NYT Tuesday 7/7/09 - Late Show

I really loved the theme of this New York Times crossword. A less ambitious implementation would involve only eg days of the week being advanced; but here the constructor goes for lateness using four different timescales. This is a fine example of how a theme can be made interesting without the technical fireworks of rebuses etc.

Donna Autumn makes me realize that I've been wrong in assuming Americans only know the word "fall" for the third season of the year. Magdalen wonders if the spectacular autumnal changes in the deciduous trees in the North East encouraged its inhabitants to use a more colorful and expressive word than "autumn" to describe that time.

Solving time: 9 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 16a ram {It might make a ewe turn}

Theme

Four people's surnames get changed to a later time (by one step) as a result of "arriving late":

17a Joe Saturday {Late-arriving TV detective?} - Joe Friday
28a Fredric April {Late-arriving actor of old?} - Fredric March
44a Doris Evening {Late-arriving singer/actress of old?} - Doris Day
59a Donna Autumn {Late-arriving disco singer?} - Donna Summer

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Lynn Lempel / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 38 (16.9%) black squares
Answers	78 (average length 4.79)
Theme squares	46 (24.6%)
Scrabble points	286 (average 1.53)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

10a bra {Panty raid prize}. I asked Magdalen if she'd any experience of panty raids - no, they were decidedly old hat when she went to college. Apparently it was the post-war college craze, the first documented incident being in 1949. The tradition had faded by the 1970s, with the trend to co-ed dorms.

48a Era {___ of Good Feelings}. This fill-in-the-blank was easy enough to guess, but I had to look up Era of Good Feelings to discover it applied to the years of James Monroe's presidency, 1817-1825. In this period, the Federalists had largely dissolved and Americans united behind the Democratic-Republican Party.

58a Eli {___ Lilly & Co.}. I had less of an excuse for not knowing Eli Lilly and Company, as it is a global pharmaceutical brand. The company was founded in 1876 by (you guessed it) Eli Lilly (1838–1898) and we have to be grateful for two of his innovations that "sweeten the pill": gelatin capsules and fruit flavoring for liquid medicines. Today, the company is well-known for brands such as Cialis and Prozac.

2d Enoch {Tennyson title hero ___ Arden}. Enoch Arden, first published in 1864, is an antithesis to the classical Odysseus story: Enoch is a fisherman who goes to sea to better serve his family, but gets shipwrecked and is assumed dead. His wife is happily married to another man when Enoch finally returns. Enoch dies of a broken heart. D. W. Griffith filmed the story in 1911:



3d Avery {New York's ___ Fisher Hall}; 12d amps {Concert blasters}. Could the hall be named after someone called Avery Fisher? Yes, and Avery's claim to fame is he invented the first transistor-based amps. The hall that bears his name is part of the Lincoln Center complex and is home to the New York Philharmonic.

Noteworthy

41a Rex {Harrison of "My Fair Lady"}. My parents didn't own many recordings, but this was one of them: an analysis of their collection suggests they were musical-goers before they had kids. They were married in 1957 and I (the eldest of four) was born in November 1959. My Fair Lady opened in London in April 1958.



67a Hedy {Screen star Lamarr}. Is it my imagination or have we seen a lot of Hedy (not Hedley) Lamarr recently? A trip to Wikipedia reveals Hedy has another strange claim to fame: in 1942, as "Hedy Kiesler Markey", she was awarded U.S. Patent 2,292,387 jointly with composer George Antheil. Their idea involved using frequency hopping to make radio-guided torpedoes harder to detect and jam. This was ahead of its time, as the patent had expired well before such methods were technically feasible. Here she is as we normally think of her, starring as Tondelayo in White Cargo (1942):



25d Grendel {Monster defeated by Beowulf}. Grendel is a water monster, one of three antagonists killed by Beowolf in the most famous work of Anglo-Saxon literature. Several movie adaptations have been made, including this one starring Christopher Lambert:



26d Aida {Slave entombed with Radames}. Aida again?! What is there new to say? Ok, lets see how the 1998 musical by Elton John and Tim Rice measures up: this is Heather Headley as Aida singing "Easy as Life":



61d NPR {"Car Talk" airer}. Magdalen is a fan, but I find Click and Clack so irritating at times that it's hard to listen to them. They do have a nice line in puzzles, though. Here's one from last weekend:

bugles, unrest, grotto, letter, esteem, ...

What's the next word?

The Rest

1a ream {500 sheets}; 5a fells {Cuts down}; 13a anvil {It takes a hammering}; 15a lasso {Roundup rope}; 16a ram {It might make a ewe turn}; 19a yip {Puppy's bark}; 20a acrobat {Nimble circus performer}; 21a T-bills {Short-term govt. securities}; 23a shy {Like a wallflower}; 24a omega {Alpha's counterpart}; 27a Esc {Lesser-used PC key}; 32a notes {Classroom jottings}; 35a Eden {Home for Adam and Eve}; 36a edu {Campus e-mail letters?}; 37a élan {Verve}; 38a Annan {Former U.N. head Kofi ___}; 40a eels {Fish with only minute fins}; 42a plod {Work monotonously}; 43a unmet {Like some needs}; 49a allot {Parcel out}; 50a ban {Blackball}; 53a talent {Knack}; 56a Etruria {Region of pre-Roman Italy}; 62a age {"Act your ___!"}; 63a quips {Many Conan O'Brien lines}; 64a eaten {Down the hatch}; 65a RAF {U.K. fliers}; 66a start {Word next to an arrow in a maze}.

1d rajas {Indian royalty}; 4d miso {Kind of soup at a Japanese restaurant}; 5d fluted {Having decorative grooves}; 6d ear {Obstacle for a barber}; 7d LSD {Source of a hippie's high}; 8d LSAT {Exam for A.B.A.-approved schools}; 9d soy bean {Protein-rich legume}; 10d Brylcreem {"A little dab'll do ya" brand}; 11d rail {Complain bitterly}; 14d labors {Feats for Hercules}; 18d tame {Docile}; 22d ISP {AOL, for one}; 28d fen {Swamp}; 29d cen. {100 years: Abbr.}; 30d idle {Just loafing}; 31d lust {The hots}; 32d nerd {Jock's counterpart}; 33d oleo {Margarine}; 34d tax relief {Government's gift to I.R.S. filers}; 38d ale {Drink from a stein}; 39d nova {Star of changing brightness}; 40d Eng. {Official lang. of Guyana}; 42d p's and q's {Manners}; 43d untrue {Erroneous}; 45d ire {Fury}; 46d NL East {Atlanta Braves' div.}; 47d iota {Tiny bit}; 50d Brute {"Et tu, ___?"}; 51d aimed {Got ready to shoot}; 52d nanny {Kids' caretaker}; 53d tear {Shred}; 54d alga {Sea lettuce, e.g.}; 55d tout {Talk up}; 57d Utah {One of the Four Corners states}; 60d Nia {Actress Peeples}.

