Saturday, Oct 7th, 2017, Alex Bajcz

Theme: "We don't need no stinkin' Bajcz"

Words: 68 (G,X,Z)

Blocks: 31

I did not recognize the author, so I reviewed his constructions based on the blog - discovered his name is pronounced "badges" - and found out Alex has had three puzzles for the LA Times; a Sunday last year, plus a Thursday, and a Friday from 2013 - ironic that the 'theme' that Friday was "No "G"", and today we have no "G" again.  Struggled through this one, had just enough to take some WAGs in places, and ultimately stayed away from Google - though there were plenty of obscure clues today.  I did have to turn on red-letters - I filled in the whole grid, but got no 'ta-DA~!'; and a strange grid we had, to boot; sort of a fourteen-letter pinwheel design.  The longer answers;

22. Classic : QUINTESSENTIAL - I looked at what Google thinks of as the "quintessential" rock song and rock group, and I had to disagree - but then again, I also noticed that Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser of  Blue Öyster Cult did not make Rolling Stone magazine's top 100 guitarists list....and he's been playing live for 40+ years.  What's your opinion of rock's quintessential~?

45. Pass for now : TAKE A RAIN CHECK

5. Break down : BURST INTO TEARS

16. Stereotypical doo-wop garb : LEATHER JACKETS - this is what comes to mind for me, having grown up in the 80's - WARNING~!  I never realized the language in this ditty

Greased Lightnin'

Four ON the floor WARD~!

ACROSS:

1. Chimpanzee relative : BONOBO - there was no way that MONKEY was going to be correct, but the -ON--- was enough the get started in the NW

7. "Teen Wolf" airer : MTV - oops; one red-letter oversight - I had "S"TV because my presidents appeared on STreetS

10. One on a sting operation? : WASP - wasn't fooled on this one

14. You'll need a lift to use one : SKI RUN - couldn't get it to jibe with my early DOWN fills, so I ended up changing them

15. "Madam Secretary" star : TEA LEONI - one of the few proper names I knew

17. Have grand ambitions : ASPIRE - I aspire to be the best Property Manager at the winery that officially hired me on Thursday - which coincided with my last day at UPS....and I walked out of there with not a word said to me by anyone, after 7 years with the company.  Not even a lousy donut.  The only person to shake my hand was one of my four drivers, and he still thinks I'm coming back

18. Deal maker : SALES REP

19. Pronoun for Catherine de' Medici : ESSA - I tried SRTA first

21. Mariner's home : SEATTLE - baseball for C.C. - and hockey is here for me~!

26. Peels off, perhaps : UNSTICKS - oops.  My DOWN crossing left me with unstiNks, and around here, sometimes if you "peel one off", it leaves a "stink"

27. Revolutionary icon : CHE

28. Mideast capital once called Philadelphia : AMMAN - I tried ASSAD, who happens to be the president of Syria, not the place in Jordan; the Wiki

29. Prima __ : FACIE - learned from watching Law & Order; the 'evidence' is true unless proven otherwise

31. They might be set in windows: Abbr. : ACs - Air Conditioners

34. Included in the game : DEALT TO - as in cards; I have lost every week for about six months now; there's almost no point in going to play

36. Canal treatment fluid : EAR DROP - that kind of canal

38. Not irreg. : STD

39. Made waves, in a way : OARED

41. House Lannister member on "Game of Thrones" : JAIME - so many people tell me I would love this show, but I have only seen one episode

42. Basses' sect. : STRings

43. First period of the Mesozoic Era : TRIASSIC - filled via perps

48. Script used by ancient Minoans : LINEAR A - learned from doing crosswords; in fact, I believe back then I screwed it up by leaving it as "lineara", and not breaking it down; the Wiki

49. Oft-layered item : CAKE

50. Share of ownership : INTEREST

52. Renew one's strength : REST UP - I get to rest up for three days before the new job starts

56. Trial area : TEST SITE - think bombs

57. Automaker Bugatti : ETTORE - filled via perps

1910 - I have the hot Wheels version

58. Freezer brand : EDY'S - something IN the freezer, not the unit's manufacturer

59. Stereotypical corny joke teller : DAD - ah, not "HAM"

60. Tin ear, to a pathologist : ASONIA - I really thought it would be a-Tonia, but the DOWN had to be correct; tone deaf, from the Latin "a-" and "sonorus", 'sound'

DOWN:

1. Jamboree-on-the-Air org. : BSA - my buddy Ed was a Boy Scouts of  America troop leader

2. Accepts : OKs

3. Something in the air : NIP

4. With a hotel, avenue whose rent is $550 : ORIENTAL - man, I racked my brain to come up with this one without Google, trying to mentally picture the Monopoly board; this is the 'second' group, the light blue squares which also includes Vermont and Connecticut

6. Request for a small delay : ONE SEC - I had "---TEN", which made sense, except there's no word to put in front of TEN to make any sense

7. Some are named for presidents: Abbr. : MTs - ah, mountains, not streets

8. Flirt : TEASE

9. Spanish autonomous community or its capital : VALENCIA

10. Little white breed, affectionately : WESTIE - one of those "awww" inspiring breeds

West Highland Terrier

11. Vital circulation aid : AORTA

12. Fisherman's knot : SNELL

13. Lead Clue weapon : PIPE - and five other original weapons; the rope, the gun, the knife, the candlestick, and the wrench - with three out of six, I guess blunt force trauma was the choice for murder back then

Miss Scarlet in the conservatory~?

