Friday, March 4, 2011, Matt Matera

Theme: Playing with your food again? Four common phrases have one word replaced with a breakfast food item, to create an amusing sound alike phrase, clued in a witty fashion. No unifier today; a day to work hard for our solutions.

20A. Halloween breakfast pastry?: CREEPY CRULLER. CREEPY CRAWLER is the base phrase, a toy from Mattel, I think, where you make cute worms.

33A. Lone breakfast pastry?: CRUMPET SOLO. TRUMPET SOLO; I am sure JzB wishes there were more Trombone solos.

42A. Cherished breakfast pastry?: THE BUN I LOVE. Maybe you remember this song, THE ONE I LOVE my favorite theme answer.

56A. Ones hooked on breakfast pastry? : THE SCONEHEADS. The SNL creation with Dan Ackroyd and Larraine Newman, the Coneheads. I am on a big scone eating kick these days, mostly orange cranberry; I think it is because I am reading too many British mysteries and need my elevenses.

Lemonade here.

This was a fun Friday, with some very hard parts, from a fairly new constructor, who had his solo debut here in October,  He is a friend of Joon Pahk, another young gun. I thought the theme was amusing, and it being a 4 pronged mini-clecho added to the challenge. Let us see what else Matt had up his number 2 pencil, which made me work very hard.

Across:

1. The word?: MUM. Once you see the answer and picture the phrase, "Mum's the word," this is easy, but there are so many words. Shakespeare said in Henry VI, part II, "Seal up your lips and give no words but mum."

4. You might need to watch yours: STEP. Wow, another idiomatic phrase, this could be a long night.

8. Like some Disneyland passes: TWO DAY. I have only been to Disneyland once, and it was quite small. I moved to Florida just before they opened Disney-world, so I was spoiled. How many have been to both? No more E tickets anyway.

14. Downed: ATE. I may have to eat my words if this does not get easier.

15. __ bene: NOTA. Oh goody, Latin and a common legal term; this phrase, usually abbreviated (NB) means pay special attention to this area. Literally to note well.

16. It may involve an exaggerated age: FAKE ID. Another legal (okay illegal) concept. The greatest one being this ID .

17. With 19-Across, serious warnings: RED. 19. See 17-Across: ALERTS. The highest level; Homeland Security advises we are at Yellow alert today.

18. Not much: A BIT. Another idiom in the first ten clues.

23. 1938 "The War of the Worlds" broadcast, for one: HOAX. Do you think Orson Wells could pull off this in modern times?

24. Keystone enforcer: KOP. Mack Sennet's bumbling bobbys appeared with another crossword favorite Mable Normand.

25. Blazing: AFIRE. Oh, the obligatory A word.

28. Go-aheads: ASSENTS.

32. __'acte: ENTR. My French lesson of the day, ENTRE means between, but French loves elision, so the last E is removed to make one sound for the phrase meaning intermission, or between the act(s).

37. Garden product word: GRO. Scott's bought Sterns Miracle-Gro Products, Inc for their very successful Miracle Gro line of fertilizers. They work, though some say with side effects.

38. Attacks: RUNS AT. Another phrase, but not such a popular one.

39. Igloos and yurts: ABODES. Most of us are familiar with the Igloo, but not a YURT .

41. Sch. attendance notation: ABS. No ladies, not an excuse to show some guy with great abdominal muscles, an abbreviation for ABSENT.

46. End of a boast: VICI. More Latin, just to appease me; VENI, VIDI (I came, I saw) before I conquered.

48. Got for nothing: SPONGED. Well I know sponging off people means getting for nothing, but the tenses made this difficult, especially as the perps were not gimmes.

49. Make official: ENACT. Make into law.

51. Newspaper supply: INK. Don't you just hate the ink all over your hands when you finish reading the paper? Why do I hear Andy Rooney saying that in my head?

52. Islamic leader: IMAM. There is a tremendous variance between Sunni Imam and the Shi'a Imam, with the Sunni, it is more leadership like a Rabbi, and more religious with the Shi'a.

60. Type of sauce served with falafel: TAHINI. This wonderful, creamy garlicky sauce uses the sesame paste as its central ingredient, but many other flavors are mixed in to blend with chicken and other bland food.

62. Gaucho's weapon: BOLA. As kids, my brothers and I tried to make our own BOLAS but we did not have any tall animals, except each other, on whom to practice.

63. Homework amount?: TON. Aww, mom I have a TON of homework!

64. Puck's king: OBERON. More Shakespeare, Midsummers Night Dream, and the Queen was...?

65. "Dulce et Decorum est" poet Wilfred __: OWEN. A much respected but not widely known poet from WWI, who died 7 days before Armistice Day, but did have his thoughts on war preserved and published. Here is more information on him in this LINK .

66. Flow out: EBB. Our Crosswordese 101.

67. Henry VIII et al.: TUDORS. The Welsh family which ruled great Britain until they died out when Elizabeth I had no children, and her cousin, James the VI of Scotland became the King, and the first in the house of Stuart. The Showtime series is interesting, though quite explicit.

68. Hitch: SNAG. Another tricky one, as the dictionary has seven meanings for the noun HITCH, plus more for the verbs.

69. Wall St. monitor: SEC. Securities and Exchange Commission.

I would not have been able to finish if it were not for the downs, so we better get going.

Down:

1. Orderly movement: MARCH. I hope these memories are all happy ones Dennis, it is time for MUSIC .

2. Nirvana #1 album "In __": UTERO. And more MUSIC ; I never go into this.

3. Scorned lover of Jason: MEDEA. But I surely love my namesake appearing, even if it is a reminder of the Biatch Medea murdering my poor children in a jealous rage. hey, boys must be boys.

4. Lose it: SNAP. You could say Medea just snapped.

5. Michael's nemesis on "The Office": TOBY. Never have watched the OFFICE .

6. Boarding pass generator: ETICKET. And now our obligatory E word.

7. Sponsors: PATRONS. This was a more meaningful clue when rich people were the Patrons who sponsored artists and musicians, so they could concentrate on their art and not have to worry about working.

8. Brand of nonstick cookware: TFAL.Also known as TEFAL; you think the TE comes from TEFLON?

9. Half a city: WALLA. WALLA WALLA, Washington is where the tribe of native Americans known as the Walla Walla lived before the Whitman family arrived.

10. Michael of "Caddyshack":O'KEEFE. As a young man, he played the caddy who defeated Ted Knight for the club championship in the movie. However, he recently played Wally Wandell in Brothers & Sisters which sounds like Walla Walla. Coincidence?

11. Gallantry: DERRING DO. I wonder if the history of the word relates to DERRINGER or perhaps DERRIERE, both of which can be quite dangerous in the wrong hands?

12. River island: AIT. An ait (or eyot) is a small island. It is especially used to refer to islands found on the River Thames and its tributaries in England. The words "ait" and "eyot" are not common in modern English, although a few famous writers have used it, including J. R. R. Tolkien in his Lord of the Rings books, and Charles Dickens in Bleak House. It is also used by Thackeray in Vanity Fair. or so says Wiki. I never would have gotten this, but for perps.

13. NFL stat: YDS. Yards.

21. Show-what-you-know chances: EXAMS. I started with TESTS, but eventually worked my way out.

22. Machinating: UP TO. Another perfectly common word, used in a tense that was confusing. His machinations are deceptive.

