Friday September 18, 2009 Jack McInturff

Theme: L-adder (Letter L is inserted at the beginning of familiar words/names)

18A: Hope of one placing a personal ad? (L)OVER MATCH. Overmatch, a contest in which one opponent is distinctly superior.

26A: Peruvian worshiper?: (L)IMA BELIEVER. "I'm a Believer". The Monkees 1966 hit. Composed by Neil Diamond. Lima is the capital of Peru.

42A: Knock a motorcycle daredevil flat?: (L)EVEL KNIVEL. Evil Knievel, the stunt performer.

54A: Kid going nuts with building blocks? (L)EGO MANIAC. Egomaniac, obsessively preoccupied with oneself, like the former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich.

Thought of Scott Turow's "One L" after I was done with the puzzle.

I wonder what's the main seed entry for the theme. Probably LIMA BELIEVER. The constructor also clued NEIL (31A) as "Sweet Caroline" singer Diamond. He is probably a Neil Diamond fan. "Sweet Caroline" was inspired by Caroline Kennedy.

Across:

1A: 1988 tennis Grand Slam winner: GRAF (Steffi). She's married to Agassi.

5A: Partner of alas: ALACK. Alas and ALACK! Woe is me!

10A: "City of Seven Hills": ROME. The Eternal City. I think girls are shapely there because it's is so hilly. Also REMO (2D: San __, Italy), the Riviera resort (bottom left).

14A: Sitcom named for its country star: REBA (McEntire)

16A: French state: ETAT. Louis XIV once famously claimed "L'ETAT, c'est moi" (I am the state). Putin has the same attitude.

17A: Cupid: AMOR. Ah, "Omnia vincit AMOR ("Love conquers all"). It took courage to go to Argentina for a hike. True love!

20A: Camera bag accessory: ZOOM LENS

22A: "Carmen", e.g.: OPERA. By Bizet.

36A: Former Alaska Territory capital: SITKA. The largest city in the US by area. Alaska's first capital. Oh, you can definitely see Russia from there.

39A: Collector's goal: SET. It took over $250 to collect a Topps Chrome Heritage Baseball Card SET. Too expensive for me.

40A: Il __: Mussolini: DUCE (DOO-chey). Literally "leader". Rooted in Latin dux ("leader"), so is "duke".

41A: Talk show host Gibbons: LEEZA. Learned her name from doing Xword. Have never watched or listened to any of her shows.

45A: One you don't find in a foxhole?: ATHEIST. Not familiar with the aphorism "There are no ATHEIST in foxholes". Wikipedia explains that it's used to argue that "in times of extreme stress or fear, such as when participating in warfare, all people will believe in or hope for a higher power." Make sense. Nice crossing with DEISM (40D: Belief in a non-intervening God), belief in God through reason, a type of theism.

48A: Prepares to shoot: AIM. Not fond of the clue due to PREPARED (50A: Ready).

57A: Insolvent S&L company: WAMU (Washington Mutual). Biggest bank failure in U.S. history.

58A: Roman road: ITER (IT-air). Root for itinerary.

60A: Novelist Hunter: EVAN. Oh, it's he who wrote the screenplay for "The Birds". Unknown to me.

63A: Archaeology projects: DIGS

Down:

1D: Austria's second largest city: GRAZ (Gräts). No idea. Vienna is the largest city obviously. Arnold Schwarzenegger was born and raised in a farming village 2km from GRAZ. Don't wait. He won't be back.

4D: Agricultural worker: FARM HAND

5D: State without proof: ALLEGE

6D: Train maker in the National Toy Hall of Fame: LIONEL. Did not know there is a Toy Hall of Fame.

7D: Dirt bike relatives, briefly: ATVS (All-Terrain Vehicles)

8D Friend of Fidel: CHE (Guevara)

11D: Playful swimmer: OTTER

12D: Computer shortcut: MACRO. What is MACRO? I strung the answer together from Across fills.

13D: Revolutionary Allen: ETHAN. American Revolutionary War patriot.

25D: New Balance rival: AVIA. Latin for "fly".

28D: Barrier at a zoo: MOAT

29D: Big name in chips: INTEL. Dummy, I thought of potato chips again.

32D: Chicken __: deep fried dish: KIEV. Have never tried Chicken KIEV.

33D: Wood-shaping tool: ADZE. Or ADZ.

36D: Navigators and Explorers: SUVS. By Ford. Good clue.

37D: "Cool" rap artist?: ICE-T. Good clue too.

38D: Couldn't make up one's mind: SEESAWED. Like Hamlet. "To be, or not to be".

42D: Poe's "rare and radiant maiden": LENORE. From "The Raven".

43D: Self-defense method: KARATE. 空手. Literally "empty hand". Kara = empty. Te = hand.

44D: Family reunion attendees: NIECES

45D: Chalmers' business partner: ALLIS. ALLIS-Chalmers, the farming equipment manufacturer. Windhover mentioned this brand before. But I forgot.

47D: Philosopher who was a pioneer of German idealism: HEGEL. He certainly influenced Karl Marx's and later on Chairman Mao's philosophy. And yours as well, Windhover?

52D: Cyberzine: EMAG

53D: Pressures for payment: DUNS. Learned this word while working for Pinkerton. Fraud & due diligence investigation is hard and not fun.

55D: Battery buys: AAS

56D: Cavs' and Mavs' org.: NBA. Nice rhyme. Shaq is now with the Cavs, hopefully he will "win a ring for the King".

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday September 11, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: TWO FOR ONE (61A: Restaurant special, and a hint to this puzzle's theme) - synonym of "one" in a common phrase is replaced with synonym of "two".

18A: Not quite Barcelona's best?: NUMERO DOS. Numeros Uno, Spanish for "number one". Uno is replaced with DOS, Spanish (Barcelona) for "two".

24A: Four-handed piano piece by a French emperor?: NAPOLEON DUET. Napoleon Solo is a fictional character from "The man from U.N.C.L.E.". Unknown to me. Solo is replaced with DUET. French emperor = NAPOLEON. The piano DUET is also known as "piano four hands". Two pianists (four hands) play on the same keyboard.

37A: Movie gigolo Bigalow struggling with debt?: DEUCE IN THE HOLE. Ace in the Hole, a hidden advantage. Ace is replaced with DEUCE. Movie: "DEUCE Bigalow, Male Gigolo".

52A: Multitasking, but just barely?: DOUBLE-MINDED. Single-minded, determined/resolute. Single is replaced with DOUBLE. I just can't multitask.

Another creative puzzle from Dan Naddor. Another special 16*15 grid. The additional column is added to accommodate the even-numbered central theme entry DEUCE IN THE HOLE.

Today's Dan Naddor Index (total non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 28. Very high!

Besides NAPOLEON DUET, there are a few other music/opera references:

20A: La Scala highlight: ARIA. La Scala is an opera house in Milan.

33A: Conductor Toscanini: ARTURO. He was once the principal conductor of La Scala.

57A: "The Three Tenors" tenor with Jose and Plácido: LUCIANO. Plácido Domingo, José Carreras & LUCIANO Pavarotti are "The Three Tenors". They popularized the opera for the general public.

65A: "Swan Lake" heroine: ODETTE . No idea. She is the princess who's turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer. "Swan Lake" is a classical ballet.

19D: Key in which "Chopsticks" is usually played: C MAJOR. I've never heard of "Chopsticks", it's a simple, extremely well-known waltz for the piano, according to Wikipedia.

I just loved the upper left and lower right corner. Five out of those six long entries were gimmes. Still had to cheat though. Maybe I will finish one Dan Naddor puzzle before German pulls out of Afghanistan.

Across:

1A: Hardly emulated the 16-Across: SLEPT LATE. And 16A: Proverbial worm catcher: EARLY BIRD. Nice cross-reference. Nice placements as well.

10A: Skeleton's place?: CLOSET. Idiom: A skeleton in the CLOSET. Dark secret.

17A: Fountain treat: MALTED

19A: Ovoid tree nuts: ACORNS. Filled in PECANS.

21A: Swear falsely, with "oneself": PERJURE. Bet it's a gimme for Scooter Libby/Martha Stewart.

23A: Olympic perfection: TEN. Perfect!

29A: Chic: ELEGANT. Jerome observed last time that Chic is an anagram of "Hi, C.C.".

31A: Support provider?: BRA. You should always hand-wash your BRA.

32A: Wrong thing to do: SIN. Then ATONES (50D: Make amends).

36A: Impudent: PERT

42A: R.E. Lee, e.g.: GENL (General). GEN is a more common abbreviation. And CADETS (67A: Future officers).

44A: Batting sta.: AVG. Batting Average. Ichiro trails Joe Mauer slightly on AL Batting Average leaderboard now. Strangely, they both love rap music.

45A: Sch. with a Phoenix campus: ASU (Arizona State University). The Sun Devils. Their main campus is at Tempe.

56A: Versatile vehicle, for short: UTE. Sport-UTE. SUV.

59A: Not strict about, as crime: SOFT ON. All crimes should be punished sufficiently and immediately.

66A: Delicate spring roll wrapping: RICE PAPER. Gimme. It's made of rice flour. I really like Vietnamese spring rolls. Chinese egg rolls use wheat wrappers.

68A: How references may be available, in a resumé: ON REQUEST. Pas de problèm!

Down:

1D: It has 100 seats: SENATE. Senator Kennedy's seat may remain empty for many months.

2D: Hardy partner: LAUREL. LAUREL and Hardy. The comedy team.

3D: Fur source: ERMINE. Wow, he has such a long body.

4D: Arraignment response: PLEA

5D: Norse war god: TYR (Teer). The one-handed Norse god from whom we got Tuesday. Norse thunder god is THOR. Both sons of Odin.

6D: Debt-heavy corp. deal: LBO (Leveraged Buyout). An maneuver often incurs debt.

8D: Prefix with sphere: TROPO. Troposphere, the lowest layer of the atmosphere. New to me. TROPO is prefix for "turn/change".

9D: Car bomb?: EDSEL. The Ford flop. My mind just wandered off to Iraq where car bomb happens so often.

11D: Gap: LACUNA (luh-KYOO-nuh). Missing part in a manuscript/logical argument. New word to me.

12D: Opening hymn words: O LORD

13D: Coffeecake topping: STREUSEL. Same root as Strew. Literally "sprinkling" in German. I've never had coffeecake.

14D: Darkening time in verse: E'EN. Evening, poetically. I miss Dusk Til Dawn bar (Hongkong) occasionally. Wild time.

15D: NFL scores: TDS

22D: Yank's foe: REB (Rebel)

24D: Dealer's adversary: NARC. Drug dealer. I was picturing poker dealer. Do you like Kevin Spacey's "21"?

25D: Start a pot: ANTE. OK, poker now.

26D: Spitting sound, in comics: PTUI. Look, he is back!

27D: Cork's home: EIRE. Cork is a county in Ireland.

28D: "We know drama" station: TNT. Plenty of "Law & Order" reruns.

30D: Franks' conquest: GAUL. Got the answer, though I had no idea that Franks refer to those "ancient Germanic peoples dwelling in the regions of the Rhine, one division of whom, the Salians, conquered GAUL about a.d. 500, founded an extensive kingdom, and gave origin to the name France". So, France was called GAUL before a.d. 500?

34D: ER personnel: RNS (Registered Nurses)

35D: Giant among Giants: OTT (Mel). Hall of Famer. Nice clue.

37D: "Whip it" band: DEVO. Ah, now I remember those red hats.

38D: Inundated: ENGULFED

39D: Tennis great Lew who won three of the four majors in 1956: HOAD. His name escaped me. Aussie.

40D: Lackawanna's lake: ERIE. Easy guess. Have never heard of Lackawanna, a city in W New York, on Lake ERIE, near Buffalo.

41D: Stampeding group: HERD. Was surprised to find out that the #1 meaning of stampede is "a sudden, frenzied rush or headlong flight of a HERD of frightened animals, esp. cattle or horses". I was picturing the horrible Hajj stampede.

42D: Zooks lead-in?: GAD. Stumper. I actually went in one Gadzooks store one day out of pure curiosity. Dark stuff.

45D: "Little Women" author: ALCOTT. Louisa May ALCOTT.

46D: Fishing nets: SEINES. Here is a good image.

49D: One in an international septet: EUROPE. One of the seven continents. Named after Europa, a Phoenician princess abducted to Crete by Zeus. Zeus is such a amoral/immoral guy.

51D: Shirk one's duty, in a big way: DESERT. Coward.

53D: Seat of Montana's Silver Bow County: BUTTE. No idea. See the map. It's southwest of Helena. Wikipedia says Evel Knievel was born here. Maybe Doug Peterson too.

54D: Foreword, briefly: INTRO. And the closing section is called EPILOG.

55D: Like a choice between evils: NO-WIN

59D: SPCA part: Abbr.: SOC

60D: Harem room: ODA. Turkish for room.

62D: Elec. text-reading method: OCR (Optical Character Recognition). Argyle's printer has such function,

64D: N-R connectors: OPQ. Alphabet.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our fellow LAT solver Bill G and his family. Bill is the one wearing sunglasses. His puzzle column (mostly math) "Mind Games" appears in the local newspaper "The Beach Reporter" every other Thursday. Bill and his wife Barbara (in blue jacket) are retired teachers. His daughter Bonnie (blond hair, holding her son Jordan) teaches third grade in nearby Redondo Beach. Bill's oldest son Tim is on the left side. And Dan, Bill's middle son, is on the right. Dan's kids, Felix and Scarlet, round out the motley crew.

