Friday, January 13, 2012, Marti Duguay-Carpenter

THEME: The Doctor told me , "add a Y and give me a pun in the morning". Why, Y not? Not quite a simple 'add a letter' at the end of the first word of a common two word phrase which also changes the meaning into a very amusing visual describing a not very nice person or persons. Another Friday from Marti for me to write up, I already see this year as being better than last. The theme of 2 10's and 2 12's came easily, so let's examine them.

17A. Peevish audience?: TESTY GROUP. Our Test Groups often lost their patience when we had them administer electric shocks to teach their classmates, during Psychology experiments..

27A. Irritable telemarketer?: CRANKY CALLER. Our Crank Caller, loses his patience, too?

48A. Sect members telling off-color jokes?: SALTY SHAKERS. By far my favorite, transforming the boring Salt Shaker into an old religious zealot who believes in speaking in tongues, celibacy and telling dirty jokes. I have mentioned my high school was built on the sight of an old Shaker village. I am going to an alumni event Sunday. Thanks M.

63A. Surly sort?: TOUCHY TYPE. I am no Touch Typist, but don't call me a Hunt 'n Pecker, I am a little touchy on the subject.

The rest was all over the place, with fun facts, new stuff and tricky clues befitting a Friday; almost a pangram, with only the "J" missing. Hey, wait a minute, now that I am here, maybe it is a pangram, let's see.

Across:

1. Sign of age: WEAR. and tear; don't I know it.

5. Asian city whose name means "place of the gods : LHASA. I have read much about the Dalai Lama and TIBET.

10. Buds: PALS. Not BEER?

14. "Play it, Sam" speaker: ILSA. Watch IT. 4:07. Really a great clip of a beautiful woman.

15. Legendary creator of talking animals: AESOP. The true history of this 5th century BC fabulist is debated, but they all seem to agree he was "of loathsome aspect...potbellied, misshapen of head, snub-nosed, swarthy, dwarfish, bandy-legged, short-armed, squint-eyed,liver-lipped—a portentous monstrosity."

16. Fairy tale side, often: EVIL. Good versus.

19. Jim-dandy: A-ONE.

20. Third baseman Ron posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in December 2011: SANTO. A Chicago Cub legend, who was also a Diabetic who lost the lower half of both legs before succumbing in 2010.

21. Something for nothing: FREE RIDE. Like the joy of reading this blog if you do not contribute a little.

23. Know-it-_: self-proclaimed brains : ALLS. lucky none of us are like that.

26. Carrier with a portmanteau name: AMTRAK. AMerican TRAcK crammed together.

32. Place for a ring: EAR. How many of our male regulars have adorned the lobe with a piercing?

33. Like London fog: SOUPY. Not Sales, just fog.

34. Range of understanding: REACH. beyond my ken. (Insert barbie jokes here).

38. Cpls., e.g.: NCOS. Non-commissioned Officers.

40. Bucs and Nats: NLERS. National Leaguers, in baseball.

42. First name in sports cars: ENZO. Ferrari.

43. Belief: TENET. Often associated with religious beliefs.

45. Rap sheet listing: PRIOR. I can hear the wheels turning.

47. Graffiti ID: TAG. Live and learn.

51. Winter climber's need: ICE AXE.

54. Ornate metal ware: TOLE. My momma done tole me? I did not know this word for enameled stuff.

55. "If I may ...": PERMIT ME, one of Dennis' new job phrases, when confronted with a bra...

58. High capital: LA PAZ. Nuestra Señora de La Paz, Our Lady of Peace. The seat of government in Bolivia, overlooking the wonderfully named Lake Titicaca. The Lake alone can revive out DF ways.

62. Sunburn soother: ALOE. "Allo, Allo can I help you? LINK.

66. River to the Moray Firth: NESS. Yes, the river starts in the LOCH and runs to the INLET in the North Sea.

67. Footnote abbr: ET SEQ. A common legal term from the Latin meaning literally 'and following.'

68. Rock bands?: ORES. Nice misdirection clue to describe how the metal sits in the rocks. No AXEOLOGY reference today.

69. Help hold up, say: ABET. More fodder for the hater, hold up like a robber might.

70. Country dances: REELS. Any of a number of dances, likely all from Ireland, Scotland or England. My FAVORITE.1:59.

71. On deck: NEXT. How perfect, a baseball reference for C.C., and a segue into the...

Down:

1. Wilde and Twain, e.g.: WITS, Oscar and Mark certainly were; my father used to tell me I was 1/2 way there.

2. Zeno of __: ELEA. perps made this possible, I recall the PHILOSOPHER, not where he was from.

3. Part of AAA: Abbr.: ASSN. American Automobile Association.

4. Wood being tested for use as artificial bone: RATTAN. The wood from certain Asian Palm Trees, unaware of this bone(headed?) idea.

