Saturday, March 24th, 2012, Steve Salitan

Theme: None (well, a bit Indian, I think)

Words: 70

Blocks: 28

A little mix of everything today for me - some gimmes, some WAGs; some right-ons and some write-overs. A pinwheel of nines with two more climbers inside; got one by pure logic, the other pure luck -

9D. Hosp. staffers : E.R. DOCTORS - Had the first letter, "E", and the "-ORS", so....

31D. Mount high above Delphi : PARNASSUS - ah~! Greece~! Too early in the AM, I guess, and confused my DelPHi with DelHi (as in 44D). Had to WAG the second "S"; the rest was all perps; here's a map for you

Compared to last week's pummeling, I am pleased with how I did on this puzzle ~! I'd like to hear how you fared.

ONWARD ~!

ACROSS:

1. Diamond protector : GLASS CASE - Not Tarpaulin, so, sorry C.C., no baseball to start

10. Agra wrap : SAREE - Indian (Asian, like 44D.) garment; Agra is the site of the Taj Mahal - a crossword staple

15. A job ticket often accompanies one : WORK ORDER - seen my share of these; all my job tickets are numbered by my sobriety date; today is 80216

16. Southeastern town dubbed "Brick City" in the 1880s : OCALA - goofed here, too, thinking this was "ADOBE", but that's the South WEST; map

17. Deceptive football play : END-AROUND - I am not too familiar with football plays; the only ones I know are quarterback sneak, flea-flicker, and BLITZ~!!!

18. Inveigles : LURES - new word for me

19. Like arbitrators : NEUTRAL

20. Not straight up : OVER ICE - WHOA ~!!! Easy, Tin....

22. Packing gp.? : NRA - National Rifle Association, packing 'heat' - makes me think of this Blue Öyster Cult song.

23. Hairy TV cousin : ITT - the "Addams Family"

24. Bonds, in a way : CEMENTS - new this, but it took "DOCTOR" to give me the "C", and that altered my 10D.

25. Lawyer's thing : RES

26. Old gun across the pond : STEN - Image

27. Nice way to refer to you? : TOI - Nice the French city. As you know, meh, French for me (Nice, the city in France)

28. Some plants : SPIES - not this plant; mis-direction here

31. Sit (down) undaintily : PLOP

32. Blue genre : PORN - I hear one of the Republican candidates plans to "ban" pornography; good luck to him; he will NOT get my vote - any comments, lois?

33. Something to believe in : TENET - nailed it

34. __ ball: bad miss in hoops : AIR

35. Had, biblically : BEGAT

36. Disappearing sea : ARAL

37. Places for icons, briefly : CRTs - Cathode Ray Tubes, yeah I get it, but a bit of a stretch

38. Olympic speed skater __ Anton Ohno : APOLO - for the ladies

39. Some MDs : GPs - a WAG, but not too hard to guess - General Practitioners

40. Business word after "&," maybe : SONS - like P.C. Richard & SON (S)

41. It can lead to fisticuffs : IRE

42. Sister of Orestes : ELECTRA - a little mythology, if you care

44. Formicidae family member : ANT - I always wanted to have a whole wall of my house to be like 1A so I could have a really huge any farm

45. S.A.'s second-largest country : ARGentina

48. Sea nymphs : NEREIDS

49. Shooting marble : STEELIE - I put this in right away, tho I thought it was the ball from pinball....

51. Like a Frisbee's symmetry : AXIAL - not CONIC, and RADIAL didn't fit

52. Christian __ : SCIENTIST - not familiar with this one

54. Reagan attorney general : MEESE - The Wiki

55. "Rise 'n' shine!" : UP AND AT 'EM - crossing 46D. Out of the sack : RISEN

56. Blessed duo? : ESSES - bleSSed, very good

57. Common sedimentary rock : SANDSTONE

DOWN:

1. "Miracle on 34th Street" Oscar winner : GWENN - Ed #2, here - I have not seen this movie, go figure - but then again, I am "young"....

