Thursday, March 12, 2015 Alex Miller

Theme: "Mad As A March Hare"

Here we have a scrambled word at the beginning of each theme entry:

20-Across. Russian composer and piano virtuoso : RACHMANINOFF.  His "Piano Concerto No. 2" is one of my favorites. 31:16 - just listen to the first 40 seconds and you might recognize it.

29-Across. Café breakfast order : HAM CREPE. Never had one.  This is the one outlier, because it is the only entry with the hidden theme spread across two words.

37-Across. TV fantasy about three magical sisters : CHARMED. I think I watched it. Once.

45-Across. Den piece : ARMCHAIR.

54-Across. Annual sports event that begins with Selection Sunday on 3/15 ... or, cryptically, a hint to the scrambled word found at the starts of 20-, 29-, 37- and 45-Across : MARCH MADNESS.

This one seemed a bit tough for a Thursday - it took me close to my Saturday time to finish. Words like FANFIC and STRADE might have tripped up more than one unwary solver.  Throw in some myrmecological cluing, and I went down many a garden path before finding my way home!

Across

1. Atkins no-no : CARB. I entered "fats"...

5. "__ bad idea" : NOT A. (Yes it was - I had "It's a" for a while.)

9. Brothers Grimm creature : FAIRY. Oh dear, why doesn't "ogre" fit???

14. Old apple spray : ALAR. Whew! Old crosswordese to the rescue.

15. Pinnacle : APEX.

16. Painful turning point? : ANKLE. Indeed, if you turn your ANKLE, it can be very painful!

17. Elizabeth of "Lone Star" : PENA. Oh, my, I am going to crash and burn for not knowing an actress from a nearly two-decades-old movie?

18. Nothing : ZERO. So far, it seems like that's what I have.

19. Experimental blast : N TEST. OK - I admit, I filled in *TEST and waited for perps to tell me whether it would be N- H- or A. But with the crossing of FAN FIC, I needed a total WAG at the N.

23. Related compounds : ISOMERS. Ah, now that's more in my comfort zone!

24. Gap : HIATUS. Take a deep breath before plowing on...

28. Italian roads : STRADE. Even though I lived in Italy for a while, I was thinking of ITERs, but still too short. I guess I needed to remember my many trips on the "A1 autoSTRADa" to finally get the correct answer.

By this time, I was really feeling like a
31. Birdbrain : NITWIT.

33. Arrived just in time for : MADE. "Phew! I made the bell!"

34. Reservoir creator : DAM.

40. Delivery person? : MOM. Well, yes.

41. Some Persians : RUGS. Hands up for "cats"?

43. Absolute ruler : DESPOT.

48. Arrival announcement : I'M HERE. Hands up for "I'M Home"?

52. Deduce : GATHER.

53. Manned the helm : STEERED.

57. Provide a spread for : CATER.

60. Script "Q" feature : LOOP. I hear they are doing away with teaching script in schools. Good idea? Bad idea?

61. In the past : ONCE.

62. Scenic route, perhaps : BYWAY.

63. Curvature : ARCH.

64. Stax Records genre : SOUL.

65. Sleep soundly? : SNORE. Ha-ha, I loved the double entendre of "sound-ly"!!

66. Milk sources for some Tibetan cheese : YAKS.
and a partial clecho:
67. Milk sources for some Greek cheese : EWES.


Down

1. Crop pants : CAPRIS.

2. Orioles' div. : A. L. EAST. Oh good grief, I may as well just throw in the towel.

3. Venom : RANCOR.

4. Hindu priest : BRAHMAN.

5. Childhood home of Jesus : NAZARETH. Well, I'm starting to get some words filled by this time.

6. Makes the first move : OPENS.

7. Actress Hatcher : TERI. (Thank you "Desperate Housewives"!!)

8. Nerve cell transmitter : AXON.

9. Story you might find on MuggleNet.com, briefly : FAN FIC. MuggleNet.com is a web site dedicated to all things Harry Potter.  "Fan Fiction" is stories written by fans (not the original author) that expand on characters or events in the original book.

10. Myrmecologist's subject : ANT FARM. Definitely a Saturday clue! From the Greek word mýrmēx (ant).

11. '50s political nickname : IKE.

12. Jekyll creator's monogram : RLS. Robert Louis Stevenson.

13. However : YET.

21. Doc : MEDIC.

22. Resistance unit : OHM.

25. Lions, Tigers or Bears : TEAM.

26. Fancy coif : UPDO.

27. Come off as : SEEM.

29. Personnel employee : HIRER. In my experience, the Personnel department simply screened the resumes, and I was the one who was the HIRER.

