Wednesday October 27, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Tool Time - The first word of each common phrase is also a common tool.

17A. Track and field event: HAMMER THROW. This was the RECORD .

23A. Agreed: SAW EYE TO EYE. Did you all like this MOVIE ?

39A. Lou Gossett Jr. played one in "An Officer and a Gentleman": DRILL INSTRUCTOR. I never cared for the MOVIE .

49A. Air traveler's need: PLANE TICKET. I used to love using this TOOL followed up by using:

61A. Folder holder: FILE CABINET. This ONE .

Happy Wednesday all; it is getting bittersweet to be the one who lucks out and gets to write up one of the remaining Dan Naddor puzzles, not knowing which one will be last. We have Dan’s consistent heavy themeage, four 11’s and a grid spanning fifth. I was looking for another layer with the tools, maybe the order you used the tools, but I could not find anything else, except some fun clues, and lots of Dan’s tricky multiple words.

Across:

1. One of a "Sesame Street" duo: BERT. I always have trouble remembering which is ERNIE .

5. Tizzy: LATHER. Just a fun WORD .

11. Chest muscle, briefly: PEC. ENOUGH ?

14. Bug tail?: ABOO. BUGABOO .

15. Injury requiring emergency room treatment: TRAUMA.

16. Everyone: ALL.

19. Double standard?: TWO.

20. Hardly laid-back: TYPE A. Dan obviously was one, but are you? Take the TEST .

21. Morsel: ORT. Classic crosswordese.

22. Corp. exec hopefuls: MBAS.

27. Dilettante: AMATEUR. dil•et•tante/ˌdiliˈtänt/Noun
1. A person who claims an area of interest, such as the arts, without real commitment or knowledge.
2. A person with an amateur interest in the arts. My parents always made it sound much worse.

31. "Nuts!": DARN.

32. Baby Arp's first word?: DADA. Oh my, this is a complicate double pun, I think talking about Hans ARP one of the influential DADAISTS, and DA DA. I filled in and had to think and ponder to understand the answer.

33. Metric prefix: DECI. CENTIMETRE DECIMETRE, etc.

36. Talk big: BOAST.

42. Ketel One alternative, familiarly: STOLI. I am a POTATO PURIST .

43. Señor's "Certainly!": SI SI. I always have a hard time with this very easy fill, because my mind only sees sisi. This is one of the multiple words fill Dan liked, 47A. In a way: OF SORTS and 66A. Opposite of 43-Across: NO NO. 29D. Señor's sendoff: ADIOS AMIGO. Beautiful bilingual double alliteration, and our Spanish lesson. 30D. Happy hour request: TALL ONE. Which is your preference Lois, Jeannie from this IMAGE . 35D. "Not to worry": IT'S OK. 57. How some NFL games are resolved: IN OT. I just finished reading The Glory Game by Frank Gifford, about the 1958 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME which many claim is the greatest game ever, and the first overtime game in pro football history.

44. Bistro: CAFE.

45. Crash site?: SOFA. My favorite misdirection of the puzzle.

53. Main Web page: HOME.

54. Nashville sch.: TSU. TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY, the more famous U. of TENNESSEE is in KNOXVILLE.

55. Bond: UNITE.

60. Jackie's second: ARI. Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, after her marriage to shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis.

64. Droop: SAG.

65. Composer Debussy: CLAUDE. Do we all know CLAIR de LUNE ?

67. Prefix with skeleton: EXO. Like IRON MAN .

68. Counselor's charge: CAMPER. Lo-li-ta, what am I to do with CAMPERS?

69. Mail-routing abbr.: ATTN. A foreshadowing of our USPS.

Down:

1. Thai currency: BAHT. This MONEY is also an anagram for BATH.

2. Online marketplace: EBAY. If you have never shopped EBAY, it is amazing; my kids saved a fortune by buying used textbooks, and you can find all kinds of out offprint stuff. Coolieo.

3. Easy win: ROMP.

4. Hefty volume: TOME.

5. USPS delivery: LTR. United States Postal Service.

6. Miró on the wall: ART. My uncle had this PRINT hanging in his office; as a child I could not understand why.

7. Second-deepest U.S. lake: TAHOE. This is the most beautiful place in the 48 STATES

8. "Faster!": HURRY. Am I the only one who wanted to find a famous non-eater like Gandhi?

9. Hammed it up: EMOTED. Who do you think is the worst ham actor (actress) you know?

10. Like crudités: RAW. I do not think I have ever been to a law related get together that did not start with VEGGIES .

11. "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" singer: PAT BENATAR. When I would go on the road with the bands I worked with, I always enjoyed this feisty performer and this SONG.

12. Hall of Fame Broncos quarterback: ELWAY. Mastermind of THE DRIVE .

13. Intimate: CLOSE. Hmm, “hey baby, let’s get close…” Nah. Oh, friends, I see.

18. Leisure: EASE.

22. African country nearest Spain: MOROCCO. Home for RICK’s .

24. BMW rival: AUDI.

25. Small songbirds: WRENS. But they are powerful SINGERS .

26. Cologne that sounds wrong?: TABU. You never hear of this anymore, perhaps they need this SPOKESPERSON , what do you think VIDWAN?

27. Tacks on: ADDS.

28. Trading center: MART. Do like K or WAL or perhaps this ONE ?

34. CBS forensic drama: CSI.

37. "Hush!" to Romeo: SOFT. This is my favorite JULIET , who is yours?

38. "__ bien!": TRES. Must get some French in.

40. Cereal Mikey liked, in ads: LIFE. I loved the cereal as a kid, it was just nice to have a change from flakes and krispies; but also notice this fill rhymes with 41A. Abundant: RIFE, which is a favorite word of all who write poetry because it also rhymes with wife, and strife and knife, and there has to be a poem in there somewhere.

46. Number one Hun: ATTILA. Did we think HUN was an abbreviation like CAB?

48. Movie souvenir: STUB. So the HEAT lost to the Celtics, I wonder if the fans saved their tickets?

49. Period: PHASE.

50. Seuss's environmental advocate: LORAX. Who doesn’t love the work of the good DOCTOR S. .

51. Sadat's faith: ISLAM.

52. Search for and find, as a CD track: CUE UP.

56. 1492 trio member: NINA. Have our Wisconsin natives gone to look at the SHIPS ?