NYT Monday 7/6/09 - Left, Right and Center

My reaction when I discovered the theme of this Monday New York Times crossword was "why weren't the 15-letter answers downs?". This would have put liberal on the left, conservative on the right, and moderate in the center - how appropriate! (Across and downs can be swapped simply by mirroring the grid along the diagonal and otherwise requires no reconstruction.)

It could be that the flipped arrangement never occurred to anybody; or the convention of having the theme answers across was considered more important than the aesthetic niceties of this particular theme. I can see the advantages of having the theme answers as acrosses as a general rule, but there are also times when it makes sense to deviate from the norm.

Solving time: 6 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 64a Aida {A slave to opera?}

Theme

Phrases starting with the three broad political ideologies:

17a liberal benefits {Company-paid medical and dental coverage, college tuition, etc.}
37a moderate drinker {A sot he's not}
59a conservative tie {Bit of attire for a business interview, maybe}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Fred Piscop / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 40 (17.8%) black squares
Answers	78 (average length 4.74)
Theme squares	45 (24.3%)
Scrabble points	280 (average 1.51)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

30a niece {Dorothy, to Em}. A reference I didn't recognize, but assumed was to the Wizard of Oz. Correct: Dorothy is an orphan, raised by her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.

25d simp {Nincompoop}. Although I wasn't familiar with the answer, I reasoned it was a shortening of simpleton and so it turns out to be.

simpleton n a weak or foolish person, one easily imposed on (short form simp, esp N Am).
From The Chambers Dictionary

54d Evan {Politico Bayh}. We had Evan Bayh back in March as one of the examples of the different ways the I sound can be spelled. Sadly the junior senator from Indiana's name didn't stick in my mind, despite the weird spelling. And I thought Will Shortz was Indiana's finest ...

62d Ada {Critic ___ Louise Huxtable}. A clue leaving one wanting to know more. Ada Louise Huxtable is an architecture critic who currently writes for The Wall Street Journal. She won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 1970.

Noteworthy

10a Emma {Actress Thompson of "Howards End"}. I often have trouble with movie references, even on a Monday, but a Merchant Ivory adaptation of a classic 20th century novel is likely to have reached my attention. Along with The Remains of the Day, Howards End is my pick of their productions.



34a SPF {Tanning lotion abbr.}; 9d tan {Get some sun}. We haven't had too much truck with these things so far this "summer": there's now a stream running down our lawn where there didn't used to be one, thanks to the superfluity of rain in the last few weeks. When tanning lotion is called for, I like the type that has insect repellent mixed in - I've got some new stuff called BullFrog "Mosquito Coast" and I'll report back on efficacy.

64a Aida {A slave to opera?}. Ha ha - very nice! The eponymous Aida was an Ethiopian princess, but by the time the action starts, has been captured and enslaved by the Egyptians. I've just discovered that there was a film version made in 1953 with Sophia Loren as Aida (miming to Renata Tebaldi's voice).



1d Mel's {Diner on "Alice"}. I should have remembered the series Alice, as it's come up a couple of times already this year. Something about the clue made me think of the Woody Allen movie, however. Seeing another clip of Mel's Diner (which is based in Phoenix, AZ) should help me remember Alice, Mel, Flo and Vera.



6d Waldo {Hard-to-find guy in children's books}. In Britain, the hard-to-find guy is named Wally. Luckily I knew of the mutation in naming: for some reason British author Martin Handford renamed the character when adapting the books to each new country ... eg he's Charlie in France and Holger in Denmark. The Where's Waldo? books were a huge sensation when they arrived in the USA in the early 1990s and gave rise to "Waldo-mania". More recently, fan Melanie Coles built a 2,300 sq ft Waldo on a Vancouver roof just so it would show up in Google Earth.

55d Reba {McEntire of country music}. Reba McEntire also showed up in a puzzle in March, but this time I managed to remember the singer's Old Testament forename. Another candidate in the weird-forenames-from-the-bible stakes is Zebulon ... it's hard to beat. Here's Reba singing her new single Strange.



The Rest

1a melon {Fruit often cut into balls}; 6a Walt {___ Disney Pictures}; 14a exude {Give off, as charm}; 15a aria {Song for a diva}; 16a foes {The North and the South, in the Civil War}; 20a steroid {Controversial substance in baseball news}; 21a puree {Reduce to mush}; 22a do I {"___ look like a mind reader?"}; 24a wisest {Most like Solomon}; 25a settee {Upholstered piece}; 32a icier {Not so congenial}; 33a Edna {Poet ___ St. Vincent Millay}; 41a ply {Tissue layer}; 42a go no {"This will ___ further!"}; 43a guile {Artful deception}; 44a plant {Factory}; 46a mottle {Pattern on a pinto horse}; 47a mohair {Angora goat's fleece}; 50a Sri {___ Lanka}; 52a avert {Ward off}; 53a emerald {Ireland's hue}; 63a rice {Bowlful accompanying teriyaki}; 65a above {Superior to}; 66a odes {Pindaric pieces}; 67a snag {Hosiery spoiler}; 68a named {Identified}.

