Thursday April 16, 2009 Don Gagliardo

Theme: GEES (66A: Yegg's thousands)

17A: Toxic defoliant in Vietnam: AGENT ORANGE

27A: 1930s Fred Astaire partner: GINGER ROGERS

38A: Study of rock groups?: GEOLOGY

45A: Show runner: STAGE MANAGER

58A: "Adam Bede" novelist: GEORGE ELLIOT

Plus 23 more theme answers I will list later.

The above 5 long theme answers all have 2 or 3 G's each and are symmetrically placed. GINGER ROGERS is my favorite, the only one with 3 G's. Have never seen her full name in a puzzle before. Looks cool in the grid. GEOLOGY clue is made interesting with a question mark.

Just amazing puzzle! Total 21 G's. NY Times' record is 19. All soft G theme answers are positioned in Across, and hard G' in Down. Out of the 78 words in this puzzle, 28 are theme answers (14 Across and 14 Down). And if I counted correctly, there are only 60 non-theme black squares. That would be 125 theme squares, about 68% of theme fills. Definitely a first for me.

It reminds me of the Sept 19, 2008 Newsday "52 of a Kind" puzzle. Every word in the grid has a letter L, some are long, some are short. I asked Stan Newman if all of them are theme answers. He said yes, but "of course this is a special case".

Very creative puzzle. I enjoyed a lot. I wonder why SOFT G is not clued in the grid. Is it structurally impossible?

OK, here we go, more soft G (Across) theme entries:

4A: Sharp-witted: AGILE. Wrote down ACUTE recklessly.

9A: O. Henry's "The Gift of the __": MAGI. Read this story in Chinese. It's in our high school western literature class.

14A: Taunts: GIBES

16A: Windy City superstation: WGN. Owned by the Tribune Company, which also owns Chicago Cubs, Chicago Tribune, LA Times and of course Tribune Media Services (TMS) which syndicates LA Times and the old TMS Daily puzzle.

32A: Rowlands of "Another Woman": GENA

50A: Golden __: AGERS. Didn't we just see this clue the other day? Time for teen AGERS.

62A: Red-and-white supermarket logo: IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance). Sigh! I can't remember this chain name. It's clued as "Supermarket grp." in early April.

66A: Yegg's thousands: GEES. Feels weird to see G spelled out as GEE.

67A: Letter appearing only in down answers; its opposite appears in across answers: HARD G

68A: Glue is one: GEL

And hard G Down theme entries:

2D: Billiards player's consideration: ANGLE

4D: Tennis great who retired in 2006: AGASSI (Andre). Two-US Open champ, as clued in yesterday's puzzle.

5D: Prefix with hertz: GIGA. Only know gigabyte.

9D: Address to a pal, in Pamplona: MI AMIGO. "My friend" in Spanish. This refers to male friend only, correct?

11D: Satanic nation in Revelation: GOG. No idea. Got it from across fills. Is that how we got AGOG?

20D: '70 Olympics name: OLGA (Korbut). OLGA means "Holy".

29D: Skilled in: GOOD AT

32D: Tenet's CIA successor: GOSS (Porter). Gimme gimme. Leon Panetta is the current boss. Someone just mentioned on the blog yesterday that CIA's nickname is "The Company". NSA's nickname is "The Puzzle Palace".

38D: Donate, in Dundee: GIE. Scottish for "give".

39D: Club appearance: GIG

42D: Overlooks: IGNORES. Overlook is a Janus word. It means IGNORES, but it also means "to watch over".

44D: Logician's connector: ERGO

52D: Antisocial elephant: ROGUE. Is "Antisocial elephant" a slang? I am not familiar with this phrase.

55D: __ Khan: AGA. Sometimes it's clued as "Turkish title". Literally "Lord". Here is Anne Bancroft's "Yma Dream" again. AGA Khan is one of them. AVA Gardner, AVA Gabor, OONA O'Neill, IDA Lupino, Abba EBAN, UTA Hagen, Ida Lupino and most of the crossword stalwarts are in the clip too.

58D: Comical bit: GAG

Non theme fills (Across):

1A: Late-night name: JAY. JAY Leno. Another kind of soft G, right?

13A: Prop extension?: ANE. Propane. I like this clue. Much better than our old "Chemical ending".

15A: Key that often sounds gloomy: MINOR. Oh, I was unaware of this. So MAJOR keys are cheerful?

19A: Charlie Parker's instrument: ALTO SAX. Would not have got the answer without the down fills. I could only think of saxphone.

21A: Novel type: DIME

22A: Sings, so to speak: TELLS. "Where do I begin? To tell the story of how great a love can be?..."

23A: Philosopher __ tzu: LAO. LAO literally means "old" in Chinese. LAO-Tzu is "Old Master". My husband calls me LAO Po, literally "Old wife".

35A: Place for a stud: LOBE. Stud earrings.

36A: Tribute with a wink: ROAST. Like the annual Gridiron Club Dinner. Obama skipped his this year.

37A: Siouan speaker: OTO. Or OTOE.

40A: Old touring car: REO. The old Olds.

41A: 2005 horror sequel: SAW II. Easy guess. I don't watch horror movies.

43A: Artist who worked on Hitchcock's "Spellbound": DALI. Another guess. I only know the 2002 documentary "Spellbound". I bet those kids are great at solving crosswords. Have never heard of Hitchcock's "Spellbound". DALI was a close friend of Mia Farrow.

44A: O.K. Corral name: EARP. Learned from doing Xword.

48A: Certain, for sure: Abbr.: SYN (Synonym). I don't get this one? What does SYN stand for? (Note: Certain is the synonym of "sure". I am going to bang my head at the wall now.)

49A: LAX tower gp.: ATC. Air Traffic Control. I got the answer from down fills also.

54A: Actress Cusack: JOAN. John Cusack's sister. She is Cynthia in "Working Girl".

64A: "Lovergirl" vocalist __ Marie: TEENA. Here is the clip. I am not familiar with this singer. Wikipedia says she is nicknamed Lady T and her real name is Mary Christine Brockert. Why TEENA intead of Tina then?

65A: Rapa __: Easter Island: NUI. Here is a map. I had no idea that Easter Island is also called Rapa NUI, the Polynesian name meaning "Big Rapa". Wikipedia says it's coined by labor immigrants from Rapa in the Bass Islands, who likened it to their home island in the aftermath of the Peruvian slave deportations in the 1870s. Maybe you can tell me where Bass Islands is.

Non-theme Down:

1D: Scold: JAW AT. Is JAW AT a phrase? I only know JAW.

3D: Streisand title role: YENTL. I still don't know the exact meaning of YENTL. But it's the root word of YENTA.

6D: Alpine goat: IBEX. The wild mountain goat with terrifying horns. Does IBEX shed their horns as buck does with their antlers?

7D: Sportscaster Berman: LEN. Ah me, I forgot his name. I recognized those bobbleheads, so I must have linked this picture before.

8D: More than -er?: EST. Cute clue.

10D: "Archie Bunker's Place" costar: ANNE MEARA. Ben Stiller's mother.

15D: Hospital scanner: MRI

23D: Matt of "Joey": LeBLANC. A rare gimme. Liked him in "Friends". Have never seen "Joey" though.

24D: Anatomical ring: AREOLA. The nipple rings. Are(a) + Ola. The plural is AREOLAE.

26D: "Mr. Triple Axel" Brian: ORSER. Got his name from across fills. A Canadian figure skater. How tall do you think he is?

28D: Marlins' div: NLE (National League East). Braves, Phillies, Mets and the Nationals are the other members. Our Twins belong to ALC (American League Central).

30D: Access ending: ORY. Accessory.

34D: "When pigs fly!": NO WAY JOSE

46D: Nape growth: MANE. The nape of lion/horse.

