Sunday October 3, 2010 Arthur S. Verdesca

Theme: Argot - Ar got. Add R to a common English word and form a two-word new phrase where the same R-following letter string in the first word also starts the second word. Then contract the two.

23A. Width of a freeway exit? : RAMP 'AMPLITUDE. Did this tip you off the theme gimmick immediately?

25A. Collection of complaints? : RANT 'ANTHOLOGY

39A. Apartment party? : RENT 'ENTERTAINMENT

50A. "I slept about eight hours"? : REST 'ESTIMATE.

53A. Indifference to Dr. Dre? : RAP 'APATHY. I was wondering if Dr. Dre knows how famous he is in Xword world.

69A. Mai tai decoration? : RUM 'UMBRELLA

89A. Slam dunk component? : RIM 'IMPACT

92A. CBer's handle? : RIDE 'IDENTITY

99A. Like permissive dog owners? : ROVER 'OVERINDULGENT

121A. Lazy time for Huck Finn? : RAFT 'AFTERNOON

123A. Idiot driving a semi? : RIG 'IGNORAMUS

I don't quite get the title "Argot". Am I right in understanding the "ar got" gimmick? Argyle thinks so.

The title reminded me of Henry Hook's "Element 18" puzzle where letter Rs are deleted from all the answers. Element 18 is Argon ( R Gone) in periodic table.

I had a tough time getting into the constructor's mindset. The theme concept is quite unique. Also, no cheater square in the whole grid.

Not fond of the IN repeats in the grid, though I do understand the difficulty in avoiding the little duplications in a giant 21*21:

57A. Bamboozled : TAKEN IN

32D . __ town: recently arrived : NEW IN

74D. Entered : WENT IN

79D. Fill, as another's shoes : STEP INTO

101D. Up __: indignant : IN ARMS

Across:

1. Tot's call : MOMMY

6. LAX listings : ARRS

10. Cabbage with crinkly, curled leaves : SAVOY. It's Savoy Cabbage. Not savoy alone.

15. Knopf, e.g.: Abbr. : PUBL. Publication. Not a familiar abbr. to me.

19. Domingo solos : ARIAS

20. No, to Nureyev : NYET. Russian for "No". Alliteration.

21. Adler who outwitted Sherlock Holmes : IRENE. Drew a blank.

22. Capital on Upolu island : APIA. Samoan capital.

27. Ad writer's award : CLIO

28. Treacherous place : MINE FIELD. Treacherous indeed.

30. Flips : UPENDS

31. Potentially offensive, in a way : UN PC

33. TV chef Martin : YAN. Great personality.

34. Venerable one : ELDER

36. Movie buff's collectible : POSTER. See "Metropolis". Over half a million. Nuts.

45. Covert maritime org. : ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence)

46. Use a towel on : WIPE

48. Old pros : VETS

49. Bradley in uniform : OMAR

56. "O patria __": "Aida" aria : MIA. Literally "Oh, my dear country".

58. Deck out : DRESS

60. No more than : MERELY

62. Seine views : ILES

63. Navigable connection : STRAIT

65. In concert : AS ONE

67. Measure out : ALLOT

72. Scroogean look : SCOWL

76. Former jockey Smith who was married to Fred Astaire in the '80s : ROBYN. First encounter with this lady. She looks pretty.

78. Online exchange : EMAILS

80. Surveyor's measure : AREA

81. Writer Leonard : ELMORE. Have any of you read his "Get Shorty"?

84. Below, in verse : 'NEATH

86. Finished : AT AN END

88. Damone of song : VIC. What's his famous song?

94. Qatar bigwig : EMIR

96. Wine opener? : OENO. Prefix for "wine".

97. Listening to every word : RAPT

98. Completed : DID

105. Historic Honolulu palace : IOLANI. The palace where their last king lived. Had difficulty spelling the name. So many vowels.

107. Sri __ : LANKA

108. Latin word of affection : AMO. Te amo.

109. Author __ Morrow Lindbergh : ANNE

110. Andean beast : ALPACA

113. Removed with a chisel : GOUGED OUT

117. Generational disconnects : GAPS

125. Long sentence : LIFE. Prison sentence. Awesome clue.

126. Force : MIGHT

127. "Law & Order: SVU" actor : ICE-T

128. Oak-to-be : ACORN

129. Remnants : ORTS. Classic crosswordese.

130. Final word : SAY SO

131. Vat sediment : LEES

132. Kids : TYKES

Down:

1. French grape-skin brandy : MARC. No idea. Pomace brandy.

2. Hard exam : ORAL. Why is it hard?

3. "La Bohème" heroine : MIMI. Easy guess.

