Thursday, Jan 27, 2011 Dan Naddor & Doug Peterson

Theme: An unhealthy obsession: 45D. Feeling of resentment associated with the last words of the starred answers: GRUDGE. Better to forgive and remember.

17A. *Yellowstone Park beast: GRIZZLY BEAR. To bear a grudge, as in carrying it as a burden.

28A. *Fort McHenry defended it in 1814: BALTIMORE HARBOR. Harbor from "herebeorg", a place of protection for an army or horde, (later ships). To shelter within and defend.

43A. *Medical professional: REGISTERED NURSE. To nurse is to nurture and make stronger. It comes from the sense to suckle an infant to make it grow.

55A. *Feature of many customer service calls: MUSIC ON HOLD. To hold a grudge is to tend it and keep it as property.

Hi all, Al here.

Interesting partnership today. When I read Doug's note (see the end of the write-up for how this happened), for some reason this tribute/collaboration came to mind.

ACROSS:

1. Checkbook no.: ACCT. Number is abbreviated "no." from Latin "numero", a form of numerus.

5. Mason of "The Goodbye Girl": MARSHA. Also a vampire in the "Dark Shadows" soap.

11. Cinephile's cable channel: AMC. American Movie Classics.

14. Par: NORM.

15. Delta competitor: UNITED.

16. "Turn on the heat!": BRR.

19. The Mustangs of the NCAA's Conference USA: SMU. Southern Methodist University. Good thing they didn't add "of Technology" to the title.

20. Work like a dog: MOIL. To labor in the muck and mire.

21. Flooring material: PLYWOOD. Ah, ok, the underlayment, not the finishing material.

23. The Grammys, e.g.: EVENT.

25. Egyptian Christian: COPT.

27. Prado hangings: ARTE. Museo del Prado in Spain.

31. Norwegian noble name: OLAV. Also spelled with an "f" instead of "v". Wait for perps.

32. "__ Yankee Doodle ...": I'M A. From the musical "Little Johnny Jones" written by George Cohan. Made into a movie: "Yankee Doodle Dandy" starring James Cagney. I don't think there were any dirty rats in it.

33. Swelter: FRY. Swelter originally meant to burn slowly, thus overcome with heat or fever.

34. 50-Across's st.: NEB.raska to go along with 50A. Home of Creighton University: OMAHA.

35. A director may ask for more of it: EMOTION.

37. Justice Dept. agency: FBI.

40. Curly smacker: MOE. Two of the three stooges, always slapping each other. My favorite clue today. This reminded me the most of Dan.

41. Lacto-__ vegetarian: OVO. One who will eat dairy and eggs, but not meat. Compare to pescetarian (will eat fish but not red meat), and vegan, no animal products at all.

42. Provoke: GOAD. From Old English "gad", spearhead or arrowhead.

48. Puts on the tube: AIRS.

49. Tampa Bay squad: RAYS. Until 2007, they were the Devil Rays, which are perfectly legitimate sea creatures. Then the PC police won again.

51. Seasonal pharmacy offering: FLU SHOT. Perhaps people might try vitamin D3 and probiotics so that your resistance will increase instead. People living in northern latitudes do not get enough sunshine for sufficient D3 production.

53. Red ink: LOSS. OK, maybe this only appeals to my sense of humor, but on the Wiki page for "in the red", the link color for "net loss" appears in red. (Meaning they lost the article it used to point to..)

54. Served dinner: FED. Wanted ATE, even though it seemed ungrammatical.

60. Race segment: LEG. Wanted LAP instead. These two in this area slowed my solving time down a bit.

61. Spoke out: OPINED.

62. Fit to be drafted: ONE-A. Again, a wait for at least one perp because a-one is sometimes clued instead.

63. GPS heading: ENE.

64. Martial arts instructor: SENSEI. A Japanese address for a person above your status, such as a teacher, lawyer, doctor, editor, etc. In Tae Kwon Do, the term for instructor is Sa Bum Nim.

65. "My word!": EGAD. Euphemism for "Oh, God".

DOWN:

1. "Hulk" director Lee: ANG. I wasn't all that fond of his Hulk, but I suppose it would be too cliche to use Crouching Tiger instead.

2. __ anglais: English horn: COR. A french term, it is neither English, nor a horn, more similar to an oboe and half again as long. It got the name from the German word engellisches horn, which meant angelic horn, as it resembled the depicted instruments in statues of angels, but engellisch also was vernacular for English, and the name stuck.

3. Forensic test site: CRIME LAB. I guess that's where they (pause, puts on sunglasses) "flesh out" the evidence... Yaaaaaaaaaa!

4. Celebrity gossip show: TMZ ON TV. A television show that came from a website. TMZ refers to the Thirty Mile Zone, the studio zone of downtown Hollywood.

5. Ponder: MULL. To grind or powderize (thoughts), related to mill, perhaps. Also to sweeten, spice and heat a drink, as mulled wine.

6. Unspecified amount: ANY.

7. Messy barbecue morsel: RIB.

8. Grassy plain: STEPPE.

9. Nutritionist's recommendation: HEALTH FOOD. Here's a clue: if it actually has a label on it claiming to be health food, it probably isn't. Stick with whole unprocessed foods.

10. Hit __ spell: A DRY.

11. Engross: ABSORB. From Latin "absorbere", to swallow up.

12. Sleuth played by Peter Lorre: MR MOTO. You might also see this as Marquand's (John P.) sleuth.

13. Less refined: CRUDER. Latin "crudus", rough, not cooked, raw, bloody.

18. Pasta often baked: ZITI. Like elbow noodles, only straight.

22. On one's guard: WARY.

23. Black, in stanzas: EBON.

24. Low area: VALE.

25. "We get letters" '50s-'60s TV singer/host: COMO. His second RCA LP release, of songs requested via viewer mail on his show, recorded just about the time I was born.

