Tuesday June 15, 2010 Robert Fisher

Theme: Hirsute Tuesday - The four targeted entries contain an item to tame this Tuesday puzzle. 50D is the unifier.

21A. *"The simplest solution is usually correct" principle: OCCAM'S RAZOR. Warning: spelling variation! Occam's razor or Ockham's razor is the principle attributed to 14th-century English logician, theologian and Franciscan friar William of Ockham (or Occam).

46A. *Speedy square-rigger: CLIPPER SHIP. Image in a bottle.

3D. *Bees' creation: HONEYCOMB. Here is an image of a honeycomb that isn't within a structure. It doesn't happen much in the northern climes.

32D. *Fast-spreading blaze, perhaps: BRUSH FIRE. Let us hope our Southwest friends are spared from any this year.

50D. Target for items found in the answers to starred clues: HAIR. Here's a HAIR clip.

Argyle here. Wow! I think I put on ten pounds reading yesterday's comments. I have to find me some Ro*Tel today.

The Across entries cut the hair and the Down entries do the grooming.

Mr. Fisher has given us two Monday puzzles before; now he has moved on to Tuesday. I'm looking forward to his Wednesday. Thirty-six four letter entries and 24 five letter entries. Are there cheater squares? You tell me.

Across:

1A. Soda since the 1920s: NEHI. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly's favorite, grape.

5A. "Get lost!": "SCRAM!".

10A. Hangs (around with): PALS.

14A. Sour milk tip-off: ODOR.

15A. Barter: TRADE.

16A. Elide: OMIT. Word Origin & History (Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper) Elide - 1590s, a legal term, "to annul, do away with," from M.Fr. elider, from L. elidere "strike out," from ex- "out" + -lidere, comb. form of laedere "to strike." Phonological sense is first recorded 1796.

17A. Tomato ripening spot: VINE. I thought of (window)sill first.

18A. Tiny bits: IOTAs.

19A. Bear with cold porridge: MAMA. Papa's was to hot but Baby Bear's was just right. From Goldilocks and the Three Bears fairy tale.

20A. Absorbed, as a loss: ATE.

23A. Tugs: YANKS. Not the NY kind this time JD.

25A. Where the Styx flows: HADES. In Greek mythology, Styx is the river that forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld.

26A. Repeating series: CYCLE. First thought, baseball.

28A. Solid or liquid, e.g.: STATE.

30A. Nocturnal forest sounds: HOOTS.

31A. Turns on the waterworks, so to speak: BAWLS.

32A. Sports car protector: BRA. Image.

35A. Writer Bombeck: ERMA.

36A. Sentry's duty: VIGIL.

37A. It may be mopped or furrowed: BROW.

38A. Spider's "parlor": WEB.

39A. Jaunty cap: BERET.

40A. Something to fight for: CAUSE.

41A. Surfacing diver's concern, with "the": BENDS. Also called decompression sickness. The Wikipedia article was confusing, do we have a diver among us who can explain "the bends"?

42A. Ready to strike: POISED.

43A. Composer Edvard: GRIEG. Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King), and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.

45A. What some serum elicits?: TRUTH. Remember some of the old B-movies where the hero was threatened with truth serum. "We have ways of making you talk!"

49A. Govt. mtge. insurer: FHA. Federal Housing Administration

52A. Popular trend: RAGE.

53A. Lavish celebrations: FETES.

54A. Primitive timekeeper: DIAL. Sun DIAL reference, I assume.

55A. Bone-dry: ARID.

56A. Render harmless, as a gunman: UNARM.

57A. Spring bloomer: IRIS.

58A. River bottoms: BEDS.

59A. Cerebral segments: LOBES.

60A. Fiddling emperor: NERO.

Down:

1D. Bygone Chevy compact: NOVA.

2D. Make changes to: EDIT.

4D. Choler: IRE. Word Origin & History (Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper) Choler - late 14c., "bile," as one of the humors, supposed to cause irascibility or temper, from O.Fr. colre "bile, anger," from L.L. cholera "bile".

