Saturday October 9, 2010 James Sajdak

Theme: None

Total words: 68. Total blocks: 33

Very unusual grid design. It has:

1) the standard 180 degree rotation;

2) a left to right symmetry;

3) a top to bottom mirroring pattern.

Rarely do we see this kind of grid structure. As a result, we have a even-numbered count of all entries with various length, including an amazing 28 of seven-letter words.

The puzzle is anchored by a pair of music grid spanners:

27A. It lost to "Moon River" for a Best Song Oscar : TOWN WITHOUT PITY. Unknown trivia to me. "Moon River" is lovely.

42A. 1964 Record of the Year Grammy winner, with "The" : GIRL FROM IPANEMA. Sweet song.

Across:

1. Avid ones keep Life Lists : BIRDERS. Is "Life Lists" a specific term to birders?

8. Weapons restriction of a sort : TEST BAN

15. Circling : IN ORBIT

16. Coin's "heads" : OBVERSE

17. Take a plane? : SKYJACK. My favorite clue today.

18. Formed before delivery, as concrete : PRECAST

19. Mom and pop financing gp. : SBA

20. Roger who coached eight NHL teams : NEILSON. No idea. Obviously this guy is in Hall of Fame. Is eight a record?

22. Taste : SIP. Drink.

23. Collaborator with a Count and a Duke : ELLA (Fitzgerald). Count Basie. Duke Ellington. I don't feel the two a's are necessary. You?

25. Dance genre : TAP

26. Peak in Thessaly : OSSA. Mt Ossa. Peak near Olympus.

32. View from Jackson Hole : TETONS. Grand Tetons. Big boobs.

33. Safe portfolio investments : T-NOTES

34. Ad-committee link : HOC. Ad hoc committee.

35. Dr. Ray Langston's TV team : CSI. Have never watched CSI. Don't know the doctor.

36. Come to a head : BOIL UP

39. Puget Sound port : TACOMA

45. Sub. for omitted names : ET AL. Literally "and others". French got their "et" from Latin I gather.

46. Hammett's Spade : SAM. Sam Spade. And 11D. Hammett's Spade, e.g. : TEC. Short for detective. Nice clue tie-in.

47. Library Card Sign-up mo. : SEPT

48. Like some painkillers, briefly : OTC

49. French lover? : AMATEUR. I don't get it. Is it literally "lover" in French, Kazie?

53. Frat letter : RHO

54. Told : RELATED. And 59. Not told : UNAWARE. Another clecho (clue echo).

56. Easily attached : STICK ON

58. Island north of Trinidad : GRENADA. Needed crossing help.

60. Sect linked to the Dead Sea Scrolls : ESSENES. I can never remember this sect. So close to Essences.

Down:

61. Jai alai balls : PELOTAS. It's just Spanish for "balls", correct?

1. "Bullitt" co-star : BISSET (Jacqueline). Total stranger to me. Bullitt is a character's name in the film.

2. Therapy aid : INK BLOT

3. Pluralis majestatis : ROYAL WE. Pluralis majestatis is "majestic plural" in Latin.

4. Court physician? : DR. J. Julius Erving. Basketball court.

5. "Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes" author : EBAN (Abba)

6. Potatoes alternative : RICE

7. Nevis neighbor : ST KITTS. See this map. Crazy STK*start.

8. Leadership position : TOP SPOT

9. River through Aragon : EBRO. To the Mediterranean.

10. 1984 Swedish speed skating medalist Gustafson : SVEN. Both his given name and surname are so Swedish/Norwegian.

12. Golfer's 2-wood : BRASSIE. Gimme to me. Watched lots of the old Bobby Jones golf tips when I first started golfing.

13. Rink stats : ASSISTS

14. Working capital? : NET PAY. Nice misdirecting "working".

21. __-di-dah : LAH

24. Colonial mound : ANTHILL. Tricky "colonial".

26. Sunroof and CD changer, e.g. : OPTIONS

28. "A Room of One's Own" author : WOOLF (Virginia). Not familiar with the book. What's it about?

29. Arouse, as wrath : INCUR

30. Open without a corkscrew : UNCAP

31. 1900 Puccini premiere : TOSCA. Well, 5-letter Puccini work answer is either TOSCA or OPERA.

36. Pink Gin ingredient : BITTERS. No idea. Have never heard of Pink Gin.

37. Sources of ambiguous answers : ORACLES. Warren Buffett would love this clue. He's called the Oracle of Omaha. Guess who's the Oracle of Nebraska?

38. Some Iberian inns : POSADAS. Spanish for "inns"?

39. "Pencils down" : TIME'S UP. From proctors.

40. Mongoose family member : MEERKAT. Cute.

41. Antique oil holder : AMPHORA. Or "Antique wine holder". The Greek vase. Learning moment for me.

42. Magazine whose debut issue featured a cover photo of Cindy Crawford dressed as Washington : GEORGE. Another gimme. See the cover. It's not worth anything collection-wise. The first issue of Playboy with Marilyn Monroe in good condition can easily fetch hundreds of bucks (just to annoy Annette).

43. Comb breaker, perhaps : MAT. Have never heard of "hair" being referred as "mat".

44. Makes up (for) : ATONES

49. __ end : AT AN. Partial.

50. Early Iranian : MEDE. They live din Media.

51. Big name in alternative press : UTNE. Utne Reader.

52. Shiraz spending money : RIAL. Another Iran reference. Shiraz the city. Not the wine.

55. Suffix with oct- : ANE. Octane.

57. USN rank : CWO (Chief Warrant Officer). Is it a common abbr, Spitzboov? I was clueless.

Answer grid.r grid.

To Jayce, a belated 生日快乐! Jayce speaks and recognizes some Chinese characters. I bet he knows a few naughty slang.

C.C.

Friday October 8, 2010 Paul Guttormsson

Theme: ADD ON (39A. Extra, and this puzzle's title) - "ON" is added to the end of a familiar two word pair to create a new and humorous visual.

