Monday, March 22, 2010 Robert Fisher

Theme: Body Parts - Four theme entries containing two parts of the body in a common idioms.

20A. Hopelessly, as in love: HEAD OVER HEELS

29A. Field sobriety test: FINGER TO NOSE

46A. Fierce way to fight: TOOTH AND NAIL

56A. Facetious: TONGUE IN CHEEK

And a single NAVEL (31D. Umbilicus).

Argyle here. Another serviceable Monday puzzle from Mr. Fisher. Doesn't need much explanation but still fun to do.

Across:

1A. Prefix with brewery: MICRO

6A. Quite a ways away: AFAR

10A. Field furrow maker: PLOW

14A. Like a specially formed committee: AD HOC. Latin, for this

15A. Infrequent: RARE

16A. Learn about aurally: HEAR

17A. Track shoe part: CLEAT. SPIKE would be better; CLEATS are for field games.

18A. Canon shots, briefly: PICS. Canon, the camera, not cannon, the big shooter.

19A. Dark and murky: INKY

23A. Meal remnant: ORT

24A. Cribbage piece: PEG

25A. Writer's coll. major, often: ENG.

26A. Piper in the air: CUB. In flight. Check out the leg stuck out the door and what is that; the wash drying on the line to the tail wheel?

32A. Fossil fuel: COAL

35A. Draw a bead: AIM

36A. Keeps for later: SAVES

37A. A single time: ONCE

38A. Theater chain founded in 1904: LOEWS

41A. __ Beach, Florida: VERO. On the Atlantic side, a little over midway down to Miami.

42A. Firestone products: TIRES

44A. Bit of a chill: NIP

45A. Formerly, previously: ERST

50A. Reply: Abbr.: ANS.

51A. __, dos, tres ...: UNO

52A. '50s car embellishment: FIN. Probably should have been plural; a rare sports car may have had a single fin.

53A. "Antiques Roadshow" airer: PBS

60A. Forte of a certain "doctor": SPIN

62A. Eye blatantly: OGLE

63A. Throw with effort: HEAVE. Caber Toss.

64A. Political alliance: PACT

65A. Mass transit option: RAIL

66A. Game show host: EMCEE

67A. "The Sun __ Rises": ALSO. The first major novel by Ernest Hemingway, 1926.

68A. Somewhat: A TAD

69A. Competed in a bee: SPELT. This will draw some comments.

Down"

1D. Virile: MACHO

2D. Work shirker: IDLER

3D. Copy from your classmate's paper, say: CHEAT

4D. Willie Nelson's "On the __ Again": ROAD. Clip.

5D. Squid cousins: OCTOPI

6D. Broken chord, in music: ARPEGGIO. I'll leave to our experts to discuss.

7D. Expo: FAIR

8D. Shooter with a quiver: ARCHER

9D. Bristle at: RESENT. William Tell bristled at being called an archer. He used a crossbow and was known as a bowman.

10D. Golfer Mickelson: PHIL

11D. Camera's protective cap: LENS COVER

12D. Cask material: OAK

13D. Droll: WRY

21D. Bribable: VENAL. VENAL bad; VENERABLE good.

22D. They're big in Hollywood: EGOS

27D. Online surfers, e.g.: USERS

28D. Stupefy with booze: BESOT

29D. Hertz inventory: FLEET

30D. Edit: EMEND

32D. Terra __: pottery clay: COTTA. The TERRA COTTA ARMY.

33D. Burger topper: ONION

34D. Puzzles involving quotes, usually: ACROSTICS

39D. Hall of Fame outfielder Dave or actor Paul: WINFIELD

40D. Madrid's country: SPAIN

43D. Steer clear of: SHUN

47D. Long-haired cat: ANGORA

48D. Chewy candy: NOUGAT

49D. Yard's 36: INCHES

53D. What a V-sign may mean: PEACE

54D. Slanted edge: BEVEL

55D. Trapshooting: SKEET

59D. Natural rope fiber: HEMP

60D. Place to be pampered: SPA

Answer grid.

Picture of the Day: Here is a sweet photo of our fellow LAT solver Barry G, his lovely wife from Tianjin, China and their adorable son.

Argyle

Sunday March 21, 2010 John Lampkin

Theme: The Clothier's Apprentice - Common phrases involving a sartorial word are humorously re-interpreted & clued as tailor-related. "The Clothier's Apprentice" story is narrated through the combination of clues & answers.

23A. Poor prep technique earned the apprentice the nickname __: TURKEY BASTER. To baste is to sew together loosely. Turkey = Poor.

34A. He thought NASA sewed astronauts' uniforms with the __: SPACE NEEDLE. Have you visited the Space Needle in Seattle?

48A. Mixing up orders from a cop and a priest, he __: COLLARED THE WRONG MAN. Superb choice of "a cop and a priest"(clerical collar). Different collar intimation.

65A. He designed a shirt, but wound up with a vest because he __: LOST THE THREAD. I hate when I lose the thread of conversation in blog Comments section.

82A. Jogging, he forgot about the pin cushion in his pocket and __: GOT A STITCH IN HIS SIDE. Learned a few months ago that "stitch" can refer to a sudden, sharp pain.

100A. He thought inferior fabric came from __: WORSTED WOOL. I understand the fabric term "worsted". But is the wordplay inferior "worst" here used as a verb?

113A. Upon reviewing the apprentice's work, the boss said, "Truly you are a __": TAILOR'S DUMMY. Hilarious!

Today marks the one-year anniversary of our switch to LA Times. What a fun, fine pangram gift from John Lampkin!

John is a musician, so quite a few music references in the grid:

7A. A to A, to Puccini: SCALA. Italian for "scale". We all know La Scala in Milan.

22A. Numbered Beethoven work, e.g.: OPUS

32A. Early prog rock gp.: ELO. Often clued as the "Xanadu" band.

88A. "The Planets" composer: HOLST (Gustav). I strung his name together via crosses.

109A. Wagner work: OPERA. Opera is also a plural of opus, isn't it?

122A. Clarinet and oboe: REEDS

104D. Early strings: VIOLS

Also brilliant word-weaving & echos in today's clues, hallmark of John's puzzles. I've highlighted them in green color in my write-up.

