Wednesday May 27, 2009 Doug Peterson

Theme: Dog-tired

20A: Journalists with specialties: BEAT REPORTERS

33A: Washington Irving title setting: SLEEPY HOLLOW

41A: Dessert topping: WHIPPED CREAM

57A: Title place you "won't come back from," in a 1964 Jan & Dean hit: DEAD MAN'S CURVE

I'm exhausted!

I've never heard of Jan & Dean or their "DEAD MAN'S CURVE". BEAT REPORTERS and CITY DESK (38D: Local news department) brought to mind Watergate. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein started their investigative reporting from Washington Post's CITY DESK.

I am amazed by the expense scandals emerging from the British Parliament. Maybe Heather Brooke had a Deep Throat assisting her along the way as well. She should come back to the US and have a look at our own Congress.

Doug Peterson's Newsday Stumper is always hard. But his themed TMS Daily or LAT is just perfect for me. He likes to use 4 (sometimes 3) theme entries, and synonym theme is quite fascinating and educative, esp for a non-Native English speaker.

Across:

1A: Oil container: DRUM. Wanted TANK.

5A: Golden Arches pork sandwich: McRIB. Have never had McRIB. What's the white stuff? Doesn't look like onion.

14A: 2000s sitcom set in Texas: REBA. Could only think of "Dallas".

15A: Tabriz resident: IRANI. Tabriz is in northwest of Iran. Literally "causing heat to flow" in IRANI language.

16A: Three-sided sails: JIBS. Ah, now I see what a boom really is.

17A: Yankee nickname: A-ROD. He is rumored to be dating Kate Hudson. Madonna is history now.

19A: Sighed line: ALAS

23A: Sweden's neighbor across the Baltic: LATVIA. Its capital city is Riga.

24A: Holiday number: NOEL. "Number" here means song.

25A: Was holding: HAD. I did not get this one immediately. Nor did I get OWNS (36D: Just bought).

29A: IRS employee: AGT. Thought CPA first.

31A: Split: CLEAVE. Root word of cleavage. Disappointed? Well, that's THE cleavage of the election year.

36A: Sea predator: ORCA

39A: Rivière contents: EAU. Water is Shui in Chinese, as in Feng Shui, literally "water-wind".

40A: Chooser's first word: EENY. From "EENY, meeny, miney, mo"? Why racist?

46A: Spendable salary: NET PAY

47A: Bouncers check them: IDS. I misread it as "Bounced check" first. Nice clue.

48A: Sign of a smash: SRO (Standing Room Only). Smash hit. Another great clue.

52A: Green side: PEAS. Side dish. I thought of LEAS first.

55A: Sea surrounding Lemnos: AEGEAN. See this map. Lemnos is directly above the word AEGEAN Sea.

62A: Meir's successor: RABIN. He is succeeded by Begin during his first term.

63A: Eldly: AGED

65A: Damaged layer: OZONE. Damaged? Not damaging?

66A: Bath residue: RING. I was thinking of FOAM/SUDS.

67A: Beatle bride: YOKO. Nice to see YOKO rather than ONO.

68A: Nero at the piano: PETER. I forgot all about this pianist. By the way, what is exactly the instrument Nero was fiddling while Roman burned?

69A: Two gelcaps, e.g.: DOSE

Down:

1D: In a dreary: DRABLY

2D: Study, in a way: REREAD. "In a way", yes.

3D: WWII subs: U-BOATS

4D: Comedy show that once featured "Spy vs. Spy" cartoon: MADTV. No idea. I've never seen MADTV.

5D: Odometer reading: MILEAGE

6D: Cut short: CROP. D'oh, CROP the hair.

7D: Incriminate: RAT ON

8D: Lead-in: INTRO

9D: Gene therapist's field, briefly: BIOTECH. Easy guess. I don't know what a gene therapist does.

10D: Close to closed: AJAR. I like the clue. This puzzle is quite scrabbly.

11D: Sedimentary fuel source: OIL SHALE. I've vaguely heard of SHALE OIL, not OIL SHALE. Wish DRUM (1A: Oil container") were clued differently. Don't like the oil repetition.

12D: Org. with Heat and Thunder: NBA. Only know Miami Heat. Oklahoma City Thunder is new to me. Our Minnesota pro soccer team is called Thunder too.

21D: Muscat moolah: RIAL. Also the moolah in Iran and Yemen.

22D: Cockney greeting: 'ELLO. Letter H is dropped in Cockney accent.

26D: Mary Kay rival: AVON

27D: Damp at dawn: DEWY. These DEWY persimmons need frost to to be sweet.

32D: Type of sch.: ELEM

33D: Seven-time NFL Pro Bowler Warren: SAPP. Nope. Only know #4 Favre guy on his left. Is 99 the highest jersey number in NFL?

37D: Flightless bird: RHEA. Do you know RHEA only has three toes? Ostrich has only two.

43D: Bit of ocular irrigation: EYE DROP

44D: "Lou Grant" star: ED ASNER

45D: "Just __!": A SEC. Repeat offender.

48D: Brasil '66 bandleader Mendes: SERGIO. No idea. The only Mendes I know is Eva Mendes.

49D: Croaking birds: RAVENS

50D: Jumpy: ON EDGE

54D: Dutch shoe: SABOT. Like these?

56D: Keep safe: GUARD

58D: Really big show: EXPO

59D: Musical inspired by Fellini's "8 1/2": NINE. Completely unknown to me. Where is the other 1/2?

60D: Cook with a skillet: FRY. I only use skillet to stir-fry.

61D: Thai language: LAO. LAO is spoken in northern Thailand.

Answer grid.

C.C.

PS: Bay Area LAT solvers, please write to Katharine Fong (Deputy Managing Editor) of Mercury News if you prefer Rich Norris's LAT puzzles to the current Daily Communter. Her email address is kfong@mercurynews.com and her phone number is 408 278 3448. Thanks, WM.

Wednesday May 20, 2009 Bonnie L. Gentry

Theme: BREAKING UP (54A: Disbanding, and a literal hint to the hidden theme in 17-, 23- and 46-Across) - UP is broken and spans the last two words of the theme entries.

17A: Pancake-wrapped Chinese dish: MOO SHU PORK

23A: Peppered entree: STEAK AU POIVRE

46A: Judge's query after charges are read: HOW DO YOU PLEAD

Too bad 46A is not food related. It would have been a tighter theme. Great "BREAKING UP" title. But Like Jack McIntuff's "Herd Mentality", this kind of word embedding/spanning does not really excite me.

The first time I had MOO SHU PORK was in San Francisco, my sister-in-law was shocked that I did not know what the dish is. Quite a few American Chinese dishes were foreign to me then. I've never had STEAK AU POIVRE, way too much poivre in this picture. Nice to see it as part of an answer rather than "Poivre partner" for SEL (French salt & pepper).

Since we have ALITO (14A: O'Connor's successor) in the grid, I wish SAM (33A: "Uncle" with a red bow tie) were clued as a tie in to ALITO. Whom do you pick to replace Justice Souter? I'll bet on Sonia Sotomayor, female and Hispanic.

Today's constructor Bonnie L. Gentry is a senior financial adviser at Merrill Lynch. She is based in Scottsdale, AZ. And her puzzle appears in LAT once a month, according to this article. I found it interesting that she does not like cluing either.

Across:

1A: Still in force: VALID

6A: Serve with summons: CITE. Alliteration again.

15A: Partly revitalized sea: ARAL. I don't understand the "partly revitalized" part. Does it refer to the revitalized economy in that region?

