Wednesday, April 20,, 2011 Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

 Theme - CLANDESTINE CLAN - each asterisked theme answer contains a hidden family member, spanning words, and stated familiarly.  (Good Lord, I just used "asterisk" as a verb.  Don't tell my daughter.) 

21 A. *Ages : FOREVER AND A DAY.  Or the 12th of Never perhaps.  That's a long long time.  DAD spans three words.  Hi Dr. Dad!

29  A. *Surgery prep area : SCRUB ROOM.  I read recently that doctors are more careless about hygiene than they should be, and neckties are horrible germ carriers.  Hence the need to scrub.  BRO is brother, of course.  I am one.

39 A. *"Aha!" : JUST AS I SUSPECTED.   Sometimes I get it right, but that might be by accident.  Wow.  SIS spans three words.  Makes BRO seem like a piker.  Well, my SIS is pretty industrious.

48 A. *Bout with very big contestants : SUMO MATCH.  Those SUMO wrestlers are big guys, aren't they.  We can let MOM get away with only spanning two words, 'cuz MOMs work hard all the time.

And the unifier --  59 A. Groundbreaking sitcom, and a hint to four different three-letter words concealed by starred answers : ALL IN THE FAMILY.  Archie, Edith, Gloria, and the Meat Head. 

Constructors' notes are at the end.  Full disclosure - I gleaned the theme title from the notes.  It's been a great few days for me, with the granddaughters' dance competition, performing with Wayne, and now getting inside this puzzle from the dynamic duo of Don and our own gracious hostess.  No walk in the park for me, but achievable with good Wednesday level effort, and lots of fun, to boot!

I'm quite proud of myself for detecting the theme and sussing the unifier before I saw it.  Finding nothing in common among the first three theme answers, I started probing for hidden words, and had an "aha!" moment when I found them.  Wonderful pattern with 5 theme entries, the center one spanning the special 16 x 15 grid, and just a Q and Z away from a pangram.

Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa.  I guess including Bumpa was too much to hope for, but Gloria, the lovely wife is implied in the unifier, and, ironically, I sneak in at 69A.  Well, the family's all here.  Let's stop in for a visit.

Across:

1. Berlin Olympics star : OWENS.  Jesse

6. Test sites : LABS.  Not N-tests.  Just LABoratories for more mundane experiments.  In one of my jobs we had a sign that said, "What we need in this laboratory is more labor and less oratory."  Everybody's a comedian.

10. Unexpected result : UPSET.  The Wings are up 3 games to none against whoever they're playing.  No UPSET there, except the other team's fans might be UPSET.

15. "The King's Speech" Oscar winner Firth : COLIN.  I like the scene in Bridget Jones's Diary where he beats up the other, even more annoying British guy.

16. Touched down : ALIT.  Landed, not scored a touchdown.

17. Pheasant ragout : SALMI.  Never heard of it.  But now that I know about it, I want some with a cold RYE BEER!

18. Far from fresh : TRITE.  Nothing trite about this puzzle.

19. Snack in a shell : TACO.  TACO means sandwich in Spanish.   Once, in Mexicali, I ordered a Jamon con Queso Taco, and got a ham and cheese on white bread.  It was an unexpected result, but I wasn't UPSET.  There might have been a Dos Equis in the mix somewhere. 

20. Garden figure : GNOME.  Little bearded statues that protect gardens from the evils of black magic

24. Spelling on screen : TORI.  I believe she's famous for being well known, though I might have that backwards.

25. Old Olds creation : REO.  The initials of Ransom Eli Olds who gave us the REO Speedwagon, and much later your father's Oldsmobile.

26. Minnesota twins? : EN'S.  There are two letters "N" side by side in Minnesota.  What's round on both ends and hi in the middle?

27. Buff : FAN.  Aha!  Like a  film buff, frex.  Not JUST AS I SUSPECTED.  I put in FIT, because NAKED wouldn't FIT.

33. Glob suffix : ULE.  A GLOBULE is something smallish and roundish.

34. Mack Sennett lawman : KOP.  Keystone KOPs from old comedy.  Seems like they never got their man.

35. Hard-twisted cotton thread : LISLE.   The manufacturing process burns off lint and fiber ends.  This  leaves a smooth finish.  Hmmm.  So does Lagavulin.

45. "Really __ ...": "Tears of a Clown" lyric : I'M SAD.  No. 1 hit for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles.

46. __ tai : MAI.  A MAI tai is concoction of rum and fruit juice.  Does it have a smooth finish?

 47. Form 1040 calc. : AGI.  Adjusted Gross Income.  The sum of income from all sources, less certain specified deductions.  An intermediate number in your tax calculation.

53. Droid : BOT.  Two abbreviated words that have become accepted as stand-alones, derived from android and robot, respectively, both meaning mechanical humanoids.

54. Go on and on : YAK.  Talking or playing.  It can be a bit Kopish, capiche?

56. Prefix with moron : OXY.  An oxymoron is a self-contradictory expression, like "jumbo shrimp" or "tasteful trombonist."

