Thursday June 4, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Complete Failures

18A: 1963 international treaty subjects: ATOMIC BOMBS

23A: Politicians' dilemmas: FLIP-FLOPS

37A: Heavy gamebirds: WILD TURKEYS

51A: They usually involve undercover work: DRUG BUSTS

57A: Cowboy boots and Stetson hats: WESTERN DUDS

Very tight theme. All the "clunker" words are at the end of the theme entries. And all of them are all in plural form. What other synonyms can you think of?

Wanted DRUG RAID for 51A: They usually involve undercover work. Conducted quite a few raids with the old company. But never about drug. FLIP-FLOPS reminds me of John Kerry's disastrous "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it" statement. I've yet to find a politician who never changes his positions.

I had fun chewing this puzzle. Several tricky clues. My favorite is LOCK (9D: It might be picked). I wrote down LICE first and thought I was pretty smart.

Across:

1A: Gordon Shumway's title alias, in a sitcom: ALF. Easy guess. I've never seen ALF.

4A: Minnesota twin?: ST PAUL. Nice one. "Minnesota twins?" is a great clue for ENS too.

10A: Chick follower: ADEE. How many toes does a chickadee have?

14A: Chinese chairman: MAO. I bet nobody but I thought of "Zhuxi", which is Chinese for "chairman".

15A: Piemonte city: TORINO. Italian for Turin (upper left corner). The 2006 Olympics was held there. I don't know where Piemonte is.

20A: Dietary claim: LESS FAT

22A: Kind of chop: KARATE. Great clue. I was picturing pork chop.

27A: Vacation site: ISLE

28A: "You've go the wrong person": NOT I. I always say "NOT ME" and I know I am wrong grammatically.

31A: Mil. troop unit: CMD. Command?

34A: Lightweight bayou vessel: PIROGUE. No idea. Looks very long.

39A: Triumph: PREVAIL. Verb. Victory has 7 letters too.

41A: Soft & __: Henkel brand: DRI. Holy cow! I've never heard of Henkel. Are they very famous?

44A: Señor's "Absolutely": SI SI

54A: Not necessarily against: OPEN TO. I am against closing Guantanamo Bay, and I am "Not necessarily against" torture. I truly believe harsh measures are needed sometimes.

56A: Expand the viewed area, in a way: ZOOM OUT

60A: Cholesterol initials: LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein). The bad cholesterol. The good one is HDL ( High-Density Lipoprotein).

61A: Offensive comment: SLUR

62A: Pricey timepieces: SEIKOS. Cool watch. OMEGAS also has 6 letters.

64A: Notice: ESPY. Also the annual sports award.

65A: Quirk: ODDITY

66A: Dawn deity: EOS. The goddess of dawn. Aurora for the Romans. The Romaine lettuce is COS.

Down:

1D: Italy's __ Coast: AMALFI. The answer revealed itself. See this map. Also a town in Salerno. About 24 miles southeast of Naples, according to Wikipedia.

3D: Paleontologist's find: FOSSIL

6D: Positive particle: PROTON. Nice crossing with ATOMIC BOMBS.

8D: Lateral beginning: UNI. Unilateral.

10D: Dig deeply: ADORE. Lovely clue.

11D: Capital ESE of Beirut: DAMASCUS. Capital of Syria. I trust the constructor's direction is accurate.

12D: Drop in the ocean: EBB TIDE. Nice clue too.

13D: One of the reputed Dead Sea Scrolls writers: ESSENE. Got the answer from Across fills. Don't know who ESSENE is. It's only one letter away from essence.

19D: Spot for a screwdriver: BAR. The cocktail screwdriver. Nailed it immediately.

21D: Metallic money: SPECIE. New to me.

24D: Having caught on: POPULAR. Struggled with this fill.

25D: Brouhaha: STIR. Not TO-DO today.

29D: Rubs the wrong way: IRKS

32D: MMXC halved: MLV. 1/2 of 2110 = 1055.

33D: Time to attack: D-DAY. Nicolas Sarkozy finally got his wish. Obama will be at the Normandy the day after tomorrow for the D-DAY commemoration.

35D: Antipoverty agcy.: OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity). Unknown to me. I wrote down WHO (World Health Organization) first.

36D: Drywall mineral: GYPSUM. Could not keep plaster out of my mind.

37D: Records in detail: WRITES UP. I have problem with "in detail".

39D: Pushes forward: PROPELS. "Pushes forward" what?

41D: Nap: DROWSE. Verb. Thought of SIESTA.

43D: Maker of Boulevard motorcycles: SUZUKI. Have never heard of SUZUKI Boulevard.

45D: Tristan's love: ISOLDE. I can never remember this girl's name.

46D: Loft, perhaps: STUDIO

47D: Agave fibers: ISTLES. What's the difference between ISTLE and SISAL?

49D: Blog piece: ENTRY. Like what I am writing here every day.

50D: ___ Jeanne d'Arc: STE. French for saint. Feminine.

52D: Title character not in the cast: GODOT. Got it from across fills.

53D: Overbearing: BOSSY

55D: Not exactly: OR SO

58D: "Waking __ Devine": 1998 film: NED. Nope. New film to me.

59D: Impersonated: DID. APED won't fit.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday June 3, 2009 Peter A. Collins

Theme: BROKEN CODES (60A: Crytographers' successes (and what can be found in the circles in this puzzle's long answers)

17A: Colonial fair artisan: GLASSBLOWER (Law)

24A: Reasons for an R rating: SEX AND VIOLENCE (Silence)

38A: Keep an eye on things: HOLD DOWN THE FORT (Honor)

49A: Lickety-split: LIKE THE DICKENS (Ethics)

Are there circles in your paper? There is none in LAT's website.

All the above theme code entries are broken, spanning across several words. Additionally, break the law and break the silence are both common phrases. I liked the layered nuances.

LIKE THE DICKENS is a new phrase to me. Interesting to see SEX AND VIOLENCE after our gratuitous sax and violins discussion a few weeks ago.

What other codes can you think of? Bar code, zip/area code came to my mind. I enjoyed today's puzzle. The theme held my interest.

Across:

1A: Makeshift bookmark: DOG-EAR. Nice crossing with REBIND (6D: Put a new book cover on).

7A: Relax: LAZE. Thought of EASE & REST.

11A: Sta. that might show a Bogie flick: TCM (Turner Classic Movies)

15A: Wash basin partner: EWER

19A: Baja bear: OSO. Alliteration again. Spanish for bear.

22A: Stage awards: OBIES. Or TONYS.

29A: It may be roja or verde: SALSA. Red sauce (SALSA roja) or green sauce (SALSA verde). I wrote down SALAD.

30A: "The Zoo Story" playwright: ALBEE (Edward). He also wrote "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

34A: QB's goof: INT. Ah, I got it this time.

