Friday April 24, 2009 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Short Paths

18A: Speed?: BURN UP THE RD (Road)

24A: Average Joe?: MAN ON THE ST (Street)

35A: Badly fluster?: DR (Drive) TO DISTRACTION

50A: Excessive charge?: HWY (Highway) ROBBERY

57A: Way out?: AVE (Avenue) OF ESCAPE

Maybe it's not structurally possible to position all the above street-type theme answers at the very end of the phrases. Or all in the beginning.

Dictionary says "man in the street" means "Average Joe", not "on the street". I found out that MAN ON THE STREET is a Bob Dylan song. Actually, several of the above theme entries are song titles.

I had huge trouble with this puzzle. I always do when I can't catch the theme earlier on. Lots of abbreviations in the grid. Robert H. Wolfe (the last one on the list) is another of Stan Newman's Newsday regular contributors. His bio says he is a veterinarian.

Across:

1A: Year in which Michelangelo began work on "David": MDI. I got M immediately from MAI (1D: Printemps month), which is French for May. Printemps is "spring". But I had trouble obtaining DI. The clue would have been a straightforward "Roman 1501" if it were a Monday/Tuesday puzzle.

4A: NCAA Mountain West Conf. team: UNLV. University of Neveda, Las Vegas. The Runnin' Rebels. Wikipedia says it's located in a Las Vegas suburb called Paradise. Here is a list of all Mountain West Conference members.

14A: Jordin Sparks duet: NO AIR. See this clip. Someone (Embien?) linked this song on the blog before. But I forgot all about it. Jordin Sparks is the winner of Season 6 of "American Idol".

16A: Place: STEAD. I was thinking of a verb.

17A: Doctrine: ISM

20A: Marching band wind: FIFE. Just learned that FIFE is rooted in German Pfeife, meaning " pipe". FIFE can be a verb also. Chinese dizi is a kind of flute too.

22A: Kept in the loop, for short: CCED. Trouble for me. I was not thinking of the email cc.

23A: Barbera d'__: Italian wine: ASTI. Easy guess, since ASTI is the wine region. I've never heard of this red wine.

26A: Center: CORE

27A: Exaggerate: OVERDO

28A: Sash insets: PANES. Oh window. I was picturing kimono obi. Obi is literally "sash" in Japanese.

29A: Jacket specification: LONG. Not large?

30A: Antique shop transaction: RESALE. Someone bought this first issue of Sports Illustrated at an antique shop for only $15. I've never had any luck there. How about you?

41A: Puts out: ISSUES. I did not know "Put out" can mean publish.

42A: "Getting to Know You" singer on Broadway: ANNA. From "The King and I". I've never heard of the song.

43A: Splendor: ECLAT. Ah, "Brilliant success". I often confuse this word with ECLAIR.

47A: In any way: SO EVER. I've never used SO EVER alone, always "What SO EVER".

49A: Collar: NAIL. Verb.

54A: "Power Lunch" airer: CNBC. I like Sue Herera. The guy on her right is Bill Griffeth. My husband watches "Power Lunch" every day.

55A: San __: REMO. Which one are we referring to here?

60A: One might be run before bedtime: TUB. Yep, every night, for me.

62A: Volley: SALVO

63A: Folded food: TACOS. Not a fan of Mexican food. Too hot.

64A: "Walking on Thin Ice" singer: ONO. I was not aware of this song. Wikipedia says Yoko Ono and John Lennon concluded the recording of this song on Dec 8, 1980. And it was upon their return from the recording studio to their home that Lennon was murdered.

65A: Colchester's county: ESSEX. Alliteration again. I guessed. I pen in ESSEX for all the 5-letter county clues. I had no idea where Colchester is. Wikipedia says it claims to be the oldest town in Britian.

66A: Ships, to sailors: SHES

67A: Dietary no.: RDA. Is it Recommended Daily Allowance or Recommended Dietary Allowance?

Down:

2D: The doghouse, so to speak: DISFAVOR. Would not have got the answer without the across fills.

3D: At hand: IMMINENT. Are they really interchangable? Can you give me an example? I thought "At hand" means "close by".

4D: Straighten: UNBEND. Mercy me! This is a real word. I thought the constructor made it up.

5D: __-turn: NO U. Boy, I felt stupid. The answer did not come to me readily at all. Need more time to adjust to multiple word fills.

6D: Tree with durable wood: LARCH. Wikipedia says it's waterproof too, hence it's used in building yachts and boats. Like teak, I suppose.

6D: Edwards who played Ben Casey: VINCE. New actor to me. Have never heard of the TV series "Ben Casey" either.

9D: Odysseus' kingdom: ITHACA. OK, here is Sean Connery's ITHACA again. Still can't believe Connery is a misogynist.

10D: "Rob Roy" actor: NEESON. Which is your favorite Liam NEESON movie? Dennis probably likes his "Les Misérables".

11D: "La Nausée" author: SARTRE. See the book cover. All SARTRE's love interests (except Simone de Beauvoir of course) seemed to be pretty but dumb. He declined the Nobel Prize. Probably mad that Camus got his first.

12D: Swirls: EDDIES

19D: Summer term at UCLA?: PDTS. PDT is Pacific Daylight Time. I outsmarted myself, thinking "summer" is a wordplay on one who sums up, so I wrote down ADD immediately.

21D: Pass up: FORGO. "Precede" is FOREGO.

24D: Form: MOLD

25D: Spelling et al: TORIS. I was trapped again, thinking of the spelling spelling, not Tori Spelling.

28D: Fan-shaped muscle: PEC. I suppose it's "Fan-shaped".

31D: Leader of Senegal?: ESS. Can't fool me! Senegal starts with letter S, hence "leader".

32D: Onetime Beatle Sutcliffe: STU. I know there was a 5th Beatle. Could not remember his name though. I am so happy that it's not clued as "Alphabet trio" again like RST (8D: Alphabet trio).

34D: Catch, oater-style: LASSO

36D: Code word: DIT

37D: Billy Blanks' fitness program: TAE BO. Portmanteau of TAE kwon do and Boxing.

38D: Market figure: INVESTOR. I was thing of the real number, not person. Good clue.

39D: 18 holes, say: ONE ROUND. More used to "A ROUND".

43D: Box up: ENCASE

44D: Boxing surface: CANVAS. Just learned this fact a few weeks ago.

45D: Risks a lawsuit, in a way: LIBELS. I often misspell this word as LIBLE.

46D: dining area, perhaps: ALCOVE

48D: Haunt: OBSESS. Wrote down HARASS, which is actually "Hound".

50D: Otto I was its first leader: Abbr.: HRE. Holy Roman Empire (800-1806). The last one is Francis II, who abdicted and dissolved the Empire during the Napolenic Wars, according to Wikipedia.

51D: Lincoln-to-Cheyenne direction: WEST. I like this clue.

52D: Character-building grps.: YMCAS

58D: Roald Dahl's "Fantastic Mr. __": FOX. The answer revealed itself. I am not familiar with this book.

59D: "Annabel Lee" poet: POE. Nice clip.

61D: Squeezer: BOA. No idea. Is it because the snake squeezes?

Answer grid.

Happy Birthday to our fellow solver Kazie!

C.C.

Interview with Rex Parker

Michael Sharp, known to most crossword solvers as Rex Parker - King of CrossWorld, blogs daily about NYT Crossword puzzle. And a month ago, Rex, Orange and PuzzleGirl started L.A. Crossword Confidential.

When I read Rex's analysis of grids, the themes & the fills, I often think of Johnny Miller's observations on various golf shots. They are both so insightful, straightforward and authoritative. I can't imagine an US Open without Johnny Miller, and I can't imagine a crossword world without Rex.

