Monday March 11, 2013 Jeff Chen

 Theme: IOU's - The first word in each theme entry spells out I, O, U's phonetically.

17A. Cyclone center : EYE (I) OF A HURRICANE.

26A. Roy Orbison hit featured in a Gere/Roberts film : OH (O) PRETTY WOMAN. I used to think the song title was just "Pretty Woman".

43A. Exerciser's motto : USE (U's) IT OR LOSE IT

56A. Debtors' documents suggested by the sequence of the first words of 17-, 26- and 43-Across : PROMISSORY NOTES. Plural form as a 15-letter spanner eases up the gridding considerably.

C.C. here, giving Argyle another break. No new puzzle at Cruciverb. Their monthly glitch. I cried wolf last Monday. 

Excellent puzzle from Jeff Chen, who's a master at coming up with smooth Monday grids with eye-popping fill.

Across:

1. Money under a mattress, e.g. : STASH. And 39. Reliable moneymakers : CASH COWS. "Money" clecho (clue echo).

6. Poses a question : ASKS. To answer your question Bill G, it doesn't happen often with LA Times, but there are certainly times when I can't figure out a theme. As for when, no rules.

10. Hired rides : CABS

14. Singer Lena : HORNE

15. Apt name for a windstorm? : GAIL. Very strong wind here last night.

16. Hollywood celeb : IDOL. I really like Bradley Cooper now, esp since Daniel Craig & D-Otto never called me. Bradley, this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe?

20. Spotted : SAW

21. Pitcher's mistake : BALK

22. Feral no more : TAMED

23. Adds highlights at the salon : DYES. I've been thinking of having the hairstyle Marti and Garlic Gal sport. But it's hard to pull it off. Looks like high maintenance.

25. Sources of storage chest wood : CEDARS.  So Blue Iris has some Peter Rabbit melmac dishes in her cedar chest. What's in yours? We don't have a chest.

31. By surface area, second-largest Great Lake : HURON

32. Rent-a-car choice : AVIS

33. Apply daintily : DAB

36. Ladder rung : STEP

37. Taj __ : MAHAL

39. Gospel singer Winans : CECE

40. Needing no Rx : OTC

41. Late-night Jay : LENO. Not my cup of Java.

42. Coffees, in slang : JAVAS

47. Shipping container : CARTON

49. Inaugural pledge : OATH

50. Sarandon of "Thelma & Louise" : SUSAN. She's in "Bull Durham".

51. Channel for business types : CNBC

53. Magna __ laude : CUM

60. 50-and-over org. : AARP

61. 1,000 meters, briefly : KILO

62. Hindu guru : SWAMI

63. Loch of legend : NESS

64. "By Jove!" : I SAY

65. Extremely pale : ASHEN

Down:

1. Her, subjectively : SHE

2. Hot Wheels and hula hoops : TOYS

3. Region : AREA

 4. Flower that usually blooms in winter : SNOWDROP

5. Playboy founder, for short : HEF. Newly wed.

6. Thunderstruck : AGHAST

7. Bellow in a library? : SAUL. Saul Bellow.

8. Spock's captain : KIRK

9. Photog's camera choice : SLR

10. Large, noisy insect : CICADA. I used to pick up cicada skins in the summer time, then sold them to the Chinese herb shops. I can't remember what they are good for.

11. Starters of the first race? : ADAM AND EVE. Great answer/clue.

12. Silly mistake : BONER. Rich won't allow HOOTERS in a grid.

13. Winter coasters : SLEDS

18. Help illegally : ABET

19. List components : ITEMS

24. Japanese money : YEN. It has the same character as Chinese currency Yuan.

25. Spiral shape : COIL

26. Too-too : OH SO

27. Sci-fi's Jabba the __ : HUTT

28. Forerunners : PRECURSORS

29. Search engine name : YAHOO

30. Appalachian state: Abbr. : WVA. WV is more common.

34. Berry in modern diet supplements : ACAI

35. Oscar category word : BEST

37. Chow __ : MEIN. Chow= Stir-fried. Mein= Noodles. Cantonese.

38. Picnic pest : ANT

41. Téa of "Tower Heist" : LEONI

42. Scribble (down) : JOT

44. Postal purchases : STAMPS

45. Drink named for a Scottish hero : ROB ROY. Scotch.

46. Like some nighties : LACY

47. Channel for political types : C-SPAN

48. Psychic glows : AURAE. Never know if it's going to end in S or E.

51. Forensics team members: Abbr. : CSIs

52. The Big Easy acronym : NOLA. Hi there Hahtoola.

54. The Beehive State : UTAH

55. Kid's enthusiastic "I do!" : ME, ME

57. Compete in a slalom : SKI

58. Clandestine govt. org. : NSA

59. Admission in a confessional : SIN

1) Congratulations to Marti on her first ACPT! We're so proud of what you achieved! Marti only had one week to prepare for the tournament. With more practice, she's going to jump way ahead next year. Congratulates to Dan Feyer as well. You're just amazing, Dan.

