Friday, May 20, 2011, Mark Feldman

Theme: How to compose a movie pun. Each grid spanning theme answer began its life as a movie title, and by replacing a sound alike word (or words) with the name of a famous composer, a new movie title emerges to the guffaws of many. Having all the theme answers 15 letters obviously took lots of searching of movie titles, as well as undercurrents of more music, more movies and a sub-text of war. Let's see how it all turns out.

17A. Biopic about a time-traveling composer?: BACH TO THE FUTURE.  JS BACH transforms from the Michael J. Fox series which began with BACK TO THE FUTURE. This one cheated a bit as the sound is off.

27A. Biopic about a composer who is unrecognized in public?: HAYDN PLAIN SIGHT. Another tricky one as you have to know the pronunciation of JOSEPH'S name sounds like HIDE IN PLAIN SIGHT, a James Caan movie that may have started the genre of mysteriously disappearing wives.  The music was the perfect lead into....

48A. Biopic about a composer from a WWII hero's perspective?: SCHINDLER'S LISZT. Where Franz replaces a very moving true story, SCHINDLER'S LIST. To lighten the mood, I suggest this rendition of HUNGARIAN RHAPSODY II.

63A. Biopic about a composer fighting his inner demons?: BATTLE OF BRITTEN.  I was unfamiliar with the work of this British COMPOSER who wrote operas, but I enjoyed the movie BATTLE OF BRITAIN, which had a great CAST.

As you can see we already have direct and indirect references to World War II, and now to continue our tour of duty, corporal Lemonade here as your guide.

Across :

1. Pale: WAN.

4. Mozzetta wearer: ABBOT. This is the little cape worn by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church.

9. Sat: POSED. As in, sat for the portrait.

14. "Exodus" hero: ARI. Played by the late Paul Newman, who many do not know was half Jewish. The war of independence for Israel.

15. Intimate: CLOSE. Well I guess you have to get close to be intimate.

16. Key scene for bursting bombs?: IN AIR. I love this misdirection, with Francis Scott Key and his famous lyric, music bonus #1. More war.

20. "... like __ buzzing in blind fury": Pyle: A BEE. The full quote is, " About every two minutes a wave of planes would be over. The motors seemed to grind rather than roar, and have an angry pulsation, like a bee buzzing in blind fury." Written by the Pulitzer prize winning World War II correspondent ERNIE PYLE who died on the battlefield in Okinawa. More war.

21. Go after: CHASE. Like when you play golf, you go after your ball.

22. Traveling, in a way: ASEA. Our favorite A word.

23. Builder's options: SITES. This actually may mean houses, or we can webify it into websites.

25. __ avis: RARA. Not rare around here, lately.

34. Heavy: SOLEMN. Like certain duty.

35. Rondeaux, e.g.: POEMS. I will let our resident expert CA explain more, but this is a formalized type of poetry. The most famous of which I have any knowledge is In Flanders Fields by John McCrae, which is about World War I.

36. Go astray: SIN. Hey, it was only an extra cookie.

39. Switch words: ON OFF. Simple, but I liked it.

41. Political pacifier: SOP. An old timey word, that I believe fits more than politics.

42. Ruled quarters?: ROOST. King of the hill, hence the name Rooster.

45. Devised, with "up": DREAMT. Like so many schemes in life.

53. Absorbed by: INTO. Dancing with the Stars, American Idol, what is the Corner into these days?

54. Legendary luster: SATYR. Love a good alliterative clue.

55. Tiny amount: IOTA. A Greek letter, which was like our little i, and to signify nothing would be changed, not a single IOTA would be altered.

57. Sting: SMART. This interesting synonym pair can mean both physical and mental pain.

62. Zilch: NADA. Zip, Zero, Nothing, Nil and on and on.

66. Grenoble's river: ISERE. Must for puzzle doing.

67. Put to the test: TRIED. Yes, the product was tried and true.

68. Former transp. regulator: ICC. Interstate Commerce Commission was charged with overseeing the railroads; created under President Grover Cleveland, it later regulated trucking, but it was discarded during the great deregulation wave of the 80's and 90's.

69. Itzhak Perlman choice: STRAD. The great violinist like his Stradivarius, a bonus music.

70. Takes to the cleaners: HOSES. Eh,

71. Canadian LPGA golfer Dawn __-Jones: COE. This was obscure, but very short, so it should not have been a problem.

On to the rest.

Down:

1. Indiana county or its seat: WABASH. Interestingly, the home of one of the rail companies regulated by the ICC, and the name of a famous train of song, the Wabash Cannonball.

