NYT Wednesday 4/22/09 - Draftsman Ship

The unusual requirements of this Wednesday New York Times crossword seemed to stretch the technical capabilities of the online versions to breaking point: when I came to view the puzzle file on Tuesday night in Across Lite, it wouldn't load, but I managed to convert the file to Sympathy format to solve. However, I didn't find out where the circles were supposed to be until the online Java version was fixed just before midnight. Happily things seem to be back to normal this morning and the Across Lite version is showing the circles and notedpad correctly.

All this detracted from a delightful puzzle which yields a simple drawing of a sailing boat if you follow the instruction in the notepad. This final step is reminiscent of a number of crosswords involving drawing in the cryptic series I used to edit. The catalog of objects I remember being represented include: the constellation Orion, an outline map of Britain; and a picture of a cat (which being from Cheshire, had to be removed, leaving the GRIN).

Solving time: 19 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 19d knitter {One who may put you in stitches?}

Theme

A simple drawing of a sailing boat made by connecting letters A-I, as indicated. The same letters are used to clue five parts of the boat:

17a main; 59a sail {A-B-C-A in the illustration}
25a keel {F-G}
30a mast {C-D}
43a boom {A-B}
49a hull {E-F-G-H-E}

Two famous sailing ships also feature as long answers:

18a Black Pearl {Ship in "Pirates of the Caribbean"}
55a Santa Maria {Ship to the New World}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Daniel A. Finan / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 37 (16.4%) black squares
Answers	78 (average length 4.82)
Theme squares	44 (23.4%)
Scrabble points	280 (average 1.49)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

41a NORAD {Santa-tracking org.}. Even the North American Aerospace Defense Command has a sense of humor: they track Santa's journey around the world as he delivers toys. We're told the tradition started when a Sears store in Colorado misprinted NORAD's number as the number for kids to call to talk to Santa.



30d Mae {Writer Rita ___ Brown}. Rita Mae Brown is best known for her first novel Rubyfruit Jungle which was remarkable at the time of publication (1973) for its explicit treatment of lesbianism. To add to novel-writing, she has also coauthored a number of mysteries with her cat Sneaky Pie Brown.

46d Masala {"Mississippi ___" (1992 film)}. Mississippi Masala explores interracial romance between African-Americans and Indian-Americans in Mississippi.



Noteworthy

29a event {Ship's christening, e.g.}. The compiler referred to the nautical theme of the puzzle at every opportunity. This one seemed more strained than most.

63a yeggs {Stethoscope users, at times}. A yegg or yeggman is a burglar, especially from safes. I knew these obscure terms (origin unknown) from the British English dictionary Chambers and wondered if they were more commonly understood in the US, but Magdalen hadn't heard of them.

19d knitter {One who may put you in stitches?}. A neat clue, which I thought must refer to the medical profession. Magdalen has started knitting regularly again, as well as quilting. She's made me some lovely colorful socks - to find out more, see her Knitting in Harmony blog.

The Rest

1a dits {A Morse "I" consists of two}; 5a ever {Penultimate fairy tale word}; 9a cobra {Deadly snake}; 14a Ev'ry {"Climb ___ Mountain"}; 15a maxi {Long skirt}; 16a ad out {Break point}; 20a on a {Stop ___ dime}; 21a descent {Half of a mountaineering expedition}; 22a togaed {Dressed like a certain keg party attendee}; 24a tri- {Prefix with lateral}; 31a I'm no {"___ expert, but ..."}; 32a Napas {Certain California wines}; 34a taking {Pirating}; 36a Astaire {"Top Hat" dancer}; 39a rewires {Does some electrical work on}; 40a Diablo {Counterpart of un ángel}; 42a a tie {End in ___}; 45a remit {Send, as payment}; 50a Los {Part of U.C.L.A.}; 51a ideate {Brainstorm}; 52a pelters {People in fierce snowball fights}; 54a Srs. {Yearbook sect.}; 60a odeon {Ancient theater}; 61a lint {Makeup of some little balls}; 62a plea {Response to a charge}; 64a alee {Away from the wind}; 65a fads {Lava lamps and pet rocks, once}.

1d demote {Bump down but keep on}; 2d Ivanov {Chekhov play or its antihero}; 3d triage {"M*A*S*H" procedure}; 4d syn. {Lexicographical abbr.}; 5d embed {Incorporate, as a YouTube video into a Web site}; 6d Vals {Actor Kilmer and others}; 7d exactas {Horse-race bets on win and place}; 8d ricers {Kitchen gadgets}; 9d Capt. {Hook or Cook: Abbr.}; 10d ode {Tribute with feet}; 11d boa {Deadly snake}; 12d R. U. R. {1921 play that introduced the word "robot"}; 13d Atl. {One of the oceans: Abbr.}; 21d detail {Part of a larger picture}; 23d Annabel {Poe's "___ Lee"}; 25d Kiki Dee {"Don't Go Breaking My Heart" duettist, 1976}; 26d emir {Mideast V.I.P.}; 27d -enne {Cousin of -trix}; 28d logs {Old shipbuilding needs}; 33d problem {Leak on a ship, e.g.}; 35d awards {Tournament wrap-up}; 36d Adah {Wife of Esau}; 37d situ {In ___ (as found)}; 38d tail {Following detective}; 39d ROM {CD-___}; 41d nostril {It may be flared}; 44d oo-la-la {"Yowie, zowie!"}; 47d I tried {Words of resignation}; 48d teslas {Magnetic induction units}; 51d irate {Livid}; 52d pans {D– reviews}; 53d eine {Aachen article}; 55d soy {___ sauce}; 56d -ade {Suffix with many fruit names}; 57d neg. {Minus: Abbr.}; 58d tog {Dress (up)}; 59d SPF {Number on a bottle at the beach}.

NYT Tuesday 4/21/09 - What are the Odds?

I thought it really remarkable that this thematic puzzle was possible. What are the odds that the names from the Tinker to Evans to Chance combo, together with their positions, add up to 15 each. And then that "double play combo" should also be a 15-letter answer. A staggering coincidence - hat's off to the compilers for exploiting it.

Magdalen and I celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary today: our first ... yay! My gifts to her were a framed print of the accompanying picture from our ceremony last year and a cryptic crossword with a theme of "papers" - she's about halfway through it as I write. She gave me three more CDs of female vocalists (for some reason, I prefer female voices both in classical and popular music).

