Monday, February 7, 2011 Thomas Takaro

Theme: About Face - The four grid-spanning entries end with a word for a part of your face.

17A. New perspective: FRESH PAIR OF EYES

25A. "Doesn't bother me a bit": "NO SKIN OFF MY NOSE"

43A. Listen very carefully: PRICK UP YOUR EARS. Not easy for us to do but open a snack around a dog and you will see ears pricking up.

57A. How the poor live: FROM HAND TO MOUTH

Argyle here. It's all or nothing day. We go from fifteen letter entries down to six letter entries. The majority are five(26) and four(32) and only lacking a Q from being a pangram. Makes an interesting start for the week.

Across:

1A. Steve of Apple: JOBS and 1D. Bezos of Amazon: JEFF. Steve Jobs is the co-founder of Apple. Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon.

5. Snug, as jeans : TIGHT

10. Agile : DEFT

14. Old-fashioned exclamation : "EGAD!"

15. One-way street sign symbol : ARROW

16. Draft classification : ONE A

20. Turkish topper : FEZ. Cheese fez. Congratulations, Green Bay.

21. U.S., French and Australian tournaments : OPENS. Wimbledon isn't usually called an Open but a Championship instead.

22. Hurdles for future attys. : LSATS

23. Emissions watchdog org. : EPA

24. "Dites-__": "South Pacific" song : MOI. Song.(1:31)

34. Deathly white : ASHEN

35. Did electrical work : WIRED

36. Roman peace : PAX. Pax is the Roman goddess of peace. Irene is the Greek Goddess of Peace

37. Inst. of learning : ACAD.. Academy.

38. "__ the loneliest number": '60s song lyric : ONE IS. Song(3:07) by Three Dog Night.

39. First name in jeans : LEVI

40. Word after box or cable : CAR

41. Burst of growth : SPURT

42. '90s candidate Ross : PEROT

46. Section of L.A.? : LOS

47. Commercial suffix with Water : PIK. For dental care.

48. __ Dei: lamb of God : AGNUS

51. Prophets : SEERS

54. Barfly : SOT

60. Rivers, to Rosita : RIOs. Spanish.

61. __ cum laude : MAGNA. With great praise; an honor added to a diploma or degree for work considered greatly above average.

62. Hummus holder : PITA, Anybody have this at their Super Bowl party?

63. Grand Ole __ : OPRY

64. Thrown weapon : SPEAR

65. Put in the overhead bin : STOW

Down:

2. Grimm baddie : OGRE

3. Folksinger Joan : BAEZ

4. '60s militant gp. : SDS. Students for a Democratic Society (SDS).

5. New York's __ Zee Bridge : TAPPAN. Over the Hudson, north of the city. Image.

6. "Dies __": hymn : IRAE. (Day of Wrath).

7. Boyish smile : GRIN. So what's a girlish smile?

8. __ d'oeuvre : HORS. M,m,m,m More snacks.

9. Seesaw complement : TWO

10. Knocks off : DOES IN

11. "Only Time" New Age singer : ENYA. Clip.(3:31)

12. Pedal pushers : FEET. Alliterated misdirection.

13. Soviet news source : TASS

18. "Come on, let's go for a ride!" : "HOP IN!"

19. Bank robber "Pretty Boy" __ : FLOYD

23. Barely made, with "out" : EKED

24. Lyon ladies: Abbr. : MMEs. French.

25. Civil rights org. : NAACP. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

26. Acting award : OSCAR

27. Lamb Chop creator Lewis : SHARI. Lamb Chop was a glorified sock puppet.

28. Admit it : OWN UP

29. Flaming : FIERY

30. Corn chip : FRITO. Are we out of dip?

31. Verdi work : OPERA

32. Really enjoy, as food : SAVOR

33. Some turnpike ramps : EXITS

38. Magnum __: great work : OPUS

39. Onion relative : LEEK. Probably could make dip with it.

41. Smidgen : SKOSH. I wonder if this is a regional word.

42. Bender of rays : PRISM

44. Bumbling : CLUMSY

45. Hubbub : UPROAR

48. Jackson 5 hairdo : AFRO

49. Golf club part : GRIP. "Grip it and rip it!"

50. American-born Jordanian queen : NOOR. Image.

51. Piece of cake : SNAP

52. Outskirts : EDGE

53. Sicilian smoker : ETNA. Volcano.

54. One of a deck's foursome : SUIT. Deck of cards.

55. Maestro Klemperer : OTTO. German conductor and composer widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.

56. Melting period : THAW

58. Early hrs. : AMs

59. Covert __: spy missions : OPs. Operations.

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few great photos Sallie took last Friday when she and her husband Gerry met with fellow Naples resident Grumpy & wife Wilda and the visiting Spitzboov & wife Betty.

Sunday February 6, 2011 Mike Peluso

Theme: Subtraction (Parse it as "Subtract Ion) - Letter string ION is deleted from each common phrase.

23A. "Most Difficult Woman" pageant winner's title? : MISS IMPOSSIBLE. Mission Impossible. Fun clue.

35A. What Nadia Comaneci gave her Olympic opponents? : TEN'S HEADACHE. Tension headache.

57A. Batch of itch reliever? : CALAMINE LOT. Calamine lotion.

79A. Native American Washington baseballer? : CHEROKEE NAT. Cherokee Nation. I think Senators sounds better than Nationals, don't you? Of course, the old Senators moved to Minnesota and became the Twins.

99A. Timeless witticism? : PERPETUAL MOT. Perpetual motion.

118A. Deal between thugs? : MUSCLE CONTRACT. Muscle contraction. Muscle = Thug.

16D. Restrictions on Cupid? : EROS CONTROL. Erosion control. Don't think Eros is controllable. Love is so irrational.

69D. Number in an Amtrak report? : RAILWAY STAT. Railway station.

Nice theme and theme title. I figured something was dropped after scanning the byline & puzzle title. Just not ION. So unexpected.

Washington National is not the only baseball reference in the puzzle, Mike also gave us:

22A. 1939 retiree who said "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" : GEHRIG (Lou). The Iron Horse. Babe Ruth appeared as himself in the "Pride of the Yankees".  I cried watching the movie.

56A. Former Cub slugger : SOSA (Sammy). Sigh. I have his rookie card. Worth nothing now.

83A. Hall of Famer Sandberg : RYNE. Inducted in 2005. Spent most of his career with the Cubs.

Looks like Mike had some trouble filling in the lower middle part of the grid. I bet he tried hard to get rid of DELICTO (95D. Flagrante __: in the act of committing the offense) & the adjacent PARSER (99D. Grammar student, at times), but the two helper squares didn't help much.

