google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner: Josiah Breward

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Showing posts with label Josiah Breward. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Josiah Breward. Show all posts

Jan 3, 2009

Saturday January 3, 2009 Josiah Breward

Theme: None

Total block: 38

Total word: 68

What's so special today? Why two crosses in the grid? Pure coincidence?

Funny how visual images can be so misguiding. After a quick glance at the simple grid, I had thought we might have a new record for the lowest total blocks. So wrong. It turns out that this puzzle actually has the highest number of black squares, though the total word count is quite low.

Still some suffixes, but not too excessive. CERN struck me as very obscure, but it's obtainable from the crossing fills, so is YAOUNDE.

But I cheated too early. Should have worked hard for MALACHI instead of looking up in the Reference Supplement section of my dictionary for "Books of Bible" immediately. Definitely not a satisfying solving experience.

Across:

1A: Awllike tool: ICEPICK. The weapon Sharon Stone used in "Basic Instinct". Leon Trotsky was also murdered with an ICEPICK.

8A:Lug laboriously: SCHLEPP. I thought it's SCHLEP, one P.

15A: Old Testament closer: MALACHI. Wikipedia says MALACHI might not be "the name of the author, since MALACHI means 'my messenger' or 'my angel' in Hebrew".

16A: Rigby of song: ELEANOR. By The Beatles. Unknown to me, the tune sounds very familiar though.

18A: Alternative to pasta: RISOTTO. There is really a science behind a perfect RISOTTO. Very complicated to prepare.

20A: Poetic globe: ORB. Or "Eye, poetically".

21A: Troy, NY school: RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). My brain simply refuses to accept this school name. What is RPI famous for?

22A: Uris novel, with "The": HAJ. It was QB VII yesterday.

28A: Herbal quaff: SAGE TEA. I've never had SAGE TEA. Guess that's why I can't even finish a Saturday puzzle without cheating.

29A: Grp. of gridders: AFC (American Football Conference). I thought of NFL. Holy cow, the Vikings belongs to NFC. I didn't even know that. OK, now I know TDS, QBS, NFL, AFC and NFC. What else? Oh, YDS & wardrobe malfunction.

30A: Eur. particle accelerator location: CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire - European Council for Nuclear Research). It's the the world's largest particle physics lab according to Wikipedi. Doesn't feel like it's something worth knowing.

32A: Work unit: ERG. Ten-millionth of a joule.

35A: Old-style second person verb: WOULDST. Strung the answer together with the crossing help.

38A: Illumination unit: LUX. What? I thought LUX is a brand of soap.

40A: Primitive plant: ALGA. Nori, kelp and other seaweeds are all ALGAE.

42A: Take over for: RELIEVE. Ah, how I miss baseball! Goose Goosage made into HOF last year. He is a great reliever.

46A: Fractional ending: ETH. "Biblical verb ending" as well.

50A: German automobile pioneer: DAIMLER

55A: Can. province: QUE. Next I want "___ Sera, Sera".

56A: Capital of Cameroon: YAOUNDE. No idea. See this map. I wonder what YAOUNDE means in its local language.

62A: Parents: REARERS. I only knew REAR. If it's a valid word, then step-parents are REARERS too. My REARER is my grandma.

63A: Most labyrinthine: MAZIEST. Have never heard of MAZY before.

Down:

1D: Mrs. Marcos: IMELDA. Ah, shoes, of which she had too many. It's like my baseball card collection, very addictive.

2D: Indian pony: CAYUSE. I forgot. Saw this clue/answer before. CAYUSE is named after the Indian tribe.

5D: Discharges from wounds: ICHORS. I rememer ICHOR was clued as "Blood of gods" before,

6D: Nervous system disorder: CHOREA. Another new word to me. Is it pronounced the same as Korea?

8D: Saw-toothed: SERRATED

13D: French stewlike dish: POT-AU-FEU. I won't link a picture, since so many of you just hate this dish.

14D: Item on a secret agenda: PROJECT X

25D: Inveigh: DECLAIM. So many *claim words: DECLAIM, disclaim, reclaim, proclaim, exclaim, acclaim and misclaim.

34D: Sword lily: GLADIOLA. Not my favorite flower. Too wild for me. I did not know it's also called "Sword lily" though.

36D: Poisonous shrub: OLEANDER. Which part is poisonous?

43D: Jewish Jehovah: ELOHIM. You would think this would be a gimme for me after reading your comments three weeks ago. But no. Dear God, please let me know your name next time.

44D: City in a Shakespeare title: VERONA. "The Two Gentlemen of VERONA".

45D: Poor quality imitation: ERSATZ. Dealt with too many ERSATZ luxury products when I worked with Pinkerton (Intellectual Investigation) in China.

57D: Egy-Syr., for a time: UAR (United Arab Republic). Between 1958 to 1961, during Nasser's presidency.

C.C.

