Thursday December 3, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: PLUG (63A. Ad, or word that can follow the end of 17-, 26-, 43- or 55-Across)

17A. "Imagination at work" company: GENERAL ELECTRIC. Electric Plug. Rare gimme theme entry for me. Still waiting for my GE stock to bounce back.

26A. Fried-dough carnival treat: ELEPHANT EAR. Earplug. Have never tasted Elephant Ear. I wanted CORN FRITTER, which has the same number of letters and ends in R too.

43A. The Doors #1 hit covered by José Feliciano: LIGHT MY FIRE. Fireplug. Here is the clip. I've never heard of José Feliciano. His constant nodding made me dizzy.

55A. "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" author: DAME MURIEL SPARK. Spark Plug. Both the book and the author (Scottish) were strangers to me.

I liked how PLUG ends the grid, good visual image.

Lots of D'oh clues in this puzzle. My favorites are DELI (6D. Sub station?) and RHYMES (38D. Stop and shop e.g.). Both reminded me of the "License to drill?" clue Barry had for DDS (Doctor of Dental Science) in his 2008 Phillies Championship Tribute puzzle. Very clever.

I struggled at the last theme answer. Tough crossing between TORI (59A. Doughnut shapes) and RTE (56D. Way to go: Abbr.) for me. Had a breeze freeze on both. "Way to go," Barry, you got me. I did recognize the torus shape when I googled. Had no idea that its plural form is tori.

Across:

1. Cheese town in the province of Noord-Holland: EDAM. Four-letter Dutch cheese town has to be Edam.

5. Cooper's tool: ADZE. Or adz.

9. Like some potatoes: RICED. How do you like your potatoes prepared? I like oven-baked potato wedges.

14. Snare __: DRUM

15. Powerful 19th century Virginia family: LEES. Of them, R.E Lee appears in our Xword very often.

16. Positive terminal, at times: ANODE. It could be negative terminal at times?

21. Sale condition: AS IS

22. Deceived: LIED TO. What Tiger probably did.

23. Stranded motorist's aid: JACK

25. Cambodian money: RIEL. Pronounced the same as "reel".

30. General on a Chinese menu: TSO. General Tso's Chicken.

33. Fiesta Bowl site: TEMPE. No idea. Arizona State (Sun Devils) is located there as well.

34. Work units: ERGS

35. Group including flower children's children, briefly: GEN X. Stumped me. Flower children refer to those hippies in the 1960's. I was picturing Lyndon Johnson's Daisy Flower Girl ad.

36. Pants fabric: TWILL

38. Actress Blakley: RONEE. No idea. Looks like she's a singer as well.

39. Je t'__: Parisian's "I love you": AIME. And MME (4D. Marseille Mrs.)

41. Drambuie ingredient: HONEY. I've never heard of Drambuie, a honey and herb flavored Scotch whisky.

42. Govt. ID issuer: SSA (Social Security Administration). They issue SSN.

46. Grant and Vanderbilt: AMYS

47. Spotted cat: OCELOT. Hi, buddy, what are you looking at?

50. Exceptional: RARE. Rara in Latin, as in Rara Avis, like Sade or our Kazie.

52. Subway alternative: BUS

58. Cream of the crop: ELITE

60. Merrie __ England: OLDE. And ETON (62A. School founded in 1440). I actually know this trivia.

61. Begat: SIRED

Down:

2. Stowe novel: DRED. Does this book have anything to do with Dred Scott the slave?

3. Quaker Oats trademark: AUNT JEMIMA. Awesome entry.

5. Mount McKinley's state: ALASKA

7. Puzzle center?: ZEES. Two letter Z's in the center of the word puzzle.

8. Subj. taught bilingually: ESL (English as a Second Language)

10. Spy's briefing contents, briefly: INTEL. Intelligence I suppose.

11. Firewood order: CORD. It's been a very mild winter here in Minnesota.

12. Correct, perhaps: EDIT

13. Empire State Building style: DECO

18. "Silent Spring" author Carson: RACHEL. Have heard of the book, not the author.

19. Inventor Howe: ELIAS. Sewing machine inventor.

24. Winesap, e.g.: APPLE. Nope, first encounter with winesap apples.

25. Contrition: REGRET

26. Singer James et al.: ETTAS

27. Explorer aided by Sacagawea: LEWIS. Or Clark.

28. Dogma-rejecting spiritual genre: NEW AGE. All I know about New Age is that Enya and Yanni are New Age musicians.

30. Court bouncer: TENNIS BALL. Oh, tennis court.

31. Show contempt: SNEER

32. Kind of daisy: OX-EYE. Hope this is the kind Jeannie likes.

40. Artistic merit: VIRTU (ver-TOO). Italian for virtue. New to me.

43. Came menacingly into view: LOOMED

44. Large game fish: MARLIN. Barry probably clued it as baseball related (Florida Marlins) originally. He's an avid baseball fan.

45. 1950s-'60s Yankee Boyer: CLETE. No idea. Clete Boyer played third base for the Yankees.