2d exit {Emergency door sign}; 3d lube {Garage job, for short}; 4d Oder {Baltic Sea feeder}; 5d Nero {Wolfe of whodunits}; 7d arb {Wall St. whiz}; 8d lie {Tell a whopper}; 10d effuse {Pour forth}; 11d moire {Wavy pattern on fabric}; 12d metes {Apportions, with "out"}; 13d asset {Liability's opposite}; 18d aide {Capitol Hill helper}; 19d epic {Cast-of-thousands movie}; 23d indents {Hits the tab key, say}; 24d wear {Grow tiresome}; 26d ecol. {Environmental sci.}; 27d tidy {Neat}; 28d tee {___ time (golf course slot)}; 29d err {Blow it}; 31d Indo- {___-European languages}; 33d Eton {School attended by princes}; 34d skit {Burlesque bit}; 35d pell {___-mell}; 36d free {Gratis}; 38d agar {Petri dish gel}; 39d I go {"Here ___ again"}; 40d nut {Macadamia, for one}; 44d parses {Breaks down grammatically}; 45d lite {Lo-fat}; 46d Mimi {Actress Rogers who was once married to Tom Cruise}; 47d macro {PC shortcut}; 48d ovoid {Egg-shaped}; 49d hence {"It follows that ..."}; 51d retag {Put a new price on}; 56d atom {Molecule building block}; 57d live {Not prerecorded}; 58d deed {Monopoly card}; 60d Ras {___ Tafari (Haile Selassie)}; 61d vin {Beaujolais or Chablis}.

NPR Puzzle -- 07/05/09 Pick a Card, Any Card

Here's this week's puzzle:

Think of two terms that mean, "to divulge information." Write them one after the other with no spaces between words. The result is a nine-letter word for a card that you might hold in a card game. What card is it?

My one hint -- really more like common sense advice -- is to note Will's use of the word "term" instead of "word." Of course, if you know the answer already, you know why that's significant.

Ross got this right away, and I fumbled around in a very stupid fashion, actually saying what the card was without seeing how it was the correct answer. I have an excuse (don't I always?), namely we were up late last night. We'd gone to a minor league baseball game, stayed for the fireworks, then did some shopping at a supermarket near Binghamton, NY. By the time we drove home, it was well after 11 p.m. Ross didn't need too long to load the bare-bones version of today's NYT crossword puzzle, so he was ready to go to sleep at an almost-sensible time. But I've started writing late at night, and thus I stayed up well past 2 a.m. (C'mon, admit it -- it's a valid excuse!)

But I'm wide awake now, so here's the value-added puzzle for this week. Will's on-air puzzle was based on "cow" -- two-word phrases where the first word starts with CO and the second word starts with W. Ours will be based on a cat: Two-word phrases with the first word starting CA, and the second word starting with a T. So if the clue were Source of chocolate, the answer would be Cacao Tree. (N.B. For our particularly cunning readers, I made the last one tricky just for you!)

Injury to the wrist

Bovine rustler

Small breed of dog

Alternative to a satellite dish

Herbal beverage

Precursor to the iPod

Chemo or radiation

Photographer's support

Proposed approach to reduce global warming

Flooring option

Chemical solvent

Funny NPR program

Kitchen implement used in making fudge, for example

Example of what not to do?

Bridge support?

NYT Sunday 7/5/09 - Mike's Papa

Magdalen and I started to solve this jumbo New York Times crossword at the BMets game, but were interrupted by the arrival of a jumbo Stars and Stripes on the field and two trumpeters to play The Star-Spangled Banner. We were lucky to see some decent batting from the local team, who beat the Erie SeaWolves (which we really think should be called the Erie Ghosts) 4-0.

So we finished the puzzle on the car trip home and reckon it was easier than average. The theme was a fairly routine pun-based one, but took a while to figure out, as the title M N O P was more cryptic than usual. We eventually decided it should be parsed as"M? No, P", but "M to P" has just occurred to me as another possibility - take your pick. There were some great puns in the long answers and we particularly enjoyed stud puffin.

Solving time: 40 mins (with Magdalen, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 4d bald eagle {Quarter back}

Theme

"M? No, P" - change "M to P" in a phrase, making a pun:

23a spell the Roses {Give Axl and Pete a break?} "smell"
33a portal danger {Tripping over a threshold, perhaps?} "mortal"
45a The Pod Squad {Pea farmers?} "Mod"
51a boiling pad {Summer apartment with no air-conditioning?} "mad"
69a Full Petal Jacket {Floral Technicolor dreamcoat?} "Metal"
91a stud puffin {Strutting bird on an ice floe?} "muffin"
94a New York pets {Residents at a Manhattan A.S.P.C.A.?} "Mets"
105a pan about town {Move a movie camera around a community?} "man"
122a pass confusion {Explanation for an interception?} "mass"

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Tony Orbach and Amy Reynaldo / Will Shortz
Grid	21x21 with 72 (16.3%) black squares
Answers	140 (average length 5.27)
Theme squares	107 (29.0%)
Scrabble points	561 (average 1.52)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

87a I Lost {Pauline Kael's "___ It at the Movies"}. After getting used to Roger Ebert, I suppose I'd better learn another American film critic: Pauline Kael (1919–2001) wrote for The New Yorker magazine from 1968 to 1991. The titles of her collected reviews are deliberately suggestive, reflecting the sensual relationship the authoress perceived as having with cinema.

101a Isis {DC Comics superheroine}. It seems there are as many comic book characters, heros etc that I don't know as stars in the sky. Isis, that colorful name for the Thames in my alma mater, is also a superhero whose powers include flight, etc, requiring a chant such as "Oh zephyr winds that blow on high, lift me now so I can fly!" for activation. She appeared in the TV show The Secrets of Isis and was played by Joanna Cameron.



113a aper {Little or Short}. The sort of answer you work out from crossings and then rationalize afterwards (in my case, with Magdalen's help). These apers are the impressionists Rich Little and Martin Short - both born in Ontario, strangely enough.



6d GST {Prime meridian std.}. You'd have thought this would be Greenwich Mean Time. The clued standard has to do with celestial rather than mundane time-keeping: astronomers use Greenwich Sidereal Time to make their calculations simple, avoiding the unnecessary complications of basing time on earth's orbit round the sun. A solar day is nearly 4 minutes longer than a sidereal day.

92d Doreen {One of the original Mouseketeers}. I don't know how Magdalen remembers this stuff, but she did. The Mouseketeers were the cast members of The Mickey Mouse Club in the 1950s, Doreen Tracey being one of them. Here she is being interviewed by Jodie Carn:



93d piña {___ cloth (lingerie fabric)}. You wouldn't have thought pineapple leaves would make a good basis for lingerie, but it seems fabric made from piña fibers are lightweight, easy to care for and similar to linen in appearance. The fabric is principally associated with the Philippines, as you can see from this article.

