Friday October 10, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Festive Occasions

17A: Diplomatic dustup of 1790s: XYZ AFFAIR

21A: Spongelike plaything: NERF BALL

39A: Hail Mary conclusion?: PASS RECEPTION

58A: CNN Capitol Hill reporter: DANA BASH

64A: Crew: WORK PARTY

Somehow I thought DANA BASH is CNN's White House correspondent.

A bit of Italian sub-theme:

36A: Christmas in Italia: NATALE

3D: Italian eatery: PIZZERIA

10D: Italian Olympic skier Alberto: TOMBA

Also some baseball undertone:

20A: 2002 Cy Young Award winner: ZITO (Barry)

50D: Bronx Bomber: YANKEE

62D: Ted or Connie: MACK. Connie MACK is in Baseball's HOF.

I wish HOME (60D: Web-site page) were clued as diamond plate related. PACKS (31D: Decks of cards) refer to the baseball card PACKS, right?

I suppose the clue for DR. J (25A: Erving of hoops) is OK, but I would prefer "Erving of NBA" to reflect the abbreviation in the answer. But the clue for ET ALII (27A: & others: Lat.) is inaccurate. "Lat" should not be shortened.

The clue for TONER (68A: Salon lotion) is simply wrong. TONER is not lotion.

Overall, I did not enjoy this puzzle. Too many unfamiliar names for me.

Across:

9A: Panache: STYLE. I like really like George Clooney's STYLE. I think he should go to politics, so should Ben Affleck. There are certain idealististic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" optimism in them.

15A: German wife: FRAU. It's QI ZI in Chinese, very scrabbly.

23A: Haggard novel: SHE. I wonder if our editor has ever read the book. He seems to be very fond of this SHE clue.

30A: Shakur of rap renown: TUPAC. I've never heard of his name (2Pac) before.

34A: Word before tale or ring: FAIRY. FAIRY ring is new to me. Why do those mushrooms grow in a circle?

44A: Tony Randall movie role: DR. LAO. Have vaguely heard of "7 Faces of DR. LAO".

49A: Hot blooded: LUSTY. New to me also. I only know lustful.

51A: 1999 Ron Howard film: EDTV. No idea. It looks interesting. Matthew McConaughey is stud muffin.

69A: Pure Prairie League hit: AMIE. Unknown to me also. Very unique album covers.

70A: Red's Kaddlehopper: CLEM. Nope. Had no idea what the clue is about. Here is an interesting clip.

72A: Ms. Neuwirth: BEBE. Saw her at "Celebrity Jeapardy!" once.

73A: Pioneering U. S. radio station: KDKA. Wikipedia says it's "the oldest commercial radio station in the US". New to me.

Down:

1D: Author Stout: REX. NERO is often clued as "Stout's wolfe".

7D: Actor Conrad: BAIN. He is in "Diff'rent Strokes". Another unknown to me.

9D: Mine passage: SHAFT. No idea.

12D: Actor Nielsen: LESLIE. He is in "The Naked Gun". I googled his name.

13D: Mascara site: EYELID. I would clue CANINE (48D: Eyetooth) simply as "Long tooth". I don't like the duplication of eye's.

18D: Bouquet-delivery syst.: FTD. Syst? I thought FTD is the name of the company.

23D: Tanning lotion letters: SPF

26D: Northernmost state capital: JUNEAU. Only learned this morning that it's named after the gold prospector Joe JUNEAU.

39D: Richie's mom, to Fonzie: MRS. C. Finally I remembered her this time.

32D: Explosive trials: A TESTS

35D: Fashion monogram: YSL

37D: Old Ford model: LTD. Or the British "Inc."

40D: City in Central Missouri: ROLLA. Here is the map. University of Missouri is located there. New to me also.

45D: Lactor- ___-Vegetarian: OVO. They eat eggs and dairy products. Are any of you vegans?

47D: Alternative to digital: ANALOG

66D: Shatner novel: "___ War": TEK. Is it a very famous novel?

C.C.

Friday October 3, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: EDU (Email address ending in 18A, 23A, 40A, 53A and 62A)

18A: Two-rope jumping: DOUBLE DUTCH

23A: Goods tax: EXCISE DUTY

40A: Manhattan Project's oralloy: ENRICHED URANIUM

53A: Stipulatory: AGREED UPON

62A: Waste land?: GARBAGE DUMP

Neat puzzle. But I messed up the upper left corner, trying so hard to cram in MORSE instead of HARD C for 3D: First letter sound in code?

It seems that our editor is now obsessed with ENYA (19D: "A Day without Rain" singer). She appears in our puzzle so often, always as the answer though. I suppose he can clue MAY (66D: Just might) as "Enya song "MAY It Be"" next time.

If you were the constructor, how would you clue NURSE? I don't like "RN word".

Did you notice that most of our weekday puzzles have 38 blocks?

Across:

14A: Nutritionist's abbr.: RDA. And NO FAT (69A: Like Jack Sprat's diet). The Zone diet probably has the most sensible combination (40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat). The most effective way to lose weight is to fall in love. Your mind will be AWHIRL (31A: Spinning) with everything but food.

15A: Pele's first name: EDSON. I did not know this before. Wikipedia says "While his birth certificate shows his first name as Edison (after the American inventor), he prefers to call himself EDSON". See this autographed EDSON =Pelé ball.

20A: Chinese vine: KUDZU. If not for ZIP (21D: P. O. code), I would not have got this vine. It sounds so Japanese.

22A: 1940's computer: ENIAC. How to pronounce ENIAC?

34A: Bear greeting?: HUG. Such a tender loving hug.

37A: Yemeni seaport: ADEN. Shouldn't Somali explore its Gulf of EDEN coast for oil? Why is it so poor?

39A: Drum type: BONGO. They are handmade, aren't they? I am surprised that some of the vintage Ludwig snare drums are worth thousands of dollars. I don't understand "Let There Be drums."

47A: Right-angle degrees: NINETY And CIR (70A: Geometric fig.).

52A: Brit's omega: ZED. I like this clue.

58A: Lustrous finish for velvet: PANNE. New word to me. I like her outfit.

67A: Japanese drama: NOH. Or Nogaku. The Japanese opera. Funny NOH/Kabuki clip.

71A: __ sense (keen intuition): SIXTH. Have you seen Bruce Willis's "The SIXTH Sense"? Sounds scary.

72A: Salty calls: AHOYS

Down:

2D: For two: A DEUX. Dinner A DEUX, are you ready?

