Monday, April 18, 2011 Gail Grabowski

Theme: Plug it in - The four longest entries end in synonyms for electrical energy.

17A. Mott's product : APPLE JUICE

55A. Gust of wind, e.g. : AIR CURRENT

10D. Nightclub minimum : COVER CHARGE

24D. '60s-'70s passive resistance slogan : FLOWER POWER

Argyle here. Not much to say. Good start to the week.

Across:

1. Key in : ENTER

6. The thing over there : THAT

10. Stalactite site : CAVE. Illustration.

14. Sticky : GOOEY

15. Get a new mortgage for, briefly : REFI. Refinance .

16. Opinion piece, for short : OP-ED. (I didn't know this.) An op-ed, abbreviated from opposite the editorial page (though often mistaken for opinion-editorial), is a newspaper article that expresses the opinions of a named writer who is usually unaffiliated with the newspaper's editorial board. These are different from editorials, which are usually unsigned and written by editorial board members.

19. Tear up, as a check : VOID

20. __ Moines : DES. Iowa.

21. Transvaal settler : BOER. Map of current area. Note: Position of Lesotho also shown.

22. With all one's heart : DEEPLY

24. What daredevils seem to lack : FEAR

25. Place to fish from : PIER

26. Wore an upside-down frown : SMILED

29. Rail chemical carriers : TANK CARS. It seems last time, some people needed a picture.

33. Burgundy, for one : COLOR. Derives its name from wine made in Burgundy, a duchy in France.

34. Pitched shelter : TENT

35. Dickens's Uriah : HEEP. From his novel "David Copperfield".

36. State purposefully : AVOW

37. Latin ballroom dance : TANGO

38. Mythological ship : ARGO

39. Hop out of bed : RISE

40. Whizzes : ACES

41. Monastery member : FRIAR

42. Fix : SET RIGHT

44. University officer : REGENT

45. Greenhouse containers : POTS

46. Constructed : MADE

47. It starts after the overture : ACT ONE

50. Newspaper unit : PAGE

51. Captain's "I need help ASAP!" : SOS

54. Extinguish, with "out" : BLOW

58. Hamster's home : CAGE

59. Drop anchor : MOOR

60. Counters with beads : ABACI. Plural of abacus.

61. Train for a bout : SPAR

62. Japanese wrestling : SUMO

63. Water bottle capacity : LITER

Down:

1. Antiquated exclamation : "EGAD!"

2. "Don't think so" : "NOPE"

3. Does better than : TOPS

4. Sinuous swimmer : EEL

5. Microbrewery offering : RYE BEER. Schremser Rye Beer is a product of the Lower Austrian private brewery Karl Theodor Trojan in Schrems.

6. More loyal : TRUER

7. Estate beneficiary : HEIR

8. Org. with Raiders and Steelers : AFC. American Football Conference.

9. Was linked with : TIED INTO

11. Each : A POP

12. Bridal accessory : VEIL

13. Rapids phenomenon : EDDY

18. "The Grapes of Wrath" family name : JOAD. From the 1939 novel by John Steinbeck.

23. "A spider!" : "EEK!"

25. Dieter's feelings of distress : PANGS

26. Marks for life : SCARS

27. Studio production : MOVIE

28. Gambler's words of lament : "I LOST!"

29. Church belief : TENET

30. High-altitude nest : AERIE

31. Cordelia's sister : REGAN. King Lear's three daughters are: Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia. (Shakespeare.)

32. Golf or tennis : SPORT

34. RPM gauges : TACHS. To tell how many Revolutions Per Minute a motor is turning.

37. Wrestling duos : TAG TEAMS

41. Part of FBI : FEDERAL

43. Physics particle : ION

44. Old World Style pasta sauce brand : RAGU

46. Computer user's shortcut : MACRO. I may use it but it takes a programmer to really understand it. MACRO instruction: A single computer instruction that initiates a set of instructions to perform a specific task.

47. Elementary lessons : ABCs

48. Applaud : CLAP

49. Old Roman wrap : TOGA

50. Seniors often take limos to it : PROM

51. Bench, for one : SEAT

52. It's often enough : ONCE

53. Instigate, with "up" : STIR

56. Debtor's letters : IOU

57. Hitter's stat : RBI

Answer grid.

Argyle

Note from C.C.:

Here are a few stunning photos from JD's recent Safari trip. Unfortunately I could only afford a limited time for photo uploading/editing. Hopefully JD can work out a link to her Shutterfly album so you can see more of her adventures.

Dan Naddor LAT Puzzle Summary

This is it. Audiovisual Aids is our final puzzle from Dan Naddor. 

Dan started constructing in the summer of 2006. He had total 158 puzzles published by the LA Times, 37 of which were given to us after he passed away in Dec 2009. Dan also had 4 puzzles published by the NY Times. He also contributed to The Crosswords Club.

Rich Norris, editor for the LA Times Daily Crossword & The Crosswords Club, has kindly provided us the below list of all puzzles Dan constructed, with dates, theme type & the theme.

Argyle broke down the total 158 puzzles to (Thanks for catching the missing one from Cruciverb, Al):

Monday 4

Tuesday 11

Wednesday 36

Thursday 37

Friday 49

Saturday 1 (It's a themed 4th of July puzzle)

Sunday  20

76 of the above puzzles were covered in this blog.

