Sunday August 15, 2010 Gia Christian

Theme: Knock 'Em Dead - Letter M at the beginning of one of the words in each of these familiar phrases is dropped. The vowel sound remains the same.

23A. What would trouble Trixie if the Kramdens moved away? : ABSENCE OF (M)ALICE. The base phrase is Absence of Malice. Alice Kramdens is from "The Honeymooners". Trixie is her best friend. M precedes short A.

51A. Parallel world? : (M)OTHER EARTH. Mother Earth. Short O.

69A. Badly burned British dish? : BANGERS AND (M)ASH. Bangers and Mash. Bangers = Sausages. Lois probably still could taste them. Short A. Triple B alliteration in the clue.

85A. Pint-drinking buddies' experience? : (M)ALE BONDING. Male Bonding. Long A.

117A. 19th-century queen's tough tests? : VICTORIAN (M)ORALS. Victorian Morals. Short O. Or is it "aw" sound?

14D. "Wiggly dessert stale, kemosabe" : JELLO (M)OLD. Jello Mold. The only theme entry without a question mark. Tonto is speaking ungrammatically, telling the Lone Ranger that jellos is old. Long O.

17D. Religious dissenters? : PRAYING (M)ANTIS. Praying Mantis. Dissenter = Anti. Short A.

61D. Type that regularly visits Willy Wonka's factory? : CHOCOLATE (M)ILK. Chocolate Milk. Type = Ilk. Short I.

83. Mischievous long-eared critter? : (M)ARCH HARE. March Hare. Mad as a march hare. Arch = Mischievous. I am only familiar with the "roguish/sly" meaning of arch. AR combination.

Fun puzzle from Rich Norris. Gia Christian is his alias name, an anagram of "Again, it's Rich".

No E or U is in play. I can think of (M)EAT BALL or (M)UTE POINT/BUTTON. Rich might have considered other ME* and MU* options and did not think the phrases are sparkly enough. Or sometimes the transformed phrases do not lend themselves to easy clues. Another reason for the discard.

Rich divided his upper and lower edges into three rather than standard Sunday four sections, so quite a few long words there. No helper/cheater square in this puppy either.

Very neat theme answer placement. Noticed how none of the theme entries (with four Downs) crosses each other? Artful! Rich evenly spread them in every part of the grid and gave solvers something theme-y to nibble everywhere.

On Sunday grids, we sometimes see all the theme answers placed in Across. More often two are placed in Down and intersected by some Across theme entries.

Total 13 Fill-in-the-Blank answers. Made the solving easier. Four entries with individual A as the start. A bit too much. Most of the other multi-words are quite interesting.

Across:

1. Citrus source : LIME TREE. Wish we had a lemon tree in our yard.

9. __-Turkish War : ITALO. 1911-1912. Fought between Ottoman Empire and Italy. Unknown to me.

14. Quartz variety : JASPER. Usually red. And usually our answer is ONYX.

20. Boss's okays, often : INITIALS

21. Twangy : NASAL

22. Duck à l'orange, e.g. : ENTREE. Have never had the dish.

25. "Gil Blas" novelist : LESAGE (Alain). I remember we had LESAGE as the answer before. And I tried to remember it as LE SAGE.

26. __-jongg : MAH

27. Half a dance : CHA. Cha Cha.

28. Daily opinion page, briefly : OP ED

29. Van Gogh works : OILS

31. Designer monogram : YSL

32. Whacked, biblically : SMOTE

34. Key of Brahms's Symphony No. 4 : E MINOR. Used Spitzboov's either MINOR or SHARP theory.

36. Notorious '80s-'90s crime boss : GOTTI. The Dapper Don.

38. Three-handed card game : SKAT. And WAR (84D. Simple card game). Card game echo.

39. Regret deeply : LAMENT

41. Maker of Nutri-Grain Waffles : EGGO. Crossing IGGY (30D. Pop of rock). Double Gs.

43. Cell messengers : RNAS. Thought of cell phone first.

46. Roman holiday : FESTA. Literally "holiday" in Italian. Nice play on the movie title "Roman Holiday". "Italian holiday" clue would not be so evocative.

48. "The Mod Squad" role : LINC

49. Record material : VINYL

50. Fairy tale baddie : OGRE

53. Onetime Burmese statesman : U NU. Burma's first prime minister. U = Mr. Same as the U in U Thant.

54. Go : DEPART. Al was probably thinking of the game GO.

56. Picnic spoiler : RAIN. Sorry ANTS. Next time.

57. Cars over the road : ELS. I need a train/rail reference.

58. Rocking Turner : TINA

59. Sonoma and Safari : GMCS

62. Mauna __ : LOA

64. Computer acronym : ASCII

66. Customer file ID : ACCT NO

68. Fed. medical org. : NIH (National Institutes of Health)

72. Red-and-white supermarket logo : IGA (Independent Grocers Alliance). Can never remember the name.

73. Bottom line, ideally : PROFIT

75. When gluttons eat : OFTEN. "When" made me think of a specific time. Then I parsed the answer as OF TEN.

76. Tick off : IRK

77. Rehab admission : USER. Or abuser.

78. Hail __ : A CAB. I wanted MARY.

79. Get to work again : FIX. Hey, no RE in the answer. Nice!

80. "Take __ from me": A TIP

82. Nova __ : SCOTIA

84. Bentley of "American Beauty" : WES. Saw the movie. Don't remember him.

91. Jazz immortal : ELLA. Sure immortal in Xword. And SET (45D. Jazz group?). Jazz echo. The latter refers to Utah Jazz, correct?

92. Do a double take, say : REACT

94. Wool: Pref. : LANI. Who knows?

95. Addition symbol : CARET. Like ^ . Editing addition.

96. Fanaticism : ZEAL

97. Golfer's option : CART. Many of the senior PGA guys take cart.

98. From the heart? : AORTAL. Superb clue.

100. "Soap" family name : TATE. I peeked at the answer sheet. The names are killing me.

101. PC troubleshooters : TECHS

103. Courses at bars : SALADS. Very rewarding to make salad out of our own garden now.

105. Idyllic spots : EDENS

107. Own, to a Glaswegian : HAE. Have.

109. "Excuse me ..." : AHEM

111. Store of ore : LODE. Nice rhyme.

112. Cheerleader's word : RAH

113. Space : GAP

115. Richards of "Jurassic Park" : ARIANA. First encounter with this actress.

121. Not as chilly : MILDER

122. Prosecutor's burden : PROOF

123. Perturbs : AGITATES

124. Bully's dare : MAKE ME. I hope the bully in our school is in jail now. Very bad guy.

125. Personnel : STAFF

126. Ship's cargo list : MANIFEST. Good word.

Down:

1. Neeson of "The A-Team" : LIAM. Liked his Oskar.

2. To-do pile site : IN BASKET. I only have IN TRAY.

3. Hodgepodge : MISHMASH

4. Automne preceder : ETE. Automne = Autumn. French.

5. Touch of color : TINCT

6. "The Sea Around Us" author Carson : RACHEL. Nope. Complete stranger. Marine biologist and nature writer. Must be very famous to be on the stamps.

