Saturday July 25, 2009 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

Total words: 72

I had lost the battle before I even started. As soon as I saw Brad Wilber's name, I froze. His puzzles are all hard.

My grid looked rather empty on the first try. But my sparse fills are mostly correct. The following names are absolutely gimmes to me:

41A: Tommie of the "Miracle Mets": AGEE. God in "Oh, God!" says "The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets". Hilarious.

50A: 2002 British Open champ: ELS (Ernie). David Duval won in 2001.

29D: Bush Supreme Court nominee: ALITO (Samuel). I wonder if anyone considered MIERS (Harriet). John Roberts is a Bush nominee as well.

I misread lots of clues today. All in all, too steep a mountain for me to climb.

Across:

1A: Colt 45, e.g.: MALT LIQUOR. Of course, I thought of baseball's Houston Colt .45's (now Astros).

11A: Shelter protests: ARFS. Animal shelter.

15A: Joy to the max: EXUBERANCE. Recklessly wrote down *EST at the end.

17A: Emmy-winning 1972 TV concert film: LIZA WITH A "Z". No idea. I liked Liza Minnelli's "New York, New York".

18A: Logical start? IDEO. Ideological.

19A: Greet the visitors?: BOO. Nice clue. Fans BOO the visiting team.

20A: Comparison words: AS A. There is nothing as beautiful AS A dewy red rose on a summer morning.

21A: Washington summit: RAINIER. No MT?

25A: Palais du Louvre resident, once: ROI. Oui, c'est vrai. Louvre is once a royal palace.

27A: Hybrid garment: SKORT. Had more fun following Natalie Gulbis than Michelle Wie during last year's US Open. She looks adorable in SKORT.

28A: Brief turndown: 'FRAID NOT

31A: Abbr. in a genealogy volume: DAU. Daughter I suppose. Not a familiar abbr. to me.

32A: Film follower: SEQUEL

39A: Street corner feature: SIGNAGE. I just call it SIGN.

35A: Site of semicircular canals: EAR. Was thinking of the waterway canal.

36A: "__ No Sunshine": 1971 Bill Withers hit: AIN'T. Here is the clip. Not a familiar song to me.

37A: Bismarck's realm: PRUSSIA. Gimme for Kazie.

42A: Logos, e.g.: Abbr.: TMS (Trademarks)

44A: Military brass?: BUGLES. I was in the high-ranking military officer direction.

45A: Knock over: ROB. "Knock over" is a new slang to me.

46A: Olivier's "Rebecca" costar: FONTAINE (Joan). Unknown to me. See the poster.

48A: Filing material: EMERY

51A: Comprehend: GRASP

55A: Best Buy's Geek Squad, e.g.: TECHIES. Best Buy is headquartered here in MN.

57A: New Deal dam-building org.: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)

59A: Battle of Chancellorsville victor, 1863: LEE. Stumped. Have never heard of Battle of Chancellorsville, Robert E. LEE's "perfect battle" because of his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force, according to Wikipedia.

61A: Prescription that might give you shakes?: LIQUID DIET. I was thinking of the trembling shakes rather than the milk/protein shakes.

64A: Head turner, at times: REIN. Sigh, too wicked a clue for me. I would never have thought of a bridle.

65A: 1988 winner of seven Olympic swimming medals: MATT BIONDI. No idea. He looks handsome. All the talk was focused on Mark Spitz when Michael Phelps won 8 golds at the 2008 Olympics.

66A: Celtic language: ERSE

67A: Opportunity for a Hollywood hopeful: SCREEN TEST

Down:

1D: Peach __: MELBA. I've never had this dessert. In Chinese myth, peach is the divine fruit of gods. It symbolizes long life and immortality.

2D: Hypothetical particle: AXION. No idea. But -ON is suffix for subatomic particle.

3D: Manila's island: LUZON. The largest island in the Philippines, where Martin's wife came from.

4D: Not yet filled: Abbr. TBA

5D: "Johnny Belinda" Oscar nominee: LEW AYRES. I forgot. I googled his name before. Wikipedia says Jane Wyman feel in love with him while filming this movie and left Ronald Reagan for LEW AYRES, "albeit unsuccessfully".

6D: Where a pupil sits?: IRIS. Clever clue.

7D: Saudi neighbor: QATARI. People of Qatar. I misinterpreted Saudi as Saudi Arabia the country.

8D: Granite State sch.: UNH (University of New Hampshire)

9D: Ovoid wind instruments: OCARINAS. I forgot. Dictionary says this word is diminutive of Italian oca, meaning goose, because its mouthpiece is shaped like a goose's beak.

10D: Exiled Shah Mohammed __ Pahlavi: REZA. Who the heck knows his middle name? Anyone? Anyone?

11D: Didn't sleep __: A WINK. Is this an idiom?

12D: Car tuning aid: RADIO DIAL

13D: Allowed to graze: FREE RANGE

14D: Durango and Sorento: SPORT UTES. I've never heard of Sorento.

22D: Lobby add-on: IST. Lobbyist. Excellent clue.

24D: Helpful: OF USE

26D: Dedicated lines: ODES

30D: Small antelope: ORIBI. Can never remember this antelope name. His horns are rather short, erect though.

32D: You'll need one for your flat: SPARE TIRE. I thought of the apartment "flat".

33D: Indoor rowing machine: ERGOMETER. New machine to me. Ergo is a prefix for "work".

34D: North American Francophone: QUEBECOIS. "-Phone" is a suffix for "speaker of a language". Francophone, Anglophone, etc.

36D: Inflame: ANGER

38D: One having an identity crisis?: AMNESIAC. Another diabolic clue. I struggled of course.

40D: Kipling's "Limpin' lump o' brick-dust": GUNGA DIN. No idea.

43D: Cardinal's insignia: STL. St. Louis Cardinals.

46D: Memo opener: FYI

47D: Perceptive: ASTUTE

49D: Lake Geneva feeder: RHONE

52D: Dress introduced by Dior: A-LINE. Learned this fact while doing some googling on DIOR some time ago.

52D: Navel orange's lack: SEEDS. I wish cherries have no pits.

54D: Word before four or point: PETIT. Know the small cake PETIT four. Not PETIT point.

56D: Colonnade choices: ELMS. The #2 meaning of colonnade in dictionary: a series of trees planted in a long row, as on each side of a driveway or road. New definition to me.

58D: Vague feeling: VIBE. Wanted AURA.

62D: Super Bowl div.: QTR. Thought of AFC/NFC. This puzzle has three letter Q's, two Z's & one X. Quite scrabbly.

63D: Semi-colon?: DOT. Good clue. Colon : has two dots.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday July 24, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: ICed - IC is inserted into familiar phrases.