2. Where Mecca is: ARABIA. Where the pilgrimage ends.

3. Civilized feature: NICETY. Yes, let us all play together and observe the niceties.

4. Put-on: ACT. The put-on, like Andy Kaufman, or Cliff Arquette as Charlie Weaver used to be more popular.

5. Alliance: BLOC. For example, the now defunct Soviet bloc.

6. This and that: BOTH. Another simple, but deceptive little clue.

7. Pub. of a "Distracted Driving" brochure: OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

8. Some shirts: TEES. Remember when they were just undershirts and not shirts?

9. More, in music: PIU. More bonus music, I wish I were JzB, but I think it just means more, like PIU Allegro, would mean faster.

10. Where London is: ONTARIO. Very nice, as Canada has its own London near Toronto.

11. Some links: SAUSAGES. I wanted a golf course, especially since there are so many links courses in....

12. Limerick land: EIRE. Ireland.

13. "The Sopranos" actress __ de Matteo: DREA. The poor waitress who hooks up with Chris, becomes a government spy and pays the ultimate price- working on a sitcom with Matt LeBlanc.

18. Doesn't ignore: HEEDS.

19. Spore producer: FERN. Ah, spring and Allegra not allegro.

24. Cat lead-in: SNO. Geez, again?

26. Old Egyptian symbol: ASP. This snake is back.

28. Abbas's gp.: PLO. Mahmoud Abbas took over the Palestine Liberation Organisation upon the death of Yasser Arafat, and won't let go, causing another rift between Fatah and Hamas.

29. He appeared in eight consecutive U.S. Open finals: LENDL. Ivan, a Czech star who along with countryman Petr Korda has raised a daughter who is looking to play professional golf.

30. Love overseas: AMORE. Sounds more romantic doesn't it.

31. Figure: INFER. Another stretch here, but I figured it out from the clue.

32. Ins. plan: HMO. Health Maintenance Organisation

33. 1/48 cup: Abbr.: TSP. When you read the recipe and it says a cup of sugar, remember it is 48 teaspoons.

36. Yearbook sect.: SRS. Seniors.

37. Games org.: IOC. International Olympic Committee.

38. Historic game: NO HITTER. usually a shut out as the opposition has no hits, from baseball where we also get, 47D. Three-time A.L. shutout leader of the '60s-'70s: TIANT. Luis, who had the unnerving motion where he completely turned his back to the plate before delivering the ball, making the batter wonder where it might come from, and maybe they did not sit comfortably as he pitched for the Indians and the Red Sox when they almost won. 60D. Sluggers' stats: RBIS. Which nobody gets if there is a shut out.

40. Musical syllables: FAS. More music.

43. 1953 Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner: SINATRA. Wow, music and war and another movie, all in one clue. FROM HERE TO ETERNITY  is a very powerful war movie with another great cast.

44. Big bang producer: TNT. Not the CBS TV show after all, Penny and Raj! Shocking!

46. L.A. Galaxy's gp.: MLS. Major League Soccer; sort of like Charlie Sheen's Baseball movie.

49. Pharmacy concern: DOSE. and DESE, and DEM.

50. Trouble: STATIC. People used to say, "don't give me any static", I wonder if it was because they listened to the radio so much.

51. Louisiana folk music: ZYDECO. More music, Hahtool, you want to explain,as this was my learning moment as I did not know this STYLE.

52. Daze: TRANCE.

55. Wading bird: IBIS. Mascot for the Miami Hurricanes, why?

56. Brewery feature: OAST. Another recent regular clue.

58. Evening flier: MOTH. I do not believe Florida is a healthy climate for moths.

59. Full do: AFRO. Hairdo.

61. Corner: TREE. Hunting dogs often chase their prey up a tree; dogs are not great in trees.

64. Brought: LED. You got me supply your own explanation.

65. Some tags: IDS.

Answer grid.

Well like I said this is Lemonade, back in the saddle, or the tank turret,  after a week off when I left poor Marti with the whole blogging world in tatters. I do not know if that was fate protecting me, or teasing her, but I expect to be back again, you all take care.

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary to Linda.

2) Happy Birthday to the wicked fun guy Mainiac & a belated Happy Birthday to Grumpy & M.J.

3) Safe travels, Dennis. Don't stray from the blog too long.

Thursday, May 19, 2011, Peter A. Collins

Theme:  Connect the dots. Click here. The circled letters A through J (the tiny bubbles from 57A) make the outline of (a little fishy from 38A) if you trace a line to each one in alphabetical order after completing the puzzle. (Note, the circles do not appear on the LA Times applet, you can see them if you do the Across Lite version on Cruciverb.com).

19A. Vast expanse (and a fitting setting for this puzzle): DEEP BLUE SEA. 

38A. Somewhat suspect (and a hint to what can be found by connecting the circled letters in alphabetical order): A LITTLE BIT FISHY.

57A. Don Ho hit (and what the O's in this grid represent): TINY BUBBLES.

