Monday July 27, 2009 Samuel A. Donaldson

Theme: Half Off

20A: Borax haulers, in classic ads: TWENTY MULE TEAM

31A: Cowboy's topper: TEN GALLON HAT

41A: Poker game where one might stand pat: FIVE-CARD DRAW

57A: CBS sitcom since 2003: TWO AND A HALF MEN

Argyle blogging.

I think TWO AND A HALF MEN was the first theme entry and went up from there. SHEEN (54D: Charlie of 57-Across) is the main character, Jon Cryer (who was in a LAT puzzle recently) is his uptight brother, Alan, and Angus T. Jones portrays Alan's young son, Jake. From season four.

Famous picture of a FIVE CARD DRAW poker game.

Tom Mix and his TEN GALLON HAT.

TWENTY MULE TEAM borax.

Across:

1A: Thingamajig: GISMO. Also spelled as GIZMO.

14A: __ of the tongue: A SLIP.

15A: Celebrity chef Bobby: FLAY. Bobby Flay, (born in New York City) is an American celebrity chef, restaurateur, Iron Chef, and television personality. His cooking style is Spanish, Mexican, and Southwest. Go figure.

16A: Provo's state: UTAH. SSE of Salt Lake City.

17A: Trailblazer Daniel: BOONE.

18A: Bad thing to yell in a crowded theater: FIRE. The First Amendment doesn't extend to this!

23A: Best kind of situation: NO LOSE. I had win-win, at first.

25A: Getting the job done, briefly: TCB. Taking Care of Business.

26A: Pig __ poke: IN A.

35A: "... __ saw Elba": ERE I. "Able was I ere I saw Elba".

36A: Sport __: versatile vehicle: UTE. The utes are coming for us.

37A: LAPD alerts: APBS. The Los Angeles Police Department issues All-Points Bulletins.

46A: Sam's Club competitor: COSTCO.

49A: Confucian "path": TAO.

50A: That, in Tijuana: ESA.

55A: Words of understanding: I GET IT.

60A: Darkroom images, for short: NEGS. Negatives.

61A: Radioer's "Back to you': OVER.

62A: New Wave band __ Boingo: OINGO.

66A: Actress Mary-Kate or Ashley: OLSEN. The OLSEN TWINS.

Down:

2D: Big name in gloves: ISOTONER. by Totes

3D: It's to the far right on freeways: SLOW LANE.

4D: Sal of "Exodus": MINEO. Press release.

5D: Where pirates prey: OPEN SEA. Arr, matey.

8D: Lash of old oaters: LARUE. His hat looks to be only about two gallon.

9D: Place for mascara: EYE LASH.

11D: "Yada, yada, yada": ETC., ETC.

12D: President Obama: BARACK. Literally "blessed" in Arabic or "peach" in Hungarian.

13D: Hitchhikers' digits: THUMBS. Today's constructor is a professor at the University of Washington, and a lawyer. Besides constructing crosswords (puzzles published in The New York times, Chronicle of Higher Education, USA Today, and The Sun Crossword, and now LAT), one of his published articles is A Hitchhiker's Guide to International Estate Planning.

23D: TV's Nick at __: NITE.

28D: Chimney duct: FLUE.

30D: Not much: A TAD.

33D: Non-Rx: OTC. No perscription needed for Over The Counter items.

34D: Without ice: NEAT.

38D: False appearance: PRETENSE.

39D: Kim of "L.A. Confidential": BASINGER. Photo. She won Oscar for the role.

43D: Some West Indian religious cultists: VOODOOS. Also, voduns, people who practice the voodoo or vodun religion.

44D: Racetrack border: RAIL. Saratoga Race Course Opening Day is Wednesday!

46D: Forty winks: CATNAP.

47D: "Animal Farm" author George: ORWELL.

48D: Inferior cigar: STOGIES. Named after Conestoga, a town in in Pennsylvania.

53D: Quarterback Brett with a record 464 TD passes: FAVRE. "Brett Favre will be returning to the NFL this week with the Minnesota Vikings, according to my sources. There is also a chance Favre will not be returning to the NFL this week with the Vikings, according to my sources...." - By Norman Chad, Monday, July 27, 2009 washingtonpost.com columns. Brett FAVRE looks good in Viking's uniform.

56D: Etiquette author Post: EMILIY.

58D: "The Thin Man" dog: ASTA.

