Friday, June 10, 2011, Marti Duguay-Carpenter

Theme: PUNish us Marti! Wow, an old fashioned punfest from another of our resident creative corner. The first word of each four common phrases is morphed into a  side-splitting sound-alike synonym of "story". What a joy to be here for this one:

20A. Mount Olympus and environs?: MYTH UNIVERSE. MISS UNIVERSE.

34A. Thinking like Aesop?: FABLE MINDED. FEEBLE MINDED. Are you talking about me?

40A. One majoring in traditional knowledge?: LORE STUDENT. LAW STUDENT.

54A. Quills for Chaucer?: TALE FEATHERS. TAIL FEATHERS. 

Very straight forward and amusing theme, in the Dan Naddor tradition, wrapped in a puzzle with many of the same delights as a DN. Marti has captured the multi-word  misdirection. Lemonade, now ready to lead the parade to the promised land of answers.

Across:

1. Small amount: DRIB. Well okay, a little drab but we have to start somewhere.

5. Otherwise: ELSE. Well, it could be somewhere else, but we are rolling now.

9. Rare score note: C FLAT. I will leave this to our resident music man JzB to explains C FLAT B Natural, or any other questions you all may have.

14. Spanish actress Chaplin (Charlie's granddaughter): OONA. really Marti, OONa O'Neill, Charlie's wife is not obscure enough for you you had to go for the GRAND DAUGHTER ? Well, she is cuter, and was in Quantum of Solace.

15. Songdom showgirl: LOLA. At the Copa, and Barry Manilow's house.

16. French garlic sauce: AIOLI. I see another trend here of ridiculous words with almost only vowels, and I do like my garlic sauces garlicky. Right GG?

17. Sauvignon __: GRIS. Ah, I see a mini theme here and more about our constructor, because we also have 6D. California's self-proclaimed "Zinfandel Capital of the World": LODI. GRIS means grey in both French and Spanish (French lesson of the day) and the not Blanc Sauvignon is rare, and is pinkish like many Zins.

18. Some govt. lawyers: A DAS. See what I mean about words that hard to parse,  like Naddor, assistant district attorneys (yes another attorney clue).

19. They don't mix with just anybody: SNOBS. I am so glad.

23. Court statistic: ASSIST. She fooled you here, not court of law, but basketball court, go HEAT!

24. Get ready for a competition, bodybuilder-style: OIL UP. You ladies would not want see THAT.

27. Eighth-century Japanese capital: NARA. This was the capital from 710 to 784, and is now part of the Kansai region in southern Japan.

29. Met: RAN INTO. Another double word.

31. Levels: KOS. Knocks Out. Not to be confused with 3D. Some OKs: INITS. Some are initials and some are abbreviations,

36. Simple step: A TO B. or a similar trick, 30D. Eat to excess: OD ON. Overdose on and another weird letter string, or 44D. Exactly: TO A T.

38. Nuke: ZAP. Have you ever microwaved a Moon Pie? Seen that movie?

39. First name in architecture: EERO. Mr. Saarinen, and more vowels. 57D. City north of Pittsburgh: ERIE. I wonder if Mr. Saarinen ever lived there.

45. Howard of Hollywood: RON. Our little Opie all grew up and making movies, with a few Happy Days on the way.

46. It may be tapped: BEER KEG. When my son says he tapped that, I do not have to get nervous because he is pointing at a Keg.

47. Sainted pope called "the Great": LEO I. I had this guy last Friday, so you know where to go to get more information.

49. Escargot: SNAIL. For anyone out there who did not know this fact, and has eaten and enjoyed escargot, I am sorry to disillusion you.

50. Sinus-clearing condiment: WASABI. This Japanese favorite is a relative of horseradish, cabbage and mustard.

58. Up and about: ASTIR. Oh, Marti, ans A-word.

61. Early Macy's Day Parade balloon designer: SARG. A really fine Friday clue, this PUPPETEER was a mentor to Bil Baird, who was popular when I was growing up.