26. Rhetorical skill: ORATORY. Public speaking.

29. Group that goes through the motions?: MIME TROUPE. Apparently there are actually mime troupes, but more in the sense of mimicry, as in satiric presentation of public figures and "official" stories, not pantomime as the clue suggests.

30. "Prince Valiant" character: ARN. A comic strip running since 1937, there were two characters with that name: Prince Arn of Orn, who gave Val the singing sword, and Arn, Val's son, who was named for the former.

35. Dawn goddess: EOS. A greek Titan, sister to Helios, the sun, and Selene, the moon. In Roman mythology they were Aurora, Sol, and Luna.

36. Currier's colleague: IVES. "Publishers of Cheap and Popular Prints", lithographs.

37. Inexpensively: FOR A SONG. More aptly, for the performance of a song.

38. Spirited party: BASH. From striking violently, to a violent drunken spree, to a wild party.

39. "What's the big __?": IDEA.

40. Pageant title: MISS. I didn't want to put that in at first, it seemed too easy.

42. Sam Spade, e.g., slangily: GUMSHOE. Literally from the gum rubber shoes they wore to sneak around.

43. School fund-raiser: RAFFLE.

44. Astronaut Collins: EILEEN. First woman to command the space shuttle.

46. Dirties the dishes: EATS IN.

47. Cinematic showdown hour: NOON. Latin "nona hora" the ninth hour of daylight, or canonical hour of nones was really 3 PM at first. The meaning shift from "3 p.m." to "12 p.m." began during 12c., when the time of Church prayers shifted from ninth hour to sixth hour, or perhaps because the customary time of the midday meal shifted, or both.

52. Wellness gps.: HMOS. Health Maintenance Organization. St. Peter told one of the directors who was present before him: "Well, you may enter the kingdom of Heaven, but you can only stay for three days."

53. City near Sacramento: LODI. CCR.

56. Aetna's bus.: INS. Business, insurance abbrevs.

57. So-so grade: CEE.

58. Rural expanse: LEA. No doubt wordplay on the similarity to the "Great expanse" sea clue we see so often.

59. Pops: DAD.

Answer Grid.

A note from Doug:

"The puzzle uses a theme that Dan sent to Rich for approval. Rich liked it, but unfortunately Dan didn't get a chance to make the puzzle. So a few months ago, Rich asked me if I'd like to try to construct a puzzle around this theme. What an honor! I met Dan a couple of times, and he was passionate and opinionated about his puzzles. I hope I got a little of his spirit into this one. I'm especially happy with the long downs, and I think this grid represents a nice mixture of our styles."

Al

PS: Rich said there are enough Dan Naddors in his pipeline to last us til April.

Friday, January 14, 2011 Dan Naddor

Theme: No K, OK? A two word common phrase in which the first word ends in CK, has the K removed to reveal a new and humorous phrase.

18A. Apple delivery vehicle?: MAC(K) TRUCK. MAC being your Apple computer product, not edible fruit. MACK TRUCKS have been the premier manufacturer of heavy trucks for years, though the company is now owned by Volvo, it is a classic American success story.

19A. Lobbying gp. bigwig?: PAC(K) LEADER. Political Action Committee (PAC) is our modern organized lobbying group, not to be confused with the LEADER OF THE PACK .

39A. Trap for large reptiles?: CROC(K) POT. I use a crock pot to cook stews so they are ready when I get home from work; I do not recommend giving a crocodile any weed, because we are what they eat when they have the munchies.

58A. Coalition celebration?: BLOC(K)PARTY. The Soviet Bloc did not last very long, did it? Are BLOCK PARTIES popular anymore, now that we do not know our neighbors? I went to one on the 4th of July.

61A. Court dispute over footwear?: MOC(K)TRIAL. Oh what fun, as always the puzzle I blog has some law to explain. A MOCK TRIAL is the playing out of a trial, where the lawyers examine witnesses in front of a make believe jury, to practice for a real trial. MOOT COURT is where make believe appellate court arguments are presented to a panel. Trial court is where evidence is put in and appellate court is where the results of a trial are reviewed by one or more judges. We have had MOC for Moccasin often.

3D. Movie with style?: CHIC(K) FLICK. This is perhaps the trickiest because CHIC, meaning stylish is from the French and is pronounced sheek, unlike all the other clues where removing the “K” did not alter the sound of the word.

35D. Employee using a word processor?: DOC(K)WORKER. Brilliant, recognizing that WORD documents are designated DOC. I will always think of this DOCK WORKER .

Happy Friday all, Lemonade here, back in the saddle and blessed with a Dan Naddor (who says wishes do not come true, right MTNEST995). This is so wonderful and a great example of his heavy themeage, his originality and his wit. On with the show:

ACROSS:

1. Illustrative words: SUCH AS. Dan loved his two and three word answers, so visually challenging.

7. Burst: RUPTURED. I never realized how many meanings this word has; made me think of an appendix.

15. Casual top: T SHIRT. Do you really think they look like “T” when they are laid out flat?

16. Intimate meeting: ONE ON ONE. Or perhaps you like the more romantic sounding tête-à-tête?

17. Baroque composer Cavalieri: EMILIO. No familiarity at all with this COMPOSER .

21. Great Seal symbol: EAGLE. Designed by Charles Thompson from written instructions from Congress. It said Ben Franklin preferred the Wild Turkey as the symbol of our new nation. Of course, if you read Dan Brown, you know it is all mysticism.

