Friday June 18, 2010 Doug Peterson

Theme: TIE-IN - (69A. Marketing ploy, and a hint to this puzzle's theme) - TIE is inserted into different part of each two-word familiar phrase.

20A. Ones wearing designer hospital gowns?: FANCY PATIENTS. Fancy Pants. Fun clue/answer.

32A. Massive marina protectors?: JUMBO JETTIES. Jumbo Jets. With two expensive letters Js.

42A. Plaza with many levels?: TIERED SQUARE. Red Square. Central square in Moscow. Another expensive letter Q.

55A. More passionate language?: SWEATIER WORDS. Swear Words. Vivid image.

Two of the TIE additions are in second word, two first word. I liked the variety.

Nice pangram. All 26 letters are used at least once. The below two non-theme 10-letter answers are great (normally they are split into two slots to make the construction easier):

17A. "M" star: PETER LORRE. Rare to see his full name.

61A. Heavily favored squads: DREAM TEAMS

My favorite clue today is EDS (31A. Recipients of authors' gratitude, briefly). Editors. I gather it's Doug's original clue? I am sure it brought a smile to Rich's face.

Across:

1. Watch for: AWAIT. As in "Watch for an opportunity". I wanted ALERT.

6. "Big Brother" host Julie: CHEN. Very pretty. Chen = Chan (as in Jackie Chan). Former is Mandarin, latter is Cantonese.

10. Zinger: BARB

14. Extremely, in slang: MONDO. Not familiar with this slang.

15. Likely to loaf: LAZY. Alliteration.

16. Like zero: OVAL. Oh, shape.

19. Princess who battled Callisto: XENA. Played by Lucy Lawless.

22. Petting zoo sound: BAA. Sheep.

24. Some quick pitches: ADS. Of course I thought of baseball.

25. Salad oil pourer: CRUET

26. Pungent: ACRID

28. Out of the woods: SAFE

36. Basilica section: APSE

37. Three-time Clooney title role: OCEAN. Danny Ocean. I liked "Ocean's Eleven" the best.

38. Slender wind: OBOE

45. Tape deck button: REC

48. Disparage: SLUR

49. "Family Matters" misfit: URKEL (Steve). Beat me. Have never seen "Family Matters".

50. Deck out: ADORN

52. Genetic ID: DNA. Always have to waffle between DNA & RNA.

54. Accident scene initials: EMS

60. Arrange logically: SORT

64. Nuts: LOCO

65. Disney president Robert: IGER. He succeeded Michael Eisner in 2005. Quite articulate.

66. __ Island: NY/NJ landmark: ELLIS

67. Starting place?: EDEN. Can't fool me any more.

68. Play a round: GOLF. Felt stupid not nailing it immediately. Who's your pick for US Open?

Down:

1. Band booster: AMP

2. Distress: WOE

3. Colonies with tunnels: ANT FARMS. Awesome fill.

4. Brainchild: IDEA

5. Supercell product: TORNADO. Our local meteorologist is obsessed with tornado, but I don't remember he mentioned supercell.

6. Is too sweet: CLOYS

7. Emblem of Ireland: HARP. Man, I never knew this. It's on the cover of Irish passports. On the obverse of Irish Euro coins also.

8. Book before Nehemiah: EZRA. Needed crossing help. The name means "Help" in Hebrew.

9. Uh-uh, in Ufa: NYET. Russian for "No" (Da is "Yes"). Ufa is a city of west-central Russian in the Southern Ural Mountain. Doug picked Ufa for alliteration purpose. My first encounter with this name.

10. Ring competitor: BOXER

11. One of 17 Monopoly properties: AVENUE

12. Blustered: RANTED

13. Great times: BLASTS

18. Type of screen, briefly: LCD. Several abbreviated answers in this puzzle. None obscure.

21. Frozen drink brand: ICEE

22. Tijuana's region: BAJA. Is it short for Baja California?

23. Lingerie size: A CUP. First time I saw A CUP in a LAT.

27. Skeptical comment: I BET

28. Direct: STEER

29. Not much: A TAD

30. Underwater directors: FINS. "Director" made me think of a person.

33. "Just the Way You Are" singer: JOEL (Billy). Great song.

34. Stationery shade: ECRU. Alliteration.

35. Grumpy: SOUR

39. Popular fund raiser: BAKE SALE

40. Central Utah city: OREM. And Provo. Learned both from doing Xword.

41. They may be shockers: EELS. We've seen similar clue before.

43. Fails to be: ISN'T

44. Many a pop group: QUARTET

45. Grapple with, in the sticks: RASSLE. Wrestle.

46. "Plan 9 From Outer Space" director: ED WOOD. The name faintly rings a bell. Also a title of a Johnny Depp movie.

47. Put the squeeze on: COERCE

51. Inform against: RAT ON

52. Khuzdul speaker, in Tolkien: DWARF. Khuzdul is a fictional language spoken by the Dwarfs. Stumped me.

53. Metz moniker: NOM. Metz is a city in NE France. Another alliteration.

56. "Cool, man!": I DIG. I totally dig Jazzbumpa's theme title the other day "Music, Man". Mondo cool!

57. So: ERGO

58. Line holder: REEL. Oh, fishing line.

59. Ham salad seller: DELI

62. DI doubled: MII. 51X2= 1002. (Correction: It's 501X2= 1002).

63. Three-part fig.: SSN

Answer grid.

Thanks for the concern and understanding of my recent absence, everyone. I've been very busy and am always behind in catching up with the comments/emails. Dennis is the designated host in my absence, and he will (he has been) answer any question that needs to be addressed.

Additionally, I feel the quality and fun/education factor of the blog write-up have been improved considerably with regular contributions from our dedicated team of Argyle, Al, Melissa Bee, Jazzbumpa and Lemonade. They add distinctive style and flavor to our blog and I love looking at the puzzles through their eyes.

So don't worry about my diminished blogging. I assure you that a carefully written post will appear every morning at 5:30am Central Time. Just enjoy the write-up & have fun!

C.C.

Thursday June 17, 2010 Robert W. Harris

Theme: Double Features - Each theme answer contains two movie names, the "short" & circled one is a single word and placed orderly from left to right (the first and last one are actually in perfect symmetry).