5. Get behind: LAG. For our Scandinavian members, this is from Norwegian lagga to go slowly, like many do.

6. The other woman: HER. Marti, you promised not to tell!

7. Since: AS OF.

8. Go bad: SOUR. Like an idea or milk.

9. Post-trial proceeding: APPEAL. My favorite part of the legal process, to get a higher court to rectify an an error by the trial court.

10. Partridge's perch?: PEAR TREE. Can you do all 12 days without looking? LINK.

11. To have, in Le Havre: AVOIR. The French lesson of the day, such as "avez vous le crayon?"

12. McCartney of Wings: LINDA. marry a rock legend and you too can be a star. LINK. 3:17 A nice Jewish girl from New Jersey ends up Lady McCartney.

13. Smooth and glossy: SLEEK.

18. Yellows: YOLKS. Ha, not ages with time, Marti just egging us on.

22. Critical care abbr: EMER. gency.

24. Interpol command center site, locally: LYON. pronounces Leeawn; we call it LYONS, like from Detroit.

25. Cut stone: SCULPT. Literal; nothing like cutting cheese.

27. Slight change?: CENT. I lost the RED this week.

28. Derby, for example: RACE. Not the hat, the horses.

29. Memphis middle name ARON. We owe poor Elvis a second A.

30. Mimicking APERY. not a cage for APES.

31. Old string player: LYRIST. One who plays the LYRE, unlike Jim Carrey who plays the LIAR.

35. Certain forced bet: ANTE. Your buy in for each hand.

36. Winter Palace ruler: CZAR.

37. Big bikes: HOGS.

39. Briefly, show whose name appears under "123" in its logo: SESAME ST. The briefly explains the abbreviation of STREET. Go Muppets.

41. NYC neighborhood: SOHO. South of Houston. Classic crosswordese, know it!

44. Roll before flying: TAXI. Really cute clue, my mind was not on the runway, but my suitcase.

46. Come from behind : RALLY. All right, the write up was dragging but I am ready for a strong finish.

49. Love __: LETTER. My gift to you all this SONG.3:47.

50. "Something's Gotta Give" actress: KEATON. Diane, perhaps more famous for the work of our this week topic Woody Allen and Annie Hall.

51. Bucky Beaver's toothpaste: IPANA. here is where we separate the young and old how many recall this TV ad? LINK. 1:05

52. One of Us?: CELEB. I presume the reference is to the magazine Us Weekly.

53. Jagged: EROSE. "By any other name would smell so sweet..." No, not that kind, like leaves, anyway, hey again ARABON.

56. Sunbeam speck: MOTE. Like dust ones.

57. Chant ending: EUSE, no not amen, nor an encore but Chanteuse.

59. Woodpile in "Light My Fire": PYRE. An anthem whether you like the version by the DOORS 3:37 or Jose Feliciano.

60. Peak: APEX. I loved Twin Peaks; the TV show, not Dolly Parton, though I love her too, she is so tiny, er short.

61. Tang: ZEST.

64. "Fantasia" unit: CEL. A single frame of a cartoon. Very popular crossword answer and more fuel for the hater.

65. Mil. centers: HQS. Head Quarters. Military is abbreviated so the answer MUST be an abbreviation.

Answer grid.

Well, here at Blogger Central, I am getting ready to pack up my tools and my old Groucho Marx idea book, and leave the rest to you the readers; first thank you Marti (see comment below) and I do want to remind you it is Friday the 13th, and all my co-workers insist I leave my hockey mask home! So be careful out there.

1) Constructor comment:

I originally was playing around with the old "add a letter" theme. But I wanted a "cool" letter (not just e, or s, or t...).

***I know!!! Use a "Y" !! It's a cool letter, and besides, it's worth 3 in scrabble...***

TaDa! We have a theme. Hmmm, now for those pesky theme entries. Pesk-Y ?? Why, that's it!! Use people who are DF, just like our blog: Peevish, irritable, telling off-color jokes, surly...perfect!

2) Note from C.C.:

Please cap your post length at about 20 lines. Also, if you want to practice links at the Comments section, please use yesterday's or any old post so as not to affect the comments flow. Thanks.

Thursday, January 12, 2012 Gareth Bain

Theme: He took a hundred pounds of clay, and he created...A Crossword Puzzle!!

18A. *Publicist, often : SPIN DOCTOR. Not a DJ?

23A. *Have nowhere to go but up : HIT BOTTOM. I could go DF, but it's too early...

34A. *1952 Cooper classic : HIGH NOON. Actor Gary Cooper in one of his most intense roles.

40A. *Shared : IN COMMON. We have a lot in common on this corner. Crossword puzzles, music, books, food...

55A. *Place for a row of potted plants : WINDOW BOX. HaHa, I was thinking this was a misdirection for "marijuana".

