02.14 Mon

M O N D A Y February 14, 2011
Ian Livengood

Theme: Happy Valentine's Day — Last words of the theme answers make the phrase HEAD OVER HEELS.

Theme answers:

• 20A: Bounty, to the hunted (PRICE ON ONE'S HEAD).
• 38A: Examine quickly (GIVE THE ONCE OVER).
• 53A: Frolic vigorously (KICK UP ONE'S HEELS).
• 69A: With "in," what can follow the phrase formed by the ends of 20-, 38- and 53-Across (LOVE).

Cute theme for Valentine's Day with three fifteen-letter phrases. Aside from the Scrabbliness, I don't see much to get excited about with the fill. Craig STADLER seems a little harsh for a Monday (46A: Golfer Craig known as "the Walrus"). I mean, I needed a couple crosses in place to remember his name and I even know who the guy is. Seeing TA-TA right above TALLY-HO (23A: "Cheerio!" / 28A: Fox-sighting cry) did make me chuckle. My favorite entries in the grid have to be FIASCO (9D: Total flop) and ZEVON ("Werewolves of London" singer Warren __). The only place I ran into trouble was down in the southwest where I tried SPINS before SKEWS (50D: Depicts unfairly, as data), but that didn't take long to sort out.

Bullets:

• 1A: Hearts, e.g. (GAME). A little non-theme bonus answer for our V-Day.
• 18A: Kind of nut (KOLA). I saw a tweet the other day from someone who mistyped KOALA as KOLA. It ended up making the tweet pretty funny but it would be totally inappropriate for me to share it with you here. Sorry.

• 24A: 2011 Rose Bowl champs: Abbr. (TCU). Texas Christian University. Their mascot is the horned frog. And I thought being a terrapin was lame.
• 50A: Disco __ of "The Simpsons" (STU). Not being a Simpsons fan, I used to have a hard time remembering this. It helped for me to learn a little something about the context, so I'm going to pass it along to you in hopes that it will help you as well. Now I'm sure I don't have all the details but apparently there was a jacket that was being customized for Homer that was supposed to say "DISCO STUD" on the back. But they ran out of room and it ended up saying "DISCO STU." So now you know. (If you didn't already.)
• 7D: Western necktie (BOLO). I have to say that I really do miss living in a place where you see men wearing bolo ties and/or cowboy hats as just a normal everyday thing.

• 29D: Architect Frank __ Wright (LLOYD). Weren't we just talking about him yesterday?
• 47D: Stay out of sight (LIE LOW). I know this is grammatically correct, but I'm pretty sure I've heard people use the incorrect "lay low" more often.
• 54D: Robert of "The Sopranos" (ILER). Runner-up for today's Crosswordese 101 entry.
• 57D: Nick Charles's wife (NORA). Pop quiz for anyone who's just starting out on crossword puzzles. What's the name of Nick and Nora's dog?
• 60D: "For Pete's __!" (SAKE). This is funny but I can't tell you why yet.

Crosswordese 101: There are two ELIHUs you need to know for crossword puzzles. ELIHU Root is described as a statesman, Secretary of State and Nobel Peace Prize winner. You might also see the words "law" and "government" in clues for ELIHU Root. ELIHU Yale, on the other hand, was a philanthropist and the founder of Yale University. For both Root and Yale, you will almost always see their last names in the clue, so they're pretty easy to spot.

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

• 36A: Hawaiian neckwear (LEI).
• 44A: Skating jumps (AXELS).
• 49A: Once called, in wedding notices (NÉE).
• 62A: Silents actress Negri (POLA).
• 58D: Sailor's patron saint (ELMO).

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Everything Else — 5A: Soft pats (DABS); 9A: Physicist Enrico (FERMI); 14A: Sink cleaner (AJAX); 15A: Straddling (ATOP); 16A: Hipbone-related (ILIAC); 17A: It's quite a story (SAGA); 19A: Bridal path (AISLE); 25A: From A __ (TO Z); 31A: Dallas hoopster, for short (MAV); 34A: "Tosca" or "Pagliacci" (OPERA); 37A: Gradually lose color (FADE); 42A: Strong as __ (AN OX); 43A: Wall climber (IVY); 45A: One of a D.C. 100 (SEN.); 51A: Followers: Suf. (-ISTS); 61A: Being not from 41-Down (ALIEN); 63A: Appeal (PLEA); 64A: Meas. of the cereal without the box (NET WT.); 65A: Helen of __ (TROY); 66A: Run __: go wild (AMOK); 67A: Lock of hair (TRESS); 68A: Cuts, as logs (SAWS); 1D: [Heavens!] (GASP); 2D: Cracked open (AJAR); 3D: Nativity trio (MAGI); 4D: Right on the money (EXACT); 5D: Former territory where Mount Rushmore is (DAKOTA); 6D: Lacking a musical key (ATONAL); 8D: Time period (SPAN); 10D: College benefactor Yale (ELIHU); 11D: Greet the judge (RISE); 12D: __ fide: in bad faith (MALA); 13D: Topped a cupcake (ICED); 21D: Really bug (EAT AT); 22D: Set of moral principles (ETHIC); 25D: Colosseum garments (TOGAS); 26D: Think aloud (OPINE); 30D: Itch (YEN); 31D: Expert (MAVEN); 32D: Fred's dancing sister (ADELE); 33D: Limericks and such (VERSE); 35D: Stout of whodunits (REX); 37D: Sly critter (FOX); 39D: Asked boldly, as for money (HIT UP); 40D: Actress Longoria (EVA); 41D: Planet nearest Mars, usually (EARTH); 46D: Daring feats (STUNTS); 48D: Blue book exams (ESSAYS); 52D: Flower leaf (SEPAL); 53D: "Critique of Pure Reason" writer (KANT); 55D: Refer to (CITE); 56D: Chooses (to) (OPTS); 58D: Sailor's patron saint (ELMO); 59D: Pope before Sergius III (LEO V).