Tuesday, March 15, 2016 John R. O'Brien

Theme: Word Fusion - Three examples of portmanteaux.

17A. Latter-day Beau Brummell : METROSEXUAL. METRO(politan) + (hetero)SEXUAL

27A. Eponymous '80s fiscal policy : REAGANOMICS. President Reagan and economics.

46A. Crossbred guide dog : LABRADOODLE. Labrador Retriever and Poodle.

62A. 17-, 27- or 46-Across : PORTMANTEAU

Argyle here. Not much to say. Tight fit to get from the top to the bottom. "It's been a little over a year since John's last visit, I hope the next one is sooner." (Tue., Mar. 24, 2015) He got in under the wire. 

Across:

1. Transparent : LIMPID. Do you remember "those cool and limpid green eyes? Song (2:38)

7. Pasture mom : MARE

11. Beaver project : DAM

14. On the plane : ABOARD

15. Stein fillers : ALES

16. Detroit-to-Harrisburg dir. : ESE. 112.50°

19. School support gp. : PTA. (parent-teacher association)

20. No longer on one's plate : EATEN

21. Virtual people, in a game series : SIMS. Simulations.

22. Wrap for leftovers : FOIL

23. Ambles : MOSEYS

25. Mount Rushmore quartet : NOSES. Really big noses.

31. Furry Persians : CATS

35. Norse god of war : TYR

36. Wood shaper : LATHE

37. Home run jog : TROT

38. Grenoble's river : ISERE

41. Corned beef order : LEAN

42. Update, as a cartographer might : REMAP

44. Bogotá's land: Abbr. : COLombia

45. Cut a paragraph, say : EDIT

50. "Vamoose!" : "SCRAM!"

51. Threw with effort : HEAVED

55. Rocker David Lee __ : ROTH

57. Southwestern land formation : MESA

59. Lured (in) : ROPED

61. Wall St. debut : IPO. (Initial Public Offering)

64. Downing Street address : TEN. The office of the British Prime Minister.

65. Poker stake : ANTE

66. Cool and collected : SERENE

67. Chemical suffix : ENE

68. Baseball gripping point : SEAM

69. Car radio button : PRESET

Down:

1. Like a weak excuse : LAME

2. Skyscraper support : I-BEAM

3. Utah's "Industry," for one : MOTTO

4. Cuts the rind off : PARES

5. Crease maker, or crease remover : IRONER

6. Cavity filler's deg. : DDS. (Doctor of Dental Surgery)

7. Modest skirt : MAXI

8. Grad who may use "née" in a college newsletter : ALUMNA. Two grads, alumnae.

9. Good thinking : REASON

10. Night school subj. : ESL. (English as a Second Language)

11. Added to one's bank account : DEPOSITED

12. Piedmont wine region : ASTI

13. McDonald's "Happy" offering : MEAL

18. Op-ed pieces : ESSAYS

22. Hen or ewe : FEMALE

24. Himalayan legend : YETI

26. Note between fa and la : SOL

28. __-Roman wrestling : GRECO

29. Spiced Indian brew : CHAI

30. On its way : SENT

31. PC key not used alone : CTRL

32. Geometry calculation : AREA

33. Arizona town where the Earps and Clantons fought : TOMBSTONE

34. Collar stiffener : STARCH

39. '90s White House name : RODHAM. Once and future name?

40. Glamour rival : ELLE. (magazines)

43. Bogey beater : PAR. (Golf)

47. Crooner Vic : DAMONE

48. Mafioso code of honor : OMERTÁ. Code of silence.

49. W-2 form recipient : EARNER

52. "À __ santé!" : VOTRE. "To your health!"

53. Olympic swords : EPEEs

54. Revolutionary diplomat Silas : DEANE. Information

55. Solemn ceremony : RITE

56. Start the bidding : OPEN

58. Goblet part : STEM

60. "Mrs. Robinson," e.g. : DUET. It's sung by a duo but not a duet, right or wrong?