4D: One Gorgon: MEDUSA. She really looks awful. The other two are Stheno and Euryale.

11D: Walk-in veterinarian: PET CLINIC

24D: Porter's "Well, Did You __?": EVAH. Why EVAH? I wanted EVER. I actually saw "High Society", but I don't remember this song.

25D: Fiddle follower?: DE-DEE. New to me also. Maybe I've heard people say it, I just never pay attention to it.

29D: Video effect: SLO-MO

34D: Big name in pickle packing: HEINZ. My first thought was Vlasic.

36D: Intl. road race: GRAND PRIX

54D: Davis of "Hero": GEENA. I've never seen "Hero". I like her "Thelma & Louise" & "A League of Their Own".

55D: Old pound parts: PENCE. Mark, is it old? How old?

60D: Writer Ogden: NASH. Ha, gimme. Have to thank Clear Ayes/Ken for their "Candy is dandy" posts. But why "Writer" instead of "poet"?

C.C.

Friday September 26, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: The Long and The Short of It

17A: Three longs: DIVISION FACE BOW

57A: Three longs: SHOT ISLAND RANGE

3D: Three shorts: WAVE COMING STORY

7D: Three shorts: HAND CIRCUIT CAKE

11D: Three shorts: RIB TEMPER CHANGE

I like this theme, not the grid structure. Somehow the middle part felt very cramped and I had difficulty breathing. I turned the puzzle 90 degrees and I still did not like the shape. I did not know why those broken blocks bothered me.

There are quite a few unfamiliar clues & answers for me in this puzzle. And I struggled hard for letter T between the intersection of INIT (55D: 1st letter) and CHETS (66A: Huntley and Atkins"). I think I vaguely heard of CHET Huntley before, but I could not dredge his name out of my brain. Had a big V8 moment with INIT (Initial).

The clue for ATF (8D: Booze, butts, and bullets bureau) should have an abbreviated "bureau "or simply "org."

Across:

10A: Linkletter and Carney: ARTS. Pure guess. Not familiar with either of them.

23A: Hush-hush: SECRET. Beautiful red rose, such mysterious folded structure. No wonder rose (anagram of Eros) is the symbol of SECRECY, love, perfection and femininity. Dante's Paradise.

25A: Sweet-talk: COAX

32A: Arabic Mac: IBN. But BIN is more popular, isn't it? Both refer to "Son of". Abu is "father of". Al is "the", as in Al - Qaida. Here is a photo of FDR with IBN Saud, former king of Saudi Arabia.

36A: Guitar ridge: FRET. No idea. I got it from across fills.

40A: Phoenix of Egyptian gods: BENU. Or BENNU. See this picture. I've never heard of it before.

43A: Highland plant: GORSE. Also spelled as furze, furse, whin. An evergreen shrub. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says "Common GORSE flowers most strongly in spring, though it bears some flowers year round, hence the old country phrase: "When GORSE is out of blossom, kissing's out of fashion." The flowers have a very distinctive strong coconut scent."

44A: Stops a stealer: TAGS. Very creative baseball TAG. Hmm, this is great, so is this one, this one, this one and this one. I don't under this Colgroup tag, what does it mean? Other baseball references are OTT (22A: Mel of the Giants) and ATL (61D: Braves in box scores).

46A: Like-minded voters: BLOC

69A: Bacon amount: RASHER. Don't laugh at me, but really I have never heard of RASHER. Always thought it's called slice or strip. I've never developed a taste for bacon or hotdog. I do love apple pie.

52A: Place for three men?: TUB. Learned this rhyme from a comment Carol made sometime ago. I like this picture.

63A: Funny Jack of Hollywood: OAKIE

64A: End-of-week cry: TGIF. We seem to get a TGIF every Friday now.

Down:

5D: Robberies: HEISTS. Have you seen HEIST?

12D: Boxing letters: TKO

19D: Courteney or Wally: COX. Only know Courteney COX (Monica in "Friends").

24D: Indian cash: RUPEES

29D: Composer Saint - ___: SAENS. He composed "Danse Macabre". DANSE was clued as Saint-Saëns' "___ Macabre" in our puzzle before.

30D: Provide with a trait: ENDUE. New word to me. I was thinking of ENDOW.

33D: Forbidden acts: TABOOS. "... You give me the Sweetest TABOO, that's why I am in love with you...."

34D: Greek letter: DELTA. Xchefwalt probably wants DELTA to be clued as "Flower's end?" I really like this tricky flow-er clue, you know, you can clue NILE "The longest flower in the word?"

36D: Calf-length skirt: MIDI. Do you call this one as MIDI? "Après __ " might be too obvious. "Nice noon?" sounds great, don't you think so?

43D: Egg white: GLAIR. New word to me.

46D: Dracula's conquest: BRIDES

50D: Baylor of basketball: ELGIN. No, not a familar name to me. ELGIN was clued as "City in Scotland or Illinois" in an April puzzle.

C.C.

Friday September 19, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: B, literally (Words/Phrase that start with letter B)

17A: B, literally: BANDLEADER

61A: B literally: BOBBLEHEAD

10D: B literally: BRITISH OPEN

25D: B literally: BATTLEFRONT

Hmmm, the farm boy Westley of "The Princess Bride" probably wants a BUTTERCUP COVER. How about BATMAN FACE? What else can you think of?

I liked this puzzle tremendously. Very creative theme idea and smooth cluing. A bit of musical instrument sub-theme:

41A: Slender reed: OBOE

47A: Luau music maker: UKE

50D: Big brass: TUBAS

I also thought of CHEERLEADER, CLUBHEAD, COLD FRONT, CANADIAN OPEN for a "C, literally" themed puzzle, with a golf-sub theme.

Across:

1A: Top points: ACMES. If it's a 5-letter blank, then it could be APICES, the plural form of APEX.

10A: Rorshach image: BLOT

20A: Pack animal: ASS. My first though was RAT.

22A: Wrestling ring duo: TAG TEAM. I learned this morning that only one match is allowed in the ring at one time. Such aggressive wrestling match types: Last Man Standing, Hard Ten Match, Strip Matches (Bra and Panties, Tuxedo), Pillow Fight, Mud Match, etc.

24A: Hitchcock thriller: THE BIRDS. Only saw the very end of the film, horrifying! I like Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief", lovely! "Rear Window" is a bit scary too.

