Saturday, Sep 14th, 2013, Barry C. Silk

Theme: Saturday Silkie

Words: 72 (missing J,X,Z)

Blocks: 30

    Well it was about time I got beaten up by a Silkie ( or any ) puzzle, and it's no surprise that it comes on "Saturday, the 14th"; typically, I fare worse in "luck" today than on Friday, the 13th.  Mr. Silk got me with too many proper names; people places AND things.  One grid climber today:

7. Collective feeling of oppression : BUNKER MENTALITY

and two 11's crossing two 12's;

3D. Hunter with a distinctive cry : SCREECH OWL

 

22A. Special screening : SNEAK PREVIEW - I tried PREMIERE SHOW, which fit - it's what we called the viewing of the made-for-TV movie we did in 1997 for cast and crew only

46A. Where funnels are often seen : TORNADO ALLEY - Funny, but my brother tells me after hockey this past Wed. that he is planning on going as the Tin Man for Halloween - so I was thinking that a funnel would be 'seen' on the head

 

....anyway, this crossed another weather-related phrase;

28D. It may precede a cold front : SQUALL LINE - Thunderstorm, which is two letters too long, so I couldn't make it fit, but there's three "L"s in a line~! My friend Matt from high school wanted to be a weatherman since the day I met him, and he succeeded - clip

...and upward~! acrosswards and downwards~!

stop by the Corner to check on your answer(d)s

ACROSS:

1. __ shirt : MUSCLE - yeah, this took a while, since I don't own one

7. Catholic pilgrimage destination : BASILICA - was looking for a city with a proper name, like "VATICAN"

15. Written to last : ETCHED - A lot of people have been asking about the new UPS driving position, and all I have been able to say is "...so far, nothing is carved in stone" - I'm thinking about starting a blog when I do go - call it "Driving Brown"

16. Member of DC Comics' Legion of Super-Heroes : ULTRA BOY - yeah, um, didn't know about him - I had SUPERMAN, then SUPERBOY, and (ahem) ULT-imately, ULTRA BOY

17. Coliseum team, once : L.A. RAMS - 'round here, Coliseum means Nassau, and the NY Islanders hockey team - NHL training camps have begun~!

18. March Madness event : NCAA GAME - Basketball; interferes with my hockey viewing

19. What busy people are on? : THE GO - "always on the go..."

20. WBA decisions : TKOs - Technical Knock-outs

21. Dos' followers : REs - Musical scale

26. Trauma sufferer's goal : CLOSURE - good clue; took me a while

27. Yellowstone grazer : BISON

31. Comic who wrote jokes for Kennedy : SAHL - Nope, not a clue - BMT ( Before My Time )

33. Start of a response to a brainteaser : Hmm.... - what else is Mr. Silk going to get me with?

34. Language "jai alai" comes from : BASQUE - well, here's one that got me

35. Latin 101 word : AMO - Orthorunica amo - "I love crosswords"

36. Jersey Shore resort : CAPE MAY

38. Nautilus letters : U.S.S. - two weeks in a row with this answer

39. Show deference : KOWTOW - I spelled it wrong, went with a "C"; it must be late....

41. 7 and 11: Abbr. : NOs - numbers, deceptively simple

42. Stuffing material : BATT

43. Mullah's faith : ISLAM

44. Regular guest on "The O'Reilly Factor" : STOSSEL - John; I have not seen him since his days on Ch. 7 here in NYC

50. Spot at the bridge table : PIP - on the non-face cards; learning moment for me

53. Slick : OILY

54. Its capital is Valletta : MALTA - OK, OK, I cheated, and Googled this one

55. Big name in racing : ANDRETTI - I got this one

58. "Turn Me Loose" singer, 1959 : FABIAN - and then I was back to Google - BMT

59. Cut across : TRANSECT

60. Double-edged : IRONIC

61. 1980 hit with the line "I longed to speak but did not dare" : HE'S SO SHY - The Pointer Sisters, and this IS my time - I grew up with the video on MTV, when it was a video showing channel

62. Just : BARELY - I had LIE for FIB, so I thought EVENLY was good here - Bzzzt~!

DOWN:

1. Softens : MELTS

2. Pioneer Day celebrant : UTAHN - seen this before; one from UTAH

4. 1963-'64 painter of the Paris Opera ceiling : CHAGALL

5. 1937 title gangster Pépé : le MOKO - I bet Mr. Silk is glad there's names like this one out there for crossword construction

6. Life support syst.? : EDs - Editors of Life magazine

8. Recess : ALCOVE

9. East German secret police : STASI

10. Portfolio element : IRA - retirement portfolio

11. Fail to keep up : LAG

12. Structural beam : I-BAR

13. Canine order : COME - OK, I gotta link this - adult content~!

14. Some votes : AYES

20. Ranking suit : TRUMP

23. "Bah!" : "PSHAW~!"