 

2) Happy Birthday to our beautiful Mari!  She said this photo "shows two of my favorite things: cats and needlepoint. It leaves out my two other loves: Crosswords and books! I also included recently discovered photos of my great grandparents and my grand parents."

Sunday March 10, 2013

Theme: Spring Forward - DST (Daylight Saving Time) is hidden inside each theme entry.

23A. Booze : HARD STUFF. Have you heard of Maotai? So-called China's National drink. Really hard stuff. High price too.

25A Furrier's service : COLD STORAGE

41A. Ron Howard, once : CHILD STAR. Opie.

47A. Chris Evert forte : GROUND STROKE. Or GROUNDSTROKE, one word.

70A. "On the Waterfront" actor : ROD STEIGER. Watched the movie long time ago.

74A. Beef often braised : ROUND STEAK

97A. One roaming on the range : WILD STALLION

100A. News grabber : LEAD STORY

121A. Circulatory system component : BLOOD STREAM. Or BLOODSTREAM as one word.

123A. Economical heater : WOOD STOVE

 

133A. Annual cause of losing an hr.'s sleep hidden in this puzzle's 10 longest answers : DST

Very consistent, all in the pattern of ?D ST*.

Ten theme entries is a lot, actually 11 if you count the short DST. We often see 7 or 8 entries on Sundays, occasionally 9. Luckily most of them are relatively short. When theme entries have 9/11 letters, or 10/10 letters, Gail and Bruce can put two in one row, which makes gridding easier.

I like that all the theme entries are placed in Across, visually they make all the DST stand out.

Also nice to see SOCK clued as "38. Argyle, for one". Has to be a shout-out to our Argyle.

 

Across:

1. Badge bearer : COP

4. Ancient: Pref. : PALEO. 

9. English : C :: Greek : __ : GAMMA

14. "The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia?" playwright : ALBEE (Edward)

19. Rah relative : OLE

20. Like basic switches : ON/OFF

21. "__ Gold": 1997 film : ULEE'S. Hard life.

22. Fine partner : DANDY

27. Not under wraps : OVERT

28. "30 Rock," e.g. : SITCOM

30. Pasha in the Nixon White House, and others : YORKIES. I only know Checkers.

31. Salacious stuff : SMUT

34. Holiday dishes? : CHINA. You were picturing food!

35. Salmon yield : ROE

36. Spots in a Senate race, say : ADS

39. Most golf pencils lack one : ERASER

51. Coll. helpers : TAs

52. Port, e.g. : WINE

53. Env. contents : ENCS

54. Private club, briefly? : USO. Oh, soldier.

55. Uses an acetylene torch : WELDS

57. Took a little off : PARED

58. "Okey-__!" : DOKEY

60. Get via scheming : WANGLE. Only know "Finagle".

62. Word on an "evacuation route" sign : TSUNAMI

64. Mischief-maker : RASCAL. Hi there Spitzboov!

67. Tending to arouse : SENSUAL.Or Sensuous?

69. Annoying noise : DIN

76. Equal : ARE

77. Herbal brew : SAGE TEA. Never had it before.

79. Exchange worker : TRADER

80. Some Broadway performers : DANCERS

82. Game opener : ANTHEM. Not coin toss.

84. Big name in game shows : SAJAK (Pat)

88. Former TWA owner : ICAHN (Carl). I can never remember his name. Weird spelling.

89. Where glasses may be raised? : OPERA. Another great clue.

90. Cooler cooler : ICE

93. Stroll in the shallows : WADE

94. 32 years elapsed between his first and most recent Emmys : ALDA. Click here. His recent one is for "The West Wing" 2006. Shouldn't it be 34  then?

