Monday, September 4, 2017 ~ John Lampkin

Theme: Chill! It's Labor Day! times three (like a three-day weekend).

17A. "Chill! It's Labor Day!": "SIT BACK AND RELAX!"

38A. "Chill! It's Labor Day!": "LET YOUR HAIR DOWN!"

61A. "Chill! It's Labor Day!": "DON'T LIFT A FINGER!"

Argyle here; some of us have to work. John sent us this note: 

"No pics this time. How on earth did I manage to make a puzzle with no critters in it?!

Sometimes people ask, “How long does it take to make a puzzle?” I submitted another version of this in 2013 but Rich rejected one of the 15’s and it took two years for me to find a replacement. It was supposed to run last year but there was a conflict with an August puzzle that had a similar entry in an unrelated context so it got bumped to this year. So the answer is, “Sometimes, four years!”

Across:

1. Jam holder: JAR

4. Nike logo: SWOOSH

10. H.S. junior's exam: PSAT. (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test)

14. "__ Beso (That Kiss!)": Paul Anka song: ESO

15. Stephen King's telekinetic high schooler: CARRIE. Sissy Spacek received a nomination for Best Actress but lost to Faye Dunaway(Network).

16. Short car trip: RIDE

20. Open, as a Chablis: UNCORK. "Chill! It's Labor Day!"

21. Toy block brand: LEGO

22. NYC airport on Flushing Bay: LGA. (LaGuardia Airport)

23. Gas for signs: NEON

25. "Actually, you're right": "WELL, YES"

27. Oared: ROWED

30. More than zero: ANY

32. Trail behind: LAG

33. Señora Perón: EVA

34. River, in Mexico: RIO

35. Kick out of office, as a dictator: DEPOSE

42. Early ball game score: ONE-ONE

43. "... at the __ ball game!": song lyric: OLD

44. Speak: SAY

45. Coax (out), as a genie: RUB

46. Letters in a certain bachelor's ad: SWM. [Single White Male]

47. "Bye!": "SEE YA!"

49. Unanalyzed info: RAW DATA

52. Came home in a cloud of dust: SLID

54. Inventor Whitney: ELI

55. Hawkeyes' home: IOWA

57. Historic cold period: ICE AGE

64. "Young Frankenstein" seductress: INGA

65. Big name in little trains: LIONEL

66. Prefix with verse: UNI

67. Yappy dog, e.g.: PEST

68. Holy female fig. in a Renaissance painting: ST. MARY

69. Lumberjack's tool: AXE

Down:

1. Son of God, in a Bach cantata title: JESU. Cantata: a medium-length narrative piece of music for voices with instrumental accompaniment, typically with solos, chorus, and orchestra. Bach - Cantate BWV 41 - Jesu, nun sei gepreiset, Full Length(27:36)

2. B __ bravo: AS IN

3. Campus mil. unit: ROTC. (Reserve Officers' Training Corps)

4. Chicken or cowed: SCARED

5. Ridiculously silly: WACKO. (tsk, tsk) 11D. Foolish one: SILLY GOOSE

6. Mork's planet: ORK. Now that was silly.

7. Like a dental exam: ORAL

8. Stringy, as meat: SINEWY

9. Row of foundation bushes: HEDGE

10. Antonym of post-: PRE

12. "Better a witty fool, than a foolish wit," e.g.: ADAGE

13. Lone Star State: TEXAS

18. Leftover for Fido: BONE

19. Painting gadget: ROLLER

24. Former Neet rival: NAIR. (depilatory lotions)

26. SoCal cop force: LAPD. (Los Angeles Police Department)

27. Move, in realty ads: RELO. (relocate)

28. Roast roaster: OVEN

29. Student swimmer's aid: WATER WINGS. Good or bad?

31. "Ain't happenin'!": "NO HOW!"

34. Feel regret over: RUE

35. "The butler __ it": DID

36. Persuade: SWAY

37. Irish New Age songwriter: ENYA

39. "__ be surprised": YOU'D. (You would)

40. One way for a jailed suspect to get out: ON BAIL

41. Aid to the poor: ALMS

46. Considered appropriate: SAW FIT

47. Italy's largest island: SICILY. 

(Valley of the Temples, Sicily)

48. Biblical garden: EDEN

49. Immerse in salsa again, as a chip (only do this if you're 50-Down!): REDIP. "Don't be a George." "Chill! It's Labor Day!"