22. Lab complaints: ARFS. In honor of our recent dog puzzle, Dan deceives with a quick misdirection.

23. CD-__: ROMS. Compact Disc- Read Only Medium.

25. Hardy's "Pure Woman": TESS. Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented is a very sad book about rape and murder, ironically.

26. "S" on an invitation: SIL. Okay, RSVP, Respondez SIL Vous Plait. Man this filled from the perps but my brain did not see why for a long while.

27. Label for many Elton John hits: MCA. Another handy reference for me, as MCA signed the first band I negotiated a record deal for, and I got to visit the Black Tower often, and go to their parties.

29. Ready-to-mail item: Abbr.: SASE. Self-addressed stamped envelope. Often used as 13D. Things with ltrs.: ENCLS. The enclosure in a letter.

31. Ristorante suffix: INI. Rotini, linguini, all merely the Italian suffix meaning little.

32. Pittypat, in "Gone With the Wind": AUNT. An obscure character in the book, the maiden aunt of Scarlett’s first husband, Charles Hamilton. It is at aunt Pittypat’s house that the famous, "Oh, Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothing about birthing no babies." is uttered by Miss Prissy.

34. Aiming aid in some gun sights: RED DOT. The laser pointer indicator; do not sit still if a red dot appears on your forehead.

38. Fourth-qtr. month: DEC.

41. Reveal, poetically: OPE. Open.

42. Glacial ridges: ESKERS. Remarkably all the words I had trouble with were revealed from the same perps, as I know nothing of these DEPOSITS .

44. It parallels the radius: ULNA. The bones in your forearm.

45. Radar's rank: Abbr.: CPL. Corporal Walter “Radar” O’Reilly who loved his grape Nehi and could predict the future.

46. Fish-eating bird: LOON. No doubt, Dan’s shout out to C.C. for her Minnesota connection, and the decision made on the corner to adopt the Loon.

48. Pollster's query: AGE.

49. Heartache: WOE.

50. Homer Simpson's mom: MONA. Poor Homer had been lead to believe his MOTHER was dead, when she was on the run from the law.

53. Chestnut horse: ROAN.

55. Cartoonist Walker: MORT. This amazing 87 year old cartoonist still draws Beetle Bailey, with his sons writing the words. He also created Hi and Lois, a rare comic strip spinoff featuring Beetle’s sister Lois

56. Nailing, as a test: ACING. The very words we all say.

63. Prepare for a break: RACK UP. When playing pocket billiards (pool) you put the balls in the rack, not to be confused with Torquemeda and his games.

64. Texas city on I-40: AMARILLO. I guess Dan was going though Texas because he added 40D. Dallas suburb: PLANO.

65. Colorless gas: ETHENE. There are so many, this also waited for perps.

66. With composure: SEDATELY. Hmm, I think of sedate as more depressing and formal, but I know it is accurate.

67. "__ Waldo?": WHERE'S. And why do we care?

Okay, time for a rest, the on to the

Down:

1. Make way : STEP ASIDE. Again, Dan begins with a two word answer.

2. Dept. of the Navy component: US MARINES. A shout out to our own Dennis and others.

4. Black __: HILLS. South Dakota home of the BADLANDS .

5. Luyendyk of auto racing: ARIE. A Dutch race car driver who has won the Indianapolis 500 twice.

6. Greek colonnade: STOA. We have this word periodically, I guess it is crosswordese.

7. Rival of Paris: ROMEO. Very tricky, as we forget Paris was the prince Juliet’s father had arranged to be her husband. Paris who took Helen to Troy and even Paris Hilton came to mind along with the city.

8. Takes pieces from?: UNARMS. Pieces meaning weapons, firearma.

9. Workout target: PEC. Like this IMAGE of the Pectoral, chest muscles.

10. Carry: TOTE.

11. Like some films: UNRATED.

12. Compact item: ROUGE. Do women still carry Rouge? A cousin to our friend from yesterday, RHODO, from the French for RED.

14. Hockey ploys: DEKES. This comes from the Canadian twisting of the word DECOY.

20. Pipe cleaner: DRANO. Not what you had in mind when you wanted your pipes clean was it Dennis, WH?

24. Wrapped garment: SARONG. A skill for all to learn HOW TO TIE .

27. Prefix with economics: MACRO.

28. Insertion point indicator: CURSOR. The boobly thing that moves where you send it.

30. Biological bristles: SETAE. Our Latin lesson for the day, from the word which means bristle.

33. Mountain West Conf. team: TCU. Since Dan created this TCU after their recent undefeated season, have joined the Big East, to compete for the automatice BCS Bowl bid which went this year to UConn.

36. Auspicious: OPPORTUNE.

37. Sends, obsolescently: TELETYPES. Love the clue, as trying to figure out an obsolete, out of date way of sending something was a fun challenge.

43. Hyundai model: ELANTRA.

47. Cricket violation: NO BALL. Way too COMPLICATED for me; help Nice Cuppa? Kazie?

50. Family nicknames: MAMAS. I never called my mother that.

51. Carol opening: O COME. All ye faithful…

52. Battery acronym: NICAD. I think it is actually more a portmanteau of Nickel and Cadmium.

54. Magnalium, e.g.: ALLOY. I know this is a portmanteau of Magnesium and Aluminium.

55. Papier-__: MACHE. Do mothers still make Papier Mache stuff for their children to take to school.

57. Pluck: GRIT. I remind you all how much I enjoyed the movie, no takers for the Jeff Bridges’ True Grit ?

59. Captain's underlings: CREW. James T. Kirk?

60. Step on it: PATH.The puzzle is all done, and I did not even see this clue, which is my favorite, what classic misdirection, calling up images of speeding or hurrying up, but filled by the perps, drat.

