Tuesday September 15, 2009 Donna S. Levin

Theme: LOST IN SPACE (57A: TV sci-fi series, first aired 9/15/1965, on which a robot spoke the catchphrase formed by the first words of 17-, 26-, and 42-Across).

I think that is the longest clue I have ever seen in a puzzle.

17A: Toon rodent who's a British secret agent: DANGER MOUSE.

26A: Suitor's proposal: WILL YOU MARRY ME?

42A: Shipwrecked literary hero: ROBINSON CRUSOE.

Melissa Bee blogging.

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! Even though I never watched LOST IN SPACE, I got the answer immediately. Wikipedia says the phrase was only used once on the show.

Fairly straightforward puzzle, with a few unknowns to make it interesting. Three letters short of a pangram (J, Q and X).

Donna S. Levin has a knack for tribute puzzles. We just had her "The Wizard of Oz" (70-year anniversary) last month.

Across:

1A: Actress Messing of "Will & Grace": DEBRA.

6A: Nothing, in Latin: NIHIL. “Nihil aude, nihil obtine." Risk nothing, gain nothing.

11A: 6-Across suffix: ISM. Who said, "ism's, in my opinion, are not good."?

14A: Typical: USUAL. I'll have the usual.

15A: Endangered layer: OZONE.

20A: Scenic routes, often: SIDEROADS. Like this.

21A: "Look Homeward, Angel" author Thomas: WOLFE. His autobiographical first novel. One of my unknowns. Easy to confuse him with "The Bonfire of Vanities" author Tom WOLFE.

32A: Baseball's "Big Unit" _____ Johnson: RANDY. 6' 10" Pitcher for SF Giants. "Big Unit" indeed. Left-handed. Second All-time in strikeouts (4,867), after Nolan Ryan. Don't confuse him with Baseball's "The Big Train" Johnson, Hall-of-Famer Walter Johnson (right-handed).

33A: Cattle drive buddy: PARD. If you insist. And 62A: Buddy: PAL.

36A: Bouquet: SCENT. I tried to 'smell' it first.

38A: Litter weakling: RUNT.

40A: German name for Cologne: KOLN. I must have been absent the day we learned that.

41A: Cup for cafe: TASSE. French for cup. Like this. Or this.

46A: "_____ directed": medication warning: USE AS.

47A: Ship, to a sailor: HER.

50A: Mike Nichols's comedy partner: ELAINE MAY. Improvisational comedy duo from the 1960's. No idea.

59A: Nipper's co.: RCA. The famous dog listening for his master's voice.

64A: Two foursomes: OCTET. Sometimes it's OCTAD.

Down:

1D: Bombs that don't go off: DUDS.

2D: Actor Morales: ESAI. Crossword staple.

3D: 1930s-'40s German-American political group: BUND (boond). Wikipedia says 'Its main goal was to promote a favorable view of Nazi Germany.'

5D: In a wary way: ALERTLY. Watchful.

6D: "Hold the Hellmann's": NO MAYO. I've never uttered those words in my life.

7D: Shirt that once had a reptilian logo: IZOD.

8D: Male Servant: HOUSEMAN. You're hired.

9D: Aetna's business: Abbr: INS. Aetna is named after Mt Etna, the Sicilian volcano.

10D: Moving toward the calmer side, at sea: LEEWARD. Opposite of windward. See?

11D: "Shoulda listened to me!": I TOLD YOU SO. Or, as my aunt used to say, 'I mentioned that.'

18D: Actor Calhoun: RORY.

22D: Hockey legend Bobby: ORR. Bruins #4. RANDY Johnson always wears #51, except when he was with the Yankees.

25D: Golfer's wheels: CART.

26D: Loony one: WACKO. Irritating word.

27D: How a debater's response is made: IN REBUTTAL. There you go again.

28D: Mormon's gp.: LDS. Latter-Day Saints.

29D: Philly Ivy League sch.: U PENN.