This was kind of different, I don't remember doing any other connect the dots puzzles, but I'll bet it didn't help anyone very much in solving.  However, this seemed more like a Monday or Tuesday to me today anyway, less than 10 minutes to complete it.

ACROSS:

1. Ones minding their peas in queues?: PODS. Pea pods hold their seeds all in a row. There are many stories about the origin of the phrase this plays on, but investigations by the Oxford English Dictionary in 2007 when revising the entry turned up early examples of the use of Ps and Qs to mean learning the alphabet. The first is in a poem by Charles Churchill, published in 1763: “On all occasions next the chair / He stands for service of the Mayor, / And to instruct him how to use / His A’s and B’s, and P’s and Q’s.” It is more likely to be that than any of the more fanciful explanations.

5. __ band: PEP. Student sports boosters.

8. Where the music stops?: HARD C. The last letter of the word music has a "k" sound.

13. Uprising: RIOT.

14. Consider judicially: HEAR.

15. End of __: AN ERA. An overused trite phrase.

16. Bony beginning: OSTE. From the Greek word for bone: osteon.

17. Scots Gaelic: ERSE. Early Scottish variant of Old English Irisc or Old Norse Irskr "Irish"; applied by Lowland Scots to the Gaelic speech of the Highlanders (which originally is from Ireland)

18. They might be executed by a judge: STAYS. Original meaning is to stand (related to editor's "stet"), to come to a halt.

22. York's title: Abbr.: SGT. Alvin York, a Tennessee sharpshooter who was deeply religious/pacifist early on, and a conscientious objector to the war. He took out a German machine gun nest by killing 28 soldiers, but he saved 132 others, so he was fighting to save lives.

23. __ Lanka: SRI. Honorific for "beautiful".

24. Fourth-cen. monastic: ST. BASIL. Of Caesarea, (now Turkey) known for his care of the poor and underprivileged.

26. a.m. beverages: OJS. Skip the juice, which has been pasteurized and is concentrated sugar, eat an orange instead...

29. Citric __: ACID. A weak acid found naturally occurring in citrus fruits, it is added to soft drinks to make them sour. The commercial production technique is cultures of A. niger are fed on a sucrose or glucose-containing medium to produce citric acid. The source of sugar is corn steep liquor, molasses, hydrolyzed corn starch or other inexpensive sugary solutions. After the mold is filtered out of the resulting solution, citric acid is isolated by precipitating it with lime (calcium hydroxide) to yield calcium citrate salt, from which citric acid is regenerated by treatment with sulfuric acid. Yummy! Eat an orange instead...

32. Finesse shampoo maker __ Curtis: HELENE.

33. Shows inattention at a lecture, maybe: NAPS.

35. Shrinking sea: ARAL.

37. Chicago commuter carriers: ELS. Elevated trains.

43. Folksy negative: NAW.

44. Identical: SAME.

45. Very wide shoe: EEEE.

46. Lessens: ABATES. From O.Fr. abattre "beat down, cast down." Related to batter, to fell or slaughter found in abattoir.

49. "Voila!" cousin: TADA. Japanese: Yatta!

51. ENTs, e.g.: DRS. Ear, Nose, and Throat doctors.

52. Bonding capacity measure: VALENCE. Chemistry bonds between atoms to make molecules.

54. Actor Wallach: ELI.

56. Ideal conclusion?: IST. Suffix clue. The most charitable definition of idealist is one who pursues high or noble purposes or goals, such as justice, charity, altruism, equality, fairness, etc. As Terry Pratchett's character "Death" says: "You have to believe in things that aren't true, else how can they become so?"

63. Gaming pioneer: ATARI. The word "atari" in Japanese is a term in the board game of GO for one or more stones that are one move away from being surrounded and thus captured.

65. Judge: DEEM. To pass judgement, to form an opinion. Related to doom, which also meant judgement, condemnation.

66. "Please allow me": MAY I. Or, with "mother" a children's game similar to Simon Says.

67. Old dwelling for 68-Across: TEPEE. From Dakota (Siouan) thipi "dwelling, house."

68. Western natives: UTES. (Utah) from Spanish yuta, name of the indigenous Uto-Aztecan people of the Great Basin, perhaps from Western Apache (Athabaskan) yudah "high" (in reference to living in the mountains).

69. Ready for use: PREP.  Used as the verb form here, to get ready.  PREP is apparently one of those words, like "rhino" that we use without considering it an abbreviation.

70. 20% of seventy-six?: ESSES. There are 10 letters in "seventy-six", two of which are the letter "s", so 2 is 20% of 10.