62. __ du Diable: former French penal colony: ILE. We finish with the Devil’s Island .

Answer grid.

Well good to be home and a joy to have another Dan under my belt, as previously stated, what a week from Don G., John L and Dan. Peace out all.

Lemonade

Wednesday December 22, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Secret Panel - The end of each theme entry can precede PANEL.

17A. Escapes dramatically from prison : GOES OVER THE WALL. Wall panel, a lightweight decorative or protective panel which can be fixed directly to internal walls.

28A. Narrow defeat, e.g. : HEART BREAKER. Breaker panel, the main distribution point for electrical circuits in your home.

38A. Warning about wind chill, say : WEATHER ADVISORY. Advisory Panel, a group of persons selected to .. well .. advise.

46A. Steinbeck novel set in Monterey : TORTILLA FLAT. Flat panel, as in TV or computer.

61A. The lead pipe, the wrench or the candlestick, but not the rope: BLUNT INSTRUMENT. Instrument panel, on aircraft and automobiles, etc.

54D. Discussion group, and a word that can follow the ends of this puzzle's five longest answers : PANEL. Arguably, the most famous secret panel in the world.

Melissa here.

Another one from Dan Naddor. Clever as always, just a few unknowns for me. Had deja vu in several spots, and maybe i'm just in a musical state of mind, but i saw lots of musical references.

Across

1. Is down with : HAS. Fooled me, I was thinking the slang usage ...

4. Walk through puddles : SLOSH

9. Energize, as a crowd : ♬ AMP UP. As in amplify.

14. Mean Amin : IDI. Ha, rhymes. (♫ You're a mean one ...)

15. Nomo with two no-hitters : HIDEO. Born in Osaka, retired in 2008.

16. Europe's longest river : VOLGA. Nasa image.

20. Laurie of "House" : HUGH. TV drama on FOX.

21. Vitamin __: PABA : B-TEN. Vitamin B10, better known as PABA (para-aminobenzoic acid), is a water-soluble vitamin that is in the B family; often referred to as part of the B-complex.

22. Peke squeak : YIP. Pekingese. Great clue. Little yappy dog.

23. Torrid : STEAMY. Member this?

26. Impulses : URGES

33. Blubber : SOB

36. Potentially slanderous remark : SLUR

37. Boxer's wear : ROBE

43. Concerning, in memos : IN RE

44. 13 popes : LEOS. I'm one too. A leo, not a pope.

45. Part of UCLA : LOS. University of California, Los Angeles. Largest UC campus in terms of enrollment.

51. Computer data acronym : ASCII. Pronounced ASK-ee, it is an acronym for American Standard Code for Information Interchange, and is a code for representing English characters as numbers, with each letter assigned a number from 0 to 127. For example, the ASCII code for uppercase M is 77. Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text, which makes it possible to transfer data from one computer to another.

52. Sandal parts : STRAPS

56. Gumshoe : TEC. Detective.

58. "The Time Machine" race : ELOI

60. "Dies __" : IRAE. Deja vu.

66. Dogpatch's Hawkins : SADIE

67. "Silas Marner" author : ELIOT. T.S. Eliot.

68. Opposite of alt, in Augsburg : NEU. German for old and new.

69. Preferred option : PLAN A. Rarely executed ... always have a plan b.

70. "__ at 'em!" : LEMME. Put 'em up.

71. European peak : ALP (♪ The hills are alive)

Down

1. Euphoric feelings : HIGHS. (♫ Ain't no mountain ...)

2. One point from a service break : AD OUT. Tennis. Ad = advantage. “Ad-in” is if the server is ahead, while “ad-out” is if the non-server won the point after deuce (40-40). If the player with the advantage wins the point, he wins the game. If not, the score reverts to deuce – the only time a score ever goes backwards in tennis. The game keeps going until the player with the “ad” wins the point. In this way, a tennis match can last a very long time, much like baseball.

3. Prolonged attack : SIEGE.

4. HBO alternative : SHO. Home Box Office and Showtime.

5. Actress Tyler : LIV (♬ Steven Tyler's daughter)

6. Tribute that usually rhymes : ODE. Deja vu.

7. Belgrade native : SERB

8. Back porch luxury : HOT TUB

9. Right, as a wrong : AVENGE

10. Do some yard work : MOW

11. Mr. Potato Head maker : PLAYSKOOL

12. Wrinkly fruit : UGLI. Just sounds funny.

13. Insect feeler : PALP. New to me. Palp, labial palp, and maxillary palp.

18. Bygone Mideast despot : SHAH

19. Frau's partner : HERR. See this pretty regularly.

24. Dovetail : MESH

25. Where Bill met Hillary : YALE. Didn't know.

27. Canal zones? : EARS. Nice.

29. 1921 sci-fi play : RUR. Karel Capek's play. Finally got this one down.