50. By oneself: ALONE

51. Works hard: TOILS

53. One devoted to a single profession: LIFER

56. Itty-bitty bit: ATOM

58. 34-Across filler: AGUA

59. Group after boomers: GEN X

60. Spooky-sounding lake: ERIE

62. Tit for __: TAT

63. Santa __, California: ANA

Argyle

Sunday, September 3, 2017, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

TITLE: FIRST THINGS FIRST

Don's and C.C.'s wonderful Sunday collaboration was a treat for me to do.  I'd like to think I would have gotten the theme without the title but my mental density is quite high! This great crossword team has used seven phrases/names where the first word is, well, the first word in a familiar sequence. Way cool! Let's explore what Don "Hard G" and C.C. have given us today.

First of all the theme fills.

21. Willie Mays won 12 in 12 consecutive years : GOLD GLOVE AWARDS - Annual award to best fielder at their position in MLB and the Olympic medal awarded to athlete who is FIRST in their event

39. "Mad Men" actress : JANUARY JONES - Mrs. Don Draper and the FIRST month of the year

68. Certain group leader : ALPHA MALE - My idea of an ALPHA MALE and the capital letters of the Greek Alphabet with ALPHA being the FIRST and 13. Fraternity O's : OMICRON(S) being the 15th

94. Early '60s group that included John Glenn : MERCURY SEVEN - The first group of NASA astronauts and the planet that is FIRST in order from the Sun

116. 1990 movie with a muscular teacher : KINDERGARTEN COP - A "meh" Ahnold movie and the FIRST class most kids have in school.

14. "Rip Van Winkle" author : WASHINGTON IRVING - The early 19th century (corrected from earlier mistyped 18th) American author and the man who was the FIRST U.S. president

36. Component of hair bleach : HYDROGEN PEROXIDE - I am familiar with the phrase "Peroxide Blonde" and Hydrogen is the FIRST element in the periodic table

Now let's examine the balance of Don's and C.C.'s fill from the FIRST to the LAST

Across

1. Pocket for falafel : PITA

5. Crossing sign? : PLUS or multiply

9. Some old notebooks : IBMS - Their first notebooks took a pretty substantial lap

13. Came up short : OWED

17. USNA part: Abbr. : ACAD

18. Snuck : CREPT - Wow, September certainly CREPT up on me

19. Eponymous store founder : MACY - We don't shop there but here is the image it engenders to us

20. Gulf State native : OMANI

24. Brake components : DISCS - They are clearly visible on my wheels

25. "More!" : ENCORE

26. Left hanging : IN LIMBO - In the movies and TV they call them Cliff Hangers

27. John Wayne types : MACHOS

28. In the offing : NEAR - Seeing Halloween decorations for sale means the time to see Christmas items on the shelves is NEAR

30. "99 Luftballons" singer : NENA - A song about the insanity of war 

31. Org. created in a 1949 sports merger : NBA - The Basketball Association of America merged with the National Basketball League. The Chicago Studebakers of the NBL broke the pro sports color line with six black players six years before Jackie Robinson broke in in 1949

33. Lyft offer : RIDE - We are huge Uber fans and will never rent a car in a big city again.

34. German exclamation : ACH - ACH Du Lieber! ACH is a German exclamation, Du is "my" and Lieber is "my beloved" Gott (God) is sometimes added as well.

37. Pitt of "The Big Short" : BRAD

42. Glasgow's river : CLYDE - This beautiful bridge is one of twenty-one that cross the River Clyde near Glasgow.

44. Vineyard grape : PINOT

46. Decorative metalwork : PLATING

47. "And there you have it!" : TADA - A satisfying refrain for us crossword solvers

48. "No worries" : IT'S OK

49. Kept out of sight : HID

50. Brewery named for a Dutch river : AMSTEL

53. Stonehenge worshiper : DRUID - What they will be doing eighteen days from now

55. Brahms' "Variations on a __ of Paganini" : THEME - Not on my playlist

57. Putin's former org. : KGB - Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti 

58. Wish Tree artist : ONO - Gee, I wonder why she's famous

59. Canada's most populous province : ONTARIO

61. Pot growth from overwatering : ALGAE - Our yard has mushrooms growing in it during this wet summer

64. Sonata finale, perhaps : RONDO - A more familiar use of RONDO to this cultural philistine 

66. "I __ differ" : BEG TO

70. Hunter with a belt : ORION - The best constellation in the winter sky!

71. Von Trapp girl who sings "Sixteen Going on Seventeen" with Rolf : LIESL - Later in the movie, Rolf has to choose between LIESL and the Fuhrer and we all know how that came out.