Across:

1. Yak: JABBER

12. Cape Town's country: Abbr.: RSA (Republic of South Africa)

15. Country bumpkin: RUBE

19. Farm vet's specialty: EQUINE. And NAG (73. Not much of a racehorse). And AT STUD (83D. Like some retired racehorses). Dictionary defines At/In Stud as: (of a male animal) offered for the purpose of breeding. New to me. Also SHOE (84. Horse's footwear).

20. Like a purring Jaguar: TUNED

21. Gambler's haunts, briefly: OTB (Offtrack Betting). But the clue is asking for plural OTBS.

25. Langley operative: CIA AGENT. CIA is based in Langley, Virginia. (Thanks for the correction, Haltool.)

27. Rotated car parts: TIRES

28. Ultimatum ender: ELSE. We often have OR ELSE.

29. Subj. concerned with habitats: ECOL

31. Fencing move: LUNGE

33. All over: ANEW

36. Dirty deed doer: DASTARD. Triple alliteration.

39. Eggs in labs: OVA

41. "The Chosen" author Chaim: POTOK. Have never heard of the book.

42. Divinity sch.: SEM (Seminary)

43. Shout in a ring: OLE. Bull ring. And I'LL GET IT (74. Response to a ring). Doorbell ring.

44. Finish, as a cake: FROST. Oh, noun "finish".

46. Kilmer poem ending: A TREE. From "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". (Added later: The ending is from Joyce Kilmer's poem "Trees".)

54. Sultan's wives: HAREM. Always thought harem refer to the room they live. Have you ever wondered why those Muslim girls' eyes look bright and mysterious? Well, they use KOHL for eyeliner.

57. Feline greeting: MEOW. And HOWL (85D. Wolf's cry).

59. Repeats: ITERATES

61. Vinyls, for short: LPS

62. Robust: HEARTY

64. Sale indicator: TAG

71. Bordeaux choice: CLARET. Bordeaux wine.

76. Hägar's daughter: HONI. Must be a gimme for all your "Hägar the Horrible" fans. Not me.

77. Censor's target: SMUT

79. Approaching: NIGH. So is NEAR.

81. Choose: ELECT

87. Lucy's chum: ETHEL. "I Love Lucy".

89. 1963 Cleo player: LIZ. And NILE (79D. Cleo's river). The latter is asking for an abbreviated answer.

90. Spot order?: SIT. Spot the dog. And AD REP (11D. Spot seller). TV Ad spot.

93. Enjoys a bath: SOAKS. And the consecutive WET (95. Like a bather). And WASH (51D. Bathe), followed directly by AERATED (52. Like hot tub water). John must love Degas.

96. Flamboyance: PANACHE

105. Family mem.: REL

106. "Au revoir": ADIEU. Does anyone know how to pronounce French R properly?

107. Speedy: FAST

108. Flex at the barre: PLIE. Barre is the ballet rail. And BEND (24D. Flex)

111. Varied assortment: MIXED BAG. Olio!

116. Brief confession: I DID

117. GI morale booster: USO

118. Kick out: EXPEL

119. "Enclosed __ please find ...": HEREIN

120. Dates: SEES

121. St. Helens, e.g.: MTN

123. Carol opening: ADESTE. The opening of hymn "Adeste Fideles" (O Come All Ye Faithful").

Down:

1. Took a red-eye, e.g.: JETTED

2. Eagle constellation: AQUILA. Latin for "eagle".

3. Forty-niners' carriers: BURROS. The Gold Rush forty-niners who arrived in CA in 1849.

4. You can pop a wheelie on one: BIKE

5. Hydrocarbon endings: ENES. I don't mind the pluralized form of a chemical ending. How about you chemical expert, Al/Jazzbumpa?

6. King, in Spain: REY

8. Geezer's invectives: CUSS WORDS

9. Part of a.m.: ANTE. Man, I never know that a. m. stands for ante meridiem (before noon).

10. Poe's Annabel: LEE. Poe's "Annabel Lee".

12. Fragonard's paintings exemplify it: ROCOCO ART. The answer emerged itself. Not familiar with the French painter Fragonard. How does Rococo differ from Baroque?

13. Sharp-looking heels?: STILETTOS

15. Rapscallion: ROGUE

16. Overturns: UPENDS

17. Botch: BUNGLE

26. Source of a draft?: ALE KEG. The beer draft. I only felt air draft.

30. Seal, as an oil well: CAP

34. Accessory indicating rank, perhaps: SASH

35. Norse goddess of fate: NORN. Any of the three. The Furies also consist of three goddesses.

37. Chan portrayer: TOLER (Sidney). Total stranger to me.

38. Stag: ALL MALE

40. It's cast in a booth: VOTE

44. Big spread: FEAST. Was imagining a big spread of farmland.

45. Play the vamp: TEMPT

47. Austen novel: EMMA

48. Mail order book: CATALOG

49. Pasta sauce herb: OREGANO. Jeannie's sweet potato with dried herbs sound delectable.

50. Roger of "Cheers": REES. First encounter with this guy.

53. Nasty: NOT NICE

54. Pull (up), as pants: HITCH. And LEG (61. An April fooler might pull yours).

58. One of the Earps: WYATT

60. Tiny one: TOT

62. Cartoonist Foster: HAL. No idea. Wikipedia says he's the cartoonist for "Tarzan" and "Prince Valiant".

63. Enters stealthily: EDGES IN

66. Wood fastener: T-NUT

67. Concoct: HATCH

68. "Exactamundo!": RIGHT

69. K-12 catchall: ELHI (ELementary + HIgh school)

75. Alfred Doolittle's daughter: ELIZA. "My Fair Lady".

77. Ever dedicated: STEADFAST

78. Bygone delivery vehicle: MILK WAGON. I don't have any milkman memory as many of you do.

80. Set up, as software: INSTALLED

86. Croat or Serb: SLAV

90. Hindu masters: SWAMIS

91. Salt used in thyroid treatments: IODIDE

92. "Hi and Lois" baby: TRIXIE. Uh-uh. Nope.