Dan was talented, hard-working & passionate about crossword construction. He knew what he wanted and he did it his way, always squishing in more theme entries. He's not afraid to defend himself when he's wronged, and he's not afraid to apologize when he's wrong, as we have witnessed a few times on the blog. In Dennis' word, a very stand-up guy.

I feel lucky to know him a bit via his puzzles.

C.C.

Stats from Rich:

Sunday puzzles:

2/18/2007 SUN wordplay Idiotic Idioms

7/1/2007 SUN anagrams Home Remodeling

12/2/2007 SUN wordplay An Ical for your thoughts

1/13/2008 SUN wordplay contrived phrases with four consecutive bigrams: did idi divide ugandans, etc.

3/2/2008 SUN trigram drop ITY

5/25/2008 SUN related names California Pros

7/13/2008 SUN sound change Chuck Schwa

10/12/2008 SUN sound change thr -> fr "On Finn Ice"

11/23/2008 SUN wordplay Not more of the same

1/4/2009 SUN sound change "-ed" to T

2/1/2009 SUN embedded words Buried Treasure

2/22/2009 SUN special Star search

4/19/2009 SUN trigram add TOP - Put a Lid on It

8/30/2009 SUN letter add Organ Transplants

10/11/2009 SUN sound change Why Yes -- added Y sound

12/6/2009 SUN embedded word Subliminal Messages

1/3/2010 SUN bigram add LI - "51 Pickup"

2/7/2010 SUN trigram add SUB - "Hero's Welcome"

4/4/2010 SUN bigram add DL - "Sidelined"

4/17/2011 SUN bigram add AV - Audiovisual Aids

Weekday puzzles:

10/11/2006 synonyms Baloney

10/26/2006 word after out of

1/3/2007 repeated clue MAJORS

1/25/2007 word before guard

2/28/2007 related expressions hot dog toppings

3/14/2007 repeated clue DRIVE

4/2/2007 special baseball

4/18/2007 rhyme escher

4/27/2007 puns state names

5/8/2007 word after shot(s)

5/23/2007 word before keepers

6/1/2007 wordplay reversals

6/7/2007 related expressions two-letter alpha lead-in

6/20/2007 ending initial

7/19/2007 word after pay

8/2/2007 same clue PRESS

8/17/2007 puns elmer fudd

8/30/2007 special cross country - geographical puzzle

9/13/2007 repeated clue hang tough

9/26/2007 word before weight

10/12/2007 wordplay literal placement of idiom

11/2/2007 bigram drop SC

11/14/2007 wordplay contiguous opposites

11/23/2007 same clue beats around the bush - graphically in puzzle (THE BUSH in center, answers to BEAT clues surrounding it)

12/11/2007 related expressions banking

12/21/2007 puns metal

1/2/2008 homonyms saks

1/18/2008 letter add SS -> SSS

1/30/2008 related expressions current events

2/8/2008 letter add O -> OO

2/20/2008 letter sequence II in phrases

3/7/2008 embedded words Wheres the beef

3/18/2008 sequence eighth, quarter, half, whole

3/27/2008 word before BOARD - both parts of answer

4/4/2008 letter sub IA for AI

4/17/2008 unique compass pt. puzzle

4/28/2008 initials J and B

5/8/2008 related names fictional bird names

5/21/2008 same clue euphoric

6/5/2008 synonyms leave

6/13/2008 wordplay name addition

6/19/2008 homonyms mayne

6/27/2008 puns monkey / ape

7/9/2008 homonyms thai, ty, tae, tai, tie

7/23/2008 related expressions animal coverings

8/1/2008 bigram add OB

8/8/2008 trigram drop ENT

8/22/2008 puns film mickelson

9/3/2008 word before service

9/11/2008 sequence aeiou in phrases

9/19/2008 against the grain

9/26/2008 puns clothes

10/8/2008 word before MAN - superheroes (Dan and Mike Naddor)

10/23/2008 synonyms

10/30/2008 related expressions RR crossings

11/7/2008 sound change p to b

11/13/2008 word before dollar - with $ sign in grid

11/20/2008 puns oo endings

12/3/2008 sequence w/ wordplay first second third last

12/11/2008 punchline entry what's the damage

12/19/2008 wordplay truncated it's

12/30/2008 sequence

1/9/2009 special Battleship puzzle

1/15/2009 related names cities ending in EE

1/23/2009 sound change the -> DE

2/13/2009 letter add R becomes RR

2/27/2009 bigram add AR

3/5/2009 hidden word insect

3/13/2009 bigram add UM

3/24/2009 wordplay reverse cities

4/2/2009 homonym in clues pauly, pauley, paulie, polly, poly

4/15/2009 same word ending ough - all different pronunciations

4/23/2009 hidden word bean salad

4/30/2009 wordplay word + ATE = homonym

5/8/2009 bigram drop EY from key words

5/18/2009 initials R and B (foods)

5/29/2009 letter sub I to U

6/4/2009 synonyms flops, duds, bombs, etc.