47D: Livestock identifier: EAR TAG. See this picture. I can almost feel the pain when his ear is pierced.

51D: "Dallas" name: EWING. This has become a gimme. Williams clued EWING as "Adlai Stevenson's middle name" a couple of times.

53D: Slow mollusk: SNAIL

57D: Tegucigalpa's country: Abbr.: HOND (Honduras). Tegucigalpa is the capital city. We just had ESTO clued as "This, in Tegucigalpa" a week ago. But I forgot it completely. New abbreviation to me also.

59D: Summer in the cité: ETE. Rather tepid clue. I like last time's "When the French fry?".

60D: Ordinal suffix: ETH. Sometimes it's clued as "Biblical verb ending".

61D: Meadow: LEA. I've never seen this meadow word in any book, but EWE might have.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Interview with Dan Naddor

Dan Feyer mentioned in his interview that Dan Naddor is one of his favorite constructors. Barrel of A Pencil and a few other fellow solvers also told me that they are huge fans of Dan Naddor.

Dan is one of the regular contributors to LA Times Crossword. I thought it would be a good idea for us to get to know him better.

I asked Dan a few questions, and I found his answers to be very informative and fascinating.

What's your background? Who inspired you to construct your first crossword?

I grew up in Baltimore as a precocious kid who loved baseball and used to read Time Magazine cover to cover. That triggered a lifelong appreciation for the incredible depth and quirkiness of the English language. I became a dreaded know-it-all and developed a love of wordplay and puns at an early age (to the chagrin of my teachers and classmates). I remember vividly sitting in math class in high school with a problem on the board involving multiple colored dice, four of which were clear. The clear ones were 2, 3, 5 and 6, something like that. So I announced “So, on a clear die you can never see four”, punning on “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever”. Dead silence. No one got it. You get the picture – I was quite the geek. When I first heard of “A MAN, A PLAN, A CANAL, PANAMA” I was thrilled and astounded. In college, though, I soured a bit on academics but blossomed socially and became better-rounded as a person. Eventually I became an investment real estate dealmaker in Southern California. I’m ashamed to say the only reading I do these days is the newspaper.

In the mid-90’s I began solving crosswords at lunch as something to do. The Los Angeles Times puzzle, in fact, pre-Rich Norris. I’d finish them easily, underwhelmed with their caliber, and then think about how I could improve on them. I didn’t understand why so many had only three or four theme entries. I tried a few NYT puzzles but found my solving skills not nearly up to the challenge. But my interest in construction was piqued.

I've only solved 2 of your puzzles, but I found the state & city (I titled it as "Texas Lolita's Favorite Things) to be very creative. How would you describe your style? What kind of themes/fills are you gravitating to or trying to avoid? And what's your view on low word/low black square counts?

I guess I’d describe my puzzle style as original and theme-laden. My goal is to excite my solvers with clever themes and colorful non-crosswordese fill. And there’s no reason my solver shouldn’t get at least four or five “aha moments”, as Will Shortz describes them. If I’m working on a puzzle idea and can’t come up at least four themers, I punt. But if I can squish seven or eight quality themers in, that’s panacea for me as a constructor. It makes crafting a good fill tougher, to be sure. But it’s like laying out your stuff on the bed for a trip, seeing it’s more than your suitcase can possibly hold, and still managing to squeeze everything in without leaving any items behind. I like that challenge.

First of all, I want my grids to be attractive to the eye. Ideally, I strive for a block arrangement with lots of well-defined, open areas. And I shoot for at least 20 entries of 6 letters or more in my puzzles, the non-themers as colorful as possible. Themewise, I’ll tackle anything that lends itself to humor or wordplay – irony, puns, deleted/added/switched letters, hidden words. I steer clear of tributes and themeless puzzles because I find them lacking in “aha moments”. And I love coming up with punny clues that gently pull my solver’s leg, like “Altar ego” for BRIDE, “Grasshopper’s soda” for NEHI, and “Blow-out merchandise” for CANDLES.

Because of my love of heavy “themage”, most of my puzzles tend to be low word count and high black square count. If I can find ways to lower either without compromising my fill, I do it in a heartbeat. I spend a lot of time up front positioning the theme entries in the grid so that I can create not only an appealing look, but opportunities for enhancing fill by stacking themers wherever possible and finding longish words that can run vertically through the horizontal traffic jam. If I don’t do that, I end up needing more than the allowable 42 black squares. As it is, I spend hours and hours on fill.

Dan Feyer mentioned that you only contribute to LA Times. Is there a special reason for that? How long have been contributing to LA Times and what is it like working with Rich Norris?

I sent Rich Norris ten puzzles in the summer of 2006 before he finally accepted one (probably out of pity because it had 80 words, two over the limit). I’ve had 91 published since then and another 50 or so waiting in queue.

Rich is a remarkably talented, patient editor whose collaborative but disciplined style fits well with my creative, gung-ho approach. I have learned an enormous amount from him about theme tightness, consistency, “quality of fill trumps quantity of theme” and making sure the difficulty of the fill is commensurate with the day of the week for which the theme is suited (e.g. no obscure words for a Monday puzzle). He has rescued many of my more abstract themes with his terrific cluing ability. And when he rejects a submission (it happens over 50% of the time), he gives me a thoughtful explanation of his rationale. So rather than train/endure another editor while learning the craft, I’ve stuck with Rich exclusively. As time goes on I may branch out.

What kind of puzzles do you solve every day? Who are your favorite constructors and why?

To be honest I don’t do much solving at all. I solve the LAT every morning to keep abreast of what others are doing and what Rich is allowing. And I read Amy Reynaldo’s terrific blog daily. But that’s about it. I’d rather be creative with my time. In a way, I think my disdain for obscure words would be dulled if I were a serial solver and looked at them every day.

Patrick Berry is my favorite constructor – great themes and marvelous, uncluttered fill. It’s a real treat for me when he shows up in Amy’s blog.

Besides solving/constructing crosswords, what else do you do for fun? What would people find one thing that's most surprising about you?

I am blessed with a wonderful wife, Tracie, sons Mike and Alex and daughter Courtney. When I’m not with my family, and not constructing, I love playing competitive golf with my buddies, usually for money. I’m getting a bit older and don’t sink the pressure putts like I used to. Watching the Masters this year was awesome – I’m a big Tiger Woods fan (who inspired a cute puzzle I’m currently working on).

Actually, the thing most people find surprising about me is my prolific puzzle-making. For some reason most people I interact with, including the well-educated ones, aren’t into crosswords. I guess I must keep my intellectual side, born from childhood, under wraps pretty well.

Thanks for inviting me into your domain, CC. It was fun to be asked such insightful questions about my hobby/obsession!

Added later by C.C.:

1) Dan passed away on Dec 28, 2009. He was 53 years old. I felt comforted that his last birthday (Oct 16) was celebrated on our blog and he knew how much he was loved and admired in our community. For those who can't access Dan's Facebook, here are a few of his favorite things:

Favorite music: Yo Yo Ma; Classical; Musical Theatre (West Side Story)

Favorite TV shows: Wild Wild West

Favorite movies: Wizard of Oz; Shawshank Redemption.

Favorite Quotations: Never, Never, Never Give up (Winston Churchill); Always Do the Right Thing (Dan Naddor).

2) Dan Naddor obit in LA Times.

3) His friends called him "Mr. Duck", and he nicknamed himself "Dr. Squish" for "his propensity to crowd theme-related clues into his puzzles".

