Tuesday, February 5, 2013 C.C. Burnikel

 Theme: Go Ask Alice - The themes end with a word that can land behind WONDER.

17A. Dine : BREAK BREAD. Wonder Bread. What Diana Prince ate as a wonder child.

24A. Commonly controlled substance : ILLEGAL DRUG. Wonder drug.

35A. Roy Orbison classic : "OH, PRETTY WOMAN". Wonder Woman.

48A. 1967 Human Be-In attendee : FLOWER CHILD. Wonder child, a child prodigy; wunderkind (which strangely enough, is much more 'in the language').

58A. Awe-inspiring place where you might find the ends of 17-, 24-, 35- and 48-Across? : WONDERLAND

Argyle here with a puzzle from our fearless leader. Nice long vertical fill in all four corners.

Across:

1. Iraq's main port : BASRA. Map 54A. Country bordered by Niger and Nigeria : BENIN. Map 66A. English Derby site : EPSOM. Map 45D. Volga region natives : TATARS. Map

6. Nonspecific feeling : VIBE

10. Ukr. and Lith., once : SSR's. Ukraine and Lithuania were Soviet Socialist Republics.

14. Find repulsive : ABHOR

15. Waffle maker : IRON

16. Be on the mend : HEAL

19. Hathaway of "Les Misérables" : ANNE

20. Afrikaans speaker : BOER. Boer definition, a South African of Dutch extraction. Hence, Afrikaans is a West Germanic language.

21. Creator of Q and M : IAN. Fleming (James Bond)

22. Chicks together : BROOD

23. Back muscle, familiarly : LAT. Latissimus dorsi muscle.

27. '50s flop : EDSEL. It seems Edsel is popular in the crosswords.

29. His #4 was retired by the Giants in 1948 : OTT. (Mel) "Master Melvin" was a right fielder for the New York Giants.

30. Social suffix : ITE. (socialite)

31. Sink below the horizon : SET. Time for "Cheers!"

33. Public hanging : ART. Oh, that kind of hanging, not a necktie party.

34. Pontiac muscle cars : GTO's

39. __ even keel : ON AN

40. Glasgow veto : NAE

41. Shelley's "To a Skylark," e.g. : ODE. Did you know Buick produced the Skylark in these model years: 1953–1954, 1961–1972 and 1975–1998? "Hail to thee, blithe spirit!" - Shelly

42. Reunion gp. : FAM. (family)

43. D.C. figure : POL

44. Inviting door sign : ENTER

53. Gardner of the silver screen : AVA

55. Binary digit : ONE

56. WWII British gun : STEN

57. __ Grey tea : EARL

61. "__ sow, so shall ..." : AS YE

62. Sword with a bell-shaped guard : EPEE

63. Upper body : TORSO

64. "So __ say" : THEY

65. River down under? : STYX. We're not talking Australia here.

Down:

1. Go on and on : BABBLE

2. Like an American in Paris : ABROAD

3. Some linens : SHEETS

4. Howl with laughter : ROAR

5. First animal shelter : ARK

6. Like super-popular YouTube clips : VIRAL

7. Goodnight girl of song : IRENE. The Weavers recorded version was a big hit.

8. Fluffy wrap : BOA

9. Terminate : END

10. Broken piece : SHARD

11. Title for Miss Mexico? : SENORITA

12. Deserted : RAN OUT ON

13. Big hammers : SLEDGES

18. Cartoonist Keane : BIL. The creator of “Family Circus” cartoons.

22. Lunch menu letters : BLT. or have 36D. Deli order : HAM ON RYE

24. Robert of "The Sopranos" : ILER

25. Like many gangster movies : GORY

26. When tots become terrible? : AT TWO

28. "Pardon the Interruption" channel : ESPN. "Pardon the Interruption" (abbreviated PTI, remember this, you may be tested later) is a sports show(duh!) that airs weekdays on various ESPN TV channels.

32. Opera hero, often : TENOR. Basso = bad guy.

33. Gobbled up : ATE

34. FBI guys : G-MEN

35. Being walked, say : ON A LEASH

37. After-shower powder : TALC

38. Pigged out (on) : OD'ed

39. Quirky : OFFBEAT

43. Ink holder : PEN

46. "Yeah, but ..." : "EVEN SO ..."

47. Hit-or-miss : RANDOM

49. __ Post, first pilot to fly solo around the world : WILEY

50. Sweetie pie : HONEY

51. Book end? : INDEX

52. "Life of Pi" director Ang : LEE

56. Sow's supper : SLOP

58. Four-time All-Pro Patriots receiver Welker : WES

59. Choose (to) : OPT

60. Numbered hwy. : RTE.

You didn't think I'd leave without a song, did you? Wonderland by Night(3:14) by Bert Kaempfert.

Argyle


Notes from C.C.:
 
1) Congratulations to our beautiful Melissa Bee for her new job! She started working for a tech firm last Monday.

Left to Right: Melissa's daughter, Melissa's mom Barbara B, Melissa

 
2) Happy 20th Birthday to Melissa's handsome son!

He was two years old in this picture. So cute!

3) Trip Payne, who was featured in the movie "Wordplay", has a puzzle extravaganza coming up. Please click here for more information. Trip has over 4,000 puzzles published in various newspapers and magazines, including the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, etc. He's also an expert solver.

