Wednesday March 10, 2010 Gary Steinmehl

Theme: The Ties That Bind - The first words of the five theme answers are all homophones, with a different spelling of the "tie" sound. The village Tye Green was left out.

17A. National sport of South Korea: TAE KWON DO. Foot hand art.

29A. Longtime skating partner of Randy Gardner: TAI BABILONIA

38A. Places to order tom yum goong: THAI RESTAURANTS

47A. Host of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition": TY PENNINGTON

65A. Overtime causes: TIE SCORES. That would be 20 to 20.

Hey all, Al here.

This didn't seem too tough for a Wednesday, pretty much sped through it. Not too much really stood out, but we'll see what can be educed from it anyway.

Across:

1. __ de deux: PAS. A dance for two.

4. Therapy center, for short: REHAB

9. Parts of fast food orders: SODAS

14. Four-legged bugler: ELK

15. Where the ecstatic walk: ON AIR

16. Salt's "Halt!": AVAST. Also a free anti-virus program if used non-commercially.

19. Having a beanpole physique: LANKY

20. "Baseball Tonight" station: ESPN. Entertainment and Sports Programming Network

21. Year-end mall temp: SANTA. Argyle. Missed it by one day.

23. Jon Stewart's "moment of __": ZEN

24. Like drive-thru orders: TO GO

27. Bosom buddy: COMRADE. 1590s, from M.Fr. camarade, from Sp. camarada "chamber mate,"

33. The Trojans of the Pac-10: USC. University of Southern California. I wonder if they ever respond to criticism with: "I am rubber, you are glue, whatever you say bounces off of me and sticks to you"?

34. Go hither and yon: ROVE

35. Au __: menu phrase: JUS. French. Meat served in its own juices.

44. "Xanadu" band, for short: ELO. Electric Light Orchestra, with Olivia Newton John.

45. __ time: pronto: IN NO. Pronto (sp.) from Latin promptus: prompt.

46. Like some grins: SLY

52. 12 Tribes religion: JUDAISM

55. Caesar's unlucky number?: XIII. I know that some solvers dislike roman numerals, but I found this one amusing for some reason. Fifteen (the ides) could have been used if the answer was one letter shorter.

56. Schooner filler: ALE. One of my hometown favorites.

57. One of the Yokums: PAPPY. L'il Abner's sire in Dogpatch.

60. Pre-dye shade, perhaps: GRAY. If things keep going the way they are now, I'll never have to worry about gray hair. I wish there was a food remedy for that.

63. Open, in a way: UNCAP

68. Mother-of-pearl: NACRE. 97% lime, but has a thousand times higher breaking strength due to layering.

69. In first place: ON TOP

70. Prior to, in verse: ERE

71. Tiny amount: TRACE

72. Tack room gear: REINS

73. Rimsky-Korsakov's "Le Coq __": d'Or. The Golden Cockerel.

Down:

1. "Our Gang" dog: PETE

2. Word of pity: ALAS. Self-pity, perhaps.

3. Having one's doubts: SKEPTICAL. My dictionary has a picture of me by this word.

4. Heed the coxswain: ROW

5. Ambient music composer Brian: ENO

6. Brinker of kiddie lit: HANS. The Silver Skates book had an often excerpted sub-story in it about a nameless little boy who used his finger to plug the dike. It wasn't Hans, though, he was probably the first reference to speed skating in the US...

7. Operatic slave girl: AIDA. Why do famous love stories always seem to have tragic endings? No wonder guys don't want to commit.

8. Old Ford SUV: BRONCO

9. Sub meat: SALAMI. Don't read this if you like salami.

10. In vitro cells: OVA. Latin.

11. Tony of "Who's the Boss?": DANZA. Played the father of a young Alyssa Milano, who turned out well.

12. Part of FAQ: ASKED. Frequently Asked Questions. Infrequently read answers.

13. "Gypsy" composer Jule: STYNE, also Funny Girl and Pal Joey.

18. Door feature: KNOB. Funny how knockers is also spelled the same way.

22. Bricks unit: TON. Did this hit you right away?

25. "Mr. Mom" actress: GARR. Teri.

26. Instrument to which an orchestra tunes: OBOE

28. Big Indian: RAJA

29. Word of rebuke: TUT

30. Big Apple tennis stadium: ASHE

31. Drips in an ICU: IVS. Or DRS if they have bad bedside manner.

32. Open the door to: LET IN

36. Like 007's martinis: UNSTIRRED

37. Normandy battle site: ST LO

39. Wee bit: IOTA

40. Gothic novelist Radcliffe: ANN. Her books always came up with a real explanation for unreal events.

41. Operating system developed at Bell Labs: UNIX. I've spent 22 years on this so far and probably understand less than half of everything it encompasses.

42. Rice-A-__: RONI

43. Roget entry: Abbr.: SYNonym

48. "Hooray!": YIPPEE. --Darth Vader.

49. Non-commercial TV spot: PSA. Public Service Announcement.

50. Caveat __: EMPTOR. Buyer beware.

51. Computer acronym about faulty data: GIGO. Garbage in, Garbage out.

52. Quick trip: JAUNT

53. Of an arm bone: ULNAR. Radius, Ulna (lower pair), and Humerus (upper arm). Your "funny bone" is really the ulnar nerve located near the lower end of the humerus.

54. Bing Crosby's primary label: DECCA. The name "Decca" was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel by merging the word "Mecca" with the initial D of their logo "Dulcet" or their trademark "Dulcephone." Samuel, a linguist, chose "Decca" as a brand name as it was easy to pronounce in most languages.

58. Bench material: PINE

59. Hairy mountain sighting: YETI. They do exist.

61. Musical prefix with smith?: AERO. Aerosmith. Dream on.

62. River of Flanders: YSER

64. Slo-pitch path: ARC

66. Zak, to Ringo: SON

67. Early computer printer speed meas.: CPS. Characters per Second. 1 character = 8 bits = 1 byte.

Answer grid.

Al

Interview with Mangesh Sakharam Ghogre

Some of the regular readers of this blog will faintly remember Mangesh Ghogre. He used to comment here when we had the old TMS Daily Crosswords and he had also shared with us one of his published articles on crossword.

Mangesh, an Indian citizen, is an investment banker with a global bank based in Mumbai. Today he became the first India-based constructor to have a puzzle published by the LA Times, a remarkable achievement for a non-native English speaker.

