Capacitance measure / SUN 8-11-13 / Strength of a solution / Berlin Olympics hero / Numero of countries bordering Guatemala / Subsidy / Part of a barrel / Eastern Mediterranean port / Moon goddess / Old ad figure with a big nose / Ancient Hindu scripture / Often-blue garden blooms / Birds' beaks

Constructor: Dan Schoenholz

Relative difficulty: FAIL



THEME: "Added Satisfaction"— Add "AH" to familiar phrases. Wackiness ensues.

Words of the Day: FARAD (13A: Capacitance measure) —

The farad (symbol: F) is the SI derived unit of electrical capacitance. It is named after the English physicist Michael Faraday.


TITER (117A: Strength of a solution) —

A titer (or titre) is a way of expressing concentration. Titer testing employs serial dilution to obtain approximate quantitative information from an analytical procedure that inherently only evaluates as positive or negative. The titer corresponds to the highest dilution factor that still yields a positive reading. For example, positive readings in the first 8 serial twofold dilutions translate into a titer of 1:256 (i.e., 2−8). Titers are sometimes expressed by the denominator only, for example 1:256 is written 256.

(Wikipedia)

I despise this puzzle, let me make that clear from the start. 90% of it is fine, but there are a few answers here that make me angry. I was a liberal arts major, so science was not my favorite subject. Maybe you know TITER and FARAD. I have never heard of them, nor do I recall ever seeing them in print. The reason I have such antipathy toward the puzzle is that, by the time I had accepted that the northeast and southeast corners must be FARAD and TITER, I had given up on VOLTA (49A: Upper __)/COAT (34D: Slather).

My European geography is far better than my African geography, and therefore, the only geographical VOL_A I could come up with was VOLGA. The Volga is the longest river in Europe, and there is a region known as Upper Volga. So, I somehow rationalized that COAG must be .... I don't know. It was late, and I was frustrated.


Hi there, I'm Tyler Clark filling in for Rex who, along with other fun-loving puzzlers, attended Lollapuzzoola 6 yesterday. I desperately wanted to go but was unable to, so I'll be awaiting the home version, like some of you.
"Which puzzle would you like to do?" Rex asked me.
"I love Sundays," I replied.
Grrrrrr.

Theme answers:

• AFTER ALL[AH] (26A: Where most things rank in importance to a Muslim?)
• JUST SAY NO[AH] (42A: Webster's directive to the overly formal?)
• HOOK[AH] LINE AND SINKER (62A: Equipment list for a hashish-smoking fisherman?)
• LEFT B[AH]RAIN (86A: Departed from Manama, maybe?)
• AUNTIE [AH]EM (102A: Niece's polite interruption?)
• S[AH]ARA SMILE (25D: Welcome look from a Bedouin?)
• HEAD TO T[AH]OE (52D: What many Bay Area skiers do on winter weekends?)

I thought the theme was okay. Fairly standard add-a-sound routine, so it didn't trip me up so much. Most came quickly, and HOOKAH... was so easy, it opened up a bunch of answers right away. Apparently "Sara Smile" was a Top 10 single by Hall & Oates in 1976. I've heard a few tunes in my day, but not this one. So, I had to puzzle out SAHARA from Bedouin, which wasn't too hard.
Cross-referencers:

• POUND (19A: 16 23-Acrosses)
• OUNCE (23A: See 19-Across)
• SOT (66D: One who's all wet?)
• WINO (80D: One type of 66-Down)

Memorize these:
If you're just getting into crosswords, you'll see these repeatedly and might as well commit them to a special place in your memory for quick recall.

• LEI (76D: Hawaii's __ Day) — 3 letters, Hawaii in the clue... it's either LEI or UKE
• AJA (10A: 1977 double-platinum Steely Dan album)— I've never, ever heard of this album outside of crosswords
• ORC (28A: Foe of Frodo)— You'll see it clued a few different ways, all either related to Tolkien or Dungeons & Dragons.
• RIATA (22D: Vaquero's rope)— Quite common
• ITINA (85A: 1986 rock autobiography)— Tina Turner wrote I, Tina.
• ERS (89A: Sounds edited out for radio) — I had EMS for a while, so this tripped me up a bit. A more traditional clue would be something like "Hospital triage centers"
• AGA (12D: Turkish big shot)— Another word I learned from crosswords
• ADOS (16D: Commotions)— When singular, you'll want TODO
• JIB (42D: Foresail)
• UMA (43D: Thurman of "Kill Bill")— Also clued from Pulp Fiction or The Producers (also look for her character in that, ULLA)
• OKIE (58D: 1930s migrant)— Also clued in reference to Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath or Merle Haggard's "__ from Muskogee"
• ATRI (100D: Italian bell town)

Bullets:

• POESY (57A: Burns books) — Tricky without the plural possessive apostrophe. Think poet Robert Burns.
• SUBTITLES (35A: Low notes?) — I had _UB_ to start this answer, to I penciled in TUBA, and it took me a long time to sort this out. But I like it.
• PELT (74A: Hide)— Love the misdirection here. I was thinking verb.
• ITER (78A: Way, in Pompeii)— Another Word of the Day candidate, this. Apparently, it's Latin for "road," which I did not know. I think it also refers to neural brain passages?
• BAWD (51A: Madam) — Don't think I've seen BAWD without a Y on the end. BAUD, however, is another story.
• STAVE (113A: Part of a barrel) — Another I did not know. STAVE, for me, is a musical reference.
• FATTENS (13D: Prepares to eat, perhaps) — Love this clue. Just reread Roald Dahl's short story "Pig" this week. Highly recommended.
• STUD POKER (35D: Game for those who don't like to draw)
• ROSEN (45D: 1953 A.L. M.V.P. Al)
• VEDA (49D: Ancient Hindu scripture)
• LARKSPURS (50D: Often-blue garden blooms) — Never heard of it.
• NEBS (65D: Birds' beaks) — Also not familiar to me.
• OVER RATES (72D: Extends too much credit?) — Didn't like this.
• ENOLA GAY (81D: Historic exhibit at Washington Dulles airport)
• UTHER (92D: King Arthur's father) — Uther Pendragon. Just read The Once and Future King by T.H. White, so I filled this in as quickly as anything.
• SIEGE (93D: Military blockade)
• AMBER (97D: Insect trapper)
• ACT I (105D: When Stanley cries "Hey, Stella!" in "A Streetcar Named Desire")
• LUNA (7D: Moon goddess) — As a parent, I will always associate LUNA with "Bear in the Big Blue House"
• NYNY (104D: "30 ROCK" setting, briefly)
• LIE (86D: "A __ cannot live": Martin Luther King Jr.)
• OWENS (79A: Berlin Olympics hero)
• ACERB (109A: Caustic) — I love seeing this word, but I never manage to use it in conversation
• REUNE (112A: Get the old gang together) — Is this legit? Have you ever used this?

Signed, Tyler Clark, Fan of CrossWorld