Monday, May 6, 2013 Jeff Chen

Theme: Dress Right - The unifier emphatically explains that when preceding the end of the theme entries, why you'll be asked to leave a business.

20A. Blew a fortune : LOST ONE'S SHIRT

35A. Prim and proper sort : GOODY TWO-SHOES. Link to the origin of the expression.

52A. Protector of the president : SECRET SERVICE

65A. Emphatic refusal, and words that precede the ends of 20-, 35- and 52-Across in a restaurant warning : "NO! NO! NO!"

Argyle here. "No shirt, no shoes, no service" doesn't apply if you are doing the puzzle at home, so relax. A similar theme as Ice, Ice but the unifier is just one entry. It is part of the stacks of six-letter words in the corners. I wonder who is responsible for all the clechos. A nit-free Monday, I say. I hope you all had a safe Cinco de Mayo.

A note to all you bridge players at the bottom.

Across:

1. Soak up like a sponge : ABSORB

7. Iranian leader toppled in 1979 : SHAH

11. Chicago transit trains : ELs

14. "Hear hear!" : "SO TRUE!"

15. Roll down the runway : TAXI

16. Accessory with a muumuu : LEI

17. Kind of deli roll : KAISER. Kind of clecho. Thought to have been named to honor Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria.

18. Squadron, e.g. : UNIT

19. Bedevil : VEX

23. Twittering bird : WREN

25. Affectionate squeezes : HUGS

26. Bat mitzvah scroll : TORAH

27. Comedian's asset : WIT

28. Comedian's bit : GAG

29. "Consarn it!" : "OH, RATS!"

30. Emcee's opening : INTRO

32. User trying to get through a firewall : HACKER. Yesterday's theme.

39. Stretch (out), like a dog in the heat : SPRAWL. (glad that 'the' was there)

40. Burning crime : ARSON

42. Major blood lines : AORTAs

45. Letters on a tinkerer's kit : DIY. Do It Yourself.

47. Email attachment format : PDF. (Portable Document Format)

48. See-through : SHEER

49. Utopia : EDEN

51. Face-to-face exam : ORAL

55. Bi- minus one : UNI. (prefix)

56. Close margin at the track : NOSE

57. "__ Fideles": carol : ADESTE

60. Mohawk-sporting muscleman : MR. T

61. "The Wind in the Willows" hero : TOAD

62. "Hold your horses, will ya?" : "IN A SEC!"

63. Watch closely : EYE

64. "The __ the limit!" : SKY'S

Down:

1. Pose, as a question : ASK

2. Poser's neckwear : BOA

3. Heel type named for a dagger : STILETTO

4. Welles of "Citizen Kane" : ORSON

5. Is sorry about : RUES

6. "Big" 23-Down cannon : BERTHA. Now it's merely a golf club. 23D. Conflict that ended Nov. 11, 1918 : WW I

 

 

7. Hurt, like a barb : STUNG

8. Underwear brand : HANES

9. Revolving point : AXIS

10. Calls it a night : HITS THE HAY. If you're going to sleep in the hay, try to find some that has been put up loose. Much better than the baled stuff.

11. "Mistress of the Dark" film hostess : ELVIRA

12. Ogle : LEER AT. Great pairing.

13. Trivial Pursuit wedges, vis-à-vis the whole pie : SIXTHS. Game trivia.

21. Should, informally : OUGHTA

22. Lugosi's genre : HORROR. (Bela Lugosi)

24. Phone sound : RING

28. Christening VIPs : GODPARENTS

29. Gives a thumbs-up : OKS

31. Roll call listing : ROSTER

33. "How adorable!" : "AWW!"

34. More chilly : COLDER

36. Age abbr. : YR's

37. Barista's concoction : ESPRESSO

38. Jerk's concoction : SODA. I've heard the soda fountain is making a comeback.

41. Niners' org. : NFL

42. Presuppose : ASSUME

43. Storywriter known for irony : O'HENRY

44. Quote by rote : RECITE

46. To no avail : IN VAIN

49. Test answer in a blue book : ESSAY

50. Scouts do good ones : DEEDS

51. Watery expanse : OCEAN

53. Stole : TOOK

54. SSN, for example : ID NO. (identification number)

58. X on a sundial : TEN

59. "The Name of the Rose" author Umberto : ECO. Give me his last name and I can remember the first.

