Sunday, September 24, 2017

My time: 33:34.

--

In this themed Sunday by Alan Arbesfeld, words in various phrases are read as US state abbreviations rather than as themselves.  So you get CATCH ME [Maine] IF YOU CAN ("Try not to miss Bangor and Lewiston"), MA [Massachusetts] AND PA [Pennsylvania] KETTLE ("whistler from two Eastern states"), and my favorite, ONE MO [Missouri] TIME ("2:00 in New York vis-a-vis St. Louis").

Is "the tennis world since 1968" really known as the OPEN ERA?  Yes.  It sounds like a pun.

I shall endeavor to remember that ICE-T's character on "Law & order" is called Detective Odafin "Fin" Tutuola.

For "fifth wheel" I had *EXTRA; it's SPARE.

TD BANK, which stands for Toronto-Dominion Bank, is the second-largest bank in Canada.

A bunch of sports guys I don't know:
Sportscaster Al MICHAELS, known for his commentary at various memorable moments.
Dodgers owner Walter O'MALLEY, Woodrow Wilson type, hated for moving them to L.A.
Cleveland Browns owner Art MODELL, also loathed for attempting to move the Browns to Baltimore.

For AVIA, an Oregon-based shoe company, I originally had *AVEO.  I had some vague idea of the shoe company's name but had mixed it up with the recent Chevrolet clues, I guess.

Not to be further confused with ALTA, a Utah skiing resort.

Also, EERO Saarinen is everyone's favorite Finnish architect, but I often can't remember if his name is Eero or Eeno.  He's a hero!  A hero architect!

I think EDH is an unfair trick for the Icelandic letter usually spelled "eth."

I can't keep track of all these cars.  I'll never own a Jaguar XK-E.

I've fallen way down on my film watching and could not recall the name of TOTSI, which I really ought to see.

My familiarity from a very young age with 12-step programs helped me fill in both AA MEETINGS and IN REHAB (in the same puzzle --- I wonder if that's a sign of something?).

"Hydroxyl compound" ENOL appeared four days ago.  Let's freshen up these clues and fills, people!

Clever clues: "Change of locks?" is NEW DO; "cab alternative" is ZIN (I knew from the three boxes it had to be a wine pun); "they may block passage" is NAYS.