6/18/2009 related expressions two X's in each theme answer (Dos Equis)

6/26/2009 sound change ed -> eld

7/4/2009 special July 4th "themeless" style

7/9/2009 related expressions brokerese

7/17/2009 letter sub DD for TT

7/23/2009 repeated clue Take 6

7/31/2009 sound change SK to X

8/6/2009 synonyms palling around

8/14/2009 trigram drop no WAY

8/21/2009 letter add N + N

8/26/2009 related expressions court business

9/11/2009 word substitution two for one

9/17/2009 word after table

9/22/2009 rhyme / homonyms russell, mussel, muscle, rustle

9/29/2009 related expressions food combos

10/9/2009 bigram add GO

10/16/2009 letter sub V for W

10/22/2009 rhyme--different spelling

10/30/2009 letter drop Q (sound)

11/4/2009 anagrams inlets

11/13/2009 letter add R to make ER

11/18/2009 word before bar patrons

11/27/2009 puns medieval

12/10/2009 synonyms phenomenal

12/18/2009 bigram add RY

12/25/2009 trigram add ANCE

12/30/2009 bigram repeat PH - two in each answer

1/8/2010 letter sub MM to MP

1/13/2010 word before defense

1/19/2010 related names nicknames

1/26/2010 word before San (cities)

2/3/2010 hidden word jabber - synonyms start phrases

2/19/2010 trigram drop AGE - phonetically

3/4/2010 word chain

3/19/2010 puns German

4/16/2010 trigram drop TLE

4/28/2010 wordplay dishes

5/10/2010 related expressions names with J

5/26/2010 word after world - WORLD LEADER

6/10/2010 related words silent letters begin

6/23/2010 letter pattern esses

7/8/2010 word after shoot the

7/21/2010 synonyms fast

8/5/2010 synonyms arrest

8/18/2010 synonyms changers

9/2/2010 palindromes

9/14/2010 related expressions meds

9/29/2010 split word stock

10/13/2010 sequence wealth

10/27/2010 related things tools

11/12/2010 letter add U

11/23/2010 related words two word -ique -ique phrases

12/8/2010 synonyms midgets

12/22/2010 word before panel

1/14/2011 letter drop K from CK

1/27/2011 word before grudge (Dan Naddor & Doug Peterson)

2/18/2011 pun presidents

3/2/2011 unique one syllable words, nine letters

3/18/2011 trigram drop ing

4/1/2011 special backwards theme for April 1, 2011

Sunday April 17, 2011 Dan Naddor

Theme: Audiovisual Aids - Letters AV are inserted into common phrases.

24A. Salon tool for recalcitrant customers? : STYLING GAVEL. Styling gel.

30A. Not the best purple flower? : SUBPRIME LAVENDER. Subprime lender.

45A. Where the experts hang out? : MAVENS' ROOM. Men's room.

64A. Colorado brewer's rodent mascot? : COORS BEAVER. Coors beer.

77A. Culinary product of a French-Italian region? : SAVOY SAUCE. Soy sauce.

97A. Group that ruins commercials? : AD HAVOC COMMITTEE. Ad hoc committee.

104A. Bad news about a tooth? : TWIN CAVITIES. Twin cities.

15D. Prefer Hitchcock's Bodega Bay classic to his other films? : FAVOR THE BIRDS. For the birds.

52D. Cryptologist's rant? : DECODER RAVING. Decoder ring.

This is Dan's favorite theme type, adding/deleting/substituting letters. If you look at Rich's stats, lots of his Friday & Sunday puzzles have such gimmick.

The grid has 68 blocks (We had 84 last Sunday) and only 134 words. Comparatively low. Dan mentioned his target was shooting for low word count. Quite a few nice long entries, but also a number of abbreviations. V is a tough letter to maneuver. 

Across:

1. "This __ fine mess you've gotten us into, Ollie!" : IS A. Easy start.

4. Clean the deck : MOP

7. Military team : CORPS

12. Office teams : STAFFS. Staff can be pluralized, Dennis?

18. Three-time all-star closer Robb : NEN. Here he is. Not many famous people are named NEN, or ROBB.

19. Mandlikova of tennis : HANA. Stranger to me.

20. Blocker in a TV : V-CHIP

21. Note in a B major scale : A-SHARP

22. Hunter attachment? : GATHERER. Hunter-gatherer.

26. Tony winner for her Daisy Mae portrayal in "Li'l Abner" (1956) : EDIE ADAMS. Faintly recall her name.

28. Baroque dance : MINUET

29. Suffix with malt : OSE. Sugar suffix.

33. "Artaxerxes" composer : ARNE (Thomas). I only know his "Rule, Britannia".

34. Statistical hypothesis trial : T TEST. What does T stand for?

35. Word before old, and after it : SAME. Same old same old.

36. Web address letters : GOV

37. Illinois city, site of the last Lincoln-Douglas debate : ALTON. Outside my knowledge zone.

38. M.O. : SYS

39. Birch leaf eater : LUNA MOTH. John Lampkin style picture.

43. Algiers citadel : CASBAH

47. Corrida hero : TORERO

50. Like fifth and sixth : ORDINAL. I actually drew a blank. I can be incredibly dumb.

53. "Mad About You" co-star : REISER (Paul)

56. Golfer Crenshaw : BEN. Smooth putting stroke.

57. Answer skillfully : FIELD

58. Sault __ Marie : STE

61. Boss's address? : E STREET. The E Street Band. Bruce Springsteen The Boss.

62. Give-go link : IT A

63. Pawn : HOCK

66. Cheater's device : CRIB

67. Ike's arena: Abbr. : ETO (European Theater of Operation)

68. Was allowed to pay later : RAN A TAB

69. D-Day craft : LST (Landing Ship Tank)

70. Military chaplain : PADRE

71. Directed : LED

72. Brew made in Zoeterwoude : AMSTEL. Named after the Amstel River. I've never heard of the plant site Zoeterwoude.

73. Super Bowl party centerpiece, briefly : HD TV SET. Clusters of consonants.

75. Short fall? : PRECIP. "Short" indicates "shortened form". Good clue.

82. Semicircular antenna housing : RADOME (Radar Dome)

85. See 46-Down : DETECTOR. And 46D. With 85-Across, beachcomber's device : METAL.

86. "I'm impressed!" : WOW

89. Natasha's partner in crime : BORIS

91. "Rhoda" production co. : MTM. Stands for Mary Tyler Moore.