120d IRT {N.Y.C. subway line}. I happened across this in a cranium-crushing crossword, so it's time I found out the details: IRT stands for Interborough Rapid Transit Company, originally a private operator, but now subsumed into the New York City Subway. IRT lines are the ones numbered 1 thru 7, plus the 42nd Street Shuttle.

Noteworthy

67a ran late {Went long}. Rather a mean clue: "went long" suggested financial strategies to me and quarterback strategies to Magdalen (there's a clue about our respective interests). The answer is possibly sports-related, however: TV programs often go long (run late) if overtime or a tie-breaker is called for.

4d bald eagle {Quarter back}. Aspects of the US coinage seem to crop up quite a lot in NYT cluing. I came close to running over a bald eagle on I-88, as it went on a kamikaze mission to pick up some roadkill in front of the car - I think it flew away a tad balder than it started.

15d -ula {Suffix with form}. Constructors can seemingly be a bit liberal about what constitutes a suffix. I had to check the etymologies of form and formula to convince myself that this clue is justifiable: both derive from the Latin forma (shape); -ulum, -ule, and -ula are all Latin-derived suffixes meaning "little".

77d info {Poop}. A bit daring for the NYT, especially as the meaning referred to is a comparatively recent innovation in the language. "the poop", meaning "inside information", apparently derives from army and student slang in which "poop sheet" means a set of instructions.

The Rest

1a gas-bag {Wind source}; 7a amps up {Escalates}; 13a gouache {Watercolor technique}; 20a Oscars {Annual event held at the Kodak Theater, with "the"}; 21a Cyrano {Hero known for his nose}; 22a enlaced {Intertwined}; 25a roaring {Like the Twenties}; 26a Hindi {Language that gave us "pajamas"}; 27a Aram {Saroyan's "My Name Is ___"}; 28a Aida {Elton John/Tim Rice musical}; 30a once {A bit more than never}; 31a Caesar's {___ Palace}; 37a Asti {Bubbly place?}; 38a stat {Carries, e.g.}; 39a PDAs {BlackBerry and others, for short}; 40a clog {Footwear that's hard to run in}; 43a anat. {Art school subj.}; 54a STL {Home of the Blues: Abbr.}; 55a turbo {Powerful engine}; 56a Ellen {Barkin of "Sea of Love"}; 57a Enid {English author Blyton}; 59a CEOs {Co. bigwigs}; 62a is it {"___ true?"}; 63a ray {Solar ___}; 64a fleecer {Swindler}; 73a El Mundo {Madrid newspaper}; 76a goulash {This-and-that preparation}; 77a Ios {Island near Naxos}; 80a ryes {Certain grains}; 81a sics {Sets (on)}; 84a sine {Fourier series function}; 85a rondo {Lively sonata movement}; 89a awe {Blow away}; 98a a toi {Yours, in Giverny}; 99a foes {Nemeses}; 100a Milo {Actor Ventimiglia of "Heroes"}; 103a RNAs {Genetic molecules}; 110a dealers {Some casino staff}; 114a teal {Greenish-blue}; 115a Aare {Interlaken's river}; 117a Lahti {Emmy-winning co-star of "Chicago Hope"}; 119a Berlioz {"Symphonie Fantastique" composer}; 125a LaVerne {One of the Andrews Sisters}; 126a ethers {Early anesthetics}; 127a ironic {Like some Swift writing}; 128a Orestes {Electra's brother}; 129a deuces {Twos}; 130a Seneca {___ Falls, N.Y.}.

1d gosh {"Yipe!"}; 2d aspic {Jellied dish}; 3d scena {Extended operatic solo}; 5d Arliss {Onetime HBO sitcom}; 7d acers {Deliverers of the unreturnable}; 8d Myra {Hess who was a dame}; 9d prompt {Cue}; 10d SAS {Airline to Stockholm}; 11d unearths {Digs up}; 12d posit {Propose}; 13d Geraldo {Mustachioed TV muckraker}; 14d Ono {Plastic ___ Band}; 16d Aaron {Perennial N.L. leader of old}; 17d CCing {Sharing a memo with}; 18d hence {For this reason}; 19d edger {Lawn gadget}; 24d Haring {1980s street artist Keith}; 29d dapple {Spot}; 32d at an {___ impasse}; 34d oat {Dobbin's nibble}; 35d Dad {"Dear old" guy}; 36d asst. {___ mgr.}; 38d stance {Batting coach's concern}; 40d CBer {One with a handle}; 41d Lola {"Damn Yankees" vamp}; 42d oily {Too suave}; 44d a peep {Without ___ (quietly)}; 46d etc {Series finale?}; 47d quilt {What a bee produces}; 48d Ursa {"Superman II" villainess}; 49d a bit {Some}; 50d dote {Favor cloyingly, with "on"}; 52d in fun {Just for laughs}; 53d diet {Many a New Year's resolution}; 58d drags {Pulls}; 60d Orca {1977 thriller co-starring Bo Derek}; 61d Saks {"The Odd Couple" director}; 65d LLDs {Some legal scholars, for short}; 66d Eloi {"The Time Machine'" race}; 68d Nehru {Co-founder of the Nonaligned Movement}; 69d fussy {Fastidious}; 70d Lois {Lane in Metropolis}; 71d juntas {Postrevolutionary councils}; 72d Aleut {Language akin to Yupik}; 73d Erin {A Walton}; 74d Lyle {Singer Lovett}; 75d meow {"What's New Pussycat?" response?}; 78d Odie {Comics canine}; 79d sons {End of some firm names}; 82d Capote {2005 Hoffman title role}; 83d Swe. {Winter Olympics powerhouse: Abbr.}; 86d off season {Summer at a ski resort, e.g.}; 88d tomb {Taj Mahal, e.g.}; 90d etiolate {Bleach}; 95d Rio {1983 Duran Duran hit}; 96d klutzes {China shop personae non gratae}; 97d SSW {Orlando-to-Ft. Myers dir.}; 102d in a sec {Shortly}; 104d allure {Attraction}; 105d Pablo {Literature Nobelist Neruda}; 106d a pear {"... in ___ tree"}; 107d nerve {Audacity}; 108d Arles {Bizet suite "The Girl From ___"}; 109d taped {Attached, in a way}; 110d dross {Chaff}; 111d Rhine {River straddled by Basel, Switzerland}; 112d stoic {Impassive}; 116d acre {Homeland plot?}; 118d Inca {Cuzco inhabitant}; 121d one {A wee hour}; 123d Shu {Moo ___ pork}; 124d fis {Hi-___}.

