Tuesday August 11, 2009 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Tread the Boards - All words related to the theater.

18A: Homemade radio: CRYSTAL SET

59A: Last part: FINAL STAGE

3D: Baseball play that may be "suicide": SQUEEZE PLAY

27D: Common autograph site: PLASTER CAST

Another pangram puzzle. All 26 letters are used.

Bonus fill: ACTION (24A: Director's directive), though theatrical directors don't use this, I presume, only the cinematic directors do.

Argyle...again. Yesterday was too easy so I had to blog today's puzzle.

Maybe "Baseball ploy" works better, as PLAY was part of the theme answer for 3D.

Considerably harder than Monday's but, for regular readers of this blog, it shouldn't have been too bad.

Across:

1A: Canseco of baseball fame: JOSE. You won't find this on a baseball card. Conseco stirred up the whole steroid scandal.

5A: Screen material: MESH.

9A: Diving ducks: SMEWS. Small European ducks, white crest.

14A: Quartet before S: OPQR. String of letters before S, alphabetically.

15A: Introductory drawing class: ART I.

16A: Gives a ticket to: CITES.

17A: Ship-related: Abbr.: NAUT. Nautical.

20A: Say "Howdy!" to: GREET.

22A: Settings for weddings: ALTARS.

23A: Co. that merged into Verizon: GTE. GTE Corporation (formerly General Telephone & Electronics Corporation) was the largest of the "independent" US telephone companies during the days of the Bell System. Merged in 2000.

26A: Lhasa __: APSO.

30A: Greek played by Anthony Quinn: ZORBA. Anthony Quinn won Best Actor Award for Zorba the Greek in 1964.

32A: Small waves: RIPPLES.

34A: Moravians, e.g.: CZECHS. But at one time, they were more than just CZECHS. The Bohemians are CZECHS too of course.

38A: Terminate, as an insurance policy: LAPSE.

39A: Mail Boxes __: ETC. Mail Boxes Etc. is a UPS company and is the world's largest franchisor of retail shipping, postal and business service centers.

40A: Follow: ENSUE.

42A: Source of Rockefeller's wealth: OIL.

43A: Seashore fliers: ERNS.

46A: Held protectively, as an infant: CRADLED.

48A: Chop up: MINCE and 57A: Chops up: DICES with 50A: Off one's rocker: INSANE. between them. Hee, hee, hee.

49A: Actor __ Luke who played Chan's Number One Son in old films: KEYE. Master Po on TV's Kung Fu.

52A: Nutrition letters : RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance.

55A: Louis who wrote Western novels: L'AMOUR. L'Amour's The Sacketts.

63A: "The War of the Worlds" enemy: MARS.

64A: Atmospheric layer: OZONE.

66A: DDE's alma mater: USMA. Dwight D. Eisenhower was a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

67A: Office copy: XEROX.

Down:

1D: Mah-__: JONGG. Also, mahjong, or mah-jong

2D: Eyeball-bending genre: OP ART.

4D: One-named Deco artist: ERTE. Romain de Tirtoff. ERTE is French pronunciation of his initials R.T.

5D: Brit's raincoat: MAC. "And the banker never wears a mac in the pouring rain; very strange." from the Beatles, Penny Lane. A "mac" is a mackintosh: a raincoat. Originally it was a brand name for a specific type of overcoat, now a generic term.

6D: Printing slip-ups: ERRATA.

7D: Turntable needles: STYLI. plural of stylus Alternate plural, styluses.

8D: Like chronicles of the past: HISTORIC.

9D: Capone feature: SCAR. Al "Scarface" Capone.

10D: Grammy-winning country singer Ronnie: MILSAP. Picture Milsap's "Lost in the Fifties Tonight" single won Grammys in 1985 and 1986.

19D: Patty Hearst's SLA alias: TANIA. The S.L.A.(Symbionese Liberation Army) became internationally notorious for kidnapping media heiress Patty Hearst, granddaughter of William Randolph Hearst. She ultimately joined her captors in furthering their cause. Despite her claim she had been coerced, she served nearly two years in jail.

21D: North Carolina athlete: TAR HEEL. and 48D: "My Little __": 1950s Gale Storm sitcom: MARGIE. Both were discussed lately in the comment section.

25D: "Numb3rs" network: CBS. "Numb3rs" is a show about a man using math to help solve crimes.

28D: Smooth transition: SEGUE.

29D: Big name in blenders: OSTER. We had Waring blenders, now we have Oster.

31D: Mil. training inst.: OCS. Officer Candidate School and 36D: Grads of 31-Down: LTS. Lieutenants.

33D: Primped: PREENED. Preen comes from the action of birds smoothing their feathers.

34D: Ticker: CLOCK. So simple, it gave me trouble.

35D: Congo, formerly: ZAIRE.

39D: Back-of-the-book listings: END NOTES.

41D: Pres. advisory team: NSC. National Security Council. Headed by NSA (National Security Advisor). CIA director is part of NSC too.

44D: Champagne-producing city: REIMS. ENE of Paris, France. City of Germany’s unconditional surrender.

47D: The "D" in FDR: DELANO. Franklin Delano Roosevelt. His mother named him after her favorite uncle, Franklin Delano.

51D: Sophisticated: SUAVE. Oh, Bond.

53D: Skin layer: DERMA.

54D: Test one's metal: ASSAY. Nice play on "Test one's mettle".

56D: Mike Doonesbury's daughter, in comics: ALEX. She is a young lady now.

61D: Here-there link: NOR. Neither here NOR there.

62D: "Benevolent" fellow: ELK. The Benevolent & Protective Order of ELKS.

Answer grid.

Argyle

PS: Here is a photo of our Canadian solver Geri in St. Augustine, Florida in March 2009.

Friday January 16, 2009 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: STATION (41D: Word after 17A, 29A, 50A and 64A)

17A: Teacher a boxer where to go?: PAPER TRAIN

29A: Parallel universe?: DOUBLE SPACE

37A: Bluepoint hangout?: OYSTER BAR

50A: Abridge a drama?: SQUEEZE PLAY

64A: Teetolers' bash?: NATURAL GAS

Well, find me a SQUEEZE PLAY STATION then. I just can't stand this kind of inacuracy in cluing. STATION is after the word PLAY, not after the whole phrase SQUEEZE PLAY. The clue for STATION should be "It follows the last word of 17A, 29A, 50A and 64A).

Is GAS a slang for party? I don't understand the rationale in the last clue.

I've never seen five letter Z's in a TMS puzzle before. Mr. Parrish obviously has an affinity for Z, just like Barry Silk has for his Q.