26. Prelate's title: Abbr.: RT REV. we had a nice long discussion of Right Reverent some time ago.

27. Unevenly worn: EROSE. Oh, like the AIT which can disappear in the river.

29. Cross words: SPAT. Oh how very punny!

30. Actors Rogen and Green: SETHS. Both started out as child actors, Rogen in Freaks and Geeks and Green in a million guest parts. Rogen appeared in SUPERBAD which I linked above.

31. Big gun or big cheese: SLANG. Completely fooled me for a while, especially another food clue.

33. Desire and then some: CRAVE. Like my wanting some breakfast pastry NOW!

34. Clinton Treasury secretary: RUBIN. Robert Rubin; do we care? How about now, I will give you a hint, his initials are T G.

35. In one piece: UNSCATHED. I love this word, but I did not make it through this puzzle unscathed.

36. Award with a Sustained Achievement category: OBIE. The off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway Awards; a show that makes it up as it goes along; a product of the Village Voicenewspaper.

40. "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini," for one: OLDIE. An oldie but a goodie.

43. Broad: EPIC. Huh? I have known some wonderful women, but EPIC?

44. Endangered great apes: BONOBOS. Am I the only one who completely missed out this entire species of CHIMPANZEE .J. Fred Muggs, help me!

45. x, at times: UNKNOWN. In all forms of mathematics, a symbol for the unknown.

47. Baseball star who reportedly said, "I think there's a sexiness in infield hits": ICHIRO. Mr. Suzuki, who came to the US after 9 years of professional baseball in Japan, has had at least 200 hits in each of his 10 seasons, a record, and had 262 one year, another record.

50. Caruso, for one: TENOR. Enrico the singer, not David the whiner.

53. A couple: MATES. Why does that word always make me hear in Australian? Kazie?

54. Acrobat developer: ADOBE. Which is an anagram of ABODE. See above.

55. Rachel Maddow's station: MSNBC. I have never watched this NEWSPERSON .

57. Serious lapses: SINS. Now we are talking, that is all it was, a little lapse on my part.

58. Zeno's home: ELEA.Zeno of Elea was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of southern Italy and a member of the Eleatic School founded by Parmenides. Aristotle called him the inventor of the dialectic. He is best known for his paradoxes. Paradoxically, I have never heard of him either.

59. Dangle: HANG. How they dangling just does not have the same ring to it.

60. Tater __: TOT. Finally, a food gimme for ORE-IDA.

61. __ Simbel, site of Ramses II temples: ABU. Can you believe they moved these TEMPLES to make room for the Asswan Dam?

Answer grid.

This was a difficult puzzle for me, maybe my eyes failing gives me an excuse, but it is mostly stuff I did not know and had to sneak up on, and make logical guesses. I hope you enjoy March.

Lemonade

Thursday, March 3, 2011 Don Gagliardo

Theme: Revealed in 36 Across: One of six in this puzzle: ANAGRAM CROSSING.

1A. SPOUTS crosses 5D. TOSSUP

18A. MANATEES crosses 10D. EMANATES

28A. PASTA crosses 24D. TAPAS

48A. TOTEM crosses 35D. MOTET

61A. PEAR TREE crosses 37D. REPARTEE

68A. MENTAL crosses 49D. MANTLE

Al here. I eliminated the clues in the above, hopefully to make the theme answers and their relationships clearer, but included them down in the rest of the write-up. One of those puzzles where the theme really didn't come into play for me. Just as with Dan's puzzle yesterday, this "solved" like a themeless puzzle. Even once I knew they were supposed to be there, I had to look for places where the across and down were the same length, and of course the symmetric positions, after I was done solving. Very heavy theme count, 13 answers, 79 squares. Lots of tricky cluing as well, so a fun solve, but not a walk in the park by any means.  I made a colored picture showing the theme layout, but there are so many crossings with other answers, I'm not sure it helps all that much. At the bottom there are notes from Don about constructing something like this.

ACROSS:

1. Orates: SPOUTS. As in a fountain spouting, comes from a root word meaning to spit. It was also the slang term for the lift in a pawnbroker's shop, up which articles were taken for storage, hence fig. phrase up the spout "lost, hopeless, gone beyond recall"

7. Hourly wage, e.g.: BASE RATE.

15. Refuses to: CANNOT. This one took me a long time to agree with, so I held off filling it in at first, but when someone says "I cannot help you", it does usually mean they won't, not that they are unable to.

16. Astronomy measurements: AZIMUTHS. The definition is just confusing: Distance of a star from the north or south point of the meridian. A picture works better.

17. Engrave: INCISE. Cutting into.

18. Sea cows: MANATEES. Dugongs are in the same family.

19. Brief needlework?: TATS. Tatting is making knotted lace. (Correction, as several regulars pointed out, and I originally missed, this is short for tattoos)

20. Megan's "Will & Grace" role: KAREN. Megan Mullaly, Karen Walker. Grace's secretary, who doesn't really need to work because she married into money several times.

21. Label for some Glenn Frey hits: MCA. Music Corporation of America.

22. Physicist with a law: OHM. I was taught this as V=IR (voltage = amperage times resistance)

23. Acting teacher Hagen: UTA.

25. "It __ far, far better thing...": Dickens: IS A. From Tale of Two Cities, It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest I go to than I have ever known.

26. Wages: PAY. Can't argue with that...or else you'll get canned.

27. Get: SEE. I get it, see?

28. Noodles, say: PASTA.

30. The Simpsons, e.g.: TOONS.

32. Wedding dance: HORA. The chair dance, right?

34. Fabled mattress lump: PEA.

35. Mal de __: MER. Sea sickness. Also once meant scurvy.

42. Some tech sch. grads: EES. Electrical Engineers.

43. Top ten item: HIT.

44. Sign: OMEN.

45. Pricey: STEEP.

48. Pole symbol: TOTEM.

50. Wall St. exec's degree: MBA. Master of Business Administration.

51. Collar: NAB. Variant of nap "to grab or seize" as in kidnap.

52. "Aladdin" monkey: ABU. The Disney version.

54. Frat letter: ETA. College Greeks.

55. Food scrap: ORT.

56. Geneva-based workers' gp.: ILO. International Labour Organization.

57. Babe and Baby: RUTHS. A candy bar and a baseball great shaped like one.

59. Gijon goose egg: NADA. Spanish for nothing. A numeric zero on a scoreboard looks like a big fat goose egg.

61. Orchard grower: PEAR TREE.

63. An iamb's second half gets it: STRESS.

65. Noteworthy: ESTEEMED. As in estimated, from ais-temos "one who cuts copper," i.e. mints money.

66. Mount McKinley's home: ALASKA. Did Mrs. McKinley ever visit? I dunno, I'll ask her.

67. Relax: REST EASY.

68. Word with health or illness: MENTAL. I was disappointed when this show was canceled. I should go work for the networks, I think. If I like a show, they'll know not to even bother making it and save a lot of money. Firefly, New Amsterdam, John Doe, all too short-lived. The networks are all Mental.

DOWN:

1. __-fi: SCI. An "old" abbrev for Science Fiction. SF writers prefer it to be called SF these days, but that's too short for a crossword answer.

2. Temple of the gods: PANTHEON.

3. Being filmed: ON CAMERA.

4. Platoon, for one: UNIT.

5. Anybody's guess: TOSSUP.

6. Chateau __ Michelle winery: STE. A new and different way to clue a French abbrev for a female saint.

7. The Tide: BAMA. They call Alabama the crimson tide. Deacon Blues.

8. Hank who voices many 30-Across: AZARIA. Also played three roles in the "Night at the Smithsonian" movies: Kahmunrah/The Thinker/Abe Lincoln.

