Wednesday, May 7, 2014 John Dunn

Theme: "Sends up to" a Beach Boys' album remix?

17A. Chinese noodle dish : CHICKEN CHOW MEIN. Food! Off to a great grid-spanning start, although it wouldn't span the grid in Mandarin with just these two characters: 炒面

Yum!

23A. 1995 Shania Twain album : THE WOMAN IN ME. This Canadian (who knew?) singer is credited with having a scientifically-perfect face based on "golden ratio" proportions.

47A. Greeter of new homeowners : WELCOME WAGON. New to me. I didn't know the next theme entry either, so very reliant on crosses down in this area.

57A. Will Schuester portrayer on "Glee" : MATTHEW MORRISON. I needed to be introduced to him today.

and the reveal tucked away in the middle of the grid:

38A. Whiskas alternative ... or, literally, what's hidden in 17-, 23-, 47- and 57-Across : MEOW MIX

Welcome to Wednesday everyone! Steve here with a fine anagram-themed puzzle from John Dunn. I love anagrams and so I threw in an extra one with my posting title. Extra credit for the solution to that!

This puzzle gave me fits for a Wednesday - it took me quite some time; in fact longer than last Saturday's Silkie. Finally I had to WAG the "U" for the UBOATS/UGARTE intersect - EGARTE would have looked equally correct to me. When we opened up with "Z" I was looking out for a pangram but in the end we're missing a Q.

Across:

1. Takes out in an arcade, as bad guys : ZAPS

5. Longtime AFL president Gompers : SAMUEL. I was surprised I'd not heard of him as I'm such a sports fan, but then I discovered that the clue refers to the American Federation of Labor, not the American Football League.

11. Rank above cpl. : SGT

14. Spread unit : ACRE

15. Really enjoys : IS INTO

16. Quattro meno uno : TRE. Spanish math class today!

20. Clothes line : HEM. Check the clecho at 43A

21. Antiquing agent : AGER. For faux antiques. The genuine agent is time.

22. "A Farewell to __" : ARMS

27. Lincoln Town Cars, e.g. : SEDANS. Almost always black, for some reason.

30. Highest point : ACME. Apex went in first, then came out just as quickly.

31. "Jeopardy!" name : ALEX. Mr. Trebek one of only two names in the puzzle today that I knew. I didn't know that he is part Canadian.

32. Hanging around : LOITERING. Doing this "with intent" used to be a crime in the UK. It's still not actually legal, but you now violate the wider "Criminal Attempts Act".

37. Org. for Hawks but not Eagles : NBA. The purist in me would have liked to have seen this clued this as "Org. for Hawks but not Falcons" as they're both Atlanta-based teams.

40. Pivotal : KEY

41. Commonly yellow blooms : DAFFODILS. I thought all daffodils were yellow, but I'm not a horticulturist. I thought the white/yellow varieties were narcissi.

43. Clothes line : SEAM

44. Not quite closed : AJAR

45. WWII fleet : U-BOATS. As I mentioned earlier, I could easily have put E in place of U.

52. Missouri River tribe : OTOE

53. "Dies __" : IRAE

54. Deluge refuge : ARK. Loved the clue.

62. Was tricked by a worm? : BIT. It took a few beats to see this one - from the perspective of a fish.

63. Pull into, as a motel : STOP AT

64. Late-night rival of Jimmy and Jimmy : DAVE. Letterman, to Fallon and Kimmel.

65. Pavement warning : SLO. If you drive on the pavement in the UK you'll get arrested - that's what Brits call the sidewalk.

66. "__ here": "Poltergeist" : THEY'RE. I've never seen it and never will - I can't watch horror movies, they scare the bejasus out of me. I snuck into "The Exorcist" when I was about 14 and I had to sleep with the light on for a month.

67. Expel with force : SPEW

Down:

1. "The Hangover" actor Galifianakis : ZACH. I'm terrible with actors' names. I saw the movie but didn't have a clue with this one.