7. Zeno's home : ELEA. Zeno of Elea.

8. That, in Tijuana : ESO

9. If nothing else works : IN A PINCH. Awesome fill.

10. Scout's discovery : TALENT

11. "... say, and not __" : AS I DO

12. Europe's __ de Genève : LAC. Lake. LPGA's annual Evian Masters is played around that area.

13. Dairy case item : OLEO

15. "__ of robins ..." : A NEST. No idea. "... A nest of robins in her hair...___ of robins ...". From Kilmer's poem "Trees".

16. OK and others : STS (States). OK = Oklahoma.

18. Bean measures? : EEGS. Bean = Head.

19. Virginia __ : REEL

24. Instigate : FOMENT

33. Aquatic frolickers : OTTERS

34. Middle East VIP : EMIR

35. Restrains : REINS IN

37. Torrid Zone boundary : TROPIC. I only know tropical zone.

38. Bay Area hub: Abbr. : SFO

40. Friends-and-family support group : AL-ANON. Used to stump me.

42. Safari sighting : GNU. Alliteration.

44. Adapt musically : ARRANGE

45. Jazz group? : SET

47. Notre Dame's Parseghian : ARA

49. Spock, partly : VULCAN. "Live long and prosper".

52. Israeli port city : EILAT. Always wanted HAIFA.

55. Inscribe : ETCH

57. Southend-on-Sea's county : ESSEX. Not familiar with Southend-on-Sea. A seaside resort in Essex.

59. Econ. measure : GNP (Gross National Product)

60. Word with drug or mile : MIRACLE. Didn't jump out to me immediately.

63. Previously : AGO

64. Museum exhibitor : ARTIST

65. Uganda's Amin : IDI

66. Invite as one's date for : ASK TO

67. Wake maker : OAR. The wave behind boat "wake".

69. Netanyahu of Israel, familiarly : BIBI. Used to have a crush on him.

70. Results : EFFECTS

71. Lawrence's land : ARABIA. "Lawrence of Arabia".

74. Femme __ : FATALE

77. Keep current : UPDATE. Nice alliteration too.

81. Business mag : INC. OK, has anyone actually read the INC magazine?

82. Speaks in slang? : SEZ

85. What you might take if you're tired? : A LOAD OFF. Another gorgeous answer.

86. Food storage area : LARDER

87. Sinus specialists, briefly : ENTS. ENT = Ear, Nose, and Throat

88. Reagan-era scandal : IRAN GATE

89. Proprietor's calculation : NET SALES

90. Onetime AT&T rival : GTE

93. Relax : EASE

98. Many : A LOT OF

99. Get closer, as to hear better : LEAN IN. Not a phrase I use.

102. Cave __: beware of the dog : CANEM. This cave and the caveat in "Caveat Emptor" is the same root I presume?

104. Foil maker : ALCOA

106. Hindu loincloth : DHOTI. Like this, Vidwan? We also have RAGA (112. Hindu music style).

107. "Go for the Goal" autobiographer : HAMM (Mia). Easy guess.

108. Operatic highlight : ARIA

110. MLB honorees : MVPS. My avatar was MVP once. Still on DL due to concussion.

114. It ain't quite "Hey!" : PSST

116. Drink stand buy : ADE. Meh!

118. NYC subway : IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit)

119. "__ Sam": "Green Eggs and Ham" opening : I AM

120. U.K. defense arm : RAF (Royal Air Force)

Answer grid.

Here are a few beautiful scenic pictures from JD's recent Oregon gathering with Dick, Carol and their spouses. What is that stuff in Picture #1?

C.C.

Saturday August 14, 2010 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total word: 72 / Total block: 30

Average word length: 5.42

This puzzle is framed by triple stacks of horizontal 11s in the top and bottom sections:

4A. Versatile crafts item : PIPE CLEANER. Only know the cleaning pipe cleaner. Not aware of the craft type.

16A. Decisive stroke : COUP DE GRACE. Literally "stroke of mercy".

18A. Eagle, notably : LUNAR MODULE. Was thinking of the band Eagles. This might be Barry's seed entry.

50A. "Mr. Television" : MILTON BERLE. Always nice to see a full name.

55A. Error result, often : UNEARNED RUN. Did you think of baseball immediately?

57A. Region of the North 30-Across : SARGASSO SEA. And ATLANTIC (30. It covers about 20% of the Earth's surface). These two do not consist a mini-theme as they are not symmetrically placed. Just a simple cross-reference.

Barry seems to be fond of clue cross-references now, esp in his themeless puzzles. Also, no more expected pangram. I think he's focused more on clean & smooth fill rather than scrabbliness. He also debuted quite a few new entries in this grid.

Total eleven 7-letter answers, all of them are in Downs, mostly placed in each corner paralleling one another.

Across:

1. Year in Pope Innocent III's reign : MCC. 1200. His reign: 1198-1216. Who knows? Why is he called "Innocent"?

15. "Memories __ Made Of This": 1956 chart-topper : ARE. Easy guess.

17. Sweetie : HON

19. Fills in for : ACTS AS

21. Much cybercommunication, briefly : IMS

22. One of the fam : SIB

23. Beat : THROB. Only one vowel.

24. Bean named for the Italian word for "bean" : FAVA. Good to know.

26. Default consequence, for short : REPO. Oh, auto payment default.

27. "Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies" author : MEAD (Margaret). Her name escaped me.

28. See 51-Down : SALE. And TAG ( 51D. With 28-Across, bargain hunters' mecca). Tag sale.

29. "Find out" : GO ASK

32. 1970s New York mayor : BEAME (Abe). From 1974-1977. He's in my memory shelf now.

33. Dessert shaper : JELLO MOLD. Did not come to me easily. I don't eat jello.

35. Have an outstanding loan from : OWE TO

37. Lengthen : PROTRACT. I like this entry too.

41. Damage indications : SCARS. What damage?

42. They aren't behind you : FOES. Tricky clue.

43. Under the decks : ALOW. As opposed to "aloft". Stumped me last time.

44. "Listen!" : HARK

45. Swell and dandy : FOPS. Swell and dandy here are nouns rather than adjectives.

46. Not a good thing to make in a restaurant : SCENE. Great clue.

47. Wall St. hedger : ARB (Arbitrager)

48. Salyut successor : MIR. Russian for "peace". De-orb-ed in 2001.

49. Vehement : FIERCE

54. Toon, familiarly, who debuted in "Devil May Hare" (1954) : TAZ. No idea. The Tasmanian Devil.

56. Threshold : EVE

58. German article : DER. German "the".

Down:

1. Sanskrit for "great soul" : MAHATMA. Tagore gave Gandhi this title.

2. Work with hooks : CROCHET. Literally "small hook".

3. Main : CENTRAL. Wouldn't be nice to see this entry in the very center of the grid?

4. Techie training site : PC LAB

5. Markers : IOUS. Don't know this slang meaning of "marker".

6. "I'd like to study philosophy, but I just Kant," e.g. : PUN. Buckeye's style of pun.

