Wednesday October 20, 2010 Elizabeth A. Long

Theme: Letters Stepping Down - Fifteen Es, Fs & Gs are placed in three grid-spanning columns to portray the visual meaning of each theme entry. E, F & G are in alphabetical order. Answers are placed in Down rather than Across for better visual effect.

4D. Online IRS document submission system, literally? : EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE. E-filing. E filing down the grid. January 15 - April 15 is the window to file tax returns.

7D. '60s sitcom set at Fort Courage, literally? : FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF. F-Troop. F trooping down also. ABC sitcom 1965 - 1967. I've never seen it.

8D. Skimpy bikini part, literally? : GGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. G-String. A string of Gs. That, i've seen.

Interesting looking grid pattern, with eight cheater squares. Not an easy puzzle. I don't remember seeing this kind of theme before, with 3 grid-spanning (down) theme answers that repeat one letter. And a total of 33 E's, wow. The last Elizabeth Long puzzle to appear in the LA Times was over a year ago. Speaking as the only female guest-blogger, it's nice to see the work of female constructors.

Melissa here.

Reminds me a little of Mangesh's recent puzzle, that coincidentally, I also blogged, and included theme answers E-Trading, F-Number, and G-String once again, for posterity.

Across:

1. Use chicanery on : DUPE. Chicanery - the use of trickery to achieve a political, financial, or legal purpose. And 48. Achieves via trickery : FINAGLES. Obtains something by devious or dishonest means.

5. Pole worker? : ELF. You were expecting something else?

8. Lots : GOBS

12. Author __ Stanley Gardner : ERLE. Crossword staple - wrote detective stories.

13. Islamic mystic : SUFI

15. Work on, as a bone : GNAW. Great word.

16. Fit of fever : AGUE

17. Roosevelts' successors as first family : TAFTS

19. Festive event : GALA

20. Desert with a view of Beersheba : NEGEV. In Israel. From the Hebrew root denoting "dry".

22. One studying saucers : UFOLOGIST. Actual word. Who wants to be a pole-ologist?

24. Awfully long time : EON

26. Popular pâté : FOIE GRAS. The fattened liver of a duck or goose. I've never had it.

27. He's not always a beast : WEREWOLF. Clever clue. Werewolves change from human to beast, usually at the full moon.

31. Cat chaser : DOG

32. Take the stand again : RETESTIFY

34. Mass unit : GRAM. Base unit of mass in the original French metric system; one-thousandth of a kilogram. And 53. Metric energy unit : ERG. Clecho.

38. Gen. Robt. __ : E. LEE

39. Gather : INFER. Tricky.

41. Arizona river : GILA. A tributary of the Colorado River, in New Mexico and Arizona. 650 miles long.

42. It has a floor on Wall St. : NYSE. New York Stock Exchange.

43. Good feeling that lingers : AFTERGLOW. Ahh.

45. Common Mkt. : EEC. European Economic Community. And 23D. War on Poverty org. : OEO. Office of Economic Opportunity.

49. Lets up : EASES OFF

54. Working hours for night owls : LATE SHIFT.

56. Libya neighbor : EGYPT

60. Creamy cheese : BRIE. Grilled brie and bacon sammy.

61. Volunteer : OFFER

63. "La maja desnuda" painter : GOYA. This should be a gimme by now.

64. Stare at impolitely : OGLE

65. Words before then : IF SO

66. Pita sandwich : GYRO. Anyone else hungry?

67. Playground shout : WHEE

68. Co. whose logo features Mercury carrying a bouquet : FTD. Florists' Transworld Delivery.

69. "What __ around ..." : GOES. "What goes around, comes around."

Down:

1. Official with a list : DEAN. A Dean is the head of the faculty, and the Dean's list is a category of students who achieve high grades.

2. Attempt to persuade : URGE

3. Outlet connection : PLUG. Anyone still looking for ideas for halloween?

5. Educ. guess : EST. Estimate.

6. Island cookout : LUAU

9. Studio warning light : ON AIR

10. Wood for model fliers : BALSA. Hi Dennis.

11. Deals with, as a fly : SWATS

14. "__, Sing America" (Langston Hughes poem) : I TOO. There's your cue, Clear Ayes.

18. Arrived at a base, in a way : SLID. Ball. I meant baseball.

21. Promises : VOWS

25. "It must have been someone else" : NOT I

27. St. Paul's architect : WREN. St. Paul's Cathedral (in London), designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Prince Charles and Lady Di were married there.

28. Hard to hold : EELY. Okay.

29. AAA suggestions : RTES. Routes.

30. Filmmaker Wertmüller : LINA. No idea. Italian filmmaker and director. First woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for directing. She looks like a character. Wiki says she was expelled from more than a dozen Catholic schools in her youth.

33. Mythical Himalayan : YETI

35. Brooklet : RILL

36. Ointment ingredient : ALOE

37. Animal mouths : MAWS. I forgot.

40. Actor Auberjonois : RENE. Played Father Mulcahy in the movie version of M*A*S*H, among other roles.

44. Like a once-in-a-blue-moon event : RARE. Love me some Van.

46. Hook shape : ESS

47. Small to mid-size salmon : COHO

49. Macaroni shape : ELBOW

50. Plaint from a pirate : AARGH

51. It turns a lot in rush hour : STILE. Nailed it.

52. Stereotypical poodle name : FIFI

55. __-drive : TEST

57. Fluctuate wildly : YOYO

58. Combustible pile : PYRE

59. New Mexico resort : TAOS. Pretty. Who's been?

62. Gun, in slang : ROD

Answer grid.

