Monday, November 12, 2012 Don Gagliardo & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: A week of Mondays - Five entries that start out innocent enough but there is a Mon. stuck right in the middle of them.

17A. Light reddish shade named for a fish : SALMON PINK

25A. Children's imitation game : SIMON SAYS

36A. Sticky breakfast sweets : CINNAMON ROLLS

49A. Grated citrus peel : LEMON ZEST

58A. Winter cause of sniffles and sneezes : COMMON COLD

48D. Workweek start, or an apt title for this puzzle based on an abbreviation found in its five longest answers : MONDAY

Argyle here so it must be Monday. I've been frittering my time listening to Monday songs and have decided on this one. Monday Mornin', by Peter, Paul, and Mary, I can't say as I've ever heard it before but I don't think I'll forget it. It's a strange one.

So salmon, cinnamon and lemon sort of put me on a food track but the unifier put me right. It seems like a minimum of abbreviations today. Don and C.C., thank you.

Across:

1. Actress Jessica : ALBA

5. Uses spurs, say : GOADS. Jessica could spur me on.

10. Sports squad : TEAM

14. Fortuneteller : SEER

15. Not yet burning : UNLIT

16. Taper off : WANE. Unlit tapers.

19. Tehran's land : IRAN

20. Uganda's Amin : IDI

21. Drawer projection : KNOB

22. Env. stuffing : ENCL. (enclosure)

23. Flows slowly : SEEPS

29. Deal, as a blow : INFLICT

31. "Then what happened?" : "AND?"

32. Govt. hush-hush org. : NSA. (National Security Agency)

33. "Grody to the max!" : "UGH!"

34. Dessert served in triangular slices : PIE

35. Grub : EATS

40. Relax in the tub : SOAK

41. Solemn promise : VOW

42. "__ as directed" : USE

43. Do some sums : ADD

44. Crank (up) : REV

45. Dormitory, to dirty room : ANAGRAM. OK, Don or C.C. came up with this one? I'll say Don. (From C.C.: I bumped into this anagram while reading something. Not my own creation.)

52. Onetime capital of Japan : KYOTO. Wiki link

53. Swigs from flasks : NIPS

54. Tiny bit : IOTA

56. Chili __ carne : CON. (chili with meat)

57. Go steady with : DATE

61. "Deal me a hand" : "I'M IN". Yesterday, it was "I'M OUT".

62. Heavenly path : ORBIT

63. Golden St. campus : UCLA. California is known as "The Golden State" and UCLA isn't. Here is a link to Golden State University, a school of Oriental medicine.

64. Kennel guests : PETS

65. Pre-meal prayer : GRACE

66. Bouquet : POSY

Down:

1. Birthplace of St. Francis : ASSISI. Spain. No, no, Italy. I was thinking(?) of Ávila.

2. Hard to lift : LEADEN

3. Religious conviction : BELIEF. St. Francis had 'em.

4. Shirt part : ARM

5. '50s-'60s TV detective Peter : GUNN. Check out the blooper. The police car starts rolling after Lt. Jacoby jumps out.

6. Not AWOL : ON POST. I tried ON BASE first.

7. Perp-to-cop story : ALIBI

8. Crowd noise : DIN

9. Wall St. buy : STK. (stock)

10. Minnesota baseballers : TWINS. I think we can guess who came up with this one.

11. Auditory passage : EAR CANAL

12. Some therapists : ANALYSTS

13. "Little __": Alcott novel : MEN. It is considered a sequel to "Little Women".

18. Thumb-and-forefinger gesture : OK SIGN. In this country, at least.

22. Finish : END

24. Put (down), as a bet : PLUNK

26. Common street name : MAIN

27. What a solo homer produces : ONE RUN

28. Airline to Copenhagen : SAS

30. Venezuelan president Hugo : CHAVEZ

34. "Batman" sound effect : [POW!]

35. Song of mourning : ELEGY

36. Alias for a secret agent : CODE NAME. "Skyfall" is setting records already.

37. Words of confession : "I ADMIT IT"

38. "Shake a leg!" : "MOVE!"

39. Native of Japan's third most populous city : OSAKAN. SSE of Kyoto.

40. Mineo of "Exodus" : SAL. Teen idol. Here with some other guy.

44. OR staffers : RN's

45. Like numbers in the periodic table : ATOMIC

46. Ornate 18th-century style : ROCOCO. Did you remember it from Friday?

47. Ring-shaped reefs : ATOLLS

50. Starts the show : OPENS

51. "The Lion King" king : SIMBA

55. Beach bag : TOTE

57. Salsa, e.g. : DIP. Be wary if C.C. offers you salsa dip.

58. Gear tooth : COG

59. Hockey immortal Bobby : ORR

60. Coffee container : CUP

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

1) Don came up with this theme. He was inspired by Rich's comment on my TWO/TU/TOO/TO puzzle. Interesting tidbit about this puzzle: Rich asked us to ease up the clues as our originals were more midweek-like.

