Monday, August 6, 2012 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Theme: Oh, Joy! - The last word in happiness, or the last word in the entries can follow the word "happy".

20A. Guy for whom glasses are raised : MAN OF THE HOUR

37A. One-eighty : ABOUT-FACE

43A. The cellar, sportswise : LAST PLACE

58A. Fairy tale outcomes, or, in a way, what the last words of 20-, 37- and 43-Across are : HAPPY ENDINGS

Argyle here so put on your happy face and spend a happy hour in this happy place (if I can find enough links) and may everything end happily.

Across:

1. The "A" in DNA : ACID. (deoxyribonucleic acid)

5. Go on enthusiastically : GUSH

9. Drawn-out assault : SIEGE

14. Stories from the ancients : LORE

15. One of Pittsburgh's three rivers : OHIO. Allegheny and Monongahela rivers merge to form the Ohio. map

16. Open-mouthed : AGAPE

17. "Will you let me finish?" : "AHEM!"

18. Prefix with correct, in texting : AUTO. That's auto-correct, in theory.

19. Upper body : TORSO

23. Baby's bodysuit : ONESIE. Brings out the oohs and aahs.

24. Swiss river : AAR. Born from the great Aar Glaciers of the Bernese Alps, it rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Wiki. If you look at the site, check out the awesome Aar Gorge photo.

25. Tolkien's Treebeard, for one : ENT

28. McEntire of country music : REBA

31. Carpenter's tool : HAMMER

33. Dallas NBAers : MAVS. The Dallas Mavericks play at the American Airlines Center, commonly called the AAC. That would pair nicely with the AAR.

39. Ta-ta, in Tours : ADIEU. Bye-bye, in Bordeaux.

41. Like a rotten apple : BAD

42. "Fear of Flying" author Jong : ERICA

45. Piggy bank opening : SLOT

46. Andre with eight Grand Slam wins : AGASSI. His middle name is Kirk.

47. Singer Kristofferson : KRIS. Who will nit about KRIS being part of the clue? Not I.

50. "You got it" : "YES!"

51. Bag-screening org. : TSA. (Transportation Security Administration)

53. Bahamian capital : NASSAU. Officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.

61. Cast member : ACTOR

64. Govern : RULE. The Bahamas is a Commonwealth realm with Queen Elizabeth II as head of state.

65. Notes before mi : DO RE

66. Friars Club event : ROAST. Manac made a timely post last night.

67. "Why would __ to you?" : I LIE

68. Washstand pitcher : EWER

69. Pear centers : CORES

70. Show the way : LEAD

71. They can get rid of the gray : DYES. Or not all of it, Touch Of Gray®.

Down:

1. San Antonio tourist spot : ALAMO

2. Broadway composer George M. : COHAN. An early hit version of "The Yankee Doodle Boy", was recorded by Cohan's contemporary and fellow Irish-American Billy Murray, 1906. Clip(4:56) Well worth a listen. If you have the time(I don't right now), you can read about "Little Johnny Jones", the Cohan musical the song came from. Link

3. Cara or Castle : IRENE

4. Floor models : DEMOS

5. Colonel Sanders trademark : GOATEE

6. "No way" : "UH UH"

7. Set of Web pages : SITE

8. Big commotion : HOO-HA

9. Waterlog : SATURATE

10. Composer Stravinsky : IGOR. A contemporary of Cohan, yet worlds apart.

11. Corn purchase : EAR

12. Some family docs : GP's. (general practitioner)

13. Fair-hiring letters : EEO. (equal employment opportunity)

21. Cedar relative : FIR

22. Diamond Head's island : OAHU. Hawaii

25. Online letter : EMAIL

26. Big name in candy wafers : NECCO. (New England Confectionery Company)

27. Pick up the tab : TREAT

29. Gilda Radner's __ Wawa : BABA

30. Taken __: disconcerted : ABACK

32. GE and GM, for two : MFR's. (manufactures)

33. Southeast Asia's __ Peninsula : MALAY

34. Proverb : ADAGE

35. Passport stamps : VISAs

36. Adjusts, as an alarm clock : SETS

38. German border river : ODER

40. Presumptuous nouveaux riches : UPSTARTS

44. Speech imperfection : LISP

48. Requiring assistance : IN NEED. A friend in need is a friend indeed. Link to The Phrase Finder.

49. Tear-jerking : SAD

52. Showery month : APRIL

54. Allied oneself (with) : SIDED

55. Like many New England winters : SNOWY

56. Shake on it : AGREE

57. Icon clickers : USERS

58. Garden waterer : HOSE

59. Santa's busy season : YULE. And how!

60. Director Kazan : ELIA

61. Circle segment : ARC

62. Loving murmur : COO

63. __ Heel: North Carolina native : TAR

Answer grid.

