Sunday April 3, 2011 Doug Peterson

Theme: The Play's The Thing - The starred answers are eight Toy HOF items.

23A. *They're educational and stackable : ALPHABET BLOCKS

38A. *Construction set invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son : LINCOLN LOGS. Interesting trivia. 

47A. *Street hockey gear : ROLLER SKATES

68A. Rochester, N.Y., institution whose inductees include the eight answers to the starred clues : NATIONAL TOY HALL OF FAME. Nice grid spanner. Has any of you been there?

91A. *Shipping container : CARDBOARD BOX. Now how can this be inducted into the Hall? I do know some of the old basewball card wrappers/boxes are highly collectible.

98A. *Dual-knobbed drawing device : ETCH A SKETCH

119A. *Kindergartner's boxful : CRAYOLA CRAYONS

15D. *Board game with color-coded cards : CANDY LAND

81D. *Cuddly bedmate : TEDDY BEAR

Fun theme. Was any of the plaything in your childhood missing from the theme set? I just learned that Scrabble & View-Master are in the Hall too.

Neat theme answer arrangement also. It always impresses me when theme entries intersect and more so when no fill is compromised.

Doug Peterson is a real pro. He's one of the very few active constructors in this country who steadily produce fluid early week day puzzles & hard themeless & smooth Sundays.

Across:

1. Cause for fishing hole excitement : BITE. Incredible feeling.

5. Gate approx. : ETD. Wanted EST.

8. Fleshy-snouted mammal : TAPIR

13. Fearless Fosdick's creator : AL CAPP. I only know his "Li'l Abner".

19. Airline with a Ben Gurion hub : EL AL. Literally "To the Skies".

20. Book flap feature : BIO

21. Ridiculous : INANE

22. Comfortable shoe : LOAFER

26. Unlearned : INNATE

27. Long-tailed songbird : PIPIT. Is her tail long?

28. Shade of green : PEA

29. It's done in some circles : SEWING. I don't get this clue.

31. Sturdy wagon : DRAY

32. Santa __ winds : ANA

33. Actor Estevez : EMILIO. Charlie Sheen's brother.

36. "A Taste of Honey" dramatist : DELANEY (Shelagh). Not familiar with the book or its author.

41. DMV document : LIC

42. Vaquero's plain : LLANO

46. Arles affirmatives : OUIs

50. Port-du-__: French cheese : SALUT. Looks good. Needs a bit of wine. Salut!

53. Script section : SCENE

55. Word between surnames : NEE

56. PBS series since 1974 : NOVA

57. City SSW of Moscow : OREL. Doug might have it clued as Hershiser related. He's a baseball fan.

58. Breezy good-byes : CIAOs

60. QB's try : ATT. No idea. Attempt?

62. First name among disrespected comedians? : RODNEY (Dangerfield). "I get no respect".

64. Pollution-free power sources : WIND FARMS. We have quite a few of them in Xinjiang region.

66. Links highlight : ACE. Hole in one.

67. Itty-bitty, in Inverness : SMA. Scottish for "little".

75. Jenny, e.g. : ASS

76. "Reliable Sources" airer : CNN

77. Picnic favorite : BEAN SALAD. I like potato salad for picnic.

78. Tiny bit : TITTLE

82. Tool used in a bed : HOE. Oh, garden bed.

83. Swedish imports : SAABs

84. Winged goddess : NIKE

85. War of 1812 shipbuilding port : ERIE. Nice to know this fact.

86. Half a dance : CHA

88. "Gone With the Wind" Oscar winner : LEIGH (Vivien)

90. Dramatist Chekhov : ANTON

94. "How __ refuse?" : CAN I. And 39. "What else __ do?" : COULD I.

96. Hardly posh : SEEDY

97. '80s missile shield prog. : SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Star Wars.

104. Home of Chichén Itzá : YUCATAN

107. Hullabaloo : HOOPLA

108. "Bingo!" : AHA

109. Crime lab item : SWAB

112. Not spontaneous : STAGED

114. Come up short : OWE

115. "King Lear" daughter : REGAN. The other two are Goneril and Cordelia.

117. Ripped to pieces : TORE UP

122. Mystical secrets : ARCANA

123. "True Grit," for one : OATER. Do you like the Cohen Brothers' remake?

124. 20th-century composer Harris : ROY. Tell me about him, Jayce.

125. Logical connector : ERGO. I wanted THEN.

126. 1943 Allied conference site : TEHRAN. Unknown trivia to me.

127. Campout treat : S'MORE

128. 34th pres. : DDE. Man, I wanted ABE. Dumb! I can't count.

129. Look to be : SEEM

Down:

1. "Little help here, bud?" : BE A PAL

2. "Fighting" team : ILLINI. Fighting Illini. Not enough space for my IRISH.

