Monday, April 6, 2015 Bruce Venzke and Gail Grabowski

Theme: Combination of the Two - The first part of the unifier is placed behind the first part of the starred entries to form an unrelated combination.

56A. Process for selecting theatrical performers, and a hint to the first word of the answers to starred clues : CASTING CALL

20A. *Manhattan site of Strawberry Fields : CENTRAL PARK. Central Casting, where all the movie extras come from.

39A. *Prepare for printing : TYPESET. Typecasting, what some actors suffer.

11D. *Untrustworthy, as a business : FLY-BY-NIGHT. Fly Casting, a type of fishing. Clip

29D. *Word processor error finder : SPELL CHECK. Spell Casting, just one of the classes at Hogwarts.

Argyle here. Every letter but the 'J'. Putting the uni-word in the middle of the answer makes it harder to spot. I felt the level of fill was slightly uneven but doable. Some room for cornerites to add their own spin. Have at it.

Across:

1. Halloween costume part : MASK

5. 640 acres: Abbr. : SQ MI. (square mile)

9. Longtime employee : LIFER

14. Death Valley's is the lowest in North Amer. : ELEV. 282 feet below sea level.

15. Mammoth feature : TUSK. Woolly mammoth.

16. China's Zhou __ : ENLAI

17. "Dirty Jobs" host Mike : ROWE. ...but somebody has to do it.

18. County Kerry's isle : EIRE

19. Deep chasm : ABYSS

23. "So long" : "BYE"

24. Young horse : COLT

25. One from Nairobi : KENYAN

27. Ultimate conclusion : UPSHOT. 1530's; originally, the final shot in an archery match, hence the figurative sense of "result, issue, conclusion". ~ Online Etymology Dictionary

30. Made of oak, e.g. : WOODEN

32. Small swallow : SIP

33. Pumps or clogs : SHOES

35. Thin piece of change : DIME

38. __ out a living : EKE

42. Guy's partner : GAL

43. Bank (on) : RELY

45. Glue in a hobbyist's kit : EPOXY

46. "Let me think ... " : "HMM..."

47. Utter madness : LUNACY

50. Michelangelo masterpieces : PIETAs

52. Tallied, with "up" : RACKED

54. Group after boomers : GEN X

55. "How relaxing!" : "AAH!"

62. Bit of luck : BREAK

64. Place for koi : POND

65. Prefix with distant : EQUI

66. Italian ball game : BOCCE

67. Woodworking tool : ADZE

68. Put on a pouty face : SULK

69. Filled (in), as a comic strip : INKED

70. Frog's kiddie-lit friend : TOAD

71. Yard event : SALE

Down:

1. Bygone Ford division, for short : MERC. A 71-year run ended in 2010.

2. Sunburn soother : ALOE

3. Stitched up : SEWN

4. Complain : KVETCH

5. Furtive : STEALTHY

6. Comforter to get comfy in : QUILT

7. Car sticker abbr. : MSRP. (manufacturer's suggested retail price)

8. Swedish furniture chain : IKEA

9. Didn't hold water : LEAKED

10. Having five sharps, musically : IN B

12. Course that's good for one's GPA : EASY 'A'

13. Ascended : RISEN

21. Barnyard perch : ROOST

22. MGM rival : RKO. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Radio-Keith-Orpheum)

26. Homer's nice neighbor : NED Flanders.

27. Password creator : USER

28. High-speed highway : PIKE

30. Teary-eyed : WEEPY

31. Bone, in Italian : OSSO

34. Oil gp. with 12 member nations : OPEC. (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries)

36. Papa's partner : MAMA

37. Stately shade trees : ELMS

40. Paid out : EXPENDED

41. Making, as a knot : TYING. Tying a fly.

44. Big laugh : YUK

48. Did some smooching : NECKED

49. Aquafresh tube letters : ADA. (American Dental Association)

51. Overabundance : EXCESS

52. Talmud expert : RABBI

53. Brother of Moses : AARON

54. Tokyo shopping district : GINZA

57. Petty quarrel : SPAT

58. Chore list heading : TO DO

59. Greenish-blue : AQUA. A little bigger clue/answer dupe (w/ 49D) than yesterday.

60. Temporary calm : LULL

61. Similar to : LIKE

63. Unreturnable serve : ACE. Tennis.

Argyle

Sunday April 5, 2015 Kurt Krauss

Theme:  "Seeing Stars" - All theme entries are in the pattern of "Superb"+ noun, and are all clued as "Five-star" + noun.

23A. Five-star auctioneer? : BEST SELLER. I went to a barn auction once. So noisy. Had no idea how the owner had so many mini baseball bats (all stadium giveaways).

25A. Five-star bridal accessory? : MODEL TRAIN

36A. Five-star Ponzi scheme? : GREAT PYRAMID. We have a local Ponzi guy named Tom Petters, who owned Polaroid for a few years.

46A. Five-star pageboy? : PRIME CUT

65A. Five-star secluded getaway? : FIRST-CLASS CABIN. Lovely.

83A. Five-star flugelhorns? : TOP BRASS

93A. Five-star spiel? : PERFECT PITCH. Reminds me of Tony Robbins.

 

111A. Five-star competition? : IDEAL MATCH. Happy that Badgers won yesterday.

113A. Five-star headgear? : SUPER VISOR. Massive change from the original theme entry. I do rather like the result.

Last week we have 7 themers. This week 9. With the same theme squares, 9 is harder to grid than 7.  

Kurt Krauss must be a baseball fan. Look at these few entries:

10A. Houston ballplayer, for short : STRO. Astros. Our Vikings are called Vikes by some.