29A: Spot for reporters: PRESS BOX

34A: Latte topping: FROTH. Holy hot wick FROTH. What caused it?

38A: Mia of soccer: HAMM. Very nice clip.

40A: Garden perennial: PEONY. Here is a beautiful PEONY for you. China does not really have a national flower. People simply can not decide whether to pick PEONY or winter plum blossom. We also have lotus for summer and chrysanthemum for autumn. So basically, China is one country, 4 flowers (for 4 seasons).

44A: Watch furtively: SPY ON

46A: Road marker: MILEPOST

49A: Potency: STRENGTH

54A: Austere: SPARTAN

65A: Kinks' title woman: LOLA. Here is the song. Not very familiar to me. LOLA is always the "Damn Yankees" girl to me.

66A: Ballet __ of Monte Carlo: RUSSE. No idea. Got it from the across fills.

69A: Thomas and Green: SETHS. Another educated guess. Have never heard either of them.

Down:

1D: No longer on deck: AT BAT. Wouldn't it be awesome if the clue for the intersecting TRADE (14A: Line of work) is "Baseall news"?

9D: Game plan: STRATEGY

12D: Southern side dish: OKRA. I always associate OKRA with Gumbo.

26D: Brussels ___: SPROUTS. Have you ever grown Brussels SPROUTS? The stems are so long.

31D: Mollycoddle: BABY. "BABY, I Love You."

33D: Wolverine' s group: X-MEN. The Marvel Comics.

34D: O'Hara's "___ the Terrace": FROM. Another unknown. Easy to infer though. Have you seen the movie?

44D: Kabob holders: SKEWERS

47D: River to the Caspian: URAL. Or URAL Mountains (Europe/Asia separator).

C.C.

Friday September 12, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: LINER (54D: Word defining 21A, 55A, 3D, and 30D)

21A: See 54D: ALBUM JACKET

55A: See 54D: BASEBALL HIT

3D: See 54D: MAKE UP ITEM

30D: See 54D: CRUISE SHIP

I know cruise liner, eyeliner, and line drive, but I've never heard of album liner before.

It's a quality puzzle, only one letter (W) away from a pangram. But a hard, hard struggle for me. I was simply not familiar with this kind of "See 54D" style word-defining clueing. Felt very intimidated and hopeless at various spots.

I think I needed more sleep too.

Across:

1A: Of blood: HEMAL. Identical clue on Sept 2.

14A: Red Sea gulf: AQABA. Here is the map again. It's the gulf between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Barry Silk intersected AQABA with AQI (Air Quality Index) last time. We should be prepared for a future crossing of AQABA with FAQ & QED, both words have no U after Q.

16A: Bantu language: ZULU. It's also a Michael Caine film title ('64). Do you like his "Sleuth"?

17A: Perry and Wilson: LUKES. Know Wilson, not Perry.

24A: Nancy's comics friend: SLUGGO (Smith). Unknown to me. Only 10 cents, must be very old. Her hair looks strange.

26A: Rustling sound: SOUGH. New to me also. Same pronunciation with SOW. Dictionary defines SOUGH as "to make a rushing, rustling, or murmuring sound: the wind soughing in the meadow."

27A: Black-and-white bear: PANDA. USA Today clued PANDA as "It eats, shoots & leaves?" several months ago and raised quite a few eyebrows. I thought it was cool to play on Lynne Truss's punctuation book title, though to grammatically correct, the clue should have been "It eats shoots & leaves".

29A: Strong-arm man: MUSCLE. Are you OK with the clue?

33A: U.K. insurance group: AVIVA. No, not familiar with this AVIVA. What's the odds of a golf hack like Xchefwalt makes a hole-in-one? (Addendum: Syndication paper clue for AVIVA is "Walled Spanish City". And it's wrong. The city name is AVILA. There is no way you can get AVILA with the intersecting V from 25D: GAVE (Donated)).

39A: Perfect match: MATE. And EQUAL (2D: Match in value).

44A: Flock members: LAITY

45A: Answer to an accusation: I AM NOT. No, I AM NOT a DF.

52A: Flockhart role: MCBEAL (Ally). I've only seen a few episodes. I think I like Vonda Shepard more than Ally McBeal.

59A: R. Reagan's Star Wars: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Always have problem remembering this acronym.

60A: Currier's partner: IVES. No idea. I've never heard of Currier and IVES before. Lovely scene. So idyllic.

61A: Cyrano's distinction: NOSE. I did not know who Cyrano is. He does have a big nose.

66A: Bonn waterway: RHINE. Remember the "Swiss City on the RHINE" clue we had several months ago? The answer is BASLE, and the clue had no "Var.".

69A: Stock lacking face value: NO-PAR.

Down:

1D: Stoppages: HALTS. I prefer the clue to be "Stops". I like actions. I like verbs.

4D: Tad's dad: ABE. Ha, I know this one. I like Doris Goodwin.

5D: Pasta dish: LASAGNA. Have some!

9D: Nordic chutes: SKI JUMPS

10D: Prague populace: CZECHS. Do you like Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"?

13D: "Candid Camera" man: FUNT (Allen). Foreign to me.

22D: City in Central Israel: LOD. Where is it? I can not locate this city.

31D: Alfred of theater: LUNT. Would not have got this one without the across fills. LUNT is clued as "Fontanne's partner" on a May puzzle.

33D: Dextrous beginner?: AMBI. Or "Valence beginner?"

34D: __ con Dios: VAYA. Where are you, Jimbo?

40D: Destination in Nepal: KATMANDU. I don't think Argyle and Dennis want to go to KATMANDU, they probably would like to spend "One Night in Bangkok", ... sans Lois.

41D: Door frame part: JAMB. Great Scrabble word.

43D: Leopold's co-conspirator: LOEB

44D: Speaker's stand: LECTERN

46D: Banned blast: N TESTS. Also, "The SALT concern".

48D: Static letters: EMI. Or the "British record label". U2 belongs to EMI, right?

51D: Football great Merlin: OLSEN. He is in Football HOF. But I've never heard of him before.

53D: Ancient Turkish city: ADANA. No, no, here is a good map. Why "Ancient"?

57D: Erotic: SEXY "It you want my body, and you think I'm SEXY, come on sugar, let me know..."

58D: Mythical queen: HERA . Queen of Heavens. Wife/sister of Zeus.

C.C.

Friday September 5, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: CRACKER (40A: 17A, 24A, 51A and 64A follower)

17A: Cow or chicken: FARM ANIMAL

24A: Float: ICE CREAM SODA

51A: Fastener with wings: BUTTERFLY NUT

64A: Large gun barrage: CANNON FIRE

And Graham CRACKER, Oyster CRACKER & Saltine CRACKER. What else can you think of?

I hate the clue for 40A. It's inaccurate. CRACKER only follows the last word of those theme answers. I also dislike the clue for TSE (10D: Half a fly), not only because the clue needs a "?" mark, but also because of BUTTERFLY in 51A. Besides, why obsessed with this terrible fly all the time? What's wrong with cluing TSE as "China's Mao __-tung"?

I am also not fond of the below three clues:

45A: Bog: QUAG. Is QUAG a commonly accepted shortened word?

52D: Phillies all-star 2nd-baseman Chase: UTLEY. An apostrophe should be added to Phillies, right?

65D: Sugary suffix: OSE. I suppose it's OK, though I prefer the clue to be "Sugar suffix".

Other than those, it's a great puzzle, very enjoyable. I love seeing TGIF (10A: End-of-week cry) & Barry Silk on a Friday. I also like this kind of theme type very much.

Still needed Google's help though. It will probably take me a few more months before I can crack this Silk code. He is a very wise man. Ha, WISECRACKER.

Across:

14A: Actress Sofer: RENA. It's clued as "Sofer of soaps' in an earlier TMS puzzle. I like the flowers on her shirt. FYI, RENA means "Joy" in Hebrew.

15A: Lickety-split: APACE

21A: Sealy rival: SERTA. Identical clue in his July "main squeeze" puzzle.

27A: Money set aside: ESCROW. Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday that George Washter, the specialist for the old-masters at Sotheby's, is the father of the 13-year old boy who spent $5,000 on this Rembrandt's etching "Agony in the Garden".

36A: Disunit a fly?: UNZIP. Interesting clue. I wonder if this is Barry Silk's original. It certainly has our editor's fingerprint.

39A: Actress Charlotte: RAE. Legends of what?

43A: Madrid museum: PRADO. A heaven for those Goya fans. Beautiful "The Clothed Maya". Dennis probably loves "The Nude Maya".

49A: Starting lineups: A-TEAMS

56A: Env. contents: LTR. Shouldn't the clue be in singular form?

57A: "Ecologues" sheperdess: DELIA. Would not have got it without the surrounds. It's clued as "Shepherdess in Virgil's "Eclogues" 2 weeks ago. This is Argyle's comment: "DELIA seems to be very obscure. Vigil only mentions the name in passing, "insomuch that now our dogs know not Delia better. The character was saying his boyfriend came around so much that the dogs knew him as well as they knew the shepherdess, I think."

62A: Et __ (and others): ALII. Masculine plural. "Et ALIAE" is femine plural. And "Et ALIA" is neutral plural. And another Latin word is IDEM (37D: Footnote word).

68A: Declare frankly: AVOW. I am always confused about AVOW and AVER, so similiar in meaning.

Down:

1D: Pound sounds: ARFS. I like the rhyme in the clue.

2D:Osso buco meat: VEAL. I would add a few apricots to this dish. I want my meat to be firm, juicy and sweet.

4D: Bloodsucking evil spirit: VAMPIRE

6D: Prot. denom.: EPISC. No need to abbreviate both words in the clue.

8D: Words of concern: I CARE. 4 U.

9D: River ends: DELTAS

11D: Italian cheese: GORGONZOLA. I've never had this cheese before. What does it taste like?

13D: Jane of "Klute": FONDA. I've never seen this movie. That's a daring skirt. Jane FONDA is an awful mother in "Monster-in-Law".

18D: Label for Sonny & Cher: ATCO. No, have never heard of ATCO label before. Here is their "I Got You Babe".

22D: Love in Lyon: AMOUR. "My Cherie AMOUR, lovely as a summer's day...... How I wish that you were mine."

27D: Holliday partner: EARP (Wyatt). Got it from the across clues. I had no idea who Holliday was.

29D: "I Want You to Want Me" band: CHEAP TRICK. New to me. I do love the song title.

33D: Help-page acronym: FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Gimme.

34D: Fort Worth sch.: TCU (Texas Christian University). Strange logo.

35D: Jamaican music: SKA. Every time I see this clue, I think of Bob Marley and "The Wailers".

38D: Holding areas: PENS. "Holding areas" for whom?

41D: "Magnet and Steel" singer Walter: EGAN. Nope, he is new to me. Here is the song. I like this fresh new clue, don't you? I am tired of "Alaska's first governor".

46D: Puts on pounds: GETS FAT

59D: Bounty competition: VIVA. I've never paid attention to this brand. I use Bounty at home.

63D: Resident's suffix: ITE. Xchefwalt & Lois probably want the clue to be "Manhattan chaser?".

C.C.

Friday, August 29, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Let's Say

18A: July 14th in France: BASTILLE DAY

59A: Spendable salary: TAKE HOME PAY

3D: Crosby movie: GOING MY WAY

24D: First Chief Justice: JOHN JAY

29D: Bobby Bloom hit: MONTEGO BAY

And CAY, FAY, GAY, HAY, LAY and MAY. What else?

I've never heard of JOHN JAY before, very interesting name. With Sheryl CROW, Christopher WREN and Peter FINCH, you can create a "Bird Spotting" themed puzzle. That will elate Larry BIRD.

A tough puzzle for me today. I got up late, and was stumped immediately by 1A. I wanted SIR and I knew it's not right. Somehow my mind was fixed on the physicist Newton. Never really gained any momentum, and struggled on various spots.

Across:

1A: Newton's first name ?: Why is it called FIG Newton Cake instead of Cookie/Bar?

4A: Chevy model: CAMARO. Here is the first ever Chevy CAMARO commercial.

14A: English privy: LOO. I think I really like "Elton's john" clue.

15A: Sandy or Roberto of baseball: ALOMAR. A rare gimme. I like how ALOMAR intersects MOST (6D: Part of MVP) because both of them were All-STAR Game MVPs (1997 & 1998). This is their father Sandy ALOMAR Sr (1966 Topps).

16A: 1997 Peter Fonda title role: ULEE. "ULEE's Gold". I've never seen it, have you?

24A: Actress Leigh: JANET. I don't like "Psycho", too scary.

25A: Man in Metz: HOMME. French for man. Here is Picasso's "Vieil HOMME Assis, Mougins". Another French word is OUI (49D: Nice assent).

