Wednesday January 13, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: DEFENSE (36D. Stadium chant, and word that can follow the ends of the answers to starred clues)

16A. *Dictated reminder: NOTE TO SELF. Self-Defense.

19A. *"We must be nuts!": THIS IS INSANITY. Insanity Defense. Pleading "Not guilty by reasons of insanity".

32A. *Restricted airspace: NO FLY ZONE. Zone Defense. Basketball/football.

50. *"We answer to a higher authority" brand: HEBREW NATIONAL. National Defense. I've never heard of the kosher hot dog/sausage brand Hebrew National, made by ConAgra.

55. *Marquee name: MOVIE TITLE. Title Defense.

A healthy 63 theme squares. Heavy themage. The first two and the last two theme answers are overlapped. A feature of many of Dan's puzzles.

Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 24. Very high. Nice stacks of 7-letter Down entries in each quadrant.

My favorite clue is WMDS (51D. Scary arms, briefly). Nailed it immediately. Did fall into trap of calculating the clue for EFFS (9D. 40% of fifty). Not enough blanks for TWENTY or SCORE. Then I realized the letter play trick. There are two letter Fs in the word "fifty", hence spelled-out EFFS.

Across:

1. Dadaism co-founder: ARP (Jean)

4A. "I'm serious!": NO JOKE. Three Js in this grid.

10. Egyptian viper: ASP. The kind that killed Cleopatra.

13. Chase, in a way: WOO. Wanted RUN.

14. Supposing: EVEN IF

15. Zig or zag: VEER

18. Wrath, in a hymn title: IRAE. "Dies Irae".

21. Word with car or bumper: POOL. Have never heard of the billiards game bumper pool, which only has 2 pockets.

22. Dover's st.: DEL. Where Biden is from.

23. Skedaddles: SCATS. And SPLITS (61A. Skedaddles).

24. Derby drinks: JULEPS. Have you been to Kentucky Derby? I bet Windhover has.

26. Moor on stage: OTHELLO. The only Moor I know.

28. Beef source: STEER. Oh, real beef, not complaint.

29. Flowery welcome: ALOHA

35. First name in tyranny: IDI. Uganda's Idi Amin.

38. Donnybrook: MELEE

39. __ talk: TRASH

43. Classic TV family: NELSONS. From "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet". Stumped me.

45. Filmdom: CINEMA

46. Second of three black keys: A FLAT. No idea. I've never touched a piano.

49. Sea depleted by irrigation projects: ARAL. The Shrinking Sea.

57. Italian vineyard region: ASTI. In northwest Italy.

58. "It __ matter": DOESN'T

59. Years and years: EON

60. The Carolinas' __ Dee River: PEE. Named after the Pee Dee Tribe.

62. CD players: DJS

Down:

1. Barley bristle: AWN. Like this. Last time it's clued as "Grass appendage".

2. Destroy completely: ROOT OUT

3. Asphalt fault: POTHOLE. Nice rhyming sound.

4. Clears: NETS

5. Eggs, e.g.: OVOIDS. Always thought of "ovoid" as adjective.

6. Longtime North Carolina senator Helms: JESSE. Not fond of the clue because SEN is the answer for 31A. VIP on the Hill.

7. NBC newsman Roger: O'NEIL. Total stranger to me. Can't even find a picture of him.

8. Potter's need: KILN. Was worried that it might be Harry Potter related.

10. Shots from above: AERIALS. Was picturing snipers.

11. "Grey's Anatomy" setting: SEATTLE. The answer emerged itself.

12. Victimizes: PREYS ON

15. Country singer Gill: VINCE. What's his most famous song?

17. Actress Brennan: EILEEN. Oh, she's the terrible officer in "Private Benjamin".

20. People or region of Ghana: ASHANTI. New word to me. Only know the singer Ashanti.

21. Dr. Dentons, e.g.: PJS. Not familiar with Dr. Dentons at all. Don't wear PJS.

25. Hype: PROMOTE

26. Slip through the cracks?: OOZE. Why question mark?

33. Squishy lowland: FEN. Marshy swamp.

34. Verdi title bandit: ERNANI. The opera was based on Hugo's play "Hernani". I was clueless.

35. Piled any which way: IN A HEAP. Parallel with another 3-word entry I'LL BITE (37D. "It's a trick, but tell me"). Terrific entries.

40. Effervescent, perhaps: AERATED.

41. IHOP order: SMALL OJ

42. Dave's "2001" nemesis: HAL. The "2001" computer.

44. New York restaurateur: SARDI (Vincent). The owner of Sardi's Restaurant in Broadway.

45. Customer: CLIENT

47. Subject of contemplation?: NAVEL. Contemplate one's navel.

48. Formal "Who's there?" response: IT IS I

52. Don Knotts denial: NOOP! Easy guess.

53. Baseball's Mel and Ed: OTTS. Only knew Mel Ott.

56. Dash widths: ENS. Or EMS.

I'd like to share with you a very touching story Rich Norris (LA Times crossword editor) told me about Dan Naddor's memorial service:

"There were more than 100 chairs set up in the room. I paid little attention to the decor until the first speaker pointed out that it was not an accident that some chairs had white covers and others had black covers. When viewed from above, the black-covered chairs were in the same pattern as the black squares in Dan's last puzzle (Deliver-ANCE) published before he passed away! I thought it was a brilliant touch. "

LA Times also made available Dan's "Star Search" mentioned as one of Rich's favorites in Dan's obit.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Tuesday January 12, 2010 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Quite the Ts - Theme answers all end with homophonic Ts.