Mangesh has been in contact with me since his first appearance in our blog and kept me updated with his construction effort. I am very impressed by his persistence and perseverance. He also amazes me with his writings on spirituality and his volunteer work.

What's the inspiration for this puzzle? And what are the other theme answers that failed to make the cut?

Well, I am a foodie. So, I thought why not have crosswords for breakfast as well? Fun apart, I recollect the trigger entry was BREAD AND BUTTER and wanted the theme to focus on latter half. Then I added CHALK AND CHEESE and COOKIES AND CREAM. The fourth entry is the one I took some time to find. When I got MIDDLE AGE SPREAD, Nancy suggested selecting more focused entries related to spread. That’s how the final set emerged. Talking of themes, I must confess that sometimes I struggle with “in-the-language test” because of my lack of familiarity with local language. I discovered that phrases/idioms popular in India, may not be in US. For eg, while working on this theme, I was surprised to learn that CHALK AND CHEESE is not in-the-language although it’s a valid English idiom.

What kind of difficulties did you go through to make the grid work?

Filling the theme and non-theme entries is fun though it could get taxing at times. But as a constructor, designing the grid is my Achilles’ heel. I am told designing a grid is an art. Even the software doesn’t help much. Like they say, you need an “eye” to make out if the grid will work.

What is it like to work with Rich Norris? What have you learned about his theme/fill preferences?

From the limited experience I have gained interacting with him, I think he is one of the most professional editors I have come across. He diligently responds to emails and provides feedback for improvement. Interacting with him makes you feel that your contribution is welcome and your effort is appreciated. Frankly, I am not yet ready to comment much about his theme/fill preferences.

Can you tell us a bit about your background? How did you develop an interest in crossword solving and then constructing?

I am an Indian citizen based in Mumbai. I have an under-graduate degree in mechanical engineering and an MBA with a major in finance. Currently, I am working in the Investment Banking division of one of the world’s largest banks. I stay with my wife and parents in Panvel – a small town on the outskirts of Mumbai.

Though all my education has been in English, it is not my first language. My mother-tongue is Marathi – one of the many languages spoken in India. I am also fluent in Hindi, the more popular language in India.

My friends tell me, and I agree, that I always had a hang for words. But my first encounter with crosswords goes back 13 years when I had just entered my engineering course and was staying in the college hostel. Every morning, when I and my hostel room-mates were busy having morning breakfast, we used to gaze at the “white-and-black painting” called crossword. Since many of us had an eye on cracking the GRE/GMAT, we looked at it as an activity to improve vocabulary. I remember 5 or 6 of us started with a lot of enthusiasm. But as you can imagine, the enthusiasm quickly faded. You won’t believe, but for the first 3 months we did not need a pen! We didn’t know a word – other than filling S for plural answers. Soon we found out the only way to improve is to painstakingly check answers for every clue next morning. Though my other friends gave up, I continued. I bought a small pocket-diary and started noting crosswordese, various rivers, flowers, animals, cities, Bible trivia, suffix, prefix, Greek gods and goddesses, etc. I couldn’t carry the diary everywhere, so I culled it in 2 pages. If it interests you, here is one of them. And before I knew it, I became obsessed with solving crosswords. I think it took me a year or so to fully solve a crossword – unassisted! Since then, I never looked back. I have been happily solving the daily crossword in Times of India (which syndicates the LAT puzzle) for the past 13 years now.

Constructing crossword is a very recent phenomenon for me. Sometime last March, I felt that it is the next step. Some sort of changing gears. And what motivated me more was that I didn’t know much of American trivia and local stuff. So, what better way than to construct a puzzle myself. I remember I promised to gift myself a crossword on my birthday in May. I downloaded the trial version of the CCW software. Took up a random puzzle which had got published that week. Made a theme that fit it. Banged my head all over to get the non-theme fill. And Eureka! I had my first crossword ready for the B-day. But, it was nowhere up to the mark. Maybe I was being maverick or plain foolish, I sent it to Rich. Kind that he is, he politely explained to me the reason for the rejection. But his response made me sniff success – I knew I was not that far. I then joined Cruciverb mailing list – the online mecca of cruciverbalists, I must say. That led me to enroll in what I call the “University of Nancy Salomon”. She is so helpful. I can’t thank her enough.

What's your experience solving American style puzzles? I often feel frustrated and handicapped by my background.

I echo your feelings. Add to it that I have not once visited US and am not a reading enthusiast either. I used to wonder – when will I ever visit Lake Erie? Who is Slammin Sammy? How is EGAD a euphemistic oath? When will I taste POI/TARO (Sorry, I told you am a foodie!)? And in late 90s there were not many blogs like yours that discussed puzzles threadbare. It took me years to realise why the clue for ASPEN is quaking tree. It was as if I was a “non-resident American” who knew scads of local lingo and trivia but hadn’t once used it in daily life. When I started, I used to be so frustrated that so many times I have tore the paper to pieces and muttered quite a few unmentionables. But, with due credit to all those constructors and editors, the tickle next morning while reading the answers made the effort worthwhile.

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

Apart from the daily crossword in Times of India, which I solve every morning when I commute to office in train, I barely find time to touch other puzzles. I wish to solve the NYT puzzle but it is not so easily available here in hard copy. Talking of constructors, I used to look forward to Alan Olschwang’s quote puzzles. Back in those days, in the Chicago Tribune era, it used to appear every Wednesday in Times of India. I also love to hate setters who make hard-to-crack puzzles – Barry Silk, Pancho Harrison, Jack McInturff, et al. These fellas puncture my literary ego with such innocence, it’s not funny.

Besides crossword, what are your other hobbies?

Well, I enjoy writing. I have had over 45 bylines (mainly op-editorials and feature articles) in leading Indian dailies including Times of India and The Economic Times. I usually write on spirituality/philosophy, business education and career. You could visit my website www.mangeshghogre.com for more. I also firmly believe in learning and sharing model. So, I spend weekends with my high-school students mentoring them on anything but studies. Of course, we discuss development of hobbies including crosswords. This program is in the 4th year now and I am excited to solve my debut crossword with them.

Tuesday March 9, 2010 Mangesh Sakharam Ghogre

Theme: Spread 'Em - Theme answers are all breakfast spreads.

