Saturday December 5, 2009 Kyle Dolan

Theme: None

Total blocks: 35

Total words: 72 (the maximum word limit for a themeless)

I think this is the first time we have a themeless Saturday with a mini-theme. A mini-theme has two symmetrically placed theme answers that share something in common. In today's case, it's "environmental":

6D. Work in the environmental sector: GREEN COLLAR JOBS

9D. Environmental impact factor: CARBON FOOTPRINT

Both have 15 grid-spanning 15 letters. Awesome entries! In the language and au courant, with Obama's penchant for talking about renewable energy.

Also a bit of Italian undercurrent flowing:

34A. "__ tu": Verdi aria: ERI. Literally "were" in Italian. Tu = You. Eri tu = "It was you".

3D. Trattoria order?: MANGIA. Italian for "Eat"/"Enjoy your meal".

45D. Bologna bridge: PONTE. Italian for "bridge". As in Florence's Ponte Vecchio ("old bridge").

Very enjoyable puzzle. Still had to peek at the cheat sheet. Quite a few "D'oh" moments for me. Would have quibbled about the clue/ANSWER duplication in SARGASSO (35D. Sea named for its seaweed) and SEA (39A. Watery expanse). But I like the trivia in 35D. Great crossing of SARGASSO and SEA.

Across:

1. Like some pigeons: HOMING. Homing pigeons.

7. Little shot?: PIC. Oh, photo shot.

13. Wild Asian equine: ONAGER. See this picture. It has a a black stripe on its back.

14. "Measure for Measure" heroine: ISABELLA. I can never remember those Shakespeare character names.

17. "Receiving poorly," to a CBer: TEN- ONE. No idea. Waiting for Argyle to explain. (Here is Argyle's reply.)

18. Singer/pianist with the 2002 hit "A Sorta Fairytale": TORI AMOS. Wikipedia says "A Sorta Fairytale" is her most commercially successful single in the US to date. Have never heard of the song before.

19. Russian fighter: MIG. Used in Korean War. Acronym of its Russian designer Mikhail Iosifovich Grevich.

20. Shockers in the deep: EELS. The electric eels generate shocks.

22. Rear: BOTTOM

23. Rival of Bjorn: ILIE (Nastase). In 1970's. Too early for me to remember.

25. "On the contrary!": NOT SO

27. "Forever, __": 1996 humor collection: ERMA (Bombeck). See the book cover.

28. Likely visitor to the principal: CLASS CLOWN. Did not come to me readily.

30. Nair alternative: NEET. My first fill in the grid.

31. What it takes?: TWO. This refers to "It takes two to tango", right?

32. Locomotive output: PUFF

35. Biblical verb: SHALT. Thought of SMITE/SMOTE.

37. Sociologist's interests: MORES

41. Prosaic: BLAH

43. Bourbon flavoring: OAK. Good to know.

44. It covers all the bases: TARP. Baseball bases. Can't fool me.

46. Flats: APARTMENTS

51. Ship that sailed from Iolcus: ARGO. Jason and the Argonauts.

52. Highlight reel accompaniment: RECAP

53. Many a retired racer: SIRE. I was picturing a racing car racer, not a horse. Tricky clue.

54. Common lunchbox fare, briefly: PB AND J. Not in mine. Lovely bento box.

56. Sci-fi captain: KIRK. The ''Star Trek''. I penned in NEMO.

58. Never, to Goethe: NIE. German for "never". NEIN is "no".

59. Floundering one: LOST SOUL. I like the clue and the answer.

61. Stuck: IN A JAM

63. Coordinated outfit: ENSEMBLE

64. Like much meditation music: NEW AGE. Do any of you practice meditation? If so, have you really experienced total bliss?

65. 1906 Runabout, e.g.: REO. Here is a 1906 Runabout, complete stranger to me.

66. Stars may represent them: Abbr.: STS (States). Stars in American flag. Got me.

67. Got tight: TENSED

Down:

1. Possible source of unwanted feedback, for short: HOT MIC

2. "Mourning Becomes Electra" playwright" O'NEILL (Eugene). Electra is the sister of Orestes, who was chased by the Furies for the murdering of his mother.

5. Maui flapper: NENE. The Hawaiian goose.

7. Active time for a racetrack crew: PIT STOP. For refueling.

8. Metric lead-in: ISO. Isometric, a new word to me. Iso is a prefix meaning "equal".

10. Shade sources: ELM TREES

11. One may be late: BLOOMER. Late bloomer. Another great clue.

12. Long-grain rice of the Punjab: BASMATI. Not fond of its fragrance.

15. Playbill feature: BIO

16. Downed: EATEN. Was not thinking of food.

24. Bk. after Nehemiah: ESTH (Esther). Bk. before Job.

26. Like a butterfly in water?: SWUM. The swimming stroke "butterfly", not the insect.

33. Big name in oil filters: FRAM. Too bad, not big enough for me to know.

36. Sports trainer's supply: TAPE

39. Office tool: STAPLER

40. Incus or malleus: EARBONE

42. Defensive anger, metaphorically: HACKLES. As in "raise one's heckles". I was stumped.

47. Thor Heyerdahl craft: RA I. Absolutely no idea. There is only RA and RA II here.

48. Stealthy warriors: NINJAS. The stealthy Japanese assassin. I wrote down DRONES. They are stealthy warrior too. No?

49. Combat injury system: TRIAGE

55. Mil. award: DSM ( Distinguished Service Medal)

57. A tot may bounce on one: KNEE. Nailed it.

60. Nth: Abbr.: ULT (Ultimate)

62. Grass appendage: AWN. The bristlelike appendage.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday December 4, 2009 Jack McInturff

Theme: Back End - CK is inserted to the second word of a common phrase, changing the long vowel sound into short vowel.

