Friday May 31, 2013, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: "Smile you are on Candid Camera."

LINK.

How nice to welcome Hard G and C.C. back to Friday, their first visit to my patch since last May. Appropriately for C.C. as a baseball fan, we have the old hidden ball trick, where the name of a popular camera manufacturer is found spread between the words of each of the three theme answers, with a classic reveal. Some really sparkly fill like RNA spelled out, PLUMMETS, NITROGEN, DERISIVE and ARCANE just to name a few. We also have some clecho, some arcane stuff that's fun to learn  So let us do this.

19A. "This will get better, I promise" : IT GROWS ON YOU.(12) For some reason SONY jumped right out at me once I filled in the answer, which took a while, as I had to resort to doing the down clues first to get a toehold.  Did not know if perhaps TVs were going to be the theme.

31A. "That's surreal!" : I CAN ONLY IMAGINE. (15) The CANON sure shot being perhaps the most advertised of all cameras.

39A. Substance usually abbreviated : RIBONUCLEIC ACID. (15) (RNA) LEICA  a very quality camera brand mentioned recently here.

53A. Surveillance device found in 19-, 31- and 39-Across : HIDDEN CAMERA. (12) It says it exactly, a camera hidden in each theme answer. A very conventional theme and grid with many fewer words than we have seen on Friday recently.

Across:

1. Manhunt msg. : APB. All Points Bulletin.

4. Facebook exchanges, briefly : IMS. Instant MessageS.

7. Put up a fight : BATTLE.

13. Nose-dives : PLUMMETS. Whenever something is falling to Earth, it is plummeting. Nice word.

16. Frozen, maybe : AFRAID. Very misleading, and while fear makes people freeze in their tracks, it took perps to get this one.

17. Toy mentioned in "The Chipmunk Song" : HULA HOOP.

18. Shade at the beach : BRONZE. Umbrella would not fit, so it had to be a shade of skin tone. The clecho: 10D. Shade at the beach : TAN.

21. Executes : DOES. We are not killing anyone here, just doing things.

22. Sault ___ Marie : STE. Saint abbreviation in French.

23. Moves a bit : STIRS. Shaken not stirred?  I do remember when that sleeping alligator stirred....

27. Prepare for chewing : TEETHE. I loved this one, especially as Charlotte now has two bottom teeth.

30. PC hookup : LAN. Local Area Network.

37. Calculating : SHREWD. Related to Shrew as in the Taming of?

38. Military fleet : ARMADA. Back this week as fill not clue.

43. "Microsoft sound" composer : ENO. Mr. Muzak, Brian-the man in your ELEVATOR.

44. Arkansas River city : PUEBLO. Why these are in Colorado, I do not know.

45. "Star Wars" title : DARTH. and the clecho 65A. "Star Wars" title : SIR. DARTH is Sith for Lord, as he was also called Lord Vader. In later movies (set earlier in time) we have Darth Maul which is a great name. Sir, I presume refers to Sir Alec Guinness who plays Obi-Wan Kenobi, who said, "Who's the more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows him?"

48. Detriment to team performance, maybe : EGO. Who are your least favorite athlete? Is it a big ego who did nothing, like Brian Bosworth, or someone on a successful team who wants all the credit.

49. Master of ___ : ARTS. For some reason, I first plunked in ARMS.

57. Not widely understood : ARCANE. From the Latin word meaning secret, I always thought of it as mostly forgotten knowledge, though it is a wonderful crossword fill, and talking point. Are arcane words fair game to use in puzzles?

60. Air, mostly : NITROGEN. Love this clue as well since 85% of our air is nitrogen.

61. Where lizards hang out? : LOUNGE. Very sweet clue; are they lizards because of their cold nature? Their forked tongues?  Their shoes?

62. Mocking : DERISIVE. Love this being right after Lounge Lizard. It...

63. Lifted (up) : PERKED. up my day.

64. '70s kidnappers: Abbr. : SLA. Symbionese Liberation Army. Think Patty Hearst.

Down:

1. Farm pest : APHID. I put this in immediately and then thought about the fact that these pests are all over flowering plants and had to check the perps to be sure.

2. 1930 Clyde Tombaugh discovery : PLUTO. The P from APB gave me this, but he seems very interesting, suggesting the need for the scientific study of UFOs.

3. Love handle? : BULGE. The never ending Battle.

4. Online "Just saying" : IMHO. In My Humble Opinion. Not sure why the opinion needs to be humble.

5. "Got milk?" : MEOW. Cute, like our 'let me out' last week.

6. Self-named Fox Business show : STOSSEL. I liked him since watching his personal revelations about his struggle with stuttering. LINK.

