Sunday July 11, 2010 Pamela Amick Klawitter

Theme: Geek Squad - TECH is embedded and spans each two-word theme answer.

23A. Welsh pop singing sensation : CHARLOTTE CHURCH. Beautiful voice.

37A. Cookie tidbit : CHOCOLATE CHIP

60A. "The Awakening" author (1899) : KATE CHOPIN. No idea. But I know she's not well known when the construcotr has to put 1899 in the bracket.

85A. Knifehand strike : KARATE CHOP

101A. Environmentalist's concern : CLIMATE CHANGE

123A. 1971 counter-culture film revue hosted by Richard Pryor : DYNAMITE CHICKEN. Not in my radar.

15D. Holiday song that begins "The sun is shining, the grass is green" : WHITE CHRISTMAS

53D. Legislative meeting area : SENATE CHAMBERS

120D. Support worker hiding in the eight longest puzzle answers : TECH

Geek Squad is a subsidiary of Best Buy, which is based here in Minnesota. Had to get their TECH help last time when my computer was sick.

Simple & elegant theme. Sunday puzzles tend to have lots of Fill-in-the-Blank clues/entries (8 in today's case), which can ease up the solving considerably. Lots of 4-letter word too, 54 in this grid.

Alliterative clues aplenty. And of course, I am fond of all the "it" clues:

11D. It might be wild : CARD. Wild card.

106D. It's a plus : ASSET

124D. Make it happen : ACT

Across:

1. Addition, e.g. : MATH

5. Five-sided home? : PLATE. Home plate. Baseball. Quite a few question marked clues in the puzzle, though all the theme clues are straightforward.

10. Sandy color : ECRU

14. __ pants : SWEAT

19. Princess Fiona, e.g. : OGRE. The princess From "Shrek".

20. Ben-Hur portrayer Novarro (1925) : RAMON. "Latin lover" in silent movies, a la Wikipedia. Stranger to me.

21. Place for a speaker : DAIS

22. Letter after eta : THETA

26. Like some carpets : PILED

27. Capital near the Gulf of Tonkin : HANOI. And NAM (33. 27-Across site, briefly). Can picture pain in Dennis' face.

28. Davis who voiced Yar in "Dinosaur" : OSSIE

29. Datsun starter? : DEE. The starting letter of Datsun. Awesome clue.

30. Cruising : AT SEA

31. Gives, as homework : ASSIGNS

35. Matter of interest? : RATE

42. Place to pick up chicks : COOP. Ha ha, not bars.

46. Price limit : CAP

49. Pageant prop : TIARA

50. If-__: conditional statements : THENS

51. Stock market stat : HIGH. And UPS (115A. Stock market stats).

52. Off the mark : AMISS

54. 1860s Jefferson contemporary : ABRAHAM. Jefferson Davis. Abe Lincoln.

57. ERA component : EARNED. And ERAS (70. Times to remember). Different meanings. OK to have ERA duplication.

59. Function : ROLE

63. Gives a thumbs-up : LIKES

64. Curling tool : IRON

65. Liam Neeson's land : IRELAND. "Liam Neeson's country" would have avoided Land repetition.

66. Downs a sub? : EATS. Sandwich.

68. __ blocker : BETA

69. Leader leader? : LOSS. Leader of the term "Loss Leader". Got me.

72. Clay pigeon hurler : TRAP

76. Powder mineral : TALC

78. Choir production : CANTATA

81. 1974 Lucille Ball role : MAME

82. Yacht spots : COVES. Hopefully our yacht boy Gunghy will be back next week.

88. Some 75-Down : ANTS. And PESTS (75. Exterminator's targets).

89. Cochise, for one : APACHE. Have never heard of the tribe chief Cochise.

91. Ice cream soda ingredient : SELTZER

92. Broad-ended cravat : ASCOT

93. Sensitive area : RASH

94. Pertaining to birth : NATAL

96. Strike lightly : TAP ON

99. Sounds from Santa : HOS. Is Santa bald?

100. Entreaty : PLEA

105. Teen hangout : MALL

107. Poivre companion : SEL. Salt in French. Poivre = Pepper.

108. Picked on : NEEDLED

112. Parts of a butcher's inventory : SLABS

118. "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" singer : EVITA

121. "South Park" mom : LIANE. No idea.

122. "Charles in Charge" co-star Willie : AAMES. Nope. First encounter with this fellow.

