Saturday, April 9th, 2011 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total Words: 70

Total Blocks: 26

This is Barry Silk Saturday #2 - I figure C.C. knows this, and so I am here to "pinch hit".  Lots of sports and foreign words, but no French ( OK, we had MER, but I know that one ). Daunting at first, but a few "A-ha's", and I was able to do it in the usual "allotted" [personal choice] time.

And away we GO ~!

ACROSS:

1. Site of many a wet bar : BACHELOR PAD - I thought maybe Mr. Silk was shooting for some gym apparatus, like a BAG _ _ _, as I had GRASPED, not CLASPED - something with a sweat covered bar...

12. Long-eared critter : ASS

15. 1962 Brenda Lee hit : ALL ALONE AM I - not familiar with this.

16. __ Fáil: Irish coronation stone : LIA - Did not know this, either

17. Protected company asset : TRADE SECRET

18. Pres. Obama received an honorary one from Notre Dame : LLD - Doctorate of Legal Letters - I think Lemonade could say more.

19. Sine's reciprocal, in trig : COSECant - forgive me for not remembering who added the trig link about a week ago....

20. Petitions : SUES

21. Observed : SEEN - several Clechos;  23A. Look : MIEN;   53A. View : EYE

22. Egyptian hazards : ASPS - venomous snakes

24. 2003 Cy Young Award-winning reliever Eric : GAGNE - Me, I am hockey ( F@#$%g NY Rangers), but here is what I found

25. Flight formation : VEE

26. It holds the line : ROD - Uh, I would think it's the REEL, actually - fishing reference

27. Vacation souvenirs : T-SHIRTS - I like them as souvenirs

29. There are 300 feet between them : END ZONES - nice semi-mis-direction; football field, typically referred to as 100 yards, + 10yards per END ZONE

32. Bike power sources : PEDALS

33. Novelist, e.g. : WORDSMITH - good word

35. Nunavut native, formerly : ESKIMO - Most of northern Northern Canada

38. Spanish for "little cake" : TORTILLA - ugh, shoulda got this

42. Cockapoo pop, perhaps : SPANIEL - Cocker Spaniel and Poodle mix, Awww

44. Asian "path" : TAO

45. 39-Down article : EIN - ACH ~! It is German today ~!

46. Early transport : TRIKE - maybe an abbr.?....

47. Riskily off base : AWOL - and again~? - Absent Without Leave

49. Hindu "Destroyer" : SIVA -  I WAGed VEDA, not up on my Indian Gods/Goddesses

50. Like some breezes : EASY

51. Frost : HOAR - this, or RIME, and I had the latter to start, of course...

52. Wide zoot suit feature : LAPEL - had pants first, thought shoulders

54. Washington attraction : NATIONAL ZOO

56. Côte d'Azur view : MER - no comment....

57. Home of Spartan Stadium : EAST LANSING - Michigan

58. Old leftist gp. revived in 2006 : SDS - common in crosswords; here's the Wiki on it

59. Very long time : AGES AND AGES

DOWN:

1. It's under Wayne Manor : BATCAVE - nice, loved BATMAN BEGINS

2. 1953 A.L. MVP : AL ROSEN  - baseball #2 today; funny, but the clue is abbr., and the answer is not

3. Held tight : CLASPED - yeah, I had GRasped to start

4. It's guarded by the three-headed dog Cerberus : HADES - Just watched "Clash of the Titans", the re-release - not bad - I am a BACHELOR, and now a REDBOX junkie: here's Cerberus { also seen in Harry Potter as "Fluffy" }

5. Util. bill item : ELECtricity - out here, it's LIPA - the Long Island Power Authority

6. California's __ Gatos : LOS

7. Biased : ONE-SIDED

8. Give another memory jog to : RE-CUE

9. Rear : PARENT

10. Double agent Aldrich : AMES - Did not know this; very interesting

11. Code sound : DIT  and DAH, we had not long ago

12. Hay fever treatment brand : ALLEGRA

13. Chalk feature? : SILENT 'L' - I saw "TL" at the end, and stayed with it - well done, Mr Silk. L is silent in Chalk.

14. Gloom : SADNESS

21. Greeted, with "to" : SAID HI

23. Last president to wear a powdered wig : MONROE

24. Renewal target : GHETTO

26. College cohort : ROOMIE - just had this, too would this be a "doopzle"? That is, a duplicate puzzle answer in the same week?