Solving time: 16 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 49d odds {They may be stacked against you}

Theme

The double play combo Tinker to Evans to Chance, which was immortalized in the 1910 poem Baseball's Sad Lexicon; hence 57a double play combo {What 17-, 25- and 43-Across were, famously}.

17a Tinker - short stop {1908 Cubs player and position}
25a Evers - second base {1908 Cubs player and position}
43a Chance - first base {1908 Cubs player and position}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Ronald J and Nancy J. Byron / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 36 (16.0%) black squares
Answers	76 (average length 4.97)
Theme squares	60 (31.7%)
Scrabble points	293 (average 1.55)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

14a Alan {The "A" in Chester A. Arthur}. I should have heard of the 21st President of the USA, but he's not really forced himself on my attention (he doesn't even have an interesting middle name). Magdalen tells me that Chester Arthur attended her alma mater, Union College, where there is a statue of him by Bissell with a pose that rather invites student pranks. It a copy of (or similar to) one in Madison Square, and this article suggests the president was supposed to be holding spectacles in his right hand, but he kept losing them - "though both monuments are made of bronze there’s a lot of irony in them too."

41a Orel {Baseball analyst Hershiser}. Orel Hershiser is an interesting reference in the context of the baseball theme. Orel, nicknamed "Bulldog", was a right-handed pitcher from a later era. He's now a baseball analyst on ESPN and a professional poker player.

52a Brainiac {2006 Ken Jennings book ... or the author himself}. Ken Jennings holds the record for the longest winning streak on Jeopardy!. Here he is winning the highest-ever amount in a single day.



60a Dare {Virginia ___ (noted 1587 birth)}. Virginia Dare is famous for being the first child born in the Americas to English parents. We know about her birth in the short-lived Roanoke Colony because it was reported by John White when he returned to England to request assistance. When White came back three years later, Virginia and the colony had disappeared under circumstances which are still a mystery.

61a Gotti {The Dapper Don}. John Gotti (1940-2002) headed the Gambino crime family, one of the "five families" that controlled criminal activities in New York City. He was also known as "The Teflon Don" because so many prosecution attempts failed to stick.

31d spies {Black-clad and white-clad Mad adversaries}. Magdalen tried to explain to me about Spy vs. Spy in Mad Magazine, but I found it hard to visualize until seeing some example images. It was by Antonio Prohias, whose name was spelled out in Morse Code below the title panel.

Noteworthy

25d ENIAC {1946 high-tech wonder}. Most computer programmers would have an advantage here in having heard of this landmark in the development of digital computers. It was the first computer capable of being reprogrammed to solve any computing problem, but its main purpose was to calculate artillery firing tables.

49d odds {They may be stacked against you}. I was just going to quote this clue as nicely misleading, but later realized how ironic it is in light of the unlikelihood of the puzzle's theme (see top of post).

The Rest

1a taco {Soft or crunchy snack}; 5a smart {Like a 52-Across}; 10a abra- {Start of an incantation}; 15a pushy {Rudely assertive}; 16a beep {When repeated, Road Runner's call}; 20a at a price {How fame comes, sometimes}; 21a roast {Friars Club event}; 22a ATL {The Braves, on a scoreboard}; 23a liar {"Pants on fire" person}; 33a nerve {Chutzpah}; 34a hone {Put an edge on}; 35a spa {Hydrotherapy locale}; 36a it is {"How sweet ___!"}; 37a trims {Barbers' touch-ups}; 39a spit {Polish's partner}; 40a ACC {U. of Miami's athletic org.}; 42a sic 'em {Command to an attack dog}; 47a Utes {Salt Lake City athletes}; 48a ETO {Ike's W.W. II command}; 49a Obama {"Yes we can" sloganeer}; 62a malt {Fountain order}; 63a star {Polaris or Sirius}; 64a Olsen {Jimmy of the Daily Planet}; 65a exes {They're splitsville}.

1d ta-ta {"Toodles"}; 2d alit {Touched down}; 3d Cana {Water-to-wine site}; 4d on KP {Peeling potatoes, stereotypically}; 5d sprits {Mast extensions}; 6d muscle {Bodyguard's asset}; 7d Ashe {Only African-American male to win Wimbledon}; 8d rho {P, on a fraternity house}; 9d Tyr {Norse war god}; 10d absorb {Work like paper towels}; 11d beta {Software test version}; 12d REOs {Vintage autos}; 13d appt. {Date with an M.D.}; 18d erase {Clear, as a tape}; 19d trade {The "t" in Nafta}; 23d loom {Machine with a shuttle}; 24d inns {Rustic lodgings}; 26d vetch {Climbing plant with pealike flowers}; 27d Erica {Novelist Jong}; 28d RVs {Homes on wheels, in brief}; 29d chili {Hot dog topper}; 30d ASPCA {Humane org. since 1866}; 32d eat me {Wonderland cake phrase}; 37d tree {Logic diagram}; 38d refs {Flag tossers, for short}; 39d sib {Bro or sis}; 41d octal {Of base 8}; 42d stoic {Showing no emotion}; 44d Number {"Sorry, Wrong ___"}; 45d rerate {Add a star to, say}; 46d stay in {Not leave the house}; 50d boat {Dinghy, e.g.}; 51d aura {Surrounding glow}; 52d BLTs {Nonkosher diner offerings}; 53d Nome {Iditarod terminus}; 54d IMAX {Huge-screen format}; 55d able {Up to it}; 56d cots {Hotel room roll-ins}; 58d ego {Part of Freud's "psychic apparatus"}; 59d pol {Vote seeker, for short}.

NYT Monday 4/20/09 - Popinjays

The compiler seemed to get a bit carried away with the Js in this puzzle: in addition to the nine required for the thematic answers, he popped two more into the top row of the grid. This all does wonders for the grid's "Scrabble points", which averages at 1.98.

For some reason, I struggled more than usual with this Monday New York Times crossword: I stalled on a lot of the clues (see New to Me) and got particularly held up in the center at the end. Magdalen points out that if I'd been following the fashion news inspired by the First Lady, I'd have enjoyed plainer sailing with the J Crew.

