Tuesday, January 18, 2011 Gareth Bain

Theme: Singing Male Siblings - Three singing groups, identified by their songs, and connected by the unifier.

20A. Group with the #1 hit "ABC": THE JACKSON FIVE. Image.

32A. Group with the #1 hit "One Bad Apple": THE OSMONDS. Image.

41A. Group with the #1 hit "Jive Talkin'": THE BEE GEEs. Image.

51A. 2001 Spielberg WWII miniseries, and what 20-, 32- or 41-Across is: BAND OF BROTHERS. Image.

Argyle here.

A rather straightforward puzzle; either you knew it or you didn't. I had a few new WODs(Word of the Day) but except for one cross where I had a brain skip, all were doable.

Across:

1. Lin or Angelou : MAYA. Lin and Angelou.

5. Terrier type : SKYE

9. Performed on stage : ACTED

14. Contest with seconds : DUEL

15. Gillette's __ II : TRAC

16. Do-re-mi : MOOLA. Slang for money.

17. Catch, as one's sleeve : SNAG

18. "Mazes and Monsters" author Jaffe : RONA

19. Ventilated, with "out" : AIRED

23. Emeritus, e.g.: Abbr. : RET.. Retired.

24. Some garden plants need it : SHADE

25. Official count : CENSUS

28. Control tower devices : RADARS

35. Western-style "Scram!" : "GIT!"

36. Lena who played Glinda in the movie version of "The Wiz" : HORNE

37. Epi center? : PEE. The letter 'P', center of Epi. (No snickering.)

38. Nez __, Native Americans who breed their own horses : PERCE. They live in the Pacific Northwest region(Columbia River Plateau).

40. Faulkner's "__ Lay Dying" : AS I. A 1930 novel by William Faulkner

43. Garden tool : WEEDER. It's in the shed getting rusty now.

46. Snorkel et al., familiarly : SARGEs. Sgt. Snorkel, from the comic strip, "Beetle Bailey".

47. Put in a seat : ELECT

50. MIT or UCLA : SCH.. What about RPI?

57. Believed without question : ATE UP

58. Cosecant's reciprocal : SINE. Math.

59. Really long time : AEON

61. Present moment : NONCE

62. Ski resort lift : T-BAR

63. Arp's movement : DADA

64. Exceed the limit : SPEED

65. Eponymous logical diagram creator : VENN. Go ahead and look it up, I had to!

66. Online annoyance : SPAM

Down:

1. Docs : MDs

2. Godmother, often : AUNT

3. Slangy okay : YEAH

4. "Flowers for __": story from which the film "Charly" was adapted : ALGERNON. A science fiction short story and subsequent novel written by Daniel Keyes, Algernon is a laboratory mouse who has undergone surgery to increase his intelligence by artificial means. The name came from the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne which Keyes thought was an unusual name. And so do I.

5. Layer : STRATUM

6. Big cheese associated with Big Macs? : KROC. Ray Kroc, McDonald's founder.

7. Americans, to Brits : YANKS

8. PayPal funds : E-CASH

9. Actress Peet or Plummer : AMANDA. Peet and Plummer.

10. Styled in the salon : COIFED

11. Doughnut shapes : TORI. Image. This is funny: I had to change Google to strict search to get away from Tori Spellings(and others) and found this image on...Crossword Corner.

12. Mtn. road sign stat : ELEV. Elevation on the mountain.

13. Miami-__ County : DADE. They showed up a lot on "Cops" TV show when it first aired.

21. Wrestler Ventura : JESSE. So much more than just a wrestler, eh?

22. Rowing crew : OARS

25. Selected : CHOSE

26. Spine-tingling : EERIE

27. Next year's junior : SOPH. Sophomore.

29. What double-checked totals should do : AGREE

30. Runs through a sieve : RICES. Or use a special tool. Video.(0:16)

31. Jeanne d'Arc et al.: Abbr. : STEs

32. Defrost : THAW

33. Michelle Obama __ Robinson : NÉE

34. Ball girls : DEBS. We had DEBUTANTE BALL yesterday.

38. Birdcage feature : PERCH

39. Highbrows : EGGHEADS

41. Not kosher : TREF. Where did TREF come from?

42. New York's time zone : EASTERN

44. Figure out : DEDUCE

45. Married in secret : ELOPED

48. Network with an eye logo : CBS TV

49. "Survivor" faction : TRIBE. Don't watch it. It is on CBS.

51. Outlaws : BANS. Verbs.

52. Resting on : ATOP

53. Hawaii's state bird : NENE

54. __ errand: out : ON AN

55. Harvest : REAP

56. Fizzy drink : SODA

60. "The Deer Hunter" war zone, for short : NAM. Image.

Answer grid.