Across:

1. Hale : ROBUST. The crossing BESO (3D. Cancún kiss) brought out this answer quickly. Learned BESO from Paul Anka's song "Eso Beso".

7. Powerful Chevys, for short : 'VETTES

13. Fall bloomers : ASTERS

19. Newtonian concern : INERTIA. Newtonian sounds so sophisticated.

21. Unrestricted : AT WILL

25. Establish a new foothold : REROOT. Help! I don't get this clue.

26. Weasel cousin : STOAT

27. Nashville-to-Louisville dir. : NNE

28. Laced : TIED

29. Stacks like Tupperware : NESTS. Nice visual.

30. Alberta native : CREE

32. Playground retort : CAN SO

34. Middle x or o : TAC. Tic-tac-toe.

41. Paparazzi, briefly : PHOTOGs

45. Too violent, maybe : R-RATED

46. Baby in blue : BOY. Baby in pink is GIRL.

47. Final Four org. : NCAA

49. Eliza's mentor, to Eliza : 'ENRY. From "My Fair Lady". H is dropped.

50. Urged (on) : EGGED

51. Nite times : EVES

53. Compete : VIE

54. Soup legume : LENTIL. Not to my taste.

60. Sales __ : REP

61. Angry with : MAD AT

64. Sm., med. or lge. : ADJ. Tricky clue. Not size.

65. T-man or G-man : AGT

66. __Kosh B'Gosh : OSH

67. 3 Musketeers relative : MARS BAR. My ex-boss (a Marine) lives on Snickers & cigarettes.

70. Old photo tone : SEPIA

72. Anglican church officials : BEADLES. New word to me. So close to beagles. .

74. Zeta follower : ETA

75. Likely : APT

76. In bed, maybe : ILL

77. Parson's house : MANSE

78. Thrice due : SEI. Italian for "six". Due is "two". Sometimes TRE is clued as a misleading "Amount pass due?".

87. Luther contemporary : CALVIN (John). I drew a blank.

89. Hall & Oates, e.g. : DUO

90. Fail to take the heat? : MELT. Hot clue!

91. Smudge : SMEAR

92. "... __ forgive those who trespass ..." : AS WE

93. Large-screen format : IMAX

95. Part of una semana : DIA. Semana = Week.

96. Egotist's array : BOASTS

97. Like buffalo, red meatwise : LEANEST. Oh, really?

102. Golf hole meas. : YDS. 18 holes in golf. I was thinking of the real holes (cups) & inches.

103. Verbally insistent : VOCAL. Always thought "vocal" just mean "outspoken".

106. Royal display : POMP

107. Speed, for a running back : ASSET

109. Actress Petty : LORI. Recognized her face when I googled. She's in "A League of Their Own". I've seen almost every baseball movie. I can watch "Field of Dreams" again and again.

110. White wine apéritif : KIR

111. "The Thorn Birds" and others : SAGAS

116. Conspicuous terrain features : BUTTES. Same as MESAS, right?

121. Thrilled : ELATED

122. 2,000 pounds : ONE TON

123. 1962 World's Fair site : SEATTLE. Needed crossing help.

124. Kobe mat : TATAMI. Literally "folded". Same as Chinese character.

125. Walk in the park : STROLL

126. A player might be cut after one : TRY-OUT

Down:

1. Tire holders : RIMS. Your ABS too.

2. Taking care of business : ON IT

4. Bear up there : URSA

5. Sutured : STITCHED

6. "Tool Man" Taylor of TV : TIM. "Home Improvement".

7. Ming artifact : VASE

8. Aliens, for short : ETS

9. Acting like one has something to hide : TWITCHY

10. Shinbones : TIBIAE. So is TIBIAS.

11. 2010 panelist with Kara, Randy and Simon : ELLEN (DeGeneres). Those names are all  "American Idol" panelists for the last season.

12. Luges, e.g. : SLEDS

13. Cabinet dept. : AGR (Agriculture)

14. Handled : SEEN TO

15. What black clouds do : THREATEN

17. Funny one : RIOT

18. PD ranks : SGTS

20. Sleep ailment : APNEA

24. Linear, briefly : ONE-D. One-dimensional. Always tricky to parse, same as TWO-D, THREE-D.

31. Claret, e.g. : RED

33. German grandpa : OPA. Kazie or Spitzboov mentioned this before.

35. "__ bien!" : TRES

36. Sum preceder? : ERGO. Cogito, ergo sum.

37. Bothers : NAGS

38. Cooks, in a way : STEAMS. Chinese bread are often steamed.

39. Genesis victim : ABEL

40. __ Nostra : COSA. Literally "our thing". Mafia.

42. Chlorine or iodine : HALOGEN. Guessable.

43. Starting Miami quarterback in three straight '70s Super Bowls : GRIESE (Bob). Hall-of-Famer. Not on my radar.

44. Graceful women : SYLPHS

47. One of a reptilian comics quartet : NINJA

48. 2.0 GPA component, probably : CEE

51. French card game : ECARTE. Literally "discarded" in French, écarté.

52. Wine holder : VAT

53. Middle of a boast : VIDI (I saw). "Veni, vidi, vici".

55. James and Jones : ETTAS

58. Syrup source : MAPLE

59. Molson competitor : LABATT. Beer is too filling.

62. Eastern counters : ABACI. My sweet childhood memory, carrying a heavy abacus all the time.

63. Chloe's love : DAPHNIS. Daphnis and Chloe. Read the plot summary of this love story. So pure. I dimly recall an exchange between Jazzbumpa & Fred Jackson on Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloé". Isn't it beautiful?

67. Maguey plant liquor : MESCAL

68. Order to relax : AT EASE

70. Iowa's __ City : SIOUX

71. NE Nevada county or its seat : ELKO. Stumped me last time. Again today.

73. Skin-related : DERMAL

77. Adjusted opening? : MAL. Maladjusted.

80. Old vitamin bottle abbr. : RDA

81. Islamic leader : EMIR

82. Semimonthly tide : NEAP

84. Polite backwoods response : YES 'M

85. Alliance formed under HST : NATO. Just had a Warsaw reference last week. Fair & Balanced.

86. Once, once : ERST

88. Subject of a "Rigoletto" duet : VENDETTA. Didn't know the story line of "Rigoletto".

91. Afternoon TV idol : SOAP STAR

94. "Jersey Shore" airer : MTV. Snooki is all I know about "Jersey Shore". She's in the news all the time.
 