71. Gambling area: PIT.  We just recently had pit boss.

72. Bad lads: CADS. Shortening of Cadet, "a jumped-up member of the lower classes who was guilty of behaving as if he didn't know that his lowly origin made him unfit for having sexual relationships with well-bred women." [Anthony West, "H.G. Wells: Aspects of a Life," 1984]

DOWN:

1. Urge: PROD.

2. Seine feeder: OISE. French rivers.

3. Heap affection (on): DOTE. Or what a mairzy eats.

4. Self-help segments: STEPS.  A 12 step program is a set of guiding principles outlining a course of action for recovery from addiction, compulsion, or other behavioral problems.

6. Lessen: EASE.

7. Basketball ploy: PRESS.  Short for pressure. Often called a full-court press, this is an attacking defense employed in the backcourt before the ball crosses center court, where the objective is to force a turnover.

8. Argues (with): HAS A BEEF.

9. Tiny crawler: ANT. Also formerly called an EMMET from *ai- "off, away" + *mai- "cut," (maim).  Thus, its name means "the biter off".

10. Like much real estate, annually: REASSESSED. Originally meant to fix the amount of tax on, so to place a value on.

11. Bombay product: DRY GIN. Bombay is a brand name of  gin distributed by Bacardi.

12. Way to relocate a king: CASTLE. A chess maneuver which protects the king and frees up the rook.

14. Like rotini: HELICAL. Pasta.

20. Support in a dresser drawer: BRA.

21. Sudan neighbor: Abbr.: ETH.iopia.  Today's geography lesson.

25. Kate's sitcom pal: ALLIE. 80's sitcom starring Susan St. James and Jane Curtin.

26. "Leaving __ Jet Plane": ON A. We've had lots of Peter Paul and Mary lately, so here's the guy that wrote the song.

27. Flier to Tokyo: JAL. Japan Airlines.

28. Lumbar punctures: SPINAL TAPS.  Cerebro-spinal fluid analysis can be used to diagnose certain neurologic disorders, particularly infections (such as meningitis) and brain or spinal cord damage.

30. Inflames: IRES.

31. Pat: DAB AT.

34. Declare: STATE.

36. 5-Down's capital: LIMA. along with 5D. See 36-Down: PERU.

39. ATM output: TWENTIES.

40. Latin hymns: TE DEUMS. Literal translation: "Thee, O God, we praise".  According to the Devil's Dictionary (Ambrose Bierce) on the similar sounding word tedium:  Many fanciful derivations of the word have been affirmed, but so high an authority as Father Jape says that it comes from a very obvious source -- the first words of the ancient Latin hymn Te Deum Laudamus. In this apparently natural derivation there is something that saddens.

41. Slip floater, to its owner: HER. Boats referred to with feminine gender.

42. "Absolutely!": YES.

46. Fly: AVIATE. Latin "avis", bird.

47. Moistens with drippings: BASTES.

48. Acoustics, e.g.: Abbr.: SCI. One of the sciences.

50. Priestly garb: ALB.

53. Turn out to be: END UP.

55. High-tech debut of 1981: IBM PC.

58. "__ do fear thy nature": Lady Macbeth: YET I.  "It is too full o' th' milk of human kindness." She is expressing doubt that he has the backbone for the ruthless action it will require to take and retain the kingship.

59. Epitome of redness: BEET.

60. Pasternak heroine: LARA. Dr. Zhivago...

61. Scrutinized: EYED.

62. Uses a straw: SIPS.

64. R&B artist Des'__: REE.  You gotta be.

Answer Grid 

Al

Wenesday, May 18, 2011, Bill Thompson

Theme:  RIGHT AS RAIN.  The theme entries start with a word that can describe a kind of SHOWER.  OK - they aren't all the RAIN kind of SHOWER, or even the kind that get you wet, but I'm going to run with it.  It's a great expression meaning "all is well and things are as they should be," dating back to the time when an agrarian society depended on spring and summer rains to get good crop yields.  Then, all was right with the world.

17 A. 1958 Robert Mitchum drama : THUNDER ROAD The story of a Korean War vet who comes home to take over the family moonshine business.  A THUNDER SHOWER is a brief rain storm with a natural light show and sound effects.

26 A. Dorm room snack : COLD PIZZA.  I was a townie, not a dormie, so I never developed this awful-sounding culinary habit.  A COLD SHOWER is simply a self-inflicted deluge of cold water.  It is reported to have numerous health benefits.  You be the judge.

40. '70s-'80s Haitian president, familiarly : BABY  DOC DUVALIER.  Jean-Claude was the son (hence "Bébé Doc") of the previous president, François "Papa Doc" DUVALIER.  He continued the family tradition of torture, tyranny and lavish personal life-style, while his subjects languished in bone-crushing poverty.   Odd, odd juxtaposition with BABY SHOWER, a joyful party where an expectant mother is SHOWERED with gifts by her friends.

