Tuesday, November 3, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: THE OUTER LIMITS (54A: Eerie sci-fi series, and this puzzle's title) - The first word of each two-word phrases indicate "edge".

20A:. Herding dogs: BORDER TERRIERS

25A: Brokerage services for buying stocks on credit: MARGIN ACCOUNTS

48A: Perks on the job: FRINGE BENEFITS

All of the theme answers are in plural form, very consistent.

Argyle, again.

Major malfunction: BORDER TERRIERS are not herding dogs; they are hunting dogs. BORDER COLLIES are herding dogs.

I won't even try to explain MARGIN ACCOUNTS.

A FRINGE BENEFIT of doing this blog, C.C. lets me comment all I want to on the ones I do.

Note the crosses in three of the corners: NW, TITO & TIVO; NE, OPER & OPIE; SW, TOTO & OTTO. Although, the SE has IRMA & TART. ;-)

Across:

1A: RBI or ERA, e.g.: STAT. Go Phillies!

5A: Use up, as money: SPEND.

10A: Shock: JOLT. JOLT Cola

14A: TV show recorder: TIVO. In case you were wondering what TIVO stood for: TV + io (television input/output). Not fond of this clue due to TV repetition.

15A: Pal of Kukla and Fran: OLLIE. A kid's program from long before TiVo.

17A: School near the Mex. border: UTEP. The University of Texas at El Paso. Got gobs of worms for those still missing this. And over at San Antonio, 43A: Memorable mission: ALAMO.

34A: Take it easy: LOLL.

35A: Coastal cities: PORTS.

37A: Day spa garb: ROBE. Remember the deep massage ROLF?

39A: Emulated Bond: SPIED. And EYING (69A: Observing).

42A: Bank takeback, for short: REPO.

45A: Vegan no-no: MEAT. Any vegan in our blog?

52A: Choral syllable: TRA. Part of the chorus: TRA, la, la

53A: Univ. sr.'s exam: GRE. The GRE (Graduate Record Examination) measures verbal reasoning, quantitative and analytical writing skills required for graduate. GMAT is exam for MBA.

62A: Sign up for: JOIN.

64A: French cheese: BRIE. Alas, WM is still waiting for her cheese puzzle. Brie is named after the region Brie in Northern France.

65A: "Beetle Bailey" dog: OTTO. OTTO belongs to Sgt. Snorkel and dresses in uniform.

66A: Area below the abdomen: GROIN.

67A: Eclipse, in olden days: OMEN. Not that the words mean the same, but an eclipse was seen as an OMEN.

68A: Head honcho: BOSS. And 4D: Head honcho: TOP DOG. Nice pair.

70A: Small fruit pie: TART. Can you use frozen blueberries for blueberry tart?

Down:

1D: Theater souvenir: STUB. Ticket STUB.

2D: Jackson 5 brother: TITO.

8D: __ acid: explosive compound: NITRIC.

9D: Cherished by: DEAR TO.

10D: Comedian's bit: JOKE. One J in NE, one J in SW.

11D: Abbr. on a phone's "0" button: OPER.

13D: X, numerically: TEN.

22D: "The jig __!": IS UP.

25D: Former New Orleans Saints coach Jim: MORA. 1986-1996 won 93, lost 74 in regular season; 0-4 in the play-offs. Son is also a coach.

26D: War criminal Eichmann: ADOLF.

27D: Rod used to strengthen concrete: REBAR. Re(inforcing) Bar. "Waiting for the cement truck."

28D: Swiss peak: ALP.

29D: Scale, as a 28-Down: CLIMB. Scale here is a verb, meaning CLIMB, not your map feature.

30D: Snow-rain-heat-gloom connector: NOR. Post office motto.

31D: Roman fountain: TREVI. Literally "three roads" in Italian.

32D: Mar. 17th honoree: ST PAT. Erin Go Bragh. Great to see you back, Irish Jim.

38D: U.K. record label: EMI. Electric & Musical Industries.

41D: Kind of participle found in the sentence "While working on my computer, the dog pestered me for dinner": DANGLING. I bet Dennis/Melissa Be/Lois/Carol all have vivid memories of dangling participle discussions.

46D: Actress Hatcher: TERI. Push-up bra?

49D: Resentment over a prior wrong: GRUDGE.

50D: Diner, for one: EATERY.

51D: Sexy automaton in "Austin Powers": FEMBOT. FEM(ale) (ro)BOT. Designed to seduce and kill Austin Powers.

56D: Slaughter of baseball: ENOS.

57D: Weena's people, in "The Time Machine": ELOI. Weena was portrayed by Yvette Mimieux.

58D: Major German river, to a Frenchman: RHIN. Also, RHIEN. The Rhine (German: Rhein; Dutch: Rijn; French: Rhin; Romansh: Rain; Italian: Reno; Latin: Rhenus)

59D: "__ la Douce": IRMA. Billy Wilder's movie.

62D: Employment agency listing: JOB.

Answer grid.

Here is a great interview of our fellow LA Times solver Deepak Gopinath and his blog "The Hindu Crossword Corner". Thanks for the mentioning of our blog, Col G.

Now go vote!

Argyle

Monday November 2, 2009 Pancho Harrison

Theme: Time and Time Again - "Time" can start both parts of a two-word common phrase.

17A: *Like secret military facilities, to civilians: OFF LIMITS

64A: *Furniture with folding legs, usually: CARD TABLE

10D: *One-armed bandit: SLOT MACHINE

24D: *Novel that evokes prior times: PERIOD PIECE

71A: Given moment, which can begin both parts of the answers to starred clues: TIME

Argyle here.

A lot of action for a Monday; a sort of two for one, hey?

17A: TIME OFF & TIME LIMITS

64A: TIME CARD & TIME TABLE

24D: TIME SLOT & TIME MACHINE

71A: TIME PERIOD & TIME PIECE

Outstanding theme. One noticeable flaw is the clue for ERASE (13D: Clear, as a tape), which intersects CLEAR (16: Not Cloudy).