96. Rear in Liverpool : BUM

98. Look up to : ESTEEM

100. DeMille specialty : EPIC

101. Pamplona runners : TOROS

104. "Stand and Deliver" star : OLMOS. Edward James Olmos.

105. Mean something : COUNT. Everyone's blog post counts. But it's unrealistic to expect your every post to be commented upon. Clear Ayes expressed the posting philosophy perfectly on Saturday.

107. Create a distraction during, maybe : ABET

108. Toni Morrison novel : SULA. Have you read the book?

110. __ Ration: dog food : KEN-L

112. Culturally affected : ARTY

113. Castilian cat : GATO. JD or Warren mentioned Los Gatos & cats connection a while ago.

114. Anti-Patriot Act org. : ACLU

115. Ignore a Time change? : STET. Time magazine, right?

117. Reagan era prog. : SDI. How timely. Reagan's 100th Birthday today.

119. AOL guffaw : LOL

120. It's less than gross : NET. Sweet clue.

Answer grid.

C.C..

Saturday February 5, 2011 Brad Wilber and Doug Peterson

Theme: None

Total words: 68

Total blocks: 27

This puzzle might have started with triple-stacks of 15s on the top and bottom of the grid. Then six extra blocks were added later for smoother fill. Or Brad and Doug just used an existing template and started the way it does.

Anyway, the marquee answers are:

13A. Role for which its actor refused an Oscar : DON VITO CORLEONE. By Marlon Brando. Don Corleone jumped into my mind immediately, not VITO.

16A. Actor who said "Some people have youth, some have beauty—I have menace" : EDWARD G. ROBINSON. Stumper. Did recognize his face when I googled. He's in "The Ten Commandments".

45A. Offended parties in a long-running series of 3-Down : THE GEICO CAVEMEN. This might be the seed entry. And 3D. Show stoppers : TV ADS.

48A. Experience sudden inspiration : HAVE AN "AHA" MOMENT. Great answer.

We also have a symmetrically placed pet pair:

6D. Reward for rolling over : DOG TREAT

31D. Mrs. Norris in the "Harry Potter" books, e.g. : HOUSE CAT. Not a "Harry Potter" fan. The only Mrs. Norris in my mind is Kim, Rich's wife.

Across:

1. Bumpy, in a way : RUTTED

7. They reflect : MUSERS. Needed extra block for my MIRRORS.

17. General at Cold Harbor : MEADE (George). Oh, the Fort Meade guy. Not aware of his involvement at Cold Harbor.

18. Latish alarm setting : TEN AM

19. Proterozoic, for one : EON. Shouldn't it be ERA?

20. Family title word : OURS

21. Pool feature : DRAIN

22. Have no use for, and then some : HATE. Didn't come to me readily.

23. Use a tap, perhaps : SPY. Wiretap.

24. "We need to talk" : SEE ME. Oh, no.

25. Rage : MANIA

26. On the defensive : AT BAY

27. Put on guard : WARNED

28. Gardener's soil hauler : TIP CART. Spelling check wants this answer to be two words.

31. Impedes : HAMPERS

32. Albéniz piano work : IBERIA. No idea. Wikipedia says Iberia is a suit for piano composed by the Spanish pianist Isaac Albéniz. No wonder the title.

33. Magazine with a "Best Places to Live" feature : MONEY. Boomer used to subscribe this magazine.

34. Gauge : METER

35. Court official's call : FAULT. Tennis court, right?

36. Brief memo nicety : PLS

39. Gym set : REPS (Repetitions)

40. Speciously highbrow : ARTSY

41. Send sprawling : TRIP. And 8. __ sprawl : URBAN. "Sprawl/Sprawling" clechos.

42. Top 10 hit from U2's "Achtung Baby" album : ONE. Here is a clip.

43. Equine facial marking : BLAZE. Dictionary says it's a white area down the center of the face of a horse/cow. New definition to me.

44. "Take __!" : A HIKE

49. Investigates, with "into" : DELVES

50. Airfield fixtures : TOWERS

Down:

1. Didn't stay where it should, as a skirt : RODE UP. Like hers.

2. Not on the ball : UNWARY

4. Spot for studs : TIRE. Was picturing stud earrings.

5. Terminal abbr. : ETD

7. Unificationist : MOONIE. Derived from the name of its founder Sun Myung Moon, who's still alive.

9. Hardly odds-on : SLIM

10. Yet, to Yeats : E'EN. Even.

11. Sitcom about the Conners : ROSEANNE. I've never watched this sitcom. She's too loud.

12. Less likely to mix : SNOOTIER

13. Out-of-the-box models : DEMOS. Got the answer via crosses.

14. Like Twinkies filling : CREAMY

15. Near-decades : ENNEADS. Groups of nine.

21. Messing with a script? : DEBRA. Debra Messing. Great clue.

22. Hideous hybrid of myth : HARPY. Part woman, part bird.

24. It may be winding : STAIR. Tricky clue.

25. "American Buffalo" playwright : MAMET (David). Know him, not the play.

26. Range units : ACRES.

27. Without vigor : WANLY

28. "Lie to Me" star : TIM ROTH. Stranger to me. British actor.

29. Patsy's protest : I BEEN HAD

30. Political blog feature, often : PET PEEVE. Crossword blogs, more often.

33. Seder bread : MATZOH. We often see SEDER clued as "Passover feast".

35. Donnybrook : FRACAS. Fun word.

36. Novice's text : PRIMER

37. Compares : LIKENS

38. Wiped out : SPENT

40. 1955 Dior innovation : A-LINE

41. __ park : THEME

43. Theodore, to Wally : BEAV. "Leave It to Beaver".

44. Swear : AVOW

46. Coiffure holder : GEL

47. Te-__: Mexican cigar brand : AMO. Guessable. It's "Robusto", Lois!

Answer grid.

C.C.

Interview with Ed Sessa

There are a few LA Times constructors whose byline always excites me, and Ed Sessa is one of them. His themes are consistently entertaining and always have fun twists. His RAIN CATS AND DOGS is one of my all-time favorites.

Ed had his first puzzle published by the NY Times in 2007, since then, he has had a total 20 puzzle published by the NY Times and LA Times. I asked Ed a few questions, and was very delighted by his prompt and informative answers.

What's your background and how did you get into crossword construction?

