NYT Tuesday 5/26/09 - Share and Share Alike?

Hub 1.0 (aka Henry - we don't seem to have standardized on a name) is back in Philadelphia, so we've reverted to my normal routine of solo solving: this Tuesday New York Times crossword was about average difficulty, throwing up the usual set of trivia that were new to me.

With many thematic NYT puzzles, I sense the compiler had a title in mind, but there's no accommodation for one (with the exception of Sunday puzzles). Here the compiler has used the neat trick of putting the title in the first and last across answers.

Solving time: 10 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 55d Acts {Romans preceder}

Theme

Phrases starting with synonyms for "swap", suggested by 1a swap, 67a meet {An appropriate title for this puzzle?}.

17a trade school {Where to learn a vocation}
28a barter system {Basis for a moneyless economy}
44a exchange rate {Two dollars per pound, say}
58a switch plate {"On/off" surrounder}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Mike Nothnagel / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 38 (16.9%) black squares
Answers	78 (average length 4.79)
Theme squares	54 (28.9%)
Scrabble points	329 (average 1.76)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

26a Danza {"Who's the Boss?" co-star}. Who's the Boss? was an American TV series from 1984 to 1992 and I'm fairly sure it didn't make it to UK screens. It's a role-reversal comedy in which Tony Danza's character is forced to work as a housekeeper/nanny/handyman etc in the household of an advertising exec played by Judith Light.



47a Yorke {Radiohead singer Thom}. Thom Yorke is the lead singer and main songwriter for the English alt-rock group. Here's their innovative video for House of Cards, made with LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology.



64a Samms {Emma of "Dynasty"}. Emma Samms is the British actress who played Fallon Carrington Colby in Dynasty when the role was recast in 1985. She subsequently starred in the spin-off series The Colbys. Both the shows had wonderful iconic opening sequences.



34d K-PAX {Title planet in a 2001 Kevin Spacey movie}. K-PAX is a series of novels by Gene Brewer, named after the planet from which the principal character "prot" has come (or thinks he has come). The movie was based on the first book in the series.



35d Nancy Drew {Character who first appeared in "The Secret of the Old Clock"}. Nancy Drew seems to be hugely popular in America and yet I didn't hear of her until I started collecting books in adulthood (and even then wouldn't have been able to name her first book). I guess that's because we had the equivalent in The Famous Five (which I read avidly ... but at what age? it must have been before the Sherlock Holmes craze, so probably when I was 10 or so). A film, loosely based on the Nancy Drew series, was released in 2007.



Noteworthy

22a Loman {Fictional salesman Willy}. The eponymous salesman in Death of a Salesman seems to come up quite regularly. For a change here's a British actor in the role: Warren Mitchell, best known for playing the British equivalent of Archie Bunker, won an Olivier award for his performances as Loman.



24a Steele {"Remington ___" of 1980s TV}. This was what Pierce Brosnan was famous for before he became the fifth James Bond. Co-star Zimbalist would be another great answer to get into a grid!



36a wrote {Put pen to paper}. That little word "put" can be deadly in clues, as it says little about the tense you want: I confidently put in write, making it tough to work out 26-Down until I realized wrote was called for.

42a manse {Stately home}. This didn't really chime with me, since I normally think of a manse as the residence of a church minister ... and therefore modestly proportioned. But The New Oxford American Dictionary does list "large stately home" as a definition of manse, so it seems to have acquired this extra meaning in the US, synonymous with mansion.

2d worst {Beat in a match}. Odd that worst and best can mean the same thing (in the sense used in the clue), while being opposites in the normal sense.

9d Bill Nye {TV's Science Guy}. This brought back horrible memories of this year's American Crossword Puzzle Tournament when I had (Bill) Nie/Elaine (Boosler) instead of (Bill) Nye/Elayne (Boosler) in puzzle 7. Well at least those are two names I'll have no difficulty remembering any more.



55d Acts {Romans preceder}. A neat clue, making you wonder who came before the Romans. But you act-ually need to think of books of the New Testament of course.

The Rest

5a Part B {Second of two sections}; 10a dam {Beaver's project}; 13a rowed {Competed in a regatta}; 15a it is I {Formal answer to "Who's at the door?"}; 16a ore {Vein contents}; 19a tea {Earl Grey, for one}; 20a ask {Set as a price}; 21a cuss {Ornery sort}; 33a I know {When repeated, exuberant student's cry}; 37a RDA {Vitamin bottle info, for short}; 38a span {Go across}; 39a Diana {Artemis' Roman counterpart}; 40a vidi {"Veni, ___, vici"}; 41a LAN {Intraoffice PC hookup}; 43a six am {When some morning news programs begin}; 48a New Age {Yanni's music genre}; 52a did OK {Got a C, say}; 54a sake {Drink with sushi}; 56a nog {Drink with Christmas cookies}; 57a d'Or {Palme ___ (Cannes prize)}; 62a awe {Completely impress}; 63a U-boat {Torpedo launcher}; 65a yaw {Go off course}; 66a pangs {Guilty feelings, e.g.}.

1d Srtas. {Spanish counterparts of mlles.}; 3d awake {Open-eyed}; 4d ped {___ Xing}; 5d pics {Snaps}; 6d aths. {Sports players: Abbr.}; 7d Rio {Carnaval city}; 8d Tso {General on a Chinese menu}; 10d dot matrix {Early printer type}; 11d area {Realm}; 12d mean {Intend}; 14d declaw {Remove the nails from, as a cat}; 18d suer {Plaintiff}; 23d ozs. {Parts of lbs.}; 25d ebon {Black, in verse}; 26d droner {One who goes on and on}; 27d Asta {Nick and Nora's pooch}; 29d twinge {Sudden, sharp pain}; 30d erase {Render blank, as a floppy disk}; 31d Edda {Old Norse work}; 32d maim {Incapacitate}; 33d isle {Tropical vacation spot}; 39d dank {Like dungeons, typically}; 40d view {Feature of a house in the hills}; 42d marks up {Annotates, as a manuscript}; 43d steeps {Soaks in hot water, as 19-Across}; 45d hoo {"Yoo-___!"}; 46d ankh {Egyptian cross}; 49d a name {"What's in ___?"}; 50d got me {"Dunno"}; 51d egest {Discharge}; 52d D-day {"It's now or never" time}; 53d Iowa {Home of the Hawkeyes of the Big Ten}; 54d stag {How some people go to a party}; 59d WBA {Org. for heavyweights}; 60d ion {Chloride, for one}; 61d lam {On the ___ (fleeing)}.

