07.29 Fri

F R I D A Y
July 29, 2011
Chris A. McGlothlin

Theme: Long Time No C — Each theme answer is a familiar phrase with the letter C removed from it, creating a new wacky phrase, clued wackily.

Theme answers:

• 10A/42A/66A: Words to an old friend, whose end is a hint this puzzle's grid and theme (LONG / TIME / NO SEE).
• 18A: Sailing attire for 1-Across? (ARGO PANTS).
• 23A: Dearth of frost? (LOW RIME RATE).
• 38A: Celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day? (USED ARS).
• 40A: Regional poem? (AREA ODE).
• 50A: Do some tweezing? (PULL UP A HAIR).
• 61A: "I've completed the flag"? (ROSS WORDS).

Another good theme idea today. Not just randomly dropping a letter for no reason, but doing so on the basis of a well-known phrase (LONG TIME NO SEE). Too bad the resulting theme phrases are so boring. Obviously I was happy to see the reference to Talk Like a Pirate Day, which affirmed what I told you the other day, and ROSS WORDS is fabulous as clued, but the rest? Meh. I mean, they're okay, but nothing that really pops.

Bullets:

• 15A: Offenbach's okays (OUIS). French! Also, wow. Offenbach doesn't look like a French name to me. NYET (31D: Dmitri's denial) was much more obvious from the clue.
• 17A: The world according to Arp (MONDE). More French! Now this clue is definitely cute.

• 26A: Rowan Atkinson character (MR. BEAN). I didn't know his name was Rowan Atkinson, but I have heard of MR. BEAN so, with a couple crosses in place, he presented himself.
• 32A: Antenna shelter (RADOME). Pretty sure I've never seen this word in my life.
• 55A: Players try to hit triples with them (Q TILES). This clue gave me fits. If I had just filled in the crosses I would have been okay — they're all super solid — but I kept trying to piece it together without that help. (This is a Scrabble reference, for anyone still wondering.)
• 1D: Jazz pianist Ahmad __ (JAMAL).




• 4D: It's often traded in (OLDER MODEL). Sure, if you're Donald Trump. (Thank you very much. I'll be here all week.)
• 11D: "Think I'm kidding?" ("OH NO?"). Awesome colloquial phrase.

• 49D: Ballets __: early 20th-century dance company (RUSSES). Got this through crosses. Assume it means "Russian."
• 62D: Colorado sports nickname, with "the" (ROX). Any Colorado fans out there who can confirm this? It sounds perfectly reasonable, but I can't say that I've ever heard it.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 20A: Miracle Mets star (AGEE).
• 21A: "From __ Zinc": vitamin slogan (A TO).
• 35A: Hosp. test (EKG).
• 60A: First name in courtroom fiction (ERLE).
• 5D: Alumna identifier, perhaps (NÉE).
• 24D: "__ la Douce" (IRMA).
• 25D: "Diana" crooner (ANKA).
• 29D: The orchestra tunes to one (OBOE).
• 58D: WWII craft (LST'S).
• 63D: Singer DiFranco (ANI).

Everything — 1A: Golden Fleece seeker (JASON); 6A: Disputed strip (GAZA); 10A: With 42- and 66-Across, words to an old friend, whose end is a hint this puzzle's grid and theme (LONG); 14A: Nimble (AGILE); 15A: Offenbach's okays (OUIS); 16A: Kentucky border river (OHIO); 17A: The world according to Arp (MONDE); 18A: Sailing attire for 1-Across? (ARGO PANTS); 20A: Miracle Mets star (AGEE); 21A: "From __ Zinc": vitamin slogan (A TO); 22A: Gives a facelift (REDOES); 23A: Dearth of frost? (LOW RIME RATE); 26A: Rowan Atkinson character (MR. BEAN); 27A: Understood (KNOWN); 32A: Antenna shelter (RADOME); 35A: Hosp. test (EKG); 37A: PayPal owner (EBAY); 38A: Celebrated Talk Like a Pirate Day? (USED ARS); 40A: Regional poem? (AREA ODE); 42A: See 10-Across (TIME); 43A: Funnyman Kinison (SAM); 45A: Run in (ARREST); 46A: Comes down hard? (HAILS); 48A: Sole man (HERMIT); 50A: Do some tweezing? (PULL UP A HAIR); 55A: Players try to hit triples with them (Q TILES); 59A: Mama bear, in Madrid (OSA); 60A: First name in courtroom fiction (ERLE); 61A: "I've completed the flag"? (ROSS WORDS); 63A: Had a home-cooked meal (ATE IN); 64A: Smack (SWAT); 65A: Pâté base (FOIE); 66A: See 10-Across (NO SEE); 67A: Sounds of disapproval (TSKS); 68A: Cans (AXES); 69A: Touch and shuffle (IPODS); 1D: Jazz pianist Ahmad __ (JAMAL); 2D: Disco era suffix (A-GO-GO); 3D: Tough tissue (SINEW); 4D: It's often traded in (OLDER MODEL); 5D: Alumna identifier, perhaps (NÉE); 6D: Chin hider (GOATEE); 7D: Sky lights (AURORAE); 8D: Turn sharply (ZIG); 9D: "__ of Homecoming": U2 song (A SORT); 10D: Put in a clip (LOAD); 11D: "Think I'm kidding?" ("OH NO?"); 12D: Evening, in ads (NITE); 13D: Former CIA director Porter __ (GOSS); 19D: Glance (PEEK); 21D: Some ales (AMBERS); 24D: "__ la Douce" (IRMA); 25D: "Diana" crooner (ANKA); 28D: Second or third, for instance (NEAR THE TOP); 29D: The orchestra tunes to one (OBOE); 30D: Bankrolls (WADS); 31D: Dmitri's denial (NYET); 32D: "The Book of __": Jane Hamilton novel (RUTH); 33D: Aral Sea locale (ASIA); 34D: Starting half? (DEMI); 36D: The old man's old man (GRAMPA); 39D: "Is there any group I haven't offended?" satirist (SAHL); 41D: Ranch addition? (-ERIA); 44D: French art song (MELODIE); 47D: Erupt (SPEW); 49D: Ballets __: early 20th-century dance company (RUSSES); 51D: Yank's home, briefly (U. S. OF A.); 52D: Playground retort (ARE SO); 53D: "Well ... not exactly" ("I LIED"); 54D: Magritte and Descartes (RENES); 55D: Queue before U (Q-R-S-T); 56D: Pulls along (TOWS); 57D: Writer Dinesen (ISAK); 58D: WWII craft (LST'S); 62D: Colorado sports nickname, with "the" (ROX); 63D: Singer DiFranco (ANI).

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.