09.12 Mon

M O N D A Y
September 12, 2011
James Sajdak

Theme: School Days — Each theme answer is a familiar phrase that starts with a word that can mean a specific year in high school or college.

Theme answers:

• 16A: Newcomer to Capitol Hill (FRESHMAN SENATOR).
• 25A: Promising rookies' doses of reality (SOPHOMORE SLUMPS).
• 41A: Young company supervisor (JUNIOR EXECUTIVE).
• 56A: Breaks for AARP members (SENIOR DISCOUNTS).

Cute, simple theme today. The only thing that's a little disappointing is that in the first two theme answers the school-based word in the resulting phrase means the same thing as it does in the school context. A FRESHMAN SENATOR is a first-year senator, just like a freshman student is a first-year student. And SOPHOMORE SLUMPS refer not necessarily to a second year, but to a second … something. On the other hand, JUNIOR EXECUTIVE doesn't necessarily have anything to do with a third year and SENIOR DISCOUNTS doesn't mean discounts you get on your fourth try (or whatever). Now that I've been doing puzzles for a while, I'm always looking for that alternative meaning in these kinds of themes. And today it just wasn't there. "AH ME" (35A: "Whatever shall I do?").

BIOG. is kind of an ugly abbreviation (15A: Bookstore sect.), but at least it gives me a chance to remind you that when you see an abbreviation in the clue, that means the answer will also be an abbreviation or a short form. Also not thrilled with the gratuitous plurals on ARKS and ALFS (20A: Vessels like Noah's / 1D: TV E.T. and namesakes), although at least they don't cross another plural at the S the way SSN'S and HALOS do (24D: Federal IDs / 34A: Heavenly head covers).

Nice colloquial phrases in today's grid incluce HAS A SHOT and "UP HERE!" (4D: Just might pull it off / 42D: "Psst!" from above). A shout-out to the late great Arthur ASHE is nice here on the last day of this year's U.S. Open. And ADD UP as clued (61A: Make sense, to a detective) made me picture Columbo, which always makes me chuckle. So that's good.

Other than that, I'd say OINK is a great entry (7D: Sound from a snout) and, with college wrestling season just around the corner, I loved seeing PIN in the grid (27D: Wrestler's objective). It also offers me the perfect opportunity to share this video with you. I'm pretty sure none of you will come away from it feeling like you could watch it All Day Long (which is what I did), but if you like country music and/or sports, I think you'll get a kick out of it.



Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 59A: Quod __ demonstrandum (ERAT).
• 63A: Arthur of tennis (ASHE).
• 2D: Former coin of Italy (LIRA).
• 5D: "Bah," in Bavaria ("ACH").
• 38D: Août's season (ÉTÉ).
• 57D: Stephen of "V for Vendetta" (REA).

