Saturday, Feb 6th, 2016, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie~!

Words: 68 (missing F,J,V,W,X)

Blocks: 32

Can I just say that it didn't matter how difficult this puzzle was going to be, I was just happy to see "Silk" at the top, next to the author's name~?  Not a walk in the park, mind you - some clever fill and clues, but somewhat dulled by a few "meh" ones.  The thing about Mr. Silk's puzzles is that if I just "sit" with a clue, eventually an idea will "40D."  and give me a fighting chance.  The last corner to fall for me was the NE, after I changed one four-letter entry.  Pretty standard grid, with triple 10-letter corners connected to a fourth 10-letter spanner, offset, and the one nine-letter central clue;

33. Old, fading ad on a building : GHOST SIGN

Furniture AND Undertaking~? I wonder what they kind they make....

5. Potential diamond winner : GO-AHEAD RUN - not sure which diamond it might be; we were talking at UPS about skiing this week, and there are 'diamonds' in that pastime, too

58. Newark neighbor : EAST ORANGE - New Jersey - my birth state

PatersoNJward~!

ACROSS:

1. R&B Foods brand since 2014 : RAGU - Once I got the "U", I went with a WAG

15. Old Testament book : AMOS - oops, I put in ENos - but I had the "OS" part already, so I'll call that 0-for-2

16. Far from perfect : ERROR PRONE - like, say, my first pass on a Saturday solve

17. Prepare for a meal : MAKE - I get it, but....meh

18. Bakery aisle offerings : ONION ROLLS

19. Burpee product : PLANT SEEDS - a bit redundant to me, but I see boxes from the company at UPS all the time, so I knew what to look for

21. Place to build : PLOT - dah~!  Not SITE, my four-letter mistake - 25% correct, 100% wrong

22. Get together : AGREE - I tried UNITE first

23. D-Day transport : LST - been a while since this has appeared in a Sat puzzle

24. Indicator of stress: Abbr. : ITALics

25. 1997 Hawke/Thurman sci-fi film : GATTACA - didn't see it; - IMDb page. I just watched "Bridge of Spies" - very good movie, but a bit drawn out

28. Cell terminal : ANODE - battery cell; I did ponder TOWER or PHONE at first

29. Hummingbird's pair? : EMs

30. Guzzle : CHUG

32. Kudos : PROPS - praise synonyms

35. Jazz dance : STOMP

37. "Aaugh!" : "OH NO~!"

38. Avoid, as an issue : BEG - around these parts it's more like "beg off"

41. Crystal of country : GAYLE - one of my first fills

42. Poisonous plant in the nightshade family : HENBANE - the Wiki

44. How some data is backed up : ON CD

45. Low-fat meat source : EMU - one of those Saturday learning moments

48. Busters : NARCS

49. Psalm words : O GOD

50. Plan Z? : LAST RESORT - clever

53. Most elementary level : GROUND ZERO - this was exactly what I was talking about at 1A. last week~!

55. Cyan relative : AQUA

56. Putty base : LINSEED OIL - ah.  I am familiar with putty, but never checked the ingredients

57. Crave, with "for" : LUST - not PINE; see 32D.

59. Nantes noodle? : TÊTE - Frawnche - and for those who are offended - see here @ 40A.

DOWN:

1. Agitated state : RAMPAGE - also a pretty cool arcade video game; you start out as a city-bashing creature, but if you take enough damage, you revert to your human self

2. Mixture : AMALGAM

3. Mario game racers : GO-KARTS - this is one video game I never got into

4. Online discussion venue : USENET - been popular on Saturday lately

5. Storms of the '90s : GEOs - GM Chevrolet sub-brand; they made the Metro, which had a 3-cylinder engine - the Wiki

6. Alençon's department : ORNE - more Frawnche - I did not realize their "counties" are called departments

7. Fourth-largest moon of Uranus : ARIEL

Odd place for a "Midsummer Night's Dream"

8. Range protectors : HOODS - ah.  I was thinking of some "park ranger", but we're talking this kind of range

9. Physicist Mach : ERNST - oddly, my first two 'confident' fills were proper names; just goes to show, you either know it, or your don't