28A: Hardly hemen: WIMPS. Are you OK with this clue?

32A: Poet Lowell: AMY. Unknown to me. What poem is she famous for?

38A: Alphrazolam brand name: XANAX. I simply forgot. Identical clue in a May TMS puzzle. It's an anti-anxiety drug.

43A: Digital image format: JPEG. I can never rememer its full name: Joint Photographic Experts Group.

48A: Fertile loam: LOESS. I sure have difficuty commmitting this word to my memory.

52A: QB Flutie: DOUG. No, I've never heard of him. A cover on Sports Illustrated? He must be very good during his college years then.

53A: Long Island institution: ADELPHI. New to me also. Is it very famous?

63A: Northern Illinois University city: DEKALB. Another unknown. WP says supermodel Cindy Crawford was born and grew up here. Here is the map.

66A: "___ Fideles": ADESTE. I don't understand a word Enya is singing, but it's beautiful.

Down:

2D: Actress Skye: IONE. No idea, even though I just watched her movie "Say Anything..." (with John Cusack) a few weeks ago.

4D: Minnelli film: CABARET. "Why Should I Wake Up?"

8D: Vituperate: RAIL AT

9D: Wrinkle-free fabric: ORLON. I had no idea that ORLON is a Du Pont trademark.

10D: Pool hall item: CUE STICK. Paul Newman's "The Hustler" is pretty good.

13D: Tunisian ruler: BEYS. Alwayst thought BEYS were Turkish rulers.

19D: Cinema-chain name: LOEWS

25D: Sister's clothing: HABIT

27D: Media bus. grp.: MCA. What is it?

35D: Devon river: EXE. It appeared in a Feb TMS puzzle, and of course I forgot. Here is the map. It flows to the English Channel.

42D: Infection type: STAPH

44D: Good gracious!: GLORY BE. I've never heard anyone say "GLORY BE!" alone as an exclamation. Is it like "Man Alive"?

54D: Confront boldly: DARE. "Somewhere over the rainbow, skies are blue, and dreams that you DARE to dream really do come true..." Now, tell me, do you DARE? " 'Cause if you do, I'll take you there...."

55D: Med. tests for the heart: EKGS. I forgot which one is more commonly used, EKG or ECG?

57D: Pakistan tongue: URDU. Nailed it this time.

C.C.

Friday August 22, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: MONEY (69A: This puzzle's theme)

21A: Flour, water and shortening: PASTRY DOUGH

27A: Steamers: LONG NECK CLAMS

46A: Bibb alternative: BOSTON LETTUCE

54A: Italian restaurant staple: GARLIC BREAD

Wow, edible "Steamers", new to me. I knew DOUGH, LETTUCE, BREAD are slang words for money, had no idea that "CLAMS" can mean money too. But why CLAMS instead of CLAM?

I thought CABBAGE SOUP & BACON AND EGGS are great theme entries too. But I guess they don't fit the "Cash back" theme pattern.

Great puzzle. I like how MONEY is revealed in the very end. I often wonder why constructors/editors like to define the theme title for this kind of synonym type of grid. Why can't they just clue MONEY as "It talks" and then let the solvers figure out what those theme entries in common and enjoy the "Aha" moment when they find the MONEY.

Across:

1A: Kuwaiti 69A: DINAR. The first word that popped to my mind is EMEER. I was thinking 69D might be RULER. But quickly discarded my idea after seeing 1D.

10A: Comic Foxx: REDD. Very interesting stage name. Obviously he liked Jimmie Foxx. I would have liked C. C. Sabathia had he not played for the Indians and worn his cap off-kilter all the time.

24A: She's possessive: HER. I dislike this clue. Given ARGO (11D: Jason's vessel) other "Sailor" & "Pirate" clues, I would prefer HER to be clued as ship related.

39A: Writer Talese: GAY. I've never read any of his books. Knew him because of his wife Nan Talese ("A Million Little Pieces" scandal).

41A: __ B. Davis: ANN. Pure guess. I've never heard of her or watched The Brady Bunch.

51A: Sailor's drink: RUM. Why??

62A: Flinch or start, e.g.: REACT. "Flinch, e.g." is enough. And another "Flinch" reaction is RECOIL (10D: Draw back in horror).

64A: Promised land: ZION. I would not have got this one without the down fills. So, this is how we got the word "Zionist" I suppose.

68A: "Peter Pan" pirate: SMEE. And 53D: Pirate's pal: MATEY.

Down:

1D: Vader or Maul: DARTH. Know the name, but I have never seen "Star Wars".

3D: Vieux Carre location: NEW ORLEANS. An educated guess. Knew "The French Quarters", but was not aware of its French name.

5D: Minnesota's state tree: RED PINE. Too close to each other.

9D: Mount of the Several Sisters: HOLYOKE. No idea.

13D: Real looker: DISH. Foodies would probably like the clue to be "Chef's serving".

23D: Down source: DUCK. Brought a smile to my face.

30D: All-Star third baseman Ron: CEY. Dodgers's.

31D: Not limited to roads: ALL TERRAIN

35D: Ex-Yankee Martinez: TINO. Vaguely heard of him before.

42D: City near Sacramento: LODI

44D: Greek portico: STOA

48D: Go from 2 to 6, say: TREBLE. Not familiar with the triple meaning of "TREBLE".

55D: Calcutta's continent: ASIA

57D: Porkpie feature: BRIM. Had no idea that "Porkpie" is a kind of hat.

C.C.

Friday August 15, 2008 Verna Suit

Theme: SOUL OF MOTOWN (30A: 16A, 38A, and 55A, e.g.)

16A: "A Natural Woman" lady: ARETHA FRANKLIN

38A: "Part-Time Lover" man: STEVIE WONDER

55A: "Superfly" guy: CURTIS MAYFIELD

I could not finish this puzzle unassisted. I wish I could. I had a nightmare at the lower left corner. But I like this puzzle. I really like it.

I can't tell you what really constitutes a good puzzle. To quote Justice Stewart again: "I know it when I see it".

So many unexpected fills and surprising clues. Look at these compound words:

9A: Attacked: SET AT

14A: Baby Doll: CUTIE PIE

21A" Promotional links: TIE-INS

46A: For no profit: AT COST

50A: Lifter's shout: ALLEY-OOP

59A: Targeted: PREYED UPON

3D: Relished: ATE UP

22D: Spouse sibling: IN-LAW

44D: Can skip: NEEDN'T

48D: Dizzying designs: OP ART

50D: How much above?: A CUT

52D: Scientologist Hubbard: L RON

Quality clues, quality answers! This is the way crossword should be constructed and is indeed the way the new wave of constructors/editors like Stan Newman have been headed for.

