Saturday, Oct 5th, 2013, Mark Bickham

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing Q,V)

Blocks: 32

   This was one of those puzzles where perseverance wins the day.  Many proper names had me stumped for a while, with that creeping feeling that I was gonna give in to Google - BUT - a few Wild-Ass Guesses (WAGs) and some slight changes to my first guesses, and Ta-Da~!!  We had us a grrreat grid spanner today, with a little mis-direction:

35A. At sea : DISCOMBOBULATED - I so wanted "ON THE BOUNDING MAIN", but I needed two more spaces; I like this word; I have not gotten discombobulated on my first UPS driving route - but wait til they move me to a different one for Christmas, when I'm looking for house numbers in the dark....

And some tricky triple 10-letter corners;

5A. Site of many rolls : CRAPS TABLE - bakery? fat farm? oh, got it

16A. One of Sophocles' Theban plays : OEDIPUS REX

57. Showmanship : RAZZMATAZZ - ZZ's~!!!

61. Trooper relative : ISUZU RODEO - not a state trooper; we've had this automotive ruse before....note the License Plate~!

ON WAAG~!

ACROSS:

1. "The Matrix Reloaded" actress Pinkett Smith : JADA - even though I have not seen the movie, there's not too many "Pinkett Smiths" that I know of....

15. Asian sea : ARAL - crossword staple

17. Brought up : BRED - I was stuck on REARED, SIRED, and then tried BORE

18. "Been there" : "I CAN RELATE"

19. Walked to the gangplank, say : SAW OFF - past tense of SEE off - and if you're on the gangplank, I hope it doesn't get SAWN OFF

21. One in a rack, maybe : SKI - um, yeah, one of these can be found in a rack, too....

22. Edible Andean tubers : OCAs

23. Cindy Bear's boyfriend : YOGI - DAH~!  I did not know this

24. It may be thrown in : THE TOWEL

26. Less enthused : SOURER

28. Strauss' "__ Rosenkavalier" : DER

29. Toss up : LOB

31. Duke Frederick's daughter in "As You Like It" : CELIA - OK then

33. Bowl, e.g. : ARENA

40. Nerdy : UNHIP - ah, not WEIRD

41. 1978 LPGA Tour Rookie of the Year : LOPEZ - Nancy Lopez, once married to baseballer Ray Knight

42. Ristorante suffix : INI - RotINI, LinguINI, etc.

43. N.C. State is in it : ACC - the Atlantic Coast Conference - sports

46. Former Prussian province : SAXONY

49. "Give me a break!" : "OH PLEASE~!"

52. Buck back? : AROO - BuckAROO

53. When Annie sings "Maybe" : ACT I - Put in "ACT", and wait; in truth, it can really only be "I" - maybe "V"; ever seen "X"?

54. Skit site, for short : SNL - I put this in, then took it out; my last fill via perps

55. Saturate : IMBRUE

60. "__ girl!" : ATTA

62. Common subject in "The Far Side" : COWS - here's one, and a link to more

63. Bit of bun flavoring : SESAME SEED

64. Granny __ : KNOT - Dah~!  I was stuck on "SMITH"

DOWN:

1. Short blows : JABS

2. Decks out : ARRAYS - I put in ARORNS, not realizing that this is NOT how you spell ADORNS

3. Dismantled Korean automaker : DAEWOO - every now and then I see this logo on cars; some Wiki on the company

4. Older brother of designers Vasco and Rodolfo : ALDO GUCCI - Once I had ALDO ---CI, the V-8 can flew

5. Lock arrangement : COIF - Hair locks; didn't fool me, but I tried UPDO to start

6. Cam button : RECord - on your camcorder

7. Recipe phrase : A DASH - DAR~! an "A" phrase; I was looking for BLEND, SAUTÉ, etc.

8. Edged with shears, as cloth : PINKED - Nailed it - mom is a seamstress, and owns PINKING shears

9. Elf : SPRITE

10. Calendar abbr. : TUEsday - take your pic; seven days, twelve months; or wait for perps; when the "E" showed, that narrowed it down a LOT

11. Comparatively base : AS LOW

12. Place for an allergy alert : BRACELET - ah, and a good one, as well

13. Not to mention : LET ALONE

14. They used to be together : EXES

20. Warm-colored gem : FIRE OPAL

24. Oakland paper, familiarly : TRIBune - a WAG

25. Degree hurdle : ORAL EXAM

27. Titular Wes Craven street : ELM - The TITLE "A Nightmare on Elm Street"; titular had me thinking about "racks" again

30. Harmful : BAD

32. 2011 Huffington Post acquirer : AOL - America OnLine, once part of Time Warner - more here

34. Fayetteville athlete : RAZORBACK - Arkansas

35. SADD focus : DUI - not DWI - not "while intoxicated", but "under the influence"

36. Never : IN NO CASE

37. Noble pets of imperial China : SHIH TZUs - looks funny in the DOWN

38. Admired speaker : BOSE - I thought this might be a mis-direction; not an orator, but a woofer/tweeter; could have been POLK, too

