Wednesday, Jan 26, 2011, Robert A. Doll

Theme: HOLY COW, BATMAN! Each is the name of a comic superhero, clued as the name of his or her 'civilian' name.

17A. Diana Prince's alter ego : WONDER WOMAN. Very interesting, the creator of Wonder Woman was William Moulton Marston, a psychologist and the inventor of the polygraph. He wanted to create a new kind of superhero that thrived off of intelligence and love. But it was actually his wife, Elizabeth, who had the idea to make the new character a woman. Another woman, who was in a relationship with the both of them, Olive Byrne, also served as a model for the character that would be Wonder Woman.

24A. Peter Parker's alter ego : SPIDERMAN. Spidey gets his girl.

31A. Britt Reid's alter ego : THE GREEN HORNET. Anyone seen the new movie?

37A. Steve Rogers's alter ego : CAPTAIN AMERICA

48A. Linda Lee Danvers's alter ego : SUPERGIRL

56A. Reed Richards's alter ego : MR FANTASTIC. One of the Fantastic Four (with the Invisible Woman, the Human Torch, and Thing).

And a bonus:

53D. Lee who co-created 24-Across : STAN. Lee also co-created 56-Across (The Fantastic Four), Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, The X-Men, and ... serious ... Stripperella.

SUPER-fun puzzle, I love heavy themeage - count 'em, SIX theme answers. Not a big comic reader, but all these characters were familiar enough to be gettable. Peter Parker was the only alter-ego name I knew.

Across:

1. Place to chill out : SPA. Batcave wouldn't fit. I spend my share of time at the spa, and then some.

4. "In all likelihood ..." : ODDS ARE

11. Hollywood hrs. : PST. Hollywood, California is on Pacific Standard Time.

14. Many, many moons : EON

15. Land purveyor : REALTOR. Just spoke with one yesterday.

16. Mr. __!: old whodunit game : REE. Detective board game that pre-dates Clue - never heard of it.

19. Have some grub : EAT

20. Wore : HAD ON

21. Thus : LIKE SO

23. Cutting the mustard : ABLE

27. Arctic explorer John : RAE. 1813-1893. Scottish doctor who surveyed parts of the Northwest Passage (a sea route through the Arctic Ocean).

28. Quetzalcoatl worshiper : AZTEC. Quetzalcoatl is a Mesoamerican deity whose name comes from the Nahuatl language and has the meaning of "feathered-serpent"

30. Aromatherapist's supply : OILS. I use these a lot in my practice - they are fun to blend.

35. Bite for Mister Ed : OAT

36. Bray beginning : HEE. The sound a donkey makes, "hee-haw."

45. "Kubla Khan" river : ALPH. Had to google to learn that "Journey on the River Alph" is a collection of Poetry by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. His poem "Kubla Khan" was the inspiration behind the Realm of Xanadu cyber-novel. I'll leave the rest to to Clear Ayes.

46. Meted (out) : DOLED

47. XV years before the Battle of Hastings : MLI. I always have to guess with these.

51. Trade punches : SPAR

52. Sound acquisition? : STEREO

53. More artful : SLIER. Looks odd spelled that way.

55. Flight board abbr. : ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

61. Bis plus one, to a pharmacist : TER. Latin. “bis in die” twice a day; "ter in die" three times a day.

62. Lizards with dewlaps : IGUANAS

63. "__ Hunters": History Channel show with the tagline "Hoax or History?" : UFO. Have only heard of House Hunters.

64. Many SAT takers : SRS. Seniors.

65. Abundant flow : TORRENT. Wet and relentless.

66. Pink Floyd guitarist Barrett : SYD

Down

1. Use a Singer : SEW

2. High-muck-a-muck : POOHBAH

3. "General Hospital" actress : ANNA LEE. Lila Quartermane. Died in 2004 at 91. Didn't know this, don't watch soaps.

4. Cookie that might flavor a McFlurry : OREO

5. "Jurassic Park" actress : DERN. Loved her in Rambling Rose.

6. Margery of kids' rhyme : DAW. See saw Margery Daw.

7. Road warning : SLO

8. Source of 20s, for short : ATM. Automatic Teller Machine.

9. Author Dahl : ROALD. Author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and my favorite, James and the Giant Peach, among others.

10. "Sesame Street" regular : ERNIE

11. Early arrival : PREEMIE. Premature, uh ... delivery.

12. Natural seasoning : SEA SALT

13. Jackson Hole backdrop : TETONS. Ansel Adams picture, The Tetons and The Snake River.

18. HST's successor : DDE. Dwight D. Eisenhower; Harry S. Truman.

22. Danish coins : KRONER

23. Museum fare : ART

24. Canonized mlle. : STE. STE = Saint. Mlle = Mademoiselle (French equivalent of "miss.") The process by which someone becomes a saint is called canonization.

25. Write : PEN. Verb.

26. Cologne pronoun : ICH. German for me.

28. "How now? __?": Hamlet, before mistakenly slaying Polonius : A RAT. In Act 3, Scene 4, Hamlet mistakes Polonius for the King. "Oh shame, where is thy blush?" Favorite all time play, bar none.