5D. Remote area, with "the": STICKS.

6D. Swamp swimmers: CROCS. Great alliteration.

7D. Pro __: RATA. In proportion; according to a certain rate.

8D. "The Wealth of Nations" author Smith: ADAM. Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher .

9D. Soldier's eatery: MESS HALL.

10D. 50-Down ointment: POMADE. Bonus theme related.

11D. Leave in shock: AMAZE.

12D. Upscale rides: LIMOs.

13D. Brigadier general's insignia: STAR.

21D. Binary system digits: ONES. The other binary system digits are zeros.

22D. "Phooey!": "RATS!".

24D. Calgary's prov.: ALTA.. Province of Alberta, Canada.

26D. Masticate: CHEW. Masticate - a word to make young boys snicker (because it sounds similar to masturbate.)

27D. Olden times: YORE.

28D. Swamis: SAGES. Some how the word, swami, developed a hokey feel even though swamis are religious teachers.

29D. Idiot, to a Brit: TWIT.

31D. Celtic great Larry: BIRD. He played basketball for the Boston Celtics through the 80's.

33D. Pink wine: ROSÉ.

34D. Impressed profoundly: AWED.

36D. Seeking payback: VENGEFUL.

37D. Worm on a line: BAIT. My favorite clue today.

39D. Electronic alert: BEEP.

40D. Cabal's plan: COUP. A cabal is a small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority.

41D. Kangaroos and humans, e.g.: BI-PEDS. Come on, they use their tail as a third leg, should that make then tri-peds?

42D. Light benders: PRISMS.

43D. Harsh light: GLARE.

44D. Unbending: RIGID.

45D. When repeated, comforting words: THERE.

46D. "Hermit" crustacean: CRAB.

47D. Ashcroft's predecessor: RENO. John Ashcroft, 79th United States attorney general. Janet Reno, 78th Attorney General (and first woman in the position).

48D. Wild guess: STAB.

51D. Moreover: ALSO.

54D. Confused roar: DIN.

Answer grid.

JD's Crossword Story continues. Here is the updated version with letter E.

Argyle

Monday June 14, 2010 Bruce Venzke

Theme: Plunge into Monday - The last word of each two-word noun phrase means to go down (like BP stock) when taken as verbs. All four are nouns too, but with little connection.

17A. Cold sufferer's decongestant: NOSE DROPS

28A. 18-Down washing places: KITCHEN SINKS

47A. Honeymoon mecca: NIAGARA FALLS

64A. Creamy bowlfuls for chips: PARTY DIPS

Argyle here.

This is Monday; I checked. If you aren't versed in crosswordese, this could be tough. I constantly had to check the perps to see if I was on the right track. It is consistent with other offerings from Bruce Venzke.

Do you have a favorite recipe for party dip you would like to share? Me, I'm lazy and buy the pre-made stuff.

Across:

1A. Very attentive: RAPT.

5A. Kibbutz dance: HORA. Kibbutz is a Israel community settlement and hora is a traditional round dance.

9A. Throat ailment: STREP.

14A. Blond race in "The Time Machine": ELOI. The Eloi are one of the two post-human races in H. G. Wells' 1895 novel The Time Machine. They are the main source of food for the other race, the Morlocks.

15A. Hatchets: AXES.

16A. Under-the-bridge folklore villain: TROLL. From the story of the three Billy Goats Gruff..

19A. Reach a cost of: RUN TO.

20A. Prevail over, at an auction: OUTBID.

21A. Paddock pop: SIRE. Alliteration. Paddocks are associated with horses, mostly.

23A. Internet address punctuation: DOT.

24A. Gobi Desert locale: ASIA.

26A. Four __: luxury hotel: SEASONS. A Canadian-based international luxury hotel.

32A. Breakfast area: NOOK.

33A. Canonized woman of Fr.: STE..

34A. Early anesthetic: ETHER.

38A. FGs often end them: OTs. In football, a field goal ends a "sudden death" overtime, where the first team to score, wins. Change is in the works to allow the opposing team a chance to score. (modified sudden death)

39A. Stiffly formal: STILTED. Perhaps from the action of a man walking on stilts; he is unbending.

