Sunday November 8, 2009 James Sajdak

Theme: What's Yours? - Profession-appropriate mixed drinks.

25A. The barber ordered a __: VODKA TONIC. Made with vodka + tonic water. A barber might use hair tonic.

27A. The heating contractor ordered a __: BOILERMAKER. Beer + whiskey/tequila/vodka. A heating contractor might make or repair a boiler.

40A. The farmer ordered a __: PLANTERS PUNCH. Dark rum + orange juice + pineapple + something else. Farmers are planters.

60A. The popcorn producer ordered a __: HOT BUTTERED RUM. Light rum + sugar + butter + cloves. Popcorn producer needs butter to flavor up the popcorn.

84A. The orthopedist ordered a __: SINGAPORE SLING. Gin + Cherry-flavored liqueur +Dom Bénédictine+pineapple juice. An orthopedist may prescribe a sling for the patient.

102A. The high roller ordered a __: SEVEN AND SEVEN. Seagram's 7 whiskey + 7-up. What's the high roller and Seven and Seven connection?

119A. The handyman ordered a __: SCREW DRIVER. Vodka + orange juice. Screwdriver is a tool for the handyman.

123A. The citrus grower ordered a __: FUZZY NAVEL. Peach schnapps + orange juice. Citrus grower grows navel oranges.

Clever theme, unfortunately it does not resonate with me. Several of the above cocktails were complete unknowns to me. I imagine Argyle & Lois having fun tackling this intoxicating grid.

I love Long Island Iced Tea, what about you? Singapore Sling is a very popular cocktail in Asia too.

As the norm with a Sunday puzzle, quite a few clever and entertaining clues.

Across:

1. Ride without pedaling: COAST

10. Crosswind direction, at sea: ABEAM. Perpendicular to the keel.

15. Frost lines?: POEM. Robert Frost. And 115D. Pound of verse: EZRA.

19. Words before a car or wreck: RENT A. Not familiar with Rent-a-Wreck. What an awful name.

20. American-born Jordanian queen: NOOR. Queen Noor is very articulate.

22. It surrounds Città del Vaticano: ROMA. Città del Vaticano = Vatican City in Italian.

23. Chip producer: INTEL. Not your potato chips.

24. "Don't have __, man!": A COW

30. Whistling zebra?: REF. Vivid misleading clue.

31. Divisions politiques: ETATS. The French political divisions.

32. Maker of durable watches: CASIO

33. Title apiarist in a 1997 film: ULEE. "Ulee's Gold", starring Peter Fonda.

35. "I'm treating": ON ME. Thanks.

37. Band for a tea ceremony?: OBI. Kimono band. Nice clue.

39. Hoop site: EAR. Hoop earrings. I was thinking of basketball.

46. Sailor's sheet: ROPE. Not SAIL?

48. It helped Dr. Leary take some trips: LSD. Plenty in Woodstock.

51. Lower Manhattan district: SOHO

52. Monorail transports: TRAMS

54. Treaty gp. since 1948: OAS (Organization of American States).

57. Sheetful of cookies: BATCH. Wish I could have a chocolate chip cookie now.

59. Wine cask: TUN. And 2D. Winery prefix: OENO. As in oenophile.

65. Emulate Demosthenes: ORATE. I had no idea who Demosthenes (di-MOS-thuh-neez) was. A Greek orator.

67. 43,560 square feet: ONE ACRE. Oh, I don't really know the exact amount in an acre.

68. Early Yucatec: MAYA

69. Spirals: HELIXES. Had trouble obtaining this answer.

71. Some hi-fis: RCAS

72. Hit, biblically: SMITE. Past tense is smit.

74. "You're dreaming": AS IF

75. Emotional problems: HANG-UPS

78. Sinusitis specialists, briefly: ENTS. ENT = Ear, Nose, and Throat.

79. Baffin Bay floater: ICE FLOE. Does iceberg float?

83. "Tuesdays with Morrie" author: ALBOM (Mitch).

87. Driver's ID: LIC (License). And 101. Govt. -issued IDs.: SSNS

91. Naples-to-Venice. dir.: NNW. Clueless.

92. Native shelter: TEPEE. Native Indian.

93. Tiny farm dwellers: ANTS. Ant farm.

95. Obscene: FILTHY

98. Burning: LIT

106. __ cit.: in the place cited: LOC. Learned this footnote abbr. from doing Xword.

108. August hrs. in Augusta: EDT. Excellent clue.

109. TV ally of Hercules: XENA. Played by Lucy Lawless.

113. Drives the getaway car, say: ABETS

116. Rip off: ROB

126. Years, to Caesar: ANNI. Plural of anno.

127. Cherbourg ciao: ADIEU. I've never heard of Cherbourg, a seaport in NW France.

128. Regarding, in memos: IN RE

129. Whirpool subsidiary: AMANA. Our oven brand.

130. Demeanor: MIEN. Same root, mien and demeanor.

131. Scout's mission, briefly: RECON

133. Emerson's middle name: WALDO. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

134. Bunkhouse bud: PARD. Partner/friend. Did not know the meaning of bunkhouse, a rough building with bunk beds for those ranch hands.

135. Put up: ERECT

Down:

1. Bed that's hard to climb out of: CRIB. Another descriptive clue.

3. Look forward to: ANTICIPATE

4. Inscribed pillar: STELA. Also spelled as STELE.

5. "Honor Thy Father" author Gay: TALESE. See the book cover. I can only remember his wife's name (NAN), from "A Little Million Pieces" scandal.

6. Inflames with passion: ENAMORS

7. Andean stimulant: COCA. Chewed stimulant.

8. Connection: HOOK-UP

9. Creator of the pigs Old Major and Napoleon: ORWELL (George). From his "Animal Farm". I was ignorant of those pigs.

10. Off-rd. transport: ATV (All-Terrain Vehicle)

11. Philistine: BOOR

12. Earth, to Kepler: ERDE. German for "earth". Kepler was a German astronomer.

13. Invite trouble: ASK FOR IT

14. Extinct kiwi cousin: MOA. Had no idea that moa is related to kiwi.

15. Mythological shapeshifter: PROTEUS (PROH-tee-uhs). The Greek sea god who could change his shape at will. Total stranger to me.

16. O'Neil's daughter: OONA. Chaplin's wife.

17. Radiate: EMIT

18. British raincoats: MACS

26. Help for a while: TEMP. Tricky noun "help".

28. Omani money: RIAL. The Saudi Arabia money is riyal.

29. Keister: REAR

34. Brian of Roxy Music: ENO

36. Fraction of a min.: NSECT (Nanosecond). Wish the word "tiny" were added in front of "fraction".

37. Gardener's brand: ORTHO

38. Element used in a glass production: BORON. No idea. It's element #5.

41. Fragrance by Dana: TABU. "The forbidden fragrance".

42. Cheese burg.: EDAM. The cheese is named after the Dutch town Edam where it originated. Neat play on cheeseburger.

43. Benefit at a swap meet: NO TAX. Swap meet is the same as flea market, isn't it?

44. Laundry conveyor: CHUTE

45. Perfects: HONES

47. No-trade policy: EMBARGO

49. Faline in "Bambi,", e.g.: DOE. Faline is Bambi's wife.

53. Yield: SUCCUMB. I liked this fill.

55. Prepares for battle: ARMS

56. Gobs: SEAMEN. Gob is a slang for sailor. I was picturing a large amount of something.

58. Most saintly: HOLIEST

61. Use a ruse on: TRAP

62. Hardy heroine: TESS. "Tess of the D'Urbervilles".

64. Caning need: RATTAN. Misread the clue as "Canning need" and penned in BOTTLE.

66. Mixes, as cards: RIFFLES. Could only think of shuffle.

69. "Good Morning Starshine" musical: HAIR. Here is a clip.

70. Suffix with opal: ESCE. Opalesce.

75. "Papa Bear" of football: HALAS (George). Have faintly heard of this guy. "Brian's Song" is probably the most famous Chicago Bears related movie.

76. Flared dress: A-LINE

77. "SNL" network: NBC TV

80. Words without deeds: LIP SERVICE

81. Without a letup: ON END. It's back.

82. Spew out: EGEST. Opposite of ingest.

84. Last word at Sotheby's?: SOLD. Nice clue too.

85. QB's errors: INTS (Interceptions)

86. "The House at Pooh Corner" bird: OWL. Guessed.

89. Distant: AFAR

90. Movie technique using three projectors: CINERAMA

94. Bubbly beverage: SELTZER

96. Evil eye: HEX. My friend Roberto used to wear a deep blue evil eye pendant. He worked in Turkey for a few years.

97. First name in design: YVES. Yves Saint Laurent (YSL)

99. It "blows no good": ILL WIND. I liked this clue too.

100. Fly catcher: TOAD. Frog too.

103. Too interested: NOSY

104. Set up tents: ENCAMP

105. Lewis land by the River Shribble: NARNIA. Most of C. S. Lewis novels were set in Narnia, correct?

107. Arrow poison: CURARE (kyoo-RAHR-ee). New word to me.

112. Where to get down: EIDER. Eiderdown. Got the answer immediately, but I was not fond of word "where".

113. Throw a __: lose it: A FIT

114. Spots for burgers: BUNS. Wrote down BARS first. Some bars do serve burgers.

117. Place for a race: OVAL. Oval is a noun?

118. Compromise: BEND

120. Nuke-testing depts.: ENER (Energy). I could hear the whining.

121. Fed. anti-discrimination org.: EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). Was more familiar with EEO or EOE.

122. Pipsqueak: RUNT

124. Dogpatch denial: NAW. Hillbilly talk again.

128. Thai language: LAO. Spoken in northeast of Thailand.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday November 7, 2009 Bob Peoples

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 70

This grid does not look intimidating, does it? Only a bunch of triple-stacked 7's in each corner. Across & Down. But what a hard struggle for me!

Rich Norris certainly ratcheted up the cluing difficulty (ONO is a good example). Even if he did not, I doubt I would have solved this puzzle without cheating. Several of the adjacent entries are just plain unknown to me.

Across:

1. Treat for tired dogs?: FOOT RUB. Dogs here refer to feet. Wanted MASSAGE. Lots of foot massage parlors in Guangzhou.

8. Snake oil, so it's said: PANACEA. Not seen as such in China. Snake oil is just used to treat join pain.

15. Bridge bid, briefly: THREE NO. Someone please explain this term to me.

16. Fauna: ANIMALS. Flora would be PLANTS.

17. Old Meccan governors: SHARIFS. Literally "exalted" in Arabic. Maybe Omar Sharif knows. I've got no idea.

18. Swift specialties: SATIRES. Jonathan Swift.

20. "Real breakfast 24/7" restaurant chain: DENNY'S. Not familiar with the tagline at all.

22. Ventura County's __ Valley: SIMI. Home to the Regan Library. Another California reference is ANAS (9D. Santa __: West Coast winds). The hot winds.

