Friday November 5, 2010 David Poole

Theme: Internet Destination, Before and After; each of the four theme answers takes an every day phrase, and by adding a new beginning, creates a humorous phrase which starts a famous internet site.

17A. Favorable time to place an online bid?: EBAY WINDOW. E added to BAY WINDOW, with the meaning a WINDOW of opportunity, and EBAY the auction site.

27A. Online networking site trainee? : MYSPACE CADET. MY added to SPACE CADET, yields MYSPACE and CADET as trainee.

44A. Detective's job concerning a personal online relationship? : FACEBOOK CASE. FACE is added to BOOK CASE, with CASE what detectives investigate.

58A. Spinner seen in an online video?: YOUTUBE TOP. YOU added to TUBE TOP, creates a TOP SPINNING ON YOU TUBE. When my brothers and I were growing up, we used our Dradles for the battles.

Happy Friday, and Happy Guy Fawkes Day, from Lemonade714, which being sentimental, I celebrate every year as the anniversary of the first time I fell in love. Mr. Poole is becoming a more regular contributor, and this puzzle has plenty of misdirection and humor and creative cluing, beyond the theme, which seems like a nice idea, but a bit tortured.

Some fun:

64A. Ones changing locks: DYERS. Dyeing the hair, nice misdirection.

30D. Fly catcher: TOAD. Not the San Francisco outfield.

42D. "Hey, ewe!": BAA. For some reason I like it when certain people get my attention with “hey you”.

46D. Serious depression: CRATER. I hope you all got that and did not get blue, except of course being blue is good here.

52. Cop stopping traffic?: NARC. My favorite, stopping drug traffic.

We continue:

ACROSS:

1. Tic __ :TACS. The first of the strong mints.

5. Travis of country: TRITT. Yes it is a GREAT DAY TO BE ALIVE.

10. Arrange in a tournament: SEED. The use of this term comes from needing to separate seeds to let them grow, just as you separate the very good teams, to allow them to meet later in a tournament.

14. Eliza's greeting: ELLO. Ms. Doolittle has had a strong run this fall.

15. 2009 Man Booker International Prize winner Alice: MUNRO. This Canadian short story writer is a recipient of many fiction awards, including this biennial award for one’s life work, presented by a British investment firm.

16. Poi base: TARO. A tuber, associated with the plant we call Elephant Ears, here in Florida.

19. "__ Almighty": 2007 film: EVAN. Like 56.D. Movies with "II" in their titles: Abbr. : SEQS this movie was a sequel to BRUCE ALMIGHTY which Jim Carrey wisely chose not to star in, Bruce II became EVAN with Steve Carrell, both of which has Morgan Freeman as the Almighty, and no doubt the inspiration of 20A. Sacred scroll: TORAH.

21. Silent: SOUNDLESS.

23. Wellness gp.: HMO.

24. __ de toilette: EAU. Just a touch of French, toilet water sounds so much better in French.

26. Nobelist Bohr: NIELS. Thanks to Martha Grimes, this always reminds me of SCHRÖDINGER'S CAT, or is it dead?

31. What odes do: PRAISE. Before there were scrolls, or other writings, singers toured the land writing and performing songs of praise for the lords in power, and ODE is derived from the Greek word for song.

34. 1987 Costner role: NESS, prohibition policeman Elliot; do we like or dislike Kevin, or was ROBERT STACK the embodiment of the role? What guest stars! Does anyone watch Boardwalk Empire ?

35. Hope-Crosby destination: RIO. One of the many ROAD TO… movies they did with Dorothy Lamour.

36. Pay for periodic use: RENT.

37. Coll. of 12 signs: ZOD. Notice that collection is abbreviated, so the response must be an abbreviation as well. We are deep in Scorpio now.

38. Afghanistan's Tora __ region: BORA. This is the region where the US believed bin Laden was hiding in a cave, and where US troops were sent after 9-11, but despite killing and capturing many al Quaeda, no leader.

39. 2007 honor for Hugh Laurie: Abbr.: OBE. It is easy to forget how British Hugh Laurie is after watching him as House for so many years, so go rent the Bertie Wooster/Jeeves series, or Black Adder and see him in his original incarnation. Of course, Jeeves, loved the poem 40A. "__ Ben Adhem": ABOU, a simple poem which many were forced to memorize.

42. Warned, in a way: BEEPED. In Florida is is against the law to blow your horn except to warn of danger, though it is not enforced that way. We also have, 38.D. Buzzer: BEE.

47. Bottom bits: DREGS. When the grapes were crushed, the remaining skin etc was the dregs.

48. Word before or after pack: RAT. Frank and the boys as the RAT PACK, and my uncle, who kept every bill he ever paid, as a PACK RAT.

49. 27-Down, e.g.: SCH. This leads to 27.D. 49-Across from which Buzz Aldrin turned down a full scholarship: MIT. And, 31.D. 27-Down fig.: PROF.

52. Colorful fish: NEON TETRA. Another fishie clue.

55. Kirin beer rival: ASAHI. The two most popular beers; the brewery where my youngest works, just was signed by a much larger distributor, so the world of ORLANDO BREWING, the only organic brewery in Florida is picking up.

57. Starting stake: ANTE. In card games, for example.

60. Bakery buys: RYES. We go ERGOT, to the bread made from the grain.

61. Seaside flock: ERNES. These birds are our most popular feathery friends.

62. Bit of Marx's legacy: QUIP. Groucho, not Karl, and also 33.D. Toastmasters' stock: ANECDOTES.

63. It may number in the thousands: CAST. Cecil B. DeMille always advertised his movies had them.

65. Agile: SPRY.

DOWN:

1. Effectiveness: TEETH. The NFL needed to put some Teeth into the ban on helmet to helmet hits, by suspending players without pay.

2. "Tuesdays With Morrie" author: ALBOM. Mitch, who is a regular in the Detroit newspaper, as well as on ESPN’s SPORTS REPORTERS ; I read the book. Morrie was smart, but the book seemed just exploitive and without any real insight, but it was a big hit.

3. Light smoke: CLARO. I believe the term is used for certain light tobacco cigars, but I have never been much of a smoker, and only the perps got me there.

4. Milk source: SOYA. It is taking over, and clearly a misnomer, as how can a nut give milk. And in contrast, 18.D. Milk by-products: WHEYS. Little Miss Muffet, sat on her tuffet (and what a fine tuffet it was!) eating her CURDS and….

5. "I didn't need to know that!": TMI. TOO MUCH INFORMATION; hard to keep up with the short cut minds of the young; my latest embarrassment was not deciphering oic, to mean Oh, I see.

6. Accumulates: RUNS UP. Ah yes, Wimpy accumulated quite the tab for Hamburgers.

7. Chinese leader?: INDO. Indochinese, by now we all know leader often is used to mean the beginning of a word.

8. Defeated decisively: TROUNCED.

9. Student resenters, perhaps: TOWNIES. When I was young, I was sent to boarding school, and once a month or so, the school would load up a bus and take some students into the big city (Pittsfield, Massachusetts) and drop them off, to be picked up 5 hours later. Man the townies hated us, except the girls, who were much too nice…It was West Side Story, suburban version.

10. "__ By Starlight": jazz standard: STELLA. So many versions of this SONG .

11. Gather information secretly: EAVESDROP. The drop part comes from the purpose of the eave was to have the water drop (or drip) from the roof, and not into the house.