72. Eye twinkle : GLEAM

73. Enable : EMPOWER

75. Subject for Keats : URN

76. "__ Kapital" : DAS - Karl Marx's seminal work

78. Capri or Elba, locally : ISOLA - L'ISOLA di Capri è incredibilmente bella (The island of Capri is incredibly beautiful)

80. Jack in the deck : KNAVE

82. Settles, as a debt : REPAYS

84. GI bill? : DOL - A DOLlar is a bill that is Issued by the U.S. Gov't. Hmmm...

86. Stout quantities : PINTS

88. Enter the pool, in a way : DIVE

90. Exotic vacation, maybe : ECOTOUR -Probably no skyscrapers or theme parks on this tour

92. Praline nut : PECAN - Pronunciation? 

93. Ed with Emmys : ASNER - Look up the word "Irascible", it has wonderful Ed's picture

97. Cherry-pick : CULL - Another use - I've seen many teachers who deserved to be CULLED from the profession. Tenure is a two-way street

99. Sound near a "Beware of Dog" sign : GRR

100. Dog attractor : ODOR

101. East, to Goethe : OST - Berlin ist 177 Meilen östlich von Hannover (Berlin is 177 miles EAST of Hanover)

102. Shelter chorus : ARFS - Sights and sounds at these places tug at my heartstrings

104. Kite trailer : TAIL

106. Philly cagers : SIXERS - They are 109 - 301 in the last 5 years.

108. Hotel convenience : BAR SOAP  

111. Heir and heiress : SCIONS

115. Way to step : ASIDE - Tennessee Ernie warned 'em!

118. Like acid in some disinfectants : IODIC - Dictionary.com - "Containing iodine"

119. Fascinated by : INTO

120. Citrus hybrids : UGLIS

121. James of jazz : ETTA

122. Tech gadget review site : CNET - Popular with geeks and non-geeks alike

123. Trade org. : ASSN - A better abbr. than DOL 😁

124. Island in a computer game : MYST

125. Roulette bet : NOIR - Je vais mettre 100 euros sur onze NOIR (I will put 100 euros on eleven black)


Down

1. Printer output : PAGE - I renewed my Substitute Teacher's Certificate online last week and was able to print it out the PAGE home two days later. Oh yeah, they wanted $55 too.

2. Tapped image : ICON

3. It's 1 on the Mohs scale : TALC - It's been in the news quite a bit lately

4. Accessory : ADD ON - Does your car really need $5,000 rims?

5. Expert : PRO

6. Big name in denim : LEVI - A Reno, NV tailor Jacob Davis invented canvas pants reenforced with copper rivets but LEVI Strauss got the patent and made millions

7. Home to the first collegiate business sch. : U PENN - Also the home of the Quakers in Ivy League Athletics

8. Groan elicitor : STALE JOKE

9. 1967 Spencer Davis Group hit : I'M A MAN

10. Stinging rebuke : BARB


11. Pioneering fast food name : MCDONALD - Dick and Mac MCDONALD went to a tennis court in San Bernardino, CA and drew an outline to develop their "speedy service" model. Ray Kroc then came in and took it world-wide whether the brothers liked it or not

12. Part of TBS: Abbr. : SYS

15. Protect from hackers, hopefully : ENCODE

16. Insults : DISSES 

18. Golf-friendly forecast : CLEAR - Our eclipse forecast left in some wispy clouds but the event still qualified for that most overused of adjectives - AWESOME!

20. __ Mae: Whoopi's "Ghost" role : ODA

22. Diving bird : GREBE

23. Succeed in : WIN AT

27. Whirlpool brand : MAYTAG - These MAYTAG, Whirlpool and Kenmore washers are all made in the same factory in Clyde, Ohio

29. Totally absorbed : RAPT

32. Push-up top : BRA

34. Take the stage : ACT

35. Garbed : CLAD

38. Purify, as whiskey : DISTILL - This famous DISTILLERY is in "dry" Moore county and so you can tour the facility but you can't buy any of their whiskey there.