58. Circus sight: TENT.

59. Prince William's school: ETON.

61. TV monitor: FCC. Classic Dan Naddor misdirection, unluckily LED and LCD both fit.

62. B-F connectors: CDE. My me, suited connectors.

63. __ Lingus: AER. No wonder the Irish drink so much, all their words sound so suggestive; let’s get off on AER LINGUS!

Answer grid.

Okay, we have made it to another hump day, and almost wrapped up another month. Thank you Dan wherever you are, and come out and play everyone.

Lemonade

Wednesday October 13, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: For Richer or Poorer - The first part of each of the four theme answers describes the financial situation of a person, in descending order of wealth.

17A. Challenges for an interviewee: LOADED QUESTIONS. This is my favorite board game, spent many hours playing the GAME with my kids and their friends.

25A. Not even close: WELL OFF THE MARK. Important in target shooting, and new ad campaigns, I guess.

40A. Journalism bigwig: MANAGING EDITOR. I guess Dan wanted to pay homage to Mr. Norris.

51A. Defied tradition: BROKE WITH CUSTOM. Interestingly, the meaning having no money comes from 1700’s , while the meaning of tradition or habit is associated with COSTUME .

When I had my last eye operation, I worked in a brokerage firm, while recuperating and my motto was, “I guarantee to make you a small fortune. Just bring me a large one.”

Lemonade here, gifted with another Dan Naddor to discuss. Unlike many of his efforts only 4 theme words and no unifier, but they were two 14s and two 15s, so if you got them it was an easy ride, and if not a struggle. A very low word count for Wednesday as a result.

Across:

1. Mr. or Mrs.: ABBR. We begin with the classic misdirection, it does not matter what the words, just that they are abbreviations.

5. Furtive message: MEET ME. HALF WAY .

11. New Deal prog.: TVA. The Tennessee Valley Authority, Still in operation providing ELECTRICITY .

14. Toon predator __ E. Coyote: WILE. Be careful WHAT YOU WISH FOR .

15. First pro team to play on artificial turf: ASTROS. ASTROTURF .

16. Used to be: WAS.

20. Serious religious dissents: HERESIES. Like MARTIN LUTHER who played the first Halloween trick.

21. Elite Eight org.: NCAA. The nickname for the college basketball championship quarter finals. You need to remember March Madness, too.

22. Trinidad's partner: TOBAGO. You too, can spy on the WORLD .

24. Digital greeting: E-CARD. Are they meant for ETARDS?

30. __ the finish: IN AT. Dan loved multiple word phrases. Like 47A. "If you ask me ...": AS I SEE IT. Or, 5D. Constituted from: MADE OF. 11D. Like some accidents: TWO CAR. 49D. "Pay __ mind!": IT NO.

31. Seventh of eight, now: URANUS. Planets, very cute and tricky now that PLUTO is just a dog; we have NEPTUNE as number 8, which ties in with 37. Neptune, for one: SEA GOD.

32. Japanese drama: NOH. We had this recently.

33. Bar shot: SNORT.

34. "May I help you?": YES. Or perhaps, BEING SERVED . Sorry, I was just being a 44A. Goof: BONER. Oh, oh, this showed up again, it must be a teen-age time for puzzles. So not clecho, just me.

39. It may be raw: DATA. My favorite clue, as I tried so hard to picture the correct fruit of vegetable.

45. Kind of will or trust: LIVING. A nice lawyer gimme, just for us.

46. Greek vowel: IOTA.

55. Spy novelist Deighton: LEN. Excellent SPY NOVELS .

56. It's attractive: MAGNET. My favorite clue, as I thought of all the pretty things in the world. (I know, so I have lore than one favorite).

57. Earthenware pot: OLLA. Real crosswordese for me; I have never heard the word used elsewhere.

58. Big name in ice cream: EDY. Big?

59. Church councils: SYNODS. Which ties in perfectly with the religion of our HERETIC .

60. Fix up: REDO. Ah, we can go back to that debate.

Down:

1. Hole-making tool: AWL.

2. Many a Britannica article: BIO. Now why is this not clued as an abbreviation, or is BIO a stand alone?

3. Mindless chatter: BLAH BLAH. Do we like this or YADDA YADDA?

4. Reacted to giving out too many cards: REDEALT. In my house the reaction would have been a mini-tantrum and cards being thrown. They took card games very seriously.

6. ABA honorifics: ESQS. Another gimme for me. HISTORY OF LAWYERS .

7. Case in a purse, perhaps: ETUI .

8. Elder or alder: TREE. Two very spiritual trees. We have a continuation of our reference to WICCA and ancient CELTIC belief. And of course, 9D. Trunk growth: MOSS.

10. D.C. setting: EST. Clock setting, Eastern Standard Time.

12. Joan of "Knots Landing": VAN ARK. Poor girl starred in Dallas and Knot’s Landing , and wanted to stay young FOREVER

13. Longtime Syrian ruling family name: ASSAD ..

18. Consequently: ERGO. And we must have at least some Latin for me.

19. Pizarro victims: INCAS. The story of how a small force led by PIZARRO conquered despite being outnumbered at least 20 to 1 is what makes history so amazing.

22. Womb-mate: TWIN. A golden oldie pun.

23. Vintner's prefix: OENO. Her we go, also a recent clue.

24. Outback critter: EMU. As was this denizen of OZ.

26. Yeasts, e.g.: FUNGI. Sounds yummy, like mushrooms.

27. Eight-time British Open host town: TROON. Get yourself a TEE TIME .

28. Greek leader?: HARD G. Silly, the beginning of the word Greek is Hard G.

29. M.D.'s specialty: ENT. No this is not a doctor who treats trees in Middle Earth, it is Ear Nose and Throat.

33. Show signs of age, as a roof: SAG. A roof, yes, that is a better image.

34. 1950s Niners Hall of Fame quarterback: Y A TITTLE. Yelberton Abraham was a very talented quarterback when I was a boy, and one of my fondest memories was watching with my father and brothers, the Chicago Bears beating Tittle and the New York Giants in the 1963 championship game. However, the strongest memory of him is this IMAGE taken the following year.