7. New addition of a sort : BABY. Charlotte is now 7 months old; tempus really fugits these days.

8. Big dos : AFROS.

9. Rainbow ___ : TROUT. I wanted BRITE so badly.

11. Songwriter Phair : LIZ. She also is a PERFORMER (2:39) who many feel has not ever lived up to her potential.

12. Back of a stamp? : EDE. If this one licked you, do not worry, it is just a StampEDE.

14. Viking landing site : MARS. Two planets in one puzzle, cool.

15. On-again, off-again : SPOTTY.

20. Vintage pop : NEHI. Radar O'Reilly's drink of choice, grape please.

24. Of a hip bone : ILIAC. Not to be confused with the ILIAD.

25. CNN journalist Kaye : RANDI. This 'investigative' journalist. LINK.(0:18) you get the impression C.C, watches a lot of news? (From C.C.: Randi Kaye used to be the news anchor for WCCO here at Twin Cities.)

26. 1984-2002 honorary Masters starting group member : SNEAD. Slammin' Sammy, one of the trio of golf legends born in 1912 who were featured in this fine PUZZLE.

27. Dot on a map : TOWN.

28. Turn out : END UP.

29. Virus carrier, at times : EMAIL. Simple, classy fill.

31. "The East ___": 1960s anthem in 32-Down : IS RED. No doubt an important part of C.C.'s childhood, this SONG.

32. Nepal neighbor : CHINA. More hometown stuff for our leader, this buffer country between China and India is historically and politically important and now friendly with China. LINK.

33. Place out of the sun : ARBOR. We already had shade as a clue, so it had to be something else. Do they celebrate Arbor day where you love?

34. Revival prefix : NEO.

35. ___ Arena, former Sacramento sports venue : ARCO. The first sports venue named for a sponsor (Atlantic Richfield Oil, now part of BP, is in its second location, and is now called the Sleep Train Arena. Really!

36. "Today" rival, initially : GMA. Good Morning America, not be confused with GMV.(2:07).

40. Signaled : CUED. Cue the dancing hippos.

41. Daniel Boone, e.g. : LEGEND. I was more a Davy Crockett kid.

42. Black keys : EBONIES. Not the IVORIES. (3:41). I hope the video tickled your fancy.

46. Show appreciation to : THANK. I thank C.C. for the Corner and her amazing creations, solo and collaborative.

47. Swinging joint? : HINGE. Not a busy bar, nor a place for couples to mingle and tingle, but...

49. Big name in cookies : AMOS. You might even say he is famous.

50. Longtime morning co-host : REGIS. Does Kelly miss HIM?

51. Eternal City fountain : TREVI. Or as we call it la Fontana di Trevi.

52. Less likely to lose it : SANER. As Thomas Eagleton said, "if they say I am 5% mentally disabled at least I can prove I am 95% sane."

54. Legal document : DEED. Real Property, and what I do for a living, part of the time.

55. Shortcut key : CTRL. Alt. Delete. Oops you are all gone.

56. Solo delivery : ARIA. Not horse or soap.

57. Mont Blanc, e.g. : ALP. The mountain, not the PEN. So do you like or hate the Mountain as he rides off with Arya?

58. Canapé topping : ROE. fish eggs like from Shad.

59. Blackguard : CUR. I love the word Blackguard. Cur probably comes from ancient languages version of GRR, meaning to growl and first meant a mongrel dog. But is has become synonymous with bad people, for example Wyatt Earp called the Clantons curs in the movie Tombstone. (per wiki).

Well this week and this puzzle flew by, though I savored the solving, it was nice to see so few 3/4 letter fill. A pleasure blogging our Dynamic Duo, and maybe off to watch the new Star Trek movie. Good to see how many newbies are becoming regulars and always great to see any of the 2008 crowd. Sorry to see San Jose lose, just for Eddy B.

Seen, Creature, hey.

Peace out. Lemonade 714

Friday, May 24, 2013, James Sajdak

Theme: Deal me in.

Each of the five theme answers are phrases with the last word of the phrase being a type of card game, clued in a modified clecho fashion. This is our 26th puzzle from James, and the first in 2013. I had the pleasure of blogging two earlier Friday efforts, one of which was a similarly themed puzzle relating to farms.

He does use the 15 x 16 grid to get his grid spanner in. He does it so seamlessly, you might not have noticed.

All our puzzles are available in the archives, as is the wonderful INTERVIEW done by C.C. I saw the theme when I got  LONELY HEARTS, and without it I would have been dead in the water as there were many clues which strained my fading memory. I am not sure all of his cluing was according to Hoyle, but we must persevere. See if you agree with my favorites as we go through the solving.

18A. Card game horn music? : WINDS OF WAR.(10) A wonderful book by Herman Wouk; I was surprised that the simplest of card games WAR is now played for money by many at casinos.

25A. Card game where one person plays all the hands? : LONELY HEARTS.(12) Like many other trick taking games, HEARTS is best played with 4 people, who should be listening to this SONG.(2:02). Before we had dating sites we had Lonely Hearts ads.

40A. Card game played in dugouts? : DIAMOND SOLITAIRE.(16) Tiffany's in New York is credited with introducing the ring with just one lone stone. Baseball is played on a diamond, where the teams wait in dugouts.

