Friday January 29, 2010 Don Gagliado

Theme: THE WALLS HAVE EARS (38A. "Be careful what you say," and a hint to a feature shared by this puzzle's perimeter answers) - The string of letters EAR can be found along the outer edges (walls) of the grid. I've circled them for illustration.

1A. Poet Edward and a king: LEARS. King Lear. My first encounter with the British poet Edward Lear.

6A. "Like Mike" actress: MEARA (Anne). Ben Stiller's mother.

11A. Make on the job: EARN

69A. Wine industry reference point: YEAR. Wine vintage.

70A. Tough test metaphor: A BEAR

71A. Promise: SWEAR

1D. Shoe co. founded in Venice Beach: LA GEAR. Stymied me.

14D. Close one: NEAR MISS

38D. Like some football jerseys: TEARAWAY. Some people go nuts bidding on those game worn smelly jerseys.

52D. Show up: APPEAR

Ten EARS on the walls, perfect! A special 16*15 grid to accommodate the 16-letter unifying theme entry THE WALLS HAVE EARS. Neat that you can't find any non-theme entry containing **EAR** in the grid.

This puzzle reminds me of Don "Hard G" Gagliado's "Shoe Store" puzzle, in which each four-square corner has a box of S H O E (arranged in counterclockwise pattern and the rotation is changed one space at a time). He has a creative & exploratory mind.

Like almost every one of his puzzle that I've blogged, today's theme concept is original and fun. Absolutely no predictability when you see his byline. Always an adventure. Don has kindly provided us the inspiration for this puzzle. Scroll down to the end of this post to read.

Across:

15. When Polonius says "brevity is the soul of wit": ACT II. From "Hamlet". Stumper for me.

16. Outdoor seating area: ARBOR

17. Old knife: SNEE. This has become a gimme.

18. Equatorial African country: GABON. I had ??BON sitting there forever.

19. Lindsay's "Bionic Woman" role: JAIME (Sommers). I just remember it as French "I love" J'aime.

20. Thompson in the Theater Hall of Fame: SADA. Sorry, have never heard of you. (Sorry for the wrong person. Here is the correct one. Thanks, Sam.)

22. Scrooge's visitors: GHOSTS

24. "Ta-ta!": LATER

25. "L.A. Law" extras: ATTS (Attorneys). And ABA (30D. Org. for 25-Across)

27. City near Provo: OREM

28. Chaos: MAYHEM

29. Swipe again?: RE-SCAN. Swipe a credit card.

31. Found, as tabloid fodder: DUG UP. Dug up the dirt.

33. Rec. label across the pond: EMI. One of the "big four" record labels.

34. The duck, in "Peter and the Wolf": OBOE. Can never remember which animal represents which instrument.

36. Liver oil source: COD

37. Home of the Big 12's Cyclones: AMES. Iowa State University.

43. Thought patterns, briefly?: EEGS. The brain tests.

44. Guitar cousin: UKE. Surprised to learn that it's pronounced like "ook", not "yook" in Hawaii. Thanks, KeaauRich! We also have HONOLULU (23D. Frequent Pro Bowl site).

45. Shade: TINT

46. Latin I word: AMO. Amo (I love), Amas (You love), Amat (He/She loves).

47. It's not on the level: SLOPE

49. Oceanic phenomenon that affects weather: LA NINA. Penned in EL NINO.

53. Baroque composer Jean-Philippe: RAMEAU. No idea. Is his hair real?

55. Jump in a rink: AXEL. Bet it's a gimme for Clear Ayes/Robin.

57. Unbalanced: A-LOP. Yep, it's a real word. Santa double-checked! Haysacks, all A-LOP.

58. Ever: AT ALL

59. Lens holders: FRAMES

61. Back talk: LIP

62. Erosive force: WIND. Erosive indeed.

63. Like candied fruits: GLACE. SWEET, anyone?

64. Revolutionary Chopin piece?: ETUDE. An intuitive fill. Not familiar with Chopin's "The Revolutionary Étude".

66. Play to __: A TIE

67. Dull: MATTE. Like some photos.

68. Where gobs go: TO SEA. Gob is slang for "sailor". Gimme for our Navy guys Frank and Spitzoov, I hope. if so, splice the main brace!

Down:

2. French card game similar to whist: ECARTE. Got me. Écarté (ey-kahr-TEY) is literally "discarded". Card game for two players.

3. Casey's turns: AT-BATS. And MUDVILLE (28D. Casey's team). Love the poem "Casey at the Bat". "... But there is no joy in Mudville— mighty Casey has struck out."