28. Nice pass : SPIRAL - football again

30. Customizable online avatar : ZWINKY - here's where you can make your OWN ~! ( might be harmful to your computer)

31. Bygone flier : SST  Supersonic Transport

34. Droid maker : MOTOROLA - Droid, the cellular phone, which is associated with "Droid", the word George Lucas is credited with for "robot" - short for ANDROID

35. Treasures : ESTEEMS

36. Dealt with bugs, in a way : SPRAYED - this seemed to "EASY"

37. German leaders : KAISERS - Der German achgain

39. Home of the Bach-Archiv : LEIPZIG - drei German [ dont know 'third' ]

40. Con man's dream : LIVE ONE - sarcasm for a 'mark', the person about to be "taken"

41. Parallels : ANALOGS

43. Philosopher associated with 44-Across : LAO-TSE

48. Serves, with "on" : WAITS

49. Lively Cuban dance : SALSA

51. Den __, Nederland : HAAG - ich bi German achgain ( meh, Dutch?, same thing )

52. Touch down : LAND

54. PBS supporter : NEA not sure if this is the Nat'l endowment for the arts, or the education association....maybe both

55. Asian flatbread : NAN

Answer grid.

Thanks to all ~!

Enjoy

Splynter

Friday, April 8, 2011 Scott Atkinson

Theme: Lost in the City or the Country. Each of the six theme answers is capital of a country, with a single letter taken from the name of the country to create a new and wacky phrase. You can perhaps propose a better theme, but the concept is simple, though unstructured. The letter can be a consonant or vowel; it can be first or last or in the middle and the letters taken out WAONIQ, make only NO IQ, AW!

Hello, Lemonade riding the Friday express, and expressing my admiration for this puzzle; so let's do the theme entries.

16A. Celtic quaffs?: CARDIFF ALES. CARDIFF, WALES. Supposedly quite depressing, near the North Sea. Martha Grimes place one of her Richard Jury books there. You do need to know a Quaff is a libation.

30A. Caribbean baby animal?: HAVANA CUB. HAVANA, CUBA.

38A. Arabian guy?: MUSCAT MAN. MUSCAT, OMAN. We see this combination often, as clue or fill.

52A. East Asian "pet"?: BEIJING CHIA. BEIJING, CHINA. The amazingly long lasting CHIA PETS. This leads into a subtheme, with 12D. Capital ENE of Khatmandu: LHASA. This is NOT THE DOG . 24D. Some Chinese restaurant decor: GONGS. 48D. Contemporary of Mao: ZHOU. This LEADER and a clear shout out to our leader.

11D. Iberian bridge?: MADRID SPAN. MADRID SPAIN, which gives us two Spanish speaking countries.

26D. Mesopotamian savings plan?: BAGHDAD IRA. BAGHDAD IRAQ. My favorite, liking the concept of the war torn land setting up savings accounts, when they may be dead by bombing the next day.

This is from the constructor who gave us the RINKY DINKY puzzle last month, and has show some creativity. Lots of intricacies and interactions. So what do you all think? I had lots of fun. Oh let us solve it first.

Across:

1. Chuck E. Cheese's order: PIZZA. Wow, a puzzle starting with two Zs; this offering has the highest scrabble score of any I recall, though a K and X short of a Pangram. Couldn't he work a bowl of KIX in somewhere?

6. Disaster response gp.: EVAC. An EVACuation ambulance, which can be by sea, air or land. Hmmm, foreshadowing? We also have, 41A. 911 response initials: EMS. Emergency Medical System, manned by EMT's.

