Monday, March 16, 2015 Amy Johnson

Theme: Jocularities - Start Monday off with a smile.

20A. McDonald's freebies : HAPPY MEAL TOYS

27A. Multi-day event featuring rainbow flags : GAY PRIDE WEEK

43A. Ride with wooden horses : MERRY-GO-ROUND

51A. Fruit-flavored hard candies : JOLLY RANCHERS

Argyle glad to be here. Well done, Amy.

Across:

1. Ignore the teleprompter : AD LIB

6. Take for a ride, so to speak : SCAM

10. Pyramid, to Tut : TOMB. The Boy King. (Buried in his Jammies)

14A. Supermodel Klum : HEIDI. Half akimbo?

19A. Sedgwick of "The Closer" : KYRA. The other half?

 

15. "Look what I did!" : "TA-DA!"

16. Old-time knife : SNEE

17. "Full House" star Bob : SAGET. IMDb

18. Alphabetically first of the acting Baldwin brothers : ALEC

23. Contractor's approx. : EST. (estimate)

25. Word ending for enzymes : ASE

26. Outcome : RESULT

31. Alaskan native : ALEUT

32. Forever and a day : EONS

33. Opposite of NNE : SSW

36. Campus official : DEAN

37. Willy with a chocolate factory : WONKA

39. Indian spiced tea : CHAI

40. Kazakhstan, once: Abbr. : SSR. (Soviet Socialist Republic)

41. For the lady : HERS

42. Prankster's favorite month : APRIL. Really, no foolin'.

46. Scramble, as a secret message : ENCODE

49. Dawn goddess : EOS

50. Old AT&T rival : GTE. (formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation)

55. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT

56. "You hurt?" reply, hopefully : "I'M OK"

57. Really bad turnout : NO ONE

60. Feel concern : CARE

61. Luigi's "Bye!" : "CIAO!"

62. Conclude : INFER

63. "Faster __ a speeding bullet ..." : THAN

64. Tailor's sewn folds : HEMS. Not enough room for pleats.

65. Sidewalk eateries : CAFÉs

Down:

1. Sighs of satisfaction : AHs

2. Agcy. with narcs : DEA. (Drug Enforcement Administration)

3. Astronomical distance : LIGHT YEAR

4. "I had no __!" : IDEA

5. Walk-on role : BIT PART

6. Hung around : STAYED

7. Not windy : CALM

8. "Zip-__-Doo-Dah" : A-DEE

9. '90s Los del Río dance hit : MACARENA. Link at your own risk.

10. "For shame!" : "TSK TSK!"

11. "Shame __!" : ON YOU

12. Two-time Best Actress Oscar winner Streep : MERYL

13. Beauty's beau : BEAST

21. Tire pressure abbr. : PSI. (pound per square inch)

22. Popular jeans : LEES

23. "Jeepers!" : "EGADS!"

24. Black Friday deals : SALES

28. Many a punch line : PUN

29. __-weensy : EENSY

30. Chinese cookware : WOK

33. Doesn't lose sleep over : SHRUGS OFF

34. New Orleans footballer : SAINT

35. Oscar who quipped, "True friends stab you in the front" : WILDE

37. Lottery winners' cry : "WE'RE RICH!"

38. Bobby of hockey : ORR

39. Naval noncom: Abbr. : CPO. (Chief Petty Officer)

41. Actress Lamarr : HEDY. Official Site

42. As, on the periodic table : ARSENIC

43. Like lava : MOLTEN

44. Colorful little lizards : GECKOs.



gecko setae

45. "Impressive!" : "OOH!". "Ahh!"

46. Cockpit panic button : EJECT

47. "Little Broken Hearts" singer Jones : NORAH

48. Civil War nurse Barton : CLARA

52. Parisian gal pal : AMIE

53. Linguist Chomsky : NOAM

54. Gossip columnist Barrett : RONA

58. Michelle Obama __ Robinson : NÉE

59. EMTs' destinations : ERs. (emergency room)

Argyle

Sunday March 15, 2015 Debbie Ellerin and Jeff Chen

Theme:  "For the Fun o' It" - The OF in each theme entry is humorously re-interpreted as O' F*, where F is merged with the next word.

24A. Irritating swarm? : PACK O' FLIES. Pack of lies.

26A. Halloween party invoice? : BILL O' FRIGHTS. Bill of Rights.

50A. Complex airline route map display? : THOUSAND POINTS O' FLIGHT.  I had to google "Thousand points of light" afterward. I missed the whole Bush Sr. presidency. It's likely coined by Peggy Noonan, who also wrote Bush's "Read my lips: no new taxes" speech.