115A. Dodger manager before Mattingly : TORRE (Joe). I have lots of Don Mattingly cards.

8D. Nickname for baseball's Durocher : THE LIP. Leo Durocher. He used to argue with the umpires.

13D. 1993 A.L. batting champ John : OLERUD. He wore a helmet playing defense.

Also 89A. Tuxedo accessory : DICKEY. OK, not clued baseball-wise, but I bet R. A. Dickey was in Kurt's/Rich's mind.

Across: 

1. Ranted (at) : RAILED

7. Texter's "Oh, I should also mention ... " : BTW

14. Building blocks : LEGOS

19. Picador's target : EL TORO. "The bull".

20. "Bingo!" : AHA!

21. One might get caught off base : AWOL

22. "Waterworld" orphan girl : ENOLA. I forgot. Rich used this clue last month in a Barry Silk themeless. He does not use the same clue in the same month.

 

27. About to explode : IRATE

28. Like NASA and FEMA : ALL-CAPS

30. Clear up : RESOLVE

31. __ death: repeat too often : DO TO

32. Longest river in France : LOIRE

33. Sonata, e.g. : OPUS

35. They're hung by drivers : UIES. Sometimes it's UEYs.

40. Explosive experiment : A-TEST

41. Thai appetizers : SATAYS. With peanut sauce. By the way, JJM, I did not find your favorite Hot Giardiniera Relish at our local Walmart. I did get a bottle of Mezzetta Hot Mix. I then chopped the mix finely, added minced olives and made my own soon-to-be-world-famous C.C. Hot Giardiniera.

44. Author Follett : KEN

45. E.U. member : SWE

 

49. "Big four" record company : EMI

51. Leather ending : ETTE. Leatherette.

53. 0.0000001 joules : ERG

56. 1953 Pulitzer-winning dramatist : INGE (William)

57. "SNL" alum alongside Hartman and Carvey : NEALON (Kevin)

59. Thinks better of it : DARES NOT

61. Once called : NEE

62. Go-to guy : MAIN MAN. Argyle is my main man then. On and off the blog.

64. Cigar size : ROBUSTO

69. CNN news anchor __ Paul : CHRISTI. Looks familiar. But I don't recall her name.

72. Baronial headpiece : CORONET

73. Hardly around the corner : FAR

76. Put under : ETHERIZE

78. Knocks on : RAPS AT

79. Purina product : ALPO

80. Qing Dynasty general of culinary fame : TSO. Don't be surprised if you can't find General Tso's Chicken in China.

81. Deutschland donkey : ESEL. So surprised to see this word.

82. Slip-__: shoes : ONs

86. Backstabber : RAT

87. Acquisition transaction, briefly : LBO (Leveraged Buyout)

90. Carried on : RAGED

99. Times to get ready : EVES. And 108. Break for mom : NAP TIME. Tiny clue/answer dupe. Hard to avoid in a 21*21.

100. Five-O booking agent : DANO

101. Golden : AURIC

102. Magi origin : EAST

106. Mythological hybrid : CENTAUR. Part-man, part-horse.

110. Trumpeter Louis : PRIMA. Another stranger to me.

116. Bad end : DOOM

117. Like some phone nos. : UNL. Unlisted.

118. Designer McCartney : STELLA. Paul McCartney's daughter.

119. Related maternally : ENATE. "Related paternally" is AGNATE.

120. Massachusetts motto opener : ENSE. Learned from doing crosswords.

121. The Carolinas' __ Dee River : PEE

122. Strengths : ASSETS

Down:

1. Bridge action : RE-BID

2. Last Olds made : ALERO

3. Where __ : IT'S AT

4. Pick 6, for one : LOTTO GAME. Lovely long answer.

5. Language that gave us "galore" : ERSE

6. __-eyed : DOE

7. Cast selection? : BALLOT. Great clue.

9. Shout during a charge : WAR CRY. Battlefield charge.

10. Native corn porridge : SAMP. Never used this word. Same as grits I suppose, D-Otto.

11. Couple : TWOSOME

12. Hot __ : ROD

14. "Why don't we!" : LET'S

15. Coming or going : EN ROUTE

16. Deke victim : GOALIE. My favorite, of course!

Splynter the Goalie

17. Tapenade ingredients : OLIVES

18. Least likely to blow : SANEST

24. Like a fantasy land? : LA LA. La La Land. Hi there, LaLaLinda!

26. Beethoven's "__ Adieux" sonata : LES

29. Bubbly beginning? : AER.  As in "Aerator", adding air to the fish tanks.

34. Yearned : PINED. Did you ever meet with that Philly girl again, TTP?

37. Manhattan part : RYE. The drink.

38. Bailout key : ESC

39. Like, with "to" : AKIN

40. Slightly : A WEE BIT

41. Remedy from a doctor? : SPIN. Spin doctor.

42. "Alfred" composer : ARNE

43. Buster Brown's dog : TIGE

45. Photographer's accessory : STROBE. And 91. Fashion photographer Richard : AVEDON. He's incredible. Tina Brown brought him to the the New Yorker in 1992.