43A: Place to crash: PAD. And DIGS (1D: Home, informally). Nice pair.

44A: Took another plunge? REWED. Great clue.

45A: Seder month: NISAN. I used to remember this month. All I could think this morning is ADAR, the Purim month, which is imediately before NISAN.

47A: Tire gauge meas.: PSI

57A: Look down: MOPE. They are not synonymous to me. The former indicates scoreful disdain.

64A: "The Loco-Motion" singer Little __: EVA. Named after the character from "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I got her name from down fills. Here is the clip.

65A: Mother of Helen of Troy: LEDA. She was seduced by Zeus in the form of a swan.

66A: Tennessee team: TITANS. Is their team named after the Greek gods TITANS?

67A: Trim: SVELTE. Adjective. I was thinking of a verb.

Down:

2D: Clay pots: OLLAS. This one is so pretty.

3D: Maker of PlugIns: GLADE. Do you use air freshener at home?

4D: County north of Ken: ESSEX

5D: Two-time loser to DDE: AES. Ah, loser. I prefer opponent.

7D: Pope during the Battle of Ostia: LEO IV. Easy guess.

9D: 25% of zero?: ZEE. Letter Z is 25% of the word zero. I thought of NIL first.

10D: "Misty" composer Garner?: ERROLL. Have never heard of this composer. His name is so close to Errol Flynn.

11D: Streak beginning?: TWO IN A ROW. Oh, I was picturing someone streaking in public.

12D: Trig ratio: COSEC. This stuff confused me a lot when I was in school.

13D: Long-headed mammal: MOOSE. How long?

18D: Former Fords: LTDS. The cars. I thought of former President Ford.

23D: "Don't take silly chances": BE SAFE

25D: Served past: ACED. Is past an adverb here? I like "Served perfectly".

31D: It stops at each sta.: LOC. No idea. What is LOC?

32D: Reacted to, as sudden bright light: BLINKED AT

34D: Evansville's st.: IND (Indiana). Not familiar with Evansville. For a minute, I thought their Senator Evan Bayh might be from Evansville. Wrong. He was born in Shirkieville, part of Terre Haute, which appears in crossword occasionally.

36D: Dander: IRE

37D: LAX posting: ETD. Or ETA sometimes. Just learned from the Air France crash that the black box emits signals for only 30 days.

39D: Moonfish: OPAH. Still can't believe OPAH is used for sashimi.

41D: The Phantom of the Opera: ERIK. The deformed ghost. I forgot his name.

46D: Quarter horse quarters: STABLE. Nice clue. Reminds me of the Kentucky Derby/Preakness horse General Quarters. I liked his trainer/owner. So fiercely independent and quiet. Do you think he looks cool?

47D: Plumber's piece: PIPE. Neat p, p and P.

48D: Sachet emanations: SCENTS

49D: Three-star mil. officer: LT GEN (Lieutenant General). General would would be four-star I presume?

50D: "Monday __ Friday on my mind": 1967 song lyric: I HAVE. Easy guess. I don't know who sang the song.

51D: Senegal's capital: DAKAR. I checked my map. It's the the westernmost African capital. I wonder what DAKAR means in local language. Beijing means "northern capital" in Chinese. My hometown Xi'An means "western peace".

53D: Situated at a junction: NODAL. Like her knees? I had huge trouble with this answer.

54D: Ran through: SPENT. New meaning of "run through" to me.

63D: Kind of engr.: CIV. Civil engineer.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Tuesday June 2, 2009 Joy C. Frank

Theme: Triples

17A: Horse racing coup, literally: CROWN CROWN CROWN

23A: Baseball rarity, literally: PLAY PLAY PLAY

46A: Rhythm for waltzing, literally: TIME TIME TIME

54A: Text layout specification, literally: SPACE SPACE SPACE

Is there a jockey who won the Triple Crown by riding three different horses in the same year? Looks like Calvin Borel is going back to Mine That Bird since Rachel Alexandra won't run the Belmont Stakes.

Triple play is indeed rare. Twins is the only team in MLB history to turn two triple plays in one game (they still lost to Red Sox 1-0). Wikipedia says triple time is common in formal dance styles like waltz, minuet and the mazurka. What is triple-space? I've never heard of the term.

BOGEY BOGEY BOGEY would be a great theme answer too. Nothing is more frustrating than a triple bogey on a par 3. What other triples can you think of?

Across:

5A: Pub diversion: DARTS

14A: Spots in high school?: ACNE. ACNE has no plural form?

15A: Group cultural values: ETHOS

16A: Funny Bombeck: ERMA. I tend to confuse her with IRMA Rombauer, "The Joy of Cooking" author.

21A: Moo goo __ pan: GAI. Moo goo = mushroom. GAI = chicken. Pan = slices. I bet this plate contains over 800 calories.

22A: Draw a bead on: AIM AT

28A: Strait of Dover port: CALAIS. The French port nearest England.

30A: Prefix with -syncratic: IDIO. Literally "peculiar". Somehow I wrote down IDEO first. It's a prefix for "thought", ideological for example.

38A: Book in a hotel: BIBLE

39A: Apple MP3 player: IPOD. And another Apple products MACS (1D: Computer choices).

40A: Lad's love: LASS. And MOLL (43A: Hood's gal). Nice pair.

49A: Aptly named Renault: LE CAR. Not familiar with this car. Apt name indeed.

62A: Reader of Seventeen: TEEN. Not fond of this clue.

63A: Coasters with runners: SLEDS. Got the answer. Did not know runner can mean "either of the long, bladelike strips of metal or wood on which a sled or sleigh slides".

64A: Ref's fight-ending decisions: TKOS. Boxing.

Down:

3D: Drift removers: SNOWPLOWS

5D: Turns to compost: DECAYS. In the end, everything DECAYS, including culture.

6D: Just free of the bottom, as an anchor: ATRIP

7D: Letter after pi: RHO. Before sigma. The former South Korea president who killed himself over bribery scandal is surnamed ROH (Roh Moo-hyun).

12D: Big name in multilevel marketing: AMWAY. They have big factories in China. So does Avon.

18D: Mystery writer Marsh: NGAIO. How do you pronounce her name? What a weird spelling.

19D: Guitarist's gadget: CAPO

25D: It might be applied while puckering: LIP BALM. I really don't understand the fascination with Angelina Jolie's lips.

26D: German violinist Busch: ADOLF. Easy guess. Just learned that ADOLF means "noble, majestic wolf", a compound word of "adal" (noble) and wolf.

27D: Cry of surprise: YIPE. Oh, I always say "Oh, my goodness".

28D: Prof.'s employer: COLL. Crossing the college town ORONO (31A: University of Maine town).

32D: Garlicky mayo: AIOLI. Provençal words: Ai, garlic. Oli, oil. Looks creamy.

33D: Mouthed sidelines greeting: HI MOM

34D: Brandy distilled from cider: APPLEJACK. Have never had this stuff.

