F R I D A Y October 8, 2010 Paul Guttormsson

Theme: On and On and On and On— The letters ON are added to the end of familiar phrases.


Theme answers:

• 20A: Milton Hershey, e.g.? (CHOCOLATE BARON).
• 56A: Segundo matrimonio result, maybe? (SPANISH STEPSON).
• 10D: Body of brewing rules? (BEER CANON).
• 35D: Ancient Germanic singer? (ALTO SAXON).
• 39A: Extra, and this puzzle's title (ADD ON).

Cute, simple theme for today. I had the middle part of the first theme answer first and wasn't sure where that was going, so I moved on. When I got to the reveal answer it all became clear. I had a few trouble spots: I thought STRASSE was going to be "car lot" or some variation thereof. But in this case, a German car (30A: Place to see an Audi) is used to clue the German word for street. Also, the R in TYPER was the last letter I entered into the grid (26D: Blood __). I thought it must be A, B, or O, but that didn't really make sense. The only other thing I'll mention before I get to the bullets is, HOLY COW look at all those abbreviations!!! I admit that I didn't notice them so much during solving — I think I was pretty focused on the downs and the abbreviations are, for the most part, acrosses — but when I was putting this write-up together it looked like abbreviation after abbreviation after abbreviation!

Bullets:

• 1A: Mother of Horus (ISIS). I have a really hard time keeping all the Gods and Goddesses straight. I'm sure I'm not the only one.
• 23A: MPG rating agency (EPA). The Environmental Protection Agency.
• 25A: E. African nation (ETH.). Ethiopia.

• 34A: A.L. player whose team logo includes an Uncle Sam hat (N.Y. YANKEE). I grew up a Twins fan, but switched allegiances when I moved to New York. As you can imagine, I'm not really enjoying this series so much as just paying attention to it. I feel like Venus and Serena's mom.
• 50A: "Star Trek" sequel, briefly (TNG). "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
• 69A: Malibu, for one (SEDAN). Did anyone try BEACH first? I already had the N in place so I didn't fall into that trap.
• 1D: Apple variety (IMAC). Considered ROMA but couldn't get the crosses to work, so I moved on and came back to this corner later.
• 2D: Jedi nemesis (SITH). This is how dumb I am. Every Single Time the answer is SITH, I put in SIKH first and have to erase it. Every. Single. Time.
• 22D: Lover of Cal, in "East of Eden" (ABRA). Wow, no idea. I guess on Friday an ABRA-cadabra clue is too easy.
• 29D: Rocker Nugent (TED). Sure he's completely batshit crazy now, but back in the day ....



• 41D: What an apostrophe may stand for, in dates (NINETEEN). What a great clue. I'm all "Apostrophes are used in dates?" Took me a minute.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 15A: Last Olds (ALERO).
• 16A: Ostrich cousins EMUS).
• 19A: Give off (EMIT).
• 28A: Fictional tree shepherd ENT).
• 5D: "She's a Lady" songwriter (PAUL ANKA).
• 6D: Radius neighbor (ULNA).

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Everything Else — 5A: Cheap reads (PULPS); 10A: Divulge (BARE); 14A: 1959 British Motor Corp. debut (MINI); 17A: Routing abbr. (ATTN.); 18A: Subordinate to (UNDER); 24A: Millennium-ending year (ONE B.C.); 37A: Got in on a deal (ANTED); 38A: Form often requiring an SSN (APPL.); 42A: Master: Abbr. (ORIG.); 43A: Buck parts (CENTS); 45A: Improve one's bargaining power, in a way (UNIONIZE); 47A: Radar user (TROOPER); 51A: St. crosser, on signs (PED); 52A: Yahtzee score sheet row (SIXES); 54A: Suffix with ranch (-ERO); 62A: Imitation (FAUX); 63A: Playgroup reminder (SHARE); 64A: Reference work, usually (TOME); 65A: Curly coif (AFRO); 66A: Austrian dessert (TORTE); 67A: Thought (IDEA); 68A: "It's __ fun" (BEEN); 70A: Word avoided by optimists (CAN'T); 3D: Involved with (INTO); 4D: From that time (SINCE); 7D: Helped come about (LED TO); 8D: Grooms (PREENS); 9D: Frozen dessert (SORBET); 11D: Gun shop stock (AMMO); 12D: Wreck (RUIN); 13D: Winter hrs. in N.J. (EST); 21D: Not booked (OPEN); 25D: Put on the books (ENACT); 27D: Therapy lead-in (HYPNO-); 31D: Comic unit (STRIP); 32D: Jump on, as an opportunity (SEIZE); 33D: Beat by a bit (EDGED); 36D: http://mit.__ (EDU); 40D: Man. and Minn. neighbor (ONT.); 44D: Reinterpret, in a way (SPIN); 46D: Brute (OGRE); 48D: Is (EXISTS); 49D: Work on hooves (RESHOE); 53D: Pottery piece (SHARD); 55D: Sight-related (OPTIC); 56D: Protected (SAFE); 57D: Not corrupted (PURE); 58D: Madrid miss: Abbr. (SRTA.); 59D: Club __ (SODA); 60D: Comet, to some (OMEN); 61D: Tidy (NEAT); 62D: "Cool!" ("FAB!").