I’m a pediatrician living in upstate New York. Although it was all science in med school, my undergraduate education at Regis and Holy Cross was a Jesuit one, emphasizing English (my major), classical Latin and Greek language, grammar, writing etc. I think that developed in me a great fascination with the flexibility and nuances of our language. Over the years I wrote puzzles (mostly cryptics) for local publications and clubs, and even had a few tries with Eugene Maleska (thumbs very much down). In 2007 I submitted a puzzle to Will Shortz and was invited to resubmit it with one theme entry change. The final acceptance was an indescribable feeling, to be felt again when Rich Norris accepted my first puzzle for the LAT a bit later. Thanks to them both for their openness to new constructors.

There is often something nicely unexpected about your themes. The recent DO BE DO BE DO and RAIN CATS AND DOGS in 2009 come to mind. What kind of themes/fill do you prefer and what kind do you try to avoid?

I try to develop themes with humor and surprise, what some might call an “aha” moment, even if one might have to look at the finished puzzle for a minute or two to figure that out. However there’s a catch here: on one extreme is a puzzle where once one or two theme entries are filled, the others can be surmised without having to work the crosses. Then a solver has little motivation to complete the puzzle. On the other extreme is the puzzle where many solvers have no “clue” to what the puzzle is all about even after completing everything. Not everyone consults a blogger to find out what’s going on in a puzzle and that’s one unsatisfied solver! To me, either extreme is a failure on the constructor’s part and I’ve felt bad to read that a solver had no idea what my puzzle was all about. The same goes for fill and clueing: we all try for fresh words and phrases (“sparkle” as Manny N. would say) and new ways to clue familiar words (what new can one say about “aloe”) but all too often that can lead to obscurities or clueing that is a little “too clever”, an “inside joke” to sort of speak. That’s where a good editor steps in to troubleshoot themes, fills, and clues. Although you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, editors can make constructors look pretty good. It really is a team undertaking.

Which part do you normally spend the most time on, in the construction process: theme brainstorming, gridding or cluing?

There are enough computer programs out there to almost equalize the playing field for gridding and filling so coming up with a fresh, new theme is by far the most difficult. There are a lot of people out there working on crossword themes so there will be a lot of repetition. I had a KISS theme ready to go the same day Donna Levin’s wonderful crossword appeared in the LA Times with the same theme (I think we must be somehow related after the Jan. 5th “Mr. Ed” NYT/LAT dupe). Here one has to do the best one can and the key I feel is to develop the ability to be self-critical. After a couple of published crosswords, I went through a long string of rejections. I credit Nancy Salomon for driving home the point, in her own inimitable way, that one has to constantly be one’s own best critic-throw out a puzzle with two great entries but one “iffy” one, start from scratch if something’s not right. Even so, I still get my share of rejections, but sometimes one editor will like immensely what another editor has rejected, just as some bloggers/solvers who share their feelings on the web pro or con. One can better deal with this disparity if one is satisfied that he or she has put out the best product one can.

What kind of reference books/websites do you use for theme entry selection assistance and clue accuracy checks?

I use predominantly the RHUD, Roget’s Thesaurus, OneLook Dictionary Search and Wikipedia online. I also use Matt Ginsberg’s clue database and the Cruciverb database, mostly to see if a clue has been used before. That’s not always easy to do, and I don’t feel bad using a good clue if I at least came up with that clue independently

You've been quite productive since you had your first puzzle with the NY Times in 2007, total ten NY Times & ten LA Times, four of them are big Sundays. Where do you find your theme inspirations and how do you maintain such productivity and originality?

Most of my theme ideas come to me while walking my dog, or strangely enough before falling asleep at night (a sure recipe for insomnia). I think there are many theme types and techniques one can use. For two examples: 1. A title or punch line phrase presents itself and one tries to find a puzzle there e.g. I heard the Sinatra line “dobedobedo” on the radio and (after annoying my wife for days singing it) thought of a way to get it into a puzzle. There it was: 4 homophones for “do” and three for “be”, and the possibility for symmetry to boot – a cruciverbalist’s nirvana! 2. A common idiom comes to mind that can be interpreted differently, sliced and diced, or treated concretely as in “RAINCATSANDDOGS” or Joe Krozel’s nice “ONAGAINOFFAGAIN” puzzle. How do I maintain “productivity”? Nothing of any practical importance gets done around the house on time (!).

What kind of puzzles do you solve every day and which constructors do you find most inspiring?

I like to do the NY and LA Times puzzles and the Chronicle of Higher Education. Manny Nosowsky, with his ear for idioms, colloquialisms, and similar word sounds and awesome clueing, is of course the very best. And who didn’t admire Dan Naddor’s incredible ability to construct grids with such high theme content PLUS great fill. Some puzzles still resonate for me e.g. Peter Collins’ “Three-l llama puzzle” and Nancy Salomon/Harvey Estes’ “Tarzan” puzzle. But my favorite constructors are Cox and Rathvon, because my favorite type of puzzle is the cryptic puzzle. I’ve done just about every one of their Atlantic puzzles over the decades. With cryptics, the emphasis is on wordplay and less on information that one might or might now know. And no need for much structural crosswordese.

Besides crosswords, what else do you do for fun?

I spend part of the winter on Sanibel Island, where I fish a lot, golf a little, garden, and volunteer with the Ding Darling Wildlife Refuge. For the past twenty years I’ve enjoyed birding as well as carving birds and decoys. And of course the most fun is being with my wife and dog and as often as I can my three children and one grandchild.

Friday February 4, 2011 Ed Sessa

Theme: T Party; the letter "T" is inserted into the the first word of a common two-word phrase to create a new and humorous phrase. Each of the first words begin with "S." There is no unifier and no other relationship among the theme answers, but some of the images are creative and amusing.

17A. "Oklahoma!" prop?: STAGE BRUSH. Oklahoma is one of the earliest and most successful American musicals, and I guess there may be a BRUSH used on stage at some point; and SAGEBRUSH (also sage brush) is a shrub which grows freely in the Western US, including Oklahoma, and Canada, but should not be confused with tumbleweed.

21A. Time off spent with Rover?: STICK DAY. A SICK DAY is a day off, and playing STICK (also known as Fetch) with your dog can pass the time.

34A. Undercover operations where agents can bring guests?: STING ALONGS. We all known SING ALONGS, but if you turn them into a trap for someone where you invite a guest...Did anyone else think of Mitch Miller?

42A. Dance for louses?: STINKER BALL. A SINKER BALL is a type of pitch used in baseball to induce a ground ball, and a BALL for STINKERS sounds pretty silly.

52A. Taser switch?: STUN DIAL. My favorite of the theme, SUN DIAL becomes the control to a taser. Don't tase me bro!