35D: Place for cargo: HOLD

38D: Sponge up: BLOT. Only knew the "stain" meaning of BLOT.

42D: Litmus reddeners: ACIDS. Does blue have a verb form also?

44D: Rides of knights: STEEDS. How do you clue NAGS then? "Rides of whom?"

45D: Home often made of canvas nowadays: TEPEE. Literally, "to dwell" in Lakota language.

46D: Sympathetic words: I CARE. Hmm, "empathy", Sonia Sotomayor.

47D: City SE of Atlanta: MACON. Nicknamed "Heart of Georgia" because it lies near the geographic center of Georgia, according to Wikipedia.

48D: 11th century Spanish hero: EL CID. Literally "the lord".

52D: Canyon rebound: ECHO. It fits in today's theme pretty well.

57D: Civil War nickname: ABE. Wonder how ABE would deal with the Burris case. Oh, well, at least, Illinois has 2 senators. We only have 1. The recount goes on!

59D: Soft touch: PAT. Nice one.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Monday June 1, 2009 Gary Steinmeh

Theme: "Put Your Hands Where I Can See Them"

20A: "Hands up!": REACH FOR THE SKY

39A: "Hands down!": NO MORE QUESTIONS

55A: "Hands off!": LEAVE THAT ALONE

Argyle blogging.

I'm sorry but my computer/ISP is very slow this morning so my comments are abbreviated. I can count on the rest of you to put in their favorite links, can't I? I should say I didn't look at all the video links I used, so I hope they're all right.

Across:

6A: Deer little one: FAWN. And 10A: Little cow: CALF.

14A: __ Litella: Gilda Radner's "Never mind!" character: EMILY.

17A: "The Thinker" sculptor: RODIN. Pic. Was he thinking, "This is one uncomfortable pose"?

19A: Payroll tax that funds Soc. Sec.: FICA. Federal Insurance Contributions Act

23A: Fit for the military: ONE A.

24A: Do a slow burn: SEETHE.

27A: Backside: DUFF. It's not just a beer on the "Simpsons" Here are four other meanings derived from different roots.

31A: Like a childhood stage, to Freud : ORAL. Is the term fixation used anywhere else?

33A: Like fantastic tales: TALL.

35A: Do-__: desperate : OR DIE. DO-OR-DIE. The quote from Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem is Ours not to reason why, ours but to do and die. "Do, or do not. There is no try." - Yoda.

43A: Right triangle ratio: SINE.

44A: Razor-billed birds: AUKS. Their eyes are hard to make out.

47A: Doofus: DOLT.

49A: Fed. auditing agency: GAO. The Government Accountability Office

50A: "Pet" sources of irritation: PEEVES.

53A: Speed-of-sound word: MACH.

60A: Two-thirds of Santa's laugh: HO HO. A gimme for me!

61A: Old-time drummer Gene: KRUPA. Gene Krupa, 1909 – 1973, was born in Chicago. clip

63A: Refreshing rapper/actor?: ICE-T. and 9D: Summer refresher with a three-leaf logo: NESTEA. pic

65A: Pentium maker: INTEL.

68A: Letters before tees: ESSES.

Down:

3D: Purchase for your Xbox: VIDEO GAME.

4D: Gonzalez in 2000 news: ELIAN.

5D: Matched, as dubbed dialogue to mouth movements: SYNCED.

6D: Feudal estate: FIEF.

10D: Food fight site: CAFETERIA.

11D: Make-__ Foundation: A-WISH.

12D: English philosopher John: LOCKE.

13D: Chef Bobby: FLAY.

21D: Terre __, Indiana: HAUTE.

22D: Serf of ancient Sparta: HELOT.

26D: Camaro __-Z: muscle car: IROC. International Race of Champions. They have their own web site.

28D: Web pages with basic site info: FAQS. Frequently asked questions. Constructors get to use a Q without a U.

29D: Lighter __: Zippo filler: FLUID.

32D: Years on the job : LONGEVITY.

36D: Dunked snacks: DOUGHNUTS.

37D: Durante's "__ Dinka Doo": INKA. clip

38D: "Happy motoring" gas: ESSO.

40D: Christopher who played Superman: REEVE.

41D: Alabama march city: SELMA. Integration and civil rights march.

48D: Nonsilent film: TALKIE.

50D: London change: PENCE.

54D: Preserves, as beef: CORNS. Corned beef; one of those things where I like the cheaper cut better.

55D: Let go, with "off': LAID.

57D: Corrida critter: TORO. Is the editor putting in all these alliterations just for you, C.C,?

62D: Capp and Gore: ALS. A cartoonist and a subject of cartoons.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday May 31, 2009 Edward Sessa

Theme: Double Plays

23A: Munchkin femmes fatales?: WICKED LITTLE WOMEN (Wicked; Little Women)

36A: Workplace braggart?: COMPANY SHOWBOAT (Company; Showboat)

55A: Inferior pomade?: HAIR GREASE (Hair; Grease)

76A: Like sturdy chairs?: FANNY PROOF (Fanny; Proof)

95A: Standing ovation: TITANIC APPLAUSE (Titanic; Applause)

111A: Queen Henrietta's personal account of Cromwell's treachery?: OLIVER THE KING AND I (Oliver; The King and I)

16D: Jazz lovers on the Mississippi?: BIG RIVER CATS (Big Rivers; Cats)

61D: Detective usin' taps?: DANCIN SLEUTH (Dancin'; Sleuth)

Each theme answer contains two Broadway play names, hence "Double Plays". The below fills are play-related bonus fills:

66A: At the theater, perhaps: ON A DATE

1D: Curtain call response: BOW

25D: Lerner's partner: LOEWE

40D: One -__: uninterrupted play: ACT-ER

115D: Gershwin of Broadway: IRA

Hope Clear Ayes gets her internet connection back today. This puzzle is tailor-made for her. Just saw Gwyneth Paltrow's "Proof" the other night. Not my cup of tea.

When I googled earlier, some of the above theme answers are plays, some are musicals. What are the main differences between the two?

Quite a few tricky & fresh clues in today's puzzles. I was misdirected many times.

Across:

1A: The Tide: BAMA. Thought their nickname is the Crimson Tide.

5A: Fundamental: BASAL. Wrote down BASIS first. So my crossing answer is SET rather than LOT for 9D: Film studio site.

10A: Fly to fear: TSETSE. Better than "Dangerous fly" clue. Reminded me of Eric Jong's "Fear of Flying".

16A: __-Rhin: Strasbourg's department: BAS. Unknown to me. BAS-Rhin is French for "Lower Rhine". Haut-Rhin (Upper Rhine) lies in its south. But I can't find either in this Strasbourg map.

19A: Algerian seaport: ORAN. Thought Camus was born here. Wrong. He was born in Mondovi, Algeria. Yves Saint Laurent was born in ORAN.

