Wednesday, Aug 8, 2012, Jeff Chen

theme: city of angels

17A. Recent history : MODERN (LA) TIMES. modern times is also a 1936 silent comedy film staring charlie chaplin as his little tramp character. and i think anyone doing this puzzle knows what the la times is … nice shout out by jeff.

23A. Custom-based rule : UNWRITTEN (LA) LAW. la law was a popular legal drama tv series on nbc that ran from 1986 - 1994.

48A. Ones who refuse to serve, pejoratively : DRAFT (LA) DODGERS. around these parts (sf bay area), dodgers is a pejorative term also. any dodgers fans here?

58A. It's lowered for a touchdown : LANDING (LA) GEAR. LA gear is a shoe company based in los angeles.

37A. Randy Newman song about SoCal, and a hint to the ends of 17-, 23-, 48- and 58-Across : I LOVE LA

los ángeles is spanish for the angels, and nicknamed the city of angels. city of angels is also a 1998 movie starring nicholas cage and meg ryan. it was loosely based on one of my favorite films, wim wenders' 1987 german film wings of desire, about angels that roam the city of berlin. french architect jean nouvel designed a building in prague (47a) that has the image of one of the angels in the german film etched into the glass on the facade. see it?

also, alanis morissette has a track on her havoc and bright lights cd called guardian, that was inspired by wenders' film.

across:

1. Peter Pan rival : SKIPPY. peanut butter.

7. Childish comeback : AM SO. are not.

11. Not-so-big shot? : BB'S. bee bees.

14. Cold War statesman Gromyko : ANDREI. had no idea.

15. Kilauea output : LAVA. one of the most active volcanoes on the planet, on the island of kauai, hawaii.

16. Inning ender : OUT. baseball.

19. Legendary NHL defenseman : ORR. bobby.

20. Irish humanitarian who co-founded U2 : BONO

21. Biblical middle child : ABEL. cain, abel, seth.

22. "Don't look __ like that!" : AT ME

26. Senior moment, e.g. : LAPSE. has anyone else wondered out loud where your cell phone is, to the person you're talking to on your cell phone? me neither.

28. Some Deco prints : ERTES

29. Change for a 50 : TENS

30. Sideways look : LEER

34. Could possibly : MIGHT

36. Balaam's mount : ASS

39. Long-jawed fish : GAR

40. Online buddies, e.g. : USERS

42. Nautilus captain : NEMO

43. Impose, as a tax : LEVY

44. "Maria __": Jimmy Dorsey hit : ELENA. great cover by ry cooder.

46. Alley pickup : SPARE. bowling alley.

52. Cincinnati nine : REDS

53. Wild time : RIOT

54. Seniors' advocacy org. : AARP. american association of retired persons.

57. Actress Gardner : AVA

61. Kipling classic : KIM. novel by rudyard kipling.

62. "Let __!": "Enough!" : IT GO. or not.

63. Find on the dial : TUNE TO

64. Ernie of the PGA : ELS

65. Many August births : LEOS. so timely. btw, thank you for all the sweet birthday wishes on friday.

66. Knitted, as bones : HEALED

down:

1. Tycoon Walton with a club : SAM. sam's club.

2. Drawer pull : KNOB

3. "... and __ it again!" : I'D DO

4. Asset-protection agreements : PRE-NUPS. pre-nuptial.

5. Onetime Argentine power couple : PERONS. juan and eva.

6. Feminine side : YIN.

7. Perp's excuse : ALIBI

8. "Glengarry Glen Ross" playwright : MAMET. david.

9. Lithe : SVELTE

10. Allied gp. since 1948 : OAS. organization of american states.

11. Bathtub gin distiller : BOOTLEGGER

12. Old maker of sequential highway signs : BURMA SHAVE. speaking of angels ...

13. Disperse : STREW

18. La Brea goop : TAR. la brea tar pits, in los angeles.

22. One voting no : ANTI

24. Hardly rare, in restaurants : WELL. well done.

25. First name in household humor : ERMA. bombeck.

26. Selection made with a frown : LESSER EVIL. unless you're mae west.

27. Sierra Nevada photographer : ANSEL ADAMS

29. Crosslike letter : TAU. 19th letter of the greek alphabet.

31. Many ages : EON

32. Genesis outcast : EVE

33. "Shiny Happy People" band : REM

35. Attempt : TRY

37. Common contraction : ISN'T

38. Earn some lovely parting gifts : LOSE. snort.

41. Whistle blowers : REFS. referees.

43. Garfield's favorite food : LASAGNA

45. Commercial charge : AD RATE

47. Place to meet a Czech mate : PRAGUE

48. Male mallard : DRAKE

49. Rock's __ Boingo : OINGO

50. Utter fools : DODOS. but not our dodo.

51. Popular VW model : GTI

55. Fishing partner of 60-Down : REEL

56. Soiree spread : PATE

58. Dogpatch adjective : LIL. abner.

59. Imprecise ordinal : NTH

60. See 55-Down : ROD

Answer grid.

melissa

Tuesday, August 7, 2012 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Fortitude - Four different ways to spell 2. (From C.C.: Rich said: "I will publish this puzzle on a Tue. Hardly anyone will notice, but at least you and I will know. :-)"

20A. Powerful boxing combo : ONE-TWO PUNCH

36A. Caesar's last question : "ET TU, BRUTE?"