12. Some are named for music genres: ERAS. We certainly know the BIG BAND era.

13. Slips into: DONS. Clothing.

22. Winter mos.: DECS. Egads, we are almost there again!

25. Suffix with lip-: ASE. ASE is a suffix for enzymes, and LIPASE in humans is created in the pancreas and is is critical in neutralizing triglycerides and other non-soluble fats.

28. Actress Aimée: ANOUK. A very natural BEAUTY .

29. 53-Down's homeland: EIRE. More dual clues, but at least a new one for 53.D. Singer born Eithne Patricia Ní Bhraonáin: ENYA.

32. Sitcom whose theme song was sung by its star: REBA. SURVIVOR .

37. Albee play, with "The": ZOO STORY. An international SUCCESS .

40. Put oneself at risk, in a way: ABET. Ading and abetting a Felon…

41. Messed up a hole, maybe: BOGEYED. No longer a bad score for me.

43. Cornerstone abbr.: ESTAB. Established.

45. He played Marty in "Marty": ERNEST. Ladies, for you Mr. Borgnine .

49. Prepared to take notice?: SAT UP.

50. Church area: CHOIR. Tricky, because of the choir being filled with the choir.

51. Wide-haunched: HIPPY. Not a phrase to be used as a compliment, “ my your wife looks really wide-haunched, “ even though it helps in delivering babies, and we know many men really like a broad beam in more than just their boat.

54. Odd character: RUNE. The old way TO WRITE .

59. Sub letters: USS. Can you imagine being underwater for months on THIS .

Answer grid.

Welcome to my new home as Friday’s child, which in fact I am both literally and figuratively. Keep the cards and letters coming and enjoy.

Lemonade

Thursday November 4, 2010 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: "You have to find the key" to unlock this puzzle. The reveal entry was no help: 50D. Clue for 20-, 32-, 39- and 48-Across: LOCK.

20A. See 50-Down: CERTAIN WINNER. "It's a lock." A Dutch book is a set of odds and bets which guarantees a profit to the bookmaker no matter what happens in the contest.

32A. See 50-Down: HAIR CLUSTER. A tress, curl or ringlet. A common superstition is to keep a lock of hair from a baby's first haircut, for luck.

39A. See 50-Down: CANAL DEVICE. Lock, in the sense of a barrier or an enclosure on a waterway.

48A. See 50-Down: WRESTLING HOLD. Headlock, hammerlock, etc.

Al here.

This was tough, and a catch-22 at that. You needed the clue to get the theme, but you needed to solve the theme answers to figure out the clue. I think I spent close to 40 minutes on this one picking away a few letters at a time, some guesses, then looking away and seeing how to make words out of the few perps I could manage. The last letter to fall was the C at the cross of Cozened and Canal device. Imagine how that across word looked with the beginning letter missing... The three and four letter answers were outnumbered today: only 33, compared to 39 answers of five letters or longer.

ACROSS:

1. Home of Brigham Young University: PROVO. Utah.

6. __ Mahal: TAJ.

9. Fat substitute brand in some potato chips: OLEAN. A brand name for olestra, a fat substitute, infamous for its unpleasant side-effects, such as reduced digestive absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and steatorrhea (I leave looking up this word to you). Although, to be fair, it can also bind with dioxins, the same as normal fat, and so might be useful someday to treat victims of dioxin poisoning.

14. Not loaded: SOBER. Misdirected to think of firearms and ammunition, so EMPTY came to mind.

15. Ambient music pioneer: ENO. Such works as "Music for Airports". It might make you sleepy and miss your flight...

16. Swindler with a scheme named for him: PONZI. A fraudulent scheme of paying investors a little from what is collected from continuous new investors. Bernie Madoff ran the largest one in history.

17. Hemlock, for one: EVERGREEN. A related species, even though they do belong to the family of evergreens, tamarack (larch) needles turn yellow and fall off just like deciduous trees, so they are not always green year-round.

19. Grain disease: ERGOT. Mainly affecting the rye family of grains, alkaloids are produced that if eaten can cause convulsions and even gangrene.

22. Covet: ENVY.

23. Battery, bond or baseball club designation: AAA. An AAA bond rating means the company issuing it is extremely credit-worthy, i.e. prime. BBB or lower are considered "junk" bonds. They go down to D or "in default". AAA minor league players can be invited up to play in the majors.

24. Belgrade's land: SERBIA. A portion of what was formerly Yugoslavia.

27. Libel and slander disputes are part of it: CIVIL LAW. A legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not (as in common law) determined by judges.

34. Brit. record co.: EMI. Electric & Music Industries, Ltd.

35. Spanish pronoun: ESTA.

36. Restful resort: SPA. Name taken from a mineral springs resort in Belgium. Waloon for spring, fountain.

37. Prayer opener: O GOD.

38. Old-fashioned get-together: BEE. As in the sense of social insects working busily together in a common cause.

43. "Beanz meanz Heinz," e.g.: AD SLOGAN. From Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, a battle cry used by Scottish Highland or Irish clans," from sluagh "army, host, slew" + gairm "a cry".

45. Truck capacity: ONE TON. Guessed at the TON ending, but had to wait for at least one perp for the rest.

46. AIDS-fighting drug: AZT. Azidothymidine.

47. __ dire: juror examination: VOIR. From O.Fr. voir “true” + dire “to say.”

54. Foreign: ALIEN. Xenophobia is the irrational fear of foreigners.

56. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" regular: ROSE MARIE. Her role was a comedy writer, Sally Rogers along with Buddy Sorrell, played by Morie Amsterdam.

57. __ Nast: CONDE. Worldwide publisher of such magazines as Vogue, Allure, Golf Digest, Wired, many others.

58. Winter hazard: ICE. Can't argue with that. Although, I wouldn't want to be out in this hailstorm in Georgia, and that's nothing to do with winter. If you click it, watch for at least 25 seconds.

59. Family nickname: AUNTY. Hubby? Wifey? Sissy?

60. Tolerated: STOOD. "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more." ala Popeye the sailor.

61. Gives the go-ahead: OKS. A long explanation and debunking of other explanations: oll korrect, a deliberate misspelling.

62. Tart fruit: SLOES. They do look like little plums.

DOWN:

1. Minute segment of a min.: PSEC. Picosecond. That is one trillionth, or 0.000 000 000 001 seconds. A picosecond is to one second as one second is to 31,700 years.

2. Wander: ROVE.

3. Upper, in Ulm: OBER. German city, word for over, as in above.

4. Spinal column component: VERTEBRA.

5. Like some farming: ORGANIC.

6. Minute: TEENY.

7. Fresh way to start: ANEW.

8. "Help Me" vocalist Mitchell: JONI.

9. Alfresco: OPEN AIR. Confusingly, al fresco also means "painted on plaster that is still wet".

10. Maker of EverPure shampoo: LOREAL.

11. Former Caltech sr., perhaps: ENGR. Senior in college, Engineer abbrevs.

12. __ dye: chemical coloring: AZO. JZB just explained this the other day.

13. Little thing to pick: NIT. I always wonder why this has a bad connotation. Seems like a useful service. I wouldn't to leave them on me.

18. Competitor: RIVAL. Latin rivalis originally, "one who uses the same stream" (or "one on the opposite side of the stream"), from rivus "brook" The notion is of the competitiveness of neighbors.

21. Basilica section: NAVE. The main portion of a church, connected with naval from Latin navis "ship" based on some vague resemblance.

24. Ancient queendom: SHEBA.

25. Let up: EASED.

26. Customary ceremonies: RITES.

27. It covers the Hill: C-SPAN. Live TV coverage of the House of Representatives. C-Span2 covers the Senate. If Brian Eno's ambient music was being played on either station, you'd never wake up...

