Monday, April 27, 2015 Mark Bickham

Theme: Thumbs

17A. Color named for a fruit : LIME GREEN. Green thumb, the ability to grow healthy plants.

37A. Legendary Lady Godiva watcher : PEEPING TOM. Tom Thumb, disambiguation There are several.

42A. Stiff from horseback riding : SADDLE SORE. Sore thumb, something you don't want to stand out like.

62A. Clumsy ... or what the ends of 17-, 37- and 42-Across are? : ALL THUMBS

Argyle here. Bit unusual to have entries longer than the themes but not confusing. They add some panache to an easy-peasy Monday.

Across:

1. Flat-topped hill : MESA. Not loma this time.

5. Bash thrower : HOST

9. Arctic or Antarctic : OCEAN

14. "Are you asleep yet?" response : "I'M UP". Would not be my response.

15. Not tricked by : ON TO

16. Modeler's wood : BALSA

19. Like a mosquito bite : ITCHY

20. "Ah-oo-gah" horn : KLAXON

21. __ rally : PEP

23. Howls at the moon : BAYS

24. "Hold on a __" : SEC

25. Seek the affections of : WOO

27. Stop producing opportunities, as a financial market : DRY UP

29. Prefix with red : INFRA

31. What a musty room needs : AIRING

34. Ancient invader of Rome : GOTH

39. Converse competitor : AVIA

40. Gets rid of, as weight : LOSES

41. Park path : LANE

44.Soon, quaintly : ANON

45. Set aside a day for : PLAN ON

46. Word before house or plant : POWER

48. Oafs : LOUTS

50. Tyke : TOT

51. Eric Stonestreet's "Modern Family" role : CAM. In his role as Cameron Tucker on Modern Family, Stonestreet has earned three consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2010, 2011 and 2012), winning the award in 2010 and 2012. He also received three Golden Globe Award nominations (2010, 2011 and 2013) for his work on the series.

54. New Zealand fruit : KIWI

56. Affirmative vote : YEA The other side. 13D. Negative votes : NAYS

58. Pepsi competitor : RC COLA

60. Slip past : EVADE

64. Judge's hammer : GAVEL

65. Jacob's first wife : LEAH

66. Lewd material : SMUT

67. Go on tiptoe : SNEAK

68. Like centerfolds : SEXY

69. Glazed Easter meats : HAMS

Down:

1. Does a farm job : MILKS. I guess mucks isn't a Monday word.

2. Author Zola : ÉMILE. "J'accuse"

3. "Poison" plant : SUMAC

4. Peak : APEX

5. Cornucopia : HORN OF PLENTY

6. "__ Life to Live" : ONE. A soap opera that had a 43 year run. Any fans?

7. Dance move : STEP

8. Got into shape, with "up" : TONED

9. __-Wan Kenobi : OBI. Star Wars.

10. Agile thief : CAT BURGLAR

11. Yosemite monolith popular with rock climbers : EL CAPITAN

12. Pale as a ghost : ASHY

18. Red-carpet garment : GOWN

22. Commendable : PRAISE WORTHY

26. Black-and-white cookies : OREOs

28. Yang counterpart : YIN

29. "That never occurred to me" : "I HAD NO IDEA"

30. Ancient storyteller : AESOP

32. Forbidden act : NO-NO

33. Fed. agents : G-MEN

34. Quick inhalation : GASP

35. Running track shape : OVAL

36. Seaside disaster cause : TIDAL WAVE

38. 1995 Reform Party founder : PEROT. (H. Ross Perot)

43. Singer Reed : LOU

47. Engrave on glass, say : ETCH

49. Makes watertight : SEALS

51. Punctuation mark in large numbers : COMMA

52. Scrapbook : ALBUM

53. Supports for sails : MASTS

54. Tapped beer holders : KEGS

55. Tennis great Lendl : IVAN

57. Out of the wind : ALEE

59. Like an easy job, slangily : CUSH. (cushy)

61. Moose relative : ELK

63. Southern Cal. airport : LAX

Argyle

1) Belatedly Happy Birthday to Lea's grandma Kay (Kazie), who joined this blog the year I started. I'm awfully sorry that I blanked on Saturday morning, Kay! We've been in a frenzy to prepare for our card show next week. I hope Barry and you did something special.

