Sunday April 6, 2014 Jason Chapnick & C.C. Burnikel

Theme: "The Living End" - The last word is a living spot. 

23A. 50 different ones were released over a 10-year period starting in 1999 : STATE QUARTERS

29A. Get no laughs, as a joke : FALL FLAT

35A. Brillo, for one : SCOURING PAD

48A. Archeological sites : FOSSIL DIGS. Getting this is a key in our theme set search. Not many * DIGS phrases to work with.

68A. Everywhere : ALL OVER THE PLACE

90A. Electronics chain : RADIOSHACK. The only one-word entry.

97A. It merged with Penguin in 2013 : RANDOM HOUSE

105A. Bed with bars : BABY CRIB. Lemonade's original clue. Sweet!

Reveal entry:

117A. Embroidery slogan, and an alternative title for this puzzle : HOME SWEET HOME

Jason is Lemonade, our witty & hard-working Friday Sherpa since March 2010. This is his debut puzzle, and I'm so happy to be part of his effort. Congratulations, Charlotte's grandpa!

Lemonade's granddaughter Charlotte

Lemonade originally came up with 4 phrases with 2 work places and 2 living spots (PRESCRIPTION PAD (sorry for the typo earlier) & STUDIO APARTMENT). I proposed we narrow down to living spaces only & tighten up the set with answers where the last word has a non-living context (so out * APARTMENT phrases ) and use "HOME SWEET HOME" as a reveal entry.

Lemonade liked my suggestions, so together we worked out this current set. He did not have Compiler at the time (now he does & happily works at his own grids), so I filled the grid. He then did the most time-consuming part of a Sunday puzzle: cluing. 

I knew how much he loves words and wordplay, but I was still amazed by his creativity and brillance. You can see his original clues here. I changed a slightly few & submitted this final version. Just to add a new "Now-ness" & avoid duping previously used clues.

Today's title is Rich's. We had Lemonade's "Main Domain" in our submission.

Across:

1. Start bubbling, perhaps : BOIL

5. 2004 Grey Goose acquirer : BACARDI. Also owns Dewar's, favorite of Irish Miss.

12. Feels a strong need (for) : STARVES

19. Wise leader? : OTHER. Otherwise. Lemonade's creation, of course!

21. Red-hot : ON A TEAR

22. Fancy-sounding bedroom piece : ARMOIRE

25. Paper in a frame : DIPLOMA

26. New England swimmer : COD

27. Clucks of disapproval : TUTS

28. Brew choice : ALE. Lemonade's son (left) brews his own beer.

Lemonade & Montana, Denver, 2013

30. Final Four org. : NCAA

32. Salinger title 13-year-old : ESME. "For  Esmé - With Love and Squalor".

34. Two-time U.S. Open winner Trevino : LEE. He talks 150 miles/hour.

41. Baja bear: OSA

43. California nine, in sports crawl lines : LAA. Los Angeles Angels.

46. Brest milk : LAIT

47. Forum talk was in it : LATIN

52. Include : ADD IN

54. Chocolate Mr. : GOODBAR. Never had it.

56. Slide subjects : AMOEBAS

57. King Minos, e.g. : CRETAN

59. Sochi no : NYET. Now Sochi has become a past.

60. Guidelines : CRITERIA

61. Mauna __ : KEA

62. Number of hills di Roma : SETTE. 7.

65. Enjoy Olive Garden, say : EAT OUT

67. Dancer Sally with just a few fans? : RAND. Rich polished a bit of  Lemonade's lovely clue.

71. City on Utah Lake : OREM

74. Trap setter, when it works : SNARER

75. Deal with : SEE TO

76. Yosemite Sam's "Scram!" : GIT

79. OneStep 600 producer : POLAROID

81. -y to the max : IEST.  Very bad. And I know it. Just could not get better fill here.

83. Break indicator : EM DASH

85. It may involve pasting : EDITING

86. Back : ENDORSE

89. Ball queen : BELLE. I can picture Yellowrocks dancing away in her college days.

92. One of the Allman Brothers : DUANE

94. Skelton's Kadiddlehopper : CLEM

95. Wheel spinner's buy : AN "E"

96. However, briefly : THO

99. Short smoke? : CIG. Anon-T uses e-cig.

102. Pharaoh's cross : ANKH

104. Criticize : CARP

109. Wall St. locale : NYC

111. Lummoxes : APES

113. Faux __ : PAS

116. Thoroughbred ancestor : ARABIAN

120. Mortgage feature? : SILENT T.  I made a change to Lemonade's "Castle feature" since I saw the "Castle" clue in another puzzle.

121. Built : ERECTED. Isn't this lovely? Splynter built it.

122. Swiss calculus pioneer : EULER

123. Do stuff : HAIR GEL

124. 2002 Adam Sandler role : MR DEEDS

125. "Lohengrin" heroine : ELSA

 

Down:

 1. Slender-necked pear : BOSC. Have any of you tried Asian pears? Very juicy. Pricey too. I only buy one at a time.

2. "The Simpsons" bus driver : OTTO. Gimme for D-Otto! Was the tax season over for you?