Dec 28, 2008

Sunday December 28, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Santa's Upgrades

23A: Online funnies?: DOT(-COM) COMIC BOOKS

38A: Emoticon contests? KEY(BOARD) BOARD GAMES

70A: Collectibles featuring online notables?: E(-TRADING) TRADING CARDS

103A: Mini-Frisbee?: COMPACT (DISC) DISCUS

123A: Small round object? MICRO(SOFT) SOFTBALL

17D: Blazing blades?: HIGH (SPEED) SPEED SKATES

45D: Pick-up sticks call? PHONE (JACK) JACK STRAWS

I have never heard of JACK STRAWS before. JACK STRAW, yes, the ex British Foreign Secretary. Nice to see TRADING CARDS though. Hopefully I will be able to afford this graded 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle card someday, before I get too old.

BAH (79A: Scrooge's expletive) can not damp my enthusisam for this puzzle. Wow, what a great theme! Santa is a bit late though.

The clue for SUNUNU (74D: Political pundit John) confused the hell out of me. Can you call a current US Senator "Political pundit"? I don't think so.

I was not familiarwith PEPIN (43A: Son of Charlemagne), but Wikipedia says he is the father , not the son, of Charlemagne.

Also, too many Roman numerals for my taste:

63A: IV x XIII: LII

4D: Fifth of MMMDV: DCCI

67D: 1700 in letters: MDCC

I'd like to share with you three excellent answers using Roman numerals as hinted clues:

1500: PHYSICIAN

400: MUSIC MEDIUM

30: DIRTY MOVIE

I think I want Santa to upgrade me from C.C. to 200 today.

Across:

21A: Eric of "Top Hat": BLORE. Have never heard of this British comic actor or the musical "Top Hat".

22A: Newman of "SNL": LARAINE. I googled her name. Wikipedia says she is the original "SNL" cast member.

26A: "Seinfeld" gal: ELAINE. I did not find ELAINE's dance to be funny. "No Soup for You" episode is hilarious.

28A: Land of Oranjestad: ARUBA. OK, what does "-jestad" mean in Dutch then?

32A: E. O'Brien film: D.O. A. I got this answer from down fills. Saw this clue before.

34A: __ volente (God willing): DEO. In Islam, it's Insha' Allah.

47A: Heart rhythm: DIASTOLE. New word to me. I've never heard of SYSTOLE either.

51A: Actor Knight: TED. Here is a picture of him in "Caddyshack".

52A: Overrefined: EFFETE. If you say so.

55A: Volcanic rock ejecta: SCORIA. Holy hotwick. I completely forgot this word.

65A: Wire-service letters: UPI. Does it still exist? Feels like AP dominates all the news sources.

68A: Feudal laborer: ESNE. What's the difference between ESNE and SERF?

69A: Mary of "Where Eagles Dare": URE. A complete fail-URE for me. I can never remember this actress's name.

75A: Spanish red: ROJO. New Spanish word to me.

78A: Patriotic men's org: SAR (Sons of the American Revolution). "Patriotic women's org." is DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution).

81A: Porthos, to Athos: AMI. Great clue.

82A: Satellite of Jupiter: ELARA. Unknown to me. How can I remember it? E LARA (Zhivago's love)?

90A: Place position: SECOND. Win, place and show, horse racing term.

95A: Full of: suff.: ULENT. As in opulent and fraudent. I went through lots of trouble getting this answer.

100A: Hemlock homes: NESTS. Why?

114A: Kind of ray: MANTA. Great picture. Is it edible?

127A: Antiknock fluid: ETHYL. Ha, I got it today.

128A: Adenauer: DER ALTE. I am more used to seeing ALTE is often clued as "Der ___: Adenauer".

129A: Pearson and Flatt: LESTERS. The answer revealed itself after I filled in the surrounds. I knew neither of them. LESTER Pearson was a Canadian politician who won Nobel peace prize in 1957. Wikipedia says LESTER Flatt is "one of the pioneers of bluegrass music".

Down:

2D: Tropical lizard: ANOLE. Such a strange mix of green and blue.

7D: R. Reagan's Star Wars: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Introduced in 1983.

8D: "Fernando" group: ABBA. Here is the clip. It's a new song to me. Who is "Fernando"?

10D: Hornswoggled: ROOKED. "Hornswoggle" is new word to me.

13D: Rains and Debussy: CLAUDES. Monet too.

14D: Beat: LAMBASTE

24D: Wholly confused: CHAOTIC

29D: Incarnation of Vishnu: RAMA. No idea. See this picture. I bet I will forget it after lunch.

35D: Versifier Nash: OGDEN

38D: Bleaching vat: KIER. Have never heard of this vat before. Sounds like a German name to me.

40D: Gilberto of Bossa-Nova fame: ASTRUD. I forgot her name. Do remember the song "The Girl From Ipanema".

42D: Michael Caine film: ALFIE. "Jude Law film" too.

43D: Salad green: ESCAROLE. I always call it endive. It's quite bitter, so different from Belgian endive.

56D: Small isles: AITS. This word only exists in the crossword world, doesn't it?

58D: Center starter?: EPI. Epicenter.

59D: Windy City rail inits: CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Wikipedia says CTA is "the second largest transit system in the United States and fourth largest in North America". New York City's MTA is the #1 I suppose? Who are the other two before CTA?