9. Cosecant reciprocals: SINES. A graph showing the relationship.

10. Arises: EMANATES. Directly from Latin emanare "flow out, arise, proceed,"

11. Groove: RUT. Sure, they mean the same thing, except when they don't idiomatically. If I'm "in the groove", I'm certainly not "in a rut".

12. At the original speed, in music: A TEMPO.

13. Jail, in slang: THE CAN. If you played kick the can, someone had to go to jail. I wonder if one is related to the other.

14. Tests that are hard to guess on: ESSAYS.

20. Deejay Casey: KASEM.

22. Dept. of Labor agency: OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

24. Spanish appetizers: TAPAS. Lots of different kinds.

29. Speed: Pref.: TACHO. Straight from the Greek.

31. Meeting time qualifier: OR SO.

33. One-time Time critic James: AGEE.

35. Sacred choral piece: MOTET.

37. Comeback: REPARTEE.

38. Solemn acts: RITES.

39. Bold: IMMODEST.

40. Big 12 school soon to be in the Big Ten: NEBRASKA.

41. No-see-um, say: GNAT.

45. Hard-to-see shooter: SNIPER.

46. "Thy Neighbor's Wife" author: TALESE. About "free love", i.e. a marriage-less society.

47. WWII torpedo launchers: E-BOATS. The "E" is thought to mean Enemy, but could be from Eilboot (hurry boat). They were called Schnellboots by the German navy.

48. Some learners: TUTEES.

49. It's beneath the crust: MANTLE. Layers of the earth, crust, mantle, core. (OK, two mantles and two cores if you're picky).

53. Siam neighbor: BURMA. Today's geography lesson.

58. Actress Lamarr: HEDY. Along with being quite the looker, she co-invented an early technique for spread spectrum communications, a key to many forms of wireless communication from the pre-computer age to the present day.

60. Sweater style named for Irish islands: ARAN.

62. Like some mil. officers: RET. Military, retired.

63. Yosemite __: SAM. The rootinest tootinest shootinest bob tailed wild cat in the west.

64. ESPN reporter Paolantonio: SAL. Not in my sphere of awareness.

Answer Grid.

Al

Here are some thoughts from Don about today's puzzle:

"Anagram Crossing:

Sometimes a theme shows up while one is constructing another puzzle. In this case, I noticed two words in a grid crossing each other that were anagrams of each other. I thought that was interesting, and started to play with the possibilities. One needs a unifier in this case, and ANAGRAM CROSSING was a lucky choice, being exactly 15-letters long. That meant that it had to be in the center, because anywhere else would require another 15-letter word to reflect it, and that would disrupt the theme pattern. I thought that I could get six anagram crossings, and it ended up that I could barely do that. The central 15-letter answer makes it a great challenge. On the plus side, there are many anagrams to choose from. On the down side, they have to cross in my scheme, and possibly cross the central answer, and I wanted to enter them symmetrically in the grid and cross at the same places. I don’t know why. It just looks prettier that way. So I just kept hunting, and eventually worked it out. On my first submission, Rich thought that I shouldn’t have a brand name entry, so I had to change things. I think I ended up with five different grids, if that is an indication of how difficult it is to change something like this. I don’t think I’ll try that again!"

Wednesday, March 2, 2011 Dan Naddor

Theme: Nine to One - Six theme-answer nine-letter words, each of which is only a single syllable. Not to mention a pair of eleven-letter unifiers. This brilliant puzzle isn't typical Dan Naddor. It's not typical of anyone or anything. It is special, unique, exquisite, and technically awesome.

23A. *Poker holdings : STRAIGHTS. This is a holding of five cards in sequence, such as 8, 9, 10, J, Q, irrespective of suite.

31A. *Subdued : SQUELCHED. To squeeze, squash and crush something, often before it gets a chance to start moving - nip in the bud.

38A. *Prepared to jog : STRETCHED. Gave the muscles a gentle warm up. Athletes should do this, and musicians, too.

45A. *Stained : SPLOTCHED. A splotch is an irregularly shaped spot, stain or discolored area. Rather an ugly word, I think.

11D. *Pocketed the cue ball : SCRATCHED. Actually, SCRATCH refers to a variety of fouls in cue-sports. This clue is just one case.

30D. *Fortes : STRENGTHS. The word forte, meaning strength, comes to us from Latin, via old French. This puzzle shows us Dan's fortes. All the theme answers start with "S." This & 23A are the only ones to not end in "ED."

And the unifiers:

17A. Feature of the answers to starred clues : NINE LETTERS

55A. Feature of the answers to starred clues : ONE SYLLABLE

Hi gang, It's JzB your humble trombonist, who was lucky enough to finish off a truly wonderful day with this great Dan Naddor offering. The grid looks like a Saturday themeless, but I don't recall ever seeing a weekday puzzle with so much thematic density. Also, four additional 9-letter words in the fill, along with five 7's. Yikes! Of course, this caused a large number of 3 and 4 letter answers. Still the average length is 5.22, which is between Thursday and Friday average.

Across:

1. Sierra Nevada resort : TAHOE. On Crystal bay, near the CA border.

6. Like some checking accounts : NO FEE. One more reason to love my Credit Union.

11. Scand. land : SWE Sweden. Abrv in cl & ans.

14. Observe Yom Kippur : ATONE. Yom Kippur is the Jewish day of ATONEMENT. I'll let one of our resident experts elaborate.

15. Neptune's realm : OCEAN. Neptune is the god of the sea.

16. When repeated, a Latin dance : CHA. Better than "half a dance" I suppose.

19. Children's author/illustrator Asquith : ROS. Unknown to me. You can read about her here.

20. Icky stuff : GLOP.

21. Common flashlight power source : C CELL. Batteries.

22. Endure : LAST Energizer bunnie batteries.

25. Actor Dillon et al. : MATTS. Let's see -- Damon, Smith, Bomer, plus the guys who play bass trombone and tuba in the symphony with me.

26. Hwys. : RDS. I'll take the highway, you take the road, and I'll get to the welcome mat afore ye!

27. Chinese discipline : TAI CHI. There's more to this than just hand-waving. Actually, a lot of body control - a bit like ballet in slow motion. And I love that pink outfit.

28. Cut's partner : PASTE. Word processing.

34. First N.L. 500 home run club member : OTT. Our most likely baseball player shows up with a new fact. I did not know that!

35. Indictment : ACCUSAL. A little legal help, please.

37. "__ pales in Heaven the morning star": Lowell : ERE. The opening line of PHOEBE by James Russell Lowell.

40. Less refined : RUDER.

42. Degree requirements, at times : THESES. The plural of THESIS, a requirement for an advanced degree. To be more refined, I will eschew repeating what said about this word the other day.

43. Convert to leather, as a hide : TAN. Did your parents ever threaten to TAN your hide?

44. Minor cost component : CENTS. Minor parts of U.S.D.

51. Ship of Greek myth : ARGO. I believe it had starched sails. Jason and the Argonauts went on a quest for gold and got fleeced.

52. European toast : SKOAL. Skandinavian - from the Old Norse word for a drinking bowl. Not to be confused with a French toast.