Hope you enjoy the interview. Also, please take his advice and write to your local editor if you are happy about the puzzle change. We need to support Rich Norris.

What is your background? Where did you grow up and how did you become and English professor?

I grew up primarily in Fresno, CA. I was an English major in college, went straight to grad school thereafter, and then straight into a faculty position. Exciting, I know.

How did you get interested in solving crosswords and later on blogging about NYT puzzles? And what is a typical day like for you in terms of solving and then blogging?

My grandmother solved crosswords, and I remember watching her working them when I was young. I didn't get into them until I was in college, when I would solve them with friends (one in particular, who was a much better solver than I). Then when I quit smoking in grad school, I had no idea what I was supposed to do while sitting there drinking my coffee in the cafe, so I started solving the puzzle in the NYT - the cafe provided a free copy that customers could borrow. I solved in pen. I got better quickly.

I stopped solving for a few years at the end of grad school / beginning of my career, mainly because I had no access to a free paper. Then I discovered the online subscription option, and I was hooked again. I started blogging as a lark (no models, no idea what I was doing), and I haven't stopped since.

I tend to solve the puzzle just after it comes out online (generally 10pm the night before pub. date). I then print it out, mark it up with annotations, and then blog it in the morning, some time between 6 and 8 (but always by 9 Eastern).

Who are your favorite constructors and why? Also, who give you the most trouble and how do you overcome this fear factor (if you have any)?

Patrick Berry and Brendan Emmett Quigley and Byron Walden are among my very favorites. Liz Gorski is also exceedingly talented. All these constructors are master craftsmen (or women) and also have incredibly inventive minds. Their puzzles almost never leave me unsatisfied, and more often than not they do something marvelously unexpected. To do anything new or original in crosswords is very, very hard, and these folks seem to do it on a regular basis with elaborate or clever themes, inventive fill, etc. B.E. Quigley is particularly impressive because he is so prolific. 3 new puzzles a week at his own site, plus the ones he sells to newspapers, books, etc. His puzzles tend to be very, very contemporary - having his own website allows him to make and publish puzzles very quickly, which allows him to be very responsive to whatever is happening in the news or pop culture.

What's your overall impression of LAT puzzles? How are they different from NYT puzzles in terms of cluing styles and difficulty level?

I am developing a fondness for the LAT puzzles. It's hard for the LAT to compete for the best puzzles bec. the NYT pays so much more, but constructors love Rich Norris and since many of them are not exactly in it for the money, he still gets really good puzzles from people who just like working with him. I would say that Rich's puzzles are less tricksy - you do not see elaborate gimmicks or even rebus puzzles in the LAT - and I think Rich can be a little less picky about a wobbly answer here or there if he likes the overall premise of a puzzle. I enjoy both puzzles a lot. NYT is still the gold standard, but I think you are about to see the LAT up its game a bit. I think the demise of TMS puzzle means the LAT is getting more exposure, and with multiple blogs now covering the LAT, I think the bar is going to go up a bit. But it's already pretty high.

Can you tell us more about "L.A. Crossword Confidential"? How did you come up with this idea and the title?

Amy Reynaldo and I had been talking for well over a year about starting a dedicated LAT blog. We both have our own blogs and neither of us wanted to commit to the work involved in being sole owner of yet another xword blog. But after we heard the LAT was going to get far more exposure with the new syndication arrangement, we felt we finally had to act, and luckily our friend / guest blogger of choice Angela Halsted wanted in as well. It's a communal effort, it's aimed at educating casual solvers and novices, so that they will eventually be able to solve harder and harder puzzles with greater enjoyment. The whole arrangement is working out wonderfully.

What advice can you give to our fellow ex-TMS Daily solvers who are having trouble adjusting to Rich Norris's style?

Patience. Please please give the puzzle time to grow on you. I can tell you that the LAT is, objectively, in every way, a better puzzle than the former TMS puzzle, and better than any other daily puzzle out there besides the NYT. You will get used to Rich's cluing style, you will continue to learn from C.C's blog (and maybe ours, if you have time), and you will be a happy solver once again. And I'd like to implore anyone who is actually *happy* with the puzzle switch to Write Your Newspaper Editor and tell him/her. Because right now, they're hearing only from the complainers.

I know you are a passionate Red Sox fan and you love "The Simpsons". What else am I missing? What would people find one thing that's most surprising about you?

I'm a very open book. I doubt there is anything surprising. Sometimes people are surprised to hear that I teach literature in a maximum security prison (in addition to my regular university job). I have a massive collection of vintage (1939-69) paperback books. My house is drowning in comics (I'm a fan, and I teach a course on Comics at the U.). That's about it.

Thanks for taking the time to interview me.

Thursday April 23, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: BEAN SALAD (33D: Picnic veggie dish, and a hint to words hidden in the answers to starred clues)

19A: *Parting words: KEEP IN TOUCH (Pinto)

37A: *"That outfit looks fabulous!": IT'S SO YOU (Soy)

57A: *Like unlikely chances: SLIM AND NONE (Lima)

3D: *18th century French painting style: ROCOCO ART (Cocoa)

Well, nobody puts cocoa bean in their bean salad. It's not a vegetable. The baby soy beans (edamames) I steal from the golf course tasted so good. My husband loves green lima beans. I use pinto beans for his chili in the winter months. What's your recipe for bean salad? I thought it always contains green beans, at least, the classic three bean salad does.

This is a special 16*15 grid. It has one more column than our normal puzzle. We had never had such a breakthrough in the old TMS Daily. (Reply from the editor regarding the grid: "Anytime a grid is 16x15 or 15x16, it's because of the theme. In today's puzzle, Dan couldn't come up with a symmetrical match for ITS SO YOU. The only way to do the theme was to make the grid 16-wide so that the 8-letter loner could go in the middle. I might also allow a 16 grid when there's too much theme to fit in a 15x15, or when the proposed theme contains a couple of really nifty 16-letter phrases").

The lower left corner crumbled very quickly for me this morning. And the theme revealed itself earlier on. But I still had to struggle. I filled in SANTA immediately for 24A: Nick name? (CLAUS). Saw this clever clue somewhere before. Might be on Paul's Clever Clue of the Month shortlist. Then I thought of Dalai Lama when I saw 16A: High leaders? (SHERPA).

Overall, I think I am getting better understanding Dan Naddor's "green". I still two or three-putt a lot, but sooner or later, I am going to grok all his breaks. My ball is going to sink. I even chipped in for the HOLE (54D: Place for an ace?) today. I love all the sports references in today's grid: baseball, tennis, golf, etc.

Before I forget, the first Annual Crosswords LA Tournament will be held on Saturday April 25, 2009. The entry fee is $25. You get 5 unpublished NY Times puzzle, lunch and free gifts. The tournament will benefit a charity. Plus, you can meet ACPT Champion Tyler Hinman. I think Doug Peterson will be there too.

Across:

1A: Deli offering: HERO. Nice intersection with HAVE (1D: Eat).

5A: Charge: ATTACK

11A: "__ pinch of ...": ADD A

15A: Hardly the full gamut: A TO B. Nailed it today.

18A: Viva __: By word of mouth: VOCE. Saw similar clue before. But it escaped me this morning.

21A: Huge: ENORMOUS

23A: Prankster's cry: GOTCHA. I've never got used to the Minnesota "You betcha".

25A: It's too close to call: DEAD HEAT

27A: Self-seeker: EGOIST

29A: One leaving a wake: HEARSE. I was picturing a boat moving through water.

30A: Togo neighbor: GHANA. Its capital city is Accra, meaning "ants" in local language. Ex-UN Chief Kofi Annan is from GHANA. I have his autographed photo.

