Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015 Ed Sessa

Theme: Four of a kind ... Four Jacks in this case, as explained by the reveal entries:

39A. With 40-Across, toy with a crank ... and what each set of four circled puzzle squares graphically represents : JACK IN

40A. See 39-Across : THE BOX

Welcome to Wednesday, everyone. Steve here with an Ed Sessa "circles" theme. If you're one of the circle-less solvers amongst us you weren't at any disadvantage today, you just didn't get the post-solve "oh look, there's some names of people there" moment. 

We've got two actors - WEBB and LORD (Dragnet and Hawaii 5-0 respectively), one talk show host PAAR and one football player/politician KEMP.

I'm treating this more as a "Wednesday themeless", unless I'm missing something deep and mysterious about the names or the placement in the grid. 

Moving on ...

Across:

1. Flier among hangers : MOTH

5. Hurt : ACHE

9. Exams for future attys. : LSATS

14. Alpine feedback : ECHO. Yodeling probably wouldn't be as much fun without the sound rebound.

15. Something to chew on : FOOD

16. Open courtyards : ATRIA. "Open" in the sense of "uncluttered", not necessarily "open to the air".

17. Some Broadway theater handouts : SHOWBILLS. Hand up for HANDBILLS first. Interestingly, the only Broadway theater that gives you a showbill is the New Amsterdam, for reasons explained here. Who knew?

19. Green shampoo : PRELL. Crosses for me. I thought it might be eco-friendly, but no, it's just green.

20. Raised on one's own ranch, as a horse : HOMEBRED

21. Pilot-licensing org. : F.A.A. Our friends at the Federal Aviation Authority. The UK equivalent is the Civil Aviation Authority, which sounds to me like they must be jolly polite.

22. Like many senior part-timers : SEMI-RETIRED

27. Hemingway nickname : PAPA

31. Yours, in Toulouse : A TOI

32. Stadium level : TIER. You need one cross to decide between TIER and the also-popular LOGE.

33. __ husky : ALASKAN

36. PC exit key : ESC

38. Tournament advantage : BYE

42. D-backs, on scoreboards : ARI. Officially, the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball, but that would need to be one heck of a wide scoreboard to fit that lot in.

43. "Little Red Book" author : MAO

45. It's not pretty to look at : EYESORE

46. Certain bond, briefly : MUNI

48. Tae __ do : KWON

50. "The __ lama, he's a priest ... ": Nash : ONE L

51. Sherry in a Poe title : AMONTILLADO. A jaunty, cheerful and uplifting tale of burial alive.

55. When doubled, a number puzzle : KEN. From the Japanese word for cleverness, 賢 ken, so I'm told.

56. "Beatles '65" song : I'M A LOSER. Not one of their best-known, that's for sure. The album the song was on was released as "Beatles for Sale" in the UK, not the album title in the clue, so I thought '65 referred to the release year, but that was actually 1964. Confused yet?

61. Common news hr. : TEN P.M.

64. Intensely active state : OVERDRIVE

65. Greek storyteller : AESOP

66. Reject suddenly : JILT, as a lover.

67. Field : AREA

68. Land maps : PLATS. Learning moment for me. I had PLANS at first until INKPON showed up at 47D.

69. Ornamental band : SASH

70. Socially awkward type : NERD

Down:

1. Interlock : MESH

2. Nueve menos uno : OCHO. Spanish math.

3. McAn of footwear : THOM. Crosses for me. Never heard of the brand.

4. NHL great Gordie : HOWE

5. In flames : AFIRE

6. Camping gear company with a lantern in its logo : COLEMAN

7. "Wait a minute!" : HOLD IT!

8. People working for People, briefly : EDS. Magazine editors.

9. Wash gently against : LAP AT. This one seems to have been cropping up a lot recently, or perhaps I'm just noticing it more. Funny how that happens.

10. Narrow waterway : STRAIT. "Narrow" would appear to be a relative term. The Bass Strait, which separates Tasmania from mainland Australia, is approximately 220 miles wide.

11. "__ you coming?" : ARE

12. Up to, casually : 'TIL "Open 8 'til Late".

13. Mineo of "Exodus" : SAL

18. Air rifle ammo : BB'S

21. Full of gumption : FEISTY

23. Caviar, e.g. : ROE

24. Award often blue : RIBBON. The alternately-spelled BLUE RIBAND trophy is held by the liner United States for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a passenger ship.

25. Pooh pal : EEYORE. With Piglet, my favorite character from the books (don't get me started on the Disney abominations). Is his rundown house EEYORE'S EYESORE?

