Tuesday, October 31, 2017 ~ Jeffrey Wechsler

Theme: P*TT - Three constant consonants with five progressive vowels.

18. "Evita" Tony-winning actress: PATTI LUPONE. "New Argentina"(5:16) More morons at 0:40.

25. Coast Guard rank: PETTY OFFICER

37. Roberto Clemente, notably: PITTSBURGH PIRATE

48. Ceramics shaper: POTTER'S WHEEL

59. Tinker in the workshop: PUTTER ABOUT

BOO! Argyle here. A diagonal solvers puzzle, but upper right to lower left. Maine to California. Washington and Florida are isolationists with just a one square connection to the rest of the puzzle.
FLASH: Husker Gary pointed out that the first vowel of the second word is regressive, U thru A. Coincidence, I think not.

Across:

1. Capital of Poland: WARSAW

7. Actress Moore: DEMI. IMDb

11. Dick and Jane's dog: SPOT

15. Tropical lizard: IGUANA

16. Large-scale: EPIC

17. Vagrant: HOBO

20. __-ran: ALSO

21. Diminutive suffix: ETTE

22. Fort full of gold: KNOX

23. Guitarist Clapton: ERIC

24. Spanish king: REY

29. Prefix with sol: AERO CAN

30. Flight height: Abbr.: ALT. (altitude)

31. Ambient music pioneer Brian: ENO

32. Rural road surface: DIRT

34. Carpal or tarsal lead-in: META. Bones of the hands or feet.

36. Prilosec target: ACID. Prilosec is made by AstraZeneca.

41. "__-daisy!": UPSY

42. Approximately: OR SO

43. Small fishing boat: DORY

44. D.C. United's org.: MLS. (Major League Soccer)

45. Sweetie pie: HON

46. Urge: PROD

52. 34-Down, in Toledo, Sp.: SRA. 34-Down. 52-Across, in Toledo, OH: MRS.

55. Naturalist John: MUIR

56. "__ Lang Syne": AULD

57. Truant GI: AWOL

58. Fatherly nickname: PAPA

62. Move a bit: STIR

63. "__, Brute?": ET TU

64. Not inclined (to): AVERSE

65. Meat safety org.: USDA. ( United States Department of Agriculture)

66. Loch with a mystery: NESS

67. Blowtorch user: WELDER

Down:

1. Windshield cleaner: WIPER but sometimes 17-Across.

2. Striped quartz: AGATE

3. Like old wagon trails: RUTTY

4. Appease, as hunger: SATE

5. Smart game-show vowel purchase for "F_LM CR_T_C": AN 'I'. It would be smarter to solve it unless the player wanted to gamble on one more spin.

6. "The Color Purple" author Alice: WALKER

7. Bus terminus: DEPOT

8. Modeling glue: EPOXY

9. 60 secs.: MIN.

10. Devils' playing surface, ironically: ICE. The New Jersey Devils are a pro ice hockey team in Newark, NJ. Ironic in the sense devils come from a very hot place. Watch out for little devils tonight!

11. Puppeteer Lewis: SHARI, with Lamb Chop, puppet.

12. Patrol vehicle: POLICE CAR. {One Adam Twelve, see the man...}

13. Target of captioning censorship: OBSCENITY

14. "That's __ bad": TOO

19. "Do __ others ... ": UNTO

23. Young salamander: EFT. Crossword and Scrabble staple.

25. Caresses, as a dog: PETS

26. Inaugural recitation: OATH

27. Envelope part: FLAP

28. Used a bike: RODE

29. Superficially cultured: ARTY

32. Embassy workers: DIPLOMATS

33. "What a harebrained idea!": "IT'S STUPID!"

35. Self-esteem: EGO

36. Retired Yankee slugger, to fans: A-ROD

37. Gas station machine: PUMP

38. Crude dude: BOOR

39. Catering coffeepots: URNS

40. Big screen star: IDOL

45. Ship's pronoun: HER

46. One-named soccer great: PELÉ

47. Change, as map details: REDRAW

49. Sparkly crown: TIARA

50. Light bulb units: WATTS

51. Many Rwandans: HUTUs

52. See 59-Down: SWORD

53. Shake awake: ROUSE

54. Change: ALTER

57. Brother of Cain: ABEL

58. Nittany Lions' sch.: PSU. (Pennsylvania State University)

59. It's mightier than the 52-Down, so they say: PEN

60. 4 x 4, for short: UTE. (utility vehicle)

61. Blvd.: AVE.. Streets.

Argyle

Monday, October 30, 2017 ~ Jake Braun

Theme: Watch Your Back! - Target word added behind the second word of the starred entries.

17A. *Palestine, to many: HOLY LAND. Landfall.

28A. *Slam-dance area: MOSH PIT. Pitfall.

51A. *What "blows no good": ILL WIND. Windfall;.

66A. "Spring forward" partner (a reminder for November 5th) ... and what the last word of each answer to a starred clue can literally have: FALL BACK

11D. *Jam on the brakes: STOP SHORT. Shortfall.

35D. *Regular dinner-and-a-movie evening: DATE NIGHT. Nightfall.

Argyle here. I've got your back. This puzzle has no unique words; that's unique. Diagonal solver's delight.

Across:

1. Press (down), as pipe bowl ash : TAMP

5. Life-saving proc.: CPR. (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation)

8. Collect $200 in Monopoly: PASS GO

14. Top poker pair: ACEs

15. Feel remorse for: RUE

16. Brewpub fixture: ALE TAP

19. Soccer game shout: ¡OLE! ¡OLE!

20. St. plagued by wildfires in 2017: ORE. (Oregon) Just one of many.

21. Leaves out: OMITS

23. Colorado resort: ASPEN. 73-Across. Enjoys 23-Across: SKIs

24. Other side in a fight: ENEMY

26. Monterey County seat: SALINAS

30. Spontaneous notion: WHIM

33. Classic Ford: MODEL T

36. One of eight Eng. kings: EDW. (Edward)

37. Cola, e.g.: SODA

38. Actress Longoria: EVA

39. Vienna's country: Abbr.: AUS. (Austria)ISO code: AUT

41. Gobble up: EAT

43. Do sales work (for): REP. (representative)

44. Baseball glove: MITT. 46-Across. Baseball throw: PEG,. 40-Down. Former MLB commissioner Bud: SELIG

48. Multi-room accommodations: SUITES

50. Praiseful verses: ODEs

53. More geeky: NERDIER

55. V-shaped carving: NOTCH

59. Happy expression: SMILE

61. "Six __ a-laying ... ": GEESE

63. Yokohama yes: HAI

64. Descartes' "I think": COGITO. "Cogito ergo sum" is Latin for "I think; therefore, I am".

68. From boat to beach: ASHORE. (adverb)

69. Island strings: UKE. (ukulele)

70. Pre-deal wager: ANTE

71. Poker player, e.g.: BETTOR

72. '60s hallucinogen: LSD. (Lysergic acid diethylamide)

Down:

1. Nevada border lake: TAHOE

                          Tahoe Keys, who knew?

2. Bit of a squirrel's stash: ACORN. (@1:25)

3. Messy fight: MELEE

4. Future therapist's maj.: PSY. (Psychology)

5. Study at the last minute: CRAM

6. Say "You're grounded" to, say: PUNISH

7. Administrative complications: RED TAPE

8. Kung __ chicken: PAO

9. Edgar __ Poe: ALLAN

10. Up-and-down playground fixtures: SEESAWs. 22-Down. Playground fixture: SLIDE

12. More than a breeze: GALE

13. Ready for customers: OPEN

18. Common Jesuit school name: LOYOLA

25. Sra., on the Seine: MME. (Señora/Madame)

27. Formal "My bad": "IT WAS I"

29. Dumb: STUPID

31. Camille's concept: IDÉE

32. Route providers: MAPS

33. Note to the staff: MEMO

34. Exiled Roman poet: OVID

42. Way under a river: TUNNEL

45. "Cats" poet: TS ELIOT

47. Full of joy: GLEEFUL

49. About-to-be spouse's words: "I DO"

52. Inflicts, as havoc: WREAKS

54. Nostalgically trendy: RETRO

56. Say "Much obliged" to: THANK

57. Desert plants: CACTI

58. Walks with backpacks: HIKES

59. Picket line violator: SCAB

60. Jazzman Allison: MOSE. Died: November 15, 2016.

62. Word with bob or dog: SLED

65. Poetic "above": O'ER

67. Eng. majors' degrees: BAs. (Bachelor of Arts)

Argyle

Sunday Oct 29, 2017 Bruce Haight

Theme:  "Urbanagrams"- Each theme entry is a major US city and its anagram.

23A. A few bars in the West? : SAN DIEGO SONG IDEA

37A. Ticketholder's entitlement in the Southwest? : SANTA FE FAN SEAT

51A. Stage handles in the West? : SACRAMENTO ACTOR NAMES

72A. Complex papers for a pad in the West? : LOS ANGELES LONG LEASES

86A. Do stuff in the Southeast? : RALEIGH HAIR GEL

102A. Heavyweights in the Midwest? : COLUMBUS SUMO CLUB

Puzzle titles don't always reveal the gimmick easily, but this one does, though it won't help your solving much.