94. "Help!" at sea: SOS

96. Place to tie up: PIER. Tie up the boat.

97. Thickish liqueurs: CREMES

98. No social butterfly: HERMIT. Like Salinger.

99. Comic Boosler: ELAYNE. Is she very famous?

101. Bird feeder filler: SEEDS

102. Furry river critter: OTTER

108. Old King Cole's smoke: PIPE. Simple English nursery rhymes are often stymies to me. Cultural gap.

109. Used too much: OD'ED. Overdosed.

110. Squeaky clean: PURE

112. Dover derrière: BUM. Dover is picked for alliteration again.

114. Forest feller: AXE. One more alliteration.

115. Syllable in oldies: SHA

Answer grid.

A special "Thank You" to Rich Norris for a wonderful year of daily entertainment and education.

C.C.

Interview with Will Nediger

One of my favorite LAT Sunday puzzles is Will Nediger's "Watch the Birdie", in which he placed ONE under PAR in 10 different places.

Will is a 19-year old college student from Canada. Since April 2006, his puzzles have appeared in LA Times, NY Times, NY Sun and probably other newspapers/magazines I am not aware of.

Can you tell us your thought process on this puzzle?

I remember solving a wonderful Paula Gamache puzzle in the New York times with a similar grid (stacks of 11-13-15 on the top and bottom). The great thing about Paula's puzzle was that the bottom stacked entries all rhymed: CULTUREVULTURES, GEORGIEPORGIE, and GREENSCREEN. And the top stacked entries were all crisp, fresh phrases: THEONCEOVER, FOOTBALLWIDOW, and SAYTHEMAGICWORD. That kind of grid has lots of possibilities for a themeless, because it's a lot less constrained than stacking three 15s, and 11s and 13s don't get that much currency in themelesses. My puzzle didn't end up as fresh as Paula's, but I'm still pleased with it.

What is your background? How does it influence your crossword style?

I'm currently at university studying linguistics and Spanish, and playing Quizbowl on the side. So I like to include all the usual things in my crosswords: pop culture, in-the-language phrases, and so on. But because of Quizbowl, my puzzles tend to skew more academic (and the same is true of Joon Pahk, who used to play Quizbowl back in the day). This usually happens in the cluing, though, rather than the entries, so a lot of my academic clues get changed in editing. I eagerly await the day when one of my Kierkegaard clues for EITHEROR makes it into print!

How did you first get interested in crossword construction?

I've been interested in construction for as long as I can remember. Of course, I shudder to think of how terrible my early efforts were. I used the old-fashioned pencil-and-graph-paper method, and I erased through a lot of sheets of graph paper. I was also in the habit of putting in entries that seemed like they might be words, and then hoping that they would turn out to be in the dictionary.

Is theme more important to you then the quality of the fills? What is a perfect puzzle for you?

I think I differ from most people in the business, in that I value fill quality over theme quality. Of course, for themed puzzles, the fill is really just a vehicle for the theme, which is primary. But I find that the real art in constructing crosswords is creating a fill that's relatively free from obscurities and other unwanted entries, but that still contains lots of fresh stuff and Scrabbly letters. Actually, maybe I just think this because I'm terrible at coming up with themes. My favourite puzzles are themelesses, of the sorts that Frank Longo, Karen M. Tracey and Matt Jones make. (And yeah, those three people have wildly divergent styles, I know. But they're all great.)

Besides crossword, what else do you do for fun?

All sorts of things: Scrabble (which I'm sure can be said of lots of other constructors, although the two activities are really very different), anything to do with literature, most racket sports, foreign languages...

Saturday March 20, 2010 Will Nediger

Theme: None

Total words: 66

Total blocks: 35

The empty grid is cornered like a picture frame, very pretty design. Tragically, I ruined the whole puzzle. My finished grid looks like the Hindenburg crashing into the Titanic. Total disaster.

The three odd-numbered stacks of entertainment clue/entries atop the puzzle challenged me immensely. The lower NAKED AS A JAYBIRD (46. Without anything on) is a just fantastic fill. I wonder where the saying comes from, Al?

Tricky clues abound. My favorite is EX-CON (16. Record holder?). Fell to the trap of thinking about the normal contest record rather than the intended criminal record.

Are you surprised that the constructor is a teenager from Canada?

Across:

1. "The West Wing" creator: AARON SORKIN. Stumped immediately. Can you handle the truth? Wikipedia says he also wrote "A Few Good Men".

12. 1947 Oscar winner for Best Original Song: ZIP-A-DEE-DOO-DAH. I was clueless. Awesome entry though.

14 1988 Michelle Pfeiffer comedy: MARRIED TO THE MOB. Here is the poster. Looks fun.

17. Battery alternative: FUEL CELL. No idea. Dictionary defines it as "a device that produces a continuous electric current directly from the oxidation of a fuel, as that of hydrogen by oxygen".

18. Neural transmitter: AXON. Your impulse transmitter.

19. Cat murmurs: PURRS. Impulsively penned in MEOWS.

21. Charmer who "walks like a woman and talks like a man, " in a 1970 hit: LOLA. Hit from the The Kinks about a transvestite.

22. John of London: LOO. The toilet "john".

23. Old postal divisions: ZONES

24. Pachelbel work: CANON. Johann Pachelbel was a German composer famous for his "Pachelbel's Canon". Learning moment for me.

25. Oct 1975 NBC debut: SNL

26. Cost to get in on the deal: ANTE. Poker.

27. Cunning: SHREWD

28. First queen of Carthage: DIDO. She founded Carthage. Killed herself when abandoned by the Trojan hero Aeneas. Love is _ ?

29. For whom the bell tolls: THEE. "... for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee". Terrific clue.

30. Catkin bearers: ALDERS

33. Fast-growing pet: CHIA

34. Half of CDX: CCV. 1/410=205.

37. Ad preceder: DEUCE. Tennis score. Ad in/out follows deuce.

38. Frighten: DAUNT

39. Last word of Shelley's "Adonais": ARE. Man, who knows?! The last lines are :"... The soul of Adonais, like a star/Beacons from the abode where the Eternal are". "Adonais" Shelley's elegy for John Keats.

