Saturday July 3, 2010 Will Nediger

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 36

One letter Q away from a pangram.

Will Nediger anchors his puzzle with a grid spanner MARRIED TO THE MOB (33A. 1988 Michelle Pfeiffer film) and stacks a couple of 11s & a 10 on the top/bottom. OVERANALYZE (52A. Figure to a fault) is my favorite entry today. Awesome.

Will is majoring in linguistics, so his fill/clue skew academics. He probably loves Shakespeare stuff, see the below clues:

1A. He played Brutus in "Julius Caesar" (1953) : JAMES MASON. Total stranger to me.

28A. "I kissed thee __ I killed thee": "Othello" : ERE

45D. "In __, you are to blame": "Othello" : SOOTH. In truth.

As the norm with Saturday puzzles, a few new words for me and plenty of V-8 moments.

Across:

11. Member of a notable foreign trio : AMO (I love). Amo, amas, amat. Latin trio.

14. Complex mirage : FATA MORGANA. New word to me. See the etymology. Italian name. Had some King Arthur root.

15. Go for the bronze? : TAN. Nailed it.

16. 1965 Peter and Gordon hit : I GO TO PIECES. The tune sounds familiar.

17. Enter the pool : BET. D'oh, betting pool. DIP did not work.

18. Crescent : LUNE. Rooted in Latin moon "Luna". Makes sense.

19. Wet-weather wear : GALOSH. Man, I never know there's a special term for this kind of waterproof overshoe.

21. Ski nautique site : LAC. French for "lake". I don't know the meaning of "Ski nautique". Nautique is just French for "Nautical".

22. Acolyte's area : ALTAR

27. Barista's preparation : LATTE

29. Shinto temple gateway : TORII. Like this. I always associate it with ex-Twin Torii Hunter.

30. House or lodge : STOW. Verb. I was in the noun direction.

31. Pelvis-patella connectors : FEMURS

32. The farther ones : THOSE

37. Large amount : OCEAN

38. Stockpile : GATHER

39. Add water to, perhaps : THIN. Can't jam in DILUTE.

40. Tribe member in many films : EXTRA. Extras who play the tribe members. I thought the answer is asking for a real Indian tribe who appears in film often.

41. New Jersey casino, with "The" : TAJ

44. Pen output : OINKS. Pig pen.

46. Sitting Bull, e.g. : SIOUX. Yes, this is the kind of tribe I was picturing for 40A.

47. Doc bloc : HMO. Rhyme.

48. Team that's played in the same home park since 1912 : RED SOX. Their Fenway Park is the oldest ball park in Major League.

50. Busiest : PEAK

51. "__ Got Bonnie": Rydell hit : I'VE. I guessed.

58. One in a zillion? : ZEE. One letter in the word "zillion". Clever clue.

59. Venerable : TIME-HONORED. Another awesome answer.

60. Transgress : ERR

61. Some countdowns : HIT PARADES. Countdowns of most popular songs.

Down:

1. Rain forest cat : JAGUAR. I drew a blank.

2. Without delay : AT ONCE

3. King's downfall, maybe : MATE. Chess ending.

4. Punk rock offshoot : EMO. Learned from doing Xword.

5. Payoff : SOP. Bribe.

6. Med. technique using contrast agents : MRI. What are "contrast agents"?

7. What candles may reveal : AGE. Wrinkles too.

8. Egg holder : SAC

9. A hundred sawbucks : ONE G. 1,000.

10. Like some vowels : NASAL. Like what? I only know nasal consonants.

11. Fundamentally : AT BOTTOM

12. Stately and dignified, in music : MAESTOSO. New word to me. So close to Maestro.

13. Generally Googleable : ON THE WEB. OK.

14. Dijon daughter : FILLE. "Daughter" in French. Alliteration.

20. 1993 Anne Rice novel : LASHER. See the book cover. Not in my radar.

22. Ordered pizza, perhaps : ATE IN

23. Capital of Togo : LOME. Uh-uh, nope. No idea. God will be resigned by my unwillingness to learn those capitals in faraway countries.

24. Walks with effort : TRUDGES

25. Chartered carrier : AIR TAXI. The answer just would not come to me.

26. Ristorante dish : RISOTTO. OK, ristorante is Italian for "restaurant" then.

31. Dogs : FRANKS. Hot dogs.

32. Walking papers : THE AX. Walking papers: slang for dismissal.

33. Make easier to use, in a way : MOTORIZE. Didn't jump to me immediately.

34. One who gets things done : ACHIEVER. This word seems to always come with "over" or "under".

35. Cupid, for one : REINDEER. Santa's Cupid. Not Roman love god.

36. Via, informally : THRU

41. "__ here!" : THEY'RE. Does this refer to the tagline for "Poltergeist"?

42. Floors : AMAZES. Verb.

43. Caused a breakup? : JOKED. Convulsed with laughter "breakup".

49. Louis __: son of Marie Antoinette : XVII. Makes senses. Her husband is Louis XVI.

50. Lumber : PLOD. I confused "Lumber" with "Slumber".

53. First to arrive, often: Abbr. : EMT. True!

54. Good standing, for short : REP (Reputation)

55. "Got it!" : AHA

56. Easter preceder? : NOR. Nor'easter. Strong rain storm in east coast. So named because the winds come from the northeast.

57. Santa __ : ANA

Answer grid.

Tomorrow we are going to have a special 4th of July tribute puzzle by John Lampkin. The theme involves circles, which are unsupported by LA Times website software. If you don't use Across Lite, please come to the blog on Sunday morning for the pdf version.

C.C.

