05.05 Thu

T H U R S D A Y
May 5, 2011
Julian Lim

Theme: At the Drop of a Hat — Each theme answer is a familiar phrase with the word HAT "dropped" from the end.

Theme answers:

• 17A: "Don't tell a soul!" (KEEP IT UNDER YOUR).
• 31A: Spout nonsense (TALK THROUGH ONE'S).
• 41A: Moonlight, say (WEAR MORE THAN ONE).
• 60A: Instantly ... or how this puzzle's other three longest answers came about? (AT THE DROP OF A HAT).

Very nice theme today — I enjoyed this one a lot. I used the theme to help me piece the grid together, but even knowing what I was trying to do, I had a lot of trouble parsing WEAR MORE THAN ONE. I was stuck on the actual moon and just wasn't able to shift to the definition of "moonlight" I needed. Now that I'm thinking about it more closely, I think part of the problem is that I don't think of "moonlighting" as wearing more than one hat. I think of "moonlighting" as having more than one job. To me, wearing more than one hat is playing more than one role within a job (or relationship or family or whatever). I'm not saying this is wrong. I'm just saying that to me there's a subtlety that's lost here and that might have been part of my problem. I'm sure it won't be the last time that happens!

Not a lot of what I would call super sparkly fill today, probably because I'm usually drawn to the longer answers and this grid just doesn't have any — the longest answers other than the theme answers are seven letters. I guess the standout entry is HAN SOLO (43D: His co-pilot was a Wookiee). Maybe because I just noticed the spelling of "Wookiee" for the first time and maybe because it makes me think of this video, which cracks me up every time I watch it. (Just skip it if you're sick of it. I know I've posted it here more than once.)

The only thing I just flat-out didn't know and had to get completely from crosses was SILESIA (22A: Wroclaw's region). I figured it had to be Poland (Wroclaw just sounds Polish) but I pretty much don't know anything about Poland so didn't spend too much time fretting about it. I also didn't know that [38A: Carl's sweetheart, in "Up"] is named ELLIE, but that was easy enough to guess with a couple letters in place. Same for GERRY (50D: Elbridge __, governor famous for redistricting). I'm all "Seriously? A famous governor? I can think of a few, but none are named Elbridge. Oh wait, a minute … redistricting … hmm, gerrymandering …"

Bullets:

• 15A: Of words (LEXICAL). This seems like a good word for a crossword puzzle, doesn't it?

• 46A: "The Island of the Day Before" author (ECO). I know of Umberto ECO, but don't think I know this title.
• 49A: Event with a queen (PAGEANT). This reminds me that it's been a while since I've watched my latest guilty pleasure, "Toddlers & Tiaras." Moving and working really does eat into the TV time, doesn't it?
• 53A: Entre __ (NOUS). French! See also 5D: Here, in Haiti (ICI) and 46D: As a friend, in Marseilles (EN AMI).
• 66A: "Listen to Your Heart" pop duo (ROXETTE). Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce … your earworm of the day.
• 8D: Range along the Ring of Fire (ANDES). I thought about using a Johnny Cash video here (obviously), but honestly, the first thing I thought of was this kick-ass song that includes a reference to "Ring of Fire." Turn it up!



• 12D: It barely gets beyond the infield (BLOOP). This is a baseball term (in case that wasn't obvious). I was trying to figure out how to describe it and it turns out I have a question: Is a BLOOP necessarily a pop-up? Joon?

• 14D: __ con pollo (ARROZ). Spanish for "rice with chicken."
• 26D: "The Handmaid's __": Atwood novel (TALE). Lo-o-ove this book. Read it in college and it might be time for a re-read, seeing as how that was a hundred years ago.
• 56D: Far from titillating (TAME). Anyone else try LAME first?

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 18D: Science educator Bill (NYE).
• 32D: Capek play (RUR).
• 36D: Author Buchanan (EDNA).
• 59D: Eyelid nuisance (STYE).
• 61D: Japanese capital of yore (EDO).

