Monday, February 14, 2011 Ian Livengood

Theme: XOXOXOX - Happy St. Valentine's Day. The three grid-spanning answers end with a word that, when combined with the unifier, describes many of our couples here on the Corner.

20A. Bounty, to the hunted: PRICE ON ONE'S HEAD

38A. Examine quickly: GIVE THE ONCE OVER

53A. Frolic vigorously: KICK UP ONE'S HEELS

69A. With "in," what can follow the phrase formed by the ends of 20-, 38- and 53-Across: LOVE

Argyle here. Three good in language phrases today. And how about our constructor's name. (Yes, I know I used a sentence fragment.) Good strong blocks all around the sides; a good start to the week.

Across:

1. Hearts, e.g. : GAME. Excellent start for this puzzle.

5. Soft pats : DABS

9. Physicist Enrico : FERMI. Professor Fermi married Laura Capon in 1928. They had one son Giulio and one daughter Nella. His favourite pastimes were walking, mountaineering, and winter sports.

14. Sink cleaner : AJAX

15. Straddling : ATOP

16. Hipbone-related : ILIAC

17. It's quite a story : SAGA

18. Kind of nut : KOLA

19. Bridal path : AISLE

23. "Cheerio!" : "TA TA!". Singular today.

24. 2011 Rose Bowl champs: Abbr. : TCU. Texas Christian University.

25. From A __ : TO Z

28. Fox-sighting cry : "TALLY HO!"

31. Dallas hoopster, for short : MAV. The Dallas Mavericks.

34. "Tosca" or "Pagliacci" : OPERA. Tosca by Puccini, Pagliacci by Leoncavallo.

36. Hawaiian neckwear : LEI

37. Gradually lose color : FADE

42. Strong as __ : AN OX

43. Wall climber : IVY

44. Skating jumps : AXELs

45. One of a D.C. 100 : SEN.

46. Golfer Craig known as "the Walrus" : STADLER. Ya think?   I think his wife is Sue but could find very little about her.

49. Once called, in wedding notices : NEE

50. Disco __ of "The Simpsons" : STU. He loves disco, of course.

51. Followers: Suf. : ISTs

61. Being not from 41-Down : ALIEN. 41D. Planet nearest Mars, usually: EARTH

62. Silents actress Negri : POLA. She had some love life.

63. Appeal : PLEA

64. Meas. of the cereal without the box : NET WT. Net Weight.

65. Helen of __ : TROY. Wife of Menelaus but abducted by Paris. Bet she got lots of valentines.

66. Run __: go wild : AMOK

67. Lock of hair : TRESS

68. Cuts, as logs : SAWS

Down:

1. [Heavens!] : [GASP!]. Reaction of husbands and boyfriends everywhere if they forgot what today is.

2. Cracked open : AJAR

3. Nativity trio : MAGI

4. Right on the money : EXACT. 'Exactamundo!' as Disco Stu would say.

5. Former territory where Mount Rushmore is : DAKOTA

6. Lacking a musical key : ATONAL

7. Western necktie : BOLO. One with a heart slide.

8. Time period : SPAN

9. Total flop : FIASCO

10. College benefactor Yale : ELIHU. Interesting read here. He had a brother named Valentine. He also had a wife and two misstresses. He made most of his fortune in the illicit diamond trade. Those diamonds must have come in handy keeping his women happy.

11. Greet the judge : RISE

12. __ fide: in bad faith : MALA. More familiar with bona fide.

13. Topped a cupcake : ICED

21. Really bug : EAT AT

22. Set of moral principles : ETHIC

25. Colosseum garments : TOGAs

26. Think aloud : OPINE

27. "Werewolves of London" singer Warren __ : ZEVON. Aaahoo!.(3:15)

29. Architect Frank __ Wright : LLOYD

30. Itch : YEN

31. Expert : MAVEN

32. Fred's dancing sister : ADELE

33. Limericks and such : VERSE

35. Stout of whodunits : REX

37. Sly critter : FOX

39. Asked boldly, as for money : HIT UP

40. Actress Longoria : EVA.  Not sure what her present status is.

46. Daring feats : STUNTS

47. Stay out of sight : LIE LOW

48. Blue book exams : ESSAYS

50. Depicts unfairly, as data : SKEWS

52. Flower leaf : SEPAL. Image.

53. "Critique of Pure Reason" writer : KANT. He never married.