4) Dan Naddor Wordplay Tribute (March 25, 2010)

5) Here is a summary of all of Dan's LAT puzzles (April 17, 2011)

Wednesday April 15, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Tough Ending

17A: Loaf pan filler: BREAD DOUGH

29A: Mistletoe branch that was Aeneas' pass to the underworld: GOLDEN BOUGH

39A: Something to lead a horse to: WATER TROUGH

52A: "The Thorn Birds" author: McCULLOUGH

11D: "Cut it out": THAT'S ENOUGH

24D: Make a dramatic recovery: PULL THROUGH

I did not know GOLDEN BOUGH or the author of "The Thorn Birds" Colleen McCullough. I do know historian/author David McCullough though. Heard so many of his interviews when he promoted "1776".

This is an incredible puzzle. Four 11-letter entries, Two 10-letter entries. All with different pronunciation. Last time Kazie and someone else (Doreen?) discussed *OUGH ending words in detail on the blog. I don't think they covered McCullough though. Dan Naddor ploughed through the whole field and left no stone unturned. Amazing. Lots of clever fills too.

I cottoned to the theme very earlier on and was able to fill in lots of blanks. Had trouble with lower left corner though. I was so sure that the answer for 48A (WWII torpedo vessel) is U-BOAT. Have never heard of E-BOAT before. With letter U in place, my 44D (Pop or bop) became MUSIC rather than GENRE. Then I wanted ABUZZ instead of ABOIL for 45D: "Full of excitement".

By the way, crossword constructor Justin Smith is running a Metacross Contest starting tomorrow. See here for details.

Across:

1A: St. with a panhandle: OKLA. Wow, 9 states with panhandle. I thought only 3. Whenever I see the abbreviation St, I think of "saint" first.

5A: Polio vaccine developer: SABIN. He developed oral vaccine. Salk's is injection.

16A: "Now I get it": AH SO. Often clued as "Charlie Chan's comment". The complete Japanese interjection is "AH SO desu ka" (That is so). "AH SO desu ka?" means "Is that so"?

19A: Mane man of film?: LAHR (Bert). The Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz". Great clue.

20A: Fruity rum drink: COLADA. Ah, must be a gimme for Clear Ayes. She loves piña COLADA.

22A: Give authority to: EMPOWER

25A: Gets in the crosshairs: AIMS AT

26A: English subjects?: NOUNS. The ? mark makes this clue very interesting. Without ?, the clue is legit too.

27A: One may be proffered at a wedding: HANKIE. I have this 1991 Twins Championship Homer Hanky. I also have the original 1987 Twins World Series one.

32A: Eavesdropping org.: NSA (National Security Agency). "The Puzzle Palace". What is the nickname for CIA? I wonder if the author of "Enemy of the State" worked in NSA before. Great movie.

35A: First name in jazz: ELLA (Fitzgerald). I wrote ETTA. She is a jazz singer too. Very interesting: ETTA James said her mother told her that her father was "Minnesota Fats." How could that be?

38A: It's 0 at the equator: Abbr.: LAT (Latitude). Ecuador got its name from its equator location.

41A: Rained hard?: HAILED. Another great clue. I wanted POURED.

44A: Used Scope, say: GARGLE. I like Listerine.

46A: Dogs: POOCHES

48A: WWII torpedo vessel: E-BOAT. My disaster area. Wikipedia says it's commonly held that the E stood for "Enemy", but it is likely that it in fact stood for "Eilboot" ("fast boat"). Looks too big to be a torpedo vessel.

49A: Poe's "The Murders in the Rue ___": MORGUE. The first detective story ever. Unknown to me. All I know about Poe is "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee".

51A: We, to Henri: NOUS. Also "Us, to Henri".

56A: Fixes, in a way: RIGS

57A: Two-dimensional surface: PLANE

59A: Pre-coll, catchall: ELHI. El(mentary) + Hi(ghschool). Last time several ex-teachers said they had never heard of ELHI.

Down:

1D: Heavenly body: ORB. I thought of GOD. What's the first thing that popped into your mind? Victoria's Secret Angels?

2D: It can precede plop or plunk: KER. I like last time's "Plunk starter?" clue.

4D: Amazon predator: ANACONDA. Oh my goodness, so huge. I've never heard of it before. Wikipedia says it's mostly found in water, such as Nile or Amazon. I thought all snakes live on land. (Note: Here is the Sea Eagle Vs. Banded Snake clip PromiseMe provided).

5D: Move furtively: SIDLE

6D: Like Niagara Falls: AROAR

7D: Data transmission rate: BAUD. I forgot. It's named after Émile Baudot the French inventor.

8D: Swenson of "Benson": INGA. Swedish for "Hero's daughter". I tend to confuse her with Gloria Swanson.

9D: Disease research org.: NIH (National Institutes of Health)

10D: A hero might hold it: SALAMI. Hero sandwich. My favorite clue. Of course, I was picturing a war hero holding a flag.

12D: Dublin-born actor Milo: O'SHEA. Now I see why Rich Norris clued O'SHEA as "__ Jackson: rapper Ice Cube's birth name" yesterday. No repetitive clues on consecutive days.

13D: Razzie Award word: WORST. I like this clue too. I had never connected Raspberry Award with "blow a rasberry" until last time when BOOER was clued as "Raspberry blower" in our puzzle.

18D: Use a divining rod: DOWSE

21D: One of about 19 million Indians: SIKH. Hindu for "disciple" or "learner". Wikipedia says they wear turban, both man and women. Hello, can you hear me now?

22D: Georgia of "Coach": ENGEL. No idea. Is she very famous? Wikepida says she is in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" also.

23D: Dinero: MOOLA. Both slang for money. I used to mix up MOOLA with those Muslim Mullah.

27D: Rinsed, as a driveway: HOSED

28D: Violin virtuoso Leopold: AUER. Impossible vowel-heavy name. I bet I will forget it next time. I like the alliterative "Violin virtuoso".

30D: Author Zora __ Hurston: NEALE. The author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God". Saw this clue somewhere before.

31D: Diminish: BATE. My was FADE.

37D: Expel: FORCE OUT

33D: Smooth transition: SEGUE

39D: Droop: WILT

40D: "High Sierra" director Walsh: RAOUL. No idea. What's wrong with his right eye?

42D: Two-time U.S. Open champ Andre: AGASSI

46D: Cut back, as a branch: PRUNE

47D: Gave the eye: OGLED. "Give someone the eye" is a new phrase to me.

49D: Mid-12th century date: MCLI. 1151.

50D: One __: kids' ball game: O' CAT. See here for more information. I've never heard of One/Two/Three/Four O' Cat ball game. Why Cat instead of Dog?

52D: AWOL chasers: MPS (Military Polices)

53D: troupe for troops: Abbr.: USO. Learned this morning that USO was already established in WWII.

54D: Prizm maker of yore: GEO (1988-1997). The answer revealed itself.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Tuesday April 14, 2009 Billie Truitt

Theme: They R Different

17A: 11:00a.m. restaurant patrons?: BRUNCH BUNCH

29A: Fraternity nerd?: GREEK GEEK

39A: Advice from the auto club?: TRIP TIP

48A: Whimsical Barbie?: DROLL DOLL

63A: Quite small-minded?: PRETTY PETTY

The first three pairs rhyme. The last two don't. Adding one letter R is like adding a stroke to a Chinese character, the meaning and the pronunciation of the word can change dramatically. The same with letter L: FLAIR, FAIR; FLOUR, FOUR; GLUT, GUT, etc.

I like seeing REAR (23A: Caboose's place) & END (36A: Caboose's place) with the same clue. The same with EVEN (37A: Deadlocked) and TIED (52A: Deadlocked). Nice pair.

My favorite clue today is TAR (66A: Seasoned salt?). Of all the slang for sailor, gob is the strangest. But I learned yesterday that gob is actually short for gobshite, old English for wad of spit chewing tobacco or tobacco juice. I don't know, maybe sailors like chewing tobacco?