Argyle

Note from Jeff:

CROSSWORDS WITH A BRIDGE FLAVOR

Now bridge players who enjoy crosswords can combine their favorite pastimes! For this book, New York Times and Los Angeles Times crossword constructor Jeff Chen has designed 52 brand-new crosswords with bridge-themed clues and solutions, providing hours of challenge and fun. The puzzles in this book range from Easy (N.Y. Times Monday level) to Challenging (N.Y. Times Thursday level).

Amazon link

Sunday May 5, 2013 Jean O'Conor

Theme: "Hack-er" - ER is hacked from the end of each theme entry.

23A. Oatmeal? : MORNING PAP. Morning paper. Poor Spitzboov! He's having pap every morning.

25A. Smooth con man's tool? : NATURAL FIB. Natural fiber.

34A. Victoria's Secret ad? : UNDERWEAR DRAW. Underwear drawer. Mine are like this. I don't fold them.

47A. New member of the faith shaking things up? : CATALYTIC CONVERT. Catalytic converter. 

61A. Soup kitchen scene? : EVERYONE AND HIS BROTH. Everyone and his brother.

81A. Skewed priority? : DISLOCATED SHOULD. SHOULD is a noun here? Dislocated shoulder.

90A. Foot pain location? : AROUND THE CORN. Around the corner. So, as someone mentioned last Sunday, we have yellow corn, red corn, white corn, CORN is still not plurable?

107A. Edam? : CHEESE BURG. Or STAD. Cheese burger.

109A. Tired of watching "Downton Abbey"? : SERIAL NUMB. Serial number.

Nice title. I think this is Jean O'Conor's first Sunday puzzle. Congratulations! 

Two of the Across entries OPERA HOUSE (20A. Venice's La Fenice, for one) and HORSE SENSE (111A. Good thinking) have the same letter count as two of the theme entries. Since neither has ? mark in their clues, so solvers should not mistaken them for theme entries.

When theme entries are all placed in Across, constructors tend to have long Down entries and cap the maximum letter count of their Across non-theme entries to avoid any confusion. Normally they're shorter than the shortest theme entry.

 

Across:

1. Roasting aid : BASTER

7. Monopoly token introduced in 2013 : CAT. Did you nail it, Dave? 70A. Token replaced by 7-Across : IRON

10. Preserve, in a way : SALT

14. Hardly eye-catching : DRAB

18. Fifth-century plunderer : ATTILA. The Hun.

19. Woodcutter Baba : ALI

26. Bridge : SPAN

27. Building sites : LOTS

28. Roman statesman : CATO. "The Censor".

29. Refer (to) : ALLUDE

30. Bit of climbing gear : PIT-ON

32. Words before DVD : OUT ON

33. Celebrity entourages : POSSES

38. People at the supermarket counter? : MAG. People magazine.

39. Fifth of a century : SCORE

40. Fictional barber Sweeney : TODD

41. Leeds leave-taking : CHEERIO

46. "Don't reckon so" : NAW

52. Pisa's river : ARNO

54. Exhilarating : HEADY

55. Makes better : HEALS

56. "You're looking at her" : I'M IT

57. Queen dowager of Jordan : NOOR. What if she remarries?

59. Unstable particle : MUON. PION, KAON, no difference to me.

60. Felicity : BLISS. Oh, I loved Felicity.

68. Jordan's only port : AQABA. Another U-less Q.

69. Award-winning 2012 film thriller : ARGO

71. Hill of "Psych" : DULE. His face looks familiar.

 

72. Tickle : AMUSE

74. One to ten, say : SCALE

77. German one : EINS

84. Soft slip-on : MOC

85. Bee student : SPELLER

86. Wave to from the curb, maybe : HAIL

87. Courtmate of Elena and Ruth : SONIA (Sotomayor). This love letter Ruth Bader Ginsburg's husband Marty wrote to him shortly before he died is so moving.