19A: Harper's Bazaar artist: ERTE. Big name in "Art deco".

20A: Transportation secretary under Clinton: PENA (Federico). Obtained his name from the Down clues. He co-chaired Obama's campaign.

21A: Nickelodeon dog: REN. Often clued as "Stimpy's pal". Stimpy is a cat.

22A: Father of Paris: PRIAM. The last king of Troy of course. He was played by Peter O'Toole in the movie "Troy". Orlando Bloom is Paris. The girl on his left is Helen, whose face launched a thousand ship. How many millihelen do you think Megan Fox radiates? This girl's picture is everywhere now.

27A: Goodyear offering: RADIAL

29A: Knotty and twisted: GNARLED. This one is totally out of shape. Pretty ugly.

30A: Sound from a nest: TWEET

31A: Fill with bubbles: AERATE

36A: "Little Red Book": MAO. My dad could recite every sentence in "Little Red Book".

41A: Court sport, for short: B-BALL. Basketball.

43A: Italian inkeeper: PADRONE. New to me. So close to patron.

49A: Cup with crumpets: TEA. Is it because crumpets/scones are always served with TEA?

53A: Climb, as a tree: SHIN . New verb meaning to me.

58A: Cougar maker, briefly: MERC. Crossing BMW (54D: 5 Series automaker).

59A: "Cheers" waitress: DIANE. Easy guess. The lady in red?

60A: Work measures: ERGS. Rooted in Greek ergon, meaning work.

62A: "No surprise to me": I KNEW

Down:

1D: Seductress: VAMP. The word VAMP always brings to mind Theda Bara.

3D: Pride's quarters: LION'S DEN

4D: Shout evoked by a dead heat: IT'S A TIE. I love all the long Down answers today. Vibrant.

5D: 2001 OED addition that cites "The Simpsons": D'OH

6D: "RUR" playwright: CAPEK. The guy who coined "robot".

7D: When forging started: IRON AGE. Around 12th century BC.

9D: Fraternal society member: ELK. Or "Lodge member".

10D: More than just clean: STERILE. I was expecting an ER ending adjective.

12D: Old explosive device: PETARD. New word to me. So close to retard.

13D: Teacher's note next to an F: SEE ME. Did you get F's in school? Were you a good student?

22D: Like laptops: PORTABLE

24D: Suffers humiliation: EATS CROW. Maybe she will. Maybe she won't. What a waste of time to go back and dredge up those waterboarding briefings. I am against closing Gitmo.

25D: Strip, as a ship: UNRIG. Why do I always want de-rig? Too much bug and de-bug in my previous work I suppose.

26D: Early late-night host: PAAR. What's your favorite Jack PAAR memory? I learned his name purely from doing Xword.

31D: Protein building block, for short: AMINO. AMINO acid.

34D: "Hey!" to a mate: AHOY. Wish TAR (8D: Road-surfacing goo) were clued differently to pair up with AHOY. It's a slang for sailor. I am very into tie-in fills lately.

36D: Title character who "returns" in a Neil Simon title: MAX DUGAN. Have never heard of this movie. Is it romantic? The title sounds like a soldier returns after the war and then finds his wife in love with another man.

40D: Spays: NEUTERS. I had no idea that Mine That Bird was gelded until Clear Ayes pointed it out.

42D: '50s - '60s counterculturist: BEATNIK. MAN, I DIG. That's all I know about BEATNIK.

43D: More swanky: POSHER. Wrote down TONIER first.

44D: Storefront shade: AWNING. Holy cow! I did not know there is a special term for this shade.

45D: Harsh criticism: FLAK. I always have problem spelling out criticism.

46D: Waste maker?: HASTE. HASTE makes waste.

51D: Do some piano maintenance: TUNE. Can you also clue it as "Do some guitar maintenance"?

52D: Emulate a geyser: SPEW

55D: Stephen of "Citizen X": REA. Have never seen "Citizen X". Liked his "The Crying Game". Very shocking ending.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday May 13, 2009 Laura Sternberg

Theme: PEPPER (Word that can follow the first word of 17-, 25-, 39-, 47- or 60-Across)

17A: Beetle Bailey's boss: SERGEANT SNORKEL (Sergeant Pepper)

25A: Quasimodo's milieu: BELL TOWER (Bell Pepper)

39A: Swiss Miss, e.g.: HOT CHOCOLATE MIX (Hot Pepper)

47A: Physician of 1930s-'40s film: DR. KILDARE (Dr Pepper)

60A: German dessert, American-style: BLACK FOREST CAKE (Black Pepper)

I am used to the abbreviated "Sgt. Pepper". Wikipedia says Beatles originally named their album "Dr. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band". But they changed the title to "Sgt. Pepper... " after discovering that Dr Pepper was a trademarked American soft drink. Do you know why there is no dot between DR & PEPPER?

I am not familiar with the Beetle Bailey comic strip or DR. KILDARE. Love seeing BLACK FOREST CAKE as the last theme entry. Sweet dessert!

Heavy themage today, three grid-spanning 15 letter entries, and two 9-letter answer, plus a unifying PEPPER. Hot enough for the "Snottie Dottie" Pepper. I have never tried chocolate with chili pepper or chocolate-covered peppers, have you?

Neat to see KNAVE (49D: Rogue) and SCAMP (53D: Rogue) with the same clue. I started to develop a fondness for this kind of same-clue-different answer cluing. Would have loved to see SID (16A: Rocker Vicious) as "Caesar of comedy" to pair up with COCA (40D: Caesar's TV sidekick).

Across:

1A: Patches, as a lawn: RESODS. The letter O enabled me to get ORG (4D: URL ending) immediately.

7A: Grass houses: HUTS. Are straws grasses?

15A: Place serving links: IHOP. Why "links"? I like IHOP's crepes. Links made me think of golf courses.

20A: Fund for later yrs.: IRA. Looks like the market is on a steady recovery now.

21A: Puritanical: PRIM. PRIM? Hmmm, definitely not. Talk about pitchfork.

22A: Superman player: REEVE (Christopher)

23A: Migrant: NOMAD. Wrote now MOVER first.

28A: Kissers: LIPS

30A: Western treaty gp.: OAS (Organization of American States). Established in 1948. Cuba's membership has yet to be re-stated.

31A: Remove the chaff: THRESH. Nice word. Consonants heavy.

33A: Rd. or st.: RTE. And HOV (32D: Hwy. lane type)

34A: American __, North Dakota state tree: ELM. Oh, I did not know this trivia. MN's state tree is red pine. What's your state tree?

35A: "Yay me!": TADA. I've never said "Yay me!"

42A: Times to call, in ads: EVES. I wrote down NOWS. Call NOW.

44A: Horror film creature: ZOMBIE

45A: Nuclear agency estab. under Truman: AEC (1946-1975). I like this clue better than "NRC predecessor". Nice to learn some trivia.

46A: Sign of traffic impatience: BEEP. HONK does not fit.

52A: Puccini heroine: TOSCA. And "Verdi heroine" is AIDA. Learned both from doing Xword.

56A: Postage meter unit: OUNCE

59A: Fish oil source: COD. Salmon fish oil is equally good.

64A: Bk. before Numbers: LEV (Leviticus). After Exodus.

65A: Shaw's homeland: EIRE. No ERIN dilemma due to the crossing fills.

66A: Dorm cohort: ROOMIE. I shared a tiny dorm with 6 other girls in my college years.

