Friday September 17, 2010 John Lampkin

Theme: AP → IP - AP is replaced by IP in the first word of each two-word common phrase.

17A. Ballet? : TIP DANCING. The base phrase is Tap Dancing.

27A. Photo session with a klutz? : TRIP SHOOTING. Trapshooting. Constructor John Lampkin is an avid photographer and recently shot some scenes at sea on the Maine Coast the day after Hurricane Earl blew by. In other words, he did some TRIP SHOOTING OF WATER. See his dramatic images here.

47A. Part of a barber shop review? : SNIP JUDGMENT. Snap Judgment. Fun clue.

62A. Christmas morning ritual? : RIP SESSION. Rap Session. Such an evocative answer.

The first and the last both have one consonant in front of IP, the middle pair have a double consonant blend. I like the symmetry, intended or not.

I wonder if John tried three blend consonant clusters like STR, you know, Strap Down to STRIP DOWN. Sounds good to me.

I mentioned last week how constructors pride themselves in debuting a new word/phrase, today we have WINGNUT (24D. Hand-tightened fastener). With the I & U (from two pre-set theme answers) in place, John could have gone with DISH OUT or FIRE UP or any other existing choices. He went extra mile and got WINGNUT. Safe clue. No political controversy. I loved the fill also because it's a nickname for carrier based fighter pilot. Familiar with the term, Spitzboov?

Across:

1. Bulldogs' home : YALE. Yale Bulldogs.

5. Controversial 2009 Nobelist : OBAMA. Controversial indeed.

10. Tevye's toast subject : LIFE. Tevye is the father in "Fiddler on the Roof". L'chaim (literally "to life")!

14. Airline with a King David Lounge : EL AL

15. Drink disparaged by W.C. Fields : WATER. "I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it."

16. Bridal gown shade : ECRU

19. Iberian Peninsula invader : MOOR (756-1492)

20. Cartographic detail : INSET

21. Au pair in a ring? : KTS (Karats). Au = Gold (Thanks, Dennis) chemically. Why pair? The "Au pair" play is lost on me.

22. Salsa instrument : BONGO

23. Can't commit : SEESAWS. Hey, CC alliteration.

25. "Don't gimme that!" : C'MON

32. Realtors' database: Abbr. : MLS. Dictionary says it stands for Multiple Listing Service. Not a familiar term to me.

35. Abbr. part, often : INIT (Initial). Drew a blank.

36. "The nerve!" : I NEVER

37. Court cry : OYEZ. Used to think it's O YES. Another CC alliteration.

39. Airborne annoyances : GNATS

41. Dynamic opening? : AERO. Aerodynamic.

42. Gibbon, e.g. : SIMIAN

44. Naldi of silents : NITA. Lives forever in Xword due to her Xword friendly name.

46. Use a seed drill : SOW. What is a seed drill?

50. She played Elizabeth I in "Elizabeth" : CATE (Blanchett). Very sculpted face.

51. Wrote a Dear John : ENDED IT

55. Shot to the face? : BOTOX. Man, I understands the humor, but this clue still sounds a bit violent to me.

58. ESP, e.g. : PSI. Just learned the telepathy meaning of PSI a few weeks ago.

60. Predawn : EARLY

61. Pundit's piece : OP-ED. Alliteration.

64. Area between gutters : LANE. Bowling.

65. Come about : OCCUR

66. Further : ELSE

67. Line discontinued in 2004 : OLDS

68. Military camp : ETAPE. Learned from doing Xword.

69. Blonde, at times : DYER

Down:

1. Elusive Himalayans : YETIS

2. "Drop me __" : A LINE. Or A NOTE.

3. Dropping the ball, so to speak : LAPSE. Hmm, "so to speak", I bet Lois seldom lapses.

4. First arrival : ELDEST

5. MYOB part : OWN. MYOB = Mind Your Own Business.

6. English, maybe : BACKSPIN. The pool term "English". Can it also mean SIDE SPIN, Lois?

7. Arguing : AT IT

8. Good guy : MENSCH. Nice consonants-rich word.

9. Its mon. unit is the peso : ARG (Argentina)

10. Throat-soothing brew : LEMON TEA. Iced Lemon Tea is very popular in Hongkong.

11. Macintosh's apple, e.g. : ICON

12. __ legs : FROG. Delicious! Delicacy in Guangzhou.

13. Prefix with bond or dollar : EURO. We had this clue before.

18. Game company first called Syzygy : ATARI. Unaware of the trivia. What does Syzygy mean?

22. Godsend : BOON

26. What misters do : MOISTEN. Misters = Ones who mist. Notice it's not capitalized?

28. Ford muscle car, to devotees : STANG

29. Lithographer James : IVES

30. Fabled fiddler : NERO. Alliteration. Nero fiddles while Rome burns.

31. Generate interest : GROW

32. Damp area growth : MOSS

33. The Eagles' "__' Eyes" : LYIN'

34. Big Mack : SEMI. Nice play on "Big Mac".

38. 60606 and 70707, e.g. : ZIP CODES. Awesome clue. Where are those two places, by the way?

