Monday, February 7, 2011 Thomas Takaro

Theme: About Face - The four grid-spanning entries end with a word for a part of your face.

17A. New perspective: FRESH PAIR OF EYES

25A. "Doesn't bother me a bit": "NO SKIN OFF MY NOSE"

43A. Listen very carefully: PRICK UP YOUR EARS. Not easy for us to do but open a snack around a dog and you will see ears pricking up.

57A. How the poor live: FROM HAND TO MOUTH

Argyle here. It's all or nothing day. We go from fifteen letter entries down to six letter entries. The majority are five(26) and four(32) and only lacking a Q from being a pangram. Makes an interesting start for the week.

Across:

1A. Steve of Apple: JOBS and 1D. Bezos of Amazon: JEFF. Steve Jobs is the co-founder of Apple. Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon.

5. Snug, as jeans : TIGHT

10. Agile : DEFT

14. Old-fashioned exclamation : "EGAD!"

15. One-way street sign symbol : ARROW

16. Draft classification : ONE A

20. Turkish topper : FEZ. Cheese fez. Congratulations, Green Bay.

21. U.S., French and Australian tournaments : OPENS. Wimbledon isn't usually called an Open but a Championship instead.

22. Hurdles for future attys. : LSATS

23. Emissions watchdog org. : EPA

24. "Dites-__": "South Pacific" song : MOI. Song.(1:31)

34. Deathly white : ASHEN

35. Did electrical work : WIRED

36. Roman peace : PAX. Pax is the Roman goddess of peace. Irene is the Greek Goddess of Peace

37. Inst. of learning : ACAD.. Academy.

38. "__ the loneliest number": '60s song lyric : ONE IS. Song(3:07) by Three Dog Night.

39. First name in jeans : LEVI

40. Word after box or cable : CAR

41. Burst of growth : SPURT

42. '90s candidate Ross : PEROT

46. Section of L.A.? : LOS

47. Commercial suffix with Water : PIK. For dental care.

48. __ Dei: lamb of God : AGNUS

51. Prophets : SEERS

54. Barfly : SOT

60. Rivers, to Rosita : RIOs. Spanish.

61. __ cum laude : MAGNA. With great praise; an honor added to a diploma or degree for work considered greatly above average.

62. Hummus holder : PITA, Anybody have this at their Super Bowl party?

63. Grand Ole __ : OPRY

64. Thrown weapon : SPEAR

65. Put in the overhead bin : STOW

Down:

2. Grimm baddie : OGRE

3. Folksinger Joan : BAEZ

4. '60s militant gp. : SDS. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

5. New York's __ Zee Bridge : TAPPAN. Over the Hudson, north of the city. Image.

6. "Dies __": hymn : IRAE. (Day of Wrath).

7. Boyish smile : GRIN. So what's a girlish smile?

8. __ d'oeuvre : HORS. M,m,m,m More snacks.

9. Seesaw complement : TWO

10. Knocks off : DOES IN

11. "Only Time" New Age singer : ENYA. Clip.(3:31)

12. Pedal pushers : FEET. Alliterated misdirection.

13. Soviet news source : TASS

18. "Come on, let's go for a ride!" : "HOP IN!"

19. Bank robber "Pretty Boy" __ : FLOYD

23. Barely made, with "out" : EKED

24. Lyon ladies: Abbr. : MMEs. French.

25. Civil rights org. : NAACP. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

26. Acting award : OSCAR

27. Lamb Chop creator Lewis : SHARI. Lamb Chop was a glorified sock puppet.

28. Admit it : OWN UP

29. Flaming : FIERY

30. Corn chip : FRITO. Are we out of dip?

31. Verdi work : OPERA

32. Really enjoy, as food : SAVOR

33. Some turnpike ramps : EXITS

38. Magnum __: great work : OPUS

39. Onion relative : LEEK. Probably could make dip with it.

41. Smidgen : SKOSH. I wonder if this is a regional word.

42. Bender of rays : PRISM

44. Bumbling : CLUMSY

45. Hubbub : UPROAR

48. Jackson 5 hairdo : AFRO

49. Golf club part : GRIP. "Grip it and rip it!"

50. American-born Jordanian queen : NOOR. Image.

51. Piece of cake : SNAP

52. Outskirts : EDGE

53. Sicilian smoker : ETNA. Volcano.

54. One of a deck's foursome : SUIT. Deck of cards.

55. Maestro Klemperer : OTTO. German conductor and composer widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.

56. Melting period : THAW

58. Early hrs. : AMs

59. Covert __: spy missions : OPs. Operations.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few great photos Sallie took last Friday when she and her husband Gerry met with fellow Naples resident Grumpy & wife Wilda and the visiting Spitzboov & wife Betty.