23. Actress Swenson: INGA. Of "Benson" fame.

25. God of Spain: DIOS. The singular DIO is Italian/German for God. DIEU for the French.

27. Head lock: TRESS

31. City on the Rhine: BONN. Former capital of West Germany.

32. Shrub with clusters of blue flowers: HYSSOP. Of the mint family. New name to me.

34. Betrayals: SELLOUTS. So easy in retrospect.

36. Hotel amenity for business travelers: IN-ROOM FAX. You'd think it's IN-ROOM internet access/WiFi.

38. Delete: CROSS OFF. And REDLINE (39D. Deletion indicator).

41. Tiny white ovum: ANT EGG. Stumper. Those eggs look awfully big.

45. Musical set in Manhattan's East Village: RENT

46. Armstrong singing style: SCAT. Ella Fitzgerald singing style too.

48. Iberian river: DOURO (DOH-roo). No idea. See this map. It flows from N Spain through N Portugal to the Atlantic.

49. Stock suffix: ADE. Stockade.

50. Agcy. that conducts workplace inspections: OSHA. Belongs to the Dept. of Labor.

52. Noilly __: vermouth brand: PRAT. Completely unknown to me. Does anyone know the name origin? Why PRAT, Argyle?

57. Artist who funded Manhattan's Strawberry Fields memorial: ONO. Another unknown trivia.

58. Reminder file: TICKLER. Have never heard of tickler file.

60. Ale seller: BREWPUB. It's a bar serving beer brewed at a small microbrewery on the premises. Probably a gimme for Embien.

63. Ventilation source: AIR HOLE

64. Can't stand: DESPISE

65. Did over on a Selectric, say: RETYPED. Who the heck is still using Selectric?

Down:

1. Ark. city that began as a military post: FT SMITH. Uh-uh, nope. It's the second-largest city in Ark.

2. Candy bar with an exclamation point in its name: OH HENRY! I've yet to try this brand. Love Snickers.

3. Fruits used in making Grand Marnier: ORANGES. Another stumper. The Grand Marnier made from a blend of true cognacs and distilled essence of bitter orange.

4. Three times, in Rx's: TER

5. Senate Majority Leader Harry: REID. From Nevada.

6. Ravenous, probably: UNFED. Reminds me of "The Pianist".

7. Sarajevo's region: BOSNIA. Sarajevo is the capital of Bosnia.

8. Lineup announcement medium, briefly: PA SYSTEM. Was thinking of police line-up.

10. Trivial point: NIT. Trivial point to pick.

11. "The Rachel Papers" novelist Martin: AMIS. Son of Kingsley Amis.

12. Arctic deer: CARIBOU. Reindeer too.

13. Nitrogen or oxygen: ELEMENT

14. Transfers, as legal rights: ASSIGNS

21. "I wouldn't do that just yet": NOT SO FAST. Placed at the very center of the grid.

24. Fielder's stat: ASSIST. Basketball/hockey stat too.

28. Boys, to men: SONS. Would be an OK clue if not for MEN (19A. Gents)

30. Italian sports car, briefly: : ALFA. Alfa Romeo.

31. Old-fashioned proof of purchase: BOX TOP

33. Aces: PROS. Both mean experts.

35. Crow's nest sighting: LAND. Again, not familiar with the nautical term crow's nest.

37. "For sure!": OF COURSE

38. Skillfully made: CRAFTED

40. Plays without intermissions: ONE-ACTS. "Plays" is a noun. I fell into the verb thinking trap.

42. Ace of Base genre: EURO POP. Have never heard of Swedish band Ace of Base.

43. Bit of grit: GRANULE

44. Retire, but not permanently: GO TO BED. "Not permanently" threw me off.

47. Legal profession: THE BAR. Wrote down THE LAW first.

51. Raptor's home: AERIE

54. Cincinnati sitcom station: WKRP. "WKRP in Cincinnati".

55. Tiger's pocketful: TEES. Tiger Woods.

56. Miró Foundation architect: SERT. Got the answer from Across fill.

59. Gift for an island visitor: LEIS. Hawaiian islands.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday November 6, 2009 Sharon E. Petersen

Theme: Slip of the Tongue - The first word of a common phrase is replaced by two identical letters which, when pronounced in plural form, sound like the word itself.

17A. Nursery rhyme dish?: PP (Pease) PORRIDGE. "Pease porridge hot, pease porridge cold..."

25A. "Time is fleeting" philosophy?: CC (Seize) THE DAY. Carpe diem.

38A. Reasons?: YY (Whys) AND WHEREFORES

49A. "Good grief!"?: GG (Jeez) LOUISE.

61A. 1999 Kidman/Cruise film?: II (Eyes) WIDE SHUT. It flopped. Stanley Kubrick's last film.

And EE (ease) and TT (tease) came to my mind. What else can you think of?

Such a YY (wise) constructor, Sharon E. Petersen. Very clever theme. One of my favorite LAT puzzles so far. Quite scrabbly too, with 4 J's, 1 Z, & 1 X.

Again, I started from bottom up and figured out the gimmick rather quickly. Still needed the cheat sheet to finish the puzzle.

Across:

1. Alaska's state gem: JADE. Unknown fact to me. I just found out that our Minnesota's state gem is Lake Superior Agate. How about your state?

5. Sonora natives: PIMAS. The Arizona Indian tribe.

10. Soup du __: JOUR. Literally "day" in French.

14. Shepard in space: ALAN. Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

15. Designer Simpson: ADELE. Finally I remember this designer's name. She died in 1995.

19. Island garlands: LEIS

21. Blond Wells race: ELOI. From "The Time Machine".

22. Pained reaction: WINCE

23. Toaster Swirlz brand: EGGO. Owned by Kellogg.

28. Tumblers and tongs, e.g.: BARWARE

35. One of a cup's 48: Abbr.: TSP. A cup has 16 tablespoons and 48 teaspoons. 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons.

42. Cio-Cio-__: Madama Butterfly: SAN. Just Japanese suffix used as a term of respect after their names or titles. I am C.C. San.

43. Actress Skye: IONE. She was in "Say Anything ...", together with John Cusack. Nice movie.

44. Three-time pairs skating gold medalist Rodnina: IRINA. No idea. It means "peace" in Russian. Like Greek Irene. Wikipedia says this lady is the only pair skater to win 10 successive World Championships (1969–78) and three successive Olympic gold medal.

45. Gag: JOKE

47. Reaganomics principle: TAX CUTS

53. "Just the facts, __": MA'AM. From "Dragnet".

