Monday, February 18, 2013 Dan Schoenholz

 Theme: Presidential Connection - Before and after variation in honor of President's Day. The last names of four American presidents are also the first names of four other famous people, one of whom was also a president (CSA)

20A. Jefferson : THOMAS OR DAVIS. Thomas Jefferson/Jefferson Davis (leader of the Confederacy)

27A. Washington : GEORGE OR IRVING. George Washington/Washington Irving (author of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow")

43A. Jackson : ANDREW OR BROWNE. Andrew Jackson/Jackson Browne (singer-songwriter, Running on Empty 4:58)

51A. Truman : HARRY OR CAPOTE. Harry Truman/Truman Capote (author of "In Cold Blood")

Argyle here on the day presidents sell stuff, or so it seems. Dan has come through with tight themed Monday with some late week crunchies thrown in.

Across:

1. Old flatboats : ARKS. A temporary boat, used to float goods down river then dismantled for the lumber. Wiki article.

5. Stag party attendees : MALES

10. Fixes with thread : SEWS

14. Skid row sort : WINO

15. River joining the Missouri near Jefferson City : OSAGE. Harry S. Truman reservoir.

16. "Is there __ against that?" : A LAW

17. Skating maneuver : LOOP

18. Gnatlike insect : MIDGE

19. Strauss of blue jeans : LEVI

23. Hibachi residue : ASH

25. 18-wheeler : RIG

26. Black cats, to some : OMENS

32. Baton-passing event : RELAY

33. Singer Brickell who's married to Paul Simon : EDIE

34. "You got that right, brother!" : "AMEN!"

35. In first place : ON TOP

37. Crab's grabber : CLAW

41. Impressionist : APER

42. Chicago airport : O'HARE. Orchard Field.

48. Coffee lightener : CREAM

49. Word with popper or dropper : EYE

50. Fishing stick : ROD. Some "sticks" cost over a $1,000.

56. Bump up against : ABUT

57. Jeweled headpiece : TIARA

58. Reverse, as a computer operation : UNDO

61. It ebbs and flows : TIDE

62. Kauai and Tahiti, for two : ISLES

63. Read bar codes on : SCAN

64. Large amount : SCAD

65. Gets things growing : SEEDS. Soon, soon.

66. Number picker's casino game : KENO

Down:

1. Leatherwork tool : AWL

2. Brazilian port, for short : RIO. (Rio de Janeiro)

3. Lumber blemish : KNOTHOLE

4. Frosh, next year : SOPH

5. Christina Crawford's "__ Dearest" : MOMMIE. Christina was one of four children adopted by Joan Crawford.

6. Italian cheese region : ASIAGO. Interesting; it can assume different textures, according to its aging, from smooth to a crumbly texture. Plus, 13D. Deli cheese : SWISS

7. Youngsters : LADS

8. "Simply delicious" waffle maker : EGGO. Lads and lassies protecting their Eggo's.

9. Tea leaves reader, e.g. : SEER

10. Deli meat in round slices : SALAMI

11. Dreaded business chapter? : ELEVEN. Dreaded by whom? A business may restructure and eliminate debts and continue in operation.

12. Greeting from a distance : WAVING

21. Wild revelry : ORGY

22. Went off the high board : DOVE

23. Taj Mahal city : AGRA

24. Come across as : SEEM

28. Competed in a 10K : RAN

29. Back in style : RETRO

30. Altar vow : "I DO"

31. Pants seam problem : RIP

35. Not shut, in verse : OPE. (open)

36. Just out of the box : NEW

37. Comedian Margaret : CHO. And more: American comedian, fashion designer, actress, author, and singer-songwriter.

38. "Sons and Lovers" novelist : LAWRENCE. (D. H. Lawrence (1885 – 1930))

39. Florence's river : ARNO. Italy, sometimes clued as Pisa flower.

40. Crab grass, e.g. : WEED. Soon, soon.

41. Military force : ARMY

42. Black-and-white cookie : OREO. but not 52D. Spunkmeyer of cookie fame : OTIS

43. Middle East language : ARABIC

44. 1971 Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo : NERUDA. (Pablo Neruda (1904 – 1973))

45. Scooted : DARTED

46. Brought to maturity : REARED

47. Cardiac surgery technique : BYPASS

48. Chews the fat : CHATS

53. Get out of bed : RISE

54. Auto racer Yarborough : CALE. Back in the day.

55. Elephant's incisor : TUSK

59. "The Da Vinci Code" author Brown : DAN

60. John's Yoko : ONO

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to dear Lois! Hope you're succeeding in fighting the Nazi regime.

