Sunday, February 8, 2009 Linda and Charles Preston

Note: This post is blogged by Argyle. It's a TMS Sunday syndication, different from our normal TMS Daily puzzle Sunday edition.

Theme: ANATOMY

28A: Seeming worth: FACE value

56A: Sensitive firearm part: HAIR trigger

87A: Revelation: EYE opener

91A: Hard work: ELBOW grease

29D: USNA grad.: KNUCKLEhead

35D: Trunk: FOOTlocker

42D: Football defenseman: NOSE tackle

Across:

6A: Harris' ___ Rabbit: BR'ER. Brother Rabbit.

13A: Stalks: STEMS. Good clue.

18A: Kate's TV partner: ALLIE. CBS sitcom '84 to '89, somewhat like a female version of 'The Odd Couple'.

19A: Self-assuredness: POISE. Weak clue.

20A: "___Gotta Be Me": I'VE. This clue is getting over-used.

22A: Sierra ___ - LEONE. There are quite a few 'Sierra __' out there. Sierra Leone and its neighbor down the coast, 80A Niger neighbor - Benin.

23A: Martini's partner: ROSSI. You can put this vermouth in your martini.

26A: Fool: KNUCKLEHEAD

28A: Seeming worth: FACE VALUE. I had 'fair value' for awhile, just close enough to mess me up.

31A: Writer Cleveland: AMORY. Cleveland Amory, 1917 - 1998, prominent humorist and humanitarian, founded The Fund for Animals in 1967 and served without pay as its president until his death. He wrote The Cat and the Curmudgeon.

32A: Hydrocarbon derived from resins: RETENE. I see no reason to know this word!

33A: Goodbye to some: ADIOS: Weak clue.

34A: Commotions: FURORS

35A: Notability: FAME

39A: Decorative glitter: SPANGLES. on the Red Carpet.

45A: Inquest official : CORONER

46A: Like a pine tree: CONED. Weak clue.

47A: Certain winner: SHOO-IN. Certain is used to indicate a 'sure thing' in this case.

49A: Desperados: THUGS

52A: "Deutschland űber ___" - ALLES. "Germany above All" originally meant the whole country is more important than the individual states.

54A: "Anna Christie" writer: O'NEILL. Eugene O'Neill, 1888 – 1953, was an American playwright, and Nobel laureate in Literature. Wrote "Anna Christie" in 1920.

56A: Sensitive firearm part: HAIR TRIGGER. Good clue.

62A: Without principles: AMORAL. No comment.

65A: Reporter's quest : SCOOP

66A: Shone like a lighthouse: BEACONED

70A: Hindu monks: FAKIRS. A Hindu ascetic or religious mendicant, especially one who performs feats of magic or endurance.

71A: Irritate: RANKLE. A good word; sounds like its meaning.

73A: Turn around: REVERSE. Weak clue, would prefer "change direction".

75A: ___ pig: GUINEA

77A: Goldenyears' folk : RETIREES

78A: Event take: GATE

79A: Italian poet and namesakes: DANTES

81A: Medicinal plants: SENNAS. Senna Alexandrina used for herbal laxative tea.

82A: Spellbinding group: COVEN. Group of witches and warlocks.

87A: Revelation: EYE OPENER

91A: Hard work: ELBOW GREASE. "Elbow grease has been a term of 'hard manual labor' since before 1639, 'B.E.'s Dictionary of Canting Crew' (ca. 1698) calling it 'A derisory term for Sweat.' The old joke that 'elbow grease' is the best brand of furniture polish was probably common centuries ago, too, in some form. The phrase was known in France from early times as well (buile de bras)." From the "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

93A: Hood, of "Our Gang": DARLA: Darla Hood.

94A: "___tu": Verdi aria: ERI. Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings a beautifully melancholy rendition of Renato's aria, Eri tu from Un Ballo.

95A: Rum cake: BABKA. Yum!

97A: Former Laker great Baylor: ELGIN. Elgin Baylor, basketball forward, led Minneapolis/LA Lakers to 8 NBA Finals; 10-time All-NBA 1st team (1959-65,67-69) Topps Card.

98A: First were black and white: TVS. And five are in Dick's basement.

99A: Staggering: AREEL

100A: Hopeless case: GONER. Cute clue.

