Friday July 11, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: ROOM (59A: Word that can follow 18A, 39A, 60A, 3D and 31D)

18A: Seasonal theater: SUMMER STOCK

39A: Foul-shooter's miss: AIR BALL

60A: City near Norfolk: NEWPORT NEWS

3D: Forecaster, of sorts: OUIJA BOARD

31D: Non-swimmer's hangout: WADING POOL

Hmm, room, MUSHroom... Is MOREL season over yet? Hard, hard puzzle! The letter "Z" of HERZOG and METZ intersection simply refused to crumble, the same with the K from ONKP/KAYE crossing.

Sub-theme: "I am Woman"

28A: "Hedda__": GABLER. Ibsen's play. New to me.

38A: Ms. Thurman: UMA

42A: "Ninotchka" star: GARBO (Greta)

66A: Lennon's love: ONO

4D: Glasgow girl: LASSIE

6D: "La ___ Nikita": FEMME. I like Peta Wilson's "La FEMME Nikita".

7D: Salinger girl: ESME. "For ESME with Love and Squalor" heroine.

45D: Caron title role: GIGI. Colette's work. Pretty good. "Love, my dear GIGI, is a thing of beauty like a work of art, and like a work of art it is created by ARTISTS (10D: Monet and Manet)."

53D: Deborah of "Quo Vadis": KERR. Not familiar with this film at all. "Quo Vadis" is Latin for "Where are you going". Japanese probably know this move movie very well.

54D: Org. founded in 1858: YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association)

I suppose A-LINE (48A: Dress shapes) should be added to the above list too. The clue for DEGAS (33D: "Women Drying Her Feet") is a very interesting & deliberate choice. Is there any hidden BATHroom concept here?

Feels like this constructor likes impressionist painting. I wonder why he did not clue "Mary Cassatt, e.g." for ARTISTS (18A), it would add more feminine touch to the puzzle.

Boy, it would be so easy for him (if he has not) to create another similiar *ROOM themed puzzle with some simple yet sensual words like BED, ELBOW, LEG & WIGGLE. All he needs to do is to spend 10 minutes looking at Renoir's various "After BATH" paintings.

Across:

1A: Blood-typing letters: ABO

8A: Acted as a leader: HEADED

16A: Nobelist Fermi: ENRICO. Nuclear Physicist. Nobel winner 1938. Been clued 2 since Jan 21.

17A: Israeli gun: UZI

20A: Voodoo charms: MOJOS. Do you carry a lucky charm? If so, what is it?

22A: City near Nancy: METZ. Here is a map. I see METZ, but Bill, where is Nancy?

26A: "Bonanza" role: HOSS. No idea. Which one is HOSS?

30A: Pennypincher: TIGHTWAD. New word to me.

45A: Sphinx location: GIZA. The Great Sphinx of GIZA.

51A: Coach Amos Alonzo ___: STAGG. Foreign to me. I am not into college football at all. Sounds like a very accomplished renaissance sports man, a perfect model for Twins' catcher Joe Mauer.

52A: Terrier breed: SKYE. It's clued as "Scottish terrier" on March 25.

55A: Per unit: A POP

57A: Pickled-peppers picker Peter: PIPER. Pure guess. I thought PIPER has something to do with rats.

65A: Comic Danny: KAYE. No idea. Wikipedia says he was the original owner of Seattle Mariners.

67A: Talked to God: PRAYED. And 11D: God of Spain: DIOS. And 27D: Synagogue: SHUL. A slight undercurrent of religiosity here.

69A: Quick getaway: LAM. And meet Karena LAM, the incredibly talented actress from Hongkong. FYI, LAM is a very common surname in Cantonese speaking regions. It's a variant of Mandarin Chinese LIN meaning forest.

DOWN:

2D: Knucklehead: BOZO

8D: Director Werner: HERZOG. No, no, I've never heard of this "German New Wave Movement" director. HERZOG means "duke" in German, according to Wikipedia.

9D: Nixon has two: ENS. 2 letter N's in his name.

12D: Behold, Nero!: ECCE. I like how ECCE intersects I SEE (23A: Got it).

13D: Okey-_: DOKE. I always thought it's "Okey-DOKEY".

19D: Part of PETA: ETHICAL

21D: Capital on the Aker: OSLO. And 29D: Capital on the Jabbok: AMMAN. Wild guess. I have no idea that Jabbok is a river in Jordan. I like the consistent cluing pattern of these 2 answers.

28D: Overcharge: GOUGE. One of these days, the crude oil will drop $25/barrel.

30D: Roman river: TIBER

32D: Transfixed: AGAZE

36D: Prevent by anticipatory action: PREEMPT

43D: Standard salary: BASE PAY

47D: Equipped: GEARED

49D: Ran out: LAPSED

56D: Working in a mess?: ON KP (Kitchen Police). Toughie for me. Not familiar with this GI term.

58D: Old lab burner: ETNA. I've never heard of it. Does it look like this?

C.C.

Friday July 4, 2008 John Underwood

Theme: INDEPENDENCE DAY (17A: Today)

27A: Today's celebrant: THE UNITED STATES

46A: Today's colors: RED WHITE AND BLUE

61A: Today's song: GOD BLESS AMERICA

Were John Underwood a woman, I would shout "BRAVA" (16A) to him for this great puzzle. Wow, look at those 15-letter theme answers running through the grid, amazing!

Both OBSERVE (45D: Keep an eye on) and TGIF (52D: End-of-the-week cheer) are brilliant answers for today in my opinion. And Shish KEBAB (57A: Food on a stick) is an ideal grilled dish to be served on the 4th of July. Large shrimps, bell pepper cubes & chunks of fresh pineapple on a skewer, hmmm, delicious!

It's also nice to see both MOM (63D: May honoree) and DAD (23A: Father) appear in the same grid, but why DAD is not clued as "June honoree"? I like the way FREEMAN intersects INDEPENDENCE DAY, and BAD IDEA (7D: I wouldn't, if I were you) balances out WE'LL SEE (44D). Very nice.