28. Da Vinci's lang.: ITAL.ian

29. On the up and up: LEGIT.

30. It started as Standard Oil of Indiana: AMOCO. American Oil Co, now merged with British Petroleum.

31. Expand: WIDEN.

33. John McCain's alma mater: Abbr.: USNA. United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.

37. Revamp: OVERHAUL. Originally nautical, "pull rigging apart for examination," which was done by slackening the rope by pulling in the opposite direction to that in which it is pulled in hoisting.

39. Hoodwinked: COZENED. Uncertain origin, but perhaps from French cousiner "cheat on pretext of being a cousin;" or from Middle English cosyn "fraud, trickery"

40. "The X-Files" extras: Abbr.: AGTS. FBI agents and extra terrestrials. What's not to love? The truth is out there.

41. Ridd's love, in a Blackmore romance: DOONE. Lorna.

42. They're hard to figure out: ENIGMAS. Riddles. Same length, too.

44. Rio Grande city: LAREDO. Texas.

47. Workshop gadgets: VISES.

48. Skid row figure: WINO.

49. Charlie's Angels, e.g.: TRIO. Tricky, since there were six of them, just not all at the same time.

51. "Deal __ Deal": OR NO. Howie Mandel's game show. Wishful thinking. For the money, of course; what did you think I meant?

52. Lo-cal: LITE.

53. Bygone Tunisian rulers: DEYS. "Title of a military commander in Muslim north Africa," from Turk. dai "maternal uncle," a friendly title used of older men, especially by the Janissaries of Algiers of their commanding officers.

54. Summer coolers, briefly: ACS. Air conditioners.

55. Used car site: LOT.

Answer Grid.

Al

Wednesday November 3, 2010 Gareth Bain

Theme: Fowl Play - The first word of each two-word familiar phrase is a type of KFC chicken piece.

17A. Commonly upholstered seat : WING CHAIR. A chair with "wings" to provide comfortable protection from drafts. Like this.

28A. Real scream : THIGH SLAPPER. A funny joke or story that might cause you to laugh and slap your thigh.

40A. "Finger lickin' good" sloganeer, and a hint to this puzzle's theme : KFC. Kentucky Fried Chicken.

45A. Crawl alternative : BREAST STROKE. The front crawl, or forward crawl, is a swimming style. New to me.

62A. '80s fashion fad inspired by dance films : LEG WARMER. Anyone not think of these?

Melissa here.

One of the easier wednesdays in recent memory - blew through it pretty quickly except for a couple of names i did not know.

Across:

1. Hippocratic oath no-no : HARM. "First, do no harm." Part of an oath taken by doctors swearing to practice medicine ethically. Believed to have been written by Hippocrates, often regarded as 'the father of medicine.' Interestingly enough, when i looked up the actual text of the oath, the words "first, do no harm" are not there, although not harming the patient is TACITLY implied.

5. Astounds : AWES

9. Unspoken, but implied : TACIT

14. Pints at the bar : ALES

15. TV part? : TELE. I wanted ROLE.

16. Like merinos : OVINE. Relating to sheep. Merino is a breed of sheep particularly prized for its wool.

19. Prolific psalmist : DAVID. King David, author of the Psalms.

20. Some littermates : KITTIES. Cute. And 29D. Call to 20-Across : HERE. "Here, kitty."

21. "To continue ..." : AND

23. Gary's st. : IND. St = state. Gary, Indiana. Clear Ayes would appreciate this.

24. Bakery array : PIES

26. Smart-__: cocksure and conceited : ALECKY. Not sure i've seen this as an adjective before. "My brother is smart-alecky."

33. Rue : REGRET

34. Pint-size : WEE

35. Frenzied : AMOK. I like this word. Almost as good as kerfuffle. Anyone recognize the line "There's something amok with this cheesecake?"

39. Wildly cheering : AROAR

41. Honshu port : OSAKA

42. Balkan native : SERB

43. Nintendo game console : WII.

44. We-alone link : ARE NOT

48. British philosopher who wrote "Language, Truth and Logic" : A.J. AYER. A bit obscure. A book of philosophy published in 1936. Alfred Jules Ayer.

51. Enjoy the Appalachian Trail : HIKE. Riiiiight, he was hiking.

52. Prom rental : TUX

53. Maker of tiny combs : BEE. Bzzz.

55. Like a persistent headache : NAGGING. Or a smart-alecky brother.

60. O'Connor's successor : ALITO. Supreme Court Justices.

64. The QE2, e.g. : LINER. Retired in 2008.

65. An acre's 43,560 square feet : AREA

66. Je t'__: Pierre's "I love you" : AIME

67. Canada's highest mountain : LOGAN. Second highest peak in North America.

68. Tramp's love : LADY. Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp.

69. Put in the overhead : STOW

Down:

1. Aggressive sort : HAWK. Indeed.

2. Et __: and others : ALII. Abbreviated et al.

3. Monopoly payment : RENT

4. Bilko's mil. rank : MSGT. Sergeant Bilko was a Master Sergeant.

5. Believer's antithesis : ATHEIST. One who does not believe in God.

6. Otter's kin : WEASEL

7. Actor Wallach : ELI

8. Word repeated in a Doris Day song : SERA. Que Sera, Sera = whatever will be, will be. The song was introduced in Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 film The Man Who Knew Too Much. Won an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

9. More than crawl : TODDLE. Clecho. Babies crawl first, then they toddle. Toddlers.

10. Palindromic girl's name that ranked among the 10 most popular in each of the past five years : AVA. Ava Gardner.

11. Like some pride : CIVIC. I suppose.

12. How contracts are usually signed : IN INK. Does it in ink, you still with us?

13. Garment including a chemise : TEDDY. Clue feels odd. A chemise and a teddy are both undergarments, usually worn under a blouse.

18. Written code : CIPHER. To read it, you must decipher.

22. Golfer's sunburn spot : NAPE. Back of the neck. I see a lot of golfer's tans at work.

25. Swimmer with a bladelike snout : SAWFISH. Creepy.

27. Pencil tip : ERASER

28. Refrain syllables : TRAS. Tra la la.

30. Inventor Sikorsky : IGOR. He designed and flew the world's first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the Russky Vityaz in 1913, and the first airliner, Ilya Muromets, in 1914.

31. Like takers : GRABBY.

32. Ripple near the nipple : PEC. Nice.

36. Hombre's hand : MANO. Mano is Spanish for hand.

37. "I get it, I get it!" : OK OK

38. British rock star Bush : KATE

40. Korean automaker : KIA

41. Former Nicaraguan leader : ORTEGA

43. "The Way We __" : WERE. Great movie. "See ya, kid."

44. "Shoot" : ASK AWAY

46. With new life : REBORN

47. Lightly shaded : TINGED.

48. To any extent : AT ALL

49. Crooner Iglesias : JULIO.

50. Firing : AXING. See this a lot.

54. Carrier to Tel Aviv : EL AL. This too.

56. Mardi __ : GRAS. "Fat Tuesday."

57. Go-getter's response to "Do you know of such a person?" : I'M IT. Perps filled it in.

58. Nautilus skipper : NEMO. Or him.

59. Expanded : GREW

61. Texas __: oil : TEA

63. Stat for CC Sabathia : ERA. Carsten Charles Sabathia. Yankees pitcher. Earned Run Average.

Answer grid.

Melissa

Tuesday, November 2, 2010 Bruce Venzke

Theme: Political Exercise - While the first word of these phrases may be found in the gym, the phrases themselves could also indicate the actions of candidate on the campaign trail, a trail that ends today(and starts again tomorrow).