57. He succeeded Boutros : KOFI. U.N. Secretaries General KOFI Annan and Boutros Boutros Ghali -- golly!

64. Arab big shot : SHEIK.  This word is properly pronounced "shake."

65. Sleek, in car talk : AERO.  AS in AEROdynamic.

66. Live : EXIST

68. Like the Vikings : NORSE.  They came from the north, in ships.

69. Fairway club : IRON.  Tiger has a rough time, since he does not always use his wood in a fair way.  Ironically, I, RON, would never do such a thing.

70. Religious practices : RITES.

71. Led Zeppelin's "Whole __ Love" : LOTTA.  This calls for a link.

72. At sea : LOST.  Nice not to see ASEA in the grid.

73. Foam opener : STYRO.  STYROfoam is expanded polystyrene.

Down:

1. Fall mo. : OCT.  October.  Abrv in cl. & ans.

2. Klingon officer in the "Star Trek" franchise : WORF.  Lovely, uh -- man.

3. "The Untouchables" co-author, 1957 : ELIOT NESS.  I used to watch the TV show, and never had any idea NESS wrote the book.

4. Powerful liquid, for short : NITRO.  NITROglycrine for long, or 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane for even longer. It's explosive stuff.  Handle with care.

5. Derisive looks : SNEERS.  See 51 D.

6. Incurring a fine, maybe : LATE.  At the library, perhaps.  Been there, done that.

7. Banned apple spray : ALAR.  We don't see this old crossword stalwart much any more.  It's N-(dimethylamino)succinamic acid for long.

8. Antacid choice, briefly : BICARB.  Sodium Bicarbonate, less briefly. 

9. He who is without sin? : STONER.  Let the one without guilt cast the first stone.  I don't think anybody qualified.  By odd coincidence, the word "sin" in Spanish means "without."  By odder coincidence most STONERS were actually sinners.  I'm taking this on faith.

10. Links gp. : USGA.  The United States Golf Association, a bunch of good sports.  They have links, so I don't need to include one.

11. Prevalent all over : PANDEMIC.  Here, the word is an adjective, meaning widespread or general. As a noun, it means a PANDEMIC disease.

12. Memorial __-Kettering: NYC hospital : SLOAN.  This is a cancer center in NY City.

13. Tube awards : EMMYS

14. Draw : TIE.  An even-score result at the end of the game, not something TIED with a drawstring.

22. VapoRub maker : VICKS.  This brings back awful childhood memories . . .

23. Durante's "Inka Dinka __" : DOO.  This doo call for a link.

27. Japan's highest mountain : FUJI.  Is it true there's a film on it?

28. Grad : ALUM.  Graduate and ALUMnus, for long.

30. Reine's spouse : ROI  Queen and King in French.

31. FedEx rival : U P S  United Parcel Service.

32. Bullring shout : OLE!

36. Balance : STABILITY.  Not falling down.   Here is an example, from right in the family.

37. Kids' block : LEGO.  You can make anything with them. Leggo my LEGO.

38. Do some cutting : EDIT.  Remove all those superfluous, unnecessary extra words that actually give to  a probably already too-long sentence even more gratuitous expanse, for no good reason.

40. It usually includes crossed-off items : TASK LIST.  I put in TO DO LIST, which caused me some grief.

41. Soccer star Freddy : ADU.  Sorry.  Don't follow soccer.

42. Thurman of "Kill Bill" : UMA.  A very demur lady.

43. Used a stool : SAT

44. "__ card, any card" : PICK A.  Magician's come-on.

49. Many a Fed. holiday : MON.  Monday is the day of choice, since it gives a long week end.

50. Beefy stew ingredient : OX TAIL.  Never tried it.  Maybe with a RYE BEER . 

51. "You saved me!" : MY HERO.  Reminds me of Dudley Do Right.

52. Big hits : HOMERS.  Home runs from base ball.

54. Shout of delight : YAHOO!

55. All ears : ALERT.  Tell me more.

58. Handy "Mr." : FIXIT.  Steroetypical name for a handy man is Mr. FIXIT.

60. Swedish furniture chain : IKEA.  Amanda loves this place.

61. Mythical archer : EROS.  One of the Greek Deities. God, I love this guy!

62. Type type : FONT.  Great repetitive clue.  This font is called Georgia, BTW

63. River of Flanders : YSER

64. NBC hit since '75 : SNL.  Saturday Night Live, long running show and long-time crossword stalwart.

67. Chicken general? : TSO.  I've still never had General TSO's chicken.  Though I have had the Colonel's.  I guess I struck out on today's culinary offerings.

Answer grid.

Well, I enjoyed our visit, but now it's bed time.  Y'all come back right soon, now, capiche?

Jazzbumpa

Notes from C.C. and Don:

This puzzle was also accepted last November. The idea came to me when listening to an interview about clandestine operations. I thought of having clan or kin or other synonyms embedded in front of phrases with a unifier ALL IN THE FAMILY or IT'S ALL RELATIVE, but couldn't work out a coherent theme set. Don wisely guided us to where the theme sits today.

We chose the 16-letter JUST AS I SUSPECTED as center fill because it's a lively phrase and the embed SIS mirrors the DAD span, hence a special 16*15 grid. It's challenging and fun to span key words (all limited to 3 letters) in the middle rather than embed them in front or at the end. We hope you like our work.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011 John Lampkin

Theme: Home Bodies - Five animals from across the land who have where they are found as part of their name. (Like Broadway Joe?)