Solving time: 11 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 24a jays {Ones with caws for alarm?}

Theme

People with initials J.J., signaled by 36a J.Crew {Retail clothing giant ... or a description of 17- and 54-Across and 10- and 24-Down?} - I gather Michelle Obama buys outfits from the store, which has done wonders for J. Crew's sales.

17a Jesse James {Brother outlaw in the Wild West}
54a Joe Jackson {White Sox outfielder nicknamed Shoeless}
10d Janis Joplin {"Me and Bobby McGee" singer, 1971}
24d Jacob Javits {Longtime New York senator for whom a center is named}

JoJo and jelly jar are bonus answers: they fit the pattern, but aren't part of the main theme.

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Randall J. Hartman / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 38 (16.9%) black squares
Answers	78 (average length 4.79)
Theme squares	47 (25.1%)
Scrabble points	370 (average 1.98)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

25a T.K.O.s {Some boxing wins, for short}. I've heard of the term technical knockout, but never bothered to find out what it means ... until now. Although the meaning varies slightly between countries, a T.K.O. is declared when someone (usually the referee) decides that a fighter shouldn't continue, even though not technically KO'd by being "counted out".

38a Robb {L.B.J. son-in-law Charles}. Chuck Robb was a Virginia governor from 1982 to 1986 and senator from 1989 to 2001. He married the elder of L.B.J.'s two daughters, Lynda Bird.

45a Mann {19th-century educator Horace}. Horace Mann (1796–1859) is considered the father of American public education, due to his work as secretary of the board of education of Massachusetts.

49a Fala {Bo : Obama :: ___ : Roosevelt}. This clue shows how close to publication puzzles can be changed: we didn't know of Bo until April 12 - his inauguration ceremony was two days later. I remembered Roosevelt had a dog, because I'd seen a documentary on Washington memorials and thought the inclusion of the pet so poignant. I had to be reminded of the name Fala, however.

1d Jojo {"___ left his home in Tucson, Arizona" (Beatles lyric)}. The words are from Get Back, a single that became the closing track on Let It Be. Of course I knew this one (it's been hard to avoid), just not been able to make sense of the words.



18d Jaye {"The Gong Show" panelist ___ P. Morgan}. I recognized the pun, so could make sense of the clue, but The Gong Show is new to me: I gather it aired in the 1970s and 1980s and was a parody of variety shows.



33d McGee {Fibber of old radio}. Another one I just had to get from crossings. Fibber McGee and Molly was a radio comedy show running from 1935 to 1959.



Noteworthy

24a jays {Ones with caws for alarm?}; 27d Bambi {Thumper's "deer friend"}. I love this kind of playfulness, which seems to be rare in Monday cluing.

41a frijoles {Mexican beans}. Frijoles were in the clue to arroz that caused me so much trouble last Friday. So I was in a good position to know what the Spanish for beans is today.

46a Harvey {Politico Milk of "Milk"}. Something good came out of watching the Oscar ceremony this year: Sean Penn won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of gay activist Harvey Milk.



5d The Mask {1994 Jim Carrey film}. Jim Carrey plays shy clerk Stanley Ipkiss who becomes transformed into an uninhibited cartoon trickster by the eponymous mask.



13d hats {Bowlers that don't bowl}. Magdalen thought this was a cool clue, but it didn't really make much of an impression on me: I'm so used to the multiple meanings of "bowler" in England that I don't make any assumptions about what it might entail. Bowler hats were named after the hatmakers who designed it: Thomas and William Bowler.

The Rest

1a joust {Knights' competition}; 6a joey {Baby kangaroo}; 10a josh {Kid around}; 14a Oprah {Winfrey who said "I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes"}; 15a -enne {Feminine suffix}; 16a area {Length x width, for a rectangle}; 19a neat {Spick-and-span}; 20a -ola {Suffix with pay}; 21a many {"___ happy returns"}; 22a idiots {Imbeciles}; 26a abase {Humiliate}; 28a hung jury {Cause for a mistrial}; 32a slack {Not taut}; 33a me no {"Tell ___ lies"}; 34a one a {Prime draft status}; 35a Elmo {Googly-eyed Muppet}; 37a pink {Color for baby girls, traditionally}; 39a egos {Things inflated with hot air?}; 40a plots {Cabalists' plans}; 43a gains {Makes progress}; 44a able {Up to the task}; 50a Ali {"___ Baba and the 40 Thieves"}; 53a alai {Jai ___}; 57a hurt {Injured}; 58a alto {Choir voice}; 59a hit on {Discover by chance}; 60a Ames {Home of Iowa State University}; 61a rear {Back end}; 62a exams {Midterms and finals}.

2d Opel {Autobahn auto}; 3d Ursa {With 45-Down, home of the Big Dipper}; 4d SAS {Carrier to Copenhagen}; 6d jeans {Levi's, e.g.}; 7d On My {"Time Is ___ Side" (Rolling Stones hit)}; 8d ENE {Opposite of WSW}; 9d yes, I know {"So you've said"}; 11d Oreo {Nabisco cookie}; 12d seat {Chair or sofa}; 23d dog {Hound}; 25d tunes {iPod downloads}; 26d all or {"It's ___ nothing"}; 28d hero's {Give a ___ welcome}; 29d union {The "U" in A.C.L.U.}; 30d rents {Payments to landlords}; 31d yaks {Talks, talks, talks}; 32d serf {Feudal worker}; 36d jelly jar {Smucker's container}; 40d panache {Flair}; 42d OBE {U.K. award}; 43d gala {Black-tie affair}; 45d major {See 3-Down}; 46d ha-ha {"That's rich!"}; 47d alum {Homecoming attendee, in brief}; 48d rare {Once-in-a-blue-moon}; 49d feta {Greek cheese}; 50d Asta {Dashiell Hammett hound}; 51d loom {Tapestry device}; 52d inns {Places to stay the night}; 55d olé {Bullring cheer}; 56d Kix {Spherical breakfast cereal}.

Anagramize = A Magaziner

Magdalen here. Ross has decided that three posts (the Sunday morning puzzle, which he blogs in the morning, the Monday puzzle, which he blogs at night, and the NPR puzzle, which he maybe fits into the rest of the day) are just a big much for him. So I've been formally deputized to do the NPR puzzle posts on Sunday and Thursday. Cool! I'm always happy to lighten his workload for him! (Shhhh . . . Don't tell Ross, but I'm going to nudge him to start doing the cryptic-style specialty puzzles that appear periodically in the Sunday NY Times Magazine. I mean, c'mon -- who doesn't want the help of an expert on English cryptic puzzles with our modest American cryptics and puns & anagram puzzles? Leave lots of comments if you think that would be a good idea!)