3. __ Zee Bridge : TAPPAN

4. Pre-coll. catchall : EL-HI. Mostly in crosswords.

5. Flow's counterpart : EBB

6. Ascot fasteners : TIEPINS

7. "I'm listening!" : DO TELL

8. Up to, in brief : TIL

9. "__ Amours": 1984 César Award-winning film : A NOS. Nope. Have never heard of the film. Literally "To our Love".

10. Walked worriedly : PACED

11. Bygone writing aid : INKWELL. Still needs it for Chinese calligraphy.

12. Able to overcome adversity : RESILIENT. Lucina asked how we obtained protein in those years without meat. I guess from corn. We ate corn bread for every meal. It's not really tasty as it's made of  water & corn flour & salt only. No added milk/sugar/oil, which were all highly rationed. Even wheat flour was a luxury then.

13. Bring into harmony : ALIGN

14. Contemporary of Boris : LON (Chaney)

16. Where some worship from : AFAR

17. Anti-leather gp. : PETA

18. Zebras, to lions : PREY. I like this clue.

24. Did lunch, say : ATE OUT

25. Scott of "Happy Days" : BAIO. Rare name, three consecutive vowels.

30. Iridescent jewelry material : NACRE

34. 1,051, to Hadrian : MLI

35. Fiends of fantasy : OGRES

37. Buckskin source : ELK

40. Elroy, to George Jetson : SON

43. Oodles : A TON

44. Snow in Milano : NEVE. Oh really? Had no idea. Bye, Campbell!

45. Anthem beginning : O SAY

48. Percolate : LEACH

49. Sunday deliveries : SERMONS

50. Planted : SOWN

51. "Turandot" highlight : ARIA. Just for Sallie.

52. Period of sacrifice : LENT

53. O.T. prophet : SAML

54. Bulk-purchase club : COSTCO. Went there once. Man, everything is just so big.

58. 1988 A.L. MVP : CANSECO (Jose). Can't stand him & his "Juiced".

59. Funds for later yrs. : IRAs

61. Leaves home? : TEABAG. Tea leaves.

63. Bozos : OAFS

65. Newborn Arabian : FOAL. Horse. Hey, Creature!

66. Objectivism advocate Rand : AYN

67. Healthy portion : SLAB

69. Spaghetti pkg. unit : ONE LB

70. Remini of "The King of Queens" : LEAH. She believes in Scientology. Leah is also our Chickie's real name.

71. Author Flagg : FANNIE. She was in a relationship with Rita Mae Brown.

72. Hit the ground : ALIT

73. Speedy shark : MAKO

74. Idyllic setting : EDEN

78. Gumshoes : TECs. Short for detective.

79. "Dies __" : IRAE

80. Flag : TIRE. Don't get the connection.

82. Crunchy Mexican munchies : HARD TACOS

83. NBA's __ Man of the Year Award : SIXTH

87. Tackles : HAS AT

89. Classified letters : EOE

90. Capital south of the Black Sea : ANKARA (Turkey)

92. Mitt Romney's alma mater: Abbr. : BYU. Barry G's too.

93. Family tree, e.g. : DIAGRAM

94. Peninsula north of Martha's Vineyard : CAPE COD

95. Silent communication syst. : ASL

99. "Groovy!" : COOL

100. Three Stooges family name : HOWARD

101. First non-European literature Nobelist (1913) : TAGORE. He's very famous in China.

102. Meter feeder's need : CHANGE

103. Quaint carriage : HANSOM

105. It covers D.C. : C-SPAN. Remember the "House shower" clue? Shower = Show-er.

106. "Groovy!" : NEATO

109. Fan's factoid : STAT

110. Modeled : WORE

111. Raise, as an eyebrow : ARCH

113. Tannery worker : DYER

116. Checks out : EYES

118. Uruguayan article : UNA

120. Stuff in a seam : ORE. Was ignorant of the geology term "seam".

121. Sourdough alternative : RYE

Answer grid.

Does anyone else also use a Reebok CYC 10 bike? Our console seems to have broken. It uses no batteries, the power is supplied by a generator when pedaling. The data keeps flicking and the resistance level just can't be adjusted. The current setting is so high that I can hardly move.

C.C.

Saturday April 2, 2011 Alan Olschwang

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 28

This puzzle is anchored by four grid spanners, with one long Down intersecting three Across fill:

17A. Where few people live : MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. Wouldn't it be nice if this entry were placed in 7D, the middle of the grid?

36A. Debugging aid? : INSECT REPELLENT. Real bugs! I was picturing the mysterious briefcase my ex-colleague used to debug the phones.

60A. Pick wielder : DENTAL HYGIENIST. The clue made me think of ice pick.