3. "Who knew?" : I HAD NO IDEA

4. Court call : LET

5. Ring event : BOUT

6. Santa __: offshore winds : ANAS

7. Garage unit : CAR

8. "__ girl!" : ATTA

9. Pulled (in) : REELED

10. Challenges : DARES

11. Form letters? : IRS. Nice clue. Rich's creation.

12. Thompson of "Family" : SADA. I don't know why her name is so hard to remember.

13. Sound from a nest : TRILL

14. More than enough : AMPLE

15. Pocahontas' spouse : ROLFE (John)

16. Fretted fiddle : VIOL

17. Aunt with a "Cope Book" : ERMA

18. It's often reserved : SEAT

20. Pave over : RE-TAR

24. Bird in a covey : QUAIL.Quail eggs are quite popular in Southern China. I miss Guangzhou so so much.

29. Admit, with "up" : FESS

31. Make the grade : CUT IT

33. Secure with lines : MOOR

35. Play in a line : SLACK. I don't get this clue.

36. Leadership nucleus : CADRE

37. Badger : NAG

38. Classic muscle car : GTO

39. Trailblazer : PIONEER

40. Writer Rooney : ANDY. Can you imagine he blogged a crossword puzzle? He'd be kvetching all the time.

42. In most cases : AS A RULE

43. Many an October baby : LIBRA

44. "Encore!" : AGAIN

45. Syrian leader : ASSAD. Surprised he's still in power.

48. Palestinian political party : FATAH

49. Copy : IMITATE

50. Garage alternative : LOT

51. John on the farm : DEERE

53. Minnesota United FC org. : NASL (North American Soccer League). Holy Guacamole, Rich! Click here. Their stadium is not far from our home.

55. Visibly embarrassed : BEET RED

58. Wrestling holds : NELSONS

60. Deal : COPE

63. "West Side Story" duet : TONIGHT

64. Plug in the den? : TV AD. Nice "Plug" mislead.

66. Beta release, e.g. : TEST RUN

68. Maker of old strings : AMATI

69. Sign again : RE-INK. I'm always amazed by  by the high pain threshold of those with tattoos.

70. Vanity item : COMB

71. Verdi creation : OPERA

72. Sometime ally of Godzilla : RODAN

73. Say somethin', say? : ELIDE

76. Collector of views : GALLUP POLL. Rich's clue.

77. Key chain : ISLES

78. Central idea : THEME

80. Where agua flows : RIO

82. Party supply : SODA

84. Martha Stewart Living topic : DECOR

86. Bus. course : ECON

87. Blue : SAD

88. "Microsoft sound" composer : ENO (Brian). He composed with his Mac.

91. Melville tyrant : AHAB

93. Roast host : EMCEE

97. Matched shirts and skirts? : RHYMED. Oh, I had "Like shirts and skirts" originally. Lovely 85A.

98. Waste creator : HASTE

99. __ Monday: post-Thanksgiving event : CYBER

100. Cupcake cover : ICING

101. Prepare, as Parmesan : GRATE

103. Big name in packaged soups : KNORR

105. Big party : BASH

106. Met solo : ARIA. Can you see "Met solo" on the windows? Steve our Foodie dined at their tapas restaurant.  

107. Indonesian island on its own sea : BALI

108. Like LAX : INTL

110. Gospel singer Winans : CECE

111. Blown away : AWED

112. Anti-doping targets, briefly : PEDS (Performance-Enhancing Drugs). Glad Rich used this clue.

114. Iowa city : AMES

115. Evening at Lake Como : SERA

117. Shut (in) : HEM

118. Canonized mlle. : STE

119. Peach or cherry : HUE. Two of my favorite fruits.

C.C.

Saturday, Apr 5th, 2014, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,U,V,X)

Blocks: 30

   Well now, today's offering from Mr. Silk was still tough in some spots, but do we feel better about our crossword solving ability since the beating I think we all took from last week's bear~?   I did have to wait on the hefty answers while I did my first pass through the Downs, then I was able to get a grip.  Several "exclamations" in the grid today (*). Triple 11-letter stacks in the NW and SE, with four 10's and six 9's to round out the long fill of the grid:

1a. Performing poorly : FALLING DOWN - also a movie starring Michael Douglas; they "Stopped Serving Breakfast"

15a. Music lover's resource : iHEART RADIO - Don't care for anything "i" these days; "I" listen to Pandora Internet Radio, and I am sad to say that didn't fit the space....

20a. Think : CEREBRATE - Oooh, that's a $2 word you can use in passing today....

12d. Spider producer : ALFA-ROMEO - the latest Alfa as I have seen from watching the BBC show "Top Gear" is this one, the Disco Volante ( "fly wheel")

28. Aristotelian ideal : GOLDEN MEAN - The Wiki; I could argue that this is the principle of Alcoholics Anonymous as well; I am a card-carrying member

ONWARD~!

