Tuesday, November 9, 2010 Julian Lim

Theme: All In - TV poker. The dealer gives two face down cards to each player. They may look at their cards and a round of betting ensues.

17A. High jump technique created by 1968 Olympic gold medalist Dick: FOSBURY FLOP. Dick Fosbury would go over the bar with his back towards it. The standard method at the time was the scissors kick, Clip.(0:22) The FLOP in the poker game is when the dealer turns over three cards at one time in front of himself. All remaining players may use them in figuring their hand and decide on whether to bet or fold(drop out).

27A. K-shaped reversal on the road: THREE POINT TURN. From the left side of the road it may look like a K. Diagram. The TURN, the dealer places one more card face up and another round of betting occurs.

45A. Longest Canadian waterway: MACKENZIE RIVER. It runs north to the Beaufort Sea. Map. The River, sink or swim time, the last card the dealer exposes. One last round of betting before the remaining players show their hand.

60A. World Series of Poker Main Event no-limit game whose 2010 winner will be revealed tonight—the last words of 17-, 27- and 45-Across refer to the cards dealt between rounds of betting: TEXAS HOLD 'EM. I never heard of this game before it appeared on TV. Informal poker games usually do not have a non-playing dealer.

Argyle here.

An interesting puzzle theme. Is our constructor a gambler, I wonder. I'll bet most of us had an easy time with the puzzle with only one or two tricky crosses.

Across:

1. One who's all skin and bones : SCRAG. Not a common word but one we've had recently.

6. Talmudic scholar : RABBI, The Talmud is the primary source of Jewish religious law.

11. Attire in which to retire, briefly : PJs

14. __ donna : PRIMA. Italian: literally, first lady. The principal female singer of an opera company.

15. Startle : ALARM

16. Jay-Z's music genre : RAP

19. December 24th, e.g. : EVE. Ho, ho, ho!

20. String ensemble instrument : CELLO

21. French greeting : 'ALLO. Presumably, an approximation of the French saying the English word, hello.

22. Lumberjack's tool : SAW

23. Street shaders : ELMS

25. Some nest eggs, for short : IRAs

33. Filmdom's Farrow : MIA. Her images.

34. Leftover scraps : ORTS

35. Chilling : EERIE

36. "My Dinner With Andre" director Louis : MALLE. He worked in both French cinema and Hollywood. Passed away in 1995.

39. "__ a done deal" : IT'S

40. Victoria's lasted longer than that of any other British monarch : REIGN

41. Dahl's "Fantastic" title character : MR. FOX. Had this just yesterday; anybody suffer short-term memory loss?

42. Speak highly of : TOUT. In Sunday's puzzle.

44. Saldana of "Avatar" : ZOE. As she appeared in "Avatar". Image.

49. Puerto __ : RICO

50. Matching : SAME

51. Caribbean music : SKA

53. Eye layer : UVEA

56. Sales pitch : SPIEL

59. Candy in a dispenser : PEZ

63. Milne's "Now We __ Six" : ARE

64. Año beginning : ENERO

65. Popeye's creator : SEGAR. The cartoon, not Popeye Doyle.

66. Get __ of: discard : RID

67. Ppd. enclosures : SASEs. Prepaid self-addressed stamped envelope (SASE)

68. Utopias : EDENS

Down:

1. Sunscreen letters : SPF. Sun Protection Factor.

2. Swamp beast : CROC

3. It may be meteoric : RISE

4. Slow walker : AMBLER

5. Charles de __ : GAULLE. French President from 1959 to 1969.

6. Blu-__ Disc : RAY. For recording movies and such, until something new comes along

7. With 18-Down, sporty Italian wheels : ALFA. 18D. See 7-Down : ROMEO

8. Really good time : BALL

9. "W." star Josh : BROLIN, 2008 movie where he portrayed the American President from 2001 to 2009

10. Tariff payer : IMPORTER

11. Prepare, as a bottle launcher : PRESSURIZE

12. Jakarta's island : JAVA. Map. Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia.

13. Expel with force : SPEW

24. Perfume squirt : SPRITZ

26. Suit to __ : A TEE

27. Pageant crown : TIARA

28. Somewhat unhinged : HALF-CRAZED

29. 10th-century emperor : OTTO I

30. Comic books, e.g. : ISSUEs

31. Hardship : RIGOR

32. Maui goose : NENE

33. "That tastes great!" : "M,M,M,M!"

37. Norse trickster : LOKI. Norse mythology.

38. Does, as a task : EXECUTES

43. Speak ill of : TRASH

46. Nine-day devotion : NOVENA

47. Levy, as a tariff : IMPOSE

48. Like many Muslim women : VEILED

51. Trade easy punches : SPAR

52. Skin lotion brand : KERI

54. Spouses no more : EXes

55. River in the Bernese Alps : AARE

57. On __: nervous : EDGE

58. Far from fatty : LEAN

61. Urgent call at sea : S-O-S

62. __ Fields: cookie brand : MRS.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, November 8, 2010 Neville L. Fogarty

Theme: *Astic - The first word in the four longest entries have identical ending letters.

17A. Last resort actions: DRASTIC MEASURES

27A. 2009 Clooney/Streep film based on a Roald Dahl book: FANTASTIC MR. FOX. A stop-motion animated film.

44A. Scrunchie, e.g.: ELASTIC HAIR TIE. Image.

55A. Kitschy lawn ornament: PLASTIC FLAMINGO. We had one of these that would move on to a new lawn in the middle of the night.

Argyle here.

Even with the grid-spanning entries, I still found this puzzle IFFY. I don't want to KVETCH but a few duds dull the KARMA of the whole, starting with 1A. The total word & block count are quite low for a Monday.

Across:

1. Like 20 Questions questions : YES/NO. Where is the OR? It is like saying a True/False quiz.

6. Put together, as a book : BIND

10. Ratchets (up) : AMPS. Explanation from Spinal Tap.

14. Halloween option : TREAT. Belated entry.

15. Over, in Germany : ÜBER

16. Loughlin of "90210" : LORI. Image. This TV series premiered on The CW in 2008.

20. Celery pieces : STALKS

21. Icy space streakers : COMETS. The comets are made of dirty ice.

22. "The way I see it," in online shorthand : IMO. "...in my opinion..."

24. Sorrow : WOE

25. __ moment: sudden realization : AHA

26. Vote against : NAY

31. Display ostentatiously : FLAUNT. Ostentatious - adj. - characterized by pretentious, showy, or vulgar display.

32. Landlord's contract : LEASE

33. Holler : YELL

34. "__ the season to be jolly ..." : 'TIS. Ho, ho, ho!

35. Soccer moms' transports : VANS

39. Malia Obama's sister : SASHA. Number two First Daughter.

42. Gripe and grouse : KVETCH

47. "One Day __ Time" : AT A. TV show, opening theme. Video

48. Pull a scam on : CON

49. Dali display, say : ART

50. Biblical beast : ASS

51. Abandon on an island : MAROON

53. Giorgio known for snazzy suits : ARMANI. And something to go with that suit: 40D. Fancy scarf : ASCOT

59. Peru's capital : LIMA

60. Message passed in class : NOTE

61. Like some gases : INERT

62. Posing no challenge : EASY

63. Glittery rock style typified by David Bowie : GLAM. Short for glamorous.

64. Lymphatic tissue masses : NODES

Down:

1. Since Jan. 1, on a financial report : YTD. Year To Date.

2. Botch something up : ERR

3. Like corn and apples : SEASONAL

4. Condé __ Publications : NAST. Condé Nast (1873 – 1942) was the founder of Condé Nast Publications, a leading American magazine publisher known for publications such as Vanity Fair and Vogue.

5. From Canada's capital : OTTAWAN

6. Water carrier : BUCKET

7. PCs from Big Blue : IBMs. International Business Machines (IBM) headquartered in Armonk, NY.The Big Blue nickname, substantiated by people who worked for IBM at the time, is the term coined by field representatives in the 1960s, and referred to the color of the mainframes IBM installed in the 1960s and early 1970s.

8. Maiden name lead-in : NÉE

9. Old Greek coin : DRACHMA. It was still in use until replaced by the Euro.

10. Former student : ALUM

11. Rita who shouted "Hey you guys!" on "The Electric Company" : MORENO. Here's the famous "Hey you guys!" sketch with Bill Cosby. Clip. (2:16)

12. Before the state's cut, as income : PRETAX

13. Actress Spacek : SISSY

18. Words of defeat : "I LOST"

19. Flies in the clouds : SOARS

22. Uncertain : IFFY

23. Masculine : MALE

25. Top poker pair : ACES

28. Oklahoma oil city : TULSA

29. Hipbone-related : ILIAC

30. Flu symptom : FEVER

34. Like a fine line : THIN

36. Reached, as goals : ATTAINED

37. Mark Harmon military TV drama : NCIS. Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

38. Women : SHEs

41. Saint Stephen's punishment for blasphemy : STONING. I had no idea there were so many depictions of this event. Painting.

42. Destiny : KARMA

43. A, B, C, D, E, or K : VITAMIN

44. And others: Latin : ET ALIA

45. '80s-'90s Anaheim Stadium NFL team : LA RAMS. Football.

46. Apollo Theater site : HARLEM. New York City.

47. More than enough : AMPLE

52. "The Star-Spangled Banner" start : "O SAY"

53. Mennen shaving lotion : AFTA

54. El __: climate pattern : NINO

56. KFC's Sanders, e.g. : COL. That finger-lickin' Colonel.

57. Univ. sr.'s exam : GRE. Graduate Record Examination (GRE), a commercially run standardized test that is an admission requirement for many graduate schools in the United States.

58. NBA tiebreakers : OTs. National Basketball Association/OverTimes.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday November 7, 2010 Verge

Theme: Placing Changes -Changing Places. Familiar two-word phrases with A-ing B structure are changed into B-ing A.

23A. Discussion about which way to go? : HEADING TALK. The base phrase is Talking Head.

33A. Sunbeam, e.g.? : IRONING BRAND. Branding Iron.

39A. Defensive karate move? : BLOCKING CHOP. Chopping Block.

56A. Identical gift container? : MATCHING BOX. Boxing Match.

64A. Bird dog's rest? : POINTING BREAK. Breaking Point.

78A. Cause of a power tool failure? : BUSHING BURN. Burning Bush. The stuff in his hand is BUSHING?

90A. Ornithologists' bird-tagging outing? : BANDING MARCH. Marching Band.

97A. Stage players taking a nap? : COUCHING CAST. Casting Couch.

114A. Music to pitch hay by? : FORKING TUNE. Tuning Fork.

Who is Verge?

Funny, I actually read the puzzle title as "Changing Places". Grokked the theme after MATCHING BOX emerged.

Quite a struggle for me. The overall cluing is a bit challenging for a Sunday. Did nail all the lovely "It" clues though:

22A. It's a sign : OMEN

109A. It's out on a limb : HAND

4D. It may be muted : AUDIO

Also great to see the full name KIM JONG-IL ( 82D. Asian leader with a degree from a university named for his father") in the grid. The "Dear Leader". Kim = "Gold" in Korean. Same character as Chinese "Gold'.

Across:

1. Mercedes line : E-CLASS. Crossing CIERA (2D. Cutlass model). Tough start for me. We also have FURY (108A. Old Plymouth). Stumper.

