Sunday January 24, 2010 Gail Grabowski

Theme: Gross Word - Letter C in common phrases is changed into letter G.

27A. Tammany Hall expo?: GRAFT FAIR. Craft Fair. Wikipedia says Tammany Hall served as "an engine for graft and political corruption". And the term "Tammany Hall" is now used to refer to a corrupt system of buying or controlling votes.

29A. Result of a run?: STOCKING GAP. Stocking Cap. A bit of clear nail polish can fix the stocking run.

52A. Glutton for fuzzy fruit?: PEACH GOBBLER. Peach Cobbler. Sweet! My favorite theme entry today.

79A. Low-priced drink holder?: ECONOMY GLASS. Economy Class.

105A. Mr. Clean?: GRIME SOLVER. Crime Solver.

109A. Telemarketing at dinnertime?: PHONE GALL. Phone Call. Gall indeed.

37D. Award for the best flop?: GOLD TURKEY. Cold Turkey. Flop = Turkey. Fun answer.

42D. Kid in a ditch?: TRENCH GOAT. Trench Coat. Kid = young goat. Thought of Windhover and his kidding/lambing.

Normally I love the theme titles on Sunday puzzles. Always clever, succinct and to the point. Not today though. I was expecting real "gross" words embedded in each theme entry. The "Gross Word" & "Crossword" play somehow does not work for me.

The theme concept itself is marvelous. All the original base phrases are common and solid. Sometimes an unfamiliar idiom or slang can stump a non-native speaker in understanding and the subsequent appreciating of the rationale/cleverness of the newly formed theme phrase.

There's always a simple & quiet elegance with Gail's puzzles. They seldom intimidate me (I nailed most of her tricky wordplay today) and I often feel fully engaged. Sometimes I zone out halfway on Sunday puzzles. Had to peek at the answer sheet for a few person's names.

Across:

1. Junk, e.g.: BOAT. Did not fall into the MAIL trap.

5. Lawrence's men: ARABS. "Lawrence of Arabia".

10. Adapter letters: AC/DC

14. Sired: BEGOT

19. High style: UPDO. High hair style.

20. Principle: TENET

21. Stadium replaced by Citi Field: SHEA. The old Mets' stadium. Replaced in 2009.

22. Brand on a range: AMANA

23. Hard to fathom: DEEP

24. Monthly reading for some: METER. Utility meter.

25. Markers: IOUS. New meaning of "markers" to me.

26. Railroad car: DINER

31. Before now: EARLIER

32. Cultivate: RAISE. And GREW (105D. Cultivated). I am very into clue weaving.

33. Talk about salvation, e.g.: Abbr.: SER (Sermon)

36. Wealthy widow: DOWAGER. Someone please count the total alliteration in this puzzle.

40. Childish retort: AM TOO

43. Single-minded sort: NERD

44. Excuse that's often exaggerated: SOB STORY. Got me.

45. Mystery writer Nevada: BARR. Sure a mystery to me. Have never heard of this writer. She was born in Nevada.

46. "Quit fidgeting!": BE STILL

49. Gp. that supports malpractice damage award limits: AMA. So do I.

50. Sculptor Nadelman: ELIE. Nope. Another mystery figure to me. Elie is Hebrew for "high".

51. Thing to grind: AXE. An axe to grind.

55. Inferior cookware: TIN POTS

57. Day-care charges: TOTS. My sister-in-law owns a Day-care center.

58. Put in stacks, say: SORT. So simple in retrospect.

61. Dais VIP: EMCEE

62. 2009 A.L. MVP Joe Mauer, e.g.: TWIN. Hmm, this is for KQ and me. Thanks, Gail/Rich.

66. Pirate's loot: SWAG. Slang.

68. Makeup item: ROUGE

71. Ones acting badly: HAMS. Every actor hams, bad or good.

73. It's sometimes enough: ONCE. Once is enough.

75. Like Dorothy's magical shoes: RUBY RED. Silver in the original novel. Ruby red films better.

77. Identify: PEG

84. Frat party supply: KEG. And BEER (8D. Brewski).

85. Wide-eyed: AGOG

87. "Told you so!": SEE?

88. "Too much information!": SPARE ME. What I always want to say to Jose Canseco.

89. __ majesty: high treason: LESE. Literally "injured" in French.