(There is a constructor's note at the end.)

18. Grassland burrower : PRAIRIE DOG

23. Mojave lizard : DESERT IGUANA

37. Flippered ocean critter : SEA LION

51. Sure-footed Rockies denizen : MOUNTAIN GOAT

60. Playful swimmer : RIVER OTTER

Argyle here. Click on the name to get an image. Not much to say. Good continuation of the week.

Across:

1. Chase, as a fly : SHAG. As a fly ball, not the insect.

5. Comme ci, comme ça : SO-SO. French phrase meaning, literally, “like this, like that.”

9. Whaler's rear end : STERN. Har, that would be the back end of the boat.

14. "__ Fly With Me": Sinatra standard : COME. Clip(3:21)

15. Swan's "Swan Lake" wear : TUTU

16. Hawk's home : AERIE. No TUTU wearing hawks.

17. Boo-boo, in tot talk : OWIE. Crossword 2D. Canadian comic Mandel : HOWIE

20. "Hungarian Rhapsodies" composer Franz : LISZT

22. "My __!" : GOODNESS

26. Boulevard, e.g. : ROAD

27. Comical Coca : IMOGENE. Classic clip(1:11) with Sid Caesar.

31. "You betcha!" : "YES SIREE!"

35. Bad doings : EVIL

36. Soft drink suffix : ADE

41. Jack Horner's last words : "...AM I". Nursery rhyme.

42. Zoom or macro : LENS

44. Orange-and-black-winged butterflies : MONARCHS. See John's link at the bottom.

46. Dangles a carrot in front of : ENTICES. For such a common phrase, this is the only photo I could find of an actual occurrence.

50. Jay with jokes : LENO

56. Prayer set to music by Schubert and Gounod : AVE MARIA. Here is the search results from YouTube. Pick your own version to hear.

59. 1945 conference site : YALTA. Yalta is a city in Crimea, southern Ukraine, on the north coast of the Black Sea. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and General Secretary Joseph Stalin discussed Europe's post-war reorganization. It had been preceded by the Tehran Conference in 1943. We had something about that recently.

63. Object of worship : IDOL

64. Some '80s Chryslers : K-CARS

65. Crescent's tip : CUSP

66. It flows through Egypt : NILE

67. Feel intuitively : SENSE

68. AMA concerns : HMOs

69. Slippery fish : EELs

Down:

1. Chew out : SCOLD

3. Not quite right : AMISS

4. Old coots : GEEZERS. Old coots following a miss?

5. "The Racer's Edge" : STP

6. "... __ daily bread" : OUR. From the Lord's Prayer.

7. College football immortal Amos Alonzo __ : STAGG. Stagg played football as an end at Yale University. 30D. "Boola Boola" singers : ELIs. 31. "Boola Boola" university : YALE

8. "Yes, yes, Fifi" : "OUI, OUI". French, French.

9. Verbally refused : SAID NO

10. Like most adolescents : TEENAGE

11. Earth, in Germany : ERDE

12. 60-Across habitats, to José : RIOs

13. Strips in a photo lab : NEGs

19. Wander : ROAM

21. Cinq moins deux : TROIS. French, French, French (5-2=3)

24. Container weight : TARE

25. Gray matter creation : IDEA

28. Flood emergency op : EVAC. the Emergency Volunteer Air Corps organizes general aviation pilots, amateur radio volunteers, and others to be of assistance during disaster.

29. Gp. that funds psychiatric drug testing : NIMH. National Institute of Mental Health.

32. Paradise : EDEN

33. Email status : SENT

34. "Slippery" tree : ELM. There are approximately 30 to 40 species of elm. Slippery elm is useful as a natural herb.

38. Kansas city : IOLA. As of the census of 2000, there were 6,302 people. As of the census of 2000, there were 32,170 people in Natick, MA.

39. R.E.M.'s "The __ Love" : ONE I

40. Au pair : NANNY

43. Almost boils : SIMMERS

45. Hair-raising product? : ROGAINE

47. Like some sandpaper : COARSE

48. Continental coin : EURO

49. Tattletale : SNITCH

52. "Paper Moon" Oscar winner O'Neal : TATUM

53. Nostalgic record : OLDIE

54. Ring-shaped reef : ATOLL

55. Fairy stories : TALES

56. Torah holders : ARKS

57. Smoking or drinking, some say : VICE

58. "__ Almighty": 2007 film : EVAN. Starring Steve Carell, Morgan Freeman, Lauren Graham.

61. That, in Toledo : ESO. Spanish

62. Fast-spinning meas. : RPS. Revolutions Per Second, when it's too fast for RPM.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Constructor's Note:

This puzzle is a direct response to Scott Atkinson's fun LAT offering of Monday, 6/28/2010 where he used a "double animal name" theme with TIGER SHARK, ELEPHANT SEAL, SPIDER MONKEY, and TURTLE DOVE. After saluting Scott and kicking myself for not thinking of it first, I realized I could raise the stakes a notch by getting three layers in there: a critter, it's habitat, and it's characteristic behavior. Some fun!

Oddly, I've never photographed any of these species, but I do have a nice image of a pair of mating MONARCHS. [pic attached]. For those of you contemplating trying this at home, do not, I repeat, do not attempt this in a hammock.