7. Go 12-Down : SNAP. And 12D. Wild : BALLISTIC.

11. Turns seaward : EBBS

15. Traffic : CARS. The clue does not feel complete to me. Did like the consecutive clue for TIEUPS ( 19. Jams).

20. Wooden team, once : UCLA. Not familiar with John Wooden Center.

21. Skin : PARE. Tricky verb clue.

25. Part of a shutter : SLAT

26. Galway Bay site : EIRE. Galway Bay is on the west coast of Ireland.

27. Senator Hatch : ORRIN

28. City accessible by ferry from Marseilles : ORAN. Algerian port. Not an easy clue.

29. Many virtuoso performances : SOLI. Plural of solo.

30. Prophet : AUGUR

31. Asian parting : SAYONARA. Japanese. We also have 89D. Carp from Kyoto : KOI.

36. Microbrew, maybe : ALE

37. Turkish leader : AGHA

38. __' Pea : SWEE

44. Actress Bankhead : TALLULAH. Nope. Total stranger.

49. Movement in some Bach suites : GIGUE. New word to me. Dictionary says it derives from "jig".

50. Pickled : LIT. Drunk.

51. Family nickname : SIS

52. Supporting __ : ROLE

53. Judge's decision : OVERRULED. Or "Sustained".

60. Hair removal product : NEET. NAIR too.

61. "The World Factbook" publisher : CIA

62. Spewed magma : LAVA. Hot flow-er.

63. Afternoon rest : SIESTA

68. Pre-tied tie : CLIP-ON

72. Some Spanish medals : OROS. Gold medals.

73. Gardner on screen : AVA. And ERLE (83. Gardner of fiction). Nice Gardner clecho.

74. Japanese noodle : SOBA. Often eaten cold in summer time. Delicious!

81. Had between meals : SNACKED ON

84. Pulldown beneficiary, for short : LAT. Muscles.

85. Pull someone's leg : KID

86. "Victory was not mine" : I LOST

87. Rouse again : REAWAKEN. DF clue.

94. Hit on the head : CONK

95. Ebro and Guadalquivir, por ejemplo : RIOS

96. More or less, e.g.: Abbr. : ADJ (Adjective). Nailed it.

102. Most racers, after the race : ALSO-RANS

107. Bug : ANNOY

111. Bug : NAG AT

112. Installed, as brick : LAID

113. "Dies __" : IRAE

116. Dieter's catchword : LITE

117. Authenticated: Abbr. : CERT (Certified)

118. Skyward, in Hebrew : EL AL

119. Split equally : BISECT

120. Mars, to the Greeks : ARES

121. Stevenson villain : HYDE. Jekyll's alter ego.

122. Tony winner Neuwirth : BEBE

123. Flips the "Open" sign : CLOSES

Down:

1. Group cultural values : ETHOS. Always want ETHIC.

3. "Rescue Me" star Denis : LEARY. This guy looks familiar. Don't recall his name though.

5. Sail for a downwind course : SPINNAKER. Can never remember this name.

6. IRS ID : SSN

7. Hindu spiritual manual : SUTRA. Only know "Kama Sutra". Where are you, Vidwan?

8. Frozen Four org. : NCAA. And UCONN (54. The Huskies of the 8-Down's Big East). College sports never interest me.

9. Like most cramming : ALL NIGHT

10. Bangladesh was once part of it: Abbr. : PAK (Pakistan)

11. Printer maker : EPSON

13. Indoctrinate : BRAINWASH

14. Place : SET. Can you give me a sentence where the two are interchangeable?

15. Affaire de __ : COEUR. Literally "heart" in French. Affaire de coeur = Love affair. So common in France.

16. Pablo's gal pal : AMIGA

17. Syndication staple : RERUN

18. Bergen dummy : SNERD

24. "Contract Bridge Complete" author : GOREN (Charles)

29. Afternoon "opera" : SOAP

30. Cain's victim : ABEL. And 58. Son of Sarah : ISAAC. Two Biblical references.

32. "The Louisville Lip" : ALI

34. Pi-sigma link : RHO

35. Toothpaste option : GEL

37. What lawn liming reduces : ACID. And B GON (39. Weed __: lawn-care product). Lawn clecho.

40. Unexploded : LIVE. I don't get this clue.

41. Graceful molding : OGEE

42. Short : CURT

43. Gather little by little : GLEAN

45. Hankering : URGE. Want some pickled herring.

46. High court returns : LOBS. Tennis court.

47. Very much : A LOT

48. Quadri- plus bi- : HEXA. 4 + 2 = 6.

51. Desperation guess : STAB

55. XIII x IV : LII. 13 x 4 = 52.

56. Massenet opera : MANON. Peeked at the answer sheet.

57. Hits-per-AB stats : AVGs

59. Neat ending? : NIK. Neatnik.

62. Commuter line with a Montauk Branch: Abbr. : LIRR (Long Island Rail Road). Montauk Branch means nothing to me.

64. Taro dish : POI

65. Promote in a big way : TOUT

66. "Amazing" magician : RANDI (James)

67. Actress __ Longoria Parker : EVA. Very pretty.

68. Handle holder : CBER

69. Imitation fish food : LURE. Oh, for fish. I was in the line of limitation crab/fish for people.

70. Land surrounded by agua : ISLA

71. "That was close!" : PHEW

74. Ward of "CSI: NY" : SELA

75. Sensible emanation : ODOR

76. Type of pear : BOSC

77. "Oxford Book of Eng. Verse," e.g. : ANTH (Anthology). Not a familiar reference to me.

