Thursday, November 12th, 2015 Kurt Krauss

Theme: Six Servings - a veggie melange today. The circles reveal four jumbles and two anagrams thrown into the pot for good measure.

10A. Long-armed beasts : APES. Peas.

17A. Diamond heist? : STOLEN BASE. Beans.

23. Bare-bones staff : SKELETON CREW. Leeks. Here's a cheery bunch, courtesy of artist Ian O'Keefe:

47A. Divides, as lovers : COMES BETWEEN. Beets.

57A. Stereotypical bachelors' toys : SPORTS CARS. Carrots. You can have one of these McLarens for around $275,000 if you stick with the base package.

63A. He's fifth on the career home run list : MAYS. Yams. Second of the baseball-referencing themers. I know someone around these parts who didn't have any trouble there.

and the reveal:

35A. Dinner side, and what can literally be found in this puzzle's circles : MIXED VEGETABLES. Food! Here's some with a Thai flavor:

Hi everyone - Steve here with Kurt's challenge for the day. I definitely found this one crunchier than usual (and not because the vegetables were under-cooked!) - that middle top section almost did me in, egads! 

Any of you solving without circles might have been handicapped by their lack; once I'd tumbled to the theme they definitely gave me a leg-up with the trickily-clued STOLEN BASE when I was having conniptions up in the North Dakota/Minnesota area.

Let's see what else we can find to ponder upon:

Across:

1. Thin locks, as of hair : WISPS

6. League fraction : MILE. This was my first "what????" moment up here. I was fixated on sports league references. Finally, right at the end, the penny dropped. Three miles in a league. Here's the opening to Tennyson's "Charge of the Light Brigade". Cheerful stuff.

Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.

14. Tin Pan Alley org. : ASCAP. Performing rights royalty collections agency. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Irving Berlin was one of the founders, which gives me the perfect excuse to have a little fun with Jeeves and Wooster.

15. "... but I play one __" : ON TV. Second "what?????" up here. Took a while, and had me doubting "EVE" - what word ends in "V"?

16. Lead-in for sci : POLI

19. Tiger Woods' ex : ELIN. Still crossword-current though.

20. Fresh from the oven : HOT

21. One may be tossed after a wish : COIN. I read "crossed" first, and wondered how you can cross one finger?

22. Rub the wrong away : ERASE. Nice clue - of course I read "wrong way" first. Something wrong with my eyesight today.

26. Painter who was a leader of the Fauvist movement : MATISSE. Familiar with the artist, unfamiliar with the movement.

29. "__ Ben Adhem" : ABOU. Who? Thank you, crosses. Title character of the Leigh Hunt poem, apparently.

30. Shooting star, to some : OMEN

31. 1928 Oscar winner Jannings : EMIL. He won the very first Best Actor Oscar. (It was actually in 1929, but you could argue he won for his 1928 performances).

32. Early Beatle Sutcliffe : STU. He quit the band in Hamburg to go to art school, leaving the bass-playing duties to be picked up by the left-handed Paul McCartney. Sadly, he died a year later of a brain aneurysm.

40. Firm : SET

41. Reason for a tow job : REPO. Not a flat, as I first thought.

42. Literary governess : EYRE. Quick - name a literary governess who isn't Jane Eyre.

43. Controversial video game feature : GORE. Controversial? To whom?

44. Does a security job : SCREENS

51. Squirrel away : AMASS

52. Fruit discard : RIND. I used to eat orange rinds. I only did it because it annoyed my mom.

53. __ bath : MUD

56. Cost of living? : RENT

60. Eye rakishly : OGLE

61. Place to see crawls : POOL. The front and back varieties. A lot of people think the front crawl is called "freestyle". It's not, the freestyle race allows you to pick your own stroke, it just happens that everyone uses the front crawl because it's the quickest one.

62. Rock's __ Boingo : OINGO

64. Kennel sounds : YIPS

65. Graph lines : X-AXES. Looks odd in the grid, better with the hyphen.

Down:

1. Break-even transaction : WASH. Or, as the water-colorist replied when he was asked what he was putting on the paper - "It's a wash".

2. Comparative words : IS TO

3. Nae sayer : SCOT. The Scots recently voted "nae" in their referendum to leave the United Kingdom.

4. Frequent companion : PAL. I guess that means you can't pal around with an infrequent chum.

5. Dust motes : SPECKS. I like this crossing WISPS for no good reason.

6. Calder piece : MOBILE. I had no clue this gentleman was known as "The father of the mobile". That top section remained stubbornly blank for a long time.

