Thursday January 28, 2010 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Sex Change - "Sex" in each familiar phrase gets a vowel change.

20A. Music lessons for Bill Clinton?: SAX EDUCATION. Sex Education. Clinton loves sax.

39A. Documentary about Chicago's relationship with its team?: SOX AND THE CITY. "Sex and the City" (TV series or the movie). Chicago White Sox.

57A. More equitable of two civil case juries?: THE FAIRER SIX. The Fairer Sex (Women). Was unaware that civil case only needs 6 jurors.

Rather unexpected theme concept. Light but amusing theme clues & answers.

My favorite is SAX EDUCATION. Received no sex education when I grew up. Sex was a forbidden topic in our school. I also laughed at SOX AND THE CITY. Great documentary title. Complicated relationship I am sure. "The City" probably loves the Cubs more.

A friendlier Thursday for me. Plenty of "fill-in-the-blank" partials definitely helped.

Across:

1. Trip with much hardship: TREK. Easy start.

5. Ampule: VIAL. Misread the clue as "Ample".

9. Bikini blast, briefly: H-TEST. No A-TEST wobbling today due to the intersecting HANOI (9D. Capital on the Red River).

14. Prefix with port: HELI. Heliport, a landing place for helicopters. I blanked.

15. FAQ responses, e.g.: INFO

16. Belittle: ABASE

18. "Gosh darn it!": RATS

19. Language that gives us "floe": NORSE. I only know Norse gives us "troll".

23. Oscar-winning role for Forest: IDI (Amin). In 2007. What's your favorite Forest Whitaker movie? Mine is "Good morning, Vietnam" .

24. PC backup key: ESC

25. Corrosion-resistant metal: IRIDIUM. Used in hardening platinum for alloys (as for surgical instruments). The suffix "ium" suggests metallic element.

29. Letter flourish: SERIF

31. Sgt. Snorkel's pooch: OTTO. Used to stump me.

33. An A will usually raise it: Abbr.: GPA

34. Science opening?: NEURO. Opening of the word neuroscience.

36. Most congenial: NICEST. Like PJB-Chicago.

42. Event with a piñata: FIESTA

43. Stuffing stuff: EIDER. Eider down. Pillow stuffing. I was thinking of Thanksgiving turkey.

44. "Exodus" hero: ARI. Learned from doing Xword.

45. At the top of the heap: BEST

47. Roman __: thinly disguised fiction: A CLEF. Real story depicted in fictional guise. Like Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar", her semi-autobiography. "Roman à clef" is French for “novel with a key.” Roman = Novel. Clef = Key.

51. Often scandalous book genre: TELL- ALL. It's a genre?

54. Dawdle behind: LAG

56. Old name of Tokyo: EDO. Before 1868.

60. With alacrity: APACE. "Alacrity" is a new word to me. I do know "celerity" though. Same meaning: "speed".

63. Ruminate: MUSE

64. Prefix with dextrous: AMBI. Ambidextrous. Prefix meaning "both".

65. Its capital is Apia: SAMOA. More often we see APIA clued as "Samoa capital".

67. Despicable: VILE

68. Almost boil: SCALD. Always associated the word with "boiling" rather than "almost boil".

69. Political cartoonist Thomas: NAST. The guy who created GOP elephant/Democratic donkey.

70. Israeli statesman Weizman: EZER. Former Israeli president Weizman in 1990s. I forgot. Hebrew name meaning "help".

Down:

1. One of Luther's 95: THESIS. Martin Luther's "The Ninety-Five Theses".

2. Like "The Day the Earth Stood Still," in 2008: REMADE. Easy guess.

3. Alchemist's creation: ELIXIR

4. Hawk family bird: KITE

5. High-tech invader: VIRUS. Took the Geek Squad guy almost two hours to get rid of the virus on my computer last time.

6. Of one mind: IN ACCORD. Very well matched.

7. Aptly named shaving lotion: AFTA. "After".

8. Became unhinged: LOST IT

10. Govt. security: T- BOND. How is it different from T- BILL again?

11. Otologist's concern: EAR

12. Org. dodged by draft dodgers: SSS. Plenty of D alliteration.

13. Driver's starting point: TEE. Golf club "driver".

21. Take down: DEFEAT

22. Did a laundry chore: IRONED. Ironing can be soothing.

26. "__ a Kick Out of You": Cole Porter: I GET. I figured it's either I GET or I GOT.

27. "__-daisy!": UPSY

28. Welcome spot: MAT. Welcome mat.

30. "What You Need" band: INXS. The Australia band. Pronounced like "in excess". I've never heard of the song.

32. Carryalls: TOTES

35. Lacking capacity: UNABLE

37. 2002 movie with Manny the Mammoth: ICE AGE. Was unaware of the movie. Is Manny the big guy?

38. Newspaper concern, esp. lately: CIRC (Circulation)

39. Bold Ruler, to Secretariat: SIRE. Unknown trivia to me.

40. Versailles eye: OEIL. French for "eye".

41. Schedules of problems to be dealt with: HIT LISTS. I always connect "hit list" with Mafia murder.

42. More than plump: FAT

46. Jenna of "Dharma & Greg": ELFMAN. Her name escaped me. She's pretty good in "Keeping the Faith".

48. Musical based on an 1862 novel, for short: LES MIZ. "Les Misérables". Who can forget Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream"?

