Monday, July 21, 2014 Lila Cherry

Theme: B?ND - The last part of the entries is a vowel progression.

17A. Illegally imported goods : CONTRABAND

26A. Squatting exercise : KNEE BEND

37A. Enchant : SPELLBIND

53A. Wanderer : VAGABOND

62A. Tuxedo accessory : CUMMERBUND

Argyle here. Three of the four entries are single words but knee bend isn't. Lila (Really Rich) should know better. Pshaw! What do I want from a Monday other than a doable puzzle. OK, I'll keep my nits to myself.

Across:

1. Put some pizazz in : PEP UP

6. Florida resort, familiarly : BOCA

10. __ America Competition : MISS

14. Speedy Amtrak train : ACELA

15. The Bard's river : AVON

16. "A time to cast away stones" Bible bk. : ECCL. (Ecclesiastes)

19. "Star Wars" princess : LEIA

20. Come up : ARISE

21. Dada artist Jean : ARP

23. Director Affleck : BEN

24. Mercedes sedan category : E CLASS

28. Illuminated : LIT

29. Author Victor : HUGO. French writer / "Les Misérables"

31. Hard to find : SCARCE

32. BLT spread : MAYO

34. Marshy wasteland : MOOR

36. Rage : ANGER

40. 2014 French Open winner Rafael : NADAL. Rafael Nadal.

43. Opposite of pass : FAIL

44. Fraternal gp. with an antlered animal in its logo : BPOE. (Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks)

48. Brought to mind : EVOKED

50. Cruise stop : ISLE

52. Delta rival: Abbr. : UAL. (United Airlines)

55. Irritable : SNARKY

57. Braz. neighbor : ARG. Brazil / Argentina

58. WWII mil. zone : ETO. (European Theater of Operations)

59. Cobbler's supply : HEELS

60. Christian of fashion : DIOR

66. What Clearasil treats : ACNE

67. Norway's capital : OSLO

68. Davis of "Thelma & Louise" : GEENA

69. Requirement : NEED

70. Situation to be cleaned up : MESS

71. Okays : YESes

Down:

1. Calif.'s ocean : PAC. Pacific.

2. Author Umberto : ECO

3. Football ref's call : PENALTY

4. Extreme : ULTRA

5. County counterpart in Louisiana : PARISH

 

6. Slugger Ruth : BABE

7. Eggs in a clinic : OVA

8. Sir Arthur __ Doyle : CONAN. Sherlock's creator.

9. Guitarist Segovia : ANDRES

10. Diner owner on "Alice" : MEL

11. Titanic sinker : ICEBERG

12. Chemistry or physics : SCIENCE

13. Libel's spoken equivalent : SLANDER. "I get slandered, libeled. I hear words I never heard in the Bible..."

18. Take for granted : ASSUME

22. Nut in a pie : PECAN

24. Shade tree : ELM or 46D. Shade tree : OAK

25. Covert govt. group : CIA. I better not spell it out; don't want no trouble.

26. Drink brand with a pitcher for a mascot : KOOL-AID

27. Quaint weekend getaway, briefly : B AND B. (Bed & Breakfast)

30. 18-hole outing : GOLF

33. Honshu port : OSAKA

35. Score-producing MLB stats : RBIs

38. Academy frosh : PLEBE

39. "Haven't made up my mind yet" : "I'LL SEE"

40. Reno resident : NEVADAN

41. Greed : AVARICE

42. Danged : DOGGONE. (it)

45. Chases after : PURSUES

47. Tarzan portrayer Ron : ELY

49. __ bubble: Internet stock phenomenon : DOT COM

51. Get-up-and-go : ENERGY

54. Hopeless : NO USE

56. "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" playwright Edward : ALBEE

59. Managed care gps. : HMOs

61. Chianti color : RED

63. D.C. United's org. : MLS. (Major League Soccer)

64. Opposite of SSW : NNE

65. Opponents of defense lawyers: Abbr. : DAs. (District Attorney)

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here is a picture from Dylan's 1-year-old birthday party yesterday. Click here, you'll see that hats are an important part of their birthday celebrations.

