Monday, December 12, 2011 Mel Rosen

Theme:

17A. Downside of reading in poor light : EYE STRAIN. Private Eye.

24A. Drive-thru cleanings : CAR WASHES. Private car. I think of the old railroad cars.

39A. Range for indoor comfort : ROOM TEMPERATURE. Private room, if your lucky.

49A. Staunch political group member : PARTY HACK. Private party, that's what I hear when I try to get in.

62A. Solid baseball hit : LINE DRIVE. Private line, telephone.

7D. Doctor's self-employment, and a hint to the starts of the five longest across answers : PRIVATE PRACTICE

Argyle here with a rare Monday pangram. Grid spanning row and column. Interesting fill. Should be a good week.

Across:

1. Brewpub choices : ALES

5. Bottle tops : CAPS

9. Newly hatched pigeon : SQUAB. I wonder at what age they stop being SQUAB and become flying rats.

14. Lower California, familiarly : BAJA. The actual name of the peninsula, nothing to do with the state.

15. Mother Goose baddie : OGRE

16. Hearing-related : AURAL

19. Magic wand wielder : FAIRY

20. PC go-to type : TECHIE

21. Use the ballot : VOTE

23. Mlles., in Spain : SRTAs

29. Checkpoint "Hold it!" : "HALT!". "Where are your papers?"

31. Little-known information : ARCANA

32. Prefix meaning "billion" : GIGA

36. Harbor landing : PIER

38. Bridge positions : EASTs

42. "Tomorrow" title singer : ANNIE

43. High spirits : BRIO. From Italian but of Celtic origin.

44. 1974 Sutherland/Gould spoof : "S*P*Y*S". Asterisks were to indicate bullet holes.

45. "Burnt" crayon color : SIENNA

47. Egyptian cross : ANKH

51. Montezuma subject : AZTEC

56. Admin. aide : ASST.

57. Hawkish : PRO WAR

58. Not so many : FEWER

64. African antelope : ELAND

65. Muscular woe : ACHE

66. Born and __ : BRED

67. Prepares, as cocktails : MIXES

68. "Little" Dickens girl : NELL. Nell Trent, fictional heroine of Charles Dickens's novel "The Old Curiosity Shop".

69. "Besides that ..." : "ALSO ..."

Down:

1. Helps illegally : ABETS

2. Hen, vis-à-vis eggs : LAYER

3. Kick out : EJECT

4. Olympic skater Cohen : SASHA. She is the 2006 Olympic silver medalist.

5. Apple heart : CORE

6. Turkish title : AGA

8. Hombre's title : SEÑOR

9. Low-crime section of town : SAFE AREA

10. Sine __ non: essential : QUA

11. Ocean State sch. : URI

12. River to the Rhine : AAR. In Switzerland, Aare.

13. Activist Nellie : BLY

18. Addams Family nickname : TISH. Morticia Addams (TV)

22. Howard Hughes's airline : TWA

24. Scale, as Everest : CLIMB

25. Improvises like Armstrong : SCATS. Scatting with Louis and Ella. Clip(3:09)

26. Welcomes to the penthouse : HAS UP

27. Blog piece : ENTRY

28. Freelance writers' encls. : SASEs

30. Zoo swinger : APE

32. Hold tightly : GRASP

33. Ancient Greek region that was home to Heraclitus : IONIA

34. One with no hope : GONER

35. Make ___: rake it in : A MINT

37. Sign anew, as a contract : RE-INK

40. Thirty feet : TEN YARDS

41. Soldier of Seoul : ROK

46. Sighs of relief : AHs

48. Difficult : HARD

50. "The Chronicles of Narnia" lion : ASLAN

52. "___ the Greek" : ZORBA Novel and film.

53. Handle, as a baton : TWIRL

54. Rain gutters run under them : EAVES

55. System of belief : CREDO

57. Banana covering : PEEL

58. Like "la" in Fr. or Sp. : FEM.(feminine)

59. Quarterback Manning : ELI

60. Like many lifelike museum displays : WAX

61. Opposite of WSW : ENE

63. Buffalo Sabres' org. : NHL

Answer grid.

Argyle

Notes from C.C.

