Monday June 30, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Cut the Painter? (If you have a better theme title, please let me know)

20A: Cost of some French art?: DEGAS PRICES (The GAS PRICES)

39A: Dutch/Mexican portraitist?: HALS OF MONTEZUMA (HALLS of MONTEZUMA)

53A: Surrealist in the White House?: DALI MADISON (DOLLY MADISON)

I cannot say I DIG (3D: Beatnik's "Gotcha"!) this puzzle. The INSECT (30D: Bug) is screaming for an "Extreme Makeover" on the clue for FLYPAPER (40D: Hanging insect trap). And I wish AVEC (8D: Opposite of sans) were clued as Picasso's famous "Colombe AVEC Fleurs". We would have got an impressionist (DEGAS), a portraitist (HALS), a surrealist (DALI) and a Cubist's work in the grid.

Otherwise, an OK Monday puzzle, no stumper or obscure word. Some of the clues are pretty refreshing.

ACROSS:

1A: Conspicuous jewelry: BLING. Gimme for those BLING-BLING obsessed rappers I am sure. Their music is just so difficult for me to understand, lots of slangs. What's so amusing about "Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)" anyway? I like how BLING intersects I DIG.

15A: Rod in a hot rod: AXLE. And 18A: Figure-skater's leap: AXEL

17A: Online periodical: EZINE. Slate.com is probably my favorite. Together with NPR, they produce "Day to Day" (a radio newsmagzine).

24A: Majority of V: III. Very creative clue.

33A: ___ you the clever one!: AREN'T

43A: Kissing equipment: LIPS. I have forgotten "What LIPS my LIPS Have Kissed, and where, and why..."

45A: Glasgow's river: CLYDE. Not familiar with this Scotland river. Only know Bonnie's CLYDE.

62A: Felon, to a cop: PERP (Perpetrator). Or "Crossing reference" (Perpendicular cousin) here in this twisted blog.

66A: Wallet fins: FIVES. For those fellow solvers outside US, "fin" is a American slang for a five-dollar bill.

DOWN:

4D: Santa Maria's sister? NINA. And Pinta. Look at this ridiculous NINA Ricci shoe!

5D: Divides evenly by: GOES INTO. I don't understand this one, why?

6D: Puppeteer Lewis: SHARI. I don't know her. Got her name from the perps.

11D: Put forth effort: EXERT. I like how it parallel with FLAIL (12D: Thrash about).

13D: Trustbuster Roosevelt: TEDDY. I had no idea that Trust Buster is also TR's nickname. Which one is correct, "Trust Buster" or "Trustbuster"?

28D: Bedouin, e.g.: ARAB. I did not know who/what was Bedouin. Would have never got it without the crossing references. According to Wikipedia, the Bedouin are a group of nomadic Arabs who live in the desert.

37D: Writer Oz: AMOS. He knows "How to Cure a Fanatic".

38D: Fuzzy rests?: NAPS. Good clue.

57D: Hindu deity: SIVA. Or SHIVA, "The Destroyer"of the Hindu Trinity. I simply forgot. Pieced it together from the across fills. Brahma is "The Creator" and Vishnu is "The Preserver".

C.C.

Sunday June 29, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: YOUNG ADULTS

24A: Start of Cleveland Amory quip: THERE ARE

36A: Part 2 of quip: THREE TERRIBLE AGES

62A: Part 3 of quip: OF CHILDHOOD

68A: Part 4 of quip: ONE TO TEN, TEN

92A: Part 5 of quip: TO TWENTY, AND TWENTY

111A: End of quip: TO THIRTY

Oh dear, 22 QUIP/QUOTE puzzles later, only now do I realize that they all have distinctive theme titles.

Besides CHILDHOOD, there is also a BOYHOOD (87D: Green years). ELDEST (14A: Superlatively senior) is related to the theme as well, though tangentially.

Nothing exciting about this puzzle, or any of Olschwang's QUIP puzzles. Blah, blah, BLAHS (47D: Doldrums). Quite a few entertainment names, some of them are very obscure to me:

84A: Brown with a big band: LES

120A: Old-time actress Ada: REHAN. She died long long time ago (1916), who the heck has heard of her?

1D: Garr of "Tootsie": TERI. Know her. Had no idea that she was nominated for Oscar (Best Supporting Actress, 1982) for her role in "Tootsie" (Jessica Lange won it eventually).

19D: Actress Daly: TYNE. She is in "Judging Amy".

93D: "Bewitched" witch: ENDORA. I forgot. It's clued as "Tabitha's TV grandmother" on a TMS puzzle before. Played by Agnes Moorhead, an unfamiliar name to me also.

95D: Dan of "Peyton Place": DURYEA. Foreign to me. He appeared in many movies, so prolific a career.

97D: Actress Phoebe: CATES. Another new name to me. I've actually watched "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" before, but I can only remember Sean Penn & Jennifer Jason Leigh from the movie. Wikipedia says CATES is also known for her role in "Gremlins". Have you seen it?

109D: Singer Dee: KIKI. No, nope. Here is KIKI Dee's duet with Elton John “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”. Just learned this morning that there is a KIKI Cuyler in baseball's HOF.

I hope you enjoyed solving this puzzle. I did not. I did not have a good attitude to begin with. What a yawn-inducing QUIP! With this Wimbledon madness, you would think the editor could clue DEUCE (98A: Low card) as "Tennis tie".

ACROSS:

1A: Ancient Roman garb: TOGAS. The plural form can also be TOGAE.

21A: Windflowers: ANEMONES. Various colors. Dictionary explains the root of ANEMONES as Greek word anemos (wind), "perhaps because the petals are lost easily in wind".

22A: Capital of Niger: NIAMEY. They must have real good pearl millet couscous in the region.

25A: Viennese tongue: GERMAN. Wikipedia says Viennese GERMAN is "the city dialect spoken in Vienna" and "rather different from the Austrian form of Standard German as well as other dialects spoken in Austria". I suppose it's kind of like our Xi'An dialect, which is quite different from Mandarin Chinese.

28A: Salinger title character: ESME. Heroine from Salinger's "For ESME with Love and Squalor".

29A: Big wheel: MAGNATE

30A: Valletta's island: MALTA. I always confuse MALTA with YALTA. Didn't the big Three meet in both places?

47A: Like Mother Hubbard's cupboard: BARE. Or "like Lady Godiva".

54A: "St. ___ Fire": ELMOS . I am not familiar with this film, are you?

55A: November electees: INS. And 74D: Put in office: ELECT. A simple "Officeholders" clue should be just fine for INS.

57A: Converse competition: AVIA. Know AVIA (To fly, in Latin), not familiar with the Converse shoe brand.

58A: Shape up: SNAP TO. New phrase to me. Can you give me an example?

67A: Slayer of the Minotaur: THESEUS. Would not have got it without the perps. You can see this THESEUS Slaying the Minotaur bronze at Louvre. Minotaur is the "half-man, half-bull monster that lived in the Labyrinth".

73A: Type of theater comp. REP (Repertory). I am not familiar with theater stuff at all.

81A: Affix firmly: RIVET. Here is Rosie the RIVETer.

88A: K-12, in education: ELHI (Elementary & High school). I think this is a special American education term, isn't it?

97A: Chili pepper: CAYENNE. Hot!

99A: Atmospheric inhalations: BREATHS. Beautiful Baby's BREATHS.

105A: Eliminate: RULE OUT. And 110A: Was vanquished by: LOST TO. I like prepositions in answers.

115A: Birthplace of Elvis Presley: TUPELO (MS). New to me. I only know he was not born in Memphis.

116A: Loss/damage word: BREAKAGE

119A: Neighbor of Corsica: SARDINIA. I simply forgot. Here is the map again.

DOWN:

2D: Span of a cart: OXEN. Span or Brace is "a pair, usually used in reference to yoked animals pulling something." Learned this from Dennis long time ago.

5D: Hot under the collar: STEAMED And 90D: Suffer in the summer: SWELTER.

7D: Granite State sch.: UNH (University of New Hampshire). The Wildcats. And 96D: Fort Worth sch.: TCU (Texas Christian University). The Horned Frogs.

9D: Nary of Hungary: IMRE. I forgot. It appeared on TMS May 23 puzzle.

15D: Feudal lords: LIEGES

27D: Styron's Turner: NAT. Learned NAT Turner's name from doing Xword, but this is the first time I heard of William Styron, who wrote and won 1967 Pulitzer for "The Confessions of NAT Turner".

29D: Wizardry: MAGIC. Here is MAGIC.

31D: Used a car as a down payment: TRADED IN

41D: Field in Italian: CAMPO. Dictionary shows that it's also "field" in Spanish and Portuguese.

42D: First: pref.: PROTO. As in PROTOTYPE. And a PROTOTYPE TV tryouts (54D): PILOTS.

53D: Manly in Madrid: MACHO. In Madrid only? I thought MACHO is a well accepted English word now.

56D: Pantomime: ACT OUT

63D: Newspaper screamer: HEADLINE

69D: Nicker: NEIGH. I did not know that "nicker" also means "To NEIGH softly". Whinny. And 87A: Ewe's call: BAA

71D: Composition for nine: NONET. Raphael's Apollo and the Muses (9).

73D: Synthetic fabric: RAYON

82D: "Bellefleur" writer: OATES. Is "Bellefleur" the only book Joyce Carol OATES has written? Why keep cluing the same book again and again?

100D: Profligate: ROUE. It's him, Casanova, "the World's Greatest Lover".

106A: Sea bird: ERNE. And 109A: Sea bird: TERN. OK, this is a ERNE (the white-tailed sea eagle). This is a TERN (gull's cousin). Is she suffering from hangover?

108D: Eye part: UVEA. Would not have got the crossing TRAVE (114A: Crossbeam) without UVEA. Here are some crossbeams.

113A: Friday's lead-in?: TGI. The restaurant is part of the Carlson, a privately held company based here in MN. Lots of troubles are going on inside that Carlson house.

C.C.

Saturday June 28, 2008 John Underwood

Themeless:

Voilà, my first Saturday TMS puzzle sans Googling! I absolutely TORE (54D: Drove like crazy) through it. It's so weird, since AS A RULE (62A: Most of the time), I always have difficulty closing the deal on John Underwood's puzzle. Have to thank those wonderful 4-letter Down fills (total 24), which render the long Across words easily obtainable.

I adore the lower right corner. I was just leafing through "Gertrude and Alice" the other day and marveling at Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas' STAMINA (19A: Endurance) during wars (esp. WWI).

Gertrude Stein and her brother Leo invested in paintings from MATISSE (64A: French artist Henri), Picasso, Gauguin, Cézanne and other ELITE (48A: A-list group) painters very earlier on, and they profited nicely after the wars. The execution of her ESTATE (46D: Landed property), however, was a total disaster. Toklas had to shoulder the majority of the BLAME (51A: Hold responsible) I suppose.

Alright, let's go:

ACROSS:

1A: Hold down: OPPRESS

8A: From the top: AFRESH

14A: Trattoria selection: POLENTA. RARELY (10D: Not often) do you find Chinese (esp those who grew up during Chinese Cultural Revolution) enjoy POLENTA or any corn related food.

15A: Like insulated wires: COAXIAL. Do you know that the 1936 Summer Olympics already used COAXIAL cable to transmit TV pictures?

18A: Gangland hitman: TORPEDO. I had no idea that "TORPEDO" is a slang for a hitman. I love TORPEDO sandwiches, don't you?

20A: More strict: STERNER

28A: Dental records: X-RAYS. I like how X-RAYS intersect EXAMINE (22D: Check out).

32A: Larger part of Iberia: SPAIN. "Well, I Never been to SPAIN, but I kinda like the music. Say the ladies are insane there..."

34A: Do the breast stroke: SWIM. Wonderful clue. Here is a great Emerson message for you: "Live in the sunshine, SWIM the sea, drink the wild air."

39A: Be inviting: TEMPT. And 6D: Lure: ENTICE

43A: Hot box: OVEN. And Another hot place is HADES (13D: Netherworld).

47A: Madagascar primate: LEMUR. This LEMUR must be very good at tail-lashing.

53A: Cry like a mourner: ULULATE. Most of the Irish mourning music really have a haunting mystique in them.

56A: Pass to the side: LATERAL. I did not know that "LATERAL" can also be a verb.

61A: Fire opal: GIRASOL. Unknown to me. Got it from the down clues. Italian for "Sunflower". Dictionary says it came from "girare" (to turn), "sol". That's how GIRASOL was morphed into "an opal that reflects light in a bright luminous glow".

63A: Impolite observers: STARERS. And 60D: Lascivious gander: LEER. Both remind me of those OGLING crowd following Natalie Gulbis at US Open. I did not see Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers' QB) though. He used to follow Natalie around.

65A: Paris palace: ÉlYSÉE. I bet Carla Bruni will leave Sarkozy before he leaves Palais de ÉlYSÉE.

DOWN:

2D: Opposite of starboard: PORT (left-handed side of the vessel). Hmm, have some Apple Crisp to go with your PORT wine.

7D: Assassinated Egyptian statesman: SADAT. Who on earth killed SADAT? Only Mubarak knows.

11D: Look on one's face: EXPRESSION

12D: Commune in Tuscany: SIENA. OK, the medicinal herb is SENNA, the reddish-brown is SIENNA, or actress SIENNA Miller (a bit of bikini malfunction there), and Tuscany city is SIENA. So confusing.

30D: "A Bug's Life" cast members: ANTS. Have not seen ANTZ for a while.

49D: Painting on a wall: MURAL. Here is Diego Rivera's infamous "Man at the Crossroads" MURAL.

52D: ___ metabolism: BASAL. One word: EXERCISE, if you want to increase your BASAL Metabolic Rate.

C.C.

Friday June 27, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Three Doctors

17A: Three doctors: SEUSS CRANE QUINN

41A: Three doctors: ZHIVAGO X DETROIT

65A: Three doctors: DOLITTLE WHO KATZ

3D: Three doctors: HOUSE ZAIUS WELBY

10D: Three doctors: QUINCY NO KILDARE

One letter (J) away from a pangram puzzle.

A hard hammer! I only know SEUSS, ZHIVAGO, DOLITTLE & NO out of those 15 Doctors, so it's definitely an epic battle for me this morning. Lots of wild guesses.

The ARU fill is probably the toughest. I simply have never heard of this Indonesian island group, nor do I know the Muslim woman's gown IZAR or the intersecting Dr. ZAIUS. The CURTIZ & ZOEA crossing Z is another stubbornly unyielding letter to fall.

After filling in GAZES (58A: Fixed looks), I felt very intense and flirtatious, so I succumbed to Google quickly.

ACROSS:

1A: TV screening device: V-CHIP

6A: Luck of the Irish: CESS. "Leprechaun" popped into my mind immediately. I am not familiar with this CESS or the "Bad CESS to somebody" curse. How ironic, since CESS stands for "Success".

10A: Area meas.: SQMI (Square mile)

16A: Part of FAQ: QUES. FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions. The QUES I receive often via emails are: What are "DFs"? What are "Perps"? Both were concocted by Dennis.

20A: Expel: CAST OUT

21A: Goober: PEANUT. Mi Hyun Kim (LPGA's PEANUT) shot 72 at US Open (Edina, MN) yesterday. What a stunning quintuple-bogey WOE (52A: Misfortune) for Michelle Wie on hole #9 (par 4)! Lorena Ochoa definitely lived up to the HYPE (32A: Flamboyant promotion). And Natalie Gulbis, the sexy LPGA calendar girl, HELD (25D: Maintained) her sweet smile so well when facing the shouts and whistlings from those huge male following.

27A: Sharp turn: ZIG

30A: Crustacean's larval stage: ZOEA. It came from Greek zōē ( life).

35A: Routinized: IN A RUT

38A: Part of MLB post-season: ALCS (American League Championship Series). Another baseball reference is HOFer MIKE Schmidt (45A: Ditka or Schmidt).

44A: Indonesian island group: ARU. Wikipedia says ARU Islands are located in the Arafura Sea southwest of New Guinea and north of Australia. Look at this map of Indonesia island.

46A: Quenches: SLAKES

51A: Mil. infor grp.: ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence)

59A: Black Sea port: ODESSA

62A: Desert plant: EPHEDRA. I only knew the Chinese word (麻黃) for the EPHEDRA supplement. Had no idea that the plant grows on desert.

68A: River of Hamburg: ELBE. Our editor likes to clue EGER as "ELBE tributary".

70A: Ancient city on the Nile: MEROE. I simply forgot. This constructor used the same clue for his Feb 19 TMS puzzle. MEROE is "a ruined city in Sudan and the Capital of ancient Ethiopia".

72A: ___ Oreille Lake: PEND. I've never heard of this lake. Wikepedia says it's Lake PEND Oreille, located in the northern Idaho panhandle. The lake drains via the PEND Oreille River.

DOWN:

6D: "Casablanca" director: CURTIZ (Michael). He won Oscar for "Casablanca". Too bad, I've never paid attention to who directed this classic.

9D: Dog of song: SHEP. Which song?

10D: Press flat: SQUASH. This SQUASH soup looks delicious.

19D: Letters in a math proofs: QED

24D: Urgers: COAXERS. Urgers?

28D: Sportscaster Cross: IRV. I've never heard of him before. Is he very well-known?

33D: ___ - dieu: PRIE. Kneeler for praying. Literally"Pray to God" in French.

35D: Muslim woman's gown: IZAR. I thought their gown is called "Burka". Dictionary defines IZAR as "a long, usually white cotton dress that covers the body completely, worn by women of North Africa and the Middle East." OK, so IZAR does not cover the head then.

36D: Racing org. NHRA (National Hot Rod Association)

37D: Wage-slave's letters: TGIF

39D: Town near Caen: ST. LO

42D: Ma Joad, for one: OKIE. I really should read "The Grapes of Wrath".

48D: Nosegays: POSIES

57D: "Loot" dramatist: ORTON (Joe). Absolutely no idea. See here for more information about this satirical playwright.

60D: Toy person: DOLL. Beautiful 1950's hard plastic Ginny DOLL. She is probably worth several hundreds in that condition, with the original box.

C.C.

Thursday June 26, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Quip (Evan Esar)

17A: Start of a quip: GOSSIP

23A: Part 2 of quip: IS LIKE SPINACH IT

40A: Part 3 of quip: All

53A: Part 4 of quip: BOILS DOWN TO VERY

62A: End of quip: LITTLE

I definitely have a Pavlov's Dog reflex towards Olschwang's Quip themed puzzle, so unoriginal, unimaginative and uninspiring. I started yawning immediately after I spotted his name.

I did not complain about ILL (32D: Sickly) clue yesterday ("Feeling peaked") due to the subtle ILL, AIL, ITIS & REHAB sub-theme. But today I am absolutely a volcano ready to explode. There are so many ways to clue ILL: __ at ease; __ -advised; __-wishers; __ -timed; Or simply "___ be back"; "___ be there"; "____ bite"; "____ treat"; or get romantic with "I'LL Be Missing you".

LET SLIP (49D: Divulge accidentally) is actually a great fill for this theme. I only wish it were constructed to intersect GOSSIP somehow.

Can you hear birds chirping/screaming in today's puzzle?

50A: Type of hawk: RED-TAIL. I am not familiar with this hawk. RED-TAILED hawks showed up when I googled. Isn't it strange that birds have all the freedom they have, yet the majority of them stay monogamous?

66A: Whippoorwill's bill: NEB. Here is a sleepy Whippoorwill, a new bird to me.

26D: Marsh bird: SORA. Her yellow-bill is indeed very short.

ACROSS:

1A: Pester: HARASS. This is what MAO (21A: Chairman of China) said about guerrilla war fighting strategies: "The enemy advances, we retreat; The enemy camps, we HARASS; The enemy tires, we attack; The enemy retreats, we pursue.".

11A: Type of Tuna: AHI. Delicious AHI sashimi. AHI is Japanese for "yellowfin tuna".

19A: Word to describe Abner: LI'L. Yawner, yawner! Why not give Rapper "LIL' Kim" a chance to shine? Look at this outrageous outfit she wore during the 1999 MTV award.

22A: "Smooth Operator" singer: SADE. Here is SADE's "Smooth Operator". I am now listening to "Somebody Already Broke My Heart", my favorite from her "Lovers Rock" album.

