Thursday October 15, 2009 Todd Gross

Theme: WRENCH (48D. A type of one begins the answers to starred clues)

20A. *Bakery fare named for their shape: CRESCENT ROLLS. Crescent wrench has a head shaped like a crescent. And it has a adjustable jaw to fit nuts/bolts of different sizes.

29A. *Quixotic reveries: PIPE DREAMS. Pipe wrench is also an adjustable wrench, used to grip and turn pipes. Did you hum "To dream the impossible dream ..." while filling in the answer?

45A. *Playground fixture: MONKEY BARS. Monkey wrench was named after the inventor Charles Moncky. Wikipedia says it's an old type of adjustable end wrench and was popular in the nineteenth century.

54A. *Beat poet who wrote "Howl": ALLEN GINSBERG. Allen wrench is a L-shaped bar with a hexagonal head at both ends. Used to turn screws/bolts with hexagonal sockets.

Man, I just call a wrench a wrench. Had no idea they have so many different names. But the answers were all easily obtainable due to the straightforward clues.

Very smooth puzzle. High Dan Naddor Index (total non-theme entries with 6 or more letters). I counted 21. The side by side placement of LOON (36D. Minnesota's state bird) and MANDARIN (37D: Official spoken language of China) just elated me. Mao Ze-dong is Mandarin Chinese. Mao Tse-tung is Cantonese spelling. Maddening differences, aren't they?

Those who solve NY Times regularly is probably familiar with today's constructor Todd Gross. He just made his NY Times debut with a Sunday "Let's Play Bingo" last month. Today's WRENCH is his first LA Times. Congratulations, Todd!

Todd also said Mike Peluso (one of our regular LAT constructors) helped him get this puzzle in "Rich-ready" format. And the puzzle was accepted before our TMS Daily /LAT switch. It's initially intended as a Wednesday puzzle, but moved to Thursday obviously due to this ease-up phase.

Across:

1. Premium movie station: SHO. Also HBO.

4. Hammer-wielding Norse god: THOR. The Norse god of thunder.

8. First voice of Mickey Mouse: DISNEY. Oh, I did not know Walt Disney was the original voice.

15. Will Rogers prop: ROPE. Will Rogers had Cherokee roots.

16. Rallying cry: ONWARD. No idea. Have never heard this word at the ball games.

19. Scrubs, as pots: SCOURED

23. Actress Holmes: KATIE. She is married to Tom Cruise, taller than he is, obviously.

32. 1953 Western hero to whom Joey cried "Come back!": SHANE. "Come back, SHANE".

34. Vacation home, maybe: RENTAL

41. Sunday dinners: ROASTS

43. Certain Sri Lankan: TAMIL. Tamils mostly live in north-eastern Sri Lanka. They speak Tamil of course.

47. Immortal racehorse Man __: O'WAR. The most famous racing horse in history, right?

51. Opie's dad: ANDY. From "The Andy Griffith Show".

52. Coffee dispenser: URN

53. Eagle's nest: AERIE

58. Ohio city north of Columbus: MARION. Got the answer from crosses. Interesting, Wikipedia says both John Dean (Nixon/Watergate fame) and President Warren Harding grew up here. Hmmm...

62. Really digs: IS INTO

64. MMX ÷ X: CCI. 2010 ÷ 10 = 201.

65. Basic doctrines: TENETS

66. One-armed bandit: SLOT. One-armed bandit is a slot machine.

67. "__ Haw": HEE

Down:

2. "Way to go!": HOORAY

3. Little barn fliers: OWLETS. Owls are far-sighted. They have difficulty seeing things up close.

4. Cease-fire: TRUCE

5. L'eggs product: HOSE

6. Good thing to keep when hearing opposing views: OPEN MIND. Keep an open mind. I like the clue. Also like the clue ASSET (53D. It's a good thing). It's all good, as Lois often says.

7. Bureaucratic waste: RED TAPE. I wonder why red tape and red herring are both red.

8. "Take care of it": DO SO. Do you use this phrase in your conversation?

9. "Batt. not __": INCL. Included? I never pay attention to the abbreviations in those packages.

10. Puffed up, as a sprain: SWOLLEN

11. Make queasy: NAUSEATE

12. Throw wide of the mark, say: ERR. Nicely placed beside YDS (13D. NFL gains).

22. Ham holder: RYE. And BUN (46D. Hot dog holder). "Holder" clue echo.

26. Detroit-based financial org.: GMAC (General Motors Acceptance Corporation). Owned by US government now.

27. Capital on a fjord: OSLO. Why the heck is Norway rather than Sweden awarding Nobel Peace?

29. Variously colored flower: PANSY

30. Small weight units: DRAMS. 1/16 of an ounce.

31. One way to lower an APR: REFI. APR = Annual Percentage Rate. I did not even see this clue. The answer emerged all by itself.

39. Traveling show: CARNIVAL

42. Toronto's includes the CN Tower: SKYLINE. The Dubai Tower has surpassed CN Tower as the tallest building in the world.

43. Quotas: TARGETS

44. Leopold's co-defendant: LOEB

49. Snoopy's flying persona, e.g.: AIR ACE. Snoopy the Flying Ace.

50. Baseball's Jackson, a.k.a. "Mr. October": REGGIE. Because he always delivered during World Series games. Despite his performance against the Twins, A-Rod is no Mr. October, nope!

55. Ex-senator Trent: LOTT. Yep, he has his own lobbying business now.

56. Genesis grandson: ENOS. Grandson of Adam/Eve. Son of Seth.

57. Pixar clownfish: NEMO. From "Finding Nemo".

58. Sch. near Harvard: MIT

59. Enzyme suffix: ASE. Pineapple contains some enzyme which breaks own protein, hence pineapple juice is sometimes used to marinade and tenderize meat.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday October 8, 2009 Donna S. Levin

Theme: COVERT OPS (59A. Hush-hush activities, briefly, and a hint to the hidden theme in 18-, 23-, 38- and 49-Across) - OPS are embedded in all the theme answers.

18A. Jam on the brakes: STOP SHORT. Remember this Seinfeld episode? "You stop short with me? We don't do that in Korea".

23A. Soft court stroke: DROP SHOT. Who has the best drop shot in tennis?

38A. Small family businesses: MOM AND POP STORES. Hard for them to survive in this Wal-Mart world.

49A. Stir-fried dish: CHOP SUEY. Suey is literally "small pieces". American Chinese food: meat & bean sprout & mushroom & onion or other veggies, served over rice or chow mein.

