Saturday June 5, 2010 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 34

Quintessential Robert Wolfe themeless, with three 15-letter grid spanners and all of them "common enough phrases in daily speech but rarely used in puzzles":

17A. Daydreams: CASTLES IN THE AIR. Awe-inspiring fill.

38A. Reaction to a coincidental entrance: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. My favorite answer today.

58A. Declaration that's from hunger: I COULD EAT A HORSE. Then we also have ATE (6D. Took in). Tiny flaw. Two forms of the same word (EAT/ATE) should not be allowed in the same grid.

Besides the three grid-spanners, Bob also gives us ten 9-letter entries. He is fond of multi-word answers, so we have plenty today. His playfulness & humor are also in full display. Rafts of misleading clues. My favorite is INFRA (28D. Red head?). Infrared.

Across:

1. "Something's Got a Hold on Me" singer, 1962: ETTA JAMES. Was stumped immediately. Great to see her full name.

10. Bar at the bar: ESTOP. The first bar is verb, "prohibit", the second bar is noun, "the court". We often see it just clued as "Legally prevent".

15. It "ain't what it used to be": Yogi Berra: THE FUTURE. Makes sense.

16. Birch of "Alaska": THORA. Actress Thora Birch. I thought the clue was asking for a particular birch tree in the Alaska. Completely overlooked the quotation mark. Having never heard of the movie "Alaska" did not help.

19. Cry of exhilaration: WHEE

20. Like an irritated person's teeth?: SET ON EDGE. Awesome clue/answer.

21. What U can follow: RST. Alphabetically.

23. White House nickname: RON. Reagan. I wanted IKE.

24. Musician nicknamed "Sugar Lips": HIRT (Al).

27. Try to jab: HIT AT

31. Dose people?: DEM. "Those people" = Them. NY slang I presume. Dis and Dat, Dem and Dose.

34. Like the Indian rhino: ONE-HORNED. Man, it's true. This guy only has one horn.

36. Uncle equal?: I GIVE. V-8 moment for me.

40. Upholstery adornments: TUFTS

41. Plant grafting component: ROOTSTOCK. New word to me.

42. Hampshire's home: STY. Hampshire the breed of pig, characterized by erect ears and a black body with a whitish band around the middle, covering the front legs, according to Wikipedia. I thought it's kind of sheep or goat, Windhover.

43. 1966-67 AFL rushing leader Jim: NANCE. No idea. I bet Barry G/ Mainiac knows. Did not even know England patriots was called Boston Patriots before.

44. DOJ employee: ATTY. DOJ = Depart of Justice.

45. 'Enry's abode: 'OME. Home. The sound H is dropped in the clue/answer. Cockney accent.

47. Ink __: octopus defense: SAC

49. Alfalfa locales: HAYFIELDS. Windhover would love this puzzle.

55. "Verily, thou __ God that hidest thyself" (Isaiah): ART A. Easy guess.

61. It may be metered: VERSE. Fantastic clue.

62. Above: AFORESAID

63. Glacial ridge: ESKER. Simply forgot. We had this fill before.

64. Doesn't draw: STANDS PAT. I don't get the meaning of "draw" here.

Down:

1. Inclusive abbr. : ETC

2. Cold war abatement: THAW

3. Radio host John: TESH. New Ager.

4. Then: AFTER THAT

5. First name in sci-fi: JULES (Verne). "Around the World in Eighty Days".

7. Tousle: MUSS

8. Ohio tribe: ERIE. We also have TETON (29. Dakota dialect). Indian tribes are part of our citizenship test also. There are more than 500 federally recognized tribes in the US. But you only need to know one.

