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Jul 26, 2010

Monday July 26, 2010 John Lampkin

Theme: Visual Arts - Each two-word phrase starts with a form of visual arts.

17A. Bodybuilder's pride : SCULPTED ABS. Here (for the Ladies) / Here (for the Men)

28A. Melted dip for steamed lobster : DRAWN BUTTER. Where the best lobsters are: right, Mainiac?

42A. Table-ready hearty entrée : CARVED ROAST. Medium rare.

54A. Colorful butterfly : PAINTED LADY. Here is a set of five butterfly photographs from constructor John Lampkin. Here is a sound clip of "The Butterfly and the Rose", a movement from John's 8-movement woodwind quintet called "A Walk Through Shaw's Garden", commissioned and performed by the Equinox Chamber Players and recorded on Albany Records.

Argyle here.

Eighteen 3-letter words but also, eighteen 6-letter words. Four pairs of echo clues.

Notice the black square in the very center of the grid? You won't see a non-theme entry in the middle of a John Lampkin puzzle.

Across:

1. Mr. Potato Head maker : HASBRO.

7. Mickey and Minnie : MICE.

11. Calculator display, briefly : LCD.

14. Find not guilty : ACQUIT.

15. "__ in the Morning": talk show : IMUS. Don Imus, shock jock. (I'll spare you any image.)

16. "Caught you red-handed!" : "A-HA!".

19. Plead for a treat, dog-style : BEG.

20. Barely make, with "out" : EKE.

21. FHA loan : MTGE.. Federal Housing Administration, mortgage.

22. Diver Louganis : GREG.

23. "__-doke!" : OKEY.

25. Melville's sequel to "Typee" : "OMOO".

26. Flirtatious one : TEASE.

27. -, on an AA batt. : NEG. Plus, 54D. +, on an AA batt. : POS. Great clue echos.

30. "Wait a moment" : "ONE SEC".

32. "Dagnabbit!" : "NERTS!". Now there is a word I haven't heard in a while.

33. Quaint horse-pulled winter rides : SLEIGHS.

35. Machine gun syllables : RAT-A-TAT.

39. Psychoanalyst Fromm : ERICH.

41. Surgeon's stitch : SUTURE.

46. "Fill 'er up!" filler : GAS.

47. Say "Ditto" : AGREE. And 51. "__ here": "Ditto" : SAME. Another echo.

48. Catch sight of : ESPY.

49. Goes back out, as the tide : EBBS.

50. Gal. or oz. : MEAS.. Measure.

51. Horse trade : SWAP.

52. Mideast political initials : PLO.

53. "The Lord of the Rings" tree being : ENT. If you see any female Ents, please contact Treebeard, care of Fangorn Forest.

58. Poem of tribute : ODE.

59. Seer's sign : OMEN.

60. __ d': headwaiter : MAÎTRE.

61. Blue : SAD.

62. Blood supplies : SERA.

63. Depletes : USES UP.

Down:

1. Possesses : HAS.

2. Gp. with UNC and Duke, among others : ACC. Atlantic Coast Conference (college sports)

3. Windshield-cleaning tool : SQUEEGEE.

4. Like a heavy parka : BULKY.

5. Ready to pick : RIPE.

6. Mel of the Giants : OTT. Baseball.

7. Central area in a big city : MIDTOWN.

8. "There's no hope for me," in oaters : "I'M A GONER".

9. Dice unit : CUBE.

10. Tee preceder : ESS. S, T.

11. Maze runner : LAB RAT. And 12. Maze runner's incentive : CHEESE. Adjacent clue echo.

13. Cloak go-with : DAGGER.

18. Thompson of "Howards End" : EMMA. A story of class struggle in turn-of-the-century England.

22. Suggests indirectly : GETS AT.

23. Yoko's family : ONOs.

24. __ Ration: dog food : KEN-L. The dog must be well fed by now, what with all the Ken-L ration we've had lately.

25. Prom corsage : ORCHID.

26. "My, my, that's a no-no" : TUT, TUT. Four Ts.

28. One of 90 in a right angle : DEGREE.

29. Like band music : BRASSY. All bands, JzB?

31. Flour strainers : SIEVES. Personally, I'd rather sift my flour than strain it.

34. Having fewer marbles? : SCREWIER.

36. Harbor pushers : TUGBOATS.

37. Saudi, usually : ARAB.

38. Thomas Hardy heroine : TESS.

40. Biblical cry of praise : HOSANNA.

42. Stars' brief film appearances : CAMEOS.

43. Meeting to-do list : AGENDA.

44. Not for kids, as films : R-RATED.

45. Pocket PC entry : APPT.. Appointment, which is why they are called: 52. Pocket PCs, e.g. : PDAs. (personal digital assistant). One more echo.

49. "Dallas" matriarch Miss __ : ELLIE. Dallas was a TV prime time soap opera.