30. Refrain syllables : ♬ TRA LA. Deja vu.

31. Longest river in Spain : EBRO

32. Husband-and-wife creators of Curious George : REYS. (♪ Jack Johnson did a great Curious George soundtrack.)

33. Houlihan portrayer on "M*A*S*H" : SWIT. Hot Lips Houlihan.

34. Vintner's prefix : OENO. Deja vu.

35. Sporty 1960s-'70s Plymouth : BARRACUDA (♬ or Ann and Nancy Wilson's version)

39. Hanoi holidays : TETS.

40. Rock's __ Leppard : DEF. ♫♪♬ Gunter glieben glauchen globen ♫♪♬. My favorite Def Leppard tune is Photograph.

41. Encyc. units : VOLS. Volumes of Encyclopedias. So archaic now, everything's on CD or online.

42. "Time __ a premium" : IS AT

47. Summer cooler : ICE TEA

48. "Hi-__, Hi-Lo" : LILI ♬ Jimmy Durante's version.

49. Big name in small trains : LIONEL (♬ also Lionel Richie)

50. Svelte : TRIM

53. Gladiator's milieu : ARENA. (♪ Musician's milieu, too.)

55. Frame : SET UP. Like Dr. Richard Kimball, in The Fugitive.

56. Recipe abbr. : TBSP. Tablespoon.

57. Airline to Ben Gurion : EL AL

59. Man, for one : ISLE. Isle of Man. Located in the Irish Sea, between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland.

62. Palindromic diarist : NIN

63. Tiny guy: TIM. Herbert Buckingham Khaury (April 12, 1932 – November 30, 1996), better known by the stage name Tiny Tim, was an American singer, ukulele player, and musical archivist. He was most famous for his rendition of "Tiptoe Through the Tulips." He died in 1996, after suffering his second heart attack - on stage.

64. Bulg. neighbor : ROM. Bulgaria and Romania.

65. Versatile vehicle, for short : UTE. Short for Utility Vehicle.

Answer grid.

Melissa

Wednesday December 8, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Size Matters - The first word of each theme answer is a synonym for very small. Toy, Pygmy, Miniature, and Dwarf are also terms used for certain small animal breeds (i.e., Dachschunds can be dwarf, toy, teacup, or micro-mini).

18A. Members of a small army : TOY SOLDIERS. Great clue. I think every kid played with these.

20A. Lumbering critter of Borneo : PYGMY ELEPHANT. So cute.

36A. Some Steinways : BABY GRAND PIANOS. Also, concert, parlor or boudoir grand. Baby grand is the smallest of the grands.

52A. Game often involving a windmill : MINIATURE GOLF. Anyone willing to take a crack at explaining this? (As Dennis says, so many lines.)

57A. Pluto, now : DWARF PLANET

Melissa here.

An honor to blog one of the few remaining Dan Naddor puzzles. Full of his typical clever clues. I think he wanted us to have some fun with this one.

Dan also overlapped the first & last two pair of theme entries. Hard to achieve in Xword construction.

Across

1. Rd. traveler's stat : MPG. Miles per gallon.

4. Spinnaker, e.g. : SAIL

8. Tending to hang down : DROOPY. No one here though, it's others.

14. Treasure de la Sierra Madre : ORO. Oro is the Spanish word for gold.

15. "M*A*S*H" star : ALDA. Alan Alda. One of the greatest characters, in one of the greatest shows ever.

16. Merited : EARNED

17. Kung __ chicken : PAO. A spicy Sichuan dish with chicken, chili peppers, and peanuts, named after Ding Baozhen, who's title was Gōng Bǎo (宮保), or "palatial guardian."

22. Conger catcher : EELER

23. Publicize : AIR

24. Delivery experts, for short : OB'S. Obstetricians deliver babies. Cute.

27. Remnant : DREG

28. Stuffed : FULL. For you, Jeannie.

31. "Knock it off!" : STOP

32. Poker ploy : RAISE. Was thinking something more like bluff - great subtle clue.

34. Grumpy co-worker? : SNEEZY. Another fun clue.

40. WWII depth charge targets : U-BOATS

41. Bungling : INEPT. Thought of him. "A clue, a clue, a clue!"

42. Any day now : SOON

43. Bite like a beaver : GNAW. Great word.

44. Construction beam : I-BAR

48. Loud laugh : YUK

49. Japanese veggie : UDO. New to me, looks a little droopy. Morel for me, thanks.

51. Take potshots : SNIPE

59. Former CNN anchor Dobbs : LOU

60. Wreck, as plans : DERAIL

61. Losing proposition? : DIET

62. Soul, to Sartre : AME

63. Start liking : TAKE TO

64. WWII Normandy battle site : ST. LO. From Wikipedia: Saint-Lô was almost totally destroyed (95% according to common estimates) during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, earning the title of "The Capital of the Ruins" from Samuel Beckett; it was even questioned whether to rebuild it or to leave the ruins intact as a testimony to the bombing.

65. OPEC unit : BBL. Oil - bbl is a designation for a standard unit of measure of a barrel of oil, 42 gallons.

Down

1. Swabbed : MOPPED

2. Bedtime ritual for many : PRAYER

3. Provider of millions of hits : GOOGLE. Great mis-direction.

4. Woodlands deity : SATYR

5. Lip balm ingredient : ALOE

6. Pastoral verse : IDYL

7. Cut with a surgical beam : LASE

8. Indian metropolis : DELHI

9. Tool for scouting pitchers : RADAR. Used to measure the velocity of a pitch.

10. "Are you out __?" : OR IN. Theme related?

11. Count that may diffuse anger : ONE TO TEN. Could prevent eight-to-ten.

12. Part of 1-Across : PER

13. QB's gains : YDS

19. Birthstone after sapphire : OPAL. September = Sapphire, October = Opal.

21. "When Harry Met Sally..." co-star : MEG RYAN.