Two irksome clues also:

58A: Home of the Huskies: UCONN. Definitely need a "for short" in the clue.

35D: Part of Canada's Y.T.: TER. Please don't use this clue again. It's cheating! Why not go with "Guam, e.g.: Abbr. "?

Across:

1A: Image digitizers: SCANNERS

19A: Western tip of England: LAND'S END. Foreign to me. Looks like a storm is coming.

24A: Harrison in "Star Wars": HAN. HAN Solo. FYI, HAN is also the largest among the 56 ethnic groups in China. It constitutes about 93% of the population, roughly 19% of the entire world population. I am a Han.

33A: Maestro Dorati: ANTAL. Have never heard of this conductor. Wikipedia says he was "especially well-known for his recordings of Tchaikovsky's music", and he was "the first conductor to record all three of Tchaikovsky's ballets - Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauity and The Nutcracker - complete."

41A: Tears into pieces: SHREDS

54A: Quilt with a washable cover: DUVET

60A: 1979 Alda senatorial role: TYNAN. The Seduction of Joe TYNAN. New to me. Both Meryl Streep & Rip Torn were (are??) in the cast. Is it a good movie?

61A: Shrill: STRIDENT

Down:

1D: Meager: SCANTY

2D: Screen arrow: CURSOR

8D: Caravan stopover: SERAI. I've never heard of this word.

9D: Grainy rocks: SANDSTONES

11D: Swimming pool edger: TILE. He is incredible. He has showed us how to turn an improbable into an afterthought!

18D: Capital of Spain?: ESS

24D: 1942 Bing Crosby film: HOLIDAY INN. I've never seen this movie. The only Bing Crosby movies I've seen are "The Country Girl" & "High Society". I adore Grace Kelley. I like "To Catch a Thief" & "Rear Window".

26D: Fabri or liquid finisher: ATOR. Commentator, Decorator as well.

27D: Hole maker: AWL. Interesting 7" Bone AWL.

39D: These, in Cadiz: ESTOS

40D: Morse code unit: DIT. No wobbling between DOT & DIT this time because I got DIS (42A: Bad-mouth) earlier on.

43D: Coty competitor: REVLON. L'Oreal is another major competitor of Coty, so are Unilever and P & G of course.

49D: Blue shoe leather: SUEDE. I don't understand this one, why "blue"?

51D: Ethel's tenant: LUCY. "I Love Lucy".

56D: Beatles song, "__ Blues": YER. "YER Blues". Saw this clue somewhere before.

57D: Murphy Brown's TV show: FYI. Completely unknown to me. I've never seen "Murphy Brown".

C.C.

Friday August 8, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Vowel Progression

17A: "Living the Bill of Rights" writer: NAT HENTOFF

25A: Outcome: NET RESULT

37A: Quibbled: NITPICKED

53A: Ain't gonna happen!: NOT ON A BET

63A: Reason to eschew cashews: NUT ALLERGY

Ha, back to the familiar cluing. I had the suspiction that yesterday's puzzle was guest-edited by someone else. Some of the clues just felt so unusual, esp MALE. Or it could be that our editor decided not to tinker too much with the constructor's initial submission, so some of the clues came to us unfiltered and with originality.

This is a rather unusual Allan E. Parrish puzzle. I cannot find any Z, or Q. Good puzzle though, there is no forced fill or strained clue. I solved the bottom part of the puzzle first. Got the theme, then moved upwards and quickly filled in all the N?T theme entry words. Did flaunder at the upper right corner. Had problem obtaining SHEL, esp the last letter, as I did not know the crossing LANGTRY.

I so look forward to a L?ST vowel movement puzzle. LAST, LEST, LIST, LOST & LUST all sound more dynamic, don't you think so? I am so curious to see how the constructor clue those vibrant words.

My labels show that this is the 17th Allan E. Parrish puzzle we've done since Jan 21, 2008. By contrast, we have been offered 29 puzzles from Alan P. Olschwang.

Across:

1A: Straddle: SPAN. I wonder why our editor dislikes getting "handy" with SPAN. Mine is about 7", how about yours?

5A: Speak in Spanish: HABLA. Several Spanish words today: ENERO (32D: January in Oaxaca). EL NINO (60A: Current phenomenon).

10A: Cartoonist Silverstein: SHEL. No idea. I like the cover of "The Giving Tree".

14A: Der __ (Adenauer): ALTE. Konrad Adenauer.

16A: Disaster relief agcy.: FEMA. This remind me of somone's cub scout indiscretion "Brownie". You did a "heck of a job" Dennis!

19A: Greenish-blue: CYAN. I can never remember how to spell this CYAN blue.

21A: Neet rival: NAIR. As I mentioned yesterday, I dislike the repetition of letter(s) in both the clue and answer. "Hair removal product" is sufficient here.

30A: "The X-Files" character: MULDER (Fox). Is he romantically involved with Scully? I've only seen a few episodes. Not my cup of tea.

31A: Alternative to "ah": I SEE. Ha, not an easy "I SEE" for me.

33A: One-named supermodel: EMME. The plus sized model. She is pretty. (Addendum: The picture was actually Velvet D'Amour. Sorry for the mistake.)

36A: Like a run-down walk-up: SEEDY. "Walk-up" is a new phrase to me.

40A: Craps number: SEVEN. This is my favorite No. SEVEN. That's Mantle's 1952 Topps rookie card, the holy grail of baseball card collecting. I've only seen one in person at a card show.

44A: Long yarn: SAGA. Good clue.

61A: Australia lake: EYRE. Lake EYRE, the lowest point in Australia. Unknown to me. I got it from the perps. I like this clue better than the stale "Bronte heroine".

65A: Kodak brand: T-MAX

69A: Hawk's home: AERIE. Interesting pose. What is he looking for?

Down:

1D: Duvall title role: SANTINI. The Great SANTINI. Is this a well-known film? I vaguely remember seeing this title somewhere before.

2D: Lamentations: PLAINTS

3D: Case handled by a lawyer?: ATTACHE. Great clue.

4D: India's first P.M.: NEHRU. In Chinese translation, "H" is pronounced. NEHRU is 尼赫魯 in Chinese characters.

