Monday, May 20, 2013 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Fore! - Actually, it is right in the fairway. The three most common scores you can make on a hole of golf start the first three of four grid-spanning entries; the unifier being the last one.

17A. 1978 hit for the Commodores : "THREE TIMES A LADY". LINK (3:39)

23A. Safety feature at a dangerous intersection : FOUR-WAY STOP SIGN. Example, also called ALL WAY.

50A. False start punishment, in football : FIVE-YARD PENALTY

58A. As expected, or, golfwise, a hint to numbers found in 17-, 23- and 50-Across : PAR FOR THE COURSE

Argyle all teed up and ready to let'er rip. Starting a Monday with grid-spans is impressive and a good drive, unlike some of my real first tee drives. The fill is on par with a Monday; a couple of crunchy nuggets but no Naticks. Personally, I like the look of the two cheaters in the corners.

Across:

1. Finders' shouts : A-HAs

5. Maternity ward event : BIRTH

10. Formal title : SIR

13. Destroy : RUIN

14. Legend automaker : ACURA. This is the luxury vehicle division of Honda.

15. 1988 Cy Young winner Hershiser : OREL. You're not surprised to see baseball clues, are you?

20. Microbe : GERM

21. Minnesota Wild's org. : NHL. (National Hockey League)

22. Status __ : QUO

28. Boxer played by Will Smith : ALI

29. __ the finish : IN AT. (but not Orb)

30. Give one's word : VOW

31. Business bigwig : TITAN. The first gods in Greek mythology. Real biggies. (LINK)

33. Olympics sled : LUGE. Rosebud!

 

 

35. Mideast sultanate : OMAN

39. English : John :: Welsh : __ : EVAN. It is of Welsh and Hebrew origin. (seems an odd combo)

40. High male voice : TENOR

41. Pro __: in proportion : RATA

42. Like the night : DARK

43. Seek prey : HUNT

44. Agriculture goddess on the New Jersey state seal : CERES. Roman goddess. Yellowrocks can link this.

45. Bigger than med. : LGE.

47. Multinational coin : EURO

49. Scintilla : BIT

55. Hush-hush maritime org. : ONI. (Office of Naval Intelligence)(that's all I can tell you. Shh!)

56. AAA suggestion : RTE

57. Just hanging out : IDLE

64. Work on the deck : SWAB. Mopping.

65. Steamed : IRATE

66. The stuff of legends : MYTH

67. 25-Down student : ELI. 25D. New Haven sch. : YALE U.

68. Shows up : COMES

69. Gets the picture : SEES

Down:

1. Museum display : ART

2. "How's that again?" : "HUH?"

3. Instrument "played" for a hairbrush microphone user : AIR GUITAR. Ad for the microphone. LINK Order your's NOW!

4. Scornful look : SNEER

5. Role for Keaton and Kilmer : BATMAN

6. "Here," on Metro maps : [ICI] In France.

7. Mojito liquor : RUM. Dennis, are you drinking mojitos?

8. Former Senator Lott : TRENT. Mississippi Republican Senator, 1989 – 2007.

9. Discuss in detail : HASH OVER. I prefer my hash with eggs.

10. Note after fa : SOL

11. Kirkuk native : IRAQI
 

12. Excavated anew : REDUG

16. France's third most populous cité : LYON

18. "Desert Fox" Rommel : ERWIN. WW II tank commander in Africa.

19. Dog food brand : ALPO

23. Meant to happen : FATED

24. Tony whose #6 was retired by the Twins : OLIVA

26. Dumbfounded : STUNNED

27. Gave one's word : SWORE

32. Oft-sprained joint : ANKLE

34. Hopped out of bed : GOT UP

36. Bread with swirls stolen by Jerry in a classic "Seinfeld" episode : MARBLE RYE

37. What the dog did with the homework? : ATE IT

38. Foul, as weather : NASTY

40. Showy : THEATRIC

44. Time-share unit : CONDO

46. Greek street food : GYRO

48. Treats again, as a sprain : RE-ICES

50. Dandy fellows : FOPS. Are you a Dapper Dan man?

51. Blown away : IN AWE

52. Like YouTube videos gone wild : VIRAL. I'm in awe of some of them but always with a grain of salt.

53. Nostalgia-inducing : RETRO

54. Homecoming group : ALUMS

59. "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity" org. : FBI

60. Nonkosher meat : HAM

61. Printemps follower : ÉTÉ. We're back in France...

62. Holy mlle. : STE.. ...again.

63. Puzzled comments : EH's I hope you are no longer puzzled.

 

 

Argyle

Boomer (C.C.'s husband)  and #6 Oliva

Oliva looking at Boomer's Hartland statues. The big guy on the left is former Twin Juan Berenguer. The background picture is Hall-of-Famer Bert Blyleven.

