Tuesday, September 21, 2010 Robert A. Doll

Theme: Life's a Beach - As the unifier indicates, put BEACH in front of the first word of these four common phrases and you have a connection.

17A. Top banana: HEAD HONCHO. Beachhead - the area that is the first objective of a military force landing on an enemy shore.

23A. Unstable situation, metaphorically: HOUSE OF CARDS. Beach house.

37A. Huge mess: BALL OF CONFUSION. Beach ball.

45A. Gregarious fun lovers: PARTY ANIMALS. Beach party.

58A. Valuable shore property, and a hint to what the first words of 17-, 23-, 37- and 45-Across have in common: BEACH FRONT

Argyle again.

The unifier explains the connection but doesn't really help the solving of the clues. The first three change their meaning when combined with beach but PARTY stays the same. In fact, you can find PARTY ANIMALS at a BEACH PARTY. Toga! Toga!

Across:

1. Briquettes : COALS. A sort of progression: Briquettes - COALS - embers - ash.

6. Zip : ZERO

10. Country music pioneer Ernest : TUBB. When I listen to his I'm Walking the Floor Over You, I can't help but think of Poe's, The Tell-Tale Heart. Dost thou think I am mad?

14. "As a result ..." : AND SO

15. Country on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula : OMAN. Map.

16. Spot in the ocean : ISLE

19. Depilatory brand : NAIR. Or Neet/Veet.

20. '60s-'70s war site, briefly : NAM

21. "Now it makes sense!" : I SEE

22. Cake finish : ICING

26. Workplace inspection org. : OSHA

29. Comportment : MIEN

30. Louise's gal pal : THELMA. From the 1991 movie, "Thelma & Louise".

33. Buzzing swarmers : BEES

34. Performed : DID

40. "Danny and the Dinosaur" author Hoff : SYD. An "I Can Read" book.

41. Court postponement : STAY

42. Ancient Greek military power : SPARTA. They hit the big time with their movie.

43. Blood fluids : SERA

44. Veggies studied by Mendel : PEAS

52. Assumed name : ALIAS

53. Defensive spray : MACE

54. Marx's "__ Kapital" : DAS

57. Thin curl of smoke : WISP

61. Third man : ABEL and 3D. Father of 61-Across : ADAM

62. High-strung : EDGY

63. Sacher treat : TORTE. The Sachertorte was created by pastry chef Franz Sacher (1816-1907) in 1832 for Prince von Metternich, the Austrian State Chancellor. The prince enjoyed trying new dishes and ordered the chef to create a new cake. Orders were sent to the kitchens where it was instant pandemonium. The head chef was sick and the team of cooks in the kitchen had no idea what to prepare. Franz Sacher, a 16-year old apprentice cook, rolled up his sleeves and created this famous chocolate cake with the ingredients that were available. It consisted of chocolate sponge cake cut into three layers, between which apricot jam are thickly spread between the layers and on the top and sides of the cake. The whole cake is then iced with a velvet-like chocolate and served with a side dish of whipped cream. The Sacher Torte and other recipes made him prosperous, and he operated several cafes and restaurants.

64. Goodyear product : TIRE

65. Member's obligation : DUES

66. What matzo lacks : YEAST

Down:

1. "High Hopes" lyricist Sammy : CAHN. "High Hopes" is a popular song, introduced in the 1959 film A Hole In The Head, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1959. The music was written by Jimmy Van Heusen, the lyrics by Sammy Cahn. A Sinatra standard.

2. Top draft status : ONE A

4. '60s "trip" drug : LSD

5. Early gas company based in Cleveland : SOHIO. Standard Oil of Ohio or Sohio was one of the successor companies to Standard Oil after the antitrust breakup in 1911. It merged with British Petroleum, now called BP(Hiss, boo), in 1968.

6. Districts : ZONES

7. Roast host : EMCEE

8. Bleachers cry : RAH

9. John __ Lennon : ONO. Lennon and Yoko Ono were married in Gibraltar on 20 March 1969, and he changed his name by deed poll on 22 April 1969, adding "Ono" as a middle name. Although he used the name John Ono Lennon thereafter, official documents referred to him as John Winston Ono Lennon, since he was not permitted to revoke a name given at birth.