93. Highly caloric : RICH

94. Former "Today" medical expert Art __ : ULENE. No idea.

96. Abba of Israel : EBAN

101. Ohio, e.g.: Abbr. : RIV. OK, river.

102. Enjoys doing : IS INTO

103. Russian Orthodox ruling body : HOLY SYNOD. Nice to know.

108. Rhinestone piano player : LIBERACE

109. Sent to the gallows : HANGED

110. String quartet member : CELLO

111. Get an __ effort : E FOR

112. What's expected : PAR. But birdie is always better.

113. Wool variety : ANGORA

114. Dispatched, as a dragon : SLAIN. Dispatch = Kill.

115. "L.A. Law" actress : DEY (Susan).

116. The orig. 13, e.g. : STs (States)

Down:

1. Eats : INGESTS

2. Naval assignment : SEA DUTY. Any comment, Spitzboov?

3. Côte d'Azur resort : ANTIBES. No idea. A seaport south of Nice.

4. __ Gras : MARDI

5. Wee hr. : ONE AM

6. Pasta topper : PARMESAN

7. Walgreens rival : CVS. I like former.

8. Columbus Day mo. : OCT

9. Run, for one? : RHYME. Run and one rhyme. Good clue.

10. Pier support : PILING

11. PR specialist : SPIN DOC. I've never seen "Spin doctor" abbreviated this way.

12. More judicious : SAGER

13. USAF E-6 : TSGT. Military rank always gives me headache.

14. "Now I understand!" : AHA

16. City in California's Central Valley : FRESNO. And 19. California's Central Valley, e.g. : HEARTLAND.

17. Ill humor : SPLEEN

23. Marching words : HEPS. Marching cadence.

25. New, in Nicaragua : NUEVA

27. Poetry competitions : SLAMs. Stumped me last time.

31. Love, to Virgil : AMOR

32. Turn down : VETO

33. Old orchard spray : ALAR

37. Keep from ending normally : ABORT

40. Sch. founded by Jefferson : UVA (University of Virginia)

41. Wrestling holds : NELSONS

42. Trigger, for one : HORSE. Trigger was Roy Roger's horse.

44. Take the tiller : STEER

45. "Got __?" : MILK

48. Hang it up, so to speak : RETIRE

49. Even if challenged : ON A BET. Did you get it immediately?

50. Be __: assist : OF HELP

51. Mob member : RIOTER

54. Journalist Kupcinet and sportscaster Cross : IRVs

55. "I told you, didn't I?!" : SEE THAT? I like the clue.

59. Precisely : TO A T. Tricky to parse.

60. Some Deco collectibles : ERTEs

61. Fall back : EBB

64. __ santo: Spanish graveyard : CAMPO. Learning moment for me.

65. Light lunch : SALAD

66. Spelunker's spot : CAVE

68. Police operations : RAIDS

70. Recently discontinued retro Chrysler : PT CRUISER. Crazy 4-consonant start.

74. Pair : DUO

76. Number one son? : CAIN. We've seen similar "First lady' for EVE gimmick before.

78. __ Beach, Florida : VERO

79. Neur- ending : OTIC

80. "Ick factor 10!" : YECCH

81. Taught : SCHOOLED

83. MCCLII doubled : MMDIV. 1,250*2=2,504.

84. Ones with a common heritage : ETHNICS

86. Wings eaters' needs : WET NAPS

87. Sandlot game : ONE O' CAT. Kind of baseball game?

88. Garden tools : WEEDERS

89. Krupp with a howitzer named for her : BERTHA. Wow, I never know this origin.

90. Luke's mentor : OBIWAN. "Star Wars".

92. Magic 8 Ball maker : MATTEL

95. Interstellar dist. : LT-YR (Light-year)

97. Carne __: Mexican dish : ASADA

98. "Presto!" cousin : VOILA

99. MGM Resorts casino loyalty program : M LIFE. Nope. No idea. What does M stand for?

100. "Lad ..." : MY BOY. Cute clue.

102. "Congratulations" writer, maybe : ICER

105. "Stop-__": UGK hit : 'N-GO. First encounter with the hip hop duo UGK (Underground Kingz). Rappers drive me crazy with their free spelling.

106. Yalie : ELI

107. Michael, to Kirk : SON. Michael Douglas has been through a lot.

Answer grid.

Thanks for the entertainment, Dan. To quote your buddy Jerome, "Great puzzle, Duck!".

C.C.

Saturday April 16, 2011 Brad Wilber

Theme: None

Total words: 72

Total blocks: 30

This puzzle is anchored by a grid-spanning 15 crossed by two 10s:

35A. Summertime response to a wave? : HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? Heat wave.

5D. Puts up gates, say : BABY-PROOFS. I was picturing real gates.

30D. Menacingly complex, as a bureaucracy : KAFKAESQUE. As typified by the works of Franz Kafka.

Today is a good example of how it's the cluing and not obscure words that made a late-week puzzle tough:

14A. Eugene O'Neill character? : CAPITAL O. The O in his name O'Neill. Not any play character.