39. __ tree : UP A

44. Brother of Lucrezia Borgia : CESARE

45. Epic poem divisions : CANTOS

47. Antiviral brand : NORTON - Computer virus software

48. Couple's address : YOU TWO - "Oh, you two, get a room~!"

50. Pie not served for dessert : PIZZA - dinner last night

51. Noddy Holder's rock group : SLADE

53. Onassis et al. : ARIs

55. __ Center: former N.J. Nets home : IZOD

56. Word with Side or End : EAST - EAST side, EAST end

58. Ornamental flower : MUM - I thought this might be the answer, but it filled via perps anyway

59. Series finale : ZEE - EX, WYE, ZEE - what a great way to finish~!

Splynter

  For those who are wondering, I did three days of UPS driver training with a supervisor last week, and then this week my first day was TUEsday - and they sent me out, alone, with 162 stops.  Most seasoned guys go out with that many this time of year.  Not a good day.  But the rest of the week the stops came down, and I got better with the names and numbers.  However, there was an 'incident' about 4 stops from the end of today's run; a woman mowing her grass next to the stop sign I was at chipped up a rock, and it shattered the glass of the open door on the right side of the truck - four inches to the right and it could have beaned me; had to drive back to the center with a thousand shards of safety glass falling to the floor.

Friday, October, 4, 2013 David Poole

Theme: The Mother of all cross referential Puzzles. Eh!

Another original  highly entertaining theme from out Canadian Constructor, who was first published in the LAT in 2009. INTERVIEW.  In this Friday frolic, he has words that are implied by the literal position of cross referenced clues, with the set being BEFORE., OVER,  BETWEEN, UNDER, and AFTER. Recognize the extraordinary balance of BEFORE/AFTER  and OVER/UNDER with BETWEEN in the middle making a perfect symmetrical, logical grid. Finally, each of the 4 ten-letter theme fill have the second word encompass the missing word, while the BETWEEN remains in the middle. My first quick pass through, before I started filling in the cross-reference clues with perps, was to notice how many words ended in "O" which had nothing to do with theme but was interesting. Once I sussed the theme from DOG DAY AFTERNOON, the grid filled quickly with many nice 7 letter fill, ASSERTS , CALORIE,  DECODER,  GRIFTER,  HONORED,  LET ME GO,  MOANERS,  MONSTRO,  PERDIDO, TREMOLO (three "O" words!) and some longer ones like MOUNT ARARAT, NOSE FOR NEWS. No "J" but I did get an ADE, so it is all good. Let us get to it.

14A. With 15-Across, verifies in advance, literally : CHECKS (6). 5A. See 14-Across : HAND (4).
Together we get CHECKS BEFOREHAND, as the fill Checks is before the fill Hand.

26A. With 32-Across, warm apparel, literally : WINTER (6). 32A. See 26-Across : COAT (4).
Together we get WINTER OVERCOAT.

37A. See 39-Across : MEAL (4). 39A. With 37- and 40-Across, nosh, literally : EAT (3). 40A. See 39-Across : MEAL (4).
Together we get EAT BETWEEN MEALS. My favorite visual, like the picture puzzles in the Sunday magazine, or the old TV show Concentration.

47A. See 51-Across : WOOD (4). 51. With 47-Across, former "American Idol" winner, literally : CARRIE(6).
Together we get CARRIE UNDERWOOD.

66A. See 67-Across : NOON (4).  67A. With 66-Across, 1975 Best Picture nominee, literally : DOG DAY.(6)
Together we get DOG DAY AFTERNOON, a great movie.

And the 10, 10, 11, 10, 10 fill preserves the symmetry.

Across:

1. Place for una familia : LA CASA. The home in Spanish. Or Italian?

7. Xerox insert: Abbr. : ORIGinal.

11. Advanced math deg., in Canada : MSC. No idea, but Mr. Poole is from the Toronto area, I guess it is Masters of SCience.

16. Suffix with Capri : OTE. A real Friday word, CAPRIOTE has history as well as inspiring our Dunce's cap.

17. Clubs with balls : DISCOS.

18. Yellow butterflies, to Brits : SULPHURS. Another all perp fill, for this BEAUTY. (1:01). I wonder what John Lampkin could teach us about them, or Gareth B.?

20. Two-note keyboard effect : TREMOLO. Take it away JzB.

22. Most fit to serve : ONE-A. Old draft status.

23. "Pinocchio" whale : MONSTRO.

28. Barcelona gold : ORO. More Spanish.

29. Kiosk : STALL

33. Fam. tree member : DESCendant.

35. Old cutter : SNEE. This old time knife, along with SMEE, is classic crosswordese

36. Sign of cold feet? : BRR.

42. Progressive Insurance spokeswoman : FLO. I think people either love or hate her.

43. B.C. law group : RCMP. Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

45. Starr-struck one? : DRUM. A great pun, from Ringo Starr beating the skins. 62D. Stand buy : ADE. Another great pun. By/buy. Simple and my suffix.

48. __ music : SHEET.

50. Fire : AXE. My old friends. LIVE. (5:53).

53. Con artist : GRIFTER.

55. Years in Claudius' reign : ANNI. Latin for Year.

56. Certain cracker : DECODER. No one from Georgia.

59. Guides in the direction of : STEERS TO.

61. Jason of "Harry Potter" films : ISAACS.

65. Fancy marble : TAW. Rules and words of the GAME.

68. People people: Abbr. : EDs. People magazine and its editors.

69. Celebrity chef Burrell : ANNE. Well since we do not have Jeannie anymore, here are some of Anne's RECIPES.

70. Initial stages : ONSETS.

Down:

1. Common HDTV feature : LCD. Liquid Crystal Display.

2. Sushi-grade tuna : AHI.

3. These, in Toulouse : CES. We switch from Spanish to French for the Downs.

4. Bank listing: Abbr. : ACCTS.

5. Culottes kin : SKORTS. Back again.

6. Declares : ASSERTS.

7. Overmuch : OH SO.

8. Fidel's successor : RAUL.

9. Just starting to roll, perhaps : IN LOW.

10. Econ. yardstick : GDP. Gross Domestic Product.

11. Image on the Armenian coat of arms : MOUNT ARARAT. One of a series of Mounts which are in Turkey, Armenia and the Iran border, and the biblical landing point of Noah's Ark.