62. Partners for mas : PAs

63. Cairo cobra : ASP

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

The 39th American Crossword Puzzle Tournament (April 1-3) will be held at the Stamford Marriott in Stamford, Connecticut. For those who attend, I hope you won't miss the Cru Dinner organized by the great Mike Alpern. See the crossword pope on the third page? Ha ha.

The Cru Dinner officially kicks off the tournament and is a great opportunity to meet with constructors (esp our own Minnesotan George Barany, Tom Pepper and Marcia Brott, all will be at the Cru Dinner this year) and fellow solvers. The space is limited, so be sure to contact with Mike as soon as possible.

Mike also takes fantastic photos of the tournament each year.  I'll just pick a few pictures from his albums.

Rich, Mike & Kim,  ACPT, 2008

Marti & Rich, ACPT, 2013

Al Sanders & Tom Pepper, ACPT, 2014

Mike and George Barany

Monday, March 14, 2016 Ed Sessa

Theme: A Little Help - Lend a hand to the last words of the theme entries.

20. Kid's sidewalk business : LEMONADE STAND. Handstand.

29. Nestlé bottled water brand : POLAND SPRING. Handspring.

46. Soda fountain order : VANILLA SHAKE. Handshake.

56. "Applause, applause!" ... or what one might do in front of the last words of 20-, 29- and 46-Across : GIVE THEM A HAND

Argyle here. I bet there are some words you won't see until you read them here. Autofill. And some words you may not have seen before. It would have been nice if all three 'hands' were the same type or all different but it is what it is.

Across:

1. Decorator's asset : TASTE. Especially a cake decorator?

6. PCs made by Big Blue : IBMs. Big Blue is IBM but are the PC's called something else?

10. Casual tête-à-tête : CHAT. Head to head.

14. Part of "Hamlet" in which Ophelia drowns : ACT IV

15. Game with cues : POOL

16. Wife of Zeus : HERA

17. Last word of "The Star-Spangled Banner" : BRAVE

18. Estimate words : OR SO

19. Metrical foot, in poetry : IAMB

23. Sixth sense, briefly : ESP. (extrasensory perception)

24. RR stop : STN. (station)

25. Contented sounds : AHs

26. Air traffic org. : FAA. (Federal Aviation Administration)

32. Director Wertmüller : LINA. Née Arcangela Felice Assunta Wertmüller von Elgg Spañol von Braueich.

35. Young Darth's nickname : ANI. Anakin Skywalker.

36. Army base nickname : SARGE

37. Amo, amas, __ : AMAT

38. Green energy type : SOLAR

41. "The doctor __" : IS IN

42. Monopoly payments : RENTS

44. Summer, in France : ÉTÉ

45. Cancel an edit : STET

50. At least one : ANY

51. Balloon filler : AIR. Hot air, sometimes.

52. Civil Rights Memorial designer Maya __ : LIN

53. "Mamma __!" : MIA

60. Loads (of) : A TON

62. Saddle or sofa : SEAT

63. "Wheel of Fortune" co-host : VANNA White.

64. Bread unit : LOAF

65. Like nonfiction : TRUE

66. DeGeneres of TV talk : ELLEN

67. Pic, in ads : FOTO

68. Skinny Olive and family : OYLs

69. Prefix with foam : STYRO. (ubiquitous plastic)

Down:

1. Place setting setting : TABLE

2. Plowing measures : ACRES

3. Post office purchase : STAMP

4. Binge-watcher's device : TIVO

5. "That being said ... " : "EVEN SO ..."