68A: Turkish inn: IMARET. Absolutely no idea. It originates from the Arabic "imārah" (building).

70A: Probability ration: ODDS. I like "Against All ODDS" (Phil Collins).

71A: Full stop: PERIOD. "During the first PERIOD of a man's life the greatest danger is not to take the risk. When once the risk has really been taken, then the greatest danger is to risk too much." A great quote from Kahlil Gibran for you to twist, Mr. Olschwang.

DOWN:

3D: Notes of scales: RES. Or "thing" in Latin.

4D: Set upon violently: ASSAIL And 43A: Whipped: LASHED

6D: Groups of seven: SEPTETS

7D: Ring king: CHAMP. I don't quite understand this one. Does this refer to boxing?

8D: French channel port: CALAIS. Unfamiliar to me. Wikipedia says "It overlooks the Strait of Dover". Here is a map.

9D: Bing, for one: CROONER. The first thing that came to my mind was "Bing Cherry".

12D: Spyri heroin: HEIDI. I really like Shirley Temple's HEIDI, but I have never paid attention to who the author (Johanna Spyri) was.

24D: Medicinal herb: SENNA. I always confused this SENNA with SIENNA (Reddish-brown) until SIENNA Miller came along.

36D: Reckoning: TALLY. Would not have got it without the across clues. Always associated "Reckoning" with "Day of Reckoning".

41D: Bereft: LORN

51D: Serve a sentence: DO TIME

52D: Small screen idol: TV STAR. FYI, STAR TV, owned by Rupert Murdoch, has a huge presence in Asia.

55D: Metrical feet: IAMBS

C.C.

Wednesday June 25, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: Window Covering

17A: Reappearance on stage: CURTAIN CALL

28A: Amateur snapper: SHUTTERBUG

46A: Dead end: BLIND ALLEY

62A: Monitor guardian, of a sort: SCREEN SAVER

And I'LL (40D: Feeling peaked) say that IT IS (18D: Suffix for disease) rather depressing to see AIL (42A: Feel lousy ), REHAB (Post-op program), ILL and ITIS in one grid. The sky feels so GRAY (60D: Like a rainy day). I want "skies of blue... clouds of white...". I want music. Here are the instruments:

1A: Small flutes: FIFES

6A: "Twelfth Night" role: VIOLA. I wonder if the constructor's original clue was "4-stringed musical instrument". Frank VIOLA was the World Series MVP in 1987 (with the Twins of course). He also won Cy Young in 1988.

15A: Blacksmith's block: ANVIL. Percussion instrument.

27D: Rock band equipment: AMPLIFIERS

Very smooth sailing this morning. A few unknown names, but I was able to piece them together from the crossing clues. No real stumper or obscure words to frustrate me.

ACROSS:

14A: Pennsylvania sect: AMISH. They are the same as Mennonites, aren't they?

19A: Tasseled hat: FEZ. Always thought of FEZ as an Arabic word, just learned earlier that it's of Greek origin. "The Ottoman Turks adopted the FEZ from the Greeks".

20A: Indispensable: ESSENTIAL

21A: Slightly ahead: UP ONE. I don't get this one. Why? I am only familiar with ONE UP.

23A: Luau souvenirs: LEIS. And 57D: Hawaii bird: NENE

24A: Fulda tributary: EDER. I got it from the down clues. Had difficulty remembering this Fulda feEDER.

33A: Irish patriot Robert: EMMET. "I hero I lived, a hero I'll die...". Great Irish folksong Bold Robert EMMET.

35A: Hentoff and Hiken: NATS. Know Hentoff. Have no idea who Hiken is.

44A: Funny Jack of Hollywood: OAKIE. Unknown to me. Got it from the crossing clues. Wikepedia says he grew up in OK, hence the nickname. I wanted BENNY.

54A: Hold sway: REIGN. He who originated "Let freedom REIGN".

56A: Removing certain packaging: UNCRATING. And 31D: Release a catch: UNPIN. Is UNCRATING a familiar word to you? I've never used it before.

68A: Honkers: NOSES (68A: Honkers). It would be great if NOSES were clued as "Defeats by a narrow margin" to pair up with UP ONE.

DOWN:

4D: Actress Getty: ESTELLE. No idea. Pieced her name together from the across clues.

6D: Leave no trace: VANISH. "Want to VANISH inside your kiss... Every day I'm loving you more and more. Listen to my heart, can you hear it sings?...". Here is "Come What May" from "Moulin Rouge!".

9D: Dogpatch adjective: LI'L. LI'L Abner. I had no idea that he lived in Dogpatch.

10D: Hints at: ALLUDES TO

11D: Risk it all: GO FOR BROKE

30D: Spiritual way: TAO. Literally "Way" ( 道) in Cantonese. Lao-Tzu wrote "TAO Te Ching". In Mandarin Chinese, TAO is DAO, Lao-Tze is Lao Zi, and "TAO Te Ching" is "DAO De Jing".

34D: "Cheers" star: TED DANSON. Know him. Have never watched "Cheers" before.

45D: Refuse to vote: ABSTAIN. "When you doubt, ABSTAIN".

49D: Sweater-to-be, perhaps: YARN. Perhaps, yes!

58D: Wolfe of whodunits: NERO. Or the evil Roman Emperor (pervert Caligula's nephew). Very interesting, you get "Deplore again cruel Romans" when you anagram "Emperors NERO and Caligula".

C.C.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: It's Just a Fling

17A: Extremely dark: PITCH BLACK

59A: Billy Bob Thornton film: SLING BLADE

10D: Sleep restlessly: TOSS AND TURN

24D: Invite some friends over: THROW A PARTY

And a non-themed vigorous PELT (62A: Animal hide). Look at what centers the grid: PIVOT (38A: Turning point). It conjures up a VIVID (29D: Intense, as color) picture of someone hurling in motion, doesn't it?

I adore this puzzle. I love those scrabbly Z's & X'es. The intersections of PARTY & TRAY (65A: Cafeteria tote), and ADZE & BLADE are just brilliant.

Quite a few new words/names to me today, but I was able to fill in the unknown blanks with the crossing references. Had to google the dog food brand Bil-JAC (4D), as I could not get that expensive letter "J" from the across. MUTANT was clued as "Teenage __ NINJA Turtles" on the May 11 TMS puzzle, and I remember I checked the meaning of NINJA. But I did not fully digest it and assimilate into my brain.

A great Tuesday puzzle.

ACROSS:

1A: Japanese warrior: NINJA. All I could think of is "Samurai". NIN is "Endure", JA is "person". NINJA has a Chinese root. In fact, its Japanese Kanji writings (忍者) are identical to Chinese characters. There is a NBA/MLB player has 忍 tattooed on his arm. I cannot remember his name though.

14A: Trojan War story: ILIAD. And ILLID setting TROY (24A: Ex-QB Aikman). The clue for TROY is flawed here. QB should not be abbreviated. "Ex Cowboys QB" should be OK, or simply "1993 Super Bowl M.V.P.".

21A: __ May Clampett: ELLY. "The Beverly Hillbillies"

22A: Cash-register key: NO SALE

31A: Trademark DOS: UNIX. Developed by the Bell Labs.

43A: Fan mag.: ZINE

49A: Fastener attacher: STAPLER

53A: Union units: LOCALS. Does this refer to the Labor Union?

64A: Tenor Mario: LANZA. Unknown to me. I got his name from the down clues. He died so young (38 years old).

66A: Thwack: SWAT. Wish I were born earlier so I could see "The Sultan of SWAT" PITCH, TOSS, THROW, SLING, and have FLINGS in/off the ballpark.

67A: Surpass others: EXCEL

DOWN:

3D: Silents star Naldi: NITA. Learned her name from doing Xword. I've never seen any of her movies.

5D: Stick fast: ADHERE

9D: Kentucky loc.: FT. KNOX. I got this one easily due to the intersecting SERF (6A: By gone peasant). I dislike the clue though. Doe "loc." stand for location or what?

11D: WWII sub: U-BOAT

12D: Zora ___ Hurston: NEALE. Not familiar with her name. Have heard of "Their Eyes Were Watching God" though.

13D: Co-star in "Dr. Kildare" movies: AYRES. 60D: First name of 13D: LEW. No idea. Wikipedia said he was married to Ginger Rogers for six years. And Jane Wyman fell in love with him during the filming of "Johnny Belinda" and "left her husband Ronald Reagan for him, albeit unsuccessfully".

18D: Explode: BLOW UP. This brings to my mind the SCORIA (Volcanic rock ejecta) and the "Lava/Lois Bomb".

28D: Arcade game name: SEGA. Not familiar with this Nintendo rival. Would have not got it without the adjacent fills.

32D: "My life in Court" writer: NIZER (Louis). No idea. Easily gettable though. Wikepedia says "After the assassination of John F. Kennedy, he authored the foreword to the Warren Commission report that investigated JFK's murder and the conspiracy theories that still surround it." I've read the Warren Commission report, but I don't remember seeing his foreword.

39D: Sack of leaves: TEA BAG. Sack? Really? That coarse? Let me check.... OK, you are right. TEA BAG is explained as "a small porous sack holding enough tea leaves to make an individual serving of tea" by American Heritage Dictionary.

51D: Amtrak's bullet train: ACELA. Not familiar to me. Pieced it together from the across fills. Interesting "Acceleration" word though. China started running first bullet trains in April 2007. Eurostar seat is a bit tight.

54D: Monster of the Mojave: GILA. I only knew GILA River. Have never heard of this GILA Monster lizard.

55D: Judge's seat: BANC. No idea. Only knew BANC is French for "bench".

56D: Wood-shaping tool: ADZE. Gimme. My favorite Scrabble word. This ADZE needs to be sharpened.

C.C.

Monday June 23, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Happy OWER

17A: Prenatal party: BABY SHOWER

60A: Big name on D-Day: EISENHOWER

10A: Chicago skyscraper: SEARS TOWER

30D: Alternate energy source: SOLAR POWER

Don't forget BOWER, COWER, FLOWER and GLOWER.

This is definitely a Norma Steinberg puzzle. With a couple of baseball references:

31A: ERA or RBI: STAT

1D: Ty of the Tigers: COBB. The "Georgia Peach". The first crop of HOFers.

I suspect that our editor tinkered with the lower right corner. I don't believe that Ms. Steinberg would have missed the opportunity to clue 55D: HOME (55D: Residence) & AWAY (56D: Not in residence) as baseball related. "White House abbr." would be a perfectly fine clue for PRES (58D: White House res.). What's the obsession with "Res*" clues this morning?

Lots of sports terms in today's grid:

25A: Improbably victories: UPSETS

33A: In direct confrontation: TOE-TO-TOE

43A: Plies a broom: SWEEP. The crossing of SWEEP, EAST (36D: Vane heading) and WITCH (44D: Coven member) reminded me of the "Wicked WITCH of the WEST" and her broom.

54A: Title holder: CHAMP

59A: Be windy: BLOW. "Totally botch"!

62A: Zero in Tennis: LOVE

2D: Track shape: OVAL

8D: Level: EVEN

27D: Olympics sled: LUGE. Since 1964.

38D: Ready for business: OPEN

All in all, a very easy but forgettable puzzle.

ACROSS:

5A: Fall flower: ASTER. Beautiful. ASTER comes from the Greek "astron", meaning "star".

10A: Pacifying offers: SOPS. Payoffs.

14A: Egg: OVUM. I dislike OVUM intersecting the Egg-shaped OVAL (2A: Track shape).

15A: What push comes to: SHOVE. Great clue. Idiom: "When push comes to shove".

20A: Sanctified: BLEST

23A: Grown elvers: EELS. Only learned this morning that "elver" is also called "glass eel", "so called because it is nearly transparent at an early stage". I want those two Unagi rolls in the middle.

27A: Unties: LOOSENS

32A: Maintain: UPHOLD

37A: Earth sci.: GEOL (Geology). The Geology term "CONNATE", clued as "Like fluids trapped in rocks", stumped me big on Sunday's puzzle.

40A: Augmented: ENHANCED

46A: Word to describe Snow White: FAIREST. Dislike its crossing with FINEST (46D: Best there is).

47A: One of the Magi.: CASPAR. Or Reagan's Secretary of Defense Weinberger.

52A: Scale drawing: PLAN And 12D: Factory: PLANT. I know they are of different roots, but they just look so uncomfortable with each other in one grid.

63A: French cup: TASSE. Annoying ASS intersection with 50D: Will Roger's prop: LASSO

66A: Didst slap: SMOTE. Good archaic clue.

DOWN:

3D: Service station job?: LUBE. Why question mark? No need for it here!

4D: Heckerling and Irving: AMYS. I was "Clueless" that Heckerling directed "Look Who's Talking".

6D: Shallow waters: SHOALS. Or Schools of fish.

7D: Hamlet's kin: TOWNS. Shouldn't the clue be "Hamlets' kin"?

18D: Pittsburgh product: STEEL. Have you READ (45D: Enjoy a novel) Danielle STEEL's Five Days in Paris?

26D: One way to stand: PAT. Stand PAT.

47D: Knitting stitch: CABLE. I know the pattern, I just had no idea that it's called CABLE-knitting. This reminds me of ARGYLE, the Scots style socks knitting pattern.

49D: Potbelly: STOVE

53D: Neeson of "Nell": LIAM. I've never seen "Nell", often clued as "Jodie Foster movie" by our editor. LIAM Neeson is so good as Oskar in "Schindler's List". I tend to confuse him with his co-star Ralph Fiennes, who played Amon Göth (the Nazi concentration camp commandant) in the movie. Fiennes is just brilliant in "The English Patient". But his wondering EYES (68A: Checks out) obviously soared miles too high.

C.C.

Sunday June 22, 2008 Annabel Michaels

Theme: EXED OUT

24A: Underground publisher, perhaps: MIDNIGHT (EX)PRESS

50A: Receive wine from France?: IMPORT (EX)PORT

70A: U.N.'s stance?: INTERNATIONAL (EX)POSITION

88A: Hamming it up?: OVER (EX) POSING

118A: Grinding power of molars?: TOOTH (EX)TRACTION

6D: Flippantly cocky point of view: (EX)PERT OPINION

73D: Keep a supply of coins?: STOCK (EX)CHANGE

The answer for 6D stands out as the only one with the head EXED. As an adjective, PERT is difficult to be clued as the second part of the phrase than a noun or verb I suppose. I thought of "COMPUTER (EX)PERT" and "ESCAPE (EX)PERT", but both have different amount of letters than "(EX)PERT OPINION". That would have screwed up the whole upper left corner.

But for a shock and awe effect, I would have clued 29A: METERS (Taxi device) as "Coin takers", so the letter X would be completely axed out of the answers and the clues.

I really like today's theme concept, but the puzzle is made more difficult than it should be due to the rigidly constrained theme answers. I experienced nightmares at several crucial intersections: SENNET and CONNATET, PESETA and SCUP. And these fishes really gave me headache today:

79A: Pogy: MENHADEN. Absolutely no idea. Dictionary says "Pogy" is short for "Poghaden", which is explained as MENHADEN, a herring like fish. See this picture.

113D: Type of Porgy: SCUP. Completely foreign to me. It's spelled out as a "Porgy of the northern Atlantic coastal waters, important commercially as a food fish." Look at his SCUP.

I did get GRILSE (101D: Young salmon) by crossing clues, but it's definitely a stranger to me. Dictionary said it originated from Middle English "grills/grilles". Obviously I don't know anything about fish or fishing. I also pieced together DAP (15D: Fly-fishing action) with the across references. It's a new word to me. I've never fly-fished before, have you?

It looks like our editor quit Roman numerals cold-turkey after the "Numerous Movies" binge on June 8. Great! Several major flaws in today's puzzle though:

39A: Mach + jets: SSTS. And 87A: Mach + plane: SST. This is simply unacceptable!

115A: Reach across: SPAN. And 1D: Spanning: ACROSS. Unbelievable! What can I say? Nuts! You either change SPAN's clue to "Time period" or reword ACROSS clue to "Down's opposite".

127A: Compositions: ESSAYS. Needs to add "Literary" to the clue.

51D: U. of Maine town: ORONO. The clue U. should NOT be abbreviated. Barry Silk has explained it clearly in his last BYU construction: "Generally, when a clue is abbreviated, the answer is also abbreviated."

90D: Green-eyed?: ENVIOUS. Why question mark? "Green-eyed" is "jealous", isn't it? If you want to be cutesy and loves to ask, try "Green?"

Alright, enough whining, let's go!

ACROSS:

1A: King Herold's last name: AGRIPPA. Stumped immediately. Hard to get A GRIP on his name. He defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the "Battle of Actium".

14A: "___ Fideles": ADESTE. One more Latin: 30A: In ___ (in position): SITU

20A: Loop thread with a hooked needle: CROCHET

21A: Hit the big time: ARRIVE

22A: Lurch and swerve: CAREEN. "Lurch" or "Swerve", one word clue is enough. Why waste ink?

23A: Correct maps: RECHART

27A: Collar fastener: STUD. Stunning STUD fee for Big Brown, isn't it? See also 77A: Fastens: TIES.

33A: Branding tool: IRON. I don't understand this clue or the answer. Why? It's not the Callaway or TaylorMade IRON brand, is it?

40A: Foot: pref.: PEDI. Pedicure.

45A: Straighten up: NEATEN

47A: City in southern France: AVIGNON. Here is the map. See it? It's on the Rhone River, very close to Marseille. This is the Papal palace in AVIGNON.

52A: Grad. deg.: SCD (Scientiae Doctor, Latin). Doctor of Science.

59A: Richard Attenborough film: CHAPLIN. I've never seen the movie, have you? I like this tag line: "Everyone has a wild side. Even a legend."

62A: Living on the street: HOMELESS

66A: Shout for attention: HALLOO. And 119D: Attention getter: HEY

75A: Man from Aberdeen: SCOT. This word has become our editor's new obsession lately. And 93D: Possess like a Scotsman: HAE. Scottish for "Have". Interesting Robert Burns' Some Hae Meat and Cannae Eat poem.

76A: Dance in France: BAL. BAL Masqué (costume party) for example.

78A: Adopted: TOOK ON

86A: Centering points: FOCI

83A: Like fluids trapped in rocks: CONNATE. Is this a familiar geology term to you? I don't think I even know the Chinese word for it.

92A: Sitarist Ravi: SHANKAR. Good to see SHANKAR clued as an answer.

99A: Links grp: USGA (United States Golf Association). Have to applaud them for their fair course setup during the last US Open.

112A: Old money of Madrid: PESETA. Toughie for me, as I had no idea about the intersecting SCUP.

122A: Authorize: ENTITLE

124A: Solicited orders: TOUTED. And 128A: Sales pitches: SPIELS

125A: Hawaii dress: MUUMUU. She looks pretty in her blue MUUMUU.

126A: Eternal: AGELESS. Helen Mirren, her beauty is AGELESS!

129A: Demonstrates connections: RELATES

DOWN:

2D: Legendary ones: GREATS. Here are two examples: 106A: Pitcher Hershiser: OREL. He won Cy Young in 1988. And HOFer "STAN the Man" (67D: Musial of baseball).

3D: Missile: ROCKET. Do you think "The ROCKET" Roger Clemens will make HOF someday?

4D: German pronoun: ICH. ICH Liebe Dich (我爱你 in Chinese). Say it!

5D: Distinct stage: PHASE

7D: Aleutian island: ATTU. The U from the crossing STUD prevented me from considering ADAK or ATKA.

9D: The best!: PRIMO

11D: Effort: DINT. I only know this word being used in the phrase "By DINT of". Found out today that DINT can also be a verb.

10D: Zealous: ARDENT

12D: Actress Arden, casually: EVIE. "Any Way That You Want Me" by EVIE Sands.

13D: Get back into formation: REGROUP. Does this clue sound OK to you? I always think of REGROUP as "Restart".

17D: Pursue an inquiry: SEE INTO

19D: Consequent: ENSUANT. Unknown to me. I got it from the down clue. Only knew ENSUE.

28D: Failed to: DIDN'T

32D: Mandela's nat.: RSA (Republic of South Africa). His party is ANC (African National Congress).

34D: Roberto's river: RIO. Are we talking about Spanish or Portuguese river here? I think Roberto is also a very popular Italian name.

36D: Against a thing: IN REM. No problem today.