7. Featherbrained : INANE

8. SFPD ranks : LTS. Police lieutenants. SFPD ain't got periods, so I'll leave them out of the answer. Annoyingly.

9. Memorable temptation victim : EVE

10. Brief outline : APERÇU. I know the word, in the sense that I can recognize it when I see it, and spell it, but I realized today that I didn't actually know what it meant. Now I do!

11. __ cap : POLAR. Aren't we missing the word "ice" here?

12. Beethoven's "Für __" : ELISE. I learned this on the piano when I was a kid. My mother loved it, so taken along with the orange peel eating, it was a wash.

13. Resilient strength : SINEW. I've never seen this in the sense of "possessing strength" before. I like it.

18. Anti votes : NOES

22. Name on a historic B-29 : ENOLA. Gay, the pilot's mom.

23. Cosecant's reciprocal : SINE

24. Teach, in a way : TAME

25. Final notice? : OBIT. Common enough in the shortened form not to need an abbreviation indication in the clue.

26. Kids' drivers, often : MOMS. Moms drive their kids. In return, orange-peel-eating kids drive their moms nuts.

27. Valéry's valentine : AMIE. Former president of France is Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. I hope it's his wife he's sending valentines to - his successor, François Mitterrand, famously had a string of mistresses.

28. Printed words : TEXT

31. It may need a boost : EGO

32. Roy Rogers' birth name : SLYE. He wasn't born "Roy" either. Franklin Slye.

33. Fork-tailed flier : TERN

34. Exploits : USES

36. Smeltery waste : DROSS. Smeltery? I think most people call 'em steelworks.

37. Hit or miss : VERB

38. Three-sided blade : EPÉE. It's only got one side when you get to the business end - the point.

39. " ... I've __ to the mountaintop": King : BEEN. Martin Luther King Jr's last speech. He was assassinated the next day.

43. Beaux __: noble deeds : GESTES. Note the pluralization of both words.

44. Ice cream designs : SWIRLS

45. Copper : CENT

46. Three-time 21st-century World Series champs : RED SOX. In 2004, most Bostonians would have doubted they'd ever live to see the day they won one, considering they hadn't won one since 1918. Chicago Cubs fans take heart.

47. Billiards shot : CAROM. Aha! I said. MASSE! That came out about two seconds later.

48. Greek finale : OMEGA. The last letter of the alphabet. Nice clue.

49. Virile : MANLY

50. Military unit : TROOP. Funny old word, troop. In the plural, it's ambiguous - compare "American troops" (a non-specific number) and "The army is sending 1,000 troops to .." (a very specific number). "Troops" is interchangeable with "soldiers", but "soldier" is not interchangeable with "troop". "A troop of soldiers" is some number more than a few. Confused much?

53. Tailless cat : MANX. From the Isle of Man.

54. Goad : URGE

55. British mil. decorations : D.S.O.S. Distinguished Service Orders. It's no use giving distinguished service if you're not an officer - you won't get this gong. Officers only. Weird.

57. Tom Clancy figure : SPY

58. Hawaiian dish : POI

59. Org. in Tom Clancy novels : C.I.A. I see what you did with 57A there.

And I think that's all I've got. Here's the grid:

Steve

Wednesday, November 11, 2015, D. Scott Nichols and C.C. Burnikel

First and foremost on this 11th day of the 11th month: 

We honor veterans at our corner and all others who have served.

Title: It's a Mad, Mad World

Congrats to our own Santa and C.C. who have given us a delightful and whimsical exercise today! This puzzle is full of the elements of mathematician Lewis Carroll's (born Charles L. Dodgson) fantasy Alice in Wonderland, all of which are in the graphic above. Four across and three down theme answers make our journey even more fun.

Across theme entries

20. Access to 54-Across : RABBIT HOLE - Alice's port of entry

34. "Mad" social in 54-Across : TEA PARTY - A rather odd conclave

43. 34-Across napper in 54-Across : DORMOUSE - Seen napping between March Hare and Mad Hatter 

54. Setting for a novel originally published 11/11/1865 : WONDERLAND - The theme reveal.

Down theme entries 

11. Critter who kept disappearing in 54-Across : CHESHIRE CAT - The inscrutable lurker. Couldn't resist the animated gif. 

29. Hookah smoker in 54-Across : CATERPILLAR - Gettin' high in Wonderland?

52. Visitor to 54-Across : ALICE - The star of our little adventure. She was named for Alice Liddell, a daughter of Dodgson's friend. She asked him to write down the text of a fanciful tale Charles told her and her sisters on a boat ride. Alice IN Wonderland is visually shown in this 15*16 grid.

