Wednesday, Feb 13, 2008 Philip J. Anderson

Theme: Construction project in D. C. ?

20A: Assemble a panel
38A: Build a consensus
51A: Hammer out a deal

And engineer another "bridge to no where"?

Can not stand "The Hammer" DeLay. I change channel every time I see his mug. Glad he is out!

I love this puzzle, it makes me feel so smart this morning. If not for 60A: Long-distance swimmer Diana (NYAD) and the 56D: Heroine of "The Clan of the Cave Bear" (AYLA), I would have conquered the whole field sans googling.

Here are some highlights:

1A: Beatles film: HELP!

5A: Comic Laurel: STAN. Lurel & Hardy fame.

9A: Durkheim or Zola: EMILE

14A: Peter Fonda film role: ULEE. His recent role is in movie 3:10 to Yuma (also starring Russel Crowe.).

16A: Gruesome: LURID

17A: Fashionable Christian: DIOR

24A: Cockney abodes: 'Omes ("H" is dropped in Cockney dialect)

25A: Thorns: SPINES

34A: Old road to Fairbanks: ALCAN (Alaska-Canadian Highway)

35A: Mr. Doubleday: ABNER. I got the answer from the down clues. Never heard of his name before. Wow, he invented the game of baseball. I've never been to Cooperstown. Maybe my husband will take me there when Tony Oliva is voted in. By the way, the name of the Doubleday publisher is Frank Nelson Doubleday.

42A: Luges: SLEDS

43A: Composure: POISE

44A: Golfer Sabbatini: RORY. South African golfer. So close to win the Masters last year. He once said: "You lick the lollipop of mediocrity once and you’ll suck for ever.” Mr. Alan P. Olschang, if you are reading this blog, please quote this line in your puzzle.

46A: Half an African fly: TSE

47A: Easy gallop: CANTER

48A: Shrink's org: APA (American Psychiatric Association)

50A: Yalies: ELIS (Elihu Yale). Bush, John Kerry, Clintons, all yalies. Strange that Bill Clinton did not join the Skull and Bones, or is it a pure Republican secrecy?

58A: Swelling: EDEMA

59A: Bring up: REAR

60A: Long-distance swimmer Diana: NYAD. She has accomplished so much in her life.

62A: "Psycho" setting: MOTEL

63A: Novelist Wiesel: ELIE

64A: Feature of some skirts: SLIT

65A: Rhone tributary: ISERE

67A: Dumbo's wings: EARS

Down clues:

1D: Newman movie: HUD. Love the Sting, the Hustler, Cool Hand Luke.

2D: Director Kazan: ELIA

3D: Tolstoy & Durocher: LEO.

4D: Private: PERSONAL

7D: Blue dye: ANIL (indigo plant or the blue dye from the plant)

13D: Biographer of Henry James: EDEL (Leon). He won a Pulitzer for his Henry James work.

22D: Yellow Fever mosquito: AEDES. Got it from the across clues. Never heard of it. Both singular and plural are aedes.

25D: Cavalryman's weapon: SABER

26D: Mickey's pup: PLUTO

28D: Residence: ABODE

31D: Postulate: POSIT

32D: Maltreatment: ABUSE

33D: Stair part: RISER

40D: Absurdity: NONSENSE

45D: Complain peevishly: YAMMER

47D: Dry red wine: CLARET

49D: U.S. painter Rembrandt: PEALE

50D: Online trade: ETAIL

51D: Half: pref: HEMI

54D: Utah city near Provo: OREM

55D: Ubangi tributary: UELE. 3 vowels in this Congo river.

56D: Heroine of "the Clan of the Cave Bear": AYLA (played by Daryl Hannah). This movie is on our Netflix queue after one reader recommended it to me. The surname of its author Jean M Auel was clued on Jan 31 puzzle.

61D: Sot's shakes: DTS (Delirium tremens, alcohol withdrawal symptom).

Bring it on Thursday.

C. C.