MONDAY, July 5, 2010 — Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Non-Dairy Alternatives — Theme answers end with a word that's a dairy product, but isn't a dairy product in the context of the answer.


Theme answers:

• 17A: Meat jelly with a dairy-sounding name (HEAD CHEESE).
• 29A: Jelly companion (PEANUT BUTTER).
• 47A: It's usually not needed with an electric razor (SHAVING CREAM).
• 62A: San Francisco gay rights martyr played by Sean Penn in a 2008 film (HARVEY MILK).

Okay, I'm just going to say this. The thought of HEAD CHEESE makes my stomach turn. It looks completely disgusting and it sounds like something even worse than what it actually is. Seeing that as the first theme answer, then, grossed me out a little. Then I got to PEANUT BUTTER and all was forgiven.

I didn't really have any sticking points today. Everything seemed pretty straightforward. The northeast corner was probably toughest for me because I didn't remember Richard ROUNDTREE and I couldn't come up with RUFF right away (19A: Old-fashioned pleated neckwear). But the crosses came easily, so not much of a slow-down there. I think the level of crosswordese in this puzzle is pretty low for a Monday. And some of the fill is pretty good. Not anything we haven't seen before, but — again, for a Monday — well, I think the scrabbliness helps this one actually sparkle a little. Good stuff.

Let's talk about …

• 14A: Yankee Stadium's borough (BRONX). There's a fantastic story about my favorite baseball player, Yankee Mariano Rivera, in yesterday's New York Times Magazine.
• 21A: 1963 Paul Newman title role (HUD). You'll be seeing this in CW101 someday, so try to remember it!
• 43A: Iowa wrestling legend Gable (DAN). Okay, that's not really the clue here. But it should be!
• 51A: TV hero who was really good with a Swiss army knife (MACGYVER). One of my favorite websites, Lifehacker.com often publishes MacGyver tips. These are old, but probably still work!
• 11D: "Shaft" star Richard (ROUNDTREE). Before there was Chuck Norris, there was John Shaft.

• 22D: Salad bar greens (ARUGULA). I'm fussy about my salad greens. I really don't like the kind that looks like it was just picked from the yard. I think arugula is okay. It's the stuff that looks like weeds and tastes like chemicals that I don't want anywhere near my salad.
• 28D: "Deutschland __ Alles" (ÜBER). Timely.
• 34D: Sister of Rachel (LEAH). Some people might know this from the Bible, but I know it from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.
• 42D: Major-__: steward (DOMO). I've only seen this word in the context of newsgroups but never really knew what it meant. Wikipedia tells me that "Typically, the term refers to the highest (major) person of a household (domo) staff, one who acts on behalf of the (often absent) owner of a typically large residence. … The term also refers, more informally, to someone who oversees the day-to-day responsibilities of a business enterprise." I'm going to see if I can get my boss to change my title to Majordomo.

• 63D: Golfer's dream (ACE). PuzzleHusband told a funny story the other day about one time a couple years ago when he took PuzzleSon golfing. PS was, I don't know, five or six years old maybe? And when PH shot an eagle on one hole he was all, "Did you see that?!" PS is like, "Yeah, it went in the hole." He didn't fully comprehend the awesomeness of the shot is what I'm saying.

Crosswordese 101: If it's a five-letter word and refers to windblown, wind-carried, or wind-deposited soil, topsoil, or silt, you're looking at LOESS. Other words that might appear in clues for LOESS are loam and dust. And now you're pretty much ready for the next time LOESS is in the grid.

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

• 52A: Hops-drying oven (OAST).
• 67A: Top (ACME).
• 27D: Sporty car roof (T-TOP).
• 50D: Cleveland's lake (ERIE).
• 65D: G.I. field ration (MRE).