NYT Saturday 7/4/09 - Grid the Beautiful

I had been wondering whether today's New York Times crossword would reference the Fourth of July, but forgot about this when I actually sat down to solve it, all prepared for the usual stinker of a puzzle we get on a Saturday.

So it was a pleasant surprise when I got red, white and blue and wondered what the other long answers might be. I had no idea they would be so tightly associated with the theme and really I'm in awe of the grid's beauties: first that such great four 15-letter answers would be available and second that they would fit together.

It's really all so unlikely that one suspects the hand of providence and that Independence was Destined To Be. So this subject of the British Crown wishes all Americans a happy Fourth of July. Magdalen and I are going to celebrate by watching a BMets baseball game, with fireworks to follow.

Solving time: 19 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 34d sack-race {It may make people jump to a conclusion}

Theme

Four long answers associated with the Fourth of July, but clued (as far as possible) without referencing that association:

20a The United States {Fastest ocean liner ever in a transatlantic crossing (3 days, 12 hours, 12 minutes)}
34a Stars and Stripes {Private reading?}
54a Red, White and Blue {Patriotic display}
7d Independence Day {Highest-grossing film of 1996}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Peter A. Collins and Joe Krozel / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 28 (12.4%) black squares
Answers	70 (average length 5.63)
Theme squares	57 (28.9%)
Scrabble points	278 (average 1.41)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

10a a Wet {"Séance on ___ Afternoon" (1964 suspense thriller)}. I suppose I should have known this, because Séance on a Wet Afternoon is a British movie directed by Bryan Forbes, whom I admire particularly for Whistle Down the Wind. In the clued movie, Richard Attenborough assists his "psychic" wife by kidnapping a child in order that she might achieve fame by revealing its whereabouts through her occult powers.



14a Alea {Greek goddess Athena ___}. It seems the goddess Athena had many different titles, or "epithets", in different places. In the region of Arcadia, she was worshiped as Athena Alea, after one of the places where a temple to her was built.



6d Norton {1973 Ali jaw-breaker}. Even if I didn't know this answer, I needed it to give a good pointer to the third letter of 23-Across. Unfortunately, the answer could have equally well been Norten and for all I knew, the other three vowels were all possible in the critical square. It turns out Ken Norton was the boxer who defeated Muhammad Ali in their first bout, and broke Ali's jaw in the process. Here are the contenders on Carson before their rematch:



44d Shasta {California county}. I got this from crossing answers I knew, then recalled Shasta daisies. These, like the county, are named for Mount Shasta, the second-highest peak in the Cascade Range.

Noteworthy

15a Mongo {Planet ruled by Ming the Merciless in "Flash Gordon"}. I remembered this factoid from somewhere, although I think of Mongo as Alex Karras's character in Blazing Saddles, not the planet Mongo.



19a Nita {1920s leading lady ___ Naldi}. A leading lady featured in three previous NYT crosswords this year and remembered ... a triumph for the little gray cells. Here's Nita Naldi using her seductive powers on Rudolph Valentino in Blood and Sand (1922).



23a alop {Catawampus}. I had to think about this one for a couple of minutes, not knowing who Ali's jaw-breaker might be at 6-Down, and having problems remembering what "catawampus" meant. I thought at first it meant a muddle or afray, but only recalled the real meaning when I realized a-lop might actually be a word for "hanging diagonally", like the ears of certain rabbits.

43a spans {Bank structures?}. Not too sure about this one: I assume it refers to bridges, but spans are more associated with what bridges cross than their banks, surely? So the clue seems even more questionable than the question mark would allow.

57a Alai {Trans ___ (Kyrgyz/Tajik border range)}. The many crossword books I've read suggest there are only two fundamental ways of clueing ALAI: the second half of jai alai and the alternative spelling of the Alay Mountains. I gather the Trans Alai are a subset of that range, with Lenin Peak their highest point.

58a Rod Steiger {Oscar-winning portrayer of Police Chief Bill Gillespie, 1967}. Always happy to see a reference to one of my favorite American movies, In the Heat of the Night. Rod Steiger (1925–2002) was outstanding in the role of a bigoted sheriff who grudgingly accepts help from a black detective played by Sidney Poitier.



34d sack-race {It may make people jump to a conclusion}. A real beaut of a clue - maybe the clue of the year so far?

35d traveled {Broke a court rule}. If I can work this out as relating to basketball, then it probably doesn't need explaining for anyone else, but here goes: a player travels by illegally moving his pivot foot or taking too many steps without dribbling the ball.

37d NRA {PAC for those who pack?}. Neatly worded clue, reminding me of the role of Political Action Committees. Members of Congress have ranked the NRA as the most powerful lobbying organization in the country several years in a row; it spent $10 million during the 2008 presidential campaign.

46d Calgon {Bath beads maker}. There seemed to be several possibilities for 64-Across, so I had to be careful here. I knew Calgon as a brand of water softener in the UK, but did they also make bath beads in the USA? It turns out these two things may now be marketed by different companies, but named the same as they both originated in Calgon, Inc. of Pittsburgh.

The Rest

1a Serb {Landlocked European}; 5a ENIAC {1946's "Giant Brain"}; 16a nano- {Second start?}; 17a rock-garden {Landscaper's project}; 22a rid {Free}; 24a talent {Showbiz bookings}; 25a emeer {Big man in Oman}; 27a new at {Inexperienced with}; 29a DDE {Old White House monogram}; 30a Als {Baseball's Dark and Downing}; 32a nan {Asian flatbread}; 33a purr {Copy cats?}; 39a Aris {Greek war god, to Greeks}; 40a pre- {Season opener?}; 41a sel {French seasoning}; 42a car {Word with part or port}; 45a sects {Branches}; 49a kvetch {Bellyache}; 51a chai {Non-coffee order at Starbucks}; 53a art {Busts in a museum, e.g.}; 59a cell {Block division}; 60a elate {Send}; 61a dose {Spoonful, say}; 62a Edel {Henry James biographer Leon}; 63a sly as {___ a fox}; 64a ento- {Prefix with -zoic}.