1) Here are some gorgeous photos from Marti's Europe trip. All the bar pictures are cozy & inviting. Marti looks so beautiful and happy.

2) Please click here (Chicago Tribute's website) if you're not happy with the new LA Times crossword format.

Sunday December 11, 2011 Jayne and Alex Boisvert

Theme: "Give B's a Chance" - The starting letters P's are replaced by B's in each two-word P*P* theme entry.

25A. Jaded ballplayer? : BITTER BATTER. Pitter-Patter. Fun clue/answer.

27A. Grain of sand? : BEACH BIT. Peach pit.

105A. Sound of Crosby's doorbell? : BING BONG. Ping pong.

109A. Collection of yokels? : BUMPKIN BATCH. Pumpkin patch.

47. Coal receptacle building blocks? : BIN BRICKS. Pinpricks. The only entry where the base phrase is one-word.

51. Steer groups? : BULL BUNCHES. Pull punches.

80. Fish with a bad cold? : BARKING BASS. Parking pass. Dogs bark. Fish?

83. Pointed front of a two-wheeler? : BIKE'S BEAK. Pike's Peak.

Lovely theme. So neat that the 8 theme entries can be placed in 4 rows.

Lots of effort went into this theme. First, the constructors had to first find common P* P* phrases, then picked out the ones that could be converted to B's, making sure no straying P's in the middle/end of the word. Sometimes new phrases have to be discarded as they don't make much surface sense when cluing.

I had a few email exchanges with Alex in the past. He's a computer genius.

Across:

1. Corrupt, in a way : BRIBE. Bribery is quite common in Indian politics, I hear.

6. Ignore : PASS BY

12. Sleeping : AT REST

18. Ayes : YESES

19. "Lady Marmalade" group : LABELLE. I like Christina Aguilera & Pink's version.

20. Caesar salad topper : CROUTON

22. Unpleasant pair to choose from : EVILS. The lesser of two evils.

23. "To reiterate ..." : I REPEAT

24. Deep-fried Japanese dish : TEMPURA. Tasty. All deep-fried foods are.

28. Mocha native : YEMENI. Mocha is the Yemeni port famous for its coffee.

29. Fantastic : SUPERB

31. As well : TOO

32. Vase-shaped pitcher : EWER

33. Drama with two spin-offs : CSI

36. Scarlett, to Rhett, ultimately : MY DEAR. In the end, he said: "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn".

38. 1983 Keaton title role : MR MOM

42. Tweet : CHIRP

44. Alka-Seltzer sound : PLOP

46. New York college whose team is the Gaels : IONA

54. 2001 French film nominated for five Academy Awards : AMELIE. Very whimsy,

55. One reason to work : SALARY

57. Energy meas. : BTU. I was thinking of calorie.

58. Tell : RAT

59. Stain-removal brand : SHOUT

60. Turning parts : ROTORS

61. Grasps : GETS

62. Sharpen : HONE

63. Family name in Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" : SAMSA. No idea. Gregor Samsa.

64. Shark's practice : USURY

66. Tell : BLAB

70. Field division : ACRE

71. They get tipped in lots : VALETS. Parking lots.

73. 1971 Clapton classic : LAYLA

74. Psyche part, to Freud : EGO

77. General at Antietam : LEE

78. White Label Scotch maker : DEWAR'S. For Tinbeni & EddyB. Argyle too. Is the bus story true?

79. Roaches, e.g. : VERMIN

85. Jai __ : ALAI

86. Deserve : EARN

87. Browns : SEARS. And 90. Slightly burned : SINGED

88. Cheers : YELLS

94. Was in charge of : RAN

95. Insect stage after larva : PUPA

99. Morning morsel : OAT. Not for me.

101. "Got me" : NO IDEA

103. Ear problem : OTITIS

112. Kuwait, for one : EMIRATE

113. How a team should work : AS A UNIT. Had trouble parsing my answer.

114. "Love Story" co-star : O'NEAL (Ryan)

115. Timeline divisions : DECADES

116. Reddish-brown horses : SORRELS. Sorrel is also an herb. A bit tangy.

117. Like some mythology : NORSE.

118. Malevolent beings : DEMONS

119. From Aconcagua, say : ANDEAN. Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas.

120. Lamb piece : ESSAY. Charles Lamb the Elia.

Down:

1. Parting words : BYE BYE

2. Look over : REVIEW

3. "Am I crazy?" : IS IT ME? My new computer is pretty good. But it drives me crazy at times. Still can't make the Solve/Print buttons of Chicago Tribune's crossword website work in Firefox. Don't think it's the Java problem. I uninstalled it. The puzzle still works fine in Internet Explorer, but not Firefox.