More cute clues in the Down set:

Down:

1D: Mound miscues: BALKS

2D: Malkovich/Nelligan film: ELENI. Kate Nelligan and John Malkovich star in a 1985 film that stands as a monument to a loving mother and heroic woman, Eleni Gatzoyiannis.

4D: Chop: MINCE

6D: Blubbers: BOO-HOOS

9D: Nevada's politico Harry: REID. Harry Reid, Democrat, the senior United States Senator from Nevada, as well as the U.S. Senate Majority Leader.

10D: Varied - DIFFERED. Weak clue.

11D: Barnstormer, maybe: AVIATOR. Or aviatrix, maybe.

12D: British textile dealers: MERCERS. Noun [F. mercier, fr. L. merx, mercis, wares, merchandise]. Originally, a dealer in any kind of goods or wares; now restricted to a dealer in textile fabrics, as silks or woolens. [Eng.]

13D: Tonsorial treatment: SHAVE

14D: Italian semi-hard cheese: TOMA. Toma is a type of cow's milk cheese whose taste is fairly salty becoming 'piccante' as the months pass.

15D: Immorality: EVIL

16D: Carte before the course: MENU. Cute clue.

27D: Served soup:- LADLED

32D: Artful dodges: RUSES

33D: Actress Moorehead: AGNES

34D: Seneca, Cayuga, et al.: FINGER LAKES. Lakes formed by glaciers on New York's Southern Tier.

35D: Trunk: FOOT LOCKER

36D: Baseball family name: ALOU

39D: Skiddoo!: SCRAM

40D: Ernest ___:1918 Pulitzer winner: POOLE. Ernest Poole, 1880 - 1950, was a U.S. novelist. His portrait of a New York family titled His Family made him the first recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1918. His novel The Harbor has remained the work for which he is best known. It presents a strong socialist message, set in the industrial Brooklyn waterfront. It is considered one of the first fictional works to offer a positive view of unions.

42D: Football defenseman: NOSE TACKLE

46D: Surly sort: CHURL

47D: Child's direction?: STIR: Cute clue, French chef Julia Child's direction.

50D: Guiding light: ANGEL

51D: Sediment: LEES. As in a bottle of wine.

54D: Shrek and family: OGRES

56D: Give an edge to?: HONE. Cute clue

57D: Ancient area of Asia Minor: IONIA

59D: Tours' river: LOIRE. France.

60D: Wasteland shrub: GORSE. Now that is rough.

63D: Hood's honey: MOLL. Cute clue, the female companion of an American gangster.

65D: Perfumery oil: SAVIN. Savin oil, used in perfumery, comes from the leaves and tops of a low, spreading Eurasian juniper (Juniperus sabina) of E North America and Europe.

66D: Crow : BRAG

67D: "Do I dare to ___ peach": EAT A. Discussed before.

68D: Structural sci.: ANAT. New clue to me.

69D: Post office purchase units: PANES

70D: Honoring, in a way: FETING. Fete can be noun or verb.

72D: Ravi Shankar, e.g.: SITARIST

73D: Resumption: RENEWAL

75D: Fish-eating birds: GANNETS. You won't see any geese do this.

76D: Frighten: UNNERVE

77D: Annuls: REVOKES

79D: Disc jockey starter: DEE. Disc jockey starts with a "D".

80D: Went for apples, in a way: BOBBED. Cute clue, anybody have a good 'bobbing for apples' story?

81D: Durations: SPANS.

82D: Diplomat ___ Boothe Luce: CLARE. Clare Boothe Luce, 1903 – 1987, was an American playwright, editor, journalist, ambassador, socialite and one of the first women ever in congress, representing the state of Connecticut.

84D: Singer Frankie: LAINE. Frankie Laine, 1913 - 2007, (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio), was a successful American musician, singer and songwriter whose career spanned 75 years. The Cry of the Wild Goose (not a gannet!)

88D: Bush school : YALE. Generations of the Bush family have been Yale alumni.

