Wednesday, March 12 - Larry Shearer

Larry Shearer gets better than an AVERAGE MARK (11D, clued as C) for this one.

Every clue in this puzzle begins with the letter C...four of them are simply the letter C. There are also C shapes within the grid.

In addition to average mark, the other theme answers are:

17A...CAR STARTER

60A...CLAMP SHAPE

26D...EPCOT CENTER...the first theme answer to fall, although I don't know why.

This was a pretty clever puzzle. I was wiped out tonight, but it held my interest...not just because of the theme. Check out the number of multiword answers.

27A: Curved motorcycle part (mud guard).

30A: Concluding appearance (swan song).

45A: Collects one's winnings (cashes in).

50A: Clarify (spell out).

66A: Come aboard, in a way (hire on). I wanted this to have something to do with a ship...although I guess they wouldn't have added in a way.

8D: Consequence of a solo homer (one run). I got this with only the R in place. Does it count as a sports clue?

18D: Concentrates on specific achievement (sets a goal).

28D: Committed to the truth, in court (under oath).

Favorite clues and/or answers include 10A: Churls lack it (tact), 15A: Convincing, as an argument (cogent), 19A: Cosmos legend (Pelé)...born Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, 20A: Celebrity biographer Hawes (Esme), 38A: Columnist Hopper (Hedda), 42A: Con __ (animatedly, in music) (moto), 65A: Critic James (Agee), 24D: Cassandra's father (Priam), 25D: "Capitalism" rock group __ Boingo (Oingo), 35D: Capua friends (amici), 36D: "Chimes of Freedom" songwriter (Dylan)...I don't remember if Wendy's done Bob Dylan yet, but I bet she will soon if she hasn't already, 47D: Chief (honcho), 48D: City near Cleveland (Euclid) and 55D: C.I.A. betrayer Aldrich (Ames).

Arn returns at 53A, clued as [Comic strip prince's son]. This is one to remember...along with Aleta, the wife of Prince Valiant. You'll see them both fairly often.

Not to be confused with Arn, we have ARI at 61D, clued as [Cardinals, on scoreboards). I was thinking baseball, though, so had STL.

Just noticed a couple of excellent clues, although the answers aren't especially noteworthy. 70A: Coach in Little League, often (Dad), 5D: Circumambulate (roam), 7D: Coloratura's home, with "the" (Met) and 9D: Cremona collectibles, for short (Strads).

Very quickly...got my blood work back today. After three months on Lipitor, my total cholesterol dropped from 277 to 163. HDL is 69 (up from 58), and LDL is 76 (down from 197). I'm not crazy about having to take Lipitor, but I'm crazy about those numbers. The lowest total cholesterol I've ever had was 167...that was back in 1988 when I weighed 98 pounds and exercised obsessively. Trust me...there's no way I could get back to that weight and exercise frequency!

I've been up since 5:30 and I need to be ready for another busy day...so it's off to bed.

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Wednesday, February 6 - Larry Shearer

We haven't had a Larry Shearer puzzle since November. My favorite was this one, where an across and its down shared more than just a first letter...they shared one clue. I recall having a good time solving it.

Today's theme: familiar phrases have the first letter changed...from F to H. The new phrases are then clued.

18A: Exec with no ideas? (hollow suit).

28A: Headhunter posses? (hiring squad). This is the one that tipped me off to the theme.

48A: First rule of lion taming? (heed the kitty).

61A: "Rapunzel" and others? (hairy tales).

All of this is wrapped up with the final across clue...70A: Angle (and a three-word hint to this puzzle's theme). FISH...for anyone who saw it and still doesn't get it...F is H.

I saw three-word hint and entered F TO H. Thought I was pretty clever until nothing worked in the downs. Then saw angle...and the error of my ways.