31A: Playground retort: I AM SO

32A: Cleanup hitters' stats: RBIS. Reminds me of our Run Batted In and Runs Batted In discussion a while ago.

36A: Cause of inflation?: AIR. Nice clue. I was thinking of Ben Bernanke's inflation/deflation.

40A: SASE, e.g.: ENC

41A: NLRB part: Abbr.: NATL (National Labor Relations Board). I forgot what NLRB is. It's just clued as "Mediation agcy." in our puzzle a couple of weeks ago.

43A: "__ la vista, baby!": HASTA. This looks interesting. I was unaware of that song.

44A: "Cool!": NEATO. Only in crossword.

46A: Nutrition author Davis: ADELLE. Have never heard of this author. She wrote "Let's Eat Right to Keep Fit". According to Wikipedia, she was against food additives and advocated whole unprocessed food.

48A: "Don't delay!": ACT NOW

49A: Darling: ADORABLE. Not the Darling in my mind. Alistair Darling is the British Finance Minister.

52A: "The Da Vinci Code" albino: SILAS. I forgot. Read "The Da Vinci Code" too long ago. SILAS is literally "living in the woods", from silva "wood", says Dictionary.com. Dan Brown's "The Lost Symbol" will be released on Sept 15, 2009.

53A: 100-member group: SENATE. 99 now. With the current Minnesota recount mess.

54A: Safeco Field contest, to the Mariners: HOME GAME. Or "Metrodome contest, to the Twins".

60A: Hebrew for "skyward": EL AL. Unknown to me.

61A: Yours, in Tours: A TOI

62A: Buck: DOLLAR. I was thinking of male deer. Bucks shed their antlers every year after the rut.

63A: Pro __: RATA. BONO anyone?

64A: Hamlet, for one: DANE. Viggo Mortensen is half-DANE. Hamlet is also a small village without a church.

65A: Takes the wheel: STEERS

66A: Barbara who played Jeannie: EDEN. "I Dream of Jeannie". She was married to Michael ANSARA, who stumped me last time when it's clued as "Broken Arrow" co-star.

Down:

2D: Thames landmark: ETON. Easy guess. I had no idea that ETON is located across the Thames from Windsor.

4D: Ohio conservatory: OBERLIN. No idea. Have never heard of OBERLIN Conservatory of Music before. Is it very famous?

5D: Invite to a movie, say: ASK OUT

6D: NATA founding member: THE US. Stumped. Not used to see THE in the fill.

7D: Golfer's pocketful: TEES. Well, probably for guys. Girls do not carry "pocketful" of tees. We don't lose ours.

8D: Father of Dada: ARP (Jean). Or German Hans ARP.

9D: No. to which annual raises might be tied: CPI. I am used to the full term Consumer Price Index.

10D: Pocket Books logo: KANGAROO. Oh, I did not know Pocket Books is a Simon & Schuster imprint. And I did not know its Gertrude the KANGAROO logo either.

11D: Barfly's request: ANOTHER. Thought of ONE MORE.

12D: Wimbledon tie: DEUCE. Got the answer with across help.

13D: Russian villa: DACHA. Do you know Russians have no middle names?

14A: Buddhist who has attained Nirvana: ARHAT. I can never remember this word, derived from Sanskrit present participle arhati, literally "he deserves". He deserves AR HAT.

20D: Upscale Italian shoe brand: TOD'S. No idea. It seems that they make handbag also.

22D: Kenyan tribesman: MASAI. Also spelled as MAASAI. New word to me. The language they speak is called Maa.

25D: Reduce in grade: DEMOTE

26D: Gut course: EASY A. I did not know the meaning of "Gut course".

27D: Former Archbishop of New York: EGAN. The new Archbishop of New York, Timothy Dolan was just enthroned a week ago. He sounds like a very fun guy.

28D: Karmann __: sports car: GHIA. Not a familiar car to me. Wikipedia says it's manufactured by Volkswagen from 1955 to 1974.

29D: Pain in the neck: HASSLE

31D: "Love __ Around": 1968 hit: IS ALL. No idea. It sounds nice.

34D: A fan of: INTO

35D: Garbage barge: SCOW. Learned from doing Xword. It's flat-bottomed.

38D: Diver's sickness: THE BENDS. Completely unknown to me. (Sorry Mainiac, I missed your comment yesterday @2:45pm.)

39D: Reunion attendee: UNCLE

42D: University of Wyoming site: LARAMIE. I had ??AMIE in place, then I looked at my map and got this city. Dick Cheney is probably the most famous graduate of the University of Wyoming.

45D: Stand with shelf: ETAGERE

47D: Info to input: DATA

48D: Shooters, before shooting: AIMERS. I felt stupid not getting this answer.

49D: Syrian leader: ASSAD. Arabic for "lion".

52D: Sub detector: SONAR

55D: Friend of Adelaide: MATE. Australia for pal. Adelaide is the capital of South Australia. I wanted AMIE, thinking Adelaide might be a French girl's name.

56D: Flair: ELAN

58D: E-mail address part: DOT. I was thinking of com.

59D: Phillies' div: NLE (National League East). It's clued as "Marlin's div." last time. Be prepared for "Braves/Mets/National div.".

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday April 22, 2009 Mike Peluso

Theme: CAPE (66A: Action hero's garb, and what each first word in this puzzle's four longest answers is.)

20A: Cornucopia: HORN OF PLENTY

34A: Supplement that some claim eases arthritis: COD LIVER OIL

43A: Texas governor before George W. Bush: ANN RICHARDS

56A: 1973 Erica Jong novel: FEAR OF FLYING

I used to confuse CAPE HORN with CAPE of Good Hope, which is in the southern tip of Africa. Learned CAPE COD from reading various JFK biographies. Saw CAPE ANN in a puzzle before. CAPE Fear (bottom) is new to me. It's on the coast of North Carolina, jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. Why Fear? Prone to shipwrecks?

Easy solving this morning. This puzzle makes me feel smart. All of the theme entries were gimmes to me. COD LIVER OIL has concentrated amount of Omega-3 fatty acids. Good for arthris, good for heart too. ANN RICHARDS once described President Bush as "born with a silver foot in his mouth".

Here is a list of Clever Clues of the Month from Crosswordese.com. You can also click here for the complete list of Word of Day. They are in alphabetical order. Every one of them has a great picture and lots of other interesting information. Send Paul an email if you want his free word-of-the day delivery. Today his word is ORT (70A: Morsel).

Across:

1A: Aquanaut's workplace: SEALAB. First time I met aquanaut. Whom does he work for? US Navy?

7A: Arabic for "son of": IBN. Like the former Saudi king IBN Saud. Same as the Scottish Mac. BIN is also "son of", right? Like Osama BIN Laden.

10A: Software prototype: BETA. Alpha is for the internal software testers.

14A: "1984" author: ORWELL. Just realized this morning that George ORWELL is his penname. His real name is Eric Arther Blair. Do you know what Cary Grant's real surname is? Leach! Archibald Alec Leach.

16A: Campground arrival, briefly: RVER. Many PGA golfers travel in RV. I've never seen them called as RVer though.

17A: Pleasure dome site of verse: XANADU. From Coleridge's poem "Kublai Khan". Xanadu is a very exotic way to spell Shangdu, the summer palace of Kublain Khan. It's located in current Inner Mongolia in north China. China has the shape of a rooster. Our administrative division is called PROV (47A: Ont. or Que.) too.

18A: Most energetic: PEPPIEST. And LOOSER (23D: Not as tight). I bet we won't see more than two Er, est suffixes in a Rich Norris puzzle.

25A: Via: BY WAY OF

29A: Poivre partner: SEL. French for salt. Poivre is French for pepper.

38A: "Bali __": HAI. Here is the clip. Bloody Mary sang it to Lieutenant Cable to lure him to into Bali HAI to become her son-in-law. Her daughter Liat is very pretty.