20A: "Ooh, send me!": I'LL GO. I had trouble with many of the multiple words today.

21A: Blowhard's output: HOT AIR

22A: Peak overlooking Knossos: IDA. Mount IDA is the Greek "Mountain of Goddess". I had no idea where Knossos is.

27A: Baker Street transports: HANSOMS. Stumped. Knew the Sherlock Holmes connection., but I could not come up with HANSOMS.

29A: Closed the gap on: NEARED

31A: HBO alternative: SHO

33A: Slip into: DON. D'oh, clothes. I was in the wrong direction.

34D: Off! ingredient: DEET

35A: Dish sometimes served with wasabi: SASHIMI. "Sometimes"? All times for me. I've never had SASHIMI without wasabi.

41A: Last Hebrew letter: TAV. The first is aleph.

42A: No longer an item: APART. Good clue too.

43A: Pulitzer poet Marianne: MOORE. Completely stranger to me.

44A: Crosby and Como: CROONERS. Nice C, C & C.

48A: Prong: TINE

49A: Rewards for playing well: ESPYS. The sports awards.

52A: Little bit: DROP

58A: __anglais: English horn: COR. It's neither English nor horn. COR is French for "horn".

59A: Cocktails with triple sec: SIDECARS. No idea. I don't know what a "triple sec" is either.

63A: Frequent morning surprise: ALARM. Not the surprise I have in mind.

64A: Slithering: SNAKY

69A: 20-20 observation: IT'S A TIE. Nice clue. My mind wandered off to 20/20 vision.

71A: Gold digger: MINER. I liked this clue too. Thought of Kanye West's "Gold Digger".

72A: Country singer Haggard: MERLE

74A: Busch partner: ANHEUSER

75A: "Yadda yadda yadda": Abbr.: ETC. "Seinfeld".

80A: Grasshopper's antithesis, in a fable: ANT. Aesop fable.

81A: Reformer Jacob: RIIS. Reformer of what?

83A: Drones, e.g.: MALES. Male bees. I was thinking of airplanes.

84A: Result of an egg-toss miss: SPLAT

86A: Dots on la carte: ILES. Carte is French for "map".

90A: Clementi work: SONATINA. A short sonata. I was stumped. Wikipedia says the Italian musician Muzio Clementi is famous for his piano sonatas and SONATINAS.

92A: "Nature's soft nurse" to Shakespeare: SLEEP. No idea.

93A: Conductor's aid: SCORE

99A: Little Dipper star: POLARIS. The North Star.

102A: Charles II's royal architect: WREN (Christopher). I forgot. Googled him before. Wikipedia says he designed 55 of 87 London churches after the Great fire of London in 1666, including St. Paul's Cathedral in 1710.

103A: Golden age, e.g.: ERA. Why "age" is not capitalized?

104A: H.S. dropout's goals: GED

105A: '40s-'50s Marshall Islands trials: A-TESTS. I thought they were conducted at Bikini Atoll.

107D: Domed hall: ROTUNDA

110A: VW predecessors?: STU. Alphabet STUVW.

116A: Peewee: TOT

117A: Hoity-toity: LA-DI-DA

118A: Milk a scene: EMOTE

119A: Row in a bowl: TIER. Bowl game.

120A: Lenten symbol: ASH

121A: Be a big brother to: ASSIST

122A: Rib shots: POKES. Had trouble understanding the clue.

123A: On the main: ASEA

Down:

2D: D-backs, on scoreboards: ARI. Arizona Diamondbacks. They won World Series the first year I came to the US (2001).

3D: 1978 Village People hit: MACHO MAN. Not a familiar song to me.

4D: "My Way" songwriter: ANKA (Paul)

5D: Competes to buy: BIDS ON. As on Ebay.

6D: Ghostwriters' noms de plume, say: ALLONYMS. New word to me. How is it different from pseudonym?

7D: Like a big loser?: SLIM. Lose weight. Nice clue.

8D: Ticket sellers: Abbr.: AGTS. Had trouble with this answer also.

10D: Home shopping network?: THE WEB

11D: Site of a 1976 anti-apartheid uprising: SOWETO. Have never heard of SOWETO Uprising. Thought it's in Johannesburg.

12D: School since 1440: ETON. This has become a gimme.

13D: Angus' topper: TAM. Angus county in Scotland. I was thinking of the beef.

14A: Tuscan hill town: SIENA. So close to the "Earthy color" SIENNA. One less letter N.

15D: Che, really: ERNESTO. Che Guervara.

17D: Relevant, in law: AD REM. Escaped my mind also.

18D: Tony-winning Manhattan restaurateur: SARDI. I don't get this clue. I know the award name Tony was coined in the Sardi's. Did Vincent SARDI win a Tony Award also?

24D: Finish by: END AT

31D: Satchmo's singing style: SCAT

32D: Southwestern pottery maker: HOPI. Beautiful olla.

34D: Back: Pref.: DORSI. Forgot. It appeared in our puzzle several months ago.

35D: Arrive en masse: STREAM IN

37D: Go ahead of: PRECEDE

38D: Former frosh: SOPHS. Why the clue is singular?

39D: Georgetown player: HOYA

45D: Switch positions: ONS. ON/Off.

46D: Raw recruit: ROOKIE

47D: Lighter on one's foot: SPRYER. I like this clue.

49D: "L'___, c'est moi": Louis XIV: ETAT. Oh boy, where did I get "Le roi, c'est moi" quote?

51D: Pledging site: FRAT

54D: Accessory for an old-time flying ace: SCARF. How come?

57D: City on the Ruhr: ESSEN

59D: Suzanne of "Step by Step": SOMERS. Know Suzanne SOMERS. Have never heard of the TV series "Step by Step".

60D: Ab __: from the beginning: INITIO. Hope I can remember it next time.

62D: Money-saving carpeting choices: REMNANTS. Ha ha, I did not know there is a special term for those carpets.

65D: Big name in beachwear: NAUTICA. Nope. Not a beach person. I like her shirt.

67D: Actress Soleil Moon __: FRYE. New name to me also. Great name, Soleil Moon.

68D: Yodeler's range: ALPS. Mountain range.

70D: At __: nevertheless: THAT. At THAT is a new idiom to me.

73D: Zhou of China: ENLAI. Our first premier.

74D: Wouldn't hurt __: A FLEA. I thought it's "Wouldn't hurt a fly".

77D: Bordeaux buddy: AMI. Alliteration again.

78D: "Hold Me" Grammy winner: OSLIN. Here is the song.

79D: Cartel acronym: OPEC

82D: Casa areas: SALAS

85D: Desire: APPETITE. Oh, desire for food.

87D: Four-time Olympic diving gold medalist: LOUGANIS. No idea. Wikipedia says Greg LOUGANIS won two gold in 1984 and two in 1988.

