Monday March 28, 2011 Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

Theme: UNCLE! Four theme ending words that can describe what this winter did to us, us Northerners at least.

17A. Tool that can extract nails : CLAW HAMMER

27A. It's poured into an iron at breakfast : WAFFLE BATTER

47A. United Kingdom currency : BRITISH POUND

64A. Fur bartered by Native Americans : BEAVER PELT

Argyle here and I'm sure of who I am. This puzzle isn't. There are clues and/or answers that could be for any day of the week. Not too many Naticks though. [A word used in crosswordese, coined by blogger Rex Parker, meaning two crossing words/clues that very very few people would know. As an example, one clue would be "A town in the eighth mile of the Bostom marathon" Answer-Natick]

Across:

1. Muddy stuff : MUCK

5. Fallback option : PLAN B

10. Pinochle calls : BIDS

14. Bounce, as off a canyon wall : ECHO

15. Margaret Mead's island : SAMOA. She was a cultural anthropologist and authored Coming of Age in Samoa.

16. Tom Joad, for one : OKIE. Tom Joad is a fictional character from John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. OKIE was someone driven out of Oklahoma by poverty.

19. Princess played by Lucy Lawless : XENA. TV fantasy adventure. Lawless married the show's producer, Robert Tapert.

20. Spanish song : CANTO

21. Surprise "from the blue" : BOLT. "Like a bolt out of the blue, Fate steps in to see you through!"

22. "Get Smart" evil agency : KAOS. TV and movie.

23. Silky sweater : ANGORA. It may be 'silky' but it still is wool.

25. Bard of boxing : ALI. Muhammad Ali composed poems about himself, mostly.

34. They may be outsourced : JOBS

37. King with jokes : ALAN This comedian passed away in 2004.

38. Keebler cracker : ZESTA. Saltine.

39. Oral health org. : ADA. American Dental Association.

40. Aerialist's apparatus : TRAPEZE. Neat way to get a Z into the mix.

42. Pictures on the wall : ART. What about on the refrigerator.

43. Back biter? : MOLAR. Your back teeth.

45. "Without a doubt!" : "SURE!"

46. Mars' Greek counterpart : ARES. The Gods of war.

50. Heavy drinker : SOT

51. Tranquilize : SEDATE

55. Plastic user's concern : DEBT. Often, they aren't concerned until it is too late.

58. Words of woe : "AH, ME". What the above user says when it all comes due.

62. Autobahn autos : AUDIs

63. Length times width : AREA

66. Highlands dagger : DIRK. Image.

67. "Bye for now" : "LATER"

68. "I did it!" : "TA-DA!"

69. High school skin problem : ACNE

70. Idyllic spots : EDENS

71. Sources of iron : ORES

Down:

1. Tourist magnet : MECCA

2. Golden St. collegian : UCLAN. My thought would be pronounce this as individual letters.

3. P.F. __'s: Chinese restaurant chain : CHANG. The chain was founded in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang.

4. Shows servility : KOWTOWS. Chinese kòutóu: [literally, knock (one's) head] To touch the forehead to the ground while kneeling.

5. Free TV spot : PSA. Public Service Announcement.

6. Moussaka meat : LAMB. Although "moussaka" is an Arabic word and a popular dish in many Middle Eastern countries, the immortal eggplant and lamb casserole is generally credited to the Greeks, who claim it as a national treasure. Image.

7. Bullets and such : AMMO

8. Seasonal song : NOEL

9. Pub bill : BAR TAB

10. Tailless flying toy : BOX KITE

11. Swedish furniture giant : IKEA

12. Flintstone pet : DINO

13. Aral and Arabian : SEAs

18. Traditional round dance : HORA

24. Miles away : AFAR

26. Act like a couch potato : LAZE

28. Lightning burst : FLASH

29. Drink à la Lassie : LAP UP. Lassie was an L.A. pup?

30. Juan's January : ENERO. Spanish.

31. Russian ruler of yore : TSAR

32. To be, in Burgundy : ÊTRE. French.

33. Charlie Brown's "Darn it!" : "RATS!"

34. Doorway feature : JAMB

35. Sign of spoilage : ODOR

36. Java neighbor : BALI. They are between Asia and Australia.

40. Small jazz group : TRIO

41. Olympian ruler : ZEUS

44. In jeopardy : AT STAKE

46. Total numerically : ADD UP TO

48. Pony's place : STABLE

49. In the vicinity : NEAR

52. "Please be __ and ...": polite request words : A DEAR

53. Spanish squiggle : TILDE. As in Spanish señor.

54. These, in Madrid : ESTAS. Also Spanish.

55. Baby's pop : DA-DA

56. "Tears in Heaven" singer Clapton : ERIC

57. Swiss capital : BERN. Or Berne, as we learned the other day.

59. Lettuce purchase : HEAD. Is it just head lettuce going up in price or is it all kinds?

60. Brisbane buddy : MATE

61. Fifty-fifty : EVEN

65. Medical drama settings, for short : ERs. Emergency Room.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.: I wrongly published the answer grid in this blog rather than my Ginger Roots last night. Sorry for the confusion.

