Wednesday October 20, 2010 Elizabeth A. Long

Theme: Letters Stepping Down - Fifteen Es, Fs & Gs are placed in three grid-spanning columns to portray the visual meaning of each theme entry. E, F & G are in alphabetical order. Answers are placed in Down rather than Across for better visual effect.

4D. Online IRS document submission system, literally? : EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. E-filing. E filing down the grid. January 15 - April 15 is the window to file tax returns.

7D. '60s sitcom set at Fort Courage, literally? : FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. F-Troop. F trooping down also. ABC sitcom 1965 - 1967. I've never seen it.

8D. Skimpy bikini part, literally? : GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. G-String. A string of Gs. That, i've seen.

Interesting looking grid pattern, with eight cheater squares. Not an easy puzzle. I don't remember seeing this kind of theme before, with 3 grid-spanning (down) theme answers that repeat one letter. And a total of 33 E's, wow. The last Elizabeth Long puzzle to appear in the LA Times was over a year ago. Speaking as the only female guest-blogger, it's nice to see the work of female constructors.

Melissa here.

Reminds me a little of Mangesh's recent puzzle, that coincidentally, I also blogged, and included theme answers E-Trading, F-Number, and G-String once again, for posterity.

Across:

1. Use chicanery on : DUPE. Chicanery - the use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose. And 48. Achieves via trickery : FINAGLES. Obtains something by devious or dishonest means.

5. Pole worker? : ELF. You were expecting something else?

8. Lots : GOBS

12. Author __ Stanley Gardner : ERLE. Crossword staple - wrote detective stories.

13. Islamic mystic : SUFI

15. Work on, as a bone : GNAW. Great word.

16. Fit of fever : AGUE

17. Roosevelts' successors as first family : TAFTS

19. Festive event : GALA

20. Desert with a view of Beersheba : NEGEV. In Israel. From the Hebrew root denoting "dry".

22. One studying saucers : UFOLOGIST. Actual word. Who wants to be a pole-ologist?

24. Awfully long time : EON

26. Popular pâté : FOIE GRAS. The fattened liver of a duck or goose. I've never had it.

27. He's not always a beast : WEREWOLF. Clever clue. Werewolves change from human to beast, usually at the full moon.

31. Cat chaser : DOG

32. Take the stand again : RETESTIFY

34. Mass unit : GRAM. Base unit of mass in the original French metric system; one-thousandth of a kilogram. And 53. Metric energy unit : ERG. Clecho.

38. Gen. Robt. __ : E. LEE

39. Gather : INFER. Tricky.

41. Arizona river : GILA. A tributary of the Colorado River, in New Mexico and Arizona. 650 miles long.

42. It has a floor on Wall St. : NYSE. New York Stock Exchange.

43. Good feeling that lingers : AFTERGLOW. Ahh.

45. Common Mkt. : EEC. European Economic Community. And 23D. War on Poverty org. : OEO. Office of Economic Opportunity.

49. Lets up : EASES OFF

54. Working hours for night owls : LATE SHIFT.

56. Libya neighbor : EGYPT

60. Creamy cheese : BRIE. Grilled brie and bacon sammy.

61. Volunteer : OFFER

63. "La maja desnuda" painter : GOYA. This should be a gimme by now.

64. Stare at impolitely : OGLE

65. Words before then : IF SO

66. Pita sandwich : GYRO. Anyone else hungry?

67. Playground shout : WHEE

68. Co. whose logo features Mercury carrying a bouquet : FTD. Florists' Transworld Delivery.

69. "What __ around ..." : GOES. "What goes around, comes around."

Down:

1. Official with a list : DEAN. A Dean is the head of the faculty, and the Dean's list is a category of students who achieve high grades.

2. Attempt to persuade : URGE

3. Outlet connection : PLUG. Anyone still looking for ideas for halloween?

5. Educ. guess : EST. Estimate.

6. Island cookout : LUAU

9. Studio warning light : ON AIR

10. Wood for model fliers : BALSA. Hi Dennis.

11. Deals with, as a fly : SWATS

14. "__, Sing America" (Langston Hughes poem) : I TOO. There's your cue, Clear Ayes.

18. Arrived at a base, in a way : SLID. Ball. I meant baseball.

21. Promises : VOWS

25. "It must have been someone else" : NOT I

27. St. Paul's architect : WREN. St. Paul's Cathedral (in London), designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Prince Charles and Lady Di were married there.

28. Hard to hold : EELY. Okay.

29. AAA suggestions : RTES. Routes.

30. Filmmaker Wertmüller : LINA. No idea. Italian filmmaker and director. First woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for directing. She looks like a character. Wiki says she was expelled from more than a dozen Catholic schools in her youth.

33. Mythical Himalayan : YETI

35. Brooklet : RILL

36. Ointment ingredient : ALOE

37. Animal mouths : MAWS. I forgot.

40. Actor Auberjonois : RENE. Played Father Mulcahy in the movie version of M*A*S*H, among other roles.

44. Like a once-in-a-blue-moon event : RARE. Love me some Van.

46. Hook shape : ESS

47. Small to mid-size salmon : COHO

49. Macaroni shape : ELBOW

50. Plaint from a pirate : AARGH

51. It turns a lot in rush hour : STILE. Nailed it.

52. Stereotypical poodle name : FIFI

55. __-drive : TEST

57. Fluctuate wildly : YOYO

58. Combustible pile : PYRE

59. New Mexico resort : TAOS. Pretty. Who's been?

62. Gun, in slang : ROD

Answer grid.