2. One unlikely to collaborate : LONER

3. Per __ ad Astra: RAF motto : ARDUA

4. Card game for three : SKAT

5. Most pathetic : SORRIEST

6. Certain Balkans : CROATS

7. __ education : ADULT

8. RFK, for three-plus yrs. : SENator - NYC renamed the Triboro bridge for him

10. Mirthless : SOLEMN - Had SULLEN to start

11. Words after seek or find : A CURE - find, yes, seek, meh

12. Champing at the bit : RARIN' TO GO

13. Kind of college : ELECTORAL

14. Gradually enters : EASES INTO

21. White House colloquialism : VEEP - VP, Vice President

25. Stagger : REEL

26. Thin apertures : SLITS

28. Acting handle : STAGE NAME - Splynter is my "stage name"

29. Baffles : PERPLEXES - Great fill, with an "X", too

30. Sequentially : IN A SERIES

32. Classical guitarist Romero : PEPE

35. Mixes well with others? : BARTENDS - another cute clue/ans.

37. Quantity destined to be burned : CORD - of wood, that is

40. Metro gates : STILES



41. Mean : INTEND - ah, the other meaning of mean

43. Cut out : CEASE

44. Indian, say : ASIAN - my my my ~!! Image

45. O'Connor's successor : ALITO - Supreme Court associate justice

47. "Understand?" : GET ME ???

50. Non-stateside state : ETAT - meh, French

53. Balancing pro : CPA - Busy busy busy; Certified Public Accountant

Answer grid.

For those who care to know, this was my first full week doing different trucks for UPS - I stayed union, and did not fall to the "DARK SIDE".... I am very happy with my new supervisor, assignment and drivers - and I had no mis-loaded packages for the first time in a long time - proof that I needed to change. Thanks for asking ~!!

Splynter (stage name)

Friday, March 23, 2012, Gareth Bain

Theme: Let's Dance! The letters CHA are added to the first word of three in-the- language two word phrases creating a new and amusing saying. A classic Friday with much nice fill, and a very doable grid from our regular South African contributor. I usually have trouble with GB's work, but this was smooth, though hardly easy.

18A. Keep a movie dog from wandering?: CHAIN TOTO. My ex-wife had a Cairn Terrier named Toto who needed to be chained after she went crazy, but that is another tale, which I will avoid in toto.

26A. Female padre? : CHAPLAIN JANE. How many plain janes turn into princesses, or is that just in the movies? My favorite these days is....

42A. Ancient mounted police?: CHARIOT SQUAD. A nice clue for my Roman studying oldest son.

and the reveal:

55A. Dance that reflects the pun-creating elements found in 18-, 26- and 42-Across: CHA CHA CHA.LINK for all who like DWTS or legs. One cha for each theme answer, cute.

Okay on to the show:

Across:

1. Fast food sides: SLAWS. I do not eat much fast food but like KFC's coleslaw.

6. Turkey: BOMB. Not the food but the failed entertainment, like Disney's John Carter of Mars.

10. Put away without restraint, with "on": OD'ED. Not in the death sense....

14. Unspoken: TACIT. From the Latin, Tacitus- silent.

15. '30s boxing champ: BAER. Heavyweight boxing champ for a year, father of Jr. who played Jethro on the Beverly Hillbillies and loser to James J. Braddock, story behind the movie Cinderella Man.

16. Tea traditionally made with cardamom: CHAI. Very yummy.

17. Slate, for one: EZINE. This online MAGAZINE. Does anyone of us read this?

20. Forced (in): WEDGED. Any bad high school memories guys?

22. Voted out: UNSEATED. No comment.

23. Emit: SPEW. Not to be confused with 1D. Boil slowly: STEW.

25. Angus, e.g.: BOVINE. Of cattle, like PORCINE of pigs.

31. Tropical reef denizen: MORAY. Eels.

32. Some claims: LIENS. Our law word of the day.

33. Brother's title: FRA. I like a nice FRA DIAVOLO sauce, Brother Devil.

36. Dhofar Rebellion country: OMAN. Also home to 28D. Dhow sailor: ARAB. This LINK.

37. Ski run: PISTE. My son went snow boarding on a Blue his first day; off course he fell often, but still...Anyway this French term literally means trail, and if you ski without a track if it called off piste, not to be confused with falling often which make you piste off.

38. Pen used at sea: BRIG. So what do we think of Jamie Lee Curtis as a love interest for Gibbs?

39. San Francisco's __ Hill: NOB. Better to think of snob than the current slang.

40. Roller coaster cries: WHEES. Which can lead an old man to wheeze.

41. Let up: ABATE. An A word I like.

44. Where to see a chin rest: VIOLIN. My baby Devin started out playing the violin.

47. Cavils: NITS. A shout out to our own Marti. Cavil is a favorite word of legal brief writers, who use it to emphasize their position without cavil.

48. Poem that ends "I am the captain of my soul": INVICTUS. This little POEM has influenced many not to give up, including this star 24D. Slicker: WILIER. CLIP. (1:41) He won!

51. Freewheels: COASTS. With no hills, we do not do this much in Florida.

57. Mauritius money: RUPEE. This tiny island in the Indian Ocean is perhaps best known as being the only home to the now extinct DODO bird, a nice shout out for one of our own.