52 A. Early spring shout : "APRIL FOOL."  The origin of APRIL FOOLERY is lost in the mists of time, but is believed to have started with the change to the Gregorian Calendar, around 1582.  News traveled slowly in those days, so some people didn't catch up with the change and didn't know the proper date.  Others resisted the change.  Both became the butt of practical jokes.  It's believable, I guess.  APRIL SHOWERS are springtime episodes of rain that bring May flowers, and kids cooped up in the house for hours.

Plus the unifier:  65 A. Bath fixtures, and a hint to the starts of 17-, 26-, 40- and 52-Across : SHOWER HEADS.  This is a device that sprays you with water (of any desired temperature.)  And HEAD indicates that the beginning theme words can precede SHOWER.  Pretty clever.

Hi gang, JazzBumpa here.  In this tidy theme we have two meteorological events, get all cleaned up, and have a party.  Let's join the fun

Across

1. Frequently change positions : JOB HOP.  Previous generations worked one or two jobs in a life time.  Now, JOB HOPPING is the norm.  Still, I was thinking about tossing and turning.

7. Jury member : PEER.  The Constitution guarantees a trial with a jury of one's peers.  These are people of equal standing, who should be well equipped to render a fair verdict.

11. Patty Hearst's kidnappers: Abbr. : SLA.  The Symbionese Liberation Army.  According to founder Donald DeFreeze, "The name 'symbionese' is taken from the word 'symbiosis' and we define its meaning as a body of dissimilar bodies and organisms living in deep and loving harmony and partnership in the best interest of all within the body."   Sure.  That explains why they engaged in bank robbing, murder and, most famously, kidnapping.

14. Frosted pastry : ECLAIR.  Yum!

15. "The Raven" opener : ONCE upon a midnight dreary / As I pondered, weak and weary / Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore . . 

16. Faddish '90s disc : POG.  I have no idea. 

19. GM had one in Nov. 2010 : IPO.  Initial Public Offering, an issue of new stock

20. Low digits : TOES.  Of course.  Cute.

21. Buddhist sect : ZEN. From Wikipedia:  The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán (禪), which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state".    But you all knew that.

22. Roofing support : RAFTER.  For some reason I needed a lot of perp help to get this.

24. __ au vin : COQ.   "Rooster in wine" is a French braise of chicken cooked with wine, lardons, mushrooms, and optionally garlic.  (Garlic is an option?!?)  Jeannie . . .

28. Musical with the song "Midway Chase" : BARNUM.  Phineas T. I presume.  Never heard of it, and there is no YouTube vid.

31. Like many eBay items : USED

32. Disco, for one : ERA.  An ERA is "A long and distinct period of history with a particular feature or characteristic."  The disco ERA wasn't really long.  It only seemed that way.

33. Photographer Adams : ANSEL.  Famous for his usually panoramic black and white landscape and nature shots.  Here is a gallery full.

36. Self-titled 1969 jazz album : ELLA.   Can't find any songs from that album on YouTube, so you'll have to settle for Hammerstein-Kern.

44. Film lioness : ELSA.  She was Born Free.

45. Sports : HAS ON.  SPORT as a verb, meaning "wear."  Sport we now our gay apparel.

46. Sup : EAT

47. Clothes line? : SEAM.  Nice misdirection.  Did you find any SEAMS in the SPORTS-wear?

50. Prepare for online publication : WEBIFY.  This is an actual word, correctly used.  News to me.

57. Beat the house : WIN.  Casino games favor the house, e.g. the gambling establishment, without the need for cheating.  It's all about probability.  Gambling is a fool's game in any month, but sometimes a lucky person takes home some spare cash

58. Offshore eyesore, to some : OIL RIG.  Eye of the beholder, I guess.

59. Email forwarder's intro : FYI.  For Your Information.

61. Idiot : TWIT. We all know one or two.

64. Certain artery: Abbr. : RTE.  Route, a transportation artery.

68. Profs' aides : TAS.  Teaching Assistants.

 69. __-kiri : HARA.  Well, this is unpleasant.  HARA kiri is another name for sepukku, a ritual suicide performed by Samurai as punishment for disgrace, or to avoid capture and abasement.  Check Wikipedia if you want more detail.

70. Speedy Gonzales cry : ARRIBA.  Racially insensitive, a bit DF, and catch the last three words.

71. Intractable beast : ASS. 

72. Ex-Yankee Pettitte : ANDY.  Where is he now?

73. Empty __ : NESTER. A parent whose children have grown and moved away.

 Down

1. Rocker Joan : JETT.  She loves Rock 'n' Roll.

2. Cinco y tres : OCHO.  Can you add in Spanish?  Arriba! 5 + 3 = 8.  Numeros de Fibonacci.

3. Chesapeake Bay delicacies : BLUE CRABS.  Callinectes sapidus.  Beautiful swimmer that tastes good.  I am not making this up.

4. "MMMBop" band : HANSON.  Beats me.

