Saturday May 14, 2011 Victor Fleming

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 29

This puzzle is anchored by two grid-spanners:

19A. Was left out, facetiously : DIDN'T GET THE MEMO. Orderly A, E, I, O, U, Y in the word "facetiously". Very unusual.

50A. Man, to Aristotle : POLITICAL ANIMAL. He said "man is by nature a political animal".

The two 15s are then crossed by two 9s each. All great entries. I especially liked GOOD CATCH (35D. Matrimonial prize).

Tough cluing overall, typified by:

45A. Case, for instance: Abbr. : SYN (Synonym). Case is a synonym of "instance": in this case/in this instance.

Across:

1. "American Pie" actress : TARA REID. Always nice to see a full name.

9. Leading, usually : ON BASE. Leading off base.

15. Refinement : ELEGANCE

16. Goes without saying? : MOUTHS. Great clue.

17. Subtle differences : NICETIES

18. "Where ignorant __ clash by night": Matthew Arnold : ARMIES. I just freeze when seeing a quote clue.

21. Round-topped topper : TAM. Scottish topper.

22. Ticked : IRATE

23. Duchamp contemporary : ARP (Jean)

26. Nursery employee : NANNY. Not plant nursery.

28. Milky way? : UDDER. Fun clue.

32. Rye server : DELI

34. Trifle : TOY. Verb.

35. It's good to be in one : GROOVE

36. Something taken by a shooter : DEAD AIM. Take dead aim.

38. Some incentives : BONUSES

39. Non-acidic vitamin brand : ESTER-C. So other brands might be acidic?

40. Labor gp. that initially supported FDR : CIO. Who knows?

41. Jack's wife in Season 1 of "24" : TERI. No idea.

42. Therapy goal : REHAB

43. Bridge units : HANDS. Game, Dummy! Not river bridge.

46. Last straw : LIMIT

48. Video end? : CAM. Oh, Video camera.

57. Throws : AMAZES. This throws me.

58. "Sure, why not?" : LET'S DO IT. Clue & answer sound very Dennis.

59. Meet people? : RACERS. "Meet" is a noun then.

60. Pedigree : ANCESTRY

61. Black-tie : DRESSY

62. Diamond gem : NO-HITTER. Baseball diamond. Two no-hitters this season. One by Twins' Liriano.

Down:

1. Keep an eye on : TEND

2. Et __ : ALII

3. Like most mailed pkgs. : REC'D

4. Deal maker : AGENT

5. Palm prevalent in Indonesia : RATTAN

6. Hard to figure out : ENIGMATIC. Like Mona Lisa's smile.

7. Frozen pop brand : ICEE

8. Fortune : DESTINY

9. It's across the Missouri from Council Bluffs, Iowa : OMAHA. Happy fill for Husker Gary.

10. Point from which one must proceed? : NO RETURN. Another tricky clue.

11. Disappointed, slangily : BUMMED OUT

12. End in __ : A TIE

13. Noah's eldest : SHEM. One of his brothers was called Ham.

14. Sinclair Oil rival : ESSO

20. Subject to strain : TRY

23. Puff __ : ADDER

24. Eponymous candy company founder : REESE

25. "Lady Lazarus" poet : PLATH (Sylvia). What a tragic life she had.

27. Henri, e.g. : NOM. Just a name.

29. Doctor's orders : DOSES

30. All possible : EVERY

31. Mastic, for one : RESIN. Did not know Mastic is plant resin.

33. Puts on a pedestal : IDEALIZES

37. Judges : ARBITERS. The constructor is a judge.

38. Storage unit : BIN

40. Pablo Casals, e.g. : CATALAN. Dali also.

43. Sound heard after a lot of shots? : HIC. Bar "shots".

44. Third-generation Japanese-American : SANSEI. San = Three/Third. Same as Chinese. Sei means "birth".

47. Rapper Elliott : MISSY

49. Core : MIDST

50. Frontier friend : PARD

51. Shortstop Vizquel : OMAR. He was with the Indians for a long time.

52. Oxford fastener : LACE

53. Star seen around midnight : LENO (Jay)

54. Suffragist Lucretia : MOTT. I forgot. I think we had her before.

55. Leeds's river : AIRE. Another stumper.

56. Astron. distance : LT-YR (Light year)

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Victor Fleming

Theme: "Interview Day"- as I was very excited to wear my new DRESS SHIRT and tie two weeks ago; I have been told round two of the interviews just started this week.  Thanks to those who said good luck to me~!