I hate the clues for OATS (45A: Feedbag contents) due to FEEDS (67A: Flows into) and BIEN (58D: Well in France) because of WE'LL SEE (44D). "Très BIEN" would be parfait!

New words/names to me today: ELISA, ARPEL, BRAVA, ERI TU & RAYE.

ACROSS:

1A: Normandy town: ST. LO. Reagan's (or rather Peggy Noonan's) patriotic masterpiece D-Day "The Boys of Pointe du Hoc" speech popped into my mind earlier this morning: "...These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war..." Look, Pointe du Hoc is so close to ST. LO & Caen.

14A: Dnieper port: KIEV. I've never heard of the Dnieper River before. But KIEV is easily obtainable here.

15A: Gentleman caller: BEAU. I don't get this one. "Caller", what does that mean? (Update later: "Gentleman caller" is "an old-fashioned term for boyfriend").

16A: Soprano's accolade: BRAVA. New to me, I always thought the exclamation "Bravo" applies to both male and female.

20A: Wisdom unit?: PEARL. PEARL of Wisdom. Bernard-Henri Lévy had a very interesting take on "Who killed Daniel PEARL?". Lévy's "J'accuse" sometimes can be very overwhelming.

21A: Queen of Carthage: DIDO. Same clue on June 9 puzzle. Here is DIDO & Youssou N'Dour's Live 8 (2005) "Thank you".

22A: Slack off: EASE. The opposite of yesterday's "MAL dans sa peau" (Ill at EASE) is "BIEN (58D) dans sa peau".

37A: Permission doc.: LIC (License). I was misled into thinking of some doctor rather than document.

42A: Immunoassay diagnostic: ELISA ( Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay). Absolutely no idea. What an intimidating clue! If ELISA is an acronym, why there is no hint in the clue?

50A: Adrien of cosmetics: ARPEL. I am not familiar with this brand or the person at all. Pieced the answer together from down clues.

51A: Greek letters: XIS

69A: Tight positions?: ENDS. I like how this answer ENDS the grid.

DOWN:

3D: Swan's mate of myth: LEDA. Mother of Helen of Troy.

4D: Outstanding: OVERDUE

8D: Made to resemble nappy leather: SUEDED. Did not know that SUEDE can also be a verb.

10D: Actor Morgan: FREEMAN. My favorite FREEMAN movie is "The Shawshank Redemption". What's yours? Oh, I also like his "Million Dollar Baby" and "March of the Penguins".

13D: "Big Mouth" Martha: RAYE. I filled in ROYE as I got BRAVO for 16A. I sure have difficulty remembering her name. Why was she called "Big Mouth" Martha? I want a Big Bertha.

27D: 10th President: TYLER (John). I tend to confuse him with the 12th President Zachary Taylor.

28D: Selassie of Ethiopia: HAILE. Know him due to my love for Bob Marley.

29D: Spanish national hero: EL CID. I like how TYLER, HAILE and EL CID are stacked together.

32D: "Un Ballo in Maschera" aria: ERI TU. No idea. Strung the answer together from across clues. Here is Leo Nucci's ERI TU.

40D: Wildcat: LYNX. Obviously our Minnesota LYNX (WNBA) is not good enough to be clued.

43D: Used a Q-tip: SWABBED

47D: __dixt: IPSE. And another Latin phrase: 19D: Sine qua __(essential things): NONS

59D: LSD, to users: ACID. CNN had a very interesting news segment on the "Magic Mushroom LSD effect" the other day. Sounds very intriguing. Too bad, "Magic Mushroom" is banned in the US.

Happy 17A everyone!

C.C.

Friday June 27, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Three Doctors

17A: Three doctors: SEUSS CRANE QUINN

41A: Three doctors: ZHIVAGO X DETROIT

65A: Three doctors: DOLITTLE WHO KATZ

3D: Three doctors: HOUSE ZAIUS WELBY

10D: Three doctors: QUINCY NO KILDARE

One letter (J) away from a pangram puzzle.

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

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

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

ACROSS:

1A: TV screening device: V-CHIP

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

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

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

20A: Expel: CAST OUT

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

27A: Sharp turn: ZIG

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

35A: Routinized: IN A RUT

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

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

46A: Quenches: SLAKES

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

59A: Black Sea port: ODESSA

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

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

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

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

DOWN:

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

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

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

19D: Letters in a math proofs: QED

24D: Urgers: COAXERS. Urgers?

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

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

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

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

37D: Wage-slave's letters: TGIF

39D: Town near Caen: ST. LO

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

48D: Nosegays: POSIES

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

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

C.C.

Friday June 13, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: PIG OUT

17A: Coin repository: PIGGY BANK

65A: Unskilled emoters: HAM ACTORS

11D: Fish of the wrasse family: HOG SNAPPER

29D: Flat-topped topper: PORK PIE HAT

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

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

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

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

Two more things:

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

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

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

Alright, enough babbling, let's tee off:

Front Nine:

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

9A: TV screening device: V CHIP

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

19A: Enter name and password: LOG IN

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

58A: Driver's license requirement: EYE TEST

60A: Final summary: WRAP UP

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

71A: Several of Siena: SETTE

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

Back nine:

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

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

5D: End of pay?: OLA

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

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

12D: Like Wrigleys' walls: IVIED

18D: More ill-smelling: GAMIER

24D: Power peak: SURGE

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

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

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

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

43D: Dabble in: PLAY AT

49D: Obtain by intimidation: EXTORT

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

53D: Persian words?: MEOWS

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

56D: Old anesthetic: ETHER

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

C.C.

Friday June 6, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Animal Homophones

17A: Animal's cry: WHALE WAIL

25A: Beloved animal: DEAR DEER

36A: Animal that is pulled?: TOWED TOAD

57A: Unclothed animal?: BARE BEAR

59A: Golf-loving animal?: LINKS LYNX

Here (hear) are a few (phew) other animal clues (clews) for you to consider next time (thyme) Mr. Wolfe:

BEE (be); BOAR (Bore); FLEA (flee); FOWL (foul); GNU (new, knew); Gorilla (guerrilla); GRIZZLY(grisly); HARE (hair); HART (heart); Lamb (lam); Llama (Lama); Leach (leech); MITE (might); MOOSE (Mousse); MULE (mewl); MUSSEL (muscle); NIT (knit); RABBIT (rabbet); ROE (row); TAPIR (taper) and Tern (turn).