Sunday May 19, 2013 Alan Arbesfeld

Theme: "PG-13" - 13 entries all start with letters P & G.

23A. It's designed not to be noticeable : PLATE GLASS. Windows. Pretty little corner.

25A. Lawman who killed Billy the Kid : PAT GARRETT. The Sheriff.

30A. Ibsen play with music by Grieg : PEER GYNT. Hey, I even know his mother's name: ASE.

37A. Subject with no depth? : PLANE GEOMETRY. Fun clue.

50A. Former park near the Harlem River : POLO GROUNDS. NY Giants.

53A. Fun-loving female : PARTY GIRL. One of Boomer's favorite bowling centers was closed. They held a fun funeral yesterday.

68A. Where to see an inflation index? : PRESSURE GAUGE. Nothing economy related.

85A. Co-chair of John McCain's 2007-'08 presidential campaign : PHIL GRAMM. I missed him up with Bob Graham.

88A. View from Kuwait City : PERSIAN GULF.  Hi there, Doha Doc!

96A. Hardly luxury boxes : PEANUT GALLERY. This always reminds me of Dan Naddor.

102A. Military monetary scale : PAY GRADE

115A. Court quarterback : POINT GUARD. Basketball.

119A. Fictionary, e.g. : PARLOR GAME. Never played Fictionary.

You grokked the theme immediately, right? The title is so self-explanatory.

Despite the fact that there are no tricky to place letters (Q, Z, X or K) in the theme set, 13 entries take up huge space in the grid. Once you construct puzzles yourself, you'll know that this grid is for no rookies & weak entries like IERE (91A. French suffix with jardin) are needed to make the grid work. Jardinière (Gardener). Love Jardin du Luxembourg. Nice picnic spot.

 

Across:

1. Within : AMID

5. Earthy tone : OCHRE. Or Ocher.

10. In the neighborhood : LOCAL

15. Riot control weapon : MACE

19. Grabber's cry : MINE

20. Kansas City athlete : ROYAL. For Husker Gary.

21. Cole Porter classic from "Can-Can" : I LOVE PARIS. I really do.

26. Single : UNWED

27. Significant ones? : OTHERS

29. Bad-mouthed : DISSED

32. Rulers in a line : DYNASTS

36. -y plus -y? : IES. Just Y pluralized.

43. Dewlapped critter : IGUANA

47. Grafton's "__ for Alibi" : A IS

48. Bistro : CAFE

49. Battery that's 8.3 millimeters in diameter : AAAA

56. Env. directive : ATTN

57. Wise : SAGE

58. "Angela's Ashes" sequel : 'TIS. I bet Irish Miss & Lucina read both.

60. Jewish campus organization : HILLEL. What does this word mean?

61. Begets : SIRES. This is the year for O* horses. Orb, Oxbow.

63. Swollen : TURGID

65. Dummy : STUPE

67. Union in D.C., e.g. : STA

71. Support : AID

74. Vex : HAUNT

75. Political theorist Hannah : ARENDT. Forgot. We had her before.

76. Have a feeling : SENSE

78. Actress Dahl : ARLENE

81. School in Big D : SMU

82. River isles : AITS

84. "Don't look at me!" : NOT I

92. Scottish turndowns : NAES

94. PC key : ALT

95. Dud : TURKEY

100. Ticked off : MAD

101. Toledo time-outs : SIESTAS

107. Petulance : SPLEEN

111. More cool, man : NEATER

114. Caught congers : EELED

121. "You had your chance" : IT'S TOO LATE. Great entry.

122. Leadoff hitter's asset : SPEED. So, who do you think is MLB's best leadoff hitter right now?

123. Egyptian deity : AMON

124. Winter Palace resident : TSAR

125. Bold type : DARER. No BOLD for this answer!

126. Mitigated : EASED

127. Insurance policy contingency : LOSS

Down:

1. Energize : AMP UP

2. Pooh penner : MILNE

3. Amazed : IN AWE. I'm in awe of this guy's humor & curiosity.

Who Am I? Ask Manac!

4. Block : DETER

5. Web address ending : ORG

6. Ratio indicators : COLONS. I remember someone talked about Golden Ratio on the blog sometime ago. Forgot what it's about. Something to do with hourglass figures.