Here is a nice photo of Chickie (most left, green shirt), JD & WM taken yesterday at an art gallery in San Jose.

Melissa

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Anna Gundlach

Theme: It's Your Move - Four twelve-letter entries that start with synonyms for your avatar on BOARD GAMES.

1A. With 73-Across, where you might find the starts of 20-, 33-, 43- and 59-Across: BOARD and 73A. See 1-Across: GAMES. Symmetrically placed pair.

20A. Guy in a spotlight: MAN OF THE HOUR

33A. Feature of much of Bach's music: COUNTERPOINT

43A. Coin for Long John Silver: PIECE OF EIGHT

59A. Symbolic but inconsequential act: TOKEN GESTURE

Argyle here.

I don't know about you but it gave me a start to see a unifier as the first entry. Then to find the last Across entry was also a unifier and together, they gave me no clue...well, I wasn't a happy camper. But the perps came through and the unifiers weren't really needed to solve the the themed entries. They did clarify the theme, so all is right in my Tuesday world.

This might be a debut puzzle. I would like to see more from this constructor.

Across:

6. Skips, as stones : DAPS. Did you remember?

10. "This doesn't look good" : "UH, OH!"

14. Sleep problem : APNEA. The temporary suspension of breathing, occurring in some newborns (infant apnea) and in some adults during sleep (sleep apnea).

15. Scat queen : ELLA. Ella Fitzgerald, also known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella".

16. Best Musical award, say : TONY. For excellence on Broadway. Obie is for off-Broadway.

17. Almost fail : GET A 'D'. Tricky to parse.

18. "Parlez-__ français?" : VOUS. "Do you speak French?"

19. Slightly : A TAD

23. Country in which Tetris was created : RUSSIA. The puzzle video game was originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov.

26. Work hard : TOIL

27. Simpson judge : ITO. Lance Ito, the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who presided during the O. J. Simpson murder case.

28. Droid download, say : APP. Application.

29. Portfolio asset: Abbr. : STK. Stock.

31. Antacid named for its elements : MAALOX. Just google it if you need to know what they are.

37. Prefix with plasm : ENDO. Inner prefix.

38. Scepter's partner : ORB. Symbols of power. Image.

39. Inning sextet : OUTS. Three per side.

48. Spelunking spot : CAVERN. Spelunking = Cave Exploring.

51. Notable period : ERA

52. Meadow : LEA

53. Bird: Prefix : AVI

54. Senate helper : AIDE

57. Activating, as a fuse : ARMING

62. Numbskull : TWIT

63. Euterpe, to musicians : MUSE. Euterpe is the Muse of music.

64. Often unattainable perfection : IDEAL

68. Pre-Easter period : LENT

69. Blackjack needs : ACES. That and a face card or ten gives you 21 and that is good.

70. Nabisco's __ Wafers : NILLA

71. Beat by a whisker : EDGE

72. E-mail outbox folder : SENT

Down:

1D. Help a market cashier : BAG

2D. Unlock, poetically : OPE

3D. Hill crawler : ANT

4D. Chews (out) : REAMS

5D. Marcel Duchamp, e.g. : DADAIST. This is art? "Objet d'art".

6D. Punk/New Wave band since the '70s : DEVO. This is music? short clip.

7D. Like dirigibles : ALOFT. They are ALOFT when they're flying.

8D. Demoted planet : PLUTO

9D. Japanese fish dish : SASHIMI. Raw fish. Sashi = Pierced. Mi = Meat. Needs wasabi of course.

10D. The Beehive State : UTAH

11D. Hushpuppies are often fried in it : HOT OIL

12D. Running by itself : ON AUTO

13D. Original Oreo competitor : HYDROX

21D. __ Dogg, Snoop's cousin : NATE. Both are "musicians".

22D. Vivacity : ELAN

23D. 10K, for one : RACE

24D. Second word of many fairy tales : UPON. Once upon a time...

25D. Tater : SPUD

30D. McDonald's founder Ray : KROC

32D. Yours, in Reims : A TOI. Reims, a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lying 129 km east-northeast of Paris.

34D. "Don't think so" : "NOPE!"

35D. Start to conceive? : PRE

36D. Clarinet cousin : OBOE

40D. Fruit that isn't pretti? : UGLI. Cutesi to end them in "i".

41D. After that : THEN

42D. Male deer : STAG

44D. Turkey neighbor : IRAN

45D. Conundrums : ENIGMAS

46D. Weimar wife : FRAU. So we get a tad of German to go with our French today.

47D. Hoop or stud : EARRING

48D. Drive drove : CATTLE. Drove means herd.

49D. Swore : AVOWED

50D. Minnesota footballer : VIKING. Favre finally got Moss to play with him.

55D. Common wild card : DEUCE

56D. German industrial city : ESSEN

58D. Oil, watercolor, etc. : MEDIA

60D. Suffix with major : ETTE

61D. Part of SAT : TEST

65D. Horror film street : ELM

66D. Top-fermented brew : ALE

67D. __ Cruces : LAS. New Mexico.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, October 18, 2010 Don Gagliardo

Theme: Pat, I would like to buy an 'E' - Now here is a theme that is not very evident until you get the unifier and a unifier that doesn't help much in getting the answers. All the theme answers have at least 4 Es and only an 'E' for a vowel.

