Saturday March 26 2011 Julian Lim

Theme: NoneTotal words: 70Total blocks: 32Congrats to Julian Lim on his first themeless!Plenty of lively entries today. Very ambitious grid: triple stacks of 9s in the upper left corner and lower right corner, then one 15 in the middle crossing four Down 10s which in turn intersect another pair of 9s. Nice interlock. The marquee answers are:36A. Roll with the punches : TAKE IT AS IT COMES11D. Not at all like rocket science : IDIOT-PROOF. So simple in retrospect.12D. Fight fiercely : GO TO THE MAT27D. It was blamed for reduced pasta sales in 2003 : ATKIN'S DIET. Filled this in with authority. I occasionally rock!28D. Relax : FEEL AT EASEMy favorite today is OBAMACARE (15A. 2010 health statute, informally). Has to be one of the seed entries.Quite a few head-banging moments for me. Did you think of deck of cards when seeing ACE (6D. Valuable diamond)? Did you want GEM? Across:1. Its first mascot was a toque-wearer named Speedee : McDONALDS. Here is Speedee, McDonald's mascot til 1961.10. Father in the comic strip "Bringing Up Father" : JIGGS. Well, maybe eddyB ">ADORE. Not the same to me.17. Beastly place? : MENAGERIE18. Protest tactic : SIT-IN19. Galway Bay'"Islands : ARAN. West coast of Ireland.20. Groupings affected by natural selection : GENE POOLS22. Asked for a ticket? : SPED. Nailed it.24. Pluck : METTLE25. Leisure wear : LOAFER29. Werewolves do it : MORPH. And ISO (32D. Prefix with 29-Across). Isomorph is a new word to me. Wikipedia says it's "an organism that does not change in shape during growth". I am not one then.30. Among other things, in Latin : INTER ALIA33. Iranian-born TV director Badiyi : REZA. Total stranger to me. Reza seems to be a popular Iranian name.39. Shrub yielding an indigo dye : ANIL40. Dollars for quarters? : HOME LOANS. Awesome clue.41. 2008 runner : NADER (Ralph)44. Still running : LEFT ON. Oh, left the water on.. 45. Beer named for a river : AMSTEL. Was unaware of the river connection.47. Ham relative : SHEM. Both Noah's sons. Got me.49. Ruined the family photo, maybe : MADE A FACE 51. Cooling treats : ICES55. Like a baseball bat's symmetry : AXIAL56. Potter's concern : VOLDEMORT. A sweet clue for all you "Harry Potter" fans. I was stumped.59. Piece maker? : REESE. Oh, Reese's Pieces. 60. Bizet's "Habanera," for one : OPERA ARIA61. Ethyl butyrate, e.g. : ESTER62. Folded : WENT UNDERDown:1. Home of V. Van Gogh's "Starry Night" : MoMA. Here is Don McLean's "Starry Starry Night". Always makes me want to cry.2. Handle user : CBer3. "SNL" cast member with Phil and Kevin : DANA (Carvey)4. Majlis al Jinn cave site : OMAN. I've never heard of the cave before.5. Shrew : NAG7. Coffeehouse option : LARGE8. Like some flowers : DRIED9. Detected : SEEN10. "The Eyre Affair" author Fforde : JASPER. Another stumper. I faintly recall Melissa or Clear Aye mentioned this book before.13. Cook, in a way : GRILL14. Meaning : SENSE21. Dashboard Confessional music genre : EMO. What?22. Brunei's capital "Begawan : SERI. Silly, but I really don't know this.23. Fall lead-in? : PRAT. Pratfall.25. "Kiss Me Deadly" singer Ford : LITA. Alright, here's a clip.26. "... "open fire" : ON AN29. Seriously injure : MAIM31. Memorable movie lion : LAHR (Bert). "The Wizard of Oz".34. Greek known for paradoxes : ZENO35. The "A" in many org. names : ASSN37. Beginning to cast? : TELE. Beginning of the word Telecast.38. Skelton's Kadiddlehopper : CLEM42. One in a pit : DEALER. Casino pit.43. Wrap artist? : ELF. Cute clue.45. Six-time NBA All-Star Stoudemire : AMAR'E. Sorry, man, don't know you.46. Plateaus, with "out" : MAXES47. Sniper's aid : SCOPE48. Annie's student : HELEN (Keller). Anne Sullivan.50. Make no bones about : AVOW51. Supermodel with a Global Chic collection : IMAN. I wanted EMME.52. Line with juice? : CORD. Power "juice".53. Ohio tribe : ERIE54. Rock or tin follower : STAR57. "The 5000 Fingers of": Seuss film : DR T. Yet another unknown.58. Feu extinguisher : EAU. Feu = "fire". Hey, Splynter, only one French today.ANSWER GRID.C.C.PS: Regarding yesterday's "Pu-Pu platter", in Cantonese, Pu = Jewel/Treasure, which is spelled as Bao in Mandarin. Babies are often called "Bao Bao". I've never heard of Pu-Pu platter until I came to the US.