06.28 Tue

T U E S D A Y
June 28, 2011
Victor Fleming & Nancy Salomon

Theme: French! — That's right, French!

Theme answers:

• 17A: Delight in living (JOIE DE VIVRE).
• 24A: Paris site of objets d'art (MUSÉE DU LOUVRE).
• 48A: Peppercorn-coated beef entrée (STEAK AU POIVRE).
• 56A: Shrimp cocktail, e.g. (HORS D'OEUVRE).

Well, we're off to a great start this week, aren't we? I really enjoyed this puzzle. Obviously, I got a kick out of the ... French! But that's not the only reason. Look at some of those other entries: HAIL MARY, MAKE HAY, HAS-BEEN, AIRBALL — even MOPSY kind of tickled me today (3D: Desperation gridiron pass / 40D: What some do while the sun shines? / 30A: Fading star / 43A: Hoops shot that misses everything / 32A: Peter Rabbit sibling). The biggest problem — and I'm sure I'm not alone in this — was figuring out how to spell some of the theme answers. Thank God for crosses!

The only real clunkers I found were SSS and ISLS. (11A: Leaky tire sound / 20A: Aruba et al.: Abbr.). You really hate to see SSS in the grid. I wonder if there are any good options for that corner, but don't have to time right now to really focus on it. Other than that, though, really solid and really smooth. Like I said, we're off to a great start.

Bullets:

• 36A: Word with cozy or bag (TEA). Is anyone good with this type of clue? I'm horrible — horrible — with them! I actually love coming up with them when I'm constructing a puzzle, but as a solver I can ne-Ever get them.
• 46A: Hatch, as a scheme (THINK UP). I tried DREAM UP first.
• 52A: Pre-splat cry (OOPS). HAha: "pre-splat."
• 7D: Ford in a Beach Boys hit (T-BIRD). Now here's a Beach Boys song I've heard of.



• 10D: Springsteen, to fans (THE BOSS). And if THE BOSS is more your style, take a gander at this.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 21A: Wine-and-cassis apéritif (KIR).
• 9D: Former Egypt-Syr. alliance (UAR).
• 18D: __ out: barely gets (EKES).

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Everything Else — 1A: Sounds of laughter (HAHAS); 6A: Show off, as one's stuff (STRUT); 14A: Change with the times (ADAPT); 15A: West Indian sorcery (OBEAH); 16A: Back muscle, for short (LAT); 19A: Stretch to remember (ERA); 22A: With 50-Across, quarterback who started a record 297 consecutive games (BRETT); 28A: Not for (AGAINST); 31A: __-Novo: Benin's capital (PORTO); 33A: Play (with) (TOY); 34A: Slate-backing strips (LATHS); 39A: Apple models (IMACS); 41A: They may be blown in games (LEADS); 50A: See 22-Across (FAVRE); 51A: The whole shebang (ALL); 55A: Saloon order (ALE); 60A: Knight's title (SIR); 61A: Justice Samuel (ALITO); 62A: Speedy base runner's strategy (STEAL); 63A: Thing to run at a bar (TAB); 64A: Red Sea republic (YEMEN); 65A: Prefix with frost (PERMA-); 1D: Pilgrim to Mecca (HAJI); 2D: Bustles (ADOS); 4D: Jungle film costume (APE SUIT); 5D: CST part: Abbr. (STD.); 6D: Like old Russian states (SOVIET); 8D: Give gas to (REV); 11D: Place for an ace? (SLEEVE); 12D: "No Exit" dramatist (SARTRE); 13D: __ Island Ferry (STATEN); 23D: Red gemstone (RUBY); 25D: __-Cat: winter vehicle (SNO); 26D: "This could be a problem" ("UH-OH"); 27D: Swimmer's reps (LAPS); 28D: On target (APT); 29D: Bit of baby babble (GOO); 32D: The Rockies, e.g.: Abbr. (MTS.); 34D: In __ land: loopy (LA-LA); 35D: First Amdt. defender (ACLU); 36D: Corporate acquisition (TAKEOVER); 37D: School URL ending (EDU); 38D: Fanged serpent (ASP); 39D: Building beam (I-BAR); 41D: Ullmann of "Autumn Sonata" (LIV); 42D: On the way (EN ROUTE); 43D: Equally speedy (AS FAST); 44D: Roma's land (ITALIA); 45D: Echoic effect (REVERB); 46D: Snitched about (TOLD ON); 47D: Port of Hawaii (HILO); 49D: Second of a word-processing pair (PASTE); 53D: English carriage (PRAM); 54D: Ward of "CSI: NY" (SELA); 57D: Cheer for a toreador (OLÉ); 58D: Perimeter (RIM); 59D: Clairvoyance, briefly (ESP).