39A: Italian cheese: ASIAGO. Named after the Italian region where the cheese originated.

40A: Tender poultry: CAPONS. I don't think I've had CAPON before. Sounds cruel to castrate chickens just for their meat.

42A: Stereotypical pirate leg: PEG. I suppose this refers to Long John Silver of "Treasure Island".

50A: Former big name on "The View": ROSIE (O'Donnell). She is too much for me. I only like her in "Sleepless in Seattle".

55A: Mag. employees: EDS. I think Anna Wintour is the coolest editor of any magazine.

61A: Crooner Julio: IGLESIAS. Father of Enrique IGLESIAS, who is married to Anna Kournikova.

62A: What pupils do in the dark: DILATE

67A: Lunes, por ejemplo: DIA. Lunes is Spanish for Monday. French Monday is lundi.

69A: Prolific autho.?: ANON. Yes, indeed. I like this clue.

71A: Grand Prix site: LE MANS. Learned where LE MANS is last time when MLLES was clued as "Le Mans lasses". Quite close to Paris.

Down:

1D: White __: SOX. And ERA (2D: Pitching stat). I like how they parallel.

3D: Barley bristle: AWN

4D: Sister of Rachel: LEAH. Both are Jacob's wives. LABAN was often clued as "Father of Leah and Rachel" in our old puzzle.

6D: Book jacket promo: BLURB. Crossword sub-title is also called a BLURB. Right, Fred?

7D: Running the country: IN POWER

8D: Hybrid meat: BEEFALO. Beef & buffalo. Also called cattalo (cattle & buffalo). Completely new to me.

9D: Dover diaper: NAPPY. The answer reviewed itself. I don't know British call diaper as NAPPY. The constructor picked up the seaport Dover for alliteration purpose.

10D: Boxer's alternatives: BRIEFS

21D: Org. at 11 Wall St.: NYSE. Oh well, what else could it be?

22D: Daisy Mae's creator: AL CAPP

24D: Spectrum color: INDIGO. Reminds me of the INDIGO Girls. They love crossword also. You should see "Wordplay" if you have not.

27D: She, in Lisbon: ELA. Ha ha, no more "Guido's high note" any more.

28D: Latvian capital: RIGA. The Latvian chess master Mikhail TAL is called "The Magician from RIGA".

31D: First words of the "Mr. Ed" theme: A HORSE. Anther easy guess. I've never seen "Mr. Ed".

32D: "___ Camera": CANDID

35D: From, in German names: VON. Same as French de and Italian da. How about Greta VAN Susteren? Hers is VAN.

36D: Former transp. regulator: ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission). 1887-1996. Learned from doing Xword.

37D: Cowardly lion portrayer: LAHR. Just found out this morning that Bert LAHR's original name is Irving Lahrheim.

45D: Lays into: RAILS AT. "Lay into" is a new phrase to me.

48D: "Pippin" Tony winner Ben: VEREEN. He looks awfully familiar. I must have googled him before.

53D: "Don't mind __": IF I DO. I got the answer. Have no idea what it means. Sounds self-conflictory.

56D: Pay stub abbr.: FICA

57: Alaska's first governor: EGAN. Gimme. Learned this fact long time ago. William Allen Egan was the first (1959 to 1966) and 4th governor (1970-1974) of Alaska.

58D: Brand for Fido: ALPO

60D: Get hold of, with "onto": GLOM. The past tense is GLOMMED. A new word I learned from T. Frank.

63D: Altar in the sky: ARA. See this diagram. ARA is Latin for Altar.

64D: Former Opry network: TNN. Another easy guess. Wikipedia says TNN changed into Spike in 2003. Owned by Viacom.

65D: Alpine curve: ESS. Not much wordplay today.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Tuesday April 21, 2009 Gail Grabowski

Theme: Crouch Down

20A: Nearby, on a country road: AROUND THE BEND

39A: Is completely uninformed: DOESN'T KNOW SQUAT

60A: Row house porch: CONCRETE STOOP

I was thinking of AROUND THE CORNER for 20A. But I ran out of blanks. Dictionary says AROUND THE BEND is a slang for insane/crazy. What is a row house? I've never heard of that term.

Dan Naddor mentioned the other day that because of his love for heavy "themage", his puzzles tend to have lower word count and high black square count. His last OUGH puzzle has 6 theme entries, 74 words & 34 black squares. While today's puzzle has only 3 theme entries, 78 words & 38 black squares. More black squares than Naddor's. Strange.

I misread the clue for 39 as "Is completely uniformed" rather than "uninformed". I also had a little trouble obtaining NY YANKEE (41D: one of the Bx. Bombers). I was thinking of a specific Yankees' player when I saw Bronx Bomber clue, you know, like Mantle. Reminds me of YANK we had a while ago. It's clued as "Big Jerk". I got the answer, by wrong reasoning. I thought the clue was referring to George Steinbrenner and his Yankees.

Today's constructor, Gail Grabowski, is one of Stan Newman's Newsday regular contributors. Her bio says she started constructing crossword in 2002 and she specializes in early week puzzles. She looks so sweet. Are you surprised that Doug Peterson is that young?

Across:

1A: Shopping center: MART. Penned in MALL first.

5A: Letter-routing letters: ATTN . I got the answer. Don't understand the "Letter-routing".

15A: Firenze farewell: CIAO. Firenze is Italian for Florence. I thought it's an Italian guy's name. CIAO is very close in pronunciation to CAO, the bad Chinese F word.

17A: "The Flintstones" pet: DINO. Learned from doing Xword. He is a dog, not a dinosaur, right?

23A: When prime time ends in Middle Ameri.: TEN PM. CST. Prime time is from 8:00pm to 11:00pm.

24A: Counterfeit coin: SLUG

25A: Sonoma Valley container: VAT. Sonoma Valley is the birthplace of California wine industry. Wikipedia says it's also called "The Valley of the Moon", literal meaning of the Native American word "Sonoma", according to Jack London.

28A: Irish homeland: EIRE. No wobbling between EIRE and ERIN this time due to the crossing fills. Hibernophile refers to those who love all things Irish. Hibernia is Latin for Ireland.

31A: Mug shot view: PROFILE

38A: Countesses' spouses: EARLS. Easy guess. I thought a countess's spouse is a count.

44A: Impressive grouping: ARRAY. "Grouping" of what?

47A: "Heavens!": MERCY ME. Big problem for me in this area. Not a phrase I use. Maybe I've heard of MERCY ME, but I've paid no attention.

56A: Deputized group: POSSE. Reminds me of Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie and the large POSSE of securities that travel with them.

64A: Frighten, as horses: SPOOK. Why "as horses"? Frighten alone already means SPOOK.

67A: Memo phrase: IN RE. "In the matter of" in Latin. RE is the ablative of RES, "thing/matter". I learned it from doing Xword. Used to confuse it with INRI (Letters on a cross).

68A: Arizona State's city: TEMPE. Wikipedia says ASU has 4 campuses, TEMPE being the original and largest. Their mascot is Sparky the Sun Devil. Annika Sorenstam attended University of Arizona, so did Lorena Ochoa.

70A: Chess ending: MATE. Have you heard of board game Go? The geek kids in our high school class all played Go rather than chess.

Down:

4D: Theatrical travelers: TROUPE

5D: Corrosive compound: ACID. I wonder who first thought of using ACID for etching.

7D: Dash devices: TACHS. No "for short"?

8D: Useless: NO HELP. Thought of FUTILE first.

9D: Precedes: FOREGOES

10D: Mideast port on its own gulf: ADEN. Gulf of ADEN is nicknamed Pirate Alley.