20. Put on one's wish list : ASK FOR

22. Outdoor lecture sites : QUADS - college grounds, not muscle groups....

23. Like some unreasonable requests : UNMET

24. "Your noble son __": Polonius : IS MAD - Hamlet

25. Issuer of three-part nos. : SSA - the administration that deals in social security #s

30. Comedian __ the Entertainer : CEDRIC - OK, I knew this one, as well

31. Surface : ARISE

32. Lewis Black, e.g. : COMIC - um, and this one, too

33. Barely a blip : SPECK

35. "American Pie" actress : TARA REID - OK, I forgot this one

37. Makes a break for : DASHES TO

40. Zeta-theta go-between : ETA

42. '50s-'60s country singer McDonald : SKEETS - now this guy I'd never heard of - the Wiki

44. How land is measured : IN AREA

45. Like rakes : TINED - I first read this as "little" for some reason

46. Pacing, maybe : ANTSY - good guess based on the "Y" being there from EDY'S

47. Many a reggae artist : RASTA

48. Beer case word : LITE

51. Mosby on "How I Met Your Mother" : TED

53. Homework amount? : TON - "man, I got a ton of homework to do~!"

54. Ocean State sch. : URI - been a popular crossword school lately

55. Princess' bane : PEA - still trying to get my mom to understand "Peapod", the online home delivery service from Stop N' Shop supermarkets

Splynter

Friday, October 6, 2017, Jeffrey Wechsler

Title: Now where did I put those IOUs?

In a variation of the add a letter or letters theme, JW hid them at the end of the first word of a known two-word phrase or name. As I remarked last week about recognizing a theme because a word or phrase is repeated, seeing -ious (suffix, ious is defined as having or being like the word it follows) opened my eyes. Of course, the light bulb goes on when you parse it as an acronym. Lovely misdirection. At first, I could not understand what the theme answers had in common. The "red" reference in the reveal (debts are ledgered in red) led me to present the theme as below:

20A. Agricultural college facility? : STUDIOUS FARM (12).  Stud Farm. The Aggies study hard.

32A. One who got in before a crash? : FURIOUS TRADER (13). Fur Trader. The stock trader is very angry that his timing was bad.

40A. Lancelot bragging about his exploits? : TEDIOUS KNIGHT (13). The late great Ted Knight.

LINK. It makes sense to use a proper name in both clue and fill.

53A. What theater districts offer? : COPIOUS SHOWS (12). Cop Shows. I watched some Police Woman on COZI tv this weekend. It rained here.

The reveal:

67A. They traditionally appear in red ... and in another form in 20-, 32-, 40- and 53-Across: DEBTS (5).

JW also fitted in ONE STEP, SF GIANT, TROOPER, US ASSET, ANALYSTS, GONE AWRY, LOW AVERAGES and TURN THE PAGE as long sparkly fill. Let's do this!

Across:

1. Best-selling book generally not on best-seller lists: BIBLE. They don't know where to send the royalty checks.

6. Benchmark: Abbr. : STD. Standard.

9. Early automaker: OLDS. Old('s) Ransom has been popular again.

13. Won't go near: AVOIDS.

15. Back again: FRO. To and fro. 

16. Heist haul: LOOT.

17. Magoo's malady: MYOPIA. Nearsightedness. 

18. Ended up off the mark: GONE AWRY. A fun underused phrase.

22. Polling abbr. : PCT.

25. Arrive at hastily, as a conclusion: LEAP TO. Look before you....

26. Sundial marking: VII. A return of the Roman Numeral.

27. Content of little substance: FLUFF. Newspapers had people who wrote their puff pieces.

30. Madrid-to-Paris dir. : NNE.

31. Rose in a field: PETE. Baseball player.  HE is now 76.

36. Achilles __: TENDON.

37. Take turns: ROTATE. I love clues/fill such as this.

44. "The BFG" author: DAHL.  The Big Friendly Giant, by Roald Dahl also was made into a movie.

46. Intelligence org. : NSA. National Security Agency.

47. Dutch genre painter: STEEN. See his WORK.

48. Juillet's season: ETE. July/Summer  French.

49. KFC option: BREAST.

52. Red __: SEA.

57. Financial workers: ANALYSTS.

58. Like merciless opponents: FEARED.

62. Gospel travelers: MAGI.

63. Get: SEE.

64. Not nice at all: UNKIND.

65. Urgent request: PLEA.

66. Decline, with "out": OPT.

Down:

1. Loud sound: BAM.

2. Columbia, e.g.: IVY. No league? 

3. "That's lousy!" : BOO.

4. Enlarged Revlon ad image: LIPS.

5. Reduce a sentence, say: EDIT. Not commute, but rewrite. 

6. MLBer at AT & T Park: SF GIANT.

7. Highway pursuer: TROOPER. SUPER TROOPER 2 coming in 2018.

8. Bakery item with some shortening? : DONUT. A lovely and clean double entendre - making the word doughnut shorter, as well as the shortening used in baking. A classic JW clue/fill.

9. "Frozen" snowman: OLAF. Disney's movies all seem to have had a comic relief character.

10. What most pitchers have, as batters: LOW AVERAGES.

11. "Little" Dickens title character: DORRIT. 

12. Obstruct: STYMIE. My MEMORY.

14. Author Bellow: SAUL. I enjoyed his work when I was young. FIVE.

19. What that is in Spain: ESO.

21. Scout groups: DENS.

22. [It just vanished!]: PFFT.