67A: "... __the set of sun": "Macbeth": ERE. Stumped. I am used to the "Poet's before" clue.

68A: Will of "The Waltsons": GEER. Finally I remember him. He was the Grandpa Walton.

Down:

1D: Amber, e.g.: RESIN. Oh, I only know color amber. Had no idea that it's a resin.

2D: Juanita's January: ENERO. Another alliteration. This seems to appear with foreign words only.

3D: Ex-NFL coach Hank: STRAM. No idea. Wikipedia says Hank STRAM "is largely responsible for the introduction of Gatorade to the NFL due to his close association with Ray Graves, coach at the University of Florida during Gatorade's development and infancy".

5D: Like Chicago-style pizza: DEEP DISH. Have never had Chicago style pizza or Chicago style hot dog.

7D: "I'll take a card": HIT ME. No idea. Gambling term I suppose.

8D: Sounds of uncertainty: UHS

10D: Wears proudly: SPORTS. Fun to see the old jerseys and caps people SPORT at the ball park.

11D: Obliquely: ASKEW

12D: Utensil with a mesh bottom: SIEVE

13D: Freud contemporary: ADLER (Alfred). I forgot. He is the guy who coined "Inferiority Conplex". Brett Favre needs to be psychoanalyzed. He looks good in Viking's uniform (fake one). Or do you like the real Packers' photo?

18D: Penpoints: NIBS. NIB, neb, nab, nub. So confusing.

19D: Vintage wheels: REO. Another 20 years, the clue would be "Antique wheels". Antique has to be over 100 years old.

24D: Smart fellows?: ALECS. Smart ALEC. Stumped. The ? made me think of Agent Smart.

26D: Recline lazily: LOLL

27D: Birthday preparation class: LAMAZE. See Paul's Clever Clue of the Month (Jan). Very cool "Class that ends before labor day?" clue.

29D: Used one's cell: PHONED

31D: With 38-Down, employment termination: THE And AXE (38D: See 31-Down). Get THE AXE.

35D: Pace of a piece: TEMPO. Musical pace.

36D: UN delegate: AMB (Ambassador). Wrote down REP first.

37D: 502, to the Romans: DII

41D: In direct confrontation: TOE TO TOE

45D: Brew container: ALE KEG

46D: "I've Gotta __": 1969 hit: BE ME. Here is the clip. It's new to me. I like the song title.

47D: Paso __: two step: DOBLE. No idea. I don't speak Spanish. Is it literally "double pass"?

48D: Commander: RULER. Not fond of this clue.

50D: Former RR watchdog: ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission, 1887-1996)

54D: News analyst Roberts: COKIE. NPR's senior news analyst. Her name escaped me this morning.

55D: "Doe, __ ...": song lyric: A DEER. "Doe, A DEER, a female deer ...". From "The Sound of Music".

58D: Car sticker abbr.: MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price). Looks like GM and Chrysler are going to file bankruptcy any day.

61D: Old annoyed cry: FIE

63D: One on a beat: COP. Here is a list of slang terms for cops. Pigs/Swine sound so rude.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday May 6, 2009 Mike Peluso

Theme: GALLERY (43D: Anagram of 54-Across's ending that can follow the first word of 20-, 30-, 40-, and 54-Across)

20A: "Kids Say the Darndest Things!" author: ART LINKLETTER

33A: Congressional bone of contention: NATIONAL DEBT

40A: Decide to prosecute: PRESS CHARGES

54A: Food reaction shared by about 3 million Americans: PEANUT ALLERGY

Does NATIONAL GALLERY refer to National Gallery of Art? I did not know that the place occupied by those press corps is called PRESS GALLERY. Always thought it's just press room or press briefing room. Wikipedia says US Senate established its first PRESS GALLERY in 1841. And the White House did not designate a press room until 1902.

PEANUT ALLERGY is a very creative theme entry, with the anagram ending and a word that can precede GALLERY. Peanut is actually not a nut. It belongs to the legume family. I vaguely remember a teenager died after kissing her boyfriend who had been eating peanut butter. Milk, egg and wheat can be life-threatening to some. Many don't tolerate soy/fish/shellfish and other tree nuts. Those eight food account for about 90% of all food allergies.

Once I had a tuna sandwich and I reacted severely. The doctor could not tell whether it's the tuna or wheat that caused my problem.

Smooth sailing this morning. I think I like puzzles with a simple 4 theme entries. Dan Naddor's heavy themage puzzles are awe-inspiring. But they overwhelm me. I guess they are for advanced solvers. This constructor Mike Peluso seems to be fond of word preceding/following theme pattern. Remember his last CAPE grid?

Across:

1A: Underworld VIPS: DONS. I was thinking of Hades' underworld, not the criminal mafia's underworld. I like how it crosses OMERTA (2D: Last book in Puzo's "Godfather" trilogy). The trilogy consists of "The Godfather", "The Last Don" and "OMERTA" (published after he died.) OMERTA, of course, is also the Mafia code of silence. I also like Puzo's "The Sicilian". So good. It's regarded by some as the literary sequel of "The Godfather".

5A: Bench warms: B TEAM

14A: Radiate: EMIT. Thought of BEAM first.

15A: Emmy winner on her 19th try: LUCCI (Susan). She looks very pretty. Beautiful skin. She said she snacks on sardine, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. I don't buy her secret though. I tried, it did not work on me.

16A: Guadalajara bread: PESO. Bread is slang for money. I don't think it can fool anyone any more.

17A: City on the Truckee: RENO. I kind of like the "Splitville" clue in our puzzle last time.

23A: "In my opinion...": I THINK. Descartes actually wrote "Je pense donc je suis" before he stated the Latin "cogito ergo sum".

24A: Raise canines?: TEETHE. I was trapped by "canines" again.

28A: Well-bred: GENTEEL. Like Jackie. She did not think "there are any men who are faithful to their wives". I bet every man has been unfaithful to their wife at some time. No? Have you always been faithful to your wife?

32A: Pirate's quaff: RUM. Oh, is it pirate's preferred drink? Not ALE?

38A: Clock-setting std.: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

39A: Tracy's Trueheart: TESS. Learned from doing Xword. I like her surname Trueheart, I also like Ada Lovelace.

46A: Uncomfortable spot: HOT SEAT. Aren't you glad you are not A-Rod right now?

49A: Busy pro in April: CPA. I think Doug Peterson is a CPA.

50A: "Boston Legal" actor: SPADER (James). I like him in "The Pentagon Papers".

52A: Atoll encloser: LAGOON. Wikipedia says the word atoll was popularized by Charles Darwin.

58A: Phoenix suburb: MESA. Did you know MESA was founded by Mormon pioneers?

60A: Suffix with hippo-: DROME. Hippodrome is a new word to me. Hippo is from Greek, meaning "horse", like Latin prefix "equi" I suppose. DROME is a combining form meaning “running,” “course,” “racecourse”, says Dictionary.com.

61A: Mower-making giant: TORO. It's based here in MN.

63A: Western: OATER. Occident popped into my mind immediately.

64A: Shortly: ANON. Archaic word, right?

Down:

1D: Foil, as a plan: DERAIL

3D: Jazzy intervals: NINTHS. New definition to me. I only knew the baseball NINTH inning.

4D: Popular vodka, familiarly: STOLI. I've never had STOLI, have you? How about some CORONA (47D: Beer served with a lime)?

5D: Pancake, when holding a sausage: BLANKET. Pig in a BLANKET. Learned this food from Dr. Dad a year ago. This is Cantonese style. The sausage is sweet, so is the bun.