10. Eric the Red's birth year, roughly: CML, 950. This shout out for our Norwegian contingent, was born Erik Thorvaldsson (Old Norse: Eirīkr Þōrvaldsson; 950 – c. 1003 a.d), and was kicked out of Norway for manslaughter. He went to Iceland where he murdered at least three people. He continued his murderous ways until he set out and helped colonize Greenland. His son was Leif Ericcson, the first European to make it to the Americas.

13. Lets go: FREES.

14. Conscious: AWARE.

15. "A likely story!": HAH.

18. Old cereal box letters: RDA. Recommended daily allowance.

19. __-Caps: SNO, the movie theater version of the nonpareils (semi-sweet chocolate with dots of sugar) which we loved as children.

20. Anderson of Jethro Tull: IAN. Okay, though the name sounds Norse, he is a Scottish musician who brought the flute to rock and roll. Is their most famous song AQUALUNG ?

21. Pyle portrayer: NABORS. Jim Nabors, Gomer Pyle, USMC; I guess a shout out to Dennis. While Nabors was a very talented singer he was also the long time partner of Rock Hudson, which shocked the crap out of me.

23. Composer Stravinsky: IGOR; another sighting of this name, spelled with an I.

25. Words of affection from Luigi: CARA MIA, my dear in Italian. Am I the only one who thinks of GOMEZ; whenever I hear this phrase?

26. Club ingredient: BACON, Club Sandwich, not a club you use to hit, or go to get sozzled.

28. Astronaut Grissom: GUS. Gus Grissom, was part of the very first class of astronauts and had been chosen to command the first Apollo mission, when he and Roger Chafee and Ed White died in a fire while training. I was 18 and remember hearing about it like it was yesterday. Gus would have been 85 on April 3.

29. Seed alternative: SOD. Good thing we are not in an earlier puzzle, or I would not know sod all.

32. Impudent: SASSY. I cannot think of a better word to describe our corner ladies.

34. Senescent: AGING. I cannot think of a better word to describe... oops, I mean our first word from classic Latin, from SEN, meaning old (like SENILE, SENIOR) and ESCENT meaning becoming, like ADOLESCENT, ACQUIESCENT, TUMESCENT.

35. Refinery input: ORE. Tricky for me because I thought of OIL.

36. Escape to Vegas, maybe: ELOPE.

37. "__ life!": THAT'S. Let's SING ALONG.

40. Withdrawal concern: DTS. Delerium Tremens, the shakes one gets from alcohol withdrawal. My 10th grad math teacher Mr. Henderson, he would arrive with his coffee and his shaking would make us all nervous.

42. Hardly local: ALIEN, phone home Tinbeni.

43. '70s TV cop played by Robert Blake: BARETTA. Did you watch his murder trial, or his show which had a nice THEME SONG done by Sammy Davis, Jr.

45. Assorted: Abbr.: MISC. Ellaneous. My fourth grade teacher.

46. Farewells overseas: ADIEUS, a weak plural, but our French lesson, Jeannie; farewell, not goodbye.

47. Dinghy thingy: OAR. Bore. Rhyme time.

48. Electrical sound: ZAP. Love those bug zappers, fry you flying fiends!

51. Lighting brand: BIC. They won't let me forget my Cristal Bic story will they?

56. "__ you nuts?": ARE.

57. Matching: EQUAL. No longer the leading sweetener.

58. Agony and ecstasy: MOODS, also a fine book and movie about Michelangelo.

59. Dorm agts.: RAS. Resident Advisers.

60. 640 acres: Abbr.: SQ MI, yes the letter combination looks weird but they tell you it is an abbr, for Square Mile.

61. Opposite of lanky: SQUAT.

Made it halfway, lots of short words, so now the rest.

Down:

1. Cpl.'s subordinates: PFCS. Private First Class.

2. "__ (So Far Away)": 1982 hit for A Flock of Seagulls: I RAN, we could have had another country, instead we get this TUNE.

