Monday Dec 5, 2011 Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

Theme: "My country, 'tis of thee... Of thee I sing" - The last word of each theme entry is a synonym of "country".

20A. Notable 1900s anti-alcohol demonstrator : CARRIE NATION. I learned her name from doing crossword. Looks very intimidating.

38A. The boondocks : GOD'S COUNTRY

57A. General situation : LAY OF THE LAND

C.C. here. Argyle will back blogging Wednesday & Thursday puzzles this week. Still struggling with a sick computer, but I feel so lucky that I always have Argyle for backup.

Monday puzzles are easy to solve but hard to construct. Themes have to be simple but not boring. Fill have to be familiar words/names but not full of crosswordese like ETUI & OLLA.

Across:

1. Trojan Horse, for example : RUSE. Or VIRUS.

5. Move a muscle : STIR

9. G sharp equivalent : A-FLAT. Jazzbumpa would have given you a witty comment.

14. iPhone downloads : APPS

15. Grab hold of : TAKE

16. Doctrine : CREDO

17. Open-handed hit : SLAP. Ow!

18. Feels sorry about : RUES

19. Intoxicating, as wine : HEADY

23. Try : ATTEMPT

24. Garden hose feature : NOZZLE. Scrabbly.

28. Car dealer's deal : LEASE

29. Rotisserie rod : SPIT

32. "Divine Secrets of the __ Sisterhood" : YA YA. Starring Sandra Bullock.

33. __-mo replay : SLO

35. Leeds lavs : LOOS. All alliteration.

37. Hoopster's target : NET

41. '60s chic : MOD

43. Acted like : APED. Not "Monkeyed".

44. Check out : EYE. For Splynter.

45. Sandler of "Grown Ups" : ADAM

47. Civil rights pioneer Parks : ROSA

49. Novelist Puzo : MARIO. I read almost all of his work.

53. Piglet pal : EEYORE. The gloomy donkey.

55. Final part : TAIL END

60. Ancient Mexican : AZTEC. Another Z in action.

63. Scott of "Charles in Charge" : BAIO

64. Mosque official : IMAM

65. Group helping the sheriff : POSSE

66. "Just doing my best" : I TRY

67. Crumbly cheese : FETA. Often in Bill G's salad.

68. Horn sounds : TOOTS

69. Ball-bearing pegs : TEES

70. Genesis locale : EDEN

Down:

1. Mischief-maker : RASCAL. Hello Spitzboov!

2. Studying into the wee hours, say : UP LATE

3. Ancient Athens rival : SPARTA

4. Trattoria brew : ESPRESSO. Some leftover coffee from yesterday.

5. Throat problem : STREP

6. Razzes : TAUNTS. Are you still there, Razzberry?

7. Furniture chain founded in Sweden : IKEA. Their HQ is in the Netherlands (Delft).

8. Put one's feet up : REST. No rest for Dennis this month.

9. Cold outburst? : ACHOO. Fun clue, though we've seen it a few times before.

10. Extreme agitation : FRENZY

11. Grassy expanse : LEA. Was clue yesterday.

12. Go on to say : ADD

13. Gift under a tree, often : TOY. A new computer is all I need.

21. Marcos who collected shoes : IMELDA

22. Emulate the Gregorians : INTONE

25. Like the Marx Brothers : ZANY

26. Corrosive stuff : LYE

27. Have a bite : EAT. So what did you have for breakfast today?

30. Moves with effort : PLODS

31. Letters of obligation : IOU

34. Fish hawk : OSPREY

36. Totally stump : STYMIE. Originally a golf term, I think.

38. Aussie greeting : G' DAY

39. Corp. bigwig : CEO

40. It's not fiction or fantasy : REAL LIFE. I just want to be a Deep Throat in fantasy land. You?

41. Fannie __ : MAE

42. Emotional verse : ODE

46. Harass : MOLEST. Sensitive fill.

48. Garb : ATTIRE

50. Widened, as a hole : REAMED

51. Present from birth : INNATE

52. Extra one who's "out" : ODD MAN

54. Oft-timed contests : RACES

56. Seagoing attention getters : AHOYS

58. Memorial news item : OBIT

59. Kismet : FATE

60. Suitable : APT

61. Petting place : ZOO

62. Chinese menu general : TSO. General Tso's chicken is a typical Chinese-American dish. I've never heard of it until I came to the US.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Sunday Dec 4, 2011 Darin McDaniel

Theme: "Film Café" -Caffeinated punification of six films.

26A. Mideast eggplant-flavored coffee? : THE PURPLE ROAST OF CAIRO (1985). "The Purple Rose of Cairo". Comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, starring Mia Farrow, Jeff Daniels, Danny Aiello.

