Sunday November 3, 2013 Arthur S. Verdesca

Theme: "The Doctor Is In" - MD is embedded in the middle of each theme entry.

23A. Perry Mason story, e.g. : COURTROOM DRAMA. Which is your favorite? I never understood the fun in #23.  I like "A Few Good Men" the most.

45A. Symbol of a bettor's certainty : BOTTOM DOLLAR

54A. Post-hurricane assessment : STORM DAMAGE.
Guangzhou is a subtropical city. I always dreaded when we had big
typhoons. I lived in the very old part of the town. The water drainage
was so bad that I couldn't go home without a raft.

73A. Like some locomotives : STEAM-DRIVEN

81A. Coen or Stone : FILM DIRECTOR. Here is my favorite director: Zhang Yi-Mou. He directed "Red Sorghum" (based on Nobel laureate Mo Yan's novel), "Hero" (Jet Li movie), the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Most importantly, he grew up in my hometown Xi'An.

103A. Made-to-order : CUSTOM-DESIGNED

32D. Winners can be determined by one : RANDOM DRAWING

36D. Coffee break treat : CREAM DOUGHNUT. I always spell it as "Donut".

104D. Puzzle title people hidden in eight long answers : MDS

Look what I found! Today's constructor Arthur S. Verdesca is a MD. One other website shows he's 83 years old, 16 years younger than our other LAT constructor Bernice Gordon.

Simple theme. I grokked the gimmick very early on.

Across:

  

1. Obama attorney general Holder : ERIC. Easy start.

5. Rattle : FAZE

9. Bros : BUDS

13. Online letters : EMAILS

19. Commandment opener : THOU. "Thou shalt not...".

20. One missing roll call, perhaps : AWOL

21. Per person : A POP

22. Deadhead's idol : GARCIA (Jerry)

26. Insatiable : GREEDY

27. Some deer : BUCK 

28. Shorten, as a skirt :RE-HEM. And 60D. Revealing garb : MINIs. Every girl seemed to wear this Zara skirt this past summer. Zara, Zara, please come to Minnesota!

 

29. Bad acting : SIN

30. Onetime Rus. state : SSR

33. Busy buzzer : BEE

34. Strains : TAXES

35. Restraint usually seen in pairs : MANACLE. Big D'oh!

39. Montana motto metal : PLATA. "Oro y Plata".

41. Yemen's capital : SANA'A

42. Do clerical work : FILE

43. Stimpy's pal : REN. Popular dog in xwords.

44. Zest source : RIND

48. SFO listing : ETD

49. Everyday connectors : ANDs

50. Jesus of baseball : ALOU. 3/4 are vowels, hence its frequent appearances our grids.

51. Durban dough : RAND.
Here is what Wiki says: Durban is famous for being the busiest port in
South Africa and Africa. Shanghai is the busiest in the world.

52. Bloom holder : VASE

53. Fight stopper : TKO (Technical Knockout)

58. Disney king : SIMBA. "The Lion King"

59. "Fearful" feature of Blake's Tyger : SYMMETRY. Read here.

61. Tasman and a Genesis shepherd : ABELs

62. Sneeze cause : DANDER

63. Took the plunge : DIVED

64. Tapestry behind which Polonius hid : ARRAS

65. Abstain from : FORGO

66. "The Weaver of Raveloe" : MARNER (Silas)

68. Unit or sect suffix : ARIAN. Strange suffix.

69. Surgical tie : LIGATURE. New word to me.

72. Oil well firefighter Red : ADAIR

75. Catch : GET

76. Shooting marbles : TAWS. Has any of you played TAWS before?

77. Stub __ : A TOE

78. Voyaging, say : ASEA

79. Scorch : CHAR

80. Letters seen before Fridays : TGI

85. Where TV's "Charlie's Angels" was set : IN LA

86. A, for Mozart : EIN

87. Riles up : IRES

88. Gets ready to shoot : COCKS

89. Dick Tracy creator Chester : GOULD. Another learning moment for me.

90. Access, in a way : LOG ONTO

92. Cats in Cádiz : GATOS. Los Gatos!

93. Seek redress : SUE

95. Rope on the briny : TYE. For Spitzboov. I was stumped.

96. Classic auto : REO

97. Irish tenor Tynan : RONAN. Gimme for Irish Miss.

98. Brazilian range __ do Mar : SERRA. Never heard of it.

100. Minor league baseball level : CLASS A

108. House minority leader : PELOSI (Nancy)

109. '40s film critic James : AGEE

110. Nihilistic art movement : DADA

111. Follow : OBEY

112. Carl with Emmys : REINER. Bob Reiner's father. (Edited later: Rob Reiner! Thanks, TTP.)

113. Supply in a farm country store : FEED

114. Certain terrier's isle : SKYE

115. Big wind : GALE

Down:

1. And so on: Abbr. : ETC

2. Letter after pi : RHO

3. Signed promise : IOU

4. Restrain : CURB

5. Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest," e.g. : FARCE

6. Stirred : AWOKE

7. Madhouses : ZOOS

8. Disease-struck tree : ELM. Hard to find fresh way to clue ELM, or OREO.

9. Legal hurdle : BAR EXAM

10. Toward the front : UP AHEAD

11. Stadium protectors : DOMES

12. Cyberjunk : SPAM

13. Deli sandwich : EGG SALAD. Not for my taste. I do like Potato salad with eggs in it though.

14. Coleridge storyteller : MARINER

15. __ football : ARENA

16. Curling surface : ICE

17. Eye protector : LID

18. Utter : SAY

24. Big wind : TUBA

25. Pipe cleaner : DRANO

30. Jack and the missus of verse : SPRATS

31. Spring toy : SLINKY

34. "The Genius of Keyboard" jazzman : TATUM (Art). I was unaware he's called that.

35. "Toad of Toad Hall" playwright : MILNE

37. Doesn't disturb : LETS BE

38. Make cherished : ENDEAR

40. NFL six-pointers : TDs

41. It may be long : STORY

42. Loses strength : FLAGS

45. Baker's preparation : BATTER. I had never used an oven until I came to the states. We don't bake bread there. We steam. 

46. Prayer opener : O LORD

47. Scary tests : ORALS

52. 20, in Toulouse : VINGT. French for Abejo!

54. Lop off : SEVER

55. "Beavis and Butt-head" spin-off : DARIA. Total stranger to me.

56. Milhous : Nixon :: __ : Garfield : ABRAM

57. Lennon's "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except __ My Monkey" : ME AND

58. Kitchen wrap : SARAN

62. Mark for future reference : DOG-EAR. Please Don't! And please don't be so mean and hide behind your anonymous mask and attack regulars on our blog.

64. Thin as __ : A REED. I use A RAIL.

65. McGarrett's outfit, familiarly : FIVE-O. Hawaii Five-O.

66. Hot Wheels maker : MATTEL

67. Slow work : ADAGIO

68. Basic building material : ATOMs

69. Leans : LISTS

70. "No kidding" : REALLY

71. Online financial site : E-TRADE

73. Pope in Attila's time : ST LEO. They met each other, correct?

74. Book displays : RACKS

77. Like a dogfight missile : AIR-TO-AIR

79. AFL partner : CIO

81. Tactful handling : FINESSE

82. Song title words before "for Miles" : I CAN SEE.  No idea. The Who's  "I can see for Miles".

83. Took turns in succession : ROTATED

84. Budget, in brand names : ECONO

89. Spice Girl Halliwell : GERI

91. Small-screen Bean : ORSON

92. Overcharge : GOUGE

93. Run-down : SEEDY

94. Bears, to Ovid : URSAE

97. North Amer. WWII fliers : RCAF. OK, Royal Canadian Air Force.

98. The Missouri R. runs through it : S DAK

99. All excited : AGOG

100. ER procedure : CPR

101. Dixie general : LEE

102. Poetic fighter : ALI

105. Bird's org. : NBA. Larry Bird.

106. Slippery one : EEL

107. Salon stock : DYE

The
fifth annual Crosswords LA tournament was held in Santa Monica on
October 26. For those who weren't able to attend, the puzzles are now
available for purchase. The cost is $10, with proceeds donated to
support the charity Reading to Kids (http://readingtokids.org).
You'll receive crosswords by Elizabeth Gorski, Jeffrey Harris, Aimee
Lucido & Zoe Wheeler, Todd McClary, Andrea Carla Michaels, Pete
Muller, Trip Payne, and David Steinberg. All expertly edited by Tyler
Hinman. The Puzzle Pack also includes a fun Ferris wheel-themed puzzle
suite by John Doppler Schiff.

Please head on over to http://crosswordnexus.com/store/ to download the Puzzle Pack!

C.C.