And the unifier:

61. It suggests the vowel pattern in the five starred answers : ONE HUNDRED. Ironic, because Rich would never accept a grid entry which represents 100 as "IOO". So this theme is quite unusual in that regard.

We also have a bonus entry with

2D. "101 Dalmations" mother : PERDITA. Notice it was put into the commonly abbr. clue for the film, instead of using the full name "One Hundred and One Dalmations", which would repeat words from the unifier answer. Maybe this clue should have been "IOI Dalmations" mother??

Marti here, to expound on this fun diversion. There was nothing that really made me stumble here, so it was an unusually fast Thursday time for me.

Across:

1. Certain blocker's target : SPAM. I use Postini to filter e-mail before it even hits my computer.

5. Chaste : VESTAL. In ancient Rome, the vestal virgins served a term of thirty years: IO as a student, IO in service, and IO as a teacher.

11. Spotted, to Tweety : TAW. "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!"

14. Fix : MEND

15. "Finished!" : I'M DONE. (Why no, I'm just getting warmed up!)

16. Lacto-___ vegetarian : OVO. They consume no flesh of animals, but do consume milk and eggs. A vegan, on the other hand, consumes no animal products at all.

17. Spring blossom : IRIS. A pretty sight to us New Englanders.

20. QB's scores : TDs. Touchdowns. Like those scored by quarterback Tom Brady of the New England Patriots against the Broncos this coming Saturday...

21. Actress Zadora : PIA. Her film career never took off. (Well, what can you expect, if your debut film was "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians"?) But, her fame lives on in crossword puzzles!

22. At the pawn shop : IN HOCK

27. Miniscule bits : IOTAS

28. Represented, with "for" : STOOD

29. Jewish wedding favorite : HORA. I thought it was the liverwurst?

31. "Star Trek: DSN" character : ODO. (DSN = Deep Space Nine). Odo was the Chief of Security on the ship, and was a changeling who could morph into any shape. I want to be a changeling, so I can morph into a size 2.

32. Oakley with a gun : ANNIE

37. Shore scavenger : GULL

39. "Git!" : SHOO. I have been saying that to the cats all night - they are very interested to know what I am typing.

44. One of a Dumas trio : ATHOS. Remember our lesson from last Thursday? Athos, Porthos and Aramis were the Three Musketeers. D'Artagnan traveled to Paris to join them. Would you believe, I'm listening to the 1948 version on TCM right now, with Lana Turner and Gene Kelly!!!

47. Sun, in Sonora : SOL.

48. One of two elimination games : SEMI. -final. Timely, while we are waiting to see who goes to the Super Bowl!

50. Carried : BORNE.

52. Foreshadowers : OMENS. Do you believe in omens?

57. Everything, so they say : TIMING. I'd tell you a bad joke to illustrate, but I can't type that fast...

59. Small songbird : TIT. Have atit, guys...(Grumpy 1, that means everyone)

60. Place for drips, briefly : ICU. Anyone think "bar"?

64. Mil. plane requiring minimal runway space : STOL. "Short Take-Off and Landing", like this. (0:30) I bet my buddy Dudley could do that!

65. Cooler : PEN. Hoosegow, klink, stir, crowbar hotel, the joint, up the river...

66. What Bonnie and Clyde came to : BAD END. They never made it to the PEN, but were killed in an ambush by law enforcement officers in Louisiana.

67. Maidstone's county : KENT. Geography lesson.

68. Some MIT grads : EEs. Electrical Engineers.

69. Beau : STEADY.

70. Mid-month time : IDES

(Entr'Acte...) (4:16)

Down:

1. Metalworkers : SMITHS

3. "Bruce Almighty" actress : ANISTON. Jennifer Aniston, Jim Carey and Morgan Freeman team up in this funny movie. (0:29)

4. Docs : MDs

5. Call on : VISIT

6. Sci-fi psychic : EMPATH. Like Star-Trek's famous Deanna Troi of crosswords.

7. Star Wars abbr. : SDI. Duh, I was still on the sci-fi train above, and forgot that this refers to "Strategic Defense Initiative", proposed by Ronald Reagan in 1983. Perps nudged me back to the correct answer.

8. Mounds of pounds : TON. Cute clue. But, I would rather have pounds of Mounds!

9. "...___quote:" : AND I. Phew! I really had to pay attention to all the punctuation in this one, in order to suss the answer. Ellipses, blank, colon, and quotes!

10. Actress Téa : LEONI. Pretty. I remember her from "Fun With Dick and Jane".

11. Glinda's reassurance to Dorothy : TOTO TOO. Hard to parse. From the final scene in Oz:

Glinda: ...Now those magic slippers will take you home in two seconds!
Dorothy: Oh! Toto too?
Glinda: Toto too.

