Puzzled

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Sigh. This was not the year we made contact, nor was it the year Lisa Simpson got married. On the national level, the year began with a dude singing “pants on the ground!” and ended with another guy shouting “the rent is too damn high!” In between, we suffered a plateau of disappointment—wimpy healthcare “reform,” the rise of the Tea Party, Lost’s ending—broken up by the occasional natural disaster and a creepy Australian dude dropping an information bomb on Hillary Clinton.

Consequently, in our 2010 round-up crossword, CityBeat’s skipping the national news and sticking exclusively to the local weirdness you should’ve been following all year long. 

Click here to download a pdf of the CityBeat crossword.

ACROSS

5. Overheard at Lindbergh Field: “You touch my ___, I am going to have you arrested.”

7. Candidates Ray Lutz and Michael Benoit went on one of these to pressure Rep. Duncan D. Hunter into a debate.

8. FX “neo-noir dramedy” set in Ocean Beach that was cancelled after three months.

11. Founder of Wikileaks, the organization releasing 250,000 secret diplomatic cables (which CityBeat used to tie a Russian diplomat to Carlsbad).

12. Meth-in-the-Ozarks film chosen as the best picture of the year by the S.D. Film Critics Society.

14. Mayor Jerry Sanders’ chief of staff Kris Michell and redevelopment chief Fred Maas both handed in these letters.

16. It will stay in San Diego, if it can ever sell its damned tickets without crashing the website.

17. How a San Diego prosecutor described George Jakubec’s home in Escondido.

21. For the first time since 1984, this San Diego summer music festival didn’t happen.

24. Profession of the S.D. woman who allegedly split Sandra Bullock and Jesse James’ marriage.

25. Eye-patch-wearing, cigar-chomping Marine who ran as a Republican for Congress in South Bay.

30. Local band that stirred the immigration debate with its song “Kill Joe Arpaio.” Clue: Not Alligators.

31. Finish this sequence: two-fifteen, four-twenty, _______.

32. Eighties-music production at the Horton Grand Theatre, widely advertised at bus stops.

33. A Riverside judge knocked down this military policy (abbr.), and then President Obama signed a bill repealing it on Dec. 22.

34. A whistle-blowing exec accused officials with this S.D.-based energy company of bribery in Mexico.

35. Several local Somali immigrants were arrested on charges that they helped this terrorist group.

37. On June 28, San Diego leaders broke ground on this $185-million Downtown structure.

38. Poway City Council member who faced recall.

40. She was beaten by Brown, despite spending $160 million on her campaign.

41. S.D.-based artist Kadir Nelson created the cover for this artist’s first posthumous album.

44. Rep. Darrell Issa called Obama “one of the most ____ presidents in modern times,” then retracted it.

45. The San Diego Ethics Commission fined this City Council member $3,000.

48. He’s in the market to sell his minority stake in the Chargers.

50. Corporation attempting to repeal a San Diego City Council ban on its superstores.

54. Democratic congressman terrorized by Tea Partiers and a neo-Nazi on election night.

57. The “strong mayor” ballot measure and the proposed sales-tax increase were both called this, for short.

60. The Padres traded Adrian Gonzalez to this team.

62. California city whose elected officials were led away in handcuffs, causing cities everywhere to take another look at employee compensation.

63. Rear Adm. Patrick H. Brady took over as head of this high-tech command in San Diego (abbr.).
64. Cardiff statue swallowed by a great white shark.

65. Rep. Brian Bilbray claimed you could spot an illegal immigrant based on these articles of clothing.

66. Ocean Beach head shop The Black caused controversy by selling a sticker that said “Please Don’t Feed Our ____.”

67. Rockstar San Diego’s Red Dead ______ won game of the year at the Spike Video Game Awards.

DOWN

1. Seventies band that picked up the “Lifetime Achievement Award” at the San Diego Music Awards.

2. UCSD professor Carol Padden was awarded the $500,000 “Genius grant” to study this language.

3. The FBI is offering $20,000 for information on this robber, who allegedly heisted 12 banks in Southern California since 2009.

4. Devilish livestock used by Carly Fiorina in a campaign ad.

5. After the Chargers released LaDainian Tomlinson, he signed a $5.2-million deal with this team.

6. Twitter hashtag if you were getting hammered at San Diego bars Nov. 5 through 14.

9. Last name of a surfer gubernatorial candidate and his ex-city-attorney uncle, who recently reentered public life.

10. Christopher Nolan’s head-spinning cinematic masterpiece that features a fortress that looks an awful lot like UCSD’s Geisel Library.

13. War ship that departed San Diego Bay for the Pacific Northwest and won’t be returning.

15. User-friendly, privacy-unfriendly software that debuted at San Diego’s ToorCon hacker convention.

17. Color of paint used to tag Shepard Fairey’s mural in Hillcrest.

18. Name of the island of booze and debauchery built by spring breakers on Mission Bay.

19. The San Diego City Council voted to boycott Arizona after this governor signed SB 1070.

20. Carnival cruise ship that broke down in the Pacific and was towed back to San Diego.

22. Former Congressman Duke Cunningham began speaking out from a prison cell in this city.

23. Eponym of the new California law that creates a one-strike life-in-prison offense for violent sex crimes against children.

26. Grocery chain, ____ & _____, opened three new stores in San Diego County.

27. A student party called the “_____ Cookout” set off racial tensions at UCSD.

28. Model of car that may (or may not) have automatically accelerated on I-8.

29. Michael Portantino, publisher of this newspaper (abbr.), committed suicide in December.

36. Restaurateur Jay Porter could’ve faced a year in jail for this joint’s mandatory 18-percent table-service charge.

37. Conservative “Club” that proved its bipartisanship with a throwaway endorsement of S.D. City Council member Tony Young, a Democrat.

39. Actor who plays “Dad” on $h*! My Dad Says, a sitcom based on a San Diego Twitter feed.

42. Deep Fried ___ was one of the new “foods” available at the 2010 San Diego County Fair.

43. Assembly member who was minority leader in 2010, but won’t be in 2011.

46. City Council member who failed big-time in his effort to put a managed-competition/anti-living-wage measure on the ballot.

47. Nation of origin of Gustaf Rooth, who opened Planet Rooth Design Haus in Hillcrest.

49. Jazz musician James Moody, who died on Dec. 9, played this instrument.

51. Feisty City Council member who was termed out of office.

52. To much distress in the art community, the San Diego Union-Tribune laid off this longtime critic.

53. Online news organization that collapsed.

55. A 7.2-magnitude earthquake rattled the region on this holiday.

56. County supervisor who was caught trying to give grant money to a Christian organization for scripture-based sex-ed materials.

58. Gangsta rapper Mitchy Slick says, “I won’t stop being a ____.”

59. The San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council said: “Don’t get _____” in attack mailers in the S.D. City Council District 6 race.

61. Former Charger who drove his SUV off a cliff shortly after being released from custody on domestic-violence charges.