7. AQI calculator : EPA. Barry used AQI (Air Quality Index) in his grid before. Twice I think.

8. Windows disk designation : C DRIVE. My recovery is D Drive. I don't really understand why.

9. Auxiliary proposition : LEMMA. Need your help. I don't grok the clue and the answer means nothing to me

10. Strong ones may clash : EGOS. An echo from our hidden EGO on Thursday.

11. Dull ending? : ARD. Ending to the word dullard. Also drunkard. No other way to clue ARD.

12. Ad follower : NAUSEAM. Ad nauseam.

13. Surpass : ECLIPSE

14. Adidas subsidiary : REEBOK

20. Counterworker? : SODA JERK. Why question mark?

24. Tank : FAIL

25. Portmanteau drink : ALCOPOP. Portmanteau of alco(hol) and pop. Barry used this entry in his March 6, 2010 puzzle.

26. It might be a drag : ROAD RACE. Windhover would have nailed this one.

28. Battleground of 1944 : ST. LO. Or CAEN. They are close.

29. Moolah : GELT. Hanukkah moolah.

31. Prudential Center team : NETS. NBA.

32. Ballpark chorus : BOOS

34. G.I. fare : MRES

35. Tin whistle relative : OCARINA. Literally "little goose" in Italian. Oca = Goose.

36. Canary, at times : WARBLER

38. Tipped off : ALERTED

39. Like band shells : CONCAVE. Had to google "band shells" image to see what they are.

40. Grooming tool : TWEEZER. Love my teezer.

41. Detective, in slang : SHAMUS. New slang to me.

42. Business issue since 1917 : FORBES. Wow, such a long history.

45. Espoo natives : FINNS. Espoo is Finland's second largest city. At the bottom. Quite close to Helsinki.

46. City S of Florence : SIENA. In Tuscany.

48. New Mexico county or its seat : MORA. Too obscure for my taste. Three geography clues in a row!

49. Drawing device : FLUE. I sure was not thinking of chimney, Santa!

52. Shogun's capital : EDO. Shogun is derived from Chinese "Jiangyun" (general).

53. Where to see some sleepers: Abbr. : RRS. Railroad "sleepers".

Answer grid.

Blogger's new Spam Filter feature continues to spam comments with blue links in them, regardless of who the posters are. It seems that those linked posts appear immediately once published, but then disappear into the Spam Box until Argyle and I un-spam them. Please have patience. Thanks. Things are fine with normal text-only/link-less posts.

Updated @9:43am: Blogger seems to have ironed out the link problem. Everything is OK now.

C.C.

Friday August 13, 2010 Julian Lim

Theme: Film at the Animal Farm - Part of five theme entries (including four movies) is punnily substituted by the sound the corresponding animal make, and the clues and answers together form a funny animal "what film to watch" decision-making story.

17A. The animals were bored, and the cows suggested a __ : MOO-VIE NIGHT. The base phrase is Movie Night. Cows moo.

20A. "Great idea!" said the goats. "Let's watch '__'" : MAA-S ATTACKS. Mars Attack!. Directed by Tim Burton. Goats maa. The first two and the last two theme answers have an impressive 7-letter overlap.

35A. "How lowbrow!" said the cats. "We much prefer '__'" : THE COLOR PURR-PLE. The Color Purple. Not a familiar movie to me. Cats purr. The only entry where the pun is on the last word instead of the first. I'd prefer the central entry puns on Prince's "Purr-ple Rain", so the sound would be consistent with the other theme entries. The resulting phrase has 11 letters, nice but not ideal for the central entry. Constructors prefer a central 15-letter grid spanner as it's easier to work around.

50A. "Too serious!" said the pigeons. "Why don't we go with '__'?" : COO HAND LUKE. Cool Hand Luke. Starring the great Paul Newman. Pigeons coo.

55A. But in the end, the sheep had their way, and they all watched "__" : BAA-BAA-RELLA. Barbarella. Jane Fonda movie. Sheep baa.

Fun theme. Reminds me of John Lampkin's "Pet Food" puzzle, in which part of a common food/beverage is substituted with the sound the animal make.

The cluing is fun too. Patrick Berry uses this style in some of Chronicle of Higher Education puzzles. John Lampkin also employs this clue/answer combination story in his "The Clothier's Apprentice".

The clue for ELENA (45A. Supreme Court nominee Kagan) is obviously not updated, since she just became our Supreme Court justice last Saturday. Rich Norris edits all the puzzles a month in advance, hence the error.

Across:

1. Weenie : TWERP. Was thinking of hot dog.

6. Certain alien : LEGAL. "Alien" always refers to "foreigner" rather than "extraterrestrial being" in late week puzzle.

11. With 58-Down, "Taking Woodstock" director : ANG. And LEE (58D. See 11-Across). New Ang Lee reference to me.

14. Many an IM user : AOLER. All of its letter components can be the first & second letter of any word, very construction friendly. So, you keep seeing it again and again.

15. "But I don't want to go among mad people" speaker : ALICE. "Alice in Wonderland". Was ignorant of the quote.

16. Co. in Cannes : CIE. Kazie explained this before.

19. False pretense : ACT

22. One may have an undulating floor : FUNHOUSE. I've never been to one.

26. Viti Levu is its largest island : FIJI. Stumper. I don't know where Viti Levu is. Fiji's capital Suva is in this island and the majority of Fijians live here, a la Wikipedia.

27. Salt's salutations : AHOYS. Alliteration. Salt = Sailor.

28. Nouveau riche : UPSTART

31. Piece conclusion : CODA. Did you think of "musical piece" immediately?

32. Software for creating bibliographies : ENDNOTE. Not aware of this software.

40. Check for flaws : INSPECT

41. Give __ up: assist : A LEG

42. Cry at a faith healing : I CAN SEE. Nice multi-word.

46. Abolitionist Lucretia : MOTT. No idea. She's a Quaker.

47. 1949 Gatsby portrayer : ALAN LADD. I only know Robert Redford's "The Great Gatsby".

54. Sanctioned : OK'D

60. Jar head : LID. Of course I fell the trap of reading the clue as one word Marine "Jarhead" and thinking of Dennis & Argyle.

61. "Bye!" : ADIEU

62. Say "Hi!" to : GREET. I like the consecutive "Bye" and "Hi".

63. L'École __ Roches: French private school : DES. I suppose you can deduce if you know French, since "des" = de + les. Too much for me.

64. Support pieces : BASES

65. Produce some cliff notes? : YODEL. Because there are lots of cliff and mountains in the Swiss Alps?

Down:

1. Highlander's cap : TAM

2. Seek support from : WOO. Or seek affection.

3. Jeff Lynne's band : ELO. Easy guess.

4. MLK's title : REV

5. Piano duet parts : PRIMOS. Not a familiar "primo" definition to me.

6. Turner and Wood : LANAS. Lana Wood is the sister of Natalia Wood.

7. Beethoven title name : ELISE. "Für Elise".

8. Inverse of nano- : GIGA. Nono= one billionth. Giga = billion.

9. Eight, in Aachen : ACHT. Well, gimme for Kazie/Spitzboov I am sure. It escaped me again.

10. Lithuanian's neighbor : LETT. Latvian.

11. Whistling thorn, e.g. : ACACIA. First encounter with whisteling thorn.

12. Channel for little kids : NICK JR. Total unknown to me. Owned by Viacom.

13. Laughs at a joke : GETS IT

18. Perrier, e.g. : EAU. Quite expensive bottled water.

21. Nevertheless : AFTER ALL

22. Trivia buff's fodder : FACT

23. "Here comes trouble!" : UH OH

24. Anatomical knot : NODE

25. Plant with colorful flower clusters : HYACINTH. Named after the Greek mythological figure who was loved and accidentally killed by Apollo.

