Tuesday, August 16, 2011 Alex Boisvert

Theme: Modified - The end word, with an added letter or two and a long E sound in different spelling, is placed in front of itself as a modifier AND the modifier has a different etymology. There are three in the rows and two in the columns.

17A. Meat used in place of a puck? : HOCKEY HOCK. HOCKEY, the game, from the "hook" like nature of the sticks. HOCK, Old English hohsinu (literally, heel). Not much meat there. Image.

39A. Surcharge for a cab ride? : TAXI TAX. TAXI, 1907, shortening of taximeter cab (introduced in London in March 1907), from taximeter "automatic meter to record the distance and fare". TAX, from L. taxare "evaluate, estimate, assess, handle".

61A. Davy Jones at an abbey? : MONKEE MONK. Davy Jones was with the musical group, The Monkees. MONK ; Greek monachós hermit.

11D. Intimidator on the bovine playground? : BULLY BULL. BULLY originally had a positive sense of the word, "sweetheart", uncertain origin (cf. Ger. buhle "lover"). BULL came from O.E. bula "a bull, a steer".

35D. Short-term Arizona State employee? : TEMPE TEMP. The original campus was in TEMPE, The sports teams are the Arizona State Sun Devils. TEMP is short for temporary, a worker hired for a short period of time.

Argyle here. At first glance, I thought 'meh' but as I had to parse it, I discovered it was much more complex than I thought. Finding a modifier that is based on a different word but still uses the same letters? Well.... Still a good share of names but a bit more common. Some good stuff you might care to comment on.

Across:

1. Big Harley, in slang : HAWG

5. "Marching Along" autobiographer : SOUSA. The March King.

10. "Mamma Mia!" group : ABBA

14. Soap Box Derby state : OHIO

15. Hearth debris : ASHES

16. Off-peak period : LULL

19. Untidy type : SLOB

20. John Williams quintet? : OSCARS. A prolific composer. Link to his nominations and wins.

21. Fridge sound : HUM. "Hummm" as I stand with the door open deciding what I want to eat.

22. '70s Olympics name : OLGA. Korbut.

23. Fab Four member : STARR. Ringo.

24. Prepare beans, Mexican-style : REFRY

26. Scary fly : TSE-TSE

30. Place for care instructions : LABEL

33. Mouse catchers : CATS

36. Expected : DUE

37. Professor's goal : TENURE

38. Corrida cry : ¡OLÉ!

41. English __ : LITerature

42. Drum heard in Westerns : TOM-TOM

44. Actress Basinger : KIM. Image.

45. Bar brews : ALES

46. Mar. parade celeb : ST. PAT

47. Presario PC brand : COMPAQ. Can you believe I messed this one up and I'm sitting in front of a COMPAQ!

49. Significant period : EPOCH

51. Comfortably rewarding : CUSHY

55. Dinner and a movie, say : DATE

57. D-backs, on scoreboards : ARI. More Arizona.

59. Gillette razor named for its blade count : TRAC II

60. One with a password : USER

63. Gimlet garnish : LIME. "gin, a spot of lime, and soda"

64. Game show host : EMCEE

65. Throw in a chip : ANTE

66. SoCal force : LA PD

67. Country singer Rimes : LEANN

68. Tabloid loch : NESS. Monster or misunderstood?

Down:

1. Hostess snack cakes : HO HOs. Ho, Ho, Ho! One for the ladies. Image.

2. "__ of golden daffodils": Wordsworth : A HOST. "Daffodils" (1804). I wander'd lonely as a cloud. That floats on high o'er vales and hills,. When all at once I saw a crowd,. A host, of golden daffodils; ...

3. Neopagan religion : WICCA

4. Some Soap Box Derby entrants : GO-KARTS

5. Articulates : SAYS

6. __Kosh B'Gosh : OSH. The children's apparel company founded in Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1895.

7. "Rats!" : "UH OH!"

8. Out of harm's way : SECURE

9. Invitation on a rep's button : ASK ME

10. Losing candidate : ALSO RAN

12. Online journal : BLOG

13. Jessica of "Sin City" : ALBA. Another for the boys. Image.

18. Slips up : ERRS

25. Show off one's muscles : FLEX. And another for the girls. Image. Are you keeping score?

27. Dutch cheese : EDAM

28. Prom duds : TUX

29. Bulova competitor : SEIKO

31. 14-Across's Great Lake : ERIE

32. Tennis net grazers : LETS

33. Summer cabin beds : COTS

34. Boatloads : A LOT

37. Pack (down) : TAMP

39. Four-legged Oz visitor : TOTO

40. Comical Conway : TIM

43. Like a pencil point : TAPERED

45. Sea-dwelling superhero : AQUAMAN. Sending out a message.

47. Car trim : CHROME

48. Farmland division : ACRE

50. Skating maneuver : CAMEL. Camel spin.(0:18)

52. Teatime snack : SCONE. No dunking today.

53. Help for the clueless : HINTS

54. "Omigosh!" : "YIKES!"

55. Boring : DULL

56. Where most people live : ASIA

58. Bygone Peruvian : INCA

59. Not-so-little kid : TEEN

62. Barbie's guy : KEN

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

A belated "Happy Birthday" to dear Chickie.