Wednesday, Feb 15 2012, Kurt Krauss

theme:

17a. *classic little red wagon : radio flyer. anyone not have one?

30a. *memorable, as a day : red letter. a red-letter day is a day of special significance. would have been a good entry for yesterday, valentine's day.

48a. *one seeding clouds : rain maker. Wikipedia page.

61a. *knee-slapper : rib tickler. har har.

2d. *nuclear plant sight : reactor. device used to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction.

6d. *suitcase lugger's aid : roller

12d. *rosie's role : riveter. rosie the riveter - cultural icon representing women who worked in factories during world war II.

41d. *broke up late, as a meeting : ran over

46d. *short-antlered animal : roe deer. painting.

50d. *one paying a flat fee? : renter

and the unifier, beautifully placed right in the center:

36a. they're not in the in-crowd ... and read differently, what each starred answer has two of : outsiders, or outside r's

wow! eleven theme answers (including the unifier), all words or phrases that begin and end with the letter r. that can not be easy to do.

across:

1. superfluous thing : frill. i like frills.

6. copy room unit : ream. paper.

10. good-sized building site : acre

14. __, meenie ... : eenie. miney mo, catch a tiger by the toe. also a song by justin bieber - i only knew that because it popped up on google. not a fan. i'll spare you the link.

15. best way to make a mistake : once. measure twice, cut once.

16. like a fly ball that hits the foul pole, ironically : fair. baseball rules.

19. thomas __ edison : alva

20. old at&t rival : mci

21. dockworker's gp. : ila. international longshoreman's association.

22. sign of the ram : aries. zodiac sign. any aries' here?

23. tchotchke stand : etagere. open shelving unit to display small items.

26. o'er and o'er : oft. over and over - often.

28. vw forerunners? : stu. alphabet letters, s - t - u - v - w.

29. fifth canonical hour : nones. the ninth hour after sunrise, about 3 p.m., one of seven specified times for prayer in the roman catholic church.

33. part of dot: abbr. : trans. department of transportation.

34. marvin or majors : lee

35. bern's river : aare. came easily since we just saw this last wednesday.

40. humorist bombeck : erma. i never leaf through a copy of National Geographic without realizing how lucky we are to live in a society where it is traditional to wear clothes.

43. snitch : rat

44. video game pioneer : atari. steve jobs was a technician there for a time.

51. animal toxin : venom

52. berlin conjunction : und. german for and.

53. tarzan raiser : ape. tarzan the ape man. yeah baby.

54. comes out of hiding : emerges

56. wooden peg : dowel

58. yoko from tokyo : ono

59. tokyo, before 1868 : edo

60. currier's partner : ives

65. experiment : test

66. soothing additive : aloe

67. doting aunt, perhaps : cooer

68. art deco master : erte. a russian-born french artist and designer known by the pseudonym erté, the french pronunciation of his initials, r. t.

69. heckle : jeer

70. more than reasonable interest : usury. lending of money with large interest charge.

down:

1. turn to wine, as grape juice : ferment

3. home to purdue : indiana

4. full deck at caesar's palace? : lii. deck of cards, 52.

5. "seinfeld" uncle : leo

7. "shepherd moons" grammy winner : enya

8. unreturnable serve : ace

9. sea, in paris : mer

10. out yonder : afar

11. actress flockhart : calista

13. puzzle solver's smudge : erasure.

18. commonly decorated tree : fir

22. consumed : ate

24. columbus, by birth : genoan

25. "mi casa __ casa" : es su. spanish, my house is your house.

26. scarfed down too much, with "on" : od'ed

27. run for the hills : flee.

31. in-crowd : elite

32. busy employee of a paranoid king : taster

37. snare : trap

38. "oh, for pity's __!" : sake

39. "must-see" review : rave

40. scholarly : erudite

42. 3-down's region : midwest

45. "and still i rise" poet : angelou. maya.

47. "forgive me" : i'm sorry

49. practice opening? : mal. malpractice.

55. pierre, to pierre : moi. french for me.

57. tequila sunrise direction : este

58. bassoon kin : oboe. wind instruments.

61. indian rule from 1858 to 1947 : raj

62. __ de la cité : ile. one of two islands in the seine within the city of paris.

63. hosp. heart ward : ccu. critical care unit.

64. ring victories, briefly : ko's. boxing - knock outs.

Answer grid.

melissa

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to Skip (HondoHurricane on the blog)!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme: Noahs - It is a repeating of four 'oo' sound, but no 'ahs'.

