Tuesday, March 8, 2011 Robert Fisher

Theme: Insults 101 - Four common insults for when someone does something stupid are the last word of the theme entries when they precede the first word of the unifier.

17A. Not-so-humorous humerus spot: FUNNY BONE. Bonehead.

23A. Exam taker's dread: MENTAL BLOCK. Blockhead. 

39A. Daydreams: CASTLES IN THE AIR. Airhead.
 
49A. Devoid of niceties, as some politics: BARE KNUCKLE. Knucklehead.
 
61A. Racer's edge, or the ends of 17-, 23-, 39- and 49-Across, unflatteringly: HEAD START

Argyle here. I liked the theme; some of the fill, not so much.

Across:

1. Pert : SAUCY. If you remember, we had this before.

6. Top grade, in slang : ACE. I did find it used this way in Dictionary.com, listed as the last use as a noun.

9. Trees along tropical beaches : PALMS

14. Aptly named cooler brand : IGLOO. Image.

15. Small island : CAY. Sorry, not AIT today.

16. Perpendicular to the keel : ABEAM

19. Tri- plus bi- : PENTA-

20. Drink from leaves : TEA

21. Hockey legend Bobby et al. : ORRs. A stinker entry.

22. Sea north of Poland : BALTIC

25. Grubs and maggots : LARVAE

29. Manhattan sch. : NYU. The Manhattan in New York City, this time.

30. "Garfield" pooch : ODIE

31. Fan mag : ZINE

34. Annual parade celeb : ST. PAT. It should have indicated an abbv., not for PAT, that shortened version was indicated by 'celeb', but for ST.

42. Joe Cocker's "You __ Beautiful" : ARE SO. Clip.(2:22)

43. Formal coiffure : UPDO

44. Alan of "The Aviator" : ALDA

45. Slangy "No reason" : 'CUZ. Based on BECAUSE.

47. "Amen to that!" : "I'LL SAY!"

55. Disinclined : AVERSE

56. Works a tough row? : HOEs. Easy now.

57. "The Amazing Race" airer : CBS. TV show(I never watch).

60. Prove apt for : BEFIT

63. Mountain ridge : ARETE

64. www address : URL

65. Otherworldly : EERIE

66. IHOP condiment : SYRUP

67. 1/30 of abril : DIA. Spanish. 1 abril - el Día de los Inocentes. (All Fools Day)

68. Seed anew : RESOW

Down:

1. Sort through, as for clues : SIFT

2. Fit of fever : AGUE

3. It's near the 17-Across : ULNA. Diagram that shows where the ulna nerve stretches over the bone in the elbow. That is what tingles when you hit it.

4. Put one over on : CON

5. Cellist with 16 Grammys : YOYO MA. Elgar Cello Concerto, 2nd mvmt.(3:00) The Jimi Hendrix of classic music.

6. Item in a fall stash : ACORN. If you're a squirrel.

7. Art able to : CANST. Dost thou knoweth this word?

8. Tropical cyclone center : EYE

9. 41st president, affectionately : PAPA BUSH

10. Clear as __ : A BELL

11. Slowly, in music : LENTO

12. "It slices! It dices!" gadget Veg-O-__ : MATIC

13. Wallop : SMACK

18. Zephyr : BREEZE

22. Journalist Nellie : BLY. Nellie Bly (1864 – 1922) was the pen name of American pioneer female journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochran.

24. What all good things come to : AN END. That English proverb from yesterday.

25. Crazy, in a Ricky Martin song : LOCA. "Livin' La Vida Loca".

26. Month after Shevat : ADAR

27. Increase : RISE

28. November honorees : VETS

32. Liar Joe in old TV car ads : ISUZU. David Leisure as Joe Isuzu, Isuzu Pup - Island Ad.

33. Hip flask quickie : NIP

35. Greenish blue : TEAL

36. Sidekicks : PALS

37. Verdi opera : "AIDA"

38. Projector's slide holder : TRAY

40. Rigidly inflexible process : LOCKSTEP. Surprize.

41. Worked arduously : TOILED

46. Arles article : UNE. French.

48. Like the preferable evil : LESSER

49. Rum-soaked cakes : BABAs

50. Lincoln Center's __ Fisher Hall : AVERY. The hall was named for Fisher in 1973 after he made a $10.5 million donation to the Philharmonic. (Well, no wonder.)

51. Allude (to) : REFER

52. Verdi aria that means "It was you" : ERI TU

53. Strasbourg sweetheart : CHERI. Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in northeastern France.

54. Eucalyptus muncher : KOALA

57. Jaguar and Impala : CARS

58. Verve : BRIO

59. Hearty entrée : STEW

61. 1963 Paul Newman film : "HUD"

62. Casual top : TEE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, March 7, 2011 Scott Atkinson

Theme: Reduplication - Four 9-letter words or phrases  that only the rhyming part is the same; the initial part is different. The vowel is different in each entry.