Each of the four theme answers are parts of a DRESS SHIRT, the unifier at 58A, Item featuring the ends of 17-, 24-, 36- and 48-Across:

17A. One of a pool table pair : SIDE POCKET - and, uh, some other thoughts occurred to me, too....

24A. Illegal football tackle involving grabbing the inside of the shoulder pads from behind or the side : HORSE COLLAR (never heard this in any game I have ever watched, tho)

36A. Album holders : RECORD SLEEVES

48A. Seafood entrée : LOBSTER TAIL

Simple theme, and some corners a little tougher than I expected for a Wednesday, but a good challenge.

And away we GO ~!

ACROSS:

1. Stinging : ACRID

6. Texas Rangers CEO Nolan : RYAN - baseball, I knew him as the pitcher a long time ago....

10. Go, as through mud : SLOG - and Crossword Corner Blog jargon for wading through a tough puzzle

14. Sex educator Hite : SHERE - Shirley Gregory, from the Wiki article

15. Billion add-on : BillionAIRE

16. Hobbler's support : CANE

19. Take the stage first : OPEN

20. Franken and Gore : ALs

21. Old-fashioned wedding vow pronoun : THEE

22. Inhabited, with "in" : DWELT

23. Final: Abbr. : ULT - ultimate

27. Prevaricators : LIARS

29. Trick : CON

30. Bond, for one : SPY - Bond, James Bond

31. Head, to Cécile : TETE - French

32. M16 attachment : BAYONET - M16 machine gun

40. Practiced with the platoon : DRILLED - the analyzer says this word has never been in a NYT puzzle - I find that shocking....

41. When repeated, a food fish : MAHI-mahi, Hawaiian for this fish

43. That, to Tomás : ESO - Spanish

46. Citrus drink : ADE - like our LemonADE ~!

47. Big name in stationery : EATON - new to me; here's a bit from Wiki

53. Shipping lane milieu : SEA - must be too early; this one got me, and I know what milieu means - despite being French

54. Foaming at the mouth, so to speak : IRATE

55. Prefix with sphere : HEMIsphere

56. Sot's syndrome, briefly : DTs - oh yeah, been there, done that - not pretty, but six years ago, now - Delirium Tremens

57. Moore of "Ghost" : DEMI

61. Airline to Eilat : ELAL - a WAG, but not a hard one - map

62. Major-__ : DOMO - n. pl. ma·jor-do·mos. The head steward or butler in the household of a sovereign or great noble.

63. "__ Go Again": Whitesnake #1 song : "HERE I" - OK, I'll  link  it - but not the "Tawny" video

64. Part of SSS: Abbr. : SYST  - Selective Service System - military

65. Part of a process : STEP

66. Star-like flower : ASTER

DOWN:

1. Battery partner : ASSAULT & Battery, the crime(s)

2. More in need of a sweater, say : CHILLIER

3. Voting map designation : RED STATE - map #2

4. Infuriation : IRE

5. Ocean-bottom areas : DEPTHS

6. Indy entrant : RACER - Indianapolis 500

7. "Uh-oh!" : YIKES

8. "__ you for real?" : ARE

9. Court divider : NET - tennis was not my first thought - I watch a lot of "Law & Order"

10. Displeased look : SCOWL

11. Jacket features : LAPELS

12. Quarter-mile, maybe : ONE LAP

13. Aristocracy : GENTRY - from the French, meaning "high-born"

18. "Gotcha!" : O-HO

22. Charity, e.g. : DONEE - as opposed to the DonOR

25. Where to study mathématiques : ECOLE - ah, French....and the C was the last letter I had to fix - thought it was ETOLE at first, but "Ton" made no sense for "Trick".

26. Funnel-shaped : CONED - tried CONIC at first, didn't sound right

28. Stamp for an incoming pkg. : REC'D - received - all this information is encoded at my part-time job, UPS

32. One walking in front of a train : BRIDE - interesting visual if you don't think bride first....just rented "Unstoppable", thought it was pretty good.