6D: Plastic surgery procedure: TUCK. The answer revealed itself. I've never heard of tummy TUCK or any other TUCK surgery.

7D: Green sci.: ECOL (Ecology)

9D: Herbal beverage: MINT TEA

10D: Binge: SPREE

11D: Partridge's home: PEAR TREE. My husband writes "The Twelve Day of Christmas" for his bowling column every year. I've never been amused. I don't know. Many times I don't understand the fun.

13D: Barber's challenge: MOP. No idea. Why challenge? Hard to cut?

25D: O'Hare and JFK: HUBS

26D: Initial response team, initially : EMTS. Needs "briefly" as hint. (Note: My bad. I did not notice "initially" earlier).

29D: When bats fly: NIGHT. I always want to add a prepositon (at) to this kind of fill.

30D: Inquisitor __ de Torquemada: TOMAS. No idea. Wikipedia says this guy spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition. TOMAS is Spanish for Thomas, right?

31D: __nous: ENTRE. "Between us". Debra Ollivier titled her book as ENTRE nous. Quite interesting read.

33D: Bahamas airport code: NAS. No idea. Maybe the rapper NAS knows. It's the code name for Nassau Interntional Airport.

34D: Sot's shake: DTS. DT is Delirium Tremens.

35D: Bldg. units: APTS

36D: Golf lesson subject: GRIP. Just had STANCE the other day. What next? Posture? Here are some simple tips on GRIP. It's actually not that easy to have a light grip pressure.

37D: Gets worse after getting better: RELAPSES

41D: Old Mets home: SHEA. Mets are now playing at Citi Field now. What's the name of that bridge on their logo? Here is my favorite METS player (Johan Santana).

42D: Deep-fried frank: CORN DOG. Have never had a CORN DOG before.

44D: List ender: ET AL

48D: "Fiddler on the Roof" fear: POGROM. I like "Fiddler on the Roof" a lot.

49D: Memorable repeated question by the economics teacher (played by Ben Stein" in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"): ANYONE. All right, forward to 0:48. Probably the longest clue I've ever seen in a LAT puzzle so far. I like it.

51D: Meted (out): DEALT

53D: Insinuate: GET AT. New phrase to me.

55D: River to the Caspian: URAL. See this map. The one on the right is the shrinking Aral Sea.

56D: Dorothy's dog: TOTO. Surprising. "The Wizard of Oz" is listed as #3 Top Musicals in Ameria.

57D: NAFTA part: Abbr.: AMER

59D: Outer: Pref.: EXO. "Inner: prefix" is ENTO.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday April 29, 2009 Doug Peterson

Theme: How Food Processors Work

17A: Shady high roller's advantage: LOADED DICE

28A: Harbors ulterior motives: HAS AN AX TO GRIND

44A: Log holder: FIREPLACE GRATE

58A: Dojo blow: KARATE CHOP

Once again, I am not sure I got the theme right. I cook differently and hardly use our food processor or any other kitchen accessories. Peeler & knife are the only tools I use every day. I peel everything. And I use my knife to dice, slice, chop, mince etc. It's exotic for me to see others use grater for ginger.

I had fun fooling around with this very scrabbly puzzle (3 Z's, 2 X's, 1 J and several K's). Wrote down HAIR for 19A: "Manx cat's lack" (TAIL). What can I say? I am not a cat person and a hairless cat makes sense to me. Also, I wrote down SAID for 21A: "After all?" (LAST) immediately, thinking the sentence "After all is SAID and done". Theoretically I think I am right. If someone finishes last in the race, he is still part of all, not "After all", correct?

Having seen similar "Dictator's assistant' or "Dictation taker" for STENO before, the "Dictator's aid" clue yesterday gave me no trouble and I did not even bother to comment on. It's so fascinating for me to read your experience in yesterday's Comments section. Thanks for sharing.

Across:

1A: Betting setting: VEGAS. Rhyming clue. The first word that popped into my mind is CASINO.

6A: Oratory with lots of arm-waving: RANT. "Lots of arm-waving" RANT indeed. I used to like Kramer.

10A: Sloop pole: MAST. Perpendicular to the boom. Only learned a few weeks ago that sloop is a single-masted sailing boat.

14A: "Get __!": Relax: A GRIP

15A: Hamburg's river: ELBE. ELBE originates in Czech and flows northwest across German to the North Sea. Same pronunciation with Napoleon's ELBA.

16A: Award for a soap: EMMY. Oh well, I tried to find EMMY award logo, look at what Google gave to me.

22A: Garden hose feature: NOZZLE. Then later on HOSE as an answer to 55: Stockings. I don't know. I still don't like this dupe, even if they are within Rich Norris's 6-letter limit.

24A: Disney pooch: PLUTO. Great list of Disney dog names. GOOFY has 5 letter too.

26A: Islamabad's land: Abbr.: PAK. Just learned that Islamabad literally means "Abode of Islam". I suppose "bad" is a suffix for "abode"?

27A: Above, in odes: O'ER. Opposite 'neath.

32A: By surprise: ABACK. As in "Taken ABACK"

33A: "That is to say ....": I MEAN. I say this often, since I always have difficulty expressing myself. My oral English is very poor.

34A: Himalayan mystery: YETI. Exactly, it's a mystery. I like this better than "Mountain sighting" clue.

35A: Dark earth pigment: UMBER. Strange, it's rooted in umbra (shade/shadow), same as umbrella.

37A: Programming language with a coffee-cup logo: JAVA. It's still hot.

41A: Ho-hum state: ENNUI

43A: Ear-related: AURAL. Sometimes the answer is OTIC.

48A: It has a charge: ION. Yep, ION is charged particle.

49A: Space shuttle astronaut Jemison: MAE. Got the answer from down fills. Have difficulty remembering her name. Wikipedia says she was the first woman of African ancestry to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the space shuttle Endeavor on September 12, 1992. What does this sentence mean? I wonder if Spirit is awake at this moment when I am typing.

50A: Seller of TV time, e.g.: AD REP. Mine was AD MAN.

51A: Resealable bag brand: ZIPLOC. Can't live without ZIPLOC. Don't like Glad.

53A: Cheese with an edible rind: BRIE. The cheese is named after the French region Brie. The Dutch cheese Edam is also named after the Edam town in Holland. I love Etam bra/thong. Don't know what/whom the heck it's named for.

62A: Leave the premises: EXIT

63A: "__who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it": Santayana: THOSE. Oh, George Santayana originated this line. It's from his book "The Life of Reason". I did not know that. Sometimes life has no reasons. You just fall in love, blindly. Or as Pascal said: The heart has reasons that reason cannot know.

64A: Florida attraction: KEYS. Have never been to FL. Is Miami part of Florida KEYS?

65A: D.C. Party: DEMS. Holy hot wick! I always thought the abbreviation for the Democratic Party is D or DEM.

66A: Caravan stops: OASES. Singular is oasis. Stop and find yourself some wet dates, so sweet!

Down:

1D: Depression between hills: VALE. Oh well, so many choices: VALE, DALE, GLEN, DELL.

2D: Bigheads have big ones: EGOS

3D: Goes for, as straws? GRASPS AT. I like this clue.

5D: Explore caves: SPELUNK. We had SPELUNK & spelunker discussions on the blog last summer.

6D: Team that ended a "curse" in 2004: RED SOX. Remember Curt Schilling's bloody sock? The "curse" refers to the selling of Babe Ruth to the Yankees. The "Curse of the Bambino".