4. Ipanema's city: RIO. Maybe Argyle can find a good clip of "The Girl From Ipanema".

5. Do a number: SING. Musical "number".

6. College choice: MAJOR

7. Undid: ERASED

8. Adequate, and then some: A BIT MUCH

11. Blue book entry: ESSAY

12. Object of loathing: ANATHEMA. Know the meaning, not the exact spelling.

13. Mahdi, in Islam: REDEEMER. Mahdi (MAH-dee) is the Muslim messiah, like Jesus. New to me.

24. Sitter's offer to a tot: LAP

26. Garbage haulers: SCOWS

32. Bearded butter: GOAT. Butt-er, the one who butts. Goat butts.

35. Nevada city on I-80: ELKO. What's so famous about this city?

37. Health Net rival: AETNA. Named after the Sicilian volcano ETNA.

39. Iron ore: HEMATITE. Literally "bloodstone". Hemat(o) is prefix for "blood".

40. Dorian Gray's flaw: EGOMANIA. Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray". I cheated on this one.

41. Like exes: SEPARATE. Like the Edwards. Was amazed by the thick hair of John Edwards when I met him.

42. Bambi relative: ENA. Bambi's aunt.

47. __ Paradise, "On the Road" narrator: SAL. Nope. Have never heard of this novel.

48. Parimutuel bet: EXACTA. Picking the top two finishers in order.

50. Mishandling: ILL-USE. Same meaning as "misuse", right?

51. Shrugger's comment: NO IDEA. Well, I don't shrug my shoulders when I say so.

54. Respected one: ELDER. Esp in China/Japan, you don't argue with the elders.

56. Arab potentate: EMEER. See EMIR more often.

59. Tightening target: FLAB.

60. Jazz sessions: SETS

63. "Today" rival, briefly: GMA (Good Morning America)

65. Haul: TOW

Note from today's constructor:

“The Walls have Ears” was inspired by an episode of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I am very fond of many old cartoons, and The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle is so fun because of all of the wordplay. The particular episode that I was watching featured an office of a spy headquarters, and wallpaper that featured images of ears. A wonderful subtle touch was that although it was never said, the image hearkened to the phrase from spy movies, etc., “the walls have ears.” Naturally, I decided right there that I had to do something with that. The phrase is 16 letters long, which adds a constraint to making the puzzle. I tried for putting as many different letters before EAR as I could around the ‘walls’ of the puzzle.

An interesting sidelight is that this puzzle was submitted a long time ago, last spring I think. It had to be shelved until a reasonable time elapsed after a similar theme was published. That theme was INNER EAR, which had EAR straddling words in a phrase. So it was a surprise when Rich e-mailed me in December that I had to change the puzzle. I had an entry, HERE HERE, which is inaccurate. It should be , HEAR HEAR. An ironic fate, being that HEAR HEAR has two ears in it. It was unfortunate, because I had a really good fill going in that corner. I had to do major revisions affecting half of the puzzle. Anyway, I was able to get the present version accepted before the deadline, and I just squeaked it by for January."

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday January 28, 2010 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Sex Change - "Sex" in each familiar phrase gets a vowel change.

20A. Music lessons for Bill Clinton?: SAX EDUCATION. Sex Education. Clinton loves sax.

39A. Documentary about Chicago's relationship with its team?: SOX AND THE CITY. "Sex and the City" (TV series or the movie). Chicago White Sox.

57A. More equitable of two civil case juries?: THE FAIRER SIX. The Fairer Sex (Women). Was unaware that civil case only needs 6 jurors.

Rather unexpected theme concept. Light but amusing theme clues & answers.

My favorite is SAX EDUCATION. Received no sex education when I grew up. Sex was a forbidden topic in our school. I also laughed at SOX AND THE CITY. Great documentary title. Complicated relationship I am sure. "The City" probably loves the Cubs more.

A friendlier Thursday for me. Plenty of "fill-in-the-blank" partials definitely helped.

Across:

1. Trip with much hardship: TREK. Easy start.

5. Ampule: VIAL. Misread the clue as "Ample".

9. Bikini blast, briefly: H-TEST. No A-TEST wobbling today due to the intersecting HANOI (9D. Capital on the Red River).

14. Prefix with port: HELI. Heliport, a landing place for helicopters. I blanked.

15. FAQ responses, e.g.: INFO

16. Belittle: ABASE

18. "Gosh darn it!": RATS

19. Language that gives us "floe": NORSE. I only know Norse gives us "troll".

23. Oscar-winning role for Forest: IDI (Amin). In 2007. What's your favorite Forest Whitaker movie? Mine is "Good morning, Vietnam" .