48. City SW of Bogotá: CALI. Maybe Chickie could tell us a bit about Cali, she lived there for two years.

49. Mideast bigwig: EMIR. Those emirs need to clean up the Dubai mess.

50. Scream: RIOT. Did not know riot can mean "scream". I wanted RANT.

51. Opening for dynamic: AERO. Aerodynamic.

53. Pakistani tongue: URDU. I just learned that Urdu is essentially identical to Hindi in its spoken form but in its literary form heavily influenced by Persian and Arabic and written in an Arabic alphabet.

54. Surfboard fin: SKEG. New word to me. Looks like each surfboard has two skegs.

57. How the weasel goes?: POP. Pop! Goes the Weasel. Excellent clue too.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday November 26, 2009 Lila Cherry

Theme: Happy Turkey Day - A Thanksgiving Puzzle.

17A. Turkey: BIRD THAT GOBBLES. Or bird on your table today.

27A. Turkey: FRANK WAY TO TALK. Talk turkey.

48A. Turkey: THEATRICAL FLOP. Feared by some angels (financial backers).

63A. Turkey?: FRIDAY'S SANDWICH. A bit strained, no? Maybe that's the reason for the question mark.

Then we also have an exotic "Turkish currency" clue for LIRA (3D), which is often clued as old Italian bread/currency. Alas, no "three strikes in a row", the turkey my husband likes the most, too many letters (18).

Today's puzzle is by our editor Rich Norris. Lila Cherry is his alias name, anagram of "Really Rich". Thanks for the daily entertainment, Rich. And Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Happy Feasting!

Across:

1. First name in folk: ARLO (Guthrie). He's in Woodstock, drunk and high.

5. Kick (out): DRUM. Did not come to me readily. Simple answer often stumps me.

9. Loathe: ABHOR

14. Judge's determination: BAIL. Can you clue NO BAIL the same way?

15. Moira's "Chaplin" role: OONA. Easy guess.

16. TV exec Arledge: ROONE. The ex-Chairman of ABC News.

20. Santa Anna siege site: ALAMO

21. Cooked: DONE. My special Jeannie's stuffing is done. Delicious! I added a small can of water chestnuts.

22. Closed sac: CYST. Fluid-filled.

23. Neo, for one: Abbr.: ANAG. Neo is an ANAG (anagram) of one. Got me.

25. M.I.T. grad, often: ENGR

33. NASA transport: LEM (Lunar Excursion Module).

35. Shaq of the NBA: O'NEAL. Now with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

37. Sacred bird of old Egypt: IBIS. Sacred indeed. Not fond of the bird/BIRD (17A) duplication though.

39. Savvy: SENSE. Like business/political savvy.

42. "La Gioconda" tenor role: ENZO. Uh-uh, nope. I bet "Auto designer Ferrari" knows. The name Enzo means "Ruler of the Home" in Italian.

43. Aggressive: PUSHY

45. Central church area: NAVE

52. Lake surrounding Canada's southernmost point: ERIE. Nice trivia.

53. Dodge Aries, e.g.: K-CAR. What does K stand for?

54. Many of its members are boomers: AARP

59. Like seven Nolan Ryan games: NO-HIT. A major league record. No perfect game from Nolan Ryan though. That's his rookie card.

66. Fast traveler, at times: RUMOR. Great clue.

67. Caesar's "Behold!": ECCE. Latin. The Italian for "Behold!" is ECCO.

68. China's __ Enlai: ZHOU. Or CHOW in Cantonese. China's first premier. Yesterday's Mao Ze-Dong is Mandarin Chinese. Mao Tse-Tung is Cantonese spelling.

69. Last in a series: OMEGA. The last of Greek alphabet (24 letters).

70. Take off: SHED

71. Shakespearean "over there": YOND. Why do we add "er" later on then?

Down:

2. Travel option: RAIL. Can never read on a train/car. It makes me sick.

4. Pop: OLD MAN

5. "Stupid me!": D'OH. Carol's V-8 moment.

6. It can't be played at home: ROAD GAME

8. Sticker?: MAGNET. It sticks to your fridge.

9. Wall St. figure who capitalizes on price imbalances: ARB (Arbitrager). Like those hedge fund guys.

10. "Hogan's Heroes" star: BOB CRANE. Penned in ALAN ALDA, confusing "Hogan's Heroes " with "M*A*S*H".

11. Devout: HOLY

12. Tip jar fillers, mostly: ONES

13. Take five: REST

18. Toy truck maker: TONKA. Originated in Minnesota.

19. Napa prefix: OENO. Prefix for wine. Napa is wine region. My favorite clue today.

24. Belt maker's tools: AWLS

26. '60s song car with "three deuces and a four-speed and a 389": GTO

27. Toss: FLIP

28. Disprove: REBUT

29. "Witness" sect: AMISH. The little Amish boy is the sole witness to the murder in the movie.

30. Greek New Age keyboardist: YANNI. University of Minnesota alumnus.

31. Three-time U.S. Open winner: LENDL (Ivan). So is Tiger Woods, but in golf.

32. Musical buzzer: KAZOO

36. Air show stunt: LOOP

38. What Bo Peep could have used?: SHEEP DOG. Nursery rhyme: Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep ...

40. Awkward-looking picnic contest: SACK RACE. Several nice two-worders in the Down fill today.

41. Rescue op: EVAC (Evacuation). Solid abbreviation in my book. Pinkerton provided EVAC services for expatriates in China.

