Thursday, May 28, 2015 David Poole

Theme: "Before and After"

Common fabric patterns are combined with common objects to form new items. Hilarity ensues.

17. Digging tool with an abstract pattern? : HOUNDSTOOTH PICK. Houndstooth / Toothpick. I can order my very own customized cake PICK from Zazzle.com.

24. Mathematical array with a spotted pattern? : POLKA DOT MATRIX. Polka dot / Dot matrix. "Spot" on description, since some mathematical arrays do look like POLKA DOTs!

45. Fish with a linear pattern? : PINSTRIPED BASS. Pinstriped / Striped bass. How about this pinstriped bass?

59. Volume with a plaid pattern? : MADRAS CHECK BOOK. I couldn't find a BOOK with a MADRAS CHECK cover. But  Coach makes a MADRAS CHECK CHECKBOOK for only $50.

This seemed awfully easy for a Thursday, with only one snag for me.   I guess the low word count and tricky theme pushes it to late week status. How did it treat you?


Across

1. Help with a heist : ABET.

5. Senate __ : RACE. Hands up for wanting "seat"? (Which led to my boo-boo, erasure, and an extra 15 seconds at 8-Down.)

9. Rascal : SCAMP.

14. First name in fashion : COCO. Immediately followed by a clecho at 15-Across. First name in fashion : OLEG. Needed a couple perps to sort them out.

16. Transmission repair franchise : AAMCO.

20. Wrecks : TRASHES.

21. How a scolding may be given : IRATELY.

22. First and last words of "Green Eggs And Ham" : I AM. Sam...Sam I am.

23. Winter Palace resident : TSAR.

31. Champagne label word : SEC. SEC means "dry" in French. On non-sparkling wines, that indicates just what it implies: they are "dry" and not sweet. But champagne bottles labeled SEC are much sweeter than "Brut" champagnes. Go figure.

32. Olympic hawk : ARES.

33. Reunion attendee : NIECE.

34. 3-Down is in it : OPEC. And 3-Down. Besides Chile, the only S.A. country that doesn't border Brazil : ECUA.dor

36. Arafat of the PLO : YASIR.

39. Broadway feature : NEON.

40. Carne __ : ASADA. "Grilled meat" in Spanish.

42. Pupil's place : UVEA. Not desk, haha!

44. Letters from your parents? : DNA. Good one.

49. Snaps : PICS. Here's a couple PICS of our new deck.

This is the water feature in our moss garden:

We have to wait a few months before staining it, right, Splynter?

50. Much : FAR. "It is a far, far better thing that I do..."

51. College milieu : ACADEME. Pronounced AK-uh-deem.

55. Ghoulish : MACABRE. Nice fill.

61. Son of Abraham : ISAAC.

62. Top : ACME.

63. Run without moving : IDLE.

64. "Married to the Mob" director : DEMME. My one entry that relied totally on perps. He also directed "Silence of the Lambs."

65. Appealed : PLED.

66. Some votes : AYES.


Down

1. Twice vier : ACHT. German "four" and "eight."

2. Lout : BOOR.

4. Neck tissue : TONSIL.

5. Italian cuisine herb : ROSEMARY. This year I expanded my herb garden to include sage and basil, along with rosemary, thyme, chives, dill, cilantro, parsley, tarragon and oregano.

6. Cockpit figs. : ALTS. ALTitudes.

7. Satya Nadella of Microsoft, e.g. : CEO. This guy.

8. Self-seeker : EGOIST. I thought "taoist" at first!

9. Like nearly one-third of Africa : SAHARAN.

10. Kirk or Picard: Abbr. : CAPT.ain

11. Brest friend : AMIE. HarHar. I guess clueing it as "Brest" indicates that we are looking for the feminine noun?

12. Year in which Frederick II died : MCCL. Sure, I knew that...

13. Snail-paced : POKY.

18. Bangladesh capital : DHAKA.

19. Streetcar relative : TRAM.

23. Hard-to-call contests : TOSSUPS.

24. It was originally named Brad's Drink : PEPSI.

25. Indian __ : OCEAN.

26. Bust gp. : DEA. Drug Enforcement Agency.

27. Bronze component : TIN.beni?

28. Orchestra section : REEDS.

29. Madonna and Lady Gaga : ICONS.

30. Gabrielle's friend : XENA. From the series "Xena: Warrier Princess." I always wanted to write a song about her: "I'll be XENA in all the old familiar places..."

