09.11 Sun

S U N D A Y
September 11, 2011
Robert H. Wolfe

[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: "Let Me Interject" — Interjections replace soundalike words in familiar phrases. Wow!

Theme Entries:

• 24A: Frat for complainers? ("FIE!" BETA KAPPA).
• 26A: "Look! Ghosts!"? ("LO!" SPIRITS).
• 112A: Complaint about a weak morning cup? (COFFEE "BAH!").
• 119A: Unfriendly store owner? ("SHOO!" MERCHANT).
• 13D: At exhilarating times? (IN THE "WHEE!" HOURS).
• 36D: "Pauses are normal" adage? (TO "ER!" IS HUMAN).
• 42D: Like kittens and puppies? ("AW!" INSPIRING).
• 52D: One skilled at expressing relief? (MAN OF "PHEW!" WORDS).

Hey, crossword fans. Doug here on Sunday. I like today's theme. Clever and original. We can't have a discussion about interjections without listening to this first...

OK, now you know that interjections are generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point. That's a catchy lyric.

Four across theme entries and four down theme entries made for an unusual, disjointed grid. Did any of you have trouble breaking into the corners? Probably not. You're all awesome.

Bullets:

• 45A: Islands to which canaries are native (AZORES). The Azores and the Canary Islands are in the same general area of the Atlantic Ocean. But the Canary Islands are actually named after dogs (canines), not canaries. It's a little confusing, and I can't get the "Interjections" song out of my head, so I'm moving on.
• 49A: 17-Down's org. (NHL) / 17D: Old Bruin nickname (ESPO). "Espo" is Phil Esposito, a famous hockey player. Wikipedia tells me that Espo is an "Honoured Member of the Hockey Hall of Fame." You know he's a legend because he gets the special Canadian spelling. Regular players are just "Honored Members."
• 37D: 49-Across's Bobby et al.(ORRS). Yikes, another cross-referenced hockey clue. If I see one more mention of hockey, I'm going to have to use a naughty interjection.

• 58A: Like most mules (STERILE). I psyched myself out on this one. When I see "mule" or "pump" in a clue, I assume the constructor is being tricky by referring to shoes. So I was trying to squeeze BACKLESS or STRAPLESS or something shoe-related into this spot.
  
• 79A: Creator of Auric and Julius (IAN). Auric Goldfinger and Dr. Julius No, both created by Fleming, Ian Fleming.
• 97A: One with net gains? (SEINER). A seiner is a fisherman who catches fish with a net (seine). SEINER isn't a good entry, and the cute clue only draws attention to it. You're better off to use something obvious like "Fisherman with a net" so the solver won't spend much time pondering the entry.
• 35D: Worshiper of the rain god Tlaloc (AZTEC). Hey, you don't have to be an Aztec to make a sacrifice to Tlaloc every now and then. Am I right?
• 42D: Like kittens and puppies? ("AW!" INSPIRING). Kittens! Inspired by kittens! (I showed this video to PuzzleGirl last night, and she loved it. Seriously. Watch it.)

• 86D: FRONTLINE target (FLEA). A product for killing fleas on your kitten or puppy. I'm not sure what's up with the name being in capital letters. I went to their website, and they do use all-caps FRONTLINE exclusively. Maybe it scares the fleas more than lowercase letters would.
• 108D: Shoulder troublemaker? (CHIP). A chip on your shoulder. Cute clue. 

See you all next Sunday.

08.12 Fri

F R I D A Y

August 12, 2011

Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Do I Need to Spell It Out for You? — Each theme answer is a familiar phrase beginning with a word that is a homophone of a letter of the alphabet.



Theme answers:

• 17A: Urban area set aside for pekoe purveyors? (TEA SQUARE).
• 25A: New Zealand lamb-exporting method? (EWE BOAT).
• 28A: End of the line? (QUEUE TIP).
• 47A: "The Look of Love" and "Suddenly I See," e.g.? (EYE TUNES).
• 49A: Pitch notation for Debussy's "La Mer"? (SEA CLEF).
• 58A: Island allotment? (CAY RATION).

Busy day today, so I'll just say that I think this theme is really cute and then we'll jump straight to the bullets.



Bullets:

• 1A: Brother of Ham (SHEM). One day I'll do a CW101 on all the Bible names/terms you should know for crosswords.
• 9A: Performance lead-in (INTRO). I had the NTR in place and was thinking "ENTRE," but that's the "lead in" to an intermission, not the performance intself.

• 16A: Aired, as "Hogan's Heroes," say (RERAN). Oh those wacky POW camps.
• 20A: Cross (SULLEN). Gotta love the one-word clues on Friday. Have you ever thought about how many different meanings the word "cross" can have? Well today you did.
• 21A: Half of MXIV (DVII). Ouch. The dreaded Random Roman Numeral.
• 31A: Swimmer who channeled her energy? (EDERLE). In 1926, Gertrude EDERLE became the first woman to swim across the English channel.