Speaking of anagrams, a fair number of Will Shortz's on-air puzzles involve anagrams. Now, I have to be honest -- I wouldn't be great at this on air. I "solve" anagrams in one of two wildly inefficient ways: it either just "comes" to me (the parthenogenesis method), or I write the letters out in alpha order and then see if I can work it out that way. By contrast, Ross can just see anagrams. We'll be driving along and he'll see a billboard for some company and spontaneously blurt out the anagram. There's a modular home company near us, Shorten Homes. You got it: "Host horsemen," he'll cry. It's kind of scary, actually. Scary smart, that is.

Today's on-air puzzle was to identify the names of magazines from their anagrams. Ross was out of luck here -- almost all the magazines are published exclusively in the US and as he gets exactly one magazine (Money) and it has no obvious anagrams, he really had no clue. I got most of the answers, even though all the magazines I subscribe to are also anagramless. (Not much you can do with quilting magazine titles, and Entertainment Weekly and The New Yorker each need at least three words, like "Knew Troy here" and "Leaky winter tenement.") Yet again, the foreigner is at a disadvantage.

The takeaway puzzle is to anagram the words "More Corruptness" into a magazine title. Let me help you out here -- there is no Compressor Tuner monthly or Persecutor Norms trade rag. I got those wrong answers using one of Ross's software products, Wordplay Wizard. It's also part of Sympathy, which helps people construct cryptic puzzles. Wordplay Wizard will figure out all the possible combinations of words that anagram the word/name/title that you typed in. Very powerful!

I do know the answer, and I got it using the oft-unreliable parthenogenesis. We were sitting down to breakfast and the answer just popped out. But yes, Wordplay Wizard came up with it as well. I'll be back on Thursday to confirm what I bet you've already worked out for yourself. If you don't have it yet, you can try the alpha method:

C E E M N O O P R R R S S T U

NYT Sunday 4/19/09 - Into Overtime

Magdalen and I solved this lovely crossword over supper on Saturday night. Once we got wrecking ballot, we knew this would be a great puzzle - who would have thought that you could do the same trick with John Maynard Keynes?

We're not too serious about timing the Sunday jumbo puzzles, but I sensed this one took around half an hour - we kind of wished it would go on longer (into overtime?) as there was no sign the compiler was running out of great puns to fit the theme.

Solving time: 30 mins (no cheating, collaborative effort)
Clue of the puzz: 59d Annie {Hall of fame}

Theme

Overtime (the title is "Extra! Extra!"): seven answers have OT inserted, making a pun:

22a wrecking ballot {Spoiling one's vote?}
32a spotlit screen {Computer monitor at the center of attention?}
47a Othello dolly {Child's toy in the shape of a Shakespeare character?}
64a John Maynard Keynotes {Headline about an economics conference?}
84a royal flu shot {Booster for a king?}
97a black footrest {Dark ottoman?}
109a trot out quintet {Put five musicians on display?}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Will Nediger / Will Shortz
Grid	21x21 with 72 (16.3%) black squares
Answers	142 (average length 5.20)
Theme squares	97 (26.3%)
Scrabble points	616 (average 1.67)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

10a Spy {Stratego piece}. Stratego is not a game I ever played. It's a board game that simulates military tactics to some extent: each side has a Spy and Scouts as well as the usual army ranks.

30d Asahi {Tokyo brew}. I don't recall seeing this Japanese beer in England - there seemed to be enough home-brewed stuff to go around. Asahi Breweries is the second largest in Japan; its headquarters building sports an oddly-shaped flame that's nicknamed the golden ... I'll leave you to work that one out!

34d Iliad {Epic that includes the Teichoscopia}. Judging by Teichoscopia, I confidently predicted to Magdalen that the answer would be a sci-fi novel. How wrong could I be? Teichoscopia means "viewing from the walls" and is a passage in which Helen catalogs the heroes she sees below on the Trojan plain.

Come here, dear girl.
Look at the amazing things going on.
Horse-taming Trojans and bronze-clad Achaeans,
men who earlier were fighting one another
in wretched war out there on the plain,
both keen for war's destruction, are sitting still.
Alexander and war-loving Menelaus
are going to fight with their long spears for you.
The man who triumphs will call you his dear wife.
From The Iliad, Book 3 by Homer

111d Uri {William Tell's canton}. And we're supposed to know this how? Uri is one of 26 cantons in Switzerland. The legendary hero is said to have lived there in the early 14th century.

Noteworthy

24a bipods {Rifle stands}. It took a while to understand this, as I first assumed the stand was for storing a rifle - no, a bipod is the simple support that keeps a rifle stable during firing.

69a cop {One not missing a beat?}; 82a Carnegie {Man of steel?}; 43d ATM {Dough dispenser}. This puzzle was full of great misleading definitions, often marked with those tell-tale question marks. These three were among my favs.

88a gnu {Bearded beast}. I thought the gnu was endangered species in crosswords, being dubbed "crosswordese". As crosswordese goes, I don't find gnus too objectionable, especially as they remind me of this wonderful Flanders and Swann song:



16d wedge {Bit of cuneiform}. It helped to know a little etymology with this one: cuneiform comes from the Latin cuneus "wedge": the characters were formed from wedge shapes made by impressing a stylus into clay.

19d anno {52 settimane}. Just when I got Spanish all wrapped up, we seem to be getting a load of Italian words now.

32d silo {Titan's home}. Another nicely misleading clue: these Titans are not the powerful deities of Greek mythology, but ICBM launchers. They were obsolete as of 2006, and are being scrapped or preserved as monuments.

59d Annie {Hall of fame}. Annie Hall is one of my favorite movies, though I would love this clue anyway - it's been seen in the NYT before, but is too good not to have again. I used to think all New Yorkers lived like the characters in Woody Allen movies, but I know better now.



