Friday January 9, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: RIGHT FIELD (54A: Baseball position... or this puzzle's theme)

17A: Oscar winner in 37D: SALLY FIELD

22A: Second shortest serving U.S. president: JAMES A. GARFIELD

35A: "Catcher in the Rye" character: HOLDEN CAULFIELD

45A: "The Wayward Bus" co-star: JAYNE MANSFIELD

David Copperfield is another RIGHT FIELDer. But his name has 16 letters. Won't fit in this 15*15 grid.

I did not know that JAMES A. GARFIELD is the "Second shortest serving U.S. president" (199 days). Brian Williams of "NBC Nightly News" is working on a book about the assassination of GARFIELD I think.

Knew JAYNE MANSFIELD, but I had never heard of "The Wayward Bus". I was so proud that I got HOLDEN CAULFIELD. I remember his name not from "Catcher in the Rye" (too many curses in the book), but from Jennifer Aniston's "The Good Girl". Her love interest in the movie named himself Holden Worther because he thinks his life mirrors that of HOLDEN CAULFIELD.

Luckily 17A, 37D and 38D are not difficult to obtain today, cross-referencing clues can be frustrating sometimes.

Why is A-ROD (28A) clued as "2005 baseball MVP"? Something special about his 2005 season? He was the MVP in 2003 and 2007 too. I can never understand why Seattle Mariners did not try hard enough to keep players like A-ROD, Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, etc.

Across:

1A: Scale with no sharps or flats: C MAJOR. Is it really a key for happy music?

14A: Sumptuous: DELUXE. I always associate "Sumptuous" with a lavish meal.

15A: Fashion designer Kawakubo: REI. No idea. This photo looks very familiar though. Here are some her designs. So edgy.

19A: Norse VIP: ODIN. We got Friday from Frigg, wife of ODIN.

20A: Slip-on slipper: MULE. I wonder why they are called MULE slippers.

27A: Essen article: EIN. And LES (57D: French article)

32A: I. M., the architect: PEI. Someday I am going to visit the JFK Library. PEI was born in Guangzhou, where I lived for five years before moving to the US. I like the clue. It reminds me of the funny name Ima Hogg.

41A: Small silvery swimmer: DACE. New fish to me. Looks like a small carp.

43A: Airline to Madrid: IBERIA. Have never heard of IBERIA Airlines. It's the national airline for Spain. I am more used to "Spain's peninsula" for IBERIA. Nice, fresh clue though.

53A: Pianist Thelonious: MONK. Too obscure an MONK for me. Why would his parent name him Thelonious? Sounds like a Greek mythological figure with 12 heads living in the Hades.

Down:

3D: The works: ALL. Why?

5D: Water part: OXYGEN. H2O.

7D: Shorthand system: GREGG. Is it still in use today?

8D: Macedonian capital of old: PELLA. See this map. New name to me. It's the birthplace of Alexander the Great.

9D: Of stars: SIDEREAL. I was surprised that I had never seen this word before. It's rooted in sidus, Latin for star.

10D: Get a close-up: ZOOM IN

11D: Provide (with): ENDUE. Only know ENDOW.

22D: One of a court dozen: JUROR. "12 Angry Men" is a great movie.

23D: Soap plant: AMOLE. Learned from doing crossword. Don't know why it's called "Soap plant". Can you wash your clothes with AMOLE?

24D: Safety grp.: MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving)

25D: Feudal estate: FIEF

32D: Wisdom unit?: PEARL. Plearls of wisdom.

33D: Heston title role: EL CID. Have you seen the movie? Is it romantic?

37D: Movie starring 17A: NORMA RAE

43D: Should that be the case: IF IT IS

44D: Nigerian Civil War side: BIAFRA. Here is the map. The Civil War in 1967. I know nothing about it.

45D: Economy-size: JUMBO. I often confuse JUMBO with jumble.

47D: "Fiddler on the Roof" role: YENTE. I just learned this morning that YENTA is a back-formation of YENTE, which is an alteration of YENTL.

C.C.

Friday January 2, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: MATCH (39A: Word before ends of 20A, 28A, 48A and 58A)

20A: Movie theater appliance: POPCORN MAKER

28A: Parcel, possibly: CARDBOARD BOX

48A: Cocktail implement: SWIZZLE STICK

58A: Sycophant's reward: BROWNIE POINT

BROWNIE POINT is a new phrase to me. It takes "BROWNIE, you're doing a heck of a job" to a whole new dimension then.

