Thursday June 11, 2009 James Sajdak

Theme: HIT (39A: Smite, and hint to this puzzle's theme)

17A: Overnight millionaire, perhaps: POWERBALL WINNER

25A: One-time East Asia barrier: BAMBOO CURTAIN

47A: Pacific swimmer: SOCKEYE SALMON

62A: Unintended upshot: BOOMERANG EFFECT

OK, I struck out. How are POWER and BOOM synonymous with HIT? BAM, SOCK, slam, slug, smack, thrash, whack, wallop, yes. I got the unifying HIT (perfect position in the grid) very early, unfortunately it did not help much with my solving.

(Note: I was wrong earlier about POWER, it's POW. All the theme answers are comic book "HIT" sounds.)

Strange, despite growing up in China, I really have never heard of this term BAMBOO CURTAIN, the East Asia version of Iron Curtain. I don't think I have had SOCKEYE SALMON before. Not sure. Might have had it for sushi or sashimi. Is the result of "Hoist by one's own petard" the same as BOOMERANG EFFECT? I got POWERBALL WINNER immediately.

Favorite clue today is LOGO (34D: Target's target). My first image is William Ackman, the guy Target was targeting for their Board of Directors fight. I like the unintended tie between HIT and Target.

Across:

1A: Caroline du Nord, e.g.: ETAT. French for state. North Carolina.

5A: Seasonal roller: EGG. Nice clue.

8A: Veronica's pursuer, in comics: REGGIE. Stumped. Vaguely remember Archie proposed to Veronica news story a couple of weeks ago.

14A: __ Tzu: SHIH. SHIH Tzu is literally "lion" in Chinese. The full term SHI Tsu Kou means "lion dog".

15A: "Who, me?": MOI

16A: For one: APIECE

20A: Loud speaker: ORATOR. Who is the most famous American ORATOR? Reagan?

21A: Pond youngster: TADPOLES. Baby frogs or toads.

24A: "A likely story!": HAH

31A: River of Devon: EXE. Oh, now I know why Exeter is so named. It's on the River EXE and is located in the Devon County. I always have mental block on this damned river.

32A: Training site?: Abbr.: STN. Stumped. Wanted GYM. Train is verb here, meaning "travel by train".

33A: Historical records: ANNALS

36A: Burka wearer's deity: ALLAH. OK, here are three girls in burkas, which cover the whole body from head to toe. Slightly different than the black abaya, which does not cover the face. Niqab is the face veil, covering only the face. This headscarf is called hajab, face & eyes are exposed. I hope I can remember what I just wrote.

41A: Boorish type: YAHOO

42A: Sting Rays, briefly: 'VETTES. No idea. I know nothing about muscle car or any car. I did get GTOS (61D: Classic Pontiacs) though.

44A: Calendar col.: THU. "Col."= "column". Thursday is named after the Norse god THOR.

51A: Farm youngster: KID. Also known as Rich Norris's "Little butt-er?"

52A: Peak between Pelion and Olympus: OSSA. Easy guess. I don't know the exact locations of those three peaks.

53A: Complimentary review: ACCOLADE

58A: One sitting in your lap: TOY DOG. I was thinking of babies.

64A: "Get Shorty" novelist Leonard: ELMORE. Unknown to me. Have never heard of "Get Shorty".

66A: Dos cubed: OCHO. Spanish for eight. OTTO in Italian.

67A: Filled pastry of Asia: SAMOSA. Oh, the Indian turnover, similar to Chinese spring rolls I suppose. I've never had SAMOSA. Not a fan of Indian food.

68A: Fashion monogram: YSL. He was born in Oran, Algeria.

69A: "The Joy of Painting" host Bob: ROSS. Nope. Total stranger to me.

Down:

1D: Former Bruin all-star, familiarly: ESPO. Phil Esposito. Hall-of-Famer. He stumped me again. I could only think of Bobby Orr.

2D: Red-bearded god: THOR. Easy guess. I only associate hammer with the THOR the god of thunder, not his red beard. Another Norse reference today is EDDA (48D: Scandinavian epic).

3D: Sony subsidiary: AIWA. I had no idea that AIWA was acquired by Sony in 2002.

4D: It's generous to pick it up: THE TAB

5D: Early life forms: EMBRYOS

6D: __ long way: last: GO A. I like this answer better than GOA, which was often clued as "Tibetan gazelle" in our old puzzle.

7D: Like some fine art frames: GILT

8D: Numbers to crunch: RAW DATA

9D: January 6th Christian celebration: EPIPHANY. Ha ha, I cheated. Looked at our calendar first. How do you celebrate EPIPHANY?

10D: Pop singer Vannelli: GINO. His name escaped me, again.

11D: Grant, for one: Abbr.: GENL. I wrote down PREZ. Often see general abbreviated as GEN instead of GENL.

12D Frozen treat brand: ICEE

13D: Plural suffix with mountain: EERS. Mountaineers. Or auctioneers.

18D: Tiller opening: ROTO. First encounter with rototiller. I actually thought of the abortion doctor George Tiller, who was just killed ten days ago. I am really a random thinker.

19D: Costar with Bolger and Haley: LAHR (Bert). The Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz".

23D: Pituitary hormone: ACTH (AdrenoCorticoTropic Hormone). Both the clue and the answer are nonsenses to me.

25D: Theodore, to Wally: BEAV. Had trouble with this answer. Couldn't find a way to fill in brother.

26D: Bike feature: AXLE

28D: Togetherness: UNITY. Wrote down UNION first.

29D: Pig-poke link: IN A. Pig IN A poke.

30D: Book after Micah: NAHUM. And before Habakkuk. I looked it up in my list of Bible books.

35D: Herr's heir, maybe: SOHN. German for "son". Obtained the answer from Across fills.

38D: Comic's banes: HECKLERS

40D: Prefix with logical: THEO. Theological. Mine was IDEO.

43D: Resort with moguls: SKI AREA. Moguls are bumps on a ski slope. Nice clue.

45D: Company co-founded by J.P. Morgan: U.S. STEEL

50D: Wait to attack: LAY FOR. New phrase to me.

53D: Lincoln and others: ABES

54D: Soft drink choice: COLA. The left is how Coca COLA is written in Chinese. It means "delicious happiness", perhaps the best translation of any American brand.

55D: ICC part: Abbr.: COMM. I presume ICC here refers to the "Interstate Commerce Commission".

59D: Art __: DECO. ERTE is often clued as "Art DECO artist".

60D: Big name in publishing: OCHS. The current publisher of "The New York Times" is Arthur OCHS Sulzberger, Jr, great-grandson of Adolph OCHS.