7D: Hit the ground: ALIT. "Hit" is past tense. I was trapped.

8D: Home of "The Office": NBC. Have never watched "The Office".

8D: Fake ID user, often: TEENAGER

10D: Capital of Lorraine: METZ. No idea. Quite close to Germany. No wonder it has a letter Z in the end.

11D: E-tail giant: AMAZON. Have never bought any baseball card from AMAZON.

12D: Beamed: SMILED. When Chinese take photos, we say "qie zi" (eggplant) rather than "cheese".

13D: "Breathing Lessons" Pulitzer winner Anne: TYLER. No idea. Oh, "Breathing Lessons" is a novel. I thought the book is about breathing and meditation. Her face looks familiar. I remember those bangs.

18D: Info to crunch: DATA

23D: Creole vegetable: OKRA. "Fighting OKRA" is a very strange mascot.

25D: More doilylike: LACIER. Are you OK with this clue?

26D: Apple of quince: POME. OK, here is the defintion of POME fruit from dictionary: a fleshy fruit, such as an apple, pear, or quince, having several seed chambers and an outer fleshy part largely derived from the hypanthium. Also called false fruit. Strange, they are real fruit to me. Pomme is French for apple. Pomme de terre is potato.

29D: Face on a fin: ABE. Might be a stumper for those solvers who are not familiar with the American slang five-dollar bill (fin). LAT puzzle appears in more than 700 daily and Sunday papers in the world, including Mexico, Bermuda, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Indian, Japan, Taiwan, etc.

30D: Fibula neighbor: TIBIA. Ouch! Looks painful.

31D: Hurt: INJURE

35D: Emptied one's bags: UNPACKED

36D: Stubborn critter: MULE. And APES (56D: Long-armed critters). Monkeys have long arms too. I think mine are also very long too.

38D: Wyoming tribe members: ARAPAHOS. No idea. But Cheyenne does not fit. What does ARAPAHOS mean in their own language?

39D: Winery container: VAT

42D: Pixar fish: NEMO. Love "Finding NEMO" (Pixar 2003 film).

43D: Go along with: AGREE TO

44D: Minor failing: FOIBLE

45D: Not out-of-bounds, as a ball: IN PLAY

46D: Gem weight units: CARATS. No wobbling between CARATS and KARATS this time.

48D: "The Compleat Angler" author Walton: IZAAK. Is the book very famous? I got this guy from across fills. How am I supposed to know? He died in 1683. Anyone wrote down ISAAC first?

52D: Zoom, for one: LENS

53D: Panama border?: BRIM. Panama hat. Can't fool me.

59D: Dismiss: AXE. Strange to see AX & AXE in one grid.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday April 22, 2009 Mike Peluso

Theme: CAPE (66A: Action hero's garb, and what each first word in this puzzle's four longest answers is.)

20A: Cornucopia: HORN OF PLENTY

34A: Supplement that some claim eases arthritis: COD LIVER OIL

43A: Texas governor before George W. Bush: ANN RICHARDS

56A: 1973 Erica Jong novel: FEAR OF FLYING

I used to confuse CAPE HORN with CAPE of Good Hope, which is in the southern tip of Africa. Learned CAPE COD from reading various JFK biographies. Saw CAPE ANN in a puzzle before. CAPE Fear (bottom) is new to me. It's on the coast of North Carolina, jutting into the Atlantic Ocean. Why Fear? Prone to shipwrecks?

Easy solving this morning. This puzzle makes me feel smart. All of the theme entries were gimmes to me. COD LIVER OIL has concentrated amount of Omega-3 fatty acids. Good for arthris, good for heart too. ANN RICHARDS once described President Bush as "born with a silver foot in his mouth".

Here is a list of Clever Clues of the Month from Crosswordese.com. You can also click here for the complete list of Word of Day. They are in alphabetical order. Every one of them has a great picture and lots of other interesting information. Send Paul an email if you want his free word-of-the day delivery. Today his word is ORT (70A: Morsel).

Across:

1A: Aquanaut's workplace: SEALAB. First time I met aquanaut. Whom does he work for? US Navy?

7A: Arabic for "son of": IBN. Like the former Saudi king IBN Saud. Same as the Scottish Mac. BIN is also "son of", right? Like Osama BIN Laden.

10A: Software prototype: BETA. Alpha is for the internal software testers.

14A: "1984" author: ORWELL. Just realized this morning that George ORWELL is his penname. His real name is Eric Arther Blair. Do you know what Cary Grant's real surname is? Leach! Archibald Alec Leach.

16A: Campground arrival, briefly: RVER. Many PGA golfers travel in RV. I've never seen them called as RVer though.

17A: Pleasure dome site of verse: XANADU. From Coleridge's poem "Kublai Khan". Xanadu is a very exotic way to spell Shangdu, the summer palace of Kublain Khan. It's located in current Inner Mongolia in north China. China has the shape of a rooster. Our administrative division is called PROV (47A: Ont. or Que.) too.

18A: Most energetic: PEPPIEST. And LOOSER (23D: Not as tight). I bet we won't see more than two Er, est suffixes in a Rich Norris puzzle.

25A: Via: BY WAY OF

29A: Poivre partner: SEL. French for salt. Poivre is French for pepper.

38A: "Bali __": HAI. Here is the clip. Bloody Mary sang it to Lieutenant Cable to lure him to into Bali HAI to become her son-in-law. Her daughter Liat is very pretty.

39A: Italian cheese: ASIAGO. Named after the Italian region where the cheese originated.

40A: Tender poultry: CAPONS. I don't think I've had CAPON before. Sounds cruel to castrate chickens just for their meat.

42A: Stereotypical pirate leg: PEG. I suppose this refers to Long John Silver of "Treasure Island".

50A: Former big name on "The View": ROSIE (O'Donnell). She is too much for me. I only like her in "Sleepless in Seattle".

55A: Mag. employees: EDS. I think Anna Wintour is the coolest editor of any magazine.

61A: Crooner Julio: IGLESIAS. Father of Enrique IGLESIAS, who is married to Anna Kournikova.

62A: What pupils do in the dark: DILATE

67A: Lunes, por ejemplo: DIA. Lunes is Spanish for Monday. French Monday is lundi.

69A: Prolific autho.?: ANON. Yes, indeed. I like this clue.

71A: Grand Prix site: LE MANS. Learned where LE MANS is last time when MLLES was clued as "Le Mans lasses". Quite close to Paris.

Down:

1D: White __: SOX. And ERA (2D: Pitching stat). I like how they parallel.

3D: Barley bristle: AWN

4D: Sister of Rachel: LEAH. Both are Jacob's wives. LABAN was often clued as "Father of Leah and Rachel" in our old puzzle.

6D: Book jacket promo: BLURB. Crossword sub-title is also called a BLURB. Right, Fred?

7D: Running the country: IN POWER

8D: Hybrid meat: BEEFALO. Beef & buffalo. Also called cattalo (cattle & buffalo). Completely new to me.

9D: Dover diaper: NAPPY. The answer reviewed itself. I don't know British call diaper as NAPPY. The constructor picked up the seaport Dover for alliteration purpose.

10D: Boxer's alternatives: BRIEFS

21D: Org. at 11 Wall St.: NYSE. Oh well, what else could it be?

22D: Daisy Mae's creator: AL CAPP

24D: Spectrum color: INDIGO. Reminds me of the INDIGO Girls. They love crossword also. You should see "Wordplay" if you have not.

27D: She, in Lisbon: ELA. Ha ha, no more "Guido's high note" any more.

