Theme hint:  If you happen to know me personally, you might know I played the role of the man who’s the subject of this puzzle last year.   In this case, there’s barely a theme, just a unifying concept.  You can forget about the circles until you’re done, they’re just a little added attraction.   The man I’m referring to (5-Down) didn’t exactly “invent” 57-down, but he was the first to apply to the particular things that were 116-Across.

(Frequent readers:  Apologies, I wrote, but forgot to hit “publish” last week.)

10 Specific hints:

75-down Ending with cyto- : or ecto- for that matter.  Add an “a” and you’ve got a screen to keep your eyes on.

76-down Space rock, maybe:  Maybe that’s what Chicken Little saw coming her way!

105-across Polo ground::  Or:  These hints are made to help ______ you.   Hope you don’t feel more dis______ed than when you started!

88-across How many Playboy bunnies dress:  If they have at least a little something on

94-down Big Bang Theory creator:  Or, the nefarious “M” and many other devious characters

47-down He wrote “I exist, that is all, and I find it nauseating.”:  He wasn’t joking, either.  He even wrote a book titled La Nausée (The Nausea) 

88-down Pearl Buck heroine:  From The Good Earth.  Just a letter away from Camus’ city where infested with plague and not to be confused with  the small emirate near the Persian gulf.  All three are  crossword puzzle favorites.

63-down Up to the task:  Or  “_____ I was ere…”

25-across Bobble: think noun, not verb

29-across ______ Peninsula.  And a homonym of the clue to 44-across

Theme:  The question marks on the long answers tell you it’s all pun and games and the title clues you in to the wordplay to expect.  Once you get one,  the idea will be obvious.  Think homonyms.

10 specific hints

1.   100-Down Phycologist’s study:   Think of a swimming pool you forgot to drain for the winter.

2.  3-Down Like old unrecyclable bottles:  Well, they didn’t cost you anything, in theory

3.  63-Down Good wife in “The Good Earth”:   She’s so good she shows up in puzzles all the time.   Her name’s just one letter different from a tiny emirate and from the plague city of Camus’ novel.

4.  85-Down Apiarist’s woe:  Well, if you’re an apiarist, you get a lot of these, as do bears when they stick their noses in the wrong places.

5.  62-Down Erotic:  Think the color associated with eroticism.  (Why is this the color associated with eroticism, I wonder.)

6.  2-Down What’s big in the movies: Or, What Mel Gibson said when asked what his role was in his early movies before he learned to speak aramaic.

7.  5-Across Where les enfants might play: …and a homonym of where a kid might play in any town in the U.S.

8.  83-Across Part of an umpire’s count:  Or what you might be accused of having if you refuse to do something a la 52-Across

9.  Speaking of 52-Across, it’s three words

10.  78-Down Summer lawn sight:  and a very welcome, when it’s on, to a kid on these hot summer days!

Hi Sunday fans.  Well, today’s theme is another designed to drive Across Lite puzzlers nuts, ’cause there’s simply no “correct way” to solve the puzzle.   This is one where getting the trick early will make your life easier, even if Across Lite won’t tell you if you’ve got it or not.  As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, always look through all the clues (except on Fridays & Saturdays which are normally themeless) to see if there’s a key clue that unlocks the puzzle.  You’ll quickly see that 65-Across (rather bluntly, I must say) tells you what the trick is.  The trick works perfectly on paper and will be a big help once you get any one of the spots where long answers cross and the correct answer for one can’t be correct for the other.  The title is a big help to know what should go into the “impossible” crosses.  Like 65-Across says you just got to superimpose I suppose.

10 specific hints:

1-Across City south of West Palm:  West Palm is a nickname, so the answer to this one’s another city with a well-known nickname.

13-Across Heckle or Jeckle of cartoons:  If you don’t know the cartoon, Heckle and Jeckle are mean black flying things whose real life counterparts are known to be nuisances.

28-Across Antics:  Along with 88-Down, this is a pretty crazy puzzle.

101-Down Social level:  Think India

69-Down Certain bank deposits:  Not the kind of banks you’d want to put your money in

48-Across It should have no effect:  In theory it should have no effect.  Actually, there’s a phrase that specifically says the _______ effect.  Think drug trials.

31-Across Like someone trying to hit a piñata:  Don’t think about who’d be trying to hit a piñata, think about what’s happening to their equilibrium

101-Across French film award:  We have our oscar, they have another guy whose name has at last two things in common with him

63-Feudal figures:  No, not ESNES (a common crosswordese answer) but close.  These folks certainly aren’t lords of all they survey.

12-Down Ticket to the World Series:  Think of the ticket for the teams, not the fans.

This one’s the opposite of last Sunday’s:  It’s a huge help to solve the theme early.  So let’s see if I can help without giving it away.  Look over the set of clues:  Many “—” clues and a key clue, 70-across, that says it’s linked to the ten others, obviously, the “—” clues.  I wouldn’t suggest going for the long answer first.  It’s a lot easier to solve the other way around.  The puzzle creator has been pretty clever about covering his tracks, though knowing something about white rap singers would be a big help.  I’ll just say this:  What’s a dash at the end of a line in a paragraph usually indicate?  Ok, one more hint:  Sometimes, when what’s shaping up to be the right answer won’t fit, it means there’s a rebus (multiple letters in a single box).  That isn’t what’s going on here, but there’s something very similar going on.

