Monday, October 28, 2013 Steve Blais

Theme: Trick or Treat - Or give us something crunchy to eat. We find we've gotten four entries with a decidedly crunchy finish.

17. Computer storage medium : MEMORY CHIP

24. Quick-on-the-uptake type, in slang : SMART COOKIE

37. Carton-cushioning unit : STYROFOAM PEANUT

46. Showy authority figure : WHIP-CRACKER

58. Tense pre-deadline period ... or when to eat the ends of 17-, 24-, 37- and 46-Across? : CRUNCH TIME

BOO! Argyle here. What was (or is) your favorite Halloween treat? This grid has rectangles in two corners and a triangular shape in the other two. A gridspanner in the middle. It reminds me of a candy bar. I'll share it with you. (BTW, there are some more crunches in the puzzle.)

Across:

1. Forget where one put, as keys : MISLAY

7. Pedro's eye : OJO. Spanish.

10. Golf great Ballesteros : SEVE. Also Spanish.

14. Crumbly Italian cheese : ASIAGO. Aged Asiago cheese resembles Parmesan cheese in flavor.

15. Lao Tzu's "path" : TAO

16. Slangy prefix meaning "ultra" : ÜBER

19. When repeated, island near Tahiti : BORA. Northeast of New Zealand.

20. Male sibs : BROs

21. Kadett automaker : OPEL. Produced between 1937 and 1940, and 1962 until 1991.

22. Apple music players : iPODs

23. Vintner's prefix : OEN. Oenophile - a connoisseur of wines. 58D. French vineyard : CRU

26. Athenian walkway : STOA

28. Otherwise : ELSE

29. Persian rulers : SHAHs

31. Irene of "Fame" : CARA

33. Used-up pencils : NUBS

40. Latin being : ESSE

41. Latin love word : AMAS. Amo, Amas, Amat.

42. Muslim pilgrim's destination : MECCA

43. Tombstone lawman Wyatt : EARP

45. Mischievous trick : DIDO. More often clued as the Queen of Carthage. There is a singer so named, also.

51. Facebook notes, briefly : IMs. Chat with Instant Messaging.

54. Put back to zero : RESET

55. Orator's place : DAIS

56. Vivacity : ELAN

57. Fitzgerald of jazz : ELLA

60. Bedframe part : SLAT

61. Notes after dos : REs. On a different note from 51-Across.

62. Pop singer Spector who fronted a '60s girl group named for her : RONNIE

                                       LINK

63. Alley prowlers : TOMs Cats

64. Function : USE

65. Chuck who broke the sound barrier : YEAGER. Some tidbits I didn't know. WIKI

Down:

1. Up-tempo Caribbean dance : MAMBO

2. River of Grenoble : ISÈRE. France.

3. Kids' imitation game : SIMON SAYS

4. Vietnam neighbor : LAOS

5. Part of USDA: Abbr. : AGRiculture

6. Multiple Grammy-winning cellist : YOYO MA

7. Catchall option in a survey question : OTHER

8. They're related to the severity of the crimes : JAIL TERMS

9. Caveman Alley : OOP. Administered justice with a club.

10. Summoned as a witness : SUBPOENAED

11. Novel on a small screen, perhaps : E-BOOK

12. "Falstaff" was his last opera : VERDI

13. Wipe clean : ERASE

18. Tax pro: Abbr. : CPA. Have you noticed sometimes CPA isn't indicated as an abbr.?

22. Cyclades island : IOS

24. Nothing to write home about : SO SO

25. Applaud : CLAP

27. Feats like the Yankees' 1998, '99 and 2000 World Series wins : THREE-PEATs

29. Opposite of NNW : SSE

30. 6'3", 5'4", etc.: Abbr. : HTs. (height)

31. Close associates : COMPADRES. From Spanish.

32. Roadside assistance org. : AAA

34. Preparing to use, as a hose : UNCOILING

35. Tampa Bay NFLer : BUC

36. RR stop : STAtion.

38. Jamie of "M*A*S*H" : FARR. Cpl. Klinger.

39. Arabian leader : EMIR

44. Play a part : ACT

45. Discern : DESCRY

46. Take by force : WREST

47. "Is anybody here?" : "HELLO?"

48. Quran religion : ISLAM

49. Underlying reason : CAUSE

50. Relatives : KIN

52. Mrs. Eisenhower : MAMIE. The First Lady, 1953 to 1961.

53. Snide smile : SNEER

56. Sicilian volcano : ETNA

59. Earth chopper : HOE

Argyle

Sunday October 27, 2013 Ed Sessa

Theme: "Catching Some Zs" - Z sound is added to the end of a long vowel in each theme entry. The transformed new words are all in the pattern of *ZE.