20A. Dismiss an occult doll-making practice? : POOH-POOH VOO-DOO

32A. "What's that chocolate beverage you're drinking, Yogi?" answer : "YOO-HOO, BOO-BOO"

42A. Model train expert? : CHOO-CHOO GURU

56A. Frilly Hawaiian dress? : FROU-FROU MUU-MUU

Argyle here with our own HeartRX, and on Valentine's Day, too. A fun puzzle today.

Across:

1. Place for family game night : DEN

4. Book of poems partly by King David : PSALMS

10. Farm grazer : COW

13. Egg cells : OVA

14. Communicating regularly : IN TOUCH

16. Fat Tire product : ALE

17. Ballplayer's hat : CAP

18. Woos, minstrel-style : SINGS TO

19. N.J. neighbor : DELaware.

23. Hanukkah money : GELT

24. Govt.-issued ID : SSN

25. Donahue and Collins : PHILs. Talk show host/Singer

26. Double Stuf cookies : OREOs

28. With 57-Down, wealthy people : THE 57D. See 28-Across : RICH

31. Hair removal brand : NEET

36. Raggedy doll : ANN

37. Debate side : PRO

38. PC component : CRT. (cathode ray tube) A former component these days.

39. Studio whose films get off to a roaring start : MGM

45. Speed-of-sound name : MACH

48. Wee, like bairns : SMA. In Scotland, bairns means children.

49. Sarandon of "Bull Durham" : SUSAN. Here in a "Got Milk?" ad.

50. Snow-block home : IGLOO

52. Hippie's home : PAD. Now a hippie Eskimo is hard to imagine. But they'd be cool.

55. When Romeo meets Juliet : ACT I and 43D. Juliet's family name : CAPULET

60. Small amount : FEW

61. Temps : FILL INs

62. Fib, e.g. : LIE

64. Dark time for a poet : EEN

65. Kind of fiction : SCIENCE

66. Recreational transport, briefly : ATV. An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a quad, quad bike, three-wheeler, or four-wheeler. Three-wheelers were found to be unsafe and I don't think they are being made any more.

67. Driller's deg. : DDS. Doctor of Dental Surgery. (dentist)

68. More sexy : HOTTER and 39D. Powerfully built : MUSCULAR

69. Manhattan liquor : RYE

Down:

1. Bespectacled dwarf : DOC

2. Role for Patti LuPone or Madonna : EVA PERON. Patti LuPone is known for her Tony Award-winning performances as Eva Perón in the 1979 stage musical "Evita". Madonna portrayed her in the movie, "Evita"

3. Layered pastry : NAPOLEON. Yum!

4. "Hogwash!" : "PISH!"

5. Scissors cuts : SNIPS

6. Periodic table figs. : AT NOs. Atomic Numbers

7. Access with a password : LOG ON TO

8. "Faster, huskies!" : "MUSH!". Very versatile word. MUSH can be a verb, with or without an object, an interjection(as clued), or a noun; all relating to dog sleds and dog sledding.

9. John Candy skit show : SCTV. Second City Television (SCTV) is a Canadian television sketch comedy show offshoot from Toronto's The Second City troupe that ran between 1976 and 1984.

10. Golf bag carrier : CADDIE

11D. World Cup chant : OLE! OLE! and 12D. Runner-up's news : "WE LOST". Another interesting pairing.

15. Earring style : HOOP

21. Texter's "From a different aspect ..." : OTOH. "On The Other Hand ..."

22. "Say it isn't so!" : "OH NO!"

23. "La maja desnuda" painter : GOYA

27. Second-year student : SOPHomore.

29. High, in Hamburg : HOCH. German.

30. Spanish river : EBRO. In the north of Spain.

33. Top Olympic medals, in Madrid : OROs. In the center of Spain.

34. Rapid economic expansion : BOOM

35. Plains tribesmen : OTO

40. Tip on a table : GRATUITY

41. City bond, informally : MUNI. (Municipal bond)

42. Dynasty during Confucius' time : CHOU. Confucius' time was the Spring and Autumn Period, a period in Chinese history that roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty(Chou) between 722 and 479 BC.