50D. 2009 U.S. Open champ Glover : LUCAS. "Star Wars" director George would be too easy a clue. Here is our champion Lucas Glover. Ricky Barnes collapsed in the final round.

Lively fill abound in the grid.

Across:

1. Turned to a life of crime : GONE BAD. Figured the end had to be ED. Oops!

8. Become absorbed : OSMOSE. I wanted ENRAPT, which is an adj. Dummy!

15. Scorched : SEARED

16. Order in a preschool classroom : ALPHABET. Of course, I was in the verb "order" line of thinking.

17. NFL coach with the most career postseason wins : LANDRY (Tom). No idea. Longtime Cowboys coach.

18. Grant, for one : LOU. Wanted CIC again, thinking of President Grant.

19. Half of the UAR : SYR. UAR is a union of Syria and Egypt.

20. Surname of 15th/16th-century Pope Alexander VI : BORGIA. Wow, who knows?!

21. Physics units : ERGS. Work units.

23. Not flush : POOR. What kind of flush do you have in mind? Poker? Alignment?

25. Is wistful (for) : LONGS

27. 1959 winner of a record 11 Oscars : BEN-HUR. Brad knows everything about Oscar.

29. Debauchee : RAKE. So is ROUE.

31. In imitation of : A LA

32. Kinsey Institute Library collection : EROTICA. Where is it?

34. Negligible amount : DRIB. Not IOTA.

39. Skeptic's retort : I BET

40. Searched, in a way : FRISKED

41. Six-time Sugar Bowl victors, briefly : LSU. Six-time, is it a record?

42. Literary ID : ISBN

43. Lineups : ARRAYS

47. Preeminent industrialist : TITAN. Would you call Donald Trump a titan?

49. Guernsey, for one : ISLE

51. Citation space-saver : ET AL

52. Sidestepped : DODGED

54. "Royal Pains" network : USA. I've never heard of "Royal Pains".

56. It had a hub at JFK : TWA. Guessed.

57. Took umbrage at : MINDED

58. Familiarize : ACQUAINT

60. Cocktail flavored with orgeat syrup : MAI TAI. Not familiar with the syrup. Wiki says orgreat derived from the Latin hordeata, meaning "made with barley".

61. "Viaducts Break Ranks" painter : PAUL KLEE. Here's the painting. Very abstract.

62. Extra number : ENCORE. Oh, musical number.

63. 6-Down, nowadays : USED CAR. And 6D. Olds introduced in '98 : ALERO.

Down:

1. In abundance : GALORE

2. Call into question : OPPUGN. New word to me.

3. Biomedical research agcy. : NIH

4. Itinerary nos. : ETAs. ETA = Estimated Time of Arrival.

7. Bespeckle : DOT

8. City with the newspaper Aftenposten : OSLO. First encounter with the newspaper.

9. Ambien maker : SEARLE. Also the maker of Celebrex. Now part of Pfizer.

10. Chutney fruit : MANGO. Delicious!

11. Prosaic : ORDINARY

12. Harem : SERAGLIO. Dictionary says it's rooted in Italian serraglio, meaning "animal cage". ODA is Turkish for room.

13. Joseph of ice cream fame : EDY

14. Canaan infiltrator : CALEB. Biblical spy.

20. Big name in candy corn : BRACH'S

22. Word with cake or metal : SHEET

24. Sources : ORIGINS

26. "A Tiger Walks" star : SABU. Was ignorant of film "A Tiger Walks". India-born Actor.

28. Catering dispenser : URN

33. Murky : TURBID

34. Frequent producer for Eminem : DR DRE

35. Highest degree : HILT. To the hilt.

36. Volcanic glass : OBSIDIAN. Also a new word to me.

37. Frankfurter adjective : TEUTONIC

38. "Not stepping __ the bounds of modesty": Juliet : O'ER

42. Ready to roll : IN GEAR

44. Fifth-century invader of Gaul : ATTILA. The Hun.

45. Hardly a moving picture? : YAWNER. Tricky clue.

46. Group of candidates : SLATE

48. Augment : ADD TO

53. Eva Marie's "On the Waterfront" role : EDIE. Stumper for me.

55. Word heard after a countdown : AULD. "Auld Lang Syne". New Year count.

57. Nice address: Abbr. : MME (Madame). Nice the City in France.

58. "The Simpsons" Squishee seller : APU. The shopkeeper.

59. Pedigree-tracking org. : AKC (American Kennel Club)

Answer grid.

Happy 83rd Birthday to our fellow LA Times solver Dot! And a belated Happy 97th  Birthday to her husband Irv! Hi there Andrea & Kazie.

C.C.

Friday, April 15, 2011, Matt Matera

Theme: Initial names and more. Each theme answer takes the name of a famous person who is known by his initials, and adds a new letter to the end of the initials to create an in the society expression. The answers are pretty cool, and I really was a little taken back by 1A being a theme answer. We have:

1A. Fantasy author and forensic pathologist?: CSI LEWIS. C S Lewis has reached new audiences with the movies made from his Chronicles of Narnia. His life was depicted in one of my all time favorite movies, Shadowlands. It is impossible to have avoided all the CSI shows on television, though it looks like they are finally fading.

22A. Behaviorist and teen confidant?: BFF SKINNER. As a psychology major, there was much debate between ways to modify human behavior; Freud with analysis and B F Skinner who believed you could train humans like rats, simply reward or punish behavior. He was known as the rat psychologist, which did not make him my BFF, BEST FRIEND FOREVER.

