Saturday January 9, 2010 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total blocks: 29

Total words: 70

Our average black square count on Saturday seems to be 31.

Hard puzzle for me. I just froze at seeing Brad Wilber's name. He's well-known for his tough themeless. Now looking at the finished grid, I wonder why I struggled since there were only a few unknowns. Tricky clues and wicked wordplay! For example:

1A. One making a brief contribution?: PARALEGAL. Legal "brief". Noun.

28A. One who refuses to take an oath?: CENSOR. "Curse" oath.

30A. Sub builder?: DELI. Sub sandwich. I nailed this one though.

62A. Where you might see a cop aim a gun: SPEED TRAP. Radar gun.

14D. Something a Parisian might get stuck on?: IDEE FIXE. Nailed this one also.

31D. Big-headed?: SUDSY. "Head" here refers to the foam at the top of beer. Put a head on the beer.

Quite a few lively multi-word entries. My favorite is GO ROGUE (21D. Deviate from team strategy). Can never understand Sarah Palin's appeal.

Across:

10. Missile Command game company: ATARI. The answer for "game" company is always Atari.

15. Writer painted by Manet: EMILE ZOLA. OK. Here is the painting. I was thinking of Gertrude Stein. But she's painted by Picasso.

16. Went wild: RAVED

17. Family racing enthusiast: NASCAR DAD. Would be nice to pair it up with Soccer Mom.

18. Island where Icarus was imprisoned: CRETE. He did escape from Crete, but his wings melted when he flew too close to the sun.

19. The Jonas Brothers, e.g.: TRIO. Nice contemporary reference.

20. Panini cheese: ASIAGO. Named after the Italian town.

22. Northwest Passage explorer: RAE (John)

23. Actress Paquin et al.: ANNAS

25. Prefix with skeleton: ENDO. Meaning "within". Have yet to see its opposite ECTO.

26. "You wish!": AS IF

27. Nobelist Hammarskjöld: DAG. The second UN Secretary General. U Thant is the third.

31. Examine closely: SIFT. Sift through data/evidence.

32. Parka material: GORE-TEX

34. Place to pick up a cat: SCRUFF. Oh, I had the wrong understanding of "pick up".

37. Aplenty: GALORE

38. Fawners: TOADIES

40. Madrigalist's accompaniment: LUTE. Did not know the meaning of madrigalist, singer of madrigal, which is defined as "A song for two or three unaccompanied voices, developed in Italy in the late 13th and early 14th centuries".

41. Items in a modern bibliog.: URLS

42. Charmers: CUTIES

44. Clock-setting std.: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)

47. Tim of "Private Practice": DALY. No idea. He's the younger brother of Tyne Daly.

48. Steady: TRUE

49. West Indian sorcery: OBEAH. Surprised to see it can also be spelled as Obi.

51. It may be at the end of the line: FLY. Fishing line end.

52. Vivacious wit: ESPRIT (e-SPREE). I love Esprit clothing brand. It's huge in Asia.

54. Erato's instrument, in some depictions: LYRE

55. "My Fair Lady" race site: ASCOT. The British racetrack.

57. Cádiz's region: ANDALUSIA. A region of southern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea. New name to me.

59. Put on again: RE-AIR. Very few RE, or ING, NESS affixes in this grid.

60. Smooth, lustrous quality: SILKINESS. Gimme for any Barry Silk fan.

61. Bowling pin wood: MAPLE. Yep!

Down:

1. Group of five: PENTAD

2. Historic Nile excavation site: AMARNA. Should I know this? I've only heard of Luxor.

3. Heading up: RISING

4. Metal industry acronym: ALCOA (ALuminum Company Of America)

5. Grazing ground: LEA

6. Book after II Chronicles: EZRA. Drew a blank.

7. Miraculous: GODSENT. Wow, I had no idea that "godsend" has an adjective form.

8. Delon and Resnais of French film: ALAINS. Only familiar with Alain Delon.

9. Classic man's-best-friend novel: LAD: A DOG. Man, I've never heard of the novel.

10. Chevron competitor: ARCO

11. Seaman: TAR. Slang for sailor.

12. Against: AVERSE TO

13. Mall tenant: RETAILER

24. Netflix genre: SCI-FI. Not my type.

26. Jane Eyre's charge __ Varens: ADELE. Got the answer from crosses.

29. Personal or special things: EFFECTS. Nice clue.

33. Joe Buck's friend: RATSO. From "Midnight Cowboy". I was picturing the sportscaster Joe Buck. Adore his voice.

34. Breeding center: STUD FARM

35. The Great Barrier Reef borders it: CORAL SEA. Adjacent to Kazie's Australia.

36. It's usually a regular one worn backwards: RALLY CAP. Silly.

39. Outdo: SURPASS

40. Get no use: LIE IDLE

43. Root crop high in vitamin C: TURNIP. Gimme for Frank/DCannon, I hope.

44. Yellowstone attraction: GEYSER

45. Actress Tomei: MARISA

46. Daddy Warbucks's hired muscle: THE ASP. The henchman in the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie". Got me, Argyle!

50. Not pulling any punches: BLUNT

52. Infinitive with a circumflex: ÊTRE. Circumflex above E. Somehow I am not fond of the clue.

53. Receipts: TAKE. Wanted a word ending in S.

56. Drum filler: OIL. Drum can mean "barrel"?

58. Soup-to-go need: LID. I wanted CUP.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday January 8, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Sweet P - The second letter M in MM containing familiar phrases is changed into P (MP).

18A. Cool body shop specialist?: BUMPER DUDE. Bummer, Dude!

23A. Apple shipping vehicles?: COMPUTER TRAINS. Commuter Trains. Apple computer.