05.14 Sat

S A T U R D A Y
May 14, 2011
Victor Fleming

Theme: None

Well isn't this just a breath of fresh air after yesterday. Blogger being down most of the day stressed me out then, of course, there was the puzzle. Thank you, Judge Fleming! My solving experience with this grid was pretty much perfect (i.e., the way I like it late in the week). My first pass through the acrosses, I didn't have much to go on. But I was able to piece it together bit by bit with a little struggle. But not too much! Very nice.

Highlights in the grid for me include three awesome colloquial phrases:

• 19A: Was left out, facetiously (DIDN'T GET THE MEMO).
• 11D: Disappointed, slangily (BUMMED OUT).
• 35D: Matrimonial prize (GOOD CATCH).

Causing problems for me were answers where I had a few letters in place and then couldn't get wrong answers out of my head. For example, for [16A: Goes without saying?] I had the M and the T and couldn't get MUTES out of the way long enough to see MOUTHS. And with I***LIZES in place for [33D: Puts on a pedestal], all I could visualize was IDOLIZES, which made it hard for me to see the correct IDEALIZES. That particular entry had the added disadvantage of being a down answer, which I have so much trouble with sometimes that I write them horizontally just so I can see them in the right perspective.

Other than that, no major hang-ups. I don't know what a 23D: Puff ADDER is (I'm guessing snake?) and I needed one letter in place to remember TERI Bauer (41A: Jack's wife in Season 1 of "24"). Oh, and the AIRE (55D: Leeds's river)? Look, I know I suck a rivers, but most of them that show up in grids are rivers that I've at least heard of. AIRE? That's a new one on me.

Bullets:

• 28A: Milky way? (UDDER). I have a mental block with this word. I try to spell it UTTER every. single. time.
• 35A: It's good to be in one (GROOVE).



• 45A: Case, for instance: Abbr. (SYN.). The words "case" and "instance" can be SYNonyms. I still get tricked by this type of clue pretty much every time, so don't feel bad.
• 9D: It's across the Missouri from Council Bluffs, Iowa (OMAHA). I've been to wrestling tournaments in both Council Bluffs and OMAHA. Just sayin'.
• 10D: Point from which one must proceed? (NO RETURN).



• 27D: Henri, e.g. (NOM). "Henri" is a French name and "nom" is the French word for "name." That's right … French!

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 23A: Duchamp contemporary (ARP).
• 2D: Et __ (ALII).
• 14D: Sinclair Oil rival (ESSO).
• 51D: Shortstop Vizquel (OMAR).

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Everything Else — 1A: "American Pie" actress (TARA REID); 9A: Leading, usually (ON BASE); 15A: Refinement (ELEGANCE); 17A: Subtle differences (NICETIES); 18A: "Where ignorant __ clash by night": Matthew Arnold (ARMIES); 21A: Round-topped topper (TAM); 22A: Ticked (IRATE); 26A: Nursery employee (NANNY); 32A: Rye server (DELI); 34A: Trifle (TOY); 36A: Something taken by a shooter (DEAD AIM); 38A: Some incentives (BONUSES); 39A: Non-acidic vitamin brand (ESTER-C); 40A: Labor gp. that initially supported FDR (CIO); 42A: Therapy goal (REHAB); 43A: Bridge units (HANDS); 46A: Last straw (LIMIT); 48A: Video end? (CAM); 50A: Man, to Aristotle (POLITICAL ANIMAL); 57A: Throws (AMAZES); 58A: "Sure, why not?" ("LET'S DO IT"); 59A: Meet people? (RACERS); 60A: Pedigree (ANCESTRY); 61A: Black-tie (DRESSY); 62A: Diamond gem (NO-HITTER); 1D: Keep an eye on (TEND); 3D: Like most mailed pkgs. (RECD.); 4D: Deal maker (AGENT); 5D: Palm prevalent in Indonesia (RATTAN); 6D: Hard to figure out (ENIGMATIC); 7D: Frozen pop brand (ICEE); 8D: Fortune (DESTINY); 12D: End in __ (A TIE); 13D: Noah's eldest (SHEM); 20D: Subject to strain (TRY); 24D: Eponymous candy company founder (REESE); 25D: "Lady Lazarus" poet (PLATH); 29D: Doctor's orders (DOSES); 30D: All possible (EVERY); 31D: Mastic, for one (RESIN); 37D: Judges (ARBITERS); 38D: Storage unit (BIN); 40D: Pablo Casals, e.g. (CATALAN); 43D: Sound heard after a lot of shots? (HIC); 44D: Third-generation Japanese-American (SANSEI); 47D: Rapper Elliott (MISSY); 49D: Core (MIDST); 50D: Frontier friend (PARD); 52D: Oxford fastener (LACE); 53D: Star seen around midnight (LENO); 54D: Suffragist Lucretia (MOTT); 56D: Astron. distance (LT. YR.).