12. Haight or Ashbury : STREET. The famous San Francisco hippie area which is at the intersection of these two streets.

13. "Dog Whisperer" Millan : CESAR. Never watched an EPISODE.(45:31).

19. Accepted, as a gift card : HONORED. The store, not the donee.

21. Bellyachers : MOANERS. Not my first thought....

23. Like platform shoes in the '60s : MOD. From the British MODS & 9ROCKERS.

24. Utah city on I-15 : OREM.

25. Journalist's asset : NOSE FOR NEWS. Nice long fill.

27. SALT topic : ICBM. Inter-Continental Ballistics Missile.

30. Percolate : LEACH. According to my living encyclopedia, think of a sewer field and leaching it so it percolates.

31. Prisoner's demand : LET ME GO.

34. Pepsi One's one : CALORIE.

38. California wine town near Stockton : LODI. West Coaster, a favorite place?

41. Posh : LUXE. not Deluxe?

44. Ellington standard whose title is Spanish for "lost" : PERDIDO.  The Duke  LIVE. (7:54).

46. Nice view : MER. More French, with the Nice/nice deception.

47. Opening lines? : WANT AD. Job openings.

49. Attaches, in a way : TIES ON.

51. Class : CASTE. Vidwan, you want to educate us on this time-honored tradition?

52. Pelé's first name : EDSON.

54. Some grenades, briefly : FRAGS. Fragments.

57. Bertie Wooster's alma mater : ETON. P.G. Wodehouse's Jeeves novels. The FICTIONAL list.

58. Road crew item : CONE. Reminds me of this SONG.


60. Genetic stuff : RNA.

63. Jazz lover : CAT. Hep cat back in the day.

64. GPS part: Abbr. : SYS. Global Positioning System.

Well my GPS tells me I have reached the end of the line and I must percolate out of here.
Have a great weekend, Lemon out. Thank you David Poole, sorry your Blue Jays ended up with all the old Marlins. They already had sent all the good ones to the Tigers or Dodgers. I hope Canadian Eh! stops by.

Notes from C.C.:

1)  I hope solvers in Southern California will attend this year's Crosswords LA, slated for Saturday, October 26. Please click here for details. The host Elissa Grossman said "this year's event will include crosswords and puzzle games constructed by Liz Gorski, Jeffrey Harris, Aimee Lucido, Todd McClary, Andrea Carla Michaels, Pete Muller, Trip Payne, John Doppler Schiff, Dave Shukan, Marc Spraragen, David Steinberg and Zoe Wheeler (with development managed by Tyler Hinman). It's likely that Merl Reagle will join us for the event finals. All money raised (over costs) is donated to a great non-profit (Reading to Kids)." I think our own Steve will be there. 

2) Kazie and her husband Barry visited their bilingual granddaughter Lea in August. Below are a couple photos. Click here for more. Love seeing her smile.

  With Grandpa.

 With her parents in their garden

Thursday, October 3, 2013 Pancho Harrison

Theme: "Twist of Fate."

17. See 49-Down : O'HENRY SPECIALTY.

27. See 49-Down : DRINK GARNISH.

43. See 49-Down : SIXTIES DANCE.

56. See 49-Down : OLIVER OF FICTION.

And the unifier:
49-Down. Diving rotation, and the clue for four puzzle answers : TWIST.

So we have another "definition" type theme, but with a twist. Typically we would see all four theme answers clued as "Twist." But Pancho hid the clue in the grid, making it that much more difficult to make headway. I must confess, I was stumbling around blind on the first couple theme entries, until perps finally gave me an inkling of what the answers might be.

Across:

1. Like bars in noir films : SMOKY. Like this bar. And the dancin' is smokin', too! 3:20 Very apropos to the theme today...

6. Brouhaha : FLAP.

10. Workout woe : ACHE.

14. Salsa singer Cruz : CELIA. Did not remember her. 4:27 (Did it seem like there were a lot of names in the grid? I counted upwards of 15...)

15. BMW competitor : AUDI.

16. Invalidate : VOID.

20. Platte River settler : OTO.

21. Spoil, with "on" : DOTE.

22. "Cagney & Lacey" Emmy winner : GLESS. Sharon.

23. Scripture section : PASSAGE.

25. "I am just __ boy, though my story's seldom told": "The Boxer" : A POOR. Oldie but goodie. 5:17

31. '60s-'70s "Fearsome Foursome" NFL team : L.A. RAMS. Moved to St. Louis in 1994.

34. Reported for the first time : NEW.

35. Payable now : DUE.

36. Is after : SEEKS.

37. Oyster's spot : BED.

38. Peak in a Trevanian title : EIGER. Trevanian is the pen name of Rodney William Whitaker, who wrote "The Eiger Sanction." It was made into a film in 1975, directed by Clint Eastwood.

40. Capri crowd? : TRE. "Due's company, tre's a crowd..." in Italy.

41. "The Birdcage" wrap : BOA. Hilarious movie. Too many great scenes to link.