12. Guacamole fruit : AVOCADO.

13. Attempts to sway : WORKS ON. When you were a kid, did you work on your father or your mother first?

19. Comic Margaret : CHO.

21. Conductor's place : PODIUM.

24. Drum heard around a fire : BONGO. Like these. (0:53)

25. "I'm impressed!" : OOH. "I'm really impressed!":ooooooooooooh.

26. Some hosp. pics : MRIs.. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (s?)

30. Muslim official : AGHA.

33. Bark beetle victims : ELMS.

35. Search engine launched by Wired magazine in 1996 : HOTBOT

36. "Ain't gonna happen" : NO HOW. Not to be confused with know-how.

38. MGM co-founder : LOEW. I always want to write Leow, for some reason.

40. Tritium, to hydrogen : ISOTOPE. Hydrogen is the only molecule that has different names for its isotopes. ²H is known as "Deuterium" and ³H is known as "Tritium" etc., up to ⁷H. Memorize these names. (They may come back to haunt you in one of my puzzles...)

41. Oscar night hopeful : NOMINEE. George Clooney is the predicted winner for best actor in "The Descendents" this year. Have you seen it yet?

42. Twain, at birth : CLEMENS. Samuel Langhorne...

43. Abbr. between a first and last name, maybe : NMI. No Middle Initial.

45. Revolved around : ORBITED.

46. Gelid treat : SNO-CONE. "Gelid" looks like a funny word to me.

49. Mean : INTEND.

51. Revels : EXULTS. Did everyone exult on New Year's Eve?

53. Biomedical research org. : NIH. National Institutes of Health. I spent a lot of time talking to the researchers there, deciding what new products our biotech company should develop.

54. Leaves off the guest list : SNUBS.

56. Rapper who said, "the 'P.' was getting between me and my fans" : DIDDY. AKA Sean John Combs.

58. Annoying insect : GNAT

62. Two-time ETO commander : DDE. (European Theater of Operations) Dwight David Eisenhower. Did not remember that he was a two-time commander. But "ETO" had to be DDE...

63. Blues-rocker Chris : REA. One of his early "On the Beach" recordings.

64. Word with run or jump : SKI. Yay, one for me!! I will be running and jumping this weekend in Stowe, VT. I'll try to get online to say "hi", though.

Answer grid.

Hugs,

Marti

Wednesday, January 11th, 2012 Don Gagliardo & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Strong Current. Adding "Flow" to the last word in each of the theme entries creates a new word or phrase.

17A. Online data movement : INTERNET TRAFFIC. Traffic flow. This blog generates plenty of that.

22A. "Man in Black" singer : JOHNNY CASH. Cash flow. As I write this, "Folsom Prison Blues" is playing on my iPod, now that's weird.

36A. Symphony or sonata : MUSICAL WORK. Work flow. Does anyone write sonatas anymore?

46A. Pending : UP IN THE AIR. Just like all my deadlines. Air flow.

And the unifier:

56A. Conforms, or what each last word of 17-, 22-, 36- and 46-Across literally does : GOES WITH THE FLOW

Steve here.

Sweet puzzle from Don & C.C. The theme took quite some time to come kicking and screaming into the light, I had all kinds of hare-brained ideas before it all became clear with the unifier.

Across:

1. Seller's caveat : AS IS

5. Whistle blower : REF

8. Fight : OPPOSE

14. Congeniality : BONHOMIE. What a great word! I resolve to use it at least once a week.

16. Edit : REDACT

19. Extinguish : DOUSE

20. Clinch a deal, in slang : ICE IT

21. Thing to do on the cautious side? : ERR. Great fresh clue for this old stalwart.

27. Tempt with, as a carrot : DANGLE

30. "Typee" sequel : OMOO. Herman Melville made very little money from any of his novels, especially this one.

31. Highfalutin : LA-DI-DA

35. Steak order : T-BONE

38. High-tech party notice : EVITE

40. Jungle queen : SHEENA

41. Enjoy a 10-course Chinese meal : DINE. I'm going to Hong Kong shortly - Cantonese Food!

42. Categorize : ASSORT. This usage was new to me, I'd only known "assorted", which I take to mean "uncategorized". Nice learning moment.

52. VCR button : REW. I always have to wait for the cross to decide on REC or REW

53. Big name in transmission repair : AAMCO

54. Cardio-boxing workout regimen : TAE-BO

61. Intensely devoted : ARDENT

62. Shanghai setting : EAST ASIA. Mini-theme emerging here?

63. Woody's wife : SOON-YI Previn, married to Mr. Allen.

64. Mar.-to-Nov. setting : D.S.T. You never really save any daylight, you just move it around.

65. Count (on) : RELY

Down:

1. Put up with : ABIDED

2. Arizona neighbor : SONORA. South of the border, down Mexico way.

3. How board game players play : IN TURN. In my house my Mom always asked us to play nicely. Then she told us. Then we were sent to our rooms.