49. Safe to put away: EDIBLE. Thought of the storage. Was ignorant of the "eat" meaning of "put away".

50. More artful: FOXIER. Not SLIER this time.

52. Henry Blake's title on "M*A*S*H": LT. COL (Lieutenant Colonel). Stumper.

53. Good place to get?: AHEAD. "Get ahead". Got me also.

55. "Give it __!": A REST

59. Uninhibited party: RAVE

60. The law, according to Mr. Bumble: ASS. No idea. From "Oliver Twist". Mr. Bumble said " The law is a ass, a idiot".

61. Lobbying gp.: PAC. NRA came to mind first.

62. Org. for GPs: AMA

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday January 21, 2010 Gareth Bain

Theme: BREAK THE ICE (65. Warm things up, and what 17-, 28- and 50-Across literally do) - The word ICE is broken and spans across each two-word common phrase.

17A. One that creates a current in the current: ELECTRIC EEL. It generates "electric current" in the "water current".

28A. DNA researcher: GENETIC ENGINEER. I forgot what's the difference between DNA and RNA again.

50A. Fitness staple: AEROBIC EXERCISE. Swimming, jogging, etc. Improve your body's use of oxygen.

This "split a word" theme idea itself is not novel. We've seen a few since the LAT switch. But Gareth Bain brought the whole concept to a new dimension by placing the unifying answer BREAK THE ICE in the grid. A bit similar in concept to his NIXON puzzle where ON is nixed in each theme entry and NIXON itself is gridded at the lower right corner.

Quite a few sparkling clues in the puzzle. I especially like the following "They":

73A. They must be met: NEEDS

12D. They may not be speaking: EXES

63D. They're barely passing: DEES. Grades.

Across:

1. Colorado resort town: ASPEN. The ski resort.

6. Roman commoner: PLEB

10. Who blows thar?: SHE. Thar she blows!

13. "April Love" singer: BOONE (Pat). Here is the clip.

14. Talks deliriously: RAVES

16. Witch's specialty: HEX. Thought it's BREW.

20. Floor model: DEMO

21. __ alcohol: fusel oil component: AMYL. No idea. From Greek ámylon (starch).

22. Shakespearean feet: IAMBS. Poetic feet.

26. Kissers: YAPS

35. Horror filmmaker Roth: ELI. Have never heard of this guy. Welcome to the crossword world, new ELI!

36. James Brown's genre: SOUL. James Brown is "The Godfather of Soul".

37. Allow: ENABLE

38. A flat one may evoke a wince: NOTE. Wrote down JOKE first.

42. Starting line advantage: POLE. Car racing starting line?

43. Puccini works: OPERAS

46. Wilson's predecessor: TAFT. The only president who also served as Chief Justice.

49. Actress Ullmann: LIV. Norweigian. Used to think she's from Sweden.

53. "The fool __ think he is wise ...": "As You Like It": DOTH

54. Silver encouragement?: HI-YO. "Hi-yo Silver, away!". The Lone Ranger's shout to his horse Silver.

55. Duke __: video game hero: NUKEM. I had NUKE? sitting there forever.

58. Ireland, poetically: ERIN. The answer seems to be ERIN instead of EIRE whenever there is "poetic" involved.

60. Ale feature: HEAD. Foam.

64. Ace's value, at times: ONE

68. Beverage suffix: ADE. Lemonade.

69. Barracks VIP: SARGE. Why is Barracks in plural form?

70. Rubber duck-loving Muppet: ERNIE. "Sesame Street".

71. Short flight: HOP

72. Tints: DYES. Plopped HUES.

Down:

1. Between the sheets: ABED. Bed sheets.

3. Housman work: POEM. A.E. Houseman the British poet. I misread the clue as Houseman.

4. "More!": ENCORE

6. Butcher's best: PRIME CUT

7. Like some negligees: LACY. Do you like the color?

8. "Brideshead Revisited" novelist Waugh: EVELYN. Not familiar with the book at all.

9. Buzzer: BEE

10. Ersatz: SHAM

11. Basil or chervil: HERB. Nice rhyme.

15. Add sneakily: SLIP IN

18. Sine or cosine: RATIO

23. See 25-Down: A SNAP. And IT'S A (25. With 23-Down, "Duck soup!"). "Duck soup" is a slang for "piece of cake".

27. Census datum: AGE

28. Italian port: GENOA. A bit south of Milan.

29. Sneak off to the altar: ELOPE

30. Compound in some explosives: NITER. In TNT.

31. Enrapture: ELATE

32. Where Christ stopped, in a Levi title: EBOLI. Levi's "Christ Stopped at Eboli".

33. Hudson River's __ Island: ELLIS

34. "Still Me" autobiographer: REEVE (Christopher). Katharine Hepburn's autobiography is simply titled "Me".

41. Unpopular legislative decisions: TAX HIKES

44. WWII enders: A-BOMBS

45. Take a load off: SIT. Good clue too.

47. Épéeist's ruse: FEINT

48. Shot: TRY. Give it a shot/TRY.

51. Heartening: CHEERY

52. Stick together: COHERE

55. Ararat lander: NOAH. Noah's Ark landed in Mount Ararat.

56. Edit menu command: UNDO

57. Don't let go: KEEP

59. Fashion: RAGE. In rage. Did not come to me readily.

61. Mozart's "__ kleine Nachtmusik": EINE. "A Little Night music".

66. "Far out!": RAD

67. Barnyard bird: HEN. Owl too.

For those who do not visit the Comments section, Rich Norris (LA Times Crossword editor) told Dennis yesterday that starting in February, we'll only see Dan Naddor's puzzles every other week. "At that rate, his puzzles will last for the entire year and perhaps flow over into 2011--a fitting tribute to one of the finest constructors I've ever had the pleasure of editing."

