Wednesday, April 6 2016, Gareth Bain

 Theme: Put a RING on it - The first letter of the four letter combo is orderly moved to the back until we reach RING. 

18. Burn unit procedure : SKIN GRAFT

26. "Rogue Lawyer" novelist : JOHN GRISHAM

44. Rockefeller Center centerpiece : SKATING RINK

56. Quartet of Wagnerian operas, and a hint to the progression in this puzzle's circled letters : RING CYCLE 

Solving without circles makes this trickier. Did you get it?

Across

1. Fabric mimicked by jeggings : DENIM. I tried JEANS first.

6. Dallas NBA team : MAVS. Mavericks.

10. Indian mausoleum city : AGRA. Had a little brain blip when I first filled in AGHA.

14. In the company of : AMONG 

15. __ bargain : PLEA.  

16. Fountain contribution : COIN 

17. Midler's "Divine" nickname : MISS M

20. Allow to enter : LET IN

22. Big name in auto racing : ANDRETTI

23. Kerfuffles : ADO'S

25. Advanced degs. : MA'S. Master of Arts.

31. Whiskas eater : CAT

34. Pulitzer winner Walker : ALICE. Writer and activist who won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for her novel, The Color Purple.

35. Actor McGregor : EWAN 

36. Dance in a pit : MOSH 

37. Hull fastener : RIVET. Hull of a boat.

38. Group : SET

39. Mazda MX-5, familiarly : MIATA

40. Big nights : EVES

41. How-to component : STEP

42. Follow, as a hunch : ACT ON

43. __ Plaines : DES

46. Farm enclosure : STY. Tried PEN first.

47. Bit of naughtiness : NO-NO

48. Doze : TAKE A NAP

53. Disney character with a white tail : BAMBI

58. Regal headpiece : TIARA

60. Bordeaux brainstorm : IDEE. French for idea.

61. Down-to-earth : REAL

62. 2001 scandal subject : ENRON

63. Boilermaker component : BEER. A boilermaker is a glass of beer with a shot of whiskey.

 

64. Prohibitionists : DRYS. Have never heard that used as a noun.

65. City near Florence : SIENA

 Down

1. Reservoir creator : DAM

2. German actor Jannings : EMIL. No idea. Popular in the 1920's.

3. Sommelier's asset : NOSE. Cute.

 

4. Examples : INSTANCES

5. Classic British two-seater : MG MIDGET

6. Base cops, briefly : MP'S. Military Police.

7. __-Seltzer : ALKA

8. Corpuscle conduit : VEIN

9. Dreamy guy? : SANDMAN

10. Lots of plots : ACRES. Nice clue.

11. Butter in a farmyard? : GOAT

12. Africa's Great __ Valley : RIFT

Impressive.

13. Naysayer : ANTI

19. Light weight : GRAM

21. Hide-hair link : NOR

24. Afternoon break : SIESTA

26. Actor/singer Leto : JARED

27. Green hue : OLIVE

28. Homes with buzzers : HIVES

29. "Ni-i-ice!" : SWEET

30. Quaint headpiece accessory : HATPIN

31. Raccoon kin : COATI

32. __ Martin: 007's car : ASTON

33. Acknowledge in an Oscar speech, say : THANK

36. Barely-there dress : MICROMINI

39. Powerful people : MAGNATES

41. Rock band Lynyrd __ : SKYNYRD

44. Legato's opp., in music : STAC. Short for staccato.

45. San Francisco's __ Hill : NOB

46. "Like a Rock" rocker : SEGER

48. Chicago paper, for short : TRIB

49. __-de-camp : AIDE. New to me. Definition: A military officer acting as a confidential assistant to a senior officer.

50. Bermuda shorts endpoint : KNEE. As opposed to the micromini.

51. One with an untouchable service : ACER

52. Word with fair or foul : PLAY

54. Unadorned : BARE

55. Fairway choice : IRON

57. PGA star from South Africa : ELS. Ernie.

59. Santa __ Mountains : ANA

Melissa

Note from C.C.:

Husker Gary has updated our Crossword Corner map. Please click here to see his latest work. Big and clear. I've archived the map under Olio on the blog front page. Please feel free to email Gary if you want your name added or deleted. Thanks for enormous time and effort you put on this map, Gary! 

 

LA Times Crossword 2016 Map

Please click on the image to enlarge

Updated: April 19, 2018

Please email Husker Gary gschlapfer@gmail.com if you want to be included/excluded in the map.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Donna Karan - Words with the same initials, DK.