30. Dough dispensers, for short : ATMs.

32. Dry riverbed : WADI. I had to dig to come up with this one.
But somehow I was able to...
34. Pull with effort : DRAG. it out of the recesses.

35. Special something : AURA.

36. Co. runners : MGMT.anagement. The guys who hire.

38. Dorothy Parker's "Excuse my dust" and others : EPITAPHS. If that is really her epitaph, it's a great one!

39. Like the Taj Mahal : DOMED.

42. Bagel topping : SCHMEAR. Another one that stayed blank for a while.

44. Precisely, after "on" : THE NOSE.

46. Town crier's cry : HEAR YE.

47. JFK info : ARR.ivals

49. Prior to today, poetically : ERE NOW.

50. Save : RESCUE.

51. Fords that never got going : EDSELS.

53. Usually stained work garb : SMOCK.

55. French Open surface : CLAY.

56. Bat mitzvah dance : HORA.

57. "The Big Bang Theory" network : CBS. Gimme.

58. Author Rand : AYN.

59. Seesaw need : TWO. I seesawed back and forth between loving the devious cluing and tearing my hair out.  But by the time I got it all done, I really appreciated the challenge!
Marti

Wednesday, March 11th, 2015 Thomas Takaro

Theme: Sound or Silence. Each theme entry begins with a different duration definition in musical notation.

17A. Sandwich option : WHOLE WHEAT BREAD. A bar's worth of note or rest. When I was taught music back in the UK this was known as a semibreve.

32A. 13-mile race : HALF MARATHON. Minim in Manchester

 41A. Equine sprinter : QUARTER HORSE. Crotchet in Croydon

59A. It prohibits cruel and unusual punishment : EIGHTH AMENDMENT. Quaver to the Queen

and

1A. See the 67-Across clue : REST You can have whole, half, quarter or eighth rests ...

67A. It can follow the starts of 17-, 32-, 41- and 59-Across : NOTE And whole, half, quarter or eighth notes.

You'd better be up on your music and your rather obscure miscellany today. In the former category we have the themers, plus ASSAI, DAL SEGNO and TACET. For the latter we have RAILLERY, ARENDT, ITZA, RAWER, BASTA, CUERS and MULETEER. I find it interesting that the first five words in that list have all been used previously in puzzles constructed by Rich himself. As far as I can see, MULETEER has never appeared in the LAT before (nor the NYT either).

What is a sixty-fourth note called in England? I'm glad you asked - it's a hemidemisemiquaver.

1A gets the cross-referenced-clue-dislikers off on the wrong foot today and I'm not sure it actually adds much as opposed to just going with a straight clecho. The one theme entry I don't particularly care for is 59A. The other three are fractional units, or the unit itself, but that last one is number eight in a list.

I don't usually pay a lot of attention to solving times, but this one was close to 15 minutes, and for me that's a long time for a Wednesday.

Let's see what else we've got.

Across:

5. Suitor's purchase : ROSES

10. Geological age : AEON. Handy vowel progression for a constructor.

14. Major follower? : -ETTE. Are you allowed to have these any more? They're probably called Majorpersons now.

15. Like the accent on "passé" : ACUTE

16. Proofer's catch : TYPO

20. Good-humored banter : RAILLERY. Charlotte Bronte used this word in Jane Eyre in 1847. I'm not sure it's been used since.

21. Superstore division : AISLE

22. Mandela's org. : A.N.C. The African National Congress.

23. Wrath : IRE

24. Very, in music : ASSAI. I'll take your word for it. Maybe one of our resident musical experts can tell us the difference between, let's say, allegretto assai, molto allegretto and allegro?

26. Rats, gnats and brats : PESTS

28. Loads : A LOT

29. E. Berlin's land : G.D.R. I stopped myself after filling G-E- and then paid attention to the significance of the "E" modifier in the clue. East Berlin was the capital of the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War.

36. Prefix with European : INDO

39. Words on Alice's cake : EAT ME. She was far too polite to reply "Bite me".

40. Chichén __: pyramid site : ITZA. Located in Mexico on the Yucatan peninsula.

44. Home of the NFL's Rams : STL. St. Louis. I looked sideways at this with one eyebrow raised. I'd be OK with the "on scoreboards" kind of modifier, I'm not sure I like it as a straight abbreviation.

