WEDNESDAY, May 6, 2009 — Mike Peluso

THEME: "Gallery Showing"— Four phrases begin with words that can precede GALLERY, which is an anagram of ALLERGY

Crosswordese 101: Back in the day, westerns were a popular movie and TV genre. What I want to ask those of you over the age of 50 or 60 is: Did anyone ever call a western an OATER (63A: Western)? Was that the Hollywood lingo in Variety, or was it more widespread? Because the only place I've ever encountered OATERs is in the crossword, where it shows no signs of vanishing. Related words you may find in the puzzle include HEC Ramsey, a '70s TV western; Lash LARUE, star of early westerns; Bonanza characters HOSS and ADAM; actor James ARNESS; and the 1953 movie SHANE.

Theme answers:
  • 20A: "Kids Say The Darndest Things!" author (ART LINKLETTER).
  • 33A: Congressional bone of contention (NATIONAL DEBT).
  • 40A: Decide to prosecute (PRESS CHARGES).
  • 54A: Food reaction shared by about 3 million Americans (PEANUT ALLERGY).
  • 43D: Anagram of 54-Across's ending that can follow the first word of 20-, 33-, 40- and 54-Across (GALLERY).
In cryptic crosswords a word like "nutty" could be used to signal the scrambling of a word. So I want PEANUT ALLERGY to mean "scrambled ALLERGY," or GALLERY, but it doesn't quite work that way. How it does work is pretty elegant: The constructor noticed that "peanut allergy" and the "peanut gallery" are both familiar phrases and that the second words are anagrams of one another.

An olio answers and clues:
  • 1A: Underworld VIPs (DONS) and 2D: Last book in Puzo's "Godfather" trilogy (OMERTA).
  • 17A: City on the Truckee (RENO). The only thing I know about the Truckee River is that it flows by Reno, and I know that strictly from crosswords.
  • 24A: Raise canines? (TEETHE). TEETHE usually gets a tricky clue like this.
  • 28A: Well-bred (GENTEEL). I like that word. It's so...genteel.
  • 46A: Uncomfortable spot (HOT SEAT).
  • 5D: Pancake, when holding a sausage (BLANKET) and 42D: Deep-fried frank (CORN DOG). A.k.a. "tube-shaped meats enclosed in starch."
  • 29D: When bats fly (NIGHT). When pigs fly would be NEVER.
  • 49D: Memorable repeated question by the economics teacher (played by Ben Stein) in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (ANYONE). It's a shame Ben Stein had to step all over that memory by bad-mouthing evolution in that recent documentary.
  • 50A: "Boston Legal" actor (SPADER).

Everything Else — 5A: Bench warmers (BTEAM); 10A: E-mail to be filtered (SPAM); 14A: Radiate (EMIT); 15A: Emmy winner on her 19th try (LUCCI); 16A: Guadalajara bread (PESO); 18A: Future oak (ACORN); 19A: Sound hoarse (RASP); 23A: "In my opinion ..." (ITHINK); 27A: __Vegas (LAS); 32A: Pirate's quaff (RUM); 35A: Taj Mahal site (AGRA); 38A: Clock-setting std. (GMT); 39A: Tracy's Trueheart (TESS); 45A: Up to, for short (TIL); 47A: Busy pro in Apr. (CPA); 52A: Atoll enclosure (LAGOON); 58A: Phoenix suburb (MESA); 60A: Suffix with hippo- (DROME); 61A: Mower-making giant (TORO); 62A: Skating jump (AXEL); 64A: Shortly (ANON); 65A: Mail (POST); 66A: "No guts, no __" (GLORY); 67A: Docile (TAME); 1D: Foil, as a plan (DERAIL); 3D: Jazzy intervals (NINTHS); 4D: Popular vodka, familiarly (STOLI); 6D: Plastic surgery procedure (TUCK); 7D: Green sci. (ECOL); 8D: Land measure (ACRE); 9D: Herbal beverage (MINTTEA); 10D: Binge (SPREE); 11D: Partridge's home? (PEARTREE); 12D: Obnoxious sort (ASS); 13D: Barber's challenge (MOP); 21D: Actress Swenson (INGA); 22D: Relate (TELL); 25D: O'Hare and JFK (HUBS); 26D: Initial response team, initially (EMTS); 30D: Inquisitor __ de Torquemada (TOMAS); 31D: __ nous (ENTRE); 33D: Bahamas airport code (NAS); 34D: Sot's shakes (DTS); 35D: Bldg. units (APTS); 36D: Golf lesson subject (GRIP); 37D: Gets worse after getting better (RELAPSES); 41D: Old Mets home (SHEA); 44D: List ender (ETAL); 47D: Beer served with a lime (CORONA); 48D: "Fiddler on the Roof" fear (POGROM); 51D: Meted (out) (DEALT); 53D: Insinuate (GETAT); 55D: River to the Caspian (URAL); 56D: Dorothy's dog (TOTO); 57D: NAFTA part: Abbr. (AMER); 58D: Auto club offering (MAP); 59D: Outer: Pref. (EXO).