18A: Break from soldiers' training?: BASIC RELIEF

24A: Clown settlement?: ANTIC COLONY

38A: International affair?: TOPIC OF THE WORLD

49A: O. Henry stories?: IRONIC WORKS

60A: Copperfield's limo?: MAGIC WHEELS

Hmmm, IC, maybe I SEE (12D: Now that makes sense) is a better theme title.

I did not know there is a special term for those chrome wheels. Mag wheels are so named because "the aluminum is mixed up with a bit of magnesium to form a stronger alloy", according to one article.

Another hard puzzle for me. Lots of misdirections. I just don't think I am capable of solving late week puzzles. My "Yes, I can" hope has faded into "Probably not", just like some of Obama's ambitious plans.

O'NEAL (64A: Center of Cleveland?) clue is tricky. I actually knew Shaq was traded to Cleveland Cavaliers last month. I remember his "Win for Ring for the King" (LeBron James) quote in the newspaper. But I did not make the connection. Thought it's just another wordplay on the very center of word Cleveland.

Across:

1A: Devious, in a way: COY. Plunked in SLY immediately.

4A: Bad states: SNITS. My husband is easily peeved.

9A: You often see a lap in one: CHAIR. Ha ha, I was picturing someone's lap, but I could not see a CHAIR.

14A: Bullet in a deck: ACE

15A: Strange: OUTRE. Tried EERIE first.

16A: Kind of trader: HORSE. Could only think of FUR.

17A: Royal sleep disturbance, in a tale: PEA. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Princess and the PEA".

20A: Ill-advised: RASH. Is "Ill-advised" the same as "Ill-considered"?

22A: Flames' org.: NHL. Our NHL team is Minnesota Wild.

23A: Gives the slip: EVADES. "Give the slip" is a new phrase to me.

27A: Old waste allowance: TRET. After the deduction for TARE (the weight of a vehicle).

28A: Resemble strongly: PASS FOR

33A: ID necessity, often: PHOTO. The clue is asking for an abbreviated answer, isn't it?

36A: Plow into: RAM. Dictionary explains "Plow into" as "to strike with force". New to me.

37A: Like Chinese dishes, frequently: TO GO. My instinctive reaction is FATTY.

42A: It may be gross in med. sch.: ANAT

43A: OPEC member: UAE. The world's tallest building (Dubai Tower,2,684 feet) is in UAE.

44A: Development units: HOMES. And ACRES (65A: Some plots). I thought of the fictional plots.

45A: Picks: SELECTS

47A: Monopoly cards: DEED

54A: Pizza chain: SBARRO. No idea. Not a fan of pizza or Italian food. The logo looks like SHARRO.

58A: Like Bizet's only symphony: IN C. I had IN? sitting there forever.

59A: Night light: NEON. Nice rhyme. I was in the moonlight direction.

63A: Short sentence about a long term: I DO. Tricky clue. I thought of prison term/sentence.

66A: "I reckon not": NAW. Hillbilly slang I suppose.

67A: Noodleheads: GEESE

68A: "Siddhartha" author: HESSE. Has anyone read this book? Hermann HESSE also wrote "Steppenwolf". He won Nobel Literature in 1946.

69A: It's up to you: SKY. Of course! But I was too stupid to know.

Down:

1D: "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" director: CAPRA. I watched "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" simply because of Chris Matthews. It's one of his favorite movies.

2D: Shore thing: OCEAN. Sure.

4D: __ story: SOB

5D: Fine point: NUANCE

6D: August comment: IT'S HOT. And WHEW (41D: See 6-D). I don't understand the rationale for the WHEW clue.

7D: Warbling sound: TRILL

8D: IPO overseer: SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)

9D: Malibu and Tahoe: CHEVYS. Oh, cars.

10D: Guadalajara greeting: HOLA. What do you normally say when you pick up the phone? Chinese say "Wei", same pronunciation as Michelle Wei's surname.

11D: Ideal for Joshua trees: ARID. Joshua trees grow in desert.

13D: Trio in an NBA game: REFS. Wow, I did not know this. Not interested in basketball.

19D: Entitle, as an altered file: RENAME

21D: Ancient Indo-European: HITTITE. No idea. It's "a member of an ancient people who established a powerful empire in Asia Minor and Syria, dominant from about 1900 to 1200 BC".

25D: Swift reptile: CROC. Did not know CROC is a reptile member.

26D: Vividly colored fish: OPAH. Or TETRA, another colorful fish.

29D: Used as an elevator: STOOD ON

30D: Blob's lack: FORM

31D: Rubberneck: OGLE. The answer is always GAWK.

32D: Eye cells: RODS. I forgot this "Eye cell" meaning of ROD.

33D: NEA supporters: PTAS

34D: Fine-tune: HONE

35D: Fall birthstone: OPAL. Birthstone for October.

36D: Itinerary abbr.: RTE

39D: Have a better crew than: OUTROW. Wrote down OUTMAN.

40D: Burkina __: FASO. I've never heard of this landlocked nation. It's in West Africa.

46D: Group with common interest: CIRCLE. "Charmed CIRCLE, Gertrude Stein and Company" is a very interesting read.

47D: Some booth occupants: DINERS

48D: Proverbs follower: Abbr.: ECCLES. Bible book. Stumped again.

50D: Heiress, perhaps: NIECE

51D: Equestrian tools: REINS

52D: Maker of Advantix cameras: KODAK. Not familiar with Advantix. AIG replaced KODAK as a DOW component several years ago. Now Kraft Foods has replaced AIG.

53D: Blizzardlike: SNOWY

54D: Urban hazard: SMOG

55D: Proverbial thorn: BANE

56D: "A Death in the Family" novelist: AGEE. James AGEE also co-wrote the script for "The African Queen".

57D: England's Portsmouth Harbour and and others: RIAS. I don't know Portsmouth Harbour is a RIA, which is often just clued as "Narrow inlet".

61D: "As if!": HAH

62D: Mariner's hdg.: SSE. Oh well, it can be any direction.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday July 23, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Take Actions

18A: Take on: GO UP AGAINST

23A: Takeoff: AIR DEPARTURE

32A: Take up: BEGIN LEARNING

41A: Takedown: WRESTLING MOVE

48A: Take in: PUT ONE OVER ON

57A: Takeout: HOT FOOD TO GO

Dictionary defines "Takedown" as "a move or series of maneuvers that succeeds in bringing a standing opponent down onto the mat." New word to me. I also did not know the idiom PUT ONE OVER ON.

I am often taken aback by Dan Naddor's productivity. I wonder how much time he commits to constructing puzzles every day. He is so thorough and ambitious in theme answer researches/designs. Six-theme entries seem to be very common for his 15*15 grids. On/off, up/down & in/out are all paired up nicely.

I really felt dumb this morning. Could not even parse A.F. OF L (62A: Union founded by Samuel Gompers, for short). I am more used to the AFL abbreviation. A.F. OF L is American Federation OF Labor.

