Saturday June 19, 2010 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 30

A typical "Pack and Stack", in Clear Ayes' words. Total ten 10-letter entries, including the triple stacks in the top left and bottom right corners. A couple of 9s too.

Barry anchors his puzzle with a cool cross-spanner WIND CHILL FACTOR (36A. Heat index counterpart).

Several music references in the grid, none particularly difficult. But the clues for some of the small words are tricky. ETUI (51. Bodkin holder) is a good example. I am used to the stock "Sewing case" clue. Did not even know the meaning of "Bodkin". Dictionary defines it as "sharply pointed instrument for making holes in fabric or leather".

Across:

1. Shell seeker: HERMIT CRAB. Wikipedia says despite their moniker, hermit crabs are social animals that do best in groups.

11. Dyne-centimeters: ERGS. Again, am used to the "Work units" clue. We've seen DYNE clued as "Unit of Force" before.

15. Graphic designer's asset: TRAINED EYE

16. Strike: X OUT. Was in the "Hit hard" direction.

17. Sinclair Lewis best-seller: MAIN STREET. Thought of "Arrowsmith", which has 10-letter also. Sinclair Lewis was a pride of Minnesota.

18. River through Lake Thun: AARE. Switzerland's longest river.

19. Trip starter: LSD. Wanted EGO.

20. Needle: PROD

21. Substance in the Nash poem "Reflection on Babies": TALCUM. No idea. The whole poem consists of "A bit of talcum is always walcum". What does "walcum" mean?

23. Stray: ROAM

24. Last, in much '60s baseball: TENTH. Was unaware that there was only one extra inning in the '60s. (Correction: Argyle said there were only 10 teams in the '60s. See here.)

25. Clarinet's home key, usually: B FLAT. Well, Jazzbumpa can confirm the clue. I simply filled in ?FLAT.

28. Cable: WIRE

29. C-ration successor: MRE (Meal Ready to Eat)

32. "thirtysomething" actor: OLIN (Lena). An onager guess. She's in "Chocolat". (Correction: It's actor Ken Olin. Thanks, Lemonade.)

33. Electric generator part: STATOR COIL. New word to me.

38. Note-clarifying symbol: TREBLE CLEF

39. Grant: CEDE

40. Oklahoma native: OTO

41. Seltzer is often used after it: ALKA. I've never had Alka-Seltzer. Ginger is my cure for everything.

42. Pin site: ALLEY. Bowling pin.

43. Rolls up: FURLS

45. Soprano Te Kanawa: KIRI. Can never commit her name to my brain. She was born in New Zealand.

47. Waver on the moon: US FLAG. Did you think of Armstrong also? Nice placement of FURLS above US FLAG.

49. Where heros are made: DELI. Hero sandwich. And RYE (56D. 49-Across choice).

50. Marlowe's "The __ of Malta": JEW. Not familiar with the book.

53. Stylish: CHIC

54. Improve: AMELIORATE. Know the word. Not the exact spelling.

57. Traditional accounts: LORE

58. Quebec export: MAPLE SYRUP. What else could it be exported from Canada? Hockey players I guess.

59. Impersonator: APER

60. Caution to one getting too hot?: EASY DOES IT. The question mark alerts me "hot" does not refer to body temperature.

Down:

1. Online file suffix: HTML (HyperText Markup Language)

2. Box score stats: ERAS. Era = Earned Run Average. It's not clued as "Notable times" to avoid the duplication with AN ERA (22. End of __ ).

3. Incursion: RAID

4. Short time?: MIN. Short for "minute".

5. Where the crowd is: IN SPOT. I don't get the clue.

6. Prefix with fluoride: TETRA. Prefix for "four".Tetrafluoride is a fluoride containing four fluorine atoms. New word to me also.

7. Jewel box contents: CD ROM

8. Portland, Oregon, college: REED. Well, maybe it's a gimme to our Oregon gang. The college is certainly not on my radar.

