Theme: Rhyme Time - Four IE/IE rhyming idioms, where the first part differs from the second part only by the initial letter.
20A. Feeling of uneasiness : HEEBIE-JEEBIES. From Wikipedia: The sound of this term seems to hark back to earlier rhyming phrases, like hocus-pocus and mumbo-jumbo, with a touch of the jitters thrown in. The meaning is more like the British term - the screaming habdabs.
27A. Hand-held two-way communications device : WALKIE-TALKIE A hand-held, portable, two-way radio. You can send and receive within a limited range.
47A. Up-tempo jazz piano style : BOOGIE WOOGIE. Piano-based blues that became very popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but originated much earlier. The real Boogie Man.(3:00)
56A. Symbolic nosegays : TUSSIE-MUSSIES. I am not sure of the use of symbolic here. The word "tuzzy" refers to the Old English word which means a "knot of flowers". Muzzy refers to the damp moss wrapped around the stems to keep them moist. The definition in current times also extends to the cone-shaped holder for the bouquet. Nosegays are small, round bouquets composed of densely packed round flowers, greenery, and occasionally herbs.
Argyle here. John starts of our week very nicely.
Across:
Across:
1. Cotton swabs originally called Baby Gays : Q-TIPS. It is unknown why, in 1923, its inventor, Leo Gersenzang, used the name, Baby Gay, but perhaps it is a reference to nosegay.
6. Actor Guinness : ALEC
10. More than stumbled : FELL
14. Basic belief : TENET
15. Capital surrounding Vatican City : ROME
16. Falco of "The Sopranos" : EDIE
17. Shabby : RATTY
18. $3 million, 30-sec. Super Bowl feature : TV AD
19. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA
23. Jungle swinger : APE
25. Fla. hours : EST
26. Cummerbund fold : PLEAT. The cummerbund is a broad waist sash, usually pleated, often worn with black tie. With 39. Dress (up) : TOG
32. Cheering noisily : AROAR
33. Mashed luau staple : POI
34. "M*A*S*H" staff : RNs
37. Reprimander's "reading" : RIOT ACT
40. Leave for a bit : STEP OUT
43. Mind reader's skill, briefly : ESP. Extrasensory perception.
44. "How beautiful!" : "OOH!"
46. Oil refinery input : CRUDE
51. Ami's good-bye : ADIEU
54. Tiny bit : TAD
55. His-and-__ towels : HER. Should be Hers, yes?
61. Isaac's eldest : ESAU. Exchanged for his birthright for a bowl of stew. Must have been really hungry.
62. Knucklehead : DOPE
63. Close, as a parka : ZIP UP
66. Hollywood success : STAR
67. Hollywood favorite : IDOL
68. College town near Bangor : ORONO
69. Nanny's charge : TYKE
70. Bills with Hamilton on them : TENS
71. Rehab step : DETOX
Down:
1. Super Bowl div. : QTR. Quarter. Not just the Super Bowl; any game split into four time periods.
2. Green or black brew : TEA
3. Fully informed : IN THE LOOP
4. Sampras of tennis : PETE
5. Eyelid problem : STYE
6. Manet or Monet : ARTIST. And 49. Props for Monet and Manet : EASELS
7. Affectionate bop : LOVE TAP
8. Key with four sharps: Abbr. : E MAJ.
9. Give up formally : CEDE
10. Weak : FEEBLE
11. Murphy of "48 HRS." : EDDIE
12. Top of a form, perhaps : LINE A
13. "It's the __ I can do" : LEAST
21. Honey maker : BEE
22. Prefix with center or cycle : EPI. From Greek, "upon, at, close upon (in space or time), on the occasion of, in addition" (cognate with Skt. api "also, besides;" Avestan aipi "also, to, toward;" Arm. ev "also, and;" L. ob "toward, against, in the way of"). Before unaspirated vowels, reduced to ep- ; before aspirated vowels, eph- . Used in modern scientific compounds, cf. epicenter; epicycle (late 14c.).
23. Informed (of) : AWARE
24. Capital on the Seine : PARIS
28. See 31-Down : KAT 31. With 28-Down, layered chocolate bar : KIT
29. Lyricist Gershwin : IRA
30. __ Angeles : LOS
34. Glitch in need of smoothing out : ROUGH SPOT
35. Film with nakedness : NUDIE
36. Cattle drive critter : STEER
38. Pigeon's sound : COO
41. Green prefix : ECO
42. Athlete who isn't green? : PRO
45. Stumble across, as an idea : HIT UPON
47. Have no doubt : BE SURE
48. "Yes, mon ami" : "OUI"
50. Part of wpm: Abbr. : WDS.
51. "This is only __" : A TEST
52. Like the trail on a cattle drive : DUSTY
53. Singer Chris : ISAAK
57. Change text : EDIT
58. Pie à la __ : MODE
59. Former Lacoste partner : IZOD. Clothing lines.
60. Dublin's isle : EIRE
64. Half of dos : UNO. Spanish numbers.
65. Chicken __ : POX
Argyle