Best to you all,

John Lampkin (http://www.johnlampkin.com/)

Monday, April 18, 2011 Gail Grabowski

Theme: Plug it in - The four longest entries end in synonyms for electrical energy.

17A. Mott's product : APPLE JUICE

55A. Gust of wind, e.g. : AIR CURRENT

10D. Nightclub minimum : COVER CHARGE

24D. '60s-'70s passive resistance slogan : FLOWER POWER

Argyle here. Not much to say. Good start to the week.

Across:

1. Key in : ENTER

6. The thing over there : THAT

10. Stalactite site : CAVE. Illustration.

14. Sticky : GOOEY

15. Get a new mortgage for, briefly : REFI. Refinance .

16. Opinion piece, for short : OP-ED. (I didn't know this.) An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page (though often mistaken for opinion-editorial), is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board. These are different from editorials, which are usually unsigned and written by editorial board members.

19. Tear up, as a check : VOID

20. __ Moines : DES. Iowa.

21. Transvaal settler : BOER. Map of current area. Note: Position of Lesotho also shown.

22. With all one's heart : DEEPLY

24. What daredevils seem to lack : FEAR

25. Place to fish from : PIER

26. Wore an upside-down frown : SMILED

29. Rail chemical carriers : TANK CARS. It seems last time, some people needed a picture.

33. Burgundy, for one : COLOR. Derives its name from wine made in Burgundy, a duchy in France.

34. Pitched shelter : TENT

35. Dickens's Uriah : HEEP. From his novel "David Copperfield".

36. State purposefully : AVOW

37. Latin ballroom dance : TANGO

38. Mythological ship : ARGO

39. Hop out of bed : RISE

40. Whizzes : ACES

41. Monastery member : FRIAR

42. Fix : SET RIGHT

44. University officer : REGENT

45. Greenhouse containers : POTS

46. Constructed : MADE

47. It starts after the overture : ACT ONE

50. Newspaper unit : PAGE

51. Captain's "I need help ASAP!" : SOS

54. Extinguish, with "out" : BLOW

58. Hamster's home : CAGE

59. Drop anchor : MOOR

60. Counters with beads : ABACI. Plural of abacus.

61. Train for a bout : SPAR

62. Japanese wrestling : SUMO

63. Water bottle capacity : LITER

Down:

1. Antiquated exclamation : "EGAD!"

2. "Don't think so" : "NOPE"

3. Does better than : TOPS

4. Sinuous swimmer : EEL

5. Microbrewery offering : RYE BEER. Schremser Rye Beer is a product of the Lower Austrian private brewery Karl Theodor Trojan in Schrems.

6. More loyal : TRUER

7. Estate beneficiary : HEIR

8. Org. with Raiders and Steelers : AFC. American Football Conference.

9. Was linked with : TIED INTO

11. Each : A POP

12. Bridal accessory : VEIL

13. Rapids phenomenon : EDDY

18. "The Grapes of Wrath" family name : JOAD. From the 1939 novel by John Steinbeck.

23. "A spider!" : "EEK!"

25. Dieter's feelings of distress : PANGS

26. Marks for life : SCARS

27. Studio production : MOVIE

28. Gambler's words of lament : "I LOST!"

29. Church belief : TENET

30. High-altitude nest : AERIE

31. Cordelia's sister : REGAN. King Lear's three daughters are: Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. (Shakespeare.)

32. Golf or tennis : SPORT

34. RPM gauges : TACHS. To tell how many Revolutions Per Minute a motor is turning.

37. Wrestling duos : TAG TEAMS

41. Part of FBI : FEDERAL

43. Physics particle : ION

44. Old World Style pasta sauce brand : RAGU

46. Computer user's shortcut : MACRO. I may use it but it takes a programmer to really understand it. MACRO instruction: A single computer instruction that initiates a set of instructions to perform a specific task.

47. Elementary lessons : ABCs

48. Applaud : CLAP

49. Old Roman wrap : TOGA

50. Seniors often take limos to it : PROM

51. Bench, for one : SEAT

52. It's often enough : ONCE

53. Instigate, with "up" : STIR

56. Debtor's letters : IOU

57. Hitter's stat : RBI

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few stunning photos from JD's recent Safari trip. Unfortunately I could only afford a limited time for photo uploading/editing. Hopefully JD can work out a link to her Shutterfly album so you can see more of her adventures.

Dan Naddor LAT Puzzle Summary

This is it. Audiovisual Aids is our final puzzle from Dan Naddor. 

Dan started constructing in the summer of 2006. He had total 158 puzzles published by the LA Times, 37 of which were given to us after he passed away in Dec 2009. Dan also had 4 puzzles published by the NY Times. He also contributed to The Crosswords Club.

Rich Norris, editor for the LA Times Daily Crossword & The Crosswords Club, has kindly provided us the below list of all puzzles Dan constructed, with dates, theme type & the theme.

Argyle broke down the total 158 puzzles to (Thanks for catching the missing one from Cruciverb, Al):

Monday 4

Tuesday 11

Wednesday 36

Thursday 37

Friday 49

Saturday 1 (It's a themed 4th of July puzzle)

Sunday  20

76 of the above puzzles were covered in this blog.