Kay and her husband Barry on Tamborine Mountain, overlooking Brisbane

2) The real Big Easy sent me these pictures of Justin Rose, the winner (22 under par) of the Zurich Classics. Big Easy has been volunteering for the event for years.  The other Big Easy skipped the event.

Sunday, April 26, 2015 Don Gagliardo & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Tea Party. Adding a TE, TEE or TY to a common phrase for a punny result was enough, but C.C. and Don also made a vowel sound in the new phrase with an alternate spelling. This made for a delightful "TEA PARTY" that is short on finger food but long on wit and cleverness.

It was a hoot to work and I am tickled to try to 'splain some of the wonderful fill these two great constructors have provided us! I am so pleased C.C. chose this FAULTY GUY to blog her and Hard G's construction!

Theme Answers

23A. Profitable agreement? : PLUM TREATY - Some of those treaties were more plum for one side than the other. One side didn't get so much as a PLUM TREE

29A. Ending a relationship in a text? : FAULTY BREAK - Talk about being on different pages! Maybe it happened during FALL BREAK and someone was feeling restless. Still a gutless thing to do!

37. Sherpa's responsibilities? : MOUNTAIN DUTY - After having a MOUNTAIN DEW?

63. Sale of Babe Ruth to the Yankees? : MIGHTY MISTAKE - Mated autographs of the greatest baseball player ever and the idiot who sold him to the Yankees to finance some Broadway musicals. Did he ever say, "That was MY MISTAKE!"

81. Search for the right beard? : GOATEE HUNTING - You could GO HUNTING among these for what you want. Do you recognize all the famous owners?

103A. Adoring father-to-daughter words? : THAT'S MY CUTIE - When she looks at me like that, THAT'S MY CUE to tell her what a cutie she is!

113. Result of substituting fabric strips for chips? : RAGGEDY ANTE - Yeah, substituting these for poker chips might make for a sloppy game even for RAGGEDY ANN

124. Delicate one in the kitchen? : DAINTY COOK - Probably never heard of comedian DANE COOK

Across         

1. Walk casually : AMBLE

6. Work : OPUS - A compilation of Michael Jackson's work

10. Soul, to Aristotle : ANIMA

15. In addition : ALSO

19. Place for highlights : SALON - Before and after

20. Walked out : WENT

21. Complete : TOTAL

22. __-pedi : MANI - I had one of these in a SALON and felt like a fish out of water

25. Path : TRAIL

26. Organic food giant : EDEN - New to me

27. Arabian pop : SIRE - A black Arabian Stallion

28. Canadian roadside sign : ESSO 

31. Ideal chaser? : ISM. Idealism.

33. "Wanderlust" actor Alan : ALDA - He'll always be Hawkeye, won't he?

35. "Love Jones" co-star Long : NIA - Okay, new to me

36. Ice show venues : RINKS

42. Elantra competitor : CIVIC - Kelly Blue Book says it was the 9th best selling vehicle in 2014

44. "Head and Shell" artist : ARP - One of Jean's pieces

45. Cal. listing : APPT - I've got APPT's with four different doctors this upcoming week just for checkups 

46. Exhausted : BEAT - Have you ever heard exhaustd as, "All in but your shoelaces!"

48. Aleve alternative : ANACIN - You're near my age if you remember this

52. Chilling spot : SOFA

54. Shanghai locale : ASIA

56. Stick together : COHERE 

59. Lennon's love : ONO - Our ubiquitous crossword resident

60. "Edda" author __ Sturluson : SNORRI (11-79 - 1241) - Yeah, if you thought I knew this guy, I've got some ocean front property in the Nebraska Sandhills I'd like to sell you