C.C.

Friday September 4, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: Hum Along - HUM is inserted at the beginning of a familiar phrase, resulting in a new phrase that start with a familiar HUM* beginning word.

17A: Military Vehicle arrangement?: (HUM)VEE FORMATION. Geese fly in VEE FORMATION. And "Military Vehicle" = HUMVEE. Widely used in Iraq/Afghanistan.

24A: Flower holder that carries a tune?: (HUM)MING VASE. I don't really know why foreigners prize MING VASES. Those produced in Qing Dynasty are prettier. And "carries a tune" = HUMMING.

43A: Ordinary dinner bread? (HUM)DRUM ROLL. DRUM ROLLS are used to build anticipation. Ordinary = HUMDRUM. Ennui. Oprah. Dr. Phil.

56A: Chemical that keeps the baloney out?: (HUM)BUG REPELLENT. Have to use Mosquito REPELLENT while playing golf earlier in the morning. "Baloney"= HUMBUG. Nonsense!

I think Barry made this puzzle when he was hungry. He put in ONION (32A: __ rings), HAMS (23D: Canned meats), SALSA (36A: Mexican eatery staple) & SAUSAGES (36D: Kielbasas, e.g.). I have never heard of kielbasa. My husband calls it Polish sausage.

Maybe Barry does not like Waldorf salad, otherwise he would have clued APPLE (41A: Jobs creation) differently. I do like his clue though. Jobs here refer to Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. I just talked about his liver transplant last Sunday.

Fine puzzle. Fun too. Three X's, one J, one Z, four V's. Barry's hallmark. He said HUMMING VASE was his seed entry. It came to him while he was solving another puzzle. Then he found three others. He made this puzzle in June 2009.

Across:

1A: Langley et al.: Abbr.: AFBS (Air Force Bases). Air Force's Air Combat Command is headquartered in Langley Air Force Base (Hampton, Virginia). Somehow I thought of CIA, which is headquartered in Langley, Virginia.

5A: Sports disks that can reach speeds of more than 100 miles per hour after being struck: PUCKS. Oh, I did not know this trivia.

10A: Steinbeck hero Tom: JOAD. From "The Grapes of Wrath".

15A: R&B family name: ISLEY. Very dim memory of the name. What's their most famous song?

16A: Magazine name that's also a pronoun: ELLE. French for "she/her".

20A: How pros do things: EXPERTLY. Like Tiger Woods. He never even wastes a practice shot. Highly efficient.

21A: "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" singer: PITNEY (Gene). Here is the clip. I've never heard of the singer nor the song.

29A: FDR predecessor: HCH (Herbert Clark Hoover). Did not know Hoover's middle name.

34A: Revelatory, as a moment: AHA

35A: 45 years after William I invaded England: MCXI. Roman for 1111. William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066. 1066 + 45=1111.

38A: One of the Four Corners states: Abbr.: ARIZ

39A: Biblical judge: ELI. Nice new clue. No more Yale references. BASTA.

40A: Draped attire: SARI. Also SAREE.

46A: Low pitch: BASS. D'oh, musical tone. I was thinking of baseball.

47A: MPG rating group: EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)

48A: City with a University of Washington campus: TACOMA. Seattle & TACOMA, that's all I know about Washington State.

51A: Street entrances: MANHOLES. Not the entrances I pictured.

58A: Get from __: advance slightly: A TO B

59A: English county bordering Suffolk: ESSEX. The German industrial city is ESSEN.

60A: Alamo first name: DAVY(Crockett)

61A: He sings "Maria" in "West Side Story": TONY

63A: Terrier type: SKYE. Must be first bred in the Isle of SKYE.

Down:

2D: Continuous change: FLUX. This whole world is in constant FLUX. Nothing stays still.

3D: Speed __: BUMP. Don't think I've seen BUMP in a puzzle before.

4D: Golf's Ballesteros: SEVE. Genius around green. I am glad he beat the brain cancer and will play at the 2010 British Open.

5D: Bakery container: PIE TIN

6D: Old Glory: US FLAG. Only one vowel.

7D: Sate: CLOY. Paris Hilton's sweetness is overly cloying.

8D: Plop lead-in: KER

9D: Academic conferences: SYMPOSIA. Plural of symposium. Can you believe it's a gimme for me?

10D: Breakwater: JETTY. Both the clue and the answer are new to me. JETTY sounds so adjective.

13D: Opposite of grant: DENY. Verb. I wrote down DEBT first, thinking of the noun endowment.

18D: Watergate Senator Sam: ERVIN. Wikipedia says Senator ERVIN also brought down McCarthy.

27D: French pronoun: MOI. And TOI & LUI, another two objective pronouns that end with letter I.

28D: Logically sound: VALID

29D: Silent film star?: HARPO. I was stumped. HARPO Marx. Why question mark?

37D: Pentagon topic: ARMS. I bet ARMS interest those guys more than peace.

38D: Auto loan letters: APR. Annual Percentage Rate I presume.

40D: SeaWorld favorite: SHAMU

41D: Title hero in a 1951 opera commissioned for television: AMAHL. Menotti's "AMAHL and the Night Visitors". I drew a blank.

44D: Grim figure?: REAPER. Grim REAPER, personification of death.

45D: One deck: UP NEXT

46D: Ewing whose ex-wife dreamt an entire season of "Dallas": BOBBY. No idea. Interesting Barry used "dreamt" instead of "dreamed". Linda mentioned a while ago that "dreamt" is the only English word that ends in "mt".

49D: Monte Carlo, e.g.: AUTO. I was thinking of Grace Kelley's Monte Carlo.

50D: "Let's go!": C'MON

51D: Monument Valley sight: MESA. I feel hot just seeing this picture.

52D: Cutlass automaker: OLDS. Would prefer a AUTO-less clue.

53D: Security problem: LEAK. Bob Novak's legacy will be forever marred by his CIA LEAK scandal.

54D: It's a sin: ENVY. A deadly sin.

57D: 18, 19, 20 in a series: RST. Can't fool me. The alphabet series.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a wonderful family photo of our fellow LAT solver Jazzbumpa (the forever changing trombonist), his lovely wife Gloria and their grandchildren.

He said:

In front:

Gloria (aka the Lovely Wife), Josh (who has had enough), and Ron, (aka JzB, your humble trombonist.)

In back:

Nate (of Blues fame), Ryan, Abby (the artist), Lauren, Alexa, Amanda, Emily, Samantha, Rebekka, Danny.

I had to do some red-eye correction. Emily, frex. could look either Goth or demonic. I chose Goth."

