Thursday July 9, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: The Real (e)State

17A: Realtor's "lavish landscaping"? Frankly, there are ___: WEEDS EVERYWHERE

24A: Realtor's "charming"? Actually, it's __: REALLY TINY

35A: Realtor's "expansive backyard"? Honesty, there's __: NO POOL OR SPA

45A: Realtor's "needs TLC"? Candidly, __: IT'S A PIGSTY

53A: Realtor's "quiet setting"? Truthfully, it's __: OUT IN THE BOONIES

I discovered this morning that "realtor" was coined by a guy named Charles N. Chadbourn from Minneapolis. He sold the rights to the word to the National Association of Real Estate Boards for only one dollar.

Amazing. I wonder how much Jack Dorsey is willing to part with his Twitter. I bet Rupert Murdock is salivating.

Dan Naddor probably constructed this puzzle when the current housing bubble just started to burst. Nice puzzle. Amusing theme, Merl Reagle style.

Across:

4A: Not for most teens: RATED R

10A: Gambling game: FARO. Named after the Egyptian king Pharaoh.

15A: "Same here": I DO TOO.

16A: "The X-Files" extras: G-MEN. FBI Agents.

20A: Hi-tech eye surgery: LASIK. Tiger Woods had LASIK surgery.

22A: German pronoun: SIE. German "you". I wrote down ICH, thinking of JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner".

28A: Opposite of FF: REW

29A: Student's buy: TEXT. Short for textbook I suppose. Really wish I had attended some school when I first came to the US.

30A: Stood: ROSE

31A: Toaster treat: POP-TART. Kellogg dropped Michael Phelps after his pot-smoking photo.

34A: Blown away: AWED

37A: Eisner's successor at Disney: IGER (Robert). Sigh. I could picture his face, but his name escaped me. He used to appear on CNBC often, before he succeeded Michael Eisner in 2005.

39A: Ad staples: SLOGANS

40A: Speaker before Dennis: NEWT (Gingrich). Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999. He is going to run for the presidency in 2012 I think.

41A: Arroyo __: Southern California watershed: SECO. Literally "dry creek".

42A: Mass vestment: ALB. See, this L is pronounced. But the L in alms/salmon is silent. I do not pronounce the L in almond either.

49A: Diction problem: SLUR. Sylvester Stallone has a SLUR problem.

50A: Homer consequence: RBI (Run Batted In). I like this new clue.

51A: Anecdotal collection: ANA. The Old Norse literary collection is EDDA.

52A: Deadly snake: COBRA. The "Dried coconut meat" is COPRA.

58A: Tiny time pd.: NSEC (Nanosecond)

59A: Barrel cleaner: RAMROD. I know nothing about gun.

60A: Robertson of CNN: NIC. I find NIC Robertson to be very attractive, don't you?

61A: Northeast clothing chain: SYMS. No idea. Wikipedia says it's founded by Sy SYMS in 1959.

62A: Recorded: ON TAPE

63A: "Starpeace" album maker, 1985: ONO. "Starpeace" is a statement against Reagan's "Star Wars".

Down:

1D: Loud crier: BAWLER. The "Mythical crier" is NIOBE, and the "Irish folklore crier" is BANSHEE.

4D: Reward seeker's concern: RISK

5D: Gator chaser?: ADE. Gatorade. Nice clue.

6D: Good, in Hebrew: TOV. As in "Mazel TOV!" (Good fortune, Congratulations)

7D: Hot time in Paris: ETE. Quite an ordinary "summer" clue.

8D: Florida's "Blue Monster" golf course: DORAL. The previous DORAL Open was played at the "Blue Monster".

9D: King or queen: ROYAL. Thought of RULER first.

10D: E followers: FGH. Alphabetically.

11D: City north of Des Moines: AMES, IOWA. The clue seems to be asking for a 8-letter city name.

12D: Perform a shampooing step: RERINSE. I actually do RERINSE.

13D: Like two jacks: ONE-EYED. The Jack of Spades and Jack of Hearts.

18D: CCLI doubled: DII. 251 X 2 = 502.

24D: Deadbeats's autos, eventually: REPOS. Hmm, where is Realtor's "RELO" when you need it?

25D: Praise: EXTOL

26D: Baffled: AT A LOSS

27D: Corners: TRAPS. Verb.

29D: Preeminent: TOP. I still can't believe tops is an adjective.

31D: Potty opening?: PORTA. PORTA-potty. Just saw someone selling his old outhouse at the Flea Market the other day. He wanted $1,500.

32D: Man of many words: ROGET. Ah, ROGER's Thesaurus. He was also a doctor.

33D: Frequent leading man for Hepburn: TRACY (Spencer). He always demanded the top billing, in all the movies they made together. I often wonder if Spencer TRACY really loved Hepburn. Too much surprising sacrifice on her part. I like their "Woman of the Year" the best.

35D: The "this" in "This just in": NEWS ITEM

36D: __-Cat: SNO

37D: Shackled: IN IRONS

38D: Order to a slacker: GET BUSY

42D: White rat, e.g.: ALBINO

43D: Entice: LURE IN

44D: FBI undercover agent Donnie, title subject of a 1997 film: BRASCO. "Donnie BRASCO" is a great movie.

46D: Put down in writing? PAN. Put down here means to "criticize". Great clue.

47D: Opening words: INTRO. Kept thinking DEAR SIR.

48D: Cartoonist Wilson: GAHAN. A complete stranger to me. GAHAN is Hindu for "deep/complex".

52D: UPC part: CODE. UPC is Universal Product CODE.

54D: Suffix with robot: ICS. Dictionary says robotics is coined by Isaac Asimov.

56D: Support provider: BRA. Wacoal is my favorite brand.

57D: Alley __: OOP. Alley OOP is derived from French "Allez, hop!" (Let's go).

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday July 8, 2009 Don Gagliardo

Theme: HUSH HUSH MEETING (41A: Secret get-together, or what occurs literally in each of this puzzle's circled squares) - All the circled letters where two words meet are silent.

5A: Clever move: COUP

8D: Prefix with science: PSEUDO

9A: Bad-mouth: KNOCK

9D: Hillock: KNOLL

28A: Organ numbers: HYMNS

4D: Newspaper feature: COLUMN

48A: Like Letterman lines: WRY

48D: Eerie apparition: WRAITH

54A: Omen: SIGN

40D: Oppose: REPUGN

64A: Like a question that isn't a question: RHETORICAL

57D: Prefix with stat: RHEO

73A: Oversimplify: DUMB

63D: Blockbuster, e.g.: BOMBBox office disaster

My goodness, P, K, N, W, G, H & B, only L is missing (almond). "Hard G" Don Gagliardo did it again.

