Wednesday September 9, 2009 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Commands to FIDO (61D: Pet targeted by the first words of this puzzle's four longest answers) - Common phrases that start with a doggy order.

17A: Make an appearance: COME DOWN THE PIKE. New idiom to me. PIKE is short for turnpike.

26A: Do nothing: SIT ON ONE'S HANDS. Don't you think Philip Garrido's wife deserves more severe publishment?

48A: Dancing instruction from KC and the Sunshine Band: SHAKE YOUR BOOTY. Here is the clip. My first theme fill. Beyonce sure knows how to shake her booty. So does Shakira.

63A: Death row reprieve: STAY OF EXECUTION. I was surprised to find that the word "execution" does not always mean "death penalty" in this legal phrase. Wikipedia says it "refers to the imposition of whatever judgment is being stayed".

I wonder when FIDO became a common dog name. It's Latin for "I trust"/"faithful". Same root as Fidel, as in Fidel Castro.

Had some trouble with lower left corner. Felt silly stumped by ASIA (54D: Where billions live), after living there for almost 30 years. I suppose you can clue CHINA & INDIA as "Where billions live" too.

Do read Donna's interview. She talked about the other theme candidates that failed to make the cut.

Across:

1A: Big bird's grabber: TALON. What is "Small bird's grabber" then? CLAW?

6A: Croquet venue: LAWN. I always associate Croquet/Polo with the British aristocracy.

10A: Winery container: CASK. VAT is often clued this way.

14A: Essential acid, familiarly: AMINO. AMINO Acid.

16A: Galway Bay's __ Islands: ARAN. No idea. See this map. It's on the west coast of Ireland. How to pronounce ARAN? AIR-ran?

20A: Bolsheviks' bane: TSAR. Had a very romantic view of Bolsheviks & Che Guevara growing up.

21A: Ins. plans: HMOS. Was puzzled by Ins. (Insurance). "Med. plans" would be easier for me.

22A: Auto dealer's agreement, at times: LEASE

23A: Andy Taylor's boy: OPIE. "The Andy Griffith Show". Played by Ron Howard. I liked him in "American Graffiti".

25A: Cloak-and-dagger org.: CIA. Naomi Watts will play Valerie Plame in the movie "Fair Game".

33A: Movie trailer, e.g.: PROMO

34A: Bartender's rocks: ICE. NEAT is "sans ice".

38A: Fortified Portuguese wine: MADEIRA (muh-DEER-uh). Made in the MADEIRA Islands. Off the NW coast of West Africa.

42A: Draw: TIE. Noun. It's a draw/TIE.

43A: Throw in a chip: ANTE

45A: Nintendo game console: WII. Sounds like "we". The spelling of Wii with two lower-case "i" characters is meant to resemble two people standing side by side.

46A: Yankee's home: BRONX. The new Yankee Stadium is just across the street from the old one.

52A: "Groovy": RAD

53A: Seaside city: PORT. Bob Klahn would probably clue PORT as wine-related to echo MADEIRA.

54A: More than sufficiently: AMPLY. Alas, I did not read the clue properly. Had AMPLE.

57A: Greeley's direction for young men: WEST. "Go WEST, young men". Horace Greeley used this expression in an editorial in his "New York Tribune".

59A: Linc's "Mod Squad" do: AFRO. Easy guess. I don't know who Linc is. I remember this picture though. Peggy Lipton is very pretty.

66A: Enjoying a lot: INTO. I've got to learn to put a preposition for this kind of grammar-confusing clue.

68A: Doomed Genesis city: SODOM. SODOM and Gomorrah. The Biblical homosexual sin cities. Sodomy is rooted in SODOM.

69A: YMCA part: Abbr.: ASSN. Did not like the clue due to ABBR (41D: E.g.. e.g.).

70A: Lessons learned early: ABCS

71A: Eat away at: ERODE

Down:

2D: "Famous" cookie: AMOS. I used to really like Nabisco's chocolate chip cookies.

3D: South American capital: LIMA. LIMA bean is named after the city, though with a different pronunciation.

4D: Like a studio apartment: ONE-ROOM

6D: Marshals, unusually: LAWMEN

7D: 12 for Mg or 20 for Ca, e.g.: AT NO (Atomic Number). Easy guess. Mg=Magnesium. Ca=Calcium.

8D: Mental faculties: WITS

9D: Extreme degree: NTH

10D: Peninsula bordering Massachusetts Bay: CAPE ANN. See this map. Remember this Mike Peluso puzzle? CAPE ANN, Cape Fear, Cape Horn and Cape Cod.

11D: Diva's piece: ARIA

12D: Bloomingdale's rival: SAKS. SAKS Fifth Avenue.

13D: Genuflection joint: KNEE

18D: West Virginia border river: OHIO. Again, WEST is an answer.

19D: Lamb's pen name: ELIA. Here is an updated alias names of our editor Rich Norris.

24D: __ Penh, Cambodia: PNOM. Phnom Penh is more common.

25D: "If I Could Turn Back Time" singer: CHER. Loved the song.

26D: Pet welfare org.: SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Ah, bonus fill. Sometimes the answer is ASPCA (American SPCA). PETA is People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

28D: Place for a crown or cap: TOOTH. What were you thinking? Head?

30D: Biol. or geol.: SCI

31D: Artoo's "surname": DETOO. R2-D2, The "Star Wars" robot. Phonetically spelled Artoo-DETOO.

32D: Be frugal: STINT

40D: Like some home improvement projects, briefly: DIY (Do-It-Yourself)

44D: Near the outset: EARLY ON

47D: __ cuff: pitching injury site: ROTATOR. Shoulder injury. Elbow, wrist & shoulder, common pitching injury sites.

49D: Fight stopper: KAYO. More used to KO (knockout).

50D: Underdog victories: UPSETS

51D: Campus mil. group: ROTC. Quite a few ABBRs in today's puzzle.

55D: "White" peaks in N.H.: MTNS. Have never heard of this mountain range.

57D: Jack of "Dragnet": WEBB. He played Sergeant Friday in "Dragnet". I obtained the answer from Across fills.

58D: Corporate VIP: EXEC

61D: Large cross: ROOD. I forgot. Saw this word somewhere before. Large crucifix.

62D: "Dinner is __": ON ME. Thanks for being so generous.

64D: Flight oversight org.: FAA (Federal Aviation Administration). What a nightmare for FAA in those dark days! Where were you on Sept 11? My husband called from work and asked me to turn on the TV. I was stunned.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a sweet photo of our fellow LAT solver Mainiac and his gorgeous wife Jill. They've been married for 13 years, but he still introduces her as his girlfriend. This picture is simply adorable. On the left is their 13-year-old son Sam, who is holding 5-month-old Zivah. Their younger son Gus is 10 years old. He is holding the 5-month-old Hank.

C.C.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 Gail Grabowski

Theme: PANTS (57D: Garment that can follow the starts of the answers to starred clues. Or, as was discussed yesterday, pairs of trousers. Speak of it one day - see it the next?)

17A: *Hilarious Joke: KNEE-SLAPPER. (I've always heard this said disdainfully of a not-so-hilarious joke.) KNEE PANTS. Fashion comes and goes. Style is forever.

39A: *Worry, slangily: SWEAT IT. More commonly: don't sweat, as in "the small stuff." SWEAT PANTS. Could this be why Dennis goes to the gym every day?

63A: *Frosted Lenten pastry: HOT CROSS BUNS. HOT PANTS. Of course. Can anyone identify the car? Also these. And this.

11D: *Enduring, as a storm: RIDING OUT. RIDING PANTS. Also known as jodhpurs.

34D: *Freight Bearing Vessel: CARGO SHIP. CARGO PANTS have lots of pockets.

Tight theme with five answers and all the key words at the beginning of the fill. The unifying answer PANTS is perfectly placed at the very end of the grid, providing solvers with the precious "Aha" moment.

Hi, Gang -- JazzBumpa here. The timing is only a coincidence, but after yesterday's travails, our intrepid blogger Argyle has a well-deserved day (or, as it turns out, night) off.

I've had my difficulties as well. All Cruciverb functionality related to LA Times puzzles appears to be inoperative - at least as of this writing (sometime 'round midnight PST. I'm in EST!

Across:

1A: Unshiny photo finish: MATTE. Also a finish on wall paint, but without the alliterative word play. And SEPIA (7D: Brownish photo tint).

6A: Tree with quaking leaves: ASPEN. Populus Tremuloides sounds like a Roman senator.

11A: Usually nonmelodic music genre: RAP. No melody, no music.

14A: Not moving: INERT. Also used for something chemically non-reactive. Frequent fill NEON, for example.

15A: Work on a loom: WEAVE. Don't forget Jerome's Navajo humility mark.

16A: Under the weather: ILL. Because a quick change in the weather can leave you feeling out of sorts - with a SINUS headache, for example.

19A: Narc's Org. DEA. Drug Enforcement Agency. Not headache drugs.

20A: Ages and ages: EONS. Like, forever.

21A: Depression era migrant: OKIE. The Joads migrated from Oklahoma to California, looking for a better life.

22A: Bat one's eyelashes, perhaps: FLIRT. Sometimes you make out better at both ends.

24A: Method: Abbr.: SYST. Short for system.

25A: Lincoln wore one: BEARD. Here is the before picture.

27A: Pay for a hand: ANTE. I saw this more cleverly as "pay to hold hands" over the weekend.

28A: Bank encumbrance: LIEN. This is a charge against real or personal property for the payment of any debt or duty, which must be satisfied before the property is sold.

30A: Sound hear twice in "Gargantuan." HARD G. But only heard once in Pantagruel. Remember Don "Hard G" Gagliardo's record-breaking "Hard and Soft G" puzzle from a few months ago? Total 21 G's.

32A: Command for an attack dog: SIC 'EM. Strange expression. Does anyone know the origin?

35A: Dressing for romaine and such: SALAD OIL.

38A: Palm Pilot or Blackberry, briefly: PDA. Personal Data Assistant. Like a virtual electronic secretary.

42A: Mex. neighbor: USA. Us, eh?

43A: Hardly geniuses: AIRHEADS. Will this unleash another barrage of blonde jokes?

45A: Contest submission: ENTRY. Or, a crossword fill.

47A: Arrived: GOT IN. Seemed like I just arrived in bed when the alarm went off.

48A: Poet Pound: EZRA. Another alliteration. And a Bible Book. Hebrew for "Help".

50A: Old hands: PROS. Professionals. An old hand is experience.

52A: Coerce: FORCE. Don't coerce me, bro!

54A: Infield protector: TARP. A big roll of plastic sheet that's rolled out onto a baseball infield during a rain delay.

58A: Retreats in the desert. OASES. Or maybe only a mirage.

60A: Bring up: REAR. Not bringing up the rear, but nurturing children.

61A: Field of expertise: AREA. Mine is being a grandfather. What's yours?

62A: Jr. high, e.g.: SCH. School abbreviation.

66A: Maneuver among moguls: SKI. Long alliterative clue for a short answer. Mogul here refers to the "bump or mound of hard snow on a ski slope".

67A: One way to read: ALOUD. But only if reading aloud is allowed.

68A: White sheet wearer, on Halloween. GHOST. Usually cute and lovable. Not like these guys.

69A: Sixth Sense for short: ESP. Extra-sensory perception. I just knew it.

70A: Sources of blue eyes, say: GENES. Or as Mendel would say, "The eyes have it."

71A: Shipping weight deductions: TARES. The weight of the containers. Easy to confuse it with with TRET, the "Old waste allowance".

Down:

1D: Studio sound equipment: MIKES. Microphones. An abbreviation that has become a standard word.

2D: Be a thorn in the side of: ANNOY. No obscure crosses to annoy me today.

3D: Prom goers: TEENS. High School Prom. Fashion or style? You decide.

4D: Railroad bridge support. TRESTLE. I can never remember how to spell it.

5D: UFO crew, presumably: ETS. Extra-terrestrials. Great bicycle riders.

6D: Greet the morning.: AWAKEN. Not so much fun at 2:00 a.m.

8D: Part head gear: PAPER HAT. Didn't we just see some of these.