53. Fit : HALE. HALE and hearty. Not to be confused with Laurel and hearty.

54. Living in Fla., maybe : RET. I, OTOH, am RET in MI.

57. Morse unit : DAH. I thought Morse Code was dots and dashes, so this gave me a bit of a pause.

58. Racket : NOISE. The loud sound of a fuzzy ball hitting STRETCHED threads is the tennis racket.

59. More repulsive : VILER. Like some of my attempted humor

60. Many IRA payees : SRS. Only the ones who are RET.

61. Landlord : OWNER.

62. Really dumb : INANE. Like some of my attempted humor.

Down:

1. Zesty flavors : TANGS

2. Leaning : ATILT

3. __ society : HONOR. For the best students.

4. Cocktail preparation phrase : ONE PART. That's the Vermouth. Add to four parts London Dry Gin. Swirl with ice. Pour over skewered olives in a stemmed, slant-sided glass. I suppose other garnishes are optional.

5. Sushi fish : EEL. I'll pass, thank you.

6. Tally symbol : NOTCH. As on bedposts or belt buckles?

7. Large wedding band : OCTET. Here is an example.

9. Viscount's superior : EARL. This rank in the British peerage was first noted in 1440. It was intended to not be hereditary, but nepotism is an awesome force. A baron ranks lower.

10. One-third of ninety? : ENS. Two ENS in six letters.

12. Obligatory joke response : WHO'S THERE? Knock-knock. WHO'S THERE? Banana . . (Does anyone remember elephant jokes?)

13. Park Avenue resident, e.g. : EAST-SIDER. New York City, I guess. I'm from the East Side of Toledo, which has Zero cachet.

18. ER tests : ECGS. Electrocardiograms, aka EKGs.

22. Secular : LAIC. Of or relating to the laity, those not of the clergy.

24. Imagines : IDEATES. Think about it.

25. Young food court loiterer : MALL RAT. Here's the trailer.

27. Afternoon service : TEA. And the perfect way to celebrate your unbirthday - if you're not RUDER than an intruder.


28. Gift shop items on a rotating stand : POSTCARDS. Very true. Dan got me here.

29. Where to see a caboose : AT THE REAR. Of a train, sometimes. Here is Loose Caboose a CHA-CHA by Henry Mancini, from Breakfast at Tiffany's - still my all time favorite movie score album. Great trombone solo by Dick Nash. The movie itself was 11 kinds of horrible, the lovely Audrey Hepburn not withstanding.

31. USC or NYU : SCH. Of course, I entered Col. Four Yrs after I entered Col, I was a grad.

32. Prov. on James Bay : QUE. QUEBEC. This is the FR spkg pt of Can.

33. Amer. currency : USD. U.S. Dollars, for those who have the sense.

36. IV units : CCS. Cubic centimeters, a measurement of volume.

39. __ perpetua: Idaho's motto : ESTO. I believe this means "Potatoes forever!"

41. "__ My Heart": 1962 #1 R&B hit for Ray Charles : UNCHAIN. Baby, let me go!

43. Going rate? : TOLL. The fee to travel on a turnpike. This simple pun is an example of what makes Dan's puzzles so delightful. Cf 46 D.

45. Coil of yarn : SKEIN.

46. Western chasers : POSSE. Here they come. A group of insane clowns, perhaps? Cf 43D.

47. Ply : LAYER. I love those seven-ply cakes!

48. "¿__ usted español?" : HABLA. Do you speak Spanish?

49. Paula's "American Idol" replacement : ELLEN. I am proud to say I have NEVER wached it.

50. Steel plow developer : DEERE. Nothing plows like a DEERE!

52. Winter forecast : SNOW. Please, no more. I am SO tired of plowing.

55. John Lennon Museum founder : ONO. A different clue for Yoko. I didn't know there was a John Lennin Museum.

56. VII x VIII : LVI. Roman numeral math. I got it from the perps.

Great fun with this wonderful puzzle from Dan. Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I even learned a few things, though I did not do the math.

Answer grid.

Cheers!

JzB

Tuesday, March 1, 2011 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Who Can It Be Now? - Synonyms(4) for some of our blog commenters.

20A. Cop's often-unreliable lead: ANONYMOUS TIP

28A. Retailer's private label: NO-NAME BRAND

50A. Facetious name for a school cafeteria staple: MYSTERY MEAT

56A. "The Gong Show" regular with a paper bag on his head, with "the": UNKNOWN COMIC

Argyle here. I would think it hard to find something to complain about in Donna's offering today but I'm sure somebody will.

Across:

1. Rollicking good time : BLAST. "The party was a BLAST". It seems to have been a quiet year for Academy Awards parties.

6. "Pipe down!" : "HUSH!". Complaints from the neighbors of the party.

10. The man's partner, in a Shaw title : ARMS. Arms and the Man is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid in Latin: "Arma virumque cano" (Of arms and the man I sing). (Wikipedia)

14. Western neckwear : BOLOs

15. Leer at : OGLE

16. "Très __!" : BIEN. Very good French.

17. Screw-up : SNAFU

18. Fuzzy image : BLUR

19. Jedi guru : YODA. Star Wars movie.

23. Apostropheless possessive : ITS

26. Start of a Latin I conjugation : AMO. AMAS, AMAT. (I love, you love, she/he loves.)

27. Snack for a gecko : INSECT

32. Milne hopper : ROO. Winnie-the-Pooh's friend.

33. Caroline Kennedy, to Maria Shriver : COUSIN. Image.

34. Three-layer snacks : OREOs

36. Clerical robes : ALBs

37. "The Bachelor" network : ABC

38. Laundry : WASH

42. Martial arts-influenced workout : TAE BO

45. Chewed like a beaver : GNAWED

47. RR stop : STA.

52. Checkers demand : "KING ME!"

54. Glutton : PIG

55. Lic.-issuing bureau : DMV

60. March Madness org. : NCAA. National Collegiate Athletic Association. Men's Division I Basketball Championship.

61. Passed with flying colors : ACED

62. Up front : AHEAD

66. Former U.N. leader Waldheim : KURT. Image.

67. Row of waiters : LINE. I got too tricky and stuck in CABS at first.

68. Dweebish : NERDY

69. Evian et al. : SPAs

70. WWII carriers : LSTs. Landing Ship, Tank Image.

71. Swap : TRADE

Down:

1. Air gun pellets : BBs. 43D. 1-Down, e.g. : AMMO

2. Chaney of horror : LON. "The Man of a Thousand Faces".

3. Chicken-king link : À LA

4. Davenport, e.g. : SOFA

5. West Coast ocean concern : TSUNAMI. Tidal wave.

6. Mingle (with) : HOBNOB

7. Like an extremely unpleasant situation : UGLY

8. Inner city blight : SLUM. Ugly.

9. Jane Eyre, e.g. : HEROINE

10. Deep fissure : ABYSS

11. Tear gas target : RIOTER. Can be linked to 7- and 8-Down.

12. Sawbones : MEDICO

13. Shape up : SNAP TO

21. Harbinger : OMEN. Desperately seeking harbingers of spring.

22. Reverse : UNDO. Reverse and UNDO all this snow.

23. Machu Picchu architect : INCA

24. Home Depot buy : TOOL

25. Cold shoulder : SNUB

29. Right hand: Abbr. : ASST.

30. Mechanical worker : ROBOT

31. Circumference part : ARC

35. Performed in an aquacade : SWAM

37. "Washboard" muscles : ABs

39. Astounded : AWED. Are you astounded I didn't provide a link to ABs?

40. Fabric joint : SEAM

41. Rec room centerpiece : HD TV

44. Cyclone's most dangerous part : EYEWALL. Diagram.

45. Harsh : GRIM

46. NFLer who used to play in Yankee Stadium : NY GIANT. The Giants played their first two games of the 1973 season at Yankee Stadium. Update: Those were the last games they played in Yankee Stadium. They started playing there in 1956. Thank you, thehondohurricane.