I really like the clues for ARSON (2D: Illegal firing?) and LOO (49D: Elton's john). Very clever. I would prefer "Since Jan. 1" over "Since 1/1" for YTD. I also dislike the clue for SEL (24A: SSS word). Abbreviated answer should always be avoided when other choice exists. Besides, why not play with George Sand's name and clue SEL as "Sand's salt". Alliterative and misguiding.

I hope you enjoyed this pangram from Barry. It's been exactly a month since we last solved his puzzle.

Across:

1A: Delhi garb: SARI. And RANI (71A: Indian royalty). Perfect symmetry.

9A: Flashy: JAZZY. The style of Barry's puzzle as well. Four Z's today.

16A: "The Waste Land" poet: ELIOT. Boston accent?

23A: Surround with an aura: ENHALO. Was unaware of the verb form.

37A: Seed covering: ARIL. I forgot the difference between ARIL and TESTA again.

45A: Greek war god: ARES. He is also Aphrodite's lover, so are Adonis and Hermes and a bunch of other guys. Hugo once said "A woman with three lovers is a woman." I've yet to become a woman then.

61A: Leon Uris novel: QB VII. No idea. This is the book cover. What does QB stand for?

65A: Actor Franco: NERO. Unknown to me. I am used to the "Fictional Wolfe" clue. Hmm, his book looks interesting.

68A: Hydroxyl compound: ENOL. Often clued as "Organic compound".

Down:

3D: Writer Ellison: RALPH. New writer to me. Wikipedia says he is best known for novel "Invisible Man", which won the National Book Award in 1953.

4D: Emetic medication: IPECAC. My brain keeps burping this word.

5D: "Air Music" composer: NED ROREM. Have never heard of this composer before. He looks quite handsome.

8D: Half of UTEP: EL PASO. Another "My Pet Goat" moment for me. I just can't remember what UTEP stands for (University of Texas, EL PASO).

9D: Worn ornaments: JEWELRY. Does anyone collect Taxco sterling silver JEWLERY? Here is a vintage Los Castillo signed sterling silver owl pin. The seller is asking $475 for his item.

10D: Banned spray: ALAR. When was it banned?

11D: Quick turn: ZIG

12D: Tony winner Caldwell: ZOE. Here is a clip of Caldwell and Sean Connery in "MacBeth". I simply forgot her name. Googled her before. She has won four Tony Awards.

21D: "The Good Earth" wife: O-LAN. "The Good Earth" is the best book about China. No other author has ever captured the authentic Chinese spirit better than Pearl Buck did.

22D: Cyclades island: KEA. I would not have got it without the across fills. Can never remember this damned island. Isn't it strange that KEA is the only feminine sounding island while others all have *S ending masculine names?

27D: Neural transmitters: AXONS. They transmit impulses.

29D: Kind of fingerprint: DNA. I've always associated DNA with blood or hair, but never with fingerprint.

30D: Test versions: BETAS. Computer term I presume?

31D: River regulator: DAM. I was thinking there might be a federal agency that regulate those rivers.

32D: Fabricated: FALSE. LIED does not fit.

41D: Dutch brew: HEINEKEN. They have very formidable market share in Asia Pacific.

44D: Of Russian monarchy: CZARIST

46D: Porgy: SCUP. Holy cow. So this is what a S CUP looks like. Unknown to me. Where did I get the idea that "Porgy" is a pig name?

50D: One of the Blues Brothers: ELWOOD. Another new name to me.

51D: Scandinavian coins: KRONER. Strange plural form.

55D: City in Tuscany: SIENA

56D: Bankrupt giant: ENRON. We bought a pack of ENRON logo golf balls on Ebay after the ENRON collapse. My sister-in-law has this strange conspiracy theory that Ken Lay is not really dead.

57D: Popular vodka, familiarly: STOLI

60D: Andes autocrat: INCA. Again, why "autocrat"?

61D: NFL passers: QBS. And TDS. That's all I know about football.

62D: Emeril's exclamation: BAM. "Aw, yeah, babe", "feel the love", Emeril also likes to say "Kick it up a notch".

