Tuesday, November 30, 2010 Mark Feldman

Theme: While You Slept - Occupations you might want to be kept in the dark about?

20A. One debating the unpopular side: DEVIL'S ADVOCATE

31A. Healer using magic: WITCH DOCTOR

41A. Uncredited author: GHOST WRITER

55A. Wee-hours work period for 20-, 31- and 41-Across?: GRAVEYARD SHIFT

Argyle here.

Not too sure of the theme since none of the three entries necessarily work at night. Oh well, not many names today. Good solid corners on the grid. Long entries. On the whole, I liked it.

Across:

1. Roe source : SHAD

5. Scrape, cat-style : CLAW

9. 100 kopeks : RUBLE and 6D. Turkish bread? : LIRA. Russian bread and Turkish bread. No euros yet.

14. Geographical extremity : POLE

15. Little suckers : LICE. 16. Matriculate : ENROL. 23. Washing aid for pupils : EYE CUP. 11D. Sassy kid : BRAT. The clues all made me think of students.

17. Turow memoir subtitled "The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School" : ONE L

18. The "Habanera" from "Carmen," e.g. : ARIA. Clip.(4:14)

19. Blunt, as reality : STARK

24. Blood bank fluid : SERUM

25. "Hold on __!" : A SEC

27. Stew : SEETHE

36. "Man oh man!" : "WOW!"

37. Out of kilter : AWRY

38. Dove murmur : COO

39. About 1,609 meters : MILE

40. Game system played with gestures : Wii. Nintendo's spelling of "Wii" with two lower-case "i" characters is meant to resemble two people standing side by side, representing players gathering together. So they say. The big thing is it gets people off the couch to play.

45. Long-haired cat : ANGORA

47. Part of a family business title : SONS

48. Pitching miscues : BALKS

51. Where AMZN stock is traded : NASDAQ. Amazon.com, Inc. / "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Systems," but the exchange's official stance is that the acronym is obsolete.

58. Japanese cartoon genre : ANIME

59. Oklahoma tribe : OTOE. They're out there somewhere. The tribe got moved around a lot and you can't be sure from where they might be clued.

60. Naysayer : ANTI

61. Deadly : FATAL

62. Zip (along) : TEAR

63. Chick's sound : PEEP

64. Head lock : TRESS. Had me thinking wrestling move for awhile.

65. At __: arguing : ODDS. This idiom uses odds in the sense of "a condition of being unequal or different," and transfers it to a difference of opinion, or quarrel.

66. Messes up : ERRS

Down:

1. Fine porcelain : SPODE. Named for Josiah Spode who developed the manufacturing of bone china with blue glaze, based in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Image. I think porcelain and bone china aren't exactly the same but I'll read the Wikipedia article later.

2. Sweetheart : HONEY

3. Naproxen, commercially : ALEVE. Image.

4. Epicurean delight : DELICACY

5. Held firmly : CLASPED

7. Fatty __ : ACIDS

8. Make, as baskets : WEAVE

9. Fireman, sometimes : RESCUER

10. Wild : UNTAME. More familiar with untamed.

12. Folk tales and such : LORE

13. "Benevolent" fraternal member : ELK. Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE)

21. Having abundant vegetation : LUSH

22. Thereabouts : OR SO

26. Chanel of fashion : COCO

28. Nincompoop : TWIT

29. Burrow indicator : HOLE

30. Pretty pitcher : EWER. Pretty alliteration.

31. Guitar effect : WA-WA

32. Triumphant cry : "I WIN!"

33. Math course : TRIG

34. Business orgs. : COs.

35. Little ones : TOTS

39. Form incorrectly : MISSHAPE

41. Covers, as a driveway : GRAVELS

42. Robust : HALE. NYT Sunday puzzle once had this clue for HALE: Sarah Josepha ___, who wrote "Mary Had a Little Lamb". Can you say obscure?

43. Worldly seven : WONDERS

44. Messenger molecules : RNAs. These little molecules are everywhere.

46. White House family : OBAMAs

49. Onetime capital of Japan : KYOTO. Kyoto was Japan's capital and the emperor's residence from 794 until 1868. The city in the central part of the island of Honshu, southwest of Tokyo.

50. Filled up : SATED

52. Restaurant patron : DINER

53. Following : AFTER

54. Wax removers : Q-TIPS

55. Growl : GNAR. Add an 'L' at the end and it becomes a tree knot.

56. Ceremony : RITE

57. Country way : ROAD

58. Toward the rudder : AFT

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, November 29, 2010 Jeff Chen

Theme: This & That - Two words that start with "R" connected by "and". The unifier is an abbreviated form of the other four so it isn't really a revealer, just a hint.

17A. Music genre that evolved in the '50s: ROCK AND ROLL

28A. How the wheels on the bus go: ROUND AND ROUND

39A. Time off, briefly, and this puzzle's theme: R AND R

47A. "Old" nickname for Zachary Taylor: ROUGH AND READY

63A. Complain hysterically: RANT AND RAVE

Argyle here.