NYT Monday 5/25/09 - Forest Grump

Hub 1.0 was still with us Sunday night and the question arose whether we should solve the Monday New York Times crossword together. I said this was probably pointless, as the puzzle would be so easy that trying to collaborate would slow things down considerably.

This was a reasonable prediction, although the puzzle wasn't the easiest Monday one I've tried. I finished slightly ahead of Magdalen, who was trailed by Hub 1.0 - he had difficulties with the crossing of GTO and Oteri, reminding me of where I was at the start of the year.

Am I alone in thinking we were a little short-changed on the theme here: 64-Across tree and three 3-letter trees embedded in movie titles? Maybe it would have been difficult to find enough longer trees in movies alone; but this begs the question why not widen the options for 15-letter answers to get longer trees: or at least go for four 15-letter movie titles with trees in. This Forest Grump feels the grid doesn't push the envelope much, even for a Monday audience.

Solving time: 7 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 9a slab {Hunk}

Theme

The long answers have a tree hidden in the circled squares, spanning two or more words. This feature was referenced by 64a tree {Thing hidden in each of the movie names in this puzzle}.

19a Steel Magnolias {1989 Sally Field/Dolly Parton/Shirley MacLaine movie}



35a Big Momma's House {2000 Martin Lawrence movie}



50a Prelude to a Kiss {1992 Alec Baldwin/Meg Ryan film}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Peter A. Collins / Will Shortz
Grid	15x14 with 34 (16.2%) black squares
Answers	71 (average length 4.96)
Theme squares	46 (26.1%)
Scrabble points	281 (average 1.60)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

17a Olin {Ken of "thirtysomething"}. Ken Olin rose to stardom with his role as Michael Steadman on thirtysomething (sic, no initial capital). I seem to remember watching some episodes in England, but didn't recall the names of the actors - hearing the lovely theme music brings it all back.



4d Oster {Blender maker}. Going to the Oster web site explains why I haven't heard of these guys: you can select any country in the Americas, but not on the other continents. An odd difference between Britain and America is the use of electric kettles: they're really hard to find here, but everyone has them in the UK - perhaps because we need to make so much more tea!

5d Boom Boom {Classic John Lee Hooker song of 1962}. I only know one famous "boom boom": it's the end of every joke by Basil Brush, the vulpine glove puppet that appeared on British TV.



52d Taos {New Mexico resort}. I was going to pass Taos by in this commentary, until I noticed an odd literary connection: the English novelist D.H. Lawrence settled there in the 1920s and, although he died in Venice, his ashes are now interred in a chapel near Taos.

Noteworthy

9a slab {Hunk}; 23a he-man {Hunk}. Having solved 23-Across first, it was hard to get in the right mindset to solve 9-Across - neat pair of clues.

29a GTO {Old Pontiac}. The Pontiac GTO was originally produced between 1964 and 1974. It's regarded as the first "muscle car" and famously featured in Two-Lane Blacktop. GM have announced that the Pontiac brand will be phased out next year as part of its restructuring efforts - what a shame to drop such iconic branding.



41a Amy {Novelist Tan}. Amy Tan is a Chinese American writer whose writing focuses on the relationship between mothers and daughters divided by cultural and generational differences. The Joy Luck Club was made into a movie in 1993.



46a Janet, 51d Reno {With 51-Down, John Ashcroft's predecessor as attorney general}. This comes up often enough that it's now a gimme for me. Nice to be able to clue Reno as something other than the "gambling mecca".

58a in LA {"To Live and Die ___"}. I don't know too much about this movie, but familiarity with the title was enough. To Live and Die in LA is a thriller from 1985 involving Secret Service agents.



10d loving cups {Some trophies}. I knew that loving cups had two handles, but it never occurred to me before that indeed many trophies have this form. Here's a picture specially for Magdalen: Tiger sure loves cups.

31d Oteri {Onetime "S.N.L." player Cheri}. I stumbled the first time I was faced with Cheri Oteri: seeing Hub 1.0 struggle in the same way reminded me of where I was and how much progress I've made in filing away common crossword answers like this.

The Rest

1a zero {Home (in on)}; 5a bows {Arrow shooters}; 13a axes {Lumberjacks' tools}; 14a oleo {Margarine}; 15a core {Uneaten part of an apple}; 16a pint {Small milk carton capacity}; 18a avid {Eager}; 22a rob {Hold up}; 24a jib {Foresail}; 27a toasts {"Here's to you!" and others}; 32a adaptor {Electrical device for foreign travelers}; 34a scat {"Git!"}; 39a bogs {Swamps}; 40a stopper {Cork}; 42a gropes {Seeks blindly}; 45a Sri {___ Lanka}; 48a res {Legal matter}; 56a real {Not imaginary}; 57a alai {Jai ___}; 59a anno {The "A" in A.D.}; 60a clod {Lunkhead}; 61a roof {Santa's landing place}; 62a most {Part of M.V.P.}; 63a toss {Pitch}.

1d zaps {Microwaves}; 2d exit {Stage direction after an actor's last line}; 3d René {Philosopher Descartes}; 6d olla {Earthenware pot}; 7d weighs {Puts on a scale}; 8d sonnet {One of Shakespeare's begins "Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?"}; 9d Scala {Milan's La ___}; 11d aria {Diva's number}; 12d beds {They have headboards and footboards}; 20d lotto {Game with a $100 million prize, maybe}; 21d oms {Meditation syllables}; 24d Jabba {"Star Wars" villain ___ the Hutt}; 25d idiom {"Knock it off" or "get it on," e.g.}; 26d Baggy Jeans {Hip-hop wear}; 28d arm {One of an octopus's octet}; 30d Taser {Police stunner}; 33d PMs {Evenings, briefly}; 34d sop {Soak (up)}; 36d asp {Egyptian cobra}; 37d steroids {Shots taken by some athletes}; 38d Hosea {Old Testament prophet}; 42d gnu {Bearded beast}; 43d redact {Edit}; 44d Otello {Verdi hero married to Desdemona}; 47d allot {Apportion}; 49d skirt {Mini or tutu}; 50d pram {Nanny's vehicle}; 53d in or {"Are you ___ out?"}; 54d sloe {Gin flavoring}; 55d safe {Not out}.

NPR Puzzle 5/24/09 -- Name That Name

The good part of having Henry (aka Hub 1.0) visit is that I have access to two English puzzlemasters when the time comes to solve the NPR Sunday on-air puzzle. (For those who haven't figured it out, Henry is my first husband -- hence "Hub 1.0" -- and is the guy who both introduced me to cryptic crosswords and introduced me to Ross.)

The bad part of having two English puzzle masters in the house is if Will Shortz decides to have an on-air puzzle that relies on a substantial knowledge of popular American culture, the mighty puzzlemasters look like mere mortals. Grumpy mortals, at that.

