Friday November 1, 2013 John Lampkin

 Theme: SUB (66D. Prefix for the answers to starred clues, and
word needed for those clues to make sense) - The clues for all the
starred entries make sense only if you add SUB in front of them.

17A. *Dive, surface, dive, surface, etc.? : ROUTINE. Sub routine. I did not know the original word "subroutine". Google shows it's a computer term. Tell me more, TTP/D-Otto.

18A. *Lab growth below sea level? : CULTURE. Sub culture.

30A. *Underwater speaker? : WOOFER. Sub woofer. See here.

40A. *Story line for "The Hunt for Red October"? : PLOT. Sub plot.

41A. *Hatch? : ENTRY.
Sub entry. Not famliar with the nautical term "Hatch". Dictionary shows
it's also called "Hatchway": an opeing, usually rectangler, in the deck
through which passngers can pass, cargo can be loaded and unloaded. I
bet Spitzboov nailed this.

42A. *Underwater lateral surface? : SIDE. Sub side.

46A. *Position on naval warfare? : STANCE. Sub stance.

62A. *Sonar reading? : HEADING. Sub heading.

65A. *Message from beneath the surface? : MISSIVE. Sub missive.

4D. *Scenery for "Operation Petticoat"? : SET. Sub set.

C.C. here, pinch-hitting for Lemonade, who can't get the new puzzle because Cruciverb is still down. He'll be back next Friday.

What a tour de force from John Lampkin! This grid reminds me of the CHINESE puzzle I made for the NY Times in September. See here.  

Look
how similar the grids are. Both 78 words. Both have a single 9-letter
entry in the central Down. None of our theme entries is more than
7-letter long. However, I only have 9 theme entries. John has 11 today. I
have total 38 black squares, with two cheaters (the black square above
39D AGE and below 34D SWE), John has 34, no cheaters. 

He's just a master!

Across:

1. Turn over : CAPSIZE

8. Copes : MAKES DO

15. Banned : ILLEGAL. Great stacked of 7's here.

16. "To reiterate ..." : AS I SAID.  Some use "Like I said". I use former.  And 5D. "Uncle!" : I GIVE UP. Nice colloquial phrases.

19. Item in a tent : COT

20. French spa town : VICHY. EVIAN a spa town also, right?

22. Some amber orders : ALES

23. Zenith : APOGEE

25. Syria's Bashar al-__ : ASSAD. Now, his phone should be tapped.

28. Lorelei, notably : LURER. I think Kazie saw this sign in person. On the bank of the Rhine. Different spelling there. 

34. Invite to one's tree house : ASK UP

37. Wilde's "An __ Husband" : IDEAL. Never read it.

39. At least one : ANY

43. Ages : EON

44. Bob Barker's longtime sidekick Johnny : OLSON

45. Clearance events : SALES

48. Lose it : GO MAD

50. Bivouac : ETAPE.  Dictionary says it's rooted in Middle French "estaple", which is further rooted in Middle Dutch "Stapel", meaning "warehouse".

52. Starting lineups : A-TEAMS

56. Toll rd. : TPKE (Turnpike)

59. Nintendo ancestor : ATARI

61. Caviar, e.g. : ROE

67. In real trouble : UP A TREE. John shot this picture in Costa Rica. He said: "The Three-toed Sloth spends most of his life in the tree tops, coming
down only once a week to defecate. And Grampa thinks HE has problems!"

(Please click on the above picture to read John's caption.)

68. Flavored, like some vodka : INFUSED. Why do you infuse vodka?

69. Comebacks: RETORTS

70. Convertible couches : DAYBEDS

Down:

1. Word for a rough date : CIRCA. Oh, antique dating.

2. Throw for __ : A LOOP

3. Demotion in 2006 news : PLUTO. From Ninth planet to a dwarf.

6. More wacky : ZANIER

7. Util. bill item : ELEC

8. Annual parade sponsor : MACY'S

9. Sch. with a Mesa campus : ASU

10. 3,280.8 ft. : KIL (Kilometer)

11. Sonora, por ejemplo : ESTADO. Spanish for "State".

12. King David's predecessor : SAUL. John/Rich must not like Saul Goodman of "Breaking Bad". Better call Saul.

13. Dreadful : DIRE

14. Stanzas of tribute : ODES

21. How some singles play : HARD TO GET. Another gem.

24. Flood : GLUT

26. Vacillate : SWAY

27. IM provider : AOL

29. Fifth of fünf : EINS. fünf is "five" then.

31. Fall flat : FAIL

32. German finale : ENDE

33. Grains used by brewers and bakers : RYES. Bother
me so much that you can't pluralize "corn" when other grains can be so.
We have red corn, yellow corn, white corn after all. Always "Foot
woes".

34. Copycats : APES

35. One in a Vegas row : SLOT

36. Hawaiian coffee-growing district : KONA

38. Cube maker Rubik : ERNO

41. Where Zeno taught : ELEA. Zeno of Elea, the Greek philosopher.

42. Nigerian-born Grammy winner : SADE. Her sister used to sing at a Spanish pub owned by a friend's parents.

44. Mo. for many Libras : OCT

45. Fulfill : SATISFY

47. Must : NEED TO

49. Berth place : MARINA. Loved the clue.

51. Leaves : PAGES. I don't get this clue. "Leafs/pages" through makes sense.

53. Leave one's seat : ARISE

54. Left town, maybe : MOVED

55. Feeder filler : SEEDS

56. Schedule abbr. : THUR. Our Marti Day.

57. Skunk Le Pew : PEPE

58. '50s-'80s pitcher Jim "Kitty" __ : KAAT. He was with the Twins for a long time.

60. Hemmed in by : AMID

63. Discount tag abbr. : IRR. I like Marshalls. You?

64. Entomologist's tool : NET.  Entomologists studies insects.

David
Liben-Nowell, a NYT crossword constructor, kindly invited Twin Cities
constructors to a presentation by Matt Ginsberg yesterday at Carleton
College. Matt is the genius behind Dr. Fill, the crossword equivalent of
IBM's Watson. His talk was quite geeky and I only understood a tiny
portion of what he said, but it was so nice to meet with him and thanked
him in person for the free clue database
I've been using for a few years. Also eye-opening to see Dr Fill
accurately solve this Wednesday's NYT in 2 minutes. Matt will present
Carleton's weekly convocation address today. It'll be streamed on line.
Click here.

Left to Right: George Barany, David Liben-Nowell, Matt Ginsberg, C.C. & Tom Pepper

Oct 31, 2013, Carleton College