I(eye) like this puzzle. Great (Grate) theme entries, and the sheer (shear) amount of homophones in the clues/answers delights me. It does have a big attitude though, look: 68A: Nastily derogatory: SNIDE. And 13D: Look down upon: SNEER AT. 50D: Mimicked meanly: MOCKED. I guess you can also include 61D: Big fat mouth: YAP.

But (butt), I have high morals (morels), and I am in a good mood (mooed) this morning (mourning), so I am not going to whine (wine) too much. I enjoyed reading your yesterday's favorite books comments so much. Thank you all (awl) for sharing.

Here is the summary (summery):

ACROSS:

1A: Prohibit: BAR. If it were past tense "barred", we (wee) would (wood) have got "bard" for homophone.

9A: Parisian greenspace: PARCS. French for park. Love Monet's PARC Monceau.

16A: Briny deep: OCEAN. I am thinking of sea & see, seas & seize.

21A: Plains shelter: TEEPEE. Also spelled as TEPEE or TIPI.

22A: Singer Kathy: MATTEA. Did not know her. Here is her Goin' Gone.

28A: Hymn of praise: PAEAN. Here is the John Williams' Indiana Jones theme. A paean to Harrison Ford/Steven Spielberg/George Lucas' youth and their heroic deeds/dreams.

31A: Relished: ATE UP. ATE, eight

36A: Animal that's pulled: TOWED TOAD. And don't forget "toed".

39A: Rapid escape: LAM. LAM, Lamb.

42A: Singer Shore: DINAH. Or singer Washington.

47A: Sale-tag disclaimer: AS IS. Sale, sail. And of course, seller & cellar.

49A: King of Troy: PRIAM. I simply forgot. Like Brad Pitt's "Troy" a lot. PRIAM is "the father of Paris, Cassandra, Hector, Polyxena, and many others. He was killed during the capture of Troy". Tough intersection with AMEN-RA.

51A: Comic Rudner: RITA. I don't know (no) this RITA. RITA is the girl in Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5". He wants Monika in his life, Erica by his side. He says that RITA is all he needs, Tina is what he sees. And he wants Sandra in the sun, Mary all night long, and "A little bit Jessica here I am, and a little bit of you makes me your man".

Boy (buoy), can you imagine a constructor makes a whole (hole) puzzle out of these girls' names in the song?

57A: Moliere play part: ACTE. Act in French. Hmm, Acts, ax.

58A: Approach quickly: RUN TO. TO, Two.

65A: Type of pole: TOTEM. Pole and Poll.

67A: Brings up: REARS.

DOWN:

1D: Present knot: BOW. Knot, not; BOW, beau; BOWED, bold; And presents, presence.

4D: Part: PIECE. PIECE, PEACE

5D: Get to the present?: UNWRAP. Wrap, rap. Wrapped, rapt, rapped.

7D: Hindu title of respect: SRI. I wonder how those people address their ELDER (54A: Church VIP) in ___Lanka.

9D: Model, often: POSER. PLANE for you Ray (thanks for the mail) and Dennis?

10D: Acquiesce: ACCEDE. Partly, CEDE, seed.

18D: Release: LET OUT

21D: Ballroom dance: TANGO. Is this somehow related to the theme?

22D: Kingston Trio hit: MTA. No idea, I've never heard of Kingston. What does MTA stand for?

24D: Equal score: TIE. TIE, Thai.

25D: Silence while broadcasting: DEAD AIR

26D: Singer Kitt: EARTHA. Tough (tuff) for me. I had never heard of her name before, might have heard some of her songs though.

29D: Egyptian sun god: AMEN-RA. Another hard one (won) for me. I had no idea. Dictionary defined it as "a god in whom Amen and Ra were combined". Another homophone: sun, son.

38D: Rye grass: DARNEL. No, no, nope, completely unknown to me. Plural form "ryes" will give us "rise" though.

41D: Actress Richardson: MIRANDA. Or ___ Rights. MIRANDA Richardson played Ingrid (and was nominated for the Academy Award) in Louis Malle's "Damage". To answer some of your email questions regarding my favorite books yesterday, Josephine Hart's "Damage" is probably my favorite after Bob Woodward's "All the President's Men".

44D: Smits of NBA: RIK. Not a familiar name to me. Got it from the across clues.

48D: Irish dog: SETTER

53D: Ill-bred ones: BOORS. Bred, bread

54D: "Who's there" reply: IT'S ME. There, their.

57D: Against: ANTI. ANTI, Ante.

59D: Some NFL linemen: LTS (Left Tackles)

63D: Greek letters: XIS. XI, psi & sigh. "Sighs" will give us "size", right?

Finally, 14A: Sugar ending: OSE. Here is Sugar, Sugar for you. Click (clique) and Enjoy!

C.C.

Friday May 30, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: Put 'ER There

17A: Mail carriers' mascot?: POST OFFICE BOXER

37A: Winning bowman?: ARCHER OF TRIUMPH

58A: Artist's good fortune? LUCK OF THE DRAWER

Very interesting: SUPER (1D), TWO (60D) letter X's, and DENT (65D: Fender blemish). Does this remind you of Richard DENT and SUPER Bowl XX? DENT was the SUPER Bowl MVP in 1986.

ER... not an easy puzzle to PLOD (53D: walk heavily) through though. Had to overcome quite a few STERN (49D: Unyielding) HURDLES (47D: Track obstacle) this morning. I was mainly stumped by various names. I did not know Johnny's bandleader DOC. Knew Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but I had no idea who the author was (DAHL 31D: Willie Wonka's creator). HARTE (25D: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" writer) was another unfamiliar name to me, later I did find him clued as "The Lost Galleon Poet" on a Feb TMS puzzle. Sadly, I was not familiar with OVID's "Tristia" at all. I would have got his name if clue were "Metamorphoses" poet.

