's puzzle is always intimidating to me. The sheer size is overwhelming. And it often contains a few strange medical/chemical terms and obscure people' names. The difficulty level of NY Times Sunday puzzle is the same as their Thursday's. But our puzzle does not follow their pattern. I would say TMS Sunday is the most difficult, at least for me. I hope I can finish a 21*21 without cheating by the end of 2009.

Across:

11A: Playful troublemakers: SCALAWAGS. A new rascal word to me. Dictionary says that SCALAWAG also refers to "a native white Southerner who collaborated with the occupying forces during Reconstruction, often for personal gain."

20A: Unit of loudness: SONE. About 40 decibels.

21A: Civil War battle site: SHILOH. I was not familiar with Battle of SHILOH. What's so siginificant about it?

26A: Rocket launcher: BAZOOKA. OK, here is a picture. It's a portable. Topps also manufactures BAZOOKA baseball card.

27A: School in Sandhurst. Eng.: RMA (Royal Military Academy)

31A: Spaces between leaf veins: AREOLES. Can also be spelled AREOLAS, AREOLAE. The singular form is AREOLA. This is the only diagram I could find. And obviously they are not "Spaces between leaf veins".

35A: Chloroform discoverer: LIEBIG. OK, I checked, it's not a BIG LIE. This guy LIEBIG is indeed the discoverer of Chloroform, whatever it is. Wikipedia also says that he is known as the "father of the fertilizer industry" for his discovery of nitrogen as an essenitial plant nutrient.

45A: Wilson and Mulroney: BRIANS. Wilson is the lead singer for The Beach Boys. And Mulroney was the Canadian Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. I knew neither of them. Easy guess though.

52A: Gust of wind: SCUD. I always associate SCUD with ballistic missile.

63A: Arlene or Roald: DAHL. Arlene DAHL is an actress. Roald DAHL is the author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Both unknown to me.

67A: Isl. of Australia: TAS. I wish it were clued as "Prof's aides".

69A: Current flow restrictors: DIODES. No idea. This is too complicated for me to understand.

75A: "The Conformist" writer Moravia: ALBERTO. I googled his name.

79A: Destitute class: HAVE-NOTS

86A: Climb (a rope): SHINNY. New to me. Looks like an adjective.

96A: Mutation: FREAK. How so?

102A: Capital of ancient Lydia: SARDIS. See this map. Way obscure to me.

104A: "Roberta" star: ASTAIRE. Alright, here is the clip. I've never heard of "Roberta".

109A: Cooking sticks: SKEWERS

120A: Seaport in the Philippines: ILOILO. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Here is the map again. The spelling reminds of the African fly TSETSE.

124A: Scott of a famous case: DRED. Was he a gimme to you? I could only picture Scott Peterson in my mind. What a awful man he is.

Down:

4D: Milne character: EEYORE. Learned from doing Xword. How to pronounce EEYORE again?

6D: Racing org.: NHRA (National Hot Rod Association)

10D: Aromatic fungicide: THYMOL. THYME & OL (suffix for alcohol). Unknown to me. How can fungicide be "Aromatic"?

19D: Old pol. unit: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic). Pre-1991 obviously.

31D: Slow musical passages: ADAGIOS

34D: Sergeant fish: SNOOK. Had zero familiarity with this giant fish.

36D: Italian bowling: BOCCI. Or BOCCE. Yet another unknown. Looks like they are having fun.

37D: Pelvic bone: ILIUM. Also the Latin name for ancient Troy.

45D: Actor De Wilde: BRANDON. Another google. Which movie is he famous for?

47D: Mountain nymph: OREAD. Echo is an OREAD in Greek mythology.

50D: FDR or JFK: DEM. BHO is a DEM too. Weird, isn't it? Obama sounds so much better.

52D: Blues or Cardinals: ST. LOUIS

53D: Pres. advisory grp.: NSC (National Security Council). James Jones will be Obama's National Security Advisor.

59D: Love potion, in Britain: PHILTRE. Holy smoke. Really? How come I've never heard of this word? It's rooted in Greek philos, love. I suppose PHILTER is "Love potion, in America". Maybe I need to learn how to brew PHILTER.