Very clever tie-in answer, COVERT OPS. Did you also consider COVERT/SECRET AGENT, Donna?

All of the hidden OPS span two words, very consistent. Silly, but I interpreted COVERTOPS as COVER TOPS initially.

Covert Ops is short for Covert Operations. According to Wikipedia, they maybe include sabotage, assassination, support for coups d’état & subversion, all those clandestine stuff. Any of them is better than war, isn't it? Had we allowed CIA to assassinate Saddam, so much lives would have been saved.

Very smooth puzzle. All of the multiple words are common phrases and easily obtainable.

Across:

1. Athenian with harsh laws: DRACO (DREY-koh). That's how we get draconian (drey-KOH-nee-uhn), meaning "very severe/harsh". Draconian measure, Draconian budget cut, etc.

6. "Star Wars" princess: LEIA. Played by Carrie Fisher. And UHURA (51D. "Star Trek" communications officer). Played by Nichelle Nichols. The latter always give me trouble. All I know about "Star Trek" is Spock and Sulu.

10. Hip-hop mogul who married Beyoncé: JAY-Z. Powerful couple. Jay-Z is unbelievably astute in his investment. Part owner of New Jersey Nets.

14. Grapevine traveler: RUMOR

16. "Dies __": hymn: IRAE. Literally "wrath".

17. Get hitched quick: ELOPE

20. Stick-on design: DECAL. Tough to find a 1950's/60's bobblehead with the original decal on.

21. Go astray: SIN

22. Press conf. format: Q AND A. Man, I never learn. Had trouble parsing the answer again.

25. Wallowing place: MUD. Was picturing a sty.

26. Pasture: LEA

27. Colorfully patterned fabric: PAISLEY. Name after the Scottish city famous for such fabric.

31. Songstress Adams: EDIE. What's her most famous song?

34. RCA Victor pooch: NIPPER. The dog in "His Master's Voice".

41. Driver's lic. et al.: IDS

42. Lend a hand: ASSIST

43. Fast time: LENT. For Christians. Muslims have their Ramadan.

44. Gander: LOOK-SEE

46. Embarrassed: RED

48. World Series mo.: OCT. Topical clue/fill. Damned Yankees. Nothing went right for the Twins yesterday.

54. Legend automaker: ACURA. Honda luxury brand.

57. Cross shape: TAU. The Greek T. Cross-shaped.

58. Yellowish earth tone: OCHRE. Or ocher.

61. Magician Henning et al.: DOUGS. Easy guess. Not familiar with Doug Henning.

63. Shoshoneans: UTES

64. __ the side of caution: ERR ON

66. Like slasher movies: GORY. A slasher is a horror film featuring gory special effects.

67. 1954-1977 defense gp.: SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization). Formed in Manila.

Down:

1. "Judge __": Stallone film: DREDD. Obtained the film title from crossings.

2. School tool: RULER

3. Big name in gas: AMOCO. Merged with BP in 1998.

4. Admit one's guilt to serve less time: COP A PLEA

5. Threat-ending words: OR ELSE

6. Rodeo rope: LASSO

7. Weird Al Yankovic parody of a Michael Jackson hit: EAT IT. Here is the clip. Unknown to me.

8. It's pumped in gyms: IRON. Jazzbumpa's "I, RON".

9. PC program: APP (Application). Applet is a small application. App(lication) + let.

10. Holy wars: JIHADS. The Koran says those who die in Jihad will go to heaven immediately.

13. Epsilon follower: ZETA. This is Dennis's favorite "Epsilon follower".

19. Water gun stream: SQUIRT

24. Desk phone unit: HANDSET. Wrote down HEADSET first.

25. Orchestra leader: MAESTRO. Italian for "master".

27. Third afterthought, in a ltr.: PPPS. The most I've used is PPS.

28. Old Italian money: LIRE. Plural of Lira.

30. Eddie of the '40s-'50s Senators: YOST. Washington Senators (now Twins). I drew a blank. Only knew the former Brewers' manager Ned YOST. Might have this card in my collection though. Wikipedia says he's nicknamed the "Walking Man" and he's still alive.

31. German artist Nolde: EMIL. I guessed. EMIL sounds German.

32. Dimwit: DODO. The extinct bird too.

33. "__ Excited": Pointer Sisters hit: I'M SO. Here is the clip.

35. __ dixit: assertion without proof: IPSE. Literally "he himself". IPSO is "itself", as in "ipso facto" (by the fact itself). Don't confuse it with Lhasa Apso the dog.

36. Luau fare: POI

39. Sprint Cup org.: NASCAR

40. It may take years to settle one: OLD SCORE. I like this fill a lot.

45. Seoul man: KOREAN. Seoul food is very hot. Koreans use lots of hot red pepper.

47. Lyric poems: EPODES. New word to me. Dictionary defines it as "a kind of lyric poem, invented by Archilochus, in which a long verse is followed by a short one".

49. Playful prank: CAPER

50. Brazen minx: HUSSY. Just learned this word a few months ago. Bad form of "housewife".

52. Grain disease: ERGOT. Wait for our in-house farmer/philosopher Windhover for expert explanation.

53. Like some simple questions: YES-NO

54. West Point, e.g.: Abbr.: ACAD (Academy)

56. Eye part containing the iris: UVEA. Latin for "grape".

57. He bit Miss Gulch in a 1939 film: TOTO. From "The Wizard of Oz". I bet this is Donna's original clue, given her fondness for the movie.

60. Pull hard: TUG. Tried LUG first.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a beautiful photo of our fellow solver Carol2 (in black) and her daughter-in-law, who is from Romania. They were in a local restaurant celebrating the 90th birthday of Carol's mother.

C.C.

Thursday October 1, 2009 Jonathan Seff

Theme: Homophones

17A: Doe: ANONYMOUS PERSON. John/Jane Doe. "A DEER, A FEMALE DEER" won't fit. It has 16 letters.

27A: Do: KEY NOTE IN A SCALE. Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti.

49A: Dough: BREAD BAKING NEED. Chinese don't bake. We steam our buns. Milk is not an ingredient in our dough either. Only flour, water and yeast.

65A: D'oh: HOMER SIMPSON CRY. Yep, D'oh is Homer's catch phrase.

Words are homophones if they have the same pronunciation but different spelling/meaning.

Words are homonyms if they have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meaning, such as left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right).

Also a bit of animal sub-theme:

71A: Animal: BEAST

72A. She-bears, in Seville: OSAS. He-bears is OSOS.

