THURSDAY, June 10, 2010 — Dan Naddor

Theme: "Be Quiet!" — Theme answers begin and end with silent letters.


Theme answers:

• 17A: Rustic furniture material (KNOTTY PINE).
• 23A: Jogging technique? (MNEMONIC DEVICE).
• 47A: Pressure-sensitive control mechanism (PNEUMATIC VALVE).
• 56A: "Totally tubular, man!" ("GNARLY, DUDE!").
• 36A: Proverb for overwrought parents, and a hint to both ends of 17-, 23-, 47- and 56-Across (SILENCE IS GOLDEN).

I can't help thinking that today's theme would have been really really cool if the silent letter at the end of the words hadn't all been Es. Of course I can't think of a single word that ends with a different silent letter, but still. When I got down to the reveal clue and saw that it had something to do with children, I thought it might be some kind of homophone thing with KNOTTY / NAUGHTY. But no.

I hit one pretty tough spot and I've got to believe I'm not the only one. With a Schwarzenegger movie I've never heard of and an actress on a show I've never watched crossing a French word that could be just about anything, I was stumped. But not for long. I struggled between I and Y at the end of RED SONJA (22D: 1985 Schwarzenegger film about a sword-and-sorcery heroine) until I randomly popped an A in LEAL (39D: Sharon of "Boston Public") and then saw that the French word, DÉJÀ (45A: Already, in Arles), was actually pretty easy to infer even thought I didn't really know it know it, if you know what I mean.

Did the random federal agency crossing the abbreviated sports home caused anybody heartburn [30D: Fed. property overseer (GSA) / 40A: Braves' home: Abbr. (ATL.).] We've covered GSA in CW101 before, so maybe that helped?

I also had a very complicated explanation for why the answer to 10D: Digestive aid (on a side note: Eww) could very well start with an M. It involved the unknown-to-me natural enzyme MALIVA which, of course, formed the basis for the brand name Maalox. Disappointingly, my creative brain couldn't come up with a single reason why MALT would make sense for 10A: Skeptic's grain? (SALT). I'm sure if I'd spent more time on it I could have come up with something.

Quickly:

• 16A: Simple rhyme scheme (ABAB). Whenever I see this clue, I want the answer to be ABAB, but it never is. Until it is.
• 19A: Mother of Artemis (LETO). PuzzleSon is really into the whole Greek God thing these days, so I always ask him to "help" me with these questions.
• 34A: 'Umble place ('OME). Yuck. Would somebody named OME please become famous?

• 51A: Fred's first partner (ADELE). Me: "Ethel? Wilma? …"
• 63A: Caltech sr.'s goal, often (ENGR.). Ooh, no likey. Is that the actual name of the degree? I would think the goal would be either a degree or a job. Not sure how ENGR. fits.
• 4D: Emerson's "jealous mistress" (ART). Yesterday when I was looking for clips of an electric organ on YouTube, I kept coming across Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, so that's where my head went on this clue.
• 11D: He played Fish on "Barney Miller" (ABE VIGODA). When I lived in New York, I used to see him all the time. He must have lived in the neighborhood. When I came back to visit once I'd moved away, I always saw Tom Wopat.
• 35D: Canned twosome? (ENS). Ugh. There are two Ns (ENS) in the word canned.
• 37D: Caesar's sidekick (COCA). I do not know what this means. Oooooh, that Caesar. Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca.

• 49D: Event with a horse (VAULT). Oh that kind of horse.
• 57D: Wizards' org. (NBA). The Washington Wizards of the National Basketball Association. I can't believe I've never seen them live. Even back when they were called the Bullets.

Crosswordese 101: This is probably a grey area here, but I'm going to say that for people my age and younger, TRINI Lopez is crosswordese. TRINI Lopez is a singer who had several hit songs in the 1960s. Now, I can name a lot of musicians who had hit songs in the 1960s, but TRINI I only know from crosswords. Clues for TRINI are generally straightforward, like today's 7D: Singer Lopez. Occasionally, the clue will refer to one of his songs, almost always "Lemon Tree" or "If I Had a Hammer."

Other crosswordese in today's puzzle that we've already covered:

• 6A: Raison d'__ (ÊTRE).
• 55A: Hindu titles (SRIS).
• 18D: Bela's "Son of Frankenstein" role (YGOR).
• 26D: Phi followers (CHIS).
• 50D: Icelandic sagas (EDDAS).
• 58D: Peruvian singer Sumac (YMA).

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Everything Else — 1A: It may be scrutinized on a carousel (I.D. TAG); 6A: Raison d'__ (ÊTRE); 14A: Old Indian leader (NEHRU); 15A: Picture of health? (X-RAY); 20A: Elton John, e.g. (SIR); 21A: Mil. leader (GEN.); 22A: Split apart (RIVEN); 28A: Hardly Mr. Cool (NERD); 29A: Tried, with "at" (HAD A GO); 30A: Lake Volta's country (GHANA); 33A: Coal holders (BINS); 41A: Little hopper (TOAD); 42A: Closes in on (NEARS); 43A: Salad jellies (ASPICS); 52A: Skater Babilonia (TAI); 53A: Include (ADD); 55A: Hindu titles (SRIS); 60A: Sushi staple (TUNA); 61A: Accomplished (ABLE); 62A: Where to see Leonardo's "The Last Supper" (MILAN); 64A: Honduras native (MAYA); 65A: Fidgeting (ANTSY); 1D: Writing supplies (INKS); 2D: Casual fabric (DENIM); 3D: Sticker (THORN); 5D: Instinctive, as a feeling (GUT); 6D: Shell out (EXPEND); 8D: Campaigned (RAN); 9D: Check out (EYE); 12D: Theater annoyance, perhaps (LATE-COMER); 13D: Strip steak alternative (T-BONE); 18D: Bela's "Son of Frankenstein" role (YGOR); 24D: Feminine suffix (-ENNE); 25D: Interim (MEANTIME); 26D: Phi followers (CHIS); 27D: "Shoot!" ("DANG!"); 31D: Baseball strategy (HIT AND RUN); 32D: Like Big Brother in "1984" (ALL-SEEING); 33D: Auction action (BID); 38D: "It is the __, and Juliet is the sun" (EAST); 44D: Seiko brand (PULSAR); 45D: Silver Spring, Md., is part of it (D.C. AREA); 46D: Bad (EVIL); 47D: Cheap jewelry (PASTE); 48D: Birthplace of the Renaissance (ITALY); 50D: Icelandic sagas (EDDAS); 54D: Say it isn't so (DENY); 56D: Looker's leg (GAM); 58D: Peruvian singer Sumac (YMA); 59D: Racket (DIN).