Theme: It's electrifying. 7D. What the perimeter answers in this puzzle literally create: ELECTRIC CIRCUIT. All the edge answers can be preceded by the word "ELECTRIC" and they make a complete CIRCUIT around the puzzle.
1A. Racer's privilege: POLE. Pole position: at the start of a race, the leading car on the inside. Electric pole: (+) or (-) as on a battery.
5A. Group of contestants: FIELD. Electric field: a point in space with an electric charge that will exert a force on other electrically charged objects.
10A. Heart, basically: PUMP. Electrical pump, such as a sump pump instead of a mechanical hand pump.
71A. Spelunker's aid: LAMP. Electric lamp, as opposed to a gas or kerosene lamp.
72A. Rhythmic element: METER. Poetic or musical meter. An electrical device to measure volt, watts, amps, etc.
73A. Make it official: SIGN. Electric sign: neon, lit up, moving, or a combination.
1D. Brahms's instrument: PIANO. They have electric pianos now that look, feel, sound and have action just like a mechanical one. Why bother? Well, they never go out of tune, and you don't need gravity to play them.
13D. Kind of nap or tie: POWER. After you: 24A. Had too much of: ODED ON turkey, then comes the tryptophan loss of consciousness.
32D. Summer cooler: FAN. As opposed to a Japanese hand fan. Overly enthusiastic "fans" of Japanese manga and anime (from an earlier puzzle) are referred to as "otaku". It has the sense of geek or nerd or even worse.
39D. Common observer: EYE. Electric eyes are used to open doors, and for burglar alarms.
52D. Machine with bits: DRILL. Does anyone still use a hand drill? Back in high school shop class we had to learn all the hand tools before being allowed to use the power ones.
58D. Bach's instrument: ORGAN. Organs also can be steam powered, like 54D. Locomotive propeller: STEAM.
Hi all, Al here. Don't really expect to see much turnout today as everyone clusters around their families for the holiday. Thankfully, yesterday more than made up for it.
Quite the construction today, like the "buffalo gals" of square dancing (the theme goes 'round the outside). 12 theme answers plus the unifier, which vertically splits the puzzle. 12 "regular" answers were longer than all the theme answers. It didn't seem all that difficult for a Thursday, but the fun construction more than made up for it. I only remember one other puzzle theme pattern done similar to this, but can't seem to find it.
ACROSS:
14. Victor's claim: I WIN. Nobody likes "that" kind of winner.
15. China's Zhou __: EN LAI.
16. "Bug off!": SHOO. From an instinctive exclamation, German: schu, Italian: scioia.
17. Tiny colonists: ANTS. And 23D. Queen's offspring: BEES. Bees and ants in the same puzzle. Either answer could fit both clues.
18. "Camelot" composer: LOEWE, Frederick and Lerner, Jay.
19. "Camelot," e.g.: SHOW.
20. The Wallendas don't use one: NET. The Flying Wallendas, circus trapeze and high wire artists.
21. Prog. discontinued at some campuses during the Vietnam War: ROTC. Reserve Officers' Training Corps
22. Insensitive: OBTUSE. Latin obtusus, blunted, dull. ob "against" + tundere "to beat".
26. Adjust, as wheels: TRUE. An alignment allows tires to run true.
28. Sailor's pronoun: HER. Traditionally, ships are feminine rather than neuter. A whole load of political correctness on the subject.
29. Designer Gernreich: RUDI. Designer of the topless swimsuit. ;-)
30. Church observances: RITES.
32. Watch pockets: FOBS. Low German fobke "pocket"
34. "Hulk" star Bana: ERIC. Also played Nero, the antagonist Romulan in the recent Star Trek reboot movie.
36. Three-time U.S. Women's Open champ Berning: SUSIE. Unknown to me.
40. Lie alongside: ABUT.
41. Ali G portrayer __ Baron Cohen: SACHA. I don't understand why some movies ever get made.
43. Depend: RELY.
44. Bruce who played Dr. Watson: NIGEL. He's too famous to make me fall for the first name as last name trick.
46. Bakery curlicue maker: ICER.
47. Perry's creator: ERLE. Stanley Gardner, Perry Mason.
48. Martini's partner: ROSSI. Primarily known for the Martini brand of vermouth
50. Unlike Miss Manners: RUDE.
52. Baseball SS's stats: DPS. Short Stops, Double Plays.
55. Copycat: APER.
56. Former NBAer Mourning: ALONZO. "ZO" played mostly for the Miami Heat.
59. Sanction: RATIFY.
61. Red amount?: CENT. The original 1793 penny.
63. Like BMWs: Abbr.: GER. Bavarian Motor Works, headquartered in Munich, Germany.
64. March time: IDES. The 15th. Any musicians out there momentarily want to put FOUR in there, like 4/4 time for a march?
65. Connie of "Weekends With Maury and Connie": CHUNG. Married to Maury Povich.
67. Cold water hazard: BERG.
68. Party with ukes: LUAU.
69. Take for __: fool: A RIDE.
70. Agora portico: STOA. Greek columned corridor.
DOWN:
2. Finished paying off: OWNED.
3. Scofflaw of a sort: LITTERBUG. From scoff + law. The winning entry in a national contest during Prohibition to coin a word to characterize a person who drinks illegally, chosen from more than 25,000 entries.
4. Dinner duo?: ENS. Two letter "N"s in dinner.
5. Serious crimes: FELONIES.
6. Trying to settle a score, for short?: IN OT. Overtime, playing past the regulation time limit to break a tie game.
8. __ of averages: LAW.
9. Fade to nothing: DIE OUT.
10. Sound made with a cupped hand: PSST. Made along with, behind your hand.
11. Compliant sound: UH-HUH. Slangy yes.
12. Bullwinkle J. __: MOOSE. And Rocket (Rocky) J. Squirrel. The "J" in both names was for Jay Ward, the producer.
21. Fishing tool: ROD.
25. Sporty '70s Plymouth: DUSTER. A past friend of mine bought one with a 340 engine that was fully tricked out. That car used to scare the s*** out of me.
27. Nouveau __: RICHE. French for new rich. In these times, many unfortunate working stiffs are noveau pauvre.
31. "And how!": SURE DO. Idioms for "yes, I like it, or would like to, very much".
33. __-Wan Kenobi: OBI. Star Wars Jedi master, played by Ewan McGregor and Sir Alec Guinness
35. Bring up: RAISE. Rear, see to.
37. Tanzania wildlife reserve: SERENGETI. 12,000 sq. miles, only about the size of Maryland, a tiny fraction of Tanzania (362,340 sq. mi.), which in turn is dwarfed by the total size of Africa, which is over 11 billion sq. miles. You could fit the entire US, including Alaska, plus Europe and China into Africa.