Favorite clues include 22A: Like Beethoven's Symphony No. 8 (in F), 24A: Next in line (heir), 39A: Flies off the handle (loses it), 42A: Flapper wrapper (boa), 69A: In-line item (skate), 8D: One's hands and knees (all fours), 27D: .45 or .22 (caliber) and 49D: Professor 'iggins ('enry).

I've gotten to really like identical clues for multiple answers. Today we have 66A: Cloud-nine state (bliss), and the same clue at 10D (ecstasy). I tried to write in euphoria before I realized there wasn't enough room. A similar thing happened with 54A: Mrs. Huxtable of 1980s-'90s TV (Clair)...I wanted an E at the end of her name. When that wouldn't fit, I tried to spell it Clare.

Some of my favorite answers:

15A: Detective Vance (Philo). I'm not familiar with him, but I like the name.

26A: Vast amounts (oceans).

43A: Flexible, electrically (AC/DC). According to Wikipedia, the Australian band of the same name chose it because of a sticker on the back of a sewing machine. Seriously. And while I'm on the subject of music, be sure to check out reader (and occasional guest blogger) Wendy's blog. See the link in the sidebar...or just click here. Wendy is a fellow baby boomer who was raised on rock and roll. Her musical insight makes for very enjoyable reading.

51A: Starbucks size (Grande). Small, medium and large become Tall (go figure), Grande and Venti®.

57A: Five Pillars faith (Islam).

11D: Quark-binding particle (gluon). Sounds like the name of a "Star Trek" character.

29D: Camaro __-Z (IROC). I had a chocolate brown Camaro...a 1975. It wasn't an IROC-Z, but it was a beauty.

31D: Adventurous expedition (quest).

41D: Sulu player on "Star Trek" (Takei). How in the world did Sulu get to be 70 years old?

47D: Dismissal, slangily (kiss-off).

I need to wrap this up for tonight. Serious eye strain caused, I'm sure, by my vision changing overnight. Fortunately, I can get in to see the optometrist tomorrow...with a little luck, I'll have new glasses in a couple of days.

Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Tuesday, November 20 - Larry Shearer

A football theme...and I got 'em all. Woo-hoo!

Okay, so they weren't very difficult, but I'll take sports points wherever (and however) I can get them.

The four theme answers consist of two football team names, with the new word then clued...

17A: Big spender's woe? (Giant Bill).

25A: Revolver toter? (Colt Packer).

37A: MasterCard-carrying ecclesiastic? (Cardinal Charger)...the funniest answer.

45A: Peter? (Chief Saint)...the best of the four.

...and all wrapped up with 56A: Where this puzzle's theme pairs would like to meet (Super Bowl).

None of the theme answers were gimmes, but I had several others, including 1A: Missing Jimmy (Hoffa), 14A: Paula of "American Idol" (Abdul), 19A: "Mule Train" singer, 1949 (Laine), 22A: Where to find the headings Books, Dolls & Bears, and Collectibles (eBay)...I've spent way too much time (and money) there, 27A: The Ewings' soap (Dallas), 42A: Greene of "Bonanza" (Lorne)...one of my childhood heroes/crushes, 52A: Country singer Milsap (Ronnie)...I haven't heard his name in years, 53A: Quick Pick game (Lotto), and 62A: Condor's nest (aerie)...a word I only know from doing crossword puzzles.

Also 4D: 1975 arbra Streisand sequel (Funny Lady), 6D: Richard's first vice president (Spiro), 9D: Spock, on his father's side (Vulcan), 10D: Asimov of sci-fi (Isaac), 12D: Bert's Muppet pal (Ernie)...named for the cab drivers in It's a Wonderful Life, and 23D: Kiddie lit elephant (Babar).

I can never remember 7D: Superman's birth name (Kal-El), and I don't imagine I will the next time I see it.

I didn't know 33D: Reggie Jackson nickname (Mr. October). It almost sounds like he was Playgirl's Playmate of the Month...but ESPN says here that it has to do with hitting home runs.