62A. Guy who rakes leaves, cleans gutters, etc.? : JACK O' FALL TRADES. Jack of all trades. This is the only theme answer where the word following F does not start with L or R.

83A. What measures one's ability to endure traveling inconvenience? : DEGREE O' FRISK TOLERANCE. Degree of risk tolerance. Boomer did not go through TSA Precheck when we traveled last month, yet his boarding pass had special mark, which allowed him to go through the quick TSA line. Mine did not. Weird.

108A. Blundering physician? : DOCTOR O' FLAWS. Doctor of laws.

112A. Campus phobia? : FEAR O' FRATS. Fear of rats.

We have another new constructor, this is Debbie Ellerin's LAT debut. Congratulations!

I mentioned before, 15-letter entries often make the weekday puzzle easier to grid, but grid-spanning 21's are always challenging (19's and 20's are no better). Suddenly you have lots of letters in place (42 letters for Debbie and Jeff). And you have lots of entries that intersect two theme answers. Hard to make them clean. Today's grid is incredibly clean and smooth.

Across:

1. "The King and I" heroine : ANNA. And 5. "The King and I" (1956) co-star : KERR. We also have YALIE (88. Jodie Foster, e.g.). Jodie Foster also played Anna.

 

5. Lakers' all-time leading scorer, familiarly : KOBE. Why the additional "familiarly"?

9. Predator of ungulates : PUMA

13. Say yes : OPT IN

18. Horse coloring : ROAN

19. Spirits that come in bottles : GENII. Mine was GENIE, of course.

20. Pioneer in car safety : OTIS. Is this the elevator guy?

21. Puget Sound traveler : FERRY. Not person "traveler". Jeff lives in Seattle.

22. Cantata component : ARIA

23. Sumatran swinger : ORANG

29. Get off the leash : RUN LOOSE

30. ... and then __ : SOME

31. Sell : RETAIL

33. iPhones, e.g. : PDAS

34. They have heads : LAGERS

36. Square __ : KNOT. Could be MEAL/MILE. Also  72A. Cake __ : MIX. Could be PAN. Also 68D. Space __ : CADET. Could be OPERA. This type of fill-in-blanks clue is not easy.

38. DHs, as a rule : RBI MEN. We also have 82. Two masked men may be behind it : HOME. Home plate. Umpire and the catcher.

42. Wise guy : SOLON. Not MAGI, for a change.

 43. Razz : TEASE

47. Gecko's grippers : SETAE. New to me.

49. Nagano Olympic flame lighter : ITO (Midori)

54. Johns of Scotland : IANs

55. Missays "say," say : LISPS

56. Weird Al Yankovic song parody : EAT IT. Parody of Michael Jackson's "Beat It".

57. Opponents : THEM. Not FOES.

58. ICU staffers : RNS

59. Torso muscle : PEC

60. Grub : FARE

61. Winner's prize : TITLE. Jeff Chen became a father last October. Here is his beautiful daughter Tess.

68. Watched over, with "for" : CARED. I miss my grandma so much, esp when I'm sick.

71. Upper limb bone : ULNA

73. Belle of the ball : DEB

76. Mariner's heading : ALEE

77. Occupied, in a way : SAT AT

79. Provoke : INCUR

87. Swing __ : ERA

 

89. Titter : TEHEE

90. French bean products? : IDEES. Can't fool veteran solvers.

91. Pre-Aztec native : TOLTEC. Hard to come up with fresh clue for this entry.

93. Poster mailer : TUBE

95. Thus far : TO DATE

97. Tarbell and Lupino : IDAs

99. Beaten on the mat : PINNED

103. Mr. Burns' teddy bear on "The Simpsons" : BOBO. Heard of the bear. But did not know he's in "The Simpsons".

104. Handlebar spot : UPPER LIP. Mustache!

114. Saintly glows : AURAE

115. Scads : A TON

116. Leading : ON TOP

117. Giggly redhead : ELMO. Fun clue.

118. Creator of Dogbert, Catbert and Ratbert : ADAMS (Scott). Googled afterward.  Those are Dilbert's pets.

119. Emergency room supplies : SERA. Tricky non- S answer.

120. Sloughs off : SHEDS

121. Kurt refusal : NEIN. Very curt.

122. Sonic Dash publisher : SEGA

123. Sub : TEMP

Down:

1. __ League : ARAB

2. Sushi wrapper : NORI. The dark toasted seaweed. I also like them in Ramen noodles.

3. Polish sites : NAIL SALONS. Great clue/answer.

4. Akin : ANALOGOUS

 

6. Sign at a studio : ON AIR

7. Spree : BINGE

8. Skating figure : EIGHT. I like this clue also.

9. Stops by : POPS IN

10. Three-time Boston Marathon winner Pippig : UTA. Don't recall this name.

11. Very small: Pref. : MICR

12. Invite from the balcony : ASK UP

13. Not FDA-approved, as a drug treatment : OFF-LABEL

14. First female Speaker of the House : PELOSI

15. Salt-N-Pepa, e.g. : TRIO. I mentioned last time I thought they were a duo.

16. Ticks off : IRES. Wish it were IRKS.

17. Home to MMM and JNJ : NYSE. 3M is based here in MN.

19. Errand runner : GOFER

25. Tapped out? : ON DRAFT. I was thinking of "exhausted".

27. Signs : OMENS

28. "Star Trek" actor with a popular Facebook page : TAKEI. Funny guy. Fun cologne name also.

32. Letter writing, for example : LOST ART

34. "Mean Girls" star : LOHAN (Lindsay). Watched the movie ages ago. Quite a few ex-SNL members.

35. Xmas visitor : ST. NICK

37. Professor, at times : TESTER

39. Strength : MIGHT

40. Fictional landlady : ETHEL. "I Love Lucy".

41. "I'm innocent" : NOT ME

42. __-crazy : STIR

 

44. Mag wheels? : EDS. Magazine big wheels.

45. Smartphone download : APP

46. Nine-tap signal : SOS. Not familiar with "Nine-tap".

48. Parisian pronoun : TOI

51. Frequent "SNL" host Baldwin : ALEC

52. Cassady of the Beat Generation : NEAL.Interesting read.

53. "Honest!" : IT IS!

59. __ Thai : PAD

60. Keys home: Abbr. : FLA. Florida Keys.

61. Everycowboy : TEX

62. Heckle : JEER

63. Something worn : OUTFIT

64. Sudden outburst : FLARE UP

65. Naysayer : ANTI

66. Charm : AMULET. My friend Roberto wears an evil eye.

67. Critical : DIRE

69. Olds model : ALERO. And 70. Buick model : REGAL

73. Executed perfectly : DONE TO A TEE. Nice.

74. Role shared by Fey and Poehler at the last three Golden Globe Awards : EMCEE. They're a great pair.

75. Certain contests : BEES

77. Harbor seal : SEA CALF

78. Letters in many email addresses : AOL

79. Prez after Harry : IKE

80. Highest degree : NTH

81. Amateur golfer Charlie with three top-ten finishes at the Masters : COE. Had no memory of him. I just found out that he died the day I arrived in the US (May 16, 2001).

82. Really enjoyed oneself : HAD A BLAST. Love this fill.

84. They can make your pupils greater : EYE DROPS

85. Dictator's assistant : STENO. Gimme for veteran solvers.

86. No longer burdened by : RID OF

92. Steering system part : TIE ROD

94. Goes for on eBay : BIDS ON. Topps Heritage is just out. It'll take us lots of bidding to complete the Chrome set.

96. Double-reed winds : OBOES

98. Temptation on the rocks : SIREN. Not drinks.

100. Annual coll. tourneys : NCAAs

101. Practice piece : ETUDE

102. Snug headgear : DO-RAG

104. Alleged visitors : UFOs

105. Phnom __ : PENH

106. Hors d'oeuvre spread : PATE. Want some? I just got a big cup of home-made cornichons from Nelson's Meat yesterday.

107. Lacking color : PALE

109. Avatar of Vishnu : RAMA

110. Virus kin : WORM

111. "Darn it!" sound : SNAP

113. Response to an oversharer : TMI (Too Much Information)

C.C.

Saturday, Mar 14th, 2015, Gail Grabowski

Theme: None

Words: 70 (missing J,Q,Z)

Blocks: 28

  This is my second Saturday puzzle from Gail - the last one dates back over three years - Mar 3rd, 2012.   I have seen many of her Sunday constructions for my local paper - Newsday; their "Saturday Stumper" is an accurate description.  Today's offering for the LA Times was much the same.  Lots of cloudy cluing which led to a white-wash grid over the first two passes, and while I got the proper names, it was the NE corner that gave me fits, and I caved in to Google, then red-letters.  Oh well.  Triple 9-letter down corners, triple 10-letter across corners.  Some of the longer fill;

16a. Dating term usually abbreviated : ANNO DOMINI - argh~!  I was looking for something like "IN SEARCH OF", as on a dating SITE

30d. Passing legislation? : ESTATE LAW - My friend from Ohio, Ibby, the woman who got me onto the movie set back in 1997, lost her husband yesterday - Friday the 13th.  I do not know the details, but he did have health issues

50a. Like some sirens : BEWITCHING - not the "SCREAMING" kind, but the female version of "siren"

3d. "Every Breath You Take" band : THE POLICE - they took reggae and made it commercial; this is my favorite pick from them

o-on-onw-onwa-onwar-onward~!

ACROSS:

1. D.C. sports group : NATS - The Washington Nationals - NLE Champs last year - and I'm sure C.C. is excited that baseball is back~!  That means just one month left in regular season hockey....

5. Hit the roof : BOILED OVER - I had "GO I---", tried "-NTO A RAGE", but needed a bigger grid

15. School acronym : ELHI - Elementary and High school

17. MSNBC anchor Wagner : ALEX - did I mention I love the name Alexandra~?  Gail had Alexia in that first puzzle, but that's not as pretty

18. Specialty brokers : LAND AGENTS - ugh.  Got the "AGENTS" part....

19. Head : TOP

20. The Whiffenpoofs of a cappella fame : ELIs - from Yale - and I did not know this

21. Finely contoured : SLEEK - Svelte did not fit

22. Only fair : TWO STAR - ah.  Like a review.  "The hotel food was only fair"

24. Sherry type : PALE DRY - ugh.  I did not see this listed in any of the sites I checked.  So it started as "PALE RED", and then I WAGed the "DRY" part

26. Swap magazines : RELOAD - I had RELOA-, and this just did not dawn on me.  Until now.  The clip of a machine gun - referred to as a magazine

27. Outback order : FILET - my only meh for the day

28. No-brainer? : IDIOT - like how I feel after a particularly rough crossword

29. Gifts for aficionados : BOXED SETS

33. VIP of the USAF : CIC - Commander in Chief

34. Chess grandmaster Spassky : BORIS - Once the "B" showed, it was WAG time

35. Span. title : SRA

36. Joint support : KNEE BRACE

39. Disastrous : FATAL

41. Come (from) : ARISE

42. They're assembled at bars : SALADS - oh, SALAD BAR.  Guess I'm still not that far from a drink

43. Player in eight Super Bowls : PATRIOT - ah - not a proper name at all; the New England Patriots

46. Herbal beverage : MINT TEA

47. Then, in Rennes : ALORS - Frawnche

48. Boring, maybe : LONG

49. Punch line, say : END

53. Kyrgyzstan border range : ALAI - not URAL - that's too far north

54. "Block-Heads" co-star, 1938 : STAN LAUREL - a-ha~! Did not have to Google it~!

55. Temporary place to stay : CAMP - not INNS

56. Project planning datum : TARGET DATE

57. Crimp-haired critters : EWES

DOWN:

1. Bit of cleverness : NEAT TRICK

2. Admitted : ALLOWED IN

4. Pack leader? : SIX - Six-pack, got it

5. It's not a complex number : BALLAD - well, some rock ballads can be - for the guitar player; here's one 'Top 100' List; here's my idea of a tough ballad

When Children Cry - White Lion

6. Happy way to walk : ON AIR

7. Temporary places to stay : INNS - Ah - here it is.

8. City served by Ben-Gurion airport : LOD

9. Author LeShan : EDA - perps

10. Husky follower : DOG SLED

11. They're filled and folded : OMELETS - I figured it was either a Spanish/Mexican dish, or um, that, er, whatsitcalled Italian thingy - Calzone~!  I just could not think of the word, and it was wrong anyway

12. Like some brick walls : VINED - Like, say, Wrigley Field

13. Join : ENTER - Dah~!! Not UNITE

14. Touch-and-go : RISKY - OK, I think of this phrase as more 'delicate' or 'sensitive'

20. Dakota du Sud, e.g. : ETAT - More Frawnche - that's Dakota of the South, of the United States

23. __ Canals : SOO

24. "Angry" adversary in Enid Blyton's "Faraway Tree" series : PIXIE - OK, I cheated.  I had to look this one up, even with "--XIE" - shoulda guessed

