Saturday January 8, 2011 Harvey Estes

((Note to late visitors: Due to computer error, we lost both the write-up and comments. This version is a recovered one. )

Theme: None

Total words: 68

Total blocks: 33

Only four 3-letter answers in this grid: ERR/PEP/TSE/UTE. Amazing.

Harvey placed triple stacks of 10s in each quadrant of the grid, the layout is quite similar to his last Saturday. Notice his answer for 17A? Ha ha, RADIAL TIRE!

Here are the 10s:

14A. Motel convenience : ICE MACHINE

17A. Quicker picker-uppers? : STIMULANTS

19A. Pigeon : EASY TARGET. So is EASY MARK.

48A. Mixed condiment : GARLIC SALT. Mostly salt.

55A. Cause of senselessness : ANESTHESIA

57A. "Don't waste your time" : IT'S USELESS

10D. Churches with carillons don't need one : BELL RINGER. Wow, really? How do they ring the bells then?

11D. Being supportive : AT YOUR SIDE. Oh, being supportive of me.

12D. Opalescent gems : MOONSTONES

24D. Extreme : INORDINATE

25D. Automotive innovation that improved fuel economy : RADIAL TIRE. We also have 36A. It purrs when it's cared for : ENGINE. And 60A. Trip interruptions : FLATS. Flat tires. Needed Dennis' help.

26D. Front borders : ENEMY LINES. Nailed it.

I had an easier time. The lack of obscure names certainly helped.

Across:

1. Worker with many keys : VALET. Was picturing a hotel maid.

6. Fleece : CLIP. Didn't know clip can mean "swindle".

10. Nick Saban's team, familiarly : 'BAMA. Nick Saban & Bear Bryant are all I know about the Crimson Tide.

16. Thames landmark : ETON

18. City on the Rhône : LYON

20. Actress Anderson : LONI. The "WKRP in Cincinnati" girl.

21. Guilty and more : PLEAS

22. Dodge : RUSE

23. Juice carriers : WIRES. Current "juice". I wanted FRUIT.

28. Go astray : ERR

29. Fountain contemporary : HIRT (Al). Pete Fountain.

30. Foolishness : INANITY

32. Spot remover, at times : SPONSOR. Does "spot" here refer to ads? I don't get the clue.

35. Surfing equipment : MODEMS. Internet surfing.

37. Got ready for a big date : PRIMPED

39. Stepped on it, with "up" : SPEEDED. Spell check wants SPED.

40. Boxes of calendars? : DAYS. Clever clue.

41. Mountain West Conference athlete : UTE

43. Code subject : DRESS. Dress code.

44. Builder's truckload : FILL. Or all the non-theme answers in any crossword.

45. High school math calculations : AREAS

47. One fighting something : ANTI

54. Early exile : CAIN. Into the land of Nod.

56. French 101 verb : ETRE. "To be".

58. Driving aids : TEES. Golf.

59. Biweekly tide : NEAP

Down:

1. Workbench item : VISE

2. Court records : ACTA. Learned from doing Xword.

3. Floral gifts : LEIS

4. Peabody relative : EMMY. Peabody Award.

5. Having no play : TAUT. Is "play" the same as "slack"?

6. Pride of country music : CHARLEY. What's his most famous song?

7. Extend one's stay : LINGER

8. Visibly moved : IN TEARS

9. Raid targets : PESTS

13. Warbucks's charge : ANNIE. Daddy Warbucks.

15. What fans do : CLAP

23. Unlikely hero : WIMP

27. Ninnies : SIMPS

29. Perfected : HONED

31. Japanese financial market inits. : TSE (Tokyo Stock Exchange). Had to post-google.

33. Dash : PEP

34. Film for which Warren Beatty won a Best Director Oscar : REDS

38. Mrs. Calabash's creator : DURANTE (Jimmy). Mrs. Calabash is his wife.

39. Shrink-wraps, e.g. : SEALS UP

42. Mother in Calcutta : TERESA. Mother Teresa.

44. Aspect : FACET

45. Over : AGAIN

46. Is in session : SITS. Congress session?

49. Frequent taster : CHEF. So is COOK.

50. Push, in a way : SELL

51. Cruising : ASEA

52. Where guests may be ticked off? : LIST. Nice clue.

53. Sputnik coverer : TASS. Media cover. I wanted CCCP, which covers Sputnik too.

Answer grid.

Today we celebrate the birthday of JimmyB (most right), a very passionate LA Times crossword solver who has been keeping track of the exact time each puzzle takes him to complete since our switch in 2009. Sheng Ri Kuai Le, Jim!

C.C.

Friday January 7, 2011 Gary Steinmehl

(Note to late visitors: Due to computer error, we lost both the write-up and comments. This version is a recovered one. )

Theme: Vowel Quintet - A, E, I, O & U are orderly added to the start of the first word of each two-word familiar phrase.

20A. Proof of quartz sales? : AGATE RECEIPTS. Gate receipts.

30A. Brewery's best? : ELITE BEER. Lite beer.

38A. "Mad Max" and "Twelve Angry Men"? : IRATE MOVIES. Rated movies might be a better base phrase, but then, irated is not a word.

46A. One of many at a Syracuse University football game? : ORANGE TOP. Range top. Here is their mascot Otto the Orange.

58A. Making a mess at the warehouse? : UPENDING CASES. Pending cases.

C.C. here, pinch-hitting for Lemonade, whose computer is sick.

Great to see Gary Steinmehl's by-line. He's a real pro and always comes up with something unique in his theme approach. Read my interview with him if you haven't heard of him before.

Quite a few clechos in his grid today. As usual, I highlighted them in green colors.

Across:

1. Lip : BRIM. One-word clue is always tricky, esp if the word has various meanings.

5. One usually includes an aria and a recitative : SCENA. I wanted OPERA.

10. Rhode Island's motto : HOPE. Wow, so simple. No Latin/French.

14. Jim-dandy : A ONE

15. Kachina carvers : HOPIS. I've never understood the appeal of Kachina dolls.

16. Clue in a hunt : ODOR. Then 18. "Give me __" : A HINT.

17. Amounting to nothing : NULL

19. Texters do it : TYPE

23. __ moon : NEW

24. Ballot marker : X'ER. Every puzzle needs a few abbreviations to glue things together.

25. "One Good Cop" actress : RUSSO (Rene). I've never seen the movie. Rene Russo is awesome in "Tin Cup".

28. Money in the bank, e.g. : ASSET

34. Is after you? : ARE. As in "You are so hot!". So literally are is "after you".

36. Oscar-winning role for Forest : IDI (Amin). "The Last King of Scotland". Forest Whitaker.

37. However : YET. BUT, anyone?

42. Self-realization sect : ZEN

44. Bill : TAB

45. Sweet ending : OSE. As in glucose.

50. Lit up : AGLOW

54. Resort area near Reno : TAHOE

55. Org. offering jumps : AAA. They give cars a jump in cold weather, a la Argyle.

57. First mate? : EVE. Of Adam.

63. Pure and simple : MERE

65. Law partner : ORDER. Law and order.

66. Some are noble : FIRS. Did you want SIRS?

67. Head line : PART. Then 41D. Head lines? : EEG. Brain scan.

68. City where de Gaulle was born : LILLE. Learned this trivia a while ago.

69. Cameo, maybe : ROLE. 72. Cameo material : ONYX. Not the same "cameo" of course.

70. Fellows : GUYS

71. Like Falstaff : OBESE. Shakespeare's Falstaff.

Down:

1. Yogurt flavor : BANANA. Don't eat dairy.

2. They make you red in the face : ROUGES. ERRORS jumped to my mind first.

3. Wedding creations : IN-LAWS. Nice clue.

4. Get all mushy : MELT

5. Slice : SHARE. I don't get how these two are interchangeable.

6. Hold together : COHERE

7. Work with a wide scope : EPIC. Noun "Work" here.

8. Roger Maris wore it : NINE. Loved the movie "61". It's about Maris and Mantle (#7) trying to break the 60 home run record set by Ruth (#3) in 1961. So good.

