Monday September 21, 2009 Mel Rosen

Theme: Superman Rides in a Balloon

21A: Capable of doing a job: UP TO THE TASK

37A: Next in line to advance at work: UP FOR A PROMOTION

48A: Jackie Gleason catchphrase: AND AWAY WE GO

Nice pangram, all 26 letters have been used at least once.

The constructor Mel Rosen succeeded Will Weng (former NY Times crossword editor) as puzzle editor of The Crosswords Club and is also author of the Random House Puzzlemaker's Handbook

Superman and the Fifth Dimension might well be singing, "UP, UP, AND AWAY" at next weekend's Adirondack Hot Air Balloon Festival .

Argyle here, and if this puzzle is an example, we may be in for an interesting week.

Across:

1A: Skills-sharpening piano piece: ETUDE. Here is Chopin's "Sunrise", for Mary, Lois and Barb B.

6A: El __, Texas: PASO. Spanish for "step". I hear they have a university there.

10A: SoCal cop force: LAPD.

14A: Bolshevik leader: LENIN.

15A: "Baseball Tonight" station: ESPN.

16A: Prefix meaning "same": EQUI. As in equilateral. ISO is "Prefix meaning "same"" too.

17A: Elementary: BASIC.

18A: Bit of sports info: STAT. Usually we see this as a plural, STATistics.

19A: To-do: FUSS. Let's get it on! 34A: Group fight: MELEE. 8D: Minor quarrel: SPAT.

24A: "To whom __ concern": IT MAY.

26A: Tarzan actor Ron: ELY.

27A: Improvises lines: AD-LIBS.

29A: Solidify: JELL. JELL is a verb only while gel can be a noun or a verb.

31A: La __, Bolivia: PAZ. 22D: Daddies: PAS. PAS in La PAZ are padres.

35A: Pervasive quality: AURA.

36A: Yard event: SALE. Clever clue. Yes, Linda?

40A: Astound: STUN.

41A: Corp. leaders: CEOS.

42A: Acted boldly: DARED.

43A: Subj. for some immigrants: ESL. English as a Second Language.

44A: Berlin "Mister": HERR. Berlin "Mrs." would be FRAU.

45A: Mother with a Nobel prize: TERESA. Mother TERESA (Albanian) was awarded Nobel Peace in 1979.

46A: More than damp: WET. As many of you will discover today.

47A: With __ breath: tensely anticipatory: BATED.

53A: Sorrow: WOE.

56A: Sweet-talk: COAX.

57A: Dabbling duck: TEAL. Falcated teal falcated: curved like a scythe or sickle. Long sickle-shaped tertials hanging off its back give this species its name. Tertials: The third row of flight feathers on the basal section of a bird's wing. That's it. I'm done with this bird! Oh, it's a greenish-blue color too, same as AQUA (11D: Greenish-blue).

58A: Puts behind bars: JAILS.

61A: Northern Nevada town: ELKO. Here. It hosts the annual National Cowboy Poetry Gathering, Lois.

62A: Pop music's Hall & __: OATES. Six #1 hits on the Billboard Hot 100: "Rich Girl", "Kiss on My List", "Private Eyes", "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)", "Maneater", and "Out of Touch".

63A: Lose, as skin: SHED.

64A: Eject, geyser-style: SPEW.

65A: Internet giant with an exclamation point in its name: YAHOO. Very descriptive clue.

Down:

1D: Napoleon's exile isle: ELBA. He was then back to France for 100 days before Waterloo.

2D: Oolong and pekoe: TEAS.

3D: Not practiced: UNSKILLFUL.And someone you don't want 31D: Assigned as the partner of, as in dance class: PAIRED WITH.

4D: 502, to Nero: DII.

5D: Burden: ENCUMBER.

6D: Annoying, like a kid brother: PESTY. My first choice was PESKY.

7D: Concerning: AS TO.

9D: Like an escapee: ON THE LAM. We finally get the whole phrase.

10D: Southpaw's nickname: LEFTY. Does anybody besides pitcher gets called LEFTY? OK, Phil Mickelson.

12D: Kitty or kisser: PUSS. Feline or face (or both).

13D: Floppy with data: DISK.

25D: Attach with rope: TIE ON.

28D: U.S. Cabinet divisions: DEPTS. Departments.

29D: Foreman in court, e.g.: JUROR. If the former boxer was on the jury, he could be the Foreman foreman.

30D: Bow-toting god: EROS. Think Cupid.

33D: "The Prisoner of __": 1937 Fairbanks film: ZENDA. Poster.

38D: Plastic overlays for artwork: ACETATES.

39D: Poem used in Beethoven's "Choral Symphony": ODE TO JOY. Official anthem for European Union.

46D: Applied Simoniz to: WAXED. Remember from Karate Kid, "Wax on, wax off"?

48D: Unreturnable serves: ACES. Tennis.

50D: Pianist Brubeck: DAVE.