Thanks for the interesting left/right hand discussions yesterday. Fun to read.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday June 10, 2009 Donna S. Levin

Theme: KNIT ONE, PURL ONE (57A: Directions appropriate for the activity suggested by the last words of 20-, 33- and 42-Across)

20A: Tingly feeling: PINS AND NEEDLES

33A: Through and through: DYED-IN-THE-WOOL

42A: Control tower concern: FLIGHT PATTERN

NEEDLES, WOOL & PATTERN simple suggests knitting, right? I am not a knitter. I don't know what kind of directions KNIT ONE, PURL ONE really are.

I am, however, a DYED-IN-THE-WOOL paper puzzle solver. I like having all the clues in front of me, writing, erasing, re-writing, sipping tea, snacking on nuts, etc. Working the on-line puzzle is just not relaxing. How about you?

Also, are you left-handed or right-handed? Kazie mentioned yesterday that "Lefties always look for connections and the "big picture", whereas righties seem to think more lineally, step by step". I am right-handed, but I think randomly, not "lineally".

Anyway, come to the Comments section and let me know which your dominant hand is. I am curious to know if we actually have more left-handed solvers than right-handed ones. Lefties are supposed to be good at solving problems.

My solving path today is rather jagged. But I got the job done. Favorite clues are TEAL and GYMNAST.

Across:

1A: SFPD alerts: APBS (All Points Bulletins)

10A: Term referring to a prev. citation: IBID. Short for Ibidem, meaning "in the aforementioned place". I forgot how it differs from OP. CIT. (in the work cited).

14A: Crux: MEAT. Wrote down GIST first.

15A: Greek market: AGORA

16A: Two-fifths of one quarter: DIME. I calculated 2/5 of 1/4 and got 1/10, so I wrote down DECI. Was not thinking of coin.

18A: Pricey mushroom: MOREL. Made me think of Dennis and his incredible moral sinew. I imagine he has a gruff voice.

19A: Educ. catchall: ELHI. EL(mentary) + HI(high school). I wrote down ET AL. I fall victim to this answer all the time.

23A: H.S. equivalency test: GED

25A: Monitor, briefly: CRT. For old computers.

29A: W.C.'s "My Little Chickadee" costar: MAE. Easy guess. Have never seen "My Little Chickadee". Was MAE West considered a sex symbol? She does not look hot to me.

37A: Proofing mark: DELE. And UNDO (59D: Backwards-arrow command)

38A: "Stroke" shouter, for short: COX (Coxswain). Stymied. "Stroke" is not a familiar command to me.

47A: Strange thing: ODDITY

51A: __Lingus: AER. Headquartered in Dublin. I like their three-leafed shamrock logo, green & leafy, very Irish.

52A: Canyon and Sierra: GMCS. Got the answer from Down fills.

62A: Surface magma: LAVA. Holy hot wick flow-er! Magma is beneath the earth's crust.

63A: Flared dress: A-LINE

64A: Tree of Knowledge site: EDEN. I am glad Adam & Eve ate the forbidden fruit.

67A: They may be pulled by teams: SLEDS. I thought team refers to horses & oxen only. I wrote down YOKES first.

69A: Masculine principle: YANG. Yin and YANG.

70A: Fusses: TO-DOS

71A: Big top: TENT. I like this clue.

Down:

1D: Rock booster: AMP. Kept thinking of "Rocket booster".

2D: Tiny sound: PEEP. More familiar with the "Look curiously" meaning of PEEP.

3D: Adriatic port: BARI. Unknown to me. See this map. It's a seaport in southeast of Italy.

4D: Smarted: STUNG

5D: Fast time in Fallujah: RAMADAN. The ninth month in Muslim calendar. I don't think I have the will to fast. Nice alliteration in the clue.

6D: Ray and Peter's co-Ghostbuster: EGON. No idea. Obtained the answer from Across fills.

7D: Parliament members: LORDS. House of Lords. And House of Commons. And houses of troubles for Gordon Brown. Man, he is toast, done!

9D: Alito and Thomas are graduates of it: YALE LAW. Gimme. So is the future Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

10D: Fingered, as a perp: IDED

11D: Original host of "The Price is Right": BILL CULLEN. Had trouble getting his given name as I screwed up the upper right corner.

12D: Words upon arriving: I'M HERE

13D: Many Founding Fathers, philosophically: DEISTS. Oh, I just learned that there is a difference between deism and theism. I wonder if ever America will elect an atheist as president.

21D: Big rig: SEMI

28D: Like many high achievers: SELF-DRIVEN

30D: Cut with acid: ETCH

32D: Mohair source: GOAT. Angora GOAT, to be exact.

35D: Fenced, perhaps: HOT. I did not know HOT is a slang for stolen goods.

36D: __ 67: Montreal fair: EXPO

40D: "Dude": BRO. Is BRO an African American saying?

43D: Let __: stop obsessing: IT GO

44D: One dismounting from a horse, maybe: GYMNAST. Pommel horse. Excellent clue.

45D: URL, e.g.: ADDRESS. Nice clue too.

46D: Ducky color?: TEAL. Another great clue. Interesting name, cinnamon TEAL duck.

47D: Subject of "Annie Get Your Gun": OAKLEY

48D: Reply to "Gracias": DE NADA

53D: Rostropovich's instrument: CELLO. Thought of PIANO first. His name Rostropovich sounds like a pianist.

58D: Spacecraft beverage: TANG. The first time I had TANG is around 1987, some 30 years after its invention.

61D: Hibernia: ERIN. You should eat worm if you failed to get this one. I've mentioned on the blog several times that Hibernia is Latin for Ireland. And those who love everything Irish are called hibernophiles.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Interview with Nancy Salomon

I've never solved a Nancy Salomon (left) puzzle. But I am familiar with her name and the incredible success she's had as crossword constructor.

Nancy has had over 180 puzzles published by NYT since 1997, some solos, some collaborated with other constructors. LAT has also published more than 40 of Nancy's puzzles since 2002. Her byline has appeared in NY Sun, Wall Street Journal, CroSynergy Syndicate, Washington Post, etc.

Our LAT constructor Gail Grabowski mentioned in her resume that she "learned the ropes" from Nancy. And Mike Peluso, John Lampkin and Jerome Gunderson all talked about how generous Nancy has been in helping them.

Hope you enjoy the interview (We will have her puzzle later this month). I found her observations on the novice constructor mistakes to be very interesting. Also laughed that she does not like writing clues.

Can you tell us a bit about your background? I read somewhere that you majored in English in college but your favorite course was actually biology.

Yes, I majored in English. I did love Biology, but the math requirements for a science major scared me off. Then, professionally, I wound up as a computer programmer! I started with IBM as a technical writer, but they taught their writers programming on the grounds that it might help to know what one was writing about. After going through programming school, I was hooked. I got out of technical writing and into systems programming just as soon as I could.

How did you get into crossword construction and who has been the most influential on your own development as a constructor?