Everything — 1A: Hawaiian greeting (ALOHA); 6A: Recital highlight (SOLO); 10A: Fr. religious figure (STE.); 13A: Fragrant purple flower (LILAC); 14A: Stadium level (TIER); 15A: Bookstore sect. (BIOG.); 16A: Newcomer to Capitol Hill (FRESHMAN SENATOR); 19A: Long story (SAGA); 20A: Vessels like Noah's (ARKS); 21A: Frère du père (ONCLE); 22A: Massage facility (SPA); 24A: Begin a trip (SET OUT); 25A: Promising rookies' doses of reality (SOPHOMORE SLUMPS); 31A: Nitwit (IDIOT); 32A: They may be locked in battle (HORNS); 33A: Flexed (BENT); 34A: Heavenly head covers (HALOS); 35A: "Whatever shall I do?" ("AH ME"); 39A: Writer Diamond or actor Leto (JARED); 40A: Overfill (BLOAT); 41A: Young company supervisor (JUNIOR EXECUTIVE); 46A: Amerigo Vespucci, vis-à-vis America (EPONYM); 47A: Score-raising stat (RBI); 48A: Whoop (SHOUT); 49A: Home of the Buckeyes (OHIO); 52A: VCR insert (TAPE); 56A: Breaks for AARP members (SENIOR DISCOUNTS); 59A: Quod __ demonstrandum (ERAT); 60A: "The Razor's __": Maugham novel (EDGE); 61A: Make sense, to a detective (ADD UP); 62A: China's Sun Yat-__ (SEN); 63A: Arthur of tennis (ASHE); 64A: Varnish component (RESIN); 1D: TV E.T. and namesakes (ALFS); 2D: Former coin of Italy (LIRA); 3D: Designer Cassini (OLEG); 4D: Just might pull it off (HAS A SHOT); 5D: "Bah," in Bavaria ("ACH"); 6D: Hollywood Walk of Fame feature (STAR); 7D: Sound from a snout (OINK); 8D: A smaller amount (LESS); 9D: Salem is its cap. (ORE); 10D: "Scrubs," fnr one (SITCOM); 11D: Get ready for production (TOOL UP); 12D: White wading birds (EGRETS); 15D: African language group (BANTU); 17D: Hat-tipping address (MA'AM); 18D: Yuletide carols (NOELS); 23D: Stovetop item (POT); 24D: Federal IDs (SSN'S); 25D: One of the fam (SIB); 26D: Shelley tribute (ODE); 27D: Wrestler's objective (PIN); 28D: Windy City airport (O'HARE); 29D: Pricey timepiece (ROLEX); 30D: Wash away slowly (ERODE); 34D: Injure (HARM); 35D: Cockpit reading (ALTITUDE); 36D: __ polloi (HOI); 37D: Dallas NBAer (MAV); 38D: Août's season (ÉTÉ); 39D: "__ the World" (JOY TO); 40D: Fella (BUB); 41D: James and Owens (JESSES); 42D: "Psst!" from above ("UP HERE!"); 43D: Political columnist Peggy (NOONAN); 44D: Alaskan native (INUIT); 45D: Gator's cousin (CROC); 49D: __ and ends (ODDS); 50D: A bit tipsy (HIGH); 51D: "Makes sense to me" ("I SEE"); 53D: Common conjunctions (ANDS); 54D: Seed-spitter's sound (PTUI); 55D: "Baseball Tonight" channel (ESPN); 57D: Stephen of "V for Vendetta" (REA); 58D: Rowing need (OAR).

08.26 Fri

F R I D A Y

August 26, 2011

James Sajdak

Theme: Sound Substitution — The Z sound is changed to a DS sound in familiar phrases.



Theme answers:

• 20A: Easy-to-use sock drawer organizer? (PEDS DISPENSER).
• 28A: Dog show eye-catchers? (COOL BREEDS).
• 36A: Feline alpha groups? (TOP PRIDES).
• 48A: "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are the Champions"? (QUEEN SIDES).
• 56A: Winter Olympics winner's wall hanging? (BLADES OF GLORY).

Y'all on the East Coast ready for a hurricane? PuzzleHusband is in Texas and PuzzleKids are in Canada, so I'm hunkering down for this one solo. If the power stays on, this might be a great weekend. I have a ton of stuff to do around the house and with the bad weather I won't feel guilty for staying inside. If the power goes out though? Whole different story. Crossing my fingers!



Today we're looking at a simple sound substitution theme. It's a cute idea, but I can't help thinking a bunch of Zs would make the grid more interesting, so it's kind of shame they're being taken out. What I'm really looking for in a theme like this is a theme answer where both the original and resulting phrases are interesting and colorful. Two of the five fit the bill today: COOL BREEDS and BLADES OF GLORY. But look at the others. PEZ DISPENSER is cool, but PEDS DISPENSER? Besides the fact that I don't even think it makes sense (PEDS = socks??), I've gotta believe that if "sock drawer organizer" is the best clue you can come up with for a theme answer, I'd say it's time to look for a better theme answer. QUEEN SIDES is an interesting phrase (and it has a great clue), but it started out as QUEEN-SIZE which is … a type of mattress. TOP PRIDES has the distinction of being a boring answer and based on a boring phrase. Ta-da!



Bullets:

• 1A: Henri's here (ICI). Starting right off at 1-Across with … French!
• 10A: Druid's sacred hill (TARA). There were Druids in "Gone With the Wind"?
• 18A: Bandit feature? (ONE ARM). Cute clue! This is a reference to a slot machine. But you knew that.
• 63A: 36 for nine, often (PAR). Golf.
• 64A: Votes for (AYES). Tricky. "Votes" in the clue is actually a noun, not a verb. E.g., "We've got three votes for and two against."