24. Selling point? : eBAY and; 48D. Net biz : ETAIL

25. Ill. neighbor : WISconsin; I almost decided to take the train to go to the Will Shortz presentation this past Thursday, but my supervisor screwed me out of my vacation.  I had a hockey game on Wed., too, so....maybe I visit C.C. this winter?

29. Kick out : OUST

30. Emulate bees : NEST - meh, but I was not fooled with "BUZZ", as I had USS crossing earlier

31. "The Storyteller" storyteller : SAKI - another proper name, crossing SAHL, that did me in - some Wiki

32. Book by a prophet : AMOS - and another

34. Low man : BASSO - low vocal man

36. Interrogación word : COMO - I know ¿Cómo estás?, "How are you?", and depending on WHO is asking, I might consider it to be an interrogation....

37. Hardly chipper : MOODY

40. Use a shuttle : TAT - I was on this wavelength, and started with SEW; TAT, back-formed from Tatting, to make a kind of knotted lace of cotton or linen thread with a shuttle.

42. Over-explain : BELABOR

44. Rat : SNITCH

45. City on the Volga : SAMARA - another proper name that got me

47. Basic teaching techniques : ROTES - gritting my teeth on this one

49. '50s TV adventurer __ Derringer : YANCY

50. Way : PATH

51. Dictator's phrase : IN RE - Also Latin, "in the matter of"

52. Modern info holders : PDAs - I tried DVDs first.  I went for a test drive in the new Dodge Dart, and the CD player is in the center arm rest, along with the mp3 jack; I remember when an anti-theft pull-out cassette deck AM/FM radio was THE most advanced auto audio you could buy

56. BP checkers : RNs - Blood Pressure, and Registered Nurses

57. That, in Tijuana : ESO

58. Bit of fiction : FIB - ah, not LIE

 Splynter

 

Friday, September 13, 2013, Patti Varol

Theme:

It's Friday, time for a definition puzzle

Well here we go again, this time we have 5 theme answers to the same clue, including a grid spanner in the middle. This is also almost a pangram, just one letter short. (want to guess the letter?). It is the work of LAT editor, Rich Norris' assistant who was very upfront in talking with C.C. in an April INTERVIEW. This does not feel like a Friday for me with so many 3, 4 and 5 letter fill, but there was some nice stuff like ISUZUS, TOO TOO, MEG RYAN, SHIHTZU, AIRCRAFT,  BABUSHKA,  COLOGNES and  RED CROSS.

16A. Legs : CRAB MORSELS. (11). Crab legs are big business in So.Fla. I do not think of them as morsels. I guess they call them legs because King Crab chelipeds does not sound appetizing.

22A. Legs : STAYING POWER. (12). That rumor had legs.

36A. Legs : RELAY RACE STAGES.(15). Most relays have four.

47A. "Legs" : ZZ TOP CLASSIC.(12). The original VIDEO (4:56) for Splynter.

58A. Legs : VOYAGE PARTS. (11). The around the world cruise usually had 11.

nexxxxxxxxxxxxt,

Across:

1. Smooth to a fault : GLIB. I was still thinking of the legs; needed the down to get going.

5. Song on a CD : TRACK.

10. Have chills, perhaps : AIL.

13. Vidal's Breckinridge : MYRA. Born Myron, a book by Gore Vidal and a Movie.

Recognize the young man 43 years ago?

14. Oh so very : TOO TOO. This always makes me think about this SONG.(2:06).

15. Messenger __ : RNA.

18. Scrap : RAG.

19. Provide with necessities : EQUIP.

20. Great Lakes' __ Canals : SOO. All new to me.

21. Cold Stone Creamery buy : CONE. When they first opened in Florida, they had lines out the door, we do like our ice cream.

25. Fluffy toy : SHIH-TZU. A tricky clue, because toy dogs did not jump to mind; my ex has two of this BREED.

28. Turkic flatbread : NAN. My LESSON.

29. Ivory poacher's prize : TUSK.

30. Name on 2008 and 2012 campaign posters : BIDEN.

33. Thurman of "Gattaca" : UMA.

40. "__ on a Grecian Urn" : ODE.

41. Start of a child's rhyme : EENIE. Meenie.

42. The "kid" in "Here's looking at you, kid" : ILSA. Ingrid in Casablanca

43. Done to death : OLD.

44. "Serious Moonlight" actress : MEG RYAN. Speaking of old, did you see her as the hoarder on Web Therapy?

52. Frontier lawman : EARP. Wyatt et al.

53. Strike with force : RAM.

54. Expensive outing, probably : SPREE.

57. CCCV ÷ V : LXI.

61. Veggies go-with, perhaps : DIP.

62. Rodeos, e.g. : ISUZUS. Another one that took some thought, but she must like car model with 1D. Canyon or Sierra : GMC.