04.27 Wed

W E D N E S D A Y
April 27, 2011
Victor Fleming

Theme: Black Tie Optional — Each theme answer is a familiar phrase ending in a word that can be part of a dress shirt.

Theme answers:

• 17A: One of a pool table pair (SIDE POCKET).
• 24A: Illegal football tackle involving grabbing the inside of the shoulder pads from behind or the side (HORSE COLLAR).
• 36A: Album holders (RECORD SLEEVES).
• 48A: Seafood entrée (LOBSTER TAIL).
• 58A: Item featuring the ends of 17-, 24-, 36- and 48-Across (DRESS SHIRT).

Good morning, everybody! And big thanks to My Boys™: Doug, Seth, Sam and Neville. It was so nice to take a couple days off and know the blog was in good hands. I appreciate you guys!

It's still a little nuts around here because there are a few random moving details to take care of this week, but for the most part we're in our new house and it's awesome. This is gonna be a great house for us and I'm excited about being here. But, hey! Let's talk about the puzzle!

Today we have a very nice Wednesday offering from Judge Fleming. The theme wasn't immediately recognizable to me because I had to skip over the HORSE COLLAR theme entry, having no idea what that might be from the clue. I had the HO in place early and assumed the answer would start with HOLD, but that didn't last long. So I had SIDE POCKET and RECORD SLEEVES first, then jumped back up to the northeast and filled in HORSE COLLAR and by then the theme was clear. (Wait. Do dress shirts typically have tails? Discuss.)

Bullets:

• 14A: Sex educator Hite (SHERE). I always have to think about how to spell her name. I can never remember how to spell SHERI/SHARI Lewis either.
• 20A: Franken and Gore (ALS).



• 29A: Trick (CON). Was it yesterday we had the PRO/CON puzzle? (I'm a little behind….)
• 31A: Head, to Cécile (TÊTE). French!
• 47A: Big name in stationery (EATON). Once, a long time ago, I commented that I always wanted the stationery answer to be CRANE and it never was. Amy took that opportunity to teach me that there are so many other ways to clue CRANE, it would never be clued as the stationery company. Good point!

• 62A: Major-__ (DOMO). This was honestly the first thing that came to mind, but I didn't think it would be right. I don't even really know what this means. Something computer geeky. I remember seeing it back in the Usenet days. Or, what was the thing before Usenet? It had initials. A couple Rs maybe?
• 64A: Part of SSS: Abbr. (SYST.). I don't have time to look it up, but I'm gonna say this stands for Selected Service SYSTem.
• 1D: Battery partner (ASSAULT). I'm really bad at figuring out these types of clues. I always think about it the wrong way around. Like, I was thinking "Battery and _____" and wasn't coming up with anything. Obviously.
• 3D: Voting map designation (RED STATE). This is a great entry.
• 4D: Infuriation (IRE). Not thrilled about seeing both IRE and IRATE in the same grid (54A: Foaming at the mouth, so to speak).
• 11D: Jacket features (LAPELS). Bonus non-theme theme answer!

• 13D: Aristocracy (GENTRY). This made me chuckle. I hardly ever think of Vic Fleming without also thinking of his sometime collaborator, friend, and all-around lovely woman Bonnie GENTRY.
• 25D: Where to study mathématiques (ÉCOLE). More French!
• 32D: One walking in front of a train (BRIDE). Me: "Dumb-ass?"
• 34D: Fashion monogram (YSL). Ya know what? I'm gonna count this as even more French!
• 35D: Like "Nip/Tuck," rating-wise (TV-MA). Mature Audience? Again, that's just off the top of my head.
• 38D: Humbly takes the blame (EATS DIRT). Raise your hand if you tried EATS CROW first.

• 47D: Inventor Otis (ELISHA). Of elevator fame. Not to be confused with ELIHU Yale. I say that because I often confuse them. Well, I don't actually confuse them, I just forget which one of them has which first name.
• 52D: AOL communications (IM'S). Instant Messages. Do people still use AOL? I guess they do.
• 58D: Bridge installer's deg. (DDS). Ha! I went to the dentist yesterday. Nothing serious, just a regular old six-month check-up. I swear to God, though, while I was there I heard the song 63A: "HERE I Go Again": Whitesnake #1 song. Coincidence? Yeah, probably.