54. Posture-perfect: ERECT. Reminds me of Frida Kahlo, always erect posture. Back pain.

55. Brest milk: LAIT. French for "milk". Brest is a French seaport. Same pronunciation as breast. Neat clue.

57. Garb for dreamers, briefly: PJS

60. Really smell: REEK

64. Pencil puzzle: MAZE. I've never tried one.

66. Mother of Pollux: LEDA. The swan lady. Mother of Helen of Troy also.

67. Sit tight: STAY

69. Sign that something has turned?: ODOR. I did not miss the sign!

Down:

1. Wisecrack: JAPE. Learned from doing Xword.

2. Heidi's home: ALPS

3. Well-groomed guy: DAPPER DAN. John Gotti was nicknamed "Dapper Don" because of his taste for expensive clothes/cars.

4. "Ambient 1: Music for Airports" composer Brian: ENO. The Windows 95 starting sound is by him too.

5. Game room: PARLOR

6. Prefix with -syncratic: IDIO. Meaning "peculiar".

7. Military physician: MEDIC

8. African country on the Med. Sea: ALG. Algeria I suppose.

10. "'Tis but thy name that is my enemy" speaker: JULIET. From "Romeo and Juliet".

11. Interminably: ON END. How is it different from NO END?

12. Erie Canal city: UTICA

13. Grier of the Fearsome Foursome: ROSEY. His face looks familiar. Must have seen him somewhere before. LA Rams' Fearsome Foursome.

18. Think highly of: REGARD

24. Singer Stefani: GWEN. Very toned. Her band is "No Doubt".

26. Bordeaux wine: CLARET. Red wine.

27. Drink excessively: TOPE. And the person who drinks excessively is a TOPER.

29. Romance novelist Seton: ANYA. No idea. See this picture. Her real name is simply Ann Seton.

30. Bounces back: ECHOES

35. Came out on top: TRIUMPHED. Nailed it.

36. On its way: SENT. Had trouble obtaining the answer.

37. Awareness-raising TV spots, for short: PSAS (Public Service Announcements)

39. Web site that users can edit: WIKI. "Fast" in Hawaii. Wikipedia = Wiki + (Encyclo)pedia.

40. Focus intently (on): FIXATE

41. Large ocean predator: ORCA. With the last A in place, I wrote down SKUA, the predatory sea bird.

45. Silks wearer: JOCKEY. Silks refer to jockey's jacket, correct?

46. Fast asleep: OUT

49. Verminophobe's fear: GERMS. Oh, I thought it's just fear of vermin. Vermis is Latin for "worms". Unknown to me.

51. TV host Gibbons: LEEZA

52. Legendary Broncos quarterback: ELWAY (John). Was he better than Brett Favre?

58. Japanese martial art: JUDO. Literally, "gentle way".

61. Savings vehicle for later yrs.: IRA

62. Cyclades island: IOS. Pronounced as EE-ohs? Don't confuse it with COS, another Greek island where Romaine lettuce was first introduced.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday November 5, 2009 Xan Vongsathorn

Theme: SILENCE IS GOLDEN (57A. Apt adage for this puzzle ) - Common phrases signaling "mum's the word" (I'll be quiet and say nothing). "Non-speaking line" means "saying a line about not speaking".

17A. Non-speaking line?: MY LIPS ARE SEALED

22A. Non-speaking line?: I'M ALL EARS

34A. Non-speaking line?: WORDS ESCAPE ME

50A. Non-speaking line?: NO COMMENT

Today's constructor Xan Vongsathorn is a student in Pomona College, CA. Xan is pronounced as “Chawn”.

This puzzle reminds me the quote "Don't talk unless you can improve the silence" Dennis or Hahtool brought to the blog a while ago.

As usual, I jumped around. Got MY LIPS ARE SEALED very quickly and filled in SILENCE IS GOLDEN immediately. Then I thought the theme is about keeping secret.

Across:

1. Thumper's buddy: BAMBI. Thumper is a young rabbit in "Bambi". Unknown to me. We often see ENA clued as "Bambi's aunt".

6. La Scala production: OPERA. And AISLED (45D. Like theaters)

11. Cap seen on a brae: TAM. Scottish cap. Brae is Scottish hillside.

15. Ad target: BUYER. Sigh! I hardly use my Jack Lalanne juicer. The TV ad was just so appealing.

16. "If you ask me," in chat room shorthand: IMO

21. Spill the beans: TATTLE. A contract to "Silence is Golden".

27. State of rest: REPOSE

28. Little women: PETITES. Good play on the novel "Little Women". And LARGE (56A. Soda size).

31. Aurora's Greek counterpart: EOS. Gimme, correct? I've been mentioning Aurora every time EOS shows up.

32. Romantic hopeful: SUITOR. Silly, but I struggled with the answer. I like to be romanced.

40. Vital anatomical passage: AIRWAY. No idea. It's a passage by which air passes from the nose or mouth to the air sacs of the lungs.

41. George Gershwin's brother: IRA. The clue is a full name, the answer is only a given name. "George's songwriter brother" is much better.

43. Blankety-blank type: SO AND SO

46. Jaime Sommers, TV's "__ Woman": BIONIC. Bionic stands for Bio(logy) + (electro)nic.

49. The Phantom of the Opera: ERIK. Oh, thought it's ERIC.

53. Magnetic inductivity units: TESLAS. Named after physicist Nikola Tesla.

63. Too trusting: NAIVE

64. Prefix with surgery: NEURO. Neurosurgery. Neuro = nerve.

66. "Li'l" guy: ABNER. Li'l Abner.

67. Bygone anesthetic: ETHER

Down:

1. Mooch, as a ride: BUM

3. Start to practice?: MAL. Malpractice. Great clue.

4. Under-the-sink brand: BRILLO. Latin for "bright". I am using the S.O.S. pad.

5. Gets moving: IMPELS

6. President with a Grammy: OBAMA. Two Grammys, for the spoken word books of "Dreams from My Father" and "The Audacity of Hope".

