Sunday May 9, 2010 John Lampkin

Theme: Pet Food - Part of a common food/beverage item is substituted with the sound a animal makes and the resulting punny phrase is clued with question marked appropriate animal name and the food/beverage hint.

23A. Duck's snack?: GRAHAM QUACKER. Graham Cracker. Duck quacks. This is the only theme entry where the pun is not really based on the pet sound "quack", but rather the pet itself "quacker".

38A. Canary's cereal?: SHREDDED TWEET. Shredded wheat. Canary tweets.

71A. Dog's creamer?: ARF AND ARF. Half and Half. Arf is the dog bark sound.

101A. Owl's beverage?: HOOT CHOCOLATE. Hot Chocolate. Owl hoots.

122A. Chick's first course?: SPLIT PEEP SOUP. Split Pea Soup. Chick peeps.

3D. Sheep's eggplant dish?: BAA BAA GHANOUJ. Baba Ghanouj (or Ghanoush). A dish I've never heard of. The constructor might have anticipated so, otherwise there would not be a direct "eggplant" hint. Hard to make eggplant taste good. Sheep baas.

59D. Cow's dessert? RASPBERRY MOOS. Raspberry Mousse. Cow moos.

From beverage to food. From first course to dessert. Lovely range of choices. Delicious theme clues too.

More entries for the hungry:

34A. __ Wafers: NILLA

50A. Hog meat: HAM. And PENS (62A. Hog hangouts). Hog echos.

31D. Browns in a pan: SEARS. Love seared tuna.

And of course, being a musician, John always sprinkles a few music references in his puzzle:

47A. B-flat equivalent: A-SHARP

74A. Cavaradossi's lover: TOSCA. The Puccini opera.

116A. Third degree of a musical scale: MEDIANT. New word to me. And PH. D (49D. Third deg.?). Bachelor. Master & Ph.D. Third degree echo.

55D. Vivaldi's hour: ORA. Italian for "hour".

56D. Pachelbel's "__ in D Major": CANON. Waiting for Jazzbumpa to find a perfect link.

114D. "__ in Calico": Crosby song: A GAL. Here is a clip. I was ignorant of the song.

I've highlighted in green all the cross-references and clue echos, John's hallmark. I also noticed that there's not even one cheater/helper square in the whole grid.

Across:

1. Outback developer: SUBARU. Immediately thought of Kazie and Australia.

7. Like students on finals eve: UP LATE

13. Turn over with faith: ENTRUST

20. Pain relief brand: ANACIN. And OTC (90. Like 20-Across, briefly) & ACHE (4D: 20-Across target).

21. Bit of inclemency: SHOWER

22. Have advance knowledge of, as the future: SEE INTO

25. Crossword whose answers contain all 26 letters, e.g.: PANGRAM. We've seen quite a few from Barry Silk.

26. Jeer: GIBE

27. Play narrated by a stage manager: OUR TOWN. The Thornton Wilder play.

28. Half of a Pacific island: BORA. Bora Bora.

29. Supermarket ID: UPC (Universal Product Code). And MDSE (33. Gds). Merchandise. Would prefer "Goods: Abbr.".

30. Ecol. watchdog: EPA

31. Give and take: SWAP. Nice clue.

32. Je t'__: I love you, in France: AIME. Wo Ai Ni, in Chinese.

36. Blind alley: DEAD END. And TOMCATS (19D. Alley prowlers). Alley echo.

42. 1998 biopic about model Carangi: GIA. Played by Angelina Jolie.

43. Camelot charger: STEED. Alliteration.

45. Like sirens: SEXY

46. Long-shot winners defy them: ODDS. Nailed it.

51. Stair posts: NEWELS

53. "Alice in Wonderland" (2010) star Wasikowska: MIA. Total stranger to me. An Aussi.

57. Garden party hiree: CATERER

64. Film with Bond girl Honey Ryder: DR. NO. Honey Ryder sounds very DF.

65. Jason's ship: ARGO

68. 1998 Olympics city: NAGANO. Winter Olympics.

69. Beak: SNOOT

75. Fresh: UNUSED

77. Picked do: AFRO

78. Aptly named beam: Z-BAR. No idea. Shaped like Z?

81. Lounging garb: PAJAMAS

83. Diner on a hill: ANTEATER. Ah, I definitely need a question mark in the clue.

86. NYC subway line named for two boroughs: BMT. Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit. Good to know.

87. Cue: PROMPT

91. __femoris: thigh muscle: BICEPS. See this diagram. I always associate biceps with upper arms. Also QUADS (24D: Thigh muscles). Where are quads, Dennis?

93. It may be filled with Londonderry air: TYRE. British spelling of tire. Londonderry is a new word to me. Adjective of London?

97. Van Gogh's confidant brother: THEO. He died a few months after Van Gogh killed himself.

98. Early Teutons: GOTHS

100. Mastodon preserver: TAR

104. Bunkers and streams, to golfers: HAZARDS. Hmm, it's the lake I fear. You can always pick up your balls along the streams.

