Thursday December 17, 2009 Samuel A. Donaldson

Theme: SECRETARIES (54A. Heads of the tails of 18-, 23-, 36- and 48-Across) - The tail word of each theme entry is a US department headed by a secretary.

18A. Court strategy: ZONE DEFENSE. Secretary of Defense. Basketball court.

23A. Some contractions: FALSE LABOR. Secretary of Labor.

36A. Mid-Atlantic nickname, with "The": QUAKER STATE. Secretary of State. Pennsylvania.

48A. Like hikers' snack food: HIGH ENERGY. Secretary of Energy. The dates & cashew Larabars are my favorite snacks.

Great clue for the unifying theme entry SECRETARIES.

Samuel A. Donaldson mentioned in his interview that he's fond of non-theme multiple-word entries. I counted 10 in today's grid.

I also liked the three weaving "court" clues:

18A. Court strategy: ZONE DEFENSE.

13D: Take to court: SUE.

56D. 1973 court name: ROE. Roe v. Wade.

Lovely echo. Small details delighted me.

Across:

1. Retired flier, briefly: SST. And SKY (28D. Pilot's beat).

4. Angry trick-or-treater, perhaps: EGGER. Is this a common word? I've never used it.

14. Last half of a drink?: TAI. Last half of Mai Tai. Stumped me.

15. 22-Across lullaby syllables: LOO RA. And IRISH (22A. Lucky ones?). The luck of the Irish. Was unaware of the Irish lullaby "Too-Ra-Loo-Ra-Loo-Ral"

16. Part of a Valentine's text message: I LUV U

17. First name in objectivism: AYN (Rand). The only objectivism name I know.

20. Escaped convict's need: FAKE ID. Nice answer.

26. 35-member treaty gp.: OAS (Organization of American States)

29. Apt name for a herding dog: SHEP. And PEKE (52D. Short dog, for short). Pekingese. We just call it lion dog in China.

30. U.K. awards: OBES (Orders of the British Empire)

31. Moved furtively: SNUCK

33. Alley Oop's girlfriend: OOOLA. Finally I remembered her name.

35. Like mud puddles: SLOSHY

38. Contests on horseback: JOUSTS. Wrote down RODEOS first.

40. "__ Nothing": 1993 Whitney Houston hit: I HAVE. Loved "The Bodyguard". Did not remember this song though.

42. Cause of a run: SNAG. Oh, pantyhose run.

43. __ dire: jury interview: VOIR. Voire dire (vwahr deer) is new to me. I do know the individual French words: voir "to see" & dire "to say". Makes sense.

47. Old CIA foe: KGB. And JFK (38D. Queens airport, familiarly ) & ORG (39D. Nonprofit's URL). Three abbreviations are crowded in this section.

50. Political exile, for short: EXPAT. Well, I am a just Chinese expat living in the US, not an exile.

53. __ it over: ruled: LORDED

58. Hot season for a Parisian: ETE. Yawner.

59. Word after control or neat: FREAK

60. Pocahontas's spouse: ROLFE (John). His name escaped me.

62. Where ham is often found: ON RYE. Not a fan of rye bread.

63. Sellout lack: SEATS. Was thinking of the traitor "sellout".

64. Sgt.'s superiors: LTS ( Lieutenants)

Down:

2. Checkup request: SAY AAH

3. Wind chime sound: TINKLE

4. "Popeye" creator Segar: ELZIE. Only knew him as E. C. Segar.

5. They usually aren't enough, so it's said: GOOD LOOKS. Oh well, even with good brains, still not enough for some men. Look at Elin Nordegren.

6. Poly- ending: GON. Polygon.

7. "... __ he drove out of sight": ERE. "But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight..."

8. Boom boxes: RADIOS

9. Hi-tech airport connection: WI-FI

10. Pints' contents: ALES

11. Midway attraction: FUN HOUSE. Have never been to one.

12. Sports bar array: TVS

21. Advocate, as a cause: ESPOUSE. Nailed it.

25. Demeanor: BEARING

27. Düsseldorf "D'oh!": ACH. Alliteration again.

31. Croat or Serb: SLAV

32. At no time: NOT EVER

34. Wild things to sow?: OATS. Sow wild oats.

35. One way for an actor to exit: STAGE LEFT. Had trouble obtaining this answer.

36. Many a Canadian francophone: QUEBECER. Oh, did not know a person from Quebec is called a Quebecer.

37. Old Iranian VIP: SHAH

42. Indian instruments: SITARS. Indian lute.

44. It's no picnic: ORDEAL

45. "Yeah, yeah, very funny": I GET IT. Lovely clue/answer.

46. Comics cowboy Red and others: RYDERS. Not familiar with this comic or the cowboy at all.

48. Magician's prop: HAT

49. Rhinoplasty targets: NOSES. Rhino is a prefix for "nose".

51. Picture of bones, often: X-RAYS

54. Northern Cal. hub: SFO. San Francisco International Airport. What does O stand for? (Added later: See this great link from Warren.)

55. Coastal bird: ERN

57. Pier gp.: ILA (International Longshoremen's Association)

Answer grid.

See you tomorrow!

C.C.

Wednesday December 16, 2009 Merl Reagle

Theme: Note-orious - Three consecutive musical notes are embedded in each theme entry.

16A. Comfort: CONSOLATION. So La Ti. Thought it's Sol.

61A. Sister Sledge hit: WE ARE FAMILY. Re Fa Mi.

