Monday, August 1, 2016 Jason Mueller

Theme: Colorful Windmill - with the reveal at the hub.

40A. 1950s RCA innovation ... or this puzzle's four longest answers? : COLOR TV

17A. Albert/Gabor sitcom set on a farm : GREEN ACRES. CBS

11D. Sitcom for which Candice Bergen won five Emmys : MURPHY BROWN. CBS

59A. Tom Selleck police series : BLUE BLOODS. CBS

25D. Drama in which Tatiana Maslany plays several clones : ORPHAN BLACK. BBC America

{Rabbit Rabbit} Argyle here. Jason has been HERE before. A neat start to the week and the month. It is a little odd that the color starts the Across themes and ends the Down themes. Is there a purpose?

Across:

1. Veggies in Mendel's experiments : PEAs

5. Wear away : ERODE

10. Key with five sharps: Abbr. : B MAJor

14. Apiece : EACH

15. Name of nearly 20 French kings : LOUIS

16. Deceptive scheme : RUSE

19. Spring flower : IRIS

20. Auction unit : LOT

21. Remain firm : STAND PAT

23. Chided : SCOLDED

27. Slangy affirmative : YEAH

28. Gives a hoot : CARES

29. Fingers in a lineup : IDs

32. Pictograph : GLYPH

35. Award for Tiger Woods or Roger Federer : ESPY. (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award)

36. Con's early release : PAROLE

38. Spelling contest : BEE

39. High degree : NTH

41. Hwy., e.g. : RTE

42. Stat for Cy Young : ERA. (earned run average) lower is better.

43. Compensated (for) : ATONED

44. Thesaurus entry : WORD

45. Top 40 listings : SONGS

47. Solidify : GEL

48. "Space Oddity" singer David : BOWIE

49. Raised, as horses : BRED

51. Longed (for) : YEARNED

53. Amphitheater : COLISEUM

57. Jan. honoree : MLK. (Martin Luther King Jr.)

58. Garden of Eden exile : ADAM

64. Scalp parasites : LICE

65. Prefix with mural : INTRA

66. "Go back!" computer command : [UNDO]

67. Signs, as a contract : INKS

68. __ Tots : TATER

69. Thomas Hardy heroine : TESS

Down:

1. Pin for hanging : PEG

2. Organ associated with van Gogh : EAR

3. Crack pilot : ACE

4. Frankenstein creator : SHELLEY

5. Make wildly happy : ELATE

6. Legendary big bird : ROC

7. Belonging to us : OURS

8. Slimming-down strategy : DIET

9. Student's composition : ESSAY

10. Type of shower or gown : BRIDAL

12. Most populous continent : ASIA

13. In __: as a prank : JEST

18. Approving bobs : NODS

22. Israeli desert : NEGEV

23. Parts of acts : SCENES

24. Big name in recent Cuban history : CASTRO

26. Back-and-forth talk : DIALOG

30. Unmanned spy plane : DRONE

31. In a bad way : SORELY

33. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" surname : PETRIE. Rob Petrie, his wife Laura, and son Richie.

34. Listened to, as advice : HEEDED

36. Pan partner : POT. Pot and pan just sounds wrong.

37. Old Ford model : LTD. Etymology

40. They're tried in court : CASES

44. Get in one's reps : WORKOUT

46. Tony winner Tammy : GRIMES. Her daughter is Amanda Plummer.

48. Soccer sphere : BALL

50. __ card: payment method : DEBIT

52. Block : EMBAR

53. Colombian metropolis : CALI

54. Chief Norse god : ODIN

55. Bone near the radius : ULNA

56. Mixed-breed dog : MUTT

60. Before, poetically : ERE

61. United : ONE

62. Driller's deg. : DDS. (Doctor of Dental Surgery)

63. Palindromic call for help : S-O-S

Argyle

Sunday July 31, 2016 Jake Braun

Theme: "Art Nouveau" - ART is added to each theme entry.

23A. Prefer not to serve the drinks? : MIND BARTENDING. Mind-bending.

39A. Apt wear when drinking gin cocktails? : MARTINI SKIRT. Mini skirt.

58A. Special area for booting up again? : RESTART ROOM. Restroom.

82A. Garb for the Scottish seaside? : BEACH TARTAN. Beach tan.

99A. iPad owners' gatherings? : APPLE PARTIES. Apple pies.

119A. Lewd weasel relative? : DIRTY OLD MARTEN. Dirty old men. The clue makes me smile.

16D. Group that controls film cartoons? : ANIMATION CARTEL. Animation Cel.  One of the theme entries in the Cell/Cel/Sell/Sel puzzle D-Otto and I did for the WSJ.

47D. Patterns for moving supplies? : CARTON TEMPLATES. Contemplates. This and 58A both have one-word as the original phrase.

I've seen a few "Lost Art" puzzles where ART is removed from each theme entry. This is the first time for an ART addition theme.

Jake seems to be fond of Sunday grids. All his LAT puzzles so far are Sunday's.  This 140-worder is skillfully designed with a great assortments of 6's and 7's.

Across:   

1. Pandora's boxful : EVILS

6. One going over the wall : HOME RUN. And 6. 6-Across, for one : HIT

13. Contemporary electronic music genre : NU JAZZ. Learning moment for me.

19. Soup legume : LENTIL. Not ADZUKI. Staple in Cantonese cuisine.

21. Hematite or magnetite : IRON ORE

22. Borneo sultanate : BRUNEI. Rich in oil. Lots of Chinese live there.

 

25. Melanin-deficient individual : ALBINO

26. What fits all, in ads : ONE-SIZE

27. Prefix with ware : MAL. Malware. Another trickily clued prefix: 49. Intro to economics? : SOCIO

28. Pulled up a chair : SAT

30. "__ it!" : I'M ON.  Little partial price to pay for the scrabbly Z's and J.

31. Aleppo's land: Abbr. : SYR

32. Diane who played Flo in "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" : LADD. Not LANE.

34. Big name in game shows : MERV. Not ALEX.

37. Throat dangler : UVULA

 

42. Suggest : GET AT

45. Highway through Whitehorse : ALCAN. Yukon. I drew a blank.

48. Opposite of hence : AGO

 

50. Olympus competitor : LEICA. What camera are you using? I have a little Coolpix. 

51. Lover of Beauty : BEAST. Capitalized B.

52. One on the run : PERP. Simple in retrospect.

54. '50s foe of Dwight : ADLAI

56. Crew member : OAR

57. Pres. on a dime : FDR

61. Sound during cutting : SNIP. Hair salon.

62. Glue, say : ATTACH. Verb "Glue".

65. Lost by design : THREW. "by design" threw me. "Lost on purpose" would be a piece of cake.

66. It's sold in yards : FABRIC. Also 86. It's sold in yards : ALE

68. Scrapes and bruises, in totspeak : BOOBOOS

70. Rural skyline features : SILOS

72. Falls for many lovers? : NIAGARA. Sweet clue.

75. Eggnog topping : NUTMEG

77. Doctrinal offshoots : SECTS

79. Screenwriter Nora : EPHRON. She knew who Deep Throat was all along.

80. Dillon of "Wayward Pines" : MATT

 

85. Old young king : TUT

 

87. Schoolyard retort : DID SO

88. Third __ : RAIL. Not BASE.

89. Many of its pieces are lost during play : CHESS. Alas, I don't play chess.

91. Not likely to give up the hammock : COMFY. Hi there, Dave!

93. Healed : CURED

96. __ Aviv : TEL

97. "Roots" writer : HALEY

98. Old Toyota : SUPRA. Not PASEO.

102. Puts away cargo : LADES

104. Noodle variety : SOBA. Was thinking of UDON of course. Love Seafood Udon.

105. Quite a : SOME. Does the clue feel incomplete to you?

106. Poisonous slitherer : ASP

109. Antlered male : STAG

111. __ volente : DEO

113. Bars on a deli package : UPC. Now I know Gary has a Hy-Vee in his area. How about you? I love our local Hy-Vee. 

115. Penalty for forgetfulness, perhaps : LATE FEE. Got via crosses.

117. Intolerant of : HATING

123. "... if you know what's good for you!" : OR ELSE

124. Watch : OBSERVE

125. Sure winner : SHOO-IN

126. Pretend to be : POSE AS

127. Prepares : READIES

128. Vito Corleone's eldest : SONNY. The one with the hot temper. Michael is the youngest. Fredo is the middle son, also the weakest link. Connie is weak too.

