Saturday August 15, 2009 Corey Rubin

Theme: None

Total blocks: 32

Total words: 72

All those triple stacks of 10-letter fills in upper right corner and lower left corner consist of two words. Fantastic! I love SWING STATE (5A: Purple region, on some maps) and TROOP SURGE (59A: Bush announcement of 2007) the most.

Then you add UN-PC (15A: Like many -ess words nowadays) and NEO (33D: Conservative leader? - Neoconservative), voila, a great Saturday puzzle for a news junkie. Somehow I thought the SURGE decision was made immediately after the 2006 election though, after Rumsfeld was fired.

Very enjoyable puzzle, full of lively fills. The grid is not that intimidating and most of the multiple-word answers are workable. I still had my normal struggle. But "rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?" I think I am.

Across:

1A: __d'Orsay: Seine site: QUAI. Left bank of the Seine. Very close to my beloved Musée d'Orsay. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs is located here. QUAI is just French for quay (wharf).

16A: It's measured in hits: WEB TRAFFIC. Yep, our blog traffic is measured by hits.

17A: 2002 Eddie Murphy/Owen Wilson film: I SPY. Not a familiar movie to me. Somehow I've never liked Owen Wilson. Clive Owen, yes, definitely.

18A: Play honors: OBIE AWARDS. Or Tony Awards.

19A: End of a series: ZEE. Last letter of English alphabet.

20A: Like galas: DRESSY

21A: Café addition: LAIT. French for "milk". Café au LAIT.

22A: More dry and crumbly: MEALIER. Wanted FLAKIER.

24A: It's taken in spots: TEA. Dictionary explains "spot" as "a drink", chiefly British, informal. then it gives an example: a spot of TEA. New to me.

26A: Like Beethoven's Seventh: IN A. No idea. But I knew the clue is asking for a IN? answer.

27A: Physicist Fermi: ENRICO. Nobel Physics winner, 1938. Learned his name from doing Xword. ENRICO is Italian for "Ruler of the Household".

28A: Largest of Dodecanese: RHODES. Oh, this is where the Colossus of RHODES is located then. So close to Turkey. I was stumped. Have never heard of Dodecanese, literally ""twelve islands" in Greek.

30A: Didn't delete: LEFT IN. My initial answer was KEPT IN.

34A: Minx: HUSSY. New word to me.

37A: Aspect: FACET

39A: How - __: TOS

40A: "Some Like it Hot, " for one: FARCE. Oh, I mixed "Some Like it Hot" with "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof".

42A: Like Beethoven's Ninth: CHORAL. I am a classic music idiot. So, no idea. Wikipedia says The Symphony No. 9 (CHORAL) is Beethoven's last symphony.

44A: Seat of Texas's Ector County: ODESSA. Al's 9:31am post yesterday was in play here. Simple guess. Ector County means nothing to me.

46A: Native Midwesterners: OSAGES. Oh, Native Indians.

50A: Island party music source: UKE. Hawaii.

51A: Challah need: EGG. I've never had challah, does it taste like brioche?

53A: Extinguished: BLEW OUT

54A: Dairy prefix: LACT. Latin "milk". As in lactose. Lactose intolerance. I like seeing LAIT and LACT in one grid.

56A: Ring of color: AREOLA. AREa+ OLA. Just like this.

58A: Airport near Forest Hills, N.Y.: LGA (La Guardia Airport). Another guess. JFK did not even come to my mind.

61A: Anglo __ War (1899-1902): BOER. BOERS is derived from Dutch "boor" (peasant).

62A: In-line pickup?: IMPULSE BUY. I don't know the meaning of "In-line". Stand in-line at the check-out?

63A: Francis of Hollywood: ANNE. Unknow to me. Wikipedia says ANNE Francis is perhaps best known for her role as Altaira in the significant Sci-Fi classic "Forbidden Planet".

64A: It'll cost you to go in them: PAY TOILETS. Stymied, though I've used them. Toilets should always be free.

65A: Like most whiskey: AGED. My first thought is OAKY.

Down:

1D: College study group request: QUIZ ME. No idea. Have never attended a school here.

2D: Like radio waves: UNSEEN. And APPEAR (3D: Cease being 2-Down). Nice intersection with I SPY.

4D: Distant: ICY

5D: Quit for good: SWORE OFF

6D: "Der Freischütz" composer: WEBER. Stranger to me. Wikipedia says his full name is Carl Maria von WEBER, and his mastery of the orchestra was equalled in his time only by Beethovena nd Schubert. "Der Freischütz" is usually translated as "The Marksman" or "The Freeshooter".

7D: Head of the Egyptian god Thoth: IBIS. Gimme. IBIS is considered sacred bird for those ancient Egyptians. THOTH is Egypitan god of wisdom. See the IBIS on his head?

8D: Subject of the 2005 opera "Doctor Atomic": N-TEST

9D: Aging, maybe: GRAYER. I am aging. I am GRAYER. OK.

