Monday October 26, 2015 Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

Theme: So Bright I have To Wear Shades

20A. Carbonated beverage : SPARKLING WATER

25A. Bright, photogenic grin : DAZZLING SMILE

41A. Excellent year-end review, say : GLOWING REPORT

47A. Epitome : SHINING EXAMPLE

Argyle here. A very pleasant start to the week.

Across:

1. Singapore's continent : ASIA

5. Arches National Park state : UTAH

9. Spread out, as one's fingers : SPLAY

14. Amorphous mass : BLOB

15. By way of, briefly : THRU

16. Leave no doubt about : PROVE

17. Name as a source : CITE

18. Club often used for chipping : IRON

19. Procedures to learn, informally, with "the" : ROPES

23. Track section : RAIL

24. Assent to a captain : AYE

31. Boat not to rock : CANOE

32. Miler Sebastian : COE. It's Lord Coe now, British politician.

33. Grazing area : LEA

34. Charged toward : RAN TO

35. Fairy tale home builder : PIG. One of three.

36. Note equivalent to E : F FLAT

38. Catering dispenser : URN

39. Galoot : APE

40. Online finance company : E-LOAN

45. Tiny farm denizen : ANT

46. Ripped up : TORE

54. Italian violin maker : AMATI. Not just violins.

55. Cross inscription : INRI. Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum (Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews)

56. Bar from a dairy case : OLEO

57. Slow-witted one : MORON

58. Walking stick : CANE

59. Actor Penn of "Mystic River" : SEAN. In 2015, Penn starred in The Gunman, a French-American action thriller.

60. Getting on in years : AGING

61. Fleecy farm females : EWEs Now that's some alliteration.

62. Repertoire requirement for a military bugler : TAPS

Down:

1. Preschool lessons : ABC's

2. Lose traction : SLIP

3. Greek "i" : IOTA

4. Deviating from the norm : ABERRANT. 50¢

5. Employ : UTILIZE

6. Roller coaster excitement : THRILL

7. Elvis __ Presley : ARON

8. Suspended on the wall : HUNG

9. Wets with a hose : SPRAYS

10. President __: Senate bigwig : PRO TEM

11. More than trot : LOPE

12. State firmly : AVER

13. "You bet!" : "YES!"

21. Hummed-into instrument : KAZOO

22. "Living" compensation : WAGE

25. "Hawaii Five-O" nickname : DANNO

26. More standoffish : ICIER

27. Spiked yuletide beverage : NOG

28. __ ease: anxious : ILL AT

29. Tilt to one side : LEAN

30. Have a bite : EAT

31. Astronomer Sagan : CARL

34. Persian on the living room floor : RUG

35. NBA scoring stat : PPG. (Points Per Game)

36. Horticulturist's study : FLORA

37. First and __: most important : FOREMOST

39. Objector : ANTI

40. Model kit glues : EPOXIES

42. Serve, as diner patrons : WAIT ON

43. Baseball game ninth : INNING. But it may only be half an inning.

44. Without end, in poetry : ETERNE

47. Skyline haze : SMOG

48. Big name in spydom : HARI. Mata Hari.

49. "__ going!": "Good job!" : NICE

50. Work on a bone : GNAW

51. Intense request : PLEA

52. Jump : LEAP

53. Very long time : EONS

54. Org. with many specialists : AMA. (American Medical Association)

Argyle

Sunday Oct 25, 2015 Mike Peluso

Theme: "Now You See It ..." - C is removed from each theme answer.

22A. Coleridge love poem? : RIME OF PASSION. Crime of passion.

34A. Knight's comment when he was mistakenly put in the corner? : I'M NOT A ROOK. I'm not a crook. Nixon.

49A. King of the sea? : LEAR SAILING. Clear sailing. Does this answer sound a bit stretched to you?

68A. North African hops drier? : BARBARY OAST. Barbary Coast.

85A. Citrus high? : ORANGE RUSH. Orange Crush. I grokked the theme gimmick here.

102A. Encouraging simian? : APE OF GOOD HOPE. Cape of Good Hope.

2D. Backtalk in the Everglades? : ALLIGATOR LIP. Alligator clip. New term to me.

 

55D. John and Peter's woodwind? : APOSTLES' REED. Apostles' Creed.

Look, no stray C 's in the theme answers. You know Mike put extra effort in getting us this tight set. Three deletions occur at the first words, five the last words,  but all removed C's are consistently the starts of the key words. Pure letter deletion, no spelling changes involved.

Most of our Sunday grids have 144-words. This one only has 140, with four intimidating corners. Even with cheaters in four corners, those space are very hard to fill cleanly. I'd have chickened out and broken 20D/74D into two.

Across:

1. Varnish resin : MASTIC. New word to me.

7. Online cash-back deal : E-BATE. Never got an e-bate. You? I seldom shop on line.

12. God for whom Wednesday was named : WODEN. I forgot. We had this a while ago.

17. Peru's El Misti, e.g. : VOLCANO. Got via crosses. And 74. 17-Across output : ASH

18. Submit servilely : GROVEL

19. Sounded alike : RHYMED

21. Not kosher : ILLEGAL. I was thinking of TREF.

24. Problems for parades : RAINS

25. Nerds : DWEEBS

27. Quick way to reduce fat? : LIPO. Thought DIET first.

28. N.Y. engineering sch. : RPI. Why did you quit after one year, Splynter?

29. Yen : URGE

30. Form : SHAPE

 

31. NFL great Brown and meteorologist Cantore : JIMs

32. Bern's river : AARE

33. Fed. benefits agency : SSA

 

37. Words after lost or missed : A STEP

38. Hardly laid-back : TYPE A

40. La Corse, par exemple : ILE. La Corse is French for Corsica.

 

41. Early ascetic : ESSENE. Nailed it.

42. "Ain't gonna happen!" : NO SOAP

43. Serious oil problem : SPILL

46. To's partner : FRO

47. Sun. delivery : SER

48. Sides in a Wells—or Welles—war : WORLDS. The War of the Worlds. Orson Welles. H. G. Wells. We also have 77. 1938 broadcaster of Welles radio dramas : CBS

52. Workers' gp. in a 1955 merger : AFL

53. Step : PHASE

54. Easy chore : CAKEWALK

58. Welcoming rings : LEIS. So happy that they're now married.

60. Actor Kinski : KLAUS. Crossing 60. Pink Nintendo icon : KIRBY. The crossing K is knotty. I'd go with this KIRBY, of course!

 61. Sporty Nissans : Z-CARS. Not into sports cars, so draw a blank on this entry.

63. Lodge letters : BPOE

64. Sheriff's assistants : DEPUTIES

66. Sierra __ : LEONE

67. Charity's URL ending : ORG

71. Equilibrium : STASIS

78. "Jersey Boys" role : VALLI

79. Bikini blasts, briefly : N-TESTS

80. Like some protein drinks : CHALKY. All crosses. Never had protein drinks.

82. Vocalized "Psst!" : HEY

83. Ford flop : EDSEL

84. Maguire of "Spider-Man" : TOBEY

90. Waffle center? : EFS. Waffle.

93. Permeate : SOAK. Tried SEEP first.

94. Alternatives to fries : TOTS. I call them full name "Tater tots". You?

96. Ripley's closing words : OR NOT

97. GM sticker datum : MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price).

98. RR stop : STN

99. Celestial sci. : ASTR

100. Little burger : SLIDER

101. Natalie's "West Side Story" role : MARIA

105. How gazelles bound : AGILELY

107. "Dang!" : DARN IT. Same root, no?