35. Harrow rival: ETON. Where Britain raised their Prime Ministers.

36. Puppeteer Tony: SARG. He helped to inspire others to create puppets BIOGRAPHY .

37. Weasel: SNEAK. No, not the kid from Harry Potter.

38. Listening device: EAR. Another Naddor trademark, a clue so simple, it is hard.

39. ÷ follower: DIVISOR. Not to be confused with Dividends and Quotients.

40. Tied in the harbor: MOORED. LIKE THIS? .

41. 1963 Burton role: ANTONY. When he and Elizabeth Taylor made the most expensive movie at the time, CLEOPATRA , Eddie Fisher recently died.

42. Picks: ELECTS. It is almost time again.

43. "Mon __!": Poirot exclamation: DIEU. Ah, the working of the little grey cells from the Belgian (do not call him French) detective creation of Dame Christie.

44. Book read by millions: BIBLE. Still, the all time best seller. I wish I had the rights.

47. Traveling: AWAY. WE GO .

48. Communicate digitally?: SIGN. A definite NO NO .

50. Get rid of: SHED . Like a snake?

52. Magnesium has two: EMS. It wraps the word.

53. Passé: OLD. Okay, I get the hint, time to wrap this up.

54. Cultural Revolution leader: MAO. What a revolutionary new clue, not!

Thanks for listening, get ready to invite everyone back and Happy Birthday to the mother of my children.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Wednesday September 29, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: STOCK SPLIT - Each of the five theme answers have the word STOCK wrapped around them.

18A. Hurricane zone: STORM TRACK. No hurricane, but we do have a TROPICAL DEPRESSION bringing us flooding by the time you all are reading this; eerie.

20A. Unflappable: STEADY AS A ROCK. Steady enough ladies? IMAGE .

33A. "Time out!": STOP THE CLOCK. I remember this SHOW better. My mother was on the radio with Bud Collyer during the 1939 .World’s Fair. Which is ironic because we have 45A. 1970 World's Fair site: OSAKA. All you missed is HERE .

42A. Dismay at the dealer: STICKER SHOCK. It is not just cars, but many BILLS .

56A. Sprinter's device: STARTING BLOCK. Okay I ran out of ideas.

60A. Sign of corporate success, and a literal hint to the puzzle theme found in 18-, 20-, 33-, 42- and 56-Across: STOCK SPLIT - this is when the shares of a publicly traded company become so expensive, the company splits the shares to lower the price, so instead of one $100.00 share, you would have 2 $50.00 shares.

Happy Wednesday, and Happy Birthday to my number two son; what a great present, a Dan Naddor, with six theme related answers and 69 letters of themeage.

For all you newbies, Dan will always be very special to us, both for his wit and his courage. And of course his prolific puzzle publications.

He really loved to trick so many ways, with the most common the run on answer, where if you see a partial fill, you will think you made a mistake because the letters cannot be in the same word; today’s examples:

24A. __ in November: N AS. This has nothing to do with the rapper, just the letter that begins the word.

28A. Alternatively: IF NOT. Yes, F and N can be next to each other.

50A. Polite oater response: YES'M. I was an extra once in a movie starring JOHNNY CRAWFORD , and Victoria PRINCIPAL .

66A. Prayer opening: O LORD. Reminds me of this MOVIE .

1D. Appends: ADDS ON. Not to be confused with this PENDS .

9D. Not digressing: ON TOPIC. This is so big in classrooms these days, I am told; the kids must stay on topic; not me, I am afraid, I love digressing. Last evening, we had someone come in for an interview…

48D. Oregon State's conf.: PAC TEN. Off to a great start with Oregon, Stanford and USC all playing well and UCLA stunning Texas. OSU (the one in Oregon) did not do so well on the blue turf, though.

52D. He rid Ire. of snakes, as the legend goes: ST PAT. Notice how Dan just tells you it is an abbreviation by referencing IRE.

56D_ speak: SO TO. I thought of sotto voce.

Anyway, time to tackle the rest of the puzzle; sorry I am being so long winded, but Dan stokes me.

Across:

1. Hitchcock's wife and collaborator: ALMA. Man what a way to start, I did not recall this Mrs. H. . I think I will read the book their daughter wrote.

5. Floater with a ladder: RAFT. The miracles of technology; right GEORGE .

9. Garnish on a toothpick: OLIVE. Does everybody use Vodka now for their DRINK .

14. Radio tuner: DIAL. No soap, I had trouble with this one; I guess it was too easy.

15. Peace Prize city: OSLO. For our Norwegian members, a reminder plug.

16. Kind of spray: NASAL. Also my ex-girlfriend, ick.

17. Ringing sound: DONG. A very versatile WORD .

22. Playful swimmer: OTTER. Ah the MEMORIES .

23. Craft: SHIP.

25. Bodybuilder's pride: ABS. What you think LADIES ?

37. TV ad-skipping aid: TIVO.

40. "M*A*S*H" role: RADAR.

41. Palo __, Calif.: ALTO. Home of Stanford (PAC TEN) and the last Super Bowl the Dolphins played, and the only one with Dan Marino. We were there, sad.

46. Hearth burn consequence: ASH. Did you read it as "Heart burn"? I did not not get this clue, and all I could think of was THIS BURN .

47. Jacuzzi, e.g.: SPA. Like Kleenex and Jello, a product name that became the product. Did you know it was the name of the family who invented it?

54. Destroyer destroyer: U-BOAT. Really fun clue, and fine FILM .

62. Con: ANTI.

63. Supple: LITHE. Like THESE .

64. Cornerstone word: ANNO. In the cement in the corner of the building, the YEAR it was built, part of the never ending Latin lesson of CW, which includes 39D. By way of: VIA.