20A. Was disappointed, as with a performance: EXPECTED BETTER. Five Es.

25A. Out-of-the-ordinary brews: EXTREME BEERS. Five Es.

37A. Attorney general under Ronald Reagan: ED MEESE. Four Es.

44A. Calm by nature: EVEN TEMPERED. 5 Es.

52A. She replaced Paula Abdul as an "American Idol" judge: ELLEN DEGENERES. 6 Es.

56D. "Buy It Now" online site (and where vowels were bought for 20-, 25-, 37-, 44-and 52-Across?): EBAY

And an extra EEE (29. Third shoe width beyond D), connecting 2 theme answers.

Argyle (18A) here after a long night. Cruciverb was down again. No new puzzle until earlier this morning.

A rather difficult construct for a Monday puzzle (only 74 words). See the constructor's note at the end.

Solving was a notch or two harder for a Monday but probably no problem for this group. There are 25 'E's in the theme, 42 'E's all together. Record is 78 (NY Times).

Across:

1. White whale chaser : AHAB. "Moby Dick".

5. Cannes clergymen : ABBÉs. On the French Riviera.

10. Foam ball maker : NERF

14. Island nation near Tonga : FIJI. They are all island nations in the South Seas. Map.

15. Wild animal : BEAST

16. Leaf-to-branch angle : AXIL. Like this.

17. Difficult youngster : BRAT

18. Jolly holiday visitor : SANTA. Jolly all the time, right, elves?

19. Underground missile launch site : SILO

23. Shrinking Asian sea : ARAL

24. GPA booster : EASY 'A'. Grade Point Average (GPA)

31. Lewd material : SMUT

32. Compassion from the judge : LENIENCY

36. DDE opponent : AES. Dwight D. Eisenhower vs. Adlai E. Stevenson II.

40. Big Band __ : ERA

41. Smudges in a psychological test : INK BLOTS. Whoopsie, I put down Ink Spots.

43. Lascivious look : LEER

48. __ Arabia : SAUDI

51. Not worth debating : MOOT

58. 1999 Ron Howard film : "EDtv". A strange movie.

59. __ Mountains: south-central U.S. range : OZARK

60. Term referring to a prev. citation : IBID. Latin, short for ibidem, meaning the same place.

62. Actress Hatcher : TERI. Image. (43A)

63. Mournful music : DIRGE

64. Stun : DAZE

65. Spoken : ORAL

66. Seven Dwarfs' only beardless member : DOPEY

67. Spud's buds : EYES. Cute rhyme.

Down:

1. Ohio's Wright-Patterson, e.g.: Abbr. : AFB. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (AFB). Southwestern Ohio. Location of the National Museum of the United States Air Force.

2. Give the job to : HIRE

3. Sink-cleaning brand : AJAX

4. Very small role : BIT PART

5. 1970s-'80s FBI bribery sting : ABSCAM. The operation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property but was converted to a public corruption investigation. The investigation ultimately led to the conviction of a United States Senator, five members of the House of Representatives, one member of the New Jersey State Senate, members of the Philadelphia City Council, and an inspector for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

6. Fab Four member : BEATLE

7. Ruination : BANE

8. Cornerstone abbr. : ESTD.

9. Attack, á la Brutus : STAB

10. '70s tennis star Ilie : NASTASE

11. They're marked with lit signs : EXITS

12. Lead the life of __ : RILEY. Who Riley (or Reilly, or Reiley) was isn't clear. If he had been a known individual then it surely would have been recorded. The lack of any such records points to the name being chosen as that of a generic Irishman, much as Paddy is used now. More here. Also, it was an early TV comedy. 2 minute clip.

13. Plant life : FLORA

21. Bard's "before" : ERE

22. Spooky : EERIE

25. Actor Morales : ESAI

26. Mutant superheroes co-created by Stan Le : X-MEN

27. Mammoth feature : TUSK

28. Hallowed : BLEST

30. Naval Acad. grad : ENS.

33. __-do-well : NE'ER

34. Canadian tribe : CREE

35. Lawn party site : YARD

37. NBA Hall of Famer Hayes : ELVIN. Elvin Ernest Hayes (The Big E). Position: Forward-Center Height: 6'-9".

38. John or Jane : DOE

39. Map feature with an elev. : MTN.

42. Torment diabolically : BEDEVIL

43. Left on the table, as a bet : LET RIDE

45. Come out : EMERGE

46. Organ grinder's pet : MONKEY

47. "Annabel Lee" poet : POE. Edgar Allan Poe.

48. Tend : SEE TO

49. Birch family tree : ALDER

50. Prefix with violet : ULTRA

53. Connecticut senator Chris : DODD. This man.

54. Basso Pinza : EZIO. He made it on to the cover of Life magazine.

55. "The World According to __" : GARP. A Robin Williams movie.

57. Magnitude : SIZE

61. __ Moines : DES

Answer grid.

Constructor Notes:

"This theme started out as something else. ELLEN DEGENERES got the ball rolling. I noticed all those E’s in her name. I had the thought of making an all E vowel puzzle. I know that it was done before in the New York Times, but I couldn’t remember how it was done. I didn’t realize that having long theme entries and all E vowels would be really tough. But I tried anyway. The fill suffered terribly. It was no fun. I looked for another hook, or unifier as C.C. would call it, that would give me a reason for having all E vowels in the theme answers. EBAY popped into my head immediately, and Rich agreed that it could serve as the unifier. I looked for theme answers with a lot of E’s, and still struggled with the fill. Being a Monday puzzle, it is always a challenge to make the fill fresh and familiar. I really enjoy solving LA Times Monday puzzles, and though they may be easy to solve, there is an element of fun there that all solvers can appreciate."