55A. Card game by the Thames? : LONDON BRIDGE.(12) The most widely played and competitive of the bidding games. Bridge columns still run on the crossword page in the few newspapers left. My favorite memory (other than my father throwing cards in frustration when Aunt Dora trumped his Ace) LINK.(2:04). The 1831 bridge was moved to Lake Havasu City Arizona. A shout out to all our Arizona posters. (Where did you go Frenchie and Robin?)

66A. Card game requiring waterproof cards? : BATH TUB GIN.(10) Gin describes a number of games in the Gin/Rummy family. Knock Gin is a big money game in the northeast. Prohibition gave us the vile homemade SPIRITS,

Across:

1. This and that : BOTH. Simple, but I did not see it.

5. Cries : SOBS. Okay, now we are off. and the almost clecho 1D. Cried : BAWLED..

9. Open the door for : ADMIT. But not the big bad wolf.

14. Met moment : ARIA. The Metropolitan Opera House in Manhattan at Lincoln Center.

15. Water-based paint : LATEX.

17. Mary ___: ship in a Hammond Innes novel : DEARE. It was titled The Wreck of the Mary Deare. He wrote 30 or so thrillers LINK.

20. Cub of comics : OLSEN (Jimmy). Reading all the old Superman comic books paid off.

21. Big backup : LOG JAM. From the problems caused by the logs sent downstream.

22. Fight in Dogpatch : RASSLE, Deserves at least one picture of the style inspired by Daisy Mae

24. 90-degree fitting : ELL.

30. 25% of Off Deep Woods : DEET. N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide, abbreviated DEET,

32. "Am not!" retort : ARE SO.

33. Sushi shop offering : AHI. Fancy.

34. Crop up : ARISE.

37. ___ noodles: Chinese dish : WONTON. Not to be confused with wanton as in women.

45. Dream up : INVENT. Like the process of these puzzles.

46. City south of Metz : NANCY. Site of WWII BATTLE. also, 70A. WWII beachhead near Rome : ANZIO.

47. Carrying-on : ADO.

48. Consumed : EATEN. Food, jealousy?

51. Mail folder : SENT.

60. "Don't think so" : NAH.

61. "Ed Wood" Oscar winner : LANDAU. Martin Landau has been in many films and TV shows but his turn as Bela Lugosi in Plan 9 from Outer Space won him the award. LINK

62. Unlike couch potatoes : ACTIVE.

64. Pong developer : ATARI. The first.

69. Contact, in a way : RADIO. Before cell phones, we radioed for help.

71. Portly pirate : SMEE. Is Hook's man the only fat pirate?

72. Last name of Phineas in Disney's "Phineas and Ferb" : FLYNN. This with TAL almost did me in but only an L made sense. Never heard of the show/movie?

73. Tablet named for an organ : TUMS. For the tummy (an organ?)

74. Gone : PAST. Well the Acrosses are done.

Down:

2. Brightly plumed songbird : ORIOLE. They beat the Yankees yesterday.

3. Bit of excitement : TINGLE. Movie scared the crap out of me when I was little.

4. One of Islam's five pillars : HADJ.

5. Ref's aid : SLOMO. Slow motion replay.

6. Lout : OAF.

7. Texter's "Meant to tell you" : BTW. By The Way.

8. Celebrex developer : SEARLE. They were bought by Pfizer which dispense their products by prescribing....

9. ___ of reality : A DOSE.

10. Huey, Dewey and Louie's mom, in early comics : DELLA. Nope, nothing registered.

11. 1993 Fiat acquisition : MASERATI. vroom.

12. Hostility : IRE.

13. Decimal base : TEN. Our number system is a base ten but I will let Fermat and Bill G. do their mathematical thing.

16. Looks into? : X-RAYS. Love this clue as well, really sneaking and yet literally true.

19. "Do the Right Thing" pizzeria owner : SAL. This MOVIE.(4:22).

23. Do Jeeves's job : SHOW IN. Hey Vidwan, did you know P.G. Wodehouse was coming up, you had two references to him in the last week (one makes me blush)? I had a very hard time with this as Jeeves's job was to save Bertie from himself, played so well by Dr. House.

26. Old 38-Down overseer : NASD. National Association of Security Dealers.

27. "___ Tu": 1974 hit : ERES. You are so beautiful, to me. LISTEN.(3:04)

28. Wielder of a hammer called Mjölnir : THOR. I love the comic, hated the movie.

29. Trig function : SINE.

31. Hardly exciting : TAME. Lame, what's your game?

35. Popeil of infomercials : RON. One spring while in LA on business, my brother and I spend an afternoon with a Realtor touting houses for sale, and one was Ron Popeil's house, and sure enough every closet was stuffed with things he sold. Sadly no cell phone cameras in those days.

36. Mean : INTEND. Sometimes people intend to be mean.

38. Like some stocks : OTC. Over The Counter.

39. Thumbs-down votes : NAYS.

40. Retro phone feature : DIAL. Why was it called dial tone and is it now called digital tone?

41. China lead-in : INDO.

42. Iconic sales rep : AVON LADY. Who's calling?

43. "Dedicated to the ___ Love": '50s-'60s hit : ONE I.  Made more famous by the Mama's and the Papas and the Shirelles.