37D: Bristles: SETAE Singular form is SETA.

41D: Richard of "A Summer Place": EGAN. I wanted GERE. I didn't know Richard EGAN. Learned from doing Xword that the "First governor of Alaska" was named EGAN (Willam A.)

43D: Hastens: HIES

46D: Wisconsin city: APPLETON. I can not recall anything special about this city. I only remember its Mini Golf course.

52D: Division into sects: SCHISM

57D: Capital on the Delaware: TRENTON. The Delaware River.

60D: Overabundance: PLETHORA. Did not know that PLETHORA is also a medical term for "excess of body fluid". Dictionary says it's from the Greek plethore (fullness).

62D: Pelvic projections: HIPS. Great Clip on Shakira's "HIPS Don't Lie" Dubai Concert.

64D: Noses: SNOOTS

65D: Elizabethan fanfare: SENNET. Or SENNIT. From French "Signe" (sign). Completely unknown to me. Had great difficulty getting 83A: CONNATE. Here is the definition: "A call on a trumpet or cornet signaling the ceremonial exits and entrances of actors in Elizabethan drama."

74D: Greek colony: IONIA. I simply forgot. A total SNAFU in this CONNATE, IONIA and SENNET area.

80D: Plentifully: AMPLY

81D: Semiconductor: DIODE. I am just so used to the "Electron tube" clue.

88D: Saxophonist Coleman: ORNETTE. Vaguely remember his name from the Jazz Image. I don't think I would have got it without the crossing references. His album 'Sound Grammar" won 2007 Pulitzer for music.

89D: West Indian witchcrafts: VOODOOS

91D: Tailor's measure: INSEAM

94D: K. Capek play: R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). The debut of the word Robot (1921).

97D: Wink of an eye: NO TIME

100D: Group of seven: SEPTET. Heptad also means "Group of seven".

105D: "Car Talk" broadcaster: NPR. Do you like NPR's "The Splendid Table"?

107D: Dufy or Walsh: RAOUL. I don't know either of them. Is it a gimme to you?

109D: Chip maker: INTEL. Hope you don't own INTEL stock.

116D: Partridge's tree: PEAR. Lovely PEAR blossom.

121D: Greek letters: NUS, followed by XIS.

121D: 6-pointers: TDS (Touchdowns). T.D.S. in prescription means "Ter Die Sumendum" (to be taken three times a day.

123D: Dockers grp.: ILA ( International Longshoremen's Association).

C.C.

Saturday June 21, 2008 Tom Pruce

Themeless

I am not fond of this puzzle at all. I simply dislike the overuse of affixes (S, ER, ED, etc) in the grid. And the appearances of OLD both as the clue and the answer just irk me to bones, look:

22A: Study of old age: GERONTOLOGY. Geronto- is the root word, Greek origin (gérōn: old man). "Study of the elderly" would be fine.

41D: Over the hill: OLD

After getting PENSIONERS (18A: Retired employees), GERONTOLOGY and MUNRO, I started to think of Sarah Polley's "Away From Her". It's a very gripping TALE (57A: Narrative Story) about an OLD couple dealing with Alzheimer's disease. The loving ACTS (1D: Exploits) of sacrifice by the husband are very poignant and touching.

The film is based on "The Bear Came over the Mountain", a short story written by Alice MUNRO (7D: Saki's real name"), who is considered "the finest living short story writer" according to Wikipedia. Julie Christie was just brilliant in the movie. The Oscar should have gone to her instead of that French actress Marion Cotillard, who did not even make effort to sing in "La Vie en Rose". (Update later: Please don't misunderstand me regarding the Saki clue (H. H. MUNRO). Many times I am just playing with the answers.)

Ready? Uno, due, TRE (24D: Trevi fountain coin count), Allons-y!

ACROSS:

5A: Round after the quarters: SEMIS (Semifinals)

10A: Stirling man: SCOT. "O, my love is like a red, red rose, that's newly sprung in June...". Love this poem from "Scotland's favorite son".

15A: Main artery: TRUNK ROUTE. New to me.

17A: Legendary bowman: TELL (William). The legendary archer.

18A: Retired employees: PENSIONERS. And 25A: Firestarter: IGNITER. And 44A: Runaway lovers: ELOPERS.

19A: Psalms interjection: SELAH

21A: Circular buildings: ROTUNDAS

27A: "The Raven" monogram: EAP (Edgar Allan Poe). It's mine too, my middle name is ARON.

30A: Actress Fabray: NANETTE. Completely unknown to me. Is she a gimme to you?

33A: Maliciously derogatory: SNIDE

34A: Jiffy: TRICE. Here are some Jiffy Muffins for you.

40A: Got in shape: TONED UP

45A: Caribbeans: WEST INDIANS

47A: Consisting of various kinds: ASSORTED

52A: Aptitude: CLEVERNESS

55A: Brood of pheasants: NIDE. I've never heard of this word before.

56A: Passed on genetically: HEREDITARY

58A: Tree of life location: EDEN. "Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of EDEN maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?"

59A: State in northeast India: ASSAM. Ah, the tea state. Wikipedia says it's equivalent to the size of AUSTRIA (38D: Vienna's country) and the area is also known for its silk. Dispur is its capital.

DOWN:

2D: Betty MacDonald bestseller: THE EGG AND I. I've never heard of the author or the book/movie. I like the answer though, with "THE" and "AND".

3D: Generation of today: MILLENNIAL

4D: On the payroll: SALARIED

9D: T-bars: SKI TOWS. I am not familiar with this term.

10D: Jazzman Rollins: SONNY. Dimly remember his name due to MPR's Jazz Image. I don't think I would have got his name without the crossing clues though.

12D: Other: Sp. OTRA And another Spanish word: 53D: Mexican Mme: SRA

13D: Trueheart of "Dick Tracy": TESS. No idea. I took a SWAG. I do like Julia Roberts' TESS in "Ocean's Eleven".

16D: Double-deck solitaire: ROUGE ET NOIR. Not familiar with this game at all. Pure WAG. Look at this Christian Lacroix ROUGE ET NOIR commerical.

20D: Easily infuriated: HOT TEMPERED

27D: Offering proof: EVIDENTIAL

28D: In a hateful manner: ACCURSEDLY. New word to me.

35D: Does a second watercolor: REPAINTS

46D: Fruit of the mind: IDEAS. The "Fruit" here is the plural form, I presume? I like this Emerson line: "Gibraltar may be strong, but IDEAS are impregnable, and bestow on the hero the invincibility".

54D: Pathetic starter?: SYM. Sympathetic. I rather like this "Phony Starter?". SYM/Syn" mean "with", Greek origin.

Alright, the last one, 60A: Stone and the Stallone: SLYS. Here is the "Hot Fun in the Summer Time" from "SLY and the Family Stone". I love those beautiful sceneries in the clip. Happy first day of summer, everyone!

C.C.

Friday June 20, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Man Friday

21A: Some western resorts: DUDE RANCHES

49A: Longtime New Year's Eve conductor: GUY LOMBARDO

3D: Second-story man: CAT BURGLAR

29D: Society: FELLOWSHIP

MATE in Australia, BLOKE/CHAP in the UK.

I've never heard of GUY LOMBARDO, nor am I familiar with DUDE RANCHES or CAT BURGLAR. But they are all gettable from the crosses. I am surprised to see Norman Steinberg's name on today's puzzle though, she is our Wednesday girl. This puzzle does have an easy Wednesday feel, doesn't it? I expect many of you will ace this one.

Not much to gripe about, except 32A: A & M student: AGGIE. It's not an accurate clue. Needs to add "Texas", as there is also a Florida A & M (Rattlers). FYI, AGGIE is also a variant spelling of AGATE (the "Playing marble"). (Update: I was wrong, please read Dr. Dad's opinion on Comments section).

I don't find this puzzle to possess any ELAN (14A: Panache). It's pretty dry and flat, with all those repeat offenders.

ACROSS:

5A: Misbehave: ACT UP

10A: Dorothy's dog: TOTO. Does TOTO have a star in Hollywood Walk of Fame? Look at this TITO (41D: Musician Puente) Star.

15A: Capital of Idaho: BOISE. I was the same as Bill, always thought that "I da ho" was only a type of potato.

18A: ___ of magnitude: ORDER. I would not have got it without down clues. I only knew the Chinese word 數量級. Can you read these 3 Chinese characters? Or are they just 3 square boxes to you?

19A: Part of a lot sometimes: ACRE. And 10D: Parcels of land: TRACTS

23A: Transmission cells: NEURONS

26A: McNally's partner: RAND. Foreign to me. Only knew Ayn RAND.

27A: Summons: SENDS FOR

34A: Chemist Pauling: LINUS. No idea. Wow, he got 2 Nobel prize (Chemistry in 1954 & Nobel Peace in 1962). Wikiepedia says he is "a member of a small group of individuals who have been awarded more than one Nobel Prize, one of only two people to receive them in different fields (the other was Marie Curie), and the only person in that group to have been awarded each of his prizes without having to share it with another recipient". I only knew this LINUS.

37A: Ricochet: CAROM. Billiards bounce.

45A: Traded without money: BARTERED

46A: Escaped: GOT AWAY. I don't know much about crossword construction, but I dislike when GOT and GETS (49D: Catches on to) appear in the same grid. I was also bothered by the appearance of both SLEEP & SLEPT on Tuesday Barry Silk's CLASS puzzle.

45A: Lyricist Gershwin: IRA. Yawner, yawner. When are you going to clue it as "Grp from Belfast"?

56A: Els or Kovacs: ERNIE. ERNIE Els has hopped onto the Butch Harmon's bandwagon. Not a good time for David Leadbetter right now, unless Michelle Wie pulls off a win at US Open next week. I wonder why our editor never Cubs' great ERNIE Banks, given that TMS puzzle primarily serves the Chicago area.

DOWN:

6D: Quantities of wood: CORDS. I was not familiar with this "wood stacks" meaning of CORDS.

9D: Every year: PER ANNUM. Could not jam in PERENNIAL.

24D: Fence piece: RAIL. My first response was EPEE (Fencing piece).

32D: Peck in "Moby Dick": AHAB. Have never watched "Moby Dick".

33D: Festive: GALA. Have some GALA apples.

34D: After midnight, say: LATE. Here is Simon & Garfunkel's "LATE in the Evening". I am now listening to Michael Learns to Rock's "That's Why You Go Away". I also love their "25 Minutes LATE": "Boy I've missed your kisses all the time, but this is 25 minutes too LATE...".

It's such a boring puzzle today, let's discuss a little bit about music. What have you been listening to lately? Who are your favorite singers? Please share with us.

37D: Chewy candies: CARAMELS

38D: Caesar's TV sidekick: COCA (Imogene)

44D: Gnawing animal: RODENT. How can you get rid of those squirrels? They love to RUIN (16A: Destroy) our vegetable garden.

46D: Pam or Rosey: GRIER. I did not know Pam GRIER. She was in "Jackie Brown". Rosey GRIER was one of RFK's bodyguards. Wikipedia says he was a member of the original "Fearsome Foursome" of the 1957 NY Giants & also a member of the "Fearsome Foursome "of the 1963 LA RAMS (31D: St. Louis football team), very interesting!

51D: Eli's alma mater: YALE. I think we've had enough YALE graduate presidents, almost 20 years, way too long.

52D: Newscaster Hume: BRIT. Anchor of Fox News' "Special Report with BRIT Hume". He is a very very avid crossword solver.

57D: New Deal agcy.: WPA (Work Projects Administration).

Alright, the last one, 40D: Deli offering: HERO. "There is a HERO if you look inside your heart..." Enjoy!

Thursday June 19, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: QUIP

17A: Start of a Casey Stengel quip: THE YANKEES

21A: Part of 2 of quip: DON'T PAY

40A: Part 3 of quip: ME TO WIN EVERY DAY

54A: Part 4 of quip: JUST TWO

63A: End of quip: OUT OF THREE

Ah, the Stengelese, I admire so much his philosophical wit! A very intelligent man: "They say Yogi Berra is funny. Well, he has a lovely wife and family, a beautiful home, money in the bank, and he plays golf with millionaires. What's funny about that?"

My understanding of Casey Stengel's life mainly comes from the Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio books I've mindlessly leafed through. When I think of him, I think of the "Most ball games are lost, not won" quote. I always thought of him as a Yankees/Mets Manager. Did not know until this morning that he had played for both NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers before. That's amazing. Who else could claim that he played/managed all the 4 MLB teams in NY?

Good to see PEDRO (32D: Cy Young winner Martinez) in today's puzzle. I wish JOSH (54D: Kid) were clued as "Red Sox pitcher Beckett" and MINE (35A: Planted explosive) clued as " Outfielder's cry". It would have been a great baseball themed puzzle.

Had to flirt with Google again this morning. Had difficulty getting into this Michael T. William's wavelength. It's odd to get a QUIP puzzle from him.

ACROSS:

6A: Autobahn auto: AUDI. Regarding yesterday's OLDS (36D: Antique auto), I think Richard @ 1:35pm explained it very well. REO would be a perfectly fine answer for the "Antique auto" clue.

10A: __ does it: THAT. "EASY" does it Tiger! See you at the Masters next year!

14A: Pita fiber: ISTLE. I only knew "Pita" as the TASTY (10D: Delectable) flatbread topped with hummus. Had no idea that it can also be a fiber-yielding plant. ISTLE is a new word to me. Here is the definition: "a fiber from any of several tropical American plants of the genus Agave or Yucca, used in making bagging, carpets, etc."

16A: Dynamic intro?: AERO

20A: Singer Brewer: TERESA. Completely unknown to me. Mother TERESA & TERESA Heinz Kerry, yes.

23A: Camera-ready copy: REPRO

26A: Let down: LAY. Here is Eric Clapton's "LAY Down Sally".

30A: Disarranged: TOUSLED. This is Kate Moss' classic "Tousled, Just Out of Bed" look.

37A: Boot binding: LACE. And 9D: Boot cushion: INSOLE. How you guys could segue the topic yesterday from SCORIA into boots and sandwich is beyond me.

38A: Roeper's co-host: EBERT (Roger). He has not been on the show for a longtime. I don't think he can talk now.

44A: Murder: DO IN. Here is another great line from the great Casey Stengel: "Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It's staying up all night looking for a woman that DOes him IN".

47A: Ability to walk aboard: SEA LEGS. Is it gimme to you? I've never heard of "SEA LEGS" before.

52A: Mature: ADULT. "As youth lives in the future, so the ADULT lives in the past: No one rightly knows how to live in the present."

58A: Stevedore: LOADER

68A: Collection of artifacts: HOARD. Really? I thought HOARD has a negative "greedy" connotation.

71A: Some lilies: SEGOS Utah State Flower SEGO Lily.

DOWN:

5D: Wonderland service: TEA SET

7D: A. Godfrey's instrument: UKE (Ukulele)

11D: Dickens hypocrite: HEEP (Uriah). From "David Copperfield".

13D: Singer Orlando: TONY. Ah, got him this time, the "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" singer. This is the list of 2008 TONY Award Winners. That "In the Height" actor (Lin-Manuel Miranda) sounds extremely talented.

18D: City on the Tyrrhenian Sea: NAPOLI. Italian name for Naples. Here is the map. I am not familiar with the Tyrrhenian Sea at all.

22D: 2000 candidate Ralph: NADER. He wrote "Unsafe at Any Speed".

24D: Kagali's country: var.: RUANDA (Rwanda). New to me also. Dictionary says "RUANDA" can also refer to the "Bantu language".

25D: Seminole chief: OSCEOLA. I forgot his name again. How can I remember him?

27D: Goldman and Lazarus: EMMAS. I know neither of them. Got the answer from across clues. Oh, Another Goldman (Steven) has written a book titled "Forging Genius: The Making of Casey Stengel".

31D: Taxed: LEVIED

33D: Egghead: BRAIN. That's what he wished.

34D: "Funny girl" composer: STYNE. Another unknown. Pieced together from the across clues.

41D: "The Man Who ___ There": WASN'T. Cohen brothers' film. I wish the clue was "Rome _____ built in a day", it would form a mini Italy sub-theme with ITER (3D: Roman way) and 18D: NAPOLI.

42D: Completely surround: ENGULF. Lois has probably got her copy of "When You Are ENGULFed in Flame".

48D: Tim Burton film: ED WOOD. Here is more information about the film, starring Johnny Depp. I've never seen it.

49D: Three-hanging vegans: SLOTHS. What? SLOTHS do not eat meat? Are you sure?

53D: Lake near Reno: TAHOE. Could have been clued as "Chevy offering" to pair up with 6D: AUDI.

57D: Yorkshire river: OUSE

59D: Move with a mouse: DRAG

60D: One Saarine: EERO. His father is Eliel.

64D: Thoughtful letter: TLC. Oh I need some.

Alright, the last one, 1D: Skater Katarina: WITT. I did not know her. Wikipedia says she is in the World Figure Skating HOF now. I'm bad, I'm bad...who's bad?

C.C.

LAT Daily Newspaper Updates

Below is the most update information on all the newspapers that carry LAT Daily (distributed by Tribune Media Service) crossword puzzle.

I still need paper names from AK, AZ, DE, KS, MO, MS, TN, VT and WY. Please send me an email or just write a comment here so that I can add your paper to the list.

You can always go to LA Times website and print out the puzzle. They have a 30-day archive.

Thank you.

C.C.


Total: 95

International: 13

the Nation, Bangkok, Thailand.

Globe & Mail, Toronto, ON, Canada

Times Colonist, Victoria, BC, Cananda

The Province, Vancouver, B.C. Canada

The Montreal Gazette, Q.C., Canada (Sunday only, but publishes the puzzle on its Saturday "Weekend" section)

Arabian Sun (Weekly paper of Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arab)

Taipei Times (update) & Taiwan News (old TMS syndication), Taiwan

Viet Nam News, Vietnam

??? Philippines (Levie, pls provide me with your paper name)

Times of India, Bangalore & Mumbai & New Delhi, India

Buenos Aires Herald, Buenos Aires, Argentina



US: 82

AL: Anniston Star (Anniston); The Birmingham News (Birmingham)

AK:

AR: Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Little Rock)

AZ:

CA: Orange County Register (7-day); San Jose Mercury News (Mon. to Sat.); Bakersfield California; Daily Bulletin (Rancho Cucamonga); The Californian (Salinas, Mon.-Sat.); Redding Record Searchlight; "The Press-Enterprise" (Inland southern California, Riverside)

CO: Colorado Springs Gazette

CT: Waterbury Republican (Torrington, Sun.)

DE:

DC: Washington Post (Tue. to Thur, delivered to MD, DC and VA; Crossynergy puzzles from Monday to Friday).

FL: Palm Beach Post; Naples Daily News; Sun-Sentinel; St. Petersburg Times. Port Saint Lucie News (Port Saint Lucie); Tampa Tribune (Tampa); Florida Times Union- Jacksonville; The Ledger (Lakeland); Orlando Sentinel.


GA: Savannah Morning News

HI: Honolulu Advertiser

ID: Idaho Statesman (Boise)

IL: Chicago Tribune

IN: Herald-Bulletin (Anderson)

IA: Iowa State Daily (Ames)

KS:

KY: Daily News (Bowling Green); Lexington Herald-Leader; Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro).

LA: Lake Charles American Press; The Times Picayune (New Orleans)

ME: Bangor Daily News

MD: Baltimore Sun (only Sun.)

MA: The Boston Globe; Berkshire Eagle

MI: Detroit Free Press; The Morning Sun of Mt Pleasant, Michigan

MN: Minneapolis Star Tribune (Mon.-Sun.); the Minnesota Daily (U of M paper); St. Cloud Times

MO:

MS:

NC: The Courier-Tribune (Asheboro, NC); The Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, NC. Monday-Friday)

NE: The Omaha World Herald (Omaha)

NV: Review Journal (Las Vegas, Sun. only)

NH: Concord Monitor Concord

NJ: Philadelphia Inquirer (South Jersey)

NM: Santa Fe New Mexican (Mon - Sat)

NY: AM New York; New York Daily News; Post-Star (Glens Falls); Times-Union (Albany); Utica Observer Dispatch; Post Standard (Syracuse); The Daily Freeman (Kingston, Mon-Sat)

ND: The Forum (Fargo)

OH: Dayton Daily News (Mon.-Sat.); Louisville Herald Leader, the News Herald (Willoughby); Spring Field News-Sun (Mon.-Sat.)