C.C.

Friday December 26, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Vowel Progression

17A: Kitchen items: FRYING PANS

26A: Spots for tots: PLAYPENS

37A: Certain hair clips: BOBBY PINS

52A: Legendary coloratura soprano: LILY PONS

61A: Some cartoons: VISUAL PUNS

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

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

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

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

Across:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

65A: Ringlet: CURL

67A: Principal artery: AORTA

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

Down:

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

2D: Certain writing implements: MARKERS

3D: Subjects for analysts: PSYCHES

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

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

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

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

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

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

35D: Pathetic start?: SYM. Sympathetic.

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

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

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

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

C.C.

Friday December 19, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Have an AX to Grind

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

24A: Modern message-sender: FAX MACHINE

37A: Like most charitable contributions: TAX DEDUCTIBLE

50A: Corporal of the 4077th: MAX KLINGER

61A: Rhapsodize: WAX POETIC

Hammer fell for me! So many unfamiliar proper names.

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

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

Across:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

31A: Overturned: UPENDED

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

41A: Eclipse or Stride: GUM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Down:

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

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

3D: Chevron's 2001 merger partner: TEXACO

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

5D: Grain husks: CHAFF

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

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

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

12D: Play about Capote: TRU

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

22D: American elk: WAPITI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

44D: Quite alike: AKIN TO

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

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

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

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

60D: Vert. bars on goods: UPC

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

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

C.C.

Friday December 12, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Sound Alike

17A: Golf?: PLAY A ROUND (AROUND)

55A: Take a dive?: THROW A BOUT (ABOUT)

11D: Compete in a steeplechase?: JUMP A BOARD (ABOARD)

28D: Race on earth?: RUN A GROUND (AGROUND)

I was not aware of the boxing term "dive". But "PLAY A ROUND" came to me immediately so I got the theme very early on. It certainly helped me fill in several blanks. I found today's down fills much easier to obtain than the across ones.

Two major problems in this puzzle:

1) DIVE (24A: Swoop) is an answer, so "dive" should not be part of the clue for 55A.

2) POUT (51D: Look sullen) and POUTY (33A: Peevish) in the same puzzle? They are of the same root for goodness sake.

I do like the clues for GOOSE (6D: Nene, for one) and GUEVARA (41D: Che from Argentina). Lovely to see "Nene" and "Che" as clues rather than the fills. I had the mistaken idea that Che was from Cuba.

Across:

1A: Walker in water: WADER. Nice clue. All alliterations.

14A: Napoleon, for a time: EXILE. Another nice clue. Try "Dalai Lama" next time. He has been an exile for a long time.

15A: SSS classification: ONE A. Here is a detailed list. Have you ever seen a Purple Heart medal in person?

16A: King novel, "__ Key": DUMA. Got the book title from down fills. I've never read any Stephen King book.

21A: Bonny girl: LASS. "Bonny" is rooted in BON (57D: __ mot (witticism)).

22A: Swooped: DIPPED. Are they are really interchangeable?

25A: __ Gorda, FL: PUNTA. New city to me. What is it famous for? The name is "Fat Point" in Spanish.

26A: Low, foglike clouds: STRATI. Singular form is STRATUS.

34A: Small traveler in space: METEOROID

36A: Japanese ethnic group: AINU. The aboriginal Japanese. AINU is literally "human" in their language.

37A: Hindu garment: var.: SAREE. SARI is more common. Same with RANEE, which is a variant of RANI.

41A: Prickly, Scottish shrub: GORSE. I totally forgot about this bush. Dictionary says it's a genus of Ulex. Kind of reminds me of IBEX (Mountain goat) and IlEX (Holm oak). A bunch of weird looking words.

45A: Rope on the range: RIATA. Sometimes it's REATA. What's the difference between RIATA and LARIAT?

47A: Whence Zeno: ELEA. Zeno of ELEA.

50A: B.C. or P.E.I.: PROV. We have provinces (22) in China. Xi'An is the capital city of Shaanxi Province.

58A: Potent beginning: OMNI. Also "Present beginning".

61A: Art movement: DADA. OK, here is Dadaist Duchamp's "Mona Lisa". Here is the explanation on the DF meaning of L.H.O.O.Q..