In 1982 I was disabled with inoperable herniated discs. 10 years later, in one of my puzzle magazines, Stan Newman offered a "course" for beginners who promised to do the "homework." I decided to give it a go. The course led to the creation of a 15x15 crossword. Stan bought the resulting puzzle and I was off to the races. But I did exactly what I advise my students not to do--after my first puzzle I switched exclusively to 21x21 puzzles. I'm not sure why. They're so much harder to construct than dailies. On the plus side, once I finally rediscovered 15x15 puzzles, they seemed like a snap.

What is a perfect crossword for you? What kind of theme/fills fascinate you and what are the entries you try to avoid?

This is a toughie. The theme is the most important element of a themed puzzle. With today's software, anyone can fill a grid competently if the person is picky enough.

I look for the same thing that editors look for--themes that are tight, consistent, and clever. But there are many paths to that end.

My first NYT daily puzzle sale is still my favorite thematically. It had these theme entries:

LIGHTEN UP Dieter's credo?
TAKE A LOAD OFF Dieter's credo?
BE A GOOD LOSER Dieter's credo?
THINK FAST Dieter's credo?

It was such a stroke of luck to find four in-the-language phrases that could be reinterpreted as advice to a dieter. The crossword gods are seldom this kind!

Several constructors mentioned that they are not fond of writing clues, how about you?

I hate cluing. It's the one part of constructing that I find to be a chore.

What kind of mistakes do novice constructors make and what advices would you give to those tyros?

a) Trying to do too much. So many rookies have no realistic idea of how much can be accomplished in a 15x15 puzzle. They try to do 8 theme entries in their puzzle. The result is often worse than just ugly fill. The theme entries need to cross and so the constructors settle for marginal theme entries to meet the grid requirements. Another symptom of trying to do too much is the very low word counts I see from some beginners. They try and do themed puzzles with themeless word counts. I sometimes have a very hard time convincing students that a 78-worder with a solid theme and a good, lively fill, will take them a lot further than a theme-heavy puzzle with a marginal fill and a low word count.

b) Settling for inferior fills. Anyone can fill a grid with Crossword Compiler. The trick is getting a good fill.

c) Coming up one entry shy of a good theme and settling for a weak, strained entry to round out the set. Often students have a good set, but they mess things up by trying for an extra theme entry or two.

d) Themes that are way too broad or inconsistent. Editors like themes that are tightly focused. Many students don't get that at first. Editors also prize consistency. Odd-men-out have led to many a rejection. Yet there are times when inconsistency is acceptable. It depends on the ambitiousness of what one is trying to do thematically. One develops a feel for this after a while.

There are plenty more where these came from, but I've run out of gas.

What prompted you into mentoring aspiring constructors and how has it changed your life?

You know, I'm not really sure how I got into mentoring. I helped a few constructors and then the word just seemed to spread. Overall, it's extremely gratifying. When I started, the internet wasn't what it is today. Like most crossword constructors I mainly worked in a vacuum with some occasional feedback from editors to guide me along. I really enjoy the fact that I can shorten the learning curve for newcomers. They don't have to learn everything the hard way as I did.

I'd be lying if I told you it was roses all the way though. The students who drive me up a wall are those who are just looking for someone to confirm the brilliance of their creations. If a constructor isn't open to constructive criticism, he or she should bypass mentoring.

How has the crossword landscape changed since you first started in the early 1990s?

There's an enormous difference--just huge. One reason is the advent of Crossword Compiler. It's a very powerful tool that can lead to excellent results when used correctly. Thanks Antony! The other, at least as important, is the development of a community of constructors. Cruciverb.com is a godsend to new constructors and veterans alike. Thanks Kevin!

Tuesday June 9, 2009 Joan Buell

Theme: They are Capital-ists

17A: "Fanny" composer and lyricist: HAROLD ROME

26A: "Mallrats" costar: JEREMY LONDON

43A: "God Bless America" writer: IRVING BERLIN

58A: Frequent "Happy Days" director: JERRY PARIS

Of the 4 theme entries, IRVING BERLIN was the only one I knew of. But I cottoned onto the theme pretty quickly. The only trouble I had was obtaining HAROLD ROME's given name. Wikipedia says his music also appeared in "Rear Window".

Clever theme. Tight too. All of them have world capital (all in Europe) as their surname. PARIS HILTON would have ruined everything, as she often does, stealing others' boyfriend. I also loved the four long Down answers.

Both CRAB (16A: Chesapeake Bay catch) and OHIO (25A: River that forms at Pittsburgh) appear in the puzzle second day in a row, but with different clues. I have yet to see Rich Norris uses identical clues consecutively. Remember how we used to see TSE clued as "Half a fly?" day after day?

Across:

1A: Money on the Web: ECASH. Like the money in your PayPal account.

6A: Kind of palm tree: SAGO. Hmm, I want some SAGO pudding.

10A: "__ Angel": Mae West film: I'M NO. Got the movie title with Down fill help. Thought of Marlene Dietrich's "The Blue Angel".

14A: Broadway's Rivera: CHITA. She was in the original "Chicago".

15A: Fed under Ness: T-MAN (Treasury-Man)

19A: Waffle brand: EGGO. From Kellogg's.

20A: Handwriting on the wall: OMEN

21A: Coupling device: YOKE. Somehow this clue brought to mind David Carradine and his strange death. So dark!

22A: Get __ of one's own medicine: A DOSE

23A: Course of study for future docs: PREMED. And LSAT (56D: D.A.-to-be's exam)

34A: Hard to handle: EELY. This Dragon Sushi Roll (eel) looks so tasty. "Easy to handle".

37A: Wood for crafts and rafts: BALSA. Spanish for "boat"/"float".

39A: Fun house feature: MAZE

42A: Second careers for thoroughbreds: SIRES. Poor Calvin Borel. He rode the wrong "Bird" last Saturday.

47A: Slaughter of baseball: ENOS. And "Speaker of baseball" is TRIS.

53A: Texas city, familiarly: BIG D. JFK was assassinated here. That's the image I have of Dallas.

60A: Boo Boo's buddy: YOGI. Had YO?? in place, so I wrote down YOYO, which matches well with Boo Boo.

62A: Youngest of Chekhov's "Three Sisters": IRINA. Unknown to me. Last time OLGA (the oldest) was clued as "One of Chekhov's "Three Sisters". The other one is Masha.

63A: "Ignore the change," to a printer: STET

65A: Experimental bomb blast, briefly: N-TEST

Down:

1D: Parrot: ECHO. Verb?

2D: Titleholder: CHAMP. Wrote down OWNER.

3D: ABC or NBC, e.g.: AIRER. Ugh. I was trying hard to shorten "network".

4D: Moonshine container: STONE JUG

5D: Henry V, as a prince: HAL. Wow, who knows!

6D: Walked with purpose: STRODE

7D: Frantic way to run: AMOK

8D: Clue, e.g.: GAME. Excellent clue.

9D: 1300 hours: ONE. Shouldn't it be ONE PM?