OK: Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise (Bartlesville)

OR: the Oregonian (Portland, Mon. to Sat.); Mail Tribune (Medford)

PA: Reading Eagle (Reading, Monday to Sunday); Philadelphia Inquirer; Beaver Valley Times (Mon.-Sat.); Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Sun.)

RI: The Providence Journal(Providence)

SC: The Sun News (Myrtle Beach).

SD: Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)

TN:

TX: Abilene Reporter News (Abilene, Mon.-Sun.); Amarillo Globe-News; Osessa American; San Angelo Standard-Times (Mon. to Sat.); Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX); Corpus Christi Caller-Times; San Angelo Standard Times; Dallas Morning News

UT:

VT:

VA: The Virginia Pilot; The Daily Press

WA: The Seattle Times; Spokesman-Review (Spokane)

WV: Daily Athenaeum (Morgantown, campus paper)

WI: Wisconsin State Journal (Madison); The Post Crescent (Appleton); The Green Bay Press Gazette

WY:

Wednesday June 18, 2008 Wayne Robert Williams

Theme: QUAD CITIES (14D: Mississippi quartet?)

10D: One of 14D: ROCK ISLAND (IL)

20D: One of 14D: DAVENPORT (IA)

25D: One of 14D: BETTENDORF (IA)

28D: Not exactly one of 14D: EAST MOLINE (IL)

The one left off the list is MOLINE (IL).

Great theme concept, very creative. I like it a lot. My first reaction to 14D clue ( Mississippi quartet?), though, was ESSES, since there are 4 letter S in the word "Mississippi".

But why "Not exactly" in 28D? Wikipedia says EAST MOLINE is still part of this misnomer "Quint Cities" QUAD CITIES, though BETTENDORF outgrew it and became the 4th in terms of size and population. You cannot say Penn State is "not exactly one of the Big Ten", can you?

I truly adore the OPEC clue (42A: Well-fixed grp.), what a sweet (crude oil) "Well"! I don't like how SENIOR (7D: AARP member) is clued, as the AARP abbreviation demands an abbreviated SENIOR answer. This might be a SENIOR moment cluing error from our editor, who finally decided to put his real name as the puzzle constructor today. Good, I am tired of the Josiah Breward and Willy A. Wiseman pretenses.

I could not finish today's puzzle unassisted, quite a few unknown words/places/names to me. Had some half-hearted flirting with Google and decided to call today a success.

ACROSS:

7A: Volcanic rock ejecta: SCORIA. Stumper. Not familiar with this geology term. SCORIA is "Porous cinderlike fragments of dark lava".

17A: Poorly matched: UNEQUAL

15A: Motives: REASONS. Here is Rod Stewart's "REASON to believe". "If I listened long enough to you, I'd find a way to believe that its all true.."

16A: Rolled pastry loaf: STRUDEL. I love apple STRUDEL.

17A: Contaminates: INFECTS

18A: City near Anchorage: KENAI. Foreign to me. Here is the map. I am not familiar with KENAI Peninsula either.

19A: Vedder of Pearl Jam: EDDIE. Did not know him, I took a SWAG. Here is the definition of SWAG according to Chris in LA: "Scientific wild a** guess for those of you who've never created a budget for a retail establishment".

21A: Cyclades island: KEA. Unknown to me. See here for more information.

25A: Feathered friend: BIRD. This BIRD (Larry) and CAGY (54D: Good at evasion) remind me of KG (Kevin Garnett) and his victorious Celtics. What a season for them! KG would have never got this NBA title had he stayed with the inapt Minnesota T-Wolves.

26A: Reverberate again and again: REECHO. Yes, I can hear/feel it miles away.

29A: Makes diverse: VARIES

32A: Narrow valley: GLEN

34A: U. near Tampa: ST. LEO. Unknown to me. Thought ST. LEO was a Pope. Wikipedia says Desi Arnaz graduated from there.

37A: "Beau___": GESTE. P. C. Wren novel. I've never read the book nor seen the movie.

39A: SASE, e.g.: ENC (Enclosed). SASE is "Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope".

40A: To any extent: AT ALL

41A: Composer Erik: SATIE. It's clued as "Gymnopedies" composer in a March TMS puzzle.

44A: Geraint's lady: ENID. I like this kind of romance.

45A: Very dark: pref.: MELANO. New to me. What, for example?

47A: Bamboo eaters: PANDAS. This Kung Fu PANDA looks cool.

49A: Ring rulings, briefly: TKOS (Technical Knockouts)

53A: Cartoonist Keane: BIL. Gimme for me. "The Family Circus" is placed side by side with "Dennis the Menace" in our Star Tribune newspaper. I like that middle panel.

54A: Schilling and Gowdy: CURTS. Know Schilling, not Gowdy. In fact, Ron Guildry (ex-Yankees' pitcher) popped into my mind when I saw Gowdy, so for a fleeting second I thought the clue was asking for an abbreviation of "Pitchers". Here is another CURT in baseball.

56A: Actress Esther: ROLLE. Of "Good Times". Unknown to me.

60A: Paper folding: ORIGAMI. This always reminds me of my poor Grandma and the agony she suffered due to foot-binding. She was very good at this ORIGAMI and needle work.

62A: Engender: INBREED. Really? Are they the same?

64A: Periods of immaturity: NONAGES

65A: Foliage: LEAFAGE. I don't like this "age" rhyme. "Greenery" would be fine with me.

66A: Crabtree's partner in skin care products: EVELYN. No, nope, I've never heard of this brand. Katherine might know it.

DOWN:

1D: Nightfall: DUSK. Ah, those wild times at DUSK til Dawn!

4D: Weekend cowboy-like: DUDISH. New word to me. I only knew "Dude".

5D: Abu Dhabi loc.: UAE. Have not seen EMIR/AMIR/EMEER/AMEER for a while. And another Middle East reference besides OPEC is ASSAD (12D: Syrian leader).

6D: Macpherson of "Sirens": ELLE. Know ELLE, have never seen Sirens.

8D: Type of society or curtains: CAFÉ. I've never heard of CAFÉ society.

9D: Sugary suffix: OSE

11D: Collegiate starter?: INTER

15D: Good __ to bad rubbish: RIDDANCE. Ha ha, I only know Good RIDDANCE. Had no idea that there is some bad rubbish following.

23D: Dress (up): TOG

26D: Riches, once?: RAGS. I like this clue also. RAGS to riches.

27D: Zeno's birthplace: ELEA. Gimme. Learned it from doing crossword of course. Now, next time, if the clue is "Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus nickname", CALIGULA will be a gimme for me also.

33D: "Trinity" author: LEON URIS. Great to see his full name in a grid.

36D: Antique auto: OLDS. And 48A: Automotive safety device: AIR BAG

46D: Keen insight: ACUMEN

50D: City on the Vyatka River: KIROV. It appeared on an April TMS puzzle before. I simply forgot. The city is known as the "City of Twins" for the unusually high number of multiple births there.

And 61D: Guy's date: GAL. "Oh, well, I love you GAL, yes, I love you...", "Peggy Sue" from Buddy Holly & The Crickets. Enjoy this precious clip!

C.C.

Tuesday June 17, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: CLASS (36A: Word after 20A, 25A, 42A and 48A in flight)

20A: Largest sector of the gross domestic product: SERVICE ECONOMY

25A: Trickery: MONKEY BUSINESS

42A: Constitution Day in Slovakia: SEPTEMBER FIRST

48A: Fred Shero or Scotty Bowman, e.g.: ICE HOCKEY COACH

Not a good puzzle from Barry Silk today. Lots to dislike:

1) The largest sector of the GDP is SERVICE INDUSTRY, not SERVICE ECONOMY, which is a different economic term.

2) The word "briefly" should have been added to the clue for SLOT (63A: One-armed bandit). It's SLOT machine.

3) I hate the clue for 44D: Kind of monkey (RHESUS) because of the 25A: MONKEY BUSINESS. I found out this morning that there is a King RHESUS of Thrase during the Trojan War, and some complicated RHESUS factors. Both of them might be labeled as too obscure I suppose.

4) The clue for 36A CLASS is a total spoiler. Why not clue it simply as "Elegance"? It completely strips away the fun of ferreting out the theme title by myself. A precious "Wow" moment is regrettably lost. I do like how CLASS anchors the grid though.

5) The clue for 48A is perfectly fine, but I would prefer to have 3 instead of 4 theme answer entries. Airlines normally only have 3 travel classes: ECONOMY (COACH), BUSINESS & FIRST. Oh by the way, I've never heard of Fred Shero or Scotty Bowman before, not a hockey fan. Is Scotty Bowman somehow related to the Bowman card?

Are you ready? Allons-y!

ACROSS:

1A: British puzzle centre?: ZEDS. Great clue. I like how "centre" is spelled. (Update: ZED is the British pronunciation of ZEE, and there are 2 Z's in the word "puzzle", hence ZEDS).

9A: Georgia city: MACON. The "Heart of Georgia". Unknown to me. What? "Cherry Blossom Capital of the World"? That's a bold statement, isn't it? Love this SAKURA sidewalk.

16A: Kukla's pal: OLLIE. Kukla, Fran and OLLIE. Only learned this last Tuesday.

19A: Florida city: OCALA. Yawner. Same old, same old.

32A: Zestful: TANGY. Do you know that OCA can taste TANGY and sweet?

34A: Year Caligula died: XLI: Not familiar with this Roman ruthless emperor. Only knew Colts won Super Bowl XLI. Tony Dungy is very respected and loved here in MN. He played for the Gophers in the '70s.

38A: Pugilist Max: BAER. Quite a few AE/EA combination in today's grid. See 17A: PLEA, 13D: NEA, 27D: BEALE, and 49D: Normandy city: CAEN.

56A: Seine feeder: OISE. This is Daubigny's "Boats on the OISE".

57A: 20th cen. conflict: WWII

58A: Stop counting sheep?: SLEEP. And 30D: Snoozed: SLEPT. Lots of Z's to catch!

61A: Chrissie of the Pretenders: HYNDE. Completely foreign to me. Got it from down clues.

DOWN:

4D: Forage for scraps: SCAVENGE

5D: Mrs. George Burns: GRACIE. Can you believe this is a gimme for me? "Say goodnight, GRACIE".

7D: Der ___(Adenauer): ALTE. Der ALTE is German for "the old man". Wikipedia says Konrad Adenauer was "the oldest chancellor ever to serve German, leaving at the age of eighty-seven." Wait, let me see how old Mubarak is...80. I am sure there will be some grumbling for a new investigation on who on earth killed Sadat after Mubarak dies.

8D: Type of pear: BOSC. Have you tried NASHI pear? It's the sweetest.

9D: marshmallow-filled snack: MOON PIE. New to me. I don't think I will like it, not fond of marshmallow at all. I love MOON cake.

10D: Mississippi's ___ State University: ALCORN. Is it famous? I've never heard of it. Wikipedia says Alex Haley graduated from this university.

11D: Chowder chunk: CLAM. Have some, New England style.

12D: Unctuous: OILY And 48D: In a bad way: ILLY. Well, were 48D LEAN, I might have appreciated the symmetry here. But ILLY, ugh, I dislike it.

21D: Pitch black: INKY

22D: Desert springs: OASES. Just for you, Melissa Bee. These sweet dates are perfect for a single girl like you, aren't they?

25D: Pine Tree State: MAINE

26D: Beer list category: ON TAP

27D: Street in a W.C. Handy title: BEALE. "BEALE Street Blues". Unknown to me. Easily gettable though.

28D: Boom times: UPS

38D: Hooters: BARN OWLS. Look at three BARN OWLS.

40D: Pennsylvania town on the Delaware: NEW HOPE

41D: Conic sect: CIRC (Circle)

45D: Vestibules: FOYERS. Here is Degas' "Le FOYER de la Danse" at Musée d'Orsay.

50D: Amount paid: COST. "All that matters is that you treat me right, give me all the things I need...", from J. Lo's My Love Don't COST a Thing. Enjoy!

C.C.

Monday June 16, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Rip Off

17A: "A Few Good Men" director: ROB REINER

64A: Exit furtively: STEAL AWAY

10D: Common Florida tree: THATCH PALM

31D: Pool table position: SIDE POCKET

So close to a pangram (J & Q missing)! Lots of K words today:

5A: Champagne musicmaker: WELK (Lawrence). Unknown to me. Sewed together his name from down clues. Wikipedia says he loved playing golf, and he was a regular at Bob Hope Desert Classics. His autobiography is titled "Wunnerful, Wunnerful!"

26A: Razz: HECKLE. Even the clue is very scrabbly, isn't it? Wunnerful!

42A: Army vehicles: TANKS

57A: Pop choice: COKE. Pepsi please, for those who think young!

61A: Spirit of a screwdriver: VODKA. "Spirit of Black Russian" too.

8D: Mini race car: KART

27D: Pottery oven: KILN

28D: Plumbing woe: LEAK

31D: Pool table position: SIDE POCKET

44D: Difficult journey: TREK

This is my favorite Monday puzzle after John Underwood's "Chess Mate" in April. Can you feel that the quality of our puzzles is getting better lately? I don't seem to groan and gripe as much as I did before. And no clue makes me cringe today. I like it. I like the direction where we are heading.

ACROSS:

1A: Knight's aide: PAGE. BethPAGE Black will host US Open next year. This sign makes me laugh.

9A: NJ military post: FT DIX. Unfamiliar to me. The abbreviation of FT (FORT) always tricked me.

14A: Latin I word: AMAT. I like how it intersects ETRE (4D: French 101 verb).

16A: Windy City airport: O'HARE

19A: Goes ballistic: RAGES. And 50D: Angry rant: TIRADE. This reminds me of Chris Matthews and his frequent tongue-lashing. He was noticeably absent in "Meet the Press" special tribute to Tim Russert yesterday though.

20A: Opts for: SELECTS

21A: Negotiator's need: TACT. Love "The Negotiator". Speaking of "Negotiate", this "Battle Royale" between Rocco MEDIATE and Tiger Woods today brings to my mind 2000 PGA Valhalla. The result might be the same too.

23A: U.K. honor: OBE (Order of the British Empire). J. K. Rowling was awarded OBE in 2000.

24A: Catherine __-Jones: ZETA. This is the sexiest Greek letter clue I've seen in TMS puzzle.

30A: Former Egyptian leader: NASSER. I am truly tired of this clue though. Here is another beautiful picture of Lake NASSER.

32A: Wall St. debut: IPO (Initial Public Offering). No need for Cargill to go public, obviously.

34A: Tore out: HIED. I've never used this word "HIED" before.

35A: Brenda Lee hit: I'M SORRY. Not familiar with this song.

37A: Broadway presentation: PLAY

38A: Miata maker: MAZDA. It's headquartered in Hiroshima.

41A: Day-__ paint: GLO. I wish J. Lo. would name her perfume G.LO.

43A: "Dies ___": IRAE

44A: Petty: TRIVIAL

46A: Bygone cosmonaut's insignia: CCCP. Russian (Cyrillic alphabet) for USSR. New to me.

48A: P. Lorre character: MR. MOTO. Unknown to me. Only knew he was in Casablanca.

52A: On land: ASHORE

54A: Speaker of Cooperstown: TRIS. Boring clue. Try something else to excite me, like OMEGA diamond watch, "Tris of Diamond"?

59A: Display piece: ÉTAGÈRE. This corner ÉTAGÈRE looks neat.

66A: Against a thing, in law: IN REM. Unknown to me. Only knew "REM" is thing in Latin. (Update: I was wrong. RES is thing in Latin)

67A: Part of MVP: MOST. And 61D: B. M. O. C.: VIP. B.M.O.C. is Big Man on Campus.

68A: Whipped up: MADE

69A: Hangs one's lip: POUTS. No wonder, I need to learn how to hang my lip.

71A: Observed: EYED

DOWN:

1D: Minister: PARSON

3D: Some roof ends: GABLES. Saw this clue before. Forgot promptly. Here are GABLES. Here is the GABLE that I am familiar with.

6D: Surrealist Max: ERNST This is his famous "The Elephant Celebes".

9D: Strong-arm: FORCE

11D: Diplomat Hammarskjold: DAG. This is probably the only good news we've heard from the UN chief lately.

13D: Marks on ballots: XES

18D: Itchy skin condition: ECZEMA. Would not have got it without the across clues. I can never seem to remember this word.

22D: Mariner's greeting: AHOY. Hmmm, Chips AHOY.

25D: 1948-1949 flights to Berlin: AIR LIFT

29D: Ice cream brand: EDY'S. I don't believe there is any EDY'S in China, Häagen-Dazs yes.

33D: B. C. or P. E. I.: PROV. O Canada.

38D: Isinglass: MICA

40D: Braff of "Scrubs": ZACH. Unknown to me. Only know ZACH Johnson, who regrettably missed the cut on Friday.

42D: Ankle-related: TARSAL

45D: Act just like: IMITATE

49D: Type of street: ONE WAY. Or Another.

51D: Did as told to: OBEYED

58D: Salinger lass: ESME

63D: "Red River" co-star Joanne: DRU. Foreign to me. Got her name from across clues.

65D: Lid: TOP. Why not clue it as "Zenith" to make the puzzle more scrabbly? Here is Take My Breath Away from the "TOP Gun". Enjoy!

C.C.

Sunday June 15, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: Casting Re-Calls

23A: Movie not starring Queen Latifah?: THE KING AND I

36A: Movie not starring Sid Caesar?: ROMAN HOLIDAY

61A: Movie not starring Vincent Price?: CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN

73A: Movie not starring Billy Crystal?: ROMANCING THE STONE

97A: Movie not starring Orlando Bloom?: CACTUS FLOWER

119A: Movie not starring Robin Williams?: BIRD ON A WIRE

16D: Movie not starring Robert Morse?: THE DA VINCI CODE

49D: Movie not starring Gregory Peck?: PRELUDE TO A KISS

A decent puzzle, isn't it? No Roman numerals for a change! Are you bothered by the exceeding amount of suffixes "S"?

Given that today is Father's Day, I would have clued SIRE (113A: Royal address) as "Father", and POP (47A: What a weasel goes) as "Dad". Shouldn't the clue be "How a weasel goes" instead of "What a weasel goes"? The clue for LEMON (72D: Pop flavoring) needs to be changed to "Citrus fruit" or "Dud". I simply hate the word POP popped up twice.

Besides, the clue for OSTIA (74D: Port city of Rome) is incorrect, it should be "Port City of ancient Rome". It's not there any more. OSTIA the town yes. And STE (92D: Fr. title) should be "Fr. Holy woman". It has to be a Mlle.

Lots of 3-letter words in the grid, and "EE" combinations, CEE, DEEP, GEESE, SMEE (31D: Neverland pirate), FOR FREE, REDEEM (20A: Win back) and LEE (44A: Stan of Marvel Comics). By the way, I am eagerly waitinging for LEE Westwood to pull off an upset at US Open later today. I like Geoff Ogilvy too. Who are you rooting for? Tiger?

ACROSS:

21A: Soap Box Derby Site: AKRON OHIO. Knew AKRON, had no idea what was "Soap Box Derby". AKRON is also the location of National Inventors Hall of Fame.

25A: In an unhurried manner: LEISURELY. And then 107D: Rash: HASTY

26A: Greenhorns: NOVICES

29A: Struts: PARADES.

30A: Rugged mountain ridge: ARETE. I just learned that ARETE also means "the aggregate of qualities, as valor and virtue, making up good character". Greek origin.

31A: Disconnected musically: STACCATO. Another musical term: 58D: Slow musical passage: ADAGIO

34A: Writer LeShan: EDA. Not a familiar name to me. A rather short Wikipedia bio.

39A: __out (be a couch potato): VEG

42A: Goggle: STARE

45A: Resolve: DECIDE. Do you like the Cranberries "Free to DECIDE"? I am listening to their Linger right now..."you know I am such a fool for you..."

50A: When asked for: ON DEMAND

54A: Payback: REVENGE. "It's sweet and not fattening".

56A: At no cost: FOR FREE

60A: Andean tubers: OCAS. Has anyone tried them before? Does they taste like sweet potatoes?

68A: Author of "The Hundred Secret Senses": TAN (Amy). Only read her "The Joy Luck Club", and it's good.

