Friday November 26, 2010 Samuel A. Donaldson

Theme: ADD A LITTLE PUNCH (59. Liven up, with "to" (and a hint to how 17-, 27- and 44-Across were created) - Three basic boxing punch terms are added to the start of each common phrase.

17A. Flight from a heated argument? : CROSSFIRE ESCAPE. The base phrase here is Fire Escape.

27A. Talkative "King of Country"? : JABBERING STRAIT. Bering Strait. "King of Country": George Strait.

44A. Gene carrier responsible for truancy? : HOOKY CHROMOSOME. Y Chromosome.

C.C. here. Lemonade is on DL. Needs a bit more time after the eye surgery. Hopefully he'll be back blogging next Friday.

Nice pangram. All 26 letters are used at least once. I like that the "punched" new phrases have got nothing to do with various punch terms. Perfect adding a letter/letter string gimmick. Neat unifier.

Great looking grid too. Four cross-spanning theme entries with no cheater square.

Across:

1. Knack : FEEL. Did you get the answer immediately?

5. Big name in crackers : RITZ. Also 40D. Crackers? : WISE GUYS. Awesome clue. Great "crackers" clecho (clue echo).

9. Earthshaking news? : QUAKE. Nailed it.

14. Othello's confidant : IAGO. Achieved forever fame in Xword.

15. Not many : A FEW

16. Where to look out? : BELOW. I don't get the clue.

20. Thumbs-up : ASSENT

21. Baking shortcut : MIX. The clue "shortcut" makes me think the answer might be an abbreviation.

22. Flamboyant band since the '70s : KISS. Weird band.

23. Ask for : SEEK

25. Jack succeeded him : IKE. Both clue & answer are nicknames.

35. Allegheny, as of 1979 : US AIR. Was unaware of its previous name.

36. Karate skill symbols : BELTS

37. A.L. Central team, on scoreboards : CLE. Cleveland Indians.

38. Minor damage : DING

39. Word on the Great Seal of the U.S. : NOVUS. See here. "Novus ordo seclorum" = "New order of the ages". Novus = New. Ordo = Order. Seclorum = Age.

40. Propeller sound : WHIR

41. Gram. topic : ADJ. Grammar/Adjective.

42. Signal flare : FUSEE. Man, I did not even know this is a word.

43. Devout : PIOUS

47. Run a fever, perhaps : AIL

48. Informal rejection : NOPE

49. Big bunch : BEVY. Bevy of beauties.

52. Absorb, as a loss : EAT

55. Affects, as one's heartstrings : TUGS AT

62. Idaho flower : SNAKE. Snake River. Snaky clue without the question mark hint. Flower = Flow-er. River flows.

63. Cat's-paw : TOOL. Another devious clue.

64. Cole Porter's alma mater : YALE

65. Boss's privilege : SAY-SO

66. Office suites, e.g. : APPS (Applications)

67. Like yarn : SPUN

Down:

1. Pay stub abbr. : FICA

2. "I'm all __" : EARS

3. Obstacles to quiet on the set? : EGOS. Movie set.

4. Takes a real beating : LOSES BIG. Great answer.

5. Roof support : RAFTER

6. "__ Had $1000000": Barenaked Ladies hit : IF I. Not familiar with the song or the Barenaked Ladies, A Canadian alt-rock band. No lady there, and no one is bare or naked.

7. Six years, for a senator : TERM

8. Company in Germany? : ZWEI. German for "two". Two is company. (Thanks for the correction, Santa!)

9. Signal callers: Abbr. : QBS

10. Sportscaster Bob dubbed "Mr. Baseball" : UECKER. Here is a nice picture. He's the broadcaster in "Major League". Very funny.

11. Kyrgyzstan range : ALAI. No idea. The Trans-Alai Range.

12. Keystone krew? : KOPS. Krew for "crew".

13. Meadow mamas : EWES

18. Contemptuous look : SNEER

19. Isn't fiction : EXISTS

24. Put the __ on: end : KIBOSH. I like the full phrase.

26. Chess jumpers: Abbr. : KTS (Knights)

27. David's kingdom : JUDAH

28. "... say, not __" : AS I DO

29. Bela Fleck's instrument : BANJO. Sweet answer for our old Bill. Maybe Bill G too.

30. "Fat chance!" : NEVER

31. Fasten, in a way : GLUE ON

32. Blessing evoker : ACHOO

33. Pelvic bone : ILIUM. Plural is ilia.

34. Like Coolidge, famously : TERSE. Hence "Silent Cal".

39. Proton sites : NUCLEI

42. "Thought you should know," on a memo : FYI

43. Like some children's books : POPUP

45. Whitewater craft : KAYAKS

46. Sites of many affairs : MOTELS. Thought of the singular OFFICE.

49. Largemouth __ : BASS

50. Bart Simpson's teacher __ Krabappel : EDNA. No idea.

51. End of the war : V-DAY. Victory.

53. "__ girl!" : ATTA

54. Sporty car roof : T-TOP

56. Pop's pal, at breakfast? : SNAP. Oh, Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

57. 2006 NSA suer : ACLU. Forever suing.