37A. Coffee that unleashes your inner prehistoric beast? : JURASSIC PERK (1993). "Jurassic Park". Science fiction adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum.

53A. With 65-Across, words describing coffee that's almost too smooth? : THE UNBEARABLE. And 65A. See 53-Across : LIGHTNESS OF BEAN. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1984). A philosophical drama directed by Philip Kaufman, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche and Lena Olin. Best work of Milan Kundera.

80A. Coffee lover's paradise? : THE BREW LAGOON. "The Blue Lagoon". A romance and adventure film directed by Randal Kleiser, starring Brooke Shields, Christopher Atkins and Leo McKern. It was also a 1949 British film.

95A. Wild West coffee to go? : PONY ESPRESSO. "Pony Express". A western film directed by Jerry Hopper, starring Charlton Heston, Rhonda Fleming and Jan Sterling.

105A. Coffee with a spot in "Guinness World Records"? : THE GREATEST JOE ON EARTH
"The Greatest Show on Earth". A drama film set in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. The film was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecil B. DeMille, starring James Stewart, Charlton Heston and Betty Hutton. (The first movie Argyle remembers seeing.)

C.C. & Argyle co-blogging today.

My computer is sick and slow. Badly needed Argyle's help. I like how the coffee puns are narrowed down to films only, making the theme much tighter.

From Argyle: This is our constructor's debut in LA Times. He had his first NY Times Sunday last December. Until I caught on to the theme, this was giving me fits. After sussing the theme, it gave me fits of laughter. I'm a sucker for a good pun. The themeage prevented any big stacking of words but it did produce a pangram.

Across:

1. Carpal tunnel site : WRIST

6. Break down : SOB

9. Former Kiss guitarist Frehley : ACE. The Lead guitarist. Image of Space Ace.

12. Convention label : ID TAG

17. Get on (it) : HOP TO

18. Express lane unit : ITEM. "14 Items or less".

20. Instapundit, e.g. : BLOG. Instapundit is a political blog produced by Glenn Reynolds, a law professor at the University of Tennessee.

21. Singer Bryson : PEABO. R&B singer.

22. And the following, in footnotes : ET SEQ. Latin: Et sequens (of sequential things).

23. Princess who battled Callisto : XENA

24. Singer k.d. : LANG. Her Hallelujah is so good.

25. Brilliance : ECLAT

30. Hopeful lover's pickings : PETALS. "She loves me, she loves me not."

31. Reebok rival : NIKE

32. Push (through) : RAM

33. At this point : HERE

36. "Baudolino" novelist : ECO (Umberto)

42. Reminiscent of : ALA

43. Terse reproof : TSK

44. Año part : MES. Spanish for MONTH (121. Date opener)

45. Litigates : SUES

46. Scot's refusal : NAE

47. Transitional state : LIMBO

49. Pallid : WAN

50. "It's __!": speakeasy warning : A RAID. Wiki said Speakeasy is also called "Blind pig". New to me. I participated in a few raids. Exciting and scary.

52. 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit : ADIA

57. Swear : ATTEST

59. Belted out : SUNG

60. Et __ : ALII. Masculine formation.

61. Reynolds Wrap maker : ALCOA. Dow-30.

64. Augurs : BODES

69. Conservative : STAID

72. "All I gotta do __ naturally": Beatles lyric : IS ACT

73. Area 51 phenomena : UFOs

74. Tolkien tree creatures : ENTS

78. Is unable to : CAN NOT

83. Help on the way up : RUNG

84. Rival of Paris : ROMEO. Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Count Paris is a suitor of Juliet Capulet.

87. Leb. neighbor : ISR

88. "We Got Us" Grammy winner, 1960 : GORME(Eydie)

89. Altar constellation : ARA. Southern constellation.

90. Red, perhaps : RIPE

91. Jack's predecessor : IKE. Eisenhower/Kennedy.

92. Madhouse : ZOO

94. W.'s degree : MBA. W is the only US president with MBA. Harvard Business School in 1975.

99. Etymologist's ref. : OED (Oxford English Dictionary)

100. 1985 Cher film : MASK. Biographical drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, starring Cher, Sam Elliott, and Eric Stoltz.

