Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

Theme: Rack 'Em - The first word of the theme entries relate to that trouble they had in River City. Yes, I said trouble. Trouble with a capital "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for 65-Across!

17A. Coach's pregame lecture: CHALK TALK. A coach will often use a blackboard as a visual aid during the pep talk. A pool player uses chalk on the tip of the cue to aid in applying "English" to the cue ball.

24A. Home seller-and-buyer's short-term loan: BRIDGE FINANCING If one has bought a new home that they were going to pay for with the proceeds from the sale of their old home and the old one hasn't sold yet, a bridge loan can cover the gap. In pool, a special stick, can be used when striking the cue ball has to be done bridging another ball.

41A. 1929 women's air race, as dubbed by Will Rogers: POWDER PUFF DERBY. I don't believe Will's term is politically correct nowadays. Talc powder is used to keep a player's hand smooth and dry while making a pool shot.

51A. Production number director's cry: CUE THE ORCHESTRA This cue is the spelled name of the letter q which is an abbreviation (found in acting scripts) of Latin quando, "when". (News to me.) The cue stick comes from the word queue, because it is similar to the long and tapering braid of hair called a queue?

65A. Summer shindig, and a hint to the starts of 17-, 24-, 41- and 51-Across: POOL PARTY. Again, the word pool has come from to different meanings. The game is so-called because a betting pool was established prior to playing the game. "I am shocked — shocked— to find that gambling is going on in here!"

Argyle here. 

Solid puzzle. Grid spanners. Blocks in the corners. I wrote so much on the theme I don't have much left for the rest so I better get to it.

Across:

1. One in charge : BOSS

5. Ticketless rail rider : HOBO. and 44A. Rail rider : TRAIN

9. Resell at a major markup : SCALP

14. Pirate's syllables : YO, HO. Some scalpers are pirates.

15. Bean product? : IDEA. Bean, slang for head.

16. More virtuous : PURER

19. University of Maine town : ORONO

20. Raptor's roost : AERIE

21. Late-night Jay : LENO

23. Diarist Anaïs : NIN

28. TV revue since '75 : SNL. Saturday Night Live.

29. Acting instructor's deg., perhaps : MFA. Master of Fine Arts.

30. Start to knock? : ANTI. Gasoline additive.

34. Pop music's Lady __ : GAGA. Sounds better than she looks, IMHO.

37. Surround securely : EMBED

45. 1944 invasion city : ST. LO

46. Spot for a hoop : LOBE. Earring.

47. WWII espionage gp. : OSS. Office of Strategic Services.

49. Oktoberfest cry : "ACH!"

60. Gambling letters : OTB. Off-track betting.

61. Gambling city : RENO. Clecho.

62. Assumed identity : ALIAS

63. Absolut rival, for short : STOLI. Vodka

68. Fruit served in balls : MELON

69. Way to store pix : ON CD

70. Prepare for a shot : POSE

71. Speak at length : ORATE

72. Soup veggies : PEAs

73. Job opening : SLOT. I also tried SPOT and SHOT, close but no cigar.

Down:

1. How many city folks travel : BY CAB

2. Fireworks watcher : OOHer

3. Puppeteer Lewis : SHARI

4. Three-dimensional : SOLID

5. Wallop : HIT

6. Harem room : ODA

7. Attorney Melvin : BELLI. The palimony lawyer.

8. Like wine barrels : OAKEN

9. Pampered : SPOON-FED

10. Mangy mongrel : CUR

11. Rice-__ : A-RONI

12. Bolshevik leader : LENIN

13. Plug projection : PRONG

18. Tapped barrels : KEGS

22. '60s-'70s service site, briefly : NAM

25. Certain Caltech grad: Abbr. : ENGR.

26. Envelope parts : FLAPS

27. Desert mount : CAMEL. Got me!

30. Well-chosen : APT

31. Fish-fowl connection : NOR

32. Bygone intl. carrier : TWA. Trans World Airlines.

33. Jerk : IDIOT

35. Instinctive, as a feeling : GUT

36. Company with a web-footed spokescritter : AFLAC. He won't go away!

38. Short relative? : BRO

39. Recede : EBB

40. Change, as one's locks? : DYE

42. Elect to a Hall of Fame, say : ENSHRINE

43. Nina of "Spartacus" : FOCH. Image.

48. "What did I tell you?" : "SEE!"

50. Disorderly mound : HEAP

51. Women's mag : COSMO

52. Put into words : UTTER

53. African virus : EBOLA

54. "Hop __": Dr. Seuss book : ON POP

55. ABC's Arledge : ROONE

56. High-fives, e.g. : SLAPS

57. Divided Austrian state : TIROL. German spelling of TYROL

58. Joe's "Midnight Cowboy" pal : RATSO

59. Up to this point : AS YET

64. Subdivision unit : LOT

66. Andean tuber : OCA

67. Mormons' gp. : LDS. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (abbreviated as the LDS).

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, January 31, 2011 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Audio Alerts - The last word of the first three theme entries can precede the last word of the fourth.

