Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Title: On With Its Head
Author: Gary Steinmehl
Theme: Adding the letters H, E, A, and D, respectively, to the beginnings of phrases.

• 3d: System for keeping closets organized? (HANGER MANAGEMENT). I never saw this Nicholson/Sandler film. With a couple of exceptions, I don't much care for Adam Sandler films, but I tend to like Jack so I'll probably rent it eventually.



• 13d: "The Scream," e.g.? (EMOTION PICTURE).


• 14d: Amelia Earhart flight starter, for example? (ASCENT OF A WOMAN). This is the film that finally scored Al Pacino an Oscar, which is strange to me because I think he's way better in many other earlier films. I thought this particular role was a touch over-the-top. But I still enjoyed the movie.



• 9d: Apprehensive about a train trip? (DREADING RAILROAD).

Nice Tuesday theme. I liked the two film-related theme fills better than the other two, but finding four films that would fit must not have been feasible. Again, we have a 15x16 grid with themes running down, to accommodate the long 16 answers.

Sunny Spots:

• 19a: "American ___" (1980 Richard Gere film) (GIGOLO). Sure, it's a fill-in-the-blank. But it's a great word.


• 52a: Baa maid? (EWE). That's a pretty damned funny clue, if you ask me.

Sundries:

• 13a: Virus named after a Congolese river (EBOLA).



• 16a: Bond villain (DR NO).


• 17a: Canasta plays (MELDS).


• 21a: King, e.g. (FACE CARD).


• 23a: Chad of "Medical Center" (EVERETT).


• 25a: Extremely cold (GELID).


• 26a: To be, in Spanish (SER).


• 28a: Tennis partners? (ENS). Cryptic letter clue. Two 'N's in "tennis".


• 35a: Surname of ALF's family (TANNER).


• 39a: "Cool!" (NEATO).



• 49a: Ticker symbol for Harley-Davidson (HOG).


• 56a: Pica alternative (ELITE). Back before there were 50 million computerized fonts, typewriters were either Pica (10-characters per inch) or Elite (12-characters per inch).


• 58a: "Be honest" (DON'T LIE).


• 60a: Big hits (HOME RUNS). Pitchers and catchers report in 17 days. Giddy-up!


• 65a: Lasso (RIATA).


• 69a: Page of "Juno" (ELLEN).


• 72a: Delta might precede it or calculate it (ETA). A dual-clue -- very cryptic-crossword-like. Here, referencing delta and eta the Greek letters, and Delta the airline calculating ETA (estimated time of arrival). Clever.


• 4d: Game trail (SPOOR). That's game as in hunted prey, not like Monopoly or something.


• 6d: Word with ball or bag (GOLF).



• 66d: Word with ball or bag (TEA). Here, a tea ball is that metal thing you use to brew from loose tea. Not the kids' game, which is TEE ball.


• 8d: Early calculators (ABACI). Beware the plurals that don't end in 'S'.


• 10d: Christian of the cloth? (DIOR). Cute clue, but pretty easy.


• 20d: Act of faith? (LEAP). Verging on over-cuteness.


• 22d: Movie lioness (ELSA). From Born Free.


• 30d: Creator of Genesis (SEGA). Genesis, the video console.


• 34d: "___ Pueblo" (Ansel Adams book) (TAOS).


• 38d: Meshuga (LOCO).



• 54d: Three-time Gold Glove winner Minnie (MINOSO). His prime was in the 50's and 60's, but he came back (albeit briefly) twice after his retirement, once in '76 and once in '80. Pretty amazing for a guy whose rookie year was 1949!


• 60d: Blondie and Dagwood's neighbor (HERB).

Suns of Bitches:

• 12a: Former Kenyan president Daniel ___ Moi (ARAP). Not a name I recall seeing.


• 62d: 2002 Mark Kurlansky book subtitled "A World History" (SALT). Didn't know this at all.

Thanks for listening.

- Pete M.