62. Highchair component: TRAY. Simple, but true.

63. One of the Allman Brothers: DUANE. He like so many other musicians died too young, and was the inspiration for the southern rock movement, GREGG, his younger brother married Cher for a week or so.

64. "Grand" or "demi" ballet move: PLIE. Did you all spot any of this knee bending move (PLIER is to bend in French, lesson 2) in this MOVIE ?

65. Auxiliary: AIDE. Very popular at hospitals.

66. Game with blocks: JENGA. I have never played this game of careful building and un building.

67. Card, e.g.: NLER (National Leaguer). Very tricky, a St. Louis Cardinal, like Albert Pujols.

68. Break: REST.

How thoughtful of Marti to give us a pause before we start

Down:

1. Matter of faith: DOGMA. My favorite interpretation of this CONCEPT .

2. Golfer Sabbatini and actor Calhoun: RORYS. What an odd couple, an ill-tempered South African golfer and a handsome western actor from the 50s, who began his life robbing jewelry stores, and spent time in San Quentin.  We could have gone all golf with RORY McIlroy, since RORY is Gaelic for Red King.

4. Knock down during a raid: BASH IN. Elliot Ness was famous for that maneuver.

5. Hyundai sedan: ELANTRA.

7. Pole, for one: SLAV. Polish women are beautiful, but they are only part of this diverse ETHNO-CULTURAL group.

8. Facility: EASE. Not a place to stay, but a way to do it.

9. Kennedy designer: CASSINI. Oleg designed most of Jackie's wardrobe.

10. Small distinction: FINE LINE. I really like this tricky little fill.

11. Where to go in London?: LOO. Or WC, just not on a bobby's foot.

12. Eastern N.Y. airport: ALB. Albany.

13. "Angela's Ashes" sequel: 'TIS. Frank McCourt's autobiographical follow up.

21. Govt. jet set?: USAF. United States Air Force, nice clue and fill, the Govt. tells you it will be an abbreviation, the rest is nicely visual.

22. Go nowhere special: ROAM. Like the deer and the antelope and the jackalopes.

25. Fail, after "go": UNDER. Many businesses have suffered this fate in the last 6 years.

26. Wing: Prefix: PTERO. Our friend the flying dinosaur, the pterodactyl, for example. How many believe all dinosaurs were birds, even T-Rex? Who doesn't love a word with PT starting.

28. '70s congresswoman known as "Battling Bella": ABZUG. A wonderful woman who loved her HATS.

29. Ward off: REPEL. Yes, wear garlic and no vampires will be biting on you.

31. De__, Illinois: KALB. Named after a German national who died helping fight the Brits during the revolution, Also a county in Georgia.

32. Chiwere speakers: OTOES. Marti loves them vowels, and once again we have TOES in our puzzle, this time of the O nature. All perps for me, but I will try and remember for next time.

33. Philosopher Kierkegaard: SOREN. A very influential THINKER who discoursed on many subjects, and is considered the father of existentialism.

35. Boy: LAD. After our earlier debates, I have no comment.

37. Dressing down: BERATING. Yes, my father liked to give us a dressing down, but he would forget the "R."

41. Mountain destination: SKI AREA. Yes, just back from European skiing, she said.

42. Spill: TELL. 56D. Spill : FALL.  Clecho alert!

43. Yanni fan, maybe: NEW AGER. DEAF GUY also fits.

48. 1987 Beatty/Hoffman flop: ISHTAR. Has anyone seen it? All of it?

51. Isolated nest: AERIE. Crosswordese.

52. Finishing nails: BRADS. Not your finger ones.

53. "The best __ to be": Browning :  IS YET. Considering our average age, Robert Browning said it for us, "Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, the last of life, for which the first was made."