45. High spot : ACME

46. Indian region known for its tea : ASSAM

50. Goldman's son-in-law and partner : SACHS

52. Share of the profits : CUT

54. Poke one's nose (into) : PRY

55. What we have here : THESE

57. Borax-transporting driver : MULETEER. As I mentioned at the top, I think this is the first time the word has appeared in the LAT crossword. I don't really get the "Borax" part of the clue though - mule teams move more than just borax, and borax is not moved solely by mule teams.

62. Coastal bird of prey : ERNE

63. Met event : OPERA. Nice logo.

64. More: Abbr. : ADDL.

65. Sign that stands out : NEON

66. Old West trackers : POSSE

Down:

1. Bundle up again : RE-WRAP

2. Natural gas component : ETHANE

3. Unemotional types : STOICS

4. Spill the beans : TELL

5. Less experienced, as a recruit : RAWER. Another rarity. Personally, I'd say "more raw", this comparative form seems clumsy somehow.

6. Natural earth shade : OCHRE

7. Chop __ : SUEY. Food! Finally something to sink my teeth into. A made-in-America "Chinese" dish.

8. DFW posting : E.T.A. Fill in ET and wait for the perp. Dallas/Fort Worth airport covers an area larger than Manhattan, second in size only to Denver. I've missed connections in both places.

9. Arrange dishes and utensils on : SET

10. Skylit lobbies : ATRIA

11. Ophthalmologist's concern : EYESIGHT

12. Australian gem : OPAL. The national gemstone down under.

13. Botanical junction : NODE

18. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song : ELISA. Sung by Clint Eastwood in the 1969 movie version. I'll spare you the link.

19. Enzo's "Enough!" : BASTA! This doesn't fall into the "common Italian" bucket for me. Perhaps Marti uses this quite frequently towards the end of dinner?

24. San Antonio mission : ALAMO

25. More achy : SORER.

27. Hammer-toting god : THOR

28. The Beatles' "I __ Walrus" : AM THE. From the "Magical Mystery Tour" album. Get your dose of 60's psychedelia here.

30. Donut box qty. : DOZ.

31. Genetic letters : R.N.A. Fill in "NA" and wait for the perp. There were three of these for me today.

33. One who won't let go : LEECH

34. Produces produce : FARMS

35. Associations : TIES

36. Educ. testing data : I.Q.S

37. Bolt partner : NUT

38. Repeat symbol, in scores : DAL SEGNO. This thing. I never knew it had a name.

42. "Be silent," in music : TACET. Wouldn't it be easier to just leave the score blank? It's all very confusing, this music malarkey.

43. Filled to the limit : SATED

47. Maker of brief briefs : SPEEDO. Thankfully, most of the guys at my swim club now wear bicycle-short-style jammers rather than briefs.

48. Political philosopher Hannah : ARENDT. Crosses all the way. I had to look her up - I'm not up on my German-born political theorists.

49. South Carolina's __ Beach : MYRTLE

51. Sickly looking : ASHEN

52. Offstage aides : CUERS. I'm not buying this. Folks backstage that give an actor a line are called prompters, and that line is a prompt, not a cue. A cue comes from an action or an event, usually on stage. The cue for Antigonus to "Exit, pursued by a bear" in "A Winter's Tale" is the appearance of the bear. I'd be off that stage in a cloud of dust.

53. Forearm bones : ULNAE. My final "wait for the perp" fill after ULNA.

55. Babysitter, often : TEEN

56. Charter, as a bus : HIRE

57. Fr. wives : MMES. Madames in France.

58. Eliot Ness, e.g. : T-MAN

60. Bounce : HOP

61. GI's address : A.P.O. Army Post Office.

And ... here's the grid. I'm heading east to Washington D.C. today for a meeting tomorrow. It better have warmed up, I don't do winter!

Steve

Tuesday, March 10, 2015 John Lampkin

Theme: Rossini opera - I'll not link the overture; it's already playing in my head.

20A. *Ornamental flower with clustered blooms : SWEET WILLIAM

36A. *Blab about one's romantic life : KISS AND TELL

43A. *Luxury car until the 1930s : PIERCE-ARROW

57A. *Former PBS science show with a fruit in its title logo : NEWTON'S APPLE

65A. Body support for the end of 57-Across, in a Swiss folk tale suggested by the ends of the answers to starred clues : HEAD (Placed directly under APPLE)

Argyle here. Now this is more like it. I would not expect anything less from John.