58. Afterwards : THEN

60. MGM mascot : LEO. Leo the Lion.

61. Cut : LOP

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday November 25, 2010 Don Gagliardo

Theme: It's electrifying. 7D. What the perimeter answers in this puzzle literally create: ELECTRIC CIRCUIT. All the edge answers can be preceded by the word "ELECTRIC" and they make a complete CIRCUIT around the puzzle.

1A. Racer's privilege: POLE. Pole position: at the start of a race, the leading car on the inside. Electric pole: (+) or (-) as on a battery.

5A. Group of contestants: FIELD. Electric field: a point in space with an electric charge that will exert a force on other electrically charged objects.

10A. Heart, basically: PUMP. Electrical pump, such as a sump pump instead of a mechanical hand pump.

71A. Spelunker's aid: LAMP. Electric lamp, as opposed to a gas or kerosene lamp.

72A. Rhythmic element: METER. Poetic or musical meter. An electrical device to measure volt, watts, amps, etc.

73A. Make it official: SIGN. Electric sign: neon, lit up, moving, or a combination.

1D. Brahms's instrument: PIANO. They have electric pianos now that look, feel, sound and have action just like a mechanical one. Why bother? Well, they never go out of tune, and you don't need gravity to play them.

13D. Kind of nap or tie: POWER. After you: 24A. Had too much of: OD'ED ON turkey, then comes the tryptophan loss of consciousness.

32D. Summer cooler: FAN. As opposed to a Japanese hand fan. Overly enthusiastic "fans" of Japanese manga and anime (from an earlier puzzle) are referred to as "otaku". It has the sense of geek or nerd or even worse.

39D. Common observer: EYE. Electric eyes are used to open doors, and for burglar alarms.

52D. Machine with bits: DRILL. Does anyone still use a hand drill? Back in high school shop class we had to learn all the hand tools before being allowed to use the power ones.

58D. Bach's instrument: ORGAN. Organs also can be steam powered, like 54D. Locomotive propeller: STEAM.

Hi all, Al here. Don't really expect to see much turnout today as everyone clusters around their families for the holiday. Thankfully, yesterday more than made up for it.

Quite the construction today, like the "buffalo gals" of square dancing (the theme goes 'round the outside). 12 theme answers plus the unifier, which vertically splits the puzzle. 12 "regular" answers were longer than all the theme answers. It didn't seem all that difficult for a Thursday, but the fun construction more than made up for it. I only remember one other puzzle theme pattern done similar to this, but can't seem to find it.

ACROSS:

14. Victor's claim: I WIN. Nobody likes "that" kind of winner.

15. China's Zhou __: EN LAI.

16. "Bug off!": SHOO. From an instinctive exclamation, German: schu, Italian: scioia.

17. Tiny colonists: ANTS. And 23D. Queen's offspring: BEES. Bees and ants in the same puzzle. Either answer could fit both clues.

18. "Camelot" composer: LOEWE, Frederick and Lerner, Jay.

19. "Camelot," e.g.: SHOW.

20. The Wallendas don't use one: NET. The Flying Wallendas, circus trapeze and high wire artists.

21. Prog. discontinued at some campuses during the Vietnam War: ROTC. Reserve Officers' Training Corps

22. Insensitive: OBTUSE. Latin obtusus, blunted, dull. ob "against" + tundere "to beat".

26. Adjust, as wheels: TRUE. An alignment allows tires to run true.

28. Sailor's pronoun: HER. Traditionally, ships are feminine rather than neuter. A whole load of political correctness on the subject.

29. Designer Gernreich: RUDI. Designer of the topless swimsuit. ;-)

30. Church observances: RITES.

32. Watch pockets: FOBS. Low German fobke "pocket"

34. "Hulk" star Bana: ERIC. Also played Nero, the antagonist Romulan in the recent Star Trek reboot movie.

