Sunday January 31, 2010 Matt Skoczen

Theme: Running on Empty (M.T.) - Letters M & T start each two-word familiar phrases.

23A. Crisp named for an opera singer: MELBA TOAST. Named after the Australian opera singer Nellie Melba.

25A. Illusion: MAGIC TRICK

36A. Popular date destination: MOVIE THEATER

51A. 1936 Chaplin classic: MODERN TIMES. Also EXILE (19A. Charlie Chaplin, from 1952 to 1972).

72A. Frankie Laine chart-topper: MULE TRAIN. Doesn't ring a bell. Here is a clip.

89A. Painter's aid: MASKING TAPE

105A. 1979 Nobel Peace Prize recipient: MOTHER TERESA. She was from ALBANIA (4D. NATO member since 4/1/2009).

120A. Singer's voice, e.g.: MEAL TICKET

123A. Money-making knack: MIDAS TOUCH. Esp in stock market.

Very straightforward clues and natural, easy to get & "in the language" theme answers. Sometimes those question marked theme clues and resulting wordplay answers can be a bit strained. Or hilarious if the pun works for you.

When did you cotton onto the theme? I did not grok it until I completed the whole grid and studied each theme answer. Read M & T together, they do sound like "empty".

I am guessing today's constructor Matt Skoczen loves music. Look at the below clues:

44A. __ canto: BEL. Italian for "beautiful singing". New opera term to me.

98A. Con __: briskly, in music: MOTO. Italian for "with motion". Also new to me.

29D. Calliope power: STEAM. I've never heard of musical instrument steam calliope.

70D. Musical note feature: STEM. The vertical line forming part of a note.

Most of the other non-theme clues today are straightforward and "honest". The puzzle itself feels very smooth. I really enjoyed the solving. I bet JD too.

Across:

1. Amy Winehouse Grammy-winning song: REHAB. The only Winehouse song I know of.

6. Annapolis inst.: USNA. And PLEBE (110D Annapolis newbie).

10. At least as: NO LESS

16. Apr. advisor: CPA. Apr. = IRS month.

21. Hardens: INURES

22. Leia's love: HAN (Solo). From "Star Wars".

27. Pump measure: OCTANE

30. H+ and Cl -: IONS. Charged particles.

31. Ex-Dodger Hershiser: OREL

32. Squelch: NIX

33. Narcs, e.g.: BUSTERS

35. Disconcerting look: STARE. So is GLARE.

40. They're slanted: ITALICS. Indeed.

43. Starting point, perhaps: IDEA. "Perhaps"!

45. It can span centuries: SAGA

49. Union: NORTH. Was thinking of "merger" union, not the Civil War side.

56. Bankrupt Korean automaker: DAEWOO. Dae = Great. Woo = Universe. Literally "great universe". I recognize the meaning of Korean only if they are in written in Hanja.

58. Make out: SEE

60. International show: EXPO

61. State that's home to Nike H.Q.: ORE (Oregon)

62. Powwows: TALKS. Only know the Native American ceremony meaning of "Powwow". Conference

67. Completely fall apart: GO TO RUIN

70. New Orleans player: SAINT. Hey, Haltool! Who Dat?

75. Under siege: BESET

76. Uses as partial payment: TRADES IN

78. Dark genre: NOIR. Film noir.

79. Revlon offering: SCENT. Have never tried any of Revlon's perfume.

81. Dark time for poets: E'EN. And MORNS (108A. Blake's daybreaks). British poet William Blake.

82. Cut out, e.g.: EDIT

84. French pronoun: CES. French for "these".

86. Regular crowd: USUALS

94. Fashion: STYLE

97. Choice word: ELSE. Or else.

100. Hiring term initiated under LBJ: EEO (Equal Employment Opportunity)

101. Chips follower?: AHOY. Chips Ahoy!

102. Sways while moving: CAREENS

109. Source of flowing water: OPEN TAP

111. Teeny bit: TAD. And SMIDGEN (63D Teeny bit). I totally adore clue echos.

112. Words of woe: AH ME

113. Cyan relative: TEAL. Both blue.

116. Flares up: ERUPTS

125. E-bay action: BID

126. Place for a drip, briefly: IV TUBE

127. Attacking the job: AT IT. Ah, it's back.

128. __ Bubba: gum brand: HUBBA. Have never heard of this Wrigley brand. Don't chew gum.

130. Blotto: LOOPED. Both slang for "drunk". Both new to me.

131. Endangered island flier: NENE. Hawaii's state bird.

132. Nineveh's land: Abbr.: ASSYR (Assyria). Nineveh is the ancient capital of Assyria. Its ruins are opposite Mosul, on the Tigris River, in N Iraq. Stumped me.

