Thursday June 18, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Extra! Extra! (two letter X'es in each theme answer)

17A: One some roads, it might be several miles after the last one: NEXT EXIT

20A: Like interest on some bonds: TAX EXEMPT

36A: She may oversee an estate: EXECUTRIX

57A: Halo 2 and Project Gotham Racing, notably: XBOX GAMES

63A: Route on which to "get your kicks," in a pop standard: SIXTY-SIX

8D: Fajitas, for one: TEX-MEX DISH

29D: Product of a major 1999 merger: EXXONMOBIL

Holy cow! Total 14 letter X'es in the grid. NY Times' record is 13.

Typical Dan Naddor puzzle. Heavy themage. Perfectly placed EXECUTRIX. I like how it intersects the other two Down theme entries. New word to me though. But -TRIX is common feminine suffix, so the answer came to me rather quickly.

So sweet to see XI'AN (39D: Central Chinese provincial capital) in the grid, though the clue is inaccurate, to a nitpicking native Xi'Anese like me. XI'AN is the capital of Shaanxi Province, which is actually classified as Northwestern China. And XI'AN is often regarded as the most important city in Northwestern China. XI'AN (西安), literally "Western Peace".

But I totally understand Dan Daddor's "Central Chinese provincial capital". XI'AN, one of the oldest cities in China, is most famous for its terra-cotta soldiers. Chairmao and the Communist Party picked Beijing over XI'AN in 1949 to be the capital of China. And of course, I grew up there and I just mentioned it yesterday.

Across:

1A: Words spoken with glass raised: A TOAST

7A: Bellicose declaration: IT'S A WAR. And PAX (35A: Peaceful period). Roman goddess of peace.

13A: Disciplines: CHASTENS

16A: Snookums: DEARIE. Snookum does not sound sweet to me at all.

18A: Run out, as a subscription: EXPIRE

19A: Pitching start: ERA. Poor Johan Santana, he is losing steam now.

22A: HMO workers: DOCS

25A: They're just looking: EYERS. How many millihelens? Whom do you like better, Alessandra Ambrosio or Andriana Lima?

30A: Tic-tac-toe loser: OOX

32A: Colorful card game: UNO

33A: Building toy with apostrophe in its name: K'NEX. I only know LEGO.

34A: Campus hangout: QUAD. What exactly is a QUAD? We hung out at DORM.

40A: Delivery person?: MOM. Nice clue.

43A: Gumbo pod: OKRA. So sticky!

44A: Jedi adversary: SITH. No idea. Not a "Star Wars" fan. Wanted EWOK.

48A: PBS benefactor: NEA

49A: Sounds of hearty laugh: HA HA HA

51A: Rattler's threat: VENOM

53A: __ to a one's neck: IN UP. I am familiar with "up to one's neck", not with "in".

55A: Some House votes: NAYS. Some "State Duma votes" would be NYETS.

60A: Otto minus cinque: TRE. Italian for three. Otto (8) minus cinque (5). French five is cinq.

61A: "__ & Mrs. Miller": 1971 Beatty/Christie film: MCCABE. New film to me. Juliet Christie is a beautiful woman.

65A: Begin successor: SHAMIR. I got the answer from Down clues. SHAMIR is of Likud party, so is the current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

66A: South Australia's capital: ADELAIDE. See this map. The city is named after Queen Adelaide, a Germanic name meaning “nobility.”

67A: Bottom lines: TOTALS

68A: In folders, say: SORTED

Down:

1D: Broken out in blemishes: ACNED. I only know the noun ACNE.

2D: Alcatraz, familiarly: THE ROCK. Movie title as well.

3D: Southern Mexican: OAXACAN

4D: 49th-state police gp.: AST. I suppose it's Alaska State Troopers?

6D: Gas company with a star logo: TEXACO

7D: Bordeaux brainstorm: IDEE. French for "idea".

10D: News article: WRITE-UP

11D: Go public with: AIR. Hmmm, Senator John Ensign was forced to AIR his extramarital affair yesterday. The forbidden fruit is always tempting. Sweeter too, yes?

12D: R & B artist Des'__: REE. Nope. Have never heard of this singer. Her original name is Desiree Weeks.

14D: His Western White House was dubbed La Casa Pacifica: NIXON

21D: Deletes: X'S OUT

23D: Portly pirate: SMEE. "Peter Pan" pirate.

27D: Chicago team, briefly: SOX. CUB as well.

31D: It fits in a lock: OAR. Oarlock. Of course I thought of KEY.

34D: In the capacity of: QUA. Sometimes it's clued as Sine QUA non.

38D: Guy with a helpful online list: CRAIG. Nice clue. I bought a few bobbleheads from CRAIG's List.

40D: Dallas NBAer: MAV. Mark Cuban is a colorful character.

41D: __ Miss: OLE. University of Mississippi.

42D: Often tailless feline: MANX CAT

45D: "We're done here": THAT'S IT

46D: Halloween jaunt: HAYRIDE. No idea. I've never seen anyone takes HAYRIDE during Halloween.

49D: Sticky: HUMID. Like the weather in Guangzhou, so HUMID. Takes days to dry my clothes in the raining season. Most Chinese do not have dryer at home.

50D: High points: APEXES. The plural of apex can also be apices. So close to apiece.