81A: Queen of Sparta: LEDA. Ah, the Swan lady, mother of Helen of Troy. I am slowly learning this Greek mythology stuff.

85A: Backed off: EASED UP

88A: Bleak: DESOLATE. And 89D: Depressions: LOWS. How can I cheer you up? How about some Spanish OMELETS (86A: Folded dishes) and mozzarella ROTINI (91A: Pasta choice) salad? Now, are you feeling a bit ZESTFUL (114A: Spirited)?

90A: Hellenic vowel: ETA

94A: In the open: OVERT

96A: Year in Yucatan: ANO. And 51D: Yucatan dwellers: MAYANS.

102A: Kachina maker: HOPI. Look at these ones. Tough to identify the artist I suppose.

106A: "Take on Me" trio: A-HA. Here is the clip. I've never heard of this Norwegian band before, have you?

108A: Biddy condos?: HEN COOPS

109A: Body of rules: CANON. Wish it were clued as CANON camera to pair up with 13D: Camera adjunct: TRIPOD.

110A: Capital of Indonesia: JAKARTA. Too hot and humid there.

116A: Being: EXISTENCE. This reminds me of Sartre's Being and Nothingness.

121A: Intervening spaces: DISTANCES

122A: Titled: LEANED

124A: Suburb of Paris: ISSY. ORLY is another 4-letter city in the suburb of Paris.

126A: Literary compositions: ESSAYS

DOWN:

1D: Refreshing rest: CAT NAP

2D: Shudders at: ABHORS

3D: Irks: PEEVES. See also 65A: Pique: IRE. Not in good mood today...

4D: Nevis partner: ST. KITTS. Got it this time.

5D: "Judith" composer: ARNE (Thomas). Took an educated guess. Only keow ARNE as the "Rule, Britannia" composer.

7D: Nabokov novel: ADA. Have you read this book? Oh, ADA Lovelace is Byron's daughter.

8D: Diva Scotto: RENATA. Completely unknown to me. Got her name from across clues. Here is more information about this diva.

9D: Highway divider: MEDIAN

10D: Dishonor: SMIRCH

14D: Homer-hitter Sammy: SOSA. Not anymore, not without steroid!

15D: ICBM watchdog: NORAD (North American Air Defense Command)

17D: ___ E. Coyote: WILE. Learned this from doing crossword of course.

22D: Rudolf of ballet: NUREYEV

24D: Saloon rocks?: ICE

28D: Upbraid: SCOLD

32D: Schooner fill: ALE

33D: Make fast: TIE. I don't understand this one. What is "make fast"? And how is "TIE" related to "Make fast"?

36D: Hindu aristocrat: RANEE. Or RAJAH. The 4-letter answers would be RANI and RAJA.

37D: Harmony: ORDER

38D: Fashionable Simpson: ADELE. She was on April 22 TMS puzzle.

40D: Mystery award: EDGAR

41D: Silly skein?: GEESE. I like this clue.

43D: Lethargy: TORPOR

47D: Platoon mem: PFC

52D: Lark: ANTIC

54D: Peri on "Frasier": ROZ. I got her name from the across clues. Vaguely remember seeing this name mentioned in a comment long time ago.

56D: CAB successor: FAA. This should have become a gimme to you.

59D: Refuses to: WON'T . Why "refuses to" instead of "refuse to"? Why "s"?

62D: Reveal secrets: BLAB

63D: Old lab burners: ETNAS

64D: Egyptian leader: NASSER. There is also a Lake NASSER in Egypt.

71D: Botanist's study: FLORA

75D: Lambda followers: MUS. No idea. Why?

80D: MPG monitor: EPA

82D: Larter of "Heroes": ALI. Unknown to me. She is pretty.

87D: Wikipedia alternative: ENCARTA. Did you get this one?

88D: Data storage units: DISCS

95D: Direction giver's phrase: THAT WAY

98D: Serendipity: CHANCE. "Can once in a lifetime happen twice?" Silly movie.

99D: Quirk: FOIBLE

100D: Brightly colored parrots: LORIES. So pretty.

101D: Bizet creations: OPERAS

104D: Add, as a liquid: POUR IN

109D: Coastal recesses: INLETS

110D: "Star Wars" group: JEDI. Ha ha, I know this one.

111D: Chart line: AXIS

114D: Nickelodeon's "___101": ZOEY. Jamie-Lynn Spears TV series.

120D: Strand of evidence: DNA

Here is to you, Dr. Dad, and to all those who are Dads, Happy Father's Day!

C.C.

Saturday June 14, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Themeless

Strange journey to the "Land of Oz" today. Too sudden a landing at the Munchkins' country I suppose. Had no idea who was "Mothers of Invention Inventor", could only think of Plato, who originated this "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"idiom. Did not know Ringo's oldest son ZAK, could only think of Julian, John Lennon's oldest son. ZANZIBAR was simply impossible for me, and ALYDAR was also completely foreign to me.

But I found my yellow brick road quickly, and conquered upper right corner after some mild struggle. Was not familiar with COLONNADE, had never heard of IDENTI-KIT, but ELAINE, INI and OSKAR helped.

The easiest part for me was the ALOE VERA corner. There was absolutely no IMPEDANCE (33D: Electrical resistance) there at all. With all those Blackwater shooting scandal talks last year, HESSIANS (Redux) came to me immediately.

The lower left also crumbled quickly, but I really dislike the clue for KAN (61D: Alternative to KS). Very lazy cluing. Would be very happy if it's reworded as Dorothy and " The Wizard of Oz" related, or simply "Neb. neighbor".

Then I went back to the thorny upper left corner, still could not get much done, and finally succumbed to Google. But hey, I arrived at the "Emerald City" and saw the great "Wizard of Oz".

I really like the below "?" clues today:

15A: Start of a number?: AREA CODE

27A: How much above?: A CUT

31A: Weapon of mass offense?: STINK BOMB. I wish its parallel ARMS (37A: Jacket parts) were clued as weaponry related.

44D: Shrinking flowers?: VIOLETS

Ready to tee off? Let's go!

Front nine:

1A: Island off Tanzania: ZANZIBAR. Here is the map. Wikipedia says the word "ZANZIBAR" probably derives from the Persian word "zangi-bar", meaning "Cost of the Blacks". And its main industries are spices, raffia and tourism. I like this zippy name.

I like country names with letter Z in them: Belize, Brazil, Czech Republic, Kazkhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, New Zealand, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zambia & Zimbabwe. Mozambique looks very intriguing, with Z & Q.

9A: Scruples: ETHICS. No "Moral standards" any more?

16A: Fill with false hope: LEAD ON

17A: Glimpsed surreptitiously: PEEKED AT

18A: San ___, Texas: ANGELO. ANGELO is also the villain in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure".

19A: Foot: suff: PED, as in "Biped" and "Moped", according to Dennis. "PEDI"or "PEDO" are prefixes for foot.

20A: Type of scheme: PYRAMID. I am not familiar with this stock scheme. Only know the "Ponzi Scheme". Here is definition from the dictionary: "A fraudulent moneymaking scheme in which people are recruited to make payments to others above them in a hierarchy while expecting to receive payments from people recruited below them. Eventually the number of new recruits fails to sustain the payment structure, and the scheme collapses with most people losing the money they paid in."

22A: Three-time runner-up to Affirmed in 1978 Triple Crown: ALYDAR. Who remembers those runner-ups? Exotic name though. Here is Belmont Stakes ALYDAR vs. Affirmed clip, very exciting finish. ALYDAR is in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame now.

30A: Kamoze of reggae fame: INI. This is his "Here Comes the Hotstepper". I think this constructor Allan E. Parrish loves reggae music also. Last time he clued another reggae singer MAXI Priest ("Close to you") in his puzzle.

36A: Actor Werner: OSKAR. Weren't you here yesterday?

38A: Follow obsessively: STALK

40A: Cover up: HIDE

41A: Like Batman and Robin: CAPED

43A: Tires out: ENERVATES

46A: City st. : AVE. Thought it would be better to clue it as "___, Caesar!" to pair with 62D: Caesar's seven: VII.

48A: Spinnaker, e.g.: SAIL. I forgot what a spinnaker is. Pieced "SAIL" together from down clue.

49A: Clampett patriarch: JED. Ah Uncle JED to to Jethro. Everything I know, I learned from doing crossword.

57A: Braided hairdo: PIGTAIL. Here is Chatty Cathy in PIGGTAIL hairdo. Is she original?

59A: Small deer: ROE. This ROE topped Canapé looks delicious, is it rosemary sprig on the top?

60A: Signaled subtly: WINKED

62A: Soothing plant: ALOE VERA

64A: Box up: ENCASE

67A: Mercenary soldiers: HESSIANS

Back nine:

1D: Mothers of Invention inventor: ZAPPA (Frank). Is this a gimme to you? Here is more information about "The Mothers of Invention" band. Why is "the" omitted in the clue?

2D: Staggering: AREEL

3D: Disadvantaged: NEEDY

4D: Ringo's oldest son: ZAK (Starkey). I am not familiar with him or "The Who" band.

5D: Frozen floating mass: ICE PACK. Does this clue sound OK to you?

6D: Training room offerings: BODY RUBS. Wherever you say!

7D: Hebrew month: ADAR. It's the Purim's month. Here are the 12 months in Jewish calendar: Tishri, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, and Elul. So, there are total three 4-letter months in the calendar, I think I saw ELUL clued in a TMS puzzle before, not Iyar. I bet every one of those names has an unique origin, just like our calendar.

10D: Adjust, as margins: RETAB

9D: "Seinfeld" character: ELAINE. NEWMAN next time!

11D: Old crone: HAG

12D: Composite pic maker: IDENTI- KIT

13D: Portico: COLONNADE. "Colonne" is French for "Column", "Ade" is a simply a noun forming suffix.

14D: Alternative to chains: SNOW TIRES

21D: Talks indistinctly: MUMBLES

24D: Saint-Saëns' "___ Macabre": DANSE. Saw this clue in a Feb TMS puzzle. Here is Matisse's "La DANSE".

28D: Satchel's cousin: TOTE BAG

31D: Lewis and Clark's guide: SACAJAWEA. And 32D: On a tour: TRAVELING. Great parallel.

33D: Electrical resistance: IMPEDANCE. The symbol is Z. Not familiar with this electricity term. But "IMPEDANCE" is easily inferable.

34D: Playing piece: MAN. I don't get this one. What playing piece?

36D: Commandment word: SHALT

39D: WWII word: K RATIONS

42D: Most profound: DEEPEST

47D: Dracula's conquests: BRIDES. Isn't Dracula also CAPED?

51D: Hoard away: STASH

54D: "Two women" Oscar winner: LOREN (Sophie)

55D: Makes tight: SEALS. And Sealed it with a Kiss. Wow, what kind of dance is that?

I am just so sad that Tim Russert is gone. My Sundays will never be the same. I will miss him tomorrow, and next Sunday, and the Sunday after, and every Sunday... I will remember you, Tim Russert, always.

C.C.

Friday June 13, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: PIG OUT

17A: Coin repository: PIGGY BANK

65A: Unskilled emoters: HAM ACTORS

11D: Fish of the wrasse family: HOG SNAPPER

29D: Flat-topped topper: PORK PIE HAT

I wish 65A were singular so all the theme answers can have a consistent form pattern. Good puzzle though, with Z, X, and all those K's. I did not strike out this morning, but I was half dazed by this new constructor Barry Silk's pitches.

This guy has quite an arm. I expect him to clue Reds' Edinson VÓLQUEZ (1.56 ERA, stunning!) in his next puzzle soon. By the way, regarding last Saturday's Tariq Aziz cross-hair target grid, Barry Silk said that the pattern he chose "was not meant to resemble anything in particular". I sure like Sandra's interpretation.

I would not have got OBOL (28D: Old Greek coin: OBOL) and KOPEK (36D: Part of a ruble) without the across clues. I did not know either of them, nor was I familiar with PHYLA. I was so happy to see OCHOA (64A: Lorena of LPGA) in the puzzle today. Love her and Suzann Petterson. The 2008 US Women's Open will be held here in MN next week. I've never seen Lorena in person before, nor have I seen Michelle Wie, who easily earned her qualification spot last week. I would have clued HOLE (27D: Aperture) as "Tiger's target", you know, with the US Open going on now.

Learned something new this morning: Piglets can also be called farrows; pigs between 100-180 pounds are called shoats; a gilt is a young pig that has not produced a litter; and a barrow is a castrated male pig.

Two more things:

1) JAF asked the other day "How to do better at crossword", I recommend reading "How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle" written by Amy Reynaldo (Orange). I've benefited enormously from her tips and instructions. She said that yesterday ANTES, ANTI, ANTIC are unrelated, since they have different root words. ANTE comes from Latin (before), ANTI from Greek (opposite), ANTIC from Italian Antico or Latin Antiquus (ancient, old).

So, TMS crossword constructors, please let me know if my criticisms of your puzzles are not on solid ground. I will never improve if you remain silent. In the meantime, since today is "Blame Someone Else Day", let's heap on our editor all the inaccurate/wrong clues, dull theme, unaesthetic grid, etc.

2) As you all know, Times of India carries TMS puzzle as well, here is a Crossword Op-Ed piece written by Mangesh Ghogre, one of our fellow solvers in Mumbai. Thought you might be interested.

Alright, enough babbling, let's tee off:

Front Nine:

4A: BYU location: PROVO. Why abbreviation in the clue?

9A: TV screening device: V CHIP

16A: Tom T. Hall hit: I LOVE. I LOVE U2.

19A: Enter name and password: LOG IN

20A: National park in Alaska: DENALI. Nailed it this time. Alaska's first governor is William A EGAN.

23A: Master conductor: MAESTRO. I like almost every Bob Woodward book, except MAESTRO, too many sophisticated financial terms and economic lingo for me to understand.

27A: Navajo's neighbor: HOPI. Beautiful HOPI pottery.

31A: Discovery rival: VISA. You could not believe the troubles I went through to get a VISA to the US.

37A: Wham!: POW. Senator McCain's campaign staff need to make contact with our editor, that's for sure!

40A: "Casablanca" co-star Peter: LORRE

41A: U.S. pub. grp.: GPO. It refers to "General Post Office", right? (Update: It stands for Government Printing Office.)

42A: Word with big or bad: APPLE. Meet APPLE Martin!

45A: Lounge lizard: CREEP. Political junkies are probably familiar with Nixon's CREEP.

47A: Calvin of fashion: KLEIN. The Obsession, for Men.

52A: 2005 MVP: AROD. Justin Morneau's surname has 4 vowels, and he is the 2006 MVP. I wonder why crossword constructors do not clue him.

53A: CCCLIII tripled: MLIX. Just for Mkat!

58A: Driver's license requirement: EYE TEST

60A: Final summary: WRAP UP

69A: ___ nous: ENTRE. Listen to Debra Ollivier's advice dispensed in her wildly popular "ENTRE nous", drink your wine, eat your cheese and enjoy your chocolate!

71A: Several of Siena: SETTE

72A: Corp. investment in the future: R AND D

Back nine:

1D: Letters for Nob Hill cops: SFPD (San Francisco Police Department)

4D: Biology kingdom divisions: PHYLA. Singular is Phylum. A new word to me.

5D: End of pay?: OLA

8D: Actor Werner: OSKAR. No idea, only know OSKAR of "Schindler's List"

9D: TV handyman Bob: VILA. Stranger to me also. I strung his name together from across clues.

12D: Like Wrigleys' walls: IVIED

18D: More ill-smelling: GAMIER

24D: Power peak: SURGE

25D: Circus apparatus: TRAPEZE. Would not have got this one without ZEE (50A: Last letter)

32D: Author Dinesen: ISAK. "Out of Africa" author. I wonder if ISAK is now a popular name in Denmark.

38D: Mixed bag: OLIO. It's Zaqi Zaba (杂七杂八) in Chinese. Letter "u" does not always follow "q" in Chinese.

39D: Make one's way: WEND. Another new word to me.

43D: Dabble in: PLAY AT

49D: Obtain by intimidation: EXTORT

51D: English prince: EDWARD. Which EDWARD are we talking about here? Him, Prince Charles' brother?

53D: Persian words?: MEOWS

54D: French school: LYCÉE. French secondary education terms: Collège and LYCÉE (grades 9-12). The students are ÉLÈVES, which was clued as "French classful" by our editor in May and stumped many solvers. Just remember those"École attendees" ÉLÈVES can refer to a broad range of students (enfant/adolescent/adult), full time/part time.

56D: Old anesthetic: ETHER

Finally, 67D: Atlas abbr.: MTN (Mountain). Here is a message from the spice girl POSH (61D: Swank): "listen, baby, Ain't no mountain high enough...if you need me, call me...". Enjoy!

C.C.

Thursday June 12, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Kin Hubbard Quip (Ideal Breaker)

17A:Start of Kin Hubbard quip: BEING AN OPTIMIST

25A: Part 2 of the quip: AFTER YOU'VE GOT

42A: Part 3 of the quip: EVERYTHING YOU

56A: End of quip: WANT DOESN'T COUNT

I've never heard of Kin Hubbard before. Here is another quote from him: "There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose." It's so evocative of a great Churchill's line: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts".

This puzzle reminds me of the "globe-trotting guinea pig" Rick Steves and his "Europe Through the Back Door". Look, it's all over the places:

5A: Type of potato: IDAHO

24A: Mongolian horde: TATAR

31A: Hawaiian goose: NENE And another Hawaiian reference: 2D: 4-string guitars: UKES

32A: German article: EIN

30A: Dutch South Africans: BOERS

38A: Icelandic literary work: EDDA

40A: Neighbor of Algeria: MALI. Called "French Sudan" before.

9D: Toronto's prov.: ONT

25D: Swedish pop group: ABBA

37D: English cathedral city: ELY

52D: Marianas island: GUAM

Besides, 6D: Moolah: DINERO and 58A: Procession of matadors: PASEO bring Spain to my mind, and ASP (39A: Cleo's downfall) tranports me to Egypt. Very interesting!

Quite a few Repeat Offenders, but overall, not a bad QUIP.

ACROSS:

1A: Bankrupt: RUIN. "Crying is the refuge of plain women but the RUIN of pretty ones", quip this line next time Mr. Olschwang!

10A: Carvey or Ivey: DANA. Or Scully in "The X-Files".

20A: Twisty letter: ESS. Dislike this one due to 51D: ESSE (Latin being)

22A: Mrs. DDE: MAMIE. 15A: President after Johnson: NIXON. IKE would be so happy that NIXON is not clued as his veep here.

35A: Synagogue platform: BEMA

36A: Routes around some cities: BELTS. Here are 3 BELTS for you.

49A: Egg-shaped: OVATE

50A: Nuclear physicist Enrico: FERMI. I forgot. Boy, I really have problem remembering his name. This is the 3rd time FERMI appears on a TMS puzzle since I started blogging.

61A: Rosebud, e.g.: SLED. Last time ROSEBUD was clued as "Citizen Kane's sled". It's the name of his childhood sled.

62A: Winged: pref.: PTERO. No idea, I only knew ALAR, ALAE or ALATE for "Winged" clue.

DOWN:

1D: After-bath wear: ROBE. Here is Seated Woman in Green ROBE for those Renoir adorers, and Matisse's Purple ROBE for Matisse fans. I love Manet, so I will go ROBELESS. My favorite piece at Musée d'Orsay is probably Ingres' "La Source", so silky and velvety the stroke, stunning!

4D: Bert Bobbsey's twin: NAN. Ennui! Please! Haven't "A Million Little Pieces" & Oprah made NAN Talese well-known?

7D: Impulse conductor: AXON. A new word for me. It's "the appendage of the neuron that transmits impulses away from the cell body".

10D: Whitewater investigator: D'AMATO (Alfonse). Unknown to me. He left the Senate before I came to the US.

11D: In a lively matter: ANIMATEDLY. I like this kind of long yet simple fill.

12D: Polite denial: NO SIR. Has anyone seen this Sir! NO SIR! document?

18D: Live wires: GOERS. Does this clue sound OK to you?

19D: Public persona: IMAGE. This puzzle does summon up an IMAGE of a busy traveler.

27D: Carry Nation's cause: TEMPERANCE. I pieced this fill together from across clues. I did not know who Carry Nation is. Wow, that's an intimidating look!