95. Slice of history : ERA

103. __ del Fuego : TIERRA

104. WWII carrier : LST

105. Vegas opening : LAS

106. Can't get enough of, in a way : OGLES

109. Cristie Kerr's org. : LPGA. Boomer likes Cristie Kerr a lot.

111. Relief : RESPITE

115. Lumber problem : DRY ROT

117. Felt sore : ACHED

126. Put out : ISSUE

127. __-Whirl : TILT-A

128. Connecting points : NODES

129. Hall of Fame quarterback Dawson : LEN

130. Holds, as an arena : SEATS

131. Clampett player : EBSEN

132. Stingray relative : SKATE

Down:

1. Silver salmon : COHO. I looked. It's not Dennis!

2. Patron saint of Norway : OLAV

3. Euro pop? : PERE. French. Mon père, ma mère.

4. Drivers of red-white-and-blue vans : POSTMEN

5. Colony member : ANT

6. Teammate of Babe : LOU (Gehrig). Do you think the film of  "The Pride of the Yankees" was flipped? Gehrig was left-handed. Gary Cooper was right-handed and never learned how to hit/throw properly left-handed.

7. Pair of duffers? : EFFS

8. Cop : OFFICER

9. Big name in leather bags : GUCCI

10. Crazy as __ : A LOON

 11. '40s-'60s dinnerware brand : MELMAC. Never heard of the brand.

 

12. Sweatshirt size: Abbr. : MED

13. Ancient empire on the Tigris : ASSYRIA. Gimme for JD.

14. Liked loads : ADORED

15. Carefree diversion : LARK

16. __ B'rith : B'NAI

17. Benefit of one-upmanship : EDGE
 

18. Seeing things : EYES. I like this clue a lot.

24. HMO members : DRS

26. Level and bevel : TOOLS. Rhyme time.

29. Confused : THROWN

32. Language of Pakistan : URDU. Written from right to left.

33. Sputnik reporter : TASS. Now Itar-Tass.

36. Started to pucker up? : AGED. Not ready to be kissed!

37. Reclusive 1962 film villain : DR NO

40. Longshoreman's chore : STOWAGE

42. Nos. on driver's licenses : HTS. 5'4'' for me, the height for average American women.

43. It's depicted by a cello melody in "The Carnival of the Animals" : SWAN. No idea.

44. Angry outburst : TIRADE

45. Lack of vigor : ANEMIA

46. It's bad for business : RED INK

48. Tech callers : USERS. Our Qwest support is based in India.

49. Places for 61-Downs : KEGS. 61. Kind of collectible handle : ALE TAP

50. "Oklahoma!" aunt : ELLER

56. Signify : DENOTE

57. Vital signs : PULSES

59. China's Sun __ : YAT-SEN. Father of Modern China. He helped overthrow Qing, the last imperial dynasty in China.

62. Treat for Tabby : TUNA

63. Teen safety org. : SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions). I thought it's Students Against Drunk Driving.

65. Barely burn : SEAR

66. They may be bummed, briefly : CIGS

68. Infer : SURMISE

70. Bias-ply alternative : RADIAL

71. Ancient prophet : ORACLE

72. "Gracias" reply : DE NADA

73. Agree to more issues : RENEW. Magazines.

75. Netful of shrimp, say : TRAWL

78. Abruzzo town in a Longfellow poem : ATRI. "The Bell of Atri".

81. Libya neighbor : CHAD

83. Bit of horse show gear : HALTER

85. Barred room : JAIL

86. Hullabaloos : ADOS

87. Margate's county : KENT. What's so special about Margate?

89. Stroked tool : OAR

91. SW corner key : CTRL

92. Frontier lawman : EARP

95. Dakota du Sud and Floride, e.g. : ETATS. South Dakota & Florida, in French.

96. Floral ornament : ROSETTE

98. Renounces : DISOWNS

99. "Louisiana Real & Rustic" chef/author : LAGASSE (Emeril). Who's your favoirte TV chef?

101. Arrives home safely, perhaps : SLIDES. Baseball. 111. 12 of these is the single-player record for an MLB game : RBIs. Guess who held the record? And 113. 1998 N.L. MVP : SOSA

102. Alpine melodies : YODELS

107. Prepare, as pizza cheese : GRATE

108. The "L" in L. Frank Baum : LYMAN. Oh, I did not know this.

110. One way to enjoy being in a cast : ACT

112. Other than this : ELSE

114. Mope : POUT. Hi Baby!

116. Helped oneself to : TOOK

118. Believe : HOLD

119. Pre-holiday periods : EVES

120. Ding, but not dong : DENT. Ha ha.

122. Umbrella part : RIB

124. Harem room : ODA

125. "Law & Order" title: Abbr. : DET. Learned a lot about NY from Detective Lennie Briscoe.

Happy Birthday to our no-nonsense guy Avg Joe, who posted one of the best comments (What if, 4:26pm) I've read in this blog. What's on the stove today? Or are you eating out??