6. Apple music player : IPOD NANO

7. Dull one : BORE

8. Israeli intelligence group : MOSSAD

9. "Three-toed" leaf eaters : SLOTHS

10. Whiskers spot : CHIN

11. Like swan dives : HEADFIRST

12. Upper limb : ARM

13. Indent key : TAB

21. Book of maps : ATLAS

22. Once-sacred Egyptian snakes : ASPs

27. Woman with an online list : ANGIE

28. Secret __: spy : AGENT

29. Singer LaBelle or LuPone : PATTI

30. Frasier's brother : NILES

31. Pay hike : RAISE

32. Immature insect : LARVA

33. "Know what __?" : I MEAN

34. Billy's barnyard mate : NANNY GOAT

39. Olympic competitors : ATHLETES

40. Adjust one's sights : RE-AIM

43. Czech or Serb : SLAV

47. Fools with a fib : LIES TO

48. Blood carrier : ARTERY

49. Jacks in a deck : KNAVEs

53. Masculine : MANLY

54. Word before circle or city : INNER

55. Hersey's "A Bell for __" : ADANO

57. "Inside" dope : INFO

58. Yield from a heist : HAUL

59. Stop : HALT

60. Furry TV E.T. : ALF. (alien life form)

61. "__ many cooks ... " : TOO. "...spoil the broth".

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

1) Happy 58th Birthday to JJM, another thrill-seeker on the blog. Here is a picture of his zip lining in 2010. JJM loves baseball, golf & hockey. I think both of his kids play hockey.

2) Please send thoughts and prayers to Bluehen for his hip surgery this morning.

Sunday March 13, 2016, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: PLUGGED NICKEL

Some of us with a few miles on our odometers, can remember this 50's novelty song by Teresa Brewer whose first line was, "Put another NIckel in, In the NIckelodeon". 

Well our lovely den mother C.C. and her frequent puzzling partner Don (Hard G) Gagliardo did not insert nickels but rather dropped in the chemical symbol for the element nickel - NI - into some common phrases to make some clever crossword fills. They were having so much fun, they "coined" ten theme entries. C.C. told me their original title was TENNIS ANYONE? which  I absolutely did not get until she explained it to me. If you don't get it, I've explained it at the bottom of the write-up.

Theme fills (without and then Plugging In That NI)

23. Flier with a magical rod? : DIVINING BIRD  - A fowl plummeting toward its next meal OR a feathered friend wielding this magic DIVINING rod to find water, minerals or whatever...

25. Signal that nails are dry? : MANI BELL - The colloquial name for Bell Telephone pre-divestiture OR a time piece with an alarm to let you know your polish is dried

35. Sweet tooth? : SUGAR CANINE - The tall, green plant from which much sugar is derived or this. Yeah, I know the CANINES are further back but work with me here.

41. Nocturnal critter enjoying a meal? : DINING BAT - Archie's pet name for Edith Bunker OR 

56. Rejection of a parcel? : PACKAGE DENIAL - The whole kit and caboodle OR Jerry saying "I don't want it!" (Splynter's nightmare)

80. Part of the ad that sells the product? : FINISHING HOOK - A barb to catch a lenten meal OR how to catch a customer

94. Ace garage door mechanic? : GENIE WHIZ - A wistful remark OR the guy you'll need to fix one of these. He was at our house on Wednesday.

97. Ralph Lauren's "Celebrate Radio" clothing line? : MARCONI POLO - The Italian who spent years in the court of Kublai Kahn (but did NOT bring back spaghetti) OR the inventor of radio as a couturière

114. Superhero who doesn't do well in a crisis? : PANIC MAN - A early popular video game OR Superman who just wasn't up to it that day

116. Carrier pigeon's daily delivery? : NEWS CANISTER - A radio or TV reader of daily events OR the container attached to a homing pigeon to carry messages during WWI in this case