C.C.

Friday August 28, 2009 Elizabeth A. Long

Theme: S-lopped Over (Familiar ST-beginning phrases with S lopped)

17A: Insect's working hours?: (S)TICK SHIFT. Manuel transmission.

24A: Seaman who saw it all? (S)TAR WITNESS. One who provides crucial information in a criminal case. TAR is slang for sailor, so is GOB.

34A: Split end?: (S)TRESS FRACTURE. Common sports injury. Split ends are often seen in long hair, hence TRESS.

46A: London museum's hidden camera locations?: (S)TATE SECRET. Often classified. TATE museums.

53A: Where two-wheelers aren't allowed? (S)TRIKE ZONE. Over home plate. Between batter's knees and shoulders.

Hmm, a beautifully woven tapestry, but with an eye-catching flaw. The clue for CAST (37D: Fracture treatment) should have been changed.

Lots of fill-in-the-blanks in this puzzle:

28A: __ Moines: DES

43A: Gal__: PAL

49A: __Alto: PALO

57A: __ Corning, maker of Fiberglas: OWENS

6D: Rapper Mos __: DEF. Mos DEF = Most Definitely.

13D: __ the line: TOE. Did not like the "line" due to ON LINE (21A: Where users meet).

32D: End in __: A TIE

48D: Horse __: SENSE

A clear sign that Rich Norris is continuing his eased-up cluing for Friday & Saturday. Perfect for me, as I've sadly realized that I am simply not able to handle his normal late week puzzles.

Across:

1A: NBA stats: PTS (Points)

4A: Meccan, e.g.: SAUDI. Mecca is a city in Saudi Arabia. The holiest city of Islam. I did not know people of Mecca are called Meccan though.

9A: Silver fish: SMELT. I've yet to try fried SMELT someday.

14A: The Rams of the NCAA's Atlantic 10 Conf.: URI (University of Rhode Island). The answer revealed itself. I forgot that their mascot is a ram.

15A: Popular place to go downhill: ASPEN. The Colorado ski resort.

16A: Something not done: TABOO. Sigh. I was picturing some rare/medium meat that's not well done.

19A: Peace goddess: IRENE. Gimme.

20A: Tools with teeth: RAKES

29A: Scout's concern: TALENT. Sometimes the answer is RECON.

30A: Site of bedlam: ZOO. Liked the clue.

31A: One-named model on many romance novel covers: FABIO. The Italian long-haired model. Not my type.

32A: Attention-getting sounds: AHEMS

38A: Young Aussie hoppers: JOEYS. Baby kangaroos are called JOEYS.

39A: Plumbing outlet: DRAIN

40A: 911 response outlet: EMS

41A: Tiny African threat: TSETSE. Good to see the fly's full name.

50A: Must: HAVE TO. Wrote down NEED TO first.

51A: Malice: VENOM

52A: Former #1 woman pool player Corr: KAREN. Nicknamed "the Irish Invader". Unknown to me, though her face looks familiar. Must have seen on on ESPN before.

58A: Gave in: CAVED. Mine was CEDED.

59A: Israeli weapon: UZI. The "British weapon" is STEN.

60A: Do figures, in a way: SKATE. Figure is defined as "a movement, pattern, or series of movements in skating" in dictionary. Is that how figure skating got its name? I was thinking of numeral figure.

61A: Doglike scavenger: HYENA. The "laughing" scavenger.

62A: Whole lot: TON

Down:

1D: Rotten: PUTRID

2D: "M*A*S*H" system: TRIAGE. The military medical prioritizing system.

3D: Perverted types: SICKOS

4D: Impudence: SASS

5D: Burning issue?: ASH. Got me. Very clever.

6D: News letter: UPI. And TASS (29D: Soviet news agency)

8D: Back from a trip, say: IN TOWN. Thought of RETURN first.

9D: Clown's accessory: STILT. I was picturing the big nose on a clown's face.

10D: Sausalito's county: MARIN. Not familiar with Sausalito, a Bay Area city. Wikipedia says both ISABEL Allende and Amy Tan live there.

11D: Charles's miser: EBENEZER (Scrooge). "Dickens' miser" would be SCROOGE. Given name in clue = given name in answer. Surname in clue = Surname in answer.

12D: Like the road in a classic ballad: LONESOME. Stumper. James Taylor's "That LONESOME Road".

18D: Flooey lead-in: KER. Also lead-in for plop/plunk.

25D: First Arab letter: ALIF. The first Hebrew letter is ALEPH.

28D: Ask for more: REORDER

27D: Scrubbing brand: SOS. So you wear glove when using SOS?

31D: Five-time Emmy winner Tina: FEY. What a great job with Sarah Palin. "I can see Russia from my house."

33:D Attila, notably: HUN. Attila the HUN.

34D: Western weapon: TOMAHAWK. Awesome answer.

35D: Interstate feature: REST AREA

36D: Museo display: ARTE. Spanish/Italian for art. Museo is Spanish/Italian for museum.

38D: Air Force One, e.g.: JET

41D: Asian holiday: TET. Well, it's only a Vietnamese holiday. Would you call Bastille Day an "European holiday"? I don't think so. It's only a French National holiday.

42D: It's often served with soda: SCOTCH

43D: End successfully: PAN OUT

44D: Former NBA star Mourning: ALONZO. No idea. He last played for the Miami Heat.

45D: Chinese menu offering: LO MEIN. LO = dredge up. MEIN = noodles. It's not stir-fried. CHOW MEIN is. CHOW simply means "to stir-fry". All Cantonese.

47D: Olympics contest, e.g.: EVENT

49D: Dispensable candy: PEZ. This puzzle has three Z's, one J, three V's and 5 K's. Quite scrabbly.

51D: Hindu sacred text: VEDA. Sanskrit for "sacred lore, knowledge".

52D: Decks in a ring: KOS (Knock outs). Wish there were an abbreviation hint.

54D: Light line: RAY. RAY Of hope? The "line" bothers me too.

55D: "__been meaning to tell you...": I'VE. That "Wo Ai Ni", Chinese for "I love you".

56D: "Jeopardy!" great Jennings: KEN. Alas, H&R Block.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of Dr. Dad and his family. It's taken 7 or 8 years ago. From left to right: Dr. Dad, his wife Kathy, daughter Jennifer who is now 26 years old and living in New Jersey, and daughter Danielle who is now 14 and starting high school this year.

C.C.

Friday August 21, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: 'N Sync (N is replaced by NN)

17A: "Cimarron" actress Irene's carriage?: DUN(N)E BUGGY. Knew Irene DUNNE. Not familiar with DUNE BUGGY ("The Other Woman" sounds sweet). It's used on sand dunes/beaches.

