Wednesday July 21, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: OFF TO A FAST START (59A. First out of the gate, and what 17-, 22-, 38- and 51-Across all get) - Each theme begins with a word meaning FAST.

17A. It may be drawn without thinking: HASTY CONCLUSION.

22A. Sylvester Pussycat nemesis: SPEEDY GONZALES. A little undercurrent of cartoons in today's effort, including a second appearance for 60D. Sylvester, to Tweety: TAT.

38A. Dubious diet ad promise: RAPID WEIGHT LOSS. Three grid-spanners, occupying a total of 73 theme squares. Heavy themage!

51A. Mentally agile: QUICK ON THE DRAW. One of my favorites QUICK DRAW .

Happy hump to you all; Lemonade here with my second Dan Naddor.

It has been more than 6 months since his passing, and it does not get easier. His theme answer are all unique and long, while not too difficult, they show his creativity. He also uses most of the tough letters in the alphabet, missing only J, V and X.

Across:

1. Turkish title: AGHA.

5. Kind of appetizer platter: PUPU. I believe this is an Hawaiian word that means appetizer; help me out here our Hawaiian contingent.

9. Refs throw them: FLAGS.

14. Nobleman's mistress: COURTESAN.

16. Artist Neiman: LEROY. The best sports artist ever, you can go and see his work at ORIGINALS .

19. In the know: HIP. With 8D. Not 19-Across: UNCOOL.

20. Buck's partner: DOE. Did you ever think that a Buck is a dollar, and Dough (DOE) is also money? No? Oh well, I did.

21. Emergency PC key: ESC.

27. A/C unit: BTU. British Thermal Units. I know they say Brits are cold, is that why they named the A/C measurer after them?

28. Paul's "Exodus" role: ARI. Paul Newman, and amazing book and MOVIE , which was produced by MGM. which coincidentally (?) is next. 29A. MGM co-founder: LOEW. His story was interesting, MARCUS LOEW . And then we have, 64D. Early MGM rival: RKO.

30. Fridge or freezer: Abbr.: APPL. It is amazing how clues are seen in bunches.

32. Pollution-policing org.: EPA.

34. Fountain orders: SODAS. The days of soda fountains are long gone....

42. Record needles: STYLI. Is your clue "Record players"? Read Rich Norris' note at the end of my write-up. Now we know the rest of the story on Monday 42A D.O.A. boo boo.

43. Response of feigned innocence: MOI. Of course you must think of HER .

44. Spill the beans: SING. Often done by criminals, who are also known as CONS....

45. Con: ANTI.

48. Powder parter: SKI. Alliteration and trickery all wrapped into one clue, wonderful. "Powder snow".

50. Asian occasion: TET. Followed by a wonderful rhyme, even if the reference is offensive to some (Dennis?).

56. Network absorbed by The CW: UPN.

57. Long-jawed fish: GAR.

58. ICU test: EEG.

66. Synagogue scroll: TORAH.

67. First felony conviction, in some states: ONE STRIKE. More alliteration.

68. Poet's Muse: ERATO. A real crosswordese, we all should have this one down.

69. Certain squad member: GEEK. Some say Best Buy has spent all the money on ads, and not training for their MEMBERS , I am prejudiced because my nephew is one.

70. "__ off?": ON OR. Dan really liked the word strings as answers.

Down:

1. German cry: ACH. This is for you Windhover, SING A LONG .

2. ___ few rounds: GO A.

3. Item in a fried side with catfish: HUSH PUPPY. Was the fried necessary?

4. "The Sopranos" chef Bucco: ARTIE. Did anyone remember his last name, which in hindsight sound like OSSO BUCO.

5. Delt neighbor: PEC. Muscles, shoulder and chest...

6. GI entertainers: USO. Gee, we can get Jayne Mansfield again with BOB HOPE .

7. Co. that has sponsored many soaps: P AND G. Proctor and Gamble; I wonder if I will ever do the "AND" words easily.

9. __ shot: FLU.