9D: Genesis outcast: EVE. Yes. it was all about Eve.

10D: Spongy ball brand: NERF. Can you get enough?

12D: Tip off: ALERT. Stay alert for the start of basketball season.

13D: One in a buffet stack: PLATE. Get a clean one when you go back for seconds.

18D: Ear part. LOBE. Eeeewww!

23D: "Shane"star Alan: LADD. He made lots of movies. And lots of money.

26D: Surrealist Salvador: DALI. No beard - just a mustache.

29D: "That'll do, thanks": I'M SET. Abbreviation in the clue and answer. Nice.

31D: Movie critic at times: RATER. I'll give this clue two thumbs up.

32D: Restful Resort. SPA. A new and alliterative clue.

33D: Deposed Despot AMIN. A bad dude. A good alliterative clue.

35D: Stockholm bound carrier: SAS Scandinavian Airline System International. New to me. "Amsterdam bound carrier" is KLM.

36D: Jerusalem is its cap.: ISR. Israel, of course.

37D: Set (down): LAY. Now a lay me down to sleep (wishful thinking.)

40D: Street urchin: WAIF. I always think of this. Reminds me of granddaughter Emily.

41D: Ralph Kramden's Pal: ED NORTON. From The Honeymooners

44D: Sprinkler attachment: HOSE. I think of it the other way around.

46D: Boris's partner in 'toon espionage.: NATASHA. Fatale and Boris Badenov.

48D: Online birthday greetings, e.g.: ECARDS. Greetings from a distance.

49D: Round number?: ZERO. Literal, in this case.

50D: Outlaw chasing group: POSSE. Euphemism for a lynch mob.

51D: Poolroom triangles: RACKS. Where is the triangle?

53D: Prompt again: RECUE. Or break another rack, perhaps.

55D: Vine covered recess: ARBOR. ANN had one, here in MI.

56D: Get extra value from: REUSE. The ANN ARBOR reuse recycle center.

59: Thick carpet: SHAG. Or a certain haircut.

64D: Bullfight shout: OLE. What, no corrida?

65D: Rank above Cpl.: SGT. As in Sgt. Bilko.

Pretty good puzzle. That's all Folks. I'm going back to bed.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our fellow LAT solver Matt and his friends backstage at "The Music Man". He was the train conductor. And he was wearing the conductor hat blue and black and a blue blazer. Matt uses screen name Red state Democrat when posting.

JzB the sleep deprived trombonist.

Monday, September 7, 2009 Teri Smalley

Theme: NFL Kickoff (61D: Org. where you can see the first words of 20-, 38- and 55-Across)

20A: Give one's verdict: PASS JUDGMENT

38A: Create a distraction: RUN INTERFERENCE

55A: Get rid of by promoting, as an employee: KICK UPSTAIRS

Argyle here. This puzzle gave me all sorts of trouble. No, not the puzzle itself but trying to get it here to the corner.

As of yet, Cruciverb didn't have the puzzle available, which meant, I couldn't do it with Across Lite. I had to wait for LAT version to come out.

I use a character recognition program to change my print out into a Word document so I can cut and paste. Well, the Java print out didn't work so well until I literally did some cut and pasting. Ok, it was cut and taping, but it got done and here I am. On to the puzzle.

KICK UPSTAIRS Unfortunately, this happens all to often, especially in government. People will mess up but it is easier to promote them than it is to fire them!

There were several sports references but, correct me if I'm wrong, none about football except, indirectly, the UCLA Bruins.

Baseball: 11D: Hodges who managed the Miracle Mets: GIL. And 29D: Polo Grounds slugger Mel: OTT. Golf: 30D: Hole in one: ACE. Tennis: 31D: Tennis great Evert: CHRIS (Golfer "The Shark" Greg Norman's wife). NASCAR: 36D: Racecar's stopping place: PIT.

Across:

1A: Small cluster, as of threads: TUFT.

5A: Garbage barge: SCOW.

9A: Rifle with tiny shot: BB GUN.

14A: Ready and willing partner: ABLE. Ready, ABLE and Willing.

15A: Home of the NCAA's Bruins: UCLA.

16A: Bangor's state: MAINE. This ought to make our fellow solver Mainiac happy. Stephen King has a huge Victorian style mansion in Bangor.

17A: Othello, for one: MOOR. A Moor is a Muslim of the mixed Berber and Arab people inhabiting NW Africa. This group that invaded Spain in the 8th century a.d. and occupied it until 1492. And 59D: Spanish hero El __: CID. Spanish soldier: hero of the wars against the Moors. Is there an echo inhere?

18A: Ogler's look: LEER.

19A: Relative via marriage: IN-LAW.

23A: On the Atlantic, say: AT SEA.

24A: Pant leg: TROUSER.

28A: Game-hunting trespasser: POACHER.

32A: Lumberjack's tool: AXE.

33A: Li'l Abner's home: DOGPATCH.

37A: Two-part: DUAL.

42A: Coup d'__: ETAT.

43A: Supply water to artificially, as farmland: IRRIGATE.

44A: Singer Garfunkel: ART. What's your favorite Simon & Garfunkel song?

45A: Degrading: ABASING.

48A: Military utensils set: MESS KIT.

50A: Teamsters leader who disappeared in 1975: HOFFA. His son James HOFFA is the current Teamsters president.

59A: "__ be?": "is that possible?": CAN IT. Yes!

62A: Lang. of Rome: ITAL.

63A: Disorderly type: SLOB.

64A: Prefix with structure: INFRA. Infrastructure.

65A: California wine valley: NAPA.

66A: Chichen __: Mayan ruins: ITZA. Chichen Itza was a major city for the Mayan people beginning in about 600 AD. Tourists still flock to the site to climb the temple steps.

67A: Idiots: DOLTS.

68A: Counterfeit: SHAM.

69A: Backyard storage facility: SHED.

Down:

1D: Florida city on the Gulf Coast: TAMPA.

2D: WWII German sub: U-BOAT.

3D: Dental thread: FLOSS.

4D: To the point: TERSE.

5D: "Star Trek" crewman: SULU. The "Star War" character is Han SOLO.

6D: Sent a duplicate letter to, briefly: CC'ED.