26. Philadelphia university : DREXEL. Oh, so that's where it is. I wondered.

27. __ party : PAJAMA. PYJAMA in British English, so I waited for ALASKAN to resolve matters for me.

28. Shakespearean call to arms : ALARUM. Great word.

29. "Scarface" (1983) star : PACINO

30. "Try me" : ASK

34. "Bette Davis Eyes" singer Carnes : KIM. Gravelly-throated songstress. Good stuff.

35. Luke and Leia's father : ANAKIN. Get your Star Wars nerd on today.

37. Friend of Fidel : CHE. Cue iconic image:

41. Spanish "that" : ESO

44. Woodland mouser : OWL

45. Glossy coats : ENAMELS

47. Place to dip a quill : INKPOT. Corrected my erroneous PLANS at 68A

49. Piglet of children's books : OLIVIA. Cute looking pig!

52. Holiday hires : TEMPS

53. 35-Down, as a Sith lord : DARTH. I can't remember if I linked this before, but it tickles me to death every time I watch it. Adult language warning for a couple of F-bombs.

54. Rusted, perhaps : OLD

57. Setting of Camus' "The Plague" : ORAN. Algerian city which suffered a repeat outbreak in 2003.

58. Many a retired racehorse : SIRE

59. At any time : EVER

60. Spent time with Time : READ. You could clue either "Spend" or "Spent" and just change the pronunciation of the answer, which is neat, no?

61. Gentle touch : TAP. I had PAT first, which amused me when I noticed that I simply had it backwards.

62. Oft-smoked fish : EEL

63. DOD intel arm : N.S.A. The National Security Agency, brought to prominence (unhappily for them!) in recent times by Edward Snowden.

64. Drinks at IHOP : OJ'S 

That's about it from me. Here's the grid while I get my coat.


Steve

Tuesday, September 1 2015, Mark Bickham

Theme: Go Deep.

19. Judgments made on the fly : SNAP DECISIONS

 
29. Call it quits : THROW IN THE TOWEL

39. Take a nap : CATCH FORTY WINKS

55. Football play comprised of the starts of 19-, 29- and 39-Across : COMPLETED PASS

See above.

Melissa here. This will be brief - having some issues with blogger.

Across

1. Pop singer Anthony : MARC

5. Drive-__ window : THRU

9. Annoying email : SPAM

13. "Then again," in texts : OTOH. On The Other Hand.