61A. Fancy shoes for the campaign trail?: STUMP PUMPS. A SUMP PUMP is a common electric pump used to drain basements or other low lying areas. I think it comes from the German SUMPF, which means swamp. The picture of a politician in nice pumps is an appealing image.

Happy Friday, all. Lemonade here and lets go on with the rest of the story, a fun puzzle from our erudite classical constructor, who intertwines Latin and wit, to test ours.

Across:

1. In development, as software: BETA. BETA testing comes after ALPHA testing; seriously, the testing of SOFTWARE is very important in our computer driven world.

5. Ancient meeting place: AGORA. The Greek open assembly areas which became the marketplace, and it is the root word for AGORAPHOBIA, the fear of leaving your home.

10. Bloke: CHAP. The first four letters of last name are CHAP, so in the puzzle I work on and never finish, 1 across is always CHAP, with the last 4 letters the answer to 65 across.

14. School since 1440: ETON. I seem to get this school almost every week; Harrowing.

15. Really enjoy: LAP UP. Which is what Rover does with the attention he gets on Stick Day.

16. Symbolic ring: HALO. This comes from the Latin word for the ring that appears around the sun, which became symbolic of the aura of majesty or glory surrounding a person or thing that is regarded with reverence. Or a very popular video game. Which leads perfectly to 19. Heavenly bodies: ORBS, which is also is from the Latin used to describe the sun and other celestial bodies.

20. Subject of a 2009 national tournament cheating scandal: SUDOKU. I missed this SCANDAL but it dates back to a cheater at a chess tournament.

23. Star car: LIMO. Is anyone else watching the new Showtime series Episodes? I think it is really cute.

25. Downsizing event?: DIET. I am getting used to Mr. Sessa's cluing; he uses many visual misdirections like this where he makes you think about work cuts, and 28A. Fingers: IDS, where you need to relate to the word as verb not a noun. .

26. Extend across: SPAN. Reminds me of the old ABC Wild World of Sports, "Spanning the Globe..."

31. Fumble (for): GROPE. Two images, young man encountering a bra, and old man looking for his glasses in the night. The cycle of life.

37. Tampa NFLer: BUC. A mini-shout out for our left-coast Floridians.

38. Jobs, idiomatically: HATS. This one was tricky, as the phrase "Wearing Many Hats" has gone the way of people actually wearing hats. IMAGE .

39. Tesla, by birth: CROAT. Our friend is back; he was born an ethnic Serb in the village of Smiljan (now part of Gospić), of the Austrian Empire (modern-day Croatia). Tesla was a subject of the Austrian Empire by birth, so this answer while correct is also misleading.

40. Sol lead-in: AERO. Spray cans, and bad for the ozone layer.

41. Creative output: ART.

44. "Beau __": Gary Cooper film: GESTE. The phrase "beau geste" is from the French, meaning "a gracious (or fine) gesture, and the protagonist's name is a foreshadowing of his fate. This movie has been remade many times, first with Ronald Colman, then Gary cooper, with the last one a parody by Mel Brooks starring the incomparable Marty Feldman, who played IGOR in Young Frankenstein, which segues to 63. "Young Frankenstein" lab assistant: INGA, who was played by TERRI GARR who should not be confused with

6D. Needle-nosed fish: GAR.

46. Head of government?: GEE. Another, sleight of hand, Government begins with the letter "G."

47. Body shop figs.: ESTS. Estimates, and abbr like figs.

48. Close connection: BOND. Not to be confused with James Bond.

50. Water carrier: DUCT. Another Latin concept, DUCTS are the anatomical descriptions of the channels of the body through which much passes, like tear ducts, lactiferous ducts with the Roman creation of the AQUEDUCT to transport water to allow the irrigation of dry lands, one their greatest achievements.

56. Mickey's "The Wrestler" co-star: MARISA. This was a wonderful MOVIE in which the 40+ Ms. Tomei plays a stripper.

60. "Young" reformer: TURK. There was an actual early 20th century reformer in the Ottoman Empire known as Young Turk.

64. Small thicket: COPSE. If you threw some crackers in the bushes, would you say "Cheese It, the Copse!"

65. Lollipop, for one: SHIP. Some images are FOREVER .

66. Cheers: RAHS. Very literal.

67. Exhaust: SPEND. Not the first word that came to mind, but when you have exhausted your resources, they are spent.

68. A long, long time: EONS. Crosswordese, with or without the A.

Okay, relax , we are getting down now.

Down:

1. "Summertime" singer: BESS. From the Gershwin opera PORGY & BESS .

2. Caeserian rebuke: ET TU. Brute. I love the miniseries Rome on HBO.

3. Warty hopper: TOAD.

4. Luanda natives: ANGOLANS. Luanda is the capital city of Angola, and has been since the Portuguese settled the area in the 1500's, and was the center of the slave trade to Brazil, the largest Portuguese colony.

5. Rock collection?: ALBUM. Fooled me again, as I collected rocks as child, polished them and made jewelry.

7. Numbered piece: OPUS. Well, last Friday I linked to the cartoon, so I am not sure why this word is here again, but it is.

8. Sign of age: RUST. Interesting visual, though why people are said to be rusty, which comes from oxidation not age, I do not know.

9. Garden pest: APHID. If I had a nickel for every aphid I plucked from my father's flowers as a child, I would be a nickelonaire.

10. Round jewelry item: CHOKER. How about a nice Heart NECKLACE for V-Day.

11. Not easily topped: HARD TO BEAT.

12. Jessica of "Sin City": ALBA. We seem to have a mini-theme of STRIPPERS ; no nudity, I promise.

13. Bridal accessory: POSY. A different word for bouquet.

18. Scratching (out): EKING. We cannot go two days without some version of this crossword staple, I am ready to scream EEEEEKKKK.

22. Butts: CIGS. With smoking on the decline this will become a difficult clue one day.

24. Deepwater Horizon, for one: OIL RIG. This was the name of the ill fated rig which was the BP Oil spill. It was built in in South Korea by Hyundai.

26. Disconcerting look: STARE. Well sometimes, stares are nice.

27. Penguins' home: PITTSBURGH. The hockey team lead now by Sidney Crosby.

29. Blackmore heiress: DOONE. Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor was an early historical romance.

30. Took a sinuous path: SNAKED. And, 59D. Slithery threats: ASPS.

32. Knitting stitches: PURLS. When I was little I heard a joke where the punch line was Knit 1, Purl 2 and there was an old song, but no one ever explained either, but I think it has to do with reversing the knitting action.