11. Attack à la Don Quixote: TILT AT. He tilts at the windmills (fights against an imaginary enemy). Tilt here means "joust", using a lance.

12. 2001 French film starring Audrey Tautou: AMELIE. Ah, Embien liked this film. So did I. Just lovely.

13. Cover girls, e.g.: MODELS. CoverGirl is a cosmetics brand.

18. Hook's right hand: SMEE. In "Peter Pan".

19. Worn things: ATTIRE. Might have got it quickly if the clue were "Things to wear".

23. Cat call: MEOW. Not the rude catcall. Several nicely worded clues in today's puzzle.

24. Lhasa __: Tibetan dog: APSO. Literally "bearded" in Tibetan language.

25. Like much Thai cuisine: SPICY. That's why they use coconut often, to balance out the spiciness.

29. Greek "H": ETA. See the shape.

30. High point: TOP

32. Attach, as a patch: SEW ON

33. Country where Häagen-Dazs H.Q. is: USA. Man, somehow I always thought Häagen-Dazs is based somewhere in Europe.

35. Continue to irritate: RANKLE

37. Some coll. students: SRS. Xan Vongsathorn is a senior in college. Very unusual name.

38. Diamond source: MINE. No more baseball diamond. Damned Yankees. What Lola wants, Lola finally gets! I kind of like Andy Pettitte though. Very honest handling of his steroid use. Congratulations, Danabw and Democrat in a Red State.

39. Celtic land: ERIN. Or EIRE. Hibernia is Latin for Ireland.

43. Goes after: SETS AT

44. Tater Tots maker: ORE-IDA. Portmanteau of Ore(gon) = Ida(ho).

46. Five-time Wimbledon champ: BORG (Björn)

47. "Later, bro": I'M GONE

48. Brunch staple: OMELET. I like plain one. No cheese, or meat or vegetables.

51. Source of edible oil: OLIVE

52. Crime planner: CASER. Case is a slang for "to check out a bank/house in planning of a crime".

54. "Happy tune" whistler of Broadway: ANNA. No idea. The song "I Whistle a Happy Tune", from the musical "The King and I".

55. Picketer's bane: SCAB

58. "Ich bin __ Berliner!": EIN. JFK line.

59. "How could I miss that?!": D'UH. No difference from D'OH, correct?

Answer grid.

Thanks for the newspaper information yesterday. I am so sorry some of you lost LAT puzzle. Do go to LA Times' website and join us for discussions when you have time.

C.C.

Wednesday November 4, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: INLETS (43D. Coastal irregularities, and word anagrammed in this puzzle's four longest answers) - The starting word of each theme entry is an anagram of INLETS.

17A. Respond to Uncle Sam's poster request: ENLIST IN THE ARMY. Pat Tillman did.

28A. Movieland: TINSELTOWN. Hollywood.

40A. "Pay attention!": LISTEN HERE! "Here" did not come to me readily. I could only think of "Listen Up".

53A. Passive-aggressive tactic: SILENT TREATMENT. It causes bitterness on both ends.

Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 19. Quite high. And 13 of them are Down entries, several crossing two theme entries.

Smooth sailing for me. Simple theme and mostly straightforward clues. I tend to have trouble with Dan's sound change puzzles due to my poor command of English pronunciations.

Across:

4. Absurd sham: FARCE. A tragedy played at a thousand revolutions per minute.

9. Music performance rights org.: ASCAP (American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers). And TIN PAN (2D. __ Alley: old music-publishing district).

15. Where work may pile up: INBOX

16. Bit of wisdom: PEARL. Pearls of wisdom (succinct sayings).

20. Navajo relative: APACHE. The Military helicopter is named after this tribe.

21. Wood decay: DRY ROT. Caused by fungi.

22. Tall and long-limbed: LANKY. Can you use LANKY to describe Gisele Bünchen?

23. Hope/Crosby film title word: ROAD. "The Road to ...".

24. Captured: TOOK. Tricky past tense.

33. Outdoor nap site: HAMMOCK

36. Women, in old-fashioned parlance: FAIR SEX. I remember Dennis used this phrase before. Maybe he is old-fashioned.

38. Blow one's top: ERUPT

39. Chasms: GULFS. See, letter L is pronounced in Gulf, but not in HALF/CALF.

43. Pesky little tyke: IMP

46. Retailing pioneer R.H. __: MACY. Odd to see the old Marshall Field's become Macy's.

47. Eternities: EONS

48. Zellweger of "Chicago": RENEE. She played Roxie.

56. Land along the ocean: COAST. Alas, "Coastal irregularities..."

57. Two under par, on a hole: EAGLE. "On a hole" seems so unnecessary.

59. Aches: HURTS. Not PAINS.

60. Father of Beau and Jeff: LLOYD (Bridges). OK, here is a picture of Jeff, LLOYD and Beau. Stumper for me.

Down:

1. Lofty principles: IDEALS

3. Old White House middle name: DELANO. The "D" in FDR.

4. Suspicious: FISHY

6. Sac fly stat: RBI. I wonder what's the record for the most sacrifice flies in a ball game.

7. Approve tacitly: CONDONE

8. Crowd scene actors: EXTRAS

9. Copycat: APER. Reminds me of DEEMER.

10. Furry North Pacific swimmers: SEA OTTERS. And FURS (38D: Animal rights activists' concerns).

11. Hanna-Barbera output: CARTOONS

13. Thickness: PLY

19. Jekyll's alter ego: HYDE. Dr. Jekyll's evil side.

23. Actuary's calculation: RISK. Did you hear the news about a 4-month old 17-pound baby being denied health insurance because he's too fat? Just absurd.