Our local newspaper Star Tribune filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy yesterday. Very disconcerting.

Across:

6A: Woodstock performer Joan: BAEZ. They were lovers during this period, right?

14A: Pulitzer or Pritzker: PRIZE. Pritzker is "the Nobel PRIZE of Architecture". I was unaware of that. It's created in 1979.

21A: TV role for P. Silvers: SGT. BILKO. Stumper, though I did recognize the answer when it finally emerged. Was there an accompanying comic book for the TV show?

23A: Latin 101 verb: AMO. Now this "Latin" refers to Latin America Latin, not the old Caesar's Latin, right?

31A: 1,000 bucks: GEE. And ABES (61A: 5-dollar bills), which is an unfamiliar slang to me.

33A: 2002 A.L. Cy Young winner: ZITO. Gimme. Barry ZITO is very funny. He bought his own autographed baseball cards from Ebay because "They are authenticated". Authentication and grading are big deal in baseball card collection. ZITO played for the Oakland A's from 2000 to 2006, and now he is with the Giants.

44A: Intl. radio: VOA. They broadcast both in Chinese & Cantonese.

45A: Kodak rival: AGFA. Fuji does not fit. AGFA is based in Belgium. Annika Sorenstam's true rookie card has a AGFA logo on it, but I could not find it on the internet this morning.

71A: Boss Tweed's lampooner: NAST (Thomas). NAST is the "Father of American cartoon". See "The Brains", his caricature of Boss Tweed. Last time BOSSDOM is clued as "Scope of Tweed's influence?" which stumped me completely.

Down:

1D: Very softly, in music: PPP (Pianississimo). No idea. Why 3 P's when there is only one P in the word Pianississimo?

3D: Surfboard mishap: WIPEOUT. Fall from surfboard. New term to me.

4D: Weizman of Israel: EZER. President of Israel 1993-2000. I can never remember his name. Does it have any biblical meaning?

6D: Prickly husk: BUR. See this chestnut BUR. My brain just keeps BURping this word.

8D: Puzzling state: ENIGMA. This is so sensual. Do you like ENIGMA?

9D: Stomach acid inhibitor brand: ZANTAC. Do you know why most of the pills have scrabbly letter Z & X in their names?

10D: Spore sacs: ASCI. This is another word that I keep remembering and then keep forgetting. The singular is ascus.

12D: Follower of Jeremiah: EZEKIEL. Literally "God strengthens" in Hebrew language. Jeremiah is "God is high". I've never heard of these 2 Bible books. I was thinking of Obama's former pastor Jeremiah Wright.

22D: Netherlands city: BREDA. See BREDA? It's in southern Netherlands. Completely foreign to me. I wonder if it's on the road from Brussels to Amsterdam.

23D: Finishing tool: ADZ. And AXE (57A: Logger's tool). Tool is also a slang for male organ, right?

24D: Yves, to Yves: MOI. I like this clue.

39D: "Performance" director Nicolas: ROEG. Have never heard of "Performance". The poster does not look appealing to me.

40D: Street market: BAZAAR. I always confuse this word with bizarre.

47D: Elec. duplicate: FAX. Why "duplicate"?

62D: "The Time Machine" people: ELOI. Aramaic for "My god". They serve as the food for Morlocks. How awful.

65D: Amer. letters: USS. The navy carrier USS America. Can you come up with a better clue for USS? I understand his logic abbreviating "Amer.", but somehow it annoys me.

C.C.

Monday December 29, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Unmovable Vehicles

20A: "An Aperture Monograph" photographer: DIANE ARBUS

59A: Guy with "really big shew": ED SULLIVAN

11D: Cher film: MOONSTRUCK

29D: Island off Africa: MADAGASCAR

Hmm, we need a *JEEP for a pangram grid. But still, this puzzle will rank high in scrabbliness, with three X'es, two Z's, two V's and one Q, all hallmarks of a Allan E. Parrish puzzle.

I was not familiar with the book "An Aperture Monograph" or the photographer DIANE ARBUS. What is a "Monograph" anyway?

I wish ENOS (23A: Son of Seth) were clued as "Slaughter of Cooperstown" and EXPO (12D: Large intl. show) were clued as "National, formally". So together with ORTIZ (17A: Baseball's "Big Papi"), they would form a nice baseball sub-theme. Too bad, David ORTIZ was hurt all the time when he was with the Twins.

I hope we get a Barry Silk puzzle soon. I miss his wicked Q's.

Across:

1A: Belle or Bart: STARR. Only knew Bart STARR, Packers' quarterback, and Ringo STARR, not Belle.

9A: Packing heat: ARMED. OK, tell me why the answer for "Looking for big bucks?" is IN HEAT?

14A: Minor prophet: HOSEA. What's the difference between a "Minor prophet" and a major one? Who decides that?

16A: Two-month pope of 1605: LEO XI. This would have been a tricky one without the crossing help, you know, it could be LEO IX, LEO II, LEO IV or LEO VI.

18A: Latin 101 verb: AMO

19A: Parkinson's medication: L-DOPA. Another "My Pet Goat" moment for me. How can I remember this weird medicine name?

24A: Brandy letters: VSO

25A: Some binary compounds: OXIDES. Whatever you say. I know nothing about chemical compound.

27A: Salinger girl: ESME. Salinger's "For ESME – with Love and Squalor". Learned it from doing Xword.

32A: Type of gong: TAM TAM. I tend to confuse this one with Tom Tom drum.

36A: Mont of the Alps: BLANC. Does anyone own a Montblanc pen? This one looks very expsensive.

37A: Episcopal cleric: VICAR

40A: Hit by Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas: BAD TO ME. No idea. Here is the clip. I went from BED TIME to BAD TIME, then BAD TO ME.

42A: Follow-up to a hit film, maybe: PREQUEL. I am eager to see "Angels & Demons", a PREQUEL to "The Da Vinci Code".

45A: Socialite Perle: MESTA. My brain keeps rejecting this name.

47A: Ticket: DUCAT. New slang to me.

57A: Richie's mom, to Fonzie: MRS. C

64A: Copier brand: RICOH. Canon and Xerox both have 5-letter too.

68A: Writer Calvino: ITALO. His name has become a gimme to me.

73A: SALT topic: N-TEST

Down:

1D: Like broken horses: SHOD. Why "broken"?

3D: Cinema canine: ASTA. TOTO is 4-letter too.

7D: Ice-smoothing machine: ZAMBONI. I was so happy I nailed this one. Have never been to a hockey game.

8D: Plains people: SIOUX. I like some of their names: Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, so evocative.

13D: Portuguese explorer: DIAS. He discovered Cape of Good Hope.