24A. Really big hangover? : A DAZE LIKE NO OTHER. A day like no other.

36A. Mythical siren's boast? : I CALL 'EM AS I SEIZE 'EM. I call 'em as I see 'em.

50A. Couch potato's preparations? : LAZE AWAY PLAN. Layaway plan.

66A. North Pole resident's motto? : LIVE FREEZE OR DIE. Live Free or Die.

89A. "You might wanna clean your glasses"? : THAT AIN'T HAZE. That ain't hay.

100A. Harvest time in the Corn Belt? : MERRY MONTH OF MAIZE. Merry month of May.

117A. "L, XL, XXL—who cares?"? : A SIZE IS JUST A SIZE. Double action here. A sigh is just a sigh. From the lyric of "As Time Goes By": ... a kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh..."

So we caught 8 Z's in 7 theme entries, mostly are all fairly long. Theme answers with 16 or more letters are not easy to handle, esp if you have Z's or J's or X'es. Actually K's are tricky too.

But Ed is a pro, every Down *Z* is a clean fill. Ed is one of the very few constructors who make both themed and themeless grids. I think themeless experience is very important when it comes to Sunday grids.

Ed Sessa, Xword Info

Across:

1. Cry from the heartbroken : ALAS

5. All-in-one Apple : iMAC. Does it work better than PC, D-Otto?

9. Masterful, pitching-wise : NO-HIT.  Who is your all-time favorite pitcher?

14. 92-Across newbie : PLEBE. And 92A. Annapolis inst. : USNA. Our Navy guy Spitzboov graduated from RPI, so did the Saturday Stud.

19. Bits of fibrous fuzz : LINT

20. Second ballot, often : RUN-OFF VOTE. This is plurable, isn't it?

22. Marathoner, e.g. : RACER

23. Dole (out) : METE

26. Bond film title beginning : A VIEW.  "A View to a Kill".

28. Title for Lancelot : SIR

29. Blow-ups : ERUPTIONS

30. Video file format : MPEG. Did not know what it stands for until today: Moving Picture Experts Group.

32. Online read, for short : E-MAG. So, TTP, what do you read for fun? I hope it's not those boring tech stuff.

35. Nada, to Nanette : RIEN. "De rien" = "You're welcome".

42. Demolition material : TNT

45. Rain delay result : LATE START

46. Prefix with scope : TELE

47. In __ of: replacing : LIEU

48. NYC subway : IRT

49. Better part of a loaf? : HALF. Half a loaf is better than none. 

54. George Smiley portrayer Guinness : ALEC

56. Rihanna song title meaning "I love you" : TE AMO.  Thanks for  the additional "I love you". I don't really know any of her songs.

58. Nicholas II's consort : ALEXANDRA

59. Florida's "Blue Monster" golf course : DORAL. Lemonade played there once.

61. Museum gift shop offering, briefly : REPRO

64. Loser to DDE : AES (Adlai Ewing Stevenson)

65. Balaam's mount : ASS

72. Toon Chihuahua : REN. Ren & Stimpy.

75. Crab eater's neckwear : BIB

76. Treat with disdain : SCORN

77. Belarusian bread : RUBLE. Money! I bet Joe Biden will be stumped by this clue.

81. Whatever the price : AT ANY COST

85. Nasal airways : NARES. Learned from doing Xwords.

88. Unlike fiction : REAL

94. Wheel spinner's purchase : AN "I". "Wheel of Fortune".

95. Foot segment : INCH

96. Aviation prefix : AERO

97. Valedictorians, e.g. : A STUDENTS. Yellowrocks must be one.

99. Alley-__ pass: hoops play : OOP

104. Prescription indication : DOSE

105. List catchall : ET AL

106. Mardi Gras, for one : FETE

107. Caddies of old : EL DORADOS. Cadillacs. Not the likes of Steve Williams I had in mind. Good old days, Tiger!

112. Yak : JAW 

114. Big name in bookselling : NOBLE. Barnes & Noble. I was upset Amazon upped their free shipping to $35 a few days ago.

122. Bigheaded : VAIN

123. Debussy contemporary : RAVEL. No "Boléro" today. Let's try "Daphnis et Chloé".

124. Steinbeck novel set in the Salinas Valley : EAST OF EDEN. I saw the movie because of James Dean. He's OK. No Daniel Craig.

125. Iberian river : EBRO

126. Nixon fundraiser Maurice : STANS. No idea. Look, Shakopee, he was born in MN! I've been to Shakopee. The big racing track Canterbury Park is there. Also a big casino.