90. Open-bodied antique auto: ROADSTER

92. Verve: ELAN

93. Vestibule: FOYER

94. Posh properties: ESTATES. Alliteration again. Posh Spice jumped into my mind first.

95. Font flourish: SERIF. Another alliteration.

97. Film noir blade: SHIV. The prison knife.

100. Carrier more likely to be tipped: CANOE. Very descriptive clue.

101. Accumulates: PILES UP. Put in AMASSES first.

112. Burn slightly: SEAR. Or CHAR.

113. Ad infinitum: NO END

114. Utah ski resort: ALTA. The name escaped me. Close to the Salt Lake City.

115. Cybermemo: E-NOTE. I'd like to see E-LOVE someday.

116. Nail to the wall: HANG

117. Oklahoma native: OSAGE. O Sage!

118. Jupiter neighbor: MARS

119. Lost strength: WANED

120. Affectedly flamboyant: ARTY

121. Try to prevent: DETER. And HINDER (98D. Impede).

122. Dutch cheese: EDAM. Named after the Dutch town where the cheese was first produced.

Down:

1. Move slightly: BUDGE

2. Verdi work: OPERA. Have not seen AIDA for a while.

3. "Be __ ...": start of a polite request: A DEAR

4. Penthouse place: TOP FLOOR

5. Charge for cash: ATM FEE. Sigh. ATM itself or ATM combined answer often give me fits, no matter how easy it's clued.

6. Get back, as lost trust: RE-EARN. And RE-RIG (32D. Get (a ship) ready to sail again). One RE prefix is enough.

7. Start to knock?: ANTI. Start of the word antiknock. Nailed it.

9. Orchestra sect.: STR (String)

10. The way things stand: AS IT AS

11. Go for: CHOOSE

12. Court tie: DEUCE. Tennis court.

13. Port container: CASK. "Port" here is wine.

14. Half of a "Which do you want first?" pair: BAD NEWS. Great clue/answer. I always want good news first. You?

15. Leave the country, perhaps: EMIGRATE

16. Turf controller: GANG. And EDGER (70D. Turf tool). Another clue weaving.

17. Draft status: ONE A

18. Infield protector: TARP. Baseball reference is always welcome!

28. DVR brand: TIVO

29. Urban play area: SANDLOT

30. Indicators of equal pressure: ISOBARS

35. Adam's third: SETH. Brother of Abel and Cain.

36. Capitol cap: DOME. Another alliteration.

38. One of a noted quintet: ERIE. The five Great Lakes "quintet".

41. Saying: MAXIM

43. White House advisory gp.: NSC (National Security Council)

44. Topping for chips: SALSA

46. Push in some chips: BET

47. Right direction?: EAST. Right on the map. My favorite clue today.

48. Heavily financed deals, briefly: LBOS (Leveraged Buyouts)

52. Pound product: POEM. Pound here is poet Ezra Pound.

53. Incidentally, in chat rooms: BTW

59. Heavenly bodies: ORBS. Poetically.

60. Hall of Fame goalie Patrick __: ROY. No idea. Don't follow hockey.

63. Beau: WOOER

65. Two-stripers, e.g.: Abbr.: NCOS

67. Fat unit: GRAM. 1 G = 9 calorie.

69. Ninnies: GEESE. Wanted ASSES again.

72. Sonnet sections: SESTETS. The last six lines of a sonnet.

74. Augustus, for one: EMPEROR. Augustus was the first emperor of the Roman Empire.

76. Benefit: USE

77. Whittle: PARE

78. Bigheads: EGOS

80. Bocce pair?: CEES. There are a pair of letter Cs in the word Bocce.

81. Certain Ivy Leaguer: YALIE

82. 1980s-'90s women's tennis player who was #1 for a record total of 377 weeks: GRAF (Steffi). And LOVE GAME (89D. Shutout for 82-Down). Shutout game.

83. Actor Cariou: LEN. Easy guess.

86. Sydney salutation: G'DAY MATE. For Kazie.

91. Drenched: STEEPED

93. Grind, in a way: FILE. Oh, nail.

95. Scholar: SAVANT

96. Get-up-and-go: ENERGY

97. Spot remover: SPONGE

100. Spelled-out: CLEAR

102. Dressing recipient: SALAD. Love Waldorf Salad.

103. Part of UHF: ULTRA. UHF = Ultra High Frequency. Not a familiar abbr. to me.

104. Suffix with proto-: PLASM. Suffix meaning "tissue"/"living substance".

106. Sofer of soaps: RENA. One more alliteration.

107. Pic to click: ICON

108. Org. concerned with ergonomics: OSHA

109. Masquerade (as): POSE

110. Pressure: HEAT. Why? I don't get it.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday January 23, 2010 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None

Total blocks: 36

Total words: 70

This puzzle is anchored by three 15-letter grid-spanning colloquial idioms:

17A. Words of consolation: YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL. You win some, you lose some.

36A. "Don't cry over spilt milk": WHAT'S DONE IS DONE. Can't change the past.

54A. Sassy reply to criticism: IT'S A FREE COUNTRY! I'll do what I please!

Excellent entries, aren't they?

