Saturday April 4, 2009 Robert A. Doll

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 72

Still remember Patrick Berry's trick to count total words in a grid? You add the number of upper-left corners (the numbered squares that form the starts of two entries), and then add that to the grid's highest number. In today's grid, the number of those upper-left corners is 6: MARY JANE/MCI, LADY DI/LIMO, BOBS/BAS, RHYMES/RIOS, PLEASURE/PT BOATS, ANTE/ATTYS. And the grid's highest number is 66 (Across). So we have total 72 words, the maximum allowed for a themeless Saturday puzzle (78 for themed one).

A complete disaster for me this morning. Definitely need more time to get used to Rich Norris' multiple words and tricky clues.

I don't know. Last Saturday I was able to fill in lots of blanks. Not much luck today. Rich Norris is starting to show his true color. "Toto, I've a feeling we are not in Kansas any more." The good news is that most of my fills are correct. So I think I am making progress.

I like how EXTREME MEASURES (8D: "Outside the box" solutions) is positioned in the grid. But I don't understand the rationale for the clue. Why? Is "Outside the box" a movie? Why it's in quotation marks?

Across:

1A: Spider-Man's girl: MARY JANE. Stumped immediately. Could only think of Kirsten Dunst who played MARY JANE in "Spider-Man". I like her in "Marie Antoinette".

2A: "Candle in the Wind" dedicatee: LADY DI. Another stumper. Wanted DIANA, then thought of the original dedicatee Marilyn Monroe. Neither would fit. More familiar with the title Princess Di than LADY DI.

15A: French town at the foot of Mont Blanc: CHAMONIX. Non. Je n'ai aucune idée. See this map. Wikipedia says the first Winter Olympics was held here in 1924.

16A: "That was exhausting!": I'M BEAT. Yeah, that's how I am feeling now.

17A: Red-handed: IN THE ACT

18A: Ltr. opener: MESSRS. This is the old fashioned way, isn't it? (Note from Kazie: MESSRS is actually French, short for Messieurs, plural of Monsieur, because the possessive (mon/ma/mes) changes to agree with the noun (c.f. Madame/Mademoiselle/Mesdames). English simply borrowed yet another French term instead of creating its own.)

19A: "Flowers for __": Daniel Keyes sci-fi classic: ALGERNON. Nope. I've never heard of the book or the author. Wikipedia says it won the Hugo Award for best Short Story in 1960.

22A: Drifts on waves: BOBS. Does this refer to fisherman's bobbers bobbing?

26A: Extended operatic solo: SCENA. New word to me. Dictionary defines SCENA as "an extended operatic vocal solo, usually including an aria and a recitative."

28A: Like: A LA

29A: Wear and tear, e.g.: RHYMES. V-8 moment for me. Great clue.

32A: Gold medals, in Guadalajara: OROS. Not medallas de ORO?

33A: Spaghetti western director Leone: SERGIO. I've heard of these major movies he made. Did not know his name though. Thought SERGIO is a Spanish name, as in golfer SERGIO Garcia. But SERGIO Leone is an Italian.

35A: Completeness: ENTIRETY

37A: "Hawaii Five-O" order: BOOK 'EM DANNO. Someone mentioned this catchprase on the Comments section a few weeks ago. But I blanked this morning.

39A: Hedonist's pursuit: PLEASURE. What's the difference between Hedonism and Epicureanism again?

41A: Bursts: ERUPTS. Reminds me of the SCORIA clue we had last June: "Volcanic rock ejecta". I think that's how we started this "Holy hotwick lava bomb".

44A: U. of Maryland athlete: TERP

45A: One of numerous childhood spots?: MEASLE. I was picturing my childhood playground, not any MEASLE spot. Clever clue.

47A: Goddess of dawn: EOS. Aurora for the Romans. Just mentioned yesterday that George Sand's original name is Aurore. Dennis quoted her "Try to keep your soul young and quivering right up to old age." last time.

48A: Military operations centers: BASES

50A: CBS forensic drama: CSI

51A: Prelude to a deal: ANTES. Poker. Not the business deal I was thinking.

52A: Not in favor: Abbr. OPP. Opposed.

53A: Peevish: PETULANT

57A: Kind of number of clock: ATOMIC. What is ATOMIC clock again? My memory is so bad now.

59A: Communicate well with: RELATE TO. John Daly's swing & his demeanor are so hard to RELATE TO, yet he has so many followers.

63A: Ability: TALENT. Are they really the same?

64A: Competitor's payment: ENTRY FEE. I always associate "Competitor" with "rival" rather than one who competes.

65A: Music provider: STEREO

66A: Hangs around to see: STAYS FOR

Down:

1D: Early 12th century year: MCI. 1101. Easiest fill in the grid.

2D: Philip of "Kung Fu": AHN. I mentioned last time that AHN is Ang in Chinese, as in director Ang Lee. Or simply AN, literally "peace". Korean Hanja uses lots of old Chinese characters.

4D: Jewish Community Center grps: YMHAS (Young Men's Hebrew Associations). New to me.

5D: One of the Coen brothers: JOEL. He is married to Frances McDormand, "Marge" in "Fargo". The Coen brothers were born and grew up here in MN, so our local media follows them very closely.

6D: "I hate to be _ , but ...": complaint opening: A NAG

7D: With grace: NICELY

9D: Prom coach: LIMO. Have never heard of LIMO referred to as a coach.

10D: Words of agreement: AMENS

11D: Sound units, briefly: DBS. Know decibles, not familiar with the abbreviation though.

12D: Post-Katrina retail sign, perhaps: YES WE'RE OPEN. Did not come to me readily.

13D: Are afraid to: DARE NOT

14D: "Piece of cake": IT'S EASY. No sir, this puzzle is hard.

20D: Incessantly: NO END. Like today's multiple words, NO END, so many.

22D: __-relief: BAS. Or low relief. And high relief (alto-relievo) & sunkun relief, the three main types of relief.

24D: Familiar red-white-and-blue symbol: BARBER'S POLE. I was thinking of flag.

27D: Latin horn: CORNU. Oh, is that how we got cornucopia? It's horn-shaped.

29D: Mexico's San Juan and Conchos, e.g.: RIOS. Thought they are just cities. Have never heard of those two Mexican flow-ers.

30D: Nonsense: HOKUM

31D: French-Swiss author Madame de __: STAEL. I tried to connect this lady with Lesley Stahl, as STAEL & Stahl has the same pronunciation. That's a very odd portrait, no earrings, no necklace, no bracelet, not even a flower in her hand.

34D: Lose it: GO APE

36D: Concerning: IN RE. Sometimes the answer is AS TO.

39D: Mosquito Fleet craft: PT BOATS. Knew PT BOATS (Patrol Torpedo Boats) from reading various JFK biographies. Have never heard of the term Mosquito Fleet. See definition #6. Why "Mosquito"?

40D: Was enthusiastic about: LEAPT AT

46D: Like some partners: SILENT. SILENT partner is "One that makes financial investments in a business enterprise but does not participate in its management." It's a new term to me. I was thinking of SAME SEX.

49D: Gumption: SPINE. Thought of SPUNK.

51D: Some partners: Abbr.: ATTYS. Hard one. But I like the clue.

54D: __-1: "Ghostbusters" vehicle: ECTO. No idea. Have never heard of the car ECTO-1 or the movie "Ghostbusters". ECTO is always clued as "Prefix for outside" in our old puzzle.

55D: Resort near Snowbird: ALTA. See this map. I've never heard of the name Snowbird. Is it a city? A county?

56D: Not: NARY. I need " __ a one" for the answer to leap to me immediately.

58D: Debussy subject: MER. Debussy's "La MER".