25. Cut or scrape, in totspeak: OWIE

26. Lego relative: K'NEX. How can I remember this brand name? What the heck does it mean?

29. Eric the Red's son: LEIF. Literally "heir". Learned from doing Xword.

30. Loneliness syndrome when kids leave home: EMPTY NEST. I am sure many of you have experienced such loneliness.

33. Captain's position: HELM

34. "Carmen" highlight: ARIA

35. Like weightlifters: MUSCULAR. Don't often see this word in a grid.

37. Draft choice: ALE. Was thinking of sports draft.

39. Five-star leader: GENERAL. My first thought was hotel ranking.

42. Low-cost lodging: HOSTEL

44. Stinker: MEANIE. Are they synonymous to you?

45. Mortar and __: PESTLE. Great to ground toasted sesame seeds.

51. Tolkien tree people: ENTS

52. Six-time Emmy winner Tyne: DALY. Dan Naddor (or Rich Norris) must not like John Daly. They keep cluing this Tyne lady.

54. Chit: IOU. We just had CHIT clued as "IOU" on Monday.

Answer grid.

I'd like to update the list of newspapers that carry LA Times Daily Crossword. Come to the Comments section if your paper is not there, or your paper has dropped LAT. Thanks.

C.C.

LA Times Daily Newspaper Update

(Updated on Jan 2, 2012)

Below is the most update information on all the newspapers that carry LAT Daily (distributed by Tribune Media Service) crossword puzzle.

I still need paper names from AK, ID, MO, MS, TN. Please send me an email or just write a comment here so that I can add your paper to the list.

You can always go to Chicago Tribune and print out the puzzle in old format. They have a 30-day archive. Or you can get the puzzle from Cruciverb. You need to download Across Lite first. It's free.

Thank you.

C.C.



Total: 101 (Should be around 200)

International: 15

the Nation, Bangkok, Thailand.

Globe & Mail, Toronto, ON, Canada

Toronto Sun, Ontario (Monday through Saturday)

Calgary Sun (Calgary, Alberta)

The London Free Press, London, Ontario, Canada.

Times Colonist, Victoria, BC, Cananda

The Province, Vancouver, B.C. Canada

Halifax Herald (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

The Montreal Gazette, Q.C., Canada (Sunday only, but publishes the puzzle on its Saturday "Weekend" section)

Arabian Sun (Weekly paper of Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arab)

Taipei Times (update) & Taiwan News (old TMS syndication), Taiwan

Viet Nam News, Vietnam

??? Philippines (Levie, pls provide me with your paper name)

Times of India, Bangalore & Mumbai & New Delhi, India

Buenos Aires Herald, Buenos Aires, Argentina



US: 86

AL: Anniston Star (Anniston)AK:

AR: Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Little Rock, only on Sundays. NYT & Universal on Weekday)

AZ: The Arizona Republic

CA: Bakersfield California; Daily Bulletin (Rancho Cucamonga); The Californian (Salinas, Mon.-Sat.); Redding Record Searchlight; San Francisco Chronicle (Monday - Sunday); The Modesto Bee (Monday to Saturday); The Record (Stockton, CA); The Fresno Bee (Monday-Sunday); San Jose Mercury News (Sports section, Monday-Saturday)

CO: Colorado Springs Gazette

CT: Waterbury Republican (Torrington, Sun.); The Hartford Courant; New Haven Register (Monday-Sunday)

DE: The News Journal

DC: Washington Post (Tue. to Thur, delivered to MD, DC and VA; Crossynergy puzzles from Monday to Friday).

FL: Palm Beach Post; Naples Daily News; Sun-Sentinel; St. Petersburg Times (Now Tampa Bay Times); Port Saint Lucie News (Port Saint Lucie); Tampa Tribune (Tampa); Florida Times Union- Jacksonville; The Ledger (Lakeland); Orlando Sentinel; The Stuart News; The Alligator (the student newspaper at university of Florida, the most widely distributed college newspaper); The Englewood Sun; Daytona Beach News-Journal (Monday to Sunday); Napa Valley Register (Monday-Sunday)

GA: Savannah Morning News; Atlanta Journal/Constitution (Atlanta)

HI: Honolulu Advertiser

ID:

IL: Chicago Tribune; Southern Illinoisan (Carbondale, IL)

IN: Herald-Bulletin (Anderson); The Journal-Gazette (Fort Wayne, Monday tp Sunday)

IA: Ames Tribune; Iowa State Daily (student paper)

KS: Topeka Capital-Journal

KY: Daily News (Bowling Green); Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro);Courier- Journal (Louisville, Ky- Metro and So Indiana)

LA: Lake Charles American Press; The Times Picayune (New Orleans); The Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

MA:  The Boston Herald (Monday to Sunday)

ME: Bangor Daily News

MD: Baltimore Sun (Monday-Sunday)MA: Berkshire Eagle; The Daily Hampshire Gazette (Monday-Friday); Boston Herald (Monday-Sunday)

MI: Detroit Free Press; The Morning Sun of Mt Pleasant, Michigan; Grand Rapids Press (Monday-Saturday)

MN: The Minnesota Daily (U of M paper); St. Cloud Times

MO: News-Leader (Springfield, Monday to Saturday); News Tribune (Jefferson City, Monday-Sunday); Kansas City Star (Sunday only)

MS:

MT: Great Falls Tribune (Great Falls)

NC: The Courier-Tribune (Asheboro, NC); The Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, NC. Monday-Friday); The Winston-Salem Journal

NE: The Omaha World Herald (Omaha); Lincoln Journal Star of Nebraska

NV: Review Journal (Las Vegas, Sun. only); Reno Gazette-Journal (Reno, Monday to Sunday)

NH: Concord Monitor Concord

NJ: Philadelphia Inquirer (South Jersey); The Newark Star Ledger; The Record (Bergen County)

NM: Portales News-Tribune (Portales, Monday-Saturday)