You can probably anagram lots of other cities, but your entries have to have enough surface sense and humor value. Otherwise, you won't tickle Rich. You cities have to be big, not EDINA.

Though only 6 entries, they're all very long and occupy a total 100 theme squares. The grid is very Bruce. Very clean & lively. And you'll always see a few entries in his puzzles.

Across:
      
1. Choir voice : ALTO

5. Van Gogh setting : ARLES

10. They might be hatched : PLOTS. Three consecutive gimmes in a row.

15. Jazz trumpeter Jones : THAD. This got me last time.

19. Collectible fossil : SHARK TOOTH. We don't often see long non-themer in Across. How many teeth do you think a shark has?

21. Sound : AUDIO

22. Hamburger man : HERR

25. First name in household humor : ERMA

26. "Don't __" : ASK

27. Twinkle __: Skechers brand : TOES. Guessable. Cute.

28. The palm and olive of Palmolive : OILS

29. Reason to use litmus paper : PH TEST

31. Rubber? : MASSEUR. Nice clue.

33. iPad model : MINI. And 50. Apple since 1998 : iMAC. Also 66. Jobs in the tech industry : STEVE

34. Lumber mill fixtures : RIPSAWS. One of the flea market guys here is specialized in tools. His saws go quite quickly. He always yells at his customers.

36. Gallery works : ART

40. Helps plan a job, maybe : ABETS

43. Cry of exasperation : AARGH

44. Crushed, as a test : ACED

45. Priestly garment : ALB. Learned from doing crosswords.

46. Hot : SEXY

47. Puma competitor : AVIA

48. Place to get off: Abbr. : STA

49. Horse fathers : SIRES. Not "Horse feathers".

57. Wearer of a "Y" sweatshirt : ELI. Yale Bulldogs.

58. Feathered indoor flier : DART. I was picturing fruit flies.

59. Less contaminated : PURER

60. Nabokov novel : ADA

61. Pot cover : TEA COZY. Not on my tea pot.


63. Saturn's largest moon : TITAN

64. Media holder : DVD CASE. Four consonants in a row.

68. "I'm close to winning!" game cry : UNO

69. "__ what?": "What next?" : SO NOW

70. Capsizing deterrent : KEEL

71. Frat house "H" : ETA. We also have 15. Sorority letters : THETAs

77. First of 12 popes : PIUS I

78. Ref. updated quarterly : OED. I brought a Chinese-English dictionary when I came to the US. Have not needed it for ages. Google Translate solves all my problems.

79. Dress like, for the costume party : GO AS

80. "High-__!" : FIVE

81. Mtn. stat : ALT

82. Wee : ITTY

83. Matches a bet : CALLS

85. Social conventions : MORES. Not NORMS.

90. Old Prizm maker : GEO

91. Yoga move named for a pet : CAT POSE

92. Trading post wares : FURS

93. Colonist : SETTLER
 
97. Summer line : IT'S HOT. We just had our first snow.

98. Extended rental? : LIMO. Another great clue.

99. Fancy cracker spread : PATE. Try the spread on Aldi's crackers.

100. Flurry : ADO

101. Actress Moreno : RITA

107. Eclipse, maybe : OMEN

108. Aardwolf relative : HYENA. Hey, are you guys relatives?

Aardwolf

Hyena

109. Daytona 500, e.g. : NASCAR RACE. Another debut.


110. Give up : CEDE

111. Test for purity : ASSAY
 
112. Lavished attention (on) : DOTED

113. Wasn't square with : OWED
  
Down:
  
1. Indian state bordering Bangladesh : ASSAM

2. Two-mile-high capital : LHASA. In China, we spell it La Sa. You can see the Chinese characters here. Both Shanghai and Lhasa are two-word names in Chinese.

3. Loses on purpose : TANKS

4. Chicago airport code : ORD

5. Dined at a restaurant, say : ATE OUT. In Las Vegas, many places have soy sauce on the table. Makes me so happy. My favorite.

6. "Copy that" : ROGER

7. Heads of Parliament? : LOOS

8. Sci-fi staples : ETs

9. Driving away : SHOOING

10. "Without a Trace" actor Anthony La__ : PAGLIA. His face is familiar, not the name.

11. Wilder's "The Bridge of San __ Rey" : LUIS

12. Unmatched : ODD

13. Make, as a knot : TIE

14. S.O.S, for one : SOAP PAD. I love those S.O.S. pads. They work miracles.

16. "This is our stop" : HERE WE ARE

17. Weaponry transfers : ARMS SALES. Sparkly pairs of 9's. 

18. "Darn it!" : DRAT

20. Writers of bad checks : KITERS

24. Inning often not finished : NINTH. Bottom of the ninth.

30. QVC competitor : HSN
 
32. Mythical forest flutist : SATYR

33. Corday victim : MARAT. This was covered in our world history book also.

34. Parish head : RECTOR

35. Lead-in to bad news : I FEAR

37. Epitome of virtue : SAINT

38. Buckle or button : FASTEN. Also 56. Fleshy "buttons" : NAVELS

39. NCAA Final Four broadcaster : TBS

40. Selling point : ASSET

41. Bluesy Memphis street : BEALE

42. No longer working for The Company : EX-CIA. Notice the capitalized "The".

43. Animator Tex : AVERY
 
47. Online retail giant : AMAZON. I've never shopped at Walmart website. You? Their model is quite similar to Amazon's.

49. Seat at the racetrack : SADDLE

52. God, in Hebrew : ADONAI

53. Sound off : OPINE

54. Rush hour glut : AUTOS. Followed by 55. Rush hour pace : CRAWL
 
62. Talk a blue streak? : CUSS

63. "Ha! I was right!" : TOLD YA

64. Painter of ballerinas : DEGAS
 
65. Norse pantheon : AESIR. They live in Asgard.



67. Soothes : EASES

69. Boil : SEETHE

70. Round mound : KNOLL. The only one I know is that Grassy Knoll.

72. 1928 Gary Cooper romance in which a bouquet plays a vital role : LILAC TIME. Unfamiliar to me.

73. Went longer than : OUTLASTED

74. Invaders of ancient Rome : GOTHS

75. More than checks out : OGLES

76. In progress : AFOOT. And 84. Beached : AGROUND. Both solid A-words.

77. What one never is on a golf course : PAR. I was thinking you can have 1 on a par 3 or par 4 hole, if you're really lucky/good. But 1 is never a par.

82. Prankster's cry : I GOTCHA

83. Only speck of food the Grinch left in each Who's house : CRUMB

85. Shower component : METEOR. Meteor shower.


87. Flammable gas : ETHANE

88. NYSE news : IPO

89. "Let me just interject ... " : IF I MAY

90. Blow a gasket : GET MAD

93. Hooch : SAUCE

94. Old NBC legal drama : LA LAW. Also 96. Covered in court : ROBED

95. Draw forth : EDUCE

97. __-Z: classic Camaro : IROC

98. Moon goddess : LUNA. Chinese Moon goddess is Chang'e, who lives in the moon. That's why we eat mooncakes during Mid-Autumn Festival.

99. Vocal nudge : PSST

103. Yiddish laments : OYs
 
104. French article : LES

105. __ Paulo : SAO

106. HUN neighbor, to the IOC : CRO (Croatia)

C.C.

Crosswords LA 2017 puzzle pack is now on sale. Click here. Only $5. The proceeds go to Reading to Kids. Alex Boisvert is the puzzle wrangler/editor this year. See here for the first-ever all-women constructor team.

Saturday, Oct 28th, 2017, Daniel Nierenberg

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q,X)

Blocks: 29

This puzzle gave me a mental wedgie.  It didn't help that I massacred two sections with constant overwrites - had I done this one in pencil, there'd be no paper left.  I thought I had enough to solve this one, but most of the clues just didn't give me anything to work with, and then some of the answers didn't look right anyway - I'm looking at you, 17a & 45d.~!!  Caved in to red-letters.  No exceptionally long answers, and that might have contributed; just triple 9's in the across, and triple 8's in the down;

17. Florida beach ranked by TripAdvisor as #1 in the U.S. in 2017 : SIESTA KEY - Argh~!! siestakey~? Had I parsed this properly, it might have made sense - but the furthest south I have ever been is Jacksonville, FL, and "key" never occurred to me

14. Construction protection : HARD HATS - clever plural misdirection

60. Insect world raiders : AMAZON ANT - ah, the wonders of nature - the Wiki

34. Curse deterrent : SWEAR JAR - if I had one for this puzzle, I could have bought my own vineyard; here's a picture of the vines surrounding the owner's house - see below, too

Rainy Day

 VINEWARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Takes a risky leap : BASE JUMPS - I got the JUMPS part, but 'HIGH' was all that came to mind

10. Teensy bit : SKOSH - learned from doing crosswords

15. Baked fruit dessert : APPLE TART

16. Actress Campbell of "Martin" : TISHA

18. Furry fish eater : OTTER - seemed to simple, so I waited

19. Drink with a polar bear mascot : ICEE - dah~!  Not COKE - this ad mascot

20. Mag wheel? : HEF  - R.I.P.

21. Let loose : UNTIED

22. Dishonorable sort : CAD - Dah~!  Not CUR - the NW corner was the first disaster area

23. Without breaks, as a tennis set : ON SERVE - in desperation, I tried "ONE-LOVE", and the "O" and "N" remained after I switched to red-letters.  That helped.