Across:

1A: Shapely legs, slangily: GAMS. From an older time.

9A: Makeup maven Lauder: ESTEE.

14A: Actor McGregor: EWAN. Such a bad boy.

15A: Flightless South American bird: RHEA.

19A: "Lucy, you got a __ 'splainin' to do!": LOTTA. It seems what he really said was "...some 'splainin' to do." but this quote has been used quite often by others.

20A: High on the hwy.: DUI. Driving Under the Influence covers drugs, DWI - Driving While Intoxicated covers alcohol. [ Dick said BTW in western PA we now use DUI to cover both drugs and alcohol violations. Is that customary in other areas of the country? Come to the comments area and let us know.]

21A: Scatterbrained: DITSY. And 43A: Screwy: LOCO. Lucy, before she became DITSY, showing off her gams.

22A: Gillette razors: ATRAS. The usual suspects.

23A: Slip by: ELAPSE. Funny how time slips away. Willie wrote it.

25A: Give life to: ANIMATE.

34A: Not worth debating: MOOT.

36A: Chowder ingredient: CLAM.

40A: Actress Spelling: TORI.

42A: One who saves the day: HERO.

46A: Souse's affliction, for short: DTS (Delirium Tremens). Souse is slang for a drunk.

48A. Red-breasted bird: ROBIN. This should delight our own ROBIN. Hey, Robin!. Sort of a bird undertone. See BASTE (41A: Moisten the bird) and COO (32D: Dove sound)

50A: "The Avengers" heroine, to Steed: MRS PEEL. Emma's gams.

54A: Log-on need: USER ID.

58A: Old photo tint: SEPIA.

59A: Muscat resident: OMANI. Map.

62A: Suffix in enzyme names: ASE. and 11D: Prefix with -cycline: TETRA. Our daily chemicals. Tetra is prefix for "four".

67A: Cancel, as a newspaper story: KILL. Have you seen "A TIME to Kill" ? It's a pretty good thriller.

69A: Villainous look: SNEER.

Down:

1D: Crystalline stone: GEODE.

2D: Beyond bad: AWFUL.

3D: Cosa Nostra: MAFIA. Their code of silence is called omertà. Cosa Nostra is literally "our thing" in Italian.

4D: NBC show with Baba Wawa skits: SNL.

6D: IOU: CHIT. Obsolete chitty, from Hindi ciṭṭhī, note, letter, from Sanskrit *citrikā, *citritā, note. (I always wondered where CHIT came from.)

7D: Queens ball team: METS. Queens, NY. And another National League team STL (31D: Initials on a Cardinal's cap: STL). Baseball's St. Louis Cardinals. Yankees won again last night.

8D: Unchallenging college course: EASY A.

12D: Trouble greatly: EAT AT.

18D: "My guess is ...": I'D SAY.

26D: TV's Nick at __: NITE.

28D: 'Zine on the Net: E-MAG.

29D: Runner-up: LOSER.

32D: Dove sound: COO. And 39D: Cow sound: MOO. Now what does the ghost say?

33D: Golf ball path: ARC. Not necessarily, with some of my shots!

35D: Other, in Mexico: OTRO.

37D: Had followers: LED. Nice clue.

41D: Military command center: BASE. Might be OFF LIMITS.

45D: Stop in on: VISIT.

47D: Ad to lure you in: TEASER. Like ads for LOSS LEADERS.

49D: __ of joy: new baby: BUNDLE. Ahh...

50D: Popular PC interface before Windows: MS-DOS.

55D: Synagogue leader: RABBI and 56D: Muslim's faith: ISLAM and they are right next to each other.

60D: Letters in a box: MAIL.

61D: Singer Guthrie: ARLO.

65D: Lawyer: Abbr.: ATT. Hahtool/Lemonade, do you use ATT or ATTY often?

Answer grid.

Argyle

Sunday November 1, 2009 Robert W. Harris

Theme: "That Hurts" - OW in inserted into familiar phrases.

23A. Distinctive Farrah Fawcett feature?: SH(OW)Y LOCKS. Shylock is a loan shark, named after Shylock in "The Merchant of Venice". I wanted SHAGGY LOCKS.

29A. Candlemaker's monthly receipt?: TALL(OW) ORDER. Tall order = Tough task. Candles were made of tallow.

41A. Rollerblading partner of movie camera pioneer Bell?: H(OW)ELL ON WHEELS. Completely stumped me. Not familiar with the base phrase Hell on Wheels or the movie camera pioneers Bell & Howell.

67A. Methods of separating chaff from grain?: WINN(OW)ING WAYS

90A. People afraid of playing the stock market?: TRADING C(OW)ARDS. I like this entry a lot. I collect baseball trading cards and I am definitely a trading coward. Stupid stock market.

108A. Borders for oval paintings?: B(OW)ED FRAMES. Is this a bowed frames, WM?

115A. Including Monopoly money in a trousseau?: D(OW)RY HUMOR. Hilarious.

I knew the gimmick before I even got started. The theme title is very self-revealing, though I thought the inserting word is OUCH, which is too tough as an insertion I suppose.

How long did you spend on this puzzle? I did not peek at the cheat sheet until 45 minutes into the solving, very rare for me on a Sunday. Hope I can be so engaged and self-disciplined next Sunday.

Across:

1. Illinois-based brewery: PABST. Somehow I thought PABST is based in Wisconsin.

19. Correspond: AGREE

20. Some antique radios: RCAS

22. Haughty: ALOOF. Rod Carew is rather aloof. He does not seem to enjoy interacting with fans at all.

25. Earth: SOIL

27. "The Banger Sisters" costar: HAWN (Goldie). Have never seen this film. Looks fun.