Front Row (Left to Right: Grady (turning 4 this coming Thursday) & his dad Derek; Truman (Grady's big brother) & mom Corie; Dylan and mom Shelby; Cameron (Dylan's big brother) and dad Joe, who is a Scot.

Back Row: Proud grandparents JD & Bob.

Sunday July 20, 2014 Fred Piscop

Theme:  "Frat Pack" - Greek letters span across each theme entry.

 23A. *Hit that just clears the infield : BLOOP SINGLE

 25A. *Recyclable metal : SCRAP IRON. Quite a few candidates to embed PI, PSI, RHO, MU, ETA & NU.

 42A. *Clara, to Tabitha, on "Bewitched" : GREAT AUNT. The TAU is limited.

 55A. *Legislation of 2001 : PATRIOT ACT. Very very limited choices for this one and 86A, given the letter length.

 76A. *Hippo : RIVER HORSE

 86A. *Half a team's schedule : HOME GAMES

 107A. *Typical Western : SHOOT 'EM UP

 37D. *Delayed reaction : DOUBLE TAKE

 45D. *Run into : HAPPEN UPON

Reveal entry:

109A. One spans two words in each answer to a starred clue : GREEK LETTER

I'm so glad there's a reveal entry. I would not have guessed the gimmick with the "Frat Party" title alone, unless those Greek letters are circled. But Rich can't use circles on Sundays due to technical issues.

Fred Piscop is a veteran constructor and his puzzles are always super smooth and clean. I love his bio at Stan's Newsday:"...  When he’s not puzzling, he plays keyboards in a rock band, samples microbrews, and collects spelling errors in comic strips."

Fred Piscop, David Kahn, Liz Gorsk, ACPT 2011

 Across:     

1. Rad relative : NEATO

6. Take second : PLACE. Win, Place & Show.

11. Downloaded 'zine : EMAG

15. Most minigolf pars : TWOS

19. "Good Eats" host Brown : ALTON. Goofy guy. We also have 28. "Order up!" shouter : COOK

20. Party hearty : REVEL. Only heard of "Party hardy".

21. Matching __ : PAIR

22. Smooth-talking : OILY

27. City on I-5 : SANTA ANA. Know the city, not I-5 though.

30. Pequod co-owner : PELEG. "Moby-Dick".

31. Plunk (down) : PUT.  And 44. Stopped operating, with "down" : SHUT

32. It's a fact : DATUM. So is 5-letter TRUTH.

34. Inferior, in slang : CHEESY

35. eBay users, at times : BIDDERS

39. Car loan figs. : APRs. Annual Percentage Rate.

40. Ell or tee : JOINT

41. Romantic affair : AMOUR

48. Source of fries : SPUD. This is how I cook potatoes. Ignore the Szechuan peppercorn. Too hot.

49. Elisabeth of "Gracie" : SHUE

51. Silas Marner, e.g. : MISER

53. Words on an initial reference volume : A TO (A to Z, e.g.)

54. Johnny __ : REB

59. Quaker in the forest : ASPEN

61. Players in a July contest : ALL-STARS. I mentioned that the ticket was too high for me. The price for Super Bowl 2018 is at least twice ridiculous.

64. Radium co-discoverer : CURIE

65. Curt : SNIPPY

66. Silk-stocking : ELITE

67. Many mottoes are written in it : LATIN. MN has a French motto: L'Étoile du Nord.

68. Diagonal line, on some score sheets : SPARE. Bowling.

69. On key : IN TUNE

71. Toaster opening : HERE'S

72. Gin cocktails : MARTINIS. Hey, Bond again, Splynter!

75. Mary __: ill-fated ship : DEARE

78. Prefix with sex : UNI

79. Cartoon shriek : EEK

80. One of Mexico's 31 : STATE. Estado.

82. Like Solomon : WISE

83. Top : APEX

84. Calculus calculation : AREA

90. Skip the festivities, in a way : ELOPE

91. "King of the Bullwhip" star : LARUE. Lash LaRue.

93. Logician Turing : ALAN. Got a royal pardon last year.

94. Brings up : PARENTS

96. Author Allende : ISABEL. She does not like being compared to Gabriel García Márquez.

98. Loses crispness : WILTS

99. Baseball's Steroid __ : ERA.  And 40D. Steroids, slangily : JUICE. Can't stand this guy.

100. Successor to Bess : MAMIE

101. Bris, e.g. : RITE

102. Put forward again, as a claim : RE-ASSERT

112. Back : HIND

113. Used up : GONE

114. Boston College athlete : EAGLE. Gimme for Marti/Barry G/Dudley.

115. Name meaning "born again" : RENEE. Re-Nee.

116. Sport scored electronically : EPEE. Look, new clue for EPEE.

117. Sees : GETS

118. Put up with : STOOD

119. Marshy lowland : SWALE

   

Down:

1. Collars : NABS

2. Raines of old movies : ELLA. Not familiar with this lady.

3. Zillions : A TON. And 92. Not much : A BIT

4. Traffic sound : TOOT

5. "Well, it looked good __" : ON PAPER

6. Dusting may reveal them : PRINTS. Nice clue.

7. Olin of "Chocolat" : LENA

8. ERA part: Abbr. : AVG

9. "Snow White" frame : CEL

10. Sophocles tragedy : ELECTRA. Sister of  Orestes.

11. Derby town : EPSOM

12. Vehicle brand with a bulldog in its logo : MACK

 

13. Pump output : AIR

14. Golf club shaft material : GRAPHITE

15. Rest stop features : TOILETS

16. What spies may wear : WIRES

17. Curriculum suffix : OLOGY

18. One-word def. : SYN. Oh, I see, like how dictionary defines "Sexy" as "Glamorous".

24. Reptilian tail? : SAUR. OK, like Dinosaur.

26. Hammer end : PEEN

29. Drum out : OUST

32. Risk taker : DARER. Phil Mickelson, who has GUTS (42D. Nerve).

33. Make fun of : APE

34. Occasionally amended doc. : CONST. No idea. Constitution?

35. City of southeastern Iraq : BASRA

36. Urge forward : IMPEL

38. Flop : DUD

43. At full throttle : AMAIN

46. Lone Star State sch. : UT EP. University of Texas at El Paso.

47. "West Side Story" hero : TONY. Maria's boyfriend. We have Hmong gangs here in MN.

49. Dramatic outpouring : SPATE

50. Hound's prey : HARE

52. Charged : RAN AT

56. Empathetic words : I CARE

57. Word with ear or wear : OUTER

58. McEvoy of cosmetics : TRISH. High-priced.

60. Voice of the iPhone : SIRI

62. Talk like a lush : SLUR

63. Points at the table? : TINES. Great clue.

65. Shopping __ : SPREE. Come visit Mall of America, Gary!

67. New Orleans protector : LEVEE

68. Get wise with : SASS

69. "That's the general __" : IDEA

70. Not e'en once : NE'ER

71. Blackjack request : HIT ME

72. Sports doc's pics : MRIs

73. Klutzy : INEPT

74. Boxcars, for high rollers : SIXES. No idea. I'm not even a low roller.

76. The Phantom's rival : RAOUL

77. Berlin Olympics star : OWENS

81. Like some omelets : THREE-EGG. What's your typical breakfast, D-Otto?

83. It's drawn in bars : ALE

85. Dessert menu phrase : A LA MODE

87. Pace : GAIT

88. Asserts without proof : ALLEGES

89. Yoga class need : MAT

90. Mistake-fixing tools : ERASERS

94. Snuck a look : PEEKED

95. Sea divided by shrinkage : ARAL. What does "divided by shrinkage" mean? The Russians say Aral Sea has stopping shrinking.

96. Beatnik's "Got it!" : I'M HIP

97. River to the Rhone : SAONE

98. Cleaning cloths : WIPES

101. Pipsqueak : RUNT

102. Move, to a Realtor : RELO

103. Gumbo, for example : STEW

104. Mount near Catania : ETNA

105. Irish dance : REEL

106. One with rings : TREE. Tree rings.

107. __-crab soup : SHE. Never had it. How strange, she-crab.

108. Bossy Stooge : MOE. Here there, Chairman Moe!

110. Informer : RAT

111. It may be massive : EGO

C.C.