47. Fitting most people : UNI-SIZE. Like helmets.

48. Home on the range : TENT

49. Hebrew for "skyward" : EL AL

50. Rainier, for one : MONACAN

52. Port on Italy's "heel" : TARANTO. Any of you been there?

53. Some dashes : ENS. Or EMs.

54. "Balderdash!" : ROT

55. Flip side of Ronny & the Daytonas' "Hot Rod Baby" : GTO

58. Station for film buffs : AMC

60. Nearest star to Earth : SUN

62. Not see properly : MISREAD

63. Whistler, e.g. : ARTIST. This lady's son.

65. Old cry of disgust : FIE

66. Illegal payments : SOPS

67. Mortarboard sporters: Abbr. : SRs

68. A wall may need a second one : COAT. Fun clue.

69. This, in Toulouse : CET. Gosh, I've forgot most of what I learned. How is this different from Ceci?

70. Brooklyn __, N.Y. : HTS

71. Density symbol, in physics : RHO

73. Criticism : FLAK

74. Abbey nook : APSE

75. Looking up : ROSY

77. Actress Barkin : ELLEN

78. Rain protection : ROOF

79. Bow-and-arrow sets : ARCHERIES. Spell check does not like the plural form.

84. Wash. summer hrs. : PDT

85. Lighter name : BIC

86. Remedy for a freeze : RE-START

88. Back-to-back '90s Super Bowl champs : BRONCOS

90. Reel off : RECITE. My dad could recite every line of Mao's Little Red Book. He learned how to write his name only after he joined Chinese Army.

92. Family subdivisions : GENERA

93. Strut : PARADE

94. "The Purloined Letter" monogram : EAP (Edgar Allan Poe)

95. Dices : CUTS UP

96. Godhead, for one : TRIUNE

97. Blemish : PIMPLE

98. Java Freeze brand : ICEE

100. Doo-wop syllable : DUM. Thank crosses.

103. United divider? : AISLE. United Airlines.

104. Young salmon : SMOLT

105. "__ Bulba": Gogol novel : TARAS

107. On the safer side : ALEE

109. World-weary words : AH ME

110. Ryan and Benjamin: Abbr. : PVTS (Privates)

112. Big load : TON

114. Golfer Ernie Els' homeland : RSA. JD visited his winery there.

Happy Birthday to Irish Miss, our gentle & kind Agnes. Agnes always asks & follows up on the blog whenever a regular has some health, job or family issue. She also writes me privately whenever a regular is missing for quite some time (like Owen, PK and Jayce). We're so lucky to have a caring and attentive friend like Agnes.

Eileen (sister of Agnes) & Agnes, Nov 22, 2013

Happy Birthday also to Abejo (Bradley), who's always busy traveling and volunteering for various good causes. Brad worked in Iran for a few years before the Shah was toppled. Abejo is Persian for "beer". Brad loves and is very knowledgeable about beer. Oh, gardening too.  He's a master gardener.

Bradley and his Tuba, Church Fat Tuesday Event

Saturday, Apr 4th, 2015, John Lieb

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,X,Z)

Blocks: 27

   I have done well with Mr. Lieb's puzzles in the past, but today it was looking pretty bleak.  The first across pass yielded only about 5 answers, and then on the down run, little more.  Caught a break with a few well-placed W.A.G.s, and I happened to know a few of the proper names, too.  Alas, I did cheat - one look-up, and one verification - so I have to admit to a DNF.  Drat.  Two spanners, two 10-letter movie reference* climbers, and triple 9-letter corners made up the long fill;

17a. Donkey in "Shrek" et al. : ANIMAL SIDEKICKS - when one "ponders" other animal sidekicks, one might recall a TV show from '79-'81;

54a. "Been there, done that" : "NOT MY FIRST RODEO" - I found a little history here

13d. 2014 A.L. MVP : MIKE TROUT

28d. Wet blanket, in modern lingo : FUN SPONGE - new phrase to me, but I do like it - I'll use it to describe the way vague circumferential Saturday clues suck the joy out of some puzzles

Down-ar~!

ACROSS:

1. Franchise spawned in the '60s : STAR TREK - my personal favorite of the show's variations was "The Next Generation", which was my generation's version; the original was a bit too dry for me, and the latest version of the franchise, the "young" original crew, just doesn't do it justice, IMHO

9. Away for the summer, maybe : AT CAMP - nailed it; felt like I was off to a good start

15. White Sox nickname, with "the" : PALE HOSE - I thought this might be a specific person, but it's a reference to their uniform - white socks = pale hose

16. Longtime Ottoman Empire territory : BOSNIA

19. Dedicate : DEVOTE

20. Lug : TOTE

21. Worked (up) : HET

22. They're just looking : EYERS - oh, those 'socket sets'

23. Cries for attention : "HEYS~!"

24. NFLer Ronnie for whom a defensive award is named : LOTT - the Wiki

25. Remote power source : AA CELL - almost got me thinking "distant", and not TV/DVR

27. Land overseas : TERRE - I had terrA to start; good enough for me

28. Univ. staff : FACulty - not TAs; made the SW very slow in solving

31. Prevent from going to seed : MOW

32. Organization level : ECHELON

34. Sam Samudio's spoken opening in "Wooly Bully" : UNO DOS - link away~!

36. Sea-dwelling Greek god : NEREUS - Poseidon didn't fit; neither did NEPTUNE, the Roman version

37. Most populous OPEC nation : NIGERIA - OK, I cheated - sort of....I went and found a list of OPEC nations, because I had ---ERIA; ALGeria would have worked, too, but only 23% the population

39. Ask to be excused, with "off" : BEG

40. It merged with Sprint in 1983 : GTE

41. Command before a click : SMILE - dah~! Stuck in computer, not camera mode

42. Treated for traction, in a way : SALTED - Did anyone else think of this traction~?

45. Cocktail party fare : PÂTÉ - ya know, I have always heard this word in jokes, on TV, etc., but never actually knew what it was

