Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Bruce Haight and Loren Smith

Bruce Haight and Loren Smith team up to delight us with a puzzle where each of the theme answers start and stop with a W. 

18. "You think anyone cares about MY opinion?" : WHAT DO I KNOW ?

24. Boatload (of) : WHOLE SLEW

39. "Let's see here ... " : WELL NOW.

52. Overall concept of the universe : WORLD VIEW

58. Eye-of-newt concoction : WITCHES BREW

And the reveal:
49. Crammed (into) ... and, when aptly hyphenated, like 18-, 24-, 39-, 52- and 58-Across : WEDGED.  Aptly hyphenated as W-EDGED.

ACROSS:

1. "__ show time!" : IT'S.    So many movie scene choices.  This supercut that's 3:45 in duration must have taken hours to edit. 

The cited list of films.

4. Get some rays : BASK. Sunbathe.

8. Weak, excuse-wise : FLIMSY. Lame.  If it is important to you, you will find a way.  If not, you will find an excuse.

14. Stanley Cup org. : NHL.  National Hockey League. Things you might not know about the Stanley Cup

15. "See ya" : TATA.  We recently had the initialism TTFN for Ta Ta For Now.  I thought it originated as texting shorthand, but it apparently originated in the '40s.

16. Change from five stars to three, say : RERATE

17. Drink with jam and bread, in song : TEA.  Lyric in the song "Do-Re-Mi", from the movie Sound of Music.

20. Nocturnal birds : OWLS.  See 50D.

22. HBO miniseries "Big Little __" : LIES.  Haven't seen any episodes.  Wikipedia indicates it's a  mystery drama set in Monterey, CA.

23. Easy-to-scam people : SAPS

27. Caramel-filled candy : ROLO

28. "Hold the Hellmann's" : NO MAYO.  Qué ?  Tengo muchas ganas de mayo.  (see Google Translate, as required.)

29. Protein-building acid : AMINO

31. Mother in Calcutta : TERESA

35. "On the Beach" novelist Shute : NEVIL.  Thank you perps.   Found this overview of the author  Editor Eric's Greatlit: Authors and the novel.     Might be a handy site to bookmark.

36. Texter's #1 pal : BFF.   Best Friend Forever.

41. Finish : END

42. "You win" : I LOSE

44. Ophthalmologist's concern : MYOPIA.  Today's co-constructor, Bruce Haight, is "an ophthalmologist in the San Diego area, originally from Wisconsin."

46. Myanmar, once : BURMA

47. Gives the go-ahead : ALLOWS.  Also lets, but not let's.  Punctuation matters.  

51. Scent : ODOR

55. Guthrie of folk : ARLO

56. Manufacture : MAKE

57. Designer Gucci : ALDO

62. Sense of self : EGO

63. "You can say that again!" : AND HOW !   We are all looking forward to Argyle's return. AND HOW !

64. Christmas season : YULE

65. U.S. House member : REPresentative.

66. "You can say that again!" : YES YES

67. City near Tulsa : ENID.  Located about 105 miles WNW of Tulsa,  about 70 miles NNW of Oklahoma City, and about 110 miles SSW of Wichita.    Nicknamed the "Wheat Capital" of Oklahoma and the United States.

68. Radical '60s campus gp. : SDS.  Students for a Democratic Society.

DOWN:

1. Visiting the area : IN TOWN

2. "My Generation" rock band : THE WHO. OK, I could have linked the song in the clue, but decided to link "Love, Reign o'er Me" instead. The songs were ranked #3 and #5 respectively in Rolling Stones magazine's list of the Top 50 Greatest Hits by The Who.

 
3. Zigzag ski event : SLALOM

4. "Before I forget," in texts : BTW. By The Way. 

5. "Say __": doctor's directive : AAH

6. Buy time : STALL

7. Longtime "Today" co-host Couric : KATIE.

8. Some big dos : 'FROS.  Hairdos, Afros.  NBA Hall of Famer Julius Winfield Erving II. More widely known as Dr. J.

 

9. Kauai garland : LEI

10. Exasperating : IRKSOME

11. "Holy smokes!" : MAN ALIVE

12. Drop by, colloquially : STOP ON IN.  Homey. Welcoming.

13. Evergreens shrubs : YEWS

19. Drops on the grass : DEW

21. Wood strip : SLAT

25. Glasses and goggles : EYE WEAR.  Corrective and protective, and sometimes both.  An ophthalmologist, such as Dr, Bruce Haight, might recommend these.

26. Achy : SORE

27. Acted without restraint : RAN WILD

30. Overused, as jokes : OLD

32. Shade tree : ELM

33. Foxy : SLY

34. "I'll take that as __" : A NO

36. Lobster eater's protection : BIB 

37. The "F" element in CFC : FLUORINE. Chlorofluorocarbon.  CFCs are widely used as refrigerants. Not good for the ozone. Many will recognize the DuPont brand name of Freon.  Paraphrased from Wikipedia. 

38. Full-size cars of the 1960s-'80s : FORD LTDs.  A brother-in-law bought a new one in '73 or '74 after getting a significant job promotion.  The car was huge, well-appointed, and had a very comfortable ride, along with a large V-8 gas-guzzling engine that was standard equipment back in the day.

40. Lustrous white gem : OPAL

43. Kissy-kissy : SMOOCHY

45. Thomas __ Edison : ALVA

48. Persian Gulf ships : OILERS

50. Descends suddenly : SWOOPS.  Great Gray Owl swoops in for a rodent. Beautiful photograph.

52. Used to be : WAS

53. "All right, so long" : OK BYE

54. "Friends" episode, now : RERUN

55. Not 1-Down : AWAY

56. Kitty sounds : MEWS. CrossEyedDave links the best kitty cat videos, but I'll give it a shot with mews.

59. Groundbreaking invention? : HOE.  Nice clue. Also, long clue for such a short answer.

60. Quarterback Manning : ELI.  QB of the "N.Y. football Giants."   Two-time Super Bowl MVP. 

61. Marry : WED

See all y'all later n'at ! 

TTP

Monday March 26, 2018 Paul Coulter

Theme: LA LA LAND (40. 2016 Gosling/Stone film ... and, as shown by circles, what each of four answers is) - Each theme entry is a place with *LA* and *LA* in it.

 17A. Narrow land formation along the Bering Sea : ALASKA PENINSULA

 33A. Upstate New York Winter Olympics village : LAKE PLLACID

 42A. Washington city with a repetitive name : WALLA WALLA

 58A. Scottish archipelago : SHETLAND ISLANDS
 
Boomer here.

Hi everyone.  Wishing you all a glorious Monday!  I used to hate Mondays but then I retired.  Now I bowl three of seven games on Mondays and in the fall I coach high school bowling so Mondays come and go quickly.  I join all of you in wishing Argyle a speedy recovery, but in the meantime, you are stuck with me.

Today's puzzle was a bit of a challenge and I had trouble with some of the clues.  Plus, I never could get used to calling Los Angeles "LA LA Land". 

 Across:    

1. Norway's capital : OSLO

5. Central Florida city : OCALA - Spring training land.  Major League baseball starts next week!

10. Distillery containers : VATS

14. Procrastinator's promise : SOON - "I'll get around to it" had too many letters

15. Something in the air : VAPOR - Some smokers are trying e-cigs.  I am not sure if they help cut down on tobacco, but they are banned in most places where you are not allowed to smoke.

16. Building beam : I-BAR

20. Price hike: Abbr. : INCR. Not too happy with abbreviations in puzzles.

21. Bard's "before" : ERE

22. Billionaire Bill : GATES - Yup the president and CEO of Micro something.  I think I have heard of him.

23. Puts on the line : RISKS

25. Marshy area : BOG -  This answer makes me remember Wade Boggs first a Red Sox, then a Yankee.

26. Most despicable : BASEST

29. "Citizen Kane" sled : ROSEBUD - I am not a "Citizen Kane" groupie, but I am looking forward to see if the rose bush in our garden survived the winter.

36. Acapulco article : UNA

37. O. Henry specialty : IRONY - I thought O'Henry was a candy bar

38. It was thrown into the harbor in a 1773 "party" : TEA  - I was not there, but it was a legitimate protest.  I object that the renegades chose to disguise themselves as native Americans.

39. Ingenious : SLICK

41. __ long way: help considerably : GO A

44. Intertwined : ENLACED

47. Not as cold, as weather : MILDER - We in the North are looking forward to milder weather.  It's getting there, but we have not seen 50 yet.

48. Hi-tech worker : BOT - A Robot is a machine in a factory.  I thought a BOT was an internet thing that steals your preferences so it will know how you vote.  I must watch too much CNN.

49. Hindu deity : SHIVA

51. "Nonsense!" : PSHAW - My 4th grade teacher had a blast teaching this word for our spelling test.

54. Spy org. called "The Company" : CIA - "The CIA's subversive, and so's the FCC.  There's no one left but thee and we, and we're not sure of thee."  Have fun and name that tune.

55. Hamburg's river : ELBE - Did not know that one.  Remember I said I only visited Hardheim/Wertheim

62. Hot under the collar : SORE

63. Ball girl : BELLE

64. Bothers no end : NAGS

65. Like golf balls at the start of a hole, usually : TEED - Then I get "TEED" off when I hit it into the lake.

66. Nuclear trial : A TEST

67. Weight loss plan : DIET - Many people try the "Seafood Diet" - See Food, Eat it.

Down:

1. Mama bear, in Mexico : OSA

2. Songs sung alone : SOLI. - Plural of solo. Fooled me.

3. Student aid : LOAN - It's really too bad that young people have to borrow money to get an education.

4. In the movies : ON SCREEN

5. Egg cells : OVA

6. "RUR" playwright : CAPEK

7. Copycats : APERS

8. Word with wolf or Ranger : LONE - Clayton Moore once visited a bowling center in St. Paul.  I don't think Jay Silverheels was with him though.

9. Shapiro of NPR : ARI - Also a news guy on MSNBC

10. Countenance : VISAGE

11. Adjoin : ABUT - Add a "T" to the clue and the answer and you will have a busy bar stool.

12. "A __ of Two Cities" : TALE - "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times".  Here we are 150 years later and "after changes upon changes, things are more or less the same." Name that tune.

13. Mmes., in Madrid : SRAS

18. __ Kreme: doughnut brand : KRISPY - They mad a grand entrances in Minnesota, had cars lined up dozens deep at the drive thru, but I think they left Minnesota and took the doughnuts with them.

19. Private nonprofits: Abbr. : NGOS. Non-Governmental Organizations.

24. Mo. town : STL - Motown is Detroit.  Cardinal town is STL where Ozzie and Stan the Man played.

25. Physique, informally : BOD

26. "Mudbound" actress Mary J. __ : BLIGE

27. Composer Copland : AARON - I don't know composers, but I do know who hit 755 home runs in his career.

28. Norwegian toast : SKOAL - I have seen it spelled this way, however when you salute the Minnesota Vikings it's "SKOL".

29. Mideast money : RIAL

30. Erect a house : BUILD - This is an interesting word, because when you finish building, you have a building.

31. Parent's brother : UNCLE - Holler "Uncle" - "I Ain't down" -I'm gonna learn to read and write, I'm gonna see what there is to see, and if the house is red and there's a big brass bed ......"  Name that tune.

32. Senegal's capital : DAKAR

34. Barely more than not at all : A TAD

35. Animation frame : CEL - Some of these by famous cartoonists and animated movie makers are now valuable collector's items.  I only like baseball cards.

39. Turn like a chair : SWIVEL

42. Dripping __: soaked : WET

43. Parisian pal : AMI

45. Died down : ABATED

46. Monastic hood : COWL

49. Move furtively : SIDLE

50. Waves for, as a taxi : HAILS - Sometimes rain turns to ice and you wish a taxi would get you outta here.

51. Hissed "Hey!" : PSST - I am waiting to see a four letter word with three vowels, but this isn't it.

52. Loafer or moc : SHOE - And neither are the next four

53. "Take this" : HERE

54. Tech news site : CNET

56. __ B'rith : BNAI

57. Barely beat : EDGE

59. Attorneys' org. : ABA

60. Filming site : SET - 6-11 games of tennis

61. Retired flier, briefly : SST - Super Sonic Transport.  No sure why it quit flying.  I think people liked to get to Europe in 2-3 hours,  But I know it was pretty pricey.

Boomer

Note from C.C.:

I finally talked to Argyle for a few minutes yesterday. I was happy that recognized my voice. No details on how long he'll stay in the hospital and when/where he'll be headed for rehab. He has no internet access at the moment. Hopefully soon he'll be back on line solving and reading our comments. 

 

Sunday March 25, 2017 C.C. Burnikel

Theme: "Word for Words"  - The words (all acronyms) are re-phrased as if they are real words:

23. Pet Airways security device? : CAT SCANNER

25. Narrative from novelist Levin? : IRA ACCOUNT. Ira Levin.

37. The Yankees during the Babe Ruth era? : SWAT TEAM. His nickname was "The Sultan of Swat".

45. Wine glass-making component? : STEM EDUCATION

69. Alley designation? : PIN NUMBER

90. Seminar on Hughes' poetry? : TED CONFERENCE. Give TED Radio Hour a try. Very well-curated.

99. Hockey contract negotiator? : ICE AGENT. ICE here stands for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

115. Association of gamblers? : BET NETWORK

117. Injury treatment for a top pitcher? : ACE BANDAGE

Hey, I don't need to send a Bat-Signal to Roman Forest for help. Grokked the theme before I even started.

Was happy to find a set where the change happens with all the first words. Probably should have gone with 8 theme entries. With 9, the fill suffer in a few spots.

Across:
      
1. Did a triathlon leg : BIKED. Swim. Bike. Run

6. Pepper spray alternative : MACE

10. At full speed : AMAIN

15. Slightly : A BIT

19. Taste enhanced by shrimp paste : UMAMI. Our Asian store carries various shrimp pastes. All made in Oo's homeland.

20. Otherworldly glow : AURA

21. Multi-colored spring bloomer : PANSY

22. Bugs or Porky : TOON

27. MIT, for one : SCH

28. Govt. investment : T-NOTE

29. Grand Mosque locale : MECCA

30. Luxury hotel chain : OMNI

31. Essence : MEAT

33. Pyrex sister brand : EKCO

35. It precedes Flames' home games : O CANADA. Calgary Flames.

40. True : ALIGN

43. Chicago Blackhawks' broadcaster : WGN

44. Give : CONCEDE

50. "Your point being?" : AND

51. Betel nut tree : ARECA. Never saw the tree in person. So fruitful.

53. Church reading : PSALM

54. Memorable Louis : XVI

55. A/C measures : BTUs

57. Agenda : TO-DO LIST

59. Dress policy at some fancy restaurants : NO DENIM. Crossing NIMES (49. City in southern France). Origin of the word "Denim".