108. Put out : DOUSED

109. Mistletoe may hang from them : LINTELS. Also a learning moment to me. The empty spot is called LINTEL?

110. Original environment : ROOTS

111. Energetic mount : STEED

112. Reliable : STEADY

 

Down:

1. Canine cousins : MOLARS. I"m seeing the periodontist on Nov 24. My poor teeth!

3. Crime __ : SCENE

4. Facebook links : TAGS. Photo tagging. I don't associate tags with "links".  They actually are. 

5. Like Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 : IN A. Put in IN?, then waited.

6. Winter time : COLD SNAP

7. Port NE of Canton, OH : ERIE PA

8. B-47, for one : BOMBER

9. Madison et al.: Abbr. : AVEs

10. Racer Fabi : TEO. This has become a gimme.

11. Diminutive : ELFLIKE

12. Deli offerings : WRAPS

13. Very : OH SO. Tricky little words.

14. Start to function? : DYS. Dysfunction.

15. Dubai-based airline : EMIRATES. The answer filled itself.

16. Synthetic used to insulate wet suits : NEOPRENE. Fashion world's new fabric darling.

17. Bug : VIRUS

18. Awe-inspiring : GREAT

20. Kiev's river : DNIEPER. Totally stranger.

23. Absent-minded Milne title character : PIM. Mr. Pim.

26. Immortal first baseman : WHO. "Who's on First?".  I loved this clue so much that I shouted at Boomer who was watching TV downstairs:

Me: Lao Gong, the clue is "Immortal first baseman", three-letter answer,  who's the guy?

Boomer: OTT.

Me: Who?

Boomer: OTT, O-T-T...

31. La __: San Diego resort area : JOLLA

32. Intractable beast : ASS

34. Apple product : IPOD.  The only Apple stuff I have.  

35. Ft. or in. : MEAS (Measurement)

36. Essential __ : OILS

37. In unison : AS ONE

39. Haute couture monogram : YSL

41. Composer Satie et al. : ERIKS. Et this Erik.

Erik Agard

42. Free, as a checking account : NO FEE

43. Hall of Fame linebacker Junior : SEAU

 44. Mountain route : PASS

45. Where Gubbeen Cheese is made: Abbr. : IRE. Never heard of the cheese. I had I?? and figured it might be Italian.

46. Highway warning : FLARE

48. Saxony woodland : WALD. German for "wood". New to me also.

49. High capital : LHASA

50. Risky boot camp response : I CAN'T

51. BHO's predecessor : GWB. Oh, hello, I drew a blank on your initials.

53. Common people : PLEBS

56. Nocturnal Indian primate : LORIS. Oh, hello, I don't know your name.

57. Powder holders : KEGS

59. Hero : SUB

61. Ardor : ZEAL

62. Mozart's "__ fan tutte" : COSI

65. Like paint when it's nearly dry : TACKY. Had STICKY first.

66. Texter's guffaw : LOL

69. KOA users : RVers

70. Sisterhood name in a Rebecca Wells novel : YA-YA

71. Regs. : STDs

72. Radio host John : TESH

73. Enzyme ending : ASE

74. Mopes : ACTS SAD

75. What duffers don't expect to do : SHOOT PAR. True for me.

76. Hot, hot pepper : HABANERO. You'll lose your mind eating these peppers.

79. Gray and tan : NEUTRALS

81. Coin in Tirana : LEK

82. Souped-up cars : HOT RODS

86. Like an ideal negotiation : NO-LOSE

87. Complained : GRIPED

88. Done : ENDED

89. Sturgeon delicacy : ROE

91. Ruffled : FRILLY

92. Renders unproductive? : SPAYS. Nailed it.

94. Some NCOs : TSGTS (Technical Sergeants). SSGTS fit the clue also. So you have to wait.

95. Plains tribe : OTO

97. European island nation : MALTA

99. Have __: lose it : A FIT

100. "Adventures in Babysitting" co-star : SHUE. Again, the answer filled in itself.

101. Cry under a pop-up : MINE

103. Plastic __ Band : ONO

104. Ellipsis element : DOT

106. "Scram, ya varmint!" : GIT

 

So I finally got my enhanced ID yesterday. It looks the same as my last driver's license, but with an American flag to the right of Class D. I needed birth certificate, my citizenship papers and some tax return stuff. All forms have to be original.

Boomer is still waiting for his, after several visits to the place. He lost his SSN card some time ago, and just did not have the correct document.

Do you have enhanced IDs in your state?

C.C.

Saturday, Oct 24th, 2015, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 72  (pangram~!)