2) Happy Birthday to Awol (A Woman Of Leisure) as well! Look at her cool hair.

Awol

Sunday Feb 17, 2013 Mike Peluso

Theme: "Begone!" - B is removed from each theme entry.

23A. Garden tool for unexpected situations? : EMERGENCY RAKE. Emergency Brake.

35A. Hardly ever laugh? : LACK HUMOR. Black humor.

 51A. Reason for a few nicks? : SHAVING RUSH. Shaving brush.

69A. Plumber's assessment? : LEAK OUTLOOK. Bleak outlook.

 84A. Panama Canal bash? : LOCK PARTY. Block party.

102A. Highland scoundrel? : SCOTTISH ROGUE. Scottish brogue. Scottish English is hardest to understand.

3D. Loud parties in Georgia? : ATLANTA RAVES. Atlanta Braves.

57D. Vulcanized rubber inventor's unsteady gait? : GOODYEAR LIMP. Goodyear Blimp.

3 B's are removed from the first word. 5 from the second word. So no odd man out. 

We still have 5 B's in the grid. Mike probably considered keeping B's out of the grid, but opted having cleaner fill rather than obsessing over one letter.

  

Across:      

1. Charge for unlimited use, say : FLAT FEE

8. Nice woman : FEMME. The French city Nice.

13. Dines lavishly : FEASTS

19. Go back over : RE-TRACE

20. Connecticut town on Long Island Sound : DARIEN.  What's it famous for, LaLaLinda?

21. "It was all __" : A DREAM

22. About to deliver : IN LABOR

25. Escargot : SNAIL

26. Start the day : ARISE

27. NBA one-pointers : FTs. Free Throws.

28. Ayres who played Dr. Kildare : LEW

29. Barone's superior : CONTE. Italian for "Count". French is "Comte", "Le Comte de Monte-Cristo".

30. Ridge : CREST

31. Pvts.' superiors : CPLs

33. Start of many California city names : SAN

34. N.Y. neighbor : ONT
  

 37. PowerShot maker : CANON

39. Up : AT BAT

42. Elite school : IVY

43. Welcomes at the door : GREETS. During Chinese New Year, kids gets Hong Bao, literally "Red Packet", with money inside. In Guangzhou, you get Hong Bao as long as you're single. It's normally 10 or 20 RMB.

44. Drive aimlessly : CRUISE. Have never taken a cruise ship. I don't think I will.

45. Annoy with complaints : WHINE

48. Mentalist Geller : URI

49. "Just a __!" : SEC

50. Nickels and dimes : CHANGE

54. Some sopranos : DIVAS

55. Spies on, in a way : TAILS

56. Runs amok : RAMPAGES

60. Thought: Pref. : IDEO

61. "Tales From the __": '50s horror comic : CRYPT. Guessed.

62. Small toy? : WHELP. The ? did not prevent me from thinking real toys.

64. Al Green genre : SOUL

65. Blisters : VESICLES. Another new word to me.

67. Apples, e.g. : POMES

68. "What __!": "Yawn!" : A BORE

72. Closely watched index : THE DOW. Struggling to stay above 14,000.

73. Abbr. usually preceded by a comma : ETC

76. AMEX adjustments : CRS. Credit Reports? I only know Bill G & Avg Joe's old age CRS.

77. Tenured coll. employees : PROFS

78. Walks casually : MOSEYS

79. Golfer Garcia : SERGIO. He should have married Martina Hingis. They were a great couple.

81. Sch. fundraising gp. : PTA

82. Scandinavian capital : KRONE
 

83. Suave competitor : PRELL

89. Capp and Kaline : ALs

92. Joey's mom : ROO

93. __ Mawr : BRYN

95. Equip anew : RE-RIG
 

96. Amoxicillin target : STREP

98. Alliance formed under HST : OAS (Organization of American States). Founded in 1948.

99. Great Basin cap. : SLC. Salt Lake City.

100. His name is Spanish for "fox" : ZORRO. Learned this a while ago.

101. Punt navigator : POLER. Is this a football term?

106. At a moment's notice : READILY

108. Relents : LETS UP

109. Most exposed : BAREST

110. Author Prosper __ who wrote "Carmen," on which the opera is based : MERIMEE. No idea. I could only think of BIZET.

111. Old cinemas : ODEONS

112. Orchard Field, nowadays : O'HARE

113. Surprise success : SLEEPER. I'm rather intrigued by that Massad Prisoner X story. So he was a double agent?

Down:

1. Giants' home, familiarly : FRISCO

2. "The Lawrence Welk Show" sisters' surname : LENNON. The Lennon Sisters.