28. Gender-biased, briefly : UNPC. PC = Politically Correct.

29. Sulk : POUT

30. Violas' sect. : STR (String)

32. More : ELSE

33. Informal turndown : NOPE

34. "Forgot About __": hip-hop hit : DRE. No idea. By Dre, obviously.

36. Walk-__: bit parts : ONS

37. Fervent request : PLEA

38. Give conditionally : LEND

39. Quaint "Yowza!" : EGAD. Lucina uses "Yowza!" often.

42. "Turn up the heat!" : I'M COLD. Finally it's going to cool off a bit here in MN. So hot and humid in the past few weeks.

43. Lunchbox snack : COOKIE

44. Like bitter rivals : AT ODDS. Had difficulty parsing the answer.

45. Verve : ENERGY

47. "The Zoo Story" playwright : ALBEE (Edward). Have never heard of the play.

48. Events where the dessert haupia is served : LUAUS. What is haupia?

49. Dossier abbr. : A.K.A. Oh, police dossier.

51. Rhyme scheme in many sonnets : ABAB. Wish Clear Ayes were here.

52. Bupkis, in Barcelona : NADA. Bupkis is Yiddish for nothing. Another unknown to me.

53. Address site : DAIS

56. Ranch closing? : ERO. Closing for the word ranchero. Gimme, Lois?

57. Spearheaded : LED

59. Part of NATO: Abbr. : ATL

Answer grid.

Here is a recent photo of our quick-witted trombonist Jazzbumpa, who's been on vacation with his talented grand-kids the past few days, thus the sparse appearances. All the fill symmetries have been feeling ignored, Jazzbumpa!

Finally, I'd like to say a special "Thank you" to Spitzboov for a beautiful Annin US flag (3'X5") he surprised me yesterday. When Boomer opened the package and told me the story, I was AGOG and could not stop saying "Oh, my God, oh, my God..". Boomer later showed me how to fold the flag properly.

I then discovered that the Marines raised an Annin flag in Iwo Jima, and the NASA Apollo 11 moon flag is an Annin also. I wonder if those flags draping the coffins of our fallen soldiers are Annin.

I just cast my first vote as a US citizen in the primary on Tuesday, and this flag, made in the US and sent from a former Navy "salt", means a lot to me. Xie Xie, Spitzboov! I'll never take my privileges & rights as a citizen for granted.

C.C.

Thursday August 12, 2010 Bruce Venzke

Theme: Self-centerdness or INNER SELF (65A. A synonym for it is hidden in 17-, 24-, 40- and 52-Across) - The word EGO is found somewhere in the middle of all the theme answers and is consistently broken between the E and the G. A minor inconsistency is that one answer has three words instead of two, but since "THE" doesn't really count in book titles, we'll just overlook that, right?

17A. "Good job!": NICE GOING.

24A. Hughes Aircraft prototype: SPRUCE GOOSE.

40A. Sermonize: PREACH THE GOSPEL.

52A. Game with discs and baskets: FRISBEE GOLF. Also called FOLF.

Al here.

Definitely a Thursday step-up in difficulty for me, I had to keep going back and forth chipping away at words a letter at a time in places, but it finally fell with no help other than the perps.

Across:

1. Eponymous salad creator: COBB. Named for the owner of the restaurant it was created, Robert Howard Cobb, first cousin of baseball legend Ty Cobb.

5. "Man Plus" author Frederik: POHL. A Sci Fi novel about remotely inhabiting specially created bodies to exist on a planet which is not capable of sustaining human life. Sounds suspiciously like part of the plot of Avatar...

9. Moral fiber: SPINE. Grow a backbone!

14. Its juice is sometimes used to treat heartburn: ALOE. Interesting thing to know...

15. Award for "Rent": OBIE. Off Broadway theatre awards, the "ie" was probably added to make them sound like Emmy, Grammy, I'm guessing. Or perhaps just O. B. with the "b" spelled out differently than a crossword answer.

16. John of Middlesex: ELTON. Middlesex, England, origin from "middle Saxtons". Sir Elton Hercules John, (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight).

19. Colorful stable residents: ROANS.

20. Major malfunction: SNAFU. Situation Normal, All Fouled Up. JANFU is Joint Army-Navy Foul Up. FUBAR is Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition. The process of substituting foul for a different four-letter word is called bowdlerization or expurgation, named after Thomas Bowlder, who "cleaned up" Shakespeare to be more "fit" for women and children.

21. Certain analyst's input: DATA. A data analyst sorts, organizes, sifts through numbers looking for correlations or interesting anomalies on which to base business decisions. For example, did a coupon significantly increase sales?

23. Gymnast Mary __ Retton: LOU. First female gymnast outside of Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title.

28. Moscow ballet theater: BOLSHOI.

32. Cheerleader's offering: YELL.

33. Psych finish: OTIC. Added suffix: psychotic. From Gk. psykhe "the soul, mind, spirit, breath, life, the invisible animating principle or entity which occupies and directs the physical body" (personified as Psykhe, the lover of Eros)

34. Kin of a 911 call: SOS. It later became a "bacronym" associated with "save our ship" or "save our souls". It initially (pun?) didn't actually have any meaning other than to simply be three easy recognizable letters in Morse Code, consisting of three dots, three dashes and then three dots.

36. Objects of look-ups?: IDOLS. Lots of google searches for famous people. And 44A. Judge of many 36-Across: PAULA. Abdul. Left the show last season, and this season it looks like Randy will be the only original judge returning. Did anyone see the shark jumping?

45. Bauxite, e.g.: ORE. For Aluminum (or Aluminium outside of the US).

46. BMW competitor: AUDI. Now owned by Volkswagon, the company name is based on the surname of the founder August Horch, meaning listen — which, when translated back into Latin, becomes Audi.

47. "At Wit's End" author Bombeck: ERMA.

50. Persistently chews on: GNAWS AT.

56. Roulette choice: RED. Roulette is French for "little wheel". Red is one type of bet.

57. Legal letter phrase: IN RE. In the matter of.

58. Travel guide: ATLAS.

63. Veggie bin staple: ONION. And 72A. Kin of 63-Across: LEEK.

68. Wrap: STOLE. From Latin stola "robe, vestment," such as might have been worn by the clergy.

69. Inland Asian sea: ARAL.

70. Response to a shock: GASP.

71. Abominations: HATES. I probably wouldn't title a list of my dislikes as "hates", but for puzzles later in the week, they do try to make the clues more obscure.

73. Walked heavily: TROD.

Down:

1. Preserves, in a way: CANS.

2. "Chocolat" actress: OLIN. Lena.

3. City near West Palm: BOCA. I'm guessing at West Palm Beach and Boca Raton, Florida..

4. Gripe: BEEF. Origin unclear, possibly US Soldiers complaints about quality or quantity of meat rations..

5. Nanki-__, son of the Mikado: POO. and 6D. "The Mikado" accessory: OBI. The Mikado is the Emperor of Japan. Nanki-Poo desires Yum Yum, who is engaged to Ko Ko, the Lord High Executioner (but created in a comic sense). Hilarity and song ensues.

7. Veda devotee: HINDU. The vedas are Hindu texts composed in Vedic Sanskrit.

8. Bequest: LEGACY.

9. Title setting for a Mozart abduction: SERAGLIO. The sequestered living quarters used by wives and concubines in a Turkish household. The Mozart Opera.