1d Sartre {He wrote "Life has no meaning the moment you lose the illusion of being eternal"}; 2d Elohim {Old Testament God}; 3d recede {Peter out}; 4d Baku {Azerbaijan's capital}; 5d email {Send, in a way}; 8d aged {Like some ports}; 9d constants {Pi and others}; 10d annal {Record for the record books}; 11d waited up {Didn't retire, maybe}; 12d entendre {Double ___}; 13d toasters {Maid of honor and best man, e.g.}; 18d gnarls {Twists}; 21d tat {Parlor pic}; 26d ears {Hearing things}; 28d was {Performed the role of}; 31d sapphires {Star of India and others}; 33d pile {It may be down}; 36d Airedale {Dog originally bred to hunt otters}; 38d reside {Live}; 43d sch. {Prep, e.g.: Abbr.}; 47d truest {Like best friends}; 48d stereo {Disc holder}; 50d twill {Gabardine, e.g.}; 52d antes {They're placed in the center of a table}; 55d toll {Single stroke}; 56d bide {Remain}.

NYT Friday 7/3/09 - Star Wars Episode XVII - Return of the Cook

I thought I was unusually lucky in the number of "ways in" to this puzzle, mostly musical references that played to my strengths. Unfortunately, getting through the maze of the remaining clues wasn't so easy and I found the SE, NE and finally SW corners increasingly difficult to finish off.

The crux turned out to be 31d tax evader, which would have been easier if I'd seen the sense in which "return" was being used. Instead I got fixated on the clue being a Star Wars reference and wondered what Vader might be returning, meat cleaver in hand. When the real answer turned out to be easily within my knowledge, that only increased my admiration for a puzzle with such a great fill and lovely cluing.

Solving time: 41 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 14d stage sets {Things to get a grip on?}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Kevin G. Der / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 29 (12.9%) black squares
Answers	72 (average length 5.44)
Theme squares	0 (0.0%)
Scrabble points	329 (average 1.68)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

15a O Sole Mio {Basis of Tony Martin's "There's No Tomorrow"}. I knew the answer, but the clue was no help getting there as I knew of neither Tony Martin nor There's No Tomorrow. No, my fav song based on O Sole Mio comes from this British ad for Cornetto ice cream:



25a José {Outfielder Guillén}. José Guillén has been playing Major League baseball since 1997 and currently is an outfielder for the Kansas City Royals. He was one of the players linked to performance-enhancing drugs by the Mitchell Report, but received an amnesty after 15 game suspension.

39a Axton {"Joy to the World" penner Hoyt ___}. Until I finally got 31-Down, I considered Acton, Afton and Aston, never Axton. His song Joy to the World, also known by its opening line "Jeremiah was a bullfrog", was recorded by Three Dog Night and was the top hit of 1971.



40a Meade {Army of the Potomac commander}. I'm gradually learning the famous US generals, but am still a bit hazy as to their roles. George Meade is best known as the Union general who defeated Robert E. Lee at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. Gettysburg, PA is just a three-hour trip for us, so we should really make the pilgrimage to that famous address before too long.

5d webs {ABC, Fox, etc., in Variety}. Magdalen tells me that any mention of Variety in a clue signals showbiz slang - they after all were responsible for the headline "Sticks Nix Hick Pix". Variety kindly provide a Slanguage Dictionary, which explains webs means "TV networks".

11d Ito {First woman to land a triple axel in a major competition}. Midori Ito accomplished the feat referred to at the World Championships in 1989.



Noteworthy

9a Keiths {Pianist Jarrett and others}. One of a few difficult answers where I got lucky, as I'm in awe of Keith Jarrett's improvised solo piano concerts, the recordings of which are some of the bestselling albums in jazz.

22a Dag {First name among U.N. secretaries-general}. This clue showed I still have a way to go remembering the three-letter answers: these are to American crosswords what abbreviations are to cryptic crosswords - ie you should recognize them automatically. Dag Hammarskjöld was Secretary-General from 1953 to 1961.

24a Moe's {Where Duff Beer is sold, on TV}. While not a complete addict, I've seen The Simpsons enough for this to be a gimme.

30a Ste. {Office bldg. division}. This was tough, as I don't think the abbreviation for Suite has been inflicted on the NYT solvers before (although it seems fair game). I kept wondering if this was the GSA again.

34a Allie {Half a 1980s TV duo}. I'd definitely heard of Kate & Allie before, but this came less easily than Amos 'n' Andy from three decades earlier. This sitcom was about two divorced women who decide to raise their families together in Greenwich Village.



46a Ives {"The Unanswered Question" composer, 1908}. I'd already discovered the music of Charles Ives back in England, so this clue was another gift for me. The Unanswered Question was written in 1906 and is a hypnotic piece, often performed with the other of the "Two Contemplations" Central Park in the Dark.

54a Attila {Historical figure on whom a Verdi opera is based}. I suspected Attila from the off, but couldn't remember if it had two Ts or two Ls (or both) and was hesitant in putting him in. Attila is noted as having the quickest death in all of opera, as Verdi hadn't yet learned to milk an ending for all it was worth.

1d Tosca {Opera singer in an opera}. We're doing well for opera today and I recognized Tosca immediately, which helped immensely with the NW corner. Karita Mattila is singing the role in the New York Met's 2009-2010 season and we'll be sure to catch her performance Live in HD on October 10, 2009. Until then, here's Angela Gheorghiu:



6d Amos {Half a 1950s TV duo}. I knew Amos 'n' Andy from somewhere and see that it was a sitcom more famous on the radio than on TV - by the 1950s its humor deriving from the Minstrel Show tradition must have been getting increasingly unacceptable. The TV version featured African-American actors in the major roles and this clip shows the creators Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll introducing their chosen TV actors.



14d stage sets {Things to get a grip on?}. A great clue, with "grip" turning out to be the stage technician. I certainly took "grip" literally to start with, thinking the answer was swing sets for a very long time.

31d tax evader {One cooking a return}. This one held me up for many minutes at the end, as I couldn't rationalize either 30-Across or 39-Across without it. The problem was deciding where the word break(s) would occur: I thought at one time it would be (2,7) and something like re-invaded; then I got fixated on Star Wars and assumed we were dealing with a (4,5) and some relation of Darth. It was a great relief to parse the answer as a (3,6), but it took me way too long.