This is only the 3rd Arlan and Linda Bushman puzzle we've done since I started blogging on Jan 21. In contrast, we've been offered 20 Alan P. Olschwang puzzles. Oh those dreadful QUIPS!

ACROSS:

5A: Part of LED: DIODE. Could not retrieve this word easily from my brain. LED is "Light-Emitting Diode".

14A: River to the Caspian: URAL. Or URAL Mountains.

23A: Jay-Z, for one: RAP STAR. Of course I filled in RAPPERS first. Here is Jay-Z with Beyoncé. Feel the STEAM (32A: Word with engine or iron)? They just got married.

27A: Website visit: HIT. And another computer term: ICON (55D: Symbol)

36A: Tom Clancy subj.: CIA. Jack Ryan. My favorite is Patriot Games because it's IRA related.

42A: Canal of song: ERIE. Not familiar with the song.

44A: Dancing on air: EXULTANT. This word just looks so happy.

48A: Resistance units: OHMS. Have not seen this word for a while.

49A: Abate: SUBSIDE

56A: Juanita's other: OTRA. Obviously not ESTA or ESA.

57A: Navajo creation: RUG. I always associate RUG with SHAH (24D: Persian monarch)'s IRAN.

63A: Wield a baton: TWIRL

66A: Fictional Lorna: DOONE. Written by Richard Doddridge Blackmore.

DOWN:

1D: Fantastic!: SUPER. Familiar with this Invisible Woman in Fantastic Four?

5D: Crush: DEFEAT. It's just a little Crush, a vision of you and me...

7D: "Tristia" poet: OVID. He said "At night there is no such thing as an ugly woman".

8D: Johnny's bandleader: DOC (Severinsen). Given today's puzzle theme, it could be clued as "ER" character, don't you think so?

10D: Rakish: SPORTY. I was only familiar with the "Dissolute" Rakish, not the SPORTY one.

13D: "Chicago" star: GERE. Here is Richard GERE's famous kiss in India. Hello Dr. Dad, don't be Unfaithful in Bollywood.

18D: Punctual: ON TIME

25D: "The Outcasts of Poker Flat" writer: HARTE (Bret). Here is more information.

31D: Willie Wonka's creator: DAHL (Roald). He also wrote Kiss, Kiss.

33D: Silly Rabbit's cereal: TRIX. Tough for our fellow solvers in Asia who do not eat cereal for breakfast.

35D: Brass: HORNS

45D: Keepsake jewelry: LOCKET

46D: Cosby's TV son: THEO. I don't know this one. Only know THEO as van Gogh's brother. Here is the sculpture The Scream in memory of the film director THEO van Gogh who was murdered in 2004. It's made of stainless STEEL (43A: Beam makeup: STEEL). I could not understand the symbol though.

50D: Golfer Hale: IRWIN. I always want his name to be ERWIN. This guy is good. Tremendous success in Sr. PGA Tour (I just can not get used to this Champions Tour name) as well.

54D: Yokel: RUBE. I wonder where this word RUBE came from.

56D: Louisville's river: OHIO

59D: Bouquet letters: FTD (Florist's Transworld Delivery). I want this.

60D: Tenth of a score: TWO. Looks like our Editor is really trying to settle some scores with us. Half a score (TEN) was in yesterday's puzzle.

A question for you: Do you guys also have the problems seeing the Chinese characters (中文) in my blog or Thomas is the only one?

C.C.

Friday May 23, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: A MATTER OF CONCERN

17A: Brewer's concern?: BEER MARKET (BEAR MARKET)

27A: Cab driver's concern?: FARE SHARE (FAIR SHARE)

36A: Shipbuilder's concern?: SAILS PROMOTION (SALES PROMOTION)

43A: Fabulist's concern?: TALESPIN (TAILSPIN)

59A: Shoemaker's concern?: SOLE SAVING (SOUL SAVING)

Except BEER and BEAR, all the others are homophones, very interesting. Is 36A a solid clue to you? I don't really get it.

Quite a few new names/words for me in today's puzzle: Enrico FERMI, Nagy IMRE, ANSON Williams, Jared LETO, PABA, BIS, COPA and XENON. Most of them were inferable, but the M between FERMI & IMRE was impossible for me.

I like the way EDIT (34A) is structured at the heart of the grid. It befits the theme entries. And I am happy to see it intersects ADORN (28D: Beautify). There are also 3 SS's in the puzzle: ASSAULTED (20A: Attacked), ESSES, and MUSSES (18D: Disarranges). I am OK with that, as the total account for S's is well within my tolerance range. For your information, there are 69 letter A's on a March 2002 NYT Thursday puzzle.

ACROSS:

5A: Doofus: SCHMO. Isn't POOP (1A: Inside info.) also a fool? Nincompoop?

15A:Type of terrier: CAIRN. Here is Toto and Dorothy.

16A: PBS series: NOVA. Know it, but I've never watched it.

19A: Judah's son: ONAN. The only Judah's son that I know of.

21A: Tabs horn: BUGLE. Still waiting for its anagram BULGE to appear in a TMS puzzle.

22A: Dr. Leary's turn-on: LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide). I like the clue. Dictionary says L. S. D. is also the abbreviation of "Pounds, Shilling & Pence". I wonder why pound is always abbreviated as lb, and why D for pence?

23A: Drag along: LUG 24A: And 24A: Drags forcibly: HAULS. Why drag twice, Mr. Editor?

35A: Again, in music: BIS. I don't know this word. Got it from down clues. Again is always "Encore" to me.

41A: Nagy of Hungary: IMRE. Nope, I've never heard of him. I only know its anagram EMIR.

42A: Absinthe flavoring: ANISE. Is it legal to sell absinthe in the US now?

48A: Furry TV alien: ALF. Got it this time. Also ALF Landon, the Republican guy who was defeated by FDR in 1936.