20A. Milton Hershey, e.g.?: CHOCOLATE BARON. Milton? The candy bar man, No wonder he got in the candy business. This puzzle actually forms a perfect companion to Gareth Bain's NIXON puzzle we had a while ago. ON is nixed from familiar phrases. The word baron was in play as well.

56A. Segundo matrimonio result, maybe?: SPANISH STEPSON. Did we all understand second marriage? Of course they are in ROME .

10D. Body of brewing rules?: BEER CANON. I love this, both for the pun (we have our Canon of Ethics for Lawyers) and the extended visual BEER CANNON .

35. Ancient Germanic singer?: ALTO SAXON. I also like this one very much, it is also a double play on words with ALTO SAX and ANGLO-SAXONS .

Well hello Friday, it is surprise, surprise, Lemonade before your eyes, with a new day dawning. I am not sure I have seen this constructor before, or maybe only doing a NY Times.

Anyway, the theme was easy but fun; though apparent from the very first reveal of BAR ON from the perps, it did not make the clues and answers any less witty, and the rest was easy in places and hard in places, so I guess a Friday. Let’s have it!

Across:

1. Mother of Horus: ISIS. Wow, we start with an obscure but common crossword MYTHICAL FIGURE , I always loved Isis because her mother’s name is NUT.

5. Cheap reads: PULPS. People either love or hate cheap FICTION .

10. Divulge: BARE. Do we like the bare MIDRIFF .

14. 1959 British Motor Corp. debut: MINI, and a car semi-clecho, 15A. Last Olds: ALERO. It spawned its own fan club SIGN UP .

16. Ostrich cousins: EMUS are from Australia (right KZ) which is near NZ, and 28A. Fictional tree shepherd: ENT. Amazing visuals of New Zealand, and the March in LORD OF THE RINGS . And we should give equal time to 46D. Brute: OGRE .

17. Routing abbr.: ATTN. Tricky, as most of us thought first of travel routes, rather than routing a letter.

18. Subordinate to: UNDER. Not a very PC use of the word.

19. Give off: EMIT.

23. MPG rating agency: EPA. Environmental Protection Agency.

24. Millennium-ending year: ONE BC. Now this is a topic for debate, when do milienia begin and end? Is this followed by 1 A.D.?

25. E. African nation: ETH. Landlocked ETHIOPIA . Their calendar is 7.5 years off from the Gregorian.

30. Place to see an Audi: STRASSE. German for Street.

34. A.L. player whose team logo includes an Uncle Sam hat: NY YANKEE. For all of those who worship the dark side IMAGE .

37. Got in on a deal: ANTED. A deal of cards, gambling, as opposed to a business deal, like with Bernie Madoff, no gamble at all.

38. Form often requiring an SSN: APPL. Application, one of many abbreviations, such as 42A. Master: Abbr.: ORIG. I guess this comes from the music business where the master recording is the original.

43. Buck parts: CENTS. What is a Buccanear? A very high price for corn.

45. Improve one's bargaining power, in a way: UNIONIZE. OOO, very tempting, but no politics!

47. Radar user: TROOPER. My favorite POLICE FORCE .

50. "Star Trek" sequel, briefly: TNG. The Next Generation, featuring our recent favorite DEANNA TROI . Not to be confused with Star Wars and 2D. Jedi nemesis: SITH .

51. St. crosser, on signs: PED. estrian clue.

52. Yahtzee score sheet row: SIXES. I have played but did not remember this score sheets. You can print them ON LINE .

54. Suffix with ranch: ERO. My favorites IMAGE .

62. Imitation: FAUX. YOU THINK? .

63. Playgroup reminder: SHARE. Like this GROUP .

64. Reference work, usually: TOME .

65. Curly coif: AFRO. No comment IMAGE .

66. Austrian dessert: TORTE. YUMMY .

67. Thought: IDEA. Better than IDEATE.

68. "It's __ fun": BEEN. Damn I wish this had been saved for the end, it is a great exit line.

69. Malibu, for one: SEDAN.

70. Word avoided by optimists: CANT.

Down:

1. Apple variety: IMAC. Apple computer.

3. Involved with: INTO. Eh, a stretch for me, but reminds me of the line from the movie, Mary: I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies. It's exhausting.

4. From that time: SINCE.

5. "She's a Lady" songwriter: PAUL ANKA. But is he a GENTLEMAN ?

6. Radius neighbor: ULNA. Your arm bones.

7. Helped come about: LED TO. The cause and effect of life.

8. Grooms: PREENS.

9. Frozen dessert: SORBET.

11. Gun shop stock: AMMO.

12. Wreck: RUIN.

13. Winter hrs. in N.J.: EST. Who wants to be in NJ in the winter? Oops, sorry Dennis.

21. Not booked: OPEN.

22. Lover of Cal, in "East of Eden": ABRA. Gone so soon CAL .

25. Put on the books: ENACT. A legislative intent.

26. Blood __ :TYPER. This was all perps, otherwise I would have had no idea.

27. Therapy lead-in: HYPNO. Kind of a pun.

29. Rocker Nugent: TED. I liked him better for his MUSIC

31. Comic unit: STRIP. Nice juxtaposition with 32. Jump on, as an opportunity: SEIZE, right ladies.

33. Beat by a bit: EDGED.

36. http://mit.__: EDU. I guess the small letters are to keep you from realizing it was Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

40. Man.and Minn. neighbor: ONT. Ontario, Canada. More abbreviations, but gimmes for our northern contingent.

41. What an apostrophe may stand for, in dates: NINETEEN. ‘30s, ‘40s

44. Reinterpret, in a way: SPIN. A true American CREATION .

48. Is: EXISTS. Cogito Ergo Sum.

49. Work on hooves: RESHOE. Anyone seen Secretariat yet? I think it came out today.

53. Pottery piece: SHARD. My son digs for shards.

55. Sight-related: OPTIC. The nerve of him to use this clue.

56. Protected: SAFE. Yes boys and girls, always be safe, and stay 57D. Not corrupted: PURE.

58. Madrid miss:Abbr.: SRTA. Senorita, I have not counted the abbreviations, but gee.

59. Club __: SODA. Great to take out stains.

60. Comet, to some: OMEN. Classic MOVIE .

61. Tidy: NEAT. Which is also pretty 62D. "Cool!": FAB.

Answer grid.