44. Touch down : LAND.

49. Addis ___ : ABABA. This capital was in the first puzzle I blogged at the Corner.

50. Out of one's class? : TRUANT. Great clue, the word comes from the French for vagabond.

52. Conundrum : ENIGMA. This had me puzzled.

53. Armadas : NAVIES. 1588?

54. Large search area : THE NET. This had me fooled for a while thinking outside.

56. "Splish Splash" singer : DARIN. More 50's music. I love Kevin Spacey in the movie Beyond the Sea, worth watching, but he was not the ORIGINAL.(2:18).

57. Stew veggie : ONION. Did you stew on this clue for long?

58. Perros may chase them : GATOS. Spanish dogs apparently chase Spanish cats, and the beginning of our canine corner.

59. Old French coin : ECU. Pure crosswordese.

63. Recipe amt. : TBSP. Tablespoon of sugar? Too much, eh Mary?

64. "Can I go out?" : ARF. I LOVE this clue.

65. 1960-'61 chess champ : TAL. I have no memory of this CHAMP. Bobby Fischer is my first chess master. I never knew we had a Latvian on top of the chess world. This with FLYNN, almost did me in, but the L gave the ta da.

67. Shih ___ : TZU. Woof, woof. More puppies. A breed originating from China with a name sure to make the little ones giggle. My ex has two.

68. One of LBJ's beagles : HIM. The other was HER and there was quite the scandal when he picked on up by the ears.

Well this puzzle has gone to the dogs, so I guess it is time for me to get my pooper scooper and get out of here, leaving you all to your memories.

Until next time, L out.

Friday, May 17, 2013, Jeff Chen and Loren Smith

Theme: PARTing is such sweet sorrow. You all were unanimously un-receptive to my bedtime story pun, but I never quit, and you all know I loves me some Shakespeare.

We have an extremely intriguing and fun offering, with tremendous themeage, straight forward cluing,  but if you did not get the gimmick, this could be hard. This appears to be another Jeff Chen mentoring puzzle, and the theme answers which are marked, 10 of them!!!! (plus a reveal)  all words which appear after PART is removed form a word or phrase. The brilliance is each residue is a stand-alone word or phrase. We also have the unusual aspect of a  theme starting  at 1A. While I am not getting any faster (actually slower) as a solver, I now can see themes quickly, and after getting to 10 across which obviously was relating to the Michigan State SPARTANS, I realized some form of letter removal was in order. a RAMPART and a PARTRIDGE in a pear tree later, I was on my way. Some were really challenging, but most of the puzzle was easy for a Friday. They did squeeze in some nice fill like GET BACK AT, SKIN TIGHT, DON SHULA and  MAKES OUT, and it is time for me to shut up and get to it.

1A. *Defensive fortifications : RAMPARTS. (4) O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming, And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air...

5A. *Noel bird : PARTRIDGE.(5). One of the many birds of the 12 days of Christmas.

10A. *East Lansing athletes : SPARTANS.(4). For you left coasters who love UCLA, I fell in love with college football watching Walt Kowalczyk lead MSU to victory in the 1956 ROSE BOWL.

23A. *After delivery : POSTPARTUM.(6). Postum (LINK) being a slightly obscure coffee alternative from before the art of caffeine extraction was perfected. I bought some after my heart problems and decided I would rather not. Postpartum blues are an ongoing mystery and a sad matter.

25A. *Baggage holder : COMPARTMENT, (7). One of the trickier ones to suss since it is a single word.

50A. *Go separate ways : PART COMPANY.(7). In this case a word is removed. Since we also have ENDED IT, I hope Jeff or his mentee did not have a recent break up.

52A. *School celebration : CLASS PARTY. (6) One word becomes two.

65A. *Bestowed : IMPARTED.(4) More tech stuff, I MED= Instant Messaged.

66A. *Crumbled : FELL APART.(5) Again one becomes two.

67A. *Opt in : TAKE PART..(4) When you opt in to a program, you take part in it. A whole word is deleted, leaving only TAKE. Could have been tricky to suss if you were thinking "partake."

and the reveal:

35A. 2006 Scorsese film, and a hint to answering this puzzle's starred answers : THE DEPARTED. (11).

Wonderful CAST. (2:21).

Across:

14. Verbal jabs : FLAK. Even worse than nit picking.

15. Face-to-face finals : ORALS. I wonder what Dennis and Lois would have said to this in the old days.

16. School that celebrates George III's birthday : ETON.

17. With 61-Down, Elton John duet partner : KIKI. 61D. See 17-Across : DEE. This SONG.(4:52).

18. Vestige : RELIC. So my appendix is a relic?

19. "___ Angel": Mae West film : I'M NO.

20. Texted "Let's just be friends" : ENDED IT. How cold is that? Some aspects of technology seem awful.

22. Supports : IS FOR. 

27. C-3PO, for one : DROID. My smartphone's cousin.

28. Nincompoop : SCHMO. My old phone's cousin, and a foreshadowing of 49A. Capp chap : ABNER, who had to deal with the SHMOO.