After it was over, Henry was complaining that he hadn't heard of most of the people Will had used. Ross said to him, "What, you've never heard of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?"

To which Henry replied, "I've heard of her, but I have no idea what the actress is called. "

And I asked, "Was Sarah Michelle Geller an answer to any of the clues?" because I didn't recall that. (In my defense, I was making pancakes for breakfast, so my attention was divided.)

"No, Callista Flockhart," Ross said.

"Callista Flockhart wasn't Buffy," I replied.

"Oh, that's right -- she was on Friends," Ross concluded.

"No, she was Ally McBeal."

"Oh, that's right. The lady lawyer, right?"

"Only now she's on Brothers & Sisters," I explained.

Anyway, that's what it's like here when it's not general vocabulary. So no one solved the take-away puzzle immediately, and faces were pretty glum at the prospect that it was going to be some American television or music personality. (Add to that, there had been some, uh, cross-chatter while Will was explaining what the puzzle was, so the three of us couldn't quite agree on what the puzzle actually was and had to wait until 10:00 a.m to get the answer on the Internet feed for Weekend Edition Sunday.)

Here is the precise wording of the puzzle:

Think of a famous person whose first and last names both have seven letters. Only two different consonants appear in this full name, each used more than once. Out of the 14 letters in the name, 13 of them appear in the first half of the alphabet, A-M. Who is this person?

We solved it using TEA, even though Ross (whose %$£&@# software it is, for goodness sake!) calls that "cheating." (Pretty cheeky when you consider that he wrote out the pattern -- which relied on excluding N-Z from all but one letter in a seven-letter name to see what came up.) And here's your "kinda" hint: When we figured it out, both Ross and Henry (whose university degrees are from Oxford and Cambridge, respectively) sheepishly allowed as how they'd heard of this individual. And me? I went to an American college. And yes, I'd heard of this famous person too.

Here are the added-value puzzles:

Name a device in ten letters that uses only letters in the top row of a standard typewriter keyboard, i.e., QWERTYUIOP.

And this one:

Name an American sports personality (4, 9) whose name has only letters in the first half of the alphabet. (By way of a further hint, Ross allowed as how the name only relies on the letters BCDEFGHIJKL, so no As or Ms.)

I saw the answer to the first question, but needed to "cheat" on the second one. It's clever -- well done, Ross!

NYT Sunday 5/24/09 - Everyone's a Wynner

We solved this Sunday New York Times crossword as a threesome again, but the combined brains failed to make much of a dent in the usual solving time. How do solvers like Dan Feyer manage to finish in less than five minutes - it's unbelievable?!

"Perpetual Motion" recalled the accompanying recent Listener Crossword: plotting out its infinity sign was a whole lot more difficult - the letters of sign for infinity weren't circled and they weren't in any particular order!

The theme also presented technical challenges for the blog that I'm not really used to: normally Sympathy Crossword Construction can create the whole grid image, but here I had to add the infinity sign afterwards with a graphics program. The freehand curves are a bit wobbly and don't satisfy my sense of aesthetic, but I'll have to live with that.

114-Across in this puzzle prompts a question I have for readers: what became of the "Wynner Awards" for crossword compiling? These seem similar to the "Ascot Gold Cup" award for the best Listener Crossword (voted on annually by the all-correct solvers for a calendar year). But apart from some tantalizing references in Trip Payne's Wikipedia page, I can't find out anything about the Wynner Awards.

Solving time: 40 mins (no cheating, collaborative effort)
Clue of the puzz: 81d insanest {Most ready for commitment?}

Theme

The infinity sign, invented by John Wallis (29-Down) and depicted by connecting the circled letters, which spell out symbol of infinity. The answers to the five asterisked clues hint at the theme:

21a World Without End {2007 Ken Follett novel}
25a Diamonds Are Forever {Bond film that's a real gem?}
100a hope springs eternal {Alexander Pope phrase appropriate to the start of a sports season}
104a Everlasting Love {1974 Carl Carlton hit}
47d Always Mine {Song by Tejano singer Selena}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Elizabeth C. Gorski / Will Shortz
Grid	21x21 with 79 (17.9%) black squares
Answers	140 (average length 5.17)
Theme squares	102 (28.2%)
Scrabble points	603 (average 1.67)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

91a knee {Gonitis locale}. Hunh? This one was new to the whole triumvirate and is too obscure even for Wikipedia, which just reckons Gonitis is a genus of moths of the Noctuidae family. Further researches show gonitis is the medical term for inflammation of the knee: it's in Webster's New International, but not the OED ... hmm.

14d halvas {Turkish sweets}. In Britain, sweets could mean either candies, or desserts. Halva is candy, but not as we know it, being based on unfamiliar ingredients like semolina or tahini.

Noteworthy

24a Ollie {North of Virginia}. What's north of Virginia? Must be the Old Line State or, paradoxically, West Virginia? No, we should remember that the first word may be a proper name, and think of Oliver North. Neat clue!

67a à clef {Roman ___}. Another beautiful clue: fill-in-the-blanks are usually the easiest type, right? Not this time, as you've got to stop thinking of Rome and realize that Roman is "novel" in French. A roman à clef is a factual story disguised as fiction: you need a key to unlock its mysteries. Citizen Kane is a famous example:



82a Mr. T {Clubber Lang portrayer in "Rocky III"}. Always nice to see a reference to Mr. T, as The A-Team was one of my fav shows of the 1980s ... required watching at tea time on Saturdays. I most identified with the character who was always winding B.A. up, viz "Howling Mad" Murdock.



114a Wynne {Arthur ___, inventor of the crossword puzzle}. Britain and America can both lay claim to Arthur Wynne (1862-1945), who was born in Liverpool, but worked for the New York World when he came up with the first crossword puzzle in 1913. Here is the historic first crossword.

26d opera fan {Met regular, e.g.}. Hey, a clue about us! Our next operas are Traviata and Cinders at Glimmerglass in August, when it can be hot enough that you need an opera fan of a different kind (no air conditioning!).

