T U E S D A Y November 30, 2010 Mark Feldman

Theme: Workin' at the Graveyard (whoa-oo whoa-oo whoa-oo whoa) — The first word of each theme answer evokes a cemetery.

Theme answers:

• 20A: One debating the unpopular side (DEVIL'S ADVOCATE).
• 31A: Healer using magic (WITCH DOCTOR).
• 41A: Uncredited author (GHOST WRITER).
• 55A: Wee-hours work period for 20-, 31- and 41-Across? (GRAVEYARD SHIFT).

Very smooth Tuesday fare today. I got the theme answers in order and after the first two thought "A Halloween puzzle?!?" I suppose it could be, but people work the GRAVEYARD SHIFT all year, so I guess it's okay. Speaking of the GRAVEYARD SHIFT … have you all ever worked at that time of night? I never have, but I used to work a second shift and when we'd get off at midnight, the late shift would be rolling in and I tell you what. Those were some strange people. Not sure how to explain it except to say they all just seemed a little … off. Maybe that's what it takes to be productive when you should be sleeping.

Bullets:

• 15A: Little suckers (LICE). Um, breakfast test!
• 23A: Washing aid for pupils (EYE CUP). I assume this is something used at an eye doctor's office? I'm not familiar with any sort of eye health stuff. I actually never wore glasses until I turned 40! Of course now I need three different pair and feel like a total old lady.

• 25A: "Hold on __!" (A SEC). Because "to your hat" wouldn't fit.
• 39A: About 1,609 meters (MILE). Just last night I was helping PuzzleDaughter study for a test on the metric system. Isn't it about time the U.S. just converts to the metric system and get it over with?
• 40A: Game system played with gestures (WII). We just got the Xbox 360 with Kinect. Have you seen the commercials??? It's amazing to think that someday people will look back on it and go "Can you believe how we thought that was so amazing?"

• 48A: Pitching miscues (BALKS). I recently did some research on BALKS (and by "did some research" I of course mean "read the Wikipedia article"). I pretty much can't remember anything I learned (did I mention the old lady thing?) but at the time I thought it was pretty interesting. Worth a look if you're a baseball fan and don't understand how the BALK rule works.
• 51A: Where AMZN stock is traded (NASDAQ). I plopped this answer in without even thinking, but I already had the T in place on 55A so that QT mash-up looked all kindsa wrong. (54D: Wax removers (Q-TIPS).)
• 1D: Fine porcelain (SPODE). This word looks vaguely familiar to me. I'm sure I've seen it in a puzzle before but today I needed every single cross.
• 3D: Naproxen, commercially (ALEVE). I know way too much about pain relievers.
• 5D: Held firmly (CLASPED). I tried "clamped" first.

• 31D: Guitar effect (WAWA). Yes, that's the technical term for it.
• 41D: Covers, as a driveway (GRAVELS). I guess I've been a city slicker too long — GRAVEL didn't even occur to me.

Crosswordese 101: GNAR is kind of a weird word, isn't it? I don't recall ever using it, or hearing it, or reading it. Of course, now that I say that, I should find it on the next page of the book I'm reading. Isn't that how it goes? Anyway, it's almost always clued straightforwardly as 55D: Growl, snarl, or "imitate an angry dog." The only way the clue is tricked out sometimes is by referring to a type of dog, e.g., "Grown like a boxer," or "Pointer's warning."

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

• 17A: Turow memoir subtitled "The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School" (ONE-L).
• 59A: Oklahoma tribe (OTOE).
• 6D: Turkish bread? (LIRA).
• 30D: Pretty pitcher (EWER).

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Everything Else — 1A: Roe source (SHAD); 5A: Scrape, cat-style (CLAW); 9A: 100 kopeks (RUBLE); 14A: Geographical extremity (POLE); 16A: Matriculate (ENROL); 18A: The "Habanera" from "Carmen," e.g. (ARIA); 19A: Blunt, as reality (STARK); 24A: Blood bank fluid (SERUM); 27A: Stew (SEETHE); 36A: "Man oh man!" ("WOW!"); 37A: Out of kilter (AWRY); 38A: Dove murmur (COO); 45A: Long-haired cat (ANGORA); 47A: Part of a family business title (SONS); 58A: Japanese cartoon genre (ANIME); 60A: Naysayer (ANTI); 61A: Deadly (FATAL); 62A: Zip (along) (TEAR); 63A: Chick's sound (PEEP); 64A: Head lock (TRESS); 65A: At __: arguing (ODDS); 66A: Messes up (ERRS); 2D: Sweetheart (HONEY); 4D: Epicurean delight (DELICACY); 7D: Fatty __ (ACIDS); 8D: Make, as baskets (WEAVE); 9D: Fireman, sometimes (RESCUER); 10D: Wild (UNTAME); 11D: Sassy kid (BRAT); 12D: Folk tales and such (LORE); 13D: "Benevolent" fraternal member (ELK); 21D: Having abundant vegetation (LUSH); 22D: Thereabouts (OR SO); 26D: Chanel of fashion (COCO); 28D: Nincompoop (TWIT); 29D: Burrow indicator (HOLE); 32D: Triumphant cry (I WIN); 33D: Math course (TRIG); 34D: Business orgs. (COS.); 35D: Little ones (TOTS); 39D: Form incorrectly (MISSHAPE); 42D: Robust (HALE); 43D: Worldly seven (WONDERS); 44D: Messenger molecules (RNAS); 46D: White House family (OBAMAS); 49D: Onetime capital of Japan (KYOTO); 50D: Filled up (SATED); 52D: Restaurant patron (DINER); 53D: Following (AFTER); 56D: Ceremony (RITE); 57D: Country way (ROAD); 58D: Toward the rudder (AFT).

FRIDAY, June 25, 2010 — Mark Feldman

Theme: Ethnic Food — Food puns based on foreign cities.


Theme answers:

• 20A: Swiss poultry dish? (BASEL CHICKEN).
• 27A: Korean menu listing? (SEOUL FOOD).
• 35A: Indian lunch fare? (DELHI SANDWICH).
• 43A: Moroccan hearty meal? (RABAT STEW).
• 52A: Meccan omelet ingredient? (JEDDAH CHEESE).

I don't know if I still have my cranky-pants on from yesterday or what, but this theme didn't thrill me at all. I'm sure that "basil chicken" is a thing, but it's not, say, "chicken ala king" or "chicken caciatorre." It's not even "lemon chicken" or "orange chicken," which you can find on every Chinese restaurant menu in America. It's just … chicken with basil I guess. Doesn't work for me. Also, JEDDAH CHEESE? So JEDDAH is the second largest city in Saudi Arabia. I've never heard of it. But that's not why I don't like this answer. I don't like this answer because it's not consistent with the rest of the theme. The other theme answers all start with a city whose name sounds exactly the same as the word it's punning on. Wait. I just looked up BASEL and it turns out it's not pronounced the same as "basil." I guess if I had ever heard of BASEL I'd know that. So okay. Two of the cities change the pronunciation and three don't. I still don't like it. BASEL/basil is not as egregious as JEDDAH/cheddar, if that makes any sense. Done ranting. About that …. What's with both FRI. and TGIF in the grid? (29D: It can be casual: Abbr. / 42A: Letters that come at the end of the week.) Do not like.

Like yesterday, the fill just wasn't colorful enough to make up for the drab theme. I like LEFT JABS (although I'm not crazy about the gratuitous plural) (37D: Right crosses may follow them). And SHANGHAI and BUBBAS have a little sparkle to them (except there's that plural again) (10D: City near the Yangtze River / 1D: Good ol' boys). But overall? I guess my expectations for Friday are pretty high.

Anything to talk about? Well, sure!

• 4A: 1960 Olimpiadi host (ROMA). The foreign spelling of "Olympics" is a clue that the answer will also be a foreign spelling.
• 4D: Texter's response to a hilarious joke (ROFL). Entered LMAO at first. But, obviously, the A would not be appropriate for the puzzle.

