Saturday September 25, 2010 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 30

This puzzle is anchored by two intersecting 15s right in the middle of the grid:

37A. Four-time NBA MVP: WILT CHAMBERLAIN. So, how old was he when he claimed that he had had sex with 20,000 many women?

8D. Residential street warning : SPEED BUMPS AHEAD. Brilliant debut entry.

Barry then builds up his grid with two Down 10s, two Across 9s, then triple stacks of 8s in the upper left and lower right corners.

My favorite fill and clue today is FATTY ACID (47A. It may be essential). Essential fatty acid.

Across:

1. Places for pieces : GUN RACKS. I wanted ARMORIES.

9. Support base : PLINTH

15. Worker's advocate : UNION REP. Needs "for short" in the clue, doesn't it?

16. Foe of Mark Antony : CICERO. Was ignorant that these two even lived in the same time.

17. Imagination : MIND'S EYE. Had trouble seeing the answer.

18. Screwed up : BLEW IT

19. NEA supporters : PTAS. Seems like Husker Gary can write a Ph. D thesis on the function of Nebraska NEA.

20. Third of seven: Abbr. : TUES. My week always starts on Monday.

22. Quantum mechanics subjects : ATOMS

23. "Bojangles" Robinson, for one : TAP DANCER. Recognized the guy when I googled.

25. El Cid player, 1961 : HESTON (Charlton). Have only seen his "The Ten Commandments".

29. Life lines? : BIO. Nice clue.

30. Mass garb : ALBS

33. Like an excited World Series crowd : AROAR. I bet Barry is already picturing his Phillies win the World Series. Also in the grid is ERA (36. Baseball stat). Any Roy Halladay fan?

34. Sign of life : PULSE

40. White, in Waikiki : KEA. As in Mauna Kea (White Mountain).

41. Up : HAPPY

42. Cox who played Drew in "Deliverance" : RONNY. Nope. Can't recall his name. "Deliverance" is absolutely terrifying.

43. Old pol. units : SSRS

45. Substitutes for forgotten words : LAs. In songs?

46. Releases : LETS GO

50. Sterno, for one : JELLY. Ha ha, I thought it's gas inside the Sterno.

52. Vengeful Quaker of fiction : AHAB. No idea about the Quaker connection. Have never read "Moby Dick".

53. Gee : THOU (Thousand). Weird to see G spelled out.

57. Profits : AVAILS

59. Party animal? : ELEPHANT. For the GOP. Great clue.

61. Abrasive mineral : GARNET. Lovely deep red color.

62. Compact : ALLIANCE

63. Derisive : SNEERY

64. Can't abide : DESPISES

Down:

1. Winston Groom hero : GUMP. Forrest Gump. Did not know the author.

2. Newton or curie : UNIT. OK, Dictionary says the un-capitalized curie is a unit of radioactivity.

3. La __: ocean phenomenon : NINA

4. Angler's supply : RODS

5. Q&A part: Abbr. : ANS

6. Greek islander : CRETAN. From Crete.

7. Excite : KEY UP

9. Pollutant found in NCR paper : PCB. What is NCR paper?

10. Color similar to pale plum : LILAC

11. Summer cooler : ICE TEA. No D again.

12. Where to get a muffuletta sandwich : NEW ORLEANS. I've certainly heard of muffuletta sandwich.

13. Garnish : TRIM. As a Christmas tree.

14. Red __: candy : HOTS

21. Pass on a ketch : SAIL BY. Ketch is sailing boat.

23. Tribal Council prop : TORCH. Don't get the clue.

24. Narrow margin : NOSE

25. Peddles : HAWKS

26. Native New Yorkers : ERIES. This refers to the Native Americans, correct?

27. Phenomenon that emits X-rays : SOLAR FLARE. I thought X-ray is emitted by the machine.

28. Work with a shuttle : TAT. Use shuttle to make lace.

31. Fetch : BRING

32. Maker of eneloop rechargeable batteries : SANYO. Not familiar with the batteries.

34. Melonlike fruit : PAPAYA. Looks ugly, but delicious. I like all tropical fruit.

35. Didn't get 100, say : ERRED

38. Stop order : HALT

39. Large amount : LOT

44. Hospital solution : SALINE

46. Abuses freedom of the press, perhaps : LIBELS. Had difficulty parsing the clue.

48. Texas city named for a president : TYLER. No idea. Wiki said the city is named for John Tyler in recognition of his support for Texas' admission to the United States

49. Valencia street : CALLE. Spanish for "street".

50. Flings : JAGS. Did not know jag can mean "spree" also.

51. Novelist Hunter : EVAN

53. Golden Triangle native : THAI. Drug in Golden Triangle. Heroin.

54. Former UN weapons inspector Blix : HANS. Man, it's been a long time. I can still hear his accented English about WMD.

55. Formerly : ONCE

56. Versatile wheels : UTES. Well, here it comes again.

58. Dump : STY

60. Spot : PIP. Playing card spot.

Answer grid.

Thanks for the sweet words about my Dennis birthday puzzle, everyone. I had fun doing it.

C.C.

Friday September 24, 2010 Kelsey Blakley

Theme: SPOONERISM - Two-layered theme. The initial consonant(s) of common word/phrases are switched, and the end of each spoonerized two-word answer is a type of knife.

17A. Choose deli platter items? : PICK CHEESE. The unspoonerized word is Chickpeas. Cheese knife.

25A. Beef marinated in Jim's bourbon? : BEAM STEAK. Steam Bake. Not a familiar cooking term to me. Steak knife.