65. Spotted: SEEN. I was thinking Leopards.

67. Ball holders: TEES. Geez, this and DONG in one puzzle.

68. Coastal raptors: ERNS. This bird has flown through often lately.

Down:

2. Ray of "GoodFellas": LIOTTA. I have seen this Movie 35 times, as one of the Lufthansa Gang became a client.

3. Some Musée d'Orsay works: MANETS. Love pretty PICTURES .

4. Pool problem: ALGAE. Our problem is the sumbitch Iguana who sneaks out to poop in de pool.

5. Optimistic: ROSY. “If we could all wear green glasses, it would not be so hard to see the grass would always be greener in our own back yard.”

6. "The Thin Man" pooch: ASTA. A true Hollywood STAR .

7. Dentist's suggestion: FLOSS. My cousin flosses so much, she always has some hanging off of her.

8. Holy scroll: TORAH. Tonight is the last night of Sukkhot. Happy Holiday.

10. Prix de __ de Triomphe: annual horse race: L'ARC. Now this is deceptive, most of us would get Arc de Triomphe right away, but make it a horse race, and the puzzle becomes a horse race.

11. Writer Dinesen: ISAK. I never heard of this woman (yes, woman) but h=she has some great QUOTES .

12. Shop cleaner, briefly: VAC.

13. Caribou kin: ELK. Hmm, are they YUMMY ?

19. Diagnostic proc.: MRI. Another clue abbr.

21. "Shoot!": DRAT. One of my favorite words, another of those Brit words that hides the blasphemy WORDS .

26. Drag: BORE. You like THIS .

27. Joust verbally: SPAR.

29. Strong criticism: FLAK. I like it, and don’t give me any….

30. Mardi Gras city's Amtrak code: NOL. I do not think anyone memorizes Amtrak codes. But the airport there is MSY; know why?

31. Trick-or-treat mo.: OCT. Another abbr.

32. Bout stopper, for short: TKO.

33. Wallop: SOCK. This fists in nicely in a puzzle filled with STOCK.

34. NFL scores: TDS.

35. "That's a riot—not": HA HA. Go ahead and Google derisive laughter, my my.

36. Cupid, to the Greeks: EROS.

37. General associated with chicken: TSO. Time to LEARN .

38. "__ a date!": IT’S. Maybe save your LIFE .

43. Negotiated white water, perhaps: KAYAKED.

44. Thick-bodied fish: CHUB. Talk about live and LEARN MORE.

47. One vis-à-vis two: SOONER. Less? Normal? Some hidden FRENCH .

49. Diet doctor: ATKINS.

51. Med. drama sets: ERS. Ah yes, another GEORGE .

53. Pooh's creator: MILNE.

55. Unimpressed: BLASE. You get TWO .

57. Freq. test giver: TCHR. Another abbr., but really?

58. Prime-time time: NINE.

59. Pontiac muscle cars: GTOS. Dennis, is this REAL .

60. Road warning: SLO.

61. Up to, in ads: TIL.

Way too much, but like the puzzle, I rambled. So hello and see you all later.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Tuesday, September 14, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Take Your Medicine - Three phrases that end with a medicine delivery system followed by the provider of said systems.

18A. Historic cache for future millennia: TIME CAPSULE

25A. Investing largely in money markets, say: STAYING LIQUID

42A. Item for doodling or note-taking: WRITING TABLET

55A. Dispensers of the ends of 18-, 25- and 42-Across: PHARMACISTS

Argyle here.

Dan provided a test for a Tuesday. Interesting but not sparkling. We've been spoiled by Dan's heavy theme material. Three theme entries plus an unifier is pretty thin in his standard.

It's worth to note that the total word/square count are both quite low for an early week puzzle, and Dan gives us 16 entries of 6 letters or more non-theme fill.

Across:

1. Hydroelectric project : DAM

4. Makes improvements to : EMENDS. Although EMENDS and amends have similar meanings, EMENDS indicates improving text only.

10. California wine valley : NAPA

14. Ipanema's city : RIO. Ipanema is a neighborhood located in the southern region of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

15. "Anything you want" : "NAME IT"

16. Petri dish gel : AGAR

17. Geological span : EON

20. Take turns : ALTERNATE

22. Name of two presidents : ADAMS. The first father and son Presidents, number two and number six.

23. Fuel for big rigs : DIESEL

24. Geological span : ERA

32. Money market fund, e.g. : ASSET. A clecho of 25A.

34. Follows a recipe : COOKS

35. ___ Championship: August golf tournament : PGA. Martin Kaymer won the US PGA Championship in a play-off after Bubba Watson and Dustin Johnson both suffered penalty strokes on the final hole, creating a three-way tie.

36. Jordanian queen dowager : NOOR. Such intrigue in her life! As a dowager(widow of a king), she remains royalty but isn't a ruler. Image.

37. Negative quality : MINUS

38. Beginning on : AS OF

39. Canal site : EAR

40. Ate sumptuously : DINED

41. Heads-up : ALERT

45. "Mighty" tree : OAK. "Mighty oaks from little acorns grow."

46. Power failure : OUTAGE

49. Really bad : AWFUL

52. "No way, José" : "NOT ON A BET!"

57. Lennon's widow : ONO

58. Emerald Isle : EIRE

59. Supplanter of the silent movie : TALKIE

60. Coffee holder : URN

61. Attracted a trooper, maybe : SPED

62. Mary Hartman portrayer Louise : LASSER. "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman", was a soap opera parody that aired in syndication from 1976 to 77. Produced by Norman Lear, the show's title was the eponymous character's name stated twice, because Lear and the writers believed that everything that was said on a soap opera was said twice. Promo clip, Lasser is the one in pig-tails.

63. Your, in Tours : TES. Tours, France

Down:

1. Live in fear of : DREAD

2. Garlicky sauce : AIOLI

3. Education pioneer Maria : MONTESSORI. A gimme for a lot of you.

4. Ask on bended knee : ENTREAT. Propose just didn't work.

5. For the most part : MAINLY

6. John's partner in "The Avengers" : EMMA. John Steed and Mrs. Emma Peel.

7. Nair competitor : NEET. Hair removers

8. Cubes that are rolled : DICE

9. Where many commuters wait: Abbr. : STA.

10. Tech-heavy stock exchange : NASDAQ

11. Contents of un lago : AGUA. A lake & water, in Spanish.

12. Arboreal Miami sight : PALM. Trees.

13. Greek god of war : ARES

19. Louvre location : PARIS. Louvre Museum, Paris, France.

21. Fragrant compound : ESTER

24. BPO __ : ELKS. The Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks.

26. Cupcake topper : ICING

27. Nine-piece combo : NONET

28. Mild Dutch cheese : GOUDA

29. Distraught over : UPSET ABOUT

30. Composer Stravinsky : IGOR. Tango for Piano.

31. Off one's rocker : DAFT

32. All over again : ANEW

33. Attract upward-looking onlookers : SOAR

37. Stole fur : MINK

38. Prince Valiant's wife : ALETA. From the comic strip; their son is Prince Arn. Note: While she is Queen of the Misty Isles, Valiant is only a prince.