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Everything Else — 1A: Have a meeting of the minds (AGREE); 6A: Broadway attraction (SHOW); 10A: Matrix (GRID); 15A: Came to (WOKE); 16A: Top-ranked (A-ONE); 20A: NFL tiebreakers (OT'S); 22A: What pests do (ANNOY); 23A: Charlie Brown cry (RATS); 25A: Read the riot act to (LECTURED); 33A: Hospital supply (BLOOD); 36A: "The Man Who Fell to Earth" director Nicolas (ROEG); 37A: Outback bounder, briefly (ROO); 38A: Dizzy feeling (VERTIGO); 41A: Sensible, à la George Bush Sr. (PRUDENT); 43A: Ex-veep Quayle (DAN); 44A: 1040 or 1040EZ (FORM); 46A: Wind-carried soil (LOESS); 56A: Public embarrassment (SCENE); 58A: Partner of vigor (VIM); 60A: Tic-tac-toe loser (XOO); 61A: Short skirt (MINI); 66A: Feedbag stuff (OATS); 68A: Treasure cache (TROVE); 69A: "Gee" (GOSH); 70A: Patch up (MEND); 71A: Biceps-flexing guys (HE-MEN); 1D: Really hate (ABHOR); 2D: Legendary Garbo (GRETA); 3D: Family dinner entrée (ROAST); 4D: Wrap up (END); 5D: Part of NYSE: Abbr. (EXCH.); 6D: Nobel's birthplace (SWEDEN); 7D: Gardener's tool (HOE); 8D: Acceptances (OK'S); 9D: Tiny (WEE); 10D: January birthstone (GARNET); 12D: Facts, briefly (INFO); 13D: Resist openly (DEFY); 18D: Hawaiian dance (HULA); 24D: Blemish to remove (SPOT); 26D: Junkyard dog (CUR); 30D: Big building (EDIFICE); 31D: Many millennia (EONS); 32D: Decays (ROTS); 33D: Some briefs (BVD'S); 35D: Yule danglers (ORNAMENTS); 39D: Loud bell (GONG); 40D: Out-of-control indulgence (ORGY); 45D: Roman 1,105 (MCV); 48D: Disappear (VANISH); 49D: Gunned, as an engine (REVVED); 53D: Geometry postulate (AXIOM); 54D: Finish, as a crossword (SOLVE); 55D: Arcade coin (TOKEN); 56D: City skyline blurrer (SMOG); 57D: Italian's "So long" ("CIAO"); 59D: Greek god story, e.g. (MYTH); 62D: Breakfast meat (HAM); 64D: Pres. who resigned in '74 (RMN).

TUESDAY, January 12, 2010 — Allan E. Parrish

Theme: To a Tee — Theme answers all end with a homophone of TEES.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Burlesque act (STRIPTEASE).
• 35A: University governing body (BOARD OF TRUSTEES).
• 59A: Baseball's Big Papi (DAVID ORTIZ).
• 24D: Summer coolers (ICE TEAS). I know, I know. It really should be ICED with a D on the end. I think we're just going to have to get over it.

[Edited to include the fourth theme answer.] Very nice Tuesday puzzle today. I only noticed the three across theme answers which means I couldn't rely on the theme to help me much with the fill. And although the fill was pretty light on the crosswordese, it still included quite a few answer we've seen before. Did you have trouble with this one? Or was it a walk in the park?

More:

• 19A: Camper driver, for short (RV'ER). I learned about this American subculture back in 1995 when I traveled from suburban Maryland to New Mexico by car, staying at KOA's along the way. The thing I actually remember the most is that because I was a young woman traveling alone, there were a couple RV'ERs at each stop who kind of looked out for me. Very nice people, they were.
• 21A: "Tobacco Road" novelist __ Caldwell (ERSKINE). For some reason I always confuse this book (which I've never read) with the more recent "Revolutionary Road" (which, unfortunately, I have).
• 23A: Pioneer in pistol-grip hair dryers (CONAIR).

• 26A: "... boy __ girl?" (OR A). An important question to ask about a new baby. Otherwise, how will you know whether your baby gift should have princesses on it or trucks? *sigh*
• 41A: Tummy-tightening garment (CORSET). Can't tell you how glad I am not to live in a time when corsets are the norm. Spanx are bad enough.
• 50A: Rose of Guns N' Roses (AXL). My favorite GnR song:

• 55A: "You cannot be serious!" tennis great (MCENROE). Bad boy John McEnroe used to yell that phrase at umpires during matches (which, as I'm sure you can imagine, they just loved). He later used the line as the title for his autobiography. This was after he had calmed down quite a bit.

• 58A: Pre-migraine headache phenomenon (AURA). I get migraines, but I've never had the aura. It actually sounds kinda cool. Better than the nausea anyway.
• 2D: Director De Sica (VITTORIO). Never heard of him.
• 52D: Stiller's partner (MEARA). Love her!