4. Ladies : SHES

5. First pres. to visit China while in office : R.M.N. Richard Milhous Nixon, World Traveler.

6. Farm song refrain : E-I-E-I-O

7. Sell for : FETCH

8. Hatch on the Hill : ORRIN. He's a 59D. He plays sonatas too!

9. Boglike : PEATY

10. Adobe file format : PDF. Portable Document Format if you want to get your geek on.

11. Bungler : OAF

12. Lab subj. : SCI.

13. And so forth: Abbr. : ETC.

15. Valuable rock : ORE. I confidently filled in GEM first.

18. Top rating : TEN.

22. Yoda, notably : JEDI

23. Venomous snakes : COBRAS

24. Wild way to run : AMOK

25. Numbered Chan relative : SON. From the Charlie Chan films. Movie buffs will know how many sons there were, I just count "lots".

26. Groundbreaking tool : HOE

28. Protein in wheat products : GLUTEN

29. Zap : LASE

32. Suffix with tact : ICS. Hmmm. A suffix? Need to be convinced about this one.

33. Code word : DAH. We had SOS yesterday, three DITs, three DAHs, three DITs in Morse Code.

34. Draft choice : ALE

35. A whole bunch : TONS

36. Former iPod model : MINI

37. Sport : WEAR. You can sport sportswear!

38. Academic Web letters : EDU

39. Bigwig : VIP. Very Important Person (such as Orrin Hatch?)

43. End of a threat : OR ELSE

44. Heat again, as water for tea : REBOIL

45. Like most streets : TWO-WAY

47. Lion-colored : TAWNY. Some of our regulars would prefer "Port-colored" here.

48. French-speaking republic : HAITI

49. CPR expert : EMT

50. Was sore : ACHED

51. Smidgens : IOTAS

54. First day of spring, to Vietnamese : TET

55. Miles away : AFAR

56. Total blast : GAS.

57. Au, on a Spanish periodic table : ORO. With luck your 15D has gold in it.

58. Tokyo, once : EDO

59. Bigwig on the Hill: Abbr. : SEN.

60. Post-WWII pres. : H.S.T. Harry S. Truman. No use looking up his middle name, the "S" doesn't stand for anything.

Answer grid.

That's all from me!

Steve

1) Constructors' note:

"Go with the flow" is the motto for many of my generation, who grew up during the chaotic Cultural Revolution and were confused by (and then benefited from) China's "Open Door" policy. Don and I initially had FIRST BLOOD as a partner for JOHNNY CASH. Rich felt the blood meaning is too literal. So we re-worked our theme entries.

2) Happy 98th Birthday to LA Times' oldest constructor Bernice Gordon. Thanks Argyle for getting the exact date.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012 Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

Theme: Tangibles - The four themes end in a word that is capable of being felt, seen, or perceived.

17A. Cosmopolitan piece : MAGAZINE ARTICLE

27A. "This can't lose" : "IT'S A SURE THING"

48A. Los Angeles Times piece, e.g. : NEWSPAPER ITEM

63A. Stipulation from a wealthy purchaser : MONEY IS NO OBJECT

Argyle here. Two grid spanner Tuesday. Although the four themes are synonymous in one sense, their use in their individual phrases are not. Personally, I found it easier than Monday's; you may not.

Now Gimme Dat Ding (2:19)

Across:

1. Stops stalling : ACTS. Not a case of vapor lock on your runabout.

5. Concert souvenirs : STUBS

10. Spongy ball brand : NERF

14. It's often fenced : LOOT

15. Toys that need wind : KITES

16. Electric co., e.g. : UTIL. (utilities)

20. Without help : ALONE

21. FDR's successor : HST. Harry S. Truman.

22. Milo of "Ulysses" : O'SHEA. He is 85 now.

23. Nothing at all : ZERO

25. Inner Hebrides isle : IONA. Map

32. Sinbad's transport : ROC (but they lost his baggage.)

33. Part of SASE: Abbr. : ENV. (self-addressed stamped envelope)

34. Support at the meeting : SECOND

37. Somewhat wet : MOIST

40. Caesar of comedy : SID

42. Do over, as a bow : RETIE

43. Island greetings : ALOHAs

45. Whole bunch : TON

47. Stein filler : ALE

52. "Show Boat" author Ferber : EDNA

53. School since 1440 : ETON

54. McCartney bandmate : STARR

57. Signal for immediate assistance : SOS

59. Cooks cakes : BAKES

66. Banquet hall vessels : URNS

67. Plant in Greek legend : LOTUS. The "lotus-eaters" are mentioned in the Odyssey, one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer.

68. Productive start? : ANTI

69. Pest in a swarm : GNAT

70. Nautical speed units : KNOTS

71. Heath-covered wasteland : MOOR

Down:

1. __ mater : ALMA

2. Shade of black : COAL

3. Like many lunch orders : TO GO

4. Song section : STANZA

5. Do a downhill run : SKI

6. Two-bit gamblers : TINHORNS. According to World Wide Words(site), it relates to a gambling game called chuck-a-luck.

7. Colorado natives : UTEs

8. "Vamoose!" : "BEAT IT!"