Argyle

Sunday October 17, 2010 Julian Lim

Theme: I Have a Weird Feeling... Or rather MIXED EMOTIONS (109A. Conflict, and a hint to unraveling the puzzle's circled letters). The spanning circled letters are anagrams of various emotions. In cryptic crossword, "weird" and "mixed" often indicate anagram trick.

22A. "The Age of Turbulence" memoirist : ALAN GREENSPAN. The circled five letters ANGRE is anagram of anger.

29A. Still in Hollywood : FREEZE FRAME. Fear.

32A. Event with a "six metres club" : POLE VAULT. Love.

45A. Treaty of Paris conflict, 1763 : THE SEVEN YEARS' WAR. Envy. We also have a minor duplicated PARIS (58D. Montmartre's city). Montmartre is lovely. Had an incredible experience inside the Sacré-Cœur Basilica.

59A. Defense strategy that's not an option in some states : INSANITY PLEA. Pity.

71A. Scandalmongers, often : TABLOID PRESS. Pride.

83A. Nintendo game that involves rescuing a princess : THE LEGEND OF ZELDA. Glee. Cross-referenced with NES (117A. 83-Across console).

92A. "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" performer : BILLY JOEL. Joy.

94A. Common cell : MOBILE PHONE. Hope.

I love that all the anagrammatic emotion words consistently span two words in each theme entry rather than hidden inside some long words. More fun.

I am sure our Lemonade (Jason in real life) would enjoy the two references to him:

39D. Euripides tragedy : MEDEA. And JASON ( 93D. 39-Down's spouse), who deserted Medea after she helped him get the Golden Fleece.

86D. Lemon add-on : ADE

I think this is Julian Lim's first Sunday puzzle. If so, congratulations! Very creative theme. Many original and tricky clues too.

Across:

1. Hied : SPED

5. Redbox rental : DVD

8. Fond du __, Wisconsin : LAC. The French settled down there first I suppose.

11. NH3 : AMMONIA. Did not really know the formula.

18. Apple part : CORE

19. Service station offering : AIR. An unexpected answer.

20. "Rubáiyát" rhyme scheme : AABA

21. Trying to catch a break? : X-RAYING. Great "break" clue.

25. Speculator's reply to "Where's all your money?" : I LOST IT. Tough!

26. Bob Marley, e.g. : RASTA. Loved his "No Woman, No Cry".

27. Pupil of Plato : ARISTOTLE. Socrates, Plato, Aristotle. We also have TELOS (71D. Final purpose, to Aristotle). Unknown to me. Aristotle duplication. Tough to avoid so in a giant 21*21.

38. Vet : EX-GI

39. Suvari of "American Pie" : MENA. Can never remember her name.

40. Big name in beauty : ESTEE. Estée Lauder.

41. "The X-Files" extras : FEDS

50. Dr. Alzheimer : ALOIS. I did not know this.

52. Dwells : RESIDES

53. Stretch out using : LIE ON. The clue sounds a bit awkward to me.

54. Many of their pieces are nearly identical : JIGSAWS. Seems so time-consuming.

57. Sushi bar supplier : EELER. Was in the food direction.

58. Homeys : PALS

61. Like pheasant : GAMY

62. Little rat : PUP

65. Slave : TOIL

66. Corrosive fluids : LYES

67. What vacationers are without, by choice : CARE. Without care.

68. Batman co-creator : KANE (Bob). Not a familiar figure to me.

69. It "enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time": Merton : ART. Oh, memory does the same, no?

70. Exploded : BLEW

75. "Charlie's Angels" angel Munroe : KRIS. Peeked at the answer sheet.

76. Fracas : MELEE

77. Ball Park Franks maker : SARA LEE

78. Links site : CHAIN. Thought of golf.

80. Bread component? : SILENT A. Letter A in bread is silent. Got me.

82. Key of the overture to Mozart's "The Magic Flute" : E-FLAT. Needed crossing help.

87. "See ya!" : TA TA

88. Buddy List user : AOLER

89. Heading under which cabs are listed : REDS. Wine list. Cab here refers to Cabernet.

90. Yeats's "__ and the Swan" : LEDA

101. Heart stimulant brand : ADRENALIN. Have never heard of the brand. Makes sense.

103. Romantic cocktail garnish : PETAL

104. First frat at U.C. Berkeley : ZETA PSI. Total unknown.

112. Delta follower : EPSILON

113. Sacha Baron Cohen character : ALI G. Borat too. Nuts.

114. __ de Cologne : EAU

115. Tenth: Pref. : DECI

116. She played Sasha Monroe on "Third Watch" : NIA LONG. Nice to see her full name.

118. Banned pesticide : DDT

119. "Understood" : I SEE

Down:

1. Gobble (down) : SCARF

2. Opposite : POLAR

3. Make blank : ERASE

4. Pasta order word : DENTE. Al dente.

5. __ es Salaam : DAR. Largest city in Tanzania. Literally "house of Peace" in Arabic, a la Wiki.

6. Fight (for) : VIE

7. Less upbeat : DREARIER

8. Error : LAPSE

9. Like __ out of 79-Down : A BAT. 79. See 9-Down : HELL. Like a bat out of hell. The clues told me nothing.

10. Spam-revealing aid? : CAN OPENER. Picturing the email spams.

11. Deodorant targets, anatomically : AXILLAE. Singular is axilla.

12. 1957 Bobbettes hit : MR. LEE. Here is the clip. Out of my knowledge zone.

