NEW HAVEN, Nov. 20, 1951--Yale was a quiet spot in the middle of a stormy city today as New Haven merchants began to prepare for the biennial influx of several thousand old Harvards and Blues.

Liquor merchants reached into the dark recesses of hidden cellars, hoping that continued sub-freezing temperatures would bring added customers for their liquid warmth. One rotund merchant, caught reaching for a case of Haig and Haig, beamed happily. "They always seem to want good stuff this weekend."

Local innkeepers looked forward to the football weekend warily, removing fragile objects from their lobbies in anticipation of the usual jollity. Rooms were at a premium and the few that are still available will probably all be gone by Thanksgiving Day.

At Yale itself, the game was momentarily forgotten by the many undergraduates who were readying themselves for a four-day weekend. The first wave of students, those on Deans list, left for their Thanksgiving dinners after classes today, and the second wave, kept in New Haven by the reinstituted cut system will take off sometime tomorrow.

The general attitude throughout the student body is unenthusiastic about Saturday's battle. The signs that hung from towers and windows before the Princeton game are strangely absent, and the undergraduate spirit seems broken after the worst Yale football season since 1941. There are some who feel that Herman Hickman has failed with excellent material, and they feel certain that a loss to the Crimson would put strong alumni pressure on the rotund coach, now in the second year of a ten year contract.

Hickman gave his boys their usual Monday off, but today they were at it again, in a secret session closed to press and visitors. The chips are down for the team that started off well against Bates, but was only able to win one other game.

Perhaps spirit will pick up by game time, but today Yale is quiet and preoccupied. It is undisturbed by this talk of de-emphasis. It would like to have a win on Saturday, but right now, it just wants to get away from New Haven.

Dances mostly beginning at 9 p.m., will be held on Saturday at Berkeley and Calhoun (combined), Jonathan Edwards, Silliman, and Trumbull. Fraternities that will have open dances are Chi Psi, Phi Gamma Delta, Fence, St. Anthony Hall, St. Elmo Hall, York Hall, and Zeta Psl.

The Yale Dramat is presenting "The Man Who Came to Dinner" at the University Theatre, Friday and Saturday. A combined Harvard-Yale Glee Club concert will be held at Woolsey Hall at 8:30 p.m. Friday.