40. Reuters rival : UPI

41. Fullback on the NFL's 1960s 
All-Decade Team : JIM BROWN - He was like a man among boys

43. Unnerves : DAUNTS

45. Pessimist's words : NO HOPE - Only Faith and Charity showed up and so there was...

48. Wyo. neighbor : IDA - I am not repeating that joke about why no girl wants to be Miss IDAHO

49. Captain's post : HELM

51. Inner: Pref. : ENDO

52. Minnesota's state bird : LOON - Fabulous Katharine Hepburn as Ethel Thayer conversing with the LOONS in On Golden Pond

54. "See?!" : I TOLD YOU - "We should never have tried to drive through that water over the road!"

56. Polite addresses : MAAMS - It took my daughter a while to adjust to being called this when she started teaching

57. Stay fresh : KEEP

60. Cleaning cloths : RAGS

62. Language that gave us "galore" : GAELIC

63. Annual fact book : ALMANAC 

65. Daphnis and Echo, e.g. : OREADS - Ancient Greek nymphs who seemed to have everything in the wash

66. Fuzzy image : BLUR

67. Its legislature is the Oireachtas : EIRE - Irish legislature

69. Hard rain? : HAIL

74. Signs off on : OK'S

77. Colt .45s, since 1965 : ASTROS

79. Venue for free discussion : OPEN FORUM - Many of these venues today seem to be confrontational 

81. Constantly : EVER

83. Sanction, as a college : ACCREDIT

84. London trash cans : DUSTBINS

85. Prospector's target : ORE

87. Letter-shaped bolt holder : T-NUT

89. __ on the side of caution : ERR

91. Cries of dismay : OYS

92. As such : PER SE - In and of itself. Many people in Texas are not first responders PER SE, but they are acting like ones when necessary.

93. Tea party attendee : ALICE

94. Inlaid design : MOSAIC

95. Rival of Tesla : EDISON - Tesla once worked for EDISON but quit when he felt he was cheated

96. __ Trophy: annual PGA honor for lowest scoring average : VARDON - In this lovely movie, 20-year-old Francis Ouimet defeated golf legend Harry Vardon in the 1900 U.S. Open. For some reasons the actors' names are over the wrong character.

98. Doesn't fade : LASTS

103. Yielding to gravity : SAGGY

105. Tablecloth material : LINEN

107. DVR button : REC

109. Farm swarm : ANTS - Our classroom had an ANT FARM when I was in sixth grade

110. Besties : PALS

112. Numerical prefix : OCTO - I am nine years away from becoming an OCTOgenarian

113. "Moi?" : NOT  I - But everyone wanted to eat the bread

114. Go toe-to-toe : SPAR 

116. Korean carmaker : KIA












117. Slowing, to an orch. : RIT - Look carefully and you will find it here:

The grid:

 LAST things LAST - Time for comments:

Saturday, Sep 2nd, 2017, David C. Duncan Dekker

Theme: DCDD

Words: 72 (pangram~!)

Blocks: 29

This is number four for DCDD - and I didn't even look at the constructor's name at first; when I did I remembered that three of those Saturday puzzles have been pangrams, so I expected the same today - and that helped tremendously in the NW, because I was blank up there to start.  Today we had one of those grids where one word could keep you from getting into the individual corners without something to work with - and I got slowed down by SMOTHERS and SPHERES, which was why my NW was empty - until I figured the "Q" had to be in there somewhere.  Ah, logic.  Caved into red-letters early - hey, I'm on vacation; I'm not working on the puzzle, either....Anyway, chunky 8x7 and 6x7 corners made up the long answers;

1. Most massive of all known elementary particles : TOP QUARK - I'd really like to learn more about elementary particles and quantum theory; a quark is a sub-particle that makes up hadrons, which then make up protons and neutrons.  A top quark is as massive as an atom of tungsten; how then can it be in the nucleus~?  The more I delve into the subject, the more my brain hurts

14. Unsteady : REELING - reminds me of Steely Dan's song

Reelin' in the Years - check out who the show host is~!

39. Fidget __ : SPINNER - they're everywhere now; the Wiki

59. Oscillating curve : SINE WAVE

Sign Wave - get it~?