17A. Sweet toast topper: STRAWBERRY JELLY. Only strawberry jam in our fridge.

29A. Fruity bread topper: APPLE BUTTER. I've never made apple butter myself. Looks delicious.

50A. "Schmeared" bagel topper: CREAM CHEESE. And lox. Heavenly sandwich!

65A. Waist woe (caused, perhaps, by overindulgence in 17-, 29- and 50-Across): MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD. I wonder why the constructor let go of the straightforward BREAKFAST SPREAD. It has 15 letter too, and sums up the other three entries perfectly. Maybe not as sparkly as MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD?

Mangesh also sprinkled a few more food related entries in the grid:

1D. 1/16 of a cup: Abbr.: TBSP

12D. Bubbly drink: COLA. Symmetrically placed against DIET (57D. Try to reduce 65-Across).

39D. Container at an afternoon service, maybe: TEA CADDY. Defined as "a box, jar, canister or other receptacle used to store tea". I can't believe I've never heard of this term.

63D. Sugar source: CANE. Or BEET.

How did it feel to solve a puzzle made by a non-native English speaker? Something amiss?

Across:

1. Silently understood: TACIT. As in tacit approval.

14. "Well done!": BRAVO.

15. Early Yucatán dweller: MAYA. Ah, the mysterious Maya calendar and the dooming Apocalypse 2012.

16. Nebraska tribe: OTOE. Sometimes it's OTO.

21. Cancel: UNDO

22. Book of maps: ATLAS. Named after the Greek mythical figure Atlas, who is depicted as holding the world on his shoulders.

25. __-shanter: Scottish cap: TAM O. Tam O'Shanter. Odd breakdown partial.

27. State with 13-Down: Abbr.: FLA. And KEYS (13D. Largo, West, et al.).

36. Group of bits, in computer storage: BYTE

37. Other half, so to speak: SPOUSE. And IVANA (4D. A former Mrs. Trump).

40. Wood-dressing tool: ADZ. Penned in AWL.

42. Init. response team: EMTS

43. Complaint of "the weary": NO REST. No rest for the weary.

46. Kick into a net: GOAL. Initially thought the clue is asking for a verb.

49. Quilting party: BEE. Where are our quilting Barb B & KittyB?

52. Wimbledon do-over: LET

53. Made the scene: CAME

54. Terse order to a chauffeur: HOME. I wanted GO, GO!

56. Model of excellence: IDEAL

59. Assign stars to: RATE

61. Place for a beret? TETE. I sure need "béret" or some sort of French hint.

62. Leadership org. for females: YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association)

68. Hang in the balance: PEND

69. Schedule opening: SLOT

70. Without letup: ON END. Why do I always want NO END?

71. Hang around: STAY

72. Move cautiously: EDGE

73. Enjoys a kiddie pool: WADES

Down:

2. Greek city on its own gulf: ARTA. I've never heard of this city. What is it famous for?

3. Politician in a political cartoon, e.g.: CARICATURE. Awesome entry.

5. Garage service: TOW

6. Word of agreement: AMEN

7. The __ of Avon: BARD. Shakespeare.

8. Boring way to learn: BY ROTE

10. Direct, as a confrontation: TOE-TO-TOE. Nice entry too.

11. "__ cost you!": IT'LL

18. Like roads with many potholes: BUMPY

19. Copier problem: JAM UP. Oh, I see "jam" now.

26. "Washboard" muscles: ABS

27. Old Cannes cash: FRANC. Alliteration again.

28. Repair bill line: LABOR. Parts & labor.

30. School support org.: PTA

31. Rock climber's stop: LEDGE. Loved the "Rock On" Jazzbumpa linked last week.

32. Windblown desert plant: TUMBLEWEED. Why "desert"? We have tumbleweed here too.

34. Odometer button: RESET

41. Playwright Akins: ZOE. She wrote the screenplay for "How to Marry a Millionaire". Her name escaped me. We had this entry before.

44. Lowercase: SMALL

45. Cable sta. for old films: TCM (Turner Classic Movies)

47. Hibachi residue: ASHES

48. Summer sign: LEO. Zodiac sign.

51. Proclaim: HERALD

55. Loy of "The Thin Man": MYRNA

58. Ferber or Best: EDNA. Not familiar with Edna Best. Spotted her in Mangesh's list. Ha ha.

60. Popeyed: AGOG. Popeyed is a real word? Only know Popeye the Sailor.

64. Puts two and two together? ADDS. I figured out immediately that constructor wants the mathematical ADDS.

67. Sock-in-the-jaw sound: POW!

Answer grid.

Now I am hungry. What's your favorite breakfast spread? I love honey.

C.C.

Monday March 8, 2010 Nancy Kavanaugh

Theme: Firearm Nomenclature - 48D: Weapons in which you can find the starts of 17-, 31-, 46- and 62-Across: RIFLES.

17A: Hotel room cleaner: CHAMBERMAID The CHAMBER is where the bullet and cartridge are located prior to "firing".

31A: Arm-twisting wrestling hold: HAMMERLOCK. The HAMMER is the part used to initiate the firing of the bullet or shell. Found mostly on revolvers and shotguns these days.

46A: Rodeo event with obstacles: BARREL RACE. video. The BARREL is the tube the bullet travels through after being "fired".

62A: Without prior inspection: SIGHT UNSEEN. Like buying a pig in a poke. The SIGHT is used to aim where you want the bullet to go.

Argyle here. Easy Monday.

Twenty-six three-letter entries, by my count, but only three were two-letter made into plurals.

After the pounding we took (at least, I took) this weekend, we needed a break.

Across:

1A: Support gp. for the troops: USO. And 11A: Audience for 1-Across: GIS. United Service Organizations supporting our G.I. troops (Origin of G.I.: 1915–20; orig. abbr. of galvanized iron, used in U.S. Army bookkeeping in entering articles (e.g., trash cans) made of it; later extended to all articles issued (as an assumed abbrev. of government issue) and finally to soldiers themselves.)

4A: Words of deliberation: LET'S SEE.

14A: Mom's business partner: POP.

15A: Concisely put: IN A WORD.

16A: Hairy Addams Family cousin: ITT. You may not recognize him in his disguise.

19A: Long-snouted fish: GAR Unusual photo.

20A: "Green" energy type: SOLAR

21A: Opening for a peeping Tom: KEYHOLE. What with key card access now, keyholes are going the way of the dial phones.