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Everything Else — 1A: Stinging (ACRID); 6A: Texas Rangers CEO Nolan (RYAN); 10A: Go, as through mud (SLOG); 15A: Billion add-on (-AIRE); 16A: Hobbler's support (CANE); 19A: Take the stage first (OPEN); 21A: Old-fashioned wedding vow pronoun (THEE); 22A: Inhabited, with "in" (DWELT); 23A: Final: Abbr. (ULT.); 27A: Prevaricators (LIARS); 30A: Bond, for one (SPY); 32A: M16 attachment (BAYONET); 40A: Practiced with the platoon (DRILLED); 41A: When repeated, a food fish (MAHI); 46A: Citrus drink (ADE); 53A: Shipping lane milieu (SEA); (IRATE); 55A: Prefix with sphere (HEMI-); 56A: Sot's syndrome, briefly (DT'S); 57A: Moore of "Ghost" (DEMI); 65A: Part of a process (STEP); 66A: Starlike flower (ASTER); 2D: More in need of a sweater, say (CHILLIER); 5D: Ocean-bottom areas (DEPTHS); 6D: Indy entrant (RACER); 7D: "Uh-oh!" ("YIKES!"); 8D: "__ you for real?" (ARE); 9D: Court divider (NET); 10D: Displeased look (SCOWL); 12D: Quarter-mile, maybe (ONE LAP); 18D: "Gotcha!" ("OHO!"); 22D: Charity, e.g. (DONEE); 26D: Funnel-shaped (CONED); 28D: Stamp for an incoming pkg. (RECD.); 33D: Freud contemporary (ADLER); 37D: Get on the soapbox (ORATE); 39D: Shape-maintaining insert (SHOE TREE); 42D: Agitated (IN A STIR); 43D: Skips over in pronunciation (ELIDES); 44D: Extremely (SORELY); 45D: First family (OBAMAS); 49D: Clown heightener (STILT); 50D: Most crosswords have one (THEME); 51D: Fabulous fellow? (AESOP); 59D: Rubbish (ROT); 60D: "For __ a jolly ..." (HE'S).

03.27 Sun

S U N D A Y
March 27, 2011
Matt Skoczen & Victor Fleming

[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: "Rowdy Bunch" — Theme entries in which the first word can follow the word "WILD" to make a familiar word or phrase: wild card, wild cherry, Wild Turkey, wildflower, etc.

Theme Entries:

• 22A: *Old library aid (CARD CATALOG).
  
• 32A: *Soda fountain choice (CHERRY COKE).
• 97A: *Ragtime dance (TURKEY TROT).
• 110A: *'60s Haight-Ashbury type (FLOWER CHILD).
• 3D: *Political mantra (PARTY LINE).
• 20D: *Drug problem (SIDE EFFECT). 
• 67D: *One side of a defunct wall (WEST BERLIN). 
• 76D: *A cappella leader's gadget (PITCH PIPE). 
• 64A: Maurice Sendak kids' book, and the starts of starred answers (WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE).

Hey, everybody. This is Doug, back from Brooklyn and the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. I had a fantastic time! If you haven't read PuzzleGirl's ACPT recap yet, what are you waiting for?

OK, today's puzzle is by Matt Skoczen & Victor Fleming. Very impressive construction. Matt and Vic have taken the basic "word that can go before..." theme to another level. First of all, the 21-letter theme revealer, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE, is excellent. Second, each theme entry crosses another theme entry, and some of them cross two theme entries! That's not easy to pull off. (I highlighted all the theme entries so you could see how they intersect.) Kudos to today's constructing duo.

Bullets:

• 19A: Aromatic resin (ELEMI). This is one of those crosswordy words that shows up every now and then, usually clued as "Fragrant resin" or "Varnish ingredient." I wish I had even one interesting thing to say about elemi, but I don't.

• 24A: Gadget, for one: Abbr. (INSP). "Inspector Gadget" was an cartoon in the mid-'80s. I watched it couple of times. It was pretty bad, but Don Adams did the voice of Inspector Gadget, so I'll give it bonus points for that.
• 48A: Cockney toast starter ('ERE'S). As in "'ere's to you, 'enry 'iggins!" I've also seen OME clued as "Cockney's abode." I'm not sure how far we can carry this Cockney cluing thing. How about "'uge 'erbivore" for IPPO?
• 50A: Souvenirs at the park, usually (FOULS). I've never caught a foul ball at the ballpark or been close to anyone who has. Very disappointing. I must be sitting in the wrong sections.

• 119A: Stieg Larsson was one (SWEDE). The late Stieg Larsson is the author who wrote "The Girl With the Yankees Sweatshirt Who's About to Blow Your Head Off" and other umlaut-laden novels.
• 9D: 1847 novel based on its author's time in the Society Islands (OMOO). Has anyone actually read this book? I would read it, but I've learned all I need to know about "Omoo" from crossword clues. I feel the same way about the opera/play "Aida."
• 13D: E-mail option (REPLY ALL). I know you all saw this ad during the Super Bowl, but it's worth another look.

• 40D: Abecedarian (NEOPHYTE). "Abecedarian" means "one who teaches or studies the alphabet; a beginner." And the word apparently came from the the letters A, B, C, and D. They just strung them together with a couple e's and added "-arian." How cool is that? For some reason, my made-up words never catch on.
• 101D: Kind of shoes or blues (DRESS). Great clue. At first glance, I thought the answer was SUEDE.

