Sunday May 23, 2010 Pamela Amick Klawitter

Theme: They're Beside Themselves - The embedded three-letter common names that end the first words of all two-word theme entry are the same as the ones that start the second word.

22A. Introductory assortment of wreckage?: FLOTSAM SAMPLER. Flotsam. Jetsam.

40A. One-of-a-kind book? CUSTOM TOME

65A. Place to leave the flock during vacation?: CHICKEN KENNEL. Chicken want to live in the coop.

92A. Try to get tallow?: PURSUE SUET. My first theme answer.

114A.Music for painters?: ENAMEL MELODIES

15D. Scallions for an anniversary party?: JUBILEE LEEKS. To me, scallions are just green onions.

59D. Short treatise on junk e-mail? SPAM PAMPHLET. Fun clue/answer.

I only realized all the embeds are common names after I typed in & green-highlighted all the the letter string repetitions. Great theme title. Nice play on "beside oneself".

The puzzle is one Q away from a pangram. As the norm with our Sunday puzzles, quite a few entertaining clues. My favorite is FEET (109D. Pump inserts). D'oh, pump shoes.

I still don't like the clue for PEDAL (105D. Step on it). The "it" grammar confused me last time. I just don't feel the clue and answer fully correspond to each other, unlike the clear "them" reference in LEADS (97D. Reporters chase them).

Across:

1. Garfield's middle name: ABRAM. Can never commit his name into my memory. Did get KENNEDY (49D. President under whom the Peace Corps was formed).

6. Tiptop: ACME

10. Timber shaper: ADZ. Or adze.

13. Big Indians: RAJAS. Thought of Native American Indians.

18. At large: LOOSE

19. Property claim: LIEN. And DEED (11. Safe document).

20. Scripps competition: BEE. Spelling Bee.

21. Disqualify (oneself), in court: RECUSE

25. Protozoan: AMEBIC. Or ameobic.

26. Swears to: ATTESTS

27. Home of Texas A&M International University: LAREDO. U.S./Mexico border city.

28. Pooh-pooh: DERIDE

29. Manhattan component: RYE. Rye is an affluent suburb of NY City, a la Wikipedia.

30. Boris Godunov, e.g.: TSAR. Don't know Boris Godunov.

31. Lost the point: RAMBLED

32. Vardon Trophy org.: PGA. Gimme. Vardon Trophy is awarded to PGA player who leads in scoring average. Named after British golfer Harry Vardon.

35. Be of service to: ASSIST

38. Pointed remark: BARB

39. Legal conclusion?: ESE. Legalese.

43. Exercised in a lane: SWAM. Can't jam in BIKED.

45. Barely earn, with "out": EKE

47. Online bulletin board mgr. : SYSOP (System Operator)

48. Pub staple: ALE

49. It isn't really a bear: KOALA. What is it then, Kazie? Sure looks like bear though.

50. Vestige: RELIC

53. Put in the warehouse: STORE

55. Cut down: FELLED

56. One who follows the news?: LENO. Because Leno's show is after the evening news?

57. Cinnamon tree: CASSIA. Wow, it's Chinese cinnamon. No idea.

60. IV to III?: SON. Nailed it.

61. River duck: TEAL

63. Writers: PENS. Did not know "pen" can refer to a person who writes.

64. Marching start?: HUP. "Hup, two, three, four". The military march. Got me again.

70. Hobby shop buy: KIT

71. Significant times: ERAS

73. Hard on the eyes: UGLY. No, I will not link anything hard on the eyes. Al's Hart.

74. Thing to bend or lend: EAR. Nice rhyming clue.

75. Speaks disrespectfully to: SASSES

77. "If it's all the __ to you ...": SAME

78. Star's opposite: NOBODY

80. Bow ties and elbows: PASTA. Nice "bow" echo.

82. Early mobile home: TEPEE. Yurt too.

84. Soap whose first slogan was "It floats": IVORY

85. Scroogean word: BAH

86. Uses a keyboard: TYPES. And ENTER (120. Put in)

90. Rule of crime writing: ANN. I've never heard of Ann Rule. Good clue though.

91. BlackBerry message: TEXT

94. Fire or side attachment: ARM. Excellent play on fireside.

96. Secluded lowland: GLEN

98. Continued: GONE ON

99. Practice, as a trade: PLY

100.Comebacks: REPLIES

102.Like some telegrams: SUNG. I don't get this clue. How can telegrams be sung?