25. Degree of uncertainty : NTH - again, I hesitated

26. One hanging around in the forest? : SLOTH

28. Eurasia's __ region : URAL - I had aRAL, which made it almost impossible to make sense of 7d.

29. Cantina snack : TAPA - ugh.  Not TACO

30. Tombstone shootout participant : EARP - Yay~!  I got one~!

32. Natural home : HABITAT

34. Domino's competitor : SBARRO - knowing this was a huge help in the SW

37. Fruits often cubed : MELONS

38. Hopeful : WANNABE

40. Acted like : APED - I think this is better than the "Did" clue we had about two weeks ago

41. Lighting hrs.? : ETAs - think "a"-lighting, as in landing

42. Eye care brand : ReNu

44. City on the Shatt al-Arab river : BASRA - filled via perps

48. Hawaiian yellowfin : AHI - a good WAG, since it could have occurred at 39d., too

49. String around the collar? : BOLO TIE - I so wanted NAME TAG here

51. Harley Davidson's NYSE symbol : HOG - knew it

52. Prayer string : ROSARY

54. British society page VIP : NOB - I tried FOP; this was the start of my "four corners from hell" - I was missing the "N" and "B" and those choices were not at the top of my list; "M" and "Z" from 60a. were the other pair in the across clue

55. Tiny particle : MOTE - Rrrr - not ATOM

56. Interim ruling group : JUNTA

57. Entertainment for the whole gang : FAMILY FUN

59. Many a Pacific resident : ASIAN

61. Tears : RENDS - tEErs or tArEs~? I can never tell in a blank grid

62. Ceremony with a Best Female Hip-Hop Artist category : BET AWARDS

DOWN:

1. First things to learn : BASICS - "THE ABCS" didn't fit

2. Forming a summit : APICAL - new word for me

3. Tight-fitting suit : SPEEDO - ah, that kind of suit. I'm an equal opportunity sexist....

take that you misblogynist~!

4. If-then-__: programmer's flow : ELSE

5. Fast flier : JET - not SST

6. Roseanne Barr, for one : UTAHN - F%$#ing not COMIC

7. Partner of kisses : MAKES UP - HUGS didn't fit; then I wondered what went with Hershey's Kisses; the phrase "kisses and makes up" did not cross my mind

8. Choose over, with "to" : PREFER

9. Farm dwelling : STY

10. It may be skipped : STONE

11. Talking Trans Am of classic TV : KITT - Knight Industries Two-Thousand - the Wiki

New movie in 2018~?  I think I've seen that clip before....

12. Repeated melodic pattern : OSTINATO - filled via perps

13. Bit of bakeware : SHEET PAN

21. Tanning aid, for short : UV LAMP

23. "Ten North Frederick" author John : O'HARA - again, perps

24. Motivational speech component? : "RAH~!"

27. Beach birds : TERNS

29. "Michael Clayton" Oscar winner Swinton : TILDA

31. Whisky cocktail garnished with skewered cherries : ROB ROY - whiskey~?  I'm into "merlot" these days.  Here's another pic of the vineyards, taken from the second floor of the owner's house (which I have access to, since I upkeep that place as well)

33. Early bathysphere user William : BEEBE - vague

35. Safe haven for cave dwellers? : BAT HOUSE

36. "Delta of Venus" author : ANAIS NIN

39. Sushi fish : EEL

40. Early fast-food eatery : AUTOMAT

43. Unpopular sort : NO NAME - this clue/answer was unpopular with me; the missing "N" and "M" from the Across clues

45. Instrument made from a ram's horn : SHOFAR - can you tell I'm not Jewish~?  The Wiki

46. Stout : ROTUND

47. Spies : AGENTS

49. Fiber-rich cereals : BRANS - spellcheck doesn't like the plural

50. Spanish vacation island : IBIZA - and the final "B" and "Z"

53. Minimally : A TAD

55. Avian motormouth : MYNA

57. Swell : FAB

58. Like a carefully kept profile : LOW - reminds me of George Clooney's line from this scene in Dusk Til Dawn - caution~! - strong language.  I am going to find me a '68 Cougar just like theirs and restore it some day

I once had a '69

Splynter