60D: Soprano Te Kanawa: KIRI. I googled her name. She is from New Zealand, and she sang at Diana and Prince Charles' wedding.

71D: Indonesian island group: ARU. I can never remember this island group (lower right corner).

72D: Long-snouted fish: GAR. Also called needlefish. This GAR is ruthless.

73D: Masticated: CHEWED. "Masticate" is a new word to me. Sounds so DF.

77D: University of Maine town: ORONO

83D: Dijon donkey: ANE. I wish it were broken up as AN E ("Wheel of Fortune" buy).

86D: Travel stamps: VISAS

91D: Trump namer: DECLARER. Bridge?

99D: "The Bells of __": ST MARYS. New film to me.

101D: Quantity of a look?: EYEFUL. Nice clue.

104D: Like successful jingles: CATCHY

111D: Boston cagers, for short: CELTS

112D: Small harbor: INLET. How is it different from cove?

116D: Ed or Leon: AMES. I got it from the across fills. AMES is always clued as "Iowa college town".

124D: Eng. instruction letters: ITA (Initial Teaching Alphabet). Too obscure for me. This is where I prefer the clue to be a partical, you know, "Call IT A day" sounds so much better.

C.C.

Dec 22, 2008

Monday December 22, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Sleigh Ride

17A: New York prison: SING SING

28A: Drake's snack cake: RING DING

46A: Getting a one-base hit: SINGLING

62A: Circus owner Charles: RINGLING

11D: Crazy person: DING-A-LING

35D: Delaying departure: LINGERING

Did I catch the right theme? I was getting dizzy with those *ING words. For a moment, I thought DOING (29D: In the act of) might be the tie-in theme answer. It's located in the very center of the grid. But I could not make much sense of it.

I have never heard of RING DING snack cake before. Thought DING-A-LING refers to male organ when you guys brought "My DING-A-LING" A few days ago. Now it's "Crazy person"?

Was stumped by a few proper names. Had to google. I rather like today's clues: short, succinct and straightfoward. Only wish KENYA (40D: Mau Mau country) were clued as "Obama's ancestral home".

Across:

1A: Daiquiri need: RUM. "Tom and Jerry need" for us during this time of the year.

4A: Yves' evening: SOIR. No hesitation between SOIR (Bon) and NUIT (Bonne) this time due to the intersecting SES (4D: His: Fr.). Also EAU (66A: Agua, to Fifi) and ETRE (68A: French 101 verb).

6A: Painter Modigliani: AMEDEO. His name escaped me completely. I really like this "Girl in Pigtail" painting.

14A: Actress O'Connor: UNA. She is in "The Invisible Man". New to me. Our editor used to clue UNA as "Actress Merkel".

16A: Actress Mercouri: MELINA. I googled her name. Wikipedia says she was nominated for Oscar for the Greek film "Never on Sunday". She looks stunning.

20A: Loudness unit: SONE. 40 decibles. PHON is also "Loudness unit". I forgot the difference between the two.

21A: Willingly, old-style: LIEF. Another archaic "Willingly" is FAIN.

23A: Uneasy feeling: ANGST. A rare consonant-laden short word.

24A: Non-stop: ON AND ON. Did anyone fill in ON A ROLL first?

30A: Mormon ltrs: LDS. Do you think Mitt Romney will run for president again? I think our governor Tim Pawlenty will.

33A: Membrane of grasses: PALEA. See this diagram. I would not have got it without the neighboring fills. I was thinking of PALEO, you know, the paleolithic diet, hunter/gather style: no grain/legume, lots of meat, veggie and fruits.

37A: NYC subway line: IRT. Opened in 1904 already? That's amazing.

43A: Fall garden?: EDEN. This clue is getting stale.

44A: Specialized lingo: ARGOT. I've never used this word in daily conversation. Jargon, yes.

51A: Setting free: UNTYING. One more *ING word.

55A: Part of ROK: KOREA. The current UN Chief Ban Ki-moon is from ROK (South Korea).

57A: "__ Sanctorum": ACTA. Quotaton mark? It has to refer to these books then. ACTA is a plural form of Latin "actus", meaning "official records, as of acts, deeds, proceedings, transactions, or the like".

59A: Half of CXIV: LVII. Roman for 57. Do you know what CCLD is?

60A: Journalist Fallaci: ORIANA. Sigh, another google. I just can't remember this lady's name. She wrote "The Force of Reason".

64A: Presidential also-ran Alf: LANDON. He lost to FDR in 1936.

67A: Heavenly creatures: ANGELS. And MANNA (3D: Heavenly food).

Down:

5D: Lithographer Redon: ODILON. Here is "The Spider". Musée d'Orsay has a nice collecton of his drawings.

6D: Six-out segment: INNING

9D: Hodgepodge: MELANGE

12D: Tolkien's trees: ENTS

13D: Hops kiln: OAST

22D: Michigan city: FLINT. A little trivia for you: FLINT is "the largest city in the United States with a one-syllable name". I did not know that. Also, GM was founded in FLINT in 1908.

25D: Dist. across: DIA (Diameter)

27D: Andes autocrat: INCA. Why "autocrat"?

31D: Bond picture: DR. NO. The first Bond movie.

