Sun., 2/8 Marti DuGuay-Carpenter

[magus]

THEME:   Word attached to a move title creates an odd phrase
   
GOOD ONES:     
Title: Move Trailers   
Movie about a gabfest getting out of hand?   RAGING BULL SESSION   
It had a big part in "The Ten Commandments"   RED SEA [indeed, it parted]   
Start of ancient Troy?   TAU   
Flower in trees?   SAP [it flows so it's a flower]   
O'er and o'er   OFT [most poetic]   
Lady's friend   TRAMP [dogs, but it reminds me of some people]   
Tiny sweater?   PORE [in a way a pore sweats]   
Eye sore   STYE [note two words]   
   
BTW:   
This puzzle had three J's; rarely we get one.   
   
As above, in footnotes   IDEM [don't know why I never used it when I did papers --- always Ibid.]   
   
Naval attire   PEACOAT [my father wore one when I was a boy, but I thought it was P (for patrol) Coat --- made sense but it was wrong.]   
   
Lively   GAY [don't see this definition much anymore]   
   
   
RATING:    
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

Merl Reagle's crossword in today's Los Angeles Times was a first. At least it was a first to me. I've never before seen a puzzle with two themes. The title is "Double Dating." The horizontal theme answers are puns involving couples:

What the lovesick astronomers had? STARSINTHEIREYES
Like the two electricians' dating status? ONAGAINOFFAGAIN
Became the steady date of a wrestler? GOTPINNED
What the Invisible Man thought his girlfriend was doing behind his back? SEEINGSOMEONE

The vertical theme answers are fragments that can precede the word "dating": VALI, ELUCI, INUN, INTIMI, CONSOLI, ACCOMMO.

"Playground retort" is a clue that appears in puzzles from time to time. The answer can be AMSO, AMNOT, ARETOO, DOTOO, DIDSO or another similar phrase. In today's crossword, "Playground retort" is CANTO. I've never heard a schoolchild saying "Can to!" He would say "Can too!" The clue should have been "Epic poem division."

For all you canto fans in the audience, I have to mention the Hindu epic poem Ramayama, which has 24,000 verses arranged in 500 cantos. Five hundred!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramayana