05.24 Tue

T U E S D A Y
May 24, 2011
Gareth Bain

Theme: Steal From the Rich & Give to the Poor — Four actors who played Robin Hood on the silver screen.

Theme Entries:

• 18A: "Kiss the Girls" actor (1993) (CARY ELWES).
• 25A: "Gladiator" Oscar winner (2010). (RUSSELL CROWE).
• 38A: "Captain Blood" star (1938) (ERROL FLYNN).
• 53A: "Field of Dreams" star (1991) (KEVIN COSTNER).
• 64A: Role played by each of the four actors in the year indicated in their clues (ROBIN HOOD).

Hey, puzzle fans. PuzzleGirl is still under the weather, so this is Doug filling in. Get well soon, PG!

I was happy to see Gareth Bain's byline today. He's become one of my favorite L.A. Times regulars. I solved this one from top to bottom, and I had no idea where Gareth was going with the theme. I know that Russell Crowe is from New Zealand and Errol Flynn was born in Tasmania. (I learned that Flynn fact from crossword puzzles.) Cary Elwes is British or Australian or something, so I was thinking foreign actors. Then I filled in California boy Kevin Costner. Huh? Of course, all was made clear at 64-Across. I'm glad I didn't start this puzzle at the bottom, or the surprise would have been ruined. But I shouldn't have been so surprised. When I read the clue for Cary Elwes, I thought "'Kiss the Girls'? I would have used 'Robin Hood: Men in Tights' instead."

We've got a nice cross-section of films represented here. "The Adventures of Robin Hood" was a classic '30s swashbuckler. "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" was a straightforward telling of the legend, and it was followed a couple years later by the spoof "Robin Hood: Men in Tights." And finally a grimy & gritty version in 2010, "Robin Hood." I own a baseball cap from the 2010 "Robin Hood" film, and I was actually wearing it over the weekend. It was a gift from PuzzleSister! She won the hat in a drawing at the 2010 L.A. Crossword Tournament, and I pouted until she gave it to me. She's awesome.

Bullets:

• 1A: iPhone add-ons (APPS). My phone has no apps. And no internet. And no camera. It barely makes phone calls.

• 36A: Potted plant site (SILL). And in cartoons, a place where you leave pies to cool. I'd love to swipe a pie from a windowsill, but I've never found one in real life. Why do cartoons lie to me? I also discovered the hard way that vanishing cream doesn't really make you invisible.
• 46A: Items included in envs. (ENCS). Enclosures in envelopes. This is my least favorite entry today, and I'm not going to dwell on it.

• 69A: Lunatics (MADMEN). I'm surprised this wasn't clued with a reference to the TV program "Mad Men." Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the country who's never seen that show. Oh well. Maybe I can catch it on Netflix after I finish watching all my Tom & Jerry DVDs.
• 12D: Eloi predator (MORLOCK). Love this entry. And a great use of the crosswordese staple ELOI in the clue.
• 32D: Birds' biological class (AVES). I believe Gareth is studying to be a veterinarian, so this one's right up his alley.
• 40D: Marg : Brits :: ___ : Americans (OLEO). So the actress from "CSI" should be called Oleo Helgenberger? Or maybe "marg" is just short for margarine.
• 47D: Read the riot act (CHEW OUT). Love this entry too.
• 61D: Pinup's leg (GAM). This is one of my favorite old-timey words. You'll have to Google your own picture. I don't want PuzzleGirl to chew me out.

Everything Else — 5A: Big name in kibbles (ALPO); 9A: Perturb (DISMAY); 15A: Quantum __ (LEAP); 16A: Ponce de __ (LEON); 17A: Speak liturgically, perhaps (INTONE); 20A: Leads off (STARTS); 21A: Thanksgiving mo. in Canada (OCT.); 22A: Slightly (A BIT); 23A: Look peaked (AIL); 24A: Ne'ertheless (THO'); 31A: Lease signatory (TENANT); 33A: "Go ahead!" ("DO IT!"); 34A: Barracks bed (COT); 35A: Golf's Ballesteros (SEVE); 37A: Furniture company named partly for its founder Ingvar Kamprad (IKEA); 42A: Plumbing joints (ELLS); 45A: Skin cream brand (OLAY); 49A: Island gift (LEI); 50A: Tabloid twosome (ITEM); 51A: Agricultural measure (BUSHEL); 57A: 67.5 deg. (ENE); 58A: PC's top-left key (ESC); 59A: Prefix with gram (HOLO-); 60A: "Because" evoker (WHY); 61A: Player in front of a net (GOALIE); 66A: Take flight? (AVIATE); 67A: Foxx who sang "Mockingbird" (INEZ); 68A: Unadulterated (PURE); 70A: Keep on looking at, and not in a nice way (OGLE); 71A: Ollie's sidekick (STAN); 1D: "Little Men" novelist (ALCOTT); 2D: Often flambéed fruit (PEACHES); 3D: Start of a saga, maybe (PART ONE); 4D: Le CarrÈ hero, e.g. (SPY); 5D: Very nearly (ALL BUT); 6D: "Surprised By Joy" autobiographer C.S. (LEWIS); 7D: Ode writers (POETS); 8D: Put-__: pranks (ONS); 9D: Talk smack to (DIS); 10D: Not broken (INTACT); 11D: Step in a flight (STAIR); 13D: Colony dweller (ANT); 14D: "It is so" ("YES"); 19D: Breadwinner (EARNER); 26D: Build up spiritually (EDIFY); 27D: Lounge, as on a chaise (LOLL); 28D: Easter bloom (LILY); 29D: "__ is me!" (WOE); 30D: Greek vowel (ETA); 36D: Condemns verbally (SLAMS); 37D: Quaint lodgings (INNS); 39D: Univ. recruiter (ROTC); 41D: Cell with an axon (NEURON); 42D: Antlered critter (ELK); 43D: Sheltered side (LEE); 44D: 1985 multi-venue charity concert for Ethiopian famine (LIVE-AID); 48D: Portuguese lady (SENHORA); 50D: Stir up (INCITE); 51D: British Honduras, now (BELIZE); 52D: __ jar: static electricity storage device (LEYDEN); 54D: Imam's faith (ISLAM); 55D: Beach footwear (THONG); 56D: Prize name (NOBEL); 62D: Egg cells (OVA); 63D: Dusk, to 7-Down (E'EN); 64D: Brazilian hot spot (RIO); 65D: Some inkjets (HP'S).