Lamonade

Thursday October 7, 2010 Donna S. Levin

Theme: "I'm puzzled and have some cross words for you." revealed in 64A. Where this grid's starred answers' ends have particular relevance: ON THE PUZZLE PAGE.

17A. *Stand firm: PUT ONES FOOT DOWN.

29A. *Find by chance: COME ACROSS.

37A. *Utility company network: POWER GRID.

49A. *1990s-2000s kids' show starring a pooch named for its color: BLUE'S CLUES. A blue spotted (female) puppy assists Steve, a minimalist artist, solve mysteries with the help of other animated friends.

Hi all, Al here.

Pretty straight forward theme answers, lots of 7 and 8 letter answers, and more than a few abbrevs to balance that out. Just about right for a Thursday, I'd say.


ACROSS:

1. The Bob Hope Classic component and others: PRO-AMS. Professional-Amateur sporting events, in this instance, golf.

7. Privately, to a lawyer: IN CAMERA. Latin for "in chamber", as a judge would have.

15. Like some Egyptian churches: COPTIC. Early followers of Christianity.

16. Robin's band: MERRY MEN. My favorite take on the story was Robin and the Seven Hoods starring the Rat Pack.

19. Writer de Beauvoir: SIMONE. I have no idea why I knew this name, but I just typed it in without thinking. Maybe it came up in an episode of Home Improvement or something...

20. Amiable: SWEET. Amiable music.

21. PIN requester: ATM. A new twisty clue, too bad it had to be all in caps.

22. European capital: RIGA. Capital of Latvia. I put in EURO right away and thought I was being clever to see through the clue.

24. 1871 Cairo premiere: AIDA. An opera by Giuseppe Verdi (Joe Green), who did not attend the premiere and was not happy that none of the attendees there were members of the general public.

27. Latin god: DEUS. Literally.

33. Own up to: ADMIT. Confess.

35. Pierre's peeper: OEIL. French for eye.

36. Eastern theater genre: NOH. Nōgaku is a major form of classical Japanese musical drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Many characters are masked, with men playing male and female roles.

41. Fig leaf's outer edges?: EFS. Fig leaF.

44. iPod model: NANO. I'm sure these are designed for children with small fingers.

45. Surprise at the door: POP IN. This is seriously bent.

53. Rowlands of "Gloria": GENA. Virgina Cathryn Rowlands. Born in Madison, Wi. The only movie I've seen her in was Paulie, a picaresque (didn't we just have this word?) tale about a parrot, which also starred Tony Shaloub, who coincidentally was born and raised in Green Bay. Yes, it was a green and yellow parrot.

54. Gets free, as a smoke: BUMS. As Nice Cuppa might say, "bums a fag".

55. Flub: SLIP. Related word: slime, which also in turn gives us potter's clay, which is also called slip.

57. Highest power?: NTH.

58. One in a cast: ACTOR. Wrist? Thumb? What other 5-letter part can be broken?

62. Conceive: IDEATE.

68. Woo, in a way: SERENADE. From Italian serenata "an evening song," literally "calm sky," from sereno "the open air," noun use of sereno "clear, calm," from Latin serenus "peaceful, calm, serene." Sense influenced by Italian sera "evening".

69. Tied: EVENED. Verb form. I had EVEN UP at first.

70. Snuck up on, perhaps: STARTLED. Not completely the same thing, but the clue does only say "perhaps".

71. Ritual repasts: SEDERS. Passover meals. (I hope I got that right).

DOWN:

1. Angel dust, briefly: PCP. 1-(1-phenylcyclohexyl)piperidine, shortened to phencyclidine. Related to dextromethorphan, which is what you get in some cough syrups. Now you know why they tell you not to operate heavy equipment...

2. Caused to get up: ROUSTED. Rouse, a hawking term of obscure origin was originally used of hawks shaking their body feathers.

3. Best: OPTIMUM. From a form of Latin "optimus". Related: optimism, to think the best of.

4. Unit quantified in a subscript: ATOM. As in chemical formulas: H₂O (water) or C₅H₁₂ found in 46D. Compound used as a lab solvent: PENTANE. A five carbon chain. Organic chemistry, not organic farming...

5. Secondary: MINOR. Latin for smaller. Smallest (minimus), gives us minimum.

6. Having lovely panoramas: SCENIC. Equal rights pics, one for each.

7. "This tape will self-destruct in five seconds" fictional spy org.: IMF. Impossible Missions Force, Mission Impossible.

8. Modernists: NEOS. Greek prefix for new.

9. Gloat: CROW. Old English: crawian "make a loud noise" the sense of "exult in triumph" is perhaps in part because the English crow is a carrion-eater, that is, feeding on the "dead" opponent.

10. Johnson of "Laugh-In": ARTE.

11. "Frankly, __ ...": MY DEAR.

12. Poker face's lack: EMOTION. From Latin ex- movere: "to move".

13. VCR's "Go back": REW.

14. Abby's twin: ANN. Ann Landers, Abigail Van Buren.

18. Bell-shaped lily: SEGO.

21. Oklahoma city: ADA. Birthplace of Oral Roberts...

23. Lovey-dovey: AMOROUS.

25. British mil. honor: DSO. Distinguished Service Order.

26. Resilient wood: ASH.

28. Nurse: SIP.

30. Data for a neurologist, briefly: EEG. Electroencephalography

31. Broadcast: AIR.

32. Hair holder: CLIP.

34. Loads: TONS.

38. WWII female: WAC. Women's Army Corps.

39. It usually shows more detail: Abbr.: ENL. Enlargement. Just fill it in and move on.

40. Follow closely: DOG.

41. Wane: EBB.

42. Swine __: FLU. Don't get me started...

43. Indonesian island: SUMATRA.

47. Two, for one: INTEGER. Number 2 is an integer. Directly from Latin in- tangere, meaning not touched, whole. Related word: intact.

