Saturday April 3, 2010 Mike Nothnagel

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 30

Multiple word entries abound in this grid. Total 16. And 14 of them are two-word, including all of those stacks of triple 9s in the upper right and lower left corners.

I liked how WISHFUL THINKING (7D. Dreamer's activity) is centered and symmetrically flanked by AS IT IS (8D. In reality) and SO CAN I (45D. Assertion from one who won't be outdone), the only 3-word answers we have today.

How did you fare today? Were you able to mind meld with the constructor in terms of cultural references? I struggled. Mike Nothnagel (in the middle, Doug Peterson on the left & Brendan Emmett Quigley on the right) is a math teacher. He's made lots of late week puzzles for the NY Times. I think this is his LA Times debut.

Across:

1. Some pilgrims: HAJIS. Pilgrims to Mecca. I can only remember the pilgrimage hadj/hajj.

6. Contests on the road: AWAY GAMES. Road games.

15. Enjoy a victory, say: EXULT

16. Ignore, as an insult: RISE ABOVE. Nice clue/answer.

17. More or less uniform: ALIKE

18. Black Sea region: ASIAN MINOR. Turkey region.

19. Holiday pie ingredients: PECANS. I've never had pecan pie.

21. Growth chart data: Abbr.: HTS (Heights)

22. __ torch: TIKI

23. Chateau __ Michelle: world's largest Riesling producer: STE. A winery in Washington. The largest single producer of Riesling wine in the US, a la Wiki. New to me.

24. Deem appropriate: SEE FIT

26. Indifferent grade: CEE. And PLUS (29. 26-Across enhancement). Enhancement made me think of Marisa Miller's boobs, which are actually real.

27. Space balls?: ORBS. Poetically. Poets calls Sun/Moon orb.

30. "Holy Toledo!": EGADS

32. Like a ward for some new hospital patients: NEONATAL. Did not come to me readily.

34. It fits in a lock: OAR. The U-shaped oarlock. I inserted KEY immediately.

35. Chat with someone on the way out?: EXIT INTERVIEW. More familiar with the term EXIT POLL.

39. Pitcher Dwight Gooden's nickname: DOC. Gimme. He's been afflicted with drug problem.

40. Home to FDR's presidential library: HYDE PARK. FDR was born there.

42. Showbiz figure: CELEB

45. Seattle Slew, vis-à-vis Swale: SIRE. Ha ha, I actually know this trivia.

46. "The nursery of England's gentlemen": ETON. Unaware of this Eton moniker.

47. Park in NYC, e.g.: AVE. Park Avenue. Good clue, though clue/answer duplication with HYDE PARK. We also have a cross-referenced RTE (57D. 47-Across, e.g.).

48. "Oops" elicitors: BONERS. Tee-hee!

50. Like "Spring" from Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons": IN E. No idea.

51. "Touch Me in the Morning" singer: ROSS (Diana). Not familiar with the song. Doesn't sound romantic as I expected.

53. "Oh no!": ACK

54. Parasite: SPONGE

56. Church rite site: ALTAR RAIL. And KNEELER (41D. Pew extension).

59. The "Demon Star": ALGOL. Arabic root. Al = The (Al Qaeda = The Base). Gol is rooted in Ghoul, the evil demon.

60. Passé reception aid: TV ANTENNA

61. Jack's partner in a 1982 #1 John Cougar song": DIANE. Here is the clip. Blank spot for me.

62. Tony award category: SET DESIGN. And SERIES (14D. Word on some Emmy awards). I liked the "award" weaving.

63. Join: ENTER. Can you give me an example of how they are interchangeable?

Down:

1. Adds in great quantities: HEAPS ON. Praise/scorn, etc.

2. Cart's wheel attachment: AXLETREE. New word to me.

3. Part of a kid's lunch from home: JUICE BOX. Scrabbly!

4. Chase on stage: ILKA. Nope. Total stranger. I was picturing a chase scene on stage.

5. WWII Mark II's: STENS. The British submachine guns used in World War II. I was ignorant of the Mark II model, or any model. Gimme, Argyle?