60D: Reason for a repeat?: EFF. Maybe it's a gimme for all you teachers. But it's a tough clue for me. I was not in the test score direction at all. In China, you pass when your score is 60 (out of 100).

61D: Auto racer Fabi: TEO. Absolutely no idea. Not a racing fan. Know nothing about TEO Fabi or Formula One, except their boss Max Mosley's sensational scandal.

Answer Grid.

C.C.

Friday April 3, 2009 Jack McInturff

Theme: It's IR-RI-tating!

18A: Words to a drunk?: YOU'RE FRIED (Fired)

26A: 2000s Senate leader's turndown?: FRIST (First) REFUSAL

40A: Hilton on the ice?: PARIS (Pairs) SKATING

50A: What you never sees after strikes?: SPARE TRIES (Tires)

I did not know FRIED is slang for "drunk". Thought Trent Lott instead of Bill FRIST for 2000s Senate leader. And, of course, baseball rather than bowling "strikes" came to my mind when I read the 50A clue. PARIS SKATING crumbled easily. But shouldn't it be PAIR SKATING rather than PAIRS SKATING?

Why "Circus performers" for FLEAS (19D)? I don't grok it. The AGAPE clue (58A: Brotherly love) left me agape. Holy cow! Is it a familiar meaning to you? I truly have never heard of it before. Also, shouldn't the clue for RANIS (30A: Indian royalty) be in plural form? I filled in RAJAH first, thinking the clue is asking for a singular answer.

I hope you guys struggled. I don't want to be the one child left behind.

Across:

1A: Beachfront property?: SAND. Not a real trick. I am waiting for someone to play with George SAND. Her original name is Aurore, French for Aurora, goddess of DAWN (39D: First light).

5A: Sp. misses: SRTAS. "Fr. misses" would be MLLES.

10A: Robert who playd Anthony Soprano Jr.: ILER. I forgot all about him. Dennis mixed ILER with ILLER last time.

14A: Jumbo __: scoreboard display: TRON. Like this one. I am used to the "Disney film" clue.

15A: Sacred five-book collection: TORAH. Literally, "instruction/law" in Hebrew. I still don't understand the necessity of having a letter H in the middle or at the end of the word when it's not pronounced.

16A: Residencia room: SALA. The Casa room. I actually mis-read "Residencia" as "Residential first".

17A: Numeral prefix: OCTA. Prefix for eight. Octagon.

20A: "Is there more?": WHAT ELSE. Quit a few multiple words in today's grid.

22A: Chigger, e.g.: LARVA. I did not know the meaning of "Chigger". Dictionary says it's also called redbug/harvest mite, with 6 legs. And the adult on has 8 legs. This one has only 7 though. It can also spelled as Jigger.

23A: Creedal holding: TENET. Had no idea that creed has an adjective form.

24A: One concerned with 13-Down: SPEEDER. And RADAR (13D: It can trap a 24-Across). Oh well, I was thinking of bunker and golf balls.

29A: Rifles: LOOTS. I need a "Ransacks" clue to get LOOTS immediately.

35A: Amazes: STUNS. Look at our fellow LA Times solvers Wolfmom's food painting and Elissa's scarves. Stunning!

36A: "Was it you?" answer: NOT I. Mine was "IT'S I".

38A: Stinker: MEANY. Always thought "Stinker" means something difficult.

39A: Bourne portrayer: DAMON. My favorite Matt DAMON movie is "The Talented Mr. Ripley". Which is yours?

42A: Vague: GENERAL. I suppose so.

45A: Novelist Shaw: IRWIN. Heard of his name in Ben Bradlee's "A Good Life". Don't know what novels he wrote.

46A: Apply to: USE ON

47A: Pharyngeal tissue: ADENOIDS. No idea. Aden/adeno is a prefix for "gland". Did not know the adjective for pharyx is pharyngeal. The plural for pharyx is pharynges or pharyxes .

54A: Spelling of TV: TORI. See her name in gossip magazines often. Have never seen any of her TV shows/films.

56A: Years during Nero's reign: ANNI. Plural of anno. I thought the clue was asking for how many year Nero reigned. FOUR/FIVE does not fit. He actually rules 31 years.

57A: 2000 N.L. home run champ: SOSA. My first ever crossword fill in SOSA. I think the clue was "Slugger Sammy". What about you? Do you still remember the first time you solved a crossword?

59A: D-day transports: LSTS

Down:

1D: Lade: STOW. LADE is often clued as "Stow" in our old puzzle.

3D: Marginal comments: NOTATIONS

4D: Evidence in paternity suits: DNA TESTS. I suppose no abbreviation hint is needed.

5D: Actress Trudie who's married to Sting: STYLER. She won big when she bet on Giacomo in 2005 Kentucky Derby. Giacomo is named after their son. I could only picture how she looks. Don't know her name. STYLER fits her quite well.

6D: Motorboat's wake: ROOSTER TAIL. No idea. Is it because the wake looks like a real rooster's tail?

7D: "Right you are": TRUE. Not "You are right"?

8D: Rhine tributary: AAR. Three letter river has to be AAR. It lies entirely within Switzerland.

9D: Miss identification?: SHE. "Mrs. identification" too.

10D: Where Mount Carmel is: ISRAEL. See this map. What's the difference between mount and mountain?

11D: Scottish landowner: LAIRD. I keep forgetting this word. It's Scottish for lord. THANE is feudal lord.

12D: Collège attendee: ELEVE. Thought of étudiant.

21D: Middle Earth beings: ENTS. No idea. Those tree creatures in Tolkien's book?

24D: Eggs order: SUNNY SIDE UP. I like this answer a lot.

25D: Preceders of Omega: PSIS. Sigh! I don't know this letter precedes Omega.

26D: Stream: FLOW. Noun or verb? Or both?

27D: "Lady Jane Grey" dramatist: ROWE. No idea. Nicholas ROWE. Wikipedia says the title is "The Tragedy of Lady Jane Grey". Clear Ayes mentioned several months ago that Lady Jane Grey had the shortest rule of England (less than 2 weeks). I forgot the reason, but she was beheaded.

28D: Man-goat deities: FAUNS. Last time when I linked a picture of SATYR, it says the Roman equivalent is FAUNS. See this picture. The man with goats' ears, horns, tail and hind legs. The picture of the "Horse-man" CENTAUR leapt into my mind

31D: India and Pakistan under British: DOMINIONS. Can only think of colonies.

32D: School founded by Henry VI: ETON. In 1440. Unknown trivia to me.

33D: What birds take?: WING. Great clue. I wanted SEED.

35D: Medical supplies: SERA

36D: Like some pride: NATIONAL. Was this a gimme to you? Did not come to me easily at all.

38D: Strategic WWI river: MARNE. Here is the map again. Alfred Joyce Kilmer, the poet of "I think that I shall never see /A poem lovely as a tree" was killed at the second battle of the MARNE in 1918.

40D: Everycity, USA: PEORIA. See this map. Obama gave a big speech there a few weeks ago, from Caterpillar's HQ. Williams clued PEORIA as "Location of Bradley University" on a December puzzle.

41D: Kmart founder: KRESGE. No idea. Have never heard of this guy before. He looks like a mafia member. Walmart founder is Sam Walton.

42D: Windy day features: GUSTS

43D: Finland's second largest city: ESPOO. Close to Helsinki, Finland's largest city. I've never heard of it before. Wikipedia says Nokia is headquatered somewhere in ESPOO.

48D: "Stop": DON'T

49D: Street supplies?: SKIS. For those who ski on the street? (Note: Street refers to Olympic skier Picabo Street)

52D: Enrolled: Abbr.: REG (Registered). Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

Answer Grid.

C.C.