40. Amplify: MIKE. Did not know mike can be a verb.

41. Smart-mouthed: SASSY

42. Silly rabbit's desire, in ads: TRIX

43. Campus figure: ACADEMIC. Did Will's clues strike you as academic?

45. One in a class by herself?: TUTEE. Nice clue too. But why "herself" instead of "himself"?

49. Most buses: SINGLE DECKERS. Lots of double deckers in Guangzhou/Xi'An.

50. '80s NBC medical drama: ST. ELSEWHERE. Have never heard of this drama. What's your favorite Denzel Washington movie?

Down:

1. Use a fan on: AIR-COOL

2. Kitchen protector: APRON

3. Delay cause, maybe: RAIN

4. Dedicated work: ODE. Ah, Lemonade!

5. Neighbor of Homer: NED. Homer Simpson's neighbor.

6. Emancipated: SET FREE. Tricky "set" tense.

7. Sussex scents: ODOURS. British spelling of "odors". Sussex is picked for alliteration purpose.

8. Dull drills: ROTES

9. Cleopatra's eyeliners: KOHL. This stumped many last time it appeared in our puzzle.

10. "My stars!": I DECLARE. Both are quaint cries of surprise, aren't they?

11. "Give me a for-instance": NAME ONE

12. Fighter craft game released by Sega in 1982: ZAXXON. No idea. What does Zaxxon stand for?

13. empty: HOLLOW

14. Board: MEALS. Room and board.

15. Hardly spicy: BLAND

19. Koi habitats: PONDS

20. Golden rule word: UNTO

23. Site of the 1974 fight known as "The Rumble in the Jungle": ZAIRE. Where Ali beat Foreman.

24. Play badly: CHEAT. Wanted EMOTE.

27. Newly polished: SHINY

28. Will writer, at a will reading: DECEDENT. Hmmm, nice "Will" clue, Will, way to go!

29. Consequently: THUS

30. Pro pitcher?: AD MAN. Got me again.

31. Pioneer 35mm cameras: LEICAS

32. Loser to Bush in 1988: DUKAKIS (Michael). Two Ks. This puzzle is quite scrabbly, with two Z's, three Xs. Only one Q away from a pangram.

33. Cataract: CASCADE

34. Bridgestone product: CAR TIRE

35. Old yellers: CRIERS. Who did not think of the the movie "Old Yeller"?

36. In a snit: VEXED

38. Places for roasters and toasters?: DAISES. Nice rhyme.

41. Picayune: SMALL

42. Yam, for one: TUBER. How do you normally prepare your yam?

44. Competitive advantage: EDGE

45. Trike rider: TYKE

47. Saul or Solomon: JEW. Saul is the first king of Israel. Are Jewish people offended by the word Jew? It has a negative tone to my goyish ear.

48. "Oh!" to Ohm: ACH. The best ACH clue I've seen.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday March 19, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Uber-Ersatz - Part of each common English phrase is substituted by a similar sounding German word/name with a corresponding "German" clue.

17A. German version of GQ? HERR STYLE (Hair style). German title, equivalent to Mr. or Lord.

18A. Section reserved for a German composer?: BACH'S SEATS (Box seats). Johann Sebastian Bach.

23A. Car parked next to a German sedan?: AUDI NEIGHBOR (Howdy neighbor!) German car make.

35A. Germans living in the fast lane?: AUTOBAHN SOCIETY (Audubon Society). German motorways which have no general speed limit.

43A. Give a German philosopher the third degree?: QUESTION MARX (Question marks). Karl Marx.

52A. Former German chancellor's coffee sweetener? LUMP OF KOHL (Lump of coal). Helmut Kohl, chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998.

59A. Causes for alarm in the West German capital? BONN FIRES (Bonfires). Bonn was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990.

And some bonus fill:

16A. Cousin of danke: MERCI. German and French for 'Thank you".

19D. "Sprechen __ Deutsch?" SIE. German for 'Do you speak German?'

melissa bee here. what an honor to guest blog a Dan Naddor puzzle, and this one was really fun. i love heavy themeage, count 'em, six theme answers. six in german is "sechs," pronounced 'zeks,' rhymes with sex.

(Note from C.C.: There are actually seven theme answers, the first and last two are overlapped. A whopping total 77 theme squares. But Melissa's rhyming comment is precious!)

Across:

1. "Eats, Shoots & Leaves" subject: COMMA. Book referred to frequently on this blog, about proper punctuation.

6. Interim measures: STOPGAPS

14. James teammate: O'NEAL. LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal, Cleveland Cavaliers.

15. Provided home security, in a way: HOUSE SAT. Or haus sat?

20. Freshman, probably: TEEN

21. Lubricate: OIL

22. Back in: RETRO. Everything old is new again.

30. Place follower: SHOW. Win, place and show. Horse racing.

31. Put out: EMIT

32. Comrade: PAL

40. Acidity-level symbols: PH'S. The pH scale corresponds to the concentration of hydronium ions in a solution, and measures the acidity (or basicity) of a solution. Paging Dr. Dad ...

41. Manitoba tribe: CREE

42. Prolific auth.? ANON. Ain't it the truth.

47. Relish: EAT UP

50. Bossy remark? MOO. Great clue. But this is really milking it.

51. La __ Tar Pits: BREA. Is there an echo in here?

61. Excessive: UNDUE. As in undue speeding.

62. In a tight row: END TO END

63. Paris bisector: SEINE. According to Wikipedia, the River Seine in France is 482 miles long, and there are 37 bridges over it in Paris alone. One of the final scenes in 'Something's Gotta Give,' is filmed on just such a bridge, when when Harry (Jack Nicholson), thinking he has lost Erica (Diane Keaton), stumbles out of the Grand Colbert restaurant and past the Hôtel de Ville. Remember?

64. Relieve, as of mistaken ideas: DISABUSE

65. Searches for: SEEKS

Down:

1. Search thoroughly: COMB. Like for ticks. "You never know where one might be..."

2. Ready to serve: ONE-A

3. Cougar or Sable, briefly: MERC. Mercury the automobile make.

4. Speed ratio: MACH. It is said that an aircraft is flying at Mach 1 if its speed is equal to the speed of sound in air (which is 332 m/s or 1195 km/hr or 717 miles/hour.) Named after Ernst Mach (1838-1916), an Austrian philosopher and physicist.