28D: Drudge: SLAVE

33D: What to make with Monty?: A DEAL. I guessed. I've never heard of "Let's Make a DEAL". Did not know who Monty is.

34D: Valetta's island: MALTA. Interesting "honey" etymology. Now I want a jar of MALTA honey. A bit trivia: MALTA is the smallest EU member.

36D: Ajax rival: COMET

41D: Reagan's attorney general: MEESE (Ed). If confirmed, Eric Holder will be our first African-American AG.

43D: Result of division: QUOTIENT. Have you taken a IQ test before? I have not. I fear I am borderline.

49D: Pop brand: RC COLA. Have never tasted this cola before. That's a great 1969 Mets collectible I suppose.

54D: Morris or Stewart of Arizona: UDALL. No idea. Stewart UDALL is JFK and LBJ's Secretary of the Interior. Morris UDALL ran for the president in 1976. I wonder what's the origin of this UDALL. It sounds so made-up to me.

56D: Composer Berg: ALBAN. Got his name from across fills.

58D: "Norma Rae" director Martin: RITT. New name to me also. Wikipedia says he also directed "Hud" and "The Long Hot Summer" . He must like Paul Newman a lot then.

61D: Clinging flora: VINE. Nice morning glory VINE. Rise and Shine!

C.C.

Friday December 26, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Vowel Progression

17A: Kitchen items: FRYING PANS

26A: Spots for tots: PLAYPENS

37A: Certain hair clips: BOBBY PINS

52A: Legendary coloratura soprano: LILY PONS

61A: Some cartoons: VISUAL PUNS

This reminds of Sallie's "facetious"comment several days ago. It has all the vowels in it and all the vowels are in proper order.

OK, if LILY PONS made the Times' cover, she has to be a legend then. I wanted her name to be LILY POND. But it broke the P_NS theme pattern.

Nice to see VISUAL PUNS in a grid, after our discussion of "Pinkie" several weeks ago.

Was disappointed by the SASHA (54D: Skater Cohen ) clue. You would think "Obama's daughter" is now famous enough to appear in our puzzle. I bet our editor "can't handle the truth", otherwise, he would have clued MEN (8D) as "A Few Good __''. This "Game pieces" clue bores me to pieces now.

Across:

6A: Sgt. Preston's crew: RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). I did not know who Sgt. Preston is. That dog looks very loyal.

16A: Bonn mister: HERR. Frau's husband.

26A: 1996 British Open winner: LEHMAN (Tom). Gimme for me. Pride of Minnesota. He was unstoppable in 1996. Then Tiger burst into the scene and you know what happened after that.

29A: Flash flood: FRESHET. New word to me.

40A: Pear choice: BOSC. I love Hosui (Asian Pear) more. It's crisper and sweeter.

44A: Hops kilns: OASTS. Do you know why there is always a white cone atop those OASTS?

48A: Latin I word: AMO. "I love". How to say "I love you, honey" in Latin?

49A: Jolie movie: GIA. Know the movie, have never seen it.

50A: Irish lass: COLLEEN. Got it this time.

55A: Thin layer: LAMINA. Thought of veneer.

55A: Lake Titicaca location: ANDES. See this map. New lake to me.

65A: Ringlet: CURL

67A: Principal artery: AORTA

70A: Brittany port: BREST. The red dot on the left. I just learned this city name the other day when LAIT was clued as "Milk of BREST" in another puzzle. Kind of DF, isn't it?

Down:

1D: Spanky's pal: ALFALFA. No idea. Have never heard of Our Gang before. Strange name.

2D: Certain writing implements: MARKERS

3D: Subjects for analysts: PSYCHES

9D: On-base mil. stores: PXS (Post Exchange). New abbreviation to me.

13D: Karen of "Little House on the Prairie": GRASSLE. Would not have got her name without across fills.

22D: Dancer Charisse: CYD. Alien to me also. Wow, look at this picture. She looks stunning. She is in "Singin' in the Rain".

24D: "Morning Joe" airer: MSNBC. The only MSNBC program I watch every day is "Hardball". Joe Scarborough appears as a guest from time to time.

27D: City near Santa Barbara: LOMPOC. According to Wikipedia, the name of the city is derived from a Chumash word "Lum Poc" meaning "little lake" or "lagoon". Not a familiar name to me. Here is the map.

30D: Underground Railroad leader: TUBMAN (Harriet). Is there a movie made about her life?

35D: Pathetic start?: SYM. Sympathetic.

38D: Actor Scott: BAIO. He looks familiar. I must have seen him somewhere before. But his name meant nothing to me.

39D: Vincent Lopez theme song: NOLA. See this clip. I just keep forgetting this song title.

49D: Nav. by satellite: GPS (Global Positioning System). Or "Family MD".

58D: Crisp bread: RUSK. See here for more information. It's the same as zwieback (twice-baked bread).

C.C.

Friday December 19, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Have an AX to Grind

17A: Kenny G, e.g.: SAX PLAYER

24A: Modern message-sender: FAX MACHINE

37A: Like most charitable contributions: TAX DEDUCTIBLE

50A: Corporal of the 4077th: MAX KLINGER

61A: Rhapsodize: WAX POETIC

Hammer fell for me! So many unfamiliar proper names.

Got the theme rather quickly and filled in all the AX'es. But ZLOTYS (45D: Polish cash) intersects ELEAZAR? Impossible for me. Also, the clue for 50A meant nothing to me. I've never watched M*A*S*H.

Why abbreviated "Fr." for A DEUX (7D: Of two: Fr.) clue?

Across:

1A: Garfield for one: CAT. Garfield's pal is ODIE.

4A: Dazzling display: ECLAT. Very close to ECLAIR in spelling.

9A: Egg-shaped: OVATE. And OVA (35A: Eggs).

14A: Mary of "Where Eagles Dare": URE. Another "My Pet Goat" freezing moment for me. I can never remember the name of this actress.

16A: Brett of the gridiron: FAVRE. A rare gimme for me. Lots of Green Bay Packers flags & signs in our neighborhood. Weird to see him in Jets jersey.

19A: Thematic musical piece: FUGUE. This kid probably knows more about Bach's Prelude and FUGUE than I ever could.

23A: Crisp or Chanel: COCO. I think this is the first time that COCO Crisp appears in any nationally syndicated puzzle. He was just traded to the Royals.

29A: Small hill: KNOLL. It reminded me of the Grassy KNOLL & Dealey Plaza. Personally, I think Caroline Kennedy is trying to fulfill her brother's dream when she announced her interest in Hillary's seat. JFK Jr. was seriously contemplating running for the Senate before he died.