46. Securely : FAST - as in "the bolt held the door fast"; there's quite a few homographs for 'fast'

47. Overseas denials : NEINS - Ach~! German~!

51. Taxonomic suffix : OTA - what I found was that this guy is of the subclass "pterygota"

52. "The Secret of __": 1982 animated movie : NIMH - I remembered the name, but not the movie - IMDb trivia

53. "Working Class Hero" songwriter : LENNON

57. "Brighton Rock" author : GREENE - I was missing the first letter, and "G" seemed to make the most sense, but I did Google to check

58. Doing a lawn job : AERATING

59. Lamb treats : ESSAYS - oh, so crafty - Charles Lamb, not "KEBABS" as I first tried

60. Hoodwinks : MISLEADS

DOWN:

1. Garden aid : SPADE - I tried "STAKE" off the "S" in Star Trek

2. Second-longest-serving Chief Justice : TANEY - perps

3. Not out of the game : ALIVE

4. Suckerfish : REMORA

5*. Song featured in "Moonstruck" : THAT'S AMORE

6. Break for a certain wannabe : ROLE - ah.  Crossing the "Sox" clue, this was way too vague for me; now I get it - an actor wannabe

7. Mariner cap insignia : ESS

8. "Reservoir Dogs" actor : KEITEL - and a lot of other Tarantino movies, too

9. Disables the alarm, say : ABETS - cute

10. Tip in Vegas : TOKE - seen this in crosswords before; not the 'toke' I grew up with

11. TV franchise since 2000 : CSI

12. Relay part : ANCHOR LEG

14. Acceptable form of back talk? : PAST TENSE - Har-har~!

18. His epitaph includes "knight" and "man of letters" : DOYLE - Sir Arthur Conan

23. Fell : HEW

24. Creepy look : LEER

26. Mozart title starter : COSI

27*. 1927 Buster Keaton film : THE GENERAL - totally not my generation - IMDb

29. Some film artists : ANIMATORS - q.v. 52a

30. Ponders : COGITATES

33. "For a life gone digital" news source : CNET

35. Editor's mark : DELE - or STET~? I can't tell with these crossings~!

38. "Same here" : "AS AM I"

39. Deli order : BLT

43. Hindu community : ASHRAM - dredged this one up from the depths

44. Represent : DENOTE

46. High winds : FIFES - ah, not like "zephyr", but high-pitched musical instruments

48. Bhopal locale : INDIA - well, the spelling should have clued me into a 'general' idea of where to find it

49. Continuously : NO END

50. Makes out, across the Pond : SNOGS - learned from "Harry Potter"

52. Part of a Fifth Ave. address : NY, NY - I'm here in LI, NY

53. A and P, e.g.: Abbr. : LTRS - More deceptive if it had been clued A & P - as in the mrkt

55. Apology opener : MEA - culpa

56. Dante's half-dozen : SEI - Italian "six"

Splynter

Friday, April 3, 2015, Jim Quinlan

Theme: Double a letter, double your pleasure.

A debut puzzle from a familiar poster who was a rookie this year at ACPT where he finished 392nd. In a consistent theme, the last letter of a two letter word which begins a common phrase is doubled to create a new and visually fun answer. The choices for this theme are very limited (I thought of some not very good ones like ADD NAUSEAM and OFF HUMAN BONDAGE) because the theme is so tight. The rest of puzzle was similar to many Fridays we have had lately with average word length less than 5 letters, but it also the first pangram (puzzle containing all 26 letters) I have seen on a Friday in a very long while. I found the cluing not only difficult in places, but confusing. Perhaps this comes from the ambitious inclusion of all the letters. I did like seeing two Js in the grid.  There are some interesting intermediate fill like  AIRBAG, IMAGES, LETS GO, MATHIS, SEARCH, STIGMA, THINGS, XANADU, EMERGENT and  JAILBIRD and two which were as long as theme answers, OVERWATERS and  SOUTH SUDAN. There are also many fill with double letters (DDAY, TEEMS, ROOT, ROSS, ERRS, APP, OTTO, LEVEE, RAGG and OSS). None of these confused the issue of the theme for me.

18A. Quibble about accommodations? : INN DISPUTE (10). The second N appeared early from the perps, so I had an idea about the theme quickly.

27A. Marshmallow that's been toasted too long? : GOO UP IN FLAMES (13). My favorite of the answers, as I could picture the gooey mess I have made when trying to do marshmallows with my sons.

48A. Small group of tiny monarchs? : WEE THREE KINGS (13). Also a very cute variation on the Christmas CAROL  (2:28).

63A. Worthless buzzer? : BEE OF NO USE (10). We all know bees are very useful but I guess there is a Gilligan in every hive.

A good Good Friday, and a Happy Passover to those who celebrate; looking forward to another delicious seder. On to the rest...

Across:

1. Spell : JINX. We are going to have one of those Fridays where I am constrained to comment too vigorously, not knowing if the clue is the author's or Rich's, but I do not see these terms as interchangeable. The dictionary may disagree, but to me 'cast a spell' (or curse) would be the synonym for the verb JINX, and 'bad luck' or 'black cat' for the noun.

5. Traitor : JUDAS. A rather timely clue/fill on this Good Friday which commemorates the crucifixion of Christ after his betrayal by Judas.

10. Letters causing a rush : ASAP. As Soon As Possible.  Since people say, 'A Sap,' so is this an acronym?

14. Property measurement : AREA. As most must have, I began with ACRE.

15. Flopped financially : ATE IT. I understand the generic 'ate it' means failed miserably, but I know of no connection to financial failure.