The theme entries are not symmetrical in this grid, but the grid itself is. I counted total 70 theme squares.

I knew repugnant, REPUGN is new to me. Was also unaware of the criticism meaning of KNOCK. Did not know the Blockbuster BOMB either. Wikipedia says it's used in WWII by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Also called cookie.

Across:

1A: Like a dotted note, in mus.: STAC. Short for staccato, opposite legato, which is never shortened as leg, to my surprise.

14A: Cancún green: PESO. Money. I was thinking of the color green. VERDE in Spanish.

15A: Browser drop-down list, briefly: URLS. Those addresses starting http://.

16A: Film that involves a lot of taking off: NUDIE. I was in the plane take-off direction.

17A: Stem-to-branch angle: AXIL. Like this.

18A: Good: BENEVOLENT

20A: Peak in Jap.: MT. FUJI. It's FUJI San in Japanese. San is mountain.

22A: "The Clan of the Cave Bear" writer: AUEL (Jean). It's pronounced like "owl". She lives in Oregon.

23A: 7-5, e.g. in tennis: SET. We are lucky to witness both Roger Federer and Tiger Woods at their very best.

24A: Truck name: MACK. Not a familiar name to me. Wikipedia says it belongs to the Volvo Group. Volvo is literally "I roll" in Latin.

26A: Where to find heros: DELIS. Hero sandwichs. My mind wandered off to the battleground. Too bad McNamara's career is defined by Vietnam War. He was so successful before and after that.

31A: UN Workers' group: ILO (International Labor Organization)

33A: Vena __: heart vessel: CAVA. Vena = Vein. CAVA = Hollow. Latin.

36A: Pencil game winner: OOO. Use pencil for tic-tac-toe?

37A: Cell: suffix: CYTE. No idea. Dictionary gives leukocyte (white blood cell) as an example. Then it says CYTO is a "cell" prefix, as in cytoplasm.

39A: Favor: PREFER

44A: Bony: OSTEAL. Literal "Bony". You don't call Kate Moss as OSTEAL, do you? I thought of SKINNY, which has 6-letter also.

45A: Srs. lobbying gp.: AARP

46A: Gehrig of baseball: LOU. The "luckiest man on the face of earth". And the "Say Hey Kid" MAYS (43D: Giant Willie), who is quite aloof and unapproachable to fans.

47A: Actress Ward: SELA

49A: 1972 Bill Withers hit: USE ME. No idea. Here is the clip. What a strange song title.

51A: Not as healthy: ILLER. Made-up word.

58A: Country where Baha'i was founded: IRAN. Wikipedia says Baha'i is derived from the Arabic Bahá, meaning "glory" or "splendour". I think they have an annual Ramadan-style fast period too.

60A: "CSI" workplace: DNA LAB

67A: Accolade: KUDO. Always see this word in plural form.

68A: Fruit in balls: MELON. Thai fruit carving is an art. This rabbit is really cute.

70A: Jack of "Rio Lobo": ELAM. Lobo is Spanish for "wolf". Oso is "bear". I've never heard of the movie.

72A: '60s musical: HAIR

Down:

2D: Send a high-tech message to: TEXT

5D: Part of cc.: CUBIC. CUBIC centimeter. I was thinking of carbon copy.

6D: Tram contents: ORE

10D: Nada, to Noël: NUL. French for nil/zero.

11D: With "The", 1972 Frederick Forsyth novel: ODESSA FILE. No idea. Hmm, "Compulsively readable ..."

12D: Film: CINE. Short for cinema.

13D: Etta of old comics: KETT. Learned her name from doing Xword. Nice line: I've been saving myself for you.

21D: Violinist Heifetz: JASCHA. Completely unknown to me. It's pronounced like YAH Shuh, Russian form of Jacob or James.

25D: First-aid aids: KITS

27D: Gangsta rap pioneer: ICE-T. Oh, I did not know he pioneered gangsta rap. Thought it might be Dr. DRE.

28D: Hostess snack cakes: HO HOS. Both HO HOS & Drake's YODELS are Xword cakes to me.

29D: Brooklyn pronoun: YOUSE. No idea. It's plural of you.

30D: Probably: MOST LIKELY

32D: "The Merry Widow" operettist: LEHAR (Franz). He died in 1948. Somehow I thought he was a 19th century composer.

34D: Fang output, at times: VENOM. Cantonese eat everything, including snakes.

35D: Get contentious: ARGUE

38D: Brynner who played a king: YUL. "The King and I".

50D: Unclogged, as a pipe: SNAKED. I know plumber's snake. Was unaware that SNAKE can be a verb also.

52D: Motor City team: LIONS. Detroit LIONS. 0-16 last season. NFL record.

55D: Lazy type: IDLER

56D: It "marches on its stomach": Napoleon: ARMY. Nice fresh clue. Napoleon is 5'2''. I was surprised to read Dennis's FF yesterday that Stalin was only 5' 4''. He looked big.

59D: Sweet Sixteen initials: NCAA. March Madness.

62D: Cain raiser: ADAM. Raising Cain.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Tuesday July 7, 2009 Gail Grabowski

Theme: HEAT (Summer phenomenon, and word that can precede the first words of 17-, 28-, 44- and 58-Across) Symptoms

17A: Pointing digit: INDEX FINGER

28A: Choice made without thinking: RASH DECISION

44A: Firefly: LIGHTNING BUG

58A: Signal to from the pier, perhaps: WAVE GOODBYE

Argyle again.

Taking the time to think about your decision can also be RASH. There are times when you must act on instinct and don't have time to think. But I digress.

I was looking at the theme answers, wondering what they had in common, when I did 54D. So learning the theme did not help me in ciphering the words. Still, it is an appropriate puzzle for the season.

I haven't seen any fireflies (LIGHTNING BUGS) yet. They seem late this year.

Let's get the dupes out of the way first:

16A & 18D: Commotion: ADO & FUSS

37A & 47D: Pizazz: ELAN & BRIO (of Celtic origin)

42A & 8D: Tractor-trailer: SEMI & RIG

Another nice tie-in pair is RARER (48A: More valuable to collectors) and ADD TO (3D: Expand, as a collection). Actually, GENE (38D: Heredity unit) can be clued as "36A container" (36A: Modern "fingerprint": DNA), so we would have had extra pair, or rather, a cross-referenced pair. Maybe too much?

A good 'Tuesday' puzzle. Smooth cluing, hallmarks of Gail Grabowski puzzles.

Across:

1A: Fallback option: PLAN B.

6A: Knapsack part: STRAP.

14A: Bull rider's venue: RODEO.

15A: Like a wolfman: HAIRY. Yeah, let's hear it for the Wolfman.

19A: Poke fun at: KID.

20A: Co. leaders, collectively: MGT. Management.