30. Dawn goddess : EOS. I had a run of EOS on Fridays earlier this year.

31. Snug as ___... : A BUG. In a rug. I hate bugs.

32. "Eureka!" : AHA. The moment. Now in the dictionary, and on TV.(0:30)

33. Third-qtr. period : AUGust. Tricky even if simple.

39. Airer of many Cary Grant films : TCM. Turner Classic Movies.

40. Staycation benefit, for short : RNR. From the military, Rest aNd Recreation. I  imagine Dennis has some stories, but we are all so PC now we will not hear them here.

41. Tattled : TOLD.

44. NYC's Penn, e.g. : STAtion.

47. Clean : LEGIT.

53. Dug the experience, with "up" : ATE IT.

54. Loser's demand : REMATCH. Especially boxers.

57. Cartoonist Lazarus : MELL, He drew Miss Peach and Momma.

58. Like some forces : NAVAL

59. Many a Kirkuk resident : KURD. This one almost had its way with me.

62. ___-dieu : PRIE. The kneely thing with the desk top.

63. Calm : STILL.

64. Tissue additive : ALOE. Goodbye to the first half. (Think French accent).

Down:

1. ___ Stadium, home of D.C. United : RFK. Robert Francis Kennedy.

2. Bard of boxing : ALI. Muhammad.

3. Discerns : MAKES OUT. So many other clues, but no link for this one, even if it is next to....

4. Like wet suits : SKIN TIGHT. Like THIS? Or THIS?

5. Composer of the 2005 opera "Our Town" : ROREM. Did you know the SCORE?

6. More than put out : IRED. SEE was removed for me in this fill.

7. "The Persistence of Memory" artist : DALI. Looks like he had a good time creating this one.

8. Bug : GLITCH. Oh that kind of bug.

9. Exit key of a sort : ESCape.

10. Quake : SEISM. I knew about seismology but never thought of this as a stand alone.

11. Charge for cash : ATM FEE. Nailed it.

12. "Ain't gonna happen!" : NO NO NO. A thousands times NO. Don't you hate fates like that? Especially when there are....

13. Corral chorus : SNORTS. Had NEIGHS for a second.

21. Turkey : DUD. Oh that kind of Turkey.

22. Response to "Raise," maybe : I'M OUT. Lots of these tricky word combos.

23. iPhone, e.g. : PDA. Personal Digital Assistant.

24. Eyeball : ORB. A sign he will win the Preakness too? Sad we cannot ask. Starting on the rail, oh oh. Maybe Rosie will be the first female jockey to win a triple crown race. Bet it.

26. Astrologer Sydney : OMARR. Because Kimmleman would not play in Peoria.

28. Ella, stateside : SHE. Translation.

29. Tyrrhenian Sea resort : CAPRI. Off of the Naples side of Italy.

32. Pitchers : AD MEN. So it is not pouring a drink or throwing a baseball.

34. Take revenge on : GET BACK AT. Another of the clever multi-word fill.

36. Showy display : ECLAT.

37. Hill inhabitant : ANT.

38. Coach of 1972's undefeated Dolphins : DON SHULA. A real gimme for the sofla crowd, as he is still on TV a lot and has tons of restaurants.

42. Guitarist Paul : LES. Mr. electric guitar. ENJOY.(2:11).

43. Wine choice : DRY. I am getting sec of all these wine clues.

44. Shellfish entrée : SCAMPI. Shrimp was my first thought.

45. For the full time : TO TERM. Both of my boys were premies.

46. 2001 French title heroine : AMELIE. Watch this  MOVIE.(1:29).

48. Use a Hula-Hoop : GYRATE. No Elvis this time.

49. Cockpit abbr. : ALTitude.

51. Accumulated, with "up" : PILED.

52. Easter lily : CALLA. Marti must have known this was coming yesterday. Hey Fermat.

55. Superhero's target : EVIL.

56. Place for an anchor store : MALL. But how many people really need anchors? Does it do better than the scotch tape store?

58. Check prob. : NSF. The dreaded Not Sufficient Funds.

60. Seoul soldier : ROK. Republic Of Korea. This was filled by the perps or I would not have seen it.

Speaking of not being seen, I think it is time for me to slip away until next time. A hearty thanks to JC and Ms.(Mr.?)  Smith for the presentation and to all of you who have made it this far in reading my ramblings, which are over until next time. Summer is almost upon, but winter is coming.

L.

Note from C.C.:

Here are two wonderful photos of dear Sallies, who is going to celebrate her 83rd birthday on July 12, 2013.  Sallie's two sons (one lives in MN, one in NY) and her husband Gerry celebrated Mother's Day this year a few days earlier at a restaurant in Naples. Stay strong, Sallie, we're all here for you!

Friday, May 10, 2013, Gareth Bain

Theme: Run, SPOT, run .

