Sunday December 6, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Subliminal Messages - Big company names are embedded in each industry-appropriate advertisement message.

23A. Airline message: SEE ISRAEL ALL OVER AGAIN. Embedded is EL AL (74D. Apt company found in 23-Across)

37A. Electronics message: THE REASON YOU LOVE TV. Hidden inside is SONY (18D. Apt company found in 37-Across).

66A. Shipping message: RELIABLE PICKUP SERVICE. Contains UPS (5D. Apt company found in 66-Across).

98A. Automotive message: BUILT FOR DURABILITY. Holds FORD (89D. Apt company found in 98-Across).

116A. Cosmetics message: EXPLORE A LASTING BEAUTY. Encloses L'OREAL (53D. Apt company found in 116-Across).

And ADMAN (104A. Brains behind this puzzle's theme messages). Hmmm, it's actually Dan Naddor.

All the above ad messages are positioned in Across and symmetrically placed. All the company names are randomly placed in Down and cross one theme entry in which it's not hidden.

Quite a few noticeable "It ...." style clues in this grid:

59A. It gets the ball off the ground: TEE. Golf.

62A. It may be pediatric: Abbr.: ICU

124A. It's about 10% of the Earth's surface: EURASIA. But with more than 71% of the world's population.

6D. It paves the way: TAR

95D. It's read often at conventions: NAME TAG. I was thinking of the speech.

I am quite fond of "It..." style cluing. It often paints a vivid picture.

Also enjoyed the Asian references (esp food) in this grid: EEL (10D. Sushi choice), CHOY (12D. Bok __) and SOBA (34D. Thin Japanese noodle). CHOY is Cantonese for "vegetable". Bok means "white". Eat a ton of cold soba in summer time. Soba is made of buckwheat flour.

Across:

1. Works out: COMPUTES. Was in the gym "works out" direction.

9. Like the shore, often: BEACHY. And TAN (26A. Go for the bronze?). Tricky clue. The question mark did not prevent me from thinking of bronze medal.

15. Chapters in history: ERAS

19. Bridge opening: ONE SPADE. Often clueless about bridge or card game answers.

20. School for Torah study: YESHIVA. For future rabbis.

22. Court plea, for short: NOLO. Short for nolo contendere. Latin for "I do not wish to contend".

28. What "I believe in," in a Beatles title: YESTERDAY. Nice clue.

29. Cunning sort: SLY FOX

33. Perot of politics: H ROSS. H used to be a problem for me. Not any more. It stands for Henry.

36. Latin 101 word: ERAT. Latin for "was". I am used to the E in Q.E.D. clue.

44. Bag: VALISE. And then BAG (120D. Capture). Even though the latter is a verb, I still don't like the clue/answer duplication.

46. Kindle downloads: E-BOOKS

47. Toledo-to-Valencia dirección: ESTE. Spanish for "east".

48. "Rebel Without a Cause" actor: MINEO (Sal)

52. Ear projection: AURICLE. Auri is a prefix for "ear".

55. Peek-a-boo player: TOT

56. Feminine ending: ENNE. So are ETTE & TRIX.

57. Plot inventors: CABAL. Cabal is a small group of plotters. No plural, right?

60. San Luis __: OBISPO. Literally "St. Louis, the Bishop" in Spanish.

63. Dieter's unit: CALORIE. And PHEN (70D. Fen-__: banned diet aid).

65. Hyper toon pooch: REN. Stumper. From "The Ren and Stimpy Show".

75. Razz: RIB

76. House-warming presence?: GAS HEAT. Good clue too.

77. Cambodia's Lon __: NOL. Simple palindrome.

78. Bush tour: SAFARI. Of course I was thinking of President Bush.

81. Mischief-maker: IMP

84. Perfect: IDEAL

85. Casa chamber: SALA. Casa = House. Sala = Room.

86. Env. enclosure: LTR

87. Something to turn over: NEW LEAF. Turn over a new leaf.

90. "Brokeback Mountain" director Lee: ANG. And KAI (68D. Chiang __-shek). Both are Cantonese spelling. I grew up with Jiang Jie-shi, Mandarin spelling of Chiang Kai-shek. Quite different.

91. Last: FINAL

94. Kept going: HELD ON

96. Building blocks: ADOBES. Was picturing Legos.

103. Phil or Card: NLER (National Leaguer). Phillies and Cardinals both belong to National League.

105. California prison city: FOLSOM. Not familiar with Folsom State Prison.

109. "My Point...and I Do Have One" author: DEGENERES. I adore Ellen. Have never read her book though.

114. "Evil Woman" gp.: ELO. Three letter band is often ELO.