4. Merman, notably : BELTER

5. Museum Folkwang city : ESSEN. Museum about what?

6. Normal opening? : PARA. Paranormal.

7. Stands guard, perhaps : ABETS

8. One may be deviated : SEPTUM. New word to me.

9. Disney dwarf : SLEEPY

10. Played loudly : BLARED. Thought of Ant.

11. Although : YET

12. Entr'__ : ACTE

13. Costumed kid's hope : TREAT. More fun when kids come costumed.

14. "Pretty Woman" genre, briefly : ROMCOM (Romantic comedy)

15. Blissful : EUPHORIC. Sounds sweet.

16. Broadway souvenir : STUB

17. Songwriter Amos : TORI

19. Bldg. with stacks : LIB. OK, Library.

21. Rebellious Turner : NAT

26. Singer Lionel : RICHIE

27. NBAers' game : B-BALL

30. RSVP : REPLY

34. Word seen in brackets : SIC

35. Trying : IRKSOME

37. See 69-Down : ROBBERS. 69. With 37-Down, Bonnie and Clyde : BANK., They were better than those who steal others' ID on line.

39. Comedian Jay : MOHR. LAHR is another name ending in HR.

40. Draft status : ONE A

41. Sail support : MAST

42. Short review? : CRIT. Criticism then. (From Grumpy: It's critique.)

43. H.S. exams : PSATs

45. Crack filler : PUTTY

47. Gala : BASH

48. Letters before an online view : IMHO

49. Krypton relative : NEON. And 60. 49-Down, for example : RARE GAS

50. Word after sky or powder : BLUE

51. Grill partner : BAR

52. Sea witch in "The Little Mermaid" : URSULA (Sorry for the error earlier.)

53. Frat letters : NUs

56. Bakery array : LOAVES

61. Braver : GUTSIER

63. Part of an act : SCENE

65. Southern Slavs : SERBS

66. Zinger : BARB

67. Connecticut town for which a disease is named : LYME. The dreadful Lime disease.

68. Et __ : ALIA

70. Ex-boxer Laila : ALI. LAILA often appears as an answer.

72. Litter reactions : AWs

73. Reduced : LESS

74. Auction site : EBAY

75. __ warning : GALE

76. Like much history : ORAL

78. Steve's sidekick in "Hawaii Five-O" : DANNO. I've seen DANO in crosswords also.

79. Washington's mount? : VERNON. Mount Vernon.

81. About 2.2 pounds : KILOGRAM. Had trouble accepting pounds when I first arrived here.

82. "__ it on!" : BRING

84. Kipling python : KAA. From "The Jungle Book". Unknown to me.

89. Domingo preceder : SABADO. What's this? I don't get this clue/answer.

91. Martini with an onion : GIBSON

92. Einstein's second son : EDUARD. Another no idea. Miserable life.

93. Reserved : DEMURE. JD always appears so.

95. Some uprights : PIANOS

96. Says : UTTERS

97. Web image-viewing software : PICASA. You can create your own Picasa album.

98. Scarlett's love : ASHLEY. Love is so irrational. I don't find Ashley attractive at all.

100. On a scale of one __ : TO TEN

102. Sleep problem : APNEA

104. Beef cut : T-BONE

105. Flower place : BED

106. Wrote online, briefly : IM'ED

107. Pleasing : NICE

108. Storied loch : NESS

110. Potter's oven : KILN

111. "__ a Wonderful Life" : IT'S. Timely.

113. Botanist Gray : ASA

Answer grid.

Here is a photo of our hockey nut eddyB, taken at the game yesterday I think. Great jersey!

C.C.