5. "The Nowhere City" author Lurie: ALISON (not to be confused with the American rapper named Allison Lurie). Relied on perps for this. Interesting info from Wiki: 'The Nowhere City, evokes both Thomas More’s Utopia (Greek for “nowhere”) and Gertrude Stein’s comment about Oakland, California, “There is no there there.” Coincidentally, my last guest blog puzzle had 'Utopia' clued as "More work."

6. Subway Series stadium: SHEA. The Subway Series is a series of Major League Baseball games played between teams based in New York City. So named in the 1920's because the subway had become an important form of public transport in the city and provided a convenient form of travel between the three city ballparks: the Polo Grounds, in upper Manhattan; Yankee Stadium, in the Bronx; and Ebbets Field in Brooklyn.

7. Suit material? TORT. Torts are civil wrongs recognized by law as grounds for a lawsuit.

8. Couple's word: OURS. Aw.

9. Afterthoughts, briefly: PS'S. Post Scripts.

10. Go-__: GETTER

11. So far: AS YET

12. Not as flushed: PALER

13. Dictator's assistant? STENO. Stenographer.

17. Prefix with pad: HELI. Heli-pad. I hear Jazzbumpa groaning from here.

22. Univ. recruiter: ROTC. Reserve Officers' Training Corps.

23. Quickly, in memos: ASAP. As Soon As Possible.

24. "Don't think so": UH UH

25. Bitmap components: DOTS. Fooled me, I wanted DPI's.

26. '40s flag-raising site, briefly: IWO. Iwo Jima. Here is the famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal, and even live footage.

27. "The Maids" playwright: GENET. No idea.

28. Pinafore letters: HMS. HMS Pinafore, the comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan.

29. Short life story? BIO. Short for biography.

32. 2003 A.L. Manager of the Year Tony: PENA. A.L. = American League. Pena managed the Kansas City Royals from 2002-2005. Again from Wiki: He is the father of pitcher Tony Francisco Peña (mistakenly known as "Tony, Jr."), as well as New York Mets minor league player Francisco Peña, a prospect for the New York Mets.

33. Fabric finish? ATOR. Finish of the word fabricator. That you again, Jazz? (Groaning, not fabricating.)

34. Bobcat, e.g.: LYNX

36. Support spec: B-CUP. I think Dan threw us a bone.

37. "Chances __": Mathis hit: ARE. Song. Also a movie with Cybill Shepherd, Robert Downey Jr., and Ryan O'Neal.

38. Men: HE'S

39. Sam-__: I AM. He does not like green eggs and ham.

43. Amounts: QUANTA

44. Little rascals: IMPS

45. Hugs, in letters: OOO. XXX are kisses.

46. Easy to use, in adspeak: NO FUSS

47. Subsided: EBBED

48. Rice-__: A-RONI

49. Ministers: TENDS. Verb, not noun.

52. Place: LIEU

53. Coffee servers: URNS

54. Ancient Persian: MEDE. The Medes lived in Media.

55. Place for a pad: KNEE. Knee pad.

56. Comic strip dog: ODIE. Garfield's bane.

57. Adonis: HUNK. Du siehst echt zum Anbeißen gut aus!

58. 19th-century military family: LEES. I was unaware there were so many.

60. "The Gift of the Magi" gift: FOB. Also a set of COMBS (1D).

Answer grid.

melissa

Thursday March 18, 2010 Donna S. Levin

Theme: KISS (55D. Popular version of a design principle acronym spelled out by the starts of this puzzle's four longest answers) - KISS is an acronym for the design principle "Keep It Simple, Stupid".

20A. Park warning: KEEP OFF THE GRASS

25A. 1971 hit for Ringo: IT DON'T COME EASY. Have never heard of this song.

43A. Bone injury in which the skin is intact: SIMPLE FRACTURE. Great crossing with both SCAR (42D. Battle reminder) & SPLINTS (41D. Limb immobilizers), fantastic string of consonants.

48A. Regular Letterman show segment: STUPID PET TRICKS

I learned the KISS principle when Occam's Razor appeared in our old TMS Daily puzzle sometime in 2008. Law of succinctness: the simpler, the better.

Donna seems to always apply this principle to her puzzles (at least the LAT ones). Her themes are often simple yet creative, fill smooth and "in the language". You can always count on her for friendly crossings when an obscure entry comes up.

Across:

1. Relatives of odds: ENDS. Odds and ends. And EVEN (22D. Alternative to odds). Nice "odds" echo.

5. Presently: ANON. Poetically. Same with CLIME (28. Weather, in poems)

14. Marjorie Morningstar's creater: WOUK (Herman). Not familiar with this book.

15. San __: REMO. The Italian Riviera city.

16. Fortuneteller's deck: TAROT

17. Old Dodge: OMNI. Is this your first car, Jeannie?

18. Diva's moment: ARIA. I love this new clue.

23. Flier that had a St. Louis hub: TWA (Trans World Airlines)

33. Sticking places?: CRAWS. Idiom: stick in one's craw.

34. Ford Field team: LIONS. Detroit Lions. Can Ford still afford to pay the naming rights fee?

37. Firing chamber: KILN. Hot!

38. First professional musician to become Chairman of the Board of Lincoln Center: SILLS (Beverly). Was unaware of this trivia.

39. Galileo's patron: NASA. The spacecraft Galileo. Awesome new clue.

40. Sumac of song: YMA

41. 2009 "Survivor" setting: SAMOA. No idea. Not a "Survivor" fan.

42. Muslim mystics: SUFIS. Arabic for "wool", referring to the garb those fellows wore.

46. Like: A LA

57. Biker's invitation: HOP ON

58. Pale tan: ECRU

60. Concerned with: ABOUT

62. Freelancer's encl.: SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope)

62. Word that may appear above a silhouette of a man: GENTS. The rest room sign. Felt stupid struggling with the answer.

65. 1/2 fl. oz.: TBSP. Obtained the answer from crosses.

Down:

1. Hirsute "Star Wars" creature: EWOK. The furry figure. Hirsute = hairy.

2. Seward Peninsula city: NOME. The Iditarod terminus. Seward Peninsula is named after William Seward, the Secretary of State who negotiated the Purchase of Alaska from Russia in 1867. Learning moment for me.