38d ode {Lines that lift up}. Nothing to do with elevators ... these lines are verse, as odes should boost the addressee (whether animate or inanimate):

Thou still unravished bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
From Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats

The Rest

1a time warp {"In one era and out the other" phenomenon?}; 16a opt out {Decline}; 17a sail-boat {Cutter, e.g.}; 18a hoop-la {Smoke and mirrors}; 19a caress {Show of affection}; 20a ills {Subject of therapy}; 23a acer {One who has a quick point to make?}; 26a yawing {Off course, in a way}; 29a bilks {Hornswoggles}; 33a salsa {Hot stuff}; 35a waxwork {One might stand in a chamber of horrors}; 37a lost art {Calligraphy, some say}; 42a rts. {They may get waived: Abbr.}; 43a zero g {What you may experience when going around the world?}; 44a Angelo {Muhammad Ali cornerman Dundee}; 47a Lite {Alternative to Genuine Draft}; 48a Bloc {___ Québécois (political party)}; 52a lam {Beat it}; 53a Audi {Its logo is four interlocking rings}; 56a adieux {Cheerios, abroad}; 58a coq au vin {Certain fricassee}; 60a nettle {Rub the wrong way}; 61a emulsion {Hollandaise, e.g.}; 62a dryads {Tree dwellers}; 63a real easy {Like duck soup}.

2d Isaac {Half brother of Midian, in the Bible}; 3d moiré {Waves on garments}; 4d Ellery {Queen who wrote popular novels}; 7d ria {Coastal feature}; 8d potions {Hogwarts class taught by Severus Snape}; 9d Kohl's {Target competitor}; 10d epos {Apollonius of Rhodes' "Argonautica," e.g.}; 12d top dollar {An exorbitant amount}; 13d hula skirt {Grassy bottom}; 21d legal age {21, maybe}; 24d milkmaid {Girl with considerable pull?}; 25d jilt {Dump without warning}; 27d A Song {"___ for You" (1975 Temptations album)}; 28d war {Campaign setting}; 29d Basel {City where Erasmus taught}; 30d Swaziland {Its flag includes a shield and two spears}; 32d extremity {Arm or leg}; 36d woos {Tries to get}; 41d enticer {Decoy}; 45d obtuse {Not sharp}; 47d luxes {Meter-candles}; 49d Livia {Octavian's wife}; 50d olios {Gallimaufries}; 51d canny {Sharp}; 53d auld {Holiday tune title starter}; 54d aqua {Shade close to beryl}; 55d tall {Like Magic?}; 57d eta {Flight projection, briefly}; 59d O me! {"___! What fray was here?": Romeo}.

NPR Puzzle -- 6/28/09 Sock It To Us

This was the puzzle to be solved:

Take "tire" and "exhaust." They're both things a car has. But as verbs, in a non-car sense, they're synonyms. The challenge is to name two articles of apparel, things to wear, each with 4 letters, and as verbs, in a non-apparel sense, the two words are synonyms. What words are they?

The answer, I'm fairly certain, is SOCK and BELT, as in to hit. Although the immensely clever xwd_fiend suggested on Ross's Facebook page CAPS and TOPS, both meaning "exceeds." This probably doesn't work, as Will has specified that they should be two articles of apparel, which strongly indicates that each is an individual piece of clothing.

I got "sock" immediately, but had to look for a synonym for "hit" to see that the other piece of clothing was "belt." Ross also got "sock" immediately, but didn't think of "belt" until I told him that he was wearing one . . . and even then I had to get him to raise his shirt and look at his waist! My excuse is that I never ever wear belts. His excuse is that he is brain dead after all the work he does on the NY Times crossword puzzles.

Another suggestion on Ross's Facebook page was "sock" and "sack," also from xwd_fiend. Now, his explanation about "sack" is that Chambers will allow it on its own as meaning a sack dress. But, really, any woman reading this knows that the expression, "she'd look good in anything -- even a burlap sack" is figurative. A sack dress is a sack dress; a sack is a sack. Chambers don't do fashion!

And finally, a puzzle within the puzzle, from Kea (the nom des mots croisé of a regular setter of the Listener crossword -- and the winner of the Ascot Gold Cup for best Listener crossword for 2008). According to him, he used "Sock or belt? (7)" as a clue in a Times (of London, in this context) championship puzzle. The seven letter answer, Kea explained oh so helpfully, means both hitting and clothing. I have not tried to look it up (finally, I'm being good), but I also haven't thought of what it might be. Have at it, faithful readers!

Which gets us to our value-added puzzles: In order to solve a series of three-word phrases in the form of X and Y, I provided two words. The first rhymes with the X of "X and Y," the second rhymes with Y. So if the clue is Plough Men, the answer could be Now and Then.

Poor Taft
FORE & AFT

Shut Eyed
CUT & DRIED

Bossed `Round
LOST & FOUND

Fix Batch
MIX & MATCH

Quick Scan
SPICK & SPAN

These Hues
Ps & Qs (as in "Mind your Ps and Qs," supposedly from the days when type was set by hand, and lower-case Ps and Qs looked remarkably similar as individual pieces)

Blue Sky
HUE & CRY

Guy Barge
BY & LARGE

Dover Trout
OVER & OUT

Date Free
WAIT & SEE

Cross Burn
TOSS & TURN

God's Friends
ODDS & ENDS

Go Refold
LO & BEHOLD

Been Chronic
GIN & TONIC

NYT Thursday 7/2/09 - Everything's Coming up Roses

I found this Thursday New York Times quite a struggle after the easy start to the week. I stumbled on the rebus aspect when solving 24-Down, which I knew to be Ambrose: seeing this crossed the central across answer, I realized ROSE would have to go in one square - the only question was how many rebus squares there would be.

The real difficulties didn't come from the thematic aspects, but a couple of areas with tougher cluing: the block around Rose Red held me up for a couple of minutes, but the intersection of do-re-mi and Marci was the real killer, which I pondered over for at least five minutes at the end.

The Gertrude Stein quote is better known than understood, but I guess that was rather the poet's intention. According to Evelyn Waugh, Gertrude Stein wrote absolute gibberish and was responsible for turning James Joyce to the bad. Looking at the text of Sacred Emily (from which 34-Across derives) I can see where he's coming from.