28D: Latvian capital: RIGA. The Latvian chess master Mikhail TAL is called "The Magician from RIGA".

31D: First words of the "Mr. Ed" theme: A HORSE. Anther easy guess. I've never seen "Mr. Ed".

32D: "___ Camera": CANDID

35D: From, in German names: VON. Same as French de and Italian da. How about Greta VAN Susteren? Hers is VAN.

36D: Former transp. regulator: ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission). 1887-1996. Learned from doing Xword.

37D: Cowardly lion portrayer: LAHR. Just found out this morning that Bert LAHR's original name is Irving Lahrheim.

45D: Lays into: RAILS AT. "Lay into" is a new phrase to me.

48D: "Pippin" Tony winner Ben: VEREEN. He looks awfully familiar. I must have googled him before.

53D: "Don't mind __": IF I DO. I got the answer. Have no idea what it means. Sounds self-conflictory.

56D: Pay stub abbr.: FICA

57: Alaska's first governor: EGAN. Gimme. Learned this fact long time ago. William Allen Egan was the first (1959 to 1966) and 4th governor (1970-1974) of Alaska.

58D: Brand for Fido: ALPO

60D: Get hold of, with "onto": GLOM. The past tense is GLOMMED. A new word I learned from T. Frank.

63D: Altar in the sky: ARA. See this diagram. ARA is Latin for Altar.

64D: Former Opry network: TNN. Another easy guess. Wikipedia says TNN changed into Spike in 2003. Owned by Viacom.

65D: Alpine curve: ESS. Not much wordplay today.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday April 15, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Tough Ending

17A: Loaf pan filler: BREAD DOUGH

29A: Mistletoe branch that was Aeneas' pass to the underworld: GOLDEN BOUGH

39A: Something to lead a horse to: WATER TROUGH

52A: "The Thorn Birds" author: McCULLOUGH

11D: "Cut it out": THAT'S ENOUGH

24D: Make a dramatic recovery: PULL THROUGH

I did not know GOLDEN BOUGH or the author of "The Thorn Birds" Colleen McCullough. I do know historian/author David McCullough though. Heard so many of his interviews when he promoted "1776".

This is an incredible puzzle. Four 11-letter entries, Two 10-letter entries. All with different pronunciation. Last time Kazie and someone else (Doreen?) discussed *OUGH ending words in detail on the blog. I don't think they covered McCullough though. Dan Naddor ploughed through the whole field and left no stone unturned. Amazing. Lots of clever fills too.

I cottoned to the theme very earlier on and was able to fill in lots of blanks. Had trouble with lower left corner though. I was so sure that the answer for 48A (WWII torpedo vessel) is U-BOAT. Have never heard of E-BOAT before. With letter U in place, my 44D (Pop or bop) became MUSIC rather than GENRE. Then I wanted ABUZZ instead of ABOIL for 45D: "Full of excitement".

By the way, crossword constructor Justin Smith is running a Metacross Contest starting tomorrow. See here for details.

Across:

1A: St. with a panhandle: OKLA. Wow, 9 states with panhandle. I thought only 3. Whenever I see the abbreviation St, I think of "saint" first.

5A: Polio vaccine developer: SABIN. He developed oral vaccine. Salk's is injection.

16A: "Now I get it": AH SO. Often clued as "Charlie Chan's comment". The complete Japanese interjection is "AH SO desu ka" (That is so). "AH SO desu ka?" means "Is that so"?

19A: Mane man of film?: LAHR (Bert). The Cowardly Lion in "The Wizard of Oz". Great clue.

20A: Fruity rum drink: COLADA. Ah, must be a gimme for Clear Ayes. She loves piña COLADA.

22A: Give authority to: EMPOWER

25A: Gets in the crosshairs: AIMS AT

26A: English subjects?: NOUNS. The ? mark makes this clue very interesting. Without ?, the clue is legit too.

27A: One may be proffered at a wedding: HANKIE. I have this 1991 Twins Championship Homer Hanky. I also have the original 1987 Twins World Series one.

32A: Eavesdropping org.: NSA (National Security Agency). "The Puzzle Palace". What is the nickname for CIA? I wonder if the author of "Enemy of the State" worked in NSA before. Great movie.

35A: First name in jazz: ELLA (Fitzgerald). I wrote ETTA. She is a jazz singer too. Very interesting: ETTA James said her mother told her that her father was "Minnesota Fats." How could that be?

38A: It's 0 at the equator: Abbr.: LAT (Latitude). Ecuador got its name from its equator location.

41A: Rained hard?: HAILED. Another great clue. I wanted POURED.

44A: Used Scope, say: GARGLE. I like Listerine.

46A: Dogs: POOCHES

48A: WWII torpedo vessel: E-BOAT. My disaster area. Wikipedia says it's commonly held that the E stood for "Enemy", but it is likely that it in fact stood for "Eilboot" ("fast boat"). Looks too big to be a torpedo vessel.

49A: Poe's "The Murders in the Rue ___": MORGUE. The first detective story ever. Unknown to me. All I know about Poe is "The Raven" and "Annabel Lee".

51A: We, to Henri: NOUS. Also "Us, to Henri".

56A: Fixes, in a way: RIGS

57A: Two-dimensional surface: PLANE

59A: Pre-coll, catchall: ELHI. El(mentary) + Hi(ghschool). Last time several ex-teachers said they had never heard of ELHI.

Down:

1D: Heavenly body: ORB. I thought of GOD. What's the first thing that popped into your mind? Victoria's Secret Angels?

2D: It can precede plop or plunk: KER. I like last time's "Plunk starter?" clue.

4D: Amazon predator: ANACONDA. Oh my goodness, so huge. I've never heard of it before. Wikipedia says it's mostly found in water, such as Nile or Amazon. I thought all snakes live on land. (Note: Here is the Sea Eagle Vs. Banded Snake clip PromiseMe provided).

5D: Move furtively: SIDLE

6D: Like Niagara Falls: AROAR

7D: Data transmission rate: BAUD. I forgot. It's named after Émile Baudot the French inventor.

8D: Swenson of "Benson": INGA. Swedish for "Hero's daughter". I tend to confuse her with Gloria Swanson.

9D: Disease research org.: NIH (National Institutes of Health)

10D: A hero might hold it: SALAMI. Hero sandwich. My favorite clue. Of course, I was picturing a war hero holding a flag.

12D: Dublin-born actor Milo: O'SHEA. Now I see why Rich Norris clued O'SHEA as "__ Jackson: rapper Ice Cube's birth name" yesterday. No repetitive clues on consecutive days.

13D: Razzie Award word: WORST. I like this clue too. I had never connected Raspberry Award with "blow a rasberry" until last time when BOOER was clued as "Raspberry blower" in our puzzle.

18D: Use a divining rod: DOWSE

21D: One of about 19 million Indians: SIKH. Hindu for "disciple" or "learner". Wikipedia says they wear turban, both man and women. Hello, can you hear me now?

22D: Georgia of "Coach": ENGEL. No idea. Is she very famous? Wikepida says she is in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" also.

23D: Dinero: MOOLA. Both slang for money. I used to mix up MOOLA with those Muslim Mullah.

27D: Rinsed, as a driveway: HOSED

28D: Violin virtuoso Leopold: AUER. Impossible vowel-heavy name. I bet I will forget it next time. I like the alliterative "Violin virtuoso".

30D: Author Zora __ Hurston: NEALE. The author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God". Saw this clue somewhere before.