• 66A: Owner of Abbey Road Studios (EMI). Anyone else try ONO here first?
• 2D: Set pieces? (CAMERAS). Movie set.
• 6D: Appearance announcement (PRESTO). I couldn't tell what this clue was going for, but this is a great entry.
• 29D: No right __ (ON RED). This is embarrassing to admit, but I actually entered OF WAY first. Yes, I realize that's a terrible answer.
• 39D: Subj. of an '80s-'90s financial crisis (S AND L). I had a hard time parsing this. It's Savings & Loan.
• 40D: EPA concern (AQI). Air Quality Index. I think.
• 46D: St. Louis team, familiarly (THE RAMS). I know it's only been, what? fifteen years or so? I just can't think of the RAMS as being in St. Louis.

• 57D: Price or Battle (DIVA). I knew these were both last names of opera singers, but.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 66A: Owner of Abbey Road Studios (EMI).
• 8D: Empty weight (TARE).
• 30D: Jasmine neckwear, perhaps (LEI).
• 58D: Genesis grandson (ENOS).

Everything — 1A: Henri's here (ICI); 4A: Sci-fi psychic (EMPATH); 10A: Druid's sacred hill (TARA); 14A: What Lin's D.C. wall commemorates (NAM); 15A: Craps table tactic (PARLAY); 16A: Like some terrible reviews (ACID); 17A: Wee (SMA); 18A: Bandit feature? (ONE ARM); 19A: Watch lights, briefly (LCD'S); 20A: Easy-to-use sock drawer organizer? (PEDS DISPENSER); 23A: Emphatic words (I REPEAT); 24A: Run-of-the-mill (USUAL); 27A: Track position (RAIL); 28A: Dog show eye-catchers? (COOL BREEDS); 32A: Cornerstone abbr. (ESTAB.); 34A: Just outside of (NEAR); 35A: Rolls in the grass? (SOD); 36A: Feline alpha groups? (TOP PRIDES); 40A: Palm Sunday carrier (ASS); 43A: German battleship Graf __ (SPEE); 44A: 1945 "Big Three" conference site (YALTA); 48A: "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are the Champions"? (QUEEN SIDES); 52A: Slangy negatives (NAHS); 53A: 14th-century Russian prince (IVAN I); 54A: Retro tees (TIE-DYES); 56A: Winter Olympics winner's wall hanging? (BLADES OF GLORY); 60A: Prussian pair (ZWEI); 62A: Stimulate (INCITE); 63A: 36 for nine, often (PAR); 64A: Votes for (AYES); 65A: Semi-sheer fabrics (VOILES); 66A: Owner of Abbey Road Studios (EMI); 67A: Orkin target (PEST); 68A: Speak with conviction (ASSERT); 69A: Decoding org. (NSA); 1D: Fire up (INSPIRE); 2D: Set pieces? (CAMERAS); 3D: Cry from one reaching the top (I MADE IT); 4D: Lyrical poetic form (EPODE); 5D: Zealot-plus (MANIAC); 6D: Appearance announcement (PRESTO); 7D: Gain __: get further ahead in the race (A LAP); 8D: Empty weight (TARE); 9D: Mass music (HYMN); 10D: "Honor Thy Father" author (TALESE); 11D: Grows (ACCRUES); 12D: Purged (RID); 13D: Spots with slogans (ADS); 21D: Egg toss miss indicator (SPLAT); 22D: Light carriage (SURREY); 25D: Flap (ADO); 26D: Dr. Leary's turn-on (LSD); 29D: No right __ (ON RED); 30D: Jasmine neckwear, perhaps (LEI); 31D: Wicked (BAD); 33D: Sarajevo's region (BOSNIA); 37D: Forgetful writer's letters? (P.P.S.); 38D: Louvre Pyramid designer (PEI); 39D: Subj. of an '80s-'90s financial crisis (S AND L); 40D: EPA concern (AQI); 41D: Toyota RAV4, e.g. (SUV); 42D: Navy builders (SEABEES); 45D: Expose (LAY OPEN); 46D: St. Louis team, familiarly (THE RAMS); 47D: Ancient kingdom on the Tigris (ASSYRIA); 49D: Sign on (ENLIST); 50D: Star of France (ÉTOILE); 51D: Bakery utensil (SIFTER); 55D: Discharge (EGEST); 57D: Price or Battle (DIVA); 58D: Genesis grandson (ENOS); 59D: H.S. courses (SCIS); 60D: Cook quickly, in a way (ZAP); 61D: Three-switch railroad track section (WYE).