Thursday April 2, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Paul's Siblings

18A: Pauly: COMIC SHORE

20A: Pauley: UCLA PAVILION

37A: "Paulie": PARROT MOVIE

54A: Polly: BERGEN OF FILM

57A: Poly: TECH SCHOOL

Tough puzzle. I always struggle when the clues are themes. I am just not good at defining things. And in today's case, I simply don't know those P* names.

The only "Pauley" I know is Jane Pauley. Is Pauley Pavilion well-known nationally? I still can't believe "Paulie" is a movie title. The poster looks interesting though. Maybe you can feed me some orts on Pauly Shore & Polly Bergen. I have zero familarity with them.

Several great clues today:

36A: Closing letter at Oxford?: ZED. Our ZEE, the last alphabet letter. British pronounce it as ZED. I was thinking of DEE, the last letter of "Oxford".

11D: Company, so they say: TWO. Can THREE, then, be clued as "Crowd, so they say"?

43D: Build a lengthy resume?: JOB HOP. Again, I was picturing someone padded his resume with fake experiences.

25D: Like the Opry?: OLE. Always "Corrida cry" or some kind of Spanish cheer in our old puzzle.

34D: Staff member?: NOTES. Music staff/NOTES.

Feels odd to see TEEN IDOL (23A) clued as "Any Beatle, e.g.". They might be TEEN IDOLS in 1960s, not now. I wanted BRITISH as answer. Who is the TEEN IDOL now? Miley Cyrus?

Across:

1A: Mark Cuban's NBA team: MAVS. Mark Cuban was just fined for his comments on Twitter. This guy is a real maverick. Too much reading on Ayn Rand's "The Fountainhead".

5A: Some 35mm cameras: SLRS

9A: Volkswagen since 1979: JETTA. They have a big joint venture in Shanghai. JETTA taxis dominate the streets there. "Volkswagen" is just "Folk's wagon" in German, correct?

15A: Amanda of "The Whole Ten Yards": PEET. Know Amanda PEET from "Something's Gotta Give". She is very pretty. Not familiar with "The Whole Ten Yards". Have heard of "The Whole Nine Yards" though.

17A: Sack dress creator: DIOR. Oh, good to know.

22A: Words before ghost: SEES A. This kind of partial phrase seldom appeared in our old puzzle

30A: Cuba libre ingredient: COLA. Got it from down fills. Have never heard of Cuba libre. The ingredients are: COLA, lime and rum. Sounds quite simple to mix. Even a caveman can do it.

27A: Columbia River city: ASTORIA. Stumper. See this map (the very northwest corner of Oregon). It's named after John Jacob Astor, who founded a fur trading post here in 1810.

31A: Long odds: TEN TO ONE

41A: Academic term: SEMESTER

42A: Mus. key with three sharps: A MAJ. Pure guess. Know zilch about music terms.

44A: Wisconsin birthplace of Orson Welles: KENOSHA. Another unknown. It lies along Lake Michigan. Quite close to Milwaukee, where Spencer Tracy was born.

53A: Printing gizmo: INKER. What, isn't INKER a person?

60A: Prefix with -syncratic: IDIO. Meaning "Peculiar".

64A: Philippines' highest peak: Abbr.: MT APO. No idea. Wikipedia says APO means "master" or "grandfather". Very strange, in southern China, many people call their grandma A PO (or AH PO).

65A: Knock off: SLAY. Oh, I mixed up "knock off" and "knock up".

66A: "Skip __ Lou": kids' song: TO MY. I forgot. I think we had some discussion about this song last summer. Lou is "love", right? Not loo.

Down:

1D: Snaky-haired monster: MEDUSA. The ugly Gorgon. Her head was on the aegis of Zeus.

2D: Arlo's favorite restaurant: ALICE'S. It refers to the song "ALICE'S Restaurant", doesn't it?

3D: Part of Roy G Biv: VIOLET. Big, big problem for me. I've never heard of the mnemonic Roy G. Biv. Who made that up? It sounds quite difficult to remember.

4D: City south of Tampa: SARASOTA. See this map. Anyone from this city? What's it most famous for?

5D: Humane org.: SPCA

6D: Pope after Benedict IV: LEO V. Never know it's LEO I, LEO V or LEO X.

7D: Make a payment: REMIT

8D: Token taker: STILES. I like this clue better. Williams was so stubborn with his "Steps over a fence".

9D: "Juno" director Reitman: JASON. I thought "Juno" director is a woman. So I guessed JANET.

10D: Kind of food or group: ETHNIC. I forgot what's the difference between race and ETHNIC.

19D: Co. in Paris: CIE. This is new to me. All the French customers in my old company uses Ltd or Inc. I've never paid attention to this kind of et CIE before.

21D: Kitchen gadgets: PARERS

26D: Youth: LAD

29D: Tiny power source: ATOM. Tiny & powerful.

32D: Suffix with Capri: OTE. Capriote is new to me. Native of Capri. And the native of Cyprus is Cypriot.

33D: Trans-Siberian Railroad city: OMSK. Here is the map again. Barry Silk clued OMSK as "City on the Irtysh River" last time.

35D: Allowing for the possibility that: EVEN IF

39D: Subway alternative: CAB. Thought of "Subway" restaurant first.

46D: Second lightest element: HELIUM. I was unaware of this fact. Hydrogen is the lightest element.

47D: Weapons source: ARMORY. Reminds me of the MAGAZINE confusion I had last time. Did not know it can also refer to a place where weapons are stored.

49D: Tempera painting surface: GESSO. Drink acorn coffee if you missed this one. We saw GESSO three times in Jan 2009.

50D: AEC successor: NRC. Often see AEC (1946-1974) clued as "NRC predecessor".

51D: Turkish bigwigs: AGHAS. Can also be spelled as AGA. PASHA and BEY are also "Turkish bigwig".

52D: 1988 Olympics city: SEOUL. Literally "Capital" in Korean. I feel Hanja, Chinese characters used in Korea, is much much harder to recognize than Japanese Kanji. Love SEOUL food, used to eat a ton of kimchi.

56D: "Love the skin you are in" brand: OLAY. Most of my skincare products are OLAY.

57D: Skye cap: TAM

Answer Grid.

C.C.

Interview with Pancho Harrison

Pancho Harrison officially ushered us into the Rich Norris era 9 days ago.

His puzzles have appeared in LA Times, NY Times, NY Sun, Wall Street Journal and maybe some other newspapers/magazines that I am not aware of.

Today is only our second Harrison puzzle, but I am confident that we will see more of his creations in the future. Let's get to know him a bit.

Your name intrigued a few solvers on March 23 when your "Numeral Prefixes" puzzle appeared. What is your background and how did you develop an interest in crossword constructing?

I'm a musician, and was in jail for a short time for a traffic offense. I started doing crosswords in the newspapers that were lying around. I discovered that I was good at them, and got to wondering who was writing them. When I got out, I did some research and found a mentor to help me, and an editor who saw that I understood the basics. The rest is history.

How would you describe your puzzle style? What kind of themes/fills fascinate you?

Wordplay is my thing. I sell many different kinds of themes, but my forte is the pun.

Is it tougher to design a grid or cluing entries? And why?

Designing a grid is fun, usually. Cluing is more like data entry.

What puzzles do you solve every day? And which constructor's work gives you the most trouble?

When I have time, I do the NY Times in the local paper. On Fridays, I check out the Wall Street Journal and the Chronicle of Higher Education puzzles. As far as which constructor's work gives me the most trouble, I would have to say that I'm not looking for trouble! I'm looking for a challenging, rewarding crossword experience. The puzzles that bug me are the themeless Friday and Saturday puzzles that are just ego-projects for the constructor/editor. For me, they're just a waste of time. I have never written a themeless puzzle, and I never will.

What would people find one thing that's most surprising about you?

I'm smarter than I look, thank God. . .