Across:

1. Cavern effect : ECHO

5. Cornfield call : [CAW!]

8. "Frozen" studio : DISNEY

14. Amorphous mass : BLOB

15. "Say again?" : "HUH?"

16. Mercedes-Benz sedan line : E CLASS

17. Disapproving cries from bleacher "birds" : BOOs. The Boo Birds

18. Prefix with meter : ODO

19. "I do" setting : CHAPEL. And 33. "I do" : "YES"

23. Wall St. index : NYSE

24. Steeped brew : TEA

25. Badlands bovine : BISON

29. "Green Eggs and Ham" guy : SAM

31. Marshmallow-filled snack : MOON PIE

39. Brainchild : IDEA

41. "Dancing With the Stars" move : TWIRL

42. Law school newbie : ONE L. First year law student.

46. Like deadpan humor : DRY

47. Bringing up the rear : ENDMOST

48. Tail movement : WAG and 54A. Comment from Fido : [WOOF!]

50. "Speak up!" : "SAY IT!". "Good dog!"

51. Had a meal : ATE

61. African desert : SAHARA

64. Beat it : RAN. Made a hasty retreat.

66. Online form entry : USER ID

67. __-fi : SCI

68. Ireland, in poetry : ERIN

69. Sonnet features : RHYMES

70. 1930s N.L. home run king Mel : OTT. A Giant in crossword clues.

71. __ avis : RARA

Down:

1. Flows back : EBBS

2. Kids' party performer : CLOWN

3. Twaddle : HOOEY. Love it.

4. Think constantly about something : OBSESS

5. Food on the trail : CHOW. First thought, GORP.

6. Review of books? : AUDIT

7. Unbroken : WHOLE

8. Tenth: Pref. : DECI. Deca - comprised of ten.

9. Crane who fled the Headless Horseman : ICHABOD

10. Hit very hard : SLAM INTO

11. Snooze : NAP

12. Peoria-to-Cincinnati dir. : ESE

13. French designer's initials : YSL. (Yves Saint Laurent)

21. Shipbuilding wood : TEAK

22. Hedy of Hollywood : LAMARR

26. Use up cash : SPEND

27. Persian Gulf ship : OILER

28. Nice __: prude : NELLY. ...or not so nice.

30. Teeny parasites : MITES

32. At the minimum setting : ON LOW

33. "Goodness me!" : YIPES

34. Twin Cities suburb : EDINA

35. Like a run-down motel : SEEDY

37. Go after, as a mosquito : SWAT AT

38. Elton John's title : SIR

40. Linked while walking, as friends : ARM IN ARM

44. Circle of friends : COTERIE

45. H2O, to a toddler : "WAWA"

49. Burrowing rodent : GOPHER

52. Sculpted figure : TORSO

53. Put into law : ENACT

55. "The Marriage of Figaro," e.g. : OPERA

56. Knack : FLAIR

58. Rolls of money : WADS

59. Agitated state : SNIT

60. Funny Dame : EDNA. "Funny" funny dame.

61. Big __, California : SUR

62. Hearth remains : ASH

63. "Yo!" : "HEY!". "Wake up, the party's over!"

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Happy Birthday to our foodie Avg Joe! I could not locate his signature Ham and Split Pea Soup recipe on the blog last Christmas and winged it. The soup turned out to be very tasty but thick. Very filling.

Monday, March 9, 2015 Carol Hacker

Theme: Synonyms - Terms for changes in elevation.

17A. Past one's prime : OVER THE HILL

25A. Perilous course to go down : SLIPPERY SLOPE

43A. Achieves one's goal : MAKES THE GRADE

58A. Interest-paying institution : SAVINGS BANK

Argyle here. My first thought was this has a lot of echoes from recent puzzles. "Late in life" / "Over the hill" Ageism? We had a puzzle from Ms. Hacker last fall but still have no information about her. Personally, I found this effort rather flat with few redeeming qualities. I hope I'm missing something.