23A: Manage, barely: GET BY. Hurray! Not ekes out.

27A: Pelvic bones: ILIA.

28A: Painter of melting watches: DALI. Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, 1st Marquis of Púbol (Betcha didn't know that.)

35A: 56-Down, biologically: OVA. 56D: Incubator items: EGGS.

36A: Jumped the tracks: DERAILED.

37A: Electric car's lack: GAS TANK.

39A: Threatened: MENACED.

43A: Like glue: ADHESIVE

45A: Tire layer: PLY. Often there are two plies in the side wall and four under the tread.

49A: Really bugs: IRKS.

50A: "__ ain't broke ...": IF IT.

51A: "Hardball" airer: MSNBC. "Hardball" is an hour-long talk show hosted by Chris Matthews.

53A: Gridiron five-yard penalty: OFFSIDE. Football infraction.

57A: "You __ to know!": OUGHT.

61A: Nothing at all: NIL.

66A: Ill temper: IRE. Be aware we haven't of late had IRE: High dudgeon.

67A: Vigilant against attack: ON GUARD.

68A: Greenwich Village sch.: NYU. (New York University) 2D: Arty Big Apple area: SOHO. Areas in New York City.

69A: Divs. on some rulers: CMS. (centimeters)

70A: Attaches securely: FASTENS.

71A: Guinness suffix: EST. The superlative degree (biggest, fastest) used in their keeping of World Records.

Down:

1D: Lines on mdse.: UPCS. (Universal Product Code)

3D: October birthstone: OPAL.

4D: Cuba __: rum drink: LIBRE. A highball made of Cola, lime, and white rum. Origin of the name: 1895–1900; Sp: lit., free Cuba (a toast used in the uprising against Spain in 1895). What The Andrews Sisters drink.

5D: Opposite of WSW: ENE.

6D: Road sealer: TAR.

7D: Certain bachelor, in ads: SWM. Single White Male, in the personal ads.

8D: Relax in the tub: SOAK.

9D: New York canal: ERIE. aka: Clinton's Ditch, named for Gov. Dewitt Clinton (1817).

10D: Whirling water: EDDY.

11D: Paid male escort: GIGOLO. 42D: Prefix with functional: DYS. 38D: Queen of Hearts' pastries: TARTS. (I thought I would make it easier for later comments by bunching these together.) 22D: Broom-__: comics witch: HILDA. Could she be looking for a 11D?

12D: Slanted type: ITALIC.

13D: 10 consecutive wins, say: STREAK.

18D: Nativity trio: MAGI.

24D: Stanley Cup org.: THE NHL.

25D: Carnival pitchman: BARKER.

26D: Singer Sumac: YMA.

28D: Boxer or pug: DOG.

29D: Gardner of "On the Beach": AVA. On the beach, indeed!

30D: "Deck the Halls" syllables: LAS. Fa la la la la, la la la la.

32D: Tries to act like: MIMICS.

33D: Late news hour: ELEVEN.

34D: Descartes or Russo: RENE.

36D: Florida's Miami-__ County: DADE. Where the TV show, COPS, got their start, I believe.

40D: EMT's skill: CPR.

41D: Yellowstone grazer: ELK.

44D: Walton of Walmart: SAM.

46D: Like the Six Million Dollar Man: BIONIC.

47D: Declare true: AFFIRM.

49D: Closely monitored hosp. areas: ICUS.

52D: Slugger Barry: BONDS.

54D: "Time __ the essence": IS OF.

55D: Actress Merrill: DINA. Elegant.

58D: Hereditary unit: GENE.

59D: Casual greetings: HEYS. Hey, how y'all doin'?

60D: Letter-shaped fastener: T-NUT. I think C.C. understands it now.

63D: "Survivor" shelter: HUT.

64D: __ kwon do: TAE. "The way of the foot and the fist."

65D: Java vessel: URN. Big coffee pot with a spigot.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday March 7, 2010 Sabrina Walden

Theme: Diner Sandwiches - Familiar phrases wrapped around with letters BLT.

23A. *Site of illegal jobs?: BANK VAULT. I immediately thought of those meat factories where illegal immigrants are hired.

25. *Hit the roof: BLOW A GASKET

41A. *Not sportsmanlike: BELOW THE BELT

64A. *Unfamiliar subject: BLIND SPOT. Lots of blink spots for me on LAT Friday/Saturday puzzles.

87A. *Childbirth: BLESSED EVENT

109A. *Arena for illegal trading: BLACK MARKET. Hmm, two "illegal" references in the theme clues.

112A. *Easy way to win a game: BY DEFAULT. The other side fails to show up. How unsatisfying!

37D. *Checkup component: BLOOD COUNT

47D. *19-Across brand: BLUE BONNET. The only starred theme entry with food allusion. The cross-reference is OLEO (19A. Spread selection).

112D. Diner order found "sandwiched" around the answers to starred clues: BLT.

Today's puzzle was constructed by Rich Norris, editor of LA Times Daily Crossword. Sabrina Walden is just another of his pseudonyms, anagram of "Brand New Alias".

To those who are looking for food references after seeing the theme title, Rich gives us:

61A. Osso buco meat: VEAL

93A. Lunchroom staple, for short: PB AND J. I like peanut butter and honey.

119A. General __ chicken: TSO'S

15D. Sushi bar order: SASHIMI. Yummy, yummy.

83D. Sprinkling on French fries?: SEL. French for "salt".

86D. Sliced in thin strips: FINE CUT

The reason why unifying answer like today's BLT is usually placed at the end of the grid is because the constructors want solvers to enjoy the final "Aha" moments. But I always jump around and often obtain the unifier earlier on.

Today I got BLT rather quickly, and initially thought BLT might be sandwiched inside each theme phrase like Dan Naddor's "Heros Welcome", in which SUB is inserted in each theme entry. Had to re-read the clue for BLT after several theme entries emerged.

A few gnarly spots, but I enjoyed the solving (I really dread Saturday puzzles now). Always nice to read Rich's clues and his thinking unfiltered.

Across:

1. CBer's acknowledgment: COPY

9. Severe, as criticism: ACERB. Wanted HARSH.

14. Tests not for srs.: PSATS. For juniors.

20. Tug, say: BOAT. Tugboat.

21. Public commotion: FUROR

22. "Peter and the Wolf" bird: SASHA. Got it from crosses.

