Sunday June 28, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: End of the Road

23A: Device using pulleys: BLOCK AND TACKLE (Roadblock)

39A: 1957 novel with the working title "The Strike": ATLAS SHRUGGED (Road Atlas)

47A: Plan likely to fail: HOUSE OF CARDS (Roadhouse)

64A: Dance, facetiously: TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC (Road Trip)

83A: Break in: SHOW THE ROPE (Roadshow)

90A: Though not yet in force, one was adopted by the UN in 1996: TEST BAN TREATY (Road-test)

112A: One who's halfway home?: RUNNER ON SECOND (Roadrunner)

Nice theme title. I thought of roadkill, road rage & roadwork. What else can you think of?

The name BLOCK AND TACKLE is new to me, though I did know the device itself. Have never heard of TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC. Wikipedia says the phrase means "to dance nimbly or lightly, or to move in a pattern to musical accompaniment."

Harder than last Sunday's puzzle, but very enjoyable. Some of the clues are so refreshing. Some are tricky. Plenty of V-8 moments for me.

Across:

1A: Window treatment: DRAPE

6A: Beat walkers: COPS. And ARRESTS (51A: Takes in) & TASE (69D: Stun, as a perp). I like multiple references in a puzzle.

10A: Pen pal?: PIG. "Pen" here refers to pigpen, the sty.

19A: Causing goose bumps: EERIE

20A: Came down: ALIT

21A: Tide alternative: ALL. Not familiar with ALL detergent. We use Tide.

22A: 1959 Steiger title role: CAPONE. The answer revealed itself.

26A: Self-conscious question: IS IT ME

27A: Carrere of "Wayne's World": TIA. New name to me. Wikipedia says she was born in Hawaii. Of Filipino descent.

28A: Cuarenta winks: SIESTA. "Guarenta" means "forty" in Spanish. I did not know that.

31A: Tale spinner: LIAR. Nice clue.

32A: Like most light bulbs: SCREW-IN

35A: Peruvian pack animal: LLAMA

37A: Publisher __ Nast: CONDE. I like Vogue the most.

38A: Ming 2-Down: VASE. And RELIC (2D: Artifact).

42A: Arid Israeli area: NEGEV. Wikipedia says NEGEV is from the Hebrew root denoting "dry". In the Bible the word NEGEV is also used for the direction "south".

45A: Windblown soil: LOESS. Loamy deposit.

46A: Crew tool: OAR. Crew on a ship/boat.

55A: Net grazer: LET. Tennis term. Also ILIE (66D: First name among '70s netmen) Nastase & TENNIS (95D: Court sport).

57A: Like some boots: STEEL TOED

59A: Film involving stage scenes: OATER. Struggled with this answer.

71A: Log variety: YULE. And DEC (59D: 71-Across mo.)

72A: Preminger et al: OTTOS

73A: Averse: LOATH. The verb is LOATHE.

74A: Puts dividends to work: REINVESTS. Good strategy. I prefer to have a higher stock price than a higher dividend.

79A: Previously: AGO

82A: Takes umbrage at: RESENTS

88A: Actress Davis: GEENA. She is a Mensa member.

89A: Lies next to: ABUTS. I was thinking of cuddling & spooning.

97A: They're not behind you: ANTIS. My favorite clue.

98A: Pie __: CHART. Wrote down CRUST.

99A: Pushes back, as a deadline: EXTENDS

103A: Hair line: PART

104A: Like a good loser? THIN. Lose weight. Excellent clue.

105A: Fuel rating: OCTANE

108A: Yves' yes: OUI. OUI, mon chéri, je t'aime.

110A: Actor Estevez: EMILIO. Son of Martin Sheen.

116A: Evangelist's admonition: REPENT

118A: '70s pinup name: LONI. LONI Anderson? She does not look that pretty.

119A: Jousting pole: LANCE. And STEED (123A: Jouster's ride).

120A: Two-handed hammer: SLEDGE

121A: Driver's gadget: TEE. Golf.

Down:

1D: Possible result of big losses: DEBTS. Financial loss. I thought of UPSET in sports.

3D: Like heavy surf: AROAR

4D: Photo: PIC

5D: "A mouse!": EEK

6D: Mutt, e.g.: CANINE

7D: __ English Bulldogge: OLDE. Not familiar with this breed of dog at all.

8D: Refueling places: PITS

9D: ASAP relative: STAT. Doctor's ASAP.

10D: Ind. neighbor: PAK. India. I was thinking of Indiana.

11D: "No thanks": I'LL PASS

12D: Ocular signs of planning?: GLEAMS. Why?

15D: Final words: EPILOG. Final word in a book.

16D: Overly attentive: DOTING

25D: Sent (for): CALLED

30D: City SSE of Islamabad: LAHORE. The second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi.

34D: Signaled from across the room, say: WAVED AT

36D: Colleen: LASS. Colleen is from an Irish word meaning "girl".

37D: Big name in skin care products: CUREL. I use Olay.

40D: Rocky peak: TOR. Pure crossword word.

41D: Hardly well done: RARE

42D: Red Wings' org.: NHL. Hmm, no tribute to the Penguins?

43D: Want ad letters: EOE (Equal-Opportunity Employer). Never know when to put EOE and when to put EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity)

44D: Kind of feeling: GUT

48D: Inaugural event: OATH. Ha ha, I wrote down GALA.

49D: Head for the hills: FLEE. Not familiar with the phrase "Head for the hills". Thought of WHIP, kind of head for the Capitol Hill.

50D: Tire-kicking areas: CAR LOTS

51D: Took advantage of the buffet: ATE A LOT. Mine was OVERATE.

53D: Suit basis: TORT. Law suit.

54D: Org. probing for outer-space life: SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence)

57D: Copperstone abbr.: SPF

59D: Starts the bidding: OPENS

60A: U.S. Army E-5: SGT. And STRIPE (92D: Indication of rank).

61D: Funny Margaret: CHO

64D: Norse god of war: TYR. Tuesday is named after him. Thursday is named after Thor, god of thunder.

68D: Role in the musical "Two by Two": NOAH. Well, who else could it be?

70D: Draw: ATTRACT

75D: Words of action: VERBS. So simple. I was stymied.

76D: Grammy-winning New Ager: ENYA. Have not seen ENYA for a long time.

77D: Big stink: STENCH

78D: Musical place, briefly: B'WAY. The OBIE (OB) Award is for Off-Broadway shows.

79D: "The Simpsons" Kwik-E-Mart operator: APU. Learned from doing Xword.

81D: CIA forerunner: OSS (Office of Strategic Services). 1942-1945.

83D: Ball user, maybe: SEER. D'oh, crystal ball.

84D: Patricia of "Everybody Loves Raymond": HEATON. She looks amazing. It's exciting to go bra-less once in a while.

85D: Hudson Bay prov.: ONT

86D: An orchestra tunes to one: OBOE. Oh, I thought orchestra tunes to piano.

88D: Fine particle: GRANULE

90D: Gets to the point: TAPERS. Great clue.

91D: Painter's choice: ENAMEL

93D: Having status, in a way: TITLED. Like the British Sir I suppose.

94D: Desire: THIRST

96D: Lets go: AXES

100D: Dismal turnout?: NO ONE. Dismal indeed.

101D: Blockhead: DUNCE

102D: Threw in (with): SIDED. They are not synonymous to me.

104D: Shopper's convenience: TOTE

106D: Texting device: CELL. We call cell phone "mobile phone" in China.

107D: Where Helen was taken: TROY. Helen of TROY.

108D: Top-shelf: A ONE. I still can't believe the word tops is an adjective.

111D: __ Direct: online bank: ING. I like this new clue. Tired of "Gerund's end".

113D: Science guy Bill: NYE. "Bill NYE, the Science Guy".

114D: High trains: ELS. In Chicago. Poor Ernie ELS. Missed the Masters & US Open cut, and now is deserted by David W. Cromer.

115D: Jazz fan: CAT. I miss Ed Bradley. He was a real cool CAT.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday June 27, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 70

Hard puzzle for me. I actually filled in lots of 3-letter answers, but the long ones did not jump out as they should. Really had trouble biting into the chunks of stacked 9's and 8's in each corner.

Both of the grid-spanning 15-letter anchors are new to me also:

33A: 9/15/63 site of the only concert including both the Beatles and the Rolling Stones: ROYAL ALBERT HALL

8D: Whom "feeling good was good enough for," in a 1971 #1 song: ME AND BOBBY MCGEE

Favorite clues today:

50A: Bacon bit?: ESSAY. Francis Bacon.

1D: Unlawful firing?: ARSON. Set on fire. I was thinking of the job dismissal "fire". The question mark should have tipped me off.

Across:

1A: Stardom?: ASTRONOMY. Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are! I was at sea.

15A: Hicksville: RURAL AREA

16A: "I speak for the trees" speaker: LORAX. Not familiar with this line. Have never read Dr. Seuss's "The LORAX".

17A: Peter Parker's alter ego: SPIDER-MAN. Couldn't remember who Peter Parker is, even though I saw the 2002 "SPIDER-MAN".