ACROSS:

12. Hematological system : ABO - Blood types; I am "B positive~!"

16. Crucible setting : LAB - I was concerned this might have to do with the novel at first

17. Accept financial responsibility : BEAR THE COST

18. Not to : FRO - cute; "To & Fro"

19. St. Louis bridge architect : EADS - Beautiful, but I happen to like bridges in general

22. RR crossing sites : RDs - Dah~! Went with STs first - Roads, not Streets

23. Chaotic scene : ZOO

25. Rum company founder Fred : MYERS

26. Onslaught : BARRAGE

29. Animal shelter : COTE - LAIR, CAVE, COTE  all worked

31. Satisfied : MADE GOOD ON - MADE ENDS MEET was too long

34. Latin 101 word : AMAT - "He loves" - had amaS to start

35. Pulitzer playwright Zoë : AKINS

36. Brooks of Hollywood : MEL - The man who brought us "Young Frankenstein" and "Stand-up Philosophers"

37. Dog in a horned helmet : SNERT - from the comic strip Hägar the Horrible

38. Qajar dynasty country, today : IRAN

39. Bar seller : CANDY STORE - ah, that kind of bar

41. Norton Sound city : NOME

 

42. Broken up : IN TEARS - emotionally broken up, that is

43. Food mfr.'s calculation : NET WT.

45. At 5,343 ft., Mt. Marcy is its highest point : NYS - huh - New York State - I live here, and did not know this - did you, Argyle?

46. HDTV brand : RCA

49. Netherlands port : ROTTERDAM

52*. Cries of discovery : "O-HOs~!"

53. Cuban Revolution name : CHE

54. They may come from ostriches : BOA FEATHERS

57. Craft whose name means "peace" : MIR - Russian space station

58. Picture in your head : MENTAL IMAGE

59. Batt. terminal : POSitive

60. Forensic technique : DNA ANALYSIS - with a semi-clecho to start the downs -->

DOWN:

1. Bit of forensic evidence : FIBER

2. Not trying to catch anyone : AHEAD - some crafty clechoing here, too -->

3. Doesn't have to catch anyone : LEADS - being 'ahead' in a race, e.g.

4. Norwegian-born chemistry Nobelist Onsager : LARS

5. NYC subway : IRT - gimme, being that I do live 60mi from New York City; the Interborough Rapid Transit

6. Degree in math : NTH

7. Wrestling style : GRECO-ROMAN

8. Freshwater fish : DACE

9. Suggestive quality : ODOR - did this puzzle has an 'odor' of "DNF"~?

10. Guys with gifts : WISE MEN - SUITORS fit, too

11. __ a long shot : NOT BY

13. MVP of the first two Super Bowls : BART STARR - had to dredge this one up from the depths.  Much cerebrating.

14. Wind up on stage? : OBOE - Wind, short e, not Wye-nd

21. Takes back : RECANTS

23. Turns abruptly : ZAGS

24. Montana motto word : ORO - Shout-out~!!!

26. Floyd __ Field, NYC's first municipal airport : BENNETT - great, another NYS learning moment for me - hey, I did know the name of JFK before it was called JFK Airport

27. Make __ in : ADENT

30. Usher follower? : ETTE - usherETTE - my 'meh' clue for the day

31. Key : MAIN - ah, not ISLE

32. LeBron James' birthplace : AKRON, OHIO - mostly perps on this one

33. Circle measures : DIAMETERS

37. Cold War gp. : SSRs - I have a bit of a nit with the plural nature of the answer

39. French auto pioneer : CITROËN - André-Gustave, read about WWII sabotages and more here

 

40*. "Way to go!" : "YAY~!"

44. Site with a Symptom Checker : WebMD - I have had reason to stop by this website

46. Flightless birds : RHEAs

47. Cardigan or Pembroke dog : CORGI - I had the "C", took a W.A.G.

48. Burden-bearing team : ASSES - I'd like to see this clued 'another' way....

49. Law org. with an annual Musical Ride tour : RCMP - Royal Canadian Mounted Police

50. Actress Delany : DANA

51. Mennen lotion : AFTA

52*. "Wow!" : "OH MY~!"

55. After : A'LA - as in styled "after"....

56. Up to, briefly : (un)TIL

Splynter

 

 

 

Notes from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to dear Irish Miss & Abejo, two of our very loyal and caring regulars. I still feel guilty forgetting their birthday last year. 

Here is a picture of Irish Miss (Agnes) with her sister Eileen. The picture was taken on Nov 22, 2013 at their sister Peggy's house. Any special plans today, Agnes?

Eileen & Agnes

Let's meet Abejo (Bradley):

Abejo & Harvey

Abejo said:

This is a photo of myself and Fermatprime's friend Harvey about a year and a half ago. I am on the left as you are looking at the picture. Harvey is on the right. We were in Virginia together. This organization, the Knights Templar, is what I do in my spare time.

Friday, April 4, 2014, Kurt Krauss

Theme: REBUS, let your mind see the picture.

By now everyone should be used to the concept that Friday will give you something challenging, and often something new to deal with as you solve. We have had conversation (YR, I believe?) as to rebus puzzles being pictures like this classic FRAME GAME from USA Weekend magazine.  This will be my third of Kurt's Kreations to blog, and by far the most complex. All of the theme answers require two fill, which intersect, and the intersection is what reveals the single final fill. In effect the second word is inserted "in to" the first word to create a phrase that then stands alone. Tricky, but once you see the idea the rest really fell into place quickly. The symmetry of the top two sets have the intersecting word come from the top down, and the bottom two going down to the bottom from the intersection, along with some very nice 8 letter fill, like ACADEMIA, ONTARIAN, REFRAINS, SERPENTS, SNEAKERS and  VAN BUREN makes this a very fun looking puzzle.