2. Workout consequence : ACHE

3. Schoolmarmish : PRIM.

4. "Hold on a __!" : SEC

5. Extended attacks : SIEGES

6. Good __: fully restored : AS NEW

7. Start to manage? : MICRO. Micromanage. Another fun clue/answer.

8. The Wildcats of the America East Conf. : U.N.H.

9. 1940s mil. zone : E.T.O. The European Theater of Operations. I think it should be "theatre" being as it's Europe.

10. Cattle call : LOW. Hand up for MOO first.

11. Back at sea : STERN

12. Fairy tale brother : GRIMM

13. High-strung : TENSE

18. Lyricist Gus : KAHN. I had to look him up, he has quite a body of work including this gem.

19. Champion skier known as the "Herminator": MAIER. The other name that I knew. He is famous for getting up after this amazing crash during the Nagano Olympics downhill event and winning gold medals in giant slalom and Super-G a couple of days later.

23. Strain : TAX

24. Seriously injures : MAIMS

25. Overture follower : ACT I

26. "Breaking Bad" setting: Abbr. : N.MEX. I just stared watching season 1 - I'm a tad behind the times when it comes to popular TV culture.

27. Beach pailful : SAND

28. Where Napoleon was exiled : ELBA. He was able, ere he saw it.

29. Like The Who's Tommy : DEAF. Also mute and blind; he wasn't dealt a good hand. Did you know his last name was Walker?

Elton John exercising his usual understated restraint in "Tommy"

32. River through Tours : LOIRE. The Loire Valley is one of the most beautiful parts of Europe.

33. Head-rotating bird : OWL

34. Source of much dorm furniture : IKEA

35. "Groovy!" : NEAT

36. Fitness centers : GYMS

38. Magic amulet : MOJO

39. Mild cheese : EDAM

42. Gem surface : FACET

43. George W., to George : SON

45. Lorre's "Casablanca" role : UGARTE. No idea, and came close to having me stumped as I mentioned before.

46. Certain Afrikaner : BOER. I thought all Afrikaners were Boers? This seems to suggest that there are Afrikaners who are not.

47. Areas for development : WOMBS

48. Cybercommerce : ETAIL. It took me a while to shake E-TRADE out of my head.

49. Numbers game : LOTTO

50. Not macho at all : WIMPY. It's a fast food chain in the UK and pre-McDonald's invasion it was pretty much the only place to get a burger. Take my word for it - they were not good.

51. Like a loud crowd : AROAR

54. "By yesterday!" letters : ASAP. Tempted by STAT, resisted.

55. Gad about : ROVE. I'd like to see Karl do this, so I could say I saw Rove rove.

56. Had down cold : KNEW

58. FDR successor : HST.  Hunter S. Thompson? Wait, no, Harry S. Truman

59. Biblical verb suffix : -ETH

60. Misfortune : WOE

61. They may be checked at the door : ID'S. This was my first US driver's license before the stress of living in California turned my hair gray.

... and with that I'm done, or as the ruler said to the knuckles - it's a rap!

Thursday July 28, 2011 John Dunn

Theme: IN THE MIDDLE (17D. Like this answer's position, and what can follow the starts of 16-, 24/51-, 38-, 60- and 69/1-Across) - IN THE MIDDLE can follow all the below green-highlighted words.

1A. See 69-Across : AROUND. And 69A. With 1-Across, spend time frivolously : MONKEY. Monkey in the middle is a children's game a la Wiki. Not familiar to me.

16A. Breakfast option : SOFT-BOILED EGGS. Soft in the middle.

24A. With 51-Across, Presley hit with "glue" in the lyrics : STUCK. And 51A. See 24-Across : ON YOU. Stuck in the middle.

38A. "A Clockwork Orange" star : MALCOLM MCDOWELL. "Malcolm in the Middle".

60A. End the chat room suspense, in a way : MEET FACE TO FACE. Meet in the middle.

C.C. here. Are you missing Al? I am.

The unifier IN THE MIDDLE is easily placed in the very heart of the grid. But quite a feat to cross it with the other three long theme entries. 14's are always a challenge and you don't see them on Row 3/13 often, same with 12's and 13's.