Sunday February 6, 2011 Mike Peluso

Theme: Subtraction (Parse it as "Subtract Ion) - Letter string ION is deleted from each common phrase.

23A. "Most Difficult Woman" pageant winner's title? : MISS IMPOSSIBLE. Mission Impossible. Fun clue.

35A. What Nadia Comaneci gave her Olympic opponents? : TEN'S HEADACHE. Tension headache.

57A. Batch of itch reliever? : CALAMINE LOT. Calamine lotion.

79A. Native American Washington baseballer? : CHEROKEE NAT. Cherokee Nation. I think Senators sounds better than Nationals, don't you? Of course, the old Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.

99A. Timeless witticism? : PERPETUAL MOT. Perpetual motion.

118A. Deal between thugs? : MUSCLE CONTRACT. Muscle contraction. Muscle = Thug.

16D. Restrictions on Cupid? : EROS CONTROL. Erosion control. Don't think Eros is controllable. Love is so irrational.

69D. Number in an Amtrak report? : RAILWAY STAT. Railway station.

Nice theme and theme title. I figured something was dropped after scanning the byline & puzzle title. Just not ION. So unexpected.

Washington National is not the only baseball reference in the puzzle, Mike also gave us:

22A. 1939 retiree who said "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" : GEHRIG (Lou). The Iron Horse. Babe Ruth appeared as himself in the "Pride of the Yankees".  I cried watching the movie.

56A. Former Cub slugger : SOSA (Sammy). Sigh. I have his rookie card. Worth nothing now.

83A. Hall of Famer Sandberg : RYNE. Inducted in 2005. Spent most of his career with the Cubs.

Looks like Mike had some trouble filling in the lower middle part of the grid. I bet he tried hard to get rid of DELICTO (95D. Flagrante __: in the act of committing the offense) & the adjacent PARSER (99D. Grammar student, at times), but the two helper squares didn't help much.

Across:

1. Hale : ROBUST. The crossing BESO (3D. Cancún kiss) brought out this answer quickly. Learned BESO from Paul Anka's song "Eso Beso".

7. Powerful Chevys, for short : 'VETTES

13. Fall bloomers : ASTERS

19. Newtonian concern : INERTIA. Newtonian sounds so sophisticated.

21. Unrestricted : AT WILL

25. Establish a new foothold : REROOT. Help! I don't get this clue.

26. Weasel cousin : STOAT

27. Nashville-to-Louisville dir. : NNE

28. Laced : TIED

29. Stacks like Tupperware : NESTS. Nice visual.

30. Alberta native : CREE

32. Playground retort : CAN SO

34. Middle x or o : TAC. Tic-tac-toe.

41. Paparazzi, briefly : PHOTOGs

45. Too violent, maybe : R-RATED

46. Baby in blue : BOY. Baby in pink is GIRL.

47. Final Four org. : NCAA

49. Eliza's mentor, to Eliza : 'ENRY. From "My Fair Lady". H is dropped.

50. Urged (on) : EGGED

51. Nite times : EVES

53. Compete : VIE

54. Soup legume : LENTIL. Not to my taste.

60. Sales __ : REP

61. Angry with : MAD AT

64. Sm., med. or lge. : ADJ. Tricky clue. Not size.

65. T-man or G-man : AGT

66. __Kosh B'Gosh : OSH

67. 3 Musketeers relative : MARS BAR. My ex-boss (a Marine) lives on Snickers & cigarettes.

70. Old photo tone : SEPIA

72. Anglican church officials : BEADLES. New word to me. So close to beagles. .

74. Zeta follower : ETA

75. Likely : APT

76. In bed, maybe : ILL

77. Parson's house : MANSE

78. Thrice due : SEI. Italian for "six". Due is "two". Sometimes TRE is clued as a misleading "Amount pass due?".

87. Luther contemporary : CALVIN (John). I drew a blank.

89. Hall & Oates, e.g. : DUO

90. Fail to take the heat? : MELT. Hot clue!

91. Smudge : SMEAR

92. "... __ forgive those who trespass ..." : AS WE

93. Large-screen format : IMAX

95. Part of una semana : DIA. Semana = Week.

96. Egotist's array : BOASTS

97. Like buffalo, red meatwise : LEANEST. Oh, really?

102. Golf hole meas. : YDS. 18 holes in golf. I was thinking of the real holes (cups) & inches.

103. Verbally insistent : VOCAL. Always thought "vocal" just mean "outspoken".

106. Royal display : POMP

107. Speed, for a running back : ASSET

109. Actress Petty : LORI. Recognized her face when I googled. She's in "A League of Their Own". I've seen almost every baseball movie. I can watch "Field of Dreams" again and again.