54D: Apollo's creator: NASA. Very timely fill. NASA is going to launch an unmanned rocket to the moon today. I wonder if anyone thought of Zeus, who is the father of Apollo.

56D: H.S. health course: SEX ED

58D: Much of the MTV Generation: X'ERS. I am one.

59D: 1944 battle site: ST LO. Close to Caen.

61D: Cheyenne hrs.: MST. I wonder if we have any fellow LAT solvers in Cheyenne.

62D: Comic Margaret: CHO. Korean-American. Chinese for CHO is Zhao or Cao.

64D: "Babi __": Shostakovich symphony: YAR. No idea. I suppose it's related to the Babi Yar massacre.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday June 17, 2009 Mike Peluso

Theme: They Are Angels

20A: Angel: HEAVENLY SPIRIT

36A: Angel: AMERICAN LEAGUER

53A: Angel: BROADWAY BACKER

Angel is rooted in Greek angelos, meaning "messenger". Demon is from Greek daimon, "divine power". Strange. Nothing diabolical. You would think it shares the same root as devil.

Anaheim Angels (I am used to their old name) won the World Series in 2002 when I was back in Xi'An. Fun to watch the playoffs in Chinese.

Dictionary also says angel can be a verb -"to provide financial backing for".

"Charlie's Angels" are missing. Who is your favorite? Lucy Liu is kind of mean in the film. Have never seen the old Farrah Fawcett/ Jaclyn Smith "Charlie's Angels". Oh, by the way, look at this terrific HOURGLASS FIGURE link J.D brought to the Comment section yesterday. Scarlett Johansson's measurements are shown to be 36-23-34. Incredible.

I had a bit trouble with lower left corner, otherwise, smooth solving. Favorite clue today is ABACI and 38D: Government finger-pointer?: UNCLE SAM. Can't believe the term was used in 1812 already.

Across:

1A: Rock concert equipment: AMPS

14A: Sonny and Cher, e.g.: DUET. "I Got You Babe". Their only daughter Chastity Bono has just decided to become a man.

15A: "The Many Loves of __ Gillis": old sitcom: DOBIE. Got the answer from Down fills.

17A: This, in Seville: ESTO. Or ESTA, the feminine "this".

19A: Swan lover of myth: LEDA. Mother of Helen of Troy.

23A: SFO datum: ARR (Arrival). SFO is San Francisco International Airport.

25A: Asian counters: ABACI. Plural of abacus. Count-er. Just like the wordplay on flow-er for river. Nice clue.

28A: Lady of Bavaria: FRAU. "Mrs." in German. Wife of HERR.

33A: Disney villainess __ de Vil: CRUELLA. From the "101 Dalmatians". I only saw the Chinese version of the movie. Could not remember her name.

41A: Portuguese capital: ESCUDOS. Monetary unit. I was thinking of LISBON. Wiki says ESCUDO is Portuguese for "shield". Shouldn't "Portuguese capital" be EURO now?

43A: Math subj.: ALG

46A: Supporter: ALLY

48A: Lundi follower: MARDI. Tuesday. As in MARDI Gras. Lundi is our Monday.

50A: Diamonds, to a fence: ICE. Fence is a person who deals with stolen goods.

58A: Assess: LEVY. Wrote down RATE first.

59A: Honor with barbs: ROAST. Like what those journalists do at the annual Gridiron Club dinner.

60A: Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS. Wife/sister of Osiris.

62A: First place: EDEN. And ABEL (7D: Genesis victim). The real first families.

64A: Ideal for tubing, as a river: LAZY. I am stumped. Why?

65A: Senator from Kansas or North Carolina: DOLE. Bob DOLE (Kansas) or wife Elizabeth DOLE (North Carolina).

67A: Dark clouds, often: OMEN. Or "the writing on the wall".

Down:

2D: Grow exponentially: MUSHROOM

3D: Baseball's all-time leader with 4,256 hits: PETE ROSE. He should be in Hall-of-Fame. PETE ROSE played with a real passion.

4D: Colonnade of ancient Greeces: STOA. Colonnade is rooted in column.

5D: Bye that's bid: ADIEU. Bid ADIEU to.

6D: "Death, be not proud" poet: DONNE (John). He wrote lots of elegies.

8D: Boglike: MIRY

9D: Complete collections: SETS. Anyone owns 1955 Topps doubleheaders? Those cards look very neat.

10D: Ignore the script: AD-LIB

12D: Florentine ruling family: MEDICI. The Renaissance art patron family. I also learned this morning that the MEDICI family produced 3 popes (Leo X, Clement VII and Leo XI) .

21D: Beta alternative: VHS. History now.

22D: Zahn of TV news: PAULA. I watched her/CNN a lot immediately after 9/11. PAULA Zahn is a great cellist.

23D: He played Pierce on *M*A*S*H: ALDA (Alan).

27D: Parisian pop: PERE. Mon PERE, ma MERE, mes FRERES (brothers) et mes SOEURS (sisters).

28D: New Brunswick's Bay of __: FUNDY. No idea. See this map. Wiki says the name "Fundy" is thought to be a corruption of the French word "Fendu", meaning "split".

30D: Bass and others: ALES. Not familiar with Bass Ale brand. I don't drink beer.

33D: XXXV x X: CCCL. 35x10=350

34D: Fidel's successor: RAUL. Gimme, gimme. They are brothers.

