Monday, February 8, 2010 Jerome Gunderson

Theme: SHOOTING STARS (55A: Meteors, and what 20-, 28- and 48-Across all are) - Three diversely famous people known for their shooting skill.

20A: Pool legend portrayed by Jackie Gleason in "The Hustler": MINNESOTA FATS. The Hustler is a 1961 American drama film. It stars Paul Newman as Eddie Felson and Jackie Gleason as Minnesota Fats. "Fast Eddie" desires to prove himself the best player in the country by beating legendary pool player "Minnesota Fats."

28A: NBA center who was a three-time MVP: MOSES MALONE. A three-time NBA MVP and one of the NBA's 50 greatest players, Malone had a twenty-one year career in professional basketball. Although he was a high scorer, he is more famous for his rebounding (getting the ball after a shot misses). He currently resides in Sugarland, TX, a suburb of Houston. Quote: "What am I doing? I’m doing nothing, just relaxing and enjoying life. I did 21 years of hard labor in the NBA, invested my money right, so I’m set. I earned the right to relax and enjoy, you know?"

48A: Wild West show markswoman: ANNIE OAKLEY. She was an American sharpshooter. Oakley's amazing talent and rise to fame led to a starring role in Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. Using a .22 caliber rifle at 90 feet, Oakley reputedly could split a playing card edge-on and put five or six more holes in it before it touched the ground. (1860 – 1926).

Argyle here.

Without 55A, I'm not sure I would have made the connection. I felt the construction was uneven for a Monday. Mostly easy-peasey entries but a few tough ones, i.e.: 9A: John who married Pocahontas: ROLFE or 8D: Old music halls: ODEONS.

Give us your opinion; that is what we're here for.

Across:

1A: Grandmotherly nickname: NANA. Certainly better than the recent NANNIE.

5A: Hershey's caramel candy: ROLO

14A: The yoke's on them: OXEN. A spin on "the joke's on them."

15A: In the sack: ABED

16A: Sci-fi staple: ALIEN

17A: Small salamander: NEWT. A young NEWT is an eft.

18A: Therapist's response: "I SEE". And "How do you feel about that?"

23A: 1860s White House nickname: ABE. (Honest ABE Lincoln)

26A: Pecan or cashew: NUT

27A: Mingle at the party: MIX. If we all got together, would it be mixed nuts?

37A: Shoe without laces, e.g.: STEP IN

38A: Emulate Rembrandt: ETCH

39A: Holliday of the Old West: DOC

41A: Lady's man: GENT

42A: It's in the eye of the beholder: BEAUTY. Check out the daisies at the bottom.

45A: Caveman Alley: OOP. Cute clue. Alley OOP was/is a comic strip character known for riding on his dinosaur with his girlfriend, Ooola.

51A: __ Lanka: SRI

52A: Food from a shell: EGG

54A: Immigrant's subj.: ESL. (English as a Second Language)

61A: Dog from Wales: CORGI. Used for herding.

62A: Supermodel Macpherson: ELLE. Another candidate for areoles?

63A: Hops drier: OAST. Easy for me. Difficult for you?

67A: Age, as tires: WEAR

68A: "__, be a pal!": C'MON

69A: Actress Zellweger: RENEE

70A: Stitches: SEWS

71A: Mild-mannered Clark: KENT. Superman's secret identity.

Down:

1D: Oui's opposite: NON

2D: Gave the __: fired: AXE

3D: Arizonan's neighbor: NEW MEXICAN

4D: Naysayer: ANTI

5D: Word with trout or sherbet: RAINBOW

6D: Fixated: OBSESSED. Like some of our anons.

7D: Majors and Trevino: LEES. Lee Majors is an actor; Lee Trevino is a professional golfer. (Senior Circuit now.)

9D: Sound from a woodpecker: RAT-A-TAT

10D: Name of several Norwegian kings: OLAF

11D: Peru's capital: LIMA

12D: Tootsies: FEET. I disagree; tootsies are just the toes to me.

13D: Conclusions: ENDS

21D: War site during LBJ's presidency: NAM. (Vietnam)

22D: Antacid brand: TUMS

23D: One-celled organism: AMOEBA. Finally with the extra "O".

24D: Attacked by Dracula, say: BITTEN

29D: Novel on the Net: E-BOOK

30D: Kid's interlocking block: LEGO

31D: Ali Baba's magical command: "OPEN SESAME"

32D: California NFL team, briefly: NINERS. San Francisco Forty Niners.

33D: Involve: ENTAIL

35D: Feng __: Chinese aesthetic system: SHUI. Literally translates as "water".

40D: Picnic side: COLESLAW

43D: Line on a golf course schedule: TEE TIME

44D: Hindu mystic: YOGI

46D: Tin alloys: PEWTERS

49D: Former V.P. Spiro and family: AGNEWS. (Nixon's V.P.)

