Thursday March 4, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: WORD CHAIN - The end of each theme answer and the start of the next consecutive one forms a common word/phrase. The whole chain series is completed by the last word of the last theme answer & the first word of the first theme answer, as indicated by the color codes.

18A. *Place to keep supplies: STOREROOM

20A. *Target at the start of a point, in tennis: SERVICE COURT

30. *Patient record: CASE HISTORY

43A. *Jump around on the sofa?: CHANNEL SURF

52A. *Flying need: BOARDING PASS

57A.*The answers to the starred clues (including this one) form a continuous one -its connections are created by the end of one answer and the start of the next: WORD CHAIN

The words/phrases formed from the word chains are: ROOM SERVICE; COURT CASE; HISTORY CHANNEL; SURFBOARDING, PASSWORD & CHAIN STORE.

Hey gang, it's Dennis. I'm honored to have been asked to blog this puzzle, as it's from our late friend Dan. Very much a fun puzzle, with clever cluing and a theme that should bring back some memories for us.

Back in September last year we were playing a Sausage Sentence Link game on the blog. In our game, the starting letter of your sentence had to be the same as the ending letter of the prior poster's. Dan enjoyed our game so much that he made a special comment on a non-Dan Naddor puzzle day. Here is what he said:

"Hi everyone. I couldn't help but notice the fun you folks are having with your Sausage Link sentences. Especially the "spicy" links. Anyway, I thought you'd like knowing Rich N. recently approved a puzzle of mine that will remind you very much of your SL game. File this message under "coming attractions" (and I'm sure that phrase will get play, too, right?)"

I feel like this one's just for us. Hard to believe it's been over two months since Dan passed away. Still think about him every time I do a puzzle.

Across:

1. Ricochet: CAROM. This guy is either incredibly lucky or incredibly unlucky.

6. 1040EZ issuer: IRS. I love the IRS. No finer organization in the world. Yep, they're the best.

9. Bump off: WHACK. Right on the heels of 'thwack' this week.

14. Single-handed: ALONE

16. Controversially, Jane Fonda visited it in 1972: HANOI. And unfortunately, they let the bitch leave.

17. Check, as a bill: RE-ADD

22. Nickelodeon explorer: DORA.

23. Start of a basic piano lesson scale: CDE. Do, re, mi. I'm sure the musicians here can explain this one better than I.

24. Head, slangily: NOB. Nope. Not gonna go there. But you know.

27. Asia's __ Darya river: AMU. Here.

33. Ore-Ida morsel: TATER TOT. Ah yes, a fine epicurean meal, with melted cheese and sour cream. And check these out!

35. Golden __: AGER. Defined as "an elderly and often retired person usually engaging in club activities."

36. Exchange: TRADE. I do it all the time with sports cards. Just like being a kid again.

37. Hide-hair connector: NOR. Hide nor hair (a trace).

39. Old way to get a number: DIAL O. Pre-buttons, pre-411.

40. "I don't want to be remembered for my tennis accomplishments" speaker: ASHE. One of my favorite Ashe quotes: "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost. "

41. At 41, Kipling was the youngest one ever in his field: NOBELIST. He also turned down knighthood. Another Kipling reference is KIM (13D. Kipling's young spy). In the novel of the same name.

47. Society-page word: NEE.

48. Kal __: pet food: KAN. Been around since 1936; they initially operated as a horse-kill enterprise, owned by a Californian who bred thoroughbreds and promoted race horses.

49. Actress Longoria: EVA. Nothing desperate about her.

50. New Mexico art colony: TAOS. Is Taos the only art colony in New Mexico?

60. Order-restoring tool: GAVEL. And Harry Anderson used it well.

61. São __, Brazil: PAULO. Largest city in Brazil.

62. Homer's bartender: MOE.

63. Twin Cities suburb: EDINA. Just southwest of Minneapolis.

64. When some nightly news shows begin: AT TEN.

65. Next yr.'s alums: SRS.

66. Prepared: READY.

Down:

1. Traffic causes?: CARS. Great clue.

2. Sheltered, at sea: ALEE.

3. Pride warning: ROAR.

4. Like Netflix flicks: ON DVD. Or streaming right to your computer. Anyone doing this?

5. So-so: MEDIOCRE. Not a good way to be.

6. Available and fresh: IN SEASON. Some melons are always in season.

7. Coll. drillers: ROTC

8. Kiss: SMOOCH. Pucker up!

9. "__ the beef?": WHERE'S. Right here, Clara.