9. Wine town near Turin : ASTI

10. Place to chill : HOT TUB

11. Adventures : ODYSSEYS

12. Top 40 genre : POP

13. Before : ERE. 22. Before, before? : PRE.

21. Hollywood "spear carrier" : EXTRA

26. Take in : SEE

27. Scrap : ORT

29. Stirrup site : EAR

31. People bend over backwards for it : LIMBO. Oh, this limbo.

32. Promising words : I DO

33. Save for later viewing : TiVO

35. Feminizing ending : ETTE

38. Rushed : IN A HURRY

39. Put away : EAT

40. Composer Albéniz : ISAAC. Onager guess. Not familiar with this Spanish fellow. He died in 1909.

42. Anteater's sound effect in the comic "B.C." : ZOT. Got the answer via crossings. What does ZOT connote? Like "Bam!"?

43. Chunk of time : ERA

47. Apartment caveat : NO PETS. Not a caveat to me. Never a pet person.

48. "My stars!" : GEE

49. Some judges sit on them : PANELS. Great clue. Not BENCHES.

51. Skin wound : LESION

52. Too : OVERLY

53. Setting for many Thomas Hardy novels : WESSEX. I've only read his "Tess of the d'Urbervilles".

56. Go along : AGREE

59. __ contendere : NOLO

60. Small quantity : DRIB

61. Like doodling : IDLE

62. Full coif : AFRO.

63. Automaker's concern, briefly : MPG

64. Water under le pont : EAU. Pont is French for "bridge". I had thought it's "pond".

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday January 6, 2011 Gary J. Whitehead

Theme: You've got a lot of nerve! Revealed in 60A. Part of an axon (and what 17-, 28- and 46-Across each has?): NERVE ENDING. The last words of the three theme answers are all synonyms for Chutzpah.

17A. Marinara, for one: TOMATO SAUCE. Salty or heavily seasoned, saucy. Related: sass.

28A. Pentagon bigwigs: MILITARY BRASS.

46A. Not serious: TONGUE IN CHEEK. If you have cheek, you probably mouth off a bit.

Hi all, Al here.

Good puzzle for a Thursday. Some answers I didn't know, like LODZ, or NERI, but everything eventually fell with the perps for me today, no lookups. I think my favorite word was INEXORABLE; I want to be more like that. Other than a few, I thought all the answers were pretty easy. Some of the clues, though, were not...

ACROSS:

1. Techie talk, e.g.: JARGON. Argot is specifically the jargon of rogues and thieves. Jargon comes from Old French, literally a chattering of birds, unintelligible.

7. They have guards on both sides of them: Abbr.: CTRS. Centers and guards, football players.

11. Roman sun god: SOL.

14. Nine follower?: ONE ONE. 911. The emergency number, spelled out.

15. Menageries: ZOOS. From French ménagerie "housing for domestic animals". Zoo from Greek zoion "animal".

16. Worldwide workers' gp.: ILO. International Labour Organization. A UN agency.

19. Marked, in a way: XED.

20. Winter coat: SNOW. Or blanket. Nice misdirection.

21. Pusher pursuer: NARC.

22. The gamut: A TO Z. Originally the lowest note in the medieval musical scale "gamma ut", it came to mean the whole scale and from there expanded to mean the entire range of anything.

23. __ II, king who founded Borg (now Sarpsborg): OLAF.

25. Moor: HEATH. Swamp.

32. Swindle: CON.

33. Philip __: 16th-century Italian saint: NERI. If you say so...

34. Only just: BARELY.

36. Cheri who played Gail Hailstorm in "Scary Movie": OTERI. SNL alumna, list of characters including Ross Perot...

38. First person in Berlin?: ICH. Es gibt kein Ich im Team. Unless you look closely.

40. Yearned: PINED. Pine from Old English pineon "pain, torture, punishment".

41. Reliant Stadium NFL team: TEXANS. Houston. Unlike the Metrodome, this stadium roof won't collapse under the weight of snow. :-)

43. Latin quarters?: CASA. Spanish is a romance language derived from Latin. The clue may also mean Latin America.

45. French possessive: SES. His or her (things), plural form. Singular would be "son".

49. Artful dodges: RUSES. A clue reference to the artful dodger, who was a pickpocket in the Dickens novel Oliver Twist.

50. Mention with an ulterior motive: DROP.

51. Finish shooting: WRAP. The meaning of ending a filming session only is traced back to 1974...

53. Eldest Younger gang member: COLE. A play on the name Younger. Associated with Jesse James, and the James-Younger gang.

55. Louisville's river: OHIO.

59. Air base?: HUB. Like FedEx, I guess, a central location.

63. Feverish, say: ILL.

64. Natural balm: ALOE.

65. Browbeat: COERCE. Browbeat: to bear down with fierce or arrogant looks.

66. One of a jazz duo?: ZEE. Two letter "Z"s in the word jaZZ

67. It's often seen under a cap: GOWN. Graduation.

68. Swindle: HUSTLE.

DOWN:

1. Scribbles: JOTS.

2. Soon, poetically: ANON.

3. San __: REMO. On the Italian Rivera.

4. Commit a service infraction: GO AWOL. Absent without leave. Attempted misdirection towards a sport that has a central net, like a tennis fault.

5. Toronto's prov.: ONT.ario

6. Nursery arrival: NEONATE. Anyone else put NEWBORN at first?

7. Winter Palace figure: CZAR. The CZ spelling instead of TS for once. It was almost a welcome change.

8. Sensitive: TOUCHY.

9. "One Thousand and One Nights" bird: ROC. Associated with the story of Sinbad the Sailor.

10. GPS heading: SSE. Directional clues have apparently been updated for the digital age.

11. Intuition: SIXTH SENSE.

12. Spread on the table: OLEO.

13. One of Poland's three most populous cities: LODZ.

18. Exotic honeymoon, perhaps: SAFARI. This idea would never have crossed my mind. Heat, bugs, dust, rain, sleeping on cots in tents? Not so romantic to me. I could have the wrong impression, I suppose. Do they have safaris available using air conditioned travel trailers now?

22. Asteroids maker: ATARI. Early arcade video game.

24. Winter coat features: LININGS. Clecho with 20A.

26. Withdraw: EBB.

27. Wyoming tribe: ARAPAHO.

28. Choral piece: MOTET.

29. Unyielding: INEXORABLE. Like the martians in Jeff Wayne's musical War of the Worlds.

30. "Monster" (2003) co-star: RICCI. Christina.

31. Streamlined: SLEEK.

32. No-frills bed: COT.

35. NFL gains: YDS.

37. What the mouse did clockwise?: RAN UP. Hicory Dickory Dock.

39. Radio moniker: HANDLE. CB radio name.

42. Take to court: SUE.

44. Collision preceder: SCREECH. And here I was, trying to think of a prefix. I wonder if this was from the tires or from the passengers?

47. Money set aside: ESCROW. From Old French escroue "scrap, roll of parchment", originally a deed held by a third person until a debt was paid.

48. Lyric poems: EPODES. The third part of an ode, which followed the strophe and the antistrophe, and completed the movement.

51. Crackerjack: WHIZ.

52. Run the show: RULE.

54. Bakery appliance: OVEN.

56. "Cotton Candy" trumpeter: HIRT. A top 10 hit in 1964.

57. Not left out: Abbr.: INCL.uded

58. Curved molding: OGEE.

60. Henpeck: NAG.

61. "Strange Magic" band: ELO. Electric Light Orchestra.

62. __-turn: NO U.

Answer Grid.

Al

Wednesday January 5, 2011 Donna S. Levin

Theme: A Horse is a horse, of course, Of course - An anniversary tribute puzzle.

17A. 63-Across, for one : PALOMINO. Everyone knows Palominos cannot talk.

18A. Start of a quote : TIME TO

27A. More of the quote : HIT THE HAY

46A. More of the quote : OH, I FORGOT

61A. End of the quote : I ATE IT

63A. Speaker of the quote, whose show premiered in syndication 1/5/1961 : Unless of course the name of the horse is the famous MISTER ED. But why would he only talk to Wilbur?