33. Sci. concerned with biodiversity: ECOL. Ecology,

34. Thick carpet: SHAG. Does anyone have any left in their homes? I wonder if this pair was an homage to Austin Powers who loved to SHAG , and to tell people to 35D. Behave: ACT.

36. Co. that merged into Verizon: GTE. General Telephone and Electric, one of the baby bells.

40. Clear as mud: ABSTRUSE. Oh what a wonderful word, also from Latin.

42. Texting button: SEND.

43. Newscast segment: RECAP.

45. Mighty Dump Trucks, e.g.: TONKAS. Hasbro's biggest seller still, trucks and trains.

49. Saucers and such: DISCS. Yes, especially the flying kind of UFOs.

51. Made lots of calls, in a way: UMPED. Tricky, an umpire calls balls and strikes, safe or out; I told you Ed uses visual deception.

52. Mix: STIR.

53. Hip Charlie, in ads: TUNA. Who does not love a wise guy talking FISH .

54. At the peak of: ATOP. On top of old smokie...

55. "Kick, Push" rapper __ Fiasco: LUPE. No clue, don't listen if you are offended by these LYRICS .

57. "As I see it," online: IMHO. In My Humble Opinion, really why humble? Not likely.

58. Go a few rounds?: SPIN. The wheels on the bus go round and round...

62. Co. with a butterfly logo: MSN. Microsoft Network; they want to take over the world.

Answer grid.

 Lemonade

Note from C.C.:

The overall length of recent posts is getting too long. I'd like to limit each post to about 20 lines on blog Comments section. Try to shorten your posts, sweet & succinct. Thanks.

Thursday, February 3, 2011, Annemarie Brethauer

Theme: A cold war challenge: 63A. With the ends of 18-, 32-, 38- and 49-Across, an historic demand: MR GORBACHEV

18A. Normal damage: WEAR AND TEAR

32A. End zone dance preceder: TOUCHDOWN

38A. "Pay attention!": WATCH THIS

49A. Extensive Asian landmark: GREAT WALL.

And a bonus entry (No symmetrical partner):

54D. Born 2/6/1911, speaker of the demand: REAGAN.

Hi all, Al here.

Interesting variation on the old quotation on a Thursday puzzle we used to get.  Not an easy one for me to finish, and the theme didn't really help me at all.  I'll just skip to the comments.


ACROSS:

1. One not standing after a strike: PIN. This clue bowled me over.

4. "Così fan tutte" composer: MOZART. Short excerpt with a prop malfunction, worth a smile even if you can't understand. Misogynistic plot roughly translates to "women are like that". Two soldiers attempt to deceive each others' fiancée (sisters) to show that women are fickle. There is also a wager involved.

10. Fuel used in smokeless briquettes: PEAT.

14. United: ONE.

15. Tater Tots maker: ORE-IDA. Portmanteau word of the Oregon/Idaho border area where the company started.

16. Humerus neighbor: ULNA. Your "funny" bone is actually the Ulnar nerve at the distal end of the humerus.

17. School gp.: PTA. Parent Teacher Associations are state or even nation wide, so dues go out and some funding is provided back in. A Parent Teacher Organization is local and does not pay dues to a wider association.

20. Object held by some Monet subjects: PARASOL.

22. "Born to Fly" singer Evans: SARA. Country appeal.

23. __ out: barely makes: EKES. To increase or lengthen. You can eke out your salary with a second job, but you can't eke out your existence.

24. Bribes: SOPS. Bread soaked in liquid. The meaning "something given to appease" is an allusion to the sop given by the Sibyl to Cerberus in Virgil's "Aeneid."

27. Exodus landmark: SINAI.

30. Cubicle items: DESKS. And red Swingline staplers.

34. Way to get up: STEPS.

36. Party drink: TEA. The whole point was to toss it in the harbor instead of drinking it, wasn't it?

37. Like Mars: RED.

42. Nimitz letters: USS. Nuclear-powered Navy supercarrier.

45. "Livin' Thing" rock gp.: ELO.

46. Horde member: NOMAD.

53. Worker with rattan: CANER.

55. Jockey rival: HANES.

56. Israeli prime minister, 1969-'74: MEIR. Golda

58. Diet brand word: LITE.

59. Logician's "E," perhaps: ERAT. Q.E.D. Latin: quod erat demonstrandum "which was to be demonstrated."

61. Thames neighborhood: CHELSEA.

67. Where Dover is: Abbr.: ENG.land. The one with the white cliffs. Also one in DELaware, just to confuse you.

68. Jezebel's husband: AHAB. Ahab was king of north Israel, Jezebel was a power behind the throne. After Ahab died, his son was overthrown and killed by Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat. Jehu went on to confront Jezebel and incite her court officials to throw her out a window (defenestration) where she was left to be eaten by dogs. In some interpretations, she dressed in finery and put on makeup before her execution which led to the association of use of cosmetics with "painted women" or prostitutes.

69. City WNW of Boca: ST. PETE. Direction and St. Petersburg abbrevs.

70. LAX listing: ETA.

71. Jobless benefit: DOLE. Shortened from Old English gedal "portion," later "charitable portion" Related to dæl "deal", to dole out.

72. Assembly sites: PLANTS.

73. Man cave, maybe: DEN.


DOWN:

1. Visited unannounced, with "in": POPPED.

2. See 7-Down: INTAKES. 7D. With 2-Down, engine conduits: AIR.

3. Most convenient: NEAREST.

4. Does some yardwork: MOWS.

5. Droxies used to compete with them: OREOS. Hydrox cookies, bought by Keebler then renamed. Oreo just out-advertised them. Plus, name changes will lose sales from brand-loyalty customers. I don't remember ever seeing either name.

6. Extremist: ZEALOT. From Late Latin Zelotes "Member of a militant 1st century Jewish sect which fiercely resisted the Romans in Palestine".

8. Nutritional amt.: RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance. Sufficient to prevent deficiency diseases. Not necessarily the optimum amount.

9. Darkens in the sun: TANS. The color of leather, also to make leather.

10. Foul-smelling: PUTRID. From several Latin words, putridus, from putrere "to rot," from putris "rotten, crumbling," related to putere "to stink". Anyone have breakfast yet?

11. Aquitaine duchess: ELEANOR.

12. Women's tennis star Ivanovic: ANA. Photogenic.

13. Sailor: TAR.

19. Track event: DASH. Also Race, jump, heat.

21. Out of line: ASKEW.

25. Road hazard: POTHOLE.

26. Plum pudding ingredient: SUET. I've never had this. Beef fat, who knew? To hold it together, I suppose?

28. Blow away: AWE. From Old Norse "agi": fear, fright.

29. Pacers' home: Abbr.: IND. Basketball, Indiana.

31. Balneotherapy venue: SPA. Treatment of disease by bathing. New word for me.

33. "Come Fly With Me" lyricist: CAHN. Sammy.