31A: Overturned: UPENDED

32A: Begin, for example: ISRAELI. Good clue. Menachem BEGIN. He won Nobel Peace in 1979, together with Anwar Sadat.

41A: Eclipse or Stride: GUM

42A: Tenon holder: MORTISE. Here is the diagram again.

43A: Dartmouth founder Wheelock: ELEAZAR. I googled his name.

46A: T. Garr movie: MR. MOM. I had zero familiarity with this movie.

56A: Fifth of CCCV: LXI. Roman 61. That will be the Super Bowl of 2027.

57A: QB stats: INTS. Interceptions I suppose. All I know about football is TDS.

66A: Salad bar item: BAC~OS. New to me. Is it tasty?

67A: Medicinal plant: SENNA. The "Tuscany city" is SIENA. And the "Earth pigment" is SIENNA. And of course, there is also the actress SIENNA Miller. Also HENNA, "Reddish Dye".

Down:

1D: "Serendipity" star John: CUSACK. I saw the movie. Very silly.

2D: Region of Spain: ARAGON. It's the region where Catherine of ARAGON came from I presume.

3D: Chevron's 2001 merger partner: TEXACO

4D: Emigrant's subject: ESL (English as a Second Language)

5D: Grain husks: CHAFF

6D: Clapton classic: LAYLA. Here is the clip. What does "Unplugged" mean?

8D: Tuesday god: TYR. Norse god of strife. Wikipedia says he is often portrayed as a "one-handed man". New to me.

10D: Slugger Mo: VAUGHN. Gimme for me. His baseball card is not worth anything.

12D: Play about Capote: TRU

18D: Long-winded: PROLIX. New word to me.

22D: American elk: WAPITI

25D: Penalize by fining: MULCT. This word just looks so wrong.

26D: Billy of Rock: IDOL. Wow, I am glad I've never heard of him before.

27D: Actress Campbell: NEVE. I liked her in "Party of Five".

28D: Writer LeShan: EDA. Would not have got her name without the across fills.

30D: Hippie drug: LSD. Did anyone actually try this drug in the 1960's?

37D: City south of Moscow: TULA. Foreign to me. See this map.

38D: NYSE rival: AMEX. Can you believe that Barnard Madoff was once the NASDAQ Chairman?

40D: Wodehouse's Wooster: BERTIE. No idea. See here for more information.

44D: Quite alike: AKIN TO

47D: Lola or Maria: MONTEZ. Lola MONTEZ was a dancer, and Maria MONTEZ was an actress. I knew neither of them.

52D: Gas giant: EXXON. It's merged with Mobil in 1999

53D: Wisconsin college: RIPON. Another new name to me. RIP ON, why would they pick up this name?

58D: Dubya's Florida brother: JEB. Molly Ivins coined "Dubya". Boy, she sure had a biting tongue.

60D: Vert. bars on goods: UPC

61D: London loos: WCS. Needs "briefly" in the clue.

62D: Volga tributary: OKA. I got this river from the across fills. Too many vowel-laden rivers in Europe.

C.C.

Wednesday December 10, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: SKI Trails (Famous Polish Americans)

20A: "Morning Joe" co-host: MIKA BRZEZINSKI

38A: 1967 Triple Crown winner: CARL YASTRZEMSKI

55A: Longtime Duke coach: MIKE KRZYZEWSKI

SKI is "of", like English suffix "son", Norweigian "sen" and Spanish "ez". Irish put their O' and Mac in the middle, so do Arabs with their "ibn" and Italians with their "di/de". Does anyone know what's the difference between "di" and "de"? What would be my name in Polish? Xi'anski?

I only knew 55A as "Coach K". And Seattle Slew popped into my brain for 38A. I was thinking of the racing Triple Crown. I've actually got quite a few Carl Yastrzemski baseball cards. But I did not know that he is a triple crown winner. Even if I did, I would not know how to write out his surname.

As for Mika Brzezinski, I think I will know how to spell her family name when hell freezes over. There is a reason why Jim Miklaszewski (NBC Pentagon correspondent) is called "Mik".

Did you have a hard time with this puzzle? I didn't. I googled those three names very early on. And now I have got absolutely no satisfaction from filling in all the blanks. Such an empty feeling. Terrible. From now on, I will only seek Google as a last resort.

Did you notice the style difference between Barry Silk and Allan E. Parrish? Both of them are great creators of scrabbly puzzles. But Silk uses lots of Q's, while Parrish is an expert on Z's. I often found letter Q missing in his puzzles.

Across:

1A: Richie's mom, Fonzie-style: MRS. C

14A: Junior of the NFL: SEAU. He is a 12-time Pro-Bowl linebacker for the Patriots.

16A: Like the Arctic: POLAR. My first reaction is frigid.

18A: Israeli weapons: UZIS

24A: Chilean catch: SEA BASS. Why "Chilean"?

25A: Maker of 6D: MOTOROLA And 6D: Slim cell phone brand: RAZR. Does anyone have a iPhone?

32A: Ancient Turkish city: ADANA. Here is the map again. I simply forgot. Identical clue in this constructor's last puzzle. Wikipedia says ADANA is the fifth most populous city of Turkey.

42A: Deep __ bend: KNEE. Gym term?

43A: "Science of Logic" philosopher: HEGEL. See this book cover. Unknown to me.

48A: School of Paris: SORBONNE. Here is a list of famous SORBONNE graduates. I did not see Jackie Kennedy there.

50A: Old name for a 2-wood: BRASSIE. I thought of mashie, which is 5-iron.

54A: Like some NYC theaters: OOB. OOB is Off-Off-Broadway.

65A: High: pref.: ALTI. Like altitude.

67A: French WWI fighter planes: SPADS. The plane is an aronym of its manufacturer Societé Pour Aviation et ses Dérivés. Foreign to me.

Down:

2D: 20 quires: REAM. Nice trivia.

4D: Swiss ticker: CUCKOO. CUCKOO clock?

5D: Mixer: CLUB SODA

7D: Yavapai Coll. state: ARIZ. I've never heard of Yavapai Coll. Curt Schilling's alma mater.

9D: Way from Rome to Brindisi: APPIAN. My first encounter with APPIAN Way. Wikipedia states that it "was the most important ancient Roman road".

10D: Romantic light: MOONBEAM

11D: "I Still See __" ("Paint Your Wagon"song): ELISA. Here is the song. Unknown to me. I've never seen Clint Eastwood in a musical before.

13D: Gilmore of basketball: ARTIS. What a strange name, ARTIS, ART IS (long?). It's begging for a T.