7D. 2008 Adam Brooks romantic comedy : DEFINITELY MAYBE. Looks good. Abigail Breslin is adorable.

Dan Naddor's puzzle yesterday has a themeless look. Today's puzzle has a themed look, with the long fill arrangement and high number of 3-letter words (total 20). 

By the way, remember Alex Boivert's "Living on the Edge" puzzle we had last April Fool's Day? Look at those edge words around the grid. Dan's gimmick was easier to grok, at least to me.

Innovation should be encouraged, no matter in which field. You may like the result, or you may not. But same old same old stuff just wouldn't work any more. Words that precede/follow theme concept  (sans twist) will  bring you an immediate "No" from Rich.

Across:

1. Island where florins are spent : ARUBA. Shouldn't they use EURO? Aruba is part of the Netherlands after all.

6. Unoccupied : IDLE. FREE wouldn't work.

10. Mental keenness : WITS

14. Charged : RAN AT. Phrasal verb can be a bit tough at times.

15. Hold : DEEM

16. Minimally : A BIT

20. "Is that __?" : A NO

21. Entertainer : ARTISTE. Thought it's just French for "artist".

22. Rural pro : FER. Rural "for".

23. Having no chapters? : NONUNION. Tricky clue.

25. Prohibit : ENJOIN

27. Hardly handy : INEPT

28. Quiet, in a way : OIL. Quiet the squeak.

30. Mattingly's predecessor : TORRE (Joe). Don Mattingly. Dodgers' manager.

31. 20-20, e.g. : TIE

33. Persian for "crown" : TAJ

35. Summer arrivals : LEOs. Oh, babies.

41. Bar patron who appears in every "Cheers" episode : NORM. Unknown trivia to me.

42. Bordeaux bottom : CUL. Cul-de-sac = Bottom of the sack.

43. Clavell's "__-Pan" : TAI. Literally "Big".

44. Marsh bird : SNIPE

46. Norse war god : TYR. From whom we got Tuesday.

48. Schism outcomes : SECTS

52. Jai alai ball : PELOTA. The basket is called CESTA. Al covered both in his Thursday write-up.

54. Float seller : MALT SHOP. I've never been to one.

56. Clark's "Mogambo" co-star : AVA. Gardner had the perfect body measurements.

57. Huge : TITANIC

59. Solid-rock center? : AS A. Solid as a rock.

63. Three-time '80s speed skating gold medalist Karin : ENKE. No idea. She's from Germany.

64. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE

65. Um preceder? : NO SEE. No see-ums. Biting flies.

66. Early Sam & Dave record label : STAX

67. Club income : DUEs

68. Head lock : TRESS. Typical grid edge word.

Down:

1. Lawyer's suit? : ARMANI. Nice playing on "suit".

2. Spoil, as a picnic : RAIN ON

3. How a knot may come : UNDONE

4. Like some judgment : BAD

5. Kennebec River outlet, with "the" : ATLANTIC. I'm sure Mainiac nailed this one. Kennebec River is in Maine.

6. "Same here" : I DO TOO

8. Contact, e.g. : LENS

9. Show anger, say : EMOTE

10. ''Do __ Diddy Diddy'': 1964 hit : WAH. Not familiar with the song.

11. Start of a rule with numerous exceptions : I BEFORE E. Spelling rule.

12. Trunk item : TIRE IRON

13. Most severe : STERNEST

18. "__ tu": Verdi aria : ERI. Literally "It was you".

19. Sold (for) : WENT

24. Bouncy : UPTEMPO. I like this word, "bouncy".

26. Kicks : JOLLIES. Did not know jolly can be a noun.

29. Drink from a dish : LAP. For dogs.

32. What an ellipsis may mean: Abbr. : ETC

34. Black shade : JET

36. Big-time : IN SPADES

37. Tempest in a teapot : NON-EVENT

38. Colombo's country : SRI LANKA. Full name. How rare!

39. Same old same old : RUT

40. You'll be busted if you use it : LAST CENT. Man, even a dollar can't buy you anything now. Not even a pack of baseball cards.

45. Blues singer James : ETTA

47. Extents : RANGES

49. One in a cruise ship line : CHAISE

50. Chucks : TOSSES

51. Floods : SPATES

53. Had something : AILED. Had a bug.

55. Full deck in old Rome? : LII. 52. Deck of card.

58. Drive-__ : THRU

61. St. with a panhandle : TEX. Quite a few states have a panhandle.

62. Easter opening? : NOR. Opening of Nor'easter.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday, April 1, 2011, Dan Naddor

THEME: Oh, those silly backwards Semites. Each of the three theme answers are written beginning on the right and working in the opposite direction. Talk about a puzzle being delivered in my wheel house, not only did I grow up learning Hebrew, but I am left-handed, so doing things backwards comes naturally. I wish I had a video of me trying to Iron. Anyway, welcome back, oops that is me.