32D: Let it stand: STET. Oppositeof DELE.

39D: Mine entrance: ADIT

41D: Former Scottish county: ARGYLL. See this map. Why did Scotland abolish all its counties in 1975?

47D: Old instrument plucker: LUTIST. "Old"? How so?

50D: Gettysburg victor: MEADE (George). I got his name after cheating on ORIANA. He looks very tall.

53D: Foch and Simone: NINAS. Here is NINA Simone's "My Baby Just Cares for Me". I was not familiar with actress NINA Foch.

54D: Lively dance: GIGUE. See this clip. I've never heard of this dance before. The GIGUE dance starts at 1:42 I suppose?

55D: Beverage nut: KOLA. Wow, lots of nuts in this pod. How many do you have to chew to get excited?

56D: Algerian port: ORAN. Camus was born here. So was designer Yves Saint-Laurent.

63D: Test for srs.: GRE. GMAT too, isn't it? For those who want to obtain MBA degree.

C.C.

Dec 15, 2008

Monday December 15, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Put Pen to Paper

17A: Guarantee against failure: UNDERWRITE

41A: Lacking detail: SKETCHY

62A: Epistolary afterthought: POSTSCRIPT

11D: Pulp paper: NEWSPRINT

36D: Self-propelled railroad car: DOODLEBUG

I've never heard of DOODLEBUG. What a strange name. Good theme, all of above highlighted green-letter words are in verb form.

And a feminine sub-theme:

19A: Org. founded in 1855: YWCA. YMCA is founded in 1844.

69A: Org. of Ochoa and Creamer: LPGA. It's founded in 1950. Great clue. Both Ochoa and Creamer are the backbones of LPGA now. Annika Sorenstam officially called it a quit yesterday in Dubai.

52A: Feminist grp: NOW (National Organization for Women). It's founded in 1966.

Also a Jewish sub-theme:

48A: Passover meals: SEDERS. Funny "20 Things to do with Matzoh".

66A: Hebrew month: ELUL. Last month of Jewish calendar. Did you write down ADAR first?

67A: Jehovah: ELOHIM. No idea. Dictionary defines ELOHIM as "a name for God in the Hebrew Scriptures".

47D: Mystical teachings: var.: KABALA. Madonna, Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher all practice CABALA. I think Britney Spears was into it for sometime too.

I wish LEIA (16A: Han Solo's love) were clued as "Han's love" or "Luke's sister" as SOLO was the answer to 59D: Recital piece.

Very choppy solving today. Was stumped by a few proper names. Had to cheat.

Across:

1A: 911 respondent: EMS. EMT is "911 respondent" too.

4A: Ancient Syrian city: ALEPPO. I forgot. It appeared on a TMS Sunday puzzle before. Here is the map. I really don't like the clue "Ancient", even though ALEPPO has been in existence since 1100 B.C. "Ancient" always makes me think that city does not exist any more.

10A: Sicilian resort: ENNA. The "Sicilian volcano" is ETNA.

20A: Baja beach: PLAYA. Spanish for "beach".

21A: Antarctic body: ROSS SEA. Unknown to me. See the map. Strange to look at the world from another angle, isn't it?

37A: Flockhard of "Ally McBeal": CALISTA. They are a great couple.

40A: "The Bronx __": ZOO. Is this the short-lived TV series or the book about Yankees? Both are obscure to me. There are so many other ways to clue ZOO.

44A: Agony: TORTURE. I like Proust's quote "Love is reciprocal TORTURE". He also said "We become moral when we are unhappy". True?

46A: Part of a screwdriver: VODKA. Ah, I love, love this clue. Bloody Mary has VODKA as ingredient too. Virgin Mary does not.

50A: Stick it out: LAST. I misinterpreted the clue as "Stick out", so I had trouble getting LAST. I kept thinking JUT.

53A: Equestrian game: POLO

70A: Mammalian epoch: EOCENE. Would not have got this word without the down entries. EO is a prefix meaning "“primeval' or "early".

Down:

1D: Break out: ERUPT

4D: Gillette blade: ATRA. I wonder why the brand is named ATRA instead of ASTRA. ATRA does not make any sense to me.

5D: Hoad of tennis: LEW. Did not know this Australian tennis player.

7D: Air pressure meas.: PSI (Pounds per Square Inch). I was more familiar with the "Tire pressure meas." See, our editor does not like partial fill, otherwise, he could have also clued PSI as "P.S. I Love You". Such a sweet movie.

8D: Czech physicist Beckmann: PETR. I googled his name. He wrote "The History of PI".

10D: Palais du president: ELYSEE. They live in the Palais de l'Élysée.

22D: Off-course wanderer: STRAYER. STRAY can also be "Off-course wanderer", right?

24D: Military hat: SHAKO. Why is this hat so hard for me to commit to memory?

25D: Well workers: OILERS. Hockey fans probably prefer the the Edmonton OILERS clue.

26D: Composer Benjamin: BRITTEN. Another google. He is a British composer. Is BRITTEN pronounced like Briton?

29D: Rapture: ECSTASY. I wish ECSTASY intersects the clue "Agony" rather than the answer TORTURE.