50D. White 66-Down, e.g.: ALBINO. And RAT (66D: Pied Piper follower).

51D. Cat, in Cancún: GATO. Netflix is headquartered in Los GATOS (the cats), CA.

Nice puzzle. Nice grid-spanning theme answers. The concept is quite original.

Across:

1. Gillette's __ II razor: TRAC. Not ATRA today.

5. Young reporters: CUBS. Cub reporter.

9. Half-and-half half: CREAM. The other half is MILK. Delicious clue.

14. __ sapiens: HOMO. Our genus.

15. European capital: OSLO. Four-letter capital. What else could it be?

16. Speed: HASTE. It makes waste.

20. Get loose for the game: WARM UP

21. French monarch: ROI. Louis XIV is the Le ROI Soleil (the Sun King).

25. Maker of ergonomic kitchenware: OXO. The cushioned rubber grips are definitely ergonomic.

35. Suffix with ranch: ERO. Ranchero (rancher). Spanish for ranch is "rancho".

36. Coastal bird: ERN. Or ERNE, the sea eagle. TERN is "Coastal bird" too, with a forked tail.

37. Curb, as spending: REIN IN. Tell the Congress.

38. Dentist's directive: BRUSH. FLOSS is five letter too.

43. Nearly boil: SCALD. My goodness. I had the wrong idea of SCALD then. I thought it more than boils.

44. Relating to the body's main blood line: AORTIC. From Kazie yesterday: The phrase "there oughta be A LAW" reminded me of the tongue-in-cheek Oz reference to people always saying "they oughta...", which is then shortened to "aorta" to refer to such people: "the great aorta".

46. Laddie's negative: NAES. Scottish for "no".

48. Indians, on scoreboards: CLE. Cleveland Indians. And another baseball term RBI (59A. Hitter's stat). Twins have to win tomorrow, otherwise, they are done.

53. Sushi fish: EEL. Hmmm, unagi.

54. Final Four initials: NCAA

55. __ acetate: banana oil: AMYL (AM-il). Rooted in Latin amylum, "starch". Unknown to me.

61. Duke Ellington's "Take the __": A TRAIN. Have never been to NY. Don't know where A TRAIN runs.

68. Big name in kitchen foil: ALCOA. They make the Reynolds Wrap. Dow 30 component.

69. Sculptor's subject: NUDE. Wanted BODY.

73. Promgoer's concern, maybe: ACNE

Down:

2. Gossipy Barrett: RONA. She is still alive.

3. Passionate deity: AMOR. Love god.

4. Hustler: CON MAN. Paul Newman's "The Hustler" is probably the best film on pool.

5. Vie: COMPETE

6. Military morale-boosting gp.: USO (United Service Organizations)

8. "Already?": SO SOON

9. "Evita" narrator: CHE. Learned from doing Xword. Have never seen "Evita".

11. Canadian gas sign: ESSO. Yep, they still call ESSO in Canana.

13. Clothing store section: MEN'S

18. Bygone Serbian auto: YUGO. No idea. Does YUGO stand for Yugoslavia?

19. "Finding Nemo" studio: PIXAR. It belongs to Disney now.

24. Laura of "Jurassic Park": DERN

26. Plural ending for neur-: OSES. Neuroses. Plural of neurosis. The clue doesn't sound natural to me.

27. Meal on a skewer: KEBAB. Shish KEBAB. KEBAB = roasted meat. Shish = spit. Turkish origin.

28. 1 + 1 = 3, for example: ERROR

29. "__ a Good Man, Charlie Brown": YOU'RE. Have never heard of this Broadway musical.

30. How contracts are usually signed: IN INK

31. Pres., vis-à--vis the armed forces: CIC (Commander in Chief)

32. Has __ up one's sleeve: AN ACE

33. City in which de Gaulle was born: LILLE. The French textile city. Eat worms if you missed this one. I mentioned LILLE & de Gaulle connection before. Close to the Belgium border.

34. Rear-__: hit from behind: ENDED

39. Grand Central, e.g.: Abbr.: STA (Station)

40. Sweep under the rug: HIDE

45. "Good buddies": CB'ER. "Good buddy" on the road.

47. Sheathes: ENCASES

52. Land chronicled by C.S. Lewis: NARNIA. "The Chronicles of NARNIA".

55. One giving Starbuck orders?: AHAB. From "Moby-Dick". Starbuck is AHAB's first mate. I fell into the constructor's trap and misread the clue as "Starbucks orders". The Starbucks Coffee is named in part after Starbuck.

56. Double agent: MOLE

57. Pantomimed disco song title: YMCA

58. Many August babies: LEOS

60. Don of talk radio: IMUS. Did not know that "nappy" has a racism connotation until the Don IMUS incident.

62. Outlet letters: AC/DC. Oh, power outlet.

63. Golfer's choice: IRON. Or driver/putter, etc.

64. AMEX rival: NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). I tried VISA first, thinking of credit card.

67. BlackBerry or Sidekick, briefly: PDA. Not familiar with Sidekick, the gadget from T-Mobile.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday September 24, 2009 Jack Sargeant

Theme: RUNNER (48D. Ball carrier, and clue for 20-, 40- and 59-Across)

20A. See 48-Down: ICE SKATE BLADE. Figure skating is beautiful to watch.

40A. See 48-Down: TRACK COMPETITOR. Ah, the Lightning Bolt (Usain), probably the most famous Jamaican after Bob Marley.

59A. See 48-Down: LONG NARROW RUG. Now I want a Navajo runner rug, with a purposely woven flaw.

Normally I am not fond of same clue for different theme answer puzzles. This one is rather unique, with the defining RUNNER structured in the grid.

Not familiar with this constructor Jack Sargeant. Could be his debut. If so, congratulations!

JimmyB, one of our regular commenter, wrote a very informative post yesterday:

"Today marks the 6-month anniversary of switching to the LA Times crosswords. In that period Rich Norris has presented us with 159 puzzles (only counting Monday's through Saturday's) submitted by 67 different "constructors". Five of those constructors were actually Rich himself. Most often used by far is Dan Naddor with 22 puzzles. Next most popular are David W. Cromer, Don Gagliardo, and Donna S. Levin with 7 apiece. Doug Peterson and Jack McInturff are close behind with 6. Thirty-six constructors have been used only once."

I forwarded the information to Rich Norris. Rich responded: "Thanks to Jimmy for the update. I haven't kept count since March, but I do keep track on an annual basis. Through October 31st, I will have published 95 different constructors in 2009, not including me."

