Saturday, September 22nd -- Mark Diehl

Hello, happy Saturday to everybody. This is Robert Loy AKA Norrin2 filling in for the vacationing Linda G. My usual spot in the blogosphere is at Green Genius, where I do something very similar to what Linda does here -- only my focus is on the New York Sun crossword puzzles and I don't look a thing like Ava Gardner. If you haven't already, check out the New York Sun's crosswords when you get a chance, I think you'll like 'em a lot. But don't do it right now cuz the Sun and its puzzles are only published Monday-Friday, and we're concentrating today on the Times and Mark Diehl's puzzle.

I always like to get One Across. Failing that, I like to get One Down. If I can do neither I usually go straight to the bottom of the puzzle and work my way up -- Hey, we all have our idiosyncrasies. There is nothing more frustrating that having something at 1A that you know is right in your wheelhouse but you can't seem to get it. That's what happened to me today with 1A: Mad magazine feature. I've read hundreds of issues of Mad magazines. My first was issue #122 (October 1968) and my most recent was -- well, the most recent issue, which I read last night. But I couldn't get this and it drove me crazy.

The reason I couldn't get it was because I hated Jack Kerouac's book "On the Road." I agree with Truman Capote -- "That's not writing, that's just typing." And so I didn't remember the protagonist's name in that most overrated of novels -- 26A: ____ Paradise of Kerouac's "On the Road" (SAL). I had SID, which prevented me from getting 8D: Daredevil's creed (YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE). Once I got both of them and got my mind out of the gutter long enough to get 7D: Dicks (P.I.'S) I was able to stop tearing my hair out and write in SPY VS SPY at One Across.

A knowledge of old TV shows was enough to get you a foothold today. 26D: "Happy Days" catchphrase (SIT ON IT) and 28A: the General ___ (LEE) and 51A: "The Partridge Family" actress (DEY) . If you happened to remember that Mel Blanc voiced the goldfish in "Pinocchio" (41 Across) you were really off to the races.

I have to point out that if NEWT Gingrich actually led a Second American Revolution as 15D tellls us, it was not nearly as long-lasting or far-reaching as the first one.

21D: When the kids are out (NAPTIME) My kids are all teens now, so I was thinking ALL WEEKEND LONG.

46A: One use for anise (BISCOTTO) Most commonly seen in its plural form Biscotti. I love all kinds of bread -- well, almost all kinds. I don't like bread that tastes like it's been used as a shingle for a month or two. Which means I don't like biscotto.

Hey, it looks like Will Shortz and the New York Times are thinking about the vacationing Linda G. Or am I reading too much into 10D: Bishop Museum setting (OAHU)?

Speaking of old television Nancy Drew shows up at 17A: Martin of Hollywood (PAMELA SUE)

5D: Smelling things? Noses? nope. SALTS?

45A: Rialto Bridge sight (CANAL) The Rialto is the largest bridge in Venice, Italy.

14A: Weekly since 1865 (THE NATION) "The Flagship of the Left" it was originally founded as an abolitionist publication.

Well, it's been fun, but I've got to pack for my own little beach vacation -- nothing as exciting as Hawaii. But my wife and I are going to Myrtle Beach -- the Tackiest City on the East Coast -- tomorrow. We're actually returning to the spot where we spent our honeymoon 14 years ago.
Enjoy your weekend. I'll see you next Saturday right here and on Monday at the Green Genius.