Short write-up today. I'm still tired from last weekend's crossword extravaganza. Have a great week.

S A T U R D A Y November 27, 2010 Victor Fleming

Theme: None

Doug here, filling for PuzzleGirl, who's taking a much-deserved Saturday vacation.

Nice themeless puzzle by Vic "The Gavel" Fleming today. A little easier than recent LA Times Saturday puzzles. Perhaps Rich Norris figured we'd all be recovering from our Thanksgiving food comas today.

Vic started off with a bang at 1-Across: One is in the Guinness Book for its 1728-word vocabulary is the clue for PARAKEET. That is so awesome and so weird. I was thinking it was some kind of ape or gorilla, or maybe a dolphin. How did Guinness verify this record? Did someone sit by the cage for days, recording every word the parakeet squawked? Maybe they just took the bird's word for it.


Bullets:

• 18A: Like "The Hurt Locker," e.g. (R-RATED). One of PuzzleGirl's crack assistants, SethG, pointed out to me that there's a sort of mini-theme running through the puzzle. You've got this entry, R-RATED, along with 30A: G-STRING (find your own picture), 34A: E STREET, and 47A: I-BAR. Cool.
• 19A: Iteration opening (I SAID). Part of our "first letters" mini-theme? Probably not. Sort of a tricky clue though. When you iterate, or repeat, something, you might start off with "I said..."
• 27A: Elbows on the table, say (FAUX PAS). I overthought this one. I figured the "elbows" were referring to MACARONI. I wasn't expecting a completely straightforward clue on Saturday.

• 6D: Hot time to see Nancy? (ÉTÉ). Nancy's a city in France, and été is French for summer. When I see this word in a puzzle, I pronounce it like "eat." And why does it have two accents? (Note to commenters: I really don't want to know.) I'm glad I took Spanish in high school. Spanish makes sense. One accent mark per word.
• 9D: Lith., once: (SSR). We've got a little Soviet/Communist mini-theme in this section of the puzzle: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic), 11D: Source of some Russian copper (URALS), and 14D: RED STATES. (Thanks to SethG for that one too.) I thought about including a Yakov Smirnoff video here, but only for about two seconds.
• 25D: 1981 Wolfgang Petersen film (DAS BOOT). I've always wanted to see this movie. From Wikipedia: "To make the appearance of the actors as realistic as possible, scenes were filmed in sequence over the course of the year. This ensured natural growth of beards and hair, increasing skin pallor, and signs of strain on the actors, who had, just like real U-boat men, spent many months in a cramped, unhealthy atmosphere." And you thought actors were all a bunch of wimps.
• 28D: Short ___ (STORY). I like this clue because it reminds me of the "Match Game" bonus round.

• 32D: Track fixture (TOTE BOARD). During college, I worked summers at different racetracks, so I've seen the inside of many a toteboard. It's not as exciting as it sounds.
• 52D: Jazz organist Saunders (MERL). For crossword fans, there's only one Merl to remember.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 41A: Drink suffix (ADE).
• 6D: Hot time to see Nancy? (ETE).
• 9D: Lith., once (SSR).
• 54D: Give out (EMIT).

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SATURDAY, May 22, 2010—Victor Fleming

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

With a 4:20 solving time for me, I'll rate this puzzle a bit tougher than the average Saturday L.A. Times crossword.

I'll walk you through the puzzle now, focusing mostly on my favorite parts:

• 1a. [McCarthy era phenomenon] is the RED SCARE. Wouldn't it be awesome to use that clue for an answer like BUDDY HOLLY?
• 17a. The clue [1985 John Irving best-seller] is missing with "The". With or without The, CIDER HOUSE RULES looks good in the grid. 1985? Holy cow. I still think of this as one of Irving's more recent novels.
• 20a. I like this clue. Yes, CUTENESS is a [Baby's asset]. Without said asset, the human race might've died out eons ago. If you're going to disrupt my sleep for months, you'd damn well better be cute.
• 30a. [Rested] clues TOOK FIVE, a solidly idiomatic phrase. I got addled by a wrong crossing. For 23d: [Show approval, or disapproval], I had RATE instead of the correct RAVE. (One raves about good things but gets raving mad about terrible ones.)
• 35a. This clue is misleading. [Frequent saver] is a GOALIE? As if. If I were the goalie, I assure you the saves would be infrequent.
• 42a. HOME STRETCH is perhaps my favorite answer today. [It's right before the end].
• 53a. AN ERA completes ["Corporations have been enthroned and ___ of corruption in high places will follow": Lincoln]. Good old Abe knew whereof he spoke.
• 54a. One [Cryptozoologist's subject] is the LOCH NESS MONSTER. Another is the yeti. Imagine my surprise when I drove past a store that had gone out of business and saw its name: Yeti Boutique.
• 8d. [They're not wild] isn't about untamed beasts, it's about EDUCATED GUESSES.
• 27d. [It's sold in bars] clues OLEO. "Barkeep! Double oleo, neat."
• 29d. The only reason I know that a [Paving stone] is sometimes called a SETT is because that word's been in crosswords before. It's too rare to count as crosswordese, I think. Luckily, all four crossings are more common, which should take the guesswork out of SETT. You won't see this entry before Saturday.
• 34d. FRESHEN UP is another great in-the-language phrase. [Shower and change, say] pretty much covers it.
• 56d. [Where "Shazbot!" is a curse] is ORK, as in the planet in Mork and Mindy. Ah, that takes me back to my tween years.