3. Shore thing: DUNE. Nice play on "Sure thing".

4. Take a powder: SKIP TOWN. New idiom to me also.

5. See 32-Down: ARAFAT. And YASIR (32. With 5-Down, former PLO Chairman). What a mess he left behind.

6. Big name in spongy toy: NERF

7. Drop: OMIT

8. Genesis builder: NOAH. Noah's Ark.

9. Cheroot relatives: STOGIES. The cheap cigars.

10. Literally, Spanish for "the tar": LA BREA. Hence the redundancy in La Brea Tar Pits.

12. Some spores, all grown up: MOSS

13. Jeanne d'Arc et al, Abbr.: STES (Saintes). Jeanne d'Arc is French for Joan of Arc.

26. Takes a little off: TRIMS

29. __ Olay: OIL OF. I love Olay brand.

30. Back biter?: MOLAR. My favorite clue today.

31. Glitch: SNAFU

36. Low: BASE

38. Word with bar or days: SALAD

44. Chart: MAP OUT

48. Go after, as flies: SHAG. D'oh, fly balls.

49. Choice for Hamlet: TO BE. To be, or not to be.

51. Mass seating: PEWS

52. Repeat: ECHO

53. Monorail unit: TRAM

54. Grouch: CRAB. No kvetch from me today.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday March 17, 2010 Mike Peluso

Theme: FORE (71. Links warning, and a prefix with the second word of the answers to starred clues). - Golfers would yell "Fore!" if they fear that their shots might endanger the spectators/players ahead. When I play golf, and there are too many very slow players in front, I might just take a shot at one, but I always yell the warning.

17A. *"Unbelievable!": OUTTA SIGHT. Hmm, okay out of sight, meaning amazing. A good Maynard G. Krebs word; he introduced the transistor radio to the world. Good thing this is a CROSS WORD puzzle. FORESIGHT. Which if I had any, would have told me there would be no St. Patrick here today.

25A. *Knitting aid, in a way: PLASTER CAST. Now this clue I love, as who would think about bones knitting together. Great misdirection. FORECAST, what the weathermen do daily.

37A. *Office component: MICROSOFT WORD. Another nice curve, as this is but one part of the MICROSOFT OFFICE SUITE. Most old lawyers still use Word Perfect, but we are in the minority. FOREWORD, the writing before a book, not to be confused with FOREWARD, like our own dear Lois.

52A. *Legendary archer: WILLIAM TELL. Always was the apple of my eye, and I really like his intro music by Rossini. FORETELL, another look into the future.

61A. *Cartoon beeper: ROAD RUNNER and of course my favorite, Wile E. Coyote, his nemesis, and another hero of mine. He never gives up. FORERUNNER, not to be confused with 4Runner.

And our bonus word, for ones who look into the future, 70. Oracles: SEERS. Mr. Peluso did, perhaps wisely, leave out FORESKIN.

Good morning, boys and girls and trolls; how many were expecting a green puzzle today? Heaven FOREFEND such a concept. We do however, get the clever mind of Mike Peluso who gave us the wonderful President’s puzzle last month.

Welcome to wacky Wednesday with your guest blogger Lemonade 714. I really enjoyed doing this puzzle, and now know how hard C.C., Argyle and all of the others who have sat in this place, work to entertain.

Across:

1. Repairs with thread: SEWS. Okay, nice simple beginning to get the juices flowing.

5. Burning: AFIRE , 43. Like angry bees: ASWARM , 57. Each: APIECE . Well we all have our favorites and not so….

10. Part of C.W. Post: Abbr.: INIT. This refers to the initials, C. W.

14. BCS org.: NCAA. March Madness started tonight, good job Arkansas Pine Bluff, another example of not quitting, as the Golden Lions lost their first 11 games this year.

15. Tot watchers' nicknames: NANAS . I called one of mine Mimi, and the other- her.

16. Muscle quality: Tone. Well, do you like them Big or Small ?

19. Radio toggle switch: AM FM. What about satellite?

20. What you can't have success without?: ESSESS. Three letter S in the word "success". You could not spell it any other way.

21. Abate: EASE UP

23. La Mediterranean e.g. : MER , our first French lesson of the day, meaning SEA, which led me to: 56. Evian for one: and of course I wanted EAU, which means water, but the perps told me it was: SPA .

28. "Born Free" lioness: ELSA , and I always get this PICTURE in my mind.

30. Record book: LOG, Captain’s LOG Stardate 124.8; yes I am a trekkie.

31. Evaluates: RATES

32. Adopt, as a stray: TAKES IN . Is that how most of you got your kitties?

35. Cosmetic surgery, for short: LIPO . Maybe if I move my tummy, to my ass….

42. R.E.M.'s "The __ Love": ONE I. The band is originally from Georgia .

45. Highway with a terminus at Dawson Creek, British Columbia: ALCAN (Alaska-Canada)

49. Night sch. course: ESL . We see that a lot in Florida.

51. Give off: EMIT .

58. Japanese-American: NISEI .

60. Almond __: crunchy candy: ROCA . Yummy.

66. Reactions to no-brainers: DUHS .

67. "Coffee __?": OR TEA . Or me?.

68. Nevada neighbor: : UTAH. We have seen this state often, recently.

69. Renege on a dele?: STET. Editing. What a great new clue, for some crosswordese, with a pun on DEAL to boot! Love it.

Down:

1. __-Cat: SNO. Isn’t THIS what you wanted this winter Dennis?

2. Old French coin: ECU. Back to our French lesson, but instead of old standby SOU, we have ECU.

3. Wakeboard relative: WATER SKI

4. Exams for srs. SATS

5. Yosemite photographer Adams : ANSEL a great EYE .

6. '60s-'70s Saudi king: FAISAL. Our government loved him because he hated communists.

7. Having one sharp, musically: IN G. I defer to one sharp himself, BUMPA.

8. Cry of support: RAH

9. Competitor of Helena and Coco: ESTEE. Okay, we may be sick of the woman, but this is wonderful new way to get all those lovely EEs in the puzzle.