9. Outdated geopolitical letters : SSR

10. Pain in the neck : NUISANCE

11. Carve in stone : ETCH

12. Make hopping mad : RILE

13. Dog bugger : FLEA

18. Snazzy duo? : ZEEs. The letters.

19. More stylish : TONIER

24. Wish one hadn't : RUE

26. Cries of surprise : OHs

27. "__ la Douce" : IRMA. 1963 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine.

28. Chisel, e.g. : TOOL

29. Offspring : SCION

30. Musical with the song "A New Argentina" : "EVITA"

31. Was able to reach : GOT AT

35. River through Sudan : NILE

36. Consider : DEEM

38. Most diaphanous : SHEEREST

39. Cheap and gaudy : TAWDRY

41. Deduces, slangily : DOPES OUT

44. Hyphenated ID : SSN

46. Table tennis table divider : NET

49. Relay, as information : PASSON

50. Lyndon Johnson's son-in-law Charles __ : ROBB. Married Lynda Bird.

51. Experiencing serious traffic : IN A JAM

54. Self-satisfied : SMUG

55. Undecided : TORN

56. "The King and I" role : ANNA

58. Not snookered by : ON TO

60. Numbers game : KENO

61. Prefix with plasm : ECTO. "I ain't afraid of no ghost!"

62. Ruckus : STIR

64. Class : ILK

65. WWII espionage gp. : OSS. The Office of Strategic Services

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

1) Good luck to Husker Gary's daughter, who's having an operation today.

2) Happy Birthday to Frenchie. Hope you're doing well.

Monday, January 9, 2012 Timothy L. Meaker

Theme: Letter Progression - All the first words of each 2-word phrase have 6 letters, all in the pattern of "B + vowel + TT??". The middle vowel progresses from A through U.

17A. Military strategy : BATTLE PLAN

21A. Wife, to a humble husband : BETTER HALF

38A. Final unpleasant moment : BITTER END

59A. Net profit or loss : BOTTOM LINE

63A. Rectangular server with a dulledged knife : BUTTER DISH

Argyle here. I ignored the second T because B_T (except for the last one) isn't a word. This puzzle may have had you looking at the calendar. No connection between the theme entries other than they are two word phrases starting with B_TT. Seven vertical letter blocks in the corners.
Update: All except BETT can be a stand alone word.

Across:

1. Mar. parade honoree : ST. PAT

6. Switch for frequency choices : AM/FM

10. Cheep source : NEST

14. “... __ / By any other name ...”: Juliet : A ROSE. A shout out.

15. Room in la casa : SALA

16. Ancient Peruvian : INCA

19. Tennis great Steffi : GRAF

20. Bar mitzvah, for one : RITE

23. Old Roman road : ITER

24. Like an illmannered kid : BRATTY

25. “Wow” : "GEE!"

26. Like Leif Ericson : NORSE

28. It happens : EVENT

30. __ gratia artis: MGM motto : ARS. "Art for art's sake"

31. Made a haunted house sound : MOANED

37. Brainchild : IDEA

40. Folk singer Guthrie : ARLO

43. Canned cooking fuel : STERNO

44. Sleep stage letters : REM

47. No-goodnik : LOUSE

49. Icy look, perhaps : STARE

51. Tummy muscles : ABS

52. Playground apparatus for two : SEESAW

58. Phone sound : "RING"

61. Sailing, say : ASEA

62. __-deucy : ACEY. 56D. Tossed in a chip : ANTED. like for Acey-Deucey. You then bet a portion(or all) of the pot that your card will fall between the two cards the dealer has turned up. Your best bet is if the dealer has an ace and a deuce face up.

65. Eve’s opposite : MORN

66. Songstress Adams : EDIE

67. Prefix meaning “hundred” : CENTI

68. Church recess : APSE

69. Tear to bits : REND

70. Specialized idiom : ARGOT. Was it Reader's Digest that used to have a feature about insider's terms?

Down:

1. TV’s teenage witch : SABRINA

2. Mutineer : TRAITOR

3. Earthenware makers : POTTERS

4. Autumn bloomers : ASTERS

5. __ Aviv : TEL

6. In accordance with : AS PER

7. Mediterranean island country : MALTA

8. Scruggs’s bluegrass partner : FLATT. Lester

9. Impressionist Édouard : MANET

10. At hand : NIGH

11. Really angry : ENRAGED

12. Like triangles with unequal sides : SCALENE. Equilateral, Isosceles and Scalene.

13. Crisp fabric : TAFFETA

18. Tidal movement : EBB

22. Ham sandwich choice : RYE

27. Brit. recording giant : EMI

29. Kid-__: tots’ TV programming : VID

32. NFL fifth periods : OTs

33. ABA member : ATTorney

34. Michelle Obama __ Robinson : NÉE

35. Mess up : ERR

36. Place for thieves : DEN. Leftover from Sunday's puzzle?

38. Sox from Mass. : BOS.

39. Refusals : NO'S

40. University in Tuscaloosa : ALABAMA

41. 1987 title lawenforcing cyborg : "ROBOCOP"