81d insanest {Most ready for commitment?}. Another great piece of misdirection, unless you happen to think getting married is an act of lunacy.

noose n a snare or bond generally, esp (joc) marriage
From The Chambers Dictionary

The Rest

1a chic {Smart}; 5a ahems {Attention getters}; 10a och {Scot's exclamation}; 13a shad {The fish in John McPhee's "The Founding Fish"}; 17a am so {"I ___ sorry!"}; 18a I do too {"Same here"}; 19a via {By way of}; 20a we are {"Here ___!"}; 27a enjoys {Relishes}; 30a visage {Kisser, so to speak}; 31a upscale {Affluent}; 32a lion {Literary ___}; 33a pec {Bench presser's muscle, briefly}; 34a Arnetts {Newsman Peter and others}; 36a in heaven {Where "thy will" will be done, partly}; 39a manta {Big ray}; 42a roo {Down Under critter}; 43a zen {Buddhist school}; 44a tin {Cookie store}; 45a James I {England's first Stuart king}; 46a afraid {Craven}; 50a aswarm {Teeming}; 52a yecch {"That's disgusting!"}; 53a nuff {"___ said!"}; 55a LBO {Wall St. deal}; 56a ABA {Legal org.}; 57a fess {Own (up)}; 58a I, Tina {Turner autobiography}; 60a I win {"Victory!"}; 61a halo {Overhead light?}; 63a Hals {Descartes portraitist}; 64a rein {Carriage driver's need}; 65a oast {Kiln for hops}; 66a Oslo {Knesset : Jerusalem :: Storting : ___}; 69a yest. {24 hrs. ago}; 70a any {Whatever}; 71a Pei {Mile High Center designer}; 72a Cleo {Jazzy Laine}; 73a asset {Plus}; 75a in esse {Real}; 78a itself {In and of ___}; 80a wishes {They often come in threes}; 83a mid {Term opener?}; 84a xis {Greek consonants}; 85a enter {A.T.M. button}; 86a blessing {Grace, basically}; 88a pentads {Fivesomes}; 90a fax {___ number}; 92a trigger {Set off}; 94a Amatis {Classic Cremona family}; 98a I guess {"Perhaps ..."}; 103a exist {Be alive}; 108a Mineo {"Exodus" actor}; 109a SAS {An original Star Alliance airline}; 110a oriels {Victorian home features}; 111a ecce {"Behold!," to Pilate}; 112a EEGs {Brain tests, for short}; 113a TNT {Volatile stuff}; 115a dark {Chocolate choice}.

1d caw {Cornfield sound}; 2d HMO {Med. care option}; 3d Isr. {Country whose national anthem's title means "The Hope": Abbr.}; 4d cold one {Brewski}; 5d a dim {Take ___ view of}; 6d hot oven {Baking need}; 7d ethnic {Like some food}; 8d moods {They can swing}; 9d Sousa {The March King}; 10d overeats {Has thirds or fourths, say}; 11d cine {Cannes subject}; 12d had fun {Lived it up}; 13d selector {Computer switch}; 15d Ariel {Sylvia Plath's last book of poetry}; 16d Deere {Caterpillar rival}; 18d I was {"___ framed!"}; 20d worst off {Most in need of help}; 22d DIY {Handyman's letters}; 23d tag {Price point?}; 27d Eliza {"My Fair Lady" lady}; 28d nines {Good "Dancing With the Stars" scores}; 29d John Wallis {See note}; 33d pen {Corral}; 35d rainiest {Wettest}; 37d Atra {Razor brand}; 38d vim {Energy}; 39d Macs {OS X users}; 40d AMC {Film buff's channel}; 41d Nehi {Certain pop}; 45d Jesse {James or Jackson}; 48d ibis {Cousin of a stork}; 49d don't {"Cut it out!"}; 51d -aboo {Peek-___}; 52d yellowed {Noticeably old, as paper}; 54d unit {Platoon, e.g.}; 57d face {Makeup target}; 59d trees {Nursery sights}; 60d Ione {Actress Skye}; 61d Hopi {Southwest tribe}; 62d a set {"Win ___ of ..." (contest come-on)}; 63d half-step {C to C#, e.g.}; 68d fast {Cut off all intake}; 69d Yser {River of Flanders}; 70d ants {Tiny scurriers}; 72d clings to {Won't let go of}; 74d She {"Ain't ___ Sweet"}; 75d ire {Temper}; 76d sines {Trig ratios}; 77d edges {Lips}; 79d exegeses {Biblical interpretations}; 82d MLX {Six years before the Battle of Hastings}; 86d base ten {Common thing to count in}; 87d skulled {Thick-___}; 88d piping {Slipcover trim}; 89d arrest {Stop}; 90d fits-in {Conforms (with)}; 92d theme {Composer's creation}; 93d Roxie {"Chicago" song}; 95d mgr. {Boss: Abbr.}; 96d a slow {Do ___ burn}; 97d teary {About to cry}; 98d inns {Quaint stopovers}; 99d gag {[Awful!]}; 101d Ivan {Tolstoy's "The Death of ___ Ilyich"}; 102d rile {Vex}; 105d oca {South American tuber}; 106d VCR {Clicker target}; 107d eek {Animator's shriek}.

NYT Saturday 5/23/09 - The Three Amigos

We have Hub 1.0 visiting us for the holiday weekend, so three people collaborated on solving this Saturday New York Times crossword and we really raced through it. Our skills are complementary: I'm now very attuned to US-style deception in definitions, Hub 1.0 has the widest range of general knowledge and Magdalen is ace at TV, movie and music references such as Abe Vigoda.

When solving, I was struck by a couple of repeated answers: hang ten from four days ago and one moment please from March. Seeing them again relatively soon reduced the fun of solving this puzzle, but such coincidences are hard to avoid and doing the blog perhaps makes me more attuned to memorable answers like this.

Solving time: 17 mins (no cheating, collaborative effort)
Clue of the puzz: 7d boo {Starting word}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Dave Tuller / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 29 (12.9%) black squares
Answers	68 (average length 5.76)
Theme squares	0 (0.0%)
Scrabble points	304 (average 1.55)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

1a SpongeBob {Squidward's neighbor on Nickelodeon}. SpongeBob SquarePants has been difficult to avoid, but Squidward has somehow escaped my attention - he's the octopus on the show. The other characters you may need to know some day are Krusty Krab and Patrick the star fish.

16a Abe Vigoda {Sal Tessio's portrayer in "The Godfather"}. What a great answer Abe Vigoda makes! Magdalen had luckily heard of the guy, whose role as the betrayer of Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972) is still his best-known.



32a Khasi {Language spoken in Assam, India}. As is common, Khasi is both the name of the language and the people who speak it. The name is perilously close to one of the spellings of a British slang term for lavatory, khazi.

56a Samoa Time {Setting in Pago Pago}. Pago Pago is the capital of American Samoa, which uses Samoa Time, GMT minus 11 hours.

57a N.Mex. {Its motto in Eng. is "It grows as it goes"}. The proper Latin motto of New Mexico is Crescit eundo. Some of the state mottoes are really odd - I think the prize for weirdness goes to Oregon with "she flies with her own wings".