Welcome all. Boomer here.

The sixties had talking cars, talking bears, and a Huckleberry Hound that sang "Clementine", and a famous old nag whose show debuted fifty years ago today.

Across:

1. "Truth in Engineering" automaker : AUDI - If they say so.

5. Low-risk fin. investments : CDS - As far as I know Certificates of Deposit have no risk, and very little return these days.

8. "Casablanca" star : BOGART - A little before my time - his nickname is one over par.

14. Kirk's Enterprise, for one : STARSHIP - There are still many Trekkies out there. Star Trek left a large footprint on the TV World. Larger than the hoof print left by our subject of today.

16. 2009 sci-fi movie that is the highest-grossing film in history : AVATAR - intensely different.

19. Biblical queen's land : SHEBA - Must be in Australia.

20. Enthuse : GUSH

22. Red root veggie : BEET - Best when pickled.

23. __Kosh B'Gosh : OSH - Oshkosh is located in East Central Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Winnebago. Famous for manufacturing the best farm overalls ever made.

25. Swipe : STEAL - Odd how swipe can also mean running a credit card at a gas pump, and oil companies can "swipe" a few bucks from your pocket on every fill-up.

31. More than salty : LEWD

34. Game with Skip cards : UNO - A famous card game I have never played.

35. Actor Gibson : MEL - I liked him best in "Maverick". James Garner starred first in a TV show in the sixties that included a few horses from time to time. None were named Ed.

36. Workman's wheeled cart : BARROW - sounds funny without Wheel in front.

38. Make damp : MOISTEN

41. "William Tell" composer : ROSSINI - Theme song of the "Lone Ranger", starring Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels. Their horses were Silver and Scout. No Eds there either.

42. Load up with, as work : PILE ON

43. Coppertone letters : SPF - I'm not sure what the letters stand for, but the higher the number, the more it costs, and the less burn you receive.

44. Org. with Ducks and Penguins : NHL - Hockey teams of course, but wait commissioner, could they also be Batman enemies?

45. Bit of foliage : LEAF

49. Sip slowly : NURSE - I've nursed a Manhattan now and then, but maybe a better clue would be medical professional.

51. Vein find : ORE - Could also be state south of Wash.

52. Trade : SWAP - Favorite pastime among Baseball card collectors, and MLB team owners.

55. Luminous glow : AURA

57. Dispatch boat : AVISO

65. Bucking beasts : BRONCS - Rodeo favorites. I don't think any are named Ed though.

66. Intimate confidante : ALTER EGO

67. Three sheets to the wind : STINKO

68. Super-secret intelligence gp. : NSA

69. Villagers' tormentor in "Fiddler on the Roof" : TSAR - Now I'll be humming "If I were a Rich Man" for the rest of the day.

Down:

1. Nile slitherers : ASPS - These snakes sure show up in a lot of puzzles. I think they eat Oreos by Lake Erie.

2. Six-sided state : UTAH - Actually, Utah has only four sides, North, East, West, and South. But Wyoming took a little bite out of it.

3. Chip's buddy : DALE - Famous Chipmunks of years past.

4. Asimov classic : I, ROBOT - This sounds like a future Apple product.

5. Scoreboard letters for "Da Bears" : CHI - NFC Central Champs this year. But I always think of Mr. Buttermaker's baseball waifs.

6. Parking lot mishap : DING - I had DENT at first. Had to open the Liquid Paper bottle.

7. __ support: alimony : SPOUSAL

8. Enjoy a soak : BATHE

9. Prefix with duct : OVI

10. Risk takers : GAMBLERS - Not the same people who buy the CDs.

11. Fits to __ : A TEE - I've heard this for years, but I still don't get it. Must be some tailor thing.

12. Distance ÷ time : RATE

13. Harness race pace : TROT - I've been there. I think the horse needs to have a left and right foot on the ground at all times or be disqualified. They go at a very fast trot. None of the trotters are named Ed.

15. Shatter : SMASH

21. Place to wallow : STY - Actually, I thought you needed mud to wallow.

24. Macho guys : HE MEN - Are Macho women then called SHE MEN?

26. "Sorry to say ..." : ALAS

27. A dromedary has one : HUMP - The Metrodome in Minneapolis also had a hump until last month. Now it's a big bowl.

28. Packed like sardines : IN OIL - Okay, but not much tuna, sardines, or anchovies are packed in oil anymore.

29. Patterned fabric : TOILE

30. Cooped-up layer : HEN - Producers of the incredibly edible egg.

32. Clasp tightly in distress, as one's hands : WRING - Hands, yes. No one wrings out laundry anymore.

33. Hawaiian crooner : DON HO - Okay, forget "If I were a Rich Man"; now I am humming "Tiny Bubbles" for the rest of the day.

36. Hugely successful, in Variety : BOFFO - Couldn't be that hugely successful. I've never heard of it. But I admit I don't read Variety.

37. Droop : WILT - Also the name of Mr. Chamberlin, who once scored 100 points in an NBA game.

39. 2008 Harvey Milk portrayer : SEAN PENN - I still liked him best as Jeff Spicoli in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" way back in 1982.

40. Bean curd : TOFU

41. NY campus that's home to the Engineers : RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

43. Civil War general who captured Atlanta : SHERMAN - And left a large path of destruction.

46. Buckeyes' sch. : OSU - Ohio State, a respected power in the Big Ten.

47. Emulate Cicero : ORATE - Can also be obtained by Odistance ÷ Otime.

48. Go back : REVERT - Another Oops. I had RETURN. Had to use the Liquid Paper again.

50. Dustin's "Midnight Cowboy" role : RATSO. Still liked Sean Penn as Spicoli better.

52. A boy and his sis : SIBS

53. Witch blemish : WART - For some reason, they always seem to be on the nose.

54. Yours, in Tours : A TOI - I'm still trying to learn English.

56. Troubles : AILS

58. Infuriates : IRES

59. Super Monkey Ball publisher : SEGA - I have not left the PacMan and Final Fantasy era. Super Monkey Ball sounds like something Brunswick or Storm could manufacture for bowlers.

60. Olfactory stimulus : ODOR - This is near the end of the puzzle. maybe they could have just clued Bad Smell.

62. "Ugh" relative : ICK - Maybe I'm getting to Picky, but the clue is a bit Icky.

64. RR depot : STA

Answer grid.

Boomer

Tuesday, January 4, 2011 David W. Cromer

Theme: Imelda's love - Three theme enders that are types of the hint in the unifier...and what Imelda Marcos collected over 2700 pairs of.

20A. How many fall in love: HEAD OVER HEELS

34A. Temperature control devices: HEAT PUMPS. Not comfortable with the clue, although the use of any source of heat could be said to be a temperature control device.

40A. Bonneville Speedway terrain: SALT FLATS. The Bonneville Salt Flats is a densely-packed salt pan in northwestern Utah that is a remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Bonneville.

53A. Abridged maxim about accepting an apt description, and a hint to this puzzle's theme found in 20-, 34- and 40-Across: IF THE SHOE FITS.... "...WEAR IT" was left off the end of the maxim, that's why it is abridged.

Argyle here.

Have to say this feels a little flat after yesterday's puzzle but then, I don't have a shoe fetish. I do think it's funny that some sneakers are pumps now. Image.

Across:

1. Like serious collectors : AVID. Could apply to Imelda!

5. Ristorante staple : PASTA

10. Bristol baby carriage : PRAM. Alliteration and British (and no comments about Palin, please).

14. Fishing need : LINE

15. Turn red, as tomatoes : RIPEN

16. Genesis creator : SEGA. Video games system.

17. It may be enough : ONCE. ONCE is enough. (Doesn't apply to buying shoes.)

18. Keats, e.g. : ODIST

19. Arabian Peninsula port : ADEN

23. Mule's parent : ASS. A palomino mule. Image.

24. __ majesty : LESE. A crime, esp. high treason, committed against the sovereign power.

