FRIDAY, July 9, 2010 — Jascha Smilack

Theme: "SHH!" (59D: "Zip it!") — Theme answers are familiar phrases where an S word is turned into an SH word. Wackiness ensues.


Theme answers:

• 17A: "The herring ate my homework," e.g.? (SHAD EXCUSE).
• 24A: Number on a bag of walnuts? (SHELL-BY DATE).
• 35A: Stumbling block for a beauty pageant contestant? (DEADLY SHINS).
• 48A: Really needing to do laundry? (OUT OF SHORTS).
• 58A: Reason to eat lunch alone? (MIDDAY SHUN).

I can't say I'm exactly enamored with the theme answers. OUT OF SHORTS is awesome, but the others don't do much for me. I wanted the base phrase of the first one to be poor excuse or lame excuse but couldn't make a fish out of either of those. I don't even really get what DEADLY SHINS is supposed to evoke. Is deadly supposed to mean … ugly? I can't help think that the beauty pageant contestant in question is a robot or something and little doors open up on her shins and guns come out and shoot all the other contestants. Will someone please get to work on that screenplay?

Couple things I didn't know today. As an English major, I'm sure I've seen HEST (1A: Command, to Shakespeare) at some point, but I couldn't dredge it up from my memory. I knew that drei is German for three and I knew roughtly how to pronounce SECHS (5A: Drei doubled) but not how to spell it. I've seen HOSEL (8D: Golf club socket) in a puzzle before, but needed every cross for it today. My super WTF of the day, though, was 33D: "The Return of the Native" vamp Eustacia VYE, apparently from Thomas Hardy's 1878 novel. Wow. Random.

More:

• 15A: Comment before a swim, maybe (I'M HOT). Coincidentally, this is also what the robotic beauty pageant contestant says before the swimsuit competition.
• 20A: Role for Harrison (HAN). I'm sure you've all seen this before, but I don't ever get tired of it so here it is again.



• 53A: Pres. during the 1929 market crash (HCH). Herbert Clark Hoover.
• 54A: A, in Israel (ALEPH). ALEPH is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

• 5D: Some pizza slices (SIXTHS). Wanted eighths here. Wouldn't fit.
• 11D: Hatch in the Senate, e.g. (UTAHAN). Orrin Hatch is one of Utah's senators.
• 34D: Edition: Abbr. (ISS.). Issue.
• 37D: Iowa wrestling legend Gable and others (DANS). Continuing my campaign to get Dan Gable in a puzzle. Replacing clues for DAN in my blog posts seems like it might not be the most effective strategy, but it's all I got.
• 41D: 1880s first family (ARTHURS). Today is a good day to know your presidents.
• 43D: Words after "jolly," in an old jingle (HO HO HO). Which old jingle would this be? Anyone?

Crosswordese 101: Not a lot of crosswordese in the puzzle. There are a couple words that I think of as "high-end" crosswordese — they don't appear all that often, but I've never seen them outside of crosswords. I seem to recall, though, that a few people had trouble with YETI last time it appeared. YETI (26D: Hairy Asian giant) is another name for the Abominable Snowman, a legendary ape-like creature that lumbers around the Himalayans scaring the snot out of people. Clues for YETI will most often contain the words mysterious, elusive, Himalayan, hairy, legend, creature, hoax, sighting, or giant. The clue might also include a geographical hint: Himalayas, Nepal, Tibet, Bhutan, Asia, or Mt. Everest. He's sometimes referred to as "Bigfoot's cousin."

Other crosswordese in the puzzle that we've already covered:

• 16A: Yours: Fr. (À TOI).
• 18D: Being, to Ovid (ESSE).

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Everything Else — 10A: __ money (HUSH); 14A: Lit. collection (ANTH.); 19A: Restraining order (HALT); 21A: Cubic meter (STERE); 22A: "Say what?" ("HUH?"); 23A: Like Brahms's Symphony No. 3 (IN F); 28A: Cases (out) (SCOPES); 30A: "My Fair Lady" lyricist (LERNER); 31A: Frequently embroidered pronoun (HERS); 32A: Pilot (AVIATE); 39A: Linguistic habits (USAGES); 40A: Hunk of tobacco (CHAW); 43A: Like some collisions (HEAD-ON); 46A: Much of Libya (SAHARA); 52A: Highest degree (NTH); 55A: Letters seen next to a 4 (GHI); 56A: Maker of Regenerist skin products (OLAY); 60A: Rear (HIND); 61A: Inuit relative (ALEUT); 62A: Hopping game? (HARE); 63A: Handicapper's concern (ODDS); 64A: Hyssop and catnip, e.g. (HERBS); 65A: Sign of a leak (HISS); 1D: Hemp extract (HASHISH); 2D: Heighten (ENHANCE); 3D: Silicon Valley school (STANFORD); 4D: Ecclesiastical deg. (TH.D.); 6D: Host (EMCEE); 7D: Rude dude (CHURL); 9D: __-ThÉrÈse, Quebec (STE.); 10D: Taunting laugh (HAH); 12D: The sugar in your latte, say (SOLUTE); 13D: "Hie thee __, / That I may pour my spirits in thine ear": "Macbeth" (HITHER); 25D: Humdrum (BLAH); 27D: Bathe, as in sunlight (DRENCH); 29D: False start? (PSEUDO-); 32D: H.S. math course (ALG.); 36D: Starting from (AS OF); 37D: Rather and others (DANS); 38D: Kidnap, in a way (SHANGHAI); 42D: Some surfers (WAHINES); 44D: Greek mathematician (EUCLID); 45D: Nearby (AT HAND); 46D: Parade occasion, for short (ST. PAT'S); 47D: Hardly healthy-looking (ASHY); 49D: Selassie of Ethiopia (HAILE); 50D: Having gone around the block more (OLDER); 51D: Provide a new soundtrack for (REDUB); 57D: NFL stat (YDS.); 58D: __-jongg (MAH).