4. Blue eyes, e.g. : TRAIT. Were you thinking of Sinatra?

5. It has a moral : FABLE

6. Green prefix : ECO

7. Eternally, to Blake : EER

8. Starve, to Shakespeare : FAMISH. I only know famine, Mr. Shakespeare!

9. 1974 hit sung entirely in Spanish : ERES TU

10. Muddy area : MIRE

11. Bit of computer memory : MEG

12. Omaha-to-Milwaukee dir. : ENE

13. Statistical input : FACTS

14. It's Dreyer's west of the Rockies : EDY'S. Source of our blog trouble last month.

15. SFO info : ARR

16. Routes for liners : SEA LANES

17. Show particular interest : TAKE NOTE

18. Fish-eating duck : SMEW

20. She was the ten in "10" : DEREK.  Bo Derek is a beautiful woman.

24. Broncos' org. : NFL

26. Pie slice feature : ARC

30. Leonardo's co-star in "The Aviator" : CATE (Blanchett)

31. Halloween gathering? : COVEN. Fun clue. JD, Chickie, Garlic Girl gather monthly. They're our Californian Coven. Jill is to be inducted, I think.

32. Snoop : PRY

33. Pennzoil letters : SAE. I had to google. Society of Automotive Engineers.

35. Do surgery, in a way : LASE

36. __ golf : MINI

37. Invigorating, as air : CRISP

38. Pres. advisory team : NSC (National Security Council)

40. Controversial baby food ingredient : TUNA OIL. Unaware of the controversy.

41. Major leagues, in baseball lingo : BIGs

43. Crotchety sort : GRUMP. I miss Grumpy. who is never crotchety.

44. Rebuke : CHIDE

45. Party enforcer : WHIP

46. Stop : HALT

47. OR hangers : IVs

48. Eurasian range : URALS

50. Early 5th-century year : CDIV. 404. Or CDII/CDVI. 

51. Authority : SAY-SO

52. A mystery, metaphorically : GREEK

53. Aging pro, maybe : HAS BEEN. Made me think of Vijay Singh.

55. Arduous journeys : TREKS

58. Guilder replacements : EUROS

59. Ton : SLEW

61. Light cigar wrapper : CLARO. Read more here. I have no knowledge on cigar wrappers. I thought CLARO is just light cigar.

62. Response from Fido : WOOF

63. Ins. plans : HMOs

66. Five-time MLB All-Star Cooper : CECIL. Former managers for the Astros. Cecil Feilder is a 3-time All-Star. Which one is more famous to you?

Prince Fielder's Dad

 67. Oslo Accords signer: Abbr. : PLO. I don't remember exactly what Oslo Accords is about. But I do remember this image.

68. "I get it," wryly : AH SO

70. Author Sinclair : UPTON. "The Jungle". 

71. Gillette razor word : TRAC

72. Parliament member : TORY

73. Seer's alleged gift : ESP
 

74. Like many apartments : TERRACED
 

75. Piling coating : CREOSOTE. New word to me  also.

78. Business sch. major : MKTG

80. Day-__ : GLO

81. Thickness : PLY
 

85. Cincinnati-based retailer : KROGER. I've never visited a Kroger.

86. Look over : PERUSE

87. Octagonal road sign, in Arles : ARRET. "Stop" in French.

88. El Amazonas, por ejemplo : RIO

90. Actress Sobieski : LEELEE. Does she look like Helen Hunt?

91. More like a spring chicken : SPRYER

93. Dots that may beep : BLIPS

94. Some colas : RCs

96. What a slash may mean in some scores : SPARE. Bowling. Boomer had 23 strikes in a row last Monday, 290 & 300.

97. "It's __ for!" : TO DIE

98. City served by Gardermoen Airport : OSLO

99. Dumbfound : STUN

100. Writer __ Neale Hurston : ZORA
 

103. Chicken general? : TSO. General Tso's Chicken is one of those Chinese dishes Chinese don't eat. 

104. "Veep" network : HBO

105. Cheer word : RAH

106. Apt. divisions : RMs

107. Sushi fish : EEL

1) Happy Birthday to Ron Wordon! Great to see you back.

2) Happy 46th wedding anniversary to Husker Gary and Joann! I think I know the secret to their happy marriage: chocolate-covered strawberries.

Joann and Gary at one of Nebraska's most famous landmarks Chimney Rock on their way to the Black Hills August 28, 2012