13. Great Leap Forward architect : MAO. Crazy time in China. It preceded Cultural Revolution.

14. Cries of dismay : OYs

15. Niggling detail : NIT

16. Trattoria menu suffix : INI. Pasta suffix. Like Rotini.

17. Thespian's rep. : AGT. Thespian sounds so old.

20. "__ sure you've heard ..." : AS I'M

23. Wondering look : GAZE

24. Org. with many arms : NRA. Weapons.

28. Theater awards : TONYs

30. No. after a phone no. : EXT. Extension. Drew a blank.

31. Alphabet trio : FGH. The constructor has no other better choice here.

33. Indeed : VERILY

34. Boneheads : ASSES

35. Old CIA plane : U-TWO. Weird to see U-2 spelled out.

36. Like times of famine : LEAN

37. Thrice, in Rx's : TER

41. Sizzling Tex-Mex meat : FAJITA

42. "The Ladies' Man" author Lipman : ELINOR. Nope. Alien to me.

43. Watch Fido, say : DOG SIT

44. Hemp fiber : SISAL. Learned from doing Xword.

46. Filters (through) : SEEPS

47. German donkey : ESEL. Made me smile. I got to know John Lampkin because of this word. Looks like this.

48. Odious : VILE

49. Arbored Southwestern walkway : ALAMEDA. Can never remember this word.

51. Japanese honorific : SAN. I would be called C.C. San.

55. Game : WILLING

56. Optical maladies : STYES

60. Longbow wood : YEW

61. Fed. auditor : GAO (General Accounting Office)

62. Valencian rice dish : PAELLA. Tasty!

63. Depose : UNSEAT

64. Old Catalan coin : PESETA. Forgot again.

67. Former Yankee Boyer : CLETE. No idea. I might have his baseball card.

68. Singles promoter? : KRAFT. Cheese.

70. Prickly, plantwise : BRIERY. Adjective of brier I suppose.

72. First Hebrew letter: Var. : ALEF. OK, variant of aleph.

73. Daimler contemporary : BENZ

74. Game opener? : PRE. Pre-game.

75. Survivor of Krypton's destruction : KAL-EL. No idea. Superman's birth name.

76. Broker : MIDDLEMAN

78. K.J. __, first Korean to win on the PGA Tour : CHOI. Gimmie. Love him. Very Asian style. Stoic. Hard-working. Do-er.

80. Villainous look : SNEER

81. 1967 Temptations hit : ALL I NEED. Obtained via crossings.

83. Check : TAB

84. Disintegrating : ERODING

85. Penn. neighbor : DEL

91. PDA entry : APPT

94. Leg hiders : MAXIS. Skirts.

95. Designer Cassini : OLEG. Jackie's designer.

96. Didn't pass, in bridge : BID

97. Alpine protagonist : HEIDI. Lovely.

98. Siouan tribesmen : OTOES

99. '30s V.P. John __ Garner : NANCE. Who knows?!

100. Milk pitcher? : ELSIE. Elsie the Cow. Great clue. I was thinking of the container "pitcher" rather than one who makes the sales pitch on TV.

102. River past Thebes : NILE

104. Buddhist sect : ZEN

105. Start to cure? : EPI. Start to the word epicure.

106. Hijack-prevention org. : TSA (Transportation Security Administration)

107. Feel peaked : AIL. New meaning of "peaked" to me.

108. Oslo Accords gp. : PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization)

110. Furious : MAD

111. Partner of about : OUT. Out and about.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday October 16, 2010 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 28

Quite low black square count. One letter V away from being a pangram.

Barry framed this puzzle with 12 ten-letter entries, triple-stacked in each quadrant:

5A. Younger partner : JESSE JAMES. The Younger brothers. Four Js in the grid, two in this fill alone.

16A. Field for bug bugs : ENTOMOLOGY. I used to confuse it with etymology.

18A. They need to be transcribed : STENO NOTES

58A. Networking asset : SHARED FILE. Gorgeous entry.

62A. Scotch part? : PINE NEEDLE. Not familiar with Scotch Pine.

64A. Agent's accounts : SPY STORIES

1D. Southwestern national park, or the primary plant that grows there : JOSHUA TREE. This is a theme answer in Jerome's tease puzzle, with JOSH embedded in front.

2D. Apparent : OSTENSIBLE

3D. Strength-training exercises : ISOMETRICS. No idea. It strengthens an isolated area?

30D. Three-time U.S. Open champ : TIGER WOODS. Nailed it.

31D. He played Max Bialystock in "The Producers" : ZERO MOSTEL. Nailed it as well, since I got the crossing TZU easily.

32D. Act diplomatically : USE FINESSE.

A typical Silk puzzle. Long & scrabbly answers. Several baseball references as well, including his home team.

Across:

1. Bring together : JOIN

15. Bone, to Benito : OSSO. Osso Buco = Bone with a hole.

17. USAF plane for limited runways : STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing). Drew blank again, Dudley!

19. Surgical instrument that stops bleeding : HEMOSTAT. Hemo is prefix for "blood".

21. Ice cream choice : QUART. Was thinking of flavor.

22. A, in Arles : UNE

23. Crime show in its 11th season : CSI. "Crime" hint was a big help.

24. Modem speed unit : BAUD. Kept reading "Modern speed unit".

26. "Per ardua ad __": RAF motto : ASTRA. Literally "Through Adversity to the Stars".