22A: Acts as a shill for : ABETS.

24A: Anka song with the phrase "kiss me mucho": ESO BESO. Oh my, this has fallen from a Friday clue to a Tuesday clue.

26A: Petting zoo babies: LAMBS.

32A: Sponge gently: DAB AT.

35A: Stalk in a marsh: REED.

38A: Four-on-the-floor options: GEARS. My kind of Manual transmissions.

43A: Caravan refuges: OASES.

49A: Gallery event: ART SALE. Congratulations to our fellow solver Kathleen Wolf (WM) for her first solo show.

53A: Stage of development: PHASE.

56A: Time or Money, briefly: MAG. Magazine.

57A: 20-vol. reference: OED. Oxford English Dictionary.

62A: West of Hollywood: MAE. MAE West. Is she zaftig?

63A: Online shopping mecca: E-MALL. A web site that displays electronic catalogs from several suppliers, and charges commission from them for the sales revenue generated at that site.

65A: Qt. halves: PTS. Two cups in a PINT, two PINTS in a quart, four quarts in a gallon.

66A: "Inferno" author: DANTE.

67A: Grab the tab: TREAT.

Down:

1D: Much-watched interest rate: PRIME. The Wall Street Journal PRIME Rate is currently 3.25%.

2D: Pines (for): LONGS.

3D: Expand, as a collection: ADD TO.

5D: Exec's perk at a ballgame: BOX SEAT. The bigger executives get a sky box.

6D: Civil War battleground: SHILOH. Did it get mentioned in last week's discussion?

7D: Fish holder: TANK. Shame on me; I was thinking HOOK.

10D: Egyptian monument: PYRAMID.

11D: Eschew neutrality: TAKE SIDES.

23D: Small ammo: BBS.

25D: Stuff in a muffin: BRAN.

27D: Blackjack components: ACES. A Blackjack is...aw, I'll leave it for Dennis to explain what it is.

29D: Sink feature: DRAIN.

30D: It's sometimes enough: ONCE. Sometimes it's not.

31D: Slangy refusals: NAHS.

32D: Computer giant: DELL.

34D: D and F: BAD GRADES. But better than incomplete.

39D: Mideast honcho: EMIR.

42D: Scattered: STREWED.

43D: Remote military base: OUTPOST.

50D: Walk unhurriedly: AMBLE.

51D: Eric Clapton classic: LAYLA.

52D: Spew out: EGEST. Opposite of ingest.

53D: Ceremonial splendor: POMP. No circumstance today

55D: Shoulder muscle, briefly: DELT. Deltoid muscles.

59D: GP's gp.: AMA. General Practitioner (Doctor)'s group, American Medical Association.

60D: Delivery vehicle: VAN.

61D: Compass pt.: DIR. Direction.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Monday July 6, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: How Long?

20A: Wrinkle-resistant after washing: PERMANENT PRESS

34A: Fabled fountain's word: ETERNAL YOUTH

41A: You can still use it when postage rates increase: FOREVER STAMP

55A: "Semper fidelis, " in English: ALWAYS FAITHFUL

And PERPETUAL, INCESSANT, INFINITE, what else?

Argyle here.

Boy, would I have to eat worms if I missed the Marine Corps motto. FOREVER STAMP is a very refreshing entry. Probably a debut in any major newspaper puzzle.

My dial-up is messed up to day, so I'm running late. I had to go out and "borrow" a paper to get the puzzle. I better go put it back.

Across:

1A: Maple syrup fluids: SAPS.

5A: Musher's vehicle: SLED.

9A: Did some chinwagging: JAWED.

14A: Elm or oak: TREE. On another day they might be streets.

15A: Breaker on the shore: WAVE.

16A: Central Florida city: OCALA.

17A: Israeli carrier: ELAL. Literally "skyward".

18D: Light bulb, in a comic strip: IDEA. IDEE in French.

23A: Having disembarked: ON LAND

24A: Sweetie: HON. Favorite names used waitresses everywhere.

29A: Reversed: UNDID.

25A: Super __: Sega Genesis competitor: NES. Nintendo Entertainment System. And 52D: CNN competitor: MS NBC.

26A: "Dark Angel" star Jessica: ALBA. One for the boys.

39A: German article: EIN. A or one.

46A: Rare blood classification: TYPE AB

51A: "Overhead" engine part: CAM.

53A: Ghost-eating video icon: PAC-MAN

61A: Depilatory brand: NAIR. Another answer is NEET. Depilatory is so close to lapidary.

66A: Not quite foggy: MISTY. For you West coast morning people.

68A: Cong. meeting: SESS. I thought of Vietcong, at first.

Down:

1D: Squash: STEP ON

2D: "What's my line?" panelist Francis: ARLENE. She is on the left.

4D: Alabama civil rights city: SELMA.

5D: Con job: SWINDLE. Bunko. Joe Friday would occasionally work Bunko on Dragnet.

7D: Like 2, 4 6, etc.: EVEN. Not an odd clue.

8D: "Murder by __": Neil Simon comedy: DEATH.

9D: Long trip: JOURNEY.

11D: Bankrolls: WADS.

12D: New Haven collegians: ELIS. Yale gets so much play in crossword.

27D: Uncle Remus's __ Rabbit: BR'ER

28D: Liqueur flavoring: ANISE. Licorice-flavored.

33D: Sports org. with six Canadian teams: NHL. National Hockey League. Only 1 Canadian team in MLB - the Toronto Blue Jays.

36D: Back, on a ship: AFT.

38D: Dada artist Jean: ARP.

42D: Motel sign: VACANCY.

44D: Yearned: ASPIRED.

48D: Positive "How are you?" response: I'M FINE. One for the girls.

49D: Makes watertight: CAULK.

55D: Play opener: ACT I.

57D: Habeas corpus, eg.g.: WRIT. Habeas corpus is probably the most important WRITS of all kinds. It's a WRIT " through which a person can seek relief from the unlawful detention of him or herself, or of another person."

59D: Verdi classic: AIDA. It has become a gimme for me; how 'bout you?

60D: Tycoon Walton with a club: SAM. SAM's Club,

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday July 5, 2009 Richard Silvestri

Theme: Heard Down Under

23A: Cookie made with Chianti instead of figs? WINE NEWTON (Wayne Newton)

25A: Wood for sashes?: WINDOW PINE (Windowpane)

34A: Blue Danube relative: PURPLE RHINE (Purple Rain)

50A: Discovery of the mother lode?: MINE EVENT (Main Event)

76A: Put an "X" where you want to cut the cord?: MARK TWINE (Mark Twain)

90A: Female chiropractor?: LADY OF SPINE (Lady of Spain)

105A: Squall at sea?: BRINE STORM (Brainstorm)

107A: "I never forget a face," e. g.: MEMORY LINE (Memory Lane)

Hmm, the Aussie/Kiwi (Down Under) long A pronunciation does sound long I, doesn't it?