24. PC backup key: ESC

25. Corrosion-resistant metal: IRIDIUM. Used in hardening platinum for alloys (as for surgical instruments). The suffix "ium" suggests metallic element.

29. Letter flourish: SERIF

31. Sgt. Snorkel's pooch: OTTO. Used to stump me.

33. An A will usually raise it: Abbr.: GPA

34. Science opening?: NEURO. Opening of the word neuroscience.

36. Most congenial: NICEST. Like PJB-Chicago.

42. Event with a piñata: FIESTA

43. Stuffing stuff: EIDER. Eider down. Pillow stuffing. I was thinking of Thanksgiving turkey.

44. "Exodus" hero: ARI. Learned from doing Xword.

45. At the top of the heap: BEST

47. Roman __: thinly disguised fiction: A CLEF. Real story depicted in fictional guise. Like Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar", her semi-autobiography. "Roman à clef" is French for “novel with a key.” Roman = Novel. Clef = Key.

51. Often scandalous book genre: TELL- ALL. It's a genre?

54. Dawdle behind: LAG

56. Old name of Tokyo: EDO. Before 1868.

60. With alacrity: APACE. "Alacrity" is a new word to me. I do know "celerity" though. Same meaning: "speed".

63. Ruminate: MUSE

64. Prefix with dextrous: AMBI. Ambidextrous. Prefix meaning "both".

65. Its capital is Apia: SAMOA. More often we see APIA clued as "Samoa capital".

67. Despicable: VILE

68. Almost boil: SCALD. Always associated the word with "boiling" rather than "almost boil".

69. Political cartoonist Thomas: NAST. The guy who created GOP elephant/Democratic donkey.

70. Israeli statesman Weizman: EZER. Former Israeli president Weizman in 1990s. I forgot. Hebrew name meaning "help".

Down:

1. One of Luther's 95: THESIS. Martin Luther's "The Ninety-Five Theses".

2. Like "The Day the Earth Stood Still," in 2008: REMADE. Easy guess.

3. Alchemist's creation: ELIXIR

4. Hawk family bird: KITE

5. High-tech invader: VIRUS. Took the Geek Squad guy almost two hours to get rid of the virus on my computer last time.

6. Of one mind: IN ACCORD. Very well matched.

7. Aptly named shaving lotion: AFTA. "After".

8. Became unhinged: LOST IT

10. Govt. security: T- BOND. How is it different from T- BILL again?

11. Otologist's concern: EAR

12. Org. dodged by draft dodgers: SSS. Plenty of D alliteration.

13. Driver's starting point: TEE. Golf club "driver".

21. Take down: DEFEAT

22. Did a laundry chore: IRONED. Ironing can be soothing.

26. "__ a Kick Out of You": Cole Porter: I GET. I figured it's either I GET or I GOT.

27. "__-daisy!": UPSY

28. Welcome spot: MAT. Welcome mat.

30. "What You Need" band: INXS. The Australia band. Pronounced like "in excess". I've never heard of the song.

32. Carryalls: TOTES

35. Lacking capacity: UNABLE

37. 2002 movie with Manny the Mammoth: ICE AGE. Was unaware of the movie. Is Manny the big guy?

38. Newspaper concern, esp. lately: CIRC (Circulation)

39. Bold Ruler, to Secretariat: SIRE. Unknown trivia to me.

40. Versailles eye: OEIL. French for "eye".

41. Schedules of problems to be dealt with: HIT LISTS. I always connect "hit list" with Mafia murder.

42. More than plump: FAT

46. Jenna of "Dharma & Greg": ELFMAN. Her name escaped me. She's pretty good in "Keeping the Faith".

48. Musical based on an 1862 novel, for short: LES MIZ. "Les Misérables". Who can forget Susan Boyle's "I Dreamed a Dream"?

49. Safe to put away: EDIBLE. Thought of the storage. Was ignorant of the "eat" meaning of "put away".

50. More artful: FOXIER. Not SLIER this time.

52. Henry Blake's title on "M*A*S*H": LT. COL (Lieutenant Colonel). Stumper.

53. Good place to get?: AHEAD. "Get ahead". Got me also.

55. "Give it __!": A REST

59. Uninhibited party: RAVE

60. The law, according to Mr. Bumble: ASS. No idea. From "Oliver Twist". Mr. Bumble said " The law is a ass, a idiot".

61. Lobbying gp.: PAC. NRA came to mind first.

62. Org. for GPs: AMA

Answer grid.

C.C.