Blocks: 28

 Still recovering from last week's brutal offering, so I was very happy to see a Saturday Silkie today.  Not that it was any walk in the park, but I did manage to finish in my personal allotted time, tho I have to admit to one Google cheat, and several "type"-overs.  Still, it was very satisfying to get thru a puzzle without feeling totally beaten up.  Triple 10-letter across corners, triple 8-letter down corners, and a bunch of 7-letter fill, too.  

17. Threading tool : SCREW PLATE

37. Aptly named sleep aid : ZzzQUIL - I started with NyQuil, which was too short, so I Googled to see what their 'other' drug was; I loved taking NyQuil, but I'm "not allowed to" anymore

60. Sawdust producer : BELT SANDER - I found this, and thought it was pretty funny - and hey~!  oooh~!  I did not know they had races~!!!

  NWAR~!

(O--------D)

ACROSS:

1. Mystery novel cover-up? : DUST JACKET - the "?" gave it away - but I started with BOOK jacket for some reason

11. Window component : JAMB - ugh, like there's just one 4-letter window part; sash, sill, stop, rail, trim, lock, head....

15. Bad way to leave someone : IN THE LURCH

16. Harpsichordist Kipnis : IGOR - half perps, half WAG

18. Ax : FIRE - I figured it was the verb and not the noun

19. Gets really high : SOARS

20. Reverent : PIOUS

22. Sum (up) : TOT - this is more prevalent in British circles

23. Tahari of fashion : ELIE - I knew this name (and it was a background feature in a Law & Order episode)

24. Slurred pronoun : DAT - "who dat~?!"

25. Game invented at Harrow School around 1830 : SQUASH - and a cross-referenced 57. 25-Across starter : SERVE - my new house-mate Garry plays a game called "pickleball", which is tennis played on a smaller court with a wiffleball - it looks really fun, and you get more volleys going

27. Grandchild of Japanese immigrants : SANSEI - started with NISSEI, and that was enough to work from

29. Amble : SAUNTER - she has permission to saunter thru my new front door

30. Its website includes a Headache Center : ANACIN - Aleve and Advil were just too short; took a while to recall this brand name

33. Mr. Rochester's ward : ADELE - no clue; all perps - from Jane Eyre

34. John of England : LOO - the porcelain perch

39. Case, for example: Abbr. : SYNonym - case = example

40. "No way!" : IXNAY - Pig Latin; the "rules" are here

42. Comparable in quality : AS GOOD

44. Where the Irrawaddy flows : MYANMAR - again, no clue, but once I got "--MAR"....

46. High pitch : TREBLE

50. Netherlands river : AMSTEL

51. "V for Vendetta" actor : REA

53. Blow : TOOT - were you thinking horn, or 'nose candy'~!?

54. Professional runner : POLitician

55. Place to see a hit : SIDE A - music hit, that is

58. Proof word : ERAT - part of "Q.E.D"

62. First name in gossip : RONA - Barrett - her Wiki

63. Musician with the autobiography "My First 79 Years" : ISAAC STERN - I don't know how I knew this, but I got it after just a few crossings

64. "Once more __ the breach": Shak. : UNTO

65. Hunch source : SIXTH SENSE - great movie, too

DOWN:

1. Bad-mouths : DISSES

2. Beverage nickname introduced in 1967 : UNCOLA - 7-up; I liked their more recent promotion

3. Filter : STRAIN

4. Television personality Caputo : THERESA - all but the "A" were perps

5. Yeshiva students : JEWS

6. Sight from the Brenner Pass : ALP - WAG

7. Apology ender : CULPA - mea for starters

8. Venomous Asian snake : KRAIT - for those who are ophidiophobes, I will not post a picture, but offer a link instead

9. Prefix with plasm : ECTO - this made last week's puzzle, too

10. Springsteen's birthplace? : THE USA - sorry, not a big fan of the song, but here's one I do like

The Rising

11. Peter Pan rival : JIF - peanut butters

12. Shakes up : AGITATES

13. In a sullen manner : MOROSELY

14. Fellow members : BRETHREN - nice group of $2 words in this corner

21. Filth : SQUALOR

24. Seven-term Mexican president Porfirio __ : DIAZ - 50% perps, the rest seemed logical

26. Hamburger's link : UND - German "and"

28. Food processors : ENZYMES

29. New Orleans jazz club __ Harbor : SNUG - their website

31. Industry authority : CZAR

32. Brightness measures : IQs - intelligence brightness - I was stuck on lumens for awhile

34. Planned 2019 Pan American Games host : LIMA, PERU - I was reluctant to put UNTO" in at 64a. because of the "U", but then it made sense