Dan was talented, hard-working & passionate about crossword construction. He knew what he wanted and he did it his way, always squishing in more theme entries. He's not afraid to defend himself when he's wronged, and he's not afraid to apologize when he's wrong, as we have witnessed a few times on the blog. In Dennis' word, a very stand-up guy.

I feel lucky to know him a bit via his puzzles.

C.C.

Stats from Rich:

Sunday puzzles:

2/18/2007 SUN wordplay Idiotic Idioms

7/1/2007 SUN anagrams Home Remodeling

12/2/2007 SUN wordplay An Ical for your thoughts

1/13/2008 SUN wordplay contrived phrases with four consecutive bigrams: did idi divide ugandans, etc.

3/2/2008 SUN trigram drop ITY

5/25/2008 SUN related names California Pros

7/13/2008 SUN sound change Chuck Schwa

10/12/2008 SUN sound change thr -> fr "On Finn Ice"

11/23/2008 SUN wordplay Not more of the same

1/4/2009 SUN sound change "-ed" to T

2/1/2009 SUN embedded words Buried Treasure

2/22/2009 SUN special Star search

4/19/2009 SUN trigram add TOP - Put a Lid on It

8/30/2009 SUN letter add Organ Transplants

10/11/2009 SUN sound change Why Yes -- added Y sound

12/6/2009 SUN embedded word Subliminal Messages

1/3/2010 SUN bigram add LI - "51 Pickup"

2/7/2010 SUN trigram add SUB - "Hero's Welcome"

4/4/2010 SUN bigram add DL - "Sidelined"

4/17/2011 SUN bigram add AV - Audiovisual Aids

Weekday puzzles:

10/11/2006 synonyms Baloney

10/26/2006 word after out of

1/3/2007 repeated clue MAJORS

1/25/2007 word before guard

2/28/2007 related expressions hot dog toppings

3/14/2007 repeated clue DRIVE

4/2/2007 special baseball

4/18/2007 rhyme escher

4/27/2007 puns state names

5/8/2007 word after shot(s)

5/23/2007 word before keepers

6/1/2007 wordplay reversals

6/7/2007 related expressions two-letter alpha lead-in

6/20/2007 ending initial

7/19/2007 word after pay

8/2/2007 same clue PRESS

8/17/2007 puns elmer fudd

8/30/2007 special cross country - geographical puzzle

9/13/2007 repeated clue hang tough

9/26/2007 word before weight

10/12/2007 wordplay literal placement of idiom

11/2/2007 bigram drop SC

11/14/2007 wordplay contiguous opposites

11/23/2007 same clue beats around the bush - graphically in puzzle (THE BUSH in center, answers to BEAT clues surrounding it)

12/11/2007 related expressions banking

12/21/2007 puns metal

1/2/2008 homonyms saks

1/18/2008 letter add SS -> SSS

1/30/2008 related expressions current events

2/8/2008 letter add O -> OO

2/20/2008 letter sequence II in phrases

3/7/2008 embedded words Wheres the beef

3/18/2008 sequence eighth, quarter, half, whole

3/27/2008 word before BOARD - both parts of answer

4/4/2008 letter sub IA for AI

4/17/2008 unique compass pt. puzzle

4/28/2008 initials J and B

5/8/2008 related names fictional bird names

5/21/2008 same clue euphoric

6/5/2008 synonyms leave

6/13/2008 wordplay name addition

6/19/2008 homonyms mayne

6/27/2008 puns monkey / ape

7/9/2008 homonyms thai, ty, tae, tai, tie

7/23/2008 related expressions animal coverings

8/1/2008 bigram add OB

8/8/2008 trigram drop ENT

8/22/2008 puns film mickelson

9/3/2008 word before service

9/11/2008 sequence aeiou in phrases

9/19/2008 against the grain

9/26/2008 puns clothes

10/8/2008 word before MAN - superheroes (Dan and Mike Naddor)

10/23/2008 synonyms

10/30/2008 related expressions RR crossings

11/7/2008 sound change p to b

11/13/2008 word before dollar - with $ sign in grid

11/20/2008 puns oo endings

12/3/2008 sequence w/ wordplay first second third last

12/11/2008 punchline entry what's the damage

12/19/2008 wordplay truncated it's

12/30/2008 sequence

1/9/2009 special Battleship puzzle

1/15/2009 related names cities ending in EE

1/23/2009 sound change the -> DE

2/13/2009 letter add R becomes RR

2/27/2009 bigram add AR

3/5/2009 hidden word insect

3/13/2009 bigram add UM

3/24/2009 wordplay reverse cities

4/2/2009 homonym in clues pauly, pauley, paulie, polly, poly

4/15/2009 same word ending ough - all different pronunciations

4/23/2009 hidden word bean salad

4/30/2009 wordplay word + ATE = homonym

5/8/2009 bigram drop EY from key words

5/18/2009 initials R and B (foods)

5/29/2009 letter sub I to U

6/4/2009 synonyms flops, duds, bombs, etc.