42. Emerges from the wings : ENTERS. Comes on stage.

47. Cosmetician Elizabeth : ARDEN. Nee Florence Nightingale Graham.

48. Governor who opened the Erie Canal : CLINTON. DeWitt, not Bill.

52. Jazz pianist Ahmad __ : JAMAL. Could not remember him, either. 2:07

54. Moscow news acronym : ITAR. Information Telegraph Agency of Russia.  Usually seen as ITAR-TASS.

55. Court : WOO.

60. 1-Down holder : CONE. And 1-Down. Ice cream serving : SCOOP.

61. Exxon forerunner : ESSO.

62. Hosiery thread : LISLE. Don't ask me how I knew this.

63. Bottom of the sea? : KEEL. This one threw me off, but I recovered enough to continue...

64. Hardly a sophisticate : BOOR.

65. Really worry : EAT AT.

Down:

2. Conductor Zubin : MEHTA. Fortunately, I did know him! 3:31

3. Spreads on the table : OLEOS.

4. Flesh and blood : KIN.

5. Sail supports : YARDARMS.

6. Get together : FASTEN.

7. Rapper __ Fiasco : LUPE. Another total unknown. 3:54

8. Gator chaser? : ADE.

9. Paparazzo's prize, briefly : PIC.

10. Land of Arthurian legend : AVALON.

11. "Kubla Khan" poet : COLERIDGE.

12. Pop radio fodder : HITS.

13. "Grand" ice cream brand : EDYS. But only in the eastern US. In the west, it is Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream.

18. Hindu mystics : YOGIS.

19. Operatic prince : IGOR. Aria from the opera "Prince Igor" by Borodin. 8:02

24. Mont. neighbor : S. DAK. South Dakota.  But Montana was just in New England last week!

25. Elderly : AGED.

26. Claw holder : PAW.

28. Massage : KNEAD.

29. Plaintiff : SUER. I never want to be the suee (pig...pig...pig.)

30. Bierce defines it as "His" : HERS. From "The Devil's Dictionary."

31. WWII carriers : LSTs. Landing Ship, Tank (s).

32. Gaseous: Pref. : AERI.

33. Go over more carefully : REEXAMINE.

37. Deck department supervisor, briefly : BOS'N. Short for "boatswain."

38. Surround : ENCIRCLE.

39. Santa Monica-to-Jacksonville hwy. : I-TEN. The main interstate in the southern US.

41. Scripps competition : BEE. The winning word in 2013 was "knaidel." It is a dumpling, and comes from the Yiddish "kneydl."

42. Zhou __ : ENLAI. C.C. explained to me the derivation of this name a while ago. "Chow" in Cantonese is the same as "Zhou" in Mandarin Chinese. So Zhou Enlai = Chow Enlai.

44. Retirees often do it : TRAVEL.

45. Between jobs : IDLE.

46. Represent officially : ACT FOR.

50. Alley Oop's girl : OOOLA. I just kept adding "O"s until the answer was full...

51. Large jazz combo : NONET.

52. Prom king, often : JOCK.

53. Sunburn soother : ALOE.

54. In that case : IF SO.

57. Lee follower : REB. Civil war rebels.

58. Granada bear : OSO. Spanish.

59. __ Maria: liqueur : TIA. Could also have been clued as "Granada aunt."

That's all I have for this week. See you next time!

Marti

Wednesday, October 2nd 2013 Gareth Bain

Theme: A Plus. Adding "A" to the second word in each of the theme answers reveals, in order, a star ranking, a house design, a dress design and a baseball player.

17A. *Shopper's aid : GROCERY LIST. I confidently put CART in first. Less confidently replaced it with LINE shortly after. I got there in the end. A- list.

64A. *Stop-action film technique : FREEZE FRAME.  This famous example at the end of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". A-frame.

11D. *Phone that can't be tapped : SECURE LINE. Is there such a thing? I think the only secure line nowadays would be a string between two tin cans. A-line.

29D. *Angler's equipment : FISHING ROD. You'll hope you have a secure line when you have a fish on. A-Rod.

KEEP CLAM AND FISH ON

The hint came in the middle:

39A. In the future, or, when spoken with a long starting vowel, what the last word of the answers to starred clues can have : AHEAD

Top 'o the morning to you all. Steve here with a really nice puzzle from Gareth. A fun theme and a lot of sparkly fill. The final theme entry literally made me laugh out loud with "A-Rod". (C.C. - is Alex Rodriguez technically still with the Yankees?) (From C.C.: Indeed. Guess who has the most career grand slams in MLB history?)
 
Across:

1. Cried one's eyes out : WEPT

5. Facial expression : VISAGE. Here are a few:

11. Hang down : SAG

14. Pre-migraine phenomenon, for some : AURA

15. Hot wings did him in : ICARUS. Loved this clue. One peculiar fact is that the Greek Air Force Academy is named after Icarus. I'd have thought future pilots might like to distance themselves from that kind of hubris.

16. It may need a boost : EGO

19. Barracks bed : COT

20. Scattering seed : SOWING

21. Raid the fridge : EAT

22. Songwriter Bacharach : BURT. One of the most well-known Bacharat-David compositions featured in the movie at the top of the blog.

23. Small combo : TRIO

25. Katana-wielding warrior : SAMURAI

27. Barking sound : ARF. One of the neighborhood dogs was doing a lot of this last night. I gave up trying to sleep through it and made an early start to my day.