Down:

 

1. St. __ fire : ELMO'S

2. Promising, as mine walls : VEINY. Maybe miners do use this word.

3. __ circle : INNER

4. Classic Fords : LTDs

5. Hissing : SIBILANT

7. Where Utah's minor league Owlz play : OREM. PROVO and OREM are our regular Utah city answers. We also have 18. Utah national park : ZION

8. French friend's address : MON AMI. Also 10. French king : ROI

9. Like boring speeches, so it seems : ENDLESS

11. Spigoted vessel : URN

12. Photo lab items : NEGs. No "Abbr." hint?

13. Network for hoops fans : NBA TV

14. Blue text, often : URL

15. Significant anniversary : JUBILEE

17. Greek known for paradoxes : ZENO

20. __ Wolf, "Fiddler on the Roof" butcher : LAZAR. Watched the movie ages ago. Don't remember the butcher's name.

24. Bureaucratic tangle : RED TAPE

29. Civic duty, perhaps? : AUTO LOAN. Another great clue.

33. Compilation : DIGEST

35. One of early Hollywood's "Big Five" : RKO. Wiki says the Big Five are: 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

36. Church official : VICAR

38. Aptly named fruit : UGLI. It's actually sweet and juicy. 

39. Live __: Taco Bell slogan : MAS. Live Mas (Live More).

40. Bridge positions : NORTHS. Is it common to have the positions pluralized, Spitzboov?

41. Done with : RID OF

43. Popular berry : ACAI

44. Rain delay rollout : TARP

45. BBC sitcom : AB FAB. Absolutely Fabulous. Guilty of putting it in one of my grids.

46. Caused : LED TO

53. County counterpart : PARISH

55. Insomniac's prescription : AMBIEN. I bet D-Otto goes to sleep quickly. He's so Zen!

58. Four-sided figures : RHOMBI. One more I-ending plural: 100. Ancient scrolls : PAPYRI

59. Rent again : RE-LET

60. Like some garages : TWO-CAR

61. [I'm frustrated!] : SIGH. The spray I mentioned a while ago lost effect on Boomer's diabetic foot nerve pain. Sigh!

63. Border on : ABUT

64. Portable bed : COT

67. Conviction, to a cop : RAP. Got via crosses also.

69. Pea pod, e.g. : SEEDCASE

71. Layers : STRATA

73. Waken : ROUSE

74. Pacing, maybe : ANTSY

76. Prepare for a road trip : GAS UP

78. "M*A*S*H" actor David Ogden __ : STIERS. Stranger to me.

80. Coats for brolly carriers : MACs. Steve probably uses umbrella now. When I first came to the US, I called crackers "biscuits". Guangzhou is very close to Hong Kong, where British English is more common.

81. Baseball family name : ALOU

83. Military subdivision : CORPS

84. Considering everything : ALL TOLD

87. Pair : DYAD

89. Serengeti speedsters : CHEETAHS. Hi there!

90. Owns : HAS

92. Easily damaged : FRAGILE

94. "Ticket to the Moon" gp. : ELO

95. Appeared for the first time : DEBUTED

101. Mosque leaders : IMAMS

103. Paper borders : EDGES

106. "Flow gently, sweet __!": Burns : AFTON

107. Escort : SEE IN

108. Cent : PENNY

109. Browse the mall : SHOP. Boomer says I spend more time picking a T-shirt than he does buying a car.

110. Poi base : TARO. I bake taros the same way I bake potatoes.

112. Scent : ODOR

114. Area with moorings : COVE

116. Sock ending : EROO

118. Govt. subject of James Bamford's "The Puzzle Palace" : NSA

120. "When Will __ Loved?": 1975 hit : I BE

121. Botswana neighbor: Abbr. : RSA (Republic of South Africa)

122. Arles article : LES

C.C.