88D: Gaelic tongue: ERSE

89D: Tourney ranking: SEED

91D: Largest of the British Virgin Islands: TORTOLA. See this map. Completely foreign to me.

92D: Hägar's dog: SNERT. Learned from doing Xword. I don't read the comic strips.

93D: Subject for Eric Partridge: SLANG. I did not know who Eric Partridge is. Wikipedia says he was a noted New Zealand/British lexicographer of the English language, particularly of its SLANG.

96D: Suit fabrics: TWEEDS. SERGE is "Suit fabric" too.

97D: Landfall for Noah: ARARAT

98D: Lops and tops: PRUNES. Nice rhymes.

99D: Elbows, maybe: PASTA. Elbow pasta. I was fooled.

100D: Four Holy Roman emperors: OTTOS

101D: __ Malvinas: the Falklands: ISLAS. Got it from Across fills. I don't know where ISLAS Malvinas is. Oh, I see, different name origins, hence Spanish Malvinas and English Falklands.

106D: Half of MXIV: DVII. Half of 1,014=507.

107D: San __, Italy: REMO

108D: "All right, already!": OK OK

109D: Base material?: DATA. Why?

113D: In the know: HEP. Wrote down HIP first.

114D: Mark to improve: DEE. Was thinking of a verb.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday May 30, 2009 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None

Total blocks: 36

Total words: 72

Of all the 24 Robert H. Wolfe puzzles I've blogged, most are late-week puzzles, several are Sundays. Interesting background, veterinarian.

I liked the three grid-spinning Across fills:

17A: "Maybe I can help?": WHAT'S THE PROBLEM

37A: "Now we're getting somewhere": THAT'S MORE LIKE IT

56A: Statement of intolerance: I WON'T STAND FOR IT

I also liked the sequential clue order of F-STOP (23D: Photo setting) and OPS (24D: Photo finishes?). My favorite clue today is DEM (13D: Party people: Abbr.). Brought to mind the infamous Harold Ford for Senator attack ad. "I met Harold at a Playboy party... Harold, call me!". Ford is a DEM.

I don't get SEE FIT (60A: Decide is best) though. Can you explain to me the clue? The grammar confuses me.

Across:

1A: Begins energetically: WADES IN

8A: Went up: SCALED. Why? I've only heard of "scale down". Thought of SPIKED.

16A: Boom: THRIVE

19A: Philippine bread: PESO. Had no idea that PESO is a currency in the Philippines. Wanted NAAN, thinking maybe the Indian bread is enjoyed there too.

20A: Common opening: DEAR SIRS

21A: French possessive: SES. His/her/its.

22A: Add more brown to, say: REDYE

23A: Cat's pajamas?: FUR. Cute.

24A: Where the 'eart is?: 'OME. Home is where the heart is. letter H is dropped in Cockney accent.

26A: Reckon, rurally: S'POSE. Big stumper.

31A: Removed, in a way: SCRAPED OFF

36A: Jobs for underwriters, briefly: IPOS. And ARBS ( 10D: Wall St. hedgers).

39A: Farm drier: OAST. I thought OAST is used for brewery only.

40A: Soft drink order: EXTRA LARGE. Had trouble obtaining this answer. Might have gotten it if it were clued as egg-related.

41A: "Bah!": PSHAW. I always say "Shoot".

43A: Caesar's tax form?: MXL. 1040. Great clue.

45A: Levi's "Christ Stopped at __": EBOLI. See the book cover. So close to E COLI.

49A: Suffix with amyl: ASE. I am used to "Enzyme ending" clue. Amylase is a kind of enzymes too, says the dictionary. Hopefully I will remember it next time.

50A: Try to get in the running: NOMINATE

54A: "Thanks, __": "Are you hungry?" response: I ATE

61A: Commonly receding boundary: HAIRLINE

63A: Words from one closing a door, perhaps: TOO LATE

Down:

2D: "That's the spot": AAH. Ah, massage.

3D: More frequent changes reduce its likelihood: DIAPER RASH. Have never changed a diaper in my life.

4D: Major followers? ETTES. Majorettes.

6D: Comparison words: IS TO

7D: Book before Esth.: NEH. After Ezra.

8D: Prospective adoptee: STRAY

9D: Tasks: CHORES

11D: 1953 Caron film: LILI. "1958 Caron film" would be GIGI.

18D: Walker, briefly: PED (Pedestrian)

21D: For example: SUCH AS

22D: Electron transfer process, often: REDOX. RED(duction) + OX(idation). Unknown to me. I actually misread the clue as "Electric transfer process".

25D: Kid's enthusiastic "I do!": ME, ME

27D: Burrowing rabbitlike mammal: PIKA. Not familiar with this rabbit at all.

28D: Style of Mozart's "Idomeneo": OPERA SERIA. No idea. It's Italian for serious drama. Opposite "opera buffa", the comic drama.

29D: Elegantly done: SOIGNE. Cary Grant had the SOIGNE charm.

30D: Colorado's __ Park: ESTES. Not named after Senator Kevauver, often clued as "Adlai's running mate".

32D: Kofi __ Annan: ATTA. No idea. It means "Twin" in his native language. Annan has a twin brother. They share the middle name.

33D: Boxer's scrap: ORT

34D: Atom-splitting Novelist: FERMI (Enrico). I forgot his name again. He won Nobel Physics in 1938.

38D: Bugged?: ILL. D'oh, I was picturing wiretapping.

42D: Entered: WENT IN. Wanted CAME IN.

47D: Six-time N.L. home run champ: OTT. I like clues with trivia. Mel OTT had a total 511 home runs.

48D: Wife of Jacob: LEAH. Rachel is his other wife.

49D: Lagoon border: ATOLL. Bikini ATOLL is probably the most famous one.

50D: Not final, in law: NISI. Decree NISI. I forgot again.

51D: "Closer" Oscar nominee Clive __: OWEN. "Closer" is one of my favorite movies. Love should not be that complicated though.

52D: Bubbly brand: MOET. The champagne: Moët et Chandon.

53D: Dope: INFO. I was in drug direction.

54D: Personal: Pref: IDIO. Thought it's a "peculiar" prefix, as in idiosyncrasy.

55D: Do to pick: AFRO. I understand hairdo, why "to pick"?

57D: Washington MLBer: NAT. Nationals. The former Expos. They moved in Washington in 2005. Twins used to be based in Washington (Senators).

58D: Money pd. for use of money: INT

59D: Athletic supporter?: TEE. I suppose it could be for football and golf. Tricky clue.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday May 29, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: I Like "U" (I → U)

17A: Flared garb for Tarzan: JUNGLE BELLS (Jingle Bells)

24A: Manage to provide morning refreshment?: MUSTER COFFEE (Mister Coffee)

37A: Scarf makers?: BOA CONSTRUCTORS (Boa Constrictors)

46A: Wrinkle on a dessert topper?: CHERRY PUCKER (Cherry Picker)

57A: Wolves full of themselves?: BLUSTER PACK (Blister Pack)

Why BELLS for "Flared garb"? I don't understand the connection. My favorite theme entry is BLUSTER PACK. I've been opening so many Blister Packs of baseball cards. And it also reminded me of Kim Jong-il and his blustering brinkmanship. Insane!

