Thursday June 3 2010 Mark Bickham

Theme: Yakety-Yak - Common phrases ending in verbal expressions are humorously interpreted and clued as if they were of a certain occupation.18A. Musician's parlance?: KEY WORDS. Musical key. C Minor/Major, etc.24A. Billiards player's parlance?: ENGLISH LANGUAGE. English is a "spinning motion imparted to a ball, esp. in billiards". Maybe Lois can educate us more about this term.38A Mechanic's parlance? IDLE CHATTER. With engines running. I noticed the dreaded Utah shape, Jerome!55A. Remodeler's parlance?: PANEL DISCUSSION. Two grid-spanning theme entries.61A. Chiropractor's parlance? BACK TALK. I bet Jazzbumpa & Mainiac love this answer.This puzzle scheme reminds me of Robert W Harris' "Imaginary Places" Melissa Bee blogged last January. Familiar two-word phrases ending in "locations" are punnily reinterpreted in correspondence to their clues. For example: ANNUAL PLANT is clued as "Where yearbooks are made?"Interesting triple stacks of 6's in top left and bottom right corners. Across & Down. Should delight Dennis.Across:1. Cook, as Swiss steak: BRAISE. Brown & simmer.7. "There never was a good" one, according to Franklin: WAR. So true.10. Like many a head-turner: SEXY. Like Jessica Hart. 14. Imposed, as a tax: LEVIED15. Fertility clinic cells: OVA16. Colored: HUED17. Getting on: AGEING. Oh, I simply use AGING. I also use "cluing", but I noticed Spitzboov uses "clueing".20. Buddhist discipline: ZEN21. 1773 jetsam: TEA. "Jetsam" in Boston Harbor.23. Wall alternative, perhaps: MOAT. In Medieval time then.30. Draft holder: STEIN31. Make known: AIR32. Spread out: SPLAY. New word to me. Related to "display". "Spread out" sounds very DF.33. For time eterne: E'ER. We also have ERE (45. Bard's "before").35. Mole user: Abbr. CIA. Spy mole.37. Sailor's "Agreed": AYE42. Fella: MAC44. West of Hollywood: MAE. Mae West.46. Hello or goodbye: ALOHA49. Crime lab subject: DNA51. Beginning: ALPHA. Oh, I did not know this extended meaning of alpha.58. Heating device: COIL. Didn't come to me readily.59. Sudan neighbor: Abbr.: ETH. Ethiopia. This abbr. answer stumps me all the time.60. Dust remover: RAG65. Arctic exploration tool: ICE AXE. Here is an image. Oh, Argyle, there is that ADZE!67. Long-running reality show, familiarly: IDOL. "American Idol".68"-tzu: LAO. Literally "old master". Father of Taoism. Lao = Old in Chinese.69. Syndicate: CARTEL70. Court defense?: ZONE. Tennis or Basket court?71. Bot. or chem.: SCI72. Ticks off: ANGERSDown:1. Conflagrations: BLAZES2. Temporary ruler: REGENT3. Right, in a way: AVENGE. Right the wrong.4. Junior's junior: III5. Orlando newspaper: SENTINEL. Does it carry LAT puzzle?6. Barely beats: EDGES. Alliteration.7. Moo goo gai pan pan: WOK. The pan in "moo goo gai pan" means "slice".8. Rosary recital: AVE MARIA. "Hail Mary". Catholic prayer.9. Lustrous fabric: RAYON. Synthetic silk. Thought of SATIN first. We also have YDS (13. Fabric meas.). Fabric echo.10. Fired wildly into, as an oater town: SHOT UP. Needed crossing help.11. Where It.'s at: EUR. It. = Italy.12. Marked with two lines: X'ED. Crossed out.19. Some friendly greetings: WAGS. Dog.22. "Bingo!" : AHA25. Covered for a crony, perhaps: LIED. Alliteration. Could not fit in ABETTED.26. Fungus-alga unions: LICHENS (LAHY-kuh n). The brownish mossy stuff? Have never heard of the word. 27. Onetime apple spray: ALAR28. In high spirits: GAY29. Inspect: EYE34. Dream state acronym: REM. Rapid Eye Movement. A bit of eye duplication. Would've preferred the musical band clue here.36. Absorbed, as a cost: ATE. Eat the cost.38. Desktop image: ICON39. Detroit's founder: CADILLAC. No idea. I just learned that the car Cadillac is named after this guy.40. Garbage site: TRASH CAN. Awesome fill.41. Congers, e.g. : EELS42. Google Earth image: MAP43. According to: A LA47. Badger at the park: HECKLE. D'oh, ballpark. Tricky!48. " : A LOT50. Adept type: ACE52. Hook, for one: PIRATE. Captain Hook.53. One who pulls a scam: HOAXER54. Pinhead dancers?: ANGELS. Why? I don't get the clue.56. Antique phone features: DIALS57. City near Syracuse: UTICA. Spitzboov's hometown.61. Profession, casually: BIZ62. Flap: ADO. Noun.63. Voting "nay": CON. Pro & Con.64. Ornamental carp: KOI66. Centimeter-gram-second unit: ERG. Only know it as "unit of work".Answer grid.On a personal note, I am excited to tell you that I became an American citizen yesterday afternoon after a very emotional swearing-in ceremony. When "Proud to be an American" was played right after the "Congratulations, new citizens" message from President Obama, my eyes welled up, tear fell.It's been a long way. I enjoyed studying American Civics (history and government) and had a perfect score in my final test. I am proud to say that I now know who wrote the Federalist Papers. Do you?C.C.

Reference: witch-selena.blogspot.com