23. Answer guide? : CLUE. Cute, a guide to the answer.

24. Get on with one's life: TURN THE PAGE. One of the Millenials contributions to the language. 

28. Revolutionary first name: FIDEL.

29. Child subject: FOOD. Julia, may she rest in peace, all 6'2" of her.

31. It's not big in France: PETIT. Funny. From French Chef to French pun.

33. Verse lead-in: UNIverse.

34. Prize for Indy: ARK. Indiana Jones, that is.

35. Oxford figures: DONS.

38. Fare-well link: THEE.

39. Italian peak: ETNA.

41. Like the simplest process: ONE STEP.

42. Toyota's Ky. plant, e.g.: US ASSET. Good thing there were perps as this was tough.

43. Old-school diplomatic accessory: SASH.

44. Pack up the tents and supplies: DECAMP.

45. Like some Alban Berg works: ATONAL. I am not a big fan of Schoenberg or other atonal composers. LINK. Unrelated to comedian Sam Berg.

49. Tiny Tim, for one: BOY.

50. Rene of "Thor": RUSSO.  Her brief INTERVIEW.

51. Vegan staple: TOFU.

54. Hipbones: ILIA.

55. Direct (one's way): WEND. Another word packed with meaning in four letters; "verb:
go in a specified direction, typically slowly or by an indirect route."

56. Ginza quaff: SAKE. Rice wine.

59. Barbecue morsel: RIB. Morsel defined: a small piece or amount of food; a mouthful. Rib?

60. Sinus doc : ENT. Ear Nose and Throat. 

61. Driller's deg. : DDS. Dentist. har, har.

Well, there it is, another Friday, another Jeffrey Wechsler, and a fun ride. It is the quiet time for South Florida as the summer tourists are gone and the snowbirds have not returned. There are more breezes and I hope you enjoy the time. Thank you, Jeffrey and all who read. Lemonade out.

Thursday, October 5 2017 Ed Sessa

Theme: Single-Letter Add-A-Word - or a name. 

17A. Cut most likely to win a BBQ competition? : MODEL T-BONE Model T, T-Bone

Not this kind of T-bone. Ford Focus vs Ford Explorer crash test.

25A. Keurig coffee for the big day? : SPECIAL K-CUP Special K, K-Cup

35A. Rental to get the twins to college? : DOUBLE U-HAUL W. U-Haul.

47A. Sports competitions in anti-gravity? : SPACEX GAMES SpaceX. X Games.

56A. Ring up a short story writer? : DIAL "O"'HENRY Dial "O". O'Henry.

Ach. Two good ones to start with, one "really?" in the middle and two stretches to finish. If you're going to make a puzzle like this, you need to be consistent. "Double U" is a phrase? X Games is not hyphenated. Dial "O" was never used without ".. for Operator", and actually will never be heard again in modern parlance. Let's go with 2.5/5 for themage.

However, let's go find what is likable - there's a lot!

Across:

1. Seize : USURP. Great word. I think you can usurp power, I'm not sure you can usurp the day nor usurp the moment nor the initiative. Good luck, ESL students, and I think Spanish is difficult.

6. Just slightly : A BIT

10. Lip-__ : SYNC. Almost an art form nowadays. Back in 1990 Milli Vanilli were stripped of their "Best Newcomer" Grammy when it was revealed that they didn't sing on any of their own records nor at any of their live appearances.

14. Justice nominated by Barack : SONIA

15. Buddy, in slang : BRAH. Hawaii'an slang. It makes the gods cry when bratty high schoolers from Orange County use it.

16. Secure with lines : MOOR

19. TT automaker : AUDI. Looks a little like a VW Beetle that had an appointment with the chop shop.

20. Part of : IN ON. In on the plan, in on the secret ...

21. Feminine side : YIN vs. Yang. I can never remember the female/male definition of these two.

22. Keyboard shortcuts : MACROS. They're almost too complicated to bother with now. Some combination of ALT-SHIFT-CTRL and a letter or number gives you a shortcut. The only macro I have configured on my laptop is ALT-B which blacks out my screen when I'm presenting and I want to kill the projector display behind me.

24. TV scientist with 19 Emmys : NYE. Bill, the Science .... Guy.

27. Tear drier : TISSUE

29. Richmond-to-D.C. direction : N.N.E.

30. Hunk's pride : ABS

31. Finishes second : PLACES

34. Deli order : BLT. Enemy of the ABS.

38. Word before or after pack : RAT. Nice one. Rat Pack/Pack Rat.

39. Nearly : ALMOST

40. Asian New Year : TET

41. Harmless cyst : WEN

43. They're tossed up before they're made : PIZZAS. Food! Key word is "up" which helps distinguish the pizza from the salad.

51. Uganda's Amin : IDI

52. Ciudad Juárez neighbor : EL PASO

53. It's crude, then refined : GAS. Wait for it ..... oh, so not OIL. Nor Whisky.

54. Bit of cabinet hardware : KNOB

55. Money box : TILL

59. Bering Sea barker : SEAL

60. Impromptu modern group pic : USIE. Looks like it should be pronounced "You-sie" but it is actually "Uhzee" Think selfie and put your friends in the picture.

61. King Triton's mermaid daughter : ARIEL

62. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA

63. Boys, to men : SONS

64. Commencement celebrants : GRADS

Down:

1. Org. that makes cents : U.S. MINT

2. Woody's wife : SOON YI. The less said about this the better.

3. Repeals : UNDOES

4. It meant nothing to Edith Piaf : RIEN. "Non, je ne regrette rien ..." I think her pronunciation is a little off with the "je" bit. But I'm English, what the heck do I know?

5. Buddy : PAL

6. Chicago 7 first name : ABBIE. Abbie Hoffman, on trial with his co-defendants following protests at the DNC Convention in Chicago in 1968.