7D: Cassini of fashion: OLEG. Cassini was married to actress Gene Tierney. (1941) He was noted for being chosen by Jacqueline Kennedy to design her state wardrobe in the 1960s.

8D: Fireside feeling: WARMTH.

9D: Key related to D major: B MINOR.

10D: Language group that includes Swahili: BANTU. Zulu belongs to BANTU also.

12D: A, in Abruzzi: UNA. Alliteration again. Italian for "a", Spanish for "a" too. Abruzzi is a region of central Italy bordering on the Adriatic Sea.

13D: "__ and improved!": ad claim: NEW.

21D: Iwo Jima's country: JAPAN. And AKITAS (45D: Dogs from 21-Down). Looks worried.

22D: Before, in verse: ERE.

25D: Sweat spot: SAUNA.

26D: Precise: EXACT.

27D: Surrenderer to U.S. Grant: R.E.LEE.

33D: Reason for talking in one's sleep: DREAM.

34D: Freakish: OUTRE.

35D: Tiny flying biters: GNATS.

37D: Temperature meas.: DEG (Degree)

39D: Part of TGIF: Abbr.: FRI.

40D: Sea eagle: ERN. TERN is seabird too. Here is an ERN.

41D: Correct: RIGHT.

46D: Ballpoint brand: BIC.

47D: Low-carb diet maven: ATKINS. Dr. Robert Atkins died in 2003 when he slipped on the ice while walking to work, hitting his head and causing bleeding around his brain. He died to weeks later. He was 72.

49D: Dress bottom: SKIRT.

51D: Kalahari refuge: OASIS. Kalahari Desert is largely in Botswana. Plural of OASIS is OASES.

52D: Serious grime: FILTH.

53D: Didn't move a muscle: FROZE.

54D: Equally poor: AS BAD.

56D: Four Corners state: UTAH.

57D: Mama's mate: PAPA.

58D: Close angrily: SLAM.

60D: 365 dias: ANO. The lowercase case is año. Whole different meaning with ano.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is sweet photo of our fellow LAT solver J.D and her family celebrating her grandson Truman's 2-year-old birthday on Saturday August 29, 2009. On couch: Joe (JD's Welsh son-in-law) and Shelby (on floor, JD's daughter), Truman, Derek (JD's Wyoming son-in-law) and Corie (JD's daughter) holding Grady (Truman's little brother), Judy and Bob (JD's husband). This stairs photo looks adorable too. From bottom to top: Truman with Daddy Derek, Grady with mommy Corie, Joe and Shelby, Judy and Bob. And Shelby's wedding picture, taken April 2008. Beautiful. From left to right: JD, Bob, Shelby and Joe, Corie, Derek and Truman.

Argyle

PS: Teri Smalley is another alias name of Rich Norris. Anagrams to "It's really me". Thanks, Jerome.

Sunday September 6, 2009 Pancho Harrison

Theme: Great Direction - Films/plays directed by ELIZA KAZAN (123A: Born 9/7/1909, he directed the answers to starred clues), who would have been 100 years old tomorrow.

23A: *1947 Tony winning Arthur Miller play: ALL MY SONS. Not a familiar play to me. Strange marriage between Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, who should not have left Joe DiMaggio.

28A: *With 113-Across, 1947 Tony-winning play starring Lee J. Cobb: DEATH OF A

113A: See 28-Across: SALESMAN. Arthur Miller play also.

42A: *With 45-Across, 1945 film based on a Betty Smith novel: A TREE GROWS

45A: See 42-Across: IN BROOKLYN. Have vaguely heard of the book. Nice left to right placement.

68A: *1947 Tennessee Williams play: A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE. Nailed it. Watched the Marlon Brando/Vivien Leigh movie. Quite heavy.

94A: *1955 film based on a Steinbeck novel: EAST OF EDEN. Great movie. James Dean played the explosive Cal.

97A: *1952 biopic starring Marlon Brando: VIVA ZAPATA. Senator John McCain's favorite movie.

A surprisingly fun puzzle. I went from "Oh no" to "Oh, wow!". What a finely constructed tribute puzzle.

Thought it would be hard when I read the first starred clue, but then "DEATH OF A SALESMAN"(perfect rotational symmetry), grid-spanning A STREET NAMED DESIRED, EAST OF EDEN & ELIA KAZAN (great to see his full name) all crumbled easily.

My favorite fill today is ZHIVAGO (98D: Title hero who married Tonya Gromeko). I just loved "the movie". Chief Justice John Roberts listed "Dr. Zhivago" & "North by Northwest" as his favorite movies. Julie Christie played the beautiful Lara, Zhivago's true love.

Across:

1A: Anabaptists, e.g.: SECT. Know Baptists, not Anabaptists.

9A: Philosopher William of __, known for his "razor": OCCAM. OCCAM's razor, law of succinctness, the simple, the better.

14A: Name on a WWII bomber: ENOLA. ENOLA Gay.

20A: Inter __: among others: ALIA. Sometimes the answer is ALII.

21A: "Moi": WHO ME. Not an ideal clue due to A MOI (78A: Mine, a Marseille).

25A: Go after, puppy style: NIP AT

26A: Static problem: CLING. And 35A: Sta-__: fabric softener: PUF. Obtained the answer from Down fills.

27A: Pinocchio's creator: GEPPETTO. I forgot. Last time STAR was clued as "Geppetoo wished on one".

30A: Cartoonist Keane: BIL. "The Family Circus" cartoonist.

33A: Alsace __: French region: LORRAINE. Quiche LORRAINE is from this region.

38A: Use up: EXHAUST. Wonderful answer.

53A: Crooked: ASKEW

57A: Boot add-ons: SPURS

58A: "__-haw!": YEE. Wanted HEE.

59A: Ivy League city: ITHACA. Cornell city.

65A: German pastries: STRUDELS. Yum! German for "eddy/whirlpool".

67A: Head, in slang: NOB. New to me. Knew noggin'/bean though.

75A: Patriotic women's org.: DAR. "Patriotic men's org" is SAR.

76A: Rats: STOOLIES

77A: Pantry concern: ANT. Not my concern. I've never seen an ANT in our kitchen. Fruit flies, yes.