55. Jazz venue?: ESPN. Oh, our sports fan has deceived with the Utah Jazz NBA team. Go HEAT!.

58. Trans. or intrans.: ADJ. The absolute hardest fill for me as I know these terms only with verbs not adjectives, but as always I am WRONG .

59. Go after, in a way: SUE. Enough lawyer jokes, already.

60. Avoid burning, perhaps: TAN. On that note, your very TAN humble servant has once again finished his mission, having had a great ride through the mind of our dear HeartRx, who put a perfect book end on a week with JL CC and Hard G, next time you need to get your name in grid Ms. D-C. (Are you related to the comic books?)

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Note from Marti (a ski bum, hence the great entry SKI AREA)

The "seed" entry for this puzzle was MYTH INFORMATION. But, I had to scrap that one in order to get better fill. I will never give up good fill for a theme entry, and am always willing to re-work a grid several times before I am satisfied that it will meet with The Corner's approval! I think MYTH UNIVERSE fills the bill in this case, though. I originally had  LORE CLASSES ("lower classes") and TALE FORTUNES ("Tell fortunes"), neither of which is really "in the lingo". So, this is the final product that I came up with, along with Rich's brilliant (devious?) editing of the clues, which make it a Friday-friendly (?) offering.  I hope it gave you all a challenge!

Thursday, June 9, 2011, James Sajdak

Theme: End for end. Suffixes are swapped between the two words of the answers to wackily change their meanings.

20A. Choir members during the sermon?: SINGERS WAITING. Singing waiters. Restaurant gimmick.

24A. Grocery employee dealing with a shortage of shelf space?: STOCKER STUFFING. Stocking Stuffer. Christmas.

47A. Top sellers sealing the deal?: CLOSERS PITCHING. Closing pitchers. Baseball.

53A. News hound's sign-off?: ROVER REPORTING. Roving reporter.

Hi all, Al (mostly) here again.  A pretty solid Thursday puzzle overall, I liked seeing SNORKEL and some of the clever clues.  Not much else jumped out and grabbed me, but I could just be sleepy yet.  On with the analysis then...

ACROSS:.

1. Sieben und eins: ACHT. German: seven and one macht eight.

5. Roe source: SHAD. Caviar.

9. Finish the doughnuts?: GLAZE. Wisconsin is down to one remaining Krispy Kreme. That wave sure peaked and receded quickly.

14. New York restaurateur: SHOR. Toots. Apparently a big deal with celebs. Anyone not from NY ever heard of him?

15. Not, some time back: NARY. Shortening of "never a".

16. "The Kiss" sculptor: RODIN. A depiction of illicit love taken from Dante's Inferno.

17. Certain conic sections: PARABOLAS.

19. Gladiator's milieu: ARENA.  From Latin harena "place of combat," originally "sand, sandy place"  The central stages of Roman amphitheaters were strewn with sand to soak up the blood.

22. Reaction to one who's revolting: ICK.  That's sick.

23. Palais denizen: ROI. French: palace, king.

33. Neighbor of Arg.: URU. Argentina, Uruguay.

34. Evoke gaiety with gags at a gig: SLAY. Overwhelm.

35. He shared the peace prize with Shimon and Yitzhak: YASIR. Peres, Rabin, Arafat, 1994, the Oslo Accords.

36. "Do the __": MATH. An alternate idiom for "It doesn't add up"

38. Male sovereigns' address: SIRES. From Latin "senior" for elder.

41. Polynesian pendant: TIKI. Carved image of the creator-ancestor of Maoris and Polynesians.

42. Lent a hand: AIDED.

44. __ Jackson, Fonda title role: ULEE. I only got this because of how often it appears with Fonda's name in these crosswords.

46. One of the 10 lowest digits?: TOE. This one shouldn't have tricked me, but it did. Looking at too many numbers lately.

51. Monodrama about Capote: TRU.

52. Toy magnate __ Schwarz: FAO. Frederick August Otto Schwartz.

61. Anglo-__: SAXON.

62. Road safety feature: GUARDRAIL.

63. Throw out: EJECT. Literally in Latin: Ex- prefix(out) jacere (to throw).

64. Once, once: ERST. Earliest.

65. Make eyes at: OGLE. Low German oglen from oege, meaning eye.

66. Indian noble: RANEE.

67. "He __ not sleep": Shelley: DOTH. Adonaïs: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats.

68. Pill bottle instruction: DOSE.

DOWN:.

1. Some cobras: ASPS.

2. Spiced tea: CHAI.

3. Cape __: HORN. Chile. Not quite the lowest tip of South America, named for the city of Hoorn in the Netherlands.

4. Disastrous: TRAGIC. Tragedy is apparently literally "goat song," from tragos "goat" + oide "song." The connection may be via satyric drama, from which tragedy later developed, in which actors or singers were dressed in goatskins to represent satyrs.

5. Reef exploration gear: SNORKELS. From German navy slang Schnorchel "nose, snout," related to schnarchen "to snore". So called from its resemblance to a nose and its noise when in use.

6. Dutchman who painted "Gypsy Girl": HALS. Cleavage...

7. Got __ deal: A RAW.

8. "L.A. Law" actor: DYSART. Richard. I didn't recognize any characters even after I saw all the pictures...

9. Please: GRATIFY.

10. Actress Loughlin: LORI. I did recognize "Jessie's Girl" though.

11. Yemeni port: ADEN. Today's geography lesson.

 

12. Sock it to: ZING. "High pitched sound," of echoic origin.

13. Faline's mother, in Salten's "Bambi": ENA.

18. Bremen brew: BECKS. Imported bier aus Deutchland.

21. Pot marker: IOU.  Big Julie: "IOU one thousand --signed X."  Nathan Detroit: "How is it you can write one thousand, but not your name?"  Big Julie: "I was good in arithmetic, but I stunk in English."

24. Poison __: SUMAC. Three of a kind.

25. Hiker's route: TRAIL.

26. Best: OUTDO.

27. Heyerdahl craft: RA I. A papyrus craft that broke apart, but RA II made of Totora reeds survived his journey and proved that ancient mariners could have crossed the Atlantic using the Canary Current.

28. Corn product: SYRUP.

29. Budgetary waste: FAT. Oh how conceptions change over time starting with one flawed study by Ancel Keys... fat used to mean the "best or most rewarding" part.

30. Last Supper question: IS IT I. Mark 14:18-21 The passage about betrayal.

31. Maker of Coolpix cameras: NIKON.

32. "Peer Gynt Suite" composer: GRIEG.  In the Hall of the Mountain King.

37. Boys and men: HES.

39. Lilly of pharmaceuticals: ELI.

40. Outline, as a plan: SET FORTH.

43. International thaw: DETENTE. Related to the catch on a crossbow you use to relax the string, or the detent catch used to regulate a clock's action.

45. Convenient greeting: E-CARD. When you don't care enough to send the very best.

48. Sch. basics: RRR. The three "R"s. Spelling must not have been emphasized.

49. Progressed in waves: SURGED.

50. Dragster's wheels: HOT ROD.

53. Indian noble: RAJA.

54. Paddy team: OXEN.

55. Viva __: VOCE. Literally "with living voice" but usually translated as "by word of mouth".

56. Cannes cash: EURO.

57. Tense time?: PAST.

58. Emilia's husband: IAGO. The villain who thought Othello was sleeping with his wife.

59. Lofgren of the E Street Band: NILS.

60. TV show about a high school choir: GLEE.

61. Rev.'s speech: SERmon

Answer Grid.

Al

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our always cheerful and caring Annette!

Wednesday, June 8 2011, C.W. Stewart and J.K. Hummel

Theme: double down. nouns that fit into a certain group are used to create a silly, two-word phrase, first word functioning as a verb & second a well-known name.