31. Hotel freebie : SOAP. If they didn't have such strong fragrances, I might be tempted to take some home!

35. Collection to burn : CDs.

37. "Now __ seen everything!" : I'VE.

38. Embarrassed : REDFACED. (Oops! I saw too much!)

41. Tranquil : AT PEACE.

43. One way to be taken : ABACK.

46. What some eyeglasses lack : RIMS.

47. Polar concern : ICE CAP.

48. Oil-rich peninsula : ARABIA.

51. Within : AMID.

52. One taken to court : CASE.

53. Leading man? : ADAM.

54. Eighth of a fluid ounce : DRAM.

55. Fast-spreading Internet phenomenon : MEME. This has to be one of my favorites.

56. Murder mystery staple : BODY.

57. Something to cast : ROLE.

58. Laboriously earns, with "out" : EKES.

60. Stomach acid, to a chemist : HCL. Hydrochloric acid.


Marti, out!

Wednesday, May 27, 2015 Robyn Weintraub

Theme: INSANE OCTETS.  The theme answers have circles - or at least they should - so that's usually a sign that the theme includes an anagram concept.   This is definitely not my forte, but I sussed it pretty easily.  Lets check it out

17 A. Oscar-nominated song from "The Little Mermaid" : KISS THE GIRL.  Just don't get slapped.

26. Tie the knot : GET HITCHED.  GET MARRIED also fits, but the slangy answer is more appropriate to the clue

33. Jewelry alloy : WHITE GOLD.  Per Wikipedia, "an alloy of gold and at least one white metal, usually nickel, manganese or palladium. In order to make the gold white, it is combined with metal alloys that are white in nature and plated with an extremely hard element called rhodium."

43. Alertly eager : BRIGHT EYED.    Evidently, this phrase goes back to the late 1500's, but that's all I was able to uncover.  However, FWIW, there is this --

There is no obvious common thread here, so if you didn't get the circles, you were probably pretty puzzled by the puzzle.  So, here is the unifier.  53 A. Card game that literally explains this puzzle's circles : CRAZY EIGHTS.  "CRAZY" is one of many possible indicators that the letters of the key word "EIGHT" have been mixed up, scrambled or confused, i.e anagrammed.  The letters, contained in circles if you're lucky, in each case are split across two words.  There are 120 permutations of the 5 letters in the word EIGHT, so the puzzle could only give us a small sampling of the possibilities. Very nicely done, I'd say.

CRAZY EIGHTS is a pretty simple game that I must have played at some time in my 'ute.  You can read about it here.  When I did, it occurred to me that UNO is an elaborated derivative of this game.

Suitable for young children

Hi gang, Crazy ZabaJzump here.  Nice puzzle, well executed theme.  Let's see if we can get through it without any further mix ups.

Across

1. Passé movie rental need : VCR.  Video Cassette Recorder.

4. Defeat decisively : STOMP.

9. Fixtures that may have claw feet : TUBS.   

The one I remember from my early 'ute was not this elegant

13. "__ you in or out?" : ARE.

14. On top of things : AWARE.

15. Blazing stars : NOVAE.  All stars are blazing.  These are the REALLY hot ones.

16. Word in four state names : NEW.   Hampshire, Jersey, Mexico, and York.

19. Rose __ : GARDEN.   White House feature

Tulips?

21. Steve Martin film based on "Cyrano de Bergerac" : ROXANNE.

22. Melville novel : OMOO.  Easily the most popular novel in X-words.  Has anyone read it in the last 100 years?

23. Circus prop : STILT.  

As if clowns weren't scary enough

25. Friend of Wyatt : DOC.  Earp and Holliday, famous for participating in the gun fight down the street a piece from the OK Corral.

 He probably Earped

29. Fixed (on) : BENT.  Firm and determend in purpose or belief.

30. Charlemagne's domain: Abbr. : Holy Roman Empire.

31. Peaty land : MOOR.  Acidic soil where plants die faster than they can decompose.

32. __-Coburg, Bavaria : SAXE.   A Duchy from the 14th Century in what is now Bavaria.

36. "Toodles!" : CIAO.  B'bye.

38. City NNE of Austin : WACO.   Never a good thing when it's in the news.

39. Managed care gp. : Health Maintenance Organization.  Note abrv.

42. Half of a Billy Idol #1 song : MONY.   Better than half a fly, I suppose.  Anyway, it's a cover.  Here's the real thing, from 1968.