If you're not "late, late for a very important date", take time to peruse the answers to this humpday offering from two of our favorite people

Across:     

1. Inaugural ball, e.g. : GALA

5. Calcium source : MILK - What??

9. Open, as toothpaste : UNCAP - Or what Hondo's favorite player did while running the bases

14. Very dry : ARID

15. Down to business : AT IT - I tune in the Super Bowl after they're Down to business

16. Former Cleveland oil company acquired by BP : SOHIO - Standard of Ohio

17. San __, Italy : REMO

18. "Of course" : I SEE

19. Match with bishops : CHESS - She's moving her bishop

23. Catalina, e.g. : ISLE - 26 Miles Across The Sea 

24. Houston-based scandal subject : ENRON -Ken Lay moved this Omaha-based company's headquarters to Houston when he became CEO after promising he wouldn't. Hmmm... 

25. Wood-shaping tools : LATHES - Not used to make these

27. Phone button trio : ABC - Yeah, kids today would know this... 

30. Badminton barrier : NET

31. Short-legged dog : CORGI - Elizabeth II has owned more than 30 during her reign

32. Emotionally out of control : CRAZED

37. Spud : TATER - Also what 25 Across can hit

38. Benefit : BOON - In The Jolly Coachman, The Kingston Trio sang of a maid - "She's a BOON to all mankind"

39. Butte relative : MESA

40. Like 2016 : EVEN 

41. Antacid choice : TUMS

42. Deteriorate : DECAY

45. Remove pieces from? : DISARM

46. Fencing defense : PARRY - Woman on left PARRYS woman on left and then thrusts for a point

47. Keep out : BAN - BAN and ARID in the same puzzle? Hmmm...

48. Mao __-tung : TSE

49. Shortening brand : CRISCO

51. Divided country : KOREA - Wanna guess which city is Seoul and which is Pyongyang

53. Wild West weapon : COLT - Wyatt Earp's .45-Caliber COLT sold for $225,000 in April, 2014

59. Loafs : IDLES - Have you met my nephew?

61. Some intersections : TEES - Not shirts, construction nuts or golf supports this time

62. Slushy treat : ICEE 

63. Approaches : NEARS 

64. Bond girl Kurylenko : OLGA - Bond accessories are always a girl and a gun

65. Facial area under a soul patch : CHIN

66. Prickly shrub : GORSE - Not a clue. The R in CATERPILLAR finished it off for me

67. Corset stiffener : STAY - Hattie McDaniel cinching up Vivien Leigh

68. Fish caught in pots : EELS
 
Down:
 
1. Teri of "Tootsie" : GARR - A favorite movie of mine. Nominated for ten academy awards

2. Neck of the woods : AREA

3. Common perch : LIMB

4. Acrobat creator : ADOBE

5. Restaurant host : MAITRE D' - Short for Maitre d'hotel - Master of the Hotel

6. Soup server's caution : IT'S HOT

7. Use, as a chaise : LIE ON - You could LAY a sweater ON the chaise

8. "As seen on TV" record co. : K-TEL

9. Pac-12 powerhouse : USC

10. Baseball rarities : NO HIT GAMES - Our baseball aficionados will instantly know who made this great catch to save the most famous NO HIT perfect GAME 

12. It may be graded in an auditorium : AISLE -  A sloping grade. 

13. Plays to the camera : POSES

21. Deep-seated : INNER

22. Online money source : E-LOAN 

26. Alsatian dadaist : ARP 

27. Took steps : ACTED

28. "Top Chef" network : BRAVO - This BRAVO show is real?

31. Bus. brass : CEOS - Scumbag CEO Ken Lay died a few months before he was going to get sentenced for 20 - 30 years of prison

33. Highly respected Buddhists : ZEN MASTERS - Or the NBA's Phil Jackson

34. Improvised booster seat for a tot, maybe : TOME

35. Romanov royals : TSARS

36. Self-congratulatory cheer : YAY ME

38. Active : BUSY 

41. "The Burden of Proof" author : TUROW - Also of ONE L Cwd fame

42. Restaurant visitor : DINER

44. Hobbit enemy : ORC

45. Venture to express : DARE SAY 

47. Barrio food store : BODEGA - Bad check displayed in Jerry's BODEGA

49. Keeping in the loop, briefly : CC'ING - Some of what we're doing today

50. Wild West show : RODEO

51. Lowered oneself? : KNELT

55. Plains people : OTOS

56. Overexertion aftermath : ACHE - Hey, check your birth certificate

57. Diamond of music : NEIL - His Sweet Caroline is played before the bottom of the 8th inning at Fenway and is now being used at other athletic venues. "So Good, So Good, So Good!"