Solving time: 25 mins (solo, no solving aids)
Clue of the puzz: 38a PR men {Spinners?}

Theme

A rebus with ROSE occupying a single square wherever it occurs in 34a "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose" {Famous quote by 20-Across}. The two other theme answers relate to this in different ways:

20a Gertrude Stein {Pittsburgh-born poet who was the subject of a Picasso portrait}
50a floral display {Colorful decoration hinted at by 34-Across}

Solution


Grid art by Sympathy [about the grid colors]

Crucimetrics

Compilers	Elizabeth C. Gorski / Will Shortz
Grid	15x15 with 38 (16.9%) black squares
Answers	72 (average length 5.19)
Theme squares	39 (20.9%)
Scrabble points	285 (average 1.52)
Letters used	ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

New To Me

57a Hi-Lo {Kind of poker}. This makes a change from cluing the Hawaiian port. I barely understand conventional poker, let alone variants such as this. Hi-Lo relates to the way the pot is distributed: traditionally this goes to the highest hand, but in Hi-Lo games, it is split 50/50 between the highest and lowest hand. The lowball variation exclusively rewards the poorest hand.

59a Marci {"___ X" (2003 Lisa Kudrow film)}. This one caused difficulties given 53-Down could be DSCs or DSOs (actually, I see now that DSCs are awarded in the USA, but not DSOs - it might have helped to know this). So I considered Marci X versus Ma Roi X as possible titles, eventually opting for the former as more likely. Marci X (2003) is a romcom starring Lisa Kudrow as a "Jewish-American Princess" who takes control of a hip-hop record label and tries to control the antics of its rapper "Dr. S".



21d Reagan {Subject of the 1999 best seller "Dutch"}. If I ever knew Reagan was nicknamed "Dutch", I'd forgotten when it came time to solve this clue. The nickname didn't derive from his movie career, but was given by his father due to young Ronald's "fat little Dutchman"-like appearance, and his "Dutchboy" haircut. My impression of the 40th pres came mostly from the British satirical show Spitting Image, in which Dutch was portrayed as a bumbling idiot obsessed with nukes - that can't have been right, can it?



34d Rose Red {Snow White's sister}. In my ignorance, I tried to pin Rosebud on the lady, which held things up for a bit. I thought Rose Red must have appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, but it seems the movie's story bears no relation to the Grimm tale referred to in the clue.

Noteworthy

38a PR men {Spinners?}. Nicely misleading, but a tough answer to get because of the unexpected triple consonant at the beginning: I had the __men part a long time before the PR came into my head, not helped by ignorance of Rose Red and forgetfulness about wave functions in quantum mechanics.

41a DST {"Spring ahead" hrs.}. The several possibilities for this didn't help with the tough 41-Down: I thought the answer was probably DST, but also considered EST, CST, MST and PST as possibilities.

55a shoe fetish {Carrie Bradshaw had one in "Sex and the City"}. I saw the Sex and the City movie and occasionally watched the series back in the UK so this bizarre answer didn't come as too much of a surprise. Why is it that women need a closet full of shoes, but men can get by with just two pairs?



1d lieges {Subjects studied by medieval scholars?}. The question mark suggested something unusual was going on. And indeed the "subjects" here are the vassals owing allegiance to a feudal superior.

5d Lulu {Berg opera}. A gimme for me, as I've listened to this challenging opera many times, but never seen it live (it isn't often performed) - I must put in a plug here for Christine Schäfer's remarkable Glyndebourne performance. Lulu is based on plays by Frank Wedekind and was left incomplete when Alban Berg died in 1935; his widow's wishes were a barrier to completion of the work from the composer's outline, and a full version didn't appear until 1979.

9d syntax {Twisted this clue's is}. A neatly self-referential clue, calling to mind Yoda's mode of speech.



41d do-re-mi {Cabbage}. Both slang terms for money - it took a long time to realize this, so I kept tinkering with alternatives for 41-Across and 59-Across, trying to find some kind of cabbage that would fit. Partridge reckons do-re-mi in this sense originated in Canada in the 1930s.

46d Eeyore {Character in "Piglet's Big Movie," 2003}. A complicated way of cluing the mo-rose A.A.Milne character. Cue the trailer ...



The Rest

1a list {Not stay fully upright}; 5a lotus {Flower in Chinese embroidery}; 10a DCCI {Year the Chinese poet Li Po was born}; 14a Inca {People conquered by the Spanish}; 15a unify {Fuse}; 16a rout {10 to 1, e.g.}; 17a Educ. {Cabinet dept.}; 18a lemon tarts {Tangy teatime treats}; 22a eerie {Like some coincidences}; 23a Aeneas {Virgil hero}; 26a spycam {Surveillance device}; 28a wax {Denture maker's need}; 30a elms {Raw materials for shipbuilding}; 31a go bad {Spoil}; 33a bribe {Payola, e.g.}; 39a Camus {Who wrote "Can one be a saint if God does not exist?"}; 40a sent {Let fly}; 42a potpie {Baked comfort food}; 47a I do too {"Likewise"}; 49a no-one {"___ will ever guess!"}; 58a a moi {Mine, to Manet}; 60a Asir {Province of Saudi Arabia}; 61a Köln {German cathedral city}; 62a id est {That is}; 63a thee {"America" pronoun}.

2d in deep {Seriously committed}; 3d scurry {Rush}; 4d tactic {Part of a war plan}; 6d one-D {Linear}; 7d time {It may be on your side}; 8d UFOs {They're involved in some reported abductions}; 10d drainers {Sink accessories}; 11d Cornelia {Wife of Julius Caesar}; 12d cut {Rib or short loin}; 13d it's {"___ alive!"}; 19d tee {Informal top}; 24d Ambrose {Writer Bierce}; 25d SSE {157.5 degrees from N}; 27d morose {Gloomy}; 28d was at {Attended}; 29d Adam {Smith of note}; 32d Bics {Inexpensive pens}; 33d Bisons {Buffalo's Triple-A baseball team}; 35d I'm no fool {"Don't play me for a dummy"}; 36d settle in {Get comfy}; 37d rose up {Was revolting}; 38d psi {Wave function symbol in physics}; 43d top-hat {Tails partner}; 44d Polish {Like Chopin}; 45d in a lie {Embarrassing way to be caught}; 48d oof {Response to a stomach punch}; 51d a tad {Slightly}; 52d lire {Money replaced by the euro}; 53d DSCs {Mil. awards}; 54d I hit {"___ the jackpot!"}; 55d Sak {Bag, in brand names}; 56d HMO {Med. group}.