38. Bad: ILL. Ill originally meant morally evil or malevolent in the 13th century. It later became associated with sickness in the sense of "it is bad to me" by the mid 15th century. It still retains the "bad" meaning in hyphenated words like ill-informed, or ill-willed.
42. Orchestrator, perhaps: ARRANGER. Rossini was the Lone Arranger of the William Tell Overture.
45. Rye buy: LOAF.
49. Cloak-and-dagger gadget: SPYCAM.
51. Nth: Abbr.: ULT. The nth degree is the utmost or ULTimate extreme.
53. "The Taming of the Shrew" setting: PADUA. Italy.
57. Cause of some floating, briefly: ZERO-G.ravity Weightlessness as in space, or free-fall.
60. "Your time __!": IS UP.
62. German fantasy author Michael: ENDE. Most famous, The Neverending Story, which was made into a movie.
66. Charlemagne's realm: Abbr.: HRE. Holy Roman Empire.
67. Undergrad degs.: BSS. Bachelors of Science.
Don sent along some constructor notes to C.C.:
“Electric Circuit”
Earlier this year we needed to have some electrical work done. The electrician searched literally high and low for the offending circuit problem. Three hours later and about that many hundred dollars, the offensive connection was found. I figured I should get something out of that experience, and came up with this puzzle. ELECTRIC CIRCUIT fits nicely in the center, I reasoned, but the theme words that follow ELECTRIC had to be carefully arranged to meet at the corners and cross ELECTRIC CIRCUIT. I got lucky. Rich approved the idea, and at least I partially compensated my electric service call.
Answer Grid
Al
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Thursday, November 18, 2010
LA Times, Thu, Nov 18, 2010 Author: John Doppler Schiff
Theme: Happy endings. All the two word theme entries are changed by ending with an "O", and are clued in a wacky manner as indicated by the (?).
17A. Marx as a Druid?: CELTIC HARPO. Druids were an ancient order of Celtic priests in the societies of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland + Harpo Marx. Here's a Celtic (folk, lever or Irish) harp with a little bit of Led Zeppelin.
55A. Well-dressed Swedish actress?: FORMAL GARBO. Greta Garbo, in formal wear never said "I want to be alone." She said she wanted to be left alone, while on vacation. A common celebrity complaint with all the paparazzi fuss today.
11D. Godfather portrayer turned shop owner?: STORE BRANDO. Marlin Brando + store brand. Like Roundy's green beans. Those are also called "private label" brands by the packaged goods industry.
25D. Beatle in a bout?: BOXING RINGO. I can picture Ringo Starr in a grudge match with Yoko Ono.
Al here.
Nice to see a pinwheel theme formation in a weekday grid, and not too many names other than the theme, which did help me get the "ending with O" parts of two answers. I found this easier than yesterday's for some reason.
ACROSS:
1. Encircled by: AMONG. Related word: mingle.
6. Persian faith: BAHAI.
11. One with a cover: SPY. Like 61A. Bullwinkle nemesis: BORIS. Badenov and Natasha Fatale. The cartoon spies from Pottsylvania always making trouble for Rocky and Bullwinkle.
14. More of a novice: RAWER. As with a raw recruit. Latin novus: new.
15. Lunch hr. end, often: ONE PM.
16. A victory may break one: TIE.
19. Rio hello: OLA. Portuguese, not Spanish.
20. PD precinct boss: CMDR. Police Department, Commander.
21. Chants of a lifetime?: MANTRAS. Not sure whether Rich or John were trying to be clever with the clue, a play on "chance", but this book actually exists: Chants of a Lifetime is a collection of stories, teachings, and insights from Krishna Das, who has been called "the chant master of American yoga".
23. Works: LABORS. The simple answer this time. Was caught trying to figure out an art or music related answer.
26. Cell component: BAR. A Jail cell. Anyone else thinking biological cell at first? Maybe it refers to a cell phone, but one bar isn't very good, right?
27. Lift with effort: HEFT.
28. Win by __: A NOSE.
29. Built up charges: RAN A TAB. Glad it wasn't "staticy" charges.
31. Parts of personal music libraries: MIX TAPES. I used to make mix tapes from my LPs in the 70's, but does anyone even use cassettes anymore? For that matter, 18D. Vinyl successors, briefly: CDS are probably on their way out as well, with ipods, cell phones and computers storing and playing digital music.
33. Musical intervals: THIRDS. Fifths and sixths would also fit.
36. ASCAP rival: BMI. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers vs. Broadcast Music Incorporated. Music rights groups that collect license fees and distribute them as royalties. Maybe SESAC, the third such US-based organization, will be in a puzzle someday. I doubt it, though, probably too obscure.
37. First rabies vaccine creator: PASTEUR. Also largely responsible for hand and equipment sanitization for doctors before operations. Prior to Pasteur few doctors bothered to wash their hands. If you listen to some nurses stories, they still don't...
39. Interior decorator's concern: ART.
40. Classic breath freshener: SEN-SEN. Licorice flavored.
42. Certain counter's woe: INSOMNIA. Counting sheep.
44. Iron supplement brand: GERITOL. A marketing ploy, named to sound like "geriatric", and originally targeted towards older people with "tired blood". Unless an actual condition of anemia exists, it is not needed by women past a certain age, and not by men at all. Over-consumption of iron can cause hemochromatosis, a serious condition which needs to be treated by bloodletting.
46. Spread out: WIDEN.
47. Memo opener: IN RE. Latin "in the matter of", form of "res", commonly seen in puzzles clues as "thing, in law".
49. Bengals, on scoreboards: CIN.cinatti football team.
50. Noble address: MILORD.
51. Question of advisability: DO I DARE.
53. There are pins at the end of one: LANE. Bowling.
54. Columnist Landers: ANN.
60. Biker's chopper: HOG. A Harley Davidson motorcycle.
62. Stravinsky and a lab assistant: IGORS.
63. Barcelona bear: OSO. Spanish.
64. Bright: SMART.
65. Not schooled in: NEW AT.
DOWN:
1. Ring piece: ARC. Briefly wanted GEM, but decided to wait and see a perp first.
2. West of Hollywood: MAE. Come up and see me sometime. Called Charlie McCarthy (Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy) "all wood and a yard long".
3. Athena's attendant: OWL. She is the goddess of wisdom (and war, civilization, strength, justice, etc.) In Homeric poetry, Athena is most often referred to with bright or gleaming eyes, like owls that can see in the dark, and was often pictured with an owl. The evolution of this constant association is why owls became associated with wisdom.
4. Discounted price: NET COST.
5. Antonius Block's chess opponent in Bergman's "The Seventh Seal": GRIM REAPER. There's an abbreviation used in internet chat rooms and message boards: "tl;dr" (too long; didn't read) for something that you can't be bothered with or get too bored to read all the way through. To me, that's this wiki article on this play, but I linked it just in case you're curious.
6. Nuclear Nobelist Niels: BOHR.
7. Prefix with gram: ANA. Jerome's favorite wordplay: anagrams.
8. Author Wouk: HERMAN. Among other books, The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance
9. Paraphernalia: APPARATUS. From Latin prefix "ad-" meaning: to + parare: make ready.
10. "That's my cue!": I'M ON. Show biz.
12. Dinner side, perhaps: PILAF. Rice boiled with broth, often with meat. Turkish pilav, from Persian pilaw.
13. It can raise dough: YEAST. And that can be used in a bake sale to raise dough...
22. Chiang Mai resident: THAI.
23. Ewe kids: LAMBS.
24. Asian cartoon genre: ANIME. Animation, usually adapted from Manga, which is the printed form, somewhat like a comic book.
26. Fortification: BASTION. Middle French bastillon from Old French bastille, literally fortress, stronghold.
29. Musical seconds: RES. Right after Do, a deer.
30. Not charging for: THROWING IN. But wait, there's more!
32. Safe place with a counterintuitive name: PANIC ROOM. A 2002 thriller movie starring Jody Foster.
34. Less soggy: DRIER.
35. Stop asking for cards: STAND. Poker.
38. Like a USN volunteer: ENL. Enlisted in the US Navy.
41. Parakeet's eats: SEED.
43. Distance on a tank: MILEAGE. Not the army tank.
45. __ del Fuego: TIERRA. Spanish for "Land of fire", named by Magellan. The southernmost tip of South America.
47. Its southern border is about seven times longer than its northern one: IDAHO. Borders six other states + Canada. Name the three states with more state borders.
48. Prohibitions: NO-NOS.
50. Bad start?: MAL. Prefix.
52. HQs for B-2s: AFBS. Air Force Bases.
53. Not leading anyone: LAST.
56. Highest Russian territory, once?: MIR. The former space station. Not an acronym, but a Russian word for (peace, world, society).
57. Kerfuffle: ROW. Spat, ADO, a fight.
58. Grille cover: BRA. A "bug" shield.
59. From Essen to Leipzig, locally: OST. German for east.
Answer Grid
Al
17A. Marx as a Druid?: CELTIC HARPO. Druids were an ancient order of Celtic priests in the societies of Western Europe, Britain and Ireland + Harpo Marx. Here's a Celtic (folk, lever or Irish) harp with a little bit of Led Zeppelin.
55A. Well-dressed Swedish actress?: FORMAL GARBO. Greta Garbo, in formal wear never said "I want to be alone." She said she wanted to be left alone, while on vacation. A common celebrity complaint with all the paparazzi fuss today.
11D. Godfather portrayer turned shop owner?: STORE BRANDO. Marlin Brando + store brand. Like Roundy's green beans. Those are also called "private label" brands by the packaged goods industry.
25D. Beatle in a bout?: BOXING RINGO. I can picture Ringo Starr in a grudge match with Yoko Ono.
Al here.
Nice to see a pinwheel theme formation in a weekday grid, and not too many names other than the theme, which did help me get the "ending with O" parts of two answers. I found this easier than yesterday's for some reason.
ACROSS:
1. Encircled by: AMONG. Related word: mingle.
6. Persian faith: BAHAI.
11. One with a cover: SPY. Like 61A. Bullwinkle nemesis: BORIS. Badenov and Natasha Fatale. The cartoon spies from Pottsylvania always making trouble for Rocky and Bullwinkle.
14. More of a novice: RAWER. As with a raw recruit. Latin novus: new.
15. Lunch hr. end, often: ONE PM.
16. A victory may break one: TIE.
19. Rio hello: OLA. Portuguese, not Spanish.
20. PD precinct boss: CMDR. Police Department, Commander.
21. Chants of a lifetime?: MANTRAS. Not sure whether Rich or John were trying to be clever with the clue, a play on "chance", but this book actually exists: Chants of a Lifetime is a collection of stories, teachings, and insights from Krishna Das, who has been called "the chant master of American yoga".
23. Works: LABORS. The simple answer this time. Was caught trying to figure out an art or music related answer.
26. Cell component: BAR. A Jail cell. Anyone else thinking biological cell at first? Maybe it refers to a cell phone, but one bar isn't very good, right?
27. Lift with effort: HEFT.
28. Win by __: A NOSE.
29. Built up charges: RAN A TAB. Glad it wasn't "staticy" charges.
31. Parts of personal music libraries: MIX TAPES. I used to make mix tapes from my LPs in the 70's, but does anyone even use cassettes anymore? For that matter, 18D. Vinyl successors, briefly: CDS are probably on their way out as well, with ipods, cell phones and computers storing and playing digital music.
33. Musical intervals: THIRDS. Fifths and sixths would also fit.
36. ASCAP rival: BMI. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers vs. Broadcast Music Incorporated. Music rights groups that collect license fees and distribute them as royalties. Maybe SESAC, the third such US-based organization, will be in a puzzle someday. I doubt it, though, probably too obscure.
37. First rabies vaccine creator: PASTEUR. Also largely responsible for hand and equipment sanitization for doctors before operations. Prior to Pasteur few doctors bothered to wash their hands. If you listen to some nurses stories, they still don't...
39. Interior decorator's concern: ART.
40. Classic breath freshener: SEN-SEN. Licorice flavored.
42. Certain counter's woe: INSOMNIA. Counting sheep.
44. Iron supplement brand: GERITOL. A marketing ploy, named to sound like "geriatric", and originally targeted towards older people with "tired blood". Unless an actual condition of anemia exists, it is not needed by women past a certain age, and not by men at all. Over-consumption of iron can cause hemochromatosis, a serious condition which needs to be treated by bloodletting.
