W E D N E S D A Y August 18, 2010 Dan Naddor

[I'm having some technical difficulties this morning. This is all I can do for now. Will try to get an actual write-up posted later this afternoon.]


Theme answers:

• 16A: Some den boxes (CABLE CONVERTERS).
• 22A: Hookups to many electronic devices (POWER ADAPTORS).
• 35A: Jacob Riis et al. (SOCIAL REFORMERS).
• 44A: Currency pros (MONEY CHANGERS).
• 55A: Insurance investigators (CLAIMS ADJUSTERS).

Crosswordese 101: I know we've talked briefly about OBIES before, but today I want to give this word its day in the CW101 sun. OBIES, or Off-Broadway Theater Awards, are presented annually by the Village Voice, a New York weekly newspaper that I always think of as "alternative," though I'm not entirely sure what that means. OBIES are generally clued as "Village Voice awards," "Theater awards," "Tony's cousins," or 45D: Big Apple awards.

Other crosswordese in the puzzle that we've already covered:

• 19A: Mimi's "mine" (À MOI).
• 52D: Airline to Tel Aviv (EL AL).

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