The Green Jacket

Today’s Theme as described by the constructor in Across 60. This puzzle's theme?according to Twain, it's "a good walk spoiled": GOLF . Perhaps, more likely, this puzzle was inspired by this week’s Masters, from Augusta, Georgia, home of the GREEN JACKET , the first of the four Major Championships of Golf.

16. Extremely defensive state of mind: BUNKER MENTALITY . BUNKER being the name for the sand traps we often find our balls buried in.

30. Physical play: ROUGH HOUSE especially when we hit our drives in the ROUGH, the thicker grass next to the Fairway.

39. Abstinent one: TEE TOTALER like the members of the WCTU the TEE is both the place where a golf hole begins, and the peg which holds the ball before it is struck.

54. Sam-I-Am's story: GREEN EGGS AND HAM one of our favorite Dr. Seuss stories, and the GREEN is the place where the hole is located in golf.

With only four theme words, Ms. Levin managed to pack in lots of spaces with two 15 letter fills, unusual for A Wednesday. Her last puzzle for us being the Keep It Simple Stupid puzzle from March.

Welcome back to Wacky Wednesday, today featuring the stylish offering of Ms. Donna Levin who has endeared herself with her witty puzzles, and her background as an ex-attorney. I hope you all appreciated how we have been preparing you for this puzzle with all the talk of the Masters, and a special shout out to GAH, who has picked PHIL MICKLESON to prevail.


Across:

1. Date with an MD: APPT because the clue has an abbreviation, you know the answer will as well.
5. Horse of a certain color: ROAN
9. One of the March girls : BETH played by Margaret O. Brien, with Elizabeth Taylor as Amy, in the 1949 movie version of LITTLE WOMEN .
13. Runny fromage: BRIE certainly does not make the cheese appealing, but keeps our French education going, FROMAGE = CHEESE.

14. "La __ Mobile": "Rigoletto" aria: DONNA , I really like how she worked her own name into the grid.
15. Declare openly: AVOW
19. Pablo Neruda work : ODE a very important 20th century poet, who has appeared both in puzzles, and CA’s daily rhyming remembrances.
20. Landlocked Asian sea: ARAL becoming a staple of our constructors.
21. Spats spots: : ANKLES , love the alliteration, the clue and the memories of SPATS from old gangster movies.
22. Trial in simulated conditions: TEST RUN
24. Short orders in a luncheonette? : BLTS short being another way to clue an abbreviation.
25. Giant Mel: OTT classic crosswordese.
26. Retired Cunard liner, briefly: QEII which is paired so cleverly with the down 26. Part of 26-Across: QUEEN
27. '60s protest gp. : SDS Students for a Democratic Society; I fell in love on election day 1968, while the SDS was rallying with “Vote with your feet.”
34. Joint problem: GOUT
35. Pig Latin refusal: IXNAY
36. Precipitous start? : PEE you have to love a puzzle that has PEE right in the middle, and clued with such an ominous word to hide the simplicity of it being the first letter of the word.
37. Limoges product: CHINA some really beautiful Dishes .
38. Gardener's areas: BEDS are often places for planting things.
41. Caps or Cat preceder: SNO this was in my last blog, so go to March 17, 2010, if you want a picture.
42. Seedless bit of flora: FERN they reproduce by SPORES.
43. Channel where Susan Lucci hawks her jewelry line: HSN which with the death of the Soap Opera will be her only TV home.
44. Funny Fey: TINA or should we say SEXY FEY , notice the handcuffs….
45. Ghoulish: MACABRE
49. __ rod: powerful Old Testament tool: AARON’S a shout out to my oldest son, who is going to GABII as a staff member! .
52. Luminous glow: AURA
53. Objective: AIM
57. Margarine: OLEO
58. Condos, e.g. : UNITS
59. Like Cheerios: OATY okay, as opposed to my humor which is often CORNY?
61. Insignificant: PUNY
62. Prejudice: BIAS

Down:

1. Monk's superior: Hey ABBOT .
2. Bluenose : PRUDE Bluenose has so much feeling to it, wonderful clue.
3. Sappy trees: PINES though we like Maple sap better, anybody want some pine syrup?
4. Drug in Shatner novels: TEK if you missed the whole TekWar phenomenon, it is is very well done.
5. Like I, in some cases: ROMAN a new twist on our old friend the ROMAN NUMERAL, very visual.
6. Turow work about first-year law students: ONEL a term I disliked when I taught at law school, but it will make some happy.
7. Political commentator Coulter: ANN who received so many comments about her unappealing persona.
8. Hollywood's Wood: NATALIE a beautiful girl, who died under strange circumstances.
9. Goofs on the mound: BALKS ah, goodie, a baseball reference also.
10. Activity from below? : EVIL The Devil Made Me Do It .
11. Schlep: TOTE okay, a little French, a little Yiddish…
12. Major rtes. : HWYS
14. Diminutive celeb sexologist: welcome back DR. RUTH who always wanted to keep us busy. Also, 39. Stiffen: TENSE UP Dr. Ruth?
17. Like garden smells: EARTHY
18. Not behind: ANTI when you refuse to get behind a project, i.e. not support, nice fill.
23. Frat party garb: TOGAS
24. Assailed: BESET
27. Dirty: SOIL must be careful here.
28. Beach sight: DUNE who doesn’t like to play in the SAND .
29. Headline (in) STAR in my guest blog.
30. Teases: RIBS a nice old fashioned word
31. Beasts of burden: OXEN and 55. Wildebeest: GNU
32. Word processor command: UNDO sadly life has no such choice.
33. La Scala production: OPERA a recent topic of discussion with OPUS
34. Togo neighbor: GHANA we will teach Geography yet!!
37. Medical imaging proc. : CATSCAN how about some background music 5th Dimension.
40. They held Tara's title: O’HARAS Scarlett et al.
42. Helsinki native: FINN
44. "... newt and __ frog": "Macbeth": TOE OF Eye of Newt
45. Like some basements: MUSTY
46. Religion founded in 19th-century Persia: BAHÁ'Í isn’t it fun to learn?
47. Cowboy's rope: RIATA
48. Small-screen awards: EMMYS with all the 60” and more TVs this may not be true anymore.
49. Wide-eyed: AGOG
50. Woody's offspring: ARLO The father and son Guthries, with Alice’s Restaurant the longest song ever to get airplay on the radio; Arlo refused to sing any of it when we asked at Woodstock..
51. Fishing gear: REEL it’s been “REEL” nice blogging “AGIN”
52. Not fer: AGIN against (if you’re not fer me you’re agin me)
56. Driver's lic. info: DOB date of birth

This over and out from Lemonade in the sunny south, to Dennis, Robin and all who need, our best thoughts