02.26 Sat

S A T U R D A Y
February 26, 2011
R. M. (Bob) Peoples

Theme: None

I'm getting a late start this morning and have a lot to get done today. PuzzleHusband has called a Budget & Finance Committee Meeting for this evening so I need to pull together spreadsheets, charts, and PowerPoint slides. Not really, but I do need to crunch some numbers along with all the other stuff working people get done on the weekend, now that I'm a working person. (Aside: I've found that working full-time really eats up a big chunk of the day most days.)

Before I forget, though, I want to let you know that we heard a rumor that tomorrow's syndicated puzzle would have an Oscar theme, so we found a guest blogger who actually knows a little something about the Oscars to fill in. If you do tomorrow's puzzle and/or if you're interested in the Oscars, you should come on back to LACC tomorrow.

So, today's puzzle. The good news is that I'm not going to whine about it not being hard enough. (LACC readers respond: "That is good news!") Overall, I found the sheer number of plural entries very distracting. IDEAS and LILIES are passable, but HAIR GELS and CALLER ID'S? Not so much. I also felt like in a lot of cases the struggle didn't seem particularly worth it for the pay-off. But there is definitely some good stuff in this grid. I particularly like the ATTACK AD / FROM HELL stack in the southeast corner (58A: Part of a smear campaign / 61A: Worst of the worst).

Other highlights in the grid for me include:

• 33A: Skunk River city (AMES IOWA). Obviously, I'm not a fan of the college in this particular town, but I do like seeing both the city and state in the grid. Kinda like when we see a person's full name instead of just first or last.
• 37A: Utter fiasco (WATERLOO). I'm sure this clue is fine, but it's not how I personally think of a WATERLOO. Of course, my first idea of WATERLOO is … another town in Iowa.
• 1D: Without notes (BY HEART).
• 3D: "Most assuredly" ("QUITE SO").
• 9D: Coleridge, Southey and Wordsworth (LAKE POETS).
• 42D: Eccentric (ODDBALL).

Bullets:

• 1A: It might make marks on your dog (BBQ GRILL). That would be a hot dog.

• 21A: One concerned with bites (DENTIST). Pretty sure this clue is here so that even once you understand that the "dog" in 1A is a "hot dog," your mind will keep going to bite marks and not be able to figure out what other kind of marks might be on your dog. Not that that's what happened to me or anything.
• 30A: Subj. partner (PRED.). Predicate. I'm all "Verb? But that's not an abbreviation."
• 52A: Ones going to court? (SUITORS). Cute clue. Not a court of law, but courting as in wooing.
• 54A: Sony competitor (NEC). The only CW101 word in the grid that we've already covered.
• 57A: Verdi title bandit (ERNANI). Crosswordese 301.

• 5D: 1997 Emmy winner for TV's "Rebecca" (RIGG). That second G was the last letter I entered into the grid. Never heard of this miniseries, although I have heard of Diana RIGG.
• 49D: Shaped like a megaphone (CONED). I tried CONIC first.
• 55D: Outfit you don't want to be seen in, briefly (CAMO). Hands-down best clue in the grid. Love it.