103.Dosage amt.: TSP

106.Goddess of wisdom: ATHENA

107.Noisy summer bug: CICADA. Ear-splitting!

109.Artful handling: FINESSE

113.Lost some locks: BALDED. Locks always refer to hair in Xword.

116.Feudal lords: LIEGES. Another hard to remember word.

117.He played Quasimodo in 1923: LON (Chaney). Easy guess.

118.Justice's garb: ROBE

119.Dylan Thomas's home: WALES

121.Explosive letters: TNT

122.Whack: SWAT

123.Skiing locale: SLOPE. Didn't jump to me immediately.

Down:

1. __ Romeo: ALFA. The sport car.

2. Cloth quantity: BOLT

3. Cheer: ROOT

4. Sunflower relative: ASTER. Oh, OK.

5. Like Oscar Madison's room: MESSY. And STY (89. 5-Down place).

6. Charity: ALMS

7. Grafton's "__ for Corpse": C IS

8. When many a bell is rung: MEAL TIME. Where?

9. As a group: EN MASSE

10. More competent: ABLER

12. Nonentity: ZERO

13. Common word in rallying slogans: REMEMBER. I peeked at the answer sheet.

14. Biting: ACERB

16. Parenthetical comments: ASIDES

17. Withdraw: SECEDE

21. Hawkeye associate: RADAR (O'Reilly). Both M*A*S*H characters. And WALTER (44. 21-Down's real first name, on TV). Unknown to me.

23. Starting squad: A-TEAM

24. Duff: PRAT

31. Islamic holy month: RAMADAN

32. Modern office staples: PCS

33. Chap: GUY

34. Mule's papa: ASS

36. Antares, for one: STAR

37. Something to walk on: SOLE. Indeed.

38. Whalebone: BALEEN. New word to me.

41. Chuck: TOSS

42. __ nerve: OPTIC. Also new to me.

43. Sun, in Spain: SOL. Alliteration.

46. Food for sea urchins: KELP. I use kelp for miso soup base sometimes.

51. Navel phenomenon: INNIE

52. Expenditures: COSTS

54. Hawaii's "Gathering Place": OAHU. "Gathering Place" is its nickname.

55. Other side: FOE

57. Pirate booty holder: CHEST

58. Halos: AURAE. Or auras.

60. Luxury seating: SKYBOX

62. Discounted: LESS

66. Fires up: IGNITES

67. Split, as some hoofs: CLOVEN. Past participle of "cleave".

68. Round Table knight: KAY. Not familiar with Sir Kay. Another lady sounding name.

69. Starbucks buy: LATTE

72. As __ on TV: SEEN

76. Indicates: SAYS

79. Fido's dinnertime extra: ORT. Classic crosswordese.

80. Trim, as apples: PARE

81. Semi-serious "I understand": AH SO

83. Casey Jones, e.g.: ENGINEER. Have never heard of Casey Jones. He must be very famous to be honored with a stamp.

85. Cottage: BUNGALOW

87. Lassie, once: PUP. The answer surfaced itself.

88. Slender swimmer: EEL. Slender indeed.

92. Thinks over: PONDERS

93. Up to: UNTIL

94. Like productive land: ARABLE

95. Hang on to: RETAIN

98. Largest of the Marianas: GUAM

101.Outcropping: LEDGE. Like this protruding part.

102.Meager: SCANT

104.Hoodwinks: SNOWS. Learned this slang meaning of snow a few weeks ago.