58. Man caves, maybe : DENS

60. Nottingham-to-London dir. : SSE - 2 hr. 48 min. by Hwy. M1

Crossword Anthem: 

Alice: "This is impossible!" 

Mad Hatter: "Only if you believe it is!"

Notes from C.C.:

1) Santa came up with this idea. I went for a fun ride. Pure joy to work with him!

Scott (Santa)

2) We'd like to thank Sheila Brown of Lewis Carroll Society and the publisher Macmillian for helping us identify the exact publishing date as Nov 11, 1865. 

3) Big Thanks also to Rich for doubting the Wiki date and making sure we have the correct date. Rich also took time and removed the two black squares we had at the corners.

Tuesday, November 10 2015, Janice Luttrell

 Theme Care to Dance?

 58. *Guffaw from the gut : BELLY LAUGH. Belly Dance.

 

 17. *One of three in a daily diet : SQUARE MEAL. Square Dance.

24. *A roll of two, in craps : SNAKE EYES. Snake Dance.

48. *Opening night "Best of luck!" : BREAK A LEG. Break Dance.

 
35. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, e.g., and, literally, what the first words of the answers to starred clues can be : DANCE PARTNERS

Melissa here. This was smooooth as a soft-shoe dance for me, with only a few question marks that filled in easily with perps. Fun dancing theme, with a center reveal.


Across
 
1. __ Khan: Rita Hayworth's husband : ALY. Right off the bat, no clue. I feel like I should have known Prince Aly Kahn's story.

4. Composure : APLOMB

10. Turkish title of honor : AGHA

14. Life story, briefly : BIO

15. Cigar-smoking George's spouse : GRACIE

16. Swag : LOOT

19. Former Mississippi senator Trent : LOTT

20. Where sailors go : OUT TO SEA

21. Like a disengaged engine : IN IDLE

23. Plant anchor : ROOT. Aerial roots of a curtain fig tree in Australia. 

26. Bring up, as a topic : BROACH

29. Grant permission : LET

30. "Dig in" : EAT

31. Glacial historic period : ICE AGE

34. The Macarena, pet rocks, etc. : FADS

39. One, to Beethoven : EINS. German.

40. Regular practice : RITUAL

41. Quagmire : BOG

42. Fed. assistance program : SSI

44. Key related to D major : B MINOR

52. Pear center : CORE

53. __ powder : TALCUM

54. Unevenly balanced : LOPSIDED

57. Confident "Are you the one for this job?" response : I'M IT

60. Copenhagen native : DANE

61. Abode that's abuzz : APIARY. Tried beehive first - one too many letters.

62. Hawaii's Mauna __ : LOA

63. Those, to José : ESAS

64. Shorthand pros : STENOS

65. Sinusitis-treating MD : ENT

Down

1. Soak up : ABSORB

2. Bar bottle contents : LIQUOR

3. "I'm not the only one?" : YOU, TOO?

4. Farming prefix : AGRO

5. Air Force One VIP : PRES

6. Metal-threaded fabrics : LAMÉS

7. Atlantic or Pacific : OCEAN

8. Soccer star Hamm : MIA

9. Resemble : BE LIKE

10. TV's "Kate & __" : ALLIE

11. Name on a blimp : GOODYEAR

12. Detective's promising clues : HOT LEADS

13. Swears to : ATTESTS

18. Reaches : ATTAINS

22. Trawling gear : NET

25. Red flag : ALERT

27. 300, to Caesar : CCC

28. "__ Haw" : HEE

32. March follower : APRIL

33. Moo goo __ pan : GAI

34. Woman's name from the Latin for "happy" : FELICIA. Felicity didn't fit.

35. Scenes in shoeboxes : DIORAMAS

36. Actress Jolie : ANGELINA

37. Place for a bath : TUB. Yes, please.

38. '60s war zone, briefly : NAM

39. Drop in the sea : EBB TIDE

42. Product identifier similar to UPC : SKU

43. Ballroom dances : SAMBAS. More dancing. Kizomba evolved from Caribbean  zouk, African semba, and Brazilian samba.

45. Little lump : NODULE

46. West Coast state : OREGON

47. Cardinal's headgear : RED HAT

49. Entr'__: play intervals : ACTES

50. "Dallas" Miss : ELLIE

51. __ Heights: disputed Mideast region : GOLAN. Look.

