Sunday March 15, 2009 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: Cards for Two

23A: Blackjack: POLICEMAN'S CLUB

36A: War: OPEN HOSTILITIES

73A: Scatter: CUT AND RUN

108A: Casino: TRUMP PLAZA OR RIO

126A: Gin: COTTON SHUFFLER

17D: Nautically nauseous: CAPTAIN'S DECK

64D: Solitaire: A DIAMOND RING

I hope I got the theme answers correct. I am a dummy when it comes to card games. Why "Card for Two" as the theme title?

I don't know. HAND PICK (8D: Select personally) might be part of the theme answers too. But there is nothing hidden in its symmetrical partner SAL MINEO (93D: "Exodus" co-star). Or am I missing something here?

Struggled with this puzzle. Too many proper names. Our editor is on a name binge today. He could easily clue KEENER (107D: Catherine of "Full Frontal") as "More acute". "Single Sra" for SRTA (66A) is such a lazy cluing.

I have never seen a word number indicator like 67D: Time qualifier: __ about (2 words): AT OR. Normally Williams would go with "End of comment?" (commentator). He hates partials.

See here for Argyle's post on Rich Norris' Thursday SPAGHETTI puzzle.

Across:

1A: Simpson's songwriting partner: ASHFORD (Nickolas). Stumped immediately. Have never heard of him or his wife Valerie Simpson. They wrote "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

8A: Seize a vehicle in transit: HIJACK. I had this wrong notion that HIJACK means "Seize a plane in transit" and CARJACK is the answer the clue is looking for.

20A: Put away one's sword: SHEATHE

21A: Comparable thing: ANALOG. Not analogy?

22A: Chilly period: ICE AGE. I wrote WINTER first. It's indeed the "Chilly period" here in MN.

30A: Memory unit: BIT. Know nothing about computer. BIT, byte. Which is bigger?

33A: Tom Sawyer's sweetheart: BECKY. Guessed. His love for her is unrequited, right?

48A: Hitters: BATSMEN. My inital answer is BATTERS.

70A: Senior members: DOYENS. Female is called doyenne. Helen Thomas is often referred to as the doyenne of the White House press corps.

71A: Diameter halves: RADII. Probably only math geeks celebrated the National Pi Day yesterday.

76A: Mother-of-pearl: NACRE. Here is a picture. I don't know why NACRE is precious. Some drums have very nicely encircled NACRE around its body.

77A: With hands on hips: AKIMBO. I can never remember this position. Sounds like a Japanese word.

79A: Iditarod terminus: NOME

87A: S.F. underground: BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit). Oh, I did not know it's underground.

89A: Bookkeeping abbr.: EOM. Glory be! I am not familar with this abbreviation at all. It's just "End of Month".

105A: Flasks: PHIALS. Only knew vial.

106A: No-good-__: NIK. I need to use this word. I've never used ne'er-do-well in my conversation either.

112A: Grasslike wetland plant: SEDGE. The leaves looks cutting.

114A Asian range: ALTAI. It's called 阿尔泰山脉 in Chinese. Wikipedia said the ALTAI mountains are known as the Turkic people's birthplace. Originated in the word Altau. AL means "gold", TAU means "mount". So ALTAI means the "Mountains of Gold" in their language.

117A: Gifts bestowed: LARGESS

122A: Blood: pref.: HEMA. Or hemo. As in hemophilia, the disease Byron Nelson died of.

130A: Guy of "Factory Girl": PEARCE. I googled. Here is a picture of him and Sienna Miller who starred in the "Factory Girl". He is an Aussi also.

131A: Military decoration: EPAULET. I used to remember this word.

133A: Arialike solo: ARIOSO. Forgot again.

134A: Schedules anew: RESLOTS

Down:

2D: Brogue or wingtip: SHOE. Did not know brogue and wingtip means the same thing.