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 1A: Some graphic works (EROTICA); 8A: It often involves x's (ALGEBRA); 16A: One doing a lot of riding (NEEDLER); 19A: Phishing targets: Abbr. (SSN'S); 20A: Handbill (FLYER); 21A: Nothing special (SO-SO); 24A: Refillable candy (PEZ); 25A: Equilibrium (STASIS); 29A: 34-Down degree (NTH); 39A: Double-slash container (URL); 40A: Deteriorate slowly (ERODE); 44A: Black and __: two-beer drink (TAN); 45A: Pugilism venues (ARENAS); 55A: Tanager homes (NESTS); 56A: Impatient sounds (TSKS); 63A: Cape user (MATADOR); 64A: Ex claim (ALIMONY); 65A: Suffering terribly (IN AGONY); 1D: Horned game (ELKS); 2D: "Cheers" actor Roger (REES); 3D: Paddy animals (OXEN); 4D: Inside information (TIPS); 6D: Cajun entrée (CATFISH); 7D: __ in the conversation (A LULL); 9D: Wolf's activity (LEERING); 10D: Lux. neighbor (GER.); 11D: Breyers alternative (EDY'S); 13D: Conserve, in a way (REUSE); 22D: Display of links (SITE MAP); 23D: Really (AT HEART); 25D: Worry (STEW); 27D: __ puttanesca: with a spicy tomato sauce (ALLA); 28D: Avoid (SKIRT); 30D: Mezzo Marilyn (HORNE); 33D: Refinable rock (ORE); 34D: Like z: Abbr. (ULT.); 35D: When two hands meet? (NOON); 37D: Dates (SEES); 42D: With no end in sight (ON AND ON); 47D: Trig function (COTAN); 48D: "__ sight!" (OUTTA); 51D: Peruvian pronoun (ESO); 52D: How some stocks are sold (AT PAR); 54D: Woolly rug (SHAG); 57D: Recorded on film (SHOT); 58D: Key figure in epistemology (KANT); 62D: Quandary (FIX).

05.04 Wed

W E D N E S D A Y
May 4, 2011
Don Gagliardo

Theme: I can haz skillz? — Theme answers are examples of things cats are really good at.

Theme answers:

• 17A: *Checking, as books (BALANCING).
• 20A: *Like some ovens (SELF-CLEANING).
• 35A: *Field action (HIGH-JUMPING).
• 53A: *Part of many a magic act (DISAPPEARING).
• 58A: New York resort area, and what the answers to starred clues are (CATSKILLS).

This is an awesome theme. I mean awesome. CATSKILLS! CAT SKILLS! Totally love it. The only two resort areas I thought of off the top of my head were the Poconos and the Hamptons. And neither of those seemed like they could be the basis of a theme. There are also some great clues and great words in the grid. SIGHT UNSEEN (24D: Trusting way to purchase) is a particularly fresh phrase. And you know I always love it when we get to see both first and last names of a crossword regular like ANG LEE (8D: "Hulk" director). I had to read [28A: Activist with Raiders] a couple times before I even understood it was trying to get me to remember Ralph NADER and "NADER's Raiders." (Me: "One of the Oakland Raiders is an activist?") And yet …

Several entries just really jarred me. Like 31A: 1987 Masters champ Larry MIZE? Um, who? Why cross an obscure athlete with an abbreviation (MON.) in a grid already full of abbreviations when you just really don't have to? Think about it. That's an easy fix.

I do always appreciate when NAAN (15A: Indian flatbread) is spelled with two As (in crosswords, sometimes it's not), but then I realized that NAN (49A: Bert Bobbsey's twin) is also in the grid. Then we've got CANC. as an abbreviation for [7D: Call off an appt.]. Ugh. And MOIL (MOIL?), which I guess is similar to TOIL (27A: Hard work) and seems, I don't know, kinda mean for a Wednesday.

One more complaint and I'll stop. The clue for EAR is [21D: Poor listener's in-and-out organ]. That's an awkward, bizarre clue. There's really no reason for that, is there?

I did appreciate the trickiness of 1A: Work on, as a part (COMB). And for some reason UNCLENCH (5D: Relax, as one's fist) seemed kinda cool to me. I tried LORD where PORT was supposed to go (41A: Boston or Baltimore). Anyone else do that? And my write-overs for UMP (22D: One wearing black at home) are pretty funny. First I tried NUN, then when I got the U and thought MOIL should be TOIL giving me a T, I thought to myself "The UTEs of the University of Utah must wear black at their home games." Now that is just dumb. HAha! Sometimes the convoluted rationalizations I come up with for my stupid guesses really make me laugh.

And that's about all I have time for today. Remember, the Crosswords L.A. puzzles are available over on Alex Boisvert's website. It's an incredible deal for a bunch of puzzles that I'm sure are fantastic (I haven't done them yet but I hope to get to them today!).

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 65A: Ferber and a Dame (EDNAS).
• 2D: Ooplasm containers (OVA).
• 8D: "Hulk" director (ANG LEE).
• 23D: Island dish (POI).
• 54D: Songwriter Paul (ANKA).