Also, from Don "Hard G" Gagliardo: "I just received my February issue of The Crosswords Club, and Dan has a puzzle in there! So you might want to pass that on to your readers in case they do not know this. There is also one by Rich, recent LA contributor John Lampkin has one, veterans Alan Olschwang and Fred Piscop are represented, and there is an intriguing-looking one by Mark Bickham. Contact number is 1-800-433-4386."

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday January 14, 2010 Ed Sessa

Theme: SHEEP (65A. Animal family hidden in 17-, 35- and 57-Across)

17A. Hackneyed line: HAVE WE MET BEFORE. After "You look familiar". EWE is embedded.

35A. Chowder base: CLAM BROTH. LAMB is hidden. What is the difference between broth and stock?

57A. Summertime cosmetic mishap: MASCARA MELTDOWN. Sweat. RAM is enclosed.

What an coincidence! Windhover just mentioned last night that kidding and lambing season is about to start.

All of the above hidden animal names are spread between two words. Nice consistency. Simple theme & light theme entries, which allow for plenty of long letter non-theme entries. I counted total 18 seven-letter entries, 12 of them are stacked in in each quadrant. Very Dan Naddor-like.

I was also delighted by the sparkling clues for short answers:

21A. Heros: SUBS. Hero Sandwich.

22A. Male delivery: SON. Playing on "mail delivery".

29A. Killed, in a way: VETOED. Killed "bill".

32A. MA and PA: STS (States). Pun on "Ma and Pa".

53A. Rear admiral's rear: AFT. Oh, the rear of his ship.

30D. Move in high circles?: ORBIT. For the planets.

39D. Talking a blue streak?: PROFANE. "Blue" here means "risqué".

55D. Brest friend: AMIE. Playing on "Best friend". Brest is a seaport in western France.

Easier than our average Thursday, wasn't it? Maybe I just mind melded with the constructor (Thanks, Argyle).

Across:

1. Italian port on the Adriatic: BARI. In southeast Italy. And AMORE (20A. Love, in 1-Across)

5. Los Alamos project, briefly: A-BOMB. Thought of A-TEST first.

10. Newspaper family name: OCHS. Of the New York Times.

14. Yemen's main port: ADEN

15. Roofed patio: LANAI. Literally "roofed patio" in Hawaiian.

23. Frothy fountain drinks: MALTEDS. Partially alliterative clue.

26. Green soldier: RECRUIT. "Green" = inexperienced. Tyro.

31. River in NW France: ORNE. See this map. If flows to the English Channel.

33. Bakery worker with a gun: ICER

34. Spirited equine: STEED

38. "__ moi, le déluge": Louis XV: APRES. Literally "after". Après moi, le déluge = After me, the flood. Just means that nothing matters after he's dead.

41. New Rochelle, NY, college: IONA

42. "Pygmalion" monogram: GBS (George Bernard Shaw)

45. 1975 A.L. MVP and Rookie of the Year __ Lynn: FRED. When he was with the Red Sox. His baseball cards are not worth much. Ichiro is another player who won both MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same year (2001).

46. "The evil that men do lives after them" speaker: ANTONY. From "Julius Caesar". Not a familiar line to me.

48. Brutally harsh: RAW. As weather.

49. __ stone: ROSETTA. Shouldn't "stone" be capitalized?

51. How architects draw: TO SCALE

54. Crimson Tide, briefly: 'BAMA. They just won the BCS Championship.

56. "Flip This House" network: A AND E. I've learned to parse AANDE.

61. Hall of Famer Slaughter: ENOS

62. Book from which the film "What's Love Got to Do With It" was adapted: I, TINA. I know it's Tina Turner's autobiography. Have never heard of the film though.

63. Netman Nastase: ILIE. Alliteration in the clue.

66. Buffoonish: ZANY

Down:

1. Commonwealth off Florida: BAHAMAS

2. Uncompromising: ADAMANT. I am, sometimes.

3. Rises up: REVOLTS

4. At a standstill: INERT. The grammar confuses me. "At a standstill" is an adjective, Kazie?

6. Kapow cousin: BAM. I want Kapow to be in quotation. "Kapow".

8. Come of age: MATURE

9. Like many lobster eaters: BIBBED

10. Galoot: OAF

11. Sense of completeness: CLOSURE

12. Sandra Bullock role, e.g.: HEROINE. Sandra Bullock is always so goofy.

13. Like some candles: SCENTED

18. Agricultural pests: WEEVILS. Here is one. Report please!

19. Corner PC key: ESC. Upper-left corner.

24. Numerical prefix: DECA. Prefix for "ten". As in decathlon.

25. Pipe part: STEM

27. Portnoy creator Philip: ROTH (Philip). Has anyone actually read "Portnoy's Complaint"?

34. Patronizes, as an inn: STAYS AT

35. Hand over: CEDE

36. Canine anchor: ROOT. Canine tooth. Not dog.

38. Popular ski country homes: A-FRAMES. Drew a blank. Easy for snow to slide off the roof I presume.

40. Sits atop: RESTS ON

42. Hiker's snack: GRANOLA. I am so in love with my raw cashew & Medjool dates bar lately.

43. Longtime Steinway rival: BALDWIN. Piano maker. I've only heard of Steinway.

44. Todd of Broadway: SWEENEY. Sweeney Todd.

46. Classic video games: ATARIS

47. "Broadway Joe": NAMATH. Quarterback Joe Namath is nicknamed "Broadway Joe".

52. City near Gibraltar: CADIZ. Here is the map. Quite far from Gibraltar, isn't it?

58. Western KY clock setting: CST. Had no idea that KY has 2 different time zones.

59. Santa Barbara-to-Vegas dir.: ENE. Direction is often my weakness.

60. Slurp (up): LAP

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday January 7, 2010 Robert W. Harris

Theme: Imaginary Places - Familiar two-word phrases ending with "locations" are punnily reinterpreted in correspondence to their clues.