25. Adjustor's assessment : DAMAGE

28. Sought office : RAN

29. Dent or scratch : MAR

30. Mauna __ : LOA. "Long Mountain" in Hawaiian, it is the largest volcano on Earth in terms of volume. Mauna Kea, a neighbor of Mauna Loa on the same island of Hawaii is the tallest, from the sea floor.

31. Israeli desert : NEGEV. Map.

37. Door-to-door company : AVON

38. Stolen goods dealer : FENCE

39. Went like the wind : TORE

42. Less, in La Paz : MENOS. Either La Paz, Bolivia or La Paz, Mexico, it is still Spanish.

43. Do the math, in a way : ADD

44. Rowing implement : OAR

45. With it : HIP

46. Duds in a lot : LEMONS. The cleverest clue? A car lot.

48. Tiny power source : ATOM

50. Drama featuring a DNA lab : CSI. Crime Scene Investigation.

56. Course list : MENU

58. Spanish folk hero : EL CID. A hero for his fight against the Moors.

59. Mound stats : ERAs. See 56Across from yesterday.

60. Golf rarities : ACEs. A hole in one. Aces are also baseball pitchers, too.

61. River through France : RHONE

62. Earth tone : ECRU

63. Sit for a shooting : POSE

64. Located : SITED

65. Fashionable way to arrive? : LATE

Down:

1. Hilo hello : ALOHA. Hilo is on the Big Island with those two volcanoes. Musical interlude. (3:51)

2. Jungle growth : VINES

3. Pizarro victims : INCAs. Pizarro was a Spanish conquistador.

4. Certain title : DEED

5. No longer in doubt : PROVEN

6. Helpers : AIDES

7. Kremlin feature : SPIRE

8. New Age musician John : TESH

9. Precede : ANTEDATE, A date before the date in question.

10. Biblical hymn : PSALM

11. Fish also called a sockeye : RED SALMON

12. Candle count, on many cakes : AGE

13. Isle of __ : MAN

21. Patron saint of Norway : OLAV

22. Wild West lawman : EARP

26. Give up amateur status : GO PRO

27. Lets up : EASES

28. Tenants' strike leverage : RENT

29. PC alternatives : MACs

31. Twangy : NASAL

32. Get around : EVADE

33. Places with valuable veins : GOLD MINES

34. Catch wind of : HEAR

35. Tolkien tree creature : ENT

36. Lone Star State sch. : UTEP. University of Texas at El Paso.

38. Hazard lights, e.g. : FLASHERS

41. Type specification : FONT

42. Actor with nothing to say : MIME

45. Like some sweatshirts : HOODED. Hoodies, in modern parlance.

47. Helpful : OF USE

48. Fancy tie : ASCOT

49. Biblical possessive : THINE

50. Approximately, in dates : CIRCA

51. Onset : START

52. Debate subject : ISSUE

54. K-12 catchall : ELHI. The catchall we'all hate.

55. Sense : FEEL

56. It may be topographical : MAP

57. "The Name of the Rose" author Umberto : ECO. Finally has become a gimme but only through doing crosswords.

Answer grid.

Note from C.C.:

Today we celebrate the birthday of Dick (flanked by JD & Carol). With Dennis and Dr. Dad, Dick formed the formidable 3-D in the earlier days of this blog.

Argyle

Monday, January 3, 2011 Victor Barocas

Theme: Go Fetch - The dogs mentioned, by their color in the theme, love to fetch. I considered the connected answers as one for the purpose of the theme due to their mirrored placement.

17A. With 25-Across, WWI U.S. Army command nickname: "BLACK JACK" 25A. PERSHING

32A. Custard-filled pastry: CHOCOLATE ECLAIR

41A. Flip side of "Eleanor Rigby": YELLOW SUBMARINE

50A. With 64-Across, breed whose common colors begin 17-, 32- and 41-Across: LABRADOR 64A. RETRIEVER

Argyle here. A nice puzzle that a few times I had to stop over-thinking the clue and just put in the obvious, such as 15A.

I bet we will hear some dog stories today. Some like to collect the whole set.

I discovered this old clip you might find interesting. Very early use of a live figure in an animation. Clip.(3:14)

Across:

1. Nick and Nora Charles's dog : ASTA. Skippy (aka Asta) was a Wire-Haired Fox Terrier.

5. When repeated, island near Tahiti : BORA. Map.

9. Game with checks : CHESS

14. Disapproving fans' chorus : BOOs

15. Tied, as a game : EVEN

16. Line with many stops : LOCAL. Commuter trains.

19. Greek market : AGORA. That's Greek for market.

20. Overnight flight : REDEYE

21. Sad interjection : "ALAS!"

23. PC linking system : LAN. Local Area Network (LAN) is a computer network that connects computers and devices in a limited geographical area such as home, school, etc.

24. Haul to the shop : TOW. This guy will do it. Image.

27. Judge : ARBITER

31. Argentina aunt : TIA. Argentina's official language is Spanish.

38. Chop : HEW

39. Gift of the garrulous : GAB

40. Sch. WNW of Topeka : KSU. Kansas State University, but if you google KSU, you will find a lot of schools with those initials!

48. Three, in Asti : TRE. In Italia.

49. Most Chaplin films : SILENTS. Before the 'talkies'.

55. Chill in the air : NIP

56. Stat for Koufax : ERA. Baseball. Stat is short for statistic and ERA is short for Earned Run Average, an important stat for a pitcher.

57. Opposite of "yup" : "NOPE"

58. Rectangular : OBLONG. Well, I thought it was just for circles; a learning experience.

62. Solzhenitsyn subject : GULAG. Solzhenitsyn (1918–2008) was a Russian and Soviet novelist, dramatist, and historian. GULAG was the Soviet system of forced labor camps. GULAG is an acronym and we will leave it at that.

66. Extremely overweight : OBESE

67. First African-American selected for a U.S. Davis Cup team : ASHE

68. Trillion: Pref. : TERA

69. Indian wraps : SARIs

70. Attention to "pay" : HEED

71. Brings to a close : ENDS

Down:

1. This ans. is one : ABBR. Both are abbreviations.

2. Foot bottom : SOLE

3. Tadpole, grown up : TOAD

4. One leading a spartan lifestyle : ASCETIC

5. Decorate with gems : BEJEWEL

6. Eggs, biologically : OVA

7. Summary : RECAP

8. A bobby sock is often folded down to it : ANKLE

9. Like the most elegant old autos : CLASSIC

10. Monopolize : HOG

11. Dangerous bacteria : E. COLI. Some strains are very dangerous.

12. Plastic wrap brand : SARAN

13. Street language, often : SLANG

18. Environmental protocol city : KYOTO. In Japan. The Kyoto Protocol was formed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC), aimed at fighting global warming.

22. Commedia dell'__ : ARTE. The closest translation being "comedy of art", (shortened from commedia dell'arte all'improviso, or "comedy through the art of improvisation") and is a form of theatre that began in Italy in the year 1560, characterized by masked "types", the advent of the actress and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios.

26. "2001" computer : HAL. From the sci-fi movie, "2001".

27. In need of a massage : ACHY

28. Syngman of Korea : RHEE. First president of South Korea.

29. Knock down some pins : BOWL

30. Joplin works : RAGS. Clip(2:46). Scott Joplin was dubbed the "King of Ragtime".

33. Sigma follower : TAU. 18 and 19 in the Greek alphabet.

34. Recedes to the sea : EBBS

35. Related : AKIN

36. "Winning __ everything" : ISN'T

37. Regrets : RUEs

42. P.O. box item : LTR.

43. Florida crops : ORANGEs

44. Shared wedding vow response : "WE DO". Curious; has anyone seen a ceremony where the couple did this?

45. Studied secondarily, with "in" : MINORED

46. Perp-to-cop story : ALIBI

47. Abundantly filled (with) : REPLETE

50. Kids' blocks : LEGOs

51. Curaçao neighbor : ARUBA. Off the north coast of South America.

52. Hay bundler : BALER. Mostly big round bales(700–900 lb) these days. Image.

53. Daytime TV mogul : OPRAH. She has started her own network now.

54. Pee Wee of the Dodgers : REESE, For the most part, the Brooklyn Dodgers.

59. Pizzeria fixture : OVEN

60. Teen comedy stereotype : NERD

61. Pâté de foie __ : GRAS. Formerly known as "Strasbourg pie" in English due to that city being a major producer.

63. "Just __ thought!" : AS I

65. Common article : THE

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday January 2, 2011 John Lampkin

Theme: E-Literature - Long E sound (in various spellings) is attached to the end of each well-known book.