Across:

4. Strokes on a green: PUTTS. The other golf reference is SAM (21D. Golf legend Snead). I think Rich Norris likes Ben Hogan more. Hogan had the most efficient swing.

14. What the Mad Hatter served: TEA. Mad Hatter is a fictional character in "Alice in Wonderland".

15. Apple's instant messaging software: ICHAT. Guessed. I am using a PC.

16. No longer tied up: LOOSE. Adjective here.

18. Barton of the Red Cross: CLARA. The Red Cross founder.

19. Divided country: KOREA. Divided at the 38th parallel. Since 1948.

23. Piano part: PEDAL

24. Bando of baseball: SAL. Got his name from Down fill. Don't know much about the old Oakland A's. Did pull a Catfish Hunter autograph out of a blaster box once.

25. Airport waiter: CAB. And SEMIS (31D. Big rigs).

28. Sheds feathers: MOLTS

32. Stereotypical eye patch wearer: PIRATE. "Aaarrr!"

34. Start of an order to an attack dog: SIC. "SIC 'em!"

37A. Partner of woes: CARES. Why? I am at a total loss.

39. Fed. org. concerned with workplace woes: OSHA. I like the consecutive "woes" weaving.

44. Ill-advised: RASH

45. Pageant topper: TIARA

46. Old draft org.: SSS (Selective Service System)

47. Clothes: ATTIRE. And TAILORED (43. Fitted, as a suit).

50. Slow mover: SNAIL. Edible snail would be ESCARGOT.

52. Canada's smallest prov.: P.E.I. (Prince Edward Island). No idea. It's on the right coast. Just learned that there are ten provinces and three territories in Canada. How are those territories differ from provinces?

53. Fashionable boot brand: UGG. OK, they all wear UGG boots. From left to right, Kate Moss, Eva Longoria and Jennifer Aniston.

55. Starbucks offering: LATTE

64. Descendant: SCION. Chinese often call ourselves as "Descendants of Dragon".

66. Walking __: euphoric: ON AIR

68. Fill with wonder: AMAZE

69. Three-card scam: MONTE. No idea. Have no knowledge on card games.

70. Cocktail party bowlful: DIP

71. Chair craftsperson: CANER. Alliteration again.

73. Va. clock setting: EST

Down:

1. Vegas attraction, with "the": STRIP. Sitting above STRAP (34D. Subway rider's aid).

3. Went off course, at sea: YAWED

4. Burglar: PICKLOCK. New word to me.

5. Golden State sch.: UCLA. The Bruins.

7. Empty truck's weight: TARE. The "Waste allowance" is TRET.

9. Acid neutralizer: ALKALI. It turns red litmus paper blue.

11. Weather Channel offerings: FORECASTS. Still summer here, but my morning glory suddenly stopped blooming yesterday.

13. Grazing site: LEA

22. Once around the track: LAP. Would prefer a different clue as TRACK is part of the theme answers.

26. Pal of Aramis: ATHOS. And Porthos. Dumas' "The Three Musketeers".

27. Nursery rhyme trio: BEARS. "Goldilocks and the Three BEARS".

29. Fond du __, Wisconsin: LAC. Any fellow solvers there? I know we have quite a few from the Madison area.

30. Horse's gait: TROT

33. Louis XIV, to his subjects: ROI. Louis XIV is known as "le ROI Soleil (the Sun King). Haute couture originated in his reign.

35. Hot under the collar: IRATE

36. Spanish dialect that's now standard: CASTILIAN (ka-STIL-yuhn). No idea. Only know Catalan.

38. Period of time: SPAN

41. Greek X: CHI. The "Greek T" is TAU.

42. Paleozoic __: ERA

49. "Which came first?" item: EGG. Or chicken.

51. Judge's concern: LAW

54. Travelocity mascot: GNOME. I liked this new clue.

56. Stock market transaction: TRADE

57. North African capital: TUNIS. Nice parallel with EGYPT (58D. Exodus locale). TUNIS is the capital of Tunisia. I wonder if anyone fell into the CAIRO for the capital trap.

60. Seep: OOZE

61. Any minute now, to a bard: ANON

62. "The Fountainhead" author: RAND (Ayn). Waiting for Windhover to comment on her philosophy.

63. Baptism or bar mitzvah, e.g.: RITE

64. Anatomical pouch: SAC

65. Nashville awards gp.: CMA (Country Music Association). Started in 1967. Tell me what Jessica Simpson & Carrie Underwood have in common.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a photo our fellow solver Bill and his wonderful wife Nancy at his sister's wedding a week ago. Both Bill and Nancy love solving Xword. Bill often makes me laugh with his witty and grumpy comments. Ask him if you have any question on computer or bluegrass.

C.C.

Thursday September 17, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: TABLE (61A: Postpone, as a motion (and word that can follow the last word of answers to starred clues))

18A: *Singly: ONE AT A TIME. Timetable, schedule.

20A: *Gathering of reporters: NEWS CONFERENCE. Conference table. Often oval shaped.

31A: *Workplace gambling group: OFFICE POOL. Pool table. Billiards.

40A: *Furthermore: IN ADDITION. Addition table. Not used in my childhood education. Multiplication table, yes!

52A: *Negotiating for a lesser sentence: PLEA BARGAINING. Bargaining table. How many times has the unruly child Kim Jong-il walked away and then returned to the bargaining table? The kid is beyond the reason.

57A: *Credit company with a "Priceless" ad campaign: MASTER CARD. Card table. For card game. Also called poker table, correct?

Dan stacked the top and bottom theme answers again. This has become his signature, together with the heavy themage. Total 34 black squares in this grid. We normally have 38.

Today's Dan Naddor Index (total non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 11. Lower than normal. Is it because of long theme answers & overlapping restriction, Dan?

Almost aced this puzzle. Wrongly put SISCO instead of SYSCO for (21D: Big name in food service), so I had ION instead of YON for 23A ("... the morn ... Walks o'er the dew of __ high eastward hill": "Hamlet"). Hamlet is the ultimate flip-flopper, worse than Brett Favre.

Across:

1A: Giant Mel et al.: OTTS. Mel OTT is the only OTT I know of.

10A: Ballpark figs: ESTS (Estimates)

15A: Euripides tragedy: MEDEA (mi-DEE-uh). She helped Jason obtain the Golden Fleece, then was deserted. Then she killed her two sons by Jason.

17A: Pre-euro denaro: LIRE. LIRE is the plural of LIRA.