31. One at a brayer meeting?: ASS. Ass brays. Nice clue.

33. Coinage: SPECIE. Money in the form of coin. I was stumped last time. Again today.

36. Herbal array, perhaps: TEA BAGS. Perhaps.

39. Son of Seth: ENOS

40. Bluffing strategies: RAISES. Poker. I was thinking of Kim Jong-il's bluffing one-upmanship.

47. Key to getting out of trouble?: ESC. Computer key.

53. On a liner, e.g.: ASEA. AT SEA too.

54. Sharp barks: YAPS. Dogs.

56. Sources of cabinet wood: ALDERS. I wonder if our kitchen cabinet is made of alder.

59. Response to being cut off: HONK. My husband does so often.

60. Jalapeño feature: TILDE. Good clue. Hot!

62. Returning lover's question: MISS ME? Felt silly struggling with this answer.

64. Single show: EPISODE

66. __ Karate: old aftershave: HAI. See this vintage ad. Unknown to me. Hai is simply "Yes" in Japanese and Cantonese.

71. Hindu honorific: SRI

72. Display case: ETAGERE. To display your knickknacks.

74. Know somehow: INTUIT

77. Ted Williams wore it: NINE. Gimme. Mantle's number is 7. Ruth 3.

78. What the heirs split: ESTATE

83. Diminishing returns: LESS. Can you make two sentences for me? I don't understand how the clue & answer are interchangeable grammatically.

86. Proverb ending?: IAL. Proverbial.

87. Bonding words: I DO.

95. 1990s Toyotas: PASEOS. No idea. "Paseo" is Spanish for "a walk" or "a stroll."

98. Copter's forerunner: GIRO (JAHY-roh). Short for autogiro. I forgot also. Gyro is a prefix for "circle"/"spiral". Sandwich too of course.

99. Tennis wear item: SNEAKER. Odd to see a singular noun.

102. Trying experience: ORDEAL

105. Scot's cap: TAM

106. Corn Belt st.: NEB. And TENN (29D. State bordering eight others: Abbr.).

110. Laundry basketful: LOAD

112. The Mideast's __ Strip: GAZA. In the hands of Hamas.

113. As a friend, to Fifi: EN AMI. Fifi is short for Josephine. French name.

117. "__ Grows in Brooklyn": A TREE

118. Actor Santoni: RENI. Nope. Wikipedia says this guy was in "Dirty Harry".

119. Heaviest modern fencing weapon: EPEE. Did not know this trivia.

121. Gardeners, at times: HOERS

122. Nick and Nora's pooch: ASTA. In "The Thin Man".

123. Pills, briefly: MEDS

124. Whimpered: PULED. Got it this time.

Down:

1. Former Turkish title: PASHA. The other Xword Turkish titles are: AGA/AGHA & BEY.

2. Horrified: AGHAST. Always a tricky answer for me, regardless how it's clued.

3. Use Google, e.g.: BROWSE. SEARCH seems fit the clue better, doesn't it?

4. Hanging on by a thread: SEWN. Not "hanged on by a thread"?

5. "Miss Pym Disposes" author: TEY (Josephine). See the book cover. She's clued as "Mystery writer" in our puzzle a couple of weeks ago.

6. Mentor's charge: PROTEGE

7. __ homo: ECCE. Latin for "Behold the Man".

8. Fermented Japanese brews: SAKES. Mirin is the cooking rice wine.

9. "Wild Bill" Donovan's WWII org.: OSS. The CIA forerunner.

10. Gets agitated, Bart Simpson-style: HAS A COW. Nailed it.

11. Put an end to: ABOLISHED

12. Deviousness: GUILE

13. Normandy battle site: ST. LO. Near CAEN, another battle site.

14. Ecclesiastical law expert: CANONIST

16. Behind-the-scenes band worker: ROADIE. And TOTERS (17D. 16-Downs, e.g.). I like cross-references.

18. "I shall be there __ you": "King Lear": AFORE. Poetic "before".

24. Alternative to immediate purchase: LAYAWAY. Not familiar with this payment plan.

30. Prosperity: WEAL. Learned it from doing Xword.

32. Black, to Blake: EBON. Poetic "black". Alliteration again.

34. Menial worker: PEON. Serf is "Menial worker" too.

37. In front: AHEAD

38. Mention casually: SLIP IN. Is this a common phrase?

40. Give fresh life to: RECREATE

42. Catch, as a dogie: LASSO

43. Dubuque-to-Chicago dir.: ESE

44. Like some elephants: ASIATIC. I just do not like Asiatic.

50. Rocket stage: BOOSTER

51. She played Honey Ryder in "Dr. No": ANDRESS (Ursula). I was clueless. See this photo.

52. Yarn units: SKEINS

53. Greek goddess of wisdom: ATHENA. Athens was named after her.

55. Identity crises?: AMNESIAS. My favorite clue today.

56. Nitrogen compound: AMINE

57. 40-day period of penitence: LENT. Fasting sounds very hard.

58. Observe covertly: SPY

61. Barnyard female: EWE. Can't fill in this answer without thinking of our ASCETIC (or Hedonist) Windhover.

63. Houlihan portrayer: SWIT (Loretta). "Hot Lips" from "M*A*S*H".

69. Former "SNL" character Father __ Sarducci: GUIDO. Uh-uh, nope. Wikipedia says he was played by Don Novello. The only GUIDO I know is the music guy. ELA used to be clued as "Guido's high note".

70. Spouses of sports nuts, facetiously: WIDOWS. Golf/baseball are the only two sports I watch.

73. "Really!": GEE

76. Hooch holder: FLASK

79. Bit: TAD

80. Wheel correction: ALIGNMENT

82. "Done so fast?": ALREADY?

85. Regular guys: STEADIES. New definition to me. I always connect steady with dating partner.

91. Massage deeply: ROLF. Named after Ida Rolf. The inventor of such method. Stumped me.

92. Most populous African country: NIGERIA. I had ALGERIA first.

93. Pinot __: GRIS. Penned in NOIR.

94. Brightest star in Scorpius: ANTARES. Ant(i) = rival. Ares, Greek god of war, equivalent of Roman Mars. The planet Mars is of red color. So, Antares, "Rival of the Mars", has to be red and bright I suppose.