65d opera {"Nixon in China," for one}. I've been hoping a John Adams reference would come up so I could rave about his music. Magdalen and I saw Nixon in China at the English National Opera in 2006 - it didn't make much impression then, but I've since heard the recording many times and find the music really gripping, witty and lyrical by turns. I've also been impressed by Harmonielehre. Here's Nixon's arrival on Air Force One:



112d tin {10th-anniversary gift}. Magdalen and I have our first wedding anniversary this Tuesday, so we've only just got to paper and have a long way to go before we hit tin.

The Rest

1a Beatle {John or George}; 7a orb {Space ball}; 13a Stowe {It's near Mount Mansfield, Vermont's highest peak}; 18a Maria Maria {2000 Santana hit}; 20a Poe {"The Oblong Box" writer}; 21a amazes {Dumbfounds}; 25a Kenny {Often-killed "South Park" character}; 26a oar {Stroke, maybe}; 27a syringe {Injection deliverer}; 28a spa {Place for R&R}; 31a boo {Stadium cry}; 35a yes sir {Private response?}; 37a Nia {Vardalos of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"}; 38a Salish {Northwest Indian}; 39a Drake {Golden Hind captain}; 40a pull a {___ fast one}; 42a Wil {Actor Wheaton}; 43a AC-DC {Australian band with the 2008 #1 album "Black Ice"}; 50a Alcatraz {The Rock}; 53a whit {Scintilla}; 54a Eli {Horror film director Roth}; 55a staid {Strait-laced}; 57a Ramada {Red Roof rival}; 58a came to {Totaled}; 61a err {Transgress}; 62a mar {Punch holes in, e.g.}; 63a nor {"... ___ any drop to drink": Coleridge}; 70a nix {Overrule}; 71a Mme. {Bovary's title: Abbr.}; 72a saline {Like the ocean}; 73a Onegin {Pushkin title character}; 75a Keogh {Retirement plan name}; 77a Gia {Supermodel Carangi}; 78a Ashe {North Carolina county}; 87a ASAP {Pronto}; 90a spree {Word with shooting or shopping}; 91a neath {Opposite of o'er}; 92a sold to {Unloaded on}; 95a eat {Feed on}; 96a Ridley {Filmdom's Scott}; 102a roo {Kanga's kid}; 103a ell {90-degree turn}; 104a reply to {Answer}; 105a EMS {911 responder: Abbr.}; 106a segno {Musical repetition mark}; 108a aerobe {Oxygen-needing organism}; 115a iron-on {Like some decals}; 116a hen {Brooder}; 117a predestine {Ordain}; 118a NYNEX {Part of a big 1997 merger}; 119a odd {Like most primes}; 120a tip {15%, maybe}; 121a stoned {Squiffed}.

1d BMW {Z3 maker}; 2d ear {Prominent donkey feature}; 3d are {Word with you}; 4d tick {"60 Minutes" sound}; 5d Lake Biel {The Aare flows into it}; 6d E minor {Key of Dvorák's "New World" Symphony}; 7d orgy {Liberal party?}; 8d rib {Eve's origin}; 9d baa {Sound from the fold}; 10d splats {Food fight noises}; 11d poor law {Welfare act of old}; 12d yet {"But then again ..."}; 13d smirch {Tarnish}; 14d tapir {Ungulate with a long snout}; 15d ozone {Ultraviolet blocker}; 17d Essen {Ruhr Valley city}; 21d abyss {Gaping hole}; 23d loo {London facilities}; 27d still {Sauce maker?}; 28d Sydow {Max von ___}; 29d Perth {City on the Swan River}; 33d palls {Gloomy atmospheres}; 36d sketch {"S.N.L." segment}; 37d nudity {Reason for an R rating}; 40d pole-ax {Medieval weapon}; 41d alter egos {Superheroes often have them}; 44d crane {Origami figure}; 45d dados {Carpenters' grooves}; 46d czar {Autocrat}; 48d lemming {Not an independent thinker}; 49d yard {Play area}; 51d cranial {Heady?}; 52d Aaron {Hammerin' Hank}; 56d irks {Rubs the wrong way}; 60d on me {"This one's ___"}; 62d My Life {Bill Clinton's autobiography}; 64d Jonas {Pop's ___ Brothers}; 66d amor {Love, to a Latino}; 67d eaglet {Aerie hatchling}; 68d teased {Acted the coquette}; 69d coca {Chewed stimulant}; 74d GNP {Econ. indicator}; 75d kendo {Sport with a bamboo sword}; 76d hypes {Pumps up}; 79d shale {Fossil source}; 80d hotel {Monopoly acquisition}; 81d ethyl {Kind of alcohol}; 83d igloo {Part of an Inuit village}; 85d a rat {"I smell ___"}; 86d unionist {Lincoln, for one}; 89d uttered {Articulated}; 92d skybox {Where a V.I.P. may sit}; 93d often {In many cases}; 94d Ormond {Julia of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"}; 96d rogues {Miscreants}; 97d brain {Computer's center, informally}; 98d leery {Circumspect}; 99d apron {Stage part}; 100d clone {Cell mate?}; 101d -est {Facetious suffix with most}; 102d reqd. {Not optional: Abbr.}; 106d step {Algorithm part}; 107d onto {Not fooled by}; 109d Tho {Vietnam's Le Duc ___}; 110d opt {Make a selection}; 113d -ene {Suffix with 81-Down}; 114d Ted {J.F.K. aide Sorensen}.

NYT Saturday 4/18/09 - Animal House

After struggling with yesterday's puzzle, I was really pleased to get this Saturday New York Times crossword done in around a half hour. It started well with Wikipedia; the long answers were fairly easy to guess and that is a huge help in breaking into all areas of the puzzle quickly.

Although this was a themeless crossword, the ground squirrels and scarlet tanagers nicely balance each other and usher in a grid with several animal references: a dog that goes grr, a camel that gives milk and fish with no privacy.

Solving time: 32 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 1a fishbowls {They lack private parts}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Byron Walden / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 24 (10.7%) black squares
Answers	66 (average length 6.09)
Theme squares	0 (0.0%)
Scrabble points	296 (average 1.47)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

10a Ababa {Part of a capital's name meaning "flower"}. Addis Ababa seemed a likely candidate from the start - the only question was which part? The name comes from the Amharic for "new flower".

29a Esperanto {The 1965 William Shatner film "Incubus" is in it}. A film in Esperanto - who'd have thought it! In fact, this was the second of four films shot exclusively in the artificial language.