126. Link in a chain? : STORE. Beautiful clue.

127. __ the Red : ERIC

128. Rolling in francs : RICHE. French for "rich" I presume.

129. Actress Polo : TERI

130. Bank caper : HEIST

131. Michaelmas mo. : SEPT. Paolo or someone else mentioned Michaelmas Day on the blog a while ago.

132. Workout consequences : ACHES

133. Signs of success, for short : SROS. SRO = Standing Room Only.

Down:

1. Starbucks choice : MOCHA

2. Turkish chiefs : AGHAS. Also spelled as Aga.

3. Former prefix? : TRANS. Transformer.

4. Medal-worthy : HEROIC

5. Woods or Els : PRO. Golf pro.

6. Play on which a Puccini opera was based : LA TOSCA. I peeked at the answer sheet. We also have AMORE (47. Puccini's love). Italian for "love". Puccini echos.

7. Small quantities? : AMTS. OK, I guess "Small"= "Abbreviated".

8. Hose fillers : TOES

9. Spanish name for the holm oak : ENCINA. Just learned this trivia a couple of months ago.

10. Univ. URL ending : EDU

12. Sushi staple : RICE

13. Herald, as a new era : USHER IN

14. Mar. parade honoree : ST. PAT

16. Slippery swimmers : EELS

17. Precisely, with "to" : A TEE

18. "There!" : TA-DA

24. Wrigley Field's lack until 1988 : LIGHTS. Unknown fact to me.

25. It can drive people to the mountains : HEAT. No mountain here.

32. "There's __ in 'team'" : NO I

34. Madness may involve one : METHOD. Idiom: There's a method to one's madness. Learning moment for me.

36. Cathedral section : APSE

38. Spouts off : ORATES

39. Stickers : LABELS

40. Mate : CHAP

41. Spherical opening? : HEMI. Opening to the word hemispherical.

43. Porker's plaint : OINK

44. Arced molding : OGEE

45. Ones who get a third degree : PHDS

46. Antilles native : CARIB

48. Tube test? : PILOT. TV tube.

55. HDTV brand : RCA

56. Philip __, Asian-American actor known for war movie roles : AHN. Ang in Chinese, as in Ang Lee.

58. Flying level: Abbr. : ALT (Altitude)

60. Veto : KILL

61. Hard as __ : A ROCK

62. "Awesome!" : NEATO

67. Quickly, in memos : ASAP

70. "Blah, blah, blah," briefly : ETC ETC

71. Enthusiastic : RAH RAH

73. Dressing choice : RANCH

74. Sandbox retort : AM TOO

77. Eyjafjallajökull output : ASH. Spitzboov has been waiting for the volcano to appear.

78. Coloratura legend : CALLAS (Maria). Coloratura is a new word to me. It's "runs, trills and other florid decorations in vocal music".

79. Bar passer: Abbr. : ATT (Attorney)

80. Pince-__ : NEZ

82. Moan and groan : CARP. Nice rhyme.

83. Down Under gem : OPAL. Australia looks beautiful through Kazie's eyes.

84. Flower holder : VASE

86. Piedmont wine area : ASTI. And ANGELI (92. Gabriel et al.). Italian for "angels" I gather.

87. Paper purchase : REAM

90. SASE, for one : ENCL

95. Refers casually (to) : ALLUDES

97. Dash : PANACHE

98. Washington is on it : ONE

102. Overflow : TEEM

103. "Movie Macabre" host : ELVIRA. Can never remember her name.

104. Orders from on high : EDICTS

109. California cager : LAKER. Bill's homeboys.

110. January, to Jorge : ENERO. Lots of alliterations in the clue.

111. Patron saint of France : DENIS. Oh, good to know.

112. Obi, e.g. : SASH

113. Past curfew : LATE

114. Madame's mine : A MOI. French for "mine".

116. Rite heap : PYRE

117. Salon sound : SNIP

119. Meteor ending : ITIC. Meteoritic.

125. Bucks and rams : HES

Answer grid.
Congratulations to our LAT constructor Fred Jackson for his first Sunday (Newsday) construction!

Here is Part III of Kazie's Oz pictures. Very scenic.
C.C.

Saturday July 10, 2010 Doug Peterson

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 29

This puzzle is anchored by two 14s:

33A. Twisted party decorations : BALLOON ANIMALS. Quite a few refreshing & unique fill today.

39A. Purported source of Revere's historic signal : OLD NORTH CHURCH. Gimme for BarryG, I am sure. I needed crossing help. Total 10 letter Cs in the grid.

The above 14s are intersected by six 10-letter Down entries. A couple of 9s and fourteen 7-letter answers form the basic framework of the grid.

And as the norm with our Saturday puzzles, some clues are ambiguous and puzzling to me, some answers are just outside my knowledge zone.