23A: Makers of knockoff artillery?: CAN(N)ON COPIERS. Had never heard of Ricoh until I came to the US. Xerox and CANON were the popular copier brands in China.

32A: Nordic winter wear?: FIN(NI)SH COAT. Nokia is all I know about Finland.

40A: Airer of fashion infomercials?: COCO CHAN(N)EL. Had lots of trouble obtaining this entry, despite seeing Clear Ayes' CHANNEL for CASSINI ("In My Own Fashion" autobiographer") mistake last Sunday. CHANEL once said "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance." So true.

50A: Film festival city guidebook for pedestrians?: WALKING CAN(N)ES. CANNES Film Festival.

59A: Cruise down the Rhine, perhaps?: BON(N) VOYAGE. BONN is former capital of Western Germany. On the Rhine River.

Another special 15*16 grid. One extra row to accommodate the overlapped theme answers FINNISH COAT and COCO CHANNEL.

Dan mentioned that he always shoots for at least 20 entries of 6-letter or more in his puzzle. I counted a total of 24 in today's grid.

Bumpy ride. As planned yesterday, I dived into the lower right corner immediately and got BONN VOYAGE in no time. Found no unifying answer there, then returned north and got DUNNE BUGGY. Then I noticed the extra N pattern. Unfortunately it did not help me with the other 4 theme answers at all.

Quite a few obscure words/abbreviations for me in the grid.

Across:

1A: Dear columnist? ABBY. Dear ABBY.

5A: Neighborhood near TriBeCa?: SOHO. TriBeCa stands for Triangle Below Canal Street.

9A: Alternative to Hires: DAD'S. Root beer brands.

13A: SST nose feature: DROOP. Wikipedia says DROOP nose was a distinctive feature of Concorde. And pilot would lower the nose to improve visibility of the runway and taxiway. When in flight, the nose would be raised. New term to me.

15A: À tout __: at all costs: PRIX. Simply "price" in French, as in PRIX fixe.

16A: Aunt with a "Cope Book": ERMA. From ERMA Bombeck.

19A: Worker's end-of-week cry: TGIF. Proper for a Friday puzzle.

20A: Abbr. in some Canadian place names: STE. In Québec or other French speaking places.

21A: 2002 Best New Artist Grammy winner Jones: NORAH. Very nice "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". NORAH Jones is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, the sitarist.

26A: Masters partner: JOHNSON. Stumped. The Masters and JOHNSON was a research team (William Masters & Virginia E. JOHNSON). They pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the 1990s, a la Wikipedia.

29A: Film director Petri: ELIO. Big stumper. Have never heard of this Italian film director. He died in 1982, the year TV entered my world.

30A: D'backs and Cards: NLERS. Diamondbacks & Cardinals: National Leaguers.

39A: "Bambi" character: ENA: Bambi's aunt.

42A: Promotes: SELLS. OK, Obama promotes/SELLS his heath care plan. I had problem understanding the connection.

43A: Prefix meaning height: ACRO. As in acrobat/acrophobia.

44A: "No kidding!": THAT SO. Can you give me an example of how these two are synonymous? I've never heard of THAT SO.

47A: With sophistication: SUAVELY

53A: "80's Ladies" country singer K. T.: OSLIN. Knew her name, not the song.

54A: Eager, in dialect: RARIN'. RARIN' to go.

58A: Fish's last meal?: BAIT. Great clue. Got me.

61A: "__ the picture!": I GET

62A: Car with a four-ring logo: AUDI. Very straightforward clue.

63A: Greek New Ager: YANNI. Enya & YANNI, the only two New Agers I know. YANNI attended University of Minnesota.

64A: Deep-six: TOSS. Origin for deep-six (discard): a burial at sea (where the body is weighted to force it to the bottom) requires a minimum of six fathoms of water.

65A: Column-lined pedestrian way: STOA. Alright, here is the STOA of Attalos in Athens. Of Doric order.

66A: Spunkmeyer of cookie fame: OTIS. Total stranger to me.

Down:

2D: Moët et Chandon label word: BRUT. Literally "very dry".

3D: Elegant tableware: BONE CHINA

4D: Over there, old-style: YON. Hither and YON.

5D: Encourage: SPUR ON

6D: Heart, e.g.: ORGAN. And UNIV (48D:: Harvard, e.g.: Abbr.). Same style of cluing.

7D: Impressive note: HIGH C. Wikipedia says it's also called Soprano C.

8D: Moronic intro?: OXY. Oxymoronic.

9D: Holds for questioning: DETAINS

11D: Composer Shostakovich: DMITRI. Got his name with Across help.

12D: Like AAA-rated bonds, as bonds go: SAFEST

14D: Actor Sean et al: PENNS. The only non-theme NN answer in the grid. (Update: YANNI too).

18D: Activist Chaz: BONO. D'oh. Chastity BONO. Sonny & Cher's daughter. LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) activist. She is going to have a gender swap surgery and officially become a "he".

22D: Peloponnesian War victor: SPARTA. Easy guess. Not familiar with that ancient Greek war. It's fought between SPARTA and the Athens.

24D: Author. unknown: ANON

25D: Belief involving sorcery: OBEAH (OH-bee-uh). New word to me. Dictionary says it's practiced in some parts of the West Indies, Jamaica, and nearby tropical America. Kind of like Voodoo, isn't it?

26D: Boss, in Spanish: JEFE. Also new to me. It's pronounced like HE-fe.

27D: "thirtysomething" actor Ken: OLIN. Nope. Have never heard of this guy or TV series "thirtysomething".

30D: Some PX patrons: NCOS. PX is Post Exchange.

31D: __ cit.: footnote abbr.: LOC

33D: Strands at a chalet, perhaps: ICES IN

34D: Athenian reformer: SOLON. No idea. Wikipedia outlines a bunch of constitutional, economic, moral reforms he conducted but failed.

35D: Acid in gastric juice, chemically: HCL (Hydrocholoric). Absolutely no idea.

36D: Nonstop: INCESSANT

37D: Jazzman Saunders: MERL. Obtained his name with Across fills. What's the model of his car?

41D: Church area: NAVE

42D: Leeward Island north of Nevis: ST. KITTS. I am going to eat worms if I forget this name again.

44D: Small-time: TWO-BIT. Both the clue and answers are new to me. Only know "Big time". TWO-BITS is also a slang for a quarter. (Thanks, Bryan.)

45D: Tries one's hand (at): HAS A GO. Alas, multiple-word problem again.

46D: Unites (with): ALLIES

47D: Lake Huron port in Canada: SARNIA. I forgot. It's clued as "Largest city on Lake Huron" last time. See this map. Northeast of Detroit.

51D: Tiler's need: GROUT. Thin, coarse mortar. New to me.