16. Bonkers : LOCO. Some un-pc terms for mentally ill.

17. Response to a drone : YAWN. Not the one with camera or delivering from Amazon, or even from a beehive, but like my Real Property professor, D.T. Smith.

20. Zeus' beginning? : ZETA. In ancient Greek it was spelled ''Ζεύς'' with Zeta the first letter, but if you are transliterating to English, it should be Zee or Zed? I believe in modern Greek they now spell the name of the chief of the Greek gods as Δίας which aligns the name with Latin Deus. Hopefully we have a reader who can shed more light on this subject.

21. Forgives : LETS GO. The cluing so far had me scrambling, again I understand one letting go of the anger can be forgiving, but...well I will just let it go.

22. Director Burton : TIM. Wow, an easy one. Johnny Depp is his favorite.

23. Little bit : DAB.

25. "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" duettist : MATHIS. The soulful Johnny with Deneice Williams in 1978. (3:04) reminds me of going to Peaches to buy 45s.

33. 4x4, e.g. : ATV. All Terrain Vehicle.

34. "1984" worker : PROLE. A really fine Friday CLUE, but no politics.

35. Get used (to) : INURE.

38. Assembly stage : STEP. How many have bought furniture from IKEA?

40. Hit from a tee : DRIVE. Ah some golf as we near the Masters.

42. Start of Operation Overlord : D-DAY.

43. Scrutinized, with "over" : PORED. His notes? Books and records?

45. Abounds : TEEMS. This reminds me of THIS.(2:16).

47. Generation : AGE.

51. Google, say : SEARCH.

53. Canyon part : RIM.

54. "A Bug's Life" extra : ANT.

55. It might blow up in a crash : AIRBAG. Nicely thought-out deception.

59. Shade at the shore : AQUA. Also cute as we are talking shade of color not an umbrella.

65. [I'm doomed] : GULP. Very nice cartoonish visual.

66. Goes wrong : ERRS. Do not forget to forgive.

67. Bridge expert on some "Sports Illustrated" covers : GOREN. If you ever played the game and are about my age you know and have read books by CHARLES. I do use Blackwood.

68. Mozart's "a" : EINE.

69. Soft-spoken painter Bob : ROSS. All perps for me, thought it sounds like it was an interesting SHOW.

70. Irish hero, briefly : ST. PAT.

71. Pringles competitor : STAX. I tried them once and they were not good. I do tend to try every food product once.

Down:

1. Now hyphen-less rapper : JAYZ. DKDC. He is attempting to take over streaming of music with TIDAL.

2. "Dies __" : IRAE. More religion.

3. Spotted aquarium dweller : NEWT. Mr. Gingrich's image is fading in the mirror.

4. Film estate with a championship golf course : XANADU. Took me way to long to dredge this ESTATE from my brain.

5. "Avian" for whom flight is often futile : JAILBIRD. A little prison humor.

6. __ Reader : UTNE.Does anyone actually read this?

7. It may be hammered out : DENT. Not an agreement but a literal hammer job.

8. Help providers : AIDS.

9. Stain : STIGMA. So many connotations; we also have the related STIGMATA but that sounds like religion.

10. European attraction : ALP. marti, a gimme for you?

11. Independent country since 2011 : SOUTH SUDAN.  All you wanted to know and MORE.

12. When Hamlet says, "The play's the thing ... " : ACT II. Well I got a very small taste of some Shakespeare.

13. Dickinson output : POEMS. Emily.

19. "Amen!" : SO AM I. So be it? I agree?

24. Trivia Crack, e.g. : APP. Sounds vaguely obscene, but this GAME sounds and looks like electronic Trivial Pursuit.

26. Mind : TEND. All perps, did not even see the clue and hope you all will explain. Children? One's business?

27. Horrified reaction : GASP.

28. One of the Ringling brothers : OTTO. No Sgt. Snorkel for this puzzle, but this somewhat obscure  figure who died in 1911. Per wiki the Ringling Brothers Circus was a circus founded in the United States in 1884 by five of the seven Ringling Brothers: Albert (1852–1916), August (1854–1907), Otto (1858–1911), Alfred T. (1862–1919), Charles (1863–1926), John (1866–1936), and Henry (1869–1918). In 1907 it acquired the Barnum & Bailey Circus, merging them in 1919 to become Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus, promoted as The Greatest Show on Earth. It does not say which 5, but John and Charles were the most famous and did much to put Sarasota, Florida on the map.

29. Drowns in the garden : OVERWATERS. A thoughtful clue; I do love gardening but in April one should not need to water often.

30. __ Star : NORTH. No love for Kanye and Kim?

31. Circular : FLIER.

32. Chevy's "American Pie" destination : LEVEE.

36. Woolen yarn : RAGG. Nope, sorry, I do not know this WORD. I do know MOP.

37. Socket set : EYES. Oh my, what a great alliterative misdirection.

39. Review target : PEER. Peer review is very big in many professions, especially medical ones.

41. Newly formed : EMERGENT.

44. Joe sans jolt : DECAF. Love those Js.

46. Take on moguls : SKI. I will be Colorado and the snow will be fresh. Who wants to meet me there? marti?

49. The Cat in the Hat's numbered cohorts : THINGS.

50. Visuals : IMAGES.

51. Word with tooth or saw : SABER.

52. Año starter : ENERO.

56. Repeated word in "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" : ROOT.

57. Do a new mom's job : BURP. Oh those burping moms, watch out.

58. On a cruise : ASEA.

60. Gave notice : QUIT.

61. Radius neighbor : ULNA.

62. Pinnacle : APEX. Apex, Acme? My favorite golf ball in the 80s. Second day in a row for this fill.

64. '40s spy org. : OSS. Office of Strategic Services.  The predecessor of the CIA.