7. Rodeo bucker : BRONC

8. Writer/illustrator Falconer known for "Olivia" children's books : IAN

9. Stan "__" Musial : THE MAN

10. Big wet one : SMACK.

11. "I'm not making that decision" : YOUR CALL

12. "For sure!" : NO DOUBT!

13. Baked fruit desserts : CRISPS. Pretty much the last thing that came to my mind. The interwebs are awash with recipes though, so I stand crumbled - I mean humbled.

18. Rare blood designation : TYPE AB. Positive or Negative, potential universal plasma donors.

23. Dogfish Head brew : ALE. What, not super-tasty Icelandic Fish Soup? I'm gutted.

25. "Star Trek" role for Takei and Cho : SULU. George Takei is a great person. Anyone who can say this, with all truthfulness, deserves a place in the World's Great People Hall Of Fame:

"I love things British. My car is British. My wardrobe, to a good extent, is British. I even love the food in London – I think British food has shaken its prevailing perception as indigestible and become quite wonderful."

The food? What a saint.

26. "To recap ... " : IN SUM

28. Pick out of a crowd : SPOT. There's Waldo!

32. Bell tower sound : CLANG

33. Long fish : EEL

34. Secretary of Agriculture under Nixon : BUTZ.

35. Smartphone arrangement : DATA PLAN

36. "Knock on wood" : HOPE SO

37. Craigslist caveat : AS IS. I don't like throwing things away, so I often put used items on Craigslist in the "Free" section. I just ask the person responding to agree they've actually read the ad by repeating the key phrase. The last thing I gave away was a totally hosed HP Printer/Scanner. The magic phrase was "It doesn't print anything black, which really means it doesn't print at all" Two hours later a very nice lady in a Mercedes C350 was happily loading it into her trunk.

38. Wrote back : REPLIED

40. Fly around the equator? : TSETSE

41. Actor Bentley : WES. My last fill - I didn't know the actor, nor the cyst. WES/WEN sounded marginally more believable than LES/LEN so Yay!

42. It included a sweet, not sorrowful, parting : EXODUS. I'm guessing this refers to Exodus, the book in the Bible. Guessing, because I got this totally through crosses; and a Google search of the phase to educate me io what I missed simply brought up two pages of other crossword clue links. I'd call this obscure to the point of being unreasonable.

44. Sunflower relative : ZINNIA. I'm neither a botanist nor a gardener, but this and 48D went straight in. However, if I were down to my last life whilst being dangled over the Slough of Despond and I was shown this picture, I'd have confidently, nay jubilalantly! cried "Chrysanthemum!" and that would be that. Steve No More. Seriously, how does this look like a sunflower?

45. Doted on : ADORED

46. Delphic diviners : SIBYLS. The Greek oracles, whence "sybillant". They were a little hissy, I guess.The clue is a wee bit off - there was one oracle at Delphi; the others were scattered around the Mediterranean. They came together at an annual convention called "Oracle OpenWorld". (I made that bit up).

48. Lily plant : CALLA

49. "Not __!" : AGAIN

50. Cock and bull : MALES

54. Broadway's Walter __ Theatre : KERR. Thank you, crosses.

57. Classified ad shorthand for "seeking" : ISO. In Search Of.

58. Folklore crone : HAG

That about ties it up for me. Just like a trussed chicken - stick me in the oven and I'm done!

Steve

Wednesday, Oct 4, 2017 C. C. Burnikel

Theme: OLD VINYL.  Each two word entry has the letters L and P as its alpha and omega [so to speak.]  These letters signify a Long Playing phonograph recording - i.e. one with several songs on a side.  More will be explained when we get to the unifier.

17A. *Vodka cocktail often served with a sugared rim : LEMON DROP.  Made with vodka, Triple Sec, simple syrup and fresh lemon juice.  Pucker up.

60A. *Largely bygone penal colony : LABOR CAMP.  A prison camp where hard labor is enforced.

3 D. *Store website feature : LOCATOR MAP.  Here is the locator map for the restaurant where we had a wonderful lunch with some relatives yesterday.

8 D. *Shari Lewis puppet : LAMB CHOP.

Spunky

30 D. *Totally drunk : LIQUORED UP.  Self-explanatory, and no image needed.

39 D. *Light source with hypnotic bubbles : LAVA LAMP.  Suitable illumination for nudism and getting high in a variety of ways.

I am not making this up.

And now the unifier -- 26 A. With 49-Across, it keeps repeating itself ... and, based on the first and last letters, an apt description of each answer to a starred clue : BROKEN.

49 A. See 26-Across : RECORD.

So, now we see that the wide split between the L and the P indicates that the RECORD has been BROKEN - but not in the sense of a historic feat of athleticism.  In the old days, back in my yute, a phonograph record that was scratched or broken would catch the play-back stylus and keep repeating the same groove section on the recording surface, groove section on the recording surface, groove section on the recording surface.  Very annoying.  Hence, a person who repeated himself a lot would be compared to a BROKEN RECORD.  

Raising this up a notch, conceptually, is the fact that the unifier itself is broken.  So we have a pinwheel formation of theme fill, that also includes the symmetrically placed two-part unifier.  Very clever and unusual design!

Hi Gang, JazzBumpa on duty.  Let's see where our own hostess and travel guide C. C. takes on this trip.

Across

1. Fancy parties : GALAS.

6. [This is gonna be really bad!] : GULP. Nervous reaction, not a drink - though that also might help.