5. Meteor tail? : OID.  Meteoroid  - and the infamous "tail" suffix clue.

6. Chief exec : PREZ.  Abbrv for President.

7. Dirty fare : PORNO.  Nothing I can add.

8. Ambient music pioneer : ENO.  Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno.  I think I get him every time.

9. Hallmark.com offerings : E-CARDS.  For the sophisticated and discerning card giver.

10. Orangutan : RED APE. 

11. Norwegian Elkhound, for one : SPITZ

12. "J to tha L-O!" artist : LOPEZ.  "J to tha L-O!" is a remix of Jennifer Lopez's second album J-LO.  I'm learning a lot of stuff that I'm not going to remember.

13. Ancient market : AGORA.  Ancient Greek.

18. __ room : REC.  Home to many a big screen TV.

23. Brother of Raúl : FIDEL.  Somehow, I never think of FIDEL Castro as Raúl's hermano.

25. Campus hangout : QUAD.  A typical campus feature is a QUADrangle.  Literally, this is a building that surrounds a courtyard.  More casually, an open area surrounded by four buildings, often dorms.

27. Beauts : LULUS.  Slang terms for some rip-snortin' knockout who is a real doozy, or just the bee's knees.

28. Nixon confidant Rebozo : BEBE.  Charles, our second Bébé of the day, was the youngest son of Cuban immigrants, who moved up from the laundromat business to banking, and somehow made a lot of money along the way.

29. Sea damaged by Soviet irrigation projects : ARAL.  It's drying up and turning into a salt flat.

30. Letters below DEF : MNO.  On your push-button telephone.

34. Jerk : SCHMO.  From Yiddish.   I didn't realize that this is an anatomical reference.

35. Author LeShan : EDA.  She wrote about parent-child issues.

37. Prepare to ambush : LIE IN WAIT.  Because if you tell the truth, it's hard to ambush anyone.

38. Page (through) : LEAF. 

39. Pretentiously showy : ARTY

41. Arafat of the PLO : YASIR.  Rumor has that when he was born, his mother sang this song.

42. Pledge : VOW

43. From the top : ANEW.  Start over, so to speak.

48. Cuthbert of "24" : ELISHA.  Kinda looks like Debby Harry.

49. Knitting project : AFGHAN.  A blanket, wrap or shawl of colored yarn.

51. Black flies, notably : BITERS.  Nasty critters.

52. Major artery : AORTA.  A clecho!  The AORTA is the main blood line from the left ventricle, which supplies oxygenated blood to the entire body.  Crabs must not have one.

53. Deli pockets : PITAS.  Flat bread pockets.  Got any bread in your pocket?

54. Like May through August, in a way : R-LESS.  Refers to their spelling.  Traditionally these are the months when you should avoid eating oysters.  Back in the day, before refrigeration, they would spoil quickly in the warm months.  They also spawn in these months, making them fatty, watery, soft and less flavorful.

55. Right __ : OF WAY.  This has two quite distinct legal meanings.  In property law it is an easement or right to travel over another's property.  In traffic law it is the priority to proceed ahead of other vehicles or pedestrians.

56. Caustic solution : LYE.  Sodium hydroxide, and that's the truth.

60. Ahmadinejad's land : IRAN.  No comment.

62. "__ safe and warm if ...": "California Dreamin'" lyric : I'D BE.  Ah, those Mamas and Papas.

63. Winter Palace resident : TSAR.  Russian Royalty.

66. Old California fort : ORD.  Established in 1917, closed in 1994, for many years home to the 7th Infantry Division.

67. Charlemagne's realm: Abbr. : HRE.  Charles the Great was crowne King of the Franks in 768, and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire in 800.  Following his death in 814, things went into a bit of a decline.

Answer grid.

Well, there you have it.  A well constructed puzzle with lots of information , a bite of sea food, and a few eeewww moments for spice.  Hope you enjoyed it.

Jazzbumpa

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 Dan Schoenholz

Theme: 4 kg, slangily - The theme entries have homophonic endings, phonetically KEY.

20A. Built like George on "Seinfeld" : SHORT AND STOCKY. George.

33A. Three-term New York governor : GEORGE PATAKI. He might be a Presidential candidate yet.

43A. Sport played on 58-Downs : ROLLER HOCKEY

59A. Coors Field player : COLORADO ROCKIE. Major League Baseball team based in Denver.

Argyle here. A notch harder than yesterday but rather bland, theme-wise. Not much else to say. Our constructor had a LAT Sunday puzzle aways back.

Across:

1. Half a '60s pop quartet : MAMAS

6. Trail mix : GORP. The name may have been derived from the basic mix of "Good Old Raisons and Peanuts.

10. Messes (with) : TOYS

14. Precise : EXACT

15. Roman love god : AMOR

16. "... pretty maids all in __" : A ROW. From the nursery rhyme: Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockleshells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

17. Formal rulings : DICTA. Plural of DICTUM, in legal use, a judge's expression of opinion which is not the formal resolution of a case. This should have been in Lemonade's puzzle.