Meanwhile, 1o specific hints:

6-Across Cry like a baby:  Or a baby cat

20-Across Spanish skating figure:  No, not the Spanish word for axel or toe loop or camel, think of the kind of figures in a spread sheet.   Which one would you make in the ice?

78-Across It’s a lock:  Or an Eli.

121-Across Spirited?:  More non-standard than even 101-Across

14-Down Skipjack and others:  Think fish.

72-Down  Question to a poker player:  Or to a dog or cat

91-Down Headlines, as a band:  Two words.  Clue should probably say “sometimes” as this isn’t always so.

88-Down U.S.S. Ward, e.g.:  Every play the game Battleship?  Think naval vessel types.

76-Down Where the code of Hammurabi is displayed:  Think specific museum, not city or country

A strange theme to this Sunday’s puzzle.   The title doesn’t give us much.   The unusual shape tells us something’s up.   Quite different from my usual advice, I’d say forget the theme altogether this time.  I didn’t really see it emerge until after I’d completed the whole puzzle and, when I did, it elicited more of a “oh” than any big “aha!” and I don’t see how getting it earlier would have made a big difference.

So right on to the 10 specific hints I give each Sunday:

24-Across Most common elements:  Think statistical chart, not chemical elements

28-Across Opening words?:  Note the question mark at the end.  Think of a place where even where loud-mouthed kids are encouraged to open up.

86-Across Adventurer of Greek myth:  I tried ODYSSEUS first.  It fits, but it’s not him.   This isn’t an individual mythical guy’s name but one of a group.   They explored the unknown without going out of the atmosphere unlike their similarly named modern counterparts.

95-Across Bridge spot:  Forget teeth and cards, it’s not that kind of bridge

4-Down They may be shot at basketball games:  Or baseball games, or, for all I know, any other kind of sports events.  Of a lot more interest to the fans than the players.

7-Down Frigid:  3, count ’em, words;  Can apply to personalities as well as igloos.

60-Down Stupefying: One of the world’s shortest gerunds

66-Down Sierra ______:  No, not Bogart’s last stand in the movie that the Treasure of Sierra Madre;  This is a real place on the west coast of Africa

82-Down Racing vehicle:  Not a dragster, that’s for sure, this vehicle won’t go very fast without a little help from the terrain.

Theme:   The sooner you can get the pattern for this puzzle, the smoother your solving will go.   This time there are no puns (no clues ending in “?”) and essentially no wordplay.   As always, keep the title (Two-by-fours)  clearly in mind.   Hint #1:  The theme has nothing pieces of wood.  Hint #2 All the long clues (both across and down) contain the full pattern.  Hint #3:  Maybe start on 45-Across by getting as many of the down clues as you can figure out.   Since this is #1 on AFI’s all time musicals, it’s gotta be familiar and Hint #4 it’s gotta fit even though it looks like it can’t.

Once you get that 45-Across (or any of the other long acrosses), look for a similar pattern in all the other long acrosses.

Hint #5:  The same “trick” works for each of the long answers, but don’t assume the same letters are used in them.   (If there was logic to which letters went into each answer, I didn’t see it and certainly didn’t need to in order to solve the puzzle.)

Specific hints (if they  intersect with long answers, beware of the “trick” being embedded in them):

1-Across Mustard variety:  Think refrigerator or French sandwich, not herb garden or spice cabinet.

106-Across French or Italian bread:  Don’t try putting 1-Across on this kind of bread!

36-Down Pulitzer-winning composer Ned:  (Not a hint really)  If you didn’t know this one, lock it in your memory henceforth, ’cause this is a very common xword clue/answer known primarily for his operas.

93-Across Welcome sight after a flood:  Well, not just any flood.   This one happened a long time before Katrina.

69-Down Like some stores of years gone by.  Prices have gone up about 10 times since then!

35-Down Prize won by Alice Munro and Stephen King.  Most prizes are named after people who were champs at the particular skill.  No surprise ending here!

74-Down Eggplant casserole:  Well ratatouille won’t fit.  Think Greek.

21-Down All ______ :  What you may be when you finish the puzzle.

6-Down Rink jumps:  Cousin of toe loops, camels, etc..  Where do they get these names from anyway?  Especially the camels.  This is no place for a desert animal!

23-Down Fruit growers:  Since money doesn’t grow here, might as well enjoy the fruit!

Check out Why we solve crossword puzzles for my latest thoughts on the magic of puzzle-solving.

Theme:  Unless you’re a super-solver, do read the box that comes with the puzzle.   It’s needed to solve the clues with only dashes inside the land-locked middle square.   The theme is four long across clues (clearly marked) that form a “trivia question” that’s answered in the five circles in the land-locked middle.   Remember that it’s a trivia question and not a riddle.  You’ll likely have to get many of the down clues that cross the acrosses before you can start making educated guesses about the acrosses.   And it’s unlikely you’ll fill in the circles ’til you’ve got a fair amount the acrosses.  To solve the middle section, it’s a good idea to write down the ten starred answers.

