Dan Naddor LAT Puzzle Summary

This is it. Audiovisual Aids is our final puzzle from Dan Naddor. 

Dan started constructing in the summer of 2006. He had total 158 puzzles published by the LA Times, 37 of which were given to us after he passed away in Dec 2009. Dan also had 4 puzzles published by the NY Times. He also contributed to The Crosswords Club.

Rich Norris, editor for the LA Times Daily Crossword & The Crosswords Club, has kindly provided us the below list of all puzzles Dan constructed, with dates, theme type & the theme.

Argyle broke down the total 158 puzzles to (Thanks for catching the missing one from Cruciverb, Al):

Monday 4

Tuesday 11

Wednesday 36

Thursday 37

Friday 49

Saturday 1 (It's a themed 4th of July puzzle)

Sunday  20

76 of the above puzzles were covered in this blog.

Dan was talented, hard-working & passionate about crossword construction. He knew what he wanted and he did it his way, always squishing in more theme entries. He's not afraid to defend himself when he's wronged, and he's not afraid to apologize when he's wrong, as we have witnessed a few times on the blog. In Dennis' word, a very stand-up guy.

I feel lucky to know him a bit via his puzzles.

C.C.

Stats from Rich:

Sunday puzzles:

2/18/2007 SUN wordplay Idiotic Idioms

7/1/2007 SUN anagrams Home Remodeling

12/2/2007 SUN wordplay An Ical for your thoughts

1/13/2008 SUN wordplay contrived phrases with four consecutive bigrams: did idi divide ugandans, etc.

3/2/2008 SUN trigram drop ITY

5/25/2008 SUN related names California Pros

7/13/2008 SUN sound change Chuck Schwa

10/12/2008 SUN sound change thr -> fr "On Finn Ice"

11/23/2008 SUN wordplay Not more of the same

1/4/2009 SUN sound change "-ed" to T

2/1/2009 SUN embedded words Buried Treasure

2/22/2009 SUN special Star search

4/19/2009 SUN trigram add TOP - Put a Lid on It

8/30/2009 SUN letter add Organ Transplants

10/11/2009 SUN sound change Why Yes -- added Y sound

12/6/2009 SUN embedded word Subliminal Messages

1/3/2010 SUN bigram add LI - "51 Pickup"

2/7/2010 SUN trigram add SUB - "Hero's Welcome"

4/4/2010 SUN bigram add DL - "Sidelined"

4/17/2011 SUN bigram add AV - Audiovisual Aids

Weekday puzzles:

10/11/2006 synonyms Baloney

10/26/2006 word after out of

1/3/2007 repeated clue MAJORS

1/25/2007 word before guard

2/28/2007 related expressions hot dog toppings

3/14/2007 repeated clue DRIVE

4/2/2007 special baseball

4/18/2007 rhyme escher

4/27/2007 puns state names

5/8/2007 word after shot(s)

5/23/2007 word before keepers

6/1/2007 wordplay reversals

6/7/2007 related expressions two-letter alpha lead-in

6/20/2007 ending initial

7/19/2007 word after pay

8/2/2007 same clue PRESS

8/17/2007 puns elmer fudd

8/30/2007 special cross country - geographical puzzle

9/13/2007 repeated clue hang tough

9/26/2007 word before weight

10/12/2007 wordplay literal placement of idiom

11/2/2007 bigram drop SC

11/14/2007 wordplay contiguous opposites

11/23/2007 same clue beats around the bush - graphically in puzzle (THE BUSH in center, answers to BEAT clues surrounding it)

12/11/2007 related expressions banking

12/21/2007 puns metal

1/2/2008 homonyms saks

1/18/2008 letter add SS -> SSS

1/30/2008 related expressions current events

2/8/2008 letter add O -> OO

2/20/2008 letter sequence II in phrases

3/7/2008 embedded words Wheres the beef

3/18/2008 sequence eighth, quarter, half, whole

3/27/2008 word before BOARD - both parts of answer

4/4/2008 letter sub IA for AI

4/17/2008 unique compass pt. puzzle

4/28/2008 initials J and B

5/8/2008 related names fictional bird names

5/21/2008 same clue euphoric

6/5/2008 synonyms leave

6/13/2008 wordplay name addition

6/19/2008 homonyms mayne

6/27/2008 puns monkey / ape

7/9/2008 homonyms thai, ty, tae, tai, tie

7/23/2008 related expressions animal coverings

8/1/2008 bigram add OB

8/8/2008 trigram drop ENT

8/22/2008 puns film mickelson

9/3/2008 word before service

9/11/2008 sequence aeiou in phrases

9/19/2008 against the grain

9/26/2008 puns clothes

10/8/2008 word before MAN - superheroes (Dan and Mike Naddor)