• 8D: Basho's forte (HAIKU). Even with the K in place, I couldn't see this answer until I got the U. I don't know Basho / Learned from the crossword puzzle / Haiku is his forte. (See what I did there?)
• 31D: President with two Grammys (OBAMA). Quick story. A bunch of my co-workers went out to lunch together yesterday. It was kind of a slow day at work so they went to Ray's Hell Burger, which is a little farther away than our typical lunch spots. About thirty minutes after they leave, we get a call: "We're locked down at Ray's because President Obama will be here any minute. We'll get back to the office when we can, but we'll probably be late." Turns out Obama thought a nice juicy burger would be a good lunch for Russian President Medvedev. It's so unfair! My co-workers don't even pay attention to all the political stuff. I, on the other hand, actually have a few things I'd like to discuss with the President! (Probably best not to get me started….)
• 43D: Bench, once (RED). I'm not looking this up, but I'm going to say with a lot of authority that Johnny Bench once played for the Cincinnati Reds. So there you have it.

Crosswordese 101: There are basically three ways you're likely to see NANA clued. First, as another way of saying "grandma." Then, as the main character in Émile Zola's 1880 novel of the same name. And finally, there's the dog in "Peter Pan," which is what we're seeing today (62A: Barrie Newfoundland). Not being a dog person, I didn't realize that Newfoundland is a type of dog so I was completely perplexed by this clue even after I got it through crosses. I guess this is the Friday version of "'Peter Pan' pooch" or "Wendy Darling's dog."

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

• 28D: Lionized actor? (LAHR).
• 30D: Treaty gp. since 1948 (OAS).
• 36D: "The Praise of Chimney-Sweepers" essayist (ELIA).

By the way: If you don't typically solve the weekly Wall Street Journal puzzle, you might want to give it a try today. Joon Pahk and Andrea Carla Michaels have created a Sunday-sized (21x21) puzzle with some pretty tricky cluing, but the theme is really fun and it (the theme) is easy enough that it will help you with the rest of the fill. You can download the WSJ puzzle in Across Lite here if you're interested. Also, I did the write-up of the puzzle over on Amy's blog.

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Everything Else — 1A: A.L. East team (BOS); 8A: Padlocked, perhaps (HASPED); 14A: Glob suffix (-ULE); 15A: Receptive (OPEN); 16A: More gray (ASHIER); 17A: 2006 farce involving a drinking contest (BEERFEST); 19A: "Magic Hour" author (ISAACS); 22A: Memo abbr. (ATTN); 23A: Move beyond (OUTGROW); 32A: Frost (HOAR); 33A: Fast horse (ARAB); 34A: Frayed (TATTY); 40A: Certain Net user (AOLER); 41A: '60s Mod staple (MINI); 48A: Fare that's filled and baked (MEAT PIE); 51A: Race (TEAR); 57A: All one had (ESTATE); 60A: Transfers again, as computer files (RECOPIES); 61A: Hungary neighbor (SERBIA); 63A: Fruitcake (NUT); 64A: Is out there (EXISTS); 65A: African antelope (ORYX); 66A: Rte. finder (GPS); 2D: Fatty acid salt (OLEATE); 3D: Handles (SEES TO); 5D: Crude org. (OPEC); 6D: Interlock (MESH); 7D: Boycotting, perhaps (ANTI); 9D: Black listing? (ASSET); 11D: Emmy-winning news anchor Lindström (PIA); 12D: Common Mkt. (EEC); 13D: "ER" extras (DRS.); 18D: Contact lens solution brand (RENU); 21D: Cape __ (COD); 24D: VMI program (ROTC); 25D: Bit of irreverence (OATH); 26D: Twisted (WRY); 34D: Fool (TWIT); 35D: Old Venetian judge (DOGE); 38D: Point (NIB); 39D: Stranded material (DNA); 40D: 20s provider, for short (ATM); 44D: Dance move (STEP); 45D: Elevating, in a way (TEEING); 46D: Relax (EASE UP); 47D: Takes by force (WRESTS); 49D: __ four (PETIT); 50D: Bean products? (IDEAS); 53D: Cartoonist Peter (ARNO); 54D: When repeated, word of agreement (HEAR); 55D: Manhattan sch. (CCNY); 56D: Piltdown man, e.g. (HOAX); 57D: Language suffix (-ESE); 58D: Bio datum (SEX); 59D: Head of state? (TRI-).