9. Directed: SENT

10. Centric leader: ETHNO. Prefix for "culture".

11. Polish: SHEEN. Noun "Polish". I wanted SHINE.

12. Loathsome sort: TOAD

13. Copier insert: Abbr.: ORIG

14. Skin: PARE. Verb "skin". So tricky.

18. Actionable offense: TORT

22. During, old-style: THRO. How can "through" mean "During"? "Via" to me.

24. Armies: HOSTS. Armies/hosts of.

25. Data, often: INPUT. Not the "Star Trek" guy Data.

26. Like atolls: REEFY. A real word.

30. For this purpose: AD HOC

31. Displacement from a club: DIVOT. D'oh, golf club! Divot is the piece of turf torn up when you strike the ball with an iron.

32. Force out: EVICT. Nice sequential "out" tone to 31D.

33. Braves outfielder Cabrera: MELKY. The Melky Way. He's with the Yankees before. Might be stranger Jayce.

35. Blesses: OKS

36. They may be checked at the door: IDS

37. Be convincing about: GET ACROSS

39. Soissons seasons: ETES. Alliteration. Soissons is city northeast of Paris. Unknown to me. So close in spelling to French fish "poisson".

43. Requirement: NEED

45. Not worthless: OF USE

46. Sebastian Coe, e.g. : MILER

48. Sounded amazed: AAHED. Oohed too.

49. Swarming spot: HIVE. Alliteration

50. They can be high or low: ACES. Don't know cards. TIDE does not fit. Several tricky "they" or "it" in today's puzzle.

51. Walled English city: YORK. No idea. My hometown Xi'An is walled too.

52. Where cows chow down: LEAS. Loved the three "ow"s.

53. Bats: DAFT. Of course I was thinking of baseball bats/HITS.

54. Acropolis sight: STOA. The Greek portico.

56. Under-the-sink item: TRAP. What trap?

57. Land of plenty?: ASIA. Plenty of people. Natural resources too.

59. Hal Foster prince: ARN. I am used to the "Prince Valiant's son" clue. Was ignorant of the creator of the strip.

60. Summer hrs. at MIT: EDT (Eastern Daylight-saving Time)

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday June 4, 2010 Kelsey Blakley

Theme: Magic I - Letter I is attached to the end of a common phrase.

17A. College administrator's cocktail?: DEAN MARTINI. Dean Martin. The only theme entry where the added I changed a two-syllable sound into three-syllable one.

30A. Still in love with a legendary giant?: NOT OVER YETI. Not Over Yet. Yeti the Abominable Snowman. One syllable to two.

47A. Vehicle delivering the weekly checks?: PAYROLL TAXI. Payroll Tax. One syllable to two also.

63A. Equine teacher of Japan?: HORSE SENSEI. Horse Sense. Sensei is Japanese for "teacher". Literally "one who was born first". Sen = First. Sei = Birth. Same as Chinese. One syllable to two syllable as well. And the only I that's attached to the end of a vowel rather than a consonant.

All of the four theme answers have 11 letters. Quite scrabbly. I spotted 4 Z's.

Several of the Down clues delighted me today:

32D. Surfer's read: EZINE. E Magazine. Computer "surfer".

33D. Sentence lengths: TERMS. Prison sentence.

54D. Small fry: TYKE. Not fish.

55D. Debugging agent?: RAID. The bug killer Raid.

Several other clues have a fresh feel too.

Across:

1. Voting group: BOARD. OK, Board of Directors.

6. Big splash maker of the '60s: SHAMU. Was unaware of this original Shamu story.

11. Bit of a tryst exchange: COO. Ha ha, I know Rich would not clue SEX this way.

14. Invest, as with a quality: ENDUE. Put in ENDOW.

15. Navigational aid: LORAN. Long Range Radio Aid to Navigation. Always wanted RADAR.

16. Wood-shaping tool: ADZ

19. Product name derived from the German word for peppermint: PEZ. From German "Pfefferminz". New to me.

20. Requiring less effort: EASIER

21. Inspection requiring scales: AUTOPSY

23. Henpeck: NAG AT

26. Encouraging sound: RAH

27. Former Secret Service weapon: UZI. No longer in use, Argyle?

35. Old Chevy: NOVA. No va is "no go" in Spanish, correct?

37. Romance novelist Roberts: NORA

38. Bagel order, maybe: DOZEN. I've never ordered that many bagels.

39. Blusters: CROWS. I associate crow with brag rather than bluster.

41. Phone bk. listings: NOS

42. Christmas tree adornment: SKIRT. Is yours red also?

43. White House middle name: ABRAM. James Garfield's middle name.

44. Addie's husband in "As I Lay Dying" : ANSE. No idea. So close to the "Latin handle" ANSA.

46. Generous offer: ON ME

50. Alien's subj.: ESL (English as a Second Language). We have a few ESL teachers on the blog: Lucina, Dot, who else?

51. Joey's mom: DOE. Was unaware that a female kangaroo is called a doe. A baby kangaroo is Joey.

52. Eastwood's 1978 "co-star" Clyde, e.g.: ORANG. In "Every Which Way But Loose". I drew a blank.

54. "I wouldn't lie!": TRUST ME

58. E. Sicilian peak: MT ETNA. We often see ETNA alone.

62. Verb for Popeye: YAM. "I yam what I yam".

66. Sleep, in Sussex: KIP. Verb. It can also be noun meaning "bed". New word to me.

67. Firth: INLET

68. Without face value, as stock: NO PAR

69. Mag wheels?: EDS (Editors). Magazine big wheels.

70. "We don't see __ ..." : EYE TO. Did you get it immediately?

71. Not bland: TASTY. And HOT (7D. Like sauce with a kick).

Down:

1. Eliot's "Adam __": BEDE. Learned from doing Xword.

2. Most fit for drafting: ONE A

3. Entry-level legal jobs: Abbr. : ADAS. OK, Assistant District Attorneys.

4. Clash: RUN IN

5. Put down: DEMEAN

6. 35mm camera choice: SLR (Single-Lens Reflex)

8. Rossini specialty: ARIA

9. Soil enricher: MANURE

10. Cirque du Soleil costumes: UNITARDS. Uni + (leo)tard. With full lengh stockings. Maybe Dennis knows. I don't.

11. Sadie Hawkins Day creator: CAPP (Al)

12. "__ of Solomon": religious works: ODES. Guessed.

13. Osbourne of Black Sabbath: OZZY. Such a DF family.

18. About 1% of the Earth's atmosphere: ARGON. Inert gas. Literally "idle".

22. 1971 John Lennon song: OH YOKO. Here is the song. Blind spot for me.

24. Unkeyed: ATONAL

25. Leafs' home: TORONTO. Toronto Maple Leafs. NHL team.

27. Open, as a brew: UNCAP

28. Anthony Quinn title role: ZORBA. ''Zorba the Greek''. 1964 movie.

29. Old billiard ball material: IVORY

31. Poughkeepsie college: VASSAR. Jackie Kennedy attended Vassar.

34. Chip maker: INTEL. Computer chips.

36. Arbitration decisions: AWARDS

40. Blended fruit drink: SMOOTHIE

45. They may be physical: EXAMS. Nice clue too.

48. Like some meringue: LEMONY. Have never had lemon meringue.

49. Rapt: INTENT

53. Columbus's birthplace: GENOA

56. Tag determiners: UMPS. Baseball "tag".

57. Della's creator: ERLE. Erle Stanley Gardner. Della Street is Perry Mason's secretary.

59. Dosage abbr. : TSPS

60. Bang-up: NEAT

61. Like breezeways: AIRY

64. Headstrong: SET

65. DDE's arena: ETO (European Theater of Operations)

Thank you for the sweet comments/emails yesterday, everyone. They meant a lot to me. I was eligible for citizenship six years ago, but had never seriously considered becoming an American until I started this blog and got to know all of you on a daily basis. You have made a huge difference in my life. Thank you.

Answer grid.

C.C.