09.11 Sun

S U N D A Y
September 11, 2011
Robert H. Wolfe

[Note: This is the syndicated L.A. Times puzzle. It does not appear in the actual newspaper, but is available for free at cruciverb.com.]

Theme: "Let Me Interject" — Interjections replace soundalike words in familiar phrases. Wow!

Theme Entries:

• 24A: Frat for complainers? ("FIE!" BETA KAPPA).
• 26A: "Look! Ghosts!"? ("LO!" SPIRITS).
• 112A: Complaint about a weak morning cup? (COFFEE "BAH!").
• 119A: Unfriendly store owner? ("SHOO!" MERCHANT).
• 13D: At exhilarating times? (IN THE "WHEE!" HOURS).
• 36D: "Pauses are normal" adage? (TO "ER!" IS HUMAN).
• 42D: Like kittens and puppies? ("AW!" INSPIRING).
• 52D: One skilled at expressing relief? (MAN OF "PHEW!" WORDS).

Hey, crossword fans. Doug here on Sunday. I like today's theme. Clever and original. We can't have a discussion about interjections without listening to this first...

OK, now you know that interjections are generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point. That's a catchy lyric.

Four across theme entries and four down theme entries made for an unusual, disjointed grid. Did any of you have trouble breaking into the corners? Probably not. You're all awesome.

Bullets:

• 45A: Islands to which canaries are native (AZORES). The Azores and the Canary Islands are in the same general area of the Atlantic Ocean. But the Canary Islands are actually named after dogs (canines), not canaries. It's a little confusing, and I can't get the "Interjections" song out of my head, so I'm moving on.
• 49A: 17-Down's org. (NHL) / 17D: Old Bruin nickname (ESPO). "Espo" is Phil Esposito, a famous hockey player. Wikipedia tells me that Espo is an "Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame." You know he's a legend because he gets the special Canadian spelling. Regular players are just "Honored Members."
• 37D: 49-Across's Bobby et al.(ORRS). Yikes, another cross-referenced hockey clue. If I see one more mention of hockey, I'm going to have to use a naughty interjection.

• 58A: Like most mules (STERILE). I psyched myself out on this one. When I see "mule" or "pump" in a clue, I assume the constructor is being tricky by referring to shoes. So I was trying to squeeze BACKLESS or STRAPLESS or something shoe-related into this spot.
  
• 79A: Creator of Auric and Julius (IAN). Auric Goldfinger and Dr. Julius No, both created by Fleming, Ian Fleming.
• 97A: One with net gains? (SEINER). A seiner is a fisherman who catches fish with a net (seine). SEINER isn't a good entry, and the cute clue only draws attention to it. You're better off to use something obvious like "Fisherman with a net" so the solver won't spend much time pondering the entry.
• 35D: Worshiper of the rain god Tlaloc (AZTEC). Hey, you don't have to be an Aztec to make a sacrifice to Tlaloc every now and then. Am I right?
• 42D: Like kittens and puppies? ("AW!" INSPIRING). Kittens! Inspired by kittens! (I showed this video to PuzzleGirl last night, and she loved it. Seriously. Watch it.)

• 86D: FRONTLINE target (FLEA). A product for killing fleas on your kitten or puppy. I'm not sure what's up with the name being in capital letters. I went to their website, and they do use all-caps FRONTLINE exclusively. Maybe it scares the fleas more than lowercase letters would.
• 108D: Shoulder troublemaker? (CHIP). A chip on your shoulder. Cute clue. 

See you all next Sunday.

08.12 Fri

F R I D A Y
August 12, 2011
Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Do I Need to Spell It Out for You? — Each theme answer is a familiar phrase beginning with a word that is a homophone of a letter of the alphabet.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Urban area set aside for pekoe purveyors? (TEA SQUARE).
• 25A: New Zealand lamb-exporting method? (EWE BOAT).
• 28A: End of the line? (QUEUE TIP).
• 47A: "The Look of Love" and "Suddenly I See," e.g.? (EYE TUNES).
• 49A: Pitch notation for Debussy's "La Mer"? (SEA CLEF).
• 58A: Island allotment? (CAY RATION).

Busy day today, so I'll just say that I think this theme is really cute and then we'll jump straight to the bullets.

Bullets:

• 1A: Brother of Ham (SHEM). One day I'll do a CW101 on all the Bible names/terms you should know for crosswords.
• 9A: Performance lead-in (INTRO). I had the NTR in place and was thinking "ENTRE," but that's the "lead in" to an intermission, not the performance intself.

• 16A: Aired, as "Hogan's Heroes," say (RERAN). Oh those wacky POW camps.
• 20A: Cross (SULLEN). Gotta love the one-word clues on Friday. Have you ever thought about how many different meanings the word "cross" can have? Well today you did.
• 21A: Half of MXIV (DVII). Ouch. The dreaded Random Roman Numeral.
• 31A: Swimmer who channeled her energy? (EDERLE). In 1926, Gertrude EDERLE became the first woman to swim across the English channel.

• 51A: Revered Mother (TERESA). So weird. Just yesterday I drafted a letter to someone named "Reverend Mother Thérèse."
• 53A: Team playing in The Big A (ANGELS). Pretty sure I've never seen the nickname "The Big A" for Anaheim (or any other city for that matter). At first I thought it might be Austin (playing off of Dallas's nickname "The Big D") but couldn't think of a pro team in Austin. (Is there one?)
• 63A: Needing darning (TORN). I tried WORN first.

• 65A: What wavy lines may represent (ODORS).
• 66A: It's about a foot (SHOE). "About" in this case means "around."
• 27D: Mad VIPs (EDS.). EDitorS of Mad Magazine.
• 42D: Commemorative pillar (STELA). We covered STELE in CW101 a while back. Turns out it can also be spelled STELA. So now you know.
• 54D: Sodium hydroxide, in lab shorthand (NAOH). That looks like jibberish to me but I'm sure you science-y people out there knew it right off.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 56A: Icelandic literary treasures (EDDAS).

