Monday September 28, 2009 Fred Jackson III

Theme: The theme isn't real.

17. Hobbes, to Calvin: IMAGINARY FRIEND

35. Ideal getaway: DREAM VACATION

53. Armchair quarterback's hobby: FANTASY FOOTBALL

Argyle here.

Not bad, not bad at all for a Monday. I'm thinking FANTASY FOOTBALL was the seed for this theme. Maybe Fred will drop by and have a few words (so watch what you say).

Across:

1. Disappear gradually: FADE. And 1 Down. Passes out: FAINTS.

9. Vatican-related: PAPAL.

14. Like deserts: ARID.

15. Heavenly bear: URSA. Ursa Major, aka, the Big Dipper.

16. "__ you clever!": AREN'T.

20. Motel restriction: NO PETS.

21. T-bone, for one: STEAK.

22. Lock of hair: TRESS.

23. Med. plan choices: HMOS. Health Maintenance OrganizationS

25. Opposite of "Huh?": AHA.

28. Damascus is its cap.: SYR. Capital, Syria, Mid-East.

29. Fashion's Gucci and actor Ray: ALDOS.

31. Nudge rudely: ELBOW.

33. Makes a long story short?: EDITS.

34. City leaders: MAYORS.

38. Taken care of: SEEN TO.

39. "Rich Man, Poor Man" novelist Shaw: IRWIN. A novel written by Irwin Shaw in 1969, became a miniseries in 1976.

40. Give body to, as hair: TEASE. And 44. Like fine coifs: STYLED.

41. Obvious disdain: SCORN.

42. Meditator's syllables: OMS. Hands up; who read this as mediator? Yeah, me too.

46. Coarse file: RASP.

47. Rub it in: GLOAT.

49. Key in the sea: ISLET.

52. Defective, as wiring: FAULTY.

58. Summoned the butler: RANG.

59. Peace Prize winner Wiesel: ELIE. Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 1986.

62. Between-your-toes grains: SAND.

Down:

2. Weapons storehouse: ARMORY.

3. Baby seat cover?: DIAPER.

4. Pieces jigsaw puzzlers usually start with: EDGES.

7. Kazakhstan, until 1991: Abbr.: SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic. Here Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan since 1997, is in North-Central Kazakhstan. The city of Almaty (South-Eastern Kazakhstan), formerly Alma-Ata, was the capital.

8. Assertions: SAY SOS. Parents everywhere: "...because I SAY SO!"

9. Peel, as a rind: PARE.

11. Game played with a baby: PEEK-A-BOO.

12. "Raggedy" girl: ANN. With her brother, Andy.

13. Inc., in England: LTD. Limited. A firm, usually associated with British registration, that is organized in such a way as to give its owners limited liability.

18. Appointment-confirming words: IT'S A DATE.

19. Dix and Knox: Abbr.: FTS. Fort Dix, NJ and Fort Knox, KY.

23. Set with a sharper picture, briefly: HDTV. High-Definition Television.

24. Inlaid designs: MOSAICS.

26. Traffic jam honker: HORN.

27. "Isn't that cute!" exclamations: AWS.

31. Persistently worrying: EATING AT.

32. "__ Eyes": 1975 Eagles hit: LYIN'. I never realized it was such a long song, 6:23.

33. Poetic dusks: EENS.

34. Bryn __ College: MAWR. Seal and location.

36. Draw inferences from: READ INTO.

37. Farm output: CROP.

38. The bus stops here: Abbr.: STA. Station

41. Mythical man-goats: SATYRS. Don't confuse it with the monster Centaur (head, trunk, and arms of a man, and the body and legs of a horse).

42. "Va va voom!": OO-LA-LA.

43. Marlee __, Best Actress winner in "Children of a Lesser God": MATLIN. More of her. "Va va voom!" and "OO-LA-LA".

46. Notes after dos: RES. do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, and ti.

48. Garage jobs: LUBES.

50. British machine gun: STEN. STEN is an acronym, cited as derived from the names of the weapon's chief designers, Major Reginald Shepherd and Harold Turpin, and EN for Enfield. FYI: The Royal Small Arms Factory (RSAF) was a UK government-owned rifle factory in London Borough of Enfield. The factory produced British military rifles, muskets and swords from 1816. It closed in 1988. STEN

51. Baker's fat: LARD. And 55. Blubber: FAT. BAD!

52. Stodgy old-timer: FOGY.

53. __ Four: Beatles: FAB. FABulous.