Across:

1A: Spill catcher: BIB. Spilled some cherry juice on my white tank top the other day. So surprised that the stains came off rather easily.

4A: Cornered: AT BAY

9A: A pump lacks one: STRAP. Cameron Diaz' "In Her Shoes" is pretty funny.

14A: Sun Devils' sch.: ASU (Arizona State University)

16A: Hogwash: TRIPE

17A: Strauss's "__ Rosenkavalier": DER. German "the". DER Rosenkavalier = The Knight of the Rose. Have never heard of this opera.

20A: __artery, which supplies the kidneys: RENAL. Guessed, since RENAL is often clued as "Kidney-related".

22A: Tee-hee: SNICKER

27A: Expectoration sound: PTUI. The spitting sound. Expectoration/Expectorate (verb) is a new word to me.

28A: River inlet: RIA. Last time Dan Naddor clued it as "Esturary". I always want BAY.

29A: Bando of the 1960s-70s: SAL. Got his name from the Down fills.

38A: Like some auto engine: REBUILT. Did not come to me immediately.

40A: Daughter of King Minos: ARIADNE. She helped Theseus escaped the Labyrinth, but he deserted her. She later married Dionysus, God of fertility/wine.

43A: Place for a stud: EAR. Stud earrings. I like how it crosses the anagrammed baseball ERA (39D: Diamond stat).

44A: DUI's excess: ALC

45A: "Make __ Away": Sheryl Crow song: IT GO. What does IT refer to? Love?

53A: Big name in art glass: STEUBEN. I could only think of Tiffany.

61A: Windy City transportation grp.: CTA (Chicago Transit Authority).

63A: Y, sometimes: VOWEL. My favorite clue. Sometimes Y is a consonant, as in "Yes".

64A: Kenan's TV pal: KEL. Nickelodeon's "Kenan & KEL". I simply forgot.

65A: Kirsten of "Spider-Man": DUNST. I liked her in "Marie Antoniette". So innocent.

66A: Land formation named for its usual shape: DELTA

67A: Cannes condiment: SEL. French for salt. Last time "Poivre's partner" stumped many. Poivre is French for pepper.

Down:

1D: Unfair judgment, slangily: BAD RAP. Silly that some people eschew potatoes because of the carbs. Carbs are not fattening. Excess calories are.

2D: "Thar she blows!": I SEE IT

3D: Peel out: BURN RUBBER. "Peel out" is a new slang to me.

4D: Perspective: ANGLE

6D: HVAC measure: BTU

7D: Band aid?: AMP. Nice play on Band-Aid.

9D: Flight segment: STAIR

10D: Very short time: TRICE. I used to confuse TRICE with THRICE.

11D: Lemieux's milieu: RINK. Mario Lemieux. The only person to win the Stanley Cup as both a player and an owner (Penguins).

12D: It adjoins the altar: APSE. APSE & NAVE often confuse me.

13D: Rock: Pref.: PETR. As in petrify.

19D: Bearded grazer: GNU. Ah, OK, this wildebeest (GNU) does have beard.

21D: Parting words: ADIEUS

24D: Dry residue from molten liquid: PRILL. Like this? I've never heard of this word before.

25D: "__ a stinker?": Bugs Bunny line: AIN'T I

26D: N.C.'s capital: RAL. Raleigh.

29D: Gets off the point: SIDETRACKS

30D: First name in advice: ANN. ANN Landers.

33D: "Skedaddle!": GIT. Variant of get.

34D: Birdie beater: EAGLE. Golf term. Birdie is 1 under par. Eagle is 2 under par. I don't like "beater". Hate the image it conjures up.

35D: AK Steel Holding Corp. formerly: ARMCO. No idea. ARMCO stands for American Rolling Mills Corporation.

36D: __ Grande: RIO. Just saw "Blame It on RIO" the other day. Demi Moore seems to get more beautiful as she ages. She only eats raw food.

37D: Marine combatants: NAVIES. The warships? I was picturing those tough Marines fighting in Iraq/Afghanistan.

38D: "Nature" author's monogram: RWE. Ralph Waldo Emerson. I was stumped. Did not know Emerson's full name.

42D: Indian bread: NAN. Chinese Muslims call the bread NAN too.

46D: Colonel Sanders trademark: GOATEE

47D: Prepared to be summoned: ON CALL

48D: Light, filled pastries: PUFFS. Croissants are PUFFS pastries, right? They are heavy though.

49D: Letter-shaped fastener: U-BOLT

50D: Fabi of racing: TEO. Total stranger to me. Wikipedia says he participated in 71 Formula One Grands Prix.

51D: Available from Netflix, say: ON DVD

52D: String quartet member: VIOLA

53D: River herring: SHAD. Had no idea that SHAD is a kind of "River herring". Pickled herrings are delicious.

54D: Vegan staple: TOFU. TO is literally 'bean". FU means "ferment".

55D: Orwell's alma mater: ETON. "James Bond's alma mater" too.

58D: Water tester: TOE. Nice clue.

59D: Barn bird: OWL. Thought of HEN first.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday July 22, 2009 Timothy L. Meaker

Theme: SANDWICH (70A: Lunch order that can follow the starts of 1-, 35- and 43-Across)

1A: Bar mixer: CLUB SODA

35A: Jerusalem prayer site: WESTERN WALL

43A: Unrestricted trading areas: OPEN MARKETS

What kind of bread do you use for WESTERN SANDWICH? I've never heard of it before.

I used to love baguette with crudité, jambon et gruyere, you know, those delicious sandwich you find at every boulangerie in Paris. Now my lunch are mainly onigiri (rice balls).

Interesting that SANDWICH is placed symmetrically with CLUB SODA. We don't often see unifying theme answer positioned in such a way.

I enjoyed the puzzle. Food-themed grid is always pleasant to solve.

Across:

2A: Long pace: STRIDE. And TROTS (51A: Easy gaits).

15A: Tangy dessert: LEMON PIE. Have never had this dessert. Sounds tart.

16A: Deceive: LEAD ON

18A: In the prior month: ULTIMO. Next month is PROXIMO. And the current month is INSTANT. All new to me.

19A: Precisely: TO A T. Or TO A TEE.

22A: Beat overwhelmingly: CRUSH. And CLUTCH (1D: Shifting mechanism). Both terrific fills, with only one vowel.

24A: Taxing mo.?: APR. Don't feel question mark is needed.

25A: Title role for 13-Down: FATSO. And DOM (13D: Actor DeLuise). DOM is short for Dominick. I've never seen the film. Not familiar with the actor either.

30A: Riled (up): HET. Dialectal variant of "heated".

31A: Has much too much, briefly: ODS. What's the clue in your paper?

37A: Negri of silents: POLA. I can never remember this girl's name. She's Pol-ish.

41A: Pelota catcher: CESTA. The jai alai basket. Learned from doing Xword.