108. Actress Rene: RUSSO. Love her in "Tin Cup".

109. Signed note: CHIT

111. Even so: YET

112. Fury: IRE

113. Facetious "Not funny": HA HA. And ROASTS (61D. Facetious tributes). Facetious echos.

119. Uma's role in "The Avengers": EMMA

120. Demand to be free: LET ME GO. I like the answer.

124. Not metaphorical: LITERAL

125. Tube: TEEVEE. Weird to see TV spelled out.

126. Service station feature, briefly: C- STORE. Silly, but I've never heard of Convenience Store abbreviated as C-Store.

127. Regal: STATELY

128. Garden tools: EDGERS

129. Equilibria: STASES. Plural of stasis. Euilibria is plural of equilibrium.

Down:

1. Declined: SAGGED. Not the "Declined" I had in mind.

5. Estuary: RIA

6. Going to seed, as grass: UNMOWN

7. Grab, as power: USURP

8. "Cool" relative: PHAT. And FAT (73. Full of flab). Alliteration.

9. In __ parentis: LOCO. Latin.

10. Like most early adolescents: AWKWARD. Nice clue.

11. __ Beanies: Little stuffed animals: TEENIE

12. Muff a grounder: ERR. Baseball.

13. Hockey's Phil, to fans: ESPO. Finally I remembered his name.

15. One paying a flat fee?: TENANT. Flat = Apartment.

17. Like printer paper: UNRULED. And STAPLED (18. Attached, as paper). Consecutive paper echo.

28. Moisten, poetically: BEDEW

35. Noted WWII photo site, briefly: IWO. Iwo Jima.

37. Diego's day: DIA. Alliteration.

38. Blockade: SEAL OFF

39. Blood: pref.: HEMA. Hemo too.

40. Biz boss: EXEC. Alliteration again. All the last three clues start with B. Not a coincidence. I can assure you.

44. Powerful D.C. lobby: THE NRA. THE got me.

47. Intensifies: AMPS UP

48. Earth shade: SIENNA. Beautiful shade! Sienna Miller has a unique style.

52. ER "Right away!": STAT. And TEMP (70. ER stat). ER echo.

58. They may need stroking: EGOS. Nailed it.

60. Bivouac: ENCAMP

63. Former Cub star: SOSA (Sammy). He spent his best years with the Cubs.

66. Martha's Vineyard paper since 1846: GAZETTE. Easy guess.

67. "Law & Order" actor: ORBACH (Jerry). His son Tony Orbach is a crossword constructor.

72. What the suspicious smell: A RAT

76. Sith lord's title: DARTH. Darth Vader.

79. Lee follower: REB. R. E. Lee.

82. Trendy London area: SOHO

84. Honk: TOOT

85. Posh: RITZY

88. Much-visited place: MECCA

89. Bear in a red shirt: POOH. ''Winnie-the- Pooh".

92. 1880s pres. monogram: CAA (Chester A. Arthur). Stumper.

93. Pulse quickeners: THRILLS

94. Touching comment?: YOU'RE IT. The tag game. Clever clue.

95. Stone name: ROSETTA. Rosetta Stone.

96. Visitors from afar, for short: ETS

98. Drop leaf support: GATE LEG. New word to me. It's defined as "a leg attached to a hinged frame that can be swung out to support a drop leaf table".

99. Stood out: SHONE

102. Stick: COHERE. Tricky clue.

103. Favored a foot: LIMPED

105. Montezuma's people: AZTECS. Montezuma is the last Aztec emperor.

106. Coyly decorous: DEMURE

107. Middle ear bone: STAPES. Also called stirrup.

110. Bull attractors: CAPES. Not interested in bullfighting at all.

115. Blessed: HOLY

117. Ring pretense: DIVE. Not familiar with this boxing term. Dictionary says it's "a false show of being knocked out, usually in a bout whose result has been prearranged: to take a dive in an early round".

118. Old Roman road: ITER

119 ""¿Cómo __?": ESTA

121. Strawberry, in the '80s: MET. Gimme. I have lots of worthless Darryl Strawberry baseball cards.

122. Véronique, e.g.: Abbr.: STE (Sainte). I've never heard of Véronique. French I presume?

Answer grid.

Happy Mother's Day!

C.C.

Saturday May 8, 2010 Tom Heilman

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 26

Quite low block count. 7-letter entries aplenty. Six in each quadrant. Clear Aye's "Pack and Stack".

But what a total disaster for me. Hindenburg crashing into the Titanic! The lower right corner was simply impossible.

So many unknown answers. Lots of unfamiliar references in the clues too. IAGO (26A. "So will I ... make the net / That shall enmesh them all" speaker) typifies the trickiness today. I know he is the "Othello" villain, but I am not acquainted with the quote at all.

Across:

1. Reacted with embarrassment, maybe: GIGGLED. Three Gs in this entry alone. I am embarrassed to say it did not come to me readily.

8. Moderate pace: JOG TROT. Unaware the existence of this term.

15. Legally gone: ON LEAVE. My first reaction is something death related.

16. Ignorant: UNAWARE

17. Spenserian beings: FAERIES. No idea. Edmund Spenser is an English poet known chiefly for his allegorical epic romance "The Faerie Queene", according to Dictionary.com. Faery is a variant of fairy.