95. "Now!": PRONTO

96. Program producing pop-ups: ADWARE

97. Pretender: SEEMER. Man, it's listed in the dictionary.

100. Dentist's concern: ENAMEL

101. Alter, as area boundaries: REZONE

102. Island folk magic: OBEAH (OH-bee-uh). The West Indian sorcery. It escaped me. We had it a while ago.

103. House martins nest under them: EAVES

104. Become a pair without an affair: ELOPE. Wedding affair. I was thinking of the extramarital affair.

107. Displayed openly: BARED

109. __ avis: RARA. Like Kazie. She is so unique and linguistically talented.

111. Didn't pay yet: OWED. This whole puzzle is OW-ed.

115. Jackson was the first to become pres.: DEM. Andrew Jackson. New trivia to me. Lincoln is the first Republican president.

Answer grid.

Note to solvers in Canada: What's on your paper today, "That Hurts" or "Not in Canada"?

C.C.

Saturday October 31, 2009 Samuel A. Donaldson

Theme: None

Total words: 68

Total blocks: 30

This puzzle is noticeable for its lack of 3-letter answers. Only 2. Nice stacked 9's in the upper left and lower right. My favorite today are the two scrabbly long Downs: TAKES A JOKE (11D. Tolerates teasing gracefully) and FOURSQUARE (27D. Unwavering). Awesome!

There is no A-LOP (25D. Crooked) in my dictionary, but I do remember someone found the definition somewhere last time when it appeared in our old puzzle.

An easier puzzle than I had expected. The abundance of plural S suffixes and fill-in-the-blank entries sure helped. Still had to cheat though.

Across:

1. War and more: CARD GAMES. Wanted CONFLICTS.

10. R.E.M. vocalist Michael: STIPE. Does it rhyme with stripe?

15. Strain: OVEREXERT. Came to me immediately. Nice entry.

16. Turkic inhabitant of Russia: TATAR. Was just clued as "Golden Horde member" yesterday.

17. Place with trays: CAFETERIA

18. Director Kurosawa: AKIRA. Probably best known for "Seven Samurai". Akira means bright/intelligent in Japanese, identical to Chinese character Ming (as in Yao Ming).

19. Aide's job: ASSISTING

20. Doctor's orders: TESTS. Mindlessly wrote down STATS.

21. Rolls on the lawn: SOD. Rolls here is a noun.

22. Hard to nail down: ELUSIVE. Like the first major title for Sergio Garcia.

24. Social blunder: GAFFE. And "Fish hook" is GAFF, without E.

28. Eritrea's capital: ASMARA. Man, I can never remember this capital name. I am surprised they speak Arabic rather than French there.

30. Ness et al.: ELIOTS. The most famous T-man.

32. Cosmetic surgeries: NOSE JOBS. Seed entry, Sam?

36. Vegan entrée: TOFU. Cantonese. Mandarin is doufu.

37. Imported cheeses: EDAMS. Dutch cheeses.

39. Cajun pod: OKRA. Stir-fried fresh okra is very tasty.

40. Sherry, often: APERITIF. By the way, do you use normal sherry for cooking or it has to be cooking sherry?

42. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show costar: OAKLEY (Annie). I was not familiar with the show. Wikipedia says it formed in 1883 and lasted until 1913.

44. Grab before someone else does: SNAP UP

46. It merged with Kmart in 2005: SEARS. I was shocked when it happened. I thought Kmart was still struggling with bankruptcy.

47. Film that's out of order? PREQUEL. Is "Angels and Demons" prequel or sequel to "The Da Vinci Code"?

50. PC panic button: ESC

52. Mammal of Madagascar: LEMUR. Alliteration.

53. Seeking advancement at any cost: ON THE MAKE. New idiom to me.

60. Eastern Canadian province grouping, with "the": MARITIMES. Consist of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Unknown to me.

61. Saltpeter, to a Brit: NITRE. Niter to us.

62. Smithsonian collection: AMERICANA

64. Nielsen ratings subjects: TELECASTS

Down:

1. Caesar's partner Imogene: COCA. Strange name.

3. Court call makers: REFS. Basketball/tennis court. I was thinking of judge's court.

4. Cologne crowd?: DREI. German for "three".

5. Prepares: GETS SET. Wrote down READIES first.

7. Yucatán's capital: MERIDA. No idea. I peeked at the cheat sheet. Tough crossing with ASMARA.

9. Child actor's chauffeur?: STAGE MOM

10. Height: STATURE

12. Formal answer to "Who's there?": IT IS I

13. End of a pentamerous serial: PART V. Penta is prefix for "five".

23. Will Rogers prop: LASSO

26. High wind: FIFE. Liked the clue.

29. Messy situation: SNAFU. It stands for Situation Normal All F****ed Up.

31. Hairlike parts, such as those that help geckos cling to walls: SETAE. Stumper. I am used to the simple "stiff hairs" clue. Geckos have a million foot hairs (SETAE)?

33. St. with counties named Comanche and Choctaw: OKLA. Easy guess. What's so special about those two counties besides the C start?

34. Uncle Remus's __ Fox: BR'ER

38. One with immunity: DIPLOMAT

41. Buried: INURNED. I only know inter. Easy to remember though: in + urn.

43. One leading a spartan lifestyle: ASCETIC. How do you define a hedonist? One leading a what lifestyle? Decadent?

45. Marine bird: PETREL. Here is one petrel soaring with wings wide.

49. Cry on cue, say: EMOTE

51. U.S.: county :: U.K. : __: SHIRE

55. Flaky mineral: MICA

56. Latin 101 verb: AMAS. Amo, AMAS, amat.

57. Colleague of Lane and Olsen: KENT. "Superman".

58. Those, to Teresa: ESAS. Or ESOS. ESA/ESO = "That".

Answer grid.

