Monday, September 7, 2009 Teri Smalley

Theme: NFL Kickoff (61D: Org. where you can see the first words of 20-, 38- and 55-Across)

20A: Give one's verdict: PASS JUDGMENT

38A: Create a distraction: RUN INTERFERENCE

55A: Get rid of by promoting, as an employee: KICK UPSTAIRS

Argyle here. This puzzle gave me all sorts of trouble. No, not the puzzle itself but trying to get it here to the corner.

As of yet, Cruciverb didn't have the puzzle available, which meant, I couldn't do it with Across Lite. I had to wait for LAT version to come out.

I use a character recognition program to change my print out into a Word document so I can cut and paste. Well, the Java print out didn't work so well until I literally did some cut and pasting. Ok, it was cut and taping, but it got done and here I am. On to the puzzle.

KICK UPSTAIRS Unfortunately, this happens all to often, especially in government. People will mess up but it is easier to promote them than it is to fire them!

There were several sports references but, correct me if I'm wrong, none about football except, indirectly, the UCLA Bruins.

Baseball: 11D: Hodges who managed the Miracle Mets: GIL. And 29D: Polo Grounds slugger Mel: OTT. Golf: 30D: Hole in one: ACE. Tennis: 31D: Tennis great Evert: CHRIS (Golfer "The Shark" Greg Norman's wife). NASCAR: 36D: Racecar's stopping place: PIT.

Across:

1A: Small cluster, as of threads: TUFT.

5A: Garbage barge: SCOW.

9A: Rifle with tiny shot: BB GUN.

14A: Ready and willing partner: ABLE. Ready, ABLE and Willing.

15A: Home of the NCAA's Bruins: UCLA.

16A: Bangor's state: MAINE. This ought to make our fellow solver Mainiac happy. Stephen King has a huge Victorian style mansion in Bangor.

17A: Othello, for one: MOOR. A Moor is a Muslim of the mixed Berber and Arab people inhabiting NW Africa. This group that invaded Spain in the 8th century a.d. and occupied it until 1492. And 59D: Spanish hero El __: CID. Spanish soldier: hero of the wars against the Moors. Is there an echo inhere?

18A: Ogler's look: LEER.

19A: Relative via marriage: IN-LAW.

23A: On the Atlantic, say: AT SEA.

24A: Pant leg: TROUSER.

28A: Game-hunting trespasser: POACHER.

32A: Lumberjack's tool: AXE.

33A: Li'l Abner's home: DOGPATCH.

37A: Two-part: DUAL.

42A: Coup d'__: ETAT.

43A: Supply water to artificially, as farmland: IRRIGATE.

44A: Singer Garfunkel: ART. What's your favorite Simon & Garfunkel song?

45A: Degrading: ABASING.

48A: Military utensils set: MESS KIT.

50A: Teamsters leader who disappeared in 1975: HOFFA. His son James HOFFA is the current Teamsters president.

59A: "__ be?": "is that possible?": CAN IT. Yes!

62A: Lang. of Rome: ITAL.

63A: Disorderly type: SLOB.

64A: Prefix with structure: INFRA. Infrastructure.

65A: California wine valley: NAPA.

66A: Chichen __: Mayan ruins: ITZA. Chichen Itza was a major city for the Mayan people beginning in about 600 AD. Tourists still flock to the site to climb the temple steps.

67A: Idiots: DOLTS.

68A: Counterfeit: SHAM.

69A: Backyard storage facility: SHED.

Down:

1D: Florida city on the Gulf Coast: TAMPA.

2D: WWII German sub: U-BOAT.

3D: Dental thread: FLOSS.

4D: To the point: TERSE.

5D: "Star Trek" crewman: SULU. The "Star War" character is Han SOLO.

6D: Sent a duplicate letter to, briefly: CC'ED.

7D: Cassini of fashion: OLEG. Cassini was married to actress Gene Tierney. (1941) He was noted for being chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy to design her state wardrobe in the 1960s.

8D: Fireside feeling: WARMTH.

9D: Key related to D major: B MINOR.

10D: Language group that includes Swahili: BANTU. Zulu belongs to BANTU also.

12D: A, in Abruzzi: UNA. Alliteration again. Italian for "a", Spanish for "a" too. Abruzzi is a region of central Italy bordering on the Adriatic Sea.

13D: "__ and improved!": ad claim: NEW.

21D: Iwo Jima's country: JAPAN. And AKITAS (45D: Dogs from 21-Down). Looks worried.

22D: Before, in verse: ERE.

25D: Sweat spot: SAUNA.

26D: Precise: EXACT.

27D: Surrenderer to U.S. Grant: R.E.LEE.

33D: Reason for talking in one's sleep: DREAM.

34D: Freakish: OUTRE.

35D: Tiny flying biters: GNATS.

37D: Temperature meas.: DEG (Degree)

39D: Part of TGIF: Abbr.: FRI.

40D: Sea eagle: ERN. TERN is seabird too. Here is an ERN.

41D: Correct: RIGHT.

46D: Ballpoint brand: BIC.

47D: Low-carb diet maven: ATKINS. Dr. Robert Atkins died in 2003 when he slipped on the ice while walking to work, hitting his head and causing bleeding around his brain. He died to weeks later. He was 72.

49D: Dress bottom: SKIRT.

51D: Kalahari refuge: OASIS. Kalahari Desert is largely in Botswana. Plural of OASIS is OASES.

52D: Serious grime: FILTH.

53D: Didn't move a muscle: FROZE.

54D: Equally poor: AS BAD.

56D: Four Corners state: UTAH.

57D: Mama's mate: PAPA.

58D: Close angrily: SLAM.

60D: 365 dias: ANO. The lowercase case is año. Whole different meaning with ano.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is sweet photo of our fellow LAT solver J.D and her family celebrating her grandson Truman's 2-year-old birthday on Saturday August 29, 2009. On couch: Joe (JD's Welsh son-in-law) and Shelby (on floor, JD's daughter), Truman, Derek (JD's Wyoming son-in-law) and Corie (JD's daughter) holding Grady (Truman's little brother), Judy and Bob (JD's husband). This stairs photo looks adorable too. From bottom to top: Truman with Daddy Derek, Grady with mommy Corie, Joe and Shelby, Judy and Bob. And Shelby's wedding picture, taken April 2008. Beautiful. From left to right: JD, Bob, Shelby and Joe, Corie, Derek and Truman.

Argyle

PS: Teri Smalley is another alias name of Rich Norris. Anagrams to "It's really me". Thanks, Jerome.