53a camel {Source of Caravane cheese}. The name Caravane provides a helpful hint to the milieu of the animal. Production of dairy products from camels seems to be fraught with difficulties, not least the problem of how to milk the temperamental animals.

13d Beltrán {1999 A.L. Rookie of the Year Carlos}. Beltrán seemed more like the name for a piece of machinery, but I convinced myself it had to be right from crossings. He plays for the New York Mets and currently has the highest stolen base percentage amongst active players with 250 or more steals ... whatever that means.

28d Raye {Country singer Collin ___}. Hmm ... fewer than usual popular music references in this puzzle: you have to get halfway through the downs to find one. Collin Raye had great success in the 1990s with songs such as "Little Rock", the story of a recovering alcoholic.



34d Eton {"A Yank at ___" (1942 Mickey Rooney film)}. The title to my mind echoes Laurel and Hardy's A Chump at Oxford, but is in fact the sequel to the 1938 British comedy A Yank at Oxford. The Mickey Rooney movie was shot entirely in Connecticut and shows the difficulties an uncouth American has fitting in to the famous British school for toffs.



39d Diomede {Little ___, island in the Bering Strait}. Little Diomede is the smaller (duh) of the two Diomede Islands. The Little one is American and the Big one Russian - they're nicknamed the Yesterday and Tomorrow islands because they're on either side of the International Date Line. If Sarah Palin lived on Little Diomede, she really could see Russia from her house!
Noteworthy

1a fishbowls {They lack private parts}. Cryptic crossword compilers like to start their work off with a really great 1-across. Often they'll have a neat clue filed away and build the puzzle around it. I don't know if that's what happened here, but this misleading clue reads brilliantly and works for both the literal and figurative meanings of the answer.

19a Topsy {"Uncle Tom's Cabin" girl}. I love it when a clue seems ultra-obscure, but once you see what the answer is, you realize you knew it all along. In this case, the character Topsy is famous for giving us the expression "grew like Topsy".

"Do you know who made you?"
"Nobody, as I knows on," said the child, with a short laugh.
The idea appeared to amuse her considerably; for her eyes twinkled, and she added,
"I 'spect I grow'd. Don't think nobody never made me."
From Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe

23a grr {Spot announcement?}. Another beautifully misleading clue. Our dog Mimi has very little opportunity to socialize with other dogs, and we're making a big effort to take her to dog parks so she doesn't use grr as an announcement when faced with friendly animals.

45a ISU {Terre Haute sch.}. Let's hear it for the The Crucy League, as 39-down wasn't going to be much help in determining the critical first letter of this answer.

47a Galen {Early advocate of bloodletting}. Galen (AD 129–200) is a good bet for any clue about early medicine.

57a Wikipedia {Its symbol is a globe composed of jigsaw puzzle pieces}; 36d article {57-Across offering}. Nice to have a few gimmes in a difficult puzzle: I get to see the Wikipedia globe several times a day mostly when I'm writing the blog. Regulars will know that almost all the links go to the famed free encyclopedia.

The Rest

15a in too deep {Unable to get out of a bad situation}; 16a roves {Is far from a homebody}; 17a ground squirrels {Marmots and prairie dogs}; 20a turns on to {Gets acquainted with something good}; 21a rage {Fashion}; 22a jeans {Wranglers, e.g.}; 24a Eda {Coloratura Christiane ___-Pierre}; 25a burr {A Scot has one}; 26a threat {___ level}; 32a earns {Generates returns}; 33a genuinely {From the heart}; 35a saris {They may be thrown over the shoulder}; 38a settled up {Squared}; 42a presto {Quickly}; 44a rhos {Fraternity letters}; 46a it's {With 6-Down, "Curious ..."}; 49a Pohl {"The Far Shore of Time" author Frederik}; 50a tit for tat {Mechanical trade}; 54a scarlet tanagers {Cardinal relatives}; 56a algae {Red ___}; 58a teens {World War I period}; 59a one-parent {Like some families}.

1d fig-tree {Jesus cursed one in Matthew 21}; 2d inroads {Headway}; 3d stop-gap {Improvised}; 4d house {Fraternity, e.g.}; 5d bony {Thinner than thin}; 6d odd {See 46-Across}; 7d Western US {Where M.S.T. and P.S.T. can be found}; 8d Le Quartier Latin {Home of la Sorbonne}; 9d spurn {Jilt}; 10d arrs. {LAX info: Abbr.}; 11d Boro {New York's Five ___ Bike Tour}; 12d avenger {Ant-Man, Iron Man, Wasp or Thor, in Marvel Comics}; 14d assorts {Divides by type}; 18d inst. {Tech., for one}; 22d Juan {San ___}; 25d Brest {French naval base in heavy W.W. II fighting}; 27d Hell's {Oregon and Idaho's ___ Canyon}; 30d egis {Protection: Var.}; 31d on the take {Corrupt, in a way}; 35d spits at {Shows contempt for}; 37d restage {Show, as past events}; 40d usher-in {Herald}; 41d pulls at {Tries to loosen}; 43d ogre {Brute}; 48d at two {When four bells ring on the middle watch}; 49d pager {It may give you a buzz}; 51d Fran {Memorable 1996 hurricane along the Eastern Seaboard}; 52d oles {Corrida sounds}; 53d capa {Corrida cloak}; 55d nip {Snatch}.

NYT Friday 4/17/09 - Eerily Blitzed

I found this Friday New York Times crossword very very tough. In fact, I was so pleased to actually fill in all of the grid that I didn't get too upset about a couple of wrong answers: I didn't know Jin-Soo Kwon from Lost, nor arroz, and about a 4/5th chance of getting the wrong crossing.

I really love the fill of the grid, which is (not surprisingly) pangrammatic: every letter of the alphabet is used once. But if Friday's crossword leaves me feeling eerily blitzed, I hate to think what we're going to be faced with on Saturday - traditionally the hardest NYT puzzle of the week.

Solving time: 55 mins (no cheating, two wrong answers)
Clue of the puzz: 31a piers {Where many lines are dropped}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Corey Rubin / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 35 (15.6%) black squares
Answers	68 (average length 5.59)
Theme squares	0 (0.0%)
Scrabble points	335 (average 1.76)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Feature	Pangrammatic

New To Me

6a Texas BBQ {Slow-smoked Southern grub}. This is a great answer to get into a puzzle: lots of low frequency letters, a four-consonant sequence and a Q at the end - defying expectations in several ways. Apparently even Texas barbecues come in four different styles - who knew?