17A. *Persistently pester journalist Blitzer? : BADGER WOLF. wolf blitzer, cnn reporter. (mammals)

23A. *Evade actor Harrison? : DODGE FORD. harrison ford, actor. (car makes)

51A. *"Look out, Ichabod!"? : DUCK CRANE. ichabod crane. (fowl)

11D. *Spotted rapper MC? : SAW HAMMER. m.c. hammer. (tools). really, you can't. touch these.pants.

32D. *"Step on it, Mrs. Cleaver!"? : MARCH JUNE. june cleaver. (months)

and the unifier:

62A. Biblical cargo, or what makes up the answers to starred clues : TWO OF A KIND

clever  phrases, made me giggle. fun when the theme answers include acrosses and downs. don't recognize these constructors but they have teamed up before in at least one nyt puzzle (1/29/2008.) can you think of any more 'two of a kind' clues and answers?

melissa here, and this will be somewhat brief today. don't blink.

across:

1. Relay, say : RACE

5. Parasol purpose : SHADE. monet's woman with a parasol.

10. Nile biters : ASPS

14. University with a law school in Greensboro : ELON. north carolina. had no idea.

15. Swiss Alps refrain : YODEL

16. Like a blue moon : RARE. van the man.

19. Branch branch : TWIG

20. Business opening? : I MEAN. "i mean business."

21. Ballerina's pivot point : TOE. that's gotta hurt.

22. Dodo : SCHMO. dodo!

25. Carte start : ALA. a menu item ordered and priced separately.

26. Goof up : ERR

27. Office assortment : STAMPS

30. NCR product : ATM. ncr corporation, first made cash registers, now makes atm's (among other things).

33. Moronic : OAFISH.

37. Fictional pirate : SMEE

38. Crumbly soil : LOAM

40. Word with mouth or pool : MOTOR

41. Flu fighters : SERA

42. Taj Mahal site : AGRA

43. Large departure : EXODUS

45. Pirate's potent potable : RUM. yo ho ho.

46. Like some cows : SACRED

48. Take in : NAB. vague clue.

50. "Let me think ..." : HMM.

57. Green-skinned pear : ANJOU

59. Blood system letters : ABO

60. Tease : RAG ON. i don't really think of them as being the same.

61. Chef lead-in : SOUS

64. "Green Gables" girl : ANNE. anne of green gables.

65. Plumber's tool : SNAKE

66. Zeno of __ : ELEA. no idea. 5th century bc greek philosopher. anyone know this?

67. Amanda of "Gulliver's Travels" (2010) : PEET

68. Fall flower : ASTER

69. Paving stone : SETT. a rectangular, quarried stone.

down:

1. Auction action : RE-BID

2. Avis rival : ALAMO

3. Like some wartime messages : CODED

4. Captivate : ENGAGE

5. Turk. neighbor : SYR

6. Instruction book : HOW TO

7. "Every wall is __": Emerson : A DOOR. ralph waldo emerson quote.

8. Edited out : DELED

9. North Pole resident, presumably : ELF

10. Place for a nude : ART CLASS. but welcome in other places also.

12. Proper partner? : PRIM

13. Showy lily : SEGO. utah state flower.

18. Cool time in Madrid : ENERO

22. Made a lap : SAT

24. Set up : FRAMED

27. Diminished : SHRUNK

28. Lima or llama land : PERU. dig the alliteration.

29. Mine line : SEAM. did not know this term. "a stratum of ore or coal thick enough to be mined with profit."

30. "Woe is me!" : ALAS

31. Frat party wrap : TOGA

34. Deceive : FOX

35. "What was __ do?" : I TO

36. Instant lawn : SOD

39. Small monkey : MARMOSET. strange looking.

44. Pelvic bones : SACRA

47. Down Under runner : EMU

49. Traffic stoppers? : BRAKES

51. Suddenly occurs to, with "on" : DAWNS. dawns on.

52. WWII German sub : U-BOAT

53. "Another Saturday Night" singer Sam : COOKE. oldie.