mac said...

Nice puzzle, which I did online since I don't have my NYT yet.
Sorry Orange, I have never even HEARD the word Oater, only know it from crosswords, like so many words....
I like the word genteel, too, and how funny that both the pig in the blanket and the corndog appear in the puzzle.

Rex Parker said...

Dude, I can't believe you gave them a dose of "HEC Ramsey" this early in their crosswording careers. That's Crosswordese 601 ... in that I learned it from crosswords (it crushed my skull in a puzzle about two years ago) and then I promptly never saw it again. OK, maybe I've seen it once more. HEC is like the white tiger of crosswordese.

I generally like my puzzles without POGROMs. Something eerie about the fact that the NYT also has a POGROM-related answer today.

Why is there a pic of Don Johnson in the puzzle? Is it because he's HOT, and sitting in a SEAT?

Almost went for ELKO over RENO. ELKO will be the Crosswordese 101 answer ... next chance I get.


Crockett1947 said...

Good morning, Orange. I take it you've never been to Reno? The Truckee flows through the middle of town, so Reno is literally on the Truckee.

No school today?

Badir said...

@Rex, Don Johnson is sitting below Don King, and the first answer next to him is....

jeff in chicago said...

I thought Don Johnson was illustrating CORN DOG.

*David* said...

On Seis De Mayo we get all the alcohol!?

STOLI in one corner and buy a CORONA with some PESO in the other. For those that like something different, you can imbibe some Captain Morgan Parrot RUM.

Nevada appears to be the state of the day with LAS vegas and RENO which fits a drinking SPREE.

Anonymous said...

I too was unable to come up with a GENTEEL guess for the Don Johnson pic.

gjelizabeth said...

I'm 62, loved western TV shows in the 50's and 60's and also learned OATER from crosswords. I'm guessing it either goes back to Tom Mix days or is an industry term used in VARIETY headlines. I liked today's very clever theme (I like all themes I'm able to figure out). I got married in Reno in December 1968 at the County Courthouse and we walked back to the hotel along the frozen Truckee River on a beautiful afternoon of crystalline sunshine. The marriage didn't last but the love and the memory have never died.

PuzzleGirl said...

I second Rex's "Dude." HEC Ramsey? Ne-ever heard of him (him? it?). I had a lot of trouble in the SW corner. I spelled AXEL wrong, despite Rex's recent lesson. And I entered send for POST, and doled for DEALT. Took a while to get that straightened out.
I also entered gentile for GENTEEL at first. D'oh!

I'll be traveling to beautiful Reno, Nevada in a couple weeks to see PuzzleSister get married. I'm sure we'll catch a glimpse of the Truckee at some point.

Orange said...

Rex and PG, don't give me any lip abotu HEC Ramsey! I've seen it at least three or four times in crosswords. And you know what? Someday everyone who reads this post will encounter *EC Ramsey in a crossword, and a vague memory of reading about HEC will bubble to the surface to bail them out of a tough spot. It might not happen for a year or three, but HEC is out there. He is biding his time, waiting to ambush everyone who never watched his 10-episode TV western in the early '70s. I ain't about to let that varmint get the best of my posse.

John said...

I saw a homeless person taking a bath in the Truckee River when I was in Reno. Nice Town!

Subdude Dan said...

There used to be a hockey player named Mike Peluso. I wonder, if it's the same guy?? Anyone know his bio?

Rex Parker said...

I too fell into the DOLED-for-DEALT trap, and I even second-guessed my own AXLE/EL teaching down there because of it. Ugh.


Lemonade714 said...