35D: Lago contents: AGUA

37D: "I am ... __": Neil Diamond hit: I SAID. Here is the clip. Unknown to me.

39D: Put under: ETHERIZE. New verb to me. Same as anesthetize?

43D: Strolled lazily: AMBLED

44D: Texas border city: LAREDO. EL PASO came to me first.

45D: Humble oneself shamelessly: GROVEL. Both PANDER and KOWTOW have 6-letters too.

47D: Japanese computer giant: NEC

49D: "I'll Be Your Shelter" singer Tayler: DAYNE. Not familiar with the song.

50D: "A Doll's House" playwright: IBSEN (Henrik). The only Norwegian playwright I know.

51D: Spiteful: CATTY

54D: Court order: WRIT

56D: New Haven Ivy: YALE. The Bulldogs.

57D: Unit of mass, briefly: KILO. Kilogram. Equals to 2.2 pounds.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Tuesday June 16, 2009 Betty Keller

Theme: LUNCH (67A: Meal that precede the start of 17-, 29-, 46- or 62-Across)

17A: Wasp-waisted shape: HOURGLASS FIGURE

29A: What a big spender has plenty of: MONEY TO BURN

46A: Boardinghouse sign: ROOM FOR RENT

62A: Godiva gift: BOX OF CHOCOLATES

I don't know how to have a HOURGLASS FIGURE. It's impossible to have boobs/hips that are at least 10 inches bigger than the waist. But Scarlett Johansson does have one.

Besides CHOCOLATES, there are a few other food/drink bonus references in today's grid:

51A: Thé, basically: EAU. Thé is French for "tea". "Lait, basically" works for EAU too.

53A: Snapple product: ICE TEA. Should be ICED TEA.

5D: Quiche base: EGG

9D: Self-serve meal: BUFFET

4D: Poor substitute for 62A: CAROB. I've never had CAROB power. Don't understand why it's a "poor" substitute.

18D: 53-Across flavor: LEMON

Lovely puzzle. I enjoyed it.

Across:

1A: Italian ball game: BOCCE. Somehow I wanted BOCCA. One of the variant spellings is actually BOCCIA.

10A: Sgt. Friday's force: LAPD. Of "Dragnet".

14A: "What __!": "B-o-o-o-ring!": A DRAG

15A: Forbidden perfume brand?: TABU. TABU perfume by Dana. Better clue than taboo variant.

16A: Arced molding: OGEE

20A: Palm phone: TREO. Unknown brand to me.

21A: Tokien's Treebeard, for one: ENT

22A: Accept reality: FACE IT

23A: Emeril catchword: BAM. Emeril Lagasse. "Kick up a notch!" is another of his catchwords. Maybe I should count this answer as a bonus fill as well.

26A: Cleaning item: RAG

35A: Ovid's "I love": AMO. AMO, amas, amat. Te AMO.

36A: How the euphoric walk?: ON AIR. Nice clue. Much better than "Studio sign".

37A: "Look here, old chap!": I SAY. Had trouble getting this answer. British exclamation? Another chap answer is BLOKE (70A: Chap).

38A: Raps with barbs: ZINGS

40A: EPA-banned pesticide: DDT. And DEET (13D: Insect repellent compound).

41A: Harry Potter's Potions teacher: SNAPE. No idea. This guy looks evil. Is he a bad guy?

42A: Dix plus un: ONZE. French for 11. Dix is 10. 10+1=11.

43A: Moray hunter: EELER

45A: "Vamoose!": GIT. We had extensive discussions about GITS last time when it's clued as "Lights out".

58A:"If I Only __Brain": HAD A. The Scarecrow song from "The Wizard of Oz".

65A: The Auld Sod: ERIN. Have never heard of "The Auld (Old) Sod" as a nickname for Ireland.

68A: Head of France?: TETE. French for "head". Not the insecure, arrogant, attention-seeking Nicolas Sarkozy.

Down:

1D: Bangkok currency: BAHT. Loved the street food in Bangkok. 1 Thai BAHT = 0.029 US dollars.

2D: Glade target: ODOR. Can you believe that the brand names were not allowed in Xword before? How boring!

3D: Rock's Mötley ___ : CRUE. The only member I know is Tommy Lee.

10D: Lincoln's birthplace: LOG CABIN. In Hardin Country, Kentucky. I used to think he was born in Illinois.

11D: Flulike symptom: AGUE. Learned from doing Xword.

12D: Gilpin of "Frasier": PERI. Also the Persian fairy.

19D: "Othello" conniver: IAGO. You've got to remember this villain.

24D: "Famous" cookie man: AMOS

25D: South Carolina's __ Beach: MYRTLE. Wonderful golf courses there.

26D: Stubble remover: RAZOR

28D: Bonkers: GONZO. New slang for me.

30D: __ Raiders: consumer advocates: NADER'S. Does this organization still exist?

31D: Down-yielding duck: EIDER

32D: Utilities bill datum: USAGE

34D: Dmitri's dissents: NYETS. Russian for "no". I just found out that Dmitri means "earth-lover" in Russian. The current Russian president's given name is Dimitry. I suppose it's the same as Dmitri?

39D: Emerald or ruby: GEM STONE

41D: Span. miss: SRTA. The French equivalent is MLLE.

44D: Año nuevo month: ENERO

47D: Lord's holding: FIEF. Often clued as "Feudal estate".