10. OutKast rapper Big __ : BOI.  No idea.

13. Hi in Hawaii : ALOHA.  Island greeting.  Cuter clue would have been Hi, but not high, in HI.

14. Senior golfer Aoki : ISAO.  [b 1942] He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2004.

15. Lends support to : AIDS.

16. Likely to speak out : VOCAL.  A band arrangement to accompany a singer is also called a VOCAL.

19. Text update from an Uber driver: Abbr. : ETA.  Estimated Time of Arrival.  Not just for air ports any more.

20. Trippy '60s drug : LSD.   Lysergic Acid Diethyl Amid.   Never tried it.   Then again, I never owned a LAVA LAMP.

22. Milked for all it's worth : BLED DRY.   All used up.

23. Mai __: rum drinks : TAIS.  For SIPS, not GULPS.

25. Post-CrossFit woes : ACHES.  Exercisers' pains

28. "__-ching!" : CHA.  Expression of triumph.

29. Down with the flu : ILL.  Five days of misery.

32. NFLer again in 2016 : L.A. RAM.  The RAMS started in Cleveland in 1936, moved to L. A. in 1946, to St. Louis in 1995, then back to L.A. in 2016.  Goats do roam.

33. Early American furniture style : COLONIAL.

36. Casino cash source : ATM.  Automatic Teller Machine.   Why is this never paired with an Automatic Penn Machine?

37. Oft-injured knee part, for short : ACL.   The Anterior Cruciate Ligament runs diagonally in the middle of the knee. It prevents the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur, as well as provides rotational stability to the knee.

40. Bit of texting tact : PLS.  Please, I assume.

41. Sine __ non : QUA.  An essential condition, something that is absolutely necessary.

42. Interest-arousing promo : TEASER AD.

45. More accurate : TRUER.  Some things are clearly true or false.  Others have 50 shades of grey.

47. Mud bath offerer : SPA.   For people.  STY for swine.

48. Night before : EVE.  Where was Adam the nighh before?

50. Burton of "Star Trek: TNG" : LEVAR.

Why the funky specs?

52. Wild swine : BOAR.   It might take a mud bath.  Or just be dull and tedious.

53. Win out : PREVAIL.  Overcome.

56. Tiny drink : SIP.  Less than a GULP.

57. Go wrong : ERR.  It's only human.

The CD I listen while working out.

62. "Paper Moon" girl : ADDIE.  Played by Tatum O'Neal, with a cameo by her dad.



64. Notable times : ERAS.

65. Mideast dignitary : EMIR.   Military commander or local chief.

66. Brownish gray : TAUPE.    Hard to describe, but easy to use.

67. Susan of "L.A. Law" : DEY.

Attorney Grace Van Owen

68. Fix, as a feline : SPAY.   Neutering process.

69. Promoted heavily : HYPED.

Down

1. Conceded, with "up" : GAVE.  Threw in the towel.

2. Tons : A LOT.  Mucho.

4. "I thought so!" : AHA!   Caught you red-handed!

5. Education financing company, familiarly : SALLIE MAE.   SLM Corp, orignally Student Loan Marketing Association.

6. Coat, as jewelry : GILD.  Cover with a thin layer of gold.  My King 2B has a sterling silver bell section with a gilt inner surface.

My most prized possession

7. Put in the game : USE.

9. Place for a break? : POOL HALL.  Clever!  Each game of pool starts with an initial shot at the pool balls arrayed in a particular way.  This shot breaks up the cluster.

10. Dove or robin : BIRD.  Flighty critters.

11. Campfire attraction : ODOR.  The aroma of burning wood.

12. Kids' game for car trips : I SPY.  Do you see what I see?

15. Includes : ADDS IN.

18. Maiden name intro : NEE.  From French, referring to the family name with which the bride was born.

21. Nine-digit ID : SSN.  Social Security Number.   Guard yours from identity thieves.

24. Wanted poster letters : AKA.  Also Known As - referring to an alias.

25. Duke's conf. : ACC.  Atlantic Coast Conference.

26. Cry from a sheep : BLAT.  Or the sound of a bad trombonist.  Not that I would know anything about it.

27. Motel postings : RATES.  Charges for staying, by the night or by the hour.

31. "Today" co-host Matt : LAUER.

34. Manipulative health care practitioner : OSTEOPATH.  Chiropractor doesn't fit.

35. Pie crust fat : LARD.   Pig fat.

38. Mountain climber's piton spots : CREVICES.  Narrow openings or fissures in the rock face.

43. Artillery bursts : SALVOS.  Simultaneous discharge from several weapons.

44. Essen article : DER.  "The" in German. This is the masculine form, since all German nouns have gender.

46. Electronics giant : RCA.  Originally Radio Corporation of America.

49. Hitter's stat : RBI.  Runs Batted In.  We knew there had to be some baseball.  Congrats to the Twins for getting to the wild card game.  The Tigers are in for a long, dark tea time of the soul.

51. Sound-detecting organ : EAR.  Listen up.

53. Claimed in court : PLED.   To PLEAD or make a PLEA is to issue a formal statement by or on behalf of a defendant, stating guilt or innocence in response to a charge or allegation.

54. Hard to find : RARE.

55. "Buy It Now" site : EBAY.  On line auction site that offers an opportunity to bypass the competitive bidding process and purchase an item for a set price.  Ya pays yer money, ya takes yer chances.

56. Agile : SPRY.   Energetic or active.  Almost always said of older people, if it is is unexpected.

58. Like orange or red persimmons : RIPE.  Interested readers can learn about these exotic fruits here.

59. Marsh plant : REED.  A grass species that grows 5 to 15 feet tall.  Not to be confused with an oboe, which is about 25 1/2 inches long.