62. Enzyme ending : ASE

64. Shot at a bar : DRAM

65. Big name in anti-itch cream : LANACANE

66. Slow-cooked dishes : STEWS

72. "The Highwayman" poet : NOYES

73. "Don't sweat it" : NO BIGGIE Also 94. "Amen to that!" : I HEAR YA And 36. "It'll be fun!" : AW C'MON Also 95. "Hold your horses" : EASY NOW

75. "Of course!" : SURE

76. __ Paese cheese : BEL

77. Like some celestial paths : ORBITAL

78. Isn't being used : SITS IDLE

81. Dust jacket ID : ISBN

85. City bus path: Abbr. : RTE

86. Expose : RAT ON

88. Where __ : IT'S AT

89. Green Day drummer __ Cool : TRE

97. Inseparable : ONE

98. Utterly lost : AT SEA

100. Solo performance : RECITAL

103. Actor Cumming : ALAN

105. Lat. and Ukr., formerly : SSRS

106. SpaceX CEO Musk : ELON. He just deleted his and SpaceX's Facebook pages.

107. Put a damper on : DETER

110. Memorize things, maybe : STUDY

112. Part of U.S. : SAM. Oh, Uncle Sam. My submitted clue refers to the singer Sam Smith.

119. Not worth __ : A SOU

120. Resort rental : CANOE

121. Apple Watch assistant : SIRI. Also 12. Apple since 1998 : iMAC

122. Exposed : OUTED

123. Body imperfection : DENT

124. Dover souls : BRITS. Nice clue. Also Rich's.


125. Warmhearted : KIND

126. Plot spoilers? : WEEDS
  
 Down:
 
1. Tampa NFLers : BUCS

 3. Nepal Airlines headquarters : KATHMANDU. Never been to this city. Almost mythical.

4. First-responder letters : EMS

5. Call the shots : DICTATE

6. Hand, to Jorge : MANO

7. Uncle Henry's wife : AUNT EM. I can watch this movie again and again.

8. Wading spot : CREEK

9. Corn holder : EAR

10. Cap-__: from head to toe : A PIE

11. Jacobs of fashion : MARC. Pricey label.

12. Jungle crusher : ANACONDA

13. Genesis father of twins : ISAAC

14. 1785-'90 U.S. capital : NYC. Oh, I did not know this trivia. But Xi'an was the capital city of China for many many years also.

15. Ferocious Flea foe : ATOM ANT

16. Like hardcovers : BOUND

17. Ancient neighbor of Lydia : IONIA

18. Big bang producer : TNT

24. Come before : ANTEDATE

26. Dance in a line : CONGA

29. Beauty mark : MOLE

32. And so on: Abbr. : ETC

34. Language of Andorra : CATALAN

37. Striker's bane : SCAB

38. Habit : WONT

39. Flying start? : AERO

41. Little devils : IMPS. Our Spitzboov! Hope all went smoothly with Betty yesterday.

Spitzboov, Betty and Argyle, August 23, 2014, Washington County Fair

42. Daring exploit : GEST
 
45. Reject with contempt : SCORN. Also 66. Show contempt : SNORT

46. Forearm-related : ULNAR

47. Slangy rejection : IXNAY

48. Like critters counted at night : OVINE

52. One of the Van Halens : EDDIE

56. 2005 horror sequel : SAW II

58. "If __": "So be it" : I MUST

60. Hamlet, for one : DANE

61. Alfalfa sprouts concern : ECOLI. Had Alfalfa sprouts once. Did not like the taste. Love bean sprouts though.

63. USMC rank : SSGT

65. West Yorkshire's largest city : LEEDS
  
67. Sacher dessert : TORTE

68. Receded : EBBED

69. Risotto relative : PILAF. Here is Blue Hen's "Cheater Risotto". Here are the two potato dumplings I made earlier this week. I did not use the pillowcase to squeeze out the extra water as D-Otto instructed. Then I needed more flour. There's definitely a method in D-Otto's madness, but my dumplings had more integrity. The extra water was nutritious.

70. Show with numbers : MUSICAL

71. Shiny, in adspeak : BRITE

74. January birthstone : GARNET

76. Home to the Congressional Country Club : BETHESDA

78. Variety : SORT

79. "__ of My Soul": Isabel Allende novel : INES

80. Not of the cloth : LAIC.  I did not have "Not".

82. Took a course under duress? : STRESS-ATE

83. __ Mawr College : BRYN

84. In order : NEAT

87. "Madam Secretary" star : TEA LEONI. Nice to put her full name in.

91. Almond Joy ingredient : COCONUT. We also have 100. Creator of tasty cups : REESE

92. Cat-__-tails : O NINE

93. Close : NEAR
 
96. Cabinet dept. : AGR

99. Apprentice : INTERN
 
101. John of rock : ELTON. Sir.

102. Ugly marketing battle : AD WAR

104. Computer acronym : ASCII

108. Home run pace : TROT

109. Scrapes (out) : EKES

111. eBay competitor : UBID

113. Like fine cheese : AGED

114. Doc's orders : MEDS

115. Unenviable : BAD. So sorry to hear your troubles, Picard. I feel your frustration.

116. Doing the job, briefly : TCB. Take Care of Business. Picard's old host certainly did not.

117. "Don't __ me!" : ASK

118. Deserving : DUE

Jennifer, Argyle's "adopted" niece, said he's holding steady and doing well. Santa has received many cards from our blog and enjoys them. I'll keep you updated when I have the update. Santa, call me, maybe?

 

Saturday, March 24, 2018, Debbie Ellerin and Jeff Chen

A THEMELESS SATURDAY WITH DEBBIE AND JEFF

Debbie Ellerin and Jeff Chen have collaborated on this wonderful puzzle on National Chocolate Covered Raisin Day. Yum! Horizontal and vertical stacks are very impressive to me. There was also ample supply of Saturday subtleties such as the fabulous 45. Kvetching chorus : OYS.

Husker Gary here today saying OY Vey, let's hope we can make this a kvetching-free zone today as we are now officially in the season of spring!

Now let's see what else this wonderful duo has for us today:

Across

1. __ bar : TAPAS - Hispanic noshes

6. Line used when wrapping? : THAT'S THAT - What we bloggers might say after we wrap up reviewing a puzzle

15. Singer whose three studio albums have numerical titles : ADELE - A woman with a glorious voice and a plethora of vowels in her name

16. Was bugged : WORE A WIRE - Just speak into my shirt

17. Remove, as a corsage : UNPIN - Be careful how you're pinning and unpinning that corsage, Buster!

18. It has a climbing route called "The Nose" : EL CAPITAN 

19. Crude : TASTELESS - That may have been funny years ago but... 

21. Den denizens : CUBS - Saw them play the Royals in beautiful Sloan Stadium in Mesa, AZ on a beautiful 60F day last Sunday. The surrounding area is called Wrigleyville like it is in Chicago surrounding Wrigley Field. 

22. Nice assent : OUI - Yes in Nice, France!

23. League of Women Voters co-founder : CATT - Carrie Chapman CATT. Progress!

24. Assists a chef : PREPS - For me that would be, "Get out the ketchup, Gary!"

26. White House advisory gp. : NSC - JFK and his National Security Council in October 1961 during a very tense time in American history

27. Six-pack group : ABS - Here's how to work on your abdominal muscles 

28. Fighting chance : BOUT - What many consider the greatest and most brutal BOUT of all time. Joe Frazier's corner quit after the 14th round which gave Ali a TKO but Ali was begging his corner to "cut off his gloves" so he could quit but Joe beat him to it.

29. Comics shriek : YEOW

31. The African Queen, for one : STEAMBOAT - Bogie and Hepburn suffered many physical ailments making this movie in the brutal Belgian Congo

35. Former first daughter : MALIA and 2. To an annoying degree : AD NAUSEAM - I had _ U L I _ (JULIE Nixon) for the name for awhile because  I thought AD NAUSEAM ended in UM.

37. Make a call : OPT

38. Conqueror of Valencia in 1094 : EL CID

40. Brain in many an Asimov story : MAIN FRAME - Not exactly a MAIN FRAME but here is Isaac Asimov pitching a computer. Hey, authors have to eat too!