48D: Prophet at Delphi: ORACLE. Warren Buffet is often called "ORACLE of Omaha".

52D: Ryder rival: U-HAUL

53D: "Fat chance": I BET

55D: Sign over a door: EXIT

56D: Cartoon explorer: DORA. DORA the Explorer.

59D: 8, for oxygen: AT NO (Atomic Number)

64D: Barrister's deg.: LLB (Legum Baccalaureus, Latin for Bachelor of Laws). I got the answer from Across fills. Why "Barrister" instead of "Attorney"?

Answer grid.

C.C.

Monday June 15, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: Two-way Talk

18A: "Framed" toon in a 1988 film: ROGER RABBIT

27A: Xerox product: COPY MACHINE

47A: In an awkward position: OVER A BARREL

61A: Like oysters in summer months: OUT OF SEASON

Argyle blogging.

These words are used when talking to someone using a two-way radio, like CBers and fire and police personnel or on walkie-talkies.

ROGER indicates that a message had been received and understood.

COPY refers to hearing a signal clearly enough to be understood.

OVER means "I have finished speaking for the moment, but am expecting your reply - go ahead".

OUT means "I have finished speaking, and the conversation is finished; don't reply."

#1 "Did you Get a COPY on that?"

#2 "ROGER that."

#2 "Anything else, OVER?"

#1 "That is all. OUT."

Across:

1A: Candy in a collectible dispenser: PEZ. Often with a theme.

4A: Great time: BLAST.

9A: Get to one's feet: STAND.

17A: Pi-sigma link: RHO. Greek Alphabet.

20A: Splendid display: POMP. A little Pomp and Circumstance.

22A: Keystone lawman: KOP.

23A: Houston team that became the Tennessee Titans: OILERS.

24A: Provide weapons for: ARM.

26A: Barn topper: VANE. As in a weather vane.

32A: Seaman's pronoun: SHE. All ships are SHE.

37A: Go through rehab, in a way: DETOX.

40A: Funny Philips: EMO. I never thought he was funny.

41A: Pusher chaser: NARC.

45A: "Goosebumps" author R.L.: STINE.

50A: Popular jeans: LEES. WHAT? Not Levis!

52A: More than dislike: DETEST.

57A: Gyro bread: PITA. But what is NAN? nan or naan?

65A: College town near Bangor: ORONO. And 66A: Mission to remember: ALAMO. Crosswordese places.

70A: TV-watching room: DEN. Who has a TV den anymore.

Down:

1D: Criminal, to a cop: PERP. That isn't what it means to us.

4D: Tap room: BAR.

5D: Kid's cry before "No hands!": LOOK MA. And 9D: Discolored with a spill: STAIN. How's it going, Tarrajo?

7D: Resign, with "down": STEP.

8D: It paves the way: TAR.

10D: Restaurant booth alternative: TABLE.

11D: Parisian cleric: ABBE. And 12D: Blanc's opposite: NOIR. French.

13D: Kids' book connectibles: DOTS. Connect a Dot is a precursor to crosswords, right?

21D: Bribe to a DJ: PAYOLA. Payola is a portmanteau of the two words "pay" and "Victrola" meaning to bribe to play on the radio. It came to light in the Sixties that some disk jockeys were taking money to play certain songs, which the record companies hoped would boost sales.

25D: House divisions: Abbr.: RMS. Some of those RMS are BRS.

26D: Abe of "Barney Miller": VIGODA. Abe VIGODA played the old detective on the show, Phil Fish. He had a short-lived spin-off show called Fish. He and his wife, Bernice, ran a group home. He's in the front; she is in the back.

29D: Land maps: PLATS.

30D: Blintz relatives: CREPES. Do you want some now?

31D: Funny business: HUMOR.

34D: Do very well: EXCEL.

38D: Lure via a sting: ENTRAP. One of the sneakiest I ever heard of, was a man and a woman want to purchase alcohol but the man says he left his wallet in the car and she pays it. She is not of age.

43D: Really likes: GOES FOR.

48D: November honorees: VETS. Veterans Day in 2009 is on Wednesday, the 11th of November.

49D: Turn into: BECOME.

50D: Sierra __: African republic: LEONE. Southwest of MALI. And 55D: Niger neighbor: MALI. Northwest Africa Niger is to its east.

53D: Peseta replacer: EURO. Former Spanish currency.

54D: Sporty auto roof: T-TOP. Removable panels over the driver and the passenger but leaving a center section, in theory, for greater strength in case of a rollover.

56D: Quickly, in memos: ASAP. As Soon As Possible.

63D: Sine qua __: NON. This phrase is Latin for "without which not", meaning, if an essential element is missing, it's not gonna happen.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday June 14, 2009 Will Nediger

Theme: "Watch the Birdie" - ONE UNDER PAR (69A: Birdie that's hidden literally in 10 pairs of puzzle answers). ONE is placed under PAR in 10 different places. See this grid. I've circled all the PARs and ONEs.

20A: Fortified: RAMPARTED

23A: Cather novel set in Nebraska: O PIONEERS!

