Saturday June 12, 2010 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total words: 68

Total blocks: 25

Quite low black square count. Brad places four multi-word grid-spanners in his puzzle:

14A. Source of overcompensating bravado: NAPOLEON COMPLEX. Overcompensate for their short stature. Type of Inferiority Complex.

17A. Stay away: DISTANCE ONESELF. Nice one.

46A. 2009 addition to Wimbledon's Centre Court: RETRACTABLE ROOF. My favorite answer today, esp since I nailed it.

49A. Like a master criminal: SLIPPERY AS AN EEL. Lively entry.

I had a slightly easier time with this Brad offer. I normally struggle mightily with his puzzles. Probably because I nailed a few long ones. Or the ladders (those strings of black squares along the diagonal line) gridding made the puzzle more accessible, as many entries share the same starting letter.

Still had to cheat.

Across:

1. One in a coup group: USURPER. Assonance in the clue. Brad has six 7-letter & 8-letter entries today.

8A. Tenochtitlán founders: AZTECS. Tenochtitlán was the capital of Aztecs. Present day Mexico City. Unknown to me.

18. Old Greek theater: ODEON. My first toehold.

19. Carpenter with drums: KAREN. Boomer loves Karen Carpenter. He just bowled a 300 yesterday.

20. Van Halen's "Somebody Get __ Doctor": ME A. Not familiar with the song.

21. Start of an intermission?: ENTR. Start of Entr'acte (intermission). Got me.

22. Seedless greenhouse denizens: FERNS. Always associate "denizens" with animals, not plant.

23. Judicial seat: BANC

24. Flare, maybe: SOS. Got it via crosses.

25. Makes an example of: CITES

26. Declaration in a playground game: NOT IT. "Tag" declaration.

27. Vitamin K source: CHARD. So are most dark green veggies. Need fat to best utilize the Vitamin K. Or any vitamin, right, Al?

28. Over: FINITO

29. Yin and yang, e.g.: DUALITY. Yin & Yang is factored in my cooking.

32. One who doesn't do Windows?: MAC USER. Nailed it.

33. Native Alaskans: INUITS

34. Seemingly charmed entrepreneur: MIDAS. I don't get this clue. Why "charmed"?

35. Rival of Sparta: ARGOS. I can only think of PERSIANS.

36. Like unsorted mail: PILED

37. Beaut: GEM

40. Course objectives for many: PARS. Golf course. I'd be happy with a bogey on a par 5.

41. Black-tie events: BALLS

42. Florida's __ Chica Key: BOCA. Have never heard of this island. It's about 3 miles east of Key West. Wikipedia also says Boca Chica is literally "small mouth" in Spanish.

43. Ophelia's niece, in "Uncle Tom's Cabin": EVA

44. Actress Palmer: LILLI. Nope. Not in my radar. German actress.

45. Peer's realm, perhaps: DUCHY. Oh, Duke's realm.

50. Impertinent: SNIPPY. Much better than our normal edge word SASSY.

51. Loses all its water: RUNS DRY

Down:

1. Annuls: UNDOES

2. Declined: SAID NO

3. Sports page headline grabbers: UPSETS. Did not leap to me quickly.

4. Turning part: ROTOR. So simple in retrospect.

5. Design: PLAN

6. Morn's opposite: E'EN

7. Hobby involving launches: ROCKETRY. Sign up and ride along with all the punks.

8. Nuts in cupules: ACORNS. Cupule is a new word to me.

9. Tunes (out): ZONES

10. Bootleggers' nemeses: T-MEN

11. Mini-albums, for short: EPS

12. Showy arbor vine: CLEMATIS. The one with the red flowers.

13. Crystalline gypsum variety: SELENITE. Named after Greek moon goddess Selene. And then mineral suffix-ite. New word to me also.

15. Approached: NEARED

16. Unknown: X FACTOR. Noun "Unknown".

22. Edicts: FIATS

23. Employee of the Month incentive: BONUS

25. Markers: CHITS

26. Battery acronym : NICAD (Nickel-cadmium battery)

27. Madison Avenue honors: CLIOS. Advertising awards.

28. Diminishes: FADES

29. Nursery supply: DIAPERS. Was picturing plants/flowers.

30. Figures out: UNRAVELS

31. With a browned crust, as potatoes: AU GRATIN. I like oven fried potatoes. You?

32. Air pressure unit: MILLIBAR. Another new word. Milli = One Thousandth.

34. First woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry: MILLAY. Edna St. Vincent Millay. Was unaware of this trivia.

36. Meager: PALTRY

37. Expand the admission pool, in a way: GO COED

38. Parrot: ECHOER

39. Bass prey: MAYFLY. Had no idea that bass eats mayflies.

41. Arm wrestler's pride, as it's commonly called: BICEP

42. Seethes: BURNS

44. Reindeer herder: LAPP. The northern Norwegian. Kept thinking of Santa and his reindeer, Argyle!

45. Academic list keeper: DEAN

47. Engineering sch. on the Hudson: RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). Learned from doing Xword.

48. Sch. with a yearbook called the Gumbo: LSU. Interesting trivia. Good to know.

Answer grid.

JD's Crossword Story continues. See her C installment.

C.C.

Friday June 11, 2010 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Say Cheese! - Cheese puns on familiar two-word phrases.

20A. Cheese records?: ROQUEFORT FILES. The base phrase is (The) Rockford Files. Roquefort cheese is made of sheep's milk. Named after the French town Roquefort.