10. Diamond birthstone mo. : APRil - my birthstone is Amethyst - the chart

11. Surprise with a visit : DROP IN ON

12. Antique shop furniture item : ROLL-TOP - desk, very elaborate construction-wise and still stylish today

13. Vents : UNLOADS

14. Get cozy : NESTLE - OK, I was asked to show some scantily-clad men, so....let's get zesty

20. "I want to learn" : "TEACH ME"

26. Ocean turbulence : CHOP

27. It borders It. : AUS - not many choices, really, so I went with SWI - then SUI, then SUS, and then oh, right, AUS

28. French battle site in WWI : ARGONNE

31. "Little modified Pon-Pon" in a 1964 hit : GTO - pretty good WAG on my part; then again, weren't half the songs in the 60's about your girl and/or your car~?

32. Needle source : PINE - ah, here's where PINE goes

33. Valuable particles : GOLD DUST

34. Proctor's warning : SHH~!!!

35. Wine-and-fruit beverage : SANGRIA

36. Barons : TYCOONS

38. Bernini's genre : BAROQUE

39. Coat, in a way : ENCRUST

40. Develop over time, as an idea : GESTATE

41. Android developer : GOOGLE

43. Volcanic rock : BASALT

45. Superior : ELDER

46. Tribute maker : MAZDA - more cars; same thing as a Ford Escape

47. Apply to : USE ON

51. Course with many angles, briefly : TRIG - ah, not GEOMetry

52. Something to fill : ROLE

54. Hero in a virtual reality film trilogy : NEO - "The Matrix"

Splynter

Friday, February 5, 2016, Alex Vratsanos

Theme: Going around the block in my town.

Alex Vratsanos, has worked his way back to Friday after two Sunday and then two Saturday LATs. He also has been published on all 7 days by the NYT. C.C. posted his INTERVIEW last year. Today he gives us a visual puzzle that requires not filling in the word TOWN in each of the theme answers. The reveal tells us to look for the theme fill on the outside (outskirts) of the puzzle. The visual requires you 'see' the word TOWN  metaphorically outside of the grid. This style is an extension of the rebus where multiple letters appear in a grid. This is actually the exact opposite of last week's puzzle where a four letter word was inserted into the fill. I thought the theme came very easily as Chinatown in San Francisco is very well known and had to be the solution to 1 across. Of course anytime a theme starts there it will be a challenge. I wonder if the grid-spanning reveal was the inspiration for the puzzle?

There are a few sparkly fill longer than the theme fill which will upset some, such as BASS SAX, I'LL TELL,  SLITHER, , BARTLETT and  SALES REP and a variety of six letter ones.  Let's look it over.

1A. San Francisco section : CHINA TOWN. (5). A fun place to visit.

6A. Hailing place? : HOME TOWN (4).  This is mine.

10A. One growing up fast? : BOOM TOWN.(4). Often fueled by mine strikes. From the 1800s, looks like where I grew up.

65A. Hightail it : SKIP TOWN. (4). A bit of an outlier as it is generic.

66A. Site of Cornwallis' surrender : YORKTOWN. (4). In Virginia, sorry I get stupid at times.

67A. City on New York's Black River : WATERTOWN. (5). Pretty in the fall, but obscure. OLEAN 2?

1D. Cattle-raising district : COW TOWN. (3). Maybe this is where he meant. LINK. (2:51).

13D. Textile production settlement : MILL TOWN. (4). See 6A.

24D. Tourism hub : RESORT TOWN. (6). Where I live now.

34D. Place to see stars : TINSEL TOWN.(6). Where they make the movies. READ.

51D. Historic Omaha suburb : BOYS TOWN.(4). I will let HG and other address this place.

61D. Drama set in Grover's Corners : OUR TOWN. (3). Thornton Wilder PLAY.

The reveal:
38A. Border area, which contains a hint to solving this puzzle's 12 border answers : OUTSKIRTS OF TOWN (15).

Across:

14. Laura Petrie catchphrase : OH ROB. Mary Tyler Moore to Dick Van Dyke.

15. Will's role in "Celebrity Jeopardy!" sketches on "SNL" : ALEX. (Trebeck) A bit of self shout out here. Now how do you work VRATSANOS into the grid?