After I did the comments, I realized there are a lot of names in this puzzle for a Monday, even though the theme was easy to get.

Across:

1. Toad feature : WART

5. Cravings : URGES

10. W.W. Jacobs short story "The Monkey's __" : PAW. No, not his father.

13. Etonic competitor : AVIA. No, it doesn't mean to fly.

14. Hollandaise and barbecue : SAUCES. Yes, it could include cranberry.

16. Genetic molecule: Abbr. : RNA. Molecule doesn't sound right.

19. "__ complicated" : IT'S. Probably the explanation to the above clue.

20. Evil smile : SNEER

21. Pac-10 hoops powerhouse : UCLA. University of California, Los Angeles.

22. Cambridge sch. : MIT. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

23. Letter before kappa : IOTA. Greek. (Handy chart, if you care about these things.)

26. Tranquil : AT PEACE

32. Possess : OWN

33. Italian "a" : UNA. Feminine and singular number.

34. Tide creations : POOLS. Here is a photo of a large one at Carmel, CA. Pools often have their own little ecosphere.

37. Formally relinquish : CEDE

42. Winter fall : SNOW

43. Hägar the Horrible's dog : SNERT

45. Zippy start? : ZEE. The letter "Z".

46. Well-armed org. : NRA. National Rifle Association. (Rifles aren't considered "heaters", either.) (From a recent clue.)

52. Nonsense : BALONEY

54. The ten in "hang ten" : TOES. Standing on the front edge of a surf board.

55. Batter's stat : RBI. "Runs batted in".

56. Power co. product : ELEC.

58. Freeze, as a plane's wings : ICE UP

62. + molecule, e.g. : ION. + indicates a positive charge.

66. Work unit : ERG

67. Like the night in a classic Van Gogh work : STARRY. Clip(4:12), w/ slide show.

68. All done : OVER

69. Knox and McHenry: Abbr. : FTs. Forts.

70. "Do the Right Thing" actor Davis : OSSIE. A younger version(Image) of the couple. Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis were married 56 years when Ossie died in 2005.

71. Wimpy : WEAK. My kind of Wimpy. Image.

Down:

1. Serious conflicts : WARS

2. Cosmetic caller : AVON

3. Paddy grain : RICE

4. Adopt, as a puppy : TAKE IN

5. "Top Gun" org. : USN. United States Navy, Navy Fighter Weapons School (better known as "TOPGUN").

6. "Groovy!" : "RAD!". Only in crosswords!

7. Hindu religious instructor : GURU

8. Chevy Volt or Ford Fusion : ECOCAR

9. Do business with : SELL TO

10. Temperamental diva, e.g. : PRIMA DONNA. Remember this one(2:41).

11. Shenanigan : ANTIC

12. Trash : WASTE

15. First-rate, in Rugby : SLAP-UP. New to me.

Some great sleuthing by Clear Ayes: "About (15D) SLAP-UP: I "G'd" (15D) SLAP-UP as a rugby term and couldn't find anything other than Brit-slang "first-rate", usually referring to a meal. It took me a very non-Monday time to realize that the game is lower case and the clue must refer to a town named Rugby. Sure enough, the Warwickshire town in England is most famous as the place where the game was invented."

18. Yankee with 613 career homers, familiarly : A-ROD. "Alex" Rodriguez.

24. Bull: Pref. : TAUR. Such as TAURiform, shaped like a bull.

25. Oscar winner Paquin : ANNA. Canadian-born New Zealand actress. Paquin's first critically successful film was The Piano, for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1994 at the age of 11 – the second youngest winner in history. (Tatum O'Neal for "Paper Moon" (1973) age 10).

27. Nephew of Cain : ENOS

28. Big birds of lore : ROCs. A mythical giant bird.

29. Wilson of "Marley & Me" : OWEN

30. Subordinates : UNDERLINGS

31. "Who's the Boss?" star Tony : DANZA. 80's TV sitcom. Tony was in Taxi, also.

35. Manor master : LORD

36. Oscillate : SWAY

38. Sock ending : EROO. Sockeroo.

40. Car scar : DENT

41. Overhaul, as a Web site : REDO

44. Workers with an ear for music? : TUNERS

48. Italian ice cream : GELATO

49. "Laughing" critters : HYENAS

50. Longtime Nevada senator Harry : REID

51. Money for taxes and insurance may be held in it : ESCROW

52. Lawyer's filing : BRIEF

53. NASA "Stop!" : ABORT

57. NBA's Shaq and Yao, e.g. : CTRs. The big men who play the position of center on the National Basketball Association teams.

59. A gutter is often under it : EAVE. It's over your head.

60. Eye part containing the iris : UVEA

61. Exec's extra : PERK. Formed by by shortening and respelling of perquisite, an incidental payment, benefit, privilege, or advantage over and above regular income, salary, or wages.

64. "Taking Heat" memoirist Fleischer : ARI. Taking Heat: The President, the Press, and My Years in the White House. Cover. He is the former White House Press Secretary for U.S. President George W. Bush.

65. PBS science guy Bill : NYE

Answer grid.

Argyle