Well enjoy Friday, I will be out of pocket most of the day in preparation for the first night of Passover, so smoke em if you have them and happy holidays to all. Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

1) Our own Minnesotan constructors George Barany and Marcia J. Brott constructed today's CHE "Sea Shells" puzzle. Tasty and timely. Please click here  to download the puz file.

2) The fourth Minnesota Crossword Tournament will be held on June 14th. Please click here for more details.

Thursday, April 2, 2015 Gareth Bain

Theme:"Here Comes Peter Cottontail"

17-Across. Holy woman sculpted by Bernini : SAINT TERESA. (of Avila)

25-Across. It may call for lateral thinking : BRAIN TEASER . Here's an apt one for this puzzle:
" There are six eggs in the basket. Six people each take one of the eggs. How can it be that one egg is left in the basket?" (*Answer at the end)

35-Across. Van Gogh painting depicting peasants : THE POTATO EATERS. He considered it one of his best works.

48-Across. Many a sofa : THREE SEATER.

And the reveal:
57-Across. Words spoken often this time of year, one of which is anagrammed four times in this puzzle : HAPPY EASTER. Very tight theme, with the last word of each entry an anagram of EASTER.


Across

1. Sweet Spanish wine : MALAGA. From Andalusia. Gimme.

7. Work unit: Abbr. : FT LB. Foot Pound (libra).

11. Mendel's sci. : BOT. I wanted "Genetics" at first, but that science came about as a result of Mendel's work with pea plants in the field of BOTany.

14. Place to surf : THE NET. Gimme.

15. Washbowl partner : EWER.

16. Protein-building molecule : RNA.

19. Battleship letters : USS. Spitzboov!

20. Self-conscious question : IS IT ME?

21. Preceder of old age? : RIPE. "He lived to the RIPE old age of 95."

22. Peoria-to-Decatur dir. : SSE.

28. Iconic figure with an anchor tattoo : POPEYE.

30. Tenochtitlán natives : AZTECS. It was their capital city, complete with floating islands.

31. Zenith : APEX.

32. Chanted phrase : MANTRA.

41. Hostile advance : INROAD. I don't always associate them with being "hostile." You?

42. Toe loop kin : AXEL.

43. Not around much : SCARCE.

46. Campaign ad urging : VOTE NO. "...on Question 2."

52. Common animal in "The Far Side" comics : COW. Gary Larson has pleaded with people not to infringe on the copyrights of his cartoons by copying them and displaying them on websites. I bow to his request.

53. Participated in a poetry slam : READ.

54. Holey reef dweller : SPONGE.

56. Give __: pay attention : EAR.

62. Whirlpool site : SPA.

63. __ nitrate : AMYL. I have to confess, this was my first thought. But I wondered how well known the compound is to the average puzzle solver?

64. Allow : ENABLE.

65. Lush : SOT.

66. In the wrong business? : NOSY. Ha ha!!

67. Scone fruit : RAISIN.


Down

1. High pts. : MTS. Mountains.

2. "So that's the answer!" : AHA.

3. Island souvenir : LEI.

4. Years in the Roman legion : ANNI. Latin years, that is.

5. Manages : GETS BY.

6. It's worn : ATTIRE.

7. Physics Nobelist of 1938 : FERMI.

8. Typical "Divergent" reader : TWEEN. I take offense - we did the book for our book club last year!

9. Guitar man Paul : LES.

10. Beach top : BRA.

11. Banana blemish : BRUISE.

12. How many artists work : ON SPEC.

13. Police weapons : TASERS.

18. Greek vowel : ETA.

21. Gangster film sound effect : RAT-A-TAT.

22. Cross words : SPAT.

23. Junior-to-be : SOPH.omore.

24. Sport with double touches : ÉPÉE. They must occur within 40 milliseconds of each other, in order to count as a "double touche."

26. Museum that awards the Turner Prize : TATE. Awarded to an artist under the age of 50.

27. Biblical scribe : EZRA.

29. No longer valid : EXPIRED.

32. "Nixon in China" tenor role : MAO. Which reminds me of this incredible video I found this week. 3:59

33. __ moment's notice : AT A.

34. Auction bid, often : NOD.

36. Formerly : ONCE.

37. Half of seis : TRES.

38. Board member, usually : EXEC.

39. Slots spot : RENO.

40. Impede : SLOW.

43. Overachiever's concern : STRESS.

44. Chintzy : CHEAPO.

45. Turkish peak : ARARAT.

46. Thin layer : VENEER.

47. "Star Wars" surname : ORGANA.

49. Best Angler and Best Jockey, e.g. : ESPYs. Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly.

50. Ask (for), as a job : APPLY.

51. First car, for many : TOY.

55. Actor Morales : ESAI.

57. Harrison role : HAN.

58. Ovid's "I love" : AMO.

59. CNN launcher : TBS.

60. Wearer of a "Y" sweatshirt : ELI. Y for Yale, not "the" Y.

61. Stimpy's chum : REN. Ren is the psychotic chihuahua, and Stimpy is the dimwitted cat.

*Answer: The sixth person took the basket, with his egg in it.

That's all for now!
Marti

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015 Daniel Nierenberg

Theme: Getting Pranked, or as the plowman said to the ox team "The yoke's on you".