23A. Specific item in a sleepwear collection? : TWELFTH NIGHT(IE). "Twelfth Night". Shakespeare.

47A. How a rock band's equipment damage was blamed? : ON THE ROAD(IE). "On the Road". Jack Kerouac.

68A. Amazonian oddsmaker? : THE JUNGLE BOOK(IE). "The Jungle Book". Kipling.

95A. Dressing room sprite? : VANITY FAIR(Y). "Vanity Fair". Thackeray.

120A. Fabric softener delivered overseas? : WATERSHIP DOWN(Y). "Watership Down", by Richard Adam. Neither the book nor the author is familiar to me.

17D. Goat's friend? : BILLY BUDD(Y). "Billy Budd". Herman Melville.

74D. Aboriginal Walkman? : NATIVE SON(Y). "Native Son". Richard Wright. Also an unknown book to me.

Very consistent theme. No Long E sound is added to the end of first/middle word.

Not a pangram, as Q is missing. Otherwise a typical John Lampkin puzzle: no cheater/helper squares; lots of fun clues & clechos (clue echos), which are highlighted in green color, as usual.

Also noticeable in this grid are the non-theme long answers. The two Down (STEAL A KISS & SINK OR SWIM) are particularly sparkling. They match in length to the other two 10 theme answers, which could cause theme confusion in certain grids. But not today, as John's theme is self-evident with all those question marked clues.

Across:

1. Risked : AT STAKE

8. Orderly type? : SISTER. Religious order. Nuns.

14. Take a __: attempt : STAB AT

20. Like the movie "Airplane!" : SATIRIC

21. Hardly religious : UNHOLY

22. Vacation choice : CRUISE

25. Bridal trails : AISLES. Nice clue.

26. Rat tail? : A TAT. Rat-a-tat.

27. Robert who played Roderigo in Welles's "Othello" : COOTE. First encounter with this actor. British actor.

28. Royal pain : HASSLE

30. Back muscle, for short : LAT

31. Jacob's first wife : LEAH. His second wife is Rachel, Leah's sister. Shout out to Chickie, Leah in real life.

33. City west of Mesa : TEMPE

35. Complicated : MESSY

37. Indy car's lack : REAR SEAT. Wow, I didn't know this.

40. Plated, in a way : ARMORED. New meaning of "plated" to me.

43. Kyoto ties : OBIs

46. Question : ASK. 19D. Set of questions : TEST. 96D. Uncomplicated type of question : YES OR NO

49. Logging channel : FLUME. And 51. Coal channel : CHUTE.

50. Retriever's retrieval : STICK

52. Store charge, often : TAX

53. Mil. base stores : PXes. PX = Post Exchange. Army posts.

54. More than just nodded : SAID HI

55. Pianist John : TESH. New Ager.

56. Jazz trumpeter's nickname : SATCH. Louis Armstrong? Thought it's Satchmo. And 60. Jazz trumpeter's nickname : DIZ. Dizzy Gillespie.

58. Fixed up : REDID

61. Per se : AS SUCH

63. Bite response : OUCH

66. Fax forerunner : TELETYPE

72. Niblick, nowadays : NINE IRON. Gimme. Watched so many old golf videos.

75. Stuttgart title : HERR. Was ignorant of the city Stuttgart.

76A. Writes John a letter? : ENDS IT. 107A. Intro for John? : DEAR. Nice to work one's name in clues.

80. Thurman of film : UMA

81. Ejects, as lava : SPEWS

83. Hairy herd : BISON. Alliteration.

86. Feast : DINE

87. Kathy of country : MATTEA. Not a fan of country music. Don't know her.

89. Pro __ : RATA

92. N.T. book attributed to Paul : EPH (Ephesians)

93. Second lady after Tipper : LYNNE (Cheney)

94. Certain hip-hop dancer : B GIRL. B stands for breakdance, correct?

98. Author Kesey : KEN

99. __ Trophy: biennial European golf event : SEVE. Might be tough for non-golf fans. Kind of like Ryder Cup, except it's between UK/Ireland & Europe. Named after Seve Ballesteros, genius at short game.

100. From head to foot : CAP-A-PIE. New word to me.

101. The "0" in "4 5 0," on a scoreboard : NO ERRORS. 4 is Runs, 5 is Hits. Also 64D. Indians, on scoreboards : CLE

103. Ruhr valley city : ESSEN

105. See 69-Down : PESCI. And JOE (69D With 105-Across, "GoodFellas" Oscar winner). Good movie.

108. Malaprop or Miniver : MRS

110. Turnover, e.g. : PASTRY

113. Hops-drying kilns : OASTS

115. Advanced teaching deg. : M.S.Ed. Stumper. Master of Science in Education.

118. Part of ASAP : SOON AS

123. Adopt the naturist philosophy : GO NUDE. Can't imagine doing so in public.

124. Consecrate, in a way : ANOINT

125. Architectural molding : CORNICE

126. Fashioned : STYLED

127. Dictators' underlings : STENOS

128. Paddle-wheel craft : STEAMER

Down:

1. Hammett canine : ASTA. "The Thin Man" dog. And 104D. Hammett hero : SPADE. Sam Spade. "The Maltese Falcon".

2. Believed, to Tweety : TAWT. "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!"

3. Smooch in the shadows : STEAL A KISS. Sweet clue/answer.

4. Aggressive pinballer : TILTER.

5. It might mean "I'm hungry!" : ARF

6. Hero's birthplace? : KITCHEN. Hero sandwich.

7. Narcissus snubbed her : ECHO

8. "The Nutcracker __" : SUITE

9. 1959-'60 heavyweight champ Johansson : INGEMAR. Swedish boxer. Alien to me. Looks who's on top!

10. Recital rebuke : SHH. And 36D. Recital highlights : SOLI. Solo plural.

11. Totally : TO THE MAX

12. "Grace Before Meat" essayist : ELIA (Charles Lamb)

13. Some bar shots : RYES. And 15. Shots : TRIES.

14. Climbed : SCALED

16. Mozart's birthplace, now: Abbr. : AUS

18. Boating on the briny : ASEA

24. "It couldn't be worse!" : NOT THAT

29. Barrie baddie : SMEE. In "Peter Pan".

32. "Dilbert" intern : ASOK. No idea. What a weird name, eddyB!

34. Phone on stage, e.g. : PROP

37. Dreads sporter : RASTA. Dreadlocks.

38. Richard's counterpart in the 1956 election : ESTES

39. Girl leader? : ATTA. Atta girl.

41. German border river : ODER. German/Polish border river.

42. Meet, as a challenge : RISE TO

44. Beatnik's "Got it" : I'M HIP

45. Wrest : SEIZE

48. Record holder? : EX-CON. Awesome clue.

49. Slide show effect : FADE IN

54. Smooth and soft : SILKEN

56. Hillary helper : SHERPA. Mountain guide. Edmund Hillary. The first guy to reach Mount Everest. His sherpa Tenzing Norgay is probably the most famous in the world.