And now, a roundup of the less savory filling:

• 6d. [Sports fig.] clues ATH., short for "athlete," rather than some sort of statistic.
• 12d. [Everyone, in Essen] is ALLE. People seem to grumble when there are German words in the grid. (Me, I like 'em because I studied German.)
• 13d. [Suburban followers?] is a cute clue for a plural suffix, -ITES.
• 31d. Boring ONE-A is clued as [Service rank], which makes it sound like a military rank (along the lines of CPL, SGT, COL, MAJ) rather than a draft classification.
• 32d. Sure, a partial like OF AN is not great fill. But I do like the clue: ["Confessions __ English Opium-Eater": 1821 De Quincey work]. Are any of you opium-eaters? No? How about lotus-eaters? Anyone?
• 35d. GOT AT isn't so easy to put in a natural-sounding sentence in the past tense. The clue is [Touched], but I feel like "getting at" is more about implying. Dictionary tells me "get at" also means "reach" and "bribe." "I crawled under the car and GOT AT the damaged muffler"—that works, right?

• 41d. ["Life With Father" co-star Leon] AMES is no longer a household name. There was a guy in my college dorm who always called me "Ames." I'm still surprised no one else ever has.
• 45d. If you haven't encountered James ENSOR, the ["Christ's Entry Into Brussels in 1889" artist], in crosswords, you probably haven't run into him anywhere else. He had a decidedly macabre bent, with skeletons playing a prominent part in his art. Check out his work, and then he won't be an obscure entry anymore. (Advice: Belgian artist, 5 letters, your answer will invariably be ENSOR.)
• 51d. [Plasm lead-in] is the prefix ECTO-.

I usually don't know any current songs. My pop music fluency ended in about 1984. But now! I have a new favorite song, "Tightrope" by Janelle Monáe. It sounds great, and the video is captivating. The only relevance this video has to the crossword is that if the singer hits the big time, you might start seeing MONAE in the grid. Why, that name is 60% vowels! And her first name makes a good 7-letter entry, as the last 6 letters are super-common.



Crosswordese 101: ARETE is standard crosswordese with a lengthy pedigree. It means 9d: [Narrow ridge], meaning a sharp mountain ridge. Learn it, because it's not going anywhere.

Everything Else — 9A: Trysting relationship (AFFAIR); 15A: Flattered, in a way (IMITATED); 16A: Grand Canal span (RIALTO); 19A: Architect Saarinen (ELIEL); 21A: Goes back (RETROGRADES); 24A: "Shucks!" ("RATS!"); 25A: Displays, with "out" (TROTS); 36A: Medical malpractice issue (INFORMED CONSENT); 38A: Naval construction worker (SEABEE); 39A: Garden entrance component, perhaps (GATE POST); 40A: Beefy-T maker (HANES); 41A: A psychic may see one (AURA); 49A: Goes before (PRECEDES); 57A: Celebrate a promotion, maybe (EAT OUT); 58A: Grin measure? (EAR TO EAR); 59A: Shows exhaustion (DROOPS); 60A: Aviation pioneer (SIKORSKY); 1D: Sous chef's gadget (RICER); 2D: '60s boxing champ Griffith (EMILE); 3D: Finished the job (DID IT); 4D: Guide (STEER); 5D: Swindler Ponzi, at birth (CARLO); 7D: Popular '20s auto (REO); 10D: Early Ford supplier (FIRESTONE); 11D: Woodland spirit (FAUN); 14D: 18th-century sewer (ROSS); 18D: Brewski (SUDS); 22D: Ugly buildup (GRIME); 26D: Grating sound (RASP); 28D: Pie containers (TINS); 30D: Mrs. Addams, to Gomez (TISH); 33D: Capital of Hyogo Prefecture (KOBE); 37D: Traffic units (CARS); 43D: "Night Music" playwright (ODETS); 44D: Sought aid from (RAN TO); 46D: Beans of Paris? (TÊTES); 47D: Reason to lubricate (CREAK); 48D: Potter of fiction (HARRY); 49D: Asked in earnest (PLED); 50D: Jungle warning (ROAR); 52D: Half a track sound (CHOO); 55D: It follows April in Paris (MAI).