30. Responsibility : ONUS

32. Choice in a booth : VOTE

33. Evening for trivia buffs : QUIZ NIGHT. I misread this as "movie buffs" somehow, and so FILM NIGHT took a little bit of the wind out of my sails until I checked back.

36. Disney lioness : NALA

38. "That __ last year!" : IS SO. A funny exchange I heard between two friends was "Where can I get a fanny pack?" "1985".

41. 1492 vessel : NINA. Along with the Pinto and the Santa Maria these comprised Christopher Columbus's exploration fleet.

43. Hoodlum : THUG

45. Run-down urban buildings : TENEMENTS

47. HST part, say: Abbr. : INIT.

49. Ex-Yankee Martinez : TINO. There are a quite a few ex-Yankees coming down the pike - Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettite; Derek Jeter to follow shortly as well as the aforementioned A-Rod. C.C. must be glum.

50. "A mouse!" : EEK

51. Takes care of : HANDLES

54. Islands in the stream : AITS. There are a couple in the Thames in London, but they are spelt EYOTS.

56. Meringue needs : EGGS

57. Alts. : HTS. I'd say an airplane has an altitude, and a mountain has a height. Hopefully the former is more than the latter.

59. Homemade pistol : ZIP GUN

63. Bygone space station : MIR

66. Rock gp. known for its symphonic sound : ELO, or the Electric Light Orchestra if you're being properly formal when you introduce them to your grandmother. Here's a bouncy sample of their oeuvre.

67. Maker of Light & Fit yogurt : DANNON

68. Jungfrau's range : ALPS. Not Drei Oktaven?

69. Homer's nice neighbor : NED. Okely-Dokely!

70. Battery parts : ANODES

71. Push to the limit : TEST

Down:

1. Clowns : WAGS

2. Mark replacement : EURO. Both Finland and Germany replaced their Marks with the Euro.

3. Figurehead spot : PROW

4. Silently understood : TACIT

5. Birth state of four of the first five American presidents : VIRGINIA. Odd man out was John Adams, born in Quincy, MA

6. More than unfriendly : ICY

7. Word after fire or bake : SALE

8. Met program details : ARIAS. A reference to the New York Metropolitan Opera. Let's have a little "Women are Fickle" for this Wednesday morning.

9. Austrian painter Klimt : GUSTAV. Crosses - I need to "brush" up on my Austrian artists.

10. Superlative suffix : -EST

12. Ancient Greek market : AGORA

13. Mob boss John : GOTTI

18. Subject of the 2003 TV film "The Crooked E" : ENRON

22. Zippo filler : BUTANE. Minor nit - the classic Zippo uses lighter fluid which is distilled cosmetic-grade petroleum, not butane which is used in gas lighters.

24. Should, with "to" : OUGHT

26. Work-wk. start : MON

27. Pollution meas. : A.Q.I. We pay attention to the Air Quality Index here in Southern Cal.

28. Tin Woodman's trouble : RUST

31. Fitted bedding item : SHEET

34. "Gadzooks!" : ZOUNDS. Great Clue/Answer combo

35. Patty Hearst, in the SLA : TANIA

37. Kitty builder : ANTE. Throw a couple of chips into the kitty to get the action going in a poker game.

40. Inhabitants : DENIZENS

42. Pose : ASK

44. Miracle Mets manager Hodges : GIL. The New York Mets won the World Series in 1969 - it was their first ever winning season, and they beat one of the best Baltimore Orioles squads of all time to take home the trophy and earn the nickname.

46. Recurring theme : MOTIF

48. Mideast capital : TEHRAN

51. Hunks : HE-MEN. No performance-enhancing supplements here, of course:

52. Like gymnasts : AGILE. I tried LITHE first. That didn't last too long either. Quite a few missteps for me today.

53. Shorthand expert : STENO

55. Fat-shunning fellow : SPRAT. His wife must have been quite a sight considering fat was all she ate.

58. Email button : SEND. Sometimes shortly followed by "Noooooo ....". Egret - when you regret sending an email?

60. Storm wind : GALE

61. Calls the game : UMPS. Umpires in the verb, not the noun, sense here.

62. Brooding place : NEST

64. Govt. Rx watchdog : F.D.A. Our Federal Drug Administration.

65. Actress Caldwell : ZOE. Not familiar with this thespian.

That's all from me today. Have a great Wednesday!

Steve

Tuesday, October 1, 2013 C.C. Burnikel and D. Scott Nichols

Theme: hold the phone - A homophone begins each of the theme entries.

17A. Most populous city in South Dakota : SIOUX FALLS

19A. Second-in-command in the kitchen : SOUS CHEF

36A. Michigan or Ontario city on the same border river : SAULT STE. MARIE

57A. Canal passage connecting Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes : SOO LOCKS

59A. "W is for Wasted" mystery author : SUE GRAFTON (Note from C.C.: Rich updated this clue. Our original is: Author of "V" Is for Vengeance. )

Rabbit, rabbit. Argyle here with one of the best puzzles of all year. (What bias?) There are other eight letter entries beside the two theme entries but they are in the vertical columns. Rich changed some clues but I'm unclear if it was to make it harder or easier. It may be so it fits better with following puzzles.