24A: Olympian's quest: MEDAL

25A: Sources of overhead costs?: ROOFS. The question mark signals that it's not the business operating overhead costs.

27A: Highchair feature: TRAY. Fit nicely with today's TABLE.

30A: GPS suggestion: RTE. And ROAD (28D: Turnpike) & WIDEN (50D: Add lanes to).

34A: "The Swiss Family Robinson" author Johann: WYSS. Obtained the answer from Down fills. Wikipedia says the book was inspired by Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe".

35A: Game for one: SOLITAIRE. I bet Dan tried to place some TABLE preceding word/phrase here.

44A: "I love," in Latin: AMO. "Wo Ai Ni" = "I love you" in Chinese.

45A: Topple (over): KEEL. Capsize.

46A: Stereotypical parrot name: POLLY. Oh, unknown fact to me.

49A: Cote occupant: EWE. Sheep, pigs and pigeons are all occupants of cote.

51A: Mormon initials: LDS (Latter-day Saints).

62A: Morales of "NYPD Blue": ESAI. Short for Isaiah (ahy-ZEY-uh), meaning "salvation". Loved his Tony role. Very cool, except when he reconnected with his stupid ex.

63A: Lowly laborer: PEON. Spanish for "day labor".

Down:

1D: Big-eyed bird: OWL. Ah, have to bring back the alert OWL Melissa linked the other day. It's now part of Argyle's avatar.

2D: Envision: THINK OF. And TIRED OF (3D: Fed up with). Odd to have two OF sitting side by side. But both are prepositions, so I guess it's OK.

5D: Gas giant that merged with BP: AMOCO. Merged in 1998. Just won a huge contract in Iraq.

6D: One of the noble gases: XENON. Rooted in xenos, meaning "foreign", as in xenophobia.

7D: First garden site?: EDEN. Nicely parallels LEAF (8D: Tree growth).

11D: Washer setting: SPIN DRY

12D: Alley prowlers: TOMCATS. Womanizers.

13D: TVs Remington et al: STEELES. Thanks, Lemonade.

22D: Guadalajara gold: ORO. Montana's motto is ORO y plata (Gold and Silver).

26D: Catcher Carlton __, who famously homered to win Game 6 of the 1975 World Series: FISK. For the Red Sox, though they lost the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. Calton FISK is a Hall of Famer, though his baseball cards are not worth much.

27D: Bottom line amount: TOTAL

33D: Woodsy aerosol scent: PINE

36D: Turn red, perhaps: RIPEN. Took a long time for my tomatoes to turn red this year.

37D: Janitor's tool: DAMP MOP

38D: Try to equal: EMULATE. The wonder kid Rory McIlroy seems to be unfazed by Tiger Woods.

39D: Regains consciousness: COMES TO

42D: Nasty geezer: OLD GOAT. New to me. Sounds awful.

43D: Where Hillary was sen.: NYS. Or "Where Eliot Spitzer was gov.". What a tragic fall! So much potential with Spitzer.

49D: Grammy-winning country star Steve: EARLE. Have vaguely heard of this name. What is his most famous song again?

54D: Victrolas, e.g.: RCAS. Ah, Nipper the dog. He is looking into the horn of a Victrolas.

55D: Ties up the phone, say: GABS. I like attentive & focused phone conversation.

Answer grid.

Congratulations to our fellow solver Kathleen Wolf (WM). Her "American Landscape" has been chosen as one of the top 10 art entries in Show us your America online contest. I would appreciate it if you would all vote for her. This time it's limited to 1 vote per person, so spread the words and tell your friends about her painting. Together, we can do it.

Picture of the Day: Here is a wonderful photo of our fellow LAT solver Col G and his family at his elder son's wedding in Oct 2007. Col G is a retired Army Engineer based in Bangalore, India.

He said: "L to R in the front are My wife's mother, My mother, My wife's father at the rear L to R, my daughter-in-law Renu (She is a Technical writer with Juniper networks), my elder son Vikram (He is a senior software programmer with ORACLE), my younger son Gaurav (He is a Captain in the Army, following the footsteps of both his grandfathers and father as well), yours truly and lastly my wife Gita (She is a Kindergarten teacher).

Just a snippet, my wife and my mother are wearing the traditional dress of Malayalees ie those who belong to the state of Kerala in India, the dress looks like a sari and is called a Mundu."

C.C.

Thursday September 10, 2009 Bruce Venzke

Theme: Yarn-spinning

20A: Start of an investor's quip: I BOUGHT STOCK IN A

39A: Quip, part 2: BLANKET

41A: Quip, part 3: FACTORY

55A: End of the quip: BUT IT SOON FOLDED

The BLANKET FACTORY was closed. It FOLDED. Not the BLANKET. I don't know. Quip puzzles often fail to amuse me because I don't always understand the pun & the humor.

I'm convinced that our editor Rich Norris loves alliteration. Look at the amazing number of alliterative clues in today's clues:

14A: Absolut alternative: STOLI. Vodka brand.

15A: Caramel-filled candy: ROLO. Hershey's candy. Produced by Nestlé outside US. I've never tried it.

17A: Hawk's hook: TALON

64A: Source of a suit: TORT. Law suit.

66A: Fill fully: SATE

9D: College in Claremont, California: POMONA. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says POMONA College has ranked in the top ten of liberal arts colleges nationally since their inception in 1887. Sagehens is their nickname. POMONA is Roman goddess of fruit.

11D: Mine, in Metz: A MOI

27D: Big board: PLANK

54D: Leading the league: ON TOP. Twins' Joe Mauer is ON TOP of the AL leaderboard in several categories. What an extraordinary year! Joe Mauer = AL MVP, whether those writers vote for him or not.

60D: Far from flashy: DRAB

Some are probably an unconscious effort.

Dennis pointed out that the clue for LOOIE (31D: Certain NCO, slangily) is wrong. Lieutenant is a Commissioned Officer, not a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO).

Across:

1A: Syrian president: ASSAD. Bashar al-ASSAD (since 2000). His father ASSAD ruled Syria for over thirty years.

6A: 1/2 fl.oz.: TBSP

10A: Copacetic: JAKE. Both meaning "fine". Both new to me. Copacetic sounds toxic.

18A: Reason to cram: EXAM

19A: Kentucky Derby entrant: COLT. Filly too. I wonder why Rachel Alexandra did not enter Kentucky Derby this year.

25A: Pleasing breeze: ZEPHYR (ZEF-er). Greek god of west wind. This puzzle is quite scrabbly, with two Z's, one J, one X and several K's.