44. "Babi __": Yevtushenko poem: YAR. Babi Yar is the name of a ravine (outside Kiev) where Nazis murdered lots of Jewish people. I am not familiar with the poem.

46. African antelope: ELAND. J.D. must have seen this spiral-horned antelope during her Safari.

50. NutRageous bar maker: REESE'S. Have never tried NutRageious. Is it similar to Snickers?

51. Slovenly: FROWZY. New word to me.

54. Hendrix hairdo: AFRO. Buckeye just mentioned that tomorrow is Jimi Hendrix's birthday.

55. __ lily: calla: ARUM. I am used to the "Calla lily family" clue.

56. Coleridge work: RIME. No idea. Does it refer to his "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"?

58. Author Sholem: ASCH. The Yiddish writer.

60. Sunshine cracker: HI-HO. Have never seen this brand. Wikipedia said it's discontinued.

61. Screen image: ICON

62. Sound of an ungraceful landing: THUD

64. Altar in the sky: ARA. Latin for "altar".

65. Actor Beatty: NED. He's in "Deliverance". Quite a disturbing movie.

Answer grid.

What's your family traditional Thanksgiving meal like? We always have wild rice and mashed rutabaga.

C.C.

Thursday November 19, 2009 Jack McInturff

Theme: Fools Rush In - Common phrases that end with a synonym of "fool".

20A. Weightlifting event: CLEAN AND JERK

30A. Golf course pest: CANADIAN GOOSE

39A. Spinning toy manipulated with sticks: CHINESE YO-YO

49A. Honest info: STRAIGHT DOPE

So many synonyms for fool: idiot, blockhead, imbecile, jackass, nitwit, etc. I like dummy. Use it almost every day.

I read Jack McInturff's original theme proposal after I was done with the puzzle, and was so glad PROJECT CREEP did not make the cut. A complete unknown phrase to me.

Used Wite-out several times today: AIRPORT instead of ISRAELI for 23A. Ben-Gurion, e.g., and OCEAN instead of BRINY for 28A. Sea. Did you also fall for the traps or was I but a fool?

Across:

1. Choir member: TENOR

6. Quite: SUCH. Mine was MUCH.

15. Faulkner's "As __ Dying": I LAY

16. Pearl Harbor site: OAHU. Honolulu is on southeast coast of Oahu.

18. Common nickname for a doter: NANA. I sure miss mine.

19. 66 and others: Abbr.: RTES. Route 66.

26. "It's __ business": NO ONE'S

27. Kind of biological network: NEURAL. Neural network.

32. Corp. money manager: CFO. Now we know the constructor was a CFO before.

35. Fighting: AT IT. Hey, it's back! TER next.

37. Hang onto: HOLD

43. River in Lyons: SAONE (Sohn). See this map. It rises in northeast France and flows to the Rhone River at Lyons.

44. Belfast's province: ULSTER. The long, loose ulster overcoat is named after this county.

45. Early Ford success: MODEL A. And EDSEL (48D. Ill-fated Ford). How is Model A different from Model T, Dennis?

48. Actors, often: EMOTERS.

52. Road sign silhouette: DEER. Deer ticks cause Lyme disease.

53. Debt indicators: IOUS. Wrote down LOSS first. Dennis's Bozone Layer (The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating) definitely fogged my brain.

54. Ticked off: IRKED

59. Dresden's river: ELBE (EL-buh). The North Sea feeder.

60. Landlocked African country: NIGER. Ah, Bush's infamous "Sixteen Word" uranium country.

61. A handful of: SOME

62. Navy commando: SEAL. Our ex-governor Jesse "The Body" Ventura was a Navy Seal.

63. Gothic house feature: GABLE. The triangular section at the end of a pitched roof.

Down:

1. La Brea goo: TAR. Brea is just Spanish for "tar".

2. Seventh Greek letter: ETA

3. Christmas quaff: NOG. Hmm, nutmeg.

4. 200 milligrams, to a jeweler: ONE CARAT. Crockett just mentioned last time that carat indicates weight, karat purity.

5. Original primer used to paint the Golden Gate Bridge: RED LEAD. Unknown to me.

6. Source of the Law: SINAI. Does the Law here refer to the Ten Commandments God gave Moses?

7. __ Bator, Mongolia: ULAN. Iterally "red" in Mongolian.

8. Where Jesus turned water to wine: CANA. No idea. Illiterate on Bible.

9. Cape Cod site of a JFK museum: HYANNIS. Hyannis Port. The Kennedy Compound is there.

10. How some jump?: FOR JOY. Got the answer from crosses. Nice clue.

11. Corroded: EATEN

12. Sex researcher Hite: SHERE

13. Mammoth features: TUSKS. Usually, but not always in pairs.

21. Contemporary of Dizzy and Billie: ELLA

22. Finished: DONE. Or OVER.

23. Early Peruvians: INCAS

24. Senate posts: SEATS. Was thinking of the tweet posts from some of the senators.

25. Confrontation: RUN-IN

28. Carried: BORNE. Did not come to me immediately.

29. Classroom drilling: ROTE

31. Come out ahead: GAIN

32. British actor Robert, the original Colonel Pickering in "My Fair Lady": COOTE. Stranger to me. Is Coote pronounced the same as coot?