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 5A: Donald, to his nephews (UNCA); 9A: Polite title (MADAM); 14A: [Turn the page] (OVER); 16A: Monterrey girlfriend (AMIGA); 19A: Plymouth's county (DEVON); 22A: Expand operations (UPSIZE); 25A: Expand one's belly (EAT); 26A: Goose egg (NIL); 32A: 61-Down resident (PIG); 33A: Versatile, powerwise (AC/DC); 34A: Subdivided (ZONED); 39A: Flat-topped formation (BUTTE); 42A: Blame, slangily (RAP); 45A: Blame (ONUS); 46A: Flower girl's path (AISLE); 48A: Geologic procession (EONS); 50A: Little devil (IMP); 51A: Lunch time (MIDDAY); 57A: Place to play (ARENA); 62A: Best Buy squad members (GEEKS); 63A: Busy as __ (A BEE); 64A: Toned-down "Awesome!" ("NEAT!"); 65A: Ferber and a Dame (EDNAS); 66A: Mama __ (CASS); 67A: Plucky (GAMY); 1D: Cheap pipe material (COB); 2D: Ooplasm containers (OVA); 3D: Blanc who voiced Bugs (MEL); 4D: Sergio Mendes & __ '66 (BRASIL); 6D: Greenhorn (NAIF); 9D: Ticked off by (MAD AT); 10D: Word of agreement (AMEN); 11D: Water shower? (DIVINING ROD); 12D: Fret (over) (AGONIZE); 13D: Really botched up (MANGLED); 18D: Pince-__ (NEZ); 29D: Descriptive wd. (ADJ.); 30D: Bra choices (D-CUPS); 31D: Day for the fair-of-face child: Abbr. (MON.); 33D: Some do it gracefully (AGE); 34D: Teen omen (ZIT); 36D: "__ for me to know ..." (IT'S); 37D: Kind of biol. (MOL.); 38D: Bases for arguments (PREMISES); 39D: "Of Human __" (BONDAGE); 40D: Like some TV pilots (UNAIRED); 43D: Nostalgist's suffix (-ANA); 44D: Future therapist's maj. (PSY.); 46D: Band booster (AMP); 47D: Medicinal syrup (IPECAC); 48D: Garden container? (EDGING); 50D: "None for me, thank you" ("I PASS"); 52D: Publicity (INK); 55D: Rhyme scheme in Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" (AABA); 56D: Hwys. with nos. (RTES.); 59D: Thompson of "Back to the Future" (LEA); 60D: Flee (LAM); 61D: 32-Across home (STY).

05.03 XWLA

Crosswords L.A. Puzzles Available

Puzzles from this past weekend's Crosswords L.A. tournament are now available for a measly $5. And the $5 goes directly to a great charity (Reading To Kids). This, my friends, is what's known as a win-win situation. You get eight (eight!) awesome puzzles and the tiny little bit of money you have to spend on them goes to a worthy cause.

And the best thing about it is, all you have to do hop on over to Alex Boisvert's website. (See what I did there?) The puzzles will be sent directly to your inbox (both .pdf and .puz versions). One tip for those of you taking advantage of this great offer: I understand that you must read the instructions for Tyler Hinman's "Mix & Match" puzzle or you won't have any idea what's going on. The instructions are included in the notepad of the .puz version as well as in a separate text file that comes with your puzzles.

I got mine last night and can't wait to dig in. Have fun!

05.03 Tue

T U E S D A Y
May 3, 2011
Jeff Chen

Theme: Hop On Over — The letter string ROO is circled in a hopping pattern (if that makes any sense) (which I'm sure it doesn't).

Theme answers:

• 6D: In whatever way possible (BY HOOK OR BY CROOK).
• 9D: Stereotypical deal-making site (SMOKE-FILLED ROOM).
• 10D: Was angry to the max (HIT THE ROOF).
• 30D: 2007 Iraq War strategy (TROOP SURGE).
• 51D: Sing like Bing (CROON).
• 60D: Cheer (ROOT).
• 34D: Little one hopping across today's puzzle (ROO).

I thought this puzzle was pretty cute until I got to the end and the circles on the final ROO were in the wrong place. [Note: I'm hearing that the circles were in the right place in the print version of the puzzle and nonexistent in the applet version. So you may not know what I'm talking about.] (The grid I posted above is correct because over on the Fiend site, Neville took the time to fix his graphic allowing me to swoop right in and grab it from him so I wouldn't have to do the work myself. I'm lazy that way.) I spent a little time trying to figure out how ELO fit in with the theme but then realized it was a mistake. Kind of a bad way to end a puzzle but I'll try to get over it.