30D: Minister's home: MANSE.

31D: Art Deco designer: ERTE. A gimme, thanks to C.C.

32D: Trailer park resident, for short: RV'ER. Recreational Vehicle. Not so much. I don't normally think of a trailer park and an RV park as the same thing.

36D: Slugger Sammy: SOSA. Sometimes it's "Slamming Sammy", which could also refer to the legendary golfer Sam SNEAD.

37D: Forms an increasingly smaller circle around, with "on": CLOSES IN. Another long clue.

38D: Coll. dorm VIPs: RA'S. Resident Assistants.

40D: Prepared to say 26-Across: Kneeled. Aw. Two cross-references in today's grid.

41D: Seeks help from: TURNS TO.

43D: Cuba or Aruba: Abbr: ISL. Island. Nice rhyme.

44D: Common poolside chair: CHAISE.

45D: Bridle part: REIN. Argyle has educated us about this before.

48D: Ball field protector: TARP.

49D: Peruvian of old: INCA.

51D: Former Ford cars: LTDS.

53D: Enhanced milkshake: MALT

54D: Entr' ____: intermission: ACTE. French for 'between the acts.'

55D: Mon., on Tues.: YEST (Yesterday). Today is Tuesday. Rich is quite attentive to this detail.

58D: Four quarters: ONE. Four quarters make one whole. "12D starter?" would be a great cross-reference clue too.

Answer grid.

Melissa Bee

Monday, September 14, 2009 Lila Cherry

Theme: Vowel Progression

17A: London art museum, as it was formerly known: TATE GALLERY

25A: Its seat is Jackson, Wyoming: TETON COUNTY

35A: It shows a book's name, author. publisher, etc.: TITLE PAGE

52A: Photographic memory: TOTAL RECALL

59A: Multi-flavored ice cream: TUTTI FRUTTI

TAT - Make lace
TET - Vietnamese New Year
TIT - Small bird
TOT - Small child
TUT - Mild reproof

Lila Cherry is just Rich Norris, anagram of "Really Rich". He uses this alias name for Monday puzzles.

All theme entries are two-word phrases, and the T?T is the start of the first word. Very consistent. Nice triple stacks of 7's Down fills in each corner. (Notes from Rich: The main inspiration was to see if I could come up with TAT/TET/etc. words which use long vowels, unlike the 3-letter words which all use short ones.)

I'm going to say that this puzzle is just right for a Monday. The pros should have no trouble; the tyros will struggle some, but if they have been solving on a regular basis, they should recognize some from recent puzzles, i.e. 64A: Actor Zimbalist Jr.: EFREM.

Then there is what I think of as the Jeopardy clues: You have no idea so you give the only answer you can come up with, i.e. 25A: Its seat is Jackson, Wyoming: TETON COUNTY. On Jeopardy, they are the answers that usually start a category.

Oh yeah, Argyle here and I feel like putting in a lot of links today. And if you're wondering, no troubles with Across Lite today.

Across:

1A: Places for chickens: COOPS. A-frame style for free rangers with good nighttime protection.

6A: Teapot feature: SPOUT. Teapot

11A: Roman 901: CMI. And 49A: AT&T competitor: MCI.

14A: Comics orphan: ANNIE. Scary

15A: Skier's jacket: PARKA. and 16A: Youthful fellow: LAD. Parka lad

19A: Some MIT grads: EES. Electrical Engineers.

20A: Extreme degrees: NTHS.

21A: LPGA teen phenom Michelle: WIE. With her hair down. She is coming off a bad weekend.

22A: Tibet's capital: LHASA. Chinese call Tibet as Xizang, very scrabbly.

24A: "__ you ready for this?": ARE.

28A: Oinker: PIG.

29A: Proofs of age, briefly: IDS. Identifications

30A: Ones making money: EARNER.

31A: Pointy-eared "Star Trek" guy: SPOCK. "Live long and prosper."

