Wednesday, June 26th 2013, Paul Cuerdon

Theme: Sigmund is Psycho (analytical) and the reveal helps us identify some "mouthy" phrases

20A Liar's trait? : FORKED TONGUE. I went to Google a nice pic for this and amongst the first that came up was one of George W. Bush, one of yesterday's pair of Texas P'sOTUS. I've no idea why this should be so.

34A. Cold-sounding windup toy : CHATTERING TEETH. Mine aren't chattering today, I'm in Washington D.C. at 96F and what feels like 200% humidity.

40A. Warning to a sassy kid : DON'T GIVE ME NO LIP. Sassy kid might respond "Don't give me no bad grammar".

and the unifier:

51A. Freud's diagnosis of 20-, 34- and 40-Across? : ORAL FIXATION. Is that why he's smoking a cigar?

Happy Wednesday everyone - Steve here with a nice mid-week outing from Paul. I dove right in, and it seemed plain sailing until I got stalled in the middle and then in the south. I thought IDLE HANDS was part of the theme until I couldn't see how LOVE SCENE fitted with anything else, so that slowed me down for a while. Let's see what else we have.

Across:

1. Louis or P.W., the first and last South African prime ministers : BOTHA. I knew this right away, but then pondered why P.W. was the last, until I realized post-apartheid South Africa has a president, not a prime minister.

6. Disney World vehicle : TRAM

10. Avoid : SHUN

14. Common font : ARIAL. If the personal computer has done anything, it's made us all font experts. Two decades ago most of us would have been hard-pressed to name anything beyond Times New Roman or Helvetica.

15. Reprobate : ROUE.

16. Vigilant : WARY

17. Diamond game with no pitching : T-BALL. The first and only time my daughter played T-ball she was so proud of her new glove that she forgot to watch the ball and got a line drive straight in her "theme". A split lip, floods of tears and she never played again. I wonder what happened to the glove?

18. Devil's tools, proverbially : IDLE HANDS.

22. Dieter's shortening? : CAL. Slimmed-down calories. Nice.

25. Old cry of disapproval : FIE

26. "... her kerchief and __ my cap ..." : I IN. Ma was in her kerchief on the night before Christmas.

27. Response to a pointer : I SEE IT

29. Pesters for payment : DUNS. You wouldn't be pestered if you weren't late, let's be fair.

31. __ in Juliet : JAS. I'd  love to explain this one to you, but it was all perps for me and I have no idea what this is all about. Any offers?

37. Razor name : ATRA

38. RN's assignment : ICU. I worked in a hospital for a while when I left high school and was often assigned to mop the floors of the Intensive Care Unit. The Registered Nurses had rather more lofty responsibilities.

39. Kett of old funnies : ETTA

45. Quiz response: Abbr. : ANS

46. "Sorry to say ..." : ALAS

47. Setting : LOCALE

48. CIO partner : AFL. I was wondering who partner's the Chief Information Officer when the labor union penny dropped.

49. Rummy : SOT

50. Hot air : GAS

57. Feature of many a romantic comedy : LOVE SCENE. This one from "Ghost" has me weeping every time I see it.

58. High-minded : NOBLE

62. Church attachment? : GOER. I liked this one!

63. Embroidered ltr. : INIT. I need a stack of handkerchiefs when I watch "Ghost", but none of them have my initials embroidered on them.

64. Words to live by : CREED. As practiced by church attachments.

65. High style : AFRO

66. Highland caps : TAMS

67. Expels : EMITS

Down:

1. Ball club : BAT. Great little clue/answer.

2. Celestial body : ORB

3. Acapulco aunt : TIA

4. __ Moon Bay, California : HALF.  One of the biggest surf breaks in the world is just north of the town. Scary stuff.

5. The whole enchilada : ALL OF IT

6. First wheels : TRIKE

7. Was carried by, as a bus : RODE

8. New Year's word : AULD. "Auld Reekie" is a nickname for Edinburgh, pretty much the only other time I've heard the word used.

9. One may be called by a manager : MEETING

10. Hall of Famer Lynn of the Steelers : SWANN

11. Consort (with) : HANG

12. Karachi language : URDU

13. Where "X" means "U.S. Steel" : NYSE. I never knew this, and a great way to clue the abbreviated New York Stock Exchange.

19. Run up the flagpole : HOIST

21. Sacrament : RITE

22. Loud bug : CICADA They are loud, but somehow very soothing when it's all you can hear on a warm tropical night.

23. Actor Kutcher : ASHTON. I didn't put Demi Moore's picture on here to annoy him, I promise.

24. Catches on : LEARNS

28. One of America's cinquante : ETAT. Nicely obtuse, but difficult for non-francophones to know that we're talking about the fifty states.

29. Chops up : DICES

30. One on a one? : UNUM. Perps again, and no adequate explanation from me. Any ideas?

31. International traveler's concern : JET LAG. Happens with coast-to-coast trips too. I had a good travel day today though - I'm now on the TSA "pre screened" list so I got to zip through security without getting undressed and my laptop and deodorant stayed in the bag; then United upgraded me and finally Avis ran out of little cars and gave me a Mustang Convertible instead. I've had worse trips!

32. Hun ruler : ATTILA

33. Molds : SHAPES

35. 1972 Derby winner __ Ridge : RIVA

36. Fair-hiring initials : EEOC. More perps. I couldn't recall the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

41. Fishing hooks : GAFFS. Big, big hooks on a long pole.

42. Under-the-table : ILLICIT

43. "The Time Machine" people : ELOI. I always want to put "ELON" when I see this clue. Which I did today, of course.