The first letter of each of the four theme answers is removed from an in the language phrase to create a new and whimsical phrase, with the four letters when placed to together creating a new word (SPOT) which runs through the puzzle and is revealed in a Shakespearean quote. I will try and line up the fill to convey a visual. Another Friday field day with our veteran veterinarian visiting. Not as many animal references, and what seemed easier that most of Gareth's Fridays, but only if you saw the gimmick.

17A. One assaulting a sorceress? : (S)WITCH HITTER. (11). Really cute concept, and since GB is from RSA, was he referring to a baseball term for a batter who bats both right and left handed.

25A. Great price for a meadow? :  (P)LEA BARGAIN. (10). Well I guess selling a meadow full of sheep is sort of an animal clue, you have to imagine the sheep.

48A. Start of a cowboy romance? :(O)RANGE CRUSH. (10). Again, is GB familiar with the the brand of soda,

or the Denver Bronco defense
LINK.









56A. Yarn donations? :                 (T)HANKS GIVING. (11). This one messed with my mind, as my visual limitations had me read the clue as YAM DONATIONS. Eventually concluded yarn can be sold in HANKS , and the Thanksgiving had nothing to do with sweet potatoes.

The reveal from Macbeth.

35A. Shakespearean cry that hints at how 17-, 25-, 48- and 56-Across are formed : OUT DAMNED SPOT. (13).

Okay to the answers:

Across:

1. Talmud expert : RABBI. The Talmud is one of a series texts written by Rabbis to preserve the oral law of the Jews. It was first created around the year 200

6. ABBA singer Ulvaeus : BJORN. I was surprised to learn this name had not been used as a stand alone answer in any LAT or NYT puzzle before today. There was that Sunday punday by Dan Naddor back in 2009, but that was another story.

11. Dry, in a way : SEC. A word used to describe dry wine, from the French.

14. Latish curfew : ONE AM. Kids and curfews, awesome.

15. Run down : RECAP.

16. Adherent's suffix : ITE. Like Mennonite, which is not a description of people who use Mennen after shave.

19. Postgrad degrees : M.A.S. Masters of Arts.

20. 2-1 or 3-2, in baseball : COUNT. No Dracula here.

21. Doesn't feel so hot : AILS.

22. Tomato variety : ROMA. These plum tomatoes were created in an agricultural lab in Maryland in the 50's and have nothing to do with Italy.

29. Burgers and More restaurateur : EMERIL.

31. South Pacific region : OCEANIA. More geography, also a steady part of the a GB diet.

32. Barbarian of film : CONAN. played so convincingly by Arnold.

33. H.S. health class : SEX ED. As opposed to SEXED which is what most high schoolers are wanting to be.

40. "___ Gold": 1997 film : ULEE'S. The only readon Peter Fonda is still spoken about.

41. Orange Muppet : ERNIE. I was wondering about the use of Orange in the clue, with the Orange Crush above, especially when it could be Bert's pal.

43. Order including whales : CETACEA. here we get our bit of knowledge from our veterinarian constructor. LINK. Isn't it fun to learn.

47. Maître d's subordinate : WAITER.

51. Sleep ___ (computer setting) : MODE. Pie a la?

52. They can be inflated : EGOS. Cute clue.

53. Come over the top, in poker : RAISE. I like the announcer from World Poker Tour better.

55. Pilot's fig. : ALT.itude.  I was a pilot. No you were a baggage handler. Well, like I said, I would take the baggage and pile it on the plane.

62. Slogan site : TEE. Shirt, though many banks use golf tees with logos as giveaways.

63. April baby, perhaps : ARIES. Mid-March through mid-April. It is the first sign of the Zodiac as they begin with the sun and spring. They also do not get along with Virgos.

64. Hallmark Channel talk show : MARIE. Hosted by Marie Osmond, who is all grown up.

65. Roswell crashers, purportedly : ETS. I loved Max Allen Collins version in MAJIC MAN. Also, 57D. "We ___ not alone" : ARE.

66. Doughnut filler : JELLY.

67. Many a double agent : PLANT. I read Martha Grimes has a new book out next year, with Richard Jury and  Melrose Plant.

Down:

1. Division in the field : ROW. More planting.

2. Wheel spinner's buy : AN I.  Wheel of Fortune.

3. Casino action : BET. Next to the semi-clecho 4D. Casino game : BACCARAT. Reminds me of the first video adaptation of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale.(6:26).

5. Chat room qualifier : IMHO. In My Humble Opinion.

6. What Clementine fell into : BRINE. So many VERSIONS, I never knew.

7. Volkswagon sedan : JETTA.

8. In normal seasons, only month when the NBA, MLB, NHL and NFL all have scheduled games : OCT.

9. Canadian singer Carly ___ Jepsen : RAE.

10. Largely listener-sponsored org. : NPR. National Public Radio.

11. Primate : SIMIAN. From the Latin for Ape.

12. Bibliographer's catchall : ET ALII. Not alia.

13. Textron-owned plane maker : CESSNA. An obscure fact, but easy to suss once the SS appeared.

18. Body in the lake? : HULL. The body of a boat, Tricky.

21. ___ Khan : AGA. You want the HISTORY?