39. Queen whose name contains three apt words in a row, as does each of this puzzle's four longest answers: LATIFAH. La Ti Fa. I like Queen Latifah in "Chicago". Then we had A ROW (5D. In __: lined up). Undesirable duplication.

10D. Outnumber all others: PREDOMINATE. Re Do Mi.

24D. Pooped: ALL TIRED OUT. Ti Re Do.

And two more musical instrument references from Merl Reagle, who plays keyboards:

52D. Instruments with pedals: HARPS. I don't associate harps with pedals.

64D. Concert finale?: INA. Concertina. Stumped me.

Unusual numbers of tricky and fresh clues for a Wednesday, no? Despite the heavy proper names, the puzzle itself is not hard. Fair crossings.

Across:

1. First name in nursing: CLARA (Barton). Founder of American Red Cross.

6. Bridges of Los Angeles County: JEFF. He's "The Dude" in "The Big Lebowski", directed the Coen brothers. Hollywood/LA is in LA County. The clue reminds me of "The Bridges of Madison County". Very romantic!

14. Shooting Starr: BELLE. Have never heard of Belle Starr. Wikipedia says she's a notorious American outlaw. I could only recall Ken Starr.

15. Cry that's a laugh backward: RAH. Nice new clue.

18. Eddie's "Green Acres" co-star: EVA (Gabor)

19. Contraction that's an "i" dropper: 'TWERE. Contraction of "it were". Got me. I liked the "eye"/"i" dropper pun.

22. Rhyme scheme used in a villanelle: ABAA. Maybe Clear Ayes can find us a villanelle today.

25. Follow: ENSUE

28. The __ Parade: ROSE

29. Co-creator of "The View": WALTERS (Barbara)

31. It gets let off: STEAM. Let off steam.

33. Specter on the Hill: ARLEN. Capitol Hill. Senator from PA.

34. Actor Dillon: MATT. He's awesome in "Crash".

35. Alcatraz, e.g.: Abbr.: ISL (Island). "The Rock" is a great movie.

38. Nap or nip preceder: CAT

42. PBS funder: NEA (National Endowment for the Arts)

43. Go down a slippery slope: SKI. Vivid clue.

44. Work without __: A NET

45. Mil. schools: ACADS (Academies)

47. Play delayers: RAINS. Twins new stadium has no roof.

49. Beethoven specialties: SONATAS. Beautiful "Moonlight Sonata".

51. "Mermaids" actress: CHER. Was ignorant of the film.

53. Online business: E-TAIL

55. __ Sweeney, Ethel Merman's "Anything Goes" role: RENO. The answer emerges itself.

56. "You __ be there": HAD TO

58. "The Crucible," e.g.: DRAMA. Arthur Miller play.

60. Guillermo's gold: ORO. Guillermo is the Spanish form of the name "William".

67. PC core: CPU

68. Thinks the world of: LOVES. "Ai" in Chinese. "Wo Ai Ni" = "I love you". Chinese does not have singular/plural forms for verbs.

69. Oscar de la __: RENTA. Laura Bush's favorite designer.

70. Sunrise direction, in Stuttgart: OST. German for "east". New to me, so is the German city Stuttgart.

71. Flip out: SNAP

72. Lewis or Lois colleague: CLARK. Lewis & Clark Expedition. Lois & Clark, Superman.

Down:

1. L x VI: CCC. 50 x 6 = 300

2. Oft-visited pub room: LOO. Nailed it.

4. Say another way: RESTATE

6. Ballet leaps: JETES (/ʒəˈteɪ/ Show Spelled Pronunciation zhuh-TEY). I forgot. Here is a clip. PLIES is the "Ballet bends".

7. Passing Manning: ELI. Quarterback for the NY Giants. Nice rhyme.

8. __-Jo: Olympic sprinter's nickname: FLO. Lovely nickname.

9. Sedge-filled wetlands: FENS

11. #1 picks: FAVES

12. Phillies all-star slugger Utley: CHASE. Second baseman for the Phillies. I bet Dennis was excited to see Merl's byline today. He's been solving Merl's Sunday for years.

14. Tractor shelters: BARN. I like the double-syllable sounds of the clue.

17. Look like a wolf: LEER. Was picturing a real wolf.

21. Tax-deferring option, briefly: IRA

22. Spy plane acronym: AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System). Completely unknown to me.

23. Netanyahu's successor: BARAK (Ehud). Same pronunciation as Barack?

26. Gp. with F-16s: USAF

27. Henri's conclusion?: ETTA. No idea. I suppose it refers to Henrietta the town in NY.

30. Zhou __: EN-LAI. Mandarin Chinese. Cantonese is Chow En-Lai.

32. A Coen brother: ETHAN. Pride of Minnesota.

34. Where Ben Bernanke got his Ph.D.: MIT. Somehow I thought it's Yale. Bernanke was just named as Time Person of the Year 2009. Netanyahu graduated from MIT too.

36. Ford Taurus, e.g.: SEDAN

37. Calf catcher: LASSO

40. Actress Hathaway: ANNE. She's in "The Devil Wears Prada".

46. Apple topping: CARAMEL. Sweet!

48. Word before or after thou: ART. New spin on a common crossword fill.

49. Foal fathers: SIRES

50. Norse saint: OLAF. No Olaf/Olav wobbling today.

51. Intro to -holic: CHOCO. Chocoholic.

54. TV spot pro: AD REP. Fell into the ADMAN trap.

57. Temple's team: OWLS. Wikipedia says Temple was the first school in the United States to adopt the owl as its symbol.

59. Painter Chagall: MARC

62. Awfully long time: EON

Answer grid.

Ming tian jian!

C.C.