3D: Recklessly determined: HELLBENT

5D: Stock-market abbr.: OTC. Over-the-Counter. I don't know anything about stock market, except my GE stock keeps dropping. How is OTC different from NYSE trading? Also, if most of us are losing money in this market, who is winning? If no one, where did the money disappear to?

10D: Actor Derek: JACOBI. Googled him, then realized that I had googled him before. An illustrous career.

11D: Completely wrong: ALL WET

12D: Administrative body: COUNCIL. Can't believe I struggled with this one.

24D: Having wings: ALATE. I only knew ALAR, which actually means "Winglike".

29D: Cicely and Mike: TYSONS. Cicely is Miles Davis' wife.

31D: Essay: THEME. New definition to me.

34D: Largo and Longboat: KEYS. Both KEYS are in FL. Here is my favorite KEYS.

37D: "Waiting for Lefty" playwright: ODETS. Another google. Is ODETS very famous? Very odd picture. What are they trying to achieve?

46D: William Sydney Porter: O HENRY. Easy guess. I did not know O HENRY's original name. What does O stand for? Why not O'HENRY?

49D: DEA type: NARC. It's always "D.E.A. agent". I don't know why it's "type".

59D: Rail: SORA. The Carolina rail.

61D: Unfledged bird: EYAS. Would not got this weird word without the surrounds. The British spelling is Eyass.

81D: Legendary drummer Gene: KRUPA. He was played by SAL MINEO (93D: "Exodus" co-star) in the 1959 biopic "The Gene KRUPA story".

91D: Black bird: MERL. Also MERLE. Not fully black. I learned the meaning of this word a few months ago when someone talked about MERL Reagle, the genius crossword constructor for Dennis's "Philadelphia Inquirer".

96D: Actor Mastroianni: MARCELLO. Another google. Found his mug to be very familiar, then I remember I saw his movie "A Very Private Affair" with Brigitte Bardot.

98D: Brit. quartermaster: RSO (Regimental Supply Officer).

100D: Hunting trophy: BIG GAME. New phrase to me. I thought there is a special trophy for hunters.

102D: Surpasser: OUTDOER. Made-up "er" word.

109D: Rum cocktail: MAI TAI. Nice to see its full name. Wikipedia says MAI TAI means "good" in Tahitian. What is that flower besides the mint leaves?

110D: Poet Metastasio: PIETRO. No idea. He was "an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of opera seria libretti", whatever that is. And he is known as an "emotional, lyrical, and romantic poet". His hands look like a lady's . Wonder how long his thumbs are.

111D: "The Third Man" instrument: ZITHER. Got the Z from the intersecting PLAZA. So the only viable answer is ZITHER.

113D: Having auricles: EARED. AURI/OTO is prefix for ear.

121D: "Little Latin __ Lu": LUPE. Have never heard of this song before.

126D: Bks balancer: CPA. This "er" word really annoys me. "Balancing pro" is better.

127D: Mil. training course: OCS. Officer Candidate School. New to me. Why "course" then?

C.C.

Thursday March 12, 2009 Donna Hoke Kahwaty / Rich NorrisLA Times

Theme: SPAGHETTI (57A: Noodles, and word that can precede the beginning of 17-, 28-, or 43-Across)

17A: Commute, stereotypically: STRAPHANG

28A:Four-walled play areas: SQUASH COURTS

43A: 19th century communications pioneer: WESTERN UNION

(Note from C.C. This post is blogged by our sweet Santa Argyle. Click here for the LA Times Thursday March 12, 2009 puzzle.)

You can look at 13D link to see SPAGHETTI STRAPS.

You may visit your local produce and pick up some SPAGHETTI SQUASH.

Rent some old Eastwood films to watch SPAGHETTI WESTERNS.

SPAGHETTI is in Aisle 7.

Across:

1A: Goes arduously (through): WADES.

6A: London hrs. GMT. Greenwich Mean Time.