10d shul {Holy Ark's location}. I don't think I've ever been in shul, so the terminology is unfamiliar: it's the everyday Yiddish word for a synagogue, in which the Holy Ark contains the Torah scrolls.

11d Tossin' and Turnin' {1961 #1 hit for Bobby Lewis}. Bobby Lewis's hit song was later featured in the soundtrack for the movie Animal House (1978).



45d Elwes {"The Cat's Meow" actor, 2001}. We had Cary Elwes back in April, referencing his role in Twister. In The Cat's Meow, he plays Thomas H. Ince, the silent film director whose death remains a mystery.



Noteworthy

10a stag {Do before I do's}. I soon learned the importance of I do in American crosswords - it's a very common three-letter answer. It's less common to call a "stag party" just a stag, but that's what the clue implies here.

17a lusts {Is concupiscent}; 5d grin {Use one's zygomatic muscles}. Concupiscent and zygomatic are words I sort-of-vaguely know, but couldn't define to save my life. That's why we have short words - to save us having to remember highfalutin ones.

24a IPA {Pronunciation guide std.}. I have to confess to never getting to grips with the International Phonetic Alphabet: partly laziness, because learning those special symbols is hard work; partly because the dictionary I use most (The Chambers Dictionary) has a more old-fashioned method of expressing the pronunciations, so I haven't needed to learn IPA.

33a hang ten {Approach the shore on board?}; 3d one moment please {Old company telephone line}. I was rather disappointed by the repeated answers in this puzzle: hang ten stuck out more, perhaps, because I'd singled out its clue last Tuesday; the last one moment please was in a March puzzle, but being a 15-letter answer, was the more memorable.

37a Iguanodon {Dinosaur with large thumb spikes}. Scientists speculate that the thumb spikes may have been used for foraging or for defense, iguanodons being herbivorous. In early reconstructions of skeletons, the spikes were placed on the nose - was that a mistake!

7d boo {Starting word}. My favorite clue - shouting "boo" is liable to make someone start.

13d gestation {An elephant has a long one}. Neat to make everyone think of trunk - elephants have the longest gestation period of any land animal at 22 months.

31d racialism {Bunker mentality?}. It took a few seconds for this alien to recognize the reference to Archie Bunker.

49d et al {Name-dropper's abbr.?}; 50d ta-ta {Pre-takeoff cry?}. A lovely pair of misleading clues.

54d am I {End of many riddles}. This seems to refer to "what am I?" riddles, for example:

No legs have I to dance,
No lungs have I to breathe,
No life have I to live or die
And yet I do all three.

What am I?

The Rest

14a honor roll {Academic goal, for some}; 15a shone {Did really well}; 18a Romano {Parmesan alternative}; 19a cools it {Chills}; 21a exo- {Skeletal opening?}; 22a ankle {Thing you don't want to twist}; 25a Manitoba {Home of Riding Mountain National Park}; 29a on at {Go ___ some length}; 30a crenelate {Furnish with battlements, as a castle}; 34a ate into {Corroded}; 36a ictus {Recurring metrical beat}; 39a pips {Trey trio}; 40a empty out {Drain}; 41a pal {See 8-Down}; 42a sepoy {Indian employed as a British soldier}; 43a use {It may be fair}; 46a Electra {Wife of Pylades}; 48a petrel {Antarctic dweller}; 51a diary {It's often kept under lock and key}; 52a start anew {What you might do after failing}; 55a issue {Give out}; 58a exit lanes {Things that turn people off?}.

1d share {Market purchase}; 2d POBox {Numbered rental}; 4d nova {Cured and smoked salmon}; 6d ergo {It follows that}; 8d old {With 41-Across, one you go way back with}; 9d Black Beauty {Classic novel with a chapter titled "My Breaking In"}; 12d antipasto {First Italian course?}; 15d sloe {Astringent fruit}; 20d ola {Rio "hello"}; 22d at an impasse {Stuck}; 23d not {Kidder's cry}; 26d Angus {MacGyver's first name on "MacGyver"}; 27d nets {Safety equipment}; 28d Île {Terre dans l'eau}; 29d Ohio U {Athens sch.}; 30d chipped in {Helped out}; 32d keno {Game played with a sack called a goose}; 35d Tay {Scotland's longest river}; 38d GPO {Ltr. center}; 40d -e'er {Ending with what, in verse}; 42d stye {Problem with a sebaceous gland}; 44d see me {Words written on some test papers}; 47d crux {Core}; 48d Prot. {Like Luther: Abbr.}; 53d tax {Good thing to be sheltered from}.

NYT Friday 5/22/09 - Easy Manny

I had a great time with this Friday New York Times crossword. When I finished the northwest corner in about 5 minutes, it looked way too easy, but I found the remainder much harder: getting through from the northeast to the southwest was a long slog, partly because I can't say as I have was so hard to recognize - it got filled in several stages.

The bottom right gave a little resistance at the end, but I was very pleased to see the clock at just over half an hour when I put my pencil down. I seem to get along well with Manny Nosowsky's puzzles, as I finished his previous Friday one in about the same time. I suspect I have slightly better rapport with the more senior compilers: they are less likely to throw in pop culture references that are lost on me.

Solving time: 33 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 19a co-star {Bill sharer}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Manny Nosowsky / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 26 (11.6%) black squares
Answers	68 (average length 5.85)
Theme squares	0 (0.0%)
Scrabble points	301 (average 1.51)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

18a Spinoza {Lens-grinding Dutch philosopher}. The compiler's generosity in throwing in a bit of Spinoza trivia was offset by the problem I didn't know it. Lens grinding was Spinoza's day job and he died young of a lung disease, possibly from exposure to glass dust particles. Here's another trivia ort for you: Spinoza was Jeeves's favorite philosopher:

Jeeves was in a deck chair outside the back door, reading Spinoza with the cat Augustus on his lap. I had given him the Spinoza at Christmas and he was constantly immersed in it. I hadn't dipped into it myself, but he tells me it is good ripe stuff, well worth perusal.
From Jeeves and the Tie That Binds by P.G.Wodehouse

7d SDS {Port Huron Statement grp.}. I had no idea about this and even Magdalen had to think hard before realizing it related to Students for a Democratic Society, a left-wing movement that flourished in the 1960s. Poverty and civil rights were the main issues raised in the Statement, but the movement was later known more for its opposition to the Vietnam War. The SDS was revived in 2006.

23d Dalai {Ocean, in Mongolian}. A classic clue type where the answer is something (or someone) strangely familiar: in this case Dalai Lama, which literally means "Ocean teacher".

24d Panhellenic {Of fraternities and sororities collectively}. The inspiration to clue Panhellenic this way presumably came from the names of organizations such as the National Panhellenic Conference (representing 26 sororities) and National Pan-Hellenic Council (representing nine African American fraternities and sororities).