17A. Alan Alda feature with a Will Smith short: CALIFORNIA SUITE. The circled (green color) movie title in the answer is ALI (Muhammad, the boxer). Interesting to see 54D. Branch of Islam: SHIA in the grid, which means "followers of Ali", and is based on the teaching of Muhammad and his successor (cousin) Ali. Coincidence?

27A. William Hurt feature with a Warren Beatty short: ALTERED STATES. Circled movie: REDS.

47A. Barbara Stanwyck feature with a Dustin Hoffman short: NO MAN OF HER OWN. Circled movie: HERO.

62A. Michael Redgrave feature with a Helen Gahagan short: THE LADY VANISHES. Circled short movie name: SHE.

I found this a little tough for a Thursday, especially getting started in the southwest corner. Maybe because I was a bit anxious at starting to be a regular once per week.

Al here, hope you all had a good time with this one, I know I liked the challenge. So, let's get started.

Across:

1. Tired: LIMP. Wow, a DF answer right off the bat...

5. Hall & Oates hit "__ Smile": SARA.

9. Beast of burden: LLAMA. An "orgle" is the mating sound of a llama or alpaca, made by the male. The sound is reminiscent of gargling, but with a more forceful, buzzing edge. Males begin the sound when they become ready to mate and continue throughout the act—from 15 minutes to more than an hour. That must be as annoying as a vuvuzela...

14. Higher than: OVER.

15. GM subsidiary since 1929: OPEL. Wir Leben Autos (we love cars)

16. Lady who reportedly exchanged barbs with Churchill: ASTOR. Nancy Witcher. A Viscountess, the first woman to sit as a Member of Parliament.

20. Like some condors: ANDEAN.

21. Net worth factor: DEBT. Yes, your only worth in the US is to go into debt, to keep the economy going. I know I've done my share of patriotic duty...

22. __ leaf: TEA.

23. Part of a process: STEP.

25. They take vows: NUNS. From the WTF department: "Nunnery" is slang for a brothel??

32. Prefix with sac: OVI. Usually a deposit of insect or arachnid eggs.

33. Familiar saying: SAW. Old English "sagu" (proverb), also Old Norse "saga", which is from an Old English root "secgan" (say), also related: sage.

34. Fuses, as ore: SMELTS. From German schmeltzan, which contains the word melt.

36. Prepare to fire on: AIM AT.

39. Terhune collie: LAD. Albert Payson Terhune is the author of "Lad: a Dog".

41. Hot fragment: EMBER.

42. Sets aside for later consideration: TABLES. In parliamentary sense, originally "to lay on the (speaker's) table for discussion", but it has come to mean to postpone indefinitely.

44. "Excellent!": RAD. Slang shortening of the word "radical".

46. Montana motto word: ORO. "Oro y Plata" (Spanish: Gold and Silver)

51. Frantically: AMOK. To run amok first recorded 1670s, from Malay amuk "attacking furiously." Earlier the word was used as a noun or adj. meaning "a frenzied Malay," originally in the Portuguese form amouco or amuco.

52. Management ally of a sort: SCAB. Meaning of "strikebreaker" first recorded 1806, from earlier sense of "person who refuses to join a trade union" (1777), probably from the meaning "despicable person"

53. Former flier: SST. The Concorde's last flight was on November 26, 2003.

56. Dick of adventure fiction: MOBY. I was trying to come up with a detective name, like MOTO or CHAN.

58. WWII encryption machine: ENIGMA.

65. Ipse __: DIXIT. A Latin phrase meaning he himself said it. The term labels a statement asserted but not proved, to be accepted on faith. Usually from a person of standing, such as Aristotle.

66. Grand Marquis, briefly: MERC. A Mercury full-size car, equivalent to a Ford Crown Victoria. I think I heard a rumor that Ford will shut down the Mercury line soon.

67. Depressing situation, with "the": PITS. Said to be a shortened form of armpits. Could be worse...

68. "Gymnopédies" composer: SATIE. Eric, a frequent crossword clue.

69. Spot: ESPY. Old French: espier, to spy.

70. Kiln for drying hops: OAST. Frequent crossword fill.

Down:

1. Crazy, in a Ricky Martin song: LOCA. Living la vida loca (the crazy life) Hot stuff!

2. Russian John: IVAN.

3. Blend: MELD. One for Argyle and Tinbini: The original reference is to whiskey-making.

4. Christian guide: PRIEST. Greek Presbyteros, to Latin prester, to Old English preost.

5. Norman athletes: SOONERS. Norman, Oklahoma, Oklahoma University.

6. Boston Marathon mo.: APR. Abbreviated clue (month) = abbreviated answer

7. Split apart: REND. Also rive and rent, all related.

8. Klingons, e.g.: ALIENS. Latin alienus, belonging to another, variant of Latin alius (other), related: alias.

9. Job application line: LAST NAME.

10. Fightin' Tigers' sch.: LSU. Lousiana State University.

11. Working: AT IT. OK, right, "working"...

12. Small particle: MOTE.

13. Region: AREA.

18. Inevitable outcome: FATE.

19. Borders: ABUTS.

24. Big ring: PEAL. From a bell. Clever clue, I was thinking bathtub and wondering: There's a name for that?

26D. 31-Down opposite: STEM. and 31D. 26-Down opposite: STERN.

27. Bird-related: AVIAN. Latin avis. (Rara Avis = rare bird, a pecular person)

28. Dance at a bar: LIMBO. The bar you bend under, not the one where you get bent out of shape.

29. Doc, for one: DWARF. Happy, Dopey, Sneezy, Grumpy, Bashful, Sleepy, and a list of about 50 unused names.

30. Attention-getting joint: ELBOW. Especially a poke in the gut.

32. Cereal grass: OAT.

35. Sign at a popular musical: SRO. You have to want to see a show pretty badly to pay and have to stand up all the way through it...

37. __ mater: ALMA. Bountiful mother.