54. Every bit: ALL.

56. "__ scale of 1 to 10 ...": ON A.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday September 27, 2009 Alan Arbesfeld

Theme: Put the Finger on - ID(identification) is inserted in familiar phrases.

23A. Ella while scatting?: RAP(ID) SINGER. Ella Fitzgerald was noted for her scat singing.

29A. Bow-wielding Southern god?: DIXIE CUP(ID). Cupid is the love god. Dixie = Southern states.

36A. Cholesterol check?: LIP(ID) SERVICE. Lipid is rooted in Greek lipos, "fat/grease".

58A. Possible reply to a dentist's "Where does it hurt?": ON THE CUSP(ID). I just point the hurting tooth to him.

79A. Twisty hair style for active people?: SPORTS BRA(ID). Miley Cyrus probably should have worn a sports bra.

99A. Japanese sake, e.g.?: ASIATIC FLU(ID). Don't like the answer. ASIAN FLU yes. Asiatic sounds very archaic. Sake (SAH-kee) is Japanese rice wine, so is mirin.

104A. Candy, cookies and soda?: K(ID) RATIONS. Ancel Keys, who formulated K-ration, was also credited with first introducing the benefits of Mediterranean Diet to Americans.

117A. What Depp did, over and over, to acquire the auction item he so badly wanted?: JOHNNY REB(ID). Johnny Reb/Rebel is slang for the Confederate soldier.

Very clever theme. Adding/deleting letters has quickly become my favorite type.

Had several trouble spots today, esp in AQUINO (86A: Marcos's successor) & GDANSK area. I could picture AQUINO's face, couldn't remember how to spell her English name, very different from the Chinese translation that I was familiar with. She just died last month.

Across:

1. Denial on the base: NO SIR. Military base.

6. Smelling __: SALTS. Some people collect smelling salts bottles. Weird.

11. Hummus holder: PITA. Don't like chickpeas.

19. Get away from: ELUDE

20. "__ Ben Jonson": literary epitaph: ORARE. Latin for "pray". "Pray for Ben Jonson". S simply forgot. Saw identical clue before.

22. Nautilus captain: NEMO. From Jules Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" (Thanks, Martin).

25. 1939 Garland co-star: LAHR (Bert). Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz".

28. Singer Brewer: TERESA. Unknown to me. "Baby, Baby, Baby" sounds sweet.

31. River of Cologne: RHINE

35. Bull: Pref.: TAUR. As in tauridor (bullfighter). Taurus too.

40. Cockpit datum: AIRSPEED

44. Renée of silent films: ADOREE. Learned her name from doing Xword. French actress.

45. Uses as support: RESTS ON

47. Magnetic Field?: SALLY. Field is capitalized. Nice clue.

48. 17th-18th century British poet Nicholas: ROWE. Dramatist as well.

49. Anesthetize: DEADEN

55. Prayers are often said on them: KNEES

57. __ standstill: AT A. Wrote down ON A.

61. Orch. section: STR (String)

62. Mason's job?: CASE. D'oh, Perry Mason. Got me.

64. __ bit: slightly: A WEE

65. Lustrous fabrics: SATEENS. Cotton fabric. Used to think they are from silkworm too.

66. Condition that might bring you to tears?: BOREDOM. So true.

68. Lagged behind: TRAILED

73. Duds: TOGS

81. Free TV spot: PSA (Public Service Announcement)

82. Cork people: IRISH. Shout-out to Windhover's wife Irish. Cork is a county in Ireland.

84. Menlo Park middle name: ALVA. Thomas ALVA Edison, The Wizard of Menlo Park.

85. Open hearing, in law: OYER (OH-yer). New word to me. I do know OYEZ, often clued as "Court cry".

90. Oldest Little Leaguers: TEENS. Boy, some of them look too old to be teens.

92. Pants cuffs, to Brits: TURNUPS. Also new to me.

109. Lowlife, slangily: CREEPO

112. President between Harry and Jack: IKE. Nicknames in clue, nickname in answer.

119. Like Nash's lama, in verse: ONE L

121. Professeur's pupil: ELEVE: French for "student".

122. Running score: TALLY

123. Blubber: BAWL

124. Once, long ago: ERST. Root for erstwhile too.

125. Decisive times: D-DAYS

126. British submachine guns: STENS. The "Israeli submachine gun" is UZI.

Down:

2. Skin care brand: OLAY. I like Olay Total Effect eye cream.

3. The United States, e.g.: SUPER POWER. China too.

4. First name in dictators: IDI (Amin). Uganda.

5. Ocean phenomenon associated with wildlife mortality: RED TIDE. Caused by red algae I think.

7. ''Rule, Britannia'' composer: ARNE (Thomas)

8. Doesn't keep up: LAGS

9. Dissertation: TREATISE

11. __ sci: POLI

12. Big-screen format: IMAX

13. South Pacific vacation mecca: TAHITI. Mecca for Gauguin.

14. Overdue thing: ARREAR. Often in plural form.

15. Never before topped: UNSURPASSED

17. Present opening?: OMNI. Omnipresent. Nice clue.

24. Had a feeling about: SENSED

32. New staff member: HIREE

34. Sponsor's urging: ACT NOW

36. Small songbirds: LARKS. Tits too.

37. Rare altar reply, fortunately: I DON'T. Shouldn't it be "unfortunately"?

38. Like steamy films: R-RATED. Like the porn scenes in "Love Actually". Nice movie though.

39. Hindu scripture: VEDA. Sankrit for "sacred lore/knowledge".

40. Egyptian symbol of life: ANKH. The cross with a loop.

41. Take the honey and run: ELOPE. Lovely clue.

42. Impish: ELFIN

43. Groups of two: DYADS

46. Blender brand: OSTER. Forgot again.

50. Slips past: EASES BY. Can you make a sentence for me?

52. Sammy Davis Jr. autobiography: YES I CAN. I have the book.

53. Italy's La __: SCALA. The opera house in Milan.

56. "Ivanhoe" author: SCOTT. Sir Walter SCOTT. See the bookcover.

59. New Jersey team: NETS

60. Wombs: UTERI

63. Schoolyard retort: ARE SO

64. Paris possessive: A MOI

66. Informal eatery: BAR AND GRILL. Good fill.

67. Japanese city known for its beer: OTARU (AW-tah-roo). Looks pretty. Have never had OTARU beer. Beer is just so filling.

69. Hockey stat: ASSIST

70. H.S. juniors' exams: PSATS

71. Words after cop: A PLEA. Cop a plea.

74. Polish city where Solidarity was founded: GDANSK (guh-DAHNSK). Also new to me. What a strange name, full of consonants.

76. Capable of being scattered: DIFFUSIBLE

77. Japanese immigrant: ISSEI. Literally, "first generation".

81. Insect stage: PUPA. Larva, PUPA and imago, three stages.

83. Remington product: RIFLE

87. Stop dramatically, as smoking: QUIT COLD. More familiar with quit cold turkey.

88. Live in: OCCUPY

91. Ward of "Sisters": SELA. She is in "The Fugitive".

93. Tellers?: RATS. Nailed it.

95. In some respects: OF SORTS

97. Like English, to most Americans: NATIVE

98. Publishing VIP: EDITOR. The clue is asking for an abbreviated answer.

100. Cara and Castle: IRENES

105. New York college whose team is the Gaels: IONA. This has become a gimmie.

107. Table scraps: ORTS. One of the earliest crosswordese I learned.

108. Russian refusal: NYETS

110. Ostrich relative: RHEA. Flightless.

113. Potter's oven: KILN

114. Slow Churned ice-cream brand: EDY'S. Marketed under Dreyer's in the west coast.

117. "The Beverly Hillbillies" dad: JED. Would not have obtained without the Across answers.

Answer grid.

C.C.