Note from C.C.:

Here is a great photo of eddyB & his dog Daisy. Eddy said: "Daisy is an AKC Boxer who thinks she is a lap dog. We will see when she is 70 lbs."

Argyle

Monday, January 17, 2011 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Game, Set, Match - The first four theme entries end in a term used in the sport that will give you the ailment in the fifth entry.

17A. Does some Web browsing: SURFS THE NET

24A. Coming-out gala: DEBUTANTE BALL

37A. Demand accompanied by a banging gavel: "ORDER IN THE COURT"

47. Illegal lottery : NUMBERS RACKET

58A. Lateral epicondylitis (and a possible injury hinted at by the ends of 17-, 24-, 37- and 47-Across): TENNIS ELBOW

Argyle here.

I did not start in the NW corner. 'Nuff said. Although the long entries were relatively easy, overall, this was one of the harder Mondays. But did you notice...the theme words (NET, BALL COURT & RACKET) were progressive in their length. Not a coincident, I'm thinking. Right, Donna?

Across:

1. Finalize, as a deal : SEW UP. I put in SHAKE and was slow to take it out.

6. "Let __!": "Start the ball rolling!" : IT RIP. I couldn't find a definitive meaning of the phrase but it relates to doing things quickly. It is much like how you can tear a fabric easily in one direction or if you are sawing lumber, ripping, or sawing with the grain, is much faster the cutting across the grain.

11. Sleep attire, briefly : PJs. Pajamas Adult Onesies.

14. Honolulu hello : ALOHA

15. NFL's winningest coach Don : SHULA. Now has a chain of steak houses.

16. Below-the-belt : LOW

19. "The Kids __ All Right": 2010 film : ARE. A book, a film, and a song(3:01).

20. Building wing : ELL

21. Photographed : SHOT

22. Brownish-green eye color : HAZEL. National Geographic.

28. Forever and ever : ALWAYS

30. Rolled grain : OATS

31. Clark's love : LOIS. And 12D. Superman's birth father : JOR-EL

32. "Me, too!" : "SO AM I!"

34. NFL six-pointers : TDs. Touchdowns

41. Casual shirt : TEE

42. La Virginie et la Caroline du Sud : ÉTATS. French for states (Virginia and S. Carolina)

43. La __ Tar Pits : BREA

44. Karate blow : CHOP

45. Restrain : REIN IN

52. Tibetan capital : LHASA

53. Bedouin, ethnically : ARAB

54. Eyjafjallajökull residue : ASH. Glad the Icelandic volcano is the clue and not the answer; it wouldn't fit anyway.

57. Get stuck for, as a cost : EAT

62. Regret : RUE

63. Furry "Star Wars" creatures : EWOKs

64. Track event : RELAY

65. Family Stone frontman : SLY

66. Thick : DENSE

67. Nerdy types : GEEKS

Down:

1. Submission encl. : SASE. Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.

2. 12th Hebrew month : ELUL. The twelfth month of the Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year. (I could use a little help here.)

3. Global : WORLDWIDE

4. 300 to 3,000 MHz : UHF. The channels are 14 through 83. Remember when you had an antenna on the roof?

5. Elapse : PASS BY

6. Enjoys faddish popularity : IS HOT

7. It precedes iota : THETA. It's Greek to me.

8. Pantyhose woe : RUN

9. Sight in the Seine : ÎLE. French alliteration.

10. Pitiful : PATHETIC

11. Eloise's hotel, with "the" : PLAZA. From a series of children's books written by Kay Thompson

13. Peachy : SWELL

18. Ergo : THUS

23. Crunch targets : ABs

25. Relax, as restrictions : EASE

26. __ Ark : NOAH'S

27. Like most pets : TAME

28. Scads : A LOT

29. Wisdom of the elders : LORE

32. Clothes fasteners : SNAPS

33. Baseball great Mel : OTT

34. Phonograph component : TURNTABLE

35. Eins und zwei : DREI. German 1 + 2 = 3

36. Ollie's partner : STAN. Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

38. Readied the leftovers, say : REHEATED

39. "... believe __ not!" : IT OR

40. Big Apple theater award : OBIE. Off Broadway.

44. "Survivor" network : CBS

45. Some TVs : RCAs

46. Anita of "La Dolce Vita" : EKBERG. Image.

47. Cards and Phils : NLers. Baseball.

48. Amateur mover's rental : U-HAUL

49. Sailor's sobriquet : MATEY

50. Military levels : RANKS

51. Get up : ARISE

55. Hose down for a while : SOAK

56. Major rtes. : HWYs. In general, the interstates are even numbers for the east-west highways, increasing from south to north, and the odd numbers are north-south highways, increasing from west to east.

59. Woolly farm female : EWE

60. Rouen refusal : "NON". Rouen is the historic capital city of Normandy, in northern France.

61. Important name in Virginia history : LEE. La Virginie.

Answer grid.

Argyle