As for the sparkle, the long downs containing the ROOs are pretty nice, especially SMOKE-FILLED ROOM. Starting right off at 1A with HOBNOB (1A: Schmooze, as with the rich and famous) is also fun. Quite a bit of crosswordese in the grid, but it is only Tuesday so I can't complain about that too much. Other highlights for me include:

• 25A: Donkey's bray (HEE-HAW).
• 48D: Nighttime bash (SOIRÉE).
• 50D: Acknowledgment of a witty rejoinder (TOUCHÉ).

You know why I like those last two. 'Cuz they're French!

Bullets:

• 14A: Hooters' hangout (OWLERY). The concept of the Hooters restaurant makes me absolutely sick to my stomach, but this clue made me chuckle.
• 27A: "Oopsy!" evoker (MISTAKE). "Oopsy" sounds so much more prissy than just a plain old "oops." Like it might be followed up by something like 31A: "How silly OF ME!" instead of "&*^$!"

• 39A: __ Bell (TACO). Just the other day, PuzzleHusband and I were talking about how fast food restaurants are supposed to be exactly the same everywhere but we always noticed that the TACO Bell in New Mexico was better than the TACO Bells we had been to anywhere else.
• 40A: Phantom's rival, in "The Phantom of the Opera" (RAOUL). Pieced this one together with the crosses.
• 47A: Settles the bill (PAYS) and 2D: Hasn't settled yet (OWES). Another nice pair of clues.
• 54A: Pakistani language (URDU). Pakistan. Hmmm. I have this vague feeling that something is going on over there ….

• 63A: Cat also known as the dwarf leopard (OCELOT). I didn't know about the "dwarf leopard" thing but I've always thought OCELOTs were pretty awesome.
• 65A: Crossword constructor/blogger Peterson (DOUG).
• 8D: "__ and a bottle of rum!" (YO HO HO). Reminds me of the "Sports Night" episode where Dan sings "Happy Birthday" to Casey on the air and the network is fined for violating the song's copyright. Dan spends the rest of the episode coming up with songs in the public domain for everyone else's birthday. He picks some nice ones, but when Isaac gives him a hard time about something his response is: "You know what? 'Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum' for you."



• 36D: Ginger and Mary Ann's home away from home (ISLE). A good "Gilligan's Island" reference always make me happy.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 18A: Pi follower (RHO).
• 22A: Feds concerned with counterfeits (T-MEN).
• 33A: Legendary Bruin (ORR).
• 42A: Nobel Institute city (OSLO).
• 46A: Actress Lena (OLIN).
• 37D: Nobelist Wiesel (ELIE).
• 59D: North Carolina university (ELON).
• 64D: WBA decision (TKO).

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 7A: Baseball's Cobb et al. (TYS); 10A: Fabled loser (HARE); 15A: __ Kippur (YOM); 16A: Quite angry (IRED); 17A: Money to burn (WEALTH); 19A: Musical quality (TONE); 20A: Canonized pope known as "The Great" (ST. LEO); 21A: Spoken thumbs-up (AOK); 23A: Top-level URL ender (GOV); 32A: State emphatically (AVER); 35A: Words with a sigh (I TRIED); 43A: Lay to rest (ENTOMB); 45A: NBA's Magic, on scoreboards (ORL); 49A: Fixed charges (SET FEES); 51A: Washington-based warehouse club (COSTCO); 53A: Hubbub (ADO); 55A: Barbecue morsel (RIB); 57A: Less polite (RUDER); 61A: Dark film genre (NOIR); 62A: Nickel source (ORE); 65A: Quarterback Flutie (DOUG); 66A: "__ the land of the free ..." (O'ER); 67A: "Check that out!" ("OH LOOK!"); 68A: Bar buyer's words (ON ME); 69A: Bar barrel (KEG); 70A: Treating maliciously (MEAN TO); 1D: In what way (HOW); 3D: Beginning trumpeter's sound (BLAT); 4D: "Gimme a Break!" star Carter (NELL); 5D: Sandinista Daniel (ORTEGA); 7D: Banks with an Emmy (TYRA); 11D: Odor (AROMA); 12D: Buy more Time, say (RENEW); 13D: Site of a 55-Across removal (EDEN); 24D: Aloe __ (VERA); 26D: 911 respondent (EMT); 27D: Play or room follower (-MATE); 28D: Nobelist Pavlov (IVAN); 29D: Breakaway group (SECT); 38D: Crime bosses (DONS); 41D: Major in astronomy? (URSA); 44D: Yoga student's roll (MAT); 52D: Hatred (ODIUM); 54D: Annul (UNDO); 56D: North Atlantic hazard (BERG); 58D: Oscar __ Renta (DE LA).