127. Path to a wedding : AISLE

128. Posted : SENT

129. Breads for Reubens : RYES. EddyB liked his Reubens.

Down:

1. __ mater : ALMA

2. Actor Schreiber : LIEV. Did you see "Glengarry Glen Ross"?

 3. Part of the Enterprise's power source : ANTIMATTER. "Star Trek" stuff. No idea.

4. Pealing place : STEEPLE

5. CPA's recommendation : IRA

6. Strong java : MUD. Do you drink "Strong java", PK?

7. Santa __: offshore winds : ANAs

8. Like the best fireplace fire : COZIEST

9. Org. with Bucs and Broncos : NFL

10. Duct opening? : OVI. Oviduct.

11. Manipulate, as statistics, with "up" : HOKE.  I fogot. We had this before.

12. Old Roman way : ITER

13. Teacher's security : TENURE

14. President __ : PRO TEM

15. Language of many a motto : LATIN

16. It's repetitive : ECHO. Indeed.

17. "Someone's __ sleeping in my bed" : BEEN

18. Slips : ERRS

 21. 1938 Physics Nobelist : FERMI (Enrico). This guy is never a gimme for me.

25. Role for Ronny : OPIE

27. Llanfairpwll citizens : WELSH. Never heard of Llanfairpwll. See here. Steve might have stopped there before.

31. Imply : GET AT

33. Nick and Nora's dog : ASTA. And 39D. Line for 33-Down : ARF ARF

34. "Shoot" : GEEZ

36. 24-part epic : ILIAD

37. "Two Women" producer Ponti : CARLO. Husband of Bill G's Sophia Loren.

38. Like all bucks and some broncos : MALE

40. Intestinal parts : ILEA

41. Enthusiasm : ZEAL

42. Oscar winner Swinton of "Michael Clayton" : TILDA. The George Clooney movie. Glooney is single again!! (Sorry, Clooney, typo, Call Me, Maybe?)

43. Approaches : NEARS

44. Albacore and ahi : TUNAs

47. Hosp. worker : LPN

50. Easy strides : LOPES

51. Sport : WEAR

52. Felled in the forest : AXED

53. PLO chairman before Mahmoud : YASIR

55. "Iron man" Ripken : CAL. Very classy guy. He was at Kirby Puckett's funeral.

57. Sea, overseas : MER

60. Tripoli's country : LIBYA

62. R&R component: Abbr. : REC. Wow, Recuperation? I always thought R & R stands for "rest and relaxation".

63. One of the greenhouse gases : OZONE

67. One of a Caesarean trio : VICI. "Veni, vidi, vici"!

68. Poet's deep black : EBON

69. Reagan __ : ERA

70. Torrent : ONRUSH

71. Aus. setting : EUR

72. 9 to 5, e.g. : RATIO. Great clue.

73. Prefix with botany : ETHNO

74. Rights gp. since 1909 : NAACP

78. Collectible stuffed animal : BEANIE BABY. Lots on sale at the flea markets.

79. Woody Woodpecker's creator : LANTZ. I only know his given name Walter.

80. Beethoven's "Für __" : ELISE

82. Degree in math : NTH

83. Guide to Bethlehem : STAR

84. "__ are the we of me": McCullers : THEY. What does the quote mean?

86. Juan's "this" : ESTO

87. Put (out) : SNUFF

90. Weapon for Napoleon : ARME

91. __ suit: '40s apparel : ZOOT

93. Commercial developers : AD MEN

97. They have legends : ATLASES

98. Dine next door, say : EAT OVER. If it's Chez Jayce's.

100. Honeycomb-like fungi : MORELS. Our grocery store has the dried ones. Very pricey.

101. Morales of "NYPD Blue" : ESAI. Tony. LaLaLinda's faovrite TV cop is Andy Sipowicz. Or maybe Lennie Briscoe? I forgot.

102. Exodus obstacle : RED SEA

103. City south of Baghdad : NAJAF. In red. Does the "An" mean "the"?

104. Pair of sixes : DOZEN

107. Hammer sites : EARS. Tricky clue.

108. Future jurist's exam, for short : LSAT

109. Prima donna : DIVA

110. California home of the Bionic Woman : OJAI

111. Figure (out) : SUSS

113. Like EE shoes : WIDE

115. Old Pisa dough : LIRE. Money again. "Pisa dough" for Dave!

116. Slaughter in the field : ENOS. And 118. Letters for baseball's Cards : STL. What is Pujols thinking now?

119. Kid's piggy : TOE

120. Buddhism sect : ZEN

121. Tonsillectomy MD : ENT

Happy Birthday to my husband Boomer, who's going to bowl at the Midwest Senior Classic today. Boomer has been coaching the bowling team at his old high school and found the volunteering work extremely rewarding.

C.C.