14. Real howler : RIOT

15. In and of itself : PER SE. Latin, meaning in itself.

16. Arnaz of early sitcoms : DESI

17. Save-the-date card follow-up : INVITATION

21. Joe of "NCIS" : SPANO

22. "Dang!" : RATS

23. "The Crying Game" actor Stephen : REA

24. Hole in one : ACE

25. Connecticut Ivy Leaguer : ELI

27. Taunting laugh : HAH

36. Champ's cry : I WON

37. Airport compliance org. : FAA. Federal Aviation Administration.

38. Cuban currency : PESO

44. Patriotic women's gp. : DAR. Daughters of the American Revolution.

45. Clever laugh : HEH

46. Ef counterpart, in temperatures : CEE. Ef as in Fahrenheit, CEE as in Celsius.

47. NW state with a panhandle : IDA. Idaho.

50. Simpson who's a member of 12-Down : LISA

53. Tryst participant : LOVER

58. First sequel's sequel : EPISODE III

59. Pandora's boxful : ILLS

62. Cut again, as lumber : RESAW

63. Apollo 11 destination : MOON

64. Earth goddess : GAIA

65. Part of GPS: Abbr. : SYST

66. Like some telegrams : SUNG

67. Tiny part of a min. : NSEC. A nanosecond is one billionth of a second.

Down

1. "The __ Squad" : MOD

2. Dined : ATE

3. 1995 Reform Party founder : ROSS PEROT

4. Great Wall locale : CHINA. Look.

5. Libyan port : TRIPOLI

6. Rear : HIND

7. 63-Across exploration vehicle : ROVER

8. Erie Canal city : UTICA

9. Alien-seeking gp. : SETI

10. Aforementioned : PRIOR

11. Together : AS ONE

12. Group with an annual Mind Games competition : MENSA

15. Volkswagen family car : PASSAT

18. Ten percent donation : TITHE

20. From the beginning : ANEW

21. The "u" sound in "census" : SCHWA

24. Suffix with problem : A TIC

26. Help desk offering, briefly : INFO

28. Arizona tribe : HOPI

30. How some pics are stored : ON CD

31. La Brea stuff : TAR. Museum.

32. Owns, biblically : HATH

33. Holiday carol's "Good King" : WENCESLAS

34. Glacial ridge : ESKER. Virtual field trip of Blakeney esker.

35. Get rid of : LOSE

40. Consecrate : HALLOW

41. Like much pub grub : FRIED

42. Kennel cacophony : YELPING

43. "Now, just hold on" : WHOA

47. "Happy birthday" writers, perhaps : ICERS

48. Dwarf who swept up Doc's discarded diamonds : DOPEY

49. Off the mark : AMISS

51. Plant parts : STEMS

52. Vowel fivesome : AEIOU

54. Champ's gesture : V SIGN. V for Victory.

56. Natl. Merit Scholarship qualifying exam : PSAT

57. Frontman for the Belmonts : DION. Dion and the Belmonts.

60. Perjure oneself : LIE. All too common in court.

61. __ fly: RBI producer: SAC. Sacrifice.

Monday, August 31, 2015 Janice Luttrell

Theme: Tales from the Grid - First word of the reveal followed by the first word of the starred clue answers.

17A. *Sentry : GATE KEEPER. Tail Gate

11D. *Wishful thinking : PIPE DREAM. Tail Pipe

41A. Caboose locale ... and a hint to what the first word of the answers to starred clues can be : TAIL END

64A. *Crafty press agent : SPIN DOCTOR. Tail Spin

34D. *Music-maker activated by a breeze : WIND CHIME. Tail Wind

Argyle here. We haven't seen a puzzle from Janice in sometime. A pretty pinwheel grid to start our week and end our month.

Across:

1. Tiny insect : MITE

5. Road trip stop : MOTEL. What's your favorite?

10. Zipped : SPED

14. Indigo dye source : ANIL.

15. Solo : ALONE

16. Fillable bread : PITA

19. Apple tablet : iPAD

20. City with Heat and Hurricanes : MIAMI

21. Copter's forerunner : GIRO. Yes, I tried it with a Y first.

22. Strike from the text : DELE

23. Gulf War journalist Peter : ARNETT

25. Invented, as a word : COINED

27. Light on the Vegas strip : NEON

29. Made a boo-boo : ERRED

32. Grocery box amt. : NT.WT. (net weight)

35. Electrician on a film set : GAFFER

39. Academic URL suffix : .EDU

40. Sushi tuna : AHI

42. Wolfed down : ATE

43. Transgress : SIN

44. Staten or Manhattan : ISLAND. Two of the five boroughs of NYC.

45. License-issuing agcys. : DMVs. (Department of Motor Vehicles)

46. Tennis great Agassi : ANDRE. US Open this week.

48. Info : DOPE

50. Show with clowns : CIRCUS

54. Skype need : WEBCAM

58. "Come Fly With Me" lyricist Sammy : CAHN

60. Poker stake : ANTE

62. Spaghetti topper : SAUCE. What's your favorite?

63. Copies are made from one: Abbr. : ORIGnal

66. Street artist in a striped shirt, stereotypically : MIME

67. Mombasa's country : KENYA

68. Penn Sta.-to-Suffolk County train system : LIRR. Get out of NYC on the Long Island Rail Road.

69. Tapped brew : BEER

70. Golf's Slammin' Sammy : SNEAD

71. __, meeny ... : EENY

Down:

1. Molten rock : MAGMA

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

3. Business big shot : TITAN

4. Periodic table item : ELEMENT

5. West of "My Little Chickadee" : MAE

6. Couturier Cassini : OLEG

7. Subject matter : TOPIC

8. Warm month in Chile : ENERO. January is mid-summer remember.

9. "Vive __!": "Long live the king!" : LE ROI

10. Kiddie-lit's Charlotte, e.g. : SPIDER

12. And others, in Lat. : ET AL.

13. 20-Across' former county : DADE. Former?

18. Toy on a string : KITE

24. Frat party robes : TOGAs

26. Unhip sort : NERD

28. Finger or toe part : NAIL

30. 1999 Ron Howard satire : "ED TV"

31. Association fees : DUES

32. Astronaut's org. : NASA

33. Like wafers : THIN

36. St. Augustine's state: Abbr. : FLA. (Florida) oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement in the US.

37. Ward (off) : FEND

38. Provide with funds : ENDOW

41. Tall-cake layer : TIER

45. Complete failure : DEBACLE

47. Pro pretending to be an amateur : RINGER

49. Tijuana money : PESO

51. Winery containers : CASKS

52. Set free, as pigs : UNPEN

53. "Goosebumps" author R.L. : STINE

55. Term of affection : CUTIE

56. Nut under an oak : ACORN

57. "__ Christmas!" : MERRY

58. Hair-parting tool : COMB

59. Singer India.__ : ARIE. (India.Arie for style)

61. Irish folk singer : ENYA

65. Family guy : DAD

Argyle