Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Jeff Chen

Theme: A Tribute Puzzle - A puzzle dedicated to Roger Ebert on his birthday.

17A. Longtime employer of 44-/49-Down : CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

29A. Award won by 44-/49-Down : PULITZER PRIZE

41A. Signature 44-/49-Down gesture represented by the clusters of black squares bordering this answer : TWO THUMBS UP

44-/49-Down. Late film critic born 6/18/42 : ROGER : EBERT

Argyle here. I missed the portrait until I started my write-up. Then it dawned on me; all those black squares, the unusual left-right mirror image. I didn't include 41-/45-Down as part of the theme, in part, because they didn't conform to normal crossword symmetry. I hope Jeff stops by with some insight into the construction of today's puzzle.

Across:

1. First network to show "The Wizard of Oz" : CBS-TV. (November 3, 1956)

6. Wee, like Abner : LI'L

9. Jeweler's fitting tool : SIZER. A fitting name.

14. "Easy __!": "Piece of cake!" : AS PIE. That's it! Pie with my coffee this morning.

15. Altar consent : "I DO"

16. Ridiculous : INANE

20. Sci-fi pilot Solo : HAN. (Star Wars)

21. Novelist Deighton : LEN. (crossword staple)

22. Geese formation : VEE

23. ASCAP rival : BMI. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers and Broadcast Music, Inc., if your interested.

24. Ending for smack : EROO

26. Big name in skin care : NIVEA

28. Chow __: noodle dish : MEIN. Mmm, more food.

32. MPAA criteria, e.g. : STDs. Standards used by Motion Picture Association of America.

33. George Strait's "All My __ Live in Texas" : EX'S

34. Both Bushes, college-wise : ELIs. (Yale)

35. Sound of lament : [SOB]

37. __ alai : JAI

38. Like perennial rivals, constantly : AT IT

40. Hypotenuse, e.g. : SIDE. The square of the hypotenuse equals the sum of the squares of the other two sides - Pythagoras' theorem.

44. Cox's command : ROW. Short for coxswain, and, according to this LINK, they don't yell "Stroke" all the time.

46. Continue despite adversity : PERSIST

47. Lament : RUE

50. More than portly : OBESE

52. Hoosier St. : IND. (Indiana). Perhaps Gary can elaborate on why it's called the Hoosier state.

53. Dental care brand : ORAL B

55. Mother of the Titans : GAEA. Whoa, that's quite the story about her.

56. Half-mast fliers, at times : FLAGs. At sad times, in remembrance.

58. Berlin article : EINE

59. Ambulance team, briefly : EMTs. (Emergency Medical Technician)

60. Santa's helpers : ELVES

61. Ivan the Terrible, e.g. : TSAR

62. Hasty : RASH

63. Bruce better known as Batman : WAYNE. Shh! That's secret.

64. Bug-bugging compound : DEET

Down:

1. Treasure trove : CACHE

2. Equivalents of C's : B SHARPs

3. Daytona 500 mishap : SPINOUT

4. Muscle spasm : TIC

5. Wiener schnitzel meat : VEAL. Enough with the food.

6. Treat like a king : LIONIZE

7. They may be checked for R-rated movies : IDs

8. Blinds with angled slats : LOUVERS

9. imdb.com, e.g. : SITE. Places to be linked.

10. Pasta suffix : INI. (linguini, i.e.)

11. River along the Zambia-Zimbabwe border : ZAMBEZI. Victoria Falls.

12. Foes : ENEMIES

13. Piny ooze : RESIN

18. Mannerly fellow : GENT

19. Tide type : NEAP. Yeah, not the soap.

25. "A picture is worth ...," e.g. : OLD SAW. Origin: before 950(really old); Middle English; Old English sagu; cognate with German Sage, Old Norse saga saga; akin to say. So just an old saying, I guess.

27. Really irritate : VEX

28. Social sphere : MILIEU

30. Elemental variant : ISOTOPE

31. Entertains, as a tot at bedtime : READS TO

36. Mark from Dracula : BITE

37. Triangular sails : JIBS

39. Manila fight nickname : THRILLA. The Thrilla in Manila was the third and final boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.

40. Tiny bit : SMIDGEN

41. "The movies won't be the same without 44-Down" and others : TWEETS and 45D. President who wrote the 41-Down quote : OBAMA

42. SEALs' gp. : U.S. NAVY

43. Eulogize : PRAISE

48. Radii-paralleling bones : ULNAE. Oh, didn't I mention yesterday there would be a quiz.

51. Beauty contest accessory : SASH

54. Collecting a pension: Abbr. : RET'D.

56. Handful : FEW

57. Opposite of NNW : SSE

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few more pictures from JD's trip. She also told me "I did learn that only the Highlanders wore kilts, like our tour guide - who was both Irish and Scottish- and the Lowlanders wear tartans, just the slacks made up of their family's plaid."

Those yellow fields are growing rapeseed which makes canola oil.

We took a ride in a jaunting car through a beautiful park after a boat ride in one of
the 3 lakes in Killarney.

View from the Edinburgh Castle.

One more picture of the handsome Truman who sometimes plays Scrabble on grandma's iPad. Click here, you'll see all how much Truman has grown.