6. First name at Notre Dame: ARA (Parseghian). The famous football coach.

9. Baker's supply: YEAST

10. Piece of cheesecake?: GAM. Slang for leg.

11. Somewhat: A BIT

12. 1992 Wimbledon runner-up to Steffi: MONICA (Seles)

13. Called forth: EVOKED. What's the exact difference between evoke and invoke?

20. Like many a residential system: SEPTIC

25. Spark: ELAN

28. Nasty: SNIDE

30. Wasp's nest site: EAVE. I've yet to find a nest in ours.

31. Complaint: GRIPE

33. Distance covered by a first step: A TO B. No problem with parsing this time.

34. Sequences: ORDERS

36. Teacher of Adele Varens, in an 1847 novel: EYRE. Jane Eyre. I sure don't remember the little girl's name.

37. Bothering a lot: EATING AT

38. "Nope, the other thing": WRONG ONE. Another awesome clue/answer pair.

42. Stone figures: CARATS. Gem stone. Carat indicates weight, karat purity.

43. Increase in complexity, perhaps: EVOLVE

44. Vampire played by Cruise: LESTAT. Beat me. I've never seen "Interview With the Vampire".

48. Shows: BARES. Just enough. Gong Li my favorite Chinese actress.

49. Part of a deck: SPADE. Deck of card.

52. Golf hazard, often: SAND. TRAP & LAKE also have 4-letter. Ernie Els is a great bunker player. A green jacket this year definitely is not a WISHFUL THINKING to him.

55. "Enemies, A Love Story" Oscar nominee: OLIN (Lena). I peeked at the answer sheet.

58. PC-to-PC system: LAN (Local Area Network)

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday April 2, 2010 Don Gagliardo

Theme: Pseudo-Opposite - Words that start with a non-functioning reversing/negative prefix are punnily re-interpreted and clued as if the prefixes were real.

20A. Caucus member changing his mind about a candidate?: DENOMINATOR. The caucus member nominates, then de-nominates, hence he/she is a de-nominator.

30A. For the real thing?: ANTIPHONY. Antiphony (an-TIF-uh-nee) is "alternate or responsive singing by a choir in two divisions". New word to me. Anti phony. Pronunciation stress shift.

49A. Took back one's story?: UNRELATED. Related a story, then un-related ("Took back").

58A. Downsizing result?: DISPOSITION. Being disposed? I don't get this one.

Perhaps Al/Bob can tell us which prefixes are of Latin origin and which ones are of the Greek root.

So many other prefixes have the same "opposite" meaning: a (atypical), il (illegal), im (impersonal), in (inexpensive), ir (irrelevant), all placed in front of an adjective and its derivative noun.

Don "Hard G" plays piano (so does our editor Rich Norris), so quite a few music references in the grid:

19A. Bach's "__ the G String": AIR ON. The clip sounds familiar. Al might have linked it before.

45A. Key of Chopin's "Military Polonaise": A MAJOR. Got the MAJOR part easily.

52A. Carry __: A TUNE

2D. Swiftly, to Solti: ALLEGRO. Alliteration.

3D. Name associated with three Beethoven overtures: LEONORA. No idea. Wikipedia says Leonore is the original title of Beethoven's opera Fidelio, in which Leonara is disguised as a prison guard named "Fidelio" and rescues her husband Florestan from death in a political prison.

8D. Axton of country: HOYT. Got his name via crosses.

29D. Sharp or flat: OFF KEY

33D. Budapest-born conductor Antal: DORATI. A gimme for our on-the-road Jazzbumpa. I've never never heard of this guy.

39D. Early violin maker Andrea: AMATI. No AMATI/STRAD wobbling today.

60D. Last melody?: TAPS. Last melody call in military bases.

The relatively sparse theme entries allows for plenty of six-letter (total 12) and seven-letter (total 14) fill. Dennis would love those stacks of triple 7s in each Down quadrant.

Today is the first Friday in a long long time that we don't have a add/delete/substitute a letter string theme.