38. Rice, to Montana: TEAMMATE. Tight End and Receiver both were the right length, too.

40. Some code signals: DAHS. And DITS. Morse code pulses.

43. Hair net: SNOOD.

45. Propriety: DECENCY. Appropriateness.

48. "I find that acceptable": OK BY ME.

49. Indian royal: RANI. For Queen, or the alternate spelling of RAJA for king.

50. San Luis __: OBISPO. Saint Louis, the Bishop. Halfway between San Fran and L.A.

53. Agreed-on guidelines: Abbr.: STDS. Standards. We have a saying at work, "The nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from". Unofficial, of course...

55. Message often sent using thumbs: TEXT. I'm not one for doing phone text myself; I prefer the feel of a real tactile interface.

57. First name in fashion: YVES. Saint Laurent.

59. Karmann __: sports car: GHIA. Multiple car name clues today. This one's a VW.

60. 1986 World Series champs: METS. Game 6 is another coincidental movie theme tie in for this puzzle.

61. Helper: Abbr.: ASST.

63. First-century date: LII. 52. Wasn't thrilled with the clue for this. Could have been clued Caesar's deck, or something else helpful, instead of random unguessable Roman letters.

64. Dada daddy?: ARP. Jean, but also went by Hans. The other founders of the Dada movement were Max Ernst and Alfred Emanuel Ferdinand Grünwald.

LA Times website has no circles since its software does not support circled squares. You can see our Answer Grid to identify where circled letters are.

Al

Note from C.C.:

I am very pleased to announce that Al will blog Thursday puzzles from now on. Al has been a quiet hero, always there when I have a computer or crossword related question. Welcome on board, Al.

Wednesday June 16, 2010 Pancho Harrison

Theme: MUSIC, MAN! - Three long theme answers, two of them grid-spanning, employ homophone puns to transform mundane phrases into humorous musical references.

17 A. Songs by German wolves? LIEDER OF THE PACK. Play on "leader of the pack. LIED (pl LIEDER) is the German word for song. So - songs of the pack. This got a chuckle and a groan.

36 A. Obvious melody?: AIR APPARENT. Play on "heir apparent," the most likely successor. An AIR is a melody, obviously.

58 A. Intonations from the monastery locker room?: CHANTS OF SHOWERS. Oh my. "Chance of showers," meaning it's probably going to rain. Or, here, some very clean Gregorian chant.

Each play is on the first word in the phrase, substituting a homophone or near-homophone. Nice and tight. YMMV on puns and their quality. I thought these were rather long stretches; but that doesn't make me like them any less. And I do like them, quite a lot.

Plus, these musical encores:

57 A. Haggard of country music: MERLE

39 D. Roxy Music alum Brian: ENO

53 D. Jerry or Jerry Lee: LEWIS

Not being a country music maven (I'm more of a city boy) I'll leave it someone in the know to find the best links for Merle and Jerry Lee. And, yes, comedian Jerry Lewis did also sing, occasionally. I actually know nothing about Brian ENO, except he's in puzzles a lot.

Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, your humble resident trombonist and music appreciator. I was pretty much in tune with this one, and able to wood-shed it in 15:27. Pancho Harrison has composed a verbal symphony for us today with only a few sour notes. Let's get inside the score.

Across:

1 A. Glass in a frame: PANE. Why is a piece of glass called a pane? I worked in the industry for 17 long, miserable years, and never gave it a thought. We called a piece of glass a "light" which is even ODDER.

5 A. Motivation target, often: SELF. In my 20+ years as a supervisor, I learned that if you won't motivate yourself, nobody can.

9 A. Hold forth: OPINE. I do this rather a lot. Opinions are cheep, or even free.

14 A. Site of a Biblical plot: EDEN. Nice double meaning: plot of land, and site of the Eve-Serpent cabal.

15 A. Flash in the brainpan: IDEA. Another clever clue, playing on "flash in the pan." I first heard this in the context of baseball, meaning a promising rookie who turns out to be a bust. The phrase comes from panning for gold, where sometimes things that glitter are worthless.

16 A. Like some ancient characters: RUNIC. Another great clue. "Characters" here mean letters or other types of symbols. RUNES were characters used in Old Norse. They are composed of straight lines so they can be easily sliced into wood or scratched onto stone.

20 A. Farther out?: ODDER. Farther out, man.

21 A. Like some highways: TWO LANE. Though not necessarily.

22 A. Huaraches, e.g.: SANDALS. Hecho en Mexico. Es verdad!

25 A. Stubborn one: ASS. Yup!

26 A. Blunderer's cry: DOH!

28 A. Final conclusion?: IST. Referring to a finalIST, one of the last standing in a contest. I offer this to the Navajo gods.

29 A. Rational: SANE. Good thinking!

31 A. Motion support: SECOND. From Robert's rules of order. May I have a motion? Second? All in favor, say "DOH!"

33 A. Overhaul: REVAMP. Is something ever VAMPED? If not, how can it be REVAMPED? English is ODDER, sometimes.

35 A. "The Clan of the Cave Bear" author: Jean AUEL.

39 A. Exile isle: ELBA. Napoleon was exiled here, and given the job of cleaning the place. It took a lot of ELBA GREECE. That's when he said, "I may not be Abel, but I do the best I Cain," which is no kind of palindrome.

41 A. Accent: STRESS.

42 A. Loch legend nickname: NESSIE. The Loch Ness Monster, not to be confused with her brother Elliot Ness.

45 A. Reb's opponent: YANK. Short for Yankee. Not necessarily from New York, but we can't rule it out.

46 A. Hoo-ha: ADO. Possibly a reference to Willie Shiverjavelin's play, "Much Hoo-ha About Nothing." What else could it mean?

49 A. Feedbag morsel: OAT. We do eat a lot of these in puzzle land.

50 A. O'Neill's "The Hairy __": APE. The Hairy Ape, a play by Eugene O'Neill, has a character in it called "Yank."

52 A. Wooden in manner: STILTED.

54 A. Tread roughly: TRAMPLE. Don't trample on me!

61 A. Right-hand page: RECTO. What is the left hand page called?

62 A. "An Essay on Man" poet Alexander: POPE. He also translated The Odyssey.

63 A. Horned goddess: ISIS. From ancient Egypt, horns and all.

64 A. Big name in lawn care: ORTHO. They make Scott's Miracle-Gro.

65 A. Notable periods: ERAS.

66 A. Plato's promenade: STOA. In ancient Greece, a public covered walkway or portico. Where you been, Plato? I had to go to the STOA.