57. Actor Grant : HUGH. I like him.

59. __ volente: God willing : DEO

62. Sculptor's tool : CHISEL

65. Ginseng, for one : HERB. And 109. Ginseng, for one : ROOT. Used to put a tiny bit in my soup.

67. Sexy sleepwear : TEDDY. This is tough to unbutton.

70. Open for Christmas : UNWRAP. And 111. Christmas classic opening : 'TWAS

71. Short : BRIEF

72. Ices, maybe : NUMBS

73. A scandal often ruins one : IMAGE

77. Success/failure metaphor : SINK OR SWIM. Just a great answer.

78. Central : INNER

79. Jeremy and friends, in "Zits" comics : TEENS

82. Yemen's capital : SANA

84. It's heard a lot in Los Angeles : SPANISH. And 88. Three, in 84-Down : TRES.

85. Buckeye State : OHIO

90. How a youngster might watch a parade, with "on" : TIPPY TOE. Vivid clue.

91. End in __ : A TIE

93. Apollo's instrument : LYRE

95. Movers with motors : VANS

97. "Great" feature of Jupiter : RED SPOT. Tell me about it, Husker Gary/Spitzboov/Bill G. Is it hot?

100. Quit : CEASED

102. Quimby in Beverly Cleary books : RAMONA. No idea.

106. Play groups : CASTS

108. Texter's output: Abbr. : MSGs

112. Wild harangue : RANT

114. Muscle twitches : TICS

116. Suffix with confer : ENCE. Conference.

117. Colorful worker? : DYER. Good clue for a common word.

119. Of no value, in Normandy : NUL. Like our "null"?

121. Hamburg article : EIN

122. Dr. of hip-hop : DRE. Dr. Dre.

Answer grid.

Inspired by a note from John Lampkin, Lemonade is compiling a list of his favorite LAT puzzles/clues for 2010. Hopefully we'll get it published next week.

C.C.

Saturday January 1, 2011 Barry Silk

Total words: 70

Total blocks: 30

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope your 2011 is full of love, happiness & adventures.

Today we've got a puzzle with BLUE CROSS (21D. Early hospital services insurer) right in the middle of the grid and two cross-shaped black square blocks for visual effect.

I suspect the below two are Barry's seed entries:

36A. Experimental processor : QUANTUM COMPUTER. Gimme for Al/Grumpy I guess. I struggled with the answer.

36. Fictional harpooneer : QUEEQUEG. "Moby Dick". The ship is Pequod. Three Qs & two Zs & one J in the grid. Typical Silk scrabbliness.

How's your solving experience? Lower left was particularly hard for me.

Across:

1. Builds up considerably : AMASSES

8A. Game with beehive-shaped pieces : PACHISI. National game of India. Wikipedia says "It's played on a cross-shaped board. Symmetrical cross. Maybe we can add it to Barry's cross visual then.

15. Avian activity : NESTING. Misread the clue as "Apian activity".

16. Cruel : INHUMAN

17. Start working : GET ON IT

18. Common bait : MAGGOTS. Yuck!

19. Juillet is part of it : ETE. Juillet = July in French.

20. Chess stratagem : GAMBIT

22. Pop singer/songwriter Sands : EVIE. Not familiar to me. She looks pretty.

23. Steal : LURK. Why? They are not equivalent to me.

25. Yarborough of NASCAR : CALE. Well, eddyB must know this guy. Wikipedia says he's the first NASCAR driver to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated and he had total 83 NASCAR wins.

26. Fumble : ERR

27. It takes your breath away : APNEA. Gimme. I must have seen this clue before.

29. Normandy beach : JUNO. Absolutely no idea. I could only think of Omaha.

31. One with a spare in his boot : BRIT. They call trunk "boot".

32. F1 neighbor : ESC. Computer keyboard. Got me.

34. Put out : ETHERIZE

40. Like eagles : UNDER PAR. Golf. Two under par to be exact.

41. Do a typical teenager's job : SIT. MOW too.

42. Nobel Prize subj. : ECON

43. Signs of success : SROS. Sellout signs. SRO = Standing Room Only. I need abbreviation hint.

45. Some Wi-Fi offerers : CAFES

49. Great time : EON. Great clue.

50. Processing time meas. : M SEC. I like the consecutive "time" clecho.

52. Word with punch or party : LINE

53. Bit of wit : QUIP. Can you believe Wayne R. William still does the Quip puzzle every week?

55. Muezzin's temple : MOSQUE. I don't know the meaning of Muezzin. It's the mosque official who summons worshipers to pray.

57. Keep out : BAR

58. Increases : UPSIZES. Only familiar with downsizes.

60. Title lost love in a Poe poem : ULALUME. Not in my radar. Could only recall "Annabel Lee".

62. "You're my pride and joy, et cetera" girl in a Turtles hit : ELENORE. Here is the clip. You've got to commit it to your memory. ELENORE has very friendly vowel/consonant combination.

63. Fifth Greek letter : EPSILON

64. Unified whole : GESTALT

65. Expose : LAY BARE

Down:

1. German chancellor Merkel : ANGELA. Tough girl. Hard G in in her name.

2. Rendezvous : MEET UP

3. Opposite of ahead : ASTERN

4. Pou __: vantage point : STO. Greek. Literally "Where I may stand". Sto = I stand. Learning moment to me.

5. Do a number : SING

6. Room-sized computer : ENIAC

7. U.S. Army E-9 : SGT MAJ. Never know those ranks.

8. Antipasto veggie : PIMIENTO. Not to my taste.

9. It may be gross: Abbr. : ANAT. Hard clue.

10. Small fee? : CHG (Charge). "Small" indicate abbreviation I suppose.

11. Quite significant : HUGE. I like the consecutive "small" and "significant" contrast.

12. "It's okay now" : I'M OVER IT. Didn't come to me quickly.

13. Mock : SATIRIZE

14. Editor, at times : INSERTER. I'm OK with 1 or 2 ER words in a grid.

24. Actor __ Ivory Wayans : KEENEN. Is this dude very famous?

28. Celestial sci. : ASTR

30. Units measured by a multimeter : OHMS. Hmm, VirginiaSycamore just mentioned that the symbol for OHM is Omega. And the MHO symbol is an upside down Omega.

31. Painful, as honesty : BRUTAL

33. Afternoon service items : CUPS. Hello, Nice Cuppa!

35. "War and Peace," e.g. : EPIC

37. Separate : UNCOUPLE

38. Hunks : ADONISES

39. Tamarin relative : MARMOSET. Tiny squirrel like money. Another learning moment.

44. One often has a colon in its title : SEQUEL. Unexpected clue.

46. Leg bone : FIBULA

47. Bewitch : ENAMOR

48. Tranquil : SERENE

51. Apology ending : CULPA. Mea Culpa. My bad!

54. Ice cream purchase : PINT

55. Reagle of "Wordplay" : MERL. Merl is on the right (with red-colored tie). You can find my interview with him on the blog sidebar.

56. Relaxed : EASY

59. Suffix with Meso- : ZOA. Meaning "animal". Stumped me.

61. Stack site: Abbr. : LIB. Library? I've never seen this abbreviation before.

Answer grid.

C.C.

LA Times Daily Crossword 2010 Info

Below is some interesting data from Rich Norris, editor of LA Times Daily Crossword.

I want to take this opportunity to thank Rich for his daily entertainment, education & V8 moments. His dedication, professionalism and care for his solvers are beyond expectations.

C.C.

"It's a summary of who did what in the world of LAT puzzles this year.

* We published 109 different constructors in 2010: 91 men, 18 women.

* The women averaged nearly 3 puzzles each. The men averaged nearly 3.5 puzzles each.

* 25 constructors made their LAT debut in 2010.

* The top 10% of constructors accounted for more than 40% of the puzzles.

* 52 constructors were published only once.

Here are the top 10 (12 including ties) constructors for the year with the number of published puzzles for each:

Dan Naddor, 30; John Lampkin, 18; Donna Levin, 16; Don Gagliardo, 15; Barry Silk, 15; Gareth Bain, 11; Jeff Chen, 11; Jack McInturff, 9; Mike Peluso, 9; Gail Grabowski, 8; James Sajdak, 8; Bruce Venzke, 8.

The top Sunday constructors were John Lampkin, 8; Don Gagliardo, 5; Pam Klawitter, 4; Dan Naddor, 3.

To all our constructors, my deepest gratitude and appreciation.

To our bloggers and blog readers, thanks for your wonderful and insightful comments, and for keeping us on our toes!

Happy holidays to all!