79. Co-writer of many Eagles hits : GLENN FREY. Nope. This dude looks cool.

80. Financial security of a kind : BANK GUARD. Security guard.

81. Caesar and others : SIDS

85. Board vacancy? : KNOTHOLE. Was thinking of board of directors. Not lumber.

88. Sore : ACHY

90. Act like an ass : BRAY. Funny clue.

91. "__ for Alibi": Grafton novel : A IS

92. Nita of silents : NALDI. Classic crossword name.

93. Mdse. : GDS. Goods.

97. Lily variety : CALLA

98. Broadcasting : ON AIR

99. Confederate : UNITE

100. Programmers' output : CODES

101. Island WSW of Rhodes : CRETE. In the Aegean Sea.

102. Leg-foot link : ANKLE

103. Dustin's '69 Oscar-nominated role : RATSO. Finally saw the movie. Disturbing.
104. Flu-like symptoms : AGUES

105. 1980s-'90s NBA forward Larry : NANCE. Have never heard of this Larry. Maybe Windhover knows.

106. "The dele is off" notations : STETS

110. Many a Saudi : ARAB

113. German "I" : ICH

114. Time period that isn't always the same: Abbr. : FEB. Different days in Feb.

115. Peacock network : NBC

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday November 6, 2010 Timothy L. Meaker

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 34

The themeless design is quite solver-friendly, no grid-spanner or triple/quadruple stacks. The two 10s and six 9s are spread out pretty evenly. All of them lively multi-words:

13A. Positive : ABOVE ZERO. "Positive" temperature-wise.

16A. A great teacher might be one : ROLE MODEL. Most of my teachers were so stern and serious.

52A. In disorder : JUMBLED UP. Quite a scrabbly grid. Only one Q away from a pangram.

55A. Metaphorical victim of an upset : APPLECART. Upset the applecart.

8D. Oscar's covering : GOLD PLATE. The Oscar statuette.

10D. Loses big : TAKES A BATH. Nice fill.

25D. Rolls seen at the beach? : SPARE TIRES. Did not come to me quickly.

31D. Where a small hand might get caught : COOKIE JAR. Sweet clue.

Very few obscure names today. But the overall cluing made this puzzle pretty challenging.

Across:

1. Hawaiian for "strong" : MAHI. I mentioned this on the blog before. Love mahi-mahi. Delicious!

5. In __ : A FOG. I needed a bracketed "befuddled" in the clue.

9. Internet letters : HTTP. "Internet address letters", to be exact.

15. Many are imagined : FEARS. Nailed this one.

17. Libertines : RAKES. Or ROUES.

18. Urban renewal target : EYESORE

19. Proof of ownership? : DNA TEST. Oh, ownership of a baby. Or a crime.

21. Ranch handle : TEX. Cowboy nickname "handle".

22. River through New Mexico : PECOS. No idea. It flows to Rio Grande. What does "Pecos"?

23. Castigates : BASTES. Not familiar with this "baste" meaning, "lambaste", yes.

27. Environmentalist's goal : CLEAN AIR

30. Stock phrase : AT PAR

31. Punched-out pieces : CHADS

32. 'Hood handle : BRO

33. 16-time Gold Glove-winning pitcher Jim : KAAT. Gimme. He's with the Twins for a long time. We also have 36. Commit catcher's interference, e.g. : ERR. Pitcher & Catcher.

34. Layers : COATS. Hens too, lay-ers.

35. Aero-X automaker : SAAB. Drew a blank.

37. Faulkner's "__ for Emily" : A ROSE. What's it about?

38. Old-time soprano Lehmann : LOTTE. Another unknown. She died in 1976. No wonder "Old-time".

39. A lime-flavored version of it came out in 2004 : DIET COKE. Needed crossing help.

41. Acted after a coin toss, maybe : WISHED. Good clue.

42. Stanley of "Julie & Julia" : TUCCI. Loved him in "Big Night".

43. Chocolatier's container : VAT

44. Takeout option : CHINESE. Loved by Jayce. His "Da Fan Tong" (big eater) comment really made me laugh.

46. Style revived in the '60s : ART DECO. Oh, I was not aware of it.

51. 1961 Best Actress : LOREN (Sophia). For "Two Women".

54. Umiak builder : ALEUT. Umiak is literally "women's boat". Kayak = "man's boat".

56. Stinger : WASP

57. Spring (from) : RISE

58. Iowa Straw Poll city : AMES. 4-letter Iowa city is always AMES.

Down:

1. Colt source : MARE. Thought of gun.

2. "About __": Hornby novel : A BOY. Not on my radar. It's made into a movie starring Hugh Grant.

3. Driver's ultimate destination? : HOLE. Question marked "driver" always refers to golf.

4. Noted 19th-century lithographer : IVES. Currier & Ives.

5. São Miguel is the largest of them : AZORES. See this map. Belongs to Portugal.

6. Golf's __ Cup : FEDEX. You wanted RYDER, didn't you?

7. Bauxite, for one : ORE

9. Romano's "Everybody Loves Raymond" co-star : HEATON (Patricia). Here she is. Are those real?

11. Nueve's square root : TRES. Did not know Nueve = 9.

12. Subtle signal : PSST

14. One acting badly? : EMOTER

15. Donnybrook : FRACAS

20. They're not optional : NEEDS. I don't get this clue.

23. Potato choice : BAKED

24. Onetime Coleco competitor : ATARI. Needed crossing help also.

26. One might be dedicated to Mom, briefly : TAT (Tattoo)

27. Go after : CHASE

28. Burning up : IRATE

29. Dressed for court : ROBED. For judges.

34. Holey footwear : CROCS

35. One might be picked up in a storm : SOS. Should have nailed it.

37. Stress : ACCENT

38. Slightly : LITTLE

40. Mechanic's offer : TUNEUP

41. Bird's song : WARBLE

43. Sirens : VAMPS

44. Scratch : CLAW. What's the first word that came to your mind?

45. Chihuahua howdy : HOLA. Chickie's hallmark greeting.

47. Pod opening? : DECA. Prefix for "ten". Decapod (literally "ten footed) has 10 legs. Got me.

48. Dutch export : EDAM

49. Salt, perhaps : CURE. I suppose you can clue it "Smoke, perhaps" also.

50. Gets off the fence : OPTS

53. Gp. co-founded by publisher E.W. Scripps : UPI. Not in my knowledge zone. Makes sense though.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday November 5, 2010 David Poole

Theme: Internet Destination, Before and After; each of the four theme answers takes an every day phrase, and by adding a new beginning, creates a humorous phrase which starts a famous internet site.