27d SAS {World's first carrier with a transpolar route}. There aren't that many three-letter airlines and a carrier based in the north seemed likely. Scandinavian Airlines System started its transpolar route from Copenhagen to Los Angeles in 1954.

29d Ouida {"Under Two Flags" novelist, 1867}. Ouida was the pseudonym of English novelist Marie Louise de la Ramée (1839–1908). Under Two Flags is one of her most popular novels, being a tale of war, adventure, romance, tragedy and the Foreign Legion - as such it has attracted many film adaptations.

42d Urbana {It has a twin city in the Midwest}. It looks like I need to learn my twin cities, tri-cities and even quad cities, because compilers love to reference them. Let's start with Urbana and Champaign - both in the Prairie State. Railroads led to the foundation of Champaign when the Illinois Central Railroad laid track two miles west of Urbana's downtown.

47d O dear {"___ Cassio!": Othello}. The reference is from Act IV, Scene 1: Cassio is bragging to Iago about his affair with Bianca; poor Othello misinterprets (in asides) the whole story as being about his wife Desdemona:

CASSIO. She was here even now; she haunts me in every place. I was
the other day talking on the sea bank with certain Venetians, and
thither comes the bauble, and, by this hand, she falls me thus
about my neck-
OTHELLO. Crying, "O dear Cassio!" as it were; his gesture imports it.
From Othello by William Shakespeare

Noteworthy

17a Phileas {Verne's Fogg}. A good thing the middle letter was clear from the crossing, because I easily confuse two similar forenames in fiction: Phineas (Finn) and Phileas (Fogg). There might have been an NPR Sunday Puzzle in there, except that Trollopean characters aren't exactly household names any more. Phileas is well-known from movie adaptations:



19a co-star {Bill sharer}. A lovely misleading clue, calling to mind diners going Dutch. But this time it concerns performers: folk not usually known for their democratic feelings when seeing how their names appear in publicity.

20a stew {Stay up nights, say}. In the UK, to "stew" is an old slang term for to study hard, but I think the intended sense here is to worry about something, especially on your own.

45a Elon {Its sports teams are called the Phoenix}. Elon University in Elon, NC crops up again to show why it's #12 on The Crucy League. A fire in 1923 destroyed much of the campus, hence the team nickname.

51a amebae {Real low life?}. Old habits cost me a minute or two when I put in amoeba ... which the clue could equally well lead to, except that you'd never get a British variant spelling in a puzzle without some kind of indication of it.

4d Piltdown man {Its teeth were actually a chimpanzee's}. A great answer to get into a puzzle: the Piltdown man fossil was "discovered" by Charles Dawson in 1912 and it was over 40 years before it was finally exposed as a hoax in 1953. The identity of the forger is still unknown, but evidence points to the discoverer, who had quite a history of creating fake archeological finds.



10d FWIW {E-mail disclaimer}. This is one of those neat acronyms that became popular with the advent of e-mail, for what it's worth.

20d sixty-nine {Cardinal that looks the same when viewed upside down}. Great clue and answer, although I didn't spend too long thinking of religious cardinals before arriving at 69.

51d acey {___-deucy}. Acey-deucy is one of those dictionary entries I know well, without remembering the meaning ... which suited me OK with this clue. Acey-deucy is a version of backgammon in which a dice throw of one or two wins an additional turn. I gather it's also a recent album from R&B singer Anthony David.

The Rest

1a Harper's {Magazine since 1850}; 8a informs {Enlightens}; 15a e-tailed {Accepted PayPal payments, e.g.}; 16a now what? {Cry upon reaching an impasse}; 21a deg. {Acad. goal}; 22a amid {Within}; 23a dirt {Scandalmonger's love}; 24a Pele {Goal-oriented superstar?}; 25a tenor sax {Ravel's "Boléro" calls for one}; 28a so as to {Such that one might}; 30a wealth {Assets}; 32a union {It may be striking}; 33a I can't say as I have {"Not in my experience"}; 37a Norma {Celestial neighbor of Scorpius}; 38a inside {Private}; 39a damage {Crack, e.g.}; 41a it's a Lulu! {"Wait'll you see this!"}; 46a Tony {Accolade for a great play}; 48a L. Ron {Hubbard of science fiction}; 49a TMI {"I didn't need to know all that!," informally}; 50a made {Whipped up}; 53a air mile {Frequent flier's credit}; 55a O Canada {It's heard before many a face-off}; 56a inertia {Sluggard's problem}; 57a relines {Makes warmer, maybe, as boots}; 58a less tar {Selling point for some lights}; 59a eye care {It might improve your focus}.

1d hep-cat {Old swing digger}; 2d at-home {In familiar territory}; 3d raisin {___ bread}; 5d Elea {Home of Parmenides}; 6d rear {Can}; 8d instr. {Music producer: Abbr.}; 9d no pets {Apartment restriction}; 11d own {Consistently defeat, in slang}; 12d Rhodesia {It was NE of Bechuanaland}; 13d Mazeltov {Literally, "good luck"}; 14d stage one {Initial part}; 26d retag {Change the price on}; 31d hasty {Precipitate}; 33d in detail {Blow-by-blow}; 34d coalmine {Where pit stops are made to get fuel?}; 35d armoires {Bedroom furniture}; 36d sis {Provider or wearer of some hand-me-downs}; 40d et alia {Stand-in for unnamed others}; 43d loader {Construction machine}; 44d unease {Distress}; 50d mitt {Paw}; 52d male {Like some electrical plugs}; 54d Mrs {Questionnaire check box option}; 55d öre {100ths of a krona}.

NPR Puzzle May 17, 2009 -- Did You Miss, America?

The puzzle for this week was one of Will Shortz's word-tree puzzles (with only two branches).

Think of a six-letter word with S as the third letter. Remove the S and the remaining five letters spell out a word that is the opposite of the six-letter word. As a further hint, the six-letter word has two syllables, while the five-letter word has one syllable. What are the words?

The answer we came up with was RESIGN & REIGN. Note that these words have opposite meanings only in the case of a beauty queen. Miss America (or Miss USA) reigns for one year, but if there is a scandal, she resigns. By contrast, a disgraced CEO resigns, but you wouldn't describe a CEO's tenure as his or her "reign." Monarchs reign, but they abdicate the throne, not resign it. If there is another position or title that has the RESIGN/REIGN combo, I'm not thinking of it. If you have thought of one, let us know.