Thank you, Mr. Harrison

Wednesday April 1, 2009 Pancho Harrison

Theme: April Fools' Day

20A: 2003 Katie Holmes film: PIECES OF APRIL

37A: 1965 film based on a Katherine Anne Porter novel: SHIP OF FOOLS

55A: 1962 WWII film: THE LONGEST DAY

Once again, none of the theme answers was gimme to me. But this puzzle felt much easier than yesterday's, probably because there are only 3 theme answers compared to yesterday's 5. I am curious to see how many theme answers will be in Pancho Harrison's next puzzle. His last "Numeral Prefix" has 3 entries also.

This culture handicap is so hard for me to overcome. I was surprised and intrigued that THE KINGMEN puzzle yesterday brought back sweet memories to so many of you. "Louie, Louie" really meant nothing to me.

WALL is the answer for 61A: Outfield border. And then "Wall St. deals" for 30D LBOS (Leveraged Buyouts). I don't know. Maybe you can think of a better way to clue LBOS. I can't think of anything. I could not even get the answer. All that popped into my mind is M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions).

Favorite clue: Pisa dough? for EURO (6D). So clever. Very well-kneaded. Now I can smell EURO from my oven.

"Barrel of A Pencil", the alias name of a fellow LA Times crossword solver, constructed a 21*21 puzzle and he would love to hear feedback from us. I've published a special post and hope you can give him your thought on his grid.

Across:

1A: Impetuous fervor: ELAN. I am used to the old "Distinctive flair" clue. Had no idea that ELAN has an "Impetuous" color.

9A: Not on the up and up: SHADY. Like The Talented Mr. Madoff. I still can't believe he was once the Nasdaq chairman.

15A: Dark purple: PUCE. I don't understand this one. What are PUCE stamps?

16A: "Flip This House" airer: A AND E. Big stumper. I wanted MSNBC. Hard for me to interpret A & E into A AND E. Have never heard of "Flip This House".

17A: Some dadaist art: ARPS (Jean/Hans). Dada founder. Hans is German for Jean, correct?

19A: Hardly sensitive: CRASS. Reminds me of Francis Heaney's CRASSWORD crossword.

23A: Leftovers covering: SARAN. "It's a wrap" in yesterday's clue. Do you know why Dow Chemical named this product SARAN? Google shows that SARAN is also girl's name, meaning "joy".

24A: "Bus Stop" playwright: INGE (William). He has become a gimme. Won Pulitzer for "Picnic".

25A: Robin Hood's wood: YEW. No idea. Only knew the Sherwood Forest. Google search shows that Robin Hood used a bow of YEW to win Maid Marion and they wed under a YEW tree.

31A: Carole start: ADESTE. "ADESTE Fideles". I would not have got the answer without the down fills. I know "Carol ending?" is INE.

42A: "The Girl From Ipanema" singer Gilberto: ASTRUD. Here is the clip. Someone mentioned on the blog last time that Sade has a certain ASTRUD Gilberto style.

43A: Composer Andrew Lloyd __: WEBBER. His brother is Julian Lloyd WEBBER the cellist.

45A: Clytemmestra's son: ORESTES. Alas, I forgot, the guy "The Three Furies" are chasing. He was clued as "Electra's brother" in our old puzzle 3 weeks ago. His father is Agamemnon. Interesting information from Wikipedia: "According to the myth, Zeus appeared to Leda in the form of a swan, raping and impregnating her. Leda produced four offspring from two eggs: Castor and Pullux from one egg, and Helen and Clytemnestra from the other." But then it continues: "Castor and Clytemnestra were fathered by Tyndareus whereas Pollux and Helen were fathered by Zeus". Sounds very conflicting, doesn't it?

50A: Prefix with skeleton: EXO. Opposite endoskeleton.

54A: Gear parts: TEETH. Of course, I fell to the trap and put S at the end of the blanks first.

62A: 5-point K, e.g.: TILE. Scrabble TILE. I like this clue.

65A: San __ Obispo, CA: LUIS. Sometimes it's clued as "Baseball Hall of Famer Aparicio". Can you believe he is still alive? Pulled an certified Aparicio autograph out of a Topps Heritage set once. Oh by the way, I heard that Topps is going to produce a set of "world's biggest hoaxes, hoodwinks and bamboozles" trading cards. Ponzi & Madoff are among those bad guys. Maybe Ken Lay too.

67A: First name in country: REBA. Not a fan of REBA McEntire or any country music. The tunes all sound so similar and repetitive.

Down:

2D: Dogie catcher: LARIAT. La reata. The REATA/RIATA.

4D: Pocono 500 group: NASCAR

8D: Sable or Impala: SEDAN. Good clue.

9D: Like some cows: SACRED. Does it refer to the exclamation "Holy cow!" or the Indian sacred cow?

10D: Spydom name: HARI (Mata). Bond does not fit.

11D: In-depth examination: ANALYSIS. Plural is analyses. It's embarrassing, but I often have difficulty spelling analysis & analyze. Actually I can't spell the word embarrassing itself. Thank God for the automatic spelling check.

12D: Oral surgeon's deg.: DDS (Doctor of Dental Science/Surgery). Barry Silk clued DDS as"License to drill?" in his Philly Tribute puzzle. I miss Barry puzzle, don't you?

21D: Listless feeling: ENNUI. And TEDIUM (47D: Monotony).

22D: Links org. sponsoring the FedEx Cup: PGA TOUR. Gimme for me. Stanford Finanical for LPGA. They'd better go back to ADT, given Allen Stanford's huge trouble. This guy should be put into Topps Ponzi card set too.

27D: Jazz guitarist Montgomery: WES. No idea. I know nothing about Jazz. He does not look like a musician. Now, Is WES a nickname for Lesley or Wesley?

34D: Young salamander: EFT. I learned this morning there are three stages in a newt's life: aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile (EFT), and then adult. So technically, EFT does not live under water.

37D: Enemy agent's strategy: SABOTAGE. During Chinese Cultural Revolution, many people had to stop communications with their overseas relatives for fear of being accused of SABOTAGE crime.

39D: "Golden Boy" dramatist: ODETS (Clifford). Know his name, which was clued as "Waiting for Lefty" playwright on our March 15, 2009 puzzle. I have never heard of "Golden Boy" though.

46D: Agree out of court: SETTLE. This reminds me of "nolo contendere", a phrase I never really understand. Is it a "guilty" or "not guilty" plea?

48D: And others, in bibliographies: ET ALII (masculine plural). ET ALIA is neuter plural. ET ALIAE is feminine plural.

52D: Quasimodo's hangout: TOWER. Easy guess. Clear Ayes mentioned his unrequited love for some girl last time. I don't know where they hang out. Huge once said "Intelligence is the wife, imagination is the mistress, memory is the servant." So, who is more important to you, wife or mistress?

58D: Designer Schiaparelli: ELSA. OK, time to know this "Italian artist who made clothes" (said Coco Chanel). She brought fashion to the masses, the first person to introduce off-the-rack designer wear. Her works were heavily influenced by surrealist like Salvador Dali and her style was easy to copy. Her client includes Mae West, Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich. Some article says that ELSA means "noble" in German, and it's derived from German name Elisabeth. Is it true, Kazie?

59D: Talk about sin, e.g.: Abbr.: SER. Love the clue. Reminds me of Celine Dion's "Let's Talk about Love".

Answer Grid.

C.C.

Wednesday April 1, 2009 BOAP

Puzzle Title: "Get the Lead Out"

Puzzle constructor: Barrel of A Pencil (BOAP)

BOAP has been fascinated by crossword puzzles for thirty years. And he has been a dedicated collector and user of woodcase pencils for the past several years. Big fan of Dan Naddor, whose puzzle we solved on March 24, 2009.