48. "Never mind": NAH. Something along the lines of "slangy" would have helped.

50. Artist known for spatial impossibilities: ESCHER. Maurits Cornelis (M. C.)

51. Part of QE2: Abbr.: ELIZ. Queen Elizabeth II ocean liner. Now, just sitting in Dubai.

52. Walks like a crab: SIDLES. Sideways motion.

56. Irk: PEEVE. I kept reading this clue as ink.

59. Big top, for one: TENT.

60. Official gem of South Australia: OPAL. Really an abundance of a straight-forward clue...

61. Brusque: RUDE. From French brusque: "lively, fierce".

63. Mimicked: APED. To mimic is "of or related to mimes". Can't say I ever saw an ape try to get out of an invisible box.

64. CIA predecessor: OSS. Office of Strategic Services, wartime intelligence.

65. Safety device: NET.

66. The London Zoo has one: ZED. British for ZEE. Starting letter of Zoo,

67. Ms. evaluators: EDS. Manuscripts, editors.

Answer grid.

Al

Wednesday October 6, 2010 Mike Peluso

Theme: The EAGLE has landed. Each theme answer is a different definition of the word eagle. All so colorful.

20A. Eagle : KEEN-EYED BIRD. Indeed. There are about 70,000 bald eagles living in the world today, about half of those in Alaska, and another 20,000 in B.C., Canada - because of the large amount of salmon in those areas.

33A. Eagle : LUNAR LANDER. The lander portion of the Apollo spacecraft. Six such craft successfully landed on the Moon between 1969–1972. Simulation.

41A. Eagle : TWO UNDER PAR. Golf. Timely for me, the Frys.com open is being held where i work next week. The whole resort is already a zoo, in preparation. I'll be glad when it's over.

54. Eagle : HIGHEST SCOUT. Boy Scouts of America. Coincidentally, at least 40 astronauts earned the rank as a youth, including Neil Armstrong, the first person to set foot on the moon.

Melissa here.

Clecho (clecho, clecho, clecho). Perfect timing Mike Peluso and Rich, for our newly adopted word, coined by Dennis.

And a few timely baseball references:

25A. Ball club : BAT. Deceptively simple.

27D. Girardi's predecessor as Yankee manager : TORRE. Joe.

45D. Cleanup hitter's stats : RBI'S. Runs Batted In. From Wikipedia: "…the hitter who bats fourth in the lineup. Cleanup hitters often have the most power on the team and are typically the team's best all-around hitter; their job is to "clean up the bases", hence the name.

Across:

1. Dance fundamental : STEP

5. Spreading trees : ELMS

9. Cosmic payback : KARMA

14. __-up: slow Web connection : DIAL.

15. Bubbly label name : MOET. Champagne.

16. Like some kites : AVIAN. Bird species.

17. Menlo Park middle name : ALVA. Thomas Alva Edison, nicknamed "The Wizard of Menlo Park" (New Jersey, not California).

18. Former credit card giant : MBNA. Purchased by BofA in 2005. No idea.

19. Shakespeare's title Athenian : TIMON. The Life of Timon Athens. New to me.

23. Big pix: Abbr. : ENLS. Short for enlargements, i suppose.

24. Reagan era prog. : SDI. Strategic Defense Initiative.

28. Pancho was his sidekick : CISCO. The Cisco kid. I thought of Lefty first.

30. Running independently : ON AUTO

32. Trite : OLD

37. Leg-shaving alternative : NAIR

39. "Science Guy" Bill : NYE

40. Baking soda target : ODOR. Does anyone still keep an open box in the fridge?

46. Tint : HUE

47. Composer Berlioz : HECTOR. 19th Century French composer. Who knew?

48. WWII blockade vessel : U-BOAT

50. Joseph of ice cream fame : EDY

51. Tic __: mint : TAC

53. Sale condition : AS IS. Seeing this a lot lately.

59. Ambulance attendant : MEDIC

62. Cathedral section : APSE

63. "Dark Angel" actress Jessica : ALBA.

64. Worship : ADORE. And 22D. Adored one : IDOL. Duplication.

65. Bring up : REAR

66. Diver's haunt : REEF

67. Au courant, with "in" : TUNED. French for aware, or conversant - meaning fully familiar, or knowledgeable.

68. Ancient Persian : MEDE

69. Ilk : SORT

Down:

1. Nebr. neighbor : SDAK. South Dakota.

2. Roofer's piece : TILE

3. Whence icicles hang : EAVE. 'Whence' is archaic English, meaning from what place. More Shakespeare.

4. Does a cabinetmaking task : PLANES. Like this.

5. Harris of country : EMMYLOU. Great voice. Stellar collaboration with Mark Knopfler.

6. They may be pierced : LOBES. Earlobes. And 8. Pierces : STABS. Clecho.

7. See 32-Down : MEND. 32. With 7-Down, feeling better : ON THE

9. Destructive 2005 newsmaker : KATRINA

10. Zealous : AVID

11. Part of most eyeglasses : RIM.

12. "Little Red Book" author : MAO. Book of quotations from Chairman Mao, explaining the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.