22D: Buddhist discipline: ZEN. SATORI is often clued as "Zen enlightenment".

27D: Shredded: TORE. 51D: Shred: RIP UP

28D: Whip-wielder LaRue: LASH. Is he well-known? I've never met this guy before.

40D: Focuses (on): ZEROES IN

46D: Glacial ridges: ESKERS. New word to me also.

47D: 3/23/01 Newsmaker: MIR. It's de-orbed on this date. I would not have got MIR without the across fills.

50D: Coll. hotshots: BMOCS. BMOC is Big Man on Campus.

52D: Japanese dog: AKITA. This clue made me think of Mkat. She used to comment here often, together with Katherine and Dennis.

53D: Pound and Stone: EZRAS. Knew the poet Pound, not Stone.

58D: Swiss painter: KLEE. I don't know what he tried to express with this "Flower Myth", do you? Is it something DF?

59D: Holm oak: ILEX. I got the answer after I cheated on coach K's name. Both the clue and the answere were new to me. ILEX sounds like an animal, like IBEX. Holy hotwick curvy horns!

C.C.

Friday December 5, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Roy Orbison Hits

20A: Hit by singer who died 12/6/88: ONLY THE LONELY

35A: See 20A: RUNNING SCARED

54A: See 20A: OH, PRETTY WOMAN

Too bad today is not Dec 6. It would have been a perfectly timed tribute.

Argyle probably enjoyed this puzzle. Roy Orbison is one of his favorite singers. I was only familiar with "OH, PRETTY WOMAN". I struggled getting into this constructor's wavelength. So many unfamiliar names.

I loved the clue for OCTOPUS (27A: Entree that serves eight?). I also liked how POEM (61A: Wordsworth work) intersects RHYME (51D: Poetic match). But why "Poetic" clue when POEM is the answer? I really hate our editor's lack of attention to details.

Across:

1A: IBM offerings: PCS. I don't understand what's so cool about Macs.

4A: Evil org. in Bond novels: SMERSH. I forgot. All I could think of is QUANTUM.

10A: GameCube competitor: XBOX. Or "Playstation" competitor.

15A: Kiribati capital: TARAWA. See this map. Unknown to me. I did not know where Kiribati is.

16A: Top choice, slangily: FAVE

18A: Movie category: ACTION. Or "Director's cry".

19A: Footnote wd.: IBID. "In the same place" in footnotes. I wonder if there is any way to clue IBID as I BID.

24A: Jordan/Bunny film: SPACE JAM. New film to me.

32A: Peter and a Wolfe: NEROS. Here is Peter NERO practicing Chopin Etude. I've never heard of his name before.

34A: Nabokov novel: PNIN. I memorized this novel from doing Xword. Without the P, I would have filled in SESAME for 34D: Magic word (PRESTO).

41A: Ballteam skipper Joe: TORRE. I misread the clue as "Ballteam clipper Joe", so I was thinking of Joe DiMaggio. Why "Ballteam"?

42A: Hobbit ally: ELF. I guessed. Have never read Tolkien's work. Would be a gimme if the clue were "Santa's ally".

46A: Twisted wool: WORSTED. Such a strange looking noun.

50A: Enzo's automobiles: FERRARIS. Another guess. I forgot who Enzo was. I actually read his bio last week and could not understand what "mule-shoer" is.

53A: Hokkaido port: OTARU. See this map. Foreign port to me.

57A: Osbourne of rock: OZZY

59A: Arctic attire: ANORAK. New name to me also. Inuit people are of Asian race, right?

62A: Notably the '72 Dolphin defense: NO-NAME. I was not aware of this. Only knew they had a perfect season.

64A: Cornmeal bread: PONE. And TAMALE (47D: Hacienda hot meal). Do you like Thai style fish wrapped in banana leaf?

65A: Stylish: DRESSY

66A: Byrnes or Hall: EDD. I kind of like "Hall of fame" for EDD.

Down:

1D: Mount __, PA: POCONO. Is it the same as POCONO Mountains?

2D: Carson character: CARNAC. I did not know this role.

4D: Big house: STATE PEN

5D: Austrian physicist Ernest: MACH. I googled. Can never remember this guy's name.

8D: Dives like an eagle: SWOOPS

9D: "__ and Her Sisters": HANNAH. One of the few Woody Allen movies that I liked.

10D: Case for Scully and Mulder: X-FILE

11D: Bette's title character of '62: BABY JANE. No idea. I have zero familiarity with this movie.

13D: Signed, kind of: XED

21D: Ms. de Carlo: YVONNE. She played Lily Munster.

22D: Author Umberto: ECO. He escaped my memory this morning. I used to remember him.

26D: Game pieces: MEN

28D: Swiss canton: URI. Or "Spoon-bender Geller".

33D: E. Bilko's rank: SGT. Another unknown film to me.

36D: Thawed out: UNFROZEN

38D: __-Magnon: CRO. Why not "Magnon opening?". It sounds more interesting, doesn't it?

39D: Cursor relocator: ARROW KEY

50D: Playboy's founder, fondly: HEF. This guy seems to wear pajamas all year long.

44D: Thing to do: ERRAND

45D: Certain claim holder: LIENOR

49D: Immersed: DUNKED. I SOAKED first.

52D: Boulder: STONE. I wanted ROCK.

C.C.

Friday November 28, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Same Rhymes

18A: Comden/Green musical: AUNTIE MAME

24A: Rainout remedy: MAKEUP GAME

37A: University of South Bend: NOTRE DAME

54A: Cooperstown attraction: HALL OF FAME

61A: Delano or Alva, e.g.: MIDDLE NAME

I wish I could say "I CAME, I saw, I conquered". With all those ?AME endings, you would think I should have finished this puzzle without googling or wite-out.

I love the appearance of SURI (33A: Daughter of Tom Cruise). I also like the clueing of ALASKAN (3D: Palin, to name one). I could picture this constructor having fun working out his puzzle rather than sitting in the libary and laboring over some archaic fills.

I only wish LONGA (7D: Ars__, vita brevis) were clued differently. You know, with MAME, GAME, DAME, FAME and NAME, don't you think LONG A would be a better fill? How about the clue "LAME part?"

Across:

5A: Moolah: GELT. I've never heard of this slang before.

9A: Canada's __ National Park: BANFF. I bet no other English word ends with *NFF. What a strange name! I like how BANFF intersects NIAGARA (11D: Famous falls).

14A: Stitch's sidekick: LILO. I can never remember this Disney film. Always confuse LILO with REN ("Stimpy's pal").

15A: Melville novel: OMOO. The "Typee" sequel.