6/18/2009 related expressions two X's in each theme answer (Dos Equis)

6/26/2009 sound change ed -> eld

7/4/2009 special July 4th "themeless" style

7/9/2009 related expressions brokerese

7/17/2009 letter sub DD for TT

7/23/2009 repeated clue Take 6

7/31/2009 sound change SK to X

8/6/2009 synonyms palling around

8/14/2009 trigram drop no WAY

8/21/2009 letter add N + N

8/26/2009 related expressions court business

9/11/2009 word substitution two for one

9/17/2009 word after table

9/22/2009 rhyme / homonyms russell, mussel, muscle, rustle

9/29/2009 related expressions food combos

10/9/2009 bigram add GO

10/16/2009 letter sub V for W

10/22/2009 rhyme--different spelling

10/30/2009 letter drop Q (sound)

11/4/2009 anagrams inlets

11/13/2009 letter add R to make ER

11/18/2009 word before bar patrons

11/27/2009 puns medieval

12/10/2009 synonyms phenomenal

12/18/2009 bigram add RY

12/25/2009 trigram add ANCE

12/30/2009 bigram repeat PH - two in each answer

1/8/2010 letter sub MM to MP

1/13/2010 word before defense

1/19/2010 related names nicknames

1/26/2010 word before San (cities)

2/3/2010 hidden word jabber - synonyms start phrases

2/19/2010 trigram drop AGE - phonetically

3/4/2010 word chain

3/19/2010 puns German

4/16/2010 trigram drop TLE

4/28/2010 wordplay dishes

5/10/2010 related expressions names with J

5/26/2010 word after world - WORLD LEADER

6/10/2010 related words silent letters begin

6/23/2010 letter pattern esses

7/8/2010 word after shoot the

7/21/2010 synonyms fast

8/5/2010 synonyms arrest

8/18/2010 synonyms changers

9/2/2010 palindromes

9/14/2010 related expressions meds

9/29/2010 split word stock

10/13/2010 sequence wealth

10/27/2010 related things tools

11/12/2010 letter add U

11/23/2010 related words two word -ique -ique phrases

12/8/2010 synonyms midgets

12/22/2010 word before panel

1/14/2011 letter drop K from CK

1/27/2011 word before grudge (Dan Naddor & Doug Peterson)

2/18/2011 pun presidents

3/2/2011 unique one syllable words, nine letters

3/18/2011 trigram drop ing

4/1/2011 special backwards theme for April 1, 2011

Sunday April 17, 2011 Dan Naddor

Theme: Audiovisual Aids - Letters AV are inserted into common phrases.

24A. Salon tool for recalcitrant customers? : STYLING GAVEL. Styling gel.

30A. Not the best purple flower? : SUBPRIME LAVENDER. Subprime lender.

45A. Where the experts hang out? : MAVENS' ROOM. Men's room.

64A. Colorado brewer's rodent mascot? : COORS BEAVER. Coors beer.

77A. Culinary product of a French-Italian region? : SAVOY SAUCE. Soy sauce.

97A. Group that ruins commercials? : AD HAVOC COMMITTEE. Ad hoc committee.

104A. Bad news about a tooth? : TWIN CAVITIES. Twin cities.

15D. Prefer Hitchcock's Bodega Bay classic to his other films? : FAVOR THE BIRDS. For the birds.

52D. Cryptologist's rant? : DECODER RAVING. Decoder ring.

This is Dan's favorite theme type, adding/deleting/substituting letters. If you look at Rich's stats, lots of his Friday & Sunday puzzles have such gimmick.

The grid has 68 blocks (We had 84 last Sunday) and only 134 words. Comparatively low. Dan mentioned his target was shooting for low word count. Quite a few nice long entries, but also a number of abbreviations. V is a tough letter to maneuver. 

Across:

1. "This __ fine mess you've gotten us into, Ollie!" : IS A. Easy start.

4. Clean the deck : MOP

7. Military team : CORPS

12. Office teams : STAFFS. Staff can be pluralized, Dennis?

18. Three-time all-star closer Robb : NEN. Here he is. Not many famous people are named NEN, or ROBB.

19. Mandlikova of tennis : HANA. Stranger to me.

20. Blocker in a TV : V-CHIP

21. Note in a B major scale : A-SHARP

22. Hunter attachment? : GATHERER. Hunter-gatherer.

26. Tony winner for her Daisy Mae portrayal in "Li'l Abner" (1956) : EDIE ADAMS. Faintly recall her name.

28. Baroque dance : MINUET

29. Suffix with malt : OSE. Sugar suffix.

33. "Artaxerxes" composer : ARNE (Thomas). I only know his "Rule, Britannia".

34. Statistical hypothesis trial : T TEST. What does T stand for?

35. Word before old, and after it : SAME. Same old same old.

36. Web address letters : GOV

37. Illinois city, site of the last Lincoln-Douglas debate : ALTON. Outside my knowledge zone.

38. M.O. : SYS

39. Birch leaf eater : LUNA MOTH. John Lampkin style picture.

43. Algiers citadel : CASBAH

47. Corrida hero : TORERO

50. Like fifth and sixth : ORDINAL. I actually drew a blank. I can be incredibly dumb.

53. "Mad About You" co-star : REISER (Paul)