17A. Being convincing via coercion: TWISTING ONES ARM

27A. Making a comeback, say: TURNING THE TIDE

45A. Sneering: CURLING ONES LIP

60A. Telling a little white lie: BENDING THE TRUTH

Argyle here, not running for anything. Tell me what you think about my take on the theme.

Two full width answers and two that just lack one letter. Very nice doable Tuesday and just a 'J' short of a pangram.

Across:

1. Throaty attention getter : AHEM

5. Contemptible person, in slang : SLEAZE

11. Brewery cask : KEG

14. Mideast's __ Strip : GAZA. Map.

15. Set in waves, as hair : PERMED

16. Prompt on stage : CUE

20. Ski resort grooming vehicle : SNO-CAT

21. Yves's yes : OUI

22. Bow-toting god : EROS

23. Boxer sounds? : ARFS. A canine boxer.

25. Food package meas. : NT WT. Net Weight.

33. Gossipy Barrett : RONA. She currently runs the Rona Barrett Foundation, a non-profit organization in Santa Ynez, California, dedicated to the aid and support of senior citizens in need.

34. Vintage car : REO. Oldsmobile.

35. Ship-locating system : LORAN. LOng RAnge Navigation. LORAN use has been in steep decline, being replaced with the satellite based Global Positioning System. (GPS)

36. Yiddish laments : OYs

37. Sticks to, as a task : KEEPS AT

40. One of the "Little Women" : AMY. "Little Women" (or Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy) is a novel by American author Louisa May Alcott.

41. Part of a front-end alignment : TOE IN. On your car, you may also have rear-end alignment with toe in adjustment.

43. Mississippi or Mersey: Abbr. : RIV. River. Good spot here for a musical interlude. Ferry Cross The Mersey.

44. Water shade : AQUA. Not the shade of water in either of the aforementioned rivers.

49. "Was __ loud?" : I TOO

50. Drawer feature : KNOB

51. Actress Chase : ILKA. Ilka Chase(1900-1978) had a long career as an actress on stage and screen and wrote more than a dozen books. Her book. Her epitaph reads: "I've finally gotten to the bottom of things."

54. Miner's find : ORE

56. Genetics pioneer Mendel : GREGOR. He was an Austrian monk and biologist whose work on heredity became the basis of the modern theory of genetics.

63. Pasture call : MOO. No connection to 68A. Melville's "Typee" sequel : OMOO.

64. Wobble : TEETER

65. London art museum : TATE

66. When one hand is up and the other is down : SIX. On an analog clock face; remember them?

67. Doctor's directives : ORDERS

Down:

1. FBI investigators : AGTs.

2. Goldie of "The Banger Sisters" : HAWN. Poster for the movie, with Susan Sarandon.

3. Opera star Pinza : EZIO. From "South Pacific", singing Some Enchanted Evening.

4. Lash cosmetic : MASCARA

5. One who's quick to anger : SPITFIRE

6. Sportscaster Berman : LEN. Since August 2008, Len has kept a blog and daily newsletter at LenBermanSports.com, using the form to continue his type of humor and whimsical sports stories.

7. Therefore : ERGO

8. Total : AMOUNT

9. Nadir's opposite : ZENITH

10. Netherlands city : EDE. Inland from Amsterdam.

11. Plymouth Reliant, e.g. : K-CAR. Dodge Aries, Plymouth Reliant, 1981 to 1989.

12. Continental currency : EURO

13. Jeweler's stock : GEMS

18. Mountain lake : TARN

19. Brief fight : SET-TO

24. Dagger of yore : SNEE

26. Whip mark : WELT

27. "Happy birthday __!" : TO YOU. This has to be one of the easiest clue/answer yet!

28. Racers Al or Bobby : UNSER. Automotive racers.

29. Decide to play for pay : GO PRO

30. Kuwaiti neighbor : IRAQI

31. Keep from flowing, as a stream : DAM UP

32. "Orinoco Flow" New Age singer : ENYA

33. Univ. military program : ROTC

37. Heal, as bones : KNIT

38. Pile-of-dishes place : SINK

39. Steed and Mrs. Peel's show, with "The" : AVENGERS. Image.

42. Homeric war epic : ILIAD

44. __ VO5: beauty product : ALBERTO

46. Twelve o'clock meeting : NOONER. Ho, ho, ho!

47. Stuffed with food : GORGED

48. Do a laundry task : SORT

51. Certain PCs : IBMs. Personal computers from International Business Machines(IBM).

52. First of 13 popes : LEO I

53. Fort featured in "Goldfinger" : KNOX

55. Cigar suffix : ETTE

57. Largest of the Mariana Islands : GUAM

58. Director Preminger : OTTO

59. Prefix with stat : RHEO

61. Skater Midori : ITO. Clip.

62. The Beatles' "I Saw __ Standing There" : HER

Answer grid.

We are passing along this email from Peter Gordon, editor of Fireball Crosswords. Hope you will subscribe for 2011. Fireball is one of the best (and most challenging) puzzles around.

"With just half a dozen puzzles left in the year, please send an email to me at xwords@optonline.net with the subject line either YES or NO that answers this question:

If Fireball Crosswords continues in 2011, the subscription price will be $16 for 40 puzzles. Do you plan to subscribe/resubscribe?

Next year, if I get enough subscribers, I will continue with the puzzles, but I will open up the submissions to all puzzle writers. I will still make many of the puzzles myself, including probably all the themeless puzzles, but there will be more variety because some of the puzzles will be themed puzzles. Since I will pay the highest rate in the country for a daily-sized puzzle, $201, I expect to get the cream of the crop, and won't accept anything less. But even if everyone were to resubscribe at the rate I charged last year, I'd still be losing money on every puzzle written by others. Since both my wife and accountant think this is a Bad Idea, I have no choice but to raise the rate. If around 500 of the 710 current subscribers sign on for next year, I will continue.

Whatever the outcome, the only result that will upset me is if I don't get a high response rate from this question. Without enough replies, I won't know what I should do. So cast your ballot on this Election Day and let me know YES or NO.

Also, please spread the word about Fireball Crosswords. If you're a blogger, mention the site (www.FireballCrosswords.com). If you have a Twitter account, tweet about it. Put it on your Facebook page. And talk it up to everyone you know. If there's someone who likes really hard crosswords, why not give a gift subscription? It's the gift that keeps on giving throughout the year. (If you plan on buying two subscriptions, send two YES emails.)

No matter the outcome, it's been a pleasure puzzling you throughout 2010!"

Argyle

Monday, November 1, 2010 Gail Grabowski

Theme: Root - Root, root for the home team - Three RAHs span across each two-word common name/phrases. 64A. Theme of this puzzle hidden in 17-, 27- and 48-Across: THREE CHEERS plus a fourth one for good measure that isn't hidden.

17A. TV's Della Street for nearly 40 years: BARBARA HALE. This actress played the part of Perry Mason's enigmatic secretary and more, but how much more was never clear.

27A. School assignment that may elicit groans: EXTRA HOMEWORK

48A. Symphony venue: ORCHESTRA HALL

69A. One of the 64-Across: "RAH!"

Hurray! Argyle here and I survived another Halloween. (7D. Bit of seasonal laughter : HO, HO) A bit unusual, seeing three theme entries hidden, RA in one word and the H in the next word, and then a fourth RAH as a separate entry. Other than that, nice long theme entries for a smooth Monday.