50D: Affirmative vote: YEA

55D: Al Capone feature: SCAR

56D: Sock darner's target: HOLE. This is an interesting darner's egg; if you could afford a Sterling silver egg, why not buy new socks?

57D: Algerian port: ORAN

58D: Giant who's not jolly: OGRE

59D: Joy: GLEE

60D: Heavy metal is a subgenre of it: ROCK

64D: Leif, to Eric the Red: SON. Norse explorers.

65D: Blowup letters?: TNT

Here is Jeannie's Daisies painted by WM. Also, Happy Two Year Anniversary with Crossword Corner, Crockett! Here is his first ever comment.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday February 7, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Heros Welcome - SUB (hero sandwich) is inserted into familiar phrases.

23A. Confidential town green projects?: (SUB) ROSA PARKS. Base phrase is civil rights activist Rosa Parks. "Sub rosa" is literally "under the rose" in Latin. From the old practice of hanging a rose over a meeting as a symbol of confidentiality.

28A. Inferior salad dressing ingredient?: (SUB)STANDARD OIL. Standard Oil.

33A. What a white flag indicates?: COMBAT (SUB)MISSION. Combat Mission.

50A. Pine tar?: BATTING (SUB)STANCE. Batting Stance. Baseball players use pine tar (substance) to improve grips on balls/bats.

65A. Early 1600s threat to the English throne?: KING JAMES (SUB)VERSION. King James Version. King James reigned from 1567 to 1625.

82A. Government overseer of the mortgage crisis?: (SUB)PRIME MINISTER. Prime Minister.

94A. Dannon disciples?: YOGURT (SUB)CULTURE. Yogurt Culture. The good bacteria, right, Al?

101A. Bookkeeper's gift?: (SUB)TOTAL RECALL. Total Recall.

115A. Sensational sapphire, say?: (SUB) LIME STONE. Limestone.

Just what we always expect from Dan Naddor: heavy themage, fun & long theme entries and playful clues. All of the SUBs are nicely sandwiched in. Yogurt Culture is the only base phrase I am not familiar with. I also did not know that the plural form for hero is heros when it means hero sandwiches.

Jazzbumpa should love this puzzle. Lots of music references in the grid:

41A. Musical work: OPUS

54A. Song for which Pavarotti won a 1980 Grammy: 'O SOLE MIO. Here is a clip. Italian for "My Sun".

58A. "Evita" role: CHE. The "Evita" narrator.

119A. Stereo knob: TREBLE

6D. "Red Seal" record co.: RCA

17D. "Dedicated to the __ Love": 1960s hit: ONE I. Easy guess.

31D. Very, in music: ASSAI (uh-SAHY). What's Italian for "enough"? Similar to Assai, isn't it?

33D. Jazzy Laine: CLEO. Nope. Complete stranger.

50D. Key with five sharps: Abbr.: B MAJ. I blanked.

51D. Concert souvenirs: STUBS

70D. Jazz club unit: SET

99D. Tuba's first note?: OOM. Oom-pah is the rhythmical sound made by a tuba.

My favorite clues today are the three with "it":

21A. It's not free of charge: ION. Ion is charged atom.

27A. It might be a bust: STATUE. Indeed.

35D. It may be held at lunchtime: MAYO. Related to today's SUB theme.

Across:

1. Zingers: BARBS

6. Dennis in comics, e.g.: RASCAL. Shout-out to our morel guy Dennis who loves flying United. And URCHIN (43D. Ragamuffin).

12. Phone button letters: GHI. The 4 button.

15. Prince William's alma mater: ETON

19. Voodoo relative: OBEAH (OH-bee-uh). In West Indies. I can never remember this sorcery name.

20. Iron target: CREASE. Was imagining a golf iron.

22. One of a 15th century trio: NINA. Columbus's ship.

25. Old English pub proprietors: ALEWIVES

30. Gillette razor: ATRA

45. Slightest: LEAST

46. Metallic money: SPECIE. The coined money. Same root as species?

47. Chaperon: ESCORT

49. Big name in ice cream: EDY. Edy's. To be exact.

57. U.S. security: T-NOTE. Treasury security.

60. "Tahitian Women on the Beach" artist: GAUGUIN (Paul). Here is the painting.

64. Trounce: WHIP

71. Divide: PART

72. Wave through, as at a guard station: LET PASS

73. Reef dweller: EEL. Did not know eels dwell in reefs.

74. "Just as I thought!": OHO

75. Grave: ACUTE. As in grave/acute shortage of food/medical supplies in Haiti.

77. Hostage negotiator's group: SWAT TEAM

88. Letters before F?: TGI. Oh, TGIF. I wanted CDE, thinking of alphabet.

89. Vehicle with caterpillar treads: SNO-CAT. No idea. Why "caterpillar treads"?

90. Wicker material: RATTAN

91. Procyon or Canopus: F STAR. Always at a total loss of the star classification.

93. Vittles: EATS

99A. Welsh actress Tessie: O'SHEA. Sorry, don't know you. I am used to Milo O'Shea clue. Also not familiar with LILI (109D. Taylor of "Six Feet Under"), which is often clued as "Leslie Caron film". CLEO (33D) also has also a new clue today. Rich Norris is in "Change I Can" mood.