Crosswordese 101: As we're all certainly aware by now, to be successful in crosswords sometimes we have to know stuff that we don't know. For example, "The Simpsons." I don't watch that show — not that I have anything against it, it just never made it to the top of my list — and yet I know the names of Homer's dad (Abe), the Simpson's next-door neighbor (Ned) and, of course, the Kwik-E-Mart owner (Apu). Same deal with "Star Trek." I was never a fan, but there are two character names that I know for sure: SULU and TROI. Clues for both characters will often indicate their connection to "Star Trek" by including words like Enterprise, Picard, or Kirk. SULU is generally clued as a crewman, helmsman, or navigator. TROI is a counselor or empath whose first name is Deanna.

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Everything Else — 1A: Rating for many HBO shows (TV-MA); 5A: Capital of Morocco (RABAT); 10A: Vise parts (JAWS); 14A: Twice the radius: Abbr. (DIAM.); 15A: Funds for online buys (E-CASH); 16A: Make spelling corrections to, e.g. (EDIT); 20A: Baghdad's river (TIGRIS); 24A: Lang. of Lombardy (ITAL.); 25A: Repair, as a tear (SEW); 27A: Anti-discrimination agcy. (EEOC); 29A: Forensic evidence threads (FIBERS); 31A: Surrealist Joan (MIRÓ); 33A: Allegiance (FEALTY); 42A: Sailor's patron saint (ELMO); 43A: Pour into a carafe (DECANT); 46A: __ prof. (ASST.); 49A: Newbie reporter (CUB); 51A: Resistance units (OHMS); 53A: Bathroom hangers (TOWELS); 57A: Dolts (MORONS); 62A: Certain NCO (SSGT); 63A: Hoop-shaped gasket (O-RING); 64A: Picard's counselor (TROI); 65A: South Florida vacation destination (KEYS); 66A: Simultaneous equation variables (X AND Y); 67A: __ Kong (HONG); 1D: 100-plus-yd. kickoff returns, e.g. (TDS); 3D: Tomato-based sauce (MARINARA); 4D: Pedro's girlfriend (AMIGA); 5D: Call it a night (RETIRE); 6D: Top pitchers (ACES); 7D: Sheep's cry (BAA); 8D: Pitcher's pinpoint control, say (ASSET); 9D: Cold relief brand (THERAFLU); 10D: Dolt (JERK); 11D: Recommend (ADVISE); 12D: Hot dog (WIENER); 13D: Spreads, as seed (STREWS); 18D: __-dieu: kneeler (PRIE); 22D: Narrow apertures (SLITS); 23D: Search high and low (COMB); 28D: Slays, mob-style (OFFS); 30D: Computer memory unit (BYTE); 32D: Marine predator (ORCA); 34D: Martial __ (ARTS); 36D: Blood drive participant (DONOR); 37D: Greek __ Church (ORTHODOX); 38D: City east of San Diego (EL CENTRO); 39D: Liquid-in-liquid suspension (EMULSION); 40D: Cries convulsively (SOBS); 43D: Table linen material (DAMASK); 44D: Forgive (EXCUSE); 45D: Pastors and priests (CLERGY); 47D: Unduly formal (STODGY); 48D: Corrida competitor (TORO); 54D: Value (WORTH); 56D: Washington team, familiarly (NATS); 57D: It can be changed or made up (MIND); 60D: Sportscaster Scully (VIN); 61D: Turn sharply (ZIG).

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, August 11, 2009 — Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Let's Go to the Theater! — Theme answers end with words associated with the theater.

Theme answers:

• 18A: Homemade radio (CRYSTAL SET).
  
• 59A: Last part (FINAL STAGE).
  
• 3D: Baseball play that may be "suicide" (SQUEEZE PLAY).
  
• 27D: Common autograph site (PLASTER CAST).
  

Here's what I like about the theme. None of the final words in the theme answers are used in their theater context. For example, if 27D had been ALL-STAR CAST, that would not have been good because the cast in that phrase means the same thing as the cast in the collection of theme answers. Here's what I don't like about it. It's not in any particular order. Now, I'm not sure exactly what order I would have preferred, but I know for sure that PLAY would have been last. If the theme answers had all been acrosses this would have bothered me a lot, but because two of them are downs, it's not quite so glaring. Also, I've never heard the phrase CRYSTAL SET. But I'm sure that says more about me than it does about the puzzle.

Crosswordese 101: Not much to choose from today, which is nice. We've already covered ERTÉ (4D: One-named Deco artist) and SST (13D: Bygone British Airways plane, briefly), so today we'll focus on OP-ART (2D: Eyeball-bending genre). The first several times I saw this in a puzzle, I couldn't parse it to save my life. Then the next few times, it took a few seconds but I had my "aha!" moment. Now, it's pretty much a gimme. OP-ART is generally described in clues as dizzying, eye-popping, or psychedelic.