63. "Works for me" : FINE.

64. Biblical mount : ASS. We have seen this often.

65. Vail alternative : ASPEN. Assssssssssspen?

66. Dairy farmer's fistful : TEAT. Dennis? Is that like a handful?

Down:

2. Harp relative : LYRE.

3. Where the Tigris meets the Euphrates : IRAQ. The old fertile crescent; they sometimes venture out to get some Turkey.

4. Russian head scarf : BABUSHKA. The Russian Jewish women shave their heads, but apparently many others just gave up their teeth.

5. Only Canadian MLB team : TOR. Blue Jays, who spent a fortune on free agents to finish last.

6. Martini's partner : ROSSI.  I was thinking of people smoking.

7. Used for dinner : ATE ON.

8. Cosmetics counter array : COLOGNES. PERFUMES?

9. Flattens : KOS.

10. Turn lane signal : ARROW.

11. Fatuous : INANE. Nero Wolfe like the word fatuous.

12. Yuengling offering : LAGER. A great BEER Story.

14. Utah's state gem : TOPAZ.

17. Kitchen protector : MITT. Not to be confused with the mittens of Michigan and Wisconsin.

21. Cell user : CON. Every Friday.

23. Kraft coffee brand : YUBAN.

24. Gasp : PANT

.25. A.L. West player, informally : STRO. Houston Astro

26. Shaded : HUED.

27. Vacation site : ISLE.

31. Here, in Le Havre : ICI.

32. Regards : DEEMS. A popular legal word, "as the Court Deems just."

33. Hardly fair? : UGLY. Step-sisters?

34. Rise in the West : MESA.

35. Wise-owl link : AS AN.

37. [You stepped on my paw!] : YELP.

38. 1864 Geneva Convention creation : RED CROSS. Clara Barton and the HISTORY..

39. Blimps, e.g. : AIRCRAFT.

43. "Alley __" : OOP. The cartoon.

45. They're common in Mississippi : ESSES.

46. Reagan's role in "Knute Rockne, All American" : GIPP. Win one for Dutch! This poor SOUL.(1:06).

47. "Save Me the Waltz" author Fitzgerald : ZELDA. F. Scott's main squeeze. Her only NOVEL.

48. 3-D graph line : Z-AXIS. You have X and Y on all graphs only the 3-D need the zed..4 Zs and not one J!

49. Sends sprawling : TRIPS. Remember sticking your leg out when Michael Morris was going to the blackboard? Oh that was me.

50. Many a fast-break result : LAY-UP. Basketball.

51. Outstrip expectations : AMAZE.

55. Buffalo's lake : ERIE. My son, his wife and baby are back.

56. Sicilian tourist attraction : ETNA. Let's go watch a Volcano, Joe.

58. By means of : VIA. We get there by boat.

59. Rev : GUN. Sp turn up the speed, so we make it to the

60. Filming site : SET. before the curtain falls on another episode of Lemon's Friday frolic.

Well another one done, a day where a tree fell and knocked out the power so I am very late and must run until next time. Thank you Ms. Varol and for those fasting, may it be an easy one.

L714 out.

Notes from C.C.:

Over 600 people showed up for the "An Evening with the Puzzle Master" presentation last night. Will Shortz was not as intimidating as I imagined. He was very unassuming & easy-going. 

He talked about the history of crossword (It'll turn 100 years old this Dec); his amazing crossword collection (click here); his all-time favorite crossword Clinton/Bob Dole (click here); his favorite word (Ucalegon, meaning "a neighbor whose house is on fire"); how he edits NYT crosswords (on average, 50% of the clues are his, and clue accuracy is of the most importance to him); what kind of fill he likes (Everyday phrases, not words like ESNE). The Q & A session was particularly lively and the word game was very entertaining and engaging. 

Together with a few other Twin City constructors (George Barany, who made the fun puzzle for the night, Victor Barocas, Tom Pepper, Jay Kaskel, etc),  Boomer and I were invited to a private reception with Will Shortz before the speech. Mr. Shortz asked Boomer if he had ever bowled a 300 game, you can imagine how lit-up Boomer was. 

 

 

Thursday September 12, 2013 Peter A. Collins

Theme: TOSSED SALAD (62A. Light lunch (and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters)) - Six different kinds of salads are anagrammed (Or jumbled, to be exact) in the grid. TOSSED is an anagram indicator in Cryptic puzzles.

17A. Scrooge's underpaid clerk : BOB CRATCHIT. Cobb salad.

23A. Frighten off : SCARE AWAY. Caesar salad.

37A. Reading in an unruly class? : RIOT ACT. Taco salad.