NY: AM New York; New York Post; Times-Union (Albany); Utica Observer Dispatch; Post Standard (Syracuse); The Daily Freeman (Kingston, Mon-Sat); Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin (Binghamton, NY); Journal News (Rockland-Westchester counties)

ND: The Forum (Fargo)

OH: Dayton Daily News (Mon.-Sat.); Louisville Herald Leader, the News Herald (Willoughby); Spring Field News-Sun (Mon.-Sat.); The "Plain Dealer" (Cleveland, OH); Cincinnati Enquirer

OK: Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise (Bartlesville); The Daily Oklahoma in Oklahoma City (Monday through Saturday)

OR: Mail Tribune (Medford); Bend Bulletin; The Gazette-Times (Corvallis); The Oregonian (Sunday only)

PA: Reading Eagle (Reading, Monday to Sunday); Beaver Valley Times (Mon.-Friday & Sunday); Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Now experiencing with other puzzles, might not return to LAT.); The Daily Collegian (the daily student run newspaper at Penn State University has it everyday)

RI: The Providence Journal(Providence)

SC: The Sun News (Myrtle Beach).

SD: Argus Leader (Sioux Falls). Rapid City Journal (Monday-Sunday)

TN:

TX: Abilene Reporter News (Abilene, Mon.-Sun.); Amarillo Globe-News; Osessa American; Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX); San Angelo Standard Times; Dallas Morning News; The Houston Chronicle; San Angelo Standard Times (Monday to Sunday)

UT:

VT: Burlington Free Press

VA: The Virginia Pilot; Richmond Times Dispatch (Richmond)

WA: Spokesman-Review (Spokane), Peninsula Daily News of Port Angeles;
Bellingham Herald

WV: Daily Athenaeum (Morgantown, campus paper)

WI: Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, Monday to Saturday); The Post Crescent (Appleton); Oshkosh Northwestern; The Reporter (Fond du Lac, WI).

WY: Wyoming Tribune Eagle (Cheyenne, Monday to Saturday)

Tuesday, November 3, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: THE OUTER LIMITS (54A: Eerie sci-fi series, and this puzzle's title) - The first word of each two-word phrases indicate "edge".

20A:. Herding dogs: BORDER TERRIERS

25A: Brokerage services for buying stocks on credit: MARGIN ACCOUNTS

48A: Perks on the job: FRINGE BENEFITS

All of the theme answers are in plural form, very consistent.

Argyle, again.

Major malfunction: BORDER TERRIERS are not herding dogs; they are hunting dogs. BORDER COLLIES are herding dogs.

I won't even try to explain MARGIN ACCOUNTS.

A FRINGE BENEFIT of doing this blog, C.C. lets me comment all I want to on the ones I do.

Note the crosses in three of the corners: NW, TITO & TIVO; NE, OPER & OPIE; SW, TOTO & OTTO. Although, the SE has IRMA & TART. ;-)

Across:

1A: RBI or ERA, e.g.: STAT. Go Phillies!

5A: Use up, as money: SPEND.

10A: Shock: JOLT. JOLT Cola

14A: TV show recorder: TIVO. In case you were wondering what TIVO stood for: TV + io (television input/output). Not fond of this clue due to TV repetition.

15A: Pal of Kukla and Fran: OLLIE. A kid's program from long before TiVo.

17A: School near the Mex. border: UTEP. The University of Texas at El Paso. Got gobs of worms for those still missing this. And over at San Antonio, 43A: Memorable mission: ALAMO.

34A: Take it easy: LOLL.

35A: Coastal cities: PORTS.

37A: Day spa garb: ROBE. Remember the deep massage ROLF?

39A: Emulated Bond: SPIED. And EYING (69A: Observing).

42A: Bank takeback, for short: REPO.

45A: Vegan no-no: MEAT. Any vegan in our blog?

52A: Choral syllable: TRA. Part of the chorus: TRA, la, la

53A: Univ. sr.'s exam: GRE. The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) measures verbal reasoning, quantitative and analytical writing skills required for graduate. GMAT is exam for MBA.

62A: Sign up for: JOIN.

64A: French cheese: BRIE. Alas, WM is still waiting for her cheese puzzle. Brie is named after the region Brie in Northern France.

65A: "Beetle Bailey" dog: OTTO. OTTO belongs to Sgt. Snorkel and dresses in uniform.

66A: Area below the abdomen: GROIN.

67A: Eclipse, in olden days: OMEN. Not that the words mean the same, but an eclipse was seen as an OMEN.

68A: Head honcho: BOSS. And 4D: Head honcho: TOP DOG. Nice pair.

70A: Small fruit pie: TART. Can you use frozen blueberries for blueberry tart?

Down:

1D: Theater souvenir: STUB. Ticket STUB.

2D: Jackson 5 brother: TITO.

8D: __ acid: explosive compound: NITRIC.

9D: Cherished by: DEAR TO.

10D: Comedian's bit: JOKE. One J in NE, one J in SW.

11D: Abbr. on a phone's "0" button: OPER.

13D: X, numerically: TEN.

22D: "The jig __!": IS UP.

25D: Former New Orleans Saints coach Jim: MORA. 1986-1996 won 93, lost 74 in regular season; 0-4 in the play-offs. Son is also a coach.

26D: War criminal Eichmann: ADOLF.

27D: Rod used to strengthen concrete: REBAR. Re(inforcing) Bar. "Waiting for the cement truck."

28D: Swiss peak: ALP.

29D: Scale, as a 28-Down: CLIMB. Scale here is a verb, meaning CLIMB, not your map feature.

30D: Snow-rain-heat-gloom connector: NOR. Post office motto.

31D: Roman fountain: TREVI. Literally "three roads" in Italian.

32D: Mar. 17th honoree: ST PAT. Erin Go Bragh. Great to see you back, Irish Jim.

38D: U.K. record label: EMI. Electric & Musical Industries.

