Wednesday, Jan 9 2013, Gerry Wildenberg

theme: partly cloudy

lenticular clouds over mt shasta

18. The money follows it : (SILVER) DOLLAR SIGN

23. Olympic hero : (SILVER) MEDAL WINNER

35. Treat like a child : (SILVER) SPOON FEED

50. Rapid rail transport : (SILVER) BULLET TRAIN

57. Actor's tryout : (SILVER) SCREEN TEST

2. With 47-Down, proverbial cloud feature, and a hint to the starts of 18-, 23-, 35-, 50- and 57-Across : (SILVER)

47. See 2-Down : (SILVER) LINING

melissa here. 

WOW (all caps, even). what a stunning, theme-heavy grid. SEVEN theme entries, five acrosses and two downs. just gorgeous. quite a challenging solve for a wednesday, which makes for a satisfying finish - the silver lining, as it were. 

clouds are a popular philosophical symbol. both alan watts and thich nhat hanh have waxed poetic about them. van morrison's tune, alan watts blues, is in reference to a poem by chia tao (777-841), cloud hidden, whereabouts unknown, which watts used as the title of a book, published shortly after his death.

lots of other tunes about clouds, too - performed by the stones, carly simon, joan baez, and django reinhardt, among others. 

across

1. "World Series of Poker" channel : ESPN. yawn. 

5. Improve : AMEND. not always an improvement.

10. Japanese noodle : SOBA. japanese name for buckwheat.

14. See 17-Across : NILE. 17. Queen of the 14-Across, familiarly : CLEO

15. Hawk's weapon : TALON

16. Neatness analogy ending : A PIN. neat as a pin.

20. Gardner of film : AVA. frank sinatra's second wife, and 28. Conductor André : PREVIN. mia farrow's second husband (mia was sinatra's third wife).

21. Lacking embellishment : BARE

22. Missouri tributary : OSAGE

27. Duty : TAX

29. __ which way : ANY

30. Suffix with phon- : EME. smallest contrastive unit in the sound system of a language. had no idea. if you're interested.

31. River project : DAM

32. Create, as words : COIN

34. ''__ Death'': Grieg work : ASES. from the ibsen play, peer gynt.

38. Sense : GIST

41. Lincoln et al. : ABES. the et al. indicates a shortened name.

42. __ gratia: by the grace of God : DEI

44. Italian article : UNA. yesterday it was acapulco article.

45. "Now I understand!" : OHO

46. Fin de __: end of the century : SIECLE. drew a blank here.

49. Approximate no. : EST. estimate.

53. Tokyo-based watchmaker : SEIKO

55. New Haven collegians : ELI'S. yale students.

56. Columbus-to-Cleveland dir. : NNE

60. Do bar work, perhaps : STIR. bartend.

61. British weapon of WWII : STEN. submachine gun.

62. Down Under soldier : ANZAC. australian and new zealand army corps.

63. Basic video game : PONG

64. __ buco : OSSO. italian dish, literally bone with a hole.

65. Grind, as teeth : GNASH

66. Old-fashioned sort : FOGY

down

1. Spend a night on the trail : ENCAMP. what's the difference between the verbs encamp and camp?

3. Begged : PLEADED

4. "The Matrix" hero : NEO

5. Early in the morning : AT DAWN

6. Native New Zealanders : MAORI

7. Former "Idol" judge with Simon, Kara and Randy : ELLEN. degeneres. just keep swimming.

8. Lon of Cambodia : NOL. prime minister. another unknown for me.

9. Genetic letters : DNA

10. Smart talk : SASS

11. Poppy products : OPIATES

12. Super Bowl, e.g. : BIG GAME

13. New wings, maybe : ANNEXES

19. Golf star McIlroy : RORY. blues fans may prefer this rory:

21. Super Bowl sight : BLIMP

24. "Stop, ya swabs!" : AVAST

25. Innocents : NAIFS

26. -trix relative : ENNE. feminine suffixes - trix from latin, enne from french. aviatrix, comedienne.

32. Early computer language : COBOL

33. Maître d's "Are you by yourself?" : ONE?

34. Run like __ : A DEER

36. Obama's birthplace : OAHU

37. Prepares for print : EDITS. i first read this as 'prepares for a pint,' and thought a priest walks into a bar ....'

38. "I suppose" : GUESS SO. i suppose.

39. Flies, for example : INSECTS. gotcha. noun, not verb.

40. Send-ups : SATIRES

43. Playground response to a challenge : I CAN TOO

45. Reed instrument : OBOE

46. Sewer line : STITCH. another gotcha, sew-er as in one who sews, not sewer as in ew.

48. Benefit of some bars and drinks : ENERGY. 

51. TV host Gibbons : LEEZA

52. Schiaparelli et al. : ELSAS. fashion designer. yet another unknown for me.

54. Lotto-like game : KENO

58. Racehorse, to a tout : NAG. had to look this up - a tout is one who spies out racing information for betting purposes. nag is slang for racehorse.