[Sidebar: I was going to load a photo or YouTube clip of a Miss USA or Miss America who resigned her reign. The obvious choice would be Vanessa Williams, who resigned as Miss America in 1984 but seriously, she's done so many more amazing and wonderful things since then, why bother, right? But I was stunned to find that a really really blurry clip of her coronation as Miss America is on YouTube. Which prompted me to find an even blurrier clip of the coronation of Miss USA for 1973. That was the year I graduated from high school, and a classmate of mine, Susan Carlson, was Miss New York State and the first runner-up in the Miss USA pageant. The winner, Amanda Jones, was from Illinois, and a seriously cool person.

But that prompted me to Google Susan Carlson (we had been best friends in 7th grade, when I was tremendously impressed that she was able to wear an entirely new outfit every single day for the first 42 days of school). Apart from learning that her Wikipedia page has been removed, and that she was Miss Tennessee in the 1975 Miss World pageant, I didn't get very far. Susan, if you ever Google yourself and read this, get in touch!]

No value-added puzzles this week, mostly because of the aforementioned travel. We're back, though, and will have Henry visiting this weekend, so with three puzzle addicts around on Sunday we should be able to get something good going for you. See you then!

NYT Thursday 5/21/09 - Back Ends

This was another puzzle where it took me ages to see the theme: only after eight minutes of struggling did I notice what was happening by getting 65-Across. The knowledge that the last pair of letters was being swapped had great predictive value in the rest of the grid and I finished in a respectable time for a Thursday New York Times crossword.

The original phrases used for the theme are an oddly assorted bunch: a sitcom character (Barney Fife) and movie title (Happy Feet), with the rest regular dictionary phrases. One wonders if a more uniform set would have been possible with this idea: perhaps not if the objective was for six theme answers - that's pushing the limits.

Solving time: 13 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 22a resole {Fix, as a pump}

Theme

Phrases with the last two letters reversed, making a pun:

17a Barney fief {Name of Lord Rubble's feudal estate?}
26a coal mien {Air in a sooty shaft?}
33a sneak peke {Sly little dog?}
46a Happy fete {Celebration for a Disney dwarf?}
51a snow Coen {Bamboozle a "Fargo" director?}
65a border lien {Property claim along the Rio Grande?}

I really love Happy Feet, which I remember as one of the first movies I saw after arriving in wintry USA.



Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Patrick Blindauer / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 36 (16.0%) black squares
Answers	78 (average length 4.85)
Theme squares	54 (28.6%)
Scrabble points	300 (average 1.59)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

64a Aral {It's shrinking in Asia}. This was an original (to me) way of cluing a ubiquitous answer: apparently, the Aral Sea (once 68,000 km²) has been steadily shrinking as a result of Soviet Union irrigation projects. It is now 10% of its original size and has split into three separate lakes. What's left is too salty to support fish and heavily polluted.

34d KOA {Place to overnight in an R.V.}. The liberties taken with spelling the first word made this answer hard to guess. Kampgrounds of America is a chain of campgrounds - a franchise business with over 450 sites in North America and Japan.

60d René {___ Dubos, Pulitzer winner for "So Human an Animal"}. René Dubos (1901–1982) was a French-American microbiologist whose work on isolating antibacterial substances from microorganisms led to the discovery of antibiotics such as tyrothricin. So Human an Animal expresses his concerns about our loss of humanness as a result of changes in the environment.

Noteworthy

1a ABC {1970 hit for the Jackson 5}. With my useless knowledge of popular music, you might expect me not to know this. But here's a song from the seventies that I actually remember - perhaps because it is one of the most irritating songs of all time. Prepare to be irked again.



22a resole {Fix, as a pump}. Very neat piece of deception: I tried to think what re- word might apply to a mechanical pump. Like many rural properties, we get our water from a well pump, which we took the precaution of replacing in 2007: after 25 years of use, we thought it wouldn't be long before the pump failed (and knowing our luck, it would be when we had guests).

44a Ryder {Charles ___, "Brideshead Revisited" protagonist}. I like Evelyn Waugh's writing and was positively obsessed by it in my teens ... to the extent that I thought Oxford University would be as described in his books, and populated by characters from his books. Big mistake, as I was about 50 years too late. For most people, the image of Charles Ryder will be that portrayed by Jeremy Irons in the Granada TV adapation.



73a Els {P.G.A. Tour Rookie of the Year after Singh}. Not as difficult as at first sight: are there any other three-letter golfers than Ernie Els?

4d ape {Mirror}. Nice clue, although it didn't fool me for very long: the words are equivalent in the sense of copy or mimic.

47d Yma {Sumac from Peru}. I encountered Yma Sumac in a puzzle back in January, but even this weird a reference obviously didn't sink in completely: it wasn't till I had finished the puzzle that I remembered why Sumac = Yma. So here again is the soprano with the five octave range.



The Rest

4a agreed {"Deal!"}; 10a clue {What a loose thread might be}; 14a bro {Friendly term of address}; 15a puente {Río crosser}; 16a hens {Nest egg protectors}; 19a arcs {Slurs, in music}; 20a Anne {English princess}; 21a SSA {Sender of monthly checks: Abbr.}; 24a bow {Present addition}; 28a torn out {Removed roughly}; 32a NYU {Big Apple sch.}; 35a lifer {One stuck in the can}; 40a amat {Third in a Latin series}; 41a scour {Carefully search}; 43a nite {Short evening?}; 48a obi {"The Mikado" wardrobe item}; 50a similes {Like words?}; 56a add {Do sum work}; 57a cubism {Picasso/Braque movement}; 58a Aer {___ Lingus}; 61a Emma {Title heroine described in the first sentence of her novel as "handsome, clever and rich"}; 68a bsmt. {Realty ad abbr.}; 69a arcana {Alchemic knowledge}; 70a cat {Mungojerrie or Skimbleshanks, in a musical}; 71a seas {Wet septet}; 72a yes men {Toadies}.

1d ABBA {"Money, Money, Money" band}; 2d bran {Muffin composition, maybe}; 3d corn-bread {Hot dog coating at a county fair}; 5d Guys {"___ and Dolls"}; 6d refs {Judges}; 7d Eniac {Pioneer computer}; 8d été {Beach time in Bordeaux}; 9d defray {Offset, as expenses}; 10d chasm {Gorge}; 11d -le-Roi {Choisy-___ (Paris suburb)}; 12d uncle {Pawnbroker, in slang}; 13d Essen {Ruhr industrial hub}; 18d neonate {Recent arrival}; 23d Elul {Month before Tishri}; 25d wok {Convex cooker}; 27d one-ups {Betters}; 28d tsar {Romanov ruler}; 29d On My {"___ Own" (song from "Les Miz")}; 30d UPS {DHL competitor}; 31d techie {Sysop, for one}; 36d infidel {Unbeliever}; 37d fieldmice {Meadow voles}; 38d -ette {Major conclusion?}; 39d Rees {Roger of "Cheers"}; 42d RPI {Sch. that's about 150 mi. north of 32-Across}; 45d rocs {Enormous birds of myth}; 49d Bombay {City visited in "Around the World in 80 Days"}; 51d scabs {Union foes}; 52d nurse {White-cap wearer}; 53d Obama {"The Audacity of Hope" author}; 54d wilts {Slumps}; 55d narcs {Pusher pursuers}; 59d Edam {Cheese choice}; 62d meal {Seder, e.g.}; 63d ants {Creatures with tunnel vision?}; 66d ore {Prospector's prize}; 67d ran {Fled}.