Down:

3D: Naturalist Fossey: DIAN. Got her name from across fills. Is DIAN a nickname of DIANA?

9D: Pharisee rival: SADDUCEE. Completely unknown to me. Dictionary defines SADDUCEE as "a member of a Palestinian sect, consisting mainly of priests and aristocrats, that flourished from the 1st century b.c. to the 1st century a.d. and differed from the Pharisees chiefly in its literal interpretation of the Bible, rejection of oral laws and traditions, and denial of an afterlife and the coming of the Messiah."

10D: Make work: ADAPT. Are you comfortable with this clue?

29D: Job extras: PERKS. What amazing PERKS Google offers to its employees!

44D: Exhale forcefully: BLOW. Also the title of a Johnny Depp movie.

52D: Inning sixths: OUTS. Baseball term. "Three up, three down". Why "sixth" instead of "six"?

53D: Very small: ITSY. This reminds me of a good clue for SANTA ("He has a small staff").

C.C.

Friday December 5, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Roy Orbison Hits

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

35A: See 20A: RUNNING SCARED

54A: See 20A: OH, PRETTY WOMAN

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

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

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

Across:

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

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

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

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

16A: Top choice, slangily: FAVE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

57A: Osbourne of rock: OZZY

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

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

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

65A: Stylish: DRESSY

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

Down:

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

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

4D: Big house: STATE PEN

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

8D: Dives like an eagle: SWOOPS

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

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

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

13D: Signed, kind of: XED

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

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

26D: Game pieces: MEN

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

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

36D: Thawed out: UNFROZEN

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

39D: Cursor relocator: ARROW KEY

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

44D: Thing to do: ERRAND

45D: Certain claim holder: LIENOR

49D: Immersed: DUNKED. I SOAKED first.

52D: Boulder: STONE. I wanted ROCK.

C.C.

Friday November 28, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Same Rhymes

18A: Comden/Green musical: AUNTIE MAME

24A: Rainout remedy: MAKEUP GAME

37A: University of South Bend: NOTRE DAME

54A: Cooperstown attraction: HALL OF FAME

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

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

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

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

Across:

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

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

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

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

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

17A: Comet rival: AJAX

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

22A: Stan of sax jazz: GETZ

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

52A: Toshiba rival: NEC

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

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

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

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

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

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

Down:

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

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

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

5D: Gridiron upright: GOAL POST

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

8D: Kind of pole: TOTEM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

C.C.

Friday November 21, 2008 Edgar Fontaine

Theme: Sequels - Better Than the Originals

18A: Barbra Streisand sequel?: FUNNIER GIRL

24A: Adam Sandler sequel? HAPPIER GILMORE

40A: Lee Marvin sequel?: THE DIRTIER DOZEN

52A: Molly Ringwald sequel?: PRETTIER IN PINK

63A: Dennis Hopper sequel?: EASIER RIDER

Very interesting "Y" --> "IER" sequel idea, very creative. Is there a movie title with the word "ugly"?

"Dirty Harry" would have matched better with the other movie titles, with no "THE". But it has an even amount of numbers. So it's impossible to be structured in row #8.

I laughed at the clue for DIET (41D: Lose on purpose?). Remember what Lisa said about the "Loses on purpose?" clue on "The Simpsons"? Forward to 8:36, she said "DIETS.....Will Shortz, you clever rascal".

I don't think the "?" mark is necessary for PYRES (71A: Funeral arrangements?), but TILDE (13D: Spanish accent mark) could have been clued as "Señorita's curve?", with a "?" mark. The EGIS (19D: Patronage) needs a "var." hint.

I love how RAIN (42D: Precipitation) parallels DROP (43D: Let lapse). Only wish DROP were clued as "Bit of 42D".

Across:

1A: Moon buggy: LEM (Lunar Excursion Vehicle). I like this "buggy" clue. Better than "NASA vehicle".

14A: Clare of "Bleak House": ADA. I've never heard of Dickens' "Bleak House". I wanted INA, thinking of the actress INA Claire, who often appeared in our puzzle.

15A: Disney's Little Mermaid: ARIEL. Do you collect Barbie dolls? ARIEL is very reasonably priced. Some of the "I Love Lucy" and "The Munsters" dolls are quite expensive. This is the original Barbie, probably worth thousands of dollars.