54. Robert of "The Sopranos" : ILER.

55. Refer to : CITE

56. Chooses (to) : OPTS

57. Nick Charles's wife : NORA. The happy couple.

58. Sailor's patron saint : ELMO

59. Pope before Sergius III : LEO V. Okay.

60. "For Pete's __!" : SAKE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

Today marks Dennis' 3rd anniversary with the blog, which wouldn't be where it is today without his nurturing and guidance. Dennis has been very supportive & encouraging of my every little effort, always patient and fast in response to all my questions, from baseball cards to slang/idioms. Always there when needed. Can you believe he even fixed our garbage disposal? Thanks, Dennis, I am glad of all the blogs in the world, you walked into mine.

Sunday February 13, 2011 MaryEllen Uthlaut

Theme: English Lessons We Never Learned - English grammatical terms are reinterpreted literally and humorously clued with question marks.

23A. Legal dispute over personal property? : POSSESSIVE CASE. The 's ending, as in Dennis' new car.

39A. Oratorical elements? : PARTS OF SPEECH. Verb, noun, pronoun, etc.

52A. Santa's minor children? : DEPENDENT CLAUSES. Sweet clue. Also known as subordinate clause. Incomplete when standing alone. We also have ELF (30D. Yule aide).

69A. Settlement negotiated by one's ancestors? : ANTECEDENT AGREEMENT. Pronoun must agree with its antecedent.

88A. Part of a broken-up prison term? : SENTENCE FRAGMENT. Again, incomplete when standing alone. Subject or verb is missing, or prepositional phrases beginning with although, because, etc.

98A. Rosy answer in a seer's crystal ball? : FUTURE PERFECT. For example: By next May, I will have been living in the US for 10 years.

120A Philatelist or numismatist? : COLLECTIVE NOUN. Words like cast, team, crowd etc. Can be either singular or plural, depending on context.

Hope my understanding of the above grammatical terms is correct. As I mentioned before, I've never received formal education here and my grasp of grammar & common idioms is pretty shaky.

Favorite today is DEPENDENT CLAUSES (52A), thinking of our Dear Santa Argyle, who should be very happy to see how MAGIC (67D. What Muggles can't do, in Harry Potter books) is clued. He's really into those Harry Potter stuff.

Fun theme & smooth solving for me. I grokked the gimmick immediately after I got my first theme answer.

Across:

1. Bojangles specialty : TAP. Bill (Bojangles) Robinson.

4. Gets into : DONS

8. Plains tribe : OMAHA. Hi there, Husker Gary!

13. If all goes well : AT BEST

19. __ mode : A LA

20. CINN-A-STACK seller : IHOP. Hmm, pancakes. What's your regular order there?

21. Unskilled work : McJOB. Added a bit of scrabbly action here.

22. Combat mission : SORTIE

26. Crew and golf : SPORTS. Crew refers to rowing I presume.

27. Map of Hawaii, often : INSET. We also have OAHU (81D. Interstate H-1 locale) & LEI (122D. Wreath of welcome).

28. Film feline : ELSA. "Born Free".

29. Sports car quality : SLEEKNESS

31. Rod's associate : REEL

32. Liquid-Plumr maker : CLOROX. Isn't it too lazy to have the "be" dropped?

35. Aspiring atty.'s challenge : LSAT. And LLB (121. Legal deg.)

36. Generic pooch : FIDO

45. Wyo. neighbor : IDA

48. What the fourth little piggy had : NONE. Does this refer to the "This Little Piggy" nursery rhyme?

50. Some avant-garde art : ARPS. Jean Arp.

51. Playground response to 111-Down : IS TOO. And 111D. Playground response to 51-Across: IS NOT.

58. Cause trouble to : AIL

59. Skipped over : ELIDED

60. U.S. currency : DOL. Chinese currency is called Ren Min Bi, the primary unit is Yuan.

61. As one might expect : NATURALLY

64. Flight segment : STAIR

65. Equip with weapons, old-style : ENARM. OK, old-style.

68. "Hamlet," e.g.: Abbr. : TRAG. Have never seen "Tragedy" abbreviated this way before.

76. Lugs : OAFS. Noun lugs.

77. Smooth move : SEGUE

78. God-fearing : PIOUS

80. Bourbon with a floral logo : FOUR ROSES. First encounter with this brand.

85. Follower of Samson? : ITE. Samsonite.

86. He overthrew Batista in 1959 : CASTRO

87. James's creator : IAN (Fleming). James Bond.

92. Online recruiting site : eHIRE. Was ignorant of this website.

95. Stand up to : DEFY

96. Bold Ruler, to Secretariat : SIRE. Should be an intuitive guess.

97. Reptilian warning : SSS

103. Beer holder : CASK

105. Detective Wolfe : NERO

106. "Tristram Shandy" author : STERNE (Laurence). Stumped me last time. See here.