20A. See 4-Down : SADKDLE. 4D. With 20-Across, working again, aptly : BACK.  (11). The common K tells you the fill is "Back in the saddle." Picture the perpendicular message here.

22A. See 8-Down : FAMSILY. 8D. With 22-Across, what red hair often does, aptly : RUNS. (11), The common S  reveals, "Runs in the family."

35A. See 30-Down : BANNK. 30D. With 35-Across, a financially sure thing, aptly : MONEY. (10). this central combination gives us, "Money in the bank."

50A. See 51-Down : MIRLROR. 51D. With 50-Across, do some self-examination, aptly : LOOK. (11). The intersection yields, "Look in the Mirror."

52A. See 53-Down : BUCDKET.  53D. With 52-Across, trivial amount, aptly : DROP(11). And we finish with my favorite, "Drop in the Bucket."

Across:

1. Biblical kingdom near the Dead Sea : MOAB. I knew I was going to have a good day when I confidently put this in and then confirmed with the perps.

5. Blue : LOW. Feeling kinda punk, down.

8. Chew (out) : REAM. He reamed him a new a******

12. Old empire builder : INCA. Love this near 16A. Donald's address, in comics : UNCA. By his sweet NEPHEWS. (7:33), I called my father's brother "Unc."

13. Construction materials : I-BARS.

17. Like a dotted note, in mus. : STAC. I knew this had to be STACCATO. See LINK. Any more commentary will have to come from those not musically deficient.

18. Bob preceder : SIREE. leaving out the "YES" to confuse you. (Yessiree bob!).

19. Tiny fraction of a min. : NSEC. We get this nanosecond frequently.

24. Dander : IRE.

25. Some tech sch. grads : EES. Electrical Engineers. Again.

26. Soweto's home: Abbr. : RSA. Republic of South Africa. Home to our now veteran veterinarian constructor, Gareth Bain, who has used NSEC in his works.

27. Great time, in slang : GAS. From nitrous oxide?

28. Rain cloud : NIMBUS. Our friend the cumulonimbus.

30. Fair ones : MAIDENS.

32. Julius Caesar's first name : GAIUS. A very common name, but this was an UNCOMMON man. 46D. Gallic girlfriends : AMIES. Gallic being French, amies are French girlfriends; in homage to Gaius Julius Caesar we can recall "Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est...." The beginning of his history of the invasion of Gaul. More on our Latin/Roman mini-theme, 21D. Roman god : DEUS. Just the Latin word, but because it looks like the name of the Greek god, ZEUS, this could be hard. Also, 44D. Dawn goddess : AURORA. The city outside of Denver.

33. Said : VOICED. Often times opinions....

34. Tandoori bread : NAN. Or NAAN.

36. Grilling sound : SSS. The steak or shrimp on the Barbie. Welcome back Kazie.

39. Macduff and Macbeth : THANES. This is/was a Scottish term the equivalent of Counts.

41. Charity, e.g. : DONEE. One who receives from a donor is a donee. A bit of a stretch.

43. Slipped past : EASED BY.

45. Sunday best : FINERY.

46. Soccer star Freddy : ADU. The son of Ghanian woman who won a green card lottery, Adu was considered an up-and-comer for United States football; much speculation surrounded his potential for future success, and he was even referred to as "the next Pele." With our mini-theme, 31D. Pelé's first name : EDSON. More specifically, Edson Arantes do Nascimento.

47. __ Simbel, site of Ramses II temples : ABU. You can read about it HERE. Do you agree the next fill should our old friend the Simpson's shopkeeper, APU?

48. Michaels et al. : ALS. So many Michaels in the world, we get the 'Miracle on Ice' announcer.

49. Galoot : APE.

54. "Was __ loud?" : I TOO.

55. Having no room for hedging : YES/NO. In cross-examining a witness you can often restrict the answer to Yes or No.

57. '20s tennis great Lacoste : RENE. Nice shirts? Chemise?

58. Designer Saarinen : EERO. Old time crosswordese. An architectural family, not like Ted Mosby.

59. Cynical response : SNEER.

60. Leftover bits : ORTS.

61. 40th st. : S DAK. Guess what state was 39th?

62. Whiz : PRO.

63. "Over here!" : PSST.

Down:

1. Not where it's expected to be : MISSING. So simple, yet I can see it hiding for a while.

2. Windsor resident : ONTARIAN. Eh, another Canadian reference.

3. Scholarly milieu : ACADEMIA. Where I become Dr. Lemonade.

5. Fine cotton threads : LISLES. Made from long staple cotton. Yeah, I really know what that means.

6. Awards named for a location : OBIES. Off Broadway.

7. Kids' card game : WAR. This is now a real money game in the casinos here.

9. Banner : ENSIGN. Apparently when you use your national flag at sea it becomes an Ensign. If you have watched Sheldon, I am sure you would know all about vexillology, or on the Game of Thrones, the bannerman. Sunday night!!!