16A: Historian Durant: ARIEL. I would not have got this name without the down fills. I am more familiar with "Disney's Little Mermaid" clue. ARIEL Durant and her husband spent over 40 years writing "The Story of Civilization", and they died within 2 weeks of each other. How moving! I like this Will Durant quote: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within".

17A: Comet rival: AJAX

20A: Legendary Cardinal: MUSIAL (Stan). A rare gimme for me. He is in HOF.

22A: Stan of sax jazz: GETZ

27A: "Bambi" character: ENA. Also the "Spanish queen".

52A: Toshiba rival: NEC

53A: Channel island: SARK. See this map. It's new to me.

59A: Golf warning: FORE. I think the most dangerous shot in golf is shank. Are you a hooker or a slicer?

64A: Australian lake: EYRE. It's in South Australia. Saw this clue somewhere before. I am sure Jane EYRE is happy to stay away from this unwanted Xword limelight.

66A: Reebok rival: AVIA. The other 4-letter rival is FILA.

67A: Weizman of Israel: EZER. I googled. EZER Weisman was Israel's 7th President (1993-2000).

69A: Ex-Georgia Senator Miller: ZELL. I watched and loved this interview, but I forgot the senator's name. I wanted Zoey.

Down:

1D: Big house: SLAMMER. Slang for prison. "Big House" is new to me. I was thinking of mansion.

2D: San Diego's sister city: TIJUANA. The answer revealed itself after I filled in the surrounds. I did not know this before.

4D: Roker of "The Jeffersons": ROXIE. Which one is Roker? I've never heard of this actress or "The Jeffersons". I am surprised that ROXIE is not clued as "Velma's rival in "Chicago", since this constructor seems to be in a rival mood today.

5D: Gridiron upright: GOAL POST

6D: Big bird Down Under: EMU. Look at this EMU egg. Is it edible?

8D: Kind of pole: TOTEM

9D: Joan of folk: BAEZ. Here is Joan BAEZ and Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind". I think I like Peter, Paul and Mary's version.

13D: Language of Flanders: FLEMISH. Most Belgians seem to be fluent in French, FLEMISH and English.

25D: Natural vessel: GOURD. This reminds of my grandma's GOURD scooper. What's the difference between GOURD and squash?

26D: Normand of silent movies: MABEL. She appeared in many movies with Chaplin. I've never heard of her name before.

42D: Fulminations: TIRADES. "Fulmination" is a new word to me. The spelling is so similar to fumigation.

45D: Break down: ANALYZE. Do you like "ANALYZE This"?

46D: Imation rival: MEMOREX. I had no familarity with MEMOREX.

47D: Ham actor's nosh: SCENERY. See Chew the SCENERY origin.

56D: Tear out: LEAVE. Is this a slang? I've never heard of it.

57D: Tears out: FLEES. I used to be very bothered by the same clue for different answers. Not any more. It's not a crossword construction sin.

59D: "___ Joy" (1972 Supremes hit): FLOY. New song to me.

63D: Inch fraction: MIL. Brewers fans probably want another clue for MIL.

C.C.

Saturday November 8, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

This does not feel like an Allan E. Parrish puzzle, does it? There are no Z, Q or X. I think Barry Silk's puzzles are more consistent, with all those scrabbly letters.

I just had a quick look at my blog summery earlier. Since Jan 21, we've solved 45 Alan P. Olschwang puzzles, 28 Alan E. Parrish, 25 Michael T. Williams, 20 Barry Silk and 18 Josiah Breward. I wish John Underwood could be more productive. Some of Norma Steinberg's and Stan Whitten's puzzles are very entertaining too.

I don't expect much grumbling about this puzzle today. Pretty straightforward cluing. Most of the new words are obtainable from the adjacent fills. The clue for TRADE NAME (33D: Corporate ID) should not be abbreviated.

Across:

1A: '80 arcade game: MS. PAC-MAN. Stumper for me. I only knew PAC-MAN.

15A: Bologna tongue: ITALIANO. Both Jude Law and Matt Damon are great in "The Talented Mr. Ripley". I like "Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano", though I don't understand the meaning of the lyrics.

17A: Denial: NEGATION

20A: Loss of memory: AMNESIA. I also love "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". It's about AMNESIA, lacunar AMNESIA to be exact.

23A: Show shock, e.g.: REACT. "It's not what happens to you, but how you REACT to it that matters". Hard to obtain Epictetus' stoical self-discipline though.

26A: NASA orbiter: ISS (International Space Station). Our editor likes to clue ESA as "NASA's ISS partner".

27A: 1997 Nicolas Cage movie: CON AIR. Some of it is too violent for my taste. I like the song "How Do I Live".

31A: Space station visitor: ASTRONAUT. I have an autographed John Glenn picture.

34A: Behind with bills: IN ARREARS

39A: Ones with a will: TESTATORS. What is the word for "Ones without a will"?

45A: Old-time actress Renee: ADOREE. I forgot. Saw this clue before. She was a silent film star. And she died when she was only 35, without a will.

46A: D-Day vessel: LST. It's used in "Saving Private Ryan".

55A: Aircraft pioneer: CESSNA (Clyde). Ha, I forgot all about him & his aircraft. My poor graying brain!

59A: Spanish pianist Jose: ITURBI. No idea. Here is ITUBRBI playing Chopin's "Fantaisie-Impromptu".

61A: Molded dishes: ASPICS. I am going to try this vegetable ASPIC someday. Marvelous idea to sprinkle over some pistachio nuts.

62A: Pittsburgh players: STEELERS. They have won 5 Super Bowls. Vikings: 0.

Down:

1D: Mediterranean island: MINORCA. Great map. See MINORA & Majorca? They belong to Spain. I've never heard of it before.

3D: Public spectacle: PAGEANT. What a mysterious case with that little PAGEANT princess JonBenet!

5D: Tickets: CITATIONS

12D: Vertical bar between panes: MULLION. Unknow to me. These are not MULLIONS, are they? They are horizontal.

24D: Piranha: CARIBE. No idea. Ozzi Guillen likes to call Twins players "Piranhas".

30D: Greek advisor at Troy: NESTOR. Another unknown. Dictionary says NESTOR is "the oldest and wisest of the Greeks in the Trojan War and a king of Pylos." He was an Argonaut and was 110 when the war started. I don't remember seeing him in "Troy".

32D: Conductor Toscanini: ARTURO. I forgot his name, again. He has appeared twice in our puzzle before. He was a conductor for the New York Philharmonic for 10 years (1926-1936). He looks so intense.

35D: One-time link: AT A. One AT A time.

36D: Island near Martinique: ST LUCIA. See this map.