Across:

1. Cotton unit: BALE. Al just mentioned that BALE can also refer to 10 reams of paper.

5. "__ is life!": SUCH

9. Earns a fink moniker: BLABS. I don't associate blab with informing.

14. Seine sights: ILES. French for islands. Alliteration and assonance.

15. Circular cookie: OREO. Alliteration.

16. "__ Breath You Take": Police hit: EVERY. Nice song.

17. Unappetizing food: GLOP

18. Like some summer days: LAZY

23. Latin 101 verb: AMO. Latin for "I love".

24. Freudian subject: EGO

25. Asgard ruler: ODIN. Asgard is the home of those Norse gods.

26. Timberlake with six Grammys: JUSTIN. He and Jessica Biel are a cute couple.

28. Pointer: ARROW

32. Took it slow: LOAFED

34. Flow partner: EBB. Ebb and flow.

35. City NW of Provo: OREM. Wanted ENID the Oklahoma city.

36. Dan'l Webster, in a Twain story: FROG. The jumping frog.

40. Take to the cleaners: SOAK. Let's have a SOAK clue contest today. Mine: Get wet. Rhyming.

43. Remote abbr.: REW (Rewind)

53. "Gimme a minute!": NOT YET

54. Babysitter's bane: BRAT

56. Bug like a dog?: BEG. Good clue.

57. Cos. with ampersands, often: RRS. Railroad companies often have ampersands in them?

61. Choosing from a lineup, briefly: ID'ING

63. Smurf elder: PAPA. Not familiar with the Smurf. Wikipedia says this fellow is 542 years old.

64. Thomas __ Edison: ALVA. Learned from doing Xword.

65. Scary words from the boss: SEE ME. Wanted FIRED.

66. Not fer: AGIN. For & Against.

67. Hammer part: PEEN

68. "To __ human ...": ERR IS. To forgive is divine.

69. Actress Sofer: RENA. Damn it, I can never remember her name. I like that shirt.

70. League of Nations muralist: SERT. Four letter muralist is always SERT the Spanish muralist. I was unaware of his League of Nations (Geneva) work though.

Down:

1. "So what?!": BIG DEAL

4. Hockey Hall of Fame nickname: ESPO (Phil). The clue means nothing to me. This ESPO guy tortures me all the time.

5. Reliable, as a citizen: SOLID.

6. Muse holding a globe: URANIA. Muse of astronomy. A globe in her left hand, a peg in the right.

7. Matisse reportedly called him "the father of us all": CEZANNE. Easy guess.

9. Endure: BEAR UP

10. VII x VIII: LVI. 7x8=56. I don't like the VI repetition. The simple "Roman 56" should be just fine.

11. Oxygenating tool: AERATOR. For the golf greens?

12. Fire retardant chemical: BROMINE. This word sounds like poison. I must be confusing it with some other chemical.

13. Case, for instance?: SYNONYM. Case is a synonym of "instance". In this case/instance. Excellent clue.

21. Yard machine: MOWER

22. Algonquin kin: OJIBWA. Just learned that Ojibwa = Chippewa.

27. Patronize: SHOP AT. And ARTSIER (42. Like a more pretentious museum patron). Patron echo.

31. "Superstation" letters: TBS

37. Hear clearly: GET

40. Common photo subject: SUNRISE. Beautiful!

41. Due in soon: ON ORDER

44. Online resource: WEB PAGE. Can't fit in Wikipedia.

46. Golden __: 50th anniversary: JUBILEE

47. Like a bogey, to a golfer: ONE OVER. I wrote down OVER PAR first.

48. Ruling: REGNANT. Same root with reign?

50. Cliff features: LEDGES. For the climbers to gain a toehold.

51. Visit unexpectedly: DROP IN

55. Yoga posture: ASANA. Maybe Lucina can show us some of her yoga pictures someday.

59. Trade punches: SPAR

62. Application form abbr.: NMI. No Middle Initial.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a happy photo of today's constructor Don Gagliardo and his beautiful wife Barbara in their backyard in the summer of 2009. Barbara loves shoes and inspired Don's great SHOE BOX puzzle.

C.C.