Sunday November 28, 2010 John Lampkin

Theme: Stuffed - The end letter(s) of each Thanksgiving Day food item is left out. You're too stuffed to eat the whole thing, a la Santa.

23A. Thursday meat : TURKEY WINGS AND DRUM STI(CKS)

35A. Thursday veggie : MASHED POTATOES WITH GRA(VY)

55A. Thursday condiment : HOMEMADE CRANBERRY SAUC(E)

77A. Thursday veggie : CANDIED YAMS WITH MARSHM(ALLOWS)

91A. Thursday dessert : PUMPKIN PECAN PIE A LA MOD(E)

111A. This weekend's fridge contents, probably, and what's missing from five long puzzle answers? : THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS

Different number of letters are left out in each theme entry. I presume the rationale is just to get a perfect 21 in each entry? Or does CKS, VY, E, ALLOWS & E together anagram to something meaningful?

Very seldom do we see 6 grid spanners in a Sunday puzzle. Tough to pull it off. No to mention a pangram and no cheater. Low word/block count as well. Amazing.

The clue for TAIPEI (71D. Southeast Asian island metropolis) is incorrect. It's East Asian. China, Japan, North/South Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan/Hongkong/Macau all belong to East Asia.

As usual, I've green-highlighted John's signature clechoes.

Across:

1. Insect catchers : WEBS. Had NETS.

5. Something blown before a fight? : FUSE. And BURN (3D. Blow a 5-Across).

9. Seize by force : USURP

14. Monkees' jacket type : NEHRU. Always associated it with the Beatles. And TITLE (72. Jacket line). Book jacket.

19. Marine hue : AQUA. Dennis, I can see dark blue from Minnesota!

20. Exalt : LAUD

21. Long time follower? : NO SEE. Great clue.

22. Allium plant : ONION. Unaware of this fact.

27. Singing hindrance : TIN EAR. I just can't sing.

28. Net weight factors : TARES. And ENMESH (15D. Catch, as in a net)

29. Early Greek Cynic : DIOGENES. Not familiar with this dude. Maybe Argyle the Modern Cynic knows.

30. Sweeping matter : SOOT

32. Curse : OATH

34. __-relief : BAS

45. Bruins' sch. : UCLA

46. Lays eggs in water : SPAWNS

47. Jalisco hundred : CIEN. Spanish for "hundred".

48. Fleur de __: sea salt : SEL. Just "salt" in French. Poivre = Pepper.

49. They're raised at bars : SHOTS. Sure was not thinking of drinks. Also SAKE (4D. Sushi bar drink). Rice wine.

51. Connecting symbol between musical notes : TIE. And READ (62A. Decipher, as music)

52. Auto for Otto, maybe : AUDI. Nice sounding clue.

53. Arch opening? : MATRI. Opening of the word Matriarch.

60. Half an attention-getter : YOO. "Yoo -hoo".

61. Concur : AGREE

63. Everlasting, to the bard : ETERNE. Eternal.

64. Jenny's sound : BRAY. Jenny = She donkey.

65. Vise feature : JAW

66. Certain fed : NARC. Shouldn't "fed" be capitalized?

67. Secretary of state under Reagan : SHULTZ (George)

70. Try : STAB

74. Lyricist Gershwin : IRA. See also LIZA (103D. Gershwin title girl who can make "all the clouds ... roll away"). Had L in place, wanted LOLA.

81. Mountain spine : RIDGE

82. Postnatal bed : CRIB

83. AQI monitor : EPA

84. "... __ down in green pastures" : TO LIE. No idea. From Psalm 23.

85. Alias : AKA

86. __-garou: werewolf : LOUP. French for werewolf. Loup = Wolf. Lupus is Latin for wolf. Learning moment for me.

87. Flaws : FAULTS

90. "Death in Venice" author : MANN (Horace) (Correction: The author is Thomas Mann. Thanks, Dodo.)