56A. Forest shade : DARK GREEN. Greek salad. I see a "Green salad" too.

11D. Divas have them : BIG EGOS. Egg salad.

42D. Beach acquisitions : SUN TANS. Tuna salad.

C.C. here again. Cruciverb did not have the puzzle ready at their regular time last night, so Marti could not blog the puzzle. She'll be back next week. Please email her (HeartRx@me.com) if you want to join the Corner New England gathering next Monday.

Peter Collins never ceases to amaze me with his creativity & craftsmanship. Notice all the salad words span across two words? And there are 7 theme entries. I'd be happy with 5. That's why Peter is Peter, and there's only one Peter Collins.

Across:

1. Meter site : CURB

5. After Chicago, the most populous Illinois city : AURORA. Gimme for our Chicago crowd. In case you missed, TTP posted this hilarious ad yesterday. Jordy Nelson is from Kansas.  Wisconsin is indeed pretty in fall.

11. Cave dweller : BAT

14. Atlas section : ASIA

15. Adds excitement to, with "up" : SPICES

16. Syr. neighbor : ISR

19. Fed. property manager : GSA (General Services Administration). GSA, GSA, they need to have some kind of scandal for me to remember it.

20. Lotto-like game : KENO. Saw it at Treasure Island.

21. Take down a few pegs : DEMEAN

28. First host of "America's Got Talent" : REGIS. Look here, the box on the right. Another Simon Cowell creation.

29. __ the cloth : MAN OF

30. Senseless : NUMB

32. Piano concerto highlights : SOLI. Plural of Solo.

33. Not impressed : UNAWED. Never used this word in my life. Unimpressed, yes.

35. Lab subj. : SCI

36. Entry-level pos. : ASST

40. Morse's rank: Abbr. : INSP. Inspector Morse.

44. 30-day mo. : APR. Very general clue.

45. Combed (through) : SIFTED

50. Toi et moi : NOUS. In Chinese, Ni + Wo = Women (We). Strange, isn't it?

51. Time, in Germany : ZEIT. No idea, though I do know Zeitgeist, literally "spirit of the time"

53. North of Mexico : NORTE

54. Hit __: run into trouble : A SNAG

58. Shape of Michigan's Lower Peninsula : MITTEN. OK, please link in the Comments section. Let me see the MITTEN.

60. Reversals, slangily : UIEs. Or UEYs.

61. Memorable period : ERA

68. Hill VIP : SEN

69. For hire to sire : AT STUD

70. Tibetan priest : LAMA. Tibetan's main dish is Tsampa, roasted barley flour. The accompanying drink is of course Yak butter tea. You won't survive there, D-Otto.

71. His, to Henri : SES

72. Bottom-of-the-line : CHEAPO

73. Learning experience? : EXAM. This is hard for me.

Down:

1. Part of a pickup line : CAB. Great clue.

2. Troupe for troops: Abbr. : USO

3. Bone in a cage : RIB

4. Auditorium late-comers' seating : BACK ROW

5. Yoga pose : ASANA. This refers to any pose, right, Marti, Lucina and J.D.?

6. Above Manhattan's 59th Street, say : UPTOWN

7. Ocasek of the Cars : RIC

8. Glaswegian's "Gee!" : OCH

9. Tim or Tara of Hollywood : REID. I only know Tara Reid.

10. Fall flower : ASTER

12. Goes after : ASSAILS

13. It may be rapid : TRANSIT

18. Illegal smoke, quaintly : REEFER

22. Southwest sight : MESA

23. Rice rival, briefly : SMU

24. Axe : CAN

25. Collection of literary odds and ends : ANA

26. "The Sound of Music" setting : AUSTRIA

27. Interactive party song : YMCA

31. Some lighters : BICs. Pens too.

34. "In Her Shoes" co-star : DIAZ (Cameron). In the movie, her workaholic sister has lots of expensive shoes in the closet. Shirley MacLaine is the grandma.

38. Page with views : OP-ED

39. Trace amounts : TINGES

40. Really botched up : IN A MESS. Speaking of mess, thanks for the link on "important" in CSS,  TTP. I was just fiddling with various Advanced buttons in the new Template to make the blog color and layout more like the old Template. All was fine until I decided to mess with the Header. Boom! Everything cascaded and I couldn't see. All was just blank.

41. "Not on your life!" : NO SIREE!

43. Hurdle for a jr. : PSAT

46. Lawn sign : FOR SALE

47. Roman numeral? : TRE. OK, I know it has a ? mark, but TRE is a number, not a numeral.

48. Le Tour de France time : ETE

49. Kit's home : DEN

52. Make even, to a carpenter : TRUE UP.  Marti is a Carpenter, of course.

55. Pass, but not with flying colors : GET A C. Crossing A SNAG. This is a tough area for Peter: stacked 6's connected with stacked 7's.