Now, filling my NIche as a blogger, I present my NIckel and Dime musings

Across     
    
1. Compares poorly : PALES

6. Unites : MERGES - How we do Christmas card envelopes

12. Scoundrel : CAD

15. Terminus of all roads? : ROME - Yes all their wonderful roads did lead there at one time

19. Slip past : ELUDE

20. Lizard with a dewlap : IGUANA - Not an attractive feature

21. Coleridge wrote one on dejection : ODE

22. Scrape, in totspeak : OWIE

27. "We gotta go" : IT'S TIME 

28. Work in a park, perhaps : STATUE - Work of art

30. Fight sites : ARENAS

31. Couple in a boat : OARS - Sometimes I don't have both of mine in the water

33. Venice glider : GONDOLA

46. Sporty auto roofs : T-TOPS

47. Cut with a beam : LASE -  Would you really want to LASE your eyes as cheaply as possible?

48. First name in fashion : COCO - Ms. Chanel

49. Word accompanying finger-shaking : NO NO

50. San __: jet set resort : REMO - In the map above, it appears that one of those roads that led to Rome came from this far NW Italy town 30 miles from Nice, France

51. Many an earring : CLIP ON

53. A grand's ten : C-SPOTS - It takes ten of these C-NOTES to made a grand - $1,000

55. "__ you serious?" : ARE  - A variation

61. Slow start? : ESS - The letter ESS starts both words

62. Founder of what is now Lima : PIZARRO - My first Juan had two Z's

64. Drag racing gp. : NHRA - Should I write out National Hot Rod Association? Nah!

65. "My bad!" : I'M SORRY - Popularized in '95 move Clueless

67. Showed pain : MOANED 

69. "__ I done?" : WHAT'VE

70. Eatery serving filled fare : TACO BAR - Let me at it!

72. First park with a Home Run Apple : SHEA - Home of the Mets from 1964 - 2008

75. Potpourri : GRAB BAG

79. Hockey great : ORR

83. 67.5 deg. : ENE - Here 'ya go

84. DVD player error message : NO DISC

86. Call before a snap : HUT ONE - Start of a QB's cadence but usually shared with the center

87. Sharp turns : ZAGS

88. All square : EVEN - Tied up

89. __ the crack of dawn : UP AT

91. Time to give up? : LENT - 40 days that start on Ash Wednesday 

93. Hamlet and Victor Borge : DANES - Victor would be bigger laughs at a party!

99. Where Puccini's "Turandot" premiered : LA SCALA - Turandot contains the fabulous aria Nessun Dorma

101. Salon, say : E-MAG

102. Patio door : SLIDER

106. In the thick of : AMIDST

109. Game with melding : CANASTA

118. Airbrush target : ACNE - Before and after airbrushing. SHAZAM!

119. Explosive first used as a yellow dye : TNT

120. Subside : DIE OUT

121. Scottish feudal lord : THANE - Macbeth was the THANE of Glamis

122. Wicked one's lack? : REST

123. Garden chopper : HOE

124. Controversial blasts : A-TESTS - America's first A Bomb TEST was in central New Mexico  three weeks before Fat Man was dropped on Hiroshima (see 74 Down)

125. Gossip queen : YENTA
 

Down
 
1. Digital indulgence : PEDI - Maybe you'll need a PEDI BELL like 25 Across 

2. Came down : ALIT

3. Ultra Leakguards brand : LUVS - Our girls had cotton diapers

4. Polish for publication : EDIT - Not Polish as in the country but as in polish - make better

5. Fourth-year group : SENIORS - SENIORitis is epidemic this time of year in High Schools

6. __ water : MINERAL

7. Metaphorical facial embarrassment : EGG - Sling one and you might get one back

8. Coaxes from a lamp, with "out" : RUBS - Coaxing out the Genie that doesn't make garage door openers 

9. Canter or trot : GAIT

10. Really tick off : ENRAGE

11. "__ say ... " : SAD TO - "Well I'm SAD TO say, I'm on my way, won't be back for many a day"

12. Chuckle-inducing : COMEDIC - Some good COMEDIC material makes us uncomfortable 

13. Oral health org. : ADA

14. Alaska Range highlight : DENALI - Pres. Obama moved to change the name back to this rather than Mt. McKinley. Works for me.