16. Cultural opening? : AGRIcultrural.

17. Slip 'N Slide maker : WHAMO. Wham-O Inc. is a toy company in Woodland Hills, California, USA. They are known for marketing many popular toys in the past 50 years, including the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee, the Slip 'N Slide, the Super Ball, the Trac-Ball, Silly String, the Hacky Sack and the Boogie Board. Per wiki. The company was born in 1948, a really vintage year.

18. Singer Halliwell : GERI.  We all remember Ginger Spice.

19. __ time : REAL.

20. National alternative : AVIS. Rental cars.

22. Playground threat : I'LL TELL. We did not tolerate squealers.

24. Word with guilt or debt : RIDDEN.

27. Symbol of strength : STEEL.

28. Those, in Tijuana : ESOS. Spanish.

29. Tennessee team, briefly : VOLS. Timely as former Tennessee Volunteer Peyton Manning preps for the Super Bowl.

31. Unveiling : DEBUT. It will be Cam Newton' s debut, number four for number 18.

35. It's double-hyphenated: Abbr. : SSN. xxx-xx-xxxx

36. South Asian garment : SARI.

37. Helical pasta : ROTINI. Sounds almost religious.

41. Get back : REGAIN.

42. Foot on a farm : HOOF. Hand: PAW   Foot: HOOF

43. Fleur-de-__ : LIS.

44. Search casually, as for a bar pickup : TROLL. Anyone else think of this classic? MOVIE. (2:37)

45. Marathon prep run : TEN-K.

46. Found (on) : BASE. I think it should say upon.

47. Toon with an odd laugh : ELMER.

49. Author Allende : ISABEL. The most successful Spanish language author?

51. Big wind : BASS SAX. Three Esses....cool. You know what they say, even bass sax is good sax.

54. "Doggone it!" : HECK. Never hear this anymore.

55. General Bradley : OMAR.

56. Rao's competitor : RAGU. This is like suggesting a competitor for a Maserati is a Chevy.

58. Richard __, Pulitzer-winning author of "Empire Falls" : RUSSO.

62. Ranch neckwear : YOKE. Hopefully only for the livestock...

63. Old players, briefly : VCRS.

64. Root of the Progressive Era : ELIHU. An interesting MAN.

Down:

2. He lost to RMN : HHH. Hubert Horatio Humphrey. Also interesting.

3. Nest egg letters : IRA.

4. Migrants : NOMADS.

5. Like stars : ABOVE.

6. Witches : HAGS. Witches get such a bad rap.

7. Miss modifier? : OLE. As a school nickname....not easy to see.

8. Good qualities : MERITS.

9. Kick out : EXILE.

10. The 18th edition of his original work was published in 2012 : BARTLETT. The man and the quotations.

11. Type of arch : OGEE.

12. __-B : ORAL. What is your toothbrush, electric?

21. Without success : IN VAIN.

23. Opened : LED OFF.

25. Bank, cardwise : ISSUER. OOF.

26. Plea to remain : DON'T GO.

27. Move like ophidians : SLITHER. Fancy name (ok scientific name) for snakes. "It had to be snakes!"

30. "Catch-22" pilot : ORR. Our hockey star gets a rest for this supporting character in a wonderful book.

32. H.S. experiment site : BIO-LAB.

33. Reckless, say : UNWISE.

36. Tricks of the trade : SKILLS.

37. Annual award recipient : ROOKIE. Baseball rookie of the year probably.

39. Pitcher? : SALES REP.

40. Simba, to Sarabi : SON.

45. Company founded in Beaumont : TEXACO. Beaumont, TEXAS.

46. Scott of "NCIS: New Orleans" : BAKULA.

48. "Neato!" : MARVY. Not in my world.

50. Common fastener : SCREW. This has so many possible twists and turns, all too risque for now.

52. Crazily : AMOK.

53. Munro pen name : SAKI. If you do crosswords you should know this.

54. Corn cover : HUSK. A CSO to Gary?

57. Canine warning : GRR.

59. Canine command : SIT. Nice pairing.

60. Seagoing pronoun : SHE. Yes ships are female.

Oh my we are into the second month of the year already. Luckily with online bill paying I do not risk writing 2015 on my checks. Anyway, I hope you checked out this fun puzzle and write up and see you next time. Lemonade out.

Thursday, February 4th, 2016 Roland Huget

Theme: Words to the "wise" - the theme entries all comprise two words (both of three syllables) ending in "Y".

17A. Dishonest memoir, e.g. : LITERARY FORGERY. One of the most famous in my lifetime were the "Hitler Diaries" purchased by the German news magazine Stern which then sold serialization rights to many newspapers, most prominently the Sunday Times in Britain. The (then) respected historian Hugh Trevor-Roper declared them genuine. They weren't.

26A. Place for permanent storage : SECONDARY MEMORY. Permanent as long as the storage device doesn't fail, then it's a place for permanently-lost data. Hard drives, CD-Roms and the like are secondary memory.

46A. Part of West Point's curriculum : MILITARY HISTORY. Seems reasonable. Other parts include marching, being shouted at and hat-wearing.

58A. One of anatomy's great vessels : PULMONARY ARTERY. Carries de-oxygenated blood from the heart to the lungs. Quite important in the grand scheme of things.

Nice, rhythmic, no-reveal theme. My title doesn't really do justice to the -ARY -E/ORY echoes with the theme entries but I couldn't find a snappy way to explain it. My clumsy bad, but the best I could do.

Four grid-spanning 15's and some interesting fill. Quite a few unknown or couldn't-remember proper names for me - SEIJI, ERVIN, EDER, RADNER, BERG, IOLANI and GENA - but the crosses were fair and I managed to WAG the potential natick of RADNER/EDER so no harm, no foul. Let's see what else we've got going on:

Across:

1. It precedes Romans : ACTS. Both clue and answer refer to shortened names of the books in the Bible's New Testament - "Paul's Letters to the Romans" and "Acts of the Apostles". Paul was a prolific letter-writer, sending off his missives to the Romans, the Thessalonians, Corinthians, Galacians, Phillipians and many more. We'd probably call it spam today.

5. Maestro Ozawa : SEIJI. Chinese-born Japanese conductor with hall-of-fame hair:

10. __ de somme: beast of burden : BÊTE. Not the most common French word and only clued this way once before in the LAT.

14. "__ luck!" : WHAT

15. '50s-'70s senator who wrote "Humor of a Country Lawyer" : ERVIN. North Carolina senator Sam.

16. Shuffle, for one : IPOD

20. Ancient amulet : SCARAB. Symbolizing the holy beetle in Egypt.

21. Dark clouds, perhaps : OMENS

22. Pulitzer-winning book critic Richard : EDER

24. Bear's team : BAMA. Paul "Bear" Bryant, legendary head coach of the University of Alabama football team.

33. Dedicatee of an 1810 piano manuscript : ELISE. Beethoven's Für Elise.

34. Brand that includes N-Strike blasters : NERF

35. Sarah McLachlan song : ADIA. Let's have some of Sarah's lovely voice.

36. Gun : REV

37. Genre descended from the cakewalk : RAGTIME

40. Gift subject to skepticism : E.S.P. No abbreviation designation in the clue?

41. Aussie colleges : UNIS. Contraction of Universities. Brits use the same word.

43. "Lulu" composer : BERG

44. "__ Toward Tomorrow": 1996 TV movie with Christopher Reeve : A STEP. Thank you, crosses.

49. Merged news agency : TASS. The Russian news agency. I'm not sure about the "merged" definition here - ITAR-TASS, as the agency was known post-breakup of the Soviet Union is not two organizations, it's two names for the same organization. Wikipedia explains.

50. Convenient carrier : TOTE

51. Garden gadget : EDGER

54. Extent : LENGTH

63. Classical theaters : ODEA. I always want to put "ODEONS", then rapidly run out of room.

64. Southwestern New York city : OLEAN. Has a population of just over 14,000 which seems pretty small in "city" terms.

65. Linear : ONE-D. Took me a second to parse this one out - ONED looked a tad weird.

66. Filter : SEEP

67. "South Pacific" co-star Gaynor : MITZI

68. Bunker tool : RAKE. Here's Sergio Garcia raking his own bunker. Maybe he lost a bet with his caddy: "If I miss this putt I'll carry my own clubs and rake my own bunkers. If I make it, you buy dinner". "Doh!".

Down:

1. Leatherworker's set : AWLS

2. Smart : CHIC

3. Part of TTFN : TA TA. For now.

4. Man cave features : STEREOS. Probably would be a little dated now. If your man cave doesn't boast Dolby 7.1 surround sound connected to a bazillion gigawatt home theater system your friends probably don't want to come over and watch the game.

5. Wreckage resting place : SEA BED

6. Throw the ball away, say : ERR

7. Campus climber : IVY

8. Smucker's spread : JIF. Laura Scudder's Old-Fashioned Nutty for me in the PB stakes. I like the ritual of stirring the oil back in when you open a new jar.

9. Suffix with neutr- : INO

10. "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" matriarch : BIG MAMA. Thank you, crosses.

11. One-on-one sport : EPÉE. En garde! Touché!

12. Conflicted : TORN

13. Slow Churned ice cream : EDY'S. We call it Dreyer's out here in the west, but it's the same stuff.

18. 1978 "SNL" Emmy winner : RADNER. I always think of Rita Rudner, and forget Glida Radner. I'll try not to next time.

19. European capital : ROME. Not Oslo this time.

23. 1994 Stanley Cup winners : RANGERS. The New York team captained at the time by the legendary Mark Messier.

24. Properly : BY RIGHT

25. Radio toggle switch : AM/FM

26. Hospital supply : SERUM

27. Nicholas Gage memoir : ELENI. Thank you, crosses.

28. __ suit : CIVIL

29. Hear again : RETRY

30. Tribute title words : ODE TO

31. Flight segment : RISER. Part of a staircase. I got rebuked in the comments a little while ago for mentioning that stairs have many interestingly-named parts without naming them all. Oops, I did it again. What a recividist I am.

32. Like some small dogs : YAPPY

38. "__ le roi!": French Revolution cry : À BAS. Down with the King!

39. It's to dye for : EASTER

42. Website directory : SITE MAP

45. Loud speaker : STENTOR. I'd not heard the noun before, but I knew the adjective "stentorian" so it filled in quite easily.

47. Poi source : TARO. Food!

48. Honolulu's __ Palace : IOLANI. Residence of the Hawai'ian kings. Much poi was doubtless consumed here.

51. Long narrative poem : EPOS

52. Dandy : DUDE

53. High spirits : GLEE

55. Rowlands of "The Notebook" : GENA

56. 94-day undertaking in the Cheryl Strayed memoir "Wild" : TREK. Tried HIKE, then WALK and finally TREK. I enjoyed the book and admired the brutal honesty of the author confronting her fears and behaviors.

57. Classic fictional villain : HYDE

59. Nice handle? : NOM. When you see "Nice" at the start of a clue, it's often referring to the french city. Handle = name, thence "nom".

60. "Prince __": "Aladdin" song : ALI

61. U.S. Army rank qualifier : RET.

62. Bosox legend : YAZ. Carl Yastrzemski of the Boston Red Sox. See, that's why "Bosox' Yaz" is much easier.

I think that wraps it up from me. I'll leave you with the grid and my WAG of the "D" to finish off:

Steve

Wednesday, February 3, 2016 C. W. Stewart

Theme:  Something you find on a fish.  No, not FINS or GILLS.  Think more musically - no, not even Vince Gill - and the reveal will make it clear.  So let's start there.

38 A. Musical sequence found at the starts of the answers to the starred clues : SCALE.   This word has many disparate meanings as both a noun and a verb.  Here, we are talking about a set of musical notes, ordered by pitch.  This puzzle has them ordered in ascending sequence, though, of course, you can also go the other way.  We're not told if the quality of the scale is major, minor, nor if it is one of the many modal variants.  But we can sing along anyway.  

The beginnings of the first words of eight in-the-language phrases name the notes of the SCALE.

1 A. *Where deliveries may be left : DOOR STEP.   The spot where mail-order deliveries end up.  DO is the first scale note, and the tonal center, aka tonic, for the SCALE and any music based upon it.

17 A. *Airport pickup : RENT-A-CAR.   The plane does not take you to your final destination.  You usually need to drive there, and you can use a conveniently located vehicle for a price.  RE is the 2nd SCALE step, a whole tone above the tonic.   We won't talk about the Phrygian mode, the comma of Pythagorus, nor vibrational frequencies.

So - who is she?

20 A. *Modest garment : MIDI-SKIRT.  Mid-calf-length to protect delicate legs from winter winds and prying eyes.  Seems a bit awkward.  MI is the third scale step, another whole tone above RE in a major scale, but only a half tone up if the quality of the SCALE is minor.  BTW - the distance from one note to another is called the interval.

Is midi evil?

26 A. *Hiker's pouch : FANNY PACK.  A container on a belt, often perched over a person's back side. [But not in England.]  FA is the fourth scale step above the tonic.  This note does not vary between major and minor scales, and its interval above the tonic is called the perfect fourth. 

Chic accessory?

51 A. *Infant's dietary prohibition : SOLID FOOD.  Mom's milk is best, formula is OK.  Save the bran flakes for when they're a bit older.  SOL is the fifth scale step, always a perfect fifth above the tonic.  

58 A. *Breaking point : LAST STRAW.  An ancient measure of camel capacity being the last straw minus one.   LA is the 6th scale step, a major or minor sixth above the tonic, depending on the quality of the scale.

67 A. *History book chart : TIME LINE.   A graphic representation of what happened when.  TI is the penultimate SCALE step, either a major or minor seventh interval above the tonic.  As you may have gleaned by now, the natural minor SCALE differs from the major by having lowered 3rd, 6th, and 7th SCALE steps.   There are other versions, but we needn't get into that here

72 A. *Words of admonishment : DON’T DO IT.   Have we heard these words?  Have we heeded them?  Probably not.  This brings us to another DO, a perfect octave above where we started.  Despite what I said earlier, I'll point out that the frequency is exactly twice that of the previous DO.

Hi gang.  JazzBumpa conducting for today's thematically rich excursion.  Note that though the spellings are right on for the eight notes, the pronunciations vary a bit.  Rogers and Hammerstein wrote a song, based on a major scale, that illustrates all this, but I hate it and will not link. However, I will wave my arms around - so let's see where the music takes us.

Across

9. Adorn in relief : EMBOSS.  To carve, mold or stamp a design into a surface.

15. First three of ten digits : AREA CODE.  So you can phone home.  

16. Bad guy : MEANIE.  Like Kylo Ren.

A bit off key

18. State with conviction : ASSERT.   Or aver or avow.

19. "It's __ cause" : A LOST.   Words of giving up.

22. Extra-play qtrs. : OTs.  Over Times.

24. Influenced by, in recipes : A LA.  In the style of whoever the influence might be.

25. July baby, maybe : LEO.  Astrology sign usually associated with August, actually running from July 23 to Aug 22.   LEOS are generous, loyal and supportive.

31. Storm winds : GALES.   

33. Have yet to pay : OWE.

34. NFC South team : ATL.  The ATLanta Falcons of the National Football Conference South, a division of the National Football League.

35. Part of rpm : PER.

36. Whipped cream amount : GLOB.  Non-specific quantity, but I'll take two, thank you.

40. Authoritarian figure : CZAR.   Named for Russian despots of a by-gone era.

44. Chair part : ARM.  What - no love for the leg?  Is that why we have the MIDI SKIRT?

46. Balderdash : ROT.  Nonsense.

47. Poetic tribute : ODE.

48. Volunteer's offer : I'LL GO.

54. Buck's mate : DOE.   A deer, my dear, and a thematic homophone.

55. Sun Devils of the Pac-12 : Arizona State Univesity.

57. Afternoon social : TEA.  In which the beverage is accompanied by sandwiches or cakes.

62. Giant : TITAN.   From Greek mythology, the twelve TITANS were gigantic second order deities, six female and six male.   The familiar Greek pantheon of Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera and Demeter were the offspring of the Titan Cronus.

66. Where it originally was : IN SITU.  From Latin for "in place."

69. Had to have : NEEDED.  

70. Cordial with a licorice-like flavor : ANISETTE.   Last week we learned that Anise, the flavor element here, is an herb in the carrot family.  So why is there no cordial with a carrot-like flavor?

71. Prone to avarice : GREEDY.

Down

1. Swimmer Torres with 12 Olympic medals : DARA.

In the swim of things

2. Pitcher Hershiser : OREL.   He played in the major leagues for 18 years with 5 different teams, won the Cy Young Award, was a 3-time all star, and World Series MVP.   Not bad.

3. Wine lover's prefix : OENO.  Into English from ancient Greek.

4. Exposes to the cops : RATS ON.   Alternatively, sings like a birdie.

5. Absent-minded, to a Brit : SCATTY.  From scatter-brained, I assume.

6. Front-of-bk. list : TOC.  Table Of Contents.

7. Red-coated cheese : EDAM.   From the eponymous town in The Netherlands.

8. Prefix with scope : PERI-.   The submarines monocular.

9. Text alternative : E-MAIL.  Two forms of communication by device.

10. Many a text : MESSAGE.   I'm trying to imagine a text that is not a MESSAGE, and coming up short.

11. Get some rays : BASK.   In the sun - for pleasure and relaxation.   Don't get burned.

12. "The Hairy Ape" playwright : O'NEILL.  Eugene.  The play is about class struggle and alienation.

13. Yes or no follower : SIRREE.   Colloquial emphasis.

14. Brief arguments : SET TOs.    Or hockey fights - which also generally do not last long.

21. Divided terr. : DAKota.   North and South.

23. Cramp, say : SPASM.  Involuntary muscle contraction.

26. Weather condition in the final scene of "Casablanca" : FOG.   But it's the start of a beautiful friendship

27. Belt maker's tool : AWL.  A pointy tool for poking holes.

28. Opposite of paleo- : NEO.  Modernizing a blast from the past.  Paleo- indicates adhering to old ways as they always were.  Can't quite see these as opposites.

29. Flight coordinators: Abbr. : ATC.   Air Traffic Controllers.

30. Light cigar wrapper : CLARO.  The wrapper is the outer leaf of a cigar, and can influence its characteristics.   CLARO is yellowish or light tan and usually indicates a shade grown tobacco.

32. Part of a ring : ARC.  A ring is shaped like a circle and a circle can be divided into arcs - but does anyone divide a ring this way?  Hmmmm.

35. __ point: embroidery stitch : PETIT.   A very small, fine stitch that allows detail in the design of the article.

37. Groceries quantity : BAG.   Paper or plastic?   

39. "u r a riot!" : LOL.   Laughing Out Loud.  Texter's appreciations for something funny.

41. Menagerie : ZOO.    An exhibit of captive wild animals.

42. Excitement : ADO.   Trouble, difficulty or fuss.

43. Like the bull in the Chicago Bulls' logo : RED.

Energizing?

45. __ peanuts : ROASTED.   Crunchy

48. In neutral : IDLING.   Running, but out of gear.

49. Temporary wheels : LOANER.

50. Tenant : LESSEE.   Renter with a lease agreement.

51. California's Big __ : SUR.  Approximately 90 miles of rugged coastline from the Carmel River in Monterey south to San Carpoforo Creek in San Luis Obispo County.    The name is derived from Spanish for "The Big South" relative to the city of Monterey.

52. Can't stand : DETEST.

53. Didn't hit the books? : FAILED.  Neglected to prepare for a test in school.

56. Hit the books : STUDY.  Prepare for a test in school, and back to back clehos.

59. It has its highs and lows : TIDE.   Ocean levels.

60. Minimally : A TAD.   Possibly derived from tadpole, the larval stage of a frog, transferred thence to a small child, and than representing a small quantity.

61. Skid row regular : WINO.   Wine-addicted alcoholic.

63. Jackson 5 brother : TITO.

Back in the day

64. Voting no : ANTI.

65. Discontinued depilatory : NEET.  Evidently the name was discontinued, but the product wasn't.  It is now sold under the trade name VEET.

