Friday Nov 25, 2011 Stephen Edward Anderson

Theme: PI Day - PI is inserted in each common phrase.

17A. Field operation run by idiots? : STUPID FARM. Stud farm. Funny clue.

23A. Track meet category for joggers? : LOPING DIVISION Long division.

36A. Views from Hamilton? : BERMUDA OPINIONS. Bermuda onions.

49A. Hook on a raft? : FLOATING PIRATE. Floating rate. The interest rate that changes periodically.

59A. Obsessive cleaners? : WIPING NUTS. Wing nuts.

Three in singular form, two in plural. Nice set. You don't want 4 in singular form, and 1 in plural. No odd man out!

Heavy themage (63 squares). The fill is rather clean. Only wish there's a PIS somewhere to unify the theme, to give a rationale/climax for the letter addition gimmick. March 14 will be a perfect day to run this puzzle also.

C.C. again, giving Lemonade a much-needed break for the holiday. I think this is Stephen Edward Anderson's LA Times debut. Congrats!

Across:

1. Sonar pulses : PINGS. Any Ping in your bag, Husker Gary?

6. Subj. for Aristotle : RHET. OK, rhetoric.

10. Staff note : MEMO

14. Gridiron strategy : SNEAK. Football just does not appeal to me.

15. First name in design : EERO (Saarinen)

16. Like much lore : ORAL

19. Diamond homecomings? : RUNS. Diamond = Baseball in late week puzzles.

20. Thrice, in Rx's : TER. Marti is the authority on this clue.

21. Do the honors : POUR. Boomer poured himself some Scotch yesterday, then he said "I'm grateful I can pig out today".

22. Hallmark : BADGE

27. To __ : A TEE

28. Thick : MIDST

29. Stone measuring 5.5 to 6.5 on the Mohs scale : OPAL. Please give stone measuring 10 to your girlfriend/wife.

32. Dojo discipline : JUDO. Ju = Soft/Gentle. Do = Chinese "Dao" = Way

33. Gaelic John : IAN. Ian = John.

41. __ alai : JAI

42. Appoint : NAME

43. Be intimate with : KNOW

44. Scrabble 10-pointer : Z-TILE. I bet Jerome beats everyone in Scrabble.

46. Liqueur flavoring : SLOE

54. Reunion attendees : AUNTS

55. Face-saver of a kind : ALOE. Nice clue.

56. Italian counterpart of the BBC : RAI. No idea. This is the most beautiful RAI (Aishwarya) in the world.

58. Sitter's concern : BRAT

62. Jay with jokes : LENO

63. Ecua. rejoined it in 2007 : OPEC. Hey, they just had a meeting on Wednesday.

64. Alternate version, in scores : OSSIA. Got me, Jazzbumpa. Rooted in "O sia" (let it be), says Dictionary.com

65. Petrol pick : ESSO

66. Slog (through), as tedious text : WADE. "Slog" again. I need to take WADE seriously.

67. Sharp : NATTY

Down:

1. Soft "Yoo-hoo!" : PSST

2. Chip maker : INTEL. Crunchy and fat-free.

3. Surgery opening? : NEURO. Neurosurgery.

4. Disparity : GAP

5. "Never mind" : SKIP IT

6. Place of cover : REFUGE. Can you believe people lie when applying Refugee Visa to the US?

7. Learned : HEARD

8. Bark up the wrong tree : ERR

9. Cartoon cat : TOM

10. Quagmire : MORASS

11. Learning : ERUDITION

12. Juicy fruit : MANGO. Try Whole Foods for SweeTango, Jayce. Or next year. These apples are available for a very short period of time each season. For a limited quantity only. Very precious.

13. '80s-'90s NFL commentator Merlin : OLSEN. His name escaped me again.

18. Cooked : DONE

22. Try to buy : BID ON

24. Date source : PALM. Have you had Medjool dates? So sweet.

25. Groggy words, perhaps : I'M UP. Oh, in bed.

26. Part of an old boast : VIDI (I saw). "Veni, vidi, vici".

29. Vb. target : OBJ. Verb/object.

30. Princess's nighttime problem : PEA

31. Casa Grande residents : ARIZONANS. We have quite a few Arizonans on our blog.

32. Sixpack with no special qualities? : JOE. Joe Sixpack. Disparaging term, no?

34. Yucatán year : ANO

35. Sydney is its cap. : NSW. New South Wales, where Kazie is from.

37. Pecks and feet, e.g. : UNITS

38. Flamboyant surrealist : DALI

39. "Yes!" : AMEN

40. Its headquarters are in Delft : IKEA. Did not know this trivia.

45. Body work? : TATTOO. Any body work, Tinbeni/Ant? You both sound pretty bad.

46. Do some film editing : SPLICE

47. Griffin's rear : LION. Looks majestic!

48. Old trail terminus : OREGON

49. Jean de La Fontaine story : FABLE. French fabulist. "A hungry stomach can not hear". He said.

50. Attracts : LURES. Ah, the macaroni, Dennis!

51. Rubbernecked : GAPED

52. Word on a coin : TRUST. In God we Trust.

53. Weird Al Yankovic song parody : EAT IT. I'm not linking. He's too weird for me.

57. "Indeed!" : I SAY

59. Flabbergast : WOW

60. Type of beer orig. brewed in England : IPA. India Pale Ale.

61. Ultra-secretive gp. : NSA (National Security Agency)

Answer grid.

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C.C.