18A. Where yearbooks are made?: ANNUAL PLANT. Annual plant grows and dies in a season.

26A. Where Hershey's makes new discoveries?: CHOCOLATE LAB. Chocolate Lab has chocolate-colored coat.

47A. Where astronauts worship?: SPACE MISSION. SPACE STATION anyone?

60A. Where littlenecks try their luck?: CLAMS CASINO. Littlenecks are soft clams, aren't they?

Robert W. Harris's LAT "Giant Leap for Mankind" puzzle was published on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonwalk. He seems fond of science.

Melissa Bee blogging.

Across:

1. Cool one: CAT. Two for the price of one.

4. Overused: STALE

9. Drink with a "generation": PEPSI. Barry Manilow wrote the jingle (at 4:00).

14. Kitchen catchphrase: A LA. In the manner or style of. Chicken A La King.

15. Implied: TACIT. A tacit agreement.

16. Betting everything, in poker: ALL IN

17. Food made from 35-Down: POI. And TARO (35D. Source of 17-Across).

20. Uncaptured: AT LARGE

22. Spring celebration: EASTER

23. Surrender: CEDE

24. Beam: RAY

25. That, in Monterrey: ESO. Spanish. Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, is the third largest city in Mexico. The "City of the Mountains."

31. Long, on Lanai: LOA. The Hawaiian name "Mauna Loa" means "Long Mountain." Largest volcano on the planet.

32. Broods: MOPES

33. What some tickets are for: SEATS

37. Russian-born Deco designer: ERTE. C.C. has drilled this one into my head.

39. Anger: IRE

40. Bare-bones subj? ANAT. Anatomy. Great clue.

41. Some religious observances: FASTS. Like Ramadan, or Lent.

43. Rub out: ERASE

46. College sr.'s test: GRE. Graduate Record Examinations.

50. Prof's helpers: TAS. Teaching Assistants.

53. Bullring cry: OLE

54. It will come back to you: ECHO

55. Esoteric: ARCANE

57. Maddened: ENRAGED

63. Living cell constituent: Abbr.: RNA

64. Prefix with tropic: HELIO. Prefix for "sun".

65. Unwise homebuilder's material, so the story goes: STRAW

66. Put together: ADD

67. Lip-curling look: SNEER

68. Early five-and-dime entrepreneur: KRESS (S. H.)

69. Howard of the Three Stooges: MOE

Down:

1. Bit of bullring gear: CAPA. Dictionary.com says cape originates from 16th century Sp. capa. Never understood this "sport".

2. Loads: A LOT

3. Men's formalwear: TAILCOATS

4. Made-it-big status: STARDOM. On the heels of Jazzbumpa's question yesterday, "you know you've made it big when ____."

5. Hybrid fruit: TANGELO. Tangerine and grapefruit or pomelo. UGLI appears more often in our puzzles.

6. Teen's concern: ACNE

7. Actress Lucy: LIU. One of "Charlie's Angels".

8. Two after epsilon: ETA. Greek alphabet. Nice change from the standard airport abbreviation clue.

9. Melonlike fruits: PAPAYAS. Papaya enzyme is a useful ingredient to treat ACNE.

10. Wings with blueprints: ELLS. Building additions.

11. Likely spot for dinner? PLATE. Cute.

12. Trig functions: SINES

13. Words about a speaker, briefly: INTRO

19. Sharon of "Boston Public": LEAL. Had no idea.

21. Post-WWII nuclear org.: AEC. Atomic Energy Commission. According to wikipedia, it was established in 1947 to foster and control the peace time development of atomic science and technology. Abolished in 1974 when it's functions were reassigned to other agencies.

24. Stitch over: RESEAM

26. Staff symbol: CLEF

27. Romanian dance: HORA. The circle dance often seen in traditional weddings and other celebrations.

28. Individually: APIECE

29. Lafayette's land: TERRE. French for "land". General Lafayette of American Revolutionary War.

30. Arthur who played Maude: BEA.

34. Cardiologist's request: ANGIOGRAM. X-ray that shows blood flow through an artery or vein.

36. Early submachine gun: STEN. Never heard of it.

38. "The War of the Worlds" invaders, e.g.: ETS. Extra Terrestrials.

42. One buying time, perhaps: SPONSOR. Advertising time.

44. Raw or burnt pigments: SIENNAS. WM, can you elaborate?

45. Typical home-loan contract obligations: ESCROWS

48. Actor Baldwin: ALEC

49. ___ Na Na: SHA. Musical group from the sixties.

50. Dash instruments: TACHS. Tachometer of a car measures engine RPMs.

51. Senator Specter: ARLEN. Democrat, PA.

52. Model Proportion: SCALE. I only know model train scales, smallest to largest: Z, N, HO (Half O), S, O, and G. Dennis, do other models have similar scales?

56. Friend, in France: AMIE. Female AMI.

57. Pierce Brosnan's homeland: EIRE. Irish name for Ireland.

58. Prefix meaning "within": ENDO. As in Endoscope. ECTO is the prefix meaning "outer".

59. Miami-____ County: DADE

62. Narrow channel: Abbr.: STR. Strait. Strait of Gibraltar.

A celebration of Dan Naddor's life will be held at 1 p.m. today. Here is a great writeup of Dan's crossword career & philosophy in LA Times. Rich Norris mentioned that there are more than twenty Dan puzzles in LA Times pipeline and they will be published throughout the year.

Answer grid.