42A: Buck tail?: AROO. Buckaroo. "Buck tail?" can clue EYE too. Buckeye.

46A: Le Car maker: RENAULT. Citroën has 7 letters too.

47A: "Michael Collins" actor: REA. Liam Neeson played Michael Collins. One of my favorite IRA themed films. Stephen REA's "The Crying Game" is still the best.

48A: Spaniards roll theirs: ARS. I did not know the spelled-out form of letter R is AR.

52A: UFO pilots, in theory: ETS. Why "in theory"?

54A: Discover with effort: DIG UP

56A: Wild West showman: CODY. I did not know Buffalo Bill's real name is CODY.

58A: Edge (out): NOSE

59A: Community west of Montebello, Calif.: EAST LA

63A: Unwavering: RESOLUTE

68A: Like much of Rossini's work: OPERATIC

69A: Groups of eight: OCTADS

Down:


2D: Lost love in "The Raven": LENORE. No idea. All I know about "The Raven" is "nevermore". LENORE is short for Elenore.

3D: Düsseldorf feature?: UMLAUT. The diacritical dots mark above letter ü.

6D: Brief photo sessions?: OPS. Photo OPS.

8D: Man of many morals: AESOP. The adjective of fable is fabulous.

9D: Disparaging remark: SLUR

10D: 1977 Bronson/Remick mind-control thriller: TELEFON. No idea. The poster does not look interesting. TELEFON is German for telephone.

11D: Stoolie: RAT

12D: First name in tyranny: IDI. Uganda's IDI Amin. Shame on me for thinking of MAO first. MAO is a surname. Chinese put family in front of given name. Yao Ming's surname is Yao.

14D: Rock producer Brian: ENO. He created the Windows 95 startup sound, using his Mac. How ironic!

24D: Said positively: ASSERTED

26D: Former Sanyo competitor: AIWA. Sony acquired AIWA in 2002.

28D: WWII French battle site: ST LO

29D: Nobel Peace Prize city: OSLO. All the other prizes are presented in Stockholm.

36D: "Mustn't do that": TSK. Ah, vowelless fill.

37D: Computer connection: PORT

38D: Letters near zero?: OPER. Phone button.

44D: Like Mr. America: MUSCLED. Too much.

48D: Rabbitlike rodent: AGOUTI. Wikipedia says AGOUTIS give birth to litters of two to four young after a gestation period of three months. Some species have two litters a year in May and October while others breed year round. The same with rabbits I suppose.

49D: Backwoodsy: RUSTIC

50D: Soapbox output: SPEECH

53D: Greenhorns: TYROS. I am not a crossword TYRO any more.

55D: Marriage acquisition: IN-LAW. I love being married.

61D: Met: SAT. As a meeting. "The council met in session last night." or "The council SAT in session last night." (From Argyle).

62D: Defunct flier: TWA. Howard Hughes owned TWA from 1939 to 1966.

64D: AQI user: EPA. AQI is Air Quality Index.

65D: One of a D.C. 100: SEN. Yeah, Al Franken was finally swore in several weeks ago. Now we have 100 senators.

66D: Former Monterey Bay fort: ORD. Fort ORD was closed in 1994.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Tuesday July 21, 2009 Bruce Venzke

Theme: Water Transportation Vehicles

17A: Salem trials crime: WITCHCRAFT

57A: Press suppression: CENSORSHIP

11D: Aorta, for one: BLOOD VESSEL

25D: Shake things up: ROCK THE BOAT

What are the exact differences among CRAFT, VESSEL and SHIP? I only know BOAT is a small SHIP.

Also, why "Clumsy vessels" for ARKS (36A)? Why "Clumsy"? I don't like the clue anyway, as VESSEL is part of the theme answer for 11D.

I pwned this puzzle. Felt good.

Across:

1A: Hippie adornments: BEADS. Easy guess. I don't really know what kind of stuff those Hippies wore in the 60's.

6A: Weaponless self-defense: JUDO. Literally, "gentle way". DO is the same as Chinese TAO (way).

10A: Semi driver, at times: CB'ER

14A: Ancient people of south-central Mexico: OLMEC. Are they part of AZTEC?

15A: François's "with": AVEC. Opposite SANS.

16A: Neutrogena rival: OLAY. I love the smell of OLAY cream (the original). Been using it since my college days.

19A: All in a huff: SORE

21A: Convertibles, slangily: RAGTOPS

26A: Worked in a soup kitchen: LADLED

28A: "Our Gang" dog: PETEY. "Pete, the Dog With the Ring Around His Eye". Unknown to me.

30A: North Pole crew: ELVES

38A: Jeweler's glass: LOUPE. Some of the marked Taxco Mexico sterling pieces can fetch thousands of dollars on Ebay.

40A: Dept. of Labor agency: OSHA

41A: Pity-evoking quality: PATHOS. Sitting atop ETHIC (46A: Moral principle).

45A: Met, as a poker hand: SAW. I forgot. We had SEE and RAISE discussions before.

48A: Doe in "Bambi": ENA. Bambi's aunt.

49A: Surround, as with a circle of light: ENHALO. Did not know ENHALO is a word.

51A: "Believe It or Not" guy: RIPLEY. "Believe It or Not", I learned this name from our great farmer/philosopher Windhover.

53A: 1996 loser to Bill Clinton: BOB DOLE. "Easy, boy."

55A: "M*A*S*H" Emmy winner for acting, writing and directing: ALDA

56A: Childlike race in "The Time Machine": ELOI. Two races in "The Time Machine": The ELOI and the Morlocks, the latter eat the former. Yum!

62A: Smelter's waste: SLAG

63A: Dian Fossey subjects: APES

65A: Makes doilies: TATS. Oh, reminds me of that long word antimacassar.

65A: Da's opposite: NYET. Russian for no. Ja & NIEN in German.

67A: Bit of casino action: WAGER

Down:

4D: Fake drake, e.g.: DECOY. Good rhyme.

5D: Hauls with effort: SCHLEPS. Awesome word. Only one vowel.

7D: Charlottesville inst.: UVA (University of Virginia). Founded by Thomas Jefferson.

8D: Offset, as expenses: DEFRAY

9D: Square dance group: OCTAD. Octet too.

10D: Rocker Elvis: COSTELLO. No idea. His name came from Elvis Presley.

12D: 1870s Dodge City VIP: EARP (Wyatt). The O.K. Corral guy. Funny to call him VIP, a word that did not appear until 1940's.

18D: Trix and Kix: CEREALS. Another rhyming clue.

23D: Predicament: SCRAPE. New definition of SCRAPE to me.

26D: Set the stage for: LED UP TO

29D: Pedro's uncle: TIO. Pedro's "uncle" could be NO MAS too.

31D: Natural gas component: ETHANE

32D: Shipping route: SEAWAY. Nice entry, considering the theme today.