56. Golfer Crenshaw : BEN. Smooth putting stroke.

57. Answer skillfully : FIELD

58. Sault __ Marie : STE

61. Boss's address? : E STREET. The E Street Band. Bruce Springsteen The Boss.

62. Give-go link : IT A

63. Pawn : HOCK

66. Cheater's device : CRIB

67. Ike's arena: Abbr. : ETO (European Theater of Operation)

68. Was allowed to pay later : RAN A TAB

69. D-Day craft : LST (Landing Ship Tank)

70. Military chaplain : PADRE

71. Directed : LED

72. Brew made in Zoeterwoude : AMSTEL. Named after the Amstel River. I've never heard of the plant site Zoeterwoude.

73. Super Bowl party centerpiece, briefly : HD TV SET. Clusters of consonants.

75. Short fall? : PRECIP. "Short" indicates "shortened form". Good clue.

82. Semicircular antenna housing : RADOME (Radar Dome)

85. See 46-Down : DETECTOR. And 46D. With 85-Across, beachcomber's device : METAL.

86. "I'm impressed!" : WOW

89. Natasha's partner in crime : BORIS

91. "Rhoda" production co. : MTM. Stands for Mary Tyler Moore.

93. Highly caloric : RICH

94. Former "Today" medical expert Art __ : ULENE. No idea.

96. Abba of Israel : EBAN

101. Ohio, e.g.: Abbr. : RIV. OK, river.

102. Enjoys doing : IS INTO

103. Russian Orthodox ruling body : HOLY SYNOD. Nice to know.

108. Rhinestone piano player : LIBERACE

109. Sent to the gallows : HANGED

110. String quartet member : CELLO

111. Get an __ effort : E FOR

112. What's expected : PAR. But birdie is always better.

113. Wool variety : ANGORA

114. Dispatched, as a dragon : SLAIN. Dispatch = Kill.

115. "L.A. Law" actress : DEY (Susan).

116. The orig. 13, e.g. : STs (States)

Down:

1. Eats : INGESTS

2. Naval assignment : SEA DUTY. Any comment, Spitzboov?

3. Côte d'Azur resort : ANTIBES. No idea. A seaport south of Nice.

4. __ Gras : MARDI

5. Wee hr. : ONE AM

6. Pasta topper : PARMESAN

7. Walgreens rival : CVS. I like former.

8. Columbus Day mo. : OCT

9. Run, for one? : RHYME. Run and one rhyme. Good clue.

10. Pier support : PILING

11. PR specialist : SPIN DOC. I've never seen "Spin doctor" abbreviated this way.

12. More judicious : SAGER

13. USAF E-6 : TSGT. Military rank always gives me headache.

14. "Now I understand!" : AHA

16. City in California's Central Valley : FRESNO. And 19. California's Central Valley, e.g. : HEARTLAND.

17. Ill humor : SPLEEN

23. Marching words : HEPS. Marching cadence.

25. New, in Nicaragua : NUEVA

27. Poetry competitions : SLAMs. Stumped me last time.

31. Love, to Virgil : AMOR

32. Turn down : VETO

33. Old orchard spray : ALAR

37. Keep from ending normally : ABORT

40. Sch. founded by Jefferson : UVA (University of Virginia)

41. Wrestling holds : NELSONS

42. Trigger, for one : HORSE. Trigger was Roy Roger's horse.

44. Take the tiller : STEER

45. "Got __?" : MILK

48. Hang it up, so to speak : RETIRE

49. Even if challenged : ON A BET. Did you get it immediately?

50. Be __: assist : OF HELP

51. Mob member : RIOTER

54. Journalist Kupcinet and sportscaster Cross : IRVs

55. "I told you, didn't I?!" : SEE THAT? I like the clue.

59. Precisely : TO A T. Tricky to parse.

60. Some Deco collectibles : ERTEs

61. Fall back : EBB

64. __ santo: Spanish graveyard : CAMPO. Learning moment for me.

65. Light lunch : SALAD

66. Spelunker's spot : CAVE

68. Police operations : RAIDS

70. Recently discontinued retro Chrysler : PT CRUISER. Crazy 4-consonant start.

74. Pair : DUO

76. Number one son? : CAIN. We've seen similar "First lady' for EVE gimmick before.

78. __ Beach, Florida : VERO

79. Neur- ending : OTIC

80. "Ick factor 10!" : YECCH

81. Taught : SCHOOLED

83. MCCLII doubled : MMDIV. 1,250*2=2,504.

84. Ones with a common heritage : ETHNICS

86. Wings eaters' needs : WET NAPS

87. Sandlot game : ONE O' CAT. Kind of baseball game?

88. Garden tools : WEEDERS

89. Krupp with a howitzer named for her : BERTHA. Wow, I never know this origin.

90. Luke's mentor : OBIWAN. "Star Wars".

92. Magic 8 Ball maker : MATTEL

95. Interstellar dist. : LT-YR (Light-year)

97. Carne __: Mexican dish : ASADA

98. "Presto!" cousin : VOILA

99. MGM Resorts casino loyalty program : M LIFE. Nope. No idea. What does M stand for?

100. "Lad ..." : MY BOY. Cute clue.

102. "Congratulations" writer, maybe : ICER

105. "Stop-__": UGK hit : 'N-GO. First encounter with the hip hop duo UGK (Underground Kingz). Rappers drive me crazy with their free spelling.

106. Yalie : ELI

107. Michael, to Kirk : SON. Michael Douglas has been through a lot.

Answer grid.