5D: Fictional Brinker: HANS. Unknown to me. I only knew HANS Christian Andersen. Sweet story.

7D: Trailblazin' Dan'l: BOONE. Another unknown to me. Is there any special reason why the clue is spelled that way?

10D: U.S. Army rank: SFC (Sergeant First Class)

11D: Beatles hit: HEY JUDE. Here is the song.

13D: The Jersey Lily: LANGTRY. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says she was the mistress of the future King Edward VII for sometime. Edward once complained to her, "I've spent enough on you to build a battleship," whereupon she tartly replied, "And you've spent enough in me to float one."

25D: Maiden of myth: NYMPH

35D: Big success: ECLAT. Some of the words just sound so brilliant when you pronounce them, ELCAT, bravura, virtuosity, etc.

39D: Plunk starter?: KER. Kerplunk.

41D: Names turned into words: EPONYMS. I like how the Mae West life vest got its name.

42D: Ex-solider: VETERAN. Dislike the clue due to EXS (62D).

47D: Dry gulches: ARROYOS

49D: Largest city on Lake Huron: SARNIA. New to me. See this map.

51D: Take a trip?: FALL. Does it really need a question mark?

57D: 1983 Indy 500 winner: SNEVA (Tom). Uncompletely unknown to me. Wikipedia says he was inducted into Motorsports HOF in 2005. Nice vintage button.

62D: "All my __ Live in Texas": EX'S. OK, 2 questions: Why the apostrophe in the song? And Why not EXES?

C.C.

Friday August 1, 2008 Verna Suit

Theme: "See 'n Say"

17A: Lunch combo: SOUP AND SANDWICH

23A: Footwear combo: SHOES AND SOCKS

38A: Flag combo: STARS AND STRIPES

49A: Little girl combo: SUGAR AND SPICE

60A: Bonebreaking combo: STICKS AND STONES

I don't like seeing 5 repetitive "combo" in the above clues, very lazy. Given the creativity shown by the constructor on the theme entries, I suspect our editor might have tinkered with the constructor's original submission. Anyway, a "duet" sounds more appealing to me than a "combo".

This is a beautiful grid. I am so impressed with those S* & S* phrases. I was thinking of a similar T* & T* puzzle, but I could only think of "Thick and Thin" & "Toss and Turn". What other T*& T* phrases can you think of? They have to be 10-letter long I suppose, 15- letter will be ideal of course.

Several clever clues in today's puzzle, and several eyebrow-raising abbreviated answers too.

Across:

1A: Profundity: DEPTH. Wish the clue were "The third D (3-D)" to pair up with CCL (20A: Half of D). I've never realized that there is a "C C" in every "half of D".

6A: Erect: RAISE. Would have had a nice little sub-theme if RAISE were clued as "Worker's demand" since we have 56A: Workplace safety grp. (OSHA) & 30D: Work Station (DESK).

11A: VW predecessors: STU. Great clue. STUVW, in alphabetic order.

15A: Former defense secretary Les: ASPIN. "LES" was clued as "Aspin from Wisconsin" on July 8.

22A: Plumps (for): OPTS. I've never heard of "Plumps for" before. Dictionary defines the phrase as "Supports enthusiastically", but that would be "ROOTS for", how could it be "OPTS for"?

28A: Potato style: MASHED. The green pieces on top are chives, aren't they?

34A: Race of Norse gods: AESIR. I forgot. Had AESI? for a long time. AESIR is "the principal race of gods, led by Odin and living at Asgard." Very interesting root: "Old Norse, pl. of āss, god), no wonder they live in Asgard.

43A: Gov't security: T NOTE

45A: Annie or Harry Potter: ORPHAN

67A: Bit of binary code: ONE. This ONE is for you, xchefwalt.

68A: "The Highwayman poet": NOYES (Alfred). What a confusing name: NO YES. Thomas probably will "NOYER" into this name again.

69A: Dashing Flynn: ERROL. Know him, have never seen any of his movies though. Interesting book title - "My Wicked, Wicked Ways".

Down:

2D: Son of Cain: ENOCH

4D: County div., often: TWP (Township)

5D: San Simeon castle builder: HEARST. Got it from the cross fills. "San Simeon castle" is not a familiar name to me.

6D: Hazardous gas: RADON

7D: Varied: abbr: ASSTD (Assorted). What do you think of this clue?

8D: None for me, thanks: I PASS

11D: In good order: SHIPSHAPE

26D: Vocalist Vikki: CARR. Unknown to me. I googled her name. Here is her "It Must Be Him" & "All The Time".

33D: New state name: HAMPSHIRE. Another clever clue. New HAMPSHIRE.

41D: Title for M. Clouseau: INSP (Inspector). I have no idea who M. Clouseau is. I've never heard of "Pink Panther" before. This picture popped up when I googled "Inspector Clouseau".

46D: Anti-Red grp.: HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). I pieced the answer together from the perps. Vaguely remember seeing this word in someone's comment before. Wait....OK, it's from Melissa. She mentioned HUAC when she remarked on Zero MOSTEL a few weeks ago.

48D: African menace: TSETSE. Good to see a full fly. Here is a female TSETSE. How sad, this deadly fly kills 3 millions livestock in this region every year.

50D: Prepared for action: READY. See, here is good example of how a constructor/editor can make a clue more interesting, tricking people to think of a past tense verb. A present tense "Prepare for action" is also a valid clue since READY can also be a verb.

55D: Stand for something?: EASEL. I like the question mark in the clue.

C.C.

Friday July 25, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: “Clothing Closures"

17A: Kind of cookie: GINGER SNAP

61A: Michale J. Fox sitcom: FAMILY TIES

10D: Navel: BELLY BUTTON

24D: Peter Pan's arch enemy: CAPTAIN HOOK

Yawner, yawner, yawner! Too many crosswordese, hard for me to get excited about.

TLC (63D: Gentle treatment) needs a "Briefly" in the clue. And ERAS (29D: Important periods) needs to be changed to "Pitchers' stats" or something else because of the answer PERIOD (46A: Full stop).

Not a bad theme idea, but why TIES (61A) is in plural form while the other theme answers are all in singular form? Where is the consistency?

Across:

10A: Huffed and puffed: BLEW. "Boy you really BLEW my mind..., I think I'm in love with you. I been doin' silly things when it comes to you..." Lovely lyrics. Do you like Jessica Simpson? My favorite Jessica song is "I Wanna Love You Forever".