Details

61. Athletes for Hope co-founder Hamm : MIA. [b 1972] Mariel Margaret Hamm- Garciaparra is a retired U.S. soccer player who won Olympic gold twice and is a two time FIFA Women's World Cup Champion.  The mission of Athletes for Hope is "To educate, encourage and assist athletes in their efforts to contribute to community and charitable causes, to increase public awareness of those efforts, and to inspire others to do the same."

63. Calendar square : DAY. 

That wraps up another Wenesday.  Hope y'all had a fine time.

Cool regards!
JzB

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 ~ Roland Huget

Theme: Let's Make A Deal!

42D. "Agreed!" ... and what can be said about the start of the answers to starred clues: "IT'S A DEAL!"

17A. *Boot camp newbie: RAW RECRUIT. Raw deal.

66A. *Defensible alibi: GOOD EXCUSE. Good deal.

11D. *Grand scheme of things: BIG PICTURE. Big deal.

29D. *It may be rational, in math: REAL NUMBER. Real deal.

Argyle here, dealing from the top of the deck. Roland makes a rare trip to the start of the week. It is a pinwheel but then again, it sort of looks like a Q.

Across:

1. Carpet thickness: PILE

5. Crowbar, basically: LEVER

10. Vanishing ski lift: T-BAR. More accurate than yesterday's clue.

14. Preemptive rescue op: EVAC. (Evacuation) Is the hurricane season over?

15. Wear down: ERODE

16. MasterCard rival: VISA

19. Not fer: AGIN. For and against.

20. Slap in the face: INSULT

21. Play the hand you were dealt: STAND PAT. 36-A. Starts the kitty: ANTEs

23. Smooth engine sound: [HUM]

25. __-Locka, Florida: OPA. Opa-tisha-wocka-locka (Seminole)

                               Historic City Hall.

26. Aetna's bus.: INS. (insurance)

27. Michelin product: CAR TIRE

31. Ancient vase in a museum, say: RELIC

33. Fuel-efficient Chevy: AVEO

34. Physics work unit: ERG. The erg is a unit of energy and work equal to 10−7 joules.

39. Truth stretcher: LIAR directly above 44-A. Untrue: FALSE

40. Nebula Award genre: SCI-FI. Awarded for the best science fiction or fantasy works of the previous calendar year.

43. Undiluted: PURE

46. Acquired: GOT

47. __ Minor: Little Bear: URSA

48. Chinese menu promise: NO MSG. (MonoSodium Glutamate)

51. Company co-founded by J.P. Morgan: US STEEL. Founded: 1901 by Andrew Carnegie, J. P. Morgan, Charles M. Schwab, Elbert Henry Gary.

53. "The Simpsons" disco guy: STU

55. Sport-__: 4 x 4: UTE. A utility vehicle.

56. 90 deg. at the North Pole, e.g.: LAT. (latitude)

57. Overly long and generally unproductive activity: TIME SINK. Related to "fun sponge"?

60. One of Santa's reindeer: DASHER. Time to start getting them back into shape.

65. "SOS" pop group: ABBA

68. Baked desserts: PIEs

69. Latest craze: MANIA

70. Ointment additive: ALOE

71. Tortoise racer: HARE

72. Spiritual guardian: ANGEL

73. Identity hider: MASK

Down:

1. Prefix with scope: PERI

2. Hall of Fame catcher Rodriguez: IVAN. Iván Rodríguez, "Pudge". In his career, he played for the Texas Rangers, Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. Wikipedia

3. Newton's motion trio: LAWS

4. Color of raw silk: ECRU

5. Professors' talks: LECTURES

6. Boot the ball: ERR

7. "Parlez-__ français?": VOUS. "Do you speak French?"

8. Manuscript fixer: EDITOR

9. Make another recording of: RETAPE. This is as dated as the T-bar.

10. Promo on the tube: TV AD

12. From China, say: ASIAN

13. Tirades: RANTS

18. Pre-college, briefly: ELHI. Grades 1 to 12. (ELementary and HIgh-school)

22. Simba's playmate: NALA. I'm not lion.

24. Defunct Ford division, for short: MERC. (Mercury)

27. Baby whale: CALF

28. Sports shoe brand: AVIA

30. Sculptor's subject: TORSO

32. Data to be processed: INPUT

35. Band tour booking: GIG

37. Highland tongue: ERSE

38. Close tightly: SEAL

41. Basketball transgression: FOUL

45. Grounded Aussie birds: EMUs

49. Mark of disgrace: STIGMA

50. Columbus, by birth: GENOAN 

        The Biosphere and the Porto Vecchio in Genoa.

52. Lay's chips-in-a-can brand: STAX. Pringles competition.

53. Dangerous bacterium: STAPH

54. Knee-to-ankle bone: TIBIA

58. Lessen, as pain: EASE

59. Skull Island ape: KONG. (King)

61. Rip-off: SCAM

62. Island dance: HULA

63. Those, in Mexico: ESOS

64. Cause serious nose-wrinkling: REEK

67. Stop working, as an engine: DIE

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Today dear Santa Argyle wrote his 800th blog post. Day after day, he's here for us. Thank you, Santa.

Monday, October 2, 2017 ~ Brock Wilson

Theme: No Reveal Monday - Add ten.

17. Evening show with headlines and stories: NEWS AT TEN. 10

29. Like perceptive hindsight: TWENTY-TWENTY. 20

47. Generic pre-sunrise hour: OH DARK THIRTY. 30

64. Farm's remote acreage: BACK FORTY. 40

Argyle here. Not much to say so I won't.

