WEDNESDAY, November 11, 2009—Allan E. Parrish

THEME: "Will This Song Never End?"—Three song titles begin with "endless" synonyms

Theme answers:

• 20A: 2002 #1 hit for rapper Ja Rule (ALWAYS ON TIME). I skimmed the lyrics for this song and, well, the anonymous commenter Tuesday evening who decried "all the profanity on this blog" is advised not to watch this video. Really. Don't say you weren't warned. (P.S. Don't use the comments to rail against rap. This will cause Rex's head to explode.)
  
  
  
  
• 36A: 1989 #1 hit for Paula Abdul (FOREVER YOUR GIRL). I am a hair too old to know any '89 pop songs. By then I was a college graduate and resolutely against listening to the "hot hits" radio stations, so I know nothing about this song. The official video can't be embedded, but you can have a listen and read the lyrics here.
  
  
  
  
• 56A: 1989 #1 hit for the Bangles (ETERNAL FLAME). More '89 pop? Don't know it. Here's a live performance. Sounds alright to me.
  

What else? Here are my favorite entries:

• 18A: Enchilada wraps (TORTILLAS). I prefer flour over corn. So sue me.
• 52A: He shared a Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk (MANDELA). The great Nelson Mandela, of course.
  
• 8D: Master performer (VIRTUOSO). Don't ask me why I tried to put VICTROLA here. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
• 21D: Chestnut horse (SORREL)/38D: Colorful horse (ROAN). ROAN horses (or cows!) have "a coat of a main color thickly interspersed with hairs of another color." SORRELs have a reddish-brown coat. Having one of these entries in a puzzle is dull, but having two? Now it's a horsy thing.
• 29D: Peter of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (BOYLE). He was the best part of that show.
• 40D: "Mind your own business!" ("GET A LIFE!"). Remember the goofball sitcom with Chris Elliott called Get a Life? Here's a clip in which the laugh track is excised and the laughs you hear are from the crew. He models!

Crosswordese 101: The clue 49D: And others: Latin gives us ET ALIA today, but we usually have its shorter abbreviation, ET AL. Other clues for the phrase: list ender; list shortener. Et alia means "and others" where others = things. Et alii means "and others" where others = people. ET ALII clues tend towards the bibliography phrase direction. Most popular clues for the nonspecific abbreviation ET AL include list ender; list-ending abbr.; bibliography abbr.; and others: Abbr.; and catchall abbr. We also sometimes get ALII or ALIA with fill-in-the-blank clues.

Everything Else — 1A: Taylor of "The Nanny" (RENEE); 6A: Roof projection (EAVE); 10A: Patsies (SAPS); 14A: Are (EXIST); 15A: ''Star Wars'' royalty (LEIA); 16A: Had bills (OWED); 17A: Senate minority leader McConnell (MITCH); 18A: Enchilada wraps (TORTILLAS); 20A: 2002 #1 hit for rapper Ja Rule (ALWAYS ON TIME); 22A: Lake Wobegon creator (KEILLOR); 23A: Without any help (UNAIDED); 27A: "¿Cómo __ usted?" (ESTÁ); 28A: "__Cop": 1987 film (ROBO); 30A: Sugar coating (GLAZE); 31A: Thrice, in Rx's (TER); 33A: Bone: Pref. (OSTE-); 35A: Rural area (LEA); 36A: 1989 #1 hit for Paula Abdul (FOREVER YOUR GIRL); 41A: Milne marsupial (ROO); 42A: Airline to Ben-Gurion (EL AL); 43A: 1950s-'60s "Man on the Street" comic Louis (NYE); 44A: Radio station alert sign (ON AIR); 46A: Academia VIP (DEAN); 48A: Apt. balcony (TERR.); 52A: He shared a Nobel Peace Prize with de Klerk (MANDELA); 54A: Will beneficiary (LEGATEE); 56A: 1989 #1 hit for the Bangles (ETERNAL FLAME); 58A: Ploy (STRATAGEM); 61A: Country singer McCann and others (LILAS); 62A: Mil. no-show (AWOL); 63A: Heavyweight bout? (SUMO); 64A: Blazing (AFIRE); 65A: Applies lightly (DABS); 66A: Grandson of Eve (ENOS); 67A: Hardwood trees (TEAKS); 1D: New version of an old film (REMAKE); 2D: Forces out of the country (EXILES); 3D: Jerk (NITWIT); 4D: Intensify (ESCALATE); 5D: __ alcohol (ETHYL); 6D: Corrida charger (EL TORO); 7D: Quite a long time (AEON); 8D: Master performer (VIRTUOSO); 9D: Dine at home (EAT IN); 10D: Cirque du __ (SOLEIL); 11D: Leatherworker's tool (AWL); 12D: Potpie veggie (PEA); 13D: '60s activist gp. (SDS); 19D: Mental pictures (IMAGERY); 21D: Chestnut horse (SORREL); 24D: Mustachioed Spanish surrealist (DALI); 25D: Former Israeli president Weizman (EZER); 26D: Give out cards (DEAL); 29D: Peter of "Everybody Loves Raymond" (BOYLE); 32D: City NNE of Seattle (EVERETT); 34D: Prison escape route, perhaps (TUNNEL); 36D: Gift tag word (FROM); 37D: Chaplin's last wife (OONA); 38D: Colorful horse (ROAN); 39D: Speed trap device (RADAR GUN); 40D: "Mind your own business!" ("GET A LIFE!"); 45D: Role models, say (IDEALS); 47D: Los __: Manhattan Project site (ALAMOS); 49D: And others: Latin (ET ALIA); 50D: Comment (REMARK); 51D: Popular candy pieces (REESE'S); 53D: Purchase alternative (LEASE); 55D: F-sharp equivalent (G FLAT); 57D: Verne captain (NEMO); 58D: Teary-eyed, perhaps (SAD); 59D: Pan Am rival (TWA); 60D: Take from illegally (ROB).