68D: Ratfink: STOOLIE

77D: Mass calendars: ORDOS. Latin for "order". I have no doubt that I won't be able to remember this word next time the clue comes up.

80D: Director Kurosawa: AKIRA. I recognized his Japanese name when I googled. What a brilliant career!

84D: Hebrew letter: KOPH. 19th letter of Hebrew alphabet. I got it from the across fills. It's pronounced the same as cough.

90d: Master of a ship SKIPPER. I always thought Joe DiMaggio's nickname is Yankee SKIPPER rather than Yankee Clipper.

93D: "Falconer" writer: CHEEVER (John). Here is the bookcover. Is it worth reading? Have never heard of this writer.

94D: Earthly: TERRENE. Only knew terrain.

95D: Blows a gasket: SEES RED. And HUFFS (79D: Blows hard). Someone is mad.

97D: "__ Fideles": ADESTE. Semper came up first.

105D: Austrian article: DER. Never know when to put DER, when to put DAS.

110D: Macrame feature: KNOT. I did not know the meaning of Macrame.

111D: Archaic: abbr.: OBS (Obsolete). Where can you find this abbreviation?

118D:Wire measure: MIL. It's about .001 inch. Saw this clue before.

C.C.

Thursday, March 27, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Quip

20A: Start of the Evan Esar quip: TO THE NIGHT OWL

37A: Part 2 of quip: IT'S ALWAYS BETTER

57A: End of a quip: LATE THAN NEVER

Technically, Esar quipped "To a night owl, it's always better than never". It seems a bit arbitrary and capricious for a constructor to alter someone's original quip at his own convenience to construct a crossword grid, don't you think so? My nerve is a bit chafed by this granular unevenness in an otherwise very pleasing, smooth & Monday-like puzzle.

If not for the upper left corner AREOLE snag, I would have reached the Emerald city and seen the great Wizard of Oz unaided! I found my yellow brick roads very early on, after 37A revealed itself to me. I easily hoed patches and patches of the loose fields, and I did not really find any hard clumps of dirts, all easily crushable.

On a non-crossword related issue, I think I tend to bristle at things that might not raise your ire at all. Take Clinton's explanation for her Bosnia sniper fire faux pas for example, she said: "I say a lot of things - millions of words a day - so if I misspoke, that was a just a misstatement." Many pundits and reporters pounced on her faulty memory blips.

I actually believe that people do misspeak for things that they may not have experienced. I know I would not even consider venturing to Bosnia under that risky situation. I am, however, bothered by her "millions of words a day". How could that be? At what speed? Faster than an auctioneer?

Someone actually counts the amount of word an auctioneer speaks per minute, and it will take Hillary 40 hours talking non-stop to reach a million word. Is she so privileged that her day is consisted of more than 24 hours? I tend to take the meaning of words very literally due to my lamentable lack of understanding of American idioms and slangs and the habitual exaggeration of certain stuff in American culture.

Now back to today's puzzle, the Grid structure is : 15*15

187 filled squares, 38 blank squares, total words 76 (Across 35, Down 41). Maximum word account for Monday-Friday puzzle is 78 in case you have not paid attention to it.

Here we go:

1A: Valise: BAG. La valise, the suitcase.

4A: Earthquake: SEISM

9A: Car lifts: JACKS

15A: Banks of baseball: ERNIE. Or Els of PGA (or South African golfer Els, Big Easy Els, etc)

16A: Square: UNHIP

17A: Salton or Sargasso: SEA

18A: Face the day: RISES

19A: Saturn or Mercury: DEITY. Both Roman Gods.

23A: Jumble: OLIO. This is a typical Crosswordese (words that only appear in Crosswords). ORT, ETUI, ALEE are of the same ilk.

24A: Turns right: GEES. Enough left and right turns (HAWS)! Try something else. Please jump into the Comment section and share with us if you have a better clue for GEE/GEES.

28A: Cowboy movie: WESTERN

31A: Lay waste to: DESPOIL. Learned this word in 2003 when the rampant looting took place in Iraq and some of the museum pieces were despoiled. But to borrow a line from Rumsfeld: "Stuff happens, democracy is messy, freedom is untidy."