46. Gardner of film : AVA.  She had many roles from the 40's through the 70's and was married to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra.

Artful Dame

47. Debt securities : LIENS.  The way this is phrased makes me think of bonds.  A LIEN is a legal encumbrance on a property, which is a form of security interest.   Details differ from country to country.

48. Invasion time : D-DAY.  On June 6, 1944, the allied forces invaded Normandy, a very complicated operation.

49. Tries to reach again, old-style : REDIALS.   Old time phone calls.

51. Rejects : SPURNS.

56. Super Bowl highlights : ADS.   'Cuz the game itself is often lousy.

57. Anise-flavored liqueurs : OUZOS.   Greek fire water.

58. "Toodles!" : SEE YA.  A chlecho, but I don't believe I've ever heard anybody say "Toodles."

59. Originally named : NEE.   Generally used in the context of a bride's maiden name.

60. Flew : SPED.   Look at the time.   I must be having fun.

61. Article of faith : TENET.   Do those of lesser faith only have ninets?

62. Audition, with "out" : TRY.  Competition for roles.

Down

1. "The Starry Night" painter : VAN GOGH.  Vincent.

2. Morning pitcher : CREAMER.  Presumably holding cream for that all-important cup of coffee.  I take mine solo.

3. Did over, as a manuscript : REWROTE.  Writing is rewriting.

4. Japanese libation : SAKE.  An alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice.  Sometimes thought of as either a wine or a beer, but is neither.

5. Mattress size : TWIN.  

6. Defense gp. since 1948 : Organization of American States, founded in 1948.

7. Dash of flavor? : MRS.    Cute

It's a matter of taste

8. Van Dyke role : PETRIE.   Rob, with wife Laura

Wasn't she a dish

9. Forum garb : TOGA.

Funny thing about that

10. Measure discussed on the EPA's SunWise web page : UV INDEX. It predicts the level of solar UV radiation and  indicates the risk of overexposure on a scale from 0 (low) to 11 or more (extremely high).

11. Including everything : BAR NONE.

12. Choose : SELECT.

15. "Wait till __ year!" : NEXT.   Losing sports team's cry of anguish and hope.

18. Clutch : HOLD.

20. Word from Homer : D'OH.

23. Glasgow native : SCOT.  From a city in Scotland.

24. Included free : THREW IN.  Has anyone ever included a free towel for you?

27. Texter's "Here's what I think" : In My Humble Opinion.

28. Paris pronoun : TOI.  Sure.  Whatever.

29. Rancid : BAD.  Food going bad, not misbehaving.   I think.

Then, again  .  .  .

32. Hotel keycard opening : SLOT.  Keyholes are passé.

33. Route : WAY.

34. Comedy material : GAGS.

35. 23-Down's "Golly!" : OCH.  Scottish vernacular.

36. Watergate subterfuge : COVERUP.  Sometimes worse than the actual crime.

37. Not lucid : IN A DAZE.

39. Curbside water source : HYDRANT.  For putting out house fires.

40. Wind, as a country road : MEANDER.   

Take the long way home

41. Post-Trojan War epic : ODYSSEY.   The story of Odyssius taking the long way home.

42. Former Philippine president : MARCOS.  Ferdinand, a corrupt and brutal dictator.

43. Ill humor : BILE.

44. Fight temptation : RESIST.  I misread this a "flight temptation" and was mightily confused.  Anyway, always let your conscience be your guide.

45. University URL suffix : EDU. Representing EDUcation.

47. Sets down : LAYS.  Not lies - that would be untrue.

50. Name on a sport shirt label : IZOD.  Actually, they make all sorts of apparel.

This symbol magically magnifies the value price of whatever it's attached to

51. Eye trouble : STYE. An infected abscess near the edge of the eyelid.

52. H.S. exam : PSAT. Pre-SAT.  Preparation for the SAT, which is a college admission test with no record of predicting success in college.  IMHO, all standardized tests are scams.

54. "Golly!" : GEE.

55. Egg source : HEN. Yeah - but which one came first?

There it is folks, a nice puzzle from start to finish.  I'm not mixed up any more, but I am still crazy.

Cool regards!
ZbJ

Tuesday, May 26, 2015 Gareth Bain

Theme: Redundancies - Redundancies.

