03.26 Sat

S A T U R D A Y
March 26, 2011
Julian Lim

Theme: None

Really really enjoyed this puzzle, but I'm getting a late start today, so let's go straight to bullets. No wait, let's do Crosswordese 101 first. These are words that come up in crossword puzzles again and again (and again and again and again) even though they probably don't come up in everyday conversation hardly ever. So it's a good idea to know them. Each CW word in this list is a link that will take you back to the post where we first featured it as CW101, where we talk about what the word means and how it's typically clued. (There's a list of all the CW101 words we've covered so far here.)

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 19A: Galway Bay's __ Islands (ARAN).
• 39A: Shrub yielding an indigo dye (ANIL).
• 61A: Ethyl butyrate, e.g. (ESTER).
• 4D: Majlis al Jinn cave site (OMAN).
• 21D: Dashboard Confessional music genre (EMO).
• 31D: Memorable movie lion (LAHR).
• 53D: Ohio tribe (ERIE).

Bullets:

• 1A: Its first mascot was a toque-wearer named Speedee (MCDONALD'S).
• 10A: Father in the comic strip "Bringing Up Father" (JIGGS). Got this one completely through crosses.
• 15A: 2010 health statute, informally (OBAMACARE). Timely colloquialism.
• 29A: Werewolves do it (MORPH).



• 40A: Dollars for quarters? (HOME LOANS). Tricky clue. "Quarters" in this case refers to "living quarters."
• 47A: Ham relative (SHEM). Biblical reference: SHEM and Ham are sons of Noah.
• 49A: Ruined the family photo, maybe (MADE A FACE). Ha!
• 56A: Potter's concern (VOLDEMORT). Love this clue. Were you all, "Clay? … ???"

• 59A: Piece maker? (REESE). Mmmmmm, Reese's Pieces.
• 1D: Home of V. Van Gogh's "Starry Night" (MOMA). The Museum of Modern Art.
• 3D: "SNL" cast member with Phil and Kevin (DANA). Phil Hartman, Kevin Nealon, and Dana Carvey. I was never a huge fan of Kevin Nealon, but the one time I was in the audience for SNL, he came out and did the warm-up act and he killed it. I also think he's awesome in "Weeds."
• 6D: Valuable diamond (ACE). Playing cards.

• 12D: Fight fiercely (GO TO THE MAT). By any chance did you all hear about the NCAA's 125-pound champion wrestler this year? Kid was born with one leg. This was his last chance for a championship, so even though he beat my Hawkeye (who, by the way, was the defending champ), I have to admit I'm happy for him. Also, the phrase "one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest"? Yeah, we can let that one go now.
• 45D: Six-time NBA All-Star Stoudemire (AMARE). I thought for sure his first name was more common than that. Is there another Stoudemire?
• 48D: Annie's student (HELEN). Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller.
• 58D: Feu extinguisher (EAU). French!

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 16A: Deify (ADORE); 17A: Beastly place? (MENAGERIE); 18A: Protest tactic (SIT-IN); 20A: Groupings affected by natural selection (GENE POOLS); 22A: Asked for a ticket? (SPED); 24A: Pluck (METTLE); 25A: Leisure wear (LOAFER); 30A: Among other things, in Latin (INTER ALIA); 33A: Iranian-born TV director Badiyi (REZA); 36A: Roll with the punches (TAKE IT AS IT COMES); 41A: 2008 runner (NADER); 44A: Still running (LEFT ON); 45A: Beer named for a river (AMSTEL); 51A: Cooling treats (ICES); 55A: Like a baseball bat's symmetry (AXIAL); 60A: Bizet's "Habanera," for one (OPERA ARIA); 62A: Folded (WENT UNDER); 2D: Handle user (CB'ER); 4D: Majlis al Jinn cave site (OMAN); 5D: Shrew (NAG); 7D: Coffeehouse option (LARGE); 8D: Like some flowers (DRIED); 9D: Detected (SEEN); 10D: "The Eyre Affair" author Fforde (JASPER); 11D: Not at all like rocket science (IDIOT PROOF); 13D: Cook, in a way (GRILL); 14D: Meaning (SENSE); 22D: Brunei's capital Bandar __ Begawan (SERI); 23D: Fall lead-in? (PRAT); 25D: "Kiss Me Deadly" singer Ford (LITA); 26D: "... __ open fire" (ON AN); 27D: It was blamed for reduced pasta sales in 2003 (ATKINS DIET); 28D: Relax (FEEL AT EASE); 29D: Seriously injure (MAIM); 32D: Prefix with 29-Across (ISO-); 34D: Greek known for paradoxes (ZENO); 35D: The "A" in many org. names (ASSN.); 37D: Beginning to cast? (TELE-); 38D: Skelton's Kadiddlehopper (CLEM); 42D: One in a pit (DEALER); 43D: Wrap artist? (ELF); 46D: Plateaus, with "out" (MAXES); 47D: Sniper's aid (SCOPE); 50D: Make no bones about (AVOW); 51D: Supermodel with a Global Chic collection (IMAN); 52D: Line with juice? (CORD); 54D: Rock or tin follower (STAR); 57D: "The 5000 Fingers of __": Seuss film (DR. T).