3. Reset: ZERO. Like your combination lock.

4. Letter from London: ZED, how they say ZEE in Merry Olde.

5. "__ was saying ...": AS I.

6. McGregor of "The Men Who Stare at Goats": EWAN. Another entertainer from Scotland, who has done many diverse movies from Moulin Rouge to Star Wars. An actual actor who plays parts, not himself.

7. Feb. sentiment: VAL, Valentine's Day. Sentiment?

8. Circus sites: ARENAS, Circus Maximus in ancient Rome.

9. French Oscar: CESAR. Did you ever wonder about the FRENCH movies? I love Catherine Deneuve.

10. Y for men only?: CHROMOSOME. I like this word, well done.

14. Way out yonder: AFAR.

17. Shrek's love: FIONA. Also a wonderful character on the Showtime series, SHAMELESS. For mature, open minded audiences only.

22. Like much Hawaiian lava: BASALTIC. You want Lave, I will give you stinking LAVA .

23. Complaint while groping: I CAN'T SEE . Well two things, an obvious shout out to me for my eye problems, just slightly sadistic; but let's face it, when I am groping someone, not being able to see does not matter. It is all in the hands.

25. Dice and ice, often: CUBES. Another rhyming clue.

27. Earhart et al.: AVIATRICES. Flying ladies, did anyone watch the movie?

28. Spiritual leaders: GURUS.

30. It may be tipped: HAT.

31. One commonly follows "said": COMMA. Have you ever had a comma happy boss? What, a, pain.

32. Naval acronym: SEALS. SEA, AIR and LAND.

33. Japanese dough: YEN.

39. Stone monument: CAIRN. These are basically ROCK PILES . Also, a Terrier, like Toto in the Wizard of Oz.

41. And those following, in footnotes: ET SEQQ; this one combines my law and Latin backgrounds, as we use this abbreviation whenever we want the reader to read a section of law and those sections which follow. The Latin is literally "and following." The two Qs are the plural.

43. King with a trunk: BABAR. I learned to read with the adventures of this ELEPHANT , and still collect Elephants.

44. Old TV parts: TUBES. my high school roommate had taken a course in TV repair; he taught me that they do not blow up, they implode. Fun.

45. Knight's protection: MAIL. Chain mail, as opposed to chain letters.

47. Ventura County resort: OJAI, a California gimme for our left coasters, and the direction the golf ball breaks on the greens out there.

49. Operatic slave: AIDA.

50. It's behind us: PAST.

53. Elemental suffix: IUM. So many, LITHIUM, SODIUM, HELIUM as well the magnetic metals.

54. MLB execs: GMS. General Managers. As opposed to field managers.

55. Chantilly crower: COQ. Chicken in French, au vin anyone? Trying to get me in trouble at the very end.

Answer grid.

Well, I am struggling to get done, so it is time to say sayonora. Until next time

Lemonade

Thursday, April 7, 2011 Don Gagliardo

Theme: How would you have spelt it? Revealed in 51 Across: Spin, as a cue ball, and how to answer each starred clue in this puzzle?: PUT ENGLISH ON IT. The last word of each answer is how you would find it in the OED (Oxford English Dictionary).

20. *Not exactly a nightie: FLANNEL PYJAMAS. From India and SW Asia "paijama", The English changed ai to "y", and the US simply dropped the "i". As for the clue, sometimes a suggestion of something hidden can be more alluring than outright exposure...

24. *Scales are part of it: PIANO PRACTISE. Practice is the noun, practise is the verb, but Americans are in the practice of always using practice.

33. *Reinforced road traveler: STEEL-BELTED TYRE. From tire "equipment, dress, covering", a shortened form of "attire". The notion is of the tire as the dressing of the wheel. The original spelling was tyre, which had shifted to tire in 17c.-18c., but since early 19c. tyre was revived in Great Britain with the advent of the pneumatic rubber form and become standard there.

