Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: "Knot Bad" - The first word of each theme entry is a type of knot.

17A: Life insurance clause: DOUBLE INDEMNITY

25A: Hoedown activity: SQUARE DANCE

43A: Apple variety: GRANNY SMITH

54A: Inadvertent remark: SLIP OF THE TONGUE

62A: 17-, 25-, 43- and 54-Across begin with a kind of one: KNOT

Happy Santa here, great week so far; Jerome, Fred, and now, Barry. As soon as I saw the clue for ON US (3D: "We're treating"), I knew right then we were in for a treat.

Knotty pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once, typical of Barry's creation. Quite a few refreshing clues too.

This puzzle is reminiscent of John Underwood's "KNOT" puzzle we had last February. Wayne R. Williams changed John's unifying KNOT clue into "Tie tie" and the theme was missed by many.

Across:

1A: Run smoothly: FLOW.

5A: Uzi filler: AMMO. Uzi is the Israeli assault rifle. (Update: Anonymous @ 11:23 AM correctly stated that the Uzi is sub machine gun. The assault rifle is the Galil. One of the main differences is in the AMMO they use, with the sub machine guns using pistol calibers, while the assault weapons use a larger round.)

9A: Bench warmers aren't on it: A TEAM.

14A: Excellent: A ONE. Like Barry's puzzle.

15A: Known as "the Impaler," prince who inspired "Dracula": VLAD. Not exactly what the little trick-or-treaters would look like.

16A: American competitor: DELTA. Airlines. Delta now owns Northwest, who rightfully revoked the licenses of the two pilots who overshot the Minneapolis Airport by 150 miles. Laptop distraction! Just what were they surfing?

20A: Printers' widths: EMS. Or ENS.

21A: A deadly sin: ENVY.

22A: Posh: RITZY. After the Ritz hotels, established by César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier. You won't find rooms like this at Motel 6.

23A: Neurologist's test, briefly: EEG. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain.

24A: Publicizes: AIRS

30A: Poor, as an excuse: SAD. As in, "Those old puzzles were a SAD excuse for crosswords."

33A: Second most populous Oklahoma city: TULSA. Oklahoma City is number one.

35A: Marquis de __: SADE. Sadism is derived from his name.

36A: Youngest of the musical Jacksons: JANET. Her sister La Toya has said that the King of Pop’s ghost has been visiting the family dressed in the white pearl beads he wore in the coffin.

37A: Golfer's concern: LIE. The lies on the course aren't as big as the lies in the locker room.

38A: Mass of grass: CLUMP. Rhyming clue. And the answer also rhymes with the intersecting SLUMP ( 35D: Batter's dry spell).

39A: Vocalized: ORAL. Adjective.

40A: Defendant's answer: PLEA.

41A: Accountant's review: AUDIT.

46A: BMOC, for one: VIP. BMOC is Big Man on Campus.

47A: Washington neighbor: IDAHO.

49A: Yoked beasts: OXEN.

51A: Psychic's asset, for short: ESP.

57A: Common news hr.: TEN PM.

58A: "I'd advise against it": DON'T. Even Elvis agrees.

59A: Brand with a paw print in its logo: IAMS. Pet food brand. Was it a gimme to you?

60A: Bears, in Latin: URSAE. And 27D: Radii neighbors: ULNAE. Both the plural end with E rather than S.

61A: Pump or loafer: SHOE.

Down:

2D: Weaver's machine: LOOM.

4D: Surfing area with no water, with "the": WEB. Did anyone try NET first?

5D: Get even for: AVENGE.

6D: LXII x XVII: MLIV. 62 x17=1054.

9D: Regard highly: ADMIRE.

10D: Portable shelters: TENTS.

11D: Part of QE2: Abbr.: ELIZ. Queen Elizabeth 2 in the harbour, Sydney, Australia.

12D: ABA member: ATTY. Abbreviation in clue, abbreviation in answer.

13D: Perhaps will: MAY.

18D: Ogle: LEER AT. Ogle is often clued as "Leer at".

19D: "Fear of Flying" author Jong: ERICA. She blogs for The Huffington Post.

23D: Painter's stand: EASEL.

24D: Like llamas: ANDEAN. Two-l llama, he's a beast.

25D: Missouri city nickname: ST. JOE. Saint Joseph (informally, St. Joe) is the largest city in Northwest Missouri, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County.

26D: Fundamental particle: QUARK. (An aside to WM: I finally got some quark but ate it before I made any cheesecake with it.)

28D: City in which the State Fair of Texas is held annually: DALLAS.