10. Guitarist Paul: LES. Just BEAUTIFUL .

11. The Little Mermaid: ARIEL. MB, Jeannie, ladies, is she a role model?

12. Ninny: GOOSE. Or just a silly...

13. Matches audio to video, say: SYNCS.

15. Aggressive sort: TYPE A.

18. He preceded and followed O'Brien: LENO.

22. March VIP: ST PAT.

23. Attracted: DREW. This ONE?.

24. "Holy Toledo!": YIPE.

25. Energy: ZEST.

26. Mil. truants: AWOLS.

27. Ivory units?: BARS. Loved this ones, could not figure out how to squeeze tusks in here.

31. The purple one is New Hampshire's state flower: LILAC.

33. Fire preceder?: AIM. Another Naddor left fielder. "Ready, AIM, fire!"

35. "Encore!": DO IT AGAIN.

36. Good __: repaired: AS NEW.

37. USMC rank: SSGT.

39. Drop shot, in tennis: DINK. Like this MEMORY .

40. "No kidding!": GOSH.

41. Increase: HIKE. Another one that took a while to see.

46. Frat party attire: TOGA.

47. Dazed: IN A FOG.

49. Latin clarifier: ID EST.

51. Bit of term paper color: QUOTE. Okay he fooled me again.

52. Enthusiastic about: UP FOR.

53. Prefix with structure: INFRA.

54. Big name in air conditioning: TRANE. They used my friends' SONG .

55. In once more: RETRO.

61. "So that's your game!": O HO.

62. "What'd I tell ya?": SEE.

63. "That wasn't nice!": TSK.

65. Three times, in Rx's: TER. I actually remember TID.

Answer grid.

All in all a fun Wednesday, that perhaps was softened by the editor. Keep the cards and letters coming, especially you newbies, tell us what you think.

Your humble servant Lemonade

Rich Norris' email to C.C. yesterday:

"... and I'm pretty sure I figured out what happened. Tomorrow's 42A clue is supposed to be changed to [Record needles]. I suspect it will show up in the paper as [Record players], which isn't totally wrong, maybe just a bit ambitious, since the answer items need help to play records. Evidently, whoever made clue changes at Tribune changed the 42A clue on the wrong day, resulting in yesterday's error. The online puzzle is handled separately; the error doesn't appear there. My apologies to the confused newspaper solvers. "

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 Fred Piscop

Theme: Musical Numbers - Songs with a number in the title.

17A. Temptations number : "CLOUD NINE". Song

64A. Doris Day number : "TEA FOR TWO". Song.

9D. Josh White number : "ONE MEAT BALL". Song

24D. Tennessee Ernie Ford number : "SIXTEEN TONS". Song

Two Across theme entries with numbers in the back. Two Down entries with numbers in front.

Argyle here.

Fred Piscop is a renowned constructor but this is only the second time we have seen him. The other was a Sunday. He seems to be fond of cross-references too.

There are plenty of songs with a number in the title but if there is a particular reason he chose these four, I don't see it. Do you?

Across:

1. Letters on the Ronald Reagan : USS. Aircraft Carrier CVN-76.

4. Student of Socrates : PLATO. And 29A. 4-Across, to Aristotle : TEACHER. They're all Greeks to me.

9. Travel like Eris or Ceres : ORBIT. Eris is the largest and Ceres is the smallest of the five identified dwarf planets in ORBIT in our Solar System.

14. Zippo : NIL. Nada, zero, nothing.

15. Put to work : HIRED.

16. Source of some urban pollution : NOISE. Tricky, but not as tricky as light pollution.

19. First name in TV talk : ELLEN. Ellen DeGeneres.

20. CIA boss Panetta : LEON. The man doesn't look like a secret agent.

21. Ward, to Beaver : DAD. From the old TV show, "Leave it to Beaver". And 52A. 21-Across, slangily : OLD MAN. Theodore wouldn't call his father that but Wally might.