25. Doofus : BOZO

26. 1974 CIA spoof : SPYS. Do not remember this.

28. Fragrant evergreens : FIRS. Timely. This just came up on Monday's comments. That time of year already ...

29. __ Today : USA

30. Red Square honoree : LENIN

31. Restaurant host's purview : SEATING

33. FBI employee : AGT. Agent.

34. Gush : SPEW

35. Barely beat : NIP

36. Not taking calls, perhaps : BUSY

37. "__ Ben Adhem": James Leigh Hunt poem : ABOU. I'll leave it to Clear Ayes.

38. Web surfer's shortcut : BOOKMARK

39. Paternity suit letters : DNA. Made me chuckle.

43. Intent : GOAL

45. Class with dissections, for short : BIO-LAB. Biology.

46. Poise : APLOMB. Great crossword word, two vowels, four consonants. Surprised we don't see it more often.

47. Gas up : REFUEL.

49. Not qualified : UNFIT

50. Double: Pref. : DIPLO. Diplomat, diplocardiac.

51. Brief brawl : SET-TO

53. Wrath, in a hymn title : IRAE. Dies Irae (Day of Wrath). So dramatic.

54. Smidgens : TADS

55. Military group : UNIT

56. Casting need : REEL. Fishing.

57. Banned bug killer : DDT. Thanks, in large part, to one of my heroes, Rachel Carson.

58. "Are __ pair?": "Send in the Clowns" lyric : WE A

Answer grid.

Notes from C.C.:

Today we celebrate the birthday of our trombonist/poet/wordsmith Jazzbumpa, Iron (I, Ron) in real life. This is one of my favorite blog photos, Ron with his Lovely Wife Gloria and their 11 grandchildren.

Melissa

Tuesday, November 23, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Double-Q - All six theme words end in I + QUE, which may be pronounced EEK.

17A. Outside-the-box method: UNIQUE TECHNIQUE

37A. Exclusive group seeking old collectibles: ANTIQUE CLIQUE

59A. Indirect evaluation: OBLIQUE CRITIQUE

Argyle here. A Dan Naddor puzzle. Need I say more?

Across:

1. Entr'__ : ACTE. An intermission between sections of a show, often a short entertainment itself.

5. Tony winner Judith : IVEY. She looks like she does crosswords. Image.

9. Stories of questionable veracity : YARNS

14. Any of five O-ending brothers : MARX. Chico, Harpo, Groucho, Gummo, Zeppo.

15. Visibly embarrassed : RED AS A BEET

19. Seated yoga position : LOTUS

20. In inventory : ON HAND

21. Plaza Hotel pixie : ELOISE. A series of children's books drawn and written by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight.

23. Ones who take things the wrong way? : THIEVES

27. Catches some rays : TANS

28. Johannesburg's land: Abbr. : RSA. Johannesburg also known as Jozi, Jo'burg or eGoli, is the largest city in the Republic of South Africa.

31. College e-mail address ending : .EDU

32. Water frozen in mid-drip : ICICLE

35. Missouri tributary : OSAGE

40. Cooked in 35-Down : FRIED

41. Henner who played Elaine on "Taxi" : MARILU

42. "Gross!" : "ICK!"

43. "Whirled peas" is one : PUN. We will never have world peace if you don't eat your "whirled peas".

44. Slanted type: Abbr. : ITAL.

48. Capone catchers, familiarly : THE FEDS. Al Capone's reign ended when he was found guilty of tax evasion, and sent to federal prison.

53. Opt for a career without the band : GO SOLO

55. Euro predecessor, in Portugal : ESCUDO. The escudo was subdivided into 100 centavos.

58. Hurled : THREW

63. Agreement before marriage : PRENUPTIAL

64. Wacky : NUTS

65. Small sample : TASTE

66. Fancy tie material : SILK

67. Heroic deed : GEST. We just had GEST in Sunday's puzzle.

Down:

1. Lucky charm : AMULET

2. With 35-Down, healthful cooking liquid : CANOLA and 35. See 2-Down : OIL. What is the recommended oil to deep fry a turkey.

3. Son of Poseidon : TRITON. The Greek family of gods.

4. Especially elegant : EXQUISITE

5. Hot temper : IRE

6. White House no : VETO

7. Heaven on Earth : EDEN

8. Marina craft : YACHT

9. One-named New Age keyboardist : YANNI

10. Put up with : ABIDE. Funny placement. I can't 10D 9D.

11. Mil. supply order : REQ. Requisition.

12. Nicht alt : NEU. German: Not old / NEW.

13. Sault __ Marie : STE. It is in the eastern end of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, on the Canadian border, separated from its twin city of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, by the St. Marys River.

16. 1979 Iranian exile : SHAH

18. Battleship letters : USS. United States Ship

22. "ER" actor La Salle : ERIQ. Portrays Dr. Peter Benton. Image.

24. Calf meat, in Calais : VEAU. I put in VEAL and waited for the perps to fix it.

25. Brink : EDGE

26. Go after in court : SUE

29. Lowlife : SCUM

30. __ of faith : A LEAP

33. Spain's El __ : CID. Chief general, of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors.(c. 1043 – 1099).

34. Light brown color : ECRU

36. Making a walking-in-mud sound : SQUISHING

37. St. Louis landmark : ARCH

38. "Just do it" sloganeer : NIKE

39. Suffix with weak : LING

40. Emotional outburst : FIT

45. Rotation-causing force : TORQUE. Just as important as horsepower in engine ratings.

46. Native Alaskans : ALEUTS

47. Most shameful : LOWEST

49. Boxer's maneuver : FEINT. Fakeout.

50. Roman ending : ESQUE. Often regarding a nose.

51. 60-Down spec : D-CUP and 60. Victoria's Secret staple : BRA. No Image Available.