27. Compact summary: SYNOPSIS. So is aperçu.

28. Netflix delivery: VIDEO

29. Plate with five sides: HOME. Baseball home plate has five sides.

30. Irish-themed Vegas casino: O'SHEAS. Have never been to Vegas.

32. Board meeting VIP: SECY (Secretary)

33. Dived neatly (into): KNIFED. I don't get the clue.

35. Copyright pg. item: ISBN. Books.

38. Stars of old Rome?: ASTRA. Literally "stars" in Latin.

40. Oz creator: BAUM (L. Frank). "The Wizard of Oz". We also have the comic strip 72D. "The Wizard __": OF ID. Did you first pen in OF OZ also?

46. Awful: HORRIBLE

50. Newsworthy '90s jurist: ITO (Lance). O. J. Simpson trial judge.

51. Alabama rival: AUBURN. Their athletic teams is called Auburn Tigers.

52. Cruise stops: PORTS

54. Place to find loafers: SHOE STORES. Was thinking of the idle "loafers".

56. __ Alps: Eiger locale: BERNESE. And AARE (102A. Rhein feeder), which rises in the Bernese Alps. Also EUR (45D. Alps site).

58. Arles article: UNE. One.

59. Spreadsheet entry: DATUM.

60. Troubled: AILED

62. Holy, to René: SACRE. Sacre Coeur in Paris can make a man cry.

68. Exxon merger partner: MOBIL

69. Cyclo- ending: TRON. Cyclotron.

70. Where to see "The Sopranos" nowadays: A AND E. No problem parsing it today.

71. Boxer Marciano's birth name: ROCCO. Only know him as Rocky.

73. Country on the Rio de la Plata: Abbr.: URU (Uruguay). I was stumped.

74. Castle with a stone: BLARNEY. Blarney Stone.

77. Wildly excited: IN A FRENZY. Terrific entry.

81. "Gee!": MAN

82. Spanish poet García __: LORCA. Maybe a gimme for Clear Ayes. I don't know this fellow.

83. Arenas: STADIA. Have only used the plural stadiums.

84. Family tree word: NEE

85. Present: PUT FORTH. Of course I was in the gift "present" direction.

90. 500-mile race, briefly: INDY

91. Modesto winery name: GALLO. Did not know they are based in Modesto.

92. Yours, in Ypres: A TOI. Alliteration again. Ypres is a town in W Belgium. Who knows?

96. Unbending: FIRM

97. Bubbly brand that rhymes with an entrance chime: KORBEL. No idea. Wikipedia says it's founded by two Czechoslovakian brothers named Korbel.

103. How the confident do crosswords: IN INK. Ha ha, I do write in ink, though I need Wite-Out.

105. Ruffian: HOOLIGAN. I often associate this word with those unruly soccer fans in Britain.

113. Advantage: LEG UP

114. "Hollywood Nights" rocker Bob: SEGER

115. Wanton look: LEER

116. Expos, since 2005: NATS. Washington Nationals.

117. "Golden Boy" dramatist: ODETS (Clifford)

118. Irony, e.g.: TROPE

120. Chicago daily, familiarly: TRIB

Down:

2. Big name in skin care: OLAY. I love the smell of the Olay Original cream.

3. Philly school: PENN. Penn State. (Correction: It's University of Pennsylvania, thanks June & D.D.).

4. "Starpeace" musician: YOKO ONO. Surprised myself by getting the whole answer with just a few letters in place

5. Embarrass: ABASH

6. One of Donald Duck's nephews: LOUIE. Cheated on this one.

7. Ballroom dance: SALSA

8. Giant slugger: OTT (Mel)

9. Mil. jet locale: AFB (Air Force Base)

10. Drain: CULVERT. New word to me.

11. Beethoven's Third: EROICA. Originally dedicated to Napoleon.

12. Boisterous: ROWDY

13. Loch Lomond hill: BRAE. Learned from doing Xword.

14. Free TV spot: PSA

16. Want from: ASK OF

17. Central idea: THEME. BLT for today's puzzle.

18. Glutted: SATED

24. CEO's underlings: VPS

26. Amusement park attraction: GO KARTS

31. Sussex sword: SABRE. British spelling of "saber". Sussex is chosen for alliteration purpose.

32. Mo. town: STL. Nice play on Motown.

34. Care for: NURSE

35. Bird sacred to Tut: IBIS. I wonder why Egyptians consider ibis sacred, Al/MJ?

36. Genesis brother: SETH

39. Rep.'s counterpart: SEN

40. Bring to tears?: BORE. Bore to tears.

42. Refuse: WASTE

43. "The Nutcracker" garb: TUTU

44. Oppenheimer opposed it: H-BOMB

46. 1953 John Wayne film: HONDO. Nope. Here is the poster.

48. Maui neighbor: LANAI. The Pineapple Island.

49. ''The Girl Can't Help It'' actor Tom: EWELL. He's also in "The Seven Year Itch".

52. Scrub up, e.g.: PREP. In operation room I suppose.

55. Net: EARN

56. Fussbudget: BIDDY. Fussbudget is new to me.

57. Additional: ELSE

60. Ill-fated Boleyn: ANNE

61. Sotto __: softly: VOCE. Literally "voice" in Italian. Sotto = Under.

62. Confound: STUMP

63. Pianist Claudio: ARRAU. No idea. He's a Chilean pianist.

65. Durable wood: LARCH

66. Collector's suffix: IANA. As in Americana.

67. Sports headline item: TRADE

68. Jazz singer Carmen: MCRAE. Her name escaped me.

74. Like Dennis the Menace: BLOND. Did not know Dennis is blond.

75. Conrad novel: LORD JIM. See the book cover. Not in my memory file.

76. Chichi: ARTY

77. "Everything is fine": IT'S OK

78. __ in November: N AS. Not the rapper for a change.

79. Greek philosopher known for a paradox: ZENO. Zeno of Elea.

80. Himalayan legend: YETI

87. Beer server: BAR KEEP

88. Advanced legal deg.: LLM. Latin for "Lēgum Magister" (Master of Laws). Why two LL in the abbreviation?

89. Foster's prince: VALIANT. I was clueless. Comic strip "Prince Valiant". We often see ARN clued as "Prince Valiant's son".