I've yet to become a fan of split theme entries. I'm OK with 1A Across and the last Across entries to bookend the grid, even with the reverse order. But the 24/51 style split distracts me.

Across:

7. Catch-22 : PARADOX. Nice scrambly entry.

14. Retro headgear : BEANIE

15. Quintessence : EPITOME

18. Mountain Dew producer, informally : PEPSI. "For those who think young".

19. Slight winning margin : NOSE. By a nose.

20. Not divided : ONE

21. Easy melodies : LILTS

29. Mediterranean smoker : ETNA. The volcano.

31. "__ Coy Mistress": Andrew Marvell poem : TO HIS. I'll let Clear Ayes comment.

33. Uffizi display : ARTE

34. "Big Love" actress Sevigny : CHLOE. Here she is. I like the name Chloe.

36. Asylum seeker : EMIGRE. Some lie to get accepted. Ex-IMF chief accuser, for example.

42. Gushed on stage : EMOTED

43. Massey of "Rosalie" : ILONA. She does resemble Dietrich, no?

44. Talk with one's hands : SIGN

45. Like days of yore : OLDEN

47. "Great shot!" : NICE

53. Professional pitcher? : AD MAN. One who pitches stuff. We've seen similar clue before.

55. Edit out : CUT

56. Comedian Hartman : PHIL

58. Excludes : OMITS

66. Chaplin's tramp, e.g. : PERSONA

67. Boorish sorts : CHURLS. And 3D. Dumbbells : OAFS

68. Non-specific : GENERAL

Down:

1. Out of the picture : ABSENT

2. Start up after a fire, say : REOPEN. Like a nightclub. I suppose.

4. Before : UNTIL

5. Tip for a writer? : NIB. "Writer" here refers to pen, correct? It writes.

6. __ gratiam habeamus: Kentucky's Latin state motto : DEO. "Let us be grateful". Unknown to me.

7. Boehner's predecessor : PELOSI (Nancy). Man, they often make me speechless, both.

8. Plays Simon says with : APES

9. Harley outings : RIDES. Here is Harley model Marisa Miller, who has the best abs in the world.

10. Got fed up? : ATE. Awesome clue.

11. Follow : DOG. Verb.

12. Texting exclamation : OMG

13. Cancels (out) : X'ES

18. Macabre master : POE. True.

22. Tepid response to "How's this?" : IT'LL DO

23. Tower (over) : LOOM

25. Home of Nationals pitcher Chien-Ming Wang : TAIWAN. He was with the Yankees for a few years.

26. Try to convince : URGE

27. PC key : CTRL

28. Nautical spine : KEEL

30. Passbook ID : ACCT NO. Wow, did not come to me readily.

32. Sonoran Desert resort city : SEDONA

35. Plot device? : HOE. Oh, garden plot.

37. Work wk. start : MON

38. Prefix with -zoic : MESO

39. "The Last King of Scotland" tyrant : AMIN

40. Lethargic : LOGY. Here it comes again.

41. Skelton persona Kadiddlehopper : CLEM

46. Not of the cloth : LAICAL. We see LAIC more often.

48. Standoffish one : ICICLE

49. Like Care Bears : CUTESY

50. "Avatar" extras : ETs

52. Ready and willing to do : UP FOR

54. Like a stick-in-the-mud : NO FUN. Nice answer.

57. '80s tennis great Mandlikova : HANA. Faintly rings a bell.

59. New Testament figure : MARK

60. Sticker stat : MPG

61. Shoe spec : EEE. Somehow I feel it's a cop-out to put SSS in the grid, but not EEE. Weird.

62. Coastal raptor : ERN

63. Prufrock poet's monogram : TSE (T.S. Eliot)

64. Cable sta. for vintage films : TCM

65. "Gotcha!" : OHO

Answer grid.

And yes, yesterday's mystery boy is Red State Democrat, Matt in real life. The photo was cropped due to my sensitivity towards a recent event. Maybe he will link the full photo in his own website someday.

C.C.