30D: Riyadh resident: SAUDI. Their currency is Riyal.

31D: Fess up: ADMIT.

32D: Pool measurement: DEPTH. Lots of consonants.

38D: Vegas attraction: CASINO.

40D: Evidence: PROOF.

43D: End a vacation, say: GO HOME.

44D: Mimieux of "The Time Machine": YVETTE. "It's those darn trick-or-treaters again, Honey. What do they want this time?"

45D: Mothers of Invention musician: ZAPPA (Frank)

47D: Robert of "The Sopranos": ILER.

50D: Strange: Pref.: XENO. It also means ALIEN (29D: Out of this world).

51D: Alaska's first governor: EGAN. It's clued as "Magnet and Steel" singer Walter in Barry's Sept 20, 2008 puzzle. (from C.C.'s write-up on Saturday September 20, 2008)

54D: Early Beatle Sutcliffe: STU. He died from a brain hemorrhage and contrary to rumors, he was a good bass player.

55D: NFL six-pointers: TDS.

56D: Ending with beat: NIK. Beatnik.

Answer grid.

C.C. will be back blogging tomorrow morning.

Argyle

Tuesday October 27, 2009 Fred Jackson III

Theme: How Many Ways Can You Say "Buy" Without Spending Money? - The first words/syllable of the four theme answers are homophones.

20A. Furthermore: BY THE SAME TOKEN

33A. 1961 Tony-winning musical inspired by Elvis being drafted: BYE BYE BIRDIE

43A. 7/4/1976 celebration: BICENTENNIAL

59A. Retail store financing come-on: BUY NOW, PAY LATER

Hello all, Boomer here. I wish I could buy now and pay later with tokens.

I never saw "Bye, Bye, Birdie", but I do remember the Bicentennial very well. The US issued special quarters that year and I got ten rolls at the bank and put them away as an investment. They are now worth 25 cents each, but you can't get as much for a quarter as you could in 1976. I remember spending the day at a Minnesota Twins double header, outdoors at Metropolitan Stadium. Outdoor MLB is returning to the land of 10,000 lakes next spring.

I am not the best puzzle solver. I got about 80% of this one before I needed help. But I didn't need help with bowling last night. 665 is a good score for an old guy, and today I looked at my driver's license and Damn! I'm a year older! I'm the same age as Hillary Clinton, not as famous but my cheeks aren't as chubby. Have fun with today's puzzle.

Across:

1. One-person boat: SKIFF. My first error. I wanted to put Kayak.

6. College athlete: JOCK . The Gophers could use a few more.

10. Mouse catcher: TRAP. Build a better one and the world will make a path to your door, but who wants the world at their door anyway?

14. China's Zhou __: EN LAI. C.C. knows him better than I; Alternate answer would be QIN. C.C.'s Mandarin name is Zhouqin, but it doesn't have enough letters.

15. Clickable symbol: ICON

16. Compete in a meet: RACE. We are all in this rat race together, some day we may meet.

17. Ghostly noises: MOANS. Halloween is coming. I prefer BOOS. For the Yankees of course.

18. "Let It __": Everly Brothers hit: BE ME. " I blessed the day I found you, I want to stay around you, now and forever ..."

19. Peruvian empire builder: INCA. The Empire Builder was a train. The Incas didn't build it. It came later.

23. Barbary ape's cont.: AFR

24. Necklace clasp resting place: NAPE. If you don't get it fastened correctly, it could rest on the floor.

25. Baton Rouge sch.: LSU. Home of the Fighting Tigers. Shaq's alma mater by the way.

29. Coastal inlet: RIA. Crossword river inlet.

31. Take to the clink: ARREST. Clink is slang for "jail". It's never fun. Think before you drink.

37. Rig on the road: SEMI. To me, semi always meant half or partial. Why they call the big trucks semis, I'll never know.

38. John, to Ringo?: LOO - I can't figure this out. Is LOO an English word for bathroom?

39. Trivial, as chatter: IDLE - If it's your brain, it's the devil's playground, trouble in River City.

48. Debonair: RAKISH. Never heard of this word. I thought it's what you do to your leavish on the lawnish in the fallish.

51. Dr.'s group, maybe: HMO. Maybe History Moves Over if the health care bill passes.

52. Adobe file format: PDF. Yeah I've heard of it, but I don't know what PDF stands for.

53. Cockney's main Web page?. 'OME (Home). Never heard of this. (From C.C.: Cockney is in the East End of London where the letter H is dropped in local dialect.)