Saturday July 30, 2016 Kevin Christian

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q)

Blocks: 29

C.C. here. The tool we use to analyze & write each puzzle is broken and Splynter needs to work this morning. I'll just publish the skeletal entries now. Will be back later with detailed writeup.

(Updated now. Thanks for the patience.)

Kevin's puzzle features a pair of double-stacked 15's, which are his seed entries. Constructors plant seed entries at the very start of each themeless grid. Sometimes secondary seeds are sowed if the grid allows.

The four spanners are:

15A. "Be right with you": HOLD ON ONE MINUTE

17A. Serious request for help: I NEED A HUGE FAVOR. Both of the top 15's are debut entries, never used in any puzzle before.

 

54A. Parker or Getz: JAZZ SAXOPHONIST. Look at the crossing words of  J, Two Z's and X, all solid words. You rock, Kevin!

Kevin Christian, XWord Info

58A. Ancient: OLD AS METHUSELAH 

Once the four sparkly spanners are placed, Kevin's primary goal is to have clean fill. He was also  able to give us two nice 11's:

28A. Suzanne Collins trilogy, with "The": HUNGER GAMES 

39A. Loreena McKennitt genre: CELTIC MUSIC

Across:

1. Like some glass: STAINED

8. Black Friday store opening event? MAD DASH. Great clue/fill.

18. Island where Dionysus discovered Ariadne: NAXOS. Oh, I did not know that. So pretty.

19. Burden: TAX

20. Disney’s "__ & Stitch": LILO

21. Hebrew for "skyward": EL AL

22, __ owl: BARN

24. "At Seventeen" Grammy winner __ Ian: JANIS

25. Spender of rials: OMANI

27. Name: DUB

32.Rebus pronoun: EWE. You.

35. Waste management word: RECYCLE

36. Beats: OUTDOES

38. Isr. neighbor: SYR

41. Big name in jewelry: KAY. Our Kazie's real name.

42. Dizzy: AREEL. Not a word I use.

43. Half a '60s pop group: MAMAS. And Papas.

46. Lesage hero Gil __: BLAS. Easy fill-in-the-blanks.

47. Pad: CRIB

51 __ I: Jewish month added in leap years: ADAR. New to me. I know ADAR is the 6th month in Jewish calendar.

52. Watch chain: FOB

53. See 45-Down: MIATA. And 45. With 53-Across, Japanese roadster: MAZDA 

59. Put on again: RE-AIRED

60. Usually not the best way to marry: IN HASTE 
 

Down:

1. Excel: SHINE

2. Like Romantic music: TONAL

3. Singer/songwriter __ Ray Joel: ALEXA. Here with her parents.

4. Belief system: IDEOLOGY

5. Acceptances: NODS

6. Commercial suffix with wheat: -ENA. Not familiar with Wheatena.

7. Word from Homer: D'OH! Homer Simpson.

8. Mullally of "Will & Grace": MEGAN

9. Blue Cash Everyday card co: AMEX

10. "What’s the __?": DIF

11. "CSI" facility: DNA LAB. Both DNA LAB and DNA TEST are grid-friendly, hence their frequent appearances in crossword.

12. How coq may be cooked: AU VIN. I recall this was the specialty of Misty's husband Rowland.

13. Absolut alternative, familiarly: STOLI

14. __ welcome: HERO'S

16. Semiaquatic rodent: NUTRIA. I learned this rodent in the old Tribute Media Daily puzzle days.

22. Brewer’s supply: BARLEY

23. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" spin-off: ANGEL. Learning moment to me also.

24. "I’m alone": JUST ME

26. Big attractions: MECCAS. Zara is finally coming to Mall of America in December. I visited their store in Vegas last Feb. So many shopping meccas in the desert.