Please come to the Comments section and let him know your thoughts on his puzzle.

Thanks.

C.C.

(Updated on April 7, 2009: Answer Grid.)

Tuesday March 31, 2009 Steve Dobis

Theme: THE KINGSMEN (60A: "Louise Louie" singers, and this puzzle's theme)

18A: '80s TV series with a talking car named KITT: KNIGHT RIDER

23A: 1943 Triple Crown winner: COUNT FLEET

36A: England's Charles, since 1958: PRINCE OF WALES

54A: "Nothing can stop" him, in a 1962 doo-wop classic: DUKE OF EARL

I am not familar with THE KINGSMEN or their song "Louie Louie". I think I prefer the theme title to be THE KING'S MEN. Too obscure a clue? Any way to work around "All the King's Men"?

A big leap from Monday's easy grid for me. Used lots of wite-out. The clue of 18A brought to mind Fred Dryer and his "Hunter", which was hugely popular in China in late '80s. But he does not have a talking car. KNIGHT RIDER came to China only in 1995. And we have a completely different Chinese name.

I was also thinking of Whirlaway for 23A. It runs out he was the 1941 Triple Crown winner. Have never heard of the song "DUKE OF EARL". PRINCE OF WALES was the only gimme theme entry to me. He probably should give the crown to Williams.

Across:

4A: Former Anaheim Stadium NFLer: LA RAM. Stumper. Did not know St. Louis Rams was once LA Rams. Kind of like Brooklyn/LA Dodgers. Twins was called Senators before.

9A: Lawn game using lobbed missiles: JARTS. Got it from down fills. Wikipedia says JARTS is banned in the US/Canada. I thought of BOCCI the Italian lawn bowling. Boomer had another perfect game last night. An exciting 830 (289/241/300).

14A: Fenway team, familiarly: SOX. Chicago team as well.

16A: "___ Gold": Peter Fonda film: ULEE'S. I don't believe we had ULEE'S in our old puzzle before. Always ULEE, clued as "Peter Fonda role".

17A: Rock music's __ Fighters: FOO. No idea. Wikipedia says their name is taken from World War II term "FOO Fighter", used by allied pilots to refer UFOs. See here for more etymology. The cartoonist & Chinese figurine word FOO connection reminds me of Egg FOO Young, a dish you won't find in a real Chinese kitchen table.

22A: London insurance giant: LLOYD'S. "Giant"? Like AIG/AIU?

29A: Taqueria offering: TOSTADA. What are those red-skinned diced cubes? Apples?

35A: It's a wrap: SARAN. Hard to unwrap. Do you like Food Network's "Unwrapped"? Fascinating history on American packaged food.

42A: New Zealand native: MAORI. Literally "Ordinary people" in its native language. And their dance is called HAKA.

44A: Basic ballroom dance: TWO STEP

47A: Riddles: ENIGMAS. Thought of Churchill's comment on Soviet Union: "A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an ENIGMA".

56A: Ravel work immortalized in "10": BOLERO. Just beautiful! It's a TEN (28D: Gymnast's goal). Williams liked to clue TEN as "Bo's number".

65A: Expected to land: DUE IN

68A: Filmdom ogre: SHREK. Found out this morning that SHREK is from German word Schreck meaning "terror".

69A: Muffin Man's lane: DRURY. Another stumper. Have never heard of this nursery rhyme.

70A: +, on a batt.: POS

Down:

1D: To be the truth: AS FACT. Can you give me an example of how these two are interchangeable?

3D: Israelites' departure: EXODUS. Also the title of Uris novel.

4D: Sitting Bull's language: LAKOTA. Dictonary says it's also called TETON.

5D: Son of Valiant: ARN. He has become a gimme to me. "Bride of Valiant" is ALETA, who just appeared in our puzzle two days ago.

6D: Portuguese royal: REI. The Spanish king is REY.

7D: Each one in a square is 90 degrees: ANGLE

8D: Composer Gustav: MAHLER. Learned the name of his work "Das Lied von der Erde" from doing crossword. Lied (pronounced like leed") is German art song. Erde means "earth".

11D: McCarthy era paranoia: RED SCARE. Learned this "paranoia" only after I came to the US. Quite shocking to me.

24D: S&L guarantor: FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation). Forgot. Did get SSA (31D: FICA funds it) though.

37D: Soda in a float: ROOT BEER. Well, I guess I've been living under the rock. Have never heard of "ROOT BEER float". I was expecting a perfectly ripe banana split in the middle when I ordered "Banana Split" last time. And was shocked when a big boat of dessert arrived.

42D: Boston transit inits: MTA. Massachusetts Transportation Authority? I don't know. MTA was always clued as "Kingston Trio hit" in our old puzzle.

46D: Cleansed: PURGED. I WASHED first.

48D: "I wish it could be!": IF ONLY. So many IF ONLY and "what-ifs" in our lives.

50D: Zany: MADCAP. COCA is often clued as "Zany Imogene".

51D: Melodious passage: ARIOSO. I am going to drink acorn coffee if I forget this word again.

55D: "80-'90s quarterback Bernie: KOSAR. No idea. Is Bernie KOSAR very famous? Wikipedia says he is a part-owner of Florida Panthers.

57D: "The Grapes of Wrath" figure: OKIE. The family name of the novel is JOAD.

58D: Web cross-reference: LINK. Click here if you want to learn how to make a LINK at the Comments section.

62D: East Lansing sch: MSU (Michigan State University). The Spartans.

63D: Musket suffix: EER. "Auction/profit" suffix too.

Full answer grid.

C.C.

Monday March 30, 2009 Donna S. Levin

Theme: Ratings

17A: Franklin's almanac-writing alter ego: POOR RICHARD

27A: Young, promising fellow: FAIR-HAIRED BOY

48A: Beneficent biblical traveler: GOOD SAMARITAN

64A: F. Scott Fitzgerald title character, with "the": GREAT GATSBY

This is about customer satisfaction ratings, correct? Since credit card ratings are POOR, FAIR, GOOD and EXCELLENT.

I like "The GREAT GATSBY", a book that I actually can understand. Also like Robert Redford's role in the movie. Fitzgerald was born here in St. Paul, MN. The Fitzgerald Center, where Garrison Keillor's "A Prairie Home Companion" is recorded, is named after him.

Nice theme answer sequence, from POOR to GREAT, very orderly. No clever "Little butter?" today though. Everything is so straightforward and simple. Kind of boring though. I aced.

Oh, I just learned that Chicago Tribune does not carry LA Times puzzle on their Sunday paper. Very strange. Is that the same with your local paper also? Can you come to the Comments section and tell me what puzzles are on your Sunday paper? Thanks.

Across:

11A: Chugalug's opposite: SIP. Knew "chug", did not know "chugalug". I pictured "chugalug" as something similar to quahog, the clam I did not know until you guys mentioned it a few months ago. Clams are strange, no head, no eyes.

16A: Cyberaddress, briefly: URL. Many of you find me every day by googling "Star Tribune Crossword Corner". I hope you just bookmark it. I might change the blog name someday, since our paper does not carry LA Times puzzle.

19A: "Right to bear arms" grp.: NRA. Charlton Heston served as NRA president from 1998 to 2003.

22A: Port in Yemen: ADEN. ADEN sounds like a young city to me. I was surprised to learn that "Aden may be as old as human history itself. Some also believe that Cain and Abel are buried somewhere in the city". So approximately how many years? I know nothing about Bible.

23A: Detroit labor org.: UAW. They are partly responsible for this Big Three financial mess.

25A: Furious: IN A RAGE

32A: Hosp. staffer: LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse). New abbreviation to me. Got it easily from down fills.

