Thursday February 9, 2012, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Four Star Puzzle. You have to love a puzzle that gives you a bonus, in addition to the main theme!

I’m going to go about this bass-ackwards, and give the reveal first, because the entire theme makes more sense that way.

57A. Night sky feature, and a hint to a four-letter sequence hidden in 17-Across and 10- and 25-Down : STAR CLUSTER

So, we have anagrams of “STAR” in each of the other three long theme entries:

17A. Where pros play : SPORTS ARENA

10D. Like most valentines : HEART SHAPED (thanks for the shout-out, Don and C.C. !!)

25D. Ammo for a simple cannon : MORTAR SHELL

BUT WAIT!! There’s more!!! In addition to the main theme entries, we have a bonus entry that crosses each one, and is a word that goes with the anagram:

6D. Word with the 57-Across [star cluster] in 17-Across : RUSSIAN (tsar)
21A. Word with the 57-Across [star cluster] in 10-Down : LIBERAL (arts)

41A. Word with the 57-Across [star cluster] in 25-Down : COAL (tars)

How brilliant is that?

Marti (HeartRx) here, with my humble explanation of the other entries:

Across:

1. Honda Insight, e.g. : ECOCAR. Did you know, that your mood can affect your gas mileage?

7. Like some mus. keys : MAJ. or min.

10. Bale filler : HAY. Hey! Windhover, where you been?

13. 2000s New Hampshire John : SUNUNU. Great crossword name! But wait! There's more!! We have John Henry Sununu, who was governor for NH from '83-'89. He was the father of John Edward Sununu, who was NH Senator and later US Representative. But it was the father who was chairman of the NH Republican party 2009-2011. So I guess the vote on this clue entry goes to John H.?

14. Be up against : ABUT. I just love this word. Sounds like someone who gets up your butt, doesn't it?

16. Roth of "Inglorious Bastards" : ELI. Also starring Brad Pitt, in one of his better roles.

19. Vital statistic : AGE. I'll never tell!

20. Actress Kudrow : LISA. I just loved her in "Friends".

23. Woolen caps : TAMS.

26. "This American Life" host Glass : IRA. This guy.

28. Like some silverware : PLATED. I have a silver-plated tea set. It just collects dust...

29. Prefix with meter : ODO-

30. Lists of priors : RAP SHEETS.

32. Man of the cloth : PARSON. This was my major stumbling block in the puzzle. I wanted "pastor", and stubbornly refused to give it up until I came to 33D...

34. Mean mutt : CUR. Shortened from kurdogge; probably related to Old Norse kurra, to growl. Jerome?

35. She, at sea : SHIP. Aye, and she's yare !!

38. En route to the mechanic : IN TOW

39. Permit : LET

40. Twangy guitarist Eddy : DUANE. "The Master of Twang", as noted below this clip (sans "twang"). (1:19)

42. In great shape : FIT. As long as my skinny jeans fit...

43. Spot on a horse : DAPPLE.

44. Signed up : RECRUITED. Not the person who signed up, but the person who signed him up.

47. Hear here : EAR. Where do you hear? Here, in your ear!

48. Wish : DESIRE

50. Cleveland pro, for short : CAV.aliers. Basketball.

51. Dreyer's brand, east of the Rockies : EDYS. Ice cream brand.

52. Olympics participant : ATHLETE.

54. Far from fatty : LEAN. Maybe our 67A Stout: PORTLY. entry could use some lean cuisine?

56. Actress Charlotte : RAE. I remember her from "The Facts of Life".

62. Short, for short : L'IL. Little...or a short form of Elizabeth?

63. Dry run : TEST

64. Peter of "My Favorite Year" : O'TOOLE. As the drunkard Alan Swann. One of my all-time "favorite" movies!

65. 100% : ALL

66. Dallas opening? : DEE, the letter "d" at the start of "Dallas", cleverly abutting directly on 1D. Dallas closing? : ESS, the letter "s"

Down:

2. Trophy, often : CUP

3. "Dear Yoko" dedicatee : ONO. Do you know anyone else named "Yoko"?

4. Home perm features : CURLS. I wanted "frizz" here, as that is how most of my home perms turned out...

5. One opposed : ANTI

7. Scratch : MAR. I parked my car at the mall the other day and came out to find a 3 foot MAR on the drivers side. grrrrr....