44. Never ever : NOT ONCE

48. '90s-'00s Olds model : ALERO

49. Cancels a takeout order? : STETS. Great. Best clue of the day, IMHO.

51. Lingerie brand : OLGA. Perps!

52. Spot for shingles : ROOF. I filled in BACK first before it had to come out. Flashbacks to my hospital worker days maybe.

53. Claim : AVER

54. TV friend of Gabrielle : XENA

55. Lively, in mus. : ANIM. From the Italian "animato", animated.

56. "Cheers" cheer : NORM. I saw George Wendt in my local bar a few weeks ago, and it was all I could do to stop myself "Norm!"-ing. It really must get old.

59. "__ Mir Bist Du Schoen": Andrews Sisters hit : BEI. Better late then never for a little musical interlude

60. Court do-over : LET

61. Masthead VIPs : EDS. Sadly, their are fewer and fewer newspapers for editors to get their name on the masthead today.

That's about does it for me; time to see if I can avoid any 31D problems. Have a great day!

Steve

Note from C.C.:

Happy 48th wedding anniversary to dear Spitzboov (Al) and his lovely wife Betty!

 US Coast Guard Academy, New London, CT,
 August 2012

Please click here and  here to see more pictures of them (and our Naples Corner crowd).

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Dyn-o-mite! - The reveal let's us know we are looking for "word 'and' word" phrases and each word starts with a "T".

17A. Proverbially, they wait for no one : TIME AND TIDE

23A. Ragged : TATTERED AND TORN

47A. Semi : TRUCK AND TRAILER

57A. Simple breakfast : TEA AND TOAST

57D. Big bang cause, and an informal hint to 17-, 23-, 47- and 57-Across : TNT

Argyle here. Our own tried and true constructor, C.C., gave us a slight respite from yesterday's puzzle but added some solid fill. The four nine letter vertical columns are neat. Two grid-spanners are great. Some fresh cluing rounds it out nicely.

Across:

1. Praline nut : PECAN

6. Grueling grad grillings : ORALS. Say the clue three times fast.

11. Nebraska panhandle hrs. : MST. (Mountain Standard Time)

14. Wear down : ERODE

15. Jousting weapon : LANCE

16. Irish actor Stephen : REA. He has played a wide range of roles.

19. Separating space : GAP

 20. Rocks in a bar : ICE

21. It's often used as a synonym for "thesaurus" : ROGET. He compiled one of the most famous thesauri.

22. Desert largely in Mongolia : GOBI

27. Salinger heroine : ESMÉ. Ah, but where is she now; Downton Abbey, perhaps.

28. Battery terminal : ANODE

29. Two foursomes : OCTET

32. Rock legend Frank : ZAPPA. He was here Friday. Have you forgotten him already?

35. Revolutionary Franklin : BEN. I'd like to see more of him in my wallet. That would be revolutionary.

37. "Gotcha!" cries : A-HAs

38. Birth state of two presidents : TEXAS. Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Surprised? I was.

39. Bowl over : DAZE

40. Stout of whodunits : REX. Creator of the detective Nero Wolfe.

41. Takes the risk : DARES

42. Sale rack abbr. : IRREG. You can find some bargains in the irregulars.

43. Overzealous : RABID

45. Spork point : TINE. A bit short for a true tine but hey, it's a spork.

53. Jekyll's alter ego : HYDE

54. 2010 Super Bowl MVP : BREES

55. Connecticut collegian : ELI. Yale(the Eli's) is located in New Haven, Connecticut.

56. Press initials : UPI. (United Press International)

60. "__ Along, Little Dogies" : GIT

61. Duma dissents : NYETs. The Duma was a one time Russian elective legislative assembly.

62. Singer Tennessee __ Ford : ERNIE

63. Provençal possessive : SES. French for its.

64. Short and snappy : TERSE

65. Red and rosé : WINES. But Red Rose is a tea.

Down:

1. __ four: small cake : PETIT. French, meaning "small oven". So are there petit four recipes for Easy Bake ovens?

2. Susan's "All My Children" role : ERICA. Susan Lucci / Erica Kane. She has the most Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Daytime Drama and won in 1999.

3. Celestial streaker : COMET

4. Citrus drink : ADE

5. Most closely related : NEAREST

6. Eccentric senior, affectionately : OLD GEEZER. But watch out for them on the road.

7. Classified : RATED

8. Singer Baker : ANITA

9. Digital scale display, for short : LCD. (liquid-crystal display)

10. "Understand?" : "SEE?"

11. Hershey's treat in a yellow wrapper : MR. GOODBAR

12. Shore cooler : SEA BREEZE

13. Putter's gimme : TAP IN

18. Standard : NORM

22. Pontiac muscle car : GTO

24. Beach shirts : TEEs

25. Dozes off : NAPS

26. Forensic evidence letters : DNA

29. Rower's need : OAR

30. George Washington's favorite fruity dessert? : CHERRY PIE

31. Stressful reviews for filers : TAX AUDITS

33. Tool for the Tin Woodman : AXE

34. Like verbs describing what happened : PAST TENSE

36. Reverse pic : NEG. (negative)

38. "Yay, me!" : "TADA!"

39. Three, to Angela Merkel : DREI. She is the Chancellor of Germany since 2005 and has a marvelous range of facial expressions. LINK

41. Cartoonist Browne : DIK. Creator of Hägar the Horrible.

42. Rather worried : IN A STEW

44. Dating letters : BCE. (Before the Common Era)

46. Hopping mad : IRED

47. Tough guys : THUGS

48. Knick or Celt : NBAer

49. Mild oaths : DRATS

50. Rimes of country : LEANN. Here is the song that launched her career. (2:45)

51. Borden mascot : ELSIE

52. Religious ceremonies : RITES

58. Needle-threader's target : EYE

59. "... __ quit!" : OR I

Argyle