17A. Cash source, redundantly : ATM MACHINE. (automatic teller machine)

28A. 17-Across access code, redundantly : PIN NUMBER. (personal identification number)

38A. College entrance exam, redundantly : SAT TEST. (Originally, Scholastic Aptitude Test)

47A. Adobe file spec, redundantly : PDF FORMAT. (portable document format)

63A. PC linking system, redundantly : LAN NETWORK. (local area network)

Argyle here. This should make some Cornerites happy. They have complained about some of these redundancies before. I felt the fill was the right step-up in crunchiness from yesterday.

Across:

1. "Shake a leg!" : C'MON

5. Deprive of one's nerve : UNMAN

10. __ noire: dreaded thing : BÊTE

14. Sharpen : HONE

15. Herman's Hermits frontman Peter : NOONE

16. Skip over : OMIT

19. Gull relative : TERN

20. Sweet-talk : WHEEDLE

21. Ethiopia neighbor : ERITREA

23. Refine, as ore : SMELT

25. Flirtatiously shy : COY Miss Piggy 7D. "Little ol' me?" : "MOI?"

26. Half of sechs : DREI. German 6/3

33. Speaks too well of oneself : BOASTS

35. Sign before Virgo : LEO

36. Spanish explorer Hernando de __ : SOTO

37. Compact submachine gun : UZI

41. "I thought so!" : "A-HA!"

42. Tennis great Lacoste : RENÉ. Jean René Lacoste was a French tennis player and businessman. He was nicknamed "the Crocodile" by fans because of his tenacity on the court; he is also known worldwide as the creator of the Lacoste tennis shirt, which he introduced in 1929.~ Wikipedia

44. Apt. coolers : ACs

45. Large __ Collider: particle accelerator : HADRON. Brief background from Wiki.

50. Empties (of) : RIDS

51. Frequently, in poems : OFT

52. Drivel : TRIPE

54. Dickens miser : SCROOGE

58. Gracious : AMIABLE

62. Berth place : PIER. For the berthing of boats.

65. Los Angeles-to-Phoenix direction : EAST

66. Novelist Jong : ERICA

67. Lip balm additive : ALOE

68. Things to connect : DOTS

69. First name in TV talk : ELLEN DeGeneres

70. Longings : YENS

Down:

1. Wad of tobacco : CHAW

2. Clothes closet pest : MOTH

3. "You can count __" : ON ME

4. Luthor and Zod, to Superman : NEMESES. Individually, each is a nemesis.

5. Ben or Sam : UNCLE

6. Like vague hints, usually : NO HELP

8. Author Rice : ANNE. No relation to Uncle Ben's Rice.

9. __-do-well : NE'ER

10. Bell-__: flared pants : BOTTOMS

11. Manicurist's buffer : EMERY BOARD

12. Run out of gas : TIRE

13. Sicilian volcano : ETNA

18. Opens the door to : ADMITS

22. Post-op setting : ICU

24. Attacks, knight-style : TILTS AT

26. Slept for a bit : DOZED

27. Amazonian ecosystem : RAIN FOREST

29. Alumna bio word : NÉE

30. Small snack : NOSH

31. Cultural values of a group : ETHOS

32. Colorful horse : ROAN. Did anybody ride a roan on the Ponderosa?

33. Tupperware sound : BURP

34. German coal region : SAAR

39. Film buff's sta. : TCM

40. Mammoth-preserving locale : TAR PIT. La Brea Tar Pits, bonus entry.

43. Serious attempts : EFFORTS

46. Wane : DIE AWAY

48. Oklahoma native : OTO or Otoe.

49. Hypnotic state : TRANCE

53. "In other words ..." : "I MEAN ..."

54. Risked a ticket : SPED

55. Florentine farewell : CIAO. Italian “hello, goodbye”.

56. TV musical comedy that ended in 2015 : "GLEE"

57. British peer : EARL

59. Tree trunk : BOLE

60. Dianetics creator __ Hubbard : L. RON. Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the metaphysical relationship between the mind and body which was created by L. Ron Hubbard and is practiced by followers of Scientology and separate independent Dianeticist groups.~ Wikipedia

61. Endures hardship to make, with "out" : EKEs

64. Zero, in soccer : NIL

I'd like to thank Wikipedia for their help in writing this piece.

Argyle

Monday, May 25, 2015 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Apt - Memorials for Memorial Day.