66. First, second and third : ORDINALS - Here compared to Cardinal numbers

69. More work : UTOPIA - Thomas More's 1516 work

70. Sea damaged by Soviet-era waterworks : ARAL - In 1989 and 2014

71. Like some breezes : GENTLE

72. Windows runners : PCS - We now officially have nary a Windows machine in our house!

73. "Murdering Airplane" and "The Hat Makes the Man" : ERNSTS - This is Dadaist Max Ernst's 1920 "Murdering Airplane" collage that depicts man's powerlessness against modern warfare

75. Mountain lake : TARN - From the Scandinavian tjǫrn

77. H.S. cooking class : HOME EC - My Family and Consumer Science colleagues bristled when I said Home Ec. BTW, no one takes "Shop" anymore either.

79. According to, with "in" : AS STATED 

84. Waffle : SEESAW - To be or not to be, make a decision already, Hamlet!

86. Bach's "Mass __ Minor" : IN B - Sure, I guess...

87. Surfing needs : BOARDS

88. 4 for He, e.g. : AT WT - 4x heavier than H, but doesn't blow when used in blimps!

91. Spanish surrealist : DALI - For him time didn't fly, it melted

92. Rankle : FESTER - Let it go, already! 

94. Talk back to : SASS

96. Exercise consequence, maybe : ACHE

99. __ cat : LAP - Ours is named Lily

100. Early Indo-European : ARYAN

106. Eddy : WHIRL

109. Poseidon's realm : SEA

111. Bullring cries : OLES

112. Chicago's __ Center : AON - At 200 East Randolph Drive

116. Condé __ : NAST

118. Societal troubles : ILLS

122. Run in place : IDLE

123. Jetson at the Little Dipper School : ELROY - George and Jane's 'toon boy

126. Traffic sound : TOOT - Road rage ain't worth it!

127. Provide, as money : PUT UP - As noted above, Harry Frazee sold the Babe so he could PUT UP money for theatrical productions

128. Mid-seventh-century year : DCLI - Into each puzzle some compromise must fall

129. Way around Paris : METRO - A single ride ticket is €1,80. Unlimited day pass €7 ,00 and up

130. Grandson of Adam : ENOS

131. Hit hard, biblically : SMOTE - Adam's youngest son was SMOTE by his older brother 

132. Check : TEST

133. Time-time link : AFTER - A lovely song by Cyndi Lauper  
 

Down:
 
1. Some hieroglyphic squiggles : ASPS - There he is

2. Niger neighbor : MALI - Sure, it's between Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Niger 

3. Indistinct memory : BLUR - Joann said we had the month of March this year, but it's a BLUR to me

4. Chinese menu offering : LO MEIN

5. Upper-level doc? : ENT - These docs work on our upper-levels

6. Is behind, perhaps : OWES

7. "Frankenstein" torchbearers : PEASANTS - Pitchforks too

8. Incalculable : UNTOLD

9. Babe's home : STY 

10. Naan flour : ATTA - New to me

11. Like a shutout : NO RUN - Don Larsen's no hit,  NO RUN, perfect game in the 1956 World Series

12. Right-leaning, in a way : ITALIC

13. Curaçao cocktail : MAI TAI

14. Side (with) : ALLY

15. Longtime de facto U.S. national anthem : AMERICA - Rasmussen Reports survey said 82% of Americans favor keeping The Star Spangled Banner

16. Weighed down : LADEN - See Sherpa above

17. Stealthy sort : SNEAK

18. Pen emanations : OINKS

24. Update, as charts : REMAP - Before the Corps of Engineers channelized the Missouri River, the Nebraska/Iowa border had to be REMAPPED every so often

