Friday November 13, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Here You R at Last! - Letter R is added to a common phrase ending with GE.

17A. Park official who tickets speeding bears?: RADAR RANGE(R). Not familiar with the base phrase "Radar Range", the range of cops' radar gun? Park official = Ranger.

22A. Smallest allowable bet?: MINIMUM WAGE(R). Minimum Wage. The current Federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.

35A. Steals a plumbing supply?: TAKES THE PLUNGE(R). Take the Plunge. Plunger is a new tool name to me.

45A. San Fernando creator of fake van Goghs?: VALLEY FORGE(R). Valley Forge, the winter camp of Washington's Continental Army. San Fernado Valley. "Creator of faker van Goghs" = forger.

53A. Burrowing critter cited for excellence?: MERIT BADGE(R). Merit Badge, boy scout award. Burrowing critter = badger.

Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 11. Three of the Down ones intersect three theme entries.

This is the type of the puzzle I like, very few proper nouns and plenty of cleverly misguiding V-8 clues. Wordplay transcends culture/age gaps. Proper names, as sparkling as they are, should be used in moderation.

Across:

4. Alice doesn't work there anymore: MEL'S. Mel's Diner in the TV series "Alice". Blind spot for me.

8. Spring: LEAP. "Spring" seems to be a verb whenever it's a clue.

12. Oft-named time: ERA. Like the Obama Era.

13. Some trick-or-treaters: GHOSTS. We got very few trick-or-treaters this year. Kids seem to prefer candies over Joe Mauer baseball cards.

15. Annual spring race, for short: INDY. Indy 500. Held over Memorial Day weekend.

19. More than upset: IN A RAGE. Was thinking the answer might end in "er".

21. Dickinson output: VERSE. Penned in POEMS first.

27. It'll grow on you: HAIR. Of course! But I am a dummy. Dennis once said that hair grows 2 inches per month.

28. Tennis court ploy: LOB. Rather a straightforward clue. "Court ploy" would be tricky.

31. Like some stockings: MESHY

33. Drop the ball, e.g.: ERR

34. Course-plotting "Star Trek" crewman: SULU. Nailed it today.

39. Cubist Juan: GRIS. No idea. He's a Spanish painter and he died in 1927. Here is his portrait of Picasso.

41. Columnist Noonan: PEGGY. Gimme. I used to follow her columns on Wall Street Journal. Reagan's speech writer.

43. Parsley relative: DILL. For your pickle.

44. Field of study: AREA

49. Zeal: ARDOR

52. They help get the lead out: ERASERS. Good clue too.

57. "Mazel __!": TOV. Literally "good" in Hebrew. Mazel = luck/fortune.

58. Big picture: EPIC. Of course, I was not thinking of film.

59. Pictures on a screen: IMAGES. Nice consecutive "picture" clue.

61. "Forget it!": NOPE

62. Low islands: CAYS. Same as keys, correct?

63. Some appliances: GES. I've been extremely loyal to GE, despite the stock price plunge under the leadership of Jeff Immelt.

Down:

2. Commercial suffix suggesting pasta: A-RONI. As in Rice-A-Roni.

3. Stereotypical pratfall cause: BANANA SKIN. Oh, I just call it banana peel.

4. Web surfing tool: MODEM

5. Pablo's "that": ESA. Not ESO?

6. USPS delivery: LTR

7. Turkmenistan, once: Abbr.: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic)

8. Eyelid application: LINER. Can't stand eye liner on men.

9. Certain Caltech grad: Abbr.: ENGR (Engineer)

11. Combustible heap: PYRE. Funeral heap.

13. They're scheduled to be awarded at the Staples Center on 1/31/2010: GRAMMYS. The answer emerged itself.

14. International Court of Justice site, with "The": HAGUE. In the Netherlands.

18. Declare as fact: AVER

23. Sweet-talk: WHEEDLE. This fill is located at the heart of the grid and connects three theme answers.

24. Seniors' D.C. lobby: AARP. Bet they are not as powerful as AMA or NRA.

25. Miss: GIRL. Thought "miss' might be a verb.

28. Identifier seen on a carousel: LUGGAGE TAG. The baggage carousel.

29. Jackie's designer: OLEG (Cassini)

30. Hide, dog-style: BURY. Got the answer from crosses.

31. PDA entries: MTGS. Meetings.

32. "I'm all __": EARS

36. Suspect's concern: TAIL. Follower.

37. Sledding spot: HILL

38. Hullabaloos: UPROARS

43. Scurry: DART

44. "Parties must ever exist in __ country": Edmund Burke: A FREE. Not familiar with this Burke line at all.

45. Spokesperson: VOICE. Wrote down AGENT first.

46. Hoods with safe jobs?: YEGGS. D'oh, safecrackers.

47. Irregularly notched: EROSE

48. Much of a bride-to-be's mail, for short: RSVPS. Did the answer come to you readily?

49. "Right on!": AMEN

50. Seized wheels: REPO

51. Crashing bore: DRIP. New meaning of drip to me.

54. Pen name: BIC. Ballpoint pen. Nailed it.

55. Doc bloc: AMA (American Medical Association). Nice rhyme.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday November 12, 2009 Kelsey Blakley

Theme: DNA SEQUENCE (64A. Human fingerprint, and what's hidden in five puzzle answers) - DNA is sequentially embedded in each theme answer.

17A. All-big-gun battleship: DREADNAUGHT. Dread Not. Fear Nothing.

24A. Deeply ingrained habit: SECOND NATURE

39A. Shanghais: KIDNAPS. This extended "kidnap" meaning is named after the seaport Shanghai. Wonderful nightlife there. Great bars.