4. Plan : MAP OUT

5. Maker of the fragrance Opium : YSL. I am using Opium.

6. Silly bit : ANTIC

7. Record-setting miler Jim : RYUN. Nope. Another stranger.

8. Aptly named flight : RED-EYE

9. Edberg of tennis : STEFAN. Swedish.

10. Paddock parent : SIRE

11. Disappearing sea : ARAL. In Central Asia.

12. Family feud : VENDETTA. Great word.

13. N.Y. neighbor : ONT

14. Violinist Menuhin : YEHUDI. Well, one more foreign name to me.

15. Sicilian seaport : PALERMO. Capital of Sicily.

16. Soon after : UPON

17. Cowboys' city, familiarly : BIG D. Dallas.

18. Attacks, with "into" : LAYS

24. In the first place : IMPRIMIS. New word to me also.

26. In full bloom : OPEN

29. Mtge. payment part : INT

35. Make it : LAST

36. "The quality of mercy is not strained" speaker : PORTIA. The girl in "The Merchant of Venice".

37. Common soccer score : ONE ALL. Tied. One to One.

38. Ebert's longtime co-host : SISKEL (Gene)

39. On a pension: Abbr. : RET

40. Gabor and others : EVAS

41. Exercise units : REPS

42. Single-named supermodel : EMME. Always want EMMA.

43. Get the goods on : NAIL

44. Cafeteria staple : TRAY

47. Storage site : PANTRY

51. Pizarro's treasure : TESORO. No idea. It's Spanish for "treasure".

52. Party cheese : EDAM

53. Back off : RETREAT

54. Med. care provider : HMO

55. Hungers : YENS. I've got the yen for pickled herring.

59. Pick on : RIB

61. Eat one's words : RECANT

64. Clear out : RUN

65. Boxing biopic : ALI. Will Smith.

66. Lipton alternative : SALADA

68. Unit of pressure : TORR. Mystery answer. It's named after Italian physicist Torricelli, who invented barometer.

70. Hwy. mishap respondent : EMT

71. 1939 Garland co-star : LAHR (Bert). Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz".

73. Steam n' Mash maker : ORE-IDA

75. Bride of July '81 : LADY DI

77. "__ Mir Bist Du Schoen": 1937 hit : BEI. Can never remember the song. "To Me, You're Beautiful".

81. Sometime : EVER

82. Oscar night rental : LIMO

83. Twice DLII : MCIV. 1104.

84. TV alien's word : NANU. Nanu Nanu. From "Mork & Mindy'.

85. Green's sci. : ECOL

87. Composer Bruckner : ANTON. No idea. Sounds Russian.

90. Abbey resident : MONK

91. Teaching : PEDAGOGY. Perfect consonant & vowel arrangement.

93. First NYC subway : IRT

95. Tells : RELATES

100. Streak : RACE

102. Skit part : GAG

103. "Farm to Fork" author : EMERIL (Lagasse). "Bam!".

104. Curt refusal : NO DICE

106. What you will : LEGACY. Nice clue.

109. Pittypat and Polly : AUNTS. Who's Aunt Pittypat?

110. Alice's chronicler : ARLO. "Alice's Restaurant".

111. Cub's place : LAIR

112. Up-in-smoke sound : PFFT

114. Shows amazement : OOHS

115. "Do __ others ..." : UNTO

116. Architectural S-curve : OGEE

118. Crazily : AMOK

119. Unadulterated : PURE

120. Office IDs : SSNS

122. Long on screen : NIA. Nia Long. Gorgeous clue, with Long in the beginning.

124. Stinker : RAT

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday October 2, 2010 Harvey Estes

Theme: None

Total words: 72. Total blocks: 32

Avg Word Len: 5.36. Missing: J Q X Z

This puzzle is anchored by triple stacks of 10s in each quadrant of the grid. All multi-words:

1A. Parts counterparts : LABOR COSTS. Car repairs.

15A. Lemon source : USED CAR LOT. Was thinking of the fruit.

17A. One lacking bias : RADIAL TIRE. Of course political "bias" came to mind. Not tire. I like how the 3 car references piled on top of one another. We also have FIN (22A. Old El Dorado feature). Would be a perfect puzzle for car nuts Argyle to blog.

58A. Holiday bloom : EASTER LILY. Nice full answer.

61A. Minor considerations? : LITTLE ONES. Great clue.

63A. Poky activity happens at it : SNAIL'S PACE. Tricky "it".

12D. Conscience : MORAL SENSE. Dennis has some, mostly just MOREL sense.