10DL Stranded at O'Hare, perhaps: ICED IN. And SNOW (41D: Winter coat?") & RAINS (50D: Pours or drizzles).

11D: Hershey's product: MR. GOODBAR. Have never had this candy. Boy, peanuts in Milk Chocolate. All high allegic ingredients.

24D: Player at the new Citi Field: MET. My favorite MET. Shea Stadium is now history.

25D: Paella pot: OLLA

30D: Aberdeen turndowns: NAES. Scottish for "no". NYETS are "Moscow turndowns".

31D: Piedmont wine area: ASTI

32D: '30 heavyweight champ Max: BAER. Another crossword Max is the "Dadaist Ernst".

33D: As often as not: ON AVERAGE

38D: Wall St. hedger: ARB (Arbitrageur)

39D: Many a gas station store: MINI-MART

42DL Charlotte, to Anne or Emily: SIS. The Bronte sisters.

44D: A party to the plot: IN ON IT. Often see IN ON.

46D: Tramp's love: LADY. "LADY and the TRAMP". Nice clue.

49D: Beyond unusual: EERIE

51D: Grant and Carter: AMYS. Only know AMY Carter.

54D: Appliance on a board: IRON

58D: Chew the fat: JAW. Wanted YAK first. Strange saying, "chew the fat". "Chew nuts" sounds more sensible.

59D: ATM user's need: PIN

Answer grid.

C.C.

Monday June 8, 2009 David Poole

Theme: Full Monty Monday (Blogged by Argyle)

20A: Auto door safety feature: CHILD PROOF LOCK

34A: Cheap per-share buy: PENNY STOCK

42A: Brewery container: BEER BARREL

51A: With "the," what the ends of 20-,34- and 42-Across suggest: WHOLE ENCHILADA.

It seems funny to have LOCK, STOCK and BARREL after HANG FIRE yesterday since they both refer to early firearms. I feel that The WHOLE ENCHILADA is more West Coast influence; back East they are more likely to say The Whole Ball of Wax.

Anyway, they all mean that something is taken as a whole entity.

Across:

1A: Alpha follower: BETA. If this had been NATO code, it would be Bravo (other than the fact it wouldn't fit).

5A: Advanced math subj.: CALC. Calculus And 17A: Geom. shape: RECT. Rectangle All these others are formed by shotening the orignal word. 47A: NFL gains: YDS. yards, 48A: Lawyer: Abbr.: ATT. attorny, 49A: Part of a college yr.: SEM. semester, 2D: Corp. officer: EXEC. executive, 3D: PC troubleshooter: TECH. technician, 12D: Kind of engr.: ELEC. electricity

9A: Metal fastener: RIVET.

15A: Birth state of seven presidents: OHIO. William Henry Harrison, Ulysses Simpson Grant, Rutherford Birchard Hayes, James Abram Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, Warren Gamaliel Harding

16A: Amtrak speedster: ACELA. Acela is a made-up name, not an acronym or Latin or Greek. 46A: Greek letters after mus: NUS. Now that was Greek to me!

18A: Skipper who landed on Ararat: NOAH. Mount Ararat.

24A: Korean carmaker: KIA.

28A: Places to sleep: Abbr.: BRS. bedrooms

30A: Son-of-a-gun: SO AND SO.

39A: __ Jima: IWO. In the South Pacific

41A: Hogwarts messengers: OWLS. Owls always knew where the adressee could be found. Harry's owl, Hedwig, was a snowy owl.

59A: Playful poke: NUDGE.

60A: R&B singer India.__: ARIE. India.Arie Why the dot in her name I wonder?

61A: Tax: LEVY.

63A: Oven setting: BROIL.

64A: Paw bottoms: PADS.

65A: Big name in do-it-yourself furniture: IKEA.

66A: Gillette Trac II successors: ATRAS. A new clue for an old answer.

Down:

1D: Watering hole, so to speak: BAR. And where you can 36D: Run a tab: OWE.

5D: Andean vultures: CONDORS. 11 foot wingspan, Wow, Looks like a transmitter on his wing.

8D: Great Lakes salmon: COHO. The average adult Great Lakes coho salmon weighs eight pounds. Like the chinook, coho are native to the Pacific coast of North America, and to parts of Asia. They were introduced into the Great Lakes in 1873.

9D: Basket fiber: RAFFIA. Basket. Also, raphia. A fiber obtained from the leaves of the raffia palm.

10D: Reykjavik native: ICELANDER. I hope the natives are friendly.

11D: White House rejection: VETO.

21D: Tripoli's country: LIBYA.

26D: Cat calls: MEOWS.

27D: "I give up!": UNCLE. The origin is traced to the Irish anacol, meaning an act of mercy or quarter. So, to say uncle appears to be a folk etymology that arose in North America from Irish immigrants; or nobody really knows.

30D: Disdain: SCORN.

31D: Fictional Maine town in many Stephen King stories: DERRY. If you see this sign while driving in Maine, for God's sake, turn around!

35D: Sentimental yearning for the past: NOSTALGIA.

40D: Sales meeting prop: EASEL.

42D: Beast, in Bordeaux: BETE.

43D: Like the most active bee?: BUSIEST. "Busy as a bee."

45D: Braces (oneself): STEELS.

50D: Sasha Obama's big sister: MALIA. I'll bet we see more of the girls in our grids.

51D: Org. with the N.Y. Liberty and L.A. Sparks: WNBA. Women's National Basketball Association. The league was founded in 1996 as the women's counterpart to the NBA. League play started in 1997; the regular season is played from June to September with the playoffs starting in mid-September and running into October.

54D: California wine county: NAPA.

55D: Scuttling crustacean: CRAB. Our favorite crab.

57D: Tricky hockey maneuver: DEKE. On the ice; on the field, it's a juke.

58D: Affirm confidently: AVER.

62D: NBA center __ Ming: YAO. 7 ft 6 in, Weight, 310 lb.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday June 7, 2009 Mike Peluso

Theme: Taking The Bite Out of the Dog

23A: About to land in northern Ohio?: (GR)OVER CLEVELAND

31A: Incredible hole-in-one?: AMAZING (GR)ACE

53A: Debts?: (GR)OWING CONCERN

76A: Traditional ghost stories?: (GR)EEK MYTHOLOGY

93A: Aristocratic Machu Picchu women: (GR)ANDES DAMES

106A: WWII intelligence oversights?: (GR)OSS NEGLIGENCE

37D: Angry gorillas?: (GR)APES OF WRATH

40D: Little queen in the library?: RESEARCH (GR)ANT

I glommed onto the theme immediately after I obtained AMAZING ACE. My favorite theme entry is APES OF WRATH, very evocative. I like how it crosses ORANG (80A: Malaysian ape). I am also fond of OSS NEGLIGENCE too. OSS is often clued as "CIA forerunner".