Everything — 1A: Brother of Ham (SHEM); 5A: Finishes (up) the gravy (SOPS); 9A: Performance lead-in (INTRO); 14A: Mystique (AURA); 15A: Aussie water hazard (CROC); 16A: Aired, as "Hogan's Heroes," say (RERAN); 17A: Urban area set aside for pekoe purveyors? (TEA SQUARE); 19A: Symphony section (REEDS); 20A: Cross (SULLEN); 21A: Half of MXIV (DVII); 22A: "Julie & Julia" co-star (STREEP); 25A: New Zealand lamb-exporting method? (EWE BOAT); 28A: End of the line? (QUEUE TIP); 31A: Swimmer who channeled her energy? (EDERLE); 32A: Store, as ashes (INURN); 33A: Contests ending in draws? (DUELS); 35A: Drifts off (NAPS); 36A: Pinkish yellow (CORAL); 37A: Hoax (FLAM); 41A: Low lands (DALES); 42A: Wine made from the Garganega grape (SOAVE); 43A: Have a one-track mind (OBSESS); 47A: "The Look of Love" and "Suddenly I See," e.g.? (EYE TUNES); 49A: Pitch notation for Debussy's "La Mer"? (SEA CLEF); 51A: Revered Mother (TERESA); 52A: Keen (WAIL); 53A: Team playing in The Big A (ANGELS); 56A: Icelandic literary treasures (EDDAS); 58A: Island allotment? (CAY RATION); 62A: Rubbed-out spirits (GENII); 63A: Needing darning (TORN); 64A: Polis starter (ACRO-); 65A: What wavy lines may represent (ODORS); 66A: It's about a foot (SHOE); 67A: Regretted (RUED); 1D: Wasn't used (SAT); 2D: Shade (HUE); 3D: Stat for CC Sabathia (ERA); 4D: People who knead people (MASSEURS); 5D: Work with clay, say (SCULPT); 6D: Lacking a paper trail (ORAL); 7D: Skin feature (PORE); 8D: Dramatic division (SCENE); 9D: Bargain basement abbr. (IRR.); 10D: As required, after "if" (NEED BE); 11D: "Felicia's Journey" writer William (TREVOR); 12D: Like some saws and tires (RADIAL); 13D: Not remote (ONSITE); 18D: Versatile game piece (QUEEN); 22D: Magazine ad meas. (SQ. IN.); 23D: __ melt (TUNA); 24D: Do another stint (RE-UP); 26D: "Let me think ..." ("WELL …"); 27D: Mad VIPs (EDS.); 29D: Hot star (IDOL); 30D: Turn to mush (PUREE); 34D: "Calm down!" ("EASY!"); 36D: Winery buy (CASE); 37D: Like expensive restaurants, hopefully (FOUR-STAR); 38D: Meet assignment (LANE); 39D: Madison et al.: Abbr. (AVES.); 40D: Cubs' spring training city (MESA); 41D: PC dial-up upgrade (DSL); 42D: Commemorative pillar (STELA); 43D: Lake Ontario port (OSWEGO); 44D: Like some women's evening bags (BEADED); 45D: Refused (SAID NO); 46D: Filled pastry (ECLAIR); 48D: Unlimited, in verse (ETERNE); 50D: Almanac offerings (FACTS); 54D: Sodium hydroxide, in lab shorthand (NAOH); 55D: Sandwich with tzatziki sauce (GYRO); 57D: Family girl (SIS); 59D: Post-op stop (ICU); 60D: Unrefined metal (ORE); 61D: Quiet bid (NOD).

S A T U R D A Y September 28, 2010 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None


Hard puzzle today! I think I had more trouble with this one than I did with yesterday's New York Times. With the long phrases and the tough cluing … this one was a real workout. There sure was an awful lot of exclaiming going on in this grid!

• 1A: "Get going!" ("SNAP TO IT!").
• 27A: "Oh, sure!" ("I BET!").
• 2D: "No way!" ("NAH!").
• 47D: "That's not good!" ("UH-OH!").

I like to imagine some of the other entries as exclaimations too. 19A: Bulbs in the kitchen! LEEKS! 26D: Badge material! TIN!

Many things I didn't know in this puzzle:

• 9A: Bantam (PETITE). No idea.
• 15A: Consort of Gustav I (KATARINA). Inferable through crosses.
• 43A: Gasteyer of "SNL" (ANA). People still watch this show?
• 56A: Explosive solvent, as it was formerly called (TOLUOL). If you say so.
• 59A: Versatile auxiliary wind-catcher (STAY SAIL). Had the SAIL part, but can't say that I'm well-versed in my nautical terms.

• 4D: "Star Trek" character __ Chekov (PAVEL). Or my Star Trek characters.
• 22D: "The Spirit" comics writer Will (EISNER). Rex probably knew this one.
• 51D: Tambo Colorado builder (INCA). I'm embarrassed to say I have no idea what "Tambo Colorado" means.

I guess half of those things I didn't know are names so I'm not going to feel bad about that. And I did know both 46D: Laura INNES of "ER" and TAL, the 55D: Chess champion who succeeded Botvinnik. So I've got that going for me.

More:

• 24A: Contraction of a sort (TIC). I couldn't get away from wanting a word that's a contraction of the words "of a sort." I was so drawn to that idea that I couldn't think of any other meaning of "contraction" for quite some time.
• 36A: Reservation opening (ON SECOND THOUGHT). I thought this was going to be something like "table for two." But it's a different kind of reservation.

• 44A: Main call (AHOY). I guess I do know some of my nautical terms though because I caught on to "main" right away.
• 50A: Big fan (FIEND). Hmm. I don't think I know anybody like that.
• 58A: Funny bit (SHTICK). Tried SKETCH first.
• 12D: You usually can't walk to one (ISLE). Unless you're, ya know, Jesus.
• 25D: Convince using flattery (SMOOTH TALK). Wanted SWEET TALK but couldn't make it fit.
• 28D: Swing time? (BIG BAND ERA).

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 40A: Before, before (ERST).
• 18D: Utah County city (OREM).
• 30D: Bright swimmers (TETRAS).
• 35D: Aurora's counterpart (EOS).
• 49D: Small tool case (ÉTUI).

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 16A: Like many barber shops (UNISEX); 17A: "Beats me" ("I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE"); 20A: Speed (ROCKET); 21A: Wins approval (SELLS); 23A: Fellow (GENT); 25A: Botanical opening (STOMA); 31A: Italian classic (O SOLE MIO); 34A: Many a Middle Easterner (SEMITE); 38A: Arrives at (GETS TO); 39A: Vaulter's target (CROSSBAR); 41A: Cast (THREW); 45A: Points at dinner (TINES); 47A: In the habit of (USED TO); 52A: "And afterward?" ("WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?"); 57A: Some tiny rods and spheres (BACTERIA); 1D: Word with run or jump (SKI); 3D: Regardless of the consequences (AT ALL COSTS); 5D: Poem with the line "Who intimately lives with rain" (TREES); 6D: Pen emission (OINK); 7D: Stats for QBs (INTS.); 8D: Touching game (TAG); 9D: Fake it (PUT ON A SHOW); 10D: Pass (ENACT); 11D: Little sucker (TICK); 13D: Ger. (TEUT.); 14D: Computer filename ending (EXE); 21D: Moe, for one (STOOGE); 23D: Emotionally therapeutic episode (GOOD CRY); 27D: "God's Other Son" radio host (IMUS); 29D: Flammable gas (ETHANE); 32D: "O, swear not by ... the fickle moon ... __ that thy love prove likewise variable": "Romeo and Juliet" (LEST); 33D: Outside: Pref. (ECT-); 37D: Three abroad (TRE); 42D: Shooter's target (HOOP); 44D: Literally, "for this" (AD HOC); 45D: Petulant (TESTY); 48D: Old man of the sea (SALT); 50D: Great achievement (FEAT); 52D: Mg. and kg. (WTS.); 53D: "Frontline" airer (PBS); 54D: Noon indicator (XII).

S A T U R D A Y August 21, 2010 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None?


As you know, our Saturday puzzles are typically themeless. I don't think the 15s in this grid are coherent enough to be a theme, but they are certainly related and they are definitely cool:

• 17A: "I'll do it" ("LET ME HANDLE THIS").
• 38A: Words of disbelief (YOU'RE NOT SERIOUS).
• 58A: Words after thanks (I APPRECIATE THAT).

I had to fight this one pretty hard, but I did end up victorious. The bottom fell first, but I struggled a lot with the top. With the entire northwest corner empty, I just decided to start throwing in some down answers that were complete and total guesses. And they turned out to be right. Love when that happens! There were a few answers that meant nothing to me at all, so I think I'll look them up for you.

