Theme: CATCH (65A. Verb associated with the beginnings of 18-, 26-, 43- and 57-Across)
18A. Impossible to get close to: COLD AS ICE. Catch a Cold.
26A. Surrender: WAVE A WHITE FLAG. Catch a Wave.
43A. "Jerry Maguire" catchphrase: SHOW ME THE MONEY. Catch a Show.
57A. Right-click result, often: POP-UP MENU. Catch a Pop-up (fly ball).
I like how CATCH is gridded at the very end, providing the ultimate "Aha" moment. And of course, at my solving level, I'd prefer the unifying clue to be "Seize, or verb associated with the beginnings of 18-, 26-, 43- and 57-Across).
Was surprised to see VETCH (28D. Climbing legume). I faintly remember Lemonade mentioned that this plant often appeared in his parents' old old NYT puzzles. No relationship to kvetch.
A bit of slog for me. I was not engaged and did not give the puzzle its deserved attention. Still in shock and saddened by the news of Dan Naddor. His family told me that Dan passed away on the eve of Dec 28, 2009, from the complications of the cancer treatment (radiation to head/neck). He was considered cancer-free.
Dan began constructing crosswords 5 years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer at the back of his throat at the age of 48. He quickly became probably the most prolific LAT constructor in the last few years. He told me constructing crossword distracted his brain so he would not focus on how lousy he felt physically. He family believed that this prolonged his life and gave him something to strive for & enjoy. Dan enjoyed reading our comments and "entertaining my friends each week in puzzle-land".
His family have started a Facebook page under Dan Naddor and said the crossword people are welcome to visit and post. They also mentioned that he had several puzzles on queue in LA Times and NY Times, so we will see his byline in 2010. Dan, you will be deeply missed!
Across:
1. Sluglike "Star Wars" crime lord: JABBA. Jabba the Hutt. Scrabbly corner.
6. Sound from someone who's down: SOB
9. Legal orders: WRITS
14. To go, in Grenoble: ALLER. French for "go". Grenoble is a city in SE France.
15. Supermarket chain founded in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance). Obtained the answer with the crosses.
16. Wore: HAD ON
17. Scrabble 10-pointer: Z TILE
20. Lifetime-guaranteed lighters: ZIPPOS. Did quite a bit of Intellectual Property investigation for Zippo in China.
22. Soft drink choice: DIET COKE
23. Out of balance: A-LOP. Yep, it exists in some dictionary Argyle checked last time.
25. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone: LIA. Lia Fáil is pronounced like "Lee-a Fall". Had a ton of DF fun in the old TMS Daily puzzle.
33. Having a lot to lose, maybe?: OBESE. The clue sounds very Dan Naddor, doesn't it?
34. "Waiting for Lefty" playwright: ODETS (Clifford)
35. Mme. in Madrid: SRA
37. Beach toy: KITE. PAIL too.
38. Circle Line : Hudson :: Bateaux-Mouches : __: SEINE. Bateaux-Mouches ("Fly Boats". Bateaux = boats. Mounches = Flies) are open excursion boats that provide visitors to Paris with a view of the city from along the river Seine, a la Wikipedia.
39. Smart guy?: ALEC. Smart Alec.
40. Wall St. enforcer: SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)
41. Wooden shoe: SABOT. Same root as sabotage, according to Kazie.
42. Send, so to speak: ELATE. Slangy "send", right?
46. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Gai is literally "chicken" in Cantonese.
47. Apartment manager, for short: SUPE. Only in crossword world.
48. Lark: ESCAPADE. One of my favorite entries in this grid.
53. Indiana and Purdue, e.g.: RIVALS. Oh, I was unaware of this fact. Don't follow college sports.
59. Knot over: RETIE
60. Spitting __: IMAGE
61. Oven cleaner component: LYE
62. "__, Therefore I Am": Dennis Miller book: I RANT. See the book cover. New to me. Dennis Miller does rant a lot though.
63. Checked out before a heist: CASED
64. Nonexpert: LAY. Wrote down HAM first.
Down:
1. Cat's passion: JAZZ. Cool cat jazz.
2. Some glee club members: ALTI. Plural of alto?
4. Semi-soft Italian cheese: BEL PAESE. Literally "Beautiful Country" in Italian. I've never had it.
5. Anatomical rings: AREOLAE. Singular is Areola: Are(a) + Ola. The nipple rings.
6. [thus]: SIC. [error left as is].
7. Common prayer opening: O GOD. Not O LORD?
8. Island in the Java Sea: BALI
9. Hypotheticals: WHAT IFS
10. Imp: RASCAL
11. Personal: Pref.: IDIO. Or "Peculiar: Pref". As in idiosyncrasy.
12. Pendulum sound: TOCK. Tick too.
13. Bygone dagger: SNEE. Learned from doing crossword.
24. "Friends" friend: PHOEBE. "Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat ...".
26. Stir-fry cookware: WOKS
27. "__ Irish Rose": ABIE'S. Abie is Irish Rose's lover.
29. Nincompoop: IDIOT
30. Tithe portions: TENTHS18A. Impossible to get close to: COLD AS ICE. Catch a Cold.
26A. Surrender: WAVE A WHITE FLAG. Catch a Wave.
43A. "Jerry Maguire" catchphrase: SHOW ME THE MONEY. Catch a Show.
57A. Right-click result, often: POP-UP MENU. Catch a Pop-up (fly ball).
I like how CATCH is gridded at the very end, providing the ultimate "Aha" moment. And of course, at my solving level, I'd prefer the unifying clue to be "Seize, or verb associated with the beginnings of 18-, 26-, 43- and 57-Across).
