Thursday, January 19, 2012 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: "Wanna play a round?" (Classic duffer's pick-up line...) The word PLAY is positioned AROUND the ends of the theme entries:

17A. Nuts : PLAIN CRAZY. Am I nuts, or just plain crazy?

25A. Switching device : POWER RELAY. I drew this, just to show you an example:

37A. Keeps at it : PLUGS AWAY. Originally a seaman's term from 1627 meaning to use a "stopper". Classic example is Hans Brinker, who "plugged" the hole in the dike...

50A. "We want you here" : PLEASE STAY. Even Anons are welcome in this corner (as long as you PLAY nice!)

And the unifier:

60. Dally, and a literal hint to 17-, 25-, 37- and 50- across : PLAY AROUND

Marti here, with another fun Thursday offering from our dynamic duo!!

Across:

1.Fair color? : AZURE. The blue of a fair, or cloudless sky.

6.Skippy rival : JIF. Do you like chunky or creamy peanut butter? Then we have 6D. 6-Across container: JAR. And 31A. Cover: LID. Perhaps on a JAR of JIF or Skippy?

9.Gillette razor : ATRA

13.Moses' mount : SINAI

14.Like the Gobi Desert : ARID

16."House" actor Robert ___ Leonard : SEAN. This guy, who plays Dr James Wilson, Dr. House's confidante. (From C.C.: Shout-out to Seen.)

19.Agcy. whose seal features a shock of corn : USDA. United States Department of Agriculture.

20.First area to fill in on a form : LINE A. Is anyone getting their tax forms together yet?

21.Harry Potter series ender? : ZED. British "Z"

23.Up to, briefly : TIL

24.Street Cry, to Street Sense : SIRE. "Street Cry" and "Street Sense" are both racehorses. Devious clue, that I needed every perp to solve...

29."Here Come the ___":1945 college comedy : COEDS. This one, OTOH, was sussed simply from the word "college".

32."Leda and the Swan" poet : YEATS. Did anyone else fill in "Keats"?

33.Swing voter: Abbr. : IND. -ependent.

34.Store sign : OPEN

36."Yeah, right!" : I'LL BET

39.Jackie Chan genre : ACTION. Loved him in "Shanghai Noon" with Owen Wilson.

42.Four-legged king : LION

43.Fruit often dried : FIG

46.Novel opening : PART I. "Don Quixote" is an example of a novel that was published in two parts.

47.Row of seats : PEW

48.___ queen : DRAMA

53.Targets : AIMS

54.Texas Rangers manager Washington : RON

55.Pat-down org. : TSA. I bet Dennis would make a good TSA agent...

56.Golfer's feat : EAGLE. Have you ever had one, Husker G or Boomer?

58.Table scraps : ORTS

64.Stringed instrument : VIOL

65.Bygone Dodge : OMNI

66.One may bring eternal bad luck : CURSE

67.Selection word : EENY. meeny, miny, moe...

68.William, to Charles : SON. Princes of the British Empire.

69.Cold metal? : STEEL

Down:

1.Egyptian cobra : ASP

2. Umpteen, with "a" : ZILLION. I used to say a "gazillion".

3.Not made public : UNAIRED

4.Came down : RAINED.

5.Mozart's "___ kleine Nachtmusik" : EINE. Yay, a chance to link one of my favorite compositions, with an interesting bar graph visual. 6:01

7.Tax-sheltered savings, briefly : IRA. Individual Retirement Account. For those filling in Line A...

8.Effervesced : FIZZED. Like soda in scotch...Oh, the horror! (per Tinbeni)

9.SW school whose mascot carries a pitchfork : ASU. Arizona State University. The Sun Devils.

10.Research site : TEST LAB

11.Give off : RADIATE

12.Word with stock or market : ANALYST

15.Yarn colorer : DYER

18.Graduation flier : CAP. Like these at 2:50, from "Legally Blonde". 3:49

22.Terra firma : DRY LAND

24.Phys., e.g. : SCI. -ence

26.Jackie's designer : OLEG. Cassini. Of course, C.C. knows all the designers.

27.Actress with six Oscar nominations by age 33 : WINSLET. Kate. Her first oscar was in 2009 for "The Reader".

28.Hard to grasp : EELY

30.Cadenza performer : SOLOIST. According to Merriam-Webster, a cadenza is a "Technically brilliant sometimes improvised solo passage toward the close of a concerto".

35.One may not be intended : PUN

36.WWII battle site, for short : IWO. Jima.

37.Fillable bread : PITA

38.Old Sony brand : AIWA

39.Give the okay : APPROVE

40.Unit often burned off : CALORIE. I burn off my calories on the treadmill, yoga mat, and now with my X-box 360 Kinect.

41.Capital nearest to Philadelphia : TRENTON. WAG for me.

43.What "you always pass...on your way to success": Mickey Rooney : FAILURE

44.Vast : IMMENSE

45.Electric alternative : GAS. I burn oil, and wince every time I hear the oil truck pull up to the driveway.

47.Book of sacred poems : PSALMS

49.Seasoned stew : RAGOUT

51.Hockey Hall of Fame nickname : ESPO. Phil Esposito, Boston Bruins Hall of Famer.

52.Thumbs-up vote : YEA

57.Curved pieces : ARCS

59.Devilish : SLY. Or, a description of the Arizona State University team...

61.Roberto's 2012, e.g. : ANO. "Roberto" indicates a Mexican name. So, 2012 would be a "year" in Spanish.

62.One of two complementary Asian forces : YIN. and its counterpart: Yang.

63.___ Monte Foods : DEL. I don't serve any canned vegetables in my house.

Answer grid.

And that wraps up this Thursday puzzle. I can't wait to hear what you all thought of it!

Hugs,

Marti

Constructor's note from C.C.:

"This is one of the very earlier puzzles Don and I collaborated. We tried to find a nice mix of P*LAY, PL*AY and PLA*Y 2-word phrases. PLASTIC SURGERY & PROFANITY DELAY were the two other candidates we considered but discarded. I want to thank Dudley for giving us a detailed explanation of POWER RELAY". (Note from Marti: Dudley did not help me with my drawing.)