05.02 Mon

M O N D A Y
May 2, 2011
Robyn Weintraub

Sorry, guys. I couldn't get the puzzle in the usual place last night and completely forgot about the applet on the L.A. Times site until now. D'oh! So here's the grid, but I need to get to work so that's all you'll get today. See you back here tomorrow.

05.01 Sun (calendar)

S U N D A Y
May 1, 2011
Merl Reagle

[Note: This is the puzzle that appears in the Sunday L.A. Times newspaper. If you don't get the paper, you can find the puzzle here. Scroll down to see today's syndicated puzzle.]

I don't always get to the Sunday calendar puzzle early in the day and sometimes I don't get to it at all. If I do, I'll update this space. If you don't see the grid and answers here but you want to talk about the puzzle, you can visit Diary of a Crossword Fiend where the puzzle will be listed as "Merl Reagle's syndicated/Philadelphia Inquirer puzzle."

05.01 Sunday

S U N D A Y
May 1, 2011
Chris A. McGlothlin

[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: "Unfinished B Movies" — B's are changed to P's in movie titles to create funny entries.

Theme Entries:

• 23A: Film about an embarrassing fig leaf situation? (ADAM'S RIP).
• 25A: Film about winning the chicken breeder's trophy? (SILVER PULLET).
• 30A: Film about great cornbread? (THE LOVELY PONES).
• 51A: Film about where to put Melba sauce? (ON THE PEACH).
• 54A: Film about clashing egos? (PRIDE WARS).
• 66A: Film about swabbing drudgery? (MARRIED TO THE MOP).
• 85A: Film about Milo's pal Otis? (A PUG'S LIFE).
• 87A: Film about a tick at a kennel club? (PEST IN SHOW).
• 102A: Film set in a sty? (PIG MOMMA'S HOUSE).
• 114A: Film about a celebrity golf tournament? (STARS AND PARS).
• 116A: Film about V-chip users? (PORN FREE).

Hey, puzzle fans. It's Sunday, so this is Doug. I'm the middle of a very busy weekend. Saturday was the DASH puzzle extravaganza. I was a volunteer/helper/scorer for the Los Angeles segment. I got to wear a cool plastic crown and walk around Old Town Pasadena. And I spent a few hours hanging out with Jackie & Mack Robinson's heads. Seriously. They're awesome. And today is the super-stupendous Crosswords L.A. Tournament. I expect I'll see a few of you there. You know what I usually do on the weekends? Nothing. I might have to call in sick for work Monday after all this activity. Anyway, I don't have much time for today's write-up. Let's roll.

Today's puzzle is by Chris A. McGlothlin, and I believe it's his L.A. Times debut. He had a Sunday N.Y Times crossword published earlier this year. Nice work! I wonder if he only constructs Sunday puzzles. That's how you make the big bucks.

When I saw today's title, I figured we'd be dropping the final letters of movie titles that start with B. But it's more clever than that. It really is "Unfinished B's." When you're writing an uppercase B, you draw a vertical line and then two curved lines. If you only make one curved line (and leave it "unfinished"), you're left with a P. There ya go. And Mr. McGlothlin did a nice job of avoiding extraneous B's in the theme entries. For example, if he'd used THE BRADY PUNCH, there would have been one B that changed to a P and one that didn't. I appreciate the little details that make a theme more elegant. (Thanks to PuzzleGirl for the graphic.)

I thought ADAM'S RIP had the funniest clue. PIG MOMMA'S HOUSE & MARRIED TO THE MOP are great entries. PORN FREE was surprising.

Pullets:

• 8A: Novel digits (ISBN). International Standard Book Number. You'll find it above the UPC on any book you buy.
• 27A: Toast triangle topper (CAVIAR). I tried caviar once. Almost spit it back onto the cracker.

• 60D: Carbon-14, e.g. (ISOTOPE). An Isotope is also an Albuquerque baseball player.
• 40D: Friends, in slang (PEEPS). Love the clue.
• 83D: "__ Easy": Guns N' Roses song (IT'S SO). Not a remake of the Linda Ronstadt hit.

If I have time, I'll add a bit more later. If not, you're on your own.