Was surprised to see VETCH (28D. Climbing legume). I faintly remember Lemonade mentioned that this plant often appeared in his parents' old old NYT puzzles. No relationship to kvetch.
A bit of slog for me. I was not engaged and did not give the puzzle its deserved attention. Still in shock and saddened by the news of Dan Naddor. His family told me that Dan passed away on the eve of Dec 28, 2009, from the complications of the cancer treatment (radiation to head/neck). He was considered cancer-free.
Dan began constructing crosswords 5 years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer at the back of his throat at the age of 48. He quickly became probably the most prolific LAT constructor in the last few years. He told me constructing crossword distracted his brain so he would not focus on how lousy he felt physically. He family believed that this prolonged his life and gave him something to strive for & enjoy. Dan enjoyed reading our comments and "entertaining my friends each week in puzzle-land".
His family have started a Facebook page under Dan Naddor and said the crossword people are welcome to visit and post. They also mentioned that he had several puzzles on queue in LA Times and NY Times, so we will see his byline in 2010. Dan, you will be deeply missed!
Across:
1. Sluglike "Star Wars" crime lord: JABBA. Jabba the Hutt. Scrabbly corner.
6. Sound from someone who's down: SOB
9. Legal orders: WRITS
14. To go, in Grenoble: ALLER. French for "go". Grenoble is a city in SE France.
15. Supermarket chain founded in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.: IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance). Obtained the answer with the crosses.
16. Wore: HAD ON
17. Scrabble 10-pointer: Z TILE
20. Lifetime-guaranteed lighters: ZIPPOS. Did quite a bit of Intellectual Property investigation for Zippo in China.
22. Soft drink choice: DIET COKE
23. Out of balance: A-LOP. Yep, it exists in some dictionary Argyle checked last time.
25. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone: LIA. Lia Fáil is pronounced like "Lee-a Fall". Had a ton of DF fun in the old TMS Daily puzzle.
33. Having a lot to lose, maybe?: OBESE. The clue sounds very Dan Naddor, doesn't it?
34. "Waiting for Lefty" playwright: ODETS (Clifford)
35. Mme. in Madrid: SRA
37. Beach toy: KITE. PAIL too.
38. Circle Line : Hudson :: Bateaux-Mouches : __: SEINE. Bateaux-Mouches ("Fly Boats". Bateaux = boats. Mounches = Flies) are open excursion boats that provide visitors to Paris with a view of the city from along the river Seine, a la Wikipedia.
39. Smart guy?: ALEC. Smart Alec.
40. Wall St. enforcer: SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)
41. Wooden shoe: SABOT. Same root as sabotage, according to Kazie.
42. Send, so to speak: ELATE. Slangy "send", right?
46. Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Gai is literally "chicken" in Cantonese.
47. Apartment manager, for short: SUPE. Only in crossword world.
48. Lark: ESCAPADE. One of my favorite entries in this grid.
53. Indiana and Purdue, e.g.: RIVALS. Oh, I was unaware of this fact. Don't follow college sports.
59. Knot over: RETIE
60. Spitting __: IMAGE
61. Oven cleaner component: LYE
62. "__, Therefore I Am": Dennis Miller book: I RANT. See the book cover. New to me. Dennis Miller does rant a lot though.
63. Checked out before a heist: CASED
64. Nonexpert: LAY. Wrote down HAM first.
Down:
1. Cat's passion: JAZZ. Cool cat jazz.
2. Some glee club members: ALTI. Plural of alto?
4. Semi-soft Italian cheese: BEL PAESE. Literally "Beautiful Country" in Italian. I've never had it.
5. Anatomical rings: AREOLAE. Singular is Areola: Are(a) + Ola. The nipple rings.
6. [thus]: SIC. [error left as is].
7. Common prayer opening: O GOD. Not O LORD?
8. Island in the Java Sea: BALI
9. Hypotheticals: WHAT IFS
10. Imp: RASCAL
11. Personal: Pref.: IDIO. Or "Peculiar: Pref". As in idiosyncrasy.
12. Pendulum sound: TOCK. Tick too.
13. Bygone dagger: SNEE. Learned from doing crossword.
24. "Friends" friend: PHOEBE. "Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat ...".
26. Stir-fry cookware: WOKS
27. "__ Irish Rose": ABIE'S. Abie is Irish Rose's lover.
29. Nincompoop: IDIOT
31. Narnia lion: ASLAN. Turkish for "lion". I've never seen "The Chronicles of Narnia". The "Born Free" lioness is ELSA.
32. Norwegian marathoner Waitz: GRETE. This lady won a record nine-time New York City Marathon. Not a familiar name to me at all. Is Grete pronounced like "great"?
36. __-deucy: ACEY. Guessed.
38. "I do not like them, __": Seuss line: SAM-I-AM. From "Green Eggs and Ham".
39. Medicinal plant: ALOE VERA
41. Traded: SWAPPED
42. Derived from observation: EMPIRIC. John Locke is the founder of Empiricism.
44. Model railroad scale: O GAUGE. Or O SCALE. We had this clue before.
45. Part of EEC: Abbr.: EUR. EEC = European Economic Community
48. Like "Lawrence of Arabia": EPIC
49. Vedic drink for an immortal soul: SOMA. The drug in "Brave New World".
50. Balancing experts, briefly?: CPAS. Nailed it.
51. Valley: DELL
52. One-named New Age singer: ENYA
54. Rat tail?: A TAT. Rat-a-tat. Good clue.
55. Friend of Pete and Julie on "The Mod Squad": LINC
56. Brother of Abel: SETH. Broth of Cain too.
58. One-eighty: UEY. Slang for U-turn?
Answer grid.
C.C.