11D: Cause of coughs and sniffles: COLD VIRUS

21D: Abbr. for people with only two names: NMI (No Middle Initial). So, if the letter S in Harry S. Truman's name is simply a letter S, why S. instead of S? Why dot after S?

22D: Prickly case: BUR. Learned this word from doing Xword also.

32D: Web site help sect.: FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Used to be stumped by this clue.

33D: Second or sixth president: ADAMS. 41 & 43: BUSH. I bet there is another Bush coming. Not Jeb or his son George P. Bush though.

34D: Gourmet mushroom: MOREL. OK, let's try a different picture.

35D: "Catch a Falling Star" singer: PERRY COMO. Guessed.

48D: Comfy footwear: MOC

51D: Record collector's platters: LPS. Don't you wish you still had your old baseball cards/childhood toys? Some of the hard plastic Ginny/Ginger doll can fetch hundreds of dollars now.

52D: Serve a sentence: DO TIME. I am getting better at the multiple words now. Nailed all of them today.

55D: Chill-inducing: EERIE. Vowel-intensive. Guess that's why we see this word so often.

57D: Salvage ship equipment: SONAR. Just learned yesterday that a ship is unsalvageable if its keel is broken.

61D: Butterfingers' cry: OOPS. OOPS, I always thought it's singular butterfinger.

63D: Memorable Old West lawman: EARP. This has become a gimme.

64D: NASCAR advertiser: STP. Often clued as "The Racer's Edge" in our old puzzle.

For those who don't visit the Comments section, here is the Susan Boyle clip Dennis linked a few days ago. Very inspiring.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Monday April 20, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: Again and Again

18A: Start of many a corny joke: KNOCK, KNOCK

27A: Start of a trucker's communication: BREAKER, BREAKER

49A: Start of a sound man's mike check: TESTING, TESTING

65A: Start of a newsboy's cry: EXTRA, EXTRA

Easy guess on BREAKER BREAKER. I did not know how a trucker started his communication.

Is there a special term for this kind of doubled-up phrases?

Smooth sailing today. I had only one error. I penned in THE SHARK rather than THE SHACK for 42D: 2007 William P. Young Christian-themed best-seller. Wikipedia say the book title is a metaphor for "the house you build out of your own pain".

I like how RAP (30D: Music genre in the 'hood) and BLING (31D: Jewelry in the 'hood) parallel each other in the grid.

Another 40 black square grid. It seems to be the most common in LAT. We used to get lots of 38.

Across:

5A: Play-of-color gem: OPAL. Because it changes color when tilted?

9A: To the left, at sea: APORT. What is "To the right, at sea"? A-starboard? Another nautical term I am not clear about is abeam. Dictionary says it's "the right ankle to the keel". Is it like those masts? They seem to be perpendicular to the keel.

16A: Medium for FDR's fireside chats: RADIO. For Obama, it's YouTube. Ashton Kutcher just beat CNN the other day and became the first Twitter to have 1 million followers.

20A: O'Hara's estate: TARA. "I'll always have TARA" & "Tomorrow is another day".

38A: "Metamorphoses" poet: OVID (43BC-AD 17 or 18). A contemporary of Virgil (Aeneid). Learned from doing Xword. "Metamorphoses" is a "narrative poem (often called mock epic) in 15 books that describes the creation and history of the world", according to Wikipedia. And the recurring theme is about love. Amor vincit omnia!

40A: Like milk on the floor: SPILT

53A: Cancún cash: PESO. Another alliteration.

55A: Manuscript encl.: SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope)

58A: Remove by percolation: LEACH

67A: City near Sacramento: LODI. This city keeps popping up in LAT puzzle. Wikipedia says it's the birthplace of A&W Root Beer and A&W Restaurants.

69A: High-performance Camaro: IROC. I forgot all about this car. IROC is named after the popular competition International Race of Champions. IROC, IROC, I rock. Maybe I will remember it next time.

Down:

6D: __ colada: PINA. Interesting, Wikipedia says it's the official beverage of Puerto Rico. Where is pineapple originally from? I know China is the leading producer of pineapple in the world now.

8D: Hannibal the Cannibal: LECTER. Rhyming clue. He eats liver and fava beans. Maybe something else. I can't remember. Scary movie, "The Silence of the Lambs".

13D: Casino gratuity: TOKE. New slang to me. It's not related to token, is it?

19D: NASCAR's Petty or Busch: KYLE. Easy guess. I know nothing about NASCAR.

28D: Fastener for Rosie: RIVET. Rosie the RIVETER.

33D: King's tenure: REIGN. Ah, just a normal king. I thought of Larry King first.

39D: Scatter: DISPERSE

51D: "You can't get out of this way" sign: NO EXIT

52D: One whose job is fitting?: TAILOR. Why question mark here? Part of TAILOR's job is fitting.

57D: Ollie's sidekick: STAN. Laurel and Hardy. Learned from doing Xword also. I bet we will see another STAN this week.

59D: Gillette razor: ATRA. Introduced in 1977. P&G acquired Gillette in 2005.

62D: Sheltered inlet: COVE. Like this.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Sunday April 19, 2009 Merl Reagle

Theme: TV Shows I'd Like (To those who solved Dan Naddor's "Put a Lid on It!" puzzle, please scroll down the screen).

26A: TV reality show about owners willing to do anything to sell their domiciles?: DESPERATE HOUSE WISE (Desperate Housewives)

33A: TV comedy about a guy who keeps losing his patients?: DENTIST THE MENACE (Dennis the Menace)

57A: TV drama set in a deli?: SLAW AND ORDERS (Law and Order)

65A: With 76 Across, TV game show that requires no knowledge whatsoever?: ARE YOU SMARTER THAN

76A: See 65 Across: A CHEESE GRATER (Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?)

93A: TV comedy about being in a foreclosure?: MORTGAGE AND MINDY (Mork & Mindy)

104A: TV cartoon about a guy who's poor and not much of a dresser?: SLUMDOG SQUAREPANTS (SpongeBob SquarePants)

Ah, my first Merl Reagle LAT puzzle.

Have you seen "Wordplay"? Merl is featured prominently in the movie. I learned a few months ago that his name Merl/Merle is a kind of blackbird. His syndicated puzzle appears in Dennis's Philadelphia Inquirer every Sunday. They are always punny and funny, though the humor often escapes me. He does not use computer to construct puzzle, always pencil and paper. A natural. A genius.

Unfortunately I did not have enough time to really enjoy this puzzle. Hope you liked it. Lots of clever clues. I solved and blogged Dan Naddor's "Put a Lid on It!" earlier.

Across:

1A: Type of adapter: AC/DC

5A: Kevin's Oscar-winning role" in "A Fish Called Wanda": OTTO. Have never seen this Kevin Klein movie.

18A: Dragon's abode: LAIR. I have no idea where dragon lives.

19A: Random payoff: DROP

21A: Show your face? SHAVE. Good clue.

22A: Instant: IMMEDIATE

24A: Sister of Clio: ERATO. The Poetic Muse. Clio is the History Muse.

25A: Facts-of-life course, briefly: SEX ED. I stared at SEXED for a long time.

29A: Floor or ceiling support: JOIST

42A: Bobby Darin's label until 1963: ATCO (ATlantic COporation). Now owned by Warner Music Group. I was unware of that.

43A: Volga feeder: OKA. See this map.

44A: Drink with tempura: SAKE. Japanese rice wine. Mirin is also rice wine, used in cooking.

49A: Cadets' org: ROTC

53A: Tale-with-a point guy: AESOP. All his tales have a point, a moral point.

55A: Stinking: NOISOME. New word to me. It looks noisy rather than "Stinking".

