Tuesday, October 26, 2010 Jeff Chen

Theme: On a Roll - The start of the four theme answers modifies the meaning of the first word in the unifier.

17A. *"That's a certainty!": "BANK ON IT!". Bankroll can either be a noun (literally or figuratively, a roll of bills) or a verb meaning to fund someone or something.

22A. *Say "Well done," say: PAY A COMPLIMENT. Payroll, again either a noun or verb. The list of people to be paid or the money to pay them. The act of paying them. In old Westerns, the bad guys stopped the stage that was carrying the payroll.

34A. *Cover the night's check: SPRING FOR DINNER. Spring roll is like an egg roll but with a flaky wrapper. Image. I like the spring rolls better than the egg rolls.

46A. *Generate sales leads: DRUM UP BUSINESS. Drumroll, the continuous sound of a drum rapidly beaten. Five second clip.

54A. Attendance check, and a hint to the puzzle theme in the first words of the starred answers: ROLL CALL

Roll call answer: "Argyle!", "Here, Sir!" Jeff Chen continues his roll of excellent puzzles. 74-worder with 3 Js. Only one Q away from being a pangram.

A tad harder than a usual Tuesday, with three long answers. Plus, some clechos.

Across:

1. Homey : COZY

5. Boeing product : JET

8. Shoulder wraps : SHAWLS

14. Converse competitor : AVIA. Latin for "fly".

15. Fuss : ADO

16. Immensely popular : RED HOT

19. "Ripe" part of life : OLD AGE

20. Ceremonial act : RITE

21. Mousse user : SALON. Mousse user, just fun to say.

27. Rock examiner? : JEWELER. Diamond "rock".

28. A seeming eternity : EONS

29. Q.E.D. word : ERAT. Math proof letters, Latin meaning "quod erat demonstrandum" or "which was to be shown or proven".

30. Bozo : JERK

31. Remark from Rex : "ARF!". Rex, the name of the sheepdog in the 1995 film, "Babe", is Latin for king.

39. Function : USE

40. Suave to a fault : OILY. This man?

41. Long-tongued cartoon dog : ODIE. From the Garfield strip.

42. "Brave New World" drug : SOMA. The fictional hallucinogenic drug in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel.

43. Obvious : EVIDENT

50. Knock one's knuckles against : RAP AT

51. Nae sayer : SCOT. A play on "nay sayer".

52. To excess : OVERLY

59. Blew off steam : VENTED

60. Doctor of music? : DRE. Andre Romelle Young, primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is a record producer, rapper, record executive, and actor.

61. Skin lotion additive : ALOE

62. Some dadaist paintings : ERNSTs. Dada is the groundwork to abstract art and sound poetry and the movement that lay the foundation for Surrealism. Max Ernst was one of the founders.

63. Verizon rival : AT&T

64. Coquette : MINX. Image. Ho, Ho, Ho!

Down:

1. Chard alternative : CAB and clecho 3. Chard alternative : ZIN. No clue that these are wines. Chardonnay, Cabernet, Zinfandel; not sure cab (red) works for a alternate for chard (white), zin can be red or white.

2. Egg cells : OVA

4. Himalayan beast : YAK and 24. Rumored Himalayan beast : YETI

5. Chandler's "Friends" ex-girlfriend with an annoying laugh : JANICE. Clip, at the fertility clinic.

6. Magazine VIP : EDITOR

7. Carved pole : TOTEM

8. No more seats, on a sign : SRO. Standing room only.

9. Capital east of Oslo : HELSINKI. Oslo, Norway and Helsinki, Finland. Map. Sweden is in between them.

10. "Mysterious and spooky" TV family name : ADDAMS

11. Ahab's quarry : WHALE. From Herman Melville's classic of the sea, telling of the pursuit of Moby Dick, the white whale.

12. Start one's work day, maybe : LOG ON

13. Angioplasty implant : STENT

18. Like much family history : ORAL

22. Offenders, in copspeak : PERPS. Not in our argot, though.

23. Enlightened : AWARE

25. Word with group or pressure : PEER

26. British nobleman : LORD. A member of the peerage, a system nobility in England.

27. Son of God, in a Bach cantata : JESU. German.

30. Elation : JOY

31. Bolivian range : ANDES

32. Stagecoach controls : REINS

33. Fuss : FRET

35. Sign at a cul-de-sac : NO OUTLET

36. Hobbling gait : GIMP

37. Love handles, so to speak : FLAB

38. Botanical branch point : NODE

42. Stings : SMARTS

43. Companion : ESCORT

44. Purple shade : VIOLET

45. Worldwide: Abbr. : INTL. International.

46. Took the wheel : DROVE

47. Ecstatic film critic, e.g. : RAVER

48. Sch. founded by Franklin : UPENN. University of Pennsylvania. Founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1749. Motto, Leges sine moribus vanae, translates to "Laws without morals are useless."

49. Dietary standard often measured in mg. : US RDA. United States Recommended Daily Allowances (USRDA).

53. NFL rushing nos. : YDs.. American football.

55. "Overhead" engine part : CAM

56. Poetic pugilist : ALI. "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee." Right, NC?

57. "Man of a Thousand Faces" Chaney : LON. Lon Chaney Tribute.

58. Archvillain Luthor : LEX. Superman's supervillain bad guy.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, October 25, 2010 Robert A. Doll

Theme: Boys Only! - Four phrases that start with a man's name and a unifier.