96. Lip : RIM

97. Neil Diamond's "__ Said" : I AM I

98. King of rhyme : COLE. Old King Cole. Nursery rhyme.

99. Remain calm : STAY COOL

104. Succeed in : WIN AT

106. More's allegorical island : UTOPIA. Thomas More.

114. Azerbaijani neighbor : IRANI. Wow, what if the hard-to-spell Azerbaijani is the answer?

115. Gas that both protects and pollutes : OZONE

116. Hot rod rod : AXLE

117. Mounted on : ATOP

118. "Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon" author Robert : ROSE. Stranger to me.

119. Georgia gridders, familiarly : DAWGS. University of Georgia Bulldogs. Unknown to me.

120. Macho guy : STUD

121. Peephole feature, often : LENS

Down:

1. One with his name in lights? : WATT. James Watt I suppose.

2. Same: Pref. : EQUI

5. Trout fishing gear : FLY RODS

6. Detroit labor gp. : UAW

7. Fit perfectly : SUIT TO A TEE. Nailed it.

8. Flamboyant Dame : EDNA. Dame Edna.

9. Dethrones : UNSEATS

10. In order that : SO AS TO

11. JFK served in it : USN

12. Sly Foxx : REDD. Why "Sly"?

13. Foot at the head? : PEDI. Don't get the clue.

14. Chewy candy : NOUGAT

16. "__ Hers": 1994 Pulp album : HIS 'N". Another unfamiliar reference.

17. Learning style : ROTE

18. Colleges, Down Under : UNIs.

24. Lighten up : EASE

25. Pun, usually : GROANER

26. The American one is in the thrush family : ROBIN

31. Like an ant. : OPP (Opposite). Antonym.

33. Mother of Hector in the "Iliad" : HECUBA. Mother of Paris as well. I was stumped again.

35. Oozing schmaltz : MUSHY

36. Certain Dwarf's periodic outburst : ACHOO

37. NFL ref's aid : SLO-MO

38. Detest : HATE

39. Doubly : TWICE

40. Took up (with) : SIDED

41. Stream blocker : WEIR. River dam. New word to me. Only know golfer Mike Weir. He won Masters in 2003.

42. The sun, e.g. : G-STAR. Why isn't "sun" capitalized?

43. Show over : RERUN

44. Pulitzer winner Walker : ALICE

50. Smug sort : SMARTIE. Another new word. Reminded me of Smarty Jones.

52. Again : ANEW

53. "It's on me" : MY TREAT

54. "Be there in __" : A SEC

56. Riveted : AGAZE

57. Like Steven Wright's humor : DRY

58. Lawrence's men : ARABS. "Lawrence of Arabia".

59. King's domain : REALM

64. Sch. campus unit : BLDG

65. Doorway part : JAMB

66. Ultimate : NTH

67. Morsel : SCRAP

68. Narrowly defined verse : HAIKU

69. Allow to flow : UNDAM. A real word?

70. Waffle topper : SYRUP

72. Tilt skywards : TIP UP. Have never used this phrase before.

73. It's used for emphasis : ITALIC TEXT. True!

74. Faith of more than one billion : ISLAM. Don't really understand this religion.

75. African lumberer : RHINO

76. Alter, as an agreement : AMEND. OK, EMEND is "Alter, as a text".

78. Pest control brand : D-CON. Wanted RAID.

79. Making independent (from) : WEANING

80. "Arrivederci __" : ROMA

86. Stretches on the road : LIMOS. Nice clue.

87. Biblical hardships : FAMINES

88. Columbia Records jazz producer Macero : TEO. Is this guy very well-known?

89. Toasted : SALUTED

92. Hawthorne's "A" wearer : PRYNNE. In "The Scarlet Letter".

93. Begin to take effect : KICK IN

94. Cornfield chatter : CAWING

95. Mother of Apollo : LETO. Don't confuse her with "Mother of Helen" the swan lady LEDA.

99. Arouse : STIR

100. Via, old-style : THRO

101. Small batteries : AAAs

102. Prayer start : O GOD

105. Sadly : ALAS. Penned in BLUE. Grammatically wrong.

107. __ Office : OVAL

108. Ale brewer Slosberg : PETE. First encounter with this brewer.

109. Fe, in chemistry : IRON

110. Deadly slitherers : ASPS

112. Altar agreement : VOW

113. H1N1 virus, e.g. : FLU

Answer grid.