55. Fire: Pref. : PYRO

56. Stone and Stallone : SLYS

59. Able, facetiously : EPT

Melissa

 

Monday, November 9, 2015 Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke

Theme: Emergency Belts - Four ways to hold your pants up.

21A. Close to defeat : ON THE ROPES

32A. "Cool duds!" : "NICE THREADS!"

41A. Use one's influence : PULL STRINGS

53A. Membranes that vibrate : VOCAL CORDS

Argyle here. I'll post today's song at the bottom; don't miss it. No unifier needed.

Across:

1. Not at all flexible : STIFF. RIGID fits the bill, too.

6. Long and lean : LANK

10. Declare openly : AVOW

14. Easily tipped boat : CANOE

15. "__ further reflection ..." : UPON

16. Building toy with theme parks : LEGO

17. Western crooner Gene : AUTRY

18. Sanctuary recess : APSE

19. Overly compliant : MEEK

20. Compressed video file format : MPEG. (Moving Picture Experts Group)

23. The brown one is Louisiana's state bird : PELICAN

25. Mae West's "I used to be Snow White, but I drifted" is one : PUN

26. Sonoma Valley vessel : VAT. Wine.

27. Start of an envelope address : MR. AND MRS.

36. Covert org. in "Argo" : CIA. (covert rescue operation)

37. Dashing style : ELAN

38. Granola grain : OAT

39. Citrus drink used by NASA : TANG. In powder form till you mix it.

40. Obstinate critter : ASS

45. Where soldiers go? : LATRINES. So true.

47. Swat : HIT. Don't swat the little things ... well, maybe in the latrine.

48. Manning of the Giants : ELI

49. "Storage Wars" sales event : AUCTION. on A&E.

58. Napoleon's exile isle : ELBA

59. Biz bigwig : EXEC

60. Mishmash : OLIO

61. French-__ potatoes : FRIED

62. No-frills shelter : TENT. unless you're a wizard.

63. Speak abrasively : RASP

64. Apartment rental agreement : LEASE

65. Former trans-Atl. fliers : SSTs. (trans-Atlantic)

66. Kremlin rejection : "NYET!"

67. Milk dispenser : UDDER. It doesn't get any fresher.

Down:

1. Mischief-maker : SCAMP

2. Brownish gray : TAUPE. Natural mole fur hue. Last month we decided they must be French moles.

3. Info from a spy drone : INTEL

4. Pardoned : FORGIVEN

5. "Saturday Night Live" alumna Tina : FEY

6. Blonde comic strip teenager : LUANN

7. Date bk. entry : APPT. (Appointment)

8. Quick bite : NOSH

9. Skateboarder's protective gear : KNEE PAD

10. Energy bar nut : ALMOND

11. Show for which Julia Louis-Dreyfus has won four consecutive acting Emmys : VEEP. I don't have HBO.

12. S-shaped molding : OGEE

13. Bowl-shaped pans : WOKS

21. Sworn statement : OATH

22. Makes tracks : RUNS

24. Jazz aficionado : CAT. Can you dig it?

27. Breakfast and dinner : MEALS

28. "Darn it!" : "RATS!"

29. Shoe brand Thom __ : McAN

30. Line around a tub : RING

31. Droops : SAGS

32. "Hud" Oscar winner Patricia : NEAL 33. "Casablanca" heroine : ILSA A couple of classy dames.

34. Play list : CAST

35. Play part : ROLE

39. Giggled nervously : TITTERED. 1610-20; perhaps Scandinavian; compare Old Norse tittra to quiver, Swedish (dial.) tittra to giggle (Huh, nothing to do about where milk comes from.)

41. Medicinal dose : PILL

42. Mythical horse with a horn : UNICORN

43. In the manner indicated : THUS

44. Rocker Ocasek : RIC. The lead singer of The Cars.

46. Punches back, say : REACTS

49. Bring home from the shelter : ADOPT

50. Homeric epic : ILIAD

51. Like Santa Claus : OBESE. Say WHAT?!

52. "Unsafe at Any Speed" author Ralph : NADER

53. November parade participants : VETS. Honor them on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

54. Clumsy oafs : OXes

55. Lincoln's coin : CENT. I like his bill better.

56. Big name in skin care : OLAY

57. Get to one's feet : RISE

61. Winter illness : FLU

 

Argyle