35D: "The Munsters" actress Yvonne: DE CARLO. Lily Munster.

37D: Galas: SHINDIGS

42D: Cinco y tres: OCHO. Spanish for eight. OTTO in Italian.

44D: Vagrants' hangout: SKID ROW

50D: Highway through the Yukon: ALCAN. AL(aska)-CA(nadian) Highway. Built during WWII.

52D: Old Turkish VIP: PASHA. The other Turkish VIP's are AGA and BEY. "Russian villa" is DASHA.

55D: Type of coach: Abbr. ASST

59D: Crone: HAG. Lois confused crone with crony last time.

61D: Word before se: PER. Hard to come up with a clever clue for PER.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Monday, July 20, 2009 Robert W. Harris

Theme: Giant Leap For Mankind

16A: 57-Across, 12-Down or 24-Down: ASTRONAUT

35A: Landing site of 7/20/1969: TRANQUILITY BASE

57A: 16-Across Neil: ARMSTRONG

12D: 16-Across Buzz: ALDRIN

24D: 16-Across Michael: COLLINS

42D: __ 11, mission celebrated in this puzzle: APOLLO

Bonus fill : 9D: 35-Across is on it: MOON. Where they landed. Its symmetrical partner EERO (53D: Architect Saarinen) is not part of the theme, hence bonus.

Argyle here.

It was forty years ago today when, at 02:56 UTC on July 21 (9:56pm CDT, July 20), 1969, Armstrong made his descent to the Moon's surface and spoke his famous line "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind". See this picture of the APOLLO 11 crew.

Across:

1A: Federal job safety org.: OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

15A: Early programming language: COBOL. Its name is an acronym for COmmon Business-Oriented Language.

18A: Secretly stock up on: HOARD.

19A: Wicker furniture maker: CANER.

20A: One of a crab's grabbers: PINCER. PINCERS pinch.

21A: Gaza Strip gp.: PLO. Palestine Liberation Organization. Hamas controls West Bank.

23A: TV kid "in the middle": MALCOLM. A sitcom on the Fox Network, the series was first broadcast on January 8, 2000, and ended its six-and-a-half-year run on May 14, 2006. Frankie Muniz as Malcolm. "Boss of Me Now", theme song by 'They Might Be Giants'. (Full Version)

26A: Sch. with a Providence campus: URI. University of Rhode Island. Hey, Dr. Dad.

27A: Holy, in Le Havre: SACRE. SACRE bleu!

32A: Dawdling type: DALLIER; 48A: More foamy, as soap: SUDSIER; 43D: More squarish: BOXIER.

40A: What bikinis expose, informally: TUMMIES. And 42A: Sit-up targets: ABS. On the beach.

41A: Informed about: IN ON.

45A: Yemen city: ADEN.

46A: Pretentious one: PSEUD. Shortened pseudointellectual: a person of fatuously earnest intellectual, artistic, or social pretensions.

47A: "The Tell-Tale Heart" author: POE.

51A: Naval noncom: Abbr.: CPO. Chief Petty Officer.

52A: Yoked beasts, collectively: OX TEAM.

56A: It's slightly larger than a quart: LITER.

61A: Ogles: LEERS.

62A: Asian desert: GOBI.

66A: Mother of Castor and Pollux: LEDA. LEDA's twin sons are famous for their fraternal affection and regarded as the protectors of persons at sea. LEDA is also mother of Helen of Troy.

Down:

1D: "...man __ mouse?": OR A.

3D: Wintertime drink: HOT COCOA.

4D: Gillette razor: ATRA. What would constructors do without this Gillette razor?

5D: Sleep disorder: APNEA.

6D: Oyster's gem: PEARL.

7D: __ de Cologne: EAU.

8D: Former fast flier, for short: SST.

10D: Beaded calculator: ABACUS.

11D: Bullring VIP: TORERO.

15D: Sweep's milieu: CHIMNEY. The environment or a setting for the worker cleaning your flue is the CHIMNEY.

17D: "Drinks are __": ON ME. Not heard often enough!

20D: Braids: PLAITS.

21D: Sibilant "Hey!": PSST.

25D: Hardy of Laurel and Hardy: OLLIE.

32D: Kind of bullet that expands on impact: DUMDUM. The Hague Convention prohibits the use in international warfare of DUMDUMS.

33D: Got ready to fire: AIMED.

34D: Score-producing stats: RBIS.

36D: Highly luminous cosmic objects: QUASARS. Quas(i-stell)ar.

37D: Often-amusing story: ANECDOTE. Don't take it for poison; there you need an antidote.

38D: Gazpacho, e.g.: SOUP.

39D: Within: Pref.: ENDO. Opposite ECTO.

44D: Part of a living room set: SETTEE.

46D: Methodist, e.g.: Abbr.: PROT. Methodist is one of the PROTestant churches.

49D: Poetry feet: IAMBS. Metrical feet.

50D: Borden mascot: ELSIE. Elsie, the cow, and family.

55D: Russia's __ Mountains: URAL.

57D: Part of USDA: Abbr.: AGR. United States Department of AGRiculture

58D: French king: ROI. The oldest son of a French ROI is called DAUPHIN.

60D: Coll. student's concern: GPA. Grade Point Average.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday July 19, 2009 Alan Arbesfeld

Theme: Den of Thieves - CON is added to each phrase.

23A: Builder's political clout?: CONTRACTOR PULL

34A: Patronizing part of the digestive tract?: CONDESCENDING COLON

47A: Lacking partners?: OUT OF CONSORTS

60A: Oppose, while tippling?: CONFRONT LOADED

68D: Lawyer in line for a title shot: LEGAL CONTENDER

86A: "Da" or "ja"?: CONSENT ABROAD

93A: Angel on one's shoulder? MASTER OF CONSCIENCE

113A: Charge of the TV?: CONSOLE CUSTODY

Five of the CON's are prefixed to the first word, three are to the second word. Nice theme title. Reminds me of James Steward's "Den of Thieves" (a book about inside trading).

Descending colon was new to me, but CONDESCENDING part was not tough to get. LOADED is an adjective, how could it describe a verb CONFRONT?

"Da" is Russian for "yes". Russian "no" is NYET. "Ja" is German for "yes", and we have the "no" NEIN (87D: Kurt refusal?) in the grid. Good play on "curt refusal".

I had another struggle. The sheer size of Sunday puzzle just intimidated me. Also, lots of sports references in this puzzle. I can picture how Kazie reacts.

Across:

1A: Apple variety: IMAC. I thought of FUJI apple again.

5A: "Hi and Lois" pooch: DAWG. Unknown to me.

9A: Like a 112-Across game: TIED. And ONE ONE (112A: Score in a pitchers' duel). What a boring game!