59. Spike TV, formerly : TNN

60. Coppertone letters : SPF. sun protection factor.

melissa

Tuesday, January 8, 2013 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Desiccation - Fruit that is known as something else when it has been dried out begins each of the themes. Unifier occupies the last across.

17A. Traditional Christmas dessert : PLUM PUDDING

60A. Coffee break treat : PRUNE DANISH

30A. Sweet spread : GRAPE JELLY

47A. Fiber-rich cereal : RAISIN BRAN

69A. Helped with dinner cleanup--or, a hint to the relationship between the starts of 60-/17-Across and 47-/30-Across : DRIED

Argyle here. Remember what I said yesterday? Today C.C. shows us how to really do cross references. Go from a ripe fruit to a dried fruit. And fun to blog, too.

Across:

1. Allow in : ADMIT

6. Behind the times : PASSÉ

11. Keg insert : TAP

14. Nasty : SEAMY

15. Idol whose fans are called Claymates : AIKEN

16. Acapulco article : UNA

19. ER personnel : RN's

20. Swings about : SLUES

21. Crunchy snack : CORN NUT

23. LeBron James, e.g. : NBA STAR. (National Basketball Association). Forward for the Miami Heat.

26. Ruler in old St. Petersburg : TSAR

27. __ Diamond : HOPE. Worth between 200 and 250 million dollars. (Additional curse, no charge.)

32. More than vexation : IRE

33. Red Army leader Trotsky : LEON

34. Run-of-the-mill : SO-SO

35. Liquid-Plumr rival : DRANO

37. Jamaican music genre : SKA

39. Something to skip at the beach : STONE

42. Bollywood dress : SARI. Bollywood is the informal term for the film industry based in Mumbai, India.

44. Face cream ingredient : ALOE

46. Kenny G plays one : SAX

50. Hung on to : KEPT

51. "Show Boat" novelist Ferber : EDNA. The 1926 novel was a Broadway musical and a film. Wikipedia article.

52. Roger with 17 Grand Slam wins : FEDERER. The Swiss Maestro. Story.

54. Shrinking Asian lake : ARAL SEA

56. Scary bacteria : E. COLI

59. Downturn : DIP

64. "Little Red Book" chairman : MAO

65. Chipped in a chip : ANTED. Cute.

66. Comics friend of Nancy : ROLLO. And others.

67. Windup : END

68. Dallied (with) : TOYED

Down:

1. Dangerous reptile in the Nile delta : ASP

2. Pol. convention attendees : DELs.

3. Rough up : MAUL

4. Not susceptible : IMMUNE

5. Laid-back sort : TYPE B

6. Push-up bra feature : PAD

7. It may be financial : AID

8. Slopes headwear : SKI CAP

9. Men of La Mancha : SEÑORes. Three syllables.

10. Career for a sci. major : ENGR. "The engineering science major combines the understanding of basic engineering practices with in-depth knowledge of the fundamentals of the engineering sciences: electricity and magnetism, fluid and solid mechanics, mathematics, computer applications, materials, and thermodynamics and heat transfer. With this broad training, engineering science graduates are prepared for multidisciplinary engineering careers and a wide range of employment options." - Pennsylvania State University

11. Sets free : TURNS LOOSE

12. Once-a-year bloomer : ANNUAL

13. 60-Across, for one : PASTRY. 60A. Coffee break treat : PRUNE DANISH

18. Grammarian's concern : USAGE

22. Explosive experiment : N-TEST

24. Sellout signs, briefly : SRO's

25. Big mug : TANKARD

27. Holed up : HID

28. NHL legend Bobby : ORR

29. Well-matched pair : PEAS IN A POD

31. No-way man? : JOSÉ. The name was probably chosen for the rhyme with 'No-Way'.

33. "Tank Girl" star Petty : LORI

36. Sounding stuffy : NASAL

38. Winglike parts : ALAE

40. Short rest : NAP. Take 'em all the time.

41. Office contact no. : EXT. (extension)

43. Really hot spot : INFERNO. Just ask Dante.

45. No right __: traffic sign : ON RED

47. Software installation info file : [READ ME]

48. Rocky's love : ADRIAN

49. Loveliness : BEAUTY

50. Swedish currency : KRONOR. Plural of Krona. Sweden is a member state of the European Union but doesn't use the euro.

53. Digital greeting : E-CARD

55. Lovers' clash : SPAT

57. Taylor of "Mystic Pizza" : LILI. On the right.

58. One of the Antilles : ISLE. (Caribbean Sea) Isn't anything an island anymore?

61. Alumna bio word : NÉE

62. Teacher's deg. : Ed.D. (Doctor of Education)

63. Coal carrier : HOD

Argyle