LADY OF SPINE is my favorite theme entry. I thought of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Su Ki. She is a real LADY OF SPINE.

Lots of interesting clues in today's puzzle. I had several V-8 moments. Normally I am not fond of ALER (American Leaguer) or NLER (National Leaguer), but today's clue (48A: Ray or Jay) is outstanding. Tampa Bay Rays & Toronto Blue Jays. Nice rhyme.

I was also happy to see MINN (11D: Gopher's home?) again. Golden Gophers is the sports team for the University of Minnesota. I collect those adorable Goldy bobbleheads.

Across:

1A: Titanic obstacle: BERG. The last known Titanic survivor just died last month. She's 2-month old when she boarded Titanic.

9A: Opening frames: JAMBS. I need a "door" hint in the clue.

14A: Try: STAB. Have a try/STAB.

18A: 19th century tale of South Seas travel: OMOO. One more letter, the answer would be TYPEE/MARDI.

19A: Reach via radio: RAISE. Dictionary defines RAISE as "Make contact with by radio", then it gives an example: couldn't RAISE control tower after midnight. New meaning to me.

21A: Girl George?: ELIOT. George ELIOT, who's a "girl". Playing on Boy George. I suppose you can clue SAND as "Girl George" too.

22A: Lobby for: URGE

27A: Like some pens: ERASABLE. Have never used one.

28A: Collect little by little: GLEAN

30A: Snack maker's gizmo: POPPER. Popcorn POPPER.

32A: Samples from a doctor: PILLS

33A: Atheistic: GODLESS. I hope there is a God.

40A: Symbol of penance: ASHES. Oh, that's how we have Ash Wednesday.

41A: Dismayed cry: OY VEY

42A: Carpenter who sang: KAREN. I like her "We've Only Just Begun".

46A: Vientiane native: LAO. It's literally "old" in Chinese. LAO Tzu is literally "old master".

47A: Highest in order: UPMOST. Only knew uppermost.

49A: Scout outing: HIKE

53A: Malt drier: OAST

55A: Yankees' captain: JETER (Derek). I have his rookie card.

56A: Small biological cavities: AREOLES. Why "cavities"? They are just nipple rings.

57A: "I'll say": AND HOW

60D: Had right to: CLAIMED

63A: Unit of work: MAN-HOUR. Normally the answer is ERG.

65A: "My cousin Vinny" Oscar winner: TOMEI (Marisa).

68A: To boot: NO LESS. Why? They are not synonymous to me.

70A: Abates: EASES UP

74A: Hot spots: OVENS. Nice clue. I was thinking of North Korea/Iran.

75A: Money maker: MINT

78A: Buck, for one: MALE. "Tom, for one" too.

81A: Eats into: ERODES

83A: UV index monitor: EPA

84A: Letters on a lunch menu: BLT. Also PBJ. This bento lunch box looks so inviting.

85A: Woolly, perhaps: OVINE. Stumped. Hope ewe got it.

86A: Brilliance: ECLAT

87A: Jellied garnish: ASPIC. Why "garnish"? My grandma always made us ASPIC during Chinese Spring Festival.

89A: Incline: SLANT

92A: Thanksgiving activity: BASTING

95A: Inn group: MAIDS. Great clue.

97A: Troop troupe sponsor, briefly: USO

98A: Frequently traded, in the stock market: ACTIVE. Like the stupid GE stock.

99A: Ballet with a hoedown: RODEO. No idea. It refers to Copland's ballet RODEO I suppose.

100A: Create financial trouble for: STRAITEN. New word to me.

109A: Tartan wraparound: KILT

112A: Work in the cutting room: EDIT

114A: German seaport: EMDEN. See upperleft? North Sea port. I've never heard of it.

116A: Carmine's family?: REDS. Had to check dictionary for "carmine".

Down:

1D: He beat Holyfield twice: BOWE (Riddick). No idea. Have never heard of this boxer. I only remembered Tyson bit Holyfield's ear.

2D: Islamic title: EMIR

3D: Columnist Barnett: RONA. Or Author Jaffe.

4D: Completely loses it: GOES APE

5D: High range: TREBLE. Guessed.

6D: Ketch kin: YAWL. Both two-masted sailboats.

7D: Toy with a tail: KITE

8D: Paul Anka's "__ Beso (That Kiss): ESO. Literally "that".

9D: Lapidary's product: JEWEL. Did not know the meaning of "lapidary".

10D: Item on a forged document, perhaps: ALIAS

12D: Physique: BOD. Needs "slangily", right?

13D: Brief visit: STOPOVER

14D: Price factor: SUPPLY. Plenty of corn & soy in the market this year.

16D: Hooey: TRIPE. To some, it's a delicacy.

16D: David Copperfield's second wife: AGNES. No idea. Have never read "David Copperfield". Thought of Claudia Schiffer, ex-girlfriend of David Copperfield.

17D: Round at the bar: BEERS

20D: Fire trucks: ENGINES

24D: They're at your fingertip: NAILS. My favorite clue.

26D: God for whom Wednesday was named: WODEN. Always thought Wednesday is named after Odin. Dictionary says WODEN is "Anglo-Saxon god identified with Odin."

29D: 2001 U.S. Open champ Hewitt: LLEYTON. I could picture his face. His name escaped me.

32D: Turn on one foot: PIVOT

33D: "Earth in the Balance": GORE. Wikipedia says his "An Inconvenient Truth" is based on this book.

34D: Balearic Islands capital: PALMA. Sigh, both the clue and the answer mean nothing to me. Ibiza is wild.

35D: Carrier that merged with Piedmont in 1989: USAIR. Not familiar with the Piedmont Airlines.

36D: River through the Lake of Geneva: RHONE

37D: Entices: ROPES IN

38D Choir offering: HYMN

39D: '80 Bond portrayer: DALTON (Timothy). Love the current 007 Daniel Craig.

42D: Buckwheat dish: KASHA. I tried buckwheat porridge once. Terrible taste. Cold buckwheat soba noodle is delicious.

43D: Sharp quality: BITE

44D: Strings of islands?: UKES. Nice clue too.

47D: Optic layer: UVEA. Latin for "grape".

49D: Talmud tongue: HEBREW. Talmud is literally "instruction".

51D: Tertiary Period epoch: EOCENE. I forgot. EO is prefix for "early". EOCENE is characterized by the advent of the modern mammalian orders, says the dictionary. And it occurred from 55 to 40 million years ago.

52D: "American Psycho" author: ELLIS. No idea. The book sounds horrifying.

54D: USN VIPS: ADMS (Admirals)

55D: Knight game: JOUST

57D: Arabian Sea's Gulf of __: ADEN

58D: Hack's question: WHERE TO. Hack is taxi driver.

61D: Point in time: MOMENT

62D: Slur over: ELIDE

64D: Symbols of might: OAKS

65D: Crypt: TOMB

66D: Kind of round: OVAL. Indeed.

67D: Get all gooey: MELT. Reminds me of Dali's "The Persistence of Memory".

69D: Metal playing marble: STEELIE

71D: Basso Cesare: SIEPI. No, no, nope. Total stranger to me.

73D: Word spoken with a two-fingered sign: PEACE

76D: Gets into shape: MOLDS

77D: Forever partner?: A DAY. Forever and A DAY.

79D: Fade away: EVANESCE. Another new word to me.

80D: Double checker?: KING. Checkers. Here is Embien's explanation: You make a "king" in checkers by putting another piece on top, thus a "double checker" (the checker piece).

82D: Colts' home before Lucas Oil Stadium: RCA DOME (1984-2007). I guessed. Wikipedia says it's similar in design and appearance to Twins' Metrodome.

85D: Oil source: OLIVE. I was in the crude oil direction.

87D: Ore analysis: ASSAY

88D: Third-party candidate, perhaps: SPOILER

89D: Is frugal: STINTS

91D: Like many mammals: FURRED

92D: Spongy cake: BABKA. The cake with raisins and rum. Diminutive of baba, Polish for "grandmother".

93D: Bitter: ACRID

94D: Underground gate: STILE. Subway turnstile.

95D: "What has God wrought?" sender: MORSE

96D: Commercial developers: AD MEN. Excellent clue.

99D: Route for Bob and Bing: ROAD. ROAD to....

101D: It's a drag: TOKE. OK, TOKE is "a puff of a marijuana cigarette".

102D: Phenomenon measured by a marigraph: TIDE. Had to check the meaning of marigraph: a device that automatically registers the rise and fall of the TIDE.

103D: Oklahoma city: ENID

104D: Trawling gear: NETS

108D: Costar of Teri, Felicity, et al.: EVA (Longoria). From "Desperate Housewives"

Answer grid.

Happy Birthday, Linda, wherever you are!

C.C.

Saturday July 4, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Happy Birthday, America!

16A: Devoted to one's land: PATRIOTIC

36A: With 39-Across, historic birth announcement? THE DECLARATION

39A: See 36-Across: OF INDEPENDENCE

59A: Spectacular display: FIREWORKS

15D: Slice of Americana?: APPLE PIE

37D: Soft drink since 7/4/1982: DIET COKE

Another 15*16 grid! One more row is added to accommodate the even-numbered 36A & 39A.

I was surprised to see Dan Naddor's byline earlier, as he does not construct themeless Saturday. Then I realized it's a special Fourth of July puzzle.

I had no idea that DIET COKE was launched on 7/4/1982. Was surprised to learn further that Diet Pepsi was introduced in 1964.

A nice 73-worder. A Saturdayish word count (since this is 15*16) with a theme. Great! I liked how the 2 Down theme entries intersect the two middle Across ones.

I had fun. The long words popped up when I had a few letters filled in.

Across:

1A: Defiant way to respond to insults: TIT FOR TAT. So "turn the other cheek" will be "Obedient way to respond to insults"?

13A: Pull off the ultimate diamond theft?: STEAL HOME. Baseball diamond. A home run clue!

14A: Radio Dr.: LAURA. NPR is all I listen.

17A: Footnote abbr.: OP CIT. The other one is IBID.

18A: Sine's reciprocal: COSEC

19A: Start to sort out, as stored boxes: UNPILE. Thought of UNPACK first.

20A: __-dieu: PRIE. The prayer bench.

23A: Opaque vase material: MILKGLASS. Lots of people collect Fenton MILKGLASS.

25A: Landlord: LESSOR. Always wanted LEASER.

29A: Manual transmissions?: Abbr.: ASL. (American Sign Language). I was stumped.

30A: Fuzz site: PEACH. Ty Cobb's nickname is "The Georgia PEACH". And 70 years ago today, on July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig gave his famous "luckiest man on the face of earth" speech (thanks, JD).

33A: Humane Soc. ally: SPCA

41A: Times for basking au soleil: ETES. Nice clue.

42A: Hotel courts: ATRIA. One letter L away from ALTRIA (ex-Philip Morris), which is Latin for "high".

43A: Videotape format: VHS

44A: Tight ends?: TEES. The both ends of "Tight".

46A: "No way!": MY FOOT

48A: Cutting: SARCASTIC

53A: Literary governess: EYRE. "Jane EYRE".

54A: Melodic: ARIOSO. Rooted in aria. This word often gives me trouble.

55A: Seasonal number: CAROL

58A: Con game: BUNKO. New word to me.

63A: His aluminum dust allergy kept him from playing the Tin Man: EBSEN (Buddy). I forgot his name. Was aware of this trivia though.

64A: Like a house on the market, often: REPAINTED

65A: Arctic explorer John: RAE. This has become a gimme.

66A: "Kate & Allie" actress: ARI MEYERS. I forgot all about her. Last time ARI is clued as "Actress Meyers".

Down:

1D: Medicinal amount: TSP

2D: Spanish diminutive suffix: ITA. Feminine diminutive. Opposite ITO.

4D: Satire relatives: FARCES

5D: Mélange: OLIO

6D: Sorority letters: RHOS. Greek P.

7D: Carved pole: TOTEM

8D: Bari buddies: AMICI. Plural of amico. Italian "buddy". Bari is a seaport in SE Italy, on the Adriatic.

9D: Dick: TEC. Detective.

10D: St. __: Caribbean island state: LUCIA

11D: Seed coverings: ARILS

12D: Frequent swingers?: GATE. Another great clue.

14D: 1962 WWII epic, with "The": LONGEST DAY. About D-Day. I've yet to see the film.

19D: The sopranino is the smallest one: UKE. Got the answer from Across fills. I did not know the meaning of sopranino. Here, ino is a diminutive suffix (of soprano).

21D: Do a smith's job: RESHOE. The Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari was a mule-shoer for the Italian Army during WWI.

22D: Remains: IS LEFT. Thought the clue was asking for a noun.

24D: Satirical songwriter Tom who wrote "The Masochism Tango": LEHRER. Easy guess. I am not familiar with the song.

26D: Time for hunting: OPEN SEASON

27D: Abbr. stamped on an invoice: REC'D

31D: The Rays' div.: AL EAST. Also includes the Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays & the Yankees.

32D: Kangaroo, for one: Abbr.: CAPT. Captain Kangaroo. I was lost. "Lincoln, for one: Abbr." will work too, right? Since Whiteman called him "O Captain! My Captain!". It adds a bit of patriotism in the very center of the grid.

34D: Military escort: CONVOY

35D: News coordinator: ANCHOR. I suppose so.

38D: Lively, in mus.: ANIM. No idea. It stands for animato. What's the opposite of animato then?

40D: Town near Padua: ESTE. Padua is the setting for Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew". It's located 40 km west of Venice. I saw Verona close by. Could not find ESTE.

45D: Tomás's "that": ESO. Or ESA.

47D: Fraud, usually: FELONY. I don't know. If we can not trust an ex-Nasdaq Chairman (Bernard Madoff), whom else can we trust?

48D: Cavalry weapon: SABER. One-edged sword.

49D: Oranjestad's island: ARUBA. They speak Dutch there. Oranjestad is related to the Dutch House of Orange I think.

50D: Eschew the soap: RINSE. The clue feels odd.

52D: Wrist bones: CARPI. Plural of carpus. The blue-colored parts.

56D: Chew (out): REAM. "REAM out" is a new phrase to me.

57D: Boo-boo, in kidspeak: OWIE

59D: Brother: FRA. Monk.

60D: Shortcut, e.g.: Abbr.: RTE. Excellent clue too.

61D: Plop preceder: KER. Plunk preceder as well.

62D: Campus activist org. reformed in 2006: SDS (Students for a Democratic Society). Learned this "reformed in 2006" fact last time when we had SDS, clued as "'60s radicals". I often confuse SDS with '70 radicals SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army).

Answer grid.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!


C.C.

Friday July 3, 2009 Jeff Chen

Theme: Set In

17A: 1988 biopic about Dian Fossey, literally: THE GORILLAS MIST (Gorillas in the Mist)

27A: It's too important to ignore, literally: THE ELEPHANT ROOM (Elephant in the Room)

49A: Kids' ball game, literally: THE MONKEY MIDDLE (Monkey in the Middle)

65A: Metaphorical philosophical conflict used as an album title by The Police, literally: THE GHOST MACHINE (Ghost in the Machine)

Difficult puzzle for me. I did not get the theme until I cheated and solved the grid. I had only noticed the THE in front of each theme answer.

Out of the four theme entries, "elephant in the room" is the only familiar phrase to me. Then I realized the constructor simply changed the order of the phrase and literally placed ELEPHANT in THE ROOM.

The last one is a bit odd. Maybe Jeff Chen could not find a 15-letter "Animal in the __" phrase. Can you?

Quite a few clever clues. My favorite is ADS (67D: Pitches between innings?). Excellent sales pitch.

Across:

1A: Powerful court opponent: ACER. Tennis court.

5A: Remote location?: SOFA. Remote control.

9A: City near Syracuse: UTICA. And DOME (42D: Carrier __: Syracuse stadium). Very interesting, Wikipedia says there is no airconditioning in the Carrier DOME due to the weather.

14A: Bay relative: COVE

15A: Surefooted goat: IBEX. The wild mountain goat with recurved horns. Why "surefooted"?

16A: Frigid: POLAR. STIFF would be a great answer too.

20A: Navigational aid: SONAR

22A: Oenophile's word: OAKY. Oeno is goddess of wine. I like how it crosses CASK (12D: Large container). Wish it clued as "Wine vessel".

23A: Race unit: LAP. And EAR (25A: Corn unit). Nice consecutive "unit" clues. Then TOE (45D: Corn site). A pair of different corns.

37A: Barber's device: STROP

38A: "Sicko" filmmaker Michael: MOORE. "Sicko" is too negative. Dcumentaries are supposed to be objective.

39A: Commotion: STIR. And SIRED (41A: Brought into being) & WHIR (43A: Blender sound). Three IR answers in this row (#8).

44A: Acclaim: ECLAT. Thought of WM (Kathleen Wolf). Eager to see her interview next week. What she has achieved is stunning.

46A: Kind of drive: CD-ROM. I was in the golf drive direction.

52A: __ green: PEA. Isn't strange that pea coat is always navy blue color?

53A: Source of low-fat meat: EMU. My goodness, I did not know EMU is a source of food.

54A: Pop: SODA. Sounds silly, but I really did not know what POP is when I first arrived in Minnesota.

57A: Chuck: TOSS

61A: Not happy: IRKED

68A: Archer, at times: AIMER. Not fond of the er repetition. "To love, in Paris" is much better. AIMER is French for "love", verb. Je t'aime, mon amour.

69A: Musician's forte?: LOUD. Musical "forte", as opposed to piano (soft).

71A: Subject of a promise to deliver, with "the": GOODS. Deliver the GOODS. I kept thinking of Exodus.

73A: Lion's share: MOST. So much power is concentrated in the hands of so few.

Down:

1D: John follower: ACTS. Books of Bible. I can never remember the order.

2D: Small salmon: COHO

3D: Fifty-fifty: EVEN. What was I thinking? I wanted HALF, which is 50%.

4D: Wine and dine: REGALE

5D: Paul McCartney, e.g.: SIR. Nick Faldo is now a SIR too.

6D: Decorative Eastern accessories: OBIS. Loved "Band from Asia" (OBI) clue last time.

7D: Experienced: FELT

8D: Hot rod rod: AXEL. Saw identical clue before. Still like it.

9D: Bulls' predictions: UPS. "Bears' predictions" is DOWNS.

10D: Song that begins "The sun'll come out": TOMORROW. The only "Annie" song that I know.

11D: Pelvic bones: ILIA

13D: Affectedly cultural: ARTY

18D: Hurdles for would-be doctors: ORALS. Oh, doctor degree. I was thinking of physicians.

24D: Guinea pigs, maybe: PETS

26D: Green dispenser: ATM. Green is slang for money.

27D: Tube, so to speak: TV SET

28D: Thumb: HITCH. Short for hitchhike?

29D: Novelist Zola: EMILE. "J'accuse".

30D: Blood test feature: PRICK. Ouch!

31D: Throng: HORDE

32D: Impressionist's skill: APERY. And MIMIC (47D: Copy)

33D: Marveled audibly: OOHED. Aahed too.

34D: Projecting window: ORIEL

35D: Country Music Hall of Famer ___ Travis: MERLE. No idea. What's his most famous song?

40D: Rushed violently: RAMPAGED

50D: Alb. and Cros. joined in 4/1/2009: NATO. Nailed it.

51D: North Carolina college town: DURHAM. Duke University.

54D: Alone: STAG

55D: Home to Columbus: OHIO. I used to confuse Buckeye with Hawkeye.

56D: Audition handout: DEMO

58D: 1952 Olympics host: OSLO. Formerly Christiania.