17A. Exec's perk: COMPANY CAR

23A. Tempts fate, in a way: PLAYS WITH FIRE

50A. Second in a Sue Grafton series: 'B' IS FOR BURGLAR

61A. Fairly spicy, as chili (and like this puzzle, literally, based on the ends of 17-, 23- and 50-Across): THREE ALARM

Argyle here. One minor problem and that may be just me. Solid construction but not much spice, even though spice is mentioned several times. LOL. If you look for them, there are quite a few connections, intentional or not.

Across:

1. Dissolves into a puddle : MELTS

6. Firing range rounds : AMMO

10. Dog bugger : FLEA

14. Audibly astonished : AGASP

15. Pastry served au rhum : BABA. A small yeast cake saturated in rum.

16. Bee, to Andy : AUNT. From the Andy Griffith Show

19. Adriatic resort : LIDO

20. Sixth sense letters : ESP

21. Tableland : MESA

22. Conestoga, e.g. : WAGON

27. God of manly beauty : APOLLO

29. Actor Diggs : TAYE. This man.

30. "Saturday Night Fever" dance genre : DISCO

31. Bogus plan : SCAM

33. Actress Cheryl : LADD. Image, of course.

37. Acolyte's suffix : IST. Can someone explain this? Donna?

38. One in an extra-large baby carriage, perhaps : TRIPLET

41. Angus's greeting : MOO. I had this strange picture of Scots going around saying, "Moo", to each other. Must be the Monty Python effect.

42. Space Shuttle gp. : NASA

44. Feb. 14 : V-DAY. Saint Valentine's Day.

45. Colorado resort : ASPEN

47. "Of __ I Sing" : THEE

49. Mideast fleet : OILERS. The big oil tankers.

55. One more time : AGAIN

56. "Trick" or "treat" : VERB. But NOUN works too.

57. Horn for a Muppet named Zoot : SAX

60. Defame : SLUR

64. Charged particles : IONS

65. Feathery wraps : BOAs

66. Dance in a line : CONGA

67. Layer of paint : COAT

68. Eyelid woe : STYE

69. Praise : KUDOS

Down:

1. Nutmeg spice : MACE

2. Boardroom clashers : EGOs

3. Streetlight supports : LAMPPOSTS, And lampposts are traditional supports for drunks.

4. 1/6 fl. oz. : TSP

5. Musical with the song "The Holy Grail" : SPAMALOT. Still looking for the Holy Grail!

6. Bottomless pit : ABYSS

7. Avian chatterbox : MACAW. Pretty bird.

8. Wharton deg. : MBA

9. Galley mover : OAR

10. Pita filling : FALAFEL. Falafel is made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans and spices.

11. "Super Mario" brother : LUIGI. Video game.

12. Biblical witch's home : ENDOR. I think of Endora, from TV's "Bewitched".

13. Do penance : ATONE

18. R&B artist with the 2006 #1 hit "So Sick" : NE-YO. Unknown to me but this (3:29)(with lyrics) is pretty good.

22. "For what reason?" : "WHY?"

24. Partnership letters : LLC. Limited Liability Company.

25. Country with a da Vinci drawing on its one-euro coin : ITALY. Image.

26. Docile : TAME

27. Score after deuce : AD IN. One more letter and it's AD OUT, depending on which tennis player has won the next point, thus giving them the advantage.

28. Galileo's birthplace : PISA

31. Flip of a hit single : SIDE B

32. IRS audit rep : CPA

34. Barnes & Noble link? : AMPERSAND

35. Perpetrator : DOer

36. Crime bosses : DONS

39. Winnebago owner, briefly : RVer

40. NFL ball carrier, often : TAILBACK

43. In the beginning : AT FIRST

46. Gp. that abducted Patty Hearst : SLA. Symbionese Liberation Army. It happened in 1974.

48. Sweetie : HON

49. Meanie : OGRE

50. Rudimentary : BASIC

51. Inuit home : IGLOO. The Inuit were once known as Eskimos.

52. Sweat box? : SAUNA. Now that's funny; sweat box following the ice box(igloo).

53. Sun danger : UV RAY

54. Witherspoon of "Walk the Line" : REESE. The story of Johnny Cash.

58. Jason's vessel : ARGO

59. Dec. holiday : XMAS

61. "Very funny" TV station : TBS. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.

62. In vogue : HOT

63. '70s TV boss of Mary, Ted and Murray : LOU. Mary Tyler Moore Show, editor LOU Grant(Ed Asner).

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Patriots' faithful fan Joshua (Barry G's handsome boy), who turns 6 years old today.

Happy Birthday to Bill G too. Sheng Ri Kuai Le, Bill!