The STUD clue (58D: It may be ear-piercing) is cute too. I used to think all STUD earrings are penetrative, then Argyle found some clip-on STUD earrings on internet. So "may be" here is quite accurate.

Oh I got several questions regarding Dan Feyer's best time. Dan said his paper record is 1:56 for Monday March 9, 2009 NYT puzzle. And his online record (Across Lite) is 1:17 for an old NYT. Do you think he will break 1 minute threshold?

Across:

1A: E-junk: SPAM. Wikipedia says Rolex and Viagra-type drugs are two common products advertised in SPAM e-mail.

5A: Honshu port: OSAKA. Literally "large hill" or "large slope". Its Japanese Kanji and Chinese characters are the same, both are 大阪市. I did not know it's so close to Kyoto.

10A: No.-crunching pro: CPA

13A: Shakespearean betrayer: IAGO. The villain in "Othello".

14A: Fancy calligraphy strokes: SERIFS. I would not call SERIFS fancy. These calligraphy strokes are fancy. Does Chinese word "love" look complicated to you?

20A: Ocean color: SEA GREEN

21A: Em and Bee: AUNTS. Another famous one is Aunt Jemima.

34A: Ace the exam: NAIL IT

38A: Banned bug killer: DDT. Banned in the US in 1972. I think we still used it on apple orchard in 1980's.

45A: Big oaf: APE. This reminds me of my babu (baboo) and baboon confusion. I always thought Seinfeld calls the Indian immigrant Baboon.

46A: Crocodile hunter of film: DUNDEE. Learned this film from doing Xword.

58A: Answer: SOLUTION

62A: "__ said it": YOU. I wanted I'VE.

67A: Patriot Adams: SAMUEL. Why emphasizes "Patriot" here?

68A: Organ knob: STOP

Down:

3D: Juanita's water: AGUA. Shui, in Chinese. Like Feng Shui. Feng is literally "wind".

4D: Mutt: MONGREL

5D: __Jackson: rapper Ice Cube's birth name: O'SHEA. No idea. Only know him as Ice Cube. O'SHEA is often clued as "Actor Milo". Ice-T's original name is Tracy Marrow, which appeared in our TMS Daily before.

6D: Jean of "Saint Joan": SEBERG. Unknown to me also. Wikipedia says Jean SEBERG had an affair with Clint Eastwood while shooting "Paint Your Wagon".

7D: Make __ for it: A RUN

9D: Org. with Patriots and Jets: AFC. The answer emerged after I filled in the across. I don't know which teams are AFC, which are NFC. Most of the time I just fill in NFL.

11D: Animal hide: PELT

15D: Predatory lender: SHARK. Hmm, no California hockey reference here. Too bad, JD, maybe Rich Norries does not like San Jose Sharks.

18D: Plastic, so to speak: CREDIT. Good clue.

24D: Out of shape?: BENT. I like this clue too.

26D: Like most movie rentals: ON DVD

28D: Explosive stuff, briefly: NITRO (Nitroglycerin). Always thought NITRO is a complete word itself.

32D: Went sniggling: EELED. Koreans men eat eels for "stamina". Vietnamese men drink snake blood for "stamina". Weird, isnt it? Snakes and eels actually look quite similiar.

33D: Patched pants parts: KNEES. I like the alliteration in the clue.

35D: Livelihood: TRADE

40D: Product with earbuds: iPOD. Use mine mainly for NPR podcast.

41D: Upper body strengthener: PUSH-UP

44D: Crunchy sandwiches: BLTS. Have never had a BLT in my life. Can't get used to the mayonnaise taste.

49D: Speaks like Daffy: LISPS

60D: Plains native: OTOE. The "Plains" here refers to "The Great Plains", right?

61D: Big Apple enforcement org.: NYPD. Reminds me of "NYPD Blue" and crossword stalwart ESAI Morales.

64D: It's used for battering: RAM. The long pole in the middle? Vaguely remember someone explained battering RAM to me before.

65D: Flightless bird: EMU. Dennis just mentioned at the Comments section that EMU can't walk backward. Nor can kangaroo. Both are in Australia's coat of arms. They signify Australia's "Forward with Pride" spirit.

Answer grid.

C.C.

LA Times Puzzle Poll Result

Poll question: How do you like LA Times puzzle so far?

Total votes: 704

Much better than TMS Daily: 103 (14%)

No different than TMS Daily: 16 (2%)

I miss my old TMS Daily: 520 (73%)

Need more time to think: 65 (9%)

Thanks for the participation.

C.C.

Monday April 13, 2009 Fred Jackson III

Theme: Gas Gauge

20A: Conceited: FULL OF ONESELF

38A: Plan not completely thought after: HALF-BAKED IDEA

57A: Much campaign rhetoric: EMPTY PROMISES

Ah, a puzzle from our own Fred Jackson III. What a pleasant Monday morning surprise! Congratulations, Fred.

This puzzle seems to be tailor-made for solvers at my level. No obscure dead actor/actress or old TV series name. Three lively theme answers. I really like 15*15 grids with 3 or 4 theme entries. My cup of tea. 5 makes the grid look busy. And weird abbreviations or obscure ESSY Persson style name tend to creep up when there are 6 or 7. Maybe advanced solvers adore them, I don't.

A bit of a French sub-theme:

19A: Parisian river: SEINE

30A: French love: AMOUR

69A: Canonized Mlles: STES

53D: Gallic girlfriends: AMIE

All of them are clued straightforwardly. No trickly "Parisian flower?" for SEINE misguide.

Across:

1A: Put below, as cargo: STOW. Why "below"? I don't grok it.

5A: Potentially painful precipitation: HAIL. Some flowers are surprisingly strong. ROSES (55D: Thorny flowers) are easily damaged by hailstorms.

9A: Treasure map measures: PACES. How come? I got the answer from down fills. I've never seen a treasure map. I suppose it has its own scale term?

15A: __ Domini: ANNO. AD. Nominative singular is ANNUS, and plural is ANNI (anniversary). This is confusing. Is ANNO in ANNO Domini dative singular or ablative singular?

18A: Composer Stravinsky: IGOR. Sometimes it's clued as "Operative prince". And IAGO (60D: "Othello" fellow). I used to confuse those two, both contains GO. And two ao in Golfer Isao Aoki's name.

23A: Brit. record label: EMI (Electric & Musical Industries Ltd.). Just found out this morning that the "Big Four" record companies are EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music.

24A: Former Egypt-Syria alliance: Abbr.: UAR (United Arab Republic, 1958-1961). Egypt continued to be called UAR until 1971. So Nasser was the president of UAR until his death in 1970. Don't confuse UAR with UAE (United Arab Emirates). Still remember the UAE Dubai port scandal?

25A: Beers and ales: QUAFFS. I thought ale is a kind of beer.

33A: Last: Abbr.: ULT

37A: Scott who sued for his freedom: DRED. And he lost. I finally remember his name this time.

42A: Suffix with hard or soft: WARE. My first thought is BALL.

43A: Seashell seller, in a tongue twister: SHE. I am not good at tongue twister, English or Chinese. Are you?

44A: Retirement org.: SSA. And "Seniors' org" is AARP. Many AARP members are not retired.

45A: "Slippery" tree: ELM. Easy guess. Why is it called "Slippery ELM"?

46A: Archaeological fragment: SHARD. I think the broken piece of my bobblehead is called SHARD too.

48A: Like some poetry: LYRIC. Some are EPIC.

52A: Prefix with sphere: STRATO. ATMO is also "prefix with sphere".

56A: "Foucault's Pendulum" author Umberto: ECO. Here is the bookcover. Wikipedia says the book has been described as a "thinking person's Da Vinci Code". I can't remember who, but one of our fellow solvers has read his "The Name of the Rose".