33. Candidate's handout: FLYER. Or flier.

37. Common crowd reaction in monster films: HYSTERIA. No monster film for me.

39. Colombian city: CALI. The Colombian drug cartel city.

40. Some heroes: HOAGIES. Hero sandwich.

41. Sport for 300-pounders: SUMO

42. Like lovers skipping church?: ELOPING. Valid clue without the question mark too.

43. Pharmaceutical giant that developed Celebrex: SEARLE. Pfizer wouldn't fit. I've never heard of Searle before.

45. Windows predecessor: MS-DOS

46. Alamogordo's county: OTERO. In New Mexico county. Spanish for "height". Again, I strung the answer together from Across.

47. Nightmare, e.g.: DREAM

50. Putter's target: HOLE. Golf.

51. Very big wind: TUBA. Wind instrument. Good clue too.

55. Soviet spy org.: KGB. The East German secret police is STASI.

56. Snakelike fish: EEL. Yep, snakelike. Delicious!

57. Hip-hop Dr.: DRE. I wonder why he named himself "Dr. Dre". Such a Xword friendly name.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday November 12, 2009 Kelsey Blakley

Theme: DNA SEQUENCE (64A. Human fingerprint, and what's hidden in five puzzle answers) - DNA is sequentially embedded in each theme answer.

17A. All-big-gun battleship: DREADNAUGHT. Dread Not. Fear Nothing.

24A. Deeply ingrained habit: SECOND NATURE

39A. Shanghais: KIDNAPS. This extended "kidnap" meaning is named after the seaport Shanghai. Wonderful nightlife there. Great bars.

42A. Gap subsidiary: OLD NAVY

53A. Cuba or Puerto Rico, e.g.: ISLAND NATION

Two of the non-theme entries (31A. Most piquant: ZESTIEST & 48A. Convenience store: MINI-MART) have longer letters than the two shortest theme answers. Odd. They don't normally bother me if placed in Down rather than Across.

Neat to have three "filler" clues for a trio of three-letter fill:

52A. Hard-rock filler: AS A. Hard as a rock.

71A. Museum filler: ART

66D. Balloon filler: AIR

I loved the tie-in answer DNA SEQUENCE. Terrific title and great theme concept.

Across:

1. FBI sting that began during Carter's presidency: ABSCAM. What does AB stand for?

7. In this way: THUS. More used to "As a result" clue.

11. Tapped-out message: SOS. Morse code.

14. Sheep herder: COLLIE. Correct clue this time.

15. Old World Style sauce maker: RAGU. Or do you prefer Prego?

16. Hawaiian Punch rival: HI-C. Was stumped again. The C here refers to vitamin C. The Minute Maid drink brand.

19. It might be pale or brown: ALE

20. Blackguards: CADS. Blackguard is a new word to me.

21. Powerful health care lobbying gp.: AMA. "Powerful" indeed, appearing in Xword so often.

22. Budget noodle dish: RAMEN. Rooted in Chinese lamian ("pulled noodle"). The Japanese kanji for RAMEN is the same as Chinese character.

28. TV sched. notation: TBA

32. Extremely cold: POLAR

34. Birthplace of "Wayne's World," briefly: SNL. I was ignorant of the fact that the film was adapted from a sketch of the same name on SNL.

35. Cheese in a ball: EDAM. The Dutch cheese.

44. "The Time Machine" leisure class: ELOI. They are blond, they are beautiful and they are yummy entrees for the the Morlocks.

45. Org. with the blog Greenversations: EPA. Easy guess, with the "Green" hint.

47. Further off the beaten path: ODDER. "Off the beaten path" = unusual.

57. Parisian's "Presto!": VOILA!

58. Family nickname: SIS

59. "__ the hint!": I GET. I simply say "I get it!", not "I get the hint!".

63. Lat neighbors: ABS. Lat the muscles. Not the country.

68. ___ Percé: Pacific Northwest tribe: NEZ. No idea. Nez Percé is French for "pierced nose" (nez=nose). Maybe the tribe members all had pieced nose when first encountered by the explorers.

69. Irish Rose's beau: ABIE. "Abie's Irish Rose". Learned from doing Xword.

70. Prepare to slip off: UNLACE. Of shoes or lingerie.

73. Singer Sheena: EASTON. Scottish singer. Here is her "For Your Eyes Only". I've never heard of her name before.

Down:

1. Type of elec. adapter: AC/DC

2. Afghanistan's Tora __ region: BORA. The region where our military could have caught Osama during that intensive battle.