33A. Huckster and school supporter?: PTA BARNUM. Phineas T. Barnum was a showman, with little respect for his audience. He probably never went to a Parent Teacher Association meeting.

49A. British novelist and medic?: EMT FORSTER. This author wrote a few very interesting BOOKS , not to be confused with C S Forester who wrote Horatio Hornblower novels. Neither of them were Emergency Medical Techinicians.

63A. Children's author and roadside helper? : AAA MILNE. Mr. Milne was the author of the beloved Winnie the Pooh series (which we read in Latin, Winnie Ille Pu) and like Forster and Lewis a British author. American Automobile Association has been helping drivers for years.

Lemonade here, having horrendous computer problems, having had this post go blooey and redone four times, I am giving up on all the links for this week, perhaps I can get some in during the day. I liked the theme and its consistency, now let's see what else we have hidden to find.

Across:

9. Jah worshipers: RASTAS. The divine being in the Rastafarian religion, the name likely derived from the famous tetragrammaton of Judaism, YHVH, Yahweh.

15. Reason for a pass: LATENESS. I did not get the boys to school late often, but have to go in an get them a pass was always unpleasant.

16. Strike caller: UMPIRE. Balls and strikes.

17. German shepherd: ALSATIAN. Wonderful dogs.

18. Some special forces headgear: BERETS. Who among us did not love the Ballad of the Green Berets.

19. It merged with Kmart in 2005: SEARS. When I was a kid we lived in a town so small all we had was a Sears catalog store. Learned a lot from those catalogs.

20. Hairy: PILAR. Our first Latin of the day, from PILUS meaning hair. You wonder if people like Deion Sanders who married a girl with that name, looks at her and sees  her as hairy?

21. High sch. VIPs: SRS. Seniors.

27. At first blush: INITIALLY. What a quaint little phrase.

30. Teen follower?: AGERS. One of the many ways suffixes are described to confuse.

31. Infer: CONSTRUE. Dictionaries list INFER and IMPLY as synonymous; Nero Wolfe is rolling over in his fictional grave.

32. Indeed: YEA. There really are many 3 letter words in this offering.

38. Toon dynamo, familiarly: TAZ. The Tazmanian Devil, very cute.

41. Inspiration for the Frisbee: PIE PLATE. Since all the flying saucers in the movies in those days were pie plates, this makes lots of sense.

45. Lieu: STEAD. Almost a legal term.

48. Time, for one: DIMENSION. Einstein's theory of relativity made time the 4th dimension.

51. CD-__: ROM. Compact Disc-Read-Only Memory.

52. Droid in every "Star Wars" film: ARTOO. DEETO, the little one.

53. Sweet cake that's an Easter tradition in Eastern Europe: BABKA.

55. Spots: ESPIES.

57. University of Cincinnati team: BEARCATS. One of the many teams beaten by UConn on their most recent trip to the NCAA Basketball championship.

60. Gangster's gun, in old-timey slang: ROSCOE. A gat, a piece and so many more. Has anyone read Hammet and Chandler?

61. Permits: ENTITLES. I had trouble with this thinking in noun.

62. Most people: ASIANS. This was so easy it was hard.

Going...

Down:

1. Thing that endures: CLASSIC. So many good and bad things endure, this was tricky.

2. Port of SW Italy: SALERNO . A very pretty city.

3. "That's just wrong" : IT'S A SIN. A bit strong.

4. "That way madness lies" speaker: LEAR. No, I will weep no more. In such a night,

To shut me out? Pour on; I will endure.

In such a night as this? O Regan, Goneril!

Your old kind father, whose frank heart gave all—

O, that way madness lies; let me shun that;

No more of that.

5. Tolkien's Skinbark and Leaflock, e.g.: ENTS. JRR Tolkein was a close friend of C S Lewis, they both taught at Oxford and wrote fantasy novels. I see a sub-theme with British authors who wrote for younger readers.

6. China's Northern __ Dynasty, 386-534 AD: WEI. Interesting history.

7. First of the Maj. Prophets: ISA. Major Prophets, Isaiah.

8. Three-part fig. SSN. Social Security Number.

9. Creator of a popular six-color puzzle: RUBIK. The cube, many man hours lost on that baby.

10. First name in aviation: AMELIA. Not sure why she is first, but Ms. Earhardt is a continuation from last week.

11. Paid (for): SPRANG. Yes, I sprang for lunch last Friday.

12. Maura of "ER": TIERNEY. I enjoyed her in NEWS RADIO

13. Lost __ : ART. Letter writing is a lost art.

14. Paris possessive: SES. Wake up Lolita, our French lesson; SON means his/ hers of a singular item, SES is his/hers for a plural item. LEURS is for theirs.

20. Adler's subj.: PSY. More abbreviations and more psychology and Alfred Adler a disciple of Freud.

22. Theda of silents : BARA.

23. Bungle: FLUB. Makes me think of FLUB a DUB in the tub.

24. Run-down theater : FLEA PIT. I have heard of Flea bag hotels.

25. Before, in verse : ERE.

26. Where Mandela was pres.: RSA. The Republic of South Africa provided another Masters' champion this past weekend. And, 46D. Lesotho's home: AFRICA. A little landlocked country in the middle of RSA.