58. Friends and acquaintances KITH. You have your Kith and your Kin.

59. Croat, e.g.: SLAV. Always sounds too much like SLOB.

60. More distant: ICIER. Do we all know an ICE QUEEN?

61. Barrie henchman: SMEE. JM author of Peter Pan.

62. Big __: nickname for LPGA great JoAnne Carner: MAMA. Is she a relative Jerome?

63. Coverage giant: AETNA. Brings me back to my days in Connecticut and tine to start...

Down:

2. Kick back: LAZE.

3. Ill-natured ACID. More acid tongued to me.

4. Rhea stat: WING SPAN. Another huge flightless bird.

5. How gas prices sometimes rise: STEEPLY. 3.95 here for 87.

6. Airer of the sitcom "'Allo 'Allo!": BBC.

7. Honolulu's home: OAHU. Aloha Hawaiin corner people.

8. Stingy: MEAN. Will always be Silas Marner to me, more than Scrooge.

9. Eastern Australian seaport: BRISBANE. A shout out for Kazie.

10. Musical range: OCTAVE. Minnie Ripperton had a 6.5 octave range.

11. Indian loincloth DHOTI. Not really a loin cloth in my mind but THIS.

12. Not left over: EATEN.

13. Part of LED: DIODE. Light-Emitting Diode.

19. '90s-'00s Dodges: NEONS. From the days when we tried to conserve fuel.

21. Traffic-controlling gp.: DEA. Drug Enforcement Administration, not cars.

26. Shout of encouragement: C'MON.

27. __ erectus: HOMO. All ready Lois, Carol, this is a story from history where you can tell us the true MOREL!

29. Second-generation Japanese American: NISEI. From the Japanese word NI meaning two. Does any other nation have such words?

30. Futuristic sitcom family name: JETSON. George and his boy Elroy...

33. Blücher's title in "Young Frankenstein": FRAU. From Terri Garr to CLORIS LEACHMAN.

34. Singer Coolidge: RITA. You like her version of this SONG?

35. Like balsamic vinegar: AGED. Like fine wines, and Lemonade?

37. Flight of fancy: PHANTASM. A really scary movie.

38. Cookout condiment : BBQ SAUCE. and, 52D. Cookout accessory: SPIT. The kind that rotates, silly.

40. Question of identity: WHICH. What? Why?

41. Columbia River city: ASTORIA. A shout to our Oregon group. LINK.

42. Old saw: CLICHE. We try not too.

43. First X, say: TIC. Oh, TAC

44. NyQuil maker: VICKS. From Vapo Rub an empire was built.

45. "I didn't know he had it __" : IN HIM.

46. Like aspen leaves: OVATE. Just like it sounds, egg shaped.

49. Troy Aikman's alma mater: UCLA. He started at Oklahoma, had his leg broken by Miami,coached by Jimmie Johnson; his heart broken by Barry Switzer and transferred, only to finish his career in Dallas first with Johnson and winning his third Super Bowl under Switzer.

50. Fake: SHAM. Could not resist this LINK.

.53. Typical "Hunger Games" trilogy reader: TEEN. Twilight going into the dark now?

54. Blood components: SERA.

56D. Burt's "The Killers" co-star: AVA. Another boxing reference, and the debut FILM for Burt Lancaster.(3:34).

Answer grid.

Okay, first a special thanks to John Lampkin and Annette for a fabulous night, and a thumbs up to Marti for doing her blog while on vacation! Time for this Lemonade to squeeze his way to bed.

Notes from C.C.:

1) A belated "Happy Birthday" to PK! If anyone wants his/her birthday celebrated on the blog, please email me at crosswordc@gmail.com

2) Here is a beautiful picture of our glamorous Marti, who is currently vacationing in Florida. She said "Tough day at the beach!!!" Guess what's in that cup?

Thursday, March 22, 2012 Ed Sessa

Theme: A ring of fire. You'll understand in a minute...

17A. A falsehood in every respect : PURE FICTION. I had almost filled in "pulp fiction", but no. That was a great movie, though!

24A. Chuck Connors title role : THE RIFLEMAN. I never watched the show much.

49A. "Scream" or "Halloween" : SLASHER FILM. I can't watch those, either, without having nightmares!

61A. Actor's liability : STAGE FRIGHT. Not very good for politicians or teachers, either, I would think.

And the unifier:

39. Risky activity, and what certain four-letter sequences in 17-, 24-, 49- and 61-Across are doing? : PLAYING WITH FIRE. You can see the anagrams of "FIRE" highlighted in the theme entries, above.