Across:

1. Flies high : SOARS

6. Taking things wrong? : THEFT. I liked this clue/entry.

11. Work on hems : SEW

14. Enthusiastic about : UP FOR

15. Espionage double agents : MOLEs

16. "Double Fantasy" artist Yoko : ONO

19. GI morale booster : USO. The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO)

20. Disorderly sort : SLOB. Calling Pigpen a slob might be too harsh; he's just untidy.

21. How fries are fried : IN OIL. Are frozen fries oil fried before they're frozen?

22. Basic earring : STUD

23. Space-saving abbr. : ETC.

25. V-shaped slits : NOTCHES

32. Old Prizm automaker : GEO. The Geo/Chevrolet Prizm (Chevrolet Prizm starting 1998) was a United States-market entry-level compact car from model years 1989 through 2002. The Prizm was a rebadged version of the Toyota Corolla.

33. Trait transmitter : GENE

34. "That stings!" : "YEOW!"

36. Tab-grabber's words : "ON ME". Catchy word, tab-grabber.

38. Alabama march city : SELMA

41. Small songbird : WREN

43. Quite a distance off : AFAR

45. Honored guests' platform : DAIS

47. Seasonal sprite : ELF

52. Visits unexpectedly : DROPS IN

54. RV connection? : S T U. Like the LP connection, these letter runs can cause momentary confusion because the two letters do mean something else.

55. Isn't up to snuff : AILS

56. __-press: wrinkle-resistant : PERMA

59. Home run hitters' hitters : BATS

63. __ chi: martial art : TAI

66. Sci-fi creatures : ETs

67. Church doctrine : DOGMA

68. Senator Hatch : ORRIN. Orrin Hatch (R-UT)

70. Secretly watch : SPY ON

71. Trans Am roof options : T-TOPS

Down:

1. Second-stringers : SUBS

2. Fall birthstone : OPAL

3. Woodstock hair style : AFRO

4. Burglar : ROBBER

5. Majorca Mrs. : SRA. Majorca is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea and is largest by area and second most populated island of Spain.

6. Mtge. fraud investigator : T-MAN

8. "Seinfeld" woman : ELAINE

9. Chap : FELLOW

10. "The Waste Land" poet's monogram : TSE. Thomas Stearns Eliot (so that is what the T.S. stood for.)

11. TV setting for "M*A*S*H" : SOUTH KOREA

12. Happen next : ENSUE

13. Links selections : WOODS. Golf, where all the woods are metal. Gotta love it.

18. Wealth : RICHES

22. Twisted fastener : SCREW

24. Follow (along), like a little brother : TAG

26. Common Christmas gift : TOY. What is the "must have" toy this year? Inquiring Santas want to know.

27. Self-esteem : EGO

28. TV princess with a sidekick named Gabrielle : XENA. Another enigmatic relationship. Image.

29. Silly : TOMFOOLISH. Tomfoolery is more commonly known, yes?

30. Half and half : ONE. Two halves make a whole(one).

31. Pinochle combos : MELDS. Did Pinocchio ever play pinochle.

35. In good health : WELL

37. O.K. Corral brothers : EARPs

39. Yoga class need : MAT

40. Respiratory cavity : AIR SAC

42. Cowboys' org. : NFL. The Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League.

44. Coke alternatives : RCs. Royal Crown soda.

46. Used a rocker : SAT

49. Rap genre : HIP-HOP. More common than Emo.

50. Couch potato's lack, evidently : ENERGY

51. Lyndon's 1964 running mate : HUBERT. Campaign pin.

52. Socially active sort : DATER. The weakest entry, IMHO.

53. Ranchero's rope : RIATA

57. San __, Italy : REMO. FYI: San Remo, was a fictional city in the TV series Petrocelli. The scenes were filmed in Tucson, Arizona. I didn't know that.

58. Not the least bit nice : MEAN

60. Prefix with dynamic : AERO

61. Ballroom blunder : TRIP

62. IRS data : SSNs

64. QB's scores : TDs. Hmm, the quarterback doesn't often score a touchdown himself.

65. Fresh from the oven : HOT

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday October 31, 2010 Don Gagliardo

(Note: LA Times website does not support circled letters feature. Here is the pdf file of today's puzzle.)

Theme: No More Boos - A Halloween puzzle. The word "ghost" is "busted" in each familiar phrase and orderly circled in the grid. Please see Don "Hard G"'s notes at the end of my writeup for his construction inspiration.

23A. One with all the answers—or in one case, questions : GAME SHOW HOST. Alex Trebek (Jeopardy) has all the questions as answers.

32A. Global warming factor : GREENHOUSE EFFECT

41A. Boom box : GHETTO BLASTER. Not familiar with this term. Makes sense.

53A. Prepare for lean times : TIGHTEN ONE'S BELT

66A. Movie with the tagline "Sleep kills" : A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. Nice grid spanner. Plus the scary factor. Good one.

76A. HDL, familiarly : GOOD CHOLESTEROL. LDL is bad.

89A. Haunted house creaker : FLIGHT OF STEPS

101A. Medical school affiliate : TEACHING HOSPITAL. Unique GHOS & T break.

112A. Movie good guys responsible for the circled squares in eight long puzzle answers : GHOSTBUSTERS. Great unifier.

Total 133 theme squares. Very dense. Don also tried a variety of different GHOST buster phrases. Additionally, he was able to sprinkle in more Halloween spookiness in more fill/clues:

25A. October porch swinger : SKELETON

118A. Like much Halloween candy : BITE-SIZE. Great answer.

1D. Working at night for Dr. Frankenstein? : DIGGING. Scary.

3D. Twilight Saga character : VAMPIRE.

103D. Graveyard divisions : PLOTS

113D. Half a scary fly : TSE. Our old editor Wayne R. Williams used this answer/clue all the time, sans "scary".

Across:

1. '90s sci-fi series "seaQuest __" : DSV. Immediate stumper. DSV stands for "Deep Submergence Vehicle"

4. Frost's foot : IAMB. Robert Frost.

8. Honest prez : ABE

11. Parks for rights : ROSA. Rosa Parks.

15. Imogene's partner : SID (Caesar)

18. "Isn't __ pity?" : IT A

19. Greek king tormented by fruit and water he could never quite reach : TANTALUS. From him we get "tantalize".

21. __ minérales : EAUX. Plural of eau.

22. "A long time __ in a galaxy ..." : AGO

27. Aquarium fish : GUPPY. No idea. Looks like a fish peacock.

28. __-jongg : MAH

29. Like "egad," oathwise : MILD

30. Ford whose debut album was "Out for Blood" : LITA. No. Don't recognize her name.

31. Vying : IN IT

37. ATM maker : NCR

38. When to get well? : SOON. Get well soon.

39. Friendship : AMITY

40. Limber : LITHE

45. Female "Mortal Kombat" agent __ Blade : SONYA. Complete unknown. Nice abs.

46. Two-legged zebra : REF. Fun clue.

47. Pitch path : ARC

48. Pooh __: pompous officials : BAHS. I know Grand Pooh-Bah.

50. Blemish : STAIN

61. 1962 Phantom portrayer Herbert : LOM. No idea. "Pink Panther" is so silly.

62. AFL affiliate : CIO

64. Good Witch of the North portrayer Burke : BILLIE. I had her Franklin Mint doll. Wicked Witch of the West was the most expensive in the series.