61A: Count with a keyboard: BASIE. Stumper for me. I can't figure out how one can count with a keyboard. Have never heard of Count BASIE. Is this nickname Count inspired by Duke Ellington?

63A: Warts and all: AS IS

65A: Group of eight: OCTET. Sometimes the answer is OCTAD.

66A: Stroll in the shallows: WADE. I kept reading the clue as "Stroll in the shadows".

67A: Head over heels in love: GAGA. I like this clue.

68A: Out of fashion: PASSE. Does Britney look sexy to you in this low-rise jeans?

Down:

1D: Fixed charge: SET FEE

2D: Psychological injury: TRAUMA. Like what we suffered during Chinese Cultural Revolution.

3D: Like many old-fashioned lamps: OIL-LIT. Aladdin's genie lamp is OIL-LIT.

4D: Wishing place: WELL. Odin traded his right eye for wisdom from the WELL of Mimir.

5D: Israeli port city: HAIFA. Here is the map. Third largest city in Israel, after Jerusalem & Tel Aviv.

9D: Charlatan: POSEUR

10D: Journalist __ Rogers St. Johns: ADELA. Learned her name from doing crossword. I don't understand how anyone can be surnamed St. Johns. Also at a loss over Edna St. Vincent Millay's name. How can they call themselves St? By the way, Fred Astaire's sister is ADELE, very close to ADELA.

11D: Hairdo: COIFFURE. Used to have difficulty rememering this word. Then I realized coif is the root, and ure is just a noun suffix, as in pressure.

21D: Words before sight and mind: OUT OF

26D: Dog collar target: FLEA. No idea. Why? I am not a dog/cat person. I thought the dog collar is used to control and restrain dogs.

27D: Benchmark: Abbr.: STD

29D: Dot on an ocean map: ISLE. "Dot in la mer" will be ILE.

35D: Air rifle ammo: BB SHOT. Will BB gun kill a squirrel?

38D: "Stop right there!": HALT. "Stop right here!" would be WHOA, right?

41D: Faith of more than 1 billion: ISLAM. Oh, that's a lot. Here is more information. There are about 2.1 billion people of Christian faith. That's about 1/3 of the world population. ISLAM literally means "submission" (to God).

42D: Craven of Horror: WES. The director of "A Nightmare on Elm Street".

46D: Tampa neighbor, briefly: ST. PETE. Wikipedia says it's nicknamed "The Sunshine City" because it has some 360 days of sunshine every year. Is it true? I find it hard to believe.

47D: Pooh-pooh: DERIDE

49D: Shoot again: RESNAP

51D: Marquee name, often: CO-STAR. Spencer Tracy received top billings in all the movies he co-starred with Katharine Hepburn.

58D: Swerves at sea: YAWS. "Swerves in the air" too. Someone please give me a lesson today. I can never remember the differences among roll, pitch and YAW. I do know Dennis's thrust though.

59D: Juniors' H.S. exam: PSAT (Preliminary SAT). Oh, I don't know it's for juniors only. How about LSAT? Are juniors allowed to take it also?

61D: '40 jazz: BOP. Did not know BOP was developed in the '40. I thought it existed in '20 already.

62D: Here, in Spain: ACA. Mine was ICA. Don't speak Spanish. I thought if French is ICI, why not ICA for Spanish?

Answer grid.

C.C.

Sunday April 12, 2009 Jack McInturff

Theme: On the Fly

21A: Genesis no-no: FORBIDDEN FRUIT (Fruit Fly)

43A: Flower named for a legendary best: SNAP DRAGON (Dragonfly)

51A: Fruity spread: APPLE BUTTER (Butterfly)

69A: Unstable, metaphorically: BUILT ON SAND (Sandfly)

79A: Stylish but simple dress color: BASIC BLACK (Black Fly)

101A: 1964 Burt Lancaster thriller: SEVEN DAYS IN MAY (Mayfly)

30D: Take some heat: COME UNDER FIRE (Firefly)

34D: Put away platefuls: ATE LIKE A HORSE (Horsefly)

Ah, I believe I can fly. This puzzle is so doable. Must be an eased-up one.

All of them are insects, aren't they? Sandfly, black fly and mayfly are all new to me. I wonder why Noah Webster did not change fruit fly and black fly into one word during his spelling reform.

I like the golf referrences on this Masters Sunday:

20A: Golfing countryman of Seve: SERGIO. Dubbed as "The Best Golfer Never to Win a Major". This should be gimme to those who read my blog regularly. I like SERGIO Garcia a lot. He plays with passion. Close friend of Rafael Nadal (Tiger's buddy is of course Roger Federer). Seve Ballesteros is fighting brain tumor now. What a genius around the green!

43A: Putting concession: GIMME. You should never concede to those who yip.

59D: __ game: golf competition: SKINS. For some reason, Fred Couples dominates the SKINS Game. Only 4 players are invited to this match-play style competition. Each hole has a different value.

I got IGN (14D: Starter: Abbr.) because Argyle blogged it last time. Wayne Williams once clued it as "Elec. switch". Most of the other clues are quite straightforward. Several clue/Answer repetitions in today's grid. A WHILE is the answer for 85D: "For a little bit". Then it's part of clue for TOMES (110A: They took a while to read). I've never read a TOME, unless you count my dictionary as one.

"Madama Butterfly" accessory would be a great clue for OBI (27A) on any other day, but as BUTTER (fly) is part of the theme answer for 51A, I think a simple "Kimono closer" works better. The button-like fixture on man's kimono is called netsuke. Remember these highly collectible erotic netsukes I linked last time? The small case attached to kimono is called INRO.

Across:

5A: "For Whom the Bell Tolls" actor Tamiroff: AKIM. Stranger to me. Wikipedia says he is the first Golden Globe Award-winning actor for Best Supporting Actor (1944). Emil Jannings is the first Oscar winner for Best Actor (1927).

9A: Early bird?: EGG. Of course! I should eat a worm, as I did not get it until the very end.

12A: Ben Franklin's belief: DEISM. How is it different from theism? And why single out Ben Franklin? Somehow I thought he advocated self-discipline.

17A: "A Chapter on Ears" essayist: ELIA. Easy guess. I've never heard of this essay. Since TIN EAR (66A: Musical liability) is an answer in the grid, I wish the clue were just a simple "Charles Lamb's pen name".

19A: Lot, often: ACRE

24A: Stat: PRONTO. Stat here is doctor's "Immediately". From Latin statim. I was thinking of baseball stat.

25A: "My Fair Lady" girl: ELIZA. ELIZA Doolittle. And Professor "Enry Higgins.

26A: Bars bought dry: SOAPS. Not the bars I was picturing. Good clue.

31A: Former French coin: ECU. I put SOU first.

32A: Exercise done on a bench?: ETUDE. Why? Do pianists call their chair "bench"?

33A: Luggage checker: SKYCAP. A portmanteau of Sky and Redcap.

38A: Maine campus town: ORONO. We have a city named ORONO here in MN too.

40A: From __: slight progress: A TO B. Is it a slang? I am not familiar with this phrase.

45A: Bridge expert Culbertson: ELY. No idea. According to Wikipedia, this guy was the most significant American Contract Bridge personality and was widely regarded as "the man who made contract bridge". What is contract bridge?

49A: Skirt feature: SLIT. Too much?

50A: Dallas school: SMU. The new Bush Libary will be here. It's Laura Bush's alma mater.

55A: A-list: ELITE

56A: Two-time Golden Lion winner: ANG LEE. He won for "Brokeback Mountain" (2005) & "Lust, Caution" (2007). Golden Lion is Venice Film Festival's best film award, just like Palme d'Or in Cannes. I would not have got the answer without down fills. ANG/AN means "Peace" in Chinese. My favorite ANG LEE movie is "Eat Drink Man Woman".