10. Stag: HART.

11. "Is that __?": A NO.

12. Loving murmur: COO.

19. Designer Gernreich: RUDI. Famous for inventing both the topless swimsuit and the thong swimsuit. And no Nobel Prize for him??

21. Demo ending?: CRAT. Ending of the word Democrat. I can hear the groaning already.

24. Result of an unsuccessful football play, perhaps: NO GAIN.

25. End of a threat: OR ELSE.

26. One way to learn: BY ROTE.

27. Go after: ATTACK.

28. Actress Mason: MARSHA. What's your favorite performance of hers? I thought she was great in "The Goodbye Girl", and in a multi-episode arc in "Frasier" as John Mahoney's girlfriend.

29. Jazz fan?: UTAHAN. Utah Jazz (NBA).

31. Stiff collars: ETONS.

32. Shadow: TAIL.

34. Paradise: EDEN. This will have to do for me, for the next week or so, anyway. Assuming I won't need a freaking parka.

38. Stand-up acts: ROUTINES.

39. Windshield-clearing aid: DEFOGGER.

42. __ muffin: BRAN.

44. Many an ex-lib: NEOCON. Neoconservative. Ex-lib = Ex-liberal.

45. Cole Porter's "Well, Did You __?": EVAH. From "High Society".

46. St. Louis NFLers, previously: LA RAMS. Never understood why they didn't make it in LA.

51. Black card: SPADE. Deck of cards.

52. Roof shingles unit: Abbr.: BDLE. Short for "bundle', of course, which is how they're packaged and sold.

53. Christian name?: DIOR. Christian Dior. The fashion designer.

54. Sports shoe brand: AVIA. Latin for "fly". An underrated brand - they make an excellent sneaker.

55. iPhone command: SEND.

56. More than amuse: SLAY. We saw this not too long ago, remember?

57. FDR program: WPA. The Works Progress (or Projects) Administration - it employed millions to work on Public Works projects.

59. Dirt road feature: RUT.

Hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did.

Answer grid.

Dennis

Wednesday March 3, 2010 Ken Bessette

Theme: The Ayes Have It - The last word of each theme answer rhymes with "ayes".

17A. Fibs: LITTLE WHITE LIES. IES spelling.

25A. Seductive peepers: BEDROOM EYES. YES variation. Or is it eyes?

45A. Like large cereal boxes: ECONOMY SIZE. IZE form.

57A. 1963 Elvis hit with the lyrics "You look like an angel ... but I got wise": DEVIL IN DISGUISE. ISE alteration.

Any more long "I" spelling alternatives? I've never heard of Elvis' song "Devil in Disguise". Man, he looks so handsome in that clip.

This puzzle reminded me of Dan Naddor's "Great Food" puzzle. All theme answers end with /ood/ pronunciation, different spellings of course: CAME UNGLUED, POOH-POOHED, FRESHLY BREWED, BUMMER, DUDE, TAKE-OUT FOOD.

Today's is our third Ken Bessette since the TMS switch in March 2009. I enjoyed very much his last STOUT puzzle, in which STOUT is clued as "Heavy brew, and a clue to this puzzle's theme and ST is cut out from all the theme phrases. Very clever interpretation of ST OUT.

When did you catch the theme? I did not glom onto it until I completed the grid.

Across:

1. Hit bottom?: SIDE B. D'oh, hit record. Got me immediately.

6. Irritate: MIFF

10. Excessive elbow-benders: SOTS. Did not know "elbow-benders" means heavy drinkers.

14. Put down: ABASE

15. Sandy color: ECRU

16. World's largest furniture retailer: IKEA. True!

20. Author LeShan: EDA (Thanks, Hahtool!)

21. "Bad" cholesterol letters: LDL. The "good" one is HDL.

