psst

THEME: How to have great ABs. The letters AB are added to the beginning word of a known phrase to create a new and humorous new phrase. We still see so many add on puzzles, so let's look and find what I believe new constructor Mr. McDermott has done to amuse us.




17A. Entrance exam study guide?: ABOUT DOORS. I really like the trickery of ENTRANCE EXAM cluing DOORS.









62A. Behar's home?: ABODE TO JOY. Beethoven's WORK is trivialized into the View hostess, Joy Behar.









11D. Steal office supplies?: ABDUCT TAPE. We recently discussed duct tape, now we our ABDUCTING (kidnapping) TAPE, fun.









28D. Missing letters?: ABSENT MAIL. SENT MAIL being an email concept, making this a fresh clue.









Happy Friday; Lemonade back on the job, with a doable but cleverly clued puzzle, with a simple theme, but many common answers clued differently, and 7 fill in the blank clues. When you are teaching some one to do crosswords, everyone suggests they start with the FITB clues. While you do this effort, I will highlight all the fill that I can twist into having a meaning directly for me, maybe you can do the same with different angles.















Across:















1. Put one's hands at ten and two: STEER. Very visual, but seldom follwed by anyone after they secure their license.









6. Aptly named lotion: AFTA. A brand of AFTER shave.









10. 1970 NBA expansion team: CAVS. The Cleveland Cavaliers, and ex-home of Lebrin James.









14. Poet Neruda: PABLO. He is becoming our poet laureate.









15. Affect, in slang: GRAB. How do mr. McDermott's clues GRAB you so far?









16. Reed in a pit: OBOE. Orchestra pit, another nice visual.









19. Jim Davis pooch: ODIE. Well first you need to know who created GARFIELD, but better than the usual drool clue.









20. Parlor treat: SUNDAE. Lois and Carol probably had different treats in mind in their parlors.









21. "Break a leg": GOOD LUCK. You are never supposed to wish an actor good luck, thugh no one is sure why they must break a leg. One myth says it came from John Wiles Booth, who broke his leg when heleapt on stage to shoot Lincoln, bu that hardly makes sense.









23. Mediterranean high spot: ETNA. The mountain in Sicily. I would have LOVED the clue if left out the "spot."









25. Dazes: TRANCES.









26. They go nowhere: DEAD ENDS. Because of all our canals, Ft. lauderdale has more dead end streets than any other city. (I just made upo that fact!)









30. Lead singer Micahels of Poison: BRET. He had a very trying year with health problems, and the Donald, but he was once quite the STAR . ( I represent rock and roll bands).









31. Sphere: ORB. From the Latin Orbis, meaning circle. (It also can mean eye, and I studied Latin for years).









32. American Patriot Deane: SILAS. I suggest you read about this one time hero, one time pariah. LINK . (he was born in Conn. near where I was born).









34. Legally prevent: ESTOP. Both Latin and a legal term.









37. Game with a Ural territory: RISK. This game never thrilled me; not into war I guess.









39. Only part of Egypt in Asia: SINAI. Hard to recall Egypt is an African country.









41. "Ditto": SAME. How many remember DITTO and MIMEOGRAPH machines?









42. They're tucked in a cannonball: KNEES. Jumping into the pool to make a huge wave.









44. Suisse capital: BERNE. Ah ha, not EURO; I went to Switzerland to Ski. Berne? No it was quite chily, actually.









46. Selfish sort: PIG. Ah, more about this.









47. Russian refusal: NYET. A shared MEMORY ?









49. Squash relative: RACQUETS. Squash actuall derived from this GAME .









51. Flanders city: ANTWERP. Belgium.









54. Sink or swim, perhaps: NOUN. Tricky, but becoming common.









55. Cross, often: MEMORIAL. So sad to see them on the edge of the highway.









57. Title for Bovary: MADAME. M. Flaubert's novel.









61. Man __: O WAR. Since we are approaching the Kentucky Derby, it is appropriate to see the forst super horse in a puzzle.









64. John __, the Lone Ranger: REID. How many recall our discussion of the Green Hornet (because of the movie) who is Britt Reid, the nephew of the LR?









65. Atty.-to-be's exam: LSAT. I used to teach an LSAT prep class, to help kids get into Law School, many are now suing me for getting them in.









66. Maternally related: ENATE. Well, NATAL we know is birth, but did not know this word.









67. Six-sided rooms: ELLS. A nice change from the overhead trains.









68. Guidelines: Abbr.: STDS. Now for me, I would clue this Crabs and Clamydia, because of the following clue, 69. Battle of the __: SEXES.









Ok, on to the rest.



Down:









1. Mudbath offerers: SPAS. Also many places in the south now.









2. House of Dana perfume: TABU. This perfume was introduced in 1932, and used the creative spelling to get attention, something the Beatles capitalized on.









3. "By a swan's __ bill": Keats: EBON. Maybe CA knew this line, but the erps filled with this common poetic abbreviation.









4. Gave the runaround: ELUDED. My FAVORITE .









5. Spins: ROTATES.









6. Back: AGO.









7. Throat trouble: FROG. Got a frog in your throat, or are you croaking?









8. Card worth a fortune?: TAROT. Nice fresh way to clue this standard. With, 43D. 8-Down user: SEER.









9. Engross: ABSORB. A bit of a confusing fill, as it conflicts with the theme; deliberately?









10. Snoopy-wearing-shades trait: COOLNESS. he actually is Joe Cool, when he wears them.









12. Declare: VOICE. As in opinions, which reminds me where are WH?









13. Looks for: SEEKS.









18. Menace with a blond cowlick: DENNIS. A shout out to our own.









22. Schoolyard pressure: DARE. I like this clue, and certainly my earliest memories of the schoolyard were a series of stupid dares.









24. Stage surprise: AD LIB. It was always fun to watch White Fang and Black Tooth deliberatly change things to throw Soupy Sales off his game.









26. Doofus: DORK. Funny, I just was explaining this to a foreign friend of mine.









27. "__ Brockovich": ERIN. Did you like the MOVIE ?









29. Less fruity?: SANER. Like fruit cake? Meh.









33. Wrap around a wrap, maybe: SARAN. Nice play on wrap/wrap.









35. Drop: OMIT.









36. Identifies: PEGS. My ex-wife's least favorite nickname. She thought she had me pegged.









38. Googling elements: KEY WORDS. Actually, it is AOL that ued that term.









40. Net __: INCOME. When I was a kid I was fascinated why anyone would consider money GROSS income.









45. Puts on a par (with): EQUATES.









48. Olympic qualifying events: TRIALS. Well he could have use a legal clue....









50. Incomplete: UNDONE. We are almost done, so hang in.









51. Martin's "That's __": AMORE. DEAN remember when we loved our drunks?









52. Staircase support: NEWEL. We have had this clue before; also my son Devin's middle name is Newell.









Speaking of brewers of beer, he is offically a brewer now, with business card.



56. Pack: LOAD. I caution him not to get too loaded at work.









58. Trojan War hero: AJAX. I am sure you all recal this giant redheaded warrior, and my betta.









59. Floating speck, perhaps: MOTE. Which is what I have floating in my eyes because of all the surgeries.









60. Looks closely at: EYES. Did I mention eyes?









63. Some NFL linemen: DTS. Last week it was Delerium Tremens, I guess that means the draft is on and we all need some Defensive Tackles.









Well, another new guy, another new experience. have a great week-end, here comes May!