52A: Not another person: NO ONE ELSE. NO ONE ELSE comes close you, no one makes me feel the way you do...

61A: Acid type: AMINO. It's the protein unit.

64A: Inert gas: XENON. Came From Greek Xenos, hmm, foreign to me that's for sure. It's Element #54.

DOWN:

1D: Sunscreen ingredient: PABA (Para-AminoBenzoic Acid). Completely unknown to me. Here is the definition: "A crystalline para form of aminobenzoic acid that is part of the vitamin B complex, is required by many organisms for the formation of folic acids, and is widely used in sunscreens to absorb ultraviolet light. Also called vitamin B_x"

4D: One type of parking: PARALLEL

7D: QB's command: HIKE. The clue seems to be asking for an abbreviated answer, doesn't it?

8D: Sitcom equine: MR. ED. No problem this time.

10D: Stop, already: ENOUGH. Yes, everyone has a limit.

11D: Round instrument: GONG. Do you love GONG Li ? She starred in Memoirs of a Geisha. She is my favorite Chinese actress.

23D: Actor Jared: LETO. His face looks familiar to me. But I don't remember his name.

24D: Lacks: HASN'T

25D: Guam port, once: AGANA. Capital of Guam. Why "once" in the clue?

26D: One of the archangels: URIEL

27D: Nuclear physicist Enrico: FERMI. He won Nobel Physics in 1938. Not a familiar name to me.

29D: Singer LeAnn: RIMES. "And tell me now, how do I live without you?"

30D: Seething: ABOIL. And 39D: Hotly: IN FEVER

32D: Middle of messes?: ESSES?

37D: Corncob or briar: PIPE. Are you familiar with "Meerchaum Pipe"?

38D: Initial data sheet: TABLE A. What is it?

44D: List of printing mistakes: ERRATA

48D: Williams of "Happy Days": ANSON. Ugh, I just hate TV sitcom characters. Could not never remember their names. I wonder how much this Cap ANSON Old Judge card costs. He is Baseball HOF.

49D: Nightclub in Manilow song: COPA. Nope, I am not familiar with COPACABANA.

52D: Town on the Seward Peninsula: NOME. Often clued as "iditarod terminus".

54D: Prefix for wine: OENO. Also Greek Goddess of wine according to Wikipedia.

57D: Breastplate of Zeus: EGIS. Or AEGIS. It's "the shield or breastplate of Zeus or Athena, bearing at its center the head of the Gorgon". Here is a picture of Medusa's head.

59D: Jazzy instrument: SAX. Why "jazzy" instead of "jazz"?

C.C.

Friday, May 16, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Addition Alteration

17A: Unwritten things to do?: MENTAL LIST (MENTALIST)

60A: Magical circle?: WONDER RING (WONDERING)

11D: Interior designer's fee?: DECOR RATE (DECORATE)

34D: Put off monthly payment?: DEFER RENT (DEFERENT)

This is one effervescent puzzle! Seems like the author can hardly contain his emotions. We've got FIRE (54D), ENTHUSED (20A: Agog), ZEAL (16A: Ardor), so exuberant! And LOSER (24A, Vanquished one), PRISSY (35A: Prim) are both treated with WINCE (15A: Cringe), BOOS (32D: Ghostly greetings) and SNEER (44A: Look of contempt).

I also like the following pairings:

SLED (13D: Winter transport) & SNOW (56D: Winter fall);

SELECTOR (56A: One who chooses) & OPTS (26D: Makes up one's mind);

AWLS (5D: Hole-making tools) & 36D: Carpentry tools: SAWS.

Quite a few TRICKS (27: Bamboozles) in today's puzzle. Some of the clues are wickedly misleading to me, esp 24A: Vanquished one (LOSER) and 24D: Wound (LESION). I was thinking of a past tense verb in both cases. But it's a solid puzzle.

ACROSS:

1A: Cold-cut palace: DELI. Why palace? Is it typo?

5A: Perpendicular to the keel: ABEAM. At right angles to the keel of a ship. Not familiar with this nautical term.

10A: Puts on: ADDS. As in weight, I suppose.

14A: Folk singer Burl: IVES. Did not know him. Had no idea that he was the singer for "A Holly Jolly Christmas".

19A: Break out problem: ACNE

21A: Firing line order: RELOAD. Any one ever followed William F. Buckley's "Firing Line"?

23A: Brown ermine: STOAT. You talkin' to me?

25A: Play the flute: TOOTLE. Saw this clue before.

29A: Skinned: PARED. Dislike the clue. Skin always means PEEL to me. I PEEL my fruits first, then PARE down, unless it's pineapple or cantaloupe.

35A: Prim: PRISSY. PRISSY comes from PRIM & SISSY.

39A: Leg bone: TIBIA

40A: Gossip pair: ITEM. Who are the the ITEM on this photo?

42A: Third party funds: ESCROW

43A: Capone's nemesis: NESS (Eliot). Love the "The Untouchables".

46A: "Dust in the wind" group: KANSAS. No idea. Strung it together from down clues.

54A: Actor Jose: FERRER. Unknown to me. But it's easily obtainable.

62A: Milieu for Lemieux: RINK. Sometimes I think the constructor has IDEE fixe (59A: Obsession) with this alliteration or half alliteration stuff. Aren't all eyes on Sidney Crosby now?

63A: "Reversal of Fortune" star: IRONS (Jeremy). Have never seen this movie. Like IRONS a lot, esp Damage, stunningly erotic and thrilling.

66A: Unfamiliar with: NEW AT

67A: Gull cousin: TERN. Is this a gull or a TERN?

DOWN:

2D: Happening: EVENT

3D: Slowly, in music: LENTO. What's the difference between LENTO and ADAGIO?

4D: No kidding: IS THAT SO. And 45D: A-ha!: EUREKA. I like them both.

10D: Showy shrub: AZALEA. Has anyone been to Augusta Golf Course before?

18D: Mobile leader?: AUTO. Automobile.