115. Sine __ non: QUA

123. Relaxing venues: SPAS

125. Agitated: IN A STATE. Oh, I only know "in a lather".

126. Construction site marker: CONE

127. Practicing: PLYING

128. Contest in which you try to get your opponent on your side: TUG OF WAR. So simple in retrospect.

Down:

1. Goes for: COSTS. Wanted TRIES. "Goes for" has so many meanings.

2. "Paper Moon" Oscar winner: O'NEAL (Tatum). She won Oscar for the movie (youngest Oscar winner). Moses is not her father, right?

3. Kid's picking word: MEENY. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe...". Lost on me.

4. Chi follower: PSI. Before Omega. The second-to-last Greek letter.

7. Child expert LeShan: EDA. Got her this time.

8. Stew: SEETHE

9. Close way to win: BY A NOSE

11. Visual communication?: Abbr.: ASL (American Sign Language)

13. Queen's home: HIVE. D'oh, queen bee.

14. Saint Laurent of fashion: YVES. See YSL in grid often.

15. Personalize, at the jeweler's: ENGRAVE

16. Car salesmen's offers: ROAD TESTS

17. Inter __: ALIA. Inter alia = Among others.

21. Soviet cooperative: ARTEL (ahr-TEL). I forgot.

24. Old Banca d'Italia unit: LIRA. Banca d'Italia = Bank of Italy in Italian.

25. Prefix with -nautics: AERO. Aeronautics.

30. Town on the N.J. side of the George Washington Bridge: FT LEE. Nailed it today.

31. Louisville's river: OHIO

32. Crosses (out): XES

35. Muzzle: SNOUT

39. Old times: YORE

40. Arkie's neighbor: OKIE. Did not know Arkie is a nickname for Arkansas.

41. Pac-10 powerhouse, for short: USC (University of Southern California). The Trojans.

42. Sporty car roof: T-TOP

43. Reject: VETO

44. Super Bowl's __ Lombardi Trophy: VINCE. So many great quotes from Vince Lombardi.

45. Void: ANNUL

48. Rabin's predecessor: MEIR (Golda).

50. English horn relative: OBOE

51. Timber defect: WARP

54. Film critic Roger: EBERT. Do you follow his movie reviews?

57. One in line at an airport: CABBIE

58. DXX ÷ X: LII. 520 ÷ 10 = 52.

61. Bill: Abbr.: INV (Invoice)

63. Stone monument: CAIRN. No idea. It's a man-made pile of stones, often in a conical form. Often used as landmark.

64. ER test: ECG. Or EKG. Heart chart.

67. Apt name for a financial planner?: IRA. Apt indeed.

69. Prime letters?: USDA. Tricky clue.

71. "Under Siege" star: SEAGAL (Steven). This movie was not in my radar.

72. Cockamamie: INANE

78. Concrete section: SLAB

79. Westernmost Aleutian island: ATTU. Learned this trivia a while ago.

80. Lesser of two evils, metaphorically: FRYING PAN. Stumper. "Jump from the frying pan into the fire" is not in my vocabulary.

81. "Tadpole" actor Robert: ILER. Only know him in "The Sopranos".

82. Pinochle combination: MELD. No idea. Have never played Pinochle.

83. "The Taming of the Shrew" setting: PADUA. A city in NE Italy. Close to Venice.

85. Female oracle: SIBYL

88. Comedy first baseman: WHO. From Abbott and Costello's "Who's on First?".

91. Pic, commercially: FOTO

93. Everything before the last resort: ALL ELSE. When all else fails..

97. "What's the __?": DIF. Slangily.

99. __'clock scholar: TEN O. New to me also.

100. Bordeaux brother: FRERE. French for "brother".

101. Island south of Borneo: BALI. I guessed.

102. Part of the conspiracy: IN ON IT. Did not come to me easily.

106. __ Valley: 1960 Winter Olympics site: SQUAW. No idea. Dictionary says squaw is disparaging term for a woman, true?

109. Fam. tree member: DESC (Descendant)

110. Really big show: EXPO

111. Sign on for another tour: RE-UP

112. 1950s-'60s Chief Justice Warren: EARL. He chaired the Warren Commission for the JFK assassination investigation.

113. Make laugh in a big way: SLAY

117. "__ was saying ...": AS I

118. Fall from grace: SIN. Big big "sigh" for Eliot Spitzer. I really liked him.

119. Serengeti grazer: GNU

121. That, in Toledo: ESO. So is ESA.

122. Justice Dept. raiders: ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms). No idea. Triple bogey finish for me today.

Answer grid.

C.C.