22. Scrooge creator: DICKENS (Charles)

23. The first film it aired was "Gone with the Wind": TCM (Turner Classic Movies). Unaware of this trivia.

24. Inauguration Day events: GALAS. I bet there were a few went uninvited at Obama's Inauguration galas.

32. A car with this is often easier to resell: ONE OWNER

33. What quibblers split: HAIRS. Split hairs.

35. Asian on the Enterprise bridge: SULU. Played by George TAKEI, who was just in our crossword the other day. Enterprise is the ship in "Star Trek".

36. Deadens: DAMPS

39. Spanish hand: MANO. Mano-a-mano (one on one) is literally "hand to hand". I used to think it's "man to man".

40. Seagoing mil. training group: NROTC (Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps)

42. Montgomery native: ALABAMAN. Who are the most famous Alabamans?

44. His, to Henri: SES. His or her or its.

48. Online suffix with Net: SCAPE. Netscape. Belongs to AOL. Does anyone actually still use Netscape as browser?

49. Some dashes: ENS. Sometimes it's EMS.

50. Like test papers awaiting grading: IN A PILE. Nice answer, though PILE appears in the clue for AMASS (34D. Pile up)

53. __ chi ch'uan: TAI. Chinese martial art. Cantonese spelling. Mandarin Chinese is Tai Ji Quan. Very scrabbly.

54. Swell, slangily: FAB

61. Signaled backstage, perhaps: CUED

62. "The Da Vinci Code" star: HANKS (Tom). I liked the book more.

63. Shake, as a police tail: LOSE

64. TV's tiny Taylor: OPIE. Another triple alliteration.

65. Typical O. Henry ending: TWIST.

Down:

1. Black Friday store event: SALES. Mayhem!

2. Term paper abbr.: IBID. "Ditto".

3. Excel input: DATA

4. Part of i.e.: EST. Latin "id est" (i.e.).

5. Easily heard herd leader: BELL COW. We also have MAA (29. Barnyard sound). So many lambing in Windhover's farm. Ewe got to be kidding.

6. Feeble cry: MEWL. Baby cry.

7. German "I": ICH. Ich liebe dich.

8. "Dragnet" sergeant: FRIDAY. Sergeant Friday.

9. Useless: FUTILE

10. Jockey's wear: SILKS. Light.

11. Steinbeck migrant: OKIE

12. Suffix with four, six, seven and nine: TEEN. Felt silly not getting the answer immediately.

13. Say freshly: SASS

18. __ Dantès, the Count of Monte Cristo: EDMOND. One of my favorite books.

19. PayPal "currency": E-CASH

23. Brook fish: TROUT. Freshwater fish.

24. On point: GERMANE. Don't see this word in grid often.

25. Cap'ns' subordinates: BO'S'NS. Boatswains. The warrant officers (warship) or petty officers (merchant ship). Never know where to put those apostrophes.

26. Make used (to): ENURE

27. Apollo's birthplace, in Greek myth: DELOS. Birthplace of Artemis too, since they are twins.

29. Home of the Hurricanes: MIAMI. The University of Miami sports team.

30. Cuban-born TV producer: ARNAZ (Desi). Husband of Lucille Ball.

31. United: AS ONE

37. Mideast political gp.: PLO

38. No different from, with "the": SAME AS

41. De Beers founder Rhodes: CECIL. Founder of the Rhodes Scholarship as well. I wonder why he named the company "De Beers".

43. When "They Drive," in a 1940 Raft/Bogart film: BY NIGHT. I've never seen "They Drive By Night". I spotted our crossword stalwart Ida Lupino.

46. Cat of many colors: CALICO. Many colors indeed. The clue is a play on "Coat of many colors", the clothes Joseph owned.

47. Demand from a door pounder: OPEN UP. Frightening!

48. Vindictiveness: SPITE

50. Superstar: IDOL

51. Pixar clownfish: NEMO. "Finding Nemo".

52. Alamo competitor: AVIS. Car rental.

53. Ocean motion: TIDE

54. Done, to Dumas: FINI. Another alliteration.

56. "__ in Show": BEST

58. __ gratia: by the grace of God: DEI. So easy to confuse "Dei gratia" with "Deo gratias (thanks to God").

59. Mich.-based labor group: UAW (United Automobile Workers)

Congratulations to our LAT constructor Fred Jackson for his Newsday debut today.

Answer grid.

C.C.