22D: Spot in a crowd: ESPY. When are you going to turn to ___ Awards?

28D: Zodiac sing: LIBRA

31D: Sen. group: DEMS (DEMOCRATS). Hmm, looks like TMS puzzle is liberal leaning. Harry REID and now DEMS.

40D: Privately: IN SECRET

42D: Perry's creator: ERLE. Also EDIT (55D: Emulate Perry White), nice author and editor pair.

47D: Sketch artist: APER. I don't get this one? Why?

49D: Field Marshal Rommel: ERWIN. "The Desert Fox".

51D: Steps over a fence: STILE

52D: Skin cream: TONER. No, no, TONER is liquid, not cream.

54D: "Chariots of __": FIRE. Didn't we see this clue a month ago?

57D: Millay of poetry: EDNA. Hate the clue. St. Vincent should not be omitted.

C.C.

Friday, May 9, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: P Transformation (New word/phrase is formed when you insert letter P in front of letter L)

17A: Cork-based courage?: PLUCK OF THE IRISH (Luck of the Irish)

29A: Jet for honeymooners?: LOVERS' PLANE (Lover's Lane)

46A: Baseball lineup?: PLATE COMERS (Latecomers)

61A: Powerful faction's advocate?: MAJORITY PLEADER (Majority Leader)

A couple of things first:

1) ANENT. Johnboy called it a "pure cruciverbonym" at his 11:20am comment yesterday. In fact, this kind of word is referred to as "CROSSWORDESE" (Words that are often used in crosswords and rarely used in our daily conversation). In her book "How to Conquer the NY Times Crossword Puzzle", Orange gave "PTAH, OONA, ORT and ESNE" as examples.

2) Letters to the Editor: As you all know, I've been very disappointed and angry with the feedback, or rather lack of feedback, from our editor Mr. Williams and his staff. He does not seem to care what we are thinking and he seems to have no desire to improve the quality of the TMS puzzles. I think we deserve better. We deserve a good editor.

Let's write to Mary Elson. She is the Managing Editor of Tribune Media Services. Her email address is MElson@tribune.com. Please, don't be silent any more. We have to voice our opinions if we want quality crosswords like the NY Times'. We deserve a capable editor who is passionate about his/her editing job and care about what we readers think.

Now come back to the puzzle. I had huge problem with my open tee shot today. Except "A Walk in the Cloud", I've never seen any Anthony Quinn movie, so ZORBA was hard for me to get this morning. I guess I've heard of ZORBA the Greek before. I've never heard of ACK-ACK gun. Saw "Presumed Innocent" before, but I did not pay attention to the actor name RAÚL Juliá. And to compound the problem, I penned in SONG rather than SOLO for 20A: Recital piece. So I could not even get my BACON for 4D. A total SNAFU in the first hole! But I did find my swing back quickly and was able to complete the round without getting too frustrated with my clubs.

ACROSS:

1A: Anthony Quinn title role: ZORBA. Here is the original movie poster of "Zorba the Greek".

15A: Jab deliverer: FIST. Ugh, I just can not stand the double appearance of FIST in both the clue and the answers. See 19D.

21A: Ultimate letters: XYZ. I love this clue! ELSE, enjoy your stay in ELBA!

22A: Sheathe: ENCASE

26A: Comic Margaret: CHO. Not my cup of tea.

35A: Classic sitcom mom: HOUSEWIFE

37A: Skater Harding: TONYA. I just can not resist the temptation to put Plushenko's skating video here.

38A: Plugging away: AT IT

38A: Scrawny one: SCRAG

41A: Sporty trucks, briefly: UTES. Utilities.

42A: Olympian's reward: MEDAL

52A: Huge fan: ADORER. Somehow I have problem accepting this word ADORER.

57A: Right on maps: EAST

64A: Aoki of golf: ISAO. Golf Hall-of -Famer. I don't think I've ever seen him playing golf, either at PGA, or Senior PGA. Shingo Katayama & Shigeki Maruyama are probably the only Japanese golfers who are well-known in the PGA tour.

66A: Marshmallowy treat: S'MORE. I've never had this treat before. I don't like marshmallow.

67A: Leveling wedge: SHIM

DOWN:

3D: Actor Julia: RAÚL. Here is more information about him. Is he a gimme for you?

5D: Half an antiaircraft gun: ACK. ACK-ACK derives from A. A. (abbreviation of AntiAircraft.) Wikipedia says ACK- ACK is "WWI phonetic alphabet for AA".

7D: Posh hotel name: RITZ. I like the Z's in today's puzzle. ZIPS, ZORBA, RITZ, XYZ, and the clue 68A Zounds.

10D: Distribute: PARCEL OUT

11D: Inter __ (among others): ALIA

18D: U-shaped river bends: OXBOWS. No idea.

19D: Ham-fisted: INEPT. I've never heard of "Ham-fist" before.

25D: Bring to life: CREATE

26D: Titleholder: CHAMP & 30D: Winner: VICTOR. This CHAMP is a very interesting fill today, as P is indeed part of today's puzzle title.

27D: Red Monopoly piece: HOTEL. Ah the thick and lush Chocolat Chaud in HÔTEL RITZ! Please visit Paris 75001, with your AMIS (52D: Paris pals), have some TÊTE -A- TÊTE (44A: Private chat), heaven!

28D: "A Dog of Flanders" writer: OUIDA. No idea. But it's gettable. OUIDA is the pseudonym of British novelist Maria Louise Ramé. Wikipedia says she derived her pen name from her own childish pronunciation of her given name "Louise".

31D: Violinist Zimbalist: EFREM. EFREM was clued as Zimbalist Jr. of F. B. I. on Tuesday. Father and Son.

33D: Natasha's negatives: NYETS. Whoa, hold on one minute! You don't think "Putin's negatives" mean much after he stepped down 2 days ago? Man, you need to really look at the man in the eye and see his Never-Give-Up-Power KGB soul. I love the alliteration of the clue/answer. Excellent!