13A: Chalk talk, perhaps: LESSON

19A: "Me neither": NOR I. Or the rice ball/sushi wrapping seaweed NORI.

20A: City known for lake-effect snow: ERIE. I like the new clue.

21A: Actress Skye: IONE. Wrote down IONA.

22A: Colts fullback Alan who famously scored the winning touchdown in the 1958 NFL championship game: AMECHE. No idea. Wikipedia says this guy is the cousin of actor Don AMECHE.

26A: Hair dryer brand: CONAIR

27A: Screen names, e.g.: USER IDS

28A: Pointillism marks: DOTS

29A: Race that once began in Wasilla: IDITAROD. Where does it start now? Anchorage? The terminus is Nome.

31A: Dinosaur, so to speak: RELIC

32A: Turn down: VETO

33A: "Right away, boss": I'M ON IT. Still have problem adjusting to multiple words.

41A: U.K's Gordon Brown et al: PMS. I was thinking of Labor Party.

44A: Him, to Henri: LUI. Her is ELLE.

48A: Hockey East college town: ORONO. More used to the "University of Maine town". Had no knowledge that there is even a Hockey East conference.

53A: Where to see Hamilton, informally: TEN SPOT. Did not know it's a slang for a ten-dollar bill. Sawbuck, yes.

55A: Bama rival: OLE MISS

56A: Affectedly dainty, in Dover: TWEE. No idea. It's a baby-talk alteration of sweet.

57A: Key contraction: O'ER. Francis Scott Key. National Anthem.

59A: Macho types: HE-MEN

64A: Mainland Africa's smallest nation: GAMBIA. See the map. It's surrounded by Senegal. A former British colony. I've never heard of it.

67A: Jeer leaders: BOOERS. Ah, "Cheer leader?" would be a great clue for CEE.

74A: Bothered to no end: ATE AT. And NAGS AT (95D: Bothers incessantly).

79A: Tin Woodsman's prop: AXE. "The Wizard of Oz". I only know him as the "Tin man".

81D: Being hunted, perhaps: AT LARGE

83A: Deodorant choices: ROLL-ONS

88A: Birch kin: ALDER

89A: City on the Orne: CAEN. Forgot. Might have seen ORNE clued as "Caen's river" before.

91A: Aution ending?: EER. Auctioneer.

92A: Scrub sites, briefly: ORS (Operation Rooms). Surgical scrub. Hence the TV series name "Scrubs".

100A: Old marketplaces: AGORAE. The Greek marketplace. I wrote down AGORAS.

101A: Near-eternity: AEON. Or EON.

102A: On the nose: EXACT

106A: Exurban resident: VILLAGER

109A: Toasted breakfast brand: EGGO

110A: Honda Ruckus, e.g.: SCOOTER. Not familiar with the Honda Ruckus brand.

116A: Claim holder: LIENOR

117A: Personnel list: ROTA. I forgot this word. It's British for roster.

118A: Stereotypical lab name: IGOR. The lab assistant in"Young Frankenstein".

119A: Model Sastre: INES. Wow, is this an intentional wardrobe malfunction? She is a Spanish model/actress.

120A: Burnout cause: STRESS

121A: Baseball's "Walking Man" Eddie: YOST. Hmmm, I might have this 1959 Topps reprint. Could not recall him or his nickname.

122A: Shopper's aid: TOTE

123A: "__ la vie": C'EST

Down:

1D: Run up: INCUR

2D: Meat favored by Sarah Palin: MOOSE. Brought back last year's MOOSE raves.

3D: Cellulose fiber: ARNEL. New word to me. Strange, a fiber without ON (orlon, nylon).

4D: Like ugli fruit: CITRIC

5D: Pooped out: DEAD

7D: Wilde, notably: WIT. Thought of GAY first.

8D: Crystal-lined rocks: GEODES

9D: Try to avoid detection, in a way: TIPTOE

10D: Chits: IOUS

11D: 8X10, e.g.: Abbr.: ENL

12D: Separate into fields: DELIMIT. New word to me. Sounds like "get rid of limit", doesn't it?

13D: Pre-skating chore: LACING

14D: Face with a hyphen for a nose, say: EMOTICON. :-)

15D: Ottawa NHLers: SENATORS. Twins were once Washington SENATORS.

16D: Easily recalled facial mark: SCAR. Wanted MOLE.

17D: Kent State locale: OHIO

19D: Societal klutz: NERD

25D: Uniformed campus org: ROTC

30D: Aid financially: DONATE TO

32D: Way to a man's heart?: VEIN. Couldn't cram in "through his stomach". Great clue.

35D: 2008 LA-Phila. showdown: NLCS (National League Championship Series). Phillies won of course.

36D: Pairs: DUOS

37D: Gunpowder ingredient: NITER

38D: Bounded along: LOPED

40D: Jotted down: NOTED

41D: Pal of Piglet: POOH. Winnie-the-POOH.

42D: Prospector's beast: MULE. No idea. Why?

43D: Goblet feature: STEM

48D: First watch on the moon: OMEGA. Oh, I did not know this.

49D: Set in stone: FINAL

50D: Ferret cousin: STOAT

51D: Dominate, in sports: OWN. PWN in leetspeaks.

53D: Field zebra: REF

54D: First name in legal fiction: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.

57D: __ close to schedule: ON OR

60D: Cannes showing: CINE. Cannes Film Festival.

61D: Needing a seat belt extender, say: OBESE. China is super-sizing its economy as well as its children.

63D: Sirius or Vega, e.g.: A STAR. I can never remember the star type: O, B, A, F, G, K & M (Oh, be a fine girl, kiss me).

65D: Thom __ shoes: MCAN

65D: Place to find hit records?: BOX SCORE. Great clue.

68D: Super Bowl XIV player: LA RAM. No idea. LA RAMS moved to St. Louis prior to the 1995 season, according to Wikipedia.

69D: Deadly virus: EBOLA

70D: Neuters: GELDS

71D: Low-budget prefix: ECONO

72D: "The Sound of Music" extra: NUN. Julie Andrews is in Bo Derek's "10" too.

73D: Around-the-horn MLB plays: DPS (Double Plays).

75D: Switch back?: EROO. Switcheroo. Good clue.

76D: Thickening agent: AGAR

77D: Turner and Mack: TEDS. Don't know TED Mack.

81D: Suit to __: A TEE

82D: Glacier-formed lake: TARN. Can never commit this word to my memory.

84D: Not to mention: LET ALONE

85D: Spaghetti sauce herbs: OREGANOS

86D: Winans of gospel: CECE

90D: Quite removed (from): A FAR CRY

94D: "All politics is applesauce" speaker: ROGERS. Will ROGERS is of Cherokee root.

96D: Utah state flower: SEGO. SEGO lily.

97D: "Calm down!": COOL IT

98D: Top suits: CEOS. Suit is a slang for business executive, as they often wear suit. Needs an abbreviation hint.