29A: Asian inland sea: ARAL. It's shrinking.

31A: Butcher's units: Abbr.: LBS

34A: Gallic she: ELLE. Gallic (GAL-ik) is related to Gaul/France. I often confuse it with the Celtic Gaelic (GEY-lik).

37A: Words on a desk box: IN/OUT. I used to have a PENDING tray when I worked.

43A: Dentist's request: RINSE. Thought SAY AH first.

44A: Pool table boundary: RAIL

48A: Sensible: WISE. Wrote down SANE first.

47A: One way to get directions: ASK. Men seldom ASK for direction.

48A: "Serpico" author Peter: MAAS. Here is the book cover. Vaguely remember seeing Al Pacino's movie sometime ago. I've never heard of Peter MAAS. He looks like a mafia consigliere, the advisor to the Don.

50A: Good-sized chamber ensembles: OCTETS. Pieces for eight.

52A: 45 or 78, e..g.: Abbr.: RPM

53A: Elmer Fudd, for one: TOON

63A: Western team that beat the Crimson Tide in the 2009 Sugar Bowl: UTES. The University of Utah. I could only think of UCLA.

65A: "Chestnuts roasting ..." co-writer: TORME (Mel). The Velvet Fog.

67A: 20th century basso Pinza: EZIO. He played the French plantation owner Emile in the musical "South Pacific".

68A: Cyberletters: E-MAIL

69A: If's partner, in logic: THEN

71A: Weaselike mammal: SABLE. So curious. Cute too. No fur, please!

Down:

1D: Piedmont wine region: ASTI. The Italian province or its capital. South of Turin.

3D: With no help: SOLO

4D: Any of three baseball brothers: ALOU. Basta! Let's honor the BOONE family for a change. I liked Bret BOONE.

5D: Lifeboat, perhaps: DINGHY. My god, I thought DINGHY is a garbage boat.

6D: Old waste allowances: TRETS. The "Container weights" is TARES.

7D: Premium opera house spot: BOX SEAT. "Premium stadium spot" too.

8D: Blind part: SLAT

10D: Athletic types: JOCKS

12D: Ceramics baker: KILN

13D: Place whom Sundance liked: ETTA. ETTA Place, Sundance Kid's girlfriend. I could only remember her given name. Loved "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Thought the "Place" was referring to an actual place.

21D: Golden __: Mongol invaders: HORDE. Faintly remember the Mongol Empire was divided into Golden/White/Blue/Great HORDE after Genghis Khan died.

22D: Baby's ailment: COLIC

25D: Striped equine: ZEBRA. I might watch some ZEBRA in action this football season, now we have Brett Favre.

26D: Perry of fashion: ELLIS. He died of AIDS.

28D: Coop moms: HENS. What do you call a female pigeon? HEN also?

30D: Get a new mortgage on, briefly: REFI (Refinance)

32D: Pop: BURST. Verb. I was thinking of soda pop.

36D: Gillette Machs3 predecessor: ATRA

38D: Food-minus-pkg. measure: NT WT. This and AT NO used to stymie me. Not any more.

40D: Neat and trim: KEMPT. More familiar with unkempt.

42D: Standoffish: ALOOF. Like Senator John Kerry.

45D: Oregon city near the mouth of the Columbia: ASTORIA. See this map. It's named after John Jacob Astor, who founded a fur trading post there in 1810.

49D: Dutch brew: AMSTEL. Stumper for me, Windhover/Jerome. It belongs to Heineken. Named after the AMSTEL River. What's so funny about this commercial?

51D: Bills with Franklin on them: C-NOTES. Slang for a hundred-dollar bill.

52D: Up from bed: RISEN

55D: Narc's arrest: BUST

56D: Westernmost D-Day beachhead: UTAH. I guessed. Have never heard of the code name UTAH Beach. Omaha Beach, yes.

57D: Chapeau's perch: TETE. French for "head".

58D: Move like sludge: OOZE. Always associate OOZE with running liquid. Sludge sounds thick and muddy.

59D: __ Linda, San Bernadino suburb: LOMA. No idea. It's to the south of LA. LOMA means "hill" in Spanish.

61D: Jannings of old movies: EMIL. The first guy to win Best Actor Oscar.

62D: Take out, editorially: DELE. Then a STET can cancel the DELE.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our fellow LAT solver KQ, flanked by her daughter and husband at a golf tournament. Her daughter was a member of the University of Iowa golf team. Here is another picture of KQ, her two sons and husband at an Angels game a couple of weeks ago.

C.C.

Thursday September 3, 2009 Daniel A. Finan

Theme: PARTS OF SPEECH (37A: Grammar elements, or what the first three letters of 17-, 30-, 45- and 62-Across literally are) - the starting 3 letters of each theme entry are all parts of the word SPEECH.

17A: Where to hear letters recited: SPELLING BEE. Have you seen the documentary "Spellbound"? Those kids are so nerdy.

30A: Lady Godiva spotter: PEEPING TOM. Lady Godiva rode naked in the streets to protest her husband's taxation. Everybody shut their windows and stayed indoors, except PEEPING TOM. He peeped and was struck blind.

45A: "anyone lived in a pretty how town" poet? E.E. CUMMINGS. Our Melissa's favorite poet. She wrote all her comments in lowercase to pay homage to e.e. cummings.

62A: Recording studio feature: ECHO CHAMBER. For aural illusion effect.

Nice touch on the proper order of the above three-letter phrases/name. My favorite is ECHO CHAMBER. I can feel the SPE-PEE-EEC-ECH ECHO effect.

This puzzle made me feel so smart. I only had to cheat once. Several of the unknowns are easily inferable from the crosses. Hallmark of a well-constructed puzzle.

Do read Dan's interview. He talked about his thought process regarding those theme answers.

Across:

1A: Savory gelatin: ASPIC. My grandma liked to put a few drops of sesame oil & thinly sliced spring onion on top of her ASPIC.

6A: Green gems: JADES. Lots of women wear jade pendant in Canton/Hongkong, often with red string. For luck.

11A: Delivery experts, briefly: OBS (Obstetricians)

14A: Irish writer who said "Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much": WILDE. I guessed. I had no idea that this line is from Oscar WILDE.

15A: All thumbs: INEPT. Can't tell how INEPT differs from INAPT/UNAPT.

19A: Pipe with a bend: ELL

20A: Sending to overtime, as a game: TYING

21A: Avoided a trial: SETTLED. And ESTOPS (45D: Legally impedes).

23A: German "Alas!": ACH. Was clued as "Bavarian beef" last Saturday.