34A: Conspiring band: CABAL. Rooted in CABALA, which was clued as "Secret doctrine" in our puzzle last Thursday.

39A: Woman's golf garment: SKORT. SK(IRT) + (SH)ORT. Made famous by Natalie Gulbis. Vera Wang's idea I think. LPGA, so worried about its low spectator turnout, invited Wang to give players a talk on how to dress (sexily) in golf course. She suggested them to get rid of the belt. Bam! Every player started to wear SKORT, including Annika.

52A: Cocktail maker: BAR KEEP. I only know bartender.

54A: Actor Afflect: BEN. Which is your favorite BEN Afflect movie? I liked his "Pearl Harbor" the most. He should run for MA Governor/Senator someday.

55A: "__ brillig, and the slithy..." Carrol: 'TWAS. Pure guess. What does "brillig" mean? Brilliant?

56A: Beautiful, in Bologna: BELLA. All alliteration. Italian guys seem to like calling girls BELLA, even if they are not beautiful.

67A: Paris Hilton's sister: NICKY. NICKY Hilton is quite talented actually. She designed some cute handbags.

68A: Nigeria neighbor: BENIN. Its capital city is Porto-Novo. Portuguese for "New Port". Originally developed as a port for the slave trade, according to Wikipedia.

69A: Hospital VIPs: MDS

Down:

3D: Nebraska tribe: OTOE. Always thought they are a "Oklahoma tribe".

6D: "__ Ado About Nothing": MUCH. Ah, the epitome of double entendre. "Nothing" is not really nothing. It's the "O-thing".

7D: Labor Dept. arm: OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). Created under the Nixon Administration. Nixon was quite respected in China due to his groundbreaking visit in 1972.

8D: Sweetheart: DEARIE. My husband never calls me "Sweetheart" or DEARIE. Always "Lao Po", Chinese for "wife".

10D: Leary's turn-on: LSD. No "tripping" wordplay.

11D: Church garb: SUNDAY BEST. New "garb" to me. I only go to church when there is a wedding or funeral.

12D: Flawed, as sale mdse: IRREG. Really? I thought it's IRR. I need to pay attention to those abbreviations.

22D: Clamorous: AROAR. Used to hate A* words. Now I like them.

24D: Sushi tuna: AHI. Yellowfin tuna. AHI means "fire" in Hawaiian. This sesame crusted AHI tuna looks so tasty. I like AHI sushi & AHI sashimi.

26D: "Dancing with the Stars" network: ABC. Easy guess. I've never watched that program.

29D: Blends together into a whole: INTEGRATES

31D: "Valerie Harper" sitcom: RHODA. Learned from doing Xword. "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" seemed to be a big deal.

38D: Fish catchers: HOOKS. Hmm, no golf? I think Rich Norris HOOKS.

40D: Dream state acronym: REM

46D: "Desert Storm" chow, initially: MRE. Why "Desert Storm"? Isn't it still called MRE now?

49D: Rubbish: DEBRIS. The plural form of DEBRIS is still DEBRIS, isn't it?

58D: Astronomical distance meas.: LTYR (Light-Year). Reminds me of Woody and Buzz Lightyear.

60D: Annapolis inst.: USNA. Might be a different clue had Sen. McCain won the presidency.

62D: Daly of "Cagney & Lacey": TYNE. Know her name. Not familiar with "Cagney & Lacey".

64D: Wildebeest: GNU. I've never understood why they change "Wild Beast" into "Wildebeest". Maybe GNUS know. Strange, isn't it? The babies and mother have so different body colors.

Full Answer Grid.

C.C.

Sunday March 29, 2009 Kathleen Fay O'Brien

Theme: Los Angeles Clippers

23A: Toy guns?: FALSE A(LA)RMS

24A: Education for lab rats? (LA)MAZE CLASSES

39A: Thug down in the dumps?: BLUE (LA)GOON

43A: Where the South American school grp. meets?: RIO DE LA P(LA)TA

65A: Dana Carvey doing The Police's lead singer?: (LA)STING IMPRESSION

92A: Cop who brings back the genie when he goes AWOL?: ALADDIN'S (LA)MP

94A: Dubbed-in sounds of disgust?: (LA)UGH TRACK

113A: Appropriate style of dress for exams: (LA)TEST FASHION

115A: ATM accesses that nobody can guess?: GREAT P(LA)INS

Probably too obvious if the theme title were "LA Clippers".

This is a Sylvia Plath "Ariel" puzzle to me. I only started to understand "Roses are red..." not long ago. Struggled again.

Lots of wonderful clues in this puzzle. My favorites:

38A: Head lines?: EEG. Very clever. Always "Brain scan letters" in our old puzzle.

51D: Foreign correspondents?: PEN PALS

87D: Writing feature?: SILENT W. Letter W is not pronounced in "Writing".

123A: Henna and her sisters?: DYES. Play on movie title "Hannah and Her Sisters".

Things I need your help:

62D: Not counting fas and and las, word after "holly": 'TIS. Big stumper. Why?

76D: Walks like House: LIMPS. How come? What/Who is "House"?

83D: Stretch in the '90s, e.g.: HEAT WAVE. Again, why?

To those LA Times solvers who are offered Sylvia Bursztyn's "Light Fair". Please go to LA Times website for the Rich Norris puzzle we are discussing here today.

Across:

5A: Off-the-market apple spray: ALAR. Sometimes it's clued as "Wing-shaped". Did Ralph Nader play a big role in its banning?

9A: African expanse: SAHARA. I thought of DESERT first.

15A: Hanks Oscar-winning role: GUMP. "Forrest GUMP". "Life is a like a box of chocolate..." It's all about choices actually.

19A: Like some training program: IN SERVICE. Military?

21A: Cloisonné material: ENAMEL. Cloisonné technique was first developed in China.

22A: Ending for stink: AROO. Or "Ending for buck". EROO is the ending of smack & switch.

26A: Political essay: TRACT. It's always clued as "Political pamphlet" in our old puzzle.

29A: Capital on the Hudson: ALBANY

34A: Intersection caution: BLINKER

46A: Cold symptom: SNEEZE

48A: Fight ender, briefly: TKO. Boxing term.

49A: Coal industry labor org.: UMW (United Mine Workers). First encounter with this org.

50A: Bridge bid: NO TRUMP. And NO BET (42D: "Check"). Both are new terms to me. Not a bridge/poker player.

52A: Insect-world animated film: ANTZ. This film has become a gimme.

53A: Dungeness delicacy: CRAB. Have never heard of Dungenss CRAB. Wikipedia says it's named after Dungenss, Washington. And there is an annual Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival held there every October.

54A: Furniture wood: TEAK. "Shipbuilding wood" too. Oily, oily!

56A: Cubs' A.L. rivals: SOX. Both based in Chicago.

57A: 'Enry's Broadway protégée: ELIZA. "My Fair Lady". ELIZA Doolittle. Took me a while to realize 'Enry is Henry.

59A: Mr. Magoo, notably: MYOPE. Learned who Mr. Magoo is from doing Xword.

60A: Ralph Kramden's friend: ED NORTON. Stumper. This is the ED NORTON I am familiar with. He is so good in "American History X".

63A: Where to see 60A across: ON TV

64A: Loafs on the job: DOGS IT. New phrase to me.

72A: Musical syllables: TRAS

73A: The Azores are part of it: PORTUGAL. Barry Silk clued AZORES as "Portuguese islands" in his last puzzle.

80A: Hodges of baseball: GIL. Hmmm, no Dodgers reference? GIL Hodges spent most of his career with Brooklyn and LA Dodgers. Some of the old Brooklyn Dodgers collectibles are ridiculously high priced.

81A: Niño's emphatic yes: SI SI. In Chinese, it's "Shi, Shi'.