40. Hitchcock's "__ for Murder" : DIAL "M"

41. Oldest driver to win the Indy 500 : AL UNSER. From the Unser family.

43. Went on the road : TOURED

44. Baby's footwear : BOOTIE

47. Country or folk : GENRE. Type of music or art, etc.

48. Preppy collars : ETONS

49. Mimics : APES

50. Lion tamer's handful : WHIP

51. Taxi rider or payment : FARE

52. March Madness org. : NCAA. College basketball.

53. Makes less squeaky, perhaps : OILS

54. Sounds of disapproval : TSKS

56. Part of NATO: Abbr. : ATL. North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Answer grid.

Argyle

Thursday September 2, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Palindrome Pairs (36A. Three pairs of them end the answers to starred clues: PALINDROMES) - The ends of three symmetrical pairs of theme answers are palindromes.

17A. *Dense fabrics: DOUBLE KNITS. And 60A. *More than just grumble: RAISE A STINK. The first and last theme answers are paired. Knits is stink spelled backwards.

20A. *Ready to blow?: OVER STRESSED. paired with 54A. *"Top Chef" spin-off involving competitive baking: JUST DESSERTS. Then the second answer is paired with the penultimate answer. This one impressed me the most. Not just an acronym, stressed is desserts spelled backwards.

27A. *It'll keep your hat on: CHIN STRAP. paired with 44A. *Carquest stock: AUTO PARTS. Finally the third answer is paired with the ante-penultimate answer. Strap is parts spelled backwards.

Al here.

Along with the pairing, there was also some impressive symmetry work involved. The tip-off answer was positioned in the very center. Every pair has one answer that starts on the left edge of the grid and its mating answer answer ends on the right edge, and constructed so that both answers within a given pair are the same length as each other. Amazing 8-letter overlaps on the first and last pair of theme answers.

I can't help wondering how many puzzles from Dan are left before they are gone. Seven theme answers, using 75 squares, that's over 40% of the puzzle letters. Another quick solve for me today though, the short answers were mostly easy. I think abjure was the only word where I had to look up the meaning afterward.

Across:

1. Yankees' div.: AL EAST. Baseball. The Yankees are in the American League.

7. Deal: COPE. From Old French: couper, to hit, originally meant "come to blows with", and later evolved into "handle successfully". This would make coping so much more satisfactory, sometimes...

11. Jenny or jack: ASS. Names which became generic for male and female, applied to other animals (wren) and objects (spinning jenny, car jack). Note that "jack" was not capitalized here, so a name was not being clued. Ridden by 69A. Quixote's squire __ Panza: SANCHO.

14. Alter, as boundaries: REDRAW. Elbridge Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, was lampooned when his party redistricted the state in a blatant bid to preserve an Antifederalist majority. One Essex County district resembled a salamander, and a newspaper editor dubbed it a Gerrymander.

15. Slain shepherd: ABEL. Killed by his brother Cain. With 49A. 15-Across's dad: ADAM.

16. "Fer sher": YEP.

19. Prior to, to Prior: ERE. Interesting echo here. The second Prior (capitalized) refers to English poet Matthew Prior.

22. Fettuccine follower: ALFREDO. Noodles with Parmesan cheese and butter. And in the US mostly with cream as well.

25. Aborigines of Hokkaido: AINU. Japan.

26. Compress, in a way: BALE. Hay, straw, cotton, etc.

32. Cat tail motion: SWITCH. Twitch + swish making a portmanteau word that already exists?

35. Specialty: AREA.

40. Lots: A TON. Originally "space occupied by a tun or cask of wine," thus identical to tun.

41. Area 51 location: NEVADA.

50. Bingo call: B-TEN. Each letter has a possible 15 sequential numbers starting with one. There are 552,446,474,061,128,648,601,600,000 different Bingo cards possible.

51. Kettle pair: MA AND PA.

59. www address: URL. Uniform Resource Locator. With 3D. 59-Across ending: EDU.

64. Messenger letters?: RNA. RiboNucleic Acid. Travels out of the cell nucleus to deliver coded instructions to assemble proteins.

65. Ain't right?: ISN'T.

66. Have suspicions about: BE ON TO.

67. One hairpin turn after another: ESS.

68. Cribbage markers: PEGS.

Down:

1. Not easy, to a Cockney?: 'ARD. Hard. Letter H is dropped in Cockney accent.

2. MGM mascot: LEO.

4. Botanical gardens: ARBORETA. An arboretum is a collection of trees or woody plants. Specific arboreta names include: fruticetum, viticetum, and pinetum.

5. Soother: SALVE.

6. Rough wool cloth: TWEED. A trade name said to have developed from a misreading (supposedly by London hatter James Locke) of tweel, Scottish variant of twill, possibly influenced by the river Tweed in Scotland.

7. Six-pack units: CANS. And 22A. Six-pack units: ABS. Mostly an either/or choice, unless you really work at it.

8. Notice with a bio, often: OBIT.

9. Czech hockey player Nedved: PETR. Why would we care? Well, he married her.

10. Threat ender: ELSE.

11. Music to a captain's ears: AYE, SIR.

12. Star sometimes seen opposite Venus?: SERENA. The Williams sisters, tennis stars.

13. Stepped on it: SPED UP.

18. McDonald's founder: KROC. Ray.

21. Gathered dust: SAT.

23. Postgraduate study: LAW.

24. Emma Peel's hair style: FLIP.

28. "I wish I __ seen that": HADN'T. That which has been seen can never be un-seen. I'll be kind and not link anything here.