54. Bears or Cubs: TEAM. And not very good ones recently.

57. Suffix with Israel: ITE. Israelite.

64. Rick's love in "Casablanca": ILSA. Funny how some old movies are Classics.

65. Mayberry moppet: OPIE. Ronnie Howard, now aged director Ron Howard. Famous as Opie and Richie Cunningham of "Happy Days." But do you remember him waiting for the Wells Fargo Wagon in "The Music Man"?

66. Con game: BUNCO. "Dragnet" Sergeant Friday frequently worked the Bunco Squad out of Los Angeles.

68. Nuremberg no: NEIN. Their "yes" is JA.

69. Elbow-joint bone: ULNA. When you get old, a little Cryogel on the ulna helps your bowling.

70. Embodiment of perfection: IDEAL. They make wonderful Toys. Also quality electrical products. Fish tapes, wire-nuts, and Yellow 77 elephant snot.

72. Ball-bearing gadgets?: TEES. Golf ball. Use only wooden tees. Plastic mars your driver.

73. Short-winded: TERSE

Down:

1. Divinity sch.: SEM. Short for Seminary. Best one I've seen is in Clyde, MO.

2. Drawer projection: KNOB. I might have said door handle.

3. "Now __ me down ...": I LAY

4. Classic orange soda: FANTA. I had CRUSH in there first.

5. Seafood cookout: FISH FRY. The best fish fries are Sunfish, Crappies, Walleye, and Northern Pike from Minnesota lakes. But they are lake food, not seafood.

6. Triangular sails: JIBS

7. Blue part of a map: OCEAN. Unless you spill a bottle of ink on your atlas.

8. Cause for a pause: COMMA. Well, I suppose, this, could be true, maybe. Rhyming sounds good.

9. Patella protector: KNEE PAD - Got me again. I put kneecap - then I realized your kneecap is a patella.

10. The Dixie Chicks, e.g.: TRIO - One of George W's favorite groups, or not.

11. Fester in one's mind: RANKLE. Sometimes crosswords rankle me.

12. Way to get in: ACCESS. Unless you're going to weight watchers. Then you have to weigh to get in.

13. Planters logo Mr. __: PEANUT. A marketing Icon. More famous than a Gecko.

21. Buffalo-to-Albany canal: ERIE. I don't think I've seen a puzzle yet that doesn't have ERIE in it somewhere.

22. Actress Garr: TERI. Another common puzzle staple.

26. Air rifle ammo: BBS. Most are plastic now. Like everything else.

27. Needle feature: EYE. Keep your eyes peeled for needles in the haystack.

32. Coachman's control: REIN. Okay, but aren't they usually called reins?

34. Netanyahu of Israel, familiarly: BIBI. Benjamin Netanyahu's nickname. Über-hawk.

35. Particle with a charge: ION. There are eons of crossword puzzles with ION.

36. Philip who wrote the Zuckerman novels: ROTH. Does he have an IRA?

40. Chip go-with: DIP. Don't let the dip slip off the chip and onto your lip. Chips are not that healthy. The only chips I have now are short golf shots.

44. Analogy words: IS TO

45. Give a tongue-lashing: CHEW OUT. See above clues. This is also how a mouse will sometimes gain ACCESS out of a TRAP.

46. Runner Zátopek: EMIL. Emil was a common name 100 years ago. I don't know of any now.

47. Cooperative response to "Do you mind?": NOT A BIT. Maybe it's cooperative, but if Sister Mary Margaret asks you to mind, better not say "no" or you'll be standing in the corner until lunch.

48. Spring chirpers: ROBINS. Robins are the first sign of Spring. The second sign is when there's less than four inches of snow on your lawn.

49. Lucky charm: AMULET. Whatever happened to four leaf clovers and rabbits' feet.

50. Enters, as data: KEYS IN

55. William Tell's target: APPLE. Was it a Honeycrisp? Granny Smith? Fuji?

56. Largest New England state: MAINE

58. Piano exercise: ETUDE. I've never heard of this. I remember EGBDF. Which were the keys you had to put your fingers on.

60. Indian breads: NANS. Served in the Cleveland clubhouse after a game?

61. Supporting votes: YEAS. Also World Series cheers for the Phillies.

62. Cabinet dept. with a lightning bolt on its seal: ENER. Maybe they could change it to a wind turbine.

63. Some HDTVs: RCAS. Okay, but what was the name of the dog listening to the megaphone speaker on the Victrola again?

67. Corrida shout: OLE. Are they cheering for the matador, the bull, or are they really saying Oh Lays, and shouting for more chips for their dip?

Answer grid.

Boomer

Note from C.C.: Happy Birthday, Boomer!