25. Dogfish Head products : ALES - sounded like a beer name to me - the Wiki

27. Pressure : FORCE

29. Sound off : BOAST

31. Business identifier : TRADE NAME - I thought it might end with "CARD" at first

32. They go with chips : SALSA DIPS - messed my 'INNS' up

34. Vivacity : BRIO

37. Hoop, for one : EARRING

38. Take offense : BRISTLE

39. Venom source : FANG - ah, not ASPS

40. Flying fig. : ALT - altitude - not ETA, ETD, or ARR. 

42. Unattached : SINGLE - like me~!   :7(

43. L.A.-based brewery : PABST - did not know this

44. Prince Valiant's bride : ALETA - mostly perps

45. "Path __": 2002 LBJ biopic : TO WAR

46. "Woman With a Parasol" painter : MONET

48. Pre-euro currency : LIRA

51. Monopoly token that replaced the iron : CAT - I remember the iron, but did not know it was replaced with a CAT

52. Cabinet dept. created under LBJ : HUD - Housing and Urban Development

53. One on the links : ACE - I pondered TEE, PAR, and PIN before realizing we are talking about a score of ONE

Splynter

Note from C.C.:

Happy 57th Birthday to our thrill-seeker JJM! He loves baseball, so do our TTP  & Abejo. So maybe you three should have a Corner Chicago Gathering.

Friday, March 13, 2015, Marti DuGuay Carpenter

Theme: "Scooby Doo, where are you?"  "He is over here,  suffering from Rhotic Replacement."

A whimsical marti Friday offering, where the single letter R is added to the beginning of a phrase and hilarity ensues. As soon as I solved 17A, I could hear Scooby in my head, and wondered if Scooby and Rover were the inspiration. Another Friday from a Corner denizen, another Friday the 13th puzzle blogged by Jason, and much fun for me. It is hard to concentrate as I am thinking with Scooby in my head. Unlike Steve's effort last week, we have many 3,4 and 5 letter fill and average word length only 4.79. We do have some sixes and sevens APHIDS, BESTOW, DIET R C, ENGAGE, MEANIE, UGANDA, CORRUPT, FOLIAGE, ITERATE, WENT APE,  but the cluing is fair with little obscurity. We have the use of initialisms rather than an overrun of abbreviations, and no need for a reveal. let's take a peek.

17A. Allowance for food, vet visits, etc.? : ROVER BUDGET(11). This quickly revealed the theme, though I wonder if younger people relate to Rover as typical dog name? I have seen overbudget as one word, a hyphenated word and two words. For symmetry sake I am going with two words.

23A. Bedtime for bats? : RAFTER HOURS (11). Even with the theme, this took many perps before I got to the bats sleeping in the rafters. After hours also seems can be one word. I like the wordplay as the image of a rafter hours club for bats came to mind.

40A. Threw a tantrum at ballet school? : RAGED GRACEFULLY (15). Well I do think all of the senior crowd here are aging well, but I had this IMAGE  (6:17) brought to mind.

50A. Decisive "Star Wars" victory? : ROUT IN SPACE (11). The outlier, with a three word phrase used. Perhaps Rout Rin Space? Somehow Pigs in Space came to mind.

63A. Answer to "What did people listen to during the Depression, señor?"? : RADIOS, AMIGO (11). This is such an interesting fill, as we not only change the pronunciation of the word, but the language. I would imagine radios were a luxury back in the 30s. I guess my friends it is time to say good bye to the theme and dissect the rest of miss m's masterpiece.

Across:

1. Principal introduction? : VICE. Vice-principal.

5. Ladybug lunches : APHIDS. I remember growing up with all the different flowers my father had in our yard, and the battle against the aphids, and the fun ladybugs who always had to be sent flying home.

11. Handle for a chef? : STU. This actually took me a bit as I started with sou (SUE?), even though I know it is SOUS Chef. So a lawyer's daughter would be named....

14. "Yikes!" : EGAD. marti works this word into many of her puzzles.

15. Bully : MEANIE.

16. '60s-'70s news focus, informally : NAM.

19. Old sports org. using colorful balls : ABA. American Basketball Association. When the NBA merged them out of existence they did not keep the red, white and blue ball, but they did keep the three point basket. I did not remember that former Knick great David Albert DeBusschere was one time commissioner of the ABA. He also pitched a shut out for the Chicago White Sox.

20. Place to play : ARENA. For ABA and NBA teams. The Heat play at American Airlines Arena, and what an odd year this post LeBron year has been.