107.Breton, e.g.: CELT

108.Privy to: IN ON

110.Storage cylinder: SILO

111.Trickle: SEEP

112.Start of North Carolina's motto: ESSE "Esse quam videri" (to be rather than to see). Another learning moment for me.

115.Many a Wharton grad: MBA

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday May 22, 2010 Victor Fleming

Theme: None

Total words: 66 (Four intersecting grid-spanners)

Total blocks: 30

No theme today, Saturdays are themeless, although I think the answer for 8D. Educated Guesses was a good name for this puzzle. There were a lot of initial fill-ins that I wasn't entirely sure of, but they just felt right somehow.

Al here today, killing time while waiting for some off-hours processing to finish for work.

Across:

1. McCarthy era phenomenon: RED SCARE. Technically, the second one, from 1947-1957 in which the Cincinnati Reds temporarily renamed themselves the “Cincinnati Redlegs” to avoid the money-losing and career-ruining connotations inherent in being ball-playing “Reds”. The first Red Scare was from 1917-1920.

9. Trysting relationship: AFFAIR. What one "has to do" from Old French à faire "to do".

15. Flattered, in a way: IMITATED. Imitation is the sincerest of flattery -- Charles Caleb Colton.

16. Grand Canal span: RIALTO. Contracted from Rivoalto and named for the canal (Latin rivus altus "deep stream") which it crosses.

17. 1985 John Irving best-seller: CIDERHOUSE RULES. Made into a movie starring Spiderman (Tobey Maguire) and the latest Alfred (Batman's butler) Michael Caine, who also was the lead in a movie called Alfie.

19. Architect Saarinen: ELIEL. And his son EERO (who designed the Gateway Arch among other structures). If you don't know these two names by now, just resolve to commit them to memory if you're planning on doing more crosswords.

20. Baby's asset: CUTENESS.

21. Goes back: RETROGRADES. Straight from the Latin: retro- backwards, Gradus: steps.

24. "Shucks!": RATS. An interjection. Remember Schoolhouse Rock?

25. Displays, with "out": TROTS. Originally connected with showing off horses in 1838, it was recorded as slang later by 1845. A recorded connection with "the runs" precedes both of those by 30 years.

30. Rested: TOOK FIVE. Roughly the amount of time it takes to smoke a cigarette. Here's a better use of your five minutes.

35. Frequent saver: GOALIE. Hurling, association football, Gaelic football, International Rules Football, handball, ice hockey, field hockey, netball, water polo, bandy, lacrosse, floorball.

36. Medical malpractice issue: INFORMED CONSENT. For instance, if someone says OK to having a procedure done, but only because they felt intimidated, whether by the influence of the practitioner's strong expression of convictions, or they were cowed by the perceived difference in education on the subject, then it's an issue.

38. Naval construction worker: SEABEE. CB, Construction Battalions.

39. Garden entrance component, perhaps: GATEPOST.

40. Beefy-T maker: HANES. Tee shirt manufacturer.

41. A psychic may see one: AURA. When there is "a certain air" around someone. From Greek aura: gentle breeze

42. It's right before the end: HOME STRETCH. The straightaway from the last turn to the finish line on a horse racetrack.

49. Goes before: PRECEDES.

53. "Corporations have been enthroned and ___ of corruption in high places will follow": Lincoln: AN ERA.

54. Cryptozoologist's subject: LOCH NESS MONSTER. Crypto: hidden. Zoology: animal studies. (Zoo from Greek zoion, a living being)

57. Celebrate a promotion, maybe: EAT OUT. There was probably a raise involved as well...

58. Grin measure?: EAR TO EAR. A creepy Cheshire cat.

59. Shows exhaustion: DROOPS.

60. Aviation pioneer: SIKORSKY. Igor. A Russian immigrant, he designed the first multi-engine fixed-wing aircraft, the first airliner, Pan-am flying boats, and the first viable American helicopter.