29. Lot : FATE - My feeling on FATE

30. Pickling liquids : BRINES

32. __-puf: old laundry product : STA

34. Home to the skyscraper Burj Khalifa : DUBAI

37. Considerable number : MASS

38. Maine college town : ORONO -Proud home of

39. Available to the highest bidder, say : UP FOR GRABS - If you don't buy Boardwalk when you land there, it's this

40. Bar brew, briefly : IPA - India Pale Ale that is regularly on tap here

41. Rides for tycoons : YACHTS - From the Dutch word Jacht which means "hunter". They were originally fast boats for chasing pirates

43. "Esthetic" and "egis" : VARIANTS - Can also be spelled Aesthetic and Aegis 

47. Miss Gulch's bane : TOTO

49. Large-grain seasoning : COARSE SALT - They sell 'em both

50. "__ Dinka Doo" : INKA - A signature song for Jimmy Durante who wrote the music

51. December number : NOEL - One more Christmas Carol in December and I might have lost it

53. Gung-ho : ARDENT

55. Uses Gchat, e.g. : IMS  - Instant Messages. See 29A. in theme answers above for a stupid one

57. Plugs : HYPES - We'll be hearing HYPE from now until Nov. 3, 2016

58. 34-Down dignitaries : EMIRS

61. Dog star's first name? : RIN - A staple of my youth

62. Supposedly : IN THEORY - Bobby Burns warning on what should work

64. Prada competitor : GUCCI - C.C. have you got $750 for Stonewashed GUCCI jeans to go with your Jimmy Choo shoes? ;- ) 


65. Covered in ink, with "up" : TATTED - Don't complain if you interview with all your TATS showing and fail to get a sniff at the job

67. Word heard coming and going : ALOHA - I hope to say this to our friend Chef Wendy on Kauai someday

68. Nocturnal primate : LEMUR

72. Watched the cats, say : PET SAT - Our dear neighbors PET SAT Lily while I was in the hospital. It was very comforting to know she was in good hands

74. Motor oil letters : S.A.E. - Society of Automotive Engineers.

75. Week-ending cry : TGIF - Everyday is Friday when you're retired!!

76. Crackerjack : A-ONE 

78. Pencil points and erasers : ENDS - Johnny Carson's pencils famously didn't have both

79. Cut taker: Abbr. : AGT 

80. __ Lama : DALAI

82. Big band era singer Ray : EBERLE - Sang with Glenn Miller

83. Sounding stuffy : NASAL

85. Picnic cleaner : WIPE - A staple at our house

89. Yuletide quaffs : WASSAILS

90. Where to see old MGM movies : TCM - Gets a lot of play here

93. They often have concentric circles : TARGETS - I think most of you know that the highest score in Darts is not in the innermost concentric circle or Bull's Eye.

95. Tongue site : SHOE

97. Marriott competitor : HYATT

98. Car starter? : ECO - Ecocars.Some of these cars are routinely getting over 100 MPG

101. Shelter : ASYLUM

102. Not far from : NEAR TO

104. Bridge holding : TENACE - Holding a broken honor sequence such as A❤ Q❤. Our Bridge players knew that.

105. Danny Kaye was its first celebrity goodwill ambassador : UNICEF

106. Blog, say : WRITE

107. Wore : HAD ON 

108. Digs in the snow? : IGLOO

110. Have __: be ready with an excuse : AN OUT - My sister always has one when she skips family functions and she fools no one

114. Acct. entries : DEPS - Early in our marriage, our DEPS and W/D's were pretty close 

115. Blog, say : TYPE

117. Sulky state : SNIT 

119. Ex-senator Trent : LOTT - Did LOTT's wife looked back when she left D.C.

120. Traditional accounts : LORE - I wonder if C.C. remembers any folkLORE tales from her days in Guangzhou (From C.C.: Have any of you heard of Cantonese opera? It's steeped in Cantonese folklore)

121. Hershey's toffee bar : SKOR - Love 'em

124. Banned pesticide : DDT 

125. Sumac of Peru : YMA

Husker Gary