25A: Word sung after a ball drops: AULD. "AULD Lang Syne". Sung on New Year's Eve.

27A: Prefix with sol: AERO. Aerosol.

28A: Oscar Madison, e.g.: SLOB. Oscar Madison is a character in "The Odd Couple". Evidently he is a SLOB. I got the answer from Down fills.

34A: Arena for MacArthur: KOREA. Philippines too. In fact, the whole Pacific Arena.

36A: Have in the crosshairs: AIM AT

42A: Wavy design: MOIRE. Refers to the silky fabric, correct, Kazie?

43A: Tossed course: SALAD. I love Waldorf salad: julienned honeycrisp apples/celery & toasted walnuts. Yum!

50A: "The Shining" climax setting: MAZE. Again, obtained the answer from Down fills. Have never watched "The Shining". Don't like horror movies. Loved Geoffrey Rush's "Shine".

51A: Tuber with eyes: SPUD. My brother calls it murphy.

52A: Harness the wind, in a way: SAIL. Wrote down SAVE first, thinking wind energy.

55A: Colossal: TITANIC

59A: Move with stealth: SKULK. Cool word, with two K's.

61A: __ Miss: OLE. University of Mississippi.

66A: Like nos, above zero: POS (Positive)

68A: Take a piece from?: UNARM. Did not know "piece" is a slang for firearm.

69A: Bilko's rank: Abbr.: SGT

71D: Wounds: SORES

Down:

1A: Cribside chorus: AWS. And CUTEST (47D: Most likely to elicit 1-Down).

3D: Teeming amount: PLETHORA. Nailed it.

4D: One way to sit by: IDLY. Sit IDLY by.

5D: Salsa singer Cruz: CELIA. Cuban. Known as "Queen of Salsa". Alien to me.

6D: Commercial tune: JINGLE

7D: Director Lee: ANG. The director for "Brokeback Mountain". My favorite ANG Lee movie is "Eat Drink Man Woman". Eat, drink and make love are basic human desires in Chinese saying, hence the title.

8D: Balls' belles: DEBS

9D: Olympics event with swords: EPEE. Hope golf will enter the Olympics soon.

10D: Proofer's mark: STET. "Leave in".

11D: Denver __: OMELET. We call it Western OMELET: diced ham, onions, and green bell peppers.

12D: Ravel classic: BOLERO. Featured in Bo Derek's "10". Just beautiful! Those flowers are so pretty.

18D: __ to one's neck: IN UP

22D: Wrestling partners: TAG TEAM. Learned this term a few months ago. Here is the Dictionary definition: a team of two or more wrestlers who take turns competing against one of the wrestlers on another team, with the idle teammates waiting outside the ring until one of them is tagged by their competing teammate.

24D: Hoof-on-cobblestones sound: CLOP

26D: Overwhelms with noise: DEAFENS. Deafening silence/silent scream are two oxymoron.

29D: Hamilton is its capital: BERMUDA. Guessed. Did not really know the BERMUDA capital.

31D: Sorority letters: PIS. PI is 16th letter of Greek alphabet.

32D: Troublemaker: IMP. Elf is also troublemaker.

33D: Some Scottish Parliament votes: NAES. "Some Russian Duma votes" would be NYETS.

35D: Subject for Bohr: ATOM. Niels Bohr (Danish) was awarded Nobel Physics in 1922 for his work on ATOMS. His son won Nobel Physics in 1975.

38D: __ city (computer game): SIM. No idea. Looks so complicated.

39D: "...__quit": OR I. Brings to mind Kim Jong-il's juvenile one-upmanship.

40D: Candy in a red and blue wrapper: CLARK BAR. Unknown to me. Some peanut butter crisp with a chocolate covering. Named after its creator David. L. Clark. Here is 1950's store decal.

41D: Vague: HAZY

44D: Actress Sandra: DEE. Bobby Dorin's wife. Did you like Kevin Spacey's "Beyond the Sea"?

46D: Novel postscript: EPILOG

48D: It's removed at the pump: GAS CAP

49D: Follower of Guru Nanak: SIKH. Stumped me. I did not know who Guru Nanak is. According to Wikipedia, he is the central figure in Sikhism, and is the first of the ten SIKH Gurus. How come that picture has 11 guys? SIKH is Sanskrit for "disciple". Pronounced like "seek".

53D: Maui shindigs: LUAUS. Interesting, I just found out that LUAU is literally "young taro tops", which were served at outdoor feasts. I bet POI is a popular item at those LUAUS.

56D: Untouchables leader: NESS (Eliot). Kevin Costner's "The Untouchables" is one of my favorite movies.

57D: "Law & Order: SVU" actor: ICE-T. I wonder if he knows that his damned name appears in Xword all the time.

58D: Grammy winner for "Believe": CHER. "... Do you believe in life after love..." Great song.

60D: Pre-P queue: LMNO. Alphabetically LMNOP.

63D: Luis' "Listen Up!": OYE. No idea. Spanish for "Hey!". "OYE como va" = "Hey, what's up?"

64D: Afore: ERE. Poetically.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a great photo of our fellow LAT solver Crockett and his lovely wife Jeanette, ready to tackle a Welsh breakfast. Crockett started to follow my blog in early Feb 2008, only a few weeks after I started my adventure. He also created a Crossword Corner Google Map for us. Email him if you want your name appear on the map. Crockett is a retired middle school math teacher and now does lots of volunteer work. He is also a great chess player.

C.C.

Thursday August 27, 2009 Don Gagliardo

Theme: Money Talks - Common phrases ending with currency denominations.

23A: Lofty bills?: HIGH FIVES. HIGH FIVE is a celebratory slap.

38A: Superior bills?: TOP TENS. OK, here is a David Letterman's TOP TEN George Bush moments. What's the fun with #5 "I like to fish"?

50A: Adored bills?: LOVED ONES. Your spouse & kids & friends & pets are your LOVED ONES.

8D: Hated bills (that appropriately spoil this puzzle's symmetry)?: TERRIBLE TWOS. Toddlers start to get defiant at age two, hence the name.

For the grid to be symmetrical, TERRIBLE TWOS would have to be placed in column #8 rather than #9. (Updated later: My mistake. According to Orange, for a symmetrical grid pattern, the L in TERRIBLE TWO should have been black.)

I was very surprised to hear that two-dollar bills are very rare in the US when I first arrived in Minnesota. We use them a lot in China.

Lively theme clues, esp 8D. So creative to grid the odd-ball TERRIBLE TWOS Down and intersect all the other three cheerful Across theme entries.