21A: Convey: IMPART

24A: __ Tunes: LOONEY

36A: Not up to stuff: SUBPAR

43A: Nary a soul: NO ONE

44A: Peeled strip: PARING

50A: Year in Augustus's reign: ONE BC

61A: Cowpoke's pal: PARD

61A: Birdie that's hidden literally in 10 pairs of puzzle answers: ONE UNDER PAR

76A: Skye of "Say Anything": IONE

88A: Like some stock: NO-PAR

93A: Philosopher __ de Beauvoir: SIMONE

94A: Arctic garb: PARKA

99A: Tip of Massachusetts: ONEILL

115A: Ancient Athens rival: SPARTA

120A: Complexion aides: TONERS

117A: California shrubland: CHAPARRAL

121A: Time long past: BYGONE ERA

I watch Chris Matthews's "Hardball" every day, yet I missed O'NEILL earlier. Chris was a long time aide to Tip O'NEIL and he speaks of his name often.

Very creative theme. I liked how the constructor placed ONE UNDER PAR in the very middle of the grid and paralleled two more theme answers at each end. Total 19 theme answers, heavy!

Quality non-theme fills also. Some are quite scrabbly. Some are very clever. Below are my favorite:

55A: HI and OK: STS (States)

72A: Priceless? FREE

16D: Delivery notice?: IT'S A BOY

5D: High point of a European vacation?: ALP

Unfortunately I had a triple-bogey round. I actually teed off very nicely, then I lost my ball. The rough was not that tough, but I did not have enough clubs in my bag.

Across:

1A: Hardly a knockout: PLAIN JANE. And STARES (123A: Knockouts attract them). Nice "knockout" pair.

10A: Imported roadsters: MIATAS. Wrote down MAZDAS.

16A: Schools of thought: ISMS

22A: Via, to Burns: THRO. Poetic "through". Mine was THRU.

26A: Mind the store: VEND. Kept trying TEND. But the intersecting PROVE (1D: Leave no doubt) says no.

27A: Large currency unit?: WAD. Nice clue.

28D: Ancient France: GAUL. Adjective Gallic. Not to be confused with Gaelic.

31A: Bev Bevan's band, briefly: ELO. Easy guess.

32A: "The Life Aquatic with Steve __": Bill Murray film: ZISSOU. Nope. Not familiar with this movie. Bill Murray loves golf. He is in "Caddyshack".

34A: Dr. Mom's remedy: TLC

38D: Pickup trick: LINE. Pickup LINE.

39A: "Great Expectations" hero: PIP. Unknown figure to me.

41A: Iowa's state tree: OAK

47A: Chilling order? SEDATIVE. I was thinking of torture.

51A: Three-part European union: BENELUX. Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. The union began on January 1, 1948.

52A: Houston-to-Dallas dir.: NNW

56A: "Come Back, Little Sheba" playwright: INGE. Also the playwright for "Picnic" & "Bus Stop".

57A: Further shorten: RE-EDIT

58A: Cybercommerce: E-TAIL

60A: "Hud" Oscar winner: NEAL (Patricia). She won best actress for the movie.

62A: Brings home: NETS

64A: Brno-born people: CZECHS. Last time CZECH was clued as "Brno native". See this map of Brno. It's to the southeast of Prague.

68A: Starbucks order: TALL

73A: Scandalous stuff: SLEAZE

75A: Plant reproduction prefix: SPOR. For spore.

77A: Stretch: TERM. Noun. I was thinking of verb.

78A: Development sites: WOMBS. Couldn't get LABS out of my mind.

80A: Kid's shooter: POP GUN

82A: Burlap source: HEMP

86A: Boo Boo, in Barcelona?: OSO. Spanish for bear. Boo Boo & Yogi Bear.

87A: Sorrow: REMORSE

89A: Net grazers: LETS. Tennis.

91A: Judgment Day hymn: DIES IRAE

96A: Small wrapper?: ELF. Santa's little helper. I thought of the awful ASP.

97A: One whose tickets are often expensive: COP. I liked this clue too.

98A: Hit the sauce: TOPE. Sauce is slang for liquor.

101A: Big cat sign: LEO

103A: Dig discoveries: Var.: SHERDS. Variant of SHARDS.

108A: Most of Uruguay: PAMPAS

110A: Hayseed: RUBE

113A: Either director of "No Country for Old Men": COEN. The Coen brothers.

114A: Capitale south of San Marino: ROMA. See this map.

119A: They may be pale: ALES. Pale ALE.

122A: Clunkhead: JERK

124A: Didn't worry a bit: SLEPT EASY

Down:

2D: Carnation locale: LAPEL

4D: Nano or shuffle: IPOD. Mine is classic.

5D: Pita look-like: NAN. I have not eaten any NAN for ages.

6D: TV shooting victim of 3/21/1980: J.R. EWING. I was picturing John Lennon then Ronald Reagan, completely ignoring the clue "TV".

7D: Far from frenzied: AT EASE

9D: MS. fixers: EDS (Editors). They fix the manuscripts (MS).

10D: "__ 18" (Uris novel): MILA. Here is the book cover. I learned the title from doing Xword.

11D: "Too rich for my blood": I'M OUT. Had trouble with this one. I did not know the meaning of "Too rich for my blood".

12D: Lunar Module test mission: APOLLO IX. Interesting trivia: Wikipidia says Alan Shepard hit two golf balls on the lunar surface during Apollo 14.

13D: One of two Crayola colors with the shortest name: TAN. The other is RED?

14D: Bellicose god: ARES. Roman Mars. The Norse equivalent is THOR, correct?

17D: Garnier products: SHAMPOOS. Not a Garnier fan.