58A: Scrub the launch: ABORT

59A: Quenches: SLAKES

60A: Hinder: DETER

61A: Old Greek assembly area: AGORA. I am used to the marketplace clue, you know, Socrate's shopping mall. Had no idea it can refer to a political assembly area.

62A: Perform using blades: SKATE

65A: Trial answers: PLEAS. Consist of "Guilty", "Not guilty" and "No contest", correct?

72A: Carpooler's __ Lane: HOV (High-Occupancy Vehicle)

74A: Flabby: SOFT. Made me think of Greenspan and his "We've hit a soft patch".

75A: Mediation agcy: NLRB (National Labor Relations Board). New agency to me.

77A: Studio stance: POSE. Say "Qiezi" (eggplant)! Chinese way to elicit a smile. Like our "Cheese".

78A: ABC dramedy "__ Stone": ELI. Have never heard of this TV series. Dramedy (Drama & Comedy) is a new word to me.

83A: Long eared bounders: HARES. What's the difference between HARES and Rabbits? Latin for hare is lepus.

84A: Old Italian bread: LIRA. Or LIRE. Bread here is slang for money.

86A: Enzyme suffix: ASE. Our old editor liked to clue ASE as "Peer Gynt's mother".

88A: Assembles: SETS UP

89A: Last to come out: NEWEST

91A: Flip call: HEADS

92A: "... the grace of God __": GO I. No idea. Is it a very famous Bible quote?

93A: Superfund enforcer: Abbr.: EPA. I did not know that superfund is the US environmental policy. But since SUPER is the answer for 43D: "Very, in slang", I am not fond of this clue. So many ways to clue EPA. The old "Air quality org." works just fine.

94A: Word heard before hiking?: HUT. Big stumper for me. I don't understand football at all. I might have heard of the "hut, hut, hut" noise though.

95A: "__ porridge hot ...": PEASE. Nursery rhymes stumps me often too. Peas/PEASE porridge does not sound appealing to me.

96A: Steinbeck family: JOADS. From "The Grapes of Wrath''. I learned it from doing Xword. I finally watched "East of Eden" the other day. Now I will remember James Dean's Cal (Caleb).

98A: Horror dubbed "Mistress of the Dark": ELVIRA. No idea. She looks very calculating. Wikipedia says ELVIRA is Arabic for "white".

106A: Gob: SAILOR. Did not know "gob" is a slang for SAILOR. Salt and tar, yes.

107A: Seine sights: ILES

111A: Old map letters: SSR. On pre-1991 maps.

112A: Old Sinclair rival: ESSO

Down:

1D: Exec often seen in his PJs: HEF. Hugh Hefner, publisher of Playboy magazine. Thought of Chris in LA's Playboy GROTTO visit.

2D: Band with the 1977 album "Out of the Blue": ELO. Here is the album cover. I guessed.

4D: Broccoli __: RABE. Very popular veggie in southern China. Also called rapini. It needs to be blanched because of the bitter taste. Cantonese like to stir-fry Broccoli RABE with a little garlic (no red pepper flake), then serve it as a side dish to seafood. See also STALK (62D: Broccoli part), though I call it as stem. STALK is for celery.

5D: Nut: ADDICT

6D: Invasive Asian vine: KUDZU. Japanese origin.

7D: It can be half-baked: IDEA. I like this clue.

9D: Home of the volcano Chimborazo: ECUADOR. Chimborazo (inactive) is ECUADOR's highest summit, according to Wikipedia. Cotopaxi (active) is the second highest summit.

11D: Laughs at: GETS. One of the reasons I don't watch TV series is because it's difficult for me to get the jokes.

12D: Rounded felt hat: DERBY. Also known as bowler hat.

13D: Symphony that includes a funeral march: EROICA. Beethoven's Symphony No. 3. Originally dedicated to Napoleon. EROICA is Italian for "heroic".

15D: Watch the kids: SIT

20D: Pacific Northwest metropolis: SPOKANE. Mine was SEATTLE. Wikipedia says SPOKANE means "Children of the Sun" in Salish, whatever it is. And Gonzaga University is located here.

22D: Graff of "Mr. Belvedere": ILENE. No idea. It's 80's TV show. She is wearing purple, Mr. Belvedre is the one with the moustache.

23D: SLR setting: F-STOP

33D: Smith, at times: SHOER. SHOER is a person who shoes horses or other animals.

37D: Places to see smileys, briefly: IMS (Instant Messages)

38D: Scott Turow memoir: ONE L. It's about his first year in Harvard. Very intense reading.

39D: Lace end: AGLET

41D: Memory units: BYTES

44D: Media workers' org: AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). Union representing professional actors, dancers, singers, and broadcasters. Another new org. for me.

47D: Celerity: SPEED. I kept reading the clue as "Celebrity".

49D: Roofing material: SLATE. Also the name of the online Ezine SLATE.com.

52D: Bread that's boiled before it's baked: BAGEL. BAGEL & lox, sandwich in heaven.

53D: Lusitania sinker: U- BOAT

54D: Trunk: TORSO

55D: Savanna grazer: ELAND. The spiral-horned antelope.

57D: "The Maids" playwright": GENET (Jean). Have never heard of "The Maids". It's about two housemaids who construct elaborate sadomasochistic rituals when their mistress is away., according to Wikipedia. Sounds awful. Not familiar with the author either. Looks like a hard man.

61D: Defendant's need: ALIBI. Hmm, perp's need. Our jargon "perp" simply means perpendicular.

63D: Lemon of the '50s: EDSEL. Collectible item now, correct?

64D Concertmaster's instrument: VIOLIN

65D: Race prize: PURSE. I wanted medal.

67D: Rebelled: ROSE UP. The answer feels like a clue, the clue feels like an answer.

69D: Big blowout: BLAST

70D: Creeps up on: NEARS

73D: "Roman Holiday" scooter: VESPA. Loved the movie. Can't remember the name of the scooter. It's manufactured by the Piaggio, which has operations in 50 countries, including China.

75D: LeBron James, e.g.: NBA STAR

80D: Chop chopper: CLEAVER

81D: Reasons for recusal: BIASES

83D: Fictional Swiss miss: HEIDI. Shirley Temple is so lovely as HEIDI. This real German Heidi (Klum) is lovely too.

88D: In order that one might: SO AS TO

90D: Cypriot currency since 2008: EUROS. Easy guess. I was unaware that Cyprus adopted EURO on Jan 1, 2008. It joined EU in 2004. Now Turkey wants to join EU too.

91D: Cads: HEELS

92D: "The Nude Maja" and "The Clothed Maja": GOYAS. Gimme to you, correct? I've linked both "The Nude Maja" and "The Clothed Maja" several times before. Both are housed in Museo del Prado.

95D: Omega preceders: PSIS

96D: Penny holders: JARS. Also holders for pickles.

98D: Ballpark fig.: EST (Estimate). ERA, RBI are Ballpark fig. too.

99D: Mekong River native: LAO. See this map. Their language is called LAO as well. See the China part? We call it Lancang River.

100D: Pep: VIM. Reminded me of JFK's special way of pronouncing "vigor".

102D: Capital of Denmark?: DEE. First letter of Denmark, which is capitalized. Good clue.

103D: "Cool" amount: MIL. Who says this? Those millionair rappers?

105D: Archery wood: YEW. I wonder how they get rid of the poisonous element when making archery bows.

Answer Grid.

C.C.