30D: Former Lisbon coin: ESCUDO. No idea. Wikipedia says it was also a money unit in Spain and its colonies before Euro was ushered in.

34D: Black Sea arm: AZOV. Here is the map. I've never heard of it before.

38D: Hurled: THREW

54D: Small antelope: ORIBI. Her face looks so thin. New antelope to me. I could only think of ELAND, which is huge. I can't believe those horns are hollow.

56D: Scheduled next: ON TAP. ON DECK is "Scheduled next" too.

57D: Belgian singer/songwriter: BREL. This reminds me of a friend. He loves Jacques BREL.

58D: Cry out in pain: YELP. Dogs YELP. Do people YELP also?

C.C.

Nov 30, 2008

Sunday November 30, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Canine Connections

23A: Marine canine?: SEA BASS (BASS)ET HOUND

42A: Central American canine?: GUATEMALA (MALA)MUTE

64A: Tennis player's canine?: NADAL (DAL)MATIAN

75A: Dancer's canine?: ASTAIRE (AIRE)DALE

99A: Sculptor's canine?: NOGUCHI (CHI)HUAHUA

117A: Sioux holy man's canine?: SITTING BULL (BULL)DOG

16D: Fancy-tailed canine?: PEACOCK (COCK)ER SPANIEL

40D: Island canine?: GRAND BAHAMAS (MAS)TIFF

Great theme, isn't it? My best Sunday ever. Still needed to google a few proper names though.

Some of the clues struck me as annoyingly and unnecessarily obscure, especially BLAIRS (83A: Brown and Underwood: BLAIRS). Aren't these BLAIRS a better clue?

I think the clue for RAM (88A: Farm butter) needs a question mark to warn the unsuspecting solvers about the word play on butt-er. I could not think of a better way to clue OTHO (110D: Holy Roman emperor). But it has to be reworded because of HRE (78A: Bygone Eur. realm) as an answer in the grid.

I still don't understand the clue for SOLO (109A: Arias for one). Why "Arias" instead of "Aria"? (Addendum: My mistake. The answer is SOLI).

Across:

8A: Sail-extending pole: SPRIT. See this diagram. It's "a small pole or spar crossing a fore-and-aft sail diagonally from the mast to the upper aftermost corner, serving to extend the sail". New nautical term to me.

28A: Seine tributary: OISE. Here is the map. I wonder why there is no le, or la in front of this river. Is it a neuter river?

31A: Height: pref.: ACRO. As in acrophobia. New to me. Somehow I wanted ELEV.

35A: Proud of being wealthy: PURSY. Have never heard of this word before.

45A: Saul's uncle: NER. Learned his name from doing Xword. NER is Abner's father. Saul's father is Kish.

46A: Partner of Porthos: ATHOS. The other Musketeer is Aramis. How come these names all end with letter S? I thought only Greek masculine nouns end with letter s.

51A: Pianist Cliburn: VAN. Is this Dan Rather's voice? I did not know this pianist.

55A: Vinegar produced from fermented ale: ALEGAR. Ale + (Vin)negar. It appeared in our puzzle a few days ago. Sometimes I make my own honegar in summer time: honey and apple cider vinegar.

70A: Slot fills: TABS. Mortise insert is TENON.

71A: Skiing mishap: SPILL. Falling from the skis?

77A: Asian goat: TAHR. I've never seen this Asian TAHR in China. He looks so lonely.

82A: Tropical black birds: ANIS. Normally clued as "Black cuckoos".

89A: Cold remedies?: ICE BAGS. Good clue.

93A: French wine region: RHONE. Its capital is Lyon.

102A: His: Fr. SES. Or her, its.

104A: Eat greedily: ENGORGE. New word to me. Only knew gorge.

111A: Permafrost region: TUNDRA

115A: Like an opera song: ARIOSE. Another new word to me. I've never heard of arioso neither.

122A: Pocatello's state: IDAHO. I guessed. I've never heard of Pocatello before. What is it famous for? Potatos?

Down:

4D: Import-export difference: TRADE GAP

5D: Remove with caution: EASE OUT

8D: Division into factions: SCHISM. Lots of consonants in this word.

10D: Black sheep: ROUE. The likes of Casanova & Don Juan. Have you heard of Lothario?

12D: Tiresome times: TEDIUMS. Strange that the plural form is not TEDIA.

13D: Hawker: HUCKSTER. Another new word to me.

15D: Greek peak: OSSA. It's the only Greek mountain I know.

17D: Spanked: LARRUPED. This word looks so wrong, with the spelling RRUP, yet it's a real word.

18D: Losers: ALSO-RANS. Like Senators McCain & Kerry.

34D: DDE's command: ETO (European theater of operations)

39D: 1930s programs: NEW DEAL. I just learned that Social Security program is part of the NEW DEAL too.

43D: Berman or Cariou: LEN. Have never heard of sportcaster LEN Berman. I like those bobblehead figurines on his shelf. I was not acquainted with actor LEN Cariou either.

50D: Eminent conductors: MAESTRI. I did not know that the plural form for maestro is MAESTRI.