16A: Isle in the Bay of Naples: CAPRI. Is "Bay of Naples" the same as Gulf of Naples?

20A: Kind of crazy?: STIR. Got it from down fills. I was not familiar with STIR-crazy. Good clue though.

22A: African river: CONGO. Too bad, our editor missed an opportunity to pay tribute to Michael Crichton.

23A: Pioneer film Browning: TOD. He is the director of "Dracula" & "Freaks". Unknown to me. He looks like a very cold guy.

30A: Affirmative action?: NOD. Great clue.

44A: Pueblo dweller: HOPI. The answer would have been ZUNI if it were a Barry Silk puzzle.

46A: Dawn goddess: EOS. It's Aurora for the Romans. I am confused, how can a goddess name ends in "os"? I thought only Greek masculine nouns end in "os", "is" and "as". Or "us" as in Zeus I suppose.

59A: Thing, in law: RES

69A: Basketry willow: OSIER

Down:

2D: Archie's better half: EDITH. I've seen one or two episodes. Pretty funny.

3D: Beatles phenomenon: MANIA

5D: Indonesian islands: ARU. See the lower right corner of this map. I would not have got it without the across fills.

6D: Insomuch as: SINCE. Do you like "SINCE I Don't Have You"?

7D: Domingo, e.g.: TENOR. Domingo performed at the closing of Beijing Summer Olympics.

9D: Roll of papyrus: SCROLL

11D: Typify: EPITOMIZE

21D: Record speed?: RPM

25D: Roz on "Frazier": PERI. Boy, I can never remember PERI Gilpin's name. PERI is also the fairy in Persian mythology.

26D: Borodin prince: IGOR. Or "Composer Stravinsky".

27D: Shifty shark: MAKO. I wanted ORCA. Wow, look at this big hook.

32D: Tongue ___: DEPRESSOR. "Twister" does not fit.

38D: Sign of summer: LEO. Or Uncle LEO of "Seinfeld".

48D: Fast-lane woe: STRESS

52D: Occurring before surg.: PRE-OP. "Before surg." should be sufficient.

58D: Whitewater vessel: KAYAK. What's so special about "Whitewater"? Why not other river? Whitewater always reminds me of the Clinton scandal.

C.C.

Friday November 14, 2008 William S. Richardson

Theme: Tribute to a Comedian

17A: George Carlin album: CLASS CLOWN

40A: George Carlin album: OCCUPATION: FOOLE

63A: Classic bit from 17A: SEVEN WORDS

Several months' late, but better late than never. I am sure this puzzle was submitted to our editor in late June or early July.

This constructor is new to me, but I did not encounter any unusual heavy fighting solving his gird. Many of the clues feel very familiar, so I am sure lots of editing was done.

I don't like the VOC clue (32D: Type of sch.). I would change VEST (32A: Three-piece piece) into REST, so 32D would be ROC, which is often clued as "Mythical bird of prey" by Williams.

Across:

1A: French cleric: ABBE. Curé is French for cleric too.

5A: Discomfit: ABASH. I am only familiar with "unabashed".

16A: New Greek coin: EURO. I like this clue.

20A: Well-plumed bird: EGRET. What are they looking at?

37A: Like some peanuts: SALTED. I like my nuts to be honeyed. I love HONEY (9D: Bee product), don't you?

43A: Tight spot: CORNER

49A: Tex. campus: SMU. Bush Library will be built in this campus. SMU is Laura Bush's alma mater.

51A: Goddess of folly: ATE. Learned from doing Xword. She is Zeus's oldest daughter. Wikipedia says ATE is also "the action performed by the hero, usually because of his or her HUBRIS that leads to his or her death or downfall."

53A: Layer: STRATUM

58A: Secret assembly: CONCLAVE. I always associate CONCLAVE with cardinals' mystifying process of electing a new pope.

68A: Guitar ridge: FRET. No idea. I don't know anything about guitar. See this diagram: 4 is FRETS, and 20 is fretboard.

69A: Ferrell or Banks: TYRA. Banks is the supermodel. Ferrell is in "White Man Can't Jump" starring Woody Harrelson. Very noisy movie.

