Tuesday, January 17, 2012 Matt Skoczen

Theme: "HB, B.W." - A celebration of Betty White's 90th birthday.

9A. With 66-Across, actress born 1/17/1922 : BETTY 66A. See 9-Across : WHITE

18A. 20-Across role for 9-Across : ROSE and 20A. Sitcom co-starring 9/66-Across : "THE GOLDEN GIRLS"

37A. Dramedy on which 9/66-Across had a recurring role : "BOSTON LEGAL"

55A. Sitcom co-starring 9/66-Across : HOT IN CLEVELAND and 61A. 55-Across role for 9-Across : ELKA

Argyle here. I hope you had a chance to watch TV special honoring Betty White last night. If you want to know more about the three shows in the theme, I will give you a link to their Wikipedia page and a clip from the shows. The Golden Girls / Clip.(8:27); Boston Legal / Clip.(0:40) She played a recurring character named Catherine Piper. There are longer clips but not in English; Hot in Cleveland / Clip.(0:20)

Good thing I got those last two from the perps because I never saw her on "Boston Legal" and never heard of "Hot in Cleveland". Now Sue Ann Nivens on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show", that I know. The puzzle is OK; it has a lot of theme which means some compromises. Matt has given us Sunday puzzles before.

Across:

1. __ Romeo: sports car : ALFA. Italian.

5. Cleveland NBAers : CAVS. (Cavaliers)

14. Weevil's target : BOLL. Cotton.

15. __ II razor : TRAC

16. Love, in Italia : AMORE

17. Fit to __ : A TEE

19. Infuriates : RILES

23. Really revel in : EAT UP

24. Neptune's realm : SEA

25. NFL position : CTR. (center)

27. "Baby and Child Care" author : DR. SPOCK

30. Entertain in style : REGALE

33. Congestion site : SINUS

36. Frasier's brother : NILES. TV (David Hyde Pierce)

40. Buckeye State sch. : OHIO U

42. Miss America accessory : TIARA

43. Message on a dirty car : WASH ME

45. Becomes fond of : WARMS TO

50. White House advisory gp. : NSC. National Security Council.

51. Skater Midori : ITO. She is the 1989 World Champion and the 1992 Olympic silver medalist. She is the first woman to land a triple/triple jump combination.

54. Went out with : DATED

60. Suppress : SIT ON

62. "American ___" : IDOL

63. Fur tycoon : ASTOR

64. Lender's security : LIEN

65. Canadian vocalist Vannelli : GINO. Clip (2:32)

67. Not as much : LESS

68. Political cartoonist Thomas : NAST

Down:

1. Died down : ABATED

2. Mandrake the Magician's assistant : LOTHAR. Lothar is looking rather mod.

3. Armadas : FLEETS

4. Good thing to get in competition : A LEG UP

5. PC corner key : CTRL

6. Yankee slugger, familiarly : A-ROD

7. Flower holders : VASEs

8. Public embarrassment : SCENE

9. Italian seaport : BARI. Map

10. Mideast VIP : EMIR

11. One in a phone bill list : TOLL CALL

12. Bridge support : TRESTLE

13. "That's affirmative!" : "YES!"

21. Marsupial that plays dead : OPOSSUM

22. Long-snouted swimmer : GAR.

26. Legal thing : RES

28. Op. __: footnote abbr. : CIT. (the work has been cited)

29. Necktie feature : KNOT

31. Fencing challenge : "EN GARDE!"

32. Italian actress Scala : GIA. Image She was in "The Guns of Navarone" (1961). Died too young.

34. Prefix with form : UNI

35. Cabbagy side dish : SLAW

37. Dunkable Italian cookies : BISCOTTI. Must be leftovers from yesterday. ("Biscotti" is the plural form of biscotto.)

38. "That's amazing!" : "OOH!"

39. Generation : ERA

40. BYOB word : OWN. Bring Your Own Bottle. If you want something stronger, see below.

41. Cannabis preparation : HASHISH. "It's not mine. I'm holding it for a friend."

44. German article : EIN

46. Bad-mouth : MALIGN

47. Ballparks : STADIA. Plural of stadium.

48. Dovetail sections : TENONs. The projections on the right piece are the tenons and the slots on the left piece that receive them are the mortises.

49. Less than 100 shares of stock : ODD LOT

52. Immune system agent : T-CELL

53. Kukla's puppet pal : OLLIE. They interacted with Fran. Kukla, Fran and Ollie was an early TV show using puppets, originally created for children but soon watched by more adults than children. It did not have a script and was entirely ad-libbed. It first aired from 1947–1957.

56. __ one's own horn : TOOT

57. About, on a memo : IN RE. (in the matter of)

58. Barely gets, with "out" : EKEs. Eek, another EKE.

59. Soccer moms' rides : VANS

60. Went out with : SAW

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.

Happy 21st wedding anniversary to Ron (Jazzbumpa) and Gloria! I know you'll make it special, Ron.