Across:

1. Works with yarn : KNITS

6. Anheuser-__ Brewery : BUSCH

11. Solomon, for one : JEW

14. Valium drug company : ROCHE. Swiss health-care company.

15. Snow-block home : IGLOO

16. Logger's tool : AXE

19. Doc for a kitty : VET

20. Thickness-measuring instrument : CALIPER

21. Hiker's tool : COMPASS

23. Mauna __ : LOA

24. Actress Zellweger : RENÉE

30. Margarita condiment, in Mazatlán : SAL

32. Tiny amt. of time : NSEC. (nanosecond)

33. Ballet skirt : TUTU

34. Vote in : ELECT

36. Tom Collins liquor : GIN

38. Red giant with a carbon-rich atmosphere : C STAR

39. Say with assurance : AVER

40. Red-shirted bear : POOH. No pants.

42. Prefix with bar : ISO

48. Skin openings : PORES

49. "Saw __": second "Saw" sequel : III

50. Popeye's adoptee : SWEE' PEA

53. Lacking a handle? : UNNAMED

57. Bother a lot : IRK

60. Alphabet finale : ZEE

61. Where embryos develop : UTERI

62. Do-or-die poker bet : ALL IN

63. Finale : END

64. Heat-resistant glassware : PYREX

65. Writer/director Allen with four Oscars : WOODY

Down:

1. McDonald's founder Ray : KROC

2. __ Scotia : NOVA

3. Atlantic republic at the edge of the Arctic Cir. : ICEL. All I'll say is that it's been used before(still doesn't make it right).

4. Roller-coaster ride feeling : THRILL

5. Climactic tennis match situation : SET POINT

6. Oktoberfest quaff : BIER. The 'k' clues it as German.

7. "That turns my stomach" : "UGH!"

8. Deli machine : SLICER

9. Ant complex : COLONY

10. Watson's associate : HOLMES

11. Perked pot contents : JAVA

12. Couple that's split : EXes

13. Dampens : WETS

18. Piles : HEAPS

22. Furrier's hides : PELTS

24. Cookbook contents : RECIPES

25. Streamlined : SLEEK

26. Take down a __: humble : PEG

27. Navel variety : OUTIE. Belly button.

28. School support gps. : PTAs

29. Peseta replacement : EURO

30. Tailor's line : SEAM

31. Thomas __ Edison : ALVA

35. __ suzette: dessert pancake : CRÊPE

37. Christmas quaff : NOG

38. Logger's tool : CHAINSAW

41. Round gasket : O-RING

44. Cleans with a paper towel, as a spill : SOPS UP

45. War-ending pact : TREATY

46. Shot put competitor, e.g. : HEAVER

47. Devil, in Durango : DIABLO

50. Small or medium : SIZE

51. Small songbird : WREN

52. __ out a living: barely got by : EKED

53. Windows alternative : UNIX

54. Bueno's opposite : MALO

55. City near Tulsa : ENID

56. Big Apple fashion initials : DKNY. Donna Karan New York

59. Anger : IRE

Argyle

Sunday March 8, 2015 Ed Sessa

Theme:  "Hide and Seek" - GEO is hidden (cached) in the middle of each theme answer.

 23A. *Come (to), more or less : AVERAGE OUT. This added "to" in the brackets makes the entry look like a partial. It's not.

 38A. *Subject of lengthy debate : AGE-OLD QUESTION.

 60A. *Union proposal? : MARRIAGE OFFER. Reminds me of the "Union agreement" for I DO.

 81A. *Play it safe : HEDGE ONE'S BETS

 98A. *Mitigate : TAKE THE EDGE OFF

 15D. *Sulu, for one : BRIDGE OFFICER. Our Spitzboov reached "Commander" rank. Commander Spitzboov!

 59D. *Trial movement : CHANGE OF VENUE. Two pairs of theme entries intersect in this grid. This often makes filling easier, but it takes skills & luck to make crossing happen..

Reveal entry:

120A. Hide-and-seek activity utilizing GPS ... and what is literally done in the answers to

starred clues : GEOCACHING

Very few word start with EO*, so Mr Ed's break pattern is consistently *GE O* (quite a few OF*).

Thought of CrossEyedDave immediately when I came to the reveal entry. He's into Geocaching. How's your knee lately, Dave?

 

Did any of you have trouble with the BLEW (15A. Left, in slang) clue? I just could not figure it out. Finally asked the "always there: Santa Argyle. He explained:

"Left, as in "didn't stay" 

The party was a drag so we blew the joint and went to the club."

Across:

1. Head up, in a way : CLIMB. Also 19. One on the trail : HIKER

6. Future MD's exam : MCAT (Medical College Admission Test). And 71D. 6-Across takers, e.g. : TESTEES

10. Pick-me-up pill : NO-DOZ

20. Short-cut pasta : ORZO. Never had it. You?

21. Windy City hub : O'HARE

22. Opposite of a pan : RAVE. Of course I was picturing a cooking pan!

25. Many a worm : BORER

26. Emphatic type: Abbr. : ITAL

27. Adjust, as a spreadsheet : RE-SIZE

28. Company VIP : PREZ

30. Observation platform : ROOF DECK

32. E Street Band guitarist Lofgren : NILS

34. "Mr. Pim Passes By" playwright : MILNE. This I learned from PIM clue.