10. Amtrak speedsters : ACELAS.  The high speed trains incorporated into our rail system. The name comes from Acceleration and Excellence, they say.

11. Store with a star : MACY'S.

14. Choruses : REFRAINS.

15. Queasy near the quay : SEASICK. This made me queasy.

23. Earned : MADE. Oh that life were fair and people actually made what they earned and earned what they made.

29. Squeeze plays involve them : BUNTS. Aren't you glad we had the discussion of this last week.

33. Jackson follower : VAN BUREN. Martin, president number 8 following Andrew Jackson, #7. Martin was from Buffalo and the first president born after the US was born.

35. 1995 Will Smith/Martin Lawrence film : BAD BOYS. Twenty years ago they made this MOVIE. (2:46).

37. Running pair : SNEAKERS.

38. Malicious types : SERPENTS. If the answer were snakes it would have come easier.

40. Try, as a case : HEAR. The Judge and/or jury "hear" the case.

41. Record : DISC. Hard to get away from the verb.

42. Seer's challenge : EYE TEST. The one examination I have never been able to do well on.

43. Corrected, in a way : EDITED.

45. Prefix with carbon : FLUORO. The  ENEMYof our world? 

48. Running back Haynes, first AFL player of the year : ABNER. On Friday, you do not get Lil, you get this. He is perhaps most famous for winning the toss and choosing to kick off in overtime in the championship game against Houston. LINK.

56. Equinox mo. : SEPtember. The autumnal season of equal day and night.

Wow, we are through already.  I hope you all had a good time and found the visual theme easily. Until then It is Lemonade off into the night.

Thursday April 3, 2014 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Play Ball! - Four blocks of black squares signal first base, second base, third base and home plate. Circled letters spell out BLOOP, STEAL, ERROR, HOMER. 

Revel entry:

32A. With 37-Across, what the circled words (shown in the appropriate direction) are capable of doing : ADVANCING

37A. See 32-Across : THE RUNNER

A few more baseball entries:

6D. Baseball commissioner under whom interleague play became a reality : SELIG (Bud)

25D. Ones getting lots of Bronx cheers : YANKEES. And 58A. 25-Down div. : AL EAST

59D. Mike Trout's team, on scoreboards : LAA. Angels.

C.C. here. No draft from Marti in our blog folder. I'll get the Clue/Answer list up and will fill in more comments later.

Theme involved diagonals is tough to pull off. Don did all the hard work.

Across:

1. Lab shelfful : FLASKS

7. Many a chalet : A-FRAME

13. Nielsen of "Airplane!" : LESLIE

14. Purple Label designer : LAUREN (Ralph). Was this a gimme or tough fill to you?

15. Open, as a fern frond : UNCURL

16. Relieving : EASING

17. Olfactory detection : ODOR

18. Rumor starter : I HEAR

22. Spanish pronoun : ESTA

23. Vintage auto : REO. Never heard of Flivvers you guys talked about yesterday.

24. Ballerina's asset : AGILITY

26. Dress nattily, with "up" : TOG

27. Wrinkle-resistant synthetic : ORLON

29. Alternative to gravel, perhaps : TAR

30. Humiliate : ABASE

35. Poker variety : STUD

36. Golfer Isao : AOKI. Just remember AO is featured in both his given name and surname.

39. Part of a process : PHASE

42. "Bartender, make __ double!" : IT A

43. Tie the knot on the sly : ELOPE

47. LBJ's antipoverty agcy. : OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity). Nose-wrinkling fill. You'll see a few more compromises in this grid.

48. Sierra __ : NEVADAS

51. "Papa-__-Mow-Mow": 1962 novelty hit : OOM

52. Suffix with school : MARM

54. Former "The View" co-host : BEHAR (Joy)

55. Conglomeration : OLIO. Most common subject line in my SENT emails.

56. '30s-'50s British Labour Party leader : ATTLEE. He's back.

60. One on a ladder, to a kitten up a tree : COAXER

61. Property recipient, in law : BAILEE

62. Join up : ENLIST

63. Garden sides : SALADS

Down:

1. Prefix with scope : FLUORO. Not an easy fill for me.

2. Shark, maybe : LENDER

3. Comparable to a cucumber : AS COOL

4. Hurtful remark : SLUR

5. Cocktail with cassis : KIR. Never heard of cassis, French for blackcurrant.

7. Wake-up call, say : ALERT

8. Pilot-licensing org. : FAA

9. Red herring : RUSE

10. __ Nashville: country record label : ARISTA

11. "Stay Fresh" candy : MENTOS. They have a big factory in South China.

12. Mesh, as gears : ENGAGE

19. Tee off : HIT A DRIVE. Hi there Gary!

20. Joie de vivre : ELAN

21. Carrier with a Maple Leaf Lounge : AIR CANADA. Our blog has quite a few Canadian readers. But most of them are quiet.

24. "Here's what happened next ..." : AND THEN

28. Hops driers : OASTS

31. Speakeasy employee : B GIRL

33. Saturn SUV : VUE

34. Physics class topic : ION

38. Bryce Canyon state : UTAH

39. Cider press leftovers : POMACE. Learned from doing xwords.

40. Patricia of "Everybody Loves Raymond" : HEATON

41. Of a blood line : AORTAL

44. "Va-va-voom!" : OO LA LA. I think "Ooh la la" is more common.