31D: Diminish: BATE. My was FADE.

37D: Expel: FORCE OUT

33D: Smooth transition: SEGUE

39D: Droop: WILT

40D: "High Sierra" director Walsh: RAOUL. No idea. What's wrong with his right eye?

42D: Two-time U.S. Open champ Andre: AGASSI

46D: Cut back, as a branch: PRUNE

47D: Gave the eye: OGLED. "Give someone the eye" is a new phrase to me.

49D: Mid-12th century date: MCLI. 1151.

50D: One __: kids' ball game: O' CAT. See here for more information. I've never heard of One/Two/Three/Four O' Cat ball game. Why Cat instead of Dog?

52D: AWOL chasers: MPS (Military Polices)

53D: troupe for troops: Abbr.: USO. Learned this morning that USO was already established in WWII.

54D: Prizm maker of yore: GEO (1988-1997). The answer revealed itself.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Wednesday April 8, 2009 Patrick Jordan

Theme: Un-state-ly State

18A: "Show me" state?: SKEPTICISM

24A: Empire state? SUPREMACY

37A: Volunteer state?: WILLINGNESS

53A: Beehive state?: DILIGENCE

59A: Granite state?: DURABILITY

Not an easy battle this morning. If those states were real states, I bet I would struggle too. I can never remember those state nicknames. Minnesota is "North Star State". Our state motto is "L'Etoile du Nord" (the Star of North). Maybe you can educate me today with your state nickname and why it's named so.

Normally I don't like clues-as-theme style grid, but I do like this puzzle. I thought it's quite creative. I also love the 5 K's. Just heard on the radio the other day that the K in Kn combination (knock, knot, knife) was pronounced 500 hundred years ago. Nobody k-nows why it suddenly became silent.

I don't like the clue for SHUTS (68A: Turns (off) because OFF is the answer for 55A: Not working. Wish APR (22A: Car loan letters) were clued as "19D month". It would be a great crossing with IRS (19D: Treasury Dept), don't you think so?

To those who worked on Barrel of A Pencil's "Get the Lead Out" puzzle, here is the answer sheet. He also provided additonal information on his pencil theme at the Comments section.

Across:

1A: Summon the genie: RUB. My answer was ASK. Genie is the English transliteration of the Arabic jinn.

4A: Stacy who played Mike Hammer: KEACH. Unknown name to me. I have no idea who Mike Hammer is.

9A: Fischer man?: PAWN. Bobby Fischer. Great clue. Play on fisherman.

13A: Greek goddess of discord: ERIS. Discordia for the Romans. She is the sister of Ares, god of war. She indirectly caused the Trojan War, correct? Since she threw the Apple of Discord at the party.

16A: Pentathlon event: EPEE. Oh, I did not know this. According to Wikipedia, modern penthathlon consists five events: pistol shooting, EPEE fencing, 200-meter freestyle swimming, show jumping and a 3 km cross-country run.

17A: Almanac tidbit: FACT

20A: Anxious feeling: UNEASE. Who else thought of QUALMS?

23A: Lunched or brunched: ATE. or "munched".

32A: A unicycle has one: TIRE

35A: "Men in Black" extras: ALIENS. Have never seen the movie. I remember we had ETS clued as "Men in Black" extras once.

40A: Broadway opening?: SCENE I. Tricky. I wanted LETTER B, thinking of the first letter of Broadway, but I needed one more blank.

42A: Cork sources: OAKS. Learned a new phrase this morning: Blow/Pop one's cork, meaning "to lose temper". Give another dimension to wine/whine.

44A: With 6-Down, it's "bitter" in England: PALE 6D: See 44-Across: ALE. New to me. I don't drink beer.

46A: Francisco's farewell: ADIOS. Alliteration in the clue again.

51A: Leading the pack: ON TOP

56A: Instrument sometimes made from koa wood: UKE. Learned this when I researched for "Hawaiian acacia" last time. KOA wood is valued for furniture and musical instruments.

65A: East Asian capital: SEOUL. Tokyo is another 5-letter word that might fit. Beijing, Pyongyang (North Korea), Taipei, Ulan Bator (Mongolia) have too many letters. But those are all the East Asian capitals.

66A: Trig ratio: SINE

67A: "Sneaked" look: PEEK. Lovely clue.

Down:

1D: Scow load: REFUSE. Hmm, noun. Verb would be good too, since we have I CAN (33A: Optimist's credo) in the grid.

2D: First planet discovered using a telescope: URANUS. In 1781, by William Herschel. Can you believe telescope was already developed in 1608?

3D: Weightlifters's pride: BICEPS. And PEC (9D: Push-up muscle). Thought of the pump-ous Dennis.

4D: Casey who provided Shaggy's voice in TV's "Scooby-Doo": KASEM. Only knew him "Deejay Casey". He is a Lebanese-American.

5D: Bugling grazer: ELK. I forgot ELK bugles. It only bugles during the rut season, right?

7D: Common HMO requirements: COPAYS

10D: They're abuzz with activity: APIARIES. Learned this word a few months ago. Can't be BEEHIVES since it's part of the clue for 53A.

11D: Gene Autry film: WESTERN. Thought the clue was asking for a specific film title. I often confuse his horse Champion with Lone Ranger's Silver & Roy Roger's Trigger/Bullet.

12D: Luthor and Brainiac, to Superman: NEMESES. An educated guess. Wow, FRIENDS also have 7 letters.

14D: Unsettling look: STARE

21D: Declining from old age: SENILE. Really like Julie Christie's "Away From Her". To me, she is more beautiful than Sophie Loren.

26D: Sicilian pastry: CANNOLI. Have never had CANNOLI before. Are those cherries on the open ends?

28D: Elevator man: OTIS. His given name is Elisha. Hebrew for "God is salvation". Interesting, Dictionary says El is "God" and yesha is "salvation". So, the ELIHU Yale's name is God related too then. Oh, my god, Dictionary further explains that ELIHU means "He is my god" or "my god is he".

34D: Movie excerpt: CLIP

36D: "Gil Blas" novelist: LESAGE. Sigh, I forgot all about this novelist. Identical clue a few months ago. I quoted his "Pride and conceit were the original sins of man" and "Facts are stubborn things" last time. Need to split his name into LE SAGE to remember him.

37D: Was released: WENT FREE. Had trouble obtaining this phrase. Kept thinking of parole.

38D: Not __ many words: IN SO

39DL One who may converse in Erse: GAEL. CELT is 4-letter too.

40D: Failed to meet as planned: STOOD UP

41D: Befuddle: CONFUSE

45D: "The Story of __"L 1975 Isabelle Adjani film: ADELE H. Complete unknown to me. ADELE H refers to ADELE Hugo, second daughter of Victor Hugo. Wikipedia says it's destructive story of her unrequited love to a naval officer.

47D: Collection agency concerns: DEBTS. And IOU (61D: Debtor's concerns). Do you have a better clue for IOU? I am just not fond of this debtor/DEBT.

49D: Gas rating: OCTANE

50D: Get riled: SEE RED. You won't believe the trouble I had parsing SEERED.

52D: Dartboard setting: PUB. Or BAR.

54D: Pastoral poems: IDYLS. More familiar with IDYLL.

57D: Sleeping Beauty awakener: KISS. What's the name of the prince who kissed her? I thought the clue was asking for him.

60D: Scriptural ship: ARK. I am surprised that Noah's ARK is also mentioned in Qur'an.

62D: Disapproving word: TUT. No waffling between TUT and TSK this time due to the crossing SEOUL.