Melissa

Thursday, December 31, 2009 Bill Thompson

Theme: CATCH (65A. Verb associated with the beginnings of 18-, 26-, 43- and 57-Across)

18A. Impossible to get close to: COLD AS ICE. Catch a Cold.

26A. Surrender: WAVE A WHITE FLAG. Catch a Wave.

43A. "Jerry Maguire" catchphrase: SHOW ME THE MONEY. Catch a Show.

57A. Right-click result, often: POP-UP MENU. Catch a Pop-up (fly ball).

I like how CATCH is gridded at the very end, providing the ultimate "Aha" moment. And of course, at my solving level, I'd prefer the unifying clue to be "Seize, or verb associated with the beginnings of 18-, 26-, 43- and 57-Across).

Was surprised to see VETCH (28D. Climbing legume). I faintly remember Lemonade mentioned that this plant often appeared in his parents' old old NYT puzzles. No relationship to kvetch.

A bit of slog for me. I was not engaged and did not give the puzzle its deserved attention. Still in shock and saddened by the news of Dan Naddor. His family told me that Dan passed away on the eve of Dec 28, 2009, from the complications of the cancer treatment (radiation to head/neck). He was considered cancer-free.

Dan began constructing crosswords 5 years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer at the back of his throat at the age of 48. He quickly became probably the most prolific LAT constructor in the last few years. He told me constructing crossword distracted his brain so he would not focus on how lousy he felt physically. He family believed that this prolonged his life and gave him something to strive for & enjoy. Dan enjoyed reading our comments and "entertaining my friends each week in puzzle-land".

His family have started a Facebook page under Dan Naddor and said the crossword people are welcome to visit and post. They also mentioned that he had several puzzles on queue in LA Times and NY Times, so we will see his byline in 2010. Dan, you will be deeply missed!

Across:

1. Sluglike "Star Wars" crime lord: JABBA. Jabba the Hutt. Scrabbly corner.

6. Sound from someone who's down: SOB

9. Legal orders: WRITS

14. To go, in Grenoble: ALLER. French for "go". Grenoble is a city in SE France.

15. Supermarket chain founded in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance). Obtained the answer with the crosses.

16. Wore: HAD ON

17. Scrabble 10-pointer: Z TILE

20. Lifetime-guaranteed lighters: ZIPPOS. Did quite a bit of Intellectual Property investigation for Zippo in China.

22. Soft drink choice: DIET COKE

23. Out of balance: A-LOP. Yep, it exists in some dictionary Argyle checked last time.

25. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone: LIA. Lia Fáil is pronounced like "Lee-a Fall". Had a ton of DF fun in the old TMS Daily puzzle.

33. Having a lot to lose, maybe?: OBESE. The clue sounds very Dan Naddor, doesn't it?

34. "Waiting for Lefty" playwright: ODETS (Clifford)

35. Mme. in Madrid: SRA

37. Beach toy: KITE. PAIL too.

38. Circle Line : Hudson :: Bateaux-Mouches : __: SEINE. Bateaux-Mouches ("Fly Boats". Bateaux = boats. Mounches = Flies) are open excursion boats that provide visitors to Paris with a view of the city from along the river Seine, a la Wikipedia.

39. Smart guy?: ALEC. Smart Alec.

40. Wall St. enforcer: SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

41. Wooden shoe: SABOT. Same root as sabotage, according to Kazie.

42. Send, so to speak: ELATE. Slangy "send", right?

46. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Gai is literally "chicken" in Cantonese.

47. Apartment manager, for short: SUPE. Only in crossword world.

48. Lark: ESCAPADE. One of my favorite entries in this grid.

53. Indiana and Purdue, e.g.: RIVALS. Oh, I was unaware of this fact. Don't follow college sports.

59. Knot over: RETIE

60. Spitting __: IMAGE

61. Oven cleaner component: LYE

62. "__, Therefore I Am": Dennis Miller book: I RANT. See the book cover. New to me. Dennis Miller does rant a lot though.

63. Checked out before a heist: CASED

64. Nonexpert: LAY. Wrote down HAM first.

Down:

1. Cat's passion: JAZZ. Cool cat jazz.

2. Some glee club members: ALTI. Plural of alto?

4. Semi-soft Italian cheese: BEL PAESE. Literally "Beautiful Country" in Italian. I've never had it.

5. Anatomical rings: AREOLAE. Singular is Areola: Are(a) + Ola. The nipple rings.

6. [thus]: SIC. [error left as is].

7. Common prayer opening: O GOD. Not O LORD?

8. Island in the Java Sea: BALI

9. Hypotheticals: WHAT IFS

10. Imp: RASCAL

11. Personal: Pref.: IDIO. Or "Peculiar: Pref". As in idiosyncrasy.

12. Pendulum sound: TOCK. Tick too.

13. Bygone dagger: SNEE. Learned from doing crossword.

24. "Friends" friend: PHOEBE. "Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat ...".

26. Stir-fry cookware: WOKS

27. "__ Irish Rose": ABIE'S. Abie is Irish Rose's lover.

29. Nincompoop: IDIOT

30. Tithe portions: TENTHS

31. Narnia lion: ASLAN. Turkish for "lion". I've never seen "The Chronicles of Narnia". The "Born Free" lioness is ELSA.

32. Norwegian marathoner Waitz: GRETE. This lady won a record nine-time New York City Marathon. Not a familiar name to me at all. Is Grete pronounced like "great"?

36. __-deucy: ACEY. Guessed.

38. "I do not like them, __": Seuss line: SAM-I-AM. From "Green Eggs and Ham".