65. Eye's middle layer : UVEA

72. Ship with a tilde : NIÑA. The Niña, Pinta & Santa María.

73. Memory lane walk : STROLL

74. "So that's it!" : AHA

75. 8-track tape co. : RCA

81. They may be taken with a raised hand : OATHS

83. Quarterback Tony : ROMO. Hurt. Out for the season.

84. Milk, on an Rx : LAC

85. You can bet on it : TIP. Good clue.

86. Affect, as heartstrings : TUG AT

96. Maître d's stack : MENUS

97. Didn't miss __ : A BEAT

99. Oater actor Jack : ELAM. This image is ingrained in my brain.

100. Wine holder : VAT

105. __ monster : GILA

106. Diet suffix : ETIC. Dietetic. I only know dietitian.

107. Kind of crazy? : STIR. Stir crazy.

108. Matterhorn, e.g. : ALP

109. Student of Graham : AILEY (Alvin). Martha Graham. Faintly recalled the name.

110. Hitchcock genre : THRILLER

116. Born : NEE

117. Pulitzer winner Bellow : SAUL

119. Vote for : YEA

120. Put in : ADD

121. World Series sextet : UMPS. Very timely. Also 122. New Eng. sextet : STS (States). "Sextet" clechos.

123. Cast-of-thousands movie : EPIC

124. Ohio summer hrs. : EDT. Don lives there.

Down:

2. Steadfast : STAUNCH

4. __-bitsy : ITSY

5. Relaxed reaction : AAH

6. LP filler? : MNO. Alphabetic run. L M N O P.

7. Texter's "incidentally" : BTW

8. Float __ : A LOAN

9. Outback topper : BUSH HAT. Well, I am sure Kazie knows. It's like this.

10. Car repair fig. : EST

11. Make a stand : RESIST

12. Buffalo Bill associate : OAKLEY (Annie)

13. Glove material : SUEDE

14. Rose of Guns N' Roses : AXL

15. Fullness : SATIETY

16. "Tricked you!" : I GOTCHA

17. Campaign Web site option : DONATE. Another timely clue.

20. Words of woe : AH ME

24. Skillful, kiddingly : EPT. Opposite of "Inept".

26. Like Puck : ELFIN. Puck is capitalized, the trickester in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

29. Conservationist John : MUIR

32. Blockhead : GOOF

33. Director Reiner : ROB. Loved his "A Few Good Men".

34. Zhou of China : ENLAI. Zhou is also the name of a dynasty, right before Qin. Both had capital in Xi'An. Hence my real name.

35. 'Abitation? : OME. Habitation/Home. Both Hs are dropped. Cockney accent.

36. Brush partner : FLOSS

38. Malodor : STENCH

42. Start to fold? : TRI. Start to the word trifold.

43. Uru. neighbor : ARG

44. SAT-taking venue : SCH

45. "Jeepers!" : SHEESH

48. Cotton capsule : BOLL. Have you picked fresh cotton? I have.

49. Wolfman, some nights : ANIMAL

50. "A poor man's poetry": Moore : SLANG. Unaware of this saying.

51. "Pagliacci" clown : TONIO. Can never remember this name.

52. __ acid : AMINO

53. Source of an oater long-distance call? : TOM TOM. Drum. I don't get this clue. Why "long-distance call?"

54. Hose clamp tightener : T-BOLT

55. German article : EIN. German "a".

56. Pirates' former div. : NLE (National League East). Now NL Central.

57. Rough case? : BUR. The prickly seed cover. Rough indeed.

58. Chris on the court : EVERT. Tennis court.

59. Parasite : LEECH

60. Brit's bye-byes : TATAS. Same here.

63. Sweater words? : IT'S HOT. Sweater = One who sweats.

67. Roam (about) : GAD

68. First name in protest singing : ARLO (Guthrie)

69. __ v. Wade : ROE

70. Local pair? : ELS. A pair of letter L in local.

71. Eastern philosophy : TAOISM. And 90. __-tzu, founder of 71-Down : LAO. Lao = Old.

77. Rubbernecking cause : CRASH

78. Taina of "Les Girls" : ELG. No idea. Which one?

79. By itself, not much of a cheer : RAH. Lovely clue.

80. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, say : OCTET. Septet + One.

82. Liable : APT

85. Nonstick cookware brand : T-FAL

86. Grew choppers : TEETHED. Sweet clue.

87. Like a repressed grievance : UNAIRED

88. Big name in leather goods : GUCCI

89. Baseball players' union chief before Weiner : FEHR (Donald). He looks familiar.

91. Sellout reaction, in headlines : IT'S A HIT

92. Plug extension? : OLA. Plugola.

93. Wicked looker : EVIL EYE. My friend Roberto wears an evil eye charm. He bought from Turkey.

94. Pink, e.g. : PALE RED. Not a phrase I use.

95. Patronizes, as a motel : STAYS AT

96. Ital. volcano : MT. ETNA. In Sicily.

97. Dealer's demand : ANTE UP

98. Nightclub circulators : B-GIRLS. B-B0ys too.

102. Koran religion : ISLAM

104. __ dixit : IPSE. Literally "He himself said it".

105. Yosemite Sam's "Scram!" : GIT

109. "Just __!" : A SEC

111. The NCAA's Fightin' Tigers : LSU. Shaq's alma mater.

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

114. Marceau alter ego : BIP. Unknown to me.

115. Compact submachine gun : UZI. Israeli gun.

Answer grid.

Notes from Don G:

"I was inspired by John Lampkin’s Pumpkin puzzle last Halloween. I was reminded how fun this time of year is. My first idea was a dud. I tried to do something with the words TRICK and TREAT. It didn’t work very well.

I was solving a circle puzzle some time shortly thereafter, and it just clicked. Put GHOST in circles, find them “busted up” within other entries, and we got GHOSTBUSTERS. I realized early on that I did not want GHOSTBUSTERS to appear in the title. I like surprises in my puzzles. The title was decided after everything else was done, which is opposite to how it often happens. The title I came up with is “No More Boos”, and we’ll see if it sticks. Kind of a downer, though. We want our boos (and maybe booze) on Halloween.

John Lampkin had also taught me about using One Look Dictionary as a search engine. It came in handy here. I got a couple on my own, but I relied on computer generation to help me find the hidden GHOSTS. I went a little overboard, too. I think my theme letter count got up to 130, which is fairly high. Filling the grid becomes tough. To further challenge myself, I wanted to put in some Halloween-type entries to enliven the theme. It should be a lot of fun, and that’s what it’s all about on Halloween.

I've mentioned John twice. I have been fortunate to have learned a great deal about crossword puzzles from him, and he has been generous in explaining his approach to creating puzzles. He is a consummate artist when it comes to creating puzzles, which he pursues quite avidly as he does butterflies and music. The world is a much better place for John Lampkin! I am happy to call him a friend."

C.C.

Saturday October 30, 2010 Neville L. Fogarty

(Note: Tomorrow's puzzle involves circles, which are unsupported by LA Times website. I'll release the pdf file on the blog around 9:00 pm tonight.

Updated at 9:00pm: Here is the pdf file of tomorrow's puzzle.)

Theme: None

Total word: 72

Total blocks: 29

Pretty low blocks count, though the puzzle reaches the Saturday word limit. No grid spanner. Just solid triple stacks of 9s & 8s in each quadrant. The eight Across 9s are:

6A. Angle on the Titanic sinking, to filmmakers : MONEY SHOT. Terrific entry.

16A. "Be right there!" : IN A MINUTE

18A. Out-of-court testifiers : DEPONENTS. New word to me.

19A. Vulnerable spot : BLINDSIDE

61A. TV show set at the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company : THE OFFICE. Have never watched the show.

63A. Ticketing agent? : METER MAID. Beatles's "Lovely Rita". I was picturing a cop.