91. __ biloba: claimed memory-enhancing extract: GINKGO. Does it work?

93. Artist Picasso: PABLO

94. In bundles: BALED

95. Very angry, after "in": A RAGE. In a rage.

96. One with an ax?: FIRER. Nailed it. One who gives others the ax (fires others).

98. "For sure!": OH YES

99. Where the big bucks are?: RODEO. I was thinking of money "big bucks".

100. Afrikaans speakers: BOERS

101. One of Santa's team: ELF

104. Tammany Hall caricaturist: NAST (Thomas). He created the GOP elephant and Democratic donkey as well.

106. Gum-producing plant: GUAR. It looks like this. The gum is from the seeds in those pods. Legume family.

107. Height: Pref.: ALTI. As in altitude.

108. U.S. accident investigator: NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board)

110. G.I. mess crews: KPS. KP - Kitchen Police.

111. Amount past due?: TRE. "Due" here is Italian for "two". Uno, due, tre. Can't fool me any more.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday March 6, 2010 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 34

I'm guessing either FORT MCHENRY (23A. War of 1812 battle site) or the intersecting KEY BRIDGE (21D. Potomac span named for a poet, familiarly) is Barry's seed entry.

Wikipedia says Fort McHenry (in Baltimore) is named after James McHenry, Secretary of War under George Washington & John Adams. And it was during this bombardment of this fort that Francis Scott Key was inspired to write "The Star-Spangled Banner". Interesting Key connection in the crossing two clues.

It always delights me when the constructor weaves various clues together, like the below different bugs:

40A. Small bug: MITE

9D. Bugs: ANNOYS

50D. Really bugged: ATE AT

I struggled again today, despite the friendly help from various plural S answers. Some of the clues are just too tricky and certain answers out of my knowledge zone. INC (57D. Business issue) for example. I've never heard of the business magazine Inc. So my "Aha" moment came only after I googled post-solve.

Across:

1. Dramatic descents: SWOOPS

7. Down with relish: SCARF UP. Only familiar with "scarf down".

14. Adorns, as curtains: TASSELS. Verb here.

16. Grant: CONCEDE

17. Mike's Hard Lemonade, e.g.: ALCOPOP. From Alco(hol) + (soda)pop. New word to me.

18. Organs and such: INNARDS. Haggis really looks awful.

19. Health and Human Services agcy.: FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Was unaware that FDA belongs to the Dept. of Health and Human Services.

20. Start enjoying: TAKE TO

22. Stutz contemporary: REO

26. Coll. divisions: YRS

27. No matter what: AT ANY COST

29. 1970s CIA director, familiarly: BUSH SR. He was the CIA director from Jan 1976 to Jan 1977. Got me.

32. North Sea country: Abbr.: BEL (Belgium). I miss Christmas in Brussels.

33. "@&#^$%!," e.g.: OATH

37. Legalese, say: ARGOT. Jargon.

38. J and others: DRS. Drew a blank, even though I knew NBA's Dr. J.

39. "Laugh-In" regular: BUZZI. Have never heard of Ruth Buzzi. What a strange surname!

41. French pronoun: TOI. "You".

42. Send by wire: TAP OUT. Such an old feel.

43. Nightly news snippet: SOUND BITE. Great answer.

46. Stick (out): JUT

49. 1993 Dean Koontz best-seller: DRAGON TEARS. No idea. Here is the book cover.

53. "Until every one comes home" org.: USO (United Service Organizations)

54. Ingratiate: ENDEAR. To me, "ingratiate" has a negative connotation. Endear does not.

55. Honduras family member: TIA. Spanish for "aunt".

56. Portia's maid in "The Merchant of Venice": NERISSA. Man, I can't even remember Portia.

58. Not in over one's head: SOLVENT. So, "in over one's head" means "insolvent"?

61. Narrow window: TRANSOM. The one above the double door.

62. Like child's play: TOO EASY. Did not come to me readily.

63. Refuse collectors: ASH CANS

64. More prosperous: FATTER. I guess it's too sensitive to clue it as "chubbier".

Down:

1. Employees: STAFF

2. Literary middle name: WALDO. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

3. Prize since 1929: OSCAR. And SLOT CAR (6. Lionel creation of 1912). I like the year trivia in both clues.

4. Bear, in Bolivia: OSO. And PESO (13D. Cuban currency). Alliteration in both clues.

5. Sparkle: PEP

7. Math and others: SCIENCES. We see the abbreviated SCI too often.

8. Mastery: CONTROL

10. Company that developed TV's Indian Head Test Pattern: RCA. Unknown fact to me also.

11. Styx crosser: FERRY. Souls of the dead were ferried across Styx, a river in the underworld Hades.

12. Dairy container?: UDDER. The clue makes me smile.

15. Winningest baseball southpaw: SPAHN (Warren). Ah, I mentioned this trivia last time when he appeared in our puzzle. Total 363 wins. Hall of Famer.

24. Chevy SUVs: TAHOES

25. __ Helens, Wash.: MT ST

28. It may cover a spot: TOUPEE. I sure was not thinking of bald spot.

29. Emeril exclamation: BAM. Bam! Kick it up a notch! Emeril is sweet.

30. Ocean State sch.: URI (University of Rhode Island)

31. Pepper, e.g.: Abbr.: SGT. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" from the Beatles. Of course, I was thinking of salt & pepper.

34. __ dye: chemical coloring: AZO. Learned from doing crossword.

35. Shih __: Tibetan dog: TZU. Shih Tzu is Literally "lion" in Chinese. The complete name is Shih Tzu Kou. Kou = dog.

36. Successful: HIT. Successful is an adjective. Hit is a noun. How can they be equivalent?

38. Actor who often said, "Sorry about that, Chief": DON ADAMS. In "Get Smart". I peeked at the answer sheet.

39. Matted cotton sheet: BATT. New word to me.

41. Excites: TURNS ON

42. Inexpensive home protector: TIN ROOF. Ah, cat likes a hot one.

44. West Texas city named by Russians: ODESSA

45. Let out hot air?: BOAST. Nice clue.

46. Small ruling faction: JUNTA. Burma is ruled by the military junta.

47. Web browsers, e.g.: USERS

48. Ark contents: TORAH. The Torah cabinet ark, Not Noah's Ark.

51. Salon job: RINSE

52. Member of Dionysus' retinue: SATYR. The guy (left) with a perpetual erection. Part human, part goat, forever drinking & chasing nymph.