• 45A: Telepathy term (PSI). Okay, I thought this was P.S.I. and couldn't figure out what it might stand for. Turns out it's the Greek letter PSI and is simply a term from parapsychology. From a quick skim of the Wikipedia page, it seems the term can mean several different things, but they're all related. That's about as much interest as I can muster for this clue/answer.
• 8D: Biblical grazers (KINE). An archaic plural for cow.
• 60D: Some corp. officers (TRS). Can't figure this one out from first few pages of Google results. Anyone?

Other:

• 20A: WWII soldier in Africa (DESERT RAT). When PuzzleHusband and I lived in New Mexico, we used desertrats as a username on most thing. I do love the desert. Had never heard the term in relation to soldiers though (but I guess it makes sense).

• 21A: Application datum (SEX). Thought this might just as well be "SSN" or "age" so had to wait for the crosses (which didn't come particularly quickly).
• 24A: Chem class abbr. (AT. WT.). Atomic Weight. We've talked about it in CW101.
• 27A: Gave (out) (METED). Here's another one where it could just as easily have been "doled," so I'm looking at the crosses again.
• 31A: Half a laugh (HEH). I tried "hee" here first, but it worked itself out pretty easily. I actually use just the one HEH quite often. But that's really more of a snicker than a laugh.
• 40A: Hall of Fame Vikings lineman Carl (ELLER). He happened to be an active player around the time I used to pay attention to football, so I was thankful for the gimme.

• 61A: Early MTV staple (VIDEO). Remember way back in the old days when MTV played VIDEOs?
• 1D: Longest note? (SOL). This clue refers to solfège — you know: do, re, mi, etc. All of the notes in solfège are two letters long, except for SOL, which makes it the "longest note." Ouch.
• 10D: Howard (STERN). Just kidding. The clue isn't really "Howard," it's "Hard," but it could've been "Howard"!
• 12D: Actor who was born a Leo, as it happens (LAHR). Very tricky (and interesting!) clue on Bert LAHR, who played the Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz." Get it? Lion? … Leo?
• 37D: Crash and burn (HIT BOTTOM). You all know the definition of hitting bottom, right? It's when your world is falling apart faster than you can lower your standards.

• 45D: Pepper picker (PIPER). Tried "Peter" first.
• 48D: Caroline, to Bobby (NIECE). Kennedys.
• 54D: H.S. reasoning exam, formerly (SAT I). I think maybe there used to be two parts to the SAT. Yep, SAT I (reasoning) and SAT II (writing). But now it's just one big honkin' test.

Crosswordese 101: There are three EDDS-with-two-Ds that you need to know for crosswords and two of them are in today's clue, 9D: Actor Byrnes and baseball Hall of Famer Roush (the other is "Former 'Tonight Show' announcer Hall"). The baseball player will almost always be clued as a baseball player, hall-of-famer and/or outfielder. The actor is clued with reference to "77 Sunset Strip" or "Grease."

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 1A: "Banded" arid-area reptile (SAND SNAKE); 10A: Hitting sound (SPLAT); 15A: Body fat compound (OLEIC ACID); 16A: Bait (TEASE); 19A: Joan of "The Last Emperor" (CHEN); 23A: At least one (ANY); 34A: Film with a lot of reports (SHOOT 'EM UP); 36A: Coast (SHORE); 41A: Acted (TOOK STEPS); 42A: Former British Poet Laureate Hughes (TED); 43A: Fogg's creator (VERNE); 44A: Computer unit (BYTE); 47A: Cone lead-in (SNO-); 49A: Healthful desserts (FRUIT CUPS); 55A: "Let's call __ evening" (IT AN); 62A: Fashionable partygoer? (LATE COMER); 63A: Poet's superlative (ENORM); 64A: 1986 Blake Edwards comedy flop (aptly named, as it turned out) (A FINE MESS); 2D: Smart one? (ALEC); 3D: 2010 FIFA World Cup finalist (NETH.); 4D: See 49-Down (DIME STORE); 5D: View (SCENE); 6D: "Forget it" ("NAH"); 7D: USMA part: Abbr. (ACAD.); 11D: Narrow (PETTY); 13D: Large land mass (ASIA); 14D: Check (TEST); 18D: Chair, say (LEAD); 22D: Cyclops and Beast, e.g. (X-MEN); 24D: So far (AS YET); 25D: Oar fulcrum (THOLE); 26D: If only (WOULD); 28D: Hardly be stoical (EMOTE); 29D: Oxford employee (TUTOR); 30D: Printing pioneer (EPSON); 31D: Rot (HOOEY); 32D: Blow (ERUPT); 33D: "Demian" author (HESSE); 35D: Dutch painter Gerard __ Borch (TER); 36D: H.S. VIPs (SRS.); 39D: Gets by, with "out" (EKES); 43D: Annual resolution target (VICE); 46D: Lindsey's predecessor in the Senate (STROM); 49D: With "and" and 59-Down, 4-Down (FIVE); 50D: Noah's concern (RAIN); 51D: Style with pins (UPDO); 52D: 2010 College World Series runner-up (UCLA); 53D: "La Vie en Rose" singer (PIAF); 56D: "Alas!" ("AH ME!"); 57D: Nairn negatives (NAES); 59D: See 49-Down (TEN).

SATURDAY, June 5, 2010 — Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None — As usual, a themeless Saturday.


Looks like we're on a pretty good roll here. I found this puzzle very enjoyable. There were a couple things that you just kinda hate to see, but I think the only one worth mentioning is the random alphabet string, 21A: What U can follow (RST). Yuck. And then there are the two complete and total clunkers. I can't decide if they were bad enough to ruin the puzzle for me. I didn't get to them until the very end so I was quite disappointed, but I don't know. I liked it up until then. What am I talking about? Of course: 31A: Dose people? (DEM) and 26D: Like atolls (REEFY). "Dose people"?? Seriously? That's an awfully awkward path to go down for a word that can be clued pretty easily. And REEFY, well. We can all agree that's ugly, right?

Other than that, though, this seemed like a pretty typical end-of-the-week (themeless) solve for me. Not quite as difficult as a New York Times puzzle, of course — with those I usually feel completely discouraged after one pass through the clues. But tricky enough that it kept my brain cells hopping. I had the most trouble in the NE corner where I plopped in shine for SHEEN (11D: Polish). I got ESTOP and ETHNO- pretty easily (10A: Bar at the bar / 10D: Centric leader) so I thought the 23A: White House nickname might be JOE for Joe Biden, which I thought was a little weird because usually a "White House" clue is referring to a president and not a VP. As it turns out, it's also dumb because, sure, JOE is a nickname, but it's not like he's ever called anything else. I also tried peel for PARE (14D: Skin) at first, so, yeah, it took a while to sort all that out.

The 15s are all really cool:

• 17A: Daydreams (CASTLES IN THE AIR). For some reason, this phrase always always always makes me think of "Islands in the Stream." What the heck is that about??
• 38A: Reaction to a coincidental entrance (SPEAK OF THE DEVIL). Kinda sorta wanted "Look what the cat dragged in," but this is very cool.
• 58A: Declaration that's from hunger (I COULD EAT A HORSE). Ha! I wonder why the clue wasn't simply "Declaration of hunger," but whatever. Still a great entry.

More:

• 1A: "Something's Got a Hold on Me" singer, 1962 (ETTA JAMES). I always like it when a person's whole name is in the puzzle. I feel like I just said that a couple posts ago. … Yep, it was back on May 13 when JET LI was in the puzzle.
• 24A: Musician nicknamed "Sugar Lips" (HIRT). Here's another guy who sometimes gets his whole name in the puzzle. And that's an awesome nickname.
• 36A: Uncle equal? (I GIVE). Did you get this one? It's like how "saying 'uncle'" is the same as saying "I give."

• 42A: Hampshire's home (STY). I hope a Hampshire is a type of pig.
• 55A: "Verily, thou __ God that hidest thyself" (Isaiah) (ART A). I was chatting with a friend who thought this was the worst answer in the grid. I admit, it's not great, but come on! — Verily!
• 63A: Glacial ridge (ESKER). Ne-Ever seen this word before.
• 5D: First name in sci-fi (JULES). As in JULES Verne. Around the World in Eighty Days is a book I've always wanted to read.
• 57D: Land of plenty? (ASIA). Love this clue. It reminds of a clue I saw once for ASIAN: "Like most people." Kinda pulled me right out of my little ethnocentric bubble.

Crosswordese 101: Is it possible we haven't covered ÉTÉ yet? It's pretty easy to remember. It's simply the French word for summer, but the clues for it can be really tricky. Today's clue, 39D: Soissons seasons, is pretty straightforward. Even if you don't know what Soissons is, you can kind of guess that it's French. But sometimes, instead of Soissons, they use Nice! That's a place in France, you know. It's pronounced like niece, but it looks like the English word nice so it can really throw you off if you're not careful.

Other crosswordese in this puzzle that we've already covered includes:

• 1A: "Something's Got a Hold on Me" singer, 1962 (ETTA JAMES).
• 8D: Ohio tribe (ERIE).
• 30D: For this purpose (AD HOC).
• 54D: Acropolis sight (STOA).
• 59D: Hal Foster prince (ARN).

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 15A: It "ain't what it used to be": Yogi Berra (THE FUTURE); 16A: Birch of "Alaska" (THORA); 19A: Cry of exhilaration (WHEE); 20A: Like an irritated person's teeth? (SET ON EDGE); 27A: Try to jab (HIT AT); 34A: Like the Indian rhino (ONE-HORNED); 40A: Upholstery adornments (TUFTS); 41A: Plant grafting component (ROOT STOCK); 43A: 1966-67 AFL rushing leader Jim (NANCE); 44A: DOJ employee (ATTY.); 45A: 'Enry's abode ('OME); 47A: Ink __: octopus defense (SAC); 49A: Alfalfa locales (HAYFIELDS); 61A: It may be metered (VERSE); 62A: Above (AFORESAID); 64A: Doesn't draw (STANDS PAT); 1D: Inclusive abbr. (ETC.); 2D: Cold war abatement (THAW); 3D: Radio host John (TESH); 4D: Then (AFTER THAT); 6D: Took in (ATE); 7D: Tousle (MUSS); 8D: Ohio tribe (ERIE); 9D: Directed (SENT); 12D: Loathsome sort (TOAD); 13D: Copier insert: Abbr. (ORIG.); 18D: Actionable offense (TORT); 22D: During, old-style (THRO); 24D: Armies (HOSTS); 25D: Data, often (INPUT); 28D: Red head? (INFRA-); 29D: Dakota dialect (TETON); 30D: For this purpose (AD HOC); 31D: Displacement from a club (DIVOT); 32D: Force out (EVICT); 33D: Braves outfielder Cabrera (MELKY); 35D: Blesses (OKS); 36D: They may be checked at the door (IDS); 37D: Be convincing about (GET ACROSS); 43D: Requirement (NEED); 45D: Not worthless (OF USE); 46D: Sebastian Coe, e.g. (MILER); 48D: Sounded amazed (AAHED); 49D: Swarming spot (HIVE); 50D: They can be high or low (ACES); 51D: Walled English city (YORK); 52D: Where cows chow down (LEAS); 53D: Bats (DAFT); 54D: Acropolis sight (STOA); 56D: Under-the-sink item (TRAP); 59D: Hal Foster prince (ARN); 60D: Summer hrs. at MIT (EDT).

SATURDAY, May 1, 2010—Robert H. Wolfe

THEME: No theme today—It's a themeless puzzle, just like every other Saturday.

With a 4:06 finish, we remain in the Thursday/Friday NYT difficulty zone.

Nothing particularly grabbed me in this one. Nor did anything repulse me. The puzzle's sort of just there for me. Let's check out the content:

• 1A: [Beachgoer's pursuit] clues a SUNBATH. Very few people say that a sunbather is taking a SUNBATH.
• 8A: [A film may be shown in it] clues THREE-D. Yep, it looks like the mysterious THREED in the grid. ONED and TWOD confuse people even more. The World's Best Movie Critic, Roger Ebert, has been vocal in his opposition to slapping 3-D on too many movies for inorganic reasons. I love his enthusiastic embrace of Twitter. If you're on Twitter, you should follow @ebertchicago.
• 25A: [Trois counterpart] is DREI. Weird to use a French word in a clue for a German one. Trois and drei both mean three.
• 35A: [Mobile home site] isn't a TRAILER PARK here but a TRAILER CAMP, which is a term that I don't recognize but my kid says he knows it. I don't know how that can be!
• 38A: [Actress Benaderet who first voiced Granny in Tweety cartoons] is the hard way to clue BEA. The more accessible pop-culture route is Bea Arthur, and there's also the two-word partial approach (BE A).
• 39A: ["Count on me"] is an awkward clue for "I WON'T LET YOU DOWN," necessitated because the word "you" can't appear in both the clue and the answer.
• 43A: [Sound of locks being changed?] is the SNIP of a hairdresser or barber's scissors.

• 47A: ["Flash of Genius" actor] is ALDA. Alan? Did anyone see this movie? I remember hearing nothing about it. Alda plays a supporting role. This, I say, is not a great way to clue ALDA. Luckily, the crossings aren't obscure names.
• 49A: ["I ran away from you once. I can't do it again" speaker] is ILSA Lund in Casablanca. She's not in this scene:

• 50A: [Russian emperor after Catherine II] is PAUL I. Who?
  
• 53A, 1D: [Pops] means DAD and [Pop] is SODA.
  
• 23D: [Forward raises strengthen them] clues your DELTS. I don't know what "forward raises" are. My physical trainer has spared me that.
  
• 30D: [Scale notes, e.g.] are an OCTET. Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do = 8.
  
• 34D: [Aster family plant] is a TANSY, rhymes with pansy.

Crosswordese 101: COTE is clued here as 56D: [Dove shelter]. Maybe the rest of you are more involved with doves and sheep in your daily lives, but I seldom encounter COTE outside of crosswords. Other common clues: sheep shelter, pigeon coop, farm shelter. It's also CÔTE, French for "coast," as in Côte d'Ivoire in Africa and Côte d'Azur of the South of France.

Everything Else — 1A: Beachgoer's pursuit (SUNBATH); 8A: A film may be shown in it (THREE-D); 14A: Like some bandits (ONE-ARMED); 16A: Item in the news, perhaps (COUPLE); 17A: "Be realistic" ("DON'T KID YOURSELF"); 19A: "I'd hate to break up __" (A SET); 20A: Salon stuff (GEL); 21A: Thin piece (SHEET); 22A: She played Carmela in "The Sopranos" (EDIE); 25A: Trois counterpart (DREI); 27A: Return recipient (SENDER); 30A: Dedicated verse (ODE); 31A: Influential Harper's Weekly cartoonist (NAST); 35A: Mobile home site (TRAILER CAMP); 38A: Actress Benaderet who first voiced Granny in Tweety cartoons (BEA); 39A: "Count on me" ("I WON'T LET YOU DOWN"); 41A: Lip (RIM); 42A: Promotional campaigns (SALES DRIVES); 43A: Sound of locks being changed? (SNIP); 45A: "Unlikely!" ("NOT!"); 46A: Queen of fiction (ELLERY); 47A: "Flash of Genius" actor (ALDA); 49A: "I ran away from you once. I can't do it again" speaker (ILSA); 50A: Russian emperor after Catherine II (PAUL I); 53A: Pops (DAD); 55A: Some mil. personnel (NCOS); 59A: "Who knows?" ("IT'S A MYSTERY TO ME"); 63A: Put (together) (PIECED); 64A: Arrive, with some difficulty (MAKE IT IN); 65A: Highlight (STRESS); 66A: "Ozymandias" et al. (SONNETS); 1D: Pop (SODA); 2D: Ones in Madrid (UNOS); 3D: Island goose (NENE); 4D: Driven home (BATTED IN); 5D: Chest with tablets (ARK); 6D: "More than I need to know!" ("TMI!"); 7D: Waffle (HEDGE); 8D: Fort Worth sch. (TCU); 9D: Dressage trainee (HORSE); 10D: Raid the joint, say (RUSH IN); 11D: Olympics weapon (ÉPÉE); 12D: Cosmo rival (ELLE); 13D: Handy (DEFT); 15D: Color (DYE); 18D: Past (OLD DAYS); 23D: Forward raises strengthen them (DELTS); 24D: Cork's place (IRELAND); 26D: Do over (REMODEL); 27D: Moves slightly (STIRS); 28D: "Desert Fox" Rommel (ERWIN); 29D: Woman in the Book of Ruth (NAOMI); 30D: Scale notes, e.g. (OCTET); 32D: Over (ABOVE); 33D: Escape site in "Les Misérables" (SEWER); 34D: Aster family plant (TANSY); 36D: Puts in a new clip (RELOADS); 37D: Knitting stitches (PURLS); 40D: Anticonvulsive drug (DILANTIN); 44D: Regal residence (PALACE); 48D: Bartender's supply (LIMES); 49D: They can be bright (IDEAS); 50D: Card marks (PIPS); 51D: Busy (AT IT); 52D: __ ID (USER); 54D: Cash source, briefly (ATM); 56D: Dove shelter (COTE); 57D: Cut (OMIT); 58D: D.C. VIPs (SENS.); 60D: NFL gains (YDS.); 61D: Old MGM rival (RKO); 62D: Hunger (YEN).

SATURDAY, January 23, 2010—Robert H. Wolfe

THEME: No theme today—It's a themeless/freestyle puzzle

Usually I use Across Lite with the timer running, but I solved this puzzle on a clipboard during my son's aikido class. My hunch is that many people will find it a little tougher than usual for a Saturday L.A. Times crossword. Yea? Nay?

My feelings about the puzzle are encapsulated by the first of the 15-letter answers: 17A: YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL (Words of consolation). Wolfe wins big with the three 15s and racks up some other wins with assorted clues and fill, but then there are a few clunkers and a whole corner (the upper right) of badness. First up, the other winners:

• The remaining 15s: 36A: "Don't cry over spilt milk" (WHAT'S DONE IS DONE) and 54A: Sassy reply to criticism (IT'S A FREE COUNTRY). These, like 17A, are fantastic. They're all things we say colloquially, and you can hear a "hey" or "ya know" preceding all of 'em.
• 20A: Día de San Valentín sentiment (TE AMO). I think the L.A. Times crossword requires a little more Spanish familiarity than the New York–based puzzles do, which makes sense because there's so much Spanish spoken in California. I've never seen "St. Valentine's Day" rendered in Spanish, but it's not too hard to work it out.
  
• 45A: Good thing to be up to (SNUFF). Other clueing options include the verb (negative, snuffing out) and the tobacco (bleh). "Up to SNUFF" is great, and the clue can lead you astray in a good Saturday-puzzle way. Up to no good, up to your ears, up to par, up to the challenge—are there any other 5-letter answers that make sense that you tried here?
  
• 4D: Bounce (RICOCHET). Cool word. You ever get Augusto Pinochet mixed up with RICOCHET? No? Me, neither.
• I like the clue in 23D: Arm holder? (HOLSTER). Not that kind of arm.
• 55D: Old-fashioned word of disapproval (FIE). I'm bringin' it back! Join me, won't you?

Fie on the northeast corner of the grid. TRIPS gets a great verb clue (9A: Activates), and PILOT (12D: Fly) and SEPIA (16A: Brownish pigment) are fine, but the rest of the fill there is...ouch. Nothing that's a complete deal-breaker in isolation, but they're all jumbled together in a heap of "meh." Boring crosswordese ENOL and boring unfamiliar T-PLATE run across. In the down direction, we get authorial monogram TSE (T.S. Eliot), the RE- word REMELT, erstwhile toothpaste brand IPANA (known to people under 50 primarily as crosswordese), and the French word SALLE.

There were some other spots that grated:

• 39A: Fish tales (TALL STORIES). Wait, don't we call 'em "fish stories" and "tall tales"? TALL STORIES sound like the upper floors in a highrise.
• 48A: Wasn't true (LIED). I'm not convinced there's true equivalency here. If you LIED about something, it's not that you yourself weren't true—it's that what you said wasn't true. The thing that isn't true is the lie, not the liar. Yes? No?
• 61A: View for 6-Down (TREETOPS). 6D is SANTA. If you had the TOPS part of this answer, did you want ROOFTOPS rather than TREETOPS? Does anyone picture Santa flying over (and looking at) treetops? I would've clued this without a cross-reference to Santa, who isn't closely associated with treetops.
• 18D: Out of the running (NOT IN IT). At first I really liked this answer. But then I got to thinking, is this used in the negative? Sports teams and candidates can definitely be still "in it," with a chance to win. Does anyone say NOT IN IT? "Sadly, the Bears are NOT IN IT."

And now, a musical interlude, courtesy of 52D: Welk's upbeat (A-TWO). Would you believe that The Lawrence Welk Show, which was already outdated in the '70s, is still aired on Milwaukee's public television station? I caught a couple minutes over Thanksgiving in 2009.



Then there's Frankie VALLI (58A: Big name in falsetto) and the Four Seasons. In 1975, my sister and I bought the 45 of this song, so I'm partial to it even though "Sherry" and "Walk Like a Man" display the falsetto more acutely.



Crosswordese 101: Today's lesson is about numerals that get spelled out as words pretty much only in crosswords. This puzzle has 47D: Rte. through six Eastern state capitals (U.S. ONE)—you know, U.S. 1? It's a convention of crosswording that a number can be spelled out in the grid regardless of how it appears in real life. Thus, we get answers like ONED, TWOD, and THREED (1D, 2D, 3D, speaking dimensionally). Not to mention the draft status ONEA (1-A). The flying BTWO (B2 bomber), which is not what's next in the series after Lawrence Welk's ATWO. And, heaven help us, UTWO (the rock band U2). I'm not sure if anyone actually likes such entries. Sure, they help constructors get their fill to work, but they fly in the face of common usage and routinely vex crossword solvers who aren't expecting them. Google traffic to crossword blogs shoots up whenever ONED or TWOD shows up in the grid, as solvers are confronted with what appears to be a 4-letter word that isn't in their dictionary. So be ready for the spelled-out number nonsense, people. It will return.

See you on Wednesday.