45. Self-assured : POISED

46. Gushes on a set : EMOTES

49. His last blog post ended, "I'll see you at the movies" : EBERT (Roger)

50. Most Iraqis : ARABS

53. Mid-11th century year : MLXI (1061). Bad fill. But we could not get anything cleaner here.

55. Eye, at the Louvre : OEIL. Trompe l'oeil.

57. Some RPI alums : EEs. For two of my favorite people on the blog!

C.C.

Wednesday, April 2nd 2014 Doug Peterson and Patti Varol

Theme: Inspired Thinking - Adding a space after "in" creates a two-word phrase from the original singleton.

17A. How poets write? : IN VERSES. This one gave me pause until I remembered "function inverses" in algebra.

21A. How moonshine is made? : IN STILLS. "Pinch" would be a better clue for this blog, eh Tinbeni?

33A. How parts of a whole can be written? : IN FRACTIONS. Math day today.

44A. How a priest preaches? : IN VESTMENTS. Fire, brimstone and what-not.

57A. How kangaroos travel? : IN BOUNDS. Timely March Madness basketball reference.

62A. How some paper is packaged? : IN QUIRES. My favorite, I like to see these old measurements or quantities being kept alive. If our priest above addresses 24 sheets of paper, is he preaching to the quire?

Welcome to Wednesday everyone. Steve here with what looks to be the first collaboration between Doug and Patti and a fun one at that. Six theme entries and no reveal - it's up to us solvers to figure it out. We're only a Z short of a pangram too. Let's see what else we've got.

Across:

1. "That's enough from you!" : SHH

4. City whose tower's construction began in 1173 : PISA. It began tilting during the first phase of construction. Wouldn't you fix it before things got out of hand?

8. Pops out of the cockpit : EJECTS. "Pops" sounds very gentle for a maneuver in which the rocket-propelled seat subjects the occupant to between 14 and 22 gs of force and compression fractures of the vertebrae are not uncommon.

14. Seoul-based automaker : KIA

15. Bulky boats : ARKS. The British Navy's aircraft carrier Ark Royal certainly fits the "bulky" adjective.

16. Hit one's limit, in slang : MAX OUT

19. Like a classic French soup : ONIONY

20. Tree of Knowledge locale : EDEN

23. Quick summary : RUNDOWN

26. Learned : WISE

27. Actress Thurman : UMA. Shown below in "Pulp Fiction" - one of my favorite movies.

28. Bath bathroom : LOO. Understanding that "Bath" refers to the spa city in the west of England is the key to this clue/answer combo.

29. Go to the bottom : SINK

38. Middling grade : CEE

39. "Doctor Who" actress Gillan : KAREN. Crosses all the way for me here. The good Doctor has been waging war against various space aliens since 1963. I used to hide behind the sofa when the Daleks appeared.

Exterminate! Exterminate!

40. Taylor of fashion : ANN

41. Strong glue : EPOXY

43. Lyrical preposition : ERE

47. Electrically flexible : AC/DC. A device that can run on either alternating or direct current.

49. Lyrical preposition : O'ER

50. Feel crummy : AIL

51. World power until 1991: Abbr. : U.S.S.R.

53. Spirits brand with a Peppar variety : ABSOLUT. It's spicy in the chili pepper fashion.

60. Former Cubs slugger : SOSA. Sammy's appearance is appropriate for this week of Opening Days, except that the Dodgers and D-backs had Opening Day in Sydney, Australia last week for no good reason that I can tell.

61. Meadow lows : MOOING. Low is to moo as bleat is to baa. I think.

65. Land on two continents : RUSSIA. Europe and Asia. And a member of the 51A union.

66. Squeaker in Stuttgart : MAUS. The world's most famous rodent is spelt without an "E" in Germany.

67. Big fan : NUT

68. 1987 Beatty flop : ISHTAR. It was a box office flop, but maybe not an outright bomb. Even with estimated losses of $48m, it doesn't crack the top 50 world's worst, which is some consolation for Warren.

69. Freelancer's detail : SPEC

70. Big primate : APE

Down:

1. One going downhill fast : SKIER. "To turn is to admit defeat" - the downhiller's mantra.

2. __ Kush mountains : HINDU. The range dividing Afghanistan from Pakistan.

3. Port in a storm, so to speak : HAVEN

4. Score to shoot for : PAR. A pipe-dream for most golfers for an entire round of 18 holes.

5. Taxing initials : I.R.S. It's that month again.

6. Knitter's coil : SKEIN. Another great word. Some nice stuff today.

7. Part of LPGA: Abbr. : ASSN. The association for lady professional golfers. They don't pipe-dream about par.

8. What the cold-blooded don't feel : EMOTION

9. She performed between Creedence and Sly at Woodstock : JANIS. This song was part of her encore after the main set.

10. Sends away : EXILES

11. Aloof : COOL

12. Napa vessels : TUNS

13. Piggery : STY

18. Last : ENDURE

22. Needs a fainting couch : SWOONS

24. Saudi neighbor : OMANI

25. WWII female : W.A.C. The Women's Army Corps.

28. Hard-hit ball : LINER. Sammy Sosa hammered quite a number of these in his time.

30. Clickable image : ICON

31. Coming up : NEXT

32. Florida __ : KEYS

33. Blue-and-yellow megastore : IKEA

34. Stash finder : NARC. Narcotics.

35. Willard of "Best in Show" : FRED

36. Brewpub : TAVERN. Hmmm. To me, a brewpub is a pub that brews its own beer (like the Gordon Biersch chain). A tavern is a place that serves drink, whether it's made there or not. A minor distinction.