9. Marine assent: AYE. "Aye, Aye, Sir.".

10. Making more money, say: BETTER OFF

11. Lionize: EXALT

12. Black Flag product: ROACH MOTEL. Was ignorant of this insecticide.

13. Sikh leader: GURU. Does this refer to Guru Nanak who founded Sikh religion?

14. Stalk: STEM. Plant.

23. Grammy category: R AND B

24. Spine line: TITLE. Book spine line.

25. Greet with respect: BOW TO

26. Dally: FLIRT

27. It's not safe to be in it: LINE OF FIRE. Nice entry.

28. When doubled, an Evergreen State city: WALLA. Walla Walla, Washington.

30. __ la Plata: RIO DE. Literally "River of Silver". The muddy estuary of the Paraná and Uruguay Rivers, and forms part of the border between Argentina and Uruguay. Faintly rings a bell.

31. The king of Spain?: EL REY. Literally "the king" in Spanish.

33. Thimblerig cousin: SHELL GAME. Thimblerig is not in my vocabulary.

34. Beats: TICKS

35. Fourth-century date: CCCLI. Roman 351.

37. Schumann's composer wife: CLARA. Indeed. She's an accomplished composer also.

42. Melodic: ARIOSO

44. Stress consequence, perhaps: ULCER

45. First "Idol" winner Clarkson: KELLY. Very successful after "Idol" career.

46. Admission of deceit: I LIED

47. Pac-10 school: UCLA

48. Talking point at a business dinner?: SHOP. Shoptalk?

49. Passbook amts.: DEPS. Deposits.

50. Shocks: JARS

52. Grieved: WEPT

55. Lea cry: MAA

Answer grid.

Happy 34th Wedding Aniversary to Paolo!

C.C.

Friday June 18, 2010 Doug Peterson

Theme: TIE-IN - (69A. Marketing ploy, and a hint to this puzzle's theme) - TIE is inserted into different part of each two-word familiar phrase.

20A. Ones wearing designer hospital gowns?: FANCY PATIENTS. Fancy Pants. Fun clue/answer.

32A. Massive marina protectors?: JUMBO JETTIES. Jumbo Jets. With two expensive letters Js.

42A. Plaza with many levels?: TIERED SQUARE. Red Square. Central square in Moscow. Another expensive letter Q.

55A. More passionate language?: SWEATIER WORDS. Swear Words. Vivid image.

Two of the TIE additions are in second word, two first word. I liked the variety.

Nice pangram. All 26 letters are used at least once. The below two non-theme 10-letter answers are great (normally they are split into two slots to make the construction easier):

17A. "M" star: PETER LORRE. Rare to see his full name.

61A. Heavily favored squads: DREAM TEAMS

My favorite clue today is EDS (31A. Recipients of authors' gratitude, briefly). Editors. I gather it's Doug's original clue? I am sure it brought a smile to Rich's face.

Across:

1. Watch for: AWAIT. As in "Watch for an opportunity". I wanted ALERT.

6. "Big Brother" host Julie: CHEN. Very pretty. Chen = Chan (as in Jackie Chan). Former is Mandarin, latter is Cantonese.

10. Zinger: BARB

14. Extremely, in slang: MONDO. Not familiar with this slang.

15. Likely to loaf: LAZY. Alliteration.

16. Like zero: OVAL. Oh, shape.

19. Princess who battled Callisto: XENA. Played by Lucy Lawless.

22. Petting zoo sound: BAA. Sheep.

24. Some quick pitches: ADS. Of course I thought of baseball.

25. Salad oil pourer: CRUET

26. Pungent: ACRID

28. Out of the woods: SAFE

36. Basilica section: APSE

37. Three-time Clooney title role: OCEAN. Danny Ocean. I liked "Ocean's Eleven" the best.

38. Slender wind: OBOE

45. Tape deck button: REC

48. Disparage: SLUR

49. "Family Matters" misfit: URKEL (Steve). Beat me. Have never seen "Family Matters".