Across:

1. Ophthalmic sore: STYE. ophthalmic : of or relating to the eye.

5. Season-ending college football game: BOWL could end in 25-Acrosses. Periods that may decide 5-Acrosses, briefly: OTs. (overtimes)

9. Stories spanning decades: SAGAs

14. __ hygiene: ORAL

15. Bounce off a wall: ECHO

16. Chopin piece: ETUDE. Chopin - Etude Op. 25 No. 11 "Winter Wind"

19. Flabbergast: AMAZE. We have gone from heat wave to frost warnings.

20. Swiss convention city: GENEVA

21. Fist-pump cry: "YEAH!"

23. Sales force member: REP. (representative)

24. '60s protest org.: SDS. (Students for a Democratic Society)

27. Andean animal: LLAMA

33. Promise before testimony: OATH

36. Take to court: SUE

37. Journalist Couric: KATIE

Katie stops for coffee in Fremont.

38. German coal valley: RUHR

39. Lifts on slopes: T-BARS

42. Gotten a glimpse of: SEEN

43. Uncomfortably pricey: STEEP

45. One collaring a perp: COP

46. Watch displays, briefly: LEDs. (light-emitting diode)

51. Prefix for Rome's country: ITALO

52. Use a shovel: DIG

53. Pound sound: [ARF!]

56. __ Palmas: Canary Islands city: LAS

58. "No damage done": "I'M OK"

60. Five cents: NICKEL

62. Yellowish brown: OCHER

66. French sweetie: CHERI

67. Inland Asian sea: ARAL

68. Eve's opposite: MORN

69. Frankfurt's state: HESSE

70. Lowdown: DOPE

71. Soon, to a bard: ANON

Down:

1. Billy Joel creations: SONGS

2. Trapped on a branch: TREED

3. Signs of boredom: YAWNS

4. "Is there something __?": ELSE but also 29-Down. "... or else!" remark: THREAT

5. Software trial: BETA TEST

6. Halloween mo.: OCT. This month; the stores are ready.

7. Food for Miss Muffet: WHEY

8. Needing company: LONELY. Just a lonely spider.

9. Seattle athlete: SEAHAWK

10. Fast-cash spot, for short: ATM

11. "Money-back" assurance, perhaps: GUARANTEE

12. Carving tool: ADZE

13. Ooze: SEEP

18. Swear to be true: AVOW

22. Bottom-row PC key: ALT

26. Dismiss with disdain: SNUB

28. Insultingly small, as a payment: MEASLY

30. Instruct: TEACH

31. Even on the scoreboard: TIED

32. Strong desires: YENs

33. Not exactly: OR SO

34. Writer: Abbr.: AUTH

35. Things to wash after dinner: THE DISHES

40. __ rage: PED user's aggression: ROID. PED - performance-enhancing drug.

41. Very light rain: SPRINKLE

44. Grassland: PRAIRIE

48. Netherlands airline: KLM

49. "That's a shame": TOOBAD

50. Jubilant end-of-week cry: TGIF

53. Ohio rubber city: AKRON

54. Back in style: RETRO

55. Swashbuckling Errol: FLYNN

56. __ Ness monster: LOCH

57. Steady pain: ACHE

59. Corn syrup brand: KARO

61. Unconscious state: COMA

63. Ambulance destinations: Abbr.: ERs

65. Golfer's hat: CAP

Argyle

Sunday October 1, 2017 Gail Grabowski

Theme: "Di-spirited Away"- DI is removed from the start of each theme entry.

24A Software update strategies? : VERSION TACTICS. Diversion tactics.

36A. Counsel offered by Carlo Rossi? : VINE GUIDANCE. Divine guidance.

54A. Dream about childbirth? : VISION OF LABOR. Division of labor.

67A. Views about poetry? : VERSE OPINIONS. Diverse opinion.

86A. Reminded guests that certain casual attire is required? : STRESSED JEANS. Distressed jeans.
 
99A. Uncompromising boss? : STRICT LEADER. District leader.

118A. Mastering a basic golf lesson? : STANCE LEARNING. Distance learning.

This is such a consistent & tight set. Notice how the new words and the original words share no roots at all?

Gail is a true master. She just makes things look easy.

Across:
    
1. Financial smartphone download : ATM APP.  Also 112. Smartphone display : TIME

7. Vague feeling : VIBE

11. Shot spot : ARM

14. Take up or let out : ALTER

19. More profound : DEEPER

20. Attention-getting type: Abbr. : ITAL

21. Gunk : GOO

22. Russian bread : RUBLE. Here's the real bread. Black bread.

23. Crooner Vic : DAMONE

27. Urban view obscurer : SMOG

28. Action-filled : SLAM-BANG. Great fill.

30. Get by succession : INHERIT

31. Stand in a loft : EASEL. Noun "Stand". And 47. State secrets? : RAT. Verb "State".

33. Title absentee : GODOT. Waiting for Godot.

35. Bridge installer's deg. : DDS. Dental.

42. Map in a map : INSET

45. Ristorante suffix : INI

46. Pursued : TRAILED

48. Container with slats : CRATE

52. Recommend : ADVISE

57. What alibis may be : LIES

58. Series of rings : PEAL

60. Ultra-secret org. : NSA

61. Like yoga devotees : LIMBER. Also 91. Yoga pose : ASANA. Hi there Lucina!

62. Naval strength : SEA POWER

65. Co-host Shapiro of "All Things Considered" : ARI

66. Celeb's freebie : VIP PASS

71. "That film is awful" : I HATE IT. Two great 7-letter fill in a row.

