Thursday, Auguest 18th 2016 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: North-South Defiled - the themers all run down the grid, and the last word can be prefixed by "dirty" as the reveal much more elegantly explains:

9D. Unvarnished ... or like the ends of the answers to starred clues? : DOWN AND DIRTY

4D. *Dramatic gridiron pass : LONG BOMB. Dirty bomb. Nasty concept, this device.

20D. *Put in long hours : WORK LIKE A DOG. Dirty dog. 

What?

24D. *Shopping area loiterer : MALL RAT. Dirty rat. Cagney didn't actually say "You dirty rat", the line was "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat or I'll give it to you through the door" but that's something of a mouthful for a cliché.

39D. *"The Vampire Chronicles" novelist : ANNE RICE. Dirty rice. Food! Traditionally a cajun or creole dish, I had a chinese-fusion version in New York which prominently featured monkfish liver, on of those ingredients you either like ("Yum! Fishy livery stuff!") or don't ("Yeugh! Fishy livery stuff!")

Hail fellows, well met! A nice Thursday-level effort from the popular duo of Don & C.C. The reveal was my final piece of the jigsaw - I couldn't see any connection between the other four themers, and "Unvarnished" is quite an obtuse clue. Unscrupulous, nasty are the definitions that pop into my head. Eventually the crosses helped me unlock it. Let's see what else we've got:

Across:

1. Sound check item : AMP. Does anyone ever get up to "three" at the soundcheck? All I've ever heard is "one-two, one-two".

4. Barista offering : LATTE

9. Colon pair : DOTS. Nice. My mental visuals pre-penny-drop were not pretty.

13. Alicia Keys record label : RCA. Didn't even look at this, the crosses filled it in for me.

14. Silver and gold : COLORS. Took a while. The possibilities of MEDALS and SPECIE distracted me,

15. "Now I get it" : OH, OK. Tough one to parse. I had _OH_ and couldn't "unsee" HOHO

16. Large server : URN

17. Lacking energy : ANEMIC. We toss in an unnecessary extra "a" in the UK.

18. Lean and strong : WIRY. Meet Nigel Gruff, the kicker in "The Replacements".

19. VIPs : BIGWIGS

21. Famous : OF NOTE

23. Take in : ABSORB

24. Gibbs of "The Jeffersons" : MARLA

26. Pooh pal : ROO

27. They catch a lot of waves : ANTENNAS. Nice.

31. Ailing : SICK

34. Canasta play : MELD. I've never played canasta, but with the M in place it went straight in. Not sure where I ABSORBED that word.

36. Deleted : X'D OUT. Difficult to do on a computer, not that you need to anyway. You can use strikethoughs though.

37. Do nothing : LOLL

38. Modeling material : BALSA

40. Match.com goal : DATE

41. "Live" sign : ON AIR

43. "__: Legacy": sci-fi sequel : TRON

44. Blue-roofed restaurant chain : IHOP

45. Cosmic payback : BAD KARMA

47. "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" airer : NPR. I had NBC originally which slowed me up (or should that be "down") seeing the reveal.

49. Long-plumed fisher : EGRET

50. One of the two : EITHER

54. Photobucket alternative : PICASA. Or as an app sharer in Tijuana might say "Mi Picasa es su Picasa".

57. Ice cream brand introduced in 1866 : BREYERS. It took until 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis for someone to come up with the ice cream cone though.

58. Slugger with the most career grand slam HRs : A-ROD. Didn't hesitate. C.C. would be proud.

59. "Let's hear the story!" : TELL IT! Tried TELL ME! Was wrong.

62. Big D pro : MAV. Dallas Mavericks. The owner, Mark Cuban, is something of a maverick himself. He's a very outspoken critic of what he sees as poor officiating.

63. Helpless? : SOLO. It also crosses my mind that Hope Solo would have felt pretty helpless in the penalty shoot-out against Sweden last week. There's not much you can do when you guess one way and the kicker goes the other.