43. *Headquarters: CONTROL CENTRE. The -er, -re ending confusion can be traced to Noah Webster, who attempted to reform English spelling in the US.  Despite his efforts, we still kept words like acre (instead of aker), ogre, and theatre (classy or pretentious?) Across the pond, Johnson's dictionary is considered authoritative for the -re endings, and seems to be a source of national pride (don't quote Webster to them...)

Hi all, Al here. I have to say, today the theme helped a lot. The top was refusing to fill in, but after getting CENTRE, the other theme spelt words fell quickly which gave me just enough to start getting perps.  I'll let Don's notes (included at the end) speak for themselves.

ACROSS:

1. Fictional falcon seeker: SPADE. Sam, as played by Bogie.

6. Fictional falcon source: MALTA. The Maltese Falcon. I've never seen this movie, maybe it's time to finally chase it down. Today's geography lesson.

11. "The Sting" number: RAG. Music from the movie originally composed by Scott Joplin, arranged by Marvin Hamlish.

14. Much of Israel: NEGEV. Desert.

15. Provide with heat?: ENARM. Heat, as in weapons.

16. Shaft discovery: ORE. A mining shaft of course. Any other interpretation would probably have you running to a urologist...

17. Speak above the crowd?: ORATE. Both literally (loudly) and figuratively (on a soapbox). I'm not sure if I have those backwards...

18. Solitude: TIME ALONE.

22. Jack edged him out in the 1980 U.S. Open: ISAO. AOKI. Golf. Both names are common crosswordese clues and answers, but usually one clues the other.

23. Jumbo, say: SIZE.

31. Some time ago: ONCE. upon a time.

32. Screwball: LOON.

41. "__, 'tis true, I have gone here and there": Sonnet 110: ALAS.

42. Choice word: EENY. Meeny Miny Moe.

48. Pole or Croat: SLAV. Apparently we get the word slave from slav because of their history of being conquered and being sold into servitude.

50. Where parts of the '95 film "Higher Learning" were shot: UCLA.

58. Radical: EXTREMIST. By definition, one far from the norm, thus should not be construed as representative, yet human nature will try to force a pattern...

59. Bathroom sink fitting: P-TRAP.

61. Bathroom, across the pond: LOO. More bonus English.

62. Berry picked for an Emmy: HALLE.

63. Sister of Thalia: ERATO. Muses.

64. Stab: TRY.

65. Loper leader: INTER. Prefix clue. An interloper is a "self-interested intruder".

66. Easily colored synthetic: DYNEL.

DOWN:

1. Desk globe filler?: SNO. Really kind of boring unless Pixar interprets it.

2. Line to tear along: Abbr.: PERForated.

3. "I've Got __ in Kalamazoo": A GAL. A Glenn Miller oldie.

4. Suspect, maybe: DETAINEE. With all the airport security measures now, I think the terrorists did win...

5. "Given that ...": EVEN SO.

6. Sky streaker: METEOR.

7. Deep blue: ANIL. The west indian shrub called the indigo plant, from which blue dyes are made.

8. Harpsichordist's aid: LAMP. I can only assume this is what the clue intended...

9. It has few pips: TREY. Playing card spots.

10. Key of Beethoven's Sym. No. 7: A MAJ. Second Movement (8:19)

11. Frosh assignment: ROOMIE. Often in the first year of college, you must stay in a dorm, and you can't always pick your own roommate.

12. Ball partner: ARNAZ. Lucy and Desi.

13. Sky honkers: GEESE. Did you ever notice that one side of their V formation is always longer than the other and wonder why that happens? It's because there are more geese on that side.

19. Lad's sweetheart: LASS. Scotland terms could be interpreted to be related to today's theme.

21. Hammock session: NAP.

24. Batt. terminal: POSitive. or NEGative.

25. NFL drive killer: INTerception in football.

26. Score very high on: ACE. As with an exam.

27. "This is __ sudden!": ALL SO.