59D: Knock off: STOP

60D: Blue books?: SMUT. We call off-color books "yellow books" in China.

63D: Son of Seth: ENOS. Or "Slaughter in Cooperstown".

64D: Debugging application?: DEET. D'oh, the real bug.

66D: Store posting: Abbr.: HRS

Answer grid.

C.C.

Thursday July 2, 2009 Pete Muller

Theme: INNER EAR (38D: Balance organ that's literally found in the answers to starred clues)

20A: *1979 Sister Sledge hit: WE ARE FAMILY

30A: *Look for clues: NOSE AROUND

46A: *"Fatal Attraction" costar: ANNE ARCHER

57A: *Military treatise written by Sun Tzu: THE ART OF WAR

11D: *Decorators' suggestion: AREA RUG

Great theme. All EAR's are split between two words. Normally the unifying entry has no symmetrical partner, so I was surprised by the Down AREA RUGS entry.

I got THE ART OF WAR earlier on. Then read the clue for the tie-in 38D and noticed the organ EAR organ immediately. So I was able to filled in the other EAR's. Otherwise, I would not have got ANN ARCHER. I could only remember Michael Douglas and Glenn Close.

I like the "clue" clues in today's puzzle:

30A: *Look for clues: NOSE AROUND

36A: Clue on a weapon: PRINT

3D: Problms in ths clue: ERRATA. Both "Problems" and "this" are spelled incorrectly.

All in all, a zaftig puzzle, only 32 blocks (sometimes we have 44). Alluringly plump!

Across:

1A: Lieu: STEAD. Nice to have a gimme start.

6A: Start of a 10-Down address: HTTP. And WEB (10D: Blogger's milieu)

10A: Shakes indicating affection, perhaps: WAGS. Dogs. Cute clue.

14A: With 26-Across, city in southern Brazil: PORTO ALEGRE (26A: See 14-Across). Literally "Happy Port". See the red arrow. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says it's the tenth most populous municipality in Brazil.

15A: Operatic number: ARIA. "Number" = "song". Sometimes it's just numb-er: stuff that numbs you. Like "Dentist's number?" for OPIATE.

16A: Diamond stats: ERAS. Baseball diamond. And BAT (53A: Come to the plate)

17A: Robin's weapon: ARROW. Easy guess. Robin Hood. Initially I thought it might refer to Batman's Robin.

18A: Kemo __: SABE. The Lone Ranger.

19A: Longtime pageant host Parks: BERT. First encounter with this guy. His hair is rather thick.

23A: Trailers, e.g.: ADS. Movie trailers. Great clue.

25A: Delay: LAG. I hate internet LAG.

28A: Hormel product: SPAM. Hormel is based in MN. They used to sponsor Twins' bobbleheads.

33A: Indian state bordering Bhutan: ASSAM. The yellow region. Famous for ASSAM tea.

35A: Cheap cigar: STOGIE. Shortened from Conestoga, rural region near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. So-called because it's favored by drivers of the Conestoga style of covered wagons first made there, according to dictionary.

39A: Bellicose Norse god: TYR. Tuesday is named after him. Same pronunciation as "tear". I bet TYR did not tear up easily.

41A: Actress Kudrow et al.: LISAS. Kudrow plays the goofy Phoebe in "Friends".

42A: Justice replaced by Samuel in 2006: SANDRA. Justice O'Connor is an avid golfer.

44A: Melville's first novel: TYPEE. Oh, I did not know it's his first novel.

48A: "Gosh darn it!": RATS. Is this Taco Bell still closed?

52A: Toyota until 2006: CELICA (1970-2006). Wikipedia says CELICA is derived from Latin word coelica, meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".

58A: Pasture: LEA. Have not seen LEI for a long time.

56A:Wall St. purchase: SHR (Share).

60A: React to sad news: WEEP

62A: 1975 Wimbledon winner: ASHE. Timely Wimbledon reference.

64A: Inland Asian sea: ARAL. It's shrinking.

65A: "__ Rock": 1966 hit: I'AM A. Simon and Garfunkel song. I like their "Scarborough Fair" the most.

66A: Jon of "Two and a Half Men": CRYER. Got the answer from Down fills. Have never seen "Two and a Half Men". So the other man is Charlie Sheen.

67A: Thatcher, politically: TORY. The British Conservative party. Gordon Brown, the current Prime Minister, is of Labor Party. Churchill is a TORY too.

68A: Street asset, briefly: CRED. Street CRED.

69A: Wiesbaden's state: HESSE. Wiesbaden is the capital of HESSE. Wikipedia says Wiesbaden is one of the oldest spa towns in Europe. Its name literally means "meadow baths".

Down:

1D: Gives rise to: SPAWNS. Awesome word, with only one vowel.

2D: Shredded: TORE UP

4D: Origin suffix: ATOR. Originator. I wonder if any constructor has tried to clue ALLY as "Origin suffix". Originally.

5D: Wooden connector: DOWEL. Nailed it today.

6D: Tries: HAS A GO AT. Also nailed this multiple word answer.

7D: Lode carrier: TRAM

8D: Leg bones: TIBIAE. The plural can also be TIBIAS.

9D: Spanish stew: PAELLAS. OK, I suppose you can call them stew.

12D: Fragrant flower: GARDENIA. Just learned that the flower is named after Alexander Garden (1730–91), an American physician. Boy, now I look at flow-er, I see river. That's what Rich Norris does to me.

13D: Retd. Air France fliers: SSTS. I like this new clue. "Retd. British fliers" would be a great clue too, since Concordes flew from London Heathrow (British Air) & Paris (Air France) to JFK.

21D: They may be diehards: FANS

22D: Seuss's king of the pond: YERTLE. I forgot. YERTLE the Turtle.

27D: More like a well-made s'more: GOOIER. Can't stand marshmallow.

29D: "Deal or No Deal" host: MANDEL (Howie). Melissa just mentioned that he has germ phobia too.

31D: Rocker Patty who married John McEnroe: SMYTH. No idea. They don't look like a couple.

32D: __ Moines: DES. And Des Moinesian.

34D: The Bosporus, e.g.: STRAIT. Also known as the Istanbul STRAIT, the world's narrowest strait used for international navigation. Approximately 19 miles long. Unknown to me.

36D: Non-commercial TV ad: PSA (Public Service Announcement). PSA also stands for Professional Sports Authenticator, the world's largest sportscard authentication service. See PSA at the very top?

37D: South American spread owner: RANCHERO. New word to me. A good way to clue ERO then. We seem to see EERO (Architect Saarinen) or EROO (Switch ending) often.

40D: Reuben holder: RYE BREAD

43D: Antiquated: ARCHAIC

45D: Rear end: PRAT. Pratfall. Carol has been using this word a lot in her comments lately.