47. Striped stinkers : SKUNKS. OK, who said Refs?

48. Costner/Russo golf flick : TIN CUP

49. Anatolian Peninsula capital : ANKARA. Map.

51. Some Horace poems : EPODEs

53. Pesky fliers : GNATS

57. "JAG" spin-off : "NCIS". Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

58. Penny : CENT

59. "Moonstruck" Oscar winner : CHER

63. Memorable time : ERA

64. Total : ADD

65. Color, in a way : DYE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Who Can It Be Now(3:29) by Men At Work with lyrics in English AND Spanish.

Monday, February 28, 2011 Jeffrey Lease

Theme: Rank - that goes with the first parts of the answers to starred clues: CAPTAIN.(38A.)

17A. *1968 sci-fi classic remade in 2001: "PLANET OF THE APES". Without going to deep into it, CAPTAIN PLANET is a TV animation with a "green" super-hero.

23A. *Chili competitions: COOK-OFFS. CAPTAIN COOK was an actual British explorer of the Pacific Ocean.

50A. *Reason for rhinoplasty: HOOK NOSE. CAPTAIN HOOK, of course, was from the story of Peter Pan.

58A. *1980 Disney comedy about an all-night puzzle-solving race: "MIDNIGHT MADNESS". CAPTAIN MIDNIGHT was first broadcast as a radio serial from 1938. Captain Midnight was a code name. He wasn't a super-hero but an extremely skilled aviator with an ability to fly almost any aircraft superlatively.

Argyle here and running late. This appears to be our first encounter with this constructor. I liked it and thought the grid layout was pleasing to look at.

Across:

1. One with a degree : GRAD. The first of several words are shortened versions of the parent word but seem to stand alone and aren't considered abbreviations, at least by some.

5. Double reed instrument : OBOE

9. Bit of campaign nastiness : SMEAR

14. Assistant : AIDE

15. Course of action : PLAN

16. Croatian-born physicist Nikola : TESLA. He's back!

20. Jewish : SEMITIC

21. Rotten : BAD

22. Conference including Duke and UNC : ACC. Atlantic Coast Conference.

28. Liver secretion : BILE

30. "What's up, __?" : DOC

31. Clean the floor : SWEEP

32. Was victorious : WON

33. Dissertations : THESES. The plural of THESIS.

36. It can be airtight or waterproof : SEAL

37. Fishing pole : ROD

40. Support garment : BRA

41. Slightly : A BIT

43. Jump (on) suddenly : POUNCE

44. Tennis call : LET

45. Keg party attire : TOGAs. A reference to the movie "Animal House".

47. Band-Aid and Barbie, e.g.: Abbr. : TMs. Trademarks.

48. Like much wine and cheese : AGED

52. Rover's warning : "GRR!"

53. Corn unit : EAR

54. Inexpensive brand : CHEAPIE

63. Overindulge, as kids : SPOIL

64. Wrinkle remover : IRON

65. Fight for air : GASP

66. Wedding dresses : GOWNS

67. Fey of "30 Rock" : TINA

68. School attended by many princes and prime ministers : ETON

Down:

1. Spaces : GAPS

2. Annoy : RILE

3. TV Batman West : ADAM

4. "I did not!" is one : DENIAL

5. __ nerve : OPTIC

6. Voting group : BLOC

7. Palooka : OAF

8. Tolkien's Treebeard, for one : ENT

9. Texas Roadhouse fare : STEAKS

10. Grassy fields : MEADOWS

11. Sixth sense, briefly : ESP

12. Pub pick : ALE

13. Dorm supervisors: Abbr. : RAs. Resident Advisors.

18. "And so on and so forth," for short : "ETC., ETC."

19. "True Blood" airer : HBO

23. Party disguise : COSTUME

24. Indian and Arctic : OCEANS

25. Lacking strength : FEEBLE

26. Dreaded : FEARED

27. Bug-hitting-windshield sound : SPLAT

28. Owie : BOO-BOO

29. Spectrum color between blue and violet : INDIGO

30. Train stations : DEPOTS

32. Ire : WRATH

34. Occurrence : HAP

35. Start of a guard dog command : "SIC"

39. Approached : NEARED

42. Deceived : TAKEN IN

46. Slow mollusks : SNAILS

49. Farm : GRANGE. Word Origin & History - c.1112 (implied in granger ), "granary, barn," from O.Fr. grange, from M.L. granica, from L. granum "grain." Sense evolved to "outlying farm" (late 14c.), then "country house" (1550s). per Online Etymology Dictionary.

51. Nonprofit's URL ending : .ORG

52. The Gold Coast, since 1957 : GHANA

54. "Let's roll!" : "C'MON!"

55. __ moss : PEAT

56. "This __ silly!" : IS SO

57. "Monday Night Football" channel : ESPN

58. Chinese food additive : MSG

59. Wall St. debut : IPO. Initial Public Offering, a chance to get in on the ground floor, assuming the price goes up; not guaranteed.

60. Wall Street index, with "the" : DOW. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).

61. Smack : HIT

62. Prefix with athlete : TRI

Answer grid.

Argyle. I picked a good day to run late. Phew!

Sunday February 27, 2011 Jeremy Horwitz & Byron Walden

Theme: It's an Honor Just to be Nominated - Tribute puzzle to Peter O'Toole. The starred answers, which are symmetrically placed (together with his names & the category he's nominated), are 8 films for which he's nominated for Oscar Best Actor but never won.

1A. *1964 : BECKET

7A. *2006 : VENUS

28A. *1968 : THE LION IN WINTER

43A. *1972, with "The" : RULING CLASS

65A. *1982 : MY FAVORITE YEAR

67A. *With 71-Across, 1962 : LAWRENCE. And OF ARABIA (71A. See 67-Across). Broken down for symmetry.

72A. *1969 : GOODBYE, MR CHIPS

96A. *1980 : THE STUNT MAN

112A. See 127-Across : BEST ACTOR OSCARS

127A. With 128-Across, performer nominated for 112-Across (he didn't win any) in all of the answers to starred clues : PETER. And O'TOOLE (128A. See 127-Across).

What a great symmetry! The constructors must be excited to discover the numbers of letters in various films. But luck alone wouldn't work. Takes skills to split certain entry & place each one in its perfect spot.

Very challenging puzzle for me. Not a movie person like Clear Ayes. Definitely needed Downs for most of the films.

Quite a few cross-references in the puzzle. The clues are tougher than our normal Sunday also. Take JAI (62D. "__ Ho": 2008 Best Original Song) for example. I am used to the "__ alai" clue. I do appreciate the fresh clue  & Oscar tie-in.

Across:

12. Award since WWI : DSC (Distinguished Service Cross)

15. Try for a contract : BID

18. Dressed like Cinderella : IN RAGS

19. "Pardon my __" : FRENCH

21. Letter after pi : RHO. Before Sigma.

22. With 39-Across, soapbox racer, e.g. : ONE. And 39. See 22-Across : SEATER.

23. Concerned with pupils? : OCULAR. Eyes. Not students.

24. Shoemaker on a horse : WILLIE. Jockey. Bill Shoemaker. Faintly rang a bell.

25. 2009-'10 "At the Movies" co-host : A. O. SCOTT. Film critic for the New York Times. Stumped me.