Sunday March 27, 2011 Matt Skoczen and Victor Fleming

Theme: Rowdy Bunch - WILD can precede the first word of each starred answers.

22A. *Old library aid : CARD CATALOG. Wild card.

32A. *Soda fountain choice : CHERRY COKE. Wild cherry.

64A. Maurice Sendak kids' book, and the starts of starred answers : WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Lovely unifier.

97A. *Ragtime dance : TURKEY TROT. Wild turkey.

110A. *'60s Haight-Ashbury type : FLOWER CHILD. Wild flower.

3D. *Political mantra : PARTY LINE. Wild party.

20D. *Drug problem : SIDE EFFECT. Wild side. Do you have a wild side?

67D. *One side of a defunct wall : WEST BERLIN. Wild west.

76D. *A cappella leader's gadget : PITCH PIPE. Wild pitch.

Fun puzzle. Made me think of Charlie Sheen's Wild Thing in "Major League": Wild Thing, you make my heart sing.

Terrific theme answer interlock in this grid. Awesome grid design. It takes luck as well as skills to make them work.

Quite a few baseball references to delight me, but I was stumped by O'DOUL (28A. Two-time N.L. batting champ Lefty). Of course I wanted GROVE. Lefty Grove was a Hall-of-Famer. Wiki shows O'Doul won the batting champ in 1929 & 1932. Too long ago.

Another possible stumper for some might be ENOKIs (94A. Japanese mushrooms), which are part of my diet, so no problem here.

Across:

1. Move to a larger container, say : REPOT. Plant.

6. Office exchanges : MEMOS

11. Put a dent in : MAR

14. "Woe __!" : IS ME

18. In any way : AT ALL. Man, I had trouble getting this little answer.

19. Aromatic resin : ELEMI

20. "¿Quién __?" : SABE. Spanish for "Who knows?". Not me.

21. Where the Pecos R. begins : N MEX

24. Gadget, for one: Abbr. : INSP (Inspector). Not familiar with Inspector Gadget.

25. Water turbidity cause : SILT

26. Book after Neh. : ESTH

27. "Midnight Cowboy" con man : RATSO. Disturbing movie.

29. Motorcade VIP : PRES. OK, President.

30. Hit a lot of high notes : YODELED

34. Societal ideals : VALUES

36. What obsolete things fall into : DISUSE

38. Bananas : DAFT. I like nuts on bananas. 

39. "Marley & Me" actress : ANISTON (Jennifer). Love her. Can't understand Angelina Jolie's appeal. 

41. React to boredom, perhaps : NOD OFF. Thought of YAWN AT first.

43. Defeats : LOSSES. Noun.

47. Port of Crete : CANEA. Stumped me again.

48. Cockney toast starter : (H)ERE's. The starting H is dropped in Cockney accent.

50. Souvenirs at the park, usually : FOULS. Foul balls. I was picturing pins/caps/bats, etc.

52. Controversial "gift" : ESP. Why controversial? I wanted GAB.

53. Fresno-to-Bakersfield dir. : SSE. I trust it's correct.

54. Not __ Town: anti-hate-crime movement : IN OUR. New to me.

56. Procter & Gamble toothpaste : GLEEM

58. Salad cheese : FETA

59. Sail motions : FLAPS. I don't get this one. TIDES wouldn't work.

60. Not of the cloth : LAIC

61. Bombed : PIE-EYED. Both slang for "drunk".

69. One way to anticipate : EAGERLY. Then we have 85A. Eager beaver : DYNAMO. Slight dupe. But I did like the clue for the latter.

70. 8 x 10 phots., e.g. : ENLs

71. "... but maybe I'm wrong" : OR NOT

72. "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" dramatist : INGE (William). Easy guess.

73. Job jar items : TASKS

75. Thomas Paine's belief : DEISM

76. __ band: school rally performers : PEP

79. "Golden Age" Hollywood studio : RKO

80. Kept awake, maybe : ATE AT

82. Bruce of "The Astronaut Farmer" : DERN

83. "There is __ in the affairs of men ...": Brutus : A TIDE. Do you like this kind of quote clue?