52D: Positive-thinking: CAN-DO. Like Dennis's attitude.

56D: Lambs: Lat.: AGNI. Did not know the plural of Agnus is AGNI. Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).

57D: Floral rings: LEIS

59D: Box score figs.: BAS. BA stands for Batting Average in baseball or "Blocks Against" in basketball. (Thanks, Dennis & Argyle).

60D: Shanghai-born NBAer: YAO. His surname. Chinese put surname first.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a great wedding photo of our fellow solver Linda. In her own words: "L to R: Brides Parents, bride and groom (our youngest son,) moi and hubby."

C.C.

Friday August 14, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: NO WAY (51D: "Forget it!" (and a clue to this puzzle's theme)) - WAY is omitted from familiar phrases.

19A: Alleviate a tie-up?: FREE(WAY) TRAFFIC

21A: Partly built residence, perhaps?: HALF(WAY) HOUSE

29A: Periscope lens kept as a souvenir?: SUB(WAY) TOKEN

38A: Euphoria at Pebble Beach?: PACIFIC COAST HIGH(WAY)

44A: Embodiment of a footrace? RUN(WAY) MODEL

57A: Play on a wide stage?: BROAD(WAY) SHOW

59A: Shot at a D.C. bar?: CAPITAL BELT(WAY)

A special 16*15 grid, to accommodate the center 16-letter theme answer PACIFIC COAST HIGH.

BELT is a slang for a shot of liquor, hence CAPITAL BELT. I was picturing a terrible gun shot at a D.C. bar. Halfway house is the only base phrase I had never heard before.

Dan Naddor seems to be fond of stacking theme answers on top of each other, esp. the first two and the last two. I've noticed this in his past several grids. Not easy to pull it off.

I normally start with the lower right corner for Friday puzzles, the tie-in word is often placed there. And getting NO WAY earlier today certainly helped me.

I still struggled a bit, but I fared much better than I did last week. Lots of abbreviations in today's puzzle, maybe the result of heavy 72 theme squares.

Across:

1A: Mine tram bit: LUMP. LUMP of coal. I lost myself on the first hole.

5A: Univ. sites: BLDGS

10A: Foul line indicators: POLES

15A: Beam of support: I-BAR

16A: Baseball Hall of Famer Combs: EARLE. No idea. Wikipedia says EARLE Combs played his whole career with the Yankees (1924-1935).

17A: Submit taxes on an impulse? E-FILE. Why "on an impulse"?

18A: "__ the mornin'!": TOP O'. Irish slang for "Good morning!". New to me.

23A: Throw from the saddle: UNSEAT

24A: Quebec's Festival d'_: ETE. Summer Festival. Easy guess.

25A: Ticks off: IRES. I wrote down IRKS first. I thought IRE is only a noun.

26A: Church-owned Lone Star State inst.: SMU (Southern Methodist University). Site of the Bush Presidential Library. Laura Bush's alma mater.

27A: Toast topping: PATE. Rarely.

34A: Goose egg: ZERO

35A: Seat of Dallas County, Alabama: SELMA. The civil rights march city. I have never heard of the Dallas County though.

37A: Old dagger: SNEE

41A: Son of Rebekah: ESAU. Or "Son of Issac". I am more familiar with the "Biblical brother" clue. ESAU is Jacob's brother.

42A: Midshipman's prog., perhaps: NROTC. Stumped. It's Naval ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps.)

46A: Noted pairs guardian: NOAH. He filled the ARK with pairs. A Biblical sub-theme in this puzzle.

47A: Nietzsche's "never": NIE. And "Nietzsche's "no" is NEIN.

48A: Feds: G-MEN. FBI agent.

50A: Hamlets: Abbr.: TNS. Towns I suppose.

63A: Little guy: SHAVER

61A: Davenport site: IOWA. The clue "site" made me think of Davenport the sofa rather than the city.

62A: Argumentative retort: ARE SO

64A: Reddish brown: ROAN

65A: Odessa native: TEXAN. Nailed it immediately. Odessa is a oil city in W Texas.

66A: __ Martin: ASTON. James Bond's car.

67A: "Grand" brand of ice cream: EDY'S

Down:

1D: Athletic: LITHE. I associate LITHE with supple rather than athletic.

2D: Destroyer destroyer: U-BOAT. WWII German submarine.

3D: Sweet, nutty pie: MAPLE PECAN. I've only heard of pecan pie.

4D: Plum, e.g.: Abbr.: PROF. Not familiar with the board game Clue or the character Professor Plum.

5D: "___ I forget...": BEFORE. I felt silly not filling in the blanks immediately. LEST will be good for "___ we forget".

6D: "Law of the Lash" star: LA RUE. Lash LA RUE.

7D: Slip cover?: DRESS. Stumped. Nice wordplay on slipcovers.

9D: Spike preceder, in volleyball: SET. It's a maneuver in which a ball is directed to a point where a player can spike it into the opponent's court. Not a familiar term to me.

10D: Oil source: PEANUT. No. 1 cooking oil in China.

11D: Whacks: OFFS. OFF here is a verb, meaning "to kill". Whack is slang for "to kill" too.

12D: Long sentence: LIFE. LIFE sentence. Good clue. I like how it parallels OFFS.

13D: "Mrs. Battle's Opinions on Whist" essayist: ELIA. Easy guess.

14D: Cainites, e.g.: SECT. Cainite is "a member of a Gnostic SECT that exalted Cain and regarded the God of the Old Testament as responsible for evil" according to dictionary.

20D: Latin ballroom dances: RUMBAS

22D: "__ the Week" 1930s record label: HIT OF. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says it the record was sold at news-stands, not record stores. And as the name implied, new records came out at the rate of one each week.

26D: Rash source, maybe: SUMAC. Itchy itchy.

28D: Planet ending: ARIUM. Planetarium is a new word to me.

29D: Bandit one hopes to take money from?: SLOT. One-armed bandit, the SLOT machine.

30D: Irish-born actor Milo: O'SHEA

31D: Honor for Connery: KNIGHTHOOD

32D: Lines of thought?: EEGS. Saw identical clue before. Still like it.

33D: O. T. book: NEH

34D: Silents star Pitts: ZASU. A combination of "Eliza" and "Susan", relatives of her mother. ZASU is pronounced as zay ZOO. Gimme for Jerome & Buckeye & me.

35D: Mountainside debris: SCREE. Learned from doing Xword.

36D: Sierra Club concern: Abbr.: ECOL

39D: Jawaharlal's daughter: INDIRA. I only knew Jawaharlal Nehru as Nehru. So, I struggled with INDIRA (Gandhi).

40D: Govt. obligation: T-BOND. Treasury Bond.

45D: Common pickup capacity: ONE TON. 2,000 pounds.

46D: Pick up: NEATEN. New definition of "Pick up" to me.