70A: Steisand film: YENTL. I've never seen the movie. YENTL, Yenta (Busybody) and Yente ("Fiddler on the Roof" matchmaker), so confusing.

Down:

2D: Protuberance: BULGE. Wikipedia says "The Battle of the BULGE was the bloodiest of the battles that U.S. forces experienced in World War II. The 19,000 American dead were unsurpassed by those of any other engagement". Including all the battles in Vietnam War, I suppose?

5D: Coll. sports grp.: ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference). See this list of ACC members.

6D: Dance in France: BAL

11D: Top of fraction: NUMERATOR

33D: "The Name of the Rose" writer: ECO. Here is the book cover. ECO has been clued as Author Umberto" several times in our puzzle before.

34D: Moocher: SCROUNGER. My favorite entry. Lots of consonants.

39D: Scottish river: DEE. I guessed. I could only remember TAY. Here is the map. It's in Aberdeen.

41D: Flower element: PETAL. I always thought of "Bouquet" as a bunch of flowers, had no idea that it also meant SCENT (49D).

47D: Unsparing: SEVERE

50D: Comic Amsterdam: MOREY. No idea. I got his name from across fills. Is he in this "Dick Van Dyke" picture?

57D: Sail supports: MASTS. I like the intersection of MASTS and TARS (71D: Old sailors).

60D: Bayh or Hunter: EVAN. Know Senator Bayh, not Hunter.

65D: Org. of Ducks and Rangers: NHL. I want the clue to be "Org. of Penguins and Ducks".

C.C.

Friday November 7, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: How Now Brown Cow

20A: Feeling Okay?: HOW ARE THINGS?

29A: Occasionally: NOW AND THEN

46A: Rolling Stones hit: BROWN SUGAR

56A: Farmer's outing contest: COW CHIP THROW

I was bewildered by Barry's choice for 46A. I wanted a BOW* phrase, thinking of a WOW rhyming theme. (Addendum: I was not aware of "How now brown cow" phrase. Thanks, Chris.)

I've never heard of COW CHIP THROW. I did not know the meaning of COW CHIP. How can people stand the smell?

Are you OK with the HORNET clue (67A: Charlotte pro)? Shouldn't be "New Orleans pro"? I also don't understand the STRIP clue (55D: Get into your birthday suit?). How so?

Across:

1 Math proof letter: QED. Have not seen ERAT (Often clued as "Part of QED") for a while.

4A: Triton's sch.: UCSD (University of California, San Diego). I did not know that Tritons is their mascot.

14A: Verse starter?: UNI. No guts to clue it as "Sex starter"?

15A: Lanai neighbor: MAUI. I wonder why Hawaiian language are so vowel intensive.

16A: Having a tapering end: POINTY

18A: Tournament passes: BYES

23A: Luke's Jedi mentor: OBI-WAN. Do you know how the author came up with this name? It sounds very Japanese.

33A: Glum drop: TEAR. Very unexpected clue. I like it though.

44A: Linguist Chomsky: NOAM. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Is he very famous?

48A: Key with 3 sharps: A MAJ. I suppose "3" indictes that the answer needs to be abbreviated.

53A: QVC rival: HSN (Home Shopping Network). QVC will be a very scrabbly answer for "HSN rival".

54A: Court decree: ASSIZE. This is a new word to me. I thought of WRIT.

59A: #1 hit by the Fleetwoods: MR. BLUE. Here is the song. New to me also.

62A: Purim's month: ADAR

65A: Soda brand: NEHI

68A: C. Everett __: KOOP. I googled. He was Reagan's Surgeon General.

Down:

1D: Cape Cod clam: QUAHOG

4D: Eclipse shadow: UMBRA. Partial shadow is penumbra.

6D: Mutton fat: SUET. Is it the same as lard?

9D: Beatnik instrument: BONGO DRUM. BONGO was clued as "Drum type" in Barry's last puzzle. Here is "Let There Be Drums" again.

12D: MO town: STL. I am used to the "Cardinal's letters" clue.

13D: Part of a wd: SYL And PHRASE (64A: String of word).

27D: Cameo stone: ONYX. This ONYX tile looks broken.

31D: Injustice: WRONG

32D: Bo's number: TEN. Very sexy bellyrolling scene.