28. Dosage abbr.: TSP. Teaspoon.

29. Babbling Addams character: ITT. Their PILAR cousin.

34. Coleridge work: RIME. Of the Ancient Mariner, and Epic Poem.

35. __-do-well: NEER. Another great old phrase.

36. Network that merged with The WB: UPN. United Paramount Network.

37. David Beckham's org.: MLS. Major League Soccer.

38. Half a fly:TSE. Really, we have not seen this stinker in a while.

39. Withdrawal aid, briefly: ATM. Becoming a gimme.

40. Fraternity founded at New York University in 1847: ZETA PSI. Really obscure, but there are not that many greek letters.

42. Hoops embarrassment: AIRBALL. When the shooter in basketball, misses everything, does not hit the basket, the backboard, just air.

43. Caught one's breath: TOOK TEN. I never got more than 5.

44. As one : EN MASSE. French, in a single mass.

47. Spoil rotten : DOTE ON. I love them babies.

48. Brit. military award : DSO. Distinguished Service Order.

50. Lover's gift : ROSES. 20 million red roses are given on Valentine's Day in the US, or so they say. I like other roses better if you were planning on sending me some.

53. Boater's edge: BRIM. Well the brim is everyone's edge, fill it to the brim. Brim are also bait fish? (Note: Boater hat).

54. When Tony sings "Maria" : ACT I. West Side Story.

55. Time often named : ERA. Huh?

56. Under-the-sink brand : SOS. We were a Brillo family.

57. Arthur of "All in the Family" : BEA. Where she played Maude, a liberal who infuriated Archie and who ended up with her own series.

58. Spain's Queen Victoria Eugenia, familiarly: ENA. The grand daughter of Queen Victoria.

59. ___snail's pace: AT A. which is how this puzzle was for me, not hard, just a real slog. Between vision and computer problems, a long night. Enjoy the upcoming holidays whatever your persuasion, and see you next time.

Answer grid.

Lemonade

Thursday, Apr 14, 2011 Daniel A. Finan

Theme? The clue is a part of the answer... The three theme answers all end with a word that indicates a fraction of a whole, and the clue word is contained as part of each of the first words.

20. Pan?: COMPANION PIECE. PAN is a PIECE of the word COMPANION. A companion piece is one work that compliments another, like the two movies: Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, each tells the "same" story from a different perspective. 

33. With 44-Across, ten?: SENTENCE.  44. See 33-Across: FRAGMENT.  TEN is a FRAGMENT of the word SENTENCE.  I accidentally the whole thing.

54. Kin?: SMOKING SECTION. KIN is a SECTION of the word SMOKING. Is this subject still a hot button for an argument about rights?  The statement I remember setting off a war was something like this: Having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a pool.

Hi all, Al here.  I finally saw the light... Only three theme answers. They all left me puzzled, and didn't help with solving.  No unifier clue anywhere, either. The clue words are contained in position 4-6 of all the answer words. The parts given as the clues all end with an "N", preceded in order by a vowel, in order, A,E,I.  I was pulling out the last of my hair trying to see what was right in front of me.  At first, I noticed that of the three, only smoking -kin = smog made another word, sence might make sense if you're British, and comion isn't a word, so it didn't appear to be letter drops in common. So how are the clues related to the answers? Argyle finally gave me the clue I needed from an interview that Daniel had given Sept 3, 2009:

 "To me the perfect puzzle is a simple, elegant, and subtle gimmick puzzle. I really like the crosswords that have a metapuzzle. For example, with some (themed) puzzles, I can fill in the entire grid, and I still don't "get it." So I have to really dig deep to find the theme... it's then that I get that satisfying "Aha!" moment. I wonder how many people miss the whole point of subtle puzzles like that."

I went back and re-read the whole  interview, and he had talked about PARTS of speech as the theme from another of his puzzles, and suddenly the light came on...

ACROSS:

1. Flying group: CREW. Captain and crew on an (air) ship.

5. Comic Johnson: ARTE. Soundbite from Laugh-in: "Very interesting."

9. Hyphenated dessert name: JELL-O.

14. Half dodeca-: HEXA. Prefixes for 12 and 6, respectively.

15. Liner danger: BERG. Ocean liner, ice berg.

16. Hater of David, in Dickens: URIAH. Heep.

17. Theater giant?: IMAX. As Ed Sullivan might say, a really big shoe. 70 mm film instead of the standard 35 mm and 300 foot screens.

18. In __: confused: A FOG.

19. High humor?: JINKS.  Hijinks. From an old party game where guests threw dice to determine who would perform some silly task or down a large drink. Either outcome would cause amusement to everyone present. Kind of like truth or dare, but with drinking instead of truth.

23. Relative of -like: OID. Suffixes for similar. For example, android means human-like. (Greek "andro" means "human".)

24. Wine bar offerings: PORTS. From the Portugese city of Oporto (the port). Less-known 4-letter wines: Hocks (German Hochheim region), Tents (Spanish reds "tinta"), and Sacks (Spanish white, a precursor to Sherry).

25. Moshe Dayan's "oxygen of the soul": FREEDOM.

29. Guff: GAS. Empty noise, nonsense. Oh, you're just a bag of gas.  Guff, like a puff of air, vaguely onomatopoetic.

30. Moo chew?: CUD. Come to Wisconsin and smell our dairy air.

35. Change genetically: MUTATE.

37. Former lover of Riker on "Star Trek: T.N.G.": TROI. in "The Next Generation" of Star Trek, Marina Sirtis played Deanna Troi, an empath who was the ship's counselor. William Riker, played by Jonathan Frakes, was the first mate to Patrick Stewart's Captain Jean Luc Picard.