34A: The best __ plans...: LAID

36A: Designer Ashley: LAURA. Never heard of her, a pure guess.

43A: Actress Witherspoon: REESE. I like her "Walk the Line" & "Sweet Home Alabama" only.

48A: Comebacks: RETORTS. I was on the wrong train, putting RETURNS first.

53A: Seine: NET. Got it this time.

54A: Unsolicited ms. encl. SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope).

56A: Viral lump: WART

62A: Bloodsucker: LEECH

64A: Transmitter: RADIO

65A: Drs.' group: AMA (American Medical Association). I am very impressed by the extensive work DWB (Doctors Without Border) has done so far, very far reaching.

69A: Overbearing: BOSSY

70A: Bubbly: PERKY. Want the old effervescent Katie Couric back.

71A: Big Band, for one: ERAS

Down entries:

1D: Confer: BESTOW

2D: Interstice of a leaf: AREOLE. I think I saw this word in TMS puzzle before. Maybe it's AREOLA. Not sure.

3D: Free of charge: GRATIS

4D: Desiccated: SERE

5D: Poetic name for Ireland: ERIN. Good to see ERIN and EIRE (26D: Emerald Isle) in the same puzzle.

6D: Badge of honor: INSIGNIA

7D: Blockade: SIEGE

8D: Interlocked: MESHED

9D: Self-defense system: JUDO. Putin's favorite sport. He is a black belt.

11D: Cool it!: CHILL OUT

12D: Set of a part: KIT

13D: Mata Hari, for one: SPY. A femme fatale.

21D: Steaming: HOT. I kind of like the almost intersection of HOT and NIGHT.

27D: Winged: ALAR. Wing parts are ALAE. Ala is Latin for wing.

29D: Actress Barkin: ELLEN. Not impressed by her role in Ocean's 13.

38D: Beret filler: TETE. Tired of this clue too. Let me see... Port City in Mozambique, no, I don't like it. Don't like French head either. I can not think of anything else.

38D: Resident of a new region: SETTLERS

39D: Tempe sch.: ASU (Arizona State University).

41D: Spatula: SPREADER

47D: Petty dictator: SATRAP. Identical clue on Feb 27 puzzle.

50D: Devastate: RAVAGE

51D: Nervous vibration: TREMOR

52D: Horizontal layers: STRATA

55D: Sedimentary rock: SHALE. Filled in from the down clues. It's "a rock of fissile or laminated structure formed by the consolidation of clay or argillaceous material."

60D: Small notch: NICK

C.C.

Sunday November 9, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Selective Collective

27A: Group of pooches: OODLES OF POODLES

120A: Group of tropical fish: MASSES OF WRASSES

16D: Group of swine: SCORES OF BOARS

34D: Group of food fish (var.): SCADS OF SHADS

37D: Group of jumpers: LOADS OF TOADS

39D: Group of jumpers, briefly: SLEWS OF ROOS

59A: Group of male donkeys: STACKS OF JACKS

I've never heard of the tropical fish WRASSES (120A). Why there is a "var." mark for 34D?

What a puzzle! Now I feel like a raisin in the morning sun, not dried up and not plump either. I think I still have some moisture left.

I've never filled in so many blanks on a Sunday puzzle. The simple rhyming theme certainly helped. And there was no obscure medical/chemical term intersecting one another to frustrate me.

Had to do a few googling and a few V-8 moment wite-outs in the end. But today's efficient solving makes me feel rather smart. Not much to complain except the clue for SASH (86A: Pageant ID). The abbreviated ID is asking for an abbreviated answer. A simple "Pageant wear" will do the job.

Across:

9A: Type of committee: AD HOC. And another Latin phrase: HIC (77A: __ jacet).

21A: Dentition: TEETH. Dention and teething are synonymous, not TEETH, right?

25A: Mediterranean island nation: MALTA. Its capital is Valletta.

26A: Parkinson's medication: L-DOPA. I forgot. It appeared in our puzzle before.

32A: Gang follower?: STER. Gangster, mobster, teamster, etc.