28. Motel extra: COT.

29. Nail holder: TOE. A little tricky, and not my first thought.  Also, eww... but just a little.

30. Ill. neighbor: IND. Illinois and Indiana.

34. Data-sharing syst.: LAN. Local Area Network, connected computers, usually within a single building. Between buildings usually requires a WAN, Wide Area Network.

35. Lunch initials: BLT.

36. __ candy: EAR, and clecho: 40D. __ candy: EYE.

37. Renters, collectively: TENANTRY. Perhaps a bit archaic Middle English-like, and doesn't quite slide easily off your tongue, but at least it isn't boring.

38. Nevertheless: YET.

39. Time off, in mil. slang: RNR. Rest 'N Recreation

43. Yarn or bell, e.g.: CAT TOY.

44. Page-bottom directive: OVER.

45. Polish goal: LUSTER.  A disguised capitonym clue. "Hiding" it at the beginning of a sentence is a Thursday level of trickiness.

46. "The Shield" actress __ Pounder: CCH. Carol Christine Hilaria.

47. Made hasty altar plans: ELOPED.

48. Broke down, in a way: SPELT. Bonus theme-related English spelling.

49. Pyramid-shaped Vegas hotel: LUXOR.

52. Soda reportedly named for a bottle size: NEHI. One story is that the company founder sent one of his salesmen across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus to check out his competition in Alabama. The happy salesman returned to report that Alabama competition was only "knee-high". The other recurring story concerns the checking of bottle samples that were being considered for the new flavor line. Most of the drinks of that era were of the 6 or 7 ounce sizes. When the tall 9 ounce Nehi sample was set beside the competitors brands, the comment was made that the smaller bottles looked "knee-high" beside their new container.

53. Fed: G-MAN.

54. Happy tune: LILT. To "lift up".

55. Crow's-nest sighting: ISLE. On a Thursday, LAND was too simple.

56. Afghanistan neighbor: IRAN.

57. Thames gallery: TATE. More England references.

60. Capitol Hill mover: POL. Whenever I see this word, I think of Pol Pot...

Answer Grid.

Constructor's notes:

"It may be that this puzzle was inspired by a coworker of my wife, Barbara.  He is very English.  He solves my puzzles regularly and loves the diversion from his usual grind.  I have met others from England, and cannot help but marvel at their colorful phrases.  We walk our dogs in the snicket now.  I did not know the narrow, wooded glen was a snicket until the English neighbor told me so.  I cannot even find that word in an English dictionary, so who knows how many words are out there that are not even in print.  I have also marveled at the spelling changes from one language to the other.  The goal was to make as many kinds of substitutions as possible, and try to keep the word the same length.  I think I also tried for one-letter substitutions, but I cannot recall if I succeeded.  This puzzle will probably drive some people crazy at first, who think they got it right but find that it does not work out.  The unifier was important.  Fortunately there was a phrase that explains it all.  I wonder where that phrase, “Put English on it” comes from.  I used to hear people use it in reference to billiard shots.  I have even heard it on the golf course.  Does anyone know the origin of this phrase?" 

Here you go, Don:  Spin imparted to a ball, from French anglé "angled," which is similar to Anglais "English."

Al

Wednesday, April 6 2011, Patti Varol

PTheme: Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall. Each of the 13(!!) starred theme entries relates to the animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

1A. *"Bohemian Rhapsody" group : QUEEN. you're singing it in your head, aren't you?

6A. *Poet Whitman : WALT. i finally bought leaves of grass after hearing part of the poem 'spontaneous me' in the movie 'the notebook.' noah read it to his dad on the porch, remember?

23A. *Painfully shy : BASHFUL

26A. *Tormented by pollen, say : SNEEZY. bless you!

31A. *Cross : GRUMPY. harumph.

40A. *Medico's address : DOC. it looks nice right in the middle like that.