55. Ostrich kin : EMU.

56. Joanne of "All the King's Men" : DRU. All the King's Men is a 1949 drama film based on the novel of the same name. It is the story of the rise of politician Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) from a rural county seat to the governor's mansion. His affair with Anne Stanton (Joanne Dru) would be scandalous because she's the daughter of an ex-Governor. Joanne Dru was the elder sister of Peter Marshall, the original host of the Hollywood Squares.

57. Nope's opposite : YEP.

Answer grid.

Two more notes:

1) This is the first time that our blog presents a puzzle in a unified way. The puzzle itself, key theme photographic art & music are all provided by the constructor. If you are inspired by John's music or want to learn more about his artistic work, please visit his website.

2) Tomorrow's puzzle involves circles, which are unsupported by LA Times website. A pdf file will be released on the blog Comments section around 9:00pm tonight.

Argyle

Jul 25, 2010

Sunday July 26, 2010 Nora Pearlstone

Theme: Tee for Two - Letter T is added to the start of the second word of each two-word familiar phrase, which also has letter T as the end of its first word. The resulting phrase with two Ts spanning in the middle is then humorously clued.

23A. Monster affected by a moon phase? : CRESCENT TROLL. The base phrase is crescent roll.

37A. Levy on butchers? : MEAT TAX. Meat ax.

69A. Warren weeping? : RABBIT TEARS. Rabbit ears. Rabbits live in warrens. Bet it brought a smile to our Warren and his lovely wife Ruth.

76A. Japanese chicken snacks? : EAST TENDERS. Not familiar with the base phrase "EastEnders". Does it refer to the BBC show?

106A. Can for old smokes? : BUTT TIN. Butt in.

124A. Attacker's fruity treat? : ASSAULT TRIFLE. Assault rifle.

17D. Small pie à la Pollock? : ABSTRACT TART. Abstract art. Pollock's work is truly hard to understand.

41D. Stuff that sticks for years? : GREAT TAPE. Great ape.

49D. Taunting from the Miami bench? : HEAT TRASH. Heat rash. Miami Heats (NBA).

65A. Bakery supply for wrapping cake boxes? : DESSERT TWINE. Dessert wine.

Fun theme. Fun clues too. I liked that all the theme entries are two-word phrases, which give the theme a narrowed focus.

Some may not pay attention to those transformed second T* word, but none of them has the repeating pattern. Rich Norris (Nora Pearlstone is his alias name, anagram of "not a real person". ) covered a wide range of possible T starting words:

1) T with various vowels/vowel combination: short a, long a, ar, ea, e & i. I suppose Rich found no sparkly To or Ty phrases.

2) T with consonants: TW & TR(A/I/O). TH is missing. Thought it's a good combination to play around. No, Jerome/John?

Total 49 Ts in the grid, eclipsed only by the most used crossword vowel E (53).

My favorite clues today:

122A. Split payment? : ALIMONY

116D. Females with pig tails : SOWS. The clue made me laugh.

Across:

1. Get at : ACCESS

7. Like lambs : GENTLE. I wanted SILENT, thinking "The Silence of the Lambs". We also have TAME (118D. Easy to manage).

13. 1983 invasion site : GRENADA

20. President Ahmadinejad's capital : TEHRAN. Mad man.

21. Pioneer Day celebrant : UTAHAN. Not familiar with Utah's state holiday "Pioneer Day".

22. Dressed : ENROBED

25. Chips Ahoy! maker : NABISCO

26. Filet mignon, e.g. : ENTREE

27. Black Sea country : UKRAINE. Awesome entry.

29. Diglyceride, for one : ESTER. Know the answer, not the clue.

30. Performance rights org. : BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc)

31. Craving : URGE

33. Give a hand : ASSIST

35. Yeats's homeland : ERIN. Poetic name for Ireland.

36. Response to an e-mail wisecrack : LOL

40. "Here's the __ ..." : THING

42. Many a Monopoly sq. : AVE

43. Sole : ONLY

45. Abbot's address: Abbr. : RT. REV. Retired Reverend I suppose. (Correction: It stands for Right Reverend. Thanks, Lemonade.)

46. Spiffed (up) : SPRUCED

48. Illustrator N.C. : WYETH. No idea. He's the father of Andrew Wyeth, known for his "Christina's World".

50. The younger Saarinen : EERO. The older Saarinen is Eliel.

51. Boo follower : HOO. Boohoo.

54. Toon flapper Etta : KETT. Can never remember this old comic figure.

55. __ Plaines, Illinois : DES

57. 1980s South African pres. : P.W. BOTHA. Was confused by the PWB combination. Total stranger.

60. Starts the kitty : ANTES

63. Mouse site : PAD. Computer mouse.

66. College fund-raising targets : ALUMS

71. U.K. award : OBE (Order of the British Empire)

72. Newbie : TYRO

73. Everycowboy : TEX

74. Skip : OMIT

75. Hook (up) : RIG

79. Carrion eater : HYENA

80. Asian holiday : TET. Only in Vietnam.

81. '90s N.Y. Philharmonic conductor Kurt : MASUR. Another stranger.