2)  Here is a picture of Vegas Doc, a real doctor! (Correction: Vegas Doc is not a doctor. Doc is just his nickname. This is his Halloween costume). He often posts on weekends. Click here to see some of his interests. Another "The Shawshank Redemption" fan.

Sunday Nov 11, 2012 Ed Sessa

(If your paper does not carry the puzzle we're blogging on Sundays, click here to solve on line or print out a copy.)

Theme: "Merge Ahead" - Each theme entry is a merge of two road signs.

 27A. "Just ignore landslide warnings" : OVERLOOK + FALLING ROCKS

 42A. "Approaching Alaskan landmark" : DEAD END + BRIDGE AHEAD. This refers to the Bridge to Nowhere, right?

 60A. "Sorry, you can't avoid strip mall traffic" : NO OUTLET + DETOUR

 73A. "Road under construction ... still" : SLOW + MEN WORKING

 

 88. "Napping mandatory for sleepy drivers" : REST AREA + NO STANDING

 107. "Animals jaywalking, use caution" : DEER CROSSING + WRONG WAY

Only 6 theme entries, but 4 are very long. Total 104 theme squares. I find that gridding and filling get tricky once the number exceeds 100. 

But Ed is one of the best. Very smooth grid and the four corners are great. Loved the overall clues today, esp these few:

31A. Forty-niners' score : ORE.

103A. Joe for DiMaggio? : CAFFE. Look, the Rebates sign is autographed.

89D. Stock owner : RANCHER

And a few more. 

Across:

1. Kerfuffles : FLAPS

6. Quaint shoppe word : OLDE

10. Former Facebook marketing director Zuckerberg : RANDI. No idea. Sister of Mark Zuckerberg.

15. Basic lessons : ABCs

19. Forum attire : TOGAE

20. Cork objections : NAEs

21. Add baubles and bangles to : ADORN. Have you heard of CC Skye? Their bracelets are all the rage nowadays.

22. West Point mascot : MULE

23. Beyond the burbs : RURAL

24. Bric-a-__ : BRAC

25. "That's it for me" : I'M OUT

26. Object of devotion : ICON

32. "__ Boot": 1981 film : DAS

33. Covenants : PACTS

34. Together : UNITED

36. Triathlete, at times : PEDALER

39. Lisbon's Vasco da __ Bridge : GAMA

40. Ga. summer hours : EDT

41. Big time : ERA

47. French actor Delon : ALAIN. He's huge in China in the late '80s.

50. Have regrets about : RUE. Poor Petraeus! Who would you like to write your biography?

51. Drop-line link : ME A. This is for regular posters: Email me your recent photo (crosswordc@gmail.com) if you want to be included in our Blog Photo archive. I'd love to "see" you.

52. Store that welcomes dogs : PETCO

53. Posies : NOSEGAYS

56. Horrifies : APPALS. Mine is always "Appall".

59. "__ Always a Woman": Billy Joel song : SHE'S

63. Work in a play : ACT

65. Fed. arson-investigating org. : ATF

66. Homer, for one : HIT. Was thinking of the "The Simpsons" DAD.

67. Change : ALTER

68. GP's gp. : AMA. Hope Bob is doing better, JD.

69. Bhutto's overthrower : ZIA. No memory of him.

72. PC port : USB (Universal Serial Bus)

76. Sugar unit : LUMP

79. Ab __: from the beginning : INITIO. Learned from doing Xwords.

81. Carousing : ON A BINGE. 105. One 81-Across, perhaps : SOT

82. Former Piston Thomas : ISIAH. He's in the Hall of Fame.

84. Green prefix : ECO

85. Mr. Nahasapeemapetilon of "The Simpsons" : APU. Indians have very long names. Same with Thais.

87. Machu Picchu dwellers : INCAS

94. Co. once led by Baryshnikov : ABT (American Ballet Theatre)

95. Gallivant : GAD

96. Play around (with) : FUTZ. Yiddish.

97. Important person to believe in : ONESELF. Quite true.

101. Wooded : SYLVAN

106. Real estate giant Webb : DEL. Another stranger to me.

112. Swinging entrance : GATE

113. Poker Flat creator : HARTE (Bret)

114. Carpe __ : DIEM

115. "Family Ties" mother : ELYSE

116. Lying over : ATOP

117. Turn inside out : EVERT

118. Old Icelandic literary work : EDDA

119. Pitch fork? : TUNER. Awesome clue. I know "Awesome" is overused.

120. Buzzers : BEES

121. Second tries : REDOS. "Try, try again" does not work in many occasions.

122. Insect repellent compound : DEET

123. Excites : SENDS
        

 Down:

1. '60s sitcom set at Fort Courage : F TROOP. Stumped me last time.