44A. *Like a quiet town : SLEEPY

48A. *He won 26 Oscars, including an Academy Honorary Award (consisting of one full-sized and seven miniature statuettes) for the film depicted in this puzzle's starred answers : DISNEY. when i first read this clue i hadn't figured out the theme yet, and had no idea anyone had won that many oscars (he was nominated for 64). it is a record that has not been broken. no wonder he created the happiest place on earth. here's an interesting disney link.

52A. *Cry of surprise : HEIGH HO. i thought of him.

68A. *Frosted flakes : SNOW. cute clue, sore subject for some of you. i was thinking more along the lines of this.

69A. *Chess side : WHITE

13D. *All smiles : HAPPY

48D. *Not very bright : DOPEY

melissa bee bogging.

WOW! i had so much fun with this puzzle. love, Love, LOVE heavy themage, and this one is absolutely overflowing with it. would not think it was even possible to fit all seven dwarves names, and 6 other related theme entries in a 15 * 15 grid . have not seen this constructor's name before, but now i'll keep an eye out for her ... really really enjoyed this, just brilliant.

a few bonuses, too:

39A. Aladdin's helper : GENIE. also a disney movie.

58A. Like a noted piper : PIED. 1933 disney short

60A. Roads scholar? : TRAMP. well it coulda been clued as 'Lady's beau.'

11D. "__ porridge hot ..." : PEASE. not disney, but a children's nursery rhyme. interesting trivia, according to wikipedia: "The 1959 Billy Wilder film Some Like It Hot derives its title from this rhyme."

and, loosely related:

8. Passed-down stories : LORE.

22. Man with morals : AESOP

i feel like it's my duty to link at least one song ... and what came to mind with this theme was seven days. it even contains the lyric 'the mirror squeaked, away i ran.'

Across

10. Exotic food fish : OPAH

14. Año Nuevo month : ENERO. enero is spanish for january - año nuevo is spanish for new year's eve.

15. Irish Spring variety : ALOE. soap.

16. Wife of Zeus : HERA

17. Sudoku fill-in : DIGIT

18. Fronded plant : FERN. i learned on npr's wait, wait don't tell me that sigmund freud had pteridophobia, a the morbid fear of ferns.

19. Irving hero : GARP

20. Starbucks pickup : COFFEE

27. Torino time period : ORA. italian for hour.

28. Good thinking : REASON

34. Overhauls : REBUILDS

41. Red simile words : A BEET. red as a beet.

42. Parent who minds how her kid acts? : STAGE MOM. cute.

45. Dojo discipline : KARATE. training facility for martial arts.

47. WNBA position : CTR

55. Quarterfinals complement, e.g. : OCTAD

56. Danube capital : VIENNA. austria. the danube is the second longest river in europe, after the volga.

59. Watch : TEND

64. Feminine suffix : ENNE

65. Corleone family head : VITO. the godfather.

66. "We're out of choices" : OTHER. made me giggle.

67. "Son of Frankenstein" role : YGOR

Down

1. Proof abbr. : QED. from wikipedia: an initialism of the Latin phrase quod erat demonstrandum, which means "what was to be demonstrated". The phrase is traditionally placed in its abbreviated form at the end of a mathematical proof orphilosophical argument when what was specified in the enunciation — and in the setting-out — has been exactly restated as the conclusion of the demonstration. The abbreviation thus signals the completion of the proof.

2. Cycle prefix : UNI. unicycle.

3. Hosp. test : EEG

4. "Love Story" novelist Segal : ERICH

5. __ this world: bizarre : NOT OF

6. Hem and haw : WAFFLE

7. On the safer side : ALEE

9. Downing Street number : TEN. number ten downing street, in london. residence of the prime minister.

10. "My goodness" : OH GEE

12. Paella ingrediente : ARROZ. spanish word for rice.

21. Faulkner's "The Sound and the __" : FURY

22. Like some reports : ANNUAL

23. His 3,000th hit was a homer : BOGGS. wade.

24. Stop in Québec? : ARRET. french.

25. Healthful hot spot : SAUNA

26. Cry noisily : SOB

29. Starbucks pickup : AROMA. clecho.

30. NYSE overseer : SEC. securities and exchange commission.

32. "Top Gun" foe : MIG. russian military aircraft.