SUNDAY, September 20, 2009Bonnie L. Gentry and Victor Fleming

Theme: "Signs of Burnout" — Theme answers are familiar phrases with the word ash hidden in them.

[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:

• 23A: Dramatic device about which Hamlet says "The play's the thing ..." (SHOW WITHIN A SHOW).
• 37A: Kindness simile (SWEET AS HONEY).
• 53A: Rare key in which a section of Chopin's "Polonaise Fantaisie" is written (A SHARP MINOR).

• 72A: World Series of Poker Main Event game (TEXAS HOLD 'EM).
• 87A: California's first lady (MARIA SHRIVER).
• 105A: Open one's law office, say (HANG OUT A SHINGLE).
• 17D: Easily become angered (HAVE A SHORT FUSE).
• 46D: 2000 Martin Lawrence/Nia Long comedy (BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE).
• 80A: Sign of burnout hidden in eight puzzle answers (ASH).

Crosswordese 101: Sometimes ETA is clued as the 7th letter of the Greek alphabet, and others it's clued as it is today, as the abbreviation for Estimated Time of Arrival (10D: In-flight approx.). The only really tricky thing about this answer is that ETA and ETD (Estimated Time of Departure) are clued the same way. Unfortunately, you just have to check the cross to know for sure which one you need. What you're looking for in a clue for both ETA and ETD is a reference to flight (plane, pilot, captain, cockpit, airport) and an abbreviation clue (sometimes it's the airport code that serves as the abbreviation clue — not surprisingly, the LAT often uses LAX).

Stuff that jumped out at me today:

• 29A: Star responsible for eclipsing Venus? (SERENA). Were you tricked by this? Or is it soon enough after the U.S. Open that you got it right away?
• 30A: North Carolina university (ELON). Not to be confused with England's ETON, which also appears in crosswords quite a bit.
• 44A: Ed who wrote "87th Precinct" novels (MCBAIN). If you say so.
• 49A: Territory that became two states (DAKOTA). Cleverly named North Dakota and South Dakota. South Dakota is the one with Mt. Rushmore. North Dakota is the one with ... nothing.
• 59A: H-bomb trial, e.g. (N-TEST). Is there a difference between an N-TEST, an A-test and an H-test?
• 61A: Lunar Asian holiday (TET). Remember when we covered this in CW101?

• 66A: Big name in nonstick cookware (T-FAL). I originally entered K-FAL. I think I was thinking of K-Fed. Which is weird because I never do that.
• 67A: It starts with enero (AÑO). Big, big controversy about this little word in crossword constructor circles. Some maintain that Ñ is a completely different letter than N and should not be used. Others say, we use letters with diacritical marks all the time, so what's the diff? Well, in this case the word with and without the tilde are very different words. Año means year and ano means a part of the anatomy that is not appropriate to talk about here. It's a family show, people.
• 90A: Letters before a trade name (DBA). Stands for Doing Business As.
• 94A: "The Mod Squad" role (LINC). Loved this show when I was a kid. This was on around the same time as Room 222, if I remember correctly.
  
  


• 109A: Instrument shaker at the end of a minstrel troupe (MR. TAMBO). Just learned this recently when MR. BONES showed up in a New York Times puzzle and Rex explained it all over at his blog. I seem to recall that older folks got this answer quite easily and the younger ones were clueless.
• 111A: Bridge bid, briefly (ONE NO). I don't play bridge, but I think this means "one no trump." Any bridge players out there?
• 15D: Jazzman known as "Fatha" (HINES). Interesting! Usually we see Fatha in the grid instead of in the clue.

• 39D: Blue Moon of '60s-'70s baseball (ODOM). He was a good player, but the most interesting thing I could find about him is his name.
• 41D: "Gymnopédies" composer (SATIE). We covered him a couple months ago in CW101.
• 49D: Jerk (DOPE). Jerk and dope have two completely different meanings to me, but it was easy enough to get the answer anyway.
• 65D: Elec. letters (AC/DC).



• 84D: Torn off forcibly (AVULSED). Pretty sure I've never seen this word before. I'm guessing it's totally fair though.
• 89D: Gymnast Mary Lou of Olympics fame (RETTON). I believe she was the first female athlete to be featured on a Wheaties box.