33D: Brownstone, perhaps: TOWNHOUSE. Or this brand of cracker, perhaps.

37D: Roof with removable panels: T- TOP

40D: Nonvenomous snake: BOA. I had no idea that it's nonvenomous.

43D: Comparable to candy or kisses: AS SWEET. How old is this sign?

45D: Plains tribe: ARAPAHO. Sigh, I forgot again. It's been in our puzzle 3 times since I started blogging.

49D: Desert illusion: MIRAGE. Do you like "The English Patient"?

50D: Portuguese islands: AZORES. See this map. It's in North Atlantic. New to me.

51D: Gems: JEWELS

57D: Slugger Aaron: HANK. We often see AARON clued as "Slugger Hank".

59D: Radar gun meas.: MPH

C.C.

Friday October 31, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: "Classical" Songs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Across:

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

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

26A: Ms. enclosure: SAE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Down:

1D: 1401: MCDI

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

48D: Have in mind: INTEND

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

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

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

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

C.C.

Friday October 24, 2008 Edgar Fontaine

Theme: "Marry" Has a Little Rhyme

18A: Hogwarts' student: HARRY POTTER

23A: Former Heavyweight Champion: LARRY HOLMES

38A: Director of "Rain Man": BARRY LEVINSON

51A: Phillie with eight gold gloves: GARRY MADDOX

58A: Hatchet-wielding temperance advocate: CARRY NATION

"Rain Man" is a great movie, but I've never paid attention to its director's name. I am not familiar with either LARRY HOLMES or GARRY MADDOX. The only Phillie I could think of is Mike Schmidt (also 11-letter).

Besides GARRY MADDOX, there are also CUB (58D: Chicago pro) and ABNER (54D: Doubleday of baseball) for a baseball undertone. Though it's been debunked, I still like the myth that Doubleday invented baseball.

I think our editor was watching ball games while editing this puzzle, so many flaws. Awful clue for HITHERTO (11D: Until now) due to UNTIL (63A: Up to). A clue for Clara BARTON (6D: Coen film, "__ Fink") would have avoided the COEN (27D: "Fargo" director) duplication. There should be a "briefly" hint for OTS (32A: Bonus periods).

Across:

1A: Maternal flower?: MUM. Well, only in the UK, isn't it? It's MOM here. "Silent flower?" is better.

4A: Travail: LABOR

9A: Cause for a blessing? ACHOO

17A: Sound intensity units: abbr.: DBS (Decibels). Stumper for me.

20A: Hardest to fathom?: DEEPEST. Can you think of a word/phrase to clue DEEPEST without using "-est" (or "most"/"least")?

22A: Hebrew letter: RESH. New to me. It's 20th letter of Hebrew alphabet. Notice nun, tet and shin? Great words to play around for those Xword constructors.

26A: Writer Umberto: ECO. Hee, I finally remember his name.

29A: Needle case: ETUI. Long time no see!

30A: Toshiba rival: NEC. NEC belongs to Sumitomo. One of the earliest foreign companies to enter China after our "Open Door" policy (1978). Coca - Cola was an early bird too.

31A: Rider's whip: CROP. New to me. I've never heard of riding CROP or leather tongue.

35A: Oscillates: VIBRATES. I always associate VIBRATES with a trembling motion rather than "swing back and force".

55A: Alaska's first governor: EGAN. Wikipedia says EGAN is "the only governor in the state's history to have actually been born in Alaska." Sarah Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho.

57A: Singer Flack: ROBERTA. I love her "Killing Me Softly With His Song".

Down:

1D: Be a busybody: MEDDLE

3D: Capital of Lesotho: MASERU. No idea. LESOTHO was clued as "Basutoland, today" on a TMS Sunday puzzle before. It's encircled by South Africa.

4D: Massachusetts medical clinic: LAHEY. Another unknown. Is it as famous as Mayo Clinic?

8D: Actor Alejandro: REY. I googled his name, then I realized that I had searched for him before. He is in Elvis's "Fun in Acapulco".

24D: Tool for evening: LEVELER. New word to me.

25D: DLII times II: MCIV. Roman 1104.

28D: Saturn's wife: OPS. Googled again. Her equivalent is Rhea in Greek mythology. Saturn (Cronus) ate all his children except Jupiter (Zeus). How cruel!