36A: Kind of tea or remedy: HERBAL

60A: "__ the Explorer": DORA. Lovely DORA bedding set for a small girl.

80A: Switched switch: OFF ON. I don't understand the grammar of the clue.

88A: Both haves of a fly?: TSES. Tsetse. I guess there is no other better way to clue TSES.

89A: "The Right Stuff" org.: NASA. Pure guess. I've never heard of the movie "The Right Stuff" .

92A: Prairie coverage: OAT GRASS. Oh, I did not know that this grass is called OAT GRASS. So different from wheatgrass.

95A: Swanson of Hollywood: GLORIA. She appears in almost every JFK biography due to her affair with Joe Kennedy Sr.

97A: Disney World attraction: EPCOT. Have you been to EPCOT Center?

107A: Everett of "Citizen Kane": SLOANE. I googled his name. I found the movie hard to follow.

111A: such being the case: AS IT IS

123A: Plant with two seed leaves: DICOT. No idea. See this Monocot vs DICOT link. What are "two seed leaves"?

128A: Century plant: AGAVE. The fiber AGAVE yields is called sisal hemp.

132A: Desert traveler: NOMAD

133A: DOD part: DEPT. DOD is Department of Defense.

Down:

1D: Poetic stanza: STROPHE. I would not have got this word without the across fills.

2D: Spaces between leaf veins: AREOLES. The singular form is AREOLA, which was clued as " Ring around the pupil" last time.

4D: Space station of old: SKYLAB. From 1973-1979. MIR was de-orbed in 2001.

6D: New bread abroad: EUROS. I like this clue.

9D: Start of sphere: ATMO. Atmosphere.

10D: View from Mount Pisgah: DEAD SEA. Where is Mount Pisgah? I only see Mount Nebo.

15D: Capp of comic strips: ANDY. Hmm, I'd love the clue to be ANDY Garcia related.

17D: Long-snouted animal: TAPIR. He is ugly, like a pig. I did not know his name before.

28D: Day's march: ETAPE. Again, without the adjacent fills, I would not have obtained this word. I don't think I understood "Day's march" last time when we had the discussion.

29D: Bay window: ORIEL. See this link.

45D: Animal fat: LARD. It's pork fat. Suet is beef/mutton fat.

47D: Thin wdt.: NAR. Narrow? What is "wdt"? Width?

50D: Defeat decisively: TROUNCE

51D: Bombing runs: SORTIES

52D: Corey of "Murphy's Romance": HAIM. Another google. Have never heard of Corey HAIM or "Murphy's Romance" before.

53D: Silents star Theda: BARA. The Vamp. I often confuse her with the "It" girl Clara Bow.

55D: Oscar winner Kedrova: LILA. She won Oscar for "Zorba the Greek".

63D: Supreme Court Justice Black: HUGO. What case is he famous for?

74D: Far from the flock: LOST

94D: Diamond of "Night Court": SELMA. Is she the pretty girl on the front row? I've never heard of her name before.

96D: Fretting: IN A STEW

98D: Tapioca source: CASSAVA. Have you had fresh CASSAVA before?

102D: Yellowstone attraction: GEYSERS. Great picture.

108D: Eviction: OUSTER

109D: Trooper's gun: RADAR. Or the Nehi drinker (M*A*S*H).

119D: Vincent Lopez theme song: NOLA. I could only find this theme music clip, not the song.

C.C.

Friday April 16, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Losing (bat)TLE - TLE in a *TTLE ending common phrases are dropped.

17. Princeton jazzman?: JERSEY CAT(TLE). Jersey Cattle. Princeton = Jersey. Jazzman = Cat.

21. "Egg-laying for Dummies," etc.? : CHICKEN LIT(TLE). Chicken Little.

27. What a New York baseball owner would do to ensure player fitness?: TEST ONE'S MET(TLE). Test One's Mettle. Owner for the NY Mets.

42. Sign outside a boarded-up JFK?: AIRPORT SHUT(TLE). Dan also gave us ARR (37A. LAX datum) and TSA (31D. Airport safety gp.). TSA = Transportation Security Administration. Established after 9/11.

