Sunday January 30, 2011 Mel Rosen

Theme: How to Read the Personal Ads - Words in Personal Ads are humorously (or rather cynically) interpreted.

23A. "Free spirit" means ... : I LOST EVERY JOB I EVER HAD. A true free spirit!

31A. "Enjoys long conversations" means ... : I DIDN'T PAY MY CABLE BILL

49A. "Likes home cooking" means ... : I'M TOO CHEAP TO EAT OUT. Or you're having food intolerant/sensitive problem.

67A. "Adventurous" means ... : I HAVE BEEN TO THE ZOO ONCE. This answer doesn't click for me.

85A. "Enjoys the beach" means ... : I OWN A METAL DETECTOR. What's the connection between "beach" and "metal detector"?

103A. "Likes to cuddle" means ... : MY APARTMENT HAS NO HEAT.

112A. "Takes long walks" means ... : MY CAR'S BEEN REPOSSESSED. Sad excuse.

Great to see Mel Rosen's by-line. He coined the word cruciverbalist and introduced the term "fingers" into crossword construction. Fingers refer to those 2 or 3 black square blocks along the edges of the grid. They look like fingers poking into the grid.

Very often Sunday puzzles are a challenge for me. The sheer size is daunting. And the pressure of finishing the puzzle & getting the write-up done in time take away some pleasure from me. Today I had lots of fun. Nailed those long theme entries with only a few letters in place. Most of the unknowns were easily obtainable via crossings.

Across:

1. Like electric basses : AMPED

6. Chorister's cover : ROBE. One who sings in a choir is a chorister.

10. One of the Wayans brothers : SHAWN. Got his name via crosses.

15. Story morals, e.g. : TAGS. New meaning of tag to me.

19. Rouen room : SALLE. French for "room". Alliteration.

20. Airline since 1948 : EL AL. Israel was established in 1948.

21. Chevy model : TAHOE

22. Another, in Ávila : OTRA. Also OTRO.

27. Without delay : NOW

28. Outback runner : EMU. Lean meat.

29. Have something : AIL. Wanted EAT.

30. Sarge's boss : LOOIE. Nickname for lieutenant.

39. Spohr's Opus 31 and others : NONETS. Not familiar with Spohr, a German composer who was once as famous as Beethoven, a la Wikipedia.

40. Flying Clouds, e.g. : REOs

41. Came to the rescue : AIDED

42. Fractions of a joule : ERGS. Work units.

43. They don't skip 48-Downs : LOCS. And 48D. Stop: Abbr. : STN. I am at sea. What is LOC? (Added later: It's local.)

44. "Otello" composer : VERDI. And 115D. "__ tu": 44-Across aria : ERI. Literally "are". Tu = You.

46. They may be dirt: Abbr. : RDs

55. Solfeggio syllables : FAs

58. Syr. and Eg., once : UAR (United Arab Republic, 1958-1961)

59. "Wassup," formally : HELLO

60. Big name in vacuums : DYSON. Have never paid attention to our vacuum brand.

61. Word of exhortation : RAH

62. E-mail button : SEND

64. Call's partner : BECK. Beck and call.

66. Writable storage media, briefly : CD-Rs. R stands for "recordable".

74. Daughter of Phoebe : LETO. Mother of Apollo.

75. Seaside cottage asset : VIEW

76. Describe in detail : LIMN. Fancy word.

77. Canon camera named for a goddess : EOS. Goddess of the dawn.

78. Alley "oops" : SPLIT. Bowling alley. Great clue.

80. Common people : PLEBS. Windhover likes to use this word to describe his no-NY Times crossword taste.

83. Rented : LET

84. Must-take coll. course : REQ

91. Slapstick prop : PIE

92. Cuts, say : EDITS

93. Big cut : GASH. Nice "cut" clecho.

94. Terrier of film : ASTA. "The Thin Man" dog.

98. Ring for breakfast : BAGEL

100. Brewery oven : OAST

101. Sans contractual buyers : ON SPEC. On speculation. Not specification.

108. Pesto or aioli : SAUCE. I like neither.

109. Ending for ranch : ERO. Ranchero.

110. British ref. : OED

111. Compass dir. : NNE. Could be any direction.

120. Env. stuffer : ENCL

121. "History of the World: __": Brooks film : PART I. Needed crosses for the I part.

122. "La __ Breve": de Falla opera : VIDA. Literally "life".

123. Tropical palm : ARECA. Source of betel nuts.

124. Handy abbr. : ET AL

125. Liqueur herb : ANISE

126. Struck (out) : EX'ED

127. Small songbirds : LARKS

Down:

1. Just plain silly : ASININE. Silly word.

2. Stink : MALODOR

3. Digging up some dirt : PLOWING

4. 2002 British Open champ : ELS (Ernie). I remember that brilliant bunker shot.