33A: Cookie holder: JAR. Or

34A: Small jazz combo: TRIO.

39A: Parts of the Rockies: Abbr.: MTNS. Mountains.

42A: Boiling: HOT.

43A: Kitchen allure: AROMA. It depends on who's in the kitchen.

47A: Norse mariner Leif: ERICSON. His route. Leif is also the son of "Eric the Red".

51A: King, in France: ROI.

54A: Prickly chestnut case: BUR. Here.

55A: Blackmore's " Doone": LORNA. R. D. Blackmore, (d. 1900). Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor, is a romance novel based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, England.

56A: Paul Bunyan's tool: AXE.

57A: Piece of sausage: LINK.

58A: Stock mkt. debut: IPO. Initial Public Offering: a company's first stock offering to the public.

63A: Fire, to the French: FEU. Look, it's Monday, they even tell you it's French. Pot-au-FEU is literally "pot on fire", which Dennis hates.

65A: "__ the loneliest number": old song lyric: ONE IS. Not that old, is it?

66A: Ambulance destinations, for short: ERS. Emergency Rooms

67A: Goes bad, as milk: SOURS.

68A: Strolls in shallow water: WADES.

Down:

1D: Short snoozes: CATNAPS. Cats napping.

2D: Traveling away from home: ON A TRIP. And 3D: Very busy: ON THE GO.

4D: Pumpkin desserts: PIES. T'is the season. Yum. And 25D: __ torch: patio light: TIKI. Time to put them away for the year.

5D: Part of a line: Abbr.: SEG.

6D: Bowler's challenges: SPLITS. Remember? We had BABY SPLIT awhile back.

7D: Opposite of neo-: PALEO. A combining form meaning “old” or “ancient.” Paleosong lyric?

8D: Source of iron: ORE.

9D: Kiev is its cap.: UKR.

10D: "Fire and Rain" singer/songwriter James: TAYLOR.

11D: Vacuum __: CLEANER.

12D: Orchestra conductors, formally: MAESTRI. Italian plural of maestro.

13D: "Sounds about right to me": I'D SAY SO.

18D: Dumbfounded: AWED.

23D: Big game tracker: HUNTER. Can you see HUNTER (Torri) on his back?

26D: Twice-monthly tide: NEAP. The tide occurring at the end of the first and third quarters of the lunar month, in which high water mark is at the lowest. The tide at full and new moon is when the water mark is at its highest.

27D: Irene of "Fame": CARA. Image

32D: Radiologist's procedure, briefly: CT SCAN.

33D: Fast plane: JET. Did anyone try SST first?

36D: Norse thunder god: THOR. Image. Two Viking references today.

37D: "The __ Ranger": LONE. Ah, the memories.

38D: "Passages" author Sheehy: GAIL. Her book.

39D: Insurance company with Snoopy on its blimp: METLIFE. Blimp.

40D: State cop: TROOPER. Are all state policemen called troopers?

41D: __ oxide: laughing gas: NITROUS.

44D: Circled the earth: ORBITED.

45D: Canadian cop: MOUNTIE. Not troopers. Great left to right "cop" mirror to TROOPER.

46D: Smooch that even misses the cheek: AIR KISS. A maestro of air kisses.

48D: Political candidate lineups: SLATES.

49D: Adages: MAXIMS. Axioms too.

50D: First symbol on a musical staff: CLEF. For C.C.

53D: Supply party food for: CATER.

57D: Pale-green moth: LUNA. Pretty.

60D: ET's vehicle: UFO.

61D: One-man show about Capote: TRU. He was an American writer who wrote both Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood.

62D: Use oars: ROW. Banacek on the Charles River, Boston. (TV show, mystery).

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a photo of today's constructor Lila Cherry (Rich Norris, editor of LA Times Daily Crossword, the taller guy). On his left is the master of tribute puzzles David Kahn, the author of NY Times' Barack Obama "Making History" & Michael Jackson puzzles.

Argyle