81A: Disco guy on "The Simpsons": STU. Learned from doing Xword.

84A: Nine Inch Nails founder Reznor: TRENT. No idea. This guy is a musician who founded the Nine Inch Nails musical project.

88A: Auctioneer's word: GOING. Reminds me "the Red Violin", in which a precious red violin is being auctioned throughout the movie.

90A: Layer: HEN

91A: Greeted and seated: SAW IN. Then ADAGE is clued as "68D: Saw".

93A: Shankar's repertoire: RAGAS. The Hindu music. I penned in SITAR.

99A: Unlock, poetically: OPE

100A: "Yikes!": OMIGOSH

102A: Berlin article: DER. German "the". Sometimes it's DAS, as in Karl Marx's "Das Kapital".

103A: Sinuous comics villain: CATWOMAN. Here is Halle Berry's CATWOMAN.

108A: Flying Cloud et al: REOS. Got the answer from Down fills. Have never heard of REO Flying Cloud.

109A: Former comm. giant: ITT. I misinterpreted "comm." as "communist".

115A: Loner: MAVERICK

120A: Lyric poet: ODIST. Still don't understand the brouhaha over Dan Naddor's ODIC last time. It's a legit word.

122A: Praiseful hymn: PAEAN

124A: Sign with scales: LIBRA. Zodiac sign.

125A: Nicholas Gage memoir: ELENI. No idea. It's the Greek variation of the name Helen. Nicholas Gage is a Greek-American author. ELENI is his mother's name. I actually misread the clue as Nicolas Cage the actor.

126A: Artistic Chinese dynasty: MING. I don't really know why Pancho thinks MING Dynasty was "Artistic". I suppose he means MING Vase?

127A: Old king of rhyme: COLE. "Old King COLE".

129A: Pick up on: SENSE. Took me a while to "Pick up on" the answer.

130A: Longtime Yugoslav leader: TITO. He advocated neutral foreign policy during Cold War.

131A: Goofing off: IDLE

Down:

2D: First name in courtroom fiction: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.

3D: Cosby's "I Spy" costar: CULP. No idea. Have never heard of Robert CULP.

4D: Largo, e.g.: TEMPO. Stumped. Largo is slow TEMPO.

7D: Bolivian boy: NINO. The "Bolivian" is picked mainly because of alliteration I think.

8D: Lots of fun: GAS

9D: Sports negotiations side: OWNERS. The other side is PLAYERS.

10D: Tuscan red: CHIANTI. Oh, red wine. I thought the clue was asking for Italian word for "red" rosso, unknown to me anyway.

11D: Egyptian Christian: COPT. No, no, nope! I bet they suffer from religious discrimination.

12D: Menotti title lad: AMAHL "AMAHL and the Night Visitors".

13D: "Ditto": ME TOO

14D: Snail on la carte: ESCARGOT. People really eat everything. Dog meat is a delicacy in North China/Korea.

16D: African grassland grazer: ORIBI. Hi, buddy, what's your favorite breakfast?

17D: Red Square honoree: LENIN

18D: Reporter's slant: ANGLE

24D: Bow wood: YEW

29D: Cold, to Carlos: FRIO. New to me. What is Spanish for "hot"? Salma Hayek is very sexy.

32D: "Training Day" actor Ethan: HAWKE. Uma Thurman's ex-husband.

34D: Pharaohs' crosses: ANKHS (angk). Often confuse this word with SIKH (seek), both end with KH.

35D: They hang together: PALS. Nice clue.

36D: Lone Star State sch.: UTEP (University of Texas, El Paso). Trouble again.

37D: Haus wife: FRAU. Haus is German for "house".

39D: It precedes Yankee in the phonetic alphabet: XRAY. D'oh, NATO phonetic alphabet.

40D: Hornswoggle: HOSE. Hornswoggle is a new word to me, to swindle.

43D: Diamond flaw?: ERROR. Baseball diamond. Excellent clue.

46D: Book before Habakkuk: NAHUM. Nope. Not easy to remember either.

47D: Cutting edge: BLADE. Oh, literally.

49D: Sped: RACED

51D: "Like __, all tears ...": Hamlet: NIOBE. The Greek mythical crier. I know nothing about Hamlet, except "To be, or not to be". Yesterday we had OSRIC (Courtier in "Hamlet"), so easy to confuse him with YORICK the jester. "Alas, poor YORICK...".

54D: Courtroom expert, often: WITNESS

61D: "M*A*S*H" star: ALDA (Alan)

65D: Hindu honorifics: SRIS. Another alliteration.

66D: Nissan compact: SENTRA. I wonder what SENTRA means in Japanese.

69D: Pago Pago's nation: SAMOA. Lots of coconuts there.

70D: Un + deux: TROIS. One+two=Three.

71D: "Takin' it __ Streets": Doobie Brothers hit: TO THE. Here is the clip. Have never heard of the song before. It's a 1976 hit.

72D: Cut out the middle of: CORED. As an apple.

73D: Coeur d'__: Idaho: ALENE. Anyone from there?

74D: Guitar attachment: STRAP

81D: Sips' opposites: SWIGS. I think Americans eat/drink too fast.

82D: Record, nowadays: TIVO

83D: Some, in Seville: UNAS. French would be UNES.

87D: Ivan IV, for one: TSAR. Ivan the Terrible.

89D: Snap: GO POSTAL. Loved the answer.

92D: Orly lander: AVION. French for "plane". Par AVION.

95D: Disaster relief org.: FEMA

96D: 11th century conquerors: NORMANS. The Norman Conquest, 1066, led by Williams the Conqueror.

101D: Bad guy: MEANIE

103D: Becomes less angry, with "off": COOLS

105D: Navajo, e.g.: TRIBE. Jerome said the Navajo rug makers always weave a tiny flaw into their work to show humbleness.

106D: Suisse range: ALPES. French for "Alps". Here, Suisse is the French name of Switzerland.

107D: Author Zora __ Hurston: NEALE. No idea. She wrote "Their Eyes Were Watching God".

110D: Shatner's "__ War": TEK. TEK is a drug.