18. It's usually returned after ordering : MENU

19. Irene of "Fame" : CARA Here. Cara lives in Florida and works with her band Hot Caramel. Song clips.

23. Fed. disease research org. : NIH. National Institutes of Health.

24. Mediocre : SO-SO

25. Golfer's concern : LIE

26. Noun modifier: Abbr. : ADJ.. Adjective.

29. "The Matrix" hero : NEO. Keanu Reeves.

31. "Absolutely!" : "INDEED!"

37. One-named Irish singer : ENYA

38. Kwik-E-Mart guy on "The Simpsons" : APU

39. Beef-and-veggies concoction : STEW

48. Opt not to be a state of the Union : SECEDE

51. "Lil'" rapper : KIM

52. Corrida cry : ¡OLÉ!

53. Script or text ending : URE. Scripture and texture.

54. Comply : OBEY

57. One of a matching pair : HIS

64. Hurried : HIED

65. Adidas rival : NIKE

66. Country star Travis : RANDY. Diggin Up Bones(3:06)

68. 43,560 square feet : ACRE

69. Change for a five : ONES

70. Mink cousin : OTTER

71. "Survey __ ...": game show phrase : SAYS. From "The Family Feud".

72. Tammany Hall cartoonist Thomas : NAST

73. Bright signs : NEONS

Down:

1. T-shirt size: Abbr. : MED.

2. Allies' opposition : AXIS. WW II.

3. Speed ratio : MACH. Here, if you need to know more. The Mach number is named after Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach.

4. Heed, as advice : ACTON

5. Transfixed : STARING. This seems a little off.

6. Lisbon's Vasco da __ Bridge : GAMA. Rather impressive sight.

7. Portents : OMENS

8. Sonata's last movement, perhaps : RONDO

9. Frederick the Great's realm : PRUSSIA. Map.

10. Tijuana treat : TACO. Ok, I'll admit TACO was not my first thought.

11. Prophet at Delphi : ORACLE

12. Terrier type, familiarly : YORKIE. An extra KEY ending. Yorkshire Terrier, Aww!

13. Went back and forth : SWAYED

21. You, way back when : THEE

22. Honky-__ : TONK

26. Grow up : AGE

27. Home computer site : DEN

28. Elation : JOY

30. October birthstone : OPAL

32. Computer insert : DISC

34. Bloody at the steakhouse : RARE

35. Goon : APE

36. The NBA's Mehmet Okur, e.g. : TURK. This center-forward is 6' 11".

40. Decision when the ref stops the fight : TKO. Technical KnockOut.

41. Snaky fish : EEL

42. Ex follower : WYE. Just the letters, X and Y, spelled out.

44. Polecat's defense : ODOR

45. It borders Israel to the north : LEBANON

46. Sunshine cracker : HI HO. You can taste the difference!

47. Pi preceder : OMICRON. Greek. Small "O" but it has both upper and lower case. Large "O" is Omega. They represent different sounds.

48. For example : SUCH AS

49. Beethoven's Third : EROICA. Symphony; Italian for "heroic".

50. Bloody Mary stalk : CELERY

55. Twin Cities suburb : EDINA. Map. SW of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

56. Joins, as oxen : YOKEs. These guys don't look too thrilled about it.

58. Enjoy the ice : SKATE. No ice involved with ROLLER HOCKEY though.

60. Poems sometimes beginning with "To a" : ODEs

61. Take a break : REST

62. "He's Just Not That __ You": 2009 film : INTO. Ben Affleck. Jennifer Aniston.

63. Garden site : EDEN

67. 12-mo. periods : YRs

Answer grid.

Here is a lovely photo of JD's adorable grandsons. From left to right: Grady 1 1/2, Cameron 10 months, & Truman 3 1/2. Here is the one we showed last July. From left to right: Grady 11 months, Truman 3 & Cameron (2 weeks).

Argyle

Monday, May 16, 2011 Jeff Chen

Theme: Bravado - The first word of the first four theme entries, together and in order, create a phrase synonymous with the unifier.

16A. Dusk-to-dawn cramming session : ALL-NIGHTER

22A. Training neckwear for noisy dogs : BARK COLLARS

36A. "Definitely!" : "NO DOUBT!"

46A. Suffer defeat : BITE THE DUST

55A. Toothless menace described by the starts of 16-, 22-, 36- and 46-Across : IDLE THREAT

Argyle here. Jeff has provided us with a good start to the week. It would have been nice to have "AND" in the middle but that would have made things unnecessarily complex.