18D: Monocled food mascot: MR. PEANUT

19D: 2009 Rihanna hit: SOS. Not familiar with the song. What a poignant title, considering how she was beat up by her boyfriend.

32D: Mineral in oysters: ZINC. Oh, I did not know oysters contain ZINC.

33D: Bared one's soul: OPENED UP

35D: LeBron James, e.g., briefly: CAV(Cavalier)

37D: Cabs on the table: REDS. Wine.

38D: Attorney's specialty: LIBEL LAW

40D: The same either way: PALINDROMIC. Toughie.

42D: Lane partner: KENT. "Superman".

44D: APB part: POINTS

45D: Temper: ANNEAL. Verb.

46D: Lavishly entertain: REGALE

47D: Cassandra, for one: SEERESS. But nobody believes in Cassandra's prophecy. Apollo is a vengeful guy. He put such curse on Cassandra when she did not return his love.

48D: Private pupil: TUTEE. You would think the word is TUTOREE, as tutor is the verb.

51D: Breakfast staple: BRAN. Rice for me.

53D: Abalone product: NACRE. Mother-of-pearl.

54D: Virtuoso: WIZ. No abbreviation hint?

58D: Adopt, as a cause: ESPOUSE

59D: Moved out: LEFT HOME

61D: Pope's work: POEMS. Alexander Pope. Nice clue.

63D: Three letters forming a single sound: TRIGRAPH. New word to me. Dictionary gives an example: eau in beau.

65D: Obnoxious sort, in slang: CREEPO

66D: Jazzman Woody: HERMAN. No idea. He does not look like a jazzman. I thought of Woody Allen.

67D: Throughout, in music: SEMPRE. No idea. Same root as Marine's "Semper Fi" motto I suppose.

71D: Either of two Henry VIII wives: ANNE. I only know ANNE Boleyn.

74D: Moat site: ZOO

79D: Presage: BODE

81D: Like pumice: Var.: POROSE. No idea. Variant of porous I guess.

83D: Classic Chunky brand: ALPO. I thought of chunky peanut butter.

84D: Ecotomorph: BEANPOLE. Did not know the meaning of ecotomorph. It sounds like a verb.

85D: Newlyweds' car decoration: STREAMER

87D: Doctor, at times: REFERRER

88D: Barely beats: NIPS. New meaning of NIP to me.

90D: Holdup cover-up: SKI MASK

92D: Peaked: ILL. Not familiar with this definition of "peaked".

93D: Fountain drink: SODA POP

98D: Army medic's system: TRIAGE

100D: Doesn't die out: LASTS

102D: Eccentric: OUTRE

104D: Type of alcohol: ETHYL

105D: Jazz pianist Chick: COREA. Him I know.

107D: Driller's filling: INLAY

109D: Obsession for Lady Macbeth: SPOT. I got the answer from Across fills.

111D: Doo-wop group anchor: BASS. Strung this answer together from Across fills as well.

113D: Hudson Bay tribe: CREE. Canadian tribe answer is always CREE.

114D: British rule in India: RAJ

116D: TV wheel spinner's purchase: AN A. "Wheel of Fortune". AN E, AN I, AN O all can be clued as "TV wheel spinner's purchase".

117D: "Criminal Minds" network: CBS. Easy guess.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday June 13, 2009 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 72

A complete fiasco today.

So many unknowns and unusual clues. Several wicked misdirections too. I was very frustrated when OIL did not fit for "37A: Whistler's output" (AIR). Didn't you also see "Whistler's Mother" when you read the clue?

I also had trouble understanding the grammar structure of the clues:

15A: Not act well: EMOTE. OK, both are verbs.

42A: Not shut out of: IN ON. What's the function of "shut" here then? Past particle? I'd have got the answer immediately if the clue were "Privy to".

This constructor Bard Wilber is known for constructing hard grids. According to Jim's database, all of his 13 NYT puzzles appeared on Fridays/Saturdays. And all of the 12 puzzles he created for LAT appeared on Saturdays.

I like how he stacked those triple-stacked 9-letter fills in each quadrant.

Across:

1A: Clublike weapons: MACES. Used in the Middle Ages.

6A: Vague: IMPRECISE

16A: Ripped poser: MALE MODEL. Ashton Kutcher was a MALE MODEL before. I had trouble understanding the clue. Google asked me "Did you mean "Ripped poster" when I searched.

17A: Key of Chopins's "Raindrop Prelude": D-FLAT. I had ?FLAT sitting there for a long time.

18A: Work on galleys: PROOFREAD. I was thinking of the boat galley.

19A: E-mail qualifier: IMO. So simple in retrospect.

20A: Jane's "Klute" role: BREE. No idea. This back-exposed dress looks familiar though. I must have googled "Klute" before.

22A: Martini & Ross product: ASTI. Penned in WINE.

23A: Placed just so: ARRAYED. I supposed so.

25A: Waldenbooks rival: B. DALTON. Wrote down BORDERS, which actually owns Waldenbooks. B. DALTON belongs to Barnes & Noble.

28A: Journalist Walters, casually: BABS. Not a fan of Barbara Walters. I like Terry Gross.

29A: Roughen before repainting: DEGLOSS. A new word to me.

31A: They're often baked: IDAHOS. Potatoes. BREADS popped into my mind first.

33A: Absorbed: LOST. As in thought.