44. American territory in the Pacific : GUAM. The commemorative quarter.

45. Offended : MIFFED

46. Signed a pact, say : AGREED

47. Circus performers : CLOWNS

51. Slays, mob-style : OFFs

53. "Care for __?": after-dinner offer : A MINT

54. Numbskull : DUNCE

58. Hodgepodge : OLIO

59. Mouse manipulator : USER

63. Night of anticipation : EVE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

1 Happy Birthday to dear Marti! Thanks for the fun puzzles & everyday wit and warmth. Hugs!

2 Happy 4-year blog anniversary to Dennis, the secret engine behind this blog. Thank you for being there, Dummy!

Monday, February 13, 2012 Anna Gundlach

Theme: What Little Girls Are Made Of

17A. Baker's sweetener : GRANULATED SUGAR

26A. Cinnamon blend for a Thanksgiving recipe : PUMPKIN PIE SPICE

37A. Little ones who, they say, are made up of the ends of this puzzle's four longest entries : GIRLS

43A. "All finished!" : "THAT'S EVERYTHING"

57A. 1966 Beach Boys hit : "WOULDN'T IT BE NICE". Clip(2:24)

Argyle here. It has been awhile since Anna's last puzzle but if you are going to fit FOUR! grid spanners into a Monday .... A little crosswordese must be expected.

What's next? Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails?

Across:

1. Hitchhikes : THUMBS. Vanity Fair(2:59)

7. Hiker's snack mix : GORP

11. "Cocoon" director Howard : RON

14. "Très sexy!" : "OO LA LA!"

15. Chevy hatchback : AVEO

16. Tavern order : ALE

20. Columnist Landers : ANN

21. Swiss calculus pioneer : EULER, Leonhard.

22. Odds and ends : STUFF

23. "__ silly question, get . . ." : ASK A

24. "Twittering Machine" artist Paul : KLEE

33. "The Sheik of __": 1920s song : ARABY

34. "Poor me!" : "ALAS!"

35. Carpenter's cutter : SAW

36. Places for compost : BINS

39. Israel's Netanyahu, familiarly : BIBI

40. Took a load off : SAT

41. Writing implements : PENS

42. Elegant dress material : SATIN

47. Make less difficult : EASE

48. Ages upon ages : AEON

49. Heart or liver : ORGAN

52. The devil : SATAN

54. Tavern spigot : TAP

60. Sick : ILL

61. __ pro quo: substitute : QUID

62. Laundry employee : IRONER. Remember the time we had MANGLE?

63. Santa's little helper : ELF. They're all on vacation now.

64. Trig function : SINE

65. Equivalent of A flat : G SHARP. You get A FLAT if you run over somethinG SHARP?

Down:

1. Old Roman garment : TOGA

2. Sound of traffic frustration : HORN

3. __ Bator, Mongolia : ULAN

4. Fellow : MAN

5. Feature of a clear day : BLUE SKY

6. Dog also called a Persian Greyhound : SALUKI. Wikipedia link.

7. Garden entrance : GATE

8. Too much of a good thing : OVERKILL

9. Little wagon's color : RED

10. Have in one's hands : POSSESS

11. Classico competitor : RAGU

12. Norwegian royal name : OLAF

13. Indoor ball brand : NERF

18. Shepard who hit golf balls on the moon : ALAN

19. Lone Star State sch. : UTEP. University of Texas at El Paso.

23. LAPD alerts : APBs. All Points Bulletin.

25. Grazing lands : LEAs

26. Blue Ribbon beer : PABST

27. Dickens villain Heep : URIAH. Misty, how you doing on the book?

28. Underwater ray : MANTA

29. Examine grammatically : PARSE

30. Last Supper query : "IS IT I?"

31. Mountain quarters : CABIN

32. "Dallas" surname : EWING. Prime time soap opera.

37. Thousands, in a heist : GEEs. Slang One thousand dollars is a grand, G, gee or (1000) large.

38. Buy for the future, as gold : INVEST IN

39. German road : BAHN. (Autobahn)

41. Manners to be minded : P's AND Q's

42. Rock-throwing protesters : STONERS. Not the stoners I know, man.

44. Marsh duck : TEAL

45. Heavy metal band named for a rodent : RATT. I'll let Ant or Splynter link it.

46. "'Bout this large" : "YEA BIG". Needs accompanying hand gesture.

49. Boo-boo, to tots : OWIE

50. Turn at the casino : ROLL

51. __ of Mexico : GULF

53. Senate page, for one : AIDE

54. Rocking Turner : TINA

55. Expert server, in tennis : ACER

56. Whodunit quarry : PERP

58. Rapa __: Easter Island : NUI. Easter Island was given the name Rapa Nui (Great Rapa) by Tahitian sailors, in the 1860's, as it reminded them of Rapa - a small island in French Polynesia (now commonly referred to as Rapa Iti). Before 1863, the name was unknown on the island. -S. Fischer, "The Naming of Rapanui". Crosswordese candidate.