Monday, February 4, 2013 Bernice Gordon

 Theme: Simon and Schuster Crossword Puzzle - Today's constructor has many puzzles published by S&S so they may be the seed for this puzzle.

17A. Main idea, as of an argument : SUM AND SUBSTANCE. Shakespeare used it in The Two Gentlemen of Verona (4:1): "My riches are these poor habiliments [clothes], Of which if you should here disfurnish me, You take the sum and substance that I have." It has probably survived owing to alliteration. It now means "The essence or gist of something".

25A. Stick to a strict budget : SCRIMP AND SAVE. I think we all know the meaning of this.

42A. To the point : SHORT AND SWEET. I knew a girl once....

56A. Burnout cause : STRESS AND STRAIN. Funny this phrase follows the one above.

I am Argyle and I am honored to be reviewing Ms. Gordon's puzzle. Last winter I reviewed one after her 98th birthday and here we are after her 99th. Truly amazing. A text book Monday and only a Q away from a pangram. Last years note from C.C.: Please click here for an in inspiring article about today's constructor Bernice Gordon. Bernice and the LA Times should have the "oldest constructor" record unless she will be published by the NY Times again this year. They did, in July, but she is back with LAT today!

Across:

1. David Copperfield's forte : MAGIC. Not the Charles Dickens one.

6. High-ranking Indian : RAJA. and 11D. Wife of a 6-Across : RANI

10. Like the Sahara : ARID

14. Last new Olds : ALERO

15. Alike, in Lourdes : EGAL. In France.

16. Madcap : ZANY

20. "__ Pinafore" : HMS. A Gilbert & Sullivan comic opera.

21. Handy bags : TOTES

22. Inventor Howe : ELIAS

23. Candy in a wrapper : BAR

24. WSW's opposite : ENE

32. Beauty parlor : SALON

33. Saying to remember : ADAGE

34. Tool for a lumberjack : AXE. could partner with 57D. Carpentry tool : SAW

36. Cultivate the soil : PLOW

37. Car pedal : BRAKE

38. Needed a Band-Aid : BLED

39. Till now : YET

40. __ fatale : FEMME. The phrase is French for "deadly woman". But they still can be SHORT AND SWEET.

41. Town near the tip of Cape Cod : TRURO. Not far from Natick! But a long way from 35D. Tokyo's former name : EDO, except in this puzzle. A about 1500 miles from 51D. City west of Tulsa : ENID

45. Notes after mis : FAs

46. Contents of a cruet : OIL

47. Saltwater candy : TAFFY

50. Rested (against) : LEANT

53. __ Beta Kappa : PHI. An academic honor society.

59. Part of USA: Abbr. : AMER.

60. Like dedicated fans : AVID

61. 18th-century Swiss mathematician : EULER. Shout out to Fermatprime.

62. Goes bad : ROTS

63. High roller's rolls : WADS

64. Baseball's Pee Wee : REESE. Dodger shortstop.

Down:

1. Sitcom set in Korea : M*A*S*H

2. Homecoming visitor : ALUM

3. Jeweler's inventory : GEMS

4. 401(k) alternative, briefly : IRA. You have to SCRIMP AND SAVE to build it up.

5. Have inside : CONTAIN

6. Take a break : REST

7. Flu-like symptoms : AGUE. Shout out to pk and Dennis and some others, I'm sure.

8. Pokes : JABS

9. Three racing Unsers : ALs

10. Colorful garden shrub : AZALEA. A winter's project.

12. Ancient Peruvian : INCA

13. Turns blue, perhaps : DYES

18. Campus residence : DORM

19. Like someone pacing back and forth : TENSE

23. Forehead : BROW. And if you're TENSE, where wrinkles will appear.

24. Rim : EDGE

25. Comical Soupy : SALES

26. Material : CLOTH

27. Cheese city in northeast Italy : PARMA

28. End of Rhett's sentence that begins "Frankly, my dear" : "...A DAMN!"

29. Like a newborn : NAKED

30. Relative worth : VALUE

31. Put forth, as effort : EXERT

32. Le Carré character : SPY. David John Moore Cornwell (born 19 October 1931), pen name John le Carré is a British author of espionage novels. (lifted from Wikipedia)

37. Puts money (on) : BETS

38. Songwriter Jacques : BREL. And singer, video(2:39).

40. Wears at the edges : FRAYS

41. Social network for short messages : TWITTER

43. Bids : OFFERS

44. Male offspring : SONS

47. Old Russian monarch : TSAR

48. Prefix with sphere : ATMO. (atmosphere)

49. Guitar ridge : FRET

50. Volcanic output : LAVA

52. Does some sums : ADDS

53. Ashen : PALE

54. Hurries : HIEs. "Hie thee hither, That I may pour my spirits in thine ear" What a waste of spirits.

55. Legal memo opener : IN RE

58. Feel bad about : RUE

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

1)  Here is an updated profile of today's constructor Bernice Gordon.

Our 99-year-old constructor Bernice Gordon

2) To blog regulars: Please email me (crosswordc@gmail.com) if you want to be included in our birthday list or have your pictures included in our Archive section. I'd love to "see" you & celebrate your birthday on the blog!