35a arroz {Frijoles go-with}. Time to fill another gap in Español para los crucigramistas. The Spanish for rice doesn't come up that often, but when it does, you'd better know it - there's sure to be an obscure crossing like Jin-Soo Kwon.

2d Cahill {John Wayne title marshal of 1973}. Cahill U.S. Marshal was a typical Western vehicle for its star.



27d ruer {Monday morning quarterback, maybe}. I hope I got this answer right. From reading definitions I get the sense that the Monday morning quarterback deprecates the actions of others - I think of a ruer as someone feeling remorse for his/her own actions.

30d Kwon {"Lost" character Jin-Soo ___}. Aaargh! Not Lost again and (critically) crossing with a Spanish answer I don't know (hmm ... anagram of Kwon).

34d day-peep {Crack of dawn, old-style}. A bit obscure, but colorful and guessable. According to The Chambers Dictionary, it's used by John Milton. You don't need to know any more about day-peeps - they're nothing compared to night-peeps:



Noteworthy

17a mirandize {Read rights to, as a perp}. "Read" is a nasty trick a compiler can pull: you can't tell whether it's the present or past tense. I assumed the latter, hoping mirandaed would work, until it clearly didn't. In Britain, the standard caution doesn't have such a colorful term - it goes:

You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence.

18a oil {Work in a gallery}; 31a piers {Where many lines are dropped}. A couple of great misleading clues - tough to pick a favorite.

32a MTWTF {Appt. book headings}. A very nasty answer: not at all what I was expecting, so it was great to see through it when I realized that it had to end F. Is it any coincidence that the end of the New York Times solving week goes WTF?!

37a four one one {Information, slangily}. I got lucky with this one: Magdalen dropped the 4-1-1 into a conversation earlier in the week and had to explain what it meant. The UK equivalent is directory enquiries, which used to be 192, until deregulation allowed a myriad private companies to give out the same information using 118 followed by another three digits. The 118 118 service had memorable ads which upset a number of athletes who thought they were being parodied.



48a AME {Letters in some church names}. Back in February, I found out about the African Methodist Episcopal Church and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. It took a while to see AME was wanted here, though - I kept thinking it must be something to do with Greek letters.

53a Red Planet {Our neighbor's nickname, with "the"}. I started thinking this must be about the compiler's neighbor - that can't be! Theory number 2 was that it referred to Canada or Mexico - wrong again. It was great to finally see what was wanted.

3d uvulae {Anatomical hangers}. The uvula hangs down at the back of your mouth. Uvulae seem to feature prominently any time a cartoon character gets swallowed.



12d Bozeman {Montana State University setting}. Another clue I got lucky with: Bozeman, MT is the skiing area favored by our neighbors for their winter retreats.

15d imarets {Near Eastern hospices}. Strangely I have come across imaret a lot in cryptic crosswords. Its vowel consonant alternation seems to make it crop up in a lot of fills.

imaret n (in Turkey) an inn or hospice for travellers.
From The Chambers Dictionary

39d Omahan {Warren Buffett, e.g.}. This one turned out easier than I thought, thanks to the investor's nickname, the Sage of Omaha.

The Rest

1a scuse {Apologies, in Apulia}; 14a eaves {Some nest sites}; 15a I've got you {"No, no, this one's on me"}; 16a thugs {Many rappers' personas}; 19a on a dime {One way to turn}; 21a tes {Parisian possessive}; 22a flab {Something Mr. Olympia lacks}; 24a a role {Play ___}; 25a bsmt. {Rec rm. locale, often}; 26a fleur-de-lys {French kings' emblem}; 28a leas {Picnic places}; 29a nuits {Dark times abroad}; 30a kiln {Hot pot spot}; 34a door {It can be cracked}; 36a sawn {Like lumber in a mill}; 42a ayes {Side for passage}; 43a end it {Split up}; 44a D maj. {Key of Mahler's Symphony No. 1: Abbr.}; 45a NPR {"Fresh Air" airer}; 46a in light {Considering, with "of"}; 49a deals with {Handles}; 51a ethic {Puritan ___}; 54a meant {Not inadvertent}; 55a open-eyed {On the lookout}; 56a pangs {Fast results?}.

1d set-off {Depart}; 4d seg {Div.}; 5d esso {Petrol brand}; 6d TV idols {Stars of "90210," e.g.}; 7d eerily {How something might be familiar}; 8d X Games {Event held each summer and winter}; 9d a one {Crack}; 10d std. {Not an upgrade: Abbr.}; 11d by itself {Per se}; 13d quests {Story lines of Indiana Jones films}; 20d nadir {Depths of despair}; 23d bunions {Podiatrists' concerns}; 25d blitzed {Overwhelmed and destroyed}; 31d POWERade {Coca-Cola product}; 32d Mr Right {The perfect match, for some}; 33d troth {Loyalty}; 35d audited {Like some classes and books}; 36d Sandro {Painter Botticelli}; 37d Fenway {Park since 1912}; 38d on-line {How some people shop}; 40d naming {Kind of ceremony}; 41d ejects {Sends packing}; 46d isle {Singapore, for one}; 47d temp {Certain sub}; 50d LPN {Hosp. employee}; 52d tea {Event at which some people wear gloves}.

NYT Thursday 4/16/09 - Crazy Driver State

Connecticut is lucky to be honored in today's New York Times crossword: without extra-ct as the starting point I doubt there'd have been a puzzle. I found it fun to learn the state nicknames when I arrived in the USA three years ago, but the Nutmeg State is one of the hardest to remember: driving through it on I-84, we see some of the craziest drivers I've ever experienced, but no nutmeg. To us, CT will always be the "crazy driver state".

Overall this puzzle was straightforward, but I got into trouble with the square at the intersection of Arnel and La Rosa: if you didn't know either of these dated references you were in difficulties. The problem is really in the fill, as the clues to these answers couldn't really be made any easier than they were.

Solving time: 19 mins (no cheating, two wrong answers)
Clue of the puzz: 19d Delta {American alternative}

Theme

An extra CT is inserted into four long answers, making puns. The explanation comes from 26d extract {Derive (from) ... or a two-part hint for understanding 17-, 33-, 42- and 58-Across}.