Across:

1. Vamp attachments : T-STRAPS. I need a lesson on the anatomy of the shoe. Was picturing a seductive "vamp" girl.

8. They may follow shots : CHASERS. Drink "shots".

15. Hard up : IN A HOLE. In debt.

16. Crash : ZONK OUT. Was in the collide "Crash" direction.

17. Crown : CORONET. And TIARA (47D. Bridal accessory).

18. Things in the back : ADDENDA. Plural of addendum. Back of a book.

19. Certain Sopwith Scout : TWO-SEATER. Sopwith Scout is nicknamed Sopwith Pup. Some fighter aircraft. Total stranger to me. Educate me, Dudley!

21. Aid for a large-group photo : RISER

22. Invoice abbr. : AMT

23. Rolls in a nursery : SOD. Garden nursery.

24. "Naked Pictures of Famous People" author Stewart : JON. I guessed.

25. After-school request : COCOA. Thought of SNACK.

28. Tar Heel State campus : ELON

30. Eliot's Old Deuteronomy, e.g. : CAT. The musical "Cats" is adapted from T. S. Eliot's Cats poem.

37. Volunteer, often : FIREMAN

38. "If you can find a better car, buy it" speaker : IACOCCA (Lee). Three Cs in his name alone.

41. Check alternatives : X'ES

42. Gulf of Finland feeder : NEVA. See the map. Stumped me again.

43. Popped up, in baseball lingo : SKIED

45. Leftover : ODD

46. Union Sq., e.g. : STA. Union Square Station.

49. Soul on the Seine : ÂME. French for "soul".

50. Listed, to sailors : LEANT. Sailors say "leaned" as "leant", Spitzboov? Listed here meant "tilted".

53. Not finished yet : STILL AT IT

56. Dip (in) : IMMERSE

58. Fatty : ADIPOSE. Learned from doing Xword.

59. "The Time Machine" actress (1960) : MIMIEUX (Yvette). Should make Jazzbumpa happy. He & Lemonade have linked this picture a few times.

60. Finally turns (to) : RESORTS

61. Influential second-century astronomer : PTOLEMY

62. Three-syllable foot : ANAPEST. Poetic foot. The last syllable is stressed.

Down:

1. "Get a bang out of life" mint : TIC TAC

2. Treaded transport : SNOWMOBILE

3. Justice and Temperance, e.g. : TAROT CARDS. I peeked at the answer sheet.

4. Frat letters : RHOS

5. Excellent : A ONE

6. They may be affected by bargaining : PLEAS

7. Small scrap : SET-TO

8. Energy boss : CZAR. Energy Czar.

9. Mortar trough : HOD

10. Shakespeare title name : ANDRONICUS. "Titus Andronicus", Shakespeare tragedy. Headache for me.

11. Yarn unit : SKEIN

12. Seemingly forever : EONS

13. Like some awakenings : RUDE. Rude awakening.

14. Have the lead : STAR

20. Third-day creation : EDEN. God knows.

24. Fish story notable : JONAH. Bible story. He was swallowed by by a whale.

26. Author Robert __ Butler : OLEN. I've never heard of this author.

27. Source of some sundae toppings : ALMOND TREE. What? Because almonds are from almond trees?

29. Of the flock : LAIC. As opposed to "of the cloth".

30. Prepared with tomatoes, mushrooms and herbs : CACCIATORE. No idea. Wikipedia says it means "hunter" in Italian.

31. Philosophers' stone seekers : ALCHEMISTS

32. Airport screening org. : TSA (Transportation Security Administration)

34. Did galley work : OARED

35. Being broadcast : ON TV

36. Alien who reported to Orson : MORK. Mork & Mindy.

37. Site for aspiring idols : FOX. Home to "American Idol".

40. Dost own : HAST. What JD wanted yesterday.

44. Not fancy in the least : DETEST. Fancy is a verb here.

45. Negro Leagues legend Buck : O'NEIL. So humble. He should be in the Hall of Fame.

48. Mayflower Compact signer : ALDEN (John). The first person from The Mayflower to set foot on Plymouth in 1620, a la Wikipedia.

50. Worn out : LIMP. Oh.

51. Shoot out : EMIT

52. Battle rounds : AMMO

53. Steamy, in a way : SEXY

54. Co-star with Courteney and Jennifer : LISA (Kudrow). In "Friends".

55. For one : A POP

57. Dim __ : SUM. I miss Guangzhou. The food & the nightlife.

Answer grid.

Here are Part II of Kazie's Oz pictures. The colors are just so vibrant. I love that lonely lizard.

C.C.