27. Sprayed in defense : MACED

30. Prefix with gram : EPI. Epigram.

31. Venetian evening : SERA. Oh, always thought it means "will be". Que Sera, Sera.

33. Yule VIP : ST. NICK. VIP suggests an abbreviated answer.

34. "I Put a Spell on You" singer Simone : NINA

35. Bygone ruler : TSAR

37. Sadie Hawkins Day suitors : GALs

42. PC backup key : ESC

47. Item, such as interest, recorded only when earned : NON-ASSET. The clue gave me headache.

49. "Man alive!" : I'LL BE. Well, I'll be.

50. Prizes : ESTEEMS

53. J.D. holder : ATT. For our JD, that'll be Bob.

54. 1981 World Series co-MVP Ron : CEY. Spent a long time with the Dodgers.

55. Rental ad abbr. : RMs

57. Made misty : BLEARED. Spell check doesn't like this word.

60. Muslim pilgrim : HAJJI. The ending I must mean "person" then, since the pilgrimage itself is called HAJJ.

64. Fertility clinic cells : OVA

78. Baseball's "Master Melvin" : OTT. Mel Ott. And RBIs (102. 78-Across's 1,860, briefly).

79. Record of the year? : ANNAL

80. Take on, as tenants : LEASE TO

81. Kyrgyzstan city : OSH. Well, maybe Borat knows. Not me.

82. Op. __ : CIT

85. Cyclotron bit : ION

87. Make sense : STACK UP. Your excuse doesn't stake up.

89. Peerless : ALONE

91. Eye of round, etc. : LEAN CUTS

98. Part of ETO: Abbr. : EUR

99. Tennis shoe that debuted at Wimbledon in 1966 : K-SWISS. Founded by two Swiss brothers. So what does the K stand for?

103. Told, as a tale : SPUN

104. Some PX patrons : SGTs. And LTs (90D. Superiors of 104-Across).

106. Creeps : INCHES

109. "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" singer : OCHS (Phil)

111. It always increases : AGE. True.

116. Egyptian sky god : HORUS. Son of Isis & Osiris. Falcon-headed.

118. Needing serious help : IN A SPOT

119. Make it to : ATTEND

120. Schleppers : TOTERS

121. Have the flu, say : AIL

122. Valuable deposit : ORE. Mine deposit.

123. Mambo bandleader Tito : PUENTE. "The King of Latin Music". We often see TITO in the grid.

124. Vital supply lines : AORTAE

125. Once known as : NEE

126. According to : PER

Down:

1. Like the most secure passports nowadays : BIOMETRIC. Homeland Security charged me quite a bit for my biometrics data during the naturalization process.

2. Summarize : ENCAPSULE

3. Vitally : CRUCIALLY

4. Leafy green : KALE. Tough for my taste.

5. "Gadzooks!" : EGADS

6. Original Dungeons & Dragons co. : TSR. Wikipedia says it stands for Tactical Studies Rules.

7. Facilities for many ex-GIs : VFW HALLS. Our local baseball card shows are often held there.

8. Buffalo's lake : ERIE

9. "Gimme a Break" star Carter et al. : NELLS. First encounter with this lady.

10. Turned off : UNLIT

11. Descendants : SCIONS

12. Toasted : DRANK TO

13. Tell partner : SHOW. Show and tell.

14. Squeeze album "__ Fan Tutti Frutti" : COSI. Have never heard of the British band Squeeze.

15. Soft shoes : BOOTIES

16. Like nail-biters : INTENSE

17. Take away : DETRACT

20. '20s-'30s skating gold medalist : HENIE (Sonja)

26. King's station : CNN. Larry King. Do you like Piers Morgan?

28. Hints : TRACES

29. Empowering motto : I CAN

32. Hunt subject : EGG. D'oh, Easter!

36. Kid : RIB

38. Didn't act : SAT BY

40. Grandmother of Spain's Juan Carlos : ENA

41. Instead of : RATHER THAN. Nice 10-letter entry.

44. Remedy for a pain in the neck : NERVE BLOCK. Don't know this term.

45. Note to __ : SELF

46. "I __ Darkness": 1999 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy album : SEE A. Was ignorant of the singer and his album.

48. Patronize, as an inn : STAY AT

51. Dallas cager : MAV (Maverick)

52. Sign of a big hit : SRO (Standing Room Only)

56. Loads of : MANY

58. Psyche's lover : EROS

59. Variance, in the vernacular : DIF (Difference)

61. Gettysburg general Stuart : J.E.B.

63. Glass on the radio : IRA. Ira Glass. Host of NPR's "This American Life".

64. Decree : ORDAIN

65. "Who wants candy?" response : ME, ME

66. Kit Carson House site : TAOS

67. Queens, N.Y., airport : LGA

68. Chicago Loop's __ Center : AON

69. Broke the tape : WON. Finish line tape.

70. "Ice Age" unit, e.g. : CEL. Have never seen "Ice Age", animated film. Do they still use cels now everything is digital?

73. Dorm VIPs : RAs (Resident Advisers)

74. Winnipeg winter hrs. : CST

75. Spiciness : HEAT

76. Rash reaction : ITCH

77. It may involve drawing : POKER. Tricky clue.

81. Light-minded pursuit? : OPTICS. Another tricky one.

82. Rate against : COMPARE TO

83. Quadrennial national rite : INAUGURAL

84. Titans' home : TENNESSEE

86. Letters before xis : NUs.

88. It runs through four Great Lakes : US BORDER. Nice answer.

91. Either parent in "Heather Has Two Mommies" : LESBIAN

92. Prince Andrew's younger daughter : EUGENIE. Quite pretty. I only know her mother Fergie, who now has a show with Oprah's OWN.

93. Place to buy prints : ART SALE

94. Site with tweets : TWITTER

95. __-Japanese War : SINO. I always wonder why China is called SINO.

97. Find a seat for, in slang : USH. Lots of groan last time.

100. Throw out : SCRAP

101. Grew quickly : SHOT UP. And SHOOT (110D. Fire). Same root, isn't it?

105. Peter, Paul and Mary: Abbr. : STS. Not the singers.

107. Rival of Helena : ESTEE. Is Helena a cosmetic brand?

108. Obsession, for one : SCENT. This I know. Calvin Klein's Obsession.

113. Individually : A POP

114. Center : CORE

115. Date opening? : ANTE. Antedate.

117. Óscar's other : OTRO. Is Óscar Spanish for Oscar? I don't get this clue.

120. Way of the East : TAO. Indeed, it's literally "way".

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday February 26, 2011 Bob Peoples

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 26

I often look at the empty grid before I attack a puzzle. Today's sure doesn't look too intimidating. No grid spanner or long triple stacks. But it took me eons to gain a toehold.

Tough cluing overall, typified by GAI (20A. "__-Jin": Clavell novel), would be a gimme if it were clued as "Moo goo __ pan". I was ignorant of the book. Gai-Jin is Japanese for "foreigner". Gai = outside. Jin = Person. Same as Chinese character.

The three 9s don't really grab me today, but the eight 8s are solid. My favorites are:

1A. It might make marks on your dog : BBQ GRILL. Hot dog.