37D: Mollycoddles: COSSETS. Any other synonym besides pampers?

40D: Mouth: ORIFICE

44D: French port on the channel: CALAIS. Forgot also. Shouldn't the clue be "French port on the English Channel"?

47D: "Countdown" network: MSNBC. I only watch "Hardball with Chris Matthews" now.

51D: Fractions of a joule: ERGS. 1 joule = 10 million ERGS.

52D: Frobe of "Goldfinger": GERT. No idea. Got his name from the across fills.

58D: Latvian chess maker: TAL (Mikhail). He was born in Riga, Latvia. See this picture. I've never heard of Iakov Damsky.

C.C.

Friday October 31, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: "Classical" Songs

17A: Hit by Della Reese and Puccini: DON'T YOU KNOW

39A: Hit by the Toys and Bach: A LOVER'S CONCERTO

65A: Hit by Eric Carmen and Rachmaninoff: ALL BY MYSELF

Is there a special term for this kind of classical music adapted song? Covering? Are there any other songs inspired by classical music?

This is Eric Carmen's "ALL BY MYSELF", and here is Rachmanioff's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor". I cannot really tell which part is plagiarized, can you?

Too many proper names in the grid. I was expecting a Halloween themed puzzle today.

I did not like the NAT clue (19A: Country: abbr.). "___ King Cole" would have fit the theme better. "Amtrak" should be added to the ACELA clue (15A: Bullet train).

Across:

1A: Mr. Basketball of the 1950s: MIKAN (George). He's a legend in Minnesota. Played for the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s. So sad that he had to sell his memorabilia to pay his medical cost.

6A: Sports commentator Albom: MITCH. ALBOM was clued as "Tuesdays With Morrie" author Mitch not long ago.

26A: Ms. enclosure: SAE

28A: Composer Schifrin: LALO. No idea. He composed the theme music for "Mission Impossible".

33A: "Original Sin" novelist: P. D. JAMES. I googled her name. What's the book about? (Southern Belle, thanks.)

37A: Rodeo type: LARIAT. What's the difference among LARIAT, lasso and riata?

44A: __ Island, NY: STATEN. Vaguely remember this Island from watching "Law & Order" reruns. Wikipedia says "Godfather" and "Working Girl" were shot there.

46A: Typical one: EPITOME. My first thought was EXAMPLE.

52A: Lawless princess?: XENA. Lucy Lawless has remarried. I wonder if she still keeps her Lawless surname.

57A: Part of CAP: PATROL. CAP is Civil Air PATROL. New to me.

68A: Stimpy's pal: REN. "You eediot!" Learned from doing Xword.

69A: Deejay Casey: KASEM. Another google for me. I've never listened to "American Top 40/20/10". Wikipedia says he provided the voice for Shaggy on "Scooby-Doo".

72A: Temples: SHULS. Somehow I always associate "Temples" with "pagodas". I suppose it's because I grew up in a city famous for its Wild Goose Pagoda, which is closer to downtown Xi'An than the Terra Cotta Warriors' Tomb.

Down:

1D: 1401: MCDI

4D: Montezuma, notably: AZTEC. Clue me next time! (San Diego State)

5D: Napoleon's commander at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). I am just so obsessed with this nickname: "bravest of the brave".

7D: Interior Secretary under FDR: ICKES (Harold L). Wikipedia says he is "the longest serving Cabinet officer of any department in U.S. history". His son Harold M. ICKES was Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff. (Note: James Wilson served as Secretary of Agriculture for 16 years under four presidents. Thanks, Jim Fratzke.)

11D: Small chicken: BANTAM. Named after the Indonesia city BANTAM. I've never heard of this breed of tiny chicken before.

13D: From the sublime to the ridiculous: BATHOS. I obtained this word after I cheated on P. D. JAMES. How is different from PATHOS?

32D: Long overcoat: ULSTER. Named after ULSTER the Irish province.

34D: ___ ladder: JACOB'S. Again, without P. D. JAMES, I would not have got this word. Remember Jacob's tears we had several weeks ago?

40D: West bank city: RAMALLAH. See this map. The Palestinian Authority is located there.

42D: Credit-tracking corp.: TRW. Unknown to me. It's now called Experian. So the clue should have "old" as a hint.

48D: Have in mind: INTEND

54D: Vocalist Mercer: MABEL. This is her "Isn't He Adorable". I've never heard of her before. "Vocalist" is the same as "Singer", right?

63D: Cookout brand: T-FAL. Do you own any Emerilware applicance?

66D: Baton Rouge sch.: LSU. The Fighting Tigers. Shaq's alma mater.

67D: Fashion letters: YSL. I am still in love with YSL Opium.

C.C.

Saturday October 25, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

Total words: 72

FYI, the maximum word count for a Saturday 15*15 themeless is 72 (78 for Monday-Friday themed puzzle and 142 for Sunday 21*21). The maximum block (black square) count for a 15*15 is 38, though LA Times sets a limit of 43.

I like today's grid. It looks pretty. Perfect symmetry of INTEGRA (2D: One-time Acura model) and ELANTRA (41D: Hyundai model).

But some of the clues/answers are way obscure to me. "Was in Bologna" (57D: ERO)? I don't even know what "Is" is in Bologna. Had never heard of DEIRDRE (59A: Ill-starred lady of Celtic legend). How sad, she committed suicide after her husband was murdered.

MACHO (47A) clue should be "He-man like" rather than "Heman like". The clue for SAME SEX (42D: Man-to-man?) just felt weird to me.

Across:

1A: Number on a letter: ZIP CODE

8A: Hockey-surface smoother: ZAMBONI. Not a hockey fan. Have never heard of ZAMBONI machine before. It's named after its inventor Frank ZAMBONI.

16A: Saw-tooth ranges: SIERRAS

17A: Was humiliated: ATE DIRT

18A: One type of signal transmission: AM RADIO. Do you know why some talk shows are on AM RADIO while some choose FM RADIO?

20A: Sternutations: SNEEZES. "Sternutation" is a new word to me. Strange, the verb "sternutate" is not a word in my dictionary.

26A: Kingston Trio hit: M.T.A. Here is the song. Learned from doing Xword. Their band name really sounds like a reggae group from Jamaica.

30A: Masonic doorkeeper: TILER. Was this a gimme to you? I was stumped last time and again today. It's also spelled as TYLER.

31A: City near Oakland: SAN MATEO. Wikipedia says both Merv Griffin and Tom Brady were born here.

33A: Initial ones: FIRSTS. I was thinking of ABCDE's.

35A: Hindu title: BABU. Funny "Seinfeld" BABU blooper.