• 51A: Revered Mother (TERESA). So weird. Just yesterday I drafted a letter to someone named "Reverend Mother Thérèse."
• 53A: Team playing in The Big A (ANGELS). Pretty sure I've never seen the nickname "The Big A" for Anaheim (or any other city for that matter). At first I thought it might be Austin (playing off of Dallas's nickname "The Big D") but couldn't think of a pro team in Austin. (Is there one?)
• 63A: Needing darning (TORN). I tried WORN first.

• 65A: What wavy lines may represent (ODORS).
• 66A: It's about a foot (SHOE). "About" in this case means "around."
• 27D: Mad VIPs (EDS.). EDitorS of Mad Magazine.
• 42D: Commemorative pillar (STELA). We covered STELE in CW101 a while back. Turns out it can also be spelled STELA. So now you know.
• 54D: Sodium hydroxide, in lab shorthand (NAOH). That looks like jibberish to me but I'm sure you science-y people out there knew it right off.

Crosswordese 101 Round-up:

• 56A: Icelandic literary treasures (EDDAS).

Everything — 1A: Brother of Ham (SHEM); 5A: Finishes (up) the gravy (SOPS); 9A: Performance lead-in (INTRO); 14A: Mystique (AURA); 15A: Aussie water hazard (CROC); 16A: Aired, as "Hogan's Heroes," say (RERAN); 17A: Urban area set aside for pekoe purveyors? (TEA SQUARE); 19A: Symphony section (REEDS); 20A: Cross (SULLEN); 21A: Half of MXIV (DVII); 22A: "Julie & Julia" co-star (STREEP); 25A: New Zealand lamb-exporting method? (EWE BOAT); 28A: End of the line? (QUEUE TIP); 31A: Swimmer who channeled her energy? (EDERLE); 32A: Store, as ashes (INURN); 33A: Contests ending in draws? (DUELS); 35A: Drifts off (NAPS); 36A: Pinkish yellow (CORAL); 37A: Hoax (FLAM); 41A: Low lands (DALES); 42A: Wine made from the Garganega grape (SOAVE); 43A: Have a one-track mind (OBSESS); 47A: "The Look of Love" and "Suddenly I See," e.g.? (EYE TUNES); 49A: Pitch notation for Debussy's "La Mer"? (SEA CLEF); 51A: Revered Mother (TERESA); 52A: Keen (WAIL); 53A: Team playing in The Big A (ANGELS); 56A: Icelandic literary treasures (EDDAS); 58A: Island allotment? (CAY RATION); 62A: Rubbed-out spirits (GENII); 63A: Needing darning (TORN); 64A: Polis starter (ACRO-); 65A: What wavy lines may represent (ODORS); 66A: It's about a foot (SHOE); 67A: Regretted (RUED); 1D: Wasn't used (SAT); 2D: Shade (HUE); 3D: Stat for CC Sabathia (ERA); 4D: People who knead people (MASSEURS); 5D: Work with clay, say (SCULPT); 6D: Lacking a paper trail (ORAL); 7D: Skin feature (PORE); 8D: Dramatic division (SCENE); 9D: Bargain basement abbr. (IRR.); 10D: As required, after "if" (NEED BE); 11D: "Felicia's Journey" writer William (TREVOR); 12D: Like some saws and tires (RADIAL); 13D: Not remote (ONSITE); 18D: Versatile game piece (QUEEN); 22D: Magazine ad meas. (SQ. IN.); 23D: __ melt (TUNA); 24D: Do another stint (RE-UP); 26D: "Let me think ..." ("WELL …"); 27D: Mad VIPs (EDS.); 29D: Hot star (IDOL); 30D: Turn to mush (PUREE); 34D: "Calm down!" ("EASY!"); 36D: Winery buy (CASE); 37D: Like expensive restaurants, hopefully (FOUR-STAR); 38D: Meet assignment (LANE); 39D: Madison et al.: Abbr. (AVES.); 40D: Cubs' spring training city (MESA); 41D: PC dial-up upgrade (DSL); 42D: Commemorative pillar (STELA); 43D: Lake Ontario port (OSWEGO); 44D: Like some women's evening bags (BEADED); 45D: Refused (SAID NO); 46D: Filled pastry (ECLAIR); 48D: Unlimited, in verse (ETERNE); 50D: Almanac offerings (FACTS); 54D: Sodium hydroxide, in lab shorthand (NAOH); 55D: Sandwich with tzatziki sauce (GYRO); 57D: Family girl (SIS); 59D: Post-op stop (ICU); 60D: Unrefined metal (ORE); 61D: Quiet bid (NOD).