17. Start of an aptly expressed linguistic observation: CIBARA DNA WERBEH. HEBREW AND ARABIC. If you read the Hardy Boy mysteries you know all about mirror writing.

31. Observation, part 2: DAER ERA. ARE READ.

45. End of the observation: TFEL OT THGIR MORF.FROM RIGHT TO LEFT.

Hello, it is I, Lemonade, back from a brief hiatus, only to appear where I left off with Dan Naddor, Alava Shalom, and a wonderful April Fool's Day deception. For all those who have complained about too much 3 and 4 letter fill, we have an average word length of almost 6 letters. As always, Dan includes many multi-part answers, with a 10,10, 15 top and bottom. leave it to Dan to do a pseudo quote puzzle in reverse.

All right, on with the show, which just for me features lots of law and Latin, and some really interesting Ukrainian humor.

Across:

1. Lexington and Concord fighters: MILITIAMEN. Oh Dan, how could you do this to a nice guy like me? Every New England child knows they were MINUTEMEN! But it did not fit. (no insensitive jokes about New England men, please Lois and Carol). Both started with MI but there was no way to get 10 letters...

11. XXXV years after the creation of the original Magna Carta: MCCL. Dan liked his Roman numerals to be math exercises, 1215 plus 35 = 1250.

15. Apple consumers?: ADAM AND EVE. A nice deceptive biblical reference, and perhaps a hint to our Hebrew theme.

16. River through Lake Brienz: AARE. How may rivers start with two As?We are back in BERN(E).

19. Duplicated: CLONED. Ah, the new world order.

20. Roma road: STRADA. The Italian version of the Latin word STRATA. My oldest is going back to Gabii for two months in June.

21. Word with sharp or trouble: SHOOTER. SHARP SHOOTER = accurate shot. TROUBLE SHOOTER, an outsider who comes in to fix things.

23. Hand: SAILOR. C'mon, you all know, "All hands on deck!"

24. Leagues: Abbr.: ASSNS, associations.

25. Like performances by the Wallendas: NETLESS, the famous circus FLYERS have lost many of their family because they performed without a net.

27. Place to build: SITE.

28. Flying need: PHOTO ID. This was the trickiest for me, because I got the "oid" part first. When I finally stepped back to realize how this parsed, I felt rather foolish.

30. Is down with: HAS.

32. Source of support: FAN.

35. It's about 325 miles east of Texas's H-Town, with "the": BIG EASY, and a quick hello to our Hebrew scholar, Hahtool (also Hebrew).

36. "Return of the Jedi" dancer: OOLA. You have to be a real Trekkie to know this unhappy DANCER by name.

37. Like Cologne and vicinity: RHENISH. This related to the Rhine valley and perhaps to the post World War I attempt to create an independent state.

39. Condescend: STOOP. I would never stoop to bad puns to entertain!

40. Fowl with a showy mate: PEAHEN. Mr. Peacock, no foul humor, now! Drat.

41. Herbal drink: MINT TEA. A wonderful Dan fill to tease you with the TT in the middle.

43. "Bewitched" witch: ENDORA. Brilliantly played by Agnes Moorehead.

44. Place with swinging doors: SALOON. Gunsmoke, anyone?

49. Abbr. on folk song sheet music: TRAD. Traditional.

50. Listed: ENUMERATED. A nice $5.00 word.

51. They have their pluses and minuses: IONS.

52. Fabled tortoise's trait: STEADINESS. Slow and steady wins the race!

Down:

1. Bud: MAC. So many meanings for bud.

2. First name in tyranny: IDI. An Amin after my own heart.

3. Checkup charges: LAB COSTS. Another multiple word answer causing a weird combination in the middle, ABC.

4. Inviting words before "Want to come over?": I'M ALONE. The wife has gone to shop?

5. Mystical decks: TAROTS.

6. Vacant: INANE. Vacuous, empty, senseless, blank, foolish, vacant, hollow, void, meaningless; enough?

7. Dangerous snake: ADDER. They are poisonous members of the viper family, and the only poisonous snake indigenous to Great Britain, I believe. NC?

8. Darn: MEND. Darn, these socks have another hole in them!

9. Mendes of "Hitch": EVA. Okay, one LINK for the boys. Followed by 11D. Hitched: MARRIED.

10. It may be a scoop: NEWS STORY. More multiples.

12. Plots: CABALS. This word is a form of the Hebrew Kabbalah, which is mysticism and secrets. The usage in English reportedly is associated with the CABAL Ministry under King Charles II, from the last names of the ministers. Sir Thomas Clifford, Lord Arlington, the Duke of Buckingham, Lord Ashley, and Lord Lauderdale.