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 9A: Walks quickly (LEGS IT); 15A: "Great job!" ("YOU DID IT!"); 16A: Johnson & Johnson skin care brand (AVEENO); 17A: Some mousses (HAIR GELS); 18A: Destinies (KARMAS); 19A: Auto insurer's request: Abbr. (EST.); 20A: "__-Jin": Clavell novel (GAI); 22A: Rate __: be perfect (A TEN); 24A: Entrapments (SET-UPS); 26A: H.S. support group (PTA); 27A: Start over, in a way (RESET); 29A: Make go away (SHOO); 31A: Geographical parallel (TROPIC); 35A: Entirely, with "from" (HEAD TO TOE); 40A: Logo, e.g. (SYMBOL); 44A: "__ Esau": kids' rhyme book (I SAW); 45A: Advanced (LENT); 47A: Restaurateur known for satiric wall art (SARDI); 48A: Recipe amt. (TSP.); 49A: Post product (CEREAL); 51A: Network meeting point (NODE); 56A: Japanese band (OBI); 60A: Brought home (NETTED); 62A: Some smart phones (DROIDS); 63A: Spoon (CANOODLE); 2D: Bigmouth (BOASTER); 4D: E. Berlin's land (GDR); 6D: Head lights? (IDEAS); 7D: Ornamental flowers (LILIES); 8D: West Point grads: Abbr. (LTS.); 10D: Mary Ann __, George Eliot's birth name (EVANS); 11D: Goldfinger portrayer Fröbe (GERT); 12D: Part-time, in a way (SEMI-PRO); 13D: Het up (IN A STEW); 14D: Taco relative (TOSTADA); 21D: Milano cathedral (DUOMO); 23D: One crying uncle? (NEPHEW); 25D: Choice words (THAT ONE); 28D: Level (TIER); 30D: Acquaintance of Simon (PIEMAN); 32D: Revealing numbers (CALLER ID'S); 34D: Edamame beans (SOYS); 36D: They don't just sit around (DOERS); 37D: Giving-up point (WIT'S END); 38D: One offering comfort (ASSURER); 39D: Draw on (TAP INTO); 41D: Put up with (BROOKED); 43D: Remain in mothballs (LIE IDLE); 46D: Asian enlightenment doctrine (TANTRA); 50D: Gave away (LET ON); 53D: Filmmaker Jacques (TATI); 58D: Jets' org. (AFC); 59D: John who played Sulu in "Star Trek" (2009) (CHO).

S A T U R D A Y October 23, 2010 R. M. (Bob) Peoples

Theme: None


[If the significance of the highlighted entryhas you scratching your head, you're not alone.It's the number one most Frequently Asked Question.]
This puzzle put up a little big of a fight, but not too much. I'm not going to rag on its level of difficulty though because I'm too distracted by the awesome long entries. In the downs we've got GREASY SPOON (11D: Hardly a Michelin three-star eatery) and CATCH A FEW Z'S (23D: Catnap). That last one was a little tricky because I was reading the clue as a noun, not a verb. Then in the acrosses we've got the fresh and colloquial "OK I GET IT ALREADY!" (17A: "You've made your point!") and the almost-too-good-to-be-true OLD WHAT'S-HIS-NAME (60A: Reference to a long-forgotten acquaintance). That's really a fabulous entry. It took a while to decode it because I reflexively entered ILL. instead of NEB. for 62D: Lincoln's st. — can't believe I'm the only one who made that mistake — so it looked like the long phrase was going to end with the word ME somehow. Had no idea on 64A: Truman secretary of state Dean ACHESON but it all finally came together when THE BEST (66A: Number one) came into focus.

Stuff I just flat-out didn't know:

• 22A: Starfleet registry prefix (NCC). Did any of you hear George Takei on "Wait Wait ... Don't Tell Me!" recently? He was pretty funny.
• 5D: Grieg's "__ Death" (ASE'S). This is the title of one movement of Edvard Grieg's incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's "Peer Gynt."
• 49D: Birthplace of Merle Oberon (INDIA). Wikipedia says she was an Indian-born British actress whose best-known role was Cathy in "Wuthering Heights" (1939). (I tried to read Wuthering Heights once. It was really zzzzzzzz.....)
• 51D: __ Maria Remarque, author of "All Quiet on the Western Front" (ERICH). Obviously, I've heard of this title, but I've never known the author.

Bullets:

• 8A: Small hounds (BEAGLES). PuzzleHusband often threatens to get our family a "coupla hounds." If he ever does, I'll be blogging from ... somewhere else.