9A: Clarifying words: ID EST. Latin ‘that is’, abbreviated i.e. Do you think asking for a hint it was Latin is too much to ask?

14A: Thomas associate: ALITO. Clarence Thomas has served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991; Samuel Alito has served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2006. Associate was the clue that we were looking a judge and not a buddy of Thomas the Tank Engine.

15A: Rock’s — Speedwagon: REO. There were still some of these trucks around when I was a wee lad. Our crossword.corner anthem.

16A: Conical home: TEPEE.

17A: Commute, stereotypically: STRAPHANG. On a subway or bus, when you can’t find a seat, you stand and hang on to a strap. poster

19A: Line to the audience: ASIDE. My first thought was a line up the audience, aisle, instead of a line spoken directly to the audience.

20A: Cut canines: TEETHED.

21A: Joseph Kennedy’s middle daughter: EUNICE. Eunice Shriver, 87, was the fifth of nine children of Joseph and Rose Kennedy and she helped found the Special Olympics as a national event.

23A: Be off: ERR.

24A: Udder parts: TEATS. They're real and they're spectacular.

26A: Pale-green moth: LUNA

28A: Four-walled play areas: SQUASH COURTS. You might find some babies in these play areas.

31A: Sort: GROUP. Sort into groups or group into sorts, works either way.

33A: Frat house empties: KEGS. The kegger parties can get pretty rowdy, or so I’m told.

34A: Take in: EAT. It would have made more sense without the “IN”.

35A: Swedish coin: KRONA. Plural, kronor.

36A: Lith., formerly: SSR. Lithuania, along with Estonia and Latvia, were known as the Baltic States, on the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea. and were incorporated into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics as constituent republics in 1940. They became independent again in 1991.

37A: A bridal veil may be attached to one: TIARA.

39A: Hotel addition?: IER. Hotelier is the manager or owner of a hotel or inn. The Cornell University School of Hotel Administration is the place to go if you want to become a hotelier.

40A: Send to the canvas: KAYO. The pronunciation of KO, which stands for Knock Out, from boxing.

42A: One of the Papas: DENNY. The Mamas and Papas L. to R., Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot, John Phillips, and Michelle Phillips Creeque Alley with pics from the Monterey Pop Festival.

43A: 19th century communications pioneer: WESTERN UNION. Western Union was founded in Rochester, New York, in 1851 as The New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company. It changed its name to Western Union Telegraph Company in 1856 at the insistence of Ezra Cornell, one of the founders of Cornell University, to signify the joining of telegraph lines from coast to coast.

46A: Stubborn people won’t give one: INCH. Stubborn Britons won’t give a centimeter.

47A: Clan symbol: TOTEM. A large pole carved with family symbols. Beaver Clan totem.

48A: First name in design: LIZ. Liz Claiborne, with Art Ortenberg and Leonard Boxer, founded in 1976, Liz Claiborne Inc., a fashion company that sells directly to customers. In 1986, it was the first company founded by a woman to be listed in the Fortune 500. She was also the first designer to insist that her collection be placed together on the sales floor. Shoppers no longer went from shirt department to pant department to coordinate an outfit, revolutionizing the way department stores arranged clothing and created the role of fashion merchandising as we know it today.

51A: Minimalist composer Glass: PHILIP. Although his music is often, though controversially, described as minimalist, he describes himself instead as a composer of "music with repetitive structures". sample

53A: Closet article: GARMENT.

56A: Word with pipe or sign: PEACE.

59A: Sailing maneuvers: TACKS. The combination of the aerodynamic force from the sails and the hydrodynamic force from the underwater hull section allows motion in almost any direction, except straight into the wind. Or ask Jeannie.

60A: Big Apple subway div.: IRT. New York City’s Interborough Rapid Transit.

61A: Actress Georgia: ENGEL. Georgia Bright Engel, 60, is an American film and television actress probably best known for sweet Georgette Baxter on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She is the one on the right.