46. Spread out: WIDEN.
47. Memo opener: IN RE. Latin "in the matter of", form of "res", commonly seen in puzzles clues as "thing, in law".
49. Bengals, on scoreboards: CIN.cinatti football team.
50. Noble address: MILORD.
51. Question of advisability: DO I DARE.
53. There are pins at the end of one: LANE. Bowling.
54. Columnist Landers: ANN.
60. Biker's chopper: HOG. A Harley Davidson motorcycle.
62. Stravinsky and a lab assistant: IGORS.
63. Barcelona bear: OSO. Spanish.
64. Bright: SMART.
65. Not schooled in: NEW AT.
DOWN:
1. Ring piece: ARC. Briefly wanted GEM, but decided to wait and see a perp first.
2. West of Hollywood: MAE. Come up and see me sometime. Called Charlie McCarthy (Edgar Bergen's ventriloquist dummy) "all wood and a yard long".
3. Athena's attendant: OWL. She is the goddess of wisdom (and war, civilization, strength, justice, etc.) In Homeric poetry, Athena is most often referred to with bright or gleaming eyes, like owls that can see in the dark, and was often pictured with an owl. The evolution of this constant association is why owls became associated with wisdom.
4. Discounted price: NET COST.
5. Antonius Block's chess opponent in Bergman's "The Seventh Seal": GRIM REAPER. There's an abbreviation used in internet chat rooms and message boards: "tl;dr" (too long; didn't read) for something that you can't be bothered with or get too bored to read all the way through. To me, that's this wiki article on this play, but I linked it just in case you're curious.
6. Nuclear Nobelist Niels: BOHR.
7. Prefix with gram: ANA. Jerome's favorite wordplay: anagrams.
8. Author Wouk: HERMAN. Among other books, The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance
9. Paraphernalia: APPARATUS. From Latin prefix "ad-" meaning: to + parare: make ready.
10. "That's my cue!": I'M ON. Show biz.
12. Dinner side, perhaps: PILAF. Rice boiled with broth, often with meat. Turkish pilav, from Persian pilaw.
13. It can raise dough: YEAST. And that can be used in a bake sale to raise dough...
22. Chiang Mai resident: THAI.
23. Ewe kids: LAMBS.
24. Asian cartoon genre: ANIME. Animation, usually adapted from Manga, which is the printed form, somewhat like a comic book.
26. Fortification: BASTION. Middle French bastillon from Old French bastille, literally fortress, stronghold.
29. Musical seconds: RES. Right after Do, a deer.
30. Not charging for: THROWING IN. But wait, there's more!
32. Safe place with a counterintuitive name: PANIC ROOM. A 2002 thriller movie starring Jody Foster.
34. Less soggy: DRIER.
35. Stop asking for cards: STAND. Poker.
38. Like a USN volunteer: ENL. Enlisted in the US Navy.
41. Parakeet's eats: SEED.
43. Distance on a tank: MILEAGE. Not the army tank.
45. __ del Fuego: TIERRA. Spanish for "Land of fire", named by Magellan. The southernmost tip of South America.
47. Its southern border is about seven times longer than its northern one: IDAHO. Borders six other states + Canada. Name the three states with more state borders.
48. Prohibitions: NO-NOS.
50. Bad start?: MAL. Prefix.
52. HQs for B-2s: AFBS. Air Force Bases.
53. Not leading anyone: LAST.
56. Highest Russian territory, once?: MIR. The former space station. Not an acronym, but a Russian word for (peace, world, society).
57. Kerfuffle: ROW. Spat, ADO, a fight.
58. Grille cover: BRA. A "bug" shield.
59. From Essen to Leipzig, locally: OST. German for east.
Answer Grid
Al
Thursday, November 11, 2010
LA Times, Thu, Nov 11, 2010 Author: Don Gagliardo
Theme: Childish behavior. With a HINT (32A) from 56A. Admonition to one acting out the starts of 17-, 23-, 34- and 48-Across: MIND YOUR MANNERS.
17A. Battle of the Bulge air assault division: SCREAMING EAGLES. The Army 101st Airborne Division. Timely clue related to Veterans day, today.
23A. Doppelgänger: SPITTING IMAGE. In fiction and folklore, your evil double. Also considered bad luck, or even an omen of death, to see one.
34A. It's hard to get romantic with one: NAGGING HEADACHE. This is probably worse. One percent of the population, really?
48A. Reason to see a mechanic: WHINING ENGINE.
Al here.
Not too much to say about the puzzle construction itself. Not a pangram, missing six letters, no helper squares, better than average theme, and a few clever clues. Parts of the theme did help me for once, the "ing" letters filled in a few spots. So, on with the answers. Don included a note to C.C. about the puzzle, which is included at the end of the write-up.
ACROSS
1. U.S. dept. with a Race to the Top reform prog.: EDUC.ation.
5. Iconic rings: HALOS.
10. Lock style: COIF. Lock of hair. Coif from old French for a skull cap worn with headgear, as under a helmet.
14. JV team member, perhaps: SOPH. Junior Varsity, Sophomore. A second year student, literally an "arguer". From sophume, variant of sophism (specious, fallacious argument).
15. Warning: ALERT. From Italian all'erta "to the height," from erta "lookout, high tower".
16. Back in the day: ONCE.
20. Willows for weavers: OSIERS.
21. Cause to suffer: AIL. What ails you? What is causing you to suffer? Never having looked it up before, I never realized the word had this meaning, but just thought that it referred to a state of health not being good. Even knowing that, I still wouldn't ever say "A cold ails me".
22. Word with meal or cake: OAT. I've never heard of oatcakes (similar to pancakes but with a lot of fiber), most references I found seem to be from the UK. Must be more common there?
27. Name on an airport shuttle: AVIS. They try harder.
29. Incarnation of Vishnu: RAMA.
30. Alice's workplace: DINER. Mel's Diner in the TV series, with Alice played by Linda Lavin. There's also Alice's Restaurant, the spoken "song" by Arlo Guthrie, based on a true story and made into a movie.
31. Yang's partner: YIN. Male/female, day/night. The concept of balance in all things. You cannot have a back of your hand without there being a front.
32. Clue: HINT. From old English hentan "to seize", related to hunt.
33. Cul-de-__: SAC.
40. Important no. to most car buyers: MPG. Miles per gallon.
41. Coastal raptor: ERNE. The "sea eagle".
42. It starts with "http": URL. Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol, Uniform Resource Locator.
43. Sheer: STEEP.
46. Desertlike: ARID.
47. Teeny: ITSY. Could have been itty too.
51. Reservoir borders?: ARS. The letter "R" begins and ends the word reservoir.
52. Besides: TOO.
53. __ Tunes: LOONEY. Warner Bros animation.
60. Court entry: PLEA.
61. Shopping list entries: ITEMS.
62. "Woe __!": IS ME.
