Saturday November 27, 2010 Victor Fleming

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 29

Interesting cross shape in the middle. It coheres the grid and gives the whole central part a tight connectedness which could collapse the entire puzzle if one fill goes wrong. Quite challenging construction-wise. The constructor also refrained from using any helper/cheater squares. Admirable.

I am quite fond of the paralleled triple 9s in Down today, all multiple words:

12D. Some clinic customers : PET OWNERS

13D. Run by an ex, as a household : ONE PARENT

14D. Bush country? : RED STATES. Those who voted for Bush?

30D. Be rewarded on the job : GET A RAISE. Sweet.

31D. Superhero first introduced as a teenager : SPIDER-MAN. Do you know his real name is Peter Parker.

32D. Track fixture : TOTE BOARD. Racetrack.

Across:

1. One is in the Guinness Book for its 1,728-word vocabulary : PARAKEET. Helpful hints with "its" and the number of vocabulary.

9. Foggy state : STUPOR. Always want *NESS ending for clues with "state".

15. It's SSE of Salt Lake City : OREM UTAH. Tricky combination. But the clue is asking for OREM UT, with abbreviated SSE.

16. Peaceful : SERENE

17. South-of-the-border sunblock? : SOMBRERO. Oh, hat.

18. Like "The Hurt Locker," e.g. : R-RATED. Haven't seen the movie yet.

19. Iteration opening : I SAID. And I AM (53. First two words of "Green Eggs and Ham"). I am Sam.

20. Ask too many questions : PRY

22. Big drop sounds : PLOPS

23. Actual wording : TEXT

24. It clashes with stripes : PLAID. Why "clashes"?

26. Hit : SWAT

27. Elbows on the table, say : FAUX PAS. Proper manner in our house.

29. Lobby with heaters?: Abbr. : NRA. Nailed it.

30. Guitar component : G-STRING. Our Al is a serious guitar player.

34. Where the Boss's band once rehearsed : E-STREET. I never know how the E Street Band got its name.

36. Horace works : EPODES. Lyric poems. New word to me.

37. Ludlum's amnesiac Jason : BOURNE. "The Bourne Identity".

38. Oberon's spouse : TITANIA. From "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Got me.

40. Conservationists' concerns : FORESTS

41. Drink suffix : ADE

42. Total : DESTROY. Verb "Total".

44. Sitcom named for its star : REBA

46. Weasel relative : STOAT

47. Building site sight : I-BAR

51. Woolf's "__ of One's Own" : A ROOM. Virginia Woolf.

54. Lose ground? : ERODE. Awesome clue.

55. Istanbul shelter : IMARET. Turkish hostel. I can never remember this word.

57. Liqueur made with coffee beans : TIA MARIA. Kahlua too.

59. Flaubert biographer : SARTRE. No idea. "Nausea", "No Exit", "Being and Nothingness" are all the works I know about Sartre. Womanizer. Most men cheat.

60. One may be civil : ENGINEER. Thought of MARRIAGE.

61. Ultimate objective : END ALL

62. Ones with "a case of mistaken nonentity": Barbara Stanwyck : EGOTISTS. Unaware of this quote.

Down:

1. Put forward : POSIT

2. Developed : AROSE

3. Big name in real estate : RE/MAX. Big indeed. But what does the company name mean?

4. Scope : AMBIT. No idea. I know gambit though.

5. About one in six Iraqis : KURD. Interesting trivia.

6. Hot time to see Nancy? : ETE. Nancy the city in France.

7. One of a swimmer's pair : EARPLUG

8. Insect section : THORAX

9. Lith., once : SSR

10. College Park athlete, for short : TERP. University of Maryland. College Park is a city? Sounds like a stadium name.

11. Source of some Russian copper : URALS. Unaware of the copper there.

21. Startled cry : YIPE

24. Multi-colored bloomers : PANSIES

25. 1981 Wolfgang Petersen film : DAS BOOT. "The Boat". A movie about some U-boat.

27. Evil sort : FIEND

28. Short __ : STORY

33. Suggested amt. to have : RDA

35. Want to take back : RUE

39. Moscato d'__: sparkling wine : ASTI

40. Setting up : FRAMING

43. Exactly : TO A TEE. Used to have problem parsing TOATEE.

45. Vital artery : AORTA

47. Farsi speaker : IRANI

48. Didactic types, often : BORES

49. Losing, after "on" : A DIET. Losing weight.

50. Backs : REARS

52. Jazz organist Saunders : MERL. His name escaped me.

54. Give out : EMIT

56. Address book abbr. : TEL

58. Back : AGO

Answer grid.

C.C.

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.