7. __ Regency : HYATT

8. Not at all patient : RASH

9. Ultimatum ending : ELSE

10. Fake it, in a way : LIP SYNC

11. Motor add-on? : OLA. Motorola.

12. Crash site? : COT

13. Part of DJIA: Abbr. : AVG

14. Result in : LEAD TO

15. Romans' 16-Down : MARS. And 16. Greeks' 15-Down : ARES. Skillful placement.

17. Ticket : CITE

18. Founded, on signs : ESTD (Established)

22. Rainbow maker : PRISM

24. Trim : EDGING

28. Nutrition letters : RDA. Old. Now it's RDI.

31. Quite a spell : YEARS

33. They follow springs by about seven days : NEAPS. Happy to learn it.

34. Former Belgian camera brand : AGFA

35. One looking ahead : SEER

37. Yearning ones : PINERS. 69. One wishing for a real-life "undo" button? : RUER. And 90. Poker? : NUDGER. Two ER is enough.

38. Cause of some '60s trips : LSD. So glad I did not get into drugs.

39. Giant rival : EAGLE. Man, football!

40. Follow : TAIL

41. Outback order : RARE. This is the only beefsteak I like.

42. Dixie group? : Y'ALL

43. "No thanks" : I PASS

44. "I follow" : GOT IT

45. Extreme : ULTRA

46. Exceptional : A-ONE

47. What "8" may stand for : AUGUST. So simple. 8 is a lucky number in China/Japan.

51. Like granola : OATEN

52. Mounting aid : STIRRUP

54. Hood with a rod : THUG

55. "Egad!" : YIPES

59. Auteur's starting point : IDEE. But "Auteur" is an English word, despite its French root.

62. Smack-dab : SPANG. Wow, never heard of this word before.

64. Largest of the Mariana Islands : GUAM

65. Cruel type : SADIST

66. All, in scores : TUTTI. Gimme for Pas de chat & Jazzbumpa.

70. Really cool : GNARLY

71. Actress Aimée : ANOUK

72. Agave fiber : ISTLE. Learned from doing Xword.

73. Respect and then some : DEIFY

74. Oscar winner Mirren : HELEN. Truly beautiful. Witty too.

77. Ga. Tech grad : ENGR

78. "Edith, you're __": Archie Bunker : A PIP

79. South Korea's first president : RHEE. Same character as Chinese Lee/Li, as in Ang Lee/Jet Li.

80. Former capital of Italy : LIRA. I bet this clue would stump the Pope (Call me, maybe?). Capital refers to "money" here. Euro now.

81. Process, as ore : SMELT

83. Skewered Thai dish : SATAY. Do you like peanut sauce?

86. Auréole wearer : ANGE. Angel. Auréole is French for "halo" I suppose. What's their AURA then?

87. "The Valachi Papers" author Peter : MAAS. Vaguely familiar. He  also wrote the biography Frank Serpico.

89. Hammer home? : EAR. Hammer bone.

93. Bad-mouth : SLANDER

97. Be of __: help : USE TO

98. Self-important authority figure : TIN GOD

99. Computer terminal? : ESE. Computerese.

100. 1986 Best Actress Matlin : MARLEE. No idea. For Children of a Lesser God. She's deaf.

102. One of three 1994 Peace Nobelists : PERES (Shimon). The other two are Rabin and Arafat.

103. Fit for a king : REGAL

104. It shares its airport shuttle with National : ALAMO. Oh, car rental.

105. Distributions to DJs : DEMOs

106. Idyllic places : EDENS

107. Jutting shoreline formation : SPIT

108. Kitchenware : POTS

109. Alaska senator Murkowski : LISA. Won via write-in votes.

110. __'acte : ENTR

112. Recess near an altar : APSE

113. Spanish snack : TAPA

116. Form follower : ULA

117. Rhine tributary : AAR

118. Way to get there: Abbr. : RTE

120. Perplexing : ODD

Happy Birthday to dear Grumpy, who was once very active on the blog. Grumpy's posts were always cheerful & funny. Click here to see more of Grumpy, Sallie & Spitzboov.

Grumpy & his lovely wife Wilda

Also want to share with you this wonderful link Bob sent to me. Be sure to watch in full screen. Bob has also been with the blog for a long long time. He rarely comments, but he reads our posts/comments and writes to me at times.

C.C.

Saturday, May 18th, 2013, Julian Lim

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,V,Z)

Blocks: 34

   We have us a non-Saturday looking grid today - but there was a grid climber in the center, which I did not see at first glance.  I actually worked this one faster than yesterday's, which is unusual, since I have been historically stumped by Mr. Lim's end-of-week bruisers.  So, to the long fills;

7D. Words of dread : I SHUDDER TO THINK

26A. Impatient cry : I CAN HARDLY WAIT

42A. Order in an oater : REACH FOR THE SKY - Oater being a Western "shoot 'em up" flick

On-Ward~!

ACROSS:

1. Faraday's field: Abbr. : ELECtricity - Good start, if you knew the scientist; I bought one of these flashlights for Christmas - no batteries~!