10/23/2008 synonyms

10/30/2008 related expressions RR crossings

11/7/2008 sound change p to b

11/13/2008 word before dollar - with $ sign in grid

11/20/2008 puns oo endings

12/3/2008 sequence w/ wordplay first second third last

12/11/2008 punchline entry what's the damage

12/19/2008 wordplay truncated it's

12/30/2008 sequence

1/9/2009 special Battleship puzzle

1/15/2009 related names cities ending in EE

1/23/2009 sound change the -> DE

2/13/2009 letter add R becomes RR

2/27/2009 bigram add AR

3/5/2009 hidden word insect

3/13/2009 bigram add UM

3/24/2009 wordplay reverse cities

4/2/2009 homonym in clues pauly, pauley, paulie, polly, poly

4/15/2009 same word ending ough - all different pronunciations

4/23/2009 hidden word bean salad

4/30/2009 wordplay word + ATE = homonym

5/8/2009 bigram drop EY from key words

5/18/2009 initials R and B (foods)

5/29/2009 letter sub I to U

6/4/2009 synonyms flops, duds, bombs, etc.

6/18/2009 related expressions two X's in each theme answer (Dos Equis)

6/26/2009 sound change ed -> eld

7/4/2009 special July 4th "themeless" style

7/9/2009 related expressions brokerese

7/17/2009 letter sub DD for TT

7/23/2009 repeated clue Take 6

7/31/2009 sound change SK to X

8/6/2009 synonyms palling around

8/14/2009 trigram drop no WAY

8/21/2009 letter add N + N

8/26/2009 related expressions court business

9/11/2009 word substitution two for one

9/17/2009 word after table

9/22/2009 rhyme / homonyms russell, mussel, muscle, rustle

9/29/2009 related expressions food combos

10/9/2009 bigram add GO

10/16/2009 letter sub V for W

10/22/2009 rhyme--different spelling

10/30/2009 letter drop Q (sound)

11/4/2009 anagrams inlets

11/13/2009 letter add R to make ER

11/18/2009 word before bar patrons

11/27/2009 puns medieval

12/10/2009 synonyms phenomenal

12/18/2009 bigram add RY

12/25/2009 trigram add ANCE

12/30/2009 bigram repeat PH - two in each answer

1/8/2010 letter sub MM to MP

1/13/2010 word before defense

1/19/2010 related names nicknames

1/26/2010 word before San (cities)

2/3/2010 hidden word jabber - synonyms start phrases

2/19/2010 trigram drop AGE - phonetically

3/4/2010 word chain

3/19/2010 puns German

4/16/2010 trigram drop TLE

4/28/2010 wordplay dishes

5/10/2010 related expressions names with J

5/26/2010 word after world - WORLD LEADER

6/10/2010 related words silent letters begin

6/23/2010 letter pattern esses

7/8/2010 word after shoot the

7/21/2010 synonyms fast

8/5/2010 synonyms arrest

8/18/2010 synonyms changers

9/2/2010 palindromes

9/14/2010 related expressions meds

9/29/2010 split word stock

10/13/2010 sequence wealth

10/27/2010 related things tools

11/12/2010 letter add U

11/23/2010 related words two word -ique -ique phrases

12/8/2010 synonyms midgets

12/22/2010 word before panel

1/14/2011 letter drop K from CK

1/27/2011 word before grudge (Dan Naddor & Doug Peterson)

2/18/2011 pun presidents

3/2/2011 unique one syllable words, nine letters

3/18/2011 trigram drop ing

4/1/2011 special backwards theme for April 1, 2011

Sunday April 17, 2011 Dan Naddor

Theme: Audiovisual Aids - Letters AV are inserted into common phrases.