34A. Rooster's spread? : COCK'S BUTTER. A bit DF, isn't it? Box Cutter. Massive spoonerism in this one. The only entry where the middle consonants X experiences spelling CK change. Sound remains the same of course. Butter knife.

49A. "Casablanca" nightclub income? : RICK BREAD. Brick Red. Rick's Cafe in "Casablanca". Bread here means "money", right? The other three theme entries all end in real food. Bread knife.

58A. What each of the other four longest answers in this puzzle is : SPOONERISM

55A. Ironically, the 58-Acrosses in this puzzle end in types of them : KNIVES. "Ironically"? Are they supposed to end in "SPOONS"?

We also have TINE (19A. Jabber?). You use fork to jab I suppose.

Rather complicated scheme, isn't it? I was clueless about theme until I reached the unifier. Even then I still needed a bit of head-scratching to untangle the initial base phrase.

Total 21 non-theme entries of six or more letters. Quite impressive. Mainly a result of breaking down left and right edges of the grid into two rather than our normal three parts. Two-part edges are often seen in Saturday themeless.

Across:

1. Elián Gonzalez's home : CUBA. Easy start.

5. Legendary brothers in law : EARPS. At O.K. Corral. Not brothers-in-law.

10. Hogwarts messengers : OWLS. Lovely entry for Argyle.

14. What the connected have : AN IN. Have an in. The connected people.

15. Sole projection : CLEAT. SPIKE too, in golf.

16. Unconvincing : THIN

20. Opera set on Cyprus : OTELLO. Verdi opera based on Shakespeare's Othello. Did not know where it's set.

21. Spiced 23-Across : CHAI. And TEA (23. See 21-Across). Several cross-referenced clues in the grid.

24. Oater camp sight : TEPEE

27. Both Begleys : EDS

28. Chrysler division : RAM. Dodge Ram.

30. Shooting gadget : SYRINGE. Was not picturing medicine shooting.

31. Oklahoma tribe : KIOWA. Only know OTOE.

33. Dutch physics Nobelist Simon van der __ : MEER. No idea. 1984 Physics co-Nobelist. Still alive.

38. Shelled out : PAID

40. Rival of 2-Down : US AIR. And UNITED (2D. Red Carpet Club flier). Also, MOTH (54A. Light-headed flier?). Flier clecho (clue echo)

41. Bring charges against : ARRAIGN. Learned from watching "Law & Order".

45. Stumble : ERR

46. Sagittarian's mo., probably : DEC. Probably, yes.

51. Friend of Jesús : AMIGOS. Funny clue. To me, Jesus lived in Israel and spoke Hebrew, so did his friends. (Correction: The answer is singular AMIGO.)

53. Shih __ : TZU. The Tibetan dog.

56. Pack member : WOLF

60. Subj. with skeletons in the closet?: Abbr. : ANAT. Nice clue too.

61. Balm : SALVE

62. Within: Pref. : ENTO. Opposite ECT(O).

63. Place to keep stock? : YARD. Livestock? Don't quite get the clue.

64. Grammy winner Gormé : EYDIE. Faintly rang a bell.

65. Mtg. : SESS. Meeting/Session.

Down:

1. "In Cold Blood" author : CAPOTE (Truman)

3. Arm & Hammer logo feature : BICEPS. Arm & Hammer baking soda. Novel clue.

4. __ socks : ANKLE

5. Pilot's "E" : ECHO. Well, gimme for our pilot Dudley.

6. It may be blonde or brown : ALE. Got via crosses. Tricky clue.

7. Volleyball star Gabrielle : REECE. Model too.

8. Ottoman lords : PASHAS. Used to stump me.

9. Hot and heavy : STEAMY. Love. Sex.

10. Baseball's Master Melvin : OTT. Man, I never knew Mel Ott is nicknamed called "Master Melvin".

11. Bleach : WHITENER

12. Roots : LINEAGE

13. British : trainer :: American : __ : SNEAKER. Really, Nice Cuppa, you call sneakers "trainers" in Britain?

18. Ayatollah, e.g. : CLERIC

22. Camp David Accords signer: Abbr. : ISR. Egypt too. Camp David Accords.

25. Upscale imports : BMWS

26. Source of ticking : TIMER

29. Verbal thumbs-up : A-OK. Reminded me of Jennifer Aniston "Love Happens".

31. Maker of the FunSaver disposable camera : KODAK

32. __ Dhabi : ABU

34. Advertising notice : CIRCULAR

35. Recycled : USED

36. What many rural roads lack : TAR

37. Albania's capital : TIRANE. How can I remember this name? Looks so ordinary.

38. Not completely : PARTWAY

39. Home of Carefree Highway : ARIZONA. I guessed.

42. Chip maker : IBM. Computer chips.

43. Detroit suburb __ Pointe : GROSSE. Nope. Was it the place first settled down by the French?

44. Take-home : NET PAY

46. Like some wisdom : DIVINE

47. Discharges : EGESTS. Opposite INGESTS.

48. Carl Sagan PBS series : COSMOS

50. Get __ of: locate : A HOLD

52. Entangles : MIRES

55. Bouncing joint? : KNEE. Bouncing what? Soccer ball?

57. Wire svc. involved in many arrangements : FTD. Oh, flowers.

59. Egg opening : OVI. Prefix.

Answer grid.

Since many of you do not come to the blog on weekend, I'd like to share with you a birthday puzzle I made for a special blog contributor, who is celebrating his birthday this coming Sunday. The clues are very general, you don't need to know him to solve the grid.

Click here for the puz file (Across Lite), and here for the pdf version. I also had a write-up of the puzzle and my thought process. But don't read until you solve the puzzle. It's here.

C.C.