29. Factory outlet tag abbr.: IRR. Irregular.

30. Vegas gas: NEON. Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas gas gas.

31. Identical: SAME. Literally from Latin: idem "the same" (from id "it, that one") + demonstrative suffix -dem.

33. Show enjoyment at a show: CLAP.

34. __ high note: HIT A. Payoff at 3:34.

37. Where the Lofoten Isl. are: NOR. Abbr. for Islands, and for Norway.

38. Northwestern University city: EVANSTON. The only private school in the Big-10. The Wildcats.

39. Teen safety org.: SADD. Originally: Students Against Driving Drunk, now they are against Destructive Decisions. Founders of the "Contract for Life" between parents and their children.

42. Skip over water, as stones: DAP. There is actually a North American Stone Skipping Association. The record is 40 skips.

43. Doc bloc: AMA. American Medical Association.

44. Officially retract: ABJURE. From Latin abjurare "deny on oath," from ab- "away" + jurare "to swear,"

45. One-way street no-nos: U-TURNS.

46. Magnetic measures: TESLAS. If only he was this popular in his day...

47. Hudson Bay prov.: ONT. Ontario. Did you ever notice that Canananananada is like banananana? It's hard to know when to stop.

48. Hook's right hand: SMEE. I wanted this to be hook, just for the irony, but "gone" would have worked, too.

52. Saudis, usually: ARABS.

53. On the Aegean: AT SEA.

55. Water waster: DRIP.

56. Slack off: EASE.

57. Participate in karaoke: SING.

58. Grounded jets: Abbr.: SSTS.

61. Ltd. relative: INC. Limited is the British "incorporated".

62. Nonspecific extreme: NTH.

63. "Koochie-__!": KOO. Possibly not safe for work, or while you're drinking something...

Answer Grid.

Al

Wednesday August 18, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: ALTERATIONS - The second word of each two word theme answer indicates someone or something that causes some sort of transformation, in plural form.

16A. Some den boxes : CABLE CONVERTERS. "Den box" gave me pause. This is the box that allows your old non-cable-ready TV to hook up to cable. CONVERTERS can also change their religions, or transform things.

22A. Hookups to many electronic devices : POWER ADAPTORS. They change the voltage from line current to whatever your device requires.

35A. Jacob Riis et al. : SOCIAL REFORMERS. They try to make things better. Riis' cause was the impoverished of New York City, 100 years ago.

44A. Currency pros : MONEY CHANGERS. They'll convert your Shekels to Denarii - for a price. But the pros have their cons, and might get chased out of an inappropriate venue by an activist SOCIAL REFORMER, who might even try to CONVERT them.

55A. Insurance investigators : CLAIMS ADJUSTERS. Per Wikipedia, they "investigate insurance claims by interviewing the claimant and witnesses, consulting police and hospital records, and inspecting property damage to determine the extent of the company’s liability." Otherwise, an adjustment is often a small scale fine-tuning, as to your radio dial or 6th cervical vertebra.

Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, the Toledo Trombonist, blessed to have a Dan Naddor puzzle to share with you.

Today, Dan gave us three grid-spanning theme answers, plus two more at 13 letters each, making for an extremely dense and rich blend. Very seldom do we see a total of 71 theme squares on a weekday puzzle. With 36 blocks (4 cheaters/helpers), 74 words, and an averages length of 5.11, this is technically very close to a Thursday puzzle.

Difficulty seems about right for a Wednesday, though. I chunked through in 14:43. I had a feeling we were due for one of Dan's, but didn't recognize this as his style. The cluing seems a bit straightforward, not the normal Devious Dan Delights. But this is a superb puzzle: the theme is tight and coherent, and the long down fill is exquisite.

Across :

1. "The Facts of Life" actress Charlotte : RAE. By me. I never watched. I think she's the one in the middle.

4. Swiftly : APACE. Fast enough to walk abreast - so to keep pace.

9. Just __: minimal amount : A DAB. This was a slow fill for me. Could be A TAD, or A BIT, without the perps.

13. Dual-purpose room shape : ELL. Kitchen and dining room, perhaps. But for kitchen and bathroom, I'd say, "ELL no!"

14. Raptor's gripper : TALON. Frex, an eagle's claw, or this.

15. Academy freshman : PLEBE. Probably derived from PLEBIAN, the class of Roman common citizens of lower status than Patricians.

19. Mimi's "mine" : AMOI. Oh, my. Alliteration for a foreign word seems pretty standard, the French name clues the language.

20. Clown for the camera : MUG. Occasionally a kid will do this.

21. Pounce on : LEAP AT. Maybe you should look first.

25. Solar wind particle : ION.

26. "Alley __" : OOP. Ally OOP was a cartoon cave man. He gives me an eary feeling. Or it can be something quite uplifting.

27. Yale or Harvard : IVY. The Ivy League Schools, offering lots of tradition, and very expensive educations.

30. Form 1040 IDs : SSNS. Social Security Numbers. Somewhere out there is an identity thief who wants yours.

32. Hammer-wielding god : THOR. It seems to me I've blogged this god before. Then again, what the Valhalla do I know.

34. Gave the boot : AXED. In Valhalla, you get hammered.

38. Fruity pastry : TART. They can be interesting and quite appetizing. The first two pictures here give some hint as to the variety.

39. Community word : OURS

40. "Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you" speaker : YODA. From Star Wars the saga, a character sagacious he is; speak this way he does. More attention he should have in ESL class paid.

41. Go downhill fast? : SKI. Our cabin last week was on SKI View Drive at an elevation of 2900 feet, and the way up was SKI Mountain Road. I was concerned about going downhill fast, without SKIs.

42. Course taught bilingually: Abbr. : ESL. English as a second language. Part of the cosswordese nouveau.

43. Dorothy Gale's state: Abbr. : KAN. Dorothy from Kansas, the reference from the Wizard of Oz: "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." The mean elevation of Kansas is 2000 feet. Toledo is 615.

51. Card carrier : MEMBER. Some organizations have membership cards so you can prove you belong. I am a card carrying MEMBER of the flat-landers.