82A: Jordon's dowager queen: NOOR. She is rumored to have been dating Carlos Slim. Not sure if he is still the richest man in this world. Listened to some of her interviews when she was promoting her book "Leap of Faith". Very compelling personality.

84A: Biological subdivision: SPECIES

88A: '60 theater, briefly: NAM. I don't understand why they picked "What a Wonderful World" for "Good morning, Vietnam". They don't really match well.

89A: Rubble creator: TNT

98A: Arch city: ST LOUIS. The Gateway Arch was designed by Eero Sarrinen, who appears in crossword often.

99A: Including: WITH

100A: Some dirty politics: SMEARS

103A: November honoree: VET. Nov 11, to be exact.

104A: Observable: IN VIEW

107A: Powerful shooter marbles: STEELIES. See this picture. They don't look like to be made of steel.

109A: Massage targets: NECKS. The answer is always ACHE in our old puzzle.

117A: Camaro __ -Z: IROC. Completely unknown to me. Here is a photo. Wikipedia says it's named after the popular competition International Race of Champions. I thought it's play on "I Rock".

118A: Boys' Choir home: VIENNA. No idea. Have never heard of VIENNA Boys' Choir before.

119A: Tidal maximum: HIGH WATER. Also a new term to me. Just learned what WATER LINE is yesterday.

121A: Makes rhapsodic: ELATES

122A: Bugs, for one: TOON

Down:

1D: Baking instruction: SIFT. Mine was STEP.

2D: Tree trunk bulge: KNAR. Made-up crossword word.

3D: Cuba, to Cubans: ISLA. I like this clue.

4D: Come down: DESCEND. Thought of ALIGHT first.

6D: N.Y.C. commuter line: LIRR

8D: What's left, in Le Mans: RESTE. French for "rest". I was thinking of gauche, the real "left".

9D: Israeli, e.g.: SEMITE. OK, this is a word I've never understood. Arabs are Semitic, right? Why Anti-semitism is about prejudice against Jewish people then?

10D: Substances similar in structure, in chemistry: ANALOGS. No idea. I thought it should be ISO something.

11D: Fogs: HAZES

14D: Teeming with activity: ALL ABUZZ. Have to get used to this kind of 2-word fill.

15D: Blowhard: GASBAG

16D: __ Minor: URSA. My first reaction: ASIA

17D: Big name in faucets: MOEN. MOEN has several joint ventures in China.

18D: Bride's throwaway: POSY. All I could think of are flowers & bouquett.

25D: "Tiny Alice" dramatist: ALBEE. I've never heard of "Tiny Alice". But five letter dramatist has to be ALBEE.

33D: Prince Valiant's bride: ALETA. Another unknown. Only Just learned ARN ("Prince Valiant's son") a few months ago.

34D: Big bully: BRUTE. Give a whole new meaning to "Et tu, BRUTE?"

35D: Treated the soil, in a way: LIMED. What's the purpose of liming the soil?

36D: Davenport native: IOWAN. "Is this heaven?" "No, it's IOWA". My favorite baseball movie: "Field of Dreams".

37D: Fingers, so to speak: RATS ON. New definition of "Fingers" to me.

39D: Auto pioneer Karl: BENZ. I need the name Mercedes to get BENZ.

40D: Others: Span.: OTROS. OTRAS is also "Others: Span."

41D: Giraffe cousin: OKAPI. Hey, tell me, is giraffe your cousin?

44D: Plug projection: PRONG. Sounds silly, but I really blanked on Plug PRONG.

47D: Gullible: NAIVE. Won't be long, Rich Norris. Sooner or later, I am going to figure out all your "Little butter?".

53D: Swan constellation: CYGNUS. Forgot this word. Latin for "swan". See this diagram. PromiseMe mentioned Rush's song "CYGNUS X-1" last time when we encountered DENEB (clued as "Star in CYGNUS". In his words, "The song is about a journey through space to the black hole at the heart of the constellation Cygnus." Maybe he will provide a clip later.

55D: Authentic: KOSHER. Opposite tref. Kind of like Arab Halal/haraam, right?

58D: P.O. sackful: LTRS. In this electronic age, still "sackful" of letters? I doubt.

59D: No longer at issue: MOOT. Or still debatable. Janus letter, 2 meanings.

61D: Numbered rds.: RTES

63D: Actor Katz: OMRI. I forgot this "Dallas" actor. He appeared in our old puzzle before.

64D: N, E, S or W: DIR

66D: Roman prefix: ITALO. Williams liked to clue ITALO as "Author Calvino". In fact, I don't believe he ever tried "Roman prefix".

67D: Star in Virgo: SPICA. New to me. Here is the diagram.

68D: Pyramids, e.g.: SOLIDS

69D: African language group: BANTU. Both Zulu & Swahili belong to BANTU.

71D: Crown location: TOOTH. I was picturing a crown over someone's head.

74D: Infomercial knife: GINSU. They are of very poor quality, correct?

75D: "Me, too!": AS AM I

78D: Show the rope: TEACH

79D: Pool accessory: RACK. Billiard. Not swimming pool.

80D: It holds locks in place: GEL. Well, I was thinking of real locks. Key does not fit.

85D: Like the Holy See: PAPAL

86D: 1999 Ron Howard film: EDTV. See this poster. I saw identical clue somewhere before. But I could not recall the film name.

90D: Lawyer's writing: BRIEF

91D: "Give me an example!": NAME ONE. Like this clue also.

93D: Jotting place: NOTE PAD

95D: Muscle spasm: TWITCH. Or TIC for a 3-letter fill.

97D: Perceived to be: SEEN AS

100D: Tour of duty: STINT

101D: Correct: RIGHT. Verb or adjective?

102D: Comic opening: SERIO. Have never heard of seriocomic before. Derived from SERI(ous) + O + Comic.

104D: Tendon suffix: ITIS. Tendonitis. Did not come to me immediately. I am used to the " Medical suffix" clue.

105D: Husband of Octavia: NERO. I know the NERO who fiddled while Roman burned. Don't know who Octavia is. Dictionary says Marc Anthony's wife is also called Octavia, a name rooted in Octavius, meaning "the eighth".

106D: Brandy letters: VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale). Unknown to me. Here is a bottle.

107D: 2000 World Series venue: SHEA. Yankees beat the Mets. I was unaware of this. My US history started in May 16, 2001, almost 8 years.

108D: Lily with an edible root: SEGO. Really? I only know tiger lily buds are edible.

111D: Cello stabilizer: KNEE. I still marvel at the CELLIST clue ("Ma, for one") the other day. Just brilliant. Crossword constructors/editors are so creative.

112D: Georgia et al., once: Abbr.: SSRS. I love this "Georgia" ambiguity. In late 1980s and early 1990s, I was very into Eduard Shevardnadze, who later became the President of Georgia. Later one, I moved to Netanyahu. I don't know what they have in common. They just attracted me.

116D: "Kung Fu" actor: AHN. No idea. Interesting trivia: His parent were the first Korean married couple admitted into the United States, according to Wikipedia. He looks very Korean. His surname AHN would be spelled An or Ang in Chinese, as in director Ang Lee. An simply means "Peace".

Full Answer Grid.

C.C.

Saturday March 28, 2009 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: None (No?)

Total words: 74

Total blocks: 36

I am confused. I thought LA Times Saturday is always a themeless. But maximum word count for a themeless is 72. Today we have 74 words. Besides, all the three long entries have "No" in theme, maybe it's a themed puzzle, after all?

17A: "No need to get so excited": KEEP YOUR SHIRT ON

37A: "No way": DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH

59A: "No idea": I HAVEN'T GOT A CLUE

(Note: My bad, I made a mistake. There are only 72 words.)