63. Some shooters, briefly: SLRS. Single Lens Reflex cameras.
64. Mythical animal kingdom ennead: LIVES. Ennead: "group of nine". A reference to cats.
65. Peter or Paul, but not Mary: TSAR. There were tsarinas named Maria, though. A diversion kind of clue to get you thinking MALE, or folk music instead of rulers.
DOWN
1. Gas acronym: ESSO. Standard Oil initials: SO (say it out loud)
2. Holliday and others: DOCS. The two "L"s were a giveaway to look deeper than calendar dates.
3. Revolting situation: UPRISING. Punny.
4. Nest chorus: CHEEPS.
5. Target of pre-race stretching: HAMSTRING.
6. "__ Baba Bunny": classic Bugs cartoon: ALI.
7. Hall of Fame quarterback Dawson: LEN.
8. Leia's last name: ORGANA. One of her last names... The Star Wars universe. Born Leia Amadala Skywalker, daughter of Darth Vader. Hidden and adopted by Bail Organa, a royal family on Alderan. Also Mrs. Solo after being married.
9. "Shrek!" author William: STEIG.
10. Minor player: COG. Just a nameless tooth on a gear that keeps the wheel turning.
11. Checked out, as a book: ON LOAN.
12. Cooling-off period?: ICE AGE.
13. Uncle at 0001 Cemetery Lane, in '60s TV: FESTER. The Addams Family.
18. First name in shipping: ARI. Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate.
19. Angular measurement device used in surveying: ALIDADE. Many different types.
24. Bite: TANG. "Serpent's tongue" (thought to be a stinging organ), later "sharp extension of a metal blade", then "sharp taste" followed later.
25. "Count me in!": I'M THERE.
26. Mineral with basal cleavage: MICA.
27. Writer Rand: AYN. Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead.
28. Routing word: VIA. Latin, by way of.
32. __ Hop: bouncing ball brand: HIPPITY.
33. Time-measuring device: SANDGLASS. During the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan around the globe, his vessels kept 18 hourglasses per ship. It was the job of a ship's page to turn the hourglasses and thus provide the times for the ship's log.
35. Feds: G-MEN.
36. "__ go bragh!": ERIN.
37. Kitten's quality: CUTENESS.
38. Retail posting: Abbr.: HRS. Open hours.
39. Callaway of golf equipment fame: ELY. The founder and also the stock ticker name.
43. Overwhelms: SWAMPS.
44. Rollercoaster ride, e.g.: THRILL.
45. Former Disney chief: EISNER. Michael.
46. Rainforest rodent: AGOUTI.
47. Part of a conspiracy: IN ON IT. From prefix com- (together) + spire (breathe), so, to breathe together.
49. Kind of salad dressing: NO OIL. I may have mentioned before that you need (the right) oil to properly absorb the phytochemicals from plants, like carotene, lutein, and various flavenoids.
50. Charged particle: ION. A Greek word meaning "go" adapted by Michael Faraday to label particles that move towards an electrode of opposite charge.
54. Columnist Bombeck: ERMA.
55. Nieuwpoort's river: YSER. Belgium.
57. Courtroom VIPs: DAS. District Attorneys.
58. Test, as an engine: REV.
59. Sra.'s neighboring counterpart: MME. Senorita, mademoiselle. Spanish and French for miss.
Note from Don about today's theme:
"I think secretly that everybody finds a bratty kid more interesting than a thoroughly well-behaved angel. I found some words that describe the bratty behavior, and put them into phrases, wondering when the solver would catch on. It is not the usual kind of puzzle theme, which might make it more of a surprise when the solver comes to the last theme answer. I felt fortunate to find a 15-letter phrase to tidy it up. Next time someone says, “Mind your manners”, you can say “That’s a 15-letter phrase that addresses bratty behavior!"
Puzzle Grid
Al
17A. Battle of the Bulge air assault division: SCREAMING EAGLES. The Army 101st Airborne Division. Timely clue related to Veterans day, today.
23A. Doppelgänger: SPITTING IMAGE. In fiction and folklore, your evil double. Also considered bad luck, or even an omen of death, to see one.
34A. It's hard to get romantic with one: NAGGING HEADACHE. This is probably worse. One percent of the population, really?
48A. Reason to see a mechanic: WHINING ENGINE.
Al here.
Not too much to say about the puzzle construction itself. Not a pangram, missing six letters, no helper squares, better than average theme, and a few clever clues. Parts of the theme did help me for once, the "ing" letters filled in a few spots. So, on with the answers. Don included a note to C.C. about the puzzle, which is included at the end of the write-up.
ACROSS
1. U.S. dept. with a Race to the Top reform prog.: EDUC.ation.
5. Iconic rings: HALOS.
10. Lock style: COIF. Lock of hair. Coif from old French for a skull cap worn with headgear, as under a helmet.
14. JV team member, perhaps: SOPH. Junior Varsity, Sophomore. A second year student, literally an "arguer". From sophume, variant of sophism (specious, fallacious argument).
15. Warning: ALERT. From Italian all'erta "to the height," from erta "lookout, high tower".
16. Back in the day: ONCE.
20. Willows for weavers: OSIERS.
21. Cause to suffer: AIL. What ails you? What is causing you to suffer? Never having looked it up before, I never realized the word had this meaning, but just thought that it referred to a state of health not being good. Even knowing that, I still wouldn't ever say "A cold ails me".
22. Word with meal or cake: OAT. I've never heard of oatcakes (similar to pancakes but with a lot of fiber), most references I found seem to be from the UK. Must be more common there?
27. Name on an airport shuttle: AVIS. They try harder.
29. Incarnation of Vishnu: RAMA.
30. Alice's workplace: DINER. Mel's Diner in the TV series, with Alice played by Linda Lavin. There's also Alice's Restaurant, the spoken "song" by Arlo Guthrie, based on a true story and made into a movie.
31. Yang's partner: YIN. Male/female, day/night. The concept of balance in all things. You cannot have a back of your hand without there being a front.
32. Clue: HINT. From old English hentan "to seize", related to hunt.
33. Cul-de-__: SAC.
40. Important no. to most car buyers: MPG. Miles per gallon.
41. Coastal raptor: ERNE. The "sea eagle".
42. It starts with "http": URL. Hyper-Text Transfer Protocol, Uniform Resource Locator.
43. Sheer: STEEP.
46. Desertlike: ARID.
47. Teeny: ITSY. Could have been itty too.
51. Reservoir borders?: ARS. The letter "R" begins and ends the word reservoir.
52. Besides: TOO.
53. __ Tunes: LOONEY. Warner Bros animation.