5. Windup toy device : DETENT. New word to me. Looks like it has the same root as détente.

6. Excite : REV UP

7. Opry adjective : OLE

8. Piano or roll follower : BAR

9. Bridge guru Culbertson : ELY. Learned his name from doing Xword.

10. Impassive : STOIC

11. "Aquí se __ español" : HABLA. "Speak" in Spanish. Spanish spoken here. Aquí = Here.

12. Some sushi tuna : AHI. Yellowfin tuna.

13. Distressed state : WOE

14. Ariz. neighbor : NEV

15. Doughnut-shaped : TOROID. Adjective of torus.

16. Playwright Fugard : ATHOL. South African playwright. Sometimes we see ALOES clued as part of his novel title "A Lesson from Aloes".

17. Chalice's cousin : GRAIL

18. "Smooth Operator" singer : SADE. Here is a clip. Beautiful song.

24. Paramedics, briefly : EMTs

25. Rogers Centre team, familiarly : JAYS. Toronto Blue Jays.

26. North Sea feeder : ELBE. You've got to remember your European rivers.

32. Lucie's dad : DESI (Arnaz)

33. Buck suffix : AROO. Buckaroo.

34. "Guh-ross!" : YECCH

35. Six-Day War figure Dayan : MOSHE. With his trademark eyepatch.

36. Milhouse's pal : BART. Have never watched "The Simpsons".

37. Venice Film Festival site : LIDO. Learning moment for me.

38. Warhol "superstar" Sedgwick : EDIE. Such a tragic figure. Died when she's only 28.

43. "SNL" producer Michaels : LORNE

44. Restaurant worker who's rarely in the restaurant : VALET. True.

45. Historic period : EPOCH

46. "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" author : ROSSNER (Judith). No idea. See the book cover.

47. One may be an item : DUO. Oh, like Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal.

50. "La Bohème" waltzer : MUSETTA . Again, needed crosses.

51. Exercise portmanteau : TAE BO. From TAE kwon do and boxing.

52. Jostled : ELBOWED

53. Enlarge, in a way : ADD ONTO

54. Rookie : TYRO. Haven't seen this word for a long time.

55. Calendar col. : FRI

56. "That feels go-o-o-od" : AAH

57. "Let's" evoker : SHALL WE

63. Research assoc.? : DEV (Development). The D in R & D.

65. Kenan's TV pal : KEL

66. Tailed orbiter : COMET

68. Ore source : VEIN

69. Bug like a pup : NIP AT

70. Doesn't hold back : TELLS. Not easy to be Deep Throat.

71. Zip : ZILCH

72. Cedar Rapids college : COE. Coe College. Iowa.

73. Litigator's letters : ESQ

78. Just a taste : SIP

79. Luau dish : POI. Taro dish. Freshly baked taros are tasty.

81. Had, in the Bible : BEGAT

82. Hidden supply : STASH

86. Big opening? : MEGA. Like megabyte.

87. River of central Germany : EDER

88. Arcade foul : TILT

89. "¿Cómo __?" : ESTA

90. Hardly thoughtful : RASH

95. "The Faerie Queene" poet : SPENSER (Edmund)

96. New Jersey town near the George Washington Bridge : TEANECK. Total unknown to me.

97. Substituted for : ACTED AS

98. "Key Largo" co-star : BACALL (Lauren)

99. Me-tooer : APER

100. __ about : ON OR

101. Till bills : ONEs

102. "I won't sign" : NO DEAL

103. Is forbidden to, quaintly : MAYNT. "May not" I suppose.

104. New Mexico state flower : YUCCA. Yucca in bloom, from Gunghy's bike series.

105. Bumps into : MEETS

106. Banks called "Mr. Cub" : ERNIE. Spent his entire career with the Cubs.

107. "Such a pity" : SO SAD

108. Right-hook man in "Peter Pan"? : SMEE. Captain Hook has an iron hook to replace his right hand. Smee is his right-handed man. Somehow this clue doesn't work for me.

113. Mud bath venue : SPA

114. Block : BAN

116. Apple pioneer? : EVE. Because Eve is the first person to eat the apple.

117. Thumbnails, nowadays : PIX

118. Poetic praise : ODE

119. Málaga Mrs. : SRA

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday Januray 29, 2011 Gareth Bain

Theme: None

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 34

C.C. here. I think this is Gareth Bain's first LA Times themeless. Congrats!

Gareth anchors his puzzle with a stacked 15 & 14 on top and bottom of his grid:

17A. "West Side Story" duet : ONE HAND, ONE HEART. Tony & Maria's duet.

20A. Ecstatic cry : YES, THERE IS A GOD. This could be the seed entry.