59D: Yanks' third baseman, familiarly: A-ROD. Alex Rodriguez.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday July 26, 2009 Nora Pearlstone

Theme: Midafternoons - PMS (132D: Times of day hidden in eight puzzle answers)

23A: Temporary solution: STOPGAP MEASURE

54A: Controversial excavation method: STRIP MINING

94A: Key equivalent to B-flat: A-SHARP MAJOR

130A: It can help you organize windows and wallpaper: DESKTOP MANAGER

17D: Startling Stories, e.g.: PULP MAGAZINES

29D: One making a large withdrawal?: HOLDUP MAN

66D: Maker of Marlboro: PHILIP MORRIS

68D: Laptop power saver: SLEEP MODE

I did not find any other non-theme **PM** combination fill in the grid, did you? Pretty neat! Nora Pearlstone, anagram of "not a real person", is the alias name of our editor Rich Norris.

STRIP MINING is new to me. Normally the answer to B-flat is just A-SHARP, so I was surprised by the following MAJOR. But again, I know nothing about musical terms. PHILIP MORRIS is my first theme fill.

I don't understand the clue for ATM (109A: Vegas contraption offering the best odds?). Why "best odds"?

Across:

1A: Mollusk shell materials: NACRES. Also called mother-of-pearls.

7A: "Piece of cake": NO SWEAT

14A: Charts with axes: GRAPHS

20A: Maintain: ALLEGE. ASSERT has 6-letter too.

21A: What a stalwart won't give? ONE INCH. I wanted AN INCH.

22A: Liturgy: RITUAL. I confused liturgy with litany.

25A: Harlem theater: APOLLO. Have heard of this theater. Did not know the exact location though.

26A: Arnold Palmer's Pennsylvania birthplace: LATROBE. No idea. LATROBE is about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Wikipedia says Steeler's training camp is there.

27A: "Lemme __!": AT 'EM. What does the phrase mean?

28A: Physicist with a law: OHM. OHM's law. Named after the German physicist George OHM.

30A: Fraternal org.: BPOE

31A: Golf iron socket: HOSEL. It's the part where the shaft is installed.

32A: Do not disturb: LET BE

34A: W. vis-à-vis E: OPP. West/East. Opposite direction.

36A: Money pile?: Abbr. MSS (Manuscripts). Money magazine. Tricky clue.

37A: With 81-Down, game played on a three-walled court: JAI. And ALAI (81D: See 37-Across).

39A: Govt. division: DOJ (Department of Justice). I was stumped.

42A: Title woman about whom Clapton sings "You've got me on my knees": LAYLA. About Pattie Boyd.

44A: Year in Augustus' reign: ONE BC. The N from ANT (38D: Colony resident) allowed me to fill in the answer immediately.

47A: Political payoff: SOP. Bribe.

51A: Goneril's victim: REGAN. Both King Lear's daughters. The bad ones.

60A: Half of Bennifer: J. LO. Bennifer = Ben Affleck + Jennifer Lopez.

61A: Erotic god: AMOR

63A: Pencil puzzles: MAZES

64A: Old Boston Garden nickname: ESPO. Sigh. All I could think of is Bobby ORR. How can I remember Phil ESPO Esposito?

67A: Like horseshoes: U-SHAPED

70A: Both: pref.: AMBI. Like ambidextrous.

73A: Uto-Aztecan tongue: NAHUATL. Wikipedia says avocado, chili, chocolate, tomato are all of NAHUATL origin.

75A: Capital of Yemen: SANAA

77A: Not too soft: AL DENTE. Italian for "to the tooth". I like pasta/veggie/fruits to be firm. I like everything to be firm.

79A: CCX x V+ I: MLI. 210x5+1=1050

80A: Long-necked runner: RHEA. Flightless.

82A: Nautical ladder rung: RATLINE. No idea.

84A: Court period: Abbr.: SESS. Supreme Court?

85A: Israeli port city: EILAT. Of course I thought of HAIFA first.

87A: Fantasy spirit: ELF

89A: "Sleepy Hollow" actor: DEPP. I don't find Johnny Depp attractive.

92A: Piques: SNITS

93A: Kung __ chicken: PAO. Mostly with cashew nuts.

99A: Aware of : HEP TO. Or HIP TO.

100A: In the 60s, say: MILD. Oh, temperature.

102A: Chemical suffix: ANE

104A: Snapple's __ Madness: MANGO. MANGO stain is tough to remove.

106A: French military cap: KEPI. With a flat, circular top and a visor. I simple forgot.

112A: USCG rank: CPO (Chief Petty Officer). USCG is United States Coast Guard.

114A: Jupiter, e.g.: GOD. Greek for Jupiter is Zeus.

115A: East German secret police: STASI. Nailed it this time.