C.C.

Interview with Victor Fleming

Those who watched the crossword documentary "Wordplay" are probably familiar with the below lines:

"If you don't come across I'm gonna be down/ If you don't come across I'm gonna be down/ Your love to me is a mystery and the clues are all around / If you don't come across I'm gonna be down..." (Full lyrics here). The song was composed by today's constructor Victor Fleming.

Mr. Fleming started constructing crosswords regularly for various newspapers in 2004. Since then, his puzzles have appeared in LA Times, NY Times (total 26 puzzles), NY Sun, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Games magazine, etc.

I learned that you are a district judge in Little Rock. How did you get into crossword construction and how does your law background influence your puzzle style?

I’ve been solving crosswords since the age of 12, but I’ve played word games and made up puzzles and mazes for as long as I can remember. In 2003, I set a goal of publishing crosswords. After several rejection notes, I found two mentors, Peter Abide and Nelson Hardy. With these experienced constructors’ help, I learned what I was doing wrong, fixed that and have been published regularly since 2004. Given choices among various fill selections and various clues, I seem to gravitate toward legal stuff, though I try to balance that out.

You appeared in "Wordplay", which also featured a song you wrote. How was the movie experience and how did it affect your life?

The “Wordplay” experience was serendipitous and fun. I’d written a song to perform as part of a humor routine at the 2005 ACPT, the first one that I’d ever attended. Turned out that was the year that Patrick Creadon and Christine O’Malley were shooting footage for a documentary about crosswords. They met me, learned what I was up to and filmed Stella Daily, Ben Tausig and me rehearsing the song, “If You Don’t Come Across, I’m Gonna Be Down.” They liked it, left me and the song in the film and then licensed the song for the closing credits. I went to premieres of the film at the Sundance Film Festival and in New York, Chicago, Little Rock, Jackson (Miss.) and Fayetteville (Ark.). I had a blast.

What is the highlight of your construction career and what is the best puzzle you've made? Why?

There’ve been many highlights. The first and second puzzles published by the New York Times stand out because there was a 14-month turnaround for the first and a 14-day turnaround for the second, and they were published 5 weeks apart. My first puzzle accepted by Rich Norris at LAT stands out as well, because he really liked a theme that some people around me had not been complimentary of. The best puzzle, I suppose, was one in a Simon & Schuster book that Bruce Venzke and I did, called “You Be the Judge.” In it, the two words across the center were OBJECTION ?????????, and the missing letters could spell SUSTAINED or OVERRULED, as the crossing clues would support both.

You seem to be fond of collaborating with other constructors, how is it different from your own individual effort?

Dialoguing about puzzles is fun and educational. I made puzzles with my mentors. I’ve made puzzles with most of the people whom I’ve mentored. And I have made puzzles with a lot of different people who have just become friends. It typically begins with one or the other person starting a dialogue, as innocuous as “What do you think of this?” or as serious as “I’ve got something really good here and I’m stuck.”

When does the crossword muse normally visit you? And what kind of books/magazines/websites do you read for theme inspirations?

My muse is more like a drunken sailor than a sweet little fairy princess. For me, making puzzles is work. And late at night is when I pursue the activity. I dig through quote books and sites. I spend a lot of time at onelook.com. I pluck ideas from the newspaper and from magazines that I read and from contemporary and not-so-contemporary literature that I read.

What kind of puzzle do you solve every day? And who are your favorite constructors?

I solve the L.A. Times, New York Times and CrosSynery puzzles every day. My favorite constructors are - well, I made a list and there were 40 people on it, and I am bound to have left out someone. So, please excuse me on this request. I admire different people for different talents that they demonstrate in the cruciverbalism.