57. Buddy : KIDDO

59. Chris of "The Good Wife" : NOTH. The guy in black suits. Gimme for JD.  She likes the show. NOTH is Jerry Orbach's first "Law & Order" partner, if I remember correctly.

63. Flint-to-Detroit dir. : SSE

64. Depot: Abbr. : STA

65. SoCal destination : LAX

66. Marcus Welby's gp. : AMA. Marcus Welby, M.D..

67. Block : DAM. Verb!

C.C.

1) There are still tickets left for "An Evening with the Puzzle Master" tonight. Click here for details. Her is a Minnesota Daily interview with Will Shortz, editor of NY Times crossword. Please come and join us. It'll be fun.

2) Happy Birthday to dear Steve, our witty and efficient puzzle sherpa. Steve is always ready to pinch-hit whenever one of our blogging member needs help, despite his heavy traveling demands. Thanks for your time and commitment, Steve!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013 David Poole

Theme: Dearborn's Finest - the first words of the theme entries are all model names of Ford cars

20A. Accommodating work hours: FLEX SCHEDULES

32A. Market research panel: FOCUS GROUP

41A. Frito-Lay is its title sponsor: FIESTA BOWL

52A. Culinary combination: FUSION CUISINE

and the unifier:

65A. Company that manufactures the starts of 20-, 32-, 41- and 52-Across: FORD

"Any color you like as long as it's black"

Top o' the morning to you all. Steve here with an entertaining and alliterative "F" theme from David. Very nicely done, and some crisp fill also. Let's check out the rest.

Across:

1 Chiang Mai native: THAI

5 Dance moves: STEPS. My dance moves are hilarious. A girlfriend and I took dancing classes once and we weren't allowed to graduate from Ballroom 101. Mostly my fault.

10 Cheerful: GLAD

14 Mint, e.g.: HERB. If you plant it in your garden don't put it directly in the ground unless you don't want anything else in five year's time - it spreads like crazy. Plant it in a pot in the dirt.

15 Ira Gershwin contribution: LYRIC

16 Indiana neighbor: OHIO

17 Palindromic fashion mag: ELLE. My favorite palindrome is a tribute to the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps: "A man, a plan, a canal. Panama."

18 More aloof: ICIER

19 “Walking in Memphis” singer Cohn: MARC. With 10D this was close to a personal natick for me - I wasn't familiar with either name. I knew the song though - a nice live version here.

23 Large amount: TON

24 “O Sole __”: MIO

25 Harper’s __: BAZAAR

28 Chewie’s shipmate: HAN. A youthful-looking Harrison Ford as Han Solo with his furry sidekick in the original Star Wars movie.

29 Béchamel base: ROUX. Food! The butter-and-flour mixture before the milk is added to complete the sauce.

31 Monopoly deed abbr.: AVE

36 Laundry cycle: SPIN

37 Fairway boundary: ROUGH. I'm very familiar with these parts of every golf course I've played.

38 Part of i.e.: EST. Id Est. Literally, "that is".

39 Biblical prophet: HOSEA. Perps all the way. I need to brush up on my biblical prophets one day.

40 “Yikes!”: OH NO!

43 Mark of Zorro: ZEE. It would be ZED if Zorro was English.

44 Action on eBay: BIDS.

45 USN rank: ENS. I believe that an Ensign is the lowest-ranking commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy

46 Acquirer of more than 1,000 patents: EDISON

48 It includes mayo: AÑO. My favorite clue/answer combo today. The month of May in the Spanish-language year. Purists might want to see mayo capitalized, but I'm fine with the misdirection (From C.C.:  Spanish months are not capitalized, yes?)

49 SUV part: Abbr.: VEH.

56 Roger Rabbit or Bugs Bunny: TOON

58 Heart of Paris?: COEUR. Because L'arc de Triomphe doesn't fit.

59 Old Norse poetry collection: EDDA

60 Bring in: EARN

61 Rockne of Notre Dame fame: KNUTE. He of locker-room speech fame.

62 Look slyly: LEER

63 Multitude: ARMY

64 “Bullitt” director Peter: YATES

Down:

1 Taking the wrong way?: THEFT

2 Nametag greeting: HELLO, my name is Steve

3 “Over the Rainbow” composer: ARLEN. If you've never heard this version by Hawaiian legend Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole you're in for a treat.

4 Wild mountain goat: IBEX

5 Deli worker’s chore: SLICING

6 Danish astronomer Brahe: TYCHO. World Champion Mustache-grower too.

7 Toledo’s lake: ERIE

8 Mottled: PIED. The Mottled Piper of Hamelin doesn't have the same ring to it, somehow.

9 Prepare for surgery: SCRUB UP

10 Lefty in Cooperstown: GOMEZ. I'm sure C.C. has heard of Vernon "Lefty" Gomez, legendary pitcher for the Yankees and the Washington Senators, but an unknown for me and a near-Natick with 19A. (From C.C.: I'm sure Tinbeni had it correct. I wanted GROVE!)

11 Small Asian pooch bred as a watchdog: LHASA APSO

12 Balloon filler: AIR

13 Medical nickname: DOC. 56A's "What's up?"

21 Big success: SMASH

22 Lenient: LAX

26 Miller’s “__ From the Bridge”: A VIEW

27 Kidney-related: RENAL

28 “Les Misérables” author: HUGO

29 Derby prize: ROSES. The Kentucky Derby is promoted under the tag line "The Run for the Roses". The winning horse is draped in a blanket made of roses. The winning owner gets $2,000,000, out of which the trainer and the jockey get a cut.

30 Ways of escape: OUTS

32 Succumbed to stage fright: FROZE

33 Wondered aloud?: OOHED. In the "in awe of the fireworks" sense rather than the "what the heck were those explosions"?

34 Babylonian writing system: CUNEIFORM

35 Senate majority leader since 2007: REID. Nevada Democrat Harry Reid.

36 Weeps convulsively: SOBS

39 Capital west of Haiphong: HANOI. A trip to Vietnam is on my must-do bucket list.

41 Hard to please: FINICKY. Fun word.

42 Grants permanent status to, as a professor: TENURES

44 A.L. East team: BOS.

47 Golf-friendly forecast: SUNNY. It was sunny here in LA when I played on Sunday, but I'm not sure it was particularly golf-friendly - it was 103F.

48 Like the accent in “entrée”: ACUTE

49 Wedding memento: VIDEO. Not "Ball and Chain"?

50 Rear-__: ENDER

51 Found out: HEARD

53 Chaplin’s last wife: OONA

54 Neither masc. nor fem.: NEUT. English is a gender-neutral language as far as nouns are concerned.

55 Narcissist’s love: SELF

56 Darjeeling, e.g.: TEA. A beautiful region of India

57 Scull propeller: OAR. Strictly speaking, a scull is propelled by scullers using sculls, but I'll give this one a pass.

That's it from me - see you  all next time.

Steve

Notes from C.C.:

1) Tickets are still available for "An Evening with the Puzzle Master".  Will Shortz, editor of NY Times crossword, is visiting Minnesota tomorrow (Sept 12, 2013). He'll answer all questions about puzzles. Click here for details. Are you coming, Qli? Other North Dakota or our Wisconsin readers? It's really a great opportunity to meet with Mr. Shortz, all Twin Cities constructors and other crossword lovers

2) Marti mentioned yesterday that Montana is visiting her son in CT, and they're planning to meet for lunch in Hartford next Monday September 16. Dudley our dashing pilot & Feng shui expert (OK, maybe not expert yet) will be there too. Any other members of the Corner New England contingent can make it? Please contact Marti (HeartRx@me.com) for more details. I thought of LaLaLinda (The Saturday Stud misses your comments!) & Hondo, but health may prevent them from making the trip.

3) Happy 67th Birthday to dear Husker Gary! Love his captions. Gary helped us through an chaotic time last year when our blog went blank. His daily musings are always fun to read, full of trivia & some pithy life observations.

From Gary:

"Here's a picture of Joann and me at the Crazy Horse Memorial that was mentioned in our puzzle last week and also in celebration of my completion of 67 orbits of the Sun today. I hope this September 11th is a good one for all, free of the tragedy of past ones."

Tuesday September 10, 2013 Donna S. Levin

Theme: HITS THE TRIFECTA (55A. Has a big track payday (and a hint to hidden words that begin 17-, 27- and 43-Across) - WIN, PLACE & SHOW are hidden in the first word of each theme entry. 

17A. Oenophile : WINE CONNOISSEUR. I think WON (34D. Took the cup) should have been avoided in the grid.

27A. Response to snake oil, perhaps : PLACEBO EFFECT

43A. Privacy protector of a sort : SHOWER CURTAIN. Still remember Dennis Kozlowski's $6K shower curtain?

C.C. again. Argyle is now back at home. He might drop in on the blog today.

We've seen Win/Place/Show grids before, mostly with BETS as a reveal entry. The beautiful Donna has a very snazzy reveal & brilliant fill. This grid is a good template for 4-theme entries with 15, 14, 14 & 15 letter length.

Donna S. Levin, Newsday

Across:

1. Uniformed figure in the National Toy Hall of Fame : GI JOE. Scrabbly start.

6. Corp. fiscal execs : CFOs

10. Kiss from 10-Down : LICK. And 10D. Heroic TV dog : LASSIE. And 36D. Sound from a contented kitty : PURR. So, no fight between dog lovers and cat lovers on our blog today.