29. Letter after epsilon : ZETA. Greek.

32. Burrowing rodent : GOPHER

33. "Alas" : OH ME

34. Swamp growth : REED

37. Disorder : CLUTTER. Bothers me.

38. Shows up : APPEARS

39. Infamous Amin : IDI. Seeing this pretty regularly lately.

40. Postal motto word : NOR. The original saying was actually "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these courageous couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" and was said about 2500 years ago by the Greek historian, Herodotus. He said this adage during the war between the Greeks and Persians about 500 B.C. in reference to the Persian mounted postal couriers whom he observed and held in high esteem.

41. Every last one : ALL

42. Driving force : IMPETUS. A moving force; impulse; stimulus.

43. Elucidate : CLARIFY

44. Make public : AIR

45. Balance sheet heading : ASSETS

49. Send in the check : REMIT

50. 1961 British movie monster : GORGO. A British, underwater Godzilla.

51. Sasha, to Malia : SIS. The first daughters.

54. In the cellar, so to speak : LAST

57. Jet set garb : FUR

58. Rhine feeder : AAR. In the Swiss Alps, flows through Bern, see?

59. Tuscaloosa-to-Huntsville dir. : NNE

60. New England catch : COD

This theme reminded me the game Superheroes, from "Whose Line is it Anyway," still makes me laugh.

Answer grid.

Melissa

Interview with Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

Some of us were impressed by the ICON ARTISTS alternative theme answer HeartRx came up with for the IRATE MOVIES puzzle in early January. Well, it's no accident. She's today's constructor Marti DuGuay-Carpenter.

Marti joined our blog last year, and she has been consistently entertaining us with her astute observations on puzzles and various topics on the blog. Her bubbling personality, sense of humor and caring nature shine through her various posts.

Congratulations on the debut, Marti. We're very proud of and pleased for you!

How does this "Missing Link" theme idea come to you? What are the other theme entries you also considered?

I was reading the news online and came across the headline "Bait and Switch: Online Electronics Store Caught in Fraud". As I was falling asleep that night, I thought it would be really funny if a fishing tackle store got caught changing fishing lures, because that would be a "Bait switch". I played around with other "conjunction" phrases like "fair square", "bits pieces", "short sweet" etc. But it was difficult to come up with ones that would make sense when clued. I finally settled on "Movers Shakers" and "Trial Error". I would have liked to have had more theme entries, but after reading Nancy Salomon's advice on Cruciverb, I decided it was better to have only three solid fills, than to have four or five with a couple "iffy" ones.

Was this puzzle accepted on the first try? Which part of the grid gave you the most trouble while constructing?

When I first submitted the puzzle, Mr Norris had a few minor changes in the mid-west. After I re-did those, he accepted it without any further adjustments. The hardest part of the grid was the SE. I wanted to put a theme unifier "and" in the last spot, but that left me with an awkward " - - - R - A" to fill. I really didn't like ILIAC for the crossing of SIERRA, but sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and move on (sigh).

Tell us a bit about your background. What do you do for a living and what prompted you to make your first crossword?

My background is in the medical field, and I worked in research for many years. Now I am in biotech, and export medical diagnostic products to Germany and Austria. I guess I am a very analytical person because I love tackling problems, whether its a research hypothesis or a marketing issue. I like setting challenging goals for myself, just to see if I can meet them. So in July of 2010 I decided to try my hand at constructing crosswords. I found out that it is a very different experience to construct than it is to solve. The left side of the brain is dominant for me when solving or actually filling the grid. But the right side definitely comes into the forefront when thinking of themes and cluing the puzzle.

How long have you been solving crosswords? Which constructors often inspire you?

I have been solving puzzles for over 45 years, and can't get enough. I always enjoyed ones by the late Dan Naddor, but Gail Grabowski, Barry Silk and Don (Hard G) Gagliardo are at the top of the list, too. For some reason, I can always relate to their sense of humor. But it's their tight themes, cleverness and sparkling fill that always makes me want more.

How does participating in our blog influence the way you develop clues/design a grid?

This blog has had a great impact on the way I look at crosswords. I will re-work entire sections of a grid just to get rid of the dreaded "e-" word (like e-tail, e-zine, e-date, e-tc). But it is the regulars who do the daily write-ups that really make me think about how I create a theme or fill the grid. You guys are quite brilliant when it comes to "de-structing" a puzzle, and making sense of it. So I always have to run my puzzles by you "in my head", to try to figure out how you would look at a particular entry or theme. If it passes that test with a positive answer, then I'm pretty sure it will be a good one.

Besides crossword, what else do you do for fun?

The best fun in life is just being able to enjoy it. I am a breast cancer survivor, so every new day is a gift, and I try to remember to say "Thank you" for each one. Most of my hobbies involve the outdoors: Skiing, golfing, kayaking, hiking, biking and gardening. But I also love to read, and have belonged to the same book club for more than five years. It's always interesting to hear other people's views on the current book, and that makes it a much more absorbing experience than if I just read for my own pleasure. And I never know when a word or idea might lead to a new puzzle!