• 20A: Atomic number of nitrogen (SEVEN). Also the prospective name of George Costanza's prospective child (for a while anyway).
• 27A: Turn left (HAW). GEE, on the other hand, means "turn right." Good to know if you ever find yourself riding a mule.
• 34A: One who draws exceptionally well? (MEGASTAR). This isn't a reference to someone's ability to draw, like, with a pen, but to draw a crowd.
• 40A: Surfer's destination (WEB PAGE). I tried WEB SITE first.
• 47A: Beehive, say (COIF). I knew right away the clue was referring to a hairstyle, but I needed a cross before I could come up with the right four-letter word.

• 58A: One sold at Sotheby's in 1989 for more than $50,000 (CEL). This clue refers to an animation cel from the movie "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" If you're interested in learning some background information about CELs, this page is pretty interesting.
• 63A: Taking by force (SEIZURE). Is this a mistake or am I just reading the clue wrong? Sees to me that the clue is a verb and the answer is a noun. Are the two substitutable? I am probably just missing something.
• 7D: Destination in a poetic riddle (ST. IVES).

As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wives
Each wife had seven sacks
Each sack had seven cats
Each cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks, wives
How many were going to St Ives?

• 12D: Plain in the Southwest (LLANO).



[BoDeans: Kurt Neumann and Sam Llanas]

• 18D: When Sunday NFL action starts on the West Coast (TEN A.M.). Have I mentioned how much I hate living on the East Coast during the post-season?
• 31D: Equal opening (ISO-). I've seen this prefix pop up a lot in the puzzles I've been solving recently, so I think it's finally cemented in my brain.

• 48D: Smashed (OILED). As in ... sozzled.
• 59D: Fast time (LENT). It's the time of year that some religions encouraging fasting (i.e., not eating).
• 61D: Art today? (ARE). While in the past you might have heard someone use the phrase "thou art," today you're more likely to hear "you are."

Crosswordese 101: The biggest problem you have when you see a clue like 32D: Place to buy tkts., where know the clue is looking for an abbrevation for station? You don't know if the answer will be STA or STN. They're both used in CrossWorld. STA is much more common, but it wouldn't have been a good guess today. Unfortunately, there's just no way to know for sure until you check the cross.

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

• 46A: Preschool group? (ROE).
• 56A: Tank swimmer (TETRA).
• 9D: Fish often smoked (EEL).
• 57D: "Off the Court" autobiographer (ASHE).

[Follow PuzzleGirl on Twitter.]

Everything Else — 1A: Sources of inside info? (CT SCANS); 15A: Question at a wine tasting (HOW IS IT?); 16A: Like some glass display cases (REAR-LIT); 19A: Stroke (PET); 21A: Place for controls (PANEL); 24A: E-mails (SENDS); 26A: Hurting (SORE); 29A: In a level-headed way (SANELY); 31A: 1987 Beatty bomb (ISHTAR); 38A: Insert casually (STICK IN); 41A: Precisely (ON THE DOT); 43A: Short-changed (ROOKED); 44A: Energy problem (ANEMIA); 50A: Health, in Le Havre (SANTE); 52A: "Coming Home" subject (NAM); 54A: Wrinkles (LINES); 65A: He played Captain Davies on "Roots" (ED ASNER); 1D: Do some food prep (CHOP); 2D: Keepsake (TOKEN); 3D: Swing both ways (SWITCH HIT); 4D: Smoke, briefly (CIG); 6D: Evenings in the classifieds (NITES); 8D: Cherry, so to speak (BRAND NEW); 10D: Seniors' PAC (AARP); 13D: It might get you down (EIDER); 14D: Pizazz (STYLE); 25D: "Against the Wind" singer (SEGER); 28D: Rise, and maybe shine (WAKEN); 30D: Cabinet department since 1913 (LABOR); 33D: Teases (RIDES); 35D: Decide to defend someone, say (TAKE A CASE); 36D: Wine selection concern (AGE); 37D: Wine selection (RED); 39D: Irrespective of (NO MATTER); 42D: Some silverware parts (TINES); 45D: In addition (AT THAT); 47D: Nip and tuck (CLOSE); 53D: Notes (MEMOS); 55D: Steer clear of (SHUN).