10. West Bank initials: PLO. Palestine Liberation Organization.

11. "Mr. Palomar" writer Calvino: ITALO. Total blank to me, Got it all from perps. Apparently the last novel he wrote.

12. Things to avoid: NO-NOS. Unless you're five. Then those are the things you head straight for.

13. Occur next: ENSUE. From L. insequi "to pursue". Related word: sequel.

18. Flow copiously: GUSH.

22. Place to start a round: TEE. Round of golf. The tee is the grassy area where the tee is placed.

25. Ritzy: POSH.

26. Very funny person: RIOT.

27. "Too many cooks ...," e.g.: OLD SAW. ...spoil the broth. But "Many hands make the work light."

28. 1995 comet spotter Thomas: BOPP. As Comet Hale-Bopp reached its brightest point, after Thomas photographed the comet, his brother and sister-in-law were killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. "This has been the best week of my life. And the worst," he said.

29. Other, in Madrid: OTRA.

30. Substitution word: LIEU. In lieu of. Old French for "place", so in place of.

31. Fish features: SCALES.

35. Movie station letters: SHO. Showtime.

37. "Mr. Holland's __": OPUS. Richard Dreyfus as a musician, winds up as a teacher for 30 years and wonders what he has actually accomplished. His Opus, of course, turns out to be all the pupils he has positively affected all those years, not the music he had been trying to finish.

38. Castor's mother: LEDA. Lots of variation in the mythology for this family, but this is the only consistent relationship. Sometimes Zeus is the father, sometimes Tyndareus. Pollux is sometimes Castor's twin, and sometimes his half-brother.

39. Letter opening?: SLIT.

41. Musket relatives: CARBINES. Shorter barrels...

42. "This being the case ...": ERGO. Latin "therefore," possibly from *ex rogo" from the direction," from ex "out of" + root of regere "to guide". Related words: regal and right.

43. DDE, for one: GENL. Eisenhower, general

48. Chess pieces: MEN.

49. Passé reception aid: AERIAL. A shortening of "aerial antenna".

51. Not at hand, to say the least: AFAR.

52. College newbie: FROSH. Freshman.

53. __-Wreck: RENT-A. Used cars re-purposed for economy rentals.

54. Fool: IDIOT. Baka in Japanese. Depending on inflection and suffix, baka can range in meaning anywhere from a mild and friendly "you big dummy" to bastard or a**hole or even worse. I'm told there are no actual curse-words in Japanese per se, it's all done in the emphasis or impolite manner that it is presented.

55. Category: GENRE. Old French for "sort" or "type". Related word: gender

59. USAF noncom: T-SGT. Technical Sergeant or E-6 rank in the Air Force. Falls between Staff and Master Sergeants.

60. A jet or a king: LEAR.

61. "Wait, there's more ...": ALSO.

62. Calif. group with a seven-point badge: SFPD. San Fransisco Police Department.

64. Flamenco cheer: OLE.

66. "In your dreams!" in Dundee: NAE. No in Scotland.

67. Big game animal: ELK. I was expecting something from Africa...

Answer Grid

Al

Wednesday August 11, 2010 Don Gagliardo

Theme: CEES (59D. They're hard in across answers and soft in down ones) - The 14 Cs (Record is 18) are hard sound in Across answers and soft sound in Down ones. Like Don's "Hard G" and B -29 puzzles, the four two-word theme answers (with initials C.C. and second C falling into the very middle of the long theme answers) are nominal and serve to cohere the letter C theme:

16A. French Open surface : CLAY COURT. According to Wikipedia, the French Open is the premier clay court tennis tournament in the world. Clay courts are made of crushed shale, stone or brick. Francesca Schiavone said about how the clay court tasted: "It was good. So good."

22A. Cramming session : CRASH COURSE

51A. Joker on the line : CRANK CALLER

61A. Just fall short : COME CLOSE

34D. Piano benchmark, and a feature of 16-, 22-, 51- and 61-Across: MIDDLE C. Today's constructor Don Hard-G Gagliardo (with wife Barbara) is a piano technician.

Melissa Bee here.

Notice the C lands appropriately in the middle of COME CLOSE? Brilliantly executed, Don, and what a perfect tribute to our leader C.C. and her Crossword Corner creation! (See Don's note at the bottom.)

Additional hard C (Across) entries:

8. Strip in the paper : COMIC

31. 1944 Normandy battle site : CAEN. Western France. Battle map.

54. Sway on a curve : CAREEN

58. Actor Cage, casually : NIC. Nicolas Cage.

60. Where to learn une lecon : ECOLE. French. une lecon = a lesson. ecole = school.

Additional soft C (Down) entries:

1. It's sold in cakes : RICE. I wanted soap.

2. Interweave : ENLACE

3. Regatta action: BOAT RACING

5. Prey (on), cat-style : POUNCE. Great word.

8. Makes reference to : CITES

12. Disney Store sales : CELS

17. Rain storage reservoir : CISTERN. My grandmother and her sisters had a smaller version of this to collect rainwater. In some states it's illegal to divert and collect rainwater. Insanity.

46. Domestic-looking wildcat : OCELOT. Beautiful.

48. Old cold-block bringers : ICE MEN

54. Give up : CEDE

55. Sharp : ACID

61. '70s-'80s Dodger third baseman Ron : CEY.

Across:

1. Self-titled 2000s sitcom : REBA. Something about her voice … I can't listen.

5. Missal site : PEW. From Wiki: A missal is a liturgical book containing all instructions and texts necessary for the celebration of Mass throughout the year.

13. Part of, as a surprise party plan : IN ON

14. Mitchell of music : JONI

15. Blown away : IN AWE. As i am of this puzzle.

18. Innsbruck is its capital : TYROL. In Western Austria. Had no idea. Brrrr.

19. Knock off a sub? : EAT. Sandwich. Great clue.

20. "There __ 'I' in 'team'" : IS NO. teiam. Problem solved.

21. Odessa natives : TEXANS

25. China is in it, with "the": EAST. So easy it was hard.

26. Disbelieving dying words : ET TU. And you, Brutus? Shakespeare quote from Julius Caesar, used in western culture to signify the utmost betrayal.

27. Coat on the slopes : SNOW. Parka wouldn't fit.

33. Look : SEEM. Got me for a sec, i wanted a verb.

35. Lamb's mom : EWE

36. Sot's milieu : SKID ROW. Sot = drunkard.

39. Fixed income STIPEND

41. Letter writer? : PEN. Nailed it.

42. Makizushi wrapper: NORI. Makizushi is literally "rolled sushi". Maki = Rolled. Wrapped in nori seaweed.

44. Took much more than one should have : OD'ED. Overdosed.

45. Legendary Greek vessel : ARGO

47. Francesca of "Collateral Damage" : NERI. Pretty.

49. Meat source : DELI

57. Ballesteros on the links : SEVE. Spanish professional golfer, former World No. 1.

63. Prehistoric beasts, briefly : DINOS. Dinosaurs.

64. Urgent care abbr. : EMER. Emergency.

65. "It's crystal clear" : I SEE

66. Online social appointment : E-DATE

67. Craving : YEN

68. Catfish Row opera heroine : BESS. Gershwin's instrumental adaptation of scenes from his 'Porgy and Bess.' We miss you, Clear Ayes.