22. DVR button : REC. and the clecho. 24D. DVR button : MENU.

23. Melville opus : OMOO.

26. Forklift load : BOXES.

27. Solved with ease : ACED. No, I did not ace this one.

28. Place with an important part in the Bible? : RED SEA. All perps, too many choices.

30. Bring about : INDUCE.

33. Campaign tactic : SMEAR. Sad but true.

34. Storm hdg. : ENE. Then it will not hit me.

36. Baldwin in Capital One ads : ALEC. So many careers for this STAR. (0:32).

37. Like the forest in Longfellow's "Evangeline" : PRIMEVAL. Basically a very old woodland; as a kid I always thought it was EVIL not EVAL.

38. Aware of : ON TO.

39. Unsettled, in a way : TIED. If a game is tied, the result has not been settled, nice clue.

42. Browning's "before" : ERE.

43. Whip up : CREATE.

44. Aerie nestling : EAGLET. Another animal fact.

45. Govt. securities : T-NOTES. T-BILLS, T-BONDS all have the same number of letters.

46. Legal chiefs: Abbr. : AGS. Attorney Generals. So what will happen to Kate and Castle now? Is there a more self-centered, childish character on television? Nice balance with AGA.

47. Fillmore, for one : WHIG. The party of our 13th President, who is buried in Buffalo, with both of his wives.

49. "Family Matters" nerd : URKEL. Your TREAT? (1:25)

50. Impudent : SASSY.

54. Easy mark : SIMP.

56. Muslim's journey : HAJ. Also, HAJJ.

58. Not a one : NIL. Like the score in many 'football' games.

59. Michael Collins's org. : IRA. Irish Republican Army. This MAN. Downton Abbey anyone?

60. Noted 20th-century diarist : NIN. Anaïs

61. Escape, with "out" : GET.

Which is what I will be doing, as my allotted time is up and before you all use red letters to get me to leave, hope you enjoyed another wonderful effort from Gareth; gird your loins for the themeless.

L out.

Friday. May 3, 2013, Norm Gugenbiller

Theme: Gold-diggers unite! Anna Nicole Smith and the Life of Riley.

Each of the three similarly clued answers describe someone who is wealthy who takes care of another, usually a person taking advantage of the rich one. This is one of our infrequent puzzles from Mr. Guggenbiller, who also has 3 solos at the NYT, but none in years. A more conventional Friday than we have have seen in a while, with many fun fills like COASTERS, DRIP DRY, LIP READER,  MACEDONIA, MR. CLEAN, ROUGHAGE, and SCARFED. A workout but another different doable effort. I wonder if Cheers made his life miserable.

18A. Supporter # 1 : RICH UNCLE. (9) Mine used to buy us toys, and then kept them in his attic so they would not get broken. Only our little hearts were broken.

24A. Supporter # 2 : SUGAR DADDY. (10).  Like Anna Nicole's 90+ husband. Are they so named because they are suckers?

53A. Supporter # 3 : MEAL TICKET.(10). Ironically, Anna Nicole was the other Howard Stern's meal ticket.

Sort of a reveal,

59A. Supporters 1, 2 and 3 : FREE RIDES.(9).

Bonus themeage:

47D. Where you might be with this puzzle's 59-Across? : FAT CITY.(7). This is a type of slang that adds city to a word to indicate a "location" of some condition. The idea being only rich people could afford getting fat.

On to the rest,

Across:

1. Tricky stroke : MASSE. Do not know why, but this popped right into my head. I used to play lots of pool, but I was never good at this shot. Without getting this, the corner would have been a bear.

6. Don't deny : ADMIT. In pleadings, the answer can be as simple as admitted or denied.

11. Fr. address : MME. Mademoiselle. Not an address, but an address. "Bon Jour, MME." This is the cleanest version

14. Belief of more than a billion : ISLAM.

15. It's tossed : TRASH. I was happy with SALAD until I wasn't.

16. Jets coach Ryan : REX. One of the twin sons of coaching legend Buddy Ryan. They finally released Tebow this week. Rex is a foot fetishist. Don't you want to be famous?

17. Watts of "The Impossible" : NAOMI.

20. Hip-hop Dr. : DRE. He is so popular he is back for an encore this week.

21. Carp : GRIPE. Not to be confused with CRIPES.

23. Word with power or panel : SOLAR. This was easy because they were talking on the radio this morning about this awesome CAR. Dennis, there is a used one for sale in Palm Beach for $69,000.00 if you are interested.

27. In transit : SENT. This should be easy but was not.

28. Chosen groups : ELITES.

29. Fiber source : ROUGHAGE. I never really knew this word, but I was always told to eat my salad (back again!) for the roughage. As a child it did not sound appealing at all.