54. Nimble : AGILE

55. The Muses, e.g. : NONET

56. Conclude by : END AT

57. PDQ relative : ASAP

58. Not a lick : NONE. aw.

62. Frisk-y govt. group? : TSA. great clue.

63. Not agin : FER

Answer grid.

melissa

Tuesday, June 7, 2011, Don Gagliardo and C.C. Burnikel

Theme: Swee' Pea. The four theme entries all have the word "pea" split between two words in the phrases. A clever, fun theme from our Dynamic Duo, even if you don't like split pea soup.

17A.Ali ring trademark : ROPE-A-DOPE. Made famous in the '74 Foreman match, where Ali laid against the ropes and let Foreman hit him, until Foreman tired and Ali struck the deciding blow.  

23A. Epcot's "giant golf ball" : SPACESHIP EARTH. I think I would have to use at least a 1-wood on that...

37A. Painter of outdoors scenes : LANDSCAPE ARTIST. Like Clear Ayes! 

50A. Rolling over, so to speak : GIVING UP EASILY. I wasn't going to roll over and let this puzzle beat me, no sir!

And the unifier:

62A. Soup ingredients, and a hint to the hidden theme in 17-, 23-, 37- and 50-Across : SPLIT PEAS

Marti here, trying to fill in, but really, honestly, who could ever fill Santa's shoes? Let's hope his computer is out of sick bay soon!  But I am so happy to have the chance to blog another one of Don and C.C.'s puzzles!

So here's the scoop on all the rest:

Across:

1. Ivan the Terrible, e.g. : TSAR. Ivan IV Vasilyevich. Intelligent, devout, but given to rages and irrational fits of temper. His contemporaries called him Ivan Groznyi (Ivan "Redoubtable" or "Severe"), which means more in lines of might and power, rather than terror or cruelty.

5. Deadly snakes : ASPS. In Egypt, the asp was a symbol of royalty, often shown in hieroglyphs on kings' tombs.

9. Simple hoops shot : LAYUP. Sure, simple for Michael Jordan. For me, at 5'4", not so easy.

14. Restrictive membership word : ONLY. "Members only". Also, a brand of clothing.

15. Digital water testers? : TOES. I loved this clue. Do you stick a toe in the water to test how cold it is, or do you dive right in? 

16. Make laugh : AMUSE. I am easy to amuse...

19. Alumnae, e.g. : WOMEN. Not girls!

20. La la lead-in : OOH 

21. Conestoga-made grooves : RUTS. Conestoga wagons were used by pioneers traveling west. And they made lots of ruts.

22. Church-owned Dallas sch. : SMU . Southern Methodist University.

28. Victoria in Africa : LAKE. Not this one.

29. Comics scream : EEK

30. Easter basket delivery gait? : HOP. Like a bunny. Cute imagery.

32. Miracle Mets' stadium : SHEA. OK, it's C.C., so I know we're going to have baseball involved in the clues/answers. The 1969 World Series was between the NY Mets and the Baltimore Orioles with the winning game at Shea Stadium. 

35. Eyelid annoyance : STYE 

36. Stat for Cliff Lee : ERA. Earned Run Average. Cliff Lee is a Major League baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. The stat is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine. (You should know that I know nothing about baseball!!)

42. Coffee hour vessel : URN. Boy, I could use an urn of coffee right about now...

43. It was often worn over a tunic : TOGA. Who knew? I thought they were only worn at frat parties...

44. Rocks to refine : ORES 

45. Academic address letters : EDU 

46. Carnival resort : RIO. de Janeiro. This looks like fun! 

47. Battling group : ARMY 

56. Fingers for the D.A. : IDS. Identifies, as a perp.

57. Opposite of pre- : POST 

58. Subside, with "down" : DIE . Or "dah", as my southern DH would say...And a nice clecho with 59. Subside : ABATE.  

64. Des Moines resident : IOWAN

65. Slithery fish : EELS. Ah, got me.  "Fish" is plural here. 

66. "Heck!" : DARN.  Drat, dang, damn...