117A: Violinist's aid: ROSIN

120A: Not stifling: AIRY

122A: 109-Across charge: FEE

124A: Emerald Isle: ERIN

125A: Woozy: IN A DAZE

128A: Low-level clouds: STRATI. Singular is stratus.

133A: Puts on ice: CHILLS

134A: Best: OPTIMUM. Is this a noun or an adjective?

135A: It's fixed by a bank: CD RATE

136A: Per se: AS SUCH. Per se is Latin "By itself".

137A: Annual Georgia tournament, with "The": MASTERS. Augusta, Georgia.

138A: La Scala offerings: OPERAS

Down:

1D: Pelé's org.: NASL (North American Soccer League). I only knew MLS (Major League Soccer).

2D: B.C. neighbor: ALTA. Alberta.

3D: One concerned with duds?: CLOTHIER. I was thinking of failure duds.

4D: Printer's proof: REPRO. Needs a "briefly" hint.

5D: Toaster waffles: EGGOS

6D: Lobster habitat: SEABED

8D: Actress Tatum: O'NEAL. She won Oscar for "Paper Moon", the youngest ever to win an Oscar (age 10).

9D: Not off one's rocker?: SEATED. I did not know "off one's rocker" is a slang for crazy, so the question mark wordplay was lost on me.

10D: Not tricked by: WISE TO

11D: Digital food additive code used in Europe: E NUMBER. No idea. E stands for Europe.

12D: Horiz.: ACR. Across.

13D: Kojak, to friends: THEO. Van Gogh's brother is called THEO too. "I dream my painting, and then I paint my dream".

14D: Family nickname: GRAMPA. Ye Ye in Chinese.

15D: Pants problem: RIP

16D: Phrase indicating small progress: A TO B

18D: Saintly rings: HALOS

19D: Tart fruit: SLOES

24D: Speaker since 2007: PELOSI (Nancy). Didn't we just have Boxer last Sunday? Guess Dianne Feinstein is next.

33D: Blow one's stack: ERUPT

35D: Giza attraction: PYRAMID

40D: Whale of a guy?: JONAH. I was ignorant of the Biblical JOHAH & whale story.

43D: Yeats' "___ and the Swan": LEDA. Easy guess. Since LEDA is sometimes clued as "The Swan lady".

45D: Exquisite gem: BIJOU. Wouldn't have got the answer without Across help.

46D: Rank abov Pfc.: CPL (Corporal)

48D: Early Arizona natives: PIMAS. I forgot.

50D: Joy Adamson lioness: ELSA. The "Born Free" lioness.

52D: Bond and others: AGENTS

53D: Headlands: NESSES. Learned this word from doing Xword.

56D: Stock phrase: NO-PAR

57D: Caribbean nation: GRENADA. Interesting, they speak English there. I thought Spanish is their official language.

64D: Tangle up: ENMESH

65D: Intravenous solution: SALINE

74D: Schubert vocal work: ART SONG. Schubert composed many Lied, German for ART SONG.

76D: First in a series: ALPHA. Greek alphabet series I presume.

78D: Think piece: ESSAY. Strange clue. Is "think" here a noun?

83D: Classic toothpaste: IPANA. Here is an old IPANA commercial.

88D: Parents: FOLKS

96D: "Sands of Iwo Jima" costar: JOHN AGAR. No idea. Wikipedia says he was Shirley Temple's first husband.

97D: Unveil, in poems: OPE. Poetic open.

98D: T. __: REX

101D: Can't abide: DETESTS

105D: Simple card game: GO FISH. No idea. Shouldn't the name be GO FISHING then?

107D: "Sit!": PARK IT

108D: "Am I the only one?:": IS IT ME

110D: State of Grace?: MONACO. Grace is capitalized, referring to Grace Kelly.

112D: First to stab Caesar: CASCA. I just knew it's not Brutus.

113D: Cores: PITHS

116D: "__ time": Hemingway work: IN OUR. Got the answer from Down fills.

118D: Wall St. "500": S AND P. S &P 500 index.

119D: "Do __ to eat a peach": Eliot: I DARE. Have to thank Clear Ayes for the answer. For those who only solve LAT Sunday puzzle, don't miss Down the Aisle video Clear Ayes linked a few days ago.

121D: Korean border river: YALU. China/Korea border river. A rare gimme river for me.

123D: Ancient Dead Sea land: EDOM. Learned from doing Xword.

126D: Sixth Greek letter: ZETA

127D: "__ Tu": 1974 hit: ERES. "ERES Tu" is literally "You Are" in Spanish.

129D: Tot's need, often: TLC. Again, no abbreviation hint in the clue. I thought of NAP.

Answer grid.

C.C.