Wednesday, November 6th 2013 Gareth Bain

Theme: Record Numbers! The theme entries all start with the name of a classic music label

18A. Madonna : VIRGIN MARY. Richard Branson's first money-maker. 'Tubular Bells' launched his business on the Virgin label. If you've never heard Mike Oldfield's seminal album I really encourage you to listen - here's the first three minutes.

23A. Ivy League professional school : COLUMBIA LAW. Just don't go to their website. Confusing as heck. After an hour or so, we get it. Sousa marches and One Direction. Mmmmm K.

37A. Fruity dessert with sweetened crumbs : APPLE BROWN BETTY. Wow.

52A. "The Lord of the Rings" genre : EPIC FANTASY. Wow squared!

Wow! Steve here with an amazing Wednesday problem - maybe I'm getting old or out of practice but Gareth really made me work at this one! What did you all think?

Across:

1. Lies as a whole? : PACK. First What?. (A pack of lies).

5. King who raged to Edgar on the heath : LEAR. Thanks! One I know :)

9. Turbaned Punjabis : SIKHS.  Spelling challenge.

14. Matty or Felipe of baseball : ALOU

15. Puffs additive : ALOE. Crosses. All the way!

16. Pistons great Thomas : ISIAH

17. Hog product : LARD. Tail? Squeak? Trotter? Butt? Darn - my old Dad said "The only part of the pig you can't eat is the squeak".

20. Leave open-mouthed : AMAZE

22. Gets under control : TAMES

26. PC brain : CPU. The Central Processing Unit of a Personal Computer. It all seems so normal now but 15 years ago here was the Pentium Chip from Intel - an amazing leap in technology.

29. Skier's challenge : ESS

30. Tuna holder : CAN

31. Sci-fi hybrid : CYBORG

33. Running or jumping : GERUND. Oh - let me remember this! It ends in 'ing! It's a  noun! I'm done after this. Please don't ask me about the gerundive.

36. Mideast flier : EL AL

42. Wrath, in a hymn : IRAE. "Dies irae".

43. Writes to, nowadays : EMAILS

44. Green stuff : DO-RE-MI. Officially clue-less here. Hoping Rich will help out? Or C.C.? (C.C.: Just slang for money. )

47. Transfer __ : RNA. Maybe I'm Jet-lagged, but crosses all the way/ No idea, sorry.

48. Orchestra site : PIT

51. Say more : ADD

56. Liszt or Schubert : FRANZ

57. Plaque honoree : DONOR

63. Avatar of Vishnu: RAMA

64. Congo critter with striped legs: OKAPI

65. Golden St. campus: UCLA

66. Grace ender: AMEN

67. Concise: TERSE

68. Use FedEx, say: SHIP

69. Male deer: HART

(Sorry for missing a few fill earlier)

Down:

1. Versailles attraction : PALACE. Versailles is the Palace - looking for "Garden" or "Jardin" first - amazing

2. Los __: Manhattan Project site : ALAMOS

3. Pink shades : CORALS

4. Invasive vine : KUDZU. Crosses - Thanks! I hope I don't have any? Doesn't seem as pretty as the Palace de Versailles :)

5. WC : LAV

6. Actor Roth : ELI

7. Arterial trunk : AORTA

8. Kingly : REGAL

9. Like the village blacksmith's hands : SINEWY. Hmmmmm.

10. Philosophies : ISMS. Hmmmmmmmm

11. Rio automaker : KIA

12. Laugh syllable : HAR. I had HAA and AHA and .... HAH! Didn't help.

13. Shunning the spotlight, maybe : SHY

19. Computer that may use Snow Leopard : iMAC

21. Toastmaster : EMCEE

24. Caustic comeback : BARB

25. Accustom (to) : INURE

26. Firearms pioneer : COLT

27. Backside : PRAT

28. Hard to look at : UGLY

32. Nectar collectors : BEES

33. High spirits : GLEE

34. Pierre, e.g. : NOM

35. Friend of Snow White : DWARF

37. Verdi opera with pyramids : AIDA

38. Nudge : PROD

39. Tex's bud : PARD

40. NPR correspondent Totenberg : NINA

41. Short on taste : BLAND

45. "__ Melodies": Warner Bros. shorts : MERRIE

46. Tablet debut of 2010 : iPAD

48. Land on an isthmus : PANAMA

49. Chemical relative : ISOMER

50. Oppressive ruler : TYRANT

53. River near Karachi : INDUS. Wow!

54. Austerlitz native : CZECH. Wow! Wednesday?

55. Holy ark contents : TORAH

56. Dandies : FOPS

58. Decompose : ROT

59. __ out a living : EKE

60. One may be hired : CAR

61. Onetime ring king : ALI

62. Track circuit : LAP

That's me done! I spent a lot of Wednesday on this one - thanks for the workout, Gareth!

Steve