34A: Salem summer hrs.: PDT. Salem, Oregon. I was thinking of the witch trials Salem.

38A: More gracious: POLITER

41A: Help-wanted request: SOS

43A: Sponsor of the Socceroos: QANTAS. The Australian airline. I was stumped. I had no idea that the national soccer team of Australia is called Scocceroo. I suppose it's a combination of soccer & kangaroo?

45A: Art developed by ancient samurai: JUJITSU. Literally "Art of softness". Ju means "soft", like "judo" (do is just dao/TAO, Chinese "way").

47A: Squabbling: AT IT. Mine was SPAR.

48A: 1962 Lancaster title role: BIRDMAN. From the "BIRDMAN of Alcatraz". Stymie for me.

51A: Fake it, in a way: LIP SYNC

53A: Mil. school: ACAD. Academy. Like West Point.

54A: Addams family nickname: TISH. No idea. Cousin ITT is the only one I know. And I learned his name from doing Xword.

55A: 1959 hit with the lyric "Fight the fare increase!" MTA. More familiar with the "1959 Kingston Trio hit" clue.

56A: Dated but popular: RETRO CHIC. Sigh! Could not come up with the CHIC part.

60A: "When __ detected, a thousand are suspected": Thomas Paine: ONE IS. From Paine's letter to George Washington. What does the quote mean?

62A: Separate: DISENGAGE. Verb.

63A: Cotillion honoree: BELLE. Often see DEB clued as "Cotillion honoree/gal".

64A: They may be studded: SNOW TIRES. I was thinking of the stud earrings. But EARLOBES is one letter short.

65A: Bass-baritone Simon: ESTES. Oh well, the only ESTES I know is Senator Kefauver (Adlai Stevenson's running mate). Here is a clip of this guy singing some song from "Porgy and Bess".

Down:

1D: Slant in columns: MEDIA BIAS. I feel stupid not getting this one, considering my interest for the OP ED pages in our newspaper.

2D: Auto feature: AM/FM RADIO

3D: Test pattern display: COLOR BARS

4D: Cockpit approx.: ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).

5D: Save for later use: SET BY. I had SIT ON.

6D: Obstruct: IMPEDE

7D: Colt carrier: MARE

8D: Oslo Accords gp.: PLO. A rare gimme. Rabin was assassinated because he signed the Oslo Accords. Clinton actually rehearsed several times for this infamous photo.

9D: Hupmobile contemporary: REO. Easy guess. I've never heard of Hupmobile before.

10D: Band with the 1991 #1 hit "Unbelievable": EMF. No idea. Wiki says EMF officially stands for "Epsom Mad Funkers", but there are plenty of unofficial alternatives. Unbelievable!

11D: Lipstick shades: CORALS. Diane Lane is wearing a CORAL lipstick.

12D: Explanatory phrase: ID EST. That is (i.e.)

13D: Defunct defense gp.: SEATO (1954-1977). Another 5-letter defense gp. is NORAD.

14D: "Murphy Brown" house painter: ELDIN. No idea. The guy on the most left?

21D: "She-devil with a sword" of comics: RED SONJA. New name to me also.

24D: Guitar wood: ASH. Wanted KOA.

25D: Reputation stain: BLOT

26D: Mexican beer with XX on its label: DOS EQUIS. Foreign to me. According to Wiki, this brand was named "Siglo XX" ("20th century") to commemorate the arrival of the new century, and the bottles were marked with the Roman numerals XX, or Dos Equis (two Xs in Spanish).

27D: Stars in the Forum?: ASTRA. Latin for stars.

30D: Inkling: GLINT

32D: Kind of den: OPIUM. I did not know those OPIUM joints are called dens.

34D: Burger cooked like a grilled cheese: PATTY MELT. I've never seen my husband prepares his burger this way before.

35D: Foundation protector: DRAIN TILE. Absolutely no idea. The black stuff? I was thinking of the makeup foundation.

36D: Guinea pigs: TEST CASES. I can't believe it took so much effort to obtain this answer.

39D: Filet mignon cut: LOIN. Beef or pork?

44D: "Stillmatic" rapper: NAS. Well, it could only be EVE or NAS, the only two 3-letter rappers I know.

45D: Red Sox outfielder since 2007: J.D. DREW. J. D. Drew started his Major League career with the Cardinals.

46D: Driving errors: SLICES. Or HOOKS. Golf term. I don't know how to fade/draw.

48D: Foot specialists?: BARDS. Ugh. Metrical foot.

49D: Trap in the chalet: ICE IN. Verb phrase?

50D: "Midnight Cowboy" role: RATSO. Played by Dustin Hoffman.

52D: Commitment __: modern type with cold feet: PHOBE. Makes sense. I could only thought of FEAR.

54D: Buster Brown's dog: TIGE. I forgot his name.

57D: Windsor home: Abbr.: ONT. I did not know Windsor is a city in south Ontario. Kept thinking of the British royal family Windsor.

58D: Special effects technique, briefly: CGI (Computer-Generated Image). I drew a blank again.

59D: Laugh syllable: HAR. Is this a comic laugh?

61D: Video game letters: NES. No idea. Nintendo Entertainment System I suppose?

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday June 12, 2009 Robin Stears

Theme: Try It!