3. Huskies' burden: SLED

4. School group: CLASS

6. Serious threat: MENACE. Such as the Fort Hood military major who opened fire at the base. Ultimate betrayal.

7. Unauthorized absentees: TRUANTS. Such as the military AWOL's. And ATTEND (23D. Show up).

8. Broom rider: HAG. Could only think of witch.

9. Exclamation with a shudder: UGH

10. Buddha's teachings: SUTRAS. I wonder when Kama Sutra was written.

11. SeaWorld celebrity: SHAMU

12. Carrier of crude: OILER. Crude oil.

13. Dramatic segment: SCENE

18. Songwriter Tori: AMOS. Pure guess. What's her most famous song?

25. University founder Cornell: EZRA. You should eat worms if you missed this one. I've mentioned his name several times on the blog before.

26. Pebbles's pet: DINO. From "The Flintstones".

27. "Little" Dickens girl: NELL. No idea. Little Nell is a character from Dickens' "The Old Curiosity Shop".

28. Pay-as-you-go rd.: TPKE (Turnpike)

29. Cook, in a way: BOIL. Boiled (freshly picked) peanuts are very tasty.

30. Gucci of fashion: ALDO. Man, I can never remember his name.

33. Mink or sable: ANIMAL. Well, FUR is too short. Nice clue.

36. Pop, to baby: DADA. Chinese baby would say "BABA".

37. Parade rtes., maybe: AVES

38. Vidal's Breckinridge: MYRA. Here is the book cover. We've seen this clue before.

40. Remain undecided: PEND

46. Gathered up: AMASSED. As fortune.

49. When Rome wasn't built?: IN A DAY. Idiom: "Rome wasn't built in a day". I don't like the word "When", though I could not think of a better alternative.

50. Play to __: draw: A TIE

51. Off-color: RISQUE. Tried RIBALD first.

53. Trump with a cameo in "The First Wives Club": IVANA. Donald Trump's first ex.

54. Not even tipsy: SOBER

55. "Faust Symphony" composer: LISZT. "Faust" is also a play by Goethe.

56. Physicist Bohr: NIELS. The Danish physicist.

60. Swarm insect: GNAT

61. Nestlé cereal beverage: ECCO. Totally unknown to me. It's a barley, rye and chicory-based beverage. ECCO is Italian for ECCE, "behold".

62. High schooler: TEEN

65. Jazz org.?: NBA. Utah Jazz. Nailed it.

67. Italian "a": UNA. Spanish "a" too.

Answer grid.

Thanks for the stuffing recipes, everyone. Will ask my husband to add dried cranberries to ours this Thanksgiving (the only day Boomer actually cooks).

C.C.

Thursday November 5, 2009 Xan Vongsathorn

Theme: SILENCE IS GOLDEN (57A. Apt adage for this puzzle ) - Common phrases signaling "mum's the word" (I'll be quiet and say nothing). "Non-speaking line" means "saying a line about not speaking".

17A. Non-speaking line?: MY LIPS ARE SEALED

22A. Non-speaking line?: I'M ALL EARS

34A. Non-speaking line?: WORDS ESCAPE ME

50A. Non-speaking line?: NO COMMENT

Today's constructor Xan Vongsathorn is a student in Pomona College, CA. Xan is pronounced as “Chawn”.

This puzzle reminds me the quote "Don't talk unless you can improve the silence" Dennis or Hahtool brought to the blog a while ago.

As usual, I jumped around. Got MY LIPS ARE SEALED very quickly and filled in SILENCE IS GOLDEN immediately. Then I thought the theme is about keeping secret.

Across:

1. Thumper's buddy: BAMBI. Thumper is a young rabbit in "Bambi". Unknown to me. We often see ENA clued as "Bambi's aunt".

6. La Scala production: OPERA. And AISLED (45D. Like theaters)

11. Cap seen on a brae: TAM. Scottish cap. Brae is Scottish hillside.

15. Ad target: BUYER. Sigh! I hardly use my Jack Lalanne juicer. The TV ad was just so appealing.

16. "If you ask me," in chat room shorthand: IMO

21. Spill the beans: TATTLE. A contract to "Silence is Golden".

27. State of rest: REPOSE

28. Little women: PETITES. Good play on the novel "Little Women". And LARGE (56A. Soda size).

31. Aurora's Greek counterpart: EOS. Gimme, correct? I've been mentioning Aurora every time EOS shows up.

32. Romantic hopeful: SUITOR. Silly, but I struggled with the answer. I like to be romanced.

40. Vital anatomical passage: AIRWAY. No idea. It's a passage by which air passes from the nose or mouth to the air sacs of the lungs.

41. George Gershwin's brother: IRA. The clue is a full name, the answer is only a given name. "George's songwriter brother" is much better.

43. Blankety-blank type: SO AND SO

46. Jaime Sommers, TV's "__ Woman": BIONIC. Bionic stands for Bio(logy) + (electro)nic.

49. The Phantom of the Opera: ERIK. Oh, thought it's ERIC.

53. Magnetic inductivity units: TESLAS. Named after physicist Nikola Tesla.

63. Too trusting: NAIVE

64. Prefix with surgery: NEURO. Neurosurgery. Neuro = nerve.

66. "Li'l" guy: ABNER. Li'l Abner.

