07.05 Tue

T U E S D A Y
July 5, 2011
Kevin Christian

Theme: It's a Doggy Dog World — Theme answers are all types of dogs clued without relation to their dogginess.

Theme answers:

• 9A: *Jake LaMotta, e.g. (BOXER).
• 17A: *Mexican neighbor of New Mexico (CHIHUAHUA).
• 24A: *Skiers' patron (SAINT BERNARD).
• 41A: *Like Hammett's falcon (MALTESE).
• 43A: *Piece of advice (POINTER).
• 54A: *Labrador was added to its provincial name in 2001 (NEWFOUNDLAND).
• 67A: *Beijing dialect (PEKINGESE).
• 58D: Steadfast belief (and parent of each answer to a starred clue?) (DOGMA).

Fun puzzle! I'm not a dog person, and even I liked it! Seven theme answers plus the reveal — you'd think the fill would suffer like crazy, but I found this a really smooth solve. Oh and don't forget the bonus non-theme entries:

• 51A: Brand for a 58-Down (ALPO).
• 73A: Greetings from the answers to starred clues (BARKS).

Lots of three-letter entries in this puzzle, so that might be a bummer for some folks. The only thing that really jumped out at me about them was the inclusion of ASO, OSO, and ORO (32A: 2008-'09 Japanese prime minister Taro __ / 49A: Bear: Sp. / 10D: Yellow metal, in Mexico). I didn't hate that necessarily, but I did notice it. Also a lot of Spanish today. In addition to OSO and ORO, which I already mentioned, there's also TACO (1D: Filled tortilla) right next to OCHO (2D: Cuatro times dos), both of which cross CHIHUAHUA, so that's pretty cool.

I've never heard of "DE DE Dinah" (39D: "__ Dinah": 1958 Frankie Avalon hit) and once I found it on YouTube, I can kinda see why. EGGAR was another one I needed a lot of crosses for (12D: Samantha of "Doctor Dolittle"), although it does sound vaguely familiar now that I know it. I'm pretty sure [5D: Philly's signature sandwich] is a CHEESESTEAK, not a HOAGIE. Maybe Barry Silk is around and can enlighten us.

Other than that, my most amusing misstep was trying OOZILY where OOZING was supposed to go (20A: Like lava flows). I was reading "flows" as a verb in the clue, but I guess it's a noun. Me (as I was writing in OOZILY): "Wow. That's a terrible word." HAha! Nobody to blame but myself!

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 15A: Fall birthstone (OPAL).
• 19A: Feature of "butte" but not "but" (LONG U).
• 70A: Upright (ON END).
• 4D: Classic grape sodas (NEHIS).
• 10D: Yellow metal, in Mexico (ORO).
• 40D: La Salle of "ER" (ERIQ).
• 55D: 2010 Supreme Court appointee Kagan (ELENA).
• 63D: Bygone U.S. gas (ESSO).
• 68D: Inbound flight posting at 28-Across (ETA).

Everything Else — 1A: Word after boom or Bean (TOWN); 5A: Dickens's Uriah (HEEP); 14A: Aleve target (ACHE); 16A: "All systems __" (ARE GO); 21A: Austin-to-Dallas dir. (NNE); 23A: British golfer Poulter (IAN); 28A: NYC hub (JFK); 31A: Tolerate (BEAR); 33A: Sans serif typeface (ARIAL); 35A: Expansive (VAST); 37A: Ye __ Tea Shoppe (OLDE); 45A: Information storage unit (BYTE); 46A: Choice word (ELSE); 48A: __-wip: dessert topping (REDDI); 53A: Follow-up film: Abbr. (SEQ.); 59A: Pie __ mode (ALA); 60A: Suffix for glob (-ULE); 61A: Home builder's subcontractor (ROOFER); 65A: Get started (BEGIN); 70A: Upright (ON END); 71A: "They're __ again!" (AT IT); 72A: Desert tableland (MESA); 74A: Lord's partner (LADY); 75A: Tiny power source (ATOM); 3D: Ace (WHIZ); 6D: N.T. book after Galatians (EPH.); 7D: Seine contents (EAU); 8D: Backup strategy (PLAN B); 9D: Agricultural cubists? (BALERS); 11D: Seat of Greene County, Ohio (XENIA); 13D: Set of drinks for the table (ROUND); 18D: Lacking capacity (UNABLE); 22D: "Cool!" ("NEATO!"); 25D: Umbilical terminus (NAVEL); 26D: __ la la (TRA); 27D: Not a soul (NO ONE); 28D: Doorframe part (JAMB); 29D: Start to unravel (FRAY); 30D: Scot's skirt (KILT); 34D: Dined on, biblically (ATE OF); 36D: Witch's incantation (SPELL); 38D: Old Ford models (LTD'S); 42D: Asian Olympics city of 1988 (SEOUL); 44D: Like some patches (IRON-ON); 47D: Blue (SAD); 50D: Squeaks and creaks (SOUNDS); 52D: Equivalence (PARITY); 54D: Big wheel (NABOB); 56D: Staked amount (WAGER); 57D: Himalayan country (NEPAL); 62D: Acre's 43,560 square units (FEET); 64D: 500 sheets (REAM); 66D: Octopus's defense (INK); 69D: Joke around with (KID).