8. Ill-fated brother : ABEL. Go read the story. It's in the bible.

9. Gin flavoring : JUNIPER. I always knew there was a reason I didn't like gin. I don't like chewing on pine needles!

11. Aquarium gunk : ALGAE. ewwww...

12. Right-of-way sign : YIELD. But, does that sign mean anything to Massholes?

15. Put on ice : TABLE. I bet Tinbeni never tables his drinks!

18. Org. promoted by Betty White : AARP. But I love it when she promotes Snickers, instead. (0:31)

22. Relishes, as gossip : EATS UP

23. Talking point : TOPIC

24. Hersey's bell town : ADANO. John Hersey's 1944 novel "A Bell for Adano" won the 1945 Pulitzer Prize. It is so realistic, because he was a war correspondent in Italy during the war.

27. Buddhist monk, e.g. : ASCETIC

30. Steinbeck's "Cannery ___" : ROW. The street in Monterey, CA. was renamed in honor of the book.

31. Marching syllable : HUT. I bet Dennis and Spitzboov filled this in without blinking an eye...(I had "HUp" at first...)

33. It shines on the Seine : SOLEIL. French for "sun". This is the word that finally made me give up "pastor" and write in PARSON at 32A.

36. Cabinet design feature : INLAY. Some inlay designs are quite ornate:

37. ___ of the realm: noblemen : PEERS. Not much chance to link music in this puzzle, is there?? So, I will take advantage of a slight crack, to introduce a favorite from Grieg's "Peer Gynt Suite". (4:19)...(Let it play while you read the rest of this blog.)

39. Lucy of "Ally McBeal" : LIU

40. Pa : DAD

42. Stewed : FRETTED. I almost wanted to put "tomatoes" in there...

43. Work on film : DEVELOP. Great misdirection!

45. Aquafresh rival : CREST

46. Locker room supply : TALC. um, powder?

48. Alfalfa's sweetie : DARLA. Oh, man. That goes waaaay back! (2:42)

49. Net sales? : E-TAIL. Although I don't normally like "e-" words, this one was really cleverly clued!!

51. Belgian avant-garde painter James : ENSOR. His paintings are often described as "nightmarish". I dunno, they kinda look like they're just having fun. What do you think?

53. Facility : EASE.

55. Mercury or Saturn, e.g. : AUTO.

58. GPS offering : RTE

59. One of the small fry : TOT...or, a certain 'tater.

60. Bent piece : ELL

61. Juan Carlos, to his subjects : REY. He is the reigning King of Spain, pictured here with his reina.

Answer grid.
That's all I have for tonight...I'll catch you on the "other side" in the morning!

Hugs,
Marti

1) Constructors' notes:

Don wanted to create a puzzle where the middle embeds are anagrams of a word. We brainstormed and came up with ARTS, TARS, TSAR and STAR. Then we decided to further enhance the theme by crossing each anagram with a word that can precede the key word.

2) Marti's note:

I just submitted an embedded anagram theme to Rich last week, and I really hope he rejects it. After seeing this one, I don't think I will ever find a better anagram puzzle!!!

3) Happy 41st Birthday to our Man Saturday Splynter. Hope 2012 is a very special year to you and the long-legged dream girl comes to you soon.

Wednesday Feb 8, 2012 Jack McInturff

theme: back seat driver

17A. *Vaudeville headliner : TOP BANANA. from wikipedia: Originally, the phrase "Top Banana" was coined by comedian and Vaudeville Performer Harry Steppe" banana seat.

24A. *Count Basie's theme song : ONE O'CLOCK JUMP. basie used it as his closing song for over fifty years. a jump seat is a seat in a vehicle or aircraft that can fold up out of the way.

39A. *Too-small quantity : DROP IN THE BUCKET. an idiom meaning a small, insufficient amount. a bucket seat is contoured to hold one person.

50A. *1959 Monroe classic : SOME LIKE IT HOT. classic billy wilder film. the only seat here that is not an actual seat - an expression meaning a high-pressure situation.

63A. What many sports cars lack, and, in a way, what the ends of the starred answers are: REAR SEATS

melissa here.

pretty straightforward theme, but i needed the unifier to figure it out, as i was trying to connect the first words instead of the last. i thought this puzzle had a pretty broad range of obscure and gimme clues - but maybe it's just me, i'm a little rusty.

let's see how this goes, i've been suffering the animosity of inanimate objects, and the internet connection at the new digs is a tad unstable. i'm just gonna type reeeeeeeeeeeelllly fast and see what happens. fortunately, i can type faster than i can think.

Across:

1. Organic fuel : PEAT. decomposed plant material, also used as fertilizer. environmentally controversial. interesting wiki page.