33D: Logical start?: IDEO. And 53D: Freeze front?: ANTI

34D: Half of Mork's sign-off: NANU. Nailed it this morning.

41D: Shenanigan: ANTIC. Dislike it. See 53D: ANTI

43D: Put in a large container: VATTED. Had no idea that VAT can be a verb.

44D: Nursery-rhyme Jack: HORNER. No, nope, no idea. I spent my childhood reciting Chairman Mao's thought. You probably also know James HORNER. He won 2 Oscars for the "Titanic" score and song compositions. He also composed the new theme music for Katie Couric's "CBS Evening News".

46D: Monks' hoods: COWLS

51D: Latin being: ESSE And another Latin word: 60A: Pro ___ (in proportion): RATA

56D: Antithesis: abbr.: OPP

Finally, 41A: "Over the Rainbow" composer: ARLEN (Harold). I am not familiar with him. I only know Senator ARLEN Specter. I do love "The Wizard of Oz", now close your eyes and tap your heels together three times and enjoy this Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow"!

C.C.

Wednesday June 11, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: That is to "SAY"

21A: Prohibition hot spots: SPEAKEASIES

56A: Ten items or less, e.g.: EXPRESS LINE

3D: Utah seagull, e.g.: STATE BIRD

36D: Limbaugh's milieu: TALK RADIO

And an "Animal World" sub-theme:

26A: Baby fox: KIT. Ha ha, our fellow solver KIT simply adores David Cook to pieces!

63A: Loathsome person: TOAD

66A: Pooch pest: FLEA. Would prefer the clue to be "Pooch biter" due to PESTER (48D: Annoy).

1D: Stand up to: BUCK

3D: Utah seagull, e.g.: STATE BIRD

10D: Bullwinkle, e.g.: MOOSE

25D: Peruvian grazer: LLAMA

27D: "Memory" musical: CATS

30D: Woolly moms: EWES

And don't forget the 2 animals in th clues for ORGE (16A: Shrek) and EAGER (40A: Like a beaver?). The clues for GRIND (68A: Pulverize) can be reworded as "Rat race" and LASSIE (5A: Highland miss) can be rephrased as "Timmy's dog".

Looks like our old Wednesday constructor Philip J. Anderson has been sent to EXILE (52D: Napoleon's punishment). Have not seen his work in a month. The difficulty level of the Wednesday puzzle remains the same though, very doable (sans googling). I still think Wednesday is the easiest, and Thursday is the most boring.

Quite a few SS in the grid: LASSIE, ASSETS, MESSY EXPRESS, PASSÉ. But they don't bother me much. I kind of like today's grid structure and fills, no ARCH style obscure words or old TV/movie names to frustrate me. It's "like the ocean under the moon...", so smooth, Carlos Santana style!

ACROSS:

6A: Pay stub abbr.: FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act)

14A: Above and beyond: ULTRA. Do you like the Fleer ULTRA brand? I don't think I've seen 2008 yet.

17A: School session: CLASS. And 39A: School duration: TERM

24A: Inventor Howe: ELIAS. Or Walter ____ Disney.

26A: All the rage: TRENDY. And 22D: So last year: PASSÉ. Speedy In and Out!

27A: Bridge suspenders?: CABLES. Good one.

34A: Stopped slouching: SAT UP. Several actions in this puzzle. See 70A: Stand on hind legs: REAR. And don't forget the clue for BUCK (1D: Stand up to).

43A: Martyr of Egypt: SADAT. Yes, please stop calling those terrorists as "martyrs"and their cause as "Jihad". Don't unwittingly glorify them.

46A: Gymnast Korbut: OLGA. And 64A: Gymnast Comaneci: NADIA

49A: IOU: MARKER

55A: Kind of story or girl: COVER. COVERGirl is also a cosmetics brand of course. Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, CoverGirl. Drew Barrymore is their new face now.

DOWN:

6D: Lines of marchers: FILES. This word "marchers" always reminds me of "The March of the Penguins" and Mumble ("Happy Feet").

8D: Bop on the bean: CONK

12D: Riled: IRKED. And 48D: Annoy: PESTER. What happened? Why are you so SORE (57D: Painful joint) this morning?

33D: Conceal in one's hand: PALM. Oh, I want these PALM dates, to go with my PEAR (38D: Bosc or Barlett) and my CIDER (55D: Apple drink). You can have the BASIL (1A: Pesto herb). I don't like it.

41D: Actor Novarro: RAMÓN. Unknown to me. Strung his name together from the across fills. RAMÓN is Martin Sheen's real first name.

50D: Get even for: AVENGE. What's the difference between AVENGE and revenge?

54D: Elite: CREAM. Eric Clapton fans probably know all about the Cream.

Finally 2D: Popular diet pill: ALLI. I've never heard of it. I am in "the Zone". Love Sheryl Crow's "ALL I Wanna Do". "ALL I wanna do is have some fun, I got a feeling I'm not the only one...". Enjoy!

C.C.

Tuesday June 10, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: PICTURE POSTCARD (57A: Image of the first word of 17A, 26A and 43A)

17A: 1950 Billy Wilder film: SUNSET BOULEVARD

26A: Eagles hit: HOTEL CALIFORNIA

43A: Olympic sport since '96: BEACH VOLLEY BALL

Not sure if the TALC clue (18D: Powder base) is Doug Peterson's original submission. I just hate it, as BASE is the answer for 1D: Ignoble.

With ALOU (60A: Baseball's Matty or Moises), RBI (58D: Slugger's stat), you would think the constructor would reclue SUBS (39D: Hogies) as "Non starters" and BASE as "Diamond Corner" to form a nice baseball sub-theme.

I am really tired of this sluggish "Slugger's stat"clue for RBI. Can't you pay some tribute to Griffey's 600th HR milestone? Or you couldn't see it coming?

I also dislike the clue 'ENRY for 34A: Professor 'iggins, to Eliza. It should be either "Professor 'iggins" or simply "Professor Higgins, to Eliza". I do like the H BOMB (26D: One WMD) and SPAY (49D: Keep from littering?) clues though, very refreshing!

ACROSS:

1A: "Carmen" composer: BIZET (Georges). "Carmen" is the only BIZET piece that I know.

6A: Small flute: FIFE. Those who love golfing might be aware that St. Andrews Golf Course is on the east of FIFE, Scotland. The 2010 British Open will be held there again.

10A: Warrior princess of TV: XENA

14A: "Witness" sect: AMISH. Do you like Viggo Mortensen? "Witness" is his film debut. Love his "A Perfect Murder".

16A: Cut down: AXED

33A: React to Bright light: BLINK. Can never seem to find time to read this widely popular BLINK.

36A: Oil of ___: OLAY. I really like their "Total Effects Daily Moisturizer".

37A: Chutney choice: MANGO. I've never had MANGO chutney before. Just had a perfectly ripe MANGO earlier for breakfast.

39A: Rentals at Vail: SKIS. Hi there Der Katze.

40A: Soviet orbiter: MIR. I am glad it's not "Russian orbiter"(MIR was de-orbed in 2001). "Bygone Russian orbiter" should be fine.

41A: Prom-night safety org.: SADD. And don't forget MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

42A: Craftiness: GUILE

49A: Water vapor: STEAM

52A: Fiji's neighbor: TONGA. It's in east of Fiji. See this map. "The Friendly Islands".

62A: Vixen on "All My Children": ERICA. I had no idea. Got it from the down clues. Should you have time, please read ERICA Jong's Morals To Be Drawn from Spitzer's Case, and learn, esp moral #2.

63A: Bark excitedly: YELP. Hmm, "excitedly".

65A: Like a tell-all bio: DISHY. Barbara Walters will probably fill in this 5-letter blank without reading the clue.

DOWN:

2D: Don of talk radio: IMUS

3D: Silvery metal: ZINC. Element #30.

5D: Bruce Banner's alter ego: THE HULK. Completely unknown to me. Pieced the answer together from the across clues.

6D: Leg bone: FIBULA

8D: Arthur Ashe Stadium location: FLUSHING. Nope, not familiar to me. Gettable though.

10D: Bandleader Cugat: XAVIER. I simply forgot. Realized that I had searched him before when I googled his name earlier.

19D: George Jetson's boy: ELROY. ASTRO was clued as ELROY Jetson's dog on an April TMS puzzle.

27D: Stan's comic partner: OLLIE

29D: Tennis great Ivan: LENDL

30D: Big name in cell phone: NOKIA

32D: Photographer Adams: ANSEL. This is his iconic Moon Rise . One rare print fetched a cool $600,000 at a Sotheby's auction in 2006. This photograph greets every morning when I wake up.

37D: Dallas B-ballers: MAVS (Mavericks)

38D: Emigrants from orphanages: ADOPTEES. Interesting clue.

41D: SeaWorld attraction: SHAMU. SeaWorld, don't screw with us!

42D: Spun around: GYRATED

44D: Flirt with: CHAT UP. What's the best chat up lines you've heard?

45D: "The Raven" maiden: LENORE. I know nothing about "The Raven" except "Nevermore".

50D: Bit of flooring: TILE. Do you play Scrabble?

54D: Lectern stand: DAIS

55D: Roguish: ARCH. Hi there 1D!

56D: Yrly. event: B'DAY. You don't like Beyoncé B'DAY album?

59D: Dernier ___ (latest fashion): CRI. C'est le dernier CRI in Japan.

Here is the Eagles's HOTEL CALIFORNIA. Enjoy!

C.C.

Monday June 9, 2008 Michael T. Williams

heme: BEARS

24A: Bears: YOGI AND BOO BOO

38A: Bears: CHICAGO GRIDDERS

50A: Bears: PRODUCES FRUIT

Before I forget, please read this comment from our fellow solver Sandra (D&SK, 12:52pm) regarding Saturday's unique grid structure. Very interesting observation on the target position of Tariq Aziz, isn't it?

Back to day's puzzle, I like the theme concept and the execution, 2 major flaws though:

1) 19A: Links grp. PGA. And 67A: Ernie of the PGA: ELS. I can not tell you how much this double appearance of the same word in the clue and the answer annoys me. No responsible crossword editor should allow this awful construction error slips away. Besides, why "Links" all the time? Who the heck wants to play the formidable "Links" course so often? With today's BEARS theme, why not get creative and somehow clue the "Golden BEAR" Jack Nichlaus for PGA?

2) I know I've said it before, but it BEARS repeating that I simply can not BEAR to see a puzzle with the theme title bared in the clues. It really deprives me of the fun to ferret out the theme.

Not sure if today's constructor Michael Williams should BEAR the brunt of my grudge, BEAR in mind that our Editor has the final say. But he never deigns to talk to us, what can I say? I guess we will just have to grin and BEAR it.

ACROSS:

5A: Coats with crumbs: BREADS. Love panko breaded croquette.

15A: Close a purse: RESNAP

16A: Fmr. Mideast alliance: UAR (United Arab Republic). And 2 more Mideast references: 23A: Ship with a lateen sail: DHOW. Can also be spelled as DOW, or DAU. Unknown to me. First time I heard of "lateen sail" too. Dictionary defines DHOW as "any of various types of sailing vessels used by Arabs on the east African, Arabian, and Indian coasts, generally lateen-rigged on two or three masts." And 42A: Israeli seaport: EILAT (Gulf of Aqaba port).

20A: Bait fish: MINNOW. I wish NET in 64A: Badminton barrier were clued as fishing related, just to pair up with 20A.

28A: Like an old tree trunk: GNARLED

37A: Brit's wireless: RADIO. And another Brit term: DOSS (30D: Flophouse in London). DOSS is a new word to me. Easily gettable from across fills though.

45A: Rising current of warm air: THERMAL. I was only familiar with the adjective THERMAL, not the noun form.

56A: QB Aikman: TROY. Wonder how much his rookie card costs now.

58A: Rationers of WWII: OPA (Office of Price Administration). I simply forgot. Luckily the down fills helped.

61A: Up and about: ARISEN

63A: Danube feeder: ISAR. No idea. Here is the map, see München (Munich)?

65A: Slow musical passage: LENTOS

68A: "Our Man in Havana": GREENE (Graham). Not familiar with the author. Wikipedia says that he had a long affair with Yvonne Cloetta (32 years). I love this note GREENE wrote to Cloetta: "If I were to live my life again, there is only one thing I would want unchanged: meeting you, knowing you, and loving you."

69A: Customary extras, briefly: ETCS

DOWN:

1D: Viscous: SLIMY. Hmmm, Who is the SLIMY guy?

2D: Mann novel: "____ Kroger": TONIO. It was in yesterday's puzzle.

3D: As company: ALONG. "To BEAR a Ring of Power is to be alone". Tell me if this is a familiar line to you, don't google!

4D: "Live at the Acropolis" performer: YANNI. Can you feel the "Mozart Effect" in this Standing in Motion? Oh, YANNI, If I could tell you...

5D: Lunch carrier: BROWN BAG. Want to take a bite from this bento box?

8D: Computer type: ANALOG

9D: Rosario or Roxann: DAWSON. Know Rosario, not Roxann. Do you think Andre DAWSON will make the HOF next year?

11D: Spot for a drink in a car: CUP HOLDER

12D: "Othello" role: IAGO

23D: Small southern constellation: DORADO. Not familiar with this one. Given the BEARS theme today, wouldn't be great if we have the URSA (Constellation Bear) appear somewhere in the grid?

25D: Queen of Carthage: DIDO. Another unknown mythological figure to me. She "killed herself when abandoned by Aeneas". Aeneas is "the Trojan hero of Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid, and son of Anchises and Aphrodite. He escaped the sack of Troy and wandered for seven years before settling in Italy." Thank you, dictionary & DIDO.

26D: Exalted poet: BARD

29D: Dublin's land: EIRE. Hmm, I am a "Denis of Cork" ADORER (46D: Worshiper). Why not clue it as "Cork's land" and make me happy?

31D: "Rhyme Pays" rapper: ICE T. Easier than last time's "Tracey Marrow stage name" clue, isn't it?

32D: __ Tze: SHIH. Just for your information, "___ Ching" (or Shi Jing in Mandarin Chinese) is a classic book of Chinese poetry (Book of Odes).

33D: Distance sign: MILE POST

34D: Little Golden Books artist: SCARRY (Richard). Unknown to me. Pieced his name together from across fills.

36D: J. Hancocked: SGD. Hmm, I could picture Barry's frown in my mind...

40D: Partly: IN A SENSE

47D: Like a wolf: LUPINE

49D: Org. of Argonauts: CFL (Canadian Football League). Did not know this before. Only knew Jason's Argonauts, not Toronto Argonauts. Learned this morning that their championship/ trophy name is called "Grey Cup".

53D: Distressed: UPSET. Poor BEAR Stearns employees...

54D: Hayes of "South Park": ISAAC. Got it this time, thanks Dr. Dad.

55D: Provisions: TERMS

"Every dream that we share, every cross that we BEAR, come to me - Darling rescue me...." Here is Bryan Adams' Do I Have to Say the Words? Enjoy!

C.C.

Sunday June 8, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Numerous Movies

23A: Keir Dullea film: MMI A SPACE ODYSSEY (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)

42A: Jennifer O'Neill film: SUMMER OF XLII (SUMMER OF '42)

72A: Edmond O'Brien film: MCMLXXXIV (1984)

97A: Terry-Thomas film: MM YEARS LATER (2000 YEARS LATER)

121A: James Stewart film: WINCHESTER LXXIII (WINCHESTER '73)

17D: Charlton Heston film: AIRPORT MCMLXXV (AIRPORT 1975)

50D: Marilyn Monroe film: THE VII YEAR ITCH (THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH)

And here are five more Roman numerals:

81A: Tenth of MCXC: CXIX

88A: Roman 16: XVI

59D: 570 in letters: DLXX

119D: 141 in old Rome: CXLI

125D: CXII halved: LVI

Why not clue 51A: Decimal base (TEN) as X then? It would be perfect, wouldn't it? Did you notice that there are total TEN X'es in this puzzle?

Very noticeable in this puzzle are the following presidential/political abbreviations:

25A: HST or DDE: PRES

30A: WWII zone for DDE: ETO

10D: Neither Rep. nor Dem: IND. And 84D: FDR or JFK: DEM. Ridiculous double appearance!

4D: End of demo: CRAT. Democrat. Or end of Auto/Bureau/Pluto!

100D: JFK notice: ARR

And several containers:

27A: Gas container: TANK

34A: Water tanks: CISTERNS. Would have been clued as "Water storer" to avoid the TANK double appearance.

41A: Washstand pitcher: EWER

38D: Large wine casks: TUNS

And so many vexing UP's.

9A: Joins the queue: LINES UP

29A: Curry favor with: SUCK UP TO

14D: Deplete: USE UP

58D: Muddle: MIX UP

I am also annoyed by

63A: Applications: USES. And 14D: Deplete: USE UP.

130A: Resolute: DEAD SET. And the intersecting 92D: Lionel product: TRAIN SET.

I think it's a crossword sin to let the same root word appear both as the clue and the answer, though I am not so sure of the repetitive use of the same words (like today's UP, USE and SET) as the answers in the same grid. They just don't fit my eyes, so clumsy.

In summary, a very TOILSOME (115A: Arduous) journey for me. Too many unknowns and tough cluing, not to mention that excessive amount of Roman numerals. I would have got FRET (87D: Guitar ridge) easily if it were clued as "stew over" or something. And ABELS (113D: Tasman and Muzorewa) was completely out of my brain reach. My hunch is that our editor purposely made some of clues more difficult today to torture us.

However, I do like today's theme concept and the theme entries. Very creative! It's not easy to pull off such a feat.

ACROSS:

1A: Piece of men's jewelry: TIECLASP

20A: Auto racer Mario: ANDRETTI. And 85A: Indy 500 Sponsor: STP. I am not into racing. Know neither of the answers. What does STP stand for? Is it the "Racer's Edge"?

21A: Solidarity: ONENESS. And 24D: Wholes: ENTIRES. Really? Can you pluralize "whole" and "ENTIRE" by adding a "s"? How strange!

22A: Planted explosive: MINE. "Gimme"!

26A: Personal histories: PASTS

35A: Publicity stunt, of a sort: PHOTO OP. And 111D: Photog's prompt: SMILE.

45A: Bright aquarium fish: TETRA. And 122D: Grand Banks fish: COD. I did not know where Grand Banks was, so COD did not come to me easily.

52A: Stout's stout sleuth: NERO (Wolfe). I like the clue.

54A: Japanese ornamental tree: MEI. Unknown to me. It's defined as "Japanese ornamental tree with fragrant white or pink blossoms and small yellow fruit". MEI is Chinese for Ume (the Japanese Apricot). Look at this Ume Blossome. I can not find a MEI tree on the internet. I suspect this MEI refers to Ume, not sure.

55A: A likely story!: HAH

66A: Rice dish: PILAF

68A: French probability theorist: FERMAT. Pierre de FERMAT, the French mathematician. Did not know his name before.

70A: ELO drummer: BEVAN (Bev). No idea, I barely know ELO.

76A: "The Gods Themselves" author: ASIMOV (Isaac). Know ASIMOV, did not know that he wrote this book. Wikipedia says that he was afraid of flying, and he seldom traveled great distance. Funny how he could be so creative and productive in his life.

78A: Crazy Horse, e.g.: SIOUX

83A: One heart, e.g.: BID

86A: Bass symbol: F CLEF. Is this a gimme to you?

90A: SSS classification: ONE A

93A: Collections of valuables: TROVES

95A: Fast starter?: STEAD. I put BREAK initially.

102A: Sacred bull of Egypt: APIS. Also called Hapi or Hap. It's said to act as "an intermediary between Ptah (Egyptian creator god) and humans." Here is a picture. Aren't we seeing Egyptian deity almost every day now?

104A: Actress Fawcett: FARRAH. Don't know much about her. Love the new Charlie's Angels.

105A: Laugh-track users: SITCOMS

109A: McMurtry novel, "__ of Laredo": STREETS. I don't know the author or the book.

112A: Soak in wine: MARINATE. In wine? I thought you MARINATE meat in a mixture of oil, vinegar, soy sauce (or other sauce), herbs and some spices.

114A: Weasel sound?: POP. "POP Goes the Weasel"

117A: Mount of Moses: NEBO

126A: Bogie in "Casablanca": RICK. Good to see SAM (64D: Actor Waterston) in the same grid.