Alas, the rest of the fill and clues do not awe me as much. My multi-word woe continued. Some of the answer phrases are just not in my vocabulary and a few clues are simply too vague for my knowledge and enjoyment.

Felt like walking on ice the whole solve. Maybe it's solid ground for Dennis.

Across:

1. Cellbound?: IN PRISON. Bound in prison cell. Thought it might be mobile phone related.

9. Activates: TRIPS. Like "trip a switch". My hats off to you if the answer came to you immediately.

14. Sanctioned: VALIDATED

16. Brownish pigment: SEPIA. The old photo color.

19. Group with PCPs: HMO. PCP: Primary-Care Physician.

20. Día de San Valentín sentiment: TE AMO. "I love you" in Spanish. Día de San Valentín = St. Valentine's day.

21. Carbon compound: ENOL. Carbon is the same as organic, isn't it?

22. Boardroom illustration: CHART

24. Letter-shaped hardware used to strengthen joints: T- PLATE. Like this.

26. Fish also called a blue jack: COHO. Only know it as "Silver salmon". Does have some blue hue.

28. Bravo maker: FIAT. Not familiar with Fiat Bravo.

29. See a pro, say: TAKE LESSONS. Nope, did not come to quickly.

33. __ blue: SKY

38. Vague quantity: ANY. FEW too.

39. Fish tales: TALL STORIES. And LIED (48A. Wasn't true).

40. Chilean bread: PESO. The "bread" in late week puzzles often refer to money.

41. Submit formally: FILE

42. Back on the water: ASTERN. Back of a boat. Opposite bow.

45. Good thing to be up to: SNUFF. Idiom: "up to snuff". Nailed it.

49. __ Peters, author of Brother Cadfael mysteries: ELLIS. No idea. Pseudonym of British author Edith Mary Pargeter. See the book cover.

51. Intercepting device: TAP

58. Big name in falsetto: VALLI (Frankie). Of "The Four Seasons".

59. Street hazard: OPEN SEWER. I just felt so dumb.

60. Take out, in a way: ERASE

61. View for 6-Down: TREE TOPS. And SANTA (6D. Flier over 61-Across).

Down:

1. Creeper: IVY

2. Sodium hydroxide, in chem class: NAOH. Only know the sodium symbol NA.

3. Juicy fruit: PLUM

4. Bounce: RICOCHET

5. State with a panhandle: Abbr.: IDA. So many states with panhandles. The clue typifies the "could be this, could be that" toughness of the whole grid.

7. Web-footed mammal: OTTER

8. Not experienced in: NEW AT

9. Literary monogram: TSE (T.S. Eliot). The first person who popped into my brain.

10. Do a foundry job: REMELT. Did not know the meaning of "foundry".

11. Old toothpaste with a spokesbeaver: IPANA. "Brusha, brusha, brusha".

12. Fly: PILOT

13. Maison room: SALLE. French for "room". Maison is "house". I misread as "Mason room".

15. Not too smart: DIM

18. Out of the running: NOT IN IT. Not fond of any "Not ..." answer. Opens doors for NOT FULL, NOT UGLY, NOT SEXY, anything not. Arbitrary-prone.

23. Arm holder?: HOLSTER. Firearm. Loved the clue.

25. Falsely present (as): PASS OFF

26. Four-time Oscar-winning lyricist: CAHN (Sammy)

27. Fine: OKAY

28. Antagonists: FOES

29. Defunct carrier: TWA. Howard Hughes's airline.

30. "Roots" Emmy winner: ED ASNER. He played Captain Davies on "Roots". I need "Lou Grant" to make the fill a gimme.

31. Helpless?: SOLO. Nice clue.

32. NBC hit since '75: SNL

33. Land: SOIL

34. Joint with a cap: KNEE

35. "Works for me": YES

37. Fisherman's aid that floats with the current: DRIFT NET. New to me.

40. Rides on a path, perhaps: PEDALS. Perhaps, yes.

42. Full of energy: ALIVE

43. Indian strings: SITAR

44. Magnetic induction unit: TESLA. Named after Nikola Tesla.

45. Nodded: SLEPT

46. More pleasant: NICER

47. Rte. through six Eastern state capitals: US ONE. US. Route 1 runs from Maine to Florida.

50. Fifth sign: LEO. Zodiac sign.

52. Welk's upbeat: A TWO. Lawrence Welk trademark count-off: "A one and a two". Beat me.

53. __ school: PREP

55. Old-fashioned word of disapproval: FIE

56. Deploy: USE

57. Vintage nos.: YRS. On wine bottle.

Answer grid.

See you tomorrow, Crucigangsters! Thanks for the word yesterday, Jerome. FYI, cruciverbalist is a person who loves crosswords. From Latin crux/cruc "cross" + verbum "word", a modern back translation of English "crossword".

C.C.