Saturday June 5 2010 Robert H Wolfe

Theme: NoneTotal words: 72Total blocks: 34Quintessential Robert Wolfe themeless, with three 15-letter grid spanners and all of them "common enough phrases in daily speech but rarely used in puzzles":17A. Daydreams: CASTLES IN THE AIR. Awe-inspiring fill.38A. Reaction to a coincidental entrance: SPEAK OF THE DEVIL. My favorite answer today.58A. Declaration that's from hunger: I COULD EAT A HORSE. Then we also have ATE (6D. Took in). Tiny flaw. Two forms of the same word (EAT/ATE) should not be allowed in the same grid.Besides the three grid-spanners, Bob also gives us ten 9-letter entries. He is fond of multi-word answers, so we have plenty today. His playfulness "> INFRA (28D. Red head?). Infrared.Across:1. "Something's Got a Hold on Me" singer, 1962: ETTA JAMES. Was stumped immediately. Great to see her full name.10. Bar at the bar: ESTOP. The first bar is verb, "prohibit", the second bar is noun, "the court". We often see it just clued as "Legally prevent".15. It "ain't what it used to be": Yogi Berra: THE FUTURE. Makes sense.16. Birch of "Alaska": THORA. Actress Thora Birch. I thought the clue was asking for a particular birch tree in the Alaska. Completely overlooked the quotation mark. Having never heard of the movie "Alaska" did not help.19. Cry of exhilaration: WHEE20. Like an irritated person's teeth?: SET ON EDGE. Awesome clue/answer.21. What U can follow: RST. Alphabetically.23. White House nickname: RON. Reagan. I wanted IKE.24. Musician nicknamed "Sugar Lips": HIRT (Al).27. Try to jab: HIT AT31. Dose people?: DEM. "Those people" = Them. NY slang I presume. Dis and Dat, Dem and Dose.34. Like the Indian rhino: ONE-HORNED. Man, it's true. This guy only has one horn.36. Uncle equal?: I GIVE. V-8 moment for me.40. Upholstery adornments: TUFTS41. Plant grafting component: ROOTSTOCK. New word to me.42. Hampshire's home: STY. Hampshire the breed of pig, characterized by erect ears and a black body with a whitish band around the middle, covering the front legs, according to Wikipedia. I thought it's kind of sheep or goat, Windhover.43. 1966-67 AFL rushing leader Jim: NANCE. No idea. I bet Barry G/ Mainiac knows. Did not even know England patriots was called Boston Patriots before.44. DOJ employee: ATTY. DOJ = Depart of Justice.45. 'Enry's abode: 'OME. Home. The sound H is dropped in the clue/answer. Cockney accent.47. "octopus defense: SAC49. Alfalfa locales: HAYFIELDS. Windhover would love this puzzle.55. "Verily, "God that hidest thyself" (Isaiah): ART A. Easy guess.61. It may be metered: VERSE. Fantastic clue.62. Above: AFORESAID63. Glacial ridge: ESKER. Simply forgot. We had this fill before.64. Doesn't draw: STANDS PAT. I don't get the meaning of "draw" here.Down:1. Inclusive abbr. : ETC2. Cold war abatement: THAW3. Radio host John: TESH. New Ager.4. Then: AFTER THAT5. First name in sci-fi: JULES (Verne). "Around the World in Eighty Days".7. Tousle: MUSS8. Ohio tribe: ERIE. We also have TETON (29. Dakota dialect). Indian tribes are part of our citizenship test also. There are more than 500 federally recognized tribes in the US. But you only need to know one.9. Directed: SENT10. Centric leader: ETHNO. Prefix for "culture".11. Polish: SHEEN. Noun "Polish". I wanted SHINE.12. Loathsome sort: TOAD13. Copier insert: Abbr.: ORIG14. Skin: PARE. Verb "skin". So tricky.18. Actionable offense: TORT22. During, old-style: THRO. How can "through" mean "During"? "Via" to me.24. Armies: HOSTS. Armies/hosts of.25. Data, often: INPUT. Not the "Star Trek" guy Data.26. Like atolls: REEFY. A real word.30. For this purpose: AD HOC31. Displacement from a club: DIVOT. D'oh, golf club! Divot is the piece of turf torn up when you strike the ball with an iron.32. Force out: EVICT. Nice sequential "out" tone to 31D.33. Braves outfielder Cabrera: MELKY. The Melky Way. He's with the Yankees before. Might be stranger Jayce.35. Blesses: OKS36. They may be checked at the door: IDS37. Be convincing about: GET ACROSS39. Soissons seasons: ETES. Alliteration. Soissons is city northeast of Paris. Unknown to me. So close in spelling to French fish "poisson".43. Requirement: NEED45. Not worthless: OF USE46. Sebastian Coe, e.g. : MILER48. Sounded amazed: AAHED. Oohed too.49. Swarming spot: HIVE. Alliteration50. They can be high or low: ACES. Don't know cards. TIDE does not fit. Several tricky "they" or "it" in today's puzzle.51. Walled English city: YORK. No idea. My hometown Xi'An is walled too.52. Where cows chow down: LEAS. Loved the three "ow"s.53. Bats: DAFT. Of course I was thinking of baseball bats/HITS.54. Acropolis sight: STOA. The Greek portico.56. Under-the-sink item: TRAP. What trap?57. Land of plenty?: ASIA. Plenty of people. Natural resources too.59. Hal Foster prince: ARN. I am used to the "Prince Valiant's son" clue. Was ignorant of the creator of the strip.60. Summer hrs. at MIT: EDT (Eastern Daylight-saving Time)Answer grid.C.C.