Monday, November 25, 2013 Matt Skoczen

Theme: Small retail stores - SHOP can be added to the last word of the starred entries.

17. *Fluffy carnival treat : COTTON CANDY. Candy shop.

23. *"West Side Story" film actress : NATALIE WOOD. Her death is still shrouded in controversy. Wood shop.

40. *"You first," facetiously : AGE BEFORE BEAUTY. Source. Beauty shop.

50. *Favorite in the classroom : TEACHER'S PET. Song(2:48). Pet shop.

64. Discussing the job with colleagues, and what the last words of the answers to starred clues seem to be doing : TALKING SHOP

Argyle here. I doubt these stores will be swamped on Black Friday. Four long entries and one grid spanner: good start for the week. Still, there may be some nits.

Across:

1. "Drat!" : "DARN!"

5. On the agenda : SLATED

11. __-at-ease : ILL

14. Melville's "Typee" sequel : "OMOO"

15. Writer de Beauvoir : SIMONE. Ahead of her time and maybe a little early in the week, too.

16. Mop & __: cleaning brand : GLO. (for floors)

19. Restroom, briefly : LAV. Oops, not LOO.

20. "Attack, Rover!" : "SIC 'EM!"

21. Sworn __: given the oath of office for : IN AS

22. First-class : A-ONE

26. Free of charge : GRATIS

30. "Tut!" kin : "TSK!"

31. Puerto __ : RICO. Maria, played by Natalie Wood in West Side Story, was Puerto Rican.

32. Slanted print: Abbr. : ITAL.

36. Mark who created Tom Sawyer : TWAIN

43. '70s-'80s Egyptian president Anwar : SADAT

44. Mideast ruler : EMIR. Also, emeer, amir, ameer.

45. 38-Down and others: Abbr. : RTEs. 38D. Fla.-to-Cal. highway : I TEN

46. "Proud Mary" band, for short : CCR. (Creedence Clearwater Revival)

48. Has had enough : IS DONE

56. Wartime honoree : HERO

57. Spanish painter Francisco : GOYA. Despite La Maja Desnuda and La Maja Vestida, most of his work is dark and somber.

58. First Greek letter : ALPHA

63. Tax-collecting agcy. : IRS

66. __ de Janeiro : RIO. I wonder if they have cotton candy at their carnival?

67. Claim without proof : ALLEGE

68. Floor square : TILE

69. Room for a TV : DEN

70. Ruined, with "up" : MESSED

71. Go in snow : SLED. Time to shine up those runners.

Down:

1. Medical pros : DOCs

2. Mine, to Marcel : À MOI

3. Campus military org. : ROTC. (Reserve Officers' Training Corps)

4. Promissory __ : NOTE. Fancy term for an IOU.

5. Taxpayer ID : SSN

6. On the up and up : LICIT

7. Appliance brand : AMANA

8. Melodious : TONAL

9. Breaks up with a lover : ENDS IT

10. Susan of "The Partridge Family" : DEY

11. Domed Arctic home : IGLOO

12. Southwestern grassy plain : LLANO

13. Thought the world of : LOVED

18. Prefix with present : OMNI

22. Singsongy "This is an uncomfortable moment" : "AWKWARD"

24. "Yeah, right!" : "AS IF"

25. Direction in which el sol rises : ESTE

26. Mardi __ : GRAS

27. Capital of Latvia : RIGA

28. Scored 100 on : ACED

29. Cash crop for the southern American colonies : TOBACCO

33. From head to __ : TOE

34. Elbow's locale : ARM

35. Flower necklace : LEI

37. Car : AUTO

39. Wall St. index : NYSE. (New York Stock Exchange)

41. Engrave on glass, say : ETCH

42. Soft cheese : BRIE

47. Entertain lavishly : REGALE

49. Guys-only party : STAG

50. Word with party or degree : THIRD

51. Willies-inducing : EERIE

52. Pyromaniac's crime : ARSON

53. Diner basketful : ROLLS

54. Comedian Wanda : SYKES. She's not everyone's cup of tea so I won't link her.

55. Baseball Hall of Famer Satchel : PAIGE. He pitched in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball. Quite the character.

59. D-Day transports : LSTs. (landing ship, tank)

60. Talk show pioneer Donahue : PHIL. Married to Marlo Thomas as we found out the other day.

61. Golfer's target : HOLE

62. Copied : APED

64. Scottish hat : TAM

65. Beatty of film : NED. "a chubby, cherubic character actor who rarely gets the girl, but almost always has the audience's sympathy, even when he plays bad guys."

Argyle

Sunday November 24, 2013 Mark Feldman

Theme: "Cooked Books" - Each theme entry sounds like a well-known novel. (Added later:  I did not catch the theme fully. Please click here to read Orange's explanation. Two of the words in each book title rhyme with the original words.)

25A. Tolstoy novel about game hunting? : BOAR AND GEESE. "War and Peace".

 

31A. London novel about gentlemen coming to blows? : BRAWL OF THE MILD. "Call of the Wild".

 

52A. Salinger novel about an alien abduction? : SNATCHER IN THE SKY. "Catcher in the Rye"

70A. Dreiser novel about a prominent British prince? : MISTER HARRY. "Sister Carrie".

82A. Brontë novel about the rigors of ballet training? : SMOTHERING TIGHTS.  "Wuthering Heights".

104A. Forster novel about the mysterious death of Tutenkhamen? : A TOMB WITH A CLUE. "A Room with a View". King Tut.

115A. Steinbeck novel about a spiritual vegan? : OF RICE AND ZEN. "Of Mice and Men".

Did I miss any extra layer that further coheres the theme? 

When I read the puzzle title "Cooked Books", I thought it might be an anagram. Consulted with our Oracle Argyle, he said "It doesn't pay to analyze puns too much".

I'm eager to read what you guys have to say.

Across:

1. Skye cap : TAM. Saw this clue before, so an easy start.

4. Long yarn : SAGA. Bob, who reads but not comments on our blog, sent me these pictures last night. It's carved from a single tree trunk.  Total length: 12.286 meters. Click here to for more. 4 years. Talk about patience.

8. Wide open areas? : SPACES

14. Fix after an outage, as a clock : RE-SET

19. Genetics lab study : RNA

20. Yemen neighbor : OMAN

21. Old Spanish sailing force : ARMADA

22. Small egg : OVULE

23. Fingers : IDs. Verb.

24. __ the Merciless: Flash Gordon foe : MING

27. Most texts : MESSAGES. Do you texting  or calling your kids, PK?

29. Informer : RAT

30. Intimidated : DAUNTED

35. Assembled : MET

36. Computer acronym : ASCII

37. Get : SEE

38. DDE rival : AES (Adlai Ewing Stevenson)

40. "__ Miniver" : MRS

43. Murder mystery staple : CORPSE

45. Credit (to) : ASCRIBE

49. Court happening : TRIAL

51. Spot for a pad : KNEE

56. Good, in Hebrew : TOV.  "Mazel tov!"

57. Clear : RID

58. Bygone bringers of blocks : ICEMEN

59. Spanish appetizer : TAPA. I like Korean appetizers (Banchan). I like all pickled stuff.

63. Stir up : WAKEN

65. Tinted : HUED

68. Despicable : BASE

69. "What a shame!" : ALAS

72. Big name in elevators : OTIS

73. Daffy : BATS

74. NFL pick sixes, e.g. : INTS (Interceptions)

75. Red dye : EOSIN. Rooted in Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn. Hence red, I suppose.

 76. Guy dolls : KENS

77. Check : ARREST. One-word clue can be very tricky.

79. Belief: Suff. : ISM

80. Cleo's undoing : ASP

87. One may overlook a loch : BRAE

91. Perfume with myrrh, say : CENSE. Valid word, as Yellowrocks showed us once. Please ignore those snarky anons, Kathy, do tell you about your visit to Israel. What's their typical breakfast? Do they have bagel shops there?

92. Crowd __ : PLEASER

93. Crowd : THRONG

95. More than feasts (on) : ODs

96. Pancake-making facilitator : MIX

97. Photo __ : OPS

100. Swiss mathematician : EULER

101. Email attachment, briefly : PDF

109. Gulf War missile : PATRIOT

113. Former president of Pakistan : ZIA. Wiki said he's Pakistan's longest-serving head of state, ruling eleven years.

114. Lozenges, e.g. : SOOTHERS

118. "__.0": Comedy Central show : TOSH. Never watched the show. Hosted by Daniel Tosh.

119. Bad opening? : DYS. Like Dysfunctional.

120. Booze : SAUCE. Drunk.

121. R or X : RATING

122. Curved molding : OGEE

123. Not leave, with "up" : USE

124. Corners, in a way : TREES

125. Preoccupy : OBSESS

126. "O, let me not be mad" speaker : LEAR. I bet no Shakespearean clue can stump our Keith. He and Misty are both professors at the University of California, Irvine, though I don't think they've met each other.

127. Times in want ads : PMs

Down:

1. Sculpt, as hedges : TRIM BACK

2. "Winesburg, Ohio" author Sherwood : ANDERSON. Never heard of this guy or the book. 

3. Total drubbing : MASSACRE

4. Horn of Africa natives : SOMALIS

5. Baja buddy : AMIGO

6. Crooks, in slang : GANEFS. Learned from doing xwords.

7. Unsettled feelings, in Frankfurt : ANGSTE. New word to me. Quite close to our Angst.

8. Buffalo hockey player : SABRE.  I don't think I know any player from Buffalo Sabres, Splynter.

9. Tournament kickoff, perhaps : PRO-AM

10. Cremona craftsman : AMATI. Violin.

11. Beetle, for one : CAR.

12. Author LeShan : EDA

13. Bank deposit : SAND. Great clue.

14. Scoundrel : ROGUE

15. Affair : EVENT

16. Haggis ingredient : SUET. Suet is beef fat. Lard is pig fat.

17. "What __ is new?" : ELSE

18. Began a round, with "off" : TEED

26. Farm mom : DAM

28. Lift : SWIPE

32. __ wave : HEAT

33. Den : LAIR

34. Actress Mazar : DEBI

39. House mate?: Abbr. : SEN. Senate. I was stumped.

40. Pair, as two odd socks : MIS-MATE. This is the clue & Answer dupe (mate/MATE) Anon-T referred the other day.

41. Earns copiously : RAKES IN

42. Cunning : SLYNESS

44. Approx. : EST

46. Cliffside debris : SCREE

47. Violin parts : CHIN RESTS

48. Great American Ball Park player : RED

49. Cannabis compound : THC

50. Nike rival : REEBOK. Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, some kind of gazelle.

53. Sure to end badly : NO-WIN

54. "Stop, sailor!" : AVAST

55. Considerable : TIDY

59. Hot stuff : TABASCO. I bet Lucina has a bottle in her fridge.

60. Fearful : ALARMED

61. Arts supporters : PATRONS

62. Furniture and fixtures, say : ASSETS

64. Gold meas. : KTs (Karats)

65. Eats : HAS

66. Dickens' Heep : URIAH

67. "The Hat Makes the Man" artist : ERNST (Max)

70. Wee bit : MITE

71. Pal, slangily : HOMIE

78. Lady, e.g. : SHE

79. Supermarket franchise initials : IGA

81. L.A. hours : PST. I think Rich does read our blog, Bill G, probably not every day, as he's extremely busy with all the puzzle submissions/editing/reader mails and other newspaper stuff we're not aware of.

83. Turning meas. : RPM

84. Hip bones : ILIA

85. Call in a bakery : NEXT

86. Develop : GROW

87. "Scottish Fantasy" composer : BRUCH (Max). Jazzbumap knows him. Not me. German composer. Died in 1920.

 

88. In a ball : ROLLED UP

89. Arterial problem : ANEURYSM

90. Exits : EGRESSES

94. Subtly mottled, as fabric : HEATHER. Oh I know the pattern. Just don't know it has a specific name.

98. Starter's gun : PISTOL

99. Easy mark : STOOGE

101. Damage, so to speak : PRICE. I don't get this one. Can you give me a sentence to show how these two are equivalents?

102. Cubes in the kitchen : DICES. Verb "Cubes"!

103. Antagonist : FOE

105. Harriet's TV spouse : OZZIE

106. Appearances : MIENS. Also learned from doing xwords.

107. Beatle trademark : BANGS

108. Old Testament prophet : HOSEA. Needed crossing help.

109. Put up : POST

110. At a distance : AFAR

111. Faithful : TRUE

112. Poi source : TARO

116. Collar : NAB

117. Sot's problem : DTS

I'm excited to show you a recent picture of Agnes, our loving and witty Irish Miss. She said:

"I am on the right next to my sister, Eileen. This was taken Friday night (Nov 22, 2013)  at my sister Peggy's house, celebrating her 6 year old granddaughter's Luau-themed birthday party."

Notice her rings? Read here for details. She has since added a new ring.