Monday, January 2, 2012 Steve Blais

Theme: Tootsies - I wonder if there is any society that doesn't have a version of this nursery rhyme. Clip.(0:24)

39A. Tot's chant suggested by the starts of 17-, 24-, 49- and 60-Across : THIS LITTLE PIGGY

17A. Percentage of industry sales : MARKET SHARE

24A. Commodore 64, e.g. : HOME COMPUTER

49A. Offering at Arby's : ROAST BEEF SUB

60A. Hardly certain : NONE TOO SURE

63A. When tripled, cry near the end of 39-Across : WEE, WEE, WEE! All the way home.

Argyle here. It appears to be a debut for this constructor. Cute theme, a nice spanner in the middle, perhaps a few too many abbreviations and a touch harder than a normal Monday but I liked it.

Across:

1. Drink made with steamed milk : LATTE

6. Prefix meaning "ten" : DECA

10. 1970 hit that asks about its title, "What is it good for?" : WAR. Edwin Starr clip.(3:26)

13. Under way : AFOOT

14. Fred's "I Love Lucy" wife : ETHEL

16. Dublin's land: Abbr. : IREland

19. Shaq's former org. : NBA. Shaquille O'Neal / Basketball.

20. Get on one's knees, perhaps : PRAY

21. Roosters' mates : HENS

22. Plantation house : MANOR

27. "__ the ramparts ..." : O'ER

28. Many an Iraqi : ARAB

29. Internet commerce : E-TAIL

33. Simile words : AS AN

36. Narcotics squad action : RAID

42. Circle dance with a chair, often : HORA

43. Oscar winner Patricia : NEAL. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for the middle-aged housekeeper Alma Brown in Hud. (1963)

44. Me.-to-Fla. highway : US ONE

45. Wrestling successes : PINS

47. Put a stop to : BAN

54. Brittany or Normandy, once : DUCHY. It is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.

55. __'acte: intermission : ENTR

56. Get ready, as for surgery : PREP

59. Seek information : ASK

64. __ de menthe : CREME

65. Robber James : JESSE. Died 1882. He and his brother, Frank, had an outlaw gang.

66. Prime meridian std. : GST. Greenwich Sidereal Time, a variant of Greenwich Mean Time used in astronomy.

67. Astronomical dist. : LT-YR. Light-Year.

 

 

68. None of the above : OTHER

Down:

1. Desk light : LAMP

2. Some distance away : AFAR

3. Sacred Judaic scroll : TORAH

4. Japanese metropolis : TOKYO

5. Québec summer : ÉTÉ

6. Defile, as something sacred : DESECRATE

7. Prefix with -centric : ETHNO

8. Deep gorge : CHASM

9. __ Lingus : AER. Aer Lingus Group Plc(an anglicisation of the Irish Aer Loingeas meaning roughly "air fleet") is the flag carrier of Ireland.

10. Motor home brand : WINNEBAGO. The company history.

11. Shady recess : ARBOR

12. Hitchcock's "__ Window" : REAR. (1954) The film received four Academy Award nominations.

15. Madagascar primate : LEMUR

18. What you used to be? : THEE

23. Classic video games : ATARIs

25. Gangster's gal : MOLL

26. Window section : PANE

29. Country N. of Kenya : ETHiopia.

30. However, briefly : THO. (although)

31. Cause of a sudden drop in altitude : AIR POCKET

32. Hebrew prophet : ISAIAH

34. RR stop : STAtion.

35. Completely healed : ALL BETTER

37. Engine starter: Abbr. : IGNition.

38. Source of much blonde hair : DYE

40. The "I" in MIT: Abbr. : INSTitute.

41. Some George Carlin jokes : PUNS

46. "Bye Bye Bye" pop group : *NSYNC

48. Bushy hairdo : AFRO

49. Deceptions : RUSES

50. Poet Stephen Vincent __ : BENÉT. Not to be confused with Edna St. Vincent Millay.

51. Foe : ENEMY

52. Surprise victory : UPSET

53. Dense overgrowth : BRUSH

54. "Deputy __": TV toon : DAWG. Interesting. We had this clue/answer on Jan. 1, 2010.

57. Gaelic tongue : ERSE

58. House of Lords member : PEER

61. Florida 19-Across team, on scoreboards : ORLando Magic.

62. Spanish eye : OJO

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

I'd like to update papers that carry LA Times Daily crossword. Please click here and leave a comment if your local paper is missing from the list or the paper listed no longer has LA Times puzzle. Thanks.