17A. Small-time: RINKY DINK

53A. Fortunate one: LUCKY DUCK

10D. Wham-O footbag: HACKY SACK

29D. Cheap dance hall: HONKY TONK

Argyle here. I couldn't come up with an entry that could have used an "E". Other terms that are occasionally used for this linguistics feature include cloning, doubling, duplication, and repetition. These are fun words to speak and made for a fun Monday.

Across:

1A. Pet adoption ctr.: SPCA

5A. Like drive-thru orders: TO GO

9A. Cash alternative: CHECK

14A. Come __ end: conclude: TO AN. As all good things must. English Proverb.

15A. Most eligible for the draft: ONE A

16A. Popular branch of yoga: HATHA. Is there a name for practitioners of yoga?

19A. Have __ with: talk to: A CHAT

20A. Like strictly religious Jews: ORTHODOX

21A. Invite to enter: ASK IN

22A. Fawn's mother: DOE

23A. Family folk: KIN. Alliteration.

24A. Simple to apply, in adspeak: EASY ON

25A. Approx. leaving hour: ETD. Estimated Time of Departure. Close to the actual time, usually, unlike ETD, Estimated Time of Delivery.

26A. Some Ga. Tech grads: EEs. Electrical Engineers.

27A. Pass along softly, as a secret: WHISPER

29A. Coin flip call: Abbr.: HDs.. Unnecessary abbr.

30A. Yuletide spiced ales: WASSAILS. Santa knows wassail, and not that wassail lite stuff, either.

31A. Número after siete: OCHO. Spanish

34A. Fellows: MEN

35A. Stage group: CAST

36A. Occur together: COINCIDE

39A. '60s atty. general who served under his brother: RFK

41A. Elephants, e.g.: TUSKERS

42A. End of a giggle: HEE

43A. Angel dust, briefly: PCP. Don't hear much about PCP these days; bad stuff.

46A. Completely stump: STYMIE. Origin unknown but used by golfers when a competitors ball is between his ball and the hole. Nowadays, the obstructing ball must be moved, the wimps.

47A. "May __ excused?": I BE

48A. Significant period: ERA

49A. Handy bags: TOTEs

50A. Rodin or Michelangelo: SCULPTOR

52A. Evita's married name: PERON. Née Duarte.

54A. Put on a coat?: PAINT

55A. Color of suede shoes, in song: BLUE

56A. __-Seltzer: ALKA

57A. Hockey disks: PUCKS

58A. Dines: SUPS

59A. Mouth off to: SASS

Down:

1D. Walked decisively: STRODE

2D. Christie sleuth Hercule: POIROT. He was on the Orient Express when a murder occurred.

3D. On a slant: CANTED. The way wine is stored, to keep the cork from drying out.

4D. Pharaoh's cross: ANKH. This lucky duck has two. Image.

5D. Hot alcoholic drinks: TODDIES. Santa knows hot toddies, too. (Lois is his special "hot toddy".)

6D. Burger toppers: ONIONS

7D. Group with thirtysomethings, briefly: GEN X. Generation X is the generation born after the Baby Boomers, circa 1970 to 1980.

8D. "Mighty" tree: OAK. "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow." English Proverb.

9D. Vehicle's framework: CHASSIS. Ford is still using in their full-size cars, the chassis introduced in 1979, the Panther platform.

11D. Addis Ababa's country: ETHIOPIA. Map.

12D. Television watcher's choices: CHANNELS

13D. Kit __ bar: KAT

18D. Teamed, as oxen: YOKED

21D. Massage reactions: AAHs. shout out to melissa b.

24D. McGregor of "Moulin Rouge!": EWAN

28D. Q-U connection: RST

30D. Like small laddies: WEE

31D. Halloween mo.: OCT.

32D. "Undersea World" explorer Jacques: COUSTEAU

33D. Momentous: HISTORIC

34D. Warehouse gds.: MDSE.

37D. Joins, as stones in a wall: CEMENTS

38D. Colored part of the eye: IRIS

39D. Expresses stern disapproval of: REBUKES

40D. Touchy-__: FEELY

42D. Diaphragm spasm that may be cured by holding one's breath: HICCUP. One way to spell it.

43D. "Downtown" singer Clark: PETULA

44D. Onion soup holders: CROCKS

45D. Hooded coats: PARKAS

50D. "Star Trek" helmsman: SULU

51D. Palmtop computers: Abbr.: PDAs. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).

52D. Very quietly, to Beethoven: PPP. The dynamic marking for a note played extremely quietly, pianissimo.

53D. Scale abbr.: LBS.
 

Answer grid.

Argyle