50. Little Londoner?: PEANUT BRIT(TLE). Peanut Brittle.

56. Carpet-cleaning android?: VACUUM BOT(TLE). Vacuum Bottle. Android = Bot. Short for Robot.

Besides battle, I could also think of mottle, scuttle, whittle. What else?

Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 20. Pretty high, esp considering the 60 theme squares. And a themeless like 72 words.

Across:

1. Fire starter?: MIS. Start of the word Misfire. Awesome clue. We also have 5D. Fired (up): PSYCHED. Fire echos.

4. Squabble: SPAT. And 41D. Quarrels: DUST-UPS

8. Exorbitant: STEEP

13. Mo. in 1781 in which Cornwallis surrendered: OCT. Cornwallis was the British general who surrendered to George Washington on October 19, 1781. Unknown to me.

14. "__ Really Going Out With Him?": Joe Jackson hit: IS SHE. Easy guess.

16. Volcanic flowers?: LAVAS. Flow-ers = Things that flow. I can hear Lois utter "Holy hotwick!".

19. Retirement legislation acronym: ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act).

20. One way to run: AMOK. Run amok.

23. Disappear: VANISH

25. Par __: AVION

26. Subj. including grammar: ENG. Instinctively filled in ESL.

32. It's hard to cut through: RED TAPE. Thought of DIAMOND.

33. Company with toy trucks: HESS. Some old beat-up toys are worth quite some money.

34. Young hooter: OWLET

38. Its youngest British member, Elise Tan Roberts, was admitted at age 2: MENSA. This girl is smart indeed. I drew a blank.

39. Pres. Jefferson: THOS. Was unaware that it's short for Thomas.

40. Like Wiener schnitzel: BREADED. Have never had schnitzel.

44. Joker: WAG

47. Figure of speech: TROPE

48. Hard to endure: SEVERE

54. Rte. through Houston: I-TEN

55. Litmus reddeners: ACIDS

58. Indian royal: RANEE. So is RAJAH. Also 5 letters. (Update: Sorry for the error earlier.)

59. Parts of some support systems?: D-CUPS. Bras. We also have AREOLA (45D. Colored circle around the pupil). Are(a) + ola. So, A or B Cup?

60. 100%: ALL

61. Imitators: APERS

62. Latin infinitive: ESSE. To be.

63. Hope unit: RAY. Ray of hope.

Down:

1. Desert known for Joshua trees: MOJAVE. I forgot again.

2. Nickname for a player who performs under pressure: ICEMAN. Not familiar with this slang. Thought of CLUTCH player.

3. Like espresso: STRONG

4. Bonn pronoun: SIE. German "you".

6. Author Sholem: ASCH. Author of "The Nazarene". Pronounced like ASH, right?

7. Pad __: Asian noodle dish: THAI. Rice noodle.

8. Record holder: SLEEVE

9. Sullied: TARNISHED

10. Not a good sign: EVIL OMEN

11. Facility: EASINESS

12. Jr.'s exam: PSAT

15. Abbr. often following a comma: ETC.

18. Brew follower?: SKI. Brewski.

22. Classic Welles role: KANE. "Citizen Kaze". Rosebud.

24. "Let it stand": STET. For editors.

28. Genesis: START

29. Shipping container weights: TARES. The old shipping allowance is TRET.

30. Day star?: OPRAH. Daytime talk show star. Meh!

32. Squad car cop, often: RESPONDER

34. Taxonomic suffix: OTA. A plural suffix occurring in taxonomic name. The singular is OTE, according to the dictionary.

35. Choppy seas feature: WHITECAP

36. Nancy's region: LORRAINE. Here is a good map.

38. Dole: METE

40. Author Harte: BRET

43. Works: OPUSES. Plural can be opera too.

44. Bachelor pad amenity: WET BAR

46. One way to break the news: GENTLY. Nice clue.

49. Get-up-and-go: VIM

50. Legal hire: PARA. Need "for short".

51. Underwear initials: BVD. What's your brand? I like Etam's thongs.

52. Sprint: RACE

53. "ER" areas: ICUS

57. "What's the __?": USE

Answer grid.

Happy 82rd Birthday, Dot!

C.C.