82. Westernmost of the Sunda Islands : SUMATRA

84. Mean at a univ. : GPA

86. South Dakota, to Pierre : ETAT. Pierre here refers to the typical French name instead of the capital city.

88. Word before and after "vs." in a Mad feature : SPY. Spy vs. Spy.

89. Italian vineyard region : ASTI. Do you like "Stealing Beauty"?

92. Culture: Pref. : ETHNO

96. Read : PERUSED

99. Scrawny : GAUNT

101. Good earth : LOAM. Nice play on "The Good Earth".

102. Co. that spun off the Baby Bells : AT&T

103. Wasteland : HEATH

108. Luau instrument : UKE

109. 19th Amendment proponent : CATT. Carrie Chapman Catt. Suffrage.

111. Tough spot : SCRAPE

113. Saltimbocca herb : SAGE. Was ignorant of the exact family sage belongs to.

114. Seat holder: Abbr. : SEN. Senate.

115. Flightless New Zealanders : KIWIS

117. Ruthless leaders : TYRANTS

120. Rubbed the wrong way : CHAFED

127. Time keeping action? : RENEWAL. Time magazine.

128. Treads heavily : STOMPS

129. List shortener : ET ALIA

130. Women's department array : DRESSES

131. Most balanced : SANEST

132. "Have patience" : NOT YET

Down:

1. LAX tower service : ATC. Air Traffic Control. I forgot.

2. What a stickler may stand on? : CEREMONY. Why? Don't get this clue.

3. Bedspread fabric : CHENILLE. Chenille fabric.

4. While opening : ERST. Erstwhile.

5. Pelvic bone : SACRUM

6. Scornful type : SNEERER

7. Like some instinctive reactions : GUT

8. Caesar's closer : ET TU. "Et tu, Brute?". Caesar's dying words.

9. Sussex stoolie : NARK. Did not know the Brits call informant "nark". Weird, it sounds the cop "narc" to me.

10. Chest : THORAX

11. Singers' refrains : LALAS. One more time for Lucia to think of her mother.

12. Join up : ENLIST

13. Beginning : GENESIS

14. Protein-building polymer : RNA. Only know it as "Genetic letters".

15. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE. Her name escaped me. We had this actress before.

16. Uproar : NOISE

18. Trick : DECEIVE

19. Decorated : ADORNED

24. Deny the truth of : NEGATE

28. Med. research org. : NIH (National Institutes of Health)

30. Lose, as a big lead : BLOW

32. To be, in Quebec : ETRE

34. I-90 in Mass., e.g. : TNPK (Turnpike)

38. U. of Maryland team : TERPS

39. Declare : AVOW

44. Financial report hdg. : YTD

47. __ Reader: alternative media anthology : UTNE. Named after its founder.

51. Sting, for instance : HOAX. Sting operation. Not singer Sting.

52. Tout's hangout, for short : OTB (Offtrack Betting)

53. "Yahoo!" : OH BOY

56. Roy Rogers's birth name : SLYE. His real name is Leonard Slye. Might be one of Dennis "Did you know...". I simply forgot.

58. Brittany seaport : BREST

59. Je t'__: French "I love you" : AIME

61. Historic canal : ERIE

62. U.S. Army E-6 : SSGT. Staff Sergeant.

63. Pope creation : POEM. English poet Alexander Pope.

64. Four-line rhyme scheme : ABAA

67. Coffee holders : URNS

68. __ vivendi: lifestyle : MODUS. I only know "joie de vivre".

70. Small bell sound : TING

73. Room service convenience : TRAY

77. Layered skirt : TUTU

78. Old Roman ldr. : EMP. ldr = leader. Meh!

79. Goes after : HAS AT

83. Product with "Robusto!" flavors : RAGU

85. View from Martha's Vineyard, Mass. : ATL. Atlantic ocean.

87. Golf shop bagful : TEES

90. "Tsk" relatives : TUTS

91. Whole : INTACT

93. Indoor buzzer? : HOUSEFLY. Superb clue/answer.

94. Blunt fiction : NAKED LIE. I like this answer too.

95. Rainbow, to some : OMEN

96. Early luxury auto : PACKARD

97. 24/7 business : ETAILER

98. Three-syllable feet : DACTYLS. How I wish dear Clear Ayes were here to give us an example!

100. Secure, in a way : TIGHTEN

104. Give it a go : TRY

105. Bother no end : HARASS

106. Former Mormon leader Ezra Taft __ : BENSON. Peeked at the answer sheet. He has a distinguished look.

107. Almost touching : NEAR TO

110. Airport postings : TIMES

112. Fusilli, e.g. : PASTA

119. Has dinner : SUPS. And EAT (126. Dinner exhortation). Dinner echos.

121. Royal decree : FIAT

123. Tam wearer's turndown : NAE. Scottish for "no".

125. D-Day craft : LST (Landing Ship Tank)

Answer grid.

I have a question: Does Nora Pearlstone sound like a porn star name to you? We continue to get quite a few Japanese porn spams on last Nora "PMS" themed Sunday puzzle, even after we deleted all the possible links in the main write-up and the Comments section. Darling Santa has to delete them nearly every day.

C.C.