NYT Wednesday 5/20/09 - Years of Study

I had plotted out the sequence of college years after a puzzle back in January, but the names still don't come naturally. It must have been frustrating for Dino_Burger, watching over my shoulder as I solved the puzzle, to see me struggling with what's obvious to him.

I gather that a community at College Station sprang up as a result of railroad building, but the city didn't get its current name until the 1870s when it was chosen as the site of Texas A&M University. The other theme answers were well-chosen, especially sophomore jinx, which gave me a lot of trouble.

Solving time: 15 mins (no cheating)
Clue of the puzz: 16a verse {Frost lines}

Theme

Phrases starting with the names for college years, inspired by 36a College Station {Texas city ... and a hint to the starts of 21-, 27-, 45- and 56-Across}.

21a freshman senator {Barack Obama, 2005-08, e.g.}
27a sophomore jinx {Rookie's superstition}
45a junior partner {Subsidiary member of a firm}
56a senior discounts {Some restaurant and pharmacy lures}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Ashish Vengsarkar / Will Shortz
Grid	15x16 with 42 (17.5%) black squares
Answers	77 (average length 5.14)
Theme squares	65 (32.8%)
Scrabble points	301 (average 1.52)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

1a Armand {Actor Assante}. Armand Assante's looks have made him a good choice for playing foreigners and gangsters. He won an Emmy for portraying mafia boss John Gotti.



25a Mamie {1950s White House resident}. This sort of clue is really tough for me and I even feared the resident might one of the presidential pets. Dino_Burger confirmed Mamie was Mrs Eisenhower, first lady from 1953 to 1961.

52a Bai {Actress ___ Ling of "The Crow"}. I was lucky that 48-down was guessable as I had no idea what the first letter would be here. Bai Ling is the Chinese-born American actress who played Myca in the action-thriller movie The Crow (1994).



63a The Immortals {French Academy's 40 members}. L'Académie française is the official authority on French, and publishes the authoritative dictionary on the language. It's currently working on the third volume of the ninth edition, having released the first volume (A to Enzyme) in 1992, and the second (Éocène to Mappemonde) in 2000. The academy members are paradoxically known as les immortels because of the motto on Cardinal Richelieu's charter, À l'immortalité.

8d Mets {Subway Series participant}. I'm guessing only a foreigner would have difficulties with this one: I knew of the Mets of course, but not that there's a special name for the games played with their arch-rivals. I managed to guess that name "subway" derives from the transportation system and not the sandwich franchise.

9d Bree {"Desperate Housewives" role}. Bree Hodge is the character played by Marcia Cross, supposedly based on creator Marc Cherry's mother.



32d Scout Sign {Half-salute}. I was in the scouts as a kid and don't remember the salute being called this; why should it even be called a "half-salute". I see now that the Scout Sign is less than a full salute because the hand is only lifted as far as the shoulder, not because only three fingers are used. The most common three-finger salute I do these days is Ctrl+Alt+Del.

48d RBI men {Ones who drive people home?}. Not knowing the crossing Bai Ling meant this was a complete guess. Luckily I had come already come across Ribbies, so I thought it likely the answer involved those. I gather Hank Aaron is the greatest RBI man of all time, with 2,297 runs batted in.

Noteworthy

16a verse {Frost lines}. This clue uses the device that I never tire of seeing - disguising a proper name at the start of the clue. As usual, I was taken in at first and only realized Frost was the poet when the answer could only be verse.

The Rest

7a embar {Imprison}; 12a Pfc. {Mil. rank}; 15a Beaver {Oregonian}; 17a AOL {Netscape acquirer}; 18a aptitude test {Entrance requirement, maybe}; 20a lux {Meter-candle}; 23a toy {Part of Santa's bagful}; 24a USS {___ Enterprise}; 32a snow {Skier's wish}; 34a urn {Archaeological find}; 35a not! {"Just kidding!"}; 42a doo {___-wop}; 43a rap {Bum ___}; 44a esse {To be, to Brutus}; 51a stent {Blockage remover}; 53a sap {Fool}; 62a ail {Feel awful}; 64a MGs {Classic British two-seaters}; 65a inane {Vapid}; 66a leer at {Ogle}; 67a in E {Like Dvorák's "Serenade for Strings"}; 68a Søren {Philosopher Kierkegaard}; 69a assess {Gauge}.

1d abaft {Toward the stern}; 2d repro {Not an original}; 3d matey {"Ahoy, ___!"}; 4d Avis {Company with the stock symbol CAR}; 5d Neth. {Belg. neighbor}; 6d drum up {Solicit, as business}; 7d even so {Still}; 10d Assn. {Part of P.T.A.: Abbr.}; 11d retame {Bring back to domestication}; 12d palominos {Gold-colored horses}; 13d four-in-one {Multipurpose, somehow}; 14d CLX {160, to Caesar}; 19d dash {Place for a gauge, informally}; 22d taj {Persian for "crown"}; 26d ext. {Bus. card info}; 27d sol {Tijuana tanner}; 28d Owl {Pooh pal}; 29d Mus. {High school dept.}; 30d ort {Little bit}; 31d RNA {Messenger ___}; 33d no one else {Only you}; 37d err {Make a clanger}; 38d GAP {Clothing retailer since 1969}; 39d EPA {Air monitor, for short}; 40d tee {Shirt to wear with shorts}; 41d Isr. {Mideast land: Abbr.}; 42d DJs {CD players}; 46d Inn {Days ___}; 47d otitis {Ear inflammation}; 49d Tasm. {Australian island: Abbr.}; 50d Nicola {San ___, Christmas figure in Italy}; 53d snare {Entrap}; 54d atlas {World record?}; 55d pssts {Attention getters}; 57d Oh no {[Gasp!]}; 58d rear {Tail end}; 59d dine {Sup}; 60d ores {Tram loads}; 61d Utes {Shoshone speakers}; 62d ami {Ennemi's opposite}.