google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Apr 28, 2010

Wednesday April 28, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Hungry Celebrities (And you will be too, if you click on all these food links) - Common dishes that happen to contain the first name of a well-known person is humorously reinterpreted and clued as if the dish is what the person wants for the meal.

18A. Response to comic Anderson's "What's for dinner?"?: CRAB LOUIE. Louie Anderson.

21A. Response to Spanish tenor Kraus's "What's for dinner?"?: CHICKEN ALFREDO. Alfredo Kraus. The first two theme answers overlap each other.

37A. Response to Revolutionary Arnold's "What's for breakfast?"?: EGGS BENEDICT. Benedict Arnold.

58A. Response to actress Bracco's "What's for brunch?"?: QUICHE LORRAINE. Lorraine Bracco.

64. Response to jazzman Peterson's "What's for dinner?"?: VEAL OSCAR. Oscar Peterson. The last pair of theme entries also overlap each other.

A special 16*15 grid. The extra column is to accommodate the central even-lettered theme entry EGGS BENEDICT.

Hi, all, Al guesting today, and I was gifted with another Dan Naddor puzzle, thanks C.C. I had mixed feelings about this puzzle. Like the rest of Dan's efforts, I thought it was tricky going at first, especially for a Wednesday, with a lot of unknown names and quite a few three letter answers. I usually try to make all the answer explanations interesting, even when it is a bit challenging. There are quite a few answers today where I just couldn't come up with anything. Maybe it's just the pollen and the late hour. I did manage one pun today.

Across:

1. Hist. or sci.: SUBJ. School subjects, consistent abbreviation in both clue and answer.

5. Penn. crosser: TNPK. Early meaning was a piked road barrier used for defense, from turn + pike (shaft.) The meaning changed to "a horizontal cross of timber, turning on a vertical pin", which was used to bar horses from foot roads. This led to the sense of "barrier to stop passage until a toll is paid"

9. "This is for real!": NO JOKE.

15. Composer Schifrin: LALO. Famous for writing many movie and TV scores, such as the Mission Impossible theme.

16. Noah of "ER": WYLE. Dr. John Carter.

17. Singer Morissette: ALANIS.

20. Forceful, as an argument: COGENT. Necessary, urgent. Borrowed from French.

23. 1861-'89 territory: DAKOTA. It means friendly in the native language. Sometimes translated as "allies".

25. MFA, for one: DEG. Master of Fine Arts or Master of Financial Analysis.

26. Oater okay: YEP. In old westerns on lonely cattle drives, this response from a taciturn cattle hand was sometimes considered to be loquacious. They didn't call him Gabby for nothing.

27. Get ready: PREPARE.

29. Bighorn sheep, at times: RAMMERS. This is what it feels like at work sometimes...

33. What's up?: SKY.

34. Like machine-stamped mail: METERED.

42. Most proximate: NEAREST.

43. Cold and wet: RAW.

46. Flute relative: PICCOLO.

49. Leather source: OSTRICH. A "big sparrow." The Greeks also knew the bird as strouthokamelos "camel-sparrow," for its long neck. Among its proverbial peculiarities are indiscriminate voracity (especially a habit of swallowing iron and stone to aid digestion), want of regard for its eggs, and a tendency to hide its head in the sand when pursued. "Like the Austridge, who hiding her little head, supposeth her great body obscured." Ostriches do put their heads in the sand, but ostrich farmers say they do this in search of something to eat.

53. Tokyo, once: EDO.

54. Sitter's handful: IMP.

57. Sly: CRAFTY.

63. Dump: UNLOAD. The Goldman-Sachs 'Fraud'

67. "Eventually ...": ONE DAY.

68. Nastase of tennis: ILIE.

69. Maestro Klemperer: OTTO. German first name, four letters? This usually works.

70. They're sometimes worn under helmets: DO-RAGS. A colorful large handkerchief worn on the head, usually tied with a tail.

71. Building extensions: ELLS.

72. 1966 Jerry Herman musical: MAME. "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death."

Down:

1. Beehive St. capital: SLC. Salt Lake City, Utah.

2. Old Mideast org.: UAR. United Arab Republic, formerly Egypt and Syria.

3. Mark of shame: BLACK EYE. But you should'a seen the other guy...

4. Change positions often: JOB HOP. You know you're getting old if you remember this as a bad thing. Corporate attitude now is if you stay in a job more than five years, they think you aren't good enough to get hired elsewhere.

5. Like many garages: TWO CAR.

6. Stooges' laugh: NYUK.

7. Practiced, as a trade: PLIED.

8. New Hampshire college town: KEENE.

9. Table salt, to a chemist: NA CL. Sodium (NA stands for Latin: Natrium) Chloride.

10. Swedish statesman __ Palme: OLOF. First Swedish politician to be assassinated.

11. Five-time NHL scoring leader Jaromir: JAGR.

12. Cyclops feature: ONE EYE. Two "EYE"s as fill (See 3D: BLACK EYE). Tsk-tsk!

13. More considerate: KINDER. Or German for "children".

14. Prevents, legally: ESTOPS.

19. __ fire under: LIT A. You know what really burns my butt? A fire about three feet high.

22. Accept: AGREE TO.

23. Infielders' stats: DPS. Double Plays.

24. Indy's pursuit: ARK. Indiana Jones, The Ark of the Covenant. Said to have held the ten commandments.

28. Involve, as in conflict: EMBROIL.

30. Dull finish?: ARD. Suffix added to make the word: dullard. I wanted to squeeze MATTE in there somehow...

31. "Something tells __ goofed": ME I.

32. CLX x X: MDC. 160 times 10 = 1600

35. Wide shoe spec: EEE.

36. Heavy wts.: TNS. Tons.

38. Health food co.: GNC. General Nutrition Centers

39. Former GM division: GEO. Metro, prizm, storm et.al.

40. Actor Mineo: SAL. More famous for who he played opposite of in movies (James Dean in "Rebel Without a Cause").

41. Potentially lucrative track bet: TRIFECTA. a parimutuel bet in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third in exact order.

44. Do something: ACT.

45. "Give me a reason": WHY.

46. Ahab's whaler: PEQUOD. From Moby Dick.

47. "Don't ask me!": I DUNNO.

48. Menacing snake: COILER.

50. Libra symbol: SCALES. Libra is why pounds are abbreviated "lbs".

51. Small band: TRIO.

52. Kidnapper's demand: RANSOM. Money demand. Or Oldsmobile's first name, as in REO Speedwagon.

55. Dinner companion?: MOVIE. Dinner and a movie.

56. Head & Shoulders competitor: PRELL. Do they really still make this shampoo?

59. Musical finale: CODA. From Latin cauda, a tail.

60. Den __, Netherlands: HAAG. The Hague: the site of the royal residence and the western capital in the Netherlands.

61. Nestlé ice cream brand: EDY'S. Cheesecake.

62. Track fence: RAIL. When your trifecta loses you can be a rail-bird, stand at the rail, and rail at the rails.

65. PIN requester: ATM. Automated teller machine. Sometimes called an ATM Machine, which must mean a machine that dispenses machines?

Answer grid.

Al