13. Words to live by: CREDOS. Latin meaning to believe.

14. "The Merry Widow" operettist: LEHAR. We have had this COMPOSER before, in fact DAN, DON G. and BARRY SILK all have used this clue.

18. Latin term usually abbreviated: ET ALIA. More Latin for and others, ET AL, and our favorite Thursday blogger.

21. Window part: SASH.

22. Early Chinese dynasty: HSIA. No clue, so I read this LINK , C. C., your turn. (Note from C.C.: We can Hsia as Xia in China. Xia Dynstry is China's first prehistoric dynasty, followed by Shang & Zhou.)

25. Canadian young adult fiction author McClintock: NORAH. Nope, did not know this AUTHOR either.

26. Nice summers: ETES . By now a gimme for everybody, i am sure. Nice the French city.

28. Numbers in a corner, often: PAGINATES. Not a gimme, but I have edited a couple of books, and PAGINATION is a popular word in publishing.

29. Texters' amused syllables: HEES. TEE HEE, or HEE HEE?

31. Mexican bread: DINERO Spanish for money, that kind of bread.

32. What an asterisk may indicate: FOOTNOTE. In law books we also have Head Notes.

33. Lotion additive: ALOE. Phew, an easy one.

34. City WSW of Sacramento: NAPA, easy for you left coasters, but there are so many cities in Cali.

35. Lays eyes on: BEHOLDS.

36. Armchair partner: OTTOMAN, not be confused with the Empire which appeared in my last write up.

37. Hall of Fame defensive back Mel: RENFRO. Mel Renfro was number 20 for the Dallas Cowboys for many all-pro years; he played in 4 Super Bowls for the Cowboys, including number VI, where they beat the Dolphins.

38. Like hell: HADEAN. More Latin, ancient Roman HADES.

39. "Edda" author __ Sturluson: SNORRI. We have had reference to this ICELANDIC who influenced many of the early Scandinavian authors.

40. Coat opening?: PETTI. Petticoat Junction, the spin-off from Green Acres.

41. Volcanic fluid: MAGMA. I am not touching that.

42. Perjurer's admission: I LIED. Another law reference, because it is Friday and my day.

44. "Melrose Place" actor: SHUE. This is Andrew the BROTHER of Elizabeth, and for you ladies.

46. Explosive initials: TNT. For my personality?

47. __ judicata: decided case: RES. More law stuff, and Latin, it just means things,

48. Some alarm respondents: Abbr.: FDS, no not Feminine Deodorant Spray, Fire Departments.

Answer grid.

Wow, with so many long words there are only 66 clues, so I am through early; hope you enjoyed the Return of the Lemonade and see you on the next page. Oh, I lied about the Ukranian humor, but it is April 1.

Lemonade

Thursday, March 31, 2011, Steve Salitan

Theme: Take me out to the Ball Game, revealed in 62 Across: Its season starts today; its equipment starts the starred answers: BASEBALL.

1A. *One way to reach a superhero: BAT PHONE. I've been reliving my childhood lately, a newer cable channel called the HUB is re-running the old Batman TV series.

23A. *2008 Republican hopeful: MITT ROMNEY. I hope I don't catch (see what I did there) any flack for saying this; I'm uncomfortable now whenever a political clue comes along... It has been said that the biggest hurdle in his bid was that he is a Mormon: Both politics and religion controversy all rolled up in one single clue.

34A. *Roll-fed toy: CAP PISTOL. Speaking of childhood, anyone else remember hitting a whole roll of caps at a time with a hammer?

46A. *Musical about rock's 4 Seasons: JERSEY BOYS. Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.

Hi all, Al here. I kind of rushed through this one today, and didn't even need to read all the clues; sorry about the brevity. The perps filled a lot of the answers in for me and I found myself going back to the grid thinking "where was that?" quite a bit. There were a few nice tricky clues, but to me, the thing that seemed to stand out most was the number of two-word answers.

ACROSS:

9. Blind slat: LOUVER.

15. Concurred about: AGREED ON.

16. Lower, for now: ON SALE. There was gonna be one there. We was gonna buy one anyway, so aren't you glad I got it . . .

17. Ogled: LEERED AT.

18. Skinned: PEELED.

19. One of two O.T. books: SAML. Clue and ans. both abbrs. 1 and 2 Samuel are part of the Hebrew Bible. The Book(s) of Samuel originally was a single text.

20. When Donne is done for the day?: EEN. Poetic evening.

21. Genesis outcast: EVE. Because Peter Gabriel wouldn't fit.

22. Go by: PASS.

27. Focus of some trips: EGO. Last week's star wars clue.

28. Justice Sotomayor: SONIA. First Hispanic justice on the Supreme Court, serving since August 2009.

29. Unsatisfactory marks?: ACNE. Wanted to fill with DEES or EFFS.

30. Explain: CONSTRUE. I always construed construe to mean "understand". Guess I was always wrong...

32. Fiona, after Shrek's kiss: OGRESS. Before that, too, but only at night.

36. Fertilizer component: POTASH. Along with Nitrogen (first) and Phosphorus (second), potassium is the third number you see on a commercial bag.