Saturday April 11, 2009 Bruce Venzke and Stella Daily

Theme: None

Total blocks: 32

Total words: 70

Another relentless uphill battle. These LAT late week puzzles are so hard for me. Saturday is the worst. I definitely need a theme as my sherpa. The eight 15-letter words are very intimidating, esp the stacks at the top and the bottom of the grid. The below long answers might be the reason why we have a noticeable amount of abbreviations in the grid:

1A: Jealous reaction to a witty remark: I WISH I'D SAID THAT

16A: Broad-based statistical standard: NATIONAL AVERAGE

17A: "The Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches" and others: CAUTIONARY TALES

24A: Sousa subject: STARS AND STRIPES

44A: Headed for home: ROUNDED THE BASES

59A: Tried to escape: MADE A BREAK FOR IT

62A: FDR's Fala, e.g.: ABERDEEN TERRIER

63A: Didn't just dive in: TESTED THE WATERS

I know FDR's dog is called Fala, had no idea what breed it is. Also, I don't know Scottish Terrier is also known as Aberdeen Terrier. Have never heard of "The Dreadful Story of Pauline and the Matches". But I got *TALES filled in, so I decided that Canterbury TALES sounds good. And it fit pretty well.

I am feeling just so slow this morning. It took me a long time to understand why SIXTH (29D) is clued as "Like Friday or June". D'oh! Friday is the SIXTH day and June is the SIXTH month. Was also stumped by the rationale of the SET clue (42D: Seinfeld's apartment, say). Only realized a few minutes ago that his apartment is the SET of the whole show. I love "The Nazi Soup" episode.

I still can't believe the answer for 52A: "120/70, 130/80 etc: Abbr." is a simple BPS (Blood Pressures). I thought it would be like HDL/LDL, you know, something sophisticated and unrecognizable to common people. One small quibble: ETC is the answer for 21A: "More of the same, briefly" and then part of the clue for 52A.

Across:

18A: Shoppers' savings?: Abbr.: RCPTS (Receipts)

19A: Roadie's burden: AMP. Blanked on this one. I am used to the "Current/Electric unit" clue.

20A: Unique folks: ONERS. The first Across word I filled in today. I often confuse humdinger with harbinger.

23A: Ger. neighbor: AUS. My answer is always AUS whenever I see a "Ger. neighbor" clue.

34A: Namely: TO WIT

35A: Meter site: TAXI. I was thinking of the parking meter.

36A: Overseas okay: OUI. I like yesterday's "Nice way to beg off?" for NON.

37A: Sheepdog in "Babe": REX. Saw the movie. Can't remember the dog name. Oh, look, there is an ESME, another way to clue the "Salinger girl".

38A: Cleo portrayer of 1963: LIZ. She fell in love with Richard Burton while making "Cleopatra".

39A: Its parts may be eaten separately: OREO. Well, I never eat them separately, nor do I dunk them.

41A: Flavors, in a way: SALTS. Verb. I like this clue.

43A: Starlet's goal: ROLE. I wanted LEAD. Thought starlet wants a leading ROLE.

47A: 1946-'75 nuclear agcy: AEC. This has become a gimme. NRC replaced AEC in 1975.

48A: Marker's end: TIP. Was this a gimme to you? Pen did not come to my mind when I saw "Marker".

49A: Ones wanted by the mil.: AWOLS. Good clue.

55A: Dr. visits: APPTS

Down:

1D: Rise: Abbr.: INCR (Increase). Another unfamiliar abbreviation.

2D: WWII female: WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps). I can never remember this name. Our fellow solver Southern Belle is a WAAC member. Oh, no, she is WAC. How is different from WAAC?

3D: Words after live or give: IT UP

4D: Jobs for teens: SITTERS. I thought of WAITERS. It has the same number of letters.

5D: Derricks and cranes: HOISTS. I only know HOISTS as a verb. Did not know it's a noun too.

6D: Theban queen of myth: INO. Pronounced like "I know". Clued as "Daughter of Cadmus" in our puzzle last time. She rescued Odyssus from drowing by giving him a veil. I was thinking of Dido, but she is actually "Queen of Carthage". Do you know that Elissa is another name for Dido?

8D: Poetry-reading competition: SLAM. Have never heard of Poetry SLAM. Do you call this a poem?

9D: Group that grows as boomers grow: AARP. I like this clue too.

10D: Brown, but not white?: IVY. Stumped. Very clever clue. The "but not white" part is very tricky and misleading. Brown is an IVY League school. I pictured sauce and then bread. I might have thought the university if the clue were simply "Brown, for one". Hmm, I take it back. This clue might lead me to Michael Brown and the "heck of a job" he did.

11D: Roundabout route: DETOUR

12D: What mailed packages are in?: TRANSIT. Tricky. ENVELOP is the only word that popped into my brain.

14D: Golden __: AGER

15D: Polanski film based on a Hardy novel: TESS. TESS is the only Hardy novel I've read. I had no idea that Polanski made it into a movie.

22D: Bucky of "Get Fuzzy" for one: CAT. Absolutely no idea. I've never heard of this comic strip.

23D: Verizon rival, initially: ATT. AT&T stock ticker is just a T.

24D: Hound's find: SPOOR

25D: Abril-mayo zodiac sign: TAURO. Spanish for Taurus (Apri 20-May 20). I am not into horoscope, so I had no idea which one is for which month. And I don't speak Spanish. Therefore, a complete loss here.

26D: "Farewell, François!": ADIEU. I would like some lively & topical clue for ADIEU rather than the alliteration. They've said ADIEU to each other.

27D: U.S. Canada defense acronym: NORAD. Crossword stalwart acronym.

28D: Lived: DWELT. "Lived" is often a clue for WAS.

30D: California's ___ Verdes Peninsula: PALOS. No idea. See this map. PALOS Verdes is literally "green sticks" in Spanish.

31D: Dictator's fate, perhaps: EXILE. Stupid Saddam should have chosen this route and settled down in Syria. The Iraq War would have been avoided.

32D: Label data: SIZES

40D: Vigilant: ON ALERT. So hard to get used to multiple word answers.

41D: Wall St. watchdog: SEC. The current chairperson is Mary Schapiro, the first woman to head SEC.

43D: Camaraderie: RAPPORT

45D: Marquis of note: DE SADE. Sadism is derived from his name.

46D: Former African secessionist state: BIAFRA. Have never heard of BIAFRA (southeast of Nigeria). It existed from May 1967 to Jan 1970. Wikipedia says "Doctors Without Borders" were created in the aftermath of BIAFRA secession. Oh well, at least something good came out of this conflict.

49D: Latin 101 word: AMAT. "He loves". Amo, amas, AMAT.

50D: "Did gyre and gimble in the__": "Jabberwocky": WABE. No idea. All the "Jabberwocky" stuff drive me bunkers. It simply makes no sense to me.

52D: Writer Harte: BRET. I confused him with "Poet Hart" (Crane). Both appeared in our puzzle before. Wikipedia says BRET Harte is an "American author and poet, best remembered for his accounts of pionnering life in California".

53D: Phnom __: PENH. Plus Pol Pot & Khmer Rouge, that' all I know about Cambodia. Their official language is Khmer. I don't know why Chinese translation for Phnom PENH is "Gold Border". Maybe there are lots of gold there?

56D: __ dieu: PRIE. The kneeling bench. I learned this from doing Xword.

57D: Large cake layer: TIER

58D: Narrow waterways: Abbr.: STRS (Straits). Again, not a familiar abbreviation to me.

60D: Where Goldilocks was discovered: BED. Anyone uses Sleep Number BED? Is it really that good?

61D: Royal Botanic Gardens locale: KEW. The KEW Garden was established in 1759. Have you been there? Their water lily pads look so strange.

Answer Grid.

C.C.

