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New York Times, Monday, September 7, 2009

Author:
Andrea Carla Michaels and Ashish Vengsarkar
Editor:
Will Shortz
Disney lyric repeated before "Darling it's better / Down where it's wetter"
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
816/12/20004/4/202350
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
758112300
RebusCircleScrabblePOW
241.647
Andrea Carla Michaels
TotalDebutLatestCollabs
193/5/20064/14/20225
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
8102512
CircleScrabblePOW
21.601
Ashish Vengsarkar

This puzzle:

Rows: 15, Columns: 15 Words: 78, Blocks: 38 Missing: {JQVX} Spans: 1 This is puzzle # 17 for Ms. Michaels. This is puzzle # 12 for Mr. Vengsarkar.
Constructor notes:

ANDREA:

Now that there were blogs, and I had attended the ACPT two years in a row, I now had lots of friends in the crossworld. One of them is Ashish Vengsarkar. We decided to collaborate on an idea I had of lots of fishing terms that were used as metaphors in other situations. Ashish constructed the grid and added MARINEGREEN and UNDERTHESEA as long downs. We disagreed about that. I like all the themes to be horizontal (I don't think I've ever had theme answers running down and I didn't want ones that were sort of like the theme but not really). Ashish hung tight and as it was a collaboration, I eventually deferred to him. He proved right in that folks loved the extra "atmospheric" entries.

Even tho solvers love long answers, I think if they are as long as the theme answers, that is really confusing. But I do like having bonus and atmospheric words in the grid to add to the overall feel.

1
G
2
O
3
F
4
I
5
S
6
H
7
R
8
B
9
I
10
S
11
M
12
I
13
Z
14
P
U
E
B
L
O
15
A
L
D
A
16
A
C
E
17
S
I
M
E
O
N
18
P
A
L
M
19
T
R
E
E
20
T
A
K
21
E
T
H
E
B
A
I
T
22
A
23
P
24
U
25
N
E
D
26
A
N
N
27
L
E
N
28
D
29
D
U
30
M
31
P
32
S
33
S
E
34
T
35
H
36
M
O
D
E
37
L
38
C
A
R
P
39
S
40
G
I
A
41
O
P
E
N
A
42
C
A
N
O
F
W
43
O
R
M
S
44
S
L
R
45
M
O
T
E
T
46
F
R
E
E
S
47
T
E
T
48
E
49
R
E
S
E
50
T
51
B
E
L
L
52
H
A
53
W
54
G
U
55
S
56
N
Y
E
57
G
E
T
R
58
E
59
E
60
L
E
D
I
61
N
62
C
A
S
S
E
T
T
E
63
O
N
E
64
T
65
W
66
O
67
A
G
E
68
N
O
U
N
69
R
A
I
S
E
R
70
B
A
A
71
S
N
I
T
72
S
I
N
K
E
R
© 2009, The New York Times9/7/09 ( No. 21,853 )
Across
1
Card game in which a player might ask "Got any 8's?" : GOFISH
7
Sluggers' stats : RBIS
11
B'way's "Les ___" : MIZ
14
Southwest Indian home : PUEBLO
15
Alan of "M*A*S*H" : ALDA
16
Useful item accompanying a face card in blackjack : ACE
17
San ___ (Hearst castle) : SIMEON
18
Coconut source : PALMTREE
20
Fall for it : TAKETHEBAIT
22
"The Simpsons" clerk : APU
25
"The Simpsons" neighbor : NED
26
Raggedy ___ : ANN
27
Give away temporarily : LEND
29
Jilts : DUMPS
33
Brother of Cain and Abel : SETH
36
Walk the runway at a fashion show : MODEL
38
Complains : CARPS
40
Actress Scala : GIA
41
Start something that one shouldn't start : OPENACANOFWORMS
44
Certain camera, for short : SLR
45
Sacred song : MOTET
46
Liberates : FREES
47
Head: Fr. : TETE
49
Bowler's button : RESET
51
Steeple contents : BELL
52
Hem's partner : HAW
54
Astronaut Grissom : GUS
56
Bill the Science Guy : NYE
57
Be a sucker : GETREELEDIN
62
Insert in a tape recorder : CASSETTE
63
Boxing combo : ONETWO
67
What the rings signify on a tree : AGE
68
Verb go-with : NOUN
69
Hell-___ (rowdy sort) : RAISER
70
Call to a shepherd : BAA
71
State when one's nose is out of joint : SNIT
72
Hook, line and ___ : SINKER
Down
1
Navigational gizmo : GPS
2
Yes, in Québec : OUI
3
Masc. alternative : FEM
4
"Yeah, sure" : IBET
5
M.I.T.'s ___ School of Management : SLOAN
6
Gave a toot : HONKED
7
Transfixed : RAPT
8
Unexciting : BLAH
9
Twiddling one's thumbs : IDLE
10
Latin ballroom dance : SAMBA
11
Algae color : MARINEGREEN
12
Rapper turned actor : ICET
13
New York's Tappan ___ Bridge : ZEE
19
Bronzes at the beach : TANS
21
Instill with the three R's : EDUCATE
22
"Close but no cigar" : ALMOST
23
Us Weekly rival : PEOPLE
24
Disney lyric repeated before "Darling it's better / Down where it's wetter" : UNDERTHESEA
28
Lion's lair : DEN
30
Lions' hair : MANES
31
Tutee : PROTEGE
32
Letters on a Coppertone bottle : SPF
34
Opportune : TIMELY
35
Big inconvenience : HASSLE
37
Escapee's run : LAM
39
Abbr. in personals : SWF
42
Where streets meet: Abbr. : COR
43
Globe : ORB
48
Grabs dinner : EATS
50
English monarchs from Henry VII through Elizabeth I : TUDORS
53
Birds in many birdhouses : WRENS
55
Egyptian desert : SINAI
57
Daffy : GAGA
58
School for princes William and Harry : ETON
59
Decorative needle case : ETUI
60
Period of fasting : LENT
61
No, in Nuremberg : NEIN
62
Taxi : CAB
64
"Tut-tut" : TSK
65
Itsy-bitsy : WEE
66
Hockey's Bobby : ORR

Answer summary: 3 unique to this puzzle, 1 debuted here and reused later.

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