F R I D A Y August 13, 2010 Julian Lim

Theme: Film Farm — Farm~ish animals discuss which movie to rent. Had I been able to find a copy of the Far Side "Mating Calls" strip, you know the one, with "Hey bay-bee! Hey bay-bee!", I'd have gone with "Dating Calls" or something.



Theme answers:

• 17A: The animals were bored, and the cows suggested a (MOOVIE NIGHT).
• 20A: "Great idea!" said the goats. "Let's watch (MAAS ATTACKS)."
• 35A: "How lowbrow!" said the cats. "We much prefer (THE COLOR PURRPLE)."
• 50A: "Too serious!" said the pigeons. "Why don't we go with (COO HAND LUKE)?"
  
• 55A: But in the end, the sheep had their way, and they all watched (BAABAARELLA).

PuzzleFamily is in Colorado, which you know if you've been following along. PuzzleGirl's gonna have a hellish travel day, which I know because she told me. "SethG," she said, "we're going to have what is shaping up to be a hellish travel day." I'm SethG.

She also sent me what turned out to be a completed copy of the puzzle, which I noticed before I actually focused enough on the grid to see any of the answers. I did note what I presume to be her completion time, which turned out to be faster than mine. We never compare times, but I think she's generally a bit faster than me, especially on the early-week puzzles, and I have maybe a slight advantage over her in completing some of the harder, end-of-the-week puzzles. As for today's slower time, I blame puns.

Somehow I got MAAS ATTACKS with I think no crosses. I've seen it, but it's maybe not as famous as the others. My fondest memory:

Slim Whitman YODELing (65A: Produce some cliff notes?) makes their heads explode!

If I'd been in the barnyard I'd have been pulleting for COO HAND LUKE, but BAABAARELLA is a noble choice. I'm gonna assume the sheep were male.

Some stuff:

• 15A: "But I don't want to go among mad people" speaker (ALICE). Another movie, though I didn't like the new one so much. I'm a big fan of the books, though.
• 22A: One may have an undulating floor (FUNHOUSE). Because seasick is fun.
  
• 32A: Software for creating bibliographies (ENDNOTE). Didn't know it, but it makes sense. Like 63A: L'École __ Roches: French private school (DES) or 48D: Events where the dessert haupia is served (LUAUS). You don't need to know an answer to enter it from a few crosses. Logical inference!
• 45A: Supreme Court nominee Kagan (ELENA) has been Associate Justice Kagan for almost a week now.
• 61A: "Bye!" ("ADIEU!") and 62A: Say "Hi!" to (GREET) form a nice pair.
• 8D: Inverse of nano- (GIGA-). They're both nonally magnituded. As opposed to 9D: Eight, in Aachen (ACHT).
• Not a big fan of 43D: Lunchbox snack (COOKIE) crossing the COO theme answer at the COO. I am a big fan of Cookie Monster, though.
  
  
• 52D: Bupkis, in Barcelona (NADA). Bupkis is one of my absolute favorite words. Those are more favorite than just my favorite words.
  

Crosswordese 101: CIE. I have no idea what this actually means. Because it's in French. But constructors seem to like it, and it turns out you don't need to know exactly. It's a French business abbreviation. If you see anything about a Boulogne business abbr., (16A: Co. in Cannes), Ltd. in Lyon, Inc. overseas, etc., it's CIE.

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 1A: Weenie (TWERP); 6A: Certain alien (LEGAL); 11A: With 58-Down, "Taking Woodstock" director (ANG); 14A: Many an IM user (AOL'ER); 19A: False pretense (ACT); 26A: Viti Levu is its largest island (FIJI); 27A: Salt's salutations (AHOYS); 28A: Nouveau riche (UPSTART); 31A: Piece conclusion (CODA); 40A: Check for flaws (INSPECT); 41A: Give __ up: assist (A LEG); 42A: Cry at a faith healing (I CAN SEE); 46A: Abolitionist Lucretia (MOTT); 47A: 1949 Gatsby portrayer (ALAN LADD); 54A: Sanctioned (OK'D); 60A: Jar head (LID); 64A: Support pieces (BASES); 1D: Highlander's cap (TAM); 2D: Seek support from (WOO); 3D: Jeff Lynne's band (ELO); 4D: MLK's title (REV.); 5D: Piano duet parts (PRIMOS); 6D: Turner and Wood (LANAS); 7D: Beethoven title name (ELISE); 10D: Lithuanian's neighbor (LETT); 11D: Whistling thorn, e.g. (ACACIA); 12D: Channel for little kids (NICK JR.); 13D: Laughs at a joke (GETS IT); 18D: Perrier, e.g. (EAU); 21D: Nevertheless (AFTER ALL); 22D: Trivia buff's fodder (FACT); 23D: "Here comes trouble!" ("UH-OH!"); 24D: Anatomical knot (NODE); 25D: Plant with colorful flower clusters (HYACINTH); 28D: Gender-biased, briefly (UN-PC); 29D: Sulk (POUT); 30D: Violas' sect. (STR.); 32D: More (ELSE); 33D: Informal turndown (NOPE); 34D: "Forgot About __": hip-hop hit (DRE); 36D: Walk-__: bit parts (ONS); 37D: Fervent request (PLEA); 38D: Give conditionally (LEND); 39D: Quaint "Yowza!" ("EGAD!"); 42D: "Turn up the heat!" ("I'M COLD!"); 44D: Like bitter rivals (AT ODDS); 45D: Verve (ENERGY); 47D: "The Zoo Story" playwright (ALBEE); 49D: Dossier abbr. (AKA); 51D: Rhyme scheme in many sonnets (ABAB); 53D: Address site (DAIS); 56D: Ranch closing? (-ERO); 57D: Spearheaded (LED); 58D: See 11-Across (LEE); 59D: Part of NATO: Abbr. (ATL.).