WEDNESDAY, February 10, 2010—Don Gagliardo

THEME: "The French Have a Word for That"—Eight loan words from French are clued with the [Nice ___?] trick

Theme entries:

Each theme clue follows the [Nice ___] format, wherein it's "Nice," the French city, signaling you that the answer is a French word. and not small-n "nice," the adjective. All of the theme answers are English words borrowed from French, though, so you don't have to know French to get the answers.

• 17A: [Nice retinue?] (ENTOURAGE).
• 21A: [Nice nonpro?] (AMATEUR).
• 26A: [Nice keepsake?] (SOUVENIR).
• 39A: [Nice stand?] (ETAGERE). This is also a loan word from crosswordese.
• 48A: [Nice behind?] (DERRIERE).
• 55A: [Nice rubdown?] (MASSAGE).
• 62A: [Nice walk?] (PROMENADE).
• 24D: [Nice squad?] (BRIGADE). I didn't know this word was French. If we pronounced it "brigahd," I would have known.
• And for the hell of it, PEPE / LE PEW ties everything together— 34D: [With 53-Down, French toon who would be right at home in this puzzle?].

Highlights and lowlights:

• 1A: [Struggle (through), as a tedious book] (WADE). I don't like this clue. To me, wading seems more leisurely, less of a slog.
  
• 30A: [Dying-out sound] (PFFT). I use "pfft" more emotively, more like a "pshaw" crossed with an unvoiced F-bomb.
  
• 44A: [Old beaker heaters] (ETNAS). We call 'em Bunsen burners now, and save ETNA for the volcano by that name. But the volcano can't well take a plural, so the antiquated lab term pops up in crosswords and probably nowhere else.
  
• 52A: [Phillies' div.] (NLE). Baseball fans, tell me: Who uses this 3-letter abbreviation? Anyone? is "NL East" so hard to spell out? Can I blame televised sports for trying to make everything into a 3-letter abbreviation that fits in a scoreboard?
  
• 64A: [Ship-finding acronym] (LORAN). You wanted SONAR, I know. Loran is short for lo(ng)-ra(nge) n(avigation), while sonar is so(und) na(vigation and] r(anging).
  
• 4D: [Eliciting feeling] (EMOTIVE). Did you see how I used that word up there? I never really use it.
• 5D: [Vikings running back Peterson who holds the NFL record for yards rushed in a single game] (ADRIAN). My son has decided that the Vikings are his most favorite NFL team, with the hometown Bears in second place and the Niners, Jets, and Saints rounding out the top five. No, I have no idea what these ranking are based on.
• 28D: [Govt. note issuer] (U.S. TREASURY). V. nice answer.
• 31D: [Full scholarship, e.g.] (FREE RIDE). V. nice answer, too.
• 40D: [It doesn't cover much of a 48-Across] (THONG). Yes, it lets the bulk of your derriere flap in the breeze.

Crosswordese 101: Wow, have we really not addressed IRAE before? If you don't have a kneejerk reaction to this clue—29D: ["Dies __"]—and automatically fill in IRAE with a bored sigh, then you need to commit this one to memory. The Latin title of the hymn "Dies Irae" means "Day of Wrath" (IRAE is related to our crossword regulars ire and irate). Usually it's clued with a gimme fill-in-the-blank ["Dies __"], but on occasion you may see [Requiem word] or [Literally, "wrath"]. (The latter will upset Latin scholars, who will point out that it's "of wrath," not just "wrath.")

And now it's time for a 19-Across interlude. Take it away, Mel:



Everything Else — 1A: Struggle (through), as a tedious book (WADE); 5A: Leatherworking tools (AWLS); 9A: Sheriff's star (BADGE); 14A: Incur additional cell phone charges, perhaps (ROAM); 15A: Profound (DEEP); 16A: Gonzalez in 2000 headlines (ELIAN); 17A: Nice retinue? (ENTOURAGE); 19A: Mel, "The Velvet Fog" (TORME); 20A: Slob's opposite (NEATNIK); 21A: Nice nonpro? (AMATEUR); 23A: Filmdom's Lupino (IDA); 24A: 'Hood bud (BRO); 25A: Prefix with mom, coined after historic 2009 births (OCTO-); 26A: Nice keepsake? (SOUVENIR); 30A: Dying-out sound (PFFT); 32A: Riddle (POSER); 33A: More apt to be picked (RIPER); 35A: "Dropped" drug (LSD); 38A: Space bar neighbor on a PC (ALT); 39A: Nice stand? (ETAGERE); 41A: Wall St. news (IPO); 42A: Spoil (MAR); 43A: "Thanks __!" (A HEAP); 44A: Old beaker heaters (ETNAS); 46A: Within: Pref. (ENTO); 48A: Nice behind? (DERRIERE); 50A: Actor Morales (ESAI); 52A: Phillies' div. (NLE); 54A: Tiny amount (BIT); 55A: Nice rubdown? (MASSAGE); 57A: Played some jazz numbers, say (DID A SET); 61A: "__ be seeing things" (I MUST); 62A: Nice walk? (PROMENADE); 64A: Ship-finding acronym (LORAN); 65A: Overhang (EAVE); 66A: Folk singer Burl (IVES); 67A: Refuse (SAY NO); 68A: "__ in Rome ..." (WHEN); 69A: Site of a Lincoln profile (CENT); 1D: Small songbird (WREN); 2D: Primo (A-ONE); 3D: Entered material (DATA); 4D: Eliciting feeling (EMOTIVE); 5D: Vikings running back Peterson who holds the NFL record for yards rushed in a single game (ADRIAN); 6D: Unsound, as an argument (WEAK); 7D: Relay race part (LEG); 8D: Asparagus unit (SPEAR); 9D: __ blocker (BETA); 10D: Umpteen (A LOT OF); 11D: Privileged connection (DIRECT LINE); 12D: Whole range (GAMUT); 13D: It began on viernes in 2010 (ENERO); 18D: Take in too little (UNDEREAT); 22D: One with a long face (MOPER); 24D: Nice squad? (BRIGADE); 26D: Cybertrash (SPAM); 27D: "Return of the Jedi" green-skinned dancer (OOLA); 28D: Govt. note issuer (U.S. TREASURY); 29D: "Dies __" (IRAE); 31D: Full scholarship, e.g. (FREE RIDE); 34D: With 53-Down, French toon who would be right at home in this puzzle? (PEPE); 36D: Have heated words (SPAR); 37D: Two tablets, say (DOSE); 40D: It doesn't cover much of a 48-Across (THONG); 45D: Ill-fated vessel (TITANIC); 47D: Maxima maker (NISSAN); 49D: Cleanup hitters, briefly (RBI MEN); 50D: Actor Jannings and pianist Gilels (EMILS); 51D: South Pacific island nation (SAMOA); 53D: See 34-Down (LEPEW); 56D: Periodic table fig. (AT. NO.); 57D: Peace symbol (DOVE); 58D: Put away (SAVE); 59D: "East of __" (EDEN); 60D: Means of determining proficiency (TEST); 63D: Cheer syllable (RAH).