5. Paris is in it : ILIAD - Not France, or any other location; the character

10. __ champêtre: garden party : FETE - seems logical, now that the perps filled it in

14. Love letters? : XOXO - Found at the bottom of Valentine's cards, etc

15. Exploits : CASHES IN ON

17. Bali specification : C-CUP - Nailed it - even the cup size, for some reason

18. It's more acceptable when it's self-mocking : ETHNIC JOKE - "How do you get a...." -HEY- not here....too 'blue' (see below)

19. Danish director von Trier : LARS - IMDb

20. NBC's usual "Must See TV" night : THUrsday

21. Flight segment : RISER - stairs, that is - the vertical board between treads

22. Clerical garment : ALB

23. Way to spread the green? : SEEDAGE - yeah, but I wanted SEEDING, and a clecho -

31. Green : MONEY

32. Shade tree : ELM - especially when it's "green"

33. About, legally : IN RE

35. Single __: tournament type : ELIMination - It's best-of-seven in the NHL

36. Kinky dos : AFROs

38. LaBeouf of "Holes" : SHIA - Didn't see this movie, but I did like Eagle Eye

39. Mollycoddle, with "on" : DOTE

40. Code word : DIT

41. United nations, perhaps : BLOCS - meh

46. Bleep, say : EDIT OUT

47. Stew staple : PEA - any other three-letter ingredients you can think of?

48. 5-Across poet : HOMER

52. "... by good __, yonder's my lord": "Timon of Athens" : HAP

53. Isn't serious : KIDS

54. Started to shoot : OPENED FIRE

57. Crowning : ATOP

58. Conversation barrier : BUSY SIGNAL

59. Hana Airport's island : MAUI - detailed map; airport code HNM

60. Federal inspection org. : OSHA - Occupational Safety and Health Administration

61. Invite for : ASK TO

62. Old, in Oldenburg : ALTE

DOWN:

1. Hollered : EXCLAIMED

2. Regional asset : LOCAL COLOR - the local color of today's blog is, um, red....

3. One with a long commute, probably : EXURBANITE

4. Arresting characters : COPS

5. Poolside refresher : ICE TEA - not gonna say it....

6. Form foam : LATHER - DAH~!  I plan to build my own home using Insulated Concrete Forms, and so I was stuck in that frame of mind to start

8. Philip __, first Asian-American film actor with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star : AHN - IMDb #2

49. With 9-Down, conspiratorial group in "The Da Vinci Code" : OPUS  9. See 49-Down : DEI - you either knew this, or you did not read Dan Brown; when his next book, "Angels & Demons", again with 'Robert Langdon' as the main character came out, I made this; there is another movie coming out for "Lost Symbol"

10. Vanua Levu's archipelago : FIJI - map

11. Slaughter with a bat : ENOS

12. Vegas tip : TOKE - straight up definition, but not the one I'M familiar with

13. Cabinet dept. with an Office of Science : ENERgy - WAG

16. Bad thing to have loose : SCREW - Thought about "CANNON", too

23. Recoil : SHY

24. Prefix meaning "other" : ALLO - we just had Allosaurus

25. Treadmill settings : GYMS - ah, not RPMs, which didn't seem 'right' to me; we need the actual setting for the piece of equipment

27. Valley where Hercules slew a lion : NEMEA

28. Where fliers walk : AISLE - the aisle in an airplane, that is

29. Recuperating at the Royal London : IN HOSPITAL - my mom was just "in hospital", as she had a stomach virus, and needed IV FLUIDS - hey, that would make a good fill....

30. Covered in bling, say : TRICKED OUT - usually in reference to one's 'ride'

34. "No sweat!" : EASY AS PIE - lots of multi-word answers today

36. Child psychologist's concern, briefly : ADHD - here's the Wiki; if you ask me, this modern sound-byte, smart phone, subliminal advertising, video game world we live in is the direct cause of the 'disease'

37. Minnie Mouse's peke : FIFI

41. Antioxidant food preservative : BHT -for the scientific mind

43. Demeter's Roman counterpart : CERES - Goddess of agriculture/grain crops - hence, 'cereal'

44. Find hilarious : ROAR AT

45. Swamp tree : TUPELO - here I thought it was a city in Mississippi

48. Down Under swagman, in the States : HOBO - learning moment for me

50. Fit well : MESH - I had MELD to start

51. "Oíche Chiún" singer : ENYA - upon re-reading the clue, with EN-A filled in, seems pretty obvious now

53. Hindu god of desire : KAMA - as in the Kama Sutra - and C-cups....

55. Miércoles, por ejemplo : DIA - Spanish "day", Wednesday, by example

56. Three-pt. plays : FGs - Field Goals, and if I am not mistaken, this is in both football and basketball

Splynter