40. Proctor's announcement : TIME IS UP. Another debut entry.

43. "Iliad" hero : AJAX. He rescued the body of Achilles and killed himself when Achilles' armor went to Odysseus.

45. Much of Chile : ANDES

48. Portray : DEPICT

49. Ribbed : TEASED

52. How deadpan humor is delivered : DRILY

53. Terse concession : I LOSE. Always wanted I LOST.

54. Jazz pianist McCoy __ : TYNER. Sorry, Sir, don't know you. I am sure Jazzbumpa will pick a smooth link for us.

55. New Mexico's official neckwear : BOLO. Can you picture Gunghy with a bolo tie?

56. Fire __ : OPAL. The fill-in-the blank clues today are not that easy.

57. Be inclined (to) : TEND

59. Shelter org. : SPCA

62. Some eggs : ROE. Now I see "egg", I see IRA. Nest egg.

63. Long lead-in : ERE. Erelong.

I did not notice any clecho (clue echo), you? Go there and thumb up, lurkers. Thanks.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday September 16, 2010 David J. Kahn

Theme: SPORTS BARS (58A. Places where you can watch (and whose end can follow the ends of) the answers to starred clues) - A double-layered theme. All the two-word theme answers (with sports-relate clues) can be seen in SPORTS BARS, and the last word of each answer can also proceed BARS.

17A. *Powerful punch: RIGHT CROSS. Boxing/Cross bars. Found in luggage racks and soccer (and football) goals.

26A. *Where the tight end is positioned, in football lingo: STRONG SIDE. American Football/Side bars. An edge column on a web page, or SUV accessories that you can step on to enter the vehicle.

50A. *Shot pioneered by Wilt Chamberlain: FINGER ROLL. Basketball/Roll bars. A protective cage in a racing vehicle.

11D. *2010 St. Andrews competition: BRITISH OPEN. Golf/Open bars. Free drinks.

25D. *Wimbledon event: MEN'S SINGLES. Tennis/Singles bars. The "meet" market.

Al here.

As usual, ramped up for a Thursday. Seven names, tricky and several cross-referential clues, and a bit unusual. It seems to me that vertical theme answers in a weekday puzzle are seen less often than not. The constructor was able to intersect the two verticals with two horizontal ones and brought us a total theme squares of 60. Pretty dense.

David J. Kahn (Rich Norris is the taller one) is a constructor known for his tribute puzzles. He's made 140 puzzles for NY Times alone.

Across:

1. Piano pro: TUNER. You can't tuna piano, but you can tuna fish. And 49D. Needing a 1-Across: FLAT.

6. Fizzy drink: COLA. Sugar, caramel color, caffeine, phosphoric acid, high fructose corn syrup, coca extract, kola nut extract, lime extract, vanilla and glycerin. Notice that sugar is actually there twice, in first and fifth place. And whoever thought it was a good idea to drink phosphoric acid?

10. Kellogg School deg.: MBA. Master of Business Administration. I'm guessing Kellogg that is part of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.

13. UV ray absorber: OZONE. O-Zone is the Moldovan pop group responsible for this internet meme sung in Romanian.

14. x and y, perhaps: AXES. Graphing lines.

15. Blackberry lily, e.g.: IRIS.

19. "Still Life With Old Shoe" artist: MIRO. Joan. Psychedelic...

20. Together, in music: ADUE. For two musicians.

21. Ham: EMOTER. Bad acting.

23. Depict artistically: LIMN. Originally to "illuminate" manuscripts by adding artwork.

29. Polar buildup: ICE CAP.

31. Extremists: ULTRAS.

32. West pointers, sometimes?: VANES. Wind indicators, originally "fane" from Old English "fana", a flag, banner, or piece of cloth.

33. Sulky state: SNIT. Not a horse carriage, but supposedly related nonetheless. A sulky is a one-person conveyance, thus considered to be used by stand-offish people (because there wasn't room for two).

34. See 59-Down: SHOP. 59D. With 34-Across, country club feature: PRO. Pro Shop, where you buy golf equipment and supplies. Sports theme related clues

37. It prints many scheds.: IRS. Tax forms are called schedules. Latin schida: "one of the strips forming a papyrus sheet". Yes, that's about how old taxes are...

38. "Spartacus" Oscar winner: USTINOV. Peter. A 50 year old movie.