64. 1805 Beethoven premiere : EROICA. The Third symphony.

65. Egyptian snake : ASP

66. Glitch : SNAG

67. Hang : DRAPE. You can hang drapes, but you can't drape hangs.

68. Early video game letters : NES. Nintendo Entertainment System.

Down:

1. Caribbean vacation spot : ARUBA

2. Fast-food pork sandwich : McRIB.

3. Twinges : PANGS

5. Bass output : ALES. Nice clue. Bass registered the world's first trademark, the red triangle, in 1875.

6. Hiddleston who plays Loki in "Thor" : TOM. Thank you, crosses.

7. Cycle starter : TRI-

8. Motorcycle cop, perhaps : ESCORT. Had to work for this one too. ESC didn't prompt me as quickly as it should have.

10. Largest Mississippi River feeder by volume : OHIO

11. Civil wrong : TORT

12. __ terrier : SKYE

14. Giza neighbor : CAIRO. Close neighbor.

22. Show off, in a way : FLEX.

25. "As a result ... " : AND SO

28. Flood survivor : NOAH

29. Pilot, or a prefix with pilot : AUTO. Pondered this and ... oh! The Honda Pilot. Nice!

30. Escalator part : STEP

31. One who is often disorderly : SLOB

32. New Rochelle college : IONA. Nailed it, finally!

33. Dressed : CLAD

35. Words on Alice's cake : EAT ME

42. Joplin pieces : RAGS. Scott, not Janice. Cue "The Entertainer".

46. Not for kids : R-RATED

48. Mary-in-mourning sculpture : PIETA. We had this a couple of weeks ago clued differently. Handy letter sequence.

51. Stud : HE-MAN

52. Prepare to start over, perhaps : ERASE

53. Answers briefly? : RSVP'S

54. Free ticket : PASS

55. Liver nutrient : IRON

56. Pop : COLA

57. Screen signal : BLIP. This foxed me for a second until - aha! Radar!

60. Make a misstep : ERR

61. Mauna __ : LOA "Long Mountain". Not to be confused with "Wakea's Mountain" - Mauna Kea.

That about wraps it up for me today. Enjoy your Thursdays!

Steve

And heeeeeere's the grid!

Wednesday, August 17, 2016, Patricia Moran

TITLE: HOUSE PARTY

Patricia has given us a lovely Wednesday puzzle where she starts two or three-word phrases with a word or words that are an architectural style of a house. Patricia used no reveal for her theme but I have one for you as I have pictured some famous TV houses, in the styles our constructor has chosen, and their addresses. The names of each TV show associated with these houses are revealed just above the grid at the end of this write-up *.

THEME ANSWERS:

20. Period preserved by a district in Williamsburg, Virginia : COLONIAL TIMES - A COLONIAL house on 211 Pine Street, Universal Studios Backlot 

29. Title character in a Beatles "White Album" song : BUNGALOW BILL - A BUNGALOW house on 619 S. Runnymeade Avenue, Evansville, 35. Ill. neighbor : IND

46. Snacks with a New England lighthouse on the package : CAPE COD CHIPS - A CAPE COD house on 1164 Morning Glory Circle, West Oak Street, Burbank, CA

56. Dip for veggies : RANCH DRESSING - A RANCH house on 11222 Dilling Street, North Hollywood, California

Husker Gary here, admitting that I did have some issues but came away with a very satisfying "got 'er done". E-TOLL, THANK U and BUNGALOW BILL made for a slow NE.

Across

1. Paper unit : SHEET 

6. "Never Wave at __": Rosalind Russell film : A WAC - A forerunner of Private Benjamin?