17A. Wealthy relative: RICH UNCLE

24A. Emulate Muhammad Ali: BOB AND WEAVE

39A. Father-son talk, e.g.: FRANK DISCUSSION

50A. Assembled in a makeshift manner: JERRY-RIGGED

64A. Get-together for the starts of 17-, 24-, 39- and 50-Across?: STAG PARTY

Argyle here.

Even though there are five entries, I kept looking for a more complicated connection between the four names. Must be the effect of last week. Some others weren't invited to the party. 1A SETH, 19A TONTO, 17A BONO, 31A IAN, 47A DON, and 59D ART. O MAN!

Before anyone starts, JERRY-rigged and JURY-rigged are the same thing.

Across:

1. Eve's youngest : SETH. The only 3 names mentioned in the Bible are Cain, Abel, and Seth. Adam also had "other sons and daughters," though they aren't named. (Answers.com)

5. Special __: military force : OPS. Special OPerationS.

8. Priest's place : ALTAR

13. Trojan War epic : "ILIAD". The older of the two surviving ancient Greek epic poems, traditionally ascribed to Homer.

15. "The __": placekicker Lou Groza's nickname : TOE. Louis Roy Groza (January 25, 1924 - November 29, 2000) was an American football placekicker who played his entire career for the Cleveland Browns. (Wikipedia)

16. Dog : POOCH

19. Sidekick who rode Scout : TONTO

20. Bagel flavoring : SESAME

21. Rio automaker : KIA. Korean automobile manufacturer. Image. A subcompact car.

23. Bones partner : SKIN. Emaciated. Nothing but skin and bones. But how many of you thought of Seely Booth from TV's Bones?

27. Free, as legal work : PRO BONO. A phrase derived from Latin meaning "for the public good", pro bono publico, shortened to just pro bono.

31. Author Fleming : IAN. James Bond creator.

32. Titled woman : DAME and 1D. 32-Acrosses' spouses : SIRS

33. Older but __ : WISER

36. Dean's list factor: Abbr. : GPA. Grade Point Average (GPA)

43. D.C. bigwig : SEN.

44. Annually : A YEAR

45. Jason's vessel : ARGO. Greek mythology.

46. Had some grub : ATE

47. Leave high and dry : ABANDON

55. North Carolina university : ELON. A private liberal arts university located in Elon, NC. Location.

56. Fed. loan guarantor : SBA. Small Business Administration (SBA).

57. Take turns : ROTATE

62. Bank takebacks, briefly : REPOs. Origin: by shortening of repossessions.

66. Used a prie dieu : KNELT. Image. A prayer desk.

67. Many, many moons : EON

68. Coach:athlete ::__:student : TUTOR. A coach is to athlete as a TUTOR is to student.

69. When tripled, and so on : YADDA. Or spelled with one D. Speaking of Double D's, where is my number one on the naughty list?

70. Gun lobby org. : NRA. The National Rifle Association of America, or NRA.

71. Rockwell or Gothic : TYPE. Types of type!

Down:

2. Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE. This man.

3. Nervous spasms : TICS

4. "Very funny!" : "HA-HA!"

5. Non-Rx : OTC. Over-the-counter (OTC). Also can apply to stocks.

6. Oktoberfest dance : POLKA. Let's all get up and dance around the breakfast table. "Beer Barrel Polka" : Myron Floren on accordion.

7. Make welcome : SEE IN

8. On-target : APT

9. Let out a few notches in : LOOSEN

10. Toy truck brand : TONKA

11. When Ophelia drowns : ACT IV. From Hamlet, by Shakespeare.

12. River at Arles : RHONE. Map. Arles is on the coast, the Riviera.

14. Disney pachyderm : DUMBO. The Flying Elephant.

18. One of the noble gases : NEON

22. French farewell : ADIEU

25. Alamo hero : BOWIE. That would be James Bowie, not David Bowie.

26. Part of V.F.W. : WARS. Veterans of Foreign Wars.

27. Commonly e-mailed files, for short : PDFs. Portable Document Format.

28. Porterhouse order : RARE. I tell you, it is very rare when I get a steak.

29. Arabian sultanate : OMAN. On the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

30. Golfer Hogan : BEN. Legendary.

34. "This __ ripoff!" : IS A

35. Scrawny one : SCRAG

36. Prepare, as for action : GIRD

37. Walt Kelly's possum : POGO. Comic strip.

38. Soon, poetically : ANON

40. "K-K-K-__": 1918 song : KATY. Let's all sing now! Lyrics.

41. Batik artisans : DYERS. They use wax and dye to produce images on cloth.

42. __ Francisco : SAN

46. Composer Schoenberg : ARNOLD. I thought they should have clued Gov. Schwarzenegger, after the previous clue.

48. Arctic floater : BERG

49. Take in from a pet shelter : ADOPT

50. Beef __: dried meat : JERKY

51. Kagan who replaced Stevens on the Supreme Court : ELENA

52. Enticed, with "in" : ROPED

53. "Peer Gynt" dramatist : IBSEN. Edvard Grieg famously composed incidental music and songs for his play.

54. Croc's cousin : GATOR

58. Drawn tight : TAUT

59. Culturally pretentious : ARTY

60. 'Vette roof option : T-TOP

61. Brontë's "Jane __" : EYRE

63. RR depot : STA.

65. Literary collection : ANA

Answer grid.

Argyle