36. Three-time U.S. Women's Open champ Berning: SUSIE. Unknown to me.

40. Lie alongside: ABUT.

41. Ali G portrayer __ Baron Cohen: SACHA. I don't understand why some movies ever get made.

43. Depend: RELY.

44. Bruce who played Dr. Watson: NIGEL. He's too famous to make me fall for the first name as last name trick.

46. Bakery curlicue maker: ICER.

47. Perry's creator: ERLE. Stanley Gardner, Perry Mason.

48. Martini's partner: ROSSI. Primarily known for the Martini brand of vermouth

50. Unlike Miss Manners: RUDE.

52. Baseball SS's stats: DPS. Short Stops, Double Plays.

55. Copycat: APER.

56. Former NBAer Mourning: ALONZO. "ZO" played mostly for the Miami Heat.

59. Sanction: RATIFY.

61. Red amount?: CENT. The original 1793 penny.

63. Like BMWs: Abbr.: GER. Bavarian Motor Works, headquartered in Munich, Germany.

64. March time: IDES. The 15th. Any musicians out there momentarily want to put FOUR in there, like 4/4 time for a march?

65. Connie of "Weekends With Maury and Connie": CHUNG. Married to Maury Povich.

67. Cold water hazard: BERG.

68. Party with ukes: LUAU.

69. Take for __: fool: A RIDE.

70. Agora portico: STOA. Greek columned corridor.

DOWN:

2. Finished paying off: OWNED.

3. Scofflaw of a sort: LITTERBUG. From scoff + law. The winning entry in a national contest during Prohibition to coin a word to characterize a person who drinks illegally, chosen from more than 25,000 entries.

4. Dinner duo?: ENS. Two letter "N"s in dinner.

5. Serious crimes: FELONIES.

6. Trying to settle a score, for short?: IN OT. Overtime, playing past the regulation time limit to break a tie game.

8. __ of averages: LAW.

9. Fade to nothing: DIE OUT.

10. Sound made with a cupped hand: PSST. Made along with, behind your hand.

11. Compliant sound: UH-HUH. Slangy yes.

12. Bullwinkle J. __: MOOSE. And Rocket (Rocky) J. Squirrel. The "J" in both names was for Jay Ward, the producer.

21. Fishing tool: ROD.

25. Sporty '70s Plymouth: DUSTER. A past friend of mine bought one with a 340 engine that was fully tricked out. That car used to scare the s*** out of me.

27. Nouveau __: RICHE. French for new rich. In these times, many unfortunate working stiffs are noveau pauvre.

31. "And how!": SURE DO. Idioms for "yes, I like it, or would like to, very much".

33. __-Wan Kenobi: OBI. Star Wars Jedi master, played by Ewan McGregor and Sir Alec Guinness

35. Bring up: RAISE. Rear, see to.

37. Tanzania wildlife reserve: SERENGETI. 12,000 sq. miles, only about the size of Maryland, a tiny fraction of Tanzania (362,340 sq. mi.), which in turn is dwarfed by the total size of Africa, which is over 11 billion sq. miles. You could fit the entire US, including Alaska, plus Europe and China into Africa.

38. Bad: ILL. Ill originally meant morally evil or malevolent in the 13th century. It later became associated with sickness in the sense of "it is bad to me" by the mid 15th century. It still retains the "bad" meaning in hyphenated words like ill-informed, or ill-willed.

42. Orchestrator, perhaps: ARRANGER. Rossini was the Lone Arranger of the William Tell Overture.

45. Rye buy: LOAF.

49. Cloak-and-dagger gadget: SPYCAM.

51. Nth: Abbr.: ULT. The nth degree is the utmost or ULTimate extreme.

53. "The Taming of the Shrew" setting: PADUA. Italy.

57. Cause of some floating, briefly: ZERO-G.ravity Weightlessness as in space, or free-fall.

60. "Your time __!": IS UP.

62. German fantasy author Michael: ENDE. Most famous, The Neverending Story, which was made into a movie.

66. Charlemagne's realm: Abbr.: HRE. Holy Roman Empire.

67. Undergrad degs.: BSS. Bachelors of Science.

Don sent along some constructor notes to C.C.:

"Earlier this year we needed to have some electrical work done. The electrician searched literally high and low for the offending circuit problem. Three hours later and about that many hundred dollars, the offensive connection was found. I figured I should get something out of that experience, and came up with this puzzle. ELECTRIC CIRCUIT fits nicely in the center, I reasoned, but the theme words that follow ELECTRIC had to be carefully arranged to meet at the corners and cross ELECTRIC CIRCUIT. I got lucky. Rich approved the idea, and at least I partially compensated my electric service call."

Answer grid.

Here are a few great photos & captions from ARI Tinbeni. Click each one for enlargement. The first four were taken 5 years ago, the last one was taken yesterday morning.

Al