I guess that’s more “advice” than  a “hint,” so here goes:  Most of our great grandparents’ (or grandparents’ or parents’, depending on how old you are!) generation ended up putting these in a glass before bed.

Since the theme’s all across clues, all the hints are crossing down clues:

Here’s my only one for a asterisked clue: 15-Down:  Since works is plural you might think the answer ends in “S” or “I.”  It doesn’t.

24-Down Horror director Eli:  Also know for his retirement accounts?

89-Down  Guttural:  You’d think such sounds would come from the gut/diaphragm, but think higher up

93-Down Sort of:   Often used as a prefix

82-Down Literary olios:  What happens when you’re sloppy eating breakfast while reading a book?  Just kidding.  Sounds like a girls name.   (A very common crossword puzzle word (usually in the singular), btw, so commit this one to memory once you get it.)

64-Down Dollar rival:  Think rent-a-car, not money

94-Down Ogling type:  No, not a leerer, but close

86-Down At it:  One word;  Think in a fight, not hard at work.

16-Down French lord:  Oh, so that’s where the French word for “Mister” comes from!

78-Down Mercury and Saturn:  Think of ancient Rome, not cars

Not a particular interesting theme.  A quick scan of the clues (something I always suggest for themed puzzles; i.e. all NYT puzzles except Friday and Saturday) you’ll see a series of clues relating to the same thing.    If you know nothing at all about this particular thing, the puzzle will be far harder to solve.  Not much of a hint I can except to say that what made all those magazine covers in 64-across could also be clued:  “Former Soviet Union political organ.” and that 46-Down is, aptly, three words.

Specific hints:

18-Across One of several Louises:  Think Louis not Louise

80-Down Certain templegoer:  Think fraternal organization like Elks, not religious group

79-Down Baloney:  No, can’t eat it.   Think dudes talking to each other

42-Across Like some Braten:   Just like some? You mean there’s a sweet version of this?  I never knew.

60-Across Raw meat dish:  Raw meat and a raw egg.   Not for the food safety conscious!

52-Across Star in the Swan constellation:  Could be cued as “Star that keeps showing up in puzzles and I can never remember what it is.”  Keep in mind that 4-Down and 33-Down are close cousins in that they are formed the same way.   This may help you get the last letter of this star’s name.  Once you get it, put it in your memory banks somewhere, it’s sure to come up again.

108-Across Units of force:   Who knew figs had this kind of power?

79-Across Stereotypical neighbors:  Since everybody’s trying to keep up with them, who are they trying to keep up with?  The Smith’s?

22-Across Slightest idea:   Almost always used in the negative, as in “I don’t have a(n)  ________.”   Is this what you don’t have when your pen runs dry?

Theme:  Ok, let’s start with this:  Neither Across Lite nor the NY Times own software will give credit for the correct answer.   How’s that for cruel.  Yes, Virginia, there is a rebus hidden here.  I wouldn’t normally be so direct in my hints, but the frustration of getting the right answer and being told it’s wrong was too much even for the NY Times own Wordplay blogger…and even her notion that “if the across is right, you’ll get Mr. Happy Pencil” isn’t correct either.  The puzzle software wants just one letter (the first letter of the rebus)  where clearly more are needed.   Enough grousing and on to one basic hint:   There is a key clue in this puzzle:  A single clue that makes sense of all the rest.  I won’t tell you which one it is, but look for it FIRST, before you struggle figuring out why clearly correct answers don’t fit.  (If this you haven’t read my blog before:  A key answer is one that explicitly refers to multiple other answers in the puzzle.  If you want to reduce your frustration level, always scan all the clues quickly when you start to see if there’s a key clue.  Still confused?  See 116-Across.)

Specific clue hints:

5-Down Terrestrial:  Two words, one of which is the first word that occurred to you as the answer.

94-Down Skating move:  Well, personally, I prefer a lutz or axel jump, whatever they are, but this one’s another two word description for one of those amazing things skaters do.

126-Across Wall St. workers:  A fancy word for “guessers”

46-Across Blazers, etc.:  Think cars, not clothes

41-Across ____ hers:  Think towels

122-Across Alvar who designed Finlandia Hall:  I though Finlandia was a cheese.  Maybe there are lots of cheeses in this hall.  Anyway, it seems all architects, even one’s not named Eero Saarinen require double vowels in their names.

110-Across Infection fighter:  Well, penicillin won’t fit.  You don’t buy this in a drug store.  Think biology, not pharmacology.

87-Down Songbirds in the Rubáiyát:  Well, since it’s unfair that this crosses Author Santha Rama ____, I’ll just tell you that it’s very unlikely you’ve ever heard of this bird (or will ever hear of it again), that there’s no rebus here though you might think there would be, that the crossing letter is a vowel but isn’t A E I O or even Y, and that the first three letters and second three are the same.

21-Down Sleuth in slang:  Cops may are called flat feet, right, so why wouldn’t a detective be known for the condition of his footwear?