62A: Tray filler: ASHES. Ashtray; I was thinking ice cubes.

63A: Seek redress, in a way: SUE. The American way.

64A: Dig deeply?: ADORE. A devious clue.

Down:

1D: Useless venture: WASTE.

2D: Shorten or lengthen, say: ALTER.

3D: More desperate: DIRER. I can’t decide if it is pronounced ‘dire’ or ‘direrer’; I think I’d use more dire.

4D: Pennsylvanie, e.g.: ETAT. A little help that it is French would have been nice. Pennsylvania and state. Something like ‘Pennsylvanie to Tours tourists’.

5D: This year’s grad, two years ago: SOPH.

6D: Like a good egg?: GRADE A. What it looks like without its shell.

7D: “So many ___, so little time”: Mae West: MEN.

8D: As a team: TOGETHER.

9D: “Let’s call ___ evening” IT AN. We may be seeing more of these partial fills now.

10D: “I Spy” TV studio: DESILU. I Spy was a secret agent series, 1965 to 1968. Robert Culp and Bill Cosby were traveling as "tennis bums". In reality, they were spies. Desilu Productions was owned by Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

11D: Gourmet: EPICUREAN. A follower of Epicurus (341-270 BC), a famous Greek philosopher, who has been regarded, erroneously, as teaching a doctrine of refined voluptuousness, esp. to the luxuries of the table.

12D: Like a couch potato: SEDENTARY. Accustomed to sitting a great deal and doing little exercise.

13D: Top with a slogan: TEE. This stumped me for quite awhile. Top – a garment worn on the upper torso, also known as a shirt; so a shirt with a slogan on it could be a T-shirt, also known as a TEE; which gives me an excuse to link a sexy picture. The slogan, in case you missed it, is "I'll be using theses to my advantage", and, yes, I know, technically, she isn't wearing a T-shirt. I DON"T CARE.

18D: Distressed: HET UP. Archaic

22D: Search and rescue org.: USCG. United States Coast Guard.

25D: Tries to date: ASKS OUT.

27D: The Charles’ dog: ASTA.

28D: Charlie, to Martin: SON. Martin Sheen is the father of Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez. L. to R., Emilio, Charlie, and Martin.

29D: Tremble: QUAKE.

30D: Bone: Pref.: OSTEO.

31D: Stew ingredients: GREEN PEAS.

32D: Personality test creator: RORSCHACH. Is it a Rorschach test or a crossword I tied to do with a fountain pen?

35D: Smallest ratite bird: KIWI. A ratite is any of large, flightless birds. The Ostrich is the largest, next is the Emu, Cassowary, Rhea, and smallest, Kiwi, a chicken-sized bird.

36D: Overview: SYNOPSIS. Precis!

38D: Quaint quarters: INNS.

41D: Introductory humanities class: ART I. It would be ART IOI usually.

42D: Joltin’ Joe: DiMAG. Both are nicknames for Joe DiMaggio. A member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, DiMaggio was a 3-time MVP winner and 13-time All-Star (the only player to be selected for the All-Star Game in every season he played).

44A: Alan of “Growing Pains”: THICKE. Alan Thicke, 62, is a Canadian actor, songwriter, and game and talk show host. He is best known for his role as Jason Seaver, the patriarch on the ABC television series Growing Pains.

45D: Prove false: NEGATE.

48D: Abandon one’s inhibitions: LET GO.

49D: Put to rest?: INTER. Rest In Peace

50D: Scrabble 10-pointer: Z TILE. A real Scrabblely answer

52D: Not as much: LESS.

54D: Ostrich relative: RHEA. A kiwi relative, too.

55D: Fix: MEND.

56D: Home-school link, briefly: PTA

58D: “Piece of the Rock” company, on the NYSE: PRU. “Piece of the Rock” is the slogan for Prudential Financial Inc. whose symbol on the New York Stock Exchange is PRU.

Argyle