10. Mississippi River source: ITASCA a real gimme for our Minnie friends, C.C. and Lo-li-ta and others.

11. Vegan's credo: NO MEAT. I promised Dennis, I would not go there.

12. Add, as if by pouring : INFUSE.

13. Plays the siren : TEMPTS. Did you all see the movie SIRENS with ELLE that is temptation with a capital T.

18. Cleopatra's undoing: she made an ASP of herself.

22. Equipment for 52-Across: ARROWS or for GREEN ARROW.

23. Came across: MET, like ran into

24. Jack of Westerns: ELAM proving you have to be pretty to be in movies.

26. Recital performer: SOLOIST

27. Pre-weekend "Phew!" : TGIF

29. Cold War agcy. : AEC our friends at the Atomic Energy Commission

33. Like some unexpected endings: IRONIC

34. Lille denial: NON. Back to French class, Lille is a city in Northern France.

36. Home-school link: Abbr. : PTA tricked you, nothing to do with home schooling.

38. Appear to be: SEEM

39. Have debts: OWE .

40. Collides with: RAMS INTO THIS .

41. Leak: DRIP .

44. Beantown transit syst. : MTA made famous by the Kingston Trio.

45. Oscars and such: AWARDS

46. Curl around the edge of the hole without going in, in golf: LIP OUT which reminds me, Tiger will play the Masters.

47. Stale expression: CLICHÉ .

48. Blue Jays' div. : AL EAST spelled out for once.

50. Bank, often: LENDER As Polonious said, never a borrower nor a lender be.

53. Houston hockey team: AEROS why do they have hockey there?

54. Turkish money: LIRAS.

55. Sch. with a Shreveport campus: LSU part of the spawning of NICK SATAN.

59. Ample, slangily: ENUF It is real .

62. Pay dirt: ORE love this simple clue.

63. Had: ATE Did Mr. Peluso's Wednesday eat you alive?

64. Auditory organ: EAR . Well, I am ‘ear today, gone tomorrow, thanks for having me.

65. Scoreboard letters: RHE Runs, did I score? Hits, any you liked? Errors, I know I am not perfect, so it is all good. My best to each and everyone of you. Even, well I am outta here. Happy St Patrick's Day!

Answer grid.

Lemonade 714

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 Jerome Gunderson

Theme: # TIC TAC TOE (57A: Pencil game that hints at this puzzle's theme, found in the first and last letters of 18-, 25- and 43-Across) - Each familiar phrase is bookended by O and X.

18A: Rival of Staples: OFFICEMAX.

25A: Red Cloud's tribe: OGLALA SIOUX. Chief Jack Red Cloud. As a warrior and a statesman, Red Cloud's success in confrontations with the United States government marked him as one of the most important Lakota SIOUX leaders.

43A: Jane, to Dick, e.g.: OPPOSITE SEX.

Argyle here (a lot more here than yesterday).

How long did you play tic tac toe before discovering how to always win or at least, draw? I'm afraid I didn't get it until I was nine or ten.

It's a little harder than our usual Tuesday and a Pangram, to boot. Four Xs.

Across:

1A: Roaring group: CROWD. Bad start for me; had PRIDE. (lions)

6A: Bridge coup: SLAM. The card game. I'm more familiar with Denny's Grand Slam

10A: Boston NBAer: CELT. (basketball)

14A: Act like a doting grandma, perhaps: HOVER.

15A: Hawaiian port: HILO. (on the Big Island)

16A: Healthy: HALE.

17A: Musical narrated by Che: "EVITA".

20A: '40s-'50s paranoia that led to blacklisting: RED SCARE. Anti-communist fears played up by people like Senator McCarthy resulted in hearings where people were forced to name names and state, under oath, if you or anyone you knew, were communists. To stick to your constitutional right to not do so, got a person blacklisted.

22A: "For Your Eyes Only" singer Easton: SHEENA. The song was from the James Bond movie of the same name.

23A: Island strings: UKE.

24A: Rides roughshod over: STEPS ON.

30A: Board with eerie messages: OUIJA.

31A: Neither's partner: NOR.

32A: Microwaves: ZAPS.

36A: Not guilty, for example: PLEA.

37A: Make one of two?: UNITE.

39A: Came down to earth: ALIT.

40A: Cowpoke's prod: SPUR.

41A: Petunia, e.g.: PIG.

42A: Serpentine: SNAKY.

46A: Fillies and foals: EQUINES. (horses)

50A: __ la la: TRA.

51A: Track athlete: RUNNER.

52A: "The Breakfast Club" actors are part of it: BRAT PACK. Emilio Estevez, Anthony Michael Hall, Rob Lowe, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy

59A: Conservative front?: ULTRA. Front of the word ultraconservative.

60A: Perry's creator: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner created Perry Mason.

61A: "Major" constellation: URSA.

62A: Grand __ National Park: TETON. You latecomers to the blog have missed some epic comments about the Grand Tetons.

63A: Futurist: SEER.

64A: Seamstress's fold: TUCK.

65A: Not approximate: EXACT.

Down

1D: "Believe" singer: CHER. Official Music Video. "Believe" is noted for its use of the Auto-Tune pitch-correction software on the singer's vocals to create a peculiar sound effect, sometimes referred to as the "Cher effect". An interesting read at Wikipedia.

2D: Wander: ROVE. When do we go back to ROAM(which I enter every time).

3D: "Ars amatoria" poet: OVID. A Roman poet who authored Heroides, Amores, and Ars Amatoria, three major collections of erotic poetry.

4D: Antiprohibitionists: WETS. WETS vs. DRYS

5D: Count with a cape: DRACULA. Count Dracula.

6D: Coastlines: SHORES.

7D: Family board game: LIFE. When was the last time you played LIFE, or any board game, for that matter?

8D: TV E.T.: "ALF". A television sitcom that originally ran on NBC from 1986 to 1990 and was created by Paul Fusco. The title character was Gordon Shumway, a friendly extraterrestrial nicknamed ALF (for Alien Life Form) and he was very fond of cats.

9D: Defogging target: MOISTURE.

10D: Nest noise: CHEEP. (alliteration) Not a good sound if it's from starlings in your eaves.