49D: Musical tempo modifier: MOLTO. Meaning "very", musically.

52D: Some trumpeters: SWANS. Trumpeter swans, with loud, trumpeting style honks.

54D: Fictional braggart: HARE. The moral guy Aesop's HARE?

55D: Top spot: APEX

56A: It's usually taken in stores: VISA. The credit card. Tricky clue.

57A: OPEC units: BBLS (Barrels)

58D: Term of royal respect: SIRE. Archaic.

60D: Bucolic setting: LEA

Answer grid.

Today's picture: A beautiful photo from our fellow solver Moon. She said: "A pic of my family taken during my sister's wedding in Feb, 2009. Usually all of us meet very rarely, the previous time was in Feb 2006 and before that, it was during my wedding in Oct 2002.

Starting from left is my Dad, my better half, me, my younger bro-in-law, my younger sis, my elder sis, my older bro-in-law and my mother."

Email me crosswordc@gmail.com if you want to share with us a part of your memories.

C.C.

Friday August 7, 2009 Gareth Bain

Theme: TERminus (TER is added to familiar phrases.)

17A: Megaphone for a ghost?: BOO BOOS(TER)

27A: Fault-finding artist?: NAGGING PAIN(TER)

44A: Reason to bring a relief pitcher? FALLING STAR(TER)

58A: Drunk-as-a-skunk skunk?: LIT CRIT(TER)

FALLING STARTER tipped me off the theme. Only learned a few months ago that LIT can mean "intoxicated". LIT CRIT is a shortening of Literary Criticism.

I was surprised that both CTRL (19A: Key not used by itself) and MCS (21A: Mike holders) have no abbreviation hints in the clue. I guess CTRL is OK, as it's shown as such on the keyboard. It's indeed a "Key not used by itself", you often press CTRL with Alt & Del. Very clever clue.

A much easier puzzle than last Friday's, though I still had troubles here and there. This is an eased-up week I think.

Across:

1A: Longtime Boston Symphony conductor: OZAWA (Seijin). He was born in China. Lived in Beijing until he was 6.

6A: Pack: CRAM

10A: "Goodbye, Columbus" author: ROTH (Philip). Has anyone read this book?

14A: Rental sign: TO LET. Be careful of "letter" clue, as it might refer to one who lets.

15A: Senate garb: TOGA. Roman senate.

16A: Grammy winner for the New Age album "Amarantine": ENYA. Yanni, Enigma are New Age artists too.

22A: "Over here!": YOO-HOO

24A: Special something: AURA. And HALO (13D: Saintly symbol).

26A: Fill (with): IMBUE

32A: San __, Calif.: MATEO. Spanish for "St. Matthew".

33D: Negative link: NOR. Neither/NOR.

34A: Far from exciting: TAME

35A: Mount in Crete: IDA. Zeus was born in MT. IDA.

38A: Programme shower: BBC. Shower=show-er, one who shows. Programme is the British spelling. Hence BBC rather than ABC, my initial answer.

39A: Stereotypical escapee's tool: FILE. Not familiar with hand FILE tool. Wanted ROPE.

48A: Refreshing spot: OASIS. In a desert.

49A: City on the Irtysh River: OMSK. See this map again. The city on the Ural is called ORSK.

50A: Talk incessantly about: HARP ON

53A: Foot in a line: IAMB. Poetic foot.

57D: GM line until 2004: OLDS

62A: Oratorio highlight: ARIA

64A: Pal in a Stetson: PARD. Short for "partner", cowboys' way of saying "pal". Stetson hats are part of Cowboys's outfit.

66A: White poplar, e.g.: ASPEN. I can almost hear the ASPEN leaves fluttering at the slightest breeze.

Down:

1D: Gambling outlets, for short: OTBS. OTB = Off-Track Betting.

2D: __ suiter: '40s dude: ZOOT. Here are two modern ZOOT suiters. Very high-waisted pants.

3D: Flowering succulent: ALOE. Did not know "succulent" can be a noun.

4D: Wikipedia article, e.g.: WEB PAGE. Have you ever paid attention to Wikipedia logo? It's a globe of jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces.

5D: Words on an initial reference volume: A TO. Volume 1, A TO ..., I was stumped. From A TO Z is more at my comprehension level.

6D: Diagnostic pic: CT SCAN. No idea. Also called CAT SCAN. CAT = Computerized Axial Tomography. I can only think of MRI/X-RAY.

8D: Just a number, it's said: AGE. AGE is just a number, so true.

9D: Gospel duo with the single "Shackles": MARY MARY. Unknown to me. See this clip. Sounds like hip hop rather than gospel.

10D: Election extender: RECOUNT. I did not expect the Minnesota Senator seat RECOUNT to last that long.

11D: Offered: ON THE TABLE. And its symmetrical partner A TALL ORDER (28D: One difficult task). Both are three-word fills. Nice pair.

12D: First-time: TYRO. Or TIRO. Latin for "novice".

18D: Katz of "Dallas": OMRI. Headache. I can never remember this guy. OMRI is of Hebrew origin, meaning "sheaf of grain".

23D: Sash traditionally tied with a bow: OBI. Yes, indeed.

25D: Actor Tognazzi: UGO. No idea. He was an Italian actor. UGO means "intelligence", variant of Hugo.

26D: Apple in your pocket: IPOD. So much free publicity for Apple.

27D: First name in Olympics perfection: NADIA (Comaneci). The first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 in Olympic history.

29D: Pesky swarm: GNATS

30D: Fireplace bit: EMBER

31D: Geometric fig.: RECT. Rectangle.

32D: Rub the wrong way: MIFF

36D: Acquired kin: SON-IN-LAW

37D: Follows tightly, as a curve: HUGS

40D: Slipped by: ELAPSED

42D: Stimulus check org.: IRS. Nice clue.

43D: Nevis's sister island: ST KITTS. See this map. Stumper for me. Wikipedia says The Federation of ST KITTS and Nevis is the smallest sovereign nation in the Americas. Nice crossing with ISLET (42A: Speck in the ocean).

45D: Prefix with therm: ISO. Prefix meaning "equal".

46D: Froot Loops mascot: TOUCAN. Not familiar with TOUCAN Sam. Chinese don't eat cereal for breakfast.

47D: Made in the U.S.: AMER. Called to mind this amazing Star Tribune article. What's your best flea market/garage sale find?

50D: Lion tamer's prop: HOOP

51D: Rootless plant: ALGA

52D: Move a muscle: STIR. Alliteration.

5D: Like mortals?: MERE. Us MERE mortals. I got the answer from Across fills.

56D: Falklands War gun: BREN. An acronym of Brno, the Czech city of design, and Enfield, site of the British rifle factory. I first wrote down STEN, which is derived from the weapon's chief designer Major Reginald Shepherd and Harold Turpin, and the same Enfield factory.