31. Portable digs : TENT. Nice simple clue.

32. Traveling Wilburys co-founder Jeff : LYNNE. More famous from his days with ELO.

33. Nancy Drew's guy : NED. Back again.

34. Sherpa's sighting : YETI. The abominable snowman. I finally got to watch the Castle episode with Ioan Gruffudd, who played Reed Richards, Mr. Fantastic in the Fantastic Four Movies, as well as Horatio Hornblower in the PBS movies. He has been in lots of movies, ladies, and was 'married' to Jessica Alba in the FF movies.

37. Clichéd film assistant : IGOR. Was there any better than Marty Feldman? (1:37).

39. Volume control? : SHH. For three letter fill, I liked this one.

42. Old-style shade : SEPIA. The color of old photographs.

44. Minnesota's St. ___ College : OLAF. Is it real or merely part of the GOLDEN GIRLS?

48. Wood protectors : COASTERS. My mind was all about varnish, etc. for too long.

50. Prison in 1971 news : ATTICA. Generally we do not hear about prisons unless there are escapes or riots.

52. "I ___ stupid!" : AM SO. I often feel that way when blogging.

55. Like wall phones : RETRO. Yes but only if they have rotary dial.

57. Come to ___ : A HALT. This is how to avoid the dreaded A words.

58. Abbr. used for brevity : ETC. Justice Holmes who agreed that brevity is the soul of wit, wrote all of his opinions standing on the theory that weak knees inspire concise writing. Sadly for you all, I am sitting.

61. Asian capital : HANOI. Vietnam.

63. Shakespearean adverb : E'EN. Love my Shakespeare.

64. Aces : GREAT.

65. It may be historical : EVENT.

66. Deg. for Tim Whatley on "Seinfeld" : DDS. Doctor of Dental Science. LINK. (1:06) played by Bryan Cranston who is now a big hit on Breaking Bad, after a stint in Malcolm in the Middle.

67. Things found around the house : YARDS. Nicely literal but deceptive clue.

68. Nephew of Donald : DEWEY. No not Huey, nor Louie. Donald was not the rich one.

Down:

1. Outlook : MINDSET. These next few are all good and Friday worth.

2. In most instances : AS A RULE. This took all the perps.

3. Red liqueur : SLOE GIN. I always think of it as Pink Gin. Anyone like Singapore Slings? Have some stories....

4. "The Lord of the Rings" hobbit : SAM. Samwise Gamgee, played brilliantly by SEAN ASTIN, (3:21) Gomez Addams' son.

5. Political fugitive : EMIGRE. This is great fill, but the clue was misleading me.

6. Chest chambers : ATRIA. Of the heart.

7. Hang on a line : DRIP DRY. Alliteration is always welcome.

8. Landlocked European country : MACEDONIA. My American geography lack made this a struggle. Alexander the Great and his father Philip II were from there.

9. Qualifying suffix : ISH. This was hardish?

10. Consequently : THUS. I had to work harder to finISH?

11. Magic Eraser spokesman : MR. CLEAN. He was the cool bald guy like Yul Brynner and Kojak.

12. Mishmash : MELANGE. Great word.

13. Put to vigorous use : EXERTED. I hope none of us over-exerted our brains for this one.

19. Bite : NOSH. American Yiddish.

22. Hwys. : RDS.

25. One who may object: Abbr. : ATTY. I wish they would do courtroom objections on TV with some degree of reality.

26. Egg foo ___ : YUNG. Is this real Chinese C.C.? (From C.C.: I never heard of Egg foo young/yung until I came to the US.)

30. Former Prizm maker : GEO.

32. One who can see what you mean : LIP READER. I love this clue, takes thought to get there.

35. Appraisal no. : ESTimate.

36. Overflow : TEEM.

38. Scholarship-offering federal gp. : ROTC. Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

39. Inhaled, with "down" : SCARFED. Just picture a big man at an all you can eat buffet, or Michelle at lunch.

40. Had a big hit : HOMERED. A nice baseball reference.

41. Moves quickly : HASTENS. Do you all remember my hasten Jason poem?

43. Leads : IS AHEAD. Lots of tricky two word fill to parse.

45. As good as ever : LIKE NEW. See, what did I tell you?

46. Salon solvent : ACETONE. Oh the smell! There is a nail place on my walk and I have to circle wide to avoid the fumes; I do not know how the workers do it day after day. All the more reason to do your own grooming.

49. Embittered : SORE.

50. N.L. city : ATLanta.

51. Pledged, in a way : TITHED. One tenth your earnings.

54. Continues : LASTS. This is a trait which is very important if you plan to go to an

56. Unrestrained indulgence : ORGY. Now that we have a theme for our summer solstice party....

60. Portfolio letters : IRA. Individual Retirement Account.

62. Lettered Bklyn. thoroughfare : AVE. A rather esoteric bit of trivia as Brooklyn, N.Y. has all 26, A to Z, and since Z is the end, It is time for me to end my Friday tour having guided us through the pitfalls and joys of another word journey. Half way to summer, and it snowed again. be safe and be warm, but not too warm.

Lemonade out.

Note from C.C.:

Here are 3 more pretty pictures of Lemonade's granddaughter Charlotte. So much much love, hope & pride in the first one. 

Sweet Charlotte & her loving parents