35. Open secret, e.g. : OXYMORON - here's a really funny webpage; I consider traffic to be a one word oxymoron; by definition, it's "driving, stopped"

36. Inclined : ON A SLANT

38. Shred : IOTA - dah~! not TEAR

41. Social worker? : ANT

43. Thaw : DETENTE - not DEFROST, but it was enough to get started in this corner

45. Outs : ALIBIS

47. Dairy giant : BORDEN

48. Flames : LOVERS

49. Timeless, in verse : ETERNE

51. Chill : RELAX - ah, the "hip" definition

52. Bother : EAT AT

56. '50s sitcom name : DESI

57. Challenge for a babysitter : SASS

59. Eastern ideal : TAO

61. Auburn, for one: Abbr. : SCHool - took some thought, because I was stuck on hair color

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Good luck to Kevin and our other readers who take part in today's Crosswords LA Tournaments!

Friday, October 23, 2015, Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: What is the game, an abbreviated military march? Yes, CPT OBVIOUS! (Drat, HG linked that already this week!)

We return to our prolific Friday phenom, Jeffrey, with a simple-looking theme and tons of fun fill. Each in-the- language phrase is re-imagined "on the base" with the three-letter abbreviation for the military rank replacing the first word of the phrase. The original phrases are all very recognizable and the grid has a fairly standard look. The fill ‒ including long ones like BEGONIA, EMANATE, DOG BITES, ONE IN TWO, POLLSTER, and SWEPT OUT ‒ once again presents JW's affinity for multi-word fill with some of the six-letter answers like AS I CAN, BIG APE, BITMAP, DUCATS, PIMPLE, SEABED, TAKE ME and TIN EAR sparkly. The use of cheater squares to balance the 13-letter fill makes this all come together. Let's feast.

19A. Familiar material, on the base? : GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (12). The clue and fill are straightforward -- only the shortening brings in the military.

26A. Backbone of capitalism, on the base? : PRIVATE ENTERPRISE (13).  LINK.

42A. Disciplinary action, on the base? : CORPORAL PUNISHMENT (13). Remember these? LINK.

48A. Important find, on the base? : MAJOR DISCOVERY (12).

Across:

1. Locale of TV's Krusty Krab restaurant : SEABED. From Sponge Bob to reality...

7. "The Hitch-Hiker" director Lupino : IDA. An all male cast; really easy fill but who remembers this movie?

10. Meatless lasagna ingredient, perhaps : TOFU. Because spinach would not fit. A puzzle rich in INFORMATION.

14. "I wanna go too!" : TAKE ME.

15. Presumed threats to letter carriers : DOG BITES.

17. " ... according to my abilities" : AS I CAN.

18. Half, statistically : ONE IN TWO. You had a one in two chance of getting this right.

21. __ loss : AT A.

22. The Hammer of baseball : AARON. Hmmerin' Hank, yes...

31. Natural mole fur hue : TAUPE. Really? The French word for mole is TAUPE.  The moles we had in Connecticut had darker coats.

33. Balm source : ALOE.

34. Hand analog : PAW.

35. Fruity quaffs : ADES. A mini CSO for moi.

36. "Actions speak louder than words," e.g. : MAXIM. Saying, adage, aphorism, proverb, motto, saw, axiom, dictum, precept, epigram; truism, cliché.

38. Short pooch, for short : PEKE. Pekingese, the Chinese Lion Dog. The look sad to me.

39. It's hardly a smash : LOB. Not a flop or bomb, but a tennis term.

40. Lowlands feature : DALE.

41. __ metabolism : BASAL. Time to fix your BODY.

