Tuesday June 16, 2009 Betty Keller

Theme: LUNCH (67A: Meal that precede the start of 17-, 29-, 46- or 62-Across)

17A: Wasp-waisted shape: HOURGLASS FIGURE

29A: What a big spender has plenty of: MONEY TO BURN

46A: Boardinghouse sign: ROOM FOR RENT

62A: Godiva gift: BOX OF CHOCOLATES

I don't know how to have a HOURGLASS FIGURE. It's impossible to have boobs/hips that are at least 10 inches bigger than the waist. But Scarlett Johansson does have one.

Besides CHOCOLATES, there are a few other food/drink bonus references in today's grid:

51A: Thé, basically: EAU. Thé is French for "tea". "Lait, basically" works for EAU too.

53A: Snapple product: ICE TEA. Should be ICED TEA.

5D: Quiche base: EGG

9D: Self-serve meal: BUFFET

4D: Poor substitute for 62A: CAROB. I've never had CAROB power. Don't understand why it's a "poor" substitute.

18D: 53-Across flavor: LEMON

Lovely puzzle. I enjoyed it.

Across:

1A: Italian ball game: BOCCE. Somehow I wanted BOCCA. One of the variant spellings is actually BOCCIA.

10A: Sgt. Friday's force: LAPD. Of "Dragnet".

14A: "What __!": "B-o-o-o-ring!": A DRAG

15A: Forbidden perfume brand?: TABU. TABU perfume by Dana. Better clue than taboo variant.

16A: Arced molding: OGEE

20A: Palm phone: TREO. Unknown brand to me.

21A: Tokien's Treebeard, for one: ENT

22A: Accept reality: FACE IT

23A: Emeril catchword: BAM. Emeril Lagasse. "Kick up a notch!" is another of his catchwords. Maybe I should count this answer as a bonus fill as well.

26A: Cleaning item: RAG

35A: Ovid's "I love": AMO. AMO, amas, amat. Te AMO.

36A: How the euphoric walk?: ON AIR. Nice clue. Much better than "Studio sign".

37A: "Look here, old chap!": I SAY. Had trouble getting this answer. British exclamation? Another chap answer is BLOKE (70A: Chap).

38A: Raps with barbs: ZINGS

40A: EPA-banned pesticide: DDT. And DEET (13D: Insect repellent compound).

41A: Harry Potter's Potions teacher: SNAPE. No idea. This guy looks evil. Is he a bad guy?

42A: Dix plus un: ONZE. French for 11. Dix is 10. 10+1=11.

43A: Moray hunter: EELER

45A: "Vamoose!": GIT. We had extensive discussions about GITS last time when it's clued as "Lights out".

58A:"If I Only __Brain": HAD A. The Scarecrow song from "The Wizard of Oz".

65A: The Auld Sod: ERIN. Have never heard of "The Auld (Old) Sod" as a nickname for Ireland.

68A: Head of France?: TETE. French for "head". Not the insecure, arrogant, attention-seeking Nicolas Sarkozy.

Down:

1D: Bangkok currency: BAHT. Loved the street food in Bangkok. 1 Thai BAHT = 0.029 US dollars.

2D: Glade target: ODOR. Can you believe that the brand names were not allowed in Xword before? How boring!

3D: Rock's Mötley ___ : CRUE. The only member I know is Tommy Lee.

10D: Lincoln's birthplace: LOG CABIN. In Hardin Country, Kentucky. I used to think he was born in Illinois.

11D: Flulike symptom: AGUE. Learned from doing Xword.

12D: Gilpin of "Frasier": PERI. Also the Persian fairy.

19D: "Othello" conniver: IAGO. You've got to remember this villain.

24D: "Famous" cookie man: AMOS

25D: South Carolina's __ Beach: MYRTLE. Wonderful golf courses there.

26D: Stubble remover: RAZOR

28D: Bonkers: GONZO. New slang for me.

30D: __ Raiders: consumer advocates: NADER'S. Does this organization still exist?

31D: Down-yielding duck: EIDER

32D: Utilities bill datum: USAGE

34D: Dmitri's dissents: NYETS. Russian for "no". I just found out that Dmitri means "earth-lover" in Russian. The current Russian president's given name is Dimitry. I suppose it's the same as Dmitri?

39D: Emerald or ruby: GEM STONE

41D: Span. miss: SRTA. The French equivalent is MLLE.

44D: Año nuevo month: ENERO

47D: Lord's holding: FIEF. Often clued as "Feudal estate".

48D: Prophet at Delphi: ORACLE. Warren Buffet is often called "ORACLE of Omaha".