15A. "Great job!" : YOU DID IT. Great answer.

58A. Part of a smear campaign : ATTACK AD

Across:

9. Walks quickly : LEGS IT

16. Johnson & Johnson skin care brand : AVEENO. Wikipedia says Aveeno is derived from the scientific name for the common oat, Avena sativa. No wonder oats are featured prominently in their products.

17. Some mousses : HAIR GELS

18. Destinies : KARMAS. Or in sense of "vibes".

19. Auto insurer's request: Abbr. : EST

21. One concerned with bites : DENTIST. Tricky clue.

22. Rate __: be perfect : A TEN

24. Entrapments : SETUPS

26. H.S. support group : PTA

27. Start over, in a way : RESET. Reset a button.

29. Make go away : SHOO

30. Subj. partner : PRED (Predicate). Got me.

31. Geographical parallel : TROPIC. Tropic of Cancer & Tropic of Capricorn.

33. Skunk River city : AMES, IOWA. Home of Iowa State University (The Cyclones). Went there once, but don't remember the Skunk River.

35A. Entirely, with "from" : HEAD TO TOE

37. Utter fiasco : WATERLOO

40. Logo, e.g. : SYMBOL

44. "__ Esau": kids' rhyme book : I SAW. Don't know the book.

45. Advanced : LENT. Oh, like money then.

47. Restaurateur known for satiric wall art : SARDI. Of Sardi's.

48. Recipe amt. : TSP

49. Post product : CEREAL

51. Network meeting point : NODE

52. Ones going to court? : SUITORS. Court = Woo. Of course I was thinking of judge & lawyers.

54. Sony competitor : NEC

56. Japanese band : OBI. Sash band. Not music. Nailed it.

57. Verdi title bandit : ERNANI. Sigh! I can never remember this name.

60. Brought home : NETTED. EARNED has same number of letters.

61. Worst of the worst : FROM HELL

62. Some smart phones : DROIDs. Dennis lost his, in his own store.

63. Spoon : CANOODLE . Sweet.

Down:

1. Without notes : BY HEART. Know something by heart.

2. Bigmouth : BOASTER

3. "Most assuredly" : QUITE SO

4. E. Berlin's land : GDR (German Democratic Republic). Didn't come to me immediately.

5. 1997 Emmy winner for TV's "Rebecca" : RIGG (Diana). Might have got her if the clue were "The Avengers" related.

6. Head lights? : IDEAS. Saw this clue before.

7. Ornamental flowers : LILIES

8. West Point grads: Abbr. : LTS (Lieutenants).

9D. Coleridge, Southey and Wordsworth : LAKE POETS. Is this a well-known term?  

10. Mary Ann __, George Eliot's birth name : EVANS. Who knows?!

11. Goldfinger portrayer Fröbe : GERT. Recognized the face, not the name.

12. Part-time, in a way : SEMI-PRO

13. Het up : IN A STEW

14. Taco relative : TOSTADA. Looks yummy.

21. Milano cathedral : DUOMO. No idea. Wiki says it's a generic Italian term for a cathedral church. Derived from Latin "domus", meaning "house".

23. One crying uncle? : NEPHEW. Fun clue.

25. Choice words : THAT ONE

28. Level : TIER

30. Acquaintance of Simon : PIE MAN. "Simple Simon met a pie man...". The nursery rhyme.

32. Revealing numbers : CALLER IDS

34. Edamame beans : SOYS. Edamame is just green soybean in its pod.

36. They don't just sit around : DOERS

37. Giving-up point : WIT'S END. At wit's end.

38. One offering comfort : ASSURER. This puzzle has two ER suffix words.

39. Draw on : TAP INTO. Resource, experience, etc.

41. Put up with : BROOK. New meaning of "brook" to me.

42. Eccentric : ODDBALL

43. Remain in mothballs : LIE IDLE

46. Asian enlightenment doctrine : TANTRA. Sanskrit for "warp", hence "underlying principle". a la dictionary.

49. Shaped like a megaphone : CONED

50. Gave away : LET ON

53. Filmmaker Jacques : TATI. The guy who directed "Mon Oncle".

55. Outfit you don't want to be seen in, briefly : CAMO

58. Jets' org. : AFC. NY Jets. I don't really know which ones belong to AFC or NFC.

59. John who played Sulu in "Star Trek" (2009) : CHO. Very handsome. He's of Korean root, just as Margaret Cho. Cho is a Korean name. Same character as Chinese zhao/cao.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday, February 25, Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: Welcome to LA LA land. The letters LA are inserted into a common phrase to elicit an entirely different and witty new expression. There also is a hint clue at the end. A shout out to our own La LA Linda among others.

16A. Move from Crystal to Caesar's?: CHANGE OF PALACE. CHANGE OF PACE morphs into two famous gambling palaces. I know she is likely referring to the CRYSTAL PALACE built in London, by I like the symmetry of the hotel casinos.

28A. Antelope of questionable virtue?: LOOSE ELAND. What a visual! An Eland on the side of the jungle road, trying to solicit the big game hunters. Anyway, we began with LOOSE END,

33A. "Another regulation, sorry to say"? : ALAS A RULE. AS A RULE.

43A. Greengrocer's grab bags?: SALAD SACKS. SAD SACKS, the poor bungler created by cartoonist george baker in the 1940’s.

And the theme hint, not quite a unifier, but...

53. 1997 Kevin Spacey film, and a hint to this puzzle's theme: LA CONFIDENTIAL. This was a very powerful FILM starring Kevin Spacey, NZ born Australia raised Russell Crowe in a very impressive role. England born, Australia raised Guy Pearce as a particularly despicable character, Kim Basinger looking quite fetching, Australian Simon Baker making his US debut, long before The Mentalist and many more. If you have not seen the movie, it is very well done.

Hello all, Lemonade here. Sorry I missed the Naples trip, but work beckoned. This is our second puzzle this month from Annemarie, who gave us the interesting President Reagan quote to begin the month, and who Grumpy 1 located in an Ohio magazine write up. It was a really challenging puzzle for me, with ALAS A RULE, the fill that tipped me as to the theme. Without knowing the theme, I would never have been able to finish, because there is so much misdirection and so many Friday level clues. Let’s get on with untangling the web she created.

ACROSS:

1. Rigged support: MAST. Jeannie, you want to explain about sails and riggings?

5. Curve of a cabriole leg: KNEE. Wow, bam, a really hard four letter fill immediately. My ex-f-i-l sold antiques, so I knew this term was for those fancy table legs which are concave on the top and convex on the bottom, often with an animal claw at the bottom (see Queen Anne furniture). I believe the word comes from the French Cabrioler, which means to leap, I think. Here I defer to our linguist, Kazie. I was saved by the juxtaposition of the anagram, 5D. Gung-ho: KEEN, which was also not that easy, as the term is rather out-dated.

9. Sheet of stamps: PANE. Wow, it makes sense, but I did not know this DEFINITION. What a miserable start for me.

13. "So that's how it's going to be": I SEE. For those of us married and divorced, this visual is all too real. I can still here the clam, “I see” before the storm.

14. Anago and unagi: EELS. A nice shout for our feerless leader who often had mention her unagi preference.

15. An amulet may ward it off, purportedly: EVIL. Finally, a clue I could answer.

19. Danish poker star Gus: HANSEN. The all-time leading money winner on the World Poker Tour, or at least he was the last time I watched.