59. Japanese dramatic form : NOH. Drama that often uses masks. Crosswordese candidate.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here is a lovely picture of 9-year-old Hudson helping grandpa Husker Gary solve yesterday's LA Times puzzle "after he took a sip of coffee out of my NASA mug. He got UTTER and others too, some with prompting and some on his own! My wife is scared he is turning into Papa!".

Sunday Feb 12, 2011 Bonnie L. Gentry

Theme: "Kinda, Sorta" - ISH is added to each common phrase.

23A. "Listen up, Madrid!"? : ATTENTION SPANISH! Attention span.

37A. "... and that's why I ate all of your favorite cookies," e.g.? : SELFISH DEFENSE. Self defense.

67A. Put Armor All on tires? : BURNISH RUBBER. Burn rubber.

93A. Hold a surprise party for Scorsese? : ASTONISH MARTIN. Aston Martin. James Bond's car.

112A. "My stocks are going down! My stocks are going down!"? : BEARISH REPEATING. Bear repeating. The clue sounds "Panic repeating" to me.

16D. Embarrassed flock managers? : SHEEPISH HERDERS. Sheep herders.

45D. Display that's both tasteful and ostentatious? : REFINED FLOURISH. Refined flour.

The title gives away the theme, yes?

Simple gimmick. Nicely executed. Only 7 theme entries, but they're all quite long, occupying a total of 103 squares, norm for 21*21.

Sunday puzzles often contain one or two or more "What?" words for me. Not this one. Super smooth.

Across:

1. Involuntary jerk : START. Not an easy clue to me.

6. Put into words : UTTER

11. Amazon.com ID : ISBN

15. Educational TV spots, perhaps : PSAS

19. Fail to recycle : WASTE

20. Unappealing music : NOISE. I'm in love with this song lately. So simple. So pure.

21. Politician's pursuit : SEAT. And 33. Washington figure : POL.

22. World-weary words : AH ME

26. You might draw one on a target : BEAD

27. Forest sticker : BUR. Learned from doing Xword.

28. Banjo parts : NECKS. "Deliverance" is probably the most terrifying movie I've seen.

29. Corner-office occupant : BOSS

30. Last Olds : ALERO

31. Capable of spontaneous movement, as cells : MOTILE

35. "Let yourself in!" : IT'S OPEN

42. "Give __ rest!" : IT A

43. Arranges logically : SORTS

46. Dirt clump : CLOD. Eager to work on my garden clod.

47. Dairy case choice : OLEO. I've never had Oleo.

48. Concordes, familiarly : SSTs

49. Bleachers level : TIER

50. Cinema name : ODEON

52. Give the boot to : OUST

53. NYC gallery district : SOHO

54. Certain alphabet opener : ALFA. NATO alphabet. Spitzboov knows them too well. BZ!

55. Whither Cain fled : NOD. Land of Nod. East of Eden.

56. A whole lot : OODLES

58. "I don't get it" : HUH. Dennis got a lot of "I don't get it" emails in my earlier days of blogging. Now he needs education. He does not know why tinted moisturizers are tinted. You?

59. Decide with money : FLIP A COIN. Nailed it.

62. Murmur : COO

63. At a minimum : NO LESS

66. Five-spot : FIN

71. Color TV pioneer : RCA

72. More-than-one-hit Wonder : STEVIE. Fun clue. Wonder is capitalized.

74. Maestro's gift : EAR

75. Fair-haired : TOWHEADED. New word to me. How is the color different from blond?

77. Cacophony : DIN

78. Put one's feet up : LOLLED

81. Carefree, in Calais : GAI. Like our "gay".

82. Rip asunder : REND

83. Dirty Harry's org. : SFPD

84. Mount rising above the Vale of Tempe : OSSA. Not familiar with Vale of Tempe, a gorge in Thessaly.

85. Sailing hailings : AHOYs

87. Native Canadian : CREE

88. Toon collectibles : CELs

89. Castaway's confines : ISLE

90. Vocal style that mimics an instrumental solo : SCAT

91. Had office hours : WAS IN

92. Metal in Montana's motto : ORO. Oro y Plata.

97. Topiarist's tools : PRUNERS. This green guy is a topiarist, pruned by another topiarist.

99. Grant-providing org. : NEA

100. Over-embellished : ORNATE

103. D.A.'s research aides : PARAs. Paralegals.

104. Take the show on the road : TOUR

107. Dork : DWEEB

109. Travelers' options: Abbr. : RRs

111. Elevator innovator : OTIS

116. "__ we forget ..." : LEST

117. "High Hopes" lyricist : CAHN (Sammy)

118. Lingering look : STARE

119. Make the grade : CUT IT

120. Pasty-faced : ASHY

121. Green-egg layers : EMUs. Chickens must be surprised to see emu eggs: OMG, I've always laid white eggs.

122. Autumn bloom : ASTER

123. Carpet layers work on them : KNEES. Another tricky clue for me.

Down:

1. Forensic evidence collector : SWAB

2. Ryan's daughter : TATUM

3. Former Colt .45 : ASTRO. Between 1962-1964. Look at this lovely bobblehead. Too bad he has a little chip on his right cheek. Would be worth thousands in its original box.