52. Sheep fats : SUETS

54. Polo Grounds legend Mel : OTT

56. Twice CCCI : DCII. 301 x 2 = 602

57. Word-of-mouth : ORAL

59. Choose : OPT

61. "__ Misérables" : LES

62. Class : ILK

Now I'll continue looking for a suitable image for 51D/60D.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Friday November 12, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: You (U) Fit In - Each theme answer is a common two word expression, with the letter “U” inserted into the second word, to create a humorous new expression, with the question mark at the end of the clue telling you a play on words is coming.

16A. Opening with a thud?: BAD DEBUT. BAD DEBT. Something becoming all too familiar after the recent mortgage debacle.

19A. Staple in a Hollywood first-aid kit?: STAR GAUZE. STAR GAZE. We love staring at our stars, making so many tabloids and tabloid tv shows popular. Do we really care that Disney child stars Lindsay Lohan and Demi Lovato are coke heads?

26A. Compulsion to set up camp?: TENT DURESS. TENT DRESS. An interesting internal deception because the meaning of Tent is very different when you are talking about this DRESS STYLE .

34A. Hoss and Little Joe's off-color jokes?: PONDEROSA RAUNCH. PONDEROSA RANCH, the home of the Cartwright family on BONANZA which was the first television show to be shown in color. My favorite phrase of the theme. Do you all remember the name of Ben’s (the father, played by Lorne Greene) horse?

43A. Civil unrest in Brest?: FRENCH FURY. FRENCH FRY. A nice rhyming clue, to obscure the French city.

50A. Restrain a legendary soul seller?: HOLD FAUST. HOLD FAST; FAUST is the Devil in German legend, made famous by Goethe’s tragic play.

58A. Classy accommodations at the Spider Ritz?: WEB SUITE. WEB SITE. Don’t you just love the mind that created the image of an exclusive hotel for spiders?

47. "Have a nice day" response, and a literal hint to this puzzle's theme: YOU TOO. YOU (U) too, meaning an added U.

Et tu Brute! Hallelujah, Lemonade here, week two already. Happy Friday, C.C. and all. Wow, another Naddor for me, and one so typical and so witty. I really enjoyed this effort, with 75 letters and 8 theme related answers. Lots of fun fill, a few things I should have recalled but had to work to get, and generally a good time for all.

Across:

1. Bucolic: PASTORAL. We begin with a pleasant straight forward image.

9. Sushi choices: EELS. I like some sushi, but am not fond of eels, probably something psychological from my childhood.

13. Wood preservative: CREOSOTE. COAL TAR CREOSOTE is an EPA registered wood preservative, distilled from crude coke oven tar, and is mainly composed of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), but also contains phenols and cresols. Like I knew that.

14. Plays the class clown: CUTS UP. Remember, Dan likes two word answers that create deceptive letter strings. 21A. Clueless: AT SEA. 65A. As terrific as they say: THAT GOOD. 7D. "Do you bite your thumb __, sir?": "Romeo and Juliet": AT US. I love that he includes some Shakespeare, as well as the very old insult of biting one’s thumb, which has resurfaced in our culture as seen in the URBAN DICTIONARY . 33D. Corner the market on: BUY UP. Speaking of which, do you remember when the Hunt brothers tried to corner the silver market? They were the inspiration for these BROTHERS .

17. Showy: ORNATE.

18. Overseas fem. title: SRA. As Kazie pointed out, the abbreviation for Senora, like most of our dear ladies.

25. Source of Ulee's gold: BEES.Hi Melissa, and yes, the gold was in the honey, honey.

29. She played Emma in "The Avengers": UMA. We all know this is true in the movie, but this will always be the real MRS.PEEL .

32. Mideast language: IRANI. Oh, in Iran, I guess.

33. Support group?: BRAS. Nice deception, but then again, it may all be DECEPTION .

40. Lake near Niagara Falls: ERIE. Where my oldest is currently freezing his little behind in grad school, though his birthday is in nine days, he will be home in 11!

41. Atlanta campus: EMORY. This is a very well respected private college that emphasizes research; it ended up in Atlanta through the generosity of the people from Coca Cola. If you go to Atlanta, go and tour the Coke factory (except Lindsay Lohan and Demi Lovato, who know better).

42. Jets coach Ryan: REX. He plays against Cleveland this week end, whose defense is coached by his older (by 5 minutes) identical twin brother ROB RYAN .

48. Fizzled out: DIED. Like so many romances…

49. Gulf of Finland city: ESPOO. The second largest city in Finland, and it took me way to long to drag from my brain. We just had the clue in August, in a Barry Silk themeless.

55. Word with a head slap: DUH. DOH, whatever you like; here we use the V-8 can against the head.

57. Six-Day War country: ISRAEL. Remember it well.

62. Insurer of Tina Turner's legs: LLOYDS. LLOYD’s of LONDON has been in the insurance business since 1688, and has always insured the odd things of value like insuring, silent film comedian Ben Turpin's eyes against uncrossing, Jimmy Durante’s nose, Troy Polamalu's hair for $1 million, and these R rated pre-silicone marvels of TEMPEST STORM .

63. One transferring property rights, in law: ASSIGNOR. Must have obscure law clues so Lemonade can feel smart. We love our ORs and EEs.