Down:

1 D. First female Speaker of the House: PELOSI. Nancy from CA.

2 D. Reebok rival: ADIDAS. We run into these a lot, too.

3 D. "You __ bother": NEEDN'T. I needn't, but I can't resist this link.

4 D. Ran out: ENDED. BP's time ran out, but the oil flow didn't. Also: 7 D. Ran out: LEFT. This is the "I've had enough" kind of ran out, as in exit, stage LEFT.

5 D. Anthony Hopkins, for one: SIR. Aha - Anthony is a knight. My oldest grandson made up this joke: Why could they fight after dark in the middle ages? They had knight lights!

6 D. Tokyo, before 1868: EDO

8 D. Islamic decree: FATWA

9 D. Threat words: OR ELSE

10 D. Insect stage after larva: PUPA. It's when insect pups go through PUPATY .

11 D. Hard to reach at the office, say: IN AND OUT. I used to be in the office every day. Now I'm always out.

12 D. "Good shot!": NICE ONE. A complement on the golf course.

13 D. Luther opponent Johann __: ECK. He defended Catholicism. Turns out, his real name was Maier. What the ECK is that all about?

18 D. Corrective tool: ERASER. Well, nobody's perfect.

19 D. Ben Cartwright's middle son: HOSS. Plus Little Joe and . . . Luke?

23 D. Soap brand with pumice: LAVA. I didn't know this was still around. Lava los manos!

24 D. Goes nuts: SNAPS. Loses it. Goes around the bend. Flips one's lid.

27 D. "Good" cholesterol, for short: HDL. You want your High Density Lipids to be High, and your Low density lipids to be low. Easy mnemonic.

30 D. Totally drained: EMPTY. They way you felt after you RAN OUT.

33 D. Narrow inlets: RIAS. Are they the same as estuaries? I learned the word here at the Corner.

34 D. Legal aides: PARAS. Evidently referring to PARAlegals. Ugly partial. Meh.

36 D. Like a Jackson Pollock painting: ABSTRACT. Could be. I thought this was a wiring diagram.

37 D. Temporary use fee: RENT. I'll do the cookin' honey, I'll pay the rent, if I can use you temporarily.

38 D. Inuit, once: ESKIMO. Not necessarily. Could also be a Yupic or an Aleut.

40 D. Elbow patch material: LEATHER. Especially on tweed jackets.

43 D. Words of agreement: I AM TOO. Are you tired?

44 D. Omar of "House": EPPS. Never watched it.

46 D. Not in motion: AT REST. I had STATIC, which made my hair stand on end.

47 D. Texas border city: DEL RIO.

48 D. Texas oil city: ODESSA. Evidently having been moved there from the Ukraine.

51 D. Run off to join a union?: ELOPE. Very clever.

55 D. Lit. compilation: ANTH. Short for anthology. Abrev. in cl. & ans.

56 D. __ effort: E FOR. I always got an A for effort. Well, not really, but it IS in the language . . .

58 D. Vel attachment?: CRO. Velcro. I'm torn over this one. There's my aversion to affixes, or - as in this case - psuedo-affixes, which are even worse. But, OTOH, VelCRO is an attachment. I'll give in to the cleverness here, and let it go, but not without reservation.

59 D. Relaxing retreat: SPA. Or the kind of whirlpool tub found in my bathroom, and lots of puzzles.

60 D. Dudes: HES. He and he are HES - he he! The musician's first rule is to always end on a good note. Didn't happen here, alas, as this puzzle runs out with a big, flat blat at the end. Wie Shade.

Other than that, though, a fine, harmonious composition, and a fun romp. Hope y'all enjoyed it.

Answer grid.

JD's Crossword Story continues. Here is the updated version with letter F.

Cheers!

JzB

Tuesday June 15, 2010 Robert Fisher

Theme: Hirsute Tuesday - The four targeted entries contain an item to tame this Tuesday puzzle. 50D is the unifier.

21A. *"The simplest solution is usually correct" principle: OCCAM'S RAZOR. Warning: spelling variation! Occam's razor or Ockham's razor is the principle attributed to 14th-century English logician, theologian and Franciscan friar William of Ockham (or Occam).

46A. *Speedy square-rigger: CLIPPER SHIP. Image in a bottle.

3D. *Bees' creation: HONEYCOMB. Here is an image of a honeycomb that isn't within a structure. It doesn't happen much in the northern climes.

32D. *Fast-spreading blaze, perhaps: BRUSH FIRE. Let us hope our Southwest friends are spared from any this year.

50D. Target for items found in the answers to starred clues: HAIR. Here's a HAIR clip.

Argyle here. Wow! I think I put on ten pounds reading yesterday's comments. I have to find me some Ro*Tel today.

The Across entries cut the hair and the Down entries do the grooming.

Mr. Fisher has given us two Monday puzzles before; now he has moved on to Tuesday. I'm looking forward to his Wednesday. Thirty-six four letter entries and 24 five letter entries. Are there cheater squares? You tell me.

Across:

1A. Soda since the 1920s: NEHI. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly's favorite, grape.

5A. "Get lost!": "SCRAM!".

10A. Hangs (around with): PALS.

14A. Sour milk tip-off: ODOR.

15A. Barter: TRADE.

16A. Elide: OMIT. Word Origin & History (Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper) Elide - 1590s, a legal term, "to annul, do away with," from M.Fr. elider, from L. elidere "strike out," from ex- "out" + -lidere, comb. form of laedere "to strike." Phonological sense is first recorded 1796.

17A. Tomato ripening spot: VINE. I thought of (window)sill first.

18A. Tiny bits: IOTAs.

19A. Bear with cold porridge: MAMA. Papa's was to hot but Baby Bear's was just right. From Goldilocks and the Three Bears fairy tale.

20A. Absorbed, as a loss: ATE.