10D: Dated: SAW. A-Rod is dating Kate Hudson. A-Road and Kate Hudson are seeing each other.

11D: Nonstick cookware brand: T-FAL. The brand I use. Short for Teflon & aluminium.

12D: "Yes, sorry to say": AFRAID SO

13D: Desirable trait in a roommate: TIDINESS

14D: No mere joy: ECSTASY

20D: They're rolled on tables: DICE. Nailed it immediately.

23D: Spring bloomers: LILACS

25D: Rubbing reaction: AHH

29D: Western staple: OUTLAW. Wanted OATER.

31D: Toe preceder?: TAC. Tic-TAC-Toe. Got me.

32D: Ego, to Freud: ICH. German for "I", as in JFK's "ICH bin ein Berliner". I wanted IDS. Neat to have ICH right in the heart of the grid.

35D: No-goodnik's accumulation: BAD KARMA. Mine was MAD KARMA, as I filled in MFA rather than BFA ( (Bachelor of Fine Arts) for 35A: Deg. for theater types: BFA.

36D: Infomercial come-on: FREE COPY

38D: Chicago Surface Lines transports: TROLLEYS. Wikipedia says the Chicago Surface Lines was operator of the street railway system of Chicago from 1913 to 1947. Unknown to me.

40D: Barely struck strike: FOUL TIP. I love the clue. FOUL TIP is always counted as a strike.

41D: Computer ending: ESE. Computerese. I was thinking of EXE, the computer file name extension.

43D: Sailing: ASEA

45D: Winner of eight Grand Slam tournaments: AGASSI

47D: Passing order? GO LONG. Stumped. American football term?

48D: Home of the Oregon Ducks: EUGENE. University of Oregon home.

49D: Was wide-eyed: STARED

52D: Bland breakfast: GRUEL. Sometimes my breakfast is just millet/rice GRUEL. I like sprinkle dried fruits and toasted nuts in them.

53D: Australian cager Andrew who was selected first overall in the 2005 NBA draft: BOGUT. No idea. Andrew BOGUT was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks and he is still playing for them.

55D: Ballyhoo: TOUT

57D: Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I.": ERBE. German name, meaning "inheritance". It rhymes with "Herbie". Don't confuse her name with the German river ELBE.

60D: Gaza Strip gp.: PLO. Hamas controls West Bank. (Note: I was wrong. Hamas controls Gaza Strip.)

61D: Shropshire sound: BAA. Did not know Shropshire is a breed of English sheep. Hey, ewe!

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: The always graceful and gracious beauty Clear Ayes & her Golf-Addicted-Husband (G-A-H in her daily comments). She said "Obviously my husband likes to be Santa Claus for the kids. I hope Argyle doesn't get jealous!"

C.C.

Friday August 14, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: NO WAY (51D: "Forget it!" (and a clue to this puzzle's theme)) - WAY is omitted from familiar phrases.

19A: Alleviate a tie-up?: FREE(WAY) TRAFFIC

21A: Partly built residence, perhaps?: HALF(WAY) HOUSE

29A: Periscope lens kept as a souvenir?: SUB(WAY) TOKEN

38A: Euphoria at Pebble Beach?: PACIFIC COAST HIGH(WAY)

44A: Embodiment of a footrace? RUN(WAY) MODEL

57A: Play on a wide stage?: BROAD(WAY) SHOW

59A: Shot at a D.C. bar?: CAPITAL BELT(WAY)

A special 16*15 grid, to accommodate the center 16-letter theme answer PACIFIC COAST HIGH.

BELT is a slang for a shot of liquor, hence CAPITAL BELT. I was picturing a terrible gun shot at a D.C. bar. Halfway house is the only base phrase I had never heard before.

Dan Naddor seems to be fond of stacking theme answers on top of each other, esp. the first two and the last two. I've noticed this in his past several grids. Not easy to pull it off.

I normally start with the lower right corner for Friday puzzles, the tie-in word is often placed there. And getting NO WAY earlier today certainly helped me.

I still struggled a bit, but I fared much better than I did last week. Lots of abbreviations in today's puzzle, maybe the result of heavy 72 theme squares.

Across:

1A: Mine tram bit: LUMP. LUMP of coal. I lost myself on the first hole.

5A: Univ. sites: BLDGS

10A: Foul line indicators: POLES

15A: Beam of support: I-BAR

16A: Baseball Hall of Famer Combs: EARLE. No idea. Wikipedia says EARLE Combs played his whole career with the Yankees (1924-1935).

17A: Submit taxes on an impulse? E-FILE. Why "on an impulse"?

18A: "__ the mornin'!": TOP O'. Irish slang for "Good morning!". New to me.

23A: Throw from the saddle: UNSEAT

24A: Quebec's Festival d'_: ETE. Summer Festival. Easy guess.

25A: Ticks off: IRES. I wrote down IRKS first. I thought IRE is only a noun.

26A: Church-owned Lone Star State inst.: SMU (Southern Methodist University). Site of the Bush Presidential Library. Laura Bush's alma mater.