127A: Gregory Nava film of 1983: EL NORTE. Not familiar with this "The North" (?) film at all.

128A: Complete: LIVELONG. I've never heard of this expression before. Only know LIVE LONG (and Prosper).

129A: Architect Mies van der __: ROHE. Rae lives in an apartment building designed by him.

131A: Ship departures: SAILINGS. And the annoying crossing with MOOING (106D: Cow talk).

DOWN:

1D: Interfere: TAMPER

2D: Fellow prisoner: INMATE

3D: Prolific inventor: EDISON

6D: Org. of Federer: ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). Good timing. I am rooting for Rafael Nadal though.

7D: Belief in centralized government: STATISM

8D: Printer's measures: PICAS. And 12D: Printer's spaces: ENS

11D: One of Napoleon's marshals: NEY. The "Bravest of the Brave".

15D: Lover of Eros: PSYCHE. And 2 more Greek references. 19D: Greek fable writer: AESOP. 75A: Greek letter: DELTA

16D: One who has lost a limb: AMPUTEE

18D: Pico de ___ (Pyreness peak): ANETO. No, nope, not familiar to me at all.

29D: Buckled under: KOWTOWED

31D: Walk-on parts: CAMEOS

32D: Coast of Morocco: RIF. Another unknown. Dictionary says it also refers to "discharge (a person) from military or civil service, esp. as part of an economy program".

33D: Goddess of night: NOX. Roman goddess. The Greek equivalent is Nyx.

34D: Letters on Cardinal caps: STL (St. Louis"). Rams too I suppose.

43D: Morals: ETHICS

44D: End of cash?: IER. Cashier.

46D: Having pertinence: RELATIVE

47D: Planes for hire: AIR TAXIS. Another unknown for me. It's "a small aircraft for passengers, cargo, and mail operated, either on a scheduled or nonscheduled basis, along short routes not serviced by large airlines."

48D: Tart plants for pies: RHUBARBS. Have never had RHUBARB pie before. It sounds sour.

49D: Removes carefully: EASES OUT

57D: Lap dog. briefly: POM

60D: Bird's horn?: SAX. Bird refers to Charlie Parker.

67D: Financial: FISCAL

71D: Nonentities: NOBODIES

73D: Bad: pref: MIS. I put DYS.

74D: Actor Kilmer: VAL. And 75D: Actor Diesel: VIN.

80D: Dylan song "____ Moore": NETTIE. Did not know this song. Not a Dylan fan.

86D: Mesh fabric: FISHNET

91D: Bowling equipment mfr: AMF (American Machine and Foundry). Brunswick is their competitor.

101D: Waldorf - __ Hotel: ASTORIA

103D: Put away, as gear: STOWED

106D: Choice: OPTION

108D: Parsley pieces: SPRIGS

109D: Bart or Kenneth: STARR. Ah Bart, the Packers' guy. As for Ken STARR, go ask the Clintons'.

110D: Mann novel, "___ Kroger": TONIO. Had to google for this book.

Feeling bruised by today's puzzle? Here is Sade's "No Ordinary Love" to salve your wound: "I gave you more than I could give...I gave you all that I have inside...".

C.C.

Saturday June 7, 2008 Barry Silk

Themeless

Tough journey this morning. This is unquestionably the most complex puzzle I've ever solved. The grid has a very quizzical look, do those black squares contribute to some kind of commercial sign/logo?

Here are the queasy Q's:

8A: Sought after: QUESTED

35A: Saddam Hussein associate: TARIQ AZIZ. I wanted Ba'athists. This AZIZ (Deputy Prime Minister) was # 43rd, later #25 in the Playing Card Deck (Most Wanted List). Saw his mug often on TV before the invasion. But I could never remember his name. Always confused him with the Bagdad Bob (the Information Minister).

52A: Ask: QUERY

21D: For the asking: ON REQUEST

7D: Question off location: WHERE AM I

8D: Nunavut's neighbor: QUEBEC. I had no idea where Nunavut is. O CANADA (1D: Neighbor's anthem), I hardly know ya! Interesting to learn that the song was originally commissioned by the then Lieutenant Governor of QUEBEC in French language. I dislike the clue for 1D, too narrowly defined.

37D: Poorly matched: UNEQUAL

And the zany Z's:

33A: ___ Zee, former Netherlands inlet: ZUIDER. Big stumper. ZUIDER Zee means "southern sea" in Dutch. See here for more information. Boy, I sure don't want to see that new name IJsselmeer appear in our puzzle ever. This J can drive you nuts, JIJ, who are you?

35A: Saddam Hussein associate: TARIQ AZIZ

25D: Low-maintenance hairstyle: BUZZ CUT. Another Army reference is 51A: Most G.I.s: PVTS.

34D: Moral-ending?: IZE. Hmm, moral-ending, let's start the tribute to morel then!

28A: Den denizen: BEAR CUB. I like the clue.

And the excellent X'es:

47A: Sturdy feller?: AXE. Good clue.

58A: Certain movie house: TRIPLEX

42D: Utmost: EXTREME

43D: Neuters: DESEXES

And the jazzy J's:

40A: Clampett patriarch, to Jethro: UNCLE JED. Hard for me. I know nothing about "The Beverly Hillbillies".

41D: Olympian's spear: JAVELIN. I look forward to seeing JAVIER Bardem and his current flame Penélope Cruz clued in one puzzle someday. With letter J & Z, that will be SAHARA hot.

To further scrabblize the grid, I suggest the following changes to the clues:

19A: Geeks: NERDS. Change to "school clique"

44A: Penguins' org.: NHL. Change to "Gretzky's org."

23A: Exclamation of grief: ALAS. Change to "Dejection exclamation"

Also noticiable are the three "Former":

61A: Former: ONE TIME

31A: Former New Yorker City mayor: ABE BEAME. NY's first Jewish mayor (1974-1977).

33A: ___ Zee, former Netherlands inlet: ZUIIDER.

Overall, this puzzle is too much of a Herculean task to me. I quit after 20 minutes of floundering and completely exhausted Mr. Google later on.

ACROSS:

1A: Current rule? OHM'S LAW. Very clever "Current" mislead.

15A: Somewhat aloof: COOLISH. I've never used this word before.

16A: Farther along the ascent: UPSLOPE

17A: One-celled organisms: AMOEBAE. The plural form could also be AMOEBAS.

18A: Abnormal site of an organ: ECTOPIC. Unknown to me, had never heard of Ecotopia either. Dictionary says it's from the Greek éktóp(os) (out of place). OK, so "ec" is a prefix for outside, tópos is place, and "ia" is a suffix for disease. "Ic", of course, is an adjective forming suffix.

20A: Nasal membranes: SEPTA. Singular is Septum. Here is the definition and examples from the dictionary: "A thin partition or membrane that divides two cavities or soft masses of tissue in an organism: the nasal septum; the atrial septum of the heart."

24A: Star in Cygnus: DENEB. It simply escaped my mind.

27A: Hammarskjold of the U. N.: DAG. He was awarded Noble Peace Prize in 1961 (the only person to have been awarded posthumously). JFK delivered a great speech one week after Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in Congo. He said "A noble servant is gone. But the QUEST for peace lies before us."

37A: Moving vehicles: U-HAULS

45A: Letterpress printing plate: LINE CUT. Also called "Line graving". I am not familiar with this term.

56A: Anonymous: UNNAMED. I put UNKNOWN first.

60A: Gallery event: ART SALES

62A: Mope, perhaps: LOOK SAD

DOWN:

2D: Amateur developer's setup: HOME LAB

3D: Marina charge: MOORAGE

4D: Tundra transports: SLEDS

5D: Left-wingers: LIBS (Liberals). Who do you think is the most influential liberal columnist in the US right now?

6D: Sly-fox link: AS A

9D: Mdse. identifier: UPC (Universal Product Code)

10D: Ballpark figs.: ESTS

11D: Blackthorn berries: SLOES

12D: Knocked over: TOPPLED. Does this answer & 35A clue bring you the picture of Saddam's statue being TOPPLED?

13D: Quintessence: EPITOME

14D: Illinois city: DECATUR. "The Soybean Capital of the World". Did not know this before.

24D: Formal introduction?: DEAR SIR

28D: Important thing: BE ALL. I don't get this one. Why? Can you give me an example?

29D: Well-muscled: BUILT. Of course, I fell into the "ed" trap and wrote down TONED first.

36D: Forebear: ANCESTOR

38D: Saki's real name: H. H. MUNRO. Another toughie. Not familiar with him at all.

39D: Not recognizable by: ALIEN TO

46D: Essential: NEEDED

49D: "East of Eden"family name: TRASK. Completely unknown to me. I've never read any Steinbeck novel.

51D: ___ Bismol: PEPTO

53D: Singer Sumac and others: YMAS. Others? Who? I challenge you to provide me with another YMA of some fame.

57D: Old-time high note: ELA. Saw this clue before. But I forgot the meaning.

Finally, 55D: Carpe ___! (Seize the day): DIEM. And don't forget to Carpe Noctem (seize the night) as well. Here is Sade's Cherish the Day. Please don't go astray. And surprise me, Denis of Cork, show me you are really really for real this time!

C.C.

Friday June 6, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Animal Homophones

17A: Animal's cry: WHALE WAIL

25A: Beloved animal: DEAR DEER

36A: Animal that is pulled?: TOWED TOAD

57A: Unclothed animal?: BARE BEAR

59A: Golf-loving animal?: LINKS LYNX

Here (hear) are a few (phew) other animal clues (clews) for you to consider next time (thyme) Mr. Wolfe:

BEE (be); BOAR (Bore); FLEA (flee); FOWL (foul); GNU (new, knew); Gorilla (guerrilla); GRIZZLY(grisly); HARE (hair); HART (heart); Lamb (lam); Llama (Lama); Leach (leech); MITE (might); MOOSE (Mousse); MULE (mewl); MUSSEL (muscle); NIT (knit); RABBIT (rabbet); ROE (row); TAPIR (taper) and Tern (turn).

I(eye) like this puzzle. Great (Grate) theme entries, and the sheer (shear) amount of homophones in the clues/answers delights me. It does have a big attitude though, look: 68A: Nastily derogatory: SNIDE. And 13D: Look down upon: SNEER AT. 50D: Mimicked meanly: MOCKED. I guess you can also include 61D: Big fat mouth: YAP.

But (butt), I have high morals (morels), and I am in a good mood (mooed) this morning (mourning), so I am not going to whine (wine) too much. I enjoyed reading your yesterday's favorite books comments so much. Thank you all (awl) for sharing.

Here is the summary (summery):

ACROSS:

1A: Prohibit: BAR. If it were past tense "barred", we (wee) would (wood) have got "bard" for homophone.

9A: Parisian greenspace: PARCS. French for park. Love Monet's PARC Monceau.

16A: Briny deep: OCEAN. I am thinking of sea & see, seas & seize.

21A: Plains shelter: TEEPEE. Also spelled as TEPEE or TIPI.

22A: Singer Kathy: MATTEA. Did not know her. Here is her Goin' Gone.

28A: Hymn of praise: PAEAN. Here is the John Williams' Indiana Jones theme. A paean to Harrison Ford/Steven Spielberg/George Lucas' youth and their heroic deeds/dreams.

31A: Relished: ATE UP. ATE, eight

36A: Animal that's pulled: TOWED TOAD. And don't forget "toed".

39A: Rapid escape: LAM. LAM, Lamb.

42A: Singer Shore: DINAH. Or singer Washington.

47A: Sale-tag disclaimer: AS IS. Sale, sail. And of course, seller & cellar.

49A: King of Troy: PRIAM. I simply forgot. Like Brad Pitt's "Troy" a lot. PRIAM is "the father of Paris, Cassandra, Hector, Polyxena, and many others. He was killed during the capture of Troy". Tough intersection with AMEN-RA.

51A: Comic Rudner: RITA. I don't know (no) this RITA. RITA is the girl in Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5". He wants Monika in his life, Erica by his side. He says that RITA is all he needs, Tina is what he sees. And he wants Sandra in the sun, Mary all night long, and "A little bit Jessica here I am, and a little bit of you makes me your man".

Boy (buoy), can you imagine a constructor makes a whole (hole) puzzle out of these girls' names in the song?

57A: Moliere play part: ACTE. Act in French. Hmm, Acts, ax.

58A: Approach quickly: RUN TO. TO, Two.

65A: Type of pole: TOTEM. Pole and Poll.

67A: Brings up: REARS.

DOWN:

1D: Present knot: BOW. Knot, not; BOW, beau; BOWED, bold; And presents, presence.

4D: Part: PIECE. PIECE, PEACE

5D: Get to the present?: UNWRAP. Wrap, rap. Wrapped, rapt, rapped.

7D: Hindu title of respect: SRI. I wonder how those people address their ELDER (54A: Church VIP) in ___Lanka.

9D: Model, often: POSER. PLANE for you Ray (thanks for the mail) and Dennis?

10D: Acquiesce: ACCEDE. Partly, CEDE, seed.

18D: Release: LET OUT

21D: Ballroom dance: TANGO. Is this somehow related to the theme?

22D: Kingston Trio hit: MTA. No idea, I've never heard of Kingston. What does MTA stand for?

24D: Equal score: TIE. TIE, Thai.

25D: Silence while broadcasting: DEAD AIR

26D: Singer Kitt: EARTHA. Tough (tuff) for me. I had never heard of her name before, might have heard some of her songs though.

29D: Egyptian sun god: AMEN-RA. Another hard one (won) for me. I had no idea. Dictionary defined it as "a god in whom Amen and Ra were combined". Another homophone: sun, son.

38D: Rye grass: DARNEL. No, no, nope, completely unknown to me. Plural form "ryes" will give us "rise" though.

41D: Actress Richardson: MIRANDA. Or ___ Rights. MIRANDA Richardson played Ingrid (and was nominated for the Academy Award) in Louis Malle's "Damage". To answer some of your email questions regarding my favorite books yesterday, Josephine Hart's "Damage" is probably my favorite after Bob Woodward's "All the President's Men".

44D: Smits of NBA: RIK. Not a familiar name to me. Got it from the across clues.

48D: Irish dog: SETTER

53D: Ill-bred ones: BOORS. Bred, bread

54D: "Who's there" reply: IT'S ME. There, their.

57D: Against: ANTI. ANTI, Ante.

59D: Some NFL linemen: LTS (Left Tackles)

63D: Greek letters: XIS. XI, psi & sigh. "Sighs" will give us "size", right?

Finally, 14A: Sugar ending: OSE. Here is Sugar, Sugar for you. Click (clique) and Enjoy!

C.C.

Thursday June 5, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: QUIP

20A: Start of a quip: GIVE CRABGRASS AN

37A: Part 2 of quip: INCH AND

51A: End of a quip: IT WILL TAKE A YARD

Hand-pulling is probably the most effective way to control CRABGRASS in a small garden.

So, this is the 22rd puzzle from Mr. Alan P. Olschwang since I started blogging. Stunning consistency in QUIP/QUOTE theme and difficulty rating, every Thursday, amazing! I am really bored to tears. Too many repeat offenders, too many humdrum clues.

I did get stumped immediately by 1A: Style inhibitor? (CRAMP). Took me a few seconds to realize the "Style" here refers to the "Swimming style". (Update later: I was wrong. I did not know the phrase "CRAMP one's style"). And I would not have got 11D: BALSA (11D: Model material) without the across clues, I was thinking of Claudia Schiffer and those supermodel models.

I did not know 17A: ANITA (Actress Ekberg), I pieced her name together from down clues. It would be great if it's clued as Santa ___ Race Track. Together with 28A: Like horse's hooves: SHOD, and 5D: Finished second: PLACED, it would form a lovely horse racing sub-theme. Looks like Big Brown is going to end this Triple Crown drought on Saturday. Are you rooting for him also? Anyone picks Casino Drive? I will stick to Denis of Cork though. I like his style.

ACROSS:

1A: Style inhibitor?: CRAMP. I like this wonderful Michael Phelps slow motion clip.

14A: Entangle: RAVEL. Knew "unravel", had no idea that RAVEL is a word itself.

16A: Movie piglet: BABE. Hey, Wilbur is the new piglet on the block.

17A: Actress Ekberg: ANITA. Did not know her. She was in "La Dolce Vita".

30A: Ear-piecing: LOUD. And 36A: Musician's pride: EAR. The clue for 30A could be easily reworded as blaring or something to avoid this annoying double EAR appearance.

31A: Superman's makeup: STEEL

40A: Old name of Tokyo: EDO. This reminds me of Nobel author Yasunari Kawabata's "The Old Capital" (Koto, Kyoto). I like his "The Dancing Girl of Izu". It stars Momoe Yamaguchi, my favorite Japanese actress.

41A: Exhibit extravagant desire: DROOL. Wow, what a sophisticated clue!

43A: Flatfoot's circuit: BEAT. So many slangs for cops.

44A: Exchange: SWITCH

46A: Native-born Israeli: SABRA. And 3D: Tel _ -Jaffa: AVIV. And 35D: Second Hebrew letter: BETH. I did not know BETH. Got it from across clues.

58A: Part of BYOB: YOUR. Tell me what YOUR favorite books are.

59A: Trial's locale: VENUE

61A: Philbin co-host: RIPA (Kelly)

DOWN:

1D: Rugged cliff: CRAG

2D: Rajah's wife: RANI. Another Indian reference: 46D: Indian instrument: SITAR. Here is Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" with the exotic SITAR instrument.

4D:Like utilities: METERED

11D: Model material: BALSA. What model? I still don't get it.

12D: WWII maritime marauder: U BOAT. Did not know before that U BOAT comes from German U-Boot, short for Unterseeboot (undersea boat).

22D: In contact: AHOLD. Another annoying AWord. Why don't you break it up into A HOLD and romanticize the puzzle a bit? "You've Really Got __ ___on Me, baby, I love you..."

25D: Kind of club: GLEE. And 43D: Kind of shower: BRIDAL. "Kind of" tiresome, isn't it?

28D: Navy commando: SEAL. "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed". Our ex-governor Jesse Ventura was a Navy SEAL.

33D: Leg ends: FEET. Love Happy ___. Sorry Dick, Mkat and all your Pens fans.

34D: With, in Paris: AVEC. I dare you to clue "Voulez vous coucher ___ moi ce soir...", enjoy this Lady Marmalade!

42D: Annual halfway point: MIDYEAR

44D: __ Anne de Beaupre: STE. It's in Québec. I had no idea. I was used to the Sault ___ Marie clue.

45D: Drove erratically: WEAVED

48D: African address: BWANA. Swahili for "our father", hence Master.

49D: Brownish gray: TAUPE. So many different shades of TAUPE.

52D: Vega's constellation: LYRA. I like this succinct line from Wikipedia: "Beginning at the north, Lyra is surrounded by the Dragon Draco, the Greek hero Hercules, the Little Fox Vulpecula and Cygnus the swan." See here.

C.C.

Wednesday June 4, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: It's a STEAL

20A: Steal books?: PALM READERS

27A: Steal produce?: BAG GROCERIES

50A: Steal coins?: PINCH PENNIES

58A: Steal gym equipment?: LIFT WEIGHTS

Are you a kleptomanaia? Were you Born to Steal? Well, if you want to steal, why not ENDEAR (8D: Make beloved) yourself to ENYA (33A: One-named New Ager) and steal her heart? She is still available.

Does the "READERS" in 20A refer to "READERS' Digest" or what? I have difficulty understanding the clue.

I like this puzzle a lot, esp the theme concept. But I went through a hard time at the AQI corner. I often hear this Air Quality Index on the radio/TV, but the abbreviated AQI simply refused to unveil itself to me this morning. I had no idea who the Turn-of-the-century muckraker (JACOB RIIS) was, what an unique surname! And the impossible Gulf of AQABA! Where are "U"? This word needs a "U" for God's sake, water, water, AQUA, how can you be a gulf without water?

EINS, zwei, drei, let's go!

ACROSS:

1A: B-o-r-ing!: YAWN. "Never YAWN in front of a lady"!

9A: Lowest point: NADIR. A NADIR moment for Hillary's last night. She still refused to concede. ABUILIA problem?

33A: One-named New Ager: ENYA. "Who can say where the roads go, where the day flows, only time..."