Typical Dan Naddor puzzle. Lots of theme squares (61). There are also four noticeable 10-letter long Down entries intersecting three of the theme entries:

11D: 1989 Daniel Day-Lewis film: MY LEFT FOOT. Wikipedia shows that the film won several Oscars. I've never seen it.

12D: One putting on a show: IMPRESARIO

27D: Cutting-edge farm parts: PLOWSHARES. Gimme for Windhover. But it's a new word to me. PLOWSHARE does not sound "cutting-edge" at all, PLOWSHARP does.

28D: It's hoisted on ice annually: STANLEY CUP. Nice, timely fill.

Quite a few clever clues. My favorite is BLTS (30A: Alphabetical orders?). I got B & S in position, then I filled in BCDS immediately, completely ignoring the question mark in the clue.

Across:

1A: Debacle: FIASCO. I've got no interest to read the sequel to "FIASCO".

7A: Fish used in sashimi: OPAH. Holy moley! I love sashimi, but I've never had OPAH. Wanted TUNA.

11A: "Good Will Hunting" setting, briefly: MIT. Great movie. The setting for Kevin Spacey's "21" is also MIT.

14A: Racket: UPROAR

15A: Denpasar is its capital: BALI. I had to check my dictionary to see where Denpasar is.

16A: Sumac from South America: YMA. From Peru. Her name means "Beautiful flower".

19A: Old platters: LPS

20A: First woman to land a triple axel in competition: ITO (Midori). Interesting trivia.

21A: Crumb: LOUSE. Did not know crumb is a slang for "worthless person". Was thinking of bread crumb.

22A: Levels: TIERS

26A: Orbital point: APSIS. Thought of APOGEE first.

29A: Keisters: PRATS. Both are new slang to me.

31A: Mogadishu native: SOMALI. The only SOMALI I know is Iman, wife to David Bowie.

35A: Actress Wray: FAY. Stranger to me. Wikipidia says FAY Wray is the first ever scream queen, originating from her appearances in the 1932 film "Doctor X" and the 1933 film "King Kong".

40A: Wheat beard: AWN. Fun clue. It reads like "Wheat bread".

41A: Short stops: PAUSES. Another great clue. Made me think of baseball's shortstop.

42A: Silk, in St. Étienne: SOIE. And TASSE (13D: Café cup). Alliteration in both clues.

43A: Finely contoured: SLEEK. I like the sequential clue order of 42 "Silk..."and then 43 "Finely contoured".

45A: Ulan __: BATOR. Ulan BATOR is literally "Red Hero". Russia's Ulan Ude is "Red Uda".

51A: Clapton hit that won the 1992 Best Rock Song Grammy: LAYLA. Here is the song clip. It's about Pattie Boyd, then wife of George Harrison.

52A: Off-the-wall piece on the wall: OP ART. Excellent clue.

53A: Humanities degs.: BAS

56A: Tolkien creature: ORC

60A: Modern, in Mannheim: NEU. Same pronunciation as our "new", Kazie? What is German for "old"?

61A: Tales and such: LORE

63A: Sixth of five?: ESP. The Sixth Sense. Stumped me.

64A: Odessa-to-Waco direction: EAST. I like this new cluing.

65A: Lacing air: EYELET

Down:

1D: Big film maker: FUJI. Also the highest mountain in Japan. And of course, FUJI apples.

2D: "__ a Spell on You": 1957 Screamin' Jay Hawkins song: I PUT. Here is the song. I wanted CAST.

3D: Florentine flower?: ARNO. River flows, hence flow-er.

4D: Soak, in British dialect: SOG. No idea. Thought of RET, which is often clued as "Soak flax".

5D: "We want to hear from you": CALL US. Nailed it immediately. But when I looked at my finished grid, I kept seeing CALLUS.

6D: Ingredients in a McFlurry, perhaps: OREOS. Stumped. I've never had McFlurry.

8D: Not so bright: PALER. As in color?

10D: Memorable: HISTORIC

18D: "Despite what I just said ...": BUT

23D: "__ tree falls ...": IF A. "IF A tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?".

25D: Not quite a B: C PLUS

31D: Serpentine: SNAKY

32D: Home of the NCAA's Buckeyes: OSU (Ohio State University). Just learned that Jack Nicklaus attended OSU.

33D: Whitney et al.: Abbr.: MTS. Thought of ELI Whitney first.

36D: River to the North Sea: YSER

38D: In working order: OPERABLE

39D: 1917 abdicator: TSAR

44D: Goethe's "The __-King": ERL. Gimmie after yesterday's Schubert's "The ____-King" clue. So, the boy is indeed fevered and hallucinating about the ERL-King?

46D: Knockoff: CLONE

47D: Falls heavily: POURS. D'oh, rain!

48D: Discomfit: UPSET

49D: Ailurophobe's dread: CAT. Had to check the dictionary for ailurophobe.

50D: Last word in a doughnuts: KREME. Krispy KREME. Not a fan of doughnuts. I wrote down EAT ME first.

54D: Teen breakout?: ACNE. Got it immediately. Saw identical clue somewhere before.

55D: Game with no card lower than seven: SKAT

58D: Mauna __: LOA. Hope to see the full MAUNA LOA in a grid someday.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday May 28, 2009 Tom Heilman

Theme: HYPOCRITE (62A: Insincere type suggested by the starts of the answers to starred clues)

17A: *Hack's output: POTBOILER

21A: *Canceling: CALLING OFF

26A: *Idealized family: THE JONESES

48A: *Pitched percussion instrument: KETTLE DRUM

56A: *Sorcery: BLACK MAGIC

In Chinese, we have an idiom similar to POT CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK: Crow laughing at the pig for being black.

I always thought THE JONESES simply means your neighbor, not necessarily an "idealized family". I got the defining entry HYPOCRITE first, then worked my way up, thinking the starts of the starred theme clues might synonyms to HYPOCRITE. Quite an inventive theme approach.

Besides KETTLE DRUM, there are several other music/musician/musical instrument related fills:

1A: Item of concern in a sound check: AMP

1D: "Spanish Flea" trumpeter: ALPERT (Herb). The guy in the middle?

15D: Schubert's "The __ King": ERL. Completely unknown to me. Here is a short plot summary.

18D: Instruments for Earl Scruggs: BANJOS

I don't think question mark is needed for NITRO (19A: TNT component?). The ? made me think of DRAMA, you know, TNT's "We know drama".