2. Right Bank attraction : LOUVRE

3. "It's a deal" : AGREED

4. Carson followed him : PAAR (Jack)

5. Follow the bears : SELL. Stock market bears.

6. Ready to ship out : ON BOARD. Spitzboov sent me a very interesting article about a few US Navy midshipmen on board a Chinese Navy ship this summer. Unimaginable in the old days.

7. Spirited adventures : LARKS. And 9. Spirited adventure : ESCAPADE. Sexual escapade, that's a phrase I'm familiar with.

8. Unwilling to listen : DEAF

10. Transport on tracks : RAIL CAR

11. Fess up : ADMIT. Wish Petraeus's escapades were handled privately.

12. High times? : NOONS

13. It may be generic : DRUG

14. Trespass : INTRUDE

15. Parma pals : AMICI. Plural of "Amico".

16. SpongeBob SquarePants feature : BUCK TEETH

17. It might be decided by a nose : CLOSE RACE. Man oh Man (a la Jayce), that Nate Silver is truly a genius.

18. Kerry or Snowe: Abbr. : SEN. Alas, Olympia Snowe is not returning.

28. Old music halls : ODEA

29. Follower of Mary : LAMB

30. Ready for use : ON TAP

35. Carpentry grooves : DADOS. We have three carpenters on the blog: Jerome, Splynter and Marti. Avg Joe must know carpentry work also. Same as Windhover.
 

37. "Ta ta," to Tati : ADIEU. I know only one Tati: Jacques Tati.

38. Derby margins : LENGTHS

39. Bearded beast : GNU

40. Étienne's equal : EGAL. Étienne is English Stephen.

43. Formerly, in former times : ERST

44. Contaminated : IMPURE

45. Letter opener? : DEAR

46. Command, to the bard : HEST. Also new to me.

47. Oscar winner Paquin : ANNA. She won for "The Piano". Very passionate movie.

48. Plunder : LOOT

49. Starting from : AS OF

54. Cover of a kind : ALIBI

55. Thus far : YET

56. When an afternoon meeting might start : AT TWO

57. Hardy work : POEM. Oh, Thomas Hardy.

58. Margaret Mead's milieu : SAMOA. Alliteration all the way.

61. Old West gang family name : DALTON. The Dalton Gang. No Bond reference. OK with me, Daniel Craig is the best anyway.

62. Weena's people, in a Wells novel : ELOI. Weena is the girl in "The Time Machine".

64. Cavalry rifle : CARBINE

68. Grain bristle : AWN

69. .975 cents? : ZINC. Great clue. The remaining is copper.  

70. Teri's "Young Frankenstein" role : INGA

71. Mellows, maybe : AGES. D-Otto, were you hot-tempered when you were young?

72. "Remember to look __ the stars and not down at your feet": Hawking : UP AT

73. Director Vittorio De __ : SICA. Wiki shows he directed "Two Women", which I mistakenly thought was directed by Carlo Ponti.

74. Grammar class subject : NOUN

75. Scepter wielders : KINGS

76. Turkish coins : LIRAs

77. Food label recommendation : USE-BY DATE. I tend to have problem finishing my salsas in time.

78. Bussing overseer? : MISTLETOE. Kissing bussing. Sweet clue.

80. Requirement : NEED

83. "Horrible" Viking of comics : HAGAR

85. Ministered to : ATTENDED

86. Guerra's opposite : PAZ.  Paz = "Peace". Guerra = "War".  Spanish. Got me.
  

90. Counterbalances : OFFSETS

91. Muslim mystic : SUFI

92. Humble pie eater : DOORMAT

93. Really digging : INTO

98. He played Uncle Albert in "Mary Poppins" : ED WYNN. Saw the movie long time ago. Don't remember this guy at all.

99. Like many company cars : LEASED

100. Two-time '70s Stanley Cup champs : FLYERS. Philadelphia Flyers. Dennis knows. The Saturday Stud might too. 

102. Mondale and Quayle, once : VEEPS. Walter Mondale is still very active here in MN.

103. Hollowed out : CORED

104. Logical prefix : ASTRO. Astrological. Is there a prefix simply meaning "Logical"?

105. Garbo, for one : SWEDE

108. Kind of review : RAVE

109. "L'immoraliste" author : GIDE (André). No idea. He won Nobel Literature in 1947.  Rather abstract cover.

110. Brings home : NETS

111. Collage application : GLUE. I read it as "College application".

112. Yakety-yak : GAB. Don't you want to gab with PK in person? Fascinating person.

Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans on the blog! "We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude...".  Thank you for the sacrifice.

C.C.