17A. *Game with a barrel-throwing gorilla : DONKEY KONG

37A. *Lock insert : DOOR KEY

61A. *Karl Marx opus : DAS KAPITAL

11D. *Temporary housing for Fido : DOG KENNEL

33D. *"The Court Jester" star : DANNY KAYE

68A. Go to pot ... or a phonetic hint to the answers to starred clues : DECAY (D-K)

Argyle here. Nit pickers may be disappointed but an excellent Tuesday for the rest of us. C.C. gave us a nice pinwheel with the reveal if you needed it, tucked in the lower right corner.

Across:

1. Riffles (through) : LEAFS. Not exactly a riffle but fun to watch.

6. Kitty cries : MEWs

10. Like some chatter or threats : IDLE

14. Birdbath buildup : ALGAE. Unwanted green growth.

15. Plant "pet" : CHIA. Wanted green growth.

16. Bellyache : MOAN

19. "Flip or Flop" cable channel : HGTV. (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) “Flip or Flop” is about buying a home to resell, basically.

20. Dueling sword : ÉPÉE

21. Stare unsubtly : GAWK

22. Slammer : POKEY. Hoosegow, the joint.

23. Wreck completely : DESTROY

25. "Moi?" : "WHO, ME?"

27. __ Lingus : AER. The Irish airline.

28. Reason for an R rating : VIOLENCE

31. "I __ thought of that" : HADN'T

34. Place to overnight : INN

35. Crooner Cole : NAT. Nat King Cole.

36. Stat that's better when it's lower : ERA. (earned run average)

41. Expressive rock genre : EMO

42. Architect Maya __ : LIN. Designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

43. Serengeti grazer : GNU

44. Crease-resistant fabric : ORLON

46. Sewer system entry points : MANHOLEs

49. Back when : AGO

50. Alpine warble : YODEL

51. Art form profiled in the documentary "Between the Folds" : ORIGAMI. Inferable.

55. Joint sometimes twisted : ANKLE

57. Fishing decoy : LURE

59. Have __: be connected : AN IN

60. "Are you for __?!" : REAL

63. Motown's Marvin : GAYE

64. Prefix meaning "all" : OMNI. All my Omni's.

65. Singer Baker : ANITA

66. Call router: Abbr. : OPERator

67. Bread served with chicken tikka masala : NAAN

Down:

1. Stored in the hold : LADED

2. Become running mates? : ELOPE

3. Dancer de Mille : AGNES

4. Skin bronzing from a bottle : FAKE TAN

5. "Understand?" : "SEE!"

6. Jim of "Wide World of Sports" : McKAY

7. Self-help website : eHOW

8. [Don't take me too seriously] : [WINK WINK]

9. Hang loosely : SAG

10. Announcement from the foyer : "I'M HOME!". Lucy?

12. Behind schedule : LATE

13. Green-eyed monster : ENVY

18. "Son of Frankenstein" role : YGOR. It's pronounced "Igor".

22. D.C. insider : POL

24. No longer working: Abbr. : RET'D

26. Sharpen : HONE

28. Computer invader : VIRUS

29. Hunter's garb, for short : CAMO. (camouflage)

30. Thames school : ETON

31. Captain's position : HELM. Not the bell captain.

32. Opera highlight : ARIA

38. Stare rudely at : OGLE

39. "He's a priest," not a beast, per Ogden Nash : ONE L LAMA

The one-L lama, he's a priest.
The two-L llama, he's a beast.
And I will bet a silk pajama:
there isn't any three-L lllama!

40. Bear or Berra : YOGI

45. Propecia rival : ROGAINE

47. Shout out : HOLLER

48. Glorifying verse : ODE

49. Word after work or play : AREA

51. Pest control company : ORKIN. Orkin has more than 400 owned and operated branch offices and 58 franchises in the U.S. The company also has international franchises and subsidiaries located in Canada, Europe, Central America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, the Mediterranean, Africa and Mexico. ~ Wiki.

52. Bit of slapstick : ANTIC

53. Sporty Mazda : MIATA

54. Cavity filler : INLAY

55. Jason's vessel : ARGO

56. Half-moon tide : NEAP

58. Midshipman's sch. : USNA. (United States Naval Academy)

61. Ex-Dodger manager Mattingly : DON

62. __ Thai: rice noodle dish : PAD

 Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy Birthday to dear Irish Miss, our gentle & caring Agnes (3-Down). I've been working with Agnes on a few puzzles and I'm constantly in awe of her resourcefulness, wit and efficiency. Agnes has two puzzles in Rich's queue now. Hopefully you'll see them soon.