Answer Grid.

C.C.

Wednesday April 1, 2009 Pancho Harrison

Theme: April Fools' Day

20A: 2003 Katie Holmes film: PIECES OF APRIL

37A: 1965 film based on a Katherine Anne Porter novel: SHIP OF FOOLS

55A: 1962 WWII film: THE LONGEST DAY

Once again, none of the theme answers was gimme to me. But this puzzle felt much easier than yesterday's, probably because there are only 3 theme answers compared to yesterday's 5. I am curious to see how many theme answers will be in Pancho Harrison's next puzzle. His last "Numeral Prefix" has 3 entries also.

This culture handicap is so hard for me to overcome. I was surprised and intrigued that THE KINGMEN puzzle yesterday brought back sweet memories to so many of you. "Louie, Louie" really meant nothing to me.

WALL is the answer for 61A: Outfield border. And then "Wall St. deals" for 30D LBOS (Leveraged Buyouts). I don't know. Maybe you can think of a better way to clue LBOS. I can't think of anything. I could not even get the answer. All that popped into my mind is M&A (Mergers and Acquisitions).

Favorite clue: Pisa dough? for EURO (6D). So clever. Very well-kneaded. Now I can smell EURO from my oven.

"Barrel of A Pencil", the alias name of a fellow LA Times crossword solver, constructed a 21*21 puzzle and he would love to hear feedback from us. I've published a special post and hope you can give him your thought on his grid.

Across:

1A: Impetuous fervor: ELAN. I am used to the old "Distinctive flair" clue. Had no idea that ELAN has an "Impetuous" color.

9A: Not on the up and up: SHADY. Like The Talented Mr. Madoff. I still can't believe he was once the Nasdaq chairman.

15A: Dark purple: PUCE. I don't understand this one. What are PUCE stamps?

16A: "Flip This House" airer: A AND E. Big stumper. I wanted MSNBC. Hard for me to interpret A & E into A AND E. Have never heard of "Flip This House".

17A: Some dadaist art: ARPS (Jean/Hans). Dada founder. Hans is German for Jean, correct?

19A: Hardly sensitive: CRASS. Reminds me of Francis Heaney's CRASSWORD crossword.

23A: Leftovers covering: SARAN. "It's a wrap" in yesterday's clue. Do you know why Dow Chemical named this product SARAN? Google shows that SARAN is also girl's name, meaning "joy".

24A: "Bus Stop" playwright: INGE (William). He has become a gimme. Won Pulitzer for "Picnic".

25A: Robin Hood's wood: YEW. No idea. Only knew the Sherwood Forest. Google search shows that Robin Hood used a bow of YEW to win Maid Marion and they wed under a YEW tree.

31A: Carole start: ADESTE. "ADESTE Fideles". I would not have got the answer without the down fills. I know "Carol ending?" is INE.

42A: "The Girl From Ipanema" singer Gilberto: ASTRUD. Here is the clip. Someone mentioned on the blog last time that Sade has a certain ASTRUD Gilberto style.

43A: Composer Andrew Lloyd __: WEBBER. His brother is Julian Lloyd WEBBER the cellist.

45A: Clytemmestra's son: ORESTES. Alas, I forgot, the guy "The Three Furies" are chasing. He was clued as "Electra's brother" in our old puzzle 3 weeks ago. His father is Agamemnon. Interesting information from Wikipedia: "According to the myth, Zeus appeared to Leda in the form of a swan, raping and impregnating her. Leda produced four offspring from two eggs: Castor and Pullux from one egg, and Helen and Clytemnestra from the other." But then it continues: "Castor and Clytemnestra were fathered by Tyndareus whereas Pollux and Helen were fathered by Zeus". Sounds very conflicting, doesn't it?

50A: Prefix with skeleton: EXO. Opposite endoskeleton.

54A: Gear parts: TEETH. Of course, I fell to the trap and put S at the end of the blanks first.

62A: 5-point K, e.g.: TILE. Scrabble TILE. I like this clue.

65A: San __ Obispo, CA: LUIS. Sometimes it's clued as "Baseball Hall of Famer Aparicio". Can you believe he is still alive? Pulled an certified Aparicio autograph out of a Topps Heritage set once. Oh by the way, I heard that Topps is going to produce a set of "world's biggest hoaxes, hoodwinks and bamboozles" trading cards. Ponzi & Madoff are among those bad guys. Maybe Ken Lay too.

67A: First name in country: REBA. Not a fan of REBA McEntire or any country music. The tunes all sound so similar and repetitive.

Down:

2D: Dogie catcher: LARIAT. La reata. The REATA/RIATA.

4D: Pocono 500 group: NASCAR

8D: Sable or Impala: SEDAN. Good clue.

9D: Like some cows: SACRED. Does it refer to the exclamation "Holy cow!" or the Indian sacred cow?

10D: Spydom name: HARI (Mata). Bond does not fit.

11D: In-depth examination: ANALYSIS. Plural is analyses. It's embarrassing, but I often have difficulty spelling analysis & analyze. Actually I can't spell the word embarrassing itself. Thank God for the automatic spelling check.

12D: Oral surgeon's deg.: DDS (Doctor of Dental Science/Surgery). Barry Silk clued DDS as"License to drill?" in his Philly Tribute puzzle. I miss Barry puzzle, don't you?

21D: Listless feeling: ENNUI. And TEDIUM (47D: Monotony).

22D: Links org. sponsoring the FedEx Cup: PGA TOUR. Gimme for me. Stanford Finanical for LPGA. They'd better go back to ADT, given Allen Stanford's huge trouble. This guy should be put into Topps Ponzi card set too.

27D: Jazz guitarist Montgomery: WES. No idea. I know nothing about Jazz. He does not look like a musician. Now, Is WES a nickname for Lesley or Wesley?

34D: Young salamander: EFT. I learned this morning there are three stages in a newt's life: aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile (EFT), and then adult. So technically, EFT does not live under water.

37D: Enemy agent's strategy: SABOTAGE. During Chinese Cultural Revolution, many people had to stop communications with their overseas relatives for fear of being accused of SABOTAGE crime.

39D: "Golden Boy" dramatist: ODETS (Clifford). Know his name, which was clued as "Waiting for Lefty" playwright on our March 15, 2009 puzzle. I have never heard of "Golden Boy" though.

46D: Agree out of court: SETTLE. This reminds me of "nolo contendere", a phrase I never really understand. Is it a "guilty" or "not guilty" plea?

48D: And others, in bibliographies: ET ALII (masculine plural). ET ALIA is neuter plural. ET ALIAE is feminine plural.

52D: Quasimodo's hangout: TOWER. Easy guess. Clear Ayes mentioned his unrequited love for some girl last time. I don't know where they hang out. Huge once said "Intelligence is the wife, imagination is the mistress, memory is the servant." So, who is more important to you, wife or mistress?

58D: Designer Schiaparelli: ELSA. OK, time to know this "Italian artist who made clothes" (said Coco Chanel). She brought fashion to the masses, the first person to introduce off-the-rack designer wear. Her works were heavily influenced by surrealist like Salvador Dali and her style was easy to copy. Her client includes Mae West, Katherine Hepburn and Marlene Dietrich. Some article says that ELSA means "noble" in German, and it's derived from German name Elisabeth. Is it true, Kazie?

59D: Talk about sin, e.g.: Abbr.: SER. Love the clue. Reminds me of Celine Dion's "Let's Talk about Love".

Answer Grid.

C.C.