37. Pre-final rounds : SEMIS

42. Speaker between Hastert and Boehner : PELOSI. Nancy is the only woman to have served as Speaker of the House.

45. Coffee order : NO SUGAR. No milk in mine either.

46. Pickup at a 36-Down : TAB. Oh. I was thinking of something else.

48. Picasso, for one : CUBIST

52. Justice Sotomayor : SONIA. Another notable high-ranking female.

53. "Easy-peasy!" : A SNAP

54. Fictional Doone : LORNA. The novel was published in 1869, I guess it's about time I got around to reading it.

55. Go through entirely : USE UP

56. Small bite : TASTE

57. Short notes? : IOUs

58. Small bite : NOSH. Clecho with 56D.

59. Lowers, as lights : DIMS

61. X-ray kin : MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging if we're going to be formal about it.

63. Ont. neighbor : QUE. CanadianEh could probably draw this map with his eyes closed. I needed the atlas though.

64. L.A. campus : U.S.C.

That's about it from me, or as they might say in Toledo - "Es una envoltura".

Steve

 

Tuesday, April 1, 2014 Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

Theme: Graze on This - Where your herd may be.

20A. Collegian's specialty : ACADEMIC FIELD

39A. Retire : PUT OUT TO PASTURE

57A. Kitchen appliance : ELECTRIC RANGE

Rabbit, Rabbit. Argyle here, no fooling. No fooling with the puzzle either. Straightforward with three long theme entries and a preponderance of 4 and 5 letter words. A pleasant start to the month.

Across:

1. Bart's mom : MARGE. Simpson.

6. Pooch in whodunits : ASTA

10. Super-fast fliers, briefly : SSTs

14. Multiple choice options : A, B, OR C

15. Tater : SPUD

16. Poi base : TARO

17. City on Spain's southwestern coast : CADIZ

18. School semester : TERM

19. Some Neruda poems : ODES

23. Take home the trophy : WIN

24. '70s-'80s TV role for Robin Williams : MORK

25. Bawl out : RAIL AT

28. Make illegal : BAN

29. "Love __ Madly": Doors hit : HER

30. Actor Wallach : ELI

31. "I __ sorry" : AM SO

34. TV athletic award : ESPY. Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly(ESPY) Award is presented by the American cable network ESPN.

37. Surgical beam : LASER

42. Practical joke : PRANK. And 41D. Practical joke : ANTIC. Some concession to the day.

43. Prince William's alma mater : ETON

44. Chooses, with "for" : OPTs

45. Escape : LAM

46. Sound system part : AMP

48. Lid for a lad : TAM

50. Rio Grande city : EL PASO

52. City north of Pittsburgh : ERIE

54. Tank or tee : TOP

60. Turn over : CEDE

62. Reagan secretary of state : HAIG. (General Alexander Haig)

63. Megastars : IDOLS. Could this be the last season for "American Idol"?

64. In excess of : OVER

65. Footwear insert : ARCH

66. Former midsize Pontiac named for a native Mexican : AZTEK. Considered 'ugly' in most reviews.

67. Cancún cash : PESO. "Cancún cash", fun to say.

68. Tiff : SPAT

69. Skeptical : LEERY

Down:

1. Colorful parrot : MACAW

2. Counters with beads : ABACI

3. Flying '50s film monster : RODAN. Both Godzilla and Rodan would fight other Monsters, although initially they had their own spats.

4. Graph paper design : GRID

5. Itchy skin inflammation : ECZEMA

6. Up and about : ASTIR

7. Bit of dust : SPECK

8. Gang land : TURF

9. Look up to : ADMIRE

10. Casual vodka order : STOLI. (Stolichnaya)

11. Prepares for the cattle drive : SADDLES UP

12. Three, in Turin : TRE

13. Distress letters : SOS

21. "Water Lilies" painter Claude : MONET. "Water Lilies" is a series of approximately 250 oil paintings.

22. Ranks below marquises : EARLS

26. Fully attentive : ALERT

27. Loses energy : TIRES

28. Timely benefit : BOON

29. Source of a shot : HYPO. (hypodermic needle)

31. Orchard tree : APPLE

32. Work on a wall : MURAL

33. Cattle drive concerns : STAMPEDEs

35. Ladder lead-in : STEP

36. Greenhouse container : POT

38. Physics particle : ATOM

40. Decree in imperial Russia : UKASE. Used once in LAT back in '08, much more often in NYT.

47. Coffeehouse orders : MOCHAs

49. Old reception aid : AERIAL. (antenna) Still in use.

51. Last Olds made : ALERO

52. Writer Jong : ERICA

53. "Correctomundo!" : "RIGHT!"