Rich Norris"

Addendum:

I'd also like to share this great data sheet from JimmyB, who has meticulously kept a record of the names of constructors and the time it took him to solve each puzzle (Monday to Saturday) since March 23, 2009 when most of the papers were switched to LA Times crossword.

You can click either the LAT 2010 & LAT All button at the bottom of the page to read his complete list. Thanks for sharing, Jim!

Friday December 31, 2010 Gareth Bain

Theme: No SAINTS (STs) Allowed: The abbreviation for Saint (ST) is removed from the first word of a common two-word phrase to reveal a new and humorous two-word phrase.

17A. Conger's protection?: EEL HELMET. STEEL HELMET. Cute pun, but I did not remember this species of eels so it did not fall quickly.

26A. Tracker of bauxite thieves?: ORE DETECTIVE. STORE DETECTIVE. This is where I got going, as Bauxite is the ore from which aluminum is extracted.

43A. Roadie, after a gig?: AMP COLLECTOR. STAMP COLLECTOR. A nice reminder of the days riding on a tour bus, watching the roadies load and unload from city to city.

58A. Diamond oration?: UMP SPEECH. STUMP SPEECH. The term is from the literal delivery of political speeches while standing on a sawed off tree to allow the candidate to be seen and heard.

The unifier: 41D. Hardly a model of perfection, and a hint to how this puzzle's theme puns are derived : NO SAINT.

Lemonade here, and I found the theme easily, without the unifier, and all the answers are nice symmetrical 9 12 12 9 with the unifier adding 7 more letters. I liked each of the puns, with AMP COLLECTOR my favorite; overall this was the hardest puzzle for me that I have blogged. It is however a nice honor to prepare the final blog of 2010.

Across:

1. Blows: BOPS. Man was this corner a struggle for me; I know a BOP where you strike someone is a BLOW, but BLOW was so many meanings. Down Lois and Carol. This crossing with BEECH did not help.

5. Open some: AJAR. Whew, an easy one.

9. "The Remains of the Day" author __ Ishiguro: KAZUO. Followed by more difficulty, for while I recalled the wonderful movie version starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, I did not have any memory of this transplanted Japanese AUTHOR .

14. Sweeping story: EPIC. My FAVORITE .

15. Like some walls: BARE. Well that is depressing.

16. Collectively: IN ALL.

19. Figured (out), slangily: DOPED. Yes, we all doped out this answer, though wouldn’t slang been enough?

20. __-Magnon man: CRO. This is no longer a politically correct term, as scientists now believe the skeletons which were found in this region, and so named, are sufficiently like we HOMO SAPIENS to be called EMH, Early Modern Human.

21. '60s quartet member: MAMA. And the biggest of them all MAMA CASS.

22. Times for cool heads: CRISES. Yes, they prevailed when my computer was fighting me earlier.

23. 6 7/8, e.g.: HAT SIZE. I wear a 7 ½ which would be okay except I am pretty short. Of course some of us will speculate on body correlations, but that cannot be helped. I am sure there are research volunteers.

25. __ Age: IRON. I could not think of any other four letter ages, ICE, STONE, BRONZE?

31. Latin Quarter site: PARIS. This area on the left bank of the SEINE got its name not from any Hispanic influence, but because it is the educational center of Paris where reading, understanding Latin was important.

34. Soup vegetable: LEEK. A cousin of the onion and garlic.

35. "X-ing" one: PED. Pedestrian crossing, a cross walk. Jaywalking is taken very seriously in parts of the country, as a result drivers must brake to allow people to cross if they are in a designated area. Muhammed Ali almost ran me down in his Rolls while I was at LAX.

36. Space-saving abbr.: ET AL. My law use of the week. When you sue a bunch of people, you have to list all of them in the initial complaint. The part with the names is the caption. Once the original is filed, e.g., Lemonade vs. Dennis, Windhover, Barry G., Jeannie, Sallie and Dodo, the later pleadings will all be Lemonade vs. Dennis et al.

37. Seriously impairs: MAIMS. Yes, maiming is a specific crime, defined as injure, disable, or disfigure, usually by depriving of the use of a limb or other part of the body.

39. Loud, ringing sound: BONG. Am I the only one who thought of Michael Phelps?

40. Barnyard male: TOM. Tom Turkey? Tom Cat?

41. Lofgren of the E Street Band: NILS. He has played his GUITAR with Springsteen and Neil Young among others.

42. Flooded field: PADDY. Rice can be grown on dry land, but most of it is done underwater, in paddies.

47. Sailing, say: ASEA.

48. Alluring tops: HALTERS. Is this what you thought of for this style TOP.

52. Sign with an arrow: ONE WAY. I love this clue, so simple, but very visual.

55. Like falling off a log: EASY. A simile that always puzzled me as a child, because it is hard to get on a log.

56. Snap: PIC. Does anyone call them snaps anymore?

57. Alp-Öhi's granddaughter in an 1880 novel: HEIDI. Never read the book, but I have a close friend with the name.

60. Dum-dum: MORON. You may not know this, but this was a valid psychology term to describe mild retardation, but obviously, it has fallen out of favor. But you can still take the TEST .

61. Hook's mate: SMEE. Man, my first thoughts crook and ladder, luckily they had too many letters.

62. Appear: SEEM.

63. Hägar's dog: SNERT. Snot Nosed Egotistical Rude Teen.

64. Event with gowns: BALL. I wanted Prom.

65. __ buco: OSSO. Literally bone with a hole, the veal shank.

Okay, suck it up we are halfway home.

Down:

1. Tree with edible nuts: BEECH. There were so many, Pecan also has 4 letters.

2. "What's __, Doc?": Classic "Looney Tunes" short: OPERA. Cartoons give us so much CULTURE , of course I could tell my Pavarotti bird joke again.

3. Joystick user: PILOT. Too many video games around me for this to be as easy as it really was.

4. Univ., e.g.: SCH.

5. Burning: ABLAZE. The class A word.

6. Improvised, in a way: JAMMED. A shout out for our own JzB, the tremulous trombonist.

7. Zone: AREA.

8. Soak flax: RET. I never heard of this process of using water and the organisms to break down the fiber in flax.

9. "Devil Without a Cause" musician: KID ROCK. Be careful of the lyrics in this VIDEO .

10. Baptize with oil: ANOINT. There was lots of anointing in the bible, but I did not associate it with baptism.

11. Sci-fi effects: ZAPS. Pretty tame now that we have CG.

12. Fonda title role: ULEE. The gold was in the honey, honey.

13. Cutlass maker: OLDS. We have a zillion different ways to clue this car maker, now dead and defunct.

18. Mideast bigwigs: EMIRS.

22. First Nations members: CREES. We just had Cree but there is so much more to the indigenous of CANADA .

24. Muddy: SOIL. Oh I get it, MUDDY as a verb, not an adjective.

25. News __: ITEM.

27. Beethoven dedicatee: ELISE. Lots of this and Eroica these days.

28. Product with earbuds: IPOD. Amazing how Apple has dominated so much electronics.

29. Push, so to speak: VEND. Street vendors as pushers? Seems harsh.

30. Avant-garde: EDGY. Oh perfect for the students in the Latin Quarter.

31. Org. where fur doesn't fly?: PETA. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, often forgetting we too are animals.

32. Splitting it releases energy: ATOM. More bombs.

33. Modeling milieu: RAMP. Runway, not clay.

37. Cyrus who plays Hannah Montana: MILEY. She is studying the Lindsay Lohan from child star to slut handbook.

38. __ breve: ALLA. Musical terminology for which I will defer to out musicians

39. One of TV's Mavericks: BART. Jack Kelly; James Garner as Bret and Roger Moore as cousin Beau.

42. Sea anemone, e.g.: POLYP.

44. Macbeth's thanedom before he became king: CAWDOR. Another very difficult name to remember; his patch before he had a kingdom, his feudal lordship.