Down:

4. Some : ANY. Would you like some/any?

6. Implants deeply : ENROOTS. New word for me.

7. Amusing quality : WIT

9. Colorful quartz varieties : ONYXES. Beautiful red onyx.

10. Wellington __, New York Giants co-owner for 45+ years : MARA. Died in 2005.

11. Arms-up declaration : I WON

14. Kid around : JOSH

21. Faithfully following : TRUE TO

23. "Sing __ Song": Merle Haggard hit : A SAD.

24. Salt Lake City university team : UTES

28. Like some pliers : NEEDLE NOSE. These could hurt.

29. Hold title to : OWN

30. Make an honest man of, so to speak : WED

32. Reagan biographer Peggy : NOONAN. Here they are.

36. Place to get naked, perhaps : SPA. I can vouch for that.

37. Flooey lead-in : KER. Usually we see KERPLOP.

38. Birdhouse bird : WREN. So dainty.

40. Zest in a cocktail : PEEL. Cheers.

43. Dander-raising : IRKSOME

50. Showy spring bloomers : IRISES

52. Baseball's Pee Wee : REESE

53. Affirm confidently : AVER

56. TV tabloid pioneer Barrett : RONA

62. Women's __ : LIB

Note from the constructor:

"Like my last puzzle, the inspiration for this puzzle comes from Crossword Corner. When I was reminded about my Hard G Soft G puzzle, I thought I should do a follow-up with the letter C. All the across C’s are hard, all the down C’s are soft. The theme phrase words begin with C as well, and I apologize to Jeff Chen if it appears that I copied his CC puzzle. This puzzle was actually conceived well before that, and took forever to complete. I had much difficulty with it, especially the fill. Rich insisted that I not use abbreviations for the letter C, so I had to design the puzzle very carefully to get the letter C to fall into ideal locations, particularly the down soft C’s. I added one little wrinkle to this puzzle, in case solvers were patting themselves on the back for getting the theme early on in the solving process. I arranged the theme answers so that the second C fell exactly in the center. I call attention to it with the MIDDLE C answer. We’ll see if any one notices that!"

Answer grid.

Melissa

Tuesday August 10, 2010 C.W. Stewart

Theme: Outer Clothes - The first word of the first four themes and the last word of the unifier are articles of outerwear. If you experienced déjà vu, it's because of this, just two weeks ago.

17A. Southernmost tip of South America : CAPE HORN. The Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa.

21A. Smacked someone when they least expected it? : STOLE A KISS

40A. Deadly squeezers : BOA CONSTRICTORS. No image, I know how some feel about snakes.

57A. Family crest : COAT OF ARMS . (28D __ of arms : COAT: just yesterday)

66A. Director's shout, and hint to the starts of 17-, 21-, 40- and 57-Across : "IT'S A WRAP!"

Argyle here.

Déjà boo, not nearly as tight as Harvey Estes' 27 July offering but it does have a grid spanner in the middle. (Our local paper had a story about the big snake but called it a boa restricter. A neighbor herpetologist wrote a scathing letter to the paper, upset that they could make such a basic mistake.)

Across:

1. Box-office smash : HIT

4. Hug and smooch : NECK

8. Robbins's partner : BASKIN. Baskin-Robbins premium ice cream. With more than 6,000 retail shops in 35 countries, they’re now the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops.

14. Wrigley Field feature : IVY . Go Cubbies! Image

15. "No lie!" : TRUE

16. It can be formal or informal : ATTIRE. Or outerwear.

19. Jolly-good mates : BLOKES

20. Fort with billions in bullion : KNOX. Located in Kentucky, the United States Bullion Depository, commonly called Fort Knox, is a fortified vault building located adjacent to Fort Knox. It holds about 4,603 tons of gold bullion. It is second in the United States only to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York's underground vault in Manhattan, which holds about 5,000 metric tonnes of gold in trust for many foreign nations, central banks and official international organizations.

23. Gender-neutral possessive : ONE'S

25. Besides : ELSE

26. Sew with loose stitches : BASTE

29. Thanksgiving veggie : YAM

31. It's plighted in marriage : TROTH . Old English trēowth ; related to Old High German gitriuwida, meaning loyalty, truth

35. Mid-size Nissan : ALTIMA . Automobile.

37. Have dinner : SUP

39. Arthur of "The Golden Girls" : BEA . Passed away last year.

44. Young newt : EFT

45. La Brea goo : TAR

46. Like many CIA ops : COVERT

47. Dance components : STEPS

50. Building site : LOT

52. Actor Davis : OSSIE

53. Edible Andean tubers : OCAS . Has anyone tried one?

55. Reason to swear : OATH

61. Track figures : ODDS. Racing track. Number figure.

65. Pressing : URGENT

68. Ghostly gathering : SEANCE . A ghostly gathering only if the seance is successful.

69. Like some dorms : CO-ED

70. Gold, south of the border : ORO . Spanish

71. Luggage lugger : PORTER

72. CPR experts : EMTS

73. Stroke lovingly, or the object of a loving stroke : PET

Down:

1. Hayseed : HICK

2. "Terrible" 16th-century leader : IVAN

3. Goof for good, e.g.? : TYPO. Letters DF are together in the keyboard.

4. Utmost degree : NTH

5. Jagged, as a leaf's edge : EROSE

6. Respectful bow : CURTSY

7. Numbers game : KENO

8. Biblical tower site : BABEL

9. Finally : AT LAST

10. Furnace room worker : STOKER . I don't believe they exist anymore. Their job was to shovel coal or coke into the furnace.

11. Singer __ Dee : KIKI . And now, a musical interlude.

12. Tees off : IRES

13. Suffix with kind or fond : NESS

18. Like some dancers : EXOTIC

22. King Julien XIII in "Madagascar" : LEMUR . Madagascar is a 2005 computer-animated film produced by DreamWorks Animation. Sacha Baron Cohen is the voice of the king. What a lemur looks like.

24. Verne captain : NEMO

26. Innocents : BABES

27. Floating on high : ALOFT

28. Country division : STATE

30. N.L. Central player : ASTRO . Baseball's Houston Astros.

32. Bassoon relatives : OBOES

33. Country singer Gibbs : TERRI . No relation of Special Agent Gibbs. "Somebody's Knockin'"

34. Impulsiveness : HASTE

36. Critter on a hill : ANT

38. Snapshot, briefly : PIC

41. Lively Cuban dance : SALSA

42. Old geezer : COOT

43. NBC offering : TV SHOW

48. Strong : POTENT

49. Decorative wall light fixture : SCONCE

51. Source of oater drumming : TOM-TOM . Not only in Westerns but in jungle movies, too.

54. Later than : AFTER

56. Liability offset : ASSET

57. Zodiacal border : CUSP

58. One may be dipped in milk : OREO

59. Lab gel : AGAR

60. Paddy product : RICE

62. Lead-in for cloth or kick : DROP . Drop cloth - to catch paint spatter. Drop kick - to catch the offense off guard (football).

63. Challenge : DARE

64. Brit's bit of tea : SPOT

67. Super Bowl highlights? : ADS

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday, August 9, 2010 Jeff Chen

Theme: *ULUS - Two-word phrases with ULUS as the ending of the first word. If there is more than that to it, I can't see it. Disambiguation page.

17A. Economy-boosting government program : STIMULUS PACKAGE Perhaps this was the seed entry.