17A: Where Jerry Garcia kept food for the band?: DEAD PANTRY (Deadpan)

28A: Minimalist wall hanging?: BLANK TAPESTRY (Blank Tapes)

47A: Small clergy group?: MICRO MINISTRY (Micro Minis)

64A: Wedding cake mock-up?: FAUX PASTRY (Faux Pas)

About a month ago, Rich Norris clued CHERRY GARCIA as "Ice cream flavor honoring a Grateful Dead icon" in his "Shades of Red" puzzle.

I figured out the theme very quickly, and immediately gave BLANK TAPESTRY and every other theme entry a TRY. I think this girl's micro mini skirt would look better without the big belt. Yes? Thought of WM's love for a cake blog and her "Faux Finisher" daughter when I filled in FAUX PASTRY.

I liked this puzzle a lot. It's BEAUT (36A: Doozy). The theme is so simple yet creative. The original base phrases and the new made-up entries are quite livley.

Lots of black squares, 44, the limit on Rich Norris's 15*15. Most of the other newspaper puzzles cap the number at 38.

Have a look at the constructor Robin Stears's blog. She has written several books.

Across:

1A: Schooner features? JIBS. Nice to start a grid with a letter J.

5A: Kingdom called the Friendly Islands: TONGA. Ugh. I thought of Bhutan where Gross National Happiness index rather than GNP is measured. TONGA is literally "South" in many Polynesian language, according to Wiki.

10A: Biblical plague insect: GNAT. Easy guess. I am not aware of GNAT's Biblical reference. I thought it's locust.

16A: Wear the crown: RULE. Or REIGN.

20A: Fertilizer source: ALGAE

22A: Tar Heel State university: ELON. Often clued just as "North Carolina university".

23A: 1990s speed skating gold medalist: KOSS (Johann Olav). Absolutely no idea. Johanna Olav KOSS is from Norway.

26A: One with a habit: NUN. A rare repeat clue.

35A: Chichi: ARTY. It's the same as ARTSY, isn't it? The clue made me think of Golf Hall-of-Famer Chi Chi Rodriguez.

38A: North Carolina country: ASHE. Unknown to me. Here is the map. Was it named someone surnamed ASHE?

40A: Blue shades: TEALS. The answer might be AQUAS if this were a Barry Silk puzzle.

42A: __ race: ARMS

45A: "East of Eden" brother: ARON. His twin brother is Cal. I thought James Dean was so so in the movie.

46A: Expressive rock genre: EMO. What exactly is the EMO genre?

51A: __-de-vie: brandy: EAU. Literally water of life.

56A: Bygone carrier: TWA. Recklessly wrote down SST.

67A: Blacken: SEAR. I love seared tuna, crusted with sesame seeds, YUMMY! (33D: Scrumptious).

68A: Slacker: IDLER

71A: Bear named for a president: TEDDY. T.R. originated "Speak softly and carry a big stick".

72A: Strategic WWI river: YSER. This has become a gimme. YSER river flows to the North Sea.

Down:

1D: Actress Pinkett Smith: JADA. Another gimme. Will Smith's wife. Both are scientologists, I think.

2D: Country on the Denmark Str.: ICEL. Ah, its most well-known citizen is probably Björk. I thought that swan address is rather cute. Don't understand why it's ridiculed.

3D: Crow: BRAG

4D: "Bad Blood" singer: SEDAKA. This singer does not look like Neil SEDAKA. Maybe I am familiar with the aged SEDAKA.

5D: Luggage-screening gp.: TSA (Transportation Security Administration). Established after 9/11.

6D: Part of BYO: OWN. Bring Your OWN.

8D: "The Day the Earth Stood Still" robot: GORT. Stumper. Here is a picture. Is it related to the Jewish robot golem?

10D: Beverage brewed in a gaiwan: GREEN TEA. "Gaiwan" is literally "lidded bowl".

13D: Many a "One Tree Hill" character: TEEN. The answer revealed itself. Not familiar with this TEEN TV drama.

18D: Drudge: PEON. Noun. I thought of TOIL first.

24D: 32-card game: SKAT. For three players.

25D: Flow: STREAM

27D: Plug-and-play PC port: USB (Universal Serial Bus)

28D: Like a close buddy: BOSOM

29D: Actress Christine: LAHTI. Total stranger to me. Wiki says her name is Finnish for "gulf"/"bay"/"cove". And she won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her role in "Chicago Hope".

30D: __ 2600: early game console: ATARI

31D: Road cones: PYLONS. Holy cow. I had no idea that these cones have a special name.

37D: Eponymous Chinese general: TSO

39D: Substitute for dropped items: ET CETERA. Probably my favorite clue today.

44D: Palindromic altar: ARA. This has become a gimme also.

48D: Equip: OUTFIT

49D: Something to keep a teller busy?: SAGA. Nice play on tell-er.

50D: Inferior: TRASHY. Somehow I thought of ersatz.

53D: Fresh approach?: SASS. The answer revealed itself. I did not know "fresh" can mean "impudent" as well.

55D: Bold alternative: Abbr.: ITAL. Italic.

57D: 1973 defendant: WADE. Roe v. WADE

58D: "Should __ acquaintance ...": AULD. Again, the answer revealed itself. I only know the song title "AULD Lang Syne".

61D: Della's creator: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner. Della Street is the secretary of Perry Mason.

62D: Batik worker: DYER

66D: Meddle: PRY. Rhymed with the theme TRY.

Answer grid.

C.C.

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.