13. Ex-Texas governor Richards : ANN. Colorful character. Died in 2006.

21. Check sent with a ltr., e.g. : ENCL. Enclosure.

25. Sanskrit for "awakened one" : BUDDHA. One who has achieved enlightenment. And 44. Like monastic life : AUSTERE

26. Enjoyed Denny's, say : ATE OUT

28. Scratched : CLAWED

29. Stupidity : IDIOCY

31. "That's __": "Uh-uh" : A NO

34. Toledo-to-Detroit dir. : NNE

35. Port on the Firth of Clyde : AYR. Scotland. I do not feel bad that i didn't know this.

36. Sen. counterpart : REP. Senator / Representative.

38. Road to nowhere, metaphorically : RUT. Great clue.

42. Spied : NOTICED

43. Schlep : DRAG

49. Annual Hollywood gala, with "the" : OSCARS

52. Amulet : CHARM

53. Syrian leader : ASSAD

54. Take on : HIRE

55. Fencing sword : EPEE

56. Stick on the table : OLEO. Noun, not verb.

57. Opposite of unter : UBER. German. Unter = beneath or under; uber = above or over.

58. First president to take up golf : TAFT. Easy guess. Only Presidents with four-letter last names: Polk, Taft, Ford, Bush.

59. Pin cushion? : MAT. Wrestling. Very nice.

60. University URL : EDU

61. Put on : DON

Answer grid.

Melissa

Tuesday, October 5, 2010 Jeff Chen

Theme: Portmanteau...not - Even though the unifier is a portmanteau, the four theme entries are two-word phrases in which the first word is Spanish while the second is English. The unifier is two words formed into one.

17A. Site for flashy couples dancing : SALSA CLUB

28A. Annual college football game in Arizona : FIESTA BOWL

38A. Spicy deep-fried stuffed appetizers : JALAPENO POPPERS. Hot!

45A. Nap period, in Latin America : SIESTA TIME. The last three all made their debut today.

62A. 2004 Adam Sandler movie, and a hint to the puzzle theme found in 17-, 28-, 38- and 45-Across : SPANGLISH . Starring Adam Sandler and our crossword stalwart Téa Leoni.

Argyle here.

Very smooth 76-worder. No obscure words or doubtful abbrs. In fact, very few abbrs. A noticeable hallmark of Jeff Chen, who seems to be focusing on earlier week puzzles now.

Quite a few nice multi-word entries. Nice clechoes (clue echoes) too.

Across:

1. Houlihan portrayer in 5-Across : SWIT. Major Margaret J. "Hot Lips" Houlihan portrayed by Loretta Swit on the TV sitcom. In the movie, the character was portrayed by Sally Kellerman.

5. Korean War sitcom : M*A*S*H

9. Reading aids : LAMPS. Part-time reading aids, when it's dark.

14. __ Major: Great Bear : URSA

15. Actress Hayworth : RITA. Always worth an image.

16. Native Alaskan : ALEUT

19. Confiscate : SEIZE

20. Popular swim briefs : SPEEDOs. Always worth an image.

21. Issue an embarrassing retraction : EAT CROW

23. Foul caller : REF

24. Group of street toughs : GANG

25. Competed in a race : RAN

34. Physics bit : ATOM

36. Ending for absorb : ENT. Absorbent.

37. Supreme Court justice Sotomayor : SONIA. The current session of the Supreme Court started Monday.

42. Crop up : ARISE

43. Indian bread : NAN. Or Naan.

44. Takes to court : SUES. Court clecho with 37A.

48. Paid athlete : PRO

49. Sign over a door : EXIT. And LEO (50. Sign before Virgo).

53. "Ain't happening!" : "NO SIREE!"

57. Emulates Jell-O : WIGGLES

61. Bar, in law : ESTOP

64. Bridal registry category : CHINA

65. Impulse : URGE

66. Poet Lazarus : EMMA. Emma Lazarus (1849 – 1887) was an American Jewish poet born in New York City. She is best known for "The New Colossus", a sonnet written in 1883; its lines appear on a bronze plaque in the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty in 1912.(Please refrain from political comments.)

67. Musical Carpenter : KAREN

68. Word with pressure or review : PEER

69. Gush : SPEW

Down:

1. Figure (out), in slang : SUSS

2. Conclude, with "up" : WRAP

3. Castaway's place : ISLE

4. Shocking weapon : TASER

5. Appliance brand that helps you wake up? : MR COFFEE. Do you all drink coffee in the morning?

6. Suffers : AILS

7. "The Simpsons" disco guy : STU. Worth a little image.

8. __ corpus : HABEAS. Uh...no image.

9. Like a desperate effort : LAST GASP

10. Actor Guinness : ALEC

11. Israel's Golda : MEIR

12. "The Godfather" author Mario : PUZO

13. Goulash, e.g. : STEW

18. Summer drink : ADE. Who really drinks it?

22. Tiny army member : ANT

24. "Start that job now!" : "GET ON IT!"

25. Indian nobles : RAJAs

26. Centipede video game creator : ATARI

27. "Cross my heart!" : "NO LIE!"

29. Lodge : INN

30. Hits on the noggin : BOPS

31. Outdo : ONE UP

32. Electrician, at times : WIRER

33. Steer catcher : LASSO

35. The "m" in E = mc² : MASS

39. Broadway flier : PETER PAN

40. Nonstick spray : PAM

41. "I just flew in, and boy are my arms tired!," e.g. : ONE LINER. "Take my wife -- please!" Henny Youngman was the king of the one-liners.

46. Tree feller : AXE. Later in the week, this might be a clue for lumberjack or an ent.

47. Snarls, as traffic : TIES UP

51. Scrambled fare : EGG

52. Makes eyes at : OGLES

53. Giraffe's trademark : NECK

54. Fed. workplace watchdog : OSHA

55. Cookbook verb : STIR

56. Actress Skye : IONE. Will an image help to remember her?

57. "Living" payment : WAGE

58. Hobble : LIMP

59. Salinger heroine : ESMÉ. From "For Esmé – with Love and Squalor".

60. "Pygmalion" playwright : SHAW

63. Season opener? : PRE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, October 4, 2010 Lila Cherry

Theme: Lunchbox Classic - The first parts of the theme entries form that basic lunch for kids.