45. Vegas drive-through: CHAPEL.

46. Fez feature: TASSEL. Has anyone seen BURLESQUE ?

49. Blunted swords: EPEES.

50. Prepares potatoes, in a way: RICES. We get rice twice, it’s nice.

51. Jerk: SCHMO. I see SCHMOs as more harmless than jerks.

52. Resistance units: OHMS.

53. Its atomic number is 10: NEON.

54. Name on some neutral WWII ships: EIRE.

55. Jane Austen opus: EMMA.

58. PC port for a flash drive: USB.Universal Serial Bus.

59. Spanish pronoun: ESO. Like the song says…

Answer grid.

Well another year in the record books, and my first as an organized contributor, I want to thank C.C., Rich, all the great constructors and all of you who have been here and who comment regularly or once in a while. Happy and wonderful new year for all and special wishes to those who need them.

Lemonade out, see you next year….

Thursday December 30, 2010 Kelsey Blakley

Theme: 1A. Squish: MASHed up city names. The middle city name uses parts of the end of the first city name and the beginning of the last city name without adding any extra letters. Of all the cities presented, Pierre, SD and Annapolis, MD, and Concord NH are the only ones that are state capitals.

20A. Iowa/Arizona/Maryland tri-city area?: AMES ANNAPOLIS. AMES MESA ANNAPOLIS.

32A. Washington/Georgia/ New Hampshire tri-city area?: TACOMA CONCORD. TACOMA MACON CONCORD.

40A. South Dakota/Nevada/ Virginia tri-city area?: PIERRE NORFOLK. PIERRE RENO NORFOLK.

55A. California/Alaska/ Tennessee tri-city area?: FRESNO MEMPHIS.

Al here.

What a puzzle. I can't imagine what it must have taken to get all four theme entries to all be 13 letters each with overlapping names, and then fit them symmetrically into a grid with eight other non-theme answers having 9 to 10 letters in them, and 6 of them crossing 3 theme entries each.

I needed the short ones today just to get enough traction to get started. The crossing of Narz and Lai was just a guess, and the NW and SE corners did not come easily. Lots of music again today.

ACROSS:

5. Flintstone word: DABBA. Yabba dabba doo. Song written and performed by Hoagy Carmichael on the show.

10. Bairn, e.g.: SCOT. Scottish for baby.

14. Pick of the litter?: ALPO. (Dog food) Trademark applied for by Alpo circa 1985: IT'S THE PICK OF VETERINARIANS AND THE PICK OF THE LITTER

15. Stevie Wonder's "My Cherie __": AMOUR.

16. Horse around: PLAY.

17. Zoo retreat: LAIR. The root is in "lie", as "to lie down".

18. Red and yellow but not green: WARM COLORS. This had me thinking about sea names at first.

22. Sing like Slim Clark: YODEL. Not my favorite kind of music, but hey, to each their own. I had never heard of him, but with a name similar to Slim Whitman, it had to be yodeling.

23. Cut from the staff: AXE.

24. Arterial implant: STENT. A rigid tube implanted to hold a (weakened) passageway open.

27. "__ Town Too": 1981 hit: HER. James Taylor.

29. The Concord Sage's monogram: RWE. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

31. My __, Vietnam: LAI. The mass murder conducted by a unit of the U.S. Army on March 16, 1968 of 347–504 unarmed citizens in South Vietnam, all of whom were civilians and a majority of whom were women, children (including babies) and elderly people. While 26 U.S. soldiers were initially charged with criminal offenses for their actions at My Lai, only William Calley was convicted. He served only three years of an original life sentence, spent on house arrest.

36. K-12: EL-HI. Elementary - High School.

38. It may be precious: METAL.

39. Percolate: OOZE. I don't usually think of upwards percolation, but it does happen, and can cause sinkholes.

43. Like some outlet mall mdse.: IRR. Irregular.

44. Quite a long time: EON.

45. Announcer Hall: EDD. Replaced Ed McMahon on the Tonight Show after Johnny Carson retired and Jay Leno took over.

46. Alberta natives: CREES.

48. Anesthesiologists' work sites, briefly: ORS. Had to wait to see whether it would be ERs.

51. Neapolitan song starter: O SOLE. Mio.

58. Soldier who has completed most of his tour of duty: SHORT TIMER. Or an employee who has given two week's notice. Just wishful thinking these days.

60. Drops off: EBBS.

61. Saarinen who designed the Gateway Arch: EERO.

62. Even a little: AT ALL.

63. Passed-down tales: LORE. Related to "learn".

64. Skating maneuver: AXEL. Named for Norwegian figure skater Axel Paulsen.

65. Broadway matchmaker: YENTE. Fiddler on the Roof.

66. Oven cleaner chemicals: LYES. Also Butane, Monoethanolamine, Diethylene Glycol Monobutyl Ether, and Diethanolamine. Wear a mask and don't breathe any of the vapors...

DOWN:

1. Asia's __ Peninsula: MALAY. Southwest of Vietnam.

2. 2007 Enterprise acquisition: ALAMO. (Rent-a-car companies) Enterprise's slogan: "We'll pick you up."

3. Spotted: SPIED.

4. Paintbrush material: HORSE HAIR. Also sable, squirrel, hog, ox, and goat.

5. Become clear to, with "on": DAWN. It took a while for this answer to, um, come to mind.

6. Radarange maker: AMANA. Now owned by Whirlpool.

7. Cleansing agent: BORAX. Anti-microbial, basic pH, buffer, dispersant. But also toxic, especially if ingested, so use it carefully if you choose to do so.

8. Crash course vehicle?: BUMPER CAR.

9. Not pizzicato: ARCO. Return to the usual smooth method of play.

10. Cheerleader's feat: SPLIT. Ouch!

11. More than a glance: CLOSE LOOK.

12. Crew tool: OAR.

13. Cobb et al.: TYS.

19. "The Daily Planet" reporter: OLSEN. Jimmy, Superman's pal.

21. Pianist Templeton: ALEC. Composer, satirist, popularizer of classical music with a jazz feel. Also blind. Died in 1963, and yet there's a Youtube clip...

25. '70s "Concentration" host Jack: NARZ. Former daytime game show host. Needed all perps for this.

26. Ocean phenomenon: TIDE. From Old English tid, a marking unit of time, in the sense of high water time. To "tide you over" is the sense of "to carry, as the tide does". Also tidings, as news, carried on the tide.

28. Lover boy: ROMEO. Always with the male bias. Why isn't there a term for a lover girl called Juliet?

30. Stout hero Nero: WOLFE. Rex Stout, but as played by Robert Conrad, also stout in stature.

32. Start of a conclusion: THEREFORE. Good play on words for the clue.

33. Anabaptist denomination: MENNONITE. All I got out of researching this was they believed in baptizing adults, not babies, then I lost interest.

34. "From __ Zinc": vitamin slogan: A TO. Centrum brand. Do your own research, but you won't catch me taking these.

35. Time to bundle up: COLD SPELL.

36. Like some proportions: EPIC.

37. NYC commuter line: LIRR. Long Island Rail Road.

41. Odometer button: RESET.

42. Blue Moon of '60s-'70s baseball: ODOM. Apparently was round-faced as a child, he got the nickname in grade school from a friend, Joe Morris.

47. Swashbuckler Flynn: ERROL. I can never remember if this is ERROL or EROLL.

49. __ candle: ROMAN. Fireworks, because scented doesn't fit.

50. Silver fish: SMELT. I remember these. Three scoopfuls with a net to fill a wash bucket, 10 minutes tops. Two hours driving round trip. Hours and hours cleaning and bagging to freeze. Pan-fried in oil with flour, salt, and pepper. They were good, but I was kind of glad the run only happened once per year.

52. "Whoopee!": OH BOY.

53. Vers __: free verse: LIBRE. French.

54. Switchback features: ESSES. Hilly roads.

56. Layover: STAY.

57. Contemporary of Rex and Agatha: ERLE. Rex Stout, Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardner. Mystery/murder writers.

58. Something fishy: SEA. Until about 2048 or even sooner, unless commercial fishing is controlled and dumping garbage is stopped.

59. Give the evil eye: HEX. Both hag and hex are shortenings of the same words in Old English: hægtesse or Old High German hagazussa.

Answer Grid.

Al