10. Kid's make-believe phone : TIN CAN. Not make believe. This site can tell you how to make one.

11. Carrier that added "ways" to its name in 1997 : USAIR. USAir in 1979, US Airways in 1997. Of local interest, Mohawk Airlines was an early part of what was to become USAir.

12. Duck hunter's cover : BLIND. Not only for ducks, the meaning "anything that obstructs sight" is from 1530s. In this case, the obstruction of the prey's sight of the hunter.

13. Cold-water hazards : BERGS

18. Its flagship sch. is in Stillwater, west of Tulsa : OSU. Oklahoma State University.

22. Freezes over : ICES UP

23. Oates's musical partner : HALL. Daryl Hall and John Oates, Private Eyes.

24. Divine sign : OMEN

25. Feudal domains : FIEFs

26. Gambling parlors, briefly : OTBs. Off-track betting (OTB)

27. One-horse carriage : SHAY. Two wheeled is correct version but four wheeled carriages are often called shays, also.

28. Had in one's hands : HELD

31. Strolls (along) : MOSEYS

32. Performers' union: Abbr. : AFTRA. The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). AFTA. The After Shave Skin Conditioner.

33. Tarzan's son : BOY

34. Awful : DIRE

35. Letter after theta : IOTA

36. Genetic info carriers : DNAs

38. "Misery" actor James : CAAN. Movie poster

39. Easy targets : SAPS

43. Swingline fastener : STAPLE. Swingline is a brand name for staples and staplers.

45. Touch, cat-style : PAW AT

46. Accused's excuse : ALIBI

47. Choir platform : RISER

48. Likeness : IMAGE

49. "Miracle on 34th Street" setting : MACY'S. One of my favorite movies.

50. Rhine whine? : ACH. Great rhyme.

51. Sandy Koufax or CC Sabathia : LEFTY. Left-handed baseball pitchers(and a mini shout-out to our leader).

54. The first Mrs. Copperfield : DORA. Not the magician. "David Copperfield or The Personal History, Adventures, Experience and Observation of David Copperfield the Younger of Blunderstone Rookery (which he never meant to publish on any account)" is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a novel in 1850. Like most of his works, it originally appeared in serial form a year earlier. David, as an adult, first married naïve Dora Spenlow, but she dies. He eventually marries and finds true happiness with the sensible Agnes, who had secretly always loved him.

55. Insects on farms : ANTS

56. Editor's "leave it in" : STET

58. B&B part : BED. Bed and Breakfast inns, usually a private home. Many couples have bought old homes, thinking becoming a B&B will pay the mortgage; it doesn't, for most of them.

59. College URL ending : EDU. Its name is derived from education, indicating its intended use as a name space for educational institutions.

60. Future fish : ROE. Finally, some alliteration.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, September 20, 2010 Samantha Wine

Theme: Have you seen my... - Three common phrases start with a word that may indicate, say, our car keys when we are in a hurry.

20A. Daydreaming: LOST IN THOUGHT

36A. Failing to grasp a key element: MISSING THE POINT

52A. Not expected back at work until tomorrow: GONE FOR THE DAY

Argyle here.

A compact Monday puzzle from our editor. Samantha Wine is an anagram of "What's in a name?").

Simple theme. Lively theme answers, none of which have been used in any major newspaper puzzle before. The sparse theme entries allow Rich to place 20 six-letter or more non-theme fill, including a wonderful BAILOUTS.

A bit harder than usual, perhaps.

Across:

1. Persian Gulf emirate : DUBAI. A small nation with a big footprint.

6. Aptly named novelist : READE. Charles Reade (1814 - 1884) was an English novelist and dramatist, best known for The Cloister and the Hearth. I must have missed that one.

