Friday November 20, 2009 Michael Blake

Theme: ADDLE (65A. Confuse - or what to do to four common phrases to form this puzzle's theme answers) - Letters LE are added to the starts of four common phrases, hence ADD LE.

17A. Maximum tolerance for a stand-up comic's jokes?: (LE)NO LIMIT. Jay Leno.

26A. "All Trotsky, all the time" channel?: (LE)ON TELEVISION. Leon Trotsky.

47A. When dogs can't run loose?: (LE)ASH WEDNESDAY

63A. Nuts about Danish toys?: (LE)GO CRAZY. Did not know Lego is based in Denmark.

This puzzle reminds me of Merle Baker's "slangy turndown" IXNAY puzzle, where IX is nixed from familiar phrase. Or Gareth Bain's NIXON one, where letters ON are nixed in every theme answer.

Very clever interpretation of ADDLE, isn't it? It makes adding/deleting a letter puzzle so much fun.

I actually got ADDLE earlier on, but I could not parse it properly to gain any advantage in filling in the themes. Patchy Bozone Layer (The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating) on several spots. Had to peek at the cheat sheet.

Across:

1. Symbol of gentleness: LAMB. Jesus is the lamb of God.

5. Torahs' homes: ARKS

14. Fridge problem: ODOR. Fresh pineapple pieces always make our fridge smell good.

15. R-rating reason, perhaps: GORE

16. Longship sailors: NORSE. A longship is a medieval ship used in northern Europe esp. by the Norse. Unknown to me.

19. AT&T Park player: GIANT. San Francisco Giants.

20. Start of a memorable 1961 admonition: ASK NOT. JFK line: "Ask not what your country can do for you..."

21. Force: STRENGTH. A bunch of consonants.

23. Gripe: CRAB

25. Slippery swimmer: EEL. Embien just mentioned unagi (freshwater eel) and anago (saltwater eel) yesterday. I like former. Also love NORI (44A. Edible seaweed used for sushi).

36. It's often left in the copier: Abbr.: ORIG (original)

38. Wolf (down): SNARF. Wrote down SCARF first. Dictionary says SNARF is a blend of snack and scarf.

41. Mountain ride: BIKE. I've never rode a bike along a mountain.

42. Marine threats: ORCAS

46. Clear: NET. Tricky clue for me.

51. Estuary: RIA. Are they really the same?

52. Senior golfer Aoki: ISAO. Crazy vowel combination. Senior golf indeed. I've never seen him play in Senior PGA (Champions Tour) in person.

53. Lover's sweet talk?: NOTHINGS. Sweet nothings. Lovely clue.

58. Precipitated: CAUSED. Wanted RAINED.

62. Cuban boy in 2000 news: ELIAN (González)

66. Plus-size supermodel: EMME. Somehow I thought it's EMMA. Just learned that her original given name is Melissa too. She's about perfect size, no?

67. To be, in Brest: ETRE. Alliteration again. Nothing to beat last time's "Brest milk" clue for LAIT. Awesome. Brest is a seaport in France.

68. Hull damagers: REEFS

69. Signs of nervousness: TICS

70. Interpret, as tea leaves: READ. Would be a difficult clue without the additional "as tea leaves".

Down:

1. 1970 hit by the Kinks: LOLA. Not familiar with the song.

3. Religious ascetic: MONK. And REV (22D. Relig. title).

4. You can count on a lot of bucks from one: BRONCO. Bronco habitually bucks. Clever clue.

5. Stirs up trouble: AGITATES

6. CD follower?: ROM. CD-ROM.

8. Den piece: SETTEE. Again, "piece" brought to mind furniture immediately.

9. Saintly: ANGELIC

10. Knock off: DO IN. Both slang for "to kill".

11. Big bore: DRAG. DRIP too.

13. Clockmaker Thomas: SETH. Finally I remembered his name.

18. Doone in Exmoor: LORNA. "Lorna Doone" is set at the wilds of Exmoor, new trivia to me. A 1869 novel by Richard Blackmore.

24. Capital northwest of Rome: BERN. The clue would be valid for EURO too, right? EURO is definitely used in northwest of Rome.