55D: Exxon, once: ESSO. Derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil (S O).

59D: Small battery: AAA.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Today is the 60th wedding anniversary of our fellow solver T. Frank and his wife Jean. Congratulations! They celebrated the occasion over the August 28, 2009 weekend before the school started. Left to right: Jean, Frank, Carl, Lee and Paul (Frank's sons and daughter, who live in New York State and Florida).

Argyle

Sunday, September 20, 2009 Bonnie L. Gentry and Victor Fleming

Theme: Signs of Burnout - ASH (80A: Sign of burnout hidden in eight puzzle answers)

23A: Dramatic device about which Hamlet says "The play's the thing...": SHOW WITHIN A SHOW. Hamlet exclaimed: "the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the King." He tried to prove that his uncle the new King murdered his father by staging a play which mimiced the way he imagined his father was killed.

37A: Kindness simile: SWEET AS HONEY. Hmm, as SWEET AS HONEY, as powerful as love.

53A: Rare key in which a section of Chopin's "Polonaise Fantasie" is written: A-SHARP MINOR. Got the answer with Down fill help. Wikipedia says the scale for "Polonaise Fantasie" is A-flat major.

72A: World Series of Poker Main Event game: TEXAS HOLD'EM. The most popular card game in America.

87A: California's first lady: MARIA SHRIVER. She sure has the Kennedy look.

105A: Open one's law office, say: HANG OUT A SHINGLE. The constructor Vic Fleming is a judge in Little Rock, Arkansas. Bonnie L. Gentry is a Merril Lynch financial adviser based in Scottsdale, Arizona.

17D: Easily become angered: HAVE A SHORT FUSE. Like Donald Rumsfeld.

46D: 2000 Martin Lawrence/Nia Long comedy: BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE. Unknown to me. This poster does not catch my fancy.

Strange to see the ASH in embedded in the beginning of A-SHARP MINOR while all the others are hidden in the middle of the theme entries. The spreads are quite consistent though, all spanning two words.

A bit of golf undercurrent:

95A: Ready to be driven: TEED UP. The golf ball is TEED UP and ready to be driven either by a driver or a long iron.

24D: Green targets: HOLES. Or PINS when you are far away from the greens.

101D: Annual major golf tournaments played in August, familiarly: PGA. The PGA Championship. The last of the four majors: Masters (Augusta, Georgia, April), US Open (June), the British Open (July) and the PGA Championship (August).

Smooth solving today. MARIA SHRIVER tipped me off the theme and I was then able to fill in all the ASH'es.

Across:

1A: Deferred payment at the bar: RAN A TAB

8A: Flies over Africa?: TSETSES. I like the question mark, it makes the clue interesting.

15A: Alternative to Twinkies: HOHOS. From Hostess.

22A: Pocatello's state: IDAHO. And UTAH (68D: Bonneville Flats state).

26A: Type sizes: PICAS

29A: Star responsible for eclipsing Venus?: SERENA. The Williams sister. I was not surprised by her outburst at U.S. Open at all.

30A: North Carolina university: ELON. And UTEP (68A: Sch. near the Rio Grande) - University of Texas, El Paso.

40A:".... so long __ both shall live?": AS YE. Is this a Bible quote? I guessed AS WE.

43A: Regal initials: HRH. His/Her Royal Highness.

44A: Ed who wrote "87th Precinct" novels: MCBAIN. No idea. Alias name for Evan Hunter. Lemonade or someone else mentioned this on the blog when we had EVAN last time. NOVEL is the answer for 25A: Work of fiction.

47A: Loving: Prefix: PHILO. As in philosophy. PHILE is suffix for "lover", as in Francophile.

57A: Grammar school basics, briefly: RRR. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic.

58A: Kelly's co-host: REGIS (Philbin). He bores me.

59A: H-bomb trial, e.g.: N-TEST

62A: Broadway auntie: MAME. "Autie MAME".

63A: Concerning: ANENT

66A: Big name in nonstick cookware: T-FAL. Big indeed.

67A: It starts with enero: ANO. And DIAS (96A:"Buenos __").

71A: Suffix with real: ISM. Realism.

75A: Get licked: LOSES. Twins won again! Sorry, Fred/Jazzbumpa and all Detroit Tigers fans.

76A: Put down: DEMEAN

78A: Prefix meaning "spiral": HELIC. No idea. Helix is Greek for "spiral". Its adjective is helical.

79A: Fizzles (out): PETERS

81A: "__fired!": YOU'RE. Donald Trump's catchphrase.

83A: Vaughan of jazz: SARAH. Unknown to me. Here is a clip of her "The Sassy One".

85A: Siberian metropolis: OMSK. See this map. Quite close to Kazakhstan. I tend to confuse it with ORSK (on the Ural River), also bordering Kazakhstan.

90A: Letters before a trade name: DBA (Doing Business As)

94A: "The Mod Squad" role: LINC (Hayes). I forgot.