22. Brunch fare : OMELET.

23. Tell-all news story : EXPOSÉ.

25. Market special : SALE.

27. Guinness serving : PINT.

34. Pre-fax communication : TELEX. Variations called Telecommunications Devices for the Deaf (TDDs) are still used by the hearing impaired for typed communications over ordinary telephone lines.

37. Mob hit victim, often : RAT.

39. Worthless talk : TRIPE.

40. __-garde : AVANT.

41. "Thrilla in Manila" boxer : ALI. The third and final famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier,

42. School rides : BUSES.

43. Soprano Fleming : RENÉE. At the The Obama Inaugural Celebration Concert: You ll Never Walk Alone

44. Spray graffiti on, say : MAR.

45. Stocks or bonds : ASSET.

46. Swap the old for the new : TRADE UP.

48. First name in scat : ELLA.

50. Legendary loch : NESS.

56. Having just exercised : SWEATY.

60. Returns pro : CPA.

62. Move carefully : EASE.

63. Convention nametag word : HELLO.

66. Poland Spring competitor : EVIAN. (Bottled water)

67. Carriage return, these days : ENTER. Carriage, (the moving part of a typewriter) when it returned at the end of a line, would drop down a line which is what happens when you click on ENTER.

68. Catch some rays : TAN.

69. Campus VIPs : DEANS. And 4D. Deg. for many 69-Across : PHD.

70. Tractor maker John : DEERE.

71. USNA grad : ENS..

Down:

1. "I give!" : "UNCLE!".

2. Proctor __ appliances : SILEX. Frank Wolcott, in 1919, started a company in his own name as a distributor of electric heaters and appliances, using the trade name Torrid. In 1924, he bought from H.M. Bridges, the Silex Co. of Malden, Mass., which had introduced into the U.S., the German vacuum coffee maker. So does SILEX mean something in German?

3. Single -masted ship : SLOOP.

5. Tree also known as basswood : LINDEN.

6. Andrea Bocelli delivery : ARIA. He is a multiple Classical Brit-winning and Grammy and Emmy nominated, Italian pop tenor and crossover artist. Duet with Elmo.

7. Works the bar : TENDS.

8. "To a ..." poem : ODE.

10. Thespian's résumé listing : ROLE.

11. Fin or sawbuck : BILL. Fin is slang for a five-dollar bill and sawbuck is a ten. The term, sawbuck, comes from the Roman numeral for ten, X, and X looks like a sawbuck (for cutting up wood).

12. "Now it's clear!" : "I SEE!".

13. Backpacker's shelter : TENT.

18. Still in the crate : UNOPENED.

22. Soccer shout : "¡Olé!".

26. Things to wear : ATTIRE.

28. Homeless itinerants : TRAMPS.

30. One with a cause : CRUSADER.

31. Greet the villain : "HISS!".

32. Blunted blade : ÉPÉE.

33. Remainder : REST.

34. Like sourballs : TART.

35. "Rarely, if __ ..." : EVER.

36. Lang of Smallville : LANA. From Superman's youth.

38. In the style of : À LA.

47. Slangy reversal of direction : UEY. A U-turn.

49. Work shirker : LOAFER.

51. Movie segment : SCENE.

53. Dull finish : MATTE.

54. Egypt's __ High Dam : ASWAN. The newer Aswan High Dam is located a further 7.3 kilometres upriver from the Aswan Low Dam.

55. Vegas signs : NEONS.

56. Storage building : SHED.

57. "__ Only Just Begun": Carpenters hit : WE'VE. Song

58. Director Kazan : ELIA.

59. Actor Arkin : ALAN.

61. Chopped spread : PÂTÉ.

64. Fenway Park's Williams : TED. Boston Red Sox home park.

65. It usually ends in "ite" : ORE. i.e. Bauxite, Iron Pyrite.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Notes from C.C.:

1) Yesterday's "Record needles" clue for 42A (D.O.A.) in some papers are mysterious errors. Rich Norris (LA Times Crossword Editor) said his final clue was "1988 film noir remake". How the needles dropped into your local paper is still yet to be found.

2) Al solved my Firefox browser gray links problem. Thanks, Al!