FRIDAY, June 4, 2010 — Kelsey Blakley

Theme: The I's Have It — Theme answers are familiar phrases with the letter "I" added to the end, creating wacky phrases clued "?"-style.


Theme answers:

• 17A: College administrator's cocktail? (DEAN MARTINI).
• 30A: Still in love with a legendary giant? (NOT OVER YETI).
• 47A: Vehicle delivering the weekly checks? (PAYROLL TAXI).
• 63A: Equine teacher of Japan? (HORSE SENSEI).

See? Now this is what I'm talking about. Love this puzzle. So much fun. Not the most creative type of theme out there (add-a-letter), but the base phrases are well-known and the resulting phrases are funny and cleverly clued. If I was going to complain about anything, it would probably be ENDUE (14A: Invest, as with a quality) or maybe the MANURE / AUTOPSY cross (9D: Soil enricher / 21A: Inspection requiring scales). ENDUE is really supposed to be imbue, am I right? And the other, well … ew. But I'm not going to focus on that today. This puzzle is full of good words, scrabbly letters, and enough crosswordese to be helpful without being tiresome.

Good stuff! Let's talk about it!

• 1A: Voting group (BOARD). Wanted bloc here and the fact that the B worked really flustered me.
• 15A: Navigational aid (LORAN). I always associate this with sonar but don't know enough about them to know if they're actually similar. LORAN = LOng RAnge Navigation. SONAR = SOund Navigation And Ranging. Probably in the same ballpark.

• 19A: Product name derived from the German word for peppermint (PEZ). Have you guys ever seen that show "Pawn Stars"? I guess they had some kind of "Pawn Stars" marathon on the other day because every time I walked through the living room it was on. There was one guy who came in with a collection of Pez dispensers and was completely disgusted that he couldn't get as much as he wanted for them. They were pretty cool.
• 37A: Romance novelist Roberts (NORA). I can't say that I've ever read a Nora Roberts book, but I know someone who was in a writing group with her at one time and I understand she's super nice, super smart, and an excellent writer. Who knew?
• 43A: White House middle name (ABRAM). I'm gonna guess this is Chester A. Arthur's middle name. Hold on … Crap. That's not it. His middle name is Alan. … Oh, James A. Garfield. So now I know.
• 50A: Alien's subj. (ESL). Not an alien from outer space, an alien from, I don't know, Mexico maybe? ("Papers please!")

• 51A: Joey's mom (DOE). I once considered getting a tattoo of the name "Joey." Not that I was in love with a Joey, or had even ever met a Joey. I just thought it was a cool name. It also might have been because that was Ray Liotta's character's name on "Another World."
• 67A: Firth (INLET). The things you learn!
• 69A: Mag wheels? (EDS.). I hope you've been hanging around here long enough that this didn't stump you for too long, if at all. EDS. in this case is an abbreviation of editors who are big "wheels" at MAGazines.
• 3D: Entry-level legal jobs: Abbr. (ADAS). Assistant District Attorneys. This is one of those cases where I over-complicated things because I knew too much. I'm all "paralegals? legal assistants? docket clerks?" I've clearly spent too much time around lawyers.
• 13D: Osbourne of Black Sabbath (OZZY). I love names in my puzzles, I love Zs in my puzzles, and I love OZZY.



• 22D: 1971 John Lennon song (OH YOKO). I don't think I know this song (if I do know it, I don't know that this is its title), but it was easy enough to infer from crosses.
• 34D: Chip maker (INTEL). I have a feeling this was supposed to make us think of snack chips, but my mind went straight to poker chips. Not sure what that says about me.
• 56D: Tag determiners (UMPS). Oh man. I hope Armando Galarraga isn't solving this puzzle because that would just be harsh. (Although, I have to say I almost feel sorrier for the ump. Can you imagine how much it must suck to be him?)

Crosswordese 101: I read "As I Lay Dying" in college. I haven't read it since then, and that was like a hundred years ago, so I don't remember any details. I recall that a man and his children are traveling with their dead wife/mother (she's in a coffin — this is Faulkner, not "Weekend at Bernie's"). I also remember that I thought it was hilarious. Probably worth another read. Anyway. the husband/father's name is ANSE (44A: Addie's husband in "As I Lay Dying") and you'll probably need to know that again someday if you continue to solve crossword puzzles.

Other crosswordese in this puzzle that we've already covered includes:

• 27A: Former Secret Service weapon (UZI).
• 2D: Most fit for drafting (ONE-A).
• 57D: Della's creator (ERLE).
• 65D: DDE's arena (ETO).

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Everything Else — 6A: Big splash maker of the '60s (SHAMU); 11A: Bit of a tryst exchange (COO); 16A: Wood-shaping tool (ADZ); 20A: Requiring less effort (EASIER); 23A: Henpeck (NAG AT); 26A: Encouraging sound (RAH); 35A: Old Chevy (NOVA); 38A: Bagel order, maybe (DOZEN); 39A: Blusters (CROWS); 41A: Phone bk. listings (NOS.); 42A: Christmas tree adornment (SKIRT); 46A: Generous offer (ON ME); 52A: Eastwood's 1978 "co-star" Clyde, e.g. (ORANG); 54A: "I wouldn't lie!" ("TRUST ME!"); 58A: E. Sicilian peak (MT. ETNA); 62A: Verb for Popeye (YAM); 66A: Sleep, in Sussex (KIP); 68A: Without face value, as stock (NO PAR); 70A: "We don't see __ ..." (EYE TO); 71A: Not bland (TASTY); 1D: Eliot's "Adam __" (BEDE); 4D: Clash (RUN-IN); 5D: Put down (DEMEAN); 6D: 35mm camera choice (SLR); 7D: Like sauce with a kick (HOT); 8D: Rossini specialty (ARIA); 10D: Cirque du Soleil costumes (UNITARDS); 11D: Sadie Hawkins Day creator (CAPP); 12D: "__ of Solomon": religious works (ODES); 18D: About 1% of the Earth's atmosphere (ARGON); 24D: Unkeyed (ATONAL); 25D: Leafs' home (TORONTO); 27D: Open, as a brew (UNCAP); 28D: Anthony Quinn title role (ZORBA); 29D: Old billiard ball material (IVORY); 31D: Poughkeepsie college (VASSAR); 32D: Surfer's read (E-ZINE); 33D: Sentence lengths (TERMS); 36D: Arbitration decisions (AWARDS); 40D: Blended fruit drink (SMOOTHIE); 45D: They may be physical (EXAMS); 48D: Like some meringue (LEMONY); 49D: Rapt (INTENT); 53D: Columbus's birthplace (GENOA); 54D: Small fry (TYKE); 55D: Debugging agent? (RAID); 59D: Dosage abbr. (TSPS.); 60D: Bang-up (NEAT); 61D: Like breezeways (AIRY); 64D: Headstrong (SET).