Down:

1. Riviera resort San __: REMO

2. Business VIP: EXEC

3. Weapon handle: HILT

5. Retro headgear: BEANIE

6. Area 51 sighting, briefly: UFO

7. "Click it or ticket" subject: SEAT BELTS

8. New Hampshire city: NASHUA. What's it famous for?

9. Experts: ARTISTS

10. Strategic math game: NIM. Surprised to learn it originated in China.

11. Broadcasting: ON AIR

12. Count player: LUGOSI (Bela). He played Count Dracula in "Dracula".

13. Hibernia: ERIN. Hibernia is Latin for Ireland. A Hibernophile is a person who loves all things Irish. I mentioned this on the blog a few times before.

14. Brief moments: SECS. Nice clue.

15. Its last flight was Nov. 26, 2003: SST. Trivia is always appreciated.

16. Former French president: CHIRAC (Jacques). Retired life is not so sweet for him, obviously.

17. Harness horses: PACERS. Dictionary defines it as "a standard-bred horse that is used for pacing in harness racing".

18. It's commonly turned: ANKLE. "It's commonly twisted" too.

24. Typical, as a case: TEXTBOOK

26. Corkscrew pasta: ROTINI. Italian for "twist".

34. Therefore: ERGO

35. Thin cut: SLIT

36. Even-tempered: MILD. Not a word to describe Dennis or Windhover.

37. Greek music halls: ODEA. Plural of odeum.

38. Shakespearean merchant Antonio et al.: VENETIANS

39. "__ Alibi": Selleck film: HER. Nope. Who's the girl?

41. Silvery game fish: TARPONS. The name escaped me. Had this clue before. Huge.

42. "Are too!" response: AM NOT

49. Nick of "Affliction": NOLTE

50. Loaf's end: HEEL

52. Vet: EX-GI

53. Ringo and George each wore one: MOUSTACHE. Came to me slowly.

54. Lake-effect snow city: ERIE

55. In the mail: SENT

57. Fairy godmother's prop: WAND

59. Garden locale: EDEN. The first garden ever.

65. Pontiac muscle car: GTO

66. __ the Red: ERIC. Or Erik.

68. Quite heavy: OBESE

69. Bausch & Lomb brand: RENU

71. High pressure __: AREA

73. Curriculum part: UNIT

74. Mars counterpart: ARES. Greek god of war.

77. Suspect: SENSE

80. Skirtlike trousers: CULOTTES. Does this girl look sexy to you?

83. Inverness topper: TAM

85. Saturated with: STEEPED IN

87. "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" author: LOOS (Anita)

88. Tofu source: SOYA

90. Wheat seed: KERNEL

91. The Philippines, to Philippe: ILES. The Philippines (Islands), to a French man.

92. Pear or apple: POME

93. Broad collars: ETONS

95. "__ durn tootin'!": YER. The redneck's equivalent of "yes, of course". I've never heard of it before.

99. Armchair partner: OTTOMAN

101. Herculean: ARDUOUS

102. One sharing the wealth?: CO-HEIR. Was thinking of DONOR.

103. Noted 1588 loser: ARMADA. The Spanish fleet. Defeated by the English navy.

106. Descendant of Noah's second son: HAMITE. No idea. Ham is the second son of Noah.

107. Singer Kitt: EARTHA. Ah, "Santa Baby" for Argyle.

108. Deadly African snake: MAMBA. Terrifying head.

113. Show saver: TIVO

114. Prefix with plasm: ECTO. Meaning "outer"/"external". Opposite "endo".

117. Taverns: PUBS

118. Frozen dessert franchise: TCBY

119. __-Pei: strong dog: SHAR. The wrinkly dog. Shar = Sand, Pei = Skin. "Sand skin" refers to its rough sandy coat.

122. "Dilbert" Generic Guy: TED. Not familiar with Ted the Generic Guy.

Answer grid.

Awesome memory tag Gessica Alba for GALBA, Lemonade, thank you! Now how about ERNANI?

C.C.

Saturday January 30, 2010 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total block: 30

Total words: 72

Tough slog again. Bogged down from the very start. Wanted CAREW instead of BOGGS (1A. Winner of five of six A.L. batting titles from 1983 to 1988). Rod Carew actually is a winner of seven batting titles and retired in 1985. Wade Boggs (Hall of Famer, 2005 Class) had a stellar career with the Red Sox. His baseball cards are very affordable, even the authenticated signed ones.

Quite a few tricky clues in the grid. My favorites are the two short ones:

49A. Serial ending?: IZE. Ending of the word serialize.

8D. Drunk's chaser?: ARD. Ard is the end of drunkard, hence the literal "chaser".

Anyway, I am now resigned to the fact that I will always have to struggle with Brad Wilber puzzles. His name equals "trouble" for me. Besides, I just can't handle themeless!