47D: Roman emperor: CAESAR. "Veni, vidi, vici".

49D: Unfailingly: ALWAYS

50D: Flirts with: TEASES

51D: 1964 Nobel Prize decliner: SARTRE. He was probably jealous and angry that Camus got Nobel earlier (1957).

54D: Spelunker's aid: TORCH. spelunker is a great word.

56D: Hit hard: SWAT. Babe Ruth, Sultan of the SWAT. So tell me, why should Babe RUTH be in the Hall of Fame? He drank a lot during his days when drinking was not allowed. Mark McGwire used steroid when it's legal to do so.

58D: Sighed line: AH ME. Misread the clue as "Signed line".

59D: Warning to the gallery: FORE. Golf. I was once hit hard on my left arm. The guy did not shout "FORE".

61D: Practice: PLY. Wrote down TRY first.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday July 1, 2009 Jack McInturff

Theme: GLASS (72A: Dinnerware item that can precede the start of 17-, 26-, 38-, 52- or 61-Across)

17A: Paintings and such: WORKS OF ART

26A: Causing heads to turn: EYE-CATCHING

38A: Releasing stress, in a way: BLOWING OFF STEAM

52A: Gungan general of "Star Wars" films: JAR JAR BINKS

61A: Very hard candy: JAWBREAKER

And glass ceiling, glasshouse and glassware. What else?

Dictionary explains GLASS JAW as "a person's jaw, esp. that of a boxer, that is vulnerable to even a light blow". It's a new phrase to me.

I got the unifying answer GLASS quickly, but had difficulty obtaining the last two theme answers. Not a "Star Wars' fan, so JAR JAR BINKS was a total stranger to me. He looks ugly. I've never heard of JAWBREAKER candy either. The name sounds so hard.

Very happy to see MINN (67A: Its state bird is the common loon) in the puzzle. Finally a day to celebrate Minnesota. At last, we have a 2rd senator. Mr. (Al) Franken Goes to Washington. I don't expect one iota of "Mr. Smith" style idealism. What a saga! 8 months' recount and court fight.

Across:

1A: World-weary: BLASE. Oh well, lah-di-dah, lah-di-dah.

10A: Feature of a bad air day: SMOG. Misread the clue as "bad hair".

14A: Bay Area county: MARIN. I got the answer from Down fills. Inside the green zone. Wikipedia says it's across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco.

15A: Fairy tale opener: ONCE. And THE (40D: First word of many titles).

16A: Heart: CORE

19A: Ship of Greek mythology: ARGO. Jason and the Argonauts.

21A: House party convenience: WET BAR

29A: Alimony recipients: EXES. But "All My EX'S Live in Texas".

31A: Negatives: NO'S

32A: Watch readouts: LEDS (Light-Emitting Diodes)

36A: Soup bean: LIMA. I've never made any soup with LIMA bean.

44A: Kinfolk: Abbr.: RELS

45A: A flat counterpart: G-SHARP

46A: Ending letters, in Leeds: ZEDS. Our ZEES.

49A: Suffix with expert: ISE. Hmm, very straightforward cluing. "Verb ending, in Leeds" would be a great clue too. I like our IZE ending though.

56A: Sargasso, for one: SEA. I've never heard of the Sargasso SEA. Dictionary says Sargasso is Portuguese for "seaweed".

57A: Kilimanjaro site: AFRICA. Hope to see Kilimanjaro as answer someday.

58A: River islets: AITS. AIT has the same pronunciation as ATE.

68A: Fourth person: ABEL

69A: Wishful words: I HOPE

70A: Early birds?: EGGS. Nice clue.

Down:

1D: Munich-based automaker: BMW. It owns Rolls-Royce.

2D: __-tze: LAO. The Taoism founder. LAO is literally "old" in Chinese.

4D: Punjab sect member: SIKH. Pronounced the same as "seek". Literally, "disciple".

5D: Happen next: ENSUE

6D: Ease: SOFTEN

7D: "___ clear day ...": ON A

8D: Text-scanning technology, briefly: OCR. No idea. It stands for Optical Character Recognition.

9D: Contents meas.: NET WT

10D: Verbally attack: SCATHE. Oh, this is a new definition to me. So few politicians escapes Maureen Dowd unscathed.

11D: Like fascination with the dark side: MORBID. Woody Allen is half-MORBID.

12D: Instruments with stops: ORGANS

13D: Conductor Szell: GEORG. Nope. Wikipedia says GEORG Szell was born in Budapest and grew up in Vienna. And he served as as Music Director for the Cleveland Orchestra from 1946 to 1970.

18D: Direct ending?: ORY. Directory. IVE is a "Direct ending?" too.

22D: Mercedes sedan category: E-CLASS. Waiting for Dennis to give more information.

23D: LPGA star Karrie: WEBB. I have several of her autographed items. She is in golf Hall of Fame.

24D: Skating maneuver: AXEL. Named after Paulsen AXEL who popularized the maneuver.

25D: Part of a rep's spiel: DEMO. And GLIB (39D: Smooth-talking).

27D: Gigantic statues: COLOSSI. Or colossuses.

28D: "Like, no way!": AS IF

34D: Respiratory cavity: AIR SAC. For bird, right? I obtained the answer from Across fills.

35D: Dir. from Wichita to Omaha: NNE

37D Factory work: Abbr.: MFG. OK, MFG stands for"manufacturing" and MFR stands for "manufacturer".

41D: Vittles: EATS. Anyone likes Alton Brown's "Good EATS"?

42D: 18th century composer Thomas: ARNE. The composer for "Rule, Britannia".

43D: Film-rating org.: MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America)

46D: Alluringly plump: ZAFTIG. New word to me. Dictionary says it's Yiddish for "juicy, succulent". Betty Grable's picture showed up when I googled ZAFTIG. to me, she is not plump at all. Just perfect.

48D: Islamic genies: DJINNS. I only know the other spelling: JINNI. It's literally "demon".

52D: "My Name is Earl" Emmy winner Pressly: JAIME. New actress to me. Very interesting name. J'aime is literally "I love" in French.

53D: Indian prince: RAJAH

54D: Cassis cocktail: KIR. Named after Félix KIR (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon, who allegedly created the recipe, according to Dictionary.com. I've never had it. It's made of crème de cassis (blackcurrant liquor) & white wine.

55D: "Shrek" author Williams: STEIG. Don't know the author. Shrek looks ugly too.

63D: Unseld of the NBA: WES. Sometimes it's clued as "Director Craven".

64D: Campground org.: KOA (Kampgrounds of America). Unknown to me.

65D: Mini-albums, briefly: EPS (Extended Plays). Also new to me.

66D: Legal thing: RES. Latin for "thing".

Answer grid.

C.C.