14. Epps and Sharif : OMARs

15. Sow's squeal : OINK

16. 43,560 square feet : ACRE

20. Indianapolis-to-Fort Wayne dir. : NNE

21. Sleepover wear, briefly : PJs. 

22. Shiny finish : LUSTER

23. Lone Ranger's pal : TONTO

26. iPhone's voice-activated personal assistant : SIRI. Ready for iOS 7?

31. Steering system component : TIE ROD. Argyle would nail it. He knows all about cars.

32. Caresses : PETS

33. GM labor gp. : UAW. Our neighbor Andy never shops at Walmart. He said they're Anti-Labor.

35. Redding of soul : OTIS

36. FG's three : PTs. Field goals.

37. Hockey great Phil, familiarly : ESPO

38. Tails and tongues do it : WAG. Also means Wild Ass Guess in our blog. Mine is Onager (Asian Wild Ass) guess.

39. Feng __: decorating philosophy : SHUI. Literally "water". Feng = Wind.

41. Redeem : CASH IN

46. Close to : NEAR

47. "Incorrect!" : NOT SO

48. Ready to mate, animal-wise : IN HEAT. I've learned not to put HOOTERS & G-SPOT in LAT crosswords. BONERS is acceptable though.

51. Pouch : SAC

52. Just minted : NEW

59. Against : ANTI

60. Dutch cheese : EDAM

61. A driver who forgets something might make one : U-TURN

62. Info : DOPE

63. Toupees : RUGs. Did you know we lose up to 100 stands of hair every day? Amazing we still have some hair left.

64. Evaluated : RATED

Down:

1. Graduation wear : GOWN

2. Poker declaration : I'M IN

3. "Psycho" Oscar nominee : JANET LEIGH. I just can't handle this type of movie.

4. Prospector's quest : ORE

5. "Never mind" PC key : ESC

6. Grifter's game : CON JOB. Another srabbly entry.

7. Swimming aids : FINs

8. Artist who lives across from Central Park's Strawberry Fields : ONO. Gimme.

9. Way up the slope : SKI LIFT

11. Rapper-turned-actor : ICE T

12. "Mötley" group : CRUE

13. Actress Deborah : KERR

18. Went (for) : OPTED

19. Pokes around on the Internet : SURFs. Thank you, Al Gore, for the Internet.

24. Some regatta equipment : OARS

25. Cpl., for one : NCO

26. Takes in, as a movie : SEES

27. Greek deli stockpile : PITAs.  This is Xi'An style Pita. Very popular street food.

28. Vision-related : OPTIC

29. Pillow-shaped diamond style : CUSHION CUT. Irish Miss knows rings. This is a new term to me. Doesn't look like pillows though.

30. Golfer's gimme : TAP IN

31. __ truck : TOW

37. Those gals, in Guadalajara : ESAS

39. "Don't __ the small stuff!" : SWEAT. Hard to do.

40. Moor flora : HEATHER

41. Early spring blooms : CROCI. Next year I'm going to plant peonies. Not fond of Crocuses or Croci.

42. ABA member : ATT

44. Layette suit : ONESIE

45. Strips of weapons : UNARMs. Yeah I know. DISARMS is more common.

48. "If __ my way ..." : I HAD. To PA Don, just for you, I'm not going to root for the Pirates any more. Wow, was I powerful! 

49. Spanish lad : NINO

50. URL opener : HTTP. OK, so the Blogger folks provided this patch code for the Template CSS part. That fixed the Header glitch (big empty space) yesterday afternoon. Maybe TTP and Steve know what this gibberish means. What the heck is "important" in a code?

#header-inner {

    width: 1000px !important;

}

51. Deer dad : STAG. Sweet clue.

53. French 101 infinitive : ETRE

54. Mascara applicator : WAND. Flirt! Far Out for Splinter!

56. University URL ending : EDU

57. Pelt : FUR

58. H-like Greek vowel : ETA

After reading all the comments/emails, I've decided to keep the old Template for the time being. Thanks for the quick feedback for my various bumbling quests yesterday, everyone. Can't tell in words how lucky I am to have loyal & caring readers like you. 

C.C.

Monday September 9, 2013 Jack McInturff

Theme: Shh! - The first words of all the theme entries are synonyms.

20A. Gentle leader's quality: QUIET STRENGTH. Thought of Mother Teresa.

37A. Devout petitions kept to oneself : UNSPOKEN PRAYERS. New term to me. Can you explain to me? Do they start with "Dear God..." also?  Jack used a plural because a grid-spanning 15 is easier to work than a 14, but it introduces an inconsistency to the theme set.