10. Trash transport : SCOW - In NYC many of these SCOWS unloaded at Fresh Kills, Staten Island which is to be converted into a park 3X bigger than Central Park

14. Software security update : PATCH

15. Capitale in which "La Dolce Vita" was filmed : ROMA

16. Top-rated : A-ONE

17. Lanai hi : ALOHA - It means hello, goodbye and please check the oil!

18. Soft-spoken painter Bob : ROSS

19. Macramé feature : KNOT

23. Subj. for many an au pair : ESL

24. Ornamental pond fish : KOI

25. Denver-to-Chicago dir. : ENE - A compass heading of 67.5˚

26. Buf-__: facial sponge brand : PUF

32. Treadmill setting : PACE - Our crossword Corgi friends keeping the PACE

36. Doone of fiction and cookies : LORNA

37. Green subj. : ECOL

38. Drained of color : ASHEN

41. Spring : LEAP

42. __ Peachik: flavored vodka : STOLI

44. Tic-tac-toe loser : OXO 

45. Glorifying works : ODES

50. Colour ending : ISE

51. Bump-log link : ON A

52. Mama bear, in Mexico : OSA - Que mamá OSA tiene tres cachorros (That mama bear has three cubs)

53. Newscaster Lindström : PIA - Here shown at the right with her mother Ingrid Bergman who deserted Pia and her dad to marry Roberto Rossellini when Pia was 10. They reconciled when she was 18.

60. Fervor : ZEAL

62. Oodles : A LOT

63. Frugal sort : SAVER

64. "What's gotten __ you?" : INTO - Did you see The Exorcist? The animations I could have posted grossed me out!

65. Predecessors of euros : LIRE

66. Get together in secret? : ELOPE

67. Delight : GLEE

68. Finish a flight : LAND

69. Morning blend : LATTE


Down

1. One usually follows a comma : SPACE

2. Los Angeles Angels, in sportscasts : HALOS

3. Traveling convenience : E-TOLL -Pay up or else...

4. Reverberate : ECHO

5. 1998 Alanis Morissette hit : THANK U

6. Calls before a criminal court : ARRAIGNS

7. Knitting supply : WOOL

8. Dutch beer named for a river : AMSTEL

9. Monaco attraction : CASINO

10. Benefit : SAKE

11. Partnered in crime : CONSPIRED - A none too bright group who CONSPIRED. One of them, however, did change history

12. Lennon's widow : ONO

13. Just painted : WET

21. Ancient Aegean region : IONIA

22. Cry softly : MEWL

27. Arm bones : ULNAE - Bumping ULNAE

28. Book jacket parts : FLAPS

29. "Beauty and the Beast" beauty : BELLE

30. __ committee : AD HOC - Latin for "for this"

31. Ties with clasps : BOLOS

32. "My Cousin Vinny" star : PESCI - Eating his first grit

33. Fill in for : ACT AS

34. Play well with others : COOPERATE

39. Advised urgently : EXHORTED

40. __ pollution : NOISE

43. Desktop image : ICON - The ICONS on my messy desktop

47. Readily available, as a doctor : ON CALL

48. Bright bloom : DAHLIA

49. Bunch : PASSEL

53. Basketball move : PIVOT - Here is a 360 degree PIVOT and "nothin' but net!"

54. Klutzy : INEPT

55. Say yes : AGREE

57. Salve additive : ALOE

58. Michael who played Worf on "Star Trek: T.N.G." : DORN - We baseball peeps know Corbin Bernson's movie DORN better

59. Spanish parlor : SALA

60. Sharp turn : ZIG

61. Shutterfly order: Abbr. : ENL



Now, we will take input from our learned solvers who I know will follow HOUSE RULES:

*Theme house answers

20. COLONIAL - Leave It To Beaver

29. BUNGALOW - Roseanne (Recently for sale for $129,000)

46. CAPE COD - Bewitched

56. RANCH - The Brady Bunch

THE GRID

Tuesday, August 16, 2016 Patti Varol

Theme: Discrete Approach - Catching someone's eye but hiding it in the theme entries.