18. Sparks resident: NEVADAN. Sparks is a city in W Nevada, E of Reno. I've never heard of it.

19. __ pro nobis: ORA. Pray for us.

20. Fry corrugation: CRINKLE. I know corrugation crinkle connection. But why fry? What fry?

22. Company abbr.: INC

23. Undersized one: RUNT

25. Nearly a billion people live in them: SLUMS. Wow, that's way more than I thought. The plural "them" and "Nearly a billion" in the clue did not prevent me from thinking of China (1.3 billion people). Felt stupid!

27. Rhone tributary: ISERE. Flowing from the Alps to the Rhone River. I drew a blank.

29. Janeane's co-star in "The Truth About Cats and Dogs": UMA (Thurman). Fun movie.

30. Asked for a hand?: ANTED. Oh, poker hand.

31. Excite: THRILL

33. Seen from above, as a view: BIRD'S EYE

35. In person: BIG AS LIFE. I've only heard of the idiom "bigger than life".

37. Deceptive lingo: JIVE TALK. Didn't know the "deceptive" connotation.

40. Carbohydrate used in jellies: PECTIN. It's stuff that makes jelly jell. Who knows they are carb? Well, maybe Al & Jazzbumpa do.

44. Chilled: ON ICE

45. Abner's radio partner: LUM. "Lum and Abner". Not in my radar.

47. Prefix with graphic: ETHNO. Ethnographic. New word to me.

48. Court org.: USTA (United States Tennis Association). Tennis court.

49. Techies' campus hangout: PC LAB

51. They can get high: SEAS. Stumped me. High seas are the open seas of the world outside the territorial waters of any nation. I was thinking of alcohol or drugs.

52. FDR home loan gp.: NHA (National Housing Agency). Outside my ken also.

53. Become payable: FALL DUE. Is this a real phrase?

55. Austin-to-Del Rio dir.: WSW. Got me also.

56. Make notes?: COMPOSE. Musical note.

58. Scholarly: ERUDITE

60. Italian colony from 1890 to 1941: ERITREA. Oh, I thought it's a French colony, like so many countries in Africa.

61. Frenzied fits: DELIRIA. Again, only knew the singular delirium.

62. Chamber group member?: SENATOR. Man, I was definitely not in the legislative chamber direction.

63. Watching carefully: ON ALERT

Down:

1. "Don't miss this chance": GO FOR IT. Just had this fill yesterday. Clued as "Words of encouragement".

2. Hurrying along: IN A RUSH. I instinctively knew the answer would not end in ING.

3. Information gatherer: GLEANER

4. Where BMW was born: GER (Germany)

5. Worldly: LAIC. I associate LAIC with nonclerical, not worldly.

6. Activist who said "You can kill a man but you can't kill an idea": EVERS (Medgar). Neither the quote nor the guy is known to me.

7. First "Mission: Impossible" TV production company: DESILU. The Arnaz-Ball studio.

8. Many ad circulars: JUNK MAIL

9. Law school newcomers: ONE Ls. One L = First Year Law Student.

10. Yielded: GAVE

11. Old carrier: TWA. Howard Hughes's airline.

12. Project, as cheer: RADIATE

13. Aptly named red tabby who played Cat in "Breakfast at Tiffany's": ORANGEY. Here is a picture. I only knew Audrey Hepburn calls the cat Cat.

14. Police radio lingo: TEN CODE. Forgot. Here is Argyle's link again.

21. Knucklehead: NUMBSKULL. I am definitely feeling like one.

24. Manhattan district: TRIBECA. Portmanteau composed of the words "Triangle Below Canal Street" .

26. Spray targets: INSECTS

28. Cream of the crop: ELITE

30. Magazine revenue item: AD FEE

32. Airport on Flushing Bay, briefly: LGA. LaGuardia Airport. Was ignorant of the Flushing Bay.

34. Sewer's target: RIP. Sewer = One who sews.

36. Safe call: ALL CLEAR. Did you think of baseball also?

37. Bumps along: JOUNCES. Yet another new word. Sigh! Did you want BOUNCES also?

38. Close to the coast: IN SHORE. OK!

39. A, B or C, e.g.: VITAMIN. Another sly clue.

41. Deadline, metaphorically: THE WIRE. Again, I only know the phrase "Down to the wire".

42. Upset: IN A STIR. Is this a common phrase?

43. "A cinch": NO SWEAT. I liked the clue and the answer.

46. Managed: MADE DO

49. Public promenade: PASEO. Stumped many last time.

50. Raeburn van __, cartoonist who drew "Abbie an' Slats": BUREN. I peeked at the answer sheet. Have never heard of this guy.

53. Defense structure: FORT

54. "The Long, Hot Summer" vixen __ Varner: EULA. Another total stranger. This poster looks hot. What's the title of that song with lyric "... making love on a long, hot summer's night"?

57. Class action gp.?: PTA. Saw this clue somewhere before.

59. "Rugrats" infant: DIL. Absolutely clueless.

Answer grid.

C.C.