Very clever theme. Also neat to have three "Pay" in the following clues:

29A: Pay: SALARY. Wrote down AWARD first. Two letters fit.

38A: Not pay, as taxes: EVADE.

8D: Pay dirt: ORE

Several tricky clues today. I dodged a few. But struggled mightily with OPIATE (60A: Dentist's number?). Only realized a few minutes ago that I have to parse number as numb-er, stuff that numb me.

I still don't understand the cluing for NAS (105D: __ in November). Why? Is it related to the rapper NAS somehow?

Across:

1A: Photographer's buy: TRIPOD. And RIMS (82A: Lens holders)

7A: Maker of Infiniti hairstyling irons: CONAIR. Also the name of a Nicolas Cage movie.

13A: It precedes Blue Jays' home games: O CANADA. I got it immediately.

20A: Actress Swank: HILARY. Loved her "Million Dollar Baby".

21A: Defoe title surname: CRUSOE

22D: Rhine siren: LORELEI. This has become a gimme. Sirens are sea nymphs.

25A: Starry-eyed type: DREAMER. Life is too realistic to be a DREAMER now.

26D: 1931 Garbo role: MATA HARI. Unknown to me. I don't think I've watched any Garbo movie. MATA HARI was executed in 1917.

27A: Binding words: I DO. Sweet clue.

39A: Word in proof: ERGO

40A: Some NFL linemen: RGS (Right Guards). Not a football fan. Wanted RTS. Are right tackles linemen also?

43A: They're found under long hair: NAPES. D'oh. Of course.

44A: Douglas Aircraft jets used in Nam: F- TENS. No idea. I also did not know GIRO (75A: Old rotorcraft, for short). It's short for autogiro.

47A: Iowa college town: AMES

48A: Rice-: A-RONI. My husband loves their Spanish Rice.

51A: Follow: ENSUE

52A: Matter of law: RES. Latin thing.

56A: Spacemate of Michael and Buzz: NEIL (Armstrong). Aboard Apollo 11. The Moon Walk.

57A: "Strange Magic" gp.: ELO. Easy guess.

58A: Thing to go through: PHASE. Great clue. I kept thinking of LISTS.

59A: Twist, as floorboards: WARP

62A: Smooth style: FLAIR. Got the answer with Down help.

64A: PB &J cousin: BLT. I like peanut butter and honey combination.

65A: Kitchen gadget: CORER. Thought of PEELER immediately. I peel everything.

66A: In addition: AS WELL

68A: "Leaving Las Vegas" costar: SHUE (Elizabeth). Nice picture. I wrote down the other costar CAGE first.

70A: Time between mediodía y seis: TARDE. Spanish for afternoon. Between noon (mediodía) and six (seis). Stumper for me.

72A: USN rank: CPO (Chief Petty Officer). Another stumper.

79A: Throne letters: HRH. His/Her Royal Highness.

83A: Materialized: AROSE

84A: Reagan secretary of state: HAIG (Alexander). I remember his "I'm in control here".

85A: Facetious suggestion to public kissers: GET A ROOM. Funny.

87A: Layers: PLIES

88A: Mozart's "__ Alla Turca": RONDO. Here is a clip. I was stymied.

89A: __Kosh B'Gosh: OSH. New brand to me. What a strange name!

90A: "Same Time, Next Year" actor: ALDA. Not familiar with the movie.

91A: Badgers, in "Jabberwocky": TOVES. Anything "Jabberwocky' is beyond me.

92A: Softened by love: MELTED. Sweet clue too.

95A: Eternities: EONS. Wrote down EVER first.

99A: Ring floorings: KOS (Knockouts). Needs "briefly" for hint, doesn't it?

100A: Church challengers: HERETICS

104A: Qom inhabitant: IRANIAN. Wikipedia says Qom is the largest center for Shi'a scholarship in the world. Very close to Tehran.

110A: South African liberator: MANDELA

111A: Show contrition: REPENT

112A: More to the point: TERSER

114A: Lists of candidates: SLATES. Our governor Tim Pawlenty just announced that he wouldn't seek for a third term. I am certain that he is aiming at the GOP presidential nominee.

115A: Prosecutorial staff member: Abbr.: ASST DA. Have watched so many "Law & Order" reruns, yet I still had trouble obtaining this answer.

Down:

1D: Shoe retailer McAn: THOM

2D: 1972 Derby winner __ Ridge: RIVA. No idea. Wikipedia says he won 1972 Belmont Stakes as well. Very exciting race yesterday. Calvin Borel almost pulled it off.

4D: "The Prodigal Son" and others: PARABLES. I did not know what "The Prodigal Son" is about. Thought it might be a novel.

5D: 14-Down flowers: ORCHIDS. And CORSAGE (14D: Gift for a big date). DIAMOND came to my mind when I read "Gift for a big date".

6D: Songwriters Bob and Jakob: DYLANS. Only know the father Bob DYLAN.

7D: MXXX ÷ V: CCVI. 1030/5=206.

9D: Match __: tie game, in Bordeaux: NUL. New term to me. NUL is French for "void".

11D: Give a charge to: IONIZE

12D: __wip: REDDI. I forgot this brand again. Only use Cool Whip.

15D: Seattle's 206, e.g.: AREA CODE. Stumped. I only know Seattle's #51. My first ever baseball card is a Topps' Ichiro.

16D: 1960 Wimbledon champ Fraser: NEALE. No idea. He is an Aussie. Hope Roger Federer realizes his Grand Slam dream this time.

18D: Forest bounders: DEER. Nice clue.

24D: Fraction of a joule: ERG

28D: Like the simplest process: ONE STEP

32D: Out of control: MANIC. AMOK is one letter short.

33D: Spots: ADS

34D: Garson of "Mrs. Miniver": GREER

38D: Detachable collars: ETONS

41D: Astronaut's garb: G-SUIT. Oh, I did not know they are called G-SUITS.

42D: "O Rare Ben Johnson" is engraved (in error) on one: STELE. My answer was STONE. The correct name should be Ben Jonson, a contemporary of Shakespeare.

44D: Brother in a hood?: FRIAR. Superb clue. I was thinking of those street gangs.

46D: Navel phenomenon: INNIE

49D: Camping pest: GNAT. And NOODGE (55D: Pest), a word I quickly forgot after it appeared in our puzzle last time.

50D: Unlike this ans.: ACR (Across). This answer (50D) is Down, not Across. I got it right away.

63D: Hotelier Helmsley: LEONA. The Queen of Mean.

64D: Believes: BUYS. Did not come to me readily.

65D: Angry: CROSS. IRKED popped into my mind.

66D: Disco era phrase: A GO GO. No idea.

68D: Protection for a bank job: SKI MASK. The robbery. I was imagining those surveillance cameras in the bank.

69D: "Let me think about that": HMM

70D: Whig opponents: TORIES. The parties in the UK?

