Thursday, December 26, 2013 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: "I've got my EYE on you!!"

I bet very few people would be able to "see" this theme without the unifier smack-dab in the middle of the grid. (I know I didn't!)

39-Across. Minnesota's state fish, and a hint to all 12 border answers in this puzzle : WALLEYE. We were just talking about state dogs a few weeks ago. Who knew, Minnesota has a state fish?

All of the answers along the perimeter (WALLs) of the puzzle could precede the word EYE. 59 squares devoted to theme entries. Minimum for an LA Times weekday is 35 squares. Let's march clockwise around the grid to see them all.

1-Across. Chess side : BLACK. A black eye could be fixed by using a...

6-Across. Chest bone : RIB. …ribeye steak!

9-Across. Stripped : NAKED. The naked eye can see faint stars up to +8 brightness in a perfectly dark sky.

13-Down. Like some humor : DRY. But when a sad story is told, I bet there won't be a dry eye in the house!

28-Down. Two under par : EAGLE. If you had an eagle eye, you could spot a rabbit up to two miles away!

55-Down. Compulsory poker bet : BLIND. Just turn a blind eye and pretend you didn't see this comment...

69-Across. Brooks Robinson's base : THIRD. In Hinduism, the third eye refers to the brow chakra.

68-Across. Rosy : RED. The red-eye flight from LA to Boston is one I used to take sometimes.

67-Across. Calm water metaphor : GLASS. All I could think of was the parody of the old song, "After the Ball Was Over":

After the ball was over, Bonnie took out her glass eye,

Put her false teeth in the water, hung up her wig to dry;

Placed her false arm on the table, laid her false leg on the chair;

After the party was over, Bonnie was only half there!

60-Down. Important : BIG. Bigeye could refer to the ahi tuna used in sushi.  There is also a tropical bigeye fish that is orang-y in color. But I bet C.C. was thinking of the sushi one...

33-Down. Hogwarts teaching : MAGIC. "Magic Eye" is a series of books containing autostereograms. You know those 2-D pictures that appear 3-D when gazed at in just the right way, like these?

1-Down. Swallows, e.g. : BIRDS. So, I hope I have given you a birds-eye view of the theme.

Now, let's see what else C.C. has dished out for us.

Across:

14. Ancient region in Asia Minor : IONIA. In what is present-day Turkey.

15. Republic on St. George's Channel: Abbr. : IRE.land.

16. Basket willow : OSIER. Learned this from crosswords...

17. Pompeii attraction : RUINS.

18. Quicken Loans Arena NBAer : CAV.aliers of the Eastern Conference.

19. Strike site : ALLEY. Shout-out to Boomer!

20. Place to see FDR : DIME.

21. 40-decibel unit : SONE.

22. St. Pat's Day, e.g. : HOL.iday. Did everyone have a nice holiday celebration this year?

23. Pretend to be : SEEM.

24. Cricket call : CHIRP.

26. French pop : PERE.

29. Large primates : APES.

31. Barbary Wars participant, now : ALGERIA.

33. One of the smart set : MENSAN.

36. Seaweed extract : AGAR.

37. Ballpark fig.? : AVG.erage. Anyone else want "est."?

38. Boxing biopic : ALI. Played by Will Smith in the 2001 movie. There's a new one about his conscientious objection to fighting in Vietnam, which went to the Supreme Court.

41. Chum : PAL.

42. Do goo : GEL.

43. Covent Garden highlight : ARIA. Covent Garden is the site of the Royal Opera House in London.

44. Dalmatian's spot : DAPPLE. I always think of sunlight on the forest floor when I see this word.

46. Slothfulness : INERTIA.

48. Meyers of "SNL" : SETH.

49. Motor suffix : CADE.

50. "Coffee __?" : OR TEA.

52. Pequod captain : AHAB.

56. Shade provider : ELM.

58. Put in shells, say : LOAD. HaHa, I was thinking of the pasta dish "stuffed shells."

59. Little brook : RILL.

60. Prove untrue : BELIE.

62. Like the vbs. "creep" and "weep" : IRR.egular.

63. "Please, Mom?" : CAN'T I. Our refrain as kids was usually "Can I huh, pleasepleaseplease???"

64. Lay to rest : INTER.

65. Bolted down some nuts : ATE. Fun misdirection.

66. '50s movie monster destroyed at Mount Aso : RODAN. I was too young to watch monster flicks in the fifties.

Down:

2. Acerbic dispatcher on "Taxi" : LOUIE. Played by Danny DeVito.

3. Moving manga : ANIME. Pronounced AH-nee-may.

4. Multiplexes : CINEMAS.

5. __ in kilo : K AS. After Juliett and before Lima in the NATO alphabet.

6. Some copiers : RICOHS.

7. "Argo" extra : IRANI. I still haven't seen the movie.

8. Drink : BEVERAGE.

9. Conductor of the first rescue mission : NOAH. All the animals on the ark.

10. At an angle : ASLOPE.

11. Best-selling program, in tech lingo : KILLER APP. Great fill!

12. Broad foot letters : EEE.

21. Novel query requirement : SCENARIO.

25. What possums do when threatened : PLAY DEAD.

27. Bing, to Google : RIVAL.

30. Investigate, tabby-style : PAW AT. Yesterday my cats had more fun with the discarded ribbons and boxes than they did with their new cat toys.

32. Classic : GREAT.

34. Kagan who clerked for Thurgood Marshall : ELENA. Now an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court.

35. Rosetta Stone discovery area : NILE DELTA.

36. Like : ALA.

40. 1997 film with the tagline "Coming soon. Honest." : LIAR LIAR. Starring Jim Carrey.

45. Giza pyramid builder : PHARAOH.

47. Depends (on) : RELIES.

48. Like some sesame-crusted tuna : SEARED.

51. Rich cake : TORTE.

53. Language that gives us "pajamas" : HINDI.

54. Scene of some sworn statements : ALTAR.

57. Seas, to Cezanne : MERS.

61. Blowup: Abbr. : ENL.argement.

63. Old PC monitor : CRT. Cathode Ray Tube, now largely replaced by LCD and plasma screens.

See you all next week, when some of us will still be nursing hangovers. Not moi!!

Marti

Note from C.C.:

I'd like to share with you an email I got yesterday from Phyllis Tamres:

  ".....I love to do xwords, cryptograms & sudokus.  I do them every morning to get my 82 year old brain going. then I work on my website designs and my books––just starting my third..."

Phyllis is the author of  "Maddy and Terri". She also said "I take delight in the comments and photos on your site".

This blog drives me crazy at times. I can't imagine working with codes and other design stuff at 82. You rock, Phyllis!

Phyllis Tamres