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

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Nov 15, 2010

Monday, November 15, 2010 David W. Cromer

Theme: It's a bird, it's a ... - Plane, a jet, to be precise according to the unifier. The first theme requires a two-word verb phrase while the next two are single verbs; altogether, they describe a plane flight.

20A. Lose a few pounds: TAKE OFF WEIGHT

37A. Act defiantly toward: FLY IN THE TEETH OF, 'In the Face' is more common.

54A. Find ideal employment: LAND A GREAT JOB

58D. You might be on one if you do the starts of 20-, 37- and 54-Across: JET

Argyle here.

A perfunctory Monday puzzle rather easy to solve but was an ambitious construction. Six letter stacks in two corners, two near grid spanning themes and a third that made it all the way. It takes a lot of work to make it look easy.

Across:

1. Estimator's words : OR SO

5. It's cut and styled : HAIR

9. "Of __ I Sing" : THEE

13. Kathmandu's country : NEPAL

15. Part of A.D. : ANNO. Anno Domini, which is Latin for "year of our Lord". Now sometimes referred to as the Common Era, Christian Era, or Current Era (abbreviated as C.E. or CE).

16. Sniggler's prey : EELS

17. Maliciousness : SPITE

18. Not so much : LESS

19. Bivouac : CAMP

23. Opposed (to) : AVERSE

24. Pekoe, e.g. : TEA

25. "Far out!" : "RAD!". I don't believe "RAD" ever got much use.

28. Legal thing : RES. By itself, RES is Latin for thing; it starts many legal terms.

29. They're exchanged at the altar : I DOs

32. Make fun of : TEASE

34. Sweet snack with coffee : DONUT

36. Northern California peak : SHASTA. Located at the southern end of the cascades in Siskiyou County.
Map.

41. __ Pieces: candy brand : REESE'S

42. Brings up : REARS

43. Make into law : ENACT

44. Bank claim : LIEN

45. Fashion that doesn't last : FAD

48. Canadian A.L. team, on scoreboards : TOR. TORonto, north across Lake Ontario from Buffalo, NY. The Blue Jays.

49. Crude in a tanker : OIL

51. Invent : CREATE

58. Monopoly square with bars : JAIL

60. Yves's girlfriend : AMIE. A Frenchman's girlfriend.

61. Country with a wall : CHINA

62. Poet __ St. Vincent Millay : EDNA. Her Columbia County, NY, farmhouse, which she christened Steepletop, is within miles of my sister's house.

63. Heavenly music maker : HARP

64. Kids' flying toys : KITES

65. Clothes : TOGS

66. Norway's capital : OSLO

67. Open-and-shut __ : CASE

Down:

1. GM navigation system : ONSTAR

2. Fix potholes in : REPAVE

3. Volleyball smashes : SPIKES

4. Wild West movie : OATER

5. One of two equal portions : HALF

6. From the beginning : ANEW

7. Maps within maps : INSETS

8. Talk radio host O'Donnell : ROSIE.
Image.

9. PC support pro : TECH

10. Summer itch cause : HEAT RASH

11. Stately tree : ELM

12. Psychic's claim : ESP. Extrasensory perception (ESP)

14. Some summer babies, astrologically : LEOs

21. Deceptive moves : FEINTS

22. Collect : GATHER

26. Regarding : AS TO

27. Unable to hear : DEAF

30. "Of course I knew that!" : "DUH!". Followed by a smack to the head with a V-8 can. (D'oh is when someone else smacks you with a V-8 can.)

31. "SNL" alum Cheri : OTERI.
Image.

33. Food, on a diner sign : EATS. Or the whole
sign.

34. Computer insert : DISC

35. Common pickup capacity : ONE TON. A half-ton is more common.

36. Afterworld communication meeting : SÉANCE

37. Get all worked up : FRET

38. Letterman rival : LENO. Late night talk show hosts.

39. Horse that isn't two yet : YEARLING

40. Golfer's gadget : TEE

44. Alpaca cousins : LLAMAs

45. Tex-Mex serving : FAJITA

46. Makes reparations (for) : ATONES

47. Lower in rank : DEBASE

50. Wyoming neighbor : IDAHO

52. __ of lamb : RACK

53. Value system : ETHIC

55. "Woe is me!" : "ALAS!"

56. "__, Interrupted" : GIRL. It is a best-selling 1993 memoir by American author Susanna Kaysen, relating her experiences as a young woman in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s after being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The memoir's title is a reference to the Vermeer painting Girl Interrupted at her Music. It was a 1999 drama film, starring Winona Ryder, Brittany Murphy, Angelina Jolie, Whoopi Goldberg and Vanessa Redgrave.
The painting.

57. Bank takeaway : REPO

59. Bustle : ADO

Answer grid.

Argyle