Friday July 2, 2010 Jack McInturff

Theme: KING ME (71A. Board game demand, and hint to this puzzle's theme) - KING is added to the end of three-letter word of a common phrase.

18A. Temporary teacher's lot? : SUB PARKING. Subpar. The only theme entry where the base phrase is one word. Temporary teacher = Sub.

23A. What it would have been if 10-Down went down? : ORIGINAL SINKING. And ARK (10. Ararat arrival). Noah's Ark landed in Mt. Ararat. What exactly is the "Original Sin"? Eve & Adam ate the forbidden fruit and then made love?

52A. Brusque words about strong coffee? : ESPRESSO BARKING. Espresso Bar. Quite an evocative clue. Brusque order from a customer.

61A. Actress Brenneman losing on purpose? : AMY TANKING. Amy Tan, author of "The Joy Luck Club", very real portrait of Chinese American mindset. I liked Amy Brenneman's role in "NYPD Blue".

Interesting that every one of Jack's recent puzzles has a unifier entry. "King Me" came to my radar only because Lois had lots of DF fun with the term some time ago on the blog. I've never played Checkers.

As you all know, I am quite fond of clue echos and cross-references, but I truly dislike those ones that give absolutely nothing for me to decipher. In today's case:

6D. 13-Down relative : EDU

13D. 6-Down relative : ORG

They are relatives because both are common internet address endings?

Across:

1. Rhine tributary : RUHR. In Essen.

5. Word spoken while pointing, perhaps : HER. New clue.

8. Slow tempo : ADAGIO

14. Sitcom redhead : OPIE. Ron Howard in "The Andy Griffith Show". I thought of LUCY Ball.

15. Stock ending? : ADE. Ending to the word Stockade.

16. Sole sauce : TARTAR

17. Hosp. workers : LPNS (Licensed Practical Nurses). New abbr. to me. Maybe it's gimme for August & Crazy Horse.

20. Escorted : LED IN

22. Where to kiss the Blarney Stone : EIRE

30. Nat or Red : NLER. National Leaguer. Washington Nationals/Cincinnati Reds.

31. "The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom" author : ORMAN (Suze)

32. '60s activist gp. : SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)

35. Former sergeant, perhaps : EX-COP. Needed crossing help.

38. Classic Callas role : TOSCA. No idea. All I know about Maria Callas is her affair with Ari Onassis.

39. "Very funny" : HA HA

41. Greenish blues : TEALS

43. Links sight : CART. Golf.

44. Memorable mission : ALAMO

46. Pond papa : DRAKE. Alliteration.

48. __ Arc, Arkansas : DES. Not familiar with this city. We also have ARCED (25D. Bowed). Minor duplication.

49. Former name of the Mariinsky Ballet : KIROV. Previously Kirov Ballet.

50. Fanatics : NUTS

59. Like an undeliverable pkg. : RETD. Returned I suppose.

60. Where to get down : EIDER. Duck down.

67. Normal opening? : PARA. Opening to the word Paranormal.

68. Hunts diligently : SCOURS

69. Date : SEE

70. It acquired Applebee's in 2007 : IHOP. Unaware of this fact.

72. Little shaver : TOT. Shaver = Small kid.

73. Peter of reggae : TOSH. Gimme. The Wailers. With Bob Marley.

Down:

1. Rich kid in "Nancy" comics : ROLLO. Stumper. I don't read comic strips.

2. Berth place : UPPER

3. Language that gives us "cheetah" and "chutney" : HINDI. Any good recipe for mango chutney?

4. Quit : RESIGN

5. Holds : HAS

7. Rise up : REBEL

8. Pong creator : ATARI

9. Are more than reluctant to : DARE NOT. I say this a lot.

11. VW hatchback : GTI. GTI = Grand Tourer--Injected. Who knows? Volkswagen is the largest foreign car maker in China.

12. Creator of Q and M : IAN (Fleming). Q & M are Bond characters.

19. Circle constants : PIS

21. __ green : NILE

24. "What happened __?" : NEXT

26. McDonald's founder : KROC (Ray)

27. "When __ she comes to me with a thousand smiles": "Little Wing" lyric : I'M SAD. Stymied. Jimi Hendrix song. Any The Corrs fans there?

28. Shell layer : NACRE. Mother-of-pearl. Mollusk shell.

29. Punkies : GNATS. Punkie is a new word to me.

32. Wooden shingle : SHAKE. Was ignorant of this carpentry term.

33. "The Sacrament of the Last Supper" and others : DALIS. Here is the painting.

34. Off-key, in a way : SHARP. Need Jazzbumpa's explanation.

36. Watercraft control : OAR

37. Alternate strategy : PLAN B

40. Cupid : AMOR

42. Arctic predator : SKUA. Hi there!

45. Like many a baseball pitch : OVERARM. Overarm pitch.

47. French 101 verb : ETRE. "To be".

51. "Never mind" : SKIP IT

53. Common quality? : SENSE. Common sense.

54. NYSE buy : STK (Stock)

55. Lyrical poet : ODIST

56. Only state that borders six states and Canada : IDAHO. Wow, it's true.

57. __ Circus, where St. Peter was crucified : NERO'S. Learning moment for me. Jack likes to put a few Biblical references in his puzzle.

58. Plotting device : GRAPH

61. Quiz : ASK

62. Verizon subsidiary : MCI

63. That, old-style : YON

64. Harbor vessel : TUG. Quite a few 3-letter word entries in the grid. Total 21.

65. Revival prefix : NEO. Neoclassic, e.g.

66. Fetch : GET

Answer grid.

C.C.