100. Next in line: HEIR. In line to succeed a title.

110. Looked like a wolf: LEERED

114. '60s Defense secretary: MCNAMARA (Robert)

117. Server of many kosher meals: EL AL. The Israeli airline.

118. Sylvester, to Tweety: TAT. Puddy Tat (pussy cat). Not familiar with "The Sylvester and Tweety" at all. Filled in SLY.

120. Malfunction: ACT UP

121. Sing the blues: WAIL. Mournfully. Nice clue.

122. That, in Tijuana: ESO. Or ESA.

123. Becomes pervasive: SETS IN

Down:

1. Head honcho: BOSS. We often see the abbreviated EXEC.

2. Touch: ABUT

4. Drinkers may run them: BAR TABS

5. Berate loudly: SHOUT AT

7. Some dadaist works: ARPS. Jean Arp. Dada pioneer.

8. 12-time Pro Bowl NFLer Junior: SEAU. Now with the Patriots. I simply remember his name as S-EAU.

9. Low-__ diet: CARB

10. Solicits: ASKS

11. For fear that: LEST

12. Designer Versace: GIANNI. Only know his surname.

13. Not abandon, as principles: HOLD TO

14. Sincerely: IN EARNEST

15. Seat of Oklahoma's Garfield County: ENID. Four letter Oklahoma name, what else could it be?

16. Modern recorder: TIVO

18. Cosmos' org.: NASL (North American Soccer League). I've never heard of NY Cosmos.

24. Spanish muralist: SERT (José María).

26. Like some humor: WRY

29. DDE opponent: AES (Adlai E. Stevenson)

34. Refs. that take up lots of shelf space: OEDS. OED = Oxford English Dictionary.

37. Get in the pool: BET. Of course I was thinking of swimming pool.

38. Old AT&T rival: MCI. Now Verizon.

39. "There's no __ team": I IN. Said Michael Jordon.

40. Line part: Abbr.: SEG

41. Andean stew veggie: OCA. Learned these veggies from doing crossword.

42. Something to save for a rainy day: PONCHO. Use ponchos as raincoat?

44. Expensive: STEEP

48. Fr. holy woman: STE (Sainte)

52. Place to get your B.S.: UNIV

53. Token concession: BONE. Throw a couple of bones. Got me.

55. Navel buildup: LINT

56. Tiny bit of work: ERG. The tiny work unit. Fraction of a joule.

60. "__ while they're hot!": GET 'EM

61. Nile biter: ASP. Play on "nail biter".

63. Gloomy guy: GUS

64. Chamberlain of the NBA: WILT. Braggart.

65. Hawaiian priest: KAHUNA. Hey, finally a Hawaiian reference.

66. Collection in which Asimov's story "Robbie" appears: I, ROBOT

68. Hand (out): METE

69. Keister: REAR

71. Riders after robbers: POSSE

75. Heavenly altar: ARA. Latin for "altar".

76. Carthage, for one: CITY STATE. I peeked at the answer sheet.

77. Attempt: STAB

78. Lusty lass: WENCH. I don't associate wench with "lusty".

79. Words following Casca's "Speak, hands, for me!": ET TU. "Et tu, Brute?". Was unaware of what preceded Caesar's last line.

80. Food thickener: AGAR

81. Bog down: MIRE

83. Staples staples, briefly: PCS. The office staples at Staples.

84. Discount rack abbr.: IRR

87. Disco __ of "The Simpsons": STU

91. Charges: FLIES AT. New idiom to me.

92. Track straightaway: STRETCH. Racing track?

95. Mitchell family: O'HARAS. Margaret Mitchell. "Gone With the Wind''.

96. Trattoria dessert: GELATO

97. Former Mideast inits.: UAR (United Arab Republic). The union between Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961. Don't confuse it with UAE (United Arab Emirates)

98. River to the Ubangi: UELE (WEY-luh). Probably only Barry Silk knows. He used it in an old TMS puzzle before. UELE is on the upper right corner. The word Ubangi is on the upper middle part, under "Central African Republic".

101. Diving duck: SMEW

102. Bruins' home: UCLA

103. __ B'rith: B'NAI. Literally "Sons of" in Hebrew. B'nai B'rith = Sons of the Covenant. Strange apostrophes.

104. Towering: TALL

105. Round nos.: ESTS (Estimates)

106. Restore to health: CURE. HEAL too.

107. Aid's partner: ABET

108. Overseas bar degs.: LLBS. In England. Barrister's deg.

111. Memorization: ROTE

113. Interior, e.g.: Abbr.: DEPT. Department of Interior.

Just discovered Frenchie's blog this morning. Nice photos.

Answer grid.

C.C.