67. Lived : DWELT. Past participle of dwell, or simple past tense. Also, "dwelled".

68. Home run jog : TROT. More baseball !

69. To boot : ALSO .

We have to do the downs, to boot!

Down:

1. Bulls in Argentina : TOROS. My lawnmower is a real bull when it comes to getting the yard done!

2. Poke around : SNOOP. 

3. Pack leader : ALPHA. OK, I just can't resist this one.

4. Corned beef bread : RYE . With a side of slaw, please.

5. Just after sunset : AT DUSK

6. Relieve : SOOTHE

7. "For those who think young" soft drink : PEPSI 

8. Duluth-to-Dubuque dir. : SSE 

9. Member of Congress, say : LAWMAKER 

10. Love in Lille : AMOUR. Splynter, aren't you glad you're not on today? 

11. "Tasty" : YUM.  (I'm still thinking about that corned beef on rye...with a side of slaw.)

12. Exploit : USE. I was thinking of feat . But this is a different USE of the word USE.

13. Con's home : PEN. Short for penitentiary.

18. Vicinity : AREA 

22. "Gotta run!" : SEE YA.  (Not yet...I have to finish the downs.)

24. Dressed : CLAD

25. Red Rose : PETE. Sheez, more baseball.  This is like a foreign language to me, but I am learning! Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds was nicknamed "Charlie Hustle". His gambling on baseball got him into heaps of trouble

26. "A League of __ Own" : THEIR. Aww, c'mon C.C., you're killing me here with the baseball!  (Just kidding: this was actually a wonderful movie about sisters who are professional baseball players during WWII.)

27. Silver in old Westerns : HORSE. Whew, back to something I know about. The Lone Ranger's horse. Hi-Yo Silver, awaaaaay!

31. Loving strokes : PATS . Or, the New England football team.

32. Swing around : SLUE. We had this discussion a while ago, no? 

33. Game start? : HARD G. The word "game" begins with a hard consonant. I have a feeling it was C.C. who came up with this entry...

34. Listless feeling : ENNUI 

35. Hot tub : SPA 

38. Grating : STRIDENT. All I can think of is Edith's voice in "All in the Family".

39. Nickel and dime : COINS.  Great clue.

40. Wide-eyed : AGOG. From the old French "en gogues" meaning in jest, good humor or joyfulness.

41. Kids' stuff : TOYS. r Us

47. 17-mission NASA program : APOLLO. Did not know they had 17, but knew that Apollo went to at least 13.  So I wagged this one.

48. Fight back : RESIST 

49. Damon of "Invictus" : MATT. He is becoming the Pola Negri of modern crosswords, no?  

51. Indispensable : VITAL 

52. Berth place : UPPER. Clever play on "birth place". The UPPER berth is the one you have to use the little ladder for on the overnight train. But it's not so bad, even if you have to share with someone.

53. Perfect : IDEAL 

54. Some storytellers : LIARS. No, really??

55. Like some limited-choice questions : YES/NO 

59. Help : AID 

60. Gift decoration : BOW. I always have trouble tying those things. Thank goodness for the ready-made ones at Hallmark!  

61. Blow away : AWE 

62. Tennis unit : SET 

63. iPhone, e.g. : PDA. Personal digital assistant. It kinda makes me feel important, when you put it like that...

Answer grid.

Say Good Night, Marti.

Note from C.C. & Don:

Preparing Split Pea soup inspired this theme. We originally had HELP EACH OTHER instead of GIVING UP EASILY as 4th theme entry. Rich pointed out the differences between "in the language" and "Ordinary language" phrases and explained how former made for a strong theme entry. The theme idea seemed easy on the surface, but when it came time to matching up phrase lengths, etc., this was a challenging theme to put together. Which is your favorite fill? Mine is 33D of course.