39. Medicinal plant: ALOE VERA

41. Traded: SWAPPED

42. Derived from observation: EMPIRIC. John Locke is the founder of Empiricism.

44. Model railroad scale: O GAUGE. Or O SCALE. We had this clue before.

45. Part of EEC: Abbr.: EUR. EEC = European Economic Community

48. Like "Lawrence of Arabia": EPIC

49. Vedic drink for an immortal soul: SOMA. The drug in "Brave New World".

50. Balancing experts, briefly?: CPAS. Nailed it.

51. Valley: DELL

52. One-named New Age singer: ENYA

54. Rat tail?: A TAT. Rat-a-tat. Good clue.

55. Friend of Pete and Julie on "The Mod Squad": LINC

56. Brother of Abel: SETH. Broth of Cain too.

58. One-eighty: UEY. Slang for U-turn?

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday December 24, 2009 Elizabeth A. Long

Theme: A Prolonged Effort - The vowel in the second word of a common phrase is drawn out, as indicated by the first word.

20A. Too long a ride?: STRETCH LI(I)MO. Stretch Limo. The word limo is literally stretched.

37A. Too many relatives?: EXTENDED FA(A)MILY. Extended Family. Family is extended.

54A. Too much information?: SPREADSHEE(E)T. Spreadsheet. Sheet is spread.

Quite an original and innovative theme. Excellent theme clues. Bravo Zulu, Ms. Long!

The number of theme entries is rather sparse. Maybe the constructor could not find workable phrases with possible elongated OO or UU manipulation.

I fared much better than I did yesterday. Favorite entry is EL PASO, TX (38. City SSE of Las Cruces, NM). Very cool (though frustrating) fill.

Across:

1. Spare underwear: THONG. What I am wearing.

6. Thermometer part: BULB

10. Farm female: MARE. Ewe too.

14. Joyous shout: WAHOO. And WHEE (34A. Swinger's cry) & HALLO (36A. Fox hunt call). I did not know "Hallo" is a shout used in fox hunting.

15. Most of Ohio's northern boundary: ERIE

16. Cameo gemstone: ONYX. Three X's in this grid.

17. Mideast language: IRANI. Thought their language is called Persian/Farsi.

18. A 66-Across lacks one: TAIL. And MANX (66. Critter with no 18-Across). Love cross-references.

19. Nureyev's negative: NYET. Russian for "no". Alliteration with foreign words again.

23. Sway: TEETER

24. Presidential pollster John: ZOGBY. Nope. Not familiar with this name.

27. Sellout signs: SROS

29. Orders: DECREES. Oh, noun "orders".

31. Matter in court: RES. Latin for "thing".

41. Inscribed monument: STELA. Or STELE.

42. Piano piece with "primo" and "secondo" parts, e.g.: DUET

43. Plural feature, usually: ESS. And DEES (57D. Substandard marks). One spelled-out letter entry in a grid is enough.

44. Sends a check with the order: PREPAYS. PayPal handles everything now.

46. Columnist Barrett: RONA. The gossip columnist.

49. Chop-chop: APACE

50. Calendar divisions: MONTHS

58. Weaponless self-defense: JUDO. "Gentle way" in Japanese. Their DO = Chinese TAO (way).

61. Good way for dreams to come: TRUE. Good clue.

62. Board for nails: EMERY

63. "__ happens ...": AS IT. "As It Happens" is also a CBC radio program. I find the host Barbara Budd's voice very soothing.

64. Diet label word: LITE

65. Some closet contents: LINEN. Made of flax fiber.

67. Son of Seth: ENOS

68. So yesterday: PASSE

Down:

1. Peel in a drink: TWIST

2. Roaring Camp chronicler: HARTE (Bret). Know the name, not the story.

3. Hub near the Loop: O'HARE. The Loop in Chicago.

4. Large chamber groups: NONETS. Composition for nine.

5. Thyroid problem: GOITER. Caused by iodine deficiency.

6. Aleph follower: BETH. The second letter in Hebrew alphabet.

7. River through Kazakhstan: URAL

8. DXXX ÷ X: LIII. 530 ÷10= 53

9. Mexico neighbor: BELIZE. I have a very confused Central America map in my brain.

10. LBJ or JFK: MONOGRAM. Thought of DEMOCRAT immediately.

12. Ham site: RYE. Rye bread.

13. Request to an oper.: EXT (Extension)

21. Stand very close to: CROWD. Nice clue.

22. Chocolate-flavored coffee: MOCHA

25. Misrepresent: BELIE

26. Sounds angry: YELLS

28. Lets the fur fly?: SHEDS. Nailed it.

29. Postpone: DEFER

30. Brown sauces: SOYS. Was picturing the brown roux sauce rather than soy sauce.

31. Breathing: Abbr.: RESP. Respiring? Not familiar with the abbr. at all.

32. More than usual: EXTRA. Somehow the grammar of the clue confounded me.

33. Prohibitive, perhaps: STEEP. As prices.

39. Civil rights org.: NAACP

40. Matter components: ATOMS

45. Seuss turtle: YERTLE. Yertle the Turtle.

47. Useless: NO HELP

48. Lack of vitality: ANEMIA

52. Word spoken with a raised glass: HERE'S. "Here's to ...".

53. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" composer: STYNE (Jule). Wikipedia says he composed "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow". Too bad. I've never heard of him.

55. Joyce's motherland: ERIN. Sometimes it's Eire. James Joyce.

56. Focus opening: AUTO. Autofocus.

58. Dilemma: JAM. In a jam.

59. "Royal Pains" network: USA. Was ignorant of the TV series "Royal Pains".

60. Loud noise: DIN

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday December 17, 2009 Samuel A. Donaldson

Theme: SECRETARIES (54A. Heads of the tails of 18-, 23-, 36- and 48-Across) - The tail word of each theme entry is a US department headed by a secretary.

18A. Court strategy: ZONE DEFENSE. Secretary of Defense. Basketball court.

23A. Some contractions: FALSE LABOR. Secretary of Labor.

36A. Mid-Atlantic nickname, with "The": QUAKER STATE. Secretary of State. Pennsylvania.

48A. Like hikers' snack food: HIGH ENERGY. Secretary of Energy. The dates & cashew Larabars are my favorite snacks.

Great clue for the unifying theme entry SECRETARIES.

Samuel A. Donaldson mentioned in his interview that he's fond of non-theme multiple-word entries. I counted 10 in today's grid.

I also liked the three weaving "court" clues:

18A. Court strategy: ZONE DEFENSE.

13D: Take to court: SUE.

56D. 1973 court name: ROE. Roe v. Wade.

Lovely echo. Small details delighted me.

Across:

1. Retired flier, briefly: SST. And SKY (28D. Pilot's beat).

4. Angry trick-or-treater, perhaps: EGGER. Is this a common word? I've never used it.

14. Last half of a drink?: TAI. Last half of Mai Tai. Stumped me.

15. 22-Across lullaby syllables: LOO RA. And IRISH (22A. Lucky ones?). The luck of the Irish. Was unaware of the Irish lullaby "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral"

16. Part of a Valentine's text message: I LUV U

17. First name in objectivism: AYN (Rand). The only objectivism name I know.

20. Escaped convict's need: FAKE ID. Nice answer.

26. 35-member treaty gp.: OAS (Organization of American States)

29. Apt name for a herding dog: SHEP. And PEKE (52D. Short dog, for short). Pekingese. We just call it lion dog in China.

30. U.K. awards: OBES (Orders of the British Empire)

31. Moved furtively: SNUCK

33. Alley Oop's girlfriend: OOOLA. Finally I remembered her name.

35. Like mud puddles: SLOSHY

38. Contests on horseback: JOUSTS. Wrote down RODEOS first.

40. "__ Nothing": 1993 Whitney Houston hit: I HAVE. Loved "The Bodyguard". Did not remember this song though.

42. Cause of a run: SNAG. Oh, pantyhose run.

43. __ dire: jury interview: VOIR. Voire dire (vwahr deer) is new to me. I do know the individual French words: voir "to see" & dire "to say". Makes sense.

47. Old CIA foe: KGB. And JFK (38D. Queens airport, familiarly ) & ORG (39D. Nonprofit's URL). Three abbreviations are crowded in this section.

50. Political exile, for short: EXPAT. Well, I am a just Chinese expat living in the US, not an exile.

53. __ it over: ruled: LORDED

58. Hot season for a Parisian: ETE. Yawner.

59. Word after control or neat: FREAK

60. Pocahontas's spouse: ROLFE (John). His name escaped me.

62. Where ham is often found: ON RYE. Not a fan of rye bread.

63. Sellout lack: SEATS. Was thinking of the traitor "sellout".

64. Sgt.'s superiors: LTS ( Lieutenants)

Down:

2. Checkup request: SAY AAH

3. Wind chime sound: TINKLE

4. "Popeye" creator Segar: ELZIE. Only knew him as E. C. Segar.

5. They usually aren't enough, so it's said: GOOD LOOKS. Oh well, even with good brains, still not enough for some men. Look at Elin Nordegren.

6. Poly- ending: GON. Polygon.

7. "... __ he drove out of sight": ERE. "But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight..."

8. Boom boxes: RADIOS

9. Hi-tech airport connection: WI-FI

10. Pints' contents: ALES

11. Midway attraction: FUN HOUSE. Have never been to one.

12. Sports bar array: TVS

21. Advocate, as a cause: ESPOUSE. Nailed it.

25. Demeanor: BEARING

27. Düsseldorf "D'oh!": ACH. Alliteration again.

31. Croat or Serb: SLAV

32. At no time: NOT EVER

34. Wild things to sow?: OATS. Sow wild oats.

35. One way for an actor to exit: STAGE LEFT. Had trouble obtaining this answer.

36. Many a Canadian francophone: QUEBECER. Oh, did not know a person from Quebec is called a Quebecer.

37. Old Iranian VIP: SHAH

42. Indian instruments: SITARS. Indian lute.

44. It's no picnic: ORDEAL

45. "Yeah, yeah, very funny": I GET IT. Lovely clue/answer.

46. Comics cowboy Red and others: RYDERS. Not familiar with this comic or the cowboy at all.

48. Magician's prop: HAT

49. Rhinoplasty targets: NOSES. Rhino is a prefix for "nose".

51. Picture of bones, often: X-RAYS

54. Northern Cal. hub: SFO. San Francisco International Airport. What does O stand for? (Added later: See this great link from Warren.)

55. Coastal bird: ERN

57. Pier gp.: ILA (International Longshoremen's Association)

Answer grid.

See you tomorrow!

C.C.

Thursday December 10, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: PHENOMENAL (57A. Clue for 17-, 22-, 36- and 44-Across)

17A. See 57-Across: OVER THE TOP

22A. See 57-Across: BEYOND BELIEF

36A. See 57-Across: TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE

44A. See 57-Across: OFF THE CHARTS

Incredible! I wish "Incredible" were the real clue for PHENOMENAL rather than "Clue for ...". Not fond of this kind of self-referential, circling cluing style. It frustrated me.

I do like cross-references in the grid. I like the extra effort the constructors spend in connecting certain entries. But cross-references offer you a defining clue for guidance. Take the PRIM & PROPER clues on Tuesday for example. 10D Down PROPER is clued as "See 10-Across", then 10-Across is "With 10-Down and "and", rigidly formal". At least, you have "rigidly formal" as a definitive clue, which gives you a basic idea of what the cross-reference is about.

Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 8. And among them, FALSE ALARM (14A. Wolf cry, often?) and its symmetrical partner INDISPOSED (60A Not feeling well) have the same amount of letters as two of the theme entries and stacked direct ly with them. I don't mind this kind of distraction at all, since the unifying 57A clearly points out which ones belong to the theme answers. And those two are just awesome fill.

Neat to have MOUSSE (40A. Salon preparation) intersect MOOSE (29D. Caribou relative).

Across:

1. "Food, Body and Mind" diet maven: CRAIG (Jenny). The other diet maven is ATKINS. maven

6. Pierce portrayer: ALDA (Alan). In M*A*S*H.

10. Lummoxes: OAFS. Add letter F to lummox, we've got the confusing "flummox".

16. River past Thebes: NILE. Thebes was an ancient city on the NILE. Somehow I thought of STYX, the River of the damned Hades.

18. "Fall back" interval: HOUR. Spring Ahead, Fall Back. China has no Daylight Saving Time, despite its vastness.

19. What F or M may indicate: SEX

20. Shinto temple gateway: TORII. Dennis just linked this TORRI picture when we had TORI (clued as "Doughnut shape" last time). Plural of Torus. I am still waiting for someone to give Torii Hunter some crossword recognition that he richly deserves. Nine consecutive Gold Glove Awards, what more credentials do you want?

21. Longtime Chicago Symphony maestro: SOLTI (Georg). 31 Grammys. A record.

24. Steppes native: TATAR

27. Purge: RID

29. Like many rebates: MAIL-IN

41. Tiger Woods's dad: EARL. Sweet picture. I liked his book "Playing Through". Lots of gems inside.

42. Airline with a hub in Copenhagen: SAS. The "Airline with a hub in Amsterdam" is KLM.

43. Uptight: ANTSY. Oh, I always associate "uptight" with "stiff" rather than ANTSY.

51. Iraqi port: BASRA. Was listening to a Terry Gross "A Messenger for the Marines" interview last night. Just could not control my tears.

52. Cliff dwelling: AERIE

53. "__ to Extremes": Billy Joel hit: I GO. Was unaware of this song title.

56. Gunny fiber: JUTE. A good Scrabble word. I did not know the gunny & burlap connection.

59. Slaughter who famously scored the winning run in the 1946 World Series: ENOS. Nice trivia to a tired name.

61. Reveille counterpart: TAPS

62. Latin 101 verb: ESSE. "To be" in Latin.

63. Frère de la mère: ONCLE. French for "uncle". Frère = Brother. Mère = Mother.

Down:

1. Some are CPAs: CFOS

2. All-night party: RAVE. Ignorant of this RAVE meaning.

3. Infield mate of Derek: ALEX. Instinctively wanted A-Rod.

4. Haifa's country: Abbr.: ISR. HAIFA is often clued as " Israeli seaport". Good to have a change.

5. Go-__: GETTER. Ha ha, I wanted Go-go girl.

6. Olds compact: ALERO. Learned from doing Xword. The model only existed for for six years.

7. Romance languages ancestor: LATIN

8. R2-D2 or C-3PO: DROID

9. Rock blaster?: AMP. Fell into the TNT trap.

10. Waiting to talk: ON HOLD

11. Garlicky mayo: AIOLI. Ai = garlic. Oli = oil.

12. Rampal's instrument: FLUTE

13. Calligrapher's embellishment: SERIF. I find it very soothing to practise Chinese calligraphy.

15. Call to a mate: AHOY

21. It flows along La Rive Gauche: SEINE. La Rive Gauche = The Left Bank in French.

22. Good thing to go out with: BANG. Go out with a bang. Good clue.

23. Grease, so to speak: BRIBE

24. Cairn terrier of film: TOTO. Oh, I did not know that Toto is a Cairn terrier.

25. Out of control: AMOK

26. Art community near Santa Fe: TAOS

30. Soccer star Freddie: ADU. Too much hype on him earlier on.

31. "__ only money": IT'S. What's this? Movie title? Song title?

32. Rock's __ Lobos: LOS. Literally "The Wolves".

33. Greek house?: FRAT. Frat house. Nailed it.

34. "__ not to reason why": Tennyson: OURS. I forgot. Rich Norris used this clue before.

37. Home of the College World Series: OMAHA. Good to know.

38. They're often next to fives: TENS. Cash box compartment.

42. Chill pill target: STRESS. Not familiar with "chill pill" at all.

43. At the original speed, in music: A TEMPO. New musical term to me.

44. __ d'art: OBJET. Literally "thing" in French.

45. Regional wildlife: FAUNA

46. Setting that affects depth of field: F-STOP. Camera setting.

47. Songwriter Sammy et al.: CAHNS. Just learned that he wrote the lyrics for "High Hope".

48. Pays attention to: HEEDS

49. Immortal PGA nickname: ARNIE (Palmer). Penned in ERNIE first and was ready to complain that Ernie Els has yet to achieve the immortal status.

50. Roberto's rivers: RIOS. Spanish rivers.

53. Dedicated by the auth.: INSC. Inscription I suppose. Not a familiar abbr. to me.

54. Highlander: GAEL. Scottish Highlander.

55. Quaint word in some tavern names: OLDE

57. Dessert choice: PIE. Do any of you love Larabar also?

Answer grid.

C.C.