38. Pontiff's wear: ALB.

40. Foreshadowing: OMEN.

41. Service station vessel: OIL CAN. That takes me back.  All I have seen for a long time now are plastic bottles.

47. Org. whose members are concerned with lies: PGA. Ask not where your ball lies. And don't tell any lies about it, either.

48. Birling roller: LOG. The lumberjack contest to see who can stay upright longest on a spinning log.

50. Radius, e.g.: ARM BONE. Along with the ulna and the humerus.

51. San __: San Francisco Bay city: MATEO.

53. Airline to Copenhagen: SAS. Scandinavian Airlines System.

60. Centipede maker: ATARI. One of the early 8-bit video arcade games with a tracking ball instead of a joystick.

61. Spice: ELAN.

62. Yes-__ question: OR NO.

63. Veal piccata ingredient: LEMON. Veal sliced, sautéed, and served in a sauce containing lemon, butter, and spices, usually parsley.

64. Part of Caesar's boast: VENI. vidi vici. I came, I saw, I conquered.

65. N.L. East squad: NATS. National League Baseball, the Washington Nationals.

66. Country sound: TWANG.

67. Golden Fleece vessel: ARGO. From "The Odyssey", Jason's ship.

68. Sin in the film "Se7en": ENVY. The "deadly" sin that the killer was guilty of.

DOWN:

1. Very smart: CHIC. Fashionably smart.  Meaning "sharp, severe, stinging," related to  "quick, active, clever" probably from the notion of "cutting" wit, words, etc. expanded to the meaning of "trim in attire".

2. San __: REMO. On the Italian Riviera.

3. Student's stressor: EXAM.

4. Emulate Cyrano: WAX POETIC. In Edmond Rostand's highly fictionalized play, Cyrano was the source of the love poems for his romance to Roxanne through the handsome but less articulate Christian.

5. It may be reckless: ABANDON.

6. Update mtge. terms: REFI.nance a mortgage.

7. Band: TROOP.

8. Quaff garnished with nutmeg: EGG NOG. Quaff perhaps from Low German quassen "to overindulge (in food and drink)," with -ss- misread as -ff-.

9. Technique of ancient samurai: JU JITSU. The gentle, or yielding art.  The (mostly) weaponless technique of using an opponent's own momentum against them using balance and leverage, because that was more effective than trying to simply hit someone wearing armor.

10. Some native New Yorkers: ERIES.

11. Afro-sporting "Mod Squad" character: LINC. Three young people in trouble with the law are allowed to avoid jail in exchange for infiltrating the counter-culture and exposing bad guys.

12. Vacation location: LAKE.

13. Cries of understanding: OHS.

21. Hill worker: AIDE. Capitol Hill, not an ant hill.

22. Buggy relative: PRAM. A baby buggy.

25. Depth-of-field setting: F-STOP. Camera terms.

26. Outfit again: RE-RIG.

27. __ Gay: ENOLA. The B29 that dropped "little boy" on Hiroshima, named for the pilot's mother, Enola Gay (Tibbits).  Pilot: Paul Tibbits.

28. George Strait label: MCA. Music Corporation of America.

30. Actor's day job?: CAMEO. Because waiter was too long.

31. SEC school that retired Peyton Manning's number: U TENN. South Eastern Conference, University of Tennessee.

32. Pasta al __: DENTE. "to the tooth", just a little chewy.

34. Santa's 21-Down: ELF.

36. O.K. Corral town: TOMBSTONE.

39. It's usually uplifting: BRA.

42. Diced and served in a mushroom cream sauce: ALA KING.

43. "Don't look at me!": NOT I.

45. Hall of fame: ARSENIO. Hall as a famous last name, not as a place of recognition.

46. Ally Financial Inc., formerly: GMAC. General Motors Acceptance Corporation.

49. City on the Rhone: GENEVA. Today's geography map.

51. Jerk: MORON. American English carnival slang, perhaps from jerkwater town, where a steam locomotive crew had to take on boiler water from a trough or a creek because there was no water tank. This led to an adj. use of jerk as "inferior, insignificant." Moron is directly from Greek for "foolish, dull". Still, connotatively, these don't really feel synonymous to me...

52. Stare master?: OGLER. A play on words for stair master exercise equipment.

54. Ratatouille, for one: STEW. The full name of the dish is ratatouille niçoise. It originated in the area around present day Occitan Provença and Niça (French: Nice). Derived from ratouiller and tatouiller, two expressive forms of of the French verb touiller, meaning to stir up.

55. Doll's word: MAMA. You'd say mama too, if someone kept tipping you upside down until you made noise.

56. Did some selling out: SANG. Ratted on. Snitched.

57. Mashhad is its second-largest city: IRAN.

58. Airing: ON TV.

59. Intrusive: NOSY.

60. PC key: ALT. Used to change (alternate) the function of other pressed keys. Most computers today use the ASCII character set, which only needs 7 of the 8 bits in one byte to represent all the numbers and letters, both upper and lower (and punctuation, plus certain special signal sequences).  The ALT key was originally used to set the "extra" 8th bit so an extended value could be entered, but because of the requirements of internationalization of character sets, it no longer works that way, but instead alters what other keys do depending on the program being used at the time.  TMI, right?

Answer Grid.

Al