Down:

1. Sous chef's gadget: RICER.

2. '60s boxing champ Griffith: EMILE. Not a boxing fan, unknown to me.

3. Finished the job: DID IT.

4. Guide: STEER. The verb, not a Sherpa.

5. Swindler Ponzi, at birth: CARLO. The Ponzi Scheme.

6. Sports fig.: ATH. Figure and Athlete, both abbr.

7. Popular '20s auto: REO. Educated Guess, three letters, old car, that had to be it.

8. They're not wild: EDUCATED GUESSES. Intuition isn't entirely psychic...

9. Narrow ridge: ARETE. From Latin "arista": ear of grain. OK, that's what it says, but I don't see the connection.

10. Early Ford supplier: FIRESTONE.

11. Woodland spirit: FAUN. Latin Faunus, Greek Pan. A goat-man/god similar to a satyr. A faun is man still in intimate communion with Nature, a satyr is a man still swayed by bestial passions.

12. Everyone, in Essen: ALLE. alles alles auch sind frei.

13. Suburban followers?: ITES. Suburbanites. A suffix clue made a bit trickier by the plural phrasing, so the sense of individual letters, not the whole syllable.

14. 18th-century sewer: ROSS. Betsy Ross. Sewer = One who sews. Not something with a manhole cover... There is some debate about the story of the flag origin, but the lack of actual records either way makes it difficult or even impossible to prove or disprove.

18. Brewski: SUDS. Beer slang. Using compressed nitrogen instead of carbon dioxide makes the "SUDS" richer, and more aromatic.

22. Ugly buildup: GRIME. from Middle English "grim": dirt, filth.

23. Show approval, or disapproval: RAVE. A rave review, or to show signs of delirium, i.e. rant.

26. Grating sound: RASP. Wolfman Jack comes to mind.

27. It's sold in bars: OLEO. Sticks, maybe. I've never heard of them as bars... Unless maybe as the contents in baked goods...

28. Pie containers: TINS. The origin of the frisbee.

29. Paving stone: SETT. Quarried or shaped to have square edges, cobblestones are natural shapes.

30. Mrs. Addams, to Gomez: TISH. He became especially amorous whenever she spoke French. I wonder if that wasn't put in there to slip something past the censors.

31. Service rank: ONE-A.

32. "Confessions __ English Opium-Eater": 1821 De Quincey work: OF AN.

33. Capital of Hyogo Prefecture: KOBE. Or a dishonored Basketball player. Settled out of court, and is playing again.

34. Shower and change, say: FRESHEN UP.

35. Touched: GOT AT. I thought maybe got "to", got at sounds like more than just touching.

37. Traffic units: CARS. Could have been vans.

41. "Life With Father" co-star Leon: AMES. Before my time.

43. "Night Music" playwright: ODETS. Also before my time.

44. Sought aid from: RAN TO. Frankly Scarlett...

45. "Christ's Entry Into Brussels in 1889" artist: ENSOR. James. Lots of names today, it seems.

46. Beans of Paris?: TETES. French for "heads".

47. Reason to lubricate: CREAK. I'll put oil on my floor then?

48. Potter of fiction: HARRY.

49. Asked in earnest: PLED.

50. Jungle warning: ROAR.

51. Plasm lead-in: ECTO. Prefix, ectoplasm. Also called the cortex, the outer smooth part of a cell's cytoplasm. Unless you're one of the ghostbusters, that is, then it's just slime from paranormal activity.

52. Half a track sound: CHOO. And the other half is AH. (Correction: The track sound is choo-choo. Thanks, Anonymous @6:54am.)

55. It follows April in Paris: MAI. French for May.

56. Where "Shazbot!" is a curse: ORK. From Mork and Mindy, an alien who reported back to Ork how badly we humans treat each other for very silly reasons. The show jumped the shark when they added Jonathan Winters as a very large baby. Because that just wasn't believable.

Answer grid.

Al