67. Bygone anesthetic: ETHER

Down:

1. Mooch, as a ride: BUM

3. Start to practice?: MAL. Malpractice. Great clue.

4. Under-the-sink brand: BRILLO. Latin for "bright". I am using the S.O.S. pad.

5. Gets moving: IMPELS

6. President with a Grammy: OBAMA. Two Grammys, for the spoken word books of "Dreams from My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope".

11. Attack à la Don Quixote: TILT AT. He tilts at the windmills (fights against an imaginary enemy). Tilt here means "joust", using a lance.

12. 2001 French film starring Audrey Tautou: AMELIE. Ah, Embien liked this film. So did I. Just lovely.

13. Cover girls, e.g.: MODELS. CoverGirl is a cosmetics brand.

18. Hook's right hand: SMEE. In "Peter Pan".

19. Worn things: ATTIRE. Might have got it quickly if the clue were "Things to wear".

23. Cat call: MEOW. Not the rude catcall. Several nicely worded clues in today's puzzle.

24. Lhasa __: Tibetan dog: APSO. Literally "bearded" in Tibetan language.

25. Like much Thai cuisine: SPICY. That's why they use coconut often, to balance out the spiciness.

29. Greek "H": ETA. See the shape.

30. High point: TOP

32. Attach, as a patch: SEW ON

33. Country where Häagen-Dazs H.Q. is: USA. Man, somehow I always thought Häagen-Dazs is based somewhere in Europe.

35. Continue to irritate: RANKLE

37. Some coll. students: SRS. Xan Vongsathorn is a senior in college. Very unusual name.

38. Diamond source: MINE. No more baseball diamond. Damned Yankees. What Lola wants, Lola finally gets! I kind of like Andy Pettitte though. Very honest handling of his steroid use. Congratulations, Danabw and Democrat in a Red State.

39. Celtic land: ERIN. Or EIRE. Hibernia is Latin for Ireland.

43. Goes after: SETS AT

44. Tater Tots maker: ORE-IDA. Portmanteau of Ore(gon) = Ida(ho).

46. Five-time Wimbledon champ: BORG (Björn)

47. "Later, bro": I'M GONE

48. Brunch staple: OMELET. I like plain one. No cheese, or meat or vegetables.

51. Source of edible oil: OLIVE

52. Crime planner: CASER. Case is a slang for "to check out a bank/house in planning of a crime".

54. "Happy tune" whistler of Broadway: ANNA. No idea. The song "I Whistle a Happy Tune", from the musical "The King and I".

55. Picketer's bane: SCAB

58. "Ich bin __ Berliner!": EIN. JFK line.

59. "How could I miss that?!": D'UH. No difference from D'OH, correct?

Answer grid.

Thanks for the newspaper information yesterday. I am so sorry some of you lost LAT puzzle. Do go to LA Times' website and join us for discussions when you have time.

C.C.

Thursday October 29, 2009 Don Gagliardo

Theme: Shoe Store - The end of each theme phrase is a type of shoes. And each four-square corner has a box of S H O E (arranged in counterclockwise pattern and the rotation is changed one space at a time). I've circled the four SHOE BOX in the answer grid.

17A. Kitchen backups: SINK CLOGS. Clogs have thick wood or rubber soles.

31A. North Carolina team: TAR HEELS. Heels over 3.5 inches are considered high-heeled.

40A. Container for the end of 17-, 31-, 47 or 64-Across; there's a literal one in each four-square puzzle corner: SHOE BOX. Brilliant tie-in answer and great shoe box design.

47A. Octane rating sites: GAS PUMPS. Pumps are low-cut heeled shoes without fastenings.

64A. Bonneville Speedway feature: SALT FLATS. Flats have no heels.

And our big shoe buddy E E E E in each corner. Impressive grid, isn't it?

Below are some notes kindly provided by today's constructor Don "Hard G" Gagliardo on the inspiration of the puzzle. Let's have a Q & A Session with Don today. If you have any question regarding today's puzzle, or crossword construction as a whole (I am sure my interviews with different constructors did not fully cover what you've been curious about crossword puzzles), or you'd like Don to know what kind of theme/fill excite or rankle you, please click the Comments at the end of this blog post. Write down your name and your questions/comments. I'll publish a post with Don's answers tomorrow.

I'll start with mine: 1) How to pronounce Gagliardo? Is the second G hard? 2) What kind of music do you listen while constructing crossword? Or do you prefer total silence? 3) Is it wrong to say "I like some of the long Down fills (rather than fill) today"? I noticed constructors use singular "fill" when they refer several or the whole non-theme entries.

Notes from Don:

“Shoe Box” was inspired by Barbara, my wife. She just loves shoes, so I wanted to do something with them. My first idea was to have the entry SHOETREE come down the middle of the puzzle with different kinds of shoes “hanging” off of it. That didn’t work. The next idea was to find phrases with different kinds of shoes that appear in different connotations. To tie it together, I thought that since shoes come in a shoe box, SHOEBOX could appear in the center across answer. Then to take it even one more step, I realized that a shoe box could be a group of letters in the shape of a box composed of the letters S H O E. Perhaps I could stick them in the corners away from everything else where I might get lucky and work them into the puzzle. This is always asking for trouble, trying to get more theme into the puzzle grid. I figured the payoff was high enough that it would compensate for a fill that could be much better. When my first version was not up to snuff, Rich suggested that I make the SHOE box in the corner readable clockwise or counterclockwise. Rich also helped me decide on a different theme answer that would work better in the grid. I went with the counterclockwise pattern for S H O E, and by pure luck I was able to get four different versions of the S H O E box being in different arrangements, and changing rotation one space at a time as one views in a counterclockwise direction.

