Sunday December 21, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Black to Black

23A: Harry the magician: BLACKSTONE

25A: Drupe: STONE FRUIT

45A: Picnic staple: FRUIT SALAD

49A: Romaine, e.g.: SALAD GREEN

69A: Setting sun phenomenon: GREEN FLASH

72A: Portable torch: FLASHLIGHT

97A: Navigation beacon: LIGHTHOUSE

100A: Do domestic duty: HOUSECLEAN

121A: Tabula rasa: CLEAN SLATE

123A: Dark color: SLATE BLACK

I was not charmed by the theme itself. Felt bored actually. But my goodness, look at those theme entries: all of them are 10-letter long and are symmetrically placed in the grid. Very impressive.

What is your answer for 96D (Sound of hoofbeats)? Right now I have CLOP-CLOP. But shouldn't it be CLIP-CLOP? Am I wrong in the intersecting 105A: Greek letter (RHO)?

I would prefer a simple "Uncooked" for RAW (119A: Cold and wet") as WET is the answer for 28A: Soaked. I also disliked the clue for ANI (122D: Tropical blackbird) as BLACK is part of the theme answers. I wonder why our editor continues to eschew breaking ANI into AN I. "Wheel of Fortune" buy sounds like a perfect clue to me.

Across:

1A: Cornered: AT BAY

6A: Charlie Chan's comment: AH SO. Had no idea why Charlie Chan would utter such a Japanese style exclamation.

10A: __ - wip (dessert topping): REDDI. I've never used this topping. Is it similar to Cool Whip?

19A: Saclike cavity between joints: BURSA. Here is a diagram. It's "purse" or "pouch" in Latin. New word to me.

33A: Bear in Barcelona: OSO

34A: John and Tyne: DALYS. Knew golfer John DALY. He drinks and gambles more than he should. Tyne DALY is a new actress to me.

36A: Kathryn of "Law and Order: CI": ERBE. Sigh! I had to google her again. What a strange name! Why not HERBE?

42A: Noted chair designer: EAMES . Not familiar with Charles EAMES or his wife Ray EAMES. Wikipedia says that "Charles EAMES was greatly influenced by the Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen". And EERO (43D: Eliel Saarine's son), would later become "a partner and friend".

52A: Clearasil target: ZIT

54A: Japanese P.M. Fukuda: TAKEO. He was the P.M. from Dec 1976 to Dec 1978. His son Yasuo also served as P.M. for Japan in 2007. I knew neither of them.

57A: Begins, slangily: GETS IT ON. Really? Are these totally made-up?

63A: Canvas coating: GESSO. This answer enabled me to make an educated guess on the intersecting IT'S GONE (38D: Roger McGuinn song). I could not find the song on YouTube.

82A: Industrial pollutants: abbr.: PCBS. It's banned in 1975.

87A: Bullfighter: TOREADOR. I can only remember matador.

102A: Center of central Florida?: EPCOT

103A: Web surfers: NETIZENS. Oh dear, I was not aware of this at all. It's a portmanteau of Internet and citizen.

108A: Virgil's shepherdess: DELIA. I simply froze on this clue. Can never remember this girl's name. Anyway, Virgil only mentioned her name in passing in his "Eclogues".

111A: One of Henry VIII's six: PARR. Catherine PARR, Henry VIII's 6th wife.

127A: Chinese province: HONAN. This answer drives me nuts. See this map. There is no HONAN. We call it HENAN (east of my hometown Shaanxi Province). And there is another province called HUNAN where Chairman Mao came from. DENG (13D: __ Xiaoping) was born in Sichuan Province.

129A: French title: COMTE. French for "Count". I love Dumas's "The Count of Monte Cristo". Its French title is "Le COMTE de Monte-Cristo".

133A: Tracker's trail: SPOOR

Down:

1D: Brother's keeper?: ABBOT. Good clue.

2D: Very fine netting: TULLE. It's named after the French city TULLE.

4D: Fancy haberdashery item: ASCOT TIE. That's cranberry color, isn't it?

7D: Night bird: HOOT OWL. I wonder why it's called HOOT OWL. Don't all the owls hoot?

9D: Went too far: OVER DID IT

11D: What I'll do if I'am wrong: EAT MY HAT

12D: British mil. honor: DSO (Distinguished Service Medal). Wikipedia says "The DSO was instituted on 6 September 1886 by Queen Victoria".

14D: Grenoble's river: ISERE. See this map. It flows into the Rhone River.

24D: Actress Kurtz: SWOOSIE. One more new name to me. Great picture. Wikipedia says "She got her unique first name "Swoosie" (which rhymes with Lucy, rather than woozy) from her father. It is derived from the sole surviving example, at the National Museum of the USAF, of the B-17D Flying Fortress airplane, named "The Swoose" or simply "Swoose" - half swan, half goose - which her father piloted during WWII."

45D: Odin's wife: FRIGG. Friday is named after her.

47D: Czar's decree: UKASE. This is the first time I encounter UKASE. I bet not many English words starting with UK*. I can only think of ukulele and Ukraine.

48D: Opposite of an elementary particle: ANTILEPTON. No idea. I don't know what LEPTON is either. I wonder how many solvers can fill in this answer without the adjacent help.

58D: Reggae's cousin: SKA

59D: Letters on a rubber check: NSF. Most of today's 3-letter words are easily obtainable today.

66D: Attached with stickum: GLUED ON

68D: Early TV series, "The __ Family": ALDRICH. Read here for more information. Completely unknown to me.

75D: Old Testament prophet: HOSEA. I wanted MOSES.

76D: Wooden tableware: TREEN. My goodness. How come I've never heard this simple word before?

92D: Come by: ATTAIN

93D: One-time jazz center Greg: OSTERTAG. Another google. This is so strange. I thought #0 or #00 is reserved for mascot.

99D: Brennan and Heckart: EILEENS. Both are actresses. EILEEN Brennan was Paul Newman's lover in "The Sting". EILEEN Heckart won the "Oscar for Best Supporting Actress" for the movie "Butterflies Are Free". I had to rely on the crossing fills. (Note: Sorry about the spelling mistakes earlier.)

101D: R.E.Lee opponent: U.S. Grant

104D: Pakistan ruler (1977-88): ZIA. Absolutely no idea. He doesn't look like a Pakistani. He got the job after overthrowing Ali Bhutto, father of Benazar Bhutto, who was assassinated last December.

107D: City in northwestern Iran: RESHT. Or RASHT. Here is the map. Once again, I got it from across fills. Wikipedia explains that the city is called "Gate of Europe" because RASHT connects Iran to European countries.

113D: Right-hand page: RECTO. Opposite of VERSO (even-numbered page).

125D: NCAA acronym: BCS (Bowl Championship Series).

C.C.