20. Curling surface: ICE. The beginning of an onslaught of deceptive clues. Luckily, the Winter Olympics showed lots of this bizarre sport, so Iwas able to rid my brain of the image of old linoleum coming up.

21. Texter's "Heavens!": OMG. Oh My, another answer.

23. Oscar night figure: EMCEE. Again, did you thing about the statue? This is where I wonder how intricate the mind of this constructor is as this year the co-host of the Oscar presentations is Anne Hathaway, who is clued in 29D. 2004 Anne Hathaway title role: ELLA, a cute little MOVIE .

24. Small, vocal bird: WREN.

26. __ market: FLEA. We have many huge ones in Fort Lauderdale, including the SWAP SHOP which used to have a circus all the time.

27. Cliff, Carlos and Derrek of baseball: LEES. Even if you do not know much baseball, you may have heard of CLIFF LEE the Cy Young winning pitcher who spurned the evil empire to sign with the Phillies after helping Texas to its first world series last year. Carlos and Derrek are both children of ex-major leaguers, but none are related to each other.

30. Mag wheels?: EDS. Well, this had my head spinning even after I got the letters from the perps, then d’oh, MAGAZINE big shots! Editors. More deception.

31. Pound output: POEM. Slap, EZRA POUND, not money, not hitting, a poet. POUND was instrumental in so many careers from Joyce, T.S. Eliot and Hemingway, it is unfortunate he embraced fascism and Hitler and denounced all Jews.

32. Has a powerful desire (for): LUSTS. Here, I defer to LOIS and CAROL our other linguistic experts.

36. Gait between walk and canter: AMBLE. I always thought STROLL was in between, but I Guess AMBLE works.

39. Wine Train valley: NAPA. This is a worthwhile TRIP .

40. MoveOn.org, e.g.: Abbr.: PAC. Political Action Committee, our modern lobbyists.

46. Hole maker: MOTH.

47. Mongol sovereign: KHAN. Genghis anyone?

48. Trap, in a way: TREE. To force a person or an animal into a position from which he cannot escape, to corner.

49. "Cheers" waitress: CARLA. A very feisty character played by RHEA PERLMAN who is married to Danny DeVito who was in LA CONFIDENTIAL. I wonder if this clue is intended to foreshadow 11D. French president Sarkozy: NICOLAS the MAN who married CARLA BRUNI.

50. Sixth rock from the sun: Abbr.: SAT. My meh fill of the puzzle, SATURN being the 6th planet in our solar system.

51. Rye go-with: HAM. I used to see that ordered lots, but now there are too many bread types.

52. Repartee: BANTER. The stock in trade of this Corner, on our good days.

57. Lowdown: INFO.

58. "Exodus" novelist: URIS. Leon has become crosswordese.

59. Compass __ :ROSE. This had me stomped for a while, if only I had a PICTURE .

60. Riding: ATOP. Our obligatory “A” word.

61. Took off: LEFT. Nobody shedding any clothes here, just leaving.

62. Dot and Flik, in "A Bug's Life": ANTS. I missed this masterpiece of animated ANTics, but it was a pretty sage guess.

Okay, now breathe, we still must do the downs

Down:

1. "Glee" star Lea __: MICHELE. While I am not a Gleek, perhaps you all appreciate this ACTRESS .

2. Embarrassed: ASHAMED. I see these two as not really being synonymous, as I was embarrasses how long it took me to fill this grid, but I am not ashamed of my performance.

3. Medium settings: SEANCES. Okay, did we think stove top, appliances, anything but psychic mumbo-jumbo.

4. Time indicators of a sort: TENSES. An easy one for our English teachers.

6. Rebirth prefix: NEO. Perhaps another hint we are approaching the easter season.

7. "The Silmarillion" being: ELF. How many have read Tolkien’s pre-quel to the Hobbit and LOTR, in which we learn the history of middle earth? It was a difficult read for me, with so much detail and “history” to absorb, but it set the stage for the books I had read years before.

8. Uses binoculars, say: ESPIES. How many of you have played, “I spy with my little eye” with your children on long car rides? That and the license plate game kept me sane when they were young, as I had a 400+ mile trip with them every month.

9. Athlete dubbed "O Rei do Futebol": PELE. This is the Portuguese rendition of King of Football (soccer) for the incomparable Brazilian star of soccer, Edison "Edson" Arantes do Nascimento.

10. Gardner of "Mayerling": AVA. A very pretty GIRL who was married to both Mickey Rooney and Frank Sinatra. Hollywood is a strange place.

12. Gold or silver: ELEMENT. Nothing to do with their value, just there base nature.

17. "Hmm ...": GEE. Hmm, gee.

18. Embarrassing marks: ACNE. No, not DEES, but zits.

22. Roams: GADS. Not the first though I had, as again, gadding about is a rather archaic phrase, but it works. How many grew up watching GADDABOUT GADDIS, the FLYING FISHERMAN?

24. Troubles: WOES. Trouble, with a capital T.

25. Jennifer Crusie's genre: ROMANCE. I never heard of this AUTHOR but with ROM, what else could it be?

26. Obstacle for Santa?: FLUE. Hi, Argyle. I think a roaring fire might be more of a statement.

28. Mauna __: LOA. Has to be LOA or KEA, the Hawaiian peaks.

31. Responded in court: PLED. The little shout out to me, and my past trail work.

33. King of comedy: ALAN. One of the longest lasting of the Catskill Comics, who presented a more intellectual comedy than Henny Youngman, Shecky Greene and others. He probably influenced many young comedians like Jerry Seinfeld, by his style of talking to the audience rather than just one-liners. Of course, a one liner has its place, like Why do Jewish divorces cost so much? They're worth it.

34. Shed tool: RAKE. Many of the comedians were rakes.

35. Adds to: UPS. For example, UPS the ante, the was Gus Hansen does.

36. Sets a price: ASKS. Also known as the asking price.

37. Jackson dubbed "Queen of Gospel": MAHALIA. For all of you cruel wits, who realized MICHAEL is the correct number of letters, not funny! Well maybe funny, but you should not miss the incredible voice of this PERFORMER .

38. Sticking out: BLATANT.

40. Helping: PORTION. Again, not knowing that helping is being clued as a noun, made this a challenge.

41. In any case: AT LEAST.

42. River to Boston Harbor: CHARLES. A complete gimme for many of us; I have many fond memories of my youth and the Charles river, not far from where I had my first transplant.

44. Seven-time N.L. batting champ Musial: STAN. When I was a kid, it was Stan the Man versus Ted Williams.

45. Two or three bags of groceries, say: ARMFUL. With plastic bags, I try to carry 8-10 at a time.

46. Transforming syllable: MANTRA. OM. OM. OM. OM. OM. OM. Feel better?

49. Lockup: CAN. Lockup as a noun means jail, which is also known as the CAN (and the Calaboose).

51. Stud alternative: HOOP. Okay, gang, I know you were disappointed this misdirection was only talking about earrings.

52. As good as it gets: BEST. This puzzle is pretty close.

54. Corp. exec: CFO.

55. Fury: IRE. I like the horse better.

56. "What's the __?": DIF. The question mark tips you to the abbreviation of DIFFERENCE in an in the language expression.

Well, GEE, we have reached the end of another journey of learning and laughing. I enjoyed this because it was both very hard but filled with wit and I hope you all stayed for the ride. Remember, the links are only for those who want them. See you next time.

Answer grid.

Lemonade