42A. __ League: IVY. The Ivy League consists of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale. The "Ivy" part of Ivy League is a reference to the plants that climb all over many of the old campus buildings at each school.

43A. Dressing table vessel, perhaps: BASIN. More likely, it would be on a dry sink, with an ewer. Image, with chamber pot!

45A. It's "the word": MUM.

46A. Ballet bend: PLIÉ.

51A. Nightclub enforcer: BOUNCER.

54. Be in on: KNOW.

55A. Superlative ending: EST.

56A. Fast food tycoon Ray: KROC. Don't mention him around Jeannie. (He is Mickey D. and she works for the King, Burger that is.)

58A. Gemini rockets: AGENAs. The Agena not only served as a docking target for the Gemini spacecraft , but the rocket was also fired on several Gemini missions in order to boost the combination to a higher orbit, and to bring it back again. Agena is also the name of a star in the constellation Centaurus. Wikipedia.

62. "You can't get __ from here": THERE. Ayup, true enuff over in Vermont.

66A. Barbershop quartet voice: TENOR.

67A. New York canal: ERIE.

68A. Words after shake or break: A LEG.

69A. Bosox rivals: YANKS.

70A. Society newcomers: DEBS.

71A. Cell phone message: TEXT.

Down:

1D. Vegas alternative: RENO. Nevada cities.

2D. 1966 N.L. batting champ Matty: ALOU. (without his brothers today.)

3D. Newsgroup message: POST.

4D. Curtain restraint: TIEBACK.

5D. Most robust: HARDIEST.

6D. Losing tic-tac-toe row: OXO.

7D. Weight room count: REPS. Repetitions.

8D. St. Francis of __: ASSISI.

9D. Barely ran?: STREAKED. As in ran bare. The Streak by Ray Stevens.

10D. Show about Capote: "TRU". Truman Capote, American author.

11D. Sonata finale, often: RONDO. Sonata Rondo Form from Wikipedia.

12D. Pop singer John: ELTON. Sir Elton John.

13D. Garden layouts: PLOTS.

18D. Spoon companion of rhyme: DISH.
Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon

22D. Cartoon Chihuahua: REN. Ren is partnered with Stimpy, a cat.

25D. Against: ANTI.

27D. Old boom-creating speedster, briefly: SST. SuperSonic Transport, no longer in service.

28D. Gearshift topper: KNOB.

29D. Greek "i": IOTA.

30D. Mix, as a salad: TOSS.

31D. 1965 Freedom March city: SELMA. Alabama

35D. Country singer Faith: HILL.

36D. Pernicious: EVIL. Pernicious, to cause great harm.

37D. Whiskey choices: RYEs. Some would rather choose Scotch, ;-)

39D. Candy bar that makes you chuckle?: SNICKERS.

40D. Ankara native: TURK. Ankara is the capital of Turkey.

41D. Issues (from): EMANATES. The long version of EMITS.

44D. Country stopover: INN.

46D. Examined, cat-style: PAWED AT.

48D. __ Lingus: AER. Ireland's favourite airline.

49D. Felt one's way: GROPED.

50D. Stodgy old-timer: FOGY.

51D. Wilma's pal on "The Flintstones": BETTY. Wilma Flintsone and Betty Rubble, BFF.

52D. Milo of "The Verdict": O'SHEA. He had the part of Judge Hoyle in this 1982 film.

53D. Knoxville sch.: U TENN. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, founded in 1794.

57D. Part of TLC: CARE. Tender Loving CARE

59D. Christie's "Death on the __": NILE. Agatha Christie's murder mystery first published in 1937.

60D. Nadir's opposite: APEX. Nadir - lowest point; APEX - highest point.

61D. High-ranking NCO: SSGT. Staff sergeant, E-6.

63D. Seoul soldier: ROK. Korean.

65D. Poke fun at: RIB.

Well, that was the most work I've done on a Monday in a long time.

Answer grid.

Argyle