60A: Spike TV, before: TNN

64A: Added bit of news: UPDATE

69A: Cellphones started one: NEW ERA

71A: Avid and then some: RABID

72A: Timber wolf: LOBO. I've never seen a LOBO wolf before.

73A: Classic British war film, "The __ Busters": DAM. See this poster. Not a familiar film to me.

79A: Ming, for one: DYNASTY. Ming DYNASTY ruled from 1368 to 1644. It's followed by Qing, the last DYNASTY in China. In Chinese , Ming is 明, the left 日 means sun, the right 月 means moon, so literally 明 (Ming) means "shining"/"bright".

82A: Goodman's instrument: abbr.: CLAR (Clarinet)

85A: Set of values: ETHOS

89A: 4.0 is a great one: GPA.

91A: Phony alibis, e.g.: LIES. I like this clue too.

100A: Skye cap: TAM. Skye is an island in Scotland. Good clue.

103A: Fox News chief Roger: AILES. Here is a picture. I know him, but don't know how to spell his name.

111A: 1969 Hitchcock film: TOPAZ. Did you see this movie? What's it about?

112D: City E of Le Havre: ROUEN. No idea. It's to the west of Paris. Joan of Arc was burned here.

113A: They often hang around a kitchen: SAUCEPANS

118A: Last Oldmobile model: ALERO. Discontinued in 2004.

119A: Memo starter: INRE

120A: "No harm done": I'M OK

121A: Slippery arenas: RINKS

123A: Global septet: SEAS. Nice clue.

124A: Letters on a Manhattan letters: NY NY

Down:

1D: Memorable Cosell interviewee: ALI

2D: Web or min follower: CAM

3D: Soften, as lighting: DIM

4D: Payment expectors: CREDITORS

5D: Paean penners: ODISTS

6D: Sucker bet: TRAP

7D: Bag or board preceder: TOTE

8D: Met wear: OPERA HATS. Do people really wear OPERA HAT when they go to the Met?

9D: Placid: SERENE

10D: Bird's less showy mate: PEAHEN. The showy peacock and the plain PEAHEN.

11D: Intro to pi?: OCTO. Octopi, the plural of octpus. Tricky clue.

12D: Intro to art?: THOU. THOU art.

13D: Your house, e.g.: ASSET. Good clue.

14D: "Won't Get Fooled Again" group: THE WHO. Here is the clip.

15D: The quicker picker-upper: TAXI

16D: Currier's partner: IVES

20D: Gershwin's "__ Eat Cake": LET 'EM. Unknown to me. It's opened in 1933. I only know Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat the cake".

23D: One of Fred's tenants: DESI (Arnaz). From "I Love Lucy".

29D: George of the future: JETSON. No idea. Whom does George refer to here?

30D: Occasionally: ONCE IN A WHILE

34D: Matador: TORERO

35D: Bout stopper, briefly: TKO

36D: Slippery __: AS EEL. Do you know EELS are caught in pots?

37D: King or queen: CARD. Another great clue.

39D: "Let's go, sleepyheads": RISE AND SHINE

40D: Of __ (so to speak): A SORT

41D: Run out, as a policy: LAPSE

45D: Headset piece: EARPHONE

50D: Eatery with steamers: CLAM BAR. Is it New England eatery?

54D: Icelandic epic: EDDA. Literally "poetry". It inclueds the Poetic EDDA and the Prose EDDA.

56D: Uxmal residents: MAYAS. I don't know where Uxmal is. It's "an ancient ruined city in SE Mexico, in Yucatán: a center of later Mayan civilization". That pyramid looks very familiar.

59D: "You were __ a mile!": OUT BY

62D: Thief who breaks in: BURGLAR. What about those thief who does not break in?

66D: Pond plant: REED

67D: Sister in an Eastwood film: SARA

68D: Dennis of NBA fame: RODMAN. The guy with the weird hair.

69D: Fleet-related: NAVAL. Not "Ship-related"?

70D: 2006 spinach invader: E. COLI. How is diffent from salmonella?

74D: In conflict: AT ODDS

75D: "I'm not leaving till I've had __!": MY SAY

77D: Plasm preceder: ECTO. Sometimes it' clued as "Prefix for outer".

78D: New beginning: REGENESIS. I only knew GENESIS.

80D: In _ (spiraling downward): A TAILSPIN

84D: Emissions org: EPA

88D: Reloading need: AMMO

92D: "The Evangelist" of the Bible: ST. MARK

94D: Chefs' toppers: TOQUES

95D: Stickum appliers: GLUERS

96D: Hersey's bell town: ADANO. Here is the book cover of "A Bell for ADANO".

97D: Like Mr. Diesel: abbr.: GER. I don't understand this clue. Is Mr. Diesel a German? Who is he? (Note: It's Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of Diesel Engine.)

98D: Gets down on the floor?: DANCES

99D: Tick's cousin: MITE

101D: Wood-shaping tools: ADZES. ADZE can also be spelled as ADZ.

104D: Hollywood honcho: STAR

105D: City N of Stockton, Calif: LODI. Oh, it's indeed to the north of Stockton.

106D: Brush __ (study): UPON

107D: Get a grip: GRAB

108D: Play by yourself: SOLO. Verb.

109D: Unit of glass: PANE

114D: Humorist Sedaris: AMY. David Sedaris' sister. I love "Me Talk Pretty One Day".

115D: Prefix for profit: NON

116D: Blue puzzle piece, often: SKY. Jigsaw puzzle.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Sunday, April 19, 2009 Dan Daddor

Theme: Put a Lid on It!

24A: Winner's prize in a programming competition?: VICTORY LAPTOP

29A: Frijoles prep area? BEAN COUNTERTOP

41A: Writing surface available only occasionally?: PERIODIC TABLETOP

54A: Peak that reeks?: FOUL TIPTOP

78A: Crew cut after a sloppy wrestling match?: MUD FLATTOP

88A: Milk of Magnesia bottle cap?: PHILLIPS SCREW-TOP

99A: Proof of evil purchases?: PANDORA'S BOXTOP

110A: Shirt needing a chemical rinse: SEPTIC TANK TOP

15D: Convertible for a Canadian hockey player? MAPLE LEAF RAGTOP

40D: "Say hello to your average asphalt contractor?": MEET JOE BLACKTOP

The last one is playing on the movie title "Meet Joe Black", isn't it? I still don't understand the cluing rationale of 15D. I know the Toronto Maple Leafs. Is RAG the nickname for a hockey player? I have never heard of PHILLIPS SCREW before.

Nice theme, great theme title too. The lid is the word TOP. All the above theme answers feel like Jeopardy's "Before and After".

Dan Naddor mentioned his love for "heavy themage" in his interview. This grid has 10 theme entries, some of them are very long, two 16, two 15. The two shortest ones still have 10.

I had my normal struggle with LAT Sunday. Could not get into the constructor's wavelength. When I read 93A: Prepare to be shot, I did not think of the happy "Say Cheese" POSE. I pictured something horrible, you know, like the photo of Daniel Pearl in handicuff, with a gun at his head.

My favorite clue today is for C-SPAN (46D: House shower). You have to think outside the box, show-er, C-SPAN covers and shows the activities of the House of Representatives. It's like "Parisian flower?" for SEINE river. River flows, flow-er, not the real flower.

Across:

1A: Offering at the fast foodery El Pollo Loco: BREAST. Stumped immediately. Have never heard of this chicken franchise El Pollo Loco, Spanish for "The Crazy Chicken".

7A: Intimidate: DAUNT

17A: Add one's two cents: CHIME IN. Thought of OPINE.

19A: Long Island university: ADELPHI. I forgot. Saw this answer somewhere before.

21A: Like some trucks going uphill: IN LOW. No idea. Why?

22A: 1982 Toto hit: ROSANNA. Here is the clip. I've never heard of the band, nor the song.