17A. Takedown by Tinker Bell?: FAIRY TA(CK)LE. Fairy Tale. Tinker Bell is a fairy.

24A. Reaction to an amusing porcelain?: CERAMIC TI(CK)LE. Ceramic Tile.

38A. Symptom of poor lighting?: FREQUENT FLI(CK)ER. Frequent Flier. My favorite theme entry.

49A. Supermarket group taking a coffee break, perhaps?: THREE CHE(CK)ERS. Three Cheers. I did not know that cashiers are also called checkers.

59A. Store-brand dill?: STOCK PI(CK)LE. Stockpile.

We also have two more non-theme CK combination entries: ACK (8D. Comics cry of disgust) and FREE KICKS (11D. Consequences of some soccer fouls).

Very chopping solving today. Never really got into Jack's wavelength. Quite a few three-letter abbreviation answers in this grid, and some were quite tough to get: XLI, CIS, CLK for example.

Favorite clue today is EX-CON (50D. Former pen pal?). I immediately realized that pen refers to "prison", but the answer just refused to reveal itself readily.

Across:

1. Afternoon break: SIESTA

7. City on the Cauca River: CALI. Already had the last letter I in place, so CALI came to me immediately.

11. Monastic title: FRA. Italian short for "brother".

14. Many a marigold: ANNUAL. Don't like marigold.

15. Juice letters?: AC/DC. Juice is slang for " electricity or electric power". New to me.

16. VCR button: REW (Rewind)

19. "Little" 1960s singer: EVA. Named after the little girl Eva in "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

20. Former Spanish queen: ENA. Grandmother of the current Spanish king.

21. "The A-Team" actor: MR. T

29. Sought a seat: RAN. Ran office. I plopped down SAT first.

30. Limoges-born impressionist: RENOIR. Already had NO filled in, plus the "impressionist" clue, the name emerged rather quickly.

31. Parsley piece: SPRIG

34. Mideast carrier: EL AL. Literally "skyward".

36. USSR successor: CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States). Got me.

42. NASDAQ listings: COS (Companies)

44. Western prop: LASSO

45. Out in the open: PUBLIC. Dennis's Tiger to Cheetah name change comment yesterday made me laugh. Poor Tiger, a rare triple bogey!

48. Title for Roger Moore: SIR

53. Jersey groups: HERDS. D'oh, Jersey cow. I was in New Jersey sports direction.

54. Super Bowl played in MMVII: XLI (41). Big trouble for me. Not a football fan, completely clueless about the exact Roman numeral for the 2007 Super Bowl. Colts beat the Bears.

58. Sporty truck, for short: UTE

64. MC's aid: MIC

65. First name in architecture: EERO (Saarinen). Designer of the Gateway Arch.

66. Block: IMPEDE

67. Pie chart fig.: PCT (Percent)

68. Inert gas: NEON

69. Like some foot bones: TARSAL. Nice crossing with HEEL (57D. Achilles' weakness).

Down:

1. Place for gems: SAFE. Of course.

2. Words with uproar or instant: IN AN

3. Massive old computer: ENIAC. Debuted in 1946.

4. Baja California __: Mexican state: SUR

5. Scotland's longest river: TAY. New trivia to me. England's longest river is Severn, not Thames.

6. "Gosford Park" director: ALTMAN (Robert). Lots of coverage about this guy when he filmed "A Prairie Home Companion" here in MN.

7. Saguaros, e.g.: CACTI. Have never seen saguaros in person.

9. Cholesterol initials: LDL. "Bad" cholesterol.

10. Strands at the ski resort, perhaps: ICES IN

12. Big-time parties: REVELRIES. Couldn't believe people would crash a White House party.

13. With it: AWARE. Oh, I thought "With it" is a slang for "sane", since "Lose it" means "become insane".

18. Shirt part: ARM

23. 31-Down, e.g.: NCO. And SFC (31D. Army E-7: Abbr.). SFC = Sergeant First Class. Not a familiar abbr. to me at all.

25. La Salle of "ER": ERIQ. Nice u-less Q word. Just like my Mandarin name.

26. Pizza Quick sauce maker: RAGU

27. Scrapbooking, e.g.: CRAFT. KQ loves scrapbooking.

28. Recount: TELL. Recount a story. I was recounting the vote.

32. Like some visions: PROPHETIC. Great clue.

33. Bring back into practice: RESURRECT

34. Cain's eldest son: ENOCH. Don't confuse it with "Seth's son" ENOS.

35. Kojak and Crocker: Abbr.: LTS ( lieutenants). Who is Crocker?

37. Sign of a big hit: SRO (Standing Room Only)

39. Majestic: EPIC

40. Nastase of tennis: ILIE. I just remember him as I LIE.

41. "It Must Be Him" singer Vikki: CARR. Here is a clip.

46. Breakfast companion?: BED. Bed and Breakfast.

47. Ease: LESSEN

48. "Never mind": SKIP IT

49. Haunted house sound: THUMP. Did it come to you quickly?

51. Court recordkeeper: Abbr.: CLK (Clerk). Had trouble with the abbreviation. STENO would be a correct answer too.

52. "Land __!": SAKES. Just learned this exclamation a few weeks ago.

56. "The West Wing" Emmy winner: ALDA (Alan)

60. Place to start a hole: TEE. Tee box. Golf.

61. Pizarro's quest: ORO. Spanish for "gold". Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador. Founder of Lima, Peru.

62. The Monkees' "__ Believer": I'M A

63. "Kiss of life," briefly: CPR. I like this new clue.

Answer grid.

C.C.