27. Wild things?: DEUCES. Oh, Deuces Wild.

28. Some game enders: Abb,: HRS (Home Runs)

29. Pike no-no: UEY

30. ATM giant: NCR

31. Actress Kelly: MOIRA. I forgot. We had her before.

32. Aurora’s counterpart: EOS

33. Either of two Chinese dynasties: WEI. The second is actually called Bei Wei.

34. Bailout key: ESC

37. Don Quixote’s unseen love: DULCINEA

40. Screen Actors Guild co-founder Lyle __: TALBOT. Stranger to me.

41. 2000s-’10s Afghan president: KARZAI (Hamid).

43. Not at all trivial: MAJOR

44. Allan-__: Robin Hood cohort: A-DALE. Partial.

46. Ready to be shipped: BOXED 

48. Tracks: RAILS

49. Where __: IT'S AT. Partial. Two partials are allowed in each grid.

50. Come clean?: BATHE. Another nice clue.

52. Notability: FAME 

53. __ pit: MOSH

55. Georgia, once: Abbr.: SSR

56. Upsilon follower: PHI 

57. Fifth-century invader: HUN 

Alright, Splynter and his legs will be back next Saturday.

C.C.

Friday, July 29, 2016, John R. Obrien

Title: Unlock the shift key!

Mr. O'Brien breaks away from his pattern of one LAT in March each year with his first venture into the world of Fridays. The theme is very cute, all the theme clues are the numbers that would show if the shift key were not held down. In other words, &$& is 747, which is a Jumbo Jet. If you are doing the puzzle on paper, this is a real bear, but with the keyboard, I found it pretty fast for a Friday, but i do get paid for sussing Friday themes. The word distribution is more early week with no long fill except the theme and many 6 letter fill:  AMORAL,  NOMADS,  NOVENA,  OMELET, VERONA, LAYMAN,  ANODES and IN A FOG   are my favorites. The 8/12/15/12/8 pattern does not feel familiar but did yield 55 theme squares. I am not suggesting the puzzle was easy, there are lots of very hard clues and slight obscurities, but we got her done.

17A. &$&: JUMBO JET (8). 747 is the real clue.Did you FLY?

24A. @! : GAMBLING GAME (12). 21 (also known as blackjack). Do you PLAY?

40A. !&&^ : BROADWAY MUSICAL (15). 1776 is the clue. Do you REMEMBER?

52A. ** : KEYS ON A PIANO (12). 88 Do you wonder WHY?

66A. What was mistakenly held for four puzzle clues : SHIFT KEY (8).

Across:

1. Bozeman sch. : MSU. Montana State University. I think this is a highly regarded COLLEGE.

4. __ on the knuckles : A RAP. Generally administered with a ruler, sometimes even the sharp edge.

8. Hardly homebodies : NOMADS.

14. Black __ : OPS.

15. Protection in a purse : MACE.

16. Folded fare : OMELET. Another gift from the French chefs. LINK.

19. Romeo's home : VERONA. Cool, a Friday Shakespeare clue/fill, or two.... 49A. Cordelia, to Regan : SISTER.

20. Great way to walk : ON AIR. Did anyone else go here....Extra credit for naming both parents of the star.

21. Olympics event : RACE. Timely but vague.

23. Baseball statistic : HIT.

28. Ancient time-telling device : CANDLE. Really fun INFO.

31. Hastings Ismay was selected as its first leader in 1952 : NATO. The name sounds like bad pig Latin, and I  never heard of HIM. he was interesting and NATO was an easy guess based on the year.

32. It can come between Clinton and Rodham : NEE. Hillary Rodham Clinton, née Hillary Diane Rodham.

33. Quaint retail word : OLDE.

36. Last words? : OBITS. Well done, even if a bit depressing.

44. Zaire, nowadays : CONGO. HISTORY. Not the Belgian Congo.

45. Sommelier's concern : YEAR. Wine was just too easy. Clecho-61D. Sommelier's prefix : OENO.

46. Outback native : EMU.

47. Mild cheese : EDAM. Yes, but not soft, it is is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands. Edam ages and travels well, and does not spoil; it only hardens. These qualities (among others) made it the world's most popular cheese between the 14th and 18th centuries, both at sea and in remote colonies. (wiki).