14A: Likeness: IMAGE. "Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his IMAGE", so true.

24A: Today's OSS: CIA. Have you seen Robert De Niro/Matt Damon's "The Good Shepherd"? It's indeed "The Godfather of CIA movies".

25A: Gardner's Mason: PERRY. ERLE Stanley Gardner.

26A: Truth, vis-a-vis fiction?: STRANGER. Good clue. Truth is STRANGER than fiction. Only learned this morning that this saying comes from Byron's poem "Don Juan".

35A: "East of Eden" twin: ARON. No idea. I got it from down fills.

37A: Actress Irene: DUNNE. Learned from doing Xword. I've never seen any of her movies.

41A: Ensnare: TRAP. And 5D: Catch by persistence: REEL IN

48A: Offered sympathy to: CONSOLED. I penned in CONDOLED first.

53A: You go girl!: RIGHT ON. Are they really interchangeable?

57A: AKA's commerce cousin: DBA (Doing Business As). No, I've never heard of it. Where will you see this acronym?

67A: Unassuming: MEEK. I don't think they are synonyms, do you?

Down:

1D: Way up: HIGH. Hmm, does this clue/answer bring to your mind U2's Mysterious Way: "...If you want to kiss the sky. Better learn how to kneel. On your knees boy..."

9D: Documents: PAPERS. PAPER CLIP would be a great theme answer too.

23D: 2005 MVP: AROD. Ah, Madonna, Lenny Kratz, what a SNAFU (51D: Major glitch).

26D: Throw out: SCRAP. Saw it clued as "Deep-Six" before. Six is a very interesting number, esp in Swedish & Latin languages.

25D: Grocery section: PRODUCE. The precious MOREL is placed at the PRODUCE section in our local grocery store.

43D: Lampblack: SOOT. Thought of Santa and his chimney.

47D: Clumsy clod: DOOFUS

49D: Accept a proposal: SAY YES. Why not?

56D: Yearn to see again: MISS. "How can I MISS you if you don't go away?"

58D: ___ around the block: BEEN. I've never heard of this idiom before.

C.C.

Friday July 18, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: Crowd Scene

18A: 1979 Broncos' nickname: ORANGE CRUSH

58A: Steady date: MAIN SQUEEZE

3D: Seal out air: VACUUM PACK

31D: Gridlock: TRAFFIC JAM

I did not know that the nickname for the 1979 Broncos is ORANGE CRUSH, such a theme friendly phrase. With LEMON TWIST, ACORN SQUASH, PEACHBLOW, you've got another explosive puzzle.

I've never heard MAIN SQUEEZE either, nobody has ever called me that. Very interesting slang, SQUEEZE!

I really like this puzzle. Only one letter (Y) away from a pangram. Challenging but rewarding. I've emerged as new person after battling through the Q fever. I suggest Barry Silk watch some movies starring Maggie Q, the exotic & well-known model/actress in Asia. Or he can read Ah Q, a masterpiece in Chinese literature. I am sure he will be inspired.

The only corner I dislike is the intersection of FREEZER (43D: Cold storage) and STORE (66A: Stockpile). Bad clues. "Stockpile" does not sound powerful at all for STORE, in fact, it's anemic.

I could not finish this puzzle unassisted. It's out of my ability.

OK, let's tee off!

FRONT NINE:

1A: Actress Tyler: LIV. She starred in "The Lord of Rings". She is also the spokesperson for Givenchy, irresistible indeed!

4A: In flames: AFIRE. What would you do "When You Are Engulfed in Flames"?

9A: Standing by the plate: AT BAT

14A: Palindromic constellation: ARA. No idea. But ARA is the only feasible palindromic choice here.

16A: Capital of Tibet: LHASA. "H" is a very puzzling letter to me. Why added "H" to the words when it's not pronounced? I am also bewildered by the order of "H' in a word. Is there any rule for it? I always want to spell Gandhi as Ghandi.

20A: Times and Herald, e.g.: SQUARES

23A: Samovars: URNS. Samovar is a kind of Russian urn.

26A: Words of woe: OH ME. Not AH ME?

30A: Web page file letters: HTML

34A: '50s dance: HOP. Not familiar with this dance at all.

36A: Sealy rival: SERTA. Nope. I've never paid attention to the name of those mattress manufacturers. I slept on hard, mattressless, wooden bed until I was 24 years old.

41A: Four-sided figs.: RECTS (Rectangles). I would not have got it without the down fills.

42A: Drink heartily: QUAFF

44A: Rival of 1-800-FLOWERS: FTD (Florist's Transworld Delivery). I still have not received this, have you sent it out yet?

48A: Jimmies: PRIES. I only knew Jimmy as a man's name. Had no idea that it could also be a crowbar or a verb.

52A: Be contiguous: ADJOIN

61A: Fla. city: JAX (Jacksonville). Isn't it an airport designation?

BACK NINE:

5D: Anticipated: FORESAW. Remember last Friday I FORESAW a price drop of $25/barrel for those stupid crude oil? So far so good, $15 plummet in the past 3 days.

6D: Tax-sheltered $: IRAS. Free fall in the past months?

9D: Aluminum company: ALCOA. No way AA can reach $43 this year!

10D: Atlanta pro: THRASHER. Which NHL team do you think have the coolest name? I like our Minnesota Wild.

11D: One bit per second: BAUD. No idea. Pure guess.

12D: African fox: ASSE. The Cape fox. It appeared on May 26 TMS puzzle.

13D: Asian mountain goat: TAHR. Or THAR. Nepali language. Completely unknown to me. so ugly.

24D: Lousy excuses: COP-OUTS

25D: One-celled organisms: AMEBAE

27D: Shanty: HOVEL. New word to me.

29D: Slightly blue: RISQUE. Oh, only slightly.

32D: School calendar letters: MTWTF

46D: Tanning lotion letters: SPF (Sun Protection Factor). I think mine is SPF 50 (Coppertone Sport).

38D: Get a move on!: STEP ON IT

46D: Flaubert's five: CINQ. My favorite answer of the whole grid. I like the alliteration in the clue too. Without the letter C, I would have penned in RARER for 46A: More precious (CUTER).

53D: Limp watch painter: DALI. Here is "The Persistence of Memory", a classical surrealistic piece. It's hot. Those hard watches are melting. What time is it? 6pm?

55D: Presidential turndown: VETO. Don't VETO the wrong bill please!

C.C.