Sat., 5/16 Gareth Bain

[magus]

THEME:   none, but two fifteens cross at center
   
GOOD ONES:     
Goes for the flies   SWATS [of course I had shags which means to catch flies (baseball) while SWATS means to hit (baseball); both mean in some sense "goes for flies" --- and of course so does killing the little buggers]   
   
BTW:   
Job, metaphorically   HAT ['He wears many hats" is jobspeak which is right up there with "He's come aboard" and "Let's run it up the flag pole..."]   
   
Interesting that from 10- through 14-Down we have an international cast, so to speak.   
   
Back-to-back contests?   DUELS [this one tickled me in that if the clue were correct Alexander Hamilton may have lived longer]   
   
Level, e.g.   TOOL [not a week goes by when I don't use one yet this one didn't come immediately, but levels never do (one has to go get them) ]   
   
Ready signal   ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO [one needs to believe that speech is a signal, which I don't; speech is speech and signals are signs or sounds.  I remember in grade school peeved teachers would say, "I don't remember giving the signal to talk!" But I never did hear that "signal."]   
   
RATING:   
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun   

[Thomps2525]

I do not like seeing foreign words in American crosswords. AGUA, AMIGO, CASA, DREI, EAU, EINE, ETE, IDEE, ILE, MER, ORO, SENOR (which is always missing the tilde), SRA, SRTA, TETE, TIO and dozens of other such words appear almost daily---although not all in the same puzzle. However, I don't object to longer foreign words and phrases. Those appear in crosswords by intent, not just because the creator got stuck in one section of the grid and couldn't find an English word that fit. Today's Daily News crossword included the title of a 1999 Ricky Martin hit, LIVINLAVIDALOCA. The Times crossword included ARRIVEDERCI and DOMOARIGATO side by side. Did Gareth Bain use a computer program or did he use his own brainpower to figure out that those two words could be placed side by side and allow for the creation of 11 intersecting words? Either way, I'm impressed.

"Job, metaphorically" was HAT. Gary Owens, who died this year at age 80, worked in Los Angeles radio for more than 40 years, voiced characters in almost 3000 cartoons, voiced thousands of radio/tv commercials, released 35 comedy videos and 20 comedy albums, appeared in 12 movies, hosted The Gong Show and was the announcer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. He had a very quick wit and was constantly coming up with silly jokes and puns. On one of his radio shows on KLAC, he made this announcement: "I'm wearing three hats today. I'm not doing three jobs---I'm just wearing three hats."