23A. Tugs: YANKS. Not the NY kind this time JD.

25A. Where the Styx flows: HADES. In Greek mythology, Styx is the river that forms the boundary between Earth and the Underworld.

26A. Repeating series: CYCLE. First thought, baseball.

28A. Solid or liquid, e.g.: STATE.

30A. Nocturnal forest sounds: HOOTS.

31A. Turns on the waterworks, so to speak: BAWLS.

32A. Sports car protector: BRA. Image.

35A. Writer Bombeck: ERMA.

36A. Sentry's duty: VIGIL.

37A. It may be mopped or furrowed: BROW.

38A. Spider's "parlor": WEB.

39A. Jaunty cap: BERET.

40A. Something to fight for: CAUSE.

41A. Surfacing diver's concern, with "the": BENDS. Also called decompression sickness. The Wikipedia article was confusing, do we have a diver among us who can explain "the bends"?

42A. Ready to strike: POISED.

43A. Composer Edvard: GRIEG. Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt (which includes Morning Mood and In the Hall of the Mountain King), and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.

45A. What some serum elicits?: TRUTH. Remember some of the old B-movies where the hero was threatened with truth serum. "We have ways of making you talk!"

49A. Govt. mtge. insurer: FHA. Federal Housing Administration

52A. Popular trend: RAGE.

53A. Lavish celebrations: FETES.

54A. Primitive timekeeper: DIAL. Sun DIAL reference, I assume.

55A. Bone-dry: ARID.

56A. Render harmless, as a gunman: UNARM.

57A. Spring bloomer: IRIS.

58A. River bottoms: BEDS.

59A. Cerebral segments: LOBES.

60A. Fiddling emperor: NERO.

Down:

1D. Bygone Chevy compact: NOVA.

2D. Make changes to: EDIT.

4D. Choler: IRE. Word Origin & History (Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper) Choler - late 14c., "bile," as one of the humors, supposed to cause irascibility or temper, from O.Fr. colre "bile, anger," from L.L. cholera "bile".

5D. Remote area, with "the": STICKS.

6D. Swamp swimmers: CROCS. Great alliteration.

7D. Pro __: RATA. In proportion; according to a certain rate.

8D. "The Wealth of Nations" author Smith: ADAM. Adam Smith (1723-1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher .

9D. Soldier's eatery: MESS HALL.

10D. 50-Down ointment: POMADE. Bonus theme related.

11D. Leave in shock: AMAZE.

12D. Upscale rides: LIMOs.

13D. Brigadier general's insignia: STAR.

21D. Binary system digits: ONES. The other binary system digits are zeros.

22D. "Phooey!": "RATS!".

24D. Calgary's prov.: ALTA.. Province of Alberta, Canada.

26D. Masticate: CHEW. Masticate - a word to make young boys snicker (because it sounds similar to masturbate.)

27D. Olden times: YORE.

28D. Swamis: SAGES. Some how the word, swami, developed a hokey feel even though swamis are religious teachers.

29D. Idiot, to a Brit: TWIT.

31D. Celtic great Larry: BIRD. He played basketball for the Boston Celtics through the 80's.

33D. Pink wine: ROSÉ.

34D. Impressed profoundly: AWED.

36D. Seeking payback: VENGEFUL.

37D. Worm on a line: BAIT. My favorite clue today.

39D. Electronic alert: BEEP.

40D. Cabal's plan: COUP. A cabal is a small group of secret plotters, as against a government or person in authority.

41D. Kangaroos and humans, e.g.: BI-PEDS. Come on, they use their tail as a third leg, should that make then tri-peds?

42D. Light benders: PRISMS.

43D. Harsh light: GLARE.

44D. Unbending: RIGID.

45D. When repeated, comforting words: THERE.

46D. "Hermit" crustacean: CRAB.

47D. Ashcroft's predecessor: RENO. John Ashcroft, 79th United States attorney general. Janet Reno, 78th Attorney General (and first woman in the position).

48D. Wild guess: STAB.

51D. Moreover: ALSO.

54D. Confused roar: DIN.

Answer grid.

JD's Crossword Story continues. Here is the updated version with letter E.

Argyle

Monday June 14, 2010 Bruce Venzke

Theme: Plunge into Monday - The last word of each two-word noun phrase means to go down (like BP stock) when taken as verbs. All four are nouns too, but with little connection.

17A. Cold sufferer's decongestant: NOSE DROPS

28A. 18-Down washing places: KITCHEN SINKS

47A. Honeymoon mecca: NIAGARA FALLS

64A. Creamy bowlfuls for chips: PARTY DIPS

Argyle here.

This is Monday; I checked. If you aren't versed in crosswordese, this could be tough. I constantly had to check the perps to see if I was on the right track. It is consistent with other offerings from Bruce Venzke.

Do you have a favorite recipe for party dip you would like to share? Me, I'm lazy and buy the pre-made stuff.

Across:

1A. Very attentive: RAPT.

5A. Kibbutz dance: HORA. Kibbutz is a Israel community settlement and hora is a traditional round dance.

9A. Throat ailment: STREP.

14A. Blond race in "The Time Machine": ELOI. The Eloi are one of the two post-human races in H. G. Wells' 1895 novel The Time Machine. They are the main source of food for the other race, the Morlocks.

15A. Hatchets: AXES.

16A. Under-the-bridge folklore villain: TROLL. From the story of the three Billy Goats Gruff..

19A. Reach a cost of: RUN TO.

20A. Prevail over, at an auction: OUTBID.

21A. Paddock pop: SIRE. Alliteration. Paddocks are associated with horses, mostly.

23A. Internet address punctuation: DOT.

24A. Gobi Desert locale: ASIA.

26A. Four __: luxury hotel: SEASONS. A Canadian-based international luxury hotel.

32A. Breakfast area: NOOK.

33A. Canonized woman of Fr.: STE..

34A. Early anesthetic: ETHER.

38A. FGs often end them: OTs. In football, a field goal ends a "sudden death" overtime, where the first team to score, wins. Change is in the works to allow the opposing team a chance to score. (modified sudden death)

39A. Stiffly formal: STILTED. Perhaps from the action of a man walking on stilts; he is unbending.

