Author: Barry C. Silk
Theme: None
Sunny Spots:
- 1a: Leaving while the iron is hot? (FIRE HAZARD). Nice fill, nice clue. Of course, many irons today have auto-shut-offs, as do some coffee makers.
- 15a: Highly flawed plan (ROTTEN IDEA). Excellent.
- 60a: Chinese dumpling (POT STICKER). Yummy. And much more well-known to me than, say, a GYOZA.
Sundries:
- 11a: Butters? (RAMS). Those who butt. Ick. Would have prefered a "South Park" clue.
- 18a: Forest Whitaker's role in "The Crying Game" (JODY). I remember certain key elements of this movie, but not the character names.
- 19a: It's often passed in silence (GAS). Wow, a fart clue! I think that deserves its own tag.
- 25a: Ricky Ricardo's signature song (BABALU).
- 27a: Make up? (ELATE). Okay, that's pushing it a little.
- 32a: Hansen's disease victims (LEPERS). I've seen this here before, I think... yep, September 8, 2008.
- 34a: Seafood delicacy (SHAD ROE).
- 49a: Like pigs' feet (BRINED). Ewww.
- 53a: Brushback pitch (DUSTER). I always assumed a DUSTER was a pitch that not only brushed the batter back, but caused him to hit the ground trying to get out of the way, such that he had to dust himself off afterwards. Maybe that's how it started and it has developed to apply to any brushback. After all, baseball players and announcers aren't always the best stewards of the English language. But anyway, not too long now before spring training starts up. Man, I can't wait! DUSTER is also an old car by Plymouth.
- 63a: It's an indeterminate form when raised to itself (ZERO). Any non-zero number raised to the 0th power is 1. So, should 0 to the 0th be 1 also? Or should it be 0? Well, it's neither. Or both. Don't ask.
- 64a: 1976 Best Actress nominee (TALIA SHIRE). For "Rocky", I assume.
- 66a: Animated film of 2006 (OPEN SEASON).
- 1d: Michigan J. ___ (mascot of the WB) (FROG). Really? Who knew?
- 2d: The Gaels of collegiate sports (IONA). Ditto.
- 7d: Autoharp, e.g. (ZITHER).
- 10d: It has 18° sectors (DARTBOARD). 360 / 18 = 20 sectors. Yep, dartboard works.
- 12d: Landmark seen in the opening credits of "Hawaii Five-O" (ALOHA TOWER). I didn't know this off-hand, but it wasn't hard to figure. If you want to see the reference go here. It's at about the 13 second mark.
- 13d: Global hot spot (MIDDLE EAST).
- 21d: Qualcomm Stadium setting (SAN DIEGO) and 43d: Headquarters for Amazon.com (SEATTLE) give this puzzle a Western vibe.
- 28d: "How Do I Live" singer (LEANN RIMES). Why do I always want to spell RIMES with a Y? Even when it crossed LYZ, I wasn't 100% sure it was wrong.
- 29d: Introductory courses? (APPETIZERS). It's a weekend warrior, lose the question mark on this one.
- 31d: Oldies syllable (SHA). Kind of weak, especially when you also have 62d: When doubled, a ballroom dance (CHA).
- 45d: Lagniappe (TIP). As in a gratuiuty.
- 56d: Son of Eliel (EERO). I missed ELIEL in a puzzle in last year's ACPT, but it wasn't clued in reference to EERO Saarinen.
- 59d: Tic-tac-toe loser (XOO). Luckily I had the _OO when I saw this clue, so there were no guesses to be made.
Suns of Bitches:
- 38a: Graynor of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" (ARI). Didn't know it. Never saw it (the clue or the movie). She apparently plays neither Nick nor Norah, so I'm not sure how famous that makes her.
- 52a: Romance novelist Carlyle (LIZ).
Not as hard as WWs have been lately, it seems. But no major complaints.
Thanks for listening.
- Pete M.
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