111D: Actress Bingham or Lords: TRACI. Got the answer from Across fills. TRACI Bingham looks familiar. Wikipedia says TRACI Lords first achieved notoriety in porn movies.

115D: Mid 11th century year: MLII. 1052.

116D: "It __ over till it's over": Berra: AIN'T. Yogi also said "I really didn't say everything I said".

117D: Eddie Bauer competitor: IZOD. KQ loves Eddie Bauer.

118d: Summon: CALL

119D: "Trick" joint: KNEE. I liked the clue.

Answer Grid.

Should you have extra time today, have a try at Fred's Universal and Doug Peterson's CrosSynergy (Washington Post) puzzles.

And a warm welcome to Mary, Susie, Annette and all the new commenters. I hope you stay and play. It's fun!

C.C.

Saturday September 5, 2009 Doug Peterson

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 70

Probably the easiest Doug Peterson Saturday I've tackled. I filled in lots lots of blanks before I cheated. Maybe someday I will solve a Doug Peterson/Barry Silk LAT Saturday unassisted if Rich Norris keeps this easing-up phrase. You should try Doug's Newsday stumper sometime. It's just impossible for me.

Loads of multiple word entries in today's grid, 16 if I counted right:

5A: Dumps: SCRAP HEAPS. Initially thought the clue was asking for a verb phrase.

16A: Dashiell Hammett's last novel: THE THIN MAN. Unknown trivia to me. He also wrote "The Maltese Falcon".

18A: Tubeless and with no moving parts, electronically: SOLID-STATE. New word to me. Can you give me an example?

23A: "Care to make it interesting?" WANNA BET? Lovely.

30A: Speed limit posting, e.g.: ROAD SIGN

35A: Acknowledge silently: NOD AT. Mine was NOD TO.

49A: Recline next to: LIE BY

56A: "See ya!": I'M OUTA HERE. Thought it's OUTTA.

59A: Juvenile retort: AM SO. I TOO has four letters too.

60A: "London Fields" novelist: MARTIN AMIS. Had letter NA??S ready, then the "London" tip, MARTIN AMIS popped up immediately. He is the son of Kinglsey Amis.

62A: Very slow rate: SNAIL'S PACE

2D: Uncommon things: RARA AVIS. Latin for "rare bird". Our Kazie is a RARA AVIS. So is Sade.

3D: Successor to the mini: IPOD NANO. Was thinking of the miniskirt. I like my IPOD Classic.

8D: Busting one's hump: AT IT. "Busting one's hump" is a new phrase to me.

37D: Boggle accessory: EGG TIMER. Boggle makes me headache.

38D: Toy with engine: TRAIN SET. The Lionel model trains.

Did I miss any, Jerome/Crockett? Those triple-stacked 10's on the upper right and lower left corners are especially lively.

Across:

1A: Often dramatic number: ARIA. Nailed it. "Dramatic" tipped me off.

15A: Finds fault with: RAPS. Put down NAGS first.

17A: Marsh critter: CROC

19A: Site of the mythical Lethe River: HADES. Lethe (LEE-thee) is the river of forgetfulness in HADES (HEY-deez), Greek "hell". Hot there.

21A: Little foxes: KITS. Thought it's KIDS.

22A: Bible book before Nehemiah: EZRA. Also Hebrew name, meaning "help", as in poet EZRA Pound.

25A: Trout spot: BROOK. I love steamed trout.

26A: Personification: AVATAR. Mine is Justin Morneau, Twins' first baseman.

27A: How to see the obvious: PLAINLY. Oh well, obviously I don't know how. Stupid!

29A: Feminine force: YIN. Masculine force is YANG.

39A: Wearing a bolero: JACKETED. Did not know JACKET can be a verb.

42A: Lab alert?: GRR. Lab = Labrador.

44A: Some modern tribal operations: CASINOS

47A: Grammy category: REGGAE. The precursor to REGGAE is SKA.

50A: Blush, for one: COSMETIC

52A: River to the Ligurian Sea: ARNO. Only knew ARNO River as Italian river, which flows through Florence/Pisa. Had no idea where Ligurian Sea is.

53A: Playback machines, briefly: VCRS

55A: Move (away), like a coward: SLINK. Wrote down SNEAK.

63A: Disposal bits: ORTS

Down:

1D: Majestic entrance: ARCHWAY. The most famous one is probably Arc de triomphe, which looks quite plain in the daytime.

4D: Climb: ASCENT. Oh, "climb" here is a noun. Tried ASCEND first.

6D: Require the Heimlich maneuver: CHOKE. Heimlich is pronounced like HAHYM-lik.

9D: Profs' degrees: PHDS. Is PHD a must in order to be a professor?

11D: Recording, as in a journal: ENTERING

12D: Online shopping mecca: AMAZON

13D: Cop's duty: PATROL. Thought of the California girl who was slaved for 18 years. Those cops missed the chances to rescue her earlier.

14D: Double-dealing: SNEAKY

20D: Franco-German border region: SAAR (Zahr). I simply forgot. See this map (lower left). It's clued as "German coal region" last time.

24D: Rodeo mount: BRONCO

25D: Specialty, slangily: BAG

27D: Three-part H.S. exam: PSAT (Prelimary SAT). Verbal, Math and Writing.

28D: Some water bottles: LITERS. Did not come to me readily at all.

31D: NASA go-aheads: A-OKS

32D: '50s pres.: DDE. And DEMS (41D: 32-Down wasn't one of them). IKE was a Republican.

34D: Horn of Africa country: DJIBOUTI (ji-BOO-tee). See this map. On the Gulf of Aden.

43D: S'poses: RECKONS. South slang I s'pose.

44D: They may be staked: CLAIMS. Idiom: stake a claim.

45D: Aviator: AIRMAN. Airwoman=Aviatrix (ey-vee-EY-triks)

46D: Chihuahua female: SENORA. Chihuahua the Mexican state. Not the dog.

48D: Italian for "frozen": GELATO. Followed by another word CREMA (50D: Espresso foam). Italian for "cream".

51D: Courtier in "Hamlet": OSRIC. Needed the Across help.

53D: Movers, but hopefully not shakers: VANS. Is this your own clue, Doug? Very nice.