43A: Delhi appetizer: SAMOSA. No idea. Wikipedia says it's a popular SNACK(S ) (34A: Noshes) in India. Could be both savory and sweet, see here, looks like it's fried.

46A: Pyramid, e.g.: TOMB. The Terra Cotta Museum in my hometown (Xi'An) is also a big TOMB.

53A: Pack: JAM INTO

56A: Greek cross: TAU. Greek letter T, after Sigma. I've never heard of TAU Lepton, have you?

57A: EPA pollution measure: AQI (Air Quality Index). Such a tough crossing with AQABA.

64A: Is the ability ours?: CAN WE. This clue feels very strained to me. How about Michael Bolton's "How CAN WE Be Lovers"? Right now I am listening to this song while typing in today's blog, "show me what you feel"!

66A: Casino game: FARO

67A: Barnyard butter: GOAT. John Underwood's GOATS (What kids grow up to be) clue is Paul's Clever Clue of May.

68A: Verbal digs: BARBS

72A: Half a zwei: EINS. Or Drei minus zwei. And another essential German phrase you should know is "Ich Liebe Dich".

DOWN:

4D: Eggnog topper: NUTMEG. Not cinnamon? I only had once and I disliked the taste.

8D: Make beloved: ENDEAR. I like how ENDEAR intersects ARON (15A: The King's middle name).

9D: Male anchors: NEWSMEN. Can you call Chris Matthews an anchor? Or is he simply a host?

12D: Mind business: IDEAS. Does this clue sound OK to you?

22D: Turn-of-the-centuray muckraker: RIIS. And 53D: First name of 22A: JACOB. Completely unknown to me. Here is more information. Wikipedia says there is also JACOB RIIS Park in Queens.

27D: Men of the future?: BOYS. I love BOYZ II Men. Not very fond of their "On Bended KNEE (36D: Patella location) though. I listen to their "End of the Road" when I feel AIMLESS (25A: Undirected). For those who want to get LEI'd (49A: Wahine wear), click here, then " close your eyes, make a wish... all through the night."

29D: Light weight: GRAM

30D: Charisse of "Singin' in the Rain": CYD. No, not familiar to me at all. I pieced this answer together by across clues.

35D: Colombia city: CALI. And 51D: Columbian export: COFFEE

39D: Kachina doll makers: HOPI. Or Zuni. Saw a Kachina doll at the Flea Market last Sunday. I don't think it's authentic though.

44D: Without transgressions: SINLESS

45D: Prefix with trust or matter: ANTI

48D: __B'rith: B'NAI. Got it from across clues. B'NAI means "Sons of" in Hebrew.

52D: Denver pro: NUGGET

54D: Red Sea Gulf: AQABA. Here is the map. See Gulf of AQABA? It's in the far south of Jordan.

59D: Rikki-Tikki-__: TAVI. I have no idea what this is. I strung it from the across clues. This Rikki-Tikki kind of reminds me of Günther and the Sunshine Girls' Tutti Frutti song.

61D: Putting target: HOLE. I just hate USGA for the US Open setup. How can any one HOLE a shot if you keep the green that fast?

65D: Arachnid structure: WEB. Let's meet Wilbur the Pig, from "Charlotte's WEB".

C.C.

Tuesday June 3, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: It appears that...

17A: Don't know for sure, but...: SO THEY SAY

56A: Don't quote me, but...: THE WORD IS

11D: According to the grapevine...: REPORTEDLY

28D: From people in the know...: RUMOR HAS IT

Well, "What happened" to Scott McClellan? If ONLY (63A: Were it not that) his conscience had ached years earlier! But it's NICE (23D: Pleasant) to HEAR (38D: Get wind of) his insider's story. At least, it VALIDATES (34D: Corroborates) what Paul O'Neil/Richard Clarke have been saying all along. Hello, are you there General Powell? Now that McClellan has come clean, when will you SET yourself FREE (40D: Release)?

Easy breeze this morning, no obscure word or any stumbling block. This puzzle does not feel like Norma Steinberg's though. There is no baseball reference and her puzzles always appear on Wednesdays now.

ACROSS:

1A: What follows function: FORM. Stumped immediately. Would've not got it without the down clues. Does this refer to the architectural term "FORM follows function" or what?

14A: Flapjack chain: IHOP (International House of Pancakes). IHOP does not have any branch in Asia/Europe, neither does their subsidiary Applebee's I believe. So it might be tough for our fellow solvers there.

19A: Money in Madras: RUPEE. I've never heard of Madras. Dictionary says it's a former name of current Indian state Tamil Nadu or its capital Chennai. Why use an old name for clue then? For alliteration purpose?

20A: LBJ's V. P.: HHH (Hubert Horatio Humphrey). Twins play at the HHH Metrodome. Another MN reference: 21A: Ducklike birds: LOONS. Our State birds.

24A: ___ sanctum: INNER

29A: Gulf War missile: SCUD

34A: Salome's costume: VEILS. And the EMIR (43A: Abu Dhabi ruler) always wear kaffiyeh.

36A: Eternal city: ROME. And 2 more Italy references: 16A: Fountain for wishes: TREVI and 37A: Venetian byway: CANAL.

41A: Misrepresent: BELIE

48A: Babushka: SCARF. These babushkas look pretty.

60A: Coarse seaweed: KELP. Perfect clue. KELP (Kombu in Japanese) is indeed very grainy and coarse. It's the vegetarian source of dashi soup (miso base). Not my favorite. I love nori. You can get both from EDEN (52D: Adam's address) Foods (the oldest natural food company in the US). The clue for 10D: Coarse (CRUDE) could have been reworded to something sweet to avoid the double appearance of "Coarse" and misguide solvers, you know, like sweet CRUDE oil.

55A: Proverbial weeper: LOSER. This clue reminds me of the "Mythical crier' (NIOBE) we had awhile ago.

59A: "___ kleine Nachtmusik": EINE. Für Lois.

DOWN:

5D: Exit: WAY OUT. Just learned that WAY-OUT means "Exotic or esoteric in character". Interesting how a dash can completely change the meaning of a phrase.

9D: Maroons: STRANDS. Tell me what three items you would like to have if you were STRANDED on a deserted island.

13D: Comportment: MIEN. Can never forget this gritty MIEN of the Marboro Man. A Marine.

27D: Old battle-ax: CRONE. I had no idea that "battle-ax" is slang for aggressive old woman. I thought it was a kind of antiqued weapon.

29D: Man of La Mancha: SEÑOR. Hmm, very interesting. "Man of La Mancha" is also the name of a musical which won 5 Tony Awards in 1965. Peter O'Toole and Sophie Loren starred in the film version. OK, if you see O'TOOLE clued as "Man of La Mancha"? in the future, remember you first see it here.

31D: Clarinetist Shaw: ARTIE. Lady Be Good!

26D: Thong: STRAP. The flip-flop. Is the G-String Thong too much for you?

41D: Popeye's nemesis: BLUTO. "So you don't like spinach?"

46D: Looks ___ everything: AREN'T. Is that so, Aishwarya Rai? Would you accept 30M RUPEES for a film in Hollywood?

48D: Oscar Madison, for one: SLOB. I did not know who Oscar Madison was, again, the across clues took care of it.

53D: Humorist Rogers: WILL. He said "RUMOR travels faster, but it don't stay put as long as truth." Something for you to distort and QUIP, Mr. Alan P. Olschwang!

C.C.

Monday June 2, 2008 John Underwood

Theme: BLOW UP

17A: Blow up: EXAGGERATE

29A: Blow up: EXPLODE

40A: Blow up: ENLARGE

47A: Blow up: INFLATE

63A: Blow up: HIT THE ROOF

J'accuse! Too many yawn-provoking identical clues. Please don't expose the puzzle title in the clues any more! Please don't deprive me of the fun to analyze and ferret out the theme. Plus, I want to understand John Underwood's original thinking process in creating these 5 different theme entries.

This puzzle really has some ZIP (32D: Nada). It is one letter J away from a pangram (with all 26 letters of the alphabet in one grid). But, Flaubert, who was famous for his "le mot Juste", would be very impressed with how this constructor sprinkled his "Madame Bovary" in this puzzle.

Let's see, in what EMMA (10A: Mme. Bovary) considered to to be the FINEST (51A: Superlatively superior) days of her life, her husband Charles, who did not really care too much about TATTY (52D: Shabby) curtains, often thought he was the luckiest man on earth, to come back home with a warm meal on the table, no matter how late he returned from work. He often took off his FROCK (37A: Dress ) coat, ate in greater comfort and recited to EMMA the names of the people he had met during his rounds.

But his conversation was too boring for EMMA. She craved to belong to the ELITE (36D: In crowd). Sadly she found a HERO (57D: Leander's love) in the rake Rodolphe, who OGLE(D) (50D: Undress with one's eyes) EMMA at his first visit to the Bovary's and decided to seduce her. And you could imagine the TREMOR (24A: Nervous thrill) she experienced during this adulterous affair. But of course, she was mercilessly deserted and eventually reencountered Léon when she and Charles attended an OPERA (1D: Highbrow entertainment). Alas, Léon grew disenchanted with EMMA when her attention started to AFFECT (s) (44D: Bears upon) his work. There are some arguments about the symbolic purple STOLE (55D: Simple wrap) that EMMA found comforting. I think it refers to the priest and the spiritual awakening.

Sorry for the babbling. I just love this novel. Here we go:

ACROSS:

5A: Skin of a noodle?: SCALP. Very creative clue.

14A: Stick for hopping: POGO. Also the title of a comic strip. Here is a good one: We have met the enemy and he is us.

15A: Fifer's drum: TABOR. I had no idea. Is it a gimme to you?

19A: Young troublemaker: PUNK. You've go to ask yourself one question: "Do I feel lucky?" Well, do ya PUNK?

20A: Bureaucracy: RED TAPE

21A: 48D just clear the bottom: AWEIGH. Dictionary says it's "(of an anchor) just free of the bottom; atrip". I had no idea. AWEIGH ANCHOR (48D: Boat holder) is not a familiar nautical term to me.

23A: Ore analysis: ASSAY

27A: Washington, the prez: GEO. What?? Who calls him so?

32A: Zorro's marks: ZEES. I like this clue.

39A: Smarts stats: IQS. Another great clue.

43A: Post-larval: PUPAL. Hmm, LAP UP anagrammed.

46A: Unskilled laborer: PEON

53A: "Einstein on the Beach" composer: GLASS (Philip). I did not know him. Just learned this morning that Philip GLASS is Ira GLASS (This American Life)'s father's first cousin.

57A: Domestic sci.: HOME EC (Home Economics)

67A: Like Humpty Dumpty: OVATE

70A: Change color again: REDYE. And 25D: Changes title: RENAMES. Two RE prefixes is too much for me.

DOWN:

2D: Curses: POXES. I only knew POX as the smallpox.

4D: G. I. IDs: DOG TAGS

6D: Proofreaders' symbol: CARET. The inverted V.

9D: Signal enhance: PRE-AMP. Want Pamper?

10D: Type of penguin: EMPEROR. Great parallel with MING (12D: __ the Merciless). I had never heard of the "Flash Gordon" comic or movie, so I had no idea who the evil EMPEROR MING was. MING is always a Chinese Dynasty to me of course, and Yao MING. The character looks like this. The left part means sun, the right part means moon, together, it means bright.

13D: Egyptian life symbol: ANKH. The Egyptian cross. I tend to confuse ANKH with ANKE (Huber of tennis). In yesterday's puzzle, ATON was clued as Egyptian god of sun.

18D: Motown's Marvin: GAYE. I think I am scarred by this tough puzzle. Need some tender Healing from GAYE.

22D: Author of "A Man in Full": WOLFE (Tom). His books are too thick for me to read. I can hardly hold "The Bonfire of the Vanities" in my hand. Anyway, "A Man in Full" is about a real estate mogul in ATLANTA (60A: CDC location) during the city's economic booms in the 1990s, according to Wikipedia.

34D: Distant beginning?: EQUI. Equidistant (equally distant).

34D: Armchair athletes channel: ESPN

36D: "Dallas" role: ELLIE. Got it this time.

46D: North Star: POLARIS. POLARIS Industries is a manufacturer of ATVs and snowmobile based here in MN.

C.C.

Sunday June 1, 2008 Ed Voile

Theme: END IT

23A: End it: THROW IN THE TOWEL

30A: End it: PULL THE PLUG

56A: End it: KISS GOODBYE

83A: End it: ADMIT DEFEAT

104A: End it: CALL IT QUITS

118A: End it: WASH ONE'S HANDS OF

17D: End it: GRIND TO A HALT

28D: End it: SAY UNCLE

64D: End it: HAVE DONE WITH

71D: End it: PACK IT IN

Hmm, 118A is weak, isn't it? Overall, I like these theme entries. This constructor Ed Voile does have some great theme ideas. Here are some more: bring it to a standstill, stem the tide, cut short, put a period to, pull the check-string, chuck up the sponge, fall/drop by the wayside, what else can you think of?

However, this whole puzzle proved itself to be a huge PROBLEM (1A: Challenging situation) for me earlier. I really have a LOT's wife's fear of looking back at this puzzle now. Way too many names (total 18, excluding some other TV/Movie character names). And some of the cluing are very yawn-provoking and lacking in creativity. Let's see:

15A: Third-baseman Wade: BOGGS. Another baseball HOFer. The price of his baseball cards somehow does not reflect his HOF status. I don't understand why.

78A: Dressler or Osmond: MARIE. Why not clue Tennis star MARIA Sharapova during the French Open week? (Updater later: Sorry for the MARIA mistake)

79A: Lauder of cosmetics: ESTEE

99A: Johnson of "Laugh-in": ARTE. It's also ART in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.

100A: Leibman and Howard: RONS. Know Howard, not Leibman.

111A: Neal's "Hud" co-star: NEWMAN (Paul)

125A: Old-time singer Lenya: LOTTE

130A: "Gone with the Wind" composer: STEINER (Max). Vaguely heard of him. He was also the composer for "Casablanca".

2D: Defensive hockey great Bobby: ORR

6D: Nobel Prize winner Wiesel: ELIE. Is Wiesel the only ELIE in this world? Who designed Halle Berry's 2002 Oscar dress?

12D: Mandel and Long: HOWIES

13D: Eugene and Ed: O'NEILLS. If I were the Editor, I would clue O'NEILLS as Tip and Ed. See the clue for 38A: Man of the house (DAD)? Tip O'NEILL's memoir is "Man of the House", which has been sitting on my bookshelf for over 3 years.

32D: Arthur C. __: CLARKE. Author for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

40D: "Airplane" star: HAYS (Robert)

50D: Baird and Keane: BILS. Know Keane (The Family Circus), not Baird.

96D: Old time journalist Nellie: BLY. I simply forgot her name. Saw this clue before.

97D: Guinness and Waugh: ALEC. This is another unbearably boring clue.

103D: Elliott of "The Spitfire Grill": ALISON. Not a familiar name to me. Only know ALISON Krauss. Love this Stick with me Baby...yes, we will find a way.

Once again, three annoyingly tedious Roman numerals in one puzzle:

27A: Roman 103: CIII

115A: 4th century date: CCCI

121D: MCII halved: DLI

And 3 difficult affixes:

77A: Both: pref.: AMBI. Ambilateral & Ambidextrous for example.

110A: Full of: suff. ULENT. Opulent & Corpulent & Fraudulent.

16D: Serpentine: pref: OPHI. Toughie. Ophidia & Ophiology.

Also new to me: CARIOLE, SHERDS (only knew SHARDS), GARDA (Irish police), SPICA, OPA, GAMBA, TIMBALS, SAHEL, ATONS, AREOLAR and FAGEN.

ACROSS:

8A: Auditory range: EARSHOT

20A: One-horse carriage: CARIOLE. No idea. Here is a picture.

21A: Car color combo: TWO TONE

25A: Chess side: WHITE

28A: Net fisherman: SEINER

29A: Brightest star in Virgo: SPICA. Stranger to me.

33A: Math fig. COEF (Coefficient)

42A: Bowl over: SLAY. I was only familiar with the "kill by violence" side of SLAY.

45A: Of iris rings: AREOLAR. Hard one. Completely unknown to me.

51A: Newspaper nickname: TRIB. Which one?

53A: Groups of nine: ENNEADS

61A: Drive-in worker: CARHOP

62A: Sub-saharan region: SAHEL. Here is the area: "On the S flank of the Sahara desert that stretches across six countries from Senegal to Chad." See this map.

65A: Tropical plant with brilliant flowers: CANNA. Here is a picture.

68A: Kind of palm: SAGO. Hmm, the SAGO Pudding.

69A: Ration group of WWII: OPA (Office of Price Administration)

70A: Froths: SPUMES. I like how it intersects with 57D: Smeltery refuse: SCUM.

75A: Vesuvian discharge: LAVA. I did not know the meaning of Vesuvian. Just an educated guess.

81A: Vinegary: ACETIC

86A: Certain nut tree: RED OAK (NJ state tree)

88A: French weapon: ARME. "A Farewell to Arms" is "L'Adieu aux ARMES" in French.

93A: Surfing the internet: ONLINE

95A: Kettledrums: TIMBALS. I googled TIMBALS, but TIMBALES came up, are they the same? Another unknown musical instrument for me in this grid is 58D: Vila da __(bass viol): GAMBA.

102A: Tony Musante's TV series: TOMA. Here is more information.

107A: Leg bone: FIBULA. And 46D: Chest bone: RIB

109A: Russian veto: NYET. Just learned that "Da" is Russian for Yes (formally). The informal way is "aga", and the slangy way is "nu". Very interesting.

113A: Kissers: LIPS

117A: Carbon-arc lamp: KLIEG

126A: Stars in the French sky: ÉTOILES. And another French word GATEAU (18D: French cake).

127A: Slope: INCLINE. And 116D: Inclination: CANT. I was not aware of the slanting side of CANT until this morning. Great intersection.

128A: Edith Wharton classic, "___ Frome": ETHAN

129A: Binges: BENDERS

DOWN:

7D: Stalker: MENACER. I only knew MENACE.

11D: Marcus Aurelius, e.g.: STOIC. Had no idea who Marcus Aurelius was. STOIC was very inferable though.

15D: Arbor: BOWER

19D: Pottery fragments: SHERDS. Variant of SHARDS.

24D: Figure of speech: TROPE

29D: Moved like a pro: SPUN. And 118D: Network: WEB

35D: ___ folly: FULTON'S. Big stumper here as I could not get the crossing 33A.

41D: Irish police: GARDA. Another unknown. GARDA is the largest lake in Italy.

43D: Coffin stands: BIERS. BIER is also German for Beer.

52D: Proverb: BYWORD. Did not know this before.

54D: Stray calf: DOGIE

56D: Fine porcelain: SPODE. Bone china. Named after the British potter Josiah SPODE. Unknown to me.

59D: New York lake: ONEIDA

63D: In haste: APACE. Lickety-split!

67D: Willingly, old style: LIEF. FAIN is another word.

72D: Entrance guard: GATEMAN

76D: Egyptian symbol: ATONS. Also spelled as ATENS. Egyptian SOLAR (62D: Battery type) god, represented as a solar disk with rays ending in human hands. Now I think I saw this picture before.

80D: Twin city: ST. PAUL. Thank you very much!

82D: Adjective-forming suffix: IAL. Proverbial for example.

84D: A-Team member: MR. T. The clue should have a quotation mark, don't you think so?

85D: Point to the right?: EAST

87D: Elitist: SNOB. Th hoity-toity folks.

94D: Rival with some success: EMULATE

98D: Chinese treats: LITCHIS. Hmm, I love LITCHIS. Ate a ton of them when I lived in Guangzhou (Canton). There are several different spellings of this fruit, lychee, leechee, lichee, etc. But it's just Lizhi (荔枝) to me.

100D: Cause bitter resentment: RANKLE

101D: Spotted wildcat: OCELOT. He seems to be very alert.

105D: Pear-shaped fruit: QUINCE. Nailed it this time, have to thank QUITS from across though.

107D: Dickens character: FAGEN. In which novel? I've never read any Dickens work.

108D: Plant pest: APHID

119D: Saul's uncle: NER. Father of Abner as well.

120D: First of several?: ESS. The first letter of Several is S.

124D: __-de-lance: FER. The large pit viper. Here is a picture.

C.C.