Friday November 27, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Medieval Times - Part of a common phrase is punnily substituted by a word of Medieval relevance.

17A. Medieval commuter between Dover and Calais?: CHANNEL SERF. Channel Surf. Medieval commuter = Serf.

22A. Medieval castle owner's view?: BARON LANDSCAPE. Barren Landscape. Medieval castle owner = Baron.

34A. Manages medieval real estate holdings?: MINDS ONE'S MANORS. Minds One's Manners. Medieval real estate = Manors.

46A. Medieval lord's efforts?: FEUDAL ATTEMPTS. Futile Attempts. Medieval lord's = Feudal.

53. Weapons for medieval warriors?: KNIGHT CLUBS. Night Clubs. Medieval warrior = Knight.

Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 10. Low due to the heavy themage (65 theme squares).

How is your solving experience today? I felt awfully inadequate. Peeked at my cheat sheet very early on. Puns are often difficult for me to grasp.

Lots of tricky clues today. I fell into every possible trap.

Across:

1. Like litigants: SUING. Adjective. "Litigants" would be SUERS.

6. Campaign unpleasantry: SMEAR

11. Onetime lottery org.: SSS. Military draft.

14. Block house: IGLOO. Ice block.

15. Jack of "The Great Dictator": OAKIE. Gosh, I can never remember his name.

16. Make a scene?: ACT. Nailed it.

19. Revolutionary leader: MAO (Ze-Dong). Culture Revolution (1966-1976) that prosecuted Chinese intellectuals. I penned in CHE (Guevara) first.

20. 1994 co-Nobelist with Rabin and Arafat: PERES (Shimon). Gimme.

21. Honeybunch: DOLL

27. Hogwash: BALONEY

28. Geezer: COOT. So is codger.

29. Hope contributed to it for 50 yrs.: USO. Bob Hope was famous for his work with USO. Great golfer too.

30. Settled, as plans: FIRMED UP

39. 1950s Edward R. Murrow news show: SEE IT NOW. I only remember the show ends with NOW. It's been some time since I watched "Good Night, and Good Luck"

40. "Thugz Mansion" rapper: NAS. Just learned that his given name is Nasir.

41. Mover or shaker: DOER. Nice clue.

42. Threaten to attack: ASSAULT. "Threaten"? I thought assault means "attack" itself.

50. Easter bloom: LILY

51. Barbershop device: STROP

52. 007, for one: Abbr.: AGT. The "Abbr." hint should prevent you from considering SPY.

59. Flop preceder: KER. Put down EAR.

60. Heart line: AORTA

61. Country known for its distance runners: KENYA. I wonder where their speed and endurance come from.

62. Big period: ERA

63. Bikini blast: N-TEST

Down:

1. [error left as is]: SIC. The bracket indicates the mistake is quoted verbatim.

2. You might close your eyes when you say it: UGH. Oh, I never close my eyes when I say "Ugh".

3. Dockworkers' org.: ILA (International Longshoremen's Association)

4. Amateur: NON-PRO

5. Been happening: GONE ON

6. One way to be responsible: SOLELY. Solely responsible. Excellent clue.

7. Tuscan marble city: MASSA (MAHS-sah). Nope. Here is a DF marble fountain in Massa.

9. Inflation cause?: AIR. Nailed it also.

10. Whistle blower: REF. Simple & tricky clue.

11. Island group near Fiji: SAMOA. OK, Samoa is in the northeast of Fiji. Stumped me.

12. Sell at an inflated price: SCALP. It's legal in Minnesota.

13. It's a wrap: STOLE. Last time SAREE was clued this way.

18. Seaside flier: ERNE

21. 747 competitor: DC-TEN. No idea. What does DC stand for, Dennis?

22. Count in jazz: BASIE. Count Basie.

23. Single-handedly: ALONE

24. CBS military drama: NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service). Are you a fan?

26. "Brave New World" drug: SOMA. Unknown to me.

27. Saddens, with "out": BUMS

30. "A __ Good Men": FEW. "You can't handle the truth!".

31. Coffee mate?: DONUT. Mine was CREAM, despite the question mark warning.

32. Continent-dividing range: URALS.

33. Hissed "Over here!": PSST

35. Bad Boy Records founder, as he's now known: DIDDY. A rare gimme for me. P. Diddy, J-Lo's ex-flame.

36. Greek portico: STOA

37. First-year law student: ONE-L. L stands for "law". Also the book title of Scott Turow's biography. Very intense.

42. Besides: AT THAT. Thought of Melissa Bee. Her blog name is "Bee Sides".

43. Rockefeller Center muralist: SERT (José María). Spanish muralist. I forgot again.

44. Preschoolers' protection: SMOCKS. Oh, I don't associate smocks with preschoolers.

45. Task-oriented program: APPLET. Often abbreviated as APP.

46. Cereal bit: FLAKE

47. Peak near the Jungfrau: EIGER. Swiss Alpine peak. Jungfrau is German for "young woman'/"virgin". Jung = young.

48. Prefix with conservative: ULTRA

49. Some USAF NCOs: T. SGTS (Technical Sergeants). New to me also.

53. The Sunflower St.: KAN. Did not know sunflower is Kansas' state flower.

54. "As if!": NOT

55. Pique condition?: IRE. "Piqued" would have lost the wordplay on "peak condition".

56. Nice one?: UNE. French for "one". Nice refers to French city Nice.

58. Gullible one: SAP

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday November 26, 2009 Lila Cherry

Theme: Happy Turkey Day - A Thanksgiving Puzzle.

17A. Turkey: BIRD THAT GOBBLES. Or bird on your table today.

27A. Turkey: FRANK WAY TO TALK. Talk turkey.