89D: Thus: ERGO

90D: Actors Ken and Lena: OLIN

91D: Israel's Abba: EBAN

92D: Storm: RAGE

Argyle

Saturday February 7, 2009 Ed Voile

Theme: None

Total blocks: 34

Total words: 70

This is the first puzzle that I've solved with so few Down fills. Only 25 answers, compared with 45 Across words. And four of them have 15 letters:

3D: Flock and pride, e.g.: COLLECTIVE NOUNS

6D: Predatory insects: PRAYING MANTISES

7D: cousin of colitis: GASTROENTERITIS

11D: Digestive tract: ALIMENTARY CANAL

To steal a line from SEC whistle blower Harry Markopolos, this grid "roars like a lion and bites like a flea". Can't believe SEC took no action for 10 years when it took this guy only five minutes to figure out Bernie Madoff was a fraud.

I did have some trouble at the lower left quadrant. I did not know "No, no, NANETTE" and had trouble deciphering REDALGAE (37D: Source of agar). Has forgotten all the edible RED ALGAE dulse discussion we had a few weeks ago. I only use nori seaweed to wrap my rice balls.

Across:

4A: With it, once: HEP. I still see people use the word HEP occasionally. "With it, once"?

15A: Part of E.E.C.: EUR. Interesting intersection with EUROPA (5D: Icy satellite of Jupiter), which was named after the Greek goddess, from whom Europe derived.

16A: Spaces between leaf veins: AREOLAE. Last time the answer is a different plural form AREOLES. Can also be AREOLAS. Boring clue. I wanted "Nipple rings" .

25A: Elbe tributary: EGER. I can't find a map. Wikipedia says EGER is also a Hungarian city best known for its castle & thermal baths & wines. Nicknamed "Rome of Hungary". I wonder why most of those roofs are red.

26A: Capital on the Missouri River: PIERRE. Lingered here when we went to Billings a few years ago. A small charming city. Very quiet and clean. It's named after the fur trader PIERRE Chouteau.

27A: Old high note: ELA. The obscure Guido's high note.

33: Verizon, once: GTE. Only learned this morning that Verizon is a portmanteau of veritas and horizon. It's formed in 2000 when GTE merged with Bell Atlantic.

40A: Construct a retaining wall: REVET. No idea. Dictionary explains REVET as "to retain (an embankment, for example) with a layer of stone, concrete, or other supporting material; provide with a revetment." And it's rooted in French word "revetir", meaning "to clothes again". The noun is revetment. I did not know that there is a special term for those stony embankment.

38A: Adult males: MEN. And MAN (50A: Isle of __). Not sure if NY Times will allow this singular & plural form appear in one puzzle.

42A: Big place in California?: SUR. Big SUR.

44A: Invalidate: CANCEL. I thought of debunk.

51A: Prefix meaning different: HETERO. Heterosexual.

52A: __ homo (Behold the man!): ECCE. Last time ECCO is clued as "Behold, to Bellini". Italian for ECCE I suppose.

53A: Afrafat's org.: PLO. It's "Abbas's org." now.

54A: Of part of the eye: IRIDIC. New word to me. You would think the adjective for iris would be irisic.

61A: 'No, No,__": NANETTE. Have never heard of this musical before. Interesting trivia: Wikipedia says the producer of the show, a former owner of the Red Sox, financed the show by selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees.

64A: Artist's bases: GESSOES. Thought the plural form is just GESSOS.

66A: WWII landing craft: LST (Landing Ship Tank). The boat used in "Saving Private Ryan".

Down:

2D: Caspian sturgeon: BELUGA. I suppose those black stuff are BELUGA? Have never tasted it before.

9D: Clairvoyant women: SEERESSES. Cassandra was a SEERESS. She foresaw the fall of Troy. But because she did not return Apollo's love, he cursed her and nobody believed in her predictions.

12D: Certain Israeli: GALILEAN. Jesus is one.

23D: Given life, eg.: SENTENCED. I like this clue.

32D: Toss among: PITCH INTO

35D: Ducks and dodges: ELUDES

45D: hang out to freshen: AERATE

46D: John and Sondra: LOCKES. Knew John LOCKE, not Sondra LOCKE. Wikipedia says she is best known for frequently starring in films with Clint Eastwood.

57D: Presidential election loser of '50s: AES. Poor Adlai Stevenson. Always a "loser" in our editor's eye. How about "JFK's UN ambassor" or "DDE's opponent/challenger" rather than "Loser to DDE" all the time. He dated Lauren Bacall for some time, right?

C.C.