39. "I can't explain it": NO REASON. Often the answer to: "Why'd you do that?

43. Imitated: APED.

44. Old 51-Across devices: ETNAS. Burners, along with 51A. Trial site, perhaps: LAB.

45. "The Simpsons" shopkeeper: APU.

49. Benjamin et al.: Abbr.: PVTS. Goldie Hawn movie, Private Benjamin.

50. Give pieces to: ARM. Gats, rods, heaters.

52. Jai __: ALAI. Basket = cesta. Ball = pelota, which travels at speeds up to 250 feet per second (170 MPH). Ouch. And I used to think it hurt to get hit with a racquetball.

53. "The Executioner's Song" Pulitzer winner: MAILER. Norman. The events surrounding the execution of Gary Gilmore by the state of Utah for murder.

55. Burlesque act: FAN DANCE.

59. Show up: ATTEND.

60. Some feelers: ANTENNAE.

61. Viewed to be: SEEN AS.

DOWN:

1. __ masqué: dance with costumes: BAL. A masquerade ball.

2. A good while back: AGES AGO.

3. Crime of betrayal: TREASON.

4. Stylish waves: PERMS.

5. Cad: HEEL. Cad is a shortening of cadet originally used of servants, then of town boys by students at British universities and public schools (though at Cambridge it meant "snob"). Meaning "person lacking in finer feelings". A heel is a "contemptible person," in U.S. underworld slang, originally "incompetent or worthless criminal," probably from a sense of "person in the lowest position."

6. "How peculiar": ODD.

7. Tishby of "The Island": NOA. Cute, but never heard of her...

8. Head M.D.?: ENT. Otolaryngology or ENT is the branch of medicine and surgery that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ear, nose, throat, and head and neck disorders. Practitioners are called otolaryngologists–head and neck surgeons, or sometimes otorhinolaryngologists (ORL).

9. Horse warming up, say: LOPER. I misread this clue as house instead of horse.

10. Bridge opener, briefly: ONE NO. Trump.

11. Take for a chump: USE.

12. Chemical bonding number: VALENCE. The numeric portion of the charge of an ion whether it is positive or negative.

13. Winning numbers: ELEVENS. Craps. (Thanks, melissa)

14. Flights that often span two days: RED EYES. Late night plane trips. Another misread, I kept seeing "fights" instead of flights.

20. LAX posting: ETA.

22. Chest ripple: PEC.torals. Trying to be fair, for the ladies.

23. Transform eerily, in sci-fi: MORPH. A smooth transition from one shape or face to another, SFX trickery.

24. __ to one's neck: IN UP.

25. Link with: TIE INTO.

26. Donald's second ex: MARLA. Trump, Maples. Not bad for 46...

28. Coming and going spots: Abbr.: STAS. Stations. Always have to wait for perps to see if the third letter will be A or N.

31. Carloads: SCADS.

32. Others, in Oaxaca: OTRAS. Spanish.

33. Proceeds: GOES.

35. Sharp competitor: SONY.

36. Hefner garb: PAJAMAS.

37. Work: OPERATE.

38. Unhappy home inspection find: TERMITE.

40. African plain: SAVANNA.

41. Like some film effects: OPTICAL.

42. Sorority letters: NUS. 13th letter of the Greek alphabet. We are the knights who say "ni" (as in onion).

44. Flow back: EBB.

47. "The Vampire Diaries" heroine Gilbert: ELENA. On the CW network, which I apparently don't watch much of... Another unknown to me.

48. Play places: YARDS. Wanted to get "stage" to be plural with only five letters.

49. Secondary strategy: PLAN B.

52. Chick chaser?: ADEE. Suffix: Chickadee.

54. Quarterback Dawson: LEN.

55. "Super!": FAB.

56. Actress Gasteyer: ANA. From Saturday Night Live.

57. Some Windows systems: NTS. This should have an obsolete tag on it... But without it I can't do my favorite (geeky) Microsoft joke. There is Windows CE for compact devices (WINCE, what you do when you have to work with it), Windows ME (Millenium Edition, now also obsolete), and Windows NT (New Technology, but commonly called "Nice Try") Put those all together and you get CE ME NT, as hard as a rock and as dumb as a brick.

58. Epitome of slipperiness: EEL.

Answer Grid.