13D. Ann Landers or Abigail Van Buren : TWIN SISTER

14D. Legendary swimmer : SEA SERPENT. Mythical.

25D. Show compassion : HAVE A HEART

26D. Challenging area at Augusta National, as it's facetiously called : AMEN CORNER. Nailed it. Refers to holes No. 11, 12 & 13. We also have PARS (33D. Links numbers). Augusta National is par 72.

27D. In direct confrontation : NOSE TO NOSE

Multi-words are sure zippier than single long words. Not necessarily easier to ferret out though. Misleading clues abound today. Harvey's wit and humor are in full play.

FYI, Nancy Salomon told me a few weeks ago that it is Harvey who originated the phrase Utah Formation, referring those 5 black square clusters in the grid edges. Don "Hard G" Gagliardo calls the shape Idaho Potato. So evocative.

Across:

11. Vital team members : EMTS. Vital organs. The clue needs an abbr. hint.

16. Actor who turned down the role of Dr. Shepherd on "Grey's Anatomy" : LOWE. Rob Lowe I gather.

18. Spotlit opera event : ARIA

19. Joint with a cap : KNEE. Saw this clue before. Still like it.

20. Stumper's concern : VOTER. Was thinking of "puzzle" stumper, not one who makes stump speech.

21. Summer goals for some : TANS

23. Unspoken part of the Godfather's "offers"? : OR ELSE. Couldn't keep "make him an offer he can't refuse" out of my mind.

25. "One sec ..." : HANG ON

29. Neil Young song about Kent State : OHIO

31. Mister : SIR

32. Le Pew's pursuit : AMOUR

33. High fashion label : PRADA. Loved "The Devil Wears Prada".

34. Super vision? : ESP. Nice clue.

35. Endows, as with power : VESTS

36. Kleptomaniac film monkey : ABU. No idea. The monkey in Disney's "Aladdin". Kleptomaniac is one who is addicted to stealing.

37. 14th-century Florentine exile : DANTE. Oh, I thought he lived in a much earlier period.

39. Hydrocarbon ending : ENE

40. Fourth in a series : APRIL. No problem!

42. "Hedda Gabler" playwright : IBSEN (Henrik)

43. Undertaking : ACT

44. Closing : LAST

45. Common chuckwalla habitat : DESERT. Looks ugly.

46. They may be shod : HOOVES. Good clue.

48. The boss usually doesn't want to hear them : NOS. Do you say "No" to your boss?

49. Bald eagle cousin : ERNE

50. Curly hair, say : TRAIT. Mine is straight.

53. Quarter of a yard : SPAN. Was calculating in paper and got 9 inches.

57. Quotation abbr. : ANON

60. Kick back : REST

62. Extremely, in Amiens : TRES. Don't know where Amiens is. Somewhere in France I suppose.

Down:

1. Lie low : LURK

2. Simile center : AS AN. Wise as an owl.

3. Only native Englishman ever named Doctor of the Church by a pope : BEDE. Stumped. Wikipedia says he's often referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede.

4. Comic strip dog : ODIE. Also CALVIN (6. Comics character who said "Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help"). From "Calvin and Hobbes". Got me.

5. 1986 GE takeover : RCA. New trivia to me.

7. "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" dramatist : ORTON (Joe). Not familiar with the drama or the author.

8. Fine cut : SLIT. Was picturing meat. Lovely clue.

9. Zipped : TORE

10. Olympics no-no : STEROID

11. Send : ELATE. "Darling, you send me..."

22. On the block : FOR SALE

24. Rock crew : ROADIES. Rock band.

28. __ feeling : GUT

29. Shuttle path : ORBIT. Hey, Husker Gary!

30. Arrest, with "in" : HAUL

38. Tchr.'s notation : ABS. Absent, right? I've never attended school here. Don't know the notation abbrs. Rich prepared us for Tchr = Teacher earlier.

41. Some Cassatt works : PASTELS. Sweet fill for Clear Ayes.

45. "No kidding!" : DO TELL

47. Lets off steam : VENTS

48. Capone associate : NITTI (Frank). Uh uh, don't recall his name. "The Untouchables" is quite good.

51. Shower : RAIN."Showers, e.g." would be a better clue. Yes?

52. Hollywood canine : ASTA

53. Pen repast : SLOP. Oink, oink, soupy & tasty!

54. Cóctel fruit : PINA. Cóctel is Spanish for "cocktail".

55. Novelist Waugh : ALEC

56. Place to find IBM : NYSE. My favorite clue today. IBM the company, not the product.

59. Scale tones : RES

Answer grid.

C.C.