59. Long, on Niihau: LOA. Hawaiian for "long'. Niihau is island in Hawaii. Mauna Loa = Long Mountain.

60. Examine carefully: VET. Some of the vetting process goes too far.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday March 5, 2010 Gary J. Whitehead

Theme: M-ending - The last letter N of a three-letter word in a familiar phrase is changed into letter M.

17A. Suggestion to singer Lennox after a garlicky meal?: ANNIE GET YOUR GUM. Base phrase is the musical "Annie Get Your Gun". Singer Annie Lennox.

24A. Jamaican group winding down after a gig?: BAND ON THE RUM. "Band on the Run". Paul McCartney's song. Unknown to me. Jamaicans drink lots of rum? I don't understand the "Jamaican group" and RUM connection.

45A. Moocher at McDonald's?: HAMBURGER BUM. Hamburger Bun. Moocher = Bum.

58A. Feared words from an accountant?: HERE COMES THE SUM. "Here Comes the Sun". The Beatles' song.

Such a fun theme! Which is your favorite theme answer? ANNIE GET YOUR GUM made me laugh.

All our Friday puzzles seem to be letter addition/deletion/replacement. Rich Norris sure loves wordplay.

Maybe this constructor Gary J Whitehead is working on another puzzle with M to N replacement.

Across:

1. Bank statement no.: ACCT (Account)

5. The Miners of Conf. USA: UT EP (University of Texas, El Paso). Have never heard of Conference USA. Not a college sports fan.

9. One way to attend a party: STAG

13. Lincoln feature: BEARD

15. __ City: Baghdad suburb: SADR. Where Muqtada al-Sadr (al is Arabic for "the"), one of the most influential Iraqi religious/political figure, came from. Now exile in Iran.

16. Cook book: COMA. Robin Cook's thriller "Coma". I was fooled before.

20. Half of the Brady bunch, to Carol: STEPSONS. No idea. Have never seen "The Brady Bunch".

21. Clothes line?: CREASE. I bet Dennis nailed it. He loves ironing.

22. Samuel Johnson portraitist John __: OPIE. Cornish painter. Complete stranger to me. Here is his portrait of Samuel Johnson. The constructor must be very exited to discover a new clue for OPIE.

23. Traitors: JUDASES

28. "Yours truly calling": IT IS I

29. Downed: ATE

30. "Ditto": SAME

34. Warmup toss: LOB. Baseball. A pitcher will lob a few balls to get his arm loose.

35. City in Thessaly: LARISSA. Wikipedia says "Legend has it that Achilles was born here and Hippocrates, the Father of Medicine, died here". Who knows?

39. "Oedipus __": REX. "Oedipus the King". Rex = "King" in Latin.

40. Sylvester's problem: LISP

42. Hägar creator Browne: DIK. Not on my radar.

43. Roman moon goddess: DIANA. "Greek moon goddess" = Artemis.

49. Acid neutralizers: ALKALIS

52. Outer area of an escutcheon: ORLE. Heraldry term. The border of shield. I did not know the meaning of "escutcheon", Latin for "shield".

53. Afternoon service: TEA SET

54. Fragments: SNIPPETS

60. Frankfurt's river: ODER. The Poland-Germany border river. Flows to the Baltic.

61. Canceled: NO GO. At NASA.

62. Emcee's job: INTRO

63. Nos. divided by dashes: SSNS

64. He played Obi-Wan: EWAN (McGregor). Gimme. Just listened to his interview with Terry Gross on "Fresh Air". Also learned the Sadr City from Terry.

65. Strong taste: TANG

Down:

1. "__ le roi!": French Revolution cry: A BAS. Literally "down with" in French. I wonder if anyone recklessly penned in VIVE without reading carefully the "Revolution cry".

2. Tiny amount: CENT. The answer is always IOTA.

3. Mr. Peanut prop: CANE

4. Surveyors' tools: TRIPODS

5. Online newsgroup system: USENET

6. Does lacework: TATS

7. Eponymous ice cream maker: EDY. Edy's Ice Cream.

8. Gets by special means: PROCURES. Great entry.

9. Roller coaster sounds: SCREAMS

10. Senate apparel: TOGAS. Roman Senate.

11. Tickle pink: AMUSE

12. Fun partner: GAMES. Fun and games. I blanked.

14. Pillage: DESPOIL. New word to me. Looks like the opposite of "spoil", doesn't it?

18. "__ Out of My Head": 1964 hit: GOIN'. Here is the clip.

19. Language heard in Karachi: URDU. One of the official Pakistani languages. Written in Arabic alphabet.

23. Flies, in a way: JETS

24. Law in the works: BILL. Once a bill passes the Congress and is signed by the president, it becomes a law.

25. Paris possessive: A TOI. French for "yours".

26. Writing points: NIBS. Pen points.

27. 17-syllable poem: HAIKU. The three-line poem.

31. Libyan, probably: ARAB

32. You might get one right after being seated: MENU. D'oh! Of course.

33. Checkup: EXAM

36. Ticket order?: ADMIT ONE. The "order" confounded me.

37. Barbecue order: RIBS

38. Long Island university: ADELPHI. No idea. Where did it get its name?

41. Sci-fi weapons: PHASERS

44. Words of atonement: I REPENT

46. Baldwin of "30 Rock": ALEC. He's going to co-host this year's Oscar with Steve Martin.

47. Recent Zippo acquisition: RONSON. Not familiar with Ronson lighter. I like that threesome ad.

48. Gumption: GRIT

49. Oldest musketeer: ATHOS. Was ignorant of this trivia. The other two are Porthos & Aramis.

50. It's on the Aire: LEEDS. Was unaware of River Aire, which passes through Leeds. Nice play on "It's on the air".

51. Carpenter with a soothing voice: KAREN. My husband loves Karen Carpenter.

54. Nintendo rival: SEGA. It stands for SErvice GAmes (of Japan).

55. This, in Tijuana: ESTA. Or ESTO.

56. Make a right, say: TURN

57. Industrial pollutant: SMOG

59. Cut: MOW. Cut the grass.

Answer grid.

I enjoyed the Sausage Sentence Links yesterday, thanks for playing!

C.C.