Eileen (sister of Agnes) & Agnes, Nov 22, 2013

2) Happy Birthday also to Abejo (Bradley), who's always busy traveling and volunteering for various causes. Abejo is Persian for "beer". Bradley worked in Iran for a few years.

Bradley and his Tuba, Church Fat Tuesday Event

3) Five more days to go for Peter Gordon's Fireball Newsflash Crosswords project. If you love crosswords, news and trivia, be one of the backers. For only $7, you get 20 quality crosswords handcrafted by Peter, one of the very best in the business.

Fireball Newsflash are mostly of LAT Tuesday level difficulty. Easily doable. Also, his entries are super fresh (Newsflash!) and clues are always full of fun trivia. Peter is known for seldom repeating his clues. Please click here and back his project. Maybe get that magic blue hat.

Monday, April 4, 2016 Mark McClain

Theme: Late - Things after dinner.

58. When one might have a mint ... or where the first words of 18-, 24-, 37- and 48-Across can be found : AFTER DINNER

18. Hotel lobby supervisor : BELL CAPTAIN. Dinner Bell

24. Working the room, as at a banquet : TABLE HOPPING. Dinner Table

37. Time of reckoning : DATE WITH DESTINY. Dinner Date

48. Congressional majority, e.g. : PARTY IN POWER. Dinner Party

Argyle here. Barely awake and no, it wasn't a rough night.

Across:

1. Website pop-ups, e.g. : ADS

4. Brush with liquid while roasting : BASTE

9. Jeweled headwear : TIARA

14. Morse code bit : DAH. Well, no dit.

15. Electric razor brand : BRAUN. What's a razor?

16. Like some short-term committees : AD HOC

17. Make a boo-boo : ERR

20. Bathtub insert : PLUG

22. Texter's "Wish you hadn't said that!" : TMI. (too much information)

23. Practical, as a solution : VIABLE

27. Words before uproar : IN AN

28. Dipstick wiper : RAG

29. Gumshoes: Abbr. : PIs. Private Eye.

32. Madrid museum : PRADO

35. Little kid : TOT

36. Went to the bottom : SANK

41. Is the right size : FITS

42. Yea's opposite : NAY

43. Short, but probably not sweet : TERSE. Like this write-up?

44. Sneaky : SLY

45. Warm lining : FUR

46. Feline king : LION

53. Nielsen of "The Naked Gun" films : LESLIE. And "Airplane!"

56. Canon SLR camera : EOS. Are they all DSLR now?

57. Indian wrap : SARI

61. Santa visitor's seat : LAP. Ho Ho Ho!

62. Fable's lesson : MORAL

63. Rear, to an admiral : STERN

64. Mao __-tung : TSE

65. Unlike poetry : PROSY

66. Blended ice cream drinks : MALTS

67. Buddhist sect : ZEN

Down:

1. Quite competent : ADEPT

2. "Our Gang" girl : DARLA. Never knew this. Not a bad voice.

3. Decorative foundation plant : SHRUB

4. Consumer protection gp. : BBB. (Better Business Bureau)

5. "Respect" singer Franklin : ARETHA

6. Upstream swimmer : SALMON

7. Dutch bulb : TULIP

8. Britannica, e.g.: Abbr. : ENC. (encyclopedia)

9. Wrapping, as an ankle : TAPING

10. Rover's collar attachment : ID TAG

11. Melville's obsessive whaler : AHAB

12. Stir up : ROIL

13. Clearasil target : ACNE

19. Fly : AVIATE

21. Flies like a seagull : GLIDES

25. Sufficient, in poetry : ENOW

26. Cattle poker : PROD

29. Low poker hand : PAIR

30. Quaint lodges : INNS

31. Hebrides isle : SKYE

32. Many emailed image files : PDFs. There are programs to change JPG to PDF or change PDF image to JPG but I have no experience with it.

33. Train wheel guide : RAIL

34. Suit filer: Abbr. : ATTY.

35. " ... hallowed be __ name" : THY

36. Dictation takers : STENOs. (stenographer) It seems STENO is a stand alone word and not an abbreviation.

38. Accustomed (to) : INURED

39. Small fruit pie : TART

40. Four-way __ : STOP

45. Without prejudice : FAIRLY

46. Big name in little trains : LIONEL. Fantastic in full screen!

47. What an editor's caret indicates : INSERT

48. Sincere entreaties : PLEAS

49. Busybody : YENTA

50. Dance in triple meter : WALTZ

51. Wipe out : ERASE

52. Mature, as fruit : RIPEN

53. Desk light : LAMP

54. Get an __ effort : E FOR

55. Houston player, informally : STRO

59. School-of-thought suffix : ISM

60. Hosp. staffers : RNs

Argyle