4. Directions detail: Abbr. : RTE

5. Court shoes, casually : TENNIES

6. Org. with "Trick-or-Treat" donation boxes : UNICEF

7. Appropriated : TOOK

8. Altoids containers : TINS

9. Versatile Scrabble tile : ESS

10. Agent : REP

11. "There __ 'I' in 'team'" : IS NO

12. Tres y tres : SEIS. Six.

13. Baby baskets : BASSINETS. Very pretty.

14. Unknown power : NTH

15. Poet Neruda with a Nobel Prize : PABLO

17. Almond-flavored liqueur : AMARETTO

18. Kia minivans : SEDONAs

24. Don't hold in : TELL. Have never met an investigator who's not good at holding secrets.

25. Good at one's job : ABLE

30. Enzyme suffix : ASE

32. Feature of some Mary Janes : T-STRAP

33. LP player : PHONO

34. Like an extra sock : ODD. Mine are normally hidden in Boomer's large T-shirts.

36. Qing Dynasty general of culinary fame : TSO. Qing was China's last dynasty (1644-1912). Qin (no g) was the first imperial dynasty, when we had our first emperor, who built the first version of the Great Wall of China and the Terra Cotta soldiers.

38. Stranded at O'Hare, perhaps : ICED IN

39. __-mo replay : SLO

40. Exceed an infraction limit, in basketball : FOUL OUT

41. Ultimatum ending : ELSE

43. Provides personnel for : STAFFS

44. Like some retro lamps : OIL-LIT. Used candles for lighting until I was about 10.

48. R&B-influenced genre : SOUL. I used to confuse James Brown with Bobby Brown, husband of Whitney Houston. What a tragedy.

50. How actors should appear : ON CUE.

51. It's opened and shut : DOOR. So is CASE.

52. Dumpster emanation : ODOR

53. Sandcastle spot : SHORE. Castles & long legs are all Splynter wants.

57. Fall colour : OCHRE. The English spelling of "colour" hints an English answer.

60. In __: up the creek : A BIND

61. Ratings giver : NIELSEN

63. Classic pops : NEHIs

64. When, in Act II, Macbeth soliloquizes, "Is this a dagger ..." : SCENE I. Guessing game.

65. Turn blue? : SADDEN

68. Room at the hacienda : SALA

69. Colombian capital : BOGOTA. Chickie lived in Columbia a few years.

70. Bronx-Manhattan st. : B'WAY

73. Limo riders, often : VIPs

76. Mysterious matters : ARCANA

78. Faded in the stretch : LOST STEAM. Nice answer.

79. Peace Prize city : OSLO

80. Vladimir's villa : DACHA. Alliteration.

83. Notches : SERRATES. Always thought serrate is an adjective.

86. Not-so-subtle performer : HAM

88. "Lost in Translation" director Sofia : COPPOLA. Loved the movie.

89. Syr. neighbor : ISR

90. San Diego-to-Tijuana dir. : SSE

91. Recoup at the casino : WIN BACK. No, you won't.

93. DDE rival : AES

94. Calvary letters : INRI

95. Ebert's cohort : ROEPER (Richard)

96. Charlie Brown's kite eater : TREE

98. Far from friendly : NASTY

101. Said too often : TRITE. OK, It's "said too often". It's trite. I was thinking of a verb answer.

102. "Rubber Duckie" Muppet : ERNIE

105. Hanauma Bay site : OAHU

106. Caterer's carriers : URNS

107. "Curses!" : DRAT

108. "If wishes __ horses ..." : WERE

110. Capt. saluters : SGTS

112. Abbr. in old dates : BCE. I actually still use BC. Religion was forbidden when I grew up, yet BC was in common use. Very strange.

113. Issuer of nine-digit nos. : SSA

114. Cleveland __, O. : HTS

115. Winery vessel : TUN

Answer grid.

Here is a close-up view of Yellowrocks' avatar, the Golden Pavilion in Kyoto.

C.C.