Thursday March 4, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: WORD CHAIN - The end of each theme answer and the start of the next consecutive one forms a common word/phrase. The whole chain series is completed by the last word of the last theme answer & the first word of the first theme answer, as indicated by the color codes.

18A. *Place to keep supplies: STOREROOM

20A. *Target at the start of a point, in tennis: SERVICE COURT

30. *Patient record: CASE HISTORY

43A. *Jump around on the sofa?: CHANNEL SURF

52A. *Flying need: BOARDING PASS

57A.*The answers to the starred clues (including this one) form a continuous one -its connections are created by the end of one answer and the start of the next: WORD CHAIN

The words/phrases formed from the word chains are: ROOM SERVICE; COURT CASE; HISTORY CHANNEL; SURFBOARDING, PASSWORD & CHAIN STORE.

Hey gang, it's Dennis. I'm honored to have been asked to blog this puzzle, as it's from our late friend Dan. Very much a fun puzzle, with clever cluing and a theme that should bring back some memories for us.

Back in September last year we were playing a Sausage Sentence Link game on the blog. In our game, the starting letter of your sentence had to be the same as the ending letter of the prior poster's. Dan enjoyed our game so much that he made a special comment on a non-Dan Naddor puzzle day. Here is what he said:

"Hi everyone. I couldn't help but notice the fun you folks are having with your Sausage Link sentences. Especially the "spicy" links. Anyway, I thought you'd like knowing Rich N. recently approved a puzzle of mine that will remind you very much of your SL game. File this message under "coming attractions" (and I'm sure that phrase will get play, too, right?)"

I feel like this one's just for us. Hard to believe it's been over two months since Dan passed away. Still think about him every time I do a puzzle.

Across:

1. Ricochet: CAROM. This guy is either incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky.

6. 1040EZ issuer: IRS. I love the IRS. No finer organization in the world. Yep, they're the best.

9. Bump off: WHACK. Right on the heels of 'thwack' this week.

14. Single-handed: ALONE

16. Controversially, Jane Fonda visited it in 1972: HANOI. And unfortunately, they let the bitch leave.

17. Check, as a bill: RE-ADD

22. Nickelodeon explorer: DORA.

23. Start of a basic piano lesson scale: CDE. Do, re, mi. I'm sure the musicians here can explain this one better than I.

24. Head, slangily: NOB. Nope. Not gonna go there. But you know.

27. Asia's __ Darya river: AMU. Here.

33. Ore-Ida morsel: TATER TOT. Ah yes, a fine epicurean meal, with melted cheese and sour cream. And check these out!

35. Golden __: AGER. Defined as "an elderly and often retired person usually engaging in club activities."

36. Exchange: TRADE. I do it all the time with sports cards. Just like being a kid again.

37. Hide-hair connector: NOR. Hide nor hair (a trace).

39. Old way to get a number: DIAL O. Pre-buttons, pre-411.

40. "I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments" speaker: ASHE. One of my favorite Ashe quotes: "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. "

41. At 41, Kipling was the youngest one ever in his field: NOBELIST. He also turned down knighthood. Another Kipling reference is KIM (13D. Kipling's young spy). In the novel of the same name.

47. Society-page word: NEE.

48. Kal __: pet food: KAN. Been around since 1936; they initially operated as a horse-kill enterprise, owned by a Californian who bred thoroughbreds and promoted race horses.

49. Actress Longoria: EVA. Nothing desperate about her.

50. New Mexico art colony: TAOS. Is Taos the only art colony in New Mexico?

60. Order-restoring tool: GAVEL. And Harry Anderson used it well.

61. São __, Brazil: PAULO. Largest city in Brazil.

62. Homer's bartender: MOE.

63. Twin Cities suburb: EDINA. Just southwest of Minneapolis.

64. When some nightly news shows begin: AT TEN.

65. Next yr.'s alums: SRS.

66. Prepared: READY.

Down:

1. Traffic causes?: CARS. Great clue.

2. Sheltered, at sea: ALEE.

3. Pride warning: ROAR.

4. Like Netflix flicks: ON DVD. Or streaming right to your computer. Anyone doing this?

5. So-so: MEDIOCRE. Not a good way to be.

6. Available and fresh: IN SEASON. Some melons are always in season.

7. Coll. drillers: ROTC

8. Kiss: SMOOCH. Pucker up!

9. "__ the beef?": WHERE'S. Right here, Clara.

10. Stag: HART.

11. "Is that __?": A NO.

12. Loving murmur: COO.

19. Designer Gernreich: RUDI. Famous for inventing both the topless swimsuit and the thong swimsuit. And no Nobel Prize for him??

21. Demo ending?: CRAT. Ending of the word Democrat. I can hear the groaning already.

24. Result of an unsuccessful football play, perhaps: NO GAIN.

25. End of a threat: OR ELSE.

26. One way to learn: BY ROTE.

27. Go after: ATTACK.

28. Actress Mason: MARSHA. What's your favorite performance of hers? I thought she was great in "The Goodbye Girl", and in a multi-episode arc in "Frasier" as John Mahoney's girlfriend.

29. Jazz fan?: UTAHAN. Utah Jazz (NBA).

31. Stiff collars: ETONS.

32. Shadow: TAIL.

34. Paradise: EDEN. This will have to do for me, for the next week or so, anyway. Assuming I won't need a freaking parka.

38. Stand-up acts: ROUTINES.

39. Windshield-clearing aid: DEFOGGER.

42. __ muffin: BRAN.

44. Many an ex-lib: NEOCON. Neoconservative. Ex-lib = Ex-liberal.

45. Cole Porter's "Well, Did You __?": EVAH. From "High Society".

46. St. Louis NFLers, previously: LA RAMS. Never understood why they didn't make it in LA.

51. Black card: SPADE. Deck of cards.

52. Roof shingles unit: Abbr.: BDLE. Short for "bundle', of course, which is how they're packaged and sold.

53. Christian name?: DIOR. Christian Dior. The fashion designer.

54. Sports shoe brand: AVIA. Latin for "fly". An underrated brand - they make an excellent sneaker.

55. iPhone command: SEND.

56. More than amuse: SLAY. We saw this not too long ago, remember?

57. FDR program: WPA. The Works Progress (or Projects) Administration - it employed millions to work on Public Works projects.

59. Dirt road feature: RUT.

Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did.

Answer grid.

Dennis