33. Freud contemporary : Alfred ADLER

34. Fashion monogram : YSL - Yves Saint Laurent - here - a crossword standard

35. Like "Nip/Tuck," rating-wise : TVMA - short for TV Mature Audiences;  some others are L - language, S - sex, V - violence, and D for "suggestive dialogue"; our little corner has a LOT of this ~!

37. Get on the soapbox : ORATE

38. Humbly takes the blame : EATS DIRT

39. Shape-maintaining insert : SHOE TREE

42. Agitated : IN A STIR had in a SNIT first

43. Skips over in pronunciation : ELIDES - as in "gonna" for "going to"

44. Extremely : SORELY - as in "I sorely missed her"

45. First family : OBAMAs

47. Inventor Otis : ELISHA - did not know his first name; usually clued with elevator

49. Clown heightener : STILT

50. Most crosswords have one : THEME - yes they do ~!

51. Fabulous fellow? : AESOP - not my first thought; see 60D

52. AOL communications : IMs - Instant Messages

58. Bridge installer's deg. : DDS - got me, I was thinking civil engineer; this is the dentist's degree "Doctor of Dental Surgery"

59. Rubbish : ROT

60. "For __ a jolly ..." : HE'S - yes, the  "fellow"  of 51D made this song pop into my head

Answer grid.

Splynter

Sunday March 27, 2011 Matt Skoczen and Victor Fleming

Theme: Rowdy Bunch - WILD can precede the first word of each starred answers.

22A. *Old library aid : CARD CATALOG. Wild card.

32A. *Soda fountain choice : CHERRY COKE. Wild cherry.

64A. Maurice Sendak kids' book, and the starts of starred answers : WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. Lovely unifier.

97A. *Ragtime dance : TURKEY TROT. Wild turkey.

110A. *'60s Haight-Ashbury type : FLOWER CHILD. Wild flower.

3D. *Political mantra : PARTY LINE. Wild party.

20D. *Drug problem : SIDE EFFECT. Wild side. Do you have a wild side?

67D. *One side of a defunct wall : WEST BERLIN. Wild west.

76D. *A cappella leader's gadget : PITCH PIPE. Wild pitch.

Fun puzzle. Made me think of Charlie Sheen's Wild Thing in "Major League": Wild Thing, you make my heart sing.

Terrific theme answer interlock in this grid. Awesome grid design. It takes luck as well as skills to make them work.

Quite a few baseball references to delight me, but I was stumped by O'DOUL (28A. Two-time N.L. batting champ Lefty). Of course I wanted GROVE. Lefty Grove was a Hall-of-Famer. Wiki shows O'Doul won the batting champ in 1929 & 1932. Too long ago.

Another possible stumper for some might be ENOKIs (94A. Japanese mushrooms), which are part of my diet, so no problem here.

Across:

1. Move to a larger container, say : REPOT. Plant.

6. Office exchanges : MEMOS

11. Put a dent in : MAR

14. "Woe __!" : IS ME

18. In any way : AT ALL. Man, I had trouble getting this little answer.

19. Aromatic resin : ELEMI

20. "¿Quién __?" : SABE. Spanish for "Who knows?". Not me.

21. Where the Pecos R. begins : N MEX

24. Gadget, for one: Abbr. : INSP (Inspector). Not familiar with Inspector Gadget.

25. Water turbidity cause : SILT

26. Book after Neh. : ESTH

27. "Midnight Cowboy" con man : RATSO. Disturbing movie.

29. Motorcade VIP : PRES. OK, President.

30. Hit a lot of high notes : YODELED

34. Societal ideals : VALUES

36. What obsolete things fall into : DISUSE

38. Bananas : DAFT. I like nuts on bananas. 

39. "Marley & Me" actress : ANISTON (Jennifer). Love her. Can't understand Angelina Jolie's appeal. 

