TUESDAY, April 6, 2010 — Kenneth Berniker

Theme: Outdoorsmen — I'll try to explain it in the write-up.


Theme answers:

• 17A: Jazz bandleader and lover of forests? (WOODY HERMAN).
• 36A: Former heavyweight champ and lover of mountains? (ROCKY MARCIANO).
• 60A: Ex-Dodger pitcher and lover of beaches? (SANDY KOUFAX).

Good morning, everyone. And it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day here in the DC area. I'm home with a feverish PuzzleSon, but I should be able to get out and run a couple errands later today and enjoy this perfect weather. I don't have a whole lot to say about this puzzle. I'm not even sure where to start with the theme. It's three famous men whose names can be adjectives that describe something outdoorsy and they're clued as "loving" that type of thing for some reason. I'm not feelin' it. Am I missing something? (It wouldn't be the first time.)

The fill is pretty typical Tuesday fare. A good bit of crosswordese, lots of so-so entries, and a few stand-outs like INSIDER (21A: Source of a hot tip), GO PRO (48A: Give up amateur status), and FLEE FROM (6D: Try to escape, as pursuers). I'm guessing some people don't love that last one, but for some reason it struck me as fun.

Also:

• 1A: Jack's partner (JILL).



• 30D: California county in which Mount Whitney is partly located (INYO). Huh?
• 37D: "Kampgrounds" company (KOA). Fond memories of my roadtrip from Maryland to New Mexico where I mostly stayed at KOAs (except on Thursdays when I'd splurge for a hotel so I could watch "Seinfeld" and get really clean and the time I was passing through Del Rio, Texas, and got really sick and had to hole up in a hotel that I'm guessing hadn't quite made five-star status).
• 45D: Pecking order? (KISS ME).

Crosswordese 101: There's not too much to say about SKEE-Ball, except that you just have to know it. It's an arcade game and the way it's clued today — 58D: __-Ball — is pretty much the only way it's ever clued. So there ya go.

Everything Else — 5A: Not exactly lined up (OFFSET); 11A: Stanford-Binet nos. (IQS); 14A: On the less breezy side, at sea (ALEE); 15A: Jacket part (SLEEVE); 16A: Actor's signal (CUE); 19A: Common Market inits. (EEC); 20A: Dazzling celestial events (NOVAE); 23A: 737, for example (PLANE); 25A: Singer Domino (FATS); 27A: Trig function (SINE); 28A: Corn unit (EAR); 29A: "No __!": emphatic denial (SIREE); 31A: Is able to, biblically (CANST); 32A: It may wash away castles (TIDE); 34A: Postal motto word (NOR); 35A: Yellowfin tuna (AHI); 41A: Madhouse (ZOO); 42A: Golfer's accessory (TEE); 43A: Base runner's goal (HOME); 45A: Divided Asian land (KOREA); 50A: Up to, briefly (TIL); 51A: Express line unit (ITEM); 52A: Lass (GIRL); 53A: Spiteful (NASTY); 55A: "Strangers in the Night" singer (SINATRA); 57A: Prefix with physics (ASTRO-); 59A: Sault __ Marie (STE.); 64A: Russian fighter (MIG); 65A: Postwar British prime minister (ATTLEE); 66A: Farm field unit (BALE); 67A: Ending for Vietnam (-ESE); 68A: Dwell (RESIDE); 69A: Like the Mojave (ARID); 1D: Mandible site (JAW); 2D: UN workers' rights agcy. (ILO); 3D: Kate's "Titanic" co-star (LEONARDO); 4D: Gave false hopes (LED ON); 5D: Workplace watchdog org. (OSHA); 7D: __-de-lance: pit viper (FER); 8D: Arab or Jew (SEMITE); 9D: Cowgirl Dale (EVANS); 10D: Change for a 20 (TENS); 11D: Stranded at the chalet, maybe (ICED IN); 12D: Brooklyn neighbor (QUEENS); 13D: Whispered thing (SECRET); 18D: Actor Montand (YVES); 22D: Old Testament prophet (ISAIAH); 23D: Teacher's favorite (PET); 24D: Home in the wild (LAIR); 26D: Faucet attachment (AERATOR); 31D: Greek X (CHI); 33D: Itchy rash cause (ECZEMA); 35D: Expert server (ACER); 38D: Showed over (REPLAYED); 39D: "Up to this point, no" (NOT SO FAR); 40D: Fail to include (OMIT); 44D: Bridge expert Culbertson (ELY); 46D: Ear inflammation (OTITIS); 47D: Go back on a promise (RENEGE); 48D: Meadowlands Stadium team (GIANTS); 49D: Not tricked by (ONTO); 52D: Fireplace feature (GRATE); 54D: Resort island off Venezuela (ARUBA); 56D: Ivan IV, for one (TSAR); 61D: Mid sixth-century year (DLI); 62D: Baba of fiction (ALI); 63D: Deleted, with "out" (X'ED).