Al

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 James Sajdak

Theme:   Welcome to LA-LA Land.  Or LA-LA-LA-LA, I can't hear you.  Or maybe it's L.A. LAW.  Sometimes it's hard to come up with a theme title.  Maybe I should have saved these for when I need them, but instead you get multiple choice today.  Both words of two-word theme answers begin with the letters "LA"  Hence the LA-LA, who was also a Teletubbie.

17A. Whip-cracking cowboy of old films : LASH LARUE.    I remember this guy from comic books. 

21A. Ethel, to Lucy : LAND LADY.   Lucy and Dezi rented a brownstone on E. 68th St. from Fred and Ethyl Mertz, played by William Frawly and Vivian Vance, who hated each other in real life.

35A. Sky blue : LAPIS LAZULI.   This is an intensely colored blue gem stone, or the ultramarine pigment extracted from it.  Also, a cloned daughter of Lazarus Long in Heinlein's epic novel, TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE.  I'm delighted to tell you my daughter is not my clone.

51A. Wax-filled illumination : LAVA LAMP.   The heat generated by the lamp bulb caused thermal currents in two viscous immiscible liquids, which would flow through and around each other. Since I remember the 60's, it's clear I did not experience them.

56A. Victor's chuckle : LAST LAUGH.  Indeed. He who laughs last, laughs best. 

And the unifier.  29 D . '80s-'90s legal drama, and this puzzle's title : L.A. LAW.  One more immensely popular T.V. show that I never watched. 

Hi, gang, Jazzbumpa here - your tour guide through LA-LA Land.  Let's set out and see what we can discover.

Across:

1. Beginning for the birds? : AVI.  A prefix indicating birds, or, more generally, flight, from the Latin avis = bird.

4. Shaq on the court : O'NEAL.  Needs no introduction.  OK. Famous basketball player.

9. Beat __ to one's door : A PATH.  This is what people are supposed to do if you invent a better mouse trap

14. Vietnam Veterans Memorial architect : LIN.  Maya LIN was a student at Yale when she designed the memorial.  It is very moving.

15. Ramadi resident : IRAQI.  Ramadi is the capital of Al Anbar province in central IRAQ.

16. Local cinemas, colloquially : NABES.  Derived from neighborhood.  News to me.

19. Weight room sound : GRUNT.  As in GRUNTS and groans from performing hard labor.

20. Venetian arch shape : OGEE.  An arch formed by two symmetric S-curves.  I like the looks of this one.  Also, "Oh, gee, Arch!" was occasionally GRUNTED by the Meathead.

23. Canyon-crossing transport : TRAMWAY.  You go on ahead.  I'll wait here.

26. Fridge raider : NOSHER.  To NOSH (v) is to have a NOSH (n) - a light meal or snack.  This comes to us from the German, by way of Yiddish.

28. Hong Kong harbor craft : SAMPAN.  This boat name is common across parts of Asia.  SAMPANS come in many designs.  

29. Field for the fold : LEA.  A grassy meadow where one may find sheep, cows, and increasingly common crossword fill.

31. Remote power sources? : AAA'S.  Can't fool me.  Batteries.

32. Thing to blow off : STEAM.  Blowing off steam is a tension release outlet for people who do not have access to trombones.

34. Sign before Scorpio : LIBRA.  Zodiac signs. The sign of  LIBRA (or perhaps Le Bra) is the symbol of balance.

38. Postgrad hurdle : ORALS.  ORAL examinations are part of the arduous trek to a PhD.  Post Docs are apprentice academic positions for recent PhD recipients. 

40. "Cosmos" host : SAGAN.  "Cosmos"  was a 13-part TV series, first aired on PBS in 1980.  It was all about  life, the universe, and everything.

41. Lotto relative : KENO.  I don't know a thing about it.

42. Assure, with "up" : SEW.  To SEW something  up, is to complete or control it, presumably without leaving any loose ends.

43. Titan is its largest moon : SATURN.  SATURN is the sixth planet of our system - the one with the rings and the red spot.  Though it is the largest one we have, it is only a tiny part of the cosmos.

48. Most foxy : SLYEST.  Easy fill, but not what I had in mind.

50. Landmass encompassing the Urals : EURASIA. This is the totality of Europe and Asia.  It's always been a mystery to me why this one big continent was considered to be two.

54. Bombast : RANT.  Interesting that bombast, meaning pretentious or inflated language comes from the Middle English word for cotton padding.  RANT is more of a tirade.  I don't see the equivalence.

55. Artist's topper : BERET. I'm not sure what sort of art this is.

59. Conductor Previn : ANDRE.  He was also a composer, and learned to passably play each orchestra instrument so he could write properly for them.  Mia Farrow was the 3rd of his five wives.  He was her 2nd husband. Beyond that, things get a bit dicey.