57D: '80s band '__ Tuesday: 'TIL. No idea. Guessed FAT first. Did not pay attention to the apostrophe before the blank. The guy on the lower right corner looks like a woman.

58D: Language suffix: ESE. Like Chinese.

If you have extra time tomorrow, have a look at Newsday puzzle. It's constructed by our Fred. I think it's his Newsday debut. Congratulations, Fred! (Update: Fred's puzzle is Universal Crossword.)

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a great photo of our fellow LAT solver Martin and his beautiful wife Imelda in Baguashan Park, Changhua. Martin is an Assistant Professor in Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology. He is from Ottawa, Canada. Martin has a very deep understanding of Chinese languages and culture. I love reading his comments because they often resonate with mine. This one has some very interesting statues behind them.

C.C.

Friday September 4, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: Hum Along - HUM is inserted at the beginning of a familiar phrase, resulting in a new phrase that start with a familiar HUM* beginning word.

17A: Military Vehicle arrangement?: (HUM)VEE FORMATION. Geese fly in VEE FORMATION. And "Military Vehicle" = HUMVEE. Widely used in Iraq/Afghanistan.

24A: Flower holder that carries a tune?: (HUM)MING VASE. I don't really know why foreigners prize MING VASES. Those produced in Qing Dynasty are prettier. And "carries a tune" = HUMMING.

43A: Ordinary dinner bread? (HUM)DRUM ROLL. DRUM ROLLS are used to build anticipation. Ordinary = HUMDRUM. Ennui. Oprah. Dr. Phil.

56A: Chemical that keeps the baloney out?: (HUM)BUG REPELLENT. Have to use Mosquito REPELLENT while playing golf earlier in the morning. "Baloney"= HUMBUG. Nonsense!

I think Barry made this puzzle when he was hungry. He put in ONION (32A: __ rings), HAMS (23D: Canned meats), SALSA (36A: Mexican eatery staple) & SAUSAGES (36D: Kielbasas, e.g.). I have never heard of kielbasa. My husband calls it Polish sausage.

Maybe Barry does not like Waldorf salad, otherwise he would have clued APPLE (41A: Jobs creation) differently. I do like his clue though. Jobs here refer to Steve Jobs, Apple's CEO. I just talked about his liver transplant last Sunday.

Fine puzzle. Fun too. Three X's, one J, one Z, four V's. Barry's hallmark. He said HUMMING VASE was his seed entry. It came to him while he was solving another puzzle. Then he found three others. He made this puzzle in June 2009.

Across:

1A: Langley et al.: Abbr.: AFBS (Air Force Bases). Air Force's Air Combat Command is headquartered in Langley Air Force Base (Hampton, Virginia). Somehow I thought of CIA, which is headquartered in Langley, Virginia.

5A: Sports disks that can reach speeds of more than 100 miles per hour after being struck: PUCKS. Oh, I did not know this trivia.

10A: Steinbeck hero Tom: JOAD. From "The Grapes of Wrath".

15A: R&B family name: ISLEY. Very dim memory of the name. What's their most famous song?

16A: Magazine name that's also a pronoun: ELLE. French for "she/her".

20A: How pros do things: EXPERTLY. Like Tiger Woods. He never even wastes a practice shot. Highly efficient.

21A: "(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance" singer: PITNEY (Gene). Here is the clip. I've never heard of the singer nor the song.

29A: FDR predecessor: HCH (Herbert Clark Hoover). Did not know Hoover's middle name.

34A: Revelatory, as a moment: AHA

35A: 45 years after William I invaded England: MCXI. Roman for 1111. William the Conqueror invaded England in 1066. 1066 + 45=1111.

38A: One of the Four Corners states: Abbr.: ARIZ

39A: Biblical judge: ELI. Nice new clue. No more Yale references. BASTA.

40A: Draped attire: SARI. Also SAREE.

46A: Low pitch: BASS. D'oh, musical tone. I was thinking of baseball.

47A: MPG rating group: EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)

48A: City with a University of Washington campus: TACOMA. Seattle & TACOMA, that's all I know about Washington State.

51A: Street entrances: MANHOLES. Not the entrances I pictured.

58A: Get from __: advance slightly: A TO B

59A: English county bordering Suffolk: ESSEX. The German industrial city is ESSEN.

60A: Alamo first name: DAVY(Crockett)

61A: He sings "Maria" in "West Side Story": TONY

63A: Terrier type: SKYE. Must be first bred in the Isle of SKYE.

Down:

2D: Continuous change: FLUX. This whole world is in constant FLUX. Nothing stays still.

3D: Speed __: BUMP. Don't think I've seen BUMP in a puzzle before.

4D: Golf's Ballesteros: SEVE. Genius around green. I am glad he beat the brain cancer and will play at the 2010 British Open.

5D: Bakery container: PIE TIN

6D: Old Glory: US FLAG. Only one vowel.

7D: Sate: CLOY. Paris Hilton's sweetness is overly cloying.

8D: Plop lead-in: KER

9D: Academic conferences: SYMPOSIA. Plural of symposium. Can you believe it's a gimme for me?

10D: Breakwater: JETTY. Both the clue and the answer are new to me. JETTY sounds so adjective.

13D: Opposite of grant: DENY. Verb. I wrote down DEBT first, thinking of the noun endowment.

18D: Watergate Senator Sam: ERVIN. Wikipedia says Senator ERVIN also brought down McCarthy.

27D: French pronoun: MOI. And TOI & LUI, another two objective pronouns that end with letter I.

28D: Logically sound: VALID

29D: Silent film star?: HARPO. I was stumped. HARPO Marx. Why question mark?

37D: Pentagon topic: ARMS. I bet ARMS interest those guys more than peace.

38D: Auto loan letters: APR. Annual Percentage Rate I presume.

40D: SeaWorld favorite: SHAMU

41D: Title hero in a 1951 opera commissioned for television: AMAHL. Menotti's "AMAHL and the Night Visitors". I drew a blank.

44D: Grim figure?: REAPER. Grim REAPER, personification of death.