45A. Go from 10 to 8, say : DROP A DRESS SIZE. Nice answer. Crazy SSS in the middle.

50A. Angel's concern : BROADWAY MUSICAL. Angel refers to Broadway financial backer.

How's your solving? Quite a workout for me. Sweated a lot over several geography references. Tough cluing overall.

Across:

1. Edmonton's prov. : ALTA (Alberta)

5. North __ Sea, Syr Darya River outlet : ARAL. Wikipedia says the North Aral Sea is part of the former former Aral Sea that's fed by the Syr Darya River, which is a complete unknown to me.

9. Russian city to host the 2014 Olympics : SOCHI. No idea. It's pronounced like SOH-chee. On the Black Sea. Right side, see it?

14. Sounds of triumph : HAHs

15. Move, in real estate : RELO

16. Some soli : ARIAS. Soli is plural of solo.

21. Loan guarantor : SURETY

22. Whiz : PRO

23. Stir vigorously : BEAT. Egg whites, I suppose.

24. Fish you don't want to be biting : PIRANHAS. Ozzie Guillén (White Sox manager, very funny guy) said Twins are like piranhas.

29. Attached, in a way : GLUED

31. One-footer, e.g. : TAP-IN. Tap-in putt. Golf.

32. Peke output : YIP. Pekingese dog. Yips are of course also golfer's nightmare. No tap-in gimme.

33. They fit in locks : OARS. Nope, no KEYS. Boat locks.

34. Deli suffix : WURST

35. __ Squalor, Count Olaf's girlfriend in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" : ESME. The name is a reference to Salinger's "For Esme – with Love and Squalor", which rings a bell. The clue as it is means nothing to me.

36. Overalls part : BIB

37. Billy Dee's "The Empire Strikes Back" role : LANDO. Lando Calrissian. I just have no desire to watch those "Star Wars" movies.

38. Glove material : LATEX

39. How much radio is broadcast : IN STEREO. Did you get the answer immediately?

41. Pharmacist's datum : DOSE

42. Had a life : WAS

43. Tab competitor : DIET RC. Had trouble parsing DIETRC.

51. Site of a sacred building called the Kaaba : MECCA. Here is Kaaba (literally, "the cube") during Hajj. The most sacred building in Islam. So crowded.

52. Resort NE of Los Alamos : TAOS

53. Swarthy : DARK

54. Far from swarthy : PASTY. Nice "swarthy' clecho (clue echo).

55. Dustin's "The Graduate" co-star : ANNE (Bancroft)

56. Word of consequence : ELSE

Down:

1. Bridge call? : AHOY. Oh, ship bridge. Not the bridge game.

2. Pins may be at the ends of them : LANES. Bowling pins.

3. End-of-day destination for many : THE SUBURBS

4. Hardwood sources : ASH TREES. Used to make baseball bats.

5. CNN Gulf War reporter : ARNETT (Peter)

6. Towel off again : REDRY

7. Shrub with tubular flowers : ALOE

8. Anderson of "WKRP in Cincinnati" : LONI

9. Arid : SAHARAN

10. Ducks' home : OREGON. Ducks: University of Oregon. Beavers: Oregon State.

11. "Bye!" : CIAO

12. Like some copies and courts : HARD

13. Social end : IST. End to the word socialist.

18. Winning : AHEAD

19. Lively wit : ESPRIT

24. 1960s-'70s "Jeopardy!" announcer : PARDO (Don). Have faintly heard of the name.

25. __ jure: by the law itself : IPSO

26. Riotous : HYSTERICAL

27. Parisian lover's word : AIME. Love. Je t'aime.

28. Eyewear, commercially : SPEX

29. Home to many Bactrian camels : GOBI. Do you know the name for these camels?

30. Rested : LAIN

31. Some find it hard to carry : TUNE. Tricky clue.

34. 1955 treaty city : WARSAW. Warsaw Pact.

35. Manhattan's FDR Drive is on it : EAST SIDE. Guessed.

37. Traditionally, when women were allowed to propose marriage : LEAP DAY. Was unaware of this tradition.

38. Windblown soil : LOESS. Learned from doing crossword.

40. With an intermission : TWO ACT

41. Neglect : DISUSE

43. Familiar, perhaps : DEMON. Why? Don't get the clue.

44. Industry overseers : CZARS. Like Drug Czar.

45. "The Sopranos" Emmy winner De Matteo : DREA. Her name escaped me.

46. Elephants' predators, in myth : ROCs

47. It may be described in gigs : DATA. So gigs refer to gigabytes?

48. 2006 N.L. MVP __ Howard : RYAN. First baseman for Dennis' Phillies.

49. Sommer of "The Prize" : ELKE

50. Image file letters : BMP. What does BMP stand for, Al? Bitmap?

Answer grid.

C.C.