42A. __ League: IVY. The Ivy League consists of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale. The "Ivy" part of Ivy League is a reference to the plants that climb all over many of the old campus buildings at each school.

43A. Dressing table vessel, perhaps: BASIN. More likely, it would be on a dry sink, with an ewer. Image, with chamber pot!

45A. It's "the word": MUM.

46A. Ballet bend: PLIÉ.

51A. Nightclub enforcer: BOUNCER.

54. Be in on: KNOW.

55A. Superlative ending: EST.

56A. Fast food tycoon Ray: KROC. Don't mention him around Jeannie. (He is Mickey D. and she works for the King, Burger that is.)

58A. Gemini rockets: AGENAs. The Agena not only served as a docking target for the Gemini spacecraft , but the rocket was also fired on several Gemini missions in order to boost the combination to a higher orbit, and to bring it back again. Agena is also the name of a star in the constellation Centaurus. Wikipedia.

62. "You can't get __ from here": THERE. Ayup, true enuff over in Vermont.

66A. Barbershop quartet voice: TENOR.

67A. New York canal: ERIE.

68A. Words after shake or break: A LEG.

69A. Bosox rivals: YANKS.

70A. Society newcomers: DEBS.

71A. Cell phone message: TEXT.

Down:

1D. Vegas alternative: RENO. Nevada cities.

2D. 1966 N.L. batting champ Matty: ALOU. (without his brothers today.)

3D. Newsgroup message: POST.

4D. Curtain restraint: TIEBACK.

5D. Most robust: HARDIEST.

6D. Losing tic-tac-toe row: OXO.

7D. Weight room count: REPS. Repetitions.

8D. St. Francis of __: ASSISI.

9D. Barely ran?: STREAKED. As in ran bare. The Streak by Ray Stevens.

10D. Show about Capote: "TRU". Truman Capote, American author.

11D. Sonata finale, often: RONDO. Sonata Rondo Form from Wikipedia.

12D. Pop singer John: ELTON. Sir Elton John.

13D. Garden layouts: PLOTS.

18D. Spoon companion of rhyme: DISH.
Hey diddle diddle,
The cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon,
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon

22D. Cartoon Chihuahua: REN. Ren is partnered with Stimpy, a cat.

25D. Against: ANTI.

27D. Old boom-creating speedster, briefly: SST. SuperSonic Transport, no longer in service.

28D. Gearshift topper: KNOB.

29D. Greek "i": IOTA.

30D. Mix, as a salad: TOSS.

31D. 1965 Freedom March city: SELMA. Alabama

35D. Country singer Faith: HILL.

36D. Pernicious: EVIL. Pernicious, to cause great harm.

37D. Whiskey choices: RYEs. Some would rather choose Scotch, ;-)

39D. Candy bar that makes you chuckle?: SNICKERS.

40D. Ankara native: TURK. Ankara is the capital of Turkey.

41D. Issues (from): EMANATES. The long version of EMITS.

44D. Country stopover: INN.

46D. Examined, cat-style: PAWED AT.

48D. __ Lingus: AER. Ireland's favourite airline.

49D. Felt one's way: GROPED.

50D. Stodgy old-timer: FOGY.

51D. Wilma's pal on "The Flintstones": BETTY. Wilma Flintsone and Betty Rubble, BFF.

52D. Milo of "The Verdict": O'SHEA. He had the part of Judge Hoyle in this 1982 film.

53D. Knoxville sch.: U TENN. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, founded in 1794.

57D. Part of TLC: CARE. Tender Loving CARE

59D. Christie's "Death on the __": NILE. Agatha Christie's murder mystery first published in 1937.

60D. Nadir's opposite: APEX. Nadir - lowest point; APEX - highest point.

61D. High-ranking NCO: SSGT. Staff sergeant, E-6.

63D. Seoul soldier: ROK. Korean.

65D. Poke fun at: RIB.

Well, that was the most work I've done on a Monday in a long time.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday June 13, 2010 John Lampkin

Theme: Final Advice - Familiar phrases are playfully clued as advice on how to ace a seemingly related course in finals.

23A. To ace Music Theory, don't wander off __: IN LA-LA LAND. Zoned out. La "a note to follow so". The sixth tone.

28A. To ace Oceanography, don't let the prof know you've __: GONE FISHING. Store sign. Taking a break.

40A. To ace Agricultural Science, avoid __ : GRASPING AT STRAWS. Being desperate.

69A. To ace Electrical Engineering, don't fall __: ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH. Not attending one's job.

95A. To ace Math, avoid being __: AT SIXES AND SEVENS. A state of confusion/disarray. Numbers & Math connection.

114A.To ace Cosmology, don't get __: LOST IN SPACE. The '60s sci-fi series.

120A.To ace Culinary Arts, avoid being __: OUT TO LUNCH. Not in touch with the real world. Crazy.

As the norm with John Lampkin (a musician) puzzles, there are music references:

116A.Clementi work: SONATINA. Clementi was an Italian composer best known for his piano sonatas and sonatinas, according to Wikipeida.

126A.Piano players?: HANDS. Wicked clue!

5D. Played crisply and detached, in mus.: STAC (Staccato)

36D. Slowing, in mus.: RIT (Ritardando)

115D.Schoenberg's "Moses und __": ARON. Three-act opera by Schoenberg, an Austrian/American composer. Maybe Elvis knew. I've got no clue.

Many probably would not notice that there's no cheater square in the whole grid (140-word, 4 less than our normal Sundays), which spoils the elegance of the puzzle in John's eyes. It takes some discipline and effort not to use the shortcut when you know it's there.

Again, a pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once. John said he always makes his Sunday a pangram to spice up the fill. And of course, his legendary cross-references & clue echos, which are highlighted in green colors in my write-up.

My favorite clues today are:

103./: SLASH

104., : COMMA

Very unexpected and fun. Great placement too. At first I thought those were printing errors.

Across:

1. 1996 Dream Team nickname: SHAQ (O'Neal). And LAY-UPS (24D. Dream Team shots).