Across:

4A: Height: Pref.: ACRO. As in acrophobia. It appeared in our puzzle before, but I forgot. Wanted ALTI or ELEV, which are actually "Height: Abbr.".

8A: Part of a diploma accolade: MAGNA. MAGNA cum laude.

13A: John, to Ringo: LOO. John is slang for bathroom. Can't fool me.

20A: Film feline: ELSA. From "Born Free".

23A: Umbrella alternative: RAIN HAT

25A: Summer blowers: FANS

29A: Baseball feature: SEAMS. See this official Major League Rawlings baseball, with the commissioner's signature. That's Bud Selig.

33A: Hammer, for one: TOOL. Thought of Tom DeLay, "The Hammer".

36A: Analyze in English class: PARSE

39A: Groan inducer: PUN

40A: Where alpaca roam: ANDES. Which one is alpaca? I don't know how it looks differently from a llama.

42A: Org. concerned with climate change: EPA

43A: "Dang": DARN. Don't like the clue.

45A: U.S. document issuer: GPO (Government Printing Office). I was stumped.

53A: Enthusiastic okay, in Seville: SI SI. Shi Shi in Chinese.

55A: The first requirement: RULE ONE. Not RULE NUMBER ONE?

60A: Arguing: AT IT. Stop Arguing/Bickering! Clue me.

61A: "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" author: LOCKE (John). Easy guess. Have never heard of this essay.

64A: Sprain site: ANKLE. Ouch!

66A: Fascist leader?: NEO. Neo-fascist. Nice clue.

Down:

2D: Dough: MOOLAH. I used to confuse this word with mullah.

3D: "Happy Days" friend of Richie and Ralph: POTSIE. No idea. Thought of Fonzie, the guy who jumped the shark. Which one is POTSIE?

4D: __ Z: A TO

5D: Mexican-American: CHICANO. This is a new word to me.

6D: Empathize: RELATE

7D: Sports commentator Hershiser: OREL. Often clued as "Pitcher Hershiser".

8D: Heavenly fare: MANNA

9D: Associates (with): ALIGNS

10D: Deteriorate: GO TO SEED. New phrase to me.

11D: Ball used for dorm hoops: NERF

12D: Beginning: AS OF. I nailed almost all the multiple word answers today.

22D: "Granting that ...": IF SO. Can you give me an example on how these two are interchangeable?

27D: Slow the growth of: STUNT

28D: Very long interval: EON

30D: Live and breathe: ARE. Need your help again. I don't understand this cluing. The grammar is confusing.

31D: Woolf's "__ Dalloway": MRS. I learned this book from "The Hours".

34D: Collar extension: LAPEL

38D: Searches thoroughly: RANSACKS

39D: Season opener?: PRE. Preseason. A home-run clue. Nice!

41D: Loving refusal: NO DEAR. I like YES DEAR.

44D: Actor Tamiroff: AKIM. Hebrew for "God will establish". I can never remember his name.

45D: Important energy source for the brain: GLUCOSE. Thought of Fructose first. I figured my brain loves quick sugar from fruits.

47D: Amuse: TICKLE

49D: Shooter's aid: TRIPOD. And SKEET (54D: Shooter's sport). Nice pair.

51D: Merges: UNITES

52D: Earth threat in some sci-fi films: METEOR

56D: Tell: BLAB

59D: Pita sandwich: GYRO. Here is a GYRO sandwich with some ROTINI (50D: Spiral pasta) salad. What's your favorite pasta?

63D: These, in Troyes: CES. French for "these". I don't know where exactly Troyes is. It's picked just for alliteration purpose I suppose.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Poll Result

Pool Question: What's Your Favorite Puzzle Theme?

Total replies: 181

Words that precede/follows: 6 (3%)

Synonym/rhyming: 8 (4%)

Hidden words (split into several parts): 4 (2%)

Clue related: 39 (21%)

Other word manipulation (drop/add letters): 5 (2%)

Quip/Quote: 8 (4%)

Holiday or other special event puzzle: 22 (12%)

Rebus: 3 (1%)

I prefer themeless: 19 (10%)

I don't really care: 32 (17%)

Thanks for the participation.

C.C.

Wednesday May 27, 2009 Doug Peterson

Theme: Dog-tired

20A: Journalists with specialties: BEAT REPORTERS

33A: Washington Irving title setting: SLEEPY HOLLOW

41A: Dessert topping: WHIPPED CREAM

57A: Title place you "won't come back from," in a 1964 Jan & Dean hit: DEAD MAN'S CURVE

I'm exhausted!

I've never heard of Jan & Dean or their "DEAD MAN'S CURVE". BEAT REPORTERS and CITY DESK (38D: Local news department) brought to mind Watergate. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein started their investigative reporting from Washington Post's CITY DESK.

I am amazed by the expense scandals emerging from the British Parliament. Maybe Heather Brooke had a Deep Throat assisting her along the way as well. She should come back to the US and have a look at our own Congress.

Doug Peterson's Newsday Stumper is always hard. But his themed TMS Daily or LAT is just perfect for me. He likes to use 4 (sometimes 3) theme entries, and synonym theme is quite fascinating and educative, esp for a non-Native English speaker.

Across:

1A: Oil container: DRUM. Wanted TANK.

5A: Golden Arches pork sandwich: McRIB. Have never had McRIB. What's the white stuff? Doesn't look like onion.

14A: 2000s sitcom set in Texas: REBA. Could only think of "Dallas".

15A: Tabriz resident: IRANI. Tabriz is in northwest of Iran. Literally "causing heat to flow" in IRANI language.

16A: Three-sided sails: JIBS. Ah, now I see what a boom really is.

17A: Yankee nickname: A-ROD. He is rumored to be dating Kate Hudson. Madonna is history now.

19A: Sighed line: ALAS

23A: Sweden's neighbor across the Baltic: LATVIA. Its capital city is Riga.

24A: Holiday number: NOEL. "Number" here means song.

25A: Was holding: HAD. I did not get this one immediately. Nor did I get OWNS (36D: Just bought).

29A: IRS employee: AGT. Thought CPA first.

31A: Split: CLEAVE. Root word of cleavage. Disappointed? Well, that's THE cleavage of the election year.

36A: Sea predator: ORCA

39A: Rivière contents: EAU. Water is Shui in Chinese, as in Feng Shui, literally "water-wind".

40A: Chooser's first word: EENY. From "EENY, meeny, miney, mo"? Why racist?

46A: Spendable salary: NET PAY

47A: Bouncers check them: IDS. I misread it as "Bounced check" first. Nice clue.

48A: Sign of a smash: SRO (Standing Room Only). Smash hit. Another great clue.

52A: Green side: PEAS. Side dish. I thought of LEAS first.

55A: Sea surrounding Lemnos: AEGEAN. See this map. Lemnos is directly above the word AEGEAN Sea.