75. '60s-'80s Brit. sports car : MGB

76. Frozen fruit-flavored snack : OTTER POP. Favorite snack of D-Otto's dad.

81. Soda purchases : LITERS

82. 1999 Moviefone acquirer : AOL

83. Fluency : EASE

85. Normal beginning? : PARA. Paranormal.

89. Baseless accusation, to an alleged perp : BUM RAP. Snazzy!
 
92. Pic for a doc : MRI

93. "Dig in!" : LET'S EAT. Here is the recipe of my Eight Treasure Congee. Have any of you cooked red rice before? I just bought a bag of Lundberg red rice at Walmart. I presume it's the same way we cook wild rice.

96. When Le Havre heats up : ETE

97. Run through a reader : SWIPE. Scanner. Not you. We also have 5. Writer : PEN. Write-r.

101. Break down : SOB

104. Mar. parade honoree : ST PAT

106. Shake awake : ROUST

107. Taking in a sunrise, say : UP EARLY. I'm an early riser.

110. Crowd control weapons : RIOT GUNS

114. Headquarters : BASE

120. Golfer's starting point : TEE BOX

122. Salon dye : HENNA

123. Scepter top, perhaps : ORB

124. Salon, for one : E-MAG. You can find many old Life magazines at flea market for a dollar.


125. Not leave to chance : ENSURE

126. Concepts : IDEAS

127. They're often grad students : TAs

128. Wraps (up) : SEWS

129. Went bad : ROTTED. Traditional Chinese black bean sauce is made of fermented black soy beans that smell bad to the uninitiated. My grandma never put garlic in her sauce. So I never put it in mine either.

Down:

1. Throws into the mix : ADDS

2. Group with lineups : TEAM

3. Exec's reminder : MEMO

4. Orbital high point : APOGEE. Learned from doing crosswords.

 
6. Put the squeeze on : PRESSURE

7. "The Four Seasons" composer : VIVALDI

8. It might follow a bullet : ITEM. Bullet point.


9. Zinger : BARB

10. "Frozen" princess : ELSA. Also 71. Rick calls her "kid" : ILSA

11. Disco phrase : A GOGO

12. Pal of Harry : RON. Harry Potter

13. Summon silently : MOTION TO

14. St. Louis landmark : ARCH. Been there for a short time. Never saw the Arch.

15. Renaissance instrument : LUTE

16. 1954 Ford debut : T-BIRD

17. Legendary Spanish hero : EL CID

18. Intervals of inactivity : RESTS

25. "Picnic" playwright : INGE

26. Queen's subjects : ANTS. Can't fool me any more.

29. Princess from Alderaan : LEIA

32. Spy-fi figs. : AGTs

34. Grammy-winning singer Krall : DIANA. Wife of Elvis Costello.

36. Medical containers : VIALS

37. Common film festival entry : INDIE

38. Skin lotion brand : NIVEA

39. Menlo Park middle name : ALVA. Edison.

40. Justice Gorsuch who replaced Antonin : NEIL

41. DJ's stack : CDs

43. 8/21/2017 celestial event : ECLIPSE. It was quite cloudy that day. So I did what Trump did. Look at the sun directly.

44. Vagabond : TRAMP

47. Violinist's need : ROSIN

49. Quartet named for its members : ABBA

50. They're usually seen with sandals : TOES. Cute.

51. Miscalculates : ERRS

53. Connection method: Abbr. : ISP

55. Cross inscription : INRI

56. Spark producer : FLINT
 
58. Apt to mouth off : PERT

59. Critical care ctrs. : ERs

63. Supervised : OVERSAW

64. Houdini's family name : WEISS. Unknown to me.
 
65. BOLO equivalent : APB. Be on the lookout.

66. Popular __ : VOTE

68. Expressive online image : EMOJI. "Hey, I just met you.... " This is so sweet.

69. Take in the wrong way? : OGLE

70. Apple mobile platform : IOS
 
72. Google successes : HITS

73. Quattro competitor : ATRA

74. Cold weather word : TEENS. Mall walk time. Grateful for the Springbrook Nature Center this summer. So quiet and meditative. No dogs. No bikes. No cameras allowed either.

77. Turntable letters : RPM

78. Took a little off : PARED

79. Give a keynote, say : ORATE

80. Morning read : PAPER. Important part of our morning.

82. TV spot seller : AD REP

83. U.S. dept. with a windmill on its seal : ENER

84. Wine city near Turin : ASTI

87. Unimproved property : EMPTY LOT

88. In-flight fig. : ALT

89. Railing feature : BALUSTER. Learning moment for me.

90. Western natives : UTES

94. Earl with a three-finger banjo-picking style named for him : SCRUGGS

95. Berkshire boarding school : ETON

98. Castaway's home : ISLE

99. Foment, with "up" : STIR

100. If all goes right : AT BEST

101. Rolls with rice : SUSHI. My favorite. Eel sushi.

102. Withdrew, with "out" : OPTED

103. "Moneyball" baseball exec Billy : BEANE. Played by Brad Pitt.

105. Mettlesome mounts : ARABS

108. Paquin of "True Blood" : ANNA

109. Pioneering TVs : RCAs

111. Column on the right : ONES
 
113. Nibble : GNAW

115. Be flush with : ABUT

116. Ill-tempered : SORE

117. Struck (out) : EX'ED

119. Period that may be named for a president : ERA

121. "Lux" composer Brian : ENO