37. "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" musical : GIGI

 

43. Versailles assembly : SENAT. French Senate.

46. Line partitions: Abbr. : SEGS (Segments)

47. "Friendly Skies" co. : UAL

48. Observed : SAW. And 49. Observes : BEHOLDS

51. Former red state: Abbr. : SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic). Nice clue angle. "Red state".

52. Like the bell of a trumpet : FLARED

55. Biblical shepherd : ABEL

57. South Korean sportswear company : FILA. Very popular in China. South Korean soap operas are extremely popular in China also. Lots of girls visit South Korea just for the plastic surgery.

58. Was duly humiliated : ATE CROW. Are crows actually edible?

 

64. IMO, in "Hamlet" : METHINKS. To answer your question, Dudley, there's beauty in symmetry.

66. Spare tyre sites : BOOTS

67. Old "Oyez!" shouters : CRIERS

68. "__ of robins ..." : A NEST

69. "Give Peace a Chance" co-writer, per Lennon : ONO

70. Colonial story : ATTIC. And 84. 70-Across function : STORAGE

72. Holds tight : CLINGS

75. Metal-threaded fabrics : LAMES.  Fabrics with "metallic threads". Metal-threaded brought up a different image for me.

77. Diminished : LESSENED

85. Fit to __ : A TEE

86. Of no consequence : MOOT

87. London borough : SUTTON. Not familiar to me.

89. Network with a three-box logo : BBC. Never thought of them as three boxes.

90. Admission of error : I GOOFED. Lovely 7-letter fill.

92. Swipe from : ROB

95. Cedar Rapids college : COE

96. Fountain order : SODA

97. Chief Powhatan's son-in-law : ROLFE

 

102. Reproductive cell : OVUM

104. Lee __, first African-American to play in the Masters : ELDER. I confused him with Calvin Peete.

105. Bearing a grudge : SORE

106. Scroll key : PAGE DOWN. So, what keyboard are you using? Mine is an old Microsoft Comfort 5000. Love it.

109. Where lines may be read : PALM. Nice clue.

112. Pity-evoking quality : PATHOS. Like what?

116. St. Patrick's land : ERIN

117. Medical co. in the DJIA : J AND J. Big plant in Shanghai.

122. In __ of: replacing : LIEU

123. "Shaq Diesel" rapper : O'NEAL

124. Regarding : IN RE

125. Standing tall : ERECT

126. Facility : EASE

127. __-Croatian language : SERBO

128. Word with waffle or sugar : CONE. Are you familiar with Kakigōri? So popular in Japan.

129. Bros : DUDES

Down:

1. Scorch : CHAR

2. Like many old soaps : LIVE. Soap operas.

3. Turner and others : IKEs

4. Soft-wool sources : MERINOS

5. 2014 World Cup site : BRAZIL.  And 106. Sports legend of 5-Down : PELE

6. Comedian Howard with a bowl-cut hair style : MOE. Hi there, Chairman Moe!

7. Whip handle : CROP

8. Bleu shade : AZUR

9. Aboriginal emblems : TOTEMS

10. Noodle : NOB

11. "What do we have here?!" : OHO

12. __ Criss, who plays Blaine on "Glee" : DARREN. He looks very familiar.

13. Twistable treat : OREO. National Oreo Day is March 6.

14. "Gravity" effect : ZERO G

 

16. Well beyond one's prime : LATE IN LIFE

17. FEMA concern : EVAC

18. Old TV host with an accordion : WELK

24. Neuter, as horses : GELD

29. Comic strip about a high schooler : ZITS

31. Flounder, e.g. : FISH

33. Complains : SQUAWKS. Another snazzy 7-letter fill.

35. __ Fáil: Irish "stone of destiny" : LIA. We just had it last Monday.