Everything Else — 1A: Cellbound? (IN PRISON); 9A: Activates (TRIPS); 14A: Sanctioned (VALIDATED); 16A: Brownish pigment (SEPIA); 17A: Words of consolation (YOU CAN'T WIN 'EM ALL); 19A: Group with PCPs (HMO); 20A: Día de San Valentín sentiment (TE AMO); 21A: Carbon compound (ENOL); 22A: Boardroom illustration (CHART); 24A: Letter-shaped hardware used to strengthen joints (T-PLATE); 26A: Fish also called a blue jack (COHO); 28A: Bravo maker (FIAT); 29A: See a pro, say (TAKE LESSONS); 33A: __ blue (SKY); 36A: "Don't cry over spilt milk" (WHAT'S DONE IS DONE); 38A: Vague quantity (ANY); 39A: Fish tales (TALL STORIES); 40A: Chilean bread (PESO); 41A: Submit formally (FILE); 42A: Back on the water (ASTERN); 45A: Good thing to be up to (SNUFF); 48A: Wasn't true (LIED); 49A: __ Peters, author of Brother Cadfael mysteries (ELLIS); 51A: Intercepting device (TAP); 54A: Sassy reply to criticism (IT'S A FREE COUNTRY); 58A: Big name in falsetto (VALLI); 59A: Street hazard (OPEN SEWER); 60A: Take out, in a way (ERASE); 61A: View for 6-Down (TREETOPS); 1D: Creeper (IVY); 2D: Sodium hydroxide, in chem class (NAOH); 3D: Juicy fruit (PLUM); 4D: Bounce (RICOCHET); 5D: State with a panhandle: Abbr. (IDA.); 6D: Flier over 61-Across (SANTA); 7D: Web-footed mammal (OTTER); 8D: Not experienced in (NEW AT); 9D: Literary monogram (TSE); 10D: Do a foundry job (REMELT); 11D: Old toothpaste with a spokesbeaver (IPANA); 12D: Fly (PILOT); 13D: Maison room (SALLE); 15D: Not too smart (DIM); 18D: Out of the running (NOT IN IT); 23D: Arm holder? (HOLSTER); 25D: Falsely present (as) (PASS OFF); 26D: Four-time Oscar-winning lyricist (CAHN); 27D: Fine (OKAY); 28D: Antagonists (FOES); 29D: Defunct carrier (TWA); 30D: "Roots" Emmy winner (ED ASNER); 31D: Helpless? (SOLO); 32D: NBC hit since '75 (SNL); 33D: Land (SOIL); 34D: Joint with a cap (KNEE); 35D: "Works for me" (YES); 37D: Fisherman's aid that floats with the current (DRIFT NET); 40D: Rides on a path, perhaps (PEDALS); 42D: Full of energy (ALIVE); 43D: Indian strings (SITAR); 44D: Magnetic induction unit (TESLA); 45D: Nodded (SLEPT); 46D: More pleasant (NICER); 47D: Rte. through six Eastern state capitals (US ONE); 50D: Fifth sign (LEO); 52D: Welk's upbeat (A-TWO); 53D: __ school (PREP); 55D: Old-fashioned word of disapproval (FIE); 56D: Deploy (USE); 57D: Vintage nos. (YRS.).

SUNDAY, October 4, 2009Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: "Surprise Endings" — Theme answers are movie titles with the last word anagrammed into another word, creating wacky new titles clued "?"-style.

[Note: This is the syndicated L.A. Times puzzle. It does not appear in the actual newspaper, but is available for free at cruciverb.com.]


Theme answers:

• 24A: Film about a soft-hearted creature? (TENDER IS THE THING). "Tender Is the Night."
• 32A: Film about a computer supervisor? (LORD OF THE FILES). "Lord of the Flies."

• 51A: Film about Los Angeles losing its NFL team? (A FAREWELL TO RAMS). "A Farewell to Arms."
• 69A: Film about Broadway beginners? (WEST SIDE TYROS). "West Side Story."
• 87A: Film about Santa enjoying his holiday cigar? (A CHRISTMAS CLARO). "A Christmas Carol."
• 105A: Film about a home run derby? (DAY OF THE CLOUTS). "Day of the Locust." If you understand the this answer, please explain it in the comments.
  
• 116A: Film about gardening options? (PLACES IN THE EARTH). "Places in the Heart."

Crosswordese 101: There's not much to say about ALEE except that you have to know it. It's generally clued, like today, straightforwardly — 125A: Away from the wind. The clue might also use the word shelter or describe ALEE as "Away from the storm." Simple, right?

Sundays are good days to review the Crosswordese we've already covered. If you had any trouble with these, check out our previous posts:

• 21A: Being, in old Rome (ESSE).
• 38A: Port in Yemen (ADEN).
• 61A: Jack-in-the-pulpit family (ARUM).
• 113A: Hairy Addams cousin (ITT).
• 10D: Pol. letters until 1991 (SSR).
• 53D: Formerly, formerly (ERST).
• 118D: Quarterback Manning (ELI).
• 120D: He followed FDR (HST).

I found a few trouble spots in today's puzzle. Over in Northern California, I didn't know biotin was sometimes called 42D: VITAMIN H; I've never heard of 75A Publisher OTIS Chandler; MINIM (for 80A: 1/60 of a dram) was a total guess; and it took me way too long to get from 68A: Picture-taking word ending to CAM. Awkward clue. There was actually a whole mess of other people I didn't know too:

• 104A: Artist friend of Max Ernst (MAN RAY). We've covered popular crossword artists Ernst, Arp and Miró, but I don't know this Man Ray person, who apparently was part of that crowd. Well, now I know.
• 122A: Filmmaker Riefenstahl (LENI). Riefenstahl has been haled as "the greatest female filmmaker of the 20th century." Unfortunately, she made her mark by creating a Nazi propaganda film and apparently hung out with Hitler. Probably not a great career move.

• 12D: Politico Kefauver (ESTES). He was a senator from Tennessee who was Adlai Stevenson's running mate in 1956.
• 48D: Dramatist Rice (ELMER). Earned a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his 1929 play "Street Scene."
• 60D: Hall of Fame NFL coach Ewbank (WEEB). It's cool that even a person with a name like "Weeb" can get into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The only real clunkers for me today were a couple of made-up adjectives: FEEBLEST (14D: Most frail) and FLUTY (47D: High-pitched). Oh, and I can't say I'm a fan of cutesy clues for COMA (68D: Long time out; paired with NAP, 79D: Short time out). Ugh.

A few other things:

• 40A: All Saints' Day mo. (NOV.). I started to write in OCT, but stopped myself.

• 74A: Some NFL linemen (RTS). Because I know someone will ask: this stands for Right Tackles.
• 83A: Pretended to have written earlier, as a letter (BACK-DATED). Did you all see Gmail's April Fool's joke this past year? They pretended to roll out a new feature where you could back-date your email. It was pretty funny.
• 96A: Tallahassee sch. (FSU). They were actually playing football on the TV while I was solving this puzzle.
• 97A: Listless (MOPEY). The eighth dwarf.
• 1D: Star in Perseus (ALGOL). Whatever you say.
• 3D: Rose oil (ATTAR). We'll cover this in Crosswordese 301.
• 35D: Nice notion? (IDÉE). Did you get this one? It's all in the pronunciation. Here, Nice means the city in France (pronounced NEESE), and idée is French for idea (or notion).

• 50D: "__ lied" (SO I). Clues like this totally make me think of Merl Reagle.
• 55D: Pre-meal drink (APÉRITIF). Anyone else have spelling trouble here?
• 59D: Sydney's state: Abbr. (NSW). That's New South Wales in case you didn't know. (I didn't.)
• 90D: Explorer Ericson (LEIF).
• 105D: Eatery traditionally modeled after a rail car (DINER). I've been meaning to see this movie again for, like, I don't know ... 25 years or so?
• 110D: Like a movie seat with a coat on it (TAKEN). Cute clue!

Sunday puzzles always feel really big to me. (I guess because they are big.) And I wouldn't call this one particularly easy. So how did you guys do? Please let us know in the comments!

Everything Else — 1A: Make __: match the scorecard, in golf (A PAR); 5A: Little hooters (OWLETS); 11A: Two pages (LEAF); 15A: Second Greek letter (BETA); 19A: Dieter's word (LITE); 20A: Very proper sorts (PRUDES); 22A: Indiana senator Bayh (EVAN); 23A: Gangsters' guns (GATS); 27A: Studio sign (ON AIR); 29A: Chem., for one (SCI.); 30A: Chicago-to-Louisville dir. (SSE); 31A: Name on an armored truck (BRINKS); 36A: Small surgical knife (LANCET); 37A: Landlocked Afr. land (ETH.); 39A: Done (ENDED); 43A: Heat measure (CALORIE); 47A: Come clean, with "up" (FESS); 49A: Certain Prot. (EPIS.); 58A: Continue after a setback, as one's life (GET ON WITH); 62A: Clean a spill (MOP UP); 63A: Poker action (RAISE); 64A: Scary film staple (MONSTER); 67A: Flat-topped rise (MESA); 77A: Chews out (BERATES); 78A: __ Major: Great Dog constellation (CANIS); 82A: Kennel home (CAGE); 91A: Fishing spot (PIER); 92A: Glaswegian gal (LASS); 93A: Drip from a bad pipe (LEAK OUT); 100A: Salt Lake City Olympics year (MMII); 102A: Command to Spot (SIT); 112A: Maintain (ALLEGE); 114A: Harry Potter's pal (RON); 115A: Wreck completely (TOTAL); 121A: Harley or Honda (BIKE); 123A: Forest feature (TREE); 124A: Setbacks (LAPSES); 126A: LAX listings (ETDS); 127A: Things in locks (OARS); 128A: Ad with a credit card bill, e.g. (INSERT); 129A: Ding, but not dong (DENT); 2D: Grand, perhaps (PIANO); 4D: Dwell (RESIDE); 5D: Pick, with "for" (OPT); 6D: Take away forcibly (WREST); 7D: Something to do with a business associate? (LUNCH); 8D: Comic Izzard (EDDIE); 9D: Elevator on the links? (TEE); 11D: Abate (LESSEN); 13D: Light gray (ASH); 15D: Losing (BEHIND); 16D: Demonstrate (EVINCE); 17D: Failed suddenly, in slang (TANKED); 18D: Emotional strife (ANGST); 25D: __ of Wight (ISLE); 26D: Window over a door (TRANSOM); 28D: Campus recruiters, briefly (ROTC); 33D: Govt. loan insurer (FHA); 34D: Pleasant forecast (FAIR); 40D: Not pos. (NEG.); 41D: Like music composed for a libretto (OPERATIC); 44D: Chou En-__ (LAI); 45D: Frequently, in verse (OFT); 46D: Cheering cry (RAH); 52D: Diminishes (WANES); 54D: CD-__ (ROM); 56D: Attractions not to be missed (MUST-SEES); 57D: Baden-Baden et al. (SPAS); 64D: Tiny parasites (MITES); 65D: Poem of praise (ODE); 66D: Music with many subgenres (ROCK); 70D: Religious factions (SECTS); 71D: Ore cars (TRAMS); 72D: Long tale (SAGA); 73D: Low (SAD); 76D: Round Table title (SIR); 81D: Used-car datum (MILEAGE); 83D: Call to Bo-Peep (BAA); 84D: First rescue boat (ARK); 85D: Speak lovingly (COO); 86D: Actress Joanne (DRU); 88D: Accept, as a marriage proposal (SAY YES TO); 89D: Ad writer's award (CLIO); 94D: Trojans' sch. (USC); 95D: Incline (TILT); 97D: Croquet striker (MALLET); 98D: Off the boat (ON LAND); 99D: Summary (PRÉCIS); 100D: Dull finishes (MATTES); 101D: Tale involving Greek gods, e.g. (MYTH); 103D: "That's a shame" ("TOO BAD"); 104D: Syrup source (MAPLE); 106D: Snares (TRAPS); 107D: Oater ride (HORSE); 108D: Type in (ENTER); 109D: Of service (UTILE); 111D: Winter fall (SLEET); 117D: S&L offering (IRA); 118D: Quarterback Manning (ELI); 119D: Suffix with Caesar (-EAN); 120D: He followed FDR (HST).

SATURDAY, May 30—Robert H. Wolfe

THEME: The Saturday puzzle is themeless—the game is decoding tougher clues and figuring out a slew of longer words and phrases.

They're not theme answers, but the three 15-letter answers are all things someone might say in colloquial English:

• 17A: "Maybe I can help?" is what someone might be getting at if they asked "WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?"
  
• 37A: "Now we're getting somewhere" clues "THAT'S MORE LIKE IT."
  
• 56A: One Statement of intolerance is "I WON'T STAND FOR IT."
  

Crosswordese 101: Doesn't ORT sound like the bastard child of baseball's Mel OTT (47D: Six-time N.L. home run champ) and hockey legend Bobby ORR? It's not. It's an archaic word that's been around since the days of Middle English and it means a food scrap. Here, it's clued as 33D: Boxer's scrap, meaning a scrap for a dog such as a boxer. You know why I'm so messed up? It's from an early diet of crosswords during my formative years. I even used the word orts in a high school term paper about medieval dining customs, and I thought the teacher was an idiot for marking the word "?" But how many people who (a) don't do crosswords and (b) aren't medievalists know what ORT means? Maybe not so many. But it remains my favorite bit of old-school crosswordese.

Which clues and answers did I like most? These ones:

23A: Cat's pajamas? (FUR). Ha! Good one. I was expecting a synonym for "great" along the lines of "the cat's pajamas," but it's both more playful and more literal than that.

26A: Reckon, rurally (S'POSE). I think S'POSE is more of a slangy thing than a "rural" thing these days.

I do like PSHAW— 41A: "Bah!"

43A: Caesar's tax form? (MXL). This one feels like a massive violation of Roman numeral cluing convention, as the ancient Romans assuredly did not have the U.S. Internal Revenue Service nor its 1040 form (MXL is 1,040 in Roman numerals). But it's just crazy enough that I like it. And it's way better than what Rex calls "YOTP" clues—year of the pope.

61A: Commonly receding boundary (HAIRLINE). Was your first thought of the polar ice cap?

29D: Elegantly done (SOIGNÉ). What could be more soigné than bandying this word about naturally?

51D: "Closer" Oscar nominee Clive __ (OWEN). Have you ever seen HBO's Ricky Gervais series, Extras? Here's a scene with Clive Owen playing "Clive Owen":

55D: Do to pick is an AFRO, a pick being an uplifting comb for an afro.

I was less fond of these:

• 20A: Common opening (DEAR SIRS). All right, who's still addressing letters this way? I suppose one might be writing to the College of Cardinals or the players for the Chicago Cubs but really, how many letters are being sent somewhere where there are only "sirs"?
  
• 4D: Major followers? (-ETTES). Nobody likes a plural of a suffix.
  
  
  
• Burrowing rabbitlike mammal (PIKA). It's certainly not the most familiar of Western U.S. mammals, but:: so cute! I just learned something from the Wikipedia article on pikas: Like rabbits, after eating they initially produce soft green feces, which they eat again to extract further nutrition, before producing the final, solid, fecal pellets. "Uh, you gonna eat that?"

Everything Else — 1A: Begins energetically (WADES IN); 8A: Went up (SCALED); 14A: "Be right there!" ("WAIT A SEC!"); 16A: Boom (THRIVE); 19A: Philippine bread (PESO); 21A: French possessive (SES); 22A: Add more brown to, say (REDYE); 24A: Where the 'eart is? ('OME); 31A: Removed, in a way (SCRAPED OFF); 36A: Jobs for underwriters, briefly (IPOS); 39A: Farm drier (OAST); 40A: Soft drink order (EXTRA-LARGE); 44A: Solution: Abbr. (ANS.); 45A: Levi's "Christ Stopped at __" (EBOLI); 49A: Suffix with amyl (-ASE); 50A: Try to get in the running (NOMINATE); 54A: "Thanks, __": "Are you hungry?" response (I ATE); 60A: Decide is best (SEE FIT); 62A: Chant (INTONE); 63A: Words from one closing a door, perhaps (TOO LATE); 1D: Internet abbr. (WWW); 2D: "That's the spot!" ("AAH!"); 3D: More frequent changes reduce its likelihood (DIAPER RASH); 5D: Lip (SASS); 6D: Comparison words (IS TO); 7D: Book before Esth. (NEH.); 8D: Prospective adoptee (STRAY); 9D: Tasks (CHORES); 10D: Wall St. hedgers (ARBS); 11D: 1953 Caron film (LILI); 12D: Of all time (EVER); 13D: Party people: Abbr. (DEMS); 15D: Give up (CEDE); 18D: Walker, briefly (PED); 21D: For example (SUCH AS); 22D: Electron transfer process, often (REDOX); 23D: Photo setting (F-STOP); 24D: Photo finishes? (OPS); 25D: Kid's enthusiastic "I do!" ("ME! ME!"); 28D: Style of Mozart's "Idomeneo" (OPERASERIA); 30D: Colorado's __ Park (ESTES); 32D: Kofi __ Annan (ATTA); 34D: Atom-splitting Nobelist (FERMI); 35D: Linen source (FLAX); 38D: Bugged? (ILL); 42D: Entered (WENT IN); 46D: Moisten (BASTE); 48D: Wife of Jacob (LEAH); 49D: Lagoon border (ATOLL); 50D: Not final, in law (NISI); 52D: Bubbly brand (MOET); 53D: Dope (INFO); 54D: Personal: Pref. (IDIO-); 57D: Washington MLBer (NAT); 58D: Money pd. for use of money (INT.); 59D: Athletic supporter? (TEE).

FRIDAY, April 24, 2009 — Robert H. Wolfe

THEME: Wy to go! — Words for various kinds of thoroughfares are abbreviated in otherwise familiar phrases.

I didn't like this one at all. The theme answers were really hard to parse — I had no idea what the theme even was until I was way, way deep into the puzzle, and when I discovered it, it seemed more annoying than clever. I had the entire puzzle done from NW to SE and couldn't make any sense of the theme answers. Finally had Every Single Letter in DR(ive) TO DISTRACTION, and realized that there must be abbreviations for various kinds of roads in the theme answers. The problem: there's nothing ... clever about the answers. No plays on words. Just ... abbreviations. And there's no consistency. Two of the abbrevs. (RD, ST) are used quite literally, one is used literally but inside a metaphorical expression (HWY), one is used purely metaphorically (AVE), and one (DR) is used as a verb when all the others are nouns. Two appear at the beginning of their phrases, three appear at the end. The whole thing feels pointless and messy.

Theme answers:

• 18A: Speed? (burn up the RD)
• 24A: Average Joe? (man on the ST)
• 35A: Badly fluster? (DR to distraction)
• 50A: Excessive charge? (HWY robbery)
• 57A: Way out? (AVE of escape)
  

The "?" clues were exceedingly confusing, since there was nothing tricky about the clues. They were absolutely literal. Abbreviation is not a trick — it does not merit a "?". You aren't doing anything clever with the letters in the abbr. They're just ... there. But worse than the theme, for me, was the northern section of the puzzle, which is one of the ugliest (and for me, most difficult to solve) segments I've seen in a while. UNBEND NOU LARCH VINCE ... everything in that sequence is at least mildly unpleasant, but as a bloc — torture. Further, TEAR UP THE RD works just as well as (if not better than) BURN UP THE RD, and so I couldn't get into that section to save my life. Of all the VINCEs in the world, I get some ancient TV actor I've never heard of (7D: Edwards who played Ben Casey)? NO U ... speaks for itself (5D: _____-turn). LARCH is not a common tree to me at all (went with BEECH ... or BIRCH, I forget which) (6D: Tree with durable wood), and UNBEND (4D: Straighten), while not terrible, didn't spring to mind either. Never mind that I've never heard of the Jordin Sparks song "NO AIR" (14A: 2008 Jordin Sparks duet). Not my favorite "American Idol" winner. By a longshot. Where's my Kelly Clarkson clue!?

Crosswordese 101: Yoko ONO — almost as common as Brian ENO, which is almost as common as ELO. ONO (like ENO) did tons of crazy experimental stuff you've never heard of. She was also married to John Lennon. This means that she can be very easy, or she can be very hard, depending on what kind of clue the editor wants to throw at you. I once posted an album cover that featured her and John naked ("Two Virgins"). Caused an idiotic stir that resulted in my blog's getting flagged for "objectionable content." She is usually clued in relation to John, or "Double Fantasy," the 1980 album she and John did together. But then again, sometimes you see clues like ["Hiroshima Sky Is Always Blue" collaborator] (New York Sun, Dec. 28, 2005). Today's clue, 64A: "Walking on Thin Ice" singer, falls under the "obscure" category for me, so I had to wait to see if the first letter was an "O" or an "E" (as ENO's work often sounds at least as loopy as ONO's).

What else?

• 4A: NCAA Mountain West Conf. team (UNLV) — More problems in the N. I wanted REBS (UNLV is the Running REBS). They were the main rivals of Fresno State, and I saw them play many times when I was growing up. Also entertained UTES up there.
• 54A: "Power Lunch" airer (CNBC) — Mmm, "airer" ... love the crossword clue jargon.
• 65A: Colchester's county (ESSEX) — Pure guess that paid off.
• 10D: "Rob Roy" actor (NEESON) — Hey, I guessed the spelling right. For once.
• 2D: The doghouse, so to speak (DISFAVOR) — Good, funny clue
• 28D: Fan-shaped muscle (PEC) — I ... never thought of it that way. Maybe if mine were bigger ...
• 37D: Billy Blanks's fitness program (TAE BO) — Some day, this will be the featured answer in Crosswordese 101.

• 52D: Character-building gps. (YMCAS) — ??? I thought this was going to have something to do with character sets, e.g. ASCII.
• 59D: "Annabel Lee" poet (Poe) — Another hint: if you want to do well at xwords, memorize everything you can about POE. He's $#*!in' everywhere.

See you all next week. PG and Orange have the weekend covered.

~Rex Parker