Monday, May 30, 2011 Dan Schoenholz

Theme: One and the Same - The start of the first three themes and the start and end of the fourth create an ascending order of prime numbers as the fifth theme suggests. A prime number can be divided, without a remainder, only by itself and by one.

17A. *Many a sports car, capacity-wise : TWO-SEATER

23A. *Genie's offering : THREE WISHES

39A. *Eisenhower became one in 1944 : FIVE STAR GENERAL

49A. *Slurpee seller : SEVEN-ELEVEN

61A. When most top-rated shows are on, and a hint to the kind of numbers in the starred answers : PRIME TIME

Argyle here with a nod to fermatprime. Dan threw me a little curve when FOUR didn't appear as the third entry and it was neat how 7-ELEVEN provided two theme entries. Perhaps it was the seed entry. This is the second puzzle from Dan this month.

Across:

1. Most-preferred invitees : A-LIST. The ones you roll out the red carpet for.

6. Courteney of "Friends" : COX. Here she is on the red carpet.

9. Backyard lounging locale : PATIO

14. Atra or Sensor : RAZOR

15. Civil War prez : ABE

16. Staples Center, e.g. : ARENA. A multi-purpose sports arena in downtown Los Angeles.

19. Tears apart : RENDS

20. The last word? : END

21. Gets on in years : AGES

22. Town square centerpiece : STATUE

25. Texas or Ukraine city : ODESSA

29. "__ Miz" : LES. The musical, Les Mis�rables.

30. Top-of-the-line : A-ONE

31. __ gin fizz : SLOE

34. Mistreat : ABUSE

42. "Funny Girl" composer Jule : STYNE. This man(in glasses) had a few successful musical himself. Bio site.

43. School restroom sign : BOYS

44. List in order of importance : RANK

45. Fury : IRE

47. Championships : TITLES

55. Dover's are white : CLIFFS. Image.

56. Require : NEED

57. Maple tree yield : SAP

60. Former "The View" co-host O'Donnell : ROSIE

63. "Some people swallow the universe like __": Stevenson : A PILL. Robert Louis Stevenson.

64. Isaac, to Abraham : SON

65. Diner : EATER

66. Doled (out) : METED

67. Helpful contacts : INS

68. Plastered : DRUNK. Refreshing to see just plain DRUNK instead of some euphemism.

Down:

1. Johnson of "Laugh-In" : ARTE.

2. Croquet venue : LAWN. Do they have Extreme Croquet, I wonder?

3. Phillips-Van Heusen brand : IZOD. IZOD is the series title sponsor for the the IndyCar Series. Unbelievable finishes to both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 yesterday.

4. Distress call letters : SOS

5. Alternatives to tricks : TREATS

6. Provide food for : CATER

7. Extremely overweight : OBESE

8. Gen-__: boomer's kid, usually : Xer

9. Like much politics : PARTISAN

10. Geometry calculations : AREAS

11. Bowler's final frame : TENTH

12. All __ time: as a matter of course : IN DUE

13. Where to find dates? : OASES. Midnight At The Oasis(3:39)

18. Horrified : AGHAST

22. Nor. neighbor : SWE.. Norway/Sweden.

24. Mournful poem : ELEGY

25. Klutzes : OAFS

26. Attend to the job : DO IT

27. Jealousy without resentment : ENVY

28. Witnessed : SEEN

32. Designer's identification : LABEL

33. Gold, in Guanajuato : ORO. Where the heck is Guanajuato? Here and here.

35. Ernie's Muppet pal : BERT

36. River to the Caspian : URAL

37. In one's right mind : SANE

38. Fraternal order : ELKS. The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE).

40. Kramer's neighbor : SEINFELD. TV

41. Hold in high regard : ESTEEM

46. Legal thing : RES and 57D. In __: as originally placed : SITU

48. "Most assuredly!" : "INDEED!"

49. Vamoose : SCRAM

50. Say "I do" without a big do : ELOPE

51. Come calling : VISIT

52. Submit tax returns online : E-FILE

53. Bankrupt energy giant : ENRON. As you can see by their logo, they were never on the level.

54. Blood carriers : VEINS

58. "You can say that again!" : "AMEN!"

59. Exec's car, say : PERK

61. Tire gauge meas. : PSI. Pound per Square Inch. Unless it's metric. Then it could be kPa(kilopascal) or kgf/cm(kilogram-force per square centimeter).

62. Roofing material : TAR

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to eddyB & Splynter's mom!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011 Dan Schoenholz

Theme: 4 kg, slangily - The theme entries have homophonic endings, phonetically KEY.

20A. Built like George on "Seinfeld" : SHORT AND STOCKY. George.

33A. Three-term New York governor : GEORGE PATAKI. He might be a Presidential candidate yet.