A thoroughly date-appropriate theme from Daniel this morning. A whole slew of "gotchas" come together in this puzzle.

17A. "Gotcha!" : I'M KIDDING

24A. "Gotcha!" : MADE YOU LOOK. Made me look for a theme, that's for sure. See my "note" on 51A.

35A. "Gotcha!" : THE JOKE'S ON YOU

51A. Significance of this puzzle's circled letters (gotcha again!) : THERE IS NONE. I had "TO PAR" for 53D at first which made this entry read "THERE IS TONE". You'd all have gotten a good chuckle out of me trying to sing "IDDI DE-YO KES-O" and crack the "tonal" theme.

60A. Today's "Gotcha!" : APRIL FOOL

Nicely done! Steve here being fooled for a while until I corrected my "TO PAR" misstep and stopped singing nonsense. In France it is the custom today to try to stick fish-shaped cutouts on an unknowing person's back. The victim is then teased as being "un poisson d'Avril" - "an April fish". Whatever floats your bateau, I guess, they're an odd lot, those French.

Let's see what else we've got going on here.

Across

1. "Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening" rhyme scheme : AABA By the aptly-named Robert Frost.

5. Govt. org. with a "Safety Compass" blog : N.T.S.B. The National Transportation Safety Board. The "Safety" in the clue gave it away for me.

9. Under-the-tree pile : GIFTS. I wanted to cram "LEAVES" in here first.

14. Silly smile, maybe : GRIN

15. Snack with a white center : OREO. Crops up a lot in crosswords, but it's such a handy collection of vowels.

16. Garnish : ADORN

19. Brawl : MELEE

20. Menlo Park initials : T.A.E. Thomas Alva Edison. Filed 1,093 successful U.S. patent applications.

21. Those, in Oaxaca : ESAS

22. __ mater : ALMA

23. Gear on a tour bus : AMP. I have Marshall and Vox practice amplifiers. Here they are with my guitars.

28. They blow off steam : TEAPOTS. Peculiar clue, I have to say. A kettle would blow off steam, no?

30. Bugged by a bug : ILL

31. Like a twisted remark : WRY

32. Within: Pref. : ENTO

33. Hive-dwelling : APIAN. Do Roman bees travel on the Apian Way?

41. College declaration : MAJOR

42. Feminizing finish : ENNE. Hand up for "ETTE" first.

44. Icarus, to Daedalus : SON

47. Snooze : NAP

48. Add to a scrapbook, say : PASTE IN

54. Map rtes. : STS. Streets, I s'pose. Not an abbreviation I'm familiar with, I have to confess.

55. Drop-off point : EDGE

56. Charlie's fourth wife : OONA. And his granddaughter to keep the name current.

57. 201, on a monument : CCI. That's a heck of an old monument.

58. Carillon sounds : PEALS

62. Cookout spot : PATIO

63. Willing : GAME

64. "A __ for Emily": Faulkner short story : ROSE

65. Not in a slump? : ERECT

66. "Iliad" deity : ARES. We've seen him a few times recently.

67. Stops equivocating : OPTS

Down

1. Stir up : AGITATE

2. Military equipment : ARMAMENT

3. Designated park trail : BIKE PATH

4. DiFranco of folk rock : ANI. I went to link one of her songs but I dozed off trying to pick one out. Not my cup of tea, I guess.

5. Greets wordlessly : NODS AT

6. Three-note chords : TRIADS

7. Have a feeling : SENSE

8. Peat source : BOG

9. Leg, to a film noir detective : GAM. Cue "LA Confidential", appropriately.

10. Model of perfection : IDEAL. AKA Kim Basinger in "LA Confidential", above.

11. Trail : FOLLOW

12. Seismometer detection : TREMOR. Plenty of these in my neck of the woods. More than 20 in the last week alone in LA County according to the local seismic survey.

13. Duplicitous : SNEAKY

18. Self-produced recording, perhaps : DEMO

25. Slangy golf term for nervousness while putting, with "the" : YIPS. Former world #1 and two-times Masters champion Bernhard Langer suffered terribly from this affliction in mid-career. He's now one of the best putters on the senior tour.

26. Everything-in-the-pot stew : OLIO

27. __ Bator : ULAN. Mongolian home of this airport. I have a friend who quit the British secret service (MI5) because she was going to be posted here. She wanted Milan, Paris or New York. Outer Mongolia? Not so much.

29. Mary Oliver output : POEM

33. __ Lingus : AER. They fly to Ulan Bator from Dublin. Who'd a thunk it?

34. Babushka's denial : NYET

36. Actress Kaczmarek with seven Emmy nominations : JANE. Crosses all the way. Apparently "best known for playing Lois on 'Malcolm in the Middle'".

37. Ventura County resort city : OJAI. "City" is a little grand for this place, population around 7,000. Chain stores are banned here by city ordinance.

38. Keystone force : KOPS. Most of their location shoots were a couple of miles down the street from me in Silverlake.

39. Kid-sized ice cream order : ONE SCOOP

40. Price per can, e.g. : UNIT COST

43. Stores in a farm tower : ENSILES. Total WAG for me here with the first "S". I wasn't entirely convinced by "STS" so I hesitated. According to the interwebs:

en·sile

inˈsīl,enˈsīl/

verb

3rd person present: ensiles

put (grass or another crop) into a silo in order to preserve it as silage

44. Vast grassland : STEPPE

45. "Goodness gracious" : OH DEAR

46. Cancel out : NEGATE

48. "I have the worst luck!" : POOR ME

49. John Denver's "__ Song" : ANNIE'S. I'll spare you the link.

50. Corporate emblem : SEAL. Another odd clue, IMHO

52. Dig find : RELIC

53. Wall Street phrase : NO PAR. As I mentioned at the top, I had TO PAR first. I've heard of AT PAR too, but never NO PAR until today (well except for my golf game, I've had NO PAR many times over!). I discover that NO PAR means that a share of a stock has no redemption value.