60. Court entry: PLEA.
61. Shopping list entries: ITEMS.
62. "Woe __!": IS ME.
63. Some shooters, briefly: SLRS. Single Lens Reflex cameras.
64. Mythical animal kingdom ennead: LIVES. Ennead: "group of nine". A reference to cats.
65. Peter or Paul, but not Mary: TSAR. There were tsarinas named Maria, though. A diversion kind of clue to get you thinking MALE, or folk music instead of rulers.
DOWN
1. Gas acronym: ESSO. Standard Oil initials: SO (say it out loud)
2. Holliday and others: DOCS. The two "L"s were a giveaway to look deeper than calendar dates.
3. Revolting situation: UPRISING. Punny.
4. Nest chorus: CHEEPS.
5. Target of pre-race stretching: HAMSTRING.
6. "__ Baba Bunny": classic Bugs cartoon: ALI.
7. Hall of Fame quarterback Dawson: LEN.
8. Leia's last name: ORGANA. One of her last names... The Star Wars universe. Born Leia Amadala Skywalker, daughter of Darth Vader. Hidden and adopted by Bail Organa, a royal family on Alderan. Also Mrs. Solo after being married.
9. "Shrek!" author William: STEIG.
10. Minor player: COG. Just a nameless tooth on a gear that keeps the wheel turning.
11. Checked out, as a book: ON LOAN.
12. Cooling-off period?: ICE AGE.
13. Uncle at 0001 Cemetery Lane, in '60s TV: FESTER. The Addams Family.
18. First name in shipping: ARI. Aristotle Onassis, Greek shipping magnate.
19. Angular measurement device used in surveying: ALIDADE. Many different types.
24. Bite: TANG. "Serpent's tongue" (thought to be a stinging organ), later "sharp extension of a metal blade", then "sharp taste" followed later.
25. "Count me in!": I'M THERE.
26. Mineral with basal cleavage: MICA.
27. Writer Rand: AYN. Atlas Shrugged, The Fountainhead.
28. Routing word: VIA. Latin, by way of.
32. __ Hop: bouncing ball brand: HIPPITY.
33. Time-measuring device: SANDGLASS. During the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan around the globe, his vessels kept 18 hourglasses per ship. It was the job of a ship's page to turn the hourglasses and thus provide the times for the ship's log.
35. Feds: G-MEN.
36. "__ go bragh!": ERIN.
37. Kitten's quality: CUTENESS.
38. Retail posting: Abbr.: HRS. Open hours.
39. Callaway of golf equipment fame: ELY. The founder and also the stock ticker name.
43. Overwhelms: SWAMPS.
44. Rollercoaster ride, e.g.: THRILL.
45. Former Disney chief: EISNER. Michael.
46. Rainforest rodent: AGOUTI.
47. Part of a conspiracy: IN ON IT. From prefix com- (together) + spire (breathe), so, to breathe together.
49. Kind of salad dressing: NO OIL. I may have mentioned before that you need (the right) oil to properly absorb the phytochemicals from plants, like carotene, lutein, and various flavenoids.
50. Charged particle: ION. A Greek word meaning "go" adapted by Michael Faraday to label particles that move towards an electrode of opposite charge.
54. Columnist Bombeck: ERMA.
55. Nieuwpoort's river: YSER. Belgium.
57. Courtroom VIPs: DAS. District Attorneys.
58. Test, as an engine: REV.
59. Sra.'s neighboring counterpart: MME. Senorita, mademoiselle. Spanish and French for miss.
Note from Don about today's theme:
"I think secretly that everybody finds a bratty kid more interesting than a thoroughly well-behaved angel. I found some words that describe the bratty behavior, and put them into phrases, wondering when the solver would catch on. It is not the usual kind of puzzle theme, which might make it more of a surprise when the solver comes to the last theme answer. I felt fortunate to find a 15-letter phrase to tidy it up. Next time someone says, “Mind your manners”, you can say “That’s a 15-letter phrase that addresses bratty behavior!"
Puzzle Grid
Al
Thursday, November 4, 2010
LA Times, Thu, Nov 4, 2010 Author: Allan E. Parrish
Theme: "You have to find the key" to unlock this puzzle. The reveal entry was no help: 50D. Clue for 20-, 32-, 39- and 48-Across: LOCK.
20. See 50-Down: CERTAIN WINNER. "It's a lock." A Dutch book is a set of odds and bets which guarantees a profit to the bookmaker no matter what happens in the contest.
32. See 50-Down: HAIR CLUSTER. A tress, curl or ringlet. A common superstition is to keep a lock of hair from a baby's first haircut, for luck.
39. See 50-Down: CANAL DEVICE. Lock, in the sense of a barrier or an enclosure on a waterway.
48. See 50-Down: WRESTLING HOLD. Headlock, hammerlock, etc.
Al here.
This was tough, and a catch-22 at that. You needed the clue to get the theme, but you needed to solve the theme answers to figure out the clue. I think I spent close to 40 minutes on this one picking away a few letters at a time, some guesses, then looking away and seeing how to make words out of the few perps I could manage. The last letter to fall was the C at the cross of Cozened and Canal device. Imagine how that across word looked with the beginning letter missing... The three and four letter answers were outnumbered today: only 33, compared to 39 answers of five letters or longer.
ACROSS:
1. Home of Brigham Young University: PROVO. Utah.
6. __ Mahal: TAJ.
9. Fat substitute brand in some potato chips: OLEAN. A brand name for olestra, a fat substitute, infamous for its unpleasant side-effects, such as reduced digestive absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and steatorrhea (I leave looking up this word to you). Although, to be fair, it can also bind with dioxins, the same as normal fat, and so might be useful someday to treat victims of dioxin poisoning.
14. Not loaded: SOBER. Misdirected to think of firearms and ammunition, so EMPTY came to mind.
15. Ambient music pioneer: ENO. Such works as "Music for Airports". It might make you sleepy and miss your flight...
16. Swindler with a scheme named for him: PONZI. A fraudulent scheme of paying investors a little from what is collected from continuous new investors. Bernie Madoff ran the largest one in history.
17. Hemlock, for one: EVERGREEN. An interesting choice for a clue. They do belong to the family of evergreens, but hemlock needles turn yellow and fall off just like deciduous trees, so they are not always green year-round.
19. Grain disease: ERGOT. Mainly affecting the rye family of grains, alkaloids are produced that if eaten can cause convulsions and even gangrene.