Thanks for the entertainment, Dan. To quote your buddy Jerome, "Great puzzle, Duck!".

C.C.

Saturday April 16, 2011 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 30

This puzzle is anchored by a grid-spanning 15 crossed by two 10s:

35A. Summertime response to a wave? : HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? Heat wave.

5D. Puts up gates, say : BABY-PROOFS. I was picturing real gates.

30D. Menacingly complex, as a bureaucracy : KAFKAESQUE. As typified by the works of Franz Kafka.

Today is a good example of how it's the cluing and not obscure words that made a late-week puzzle tough:

14A. Eugene O'Neill character? : CAPITAL O. The O in his name O'Neill. Not any play character.

50D. 2009 U.S. Open champ Glover : LUCAS. "Star Wars" director George would be too easy a clue. Here is our champion Lucas Glover. Ricky Barnes collapsed in the final round.

Lively fill abound in the grid.

Across:

1. Turned to a life of crime : GONE BAD. Figured the end had to be ED. Oops!

8. Become absorbed : OSMOSE. I wanted ENRAPT, which is an adj. Dummy!

15. Scorched : SEARED

16. Order in a preschool classroom : ALPHABET. Of course, I was in the verb "order" line of thinking.

17. NFL coach with the most career postseason wins : LANDRY (Tom). No idea. Longtime Cowboys coach.

18. Grant, for one : LOU. Wanted CIC again, thinking of President Grant.

19. Half of the UAR : SYR. UAR is a union of Syria and Egypt.

20. Surname of 15th/16th-century Pope Alexander VI : BORGIA. Wow, who knows?!

21. Physics units : ERGS. Work units.

23. Not flush : POOR. What kind of flush do you have in mind? Poker? Alignment?

25. Is wistful (for) : LONGS

27. 1959 winner of a record 11 Oscars : BEN-HUR. Brad knows everything about Oscar.

29. Debauchee : RAKE. So is ROUE.

31. In imitation of : A LA

32. Kinsey Institute Library collection : EROTICA. Where is it?

34. Negligible amount : DRIB. Not IOTA.

39. Skeptic's retort : I BET

40. Searched, in a way : FRISKED

41. Six-time Sugar Bowl victors, briefly : LSU. Six-time, is it a record?

42. Literary ID : ISBN

43. Lineups : ARRAYS

47. Preeminent industrialist : TITAN. Would you call Donald Trump a titan?

49. Guernsey, for one : ISLE

51. Citation space-saver : ET AL

52. Sidestepped : DODGED

54. "Royal Pains" network : USA. I've never heard of "Royal Pains".

56. It had a hub at JFK : TWA. Guessed.

57. Took umbrage at : MINDED

58. Familiarize : ACQUAINT

60. Cocktail flavored with orgeat syrup : MAI TAI. Not familiar with the syrup. Wiki says orgreat derived from the Latin hordeata, meaning "made with barley".

61. "Viaducts Break Ranks" painter : PAUL KLEE. Here's the painting. Very abstract.

62. Extra number : ENCORE. Oh, musical number.

63. 6-Down, nowadays : USED CAR. And 6D. Olds introduced in '98 : ALERO.

Down:

1. In abundance : GALORE

2. Call into question : OPPUGN. New word to me.

3. Biomedical research agcy. : NIH

4. Itinerary nos. : ETAs. ETA = Estimated Time of Arrival.

7. Bespeckle : DOT

8. City with the newspaper Aftenposten : OSLO. First encounter with the newspaper.

9. Ambien maker : SEARLE. Also the maker of Celebrex. Now part of Pfizer.

10. Chutney fruit : MANGO. Delicious!

11. Prosaic : ORDINARY

12. Harem : SERAGLIO. Dictionary says it's rooted in Italian serraglio, meaning "animal cage". ODA is Turkish for room.

13. Joseph of ice cream fame : EDY

14. Canaan infiltrator : CALEB. Biblical spy.

20. Big name in candy corn : BRACH'S

22. Word with cake or metal : SHEET

24. Sources : ORIGINS

26. "A Tiger Walks" star : SABU. Was ignorant of film "A Tiger Walks". India-born Actor.

28. Catering dispenser : URN

33. Murky : TURBID

34. Frequent producer for Eminem : DR DRE

35. Highest degree : HILT. To the hilt.

36. Volcanic glass : OBSIDIAN. Also a new word to me.

37. Frankfurter adjective : TEUTONIC

38. "Not stepping __ the bounds of modesty": Juliet : O'ER

42. Ready to roll : IN GEAR

44. Fifth-century invader of Gaul : ATTILA. The Hun.

45. Hardly a moving picture? : YAWNER. Tricky clue.

46. Group of candidates : SLATE

48. Augment : ADD TO

53. Eva Marie's "On the Waterfront" role : EDIE. Stumper for me.

55. Word heard after a countdown : AULD. "Auld Lang Syne". New Year count.

57. Nice address: Abbr. : MME (Madame). Nice the City in France.

58. "The Simpsons" Squishee seller : APU. The shopkeeper.

59. Pedigree-tracking org. : AKC (American Kennel Club)

Answer grid.

Happy 83rd Birthday to our fellow LA Times solver Dot! And a belated Happy 97th  Birthday to her husband Irv! Hi there Andrea & Kazie.

C.C.