28A. Exam with derivatives and integrals : CALCULUS TEST

49A. Puffy sky feature : CUMULUS CLOUD

64A. Rome's twin founders, traditionally : ROMULUS AND REMUS. Total 13 letter Us in this grid. Hard to pull it off, as U is harder to place than E, or A or other vowels.

Argyle here.

I hope Jeff may show up to enlighten us on his thought process on this ambitious Monday puzzle. Now if it seemed easy to many of you; it may be because we've seen many entries before, recently (not the theme entries, which are all very fresh.)

Across:

1. Sound near an ineffective scarecrow : CAW

4. Electrical pioneer Nikola : TESLA

9. Scandinavian inlet : FJORD

14. Chef's phrase : À LA

15. Healing plants : ALOES

16. Apple pie maker's device : CORER

20. Ex-UN chief Annan : KOFI. This man.

21. GPS suggestions : RTES

22. Greek vowels : ETAS

23. Apt name for a herding dog : SHEP As in shepherd.

26. Wedgelike tools : CHISELS

32. __ Miss : OLE. The University of Mississippi

33. Game originally named "The Conquest of the World" : "RISK" A game that takes forever to get going but ends in a hurry.

34. Gold or silver, e.g. : MEDAL. I was stuck on METAL for a long time

38. Baldwin of "30 Rock" : ALEC

40. Line spoken to the audience : ASIDE

43. Actor's assignment : ROLE

44. Big name in chicken : TYSON

46. She gets what she wants : LOLA

48. Wall Street index, with "the" : DOW. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA).

53. Hall of Fame Celtic whose initials are his given name : KC JONES. Basketball player and coach.

56. Spanish cat : GATO

57. Pakistan neighbor : IRAN

58. Benelux country: Abbr. : NETH. The Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe that comprises three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg.

60. Strong-jawed device : VISE

68. Makes a scarf, say : KNITS

69. One-eighty : U-TURN

70. Dot on a die : PIP

71. Dost lay one's eyes on : SEEST. It's in the book, the Good Book.

72. "For __ sake!" : PETE'S

73. Messy place : STY

Down:

1. Sherry container : CASK. Sherry is a fortified wine made from white grapes that are grown near the town of Jerez, Spain. The word "sherry" is an anglicization of Jerez. It is stored in 600-litre casks that are made of North American oak, which is slightly more porous than French or Spanish oak.

2. Choir part : ALTO

3. Homeless child : WAIF

4. Cross shape : TAU

5. Bent pipe shape : ELL

6. One with a grumpy scowl : SOURPUSS

7. "__ we forget" : LEST

8. Appearance : ASPECT

9. TV monitoring gp. : FCC. Federal Communications Commission

10. Wisecrack maker : JOKESTER

11. Give a speech : ORATE

12. Fit for a king : REGAL

13. Word with sun or evening : DRESS

18. Catchall abbr. : MISC

19. Tennis legend Arthur : ASHE

24. "Ben-__" : HUR

25. "East of Eden" director Kazan : ELIA. "East of Eden" is a 1955 film, directed by Elia Kazan, and loosely based on the second half of the novel East of Eden by author John Steinbeck. It had James Dean in his first major screen role.

27. Belief: Suff. : ISM

28. __ of arms : COAT

29. Comrade in arms : ALLY

30. Wranglers alternative : LEES

31. Proficiency : SKILL

35. Knucklehead : DODO

36. Baseball's Felipe or Moises : ALOU

37. Ribald : LEWD

39. Hard-shelled palm fruits : COCONUTS

41. Dunked morning snack : DOUGHNUT

42. Film lioness : ELSA. Nice kitty.

45. Sister : NUN

47. "Sister __": Whoopi Goldberg film : ACT

50. List of choices : MENU

51. Runs out of : USES UP

52. Score before 15, in tennis : LOVE

53. Actor Douglas and baseballer Gibson : KIRKS. Gibson was an outfielder who batted and threw left-handed. He spent most of his career with the Detroit Tigers but also played for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kansas City Royals, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

54. Witch : CRONE

55. Farr or Foxx : JAMIE. Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Q. Klinger(Farr) or actor, stand-up comedian, and singer(Foxx)

59. London's __ Britain art gallery : TATE

61. Rascals : IMPS

62. Three-piece attire, maybe : SUIT

63. Glimpse : ESPY

65. WWII transport : LST. Landing Ship, Tank

66. Dr. of rap : DRE

67. Dr.'s co-workers : RNS. NOT Dr. Dre's.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday August 8, 2010 Dan Schoenholz

Theme: "Somet(h)ing's Missing" - Letter H is dropped from common CH, SH & TH starting two-word phrases. The vowels following the *H combination are all different and the vowel sounds remain the same after the drop.

27A. Plan a Big Apple heist? : C(H)ASE MANHATTAN. Base phrase here is Chase Manhattan. CH + Long A combination.

42A. Snorkeling? : T(H)ANKLESS TASK. Thankless Task. TH + Short A.

60A. Portfolio for retirement planning? : S(H)AVING KIT. Shaving Kit. SH + Long A.

70A. Do a Gap stockroom job? : S(H)ORT PANTS. Short Pants. SH + Diphthong OR.

86A. Clothes dryer, so it's said? : S(H)OCK ABSORBER. Shocking Absorber. SH + Short O. fun clue. Nicely crossing PAIRS (71D. An 86-Across may break them up).

101A. Made off with the meat? : C(H)OPPED SIRLOIN. Chopped Sirloin. CH + Short O. "Make off with" = COP = Steal.

37D. Iguana pals in Ecuador? : T(H)REE AMIGOS. Three Amigos. THR + Long E in EE spelling. Oh, dear, I had no idea that iguana live in trees. Hence TREE AMIGOS.

45D. Shamu's arena? : S(H)EA STADIUM. Shea Stadium. SH + Long E in EA spelling. (Correction: It's SH + Long A sound in EA spelling. The only theme answer where there is vowel sound change.)

Fantastic theme title! I actually read it as "Something's Missing" instead of the H-dropped hint "Somet(h)ing's Missing', but grokked the gimmick after the second theme answer.

No I/U to follow those CH/SH/TH. I am sure the constructor considered those options but could not find sparkling phrases to fit his theme pattern or symmetry. I could only think of T(H)ICK AND THIN & T(H)UG OF WAR. But both are three-word phrases, so out and out!

Also no WH or PH play. I suspect those combination starting words do not lend themselves well to H drop.

Very enjoyable solving. Sunday puzzles are huge, but they are pegged mostly at Wednesday difficulty level. The grid breakdown is also very solver friendly, lots of accessible four-letter (52 in this grid) and 5-letter (45 today) words.

Across:

1. Mardi Gras accessory bit : BEAD. Happy start for Hahtool.

5. Relished : ATE UP

10. Skinny sort : SCRAG. I only know crag. Not enough squares for my SCRAWNY.

15. Soprano Gluck : ALMA

19. Until : UP TO

20. Latte variant : MOCHA. Would have been perfect is there's absolutely no CH/SH/TH fill in the whole grid.

21. What Spanish Olympians go for : EL ORO. The gold.

22. Ready to be driven : TEED. Golf ball.

23. Father : SIRE

24. "We're finally __ own": "Ohio" lyric : ON OUR. Easy guess.