89. Drying-out problem : DTS

94. Café : BISTRO

98. Orly arrival : AVION

99. Subject of the 2008 biography "The Man Who Made Lists" : ROGET

100. Kutcher of "No Strings Attached" : ASHTON

101. Marathon prep run : TEN K

102. "Wuthering Heights" setting : MOOR

104. Befuddled : ASEA

112. Diplomatic VIP : AMB (Ambassador)

113. "Katie" host : COURIC

114. Diamond datum : STAT

115. Stag, e.g. : DEER

116. Spot markers? : X'ES

117. Collectible Fords : EDSELS

Down:

1. Cries from Emeril : BAMS

2. On : ATOP

3. Attach to the luggage rack, say : STRAP DOWN

4. Less resonant : TINNIER

5. Hillary Clinton, e.g. : ELI

6. Dwindled alarmingly : RAN LOW

7. Cook, for one: Abbr. : CAPT. Captain Cook.

8. "Ah, me!" : ALAS

9. Handicapper's help : TIP

10. Beethoven's "Pathétique," e.g. : SONATA

11. "Bridesmaids" co-producer Judd : APATOW. Look at his beautiful family. They're all in "This is 40".

12. Show you know : LET ON

13. 1989-'90 Broadway one-man show : TRU

14. American Girl collection : DOLLS

15. Chaka Khan's original band : RUFUS. Learning moment for me.

16. Remark to the audience : ASIDE

17. Nice infants : BEBEs

21. Wyoming natives : ARAPAHOS

22. Chlorine or fluorine : HALOGEN

24. Used up : GONE

28. Like cottage cheese : CURDY. Never used this word before.

31. III, in modern Rome : TRE

32. "You'd never guess, but ..." : ODDLY

34. Pres. Carter's alma mater : USNA

35. Cape Fear's st. : N. CAR

36. Congratulatory contraction : ATTA (boy/girl)

37. Place for a hog? : ROAD. Oh, road hog.

38. Mid-century year : MCCL. 1250. Non-clue clue to me.
 

42. Archfiend : EVIL ONE

43. Send in : REMIT

44. Gaeilge, to its speakers : IRISH. I only know Gaelic.

45. Baseball's Mel and Ed : OTTS

47. Bok __ : CHOY. The secret to delicious bok choy is the soy sauce, right, Jayce? Has to be the sweet kind.

48. Flying prefix : AERO. 63. Suffix with 48-Down : NAUT

49. Clunk cousin : THUD

50. The "I" in I.M. Pei : IEOH. Totally irrational Cantonese spelling. In Mandarin, Ieoh is spelled as Yu. Pei was born in Guangzhou, where Cantonese is spoken.

51. "Pleeease?" : CAN I

53. Seaman's 12:30 : ONE BELL. For Spitzboov/D-Otto (Shocked at your Chronicle picture. But, what can you do?)

58. "Chopsticks __ fork?" : OR A

59. Phone button letters : MNO. 6.

60. Fella : BRO

61. Provide with gear : EQUIP

62. Triple-meter dance, in Dijon : VALSE. I forgot. We had this before.

64. Language that gave us "clan" : ERSE

65. Like much wine and cheese : AGED

66. Houseplant spot : SILL

67. Raised on a farm : BRED. Hello, PK!

68. Totals : ADDS

72. Flammable solvents : ACETONEs

73. Bar in a brown wrapper : MARS. Dark brown.

74. Snowboarding gold-medalist White : SHAUN
 

75. Bit of change : COIN
 

76. Word sung after midnight : AULD. Was not thinking of New Year's Eve.

78. "Can't really say" : I'M NOT SURE.

79. "The Third Man" genre : NOIR

80. Digitize, in a way : SCAN

82. Antique grayish-pink shade : OLD ROSE. Like the color of these beads.

83. Trembled : SHOOK

87. Part of a line: Abbr. : SEG

88. Father of the river gods : OCEANUS. You'd think it's Poseidon.

90. Reluctant : AVERSE

91. Lookalike : RINGER

92. Enterprise counselor : TROI.  "Star Trek".

93. Ancient odist : HORACE. Roman lyric poet.

94. Baroque musical dynasty : BACHS

95. Has sex appeal : IS HOT. For Splynter.
 

96. He-Man's twin sister : SHE-RA

97. Statistical tool first used to monitor the quality of stout : T-TEST. Well, Lemonade & Abejo & Windhover might know this. I have no idea.

98. Hum __ : A TUNE

102. Cultural idea that may go viral : MEME. DFN (Did Not Finish) is a meme on our blog. Everyone just adopted it in quick fashion.

103. Round bodies : ORBS. Hello, "Round body"!

105. First Best Actor Oscar winner Jannings : EMIL

106. Basics : ABCs

108. Soil holder : BED. Flower bed.

109. Adderley's instrument : SAX

110. City close to Ben-Gurion Airport : LOD

C.C.