C.C.

Friday October 30, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Jump the Q - The Q (k) sound is dropped from each QU (kw) starting familiar phrases/name.

17A. Drones losing their pep?: WILTING BEES. Quilting Bee. "Losing their pep" = WILTING.

23A. Train former senator Dole to do without?: WEAN ELIZABETH. Queen Elizabeth. "Train to do without" = WEAN. Elizabeth Dole served as North Carolina's Senator from 2003 to 2009.

33A. The first indication that I had one too many last night?: WAKING IN MY BOOTS. Quaking in My Boots. Conjured up such a vivid drunken image.

48. Earp in a stage show?: WYATT ON THE SET. Quiet on the Set. Wyatt Earp is the O.K. figure who appears in our puzzle often.

56. Skater Katarina enjoying a Camel?: WITT SMOKING. Quit Smoking. Katarina Witt is a German figure skater. Unknown to me.

Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 22, the highest since I started tracking. Four of the Down answers intersect three theme answers. Neat.

Quite a scrabbly puzzle too, with two J's, 1 Z and four K's.

How was your solving experience today? When did you cotton on to the theme?

Across:

1. Tubular chocolate snack: HOHO. The Hostess snack. Sweet start for our Santa Argyle.

5. Like secret rituals: ARCANE

11. Tube top: CAP. Of course I was thinking of the shirt Tube Top.

16. Actor Vigoda: ABE. Still alive.

19. a.k.a., in corporate-speak: DBA (Doing Business As)

20. Kenan's comedy partner: KEL. Nickelodeon's "Kenan & Kel". I simply forgot.

21. Baltic capital: RIGA. Capital of Latvia. "European capital" would be a tougher clue, with 5 possibilities (Rome, Riga, Oslo, Kiev & Bern) as mentioned by Rich Norris last time.

22. __-Z: high-performance Camaro: IROC. I just remember it as I rock.

28. More than fortunate: BLESSED. Thought the answer might be an ER ending word.

30. Grandeur: MAJESTY. Liked this fresh fill.

31. Brand of bubbly: MOET. Moet & Chandon champagne.

40. Tongue and liver: MEATS. Organs too, of course.

41. Genetic molecules: RNAS. Always have to wobble between RNA/DNA.

42. As you like it: TO TASTE. Good play on "As You Like It".

45. Lydian king known for his wealth: CROESUS (KREE-suhs). No idea. How did he obtain his wealth? I could only think of the golden touch king Midas.

50. Man or Mull: ISLE. Alliteration.

52. Shad delicacy: ROE. Have you tried Ikura (salmon roe)?

55. Pontiac muscle car: GTO. And BMW (28D. Mercedes rival). Car Talk.

60. Grant, e.g.: Abbr.: GEN. D'oh, Ulysses S. Grant. I was thinking of the research money grant.

61. Do the Wright thing?: AVIATE. Nice play on "Do the right thing". And SSS (39D. Frying sound).

62. Swedish furniture chain: IKEA. I've yet to try their food.

63. Sentence units: Abbr.: YRS. Prison sentences.

65. One with a list: DEAN. Dean's List. Great clue.

Down:

1. Peddle: HAWK

2. Theater award: OBIE. Given by The Village Voice. The intersecting ABET (14A: Support, in a criminal way) prevented me from considering TONY.

3. College hazing period: HELL WEEK. New term to me. We don't have hazing ritual in China.

4. 1940s Giants manager Mel: OTT. Man, I did not know he managed the Giants. Always thought of him as a player.

5. When many shops open: AT NINE

6. Fixed: RIGGED. As an election. I was in the "Repaired" direction.

7. Conspiracy: CABAL. Same root with cabala.

9. Dundee denial: NAE. Another alliteration.

11. Elite training squads: CADRES

12. "Who's on First?" straight man: ABBOTT. Abbott and Costello.

13. "Great!": PEACHY

18. Nest egg components, for short: IRAS

22. Start of a rule that keeps you from spelling weirdly?: I BEFORE E. Nailed it.

24. Ballpark figure: ESTIMATE. Nice to have the complete word. We see EST too often.

25. Mosque VIP: IMAMS. The Somalian supermodel is IMAN (David Bowie's wife).

26. Madcap: ZANY

27. "This is __ for Superman!": A JOB. I really don't remember seeing a more scrabblier Dan Naddor puzzle, do you?

29. Mauna __: LOA. Or Kea. Mauna is "Mountain".

32. Brain and spinal cord: Abbr.: CNS (Central Nervous System). Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

35. Cat, south of the border: GATO. I wonder why they named Los Gatos so. Lots of cats there?

36. Santa Monica-to-Jacksonville rte. I-TEN

37. Picketing: ON STRIKE

38. 19th Greek letter: TAU. Greek T. No way I can remember the exact order of all those 24 letters in Greek alphabet.

42. Aptly named mod model: TWIGGY. Because of her thin build.

43. Pearl harborer: OYSTER. Another great clue. "Pearl producer" would be boring. Loved Ben Affleck's "Pearl Harbor".

44. Raptor's grabbers: TALONS

45. Pure: CHASTE

46. Chewed (out): REAMED

47. __ buco: OSSO. Italian for "bone".

49. Golden Horde member: TATAR. Genghis Khan divided his Mongol Empire into various color Hordes (Blue, White, etc).

53. Military service designation: ONE A

54. New York cardinal: EGAN. Cardinal Egan was succeeded by Archbishop Timothy Dolan earlier this year.

58. Actress Carrere: TIA. I forgot. Recognized her face when I googled. She is of Filipino descent. Born in Honolulu.

59. Tease: KID. Wrote down RIB first.

Do read Don Gagliardo's replies to the questions raised at the Comments section yesterday. Don will have completed a Monday to Sunday LAT circle when his Sunday puzzle is published next time.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Q & A with Don Gagliardo

Don Gagliardo has provided answers to all of our questions regarding his SHOE BOX puzzle and other crossword related queries. Hope you find them informative. Thank you so much, Don.