28. Pope before Paul V : LEO XI. Educated guess.

30. Lao-__ : TZU. It's Lao-Zi in Mandarin Chinese. Literally "Old Master".

33. Bitter outburst : TIRADE

35. 2008 World Series champs : PHILLIES. Barry made a tribute puzzle to celebrate the win.

37. Baseball stats : RBIS

38. Small opening? : MICRO. As in microscope.

40. Fiend : OGRE

41. Stiff's nickname : EL CHEAPO. I was picturing a priggish old woman.

43. Formed from : MADE OF

45. Some MIT grads : EES

46. Screams : RIOTS

48. Manhattan Project notable : FERMI (Enrico). 1938 Nobel Winner in Physics.

49. Forward : BOLD

50. Result in a roped-off area, briefly : TKO. Boxing.

52. Earned : WON. Oh, as in earned/won the trust.

53. Equally hot : AS MAD. I had different "hot" in mind.

56. Cobra-killing carnivore : MONGOOSE. Was ignorant that it feeds on cobra.

61. Scribbles : JOTS

63. Sidewalk sale items : ADES

65. Bikini component : ISLE. No bra. Just Bikini Atoll.

Down:

4. Court plea, briefly : NOLO. Nolo contendere.

5. Kids : JESTS

6. Necessitate : ENTAIL

7. Proof mark : STET. "Ignore the change" mark.

8. Didactic term of address : SON. Nice clue.

9. Expressive rock genre : EMO. Three letter rock genre has to be EMO. Dark stuff.

10. Flower in the amaryllis family : JONQUIL. No idea. See here. Dictionary says it's rooted in Latin juncus, meaning "rush".

11. Voiced : ALOUD

12. Manny with 150 career pinch hits : MOTA. Totally unknown. See this photo. #11. Dodgers. Did you get it immediately, Bill?

13. Hungarian wine region : EGER. Well, maybe Jazzbumpa knows.

14. Part of SSS: Abbr. : SYST

20. Large number : SCAD. And 55. Myriad : MANY.

24. Quantum physics pioneer : BOHR (Niels). Nobel Physics 1922.

25. Accepted principle : AXIOM

27. Impetuous : RASH

29. Disney acronym : EPCOT

34. Spam, at times : EMAIL

36. Rich supply : LODE

39. 2001 high-tech debut : IPOD. That early?

42. Like wind and surf : ERODENT

44. Clueless, after "in" : A FOG

47. 1966 U.S. Open champ Fred : STOLLE. Tennis. I drew a blank. Just knew it's can't be Couples. Fred Couples has never own US Open.

49. Discloses : BARES

51. Places for pads : KNEES. And MIDI (56. It covers the 51-Down). Did you want PADS?

53. Ancient royal symbols : ASPS. Ancient Egypt.

54. Crow's-nest sighting : SHIP

57. Resort NNE of Ventura : OJAI. Man, this has become a popular city in Xword.

59. __ gratias : DEO. "Thanks be to God".

60. French iron : FER. No idea. Fer-de-lance = Iron of the lance. Strange name for a snake.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday October 15, 2010 Kelsey Blakley

Theme: Get the L in Here! - Y is replaced by LY at the end of first word of each two-word familiar phrase.

17A. Mentioned with a yawn? : DULLY NOTED. Base phrase is Duly Noted. Adv to Adv.

23A. Tightfistedness scale? : MISERLY INDEX. Misery Index. Not a familiar economic term to me. A measurement of unemployment & inflation rate. Noun to Adj.

53A. Like a centaur? : PARTLY ANIMAL. Party Animal. Centaur is part human & part horse. Noun to Adv.

64A. Old enough to know better? : HARDLY BOYS. The Hardy Boys. Noun to Adv.

The first two theme answers experienced a vowel sound change after the transformation. Nothing happened to the last two.

Sometimes our Monday puzzles have more theme entries than Friday's, but the theme concept is definitely more complicated on Friday: Adding/Deleting/Replacing letter (or letter strings), or punny wordplay. Monday's theme tends to be more straightforward, so is Tuesday's. Then we progress to Wednesday & Thursday (often) with a unifier.

Across:

1. A popular one is modeled after the Winchester rifle : BB GUN. Stumped immediately. Wiki says "One of the most famous BB guns is the Red Ryder BB Gun, modeled after the western Winchester rifle".

6. Three-time A.L. MVP : A-ROD. Four letter, with abbr. hint in the clue, who else could it be?

10. Narcissist's obsession : SELF

14. Oil source : OLIVE

15. __ fide : BONA

16. Gin flavoring : SLOE

19. Inn group member : MAID. Nice play on "In group".

20. __ trap : SET A. Didn't emerge quickly.

21. Like jellybeans : OVOID

22. Memo header : IN RE. Latin for "in the matter of".

26. Swiffer WetJet, e.g. : DAMP MOP. Have never heard of Swiffer WetJet.

29. Bereft : LORN

30. Jupiter, for one : ORB. Oh, God, I wanted GOD.

31. Allen contemporary : PAAR (Jack). Steve Allen. I was at a loss.

33. Lollipop-licking cop : KOJAK. Played by Telly Savalas.

37. Ristorante staple : VEAL

39. Explore deeply : PROBE

42. Derelict, perhaps : WINO. "Perhaps" yes.

43. Contest entry : ESSAY

45. Factor opening : BENE. Opening for the word benefactor. I don't think I would have gotten the answer even with a question mark in the clue.