5. Beggar's returns : ALMS. money or charity given to the poor.

9. Out-and-out : TOTAL. "that movie was an out-and-out flop."

14. Soprano Gluck : ALMA. okay well that is out-and-out obscure. my first thought was it must be some character from the soprano's ... except gluck doesn't sound very italian, does it? turns out alma gluck was a soprano recording artist, who died in 1938. oh, that alma gluck. her second husband was violin virtuoso efrem zimbalist, father of actor efrem zimalist, jr. (77 sunset strip), who was the father of stephanie zimbalist.

15. Tree nursery? : NEST. cute.

16. Winnebagos' kin : IOWAS. again, a little obscure. indian tribes.

19. Actress Kelly : MOIRA

20. Anaheim team, to fans : HALOS. baseball. see the halo?

21. Splotch : BLOB. "it creeps, it crawls, it eats you alive! the splotch! somehow just doesn't sound as frightening.

23. Fishing gear : NET

28. Garment border : HEM

29. Michael of "Caddyshack" : O'KEEFE. he played caddy danny noonan.

32. Marbles competition : MIBS. i think you might have to own a hobby shop to know this. what i found online was that a mib is the target in a marble game, and a mibster is a person who plays marbles.

36. Get out in the open : AIR. air that dirty laundry.

38. Singsong syllables : TRA LA

43. Open mic performer, often : COMIC. my favorite comic.

44. Bruins legend : ORR. bobby. hockey.

45. "My love __ a fever, longing still": Shakespeare : IS AS.

46. Deeply rooted : INBRED

48. Gandalf portrayer McKellen : IAN. lord of the rings.

57. "Go team!" : RAH

59. Well out of range : AFAR

60. It may be captioned : PHOTO

61. Hoover rival : ORECK

66. Bench clearer : MELEE. visually evocative clue.

67. Pitcher Pettitte with a record 19 post-season wins : ANDY. yankees / astros.

68. Out of the cage : FREE

69. Less hardy-looking : PALER

70. Early Iranian : MEDE. finally remembered this.

71. "America's Next Top Model" host Banks : TYRA

Down:

1. Logical start? : PATHO. pathological.

2. Online mortgage broker : E-LOAN

3. More than enough : AMPLE.

4. It's not done : TABOO. it's done, it's just not supposed to be done.

5. "State of Wonder" novelist Patchett : ANN. author of bel canto.

6. Country expanse : LEA

7. "A Fuller Spectrum of News" network : MSNBC. never heard of it.

8. Bit of rhubarb : STALK

9. Middle of nowhere, metaphorically : TIMBUKTU. great album.

10. Hugs, symbolically : OOO

11. Cult classic of 1990s TV : TWIN PEAKS

12. It passes between Swiss banks : AARE. it's a river, love this clue.

13. Would-be One L's hurdle : LSAT. one l is a first year law student, lsat is the law school admission test.

18. Author Sholem : ASCH. controversial, polish-born, jewish-american writer, 1880-1957.

22. Eye of el tigre : OJO. spanish for eye.

25. Tilt : LEAN

26. Fail to mention : OMIT.

27. Overseas thanks : MERCI. french.

30. Lab coat speck? : FLEA. labrador, another great clue.

31. Chow : EATS

32. Year Elizabeth I delivered her "Golden Speech" : MDCI. 1601. sure, i knew that, didn't have to look it up or anything. "The Golden Speech has been taken to mark a symbolic end of Elizabeth's reign, one which is widely considered one of the Golden Eras of England's history."

33. Caddie's suggestion : IRON. i work with a lot of caddies. that's all i'm going to say about that.

34. Jaw-dropping news : BOMBSHELL

35. Veep before Gerald : SPIRO. agnew.

37. Letter after pi : RHO

40. Motel convenience : ICE MAKER

41. "Gymnopédies" composer Satie : ERIK

42. Scot's bluff : BRAE

47. Dict. offering : DEF

49. Small bites : NIPS

51. NFLer until 1994 : LA RAM. los angeles rams.

52. Castle with many steps? : IRENE. dance steps. early 20th century ballroom dancer.

53. Museum concern : THEFT

54. White with age : HOARY. hoarfrost = white ice or snow crystals.

55. Weasel-like swimmer : OTTER

56. Where captains go : TO SEA

57. Frolic : ROMP

58. Field of expertise : AREA

62. GPA reducer, usually : CEE. grade point average.

64. Put in : ADD

65. Deli choice : RYE

Answer grid.

melissa