HEC Ramsey was Richard Boone's second OATER, with HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL, where he played a vigilante hired gun known only as Paladin, his break out TV role. OATER was used regularly in TV guide describing westerns which is where I learned the term many moons ago(I am 60), and is logical based on the need to feed all the horses. Boone also was very active in the annual Cross and Sword performances in St. Augustine, which sadly died when did.

switters said...

Struggled with the NW corner, "ninths" and "dons" eluded me.

Another slight quibble today: I thought Pigs in a Blanket were hotdogs baked into crescent rolls. Does a sausage link in a pancake predate that?

Curious In Birmingham

chefbea said...

HOORAY!!!! I found that the LAtimes puzzle is hidden in a different section of our paper so I'm back!!

Fun easy puzzle today. I agree with switters.. hotdogs in a crescent roll are pigs in a blanket. Never saw a sausage wrapped in a pancake.

chefbea said...

Breakfast pigs in a blanket



Anonymous said...

Any IHOP menu will show you "Pigs in a Blanket" to be breakfast sausage in pancakes." And the Truckee starts out of Lake Tahoe. Great spot for a leisurely family rafting trek which we enjoy each summer.

- - Robert

Orange said...

Wikipedia has the lowdown on blanketed pigs:

In the United States, the term "pigs in a blanket" often refers to hot dogs, Vienna sausages, or breakfast/link sausages wrapped in biscuit dough, pancake, or croissant dough, and baked. A common variation is to slit the hot dog or sausage and stuff it with cheese before wrapping in dough. The dough is sometimes homemade, but canned dough is most common.
They are somewhat similar to a sausage roll or (by more extreme extension) a baked corn dog. They are served as an hors d'oeuvre or as a children's dish, or sometimes as a breakfast entree.
A "pig in a pig" variation, a baked hors d'oeuvre of Vienna sausages or hot dog pieces in bacon, also exists in informal U.S. cuisine.
In regions heavily influenced by Slovak immigrants, the term usually refers instead to stuffed cabbage rolls, such as the Polish or Ukrainian Gołąbki.
At IHOP, the term "pigs in a blanket" refers to sausage links with pancake wrapped around it.
Don't we need more guesses about why there's a Don Johnson photo?

Lemonade714 said...

I DON't think we need more guesses as to WHY we have DON King and DON Johnson photos.

Rex Parker said...

Ugh, pig farming.

I like my HOT SEAT explanation of Don Johnson the best.

I'm off to Netflix Miami Vice: Season 1


chefbea said...

I found in Wikepedia that Don Johnson starred with Cheech Marin in Nash Bridges. Is that why we have his picture in the write up?? Do I win a prize??

SethG said...

You guys are on the wrong track concentrating on DON. His picture appears next to a discussion of tube-shaped meats, so it's JOHNSON you should be focusing on.

chefbea said...

Does this pass the breakfast test??

twangster said...

Sorry for this question, which has probably been asked a lot, but how do you switch from across to down when solving the LA Times puzzle on line? Thank you.

Orange said...

@twangster, clicking the space bar will jump you to the first empty square in the answer going the other direction.

Tab and return/enter jump you to the next answer in the same direction, again taking you to the first empty square in that answer.

Using the arrow keys to move around jumps you to the first empty square in the adjacent word—which bugs the HEC out of me because I want to move directly down, not down and to the left. You can't easily move straight down four squares.

Anonymous said...

@SethG Thanks.
@Orange Tsk Tsk Tsk.

Anonymous said...

ACME gets a little blurb in the SF Chron about her ACPT related appearance on the Food Network tonight: http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/garchik/

- - Robert

twangster said...

Thanks, I'll try it out tomorrow.

Wayne said...

@Orange, very clever with the 'Dons'. One was quite a character with that wild hair and the other one was indeed 'hot' back in the day.

As for Hec, I'll take any suggestions I can get to improve my crossword abilities. Thanks.

Also, the pigs in a pancake thing baffled me. We didn't eat stuff like that when I was growing up. We had normal breakfasts, nothing mixed with other things. But thanks for the definition of Pigs in a Blanket, at least I now know what it is. Sounds like a cholesterol hot mess.

Anonymous said...

What's a pogrom? After years of puzzles, I'm puzzled!!


I liked your Crosswordese 101.
Yes I've called them "oaters", but then that's cuz I'm an oldie.
Check out this list of oater rankings---
--- and notice how many the Duke starred in... John Wayne was definitely the oater-emoter.


Thank god for Google and Wikipedia or I'd never figure this out.