26. He played Ugarte in "Casablanca": LORRE (Peter)

27. "All My Children" vixen: ERICA. Played by Susan Lucci.

29. Sad sound: SOB

30. Skater Slutskaya: IRINA. Always wanted IRENA.

31. Best way to sing: ON KEY. Oh, I am often off-key then.

32. Veto from Lenin: NYET. Russian for "no". Opposite of "Da".

33. Mislead: FOOL

37. Great time, slangily: GAS

40. Sistine Chapel features: FRESCOES. Thought the plural is just frescos.

43. Sacred sites: SHRINES

48. Come out on top: WIN

49. Aerie newborn: EAGLET. Does an owlet live in aerie too?

50. More morose: DOURER. Anyone else wanted SADDER?

53. Adjacent: NEAR

54. Quaint retail adjective: OLDE

55. Sand castle's undoing: TIDE

56. Even share, perhaps: HALF. Was thinking of stock even/odd shares.

57. Huge hauler: SEMI

60. Biblical reformer: EZRA. What did he try to reform? Ezra is a Hebrew name meaning "help".

61. Like blue hair: DYED

64. Tracker maker: GMC. One-time GMC sport ute.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Interview with Jack McInturff

Today's "Fools Rush In" is our 9th Jack McInturff puzzle since the switch last March. 7 of his grids are about wordplay.

Many of you probably still remember Jack's "It's IR-IR-tating!" puzzle, in which Jack swapped every IR with RI. His "L-adder" & "Let me C" letter addition wordplay puzzles are all quite memorable.

Jack has had over 120 puzzles published by Rich Norris since he started constructing for LA Times. His puzzles also appeared in NY Times and NY Sun.

What is the inspiration for this puzzle? What are the other theme answers that did not make the cut?

I was shocked to see that this puzzle proposal was first submitted on November 28th, 2008. so I'm hard pressed to remember any inspiration. Normally, it doesn't take that long, but there were many revisions and response times from Rich Norris has increased quite a bit.

My original theme proposal was: CLEAN AND JERK, CRASH DUMMY, APRIL FOOL, INSIDE DOPE AND PROJECT CREEP. Actually there was enough for a 21 X 21 but it didn't happen.

What is your background and how did you get into crossword construction?

I have an Engineering degree, but when I retired a second time it was as Chief Financial Officer of a small Boston college. Don't know how that happened.

I found a simple crossword puzzle maker on my old Macintosh Performa computer and caught the bug. I then invested in Crossword Compiler and joined Cruciverb. The rest was history, as they say.

How would you describe your style? And what kind of theme/fill do you favor or eschew? You seem to be fond of "Word that can follow/precede..." or other wordplay.

Some would say I don't have much style and they would be right. As a result of this question, I made a list of the many types of puzzles that I have seen. This may help my creativity. I enjoyed doing "rhyming" puzzles but then Rich discontinued them. I did like "Word that can follow/precede..." Now Rich has too many of them also.

I try to be creative in my fill. "Orange". the puzzle commentator, once said of a puzzle I did "The fill seems old school". It's probably because I'm 79 years old and that's what I remember. It did give me a wake-up call, however, and I'm trying to be more current. I also like to have biblical or church clues or fill as a reminder of eternal values.

What is the most proud puzzle you've made and why?

The puzzle I am most proud of is my first one published in the LA Times on Friday April 16th, 2004. A friend in San Diego sent us the paper with the puzzle in it and my wife actually framed it.

What kind of books/magazines do you read for puzzle inspiration?

I don't read books for puzzle inspirations. I walk every day for at least an hour and random thoughts or signs I see may trigger an idea. Most of the signs I see these days are "House for Sale" Not very inspirational!

What puzzles do you solve every day and who are your favorite constructors?

I solve the LA Times, NY Times, CrosSynergy and USA Today puzzles. My favorite constructors are the editors Rich Norris, Patrick Berry, and Peter Gordon. I have always liked Lynn Lempel. (His or her?) puzzles are so straight forward and uncluttered.

Besides constructing crossword, what else do you do for fun?

I like to read. Just finished " The Bridge of Sighs" ( Maybe there is a puzzle there somewhere ) I like church activities and skydiving. Just kidding about skydiving LOL