T U E S D A Y November 23, 2010 Dan Naddor

Theme: Friques and Giques — Theme answers are two-word phrases where both words end in IQUE.

Theme answers:

• 17A: Outside-the-box method (UNIQUE TECHNIQUE).
• 37A: Exclusive group seeking old collectibles (ANTIQUE CLIQUE).
• 59A: Indirect evaluation (OBLIQUE CRITIQUE).

This is a very cute, simple theme and the only gripe I have about it is that two of the entries are really fun to say out loud and the middle one … isn't. But maybe I just need to start pronouncing CLIQUE as I assume the French do. And then … ta-da! Problem solved.

It's a shame that the so many of the Qs turned out to be in short down answers. The two long dows with Qs — EXQUISITE and SQUISING — are pretty cool. It also felt like there were too many foreign words in the grid that were a notch above what we usually expect from a Tuesday:

• 55A: Euro predecessor, in Portugal (ESCUDO).
• 12D: Nicht alt (NEU).
• 24D: Calf meat, in Calais (VEAU).

Bullets:

• 5A: Tony winner Judith (IVEY). I'm actually more familiar with the poker player Phil IVEY.
• 14A: Any of five O-ending brothers (MARX). No idea what this clue was going for until I had the X in place. D'oh!
• 41A: Henner who played Elaine on "Taxi" (MARILU). I saw her on Letterman once many years ago and apparently she has this bizarre sort of photographic memory where she can remember everything she's done every day of her life. (Presumably, not every day of her life, but you get my drift.)
• 53A: Opt for a career without the band (GO SOLO). Not always a good idea. I'm looking at you, David Lee Roth.
• 3D: Son of Poseidon (TRITON). PuzzleSon will be so disappointed to learn that it's not him.
• 38D: "Just do it" sloganeer (NIKE). Many many years ago I remember seeing a television ad for NIKE (or possibly Reebok) that was hilarious. It just showed a couple second of people involved in various strenuous exercises and the voice-over said things like "Push it," "Burn it," and "Go for it." Then at the very end, the guy goes "And it wouldn't hurt for you to stop eating like such a pig." I thought that was probably the funniest ad I'd ever seen but I assume they got some complaints about it because I don't remember ever seeing it again.
• 45D: Rotation-causing force (TORQUE). Can't see this word without thinking about Marisa Tomei in "My Cousin Vinny."
• 52D: Sheep fats (SUETS). I had no idea. Ew.

Crosswordese 101:I only see one crosswordese word in the grid that we've already covered (54D: Polo Grounds legend Mel OTT), so today I'm gonna give you a two-fer so you don't feel shortchanged. Have you ever noticed that there's an awful lot of crosswordese that begins with the letter E? Well today we'll talk about two E-names you need to know.

First is 22D: "ER" actor ERIQ La Salle. There's not much to say about him crossword-wise, except that I'm sure constructors rejoiced when Dr. Benton turned out to be a character worth having around for eight seasons.

Then there's ELOISE, the 21A: Plaza Hotel pixie. She's the six-year-old girl who lives in the "room on the tippy-top floor" of the Plana Hotel in a children's book series by Kay Thompson.

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Everything Else — 1A: Entr'__ (ACTE); 9A: Stories of questionable veracity (YARNS); 15A: Visibly embarrassed (RED AS A BEET); 19A: Seated yoga position (LOTUS); 20A: In inventory (ON HAND); 23A: Ones who take things the wrong way? (THIEVES); 27A: Catches some rays (TANS); 28A: Johannesburg's land: Abbr. (RSA); 31A: College e-mail address ending (EDU); 32A: Water frozen in mid-drip (ICICLE); 35A: Missouri tributary (OSAGE); 40A: Cooked in 35-Down (FRIED); 42A: "Gross!" ("ICK!"); 43A: "Whirled peas" is one (PUN); 44A: Slanted type: Abbr. (ITAL.); 48A: Capone catchers, familiarly (THE FEDS); 58A: Hurled (THREW); 63A: Agreement before marriage (PRENUPTIAL); 64A: Wacky (NUTS); 65A: Small sample (TASTE); 66A: Fancy tie material (SILK); 67A: Heroic deed (GEST); 1D: Lucky charm (AMULET); 2D: With 35-Down, healthful cooking liquid (CANOLA); 4D: Especially elegant (EXQUISITE); 5D: Hot temper (IRE); 6D: White House no (VETO); 7D: Heaven on Earth (EDEN); 8D: Marina craft (YACHT); 9D: One-named New Age keyboardist (YANNI); 10D: Put up with (ABIDE); 11D: Mil. supply order (REQ.); 13D: Sault __ Marie (STE.); 16D: 1979 Iranian exile (SHAH); 18D: Battleship letters (USS); 25D: Brink (EDGE); 26D: Go after in court (SUE); 29D: Lowlife (SCUM); 30D: __ of faith (A LEAP); 33D: Spain's El __ (CID); 34D: Light brown color (ECRU); 35D: See 2-Down (OIL); 36D: Making a walking-in-mud sound (SQUISHING); 37D: St. Louis landmark (ARCH); 39D: Suffix with weak (-LING); 40D: Emotional outburst (FIT); 46D: Native Alaskans (ALEUTS); 47D: Most shameful (LOWEST); 49D: Boxer's maneuver (FEINT); 50D: Roman ending (-ESQUE); 51D: 60-Down spec (D-CUP); 56D: Twice CCCI (DCII); 57D: Word-of-mouth (ORAL); 59D: Choose (OPT); 60D: Victoria's Secret staple (BRA); 61D: "__ Misérables" (LES); 62D: Class (ILK).