54. Govt. security : T-NOTE. (Treasury note)

55. One with an unsettling look : OGLER

56. Irritating : PESKY

58. One may be on a woodpile : TARP

59. Wood-shaping tool : ADZE

60. Badge bearer : COP

61. One who succumbed to a serpent : EVE

Argyle

Monday, March 31, 2014 Ed Sessa

Theme: Smudge - What you may have had if you solved these rhymes using paper and pen.

17A. Tennis court official : LINE JUDGE

24A. Harbor long-term resentment : NURSE A GRUDGE

51A. Creamy confection : VANILLA FUDGE

64A. "Stay put!" : "DON'T BUDGE!"

11D. Political commentator with an Internet "Report" : MATT DRUDGE

29D. Push gently : GIVE A NUDGE

Argyle here. I can hardly wait to see what Owen does with this one. At first I thought, "Is that all there is, entries that end in a rhyme" but really, six entries with two crossings on a Monday! What more can I want?

Across:

1. Insect stage : LARVA

6. Sink down in the middle : SAG

9. Heavy haulers : SEMIs

14. Not quite spherical : OVOID

15. Single : ONE

16. Mild-mannered reporter Kent : CLARK

19. Overzealous type : ULTRA

20. Point after deuce : AD IN. Tennis.

21. More narcissistic : VAINER

23. Asian New Year : TET

27. Portuguese explorer Vasco : da GAMA. More.

30. Open court hearing, in law : OYER. (oyer and terminer)

31. News org. : UPI. (United Press International)

32. Construction zone cones : PYLONS

36. Earth-orbiting Gagarin : YURI. First human to make an orbital space flight (1961).

39. Birds that symbolize peace : DOVES

41. Right, vis-à-vis left: Abbr. : OPP.osite

42. Early PC interface : MS DOS

43. Glasses, in ads : SPEX. Adspeak.

44. More than mono : STEREO

46. Workout facility : GYM

47. Water, in Juárez : AGUA

49. Amazingly enough : NO LESS

56. End of a prof's URL : .EDU

57. Type of vegetable oil : CANOLA

58. Yucky muck : GOOP

62. Soup scoop : LADLE. Cute clue.

66. Partner of vim : VIGOR

67. Seventh Greek letter : ETA. (zeta, eta, theta)

68. Love, to Luciano : AMORE. Italian

69. Length-times-width calculations : AREAs

70. Opposite of NNW : SSE

71. Yankee shortstop Jeter who announced he will retire at the end of 2014 : DEREK

Down:

1. Whatever she wants, she gets : LOLA. "Whatever Lola Wants, Lola Gets". From the 1955 musical, "Damn Yankees".

2. Zealous : AVID

3. Rice-A-__ : RONI

4. Capital of Austria : VIENNA

5. Wd. modifying a noun : ADJ.

6. Dr Pepper and Dr. Brown's : SODAs

7. 1973 Rolling Stones ballad : "ANGIE"

8. Davis of "A League of Their Own" : GEENA. Story of a female professional baseball league. (1992) Geena played the part of Dottie Hinson, their catcher.

9. Move like a squirrel : SCURRY

10. Right-angle bend : ELL

12. Discount rack abbr. : IRREG.

13. Glide on ice : SKATE

18. Sunlamp danger, briefly : UV RAY

22. Narcissists have big ones : EGOs

25. Men pocketing baseballs : UMPs

26. Sometimes-illegal turns, for short : UEYs. Aussie slang version.

27. Fizzling firecrackers : DUDs

28. Each : A POP

33. Valet's purview : LOT. The parking valet, not the gentleman's personal valet.

34. Not shut, poetically : OPE

35. "All Things Considered" airer : NPR. Formerly National Public Radio, changed to just NPR, 2010.

37. Rogers and Clark : ROYs. Both in the Country genre.

38. Beliefs : ISMs

40. WWII vet, say : EX GI

42. Synthesizer pioneer : MOOG

44. Room in una casa : SALA. Spanish

45. Conclude by : END AT

48. Stomach ailments : ULCERS

50. Lentil or pea : LEGUME

51. Aqua __: aftershave brand : VELVA

52. Firefighter Red : ADAIR. Famous for snuffing out oil rig fires. The John Wayne movie, "Hellfighters"(1968), was based loosely on the life of Red Adair.

53. South American range : ANDES

54. Pays, as the bill : FOOTS

55. Radii-paralleling bones : ULNAE. (elbow to the wrist)

59. Skunk's defense : ODOR

60. Fairy tale fiend : OGRE

61. Eye on the sly : PEEK. The last of today's alliterations.

63. Hawaii's Mauna __ : LOA

65. Terrible : BAD

If you've got the time, hang on.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

I'd like to share with you a few moving pictures from the Air Force retirement ceremony of Tom, Jazzbumpa's stepson. Jazzbumpa and his wife Gloria drove to Florida and attended the ceremony on March 21, 2014. Please click here for a couple more. Tom was deployed to Afghanistan a few times.

 Entrance of the Color Guard

 Flag presentation

Tom and Beth with Lauren, Josh and Abby

Now on to the next chapter of life