Another struggle, but not as hard as I dreaded last night. I got more than half of the grid filled. Erased a few and then googled a few. Good enough for me. I'll call it a success and move on.

I am just so enamored with Rich Norris' "It .... clues", like yesterday's "It can pick up a plane" for RADAR and the other day's "It's twirled in a rodeo" for RIATA. I like the visual images the clues evoke.

Today it's a plain fact-based "It replaced the Slovak koruna on 1/1/2009" for EURO (8D). Nice trivia, isn't it? PromiseMe' research yesterday shows that Finland is the only Nordic country that has switched to EURO.

By the way, Rich Norris confirmed to me yesterday that there is no rebus puzzle in LA Times.

Across:

1A: According to design: AS PLANNED. Got it immediately.

10A: Attended: WAS AT. Struggled with this simple fill.

15A: Prolong: STRING OUT. Unknown to me. Only knew the phrase "string along". I wanted STRETCH something.

16A: Prefix with glyph: HIERO. Hieroglyph. I knew the word, but could not spell it properly. HIERO is a prefix meaning "Sacred' or "priestly". Here are some Egyptian hieroglyphs. Sun is easy to recognize, so are the last two birds. I won't be able to tell house, mountain, god or reed though.

19A: Triage sites, briefly: ERS

20A: River of Tuscany: ARNO. "River of Florence/Pisa/Italy", whatever, the answer is always ARNO.

21A: Short-tailed weasel: ERMINE. Turn around, buddy, I want to see if your tail is short.

22A: Geometric fig.: RECT. Rectangle. RECT/RECTI is a prefix for "right"/"straight". Remember last time RECTI was clued as "Belly muscles" in our old puzzle? The singular is rectus, meaning "straight muscle of ab, thigh, etc". Rectus is Latin for "straight". Dictionary says RECTO, the right-hand page is rooted in rectus too. So is rectum (plural is recta).

24A: Kiara's mother in "The Lion King": NALA. I wrote down ELSA, the "Born Free" lioness first.

25A: Letters on seconds: IRR. Why? What are "seconds"?

27A: "__ out?": IN OR. And NEED I (28D: "__ say more?"). Have to get used to the new cluing style.

29A: "Medium" network: NBC. Unknown to me. I hope they have high ratings. GE owns NBC. And I want my GE stocks to go back to where I first bought them. Stupid GE Capital. Bleeder.

32A: Breakthroughs in therapy, say: EYE OPENERS. I got the answer immediately. Did not quite understand the rationale though.

35A: Language teaching site: LAB. Oh. I've never been to a language LAB. Science LAB yes.

40A: "The Lord of the Rings" monster: ORC. Williams always clued it as "Tolkien baddie".

41A: Visibly embarrassed: RED AS A BEET. I misremebered the phrase as RED AS BEETS.

42A: Thin swimmer: EEL. It does not look thin to me. I really love unagi sushi rolls.

44A: Speaker in Cooperstown: TRIS. HOFer. I don't have any of his baseball cards. But I have this stamp. Just learned this morning that his nickname is Spoke. Very interesting. Reminds me of that repetitive actor name Rip Torn.

45A: Bit of treasure: GEM. "Bit" here means small?

46A: Fireworks reaction: OOHS. Lots of fireworks/accidents during Chinese Spring Festival eve.

48A: What a nyctophobe fears: DARK. Gimme. Learned I had mild nyctophobia when I linked this list long time ago. Nact/nacti/nacto is prefix for "night". I feel safe when the closet light is on in the evening.

51A: Gelatin candy: JUJUBE. Have never had the JUJUBE candy. To me, JUJUBE is just Chinese date. Not as sweet as the Middle East palm dates though.

54A: Composer Khachaturian: ARAM. No idea. Soviet-Armenian composer. Wikipedia says his works were very influenced by Armenia folk music. This coin looks like in mint condition. ARAM is quite close to ABRAM, often clued as "President Garfield's middle name".

62A: Crescent shapes: LUNES. Mine was MOONS.

63A: Floating point: WATER LINE. Unknown to me. What is "Floating point"?

65A: Hematite producers: IRON MINES. I did not know the meaning of "hematite", the principal ore of iron. Hemat/hemato is a prefix for "blood". I don't know how is it related to ore.

Down:

3D: Foreknowledge: PRESCIENCE. Reminds me of Frigg, wife of Odin. She is prophetic but she never tells others what she knows. Cassandra does tell others what she knows, but no one believes her.

5D: Novelist Seton: ANYA. Pure guess. Wikipedia says she wrote a book called "Foxfire" which was later made into a film. I wonder where Firefox the browser got its name then.

6D: "The Killing Fields" Oscar winner Haing S. __: NGOR. Foreign to me. He won Oscar Best Supporting Actor for his role in "The Killing Fields". He was born in Cambodia and his father was of Chinese descent. See how ridiculous Chinese languages are. His surname (吴) would be spelled NG in Cantonese and Wu in Mandarin. The most absurd to me is Chiang Kai-Shek. He is always Jiang Jie-Shi to us who grew up in Mainland China. Maddeningly different spellings. Mao Tse-Tung & Mao Ze-Dong is not that confusing though.

7D: Lions or tigers or bears: NOUN. Great clue.

9D: Rehab symptoms: DTS (Delirium Tremens)

10D: Eddy: WHIRL

11D: Pilot: AIRMAN. I wanted AVIATOR, but there is not enough space.

12D: "Contact" acronym: SETI (Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence). Big stumper. I've never heard of the movie "Contact".

18D: Limo leaders, at times: HEARSES

24D: Peggy Lee and Marilyn Monroe, at birth: NORMAS. Only knew Marilyn's original name is NORMA Jean (For you, Democrat). Peggy Lee was born NORMA Deloris Egstrom.

26D: Dashboard letters: RPM

27D: Comic book artists: INKER. Funny Crossword INKER.

30D: Atlantic game fish: BLUE MARLIN. I've never seen a BLUE MARLIN. Why BLUE? The hue on his belly?

31D: Zoo enclosure: CAGE. Of course. But my first reaction is LOGY, as in zoology.

32D: Shogun's capital: EDO. Japanese kanjin for Shogun (将軍) is exactly the same as Chinese character for "general". Many times I understand Japanese words due to this similarity. But I don't know how to pronounce.

34D: Like much pottery: EARTHEN. These Terra Cotta Warriors are EARTHEN too.

36D: Food preservative letters: BHT (Butylated HydroxyToluene). No idea. Dictionary says it's used to "retard rancidity in foods, pharmaceuticals, and other products containing fat or oil". I checked my cooking oil, luckily there is no BHT. It sounds as toxic as Obama/Geithner's "Toxic Assets" or whatever the new name is. AIG/AIU, you can put lipstick on a pig, it's still a pig.

43D: Slatted window opening: LOUVER. British spell this word as LOUVRE. Like Mona Lisa's Louvre.

49D: Meet with the old gang: REUNE. Is this a real word? I've never seen it before.

51D: Leave abruptly, as a lover: JILT. Reminds me of Julia Roberts' "Runaway Bride".

53D: Doe to be identified: JANE

55D: __- Rooter: ROTO. Often clued as "Old newspaper section" in our TMS puzzle. I never really understand what section ROTO is.

56D: Fordham's hoops conf.: A-TEN. Stumper. Have heard of Atlantic 10 conference. Don't know its abbreviation. Not familar with Fordham either. Here is a list of notable alumni. See Vince Lombardi, Alan Alda, and Denzel Washington?

57D: School closing?: MARM. Learned schoolmarm from doing crossword.

60D: Prefix with light: TWI. Oh, twilight. Is there a prefix actually meaning "light"?

61D: One-third of CDLIII: CLI. 1/3 of 453=151.

Full Answer Grid.

C.C.