17A. Sources of rowdy criticism: PEANUT GALLERIES

25A. Turkey brand: BUTTERBALL

38A. &: AND SIGN. Shorter than the two 8s and four 9s non-theme fill. Perfectly fine as it's placed right in the middle of the grid. Easily recognized as the theme entry.

49A. Colorful plastic footwear: JELLY SHOES

59A. Hawaii once comprised most of them: SANDWICH ISLANDS

Argyle here with our favorite editor, Lila Cherry, anagram of "Really Rich".

My comments will be brief due to the trouble with Cruciverb. Too bad, there were some good stuff in there, esp the non-theme long entries. As a well constructed Monday, most problems were solved by the perps.

OH yeah, a ton of alliterations. And clechos, too.

Across:

1. Self-confident to a fault : COCKY

6. Dealt with fallen leaves : RAKED. Timely.

11. Donkey : ASS

14. Sneeze sound : AHCOO

15. Vine-covered, as college walls : IVIED

16. ROTC school WSW of Washington, D.C. : VMI. Virginia Military Institute.

20. He-sheep : RAM

21. The Carpenters and Sonny & Cher : DUOs

22. Jazzy Fitzgerald : ELLA

23. Mother of Don Juan : INEZ. Not exactly a Monday word.

29. Turkey-carving machine : SLICER

31. Mine, in Metz : À MOI. Alliteration.

32. Recline, biblically : LIETH

33. Play your poker hand without drawing : STAND PAT

37. Commotion : ADO

41. Computer program suffix : EXE

42. 1997-2003 game show host who put up his own money for prizes : BEN STEIN. Nice full name. This guy.

44. How stop signs are painted : IN RED

46. ABA members : ATTs. Attorneys.

47. Oration : SPEECH

53. "Huh?" : "WHAT?"

55. Nike rival : AVIA. Latin for "fly".

56. Stumble : TRIP

58. Santa __ winds : ANA

64. Poem of praise : ODE

65. Game show host : EMCEE

66. Remus or Sam : UNCLE

67. Actor Beatty : NED

68. Cowpoke's pokers : SPURS

69. Beef source : STEER

Down:

1. Bay of Naples isle : CAPRI. Capri pants are named after this isle.

2. Aptly named California coastal city : OCEANSIDE. South of Camp Pendleton.

3. Lizard that can change colors : CHAMELEON. Lovely entry.

4. __-Tiki : KON

5. "__ be amazed" : YOU'D

6. Severity, in Soho : RIGOUR. That would be the English Soho, to indicate the English spelling.

7. Seagoing "Cease!" : "AVAST!"

8. About .62 mi. : KIL. Kilometer or, more common, Km.

9. Slithery fish : EEL

10. Pres. before JFK : DDE

11. Walled Spanish city : ÁVILA. Central Spain.

12. Use one's nose : SMELL

13. Rope-making fiber : SISAL

18. Boob __: TV : TUBE

19. Opener's next call, in bridge : REBID

24. Pimple : ZIT

26. Actor Jacques : TATI. ? Image. Not a Monday name.

27. Online zine : E-MAG

28. Country music's Milsap : RONNIE

30. Talkative : CHATTY

32. Experiment site : LAB

33. Nine-digit ID : SSN

34. "To sleep, __ to dream": Hamlet : PERCHANCE. Debut entry.

35. Chopping tool grip : AXE HANDLE. Quite a scrabbly grid.

36. CNN founder Turner : TED

39. Circus safety gear : NETS

40. Dinner plate : DISH. And SALAD (43. Dinner course). Dinner clecho. More food reference.

45. Original : NEW

47. Baseball's World __ : SERIES

48. Omega preceders : PSIs

49. Leader of the Argonauts : JASON. Jason and the Argonauts.

50. Deftly escape from : EVADE

51. Like many winter jackets : LINED

52. None of the above : OTHER

54. Stun gun : TASER

57. + : PLUS

60. All-Pro Patriots receiver Welker : WES

61. Pesky kid : IMP

62. Hosp. heart ward : CCU. Coronary Care Unit.

63. Aardvark's tidbit : ANT. Several relevant mentions in this cartoon, and some good jazz, too.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday October 3, 2010 Arthur S. Verdesca

Theme: Argot - Ar got. Add R to a common English word and form a two-word new phrase where the same R-following letter string in the first word also starts the second word. Then contract the two.

23A. Width of a freeway exit? : RAMP 'AMPLITUDE. Did this tip you off the theme gimmick immediately?

25A. Collection of complaints? : RANT 'ANTHOLOGY

39A. Apartment party? : RENT 'ENTERTAINMENT

50A. "I slept about eight hours"? : REST 'ESTIMATE.

53A. Indifference to Dr. Dre? : RAP 'APATHY. I was wondering if Dr. Dre knows how famous he is in Xword world.

69A. Mai tai decoration? : RUM 'UMBRELLA

89A. Slam dunk component? : RIM 'IMPACT

92A. CBer's handle? : RIDE 'IDENTITY

99A. Like permissive dog owners? : ROVER 'OVERINDULGENT

121A. Lazy time for Huck Finn? : RAFT 'AFTERNOON

123A. Idiot driving a semi? : RIG 'IGNORAMUS

I don't quite get the title "Argot". Am I right in understanding the "ar got" gimmick? Argyle thinks so.

The title reminded me of Henry Hook's "Element 18" puzzle where letter Rs are deleted from all the answers. Element 18 is Argon ( R Gone) in periodic table.

I had a tough time getting into the constructor's mindset. The theme concept is quite unique. Also, no cheater square in the whole grid.

Not fond of the IN repeats in the grid, though I do understand the difficulty in avoiding the little duplications in a giant 21*21:

57A. Bamboozled : TAKEN IN

32D . __ town: recently arrived : NEW IN

74D. Entered : WENT IN

79D. Fill, as another's shoes : STEP INTO

101D. Up __: indignant : IN ARMS

Across:

1. Tot's call : MOMMY

6. LAX listings : ARRS

10. Cabbage with crinkly, curled leaves : SAVOY. It's Savoy Cabbage. Not savoy alone.

15. Knopf, e.g.: Abbr. : PUBL. Publication. Not a familiar abbr. to me.

19. Domingo solos : ARIAS

20. No, to Nureyev : NYET. Russian for "No". Alliteration.

21. Adler who outwitted Sherlock Holmes : IRENE. Drew a blank.

22. Capital on Upolu island : APIA. Samoan capital.

27. Ad writer's award : CLIO

28. Treacherous place : MINE FIELD. Treacherous indeed.

30. Flips : UPENDS

31. Potentially offensive, in a way : UN PC

33. TV chef Martin : YAN. Great personality.

34. Venerable one : ELDER

36. Movie buff's collectible : POSTER. See "Metropolis". Over half a million. Nuts.

45. Covert maritime org. : ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence)

46. Use a towel on : WIPE

48. Old pros : VETS

49. Bradley in uniform : OMAR

56. "O patria __": "Aida" aria : MIA. Literally "Oh, my dear country".

58. Deck out : DRESS

60. No more than : MERELY

62. Seine views : ILES

63. Navigable connection : STRAIT

65. In concert : AS ONE

67. Measure out : ALLOT

72. Scroogean look : SCOWL

76. Former jockey Smith who was married to Fred Astaire in the '80s : ROBYN. First encounter with this lady. She looks pretty.

78. Online exchange : EMAILS

80. Surveyor's measure : AREA

81. Writer Leonard : ELMORE. Have any of you read his "Get Shorty"?

84. Below, in verse : 'NEATH

86. Finished : AT AN END

88. Damone of song : VIC. What's his famous song?

94. Qatar bigwig : EMIR

96. Wine opener? : OENO. Prefix for "wine".

97. Listening to every word : RAPT

98. Completed : DID

105. Historic Honolulu palace : IOLANI. The palace where their last king lived. Had difficulty spelling the name. So many vowels.

107. Sri __ : LANKA

108. Latin word of affection : AMO. Te amo.

109. Author __ Morrow Lindbergh : ANNE

110. Andean beast : ALPACA

113. Removed with a chisel : GOUGED OUT

117. Generational disconnects : GAPS

125. Long sentence : LIFE. Prison sentence. Awesome clue.

126. Force : MIGHT

127. "Law & Order: SVU" actor : ICE-T

128. Oak-to-be : ACORN

129. Remnants : ORTS. Classic crosswordese.

130. Final word : SAY SO

131. Vat sediment : LEES

132. Kids : TYKES

Down:

1. French grape-skin brandy : MARC. No idea. Pomace brandy.

2. Hard exam : ORAL. Why is it hard?

3. "La Bohème" heroine : MIMI. Easy guess.

4. Plan : MAP OUT

5. Maker of the fragrance Opium : YSL. I am using Opium.

6. Silly bit : ANTIC

7. Record-setting miler Jim : RYUN. Nope. Another stranger.

8. Aptly named flight : RED-EYE

9. Edberg of tennis : STEFAN. Swedish.

10. Paddock parent : SIRE

11. Disappearing sea : ARAL. In Central Asia.

12. Family feud : VENDETTA. Great word.

13. N.Y. neighbor : ONT

14. Violinist Menuhin : YEHUDI. Well, one more foreign name to me.

15. Sicilian seaport : PALERMO. Capital of Sicily.

16. Soon after : UPON

17. Cowboys' city, familiarly : BIG D. Dallas.

18. Attacks, with "into" : LAYS

24. In the first place : IMPRIMIS. New word to me also.

26. In full bloom : OPEN

29. Mtge. payment part : INT

35. Make it : LAST

36. "The quality of mercy is not strained" speaker : PORTIA. The girl in "The Merchant of Venice".

37. Common soccer score : ONE ALL. Tied. One to One.

38. Ebert's longtime co-host : SISKEL (Gene)

39. On a pension: Abbr. : RET

40. Gabor and others : EVAS

41. Exercise units : REPS

42. Single-named supermodel : EMME. Always want EMMA.

43. Get the goods on : NAIL

44. Cafeteria staple : TRAY

47. Storage site : PANTRY

51. Pizarro's treasure : TESORO. No idea. It's Spanish for "treasure".

52. Party cheese : EDAM

53. Back off : RETREAT

54. Med. care provider : HMO

55. Hungers : YENS. I've got the yen for pickled herring.

59. Pick on : RIB

61. Eat one's words : RECANT

64. Clear out : RUN

65. Boxing biopic : ALI. Will Smith.

66. Lipton alternative : SALADA

68. Unit of pressure : TORR. Mystery answer. It's named after Italian physicist Torricelli, who invented barometer.

70. Hwy. mishap respondent : EMT

71. 1939 Garland co-star : LAHR (Bert). Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz".

73. Steam n' Mash maker : ORE-IDA

75. Bride of July '81 : LADY DI

77. "__ Mir Bist Du Schoen": 1937 hit : BEI. Can never remember the song. "To Me, You're Beautiful".

81. Sometime : EVER

82. Oscar night rental : LIMO

83. Twice DLII : MCIV. 1104.

84. TV alien's word : NANU. Nanu Nanu. From "Mork & Mindy'.

85. Green's sci. : ECOL

87. Composer Bruckner : ANTON. No idea. Sounds Russian.

90. Abbey resident : MONK

91. Teaching : PEDAGOGY. Perfect consonant & vowel arrangement.

93. First NYC subway : IRT

95. Tells : RELATES

100. Streak : RACE

102. Skit part : GAG

103. "Farm to Fork" author : EMERIL (Lagasse). "Bam!".