36A. Like overcrowded medical clinics?: CRAMPED FOR EXAMS. Crammed for Exams. The only theme entry with an extra M.

47A. Short, fat pen filler?: DUMPY CARTRIDGE. Dummy Cartridge. Firearm term? I have never heard of it. Also did not know that "dumpy" can mean "short & fat".

54A. Laundry security device?: HAMPER LOCK. Hammerlock. A wrestling hold in which the opponent's arm is pulled behind the back and twisted upward. Not a familiar term to me.

In memory of Dan Naddor, I am going to call the total number indicator of non-theme entries with 6 or more letters as "Dan Naddor Index" from now on. Today's number is 14. Lower than our recent Dan grids.

So sweet for me to see the clues for DOB (1D. Baseball card stat) and IMMIGRATE (34D. Come to a new land). Felt like they were targeted at me, given my immigrant status and love for baseball cards.

Tough slog though. Lots of tricky clues and I simply could not mind meld with Dan. We definitely spoke different languages today.

Across:

1. Mil. awards: DSCS. Sometimes it's DSMS. Medal instead of Cross. And TFR (31D. Mil. request). Transfer I presume.

5. Pro's employee: AGENT. Pro athlete. The answer could be CADDIE (for golf pros).

10. Keyboardist Hess: MYRA. The British pianist. Her name escaped me.

14. Colorful deepwater fish: OPAH. Also called moonfish.

15. Sylvester's "Rocky" co-star: TALIA (Shire). She also played the annoying Connie in the "Godfather" series.

16. Like The Citadel, today: CO-ED. It was all-male until August 1996. Unknown fact to me.

17. High-tech unit: BYTE

20. Destructive spree: RAMPAGE

22. Perrier rival: EVIAN. Have yet to see PERRIER appears as an answer.

26. Ottoman officer: AGA. Sometimes the answer is BEY/PASHA.

27. E-mail endings, at times: PSS

28. Staff: ROD. Was picturing music staff.

29. Inexperienced one: TYRO. I was once a crossword tyro.

31. Coffee-flavored liqueur: TIA MARIA. Does it taste very differently from Kahlúa, Argyle?

40. Toot consequence: HANGOVER. "Toot" here refers to "drinking spree". I was thinking of the horn sound.

41. Car with a bar: LIMO. Rhyming clue.

42. __-80: old RadioShack computer: TRS. No idea. Does TRS stand for Tandy's Radio Shack?

43. Lee side: Abbr.: CSA. Oh, R. E Lee.

46. Palindromic diarist: NIN (Anaïs)

52. Important peninsula in the Six-Day War, 1967: SINAI

53. Pursue: GO AFTER

57. Much more than tickle: SLAY

59. "The __ lama, he's a priest ...": Nash: ONE - L. Lovely new clue.

60. Arigato : Japan :: __ : Germany: DANKE. Both "Arigato" and "Danke" means "Thanks". Chinese equivalent is "Xie Xie".

61. Pal: MATE

62. Evening spread?: PATE. Oh, evening meal.

63. Hardly a miniature gulf: ABYSS. The clue is playing on "Hardly a miniature golf".

64. Regards: EYES.

Down:

2. Pop-jazz band named for an algae genus: SPYRO GYRA. An American jazz fusion band. A misspelling of the green algae spirogyra. Both meant nothing to me.

3. Twin-hulled boat: CATAMARAN. Tamil for "tied wood". New word to me also.

4. Curly's predecessor and successor: SHEMP (Howard). From "The Three Stooges".

5. Turns to swing: AT-BATS. Baseball. "Turns" here is a misleading noun.

6. Measuring instruments: GAUGES

7. Cartoon hunter: ELMER (Fudd). He hunts Bugs Bunny.

8. Snort: NIP. Did not know "snort" can mean "a quick drink of liquor".

10. Early 15th century year: MCDVI. 1406. Roman numeral, I fear not!

11. Dealer's query: YOU IN?

13. City SSE of Sana'a: ADEN. Sana'a is the capital of Yemen. Aden is the only other Yemen seaport/city that I know of.

19. Text file with program instructions: READ ME. Did not come to me readily.

21. __ tent: PUP. Military term, Dennis?

23. Call during a toss: CATCH. You'd think it's HEADS/TAILS.

24. The Supremes, e.g.: TRIO

25. Engine sound: ROAR. Purr too.

30. Texter's "Yikes!": OMG

32. Rose of rock: AXL. Of Guns N' Roses.

33. Result of an ump's decision, maybe: RAIN DELAY. OK, maybe.

35. Together: AS ONE

37. Crusty entrée: POT PIE. Crusty indeed.

38. "Climb __ Mountain": "The Sound of Music" song: EV'RY

39. Invoice column hdg.: DESC. What the heck is this? Description?

43. Stew holders: CROCKS

44. They may be raised during a game: STAKES. Got the answer with Across help.

45. Pound sound: ARF. Nice rhyme.

47. Grammy winner Krall: DIANA

48. Not yet fulfilled: UNMET. Like what? Desire?

49. Sugar source: MAPLE

50. Torment: AGONY. Noun "torment".

51. Bell ringer's reply: IT'S ME

52. Artisan's work area: SHOP. And LAB (56. Chemist's work area). I am very into clue echos.

55. Food no. usually shown in milligrams: RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance)

A very special "Thank you" to our Santa Argyle for helping me through the blogging every day when my computer was sick. Also to Al who always provides me with prompt tech advices. And to Jazzbumpa and Melissa for their entertaining write-ups and awesome links. And to all of you, thank you so much for the understanding, support & comments every day. You guys make this blogging a very rewarding experience to me.

Answer grid.

C.C.