24A. Salon tool for recalcitrant customers? : STYLING GAVEL. Styling gel.

30A. Not the best purple flower? : SUBPRIME LAVENDER. Subprime lender.

45A. Where the experts hang out? : MAVENS' ROOM. Men's room.

64A. Colorado brewer's rodent mascot? : COORS BEAVER. Coors beer.

77A. Culinary product of a French-Italian region? : SAVOY SAUCE. Soy sauce.

97A. Group that ruins commercials? : AD HAVOC COMMITTEE. Ad hoc committee.

104A. Bad news about a tooth? : TWIN CAVITIES. Twin cities.

15D. Prefer Hitchcock's Bodega Bay classic to his other films? : FAVOR THE BIRDS. For the birds.

52D. Cryptologist's rant? : DECODER RAVING. Decoder ring.

This is Dan's favorite theme type, adding/deleting/substituting letters. If you look at Rich's stats, lots of his Friday & Sunday puzzles have such gimmick.

The grid has 68 blocks (We had 84 last Sunday) and only 134 words. Comparatively low. Dan mentioned his target was shooting for low word count. Quite a few nice long entries, but also a number of abbreviations. V is a tough letter to maneuver. 

Across:

1. "This __ fine mess you've gotten us into, Ollie!" : IS A. Easy start.

4. Clean the deck : MOP

7. Military team : CORPS

12. Office teams : STAFFS. Staff can be pluralized, Dennis?

18. Three-time all-star closer Robb : NEN. Here he is. Not many famous people are named NEN, or ROBB.

19. Mandlikova of tennis : HANA. Stranger to me.

20. Blocker in a TV : V-CHIP

21. Note in a B major scale : A-SHARP

22. Hunter attachment? : GATHERER. Hunter-gatherer.

26. Tony winner for her Daisy Mae portrayal in "Li'l Abner" (1956) : EDIE ADAMS. Faintly recall her name.

28. Baroque dance : MINUET

29. Suffix with malt : OSE. Sugar suffix.

33. "Artaxerxes" composer : ARNE (Thomas). I only know his "Rule, Britannia".

34. Statistical hypothesis trial : T TEST. What does T stand for?

35. Word before old, and after it : SAME. Same old same old.

36. Web address letters : GOV

37. Illinois city, site of the last Lincoln-Douglas debate : ALTON. Outside my knowledge zone.

38. M.O. : SYS

39. Birch leaf eater : LUNA MOTH. John Lampkin style picture.

43. Algiers citadel : CASBAH

47. Corrida hero : TORERO

50. Like fifth and sixth : ORDINAL. I actually drew a blank. I can be incredibly dumb.

53. "Mad About You" co-star : REISER (Paul)

56. Golfer Crenshaw : BEN. Smooth putting stroke.

57. Answer skillfully : FIELD

58. Sault __ Marie : STE

61. Boss's address? : E STREET. The E Street Band. Bruce Springsteen The Boss.

62. Give-go link : IT A

63. Pawn : HOCK

66. Cheater's device : CRIB

67. Ike's arena: Abbr. : ETO (European Theater of Operation)

68. Was allowed to pay later : RAN A TAB

69. D-Day craft : LST (Landing Ship Tank)

70. Military chaplain : PADRE

71. Directed : LED

72. Brew made in Zoeterwoude : AMSTEL. Named after the Amstel River. I've never heard of the plant site Zoeterwoude.

73. Super Bowl party centerpiece, briefly : HD TV SET. Clusters of consonants.

75. Short fall? : PRECIP. "Short" indicates "shortened form". Good clue.

82. Semicircular antenna housing : RADOME (Radar Dome)

85. See 46-Down : DETECTOR. And 46D. With 85-Across, beachcomber's device : METAL.

86. "I'm impressed!" : WOW

89. Natasha's partner in crime : BORIS

91. "Rhoda" production co. : MTM. Stands for Mary Tyler Moore.