21. PC key : ALT.

22. Some execs : CFOS. Chief Financial Officers.

27. Annual New England attraction : FOLIAGE. For me this was the beginning of a mini-theme. 36A. First Poet Laureate of Vermont : FROST. Robert Frost was still alive and active in my youth, appearing at the JFK inauguration. The Road Not Taken well worth a read. 13D. It has a med school in Worcester : UMASS. "Wooster" is a town familiar to me from my childhood. 27D. Maine forest sights : FIRS. At least she did not link Joyce Kilmer. I think marti has been snowed in too long this winter. It was nice to 'visit' New England.


31. Mutt : CUR.

32. "__ a traveler ...": "Ozymandias" : I MET. More POETRY, but NIT alert!! in the poem it is spelled traveller by Shelley. Right NC, Steve?

33. Dolts : OAFS.

43. You might wake up to one : SNORE. This was hard to follow.

44. Satirist once dubbed "Will Rogers with fangs" : SAHL. He was the voice of the 60's. I grew up listening to Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, as well as Bob Newhart on LPs.

45. Heavily sit (down) : PLOP. Fizz?

46. Draft choice : ALE. Not a selection in the upcoming NFL draft, but what is on tap, which looks like....

48. Lost it : WENT APE.

55. Eclectic online reader : UTNE. Do any of you all go to this oft referenced site?

56. Slime : GOO.

57. Treacherous type : VIPER. Some alliteration.

62. Beads on blades : DEW

66. Poetic preposition : ERE. Some alliteration.

67. Landlocked African country : UGANDA. In South America it is Bolivia.

68. When some ties are broken, briefly : IN O.T. (OverTime) I not understand at first.

69. Clear : RID. And its opposite....

70. Grant : BESTOW.

71. Part of CSNY : NASH. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Down:

1. "Up in the Air" Oscar nominee Farmiga : VERA. Her videos just do not pass the breakfast test.

2. Aircraft pioneer Sikorsky : IGOR. He pioneered many aircraft and is especially known for his work perfecting the rotary helicopter. He spent most of his adult life in Connecticut, where I had the pleasure of meeting him when I was a child.

3. Give in : CAVE. Such a tricky little clue/fill but I did not.

4. Ideal world : EDEN.

5. Diplomatic VIP : AMBassador?

6. Little, in Lille : PEU. Frawnche.

7. Went after : HAD AT.

8. Hastings hearth : INGLE. Friday fireplace words.

9. Tab alternative : DIET R C. R C Cola, the other cola.

10. Play area : SET. Not where children play, but where one puts on a play.

11. Muddled situation : SNAFU. Situation Normal, All F****** Up.

12. Fife-and-drum corps instrument : TABOR. We just had this in marti's January 29, 2015, Thursday puzzle which I blogged for her.

18. Avis adjective : RARA. This bird is not so rare in crossword puzzles. See Monday.

22. Crooked : CORRUPT. Perhaps this is a New England reference as well?

24. Awestruck : AGOG.

25. They might cause jitters : FEARS.

26. Snit : HUFF. For tV trivia nuts, LINK (1:58) for football fans LINK (2:08)

28. Arabian sultanate : OMAN.

29. Toy for an aspiring architect : LEGO.

30. Repeat : ITERATE. So reiterate is re-repeating.

34. DOT agcy. : FAA. Federal Aviation Administration is now faced with regulating drones.

35. The "e" sound in "tandem" : SCHWA. Have we discussed this enough?

37. Ceramic pot : OLLA.

38. Dinner on the farm, maybe : SLOP.

39. Enter, in a way : TYPE.

41. Where to nosh on a knish : DELIcatessen.

42. Wire service?: Abbr. : ELECtricity. My favorite fill.

47. Captivate : ENGAGE. Her smile ....

49. St. Petersburg's river : NEVA.

50. More boorish : RUDER.

51. Comic Cheri : OTERI. An SNL graduate who did not appear on the 40th reunion.

52. Single : UNWED. I often have lots of unweds in my wallet.

53. Some floats : SODAS. Root beer anyone?

54. Essence : POINT.

58. "Let's do it!" : I'M IN.

59. Cóctel fruit : PINA. Pineapple.

60. They may be inflated : EGOS. Not around here.

61. Author who created Zuckerman : ROTH. This alter-ego for the the author appears in many of Roth's novels really epitomizing what I learned in college that myth is reality and reality is myth.

63. Barbecue seasoning : RUB. The simplest, pepper for steak au poivre.

64. Prefix with meter : ODO. More from Monday.

65. Carpenter's tool : SAW. How is the work coming Splynter?

Well I am out of words, so it is time for me to shuffle off; thanks marti. Lemonade out.

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