51D: The 4 Seasons singer Frankie: VALLI. Another google. I did not know that it's VALLI who sang "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". Lovely song.

55D: Latin handle: ANSA

61D: "Guitar Town" singer Steve: EARLE. Here is the clip.

66D: Turndown, from Putin: NYET. A "No" from Putin obviously still carries enormous authority in Russia.

69D: Famous meteor shower member: PERSEID. New word to me also. Perseus is the guy who killed Gorgon Medusa in Greek mythology.

76D: Martini's partner: ROSSI. Nice poster.

79D: Moran and Gray: ERINS. Have heard of Moran, not Gray.

83D: Armband: BRASSARD. I was surprised when the dictionary says it's a word. It also looks so wrong. -ARD is suffix denoting "persons who regularly engage in an activity, who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative: coward; dullard; drunkard; wizard. "

84D: Niagara's source: LAKE ERIE. New trivia to me.

85D: Faultfinders: SCOLDERS

93D: Altercation: RUN-IN

96D: Cultivate: NURTURE

100D: Sun god: HELIOS. He is the brother of Selene (goddess of the moon) and Eos (goddess of the dawn). Sol in Roman.

114D: Turkish officer: AGHA. Also spelled as AGA.

C.C.

Nov 3, 2008

Monday November 3, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: The Fab Four

17A: Cornpone: JOHNNYCAKE

66A: NYC street game: RINGO LEVIO

11D: Asian figwort trees: PAULOWNIAS

29D: D. C. neighborhood: GEORGETOWN

I recognized the PAULOWNIA tree when I saw the picture. I could almost smell its flowers and see my childhood. But too bad, I did not know its English name.

I am not fond of today's theme entries at all. They don't feel tight to me. And the word "Asian" should not have appeared in theme answer 11D or 38A: Asian nation (LAOS). Why not "China's neighbor"? ASIAN is an answer for 31D: From Tibet, for example.

Easier puzzle though. I was really hammered hard yesterday.

Across:

1A: Abrasive tool: RASP. Our editor likes to clue RASP as "Coarse file".

15A: Kukla's pal: OLLIE. Kukla, Fran & OLLIE.

16A: "Peter Pan" pet: NANA. She is a St. Bernard.

25A: New York City harbor entrance: NARROWS. See the red strait? Not a familiar name to me.

58A: Author of "Portnoy's Complaint": ROTH (Philip). No idea. Here is the book cover. Is it an interesting read?

65A: "Typee" sequel: OMOO. Its subtitle is "A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas".

68A: Bryn __ College: MAWR. Edith Hamilton's alma mater. Kathrine Hepburn also attended this college. I love the letter she wrote to Spencer Tracy in her biography "Me, Stories of My Life". Very touching.

69A: "Lou Grant" star: ASNER (Ed). He also "kidnapped" Kunta Kinte in "Roots".

70A: "The __ on the Floss": MILL. George Eliot novel. I got it from the down clues. What is it about?

Down:

1D: Hindu prince: RAJA."British rule in India" (before 1947) is RAJ.

6D: San Francisco Bay island: ALCATRAZ. I love "The Rock". It's set on ALCATRAZ Island.

8D: "Blue Voyage" poet: AIKEN (Conrad). Unknown to me. "Blue Voyage" is a novel. I like these two lines from his "All Lovely Things":"All lovely things must have an ending /All lovely things must fade and die..."

10D: Ancient Greek poet: ANACREON. Unknown to me also. Wikipedia says he is a "lyrical poet" and notable for his "drinking songs and hymns". And his songs often celebrated "women, wine, and entertaining, and today can be considered eroticism". Very interesting information: Francis Scott Key modified Stafford Smith's melody of "To ANACREON in Heaven" for "The Star-Spangled Banner".

39D: Mediterranean coast: SEASHORE. Why "Mediterranean"?

45D: Tennis star of the '90s: SAMPRAS. He has won 14 Grand Slam singles title: 2 Austrian Open, 7 Wimbledon, 5 US Open. Roger Federer now has 13 singles titles: 3 Australia Open, 5 Wimbledon and 5 US Open.

54D: John Lennon kit: WOMAN. Here is the song.

60D: Sicilian resort town: ENNA. The volcano is ETNA, "I burn" in Greek.

C.C.

Sep 9, 2008

Tuesday September 9, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Against the Clock

17A: Just before deadline: LAST MINUTE

49A: No time for photos: BAD HAIR DAY

11D: Blink: SPLIT SECOND

25D: Open mic night: AMATEUR HOUR

I disliked the clue for GIVES (43D: Hands over) because of the answer IN HAND (46A: Under control). A simple "Donates" should work perfectly. I also think "Var." should be added to the clue of SCEPTRES (9D: Sovereign's staffs).

Felt rather dumb this morning. Spent an awfully long time trying to figure out why LCS (3D) are "Letters before the W.S." I kept thinking of yesterday's Wall Street huge rally rather than the World Series. This is not the first time that I was stumped by LCS (League Championship Series).

Nice puzzle though. I like the theme, and the grid looks so pretty. But hang on a SECOND, if I drink MINUTE maid orange juice every morning, will I have an HOURglass figure? Or am I just a DAYdreamer?