17A. Favorable time to place an online bid?: EBAY WINDOW. E added to BAY WINDOW, with the meaning a WINDOW of opportunity, and EBAY the auction site.

27A. Online networking site trainee? : MYSPACE CADET. MY added to SPACE CADET, yields MYSPACE and CADET as trainee.

44A. Detective's job concerning a personal online relationship? : FACEBOOK CASE. FACE is added to BOOK CASE, with CASE what detectives investigate.

58A. Spinner seen in an online video?: YOUTUBE TOP. YOU added to TUBE TOP, creates a TOP SPINNING ON YOU TUBE. When my brothers and I were growing up, we used our Dradles for the battles.

Happy Friday, and Happy Guy Fawkes Day, from Lemonade714, which being sentimental, I celebrate every year as the anniversary of the first time I fell in love. Mr. Poole is becoming a more regular contributor, and this puzzle has plenty of misdirection and humor and creative cluing, beyond the theme, which seems like a nice idea, but a bit tortured.

Some fun:

64A. Ones changing locks: DYERS. Dyeing the hair, nice misdirection.

30D. Fly catcher: TOAD. Not the San Francisco outfield.

42D. "Hey, ewe!": BAA. For some reason I like it when certain people get my attention with “hey you”.

46D. Serious depression: CRATER. I hope you all got that and did not get blue, except of course being blue is good here.

52. Cop stopping traffic?: NARC. My favorite, stopping drug traffic.

We continue:

ACROSS:

1. Tic __ :TACS. The first of the strong mints.

5. Travis of country: TRITT. Yes it is a GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE.

10. Arrange in a tournament: SEED. The use of this term comes from needing to separate seeds to let them grow, just as you separate the very good teams, to allow them to meet later in a tournament.

14. Eliza's greeting: ELLO. Ms. Doolittle has had a strong run this fall.

15. 2009 Man Booker International Prize winner Alice: MUNRO. This Canadian short story writer is a recipient of many fiction awards, including this biennial award for one’s life work, presented by a British investment firm.

16. Poi base: TARO. A tuber, associated with the plant we call Elephant Ears, here in Florida.

19. "__ Almighty": 2007 film: EVAN. Like 56.D. Movies with "II" in their titles: Abbr. : SEQS this movie was a sequel to BRUCE ALMIGHTY which Jim Carrey wisely chose not to star in, Bruce II became EVAN with Steve Carrell, both of which has Morgan Freeman as the Almighty, and no doubt the inspiration of 20A. Sacred scroll: TORAH.

21. Silent: SOUNDLESS.

23. Wellness gp.: HMO.

24. __ de toilette: EAU. Just a touch of French, toilet water sounds so much better in French.

26. Nobelist Bohr: NIELS. Thanks to Martha Grimes, this always reminds me of SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT, or is it dead?

31. What odes do: PRAISE. Before there were scrolls, or other writings, singers toured the land writing and performing songs of praise for the lords in power, and ODE is derived from the Greek word for song.

34. 1987 Costner role: NESS, prohibition policeman Elliot; do we like or dislike Kevin, or was ROBERT STACK the embodiment of the role? What guest stars! Does anyone watch Boardwalk Empire ?

35. Hope-Crosby destination: RIO. One of the many ROAD TO… movies they did with Dorothy Lamour.

36. Pay for periodic use: RENT.

37. Coll. of 12 signs: ZOD. Notice that collection is abbreviated, so the response must be an abbreviation as well. We are deep in Scorpio now.

38. Afghanistan's Tora __ region: BORA. This is the region where the US believed bin Laden was hiding in a cave, and where US troops were sent after 9-11, but despite killing and capturing many al Quaeda, no leader.

39. 2007 honor for Hugh Laurie: Abbr.: OBE. It is easy to forget how British Hugh Laurie is after watching him as House for so many years, so go rent the Bertie Wooster/Jeeves series, or Black Adder and see him in his original incarnation. Of course, Jeeves, loved the poem 40A. "__ Ben Adhem": ABOU, a simple poem which many were forced to memorize.

42. Warned, in a way: BEEPED. In Florida is is against the law to blow your horn except to warn of danger, though it is not enforced that way. We also have, 38.D. Buzzer: BEE.

47. Bottom bits: DREGS. When the grapes were crushed, the remaining skin etc was the dregs.

48. Word before or after pack: RAT. Frank and the boys as the RAT PACK, and my uncle, who kept every bill he ever paid, as a PACK RAT.

49. 27-Down, e.g.: SCH. This leads to 27.D. 49-Across from which Buzz Aldrin turned down a full scholarship: MIT. And, 31.D. 27-Down fig.: PROF.

52. Colorful fish: NEON TETRA. Another fishie clue.

55. Kirin beer rival: ASAHI. The two most popular beers; the brewery where my youngest works, just was signed by a much larger distributor, so the world of ORLANDO BREWING, the only organic brewery in Florida is picking up.