59. Pink-elephant spotter, stereotypically : SOT. Did Dumbo get drunk? I can't remember the context of this in the movie.

60. Ottoman bigwig : AGA

61. To and __ : FRO

That's my lot. A Pinch and a Punch for the First of the Month and no returns! Here's the grid.

Steve

Note from C.C.: 

Please click here for a great puzzle Marcia Brott & George Barany created to celebrate the birthday of a real Minnesota Nice. If you download puz, please read Notepad after you're done. Click on View, then Notepad.

Tuesday, March 31, 2015 Jerry Edelstein

Theme: Add a Word - A reveal word is added to the start (or left) of the start of the target word.

17A. *Pest-control device : MOUSETRAP. Field mouse.

25A. *Off-the-wall game? : HANDBALL. Field hand (on the farm).

30A. *Simple garment : HOUSEDRESS. Fieldhouse or field house, is a common name for indoor sports arena.)

44A. *One given to flights of fancy : DAYDREAMER. Field day. A sports day for the younger school kids.

49A. *Hidden explosives activator : TRIPWIRE. Field trip. Taking a class to an off-school venue.

64A. Figuratively, where some wild ideas come out of; literally, a hint to a word and its position when paired with the starts of the answers to starred clues : LEFT FIELD

Argyle here. And March, whether like a lamb of a lion, please leave. Conventional grid supports a 6-entry puzzle medium length fill. Hopefully with no nits.

Across:

1. Dash gauge : TACH. (dashboard/tachometer)

5. Pawn at a shop : HOCK. Apparently from Dutch hok, "prison".

9. Vague shapes : BLOBS

14. Height: Pref. : ACRO. Think acrobat.

15. Saintly glow : AURA

16. Sportscast rundown : RECAP

19. Hersey's bell town : ADANO. A 1944 novel by John Hersey that will live forever in crosswords.

20. Like paradise : EDENIC

21. Go round and round : SPIN

23. "Tao Te Ching" poet __-tzu : LAO

24. "Yummy!" : "DELISH!"

27. Grant-granting gp. : NEA. (National Endowment for the Arts)

29. Soul automaker : KIA

36. Aerobic exercise aid : STEP

40. Woodlands man-goat : SATYR

41. Campus URL suffix : .EDU (education)

42. Serious : GRAVE

43. Old Russian ruler : TSAR

46. Short-lived Egypt-Syr. alliance : UAR. (United Arab Republic)

48. Drunkard : SOT

54. Overthrow : TOPPLE

59. Farm female : HEN

60. "__ o' your throats": "Measure for Measure" : A POX. The nearly identical quote from The Tempest is more famous.

61. Phobic : AFRAID

62. "Alas and __!" : ALACK

66. In need of a chill pill : TENSE

67. Mystery writer Gardner : ERLE. Perry Mason - Erle Stanley Gardner

68. Colombian city : CALI

69. Beer holder : STEIN

70. Ear piece? : STUD

71. __-slapper : KNEE

Down:

1. Got under control : TAMED

2. Words after "crack" or "live by" : A CODE

3. Pitiless : CRUEL

4. Mubarak of Egypt : HOSNI. President of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.

5. Came out of one's shell? : HATCHED. Literally.

6. "Days of __ Lives" : OUR

7. Attend uninvited : CRASH

8. Letter after iota : KAPPA

9. Chastain of women's soccer : BRANDI

10. Guided : LED

11. City NW of Orlando : OCALA. Déjà vu ... again.

12. Unoriginal : BANAL

13. Thread dispenser : SPOOL

18. Ex-Disney CEO Michael : EISNER

22. Printer cartridge contents : INKS

26. Iraqi port : BASRA. Basra is roughly 110 km (68 mi) from the Persian Gulf and does not have deep water access but is still its main port.

28. Neighborhood : AREA

30. FDR's last vice president : HST. (Franklin Delano Roosevelt/Harry S. Truman)

31. Western defense gp. : OAS. The Organization of American States was founded in 1948.

32. Actress Hagen : UTA

33. IHOP condiment : SYRUP. The maple syrup season is running late this year. Go figure.

34. Ice cream maker Joseph : EDY

35. Brewski : SUDS. Slang.

37. Bagpiper's topper : TAM. For whatever reason, Google Images show few bagpipers wearing the Tam O'Shanter.

38. December 24 or 31 : EVE

39. Each : PER

42. Exit the bus : GET OFF

44. Tap concern : DRIP

45. Went round and round : ROTATED

47. Greet the day : AWAKEN

49. "__ Life": Sinatra hit : THAT'S

50. Rented again : RELET

51. Silly : INANE

52. Romeo and Juliet, e.g. : ROLES

53. Apply, as pressure : EXERT

55. Puncture with a pin : PRICK. Hand up for BURST.

56. Song of praise : PAEAN

57. City in northern France : LILLE. Wiki link

58. Comic Izzard : EDDIE. Eddie Izzard-Lord of the Rings & Pipes Link(9:20)

63. TV forensic drama : CSI. (Crime Scene Investigation)

65. __ shot : FLU

Argyle