35. Burgoo, e.g.: STEW. Reading the explanation for this reminded me of the "stone soup" parable, everybody brings something to add, meat, veggies, etc.  This was new to me too.  Around here, they make booyah in 25 gallon quantities, but with chicken instead of red meats.

39. Bit of dough: CLAM. Both are terms for money.

40. Org. with an interlocking rings logo: IOC. International Olympic Committee.

41. Trivial: SMALL.

42. "That's disgusting!": UGH.

43. E. Perón's title: SRA. Evita, Senora abbrevs.

44. It nearly surrounds Gambia: SENEGAL. Today's geography lesson.

47. Liqueur flavoring: ANISEED.

48. Cold War thaw: DETENTE. A borrowing of French détente "loosening, slackening" (used in the Middle Ages for the catch of a crossbow).

50. Oxygen-loving organism: AEROBE. One which oxidizes sugars or fats to produce energy.

51. Peter the Great, for one: TSAR. Derived from Latin Caesar.

52. Fungus-alga union: LICHEN. Symbiosis.

57. Butler at Tara: RHETT.

60. 1/2 fl. oz.: TBSP.

62. Halloween et al.: EVES. All Saints Day, otherwise known as All Hallows, continued ancient Celtic traditions. The evening prior to the day was the time of the most intense activity, both human and supernatural. People continued to celebrate All Hallows Eve as a time of the wandering dead, but the supernatural beings were now thought to be evil. The folk continued to appease those spirits (and their masked impersonators) by setting out gifts of food and drink. Subsequently, All Hallows Eve became Hallow Evening, which became Hallowe'en.

63. Moonstruck: MAD. The moon gets blamed for all sorts of lunacy...

64. 17th Greek letter: RHO.

65. Falcons, on scoreboards: ATL. Football, Atlanta.

66. Yr.-end adviser: CPA. Certified Public Accountant.

Answer Grid.

Al

Wednesday February 2, 2011 Bernice Gordon

Theme: OWIE's Pals - Common crossword answers (hence all capitalized) with the O?IE pattern serve as clues, resulting in four grid-spanning phrases.

20A. OPIE : CHILD IN MAYBERRY . "The Andy Griffith Show" boy. Played by Ron Howard.

34A. OBIE : THEATRICAL AWARD. Off-Broadway.

43A. OKIE : MAN FROM MUSKOGEE. Does this refer to Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee"?

58A. ODIE : GARFIELD'S FRIEND. Drooling dog.

C.C. here. Got up and found no post from Melissa. Hope she's safe.

I'll get the blog skeleton here so the post will be published in time. Will fill in more content later. (Updated at 5:50am: Blog is complete now. Thanks for the patience.)

Bernice Gordon is 96 years old, probably the oldest constructor in the world. Here is a fascinating article about her. Inspiring! (Correction; Ms. Gordon just celebrated her 97th birthday. Thanks, Rich.)

Across:

1. Purchases : BUYS

5. One way to cope : ADAPT

10. Key of Brahms's Symphony No. 3 : F MAJ. Got via crosses. Waiting for Jazzbumpa for the perfect link.

14. Midwest native : OTOE. Quite close to the O?IE pattern.

15. Speeder's downfall : RADAR

16. Attorney general under Clinton : RENO (Janet)

17. Long story : SAGA

18. African title of respect : BWANA. ''Call Me Bwana" .

19. Earth, in Essen : ERDE

23. China's Sun __-sen : YAT. Played a critical role in overthrowing the last emperor of China. He's the brother-in-law of Chiang Kai-shek.

24. Gallery administrator's deg. : MFA

25. Cry of success : YES

26. "Wait, there's more ..." : AND

29. Ring 5-Downs : REFS. Boxing ring I presume? And 5D. Settler? : ARBITER

32. Last: Abbr. : ULT

40. __-B: dental brand : ORAL

41. Trail : LAG

42. In charge of : OVER

48. Just fine, at NASA : A-OK

49. Hors d'oeuvre spread : PATE. Pâté de foie gras.

50. Fairbanks-to-Anchorage dir. : SSW

51. To the rear : AFT. So is ABAFT.

54. Afternoon break : TEA

56. Sportscaster Cross : IRV. Not familiar with the guy.

65. Leaf-to-branch angle : AXIL. Good illustration.

66. Threshing instrument : FLAIL

67. Sculptor's material : CLAY

68. Anatomical blood carrier : VENA.Vena cava.

69. Specialty : FORTE. I always have the stress on the second syllable.

70. Queen's home : HIVE. Fun fill for Melissa.

71. Blue-pencil : EDIT

72. Shore eagles : ERNES. TERNS too.

73. River to the North Sea : YSER

Down:

1. Northwestern pear : BOSC

2. Where Pioneer Day is celebrated : UTAH. Not aware of this holiday.

3. Teammate of Mickey and Whitey : YOGI. Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford.

4. Simmons alternative : SEALY

6. Early light : DAWN

7. "Bonanza" brother : ADAM

8. Flier until '91 : PAN-AM

9. Waiter's burden : TRAYFUL

10. Thrown in : FREE

11. Like Hood's men : MERRY. Robbin Hood.

12. Tennis great Agassi : ANDRE

13. Down under kids : JOEYS. Kangaroo's kids. "under" should be capitalized.

21. Thrown missile : DART

22. __ Cynwyd, Philadelphia suburb : BALA. No idea.

26. Tiny particle : ATOM

27. Dragsters' org. : NHRA (National Hot Rod Association)

28. Campus VIP : DEAN

30. Kodak product : FILM

31. Rascal : SCAMP

33. "__'Clock Jump": Harry James recording : TWO O'. Total stranger to me.