11D: Chair maker Charles: EAMES With his wife, Ray, they were both designers

12D: South American plain: LLANO.

13D: Houston pro since 2002: TEXAN. The Houston Texans is football team currently a member of the Southern Division of the AFC in the NFL. The Texans joined the NFL in 2002 as an expansion team after Houston's previous franchise, the Oilers moved to Nashville and became the Tennessee Titans.

19D: Whole grain cereal brand: CHEX.

21D: Dossier letters: AKA. (also known as)

24D: Flue filth: SOOT.

25D: "How clumsy of me!": "OOPS!".

26D: Big swig: GULP.

27D: Stead: LIEU.

28D: Slightly open: AJAR.

29D: Jones of English architecture: INIGO. This is NOT a Tuesday word.

32D: Author Grey: ZANE. This is a Tuesday word.

33D: Quaint word of regret: "ALAS!".

34D: High-speed highway: PIKE.

35D: Underworld river: STYX.

37D: Pugilist's punch: UPPERCUT. Alliteration, A fighter's fist to the face of his foe.

38D: Puppy bites: NIPS.

42D: Legislative act: STATUTE.

43D: Military service designation: ONE-A.

44D: Windex target: STREAK. Commercial.

45D: Lyricist Gershwin: IRA.

46D: Art works by Romain de Tirtoff: ERTES. Our old friend, "R.T.", with his full name.

47D: Paper measure: QUIRE. A set of 24 uniform sheets of paper.

48D: "I surrender!": "UNCLE!".

49D: Bury: INTER.

52D: Pear choice: BOSC.

53D: Suffix with cine: PLEX. The term was coined by Philip Taylor of Toronto in 1978 and is the registered trademark "Cineplex Odeon Cinemas"

54D: "__ boy!": ATTA.

55D: Gator's kin: CROC.

56D: "Critique of Pure Reason" philosopher: KANT. Immanuel KANT(1724 – 1804) was an 18th-century German philosopher.

58D: Capote, on the stage: "TRU". In 1990, Robert Morse received both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Capote in the one-man show, "TRU".

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday March 15, 2010 Lila Cherry

Theme: Beware the IDES OF MARCH (56A Today, to Caesar - and a hint to the hidden word appearing in this puzzle 15 times (including the one in this answer) - IDE is hidden and marching around in 15 different places.

16A Kids' game with an "it": HIDE AND SEEK

20A Curving pitch: SLIDER

36A Author André: GIDE. Nobel Literature winner 1947.

37A Fall apple drink: CIDER

41A Group of lions: PRIDE

44A 9-Down footballer: RAIDER. 9D. San Francisco Bay city: OAKLAND.

3D Bike outing: RIDE

10D Wedding party member: BRIDESMAID

14D As above, in footnotes: IDEM

26D Like most modern TVs, picturewise: WIDE SCREEN

28D Square's four: SIDE

31D Drop in pronunciation: ELIDE

40D Oceanic reflux: EBB TIDE

49D What's on your mind: IDEA

Another puzzle from our editor Rich Norris himself. Lila Cherry, one of his alias names, is an anagram of "Really Rich".

Very creative interpretation of "Ides of March" (the day Caesar was killed) and deliberate use of 15 as the number of IDE words/phrases. Perfect puzzle for March 15. Great crossing with DOOM (46. Dire fate) as well.

Among the IDE entries, four longest ones are symmetrically placed, and SIDES and CIDER are placed in the very middle of the grid crossing each other.

Brain dead Argyle here. I hope C.C. is up early enough to fix my mistakes today. For the longest tine, I could only find 14 Ides! Thank goodness most of the clue/answers are straightforward.

Across:

1. Month with showers: APRIL

6. Auctioned auto, briefly: REPO. (repossessed)

10. Journalist Nellie: BLY

13. Egypt's capital: CAIRO

14. Ancient Greek district: IONIA

15. Corned beef bread: RYE

18. Nest egg item, for short: IRA

19. Bridge supports: TRESTLES

22. Garment bottom: HEM

23. Suffix with meth- or prop-: ANE

24. Alley competitor: BOWLER. Bowling alley.

28. Backyard play apparatus: SWING SET

33. Like some college walls: IVIED

34. Employed: HIRED

35. Caesar's 1,051: MLI. One more Caesar reference.

38. Pass's opposite: FAIL

39. Single: ONE

40. City on the Ruhr: ESSEN

42. Nuclear treaty subjects: TEST BANS

45. Corn discard: COB

46. The Atty. General is head of it: DOJ. Department of Justice.

47. Low-level clouds: STRATI

50. Icy formation at either extremity of the Earth's axis: POLAR CAP

55. Peeper: EYE

58. Classic Jaguar model: XKE

59. Jeans material: DENIM

60. "What's in __?": Juliet: A NAME

61. Japanese money: YEN

62. Has a sandwich: EATS

63. Brawn: SINEW

Down

1. Eight, in Berlin: ACHT

2. Twosome: PAIR

4. Enrages: IRES. Verb, Groan!

5. Despised: LOATHED

6. Perot of politics: ROSS. Or H. ROSS Perot.

7. Denver-to-Chicago dir.: ENE

8. Crusty desserts: PIES

11. Old Greek stringed instrument: LYRE

12. 365 days: YEAR

17. Met, Nat or Card: NLer

21. Beethoven's "Minuet __": IN G

24. Archie Bunker type: BIGOT

25. Like lambs and rams: OVINE

27. Reb general: LEE. And 37. 27-Down's org.: CSA.

29. Birdhouse songbird: WREN

30. Suffix with bombard: IER

32. Flooring specialist: TILER

34. Yokel's possessive: HIS'N

38. End of most work wks.: FRI.

41. Dr. Denton's, e.g.: PAJAMAS

43. Ode title starter: TO A

44. Massage deeply: ROLF. Named after Ida Rolf, a U.S. physiotherapist who invented the techniques.

47. Like a sheer negligee: SEXY

48. Small child: TYKE

50. Trident-shaped letters: PSIS PSI

51. Hindu princess: RANI

52. Prefix with apple: CRAN

53. Summit: ACME

54. Relieved cry: "PHEW!"

57. Tolkien tree creature: ENT

Answer grid.

Argyle