5. Hit hard: SMASH

10. Bit of dough: CLAM. And LUCRE (22. "Filthy" dough)

14. Puritans: PRIGS. And MAYFLOWER (13D. Puritans' transport).

19. Machu Picchu's country: PERU. And INCAS (112D. Machu Picchu natives).

20. It goes from one joint to another: TIBIA. And KNEES (124. Creeping joints). Brilliant misdirections. Not the seedy bar joints I had in mind.

21. Role in the 1992 film "Chaplin": OONA. Easy guess.

25. Word with clerk or hall: CITY. City clerk. City hall.

26. "Save me __": A SEAT

27. Closet hangers: TIE RACKS

30. Piquant: ZESTY

31. Sycophant: YES-MAN

34. Rear-end: SLAM INTO. And DENT (127. Rear end blemish?).

35. Held by us: OUR. Our blog.

37. Done for: KAPUT. A seldom seen entry.

39. Arab League member: OMAN. IRAQ too, also 4 letters.

46. Clarified butter: GHEE. Indian cooking.

50. Clerical VIP: REV. And DIR (60. Film studio VIP).

51. Mink kin: STOAT

52. Certain about: SURE OF

54. Waterfront org.: ILA (International Longshoremen's Association)

55. Sudanese president __ al-Bashir: OMAR. Not familiar with this dude. Looks like a tyrant.

57. Vacuum, e.g.: CLEAN. Verb "vacuum".

61. Olympic racers: LUGES

63. Brobdingnagian: GOLIATH. Brobdingnagian is named after Brobdingnag, fictional land in Johnathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels", where everything was huge.

66. Shape using heat: FORGE. Verb "shape".

68. Beach protection: SUN HAT

73. Scrapped, as a car: JUNKED. And LEASE (75. Car dealer's deal). Consecutive "car" clues.

76. Poetic "soon": ERELONG

79. Ref. set: ENCYC (Encyclopedia)

80. Harmless cyst: WEN

81. Cheri of "SNL": OTERI. She has become a gimme.

84. Smack back?: EROO. Back of the word smackeroo.

85. Fed. medical org.: NIH (National Institutes of Health)

86. "We build, we fight" military member: SEABEE. From letters CB (Construction Battalion).

89. Tennessee father-son politicos: GORES. Nice change from gory horn related clue.

92. Turn on the waterworks, so to speak: SOB. True.

93. Jump for Sonja: AXEL. And HENIE (2. 1932 Lake Placid gold medalist Sonja) & SKATE (32D. Emulate 2-Down).

99. Uruguay's Punta del __: ESTE

101.Rationed (out): DOLED

102.Clavell's "__-Pan": TAI. Literally "big" in Cantonese. Pan = Boss. "Tai-Pan" = Big Boss.

103.Kids' transports: SCOOTERS

107.Removed soap from: RINSED

110.Holy quest object: GRAIL

118.Mideast capital once called Philadelphia: AMMAN. Jordan's capital. Was unaware of this trivia.

119.Mata __: HARI

122.With 64-Down, wiseguys: SMART. And ALECS (64D. See 122-Across).

123.Love god: EROS

125.French state: ETAT

128.Shabby: SEEDY

129. Sonoran assent: SI SI. Sonora is a state in Mexico.

Down:

1. Thick-furred dog: SPITZ. German for "pointed'. The dog has erect ears.

3. Inspiration for Van Gogh: ARLES. Look at my compact mirror. Van Gogh's "Bedroom in Arles".

4. Publishing formats for Shakespeare: QUARTOS. No idea. Four leaves (eight pages).

6. Like liquid in 10-Down: MILKY. And COCONUTS (10. Palm produce). Fresh coconut water is actually not milky.

7. Denigrate: ABASE

8. Sloth, for one: SIN

9. Possessed: HAD

11. Cut of meat: LOIN

12. Chips in a chip: ANTES. Good clue.

14. TV type: PLASMA

15. Super Bowl stat category: RUSHING

16. Trap up north, maybe: ICE IN

17. Research money: GRANT

18. Ready followers?: SET GO. "Ready, Set, Go!"

28. Voids: GAPS

29. Retort to a skeptic: I AM SO. And NOT SO (59. Skeptical retort). Not fond of the SO repetition.

33. Pin cushion?: MAT. Wrestling "pin" = "fall". Great clue.

38. Plod: TRUDGE

40. Blackbeard's quaff: GROG. Blackbeard the pirate.

41. San __: Riviera resort: REMO

42. Big snow fall?: AVALANCHE. Awesome answer/clue.

43. Night, in Nogales: NOCHE. Alliteration. I've never heard of Nogales, a city in Sonora, Mexico. Also a town in Arizona, bordering the Mexican Nogales.

44. Liq. measure: GAL

45. Taurus preceder: ARIES. First zodiac sign.

47. Haughty attitude: HIGH HORSE. Get off your high horse.

48. Zeno's town: ELEA: Zeno of Elea. Greek philosopher.

49. Right way to go?: EAST. Direction. Nice clue.

53. Toaster's glass: FLUTE

56. Dicey: RISKY

58. Mennen lotion: AFTA. After Shave.

62. Org. in a '60s spy series: U.N.C.L.E. Spy series "The Man from U. N. C. L. E."(United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). I forgot.

65. Knight on TV: TED

67. Part of the anc. art of discourse: RHET (Rhetoric). Anc is "ancient"?

68. Common honorific: SIR. And PLEBS (70. Common folk). Another consecutive echo.

71. Virgil epic: AENEID

72. More than strange: WEIRD

73. German university city: JENA. Have never heard of University of Jena.

74. Windows alternative: UNIX. Operating system.

77. Certain halfway point: NOON. D'oh!

78. Oodles: GOBS

80. Transition point: WATERSHED. Watershed moment.

82. "Tarnation!": EGADS. "Tarnation" is new expression to me.

83. '70s-'80s pitcher Guidry: RON. Gimme. Spent his whole career with the Yankees. I have quite a few of his baseball cards. Unfortunately they are not worth anything.