46. Undemonstrative sort : STOIC.

47. Med. recording : ECG.

56. Cleaned, in a way : SWEPT OUT.

59. Lethargy cause : ANEMIA. The old iron deficiency anemia.

60. One assessing sentiment : POLLSTER. Please no robocalls! Last election is why I gave up my home phone.

61. Digital image format : BITMAP. Not a word I KNEW.

62. It keeps the team together : YOKE.

63. Calculating : SLY.

64. Studio equipment : EASELS. Art studio,  not music.

Down:

1. Companion to Artemis : STAG.  Famous  ART.

2. Simplicity : EASE.

3. Related : AKIN.

4. 2014 Best Rock Album Grammy winner : BECK. This was hard because Led Zepplin won last year.

5. Spring (from) : EMANATE. Nice word.

6. Mean : DENOTE. One of those needless ten dollar words, if you mean mean say mean.

7. Teen __ : IDOL. Wolf anyone? Michael Landon?  Michael J, Fox?

8. "And there you have it!" : DONE. Not even close.

9. Old : AGED.

10. Problem for a conductor wannabe : TIN EAR.

11. 1930s-'40s slugger : OTT. Mel is back.

12. Limited : FEW.

13. Mil. morale booster : USO.

16. Oaf : BIG APE.

20. Lacking color : WAN.

23. Best for consumption, perhaps : RIPEST.

24. Panasonic headquarters city : OSAKA. And why should I know this? Wait for the perps.

25. Staircase support : NEWEL.

26. Southwestern community : PUEBLO.

27. No. twos : VPS. BMS  fit.

28. Perennial political debate subject : TAXES.

29. Priest in 1 Samuel : ELI.

30. N.T. book written by Paul : ROMans.

31. Soothing applications : TALCS.

32. Add to the family : ADOPT.

36. "What a piece of work is a __!": Hamlet : MAN. A very simple Will quote for JW.

37. Legendary fighter : ALI.

38. Broadway flier : PAN.

40. Coins of old Venice : DUCATS. Gold or silver coins used as a trade coin in Europe from the later medieval centuries until as late as the 20th century. Also slang for tickets.

41. Colorful tropical perennial : BEGONIA. Very colorful.

43. Clearasil target : PIMPLE.

44. Guys : HES.

45. Mrs. Miller's partner in a 1971 Altman film : MC CABE.  Wonderful Julie Christie.

49. Scribbles : JOTS. My meh fill.

50. Hamilton's undoing : DUEL. Death more than undoing. HISTORY.

51. Modest sentence : I TRY. Week after week.

52. November honorees : VETS. My in-laws were married on November 8, so we took them to NYC for their anniversary; when there was a huge Veteran's Day parade, my FIL, an ex-Marine from WWII thought we had planned that as well.

53. Rylan of "Guiding Light" : EMME. A complete unknown but sweet looking.

54. Currency of Iran : RIAL. Rially.

55. Doesn't shut up : YAPS.

56. Le Carré figure : SPY. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was my first real spy novel.

57. Ply with flowers and chocolate : WOO.

58. JFK was one : ELK, I did not know this trivia,  though it looks more like another Kennedy monogram.

Man the weeks are flying by along with the years; my Charlotte turns 3 before next week's blog. And Harper will be one month. Thanks Jeffrey for another fun Friday, I think this is about 30 of your puzzles since I first blogged you back in February 2013. Happy fall all. Lemonade out from here at 

special thanks to a very special John Lampkin.

Note from C.C.: 

Crosswords LA Tournaments will be held tomorrow (Oct 24, 2015, Saturday) at the Fowler Museum at UCLA. You don't need to be a wizard solver to participate. As you can see, they have four brackets for different skill levels. Or you can just be a spectator, solving at the same time with other competitors but your grids won't be scored.

It's an annual charity event Elissa Grossman started in 2009 to raise money for Reading to Kids. I hope our readers in LA area will attend the event and mingle with your favorite constructors, bloggers & fellow solvers.