36. "Don't go yet" : NO, WAIT

38. State in northeast India : ASSAM

39. "Beau __" : GESTE

40. Heron relative : EGRET

41. Former Mideast org. : UAR.  Don't google. Guess who is the second Most Powerful Arab Woman in 2015?

42. K-5 or K-6: Abbr. : ELEM

44. Freud contemporary : ADLER

45. Nicholas and Alexander : TSARS

49. Mooch : BEG

50. Puts in, as a political office : ELECTS TO

52. __ benefit : FRINGE

53. Like the town in a Ricky Nelson hit : LONESOME. "Lonesome Town". Unfamiliar to me.

54. Tops, slangily : DA BOMB. For Jayce! I Really Really Like You.

56. Fundamental : BASAL

 

61. Blakley of "Nashville" : RONEE

62. Digs for bats : ROOSTS. "Digs for..." is a great misdirection.

63. Prayer : ORISON. I learned from doing crosswords. Same root as Orate.

65. Canonized fifth-cen. pope : ST. LEO

72. Offer to a guest : CHAIR

73. Move on : LET GO. I've learned to let go.

74. Guiding doctrines : IDEOLOGIES

76. Starlike : ASTRAL

78. Jar Jar Binks' home planet : NABOO. We had this before.

79. Staff sequence : EGBDF

80. "Unleaded" drink : DECAF

82. Sign of approval : NOD

83. "We are __ stuff / As dreams are made on": Prospero : SUCH

88. Tot's piggy : TOE

91. Duel precursor, perhaps : FEUD

93. Signed off on : OK'D

94. Road alert : BEEP

96. Sexy, in a way : SEE-THRU. I linked this before. Fake see-thru skirts.

98. Sawbuck : TENNER. Not a word I use.

99. Lamentable : TRAGIC

100. L-__: Parkinson's treatment : DOPA

101. Honored : GRACED

103. Magic charms : MOJOS. Argyle has magic power!

107. Musical highlight : ARIA. Still waiting for the "Vegas luxury hotel" clue for ARIA, Steve!

108. Taper off : WANE

110. Fallon's predecessor : LENO

111. Poetic time : MORN

113. Ran, old-style : HIED

114. Fairy tale start : ONCE

115. Mil. base drillers : SGTS

118. Small application : DAB. I've concluded that we don't really need eye creams/eye gels.  Moisturizers are enough.

119. "Idol" judge, familiarly : J. LO

121. Central opening? : CEE

C.C. 

Saturday, Mar 7th, 2015, Daniel Nierenberg

Theme: None

Words: 72 (missing Q,W,X)

Blocks: 27

  I would have to say it depends on one's approach to a crossword that can make all the difference.  Last week I struggled with a Silkie that most others from the corner seemed to do well on.  Today, I cruised through this puzzle with nary a hiccup.  Just over the half-way mark of my personal time, too.  Of course, a lack of personal/proper names did help tremendously, too ;7))    Anyway, triple stacks of 10's and 7's in the corners, and a pair of 8-letter fills on the inside.  Some of the longer answers;

1. It's often swiped at offices : ACCESS CARD - I thought "PAPER CLIPS" - but with "PUNCH in" at 2d., I 'ventured forth' (6d) with APPLE iPADS, which seemed logical - lots of people I know do business with a tablet these days; I'm one of them - my Home Inspections are done thru an app on my tablet, and I send the report via email.  Did you hear about Apple's new tape measure~?  It's called the "iRule"....

61a. Surrounded : UNDER SIEGE - good movie, too; featured Steven Segal as a "CPO" (q.v. 50a.) - the Wiki

O - ah - O - ah - O-ah-O-ah - O - AH  - O - nward~!

ACROSS:

11. Censor's target : SMUT - for those in the area, I had "-MU-" and considered IMUS

15. Deer, e.g. : PLANT EATER

16. Leveret's dad : HARE - huh - I thought this was a personal name, and did not get it until I looked it up during the write-up; new word for me

17. Reminder, often : POST-IT NOTE

18. Largest island in the Tuscan Archipelago : ELBA - once I had -LB-, the rest was 'E-Z' - or is that "E" "A"~!?

19. Slip in a store: Abbr. : RCT - receipt, not the "oops" of a lawsuit

20. Quarters : ROOMS - huh - a WAG that never went away; I like those guesses

21. Olympics coach Karolyi et al. : BELAs

22. "Fooled ya" : I KID

24. Corn lead-in : UNI - unicorn

25. Carbon compound found in crude oil : BUTENE - threw in the first 6-letter "fuel" I could think of; in this case, it was ETHANE, and that's strictly 33% correct

26. Closed up : SILENT - ah, a personal description, not an end-of-day routine

28. Attire for filmdom's The Mask : ZOOT SUIT

30. Month in el invierno : ENERO - Spanish~?  Month~? WAG 'enero', Spanish for January

31. Terminal : DEPOT - I have a question that I'd like everyone's feedback on; see the end of the write-up

32. Member of the fam : SIS - Started with SIB, but I did not think 14d. was going to end with "-TB" - but not unheard of; could have been "Silent B"

33. Tiny time div. : nSEC - nanosecond - or, the equivalent of 1 second to 31.71 YEARS~!  Since light travels 11.8 inches in one nSEC, it's referred to as a "light foot" - could you call that a "Gordon"~!?