23A: Star who's out?: HAS-BEEN. I like this clue.

26A: Fish caught in pots: EELS. Oh, I had no idea that EELS are caught in pots.

27A: Fatty acid salt: OLEATE. I forgot also. It's clued as "Soap ingredient" in our puzzle before. Did not know there is "salt" in soap.

33A: "I didn't know that": GEE

34A: Former Radiohead label: EMI. Easy guess, since Radiohead is a British band.

35A: Circle dance: HORA. Often clued as "Jewish dance".

36A: Soprano Maria: CALLAS. "La Divina". Maybe Ari Onassis should have married her instead of Jackie.

39A: Start of an idea: GERM. I like this clue.

49A: Midas's undoing: GREED. He later did change his view about gold/money, didn't he?

51A: Confuse: CROSS UP. New phrase to me.

52A: Charlie Brown's cry: AARGH. See this picture. He cried so after he missed the football.

57A: Newton fruit: FIGS. Fig Newton.

58A: Hold back: RESTRAIN

60A: Penn, e.g.: Abbr.: STA. I wrote down STS.

61A: "There's hoping...": I PRAY. Did not come to me easily.

63A: One of the Simpsons: JESSICA. D'oh. The real Simpsons (Jessica and Ashely). I was thinking of the animated "Simpsons". I did get STU (97A: "The Simpsons" disco guy) immediately.

66A: Sluggishness: INERTIA

69A: Japanese chess: SHOGI. Literally "General's Chess". Gi means "chess". A corruption of Chinese qi (chess).

71A: Charger's org: AFC. Penned in NFL again.

73A: Sign of desperation: LAST GASP

77A: Syngman of Korea: RHEE. The first president of South Korea. RHEE is the same as Chinese Li (as in Jet Li).

83A: 10th century emperor dubbed "the Great": OTTO I. No idea. I was way off, thinking of the Russian Emperor PETER the Great.

84A: Poet's feet: IAMBI. I wrote down IAMBS.

86A: One working on the sheep: SHEARER

87A: Ideal of dieters: NO CAL. More ideal than NO FAT.

94A: Escargots: SNAILS

98A: Many ATM deposits: CKS. First time I see CK in a crossword.

108A: Smooth routine: GROOVE

113A: Fundraising events: DINNERS. Thought of RAFFLES.

117A: "No damage done": IT'S OKAY

118A: Farm song refrain: EIEIO. The lyric of "Old McDonald Had a Farm" does not make any sense to me, esp EIEIO.

119A: Latvia neighbor: ESTONIA. See this Baltic region map. And Russia, Lithuania, all end in IA. Romania too.

121A: Alan and Diane: LADDS. I forgot who Diane LADD is. She is Laura Dern's mother.

122A: Elements on the road: HONDAS. HONDA Element. I was thinking of gravels/stones.

Down:

1D: "Humph!": BAH

2D: Food std.: RDA. Recommended Daily/Dietary Allowance. I don't know which is correct.

3D: Some Caltech grads: EES (Electrical Engineers). Stumped again. Just not used to this EE abbreviation.

4D: Truman veep Barkley: ALBEN. No idea. Wikipedia says ALBEN Barkley was actually the first veep. His grandson coined the title to replace the long "Mr. Vice President". And he was the only vice president to marry while in office.

6D: Area defined by an el: THE LOOP. Have heard THE LOOP in Chicago. Had no idea it's "defined by an el".

7D: Fairway chunk: DIVOT. I am often amazed by the huge chunks of DIVOTS on the golf courses. Some golfers hit their balls so hard.

8D: Doddering: ANILE. Could only think of senile.

9D: Gastric woe: ULCER

10D: Absent from: NOT AT. Had trouble getting this multiple-word answer.

11D: "Scotty, __ beam up": TWO TO. Unknown to me. Not a "Star Trek"/"Star Wars" fan. I could only find "Beam me up, Scotty".

12D: Call (out): CRY

13D: Jan. 1st, e.g.: HOL. See EVE clued as "Dec. 31, e.g." more often.

14D: Columbus sponsor: ISABELLA

16D: Opposite of exo-: ENTO. Prefix for "Inner". Exo is "outer".

17D: When some ties are broken: IN OT (Overtime)

25D: Gym unit: REP (Repetition)

29D: Lazarus, for one: BEGGAR. I thought he was a leper.

30DL Become visible: EMERGE

31D: They put on shows: AIRERS. Would not have got the answer if not for the across fills. Too abstract to me.

32D: GRF's veep: NAR (Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller). Tough clue. I actually know Ford's veep is Rockefeller, but I knew neither's middle name. GRF is Gerald Ruldoph Ford.

33D: Shoot the breeze: GAB. Wanted YAK.

36D: Crime boss: CAPO. I need "Mafia" in the clue for CAPO to emerge.

37D: Places in the heart: ATRIA. I like this clue too.

38D: Saturated: SOGGY

43D: Magic, on scoreboards: ORL. Orlando Magic. Another good clue.

44D: Last Supper question: IS IT I. Who asked this question?

47D: "For shame": TUT. Sometimes it's TSK.

48D: Acidity nos.: PHS. Thought of 7. PH7=neutral. <7> 7 alkaline.

50D: Freedom from govt. control: DEREG (Deregulation)

55D: Clandestine maritime org.: ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). Often clued as "Sailor's Org." in our old puzzle.

56D: Worst: PITS. New slang to me.

59D: "__ sure you know ...": AS I'M

62D: Climber's spike: PITON

64D: Champs-Élysées sights: CAFES. Yes indeed. Along with those lovely shops.

65D: Company with a spokesduck: AFLAC. Ben Affleck once mentioned that AFLAC had never approached him for commercials.

67D: "Evil Woman" grp.: ELO. Here is the clip. I guessed. Three letter music grp is often ELO.

68D: Eschew the doorbell: RAP

69: Persian potentates: SHAHS

70D: Surround: HEM IN. Another multiple word.

72D: Gideon Fell's creator: CARR. Have never heard of this author John Dickson CARR nor the character Gideon Fell.

74D: Fire sale phrase: AT COST

75D: Such that one might: SO AS TO

76D: Rubbernecking cause: PILE-UP

77D: Fabric flaw: RIP. What is a RIP flaw?

80D: The N.L. doesn't use them: DHS (Designated Hitters). A.L. does use them.

81D: Trip souvenir: TEE. Mine was HAT.

82D: Credit-reporting company now called Experian: TRW (Thompson Ramo Wooldridge Inc.). A complete stranger to me.

85D: '50 political slogan: I LIKE IKE. I have this button. A reproduction.

89D: Parisian pronoun: ILS. French for "they".

90D: Airport safety org.: TSA (Transportation Security Administration). Created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

91D: Kind of kick: ONSIDE. Stumped again. Vaguely remember someone explained ONSIDE kick on the blog before.

92D: Avoid perishing: PUBLISH

96D: Discuss: GO INTO

99D: __ Tour: PGA. And LPGA, Sr. PGA (Champions) & European Tour.

100D: Synthetic fiber: ARNEL. Was it a gimme to you? I've never heard of this fiber. Dictionary defines it as "a brand of fiber manufactured from cellulose triacetate", whatever that is.

101D: Finnish mobile phone giant: NOKIA. Holy cow. I always thought it's a Swedish company.

102D: Fussed over, with "on": DOTED

103D: Egg-shaped: OVOID

104D: Some auction sales: REPOS

105D: It's a gas: XENON. Yes, indeed, it's a gas. A noble gas.

111D: Aries or Taurus: CAR. I was thinking of Zodiac. Good clue.

112D: Pennington et al: TYS. No idea. I've never heard of this guy, host of "Extreme Makerover: Home Edition". TY Cobb is more famous in my opinion.