I had a heckuva time down in the Texas area where I first entered AMFM for 68A: Car radio button. When I realized it had to start with an S, I changed it to scan, giving me Marcia for 48D: "My Little __": 1950s Gale Storm sitcom, which sounded fine to me. When it was obvious Marcia was wrong, I tried Marcie and — eventually! — found my way to the correct MARGIE.

Anything else?

• 1A: Canseco of baseball fame (JOSÉ). I love to start off with a big, fat gimme at 1-Across!
  
• 9A: Diving ducks (SMEWS). I'm sure I've seen this before, but I couldn't come up with it without a few crosses. As a matter of fact, I entered the W off of WEE (12D: Quite small) and thought it was wrong.
  
• 17A: Ship-related: Abbr. (NAUT.). Lots of abbreviations today, which is never a good thing. See also AGT. (37A: CIA operative), LTS. (36D: Grads of 31-Down), and that's not even counting the slew of acronyms. Yikes!
  
• 26A: Lhasa __ (APSO). I got it right today! I was just commenting on a puzzle recently that I always get mixed up on this one because I think of the phrase ipso facto.
  
• 43A: Seashore fliers (ERNS). Another candidate for CW101. I think Orange once explained to me the difference between ERNS and ERNES, but I don't remember now.
  

• 7D: Turntable needles (STYLI). Plural of stylus.
  
• 21D: North Carolina athlete (TARHEEL). Shout-out to my girl Stardust who taught me this: Whose House? Heels' House!
  
• 31D: Mil. training inst. (OCS). Officer Candidate (or Cadet) School. This is a generic term for this type of institution, unlike USMA (66A: DDE's alma mater), which specifically refers to the United States Military Academy at West Point.
  
• 34D: Ticker (CLOCK).



• 56D: Mike Doonesbury's daughter, in comics (ALEX). This seems like a pretty obscure clue for a Tuesday.
  
• 62D: "Benevolent" fellow (ELK). That's what the B stands for in BPOE (Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks).

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Everything Else — 5A: Screen material (MESH); 14A: Quartet before S (OPQR); 15A: Introductory drawing class (ART I); 16A: Gives a ticket to (CITES); 20A: Say "Howdy!" to (GREET); 22A: Settings for weddings (ALTARS); 23A: Co. that merged into Verizon (GTE); 24A: Director's directive (ACTION); 30A: Greek played by Anthony Quinn (ZORBA); 32A: Small waves (RIPPLES); 34A: Moravians, e.g. (CZECHS); 36A: Polygraph flunker, probably (LIAR); 38A: Terminate, as an insurance policy (LAPSE); 39A: Mail Boxes ___ (ETC.); 40A: Follow (ENSUE); 42A: Source of Rockefeller's wealth (OIL); 45A: Nag (PESTER); 46A: Held protectively, as an infant (CRADLED); 48A: Chop up (MINCE); 49A: Actor __ Luke who played Chan's Number One Son in old films (KEYE); 50A: Off one's rocker (INSANE); 52A: Nutrition letters (RDA); 55A: Louis who wrote Western novels (LAMOUR); 57A: Chops up (DICES); 63A: "The War of the Worlds" enemy (MARS); 64A: Atmospheric layer (OZONE); 65A: Villain's forte (EVIL); (USMA); 67A: Office copy (XEROX); 69A: Stick around (STAY); 1D: Mah-__ (JONGG); 5D: Brit's raincoat (MAC); 6D: Printing slip-ups (ERRATA); 8D: Like chronicles of the past (HISTORIC); 9D: Capone feature (SCAR); 10D: Grammy-winning country singer Ronnie (MILSAP); 11D: Sci-fi staples (ETS); 19D: Patty Hearst's SLA alias (TANIA); 25D: "Numb3rs" network (CBS); 28D: Smooth transition (SEGUE); 29D: Big name in blenders (OSTER); 33D: Primped (PREENED); 35D: Congo, formerly (ZAIRE); 39D: Back-of-the-book listings (ENDNOTES); 41D: Pres. advisory team (NSC); 44D: Champagne-producing city (REIMS); 45D: Jewelry box item (PIN); 47D: The "D" in FDR (DELANO); 51D: Sophisticated (SUAVE); 53D: Skin layer (DERMA); 54D: Test one's metal (ASSAY); 58D: Don of talk radio (IMUS); 59D: Henhouse raider (FOX); 60D: Suffix with civil (-IZE); 61D: Here-there link (NOR).