104. Curt refusal : NO DICE

106. What you will : LEGACY. Nice clue.

109. Pittypat and Polly : AUNTS. Who's Aunt Pittypat?

110. Alice's chronicler : ARLO. "Alice's Restaurant".

111. Cub's place : LAIR

112. Up-in-smoke sound : PFFT

114. Shows amazement : OOHS

115. "Do __ others ..." : UNTO

116. Architectural S-curve : OGEE

118. Crazily : AMOK

119. Unadulterated : PURE

120. Office IDs : SSNS

122. Long on screen : NIA. Nia Long. Gorgeous clue, with Long in the beginning.

124. Stinker : RAT

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday October 2, 2010 Harvey Estes

Theme: None

Total words: 72. Total blocks: 32

Avg Word Len: 5.36. Missing: J Q X Z

This puzzle is anchored by triple stacks of 10s in each quadrant of the grid. All multi-words:

1A. Parts counterparts : LABOR COSTS. Car repairs.

15A. Lemon source : USED CAR LOT. Was thinking of the fruit.

17A. One lacking bias : RADIAL TIRE. Of course political "bias" came to mind. Not tire. I like how the 3 car references piled on top of one another. We also have FIN (22A. Old El Dorado feature). Would be a perfect puzzle for car nuts Argyle to blog.

58A. Holiday bloom : EASTER LILY. Nice full answer.

61A. Minor considerations? : LITTLE ONES. Great clue.

63A. Poky activity happens at it : SNAIL'S PACE. Tricky "it".

12D. Conscience : MORAL SENSE. Dennis has some, mostly just MOREL sense.

13D. Ann Landers or Abigail Van Buren : TWIN SISTER

14D. Legendary swimmer : SEA SERPENT. Mythical.

25D. Show compassion : HAVE A HEART

26D. Challenging area at Augusta National, as it's facetiously called : AMEN CORNER. Nailed it. Refers to holes No. 11, 12 & 13. We also have PARS (33D. Links numbers). Augusta National is par 72.

27D. In direct confrontation : NOSE TO NOSE

Multi-words are sure zippier than single long words. Not necessarily easier to ferret out though. Misleading clues abound today. Harvey's wit and humor are in full play.

FYI, Nancy Salomon told me a few weeks ago that it is Harvey who originated the phrase Utah Formation, referring those 5 black square clusters in the grid edges. Don "Hard G" Gagliardo calls the shape Idaho Potato. So evocative.

Across:

11. Vital team members : EMTS. Vital organs. The clue needs an abbr. hint.

16. Actor who turned down the role of Dr. Shepherd on "Grey's Anatomy" : LOWE. Rob Lowe I gather.

18. Spotlit opera event : ARIA

19. Joint with a cap : KNEE. Saw this clue before. Still like it.

20. Stumper's concern : VOTER. Was thinking of "puzzle" stumper, not one who makes stump speech.

21. Summer goals for some : TANS

23. Unspoken part of the Godfather's "offers"? : OR ELSE. Couldn't keep "make him an offer he can't refuse" out of my mind.

25. "One sec ..." : HANG ON

29. Neil Young song about Kent State : OHIO

31. Mister : SIR

32. Le Pew's pursuit : AMOUR

33. High fashion label : PRADA. Loved "The Devil Wears Prada".

34. Super vision? : ESP. Nice clue.

35. Endows, as with power : VESTS

36. Kleptomaniac film monkey : ABU. No idea. The monkey in Disney's "Aladdin". Kleptomaniac is one who is addicted to stealing.

37. 14th-century Florentine exile : DANTE. Oh, I thought he lived in a much earlier period.

39. Hydrocarbon ending : ENE

40. Fourth in a series : APRIL. No problem!

42. "Hedda Gabler" playwright : IBSEN (Henrik)

43. Undertaking : ACT

44. Closing : LAST

45. Common chuckwalla habitat : DESERT. Looks ugly.

46. They may be shod : HOOVES. Good clue.

48. The boss usually doesn't want to hear them : NOS. Do you say "No" to your boss?

49. Bald eagle cousin : ERNE

50. Curly hair, say : TRAIT. Mine is straight.

53. Quarter of a yard : SPAN. Was calculating in paper and got 9 inches.

57. Quotation abbr. : ANON

60. Kick back : REST

62. Extremely, in Amiens : TRES. Don't know where Amiens is. Somewhere in France I suppose.

Down:

1. Lie low : LURK

2. Simile center : AS AN. Wise as an owl.

3. Only native Englishman ever named Doctor of the Church by a pope : BEDE. Stumped. Wikipedia says he's often referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede.

4. Comic strip dog : ODIE. Also CALVIN (6. Comics character who said "Some days even my lucky rocketship underpants don't help"). From "Calvin and Hobbes". Got me.

5. 1986 GE takeover : RCA. New trivia to me.

7. "Entertaining Mr. Sloane" dramatist : ORTON (Joe). Not familiar with the drama or the author.

8. Fine cut : SLIT. Was picturing meat. Lovely clue.

9. Zipped : TORE

10. Olympics no-no : STEROID

11. Send : ELATE. "Darling, you send me..."

22. On the block : FOR SALE

24. Rock crew : ROADIES. Rock band.

28. __ feeling : GUT

29. Shuttle path : ORBIT. Hey, Husker Gary!

30. Arrest, with "in" : HAUL

38. Tchr.'s notation : ABS. Absent, right? I've never attended school here. Don't know the notation abbrs. Rich prepared us for Tchr = Teacher earlier.

41. Some Cassatt works : PASTELS. Sweet fill for Clear Ayes.

45. "No kidding!" : DO TELL

47. Lets off steam : VENTS

48. Capone associate : NITTI (Frank). Uh uh, don't recall his name. "The Untouchables" is quite good.

51. Shower : RAIN."Showers, e.g." would be a better clue. Yes?

52. Hollywood canine : ASTA

53. Pen repast : SLOP. Oink, oink, soupy & tasty!

54. Cóctel fruit : PINA. Cóctel is Spanish for "cocktail".

55. Novelist Waugh : ALEC

56. Place to find IBM : NYSE. My favorite clue today. IBM the company, not the product.

59. Scale tones : RES

Answer grid.

C.C.