68. Part of rpm: Abbr. : MINute.

That's it, folks.  Hope you enjoyed the performance.

Cool regards!

JzB

Tuesday, February 2, 2016 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Bad Boys, Bad Boys - What'cha gonna do when they come for you?

17. Obeyed the corner traffic sign : CAME TO A FULL STOP

23. Place to buy a Nikon : CAMERA SHOP

39. Conceal, as misdeeds : COVER UP

50. "For Better or for Worse," e.g. : COMIC STRIP

60. Warning about sealed-off escape routes from the police, four of whom are aptly positioned in this puzzle's circles : "YOU'RE SURROUNDED!"

Argyle here. Definitely a sense of déjà vu today. Even split COP; two C+OP, two CO+P. Grid spanners. Two strong climbers. Another fine puzzle by our fearless leader.

Across:

1. Weight-watcher's bane : FLAB

5. Pea jackets? : PODS

9. Little marketgoer of rhyme : PIGGY

14. Winans of gospel : CECE

15. Long-necked pampas bird : RHEA

16. Cheri of "SNL" : OTERI

20. Coach Steve of the NBA champion Golden State Warriors : KERR. Coach Kerr took a leave of absence as he recovered from back surgery and was replaced on an interim basis by Luke Walton.

21. Philosopher Descartes : RENÉ

22. North Carolina university : DUKE

26. Hors d'oeuvres bit : CANAPÉ

29. Capital of Yemen : SANA'A

 

31. Cosmetics giant : AVON

32. Turkey club spread : MAYO

36. Uses Redbox, say : RENTS. Rent movies at over 35,000 automated retail kiosks.

38. Soft pitch : LOB

41. Bank acct. entry : DEPosit

42. Track team member : MILER

44. Stuns : AWEs

45. "I'm ready for the weekend!" : "TGIF!"

46. Ballerina artist Edgar : DEGAS

 

48. Gets weak in the knees : SWOONS

54. Nanny's nightmare : BRAT

56. Message from the teacher : NOTE

57. Swedish furniture retailer : IKEA

64. Cow on a dairy container : ELSIE

 

65. Over and done with : PAST

66. Prayer start : "O GOD"

67. Oozes : SEEPS

68. Meadow moms : EWEs

69. State fair structure : TENT

Down:

1. TV/radio-regulating agcy. : FCC. (Federal Communications Commission)

2. Job for a plumber : LEAK

3. Top spot : ACME

4. Part of many a six-pack : BEER CAN

5. Country club instructor : PRO

6. Windy City hub : O'HARE. Chicago Airport.

7. Put off : DEFER

8. Steamy room : SAUNA

9. D.C. big shot : POL. (a politician)

10. "Dinner's ready" : "IT'S DONE". You know I wanted, "It's soup".

11. Energetic enthusiasm : GET UP AND GO

12. Grasp intuitively, in slang : GROK. This came from the novel, “Stranger in a Strange Land”.

13. "Eek!" : "YIPE!"

18. Ensnare : TRAP

19. Not as costly : LESS

24. Message to employees : MEMO

25. Plucked instrument : HARP

26. Far from rattled : CALM

27. Dodge : AVOID

28. Raising money for a children's hospital, say : NOBLE CAUSE

30. Had food delivered : ATE IN

33. Actress Gardner : AVA

34. Fine-grained wood : YEW

35. Ironworks input : ORE

37. Sunscreen nos. : SPFs. (Sun Protection Factor)

39. Prepare frantically for finals : CRAM

40. Amer. ally in WWII : USSR. (Russia)

43. Self-gratifying pursuit : EGO TRIP

45. Man bun : TOP KNOT

 

47. Greed and pride, for two : SINS

49. Xbox One rival : WII U. Official site.

51. Sporty wheels : COUPE

52. Smoothie insert : STRAW

53. Curt : TERSE

54. What top seeds may get in tournaments : BYEs. The Big Dance Begins March 15-16!

55. Film part : ROLE

58. Perimeter : EDGE

59. Very long time : AEON

61. Some Caltech grads : EEs. (electrical engineer)

62. NHL tiebreakers : OTs. (overtime)

63. Banned pesticide : DDT. (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane)

 

Argyle