Sunday April 24, 2011 David Blake

Theme: At Your Convenience - AT is added to each common phrase.

22A. South-of-the-border political assent? : SI SI SENATOR. Si Si Señor.

36A. Knockoffs of "Woman With a Hat"? : NEAR MATISSES. Near misses. Here is the hat lady.

43A. Where to excavate perfume? : ATTAR PITS. Tar pits.

57A. The first glossy fabric? : ORIGINAL SATIN. Original sin.

87A. Dishonest Yankees? : BRONX CHEATERS. Bronx cheers. Let her show you how. Just learned a few weeks ago Rich Norris is a Yankees fan.

101A. A lifetime at the North Pole? : SANTA FATE. Santa Fe. Poor Santa.

108A. Feature of a mad scientist's machine? : MUTATE BUTTON. Mute button.

122A. "Wrestling" maneuver? : THUMB ATTACK. Thumbtack.

3D. Food evaluation measure? : NOSE RATING. Nose ring.

83D. Amusement park for fans of flowing music? : LEGATO LAND. Legoland.

Wow! I can't believe this is David Blake's LA Times debut.

Brilliant grid design, with the two Down theme answers intersect two Across theme entries each. As I mentioned before. you've got to have the luck as well as the skill to pull it off.

When did you grok the theme? I cottoned to the gimmick quite early and had lots of fun tackling the grid.

Across:

1. January honoree : KING. I have a dream.

5. "Poison" plant : SUMAC

10. Certain artist's forte : SCAM. Scam artist.

14. 2010 Apple release : iPAD. First appearance in LAT puzzle I believe.

18. Clean-out-the-fridge indicator : ODOR. Man, I blanked.

19. Jipijapa hat : PANAMA. Panama hat is made from Jipijapa plant. Unknown to me.

20. Bear, to Brutus : URSA

21. Like most pre-'60s recordings : MONO

24. Noggin : BEAN. So many slang for head.

25. Subatomic particle : PION

26. Mideast ruler : EMIR

27. Quiet : HUSH

29. Amazonian predator : ANACONDA. Huge snake.

31. 112-Down's milieu : BAR. And 112. 31-Across patron : SOT. I like cross-references when one clue is definite.

33. Losing streak : SKID

38. Vigor : ELAN. Dennis the Dummy has plenty.

40. GI show gp. : USO

41. Gets under control : TAMES

42. Kitchen add-on? : ETTE. Kitchenette.

46. Modern recorder : TiVO

47. Racy : EROTIC

50. Common stocking height : THIGH

51. Distinctive flavor : TANG

53. "__ Rose": "The Music Man" quartet : LIDA. Boomer loves "The Music Man".

55. Big name in lawn care : ORTHO

56. Poetic time : E'EN. Evening.

61. Note promising notes : IOU

62. 1998 Winter Olympics host : NAGANO. It's hit by earthquake last time also.

64. List-ending abbr. : ET AL

65. Created, on signs : ESTD (Established)

66. Creator of the Shmoos : CAPP (Al)

67. Was moved, perhaps : WEPT

69. Site site : WEB

71. Iams competitor : ALPO. Pet food is such a huge business.

73. Knit, as bones : HEAL

76. Northern terminus of I-79 : ERIE

79. Country club employees : PROs. And 82. Country club coups : EAGLES.

86. Corporate letters : INC

90. Not incl. : EXC. Excluded?

91. Time after tarde : NOCHE (Night). Tarde is afternoon.

93. Partnership for Peace org. : NATO

94. Small songbird : WREN

95. Comerica Park player : TIGER. Detroit Tigers.

97. Many Justin Bieber fans : TWEENs

99. Dot-__ : COMs

103. __-dieu: kneeler : PRIE. See here.

104. Latte topping : CREMA

106. MADD concern : DUI

107. Worry : STEW

111. Sharp barks : YIPS

113. Jazz trombonist Kid __ : ORY. Learned his name from doing Xword.

114. Song on the "Beatles '65" album : I'M A LOSER. Needed crossing help.

115. Patrick Ewing, in college : HOYA. I've never heard of Patrick Ewing. He's in basketball Hall of Fame.

117. Billy with a piano : JOEL

119. Make a ruling : FIND

120. "What __!": "How fun!" : A GAS. Made me think of Lois.