Clues and/or answers that I really liked:

16A: Take forcibly (usurp). I just like the word, although I had seize at first.

20A: Bête __ (noire). This was in a puzzle not long ago, and I managed to remember it. It's a beautiful French word that means black beast, and it can refer to something unwanted...even hated. Such a pretty word, though.

21A: Gum arabic-yielding tree (acacia). Another good word.

44A: "Blah, blah, blah..." (etc etc). I'd like to see it clued in reference to The King and I.

65A: Pasta sauce brand (Prego). I just Googled to find the literal translation of the word. It brought up several sites about Jennifer Lopez. I didn't think the term prego was still used to indicate a baby on the way. What do I know?

22D: Papal bull, e.g. (edict). Okay, I grew up Catholic, and I've never heard this. Don, on the other hand, grew up Lutheran, and he knew it. Go figure. Anyway, the clue sounds extremely disrespectful if you don't know what it means. According to Wikipedia, a Papal bull is "a special kind of patent or charter issued by a pope...named after the bulla that was appended to the end to authenticate it." Here's a papal bull, sealed with a leaden bulla. I learn something new every day.

Well, that's my third picture, so it's time to wrap things up for the night. Here's the grid...



...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G

Thursday, November 1 - Larry Shearer

I've always enjoyed puzzles like this...where two answers share a number and a single clue.

The trick is figuring out which of the two words that come to mind goes in the across spot, and which will go in the down.

The first pair of answers was discussed in this blog just a couple of days ago. 1A and 1D: Maintain (avow) crosses with aver. Sometimes you just have to play with it to see which word will fit in which position.

5A and 5D: Fiddle with (amend), crossing with alter.

10A and 10D: Rubberneck (gawk) crosses with gape. One of my pet peeves is gapers' block...when traffic is stalled because of the number of people slowing down and/or stopping to gawk at an accidence scene.

25A and 25D: Pair (duo) and dyad. This was easier, since they didn't contain the same number of letters.

26A and 26D: Dodge (evade) and elude.

31A and 31D: Gusto (vim) and verve. Wanted vigor in the down position.

53A and 53D: It's all downhill from here (apogee) and acme. Apogee is definitely a cool word...acme reminds me of Roadrunner. Meep-meep.

57A and 57D: Tore (ruptured), crossing with rent...that sounds so biblical.

There were two very good long phrase answers...4D: They're unlikely to work (wild ideas) and 37D: Death jokes and such (dark humor). The second was a gimme, but I don't know why.

It's an amazing feat of construction when the non-theme fill isn't compromised in order to pull off the theme. That's the case here.

14A: Part of Caesar's boast (vidi). Good one.

20A: Motor Trend job (road test).

29A: Start of a phrase meaning "always" (day in). I can't believe that one took so long to get.

36A: Annual parade site (Pasadena).

42A: N.F.L. coach who was undefeated in 1972 (Don Shula). My dad was a big Miami Dolphins fan. He lived in Colorado for a few years and proudly wore his Dolphins jacket. I always thought someone would jump him.

44A: Like tennis balls and dinners (served). This kind of clue usually makes me stop and think...they're rarely gimmes.

2D: In __ (form of research) (vivo). Is that Latin for in life?

9D: Spy supply (disguises). I'm sure I'm not the only one who pictured these guys. Click here to see one of their first cartoons in Mad Magazine.

35D: Cartoon character with feminine wiles (Smurfette). This one just wouldn't come to mind...even when the M was all I was missing. It didn't help that I couldn't get 39A: __ mer (mal de)...a very pretty word for seasick.

I liked the tie-in 33D: Changers of 34A...giving us maids and linens. I was a hotel maid the summer before my senior year, at a nice hotel on Palm Beach. I made some pretty nice tips...just for changing linens.

The trick-or-treaters stopped at around 8:30 tonight. Looks as though I might get to bed before 10:00. Here's the grid...

...and I'll see you tomorrow.

Linda G