TUESDAY, November 10, 2009Donna S. Levin

 

Theme: "Sunday Drive" (okay, "Tuesday Drive") — First words of the theme answers describe four different types of drives.

Theme answers:

• 20A: One-hit wonder (FLASH IN THE PAN).
• 28A: Controversial school subject (SEX EDUCATION).
• 49A: President's selective rejection (LINE-ITEM VETO).
• 59A: Pact addressing nuclear proliferation (TEST-BAN TREATY).
• 68A: Hit from a tee, and word that can follow the first words of 20-, 28-, 49- and 59-Across (DRIVE).

Good stuff today. Donna's name is definitely one you want to see on your puzzle. She's a real pro. Today's theme is the old standby word-that-comes-after-part-of-the-theme-answer which I know some people get tired of, but in Donna's capable hands, it works out just fine. We've got SEX DRIVE in the puzzle, for crying out loud. How bad can it be?

Short Putts:

• 14A: Building passage (HALL). I've been working on a puzzle lately and have confirmed that I get a big kick out of using names as answers. I probably would have clued this one in relation to Monty Hall. I know some people don't like so many names in their puzzles. It's something I struggle with when constructing.
• 19A: Love, to Luigi (AMORE). I entered amour at first, completely forgetting that Luigi is not French but Italian.
• 25A: Hitter's stat (RBI). Hideki Matsui had six of 'em in Game Six of the World Series. He's had a few more throughout his career. Like when he hit a grand slam in his first game at Yankee Stadium. Wow!
• 37A: VCR successors (TIVOS). So I went to find the Hawkeye football game this past weekend and it looked to me like it was going to be on Sunday night so I completely missed it (their first loss of the season!). Why I didn't just look for their schedule online, I don't know. I just thought I could find it in the TV schedule. But I couldn't. It might simply be because we have so many channels now, but I tend to blame it on Verizon FIOS, which I ... hate. Tivo is so much better.
• 64A: Gemologist's weight (CARAT). Can never remember if this is spelled with a C or a K. Aha! Just looked it up and found that both are acceptable. And here I thought carat-with-a-C and karat-with-a-K were two different things.
• 67A: "__ and Away": 1960s hit (UP UP). Ladies and gentlemen, The Fifth Dimension.

• 64D: Swine flu watchdog agcy. (CDC). Timely clue!

Crosswordese 101: When it comes to operatic slave girls, there's no one more popular in CrossWorld than AIDA (61D: Verdi's slave girl). As we learn today, AIDA is a Verdi opera. That's the first thing you need to know — it's the name of the opera and the name of the main character. The story takes place in Egypt and premiered in 1871 in Cairo. Elton John and Tim Rice remade the opera into a Tony award–winning Broadway musical in 2000. You might also see AIDA mentioned in a clue for another piece of important crosswordese — ARIA (17A: Diva's number).

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Everything Else — 1A: Labor union foe (SCAB); 5A: 1999 Ron Howard film (EDTV); 9A: Clunker of a car (LEMON); 15A: Retired Cunard flagship, for short (QE II); 16A: Atlanta campus (EMORY); 18A: Samovars (URNS); 23A: Stylistic judgment (TASTE); 24A: Fishing aid (NET); 33A: Deface (MAR); 36A: It may be copped in court (PLEA); 38A: Oodles (A LOT); 40A: Mlles., in Spain (SRTAS.); 43A: Soccer immortal (PELE); 44A: Like thick carpets (PLUSH); 46A: Beehive State college team (UTES); 48A: No-goodnik (RAT); 53A: Finale (END); 54A: European toy dog, briefly (POM); 55A: Enter, as data (INPUT); 66A: Perjurer (LIAR); 69A: Rim (EDGE); 70A: Trim with a knife (PARE); 71A: Hood's scheme (CAPER); 72A: Halloween cover-up (MASK); 73A: IRS IDs (SSNS); 1D: Mine passage (SHAFT); 2D: "Cheers" waitress (CARLA); 3D: Fictitious name (ALIAS); 4D: Explosions (BLASTS); 5D: Prefix with lateral (EQUI-); 6D: Actor Bruce (DERN); 7D: Windshield option (TINT); 8D: Four-armed Hindu deity (VISHNU); 9D: Eagerly took advantage of, as an opportunity (LEAPT AT); 10D: Jane Austen novel (EMMA); 11D: Song with the lyric "I'm crossing you in style" (MOON RIVER); 12D: NHL legend Bobby (ORR); 13D: TV's "Science Guy" (NYE); 21D: Dickens schemer Uriah (HEEP); 22D: Common Mkt. (EEC); 26D: When repeated, Yalie's cheer (BOOLA); 27D: Map in a map (INSET); 29D: T-shirt sizes (XLS); 30D: Eternally, in poems (E'ER); 31D: Bit of information (DATUM); 32D: Bit of advice (TIP); 33D: Canada's national tree (MAPLE); 34D: Do-or-die poker bet (ALL IN); 35D: There and back (ROUND TRIP); 39D: Mao __-tung (TSE); 41D: Off-road ride, briefly (ATV); 42D: Observe (SEE); 45D: Cool cat (HIPSTER); 47D: Mix (STIR); 50D: Wee one (TOT); 51D: The Democrats' donkey, for one (EMBLEM); 52D: Outdoes (ONE-UPS); 56D: Half of the "California Dreamin'" singers (PAPAS); 57D: One-eighty (U-TURN); 58D: Works on a keyboard (TYPES); 60D: Icicle site (EAVE); 62D: Pesters (NAGS); 63D: Difficult journey (TREK); 65D: Coach Parseghian (ARA).

MONDAY, Nov. 9, 2009 — Barry C. Silk

THEME: Sleight of Hand — theme answers start with MAGIC, TRICK, and ILLUSION, respectively

A very nice early-week puzzle with one big problem: ILLUSION COLLAR?!? I have a hard time accepting this as a theme answer, in that it isn't common, famous, widely known, etc., to anyone except (perhaps) those that watch Cesar Milan's show. I have watched his show before and I still hadn't heard of this. Maybe in L.A. it's all the rage, but as well known commercial products go, this one doesn't even rate. I'm sure it was the best ILLUSION _____ phrase there was, but I still don't like it. Too marginal. MAGIC EIGHT BALL, on the other hand, is just right. A product that is famous outside of any one celebrity or TV show. Hours of constant, stupid fun for kids. As for the rest of the puzzle, it's gorgeous. Smooth and solid and interesting — except for SEDGY. W+T+F? That answer makes me a little WOOZY (but WOOZY is so good that it almost makes me forget about SEDGY).

Theme answers:

• 20A: Toy that might answer "It is decidedly so" (MAGIC EIGHT BALL)
• 35A: Sly inquiry (TRICK QUESTION)
• 51A: Cesar Milan dog-training apparatus (ILLUSION COLLAR)

Aside from the entirety of ILLUSION COLLAR, I had trouble only in the SE, where I wrote in AFLAME for ABLAZE (45D: On fire). Oh, and in the SW I wrote in TEEN-AGER for TEEN IDOL (35D: Miley Cyrus, for one), but immediately knew it was wrong. Clue was way too specific for the very general TEEN-AGER. Coincidentally, I watched the Miley Cyrus episode of "Family Guy" last night...



Crosswordese 101: AUK (28D: Northern diving bird) — One of many great avian members of the Crosswordese Hall of Fame. AUKs are like SKUAs, only without the "S" and with the letters rearranged. Also, check out this wikifact about AUKs: "Judging from molecular data, their closest living relatives appear to be the skuas, with these two lineages separating about 30 million years ago." SKUAs, however, are way more fond of (and capable of) flying. Technically AUKs can fly, but they'd prefer not. And now you know.

What else?

• 40A: Charlatan (FAKER) — not to be confused with a FAKIR, "A Hindu ascetic or religious mendicant, especially one who performs feats of MAGIC (!) or endurance" (answers.com)
• 7D: Criticize in a witty way (ZING) — what a great, original clue for ZING. YOOHOO ... ZING! That's a wacky north region for sure.
• 49A: Critic Reed (REX) — normally don't comment on instances of Me in the puzzle, but today REX crosses "HE'S So Fine" and RULER, so, you know, I had to say something.

See you Friday,

~RP

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