Here is a nice photo of Chickie (most left, green shirt), JD & WM taken yesterday at an art gallery in San Jose.

Melissa

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Anna Gundlach

Theme: It's Your Move - Four twelve-letter entries that start with synonyms for your avatar on BOARD GAMES.

1A. With 73-Across, where you might find the starts of 20-, 33-, 43- and 59-Across: BOARD and 73A. See 1-Across: GAMES. Symmetrically placed pair.

20A. Guy in a spotlight: MAN OF THE HOUR

33A. Feature of much of Bach's music: COUNTERPOINT

43A. Coin for Long John Silver: PIECE OF EIGHT

59A. Symbolic but inconsequential act: TOKEN GESTURE

Argyle here.

I don't know about you but it gave me a start to see a unifier as the first entry. Then to find the last Across entry was also a unifier and together, they gave me no clue...well, I wasn't a happy camper. But the perps came through and the unifiers weren't really needed to solve the the themed entries. They did clarify the theme, so all is right in my Tuesday world.

This might be a debut puzzle. I would like to see more from this constructor.

Across:

6. Skips, as stones : DAPS. Did you remember?

10. "This doesn't look good" : "UH, OH!"

14. Sleep problem : APNEA. The temporary suspension of breathing, occurring in some newborns (infant apnea) and in some adults during sleep (sleep apnea).

15. Scat queen : ELLA. Ella Fitzgerald, also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella".

16. Best Musical award, say : TONY. For excellence on Broadway. Obie is for off-Broadway.

17. Almost fail : GET A 'D'. Tricky to parse.

18. "Parlez-__ français?" : VOUS. "Do you speak French?"

19. Slightly : A TAD

23. Country in which Tetris was created : RUSSIA. The puzzle video game was originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov.

26. Work hard : TOIL

27. Simpson judge : ITO. Lance Ito, the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who presided during the O. J. Simpson murder case.

28. Droid download, say : APP. Application.

29. Portfolio asset: Abbr. : STK. Stock.

31. Antacid named for its elements : MAALOX. Just google it if you need to know what they are.

37. Prefix with plasm : ENDO. Inner prefix.

38. Scepter's partner : ORB. Symbols of power. Image.

39. Inning sextet : OUTS. Three per side.

48. Spelunking spot : CAVERN. Spelunking = Cave Exploring.

51. Notable period : ERA

52. Meadow : LEA

53. Bird: Prefix : AVI

54. Senate helper : AIDE

57. Activating, as a fuse : ARMING

62. Numbskull : TWIT

63. Euterpe, to musicians : MUSE. Euterpe is the Muse of music.

64. Often unattainable perfection : IDEAL

68. Pre-Easter period : LENT

69. Blackjack needs : ACES. That and a face card or ten gives you 21 and that is good.

70. Nabisco's __ Wafers : NILLA

71. Beat by a whisker : EDGE

72. E-mail outbox folder : SENT

Down:

1D. Help a market cashier : BAG

2D. Unlock, poetically : OPE

3D. Hill crawler : ANT

4D. Chews (out) : REAMS

5D. Marcel Duchamp, e.g. : DADAIST. This is art? "Objet d'art".

6D. Punk/New Wave band since the '70s : DEVO. This is music? short clip.

7D. Like dirigibles : ALOFT. They are ALOFT when they're flying.

8D. Demoted planet : PLUTO

9D. Japanese fish dish : SASHIMI. Raw fish. Sashi = Pierced. Mi = Meat. Needs wasabi of course.

10D. The Beehive State : UTAH

11D. Hushpuppies are often fried in it : HOT OIL

12D. Running by itself : ON AUTO

13D. Original Oreo competitor : HYDROX

21D. __ Dogg, Snoop's cousin : NATE. Both are "musicians".

22D. Vivacity : ELAN

23D. 10K, for one : RACE

24D. Second word of many fairy tales : UPON. Once upon a time...

25D. Tater : SPUD

30D. McDonald's founder Ray : KROC

32D. Yours, in Reims : A TOI. Reims, a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lying 129 km east-northeast of Paris.

34D. "Don't think so" : "NOPE!"

35D. Start to conceive? : PRE

36D. Clarinet cousin : OBOE

40D. Fruit that isn't pretti? : UGLI. Cutesi to end them in "i".

41D. After that : THEN

42D. Male deer : STAG

44D. Turkey neighbor : IRAN

45D. Conundrums : ENIGMAS

46D. Weimar wife : FRAU. So we get a tad of German to go with our French today.

47D. Hoop or stud : EARRING

48D. Drive drove : CATTLE. Drove means herd.

49D. Swore : AVOWED

50D. Minnesota footballer : VIKING. Favre finally got Moss to play with him.

55D. Common wild card : DEUCE

56D. German industrial city : ESSEN

58D. Oil, watercolor, etc. : MEDIA

60D. Suffix with major : ETTE

61D. Part of SAT : TEST

65D. Horror film street : ELM

66D. Top-fermented brew : ALE

67D. __ Cruces : LAS. New Mexico.

Answer grid.

Argyle