48A. Turkey: THEATRICAL FLOP. Feared by some angels (financial backers).

63A. Turkey?: FRIDAY'S SANDWICH. A bit strained, no? Maybe that's the reason for the question mark.

Then we also have an exotic "Turkish currency" clue for LIRA (3D), which is often clued as old Italian bread/currency. Alas, no "three strikes in a row", the turkey my husband likes the most, too many letters (18).

Today's puzzle is by our editor Rich Norris. Lila Cherry is his alias name, anagram of "Really Rich". Thanks for the daily entertainment, Rich. And Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Happy Feasting!

Across:

1. First name in folk: ARLO (Guthrie). He's in Woodstock, drunk and high.

5. Kick (out): DRUM. Did not come to me readily. Simple answer often stumps me.

9. Loathe: ABHOR

14. Judge's determination: BAIL. Can you clue NO BAIL the same way?

15. Moira's "Chaplin" role: OONA. Easy guess.

16. TV exec Arledge: ROONE. The ex-Chairman of ABC News.

20. Santa Anna siege site: ALAMO

21. Cooked: DONE. My special Jeannie's stuffing is done. Delicious! I added a small can of water chestnuts.

22. Closed sac: CYST. Fluid-filled.

23. Neo, for one: Abbr.: ANAG. Neo is an ANAG (anagram) of one. Got me.

25. M.I.T. grad, often: ENGR

33. NASA transport: LEM (Lunar Excursion Module).

35. Shaq of the NBA: O'NEAL. Now with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

37. Sacred bird of old Egypt: IBIS. Sacred indeed. Not fond of the bird/BIRD (17A) duplication though.

39. Savvy: SENSE. Like business/political savvy.

42. "La Gioconda" tenor role: ENZO. Uh-uh, nope. I bet "Auto designer Ferrari" knows. The name Enzo means "Ruler of the Home" in Italian.

43. Aggressive: PUSHY

45. Central church area: NAVE

52. Lake surrounding Canada's southernmost point: ERIE. Nice trivia.

53. Dodge Aries, e.g.: K-CAR. What does K stand for?

54. Many of its members are boomers: AARP

59. Like seven Nolan Ryan games: NO-HIT. A major league record. No perfect game from Nolan Ryan though. That's his rookie card.

66. Fast traveler, at times: RUMOR. Great clue.

67. Caesar's "Behold!": ECCE. Latin. The Italian for "Behold!" is ECCO.

68. China's __ Enlai: ZHOU. Or CHOW in Cantonese. China's first premier. Yesterday's Mao Ze-Dong is Mandarin Chinese. Mao Tse-Tung is Cantonese spelling.

69. Last in a series: OMEGA. The last of Greek alphabet (24 letters).

70. Take off: SHED

71. Shakespearean "over there": YOND. Why do we add "er" later on then?

Down:

2. Travel option: RAIL. Can never read on a train/car. It makes me sick.

4. Pop: OLD MAN

5. "Stupid me!": D'OH. Carol's V-8 moment.

6. It can't be played at home: ROAD GAME

8. Sticker?: MAGNET. It sticks to your fridge.

9. Wall St. figure who capitalizes on price imbalances: ARB (Arbitrager). Like those hedge fund guys.

10. "Hogan's Heroes" star: BOB CRANE. Penned in ALAN ALDA, confusing "Hogan's Heroes " with "M*A*S*H".

11. Devout: HOLY

12. Tip jar fillers, mostly: ONES

13. Take five: REST

18. Toy truck maker: TONKA. Originated in Minnesota.

19. Napa prefix: OENO. Prefix for wine. Napa is wine region. My favorite clue today.

24. Belt maker's tools: AWLS

26. '60s song car with "three deuces and a four-speed and a 389": GTO

27. Toss: FLIP

28. Disprove: REBUT

29. "Witness" sect: AMISH. The little Amish boy is the sole witness to the murder in the movie.

30. Greek New Age keyboardist: YANNI. University of Minnesota alumnus.

31. Three-time U.S. Open winner: LENDL (Ivan). So is Tiger Woods, but in golf.

32. Musical buzzer: KAZOO

36. Air show stunt: LOOP

38. What Bo Peep could have used?: SHEEP DOG. Nursery rhyme: Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep ...

40. Awkward-looking picnic contest: SACK RACE. Several nice two-worders in the Down fill today.

41. Rescue op: EVAC (Evacuation). Solid abbreviation in my book. Pinkerton provided EVAC services for expatriates in China.

44. "Babi __": Yevtushenko poem: YAR. Babi Yar is the name of a ravine (outside Kiev) where Nazis murdered lots of Jewish people. I am not familiar with the poem.

46. African antelope: ELAND. J.D. must have seen this spiral-horned antelope during her Safari.

50. NutRageous bar maker: REESE'S. Have never tried NutRageious. Is it similar to Snickers?

51. Slovenly: FROWZY. New word to me.

54. Hendrix hairdo: AFRO. Buckeye just mentioned that tomorrow is Jimi Hendrix's birthday.

55. __ lily: calla: ARUM. I am used to the "Calla lily family" clue.

56. Coleridge work: RIME. No idea. Does it refer to his "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner"?

58. Author Sholem: ASCH. The Yiddish writer.

60. Sunshine cracker: HI-HO. Have never seen this brand. Wikipedia said it's discontinued.

61. Screen image: ICON

62. Sound of an ungraceful landing: THUD

64. Altar in the sky: ARA. Latin for "altar".

65. Actor Beatty: NED. He's in "Deliverance". Quite a disturbing movie.

Answer grid.

What's your family traditional Thanksgiving meal like? We always have wild rice and mashed rutabaga.

C.C.