99D: Type of dancer: EXOTIC

103D: Say an Act of Contrition: ATONE

104D: Hands over: CEDES. Britain handed over Hongkong to China in 1997. And Portugal handed over Macau to China in 1999.

105D: It could be cheating: TRYST. Indeed.

106D: Lady __ Tenn. team: VOLS. University of Tennessee women's athletic teams. I was stumped again.

107D: Embroidered ltr.: INIT (Initial)

109D: Fangom Forest denizens: ENTS. Tolkien's talking tree ("The Lord of Rings") again. It's just clued as "Treebeard's kin" yesterday.

110D: Connery, by birth: SCOT. I liked Sean Connery in "Entrapment".

111D: Medical breakthrough: CURE

114D: Queenside castle, in chess notation: O-O-O. I know nothing about chess.

115D: It may be inflated: EGO. Saw this clue before. Still like it.

Thanks for the answers/comments, everyone.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday July 18, 2009 Doug Peterson

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 70

Whoa! This puzzle is hard. It should not be, as I actually know most of the fills. But the clues are tricky, exemplified by F-STOP (24A: Fuji setting). Of course, I filled in JAPAN first, thinking of Mt. Fuji.

Dennis probably likes those triple-stacked 9-worders in upper left/lower right and the paralleled 10's in the upper right/lower left. He likes long words. Me? I like simple, short, explosive, just-do-it verb words.

Neat to see the two 15-letter fills cross each other in the very middle of the grid:

35A: Control tower concern: TRAFFIC PATTERNS

8D: Antarctic denizens: EMPEROR PENGUINS

Across:

1A: Blissful state, slangily: HOG HEAVEN. Wanted CLOUD NINE.

10A: Tack together: BASTE. By sewing loosely with long stitches.

15A: Russian Orthodox church feature: ONION DOME. Named after its onion-like structure.

16A: Habitually: OFTEN

17A: They're usually not on itineraries: SIDE TRIPS

18A: Bullock's "Miss Congeniality" costar: BRATT. Sigh. I forgot who else starred in the movie. I like Benjamin BRATT's Rey in "Law & Order".

19A: French hagiological abbr.: STE. Hagio is a prefix for "saint". Hagiology is the literature dealing with the lives of the saints. New word to me. STE is often clued as "Fr. holy woman".

20A: Events on a card: RACES. Does this refer to "playing the race card"?

21A: Jam highlights: SOLOS. Wrote down RIFFS.

22A: Doctor finder: PAGER

23A: Yacht site: BASIN. Tiger Woods' yacht is called Privacy. He missed the cut at the British Open yesterday.

27A: Master: Abbr.: ORIG (Original)

29A: FDR program: NRA (National Recovery Administration)

31A: Steadily fading sound: ECHO. And POOF (22D: Vanishing word).

32A: French police detective unit: SURETE. No idea. It's France's FBI/Scotland Yard. SURETE (surety), is French for "safety".

32A: Elongated fish: GAR

38A: Dig into: EAT

39A: Fictional Queen: ELLERY. The mystery author. Queen is capitalized.

40A: Vacación destination: LAGO. Spanish for lake. Portuguese/Italian too.

41A: MLB rally killers: DPS (Double Plays)

42A: Logician Turing: ALAN. No idea. Have never heard of this guy (1912-1954). Wikipedia says he is often considered to be the father of modern computer science. And he died from eating a cyanide-laced apple. How sad!

43A: Not recent: OLDEN

44A: Fencer's defense: PARRY

46A: Coconut's place: GROVE. I always associate GROVE with short trees. Coconut trees are pretty tall.

49A: Jazz pianist Ahmad: JAMAL. Stumped. He looks charming. Wikipedia says his music is featured in Clint Eastwood's "The Bridge of Madison County", a rather disappointing movie. The book is so good.

50A: Handbook, e.g.: GUIDE

51A: Ft. Worth campus: TCU (Texas Christian University). Strange mascot name: Horned Frogs. Fighting Okra is another strange mascot name.

54A: Winning, barely: UP ONE. Not ONE UP?

55A: A paddlewheel may propel one: RIVERBOAT. Wikipedia says modern RIVERBOATS are generally screw (propeller) driven.

57A: Drips: NERDS. Dictionary defines "drip" as "an unattractive, boring, or colorless person." That's different from NERD, isn't it?

58A: Like sound frequencies above 20 kHz or so, to humans: INAUDIBLE. Oh, good to know.

59A: Beaniks of '50s-'60s TV: KREBS. No idea. It's a character in "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis"

60A: Surfing equipment?: DSL MODEMS. The question mark should send you in the internet surfing direction.

Down:

1D: Eric Cartwright's nickname on "Bonanaza": HOSS. Completely unknown (the one in the middle) to me. Wikipedia explains that HOSS might come from "Haas", Swedish for "big in stature and big in spirit". Oh, I also saw Jay Haas last week at the 3M Championship.

2D: Handling the task: ON IT. Now I miss AT IT.

3D: French Nobelist André: GIDE. He won Nobel Literature in 1947. He inspired Camus and Sartre, both Nobel winners. Camus 1957. Sartre 1964, though he declined.

4D: Row starter: HOE. No idea. Use HOE to start a row in the garden?

5D: Rope in: ENTRAP

6D: "Kind of __": 1967 hit: A DRAG. Here is the clip. Have never heard of the song.

7D: Music school major: VOICE

9D: Headland: NESS

10D: First "America's Funniest Home Videos" host: BOB SAGET. He was also the dad in "Full House".

11D: Puffy styles: AFROS. I was imagining WM's soufflé.

12D: Critical 1942-1943 battle site: STALINGRAD. Now called Volgograd. Grad is a suffix meaning "city".

13D: It's part of the Rockies: TETON RANGE. The Grant Teton is the highest mountain of the range.

14D: Treebeard's kin: ENTS. Tolkien's talking trees. Treebeard is the eldest of the species of ENTS, according to Wikipedia.

23D: Wee: BITTY

23D: Honored with a party: FETED

25D: Jotting medium: SCRAP PAPER. I always carry a 6" X 9" notebook with me. You?

26D: Dean Martin classic: THAT'S AMORE. I did not really appreciate the EEL clue ("That's a moray") last time until Dennis brought up THAT'S AMORE.

28D: Bottom: REAR. Oh, the derrière "Bottom".

30D: Illicit ignition: ARSON

32D: Lacking gravity: SILLY. Wanted ZERO G.

3D: First to win 100 NCAA team championships: UCLA. Total 104. Who is next? Stanford?

36D: Unflinching: FEARLESS

37D: Magazine with the column "Ask E. Jean": ELLE. Four-letter magazine, what else could it be?

43D: Go too far: OVERDO

45D: Soul predecessor: R AND B. Had huge trouble with this answer. I was thinking something like BRAVE, you know, BRAVE soul.