53. Sound from a wowed crowd : OOH. Or from the view on Ski View Drive. The parking lot of Ober Gatlinburg was 400 feet below us.

54. Do in : SLAY

58. Shrewd : CAGEY

59. Helmsley dubbed "Queen of Mean" : LEONA. She is the hotel owner who opined that, "taxes are for little people." Riis would have had a thing or two to say to her.

60. "__ lost!" : GET. My response to Leona.

61. Specks in la mer : ILES. Islands in French. Or in the stream, perhaps.

62. Op-ed piece, e.g. : ESSAY.

63. Timeline divs. : YRS. Years. Abbrv in cl & ans.

Down:

1. Postgame summary : RECAP.

2. Crockett's last stand : ALAMO. Not our Crockett. Davey from Tennessee. The Alamo was the site of a 13 day siege and final assault that left all but two of the defenders dead. You can learn more about it here.

3. Be rude in a crowd : ELBOW. I needed perp help for this one. A rude person can use his elbows as weapons or pry bars to get ahead of the little people.

4. Enjoyed a blue plate special : ATE. I enjoyed some ice cream with a couple granddaughters this evening.

5. Pellet gobbler of old games : PACMAN. You can play here.

6. For all to hear : ALOUD. Are we allowed to say ALOUD ALOUD?

7. Line dance : CONGA. Let Gloria show you how.

8. Ltr. holder : ENV. Envelope. Anoth. Abrv.

9. Rite site : ALTAR. A rite is an established, ceremonious, usually religious act or process. The altar is a designated place or structure for such religious activities. It also echoes "ALTER," a much too subtle hint at the theme.

10. Threw overboard : DEEP SIXED. Maybe one of our sailors can fill us in on this colorful phrase.

11. __ Kadabra: foe of the Flash : ABRA. No idea, but it was an easy guess.

12. Blue ribbon-worthy : BEST. First prize at the county fair is often a blue ribbon.

15. Before surgery, briefly : PRE-OP. People get so nervous here, they take drugs to calm down.

17. What to do after making your metaphorical bed : LIE IN IT. No sympathy here. Deal with the consequences of your actions. Nice combination, though.

18. Corrida combatant : EL TORO. The bull in the bullfighting ring. Alas, poor bull - you never win.

23. Parks in '50s news : ROSA. ROSA Parks refused to give her seat on the bus to a white man, and this caused a national ruckus. In my life time. Wow.

24. Vanishing sounds : POOFS. Does a disappearing magic dragon go POOF or PUFF?

28. Designer Wang : VERA. Here is her style.

29. Gridiron gains: Abbr. : YDS. Yards. There are 100 between the opposite goal lines.

30. Overcharge, slangily : SOAK. Another colorful phrase. Anybody know where it came from?

31. Practice grid game : SCRIMMAGE. The NFL pre-season practice games are shown on TV. Better as fill, IMHO.

32. With sincerity : TRULY

33. Part of H.R.H. : HER. HER ROYAL HIGHNESS - the Queen. We aren't supposed to have any here. Except for LEONA, I guess.

34. Surrounded by : AMONGST. AMONGST and AMIDST sound so archaic.

35. Oft-numbered rtes. : STS. Streets, I guess. But STS are usually named, not numbered.

36. They aren't champs : LOSERS. And their RECAPS aren't much fun, either.

37. "You've Got Mail" co-star : RYAN. Meg RYAN. I wanted to fit in a first name, and that just wasn't working. Looks like her plastic surgery was no great success, either.

42. Bad guy : ENEMY. But I'm his ENEMY, too. Does that make me a bad guy?

43. Islands VIP : KAHUNA. Again, from Wikipedia: Kahuna is a Hawaiian word, defined in the Pukui & Elbert (1986) as a "Priest, sorcerer, magician, wizard, minister, expert in any profession."

45. Big Apple awards : OBIES. Annual Off Broadway awards bestowed by The Village Voice, and another part of crosswordese nouveau.

46. Cryptographers' creations : CODES. Software developers, too.

47. Orange-roofed eateries, for short : HOJOS. Howard Johnson's. Here is one of Howard's finest moments.

48. Poem of lament : ELEGY. Now is when we need Clear Ayes.

49. Not as easy to come by : RARER. Dan's puzzles are getting RARER.

50. Handicappers' methods: Abbr. : SYSTS. Systems. This relates to wagering on sports, I'll bet.

51. 13th-century date : MCCI. Roman 1201. My memories of that year are quite vague.

52. Airline to Tel Aviv : EL AL. And a frequent flyer in crosswords.

56. Pub pint : ALE

57. "Come to think of it ..." : SAY. And I say this was a fine solving and blogging experience.

Answer grid.

Here is a picture of the much vaunted Varsity Chili Dogs Dennis drove hundreds of miles for last week. Strange to have mustard over chili over hot dogs, isn't it? Here's another look.

Cheers!

JzB

Thursday August 5, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: ARREST (48D. Run in, and a hint to the ends of the answers to starred clues) - To "run someone in" is to bring them to the police station. The last word of each of the theme entries means to nab an alleged lawbreaker. Nab is related to kidnap. Arrest is from Latin: ad+re+stare (to-back-stand). Stare comes from the base *sta- "to stand", and also gives us the lovely crosswordese word "STET", an editor's directive to let the text stand (without correction).

18A. *If absolutely necessary: IN A PINCH. If you pinch (steal) something, you get pinched (grabbed as though with pincers).

20A. *Ranger, for one: FORD PICKUP. The first pair of theme answers overlap each other. So do the last pair.

37A. *"Am I missing something here?": WHAT'S THE CATCH.

55A. *Like manual laborers: BLUE COLLAR. Arrest sense is to grab someone by the collar.

59A. *Boisterous frat party: BEER BUST. I wanted BASH here instead of BUST before I figured out the theme. Both mean to smash, like on a drunken spree, which has the "wild party" meaning. Prohibitionists used to bust in to speakeasys and arrest everyone they could catch.

Somewhat related: 3D. Capture: CORRAL. and 7D. Capture: TRAP.

Al here, with a Dan Nador puzzle no less.