101. Commonly, to Coleridge : OFT

102. Nobelist Pavlov : IVAN. Famous Russian physiologist. 1904 award Physiology or Medicine.

103. Old manuscript copier : SCRIBE. Real old.

113. Palin's "Going __" : ROGUE

114. Prong : TINE

115. Regrettably : ALAS

116. Swelling : EDEMA

117. Asteroid group named for a love god : AMORs. Named after Amor obviously.

118. Change for a five : ONEs

119. It may drop down : MENU. Computer "Drop down menu". Like the File, Edit, View, History in your Firefox/IE browser.

120. Flying movie monster : RODAN

122. Ballclub VIP : MGR

123. Mil. decoration : DSM (Distinguished Service Medal)

124. Duke's era : SWING. "Duke" Ellington, pianist, and big band leader. I hope we get some nice links today.

Down:

1. Sharpen : WHET

2. Van Halen's David Lee __ : ROTH

3. __ dixit : IPSE. Literally"he himself said it", asserted but not proved.

4. Treeless plain : STEPPE. In Siberia.

5. Chef's hat : TOQUE

6. Abs paragon : SIX PACK

7. Verdi opera with Desdemona : OTELLO. Based on Shakespeare's play.

8. Elaine's last name on "Seinfeld" : BENES. Made billions in reruns.

9. It's east of the Bering Strait : ALASKA

10. Italian noblewoman : CONTESSA. Who doesn't like Ina Garten, the Barefoot Contessa?

11. Brand originally called Froffles : EGGO. "Let go of my Froffle!"

12. Medicinal syrups : IPECACs

13. Pull up stakes : DECAMP

14. Anklebones : TALI. Plural of talus.

15. "This guy walks into __ ..." : A BAR

16. Attend : GO TO

19. Deface : MAR

20. British prime minister before Brown : BLAIR (Tony)

27. GPS options: Abbr. : RTEs

28. Heavy load : ONUS

29. Peanuts character with "naturally curly hair" : FRIEDA

33. Stops : HALTS

34. Friend of Job : ELIHU. No idea. My knowledge on Bible is very shaky.

35. Nagano noodles : RAMEN

37. Malone of "Saved!" : JENA. The little girl in "Stepmom".

38. __ generis: unique : SUI. Literally meaning of its own kind/genus or unique in its characteristics.

39. Was over : ENDED

40. Bring up : RAISE

41. "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" poet : KEATS

43. Heavy load : TON

44. Steep before cooking : MARINATE

48. Moose mating activity : BUGLING. Ever marinate a moose?

49. Stays put : WAITS

50. Shakespeare title starter : ALLS. "All's Well That Ends Well".

51. Contingency plan : RECOURSE

52. Simultaneously : AT ONE GO

54. Strong suit, slangily : BAG

55. K-12 : EL-HI (Elementary-High School).

56. Tack together : BASTE. Ever baste a moose?

58. TV schedule abbr. : TBA

62. Part of OBO : OFFER. OBO= Or Best Offer

63. Words after take or tie : A BOW

66. Wedding promise : I DO. May our husbands and boyfriends never meet!

67. Repeat : ECHO

68. Immigrant's subj. : ESL (English as a Second Language)

69. Discard : SCRAP

70. Bull: Pref. : TAURO. We've had this entry before.

71. Boutros-Ghali's successor : ANNAN (Kofi). Served as the seventh Secretary-General. Succeeded by Ban Ki-moon.

75. Roe v. Wade plaintiff McCorvey : NORMA (Rae). She filed as Jane Roe; Henry Wade represented the State of Texas.

76. Resting places : TOMBS. Rather final, eh?

77. Play with no hand-off : SNEAK. By the quarterback in football.

79. Melancholy, in Metz : TRISTE. Sad. French.

81. 1960s-'70s anti-apartheid activist Steve : BIKO. Died in police custody, South Africa.

82. Earlier : AGO

85. Not in favor: Abbr. : OPP

86. Worthy of : MERITING

90. Update, as a web page : REFRESH

91. Exists no more : ISN'T

92. Like a game in which wins equal losses : ZERO SUM. Stumped me last time.

93. Anthony Hopkins's "Thor" role : ODIN

96. Probiotic snack : YOGURT. Good bacteria.

97. Leveling tool : EVENER. Weak clue regarding what a evener does. It is used in harnessing equipment to a horse or horses so it is pulled evenly, in a sense, on the same level.

98. Wedding invite encls. : SASEs

99. Vast amounts : OCEANS

100. Lea : MEADOW. Hey, LEA is often the answer.

103. Did a cobbler's job : SOLED. Did not know SOLE can be a verb.

104. Stouts, e.g. : BEERS

105. Rail transport : TRAM. Or cable transport.

106. "Ecce __": Pilate : HOMO

107. Austrian expressionist Schiele : EGON (1890 - 1918). I googled his work, quite erotic.

108. Tiny power source : ATOM

109. __ session : JAM

110. Quick, in trade names : REDI

111. Agt. under Ness : T-MAN

112. Display, in a way : HANG

Answer grid.

C.C & Argyle