17A. *Cause championed by Martin Luther King, Jr. : CIVIL RIGHTS. Montgomery, Alabama

26A. *Military branch : AIR FORCE. Arlington, VA

51A. *Five-sided figure : PENTAGON. Southwest side of The Pentagon.

18D. *Bearded Mount Rushmore president : LINCOLN. Western end of the National Mall

35D. *Iconic WWII flag-raising island : IWO JIMA. Arlington National Cemetery

United States Marine Corps War Memorial

61A. Late-May observance, whose first word can follow each answer to a starred clue : MEMORIAL DAY

Argyle here. Moment of silence at 3:00 pm local time. A unique grid from C.C. today. A fitting tribute.

Across:

1. Barn birds : OWLS

5. "A Fish Called __":1988 Cleese film : WANDA

10. Jordan Spieth's org. : PGA. (Professional Golfers' Association) Spieth won his first major at the Masters in 2015.

13. Hair-removal brand : NAIR

14. Olympics chant : "USA! USA!"

16. Onassis nickname : ARI

19. Nintendo's Super __ : NES. (Nintendo Entertainment System)

20. Somme summer : ÉTÉ

21. "Love __ Open Door": "Frozen" duet : IS AN. If you want a listen...Link.

22. Paris tower designer : EIFFEL

24. "I __ noticed" : HADN'T

28. Archaeological artifact : RELIC

29. Cold War CIA foe : KGB. (Комите́т госуда́рственной безопа́сности)

30. Assents at sea : AYEs

31. Capital of Libya : TRIPOLI

33. Morally bad : EVIL

36. "Catch my drift?" : "SEE?"

37. On the __: escaping : LAM

38. Like steak tartare : RAW

39. Unused : NEW

42. Reverse, as a computer operation : UNDO

43. Newman song played after a Dodgers home victory : "I LOVE LA"

45. Pass up : SKIP

48. Long or Peeples : NIA. Actresses.

50. "The Grapes of Wrath" family : JOADs

54. Mottled mount : PINTO. What Little Joe used to ride.

55. Sign up : ENROLL

56. Old MacDonald's place : FARM

58. Seething state : IRE

60. Brian of ambient music : ENO. Crossword staple.

64. Org. with narcs : DEA. (Drug Enforcement Administration)

65. Buffalo NHL team : SABRES

66. "__ Dinah": Frankie Avalon hit : DEDE

67. Moth-eaten : OLD

68. Papas' partners : MAMAS

69. Vietnam neighbor : LAOS

Down:

1. __ in a blue moon : ONCE

2. "Don't move until I get back" : "WAIT HERE". (but they never do.)

3. Be habitually dishonest : LIVE A LIE

4. __ Lanka : SRI

5. German sausage : WURST

6. Japan's locale : ASIA

7. Words from a beleaguered spouse : "NAG, NAG". Ladies, your husbands will get the job done. You don't need to remind him every six months.

8. "Boy, am I dumb!" : "DUH!"

9. Daisylike flower : ASTER

10. Cook in a skillet : PAN FRY

11. Plato's country : GREECE

12. Theater walkways : AISLEs

15. "Yeah, right!" : "AS IF!"

23. Stable baby : FOAL

25. Guacamole, e.g. : DIP

27. Spain and Portugal : IBERIA

28. NFL linemen : RTs. (right tackle)

29. Japanese robe : KIMONO

32. Young fellow : LAD

34. Actor Kilmer : VAL

39. "Clever thought!" : "NEAT IDEA!"

40. Legendary city of gold : EL DORADO. Home to “The Woman in Gold"?

41. "What __ I thinking?" : WAS

42. At most : UPTO

44. Maria __ Trapp : VON. "Sound of Music" fame.

45. Skimpy swimwear brand : SPEEDO

46. Hound hotel : KENNEL

47. Damaging encroachment : INROAD

49. Break the news to : INFORM

52. Charitable gift : ALMS

53. Sparkle : GLEAM

54. Overly proper type : PRISS. Yes, I tried PRUDE first.

57. Pi r squared, for a circle : AREA

59. Baby blues : EYES

62. CEO's degree : MBA. (Master of Business Administration)

63. "Bad" cholesterol letters : LDL. (low-density lipoprotein)

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Big Easy sent me this picture last night. He said:

"Granddaughters Jenna and Kelsey with TOBY KEITH and Jason Aldean today at the Bayou Country Superfest held in Tiger Stadium.  How they got to get a picture with those two is baffling."