Saturday June 26, 2010 Joel Fagliano

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 32

The empty grid sure does not look intimidating, does it? No forbidding stacks of long letter entries or grid spanners. Just a couple of 8s and 9s, then a bunch of 7s (total 24).

But it's a tough journey for me. The clues are very tricky, epitomized by TO BE (50A. Part of a stage question). "To be, or not to be". Devious!

I'd also like to highlight the "it/its" clues in this puzzle:

7A. You might be unprepared for it: POP QUIZ. Scrabbly. Letters H & X are unused in today's grid.

16A. It makes it easier for you to lose your balance: ATM CARD. Sly clue!

27A. Its capital is Doha: QATAR. Know it only because of Doha Conference.

46A. It may be thrown in: TOWEL. Throw in the towel.

51A. Old Navy is one of its brands: GAP. I like their jeans.

Do you enjoy those "it/its" or too many for your taste?

Across:

1. Comfort food snack for some, briefly: PB AND J. It's either "Comfort food" or "snack" for me. I've never used the full term "Comfort food snack".

14. Country with a mostly red, white and blue flag: SERBIA. OK, here's their flag. Why "mostly"? It seems the flag consists of those three colors only.

15. Receiving aid: ANTENNA

18. General plan: ROAD MAP

19. Time out?: NAP. The question mark did not prevent me from thinking of sports.

20. Einstein and Planck, e.g.: GERMANS. Not familiar with Max Planck, founder of quantum theory.

22. Unproven ability, for short: ESP

23. Brew choice: DRIP. Oh dear. I was thinking of beer. Don't drink coffee.

25. One of the Allmans: DUANE. Not familiar with his name either. He died at age 24 of a motorcycle accident.

26. Scruff: NAPE

29. LP filler?: MNO. Alphabet: L (MNO) P. Nailed it.

30. Colombian title: SENOR

31. Modus operandi: SYSTEM

33. Gettysburg general: PICKETT (George). Have vaguely heard of Pickett's Charge. Could only think of R.E. Lee.

35. Weighed: EVALUATED

37. "I intend to live __. So far, so good": Steven Wright: FOREVER. I guessed.

39. Forgetful, in a way: SENILE

43. Crow: VAUNT

44. Five-time Fiesta Bowl champs, for short: ASU (Arizona State University). The Sun Devils.

47. Digging, so to speak: INTO

48. Six-time U.S. Open winner: EVERT (Chris). Tennis. Sad to hear her marriage to Greg Norman ended so quickly.

52. Urges: PRESSES

54. Accident consequence: JAM. Did not leap to me quickly.

55. Salad bar option: ITALIAN. Dressing.

57. Trig inverse: ARC SINE. No idea. I was totally confused at my high school math class. Inverse of sine.

59. Driving need: LICENSE

60. Shade of pink: SALMON. I bet this was a gimme for ARBAON. She was just talking about
salmon and coral the other day.

61. Like aftershave: SCENTED

62. Wide of the mark: ERRANT. Shouldn't be "Wide off the mark"?

Down:

1. Things to mind: PS AND QS. Mind one's Ps and Qs.

2. Radioactive emission: BETA-RAY. New phrase to me.

3. Axillae: ARMPITS. This I knew.

4. "Heroes" home: NBC

5. Bishop's rte.: DIAG (Diagonal). Don't play chess.

6. "Chapter 27" star Leto: JARED. His mug looks familiar. Don't recall his name at all.

7. "Knowing all the facts," according to Woody Allen: PARANOIA. The quote clue feels incomplete to me. I'd prefer: "It's knowing all the facts, " according to Woody Allen.

8. Two __: hockey advantage: ON ONE. Hockey clue always stumps me.

9. Class-conscious orgs.?: PTAS. Got me again.

10. Logical letters: QED. Can't jam ERGO in.

11. Not intended: UNMEANT. Man, I checked. It's in the dictionary.

12. Up the creek: IN A SPOT

13. Remote: ZAPPER. Was unaware that zapper is slang for remote control.

17. Word with kettle or steel: DRUM

21. Handbag counterparts: MAN PURSES. Just like this?

24. Major college football's winningest coach: PATERNO (Joe). Penn State. Some blog comments about him a while ago.

26. Is unobliged to: NEED NOT

28. Protect from erosion, as a riverbank: REVET. First encounter with this word.

30. Shooting sport: SKEET

32. Amer. Airlines Center player: MAV. Dallas Mavericks.

34. Tender abbr.: CTS. I don't get this one. Cents? Tender here refers to "money"?

36. Unlike matzo: LEAVENED

37. Monomaniac: FANATIC

38. Beat: OUTPACE

40. Mount Suribachi's island: IWO JIMA. I peeked at the answer sheet.

41. Part of ancient Phoenicia, today: LEBANON. Gimme, JD?

42. Gold, e.g.: ELEMENT

43. Watches: VIGILS. I was looking at my own watch and could not come up with anything.

45. __ Minor: URSA. Penned in ASIA.

48. Remove: ERASE

49. Clipped: TERSE. Can you give me examples about how they are interchangeable?

52. Pub serving: PINT

53. __ tissue: SCAR

56. Football Hall of Famer Dawson: LEN

58. Point-and-shoot alternative, briefly: SLR (Single-Lens Reflex)

Answer grid.