43A. "Could be worse" : "NOT TOO BAD"

56A. Not pie-in-the-sky : DOWN TO EARTH

Argyle here, reeling from the one-two punch of Marti and C.C. Let's just á go-go to the puzzle.

Across:

1. Little chocolate wrapped in foil : KISS

5. Squishy lump : GLOB

9. Cicada predators : WASPS. Very clear and precise site.

14. Woody's boy : ARLO. He's done well for himself. Arlo will not develop Huntington's disease because he did not inherit the gene from his father.

15. Iranian currency : RIAL

16. Full-price payer at the movies : ADULT

17. Santa's runway : ROOF

18. Org. concerned with working conditions : OSHA. (Occupational Safety and Health Administration)

19. Fluid transition : SEGUE

23. "I __ Rock" : AM A. This video is of the two boys and one guitar in a coffee house setting. Clip(2:58)

24. Schwarzenegger, formerly: Abbr. : GOV. (Governator)

25. Provided food for, as a wedding : CATERED

27. "60 Minutes" network : CBS. clecho 46A. 60 minutes : HOUR

30. Spiders' handiwork : WEBS. I thought it was Al Gore.

33. Makes faces at the camera : MUGS

34. Cookies mixed in some ice cream : OREOS. On Mars now.

40. "Norma Rae" director Martin : RITT. He also directed "Hud"(1963), with Paul Newman and "The Sound and the Fury"(1959) with Yul Brynner.

41. They mean nothing : ZEROs

42. "Zounds!" : "EGAD!"

45. Big name in arcade games : ATARI

47. High-tech hand-held gadgets : PDA's. (personal digital assistant)

49. Chinese calendar animal : RAT. This year, in fact. (Correction: 2012 is Year of the Dragon.)

50. Toscanini, e.g. : MAESTRO. (conductor)(born in the "Year of the Hare")

53. Your, of yore : THY

55. Sinus specialist: Abbr. : ENT. (ear, nose, and throat)(today)

62. Galore, in disco lingo : À GO-GO. Introduced in France.

64. Fat in the pantry : LARD. Probably safer to keep it in the freezer. Any first hand stories?

65. Folk tales : LORE

66. __ closet : LINEN

67. Oklahoma city : ENID. "Purple Martin Capital of Oklahoma"

68. Eagle Scout, typically : TEEN

69. Boss's terse note : "SEE ME". Might raise your blood pressure.

70. Lights-out tune : TAPS. Hope it's not what the boss' note was about.

71. Calls upon : ASKS

Down:

1. Corn syrup brand : KARO. Use to be in everyone's cupboard.

2. Multivitamin mineral : IRON

3. Wild plum : SLOE

4. One of two in Georgia? : SOFT G. Did she get you with this one? (From C.C.: This is Rich's clue.)

5. Fixed routine : GROOVE. Good to be in the groove, bad to be in a rut.

6. Talk like Daffy : LISP

7. Pearl Harbor locale : OAHU

8. Voice master Mel : BLANC

9. Laundry room fixture : WASHTUB. Multiple uses.

10. Citrusy refresher : ADE

11. Archies hit with the lyric, "You are my candy girl" : SUGAR, SUGAR. You won't get me to link it.

12. Large feather : PLUME

13. Suffix with farm or home : STEAD

21. Makes jaws drop : WOWS

22. "The Plague" author : CAMUS. Novel by Albert Camus, published in 1947

26. "Snowy" wader : EGRET

27. Toe woe : CORN

28. Gusto : BRIO. From Italian, of Celtic origin!

29. Establish a particular mood : SET THE TONE

31. Telly network, with "the" : BEEB. An informal name for BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)

32. Bra part : STRAP. Dennis comment?

35. Four Holy Roman emperors : OTTOs

37. Sondheim's Sweeney : TODD. "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler.

38. Fictional plantation : TARA. (Gone with the Wind)

39. Prepare for publication : EDIT

41. Hero with a trademark "Z" : ZORRO. This bold renegade, Carves a "Z" with his blade.

44. Bested : OUT DONE

45. Tennis great Arthur : ASHE

48. Butting heads : AT ODDS

50. Three squares : MEALS

51. Actress Dickinson : ANGIE. Sergeant Suzanne "Pepper" Anderson on the 1970's TV crime series, Police Woman.

52. Baby hooter : OWLET

54. 1945 "Big Three" conference city : YALTA. A city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea.

57. Mama's mama : NANA

58. "Dancing With the Stars" blunder : TRIP

59. Deer with three-pointed antlers : ROEs. A Eurasian species of deer, roe deer, called ROE for short, changing the adjective to a noun and adding an S for plural. We pluralize the same way; white-tailed deer can be referred to as whitetails.

60. Tough journey : TREK

61. Lady birds : HENS

63. Ruby, for one : GEM

Answer grid.

Argyle