87. '70s-'80s FBI sting : ABSCAM

90. Like some markers : GENETIC. Wow, first encounter with this DNA term "Genetic marker".

92. Swedish tennis great : BORG (Björn)

96. Chops up : MINCES

100. Spa service : MUD BATH. Nice one.

102. Big name in pineapples : DOLE

103. First toothbrush to go to the moon : ORAL B

104. One leading a charmed life? : COBRA. Charmed by the snake charmer.

105. The first one was founded in 1824 Eng. to protect carriage horses : SPCA. Good to know this trivia.

108. James or Jones of jazz : ETTA

109. __-mutuel : PARI

112. Lent organs? : EARS. Lend me your ears.

113. Harrow rival : ETON

114. Saintly qualities : AURAS

115. Utah's state gem : TOPAZ

116. Make a chart of, as land : PLAT

117. Safety feature for some walkers : NET

118. Conforms : OBEYS

119. Stieg Larsson was one : SWEDE. Quite popular after his death.

Down:

1. Regatta : RACE. Thought of Gunghy.

2. H-like letters : ETAS

4. Fixer-upper, often : OLD HOUSE

5. Dr. Mom's forte : TLC

6. Heavy __ : METAL

7. Made joyous : ELATED

8. Alice's restaurant? : MEL'S DINER. "Alice" the sitcom.

9. 1847 novel based on its author's time in the Society Islands : OMOO. Melville novel.

10. Milano Mr. : SIG. OK, Signore.

11. Impressive house : MANOR

12. Inane relative? : ABSURD

13. E-mail option : REPLY ALL. I Like this entry too.

14. Popular restaurants : IN SPOTS

15. Smug grin : SMIRK

16. A beanball might lead to one : MELEE

17. Personal organizer nos. : EXTs.

23. Part of a playground exchange : ARE SO

28. Very : OH SO. SO easy to have a dupe for a Sunday puzzle.

31. One who spiffs up your wheels : DETAILER

32. It's chewed in leas : CUD

33. Corp. fiscal VIPs : CFOs

34. Little suckers? : VACS (Vacuums). And 111. Small change? : CTS (Cents). Both "little" and "small" mean "in shortened form".

35. Santa __: West Coast winds : ANAs

37. Popular pad : SOS

40. Abecedarian : NEOPHYTE

42. One of them? : FOE. Nice clue.

44. "I'm outta here!" : SEE YA

45. Perfume compound : ESTER

46. One in a black suit : SPADE. Playing cards again.

49. Scammer's ploy : RUSE

51. Calling strikes, e.g. : UMPIRING

55. NFL part: Abbr. : NATL

56. Maddens : GALLS

57. Eye shades : LIDS

58. Suffix with song : FEST

59. Lacking dates : FREE. In a way, yes.

60. Patty alternative : LINK. We could only afford to eat meat once in a year in my childhood. Lots of stuff were rationed until I was about 10.

62. Getaway places : INNS

63. Typical Bond villain's malady : EGOMANIA

64. Uncanny : WEIRD

65. Good thing to have at a tearjerker : HANKY

66. Prod : EGG ON

68. Weed whacker : HOER

74. Battery spec : AAA

75. "Disclosure" co-star : DEMI MOORE. Beautiful hair.

77. Falco of "Nurse Jackie" : EDIE

78. Push-up targets : PECs

80. Unrestrainedly : AMOK

81. Unwrapped excitedly : TORE OPEN. Like my Xmas morning.

82. U.S. terr., 1861-'89 : DAK

84. Circus : TENT SHOW

86. Keep __ of: stay current with : ABREAST. Dennis would have fun with this clue.

88. Persnickety sort : SNOB

89. Collapsible bed : COT

91. Put in a cell : EMBAR

93. Pirouette : GYRATE

95. Seller of the $5 FOOTLONG : SUBWAY. Eat Fresh.

97. Add up to : TOTAL

98. Extreme : ULTRA

99. Occult medium : TAROT

101. Kind of shoes or blues : DRESS. I remember Monica's blue dress.

102. Sea, with "the" : DEEP

104. Country place? : CLUB. Country club.

106. Not in one's birthday suit : CLAD

107. Cutter with a bent blade : ADZE. This guy is using one. I'd like to see this word in Jerome puzzle.

110. __ Schwarz: NYC toy store : FAO

Answer grid.

C.C.