36D: Cruise compartment: STATEROOM

40D: Pet in a cage: GERBIL. I've never heard of this animal. Here is a picture. It looks like a mouse to me.

47D: Purplish red: CERISE. I want these CERISE roses and these fresh cherries. CERISE is French for cherry. (Update later: I made a mistake, those flowers are carnations, not roses)

54D: City near Santa Barbara: OJAI. Not familiar to me at all. I got it from across clues.

55D: Banks of talk TV: TYRA. Again? Infatuated with TYRA lately?

56D: Parroted: APED. This is probably related to the puzzle title. I don't know. I am not so sure of my title summery today.

62: Yank hard: TUG

C.C.

Friday, May 2, 2008 Annabel Michaels

Theme: PLAYING CARDS

17A: Emotional anguish: HEARTACHE

57A: Preparatory research: SPADEWORK

11D: One of the Brady Bunch?: DIAMOND JIM

27D: 19th-hole locations: CLUBHOUSES

Sub-theme: Music

20A: Russian pianist: SCRIABIN

25A: "Goldberg Variations" composer: BACH

35A: Bluegrass instruments: BANJOS

45A: A Shore: DINAH

6D: Student's performance: RECITAL

25D: Charlie Parker's jazz: BOP

36D: Poetic piece: ODE

53D: Abie's Irish lass: ROSE ("My Wild Irish Rose" theme music).

Almost aced this puzzle if not for the crossing letter N between HAHNIUM and SCRIABIN. I have never heard of BAUXITE (8D) before, though ORE was inferable. Unnipentium was also a stranger to me, but all the letters except N were obtainable from the across clues. Not familiar with the Russian pianist SCRIABIN either.

I loved the clue for 11D: One of the Brady bunch? Very cleverly misleading. I also enjoyed seeing ROSE, DIAMOND, SHE, HEARTACHE, EVER, (AT)LAST, (G)MEN, EAT, HER(MES), and MORE(L) in the same grid.

Umm, OMEGA yesterday, HERMÈS today, CARTIER tomorrow? How much does Louis Vuitton pay you to put their DIOR brand in our puzzle so often? What's the fee for GUCCI's YSL? Should I call TIFFANY for sponsorship also? You don't like PRADA? Afraid of "The Devil Wears PRADA" backlash? How about BURBERRY then?

ACROSS:

6A: Greek letter: RHO. Or South Korea's ___ Moo-hyuan. Or maybe not. His presidency was probably too short and too scandalous to carve a niche in history. He showed some episodic guts in 2003 though.

9A: Doc on the battlefield: MEDIC

16A: Sheeplike: OVINE. Cattle: BOVINE. Horse: EQUINE. Donkey: ASSININE. Dog: CANINE. Cat: FELINE. Pig: PORCINE. What else?

19A: Gaucho's rope: REATA

21A: God of cunning: HERMES. I am not fond of HERMÈS scarf, but I do love this HERMÈS Birkin bag to go with my OMEGA watch. Do you like Birkin's Je t'aime... moi non plus? So breathtakingly erotic and sexy (Just listen to the last 20 seconds if you don't have time). Oh, the Roman equivalent for HERMES is Mercury.

22A: Decisive: CRITICAL

28A: Mud smears: DAUBS

31A: Ships' tillers: HELMS. Why "ships" rather than "ship"?

33A: Showy feathers: PLUMES

38A: __ mot (witticism): BON

39A: Item in the plus column: ASSET

42A: Hollywood's Lupino: IDA. Another TMS stalwart.

43A: 1975 Wimbledon champion: ASHE

46A: FBI personnel: G - MEN

48A: Of the household: FAMILIAL

50A: Jewelers' glasses: LOUPES

52A: Box of ill fame: PANDORA'S. I don't like this clue. Felt very forced.

58A: Clip sheep: SHEAR. Um, Clip & Cut (40D: Cut with quick strokes: SNIPPED). Still have some nagging dislike of SHEAR and SHE (57D) though.

59A: Haw's partner: HEM

60A: Joe of "GoodFellas": PESCI. Good movie. The only Ray Liotta movie that I really like. I guess his "Field of Dream" is OK too.

63A: Lock or shock: TRESS

DOWN:

4D: Improve in quality: ENRICH

5D: Patch road: RETAR

7D: Unnilpentium: HAHNIUM. Unnilpentium is Element 105 (Latin), symbol UNP. Hard one. Very interesting root here: "un" is one, "nil" is nothing (both Latin), and "pente" is five in Greek, then we have a noun suffix "ium". So, there you go, element 105, wonderful! HAHNIUM was named after Otto Hahn, Nobel Chemistry winner 1944. Called "The father of Nuclear Chemistry" according to Wikipedia. (Please note, the current Element 105 is DUBNIUM, symbol DB. Thanks for the information NYTanonimo)

8D: Bauxite, e.g.: ORE. OK, Beauxite is "a rock consisting of aluminum oxides and hydroxides with various impurities: the principal ore of aluminum". It's named after the small village Les Baux -de-Provence (S France), and "ite" is just a noun forming suffix.

9D: Mushroom choice: MOREL. Wow, this one is definitely LONG.

12D: Purpose: INTENT. The clue is OK. I just dislike "Purpose" appearances twice in the clues (see 39D).

13D: Discontinues: CEASES

18D: Puts up with: ABIDES

29D: Mass. cape: ANN. Cape ANN. Felt strained too.

34D: Top Stooge: MOE

35D: In arrears: BEHIND

41D: Deep bows: SALAAMS. From Arabic "salām", peace.

43D: Finally!: At LAST!

44D: Mollify: SOOTHE. Like this one, SOOTHE & HEARTACHE.

45D: Prosecutors, for short: DAS (District Attorneys)

46D: Stare angrily: GLOWER

48D: Phobias: FEARS. Here is a complete list of all kinds of phobias. Mine is scotophobia. I never knew that there is such special word for my fear.