52D: Ryder rival: U-HAUL

53D: "Fat chance": I BET

55D: Sign over a door: EXIT

56D: Cartoon explorer: DORA. DORA the Explorer.

59D: 8, for oxygen: AT NO (Atomic Number)

64D: Barrister's deg.: LLB (Legum Baccalaureus, Latin for Bachelor of Laws). I got the answer from Across fills. Why "Barrister" instead of "Attorney"?

Answer grid.

C.C.

Monday June 15, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: Two-way Talk

18A: "Framed" toon in a 1988 film: ROGER RABBIT

27A: Xerox product: COPY MACHINE

47A: In an awkward position: OVER A BARREL

61A: Like oysters in summer months: OUT OF SEASON

Argyle blogging.

These words are used when talking to someone using a two-way radio, like CBers and fire and police personnel or on walkie-talkies.

ROGER indicates that a message had been received and understood.

COPY refers to hearing a signal clearly enough to be understood.

OVER means "I have finished speaking for the moment, but am expecting your reply - go ahead".

OUT means "I have finished speaking, and the conversation is finished; don't reply."

#1 "Did you Get a COPY on that?"

#2 "ROGER that."

#2 "Anything else, OVER?"

#1 "That is all. OUT."

Across:

1A: Candy in a collectible dispenser: PEZ. Often with a theme.

4A: Great time: BLAST.

9A: Get to one's feet: STAND.

17A: Pi-sigma link: RHO. Greek Alphabet.

20A: Splendid display: POMP. A little Pomp and Circumstance.

22A: Keystone lawman: KOP.

23A: Houston team that became the Tennessee Titans: OILERS.

24A: Provide weapons for: ARM.

26A: Barn topper: VANE. As in a weather vane.

32A: Seaman's pronoun: SHE. All ships are SHE.

37A: Go through rehab, in a way: DETOX.

40A: Funny Philips: EMO. I never thought he was funny.

41A: Pusher chaser: NARC.

45A: "Goosebumps" author R.L.: STINE.

50A: Popular jeans: LEES. WHAT? Not Levis!

52A: More than dislike: DETEST.

57A: Gyro bread: PITA. But what is NAN? nan or naan?

65A: College town near Bangor: ORONO. And 66A: Mission to remember: ALAMO. Crosswordese places.

70A: TV-watching room: DEN. Who has a TV den anymore.

Down:

1D: Criminal, to a cop: PERP. That isn't what it means to us.

4D: Tap room: BAR.

5D: Kid's cry before "No hands!": LOOK MA. And 9D: Discolored with a spill: STAIN. How's it going, Tarrajo?

7D: Resign, with "down": STEP.

8D: It paves the way: TAR.

10D: Restaurant booth alternative: TABLE.

11D: Parisian cleric: ABBE. And 12D: Blanc's opposite: NOIR. French.

13D: Kids' book connectibles: DOTS. Connect a Dot is a precursor to crosswords, right?

21D: Bribe to a DJ: PAYOLA. Payola is a portmanteau of the two words "pay" and "Victrola" meaning to bribe to play on the radio. It came to light in the Sixties that some disk jockeys were taking money to play certain songs, which the record companies hoped would boost sales.

25D: House divisions: Abbr.: RMS. Some of those RMS are BRS.

26D: Abe of "Barney Miller": VIGODA. Abe VIGODA played the old detective on the show, Phil Fish. He had a short-lived spin-off show called Fish. He and his wife, Bernice, ran a group home. He's in the front; she is in the back.

29D: Land maps: PLATS.

30D: Blintz relatives: CREPES. Do you want some now?

31D: Funny business: HUMOR.

34D: Do very well: EXCEL.

38D: Lure via a sting: ENTRAP. One of the sneakiest I ever heard of, was a man and a woman want to purchase alcohol but the man says he left his wallet in the car and she pays it. She is not of age.

43D: Really likes: GOES FOR.

48D: November honorees: VETS. Veterans Day in 2009 is on Wednesday, the 11th of November.

49D: Turn into: BECOME.

50D: Sierra __: African republic: LEONE. Southwest of MALI. And 55D: Niger neighbor: MALI. Northwest Africa Niger is to its east.

53D: Peseta replacer: EURO. Former Spanish currency.

54D: Sporty auto roof: T-TOP. Removable panels over the driver and the passenger but leaving a center section, in theory, for greater strength in case of a rollover.

56D: Quickly, in memos: ASAP. As Soon As Possible.

63D: Sine qua __: NON. This phrase is Latin for "without which not", meaning, if an essential element is missing, it's not gonna happen.

Answer grid.

Argyle