36A: Prepare: GET SET

39A: Dissenting religious beliefs: HERESIES

45A: Electric-coil creator: TESLA. Struggled with this one also. I am used to the "Magnetic unit" clue.

49A: Whack: SLAM

50A: Free-throw value: ONE. Lots of NBA fans in China. I had never heard of baseball before I came to the US.

51A: Fishing weights: SINKERS. It's baseball term too.

54A: "Star Wars" character: HAN SOLO. What's your favorite Harrison Ford movie?

56A: Earliest flicks: SILENTS

61A: Charlie Parker's instrument: ALTO SAX. I could only think of SAXOPHONE.

Down:

8D: One Gabor: ZSA ZSA

9D: __ Semple McPherson: AIMEE. Absolutely no idea. Here is more information. Our editor used to clue AIMEE as "Actress Anouk".

12D: Tough times: ORDEALS

13D: Carpenter's tool: NAILSET. See this picture.

14D: Chemical compounds: ISOMERS. And ANE (53A: Chemical suffix).

21D: Within: pref.: ENTO. "Outside: pref." is ECTO.

24D: All together: EN MASSE. I wanted ENTIRE. I dislike how EN MASSE intersects AMASS (43A: Store up), visually jarring to me.

26D: Computer invaders: VIRUSES

28D: Revere's cohort: DAWES (William). I forgot. I think I googled his name before.

30D: Land of lamas: TIBET. I misread "lamas" as "llamas", so my first thought was PERU.

35D: D.C. suburb: BETHESDA. I forgot. It's in Maryland. According to Wikipedia, it's "the best-educated city in the United States of America with a population of 50,000 or more."

36D: Alternative fuel: GASOHOL. GASO(line) + (alco)HOL. I would not have got it without across clues. Only familiar with ethanol.

37D: Spring (from): EMANATE

40D: Archipelago segments: ISLANDS

47D: La Scala city: MILAN. And NY, London & Paris, fashion capitals of the world.

C.C.

Wednesday October 15, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: PRO (18D: Word before 17A, 57A, 11D and 25D) & CON (52D: Word before 17A, 57A, 11D and 25D)

17A: Davy Crockett portrayer: FESS PARKER

57A: Certain nuclear weapon: FUSION BOMB

11D:Early TV transmission: TEST PATTERN

25D: Plot: TRACT OF LAND

The clues for 18D & 52D are inaccurate. They are the words before the first word of above 4 theme entries.

I wonder if Mr. Parrish thought of extending CLAIM (10D: State as true) into CLAIM TO FAME (clued as EDMUND Hillary & Mt. Everest related), then we would have a PROCLAIM. Don't you think "Explorer Hillary" is a better clue for EMDUND (34D: Novelist White)? I've never heard of White before. Does he compare his works to Proust's?

I thought of 4 more phrases for another PRO themed puzzle: DUCT*, GRAM*, POSE* and FILE*. And BODY*, DOTE*, TRUST* and QUE* for an ANTI grid. "QUE será, será" will be an awesome theme answer.

(Addendum: Please ignore the above two paragraphs. I failed to see 52D clue and misread the whole theme of this creative puzzle).

Before I forget, do you know why "Pinkie" is cited as an example for visual pun? I can not grok it.

Across:

1A: "The Grapes of Wrath" family: JOAD. Without J from JIF (1D: Peter Pan rival), I would not have got this one. Can never remember this name.

5A: Clever remarks: QUIPS. I really have difficulty in understanding the cleverness in Allan P. Olschwang's QUIPS.

10A: Keyboard key: CTRL. Wish it were clued as "PC Key" to indicate an abbreviation, but theoretically the clue is flawless.

16A: "Star War" princess: LEIA. Carrie Fisher co-hosted TCM's "The Essentials" with Robert Osbourne for a short period of time. TCM should be a solid answer for clue 30A: "All-films stn. " (AMC), right?

19A: Author of "The Nazarene": ASCH (Sholem). I forgot. He appeared in our puzzle before. He wrote in Yiddish. Is "Sholem" the same as "Shalom"?

21A: Paper boss: EDITOR. It's sad that the NY Sun newspaper was shut down. I seldom solved their puzzles though, too hard for me.

23A: Beat circuits: PATROLS. I would prefer PATROLS clued as a verb.

27A: Dublin's land: EIRE. Have not seen ERIN for a long time.

38A: ASCAP's counterpart: BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated). I am more familiar with Body Mass Index.

41A: Letters for shock treatment: ECT (ElectroConvulsive Therapy). Absolutely no idea.

45A: 1904 roadster: REO. I did not know it was introduced in 1904.

51A: Legal go-ahead: LICENSE

55A: "Tuesdays with Morrie": ALBOM (Mitch). He also wrote "The Five People You Meet in Heaven".

62A: Brass element: ZINC. Do multivitamins really help? What's your favorite brand? I have a hard time swallowing those big pills.

63A: "The Maltese Falcon" co-star: ASTOR (Mary). Have never seen this movie.

64A: Pasternak character: LARA. Refreshing clue. Our editor likes cluing LARA as "Dr. Zhivago's love". Yuri is also 4-letter. Nice pictures for "LARA's Theme". Simple, beautiful music, probably one of the best movie theme music.

Down:

3D: __ longa, vita brevis: ARS. It's clued as "___ gratia artis" last time.

4D: Identifiable as a unit: DISCRETE. The clue feels odd to me.

5D: Shrank in fear: QUAILED. I only know QUAIL as birds.

9D: Final run: STRETCH. I would love STRETCH to be clued as seventh-inning related to pair up with HOMER (29D: Round-tripper). I am rooting for Phillies and Rays. How about you?

13D: Lion of Oz: LAHR (Bert). Very strange surname, hard to remember.

24D: Top flier: AIR ACE. "Take My Breath Away" popped into my mind.

32D: La ___, WI: CROSSE. I wonder if the constructor considered putting in LACROSSE as a fill.

38D: A/C figures: BTUS

40D: Matched outfit: ENSEMBLE

43D: Singer Gloria: ESTEFAN. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".

44D: ___ Bridge (NYC span): TRIBORO. When will it officially become RFK Bridge?

47D: "Billy __ ": ELLIOT. No, I've never heard of the movie or the musical. Only know "Mama" Cass ELLIOT.

53D: Haagen- ___: DAZS. I really like mochi ice cream.

55D: Hammett's terrier: ASTA. Toto is probably jealous of ASTA's status in our crossword world. He also has two vowels in his name.

59D: Single grain: OAT. I don't understand this clue. Why "Single grain"?

60D: Richie's father, to Fonzie: MR. C

C.C.