Across:

1. Self-indulgent place for breakfast : BED

4. Complete chaos : HAVOC

9. Opinion column, briefly : OP-ED. It probably bears repeating: Though often mistaken for opinion-editorial, OP-ED, abbreviated from OPposite the EDitorial page, is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board. These are different from editorials, which are usually unsigned and written by editorial board members.

13. Algeria neighbor : MALI. NW Africa, map.

14. "Don't be ___!" : A HERO. Yeah, Billy. Number one song for 2 weeks in June '75. (2:47). Check out their threads, dude.

15. Herr's mate : FRAU. German

18. Top pick, slangily : FAVE. Favorite

19. Bayer : Levitra :: Pfizer : __ : VIAGRA

20. Holy messenger : GABRIEL. One of the archangels.

25. Early Peruvian : INCAN

28. Bond creator Fleming : IAN

29. Bordeaux buddy : AMI. French.

30. Sharp to the taste : TART

31. HST predecessor : FDR. Our 32nd and 33rd Presidents.

32. Quaking trees : ASPENS

35. __ Balls: Hostess snacks : SNO

38. John or Jane, anonymously : DOE

39. Materialistic thirtysomething : YUPPIE

41. The Trojans of the NCAA : USC. University of Southern California.

42. Bank offer : LOAN

43. Like some rights and engrs. : CIV. Civil.

44. Opposite of NNW : SSE

45. Digit on a "Magic" ball : EIGHT. Quite a story behind the old Magic 8 Ball.

49. Longtime "20/20" co-host Walters : BARBARA

50. "A Streetcar Named Desire" woman : STELLA. "They told me to take a streetcar named Desire, transfer to one called Cemeteries and ride six blocks and get off at Elysian Fields!"

54. With the bow, in music : ARCO. Italian for bow.

58. "Kiss my grits" TV diner : MEL'S. The waitress named Flo's favorite saying.

59. Mary Tyler __ : MOORE

60. Assistant : AIDE

61. Summer quaffs : ADEs

62. Weapon for Zorro : SWORD. The Fox. "This bold renegade - Carves a "Z" with his blade, - A "Z" that stands for Zorro."

63. Place, as bricks : LAY

Down:

1. Vacation island south of Borneo : BALI. Map. Going by the names down there, I'd say they must grow a lot of coffee.

2. Jazz great Fitzgerald : ELLA. Ella singing about Black Coffee.

3. Archie's pet insult for Edith : DINGBAT

4. Comics Viking : HAGAR. the Horrible.

5. Sound at a sauna : "AHH!"

6. Doggie doc : VET

7. Crater Lake's locale : OREGON

8. Salmonesque color : CORAL

9. Turnpike exit : OFF RAMP

10. Great Plains burrower : PRAIRIE DOG

11. Hangover locales? : EAVES. Get it?

12. Hamilton vs. Burr, e.g. : DUEL

13. Big D hoopster : MAV. Dallas Mavericks

17. Shah's domain, once : IRAN

21. Turn way up, as radio volume : BLAST

23. Captain hanged for piracy in 1701 : KIDD

24. Go on a bender : CAROUSE

25. Teensy : ITSY

26. Half of Mork's farewell : NANU

27. Agricultural phenomenon sometimes linked to UFOs : CROP CIRCLE. Perhaps made by Orkian space ships, looking for Mork.

31. Antagonist : FOE

32. "Easy as" letters : ABC

33. Ark-itect? : NOAH. Get it?

34. Shipped : SENT

36. Skin care giant : NIVEA. Nivea products.

37. Like hand-me-downs : USED

40. Vegas supervisor : PIT BOSS. A casino pit is an area of a casino which typically contains tables for Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, and other games. The PIT BOSS is the person who looks after the employees who work in the pit.

42. Nonmetaphorical : LITERAL. For real, dude.

44. It lengthens toward evening : SHADOW

45. O.T. book before Job : ESTH. Esther.

46. Revealed : BARED

47. Minimal haircuts : TRIMS. I am due for my annual "trim".

48. "¿Cómo está __?" : USTED. How are you?

49. Crimson Tide, to fans : 'BAMA. The University of Alabama.

51. "Star Wars" princess : LEIA

52. Lord's mate : LADY

53. Absorbed, as costs : ATE

56. Bath bathroom : LOO. Bath the spa town in England.

57. Flub the shot, say : ERR

Answer grid.

Here is a wonderful picture of Jazzbumpa (Ron) standing outside Jazz Showcase on May 5, 2011, the day when his Schoolcraft Jazz Band opened  for Harold Mabern, a "a very cool guy who cannot read music". They also performed "Blues for Nate", a special piece Ron wrote for his grandson Nate, who was born blue and had to go through an open heart surgery when he was only one week old. Ron said "He'll be 9 in August, and he's doing great".

Argyle