33. Didn't wait for Christmas : PEEKED. are you a peeker?

35. "May __ of service?" : I BE

36. Hanger-on : LEECH. ew.

37. Pool statistic : DEPTH. the minimum depth of an olympic sized pool is 6' 7".

38. Start to foam? : STYRO. Styrofoam. thought of rabies.

40. Palme __: Cannes film award : DOR. the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival, it goes to the director of the best feature film of the official competition. had no idea.

43. Has the okay : MAY

44. Spotted : SEEN. i spy, with my little eye ...

46. Market index, familiarly : THE DOW. dow jones.

49. Best part of the cake, to some : ICING. you can have mine.

50. Shorthand pro : STENO. stenographer.

51. "Unsafe at Any Speed" author : NADER

53. Attached to a trailer hitch : IN TOW

54. Brooks of C & W : GARTH. thought kix first, not enough letters. why not spell out country and western?

56. Vital thin blue line : VEIN

Tuesday, April 5, 2011 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Down by the Sea - The end word of the theme entries relates to water movement.

20A. Chocolate-ribboned ice cream flavor : FUDGE RIPPLE

27A. One setting a new high : RECORD BREAKER. Waves as they break (fall over themselves and crash onto the shore) are known as breakers.

49A. Salon treatment : PERMANENT WAVE

56A. "Nifty, huh?" : "ISN'T IT SWELL?". A wave, especially when long and unbroken; What causes boats to rise and fall out on the ocean.

Argyle here. Too bad Donna couldn't get the entries in order, from slight movement to tsunami.

Across:

1. Shoppers' aids : BAGS

5. Chantilly product : LACE. Let the Big Bopper get your blood going. Clip.(2:27)

9. Religious subgroups : SECTS

14. Kareem's alma mater, briefly : UCLA. Basketball Hall of Famer Abdul-Jabbar played three seasons for the UCLA Bruins from 1966–69. He was known as Lew Alcindor at the time.

15. Airline with famously tight security : EL AL

16. Hackneyed : TRITE

17. Custardy Spanish dessert : FLAN, Image.

18. O'Hara homestead : TARA. Theme from the original soundtrack Clip.(3:51)

19. Nattered away : RAN ON

23. Two-outs-in-a-single-AB stats : DPs. Baseball's double-play.

24. Mai __ : TAI. Cocktail.

25. Asian cat breed : SIAMESE

32. Windsor Castle initials : HRH. His Royal Highness or Her Royal Highness.

33. Fabled fiddler : NERO

34. "All By __": Celine Dion hit : MYSELF. Clip.(3:59)

37. Spread in a dairy case : OLEO

39. Spots on a screen? : ADS. TV screen.

41. Inter or et follower : ALIA

42. Setting where a medium isn't rare : SEANCE

45. Nepal's continent : ASIA

48. Pioneered : LED

52. Aptly named boss at the quarry where Fred Flintstone works : MR. SLATE

54. Livy's "I love" : AMO. Titus Livius (59 BC – AD 17), known as Livy in English, was a Roman historian.

55. Mouse spotter's shriek : "EEK!"

62. Stockpile : AMASS

64. __'acte : ENTR. French for "between the acts", intermission.

65. Thought : IDEA

66. Capone henchman : NITTI. Francesco Raffaele Nittoni, AKA Frank Nitto, AKA Frank 'The Enforcer' Nitti" (January 27, 1881 – March 19, 1943) was a Prohibition gangster in Al Capone's gang.

67. Vaulted cathedral part : APSE

68. Sask. neighbor : N. DAK.

69. Isaac with a bow : STERN. Ukrainian-born violin virtuoso.

70. Inner Hebrides isle : SKYE. Home to Talisker single malt Scotch.

71. "... the slithy toves / Did __ and gimble ...": "Jabberwocky" : GYRE

Down: