Wednesday, December 26th, 2012 Neville Fogarty

Theme: I-C; U-C-2!

The first word of the starred answers phonetically reveals the ... ummm... reveal! (I always wondered why it was called a reveal, now I know!) You see it, I see it too!

18A. *"The Golden Girls" actress : BEA ARTHUR. Here's her USMC ID headshot. Semper Fi!

 


23A. *Interior designer's forte : EYE FOR DETAIL. Eye for Inflating the Budget also, if we're not careful.

39A. *Traveling : EN ROUTE.  Crying European foul here. I say "en route", you say "en route". Hmm - let's see - I say "On Root", you say "eN Rout".  But wait, you say "Root 66", but the wireless thing in the corner is a Rout-er. Oh well - on a recent trip to England I saw, regarding the actor Sean Bean - "Look, you can be Seen Been or Shawn Borne, you can't have it both ways".

 52A. *"My goodness!" : GEE WILLIKERS! If I was a constructor I'd retire in glory, Hall Of Fame bound, with this answer. Marvelous!

62A. *Head-slapper's cry : OH BROTHER. I prefer "D'oh", but I've got nine empty spaces to fill.

71A. Name spelled out in a canine song, and also by the starts of the answers to starred clues : BINGO. Also, a clue which is so long that I had to scroll to read it.


Happy Boxing Day, everyone! Steve here with a potpourri of a Neville Fogarty puzzle - we've got all kinds of things working here, so let's get to work!

Across:

1. 1978 co-Nobelist from Egypt : SADAT. Former President Anwar Sadat.

6. Bookstore ID : ISBN. The 13-digit International Standard Book Number which uniquely identifies the volume in your hand. It used to be 9 digits, but apparently we were running out.

10. Romantic gift : ROSE. An excuse to post this earworm

14. Rowing teams : CREWS

15. Cpls. and sgts. : N.C.O.'S Those non-commissioned officers still make me wonder how to punctuate and pluralize!

16. In pain : ACHY. Just slightly painful, surely.

17. Monteverdi character seeking to bring Euridice back from Hades : ORFEO. Learning moment for me, I knew Orpheus but ... now I know

20. Chum : PAL

21. Williams-Sonoma purchases : PANS. Don't get me started on the wonderful broiler pan I bought from these guys two weeks ago.

22. Make good (for) : ATONE

27. Advanced math assignment : PROOF. Hmmm - not sure about "advanced" here.

28. __ v. Ferguson: 1896 segregation case : PLESSY

32. Gem of a Hitchcock film? : TOPAZ

34. Gumbo vegetable : OKRA. FOOD! In my experience there are two things you can do with okra - put it in Gumbo or make Bhindi Bhaji with it. The latter has my vote.

37. Playbill listing : ROLE

38. Thurman of "Pulp Fiction" : UMA. This is one of my favorite movies and I'd love to post links to the dialog, but this is a family blog and I'd like to be here next year.

42. Like a limbo bar, late in the game : LOW

43. Fishhook feature : BARB

45. Mideast VIP : EMIR

46. Record's two : SIDES. I'm old enough to remember this, but might be clued shortly as "Retro"?

48. Like chinchillas : ANDEAN. Perps all around. Wanted Llama, Rabbit, Furry Things, all kinds of wrong answers.

50. Beaded counters : ABACI. Yes! I love it! Finally my Latin class at school paid off!

57. Playbill listing : ACTOR

60. Biol. branch : ANAT. Anatomy and Biology? I though they were separate when I was at school learning how to spell 50A!

61. Dirt road feature : RUT.

64. Common herb in Italian cooking : BASIL. You say Bay-sill and I say bah-zil.

66. In proximity : NEAR

67. Oliver's request : MORE

68. River past Geneva : RHONE

69. Biblical reformer : EZRA

70. Small bit : IOTA. I had "MOTE" at first when I had the "OT". Eventually scrubbed and replaced.

Down:

1. Sharpshooter's apparatus : SCOPE. Really a telescopic sight, but "scope" is quicker to say and fits the grid.

2. Matrix, e.g. : ARRAY. MOVIE didn't work, but eventually this did. I've certainly been dragged (kicking and screaming) to High School today.

3. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" rockers : DEF LEPPARD. I could link some music here, but in the spirit of the holidays, I won't do that to you. This is what you're missing:

4. Wonder : AWE

5. Chinese menu general : TSO. Still haven't tried this.

6. Breaking all the rules : IN BAD FORM

7. Act subdivision : SCENE. Quickly - soliloquy association - Shakespeare's Hamlet; Act 3 Scene 1 "To ...."

8. Talk a good game : BOAST

9. Code-breaking org. : N.S.A. The National Security Agency is the United States Cytological Organization, or the USCO - wait, no  - encrypt that - the NSA.

10. Audible snake : RATTLER.

11. Dos y dos y dos y dos : OCHO. I like my math workout in any language. Today's challenge was Spanish - thank goodness I didn't have to say "9,000,245,693.29" or we'd be here until next year.

12. Ostracize : SHUN

13. Brontë's Jane : EYRE

19. Skatepark component : RAIL. I had RA and wanted RAMP, but eventually sanity prevailed. RAIL it is.

21. How some amateurs turn : PRO

24. Monk's title : FRA. I thought Fra. Angelico was an Italian liqueur until I went to Florence:

25. Move viscously : OOZE

26. Give __ on the back : A PAT

29. Continues despite hardship : SOLDIERS ON

30. Plumlike fruit : SLOE. I've eaten plums, and made gin from sloes - they're not really alike, I'm sorry. They're alike in the sense that a domestic kitten and a Bengal Tiger are similar, but you really don't want to confuse one with the other, trust me.

31. Trees with elastic wood : YEWS. The source of the wood to make either longbows or cricket bats. The English would claim either was a tool to subjugate the masses.

32. Bass brass : TUBA

33. Yemen neighbor : OMAN

35. Decorative pond fish : KOI

36. The sticks : RURAL AREA

40. Hawaiian flier : NENE

41. 57-Across Morales : ESAI

44. Galway "Golly!" : BEGORRA. Oh please, if we're going to have a phonetic mis-spelling of Begorrah! can we at least make the alliteration work? How about "Belfast Bollocks!"?

47. "That's nasty!" : ICK

49. Dynamic start? : AERO. Aerodynamic.


51. Brief diner order? : B.L.T.

53. "Hooray!" : WAHOO!

54. Like a noble gas : INERT

55. Wishing one hadn't : RUING. I still want an "E" in here somewhere!

56. Canonized fifth-cen. pope : ST. LEO. Was this LEOI or LEOX or LEOIV or one of the other convenient LEOs? Because you can't be Seen Been or Shawn Born (c.f. 39A)

57. Topnotch : A-ONE

58. French eatery word : CHEZ. Nous, Max, Maman, Steve - oh wait, that's here.

59. Skier's transport : T-BAR. Another "retro" entry? I'm old enough to have fought my way up an Alp on one of these things - trying not both not fall of yourself nor push your co-rider off the precipice either. Not easy. I hope never to see one of these instruments of torture again.

63. Texter's "I've heard plenty, thanks!" : TMI

64. Texter's "I'm away for a moment" : BRB (Be Right Back)


65. Sushi bar tuna : AHI.

And try as I might I couldn't sneak a Boxing Day reference in anywhere!

Steve

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to Andrea!

Back row: Dot (85) and her husband Irv (99). Hope I got the ages right, Dot. Front Row: Kazie and Andrea. Sept 19, 2009

(From Dot: Irv will be 99 in Mar.; I will be 85 in Apr.)

 2) Belated Happy Birthday to SL Zalameh (Zcarguy). Here is a photo of him and his wife Kathy.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012 John Lampkin

Theme: Ho, Ho, D'oh! - from our constructor: "The puzzle is a reincarnation of a song I composed and recorded in 1996. Mara & Sue, a popular local kid-oriented duo performed the vocals and I myself performed all the instrumental tracks—keyboards, bass, drums and percussion. I recently remastered it to make a fun go-with for your blog write-up. This may be a groundbreaking combination of YouTube and crosswords!

All the best wishes to you and your family, John.

Also, there is a Christmas present for Jason in one of the down entries."

17A. With 26- and 48-Across, unexpected Christmas morning observation : SOMETHING HUGE IS

26A. See 17-Across : CLOGGING UP

48A. See 17-Across : OUR CHIMNEY

61A. Goodies unclaimed as a result of this puzzle's predicament : COOKIES FOR SANTA

Watch it here: Link.

Argyle here. Hey! I resemble that remark. I suppose you could call this a quote puzzle but the quote isn't famous...yet.

Across:

1. Easy mark : PATSY

6. Where X marks the spot : MAP but 57A. Where eggs mark the spot? : NEST

9. British county : SHIRE. Home to Hobbits, too.

14. Marry on the sly : ELOPE

15. Top pilot : ACE

16. __ wave : TIDAL

20. Oompah maker : TUBA. In case you missed Abejo Saturday night, go here, starting @8:25PM.

21. "To a ..." poem : ODE. The title of odes often start with "Ode to a __"

22. Take a breath : INHALE

23. Rocky Balboa skipped it : ROPE

25. Choir recess : APSE where you might find the 40A. Choir voices : ALTOS.

30. Office supplies order : REAM. It may be the electronic age but you still need reams of paper.

34. The Tigers of the NCAA's Southeastern Conference : AUBURN

35. __ about: approximately : ON OR

37. Prez on a penny : ABE

38. Old battle-ax : CRONE

39. Big bang creator : TNT. Not the one created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady.

42. Giggling syllable : HEE

43. __ gin fizz : SLOE

45. Zips along : SPEEDS

46. ExxonMobil trade name : ESSO. Their international trade name.

50. "That's unlikely" : "I BET"

52. Start from scratch : REDO

53. Pitchman's "Don't delay!" : "ACT NOW!". "But wait!..." 5D. "However ..." : "YET ...". "That's not all!"

56. "Sure, skipper!" : "AYE!"

64. Has the guts : DARES

65. Agua, across the Pyrenees : EAU. Spain/France, in the Pyrenees, ur is the Basque word for 'water'.

66. Milk dispenser : UDDER. Going right to the source, the primary producer.

67. Bonnie's partner in crime : CLYDE

68. Paul's partner in song : ART. Simon and Garfunkel.

69. Outdoes : BESTS

Down:

1. Pantry ant, e.g. : PEST

2. Matty or Felipe of baseball : ALOU. "But who's on first?" "I don't know." "Third base!"

3. Mummy's home : TOMB

4. Underwater weapon : SPEAR GUN. 62D. Ocean : SEA. 63D. Ocean traveler : SUB

6. Damsel : MAIDEN

7. Teen's woe : ACNE

8. Place to hang your hat : PEG

9. Astonishes : STUNS

10. More expensive : HIGHER. I wanted DEARER.

11. Item in a writer's notebook : IDEA

12. Commuter's option : RAIL

13. Alternatively : ELSE

18. "Climb aboard!" : "HOP IN!"

19. Safari heavyweight : HIPPO

24. Shrek and his relatives : OGRES

25. Family reunion attendee : AUNT

26. Secret supply : CACHE

27. Angler's boxful : LURES

28. Melodious winds : OBOES

29. Dead duck : GONER. Evocative

31. Unlike leftovers : EATEN

32. Home : ABODE

33. Like many a dorm room : MESSY

36. Fast : RAPID

39. Publicize in a big way : TOUT

41. Sidewalk stand buy : LEMONADE

44. "My Fair Lady" composer Frederick : LOEWE

45. Transparent, as stockings : SHEER

47. Sounded like a pig : OINKED

49. Shout : CRY OUT

51. Northwest capital : BOISE

53. Electrically flexible : AC/DC

54. Naughty child's stocking filler : COAL. Theme related.

55. Revolutionary British sympathizer : TORY. Tens of thousands of Americans opposed the Revolution. They called themselves Loyalists; the Patriots called them Tories. from "Tories, Fighting For the King in America's First Civil War" by Thomas B. Allen. The word Tories was originally used to describe rural bandits in Ireland. Origin: 1640–50; < Irish *tóraighe outlaw, bandit, derivative of tóir chase, pursuit. 56. "Bearing gifts, we traverse __" : AFAR. Theme related.

58. Comes to a stop : ENDS

59. Kill the dele : STET

60. Finishes, as a road : TARS. Stop, kill it, finish...OK, I get the idea.

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

1) Here is a picture of Argyle, our dear Santa. Merry Christmas!

2) Happy Birthday to Fermatprime (send me a photo if you like) & Yellowrocks (Kathy)!

 This is what Kathy said last time:

 "It is from my second trip to Japan about 5 years ago. Just add a few little streaks of gray and a few pounds and you'll see me today. Embracing Buddha? Or just his statue? LOL"