41. Mined matter: ORE.

42. Sitcom pal of Fred: DESI. Arnaz and Mertz, I Love Lucy.

44. Shades that fade in fall: TANS. Suntans. This threw me for a bit wondering how brown leaves could fade any further.

45. Bond trader's phrase: AT PAR. Selling a bond at the same price it was issued. Bonds make money by paying dividends.

47. Not completely: IN PART.

49. Admirals' concerns: FLEETS. Enema, enemy, both to be feared.

53. Knife of yore: SNEE. Snickersnee?

54. Like "ASAP" memos: URGENT. Being cynical here, but urgency create by a memo seems to be something created artificially rather than something that is a real emergency...

55. Beer-making aid: OAST. For drying hops.

57. Kerouac's Paradise et al.: SALS. Salvatore Paradise is the "narrator" of On The Road by Jack Kerouac.

64. "Don't change it": STET. Anyone miss this "standing" crossword answer?

65. Liver nutrient: IRON. The liver stores a multitude of substances, including glucose (in the form of glycogen), vitamin A (1–2 years' supply), vitamin D (1–4 months' supply), vitamin B12 (1-3 years' supply), iron, and copper.

66. Bother persistently: NAG AT.

67. Curly shape: ESS.

68. "Forget about it": NOPE.

69. Like an evening in a Frost title: SNOWY. "Whose woods are these, I think I know..."

Down:

1. Rocky hill: TOR. From Old English "torr" for tower (of rock).

2. Weapon designer __ Gal: UZI. Uziel Gal, born Gotthard Glas.

3. Nutmeg-topped drink: NOG. Earliest record from 1690s, “old, strong type of beer brewed in Norfolk,” of unknown origin. Now a sweetened dairy-based drink whipped with eggs and spiked with various alcohols. Does anyone drink it "plain" (or even at all?)

4. Add pizazz to: ENHANCE.

5. Like many a volunteer: Abbr.: RETD. Retired (so they have time on their hands?)

6. Wedge-shaped mark: CARET. A circumflex, atop the "6" key.

7. Kitchen gadgets brand: OXO.

8. Haitian seaport __ Cayes: LES.

9. Be convinced about: ASSENT TO.

10. Cocktails similar to a Buck's Fizz: MIMOSAS. Champagne + orange juice but combined in different proportions. Grenadine may also be added, but is not an "official" ingredient.

12. Made public: AIRED.

16. Peeved: SORE. and 23D. Really, really 16-Down: LIVID. And 51D. Really 16-Down: IRATE.

18. Where some signs change: CUSP. Latin cuspis: pointed end, (as with a tooth) is the imaginary line which separates any two signs of the zodiac. The Leo/Virgo cusp dates between August 19 and 26, so people born in that range are said to have characteristics of both.

22. Retail VIP: MGR. Manager.

24. Sympathetic words: I CARE.

27. Meet unexpectedly: RUN INTO.

28. Actor Ken and others: OLINS. Sometimes clued with Lena, no relation.

30. Barry Bonds's alma mater, briefly: ASU. Arizona State University.

33. Fab Four member: STARR. Since we just had this recently, I filled it without hesitation, and it was right...

35. Wax eloquent: ORATE. Latin oratus, pp. of orare "pray, plead, speak before a court or assembly". Maybe I'm imagining a connection to orale, (clued as papal fanon), which is part of the vestments the pope wears during a pontifical mass. Fanon also relates to fane (the VANE answer earlier) as a piece of cloth.

36. As such: PER SE.

39. Gets going: STARTS IN.

40. Batman before George: VAL. Val Kilmer was in between Michael Keaton and George Clooney.

43. Consumes: INGESTS.

46. Treaty subject: TEST BAN.

48. Reliever's spot, for short: PEN. In baseball, a relief pitcher warms up in the bullpen.

50. Hoo-ha: FUSS. Perhaps an alteration of force, or imitative of bubbling or sputtering sounds, or from Dan. fjas "foolery, nonsense." No further comment on slang meanings for Hoo-ha, I wouldn't want to cause a fuss...

52. Ben player on "Bonanza": LORNE. Ben Cartwright was played by Lorne Greene (Lymon Himon Green).

56. Payroll figs.: SSNS. Figures, social security numbers.

60. Rider of Dinny the dinosaur: OOP. Alley Oop, the caveman comic strip. Never mind that dinosaurs and cavemen didn't live at the same time.

61. In days past: AGO.

62. Untrained: RAW. As in a military recruit.

63. Place to serve slop: STY. Old English sti, stig "hall, pen". Is that why they're called "mess" halls?

Answer Grid.

Al

Note from C.C.: Urban Dictionary has approved and published my submission of Dennis' definition of "blitch" (a blend of blog and glitch). Please visit here and thumb up #4. Thanks.