36D: Again, in music: BIS. I wonde what's the origin for BIS.

39D: Be ruled by: ANSWER TO

49D: Forces from: EXACTS. The clue should be "Forces (from)", don't you think so?

C.C.

Friday, October 17, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Three Bigs

17A: Three Bigs: BANG CHEESE HEART

39A: Three bigs: IDEA BROTHER BEND

63A: Three bigs: WIG PICTURE APPLE

3D: Three bigs: BEN VALLEY LEAGUE

7D: Three bigs: TOE COUNTRY HOUSE

11D: Three bigs: DEAL WHEEL DIPPER

Does Big VALLEY refer to the TV series? I've never heard of it before.

The clue for HUBERT (49D: V.P. Humphrey) should not have been abbreviated. But I am so happy to see his name in the puzzle. He is Minnesota's favorite son. There is a certain enigma about him, so idealistic yet realistic. He was so right when he said "Asia is rich in people, rich in culture and rich in resources. It is also rich in trouble."

Some of you might not like this kind of 3- thing theme concept, but I really like this puzzle. It only has 32 blocks, compared with 38 we get often. Besides, there are 6 run through 15-letter theme answers. That's 81 white squares, 36% of the grid. Most of the time we get somewhere between 45 and 55 I think. I've never counted it before though. There are 50 white squares themed entries in yesterday's quip puzzle.

I wonder if Michael T. Williams thought of the real "Big Three" Churchill, Roosevelt & Stalin when he constructed his puzzle.

Across:

1A: Watch pockets: FOBS. I was surprised that "watch chain" is not the #1 definition of FOB.

10A: Norse Zeus: ODIN. He only has one eye. The God of Thunder THOR is his oldest son.

15A: "Christ Stopped at ___": EBOLI. It's written by Carlo Levi. I learned the book title from doing Xword. The spelling is so close to ECOLI.

25A: Stu of early TV: ERWIN. Nope, he is a stranger to me. I wonder if ERWIN is variation of IRWIN.

28A: Jodie Foster film: NELL. Have you seen the movie? It does not look interesting to me.

30A: Celtic worshipper: DRUID. No idea. Dictionary says DRUID is rooted in DRU, Celtic for tree (esp oak tree). So DRUIDS worshipped trees then? It's animisim, isn't it?

43A: Napoleon's commander at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). The "Bravest of the Brave". Wikipedia says that NEY is also an "end-blown flute" in the middle east. What is an "end-blown flute"? Is there any flute called "front-blown"?

44A: "It's a Wonderful Life" director: CAPRA (Frank). I also like his "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Too bad, our politicians today promise so much and deliver so little.

45A: Impresario Hurok: SOL. No idea. Very impressive career.

48A: __ out (intimidate): PSYCH. One letter away from PSYCHE, the beautiful girl Cupid (Eros) loves. I just learned this morning that they have a daughter named Voluptas, the goddess of "sensual pleasures. " Wikipedia says "the first known mention of Voluptas was made by the Roman author Lucius Apuleius in his book "The Golden Ass" - the only Latin novel to survivie in its entirety."

58A: Painter Modigliani: AMEDEO. Not familiar with his name. I do remember seeing "Girl in Pigtail" somewhere before.

71A: Before, before: ERST. Or "Formerly, formerly"; "Once, once".

Down:

1D: Teen idol of the fifties: FABIAN. I've never heard of FABIAN before. That's an odd looking swimwear. What's that white stuff on his waist?

8D: Lohengrin's love: ELSA. I can never remember this Wagner heroine name. Can anyone give me a brief recap of what the story is about?

10D: Mark of the PGA: O'MEARA. Gimme for me. He is one of Tiger Woods' best buddies. He won both the Masters and British Open in 1998.

26D: Somali supermodel: IMAN. She is married to David Bowie. So close to IMAM in spelling.

31D: Cornell's town: ITHACA. Beautifully done. Barb B should like the background music.

40D: Novelist Koontz: DEAN. Not me?

42D: Scary word?: BOO. Ha ha, this reminds of BOOER (Raspberry blower) we had in early Sept.

59D: 651: DCLI. I actually like some math calculations in the clue.

56D: Poetic meadow: LEA. Ewe would love this clue. I am bored.

C.C.