110. White wine apéritif : KIR

111. "The Thorn Birds" and others : SAGAS

116. Conspicuous terrain features : BUTTES. Same as MESAS, right?

121. Thrilled : ELATED

122. 2,000 pounds : ONE TON

123. 1962 World's Fair site : SEATTLE. Needed crossing help.

124. Kobe mat : TATAMI. Literally "folded". Same as Chinese character.

125. Walk in the park : STROLL

126. A player might be cut after one : TRY-OUT

Down:

1. Tire holders : RIMS. Your ABS too.

2. Taking care of business : ON IT

4. Bear up there : URSA

5. Sutured : STITCHED

6. "Tool Man" Taylor of TV : TIM. "Home Improvement".

7. Ming artifact : VASE

8. Aliens, for short : ETS

9. Acting like one has something to hide : TWITCHY

10. Shinbones : TIBIAE. So is TIBIAS.

11. 2010 panelist with Kara, Randy and Simon : ELLEN (DeGeneres). Those names are all  "American Idol" panelists for the last season.

12. Luges, e.g. : SLEDS

13. Cabinet dept. : AGR (Agriculture)

14. Handled : SEEN TO

15. What black clouds do : THREATEN

17. Funny one : RIOT

18. PD ranks : SGTS

20. Sleep ailment : APNEA

24. Linear, briefly : ONE-D. One-dimensional. Always tricky to parse, same as TWO-D, THREE-D.

31. Claret, e.g. : RED

33. German grandpa : OPA. Kazie or Spitzboov mentioned this before.

35. "__ bien!" : TRES

36. Sum preceder? : ERGO. Cogito, ergo sum.

37. Bothers : NAGS

38. Cooks, in a way : STEAMS. Chinese bread are often steamed.

39. Genesis victim : ABEL

40. __ Nostra : COSA. Literally "our thing". Mafia.

42. Chlorine or iodine : HALOGEN. Guessable.

43. Starting Miami quarterback in three straight '70s Super Bowls : GRIESE (Bob). Hall-of-Famer. Not on my radar.

44. Graceful women : SYLPHS

47. One of a reptilian comics quartet : NINJA

48. 2.0 GPA component, probably : CEE

51. French card game : ECARTE. Literally "discarded" in French, écarté.

52. Wine holder : VAT

53. Middle of a boast : VIDI (I saw). "Veni, vidi, vici".

55. James and Jones : ETTAS

58. Syrup source : MAPLE

59. Molson competitor : LABATT. Beer is too filling.

62. Eastern counters : ABACI. My sweet childhood memory, carrying a heavy abacus all the time.

63. Chloe's love : DAPHNIS. Daphnis and Chloe. Read the plot summary of this love story. So pure. I dimly recall an exchange between Jazzbumpa & Fred Jackson on Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloé". Isn't it beautiful?

67. Maguey plant liquor : MESCAL

68. Order to relax : AT EASE

70. Iowa's __ City : SIOUX

71. NE Nevada county or its seat : ELKO. Stumped me last time. Again today.

73. Skin-related : DERMAL

77. Adjusted opening? : MAL. Maladjusted.

80. Old vitamin bottle abbr. : RDA

81. Islamic leader : EMIR

82. Semimonthly tide : NEAP

84. Polite backwoods response : YES 'M

85. Alliance formed under HST : NATO. Just had a Warsaw reference last week. Fair & Balanced.

86. Once, once : ERST

88. Subject of a "Rigoletto" duet : VENDETTA. Didn't know the story line of "Rigoletto".

91. Afternoon TV idol : SOAP STAR

94. "Jersey Shore" airer : MTV. Snooki is all I know about "Jersey Shore". She's in the news all the time.
 
96. Rear in Liverpool : BUM

98. Look up to : ESTEEM

100. DeMille specialty : EPIC

101. Pamplona runners : TOROS

104. "Stand and Deliver" star : OLMOS. Edward James Olmos.

105. Mean something : COUNT. Everyone's blog post counts. But it's unrealistic to expect your every post to be commented upon. Clear Ayes expressed the posting philosophy perfectly on Saturday.

107. Create a distraction during, maybe : ABET

108. Toni Morrison novel : SULA. Have you read the book?

110. __ Ration: dog food : KEN-L

112. Culturally affected : ARTY

113. Castilian cat : GATO. JD or Warren mentioned Los Gatos & cats connection a while ago.

114. Anti-Patriot Act org. : ACLU

115. Ignore a Time change? : STET. Time magazine, right?

117. Reagan era prog. : SDI. How timely. Reagan's 100th Birthday today.

119. AOL guffaw : LOL

120. It's less than gross : NET. Sweet clue.

Answer grid.

C.C..