Monday, February 16, 2015 Garry Morse

Theme: Huh? I must have dozed off - which might be excused because of all the Z's.(9)

17A. Teen's budding facial hair, informally : PEACH FUZZ

56A. Speculation leading up to a February 22 awards extravaganza : OSCAR BUZZ

11D. Semi-autobiographical 1979 Fosse film : "ALL THAT JAZZ"

25D. Bubbly plum-flavored drink : SLOE GIN FIZZ

Argyle [yawn] here. Garry returns after his debut back in July last year. That was a Sunday but now he tackles the always tough Monday. Two 3-word 11's in the verticals and two 2-word 9's in the horizontals. I do wonder if the timely reference to the Oscars was the seed entry or just Rich's reason to publish it now.

Across:

1. Ray Charles' genre : R AND B. (rhythm and blues)

6. "Thank God" day: Abbr. : FRI.

9. Swedish autos : SAABs

14. Borden mascot : ELSIE

15. Cereal grain : OAT

16. Come from behind : RALLY

19. Place for a perm : SALON

20. One of many in a Lipton bag : TEA LEAF

22. Home buyer's debt: Abbr. : MTGE. (Mortgage)

23. Ceases : DESISTS. Cease and Desist partners; stop what you're doing and don't try it again.

26. Sister of Rachel : LEAH. Rachel and Leah were two sisters who married the same man - Jacob. Their father, Laban, was Jacob's uncle.

28. Distributes by shares : ALLOTS

29. Group nickname for Ringwald, Sheedy, Lowe, Estevez et al. : BRAT PACK

33. "Let's go!" : "C'MON!". "What do I have to do? Goose you?"

34. Name of 18 French kings : LOUIS

35. "Toto, __?": Dorothy : TOO

36. Caviar, e.g. : ROE

37. Country-drive view : SCENERY

39. Jam holder : JAR

40. Nonprofit URL ending : .ORG (organization)

41. Carpentry bit : AUGER. Type of drill.

42. Uncommon : RARE

43. Next-door resident : NEIGHBOR

45. Gabor with an echoic name : ZSA ZSA

47. Florida State player, for short : NOLE. (Seminoles)

48. Native : CITIZEN

49. Living room piece : SOFA

51. "No chance of that happening!" : "DREAM ON!"

54. Relax, in slang : CHILL

60. Open, as a jacket : UNZIP

61. Tex. clock setting : CST

62. Theater offering : MOVIE

63. Takes a nap : DOZES

64. Fancy carp : KOI

65. Former Steeler star Lynn __, who ran for governor of Pennsylvania in 2006 : SWANN. Swann ran as a Republican against the Democratic incumbent Ed Rendell. He lost by almost 850,000 votes.

Down:

1. Sales agent : REP. (Representative)

2. Bass brew : ALE

3. Govt. intel org. : NSA. [no such agency]

4. Style of wording : DICTION

5. Command : BEHEST. It would behoove you to remember this word.

6. Hoops ref's calls : FOULS Hoops=basketball

7. Demolish, as a building : RAZE

8. Chichén __ : ITZÁ

9. Yearbook sect. : SRs

10. Road travel org. freebie : AAA MAP

12. Opinion website : BLOG

13. "Auld Lang __" : SYNE

18. Pool legend Minnesota __ : FATS

21. Natural aptitude : FLAIR

23. Wrinkle-resistant synthetic : DACRON

24. Author Leonard : ELMORE. Elmore John Leonard, Jr.

    Raylan - Get Shorty - Three-Ten to Yuma - Mr. Majestyk

27. Online market for handmade crafts : ETSY. Link

29. Dumb mistake : BONER

30. Penitent sort : RUER

31. Like a woodworker's rasp : COARSE

32. Seoul native : KOREAN

34. Toy block brand : LEGO

37. Humorist Mort who wrote jokes for Kennedy : SAHL

38. To the third power : CUBED

42. Colorful post-cloudburst phenomenon : RAINBOW

44. Hockey mask wearer : GOALIE

45. Alcopop brand : ZIMA

 46. Hurricanes, e.g. : STORMS

48. Spiny desert plants : CACTI

49. Gulf War missile : SCUD

50. "Don't tell me!" : "OH NO!"

52. Relax on a porch chair, perhaps : ROCK

53. Standard Oil brand : ESSO

55. Hi-fi platters : LPs

57. Charlottesville sch. : UVA. (University of Virginia)

58. Red or blush wine, familiarly : ZIN

59. Buddhist sect : ZEN

How many CSO's did you count?