Across:

1A: Future tulips: BULBS. Lovely pink tulip flowers.

14A: Computer data format: ASCII. I just have so much difficulty remembering this acronym.

19A: Hammer end: CLAW. What's the difference between CLAW and PEEN?

20A: Snappy one: BITER. Snakes are all BITERS, aren't they?

27A: Sawmill output: LUMBER. I've never been to a sawmill or LUMBER yard.

28A: Small spars: SPRITS. Not familiar with this sailing term. Here is a SPRITSAIL rigged boats.

34A: Suffragist Carrie: CATT. New to me. Carrie Chapman CATT. So many C's. She looks like Curt Schilling, doesn't she? This pair of Persian Blue dangling earrings will add some feminine touch to her face.

35A: Fraternity letters: BETAS. IT geeks probably want the clue to be bug related.

36A: 1405: MCDV

43A: Sergio and Andy: GARCIAS. It's never boring to watch Sergio play golf. I adore Andy GARCIAS in "The Untouchables" & "When a Man Loves a Woman". I like Michael Bolton, don't you?

46A: Under control: IN HAND. "Can I Touch You... There?"

47A: Legend automaker: ACURA

48A: Stringed instrument: VIOL. Which is harder to play, VIOLA or violin?

55A: "Dies ___": IRAE. So powerful and dynamic! Lots, lots of vodka!

56A: Day's march: ETAPE. Is it a commonly used word? I've never heard of it before.

58A: Ancient ointment: NARD. I forgot. It was clued as "Fragrant ointment" on an earlier puzzle. Also called spikenard, it's "a flowering plant that growns in Himalayas of China, India and Nepal". Melissa probably knows something about the NARD oil.

59A: Force units: DYNES

Down:

1D: Dance in France: BAL. Costume party is "BAL masqué".

2D: John Dos Passos trilogy: USA. I've never heard of this trilogy or the author. Very guessable though.

4D: Gradually: BIT BY BIT

5D: Literary comparisons: SIMILES. I did wake up feeling fresh as a daisy this morning. How about you? Got any inspirations from your dream last night?

10D: Reciprocal of a cosine: SECANT. Would not have got this word without the across clues.

28D: Girls of Sp: SRTAS (Señorita). French equivalent is MLLES.

32D: Infamous '50s flop: EDSEL. This has become a collectible car, right?

35D: Loaf location: BREAD BIN. Not BREAD BASKET? Who would want to put their bread in a BIN?

36D: Archrival of Sherlock Holmes: MORIARTY. Foreign to me also. I've never read any Arthur Conan Doyle novel.

38D: Vandyke site: CHIN. Strung the answer together from surrounds. I did not know the meaning of "Vandyke".

41D: Justice of the Supreme Court since 1986: SCALIA (Antonin). Probably the most consistently conservative justice.

42D: S. Amer. nation: ECUA. Its capital is Quito.

47D: Hebrew month: ADAR. The Purim month.

50D: Southern constellation: ARA. Or "Notre Dame's Parseghian".

C.C.

Sep 7, 2008

Sunday September 7, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Endearments

23A: Make palatable: SUGARCOAT

47A: Weight we hate?: LOVE HANDLES

72A: King novel: PET SEMATARY

97A: Ratel: HONEY BADGER

125A: Tiny dwelling: DOLL HOUSE

14D: Sultan of the Swat: BABE RUTH

16D: 1959 Peck/Kerr movie: BELOVED INFIDEL

52D: Golden parachute: SWEETHEART DEAL

90D: Last letter?: DEAR JOHN

I've never heard of "PET SEMATARY" or "HONEY BADGER". Had no idea that the latter is the most fearless animal on earth. The clue "Ratel" looked like a kind of palm tree to me. I must have mixed it up with "Rattan" or something else.

I loved this puzzle. Very sweet theme and engaging theme answers. I was surprised that there was no DARLING in the grid. Don't you ever call your loved one DARLING at home?

I think I've seen enough RYA (70D: Scandinavian rug) and ERECT (98D: Put up) this week. So annoying! The clue for IRAN (27A: Iraq neighbor) was very jarring too. Why not simply "Turkey neighbor"? I was also stumped by SPEEDUPS (65A: Increases in pace). I thought the clue was asking for a verb phrases, so I kept wanting SPEEDS UP.

Across:

9A: Tree with huge trunk: BAOBAB. It's indeed huge. I've heard of "monkey bread tree". But I did not know that it's called BAOBAB in English.

19A: NASA's ISS partner: ESA (European Space Agency)

20A: City in Provence: ARLES. Van Gogh painted here! This is his "View of ARLES with Irises". Do you like it?

21A: Floating fleet: ARMADA

25A: 2nd best: GRADE B

26A: Pitcher's rubber: SLAB. Ha, new baseball slang to me.

28A: Baudelaire's "Paris __": SPLEEN. The title SPLEEN here refers to "bad temper", not the organ. I've never heard of Charles Baudelaire before. Wikipedia says he also wrote "The Flowers of Evil", and it's "important in the symbolist and modernist. The subject matter of these poems deals with themes relating to decadence and eroticism."