73D: Fall preceder: PRIDE. I wanted Summer.

74D: "Lordy": OH GOD

77D: Weaken, as confidence: ERODE. Calvin Borel probably jinxed himself by talking too confidently.

78D: Cut a sandwich, say: HALVE

84D: Piece keepers?: HOLSTERS. I did not know a pistol is also called a piece Nice play on peace keepers then.

86D: Savvy sailor: OLD SALT

87D: Lap dog, for short: POM. The real dog. I was in the figurative direction.

88D: Commits an act of betrayal, maybe: RENEGES. Don't promise what you can't deliver.

91D: Mortarboard hanger: TASSEL

92D: Pat of "The Karate Kid": MORITA

93D: "Intervention" airer: A AND E. The answer emerged itself. I've never heard of "Intervention".

94D: Concerns of the god Janus: DOORS. January is named after him.

96D: Tucson is its county seats: PIMA. got the answer from Across fills.

98D: Tilted position: CANT. New definition to me.

100d: Alts.: HGTS. Altitudes & Heights.

101D: Technical sch.: INST

103D: Antitoxins: SERA

107D: Luxurious getaway: SPA

108D: Nothing but __: perfect hoops shot: NET. Ha ha, I thought it's Nothing but DUNK. I don't follow NBA.

109D: Charlotte-to-Raleigh dir.: ENE.

Answer grid.

C.C.

PS: For those who are not familiar with today's constructor Mike Peluso, here is his interview again.

Saturday June 6, 2009 Doug Peterson

Theme: None

Total blocks: 25

Total words: 68

Out of the 11 LAT Saturday themeless we've been offered since the switch, this puzzle has the least amount of black squares. The grid feels so open, with the triple-stacked 15-letter fills at the top and bottom:

1A: Winner of 49 Pulitzer Press: ASSOCIATED PRESS

16A: Diner order: SPANISH OMELETTE

17A: 200-mph swooper: PEREGRINE FALCON

46A: Two-generation groups: NUCLEAR FAMILIES

50A: State collections: INTERNAL REVENUE

51A: Some decks: CASSETTE PLAYERS

This time I was not intimidated at all. I got ASSOCIATED PRESS immediately, though my first thought was Washington Post, which actually has a total of 47 Pulitzers (NY Times has 101). I wonder if that's Doug's seed entry.

I was able to conquer the vast area of the top half, but I struggled with the lower part. What exactly is INTERNAL REVENUE? I wanted some word/phrase ending in TAX. Nevertheless, I am quite pleased with what I achieved today. I think the energy in my #1 CHAKRA point flowed pretty well.

Across:

18A: Menu items: ICONS. Computer. I thought of the food items.

19A: Nutrient in lentils: IRON. This answer came to me slowly, like love. I could only think of protein.

20A: MLB stat: HRS (Home Runs). ERA, RBI, etc. All three letters. Do you think Mine That Bird will hit a home run today? I want Calvin Borel to make history. Anyone besides Eliot Spitzer picks Luv Guv? The owner of Luv Guv also owns a horse called "Ninth Client".

21A: Peel: RIND. Noun.

22A: Loyal subject: LIEGE. I struggled with this answer.

24A: Premiere arrival: LIMO

25A: Lines on "ER"?: EEG. Filled in immediately.

26A: Break down: PARSE. Break down a sentence.

27A: General drift: TENOR. I like this clue.

29A: Heavy: BAD GUY. Heavy is noun. My initial answer is FAT GUY, since I had LET IN rather than LED IN for the intersecting 24D: Ushered.

30A: Fans of the bulldog Handsome Dan: YALIES. I forgot that Handsome Dan is Yale's mascot.

32A: Like much wage discrimination: SEXIST

33A: General types: DONORS. Mine was GIVERS.

34A: Beau: SWAIN. The 5-letter answer for "Beau" clue seems to be SWAIN all the time, never LOVER.

35A: Clearances: OKAYS. Spent a long time fooling around in this corner.

36A: Doesn't stay put: ROAMS. I had ?O??S staring at me forever.

37A: Sallie __: MAE. And Freddie Mac.

40A: Sake brewer's need: MOLD. Wrote down RICE first.

41A: Overcharge: GOUGE

42A: __ Corners: FOUR. Oh, this FOUR Corners. I thought of Augusta's AMEN Corner.

43A: Sermon ending?: IZE. Sermonize. One blank short for my AMEN again, and one blank too more for EN, the last letter of Sermon.

44A: Cotillard's Oscar-winning role: PIAF. I was shocked that Marion Cotillard won. She did not even sing in "La Vie en Rose".

45A: Eponymous Italian physicist: VOLTA (Alessandro). Ha ha, I had no idea that Volt is named after this guy.

Down:

1D: Have high hopes: ASPIRE

2D: Change: SPECIE. Well, I read Al's "Metallic money" posts a few times the other day, and I still failed to get this answer. "Coined money" seemed to be the most accurate definition.

3D: Java wrap: SARONG

4D: Standing up: ON END

5D: Bummed things: CIGS. Cigaretts? I don't get this clue.

6D: Country on the Medit.: ISR (Israel)

7D: Sushi staple: AHI. Also "Sashimi staple". Yummy!

8D: Tops in chic: TONIEST. I did not know tops is an adjective. Thought tops here is a verb.

9D: Appear: EMERGE

10D: "Captain Singleton" author: DEFOE (Daniel). I only knew his "Robinson Crusoe". Easy guess though.

11D: Outline: PLAN. PLOT fits too.

12D: Xmas visitor, say: REL. No Santa.

13D: Some Rembrandts: ETCHINGS

14D: Make a dramatic exit: STORM OUT

15D: Tactile, e.g.: SENSORY

22D: Velcro alternative: LACES. Could not keep zipper out of my mind.

23D: Red states?: IRES. Great clue.

26D: Not very strong hand: PAIRS. Poker.

27D: Airport lineup: TAXIS. Wanted QUEUE.

28D: Two-time heavyweight champ Patterson: FLOYD. Nope. First encounter with this champ.

29D: New York mayor before Koch: BEAME (Abe). I can never remember his name. He was the mayor between 1974 and 1977. Wikipedia says "he was a man of very short stature, being only five feet, two inches tall". I am 5'4''. How about you?

30D: Highest rank in sumo: YOKOZUNA. No idea. I recognized its Kanji character 横綱 though. It's literally "horizontal rope". Wikipedia says the word comes from the most visible symbol of their rank, the rope (tsuna) worn around the waist.

31D: "The __ of Confucius": ANALECTS. Well, see these two Chinese characters? They simply mean "commentaries". I've never heard of ANALECTS before.

32D: Loot: SWAG. Forgot this slang word again.

33D: Patron saint of astronomers: DOMINIC. Stymied. Wikipedia says this Saint DOMINIC "zealously practiced rigorous self-denial" throughout his life. And "he abstained from meat and observed stated fasts and periods of silence". No wonder he is a saint.