64. Plenty: TONS.

Down:

1. Banned pollutants: PCBS. They belong to a group of man made “organic” chemicals called PolyChlorinated Biphenyls.

2. Biblical resting place: ARARAT. A nice deception, for it was Noah’s Ark, not a person that ended up resting atop Mount Ararat.

3. Composed: SEDATE.

4. "The Fox and the Hound" fox: TOD. The hound was Copper, but I really do not remember the MOVIE.

5. Suffix with fruct-: OSE.Also with SUCR-, LACT- and others, it means SUGAR.

6. Hold up: ROB. Yes, to rob is to hold up, to burgle is to break in.

8. Riga resident: LETT. We see this one very often, and I actually have some clients from Latvia, but they moved to Venezuela.

9. Old lab heaters: ETNAS. Dan used this in a Sunday puzzle in August 2009, I did not know the term then, and do not now. I am strictly a BUNSEN BURNER guy.

10. Isaac's eldest: ESAU. Poor guy, hairy and he lost his birthright.

11. Eponymous skater Alois __: LUTZ. For our dear CA back from vacation, and our prodigal Robin, just back, we have the TRIPLE LUTZ in pictures and words. Eponymous, is when you give your name to something, like Joe Robbie stadium.

12. WWI German vice-admiral: SPEE. One I knew nothing about, but apparently quite a bold man, of whom Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty at London, wrote: "He was a cut flower in a vase, fair to see yet bound to die.”

14. Centers: CORES. Oh, okay, I get like the center of the earth.

15. Prods: URGES.

20. Justice Fortas: ABE. Another law tidbit for me; Justice Fortas was a very successful student of the law, and lawyer, arguing and winning the famous right to counsel case, GIDEON vs. WAINWRIGHT, in which the Supreme Court for the first time granted all who are accused of a crime the right to be represented by counsel, creating the Public Defender system. Mr. Fortas, who came from an Orthodox Jewish family became very good friends with Lyndon Johnson, who when he became president, convinced sitting Justice Arthur Goldberg (the then Jewish member of the court) to resign to become ambassador to the UN, so Fortas could be appointed to the court. Sadly, Fortas ended up resigning under a cloud for taking fees while on the bench.

22. Derisive: SNIDE. My favorite was this CHARACTER .

23. Raison d'__: ETRE. Meaning literally “ reason to be” in French.

24. Month before Nisan: ADAR. And then a little Hebrew calendar to make me feel at home; that calendar has leap months, where there is a 13th month added to catch up with the earths rotation from a moon based calendar.

27. Card game warning: UNO. A favorite of children of all ages, though my grandmother preferred Skip-Bo.

28. Out of bed: RISEN. Which of course reminds me of this SONG .

29. Still-life subject: URN. Really, I only remember the poem.

30. Bud: MAC. Talk about misleading, and yet easy. In our culture, BUD means beer, not buddy, so hey BUD and hey MAC was very hard.

31. Tip for a smoker?: ASH. Literal but hidden again; I still liked Camel Droppings best.

34. In accordance with: PER.

35. It may be found in a deposit: ORE. No not a bank deposit, silly.

36. Outlaw: NIX. Hmm, my in-laws are named NIX, so they are in-laws and outlaws!

37. Onetime Jeep mfr.: AMC. American Motors Company and one of the big four when the US controlled worldwide auto manufacture. Sadly the Rambler and the NASH American did not keep the company afloat, when the Pacer, their final effort to convince the country to drive smaller fuel efficient cars failed, they gave up. Not long after they folded, we had the first gas crisis and their small car ideas took hold.

38. Architect Mies van der __: ROHE. Did not know him, but he designed lots of BUILDINGS.

39. Pound sounds: ARFS. Another cute rhyme.

43. Fluted, in a way: FIFED. Not the champagne glass, but the guy playing the flute; hmm, a verb?

44. Old Spanish coins: REALS. Spanish Reals are often found at historic sites in the US, as during colonial days in the U.S., the silver Ocho Reales coin, referred to as the Spanish milled dollar, piece of eight, or eight bits, was the principal coin in circulation. Hence, the saying, 2 bits, 4 bits, 6 bits, a dollar; all for the home team stand up and holler. Some still refer to a quarter as two bits.

45. Web address ender: EDU.

46. House Judiciary Committee chair during the Nixon impeachment hearings: RODINO. This piece of trivia was buried deep in the brain, and crossing it with ESPOO really slowed me down. In the ironies of the world, and karma, Nixon was determined to impeach Abe Fortas, who eventually stepped down.

48. Critical moments to gear up for: D DAYS. JUNE 6, 1944 .

50. Maximum degree: HILT. This sweet phrase comes from the violent turn of stabbing a dagger or a sword into the victim all the way to the hilt (the protective handle).

51. European capital: OSLO. To our Norwegian brethren, we shout out.

52. Hubbard of Scientology: L RON. Yes, I like my religion from an unsuccessful science fiction author.

53. Team acronym: SWAT. Special Weapons and Tactics.

54. John with Emmys and a journalism award: TESH. A singer, a talk show host, a piano player and a journalist.

56. Rancher's concern: HERD. Not this ONE .

59. Jamboree gp.: BSA. We had Boy Scouts of America in the very first puzzle I blogged, back in the day.

60. Be in session: SIT. Congress, or the courts, like the Supreme Court!

61. Trendy boot brand: UGG. Worn by our temperature challenged crew, including dear Lo-li-ta. Do they come in red Fishie? I guess they do not sell too well in Arizona.

Answer grid.

Well, a long day ahead, so I am out of here, hope you enjoyed the show; see you same bat channel, same bat time.

Lemonade