Maybe I am paying more attention to the "tapestry weaving" after reading Bob Klahn's interview, but I did notice quite a few echo clues.

Was XI'AN (12D: Ancient Chinese capital) a gimme to you today? Did you think of me when you filled in it? I've mentioned so many times before, XI'AN was the capital city for Zhou, Qin, Han & Tang, four major dynasties in China, I was born and grew up there, hence my Chinese name Zhouqin. Chairman Mao & the Chinese Communist Party picked Beijing over XI'AN as China's capital in 1949.

Do read my interview with Don "Hard G" Gagliardo regarding his thought process on this puzzle.

Across:

1A: Type of large TV: PLASMA

7A: Erwin of '50s TV: STU. Not familiar with STU Erwin or any of his shows. He died in 1967. Nice consecutive "TV" clues.

10A: With 13-Down, opportunity for better luck?: NEXT. And TIME (13D: See 10-Across). Great cross-reference & intersection.

14A: Swinger in a box: HITTER. Penned in BATTER immediately.

15A: "__ making a list ...": Christmas music: HE'S. "Santa Clause is Coming to Town".

16A: Et __: ALII. Latin masculine plural. Et alia is neutral plural. Et aliae is feminine plural.

17A: Looking to be helped out: IN A JAM

18A: Cardinal point suffix: ERN

19A: Go-go go-between? TEAM. Why? I got the answer from Down fills. (Note: Go, TEAM, go)

20A: Strung along: LED ON

21A: Irene of "Fame": CARA. Also Italian (feminine) for "beloved". Cara Mia = My beloved.

26A: Shore shoe style: OPEN TOE

29A: "Incidentally ...": BY THE BY

33D: Excavated areas: PITS. Like the XI'AN Terracotta Warriors PITS.

34A: Author Godwin: GAIL. No idea. She looks like an author who writes something serious, like "Away From Her".

40A: Razor-billed bird: AUK. The Arctic black-and-white diving bird.

41A: Curly- tailed dog: AKITA. Originated from the AKITA Prefecture, Japan.

43A: Oklahoma native: OTO. Or OTOE.

44A: To __: A TEE

45A: "Jeepers!": HOLY COW! And YIKES (32D: "Jeepers!")

48A: Ancient septet: WONDERS. Seven WONDERS of the World.

52A: Julie Kotter's spouse, in a '70s sitcom: GABE. Again, got the answer from Down fills. It's from the TV sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter". He is the teacher with a ruler.

55A: Erotic deity: EROS. Erotic is rooted in EROS.

56A: Gushes: SPEWS. Crossed WELL (58D: Gusher source). Another great intersection. The clues are very Bob Klahn-ish.

61A: Toon Chihuahua: REN. Wrote down RIN, thinking of RIN Tin Tin. I am used to see REN clued as "Stimpy's pal".

62A: Author Allende: ISABEL. Sigh! Her name escaped me. Just heard her interview on Minnesota Public Radio a few weeks ago. Chilean-American author. Very imaginative. Hard to tell whether her stories are real or not.

63A: __ Accords, 1993 Isreal-PLO pact: OSLO. Rabin was assassinated because he signed the OSLO Accords.

64A: Word spoken with a head slap: D'OH. Carol calls it her V8 moment.

65A: Swiss cough drop: RICOLA. Stumper, though this clip sounds very familiar. RICOLA is abbreviation of the company's German name Richterich & Compagnie Laufen.

66A: Occupant of a tiny house: DOLL. Some of those 1950's Madam Alexander hard plastic dolls cost hundreds of dollars.

67A: Tokyo-born artist: ONO. Oh, I had the misconception that she was born in NY, then moved to Tokyo as a kid.

68A: One way to be aware: KEENLY. Good clue. KEENLY aware.

Down:

1D: "Dr. __": PHIL. Nicely placed above OPRAH (26D: Chicago-based daytime host), who launched Dr. PHIL's career. Both yawner, yawner though. Give me Ellen any day.

2D: Ticket window sight: LINE

4D: The Red Storm of the Big East Conference: ST JOHN'S. No idea. Wikipedia says Governor Mario Cuomo graduated from this university.

5D: Be dead serious: MEAN IT

6D: Equip, as a posse: ARM. Brought to mind Gary Cooper's "High NOON" (39D: High time?")

7D: Bundle: SHEAF

9D: SEALs' gp.: US NAVY. Our ex-governor Jesse Ventura was a Navy SEAL.

10D: Tony winner Richardson: NATASHA. Sad to see her name. She died of that skiing accident. Wife of Liam Neeson (Oskar in "Schindler's List").

11D: It's usually pd. monthly: ELEC

21D: Tight: CHEAP. Did not know "Tight" can mean stingy as well.

24D: Disco adjective: GO-GO. Unfortunately "Go-go" is also part of the clue for 19A.

25D: Approximate leaving hrs.: ETDS. ETD = Estimated Time of Departure.

27D: Liberal, to Archie Bunker: PINKO. Refers to the communists, right?

28D: Amazon business, say: E-TAIL

30D: Eddie who founded a clothing chain: BAUER. Again, obtained the answer with crosses. Have never heard of the chain.

35D: "Was __ blame?": I TO

38D: Folded fare: TACO. Alliteration.

42D: Acetaminophen brand: TYLENOL. Easy guess. I did not know the meaning of acetaminophen.

44D: Much of a Sunday paper: ADS SPACE. Or of all those gossip magazines.

46D: Exert to excess: OVERDO. Another alliteration.

47D: "It's our turn to perform!": WE'RE ON. Oh well, mine was WERION, since I had RIN instead of REN for the crossing 61A. So I had huge trouble parsing my answer.

49D: Monster nickname: NESSIE. The Lock Ness monster, legend of Scotland.

51D: "Tiny Bubbles" singer: DON HO. Another cross help.

53D: Kid's assertive retort: AM SO

54D: Ringer: BELL

57D: "Heaven's __ vault, studded with stars...": Shelley: EBON. Struggled with this answer. EBON is poetic "black". I wanted A BIG, Heaven's A BIG vault. Makes sense to me.

59D: Elicit guffaws from: SLAY. So many words/phrases for "crack up".

62D: Vex: IRK. IRE can be a verb too.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is beautiful photo of the Bee's family. From left to right: Melissa Bee's daughter (tank patrol member for the San Jose Sharks), the conjunction Barb B (Melissa's Mom), and our blog "It" girl Melissa.

C.C.