62A: Meir's successor: RABIN. He is succeeded by Begin during his first term.

63A: Eldly: AGED

65A: Damaged layer: OZONE. Damaged? Not damaging?

66A: Bath residue: RING. I was thinking of FOAM/SUDS.

67A: Beatle bride: YOKO. Nice to see YOKO rather than ONO.

68A: Nero at the piano: PETER. I forgot all about this pianist. By the way, what is exactly the instrument Nero was fiddling while Roman burned?

69A: Two gelcaps, e.g.: DOSE

Down:

1D: In a dreary: DRABLY

2D: Study, in a way: REREAD. "In a way", yes.

3D: WWII subs: U-BOATS

4D: Comedy show that once featured "Spy vs. Spy" cartoon: MADTV. No idea. I've never seen MADTV.

5D: Odometer reading: MILEAGE

6D: Cut short: CROP. D'oh, CROP the hair.

7D: Incriminate: RAT ON

8D: Lead-in: INTRO

9D: Gene therapist's field, briefly: BIOTECH. Easy guess. I don't know what a gene therapist does.

10D: Close to closed: AJAR. I like the clue. This puzzle is quite scrabbly.

11D: Sedimentary fuel source: OIL SHALE. I've vaguely heard of SHALE OIL, not OIL SHALE. Wish DRUM (1A: Oil container") were clued differently. Don't like the oil repetition.

12D: Org. with Heat and Thunder: NBA. Only know Miami Heat. Oklahoma City Thunder is new to me. Our Minnesota pro soccer team is called Thunder too.

21D: Muscat moolah: RIAL. Also the moolah in Iran and Yemen.

22D: Cockney greeting: 'ELLO. Letter H is dropped in Cockney accent.

26D: Mary Kay rival: AVON

27D: Damp at dawn: DEWY. These DEWY persimmons need frost to to be sweet.

32D: Type of sch.: ELEM

33D: Seven-time NFL Pro Bowler Warren: SAPP. Nope. Only know #4 Favre guy on his left. Is 99 the highest jersey number in NFL?

37D: Flightless bird: RHEA. Do you know RHEA only has three toes? Ostrich has only two.

43D: Bit of ocular irrigation: EYE DROP

44D: "Lou Grant" star: ED ASNER

45D: "Just __!": A SEC. Repeat offender.

48D: Brasil '66 bandleader Mendes: SERGIO. No idea. The only Mendes I know is Eva Mendes.

49D: Croaking birds: RAVENS

50D: Jumpy: ON EDGE

54D: Dutch shoe: SABOT. Like these?

56D: Keep safe: GUARD

58D: Really big show: EXPO

59D: Musical inspired by Fellini's "8 1/2": NINE. Completely unknown to me. Where is the other 1/2?

60D: Cook with a skillet: FRY. I only use skillet to stir-fry.

61D: Thai language: LAO. LAO is spoken in northern Thailand.

Answer grid.

C.C.

PS: Bay Area LAT solvers, please write to Katharine Fong (Deputy Managing Editor) of Mercury News if you prefer Rich Norris's LAT puzzles to the current Daily Communter. Her email address is kfong@mercurynews.com and her phone number is 408 278 3448. Thanks, WM.

Interview with Fred Jackson III

Today's My Fair Ladies in Broadway is our second Fred Jackson III puzzle since the LAT switch. Fred comments here on the blog occasionally and has provided valuable insights on the grid from a constructor's point of view.

Since Jan 2002, LA Times has published 25 of Fred's puzzles. He has also sold his work to Chicago Tribune, USA Today, New York Sun, Universal Crosswords, Games Magazine and Simon & Schuster Mega Crossword Puzzle Book.

It's enlightening to see how Fred worked out the 4 theme entries. And I love his answers on puzzle theme inspirations. Even if the universe provides me with similar gift in the middle of the night, I doubt I will get up and write it down. Too lazy.

How did today's theme come to you? And which theme answers/fills gave you the most trouble during construction?

I decided to do a theme based on the titles of Broadway shows, but I need a hook to tie them all together. I found a list of Broadway shows and noticed that several shows had a woman's name in the title. I said to myself "there's my hook!". I compiled a list of shows with women's names in the title somewhere and began the process of weeding them out until I came up with a workable set of theme answers. I don't remember any problems creating the fill, but this puzzle was originally submitted back in early February and now it's the end of May so a lot of small details are fuzzy.

Rich Norris liked the theme, but suggested I go one step further and only use titles where the women's names came at the end of the show title. So I had to throw out about half of my answers, such as "Irma La Douce". The new theme answers did not fit in with the original fill so I threw out 100% of the original fill and started over. Everything then had to be reclued and I sent off the revisions to Rich, which he accepted.

What is the most unforgettable puzzle you've constructed? What's the theme and why is it so special?

When I look back over my published puzzles I just see ways I could have done them better. I constantly work at improving my craft and what I'm doing now is usually an improvement over what I've done in the past. When I look at other constructor's puzzles I never see poor clueing or poor word choices like some others do. I look for what I can learn from that constructor's puzzle to improve myself. I just see the positive. My goal is too constantly get better and try new things. And Rich Norris has helped me greatly in improving my craft and I thank him for it.

Where do you get your puzzle inspirations? What kind of books/ magazines do you read?

Sometimes they come to me unbidden in the middle of the night as I am falling asleep. I get up immediately and write them down. Those usually always sell. I consider them a gift from the universe as I had nothing to do with thinking them up. It still takes a lot of work to develop them into a finished product. At times my wife, Martha, will present me with a good theme idea which I am able to convert into sales. My wife is very supportive of my hobby. I also get new theme ideas by going over old crossword puzzles or leafing through a dictionary. I call this priming the pump because it puts my mind in puzzle mode and new ideas eventually spring forth. I very seldom get an idea if I'm casually reading a non-puzzle related book or magazine for pleasure.

Who are your favorite constructors and why? Who gives you the most trouble?

I like the same names everyone else mentions when asked this question. I also like Ray Hamel, Lynn Lempel, Randall J. Hartman, Doug Peterson, Jack McInturff, and Alan Olschwang. I like puzzles that are fun to do and have a humorous element. Alan Olschwang always gives me a bit of trouble with his clever clueing and great fill words.

What is your background? What else do you do for fun?

I've been married to Martha for 37 years. We have two grown sons, Chris and Darren. I'm a retired sign maker for a city in Michigan.

For fun I like to go places with my wife, like going to museums, restaurants, or vacation trips. I like to listen to classical music, jazz, and classic rock. I like to read a lot, mostly science fiction. I collect old-time-radio shows from the 1930s and 40s, such as The Shadow, The Green Hornet, Jack Benny and Gunsmoke (it started out as a radio show before it went to TV). I collect movie serials from the 1930s and 1940s. I also love to watch baseball and football on TV. Go Detroit Tigers!