28A. Cheese from the deep?: SEA MUENSTER. Sea Monster. Muenster is white, semis-soft & mild. Named after its French origin town also.

44A. Cheese no one is eating?: IDLE CHEDDAR. Idle Chatter. Cheddar Cheese is named after the British village where it's first made.

51A. Cheese and beef concoction for humorist Mort?: SAHL'S BRIE STEAK. Salisbury Steak. The only theme entry that puns on more than the cheese word. Brie is named after the French province where it originated.

ROQUEFORT FILES and its symmetrical partner 51A are punning on the first word of a common phrase. The middle two theme entries on second words.

What's your favorite cheese? Dairy is not part of my diet.

Very smooth 74-worder from Donna. Fun clues for theme answers. I also liked the two paralleled 10s and 9s in Down fill. Favorite answer today is BLUE STATES (11D. Left-leaning ones).

Across:

1. Two percent alternative: SKIM

5. Trans Am option: T- TOP. Trans Am is a racing car?

9. Chain with a cowboy hat logo: ARBY'S

14. Stale Italian bread?: LIRA. "Bread" always refer to "currency" on Fridays. Have seen this "stale" clue before. Still like it.

15. Stray: ROVE

16. Whoopi's role in "The Color Purple": CELIE. I've never seen the movie. I liked Whoopi's role Oda Mae Brown in "Ghost".

17. Red, in Mongolian: ULAN. Ulan Bator ("red hero"), capital of Mongolia. I mentioned this "Red" meaning on the blog a few times.

18. Headlight?: IDEA. Man, I did not see mine.

19. Hosiery shade: TAUPE. Brownish gray.

23. Bud: PAL

24. Oft-rescued comics heroine: LOIS. Lois Lane. "Superman". Maybe our Lois needs rescue too. Sounds like she has a horrible boss.

25. Three-in-one vaccine, familiarly: DPT

34. __-toity: HOITY

36. Tool or fool: DUPE. Was unaware of this slang meaning of "tool". Good rhyme.

37. Perfume by Dana: TABU

38. "The West Wing" actor: ALDA

39. Actress Beckinsale et al.: KATES. Kate Beckinsale has the best hairstyle.

40. Canoodling couple, maybe: ITEM. Sweet clue.

41. Octopus feature: BEAK. I wanted ARMS. I only associate beak with birds.

42. Sign: OMEN

43. Having a bite: ACERB. Not enough space for EATING.

47. RR depot: STA. Or STN.

48. Canaanite god: BAAL. The false god.

49. Social: TEA. Noun "social".

58. Pasta sauce herb: BASIL. Pesto.

59. "The Phantom Tollbooth" protagonist: MILO. No idea. Have never heard of the book.

60. How busy people often work: LATE. Great clue.

61. Much the same: ALIKE

62. Rights org. ACLU

63. Annoying spots: ACNE. Annoying indeed.

64. He voiced the curmudgeonly homeowner in "Up": ASNER. The answer emerged itself.

65. Joke around: JEST

66. Store: SHOP

Down:

1. Defame: SLUR

2. Narc's seizure: KILO

3. Where Al Sharqiya is broadcast: IRAQ. Wikipedia says Al Sharqiya ("The Eastern One") is Iraq's first privately owned satellite channel owned by a London-based Iraqi exile. Foreign to me.

4. Show some backbone, slangily: MAN UP. Fresh answer.

5. Toy (with): TRIFLE

6. List heading: TO-DO. To-do list. Tricky clue.

7. No longer hooked on: OVER. "Hooked on" what?

8. Garden supply: PEAT. Any good idea on how to get rid of the pesky gophers?

9. Bruce Willis genre: ACTION

10. True-to-life: REALISTIC

12. Golfer's nervousness during putting, with "the": YIPS. Gimme. I don't have yips.

13. Holy follower?: SEE. Did you want COW?

21. "Calm down!": EASY

25. Abu __: DHABI. Is is still the richest city in the world?

26. Moved, as a gondola: POLED

27. Potomac River feature: TIDAL BASIN. The latter BASIN leapt to me rather quickly.

29. "There Is Nothing Like __" : A DAME. From "South Pacific". The sailors are longing for skirts.

30. Toned down: MUTED

31. Invert: UPEND

32. "Your Movie Sucks" author: EBERT (Roger). Film critic.

33. Latin dance: RUMBA

35. "Get lost!" : TAKE A HIKE. Great answer. We also have FLEES (22. Skedaddles).

39. Department store chain that began in Wisconsin: KOHL'S. Named after Senator Kohl, right?

43. Mars counterpart: ARES. Greek god of war. Mars is the Roman counterpart.

45. Talk radio regular: CALLER

46. Dined at the bistro, say: ATE OUT

50. MapQuest predecessor?: ATLAS. The clue is fine without question mark.

51. "Do the Right Thing" pizzeria: SAL'S. Have never heard of the movie.

52. Key using all five black keys in its scale: Abbr.: B MAJ. Help, Jazzbumpa!

53. Jambalaya ingredient: RICE

54. Misfortunes: ILLS

55. Per: EACH

56. 1 for H, e.g.: AT NO (Atomic Number). H = Hydrogen.

57. Retain: KEEP

58. Sheep trill: BAA. Playing off of "Cheap thrill".

JD (left, with husband Bob) is writing a crossword story (in alphabetically order) with all the new words she's learned in the past two years from the blog. Here is her updated version.

Answer grid.

C.C.