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Everything Else — 1A: Deferred payment at the bar (RAN A TAB); 8A: Flies over Africa? (TSE-TSES); 15A: Alternatives to Twinkies (HOHOS); 20A: "Cool!" (AWESOME); 21A: Upgrades the factory (RETOOLS); 22A: Pocatelloís state (IDAHO); 25A: Work of fiction (NOVEL); 26A: Type sizes (PICAS); 27A: Made, as a basket (WOVE); 28A: Soak (up) (SOP); 31A: Pick (SELECT); 33A: Pandora's boxful (ILLS); 35A: Missile's path (ARC); 36A: Site of an impromptu nap (DEN); 40A: "... so long __ both shall live?" (AS YE); 41A: Extends across (SPANS); 42A: Line of bushes (HEDGE); 43A: Regal initials (HRH); 47A: Loving: Prefix (PHILO-); 52A: Highest class (ELITE); 57A: Grammar school basics, briefly (RRR); 58A: Kelly's co-host (REGIS); 60A: Back of the neck (NAPE); 62A: Broadway auntie (MAME); 63A: Concerning (ANENT); 64A: Enjoy a hot tub (BATHE); 68A: Sch. near the Rio Grande (UTEP); 69A: Peru's __ Picchu (MACHU); 70A: Unrefined oil (CRUDE); 71A: Suffix with real (-ISM); 75A: Gets licked (LOSES); 76A: Put down (DEMEAN); 78A: Prefix meaning "spiral" (HELIC); 79A: Fizzles (out) (PETERS); 81A: "__ fired!" (YOU'RE); 83A: Vaughan of jazz (SARAH); 85A: Siberian metropolis (OMSK); 93A: "Well, __-di-dah" (LAH); 95A: Ready to be driven (TEED UP); 96A: "Buenos __" (DIAS); 97A: Dangerous compound in Agent Orange (DIOXIN); 99A: General Arnold of WWII (HAP); 102A: PC key below Shift (CTRL); 103A: Frenzied (MANIC); 104A: Vertical (PLUMB); 108A: Chorus platform (RISER); 110A: Made of clay (EARTHEN); 112A: Black Sea port dweller (ODESSAN); 113A: Unemotional (DRY-EYED); 1D: Spoke like Don Corleone (RASPED); 2D: Not long, timewise (AWHILE); 3D: Recent rightist (NEOCON); 4D: Nile dam site (ASWAN); 5D: Hauls to the shop (TOWS); 6D: "Who __ to argue?" (AM I); 7D: ___ a rock and a hard place (BETWEEN); 8D: Hot-dish holder (TRIVET); 9D: Iroquois Confederacy member (SENECA); 11D: Throw easily (TOSS); 12D: Trendy London area (SOHO); 13D: Marrying on the sly (ELOPING); 14D: Cincinnati-to-Nashville dir. (SSW); 16D: Febreze target (ODOR); 18D: Short story writer known for irony (O. HENRY); 19D: Comforting words (SOLACE); 24D: Green targets (HOLES); 29D: Conniving (SLY); 31D: Ballet bird (SWAN); 32D: Rock concert memento (T-SHIRT); 34D: 1862 Bull Run victor (LEE); 37D: Undercover agents (SPIES); 38D: Lend a hand (HELP); 40D: Subject of Indiana Jones's quest (ARK); 43D: Fabled napper (HARE); 44D: Disney's Ariel, e.g. (MERMAID); 45D: Make pure (CLEANSE); 47D: Fen-__: withdrawn diet-drug combo (PHEN); 48D: Dost possess (HAST); 50D: One staying afloat in place (TREADER); 51D: Lacking guile (ARTLESS); 53D: Building addition (ANNEX); 54D: First instruction (STEP A); 55D: Words before black or red (IN THE); 56D: Book after Micah (NAHUM); 63D: "... two fives for __?" (A TEN); 64D: Island east of Java (BALI); 66D: Marriage promise (TROTH); 68D: Bonneville Flats state (UTAH); 69D: Harass (MOLEST); 70D: Fair, in forecasts (CLEAR); 73D: Feng __ (SHUI); 74D: Wife of Zeus (HERA); 77D: Alas. native (ESK.); 79D: Scrub up, say (PREP); 81D: PBS chef Martin (YAN); 82D: Fruit tree grouping (ORCHARD); 83D: Libya's Gulf of __ (SIDRA); 85D: Veteran (OLD PRO); 86D: Submit with a stamp (MAIL IN); 87D: Hr. part (MIN.); 88D: Queen of Troy (HECUBA); 90D: Lake fisherman's boat (DINGHY); 91D: Receiver of property, in law (BAILEE); 92D: Climb (ASCEND); 94D: Book, in Bologna (LIBRO); 96D: Beatrice's admirer (DANTE); 98D: Mutant superhero group of comics (X-MEN); 100D: Kitty starter (ANTE); 101D: Annual major golf tournaments played in August, familiarly (PGAS); 103D: Boglike (MIRY); 105D: Med. care group (HMO); 106D: Mantric sounds (OMS); 107D: Guffaw syllable (HAR).