05.15 Sun

S U N D A Y
May 15, 2011
Don Gagliardo & C.C. Burnikel

[Note: This is the syndicated L.A. Times puzzle. It does not appear in the actual newspaper, but is available for free at cruciverb.com.]

Theme: "Sale!" — Various sale announcements leading up to a sad ending.

Theme Entries:

• 23A: Week 1 (BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE!).
• 42A: Week 2 (INVENTORY REDUCTION!).
• 65A: Week 3 (DEEP DISCOUNTS!).
• 88A: Week 4 (HUGE SAVINGS!).
• 88A: Week 5 (BLOWOUT PRICES!).
• 88A: Week 6 (STOREWIDE CLEARANCE!).
• 88A: Week 7 (EVERYTHING MUST GO!).
• 109A: Week 8 (CLOSED).

Hey, crossword fans. Doug here. Welcome to Sunday's puzzle. This is the third collaboration between Don & C.C. and their first Sunday puzzle as a team. Congratulations! As many of you know, C.C. blogs at L.A. Times Crossword Corner. She's a non-native English speaker, and I can't imagine solving, blogging, and constructing(!) crosswords in a second language. Amazing.

Our slumping economy seems to be affecting the puzzle. Last week we had negative stock market headlines, and today we have a store going out of business. Near my house, there's a Blockbuster and a Radio Shack right next to each other. I can't believe either one is still open. And there's a giant Sears that never seems to have more than three people in it, including employees. OK, enough of that. To the Bullets...

Bullets:

• 26A: No View, No Touch Trap maker (D-CON). I prefer to kill mice the old-fashioned way, with a cat.
• 28A: Like an ant. (OPP.). Antonym & opposite. On my printout, the dot on the "ant." was very small, and the clue was very confusing.
• 38A: Common Latino newspaper name (EL SOL). Have you ever tried to do a "crucigrama" in a Spanish newspaper? Muy difícil.
• 45A: Catch word? (HOWEVER). "However, there's a catch..." Yep, there's always a catch. 
• 49A: Many NASA astronauts were in it (B.S.A.). Boy Scouts of America.
• 66A: Group with the 1979 #1 hit "Babe" (STYX). I thought about posting the "Babe" video here, but no one wants to hear that song. I just listened to the intro, and that was painful enough. When I was about 12 years old, I won a Styx "Paradise Theater" album on a call-in radio trivia show. I used to love listening to that trivia show, but it'd never work nowadays. Thanks a lot, stupid Google!
• 95A: Inner-city genre (GANGSTA). Is "gangsta" itself a genre? I know about gangsta rap, of course. Are there other things that can be described as gangsta? Gangsta gardening? Gangsta sudoku?

• 125A: Hall of Fame subject of "The Last Boy" (MANTLE). Biography subtitled "Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood." Looks good. PuzzleGirl has probably read it. She reads everything.

• 14D: Cool color for contacts (ICE BLUE). Cool cat.
• 16D: Legendary sword (EXCALIBUR). My favorite entry of the day.
• 25D: Routine grounder, say (EASY OUT). Excellent baseball entry and clue. I approve.
• 31D: F1 neighbor (ESC). This clue is much easier if you're solving the puzzle on a computer. 

• 18D: 50-year-old dolls (KENS). He doesn't look a day over 40.
• 69D: Altar assurance (VOW) / 70D: Altar assurances (I DOS). When you see consecutive clues like this, do you sometimes think it's an error? I get the "Didn't I just read that clue?" feeling.
• 93D: Tarzan portrayer Ron (ELY). I've heard that Ron Ely is a crossword fan. Well, he's never commented here, so how big a fan can he be?
• 98D: "Speed" actor (REEVES). If Keanu Reeves had retired after "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," he'd still be considered a decent actor. It's been downhill ever since.

• 81D: Six-time World Series-winning MLB franchise (L.A. DODGERS). C.C. is a Minnesota Twins fan, and they've won the World Series twice (or three times if you count the 1924 Washington Senators' championship.) The New York Yankees have won it 27 times. What team is second to the Yankees with 10 World Series victories? The first person with the correct answer in the comments will be today's winner. (PuzzleGirl pays me a half-cent per comment, so I need to get those numbers up.)
• 117D: Favre's 508 (TDS). Touchdowns for Brett Favre. Lots of sports in the puzzle today, but still no Dan Gable. Maybe next week! See you then.