57. Starting stake: ANTE. In card games, for example.

60. Bakery buys: RYES. We go ERGOT, to the bread made from the grain.

61. Seaside flock: ERNES. These birds are our most popular feathery friends.

62. Bit of Marx's legacy: QUIP. Groucho, not Karl, and also 33.D. Toastmasters' stock: ANECDOTES.

63. It may number in the thousands: CAST. Cecil B. DeMille always advertised his movies had them.

65. Agile: SPRY.

DOWN:

1. Effectiveness: TEETH. The NFL needed to put some Teeth into the ban on helmet to helmet hits, by suspending players without pay.

2. "Tuesdays With Morrie" author: ALBOM. Mitch, who is a regular in the Detroit newspaper, as well as on ESPN’s SPORTS REPORTERS ; I read the book. Morrie was smart, but the book seemed just exploitive and without any real insight, but it was a big hit.

3. Light smoke: CLARO. I believe the term is used for certain light tobacco cigars, but I have never been much of a smoker, and only the perps got me there.

4. Milk source: SOYA. It is taking over, and clearly a misnomer, as how can a nut give milk. And in contrast, 18.D. Milk by-products: WHEYS. Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet (and what a fine tuffet it was!) eating her CURDS and….

5. "I didn't need to know that!": TMI. TOO MUCH INFORMATION; hard to keep up with the short cut minds of the young; my latest embarrassment was not deciphering oic, to mean Oh, I see.

6. Accumulates: RUNS UP. Ah yes, Wimpy accumulated quite the tab for Hamburgers.

7. Chinese leader?: INDO. Indochinese, by now we all know leader often is used to mean the beginning of a word.

8. Defeated decisively: TROUNCED.

9. Student resenters, perhaps: TOWNIES. When I was young, I was sent to boarding school, and once a month or so, the school would load up a bus and take some students into the big city (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and drop them off, to be picked up 5 hours later. Man the townies hated us, except the girls, who were much too nice…It was West Side Story, suburban version.

10. "__ By Starlight": jazz standard: STELLA. So many versions of this SONG .

11. Gather information secretly: EAVESDROP. The drop part comes from the purpose of the eave was to have the water drop (or drip) from the roof, and not into the house.

12. Some are named for music genres: ERAS. We certainly know the BIG BAND era.

13. Slips into: DONS. Clothing.

22. Winter mos.: DECS. Egads, we are almost there again!

25. Suffix with lip-: ASE. ASE is a suffix for enzymes, and LIPASE in humans is created in the pancreas and is is critical in neutralizing triglycerides and other non-soluble fats.

28. Actress Aimée: ANOUK. A very natural BEAUTY .

29. 53-Down's homeland: EIRE. More dual clues, but at least a new one for 53.D. Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin: ENYA.

32. Sitcom whose theme song was sung by its star: REBA. SURVIVOR .

37. Albee play, with "The": ZOO STORY. An international SUCCESS .

40. Put oneself at risk, in a way: ABET. Ading and abetting a Felon…

41. Messed up a hole, maybe: BOGEYED. No longer a bad score for me.

43. Cornerstone abbr.: ESTAB. Established.

45. He played Marty in "Marty": ERNEST. Ladies, for you Mr. Borgnine .

49. Prepared to take notice?: SAT UP.

50. Church area: CHOIR. Tricky, because of the choir being filled with the choir.

51. Wide-haunched: HIPPY. Not a phrase to be used as a compliment, “ my your wife looks really wide-haunched, “ even though it helps in delivering babies, and we know many men really like a broad beam in more than just their boat.

54. Odd character: RUNE. The old way TO WRITE .

59. Sub letters: USS. Can you imagine being underwater for months on THIS .

Answer grid.

Welcome to my new home as Friday’s child, which in fact I am both literally and figuratively. Keep the cards and letters coming and enjoy.

Lemonade

Thursday November 4, 2010 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: "You have to find the key" to unlock this puzzle. The reveal entry was no help: 50D. Clue for 20-, 32-, 39- and 48-Across: LOCK.

20A. See 50-Down: CERTAIN WINNER. "It's a lock." A Dutch book is a set of odds and bets which guarantees a profit to the bookmaker no matter what happens in the contest.

32A. See 50-Down: HAIR CLUSTER. A tress, curl or ringlet. A common superstition is to keep a lock of hair from a baby's first haircut, for luck.

39A. See 50-Down: CANAL DEVICE. Lock, in the sense of a barrier or an enclosure on a waterway.

48A. See 50-Down: WRESTLING HOLD. Headlock, hammerlock, etc.

Al here.

This was tough, and a catch-22 at that. You needed the clue to get the theme, but you needed to solve the theme answers to figure out the clue. I think I spent close to 40 minutes on this one picking away a few letters at a time, some guesses, then looking away and seeing how to make words out of the few perps I could manage. The last letter to fall was the C at the cross of Cozened and Canal device. Imagine how that across word looked with the beginning letter missing... The three and four letter answers were outnumbered today: only 33, compared to 39 answers of five letters or longer.

ACROSS:

1. Home of Brigham Young University: PROVO. Utah.

6. __ Mahal: TAJ.

9. Fat substitute brand in some potato chips: OLEAN. A brand name for olestra, a fat substitute, infamous for its unpleasant side-effects, such as reduced digestive absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and steatorrhea (I leave looking up this word to you). Although, to be fair, it can also bind with dioxins, the same as normal fat, and so might be useful someday to treat victims of dioxin poisoning.

14. Not loaded: SOBER. Misdirected to think of firearms and ammunition, so EMPTY came to mind.

15. Ambient music pioneer: ENO. Such works as "Music for Airports". It might make you sleepy and miss your flight...

16. Swindler with a scheme named for him: PONZI. A fraudulent scheme of paying investors a little from what is collected from continuous new investors. Bernie Madoff ran the largest one in history.

17. Hemlock, for one: EVERGREEN. A related species, even though they do belong to the family of evergreens, tamarack (larch) needles turn yellow and fall off just like deciduous trees, so they are not always green year-round.

19. Grain disease: ERGOT. Mainly affecting the rye family of grains, alkaloids are produced that if eaten can cause convulsions and even gangrene.

22. Covet: ENVY.

23. Battery, bond or baseball club designation: AAA. An AAA bond rating means the company issuing it is extremely credit-worthy, i.e. prime. BBB or lower are considered "junk" bonds. They go down to D or "in default". AAA minor league players can be invited up to play in the majors.

24. Belgrade's land: SERBIA. A portion of what was formerly Yugoslavia.

27. Libel and slander disputes are part of it: CIVIL LAW. A legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not (as in common law) determined by judges.

34. Brit. record co.: EMI. Electric & Music Industries, Ltd.

35. Spanish pronoun: ESTA.

36. Restful resort: SPA. Name taken from a mineral springs resort in Belgium. Waloon for spring, fountain.

37. Prayer opener: O GOD.

38. Old-fashioned get-together: BEE. As in the sense of social insects working busily together in a common cause.

43. "Beanz meanz Heinz," e.g.: AD SLOGAN. From Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, a battle cry used by Scottish Highland or Irish clans," from sluagh "army, host, slew" + gairm "a cry".

45. Truck capacity: ONE TON. Guessed at the TON ending, but had to wait for at least one perp for the rest.

46. AIDS-fighting drug: AZT. Azidothymidine.

47. __ dire: juror examination: VOIR. From O.Fr. voir “true” + dire “to say.”

54. Foreign: ALIEN. Xenophobia is the irrational fear of foreigners.

56. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" regular: ROSE MARIE. Her role was a comedy writer, Sally Rogers along with Buddy Sorrell, played by Morie Amsterdam.

57. __ Nast: CONDE. Worldwide publisher of such magazines as Vogue, Allure, Golf Digest, Wired, many others.

58. Winter hazard: ICE. Can't argue with that. Although, I wouldn't want to be out in this hailstorm in Georgia, and that's nothing to do with winter. If you click it, watch for at least 25 seconds.

59. Family nickname: AUNTY. Hubby? Wifey? Sissy?

60. Tolerated: STOOD. "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more." ala Popeye the sailor.

61. Gives the go-ahead: OKS. A long explanation and debunking of other explanations: oll korrect, a deliberate misspelling.

62. Tart fruit: SLOES. They do look like little plums.

DOWN:

1. Minute segment of a min.: PSEC. Picosecond. That is one trillionth, or 0.000 000 000 001 seconds. A picosecond is to one second as one second is to 31,700 years.

2. Wander: ROVE.

3. Upper, in Ulm: OBER. German city, word for over, as in above.

4. Spinal column component: VERTEBRA.

5. Like some farming: ORGANIC.

6. Minute: TEENY.

7. Fresh way to start: ANEW.

8. "Help Me" vocalist Mitchell: JONI.

9. Alfresco: OPEN AIR. Confusingly, al fresco also means "painted on plaster that is still wet".

10. Maker of EverPure shampoo: LOREAL.

11. Former Caltech sr., perhaps: ENGR. Senior in college, Engineer abbrevs.

12. __ dye: chemical coloring: AZO. JZB just explained this the other day.

13. Little thing to pick: NIT. I always wonder why this has a bad connotation. Seems like a useful service. I wouldn't to leave them on me.

18. Competitor: RIVAL. Latin rivalis originally, "one who uses the same stream" (or "one on the opposite side of the stream"), from rivus "brook" The notion is of the competitiveness of neighbors.

21. Basilica section: NAVE. The main portion of a church, connected with naval from Latin navis "ship" based on some vague resemblance.

24. Ancient queendom: SHEBA.

25. Let up: EASED.

26. Customary ceremonies: RITES.

27. It covers the Hill: C-SPAN. Live TV coverage of the House of Representatives. C-Span2 covers the Senate. If Brian Eno's ambient music was being played on either station, you'd never wake up...

28. Da Vinci's lang.: ITAL.ian

29. On the up and up: LEGIT.

30. It started as Standard Oil of Indiana: AMOCO. American Oil Co, now merged with British Petroleum.

31. Expand: WIDEN.

33. John McCain's alma mater: Abbr.: USNA. United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.

37. Revamp: OVERHAUL. Originally nautical, "pull rigging apart for examination," which was done by slackening the rope by pulling in the opposite direction to that in which it is pulled in hoisting.

39. Hoodwinked: COZENED. Uncertain origin, but perhaps from French cousiner "cheat on pretext of being a cousin;" or from Middle English cosyn "fraud, trickery"

40. "The X-Files" extras: Abbr.: AGTS. FBI agents and extra terrestrials. What's not to love? The truth is out there.

41. Ridd's love, in a Blackmore romance: DOONE. Lorna.

42. They're hard to figure out: ENIGMAS. Riddles. Same length, too.

44. Rio Grande city: LAREDO. Texas.

47. Workshop gadgets: VISES.

48. Skid row figure: WINO.

49. Charlie's Angels, e.g.: TRIO. Tricky, since there were six of them, just not all at the same time.

51. "Deal __ Deal": OR NO. Howie Mandel's game show. Wishful thinking. For the money, of course; what did you think I meant?

52. Lo-cal: LITE.

53. Bygone Tunisian rulers: DEYS. "Title of a military commander in Muslim north Africa," from Turk. dai "maternal uncle," a friendly title used of older men, especially by the Janissaries of Algiers of their commanding officers.