115D: Estuary: RIA

116D: Airline to Stockholm: SAS. "Airline to Amsterdam" would be KLM, both have three letters.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday April 18, 2009 Scott Atkinson

Theme: None

Total block: 31

Total word: 72 (maximum allowed for a themeless)

Lots of 7-letter words in this puzzle, 24 I think. Funny how grid can be so deceptive. I felt this puzzle has more black squares than last Saturday's eight 15-letter themeless. But that one turns out to have one more block. This one by Kevin G. Der holds the record for fewest blocks (18). I bet 17 is not so far away.

I teed off perfectly with BARBARO ( 1A: 2006 Kentucky Derby winner), thanks to the crossing REBECCA (3D: Novel that begins "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again"). I thought of Giacomo first. It has the same amount of letters. Giacomo is named after Sting's son, and his wife bet big and won big at the 2005 Derby.

BARBARO jumped the gun in Preakness Stakes and then broke his legs. I had no idea that an injured leg can be fatal to a horse. I read REBECCA long time ago, in Chinese. Linda mentioned a few weeks ago that dreamt is the only English word ending in mt.

Anyway, after BARBARO, my struggle started and continued until the very end. Still, I was able to fill in plenty of blanks. Good enough for me. I wonder how long it takes a constructor to build a Saturday themeless. Probably 4-5 hours at least. It's just not right for Dan Feyer to conquer the grid under 5 minutes. He needs to slow down.

Across:

8A: Libyan leader whose name has more than 30 spellings: QADDAFI. "30"? That's why we need a clear standard for romanizing Arab names. Gaddafi seems to be more common. His given name Muammar sounds weird too.

15D: Demand too much of: OVERTAX

17A: It often has branches: LIBRARY. I pictured trees, then banks.

18A: Unstoppable: ON A ROLL

19A: Stubbing victim: TOE. The image of a cigarett popped into my mind immediately.

20A: Took down a peg: DEMOTED

23A: Letter-bottom letters: ENCL (Enclosure)

25A: 007 wore one: ROLEX. Is that a ROLEX? Why "wore" one instead of "wears" one?

26A: __ Fein: SINN. IRA's extremely left wing party. I filled in SEIN first.

27A: Red Sox pitcher Matsuzaka's nickname: DICE K. Ah, gimme. His name is Daisuke, pronounced like Dice K.

29A: Traffic stopper: RED. I asked our editor Rich Norris about this RED clue/answer duplication the other day. He says it doesn't bother him, and he will change "if a long (6 letters or more) or prominent word is duped in a clue".

30A: Out of it: DAZED. New definition of "Out of it" to me.

31A: Common Yuletide mail: CATALOG

33A: Teases, in slang: JIVES. New slang to me also.

35A: Life in the Yucatán: (retype): VIDA. Here is Ricky Martin's "Livin' La VIDA Loca".

36A: Jackal or fox: CANID. I can only think of canine. Is "id" a suffix for something, Kazie? Dictionary defines CANID as "any animal of the dog family Canidae, including the wolves, jackals, hyenas, coyotes, foxes, and domestic dogs".

38A: Manatee relatives: DUGONGS. Another unknown. They can be found at the Red Sea and Indian Ocean. No hind limb. Huge!

41A: "Platoon" actor Willem: DAFOE. Saw the movie "Platoon". Can't remember his name though. So close to Defoe, the author of "Robinson Crusoe".

45A: U.S. Marine Corps E-6: SSGT (Staff Sergeant). See this list. I suppose the ranking is different in the Army/Air Force/Navy?

46A: Power problem: SURGE

48A: 1 for H, e.g.: AT NO (Atomic Number). H is Hydrogen. More here. Carbon is 6. Neon is 10.

49A: '60 VP: HHH (Hubert Horatio Humphrey). LBJ's VP. Gimme for any Minnesotan. Walter Mondale is another veep from Minnesota. We've never had a president though. How about your state?

50A: Like Lake Mead: MAN-MADE. It's the largest MAN-MADE lake in the world, isn't it?

52A: "Gimme __!": Columbus cheer beginning: AN O. I guessed. I surmise it's the cheerleading sound from Ohio State University?

53A: Ebbing: ABATING

55A: Reels off: RECITES

57A: Encountered: RAN INTO. Had problem obtaining this multiple word answer.

58A: Thankless one: INGRATE

59A: Magazine revenue: PRINT AD. There were only 2 letters in my brain, AD, then nothing else.

60A: Yields: ASSENTS. I only know the "Agree" meaning of assent.

Down:

1D: Downed quickly: BOLTED. Was ignorant of "Down quickly" definition of BOLT. Don't BOLT. Food is to be enjoyed.

2D: Relating to Space Age technology: AVIONIC. Also new to me. The noun AVIOTICS = AVI (ation) + (Electr)ONICS.

4D: Polar outburst?: BRR. I wrote down RAY, confusing Polar with Solar.

5D: Somewhat: A TAD

6D: More valuable, as coins: RARER. And MINT (50D: Spanking new). Both remind me of coins and baseball cards.

7D: Deafening silent, e.g.: OXYMORON. Elissa linked this list last time. Sallie likes jumbo shrimp.

8D: Used another's words: QUOTED

9D: Attach: ANNEX. I wanted ADD ON.

10D: Obsolete: DEAD. Thought of GONE.

11D: Patriotic org.: DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution). The other choice is SAR (Sons of American Revolution).

12D: Make a mist of: ATOMIZE

13D: Catty types: FELINES. I was thinking of the mean catty catty, not cat-like catty.

14D: Like the Aral Sea: INLAND. SHRINKING has too many letters. It's indeed INLAND.

21D: Jackie's designer: OLEG (Cassini). Michelle Obama likes Jason Wu's design.

24D: "I'd rather skip it": LET'S NOT. And DID OK (30D: Managed). Neither came to me easily.

26D: Safari destination: SAVANNA . I was thinking of a country rather than the general grassy plain.

32D: Little dude: LAD

33D: Carpentry guide: JIG. No idea. Which part is JIG?

35D: "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" barony: VULGARIA. Big stumper. See here for more information. Wikipedia says it's a scenic, mountainous region that can't be found any where in the world. I did not know it's authored by Ian Fleming.

36D: Hardly a free-spirited place?: CASH BAR. No idea. Why?

37D: Kabul coin: AFGHANI. I thought it's RUPEE, since Afghanstan is close to India and Pakistan where rupee is used. Anyway, Dictionary says AFGHANI can also refer to the people, same as Afghan. And the abbreviation of the currency AFGHANI is AFG.

38D: Frequent pizza delivery destination: DORM. I had O in place, so I went with HOME first.

39D: Enjoy the sunshine, perhaps: GET A TAN

40D: Big name in slapstick: SENNETT. Mack SENNETT, "The King of Comedy". I forgot all about him. Wikipedia says his Keystone Studios started the careers of Gloria Swanson, Bing Crosby, W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, etc.

41D: Key before E: D SHARP

42D: The Aztecs' Tonatiuh: SUN GOD. I don't know what's the meaning of Tonatiuh, so complete blank here. The same as Greek Helios/Roman Sol I suppose.

46D: Seasonal temp: SANTA. I thought temp is short for temperature. Good clue.

51D: Heart lines: Abbr.: ECGS. I wrote down EEGS, which is actually the brain scan "Head lines".

54D: Like the Wizard's heartless visitor: TIN. Did not get it easily, though I love the movie and know clearly that the Tin Man has no heart. I guess I always thought of TIN as a noun rather than an adjective. So, what would be the answer for "Like the Wizard's courgeless/brainless visitor"? MANED & what?

Answer grid.

C.C.