F R I D A Y August 6, 2010 Charles Barasch

Theme: C to the C-K — Words that end with a C in familiar phrases are changed to end with a CK, resulting in wacky phrases clued "?"-style.


Theme answers:

• 17A: Pre-1991 Russian veto? (SOVIET BLOCK).
• 29A: West Florida currency? (TAMPA BAY BUCK).
• 35A: Assault by killer trucks? (BIG MACK ATTACK).
• 43A: Construct a microscopic house? (BUILD ON SPECK).
• 57A: Jumpy bug? (NERVOUS TICK).

The theme today didn't really do much for me. But the rest of the puzzle was tough enough that it kept me interested. There were a few entries that I just flat didn't know:

• 14A: '60s-'70s San Francisco mayor (ALIOTO).
• 27A: Genes responsible for hereditary variations (ALLELES).
• 46D: Trillionth: Pref. (PICO-).
• 32D: Slightly eccentric (PIXILATED).

and a few that I really had to work for. I knew 41A: Actress Scala's was either Nia or Lia or … oh yeah GIA. (AGOG to the rescue! (36D: Worked up)). I'm not sure I would describe SPICE CAKE as necessarily "tangy," so I couldn't see that answer for quite a while (12D: Tangy dessert).

What else:

• 1A: Like some teeth (GAPPED). I had to work pretty hard up in this little corner. PuzzleFamily is getting read for vacation, but we're not driving so GAS UP (1D: Get ready to travel) didn't occur to me at all. Then I entered a C for the G — capped teeth, reasonable right? — and was really confused. Obviously worked it out eventually.
• 20A: Certain cardholder's cry (UNO). Tried "gin" first.

• 33A: Reactor safety overseer: Abbr. (NRC). Not sure exactly what this stands for, but I'm guessing the N is for "nuclear." Hold on … Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Looking stuff up for you. Just another service provide.
• 42A: He beat Okker to win the 1968 U.S. Open (ASHE). I don't believe I've ever heard of Okker, but "1968 U.S. Open" pointed me right to the gentleman from Virginia.
• 53A: Developmental step (STAGE). Tried "phase."
• 54A: E lead-in (B-C-D). Random alphabet string. ugh.
• 56A: Chickadee relative (TIT). Heh.
• 64A: Easter Island attraction (STATUE). This didn't come to my mind At All, but as soon as I got it, it was a real head-desk moment. I guess I've never really thought too much about those statues. Obviously, I've seen pictures of them, but I don't know anything about them.

• 2D: All by oneself (ALONE). See also 25D: Dateless (STAG).
• 6D: Web outfit (DOT COM). For the record, there's no period in DOT COM. I don't know if it's hyphenated or not and, honestly, I don't care. But there is no period right in the middle of that word. Because that wouldn't make any sense.
• 11D: Fashionable repast (LATE LUNCH). My favorite entry.
• 40D: Magic, at one time (NBA STAR). Even though I have When the Game Was Ours (by Larry Bird and Earvin "Magic" Johnson) sitting right on my bedstand, I was tricked by this one.
• 60D: Cardinal's letters (STL). More sports.

Crosswordese 101: LST, which stands for Landing Ship, Tank, "was the military designation for naval vessels created during World War II to support amphibious operations by carrying significant quantities of vehicles, cargo, and landing troops directly onto an unimproved shore" (according to Wikipedia). In crosswords, LST is almost always clued in reference to World War II, which clues such as "D-Day craft," "WWII transport," "D-Day carrier," "WWI vessel," "Omaha Beach lander, briefly," or 11A: WWII Normandy lander.

Other crosswordese in the puzzle that we've already covered:

• 4D: Islands staple (POI).
• 5D: Time to tan in Cannes (ÉTÉ).