Across:

1. Dawn goddess: EOS. The Greek goddess. Aurara for the Romans.

4. Starbucks flavor: MOCHA. My husband loves Crème brûlée flavored coffee.

9. Bring about: CAUSE

14. "__ 'nuff!": SHO. Sho'nuff is a slang for "sure enough". Unknown to me.

15. Saint associated with the Russian alphabet: CYRIL. Hence Cyrillic.

16. Weed B Gon maker: ORTHO. No chemical spray in our garden.

19. Took to jail: RAN IN

20. Alley Oop's girl: OOOLA. I misremembered as OOONA.

23. Minnesota twins?: ENS. Two letter N's in Minnesota.

24. Snootiness: AIRS. Wrote down BIAS first.

26. Great server: ACER. Tennis. Crosswordese.

28. Island big shot: KAHUNA (kuh-HOO-nuh). A native medicine man or priest in Hawaii. Have vaguely heard of it.

35. Grassy tracts: LEAS. Sounds so idyllic.

36. Illustrator Silverstein: SHEL. He wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree"

38. Rub the wrong away: ERASE. Did you misread the clue as "Rub the wrong way" also?

42. Veep before Al: DAN (Quayle). "For NASA, space is still a high priority." So many funny quotes from him.

43. Put into law: ENACT

45. Bridge expert Sharif: OMAR. He does not play bridge any more.

46. Clears after taxes: NETS

49. Widely separated: SPARSE

51. Opposite of away: HOME. 'OME in Cockney.

52. Part of a yard: FOOT. Such a straightforward clue.

53. Prefix with meter: ODO. And another prefix SONO (3D. Prefix with gram).

55. Astronomer Tycho __: BRAHE (Brah). His name escape me. I did recognize his mustache when I googled.

58. Western border lake: TAHOE

62. Demolish: TOTAL

66. Chicago hub: OHARE. Named after WWII flying ace Butch O'Hare.

67. Tours ta-ta: ADIEU. And MER (48D. Sea, to Sartre). Noticed the alliterations in both clues?

68. ALers who don't play the field: DHS (Designated Hitters)

69. Adlai's running mate: ESTES (Kefauver). Given name in the clue, given name in the answer.

70. Computer image dot: PIXEL

71. Manager Torre: JOE. Current manager for the LA Dodgers. He's probably very happy that Yankees lost last night.

Down:

1. Gas sign north of the border: ESSO. It's only replaced by Exxon in the US.

2. Columbus's home: OHIO. I wonder how many cities in the US are named Columbus.

4. Obama's opponent: MCCAIN. I like this "opponent" rather than "Loser to Obama" clue.

5. Skinny Olive: OYL

6. Interbreed: CROSS

7. Word with five or noon: HIGH. "High Noon" is Bill Clinton's favorite movie.

9. General Mills cereal: CORN CHEX. It's not gluten-free. RICE CHEX is.

10. Heavenly altar: ARA (EY-ruh). Latin for "altar".

11. Eclectic bimonthly digest: UTNE READER. Nice to see the full name.

12. __ guard: bit of catchers' gear: SHIN

13. Tons of time: EONS

18. Actor Kinski: KLAUS. Completely unknown to me. German actor. He looks so cold.

25. Itch source: RASH

27. Musket end?: EER. Musketeer. Would be a great clue for TEE too, isn't it? The last letter of musket is T.

28. __ light: filmmaking arc lamp: KLIEG

29. WellPoint rival: AETNA. Named after the volcano ETNA.

30. Is in the running for: HAS A SHOT AT. Did the answer come to you immediately?

32. Jessica of "Dark Angel": ALBA. Wardrobe malfunction? By the way, have you tried ALBA coca butter lotion? It smells so good.

33. Exams for future litigators, briefly: LSATS (Law School Admission Tests)

40. Trips: STUMBLES. Verb.

41. Thereabouts: OR SO

44. USN noncom: CPO (Chief Petty Officer). Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

50. Amount of soup on the stove: POTFUL

52. Cartoon cat: FELIX. Felix the Cat.

53. Oklahoma tribe: OTOE. UTE too.

54. Outbursts from Homer: D'OHS

56. "Stat!" cousin: ASAP

57. "__ only known!": HAD I

59. Meccan pilgrimage: HADJ. Or HAJJ. Mecca pilgrimage hajj. And the person who has been to Mecca is called HADJI or HAJJI.

60. First century Roman emperor: OTHO. He was emperor for only three months.

61. Latin being: ESSE

65. Top with a slogan: TEE. Saw similar clue before. Still loved the clue.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday October 22, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Great Food - Each theme answer ends with a /ood/ pronunciation.

17A. Lost it: CAME UNGLUED. Say it ain't so, Joe (Torre). I bet he RUED some of his strategies.