127. Square off against : FACE

128. Baylor University's city : WACO

129. Meaningless verbiage : HOT AIR. Blowhard.

130. Word command : UNDO. Always saves my day.

131. Slate, briefly : SKED (Schedule)

132. River crossed by Orpheus : STYX

133. Excalibur, for one : SWORD. King Arthur's sword.

134. Brainstorm : IDEA

Down:

1. Decks : KOs. KO = Knock out

2. Dictator Amin : IDI

4. Hardly hopeful : GRIM

5. Diego's title? : SAN. San Diego.

6. "__ furtiva lagrima": Donizetti aria : UNA. No idea. It's literally "A single furtive tear".

7. Trig or calc : MATH

8. Come (to) : AMOUNT

9. It may face the rear : CAR SEAT. I like the clue.

10. Stand-in : SUB

11. A&W drinks : CREAM SODAS

12. Yoga pose : ASANA. Both JD & Lucina on our blog do yoga. Anyone else?

13. Florida's 63-year-old Snooty is the oldest in captivity : MANATEE. Unaware of this trivia.

14. Fake : IMPOSTOR

15. Popular Christmas decoration : POINSETTIA. Ours is still alive, with only a few leaves left though.

16. Battery end : ANODE

17. Ladies of Spain : DONAs

19. Lose the blues : PERK UP

23. Certain sib : SIS

28. Three-time co-star of Fisher and Ford : HAMILL (Mark). Skywalker of the "Star Wars". Got me.

30. Lemon-flavored Absolut : CITRON

31. Knocked off : BEATEN

32. Tennis star Gibson : ALTHEA. Stumped me last time.

34. Query in Matthew : IS IT I?. So Jesus' last supper was in prison then, according to this latest news.

35. Spoiling : DOTAGE

37. Make a new version of : REVISE

39. Annoy no end : NAG

44. Geneva's river : RHONE

45. Fit of temper : SNIT

48. Chain with stacks : IHOP

49. Stroke of genius : COUP

52. Eat like a beaver : GNAW

54. Boy or girl lead-in : ATTA

58. Rodeo participant : ROPER

59. Hebrew opener : ALEPH. First letter in Hebrew alphabet.

60. Car in a jam, say : IDLER

63. Cobbler's tool : AWL

66. Gear component : COG

68. 1982 movie with a 2010 sequel : TRON

70. Pub order : BREW

72. Food often ending in "i" : PASTA. Rice noodle is quite boring. No gluten in it.

73. Tinge : HINT

74. Plenty, poetically : ENOW

75. College applicant's good news : ACCEPTANCE

77. Slip : INACCURACY

78. Obtain via shakedown : EXTORT

80. Some sculling trophies : OARS

81. Slow partner? : STEADY. Slow and steady.

84. New Hampshire academy : EXETER

85. Nuts : SCREWY

87. Four-time all-star catcher Santiago : BENITO. This is a 1989 Sports Illustrated issue. I used to collect SIs whenever Tiger Woods was on the cover.

88. "The Iceman __" : COMETH

89. Utter boredom : ENNUI. I'm yawning.

92. Emulated the town crier : HERALDED

96. Things up in the air : IFs

98. Fluctuates : SEESAWS

100. Makes more peaceful, as relations : SMOOTHS

102. Coffeehouse cup, perhaps : TIP JAR

105. Regardless : ANYHOW

108. Puts out : MIFFS

109. Inuit craft : UMIAK. Literally 'woman's boat". Kayak is "man's boat".

110. Sired, biblically : BEGAT

116. Immune opening : AUTO. Autoimmune.

118. Needle case : ETUI. Hey, welcome back, pal!

121. Red __ : SOX

123. Damage : MAR

124. One heart, e.g. : BID. Bridge.

125. Alphabet string : CDE

126. RVer's stopover : KOA. KOA campgrounds.

Answer grid.

C.C.