54. Summer coolers, briefly: ACS. Air conditioners.

55. Used car site: LOT.

Answer Grid.

Al

Wednesday November 3, 2010 Gareth Bain

Theme: Fowl Play - The first word of each two-word familiar phrase is a type of KFC chicken piece.

17A. Commonly upholstered seat : WING CHAIR. A chair with "wings" to provide comfortable protection from drafts. Like this.

28A. Real scream : THIGH SLAPPER. A funny joke or story that might cause you to laugh and slap your thigh.

40A. "Finger lickin' good" sloganeer, and a hint to this puzzle's theme : KFC. Kentucky Fried Chicken.

45A. Crawl alternative : BREAST STROKE. The front crawl, or forward crawl, is a swimming style. New to me.

62A. '80s fashion fad inspired by dance films : LEG WARMER. Anyone not think of these?

Melissa here.

One of the easier wednesdays in recent memory - blew through it pretty quickly except for a couple of names i did not know.

Across:

1. Hippocratic oath no-no : HARM. "First, do no harm." Part of an oath taken by doctors swearing to practice medicine ethically. Believed to have been written by Hippocrates, often regarded as 'the father of medicine.' Interestingly enough, when i looked up the actual text of the oath, the words "first, do no harm" are not there, although not harming the patient is TACITLY implied.

5. Astounds : AWES

9. Unspoken, but implied : TACIT

14. Pints at the bar : ALES

15. TV part? : TELE. I wanted ROLE.

16. Like merinos : OVINE. Relating to sheep. Merino is a breed of sheep particularly prized for its wool.

19. Prolific psalmist : DAVID. King David, author of the Psalms.

20. Some littermates : KITTIES. Cute. And 29D. Call to 20-Across : HERE. "Here, kitty."

21. "To continue ..." : AND

23. Gary's st. : IND. St = state. Gary, Indiana. Clear Ayes would appreciate this.

24. Bakery array : PIES

26. Smart-__: cocksure and conceited : ALECKY. Not sure i've seen this as an adjective before. "My brother is smart-alecky."

33. Rue : REGRET

34. Pint-size : WEE

35. Frenzied : AMOK. I like this word. Almost as good as kerfuffle. Anyone recognize the line "There's something amok with this cheesecake?"

39. Wildly cheering : AROAR

41. Honshu port : OSAKA

42. Balkan native : SERB

43. Nintendo game console : WII.

44. We-alone link : ARE NOT

48. British philosopher who wrote "Language, Truth and Logic" : A.J. AYER. A bit obscure. A book of philosophy published in 1936. Alfred Jules Ayer.

51. Enjoy the Appalachian Trail : HIKE. Riiiiight, he was hiking.

52. Prom rental : TUX

53. Maker of tiny combs : BEE. Bzzz.

55. Like a persistent headache : NAGGING. Or a smart-alecky brother.

60. O'Connor's successor : ALITO. Supreme Court Justices.

64. The QE2, e.g. : LINER. Retired in 2008.

65. An acre's 43,560 square feet : AREA

66. Je t'__: Pierre's "I love you" : AIME

67. Canada's highest mountain : LOGAN. Second highest peak in North America.

68. Tramp's love : LADY. Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp.

69. Put in the overhead : STOW

Down:

1. Aggressive sort : HAWK. Indeed.

2. Et __: and others : ALII. Abbreviated et al.

3. Monopoly payment : RENT

4. Bilko's mil. rank : MSGT. Sergeant Bilko was a Master Sergeant.

5. Believer's antithesis : ATHEIST. One who does not believe in God.

6. Otter's kin : WEASEL

7. Actor Wallach : ELI

8. Word repeated in a Doris Day song : SERA. Que Sera, Sera = whatever will be, will be. The song was introduced in Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much. Won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

9. More than crawl : TODDLE. Clecho. Babies crawl first, then they toddle. Toddlers.

10. Palindromic girl's name that ranked among the 10 most popular in each of the past five years : AVA. Ava Gardner.

11. Like some pride : CIVIC. I suppose.

12. How contracts are usually signed : IN INK. Does it in ink, you still with us?

13. Garment including a chemise : TEDDY. Clue feels odd. A chemise and a teddy are both undergarments, usually worn under a blouse.

18. Written code : CIPHER. To read it, you must decipher.

22. Golfer's sunburn spot : NAPE. Back of the neck. I see a lot of golfer's tans at work.

25. Swimmer with a bladelike snout : SAWFISH. Creepy.

27. Pencil tip : ERASER

28. Refrain syllables : TRAS. Tra la la.

30. Inventor Sikorsky : IGOR. He designed and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914.

31. Like takers : GRABBY.

32. Ripple near the nipple : PEC. Nice.

36. Hombre's hand : MANO. Mano is Spanish for hand.

37. "I get it, I get it!" : OK OK

38. British rock star Bush : KATE

40. Korean automaker : KIA

41. Former Nicaraguan leader : ORTEGA

43. "The Way We __" : WERE. Great movie. "See ya, kid."

44. "Shoot" : ASK AWAY

46. With new life : REBORN

47. Lightly shaded : TINGED.

48. To any extent : AT ALL

49. Crooner Iglesias : JULIO.

50. Firing : AXING. See this a lot.

54. Carrier to Tel Aviv : EL AL. This too.

56. Mardi __ : GRAS. "Fat Tuesday."

57. Go-getter's response to "Do you know of such a person?" : I'M IT. Perps filled it in.

58. Nautilus skipper : NEMO. Or him.

59. Expanded : GREW

61. Texas __: oil : TEA

63. Stat for CC Sabathia : ERA. Carsten Charles Sabathia. Yankees pitcher. Earned Run Average.

Answer grid.

Melissa