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Everything Else — 7A: Recover (HEAL); 11A: WWII Normandy lander (LST); 15A: Business opening? (AGRI-); 16A: National Poetry Mo. (APR.); 19A: Madre's brother (TIO); 21A: Bit of tryst talk (COO); 22A: Boot (EJECT); 24A: Site of some adoptions (PET SHOP); 31A: On __ with (A PAR); 34A: Opposing vote (NAY); 40A: Equi- ending (NOX); 48A: Out there (AT LARGE); 49A: Occupy (INHABIT); 55A: Uracil is one of its basic components (RNA); 62A: __ Zion Church (AME); 63A: Gunk (CRUD); 65A: Not the color of money? (RED); 66A: Directors' banes (HAMS); 67A: Respected ones (ELDERS); 3D: Scissors feature (PIVOT); 4D: Islands staple (POI); 5D: Time to tan in Cannes (ÉTÉ); 7D: Symbol of virtue (HALO); 8D: Kind of trip taken by oneself? (EGO); 9D: Circle part (ARC); 10D: Plausible (LIKELY); 13D: One of the original Politburo members (TROTSKY); 18D: Comet Hale-__ (BOPP); 23D: Bush seen in Florida (JEB); 26D: Hurt (HARM); 27D: Incantation beginning (ABRA); 28D: Milk: Pref. (LACT-); 30D: Singer Paul and family (ANKAS); 31D: "Finally!" ("ABOUT TIME!"); 37D: Art film theater (CINE); 38D: Driver's gadget, for short (TACH); 39D: "May I __ favor?" (ASK A); 44D: Hang back (LAG); 45D: Soak (DRENCH); 47D: Ultimate purpose (END USE); 50D: Shiny, in product names (BRITE); 51D: Bring upon oneself (INCUR); 52D: Directors' units (TAKES); 54D: Some underwear (BVD'S); 58D: Notable period (ERA); 59D: Mai tai ingredient (RUM); 61D: Pinch (TAD).

WEDNESDAY, October 14, 2009—Charles Barasch

THEME: "76 Trombones – 73 Trombones = 3 Trombones"—Three phrases that have nothing to do with musical instruments are clued as if they do



(I didn't actually watch that clip, nor have I see the musical in its entirety. Or in part. Musicals are not my bag.)

Theme answers:

• 20A: Big Southwestern trombones? (TEXAS LONGHORNS). The Texas Longhorns are both a college sports team and a breed of cattle (and beetles!). I was going to include a photo of the Asian long-horned beetles that pose a threat to American trees, but they were too creepy-looking and gave me the willies.
  
• 37A: Refined trombones? (POLISHED BRASS). Horns are brass instruments, which, like anything brass, likes a good polishing. I'm thinking this answer isn't quite an in-the-language phrase like the crisp TEXAS LONGHORNS is.
  
• 54A: Continuously-playing trombones? (SUSTAINED WINDS). You could argue that this isn't an in-the-language term either, but you would be shouted down by Weather Channel junkies who like to watch hurricane coverage. Hurricane season's almost over—hooray for fewer bad storms than in recent years. But the Weather Channel's been more boring this summer.
  

So, just three theme entries today. Luckily, the constructor capitalized on that by including some fun words, 20 answers in the six- to eight-letter range, and only a couple clunkers. I'll put the seven-letter partial phrase ON EARTH (22D: Lord's Prayer words following "Thy will be done") in the latter category, along with the seldom seen partial 4D: EEK A "__ mouse!". Oh, and SHES, clued as 33D: Women. Any of you ever use the plural SHES? No? I thought not.

And now for the good stuff:

• 41A: Imitation (ERSATZ). It's got a Z and it's fun to say.
  
• 45A: Musical beat (RHYTHM). It took me years to learn how to spell this right. Gotta love a word with a Y and five consonants.
  
• 3D: Loud auto honker of yore (KLAXON). This "electric horn or a similar loud warning device" takes its name from the company that manufactured it in the early 20th century. Cool word. You want to know what a KLAXON sounds like these days? Please turn your speakers down, way down, for this:
  
  
  
  
• 36D: Slow-moving, as a river (LAZY). That's a lovely clue for LAZY.
  
• 44D: Crystalline mineral (QUARTZ). I like this because (1) I like me a little geology, (2) it comes in pretty colors, and (3) a Q! and a Z! And now I'm thinking about quarts of milk, which took me to that Simpsons episode where mosbter Fat Tony has been selling rat milk to the schools and Mayor Quimby declares, "You promised me dog or better." That line? It never gets old.
  

Crosswordese 101: Yesterday, PuzzleGirl wanted to cover OKAPI but found it had already been the subject of a CW 101 tutorial. A-ha! There's still a certain 7D: Large antelope called the ELAND that wants its moment in the sun. No, it's not e-Land, where we gather on the internet. It's a really large antelope. I think of antelopes as between a goat and a Shetland pony in size, but that behemoth easily outweighs a zebra. Key words you may see in ELAND clues include (1) spiral- or twisty-horned; (2) African, Kenyan, veldt, or Serengeti; and (3) oxlike—because yo, that thing is big. Doing the Google image search made me sad because about 20% of the photos showed a human hunter with his felled ELAND prey.

Everything Else — 1A: Made a disapproving sound (TSKED); 6A: Witticism (JEST); 10A: Highlander (SCOT); 14A: Cop __: bargain in court (A PLEA); 15A: Healing plant (ALOE); 16A: Oregon Treaty president (POLK); 17A: Trembling (SHAKY); 18A: Having all one's marbles (SANE); 19A: Word processing reversal (UNDO); 23A: Ending for "ranch" (-ERO); 24A: Neither Rep. nor Dem. (IND.); 25A: Thing (ENTITY); 27A: Madame, in Madrid (SEÑORA); 30A: Wide shoe size (EEE); 31A: Geese flight pattern (VEE); 32A: Actress Greer who received five consecutive Oscar nominations (GARSON); 35A: At the ready (ALERT); 40A: Made on a loom (WOVEN); 42A: Med or law lead-in (PRE-); 43A: Command ctrs. (HQS); 49A: Wells's "The Island of Dr. __" (MOREAU); 51A: Fill with wonder (AWE); 53A: Jr.'s son (III); 58A: Clenched weapon (FIST); 59A: Mechanical memorization (ROTE); 60A: Remark to the audience (ASIDE); 61A: To __: perfectly (A TEE); 62A: Sporty sunroof (T-TOP); 63A: Baseball card brand (FLEER); 64A: Wall St.'s "Big Board" (NYSE); 65A: Clownish (ZANY); 66A: Shore birds (TERNS); 1D: Samples a bit of (TASTES); 2D: Ball (SPHERE); 5D: Weekly septet (DAYS); 6D: Argonauts' leader (JASON); 8D: Tune (SONG); 9D: Dainty laugh (TEEHEE); 10D: Sudden gushing (SPURT); 11D: Conspires (with) (CONNIVES); 12D: Octogenarians, e.g. (OLDSTERS); 13D: Boxing ref's decision (TKO); 21D: Whopper creators (LIARS); 26D: Thus far (YET); 28D: Eye unsubtly (OGLE); 29D: Drizzly day chapeau (RAIN HAT); 30D: Some pass catchers (ENDS); 34D: Above, in poems (O'ER); 37D: Penetrable quality of skin (POROSITY); 38D: Makes a cliché of, say (OVERUSES); 39D: Exposed (BARED); 40D: Typist's stat. (WPM); 46D: More petite (TINIER); 47D: Like eggs in an Easter hunt (HIDDEN); 48D: Skinflints (MISERS); 50D: Big name in perfumery (ESTEE); 51D: Dramatist Chekhov (ANTON); 52D: Tearful (WEEPY); 55D: Letter after theta (IOTA); 56D: Drift, as an aroma (WAFT); 57D: Shipwreck site (ISLE); 58D: Air mover (FAN).