Argyle

Sunday February 15, 2015 Amy Johnson

Theme:  "Hail to the Chief" - Each theme answer is clued as if it's related to a US president.

24A. Presidential thoroughfare? : MADISON AVENUE.  Wiki says that Madison Square is named after President Madison. I presume it's the same for the Avenue.

39A. Presidential records? : LINCOLN LOGS. Named after President Lincoln.

54A. Presidential teams? : BUSH LEAGUE. Unrelated to President Bush. So works perfectly as a theme answer.

71A. Presidential horse? : FORD BRONCO. Ditto this one.

83A. Presidential quintet? : JACKSON FIVE. Ditto this one.

102A. Presidential resistance? : GRANT IMMUNITY. This one is the best with the original "Grant" as a verb.

3D. Presidential tweet? : WASHINGTON POST

50D. Presidential stand-ups? : GARFIELD COMICS

This type of theme works the best when the key words in the original phrases have nothing to do with the presidents. But it's impossible to come up with a set for Sundays.

I like the clue angle, and the grid only has 140 words (same as Marti's last week). You can be assured that I'll rack it up to 144.

Across:

 

1. Chauffeur's ride : TOWN CAR. Lincoln!

8. Glass-tinting element : COBALT

14. Pin sites : ALLEYS. Bowling pins.

20. Otter's prey : ABALONE. I don't think I had abalones before. You?

21. Key of Beethoven's "Für Elise" : A MINOR. Had ?MINOR. Then waited.

22. Fly under the radar : LIE LOW

23. Splits evenly : BISECTS

26. __Kosh B'gosh : OSH

27. Bigger fish to fry? : KEEPERS. Nice clue.

29. Ask : POSE. As a question.

30. Chem class suffix : IDE

31. Mayberry kid : OPIE

33. Bard's "bleak" : DREAR

34. Dieting setback : GAIN

36. Surname preceder, perhaps: Abbr. : INIT. Oh, middle initial.

37. It may be a hit : SONG

38. Brewery container : VAT

42. Spurs to action : GOOSES

45. Rookie rockers' recordings : DEMOS

46. Major __: Sherwood Forest attraction : OAK. Hey, I know it.

47. Beach house features : STILTS. I did not know those supporting posts are called stilts also.

48. Subdued : MUTED

49. Dome of the Rock floor plan shape : OCTAGON. Wiki said Dome of the Rock is "Jerusalem's most recognizable landmark".  Hahtoola & Yellowrocks must have visited the place.

53. Horatian works : EPODES

56. Botanist Gray : ASA

57. "Writing on the wall" word : MENE. Full message here:

58. What some buds detect : TASTE. Taste buds.

59. Fed. collection agency : IRS. Boomer had to get D-Otto's advice for some deduction issue.

60. Hugging duo : ARMS

61. Sandra Denton, in a hip-hop trio : PEPA. I always thought Salt-N-Pepa is a duo. No idea about their real names. So which one is Pepa?

62. Hunting wear : VESTS

63. Irish nationalist Robert : EMMET. Unknown to me.

65. Usually fuzzy tabloid pics : UFOs

66. Seacrest's show, to fans : IDOL. Ryan Seacrest.

67. Bend's state: Abbr. : ORE. Hope the ousted governor is not from Bend.

68. Mild oaths : DRATS

69. 1492 Bahamas lander : NINA

70. Children's author Asquith : ROS

74. College address ending : DOT EDU

76. Poncherello portrayer on "CHiPs" : ESTRADA (Erik)

78. Itty-bitty : EENSY

79. Trail-making mollusks : SNAILS

80. "... further __ ..." : ADO

81. Word with free or secret : AGENT

82. Addressed the nation, say : ORATED

87. SADD concern : DWI

88. Like raw silk : ECRU. I haven't had mulberries for years.

91. 1997 film apiarist : ULEE. Ulee's Gold.

92. Camembert's department : ORNE. Got via crosses. I know it starts with O though.

93. Obsessed (on) : DWELT

95. Springfield's only tavern : MOE'S

96. H.S. equivalency test : GED

97. Poet Teasdale : SARA

99. "Cloud Shepherd" sculptor : JEAN ARP. Full name for a change.

101. Spartan Stadium sch. : MSU

106. Less likely to be named homecoming king : NERDIER

108. "Because you're worth it" company : L'OREAL. Do you have The Body Shop in your area? It's owned by L’Oréal. Wish we had one in MN.