17A: Burlesque act: STRIP TEASE.

35A: University governing body: BOARD OF TRUSTEES.

59A: Baseball's Big Papi: DAVID ORTIZ.

24D: Summer coolers: ICE TEAS. (crosses 35A in the center)

Argyle here again. While the theme is mundane, it is suited to a Tuesday, unlike the somewhat esoteric Monday theme. The fit is rather scrabbly, as typical of Parrish's puzzle, only one letter Q away from a pangram.

Today's has some undertones and twists that make it fun. Besides Big Papi, there is 6D: Top pitchers: ACES., 8D: Pitcher's pinpoint control, say: ASSET., 56D: Washington team, familiarly: NATS., and 60D: Sportscaster Scully: VIN., for a taste of baseball. Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report in a month.

Low block count resulting in a very open grid today; ergo, long fills.

Across:

1A: Rating for many HBO shows: TV-MA. (MA: mature)

5A: Capital of Morocco: RABAT. Just up the coast from Casablanca.

10A: Vise parts: JAWS.

14A: Twice the radius: Abbr.: DIAM.. Diameter, a straight line passing through the center of a circle.

15A: Funds for online buys: E-CASH.

16A: Make spelling corrections to, e.g.: EDIT.

19A: Camper driver, for short: RVer. Ever hear the story about an RVer who set his motor home on cruise control then went in the back to get a cup of coffee?

20A: Baghdad's river: TIGRIS.

21A: "Tobacco Road" novelist __ Caldwell: ERSKINE. He looks like he should be a statesman.

23A: Pioneer in pistol-grip hair dryers: CONAIR.

24A: Lang. of Lombardy: ITAL.. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy, at the top of the boot.

26A: "... boy __ girl?": OR A.

27A: Anti-discrimination agcy.: EEOC. (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)

29A: Forensic evidence threads: FIBERS.

31A: Surrealist Joan: MIRO. No Comment.

33A: Allegiance: FEALTY. Akin to fidelity; Synonyms: loyalty, devotion.

41A: Tummy-tightening garment: CORSET.

42A: Sailor's patron saint: ELMO.

43A: Pour into a carafe: DECANT.

46A: __ prof.: ASST.. Don't call them TAs; they get very mad.

49A: Newbie reporter: CUB.

50A: Rose of Guns N' Roses: AXL.

51A: Resistance units: OHMS.

53A: Bathroom hangers: TOWELS. Cute clue.

55A: "You cannot be serious!" tennis great: McENROE. Clip

57A: Dolts: MORONS. And JERK (10D: Dolt).

58A: Pre-migraine headache phenomenon: AURA. Have any of us experienced this?

62A: Certain NCO: SSGT.

63A: Hoop-shaped gasket: O-RING.

64A: Picard's counselor: TROI. I saw this and said, "Oh, boy! I get to link a picture of my favorite Betazoid." Counselor Deanna Troi

65A: South Florida vacation destination: KEYS. I s'pose they didn't get that last blast of cold.

66A: Simultaneous equation variables: X AND Y.

67A: __ Kong: HONG.

Down:

1D: 100-plus-yd. kickoff returns, e.g.: TDs. (unless there is a flag on the play.)

2D: Director De Sica: VITTORIO. A leading figure in the neorealist movement.(means nothing to me) He won many awards.

3D: Tomato-based sauce: MARINARA.

4D: Pedro's girlfriend: AMIGA. Then he would be her AMIGO?

5D: Call it a night: RETIRE.

9D: Cold relief brand: THERAFLU.

11D: Recommend: ADVISE.

12D: Hot dog: WIENER.

13D: Spreads, as seed: STREWS.

18D: __-dieu: kneeler: PRIE. So you don't have to kneel on the floor to pray. A very plain one

22D: Narrow apertures: SLITS.

23D: Search high and low: COMB.

28D: Slays, mob-style: OFFS

30D: Computer memory unit: BYTE. Followed by 32D: Marine predator: ORCA., whose bite you wouldn't want.

34D: Martial __: ARTS.

36D: Blood drive participant: DONOR.

37D: Greek __ Church: ORTHODOX.

38D: City east of San Diego: EL CENTRO. Naval Air Facility El Centro historically kicks off the Blue Angels' season with their first air show, traditionally held in March. It is on the Mexican border.

39D: Liquid-in-liquid suspension: EMULSION.

43D: Table linen material: DAMASK. 'Damaske' "cloth from Damascus," the Syrian city, famous in medieval times for steel and silk.

44D: Forgive: EXCUSE. And 45D: Pastors and priests: CLERGY. (another neat pairing)

47D: Unduly formal: STODGY.

48D: Corrida competitor: TORO. Can't have a bull fight without a bull.

52D: Stiller's partner: MEARA. Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara's son is Ben Stiller.

57D: It can be changed or made up: MIND.

61D: Turn sharply: ZIG. Like a politician's mind, than zag again.

Answer grid.

A warm welcome to all newcomers!

Argyle