15. Loungewear item : ROBE - My summer ROBE just came upstairs this week

16. Wilson of "Marley & Me" : OWEN - Not on my radar

17. Leon Uris' "__ 18" : MILA - Title comes from the address of the Jewish Resistance in Warsaw ulica Miła 18 (18 Mila Street, in English) 

18. Elongated fish : EELS

24. Desktop since 1998 : IMAC - Our great iMAC experience is not shared by all here

26. Persian Gulf land : IRAN - I met a woman who identified herself as Persian (ethnicity) not IRANIAN (nationality), adding that she preferred to separate herself from the politics of the country.

29. Come __: lose one's composure : UNDONE - She's Come UNDONE - The Guess Who

32. Vending machine item : SNACK

34. Tokyo-born artist : ONO

35. Spaghetti __ : STRAP  - These spaghetti-STRAPPED bib overalls are not intended for farm chores

36. Gestation sites : UTERI

37. Addams family patriarch : GOMEZ

38. Mil. address : APO - Army Post Office

39. Key, e.g. : ISLAND

40. Stable negative? : NEIGH

42. Econ. measure : GNP - Gross National (State) Product equivalents in 2012

43. Anti at the ballpark : BOOER - Also a boor

44. Full of nervous energy : ANTSY - Example A - Teaching a 2nd grade art class

45. Deep-six : TOSS - I'll bet you know the huge movie where a woman decided to DEEP-SIX this diamond 

48. Sonata finale : CODA

52. According to : PER

53. Leader who gave up cigar-smoking in 1985 : CASTRO

54. Polish relative : SLOVAK

56. Checks for errors : PROOFS - I PROOF my blogs to check for errors, but the best laid plans of men and mice...

57. Mideast language : ARABIC

58. Late-night show since 2010 : CONAN

59. Biomedical research agcy. : NIH-  National Institute of Health 

60. Insect stage after pupa : IMAGO - The end product of the process

63. Theater chain initials : AMC

66. Johnny __ : REB - His side got second

68. Pa. airport north of PIT : ERI(E)

69. Ring Cycle composer : WAGNER - Hitler's iPod would have had lots of Richard's work

70. Treasure stash : TROVE

71. "As You Like It" forest : ARDEN - From the River Avon to the River Tame

72. Close : SHUT

73. Top 10 song : HIT

74. __ Gay : ENOLA - Delivery vehicle for device mentioned in 126 Across

76. Bingo cousin : BEANO - A predecessor where I'll bet you know what was used to mark the cells 

77. Word from the Latin for "messenger" : ANGEL

78. Painter's undercoat : GESSO - Applying and sanding Golden Brand GESSO

79. Universal donor's type, briefly : O-NEG -  As you can see, O-Negative blood can be given to any other type and AB+ only to other AB+'s

81. Gomer Pyle exclamation : SHAZAM

82. Thus : HENCE

85. Pasta suffix : INI

87. Heat up quickly : ZAP

89. Hesitant sounds : UH'S 

90. Hot and spicy : PICANTE

92. Alley lurkers : TOMCATS

93. It's good to lose with it : DIGNITY - or...

95. Juice: Abbr. : ELEC

96. Geniality : WARMTH 

97. Reached the big time : MADE IT - Like George and Weezie 

98. Chicken vindaloo go-with : NAAN

100. Singer Ronstadt : LINDA 

102. Practice for a bout : SPAR - World's worst job? SPARRING with Mike Tyson.

103. Bra fabric : LACE

104. Holiday lodgings? : INNS

105. South Beach, for one : DIET

107. __'Pea : SWEE - Swee' Pea was left on Popeye's doorstep

108. General __ chicken : TSO'S 

110. 1975 Wimbledon champ : ASHE - He won, lost and lived with DIGNITY!

111. Asian country suffix : STAN - There's a few

112. Lawn party rental : TENT

113. Interior designer's statistic : AREA

115. "Is that __?" : A NO - He's good at it!

117. "Stop filming!" : CUT - Or Stop Blogging! 

C.C.'s original title of TENNIS ANYONE means TEN NI'S ANYONE as in ten insertions of NI. Duh, Gary!

Well, that's my NIckel's worth. Now, how about your two cents? 

GRID