35. Govt. collectors : T-MEN - I put in G-men, but T is better; refers to the Treasury

37. "Sweet!" : RAD

40. Norwegian flag feature : CROSS

42. Indian bigwig : RAJAH - Ooops, went with RANEE - that's the missus

46. Intimate : ONE-TO-ONE

48. Words to a savior : "MY HERO~!"

49. Breaks off : SEVERS - huh.  Filled this in, took it out, and ended up putting it back in

50. Naval NCO : CPO - Chief Petty Officer - e.g. Casey Rybeck (who~?)

52. Big name in shaving : ATRA - change up from the usual cluing

53. "The Girl Next Door" co-star Hirsch : EMILE - I have the DVD - but did NOT cheat; all perps

54. Work unit : JOULE - usually, it's "ERG"

56. Much : FAR - my only 'meh' for the day

57. West Virginia resource : COAL

58. Lingered : HUNG AROUND

60. Biblical preposition : UNTO - dah~! Not THOU

62. High school subject? : TEEN - is that a "high" school subject, or a high school "subject"~?  ;7P

63. Commercial success : BEST-SELLER

DOWN:

1. Inform : APPRISE - Oddly, I've heard this word twice this week

2. Start work : CLOCK IN - daH~!  Not PUNCH in

3. Medieval Iberian kingdom : CASTILE - all I had to WAG was the "I" - Love the flag

4. Fictional giant : ENT - ah, from the "Rings" movie trilogy; perps again

5. Activity : STIR

6. Venture forth : SET OUT

7. PowerShot maker : CANON - I like their printers, too

8. Reduce to minute particles : ATOMIZE

9. Soaks, as hemp : RETS

10. Beats Electronics co-founder : DRE - Bought my brother the wireless headphones for Christmas - I have not heard how good they are (pun intended), but for the price, I should be able to hear them from the next town over....

11. Rain may fall in them : SHEETS

12. Hammer-shaped bone : MALLEUS

13. Pope who initiated the First Crusade : URBAN II - the "I-I" at the end did not concern me

14. Dollhouse accessories : TEA SETS - I would love to build a custom dollhouse for my daughter - in fact, I would just love to have "a daughter"

21. Like shortbread : BUTTERY

23. "Blue Velvet" actress : DERN

25. Horizontal spar : BOOM

27. Reason for overtime : NO SCORE - say, in ice hockey.  This Wednesday, we're going to try playing with a puck instead of a ball, so I am planning on modifying a pair of skates so that I can take a shot off my toe without breaking bones - my experience has taught me that taking a ball on the toe stings like a sonofabitch; and the plastic pucks are harder....

29. Goes (for) : OPTS

31. Maker of the Ultra Set trap : d-CON - becoming a Sat crossword staple

34. Mythical archer : EROS

36. Okinawa's capital : NAHA - bottom left

37. Diamond buyer's choice : ROSE CUT

38. Red flower created from the blood of Adonis : ANEMONE

39. Digress : DEVIATE

41. Motion backing : SECONDS - we have business meetings in AA - which includes motions and seconds and voting

43. Aviation supply : JET FUEL

44. Put in order : ARRANGE

45. Compulsive subject of a former A&E series : HOARDER

47. Rat out : TELL ON

48. Grinders : MOLARS - ah, teeth, not sandwiches

51. __ Sound, part of the Salish Sea : PUGET - DAH~! Shoulda gotten this; I visited Seattle WA some years ago - I'd like to go back, too

54. Alexandrite is one of its birthstones : JUNE - Oh how I love the name Alexandra.  As for the clue, the choices were JUNE or JULY - so I filled in JU-- and waited.

55. Gaelic language : ERSE

58. Center : HUB - Our UPS center is referred to as a terminal - the largest HUB is Worldport in Kentucky; the Medford facility where I'm at is 24 years old - and it's outdated.

59. Whale __ : OIL

Splynter

 OK, so - I am working on my board game, and I have to come up with some clever street names - I have a list of some of my personal favorites, but I'd like to hear what your favorite street name is....