17a showed the doctor {Revealed when seeking medical help?}
33a Direct Straits {Water passages that don't turn?}
42a Monica Selects {One-named R&B singer makes her choice?}
58a European Unction {Continental salve?}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Oliver Hill / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 34 (15.1%) black squares
Answers	78 (average length 4.90)
Theme squares	63 (33.0%)
Scrabble points	297 (average 1.55)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

9a Arnel {Synthetic fabric}. I hadn't heard of Arnel and, not knowing 13-down, had to guess at the last letter. With a 1 in 10 chance like this, I usually guess wrong! This answer comes up about once a year in the NYT so I should probably make an effort to remember it. As far as I can tell, the sole producer of the fiber, Celanese, stopped making Arnel in the mid 80s cuz of toxicity concerns - time to expunge it from crosswords too?

Arnel n. trademark a synthetic fiber made from cellulose triacetate; a fabric made from fibers of this type.
From The New Oxford American Dictionary

21a Len {___ Barry, with the 1965 hit "1-2-3"}. Len Barry is a Philadelphian who was the lead singer of The Dovells from 1957 to 1963. He had the referenced hit after going solo - it was one of the forty singles John Lennon selected for his tour jukebox.



27a Lois {Trixie's mom, in the comics}. A reference to the Hi and Lois comic strip. Hi and Lois have four kids: Chip, Dot, Ditto and baby Trixie, who converses with a ray of sunlight. They also have a Dawg. It looks like a special posting on comic strip characters is called for.

37a ankle {Exhibitor of dorsiflexion}. dorsiflexion may be music to the ears of the medical profession, but doesn't crop up much in everyday conversation. Here's my one chance to find out what it means.

dorsiflex v.t. Physiology bend (something, typically the hand or foot) dorsally or toward its upper surface: the subject dorsiflexed his ankle
From The New Oxford American Dictionary

13d La Rosa {Singer Julius who was famously fired on the air by Arthur Godfrey}. "fame", "famous" and "famously" tend to be used rather liberally in NYT clues. The incident in 1953 certainly hadn't come to my attention before: Julius La Rosa was a regular on the morning radio show Arthur Godfrey Time and the Wednesday night variety show Arthur Godfrey and His Friends. He was fired on air without being given any prior warning - this clip explains the background better than I could.



Noteworthy

1a oh oh {Cry of anticipation}; 2d heh {Schemer's utterance}. It seems a little inelegant to have these two crossing, but that corner's fairly constrained: would Roth and echo worked out any better at 1 and 14 across?

38a ERA {It's low for aces: Abbr.}. Earned Run Averages aren't exactly new to me ... why they're in the tagline at the top of the blog! But I didn't know that an ace is specifically the best starting pitcher in baseball and needed to be reminded that the best pitchers give away the fewest runs. Here's one for Dino_Burger: Red Sox ace Jon Lester.

47a can {Pink-slip}. Two slang terms for the unfortunate fate of many Americans these days. A green card isn't green and it seems a pink slip isn't pink.

69a one-d {Flat, for short}. This seemed wrong at first glance: surely one-dimensional is linear and two-dimensional is planar? Yes, that's how Sheldon would look at it, but to normal peeps like Penny, both mean shallow and superficial, ie "flat".

19d Delta {American alternative}. A neat clue - it took a while to realize American was the airline.

10d roc {Menace for Sinbad the sailor}; 53d orc {"The Silmarillion" creature}. Two mythological creatures that coincidentally make anagrams of each other. rocs have appeared in movie versions of Sinbad, but The Silmarillion seems to be the one Tolkein book that remains to be filmed.



62d ode {"Beauty is truth, truth beauty" genre}. A nice reference to an ode we've all heard of.

O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"--that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
From Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats

The Rest

5a bass {Low part}; 14a keno {Game with many balls}; 15a etch {Carve}; 16a voilà {Cry of accomplishment}; 20a Sara {1979 Fleetwood Mac hit}; 22a rho {Density symbol}; 23a no more {"I've had it!"}; 26a ell {Wing}; 28a Ana {Santa ___}; 29a sax {Instrument in the E Street Band}; 31a trauma {Focus of a hospital center}; 39a e-tail {Modern sales}; 45a crypts {Locations of some secret meetings}; 48a is a {"Patience ___ virtue"}; 49a I owe {"___ you one!"}; 50a sot {Drunk}; 52a good at {Accomplished in}; 55a Ngo {Old Vietnamese strongman ___ Dinh Diem}; 56a cuz {Slangy conjunction}; 57a firs {A lot of a Maine forest}; 64a medal {___ ceremony}; 65a ware {Ending with flat or spy}; 66a endo- {Prefix with -plasm}; 67a assts. {Staffers: Abbr.}; 68a Amy's {"___ View" (1999 Broadway play)}.

1d OKs {Approvals}; 3d Ono {Sean ___ Lennon}; 4d howso {Question that demands an explanation}; 5d bed-rest {Recuperation requirement}; 6d atta- {Boy lead-in}; 7d sch. {K.S.U., L.S.U. or M.S.U.}; 8d shell {Bermuda memento, perhaps}; 9d Avon {Massachusetts town named for a river in England}; 11d nitrous acid {HNO2}; 12d Elohim {God, in the Old Testament}; 18d ear {Place for a headphone}; 23d nada {Zilch}; 24d on in {"Come ___!"}; 25d mark my words {"Just you wait!"}; 27d latte {Drink that may be vanilla-flavored}; 30d a sec {"Just ___"}; 32d riel {Cambodian currency}; 34d elope {Advice for lovers whose parents disapprove}; 35d cent {Copper}; 36d rasa {Tabula ___}; 40d it's a {"___ deal!"}; 41d LSAT {Future atty.'s hurdle}; 43d issue {Newsstand offering}; 44d engines {They're under hoods}; 45d cinema {Hollywood business}; 46d rogues {Reprobates}; 51d Ozawa {Conductor noted for wearing white turtlenecks}; 54d osteo- {Bone: Prefix}; 56d Cpls. {Inferiors to sgts.}; 57d fury {Hurricane's force}; 59d oat {___ flakes}; 60d 'Nam {'60s service site}; 61d inn {B and B}; 63d nod {Approval}.