45D: One deck: UP NEXT

46D: Ewing whose ex-wife dreamt an entire season of "Dallas": BOBBY. No idea. Interesting Barry used "dreamt" instead of "dreamed". Linda mentioned a while ago that "dreamt" is the only English word that ends in "mt".

49D: Monte Carlo, e.g.: AUTO. I was thinking of Grace Kelley's Monte Carlo.

50D: "Let's go!": C'MON

51D: Monument Valley sight: MESA. I feel hot just seeing this picture.

52D: Cutlass automaker: OLDS. Would prefer a AUTO-less clue.

53D: Security problem: LEAK. Bob Novak's legacy will be forever marred by his CIA LEAK scandal.

54D: It's a sin: ENVY. A deadly sin.

57D: 18, 19, 20 in a series: RST. Can't fool me. The alphabet series.

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a wonderful family photo of our fellow LAT solver Jazzbumpa (the forever changing trombonist), his lovely wife Gloria and their grandchildren.

He said:

In front:

Gloria (aka the Lovely Wife), Josh (who has had enough), and Ron, (aka JzB, your humble trombonist.)

In back:

Nate (of Blues fame), Ryan, Abby (the artist), Lauren, Alexa, Amanda, Emily, Samantha, Rebekka, Danny.

I had to do some red-eye correction. Emily, frex. could look either Goth or demonic. I chose Goth."

C.C.

Rich Norris Alias Names

Below are the pseudonyms of Rich Norris, editor of LA Times Daily Crossword

 (Updated on Nov 1, 2012. )

Cathy Carulli: Anagram of "Actually Rich"

Charlie Riley: "i.e., Really Rich"

Damien Peterson: "Editor's Pen Name"

Gia Christian: "Again It's Rich"

Lila Cherry: "Really Rich"

Meredith Ito: “I’m the Editor"

Nora Pearlstone: "Not a Real Person"

Sabrina Walden: "Brand New Alias".

Samantha Wine: "What's in a name".

Teri Smalley: "It's really me".

Rich also used Natalie Dyvens (anagram of "Valentine's Day") for his Feb. 14th, 2010 "Crazy Love" Valentine's Day anagram puzzle & Sheila Welton ("It's Halloween") on Oct 31, 2012.

Rich also uses Matt McKinley sometimes.

Part of the above information is obtained from here.

C.C.

Interview with Daniel A. Finan

It's been a long time since we last had Dan Finan's puzzle. I really liked his "IT'S NOT YOU. IT'S ME" puzzle (April 17, 2009). Dan changed every ME in the theme entry into U. He later told me that he's a big "Seinfeld" fan, and he thought it would be fun to play with the breakup phrase.

Dan made his NY Time debut earlier this year with a Sunday "When in Rome" puzzle. Those who solve NY Times regularly probably still remember his inventive sailboat puzzle in April. When you connect those circled letters in alphabetical order, a sailboat takes shape.

In addition to LA Times and NY Times, Dan also had several puzzles published by the NY Sun. Enjoy the interview. I am confident that we will see more Dan Finan puzzles in the future.

Can you tell us more about the creating process of this puzzle? How did the theme idea come to you and what kind of changes did you make to smooth out the grid?

In order for the PARTS OF SPEECH puzzle to work, I figured I needed to take three-letter "parts" of SPEECH, i.e., SPE, PEE, EEC, and ECH. That would result in four theme answers (not including the central entry), each of which is workable but not too commonplace. I wanted to narrow down the possible answers even more, so I decided to place all of these parts at the beginning of the theme entries. And finally, for the sake of elegance, I wanted them to appear in order.

There is often a limiting factor of a puzzle that a constructor is forced to build around. For this puzzle it was the EEC answer. The only quality entry I could think of was EE CUMMINGS, a well-known author. Thus, given my other self-imposed constraints, I needed another 10-letter entry starting with PEE to offset this answer. There were a few to choose from, but I opted for PEEPING TOM, which is a colloquial English expression deriving from an interesting historical figure. Similarly, there were limited options for the ECH answer, but I thought ECHO CHAMBER had a nice ring to it. Finally, I thought that the offsetting entry SPELLING BEE would be fun to clue.

My favorite non-theme entries are PLETHORA (a great word; it reminds me of the classic "Three Amigos") and CLARK BAR (candy-related entries are always fun, right?). Also, I wanted to clue the common OMELET as "Denver ___" because I like to slip in as many references to my hometown as possible!

How would you describe your style? What kind of themes/fills fascinate you? And what words do you try to avoid in your puzzles?

I am a sucker for the gimmick puzzles--typically late-week themed puzzles. Off the top of my head, two puzzles that had a fun wow factor for me were Don Gagliardo's LAT 5/17/07 and Patrick Berry's NYT 3/9/08 "Splits and Mergers." I also love a good connect-the-dots puzzle.

Like any constructor, I try to avoid crosswordese as much as possible when filling grids. But I really like my long non-theme entries to be lively and fun; I'll gladly use a few dullish short answers if it means I can use a fun long one.

What is a perfect puzzle to you? And what's your view on low word/black square count?

To me the perfect puzzle is a simple, elegant, and subtle gimmick puzzle. I really like the crosswords that have a metapuzzle. For example, with some (themed) puzzles, I can fill in the entire grid, and I still don't "get it." So I have to really dig deep to find the theme... it's then that I get that satisfying "Aha!" moment. I wonder how many people miss the whole point of subtle puzzles like that.

I don't care so much about achieving a low word or black-square count. On the other hand, I really try to use cheater squares only when I absolutely have to!

Do you google a lot while constructing a puzzle? What kind of reference books do you use?

I definitely use google when constructing. And wiki. But wisely! They can be very useful tools. Sometimes, after I've resigned myself to using a seemingly ho-hum entry, I'll google it and find something interesting about it that I didn't know before. I regularly use other online resources like IMDB, OneLook, and a few dictionaries.

What's your background and what do you do for fun?

I recently finished grad school at UC Santa Barbara, and I'm now doing a postdoc at a university in Copenhagen, Denmark. My area of research is diabetes. I'm trying to figure out the Danish crosswords, which is a daunting task. I have the utmost respect for non-native solvers (C.C.!). Other than that, I love photography and I've been traveling a lot lately.