Theme: "Knot Bad" - The first word of each theme entry is a type of knot.
17A: Life insurance clause: DOUBLE INDEMNITY
25A: Hoedown activity: SQUARE DANCE
43A: Apple variety: GRANNY SMITH
54A: Inadvertent remark: SLIP OF THE TONGUE
62A: 17-, 25-, 43- and 54-Across begin with a kind of one: KNOT
Happy Santa here, great week so far; Jerome, Fred, and now, Barry. As soon as I saw the clue for ON US (3D: "We're treating"), I knew right then we were in for a treat.
Knotty pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once, typical of Barry's creation. Quite a few refreshing clues too.
This puzzle is reminiscent of John Underwood's "KNOT" puzzle we had last February. Wayne R. Williams changed John's unifying KNOT clue into "Tie tie" and the theme was missed by many.
Across:
1A: Run smoothly: FLOW.
5A: Uzi filler: AMMO. Uzi is the Israeli assault rifle. (Update: Anonymous @ 11:23 AM correctly stated that the Uzi is sub machine gun. The assault rifle is the Galil. One of the main differences is in the AMMO they use, with the sub machine guns using pistol calibers, while the assault weapons use a larger round.)
17A: Life insurance clause: DOUBLE INDEMNITY
25A: Hoedown activity: SQUARE DANCE
43A: Apple variety: GRANNY SMITH
54A: Inadvertent remark: SLIP OF THE TONGUE
62A: 17-, 25-, 43- and 54-Across begin with a kind of one: KNOT
Happy Santa here, great week so far; Jerome, Fred, and now, Barry. As soon as I saw the clue for ON US (3D: "We're treating"), I knew right then we were in for a treat.
Knotty pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once, typical of Barry's creation. Quite a few refreshing clues too.
This puzzle is reminiscent of John Underwood's "KNOT" puzzle we had last February. Wayne R. Williams changed John's unifying KNOT clue into "Tie tie" and the theme was missed by many.
Across:
1A: Run smoothly: FLOW.
5A: Uzi filler: AMMO. Uzi is the Israeli assault rifle. (Update: Anonymous @ 11:23 AM correctly stated that the Uzi is sub machine gun. The assault rifle is the Galil. One of the main differences is in the AMMO they use, with the sub machine guns using pistol calibers, while the assault weapons use a larger round.)
9A: Bench warmers aren't on it: A TEAM.
14A: Excellent: A ONE. Like Barry's puzzle.
15A: Known as "the Impaler," prince who inspired "Dracula": VLAD. Not exactly what the little trick-or-treaters would look like.
16A: American competitor: DELTA. Airlines. Delta now owns Northwest, who rightfully revoked the licenses of the two pilots who overshot the Minneapolis Airport by 150 miles. Laptop distraction! Just what were they surfing?
20A: Printers' widths: EMS. Or ENS.
21A: A deadly sin: ENVY.
22A: Posh: RITZY. After the Ritz hotels, established by César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier. You won't find rooms like this at Motel 6.
23A: Neurologist's test, briefly: EEG. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain.
24A: Publicizes: AIRS
30A: Poor, as an excuse: SAD. As in, "Those old puzzles were a SAD excuse for crosswords."
33A: Second most populous Oklahoma city: TULSA. Oklahoma City is number one.
35A: Marquis de __: SADE. Sadism is derived from his name.
36A: Youngest of the musical Jacksons: JANET. Her sister La Toya has said that the King of Pop’s ghost has been visiting the family dressed in the white pearl beads he wore in the coffin.
37A: Golfer's concern: LIE. The lies on the course aren't as big as the lies in the locker room.
38A: Mass of grass: CLUMP. Rhyming clue. And the answer also rhymes with the intersecting SLUMP ( 35D: Batter's dry spell).
39A: Vocalized: ORAL. Adjective.
40A: Defendant's answer: PLEA.
41A: Accountant's review: AUDIT.
46A: BMOC, for one: VIP. BMOC is Big Man on Campus.
47A: Washington neighbor: IDAHO.
49A: Yoked beasts: OXEN.
51A: Psychic's asset, for short: ESP.
57A: Common news hr.: TEN PM.
58A: "I'd advise against it": DON'T. Even Elvis agrees.
59A: Brand with a paw print in its logo: IAMS. Pet food brand. Was it a gimme to you?
60A: Bears, in Latin: URSAE. And 27D: Radii neighbors: ULNAE. Both the plural end with E rather than S.
61A: Pump or loafer: SHOE.
Down:
2D: Weaver's machine: LOOM.
4D: Surfing area with no water, with "the": WEB. Did anyone try NET first?
5D: Get even for: AVENGE.
6D: LXII x XVII: MLIV. 62 x17=1054.
9D: Regard highly: ADMIRE.
10D: Portable shelters: TENTS.
11D: Part of QE2: Abbr.: ELIZ. Queen Elizabeth 2 in the harbour, Sydney, Australia.
12D: ABA member: ATTY. Abbreviation in clue, abbreviation in answer.
13D: Perhaps will: MAY.
18D: Ogle: LEER AT. Ogle is often clued as "Leer at".
19D: "Fear of Flying" author Jong: ERICA. She blogs for The Huffington Post.
23D: Painter's stand: EASEL.
24D: Like llamas: ANDEAN. Two-l llama, he's a beast.
25D: Missouri city nickname: ST. JOE. Saint Joseph (informally, St. Joe) is the largest city in Northwest Missouri, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County.
26D: Fundamental particle: QUARK. (An aside to WM: I finally got some quark but ate it before I made any cheesecake with it.)
28D: City in which the State Fair of Texas is held annually: DALLAS.
30D: Riyadh resident: SAUDI. Their currency is Riyal.
31D: Fess up: ADMIT.
32D: Pool measurement: DEPTH. Lots of consonants.
38D: Vegas attraction: CASINO.
40D: Evidence: PROOF.
43D: End a vacation, say: GO HOME.
44D: Mimieux of "The Time Machine": YVETTE. "It's those darn trick-or-treaters again, Honey. What do they want this time?"
45D: Mothers of Invention musician: ZAPPA (Frank)
47D: Robert of "The Sopranos": ILER.
50D: Strange: Pref.: XENO. It also means ALIEN (29D: Out of this world).
51D: Alaska's first governor: EGAN. It's clued as "Magnet and Steel" singer Walter in Barry's Sept 20, 2008 puzzle. (from C.C.'s write-up on Saturday September 20, 2008)
54D: Early Beatle Sutcliffe: STU. He died from a brain hemorrhage and contrary to rumors, he was a good bass player.
55D: NFL six-pointers: TDS.
56D: Ending with beat: NIK. Beatnik.
Answer grid.
C.C. will be back blogging tomorrow morning.
Argyle
