Tuesday, November 1, 2011 Todd Gross

Theme: "Tennis, anyone?" Scores at a tennis match, from LOVE(zero) to GAME.

18A. Missing someone special : LOVE-SICK

23A. Start of a fictional sea shanty : FIFTEEN MEN

34A. '80s-'90s ABC drama : "THIRTY SOMETHING"

49A. Quick nap : FORTY WINKS

54A. Competitive look : GAME FACE

65A. Where one hears the starts of 18-, 23-, 34-, 49- and 54-Across : TENNIS

Some bonus entries: 64A. Divisions in 65-Across : SETS and 43D. Court figures : JUDGES. The tennis line judge gets yelled at sometimes. We're missing a crossword favorite though, AD IN.

Argyle here. Anchored with a grid-spanner in the middle and the reveal in the lower right, a neat looking grid. Almost like a tennis doubles set up. This is Todd's second LAT puzzle and is quite similar to the first.

Across:

1. Held, as a protest : STAGED

7. Beggar's request : ALMS

11. T-shirt sizes, for short : S M L Small, Medium, Large.

14. Bow user : ARCHER

15. Homebuyer's request : LOAN

16. "Bali __" : HAI. From South Pacific.

17. "Great" Russian emperor : PETER I

20. Modern recording device : TIVO

22. "Now, listen to me ..." : "SEE HERE"

27. Flair : ELAN

28. "Was __ forward?" : I TOO

29. Have on : WEAR

30. Enjoys the shallows : WADES

31. Duke U.'s conference : ACC. Atlantic Coast Conference.

32. Jib or spinnaker : SAIL. On the chance Jeannie is watching, "Is Lo-Li-Ta out of the water yet?"

33. Flab : FAT

40. Time workers, briefly : EDs. Time, the magazine; their EDitors.

41. Topsoil : DIRT

42. Not worth a __ : SOU. Sou is used as slang for a small coin of little value, as in sans le sou. "I'm broke", "without money".

43. Doorposts : JAMBS

46. Male swine : BOAR

47. Poetic black : EBON

48. Layer between the sclera and retina : UVEA. A good image.

51. Interrupt : DISTURB

53. Adam's second : ABEL

56. Black Sea port : ODESSA. I used this map because it shows the Sea of Azov.

60. Before, in an ode : ERE

61. Country south of Iran : OMAN. Map.

62. Discrimination based on years : AGEISM. See 21-Down.

63. Damascus is its cap. : SYR. SYRia. See the map at 61-Across.

Down:

1. Oozy tree output : SAP

2. Italian trio : TRE

3. Performance : ACT

4. Inner city area : GHETTO

5. Weird : EERIE. Anybody see some great costumes last night?

6. Garage entrances : DRIVEWAYS

7. More than most : ALL

8. Not so tight : LOOSER. Like this?(1:31)

9. Expert : MAVEN

10. Bygone knife : SNEE. SnickerSNEE.

11. Protection against spears : SHIELD

12. Gordon of "Oklahoma!" (1955) : MACRAE. Clip.(3:24)

13. Notes similarities (to) : LIKENS

19. Blade cover : SHEATH

21. "__ the loneliest number": old song lyric : ONE IS. Hey, who said OLD; I smell AGEISM here. Here, hear the clip.(2:56)

23. Italian automaker : FIAT. In a filing dated 22 July 2011, Chrysler reported that Fiat held 53.5% interest.

24. Skin irritation : ITCH

25. Centers of attention : FOCI. Not sure what the following means.

Cluster analysis of gaze points determined empirical foci of attention. The comparison between these foci and model-generated saliency centres based on ...

26. Unpleasant smell : MALODOR

30. Measure of power : WATT

32. Conventions, for short : STDs. That's short for STANDARDS. You MIGHT get the other STD at a convention. (My bad!)

33. Interisland transport : FERRY BOAT

35. Dealer's incentive : REBATE. Incentive to sell these Fiats or the following.

36. Sporty Mazda : MIATA. The model was introduced in 1989 at the Chicago Auto Show.

37. Literary ID : ISBN. International Standard Book Number. Ha! There are 9, 10, and now 13 numbered ISBN's.

38. Barnes & Noble e-book reader : NOOK. This. Anybody used one?

39. Six-shooters : GUNS. “I know what you’re thinking: 'Did he fire six shots, or only five?' Well, to tell you the truth, in all this excitement, I’ve kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and would blow your head clean off, you’ve got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?” from Dirty Harry.

44. Zoo section : AVIARY

45. German physician from whose name a spellbinding word evolved : MESMER. Mesmerize - to spellbind; fascinate.

46. Black-spotted feline : BOBCAT, Here, kitty, kitty.

47. Brennan of "Private Benjamin" : EILEEN. She portrayed Capt. Doreen Lewis in this 1980 film. She was Goldie Hawn's nemesis. Pic.

49. Oil holder : FRAME. Tricky. Oil painting.

50. Golfer's lofted iron : WEDGE

52. Sci-fi subjects : UFOs

55. One-point Scrabble letters : ENs

57. It can be carnal or cardinal : SIN

58. Govt. assistance program : SSI. Supplemental Security Income.

59. Trans __: certain Pontiacs : AMs. The Trans Am was a specialty package for the Firebird, 1969–2002.

Now that you've had your breakfast, here is Fifteen Men(on a dead man's chest) with lyrics.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to Carol and happy 41st wedding anniversary also.

2) Here is a nice photo from our always entertaining & amusing Husker Gary, taken on his last day as a full-time teacher.