25A. Dismissed out of hand: POOH-POOHED

37A. Like Starbucks coffee, every 30 minutes: FRESHLY BREWED. Wrote down FRESHLY GROUND first.

48A. "That's too bad, man": BUMMER, DUDE. Do you like "The Big Lebowski"? The Dude is a strange character.

60A. "I don't feel like cooking" option: TAKE-OUT FOOD

Is this the Tiger Woods inspired puzzle, Dan?

Those different theme entries sure cover all the possible /ood/ sound spellings. Plus, 20 non-theme entries with 6 or more letters, very high Dan Naddor index. Nice long Downs in NE and SW corners.

I was stumped immediately with MALAGA and MCCOYS, but managed to fill in all grid with only two peeks at the cheat sheet. A success for me, so happy MOOD here in Minnesota.

Across:

1. Sweet Spanish wine: MALAGA. Named after the Spanish city Malaga where the wine originated.

11. Inst. that turns out lieutenants: OCS (Officer Candidate School). And GIS (62A. Enlistees, briefly).

15. Cause of a worldwide 19th century fever: GOLD. D'oh, the Gold Rush. I was thinking of the sickness fever. AGUE jumped into my head. Too bad there is no other way to clue the Peter Fonda movie ULEE'S (51D. "__ Gold").

16. Old school dance: HOP. How old?

21. In copious amounts: GALORE. Oh, I forgot BRA (19. Victoria's Secret offering). Which one do you like the best?

22. Ivy in Philly: PENN. And YALE (23. Ivy in New Haven). Nice consecutive "Ivy" echo.

27. Pizazz: STYLE

29. Trumpet sound: BLARE

30. Party list: INVITEES. This easy entry makes all the Down 3-letter fill readily obtainable.

36. Bug: VEX. Irk is another 3-letter word.

40. Bard's "before": ERE. Bard's "always" is E'ER.

41. Software customers: USER BASE

42. Three-time world champion alpine skier Hermann: MAIER. No idea. This guy is from Austria.

44. Feast where the Haggadah is read: SEDER. Haggadah is pronounced as huh-GAH-duh. Dictionary says it's literally "narration" in Hebrew.

54. Brazilian soccer legend: PELE. His campaign definitely made an impact in Brazil's Olympic bidding.

55. Prime Cuts in Gravy brand: ALPO. Not a pet person. This dog food brand always stymies me.

56. Crude fleet: OILERS

58. Busy co. on Valentine's Day: FTD. Ah, red roses & chocolates.

63. Slurpee relative: ICEE

64. Capital on the Missouri River: PIERRE. Capital of South Dakota. Charming little city.

65. Wee hour: ONE

66. High degrees: Abbr. PHDS. Boy, academic "High degrees". I recklessly penned in NTHS.

67. Aftershock: TREMOR

Down:

1. Real people?: MCCOYS. What's the meaning of "the real McCoy"? The cleverness of the clue is lost on me.

2. Biblical debarkation point: ARARAT. The landing place of Noah's Ark.

3. How bad excuses are given: LAMELY

5. Guzzling sound: GLUG. New word to me.

6. "Piece of cake!": A SNAP

8. Club for country kids: FOUR-H. It stands for head, heart, hands and health.

10. Anomalous: ODD

11. Austin Powers catchphrase: OH, BEHAVE! Absolutely no idea. "Austin Powers" just looks silly to me.

12. Trapped: CORNERED. Kept wanting ENSNARED.

13. Stretchy fabric: SPANDEX. Lycra is the most famous spandex brand.

18. Day-__: pigment brand: GLO

22. D.C. deal maker: POL (Politician). Wanted SEN.

26. Preoccupy: OBSESS.

28. Make certain: ENSURE. No INSURE dilemna this time.

31. Videotape type: VHS

32. Land in la mer: ILE. French for isle.

33. Norse god of single combat: TYR (teer). Oh, "single combat" god, good to know. I simply thought of him as "god of war".

34. Diminish: EBB

35. Pitching stat: ERA. However Cole Hamels pitched last night, Phillies won!

37. German miss: FRAULEIN. Man, I was so influenced by Jazzbumpa's "chen" being German diminutive when he commented on the Gisele Bundchen picture. I wanted Frauchen.

38. Put back in force, as an expired tax: REIMPOSE

39. Blubber: WEEP. Whale fat too. Speaking of fat, I simply can't get used to the taste of coconut oil. I do believe in many of Mercola's diet/nutrition ideas though.

40. Economic warfare tactic: EMBARGO

43. Funnyman Philips: EMO

45. Mar the beauty of: DEFORM. Thought of DEFILE initially.

46. Corrida snorter: EL TORO. Spanish for "the bull".

49. Raid target: ROACH. The bug killer Raid. I was picturing a police raid.

50. Protected by levees: DIKED

52. __ volente: God willing: DEO. Whenever I see "God willing", I hear Muslims' "Insha'Allah".

53. Spew lava: ERUPT

57. Show signs of life: STIR

60. Service reward: TIP. And FEE (61. Service charge). Nice clue echo again. Loved the last four consecutive S starting clues.

Answer grid.

C.C.