Friday April 10, 2009 Nora Pearlstone

Theme: The 5K

18A: Sightseeing at The Steppes?: STARK GAZING (Star Gazing)

24A: Dogs' communication systems?: BARK CODE (Bar Code)

39A: Creative executive compensation techniques?: PERK FORMING ARTS (Performing Arts)

51A: Price for the village green?: PARK VALUE (Par Value)

62A: Ones who never know what to use for their salad?: FORK DUMMIES (For Dummies)

Ah, finally an offering from our editor Rich Norris himself. Nora Pearlstone is his alias name, anagram of "Not a real person". Of this list, I like Gia Christian the most (anagram of "Again, it's Rich"). How about you?

It seems that every Friday we have a wordplay puzzle. On March 27, it's PRE prefix. Then last Friday we had an IR-RI-tating IR to RI transformation grid.

Hard struggle this morning. I think I can only handle Monday to Wednesday LA Times. Lots of wite-out. I wrote down RABIN for 3D: Co-Nobelist Arafat (YASIR) immediately. And I thought I was smart. Then I did not know "What's up?" (1A: SKY). What a simple yet tricky clue! Can you picture the V-8 prints on my forehead?

Besides SKY, I also love the clue for NON (30D: Nice way to beg off?). Nice refers to the French city. Can you think of a better way to clue QUA (14A: Sine __ non)? I know one is Latin, one is French, but I still don't like the repetition.

Across:

4A: It may be split at lunch: THE TAB. Nice to see THE as part of an answer.

10A: Big name in shoes: MCAN. Learned several months ago that the brand was named after some Scottish golfer named Thomas McCann. Rory McIlroy, the next Tiger Woods (or possibly just a Sergio Garcia as Lemonade said), shot 72 yesterday. I think he is a more exciting RORY clue than "Golfer Sabbatini".

15A: "L.A. Law" co-creator: BOCHCO (Steven). Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he is also the co-creator of "Hill Streets Blue" & "N.Y.P.D. Blue". His teeth look fake.

17A: Young __: UNS. Is this L'il Abner talk?

20A: Medical suffix: ITIS

23A: Stand at attention: SNAP TO

27A: Wall St. trader: ARB (Arbitrager). What exactly is a arbitrager? Is he part of the hedge fund mess?

28A: Final: Abbr.: ULT

29A: Close-at-hand: IN STORE

33A: Point of view: ANGLE. Slant has 5 letters too.

36A: Cádiz cat: GATO. No idea. It's CHAT in French. I don't speak Spanish. Cat in Chinese is MAO, same spelling but different tone than the Mao in Mao Ze-dong. Mandarin Chinese has 4 tones: flat, rising, falling then rising, and falling.

38A: '50 campaign monogram: AES. Ah, just mentioned yesterday that the E stands for Ewing. He did have an affair with Lauren Bacall, didn't he?

43A: Stowe girl: EVA. I forgot. Saw this clue before. The girl in "Uncle Tom's Cabin".

44A: Hurt: PAIN. And THROE (7D: Severe pang).

45A: Healthy-looking: RUDDY. Ruddy? I really think Rory McIlroy looks like Tony Blair.

46A: Cow country sights: RANCHES

49A: Crooner's asset: EAR

50A: Soft & __: deodorant: DRI. I wonder who will be the first constructor to clue DRI as "Female yak".

57A: Increasing: UPPING

60A: Certain presentee: DEB. Tough one for me. The surrounds provided me with no help.

61A: Old Mercury model: LYNX. No idea. How old? Our local WNBA team is called Minnesota LYNX.

65A: Cool air feature: NIP

66A: Swing era bandleader Cates: OPIE. Which one is he? The only OPIE I know is the "Mayberry boy".

67A: Egyptian god: AMEN RA. Or AMUN RA. See the upper left corner hieroglyph. I am used to seeing only the single AMEN/AMUN. Did anyone think of Osiris?

68A: Windy City "L" runner: CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). This *TA ofen stumps me.

69A: Steamy: SEXY. And GRASP (36D: Get). Is this S & S, G & G repetition on purpose? Does it make the fill peppy in your view?

70A: __ à trois: MENAGE. Reminded me of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". What popped into your mind?

71A: Angry, with "up": HET. Crossword word. I've never used this phrase in my daily conversation.

Down:

1D: Witticism: SQUIB. New definition of SQUIB to me. I wanted BON MOT, but it did not fit.

2D: "Roots" hero: KUNTA. I saw one episode when KUNTA Kinte said the grits/dummy. Can't remember the exact lines.

4D: "Very funny" station: TBS. "We know drama" is TNT.

5D: Family-style Asian dish: HOT POT. Very popular winter food in China. The funny thing is that people seldom make HOT POT at home. Too much work.

6D: American Greetings "mailing": E-CARD

8D: Disgusted cry: ACK. I often use Ugh.

9D: Soft spots: BOGS. Another tricky clue. The swampy BOGS are indeed soft.

10D: Haydn contemporary: MOZART. Pure guess. I don't know those two are contemporaries.

11D: Medical office accessory: CLIP BOARD. Did not come to me immediately.

12D: Isn't wrong?: AIN'T. I like this clue.

13D: Canceled: NO-GO

19D: Literary miscellanea: ANAS

21D: Move stealthily: SKULK

25D: Pitch indicator: CLEF. The musical staff. Not baseball.

26D: Nonviolent protest: SIT-IN. Tiananmen Square Incident started with peaceful mass SIT-IN.

31D: Like Gen. Schwarzkopf: RETD. Oh, I have a question: Can you un-retire a general? For example, can General Shinseki be reinstalled into his previous Chief of Staff of Army post, since he was forced to retire?

32D: Swedish actress Persson: ESSY. No idea. I tried, Google asked me "Did you mean Person Essay"? Only one line entry in Wikipedia. So I guess she is not that famous.

33D: Imitator: APER. Another crossword word.

34D: St. Petersburg's river: NEVA. It's clued as "River to the Gulf of Finland" last time. Wikipedia says it's the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge, after the Volga and Danube.

35D: Formula One race: GRAND PRIX

37D: Chartres chum: AMI. Another alliteration. See this tiny map. Chartres is to the southwest of Paris. Unknown to me.

40D: "I __ you liked your drink", sez Gunga Din": 'OPE. Was this a gimme to you? I've never heard of this Rudyard Kipling poem.

41D: Attractive force: Abbr.: GRAV. Gravity.

42D: Kind of comprehension: AURAL. No idea. The only "Kind of comprehension" I am familiar with is reading.

47D: "Holy cow": CRIKEY

48D: Rear: HIND

49D: "La Dolce Vita" actress: EKBERG (Anita). Sigh, I could only picture how she looks in the movie. Could not remember her name.

52D: Pitch specialists?: AD MEN. Great clue.

53D: Madrid monarch: REINA. Spanish for queen. REY is king.

54D: "Mulholland Drive" director: LYNCH (David). He often talks about Transcental Meditation and the incredible "bliss" the practice brings to him. I tried once, and I simply could not concentrate.

55D: Get together: UNITE

56D: Politcal outcast: EXPAT. Really? I am a Chinese EXPAT living in the US, but I am not a "Political outcast".

57D: Sci-fi hoverers: UFOS

58D: Castel Gandolfo resident: POPE. Had no idea that Castel Gandolfo is the summer residence of the POPE. Wikipedia says it's 30km south-east of Rome.

59D: Largest of the Marianas: GUAM. "Where America's Day Begins".

63D: Fr. title: MME. "Sp. title" equivalent is SRA. I penned in STE first.

64D: MS. enclosure: SAE (Self-addressed Envelope). Baseball players will not sign your cards if you don't enclose a SAE. Politicians don't care. I guess their postage is paid by the taxpayers.

Answer Grid.

C.C.