34D: Fluffy fare: SOUFFLE. Yummy! Alliteration again.

36D: Obviously enjoy, as humor: ROAR AT

37D: Quad Cities city: MOLINE. John Deere is headquartered here.

38D: Stylish filmmaker: AUTEUR. Why "Stylish"? Woody Allen is an AUTEUR.

39D: Removes, in a way: ERASES.

42D: "The Unit" actor Scott: FOLEY. Recognized his mug when I googled him. That's Jennifer Garner, his ex-wife, in his arms. He was Noel in "Felicity".

44D: Nice old man?: PERE. Nice the city in France. Can't fool me.

45D: Bounty rival: VIVA. Holy moley. Have never heard of this brand.

47D: __ Fauves: Matisse group: LES. "The Wild Beast". Learned this group from reading "Charmed Circle", a book about Gertrude Stein, Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway, etc.

48D: Grünwald associate: ARP (Jean). The Dada pioneer. Was stumped. Not familiar with Alfred Grünwald, who founded Cologne Dada group with ARP and Max Ernest.

49D: Film maker Brooks: MEL. So many MEL's in Hollywood.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Interview with Gareth Bain

Most of our TMS (the old Daily and the current LAT) crossword constructors seem to be Americans based in America. Daniel A Finan is in Denmark though, doing his Ph. D there.

Gareth Bain is a South African. He is 22 years old, still a college student. He started constructing American style crosswords only a year ago, and his puzzles have been published by LAT, Universal and USA Today.

Today is our second Gareth Bain work since the switch. I enjoyed very much his last NIXON grid, where ON is nixed in every theme entry. I expect we will see more of his puzzles in the future.

Can you tell us more about this puzzle? How did the theme idea come to you and what kind of problems did you encounter while working on the grid?

Well it started with the helper phrase ETTU, and just looking at it in a different way. I like the idea of using "crossword-ese" to make puzzles. Having said that it's more correctly parsed as add TU and not ET, but adding TU is a lot trickier. There were a lot of nice entries so I went for 6 entries and interlocking them, and with a bit of fiddling and a lot of cursing whilst filling things in... this is what I got. The top-left and especially the bottom-right were the worst. Even after 2! spoiler (I mean helper, this is the LAT...) squares that bottom-right is still quite horrid. So maybe it would've been better to have gone with 4 sparkly theme entries and even sparklier long fill? I don't know...

What is a perfect puzzle to you? What kind of theme fascinates you? Or do you actually prefer themeless?

Something I haven't seen before, those really amazing out-of the ordinary themes... like Wednesday's NYT (I'm writing on Wednesday so it's fresh in my minds. I also really admire those solidly built Monday puzzles with neat, if not ground-breaking themes, but with a fill so polished you can see your face in it. And no, that last sentence, makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, but you get the drift... Themelesses are a taste I'm gradually acquiring, NY Times Saturdays are still liable not to get completed if the Americana level goes too high. (Miss the Sun themelesses, was a bit more in-tune with them.)

What is your background? What prompted you to work on your first puzzle?

I started solving the local (South African) "You" Magazine puzzle (by Phanie Alberts) with my grandfather at about 9 or 10. If you want a crash-course in crossword-ese that's the puzzle for you! I think I'll answer part of Q4 now... This is probably the most popular South African puzzle. It's what's known (I think) as a clue-in-squares type. There's no theme, plenty of unches (across squares with no down answer intersecting and vice versa), lots of 2-letter words, and more crossword-ese than you can shake a stick at. On the plus side, there are usually some pretty gorgeous long entries spanning the top and left-hand sides of the grid...

Still, it was enough to get me hooked on crosswords. I actually started trying to imitate that at around 13 - I can't remember an exact motive though behind it to be honest though - and have been annoying various family members with puzzles since then... I discovered American puzzles about 2 years ago, though the "premium" puzzles (LAT, NYT, Newsday etc.) about a year after that, when someone sent me a link to cruciverb.com (actually the second person to do so...) Each was a quantum leap for me in terms of quality; naturally I tried to imitate what I saw, but especially when it came to those "premium" puzzles, it's been a very steep learning curve. The best example is that until then I had no qualms about throwing in terrible words wherever and even letting them cross. Getting CC helped a lot, before then was using pencil and paper and excel (you only have to rub a hole through the page so many times before realizing the major drawbacks of making crosswords on graph paper...) I still like to do things mostly manually; filling in the grid with the press of button seems to take all the fun out of it, and I'm not sure if it doesn't take some of the individuality out of a crossword, but maybe that's just me. Having said that I'm leaning on the suggest button more and more, it's such a temptation, lol.

While I'm here, I hope you don't mind me saying thank you to 2 crossword angels who gave me a lot of feedback and advice (that I mostly ignored, because I'm an independent cuss), and also Rich Norris. It's said before, but it needs to be said again, he really goes the extra mile with novice constructors, both in terms of constructive feedback as to why a crossword is undesirable, and also by sometimes taking such a puzzle and telling you precisely what you need to change to make acceptable and/or a better puzzle, which has happened in 3 of 4 puzzles so far...

How are American crosswords different from those in South African?

I answered a lot of that already, but to add to it, straight puzzles aren't all that common. Mostly, what you see in newspapers are British cryptics and some local cryptic authors too... There's also no (to my knowledge, anyway) free-lance, edited crosswords, which is one reason I'm here...

Who are you favorite constructors and why?

In one year I've been exposed to a huge number of talented constructors, it's nigh impossible to single anyone out. I've got 3 but it could've easily been 30 and if you'd asked me this next week it might easily have been a different 3.

Gail Grabowski: As I said I really admire clean, "crossword-ese-free" early-week puzzles and she is the queen of those. Her themes are also simple, but often surprisingly imaginative.

Bob Klahn: I think it's last Friday's CrossSynergy puzzle that's still in my head, but his clues are just so evocative and so mellifluous (I love that word, even if I can't spell it) and so delightfully twisty and very much unique. How amazing is it to write clues in a way that's all your own (there are a few others that do it, but not so many...). The most amazing thing is how the clues are hard until you get them, and then they're easy, which to me is a mark of genius...

Joon Pahk: I haven't solved one of his puzzles and not been both surprised and impressed by it. The Sun puzzle where lead turns into gold is still etched in my memory. Which is incredible, considering the number of crosswords between it and the present...


Note from C.C.:

1) The helper squares in Gareth's answer #1 refer to the two black squares directly above and below ADJ (13D) and BEL (60D). See today's grid.

2) In his "What is your background" answers, Gareth mentioned CC and "unches". CC refers to Crossword Compiler, the crossword constructing software. "Unches" means "unchecked fills", like the edge letters N, S, W, E in this Joe Krozel compass puzzle.