41D: Kind of participle found in the sentence "While working on my computer, the dog pestered me for dinner": DANGLING. I bet Dennis/Melissa Be/Lois/Carol all have vivid memories of dangling participle discussions.

46D: Actress Hatcher: TERI. Push-up bra?

49D: Resentment over a prior wrong: GRUDGE.

50D: Diner, for one: EATERY.

51D: Sexy automaton in "Austin Powers": FEMBOT. FEM(ale) (ro)BOT. Designed to seduce and kill Austin Powers.

56D: Slaughter of baseball: ENOS.

57D: Weena's people, in "The Time Machine": ELOI. Weena was portrayed by Yvette Mimieux.

58D: Major German river, to a Frenchman: RHIN. Also, RHIEN. The Rhine (German: Rhein; Dutch: Rijn; French: Rhin; Romansh: Rain; Italian: Reno; Latin: Rhenus)

59D: "__ la Douce": IRMA. Billy Wilder's movie.

62D: Employment agency listing: JOB.

Answer grid.

Here is a great interview of our fellow LA Times solver Deepak Gopinath and his blog "The Hindu Crossword Corner". Thanks for the mentioning of our blog, Col G.

Now go vote!

Argyle

Monday November 2, 2009 Pancho Harrison

Theme: Time and Time Again - "Time" can start both parts of a two-word common phrase.

17A: *Like secret military facilities, to civilians: OFF LIMITS

64A: *Furniture with folding legs, usually: CARD TABLE

10D: *One-armed bandit: SLOT MACHINE

24D: *Novel that evokes prior times: PERIOD PIECE

71A: Given moment, which can begin both parts of the answers to starred clues: TIME

Argyle here.

A lot of action for a Monday; a sort of two for one, hey?

17A: TIME OFF & TIME LIMITS

64A: TIME CARD & TIME TABLE

24D: TIME SLOT & TIME MACHINE

71A: TIME PERIOD & TIME PIECE

Outstanding theme. One noticeable flaw is the clue for ERASE (13D: Clear, as a tape), which intersects CLEAR (16: Not Cloudy).

Across:

1A: Shapely legs, slangily: GAMS. From an older time.

9A: Makeup maven Lauder: ESTEE.

14A: Actor McGregor: EWAN. Such a bad boy.

15A: Flightless South American bird: RHEA.

19A: "Lucy, you got a __ 'splainin' to do!": LOTTA. It seems what he really said was "...some 'splainin' to do." but this quote has been used quite often by others.

20A: High on the hwy.: DUI. Driving Under the Influence covers drugs, DWI - Driving While Intoxicated covers alcohol. [ Dick said BTW in western PA we now use DUI to cover both drugs and alcohol violations. Is that customary in other areas of the country? Come to the comments area and let us know.]

21A: Scatterbrained: DITSY. And 43A: Screwy: LOCO. Lucy, before she became DITSY, showing off her gams.

22A: Gillette razors: ATRAS. The usual suspects.

23A: Slip by: ELAPSE. Funny how time slips away. Willie wrote it.

25A: Give life to: ANIMATE.

34A: Not worth debating: MOOT.

36A: Chowder ingredient: CLAM.

40A: Actress Spelling: TORI.

42A: One who saves the day: HERO.

46A: Souse's affliction, for short: DTS (Delirium Tremens). Souse is slang for a drunk.

48A. Red-breasted bird: ROBIN. This should delight our own ROBIN. Hey, Robin!. Sort of a bird undertone. See BASTE (41A: Moisten the bird) and COO (32D: Dove sound)

50A: "The Avengers" heroine, to Steed: MRS PEEL. Emma's gams.

54A: Log-on need: USER ID.

58A: Old photo tint: SEPIA.

59A: Muscat resident: OMANI. Map.

62A: Suffix in enzyme names: ASE. and 11D: Prefix with -cycline: TETRA. Our daily chemicals. Tetra is prefix for "four".

67A: Cancel, as a newspaper story: KILL. Have you seen "A TIME to Kill" ? It's a pretty good thriller.

69A: Villainous look: SNEER.

Down:

1D: Crystalline stone: GEODE.

2D: Beyond bad: AWFUL.

3D: Cosa Nostra: MAFIA. Their code of silence is called omertà. Cosa Nostra is literally "our thing" in Italian.

4D: NBC show with Baba Wawa skits: SNL.

6D: IOU: CHIT. Obsolete chitty, from Hindi ciṭṭhī, note, letter, from Sanskrit *citrikā, *citritā, note. (I always wondered where CHIT came from.)

7D: Queens ball team: METS. Queens, NY. And another National League team STL (31D: Initials on a Cardinal's cap: STL). Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals. Yankees won again last night.

8D: Unchallenging college course: EASY A.

12D: Trouble greatly: EAT AT.

18D: "My guess is ...": I'D SAY.

26D: TV's Nick at __: NITE.

28D: 'Zine on the Net: E-MAG.

29D: Runner-up: LOSER.

32D: Dove sound: COO. And 39D: Cow sound: MOO. Now what does the ghost say?

33D: Golf ball path: ARC. Not necessarily, with some of my shots!

35D: Other, in Mexico: OTRO.

37D: Had followers: LED. Nice clue.

41D: Military command center: BASE. Might be OFF LIMITS.

45D: Stop in on: VISIT.

47D: Ad to lure you in: TEASER. Like ads for LOSS LEADERS.

49D: __ of joy: new baby: BUNDLE. Ahh...

50D: Popular PC interface before Windows: MS-DOS.

55D: Synagogue leader: RABBI and 56D: Muslim's faith: ISLAM and they are right next to each other.

60D: Letters in a box: MAIL.

61D: Singer Guthrie: ARLO.

65D: Lawyer: Abbr.: ATT. Hahtool/Lemonade, do you use ATT or ATTY often?

Answer grid.

Argyle