THEME: I have no idea because my newspaper didn't print the top two rows, including the whole title and several clues. This made solving it difficult but not impossible. [I could go on line, but maybe later. And there's a site which deconstructs these puzzles daily. L.A. Times Crosswords (something)]
GOOD ONES:
Cold mold ASPIC
Chihuahua greeting ARF
Ask for a hand? PROPOSE [still get a kick out of this idiom]
Key material EBONY
BTW:
Hebrew leaders? ALEPHS [clever clue, if you happen to know Hebrew. Why the word appears in Webster's is mysterious. Am I an anti-Semite?]
CAPA is not used in English. [Am I a xenophobe?]
RATING: not qualified to assess, but regardless of the theme I enjoyed the puzzle.
Three grins = Loved it; Two grins = Enjoyed it; One grin = A bit bland for my taste; One teardrop = Not much fun