Argyle

Happy Trails!(1:40)

Sunday August 5, 2012 Elizabeth C. Gorski

Theme:"Double Overtime"- Each theme entry contains two OTs.

23. *Like Disneyland, vis-à-vis theme parks : PROTOTYPICAL. This is the only entry where two OTs are together.

25. *Perform efficiently : GO TO TOWN (Edited later: The two OTs here are together also.)

48. *Tryst venue : NO-TELL MOTEL. And 57. Bit of 48-Across talk : COO

67A. *Bit of campaign nastiness : POTSHOT

90A. *Get-rich-quick buy : LOTTO TICKET. We met a guy who pulled a Mickey Mantle 1/1 special insert from a $2.99 pack he bought at Walmart. He sold on eBay for $15K.

113. *Writer's bottom line? : FOOTNOTE

116. *1978 Commodores hit : TOO HOT TA TROT. Not familiar with the song. You, Argyle?

13D. *Absolutely perfect : HOTSY-TOTSY

73D. *"Zilch" : NOT ONE IOTA

117D. There are two of them in each starred ans. : OTs

The reason all the theme entries are starred is because some of the non-theme fill are longer or of same length as the theme answers. The constructor & editor did not want any potential confusion.

Look at these great entries:

22A. "I like your invention!" : "GOOD IDEA!"

93A. Oscar winner's words : "I'M HONORED"

16D. "Remind me" : "I DON'T RECALL"

66D. "Honestly ..." : "TRUTH BE TOLD"

90D. Lesser-of-evils situation : LOSE LOSE

Simply amazing. But it's nothing out of ordinary for Liz Gorski, whose originality and creativity are awe-inspiring. She does what others can't. She's always the first. The only.

Across:

1. Madison Ave. figure : AD REP. Or AD MAN.

6. DEA employees : NARCS

11. Convert into an anesthetic : ETHERIFY. New word to me. Makes sense.

19. Much of Egypt : SAHARA

21. Hawaiian welcome : ALOHA. "Ni Hao" in Chinese. Ni = You. Hao = Good.

26. Rd. atlas listings : STs

27. Dessert cart array : PIES

28. Friars Club main courses? : ROASTS. Ha ha, "main courses!"

30. Tokyo-based electronics giant : NEC (Nippon Electric Company)

31. Dancer Falana : LOLA.

32. Crochet loop : PICOT. I forgot. I googled this word a while ago.

34. "Take a shot at it" : YOU TRY

37. Meal : REPAST

40. Amy Winehouse's reaction to rehab, in the song : NO, NO, NO. "...They tried to make me go to rehab, I said, no, no, no...". From her famous "Rehab" song.

41. British Invasion drummer : STARR (Ringo)

42. Baker with the breakout album "Rapture" : ANITA

43. Oft-quoted Yogi : BERRA

44. Unwanted tabloid fame : NOTORIETY. Poor Kristen Stewart.

50. Mad as __ hen : A WET

51. Berry touted as a superfood : ACAI

52. Old Russian ruler : TSAR

53. "WKRP" costar with Gary, Gordon, Howard et al. : LONI (Anderson). Marti likes her.

54. __ Island: NY/NJ landmark : ELLIS

55. Hearty partner : HALE

56. Current designation : AC/DC

58. DNA shape : COIL

61. "May It Be" singer : ENYA. So beautiful.

63. __ Wolf: Disney comics kid : LI'L. No idea. I googled, Li'l Bad Wolf showed up. Same kid?

64. "They'll Do It Every Time" cartoonist Jimmy : HATLO. Stranger to me also.