17A. Annual Time honoree: PERSON OF THE YEAR. Hey

27A. Nickname of a Nobel-winning novelist: PAPA HEMINGWAY. Ahem

47A. Doesn't get confused, as facts: KEEPS STRAIGHT. Psst

60A. Verbal nudge found in each set of puzzle circles: ATTENTION GETTER

Argyle here. This is Patti's second Tuesday in two weeks. A bit funky but fun.

Across:

1. Sherbet flavor: LIME

5. Exhalation of relief: [SIGH]

9. Rumor, to a rumor mill: GRIST

14. With 5-Down, "Spanglish" actor: ADAM. 5D. See 14-Across: SANDLER

15. Capital of Samoa: APIA

16. Vitality: [OOMPH!]

20. "__ who?!": SEZ. "Sez me; that's who!"

21. Throw in: ADD

22. Selection for a reading: PASSAGE

23. Like LAX and JFK: INTL. Airports that are INTernationaL.

25. __ colada: PIÑA

26. Plant, as seed: SOW

31. Under the intended pitch: FLAT. (music)

32. DVR button: REC. (record)

33. Mogadishu is its cap.: SOM. (Somalia)

34. "Shush!": "CAN IT!"

36. Concern for an orthodontist: GAP

38. NFLer again in 2016: LA RAM

42. Old tape initials: VHS. Video Home System (VHS)

44. Detective Spade: SAM. Can you remember his comic book ads for Wildroot Hair Tonic?

46. Greek letter that would be last in English: ZETA

50. "The Greatest" boxer: ALI

52. __-chic: hippie-influenced fashion style: BOHO. "BoHo" is an abbreviation of Bohemian Homeless. Much, much more in this Wikipedia entry. Fashion

53. Knee-baring skirt: MINI

54. Letterman's successor: COLBERT. Stephen Colbert.

56. Like a texter who types ":-(": SAD

57. Winter illness: FLU

63. Trusty mount: STEED

64. Advertising award: CLIO

65. Gradually withdraw: WEAN

66. Makes by working: EARNS

67. Green Hornet's sidekick: KATO

Van Williams Bruce Lee Green Hornet 1966

68. Betting numbers: ODDS

Down:

1. Gym class punishment, perhaps: LAPS. I remember them well.

2. Cannes concept: IDÉE

3. Oft-molded almond confection: MARZIPAN. We see it often in the bithday cakes that show up here. (Thank you, CED)

4. Ambulance letters: EMS. (Emergency Medical Services)

6. Apple with earbuds: iPOD

7. Picture file suffix: GIF. (Graphics Interchange Format)

8. Something stuck in a bonnet: HATPIN. Both are vintage now. Well, except for Hat Day at the Saratoga flat track.

9. Misses military roll call, maybe: GOES AWOL

10. Rob __: cocktails: ROYs. Ruination of a good Scotch.

11. "Whatever works": "I'M EASY". But I'd have a Rob Roy if you're buying.

12. Wolfgang Puck's restaurant: SPAGO

13. Pitched: THREW

18. Inaugural recitation: OATH

19. Puts on the museum wall: HANGs

24. One born there: NATIVE

25. "Guernica" muralist Pablo: PICASSO

27. Rank below cpl.: PFC. (Private First Class)

28. __ française: À LA

29. "Family Guy" daughter: MEG

30. Like the '69 N.Y. Mets: AMAZIN'

35. Diver's sickness: THE BENDS

37. Bit of butter: PAT

39. Found a new home for, as an unwanted present: REGIFTED

40. Olympics entrant: Abbr.: ATH. (athlete)

41. Yoga class need: MAT

43. Baseball or golf: SPORT

45. Nearsighted cartoon character: MR. MAGOO

47. Off-__: askew: KILTER. See 25-Down.

48. Cornball routine: SHTICK

49. Executive's confidante: AIDE

50. Make __ for: argue in favor of: A CASE

51. Ton of, slangily: LOTTA

55. "It's __ fun": BEEN

56. Foul mood: SNIT

58. Set the pace: LEAD

59. Coffee servers: URNS

61. Suffix with pay or Cray: OLA

62. Couple: TWO

Argyle

Monday, August 15, 2016 Mark McClain and Andrea Carla Michaels

Theme: TNT - Three word phrases with initial initials of T A T

20. Painful reality that one doesn't want to face: THE AWFUL TRUTH

28. Close enough to share intimate secrets: THICK AS THIEVES

47. Features of many mountain roads: TWISTS AND TURNS

57. 1984 #1 hit for Cyndi Lauper: TIME AFTER TIME

71. Body art, briefly ... and, initially, a hint to this puzzle's four longest answers: TAT

Argyle here but it should have been Steve! Sports and airports and FOOD! Oh My! Some of the clueing is Thursday level, too.

Across:

1. Scale readings: Abbr.: WTs. And sure, I wanted LBs first.

4. Pau or Marc of the NBA: GASOL crossing 4D. London airport: GATWICK

My personal Natick: The Gasol brothers are professional basketball players from Spain. Gatwick is UK's 2nd-largest airport but I only knew of Heathrow.

9. Roofing material: PITCH

14. Snicker syllable: HEH

15. Essential acid, familiarly: AMINO

16. Online cash-back deal: E-BATE

17. WSW's opposite: ENE

18. Giveaway bags: TOTEs

19. Lone Star State: TEXAS

23. Bite-sized fish dish: SUSHI with 21D. 23-Across tuna: AHI

24. Bond creator Fleming: IAN

25. "I thought so!": "A-HA!"

33. Didn't toss out: KEPT

34. Vigilant: ALERT

35. 2015 award for Steph Curry: ESPY. He is another pro basketball player.

39. Have a craving (for): YEARN

42. Crucifix letters: INRI. “Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Ivdaeorvm” (Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews)

43. Skin irritations: SORES

45. Slips that promise payment: IOUs. (I Owe You)

53. Walk-__: small roles: ONs

54. British ref. work: OED. (Oxford English Dictionary)

55. March b-ball tourneys, casually: NCAAs. (National Collegiate Athletic Association)

62. Nest sound: CHIRP

64. Start to type?: PROTO. (prototype)

65. Chaney of horror films: LON

66. Tapered boat: CANOE

67. Five minutes past a quarter of: TEN TO. A bit convoluted clue.

68. "Patience __ virtue": IS A

69. Use up money: SPEND

70. Cook, as mussels: STEAM

Down:

1. Stimulates, as an appetite: WHETS

2. Basic training command: "TEN-HUT!". Stand at attention.

3. "Good grief!": "SHEESH!"

5. "I __ the opinion ... ": AM OF

6. In __: unmoved: SITU

7. New law student: ONE L

8. Went berserk: LOST IT

9. Porky Pig's girlfriend: PETUNIA

10. "Yeah, right!": "I BET!"

11. Financial shelter: TAX HAVEN

12. Windy City "L" operator: Abbr.: CTA. (Chicago Transit Authority)

13. Stag party attendees: HEs

22. Cheering word: RAH

26. Münster mister: HERR

27. Italian wine region: ASTI

29. __ lime pie: KEY

30. Big primate: APE

31. Laundry day target: STAIN

32. Quarterback Manning: ELI

35. This, in Spain: ESTO

36. Scattered, as seed: SOWN

37. Uncorrupted: PRISTINE

38. "Of course!": "YES"

40. Angler's pole: ROD

41. Cashew or almond: NUT

44. Trod heavily: STOMPED

46. Solarium: SUNROOM

48. Set eyes on: SEE

49. Responds well to change: ADAPTS

50. Sales slip: Abbr.: RCT. (receipt)

51. Stick the landing, say: NAIL IT

52. Stuffed Indian pastry: SAMOSA

56. Parisian political body: SENAT

58. Get the creases out of: IRON

59. Stew (over): FRET

60. "When you hear the __, please leave your message": TONE

61. Jazzy James: ETTA

62. Emails a dupe to: CCs

63. WWII General __ Arnold: HAP

His Story

Argyle