Across:

6. Produce unit: HEAD. Lettuce/cabbage, etc.

10. Mil. stores: PXS. PX = Post Exchange. Three Xs in this grid.

13. Taking undeserved credit, perhaps: ON AN EGO TRIP. Alas, my multi-word trouble continues!

16. Psychotic TV pooch: REN. And TOON (57A. 16-Across, e.g.). "The Ren and Stimpy Show". I was ignorant of the fact that Ren is a psychotic. Stimpy is the cat.

17. "Fully loaded" purchase: DELUXE MODE. I am all for basics, even my iPod is Classic.

18. "Bed-in for Peace" figure: ONO (Yoko)

19. Regress: EBB

20. Next: THEN

21. Barn loft: HAYMOW. New term to me. Dictionary says it's called hayloft.

23. Fish preparation gadgets: SCALERS

25. Like "Marley & Me": RATED PG. Have yet to see "Marley & Me". I like most of the Jennifer Aniston movies.

26. Place for wallowers: STY

27. "Heartland" autobiographer: MORT SAHL. Nice to see his full name in a grid. Not aware of his autobiography though.

28. Joes at a diner: JAVAS. Coffees.

31. Aptly named novelist Charles: READE. The English novelist. Pronounced like "read". Apt indeed then!

33. Perched: ALIT

34. Casual pants, briefly: CORDS. Corduroys.

35. Friday player: WEBB (Jack). Of "Dragnet". He played Joe Friday.

37. Footwear ill-suited for stealth: CLOGS

38. Paris's __ d'Orsay: MUSEE. My favorite place in Paris.

39. Volcanic crater feature: LAVA LAKE

41. Grafton's "__ for Noose": N IS. The only way to clue NIS.

42. Seismograph stimuli: TREMORS

43. Waltz segment: BOX STEPS. Stymied me also.

47. 1844 Verdi premiere: ERNANI. Last time Dan Naddor clued as it "Verdi title bandit". I simply forgot. The opera was based on Hugo's play "Hernani". H is silent I suppose.

48. Act as lookout for, e.g.: ABET

50. Emmy-nominated Charlotte: RAE

51. Utility offering: ENERGY AUDIT. Didn't yield readily.

54. Sch. where Buzz Aldrin got a doctorate: MIT. Unknown trivia to me.

55. Castaway's dream come true: RESCUE PLANE

56. __-pitch: SLO

58. Hand net user, perhaps: EELER. Thought eelers use pot.

Down:

1. Augurs: BODES

2. Last year of its kind: ONE BC. Oh, last non-A.D. year. I did not parse "last year" properly.

3. Nero's successor: GALBA. Will probably forget his name again next time.

4. Serengeti antelope: GNU

5. Some chamber works: SEXTETS. Group of six.

6. Geography-class mnemonic: HOMES. The Great Lakes mnemonic. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.

7. 007's alma mater: ETON

9. Hardly fair-weather friends: DIE-HARDS

10. Some limo sharers: PROM DATES

11. Anti-diversity type: XENOPHOBE. Xeno is a prefix for "alien/strange".

12. Popular paperweight: SNOW GLOBE.

14. Frank __, architect of L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall: GEHRY. Complete stranger to me. I wrote down LLOYD, thinking of Frank Lloyd Wright.

15. Missouri tributary: PLATTE

22. Thumbs-up: YES

24. Aspiring atty.'s hurdle: LSAT

25. Courses: ROADS. Was thinking of meal "courses", not "route".

27. Amalgamate: MERGE

28. Consequences of one's convictions: JAIL TERMS. Again, my mind was in "belief" convictions direction, not guilty conviction.

29. Communion line setting: ALTAR RAIL

30. Upscale Roman shopping street: VIA VENETO. No idea. Have never been to Rome. Red roses, how romantic! Via is Italian for "avenue", right?

31. Corner pieces: ROOKS

34. Its trill opens "Rhapsody in Blue": CLARINET. Should be a gimme for Jazzbumpa. I am clueless.

35. Doormat: WUSS. No WIMP wobbling for me today due to the intersection U.

37. Plant geneticist, at times: CLONER. OK.

38. Homemade cassette with assorted songs: MIXTAPE. Mixedtape is more common, no?

40. Docs' lobby: Abbr.: AMA

41. "__ hath seen such scarecrows": "Henry IV, Part I": NO EYE. Shakespeare's stuff got me all the time.

43. Red Ryder, for one: BB GUN. It's featured in "A Christmas Story".

44. Word with bore or basin: TIDAL. Don't know what a tidal bore is.

45. Paperless read: EZINE

46. Fizzle (out): PETER

48. Not pizzicato: ARCO. Musical term for performance "with a bow". Same root with "Arc". Pizzicato is plucking rather than bowing the strings. I simply forgot.

52. That, to Teresa: ESO. Penned in ESA, since Teresa is a girl's name.

53. Diminutive suffix: ULE. Like nodule.

Answer grid.

C.C.