04.16 Sat

S A T U R D A Y
April 16, 2011
Brad Wilber

Theme: None — It's Saturday!

This puzzle is pretty much exactly what I expected when I saw that it was constructed by Brad Wilber: Tough but fair. Okay, fair for the most part. OPPUGN? Who says that? I tried IMPUGN first. I don't really know what IMPUGN means, but (a) [2D: Call into question] seems like a reasonable guess and (b) it's a word I've actually heard of. I had all kindsa trouble in that northwest corner. At first I had WENT BAD for GONE BAD (1A: Turned to a life of crime) and DYE for DOT (7D: Bespeckle). My very first thought for [18A: Grant, for one] was LOU, but I was all "Nah. It couldn't be." But it was! It all came together eventually, but it was a struggle.

Before we get to the bullets, let me just mention that tomorrow's puzzle will be the final Dan Naddor puzzle. For those of you who don't know about Dan, he was a prolific constructor who I think just really had a gift for it. I don't know when he first started publishing puzzles in the L.A. Times, but the first of his puzzles that we blogged here at LACC was on the blog's second day of existence in March 2009. What a lot of people didn't know at that time was that Dan was constructing his puzzles at the same time he was going through a rough battle with cancer. Dan died in December 2009 leaving Rich Norris 37 (by my count) accepted/publishable puzzles. We have been treated to Dan's work a couple times per month since his death and tomorrow's puzzle will be his last. Doug will be here with the write-up and I hope you'll join us here.

As for today's puzzle:

As usual on a Saturday, there were some things I just flat-out didn't know:

• 26D: "A Tiger Walks" star (SABU). Pretty sure I've seen this name in a puzzle before, but it meant nothing to me then and means nothing to me today. Sorry, SABU, whoever you are.
• 50D: 2009 U.S. Open champ Glover (LUCAS). Not even sure which sport this is, though I suspect it's golf.
• 53D: Eva Marie's "On the Waterfront" role (EDIE). Notice how the actress's first name is used in the clue to hint that the answer will be the character's first name.

Highlights of the grid for me today include:

• 35A: Summertime response to a wave? (HOT ENOUGH FOR YOU?). Such a dorky thing to say.
• 61A: "Viaducts Break Ranks" painter (PAUL KLEE). I like it when both first and last names are used.
• 63A: 6-Down, nowadays (USED CAR).
• 5D: Puts up gates, say (BABYPROOFS).
• 30D: Menacingly complex, as a bureaucracy (KAFKAESQUE).

Bullets:

• 14A: Eugene O'Neill character? (CAPITAL O). We talked about these "literal letter" clues a while back in CW101.
• 17A: NFL coach with the most career postseason wins (LANDRY). PuzzleHusband is always eager to help me with puzzles although most of the time he's pretty useless (nothing personal, honey!). So when I see a clue that I think he might know, I'll shout it out. He didn't know this one for sure, but LANDRY was his first guess and when I checked the crosses, it looked like it would work. That should hold him for a while.

• 23A: Not flush (POOR). Did you want PALE here? I know I did.
• 40A: Searched, in a way (FRISKED). Sent the PuzzleKids off to visit their grandma yesterday and went through one of those newfangled airport scanners for the first time. I didn't see the actual scan. That's probably a good thing.
• 41A: Six-time Sugar Bowl victors, briefly (LSU). Louisiana State University Tigers.
• 49A: Guernsey, for one (ISLE). To me, Guernsey is an office supplies store, so I had to shift gears for this one.
• 54A: "Royal Pains" network (USA). I don't even know what "Royal Pains" is but it could probably be the title of a reality show right about … now.
• 60A: Cocktail flavored with orgeat syrup (MAI TAI). Mmm, orgeat syrup. (Just kidding. I have no idea what that is.)
• 12D: Harem (SERAGLIO). There's some high-end vocab in this puzzle, dontcha think? See also 33D: Murky (TURBID).

• 20D: Big name in candy corn (BRACH'S). I'm all, "There's a big name in candy corn?"
• 55D: Word heard after a countdown (AULD). After the countdown to midnight on New Year's Eve, there's usually a rousing rendition of "Auld Lang Syne." Or something.
• 57D: Nice address: Abbr. (MME.). We've talked about the tricky "Nice" clues before. In this clue, "Nice" refers to the french city.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 21A: Physics units (ERGS).
• 4D: Itinerary nos. (ETA'S).
• 6D: Olds introduced in '98 (ALERO).
• 8D: City with the newspaper Aftenposten (OSLO).
• 34D: Frequent producer for Eminem (DR. DRE).
• 58D: "The Simpsons" Squishee seller (APU).

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Everything Else — 8A: Become absorbed (OSMOSE); 15A: Scorched (SEARED); 16A: Order in a preschool classroom (ALPHABET); 19A: Half of the UAR (SYR.); 20A: Surname of 15th/16th-century Pope Alexander VI (BORGIA); 25A: Is wistful (for) (LONGS); 27A: 1959 winner of a record 11 Oscars (BEN HUR); 29A: Debauchee (RAKE); 31A: In imitation of (ALA); 32A: Kinsey Institute Library collection (EROTICA); 34A: Negligible amount (DRIB); 39A: Skeptic's retort (I BET); 42A: Literary ID (ISBN); 43A: Lineups (ARRAYS); 47A: Preeminent industrialist (TITAN); 51A: Citation space-saver (ET AL.); 52A: Sidestepped (DODGED); 56A: It had a hub at JFK (TWA); 57A: Took umbrage at (MINDED); 58A: Familiarize (ACQUAINT); 62A: Extra number (ENCORE); 1D: In abundance (GALORE); 3D: Biomedical research agcy. (NIH); 9D: Ambien maker (SEARLE); 10D: Chutney fruit (MANGO); 11D: Prosaic (ORDINARY); 13D: Joseph of ice cream fame (EDY); 14D: Canaan infiltrator (CALEB); 22D: Word with cake or metal (SHEET); 24D: Sources (ORIGINS); 28D: Catering dispenser (URN); 35D: Highest degree (HILT); 36D: Volcanic glass (OBSIDIAN); 37D: Frankfurter adjective (TEUTONIC); 38D: "Not stepping __ the bounds of modesty": Juliet (O'ER); 42D: Ready to roll (IN GEAR); 44D: Fifth-century invader of Gaul (ATTILA); 45D: Hardly a moving picture? (YAWNER); 46D: Group of candidates (SLATE); 48D: Augment (ADD TO); 59D: Pedigree-tracking org. (AKC).