43A. Sport played on 58-Downs : ROLLER HOCKEY

59A. Coors Field player : COLORADO ROCKIE. Major League Baseball team based in Denver.

Argyle here. A notch harder than yesterday but rather bland, theme-wise. Not much else to say. Our constructor had a LAT Sunday puzzle aways back.

Across:

1. Half a '60s pop quartet : MAMAS

6. Trail mix : GORP. The name may have been derived from the basic mix of "Good Old Raisons and Peanuts.

10. Messes (with) : TOYS

14. Precise : EXACT

15. Roman love god : AMOR

16. "... pretty maids all in __" : A ROW. From the nursery rhyme: Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and cockleshells,

And pretty maids all in a row.

17. Formal rulings : DICTA. Plural of DICTUM, in legal use, a judge's expression of opinion which is not the formal resolution of a case. This should have been in Lemonade's puzzle.

18. It's usually returned after ordering : MENU

19. Irene of "Fame" : CARA Here. Cara lives in Florida and works with her band Hot Caramel. Song clips.

23. Fed. disease research org. : NIH. National Institutes of Health.

24. Mediocre : SO-SO

25. Golfer's concern : LIE

26. Noun modifier: Abbr. : ADJ.. Adjective.

29. "The Matrix" hero : NEO. Keanu Reeves.

31. "Absolutely!" : "INDEED!"

37. One-named Irish singer : ENYA

38. Kwik-E-Mart guy on "The Simpsons" : APU

39. Beef-and-veggies concoction : STEW

48. Opt not to be a state of the Union : SECEDE

51. "Lil'" rapper : KIM

52. Corrida cry : �OL�!

53. Script or text ending : URE. Scripture and texture.

54. Comply : OBEY

57. One of a matching pair : HIS

64. Hurried : HIED

65. Adidas rival : NIKE

66. Country star Travis : RANDY. Diggin Up Bones(3:06)

68. 43,560 square feet : ACRE

69. Change for a five : ONES

70. Mink cousin : OTTER

71. "Survey __ ...": game show phrase : SAYS. From "The Family Feud".

72. Tammany Hall cartoonist Thomas : NAST

73. Bright signs : NEONS

Down:

1. T-shirt size: Abbr. : MED.

2. Allies' opposition : AXIS. WW II.

3. Speed ratio : MACH. Here, if you need to know more. The Mach number is named after Austrian physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach.

4. Heed, as advice : ACTON

5. Transfixed : STARING. This seems a little off.

6. Lisbon's Vasco da __ Bridge : GAMA. Rather impressive sight.

7. Portents : OMENS

8. Sonata's last movement, perhaps : RONDO

9. Frederick the Great's realm : PRUSSIA. Map.

10. Tijuana treat : TACO. Ok, I'll admit TACO was not my first thought.

11. Prophet at Delphi : ORACLE

12. Terrier type, familiarly : YORKIE. An extra KEY ending. Yorkshire Terrier, Aww!

13. Went back and forth : SWAYED

21. You, way back when : THEE

22. Honky-__ : TONK

26. Grow up : AGE

27. Home computer site : DEN

28. Elation : JOY

30. October birthstone : OPAL

32. Computer insert : DISC

34. Bloody at the steakhouse : RARE

35. Goon : APE

36. The NBA's Mehmet Okur, e.g. : TURK. This center-forward is 6' 11".

40. Decision when the ref stops the fight : TKO. Technical KnockOut.

41. Snaky fish : EEL

42. Ex follower : WYE. Just the letters, X and Y, spelled out.

44. Polecat's defense : ODOR

45. It borders Israel to the north : LEBANON

46. Sunshine cracker : HI HO. You can taste the difference!

47. Pi preceder : OMICRON. Greek. Small "O" but it has both upper and lower case. Large "O" is Omega. They represent different sounds.

48. For example : SUCH AS

49. Beethoven's Third : EROICA. Symphony; Italian for "heroic".

50. Bloody Mary stalk : CELERY

55. Twin Cities suburb : EDINA. Map. SW of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

56. Joins, as oxen : YOKEs. These guys don't look too thrilled about it.

58. Enjoy the ice : SKATE. No ice involved with ROLLER HOCKEY though.

60. Poems sometimes beginning with "To a" : ODEs

61. Take a break : REST

62. "He's Just Not That __ You": 2009 film : INTO. Ben Affleck. Jennifer Aniston.

63. Garden site : EDEN

67. 12-mo. periods : YRs

Answer grid.

Here is a lovely photo of JD's adorable grandsons. From left to right: Grady 1 1/2, Cameron 10 months, & Truman 3 1/2. Here is the one we showed last July. From left to right: Grady 11 months, Truman 3 & Cameron (2 weeks).

Argyle