18A: Query in Matthew: IS IT I. Ha ha, mine was WHY ME.

19A: Work: OPUS. Had ???S sitting there forever.

21A: Understands: GETS IT

22A: Three-time all-star reliever Robb: NEN. Sigh. I forgot this guy again. I actually had several of his baseball cards, in Giants uniform.

23A: One spooning: FONDLER. This sounds very DF, no? I wanted FEEDER, but the answer has one extra blank.

25A: Dance: HOP

30A: Sing, in a way: HUM

32A: Ring: PEAL. Bell ring.

38A: At any point: EVER

39A: Johnny of the CSA: REB. Johnny Rebel. Slang for the Confederate soldier.

40A: Hawaiian tuna: AHI

41A: Intelligence concern: LEAK. Nailed it. Wanted LEAK for yesterday's "Security concern" (MOLE) also.

42A: Lively: GAY. French for GAY is GAI.

43A: Rich deposits: LODES. Wrote down LOAMS, which is "Rich soils".

46A: Yossarian's friend, in "Catch-22": ORR. No idea. The only ORR I know is Bobby ORR.

47A: Meteorological topic: AIR MASS. One of our local meteorologists is obsessed with tornadoes.

49A: Recommendations: DO'S

51A: Bern or Geneva: CANTON. The Swiss state.

53A: Abridged: CUT

54A: Rocker Matthews: DAVE. Nope. Was ignorant of this rocker and his band.

55A: "What? keep __ away? seven days and nights?": "Othello": A WEEK. Oh well, I guessed DREAM.

56A: Like farming: AGRONOMIC. Agro is prefix for "soil". ARABLE has a different root.

58A: Earth: TERRA. Latin for earth.

59A: Advertiser's confirmation: TEAR SHEET. New term to me.

61A: Prime time shows, e.g.: TELECASTS

Down:

2D: Last __: SUPPER. I felt stupid not to get the answer immediately.

3D: Father, Son and Holy Ghost, e.g.: TRIUNE. Only knew TRINITY.

4D: Some extremist: RADS. Radicals.

5D: "Hooray!" relative: OLE

6D: Horse's nose, say: NARROW MARGIN. Oh, I see, win by a nose.

7D: "The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom" author: ORMAN (Suze). She sure can talk.

9D: Chinese chef Martin: YAN. "YAN Can Cook". Martin YAN was born in Guangzhou, the city where I worked before moving to the US.

10D: More furtive: SLIER. Or SLYER.

11D: Party leader: HOST. Nice clue. Five letter answer would be EMCEE.

12D: One end of St. George's Channel: IRISH SEA. No idea. See this map. St George's Channel seems to connect Ireland with Wales.

13D: Like some debt: NATIONAL

14D: Questions to those who are leaving: EXIT POLL. Tricky clue. Quality answer.

21A: Rural retailer: GENERAL STORE. Not fond of the clue, as RURAL is part the answer for 15A.

23D: __ tip: FOUL. Baseball term. FOUL tip is counted as a strike.

24D: Stow below: LADE

27D: Whiz: SHARK. To me, SHARK has a negative connotation, while whiz does not.

29D: Greenfly, for one: APHID. I always fail to get APHID, regardless of what the clue is.

33D: Have a moving experience?: RELOCATE. Great clue.

34D: Intimidates: OVERAWES. New word to me.

35D: They're filled with longing: YEARNERS. At least, there is real love involved in Governor Sanford's case.

36D: Tragic king: LEAR. King LEAR. Two Shakespeare references today.

37D: Pres. Jefferson: THOS. I did not know the abbreviation of Thomas is THOS. I wrote down THOM.

44D: "My Cup Runneth Over" singer: ED AMES. I forgot. Saw identical clue somewhere. Here is the clip.

45D: __ bloc: SOVIET. Also called Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc. The "bloc" in the clue should be capitalized, no?

47D: Perfect: A-OKAY. Wrote down IDEAL. More familiar with A-OK.

48D: Like an otological test: AURAL. "Oto" is prefix for "ear".

50D: Quakers et al.: SECTS

52D: Trillion: pref.: TERA. Unknown to me.

54D: Qatar's capital: DOHA. Interesting, Wiki says DOHA came from Arabic ad-dawha, meaning "the big tree".

56D: J.D. holder: ATT. I wonder if our J.D. filled in BOB. I liked this funny dancing Frostie she linked yesterday. Snowball is cuter.

57D: Iran-contra affair org.: NSC (National Security Council). CIA was involved too.

Answer grid.

C.C.