66A. Opened : PREMIERED

68A. Words you may hear after being hurt : I'M SO SORRY. Awesome fill.

Overall cluing feels pretty smooth & clever (not frustratingly ambiguous). I was able to get onto the constructor's wavelength and nailed quite a few entries on the first pass. Had to groan at YING (10D. Qin dynasty family name) clue. Ying Zheng. Wayyyyy too obscure, even for me. He's known only as Qin Shi Huang in China. Qin is his dynasty. Shi = First. Huang = Emperor. Qin had its capital in my hometown Xi'An.

Across:

1. Small power source : C CELL. Battery type.

15. Gwen's "Chicago" role, 1975 : ROXIE. Played by Renée Zellweger in the 2002 musical.

17. Big name in wrap : ALCOA. Reynolds Wrap.

21. Suggest : GET AT

22. Takeout throw-in : CATSUP

23. 1942 FDR creation : OSS. CIA predecessor.

25. Lea lady : EWE. Alliteration.

26. Golden __ : AGE

27. It leads the way : PROW. Ship's front. I wanted DOOR.

29. Words in an infomercial disclaimer : PAID AD. Nice answer.

32. Russell of "Felicity" : KERI. Loved her. Long or short hair.

34. Actually : IN FACT

36. Mess up, as power cords : ENSNARL

39. Came out with : UTTERED

43. Unstable situation : CRISIS

45. '70s attire making a comeback : MAXI. And 6D. It's shorter than a 45-Across : MIDI.

46. They can be rare : STEAKS. I like how it crosses SCAMPI (46D. Garlicky entrée).

49. Charlie Brown never became one : TEEN. Tricky clue.

52. Decks, briefly : KO'S. The "briefly" gave the answer away.

53. Many a startup ender, these days : COM. URL ender.

54. Letters seen near a tilde : ESC. I had to look at my keyboard.

56. Doves and loves : COOERS. Wanted RHYME.

58. Make up (for) : ATONE

65. Top level : ATTIC

67. Drink garnish : TWIST

69. Measures of volume : SONES. Sound volume, correct?

Down:

1. Traditional food at the Preakness : CRAB CAKE. What's the traditional drink at the Preakness?

2. Lip enhancer : COLLAGEN. Obtained via crossers also.

3. They'll get you going : EXCITERS. Neither the clue or answer appealed to me.

4. Team with a mascot named Roary : LIONS. Well, gimme for Jazzbumpa. Roary the Lion. Detroit Lions.

5. Help cause, with "to" : LEAD UP. Certain events LEAD UP to (help cause) the war.

7. Barely losing : ONE DOWN. We've seen ONE UP before.

8. Barbers may shave them : NAPES

9. Genre of the 1997 album "Nothing Feels Good" : EMO. Stumper.

11. Bygone blade : SNEE

12. Tried to trap : HUNTED

13. Dan Aykroyd's birthplace : OTTAWA. Got via crosswers.

14. Stuck a toe in : TESTED

20. Three-mo. period : SPR (Spring).

24. Old footwear accessory : SPAT. The black stuff in her ankles?

28. Works on canvas : OILS

30. Routine : ACT. Simple in retrospect.

31. It may follow a bullet : ITEM. Dot bullet. I was thinking of gun.

33. Old empire builder : INCA

35. Solder, say : FUSE

37. Old animal shelter : ARK

38. Get ready for a pledge : RISE

40. Win big : RAKE IT IN. Good one.

41. Dispossess? : EXORCISE. The ? hint sure helped.

42. Takes apart : DISSECTS

44. More fidgety : ITCHIER

47. Common way to carry a child? : TO TERM. Saw this clue before.

48. Works on stage : EMOTES

50. Friendly start? : ECO. Eco-friendly.

51. Music to a dieter's ears : NO FATS. Why plural "Fats"?

55. Name on a controversial 1998 report : STARR. "The Starr Report". What a waste of time & money.

57. Lesser __ evils : OF TWO

59. Marlin's son, in a 2003 film : NEMO. "Finding Nemo".

60. Greek goddess of discord : ERIS

62. Kayaker's obstacle : EDDY. Hey there Dilbert!

64. __ periculo: at my own risk : MEO. Learning moment for me.

Answer grid.

I am pleased to announce that Lemonade will blog Friday puzzles starting in November. Melissa & Jazzbumpa will handle Wednesdays.

C.C.

Friday October 29, 2010 Jonathan Porat

Theme: EXTRA MAYO. The letters M, A, Y, and O, respectively, are added (in sequential order) at the beginnings of common phrases to yield new, uncommon phrases, of variable wackiness.

19A. Designed for ancient sorcerers? : MAGE SPECIFIC. M plus age specific - for discriminating mature audiences, perhaps. Mages had exact size and weight specs for eye of newt.

27A. Pranks at the Bohr Institute?: ATOM FOOLERY. A plus Tom foolery. Why Tom and not, oh -- say, Ron, for instance? The Bohr Institute is a center for research in astronomy, geophysics, and nanotechnology at the University of Copenhagen, named for physicist Neils Bohr, a developer of quantum theory.

46A. Genesis baking ingredient? : YEAST OF EDEN. Y plus East of Eden, a 1955 movie I never saw, directed by Elia Kazan, and based on the second half of a John Steinbeck novel I never read. Am I missing anything? Also the only three-word theme answer, and my favorite, for it's general silliness. In those days, unleavened bread had not yet been invented.

54A. Banning CFC production, e.g.? : OZONE DEFENSE. O plus zone defense - defensive strategies in football and other sports, where the defenders are responsible for covering regions of the playing field, rather than specific offensive opponents, as in man-to-man defense. CFC's are chlorofluorocarbon compounds, such as Freon 12, that deplete the earth's protective ozone layer. This one is serious.

And, of course the unifier: 35A. Sandwich request, and a literal hint to how the answers at 19-, 27-, 46- and 54-Across are formed : EXTRA M-A-Y-O. I don't recall ever seeing a unifier like this one, getting parsed out and allotted to the theme answers - highly clever and original. I like Miracle Whip, BTW, but can't stand MAYO.

Hi gang, JazzBumpa here after a strange and rather busy day. This is a terrific puzzle that defeated me pretty badly. Let's survey the damages.

Across

1. Type of pigment used in artists' paints : AZO. AZO dies are brightly colored organic compounds with the grouping -N=N- in the molecule. AZO pigments are made by binding these dyes with an inorganic filler, such as clay.

4. Cul-__ : DE SAC. A blind ally dead end - the wrong way to go if you are being chased.

9. Panic button : EJECT. I push the EJECT button to change CD's. Don't Panic!

14. 1989 Peace Prize winner : DALAI LAMA. Back then, I had kids in high school and thought I was still young.

16. Blanket-toting toon : LINUS. Dented a V-8 can on this one.

17. Met notable : OPERA STAR. I was looking for someone specific.

18. One often working on Sun. : NFLER. A professional in the National (American) Football League, and crosswordese nouveau.

21. Digs : CRIB. Digs. Per the Urban Dictionary, "house, crib, home, joint, dive, blazin dinks, digger, punches, apartment . . . " Crib?!? News to me.

23. Sonoma prefix : OEN. This is the vintner's prefix, and crossword stalwart, used in any wine growing region, such as Sonoma.

24. Batman after Michael : VAL. Val Kilmer had the title role in the 1995 movie Batman Forever, which I never saw. Am I missing anything?