Across:

1. 2012 Ben Affleck political thriller : "ARGO"

5. Organizes by date, say : SORTS

10. Is able to : CAN

13. Former Defense secretary Panetta : LEON

14. Came into play : AROSE

15. "Mission: Impossible" theme composer Schifrin : LALO

16. Novelist Tyler : ANNE. Bio LINK (born in Minnesota)

21. Demean : ABASE

22. Baby goat : KID

23. Legged it : RAN

24. Mercedes rival : BMW

26. Bus. get-together : MTG. Business meeting.

27. Sharp ridge : ARÊTE

29. Adman's connection : TIE IN. Like McDonald toys and the latest kid's movie.

31. Digital camera battery, often : AAA

32. Legal thing : RES

34. Hoops gp. : NBA. (National Basketball Association)

35. Superficially cultured : ARTY

40. Unit of cotton : BALE

41. Carry a balance : OWE

42. Yeats' land: Abbr. : IRE. William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet.

43. Land parcel : LOT

44. Continental border range : URALS

46. Last Supper query : "IS IT I?"

50. Unbarred, to a bard : OPE

51. Fall mo. : SEP.

52. Marlins' div. : NL-E. 25D. Home of baseball's Marlins : MIAMI

54. ISP option : MSN. Internet service provider / The Microsoft Network; stylized as MSN

55. Indian dresses : SARIs

62. Margin jotting : NOTE

63. Gymnast Korbut : OLGA

64. Part of BYOB : BOOZE. (or bottle or beverage or ???)

65. Price : COST

66. Low in the lea : [MOO!]. Verb low.

67. Betsy Ross, famously : SEWER. This clue was changed from 'Waste water pipe' to change the 'su' sound to 'so'.

68. Lodge group : ELKS

Down:

1. "North to the Future" state : ALASKA. State motto adopted in 1967.

2. Pierre-Auguste of impressionism : RENOIR

'Claude Monet Painting in his Garden at Argenteuil' by Renoir

3. Take it all off : GO NUDE. The way Pierre-Auguste liked many of his models.

4. Small bills : ONEs

5. Barack's younger daughter : SASHA

6. "Murder on the __ Express" : ORIENT

7. Ski rack site : ROOF

8. Lone Star State sch. : TSU. (Texas Southern University)( How many jumped on TCU?)

9. Gender : SEX

10. Ristorante squid : CALAMARI

11. "Good Hands" company : ALLSTATE

12. Bouquet of flowers : NOSEGAY

15. Chem class requirement : LAB

18. Baby deer : FAWN

20. Fishing basket : CREEL

24. Neuwirth of "Cheers" : BEBE

28. "You're right" : "TRUE"

30. Very big maker of very little chips : INTEL

33. Mall unit : STORE

35. "Iliad" war god : ARES

36. Home to millions of Brazilians : SAO PAULO

37. Half a superhero's identity : ALTER EGO

38. Switch : SWAP

39. Animated mermaid : ARIEL. Spawned a plethora of "tie-ins".

40. Open, as a bud : BLOSSOM

44. KGB country : USSR

45. Take a nap : SNOOZE

47. "No worries, man" : "I'M COOL"

48. "Shame, shame!" : "TSK! TSK!"

49. Detailed map windows : INSETs

53. Recluse : LONER

56. Franchised supermarket brand : IGA. (Independent Grocers Alliance)

57. Put away : STOW

58. Almost never : ONCE

60. Sit-up targets : ABs

61. Opponent : FOE

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

D. Scott Nichols is Argyle's real name. I got the theme idea from reading Argyle's 48-Across comment here. We had fun making this puzzle and hope you enjoyed our work.

Argyle the Great Scott, 2011

Monday, September 30, 2013 David W. Cromer

Theme: After 'Three's a Crowd' - The four longest answers begin with a synonym for no more room.

20A. Exhortation to the engine room : FULL SPEED AHEAD

25A. Had some wallop : PACKED A PUNCH

49A. Self-important sort : STUFFED SHIRT

58A. Interviewer's booby trap : LOADED QUESTION

Argyle here. Our constructor has many LAT puzzles though none lately. The rather dated TV reference may mean this puzzle has been in the queue for some time. It shares several entries with some we've seen recently. A smooth start to the week.

Across:

1. Cpls.' superiors : SGTs

5. EMT's skill : CPR

8. "Cultured" gem : PEARL. (not, strictly speaking, a gemstone)

13. Spy novelist Ambler : ERIC. I haven't read him but he looks like a spy.

14. Bread buy : LOAF

16. Exhorts : URGES

17. __ IRA : ROTH

18. SeaWorld attraction : ORCA. The killer whale.

19. Fathered : SIRED

23. Prepare, as tea : STEEP

24. Down Under runner : EMU. The fugitives refuse to pull over.

33. Dreamer's acronym : REM. (rapid eye movement)

36. House division : ROOM

37. Loud cry : SHOUT

38. Inventor's starting point : IDEA

40. Princess's headgear : TIARA

43. Worry : FRET

44. Ford of the '70s : PINTO

46. Festive affair : GALA

48. Cause of Cleopatra's undoing : ASP

53. Brother in a monastery : FRA

54. Phi Beta __ : KAPPA

64. Kind of jacket named for an Indian leader : NEHRU. And made popular by these boys.

65. Ambiance : AURA

66. Way to get out : EXIT

67. Send payment : REMIT

68. Give some lip to : SASS

69. Shine partner : RISE. Rise and shine.

70. Test for purity, as gold : ASSAY

71. Doris who sang "Que Sera, Sera" : DAY

72. Burpee product : SEED

Down:

1. Feudal workers : SERFS

2. Tile installer's need : GROUT

3. Information on a book's spine : TITLE

4. Carry with effort : SCHLEP

5. Hoofbeat : CLOP

6. Minute skin opening : PORE

7. Event at a track : RACE

8. Exercises done in a prone position : PUSH-UPS. Somebody else can post a picture of the other push-ups.

9. Southernmost Great Lake : ERIE

10. Indian tourist city : AGRA. Home to the Taj Mahal.

11. Clarinetist's need : REED. Licorice stick need. (Remember licorice stick in a pit?)

12. Drug "dropped" in the '60s : LSD

15. Lost luster : FADED

21. Train in a ring : SPAR

22. Dr.'s group : AMA

26. Simple bed : COT

27. Colorful Japanese carp : KOI. Koi ponds were the rage for a while.

28. Some Kindle reading, briefly : eMAGs

29. TV dial letters : UHF. Back in the day. Very high frequency (VHF) and ultra-high frequency (UHF)

30. Romance writer Roberts : NORA. Guilty pleasure? BOOKS

31. Sticks by the pool table : CUEs

32. Web address letters : HTTP. (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)

33. Tears : RIPS

34. Work on a column, say : EDIT

35. Restaurant host's handout : MENU

39. Justice Dept. enforcers : ATF. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)

41. Part of a cheerleader's chant : "RAH!"

42. Baba of folklore : ALI

45. Taxi's "I'm not working now" sign : [OFF DUTY]

47. Ships like Noah's : ARKS

50. Prior to, in poems : ERE

51. Mamas' mates : DADAs. (baby talk)

52. Spuds : TATERS

55. Impish fairy : PIXIE

56. Model's asset : POISE

57. Tossed a chip in the pot : ANTED

58. Popular jeans : LEE'S

59. Units of resistance : OHMs

60. Soprano's chance to shine : ARIA

61. Campus area : QUAD. The open quadrangle green often formed by the dormitories.

62. __ Minor: constellation : URSA. The Lesser Bear or the Little Dipper.

63. "No problem" : "EASY"

64. Second Amendment backer: Abbr. : NRA. (National Rifle Association)

Argyle

Sunday September 29, 2013 Julian Lim

Theme: "Particle Mechanics" - ION is transferred from one theme entry to its exact symmetrical partner in the grid. Here are the four pairs:

23A. Arsonist's pursuit? : BURNING QUEST(ION).  I'm copying Lemonade's strike-through.

122A. 17th-century anti-witch application? : SALEM'S LOT(ION). So the ION from 23A is moved to 122A.

30A. Amer. armed forces traitor? : US MILITARY RAT(ION). OK, you thought of Chelsea Manning, didn't you? Rat or whistleblower?

107A. Fighting unit in the barnyard wars? : CHICKEN LEG(ION). ION from above is moved here.

57A. Commuters per hour, e. g.? : RAILWAY STAT(ION)

 

81A. Tryout for a CPA? : IRS AUDIT(ION) - Audit and Audition have the same root, no?

16D. Failure in treaty talks? : PEACEKEEPING MISS(ION)

39D. Behind-the-scenes romance? : BACKSTAGE PASS(ION)

Reveal entry right in the middle of the grid:

69A. Chemical reaction phenomenon, and what occurs in four symmetrical pairs of long answers in this puzzle : ION TRANSFER

Fantastic theme & execution. Heavy themage, of course, it's Julian Lim. Total 115 theme squares. The minimum for LAT Sunday is 84.

The two black squares (to the right of  square 15 & left of square 129) might be added later. I think Julian was going for stacked 8's in the upper right and lower left. That's his signature. 

Was surprised to see SEN (105A. Cong. member) & SENATE (131A. Filibuster site) in one grid. Rich is normally very strict with word dupe, and rightly so. I know some of you will propose an easy SET change, but it dupes TEA SET in 75A.

Across:

1. Like some windows : ARCHED. Good start for me.

7. All-nighter cause : FINAL

12. Thousandth of a meg : ONE-K. Easy guess. 1024 KiloBytes = 1 MegaByte. TTP's domain.

16. Holy Communion receptacle : PYX. New word to me and it crosses the tough X at XLI (18D. First year of Claudius' reign).

19. In person : BODILY

20. When the plot thickens, often : ACT II. Did not come to me easily.

21. Ate : HAD A MEAL

25. TV spin-off set in Florida : CSI: MIAMI

26. "Whatever you say, honey" : YES DEAR. Husker Gary's wise philosophy. Congrats on your hole-in-one!

27. Legendary Dolphins coach : SHULA (Don). This is sweet.

29. Math subj. with integrals : CALC

34. For fear that : LEST

37. Caps Lock neighbor : TAB. You peeked!

40. Public pair : ITEM

41. High seas quaff : GROG

42. Actor, usually : FAKER. One letter too long for the LIAR I had in mind.

43. Company with a stork in its logo : VLASIC. Love this word.

46. AWOL hunters : MPs

48. Activist Bonner who married Sakharov : YELENA. Total stranger. Her husband too.

50. AQI monitor : EPA. Air Quality Index. 

51. Like he-men : MACHO

52. Church closings : AMENs

54. "The Office" network : NBC

55. Truncation abbr. : ETC. I felt stupid not nailing this one.

56. Invite across the threshold : ASK IN

61. Moshing site : PIT

62. Word on the street, maybe : SLANG. Great clue.

64. Ample, in verse : ENOW

65. Early Alaskan : ESKIMO

67. Part of IOC: Abbr. : INTL

74. Cabinet dept. formed under Carter : ENER. Boomer mentioned huge inflation under Carter, or maybe Ford. 

75. Dollhouse accessory : TEA SET

77. Jazzy improvisation : SCAT

78. Whitman's "__ the Body Electric" : I SING

80. Soak, in British dialect : SOG. Guilty of using this word myself.

86. Mell Lazarus comic strip : MOMMA. Stumped me last time.

89. Big heart : ACE

90. Hägar creator Browne : DIK

91. Shoreline changers : TIDES

92. "__ Irish Rose" : ABIE'S

93. Shear (off) : LOP

94. Green wheels : ECO-CAR

98. Cancels (out) : X'ES

99. Isn't fictional : EXISTS. Look, still hot from Paris Fashion Week. Trash bag style purse. PK  & Creature will be shaking their head. More here.

100. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR

102. Yemen's capital : SANA

103. __ opportune moment : AT AN

106. Gas brand born in 1926 : ESSO. Nice trivia.

112. Big draw : STAR

114. Words students fear : SEE ME

115. Some arm candy : ESCORTS. The plural form of "Arm candy" is still "Arm candy"?

119. Plant animals? : CHIA PETS. & 125. "The Tempest" sorcerer : PROSPERO. I floundered in this area.

126. White house? : IGLOO. Nailed it.

127. Expatriate : EMIGRE

128. "You eediot!" speaker of cartoons : REN

129. Body suit? : SKIN. Ha ha.

130. '90s-'00s heartthrob band : 'N SYNC. Loved "It's Gonna Be Me".

Down:

1. "Dear __" : ABBY. No JOHN or SIRS dilemma today. 26A too easy.

2. Man without morals : ROUE

3. Writable storage media, for short : CD-Rs. Compact Disc-Recordable.

4. Veda devotee : HINDU

5. Nobelist Wiesel et al. : ELIEs

6. Peppy : DYNAMIC

7. Web help source : FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

8. Hosp. area : ICU

9. Desert trial : N TEST

10. Tyler of "The Talk" : AISHA. I remember a girl named Aisha with the Food Network or some other food channel.

11. Arrangement of church services : LITURGY

12. Neil Sedaka hit : OH CAROL. For Carole King. Here is a song for LaLaLinda & our other Linda. You'll hear Linda at 1 minute mark. That singer is Jacky Cheung, an extremely popular singer in Hong Kong.

13. "If I Ruled the World" rapper : NAS

14. King's order : EDICT

15. __ Sutra : KAMA

17. Holiday veggie : YAM

22. Jovovich of "Resident Evil" films : MILLA. She was born in Russia, I think. The kind Splynter loves. How can their skin be so flawless?

24. Sand in food, say : GRIT

28. Deceptive-sounding instrument? : LYRE. Liar.

31. Logic proposition : LEMMA. Another new word to me.

32. JFK Library architect : I.M. PEI. Gimme!

33. Sales rep : AGENT

35. Seventh fencing position : SEPTIME. Another new word. Looks like "Ninth fencing position" to me.

36. Field vehicle : TRACTOR

37. "True Blood" rating : TV MA

38. "Sorry to say ..." : ALAS

42. Judge's concerns : FACTS

44. Con game decoys : SHILLS

45. Inner Hebrides isle : IONA

47. NBC comedy staple : SNL

49. Celts, e.g. : NBAers

52. Cornstarch brand : ARGO

53. Fail to chill : SWEAT IT. Thanks for the crossings.

58. "Run" author Patchett : ANN. We've seen her before.

59. Rocky greetings : YOs

60. Personal ad abbr. : SWF (Single White Female). Did you see the movie also?

63. Kind of acid used in fertilizers : NITRIC

66. "Star Wars" mentor Obi-Wan __ : KENOBI

67. "No way that's true!" : IT'S A LIE

68. Recent rightists : NEO-CONS

70. Fed. hush-hush group : NSA

71. Ft. Worth school : TCU

72. "Sweet!" : RAD

73. One, in Oldenburg : EINS

76. Down source : EIDER

79. Big name in theaters? : IMAX

82. Tiny bit : SKOSH. Rooted in Japanese word "sukoshi", meaning "a tiny bit".

83. B.O. purchases : TIX

84. Paragon : IDEAL

85. Left on Spanish maps? : OESTE. West.

87. Pass (out) : METE

88. Professional gp. : ASSN

95. "Rolling along" item in an Army song : CAISSON. "... As the caissons go rolling along..". I faintly recall Spitzboov explained this to me before. He should be back to us as soon as his wife Betty leaves the hospital, next Tuesday the earliest.

96. Clear conclusion? : ANCE. Clearance.

97. Collects lots of : RAKES IN

99. Exiles, perhaps : ENISLES. Only in crosswords.

101. Tiny bits : IOTAs

104. Quite a while : AGES

107. Small stream : CREEK

108. Browser's reading, briefly : EMAGs. Does the "Browser" here refer to Firefox/ Internet Explore the browser or me? I browse, hence I'm a browser too.

109. Poet Sachs : NELLY.  Poet from her today, Yellowrocks?

110. Carol opening : O COME

111. Running an errand, say : NOT IN

113. iPhone programs : APPS. Android too. The genius D-Otto solved a big problem for us last week.

116. Baltic capital : RIGA

117. Lawsuit basis : TORT

118. Old-time knife : SNEE

119. Response to an arrest, initially : CPR. Of course I was thinking of cop arrests.

120. Charles V's domain: Abbr. : HRE

121. Prefix with -pod : TRI

123. Millions of lifetimes : EON

124. Casual shoe : MOC

C.C.