60. Came up : AROSE. 

61. Sargasso or Coral : SEA

62. Parks and others : ROSAS.  She also needs no introduction. OK.  Famous bus rider, and 60A near-sound-alike.

63. Zellweger of "Chicago" : RENEE.   I know, she's no K-Z-J.

64. Prince Valiant's son : ARN.  From the comic strip which has been going strong since 1937.  Aleta still looks marvelous. 

Down:

1. Doles out : ALLOTS.

2. Cialis competitor : VIAGRA.  You don't need the details.  One of my friends remarked: "I don't need it, but just knowing it's out there makes me feel better."

3. Tailor's measure : INSEAM.  Leg length from crotch to ankle. 

4. Van Gogh work : OIL.  Vincent's paintings were done in oil based paints.  I guess that makes this an oil on water.

5. Gun lobby org. : NRA.  National Rifle Association.  Guns don't kill you, bullets do.

6. Ahead of time : EARLY

7. Shade in the Caribbean : AQUA.  This refers to the color of the water, under the sunny LAPIS LAZULI sky.

8. Bank holding : LIEN.  Per Wikipedia, "a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation."  Ultimately from the Latin ligare, to bind.

9. Saxon start : ANGLO.   ANGLO-Saxons, the melding of Agles, Saxons, and Jutes (who get short shrift in the nomenclature,) tribes of Germanic peoples who migrated from western EURASIA to the British Islands starting in the 5th century, and became the English.  I'm not sure what they did to deserve it.

10. Chute above the beach : PARASAIL.  I was thinking along the lines of Chutes and ladders, not parachutes.

11. Persian Gulf emirate : ABU DHABI.  The capital and second largest city of the  United Arab Emirates.  The name means "Father of the Gazelle," and is fun to say.

12. Like some mortgages : TEN YEAR.  Many versions are available.  I guess a mortgage is a variety of LIEN

13. DDE predecessor : HST.  Harry S (for nothing) Truman, and Dwight David Eisenhower, U.S. Presidents.

18. Rope fiber : HEMP.  Hemp is the fiber of cannabis plants.  There's something about the 60's that I can't quite recall . . .

22. Paternity proof, briefly : DNA.  Deoxyribonucleaic acid.  Genetic material.

24. Mud nest builders : WASPS.  They come in many shapes, sizes, and colors.

25. Naysayer : ANTI.  Those who are against - aka "nattering nabobs of negativism" - William Safire.

27. It surrounds Lesotho: Abbr. : RSA.  Lesotho is a land-locked country, completely surrounded by The Republic of South Africa.

30. The Daily Beast, e.g. : E-MAG.  Electronic magazine.

33. To be, to Brutus : ESSE.  More Latin

34. Like the Islamic calendar : LUNAR.  Based on the periods of the moon, rather than the sun.  So is the Jewish calendar, I believe.

35. Refs' whistle holders : LANYARDS.  These are cords worn around the neck to carry something.

36. Natural burn balm : ALOE VERA.  Nice to see the whole plant.

37. Pitts of "The Gale Storm Show" : ZASU. The correct spelling is ZaSu, and pronunciation is "Say-Zoo."  She was a silent film actress who went on to vaudeville, talkies, radio, and TV.

38. Signs off on : OKS.  Gives the OK - approval - to something.

39. Chile __: stuffed Mexican dish : RELLENO.  Literally "stuffed chili."  Usually a mild poblano pepper stuffed with cheese or meat, then battered and deep fried.

42. N.L. team managed by Tony La Russa since 1996 : ST. L.  The St. Louis Cardinals

44. Scarlett's home : TARA.  The plantation from Gone With The Wind.

45. World Cup chant : USA! USA!  I'll bet there are others.

46. Horseshoes feat : RINGER.  This is a horseshoe that surrounds, or "rings" the stake.

47. Revolutionary Hale : NATHAN.  He was a volunteer for the Continental (American, not Eurasian) Army who was captured by the British and hanged.  He is famous for saying,  "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country." 

49. Fully fills : SATES.  

50. Hewlett-Packard rival : EPSON.  Printers.

52. Banned orchard spray : ALAR.  This was a plant growth enhancer, sprayed on fruit, primarily apples, to regulate size and color, and make harvesting easier.  It was used form 1963 until 1989, when it was voluntarily withdrawn from the market as the EPA was proposing a ban.

53. Full-grown filly : MARE.   Horse girl and lady.

55. Setting for many a joke : BAR.  Guy walks into a bar.  The bartender says, "Knock-knock . . ."

57. Taoist Lao-__ : TSE  He was the first Taoist philosopher.

58. Majors in acting : LEE.  Nice misdirection.  He played The Six Million Dollar Man on TV.

Answer grid.

Well, there you have.  A nice Wednesday puzzle, and a journey across space and time, around the planet, the solar system, and even the Cosmos.  There's more to LA-LA land than you thought.

Cheers!

JzB