47D: Romantic triangle figure: RIVAL

48D: Recital hall: ODEUM. Plural is ODEA.

49D: Kind of fax: JUNK. Stymied also.

50D: Sudoku feature: GRID. "Crossword feature" too.

51D: Soliloquy opener: TO BE. "TO BE or not to be." - Hamlet.

52D: 0 on the Beaufort scale: CALM. I don't what Beaufort scale is. It measures winds at sea. It has 12 degrees, 0 = CALM, 12 = Hurricane.

53D: Chief Ouray's people: UTES. Guessed.

56D: Opposite of ask: BID. Oh, E-bay auction. I knew it's not ANS, since there is no abbreviation hint.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday July 17, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: The Double(t) Is Double(d) TT → DD

17A: Evidence of a spilled dessert? PUDDING ON THE DOG

22A: Nervous ticks?: SHUDDER BUGS

35A: Linens for jockeys?: OFF-TRACK BEDDING

51A: Slope where sycophants hang out?: NODDING HILL

57A: What a yenta exam does?: TESTS ONE'S MEDDLE

Just learned the idiom "putting on the dog" a few months ago from a LAT puzzle. Notting Hill is an affluent area in West London. Also a very romantic movie starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.

Bitter & bidder should be interesting to work with. Latter & Ladder might not be fun. What else can you think of?

Quite a few tricky clues in today's puzzle:

54A: It may be added to impress: IVE. Impressive.

7D: Jet problem?: LAG. Jetlag.

I struggled with the multiple-word entries today.

Across:

1A: Per se: IN ITSELF. Per se is literally "by itself" in Latin.

9A: Research, perhaps: LOOK UP. Hmm, I often LOOK UP the word in my dictionary during solving. I am not cheating. Just doing my research.

15A: Statue, perhaps: MEMORIAL. I guess I understand the controversy over a Chinese designing MLK Memorial Statue. Maybe it should be sculpted by an African American. However, MLK transcended racial line.

16A: When some shifts start: AT NINE. Never know when to put AT NINE, when to put NINE AM.

19A: Symbol of love: EROS. Ha ha, I thought of ROSE. Red rose is my favorite flower.

20A: Any of the Beverly Hillbillies: YOKEL

21A: PC linkup: LAN (Local Area Network)

28A: Consider overnight: SLEEP ON. Don't think too much. Just do it.

30A: Sicily's capital?: ESS. Letter S is the first (capital) letter of Sicily.

32A: They're usually rolled outs: TARPS. D'oh, ballpark. I was thinking of dough.

34A: Hipbones: ILIA

41A: Miss equivalent?: MILE. I've never heard of the proverb "A miss is as good as a MILE". Thought of the French miss MLLE.

42A: W, once: YALIE. George W. Bush graduated from Yale. Harvard Business School as well.

43A: Sports drink suffix: ADE. Gatorade.

44A: Pinch, so to speak: NAB. I did not know pinch is a slang for arrest.

47A: Staples Center NBAer: LA LAKER. I am glad Kobe Bryant got his NBA Championship ring sans Shaq.

55A: Playground assertion: IS TOO

56A: 1961 space chimp: ENOS. I wonder why they named him ENOS.

63A: "The Joy Luck Club" author: AMY TAN. A rare author gimme for me. She is a Chinese American. "The Joy Luck Club" is the name of the mahjong club the four ladies formed. Great read.

64A: Fetch: RETRIEVE

65A: Artist's home, perhaps: COLONY. I am not familiar with this definition of COLONY. I thought of STUDIO.

66A: 2009 film based on a TV show that premiered in 1966A: STAR TREK

Down:

1D: Drives forward: IMPELS

2: __ network: NEURAL. Had problem piecing the answer together.

3D: "Finished!": I'M DONE. One blank too much for VOILA.

4D: "Dracula" (1931) director Browning et al?: TODS. I can never remember this guy. Last time the clue was "Pioneer filmmaker Browning".

5D: Hindu honorific: SRI. Sanskirt for "splendor/majesty". SRI Lanka means "Venerable Island".

6D: Cologne article: EIN. Or DER, DAS, all German articles.

8D: Rock's Pink __: FLOYD

9D: Fried fare often served with applesauce: LATKES. I don't know, I've never had LATKES or the Norwegian lefsa.

10D: Catchall column heading: OTHERS

11D: Produce amt.: ONE LB. Cherries are in season now. My favorite snack at the moment.

12D: Tease: KID

13D: Game with Draw Two Cards: UNO

14D: Takedown units?: PEG. Oh, "take down a PEG".

18D: Junction point: NODE

22D: Bandy words: SPAR. I think Chris Matthews (Hardball) has the best job in this world.

23D: Group dance done while holding hands: HORA. The Jewish wedding dance.

24D: Offensive to some, briefly: UN-PC (UN - Politically Correct). And ETTE (29D: Suffix which may be 24-Down). I don't understand why ETTE is UN-PC.

25D: Wrinkly fruit: UGLI. It's actually quite sweet.

26D: Cross the threshhold: GO IN

27D: Beast with a rack: STAG. Ha ha, I just typed in "Breast with a rack" a moment ago.

33D: Shade of blue: SKY. The clue is quite Monday-ish.

34D: Flash of sorts: IDEA

35D: Arabian Sea nation: OMAN. Capital Muscat.

36D: Generic pooch: FIDO. What's the name of your dog(s)?

37D: Hightailed it: FLED

38D: Site of the active volcano Mount Agung: BALI. Guessed MALI first.

39D: Airline to Eilat: EL AL. Eilat, pronounced as ey-laht, is the southernmost city of Israel.

40D: Pickle flavoring: DILL. The only herb I use are chives. The basil at the Farmer's Market makes me headache.

44D: Xterra maker: NISSAN. My knowledge on car makers is as weak as my understanding of Bible.

45D: "I come to bury Caesar" speaker: ANTONY (Mark). "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him...".

46D: Weed __: lawn care product: B-GON. Not familiar with this brand at all. No chemical spray in my garden. And HOERS (53D: Weed whackers).

49D: Exhibit Darwinism: EVOLVE. This clue feels so highbrow.

52D: "Same here!": DITTO. Interesting to see a lone TT here.

56D: Work for Money, maybe: EDIT. I did not pay attention to the capitalized Money (Money magazine).

57D: Part of a winning trio: TAC. Tic-TAC-Toe. Stumped also.

58D: Musical genre related to punk: EMO

59D: Dict. division: SYL (Syllable). I wanted SYN (synonym).

60D: An hour's worth of tunes, maybe: SET. OK, Dictionary says SET can refer to "a group of pieces played by a band, as in a night club, and followed by an intermission". Is this the correct rationale?

61D: NYC subway inits.: MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority). I wrote down IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit).

Answer grid.

C.C.