43. British title : DAME

44. Part of a flute : STEM - How 'bout a Champagne flute with a hollow STEM

47. __ shooter : PEA 

48. Buzzed : TIPSY

50. Pokémon that evolves to Kadabra : ABRA - Yeah, I knew that! 😛

51. Org. concerned with child support : PTA - Mrs. Johnson "socked it to the Harper Valley PTA"

52. Singer Vannelli : GINO - 65-yr-old GINO was performing in Scottsdale just after we left this week

53. 1995 AFI Life Achievement Award recipient : SPIELBERG - His first movie was Amblin' which he wrote, directed and edited with $15,000. I can't pick a favorite of his movies  but Apollo 13 is right up there.

55. Spidey sense, basically : ALARM BELL

58. Skateboard leap : OLLIE - Mass OLLIES

59. Stopped taking orders : WENT ROGUE - I did this at several points in my life which almost all turned out to be bad decisions 

60. Home of Armani and Prada : MILAN - Do they sell at Kohl's?

61. News credential : PRESS PASS - Where/when they wore them.

62. Place on a pedestal : EXALT


Down

1. Scientific name involving a repeated word : TAUTONYM - New word for me but you see an example at the bottom of this chart

3. What Brad's Drink became : PEPSI COLA - Invented in 1893 in New Bern, N.C. 

4. Settled down : ALIT

5. Elder or Younger Roman writer : SENECA - PLINY was not only wrong, it was one letter short

6. Modern-day eruption : TWEET STORM - Today everybody has an opinion and an electronic forum

7. "The Planets" composer : HOLST - It has seven movements - one for each planet except the one we inhabit

8. Story lines : ARCS - The ARC in the movie Apollo 13 quickly changed from getting to the Moon to getting back to Earth safely

9. It can be green, red or yellow : TEA - I'll bet a bunch that C.C.'s house does not contain a TEA bag 

10. Con's mark : SAP

11. Hyphenated word in a Hawthorne title : TWICE TOLD - An 1837 compilation of short stories he collected over the years

12. Put the bite on : HIT UP - Every year we get HIT UP for these delights. Gotta love the Thin Mints

13. Many Scheherazade characters : ARABS - A Rimsky-Korsakov symphonic suite based on The Arabian Knights

14. XXX, perhaps : TENS - Olympic judges at the Roman Colosseum? 

20. Big dogs : LABS and 24. Little dog : POM - Here's a cross of a Golden Lab and a Pomeranian. 

25. Self-Operating Napkin creator Goldberg : RUBE - Here it is!

28. Rides with wing-shaped tailfins : BAT MOBILES - There's more than one?

30. Game including golf and bowling : WII SPORTS

32. Taker of ppm measurements : EPA - The Environmental Protection Agency decides how many parts per million of any stuff can be in any other stuff

33. Barbershop quartet style : A CAPPELLA - A wonderful scene and fabulous music!

34. Race against the clock : TIME TRIAL - Omaha has been the site of the TIME TRIALS for the U.S. Olympic Swim Team for years.

36. Outdoor party crashers : ANTS

39. Buster? : DEA AGENT - Busting drug rings

41. "Bossypants" memoirist : FEY -Tina FEY is a funny woman

42. Fictional governess : EYRE - A mousy governess who softens the heart of her employer soon discovers that he's hiding a terrible secret. 

46. Rita Hayworth's title princess : SALOME - Her Salome dress recently sold at auction for $15,000. (Talk about contrast to Jane Eyre!)

48. Building subcontractor : TILER 

49. Just plain silly : INANE

50. Outstanding : A PLUS 

52. Be a looky-loo : GAWP - Of course I thought it was GAWK first



53. Genesis creator : SEGA

54. "Disarming Iraq" author Hans : BLIX - He was also the first western representative at the Chernobyl disaster site

56. Ceremonial title? : MRS - On What's My Line, Emcee John Daly's first question of a woman contestant after she signed in was, "Is it Miss or MRS. ______"?

57. Jazz genre : BOP- Or BEBOP 

What say you?

DA GRID