Friday June 5, 2009 Gareth Bain

Theme: ET TU (59D: Famous last words (and homophonically, a hint to this puzzle's theme))

19A: Genetic coding for an official legislative trip?: JUNKET DNA (Junk DNA)

23A: NASA scrapheap?: ROCKET PILE (Rock Pile)

51A: Long-eared dog's performance?: BASSET SOLO (Bass Solo)

52A: Young hen's bar bill?: PULLET TAB (Pull Tab)

2D: Horn section?: CORNET ROW (Cornrow)

34D: Dance after getting a shock from an outlet?: SOCKET HOP (Sock Hop)

"ET TU, Brute?" are Julius Caesar's famous last words. I got the answer immediately. Then I got PULLET TAB in a hurry and realized that ET is added into the theme answer. But I simply could not parse ET TU. Forward to 1:24, you will hear ET TU is pronounced like "Add TU", homophonically. I was confused.

I've never heard of Junk DNA, but JUNKET came easily. Is Jack Abramoff sentenced yet? I think I would have taken his Scotland golf JUNKET too. I actually did not know what a pullet is. Only knew the French "poulet". Not familiar with the Sock Hop dance either.

Very choppy solving today. Quite a few tricky clues. I really liked the overlapping and the interlocking of the theme answers.

The helper squares Gareth Bain mentioned in his interview refer to two black squares directly above and below ADJ (13D) and BEL (60D).

Across:

1A: Bank holding: Abbr.: ACCT

5A: Village Voice awards: OBIES. Yep, OBIES are given by Village Voice.

10A: Place to wear a coat: LAB. Nice clue. I did not get it immediately. I need a science or chemist word for hint.

13A: Parting of the Pacific?: ALOHA. Another great clue. I was misguided into really "parting" the Pacific like Moses did with the Red Sea.

14A: They help form joints: ULNAE. More used to the "Arm bones" clue.

15A: Loved, with "up": ATE

16A: Florida home of Golf's WGC-CA Championship: DORAL. Played on its Blue Monster Course. Used to be the spot for DORAL Open.

17A: Jazz great Art: TATUM. I forgot. Googled this guy before. His left eye was blind.

18A: Columnist Hentoff: NAT

21A: It's shaken out: SALT. My favorite clue. I suppose PEPPER can be clued the same.

22A: __ Spielgel: German magazine: DER. German for "The Mirror". A weekly magazine. Similar to our Time or Newsweek.

28A: Organic compound: ENOL

29A: Mo. in which the Civil War began: APR. April 12, to be exact.

31A: Hercules' neighbor: LYRA. See this diagram. I did not know Hercules is a constellation. I kept thinking of the young boy Hylas, who found the treasure chamber with Hercules in "Jason and the Argonauts".

33A: Inventor friend of Henry Ford: EDISON. Easy guess. I don't know those two were friends.

37A: Ruth's mother-in-law: NAOMI

39A: H.S. VIPs.: SRS. Never attended a school here. Don't know why SRS are VIPS. You'd think the principals are.

46A: Cry near the ears?: CAW. Why? I wanted COO.

47A: Blacksmith's item: SHOE. For horse? I don't know.

49A: "Eight Days __": A WEEK. Beatles' song.

55A: Pic source: NEG. And PAN (30D: Shoot with a moving camera).

57A: Large group: ARMY. Like Arnie's ARMY, fans of the golf legend Arnie Palmer.

61A: Mauna __: KEA. Wrote down LOA immediately. Mauna KEA is "white mountain". Mauna LOA is "long mountain". LOA=long. Both are volcanos.

62A: Larry Flynt concern, briefly: PORNO. I forgot who Larry Flynt is. Did know his "Hustler" though.

65A: Funny pair?: ENS. Two letter N's in Funny.

66A: Give the boot: EVICT

67A: Fairy tale threat: TROLL. Do you collect TROLL dolls?

68A: Sound of support: RAH. Wanted OLE.

69A: Places for guards: GATES. This is so unfair. We see Mac and iPod so often in the grid, yet Bill GATES has never been given an opportunity to shine.

70A: Org. with carriers: USPS. Mail carriers.

Down:

1D: Audibly: ALOUD

3D: Yoga energy point: CHAKRA. No idea. It's also spelled CAKRA. Sanskrit for "wheel"/"circle". Humans have seven CHAKRA points. I guess I know why #7 is.

4D: Ghost story, e.g.: TALE

5D: Great area?: OUTDOORS. Stumped. Is this about the movie "The Great OUTDOORS"?

6D: Man with many voices: BLANC (Mel).

7D: Pipe opening: INTAKE. Silly. But I really did not know this.

8D: Evian, par exemple: EAU. Evian is part of Danone, which has many joint ventures in China.

10D: Island on the Kalohi Channel: LANAI. Well, I know LANAI the Dole "Pineapple Island". Have never heard of Kalohi Channel. Please come to Comments section if you found a good map.

11D: In any way: AT ALL

12D: Davis of "The Little Foxes": BETTE. Ignorant of the movie.

13D: Dict. designation: ADJ. Adjective. Got the answer from Across fills.

20D: Priam's kingdom: TROY. Priam is the father of Paris/Hector/Cassandra.

21D: Took off: SPLIT

24D: 67.5 degrees: ENE. Mine was NNE.

27D: Happy-go-lucky: BLITHE. This word always brings to mind Blythe Danner, mother of Gwyneth Paltrow.

29D: "Wheel of Fortune" buy: AN I. I like this clue better than the black ANI bird.

32D: Discipline: ART. Don't get this one.

35D: Words with whim: ON A. On a whim.

36D: Out-of-the-box: NEW

38D: Hip-hopper Elliott: MISSY. Ha ha, a rare gimme for me. She is quite slim now.

40D: Leek cousins: SHALLOTS. Oil/Vinegar/SHALLOT/mustard, classic vinaigrette recipe.

43D: Angry: HOT. Mine was MAD.

45D: Missing at roll call, maybe: AWOL

48D: Lively wit: ESPRIT. Wrote down BON MOT.

50D: Partner of breaks: ENTERS. "Partner" in the clue always suggests an "and". Breaks and ENTERS.

51D: One of a nursery rhyme trio: BAKER. Butcher and the candlestick maker.

52D: Spartacus' stage: ARENA. Oh, the gladiator. I confused Spartacus with Spartan.

53D: Shatter: SMASH

54D: Wee bit: OUNCE

56D: Certain Scots: GAELS. Are CELTS "Certain Scots" too?

60D: Sound measure: BEL. I forgot. Saw this clue before. It's equal to 10 decibels. SONE is "Loudness measures".

62D: Hanging aid: PEG. I was in a totally different direction, thinking of the hanging of Saddam.

63D: Oft-donated cells: OVA. Oh, I thought only sperms are "Oft-donated".

Answer grid.

C.C.