59D: "Mad About You" cousin: IRA. Easy guess. I don't remember this character at all. Did watch several episode of "Mad About You".

60D: "Hope __ good breakfast": Bacon: IS A. Francis Bacon's full quote is "Hope IS A good breakfast but a bad supper". I like the breakfast & Bacon connection.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday July 31, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Say It Again? (sk → X)

17A: Paul Bunyan's admission in therapy?: I HATE TO AX (ask)

27A: Formal attire for Dumbo?: ELEPHANT TUX (tusk)

43A: Plant fiber used by moonshiners?: WHISKEY FLAX (flask)

56A: Diver's tank capacity?: OXYGEN MAX (mask)

11D: Catchall source of revenue?: MULTI-TAX (task)

36D: Keep a Northeastern fort under surveillance?: VIDEO DIX (disk)

WHISKEY FLAX is not an ideal theme entry, as there is still a SK there waiting to be swapped. DIX in the last one refers to Fort DIX, named for Civil War Major General John Adams DIX.

What other sk/X can you think of? Minsk/MINX came to my mind.

Another Mount Everest for me. My "Yes, I can" hope has now resigned to "Well, I tried". Very hard. I did not understand the theme until the very end.

Cross:

1A: Queen described by Mercutio: MAB. Here is Mercutio's speech. From Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet". I'm used to the "Fairy queen" clue.

4A: Cornrow: PLAIT. Bo Derek wore cornrows in movie "10".

9A: Like much "Laugh-In" humor: CAMPY. What exactly is CAMPY? Is "Friends" CAMPY?

14A: Put away: ATE

15A: Dreads wearer: RASTA. Bob Marley is probably the most famous RASTA. Love his "No Woman, No Cry".

16A: Fertilized item: OVULE. And GAMETE (49A: 16-Across cell). I had trouble obtaining both. Needed "egg" for hint.

19A: Tees off: RILES

20A: Fish in a tank: TETRA

21A: Italian omelet served open-faced: FRITTATA. I have yet to try zucchini FRITTATA. I expect it to be very soggy.

23A: Museum assortment: RELICS

25A: Balk at: RESIST

31A: Place to unwind: TUB

32A: "A Perfect Spy" author: LE CARRE. Here is the book cover. I've never heard of it. John LE CARRE also wrote "The Constant Gardener".

33A: __kiri: HARA. HARA is "belly", kiri is "cut". The Japanese samurai suicide.

34A: Selfless sort: GIVER. Donor too.

37A: Ex-Fed chairman Alan Greenspan's alma mater: NYU. A rare gimme for me. Greenspan is a disciple of Ayn Rand.

38A: Not so strict: LAXER

39A: Computer operating system: UNIX. Windows for our computer.

40A: Tabloid topic: SCANDAL. A-Rod is dating Kate Hudson now.

42A: It's illegal to drop it: LSD. I did not know the slang meaning of drop: to ingest an illicit drug orally; swallow, according to dictionary.

47A: River of the Carolinas: PEE DEE. Stumped again.

50A: The Great Barrier Reel borders it: CORAL SEA. See this map. My first Poison is a Christmas gift from Queensland.

54A: Expectant parent, e.g.: NAMER

58A: Part of "CSI": CRIME. SCENE is 5 letter too.

59A: Baseball commissioner Bud: SELIG. He used to own Milwaukee Brewers.

60A: Verb suffix?: OSE. Verbose. I did not fall into the IZE trap.

61A: Hockey lineup, e.g.: HEXAD. A group of six. I was stumped. Know nothing about hockey.

62A: Borneo swinger: ORANG. Borneo is the third largest island in the world, after Greenland and New Guinea.

63A: 1985 video game release, initially: NES (Nintendo Entertainment System). Japanese kanji for Nintendo is literally "Trust heavens".

Down:

1D: French teacher: MAITRE. I thought it's PROFESOR.

2D: Following closely: AT HEEL

3D: __ wig: '60s fad item: BEATLE. I wonder how much this original wig is worth now.

4D: Service provider? PREACHER. Great clue.

5D: Back muscle, for short: LAT. I simply forgot. See this diagram. Short for latissimus dorsi.

6D: Starting: AS OF

7D: __-Tass: news agency: ITAR. The Russian news agency. ITAR stands for Information Telegraph Agency of Russia.

8D: Sitcom set in a garage: TAXI. No idea.

9D: Organ layer: CORTEX. Latin for "bark of a tree". I thought CORTEX refers to the brain, you know, cerebral CORTEX.

10D: Some athletic footwear: AVIAS

12D: You can get it from a blast: PLEASURE. I was picturing a dynamite blast.

13D: Check-box word: YES. I like this clue.

18D: Apartment with two staircases, perhaps: TRIPLEX. So, duplex is "Apartment with one staircase"?

22D: Loyal: TRUE

24D: __ fly: run-scoring out: SAC. Sacrifice fly.

26D: Way up the slope: T-BAR

28D: Folk singer Griffith: NANCI. Stranger to me. Wikipedia says she is the original singer of "From a Distance". I like Bette Miller's version.

29D "__ I might ...": TRY AS

30D: Jack's place: TRUNK

33D: Not a whole person?: HALF MAN. "Two and a HALF MAN" helped me with this answer.

34D: [Uh-oh!]: GULP. The square brackets suggest non-verbal behavior/gesture.

35D: Like many Woody Allen characters: INSECURE. Thought of NEUROTIC.

38D: Bomb big-time: LAY AN EGG. Multipe words always give me trouble.

40D: Kid-lit poet Silverstein: SHEL. He also wrote the music and lyrics for "A Boy Named Sue".

41D: B.S., e.g.: DEG. And SCH (55D: 41-Down awarder)

44D: Best Actor winner for "Save the Tiger" (1973): LEMMON (Jack). No idea. Great clip. Al Pacino looks so young.

45D: Drill command: AT EASE

46D: Persian king who captured Athens: XERXES. Sigh. I actually watched and liked "300", in which Gerard Butler the Spartan King leads 300 Spartans fighting against XERXES, very kinky looking in the film.

48D: Miller creation: DRAMA. Arthur Miller. Anyone tried FLOUR?

52D: Phys. activity: EXER (exercise). Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

53D: "The Clan of the Cave Bear" heroine: AYLA. Boy, I can never remember this Jean Auel character.

57D: Beefeater, e.g.: GIN. No idea. I've never heard of Beefeater GIN. Dictionary defines beefeater as "yeoman of the English royal guard or a warder of the Tower of London". Hence the guard label I suppose.

Answer grid.

Thank you for the blog/private answers and comments, everyone. I appreciate and value every contribution.

C.C.