Questions from C.C.: How to pronounce Gagliardo? Is the second G hard?

When my wife decided to take on my last name, my father sent a one page dissertation on how to pronounce it. He was dismayed in his later years that I could not pronounce it, and I blame him partly because he Americanized it when we eight children were growing up. The easiest explanation is to think of the opera Pagliacci. Listen to someone who sings Italian opera. Yes, the second G is silent, but not really. It is part of the diphthong, GLIA, which means "lion". Our name has connections to Gallahad, according to my father.

What kind of music do you listen while constructing crossword? Or do you prefer total silence?

It is funny that I have never thought about playing music while I construct puzzles, even though I am such a music lover. I suppose that I prefer silence. Sometimes it helps to listen to the words in my head when I am filling a grid or composing clues. Music would distract that.

Is it wrong to say "I like some of the long Down fills (rather than fill) today"? I noticed constructors use singular "fill" when they refer several or the whole non-theme entries.

I have always heard or read "fill" in the singular, even though it may imply many. You can talk about several down answers, and I don't think constructors even refer to "down fill" (unless they're talking about pillows). When the term "fill" is used, I think it is really just talking about all of the non-theme entries that go into a puzzle. At least that is the way I have read it.

From MJ: In yesterday's Barry Silk puzzle, I noticed many clues referencing cities and states. (Seven total if you count 30D Riyadh resident.) Would this be considered a sub-theme? If not, what constitutes a sub-theme?

Hello MJ,

The only sort of sub-theme that usually happens in puzzles is two or three clues that have some common connection. For me, it happens only because I see an opportunity and act on it. I don't know what other constructors do, so you would have to ask them. I think it would be very difficult to come up with a significant number of secondary theme answers. Sometimes it is nearly impossible to just get the primary theme answers to work out. I did notice all those cities, especially when two of them crossed (ST. JOE and TULSA). I'll go out on a limb and say that it probably was not Barry's intention to create a sub-theme. We should also remember that if there is such a thing as a sub-theme, it would have to be as strictly consistent as a puzzle theme. So in this case, we have a state and a foreign resident thrown into the mix, so it doesn't work as a consistent theme. Did you happen to notice the word SHOE in the bottom center, presaging today's puzzle? He couldn't have planned that!

From Carl: Why do you only contribute to LA Times?

Hello Carl,

It is true that my puzzles have appeared only in the LA Times. When I first started puzzle construction, I noticed that I was really enjoying the editing of the LA Times puzzles. I thought I would send a puzzle to Rich. Even though I was a newbie, he gave me great feedback and encouragement despite rejecting my puzzle. I feel as if I have been a student since that time and still have much to learn. Rich is very patient and has a great deal of insight as to what will go over well with solvers. I am staying busy enough trying to keep up with him. I am delighted to report that I will have a puzzle published in The Crosswords Club some time soon, which is a new venture. It does help that Rich edits that publication as well.

From Lisa (Ingersoll, Ontario, whose paper only carries LAT Sunday): When will you construct a Sunday puzzle? I loved your Alfred Hitchcock.

Hello Lisa,

Thanks for the compliment on the Hitchcock puzzle. A lot of luck went into making that one work. I have just had one LA Times Sunday puzzle accepted for publication, and have another that is accepted as a work in progress. That means it is probably four to five months away from publication, I am guessing. If you read the response to Carl, I will have a Sunday-sized puzzle in the Crosswords Club in the near future. Sunday puzzles are really quite a different animal. I didn't have crossword constructing software until this past summer, and it has made quite a difference. On the small scale, I could easily do daily puzzles with paper and pencil. But doing a Sunday puzzle was mind-boggling. I don't know how constructors kept their sanity before computers came along. Now that I have the software, it gives me the kind of vision that I need to set up a grid. I would like to do more Sunday puzzles because I enjoy the challenge that they present. They really are more difficult to construct than a daily, at least so far in my experience.

From Anon @ 1:38pm: Is EEEE arrangement intentional?

Hello Anon @ 1:38 PM,

I did not notice that there is an E in each corner of the puzzle! What was intentional, and explains this coincidence, is that I made the pattern of SHOE vary in each corner. The letters appear counter-clockwise, and the pattern changes one letter at a time as one proceeds in a counter-clockwise direction around the puzzle. It could just as easily have been an S, H, or O in each corner.

Thursday October 29, 2009 Don Gagliardo

Theme: Shoe Store - The end of each theme phrase is a type of shoes. And each four-square corner has a box of S H O E (arranged in counterclockwise pattern and the rotation is changed one space at a time). I've circled the four SHOE BOX in the answer grid.

17A. Kitchen backups: SINK CLOGS. Clogs have thick wood or rubber soles.

31A. North Carolina team: TAR HEELS. Heels over 3.5 inches are considered high-heeled.

40A. Container for the end of 17-, 31-, 47 or 64-Across; there's a literal one in each four-square puzzle corner: SHOE BOX. Brilliant tie-in answer and great shoe box design.

47A. Octane rating sites: GAS PUMPS. Pumps are low-cut heeled shoes without fastenings.

64A. Bonneville Speedway feature: SALT FLATS. Flats have no heels.

And our big shoe buddy E E E E in each corner. Impressive grid, isn't it?

Below are some notes kindly provided by today's constructor Don "Hard G" Gagliardo on the inspiration of the puzzle. Let's have a Q & A Session with Don today. If you have any question regarding today's puzzle, or crossword construction as a whole (I am sure my interviews with different constructors did not fully cover what you've been curious about crossword puzzles), or you'd like Don to know what kind of theme/fill excite or rankle you, please click the Comments at the end of this blog post. Write down your name and your questions/comments. I'll publish a post with Don's answers tomorrow.