50. Deck out: ADORN

52. Genetic ID: DNA. Always have to waffle between DNA & RNA.

54. Accident scene initials: EMS

60. Arrange logically: SORT

64. Nuts: LOCO

65. Disney president Robert: IGER. He succeeded Michael Eisner in 2005. Quite articulate.

66. __ Island: NY/NJ landmark: ELLIS

67. Starting place?: EDEN. Can't fool me any more.

68. Play a round: GOLF. Felt stupid not nailing it immediately. Who's your pick for US Open?

Down:

1. Band booster: AMP

2. Distress: WOE

3. Colonies with tunnels: ANT FARMS. Awesome fill.

4. Brainchild: IDEA

5. Supercell product: TORNADO. Our local meteorologist is obsessed with tornado, but I don't remember he mentioned supercell.

6. Is too sweet: CLOYS

7. Emblem of Ireland: HARP. Man, I never knew this. It's on the cover of Irish passports. On the obverse of Irish Euro coins also.

8. Book before Nehemiah: EZRA. Needed crossing help. The name means "Help" in Hebrew.

9. Uh-uh, in Ufa: NYET. Russian for "No" (Da is "Yes"). Ufa is a city of west-central Russian in the Southern Ural Mountain. Doug picked Ufa for alliteration purpose. My first encounter with this name.

10. Ring competitor: BOXER

11. One of 17 Monopoly properties: AVENUE

12. Blustered: RANTED

13. Great times: BLASTS

18. Type of screen, briefly: LCD. Several abbreviated answers in this puzzle. None obscure.

21. Frozen drink brand: ICEE

22. Tijuana's region: BAJA. Is it short for Baja California?

23. Lingerie size: A CUP. First time I saw A CUP in a LAT.

27. Skeptical comment: I BET

28. Direct: STEER

29. Not much: A TAD

30. Underwater directors: FINS. "Director" made me think of a person.

33. "Just the Way You Are" singer: JOEL (Billy). Great song.

34. Stationery shade: ECRU. Alliteration.

35. Grumpy: SOUR

39. Popular fund raiser: BAKE SALE

40. Central Utah city: OREM. And Provo. Learned both from doing Xword.

41. They may be shockers: EELS. We've seen similar clue before.

43. Fails to be: ISN'T

44. Many a pop group: QUARTET

45. Grapple with, in the sticks: RASSLE. Wrestle.

46. "Plan 9 From Outer Space" director: ED WOOD. The name faintly rings a bell. Also a title of a Johnny Depp movie.

47. Put the squeeze on: COERCE

51. Inform against: RAT ON

52. Khuzdul speaker, in Tolkien: DWARF. Khuzdul is a fictional language spoken by the Dwarfs. Stumped me.

53. Metz moniker: NOM. Metz is a city in NE France. Another alliteration.

56. "Cool, man!": I DIG. I totally dig Jazzbumpa's theme title the other day "Music, Man". Mondo cool!

57. So: ERGO

58. Line holder: REEL. Oh, fishing line.

59. Ham salad seller: DELI

62. DI doubled: MII. 51X2= 1002. (Correction: It's 501X2= 1002).

63. Three-part fig.: SSN

Answer grid.

Thanks for the concern and understanding of my recent absence, everyone. I've been very busy and am always behind in catching up with the comments/emails. Dennis is the designated host in my absence, and he will (he has been) answer any question that needs to be addressed.

Additionally, I feel the quality and fun/education factor of the blog write-up have been improved considerably with regular contributions from our dedicated team of Argyle, Al, Melissa Bee, Jazzbumpa and Lemonade. They add distinctive style and flavor to our blog and I love looking at the puzzles through their eyes.

So don't worry about my diminished blogging. I assure you that a carefully written post will appear every morning at 5:30am Central Time. Just enjoy the write-up & have fun!

C.C.