25. Needle : TEASE

26. Hullabaloo : TO-DO

30. Consequence of a strong punch? : SHINER. Slang for "black eye". I was thinking of the beverage punch.

32. Believe : FEEL

33. Squirrel (away) : SALT

34. Windblown : AEOLIAN. New word to me. From Aeolus, god of the winds in Greek myth.

35. Possibility : OPTION

38. "__ Mio" : 'O SOLE. "My Sun".

40. Microwave maker : AMANA

41. Florist's staple : FERN

45. Utah airport initials : SLC. Oh, Salt Lake City then.

48. Less restricted : FREER

50. Sediment : LEES. Wine dregs.

51. Get affectionate, with "up" : COZY

52. Santa's reindeer, e.g. : TEAM. And DUO (79. Small 52-Across).

53. Scratch (out) : EKE

54. Excuse : ALIBI

56. Direct, as one's future : SHAPE. Nice clue.

58. Where "The Nude Maja" hangs : PRADO. In Madrid. Over 100 Goyas there. Haltool linked both The Nude and The Clothed Maja before.

59. Where Mandela was pres. : RSA (Republic of South Africa)

62. Out of bed : ARISEN. And ADOZE (107. Snoozing).

63. Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, e.g. : MUPPET. I peeked at the answer sheet. Have never watched "The Muppet Show".

65. Peanut product : OIL

66. Most likable : NICEST

68. Online reading material : E-ZINES

72. All alternative : ANY

75. Unyielding : RIGID

76. Intended : MEANT

78. It might be verbal : ABUSE. Awesome clue.

80. Academic : MOOT. Dictionary has "purely academic" as the second meaning of Moot. New definition to me.

81. Southern collective? : Y'ALL

82. U.S. Treasurer Rosie : RIOS. Have never heard of this lady.

83. Car in a Beach Boys song : T-BIRD. Which song?

85. FAQ response : ANS (Answer)

90. Subterfuge : RUSE

91. Playboy bunny and others : LOGOS

92. "Amo, Amas, I Love __" : A LASS. Is this a poem?

93. Canine cover : ENAMEL. Canine teeth.

95. Nonwinner : ALSO-RAN

98. Ban target : ODOR. Read Ban as a verb rather than the noun Ban deodorant.

99. Seriously injure : MAIM

100. What you may do before you weep? : READ 'EM. Does this refer to Barry Manilow's song "Read 'Em and Weep"?

106. Jingled : RANG

109. Al __ : DENTE

110. 1944 turning point : D-DAY

112. Payment made by hand? : ANTE. I was not fooled.

113. Race official : TIMER. Always thought timer as a device rather than a person.

114. Oak, in a nutshell : ACORN. Nice clue, "in a nutshell".

115. Choice word : ELSE

116. River to the North Sea : YSER. Every letter in this river is a common word ending letter. That's why you see the river again and again at the bottom/right edge of the grid.

117. Twitch : SPASM

118. Got off the road, in a way : TOWED

119. Permits : LETS

Down:

1. Certain Volkswagen : BUS

2. Sweeping : EPIC. I don't get the clue.

3. Razor brand : ATRA

4. Has no problems : DOES FINE

5. You might need it when you're flustered : A MOMENT. To collect yourself. Great clue.

6. Like Romantic music : TONAL. What's the difference between tonal and atonal music?

7. MBA's course : ECON

8. "Nope" : UH-UH

9. Lightweight umbrellas : PARASOLS

10. Avoids a trial : SETTLES

11. Line holder, on a ship : CLEAT. Not aware of the nautical meaning. Is it like anchor?

12. Equine color : ROAN. Reddish brown.

13. Horace's "__ Poetica" : ARS

14. Doesn't push, with "on" : GOES EASY

15. Fifth-century warrior : ATTILA. Attila the Hun.

16. Téa of "Jurassic Park III" : LEONI

17. Mythical sorceress : MEDEA. Jason's wife. Lemonade knows very well how he jilted her.

18. Embellish : ADORN

28. Want ad abbr. : EEO

29. One might be hard to believe : TALE. The grammar confused me. I'd prefer the clue to be "One that might be hard to believe".

31. Response to being held up, maybe : HONK

34. Blow away : AMAZE

35. Put on the market : OFFER

36. Car allowance, preferred parking, etc. : PERKS

38. Half a quarter? : ONE BIT. Two bits = a quarter. Got me.

39. Unit of wound thread : SKEIN

40. Upon : ATOP

43. 1993 survival film : ALIVE. Was ignorant of the film.

44. Improvisational style : SCAT

46. Stow cargo : LADE

47. "Hurry up!" : C'MON

49. Croaked : RASPED

52. Speaker in the Hall of Fame : TRIS. Tris Speaker.

55. Track circuits : LAPS

56. Avoid : SKIRT

57. Dagger handle : HILT

58. Car radio feature : PRESET

61. Thug : GOON

62. Book between John and Romans : ACTS. I forgot.

64. The Big __: pitcher Randy Johnson's nickname : UNIT. Gimme. Lefty. I have his rookie card. It's not worth anything. Hall of Famer Walter Johnson (Right-handed) was nicknamed "The Big Train".

66. Agnew's natterers : NABOBS. "Nattering nabobs of negativism". Alliteration.

67. Occupied : IN USE

68. Funny Bombeck : ERMA

69. National park through which the Virgin River runs : ZION

70. Room in a casa : SALA. Casa = House. Spanish.

73. Ratched or Houlihan : NURSE. Hello, Buckeye!

74. Tyrolean refrain : YODEL. Tyrol is an province in Austria. Unknown to me.

76. Little Richard's Georgia hometown : MACON. Nicknamed "Heart of Georgia" as it lies in the geographical center of Georgia. I don't know who Little Richard is, Dennis. Safe traveling today!

77. Fraternal group : ELKS

81. Where asanas are seen : YOGA MATS. Asanas are Yoga postures.

82. Found hilarious : ROARED AT

84. Victoria's Secret catalog poser : BRA MODEL. Jazzbumpa loves Adriana Lima.

86. Ticked off : SORE

87. Salon snafu : BAD PERM

88. Cuisine for Babe : SLOP. Babe the pig.

89. Bump from behind : REAR-END

91. One of the inn crowd : LODGER

94. Zilch : NIL

95. Orderly display : ARRAY

96. Is inclined : LEANS

97. "À votre __!" : SANTE. Literally "To your health" in French.

98. Trickles : OOZES

99. Anglican Church headdress : MITRE. Like this. I can never remember the damned word.

101. Unresponsive state : COMA

102. Empire State Building style : DECO

103. Put one over on : SNOW. To deceive/fool.

104. Unoccupied : IDLE

105. Political cartoonist Thomas : NAST. He created Democrat's donkey & GOP's elephant.

108. Guacamole, for one : DIP

111. "Of course" : YES

Answer grid.

I've been enjoying MJ's always observant, sunny and caring comments, and I was so pleased that she sent me this wonderful picture to share with you. She said:

"What you'll see is a photo of our family taken yesterday (August 5, 2010) when we all got together for brunch. It's rare that we are all together, as no one has a regular M-F, 8-5pm sort of job.

Seated around the table, DIL Christianne (holding Drake, who'll be 5 months old on Sunday), middle son Andrew, DH Ray, oldest son Cameron, and his girlfriend Tess. Standing in the back. L to R, my mom Shelly, youngest son Oliver (Drake's father), and myself."

MJ is nearly 60 years old, and her husband Ray is nearly 70. But both look incredibly young, don't you think so?

C.C.