35. A, in communications : ALFA. NATO alphabet. Spitzboov likes to say "Brave Zulu", meaning very good.

36. Cancún quencher : AGUA

37. Miles per gal., points per game, etc. : AVGs

38. Roger of "Cheers" : REES. His face looks familiar.

39. Made faces, perhaps : DREW. I don't get this clue.

44. Roast, in Rouen : ROTI

45. Painter of Southwestern scenes : O'KEEFFE (Georgia)

46. Puts down : STIFLES

47. "The King and I" actress, 1956 : KERR (Deborah)

51. Desert growth : AGAVE

52. Sent, in a way : FAXED

53. Pop singer Lopez : TRINI. "If I Had a Hammer" singer, though I prefer Peter, Paul and Mary's version.

55. "It's __ nothing!" : ALL OR

57. French hot springs town : VICHY. Oh, so the Vichy Government was named after this town.

59. In need of tuning : FLAT. Tuning what?

60. Do some mending : DARN. Love Kazie's darning avatar.

61. Location : SITE

62. "The Whiffenpoof Song" collegians : ELIs. "The Whiffenpoof" is Yale's a cappella group. Another unknown to me.

63. Church section : NAVE

64. Certain colorist : DYER. Locks changer again.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Interview with Bruce Venzke

Many of us enjoy Bruce Venzke's puzzles, which often feature colloquial, "everyday language" 15-letter spanners and smooth fill.

Bruce (in the middle) is a veteran constructor with over 500 puzzles under his belt. He has been published by the NY Times, LA Times, NY Sun, Newsday, Wall Street Journal, CrosSynergy and various newspapers and magazines. Rich Norris mentioned at the end of last year that Bruce Venzke is one of the top 10 constructors for the LA Times in 2010.

Bruce will be at ACPT during March 18-20, 2011. Say Hi to him if you also attend the event. I'd also like to say "Thank you" to Gail Grabowski for making this interview possible.

Can you tell us a bit of your background and how you got into crossword construction?

I got very involved in pocket billiards while at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. That led to my writing a monthly magazine column about pool and billiards for 30 years, until 2004. I had done a few small pool-theme puzzles for that column along the way, and in the process of trying to do those in a halfway legitimate way, I had found out a bit about the mainstream puzzle construction process. So, for whatever reason (I'm still not exactly sure), I decided to see if I could successfully do a "real" puzzle or two. On my second submission, I was lucky enough to stumble onto a theme which Rich Norris felt had promise, and with his kind counsel and assistance, got my first acceptance (March, 2002). Friends made me feel like I'd split the atom or something, so I kept going. (I guess that really means "ego.")

How would you describe your puzzle style? I noticed that your grids often feature nice grid spanners.

If I even have a signature style, it would probably derive from the emphasis on using predominantly "everyday language." I'm not a great solver by any means, having a limited education, particularly in the area of history, literature, the arts, etc. So in constructing, I soon decided that I ought to concentrate most on what I know best. As a result, I try very, very hard to keep what I consider "difficult" words and entries out... yet still have as much lively stuff as I can muster up. Each of us would draw a different "line in the sand" for assessing that quality, of course. But I'm pretty sure that if asked, top tier solvers would agree that most of my themed puzzles are too easy for their liking. (Some have said that even without being asked!) But I'm very much an "every man" myself, and I guess I try to construct with me in mind. If that makes me mostly an "early-week" constructor, it's OK with me; there are lots of tough puzzles out there for the cracker-jack solvers to solve. (And they really can solve, can't they? I'm just astonished watching the ACPT tournament every year! Unbelievable.)

I do like the elegance of 15s in the grid when possible, and I'm pleased you noticed that I use them when appropriate.

Which part do you normally spend the most time on, in the construction process: theme brainstorming, gridding or cluing?   

Building and filling grids is what I enjoy the most about constructing, and I think I probably spend more time at that than the average constructor, even for routine grids. I really dislike partials, cheaters, one-way-in corners and grid patterns without lots of interlock throughout, and trying to avoid those is time-consuming (at least for me!). And of course, they're not always totally avoidable. But I try hard. As for theme development, well, the longer I construct, the more time it takes, as new ideas get to be more and more elusive. Finally, cluing is the phase I like least, and as a result, it often takes the longest of all. (Note: On the nearly 400 collaborative puzzles I've done, my collaborator has done the clues on... every single one.)

You're one of those few constructors who make both themed and themeless puzzles. What are the major differences in your approach in terms of construction?

The biggest difference for me is that for themeless puzzles, which are to be more challenging, I drop much of my self-imposed restriction on the "difficult words" I seek to avoid in themed puzzles. That means I'm constantly looking up oodles of words that I don't happen to know, and trying to assess whether they're genuinely obscure or too difficult (as I might first think), or just another word that I don't personally know, and that would be fine in the puzzle. As a result, themeless puzzles take me a lot more time. I'm also a sucker for trying to have visually appealing symmetry or grid patterns in a themeless. That also translates into more time.

What kind of reference books/websites do you use for theme entry selection assistance and clue accuracy checks?

RH2 is a must for me, as is OneLook and all of its related sources of information. Even Wikipedia, taken with a careful grain of salt, is very helpful. Google, of course, gives us basically the whole Internet.

You've had over 500 puzzles published by various newspapers/magazines since you started constructing in 2002; where do you find your theme inspirations and how do you maintain productivity?

I've been very fortunate to collaborate with several fine constructors, starting with Stella Daily in 2002. We did almost 300 puzzles together, until she retired last year (only temporarily, I hope). Vic Fleming and I have also teamed up on 50 puzzles since 2005. And now Gail Grabowski and I have joined forces quite recently, agreeing to do ongoing collaborative work, and creating about a dozen puzzles so far. I mention this not only because they have all been so valuable and helpful to me, but because it means they've contributed about half of the themes needed! Good themes are always in demand. Like many constructors, I do keep a pad in my pocket and at the ready at all times. I jot down every fragmented (and often half-baked) idea that comes to mind. About eighty percent of them don't make the cut, but to date, about one a week has, so that's fine. In any case, coming up with themes poses the overall biggest challenge for me.

What kind of puzzles do you solve every day and which constructors do you find most inspiring?

I solve the early week NYTs, and the LAT daily. And I see (if not solve) the CrosSynergy puzzles as they're being developed, of course. Not being a great solver -- as well as being hooked on KenKen -- that activity represents enough daily solving and puzzling for me. As far as my favorites among constructors is concerned, wow! I'm impressed over and over again by the work of so many constructors, that to start naming them would necessarily do an injustice to those I would have to omit from any list I compiled. I'll just rely on the old saying: "You know who you are."

Besides crosswords, what else do you do for fun?

Principal fun? My wife Jeanne and I have been to 27 states to ride 325 different roller coasters in the past 11 years; that's now our principal hobby together, along with being parents of two and grandparents of two. (All four in Austin, Texas, so we spend some time there, as well.) I go to Vegas twice a year with "the boys," and I've also been going to a certain tournament on the East Coast every winter for several years now. Poker club every two weeks, too. That's about it!