Happy 45th Wedding Anniversary to Spitzboov! Have a great cruise to Bermuda!

C.C.

Friday June 25, 2010 Mark Feldman

Theme: Food Pun - The first word of each two-word familiar food item is substituted by a city, whose country is given in the corresponding clue.

20A. Swiss poultry dish?: BASEL CHICKEN. Basil Chicken. Basel is a city in Switzerland.

27A. Korean menu listing?: SEOUL FOOD. Soul Food. I do love Seoul food. Hot!

35A. Indian lunch fare?: DELHI SANDWICH. Deli Sandwich. Do Indians use naan as sandwich wrap?

43A. Moroccan hearty meal? RABAT STEW. Rabbit Stew. Rabat is the capital of Morocco.

52A. Meccan omelet ingredient? JEDDAH CHEESE. Cheddar Cheese. I've never heard of Jeddah, a port city in Saudi Arabia. Near Mecca indeed. The only theme entry with a city rather than a country as clue hint.

All of the theme answers are punning on the first word. I like the consistency.

Some more food/drink references:

17A. 2006 farce involving a drinking contest: BEER FEST. Total four 8-letter entries today.

48A. Fare that's filled and baked: MEAT PIE

63A. Fruitcake: NUT. OK, not really food.

49D. __ four: PETIT

50D. Bean products?: IDEAS. Nailed it. The question mark told me it's not sprouts. I have stir-fried bean sprouts every Tuesday.

We don't often see four clusters of four black squares in a puzzle. It sure increases the total black square count in a hurry (Total 42 in today's grid).

My favorite clue (I presume Seen's too) is RED (43D. Bench, once). Johnny Bench. Cincinnati Reds. Dennis told me about a card show near our home a few months ago and I was able to see Bench in person. Pete Rose was there too.

Across:

1. A.L. East team: BOS. Boston Red Sox. Quite a few abbr. in this grid.

4. 1960 Olimpiadi host: ROMA. The Italian clue suggests the answer will be in Italian.

8. Padlocked, perhaps: HASPED

14. Glob suffix: ULE

15. Receptive: OPEN

16. More gray: ASHIER

19. "Magic Hour" author": ISAACS (Susan). Don't know the author or the book. What's it about?

22. Memo abbr.: ATTN

23. Move beyond: OUTGROW

32. Frost: HOAR

33. Fast horse: ARAB

34. Frayed: TATTY

40. Certain Net user: AOLER. Net is capitalized.

41. '60s Mod staple: MINI

42. Letters that come at the end of the week: TGIF. We also have FRI (29D. It can be casual: Abbr.). Not fond of the two in the same grid.

51. Race: TEAR. Did not leap to me readily.

57. All one had: ESTATE. Great clue.

60. Transfers again, as computer files: RECOPIES

61. Hungary neighbor: SERBIA

62. Barrie Newfoundland: NANA. The dog in "Peter Pan".

64. Is out there: EXISTS

65. African antelope: ORYX. It has long, straight-horns, Lois!

66. Rte. finder: GPS

Down:

1. Good ol' boys: BUBBAS

2. Fatty acid salt: OLEATE. Ate is a suffix for "salt".

3. Handles: SEES TO

4. Texter's response to a hilarious joke: ROFL

5. Crude org. : OPEC. Crude oil.

6. Interlock: MESH

7. Boycotting, perhaps: ANTI

8. Basho's forte: HAIKU. Have never heard of Basho, a Japanese 17th century poet known for Haiku poems.

9. Black listing?: ASSET. Awesome clue.

10. City near the Yangtze River: SHANGHAI. No, not "near". It's at the mouth of the Yangtze River. I worked in Shanghai for some time.

11. Emmy-winning news anchor Lindström: PIA. No idea. She's Ingrid Bergman's daughter.

12. Common Mkt.: EEC

13. "ER" extras: DRS

18. Contact lens solution brand: RENU. The only brand I know.

21. Cape __ : COD

24. VMI program: ROTC. VMI = Virginia Military Institute. New to me.

25. Bit of irreverence: OATH

26. Twisted: WRY

28. Lionized actor?: LAHR (Bert). The Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz".

30. Treaty gp. since 1948: OAS

31. President with two Grammys: OBAMA. Loved Lemonade's Palin palindrome comment yesterday. John's SEXES clue is awesome too. I think I mentioned on the blog before. Japanese say "I am going" to mean "I am coming".

34. Fool: TWIT

35. Old Venetian judge: DOGE

36. "The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers" essayist: ELIA

37. Right crosses may follow them: LEFT JABS. Needed crossing help.

38. Point: NIB

39. Stranded material: DNA

40. 20s provider, for short: ATM

44. Dance move: STEP

45. Elevating, in a way: TEEING. Various balls.

46. Relax: EASE UP

47. Takes by force: WRESTS

53. Cartoonist Peter: ARNO. Total stranger to me.

54. When repeated, word of agreement: HEAR

55. Manhattan sch.: CCNY (City College of NY)

56. Piltdown man, e.g. : HOAX

57. Language suffix: ESE

58. Bio datum: SEX

59. Head of state?: TRI. I don't get this one. Wanted ESS, the starting letter of the word state.

Answer grid.

Welcome back Kazie! You were dearly missed.

C.C.