47. Bucko : MAC

48. Goofs (around) : BUMS

51. Battle preparation place, in metaphor : WAR PATH

57. Actress Falco : EDIE

58. Oarlock pin : THOLE. Used to throw me off.

59. Vanishing points : ENDS

63. Outfits : RIGS. New definition of "rig" to me.

66. Send out : EMIT

67. End of a lover's ultimatum : OR ME. I penned in ELSE.

68. Designated : MEANT

69. Aussie sleep sounds? : ZEDS. Z is Zed in Australia.

70. European coal region : SAAR. No idea. Where is it?

71. Fire proof? : ASHES. We've seen similar clue before.

Down:

1. Mr. Olympia contestants' obsessions : BODS. The only Mr. Olympia I know is Arnold.

2. Risqué : BLUE. In China, yellow means risqué. By the way, this is for Jayce. Just omit the bamboo shoots. No such ingredient in authentic Chinese dumplings.

3. Thin ornamental layer : GILT

4. Black light, briefly : UV LAMP. Not familiar with the term. What is it used for? Why "black light"?

5. Marshal under Napoleon : NEY. Napoleon called him "bravest of the brave".

6. Good, except on the links : ABOVE PAR. Always happy with a double bogey round.

7. Eggbeater feature : ROTOR

8. Tip of Massachusetts : O'NEILL. Tip O'Neill. From Massachusetts. Former Speaker of the House. Great clue.

9. Beatnik's address : DADDY-O. Unknown to me. Like today's "dude". Doesn't sound cool at all.

10. Gilligan's shipwrecked ship : S. S. MINNOW. The insane SSM* start made me doubt my crossing entries.

11. Savanna grazer : ELAND

12. River through Tours : LOIRE

13. Fly-by-night co.? : FEDEX. Nice clue too.

18. "It'll never wash!" : NO SOAP. Another new slang for me.

24. Little cut-up : IMP. "Cut-up" = Prankster. Followed by IRK (25. Bug like a 24-Down).

26. Went off the deep end : DOVE. Great idiom play.

27. God wounded by Diomedes in the "Iliad" : ARES. Greek war god. Was ignorant of the wound he suffered in "Iliad".

28. Wheels of Fortune? : MBAS. Tricky clue.

32. Knock over : ROB

34. "Sands of Iwo __": 1949 film : JIMA

35. Med school subj. : ANAT

36. "Mayor" author : KOCH (Ed). Needed crossing help.

38. Doctor's orders, often : LAB TESTS

40. Stump : BEWILDER

41. Plaque holder? : ENAMEL. The question mark should point you at the teeth direction.

44. James's "Westworld" costar : YUL (Brynner). No idea. Not familiar with the movie. James Brolin.

46. Time slice : ERA

49. Aristotle's first element of tragedy : MYTHOS. See here. It consists of 6 parts, a la Aristotle. Another learning moment.

50. Home to many Berbers : SAHARA. Berbers are those North African tribesmen.

52. Annapolis newbies : PLEBES

53. Two-time Venezuelan president Carlos : PEREZ. Alien to me.

54. Turn on __ : A DIME

55. Intolerant : RIGID

56. "__ Rae" : NORMA

60. Early animal handler : NOAH. OK, Noah handled those paired animals in his Ark.

61. Bit of force : DYNE

62. Ret. fliers : SSTS

65. Sumac from Peru : YMA. Classic crossword name.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday October 14, 2010 Matt Matera

Theme: Aye-Aye, Sir - Various ways to answer in the affirmative appear at the starts of the answers to starred clues, with different language bracketed at the end of each clue as a hint. Tip off in the clue for 66A. Parliamentary votes : YEAS.

1A. *Hip-hopper who married Beyoncé (German): JAY-Z. Symmetrically placed with YEAS.

20A. *Old stories (English): YESTERDAY'S NEWS.

28A. *Inferred cosmic substance (Russian): DARK MATTER. Matter that cannot be detected directly, but "must" exist because "something" massive is interacting with the observed gravitational behavior of the matter that can be detected.

44A. *Séance device (French): OUIJA BOARD. Actually, the trademarked name comes from combining two "yes" words, OUI and JA. That makes this answer stand out a bit from the others.

51. *Fatal problem in Genesis (Spanish): SIBLING RIVALRY. Cain v. Abel.

Al here.

A fairly "agreeable" puzzle today, no? A pangram. Kind of slow starting, but once it got going, it filled in faster for me than yesterday's. More than a few obscure names and places make this a Thursday puzzle, though.

ACROSS:

5. Sturdy fabric: DENIM. From French serge de Nîmes, cloth from a town in southern France.

10. Delhi wrap: SARI. Women's wear in India. Also has an alternate of spelling saree. A seemingly infinite variety of styles.

14. Movie apiarist: ULEE. Peter Fonda's character in Ulee's Gold was a beekeeper.

15. Like sandalwood leaves: OVATE.

16. Green Zone site: IRAQ. A heavily fortified central portion of Baghdad that contained several palaces of Saddam Husein. The International Zone. Also a recent movie about the same starring Matt Damon.

17. Gets into: DONS. Puts on clothing.

18. Brewers' kilns: OASTS.

19. Things you saw while out?: LOGS. Sawing logs, slang for snoring.

23. "Paris, je t'__": 2006 film: AIME. (Paris, I love you) a film made up of 18 short stories, and had 22 directors.