PuNWARD~!

ACROSS:

9. Storage spot : CELLAR

15. Place frequented by John Jasper in Dickens' "The Mystery of Edwin Drood" : OPIUM DEN

16. Bird of baseball : ORIOLE - not a player's name, but a team's

17. Aptly named heavy-footed bird : MEGAPODE - the Wiki

18. Wow : DAZZLE

19. High school gp. : JRs - ah, not PTA

20. Areas of interest : SPHERES - the three consonants S,P,H slowed me down

22. Night sch. staple : ESL

23. Twelve __: neighbor of Tara : OAKS - I knew what Tara was, but did not know the Wilkes lived next door at this plantation in Gone with the Wind

25. Pre-fax communication : TELEX

26. One who isn't a pro : ANTI

27. Repeated phrase in Ecclesiastes : A TIME - ah; did not know this was a Biblical reference - I know it from Turn Turn Turn, the 60's song from The Byrds

29. Nile reptile : ASP - rhymes

30. Body part : ORGAN

31. Stood for : DENOTED

33. 2000s "SNL" alum : SAM BERG - no clue, all perps

35. Eastern way : TAO

36. Game console with a Mini version : Wii

37. Where many have gone on vacation : FISHING - I put in NO WHERE, since I am on vacation and this time I am not going down to see Mike in Delaware

41. __ zoo : PETTING

45. Get going : IMPEL

46. Pickup hr. : ETA - had me baffled for a long time - good way to clue this answer on a Saturday

48. Mexican title : SEÑOR

49. Animal house : LAIR

50. Polynesian people : MAORI

52. Value : RATE

53. Take responsibility for : OWN - clecho with; 6d. Take responsibility for : ADOPT

54. California city mentioned after Kingman in the song "Route 66" : BARSTOW

56. "Yo!" : "HEY~!"

57. Aficionados' creations that may infringe on copyrights, for short : FANFIC - I had everything but the second "F", and I knew it had to be "F" by the crossing, but this answer just made me cringe; Wiki


61. Cactus spine source : AREOLE - our classic image is no longer available, so here's the scientific version of the cactus variety

I did, however, find this; all I can say is "OUCH~!"
 

62. Takes advantage of : UTILIZES

63. Persian king : XERXES

64. Hiker's shelter : PACK TENT

DOWN:

1. Steinbeck protagonist : TOM JOAD - could not recall this name from The Grapes of Wrath

2. Run : OPERATE - my PTA kept this from appearing

3. Game item made of cow leather, actually : PIGSKIN - funny

4. In the capacity of : QUA - I know this from the Latin "sine qua non", but did not realize it was an English word, straight up

5. Ballpark figures : UMPS - dah~! Not ESTS., which I know would have been clued "figs."

7. Lucille Ball, e.g. : REDHEAD

8. Gets down, in a way : KNEELS

9. Scrolls successor : CODEX - Wiki learning moment for me

10. Prominent periods : ERAS

11. Tina's "30 Rock" role : LIZ - never watched it

12. Cough syrup alternative : LOZENGE

13. Home Run Derby competitor : ALL*STAR

21. Counts while working out : REPS

24. Overwhelm : SMOTHER

26. Decision maker : ARBITER

28. Online biz : eTAIL

30. Skips : OMITS

32. Extended period : EON

34. Amaze : AWE

37. U.K.-based personal organizer brand : FILOFAX - no hyphens as I had thought there might be

38. "That comes as no surprise" : "I'M AWARE" - I'm aware that the puzzle beat me up this week

40. First or second, say : GEAR - I prefer Top Gear

41. Bach work : PARTITA

J. S. Bach: Partita in d minor, 4. (Itzhak Perlman)

42. Confused : IN A HAZE

43. "Nice try!" :"NOT EVEN~!" - think sarcastic

44. Most dreary, in Dublin : GREYEST

47. Anybody's guess : TOSS UP

50. Medieval clubs : MACES

51. Like the Jefferson Memorial's columns : IONIC - good way to clue this answer for a Saturday

54. Nastiness : BILE

55. Old TV host with an accordion : WELK

58. Kit maker : FOX -  the word for fox young is "kit"; I thought it was the group name, but that turns out to be skulk, leash or earth - huh. 

60. Quick thinking : WIT - I can think, but not quick enough to be "witty"

Splynter