109. Late news time : ELEVEN

110. A pad may protect it : KNEECAP

111. English assignments : ESSAYS

112. Like subarctic winters : SEVERE. I wonder how those pioneers survived the Minnesota winters.

113. Certifies : ATTESTS

Down:

1. They're off-limits : TABOOS. And 25. It's off-limits : NO NO

2. San Luis __, Calif. : OBISPO

4. Marlins' div. : NLE. National League East.

5. Prepare to fire : COCK

6. Got in the game : ANTED

7. Books : RESERVES

8. Charged : CAME AT

9. Horoscope columnist Sydney : OMARR. Learned from doing xwords.

10. eBay offers : BIDS

11. "Star Wars" saga nickname : ANI. Darth Vader's boyhood nickname.

12. Spanish article : LOS

13. Hot spot, with "the" : TROPICS

14. Troubled word : ALAS

15. Like much radio : LIVE

16. Boo Radley creator Harper : LEE. Now we have a better way to clue the dreaded partial SET A.

17. Current phenomenon : EL NINO

18. Cat's "Get it?" : YOU DIG?

19. Gummy bears and such : SWEETS

28. Snow __ : PEAS

32. Perfect self, in psychoanalysis : EGO IDEAL. Too sophisticated for me.

34. Dreidel letter : GIMEL. Another unknown. One of the four Hebrew letters.

35. Battery terminal : ANODE

36. "Past Imperfect" memoirist Chase : ILKA

39. Underworld river : LETHE

40. Exodus insect : LOCUST

41. Hoops Hall of Famer Thurmond : NATE

43. Fútbol cheer : OLE

44. OH and OK : STS (States)

45. Cleans with Old English : DUSTS. Holy smokes! Never heard of Old English.

47. Olympic pool sights : SPEEDOS

48. Requirement : MUST

49. Fiends of fantasy : OGRES

51. Notable Mormon family : OSMONDS. The Donny & Marie show in Flamingo costs $90.

52. Junkanoo parade city : NASSAU. OK, Wiki says Junkanoo is "a street parade with music, dance and costumes in many towns across The Bahamas every Boxing Day  & New Year's Day". Learning moment for me also.

53. Ottoman, e.g. : EMPIRE

54. Predicated : BASED

55. "We __ please" : AIM TO. A special "Thank you" to Gary for blogging last Sunday's puzzle and Argyle for snipping several Answer Grids and taking care of the blog while I was away.

58. __ cotta : TERRA. A must-see if you visit Xi'an.

60. Uncle Henry's wife : AUNTIE EM

62. Practice with dolls : VOODOO

63. Physicist Mach or artist Max : ERNST

64. Eponymous store founder : MACY. Macy's left our ghetto area a while ago.

68. "No man is an island" poet : DONNE

71. Rages : FADS

72. Word from a proctor : BEGIN

73. Kent portrayer on the big screen : REEVE

74. Modern evidence : DNA

75. Muffin grain : OAT

77. Toothed tool : RAKE

79. Major tea exporter : SRI LANKA. Look at this list. I'm surprised that Kenya is a major tea exporter as well.

81. Some chalets : A-FRAMES

82. John Irving's "A Prayer for __ Meany" : OWEN. Hi there Owen!

83. Manage, as multiple tasks : JUGGLE. I can only focus on one thing at a time.

84. Final Olds models : ALEROS

85. Sources of aromatic wood : CEDARS

86. "Cheers" shout : NORM

87. Wrestler Johnson, a.k.a. The Rock : DWAYNE. I often confuse him with Vin Diesel.

89. Move to a new table : RE-SEAT

90. Takes by force : USURPS

93. Hardly encourage : DETER

94. Nottingham's river : TRENT

97. Court postponement : STAY

98. Needs a doctor, maybe : AILS

99. Baloney : JIVE

100. __-à-porter: ready-to-wear : PRET. I also loved the movie. Our crossword buddy Stephen Rea is in it.

103. Teachers' org. : NEA

104. Suffix meaning "little" : ULE. As in globule.

105. Calif. neighbor : NEV

107. Fourth grade? : DEE. The fourth letter in grade. (Edited letter: ABCDF grading! Holy smokes!)

Happy Birthday to Hondo (Skip)! Are you still attending the card shows in winter time? Hope you can cruise away from the cold winter soon.

Left to Right: Marti, Dudley, Hondo & Montana

C.C.