26. Western treaty gp. : OAS. The Organization of American States "is the world’s oldest regional organization, dating back to the First International Conference of American States, which was held in Washington, D.C. from October 1889 to April 1890." (from their web site)

32. Late party attire : PJS. Slumber party. Could be fun.

33. Dealing with : IN RE. Short for "in regard to." Or is it something in Latin?

34. "The Neverending Story" author : ENDE. Another book I never read. Is it as ironic as the author's name suggests?

39. USN officers : CDRS. Commanders? Commodores? Aye, aye, sir, either way.

42. "C'mon, man!" : DUDE. Who exhibits that aura of duditude at the "C'mon, man!" Ranch?

43. Do a little math : SUM. Or, do some math: ADD.

50. Soda bottle meas. : OZS. I never have understood why the abbrv. for OUNCE is OZ.

51. Former Vietnam area mostly S. of the 17th parallel : DMZ. The Demilitarized Zone. Today's college freshmen were born about 17 years after the Viet Nam war ended in 1975.

52. Co-producer of U2's "Achtung Baby" : ENO. From his Wikipedia page: "Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (born 15 May 1948), commonly shortened to Brian Eno and previously as simply Eno (pronounced /ˈiːnoʊ/), is an English musician, composer, record producer, music theorist, singer and visual artist, best known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music." He produced six more U2 albums.

53. Exile of 1979 : AMIN. The Butcher of Uganda. One bad DUDE!

60. Stadium entrance : STILE. As in Turnstile. This word is showing up rather often now.

61. Like some windows : DRIVE THRU. These are common at banks and fast food joints.

64. George of "Cheers" : WENDT. Norm!

65. Foresees : ENVISIONS.

66. Beats 1-0, say : EDGES

67. Film holders : REELS. Fishing line, too.

68. Mess of dough : WAD. My lovely wife made three kinds of cookies, so there were wads of DOUGH, but no mess. She is so neat. The pumpkin cookies, BTW, are AMAZING. But this clue is referring to small pieces of green paper.

Down.

1. Trouble : ADO. Without further of, things are often done.

2. Cook with waves : ZAP. In a microwave oven, aka "nuking." I really wanted Captain Cook, but couldn't get there in only three letters.

3. Oxford campus : OLE' MISS. I gather that the University is in Oxford, Miss. Tricky!

4. TV screen meas. : DIAG. For some reason, TV screens are measured corner to corner, diagonally.

5. Ultimatum end : ELSE. Such as: " Look at that stack of laundry. Iron or else!"

6. Concerns for jrs. and srs. : SATS. The SAT is the most widely used college entrance exam. It is also a huge scam, since it's ability to predict college success is poor. High School GPA and class rank are better predictors. They must have a fabulous marketing department.

7. "... draw you __?" : A MAP. I'm better at drawing flies.

8. Package directive : CARE OF. Please take CARE OF this CARE package.

9. Sea change with far-reaching effects : EL NINO. Read all about it.

10. Two shakes, with "a" : JIFF. I thought "DASH," but I'm not the one who makes the cookies. Don't care for this one, at all. Actually I prefer the JIF with one F, crunchy variety.

11. Pep up : ENLIVEN

12. It helps prevent stumbling : CUE CARD. Or, you can write on your hand.

13. Original Dungeons & Dragons co. : TSR. Tactical Studies Rules, purchased by Wizards of the Coast in 1997.

15. Kaffiyeh wearer : ARAB. Again, I wanted something more specific.

20. Corp. boss : CEO. The Chief Executive Officer, a denizen of board rooms and crosswords. Do they have cross words in boardrooms? Nah - too many yes-men.

21. One on a beat : COP. Lo, these many years past, my lovely wife's late father was a COP on the beat.

22. "The Big Bang Theory" character from India : RAJ. Just took a guess, as I have never seen this show. Am I . . . never mind.

25. Soap component : LYE. Not exactly. Animal fat (glycerol esters of long chain organic acids) is reacted with lye in a process called saponification. The reaction products are salts of these acids, aka soap, and glycerine. Then you have to separate them. And clean up. It's all quite tedious.

27. __-en-Provence : AIX. This is a city in Southern France. It's inhabitants are called Aixois or, less commonly, Aquisextains, from an old Roman name.

28. Rubble creator : TNT. Trinitrotoluene, a powerful explosive. I guess you have to believe in the power of creative destruction. I wanted a cartoonist.

29. First NHL defenseman to score 40 goals in a season : ORR. Three letters for a hockey player - enter ORR and move on. OTOH, my similar ALOU baseball theory got REFUTED by A-ROD. There are no certainties in life.

30. Maryland's Fort __ : MEADE. Named for General George Gordon Meade, a Union Army general in the American Civil War.

31. Sign of summer : LEO. Moderately tricky. LEO is a Zodiac sign including most of August. My lovely wife is a LEO and I'm not lion.

35. What can turn one into many? : ESS. Or, a straight road into a curvy one. The letter "S" is the most common English language pural, my children.

36. Campaign weaponry? : MUD. Let's just not even go there.

37. Product at a stand : ADE. Something to make from 714 lemons.

38. Nikkei 225 unit : YEN. the N225 is the broad-based Japanese stock index most comparable to our S&P 500, denominated in YEN. You'll need to know this if you ever have the YEN to buy Japanese stocks.

39. Actress Charisse : CYD. You don't meet a lot of ladies named CYD. This one could sing and dance.

40. Taken down a notch : DEMOTED. I guess. I got promoted in Feb. '08, then retired in Nov. '08. That's a whole bunch of notches.

41. Rookie's initiation : RAZZING. Or Hazing, I suppose.

43. By doing whatever it takes : SOMEHOW. I wanted ANYHOW, which SOMEHOW seeems to be a letter short.

44. Scary magazine holder : UZI. This one fooled me. UZI are a related family of Israeli-made, open bolt, blowback-operated (whatever that means) submachine guns. A magazine is an ammunition storage and feeding device within or attached to a repeating firearm. Scary enough, I'd say.

45. Explorer initials : MSN. So, I'm thinking Columbus, Lewis and Clark, Franklin, etc. But it's Microsoft Network's Internet explorer. Got me.

47. Beliefs : TENETS. Is it my imagination, or do I get this word every time? My religion has nine TENETS.

48. Single : ONE. But I actually only believe ONE of them. This, however, refers to small green pieces of paper.

49. Raw material : FODDER. This doesn't seem quite right, does it?

53. Piedmont product : ASTI. ASTI is a city in the Piedmont region of Italy, and the eponym for Asti Spumante, the bubblicious product

55. Merrie __ England : OLDE.
In days of OLDE, when knights were bolde, the maidens hale and hardy,
They'd drink a flagon of ale, or two, and have a PJ party.

56. Atlantic flier : ERNE. A sea eagle. Old crosswordese.

57. What musicians take between sets? : FIVE. Can't pass this up.

58. Austin Powers' nemesis Dr. __ : EVIL. From a movie I never saw. Did I miss anything?

59. It's a loch : NESS. It's a lock! Really - other than this Scottish lake, what else could it be?

60. Northern Eur. land : SWE. Sweden.

62. Cellular messenger : RNA. Ribonuclaic acid. From the free dictionary: "The form of RNA that mediates the transfer of genetic information from the cell nucleus to ribosomes in the cytoplasm, where it serves as a template for protein synthesis. It is synthesized from a DNA template during the process of transcription." There will be a quiz.

63. Amer. capital : USD. U.S. Dollars. Small green pieces of paper. They must be rather important.

Answer grid.

A fine challenging puzzle. Now, for my PJS . . .

Cheers!

JzB