22. Covet: ENVY.
23. Battery, bond or baseball club designation: AAA. An AAA bond rating means the company issuing it is extremely credit-worthy, i.e. prime. BBB or lower are considered "junk" bonds. They go down to D or "in default". AAA minor league players can be invited up to play in the majors.
24. Belgrade's land: SERBIA. A portion of what was formerly Yugoslavia.
27. Libel and slander disputes are part of it: CIVIL LAW. A legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not (as in common law) determined by judges.
34. Brit. record co.: EMI. Electric & Music Industries, Ltd.
35. Spanish pronoun: ESTA.
36. Restful resort: SPA. Name taken from a mineral springs resort in Belgium. Waloon for spring, fountain.
37. Prayer opener: O GOD.
38. Old-fashioned get-together: BEE. As in the sense of social insects working busily together in a common cause.
43. "Beanz meanz Heinz," e.g.: AD SLOGAN. From Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, a battle cry used by Scottish Highland or Irish clans," from sluagh "army, host, slew" + gairm "a cry".
45. Truck capacity: ONE TON. Guessed at the TON ending, but had to wait for at least one perp for the rest.
46. AIDS-fighting drug: AZT. Azidothymidine.
47. __ dire: juror examination: VOIR. From O.Fr. voir “true” + dire “to say.”
54. Foreign: ALIEN. Xenophobia is the irrational fear of foreigners.
56. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" regular: ROSE MARIE. Her role was a comedy writer, Sally Rogers along with Buddy Sorrell, played by Morie Amsterdam.
57. __ Nast: CONDE. Worldwide publisher of such magazines as Vogue, Allure, Golf Digest, Wired, many others.
58. Winter hazard: ICE. Can't argue with that. Although, I wouldn't want to be out in this hailstorm in Georgia, and that's nothing to do with winter. If you click it, watch for at least 25 seconds.
59. Family nickname: AUNTY. Hubby? Wifey? Sissy?
60. Tolerated: STOOD. "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more." ala Popeye the sailor.
61. Gives the go-ahead: OKS. A long explanation and debunking of other explanations: oll korrect, a deliberate misspelling.
62. Tart fruit: SLOES. They do look like little plums.
DOWN:
1. Minute segment of a min.: PSEC. Picosecond. That is one trillionth, or 0.000 000 000 001 seconds. A picosecond is to one second as one second is to 31,700 years.
2. Wander: ROVE.
3. Upper, in Ulm: OBER. German city, word for over, as in above.
4. Spinal column component: VERTEBRA.
5. Like some farming: ORGANIC.
6. Minute: TEENY.
7. Fresh way to start: ANEW.
8. "Help Me" vocalist Mitchell: JONI.
9. Alfresco: OPEN AIR. Confusingly, al fresco also means "painted on plaster that is still wet".
10. Maker of EverPure shampoo: LOREAL.
11. Former Caltech sr., perhaps: ENGR. Senior in college, Engineer abbrevs.
12. __ dye: chemical coloring: AZO. JZB just explained this the other day.
13. Little thing to pick: NIT. I always wonder why this has a bad connotation. Seems like a useful service. I wouldn't to leave them on me.
18. Competitor: RIVAL. Latin rivalis originally, "one who uses the same stream" (or "one on the opposite side of the stream"), from rivus "brook" The notion is of the competitiveness of neighbors.
21. Basilica section: NAVE. The main portion of a church, connected with naval from Latin navis "ship" based on some vague resemblance.
24. Ancient queendom: SHEBA.
25. Let up: EASED.
26. Customary ceremonies: RITES.
27. It covers the Hill: C-SPAN. Live TV coverage of the House of Representatives. C-Span2 covers the Senate. If Brian Eno's ambient music was being played on either station, you'd never wake up...
28. Da Vinci's lang.: ITAL.ian
29. On the up and up: LEGIT.
30. It started as Standard Oil of Indiana: AMOCO. American Oil Co, now merged with British Petroleum.
31. Expand: WIDEN.
33. John McCain's alma mater: Abbr.: USNA. United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.
37. Revamp: OVERHAUL. Originally nautical, "pull rigging apart for examination," which was done by slackening the rope by pulling in the opposite direction to that in which it is pulled in hoisting.
39. Hoodwinked: COZENED. Uncertain origin, but perhaps from French cousiner "cheat on pretext of being a cousin;" or from Middle English cosyn "fraud, trickery"
40. "The X-Files" extras: Abbr.: AGTS. FBI agents and extra terrestrials. What's not to love? The truth is out there.
41. Ridd's love, in a Blackmore romance: DOONE. Lorna.
42. They're hard to figure out: ENIGMAS. Riddles. Same length, too.
44. Rio Grande city: LAREDO. Texas.
47. Workshop gadgets: VISES.
48. Skid row figure: WINO.
49. Charlie's Angels, e.g.: TRIO. Tricky, since there were six of them, just not all at the same time.
51. "Deal __ Deal": OR NO. Howie Mandel's game show. Wishful thinking. For the money, of course; what did you think I meant?
52. Lo-cal: LITE.
53. Bygone Tunisian rulers: DEYS. "Title of a military commander in Muslim north Africa," from Turk. dai "maternal uncle," a friendly title used of older men, especially by the Janissaries of Algiers of their commanding officers.
54. Summer coolers, briefly: ACS. Air conditioners.
55. Used car site: LOT.
Answer Grid
Al
20. See 50-Down: CERTAIN WINNER. "It's a lock." A Dutch book is a set of odds and bets which guarantees a profit to the bookmaker no matter what happens in the contest.
32. See 50-Down: HAIR CLUSTER. A tress, curl or ringlet. A common superstition is to keep a lock of hair from a baby's first haircut, for luck.
39. See 50-Down: CANAL DEVICE. Lock, in the sense of a barrier or an enclosure on a waterway.
48. See 50-Down: WRESTLING HOLD. Headlock, hammerlock, etc.
Al here.
This was tough, and a catch-22 at that. You needed the clue to get the theme, but you needed to solve the theme answers to figure out the clue. I think I spent close to 40 minutes on this one picking away a few letters at a time, some guesses, then looking away and seeing how to make words out of the few perps I could manage. The last letter to fall was the C at the cross of Cozened and Canal device. Imagine how that across word looked with the beginning letter missing... The three and four letter answers were outnumbered today: only 33, compared to 39 answers of five letters or longer.
ACROSS:
1. Home of Brigham Young University: PROVO. Utah.
6. __ Mahal: TAJ.