97A: Dangerous compound in Agent Orange: DIOXIN. New word to me. Sounds toxic.

99A: General Arnold of WWII: HAP

102A: PC key below shift: CTRL. Had to check my keyboard.

103A: Frenzied: MANIC. Our fellow solver Chip is from Maine, hence Mainaic. I saw some of you call him MANIC.

104A: Vertical: PLUMB. Perpendicular.

108A: Chorus platform: RISER

109A: Instrument shaker at the end of minstrel troupe: MR. TAMBO. No idea. Dictionary says it's "the end man in a minstrel troupe who plays the tambourine".

110A: Made of clay: EARTHEN

111A: Bridge bid, briefly: ONE NO. Does No. stand for north? I know nothing about bridge.

112A: Black Sea port dweller: ODESSAN. Ukrainians.

113A: Unemotional: DRY-EYED

Down:

1D: Spoke like Don Corleone: RASPED. I've read most of the books by Mario Puzo, "Godfather" is definitely the best.

2D: Not long, timewise: AWHILE

3D: Recent rightist: NEOCON. I actually like Bill Kristol (founder of "The Weekly Standard"). Can't stand Richard Perle.

4D: Nile dam site: ASWAN

8D: Hot-dish holder: TRIVET. Three-legged.

9D: Iroquois Confederacy member: SENECA

12D: Trendy London area: SOHO. I don't why it's a trendy area. London's main Gay Village is located there. SOHO is a NY area too.

15D: Jazzman known as "Fatha": HINES (Earl)

16D: Febreze target: ODOR. P&G brand.

18D: Short story writer known for irony: O HENRY

19D: Comforting words: SOLACE

31D: Ballet bird: SWAN. "SWAN Lake"

34D: 1862 Bull Run victor: LEE (Robert. E)

39D: Blue Moon of '60s-'70s baseball: ODOM. Holy moley. Have never heard of this pitcher. "Blue Moon" is a great nickname. I want to be called "Deep Throat".

40D: Subject of Indiana Jones's quest: ARK. Nice to see ARK and ARC (35A: Missile's path) in one grid.

41D: ""Gymnopédies" composer: SATIE (Erik). French composer.

44D: Disney's Ariel, e.g.: MERMAID

45D: Make pure: CLEANSE. Thought of the terrifying ethnic cleansing in some parts of Iraq.

48D: Dost possess: HAST. Archaic for "have". "Dost" = "do".

50D: One staying afloat in place: TREADER. Made-up word.

53D: Building addition: ANNEX

54D: First instruction: STEP A. I like fills like STEP A & EPISODE I. The I & One substitute does not bother me at all.

55D: Words before black or red: IN THE

56D: Book after Micah: NAHUM. Had to look at my Bible book list again.

63D: " .. two fives for __?": A TEN

64D: Island east of Java: BALI. TIMOR too.

65D: Elec. letters: AC/DC

66D: Marriage promise: TROTH. Oh, that's how we got betroth I presume.

69D: Harass: MOLEST

70D: Fair, in forecasts: CLEAR. Beautiful weather here in Minnesota. Summer's final fling.

73D: Feng __: SHUI. Literally "water". Feng is "wind".

74D: Wife of Zeus: HERA. Sister of Zeus as well.

77D: Alas. native: ESK (Eskimo). I forgot which one is un-PC, Inuit or Eskimo?

79D: Scrub up, say: PREP. In Operation Room.

81D: PBS chef Martin: YAN. "YAN Can Cook".

83D: Libya's Gulf of __: SIDRA (SID-rah). No idea. Here is the map. The Mediterranean gulf.

84D: Torn off forcibly: AVULSED. New word to me. I only know convulse.

85D: Veteran: OLD PRO. Newbie would be TYRO.

88D: Queen of Troy: HECUBA (HEK-yoo-buh). Hard to remember her name. She's the mother of Paris/Hector/Cassandra. Wife of Priam (PRAHY-uhm).

89D: Gymnast Mary Lou of Olympics fame: RETTON. No idea, though she looks very familiar.

90D: Lake fisherman's boat: DINGHY

91D: Receiver of property, in law: BAILEE. Wow, it's a real word.

92D: Climb: ASCEND

94D: Book, in Bologna: LIBRO. Unknown to me. It's Spanish for "book" also.

96D: Beatrice's admirer: DANTE. Got the answer from Across fills. Was his love unrequited?

98D: Mutant superhero group of comics: X-MEN. Marvel Comics.

106D: Mantric sounds: OMS. Om is also spelled as aum. Dictionary defines it as "The supreme and most sacred syllable, consisting in Sanskrit of the three sounds (a), (u), and (m), representing various fundamental triads and believed to be the spoken essence of the universe. It is uttered as a mantra and in affirmations and blessings."

107D: Guffaw syllable: HAR. Sarcastic guffaw, isn't it?

Answer grid.

C.C.