41. React to boredom, perhaps : NOD OFF. Thought of YAWN AT first.

43. Defeats : LOSSES. Noun.

47. Port of Crete : CANEA. Stumped me again.

48. Cockney toast starter : (H)ERE's. The starting H is dropped in Cockney accent.

50. Souvenirs at the park, usually : FOULS. Foul balls. I was picturing pins/caps/bats, etc.

52. Controversial "gift" : ESP. Why controversial? I wanted GAB.

53. Fresno-to-Bakersfield dir. : SSE. I trust it's correct.

54. Not __ Town: anti-hate-crime movement : IN OUR. New to me.

56. Procter & Gamble toothpaste : GLEEM

58. Salad cheese : FETA

59. Sail motions : FLAPS. I don't get this one. TIDES wouldn't work.

60. Not of the cloth : LAIC

61. Bombed : PIE-EYED. Both slang for "drunk".

69. One way to anticipate : EAGERLY. Then we have 85A. Eager beaver : DYNAMO. Slight dupe. But I did like the clue for the latter.

70. 8 x 10 phots., e.g. : ENLs

71. "... but maybe I'm wrong" : OR NOT

72. "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" dramatist : INGE (William). Easy guess.

73. Job jar items : TASKS

75. Thomas Paine's belief : DEISM

76. __ band: school rally performers : PEP

79. "Golden Age" Hollywood studio : RKO

80. Kept awake, maybe : ATE AT

82. Bruce of "The Astronaut Farmer" : DERN

83. "There is __ in the affairs of men ...": Brutus : A TIDE. Do you like this kind of quote clue?

87. '70s-'80s FBI sting : ABSCAM

90. Like some markers : GENETIC. Wow, first encounter with this DNA term "Genetic marker".

92. Swedish tennis great : BORG (Björn)

96. Chops up : MINCES

100. Spa service : MUD BATH. Nice one.

102. Big name in pineapples : DOLE

103. First toothbrush to go to the moon : ORAL B

104. One leading a charmed life? : COBRA. Charmed by the snake charmer.

105. The first one was founded in 1824 Eng. to protect carriage horses : SPCA. Good to know this trivia.

108. James or Jones of jazz : ETTA

109. __-mutuel : PARI

112. Lent organs? : EARS. Lend me your ears.

113. Harrow rival : ETON

114. Saintly qualities : AURAS

115. Utah's state gem : TOPAZ

116. Make a chart of, as land : PLAT

117. Safety feature for some walkers : NET

118. Conforms : OBEYS

119. Stieg Larsson was one : SWEDE. Quite popular after his death.

Down:

1. Regatta : RACE. Thought of Gunghy.

2. H-like letters : ETAS

4. Fixer-upper, often : OLD HOUSE

5. Dr. Mom's forte : TLC

6. Heavy __ : METAL

7. Made joyous : ELATED

8. Alice's restaurant? : MEL'S DINER. "Alice" the sitcom.

9. 1847 novel based on its author's time in the Society Islands : OMOO. Melville novel.

10. Milano Mr. : SIG. OK, Signore.

11. Impressive house : MANOR

12. Inane relative? : ABSURD

13. E-mail option : REPLY ALL. I Like this entry too.

14. Popular restaurants : IN SPOTS

15. Smug grin : SMIRK

16. A beanball might lead to one : MELEE

17. Personal organizer nos. : EXTs.

23. Part of a playground exchange : ARE SO

28. Very : OH SO. SO easy to have a dupe for a Sunday puzzle.

31. One who spiffs up your wheels : DETAILER

32. It's chewed in leas : CUD

33. Corp. fiscal VIPs : CFOs

34. Little suckers? : VACS (Vacuums). And 111. Small change? : CTS (Cents). Both "little" and "small" mean "in shortened form".

35. Santa __: West Coast winds : ANAs

37. Popular pad : SOS

40. Abecedarian : NEOPHYTE

42. One of them? : FOE. Nice clue.

44. "I'm outta here!" : SEE YA

45. Perfume compound : ESTER

46. One in a black suit : SPADE. Playing cards again.

49. Scammer's ploy : RUSE

51. Calling strikes, e.g. : UMPIRING

55. NFL part: Abbr. : NATL

56. Maddens : GALLS

57. Eye shades : LIDS

58. Suffix with song : FEST

59. Lacking dates : FREE. In a way, yes.

60. Patty alternative : LINK. We could only afford to eat meat once in a year in my childhood. Lots of stuff were rationed until I was about 10.