27A: Toast topping: PATE. Rarely.

34A: Goose egg: ZERO

35A: Seat of Dallas County, Alabama: SELMA. The civil rights march city. I have never heard of the Dallas County though.

37A: Old dagger: SNEE

41A: Son of Rebekah: ESAU. Or "Son of Issac". I am more familiar with the "Biblical brother" clue. ESAU is Jacob's brother.

42A: Midshipman's prog., perhaps: NROTC. Stumped. It's Naval ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps.)

46A: Noted pairs guardian: NOAH. He filled the ARK with pairs. A Biblical sub-theme in this puzzle.

47A: Nietzsche's "never": NIE. And "Nietzsche's "no" is NEIN.

48A: Feds: G-MEN. FBI agent.

50A: Hamlets: Abbr.: TNS. Towns I suppose.

63A: Little guy: SHAVER

61A: Davenport site: IOWA. The clue "site" made me think of Davenport the sofa rather than the city.

62A: Argumentative retort: ARE SO

64A: Reddish brown: ROAN

65A: Odessa native: TEXAN. Nailed it immediately. Odessa is a oil city in W Texas.

66A: __ Martin: ASTON. James Bond's car.

67A: "Grand" brand of ice cream: EDY'S

Down:

1D: Athletic: LITHE. I associate LITHE with supple rather than athletic.

2D: Destroyer destroyer: U-BOAT. WWII German submarine.

3D: Sweet, nutty pie: MAPLE PECAN. I've only heard of pecan pie.

4D: Plum, e.g.: Abbr.: PROF. Not familiar with the board game Clue or the character Professor Plum.

5D: "___ I forget...": BEFORE. I felt silly not filling in the blanks immediately. LEST will be good for "___ we forget".

6D: "Law of the Lash" star: LA RUE. Lash LA RUE.

7D: Slip cover?: DRESS. Stumped. Nice wordplay on slipcovers.

9D: Spike preceder, in volleyball: SET. It's a maneuver in which a ball is directed to a point where a player can spike it into the opponent's court. Not a familiar term to me.

10D: Oil source: PEANUT. No. 1 cooking oil in China.

11D: Whacks: OFFS. OFF here is a verb, meaning "to kill". Whack is slang for "to kill" too.

12D: Long sentence: LIFE. LIFE sentence. Good clue. I like how it parallels OFFS.

13D: "Mrs. Battle's Opinions on Whist" essayist: ELIA. Easy guess.

14D: Cainites, e.g.: SECT. Cainite is "a member of a Gnostic SECT that exalted Cain and regarded the God of the Old Testament as responsible for evil" according to dictionary.

20D: Latin ballroom dances: RUMBAS

22D: "__ the Week" 1930s record label: HIT OF. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says it the record was sold at news-stands, not record stores. And as the name implied, new records came out at the rate of one each week.

26D: Rash source, maybe: SUMAC. Itchy itchy.

28D: Planet ending: ARIUM. Planetarium is a new word to me.

29D: Bandit one hopes to take money from?: SLOT. One-armed bandit, the SLOT machine.

30D: Irish-born actor Milo: O'SHEA

31D: Honor for Connery: KNIGHTHOOD

32D: Lines of thought?: EEGS. Saw identical clue before. Still like it.

33D: O. T. book: NEH

34D: Silents star Pitts: ZASU. A combination of "Eliza" and "Susan", relatives of her mother. ZASU is pronounced as zay ZOO. Gimme for Jerome & Buckeye & me.

35D: Mountainside debris: SCREE. Learned from doing Xword.

36D: Sierra Club concern: Abbr.: ECOL

39D: Jawaharlal's daughter: INDIRA. I only knew Jawaharlal Nehru as Nehru. So, I struggled with INDIRA (Gandhi).

40D: Govt. obligation: T-BOND. Treasury Bond.

45D: Common pickup capacity: ONE TON. 2,000 pounds.

46D: Pick up: NEATEN. New definition of "Pick up" to me.

49D: Musical tempo modifier: MOLTO. Meaning "very", musically.

52D: Some trumpeters: SWANS. Trumpeter swans, with loud, trumpeting style honks.

54D: Fictional braggart: HARE. The moral guy Aesop's HARE?

55D: Top spot: APEX

56A: It's usually taken in stores: VISA. The credit card. Tricky clue.

57A: OPEC units: BBLS (Barrels)

58D: Term of royal respect: SIRE. Archaic.

60D: Bucolic setting: LEA

Answer grid.

Today's picture: A beautiful photo from our fellow solver Moon. She said: "A pic of my family taken during my sister's wedding in Feb, 2009. Usually all of us meet very rarely, the previous time was in Feb 2006 and before that, it was during my wedding in Oct 2002.

Starting from left is my Dad, my better half, me, my younger bro-in-law, my younger sis, my elder sis, my older bro-in-law and my mother."

Email me crosswordc@gmail.com if you want to share with us a part of your memories.

C.C.