11. Check for drinks : TAB. Goes well with 38D "Drinks are on yours truly" : "I'M BUYING"

14. Rocket scientist Wernher von __ : BRAUN. We had Eva Braun yesterday.

15. Use for dinner, as dishes : EAT ON

16. Realm from 800-1806: Abbr. : HRE. The Holy Roman Empire (HRE). The first Holy Roman Emperor is generally considered to have been Otto I, King of Germany. Charlemagne, crowned Emperor of the Romans in 800, was the forerunner of the Holy Roman Empire, largely because he had inaugurated the tradition of imperial coronation by the Pope.

17. Jazzy O'Day : ANITA. Singing Ain't Misbehavin'.

18. On the __: broken : FRITZ. Origin unknown.

19. Approx. landing hr. : ETA

23. More intimate : CLOSER

25. __-mutuel: type of betting : PARI

26. Funny Costello : LOU. Partnered with Bud Abbott.

27. Abel's slayer : CAIN

30. Tsar or emperor : DESPOT. It doesn't mean tyrant, necessarily.

32. It follows the overture : ACT I

34. Pressed for time : IN A RUSH

41. Conceived of : IDEATED, Didn't need to see this word again.

42. IRS agent : T-MAN

43. What ballerinas dance on : TIPTOE

46. Slangy agreement : YEAH

48. HVAC measure : BTU. British Thermal Unit (BTU or Btu)

49. Utah city near Provo : OREM

50. Uproar : TUMULT. Taken straight from Latin

58. Econ. yardstick : GNP. Gross National Product

59. Nebraska city : OMAHA

60. Tee shot : DRIVE. Golf.

63. Mauna __ : LOA. Active volcano on the island of Hawaii.

64. Lees competitor : LEVIS

65. Ocean ship : LINER

66. Bigger picture: Abbr. : ENL.

67. Kosher deli offering : KNISH. Knish Nosh.

68. Sharp-eyed bird : EAGLE

Down:

1. Trade name abbr. : DBA. Doing Business As.

2. Caterer's vessel : URN

3. Controversial financial rescues : BAILOUTS

4. Cars : AUTOS

5. "Be right there!" : "IN A SEC!"

6. Get a better int. rate, probably : REFI. Refinancing.

7. Make on the job : EARN

8. Working busily : AT IT

9. "The lady __ protest too much": "Hamlet" : DOTH. We had DOST yesterday.

10. Automaker Ferrari : ENZO

11. Store to "fall into," in old ads : THE GAP. Can you buy both Levis and Lees there?

12. Prefix with -scopic : ARTHRO. And often followed by surgery.

13. "Scram!" : "BEAT IT!"

21. New employee : TRAINEE

22. End result : UPSHOT. 1531; originally, the final shot in an archery match, hence sense of "result, issue, conclusion" (1604).

23. Littleneck, e.g. : CLAM

24. Centers of activity : LOCI. Plural of locus, (in many legal phrases) a place or area, esp the place where something occurred.

28. Actress Swenson : INGA. She was on the TV show, "Benson". She is the one standing behind Benson(Robert Guillaume), on the left. Image.

29. Smartly dressed : NATTY

30. Obstetrician's calculation : DUE DATE

31. Psychic's asset, for short : ESP

33. "Surely I'm not the only one?!" : "IS IT ME?"

35. South Korea's first president : RHEE. Syngman Rhee (1875 – 1965) was President from 1948 to 1960.

37. Altar promise : "I DO"

39. MLB league : NATL.

40. Letter-shaped fastener : T-NUT. An image of one style of T-nut.

43. Flip back and forth, as an on-off switch : TOGGLE

44. Like some denim patches : IRON-ON. Hell, now days, they are ripped on purpose!

45. Letter-writing friend : PEN PAL

47. Circular gridiron gathering : HUDDLE

51. "West Side Story" heroine : MARIA

53. Music genre that experienced a '50s-'60s revival : FOLK

54. Sign of the future : OMEN

55. Sitarist Shankar : RAVI

56. That's partner : THIS. This and that.

57. Corned beef dish : HASH

61. Commercial prefix with -cro : VEL

62. Prior to : ERE. Ere there was Vel-Cro, there was Duct Tape.

Answer grid.

Argyle