42. Buffing results : LUSTERS

44. Bringing up : RAISING

45. Che Guevara’s first name : ERNESTO

46. Box office smash : MEGA-HIT

48. That, in Tijuana : ESO

50. Word with Joe’s or Vic’s : TRADER. The Albany area will have its first Trader Joe's this spring. Yay!

53. Fireplace bit : EMBER

54. Get away from : ELUDE

55. Protest on the floor : SIT-IN

57. Little, like laddies : WEE

60. Daly of “Cagney & Lacey” : TYNE. Currently can be seen on the TV series, "Burn Notice". Oops!  That's Sharon Gless on Burn Notice, regularly, not Tyne Daly.

64. Victrola company : RCA

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday Jan 8, 2012 Gail Grabowski

Theme: Secret Retreat - See 122D: Secret retreat hidden in this puzzle's nine longest answers: DEN

23A. Lasagna ingredient : WIDE NOODLES

48A. "Beowulf" language : OLD ENGLISH

25A. Vogue publisher : CONDE NAST. Anna Wintour has been the editor-in-chief of Vogue since 1988. Conde Nast imported Tina Brown from the other side of the pond roughly around the same period. Quite a rivalry between those two ladies inside the house.

70A. Arrival of royalty, say : GRAND ENTRANCE

96A. "Works for me" : GOOD ENOUGH

117A. Business identifier : TRADE NAME. Like Remolisher. Contact them if you live in NY area and you need any work done for your home.

121A. Scraps : ODDS AND ENDS

36D. Concert band : WIND ENSEMBLE

41D. "Little Fockers" co-star : ROBERT DE NIRO. Don't put NIRO alone in your crossword. Rich does not like it.

C.C. here. When I first saw the puzzle title, I figured SPA was hidden inside each phrase. That's the retreat I had in mind, but soon grokked Gail's gimmick.

As with most of Gail's puzzles, the theme is simple & straightforward, and the grid is super smooth. Nothing tricky or obscure. And there's always an understated elegance in her puzzles. Look at these clues:

1A. Restraining order : HALT. Not from the judge.

32A. Field workers? : REFS. Not farmers.

59A. Good thing to avoid in public : SCENE. Not crowd.

107A. Port container : CASK. Port wine.

30D. Word often preceding a sentence : GUILTY. Prison sentence.

One clue I don't get is OBIT (55A. Late notice?). Why "Late"? "Final notice" makes sense to me.

Across:

5. Cereal fruit : RAISIN. I liked dried dates.

11. "Done!" : FINIS!

16. Personality component : EGO

19. Tiered treat : OREO

20. Cause of some droughts : EL NINO. This is the mildest winter since I came to the US.

21. Offer one's thoughts : OPINE.

22. Lace (into) : RIP

27. Dogie catcher : LASSO

28. So yesterday : OUT. Don't think jeggings will be OUT soon.

29. Quaint curse : EGAD

31. Purpose : USE

34. Raymond James Stadium player, familiarly : BUC. Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

35. Barely progresses : CRAWLS

39. Many a ski house : A-FRAME

43. Gulf of Bothnia winter phenomenon : SEA ICE. Gulf of Bothnia is "the northernmost arm of the Baltic Sea". Spitzboov might have mentioned this on the blog before..