9. Fat substitute brand in some potato chips: OLEAN. A brand name for olestra, a fat substitute, infamous for its unpleasant side-effects, such as reduced digestive absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, and steatorrhea (I leave looking up this word to you). Although, to be fair, it can also bind with dioxins, the same as normal fat, and so might be useful someday to treat victims of dioxin poisoning.
14. Not loaded: SOBER. Misdirected to think of firearms and ammunition, so EMPTY came to mind.
15. Ambient music pioneer: ENO. Such works as "Music for Airports". It might make you sleepy and miss your flight...
16. Swindler with a scheme named for him: PONZI. A fraudulent scheme of paying investors a little from what is collected from continuous new investors. Bernie Madoff ran the largest one in history.
17. Hemlock, for one: EVERGREEN. An interesting choice for a clue. They do belong to the family of evergreens, but hemlock needles turn yellow and fall off just like deciduous trees, so they are not always green year-round.
19. Grain disease: ERGOT. Mainly affecting the rye family of grains, alkaloids are produced that if eaten can cause convulsions and even gangrene.
22. Covet: ENVY.
23. Battery, bond or baseball club designation: AAA. An AAA bond rating means the company issuing it is extremely credit-worthy, i.e. prime. BBB or lower are considered "junk" bonds. They go down to D or "in default". AAA minor league players can be invited up to play in the majors.
24. Belgrade's land: SERBIA. A portion of what was formerly Yugoslavia.
27. Libel and slander disputes are part of it: CIVIL LAW. A legal system inspired by Roman law, the primary feature of which is that laws are written into a collection, codified, and not (as in common law) determined by judges.
34. Brit. record co.: EMI. Electric & Music Industries, Ltd.
35. Spanish pronoun: ESTA.
36. Restful resort: SPA. Name taken from a mineral springs resort in Belgium. Waloon for spring, fountain.
37. Prayer opener: O GOD.
38. Old-fashioned get-together: BEE. As in the sense of social insects working busily together in a common cause.
43. "Beanz meanz Heinz," e.g.: AD SLOGAN. From Gaelic sluagh-ghairm, a battle cry used by Scottish Highland or Irish clans," from sluagh "army, host, slew" + gairm "a cry".
45. Truck capacity: ONE TON. Guessed at the TON ending, but had to wait for at least one perp for the rest.
46. AIDS-fighting drug: AZT. Azidothymidine.
47. __ dire: juror examination: VOIR. From O.Fr. voir “true” + dire “to say.”
54. Foreign: ALIEN. Xenophobia is the irrational fear of foreigners.
56. "The Dick Van Dyke Show" regular: ROSE MARIE. Her role was a comedy writer, Sally Rogers along with Buddy Sorrell, played by Morie Amsterdam.
57. __ Nast: CONDE. Worldwide publisher of such magazines as Vogue, Allure, Golf Digest, Wired, many others.
58. Winter hazard: ICE. Can't argue with that. Although, I wouldn't want to be out in this hailstorm in Georgia, and that's nothing to do with winter. If you click it, watch for at least 25 seconds.
59. Family nickname: AUNTY. Hubby? Wifey? Sissy?
60. Tolerated: STOOD. "That's all I can stands, I can't stands no more." ala Popeye the sailor.
61. Gives the go-ahead: OKS. A long explanation and debunking of other explanations: oll korrect, a deliberate misspelling.
62. Tart fruit: SLOES. They do look like little plums.
DOWN:
1. Minute segment of a min.: PSEC. Picosecond. That is one trillionth, or 0.000 000 000 001 seconds. A picosecond is to one second as one second is to 31,700 years.
2. Wander: ROVE.
3. Upper, in Ulm: OBER. German city, word for over, as in above.
4. Spinal column component: VERTEBRA.
5. Like some farming: ORGANIC.
6. Minute: TEENY.
7. Fresh way to start: ANEW.
8. "Help Me" vocalist Mitchell: JONI.
9. Alfresco: OPEN AIR. Confusingly, al fresco also means "painted on plaster that is still wet".
10. Maker of EverPure shampoo: LOREAL.
11. Former Caltech sr., perhaps: ENGR. Senior in college, Engineer abbrevs.
12. __ dye: chemical coloring: AZO. JZB just explained this the other day.
13. Little thing to pick: NIT. I always wonder why this has a bad connotation. Seems like a useful service. I wouldn't to leave them on me.
18. Competitor: RIVAL. Latin rivalis originally, "one who uses the same stream" (or "one on the opposite side of the stream"), from rivus "brook" The notion is of the competitiveness of neighbors.
21. Basilica section: NAVE. The main portion of a church, connected with naval from Latin navis "ship" based on some vague resemblance.
24. Ancient queendom: SHEBA.
25. Let up: EASED.
26. Customary ceremonies: RITES.
27. It covers the Hill: C-SPAN. Live TV coverage of the House of Representatives. C-Span2 covers the Senate. If Brian Eno's ambient music was being played on either station, you'd never wake up...
28. Da Vinci's lang.: ITAL.ian
29. On the up and up: LEGIT.
30. It started as Standard Oil of Indiana: AMOCO. American Oil Co, now merged with British Petroleum.
31. Expand: WIDEN.
33. John McCain's alma mater: Abbr.: USNA. United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD.
37. Revamp: OVERHAUL. Originally nautical, "pull rigging apart for examination," which was done by slackening the rope by pulling in the opposite direction to that in which it is pulled in hoisting.
39. Hoodwinked: COZENED. Uncertain origin, but perhaps from French cousiner "cheat on pretext of being a cousin;" or from Middle English cosyn "fraud, trickery"
40. "The X-Files" extras: Abbr.: AGTS. FBI agents and extra terrestrials. What's not to love? The truth is out there.
41. Ridd's love, in a Blackmore romance: DOONE. Lorna.
42. They're hard to figure out: ENIGMAS. Riddles. Same length, too.
44. Rio Grande city: LAREDO. Texas.
47. Workshop gadgets: VISES.
48. Skid row figure: WINO.
49. Charlie's Angels, e.g.: TRIO. Tricky, since there were six of them, just not all at the same time.
51. "Deal __ Deal": OR NO. Howie Mandel's game show. Wishful thinking. For the money, of course; what did you think I meant?
52. Lo-cal: LITE.
53. Bygone Tunisian rulers: DEYS. "Title of a military commander in Muslim north Africa," from Turk. dai "maternal uncle," a friendly title used of older men, especially by the Janissaries of Algiers of their commanding officers.
54. Summer coolers, briefly: ACS. Air conditioners.
55. Used car site: LOT.
Answer Grid
Al
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