Monday, October 14, 2013 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Someone's on our Trail - A TRACK has been tacked on the back of our theme entries.

17A. Long-running musical variety TV show : "SOUL TRAIN". Train track.

25A. Pre-playoffs baseball drama : PENNANT RACE. Race track.

38A. Final triumph after apparent failure : LAST LAUGH. Laugh track.

56A. Offensive in the First Gulf War : DESERT STORM. Storm track.

66A. Retrace one's steps, and what ends of 17-, 25-, 38- and 56-Across can literally have : BACKTRACK

Argyle here and sort of somewhere else. C.C. and I have a puzzle in the NYT today. I'd say this is the tougher of the two. Look at those seven packs in the corners.

Across:

1. Actor Damon : MATT. "Good Will Hunting" was his break-out role.

5. Like unfizzy soda : FLAT

9. Relatively cool heavenly body : S STAR

14. Suffix with buck : AROO

15. Grocery section : DELI

16. "All done!" : "THERE!". "Fini!" (Oops, not yet)

19. Hunter's hides : PELTS. More like trapper's pelts.

20. Spiral-shaped __ fries : CURLY. Food.

21. Fair-hiring abbr. : EEO. (Equal Employment Opportunity)

23. Wiesel who said, "Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil" : ELIE. He is currently an advisor at the Gatestone Institute, a think tank based in New York City.

24. "Just __ suspected!" : AS I

29. Work on, as a vintage auto : RESTORE

31. Sudoku grid line : ROW

32. Honorary legal deg. : LL.D. Legum Doctor, a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary doctorate.

33. '30s-'40s film dog : ASTA

34. Logger's tool : AXE

36. Man and Capri : ISLES

42. Fancy mushroom : MOREL

45. Metric distances: Abbr. : KMs. (kilometre)

46. Roadies' loads : AMPS

50. Prefix with sex : UNI

51. Yale student : ELI

54. Kevin Kline's "French Kiss" co-star : MEG RYAN

59. __-Caps: candy : SNO

60. Bug-killing brand : d-CON

61. Deer daughter : DOE

62. How some stock is sold : AT PAR

64. Sent to the unemployment line : LET GO

69. Key in : ENTER

70. Mine, to Mimi : À MOI

71. Java Freeze brand : ICEE

72. Swiped : STOLE

73. Tree anchor : ROOT

74. Breakfast, e.g. : MEAL

Down:

1. Eyelash application : MASCARA

2. Stirs to action : AROUSES

3. One of a vacationing busload : TOURIST

4. Turnpike fee : TOLL (mildly offensive language)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbWg-mozGsU

or this LINK if you have just a big blank above.

 

5. Pres. on a dime : FDR

6. "Glee" actress __ Michele : LEA. (not out in a pasture)

7. Sci-fi invader : ALIEN

8. Karaoke singer's ineptitude, to the chagrin of the audience : TIN EAR

9. Gas additive letters : STP

10. See-through : SHEER

11. Revealing, as a celeb interview : TELL ALL

12. "An" or "the" : ARTICLE

13. Tends to a lawn's bare spot : RESEEDS. one for pk.

18. AutoCorrect target : TYPO

22. John's Yoko : ONO

26. Distinctive periods : ERAs

27. Bagel shop call : "NEXT!"

28. Itty-bitty branch : TWIG

30. Fish story : TALE

35. Moose relative : ELK

37. __-Pei: wrinkly dog : SHAR

39. Angel or Athletic, briefly : ALer. NLer, ALer, these things are here to stay.

40. Rifle range need : AMMO

41. Laptop operator : USER

42. Confuses : MUDDLES

43. Price of bubble gum, once : ONE CENT

44. Trattoria rice dish : RISOTTO. Food.

47. Leader in social networking until 2008 : MY SPACE. Does it still exist?

48. Cure-all : PANACEA

49. Enjoy coral reefs : SNORKEL

52. Inc., in the U.K. : LTD.

53. Meteorologist's pressure line : ISOBAR

55. Future MBA's exam : GMAT. (Trademark. Graduate Management Admissions Test.)

57. Actress Georgia of "Everybody Loves Raymond" : ENGEL. Best known for her role as Georgette on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. On "Everybody Loves Raymond", she is a recurring character: Raymond's brother's wife's mother.