Maybe it's just me being on Dan's wavelength most of the time, but I kind of blew through this one. Very doable puzzle, perhaps not as punny or fun as Dan's past puzzles have been though, nearly half the words were three or four letters, though also 24 non-theme entries of six or more letters, half of which are placed in each Down corner, paralleling one another. No J, Q, X, Z, so not very scrabbly.

Across:

1. Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida __": LOCA. The crazy life.

5. Start of many addresses: HTTP. Internet Addresses, otherwise known as URLs: Universal Resource Locators. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol makes it possible for browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer to traverse the World Wide Web. URLs can start with HTTP:// but that is only one example. Many other types of internet transfer protocols are too numerous to list here, but some examples are FTP (file transfer), NNTP (network news), and SMTP (simple mail)

9. Lawyers' org.: ABA. American Bar Association.

12. Schools for Jules: ECOLES. French. And 39D. Lycée attendee: ELEVE. French for student. Lycée is the last three years of education before University.

15. Prefix with sol: AERO. Aerosol

16. Heater: GAT. Slang for a gun, taken from Gatling

17. On the line: AT RISK. Could easily tip one way or another.

22. "It's the real thing" soft drink: COKE. Coca Cola marketing campaign. Good Grief!

23. Govt. watchdog: EPA. Environmental Protection Agency.

24. Not just my: OUR. Plural possessive.

25. Current pioneer: TESLA. Nicola. Has the unit of magnetic force named after him.

26. Quandary: DILEMMA. Latin: DI (two) lemma (premise).

30. One who raised Cain: EVE. Cain and Abel were Adam and Eve's sons.

32. Sea salt?: TAR. A sailor. Could be from the job of applying tar to the bottoms of ships, or from the tarpaulin that they sometimes used in clothing. Also Gob.

33. Spare tire site?: WAIST. Not so easy to deflate.

35. Refuse to budge: INSIST. Latin: In (upon) sistere (take a stand). Related: assist (stand by), and once again STET (let stand).

40. Blacks out: FAINTS.

41. Coeur d'__: ALENE. City in Idaho.

42. Many a CBer's workplace: RIG. Citizen's Band radios. Do they still use those? Seems kind of dated. Big rig = Semi-trailer.

43. Brit. recording giant: EMI. Electric & Musical Industries Ltd.

45. "CHiPs" star: ESTRADA. Erik. California Highway Patrol motorcycle cop. His character name was Ponch. (Poncherello)

49. Kind of alcohol: ETHYL. Ethanol, the kind we drink.

51. Little john?: LAV. Abbreviation (little) for lavatory. A British crossword style of clue.

53. Lady's man: SIR. English Lords are addressed as: Sir.

54. Language that gave us "plaid": ERSE. Scottish Gaelic. The word means: Irish.

61. Lisa's "Friends" role: PHOEBE. Lisa Kudrow/Phoebe Buffay.

62. "Happiness __ Warm Puppy": "Peanuts" book: IS A.

63. Manipulative type: USER.

64. Drives: IMPELS.

65. Relative of -trix: ESS. Feminine suffixes: dominatrix, baroness

66. Place with a pool, informally: THE Y. YMCA. A bit tough to parse, doesn't it?

67. Apt name for a Dalmatian: SPOT.

Down:

1. Flipped (through): LEAFED. Book pages

2. Eight-footers?: OCTOPI. Tentacles count as feet? Or are octopi 8 feet long?

4. "Put __ on it!": A LID.

5. Three-line verse: HAIKU. 5-7-5 syllable meter. Does not need to rhyme: Yesterday it worked. /Today it is not working./ Windows is like that.

6. Professor's goal: TENURE. A guarantee they get to keep the position, usually requires research and publishing credentials, which means that rather than spending their time on students, they might be concentrating their time elsewhere. I had at least one prof like that. Schools need a different reward system IMHO.

8. Appear unexpectedly, with "up": POP. Maybe that's why dads are called pops? No, darn it, from an old French word similar to pappa.

9. Religious doubter: AGNOSTIC. Someone that asserts that it cannot be known whether God exists, compare Atheist, who asserts that there is no God, and Gnostic, who asserts that it is knowable.

10. Political repercussions: BACKLASH. Machinery too. I can see how they're related...

11. Deep down: AT HEART.

13. Sixth sense, for short: ESP. Extra (beyond) Sensory Perception.

14. Schuss, e.g.: SKI. From old Norse: skið "stick of wood".

19. Diamonds, to hoods: ICE.

21. Oregon highlight: COAST. Michigan's freshwater shoreline, at 3,288 miles is the longest in the world. Alaska has the most total coastline of the 50 states though, at 6,640 miles. Oregon only has 296, just sayin'.

25. Letter?: TENANT. One who lets (rents or leases) a room, apartment, or house.

27. McGregor of "The Men Who Stare at Goats": EWAN. Also the young version of Obi Wan Kenobe in Star Wars.

28. Hot Wheels maker: MATTEL. Mattel toys have not been made in the USA since 2002.

29. Midler's "Divine" nickname: MISS M.

31. Bad habits: VICES. If you have any, you should try to clamp down on them...

34. "J to __ L-O!": Lopez remix album: THA. Words fail me.

36. Trick ending?: STER. Suffix: trickster

37. Many a server, in the old days: WAITRESS. Not sure why it was necessary to specify "the old days", but then again, I don't go to restaurants very often. Did I miss something?

38. Boat rocker, to say the least: HIGH SEAS. Nicely done.

40. It's thrown in: FREEBIE. Also a Frisbee.

44. "Gotta think about it": I'LL SEE.

46. Napping: ASLEEP.

47. Don Quixote's devil: DIABLO. Spanish.

50. "__ out!": ump's call: YER. Baseball terseness.

52. "Back in the Saddle Again" autobiographer: AUTRY. Gene. Birth name: Orvon Eugene Autry.

55. Outback: BUSH. See Kazie's pic.

56. Cost-of-living stat: CPI. Consumer Price Index.

57. Electrical unit: OHM. Resistance measurement. Color code mnemonic for reading the values: Bad Boys Rape Our Young Girls But Violet Gives Willingly = Black Brown Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Violet Gray White

58. Cuts off: LOPS.

60. On the other hand: BUT.

Answer Grid.

Al