87. Corroded: EATEN

88. Dispossessor?: EXORCIST. No problem!

90. Part of ETA: Abbr. : EST

91. "Fire Down Below" star: SEAGAL (Steven)

94. It's named for a trapeze artist: LEOTARD. Can you picture Dennis in his infamous leotard? I just can't.

96. "Night" writer Wiesel: ELIE

97. H. Clinton, once: SEN

98. Good points: VIRTUES. Sweet clue.

100.Tours of duty: STINTS

105.Turkish empire founder: OSMAN. No idea. Ottoman Empire is named after him.

106.Doughnut for the road: SPARE. Why? The tires are doughnut shaped?

108. Big name in compacts: ESTEE. Oh, Cosmetics products.

109.Fussed over, with "on": DOTED

111."__ a stinker?": Bugs Bunny line: AIN'T I

113.Emmy winner Christine: LAHTI. Man, I can never remember her name.

117.Curious to a fault: NOSY

120.Green lights: OKS

121.A, in France: UNE

Answer grid.

JD's Crossword Story continues. Here is the updated version with letter D.

C.C.

Saturday June 12, 2010 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total words: 68

Total blocks: 25

Quite low black square count. Brad places four multi-word grid-spanners in his puzzle:

14A. Source of overcompensating bravado: NAPOLEON COMPLEX. Overcompensate for their short stature. Type of Inferiority Complex.

17A. Stay away: DISTANCE ONESELF. Nice one.

46A. 2009 addition to Wimbledon's Centre Court: RETRACTABLE ROOF. My favorite answer today, esp since I nailed it.

49A. Like a master criminal: SLIPPERY AS AN EEL. Lively entry.

I had a slightly easier time with this Brad offer. I normally struggle mightily with his puzzles. Probably because I nailed a few long ones. Or the ladders (those strings of black squares along the diagonal line) gridding made the puzzle more accessible, as many entries share the same starting letter.

Still had to cheat.

Across:

1. One in a coup group: USURPER. Assonance in the clue. Brad has six 7-letter & 8-letter entries today.

8A. Tenochtitlán founders: AZTECS. Tenochtitlán was the capital of Aztecs. Present day Mexico City. Unknown to me.

18. Old Greek theater: ODEON. My first toehold.

19. Carpenter with drums: KAREN. Boomer loves Karen Carpenter. He just bowled a 300 yesterday.

20. Van Halen's "Somebody Get __ Doctor": ME A. Not familiar with the song.

21. Start of an intermission?: ENTR. Start of Entr'acte (intermission). Got me.

22. Seedless greenhouse denizens: FERNS. Always associate "denizens" with animals, not plant.

23. Judicial seat: BANC

24. Flare, maybe: SOS. Got it via crosses.

25. Makes an example of: CITES

26. Declaration in a playground game: NOT IT. "Tag" declaration.

27. Vitamin K source: CHARD. So are most dark green veggies. Need fat to best utilize the Vitamin K. Or any vitamin, right, Al?

28. Over: FINITO

29. Yin and yang, e.g.: DUALITY. Yin & Yang is factored in my cooking.

32. One who doesn't do Windows?: MAC USER. Nailed it.

33. Native Alaskans: INUITS

34. Seemingly charmed entrepreneur: MIDAS. I don't get this clue. Why "charmed"?

35. Rival of Sparta: ARGOS. I can only think of PERSIANS.

36. Like unsorted mail: PILED

37. Beaut: GEM

40. Course objectives for many: PARS. Golf course. I'd be happy with a bogey on a par 5.

41. Black-tie events: BALLS

42. Florida's __ Chica Key: BOCA. Have never heard of this island. It's about 3 miles east of Key West. Wikipedia also says Boca Chica is literally "small mouth" in Spanish.

43. Ophelia's niece, in "Uncle Tom's Cabin": EVA

44. Actress Palmer: LILLI. Nope. Not in my radar. German actress.

45. Peer's realm, perhaps: DUCHY. Oh, Duke's realm.

50. Impertinent: SNIPPY. Much better than our normal edge word SASSY.

51. Loses all its water: RUNS DRY

Down:

1. Annuls: UNDOES

2. Declined: SAID NO

3. Sports page headline grabbers: UPSETS. Did not leap to me quickly.

4. Turning part: ROTOR. So simple in retrospect.

5. Design: PLAN

6. Morn's opposite: E'EN

7. Hobby involving launches: ROCKETRY. Sign up and ride along with all the punks.

8. Nuts in cupules: ACORNS. Cupule is a new word to me.

9. Tunes (out): ZONES

10. Bootleggers' nemeses: T-MEN

11. Mini-albums, for short: EPS

12. Showy arbor vine: CLEMATIS. The one with the red flowers.

13. Crystalline gypsum variety: SELENITE. Named after Greek moon goddess Selene. And then mineral suffix-ite. New word to me also.

15. Approached: NEARED

16. Unknown: X FACTOR. Noun "Unknown".

22. Edicts: FIATS

23. Employee of the Month incentive: BONUS

25. Markers: CHITS

26. Battery acronym : NICAD (Nickel-cadmium battery)

27. Madison Avenue honors: CLIOS. Advertising awards.

28. Diminishes: FADES

29. Nursery supply: DIAPERS. Was picturing plants/flowers.

30. Figures out: UNRAVELS

31. With a browned crust, as potatoes: AU GRATIN. I like oven fried potatoes. You?

32. Air pressure unit: MILLIBAR. Another new word. Milli = One Thousandth.

34. First woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: MILLAY. Edna St. Vincent Millay. Was unaware of this trivia.

36. Meager: PALTRY

37. Expand the admission pool, in a way: GO COED

38. Parrot: ECHOER

39. Bass prey: MAYFLY. Had no idea that bass eats mayflies.

41. Arm wrestler's pride, as it's commonly called: BICEP

42. Seethes: BURNS

44. Reindeer herder: LAPP. The northern Norwegian. Kept thinking of Santa and his reindeer, Argyle!

45. Academic list keeper: DEAN

47. Engineering sch. on the Hudson: RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). Learned from doing Xword.

48. Sch. with a yearbook called the Gumbo: LSU. Interesting trivia. Good to know.

Answer grid.

JD's Crossword Story continues. See her C installment.

C.C.