58. Julio's "I love you" : "TE AMO". Spanish

63. Quick haircut : TRIM

65. Profitable rock : ORE

67. Suitor's murmur : COO

68. Model-ship-to-be : KIT

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

1) Major surgery on the lower left corner from Rich. Below is my originally submitted grid. As you can see, Rich improved it considerably (he always does). Delicious RISOTTO. I had ROSE TEA there with the tired ANO, ENERO & EYERS. The ELF in 35D was also changed to ELK. Thanks, Rich!

2) As Argyle mentioned earlier, he and I made today's NY Times crossword. You can also read more here at the Xword Info. Argyle succeeded on his very first try with Mr. Shortz. He was also successful on his first try with Rich. Congratulations, Argyle, you rock!

Sunday October 13, 2013 Peter A. Collins

Theme: "Cross Country" - Two countries which share two letters are merged in each theme answer.

 23A. Border sharers of Europe? : SANMARINORWAY (San Marino & Norway)

 41A. Border sharers of Europe and Asia? : SPAINDONESIA (Spain & Indonesia)

 52A. Border sharers of South America and Asia? : CHILEBANON (Chile & Lebanon)

 

 69A. Border sharers of Europe and Asia? : UNITEDKINGDOMAN (United Kingdom & Oman)

 94A. Border sharers of Asia and Africa? : NEPALGERIA (Nepal & Algeria)

 101A. Border sharers of Asia? : MYANMARMENIA (Myanmar & Armenia)

 124A. Border sharers of North America and Asia? : JAMAICAMBODIA (Jamaica & Cambodia)

How observant of Peter to find this different approach to a country theme. He's one of the most innovative constructors in the country. You never know what to expect in a Peter A. Collins grid.

This is his Xword Info photo. Looks like some kind of music fest to me.

Across:

1. Family nickname : MOMMA

6. Waltz king : STRAUSS

13. Artificial surface football injury : TURF TOE. Commonly associated with players who play on artificial turf. Pain in big toe joint.

20. Places : AREAS

21. Kitchen worker's wear : HAIRNET

22. In the zone : ON A ROLL

25. Slows : RETARDS

26. Ignore : SNUB

27. Dyeing occasion : EASTER

28. Named person : DESIGNEE. You would think it's designatee.

29. Harry Potter's Hedwig, e.g. : OWL. I'm glad the clue is not asking for Harry Potter's owl. 

31. Building near a track, maybe : STABLE

34. End of many addresses : COM

35. Energize, with "up" : AMP

38. Frosty coat : HOAR

46. Ranee's wrap : SAREE

48. Relax, with "out" : VEG

50. Burn covering : SALVE

51. Birth of __ : AN ERA

55. Acronymous WWII gun : STEN

56. Three-star off. : LT GEN. No google. Guess who's the first ever LT GEN in the US?

57. Give a charge to : IONIZE

58. "Go placidly __ the noise ...": Ehrmann : AMID

60. With 17-Down, "Cross Creek" Oscar nominee : RIP. And TORN (17. See 60-Across). It's clued as a name because  TORE (13D. Hurried) is also in the grid. Ideally one of them should have been removed. 

62. Shore thing : SAND. Sure thing.

63. We're-together link : IN THIS. A rare 6-letter partial.

64. Start of something big? : MACRO. Prefix for "big". Microsoft = Microcomputer & Software

66. Dirt road feature : RUT

68. Jeans giant : LEE

74. Poetic body : ORB

77. E. Berlin's Cold War home : GDR (German Democratic Republic)

78. Chapel topper : SPIRE

79. Some Great Lakes natives : MIAMIS. Is this related to Miami?

83. Bit of salon artistry : COIF

85. "Gross!" : EEW. I use EWW.

87. Dirty : SOIL

88. Sun Bowl city : EL PASO

89. It merged with Molson in 2005 : COORS. Now Molson-Coors.

91. With 97-Across, like many catalogues : MAIL. 97. See 91-Across : ORDER. Do you use "catalog" or "catalogue"?

96. Recess retort : AM TOO

99. Sigma preceder : RHO

100. Music rights gp. : ASCAP

104. "__ it get to me" : I LET

106. Surprised cries : OHs

107. Thrice, in Rx's : TER. Learned from doing xwords.

108. Makes impure : TAINTS

110. Madonna, according to the stars : LEO. Not the stars I had in mind.

112. Boorlike : CLODDISH

116. Actress Headly : GLENNE. Unknown to me.

119. Dazzling duo in Dover? : ZEDS. Two Z's in Dazzling.

123. Pub-crawl : CAROUSE

127. Enigma machine user : ENCODER

128. Rapidly : IN A SNAP

129. Heavenly helper : ANGEL. Argyle is my Angel.

130. Most prized : DEAREST. And Dearest.

131. Enjoys a few ribs? : BANTERS. Jazzbumpa would love this clue.

132. Gaggle members : GEESE

Down:

 

1. Serious service : MASS

2. Setting for Camus' "The Plague" : ORAN. Gimme for veteran solvers.

3. It's taken after an order is given : MENU. Big "D'oh"!

4. Fast ballroom dance : MAMBO

5. Simile center : AS A

6. Branch of Islam : SHIA

7. Salon services : TANS

8. Civil disturbances : RIOTS

9. Stops at the Sorbonne? : ARRETS. French for "stops".

10. Opens, in a way : UNWRAPS

11. "__ of Love": 1989 film : SEA

12. Porker's place : STY

14. Paris-based cultural org. : UNESCO

15. Reasoned : RATIONAL

16. Archaeologist's finds : FRAGMENTS

18. Renaissance faire word : OLDE

19. "Anything __?" : ELSE

24. Change places, briefly? : RELO

28. Regis University city : DENVER. What are they famous for?

30. Aftereffect of an overlong run, maybe : WHEEZING

32. Cote sounds : BAAS

33. Light tune : LILT

35. Computer code acronym : ASCII

36. Minorca's capital : MAHON.  Oh, look, it's also called Mao (Below Shangri-La). Never heard of it.

37. Lithograph, e.g. : PRINT

39. Co-star of Richard in "The Night of the Iguana" : AVA (Gardner). Richard Burton.

40. Distinguish from the original, as a corrected file : RE-NAME

42. "Casino" star : DE NIRO

43. "Love Story" author : SEGAL (Erich)

44. 2011 East Coast hurricane : IRENE

45. History Channel owner : A AND E. Tricky to parse.

47. Philanthropist Yale : ELIHU

49. Flip out : GO MAD

53. Other than : BESIDE

54. Minor furniture damage : NICKS

59. Dullards : DRIPS

61. Pound : PUMMEL

65. Often sautéed veggie : ONION. I made Apple & Sage pork the other day, Jayce. Recipe here. I used one Honeycrisp. We have lots of foodies on the blog: Steve, D-Otto, Marti, TTP, Lucina, Anon-T, Pizza Dave, Irish Miss & Dudley. Barry G seems to cook a bit. Never heard of Lemonade talks about cooking. Argyle does not cook at all.

67. Pregame party site : TAILGATE

70. Quake follower : TREMOR

71. Rosey of the Rams' Fearsome Foursome : GRIER. From Wiki: "After Grier's professional sports career he worked as a bodyguard for Robert Kennedy during the 1968 presidential campaign and was guarding the senator's wife, Ethel Kennedy, during the Robert F. Kennedy assassination. Although unable to prevent that killing, Grier took control of the gun and subdued the shooter, Sirhan Sirhan."

72. Oracle site : DELPHI

73. Mullets hide them : NAPES

74. William of __, logician known for his "razor" : OCCAM

75. Not at all tight : ROOMY

76. Organisms of a region : BIOTA

80. First name in medieval traveling : MARCO (Polo)

81. Basketball Hall of Famer Thomas : ISIAH. He always stumps some on our blog.

82. They're sold in bars : SOAPS. What's your favorite soap brand?

84. Knocking spot : FRONT DOOR

86. Friendliness : WARMTH. Made me think of Creature & LaLaLinda. They don't post often but they read us every day.

90. "This guy ..." : SOME DUDE. Cool!

92. Notion : IDEA

93. Director Riefenstahl : LENI. Also learned from doing xwords. She did some propaganda films for the Nazi.

95. Common letters in an email address : AOL

98. Auctioneer's helper : RING MAN. New term to me also.

102. Wakes up : ARISES

103. "About time!" : AT LAST

105. Grades K-5: Abbr. : ELEM

109. La Rive Gauche locale : SEINE. The Left Bank.

111. Imperiled layer : OZONE

112. Sent an email dupe to : CCed

113. Penny or passing follower : LANE

114. Aquatic predator : ORCA

115. Barcelona-born architect : SERT. José María Sert. Known for his murals at 30 Rock.

117. Tar Heel St. : N. CAR

118. Siestas : NAPS

120. Lawn border : EDGE

121. Peters out : DIES

122. Rep's goal : SALE

124. Three-sided sail : JIB

125. California's Santa __ : ANA

126. Major interest, slangily : BAG. Oh, hockey is not in my bag then, Splynter.

Speaking of Splynter, here is a new photo of the Stud with his UPS truck.

C.C.