T H U R S D A Y November 18, 2010 John Doppler Schiff

Theme: Oh-Oh — Add an O to familiar phrases turning the last word into a famous person's name.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Marx as a Druid? (CELTIC HARPO).
• 55A: Well-dressed Swedish actress? (FORMAL GARBO).
• 11D: Godfather portrayer turned shop owner? (STORE BRANDO).
• 25D: Beatle in a bout? (BOXING RINGO).

I'm in a foul mood today for no apparent reason, so we're gonna go straight to bullets then I'll go have breakfast and see if I can readjust my attitude.

Bullets:

• 14A: More of a novice (RAWER). The W here is the last letter I entered into the grid. The only word I could see here was "rarer." Looking at the down (3D: Athena's attendant) didn't help, because all I could see there was "oil." Had to do an alphabet run to come up with RAWER / OWL. Seems obvious now.
• 16A: A victory may break one (TIE). Something about the wording bothers me on this one. Seems to me breaking a tie causes a victory, but this clue implies the cause and effect are reversed. Hmm.
• 26A: Cell component (BAR). I assume this refers to the BARs on a jail cell. Reading it as signal strength BARs on a cell-phone is probably a stretch.

• 31A: Parts of personal music libraries (MIX TAPES). For all you young whippersnappers, back in the old days before we had playlists, we had mix tapes. Making one was a stressful time-consuming process. Especially if you wanted it to be perfect. Which you did.
• 33A: Musical intervals (THIRDS). Random!
• 40A: Classic breath freshener (SEN-SEN). Not to be confused with Fen-Phen. Totally different things.
• 42A: Certain counter's woe (INSOMNIA). I was thinking bean-counter until sheep-counter became clear through crosses.
• 44A: Iron supplement brand (GERITOL). Forever associated with the fantastically patronizing line from its television commercial: "My wife. I think I'll keep her."

• 53A: There are pins at the end of one (LANE). Bowling!
• 18D: Vinyl successors, briefly (CD'S). Haha. I thought the clue meant that CD's succeeded vinyl only briefly. It wasn't until I was typing up this list that I realized the clue is letting us know that the answer is an abbreviation. Prersonally, I don't think we need that hint with CD. Anyone ever call them compact discs?
• 29D: Musical seconds (RES). As in "do, re, mi …."
• 30D: Not charging for (THROWING IN). PuzzleParents used to live a couple blocks from the real guy who inspired the "Soup Nazi" character on "Seinfeld." PuzzleDad reported at the time that sometimes the guy would THROW IN bread or fruit and sometimes he wouldn't. You really never knew what you were going to get with him.
• 38D: Like a USN volunteer (ENL.). That's an ugly abbreviation for ENListed.
• 47D: Its southern border is about seven times longer than its northern one (IDAHO). Now, see? There's some good trivial information. Love it.

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 1A: Encircled by (AMONG); 6A: Persian faith (BAHÁ'Í); 11A: One with a cover (SPY); 15A: Lunch hr. end, often (ONE P.M.); 19A: Rio hello (OLA); 20A: PD precinct boss (CMDR.); 21A: Chants of a lifetime? (MANTRAS); 23A: Works (LABORS); 27A: Lift with effort (HEFT); 28A: Win by __ (A NOSE); 29A: Built up charges (RAN A TAB); 36A: ASCAP rival (BMI); 37A: First rabies vaccine creator (PASTEUR); 39A: Interior decorator's concern (ART); 46A: Spread out (WIDEN); 47A: Memo opener (IN RE); 49A: Bengals, on scoreboards (CIN); 50A: Noble address (MI'LORD); 51A: Question of advisability (DO I DARE); 54A: Columnist Landers (ANN); 60A: Biker's chopper (HOG); 61A: Bullwinkle nemesis (BORIS); 62A: Stravinsky and a lab assistant (IGORS); 63A: Barcelona bear (OSO); 64A: Bright (SMART); 65A: Not schooled in (NEW AT); 1D: Ring piece (ARC); 2D: West of Hollywood (MAE); 4D: Discounted price (NET COST); 5D: Antonius Block's chess opponent in Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" (GRIM REAPER); 6D: Nuclear Nobelist Niels (BOHR); 7D: Prefix with gram (ANA-); 8D: Author Wouk (HERMAN); 9D: Paraphernalia (APPARATUS); 10D: "That's my cue!" ("I'M ON!"); 12D: Dinner side, perhaps (PILAF); 13D: It can raise dough (YEAST); 22D: Chiang Mai resident (THAI); 23D: Ewe kids (LAMBS); 24D: Asian cartoon genre (ANIME); 26D: Fortification (BASTION); 32D: Safe place with a counterintuitive name (PANIC ROOM); 34D: Less soggy (DRIER); 35D: Stop asking for cards (STAND); 41D: Parakeet's eats (SEED); 43D: Distance on a tank (MILEAGE); 45D: __ del Fuego (TIERRA); 48D: Prohibitions (NO-NOS); 50D: Bad start? (MAL-); 52D: HQs for B-2s (AFB'S); 53D: Not leading anyone (LAST); 56D: Highest Russian territory, once? (MIR); 57D: Kerfuffle (ROW); 58D: Grille cover (BRA); 59D: From Essen to Leipzig, locally (OST).