I'll start with mine: 1) How to pronounce Gagliardo? Is the second G hard? 2) What kind of music do you listen while constructing crossword? Or do you prefer total silence? 3) Is it wrong to say "I like some of the long Down fills (rather than fill) today"? I noticed constructors use singular "fill" when they refer several or the whole non-theme entries.

Notes from Don:

“Shoe Box” was inspired by Barbara, my wife. She just loves shoes, so I wanted to do something with them. My first idea was to have the entry SHOETREE come down the middle of the puzzle with different kinds of shoes “hanging” off of it. That didn’t work. The next idea was to find phrases with different kinds of shoes that appear in different connotations. To tie it together, I thought that since shoes come in a shoe box, SHOEBOX could appear in the center across answer. Then to take it even one more step, I realized that a shoe box could be a group of letters in the shape of a box composed of the letters S H O E. Perhaps I could stick them in the corners away from everything else where I might get lucky and work them into the puzzle. This is always asking for trouble, trying to get more theme into the puzzle grid. I figured the payoff was high enough that it would compensate for a fill that could be much better. When my first version was not up to snuff, Rich suggested that I make the SHOE box in the corner readable clockwise or counterclockwise. Rich also helped me decide on a different theme answer that would work better in the grid. I went with the counterclockwise pattern for S H O E, and by pure luck I was able to get four different versions of the S H O E box being in different arrangements, and changing rotation one space at a time as one views in a counterclockwise direction.

Across:

1. Dawn goddess: EOS. The Greek goddess. Aurara for the Romans.

4. Starbucks flavor: MOCHA. My husband loves Crème brûlée flavored coffee.

9. Bring about: CAUSE

14. "__ 'nuff!": SHO. Sho'nuff is a slang for "sure enough". Unknown to me.

15. Saint associated with the Russian alphabet: CYRIL. Hence Cyrillic.

16. Weed B Gon maker: ORTHO. No chemical spray in our garden.

19. Took to jail: RAN IN

20. Alley Oop's girl: OOOLA. I misremembered as OOONA.

23. Minnesota twins?: ENS. Two letter N's in Minnesota.

24. Snootiness: AIRS. Wrote down BIAS first.

26. Great server: ACER. Tennis. Crosswordese.

28. Island big shot: KAHUNA (kuh-HOO-nuh). A native medicine man or priest in Hawaii. Have vaguely heard of it.

35. Grassy tracts: LEAS. Sounds so idyllic.

36. Illustrator Silverstein: SHEL. He wrote and illustrated "The Giving Tree"

38. Rub the wrong away: ERASE. Did you misread the clue as "Rub the wrong way" also?

42. Veep before Al: DAN (Quayle). "For NASA, space is still a high priority." So many funny quotes from him.

43. Put into law: ENACT

45. Bridge expert Sharif: OMAR. He does not play bridge any more.

46. Clears after taxes: NETS

49. Widely separated: SPARSE

51. Opposite of away: HOME. 'OME in Cockney.

52. Part of a yard: FOOT. Such a straightforward clue.

53. Prefix with meter: ODO. And another prefix SONO (3D. Prefix with gram).

55. Astronomer Tycho __: BRAHE (Brah). His name escape me. I did recognize his mustache when I googled.

58. Western border lake: TAHOE

62. Demolish: TOTAL

66. Chicago hub: OHARE. Named after WWII flying ace Butch O'Hare.

67. Tours ta-ta: ADIEU. And MER (48D. Sea, to Sartre). Noticed the alliterations in both clues?

68. ALers who don't play the field: DHS (Designated Hitters)

69. Adlai's running mate: ESTES (Kefauver). Given name in the clue, given name in the answer.

70. Computer image dot: PIXEL

71. Manager Torre: JOE. Current manager for the LA Dodgers. He's probably very happy that Yankees lost last night.

Down:

1. Gas sign north of the border: ESSO. It's only replaced by Exxon in the US.

2. Columbus's home: OHIO. I wonder how many cities in the US are named Columbus.

4. Obama's opponent: MCCAIN. I like this "opponent" rather than "Loser to Obama" clue.

5. Skinny Olive: OYL

6. Interbreed: CROSS

7. Word with five or noon: HIGH. "High Noon" is Bill Clinton's favorite movie.

9. General Mills cereal: CORN CHEX. It's not gluten-free. RICE CHEX is.

10. Heavenly altar: ARA (EY-ruh). Latin for "altar".

11. Eclectic bimonthly digest: UTNE READER. Nice to see the full name.

12. __ guard: bit of catchers' gear: SHIN

13. Tons of time: EONS

18. Actor Kinski: KLAUS. Completely unknown to me. German actor. He looks so cold.

25. Itch source: RASH

27. Musket end?: EER. Musketeer. Would be a great clue for TEE too, isn't it? The last letter of musket is T.

28. __ light: filmmaking arc lamp: KLIEG

29. WellPoint rival: AETNA. Named after the volcano ETNA.

30. Is in the running for: HAS A SHOT AT. Did the answer come to you immediately?

32. Jessica of "Dark Angel": ALBA. Wardrobe malfunction? By the way, have you tried ALBA coca butter lotion? It smells so good.

33. Exams for future litigators, briefly: LSATS (Law School Admission Tests)

40. Trips: STUMBLES. Verb.

41. Thereabouts: OR SO

44. USN noncom: CPO (Chief Petty Officer). Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

50. Amount of soup on the stove: POTFUL

52. Cartoon cat: FELIX. Felix the Cat.

53. Oklahoma tribe: OTOE. UTE too.

54. Outbursts from Homer: D'OHS

56. "Stat!" cousin: ASAP

57. "__ only known!": HAD I

59. Meccan pilgrimage: HADJ. Or HAJJ. Mecca pilgrimage hajj. And the person who has been to Mecca is called HADJI or HAJJI.