46. More chilling : EERIER

47. Halifax hold : GAOL. Jail.

52. Prefix with -frice : DENTI. Dentifrice.

53. Leafy recess : ARBOR

56. Recorded, in a way : TAPED

58. Nutritional figs. : RDAs

60. How to enjoy some amusement park water rides : LAZILY

62. Somme soul : AME. Learned from doing Xword.

63. Asian holiday : TET. Only in Vietnam.

64. Golfer Garcia : SERGIO. He plays with a passion. Dated Martina Hingis for some time.

66. Prior to : ERE

67. Cell in a network : NEURON. Brain cell.

69. Ideal conclusion? : IST. Idealist.

75. Place for a peel : SPA. Facial. Gimme for Melissa.

78. Words to one on the way out : DON'T GO

80. Bygone intl. carrier : TWA

81. Relief givers : EASERS

83. Crunch unit : REP (Repetition)

84. With it : HIP. These fake see-through skirts were HIP for a short period. The panties are printed on the skirts.

85. Appeared in a big way : LOOMED

88. Marathon measures : TIMEs

89. Scoop holder : CONE

90. Where to find a lot of corned beef : ON RYE

92. Marine predator : ORCA

93. Mosey : AMBLE

94. In __: stuck : A BIND

99. Surveyor's drawing : PLAT

100. Take out, in a way : BORROW. Oh, take out a loan. We also have 126A. Provided with temporarily : LENT TO.

102. Prepared to eavesdrop : BUGGED

103. Mends, as a bad stitching job : RE-SEWS

105. Comedian's sidekick : STOOGE

106. Part of a line: Abbr. : SEG (Segment)

109. Flying fig. : ALT (Altitude). For Dudley.

110. Haywire : AWRY. Love this clip Len linked yesterday.

111. Recede : EBB

112. WWII torpedo vessel : E-BOAT

124. Sharer's word : OUR

125. Delta preceder : GAMMA

127. Frenzied : AMOK

128. Comforting companion : PET

129. Game trail : SPOOR

130. Scoundrels : KNAVES. Also learned from doing Xword.

131. Meddle (in) : MESS

Down:

1. Yuk it up : HOWL. Did not know HOWL means "laugh" also.

2. Rossini specialty : ARIA

3. Watch displays, briefly : LEDs

4. Hose fillers : TOES. Was picturing a sprinkler.

5. 1906 Runabout, e.g. : REO. No idea on Runabout, Argyle!

6. Unfriendly : ALOOF

7. River near Karachi : INDUS. Originated in China. In Chinese, it's called "Indian River".

8. It builds up in channels : SILT. "It" clue is often tricky. Same with "What", like "What's up" for SKY. Drives me nuts at times.

9. Having four sharps : IN E. I trust you, being musically blind.

10. Feeder with fodder : NOSEBAG

11. Italian flatbread : FOCACCIA. I've never had it, Steve. Lots of rosemary on this one.

12. It can help you carry a tune : iPOD

13. "Collages" novelist : NIN (Anaïs)

14. Bring about : INDUCE

15. Blows a gasket : SEES RED

16. Victorian __ : ERA

17. PX patrons : GIs

18. Decline, with "out" : OPT

24. Par : NORM

26. Not as far from : NEARER TO

33. Job ad abbr. : EEO

37. Sic on : LET AT

38. Hindu honorifics : SRIs

39. 2006 tennis retiree : AGASSI. Look, he's back.

40. Some comedies : FARCES

42. As a companion : ALONG

43. Took by force : SEIZED

44. Complete : ENTIRE. No FINISH. Adjective "complete" here.

45. Albéniz composition "Cantos de __" : ESPANA. "Songs of Spain".

49. Hi-tech titter : LOL

50. Corp. alias : DBA (Doing Business As)

51. Studly dudes : HE-MEN. This is my favorite "He-man" picture. Don't know if I should be sorry or happy for FL.

54. Hold sway : REIGN

57. Court tie : DEUCE. Tennis court.

61. Slowly, to Mozart : LENTO

65. Grass-B-Gon maker : ORTHO

68. Bit of gaucho gear : REATA. Or RIATA.

71. Sitting in a cask, say : AGING. Wine again. Do expensive wines really taste better? Psychologically maybe yes.

72. "Consider it done" : NO PROB

73. Score in a pitcher's duel, perhaps : TWO ONE. Two to One. Low-scoring (2 runs at most), fast paced, few hits, lots of strikeouts. There you have a pitcher's duel.

74. Accomplish using force : RAMROD

76. Future litigator's study : PRE-LAW. Lawyers are all pretty wordy.

77. Items of value : ASSETS

79. Speed demon's delight : OPEN ROAD

82. Fools : SIMPS

83. Assembly line worker : ROBOT

85. Book that might be cooked : LEDGER

86. Old French coin : ECU

87. Former U.N. leader Hammarskjöld : DAG

89. Hotel entrance lineup : CABS. Long clue/answer dupe.

91. "Is that a promise?" : YOU SWEAR? My favorite answer.

95. Angled fairways : DOG LEGS. Not really a problem for short-hitters.

97. Crème brûlée ingredient : EGG YOLK

98. Time pieces: Abbr. : HRs

101. Moist towelette : WET NAP

104. Barely managed, with "out" : EKED

107. "The Mentalist" airer : CBS TV. What's "The Mentalist" about?

108. Taper off : ABATE

110. Shells and such : AMMO

111. Flamboyant Dame : EDNA. Dame Edna.

113. Smile from ear to ear : BEAM

114. Tab-grabber's words : ON ME

115. Fusses : ADOs

116. Chiding sounds : TSKS

117. Tank or tee : TOP

118. Regret : RUE

119. Display on the wall : ART. When I was a child, every family had Chairman Mao's portrait on their wall.

120. Latin lover's word : AMO (I love)

123. Phone bk. info : NOs

Answer grid.

Here is another baseball haiku from Ant's book:

geese flying north
the pitcher stops his windup
to watch

C.C.