108. "__ Not Seen the Sun": Dickinson poem : HAD I

112. Committed : DEDICATED

117. Hurt badly : MAIM

118. Peacock and rooster : MALES

119. Real estate hires : AGENTS

124. Walk softly : TIPTOE

125. Euripides play in which the title heroine never goes to Troy : HELEN. Really? Helen never made it to Troy?

126. Lamb alias : ELIA. Charles Lamb.

127. Sgt., for one : NCO

128. Fur fortune family : ASTORS

129. Heavenly path : ORBIT. Heavenly clue.

130. Prog. listing : SKED. Schedule.

131. "__ a life!" : GET

Down:

1. Piglike forest dweller : TAPIR. Hi, there.

2. How the cheese stands? : ALONE. Got me. "The Farmer in the Dell": ... The cheese stands alone.

3. So last week : PASSE

4. Japanese lawmaking body : DIET. Nailed it. Often constructors use "Diet" in clues to trick solvers.

5. Sounds of surprise : OHs.

6. Rocket section with a heat shield : NOSECONE

7. Tell, slangily : SPILL

8. 1998 Masters champion : O'MEARA (Mark). Tiger's best friend. Nice person.

9. Turn-of-the-century year : MCC. 1200.

10. 1977 Steely Dan album : AJA

11. Cartwright son : HOSS. "Bonanza".

12. Genesis shepherd : ABEL

13. Evaluate : ASSESS

14. Palace of the Ottoman sultans : TOPKAPI. Well, maybe Hahtool & Lucina know. Both have been to Istanbul. I've got no idea.

15. 19th-century literary sisters : BRONTES

16. Raison d'__ : ETRE. Also 71. Latin being : ESSE. Two "Be".

17. Is sidelined : SITS

18. Hardy heroine : TESS. "Tess of the D'Urbervilles".

24. Righteous beginning? : SELF. Self-righteous.

25. Cognac initialism : VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale)

33. Like some surgery : ORAL

34. More, in adspeak : XTRA

37. Bony labyrinth : INNER EAR. Tricky clue.

38. Longtime publisher __, Mead and Company : DODD. Stranger to me.

40. Twisted into thread : SPUN

41. Mount south of Olympus : OSSA

42. Series ender : ET AL

43. Curl up : COIL

44. Word with cats or cow : HOLY. Have never heard of "Holy cats".

45. Bad day for Caesar : IDES. Ides of March.

46. Mouth formation : DELTA. River mouth.

47. Beelike : APIAN

49. Put a stop to : ENDED

53. Time management figure : EDITOR. Time magazine.

54. Ring __ : TONE

55. Highland families : CLANS

56. Major addition? : ETTE. Majorette.

57. Unfailing : SURE

62. Mob activities : RAMPAGES

63. Senioritis? : AGEISM. Fun clue: -itis.

66. GPS suggestion : RTE

70. Money-managing execs : CFOs. Real money, not Money magazine.

72. "__ Nacht" : GUTE. Good night.

73. Perils at sea : REEFS

74. Staff additions? : NOTES. Musical staff.

75. They might be left on the road : TURNS. Great clue.

79. Ones sitting tight? : SOTS. Why?

80. Feudal estate : FIEF

82. Army detachment : UNIT. New definition of "detachment" to me.

83. "Momo" author Michael : ENDE. No idea. Was this guy very famous?

84. Joke ending? : STER. Jokester.

86. Siena sweetie : CARA. Cara Mia.

89. Pair of officers? : EFFS. Two letter F in officers.

90. Medvedev's denial : NYET. Just Russian for "No". Medvedev is Putin's shadow.

91. Vegan beverage : RICE MILK. Have never tried it. Soy milk, yes!

93. Meet by chance : RUN INTO

94. Builder : ERECTOR. And 101. Builder's material : CEMENT.

99. Undoes : ERASES

100. Proverbial kettle critic : POT. The pot calling the kettle black.

102. Ford Explorer Sport __ : TRAC. No Gillette razor today.

104. Top Tatar : KHAN. As in Genghis Khan or Kublai Khan.

107. Dark times, informally : NITES

109. How a noted spider came? : ALONG. "Along Came a Spider".

110. Tennis tie : DEUCE

112. Bank deposits? : DATA. Don't get this one either.

113. Sponsorship: Var. : EGIS. Variation of Aegis.

114. Part of LAPD: Abbr. : DEPT

115. Return from the canyon? : ECHO

116. One who walks the walk : DOER

118. Subject of an annual Colorado brewing festival : MEAD. Not familiar with this Mead Festival. A quick Google search shows it's held in Denver.

123. "No mortal could __ with Zeus": Homer : VIE. Easy guess.

Answer grid.

C.C.