57. Porter, for one : ALE. remember there are two basic types of Beer- ALE or LAGER. LINK.

58. Washington is prominent on them : ONES. Money, honey.

59. Property crime : ARSON. Burn baby, burn.

63. Like astronauts during liftoff : SEATED. HG, why?

68. Intact : ENTIRE.

69. Pamplona runner : TORO. The Bull, silly. he does not speak English in Pamplona.

70. Having four sharps : IN E. I defer to our musicians to explain.

71. Hoi polloi : MASSES. A Greek term, that became pejorative.

72. Like bachelor parties : STAG.

73. Bit of wit : MOT. French for word, part of the phrase "Bon mot."

Down:

1. Magic : MOJO. Defines as a magic charm, talisman, or spell. "someone must have their mojo working over at the record company" magic power.

2. Like web sites : SPUN. Cool deception, nit computer web but spider web.

3. Robert E. Lee's alma mater : USMA. United States Military Academy, Commonly referred to as West Point.

4. Unprincipled : AMORAL.  Nice explanation of the "A" as a negative prefix. LINK.

5. British rule in India : RAJ.

6. Biting : ACERB. Never seen in this form except in puzzles.

7. "She loves me" bit : PETAL.

8. Multi-day devotion : NOVENA. From the Latin for nine.

9. Kipling's "Follow Me __" : OME.

10. Nice view : MER. When a clue begins with Nice, it usually is hiding some French, like the owrd meaning sea.

11. It's heard coming and going : ALOHA.

12. Casual Friday material : DENIM.

13. Announce : STATE.

18. Texas city nickname : BIG D. Dallas.

22. Word on many a marquee : CINEMA.

25. Persian greeting : MEOW. Kitty cat not Iranian.

26. Classic muscle cars : GTOS.

27. Asian expanse : GOBI. The desert.

28. "Mad Money" network : CNBC. Jim Cramer.

29. Bubbly-textured Nestlé chocolate bar : AERO. Popular in England Steve? NC?

30. Light element : NEON.

34. Hardly an expert : LAYMAN.

35. Hall of Fame golf course architect Pete : DYE. Have you played ANY?

37. "Law &Order: SVU" actor : ICE T.

38. Unexciting : TAME.

39. Nasty campaign tactic : SLUR. Timely but verboten.

41. Quite a while : AGES.

42. Carroll's stammering self-caricature in "Alice in Wonderland" : DODO. A CSO to one of our own "Dodo: I say, you'll never get dry that way.
Alice: Get dry?
Dodo: Have to run with the others. First rule of a caucus race, you know.who has left us. "
More politics to avoid.

43. Celestial bear : URSA. Major, minor? Just Latin for bear.

48. Battery terminals : ANODES.

50. Befuddled : IN A FOG. been there often.

51. Put in folders, say : SORT.

52. Longtime "American Top 40" host : KASEM. Casey...did they ever bury him?

53. Justice Kagan : ELENA. One of the three.

54. "When You Are Old" poet : YEATS.
When you are old and grey and full of sleep,
And nodding by the fire, take down this book,
And slowly read, and dream of the soft look
Your eyes had once, and of their shadows deep;

55. Raid victims : PESTS.

56. Clapton's "__ the Sheriff" : I SHOT. But he did not shoot the deputy. The Bob Marley song...

MEANING

60. Dairy case option : SKIM. The nut milks are taking over.

62. Russian refusal : NYET. No.

64. Frank McCourt memoir : TIS.




65. Poetic preposition : ERE.

67. George's brother : IRA. The Gershwins, but you knew that.

I really enjoyed the creativity of the theme and all the Greek and Latin as well as some great cluing- Like web sites : SPUN  is my favorite. Welcome to Friday John; Lemonade out.