60. First century Roman emperor: OTHO. He was emperor for only three months.

61. Latin being: ESSE

65. Top with a slogan: TEE. Saw similar clue before. Still loved the clue.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: "Knot Bad" - The first word of each theme entry is a type of knot.

17A: Life insurance clause: DOUBLE INDEMNITY

25A: Hoedown activity: SQUARE DANCE

43A: Apple variety: GRANNY SMITH

54A: Inadvertent remark: SLIP OF THE TONGUE

62A: 17-, 25-, 43- and 54-Across begin with a kind of one: KNOT

Happy Santa here, great week so far; Jerome, Fred, and now, Barry. As soon as I saw the clue for ON US (3D: "We're treating"), I knew right then we were in for a treat.

Knotty pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once, typical of Barry's creation. Quite a few refreshing clues too.

This puzzle is reminiscent of John Underwood's "KNOT" puzzle we had last February. Wayne R. Williams changed John's unifying KNOT clue into "Tie tie" and the theme was missed by many.

Across:

1A: Run smoothly: FLOW.

5A: Uzi filler: AMMO. Uzi is the Israeli assault rifle. (Update: Anonymous @ 11:23 AM correctly stated that the Uzi is sub machine gun. The assault rifle is the Galil. One of the main differences is in the AMMO they use, with the sub machine guns using pistol calibers, while the assault weapons use a larger round.)

9A: Bench warmers aren't on it: A TEAM.

14A: Excellent: A ONE. Like Barry's puzzle.

15A: Known as "the Impaler," prince who inspired "Dracula": VLAD. Not exactly what the little trick-or-treaters would look like.

16A: American competitor: DELTA. Airlines. Delta now owns Northwest, who rightfully revoked the licenses of the two pilots who overshot the Minneapolis Airport by 150 miles. Laptop distraction! Just what were they surfing?

20A: Printers' widths: EMS. Or ENS.

21A: A deadly sin: ENVY.

22A: Posh: RITZY. After the Ritz hotels, established by César Ritz (1850-1918), Swiss hotelier. You won't find rooms like this at Motel 6.

23A: Neurologist's test, briefly: EEG. An electroencephalogram (EEG) is a test that measures and records the electrical activity of your brain.

24A: Publicizes: AIRS

30A: Poor, as an excuse: SAD. As in, "Those old puzzles were a SAD excuse for crosswords."

33A: Second most populous Oklahoma city: TULSA. Oklahoma City is number one.

35A: Marquis de __: SADE. Sadism is derived from his name.

36A: Youngest of the musical Jacksons: JANET. Her sister La Toya has said that the King of Pop’s ghost has been visiting the family dressed in the white pearl beads he wore in the coffin.

37A: Golfer's concern: LIE. The lies on the course aren't as big as the lies in the locker room.

38A: Mass of grass: CLUMP. Rhyming clue. And the answer also rhymes with the intersecting SLUMP ( 35D: Batter's dry spell).

39A: Vocalized: ORAL. Adjective.

40A: Defendant's answer: PLEA.

41A: Accountant's review: AUDIT.

46A: BMOC, for one: VIP. BMOC is Big Man on Campus.

47A: Washington neighbor: IDAHO.

49A: Yoked beasts: OXEN.

51A: Psychic's asset, for short: ESP.

57A: Common news hr.: TEN PM.

58A: "I'd advise against it": DON'T. Even Elvis agrees.

59A: Brand with a paw print in its logo: IAMS. Pet food brand. Was it a gimme to you?

60A: Bears, in Latin: URSAE. And 27D: Radii neighbors: ULNAE. Both the plural end with E rather than S.

61A: Pump or loafer: SHOE.

Down:

2D: Weaver's machine: LOOM.

4D: Surfing area with no water, with "the": WEB. Did anyone try NET first?

5D: Get even for: AVENGE.

6D: LXII x XVII: MLIV. 62 x17=1054.

9D: Regard highly: ADMIRE.

10D: Portable shelters: TENTS.

11D: Part of QE2: Abbr.: ELIZ. Queen Elizabeth 2 in the harbour, Sydney, Australia.

12D: ABA member: ATTY. Abbreviation in clue, abbreviation in answer.

13D: Perhaps will: MAY.

18D: Ogle: LEER AT. Ogle is often clued as "Leer at".

19D: "Fear of Flying" author Jong: ERICA. She blogs for The Huffington Post.

23D: Painter's stand: EASEL.

24D: Like llamas: ANDEAN. Two-l llama, he's a beast.

25D: Missouri city nickname: ST. JOE. Saint Joseph (informally, St. Joe) is the largest city in Northwest Missouri, serving as the county seat for Buchanan County.

26D: Fundamental particle: QUARK. (An aside to WM: I finally got some quark but ate it before I made any cheesecake with it.)

28D: City in which the State Fair of Texas is held annually: DALLAS.

30D: Riyadh resident: SAUDI. Their currency is Riyal.

31D: Fess up: ADMIT.

32D: Pool measurement: DEPTH. Lots of consonants.

38D: Vegas attraction: CASINO.

40D: Evidence: PROOF.

43D: End a vacation, say: GO HOME.

44D: Mimieux of "The Time Machine": YVETTE. "It's those darn trick-or-treaters again, Honey. What do they want this time?"

45D: Mothers of Invention musician: ZAPPA (Frank)

47D: Robert of "The Sopranos": ILER.

50D: Strange: Pref.: XENO. It also means ALIEN (29D: Out of this world).

51D: Alaska's first governor: EGAN. It's clued as "Magnet and Steel" singer Walter in Barry's Sept 20, 2008 puzzle. (from C.C.'s write-up on Saturday September 20, 2008)

54D: Early Beatle Sutcliffe: STU. He died from a brain hemorrhage and contrary to rumors, he was a good bass player.

55D: NFL six-pointers: TDS.

56D: Ending with beat: NIK. Beatnik.

Answer grid.

C.C. will be back blogging tomorrow morning.

Argyle