69. Green course : SALAD

71. Drop the ball : ERR

72. First-year law student : ONE-L

75. Wreck : RUIN

76. Job particular : SPEC

78. Letters to creditors? : IOUs

80. Central Florida city : OCALA

82. They may stay till closing time : SOTS. So many wonderful bars in Guangzhou.

84. Four-ring-logo company : AUDI. I wonder what kind of ring said "Buy me" to Irish Miss during her visit to Maine.

88. "The lady __ protest ...": "Hamlet" : DOTH

89. Lake __, Blue Nile source : TANA

95. Nebraska's largest city : OMAHA

96. Physicist Bohr : NIELS

97. Twix or Trix, e.g. : BRAND

98. "Permission granted" : IT'S A GO

100. "Juno and the Paycock" playwright : O'CASEY (Sean)

101. Boil : SEETHE . I don't know how I reacted if I were Husker Gary's niece.

103. Caterpillar rival : DEERE

104. Some faux outerwear : FURS

105. Routine : ACT

106. Ahab's kingdom : ISRAEL. All friendly letters, hence its frequent appearance in crossword.

109. Confirmation, e.g. : RITE

110. __TV: Court TV, since 2008 : TRU

120. Joined the Navy : ENLISTED. Ah, for Spitzboov/D-Otto/eddyB.

121. Rob of "90210" : ESTES

122. St. Francis's birthplace : ASSISI

123. Six-pack units : SODA CANS.


124. Score notations : RESTS

125. Prop for Monet : EASEL

Down:

1. Deadly snakes : ASPS

2. Blowgun missile : DART

3. P-like letters : RHOs

4. Enjoy, with "up" : EAT. My cherry tomatoes are especially good this year.

5. Offer : PROPOSAL

6. Afternoon breaks : NAPs

7. "American Gladiators" co-host Laila : ALI. The only Laila I know.

8. Mythical bird : ROC

9. Patio bagful : CHARCOAL

10. Tavern : SALOON

11. Nog basics : EGGS

12. Traffic sound : TOOT

14. Shogun stronghold : EDO. Modern sushi started in Edo Era.

15. Score slow-up: Abbr. : RIT

17. Not as many : FEWER

18. '50s TV adventurer __ Derringer : YANCY. Sigh. No idea. The only thing I want from '50s is the baseball cards. I like '60s though. The fashion, the cat eyes, Jane Birkin.

20. Leaning : ATILT

24. Vote for : YEA

29. Like some 20th-century music : ATONAL

31. Indirect and creative, as thinking : LATERAL

32. White House entrance : PORTICO

33. Memo starter : IN RE

35. Stick in a scull : OAR

36. Dickens baddie Heep : URIAH

37. Lose control : RANT

38. Baseball's Slaughter : ENOS. And 110. Speaker of Cooperstown : TRIS

39. Pocket bread : PITA

40. Light on Broadway : NEON

41. Oktoberfest purchase : STEIN

43. College QB, often : BMOC (Big Man on Campus)

45. Barn baby : OWLET. Thought of PK for no reason.

46. Sylvester's "Rocky" co-star : TALIA

47. Triangular sign : YIELD

49. Honorary legal deg. : LLD

54. K-12 : EL-HI

59. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA

60. The Bengals of the Big Sky Conf. : ISU (Idaho State University). Don't know anything about this conference.

62. Widow in "Peer Gynt" : ASE. Peer Gynt's mother.

64. Alpine heroine : HEIDI

65. Forster's "__ With a View" : A ROOM

67. Flier : PLANE

68. In "Wicked," say : ON STAGE. Hahtool liked "Wicked".

70. Trees favored by giraffes : ACACIAS. Kazie mentioned they were called wattles in Oz.

74. Online greeting : E-CARD

76. Ancient public walkway : STOA

77. SFO setting : PST

79. Brief : SHORT

81. Fancy-schmancy : LA-DI-DA

83. Emperor after Galba : OTHO. He reigned for only 3 months. This appeared a few times in in the old Wayne R. Williams puzzles.

85. Luau instruments : UKES

86. Take-out order? : DELE. Great clue.

87. Wee : ITSY

91. "A Book of Verses underneath the Bough" poet : OMAR

92. Bump up : INCREASE

94. Slangy turndown : NAH

99. Seesaw : TEETER

100. "I'm __ here!" : OUTTA

101. They may be blown or cracked : SAFES. What were you thinking?

102. Low-budget lead-in : ECONO

104. In good shape : FIT

107. British submachine gun : STEN

108. Wine list heading : REDS

109. Supreme leader? : ROSS (Diana). "The Supremes". Nothing Iran related.

111. It's romantic to give one : ROSE. I want these.


112. Condo expense: Abbr. : UTIL

114. __ Maria: liqueur : TIA

115. Presidential policy support gp. : NSC (National Security Council)

118. Worked (up) : HET

119. Flight safety org. : TSA

Answer grid.
C.C.