Marti here, playing with another interesting Ed Sessa offering.

Across:

1. Altar vestments : ALBS. Have not seen these for awhile.

5. Not back down : INSIST

11. Screw up : ERR. I made plenty of these today.

14. Boor : LOUT

15. Shortening name : CRISCO. I could not for the life of me suss this one without every single perp!

16. __ Paulo : SAO. Brazil.

19. Basinger of "Batman" : KIM. Here she is with the hero.

20. Congo River beast : HIPPO

21. Arson-investigating org. : ATF. Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, part of the US Department of Treasury. (Correction: It was shifted to the US Department of Justice in 2002. Thanks, Tinbeni!)

22. Three-time WNBA MVP __ Leslie : LISA. "Women's National Basketball Association", "Most Valuable Player". Also, a four-time Olympic gold medal winner.

23. Beast of burden : ASS

28. Condemn : DOOM

29. Passable : SO-SO

30. Common crossword clue ending : ABBR eviation.

33. Piper's followers : RATS. And Charlie Brown epithet.

36. D.C. hearings broadcaster : C-SPAN

42. Badly cooked : BURNT

43. Reasonable : SANE

44. Pilot's prefix : AERO

45. Summoning gesture : BECK. I would have rather seen this clued as "One-named American alternative rock musician". Then I would be able to link this song. Oh, wait! I can link it anyway! 3:54.

47. Plenty : A LOT

53. Sis, say : SIB

56. They're mostly fours : PARS. Occasionally there is a three or five thrown into a round of golf. But par fours are typical. How many do you get, Husker?

57. Tijuana relative : TIA. Aunt, in Spanish.

58. "Three inches is such a wretched height to be" speaker : ALICE. in Wonderland.

60. Sí, in Paris : OUI. Yes, in Boston.

64. __ pro nobis: pray for us : ORA. Latin.

65. Mid-size Nissan : ALTIMA

66. Latin 101 verb : AMAT. Latin.

67. Athlete's supporter : FAN

68. Have it in mind : MEAN TO

69. Ad amount : RATE

Down:

1. Top dog : ALPHA

2. Joe the boxer : LOUIS

3. Baby's achievements? : BURPS. I laughed out loud when this appeared from perps.

4. Baby book first : STEP. Also, BURPS.

5. Here, on the Seine : ICI. 8D: IS IT I, or are there a lot of foreign words today?

6. Atomic energy org. : NRC

7. Solo instrument in "Norwegian Wood" : SITAR. Another musical interlude. 2:03

9. Jeers (at) : SCOFFS

10. Heavy weight : TON

11. Ice cream treat since the 1920s : ESKIMO PIE. Yumm!

12. Mrs. Gorbachev : RAISA. She and First Lady Barbara Bush spoke at the Wellesley College commencement in 1990.

13. __ numeral : ROMAN

18. Snapshot, commercially : FOTO

22. Heart-healthy food claim : LESS FAT

25. Rhino feature : HORN

26. Webzines : E-MAGS

27. Scot's sailing site : LOCH

28. Wine quality : DRYNESS. No, that's the quality I have when I need a glass of wine...

30. LAPD alert : APB.All Points Bulletin.

31. Primary colore : BLU. "Colore" is the hint that we need an answer in Italian. Another foreign word.

32. Neanderthal type : BARBARIAN

34. Former carrier with a JFK hub : TWA. Merged with American Airlines in 2001.

35. Historic peninsula : SINAI. This oft-disputed piece of land.

37. JFK posting : ARR. Arrivals at JFK airport in Queens, N.Y.

38. "The Matrix" hero : NEO. He is "The One", and will end the war. Whatever.

40. Reason to scratch : ITCH

41. Archer of note : TELL. William with the apple.

46. Boiling point? : KETTLE. Fun clue.

48. Bridge master Sharif : OMAR. Probably better-known for his role in "Dr Zhivago".

49. Parody : SPOOF

50. Dr. with advice : LAURA

51. Cowboy's rope : RIATA

52. "Oliver Twist" villain : FAGIN

53. S, as in Socrates : SIGMA

54. Mac messaging program : I-CHAT

55. Actress Davis : BETTE

59. One to whom you might say, "I doubt that" : LIAR

61. Wanted poster uncle? : SAM.

62. CPR expert : EMT. Emergency Medical Technician, helpful when you need Cardiopulmonary resuscitation!

63. __ Schwarz : FAO

Answer grid.

Signing off to go to the beach!

Hugs,
Marti