62. Getaway places : INNS

63. Typical Bond villain's malady : EGOMANIA

64. Uncanny : WEIRD

65. Good thing to have at a tearjerker : HANKY

66. Prod : EGG ON

68. Weed whacker : HOER

74. Battery spec : AAA

75. "Disclosure" co-star : DEMI MOORE. Beautiful hair.

77. Falco of "Nurse Jackie" : EDIE

78. Push-up targets : PECs

80. Unrestrainedly : AMOK

81. Unwrapped excitedly : TORE OPEN. Like my Xmas morning.

82. U.S. terr., 1861-'89 : DAK

84. Circus : TENT SHOW

86. Keep __ of: stay current with : ABREAST. Dennis would have fun with this clue.

88. Persnickety sort : SNOB

89. Collapsible bed : COT

91. Put in a cell : EMBAR

93. Pirouette : GYRATE

95. Seller of the $5 FOOTLONG : SUBWAY. Eat Fresh.

97. Add up to : TOTAL

98. Extreme : ULTRA

99. Occult medium : TAROT

101. Kind of shoes or blues : DRESS. I remember Monica's blue dress.

102. Sea, with "the" : DEEP

104. Country place? : CLUB. Country club.

106. Not in one's birthday suit : CLAD

107. Cutter with a bent blade : ADZE. This guy is using one. I'd like to see this word in Jerome puzzle.

110. __ Schwarz: NYC toy store : FAO

Answer grid.

C.C.

Interview with Victor Fleming

Those who watched the crossword documentary "Wordplay" are probably familiar with the below lines:

"If you don't come across I'm gonna be down/ If you don't come across I'm gonna be down/ Your love to me is a mystery and the clues are all around / If you don't come across I'm gonna be down..." (Full lyrics here). The song was composed by today's constructor Victor Fleming.

Mr. Fleming started constructing crosswords regularly for various newspapers in 2004. Since then, his puzzles have appeared in LA Times, NY Times (total 26 puzzles), NY Sun, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Games magazine, etc.

I learned that you are a district judge in Little Rock. How did you get into crossword construction and how does your law background influence your puzzle style?

I’ve been solving crosswords since the age of 12, but I’ve played word games and made up puzzles and mazes for as long as I can remember. In 2003, I set a goal of publishing crosswords. After several rejection notes, I found two mentors, Peter Abide and Nelson Hardy. With these experienced constructors’ help, I learned what I was doing wrong, fixed that and have been published regularly since 2004. Given choices among various fill selections and various clues, I seem to gravitate toward legal stuff, though I try to balance that out.

You appeared in "Wordplay", which also featured a song you wrote. How was the movie experience and how did it affect your life?

The “Wordplay” experience was serendipitous and fun. I’d written a song to perform as part of a humor routine at the 2005 ACPT, the first one that I’d ever attended. Turned out that was the year that Patrick Creadon and Christine O’Malley were shooting footage for a documentary about crosswords. They met me, learned what I was up to and filmed Stella Daily, Ben Tausig and me rehearsing the song, “If You Don’t Come Across, I’m Gonna Be Down.” They liked it, left me and the song in the film and then licensed the song for the closing credits. I went to premieres of the film at the Sundance Film Festival and in New York, Chicago, Little Rock, Jackson (Miss.) and Fayetteville (Ark.). I had a blast.

What is the highlight of your construction career and what is the best puzzle you've made? Why?

There’ve been many highlights. The first and second puzzles published by the New York Times stand out because there was a 14-month turnaround for the first and a 14-day turnaround for the second, and they were published 5 weeks apart. My first puzzle accepted by Rich Norris at LAT stands out as well, because he really liked a theme that some people around me had not been complimentary of. The best puzzle, I suppose, was one in a Simon & Schuster book that Bruce Venzke and I did, called “You Be the Judge.” In it, the two words across the center were OBJECTION ?????????, and the missing letters could spell SUSTAINED or OVERRULED, as the crossing clues would support both.

You seem to be fond of collaborating with other constructors, how is it different from your own individual effort?

Dialoguing about puzzles is fun and educational. I made puzzles with my mentors. I’ve made puzzles with most of the people whom I’ve mentored. And I have made puzzles with a lot of different people who have just become friends. It typically begins with one or the other person starting a dialogue, as innocuous as “What do you think of this?” or as serious as “I’ve got something really good here and I’m stuck.”

When does the crossword muse normally visit you? And what kind of books/magazines/websites do you read for theme inspirations?

My muse is more like a drunken sailor than a sweet little fairy princess. For me, making puzzles is work. And late at night is when I pursue the activity. I dig through quote books and sites. I spend a lot of time at onelook.com. I pluck ideas from the newspaper and from magazines that I read and from contemporary and not-so-contemporary literature that I read.

What kind of puzzle do you solve every day? And who are your favorite constructors?

I solve the L.A. Times, New York Times and CrosSynery puzzles every day. My favorite constructors are - well, I made a list and there were 40 people on it, and I am bound to have left out someone. So, please excuse me on this request. I admire different people for different talents that they demonstrate in the cruciverbalism.

Saturday November 27, 2010 Victor Fleming

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 29

Interesting cross shape in the middle. It coheres the grid and gives the whole central part a tight connectedness which could collapse the entire puzzle if one fill goes wrong. Quite challenging construction-wise. The constructor also refrained from using any helper/cheater squares. Admirable.

I am quite fond of the paralleled triple 9s in Down today, all multiple words:

12D. Some clinic customers : PET OWNERS

13D. Run by an ex, as a household : ONE PARENT

14D. Bush country? : RED STATES. Those who voted for Bush?

30D. Be rewarded on the job : GET A RAISE. Sweet.

31D. Superhero first introduced as a teenager : SPIDER-MAN. Do you know his real name is Peter Parker.

32D. Track fixture : TOTE BOARD. Racetrack.

Across:

1. One is in the Guinness Book for its 1,728-word vocabulary : PARAKEET. Helpful hints with "its" and the number of vocabulary.

9. Foggy state : STUPOR. Always want *NESS ending for clues with "state".

15. It's SSE of Salt Lake City : OREM UTAH. Tricky combination. But the clue is asking for OREM UT, with abbreviated SSE.

16. Peaceful : SERENE

17. South-of-the-border sunblock? : SOMBRERO. Oh, hat.

18. Like "The Hurt Locker," e.g. : R-RATED. Haven't seen the movie yet.

19. Iteration opening : I SAID. And I AM (53. First two words of "Green Eggs and Ham"). I am Sam.

20. Ask too many questions : PRY

22. Big drop sounds : PLOPS

23. Actual wording : TEXT

24. It clashes with stripes : PLAID. Why "clashes"?

26. Hit : SWAT

27. Elbows on the table, say : FAUX PAS. Proper manner in our house.

29. Lobby with heaters?: Abbr. : NRA. Nailed it.

30. Guitar component : G-STRING. Our Al is a serious guitar player.

34. Where the Boss's band once rehearsed : E-STREET. I never know how the E Street Band got its name.

36. Horace works : EPODES. Lyric poems. New word to me.

37. Ludlum's amnesiac Jason : BOURNE. "The Bourne Identity".

38. Oberon's spouse : TITANIA. From "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Got me.

40. Conservationists' concerns : FORESTS

41. Drink suffix : ADE

42. Total : DESTROY. Verb "Total".

44. Sitcom named for its star : REBA

46. Weasel relative : STOAT

47. Building site sight : I-BAR

51. Woolf's "__ of One's Own" : A ROOM. Virginia Woolf.

54. Lose ground? : ERODE. Awesome clue.

55. Istanbul shelter : IMARET. Turkish hostel. I can never remember this word.

57. Liqueur made with coffee beans : TIA MARIA. Kahlua too.

59. Flaubert biographer : SARTRE. No idea. "Nausea", "No Exit", "Being and Nothingness" are all the works I know about Sartre. Womanizer. Most men cheat.

60. One may be civil : ENGINEER. Thought of MARRIAGE.

61. Ultimate objective : END ALL

62. Ones with "a case of mistaken nonentity": Barbara Stanwyck : EGOTISTS. Unaware of this quote.

Down:

1. Put forward : POSIT

2. Developed : AROSE

3. Big name in real estate : RE/MAX. Big indeed. But what does the company name mean?

4. Scope : AMBIT. No idea. I know gambit though.

5. About one in six Iraqis : KURD. Interesting trivia.

6. Hot time to see Nancy? : ETE. Nancy the city in France.

7. One of a swimmer's pair : EARPLUG

8. Insect section : THORAX

9. Lith., once : SSR

10. College Park athlete, for short : TERP. University of Maryland. College Park is a city? Sounds like a stadium name.

11. Source of some Russian copper : URALS. Unaware of the copper there.

21. Startled cry : YIPE

24. Multi-colored bloomers : PANSIES

25. 1981 Wolfgang Petersen film : DAS BOOT. "The Boat". A movie about some U-boat.

27. Evil sort : FIEND

28. Short __ : STORY

33. Suggested amt. to have : RDA

35. Want to take back : RUE

39. Moscato d'__: sparkling wine : ASTI

40. Setting up : FRAMING

43. Exactly : TO A TEE. Used to have problem parsing TOATEE.

45. Vital artery : AORTA

47. Farsi speaker : IRANI

48. Didactic types, often : BORES

49. Losing, after "on" : A DIET. Losing weight.

50. Backs : REARS

52. Jazz organist Saunders : MERL. His name escaped me.

54. Give out : EMIT

56. Address book abbr. : TEL

58. Back : AGO

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday May 22, 2010 Victor Fleming

Theme: None

Total words: 66 (Four intersecting grid-spanners)

Total blocks: 30

No theme today, Saturdays are themeless, although I think the answer for 8D. Educated Guesses was a good name for this puzzle. There were a lot of initial fill-ins that I wasn't entirely sure of, but they just felt right somehow.

Al here today, killing time while waiting for some off-hours processing to finish for work.

Across:

1. McCarthy era phenomenon: RED SCARE. Technically, the second one, from 1947-1957 in which the Cincinnati Reds temporarily renamed themselves the “Cincinnati Redlegs” to avoid the money-losing and career-ruining connotations inherent in being ball-playing “Reds”. The first Red Scare was from 1917-1920.

9. Trysting relationship: AFFAIR. What one "has to do" from Old French à faire "to do".

15. Flattered, in a way: IMITATED. Imitation is the sincerest of flattery -- Charles Caleb Colton.

16. Grand Canal span: RIALTO. Contracted from Rivoalto and named for the canal (Latin rivus altus "deep stream") which it crosses.

17. 1985 John Irving best-seller: CIDERHOUSE RULES. Made into a movie starring Spiderman (Tobey Maguire) and the latest Alfred (Batman's butler) Michael Caine, who also was the lead in a movie called Alfie.

19. Architect Saarinen: ELIEL. And his son EERO (who designed the Gateway Arch among other structures). If you don't know these two names by now, just resolve to commit them to memory if you're planning on doing more crosswords.

20. Baby's asset: CUTENESS.

21. Goes back: RETROGRADES. Straight from the Latin: retro- backwards, Gradus: steps.

24. "Shucks!": RATS. An interjection. Remember Schoolhouse Rock?

25. Displays, with "out": TROTS. Originally connected with showing off horses in 1838, it was recorded as slang later by 1845. A recorded connection with "the runs" precedes both of those by 30 years.

30. Rested: TOOK FIVE. Roughly the amount of time it takes to smoke a cigarette. Here's a better use of your five minutes.

35. Frequent saver: GOALIE. Hurling, association football, Gaelic football, International Rules Football, handball, ice hockey, field hockey, netball, water polo, bandy, lacrosse, floorball.

36. Medical malpractice issue: INFORMED CONSENT. For instance, if someone says OK to having a procedure done, but only because they felt intimidated, whether by the influence of the practitioner's strong expression of convictions, or they were cowed by the perceived difference in education on the subject, then it's an issue.

38. Naval construction worker: SEABEE. CB, Construction Battalions.

39. Garden entrance component, perhaps: GATEPOST.

40. Beefy-T maker: HANES. Tee shirt manufacturer.

41. A psychic may see one: AURA. When there is "a certain air" around someone. From Greek aura: gentle breeze

42. It's right before the end: HOME STRETCH. The straightaway from the last turn to the finish line on a horse racetrack.

49. Goes before: PRECEDES.

53. "Corporations have been enthroned and ___ of corruption in high places will follow": Lincoln: AN ERA.

54. Cryptozoologist's subject: LOCH NESS MONSTER. Crypto: hidden. Zoology: animal studies. (Zoo from Greek zoion, a living being)

57. Celebrate a promotion, maybe: EAT OUT. There was probably a raise involved as well...

58. Grin measure?: EAR TO EAR. A creepy Cheshire cat.

59. Shows exhaustion: DROOPS.

60. Aviation pioneer: SIKORSKY. Igor. A Russian immigrant, he designed the first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the first airliner, Pan-am flying boats, and the first viable American helicopter.

Down:

1. Sous chef's gadget: RICER.

2. '60s boxing champ Griffith: EMILE. Not a boxing fan, unknown to me.

3. Finished the job: DID IT.

4. Guide: STEER. The verb, not a Sherpa.

5. Swindler Ponzi, at birth: CARLO. The Ponzi Scheme.

6. Sports fig.: ATH. Figure and Athlete, both abbr.

7. Popular '20s auto: REO. Educated Guess, three letters, old car, that had to be it.

8. They're not wild: EDUCATED GUESSES. Intuition isn't entirely psychic...

9. Narrow ridge: ARETE. From Latin "arista": ear of grain. OK, that's what it says, but I don't see the connection.

10. Early Ford supplier: FIRESTONE.

11. Woodland spirit: FAUN. Latin Faunus, Greek Pan. A goat-man/god similar to a satyr. A faun is man still in intimate communion with Nature, a satyr is a man still swayed by bestial passions.

12. Everyone, in Essen: ALLE. alles alles auch sind frei.

13. Suburban followers?: ITES. Suburbanites. A suffix clue made a bit trickier by the plural phrasing, so the sense of individual letters, not the whole syllable.

14. 18th-century sewer: ROSS. Betsy Ross. Sewer = One who sews. Not something with a manhole cover... There is some debate about the story of the flag origin, but the lack of actual records either way makes it difficult or even impossible to prove or disprove.

18. Brewski: SUDS. Beer slang. Using compressed nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide makes the "SUDS" richer, and more aromatic.

22. Ugly buildup: GRIME. from Middle English "grim": dirt, filth.

23. Show approval, or disapproval: RAVE. A rave review, or to show signs of delirium, i.e. rant.

26. Grating sound: RASP. Wolfman Jack comes to mind.

27. It's sold in bars: OLEO. Sticks, maybe. I've never heard of them as bars... Unless maybe as the contents in baked goods...

28. Pie containers: TINS. The origin of the frisbee.

29. Paving stone: SETT. Quarried or shaped to have square edges, cobblestones are natural shapes.

30. Mrs. Addams, to Gomez: TISH. He became especially amorous whenever she spoke French. I wonder if that wasn't put in there to slip something past the censors.

31. Service rank: ONE-A.

32. "Confessions __ English Opium-Eater": 1821 De Quincey work: OF AN.

33. Capital of Hyogo Prefecture: KOBE. Or a dishonored Basketball player. Settled out of court, and is playing again.

34. Shower and change, say: FRESHEN UP.

35. Touched: GOT AT. I thought maybe got "to", got at sounds like more than just touching.

37. Traffic units: CARS. Could have been vans.

41. "Life With Father" co-star Leon: AMES. Before my time.

43. "Night Music" playwright: ODETS. Also before my time.

44. Sought aid from: RAN TO. Frankly Scarlett...

45. "Christ's Entry Into Brussels in 1889" artist: ENSOR. James. Lots of names today, it seems.

46. Beans of Paris?: TETES. French for "heads".

47. Reason to lubricate: CREAK. I'll put oil on my floor then?

48. Potter of fiction: HARRY.

49. Asked in earnest: PLED.

50. Jungle warning: ROAR.

51. Plasm lead-in: ECTO. Prefix, ectoplasm. Also called the cortex, the outer smooth part of a cell's cytoplasm. Unless you're one of the ghostbusters, that is, then it's just slime from paranormal activity.

52. Half a track sound: CHOO. And the other half is AH. (Correction: The track sound is choo-choo. Thanks, Anonymous @6:54am.)

55. It follows April in Paris: MAI. French for May.

56. Where "Shazbot!" is a curse: ORK. From Mork and Mindy, an alien who reported back to Ork how badly we humans treat each other for very silly reasons. The show jumped the shark when they added Jonathan Winters as a very large baby. Because that just wasn't believable.

Answer grid.

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