24. Charged particle: ION.

25. Nashville awards gp.: CMA. Country Music Awards.

33. Mythological ride: CARPET. Close your eyes, girl, or if you prefer, don't you dare close your eyes.

35. Derisive cry: YAH. If you say so, I guess.

36. Pivotal part: CRUX. Latin for "cross".

38. Bug, perhaps: ERROR. Latin errare, wander, go astray.

39. Hottie: FOX. Obligatory pic. Just don't google images for her with the word "thumbs"...

40. Easternmost state: MAINE. Ayuh is another way to say yes.

41. "Don't touch that __!": DIAL.

42. Body art, in slang: TAT. Tattoo.

43. High-speed raptor: FALCON. Raptor (Latin) and rapid are related words. To call a raptor high-speed is sort of redundant.

47. Former World No. 1 tennis player Ivanovic: ANA. What is it that draws attractive women to tennis?

48. With 6-Down, one in fear of an audit: TAX. and 6. See 48-Across: EVADER.

49. "Dagnabit!": RATS. Charlie Brown's second-favorite interjection, especially at Halloween. "Rats, another rock."

58. Colombia neighbor: PERU.

59. Funnel-shaped: CONED.

60. Architect Mies van der __: ROHE. Father of "modern" architecture. i.e. big square buildings with lots of glass. Also tubular steel furniture.

61. Animal shelter: LAIR. Related to "lie", as in lie down.

62. Gather: AMASS.

63. Intuited: KNEW. Not quite the same? My sense of the word is to perceive or guess immediately without thinking, but without knowing beforehand. Maybe I'm wrong.

64. About: OR SO.

65. Greet respectfully: BOW TO.

DOWN:

1. Kids' author Blume: JUDY.

2. Succulent plant: ALOE.

3. Dieters may fight them: YENS.

4. Keebler cracker: ZESTA. Saltines competition.

5. Pushover: DOORMAT.

7. Org. with rovers: NASA. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Rover as a remote exploration vehicle, not a dog. SPCA for first thoughts anyone?

8. __-bitty: ITTY.

9. Handel bars?: MESSIAH. Cute musical pun, bars of music, Handle's Messiah. (famously, the Hallelujah chorus)

10. '20s White House nickname: SILENT CAL. Coolidge. 30th president. A possibly apocryphal story has it that Dorothy Parker, seated next to him at a dinner, said to him, "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." His famous reply: "You lose."

11. ... ducks in __: A ROW. Explanations from decorative plaster ducks on the mantle in the 70's, to shooting galleries, are everywhere, but the likely origin is much simpler, think of the image of a mother duck leading her ducklings across a pond, which could have been observed ever since there were ducks.

12. Poverty, in metaphor: RAGS. From rags to riches.

13. Brightness nos.: IQS. I wanted something to do with lumens, or other light sources.

21. Down source: EIDER. Harvested from nests after the ducklings mature and leave it.

22. "Kidding!": NOT! Popularized by Wayne's World skits and movies (from SNL).

25. Included in the e-mail chain: CCED. Carbon Copied, a holdover from business snail mail. You can still buy carbon paper, but why?

26. Video game plumber: MARIO. Nintendo's go-to guy has appeared in over 200 games since 1981 where he was "jumpman" in the Donkey Kong arcade game.

27. Pianist Claudio: ARRAU. From Chile, which also neighbors 58A. Peru. Moonlight Sonata.

29. Honshu city: KYOTO. The Koyoto Protocol on greenhouse gas emission reduction (the US has refused to participate) was first adopted there. And 45D. Airline to 29-Down: JAL.

30. Top limit: MAX.

31. Actress Durance who plays Lois on "Smallville": ERICA. On the one hand it wasn't clued with (Erica) Jong. On the other, hand, if you're not into comic book heroes made into TV shows, you're unlikely to have heard of her. This year is the last season for Smallville, which has been somewhat more soapy than super. We don't know yet if Ms. Durance has a fear of flying yet, as the red and blue blur has not figured out how to do it yet in this alternate Superman story line.

32. Bad sentence: RUN ON.

34. Former Kremlin policymaker: POLITBURO.

37. TV princess: XENA. Lucy Lawless.

39. Terrif: FAB.

40. Former sketch comedy that used Don Martin cartoons: MAD TV.

42. Hailed ride: TAXICAB.

43. "I wish 'twere otherwise": 'FRAID SO.

46. Slap the cuffs on: ARREST.

50. Like a biting remark, in British slang: SARKY. Sarcastic.

51. Burn slightly: SEAR.

52. Novelist Murdoch: IRIS. Apparently one of the 50 greatest British writers since 1945. Sorry to say her work is completely unknown to me.

53. Pitcher Hideo: NOMO. First Japanese major leaguer to relocate to US MLB (Dodgers).

54. Chew: GNAW. Sort of an onomatopoetic word.

55. Unaccompanied: LONE. Had SOLO at first.

56. Flightless bird: RHEA. Finally. Something other than EMU. Not new to crosswords, though.

57. Trees used to make longbows: YEWS. Foliage is poisonous, especially to horses. Rare to poison humans, unless you're like Euell Gibbons and eat everything in the forest. (Actually, that's not true. Euell died of a complications due to a genetic disorder, not from eating pine trees.)

58. Abbas's gp.: PLO. Palestine Liberation Organization. Mahmoud Abbas succeeded Yasser Arafat.

Answer Grid.

Al