58A. Behind-the-scenes investor : SILENT PARTNER

C.C. here.

Dear Argyle was admitted to a VA hospital last Friday night. Foot ulcer. Like Boomer, he's a diabetic, so foot problem is very complicated and scaring. He should be back home later this week. Please keep him in your thoughts.

Monday puzzles always have simple themes and straightforward clues. Just look at the last few Down entries. What could be answers other than  IOWA, SKY & ONO?

 

Across:

1. The Crimson Tide's school, for short : BAMA. Alma mater of Alan, Marti's husband.

5. Delayed, as in traffic : STUCK

10. Boast : BRAG. How close were you to a hole-in-one? I hit the stick once.

14. Fe on the periodic table : IRON

15. Latin bears : URSAE

16. Bridle strap : REIN

17. Ditty : SONG

18. Lament over a loss : MOURN. Morneau has not been doing well with the Pirates. He was never the same after the concussion 3 years ago.

19. Light brown : ECRU

23. Cry of surrender : UNCLE

24. Practice for the LSAT, e.g. : PREP

25. Crescent component : ARC

28. Lou Grant portrayer : ED ASNER. Super grid-friendly letter combo, hence his frequent appearance in Xwords.

31. Tar pits locale : LA BREA. Tartar!

33. Cowboys and Indians, e.g. : TEAMS. Nice clue.

36. Lab gel made from seaweed : AGAR

43. Doughnut's middle : HOLE

44. Gets really wet : SOAKS

45. Voices one's view : OPINES

48. 401(k) alternative named for a Delaware sen. : ROTH-IRA

53. Like cool cats : HEP

54. 1986 Peace Nobelist Wiesel : ELIE

57. "The __ Sanction": Eastwood thriller set in the Alps : EIGER. Did you read the news about Eastwood and his wife spouse-swapped with their friends?

62. NYC or London area : SOHO

64. Bygone anesthetic : ETHER

65. Bottom of a shoe : SOLE

66. Be absolutely sure : KNOW

67. April Fool's antic : TRICK

68. "Mila 18" author Leon : URIS. I think Abejo read this book.

69. Jedi guru : YODA

70. '90s White House cat : SOCKS. Clinton's cat.

71. Confined, with "up" : PENT

Down:

1. Shellfish soup : BISQUE. Have some!

2. In the area : AROUND

3. Tennis great Seles : MONICA. Read her biography years ago. Can't remember much though.

4. Beings with halos : ANGELS

5. Kid's math homework : SUMS

6. Pace between a walk and a run : TROT

7. Seize, as power : USURP

8. Concerned person : CARER. Maybe it's mental. I just feel Boomer walks slower than before. He just told me he'll cut Tuesday and Friday morning pot games out of his weekly schedule to focus on his three league games.

9. Pet motel : KENNEL

10. One of TV's Mavericks : BRET. This stumped me.

11. Plug in, as a smartphone : RE-CHARGE

12. What you breathe : AIR

13. African antelope : GNU

21. 7:50, vis-à-vis 8:00 : TEN TO

22. Dean's list no. : GPA

26. Back : REAR

27. Valets park them : CARS

29. Comic strip shriek : EEK

30. Explorer John and comical Charlotte : RAEs

32. Howl at the moon : BAY

34. Letters after L : MNO

35. Trade jabs : SPAR

37. "Whoops" : UH OH

38. "Nah!" : NOPE

39. Haphazard, as workmanship : SLIPSHOD. SLAPDASH has the same meaning, right?

40. Pig holder : PEN

41. Former MGM rival : RKO

42. Daisylike fall bloomer : ASTER. So pretty.

46. Long, thin fish : EEL

47. Rains ice pellets : SLEETS

49. Asks boldly, as for a loan : HITS UP

50. Turn one's back on : IGNORE. Can you ignore her?

51. Land with a rod : REEL IN

52. Slap the cuffs on : ARREST

55. Emcee's speech : INTRO

56. Moral principle : ETHIC

59. Des Moines's state : IOWA. I can picture Husker Gary say "Is Rich OK?"

60. Quick kiss : PECK

61. Slow-moving vessels : ARKs

62. Big __ Country : SKY

63. Sean's mom Yoko : ONO

I have a question for all of you: The blog main post looks unusual when I woke up this morning. The right edge words all spill out. Comments section is fine.

Does the main post look alright on your screen? Please let me know in the Comments section. Thank you.

C.C.

1) Updated at 7:27am: Blogger software had some changes last night: all the right edge words were truncated. The old blog Template did not allow width adjustment, so I had to apply a new one.  It'll take us a few days to get used to it. Thanks for the understanding.

2) Updated at 2:27pm: I've reversed to the old Template. Header button just would not work in the new format. The right edge problem is miraculously gone!