93. Highly caloric : RICH

94. Former "Today" medical expert Art __ : ULENE. No idea.

96. Abba of Israel : EBAN

101. Ohio, e.g.: Abbr. : RIV. OK, river.

102. Enjoys doing : IS INTO

103. Russian Orthodox ruling body : HOLY SYNOD. Nice to know.

108. Rhinestone piano player : LIBERACE

109. Sent to the gallows : HANGED

110. String quartet member : CELLO

111. Get an __ effort : E FOR

112. What's expected : PAR. But birdie is always better.

113. Wool variety : ANGORA

114. Dispatched, as a dragon : SLAIN. Dispatch = Kill.

115. "L.A. Law" actress : DEY (Susan).

116. The orig. 13, e.g. : STs (States)

Down:

1. Eats : INGESTS

2. Naval assignment : SEA DUTY. Any comment, Spitzboov?

3. Côte d'Azur resort : ANTIBES. No idea. A seaport south of Nice.

4. __ Gras : MARDI

5. Wee hr. : ONE AM

6. Pasta topper : PARMESAN

7. Walgreens rival : CVS. I like former.

8. Columbus Day mo. : OCT

9. Run, for one? : RHYME. Run and one rhyme. Good clue.

10. Pier support : PILING

11. PR specialist : SPIN DOC. I've never seen "Spin doctor" abbreviated this way.

12. More judicious : SAGER

13. USAF E-6 : TSGT. Military rank always gives me headache.

14. "Now I understand!" : AHA

16. City in California's Central Valley : FRESNO. And 19. California's Central Valley, e.g. : HEARTLAND.

17. Ill humor : SPLEEN

23. Marching words : HEPS. Marching cadence.

25. New, in Nicaragua : NUEVA

27. Poetry competitions : SLAMs. Stumped me last time.

31. Love, to Virgil : AMOR

32. Turn down : VETO

33. Old orchard spray : ALAR

37. Keep from ending normally : ABORT

40. Sch. founded by Jefferson : UVA (University of Virginia)

41. Wrestling holds : NELSONS

42. Trigger, for one : HORSE. Trigger was Roy Roger's horse.

44. Take the tiller : STEER

45. "Got __?" : MILK

48. Hang it up, so to speak : RETIRE

49. Even if challenged : ON A BET. Did you get it immediately?

50. Be __: assist : OF HELP

51. Mob member : RIOTER

54. Journalist Kupcinet and sportscaster Cross : IRVs

55. "I told you, didn't I?!" : SEE THAT? I like the clue.

59. Precisely : TO A T. Tricky to parse.

60. Some Deco collectibles : ERTEs

61. Fall back : EBB

64. __ santo: Spanish graveyard : CAMPO. Learning moment for me.

65. Light lunch : SALAD

66. Spelunker's spot : CAVE

68. Police operations : RAIDS

70. Recently discontinued retro Chrysler : PT CRUISER. Crazy 4-consonant start.

74. Pair : DUO

76. Number one son? : CAIN. We've seen similar "First lady' for EVE gimmick before.

78. __ Beach, Florida : VERO

79. Neur- ending : OTIC

80. "Ick factor 10!" : YECCH

81. Taught : SCHOOLED

83. MCCLII doubled : MMDIV. 1,250*2=2,504.

84. Ones with a common heritage : ETHNICS

86. Wings eaters' needs : WET NAPS

87. Sandlot game : ONE O' CAT. Kind of baseball game?

88. Garden tools : WEEDERS

89. Krupp with a howitzer named for her : BERTHA. Wow, I never know this origin.

90. Luke's mentor : OBIWAN. "Star Wars".

92. Magic 8 Ball maker : MATTEL

95. Interstellar dist. : LT-YR (Light-year)

97. Carne __: Mexican dish : ASADA

98. "Presto!" cousin : VOILA

99. MGM Resorts casino loyalty program : M LIFE. Nope. No idea. What does M stand for?

100. "Lad ..." : MY BOY. Cute clue.

102. "Congratulations" writer, maybe : ICER

105. "Stop-__": UGK hit : 'N-GO. First encounter with the hip hop duo UGK (Underground Kingz). Rappers drive me crazy with their free spelling.

106. Yalie : ELI

107. Michael, to Kirk : SON. Michael Douglas has been through a lot.

Answer grid.

Thanks for the entertainment, Dan. To quote your buddy Jerome, "Great puzzle, Duck!".

C.C.