42A. Gap subsidiary: OLD NAVY

53A. Cuba or Puerto Rico, e.g.: ISLAND NATION

Two of the non-theme entries (31A. Most piquant: ZESTIEST & 48A. Convenience store: MINI-MART) have longer letters than the two shortest theme answers. Odd. They don't normally bother me if placed in Down rather than Across.

Neat to have three "filler" clues for a trio of three-letter fill:

52A. Hard-rock filler: AS A. Hard as a rock.

71A. Museum filler: ART

66D. Balloon filler: AIR

I loved the tie-in answer DNA SEQUENCE. Terrific title and great theme concept.

Across:

1. FBI sting that began during Carter's presidency: ABSCAM. What does AB stand for?

7. In this way: THUS. More used to "As a result" clue.

11. Tapped-out message: SOS. Morse code.

14. Sheep herder: COLLIE. Correct clue this time.

15. Old World Style sauce maker: RAGU. Or do you prefer Prego?

16. Hawaiian Punch rival: HI-C. Was stumped again. The C here refers to vitamin C. The Minute Maid drink brand.

19. It might be pale or brown: ALE

20. Blackguards: CADS. Blackguard is a new word to me.

21. Powerful health care lobbying gp.: AMA. "Powerful" indeed, appearing in Xword so often.

22. Budget noodle dish: RAMEN. Rooted in Chinese lamian ("pulled noodle"). The Japanese kanji for RAMEN is the same as Chinese character.

28. TV sched. notation: TBA

32. Extremely cold: POLAR

34. Birthplace of "Wayne's World," briefly: SNL. I was ignorant of the fact that the film was adapted from a sketch of the same name on SNL.

35. Cheese in a ball: EDAM. The Dutch cheese.

44. "The Time Machine" leisure class: ELOI. They are blond, they are beautiful and they are yummy entrees for the the Morlocks.

45. Org. with the blog Greenversations: EPA. Easy guess, with the "Green" hint.

47. Further off the beaten path: ODDER. "Off the beaten path" = unusual.

57. Parisian's "Presto!": VOILA!

58. Family nickname: SIS

59. "__ the hint!": I GET. I simply say "I get it!", not "I get the hint!".

63. Lat neighbors: ABS. Lat the muscles. Not the country.

68. ___ Percé: Pacific Northwest tribe: NEZ. No idea. Nez Percé is French for "pierced nose" (nez=nose). Maybe the tribe members all had pieced nose when first encountered by the explorers.

69. Irish Rose's beau: ABIE. "Abie's Irish Rose". Learned from doing Xword.

70. Prepare to slip off: UNLACE. Of shoes or lingerie.

73. Singer Sheena: EASTON. Scottish singer. Here is her "For Your Eyes Only". I've never heard of her name before.

Down:

1. Type of elec. adapter: AC/DC

2. Afghanistan's Tora __ region: BORA. The region where our military could have caught Osama during that intensive battle.

3. Huskies' burden: SLED

4. School group: CLASS

6. Serious threat: MENACE. Such as the Fort Hood military major who opened fire at the base. Ultimate betrayal.

7. Unauthorized absentees: TRUANTS. Such as the military AWOL's. And ATTEND (23D. Show up).

8. Broom rider: HAG. Could only think of witch.

9. Exclamation with a shudder: UGH

10. Buddha's teachings: SUTRAS. I wonder when Kama Sutra was written.

11. SeaWorld celebrity: SHAMU

12. Carrier of crude: OILER. Crude oil.

13. Dramatic segment: SCENE

18. Songwriter Tori: AMOS. Pure guess. What's her most famous song?

25. University founder Cornell: EZRA. You should eat worms if you missed this one. I've mentioned his name several times on the blog before.

26. Pebbles's pet: DINO. From "The Flintstones".

27. "Little" Dickens girl: NELL. No idea. Little Nell is a character from Dickens' "The Old Curiosity Shop".

28. Pay-as-you-go rd.: TPKE (Turnpike)

29. Cook, in a way: BOIL. Boiled (freshly picked) peanuts are very tasty.

30. Gucci of fashion: ALDO. Man, I can never remember his name.

33. Mink or sable: ANIMAL. Well, FUR is too short. Nice clue.

36. Pop, to baby: DADA. Chinese baby would say "BABA".

37. Parade rtes., maybe: AVES

38. Vidal's Breckinridge: MYRA. Here is the book cover. We've seen this clue before.

40. Remain undecided: PEND

46. Gathered up: AMASSED. As fortune.

49. When Rome wasn't built?: IN A DAY. Idiom: "Rome wasn't built in a day". I don't like the word "When", though I could not think of a better alternative.

50. Play to __: draw: A TIE

51. Off-color: RISQUE. Tried RIBALD first.

53. Trump with a cameo in "The First Wives Club": IVANA. Donald Trump's first ex.

54. Not even tipsy: SOBER

55. "Faust Symphony" composer: LISZT. "Faust" is also a play by Goethe.

56. Physicist Bohr: NIELS. The Danish physicist.

60. Swarm insect: GNAT

61. Nestlé cereal beverage: ECCO. Totally unknown to me. It's a barley, rye and chicory-based beverage. ECCO is Italian for ECCE, "behold".

62. High schooler: TEEN

65. Jazz org.?: NBA. Utah Jazz. Nailed it.

67. Italian "a": UNA. Spanish "a" too.

Answer grid.

Thanks for the stuffing recipes, everyone. Will ask my husband to add dried cranberries to ours this Thanksgiving (the only day Boomer actually cooks).

C.C.