49D: Skilled one: ADEPT

51D: Fuel from bogs: PEAT

55D: Schusses: SKIS. Saw Schuss before, but then I forgot. SKIS is very gettable though. Schuss comes from German word "Schuz" meaning shot. Schuss is "a fast straight downhill run in skiing. Could be a verb too.

C.C.

Friday, April 25, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: CARS

18A: Canadian body of water: HUDSON BAY

24A: Historic D. C. spot: FORD'S THEATRE (sorry about the mistake earlier)

53A: Mayflower landing: PLYMOUTH ROCK

64A: "Gunsmoke" setting: DODGE CITY

Thank you FORD, without your surprise profit yesterday, the stock market would've plunged! Alan Mulally has finally seen the view from the mountaintop: Hey, look at me Boeing, still happy with your McNerney choice?

I've never heard of HUDSON car, nor have I known LEK, KIROV, SELMA, ASHLAR and BEMA. Tough puzzle today, esp the northwest region.

I filled in SCABS, BLONDE and STAFF with a brio, then my nightmare started. I did not know that "SEND UP" means "lampoon", so naturally I fell into the S trap and penned in S at the intersection of 5D and 35A. I did not know "Ragged Dick" author ALGER. Would've probably got ARGON if it were clued as "Inert gas". And the FIENDS, I could not even get the FIENDS! Sorry Orange!

Had to flirt with Mr. Google, and he quickly gave me what I wanted without making any OUTRÉ demand. Excellent!

ACROSS:

1A: Wound crusts: SCABS. No need to wobble between SCAR and SCAB due to clue 4D.

6A: Synagogue platform: BEMA. Unknown to me. It originated from Greek word "bēma" "meaning step or platform. Dictionary also says that BEMA is "the enclosed space surrounding the altar" in Eastern Orthodox Church, or "an open space between the end of the nave arcade and the apse" in a Christian basilica.

10A: Software platform: TECH

14A: Very fine netting: TULLE. Oh, isn't she beautiful in her satin and tulle mermaid wedding gown? TULLE is named after the French city where it's made.

15A: Firefighters' tools: AXES

17A: About 1% of the atmosphere: ARGON. AT NO. #18. Inert gas.

20A: Maniacs: FIENDS

23A: Begley and McMahon: EDS. Oh, McMahon, the "Heeeeere's Johnny" guy. It would make me happy if Bradley rather than Begley were clued.

28A: Haves of thirds: SIXTHS

35A: Bell ringers' performance: PEALS

38A: Japanese-American: NISEI. The root word SEI means birth, Ni means second. So NISEI means second generation. ISSEI is first generation (IS means first). SANSEI is third generation (SAN means third), don't confuse it with SENSEI (Judo/Karate teacher). Oh, KIBEI is a person of Japanese descent, born in the U.S. but educated in Japan (KI is to return, BEI is America). Have some SAKE with George Clooney if this explanation make you headache!

41A: Small birds: WRENS. Is that cactus you are perching upon?

43A: Skater Lipinski: TARA. She "won Olympic gold medal in figure skating at 1998 Winter Olympics, and remains the youngest gold medalist in the history of the Olympic Winter Games", according to Wikipedia.

44A: Russian city: KIROV. Have never heard of it. It's "a city in the E Russian Federation in Europe". Kirov is known as the "city of twins" for the unusually high number of multiple births there.

46A: Singer Ross: DIANA. Didn't she receive the Kennedy Center Honor last year?

48A: Diamond and others: SELMAS. No idea.

62A: Two-toed sloth: UNAU. Oh, the ugly UNAU is back. AIS is a 3-toed sloth.

63A: Loafer, e.g. : SLIP-ON

69A: Poet pound: EZRA. This is one incorrigible repeat offender.

70A: Hindu queen: var.: RANEE (RANI)

73A: Flexible Flyers: SLEDS. Totally unknown to me, I strung it together from the down clues. Here is a picture.

DOWN:

2D: Antique shop item: CURIO (from curiosity). I always thought CURIO refers to the "CURIO Box". Or do you call any of those old rusty stuff at the antique shop as CURIO?

3D: "Ragged Dick" author: ALGER (Horatio). Unknown to me. Boy, he sure was prolific.

5D: Lampoons: SENDS UP. New phrase to me.

7D: Ooze forth: EXUDE

8D: Euripides drama: MEDEA. Saw this clue before, then I promptly forgot. MEDEA is also the wife of "Jason the Argonaut".

9D: Holdings: ASSETS

11D: River of Hamburg: ELBE. Here is the map.

12D: Enclothed: CLAD. (Nelly said) It's gettin hot in here, so......

13D: "Airplane" star Robert: HAYS. Got his name from across clues. But I think I saw this clue before.

19D: Senator Hatch: ORRIN. Gimme Gimme. Utah Senator (R).

21D: Scatter: STREW

25D: Collection of artifacts: HOARD. Doesn't HOARD have a negative overtone? This clue does not feel smooth to me.

30D: Sub: Hero. "My heroes have always been the cowboys". How about yours?

32D: Birds' display areas: LEKS. Totally unknown to me. It's "a traditional place where males assemble during the mating season and engage in competitive displays that attract females". Courtship display then. Hmm, this clue is definitely more colorful than "Money unit of Alabama"

33D: Mayberry lad: OPIE. Learned his name from doing crossword. I know nothing about "The Andy Griffith Show."

37D: Military muddle: SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fouled UP). Were you thinking of Dennis when you saw this clue? I was. Still remember how stunned I was when he first explained the sanitized version of SNAFU. When will FUBAR appear then?

40D: Freebie: COMP

47D: Masonry stones: ASHLARS. OK, ASHLAR is "a squared block of building stone", like this. This word is easily gettable though.

50D: Matched up: SYNCED. Never know that SYNC can be a verb.

52D: Clannish: TRIBAL. Not SEPT -ish something?

54D: Indian corn: MAIZE

55D: Bizarre: OUTRÉ. Past participle of French word OUTRER (to push beyond the bound).

56D: Voice a thought: OPINE

61D: Biblical paradise: EDEN & 65D: Figure of worship: GOD. Great parallel.

C.C.