30A: Zeno's birthplace: ELEA. Last time's "Whence Zeno" clue brought hundreds of new visitors to this blog.

33A: Cassia plant: SENNA. Very pretty, in full bloom. Wikipedia says the leaves and flowers of SENNA are used in Thai cooking. I did not know that some of SENNA stems can grow as high as six feet.

35A: Fine porcelain: SPODE. I forgot. Identical clue on another TMS puzzle. SPODE china is named after British potter Josiah SPODE. Good example of EPONYM (29D: Word derived from someone's name).

44A: 1964 A.L. Rookie of the year: OLIVA (Tony). This clue makes me happy. I love Tony OLIVA.

50A: Starter's starter?: ESS. Clever clue.

54A: Segal and Leinsdorf: ERICHS. I got it from down clues. I know neither of them.

69A: Wrongly convicted French soldier of the 1890ss: DREYFUS (Alfred). I googled his name, then I realized that he was the guy in Zola's "J'accuse" letter.

71A: Way of old Rome: ITER

77A: John Tyler's First Lady: LETITIA. I googled again. I did not know her name. I had no idea that John Tyler had a second "First Lady" too (Julia Gardiner Tyler).

79A: Alfonso's queen: ENA. She looks a bit rebellious. Her grandson Juan Carlos is the current king of Spain.

80A: Coastal resident: SEASIDER. Hmmm, this reminds me of the limericks "There once was a man from Nantucket...."

83A: Lge. landmass: CONT. And ISL (121D: Sm. landmass). Oh by the way, I was really in awe of the ISLS clue last Saturday. But later I found out that it was not original. Someone else tried "Christmas or Easter, briefly" for ISL several years ago.

87A: City on the Adige: TRENT. I forgot, yet again. It was just here last Sunday, identical clue. Here is the map. I bet this clue would be different if Senator TRENT Lott were still in the office.

91A: Maltreat: ILL-USE. I've never heard of "ILL-USE" before. Good to learn.

100A: Callaway's "Big" driver: BERTHA. Nice Big BERTHA driver. Callaway also has Big BERTHA iron sets. But why quotation mark for Big?

102A: Broadcast talent org.: AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists). Not familiar with this acronym. Were they involved in the writer's strike earlier this year?

103A: Denver concert site: RED ROCKS. New to me. Oh my goodness, gorgeous photo. WP says U2 performed here in June 1983, and their performance was later included in Rolling Stone's list of the "50 Moments that Changed Rock and Roll".

107A: Pollen-bearing organs: ANTHERS. I like the drops of dew on this flower petal. ANTHER is from ANTHOS, Greek for flower.

112A: Old Ford model: LTD. Learned this LTD model from doing Xword. LTD is always "Inc." to me.

113A: Open some: AJAR. I suppose "Open" here is an adjective. But "Open some" does not make any sense to me. What does "some" mean here?

115A: Nervous system disorder: CHOREA. New to me. It's defined as "any of various disorders of the nervous system marked by involuntary, jerky movements, especially of the arms, legs, and face, and by incoordination." From Greek chorós, dance, the same root as "chorus". No wonder dictionary says this disorder is also called "Saint Vitus' dance".

120S: Helmut's three: DREI. Eins, zwei, DREI.

128: M. de Balzac: HONORE. Had no idea that Balzac's given name is HONORE. One of my favorite Chinese authors, Fu Lei, was very influenced by Balzac.

131A: Caterwaul: YELL. I did not know the meaning of "caterwaul".

132A: Caught red-handed: NAILED. Lois probably wanted the clue to be "Used a hammer".

133A: Virgule: SLASH. I forgot the meaning of "Virgule".

134A: TV's "Science Guy" Bill: NYE. He has become a stalwart in our puzzle.

Down:

1D: Put up a fight: RESIST. I would add some romantism and clue RESIST as "Withstand the lure of".

2D: Loan shark: USURER

3D: 1998 Olympics city: NAGANO. Can never remember the English name for this city. Only knew its Chinese name 長野市.

9D: Author of "National Velvet": BAGNOLD (Enid). Good to see her surname being the answer.

11D: Tumor: suff.: OMA. Ha, I actually remember this OMA.

13D: Ms. Rogers St. Johns: ADELA. Her autobiography is named " The Honeycomb". Could be a good theme entry too.

17D: Almost a ringer: LEANER. Horseshoes terms. It's "a thrown horseshoe that leans against the stake." New to me.

18D: Carve relief: EMBOSS

31D: Pretentious performer: ARTISTE. I don't understand the clue. Why "Pretentious"? ARTISTE is just a French word for artist, isn't it?

36D: No-win situation: DILEMMA. Do you like "Catch-22"?

41D: CXII halved: LVI. Roman 56.

51D: Group of seven: SEPTETS. Trio & quartet.

60D: Like horror movie: EERIE. That's how I felt about "The X-Files".

64D: Iceland currency: EYRIR. Did not know this Iceland coin.

74D: International accord: ENTENTE. And PEACE (67D: Dove's desire).

75D: Stone-worker's block: ASHLAR. Had no idea that such kind of block is called ASHLAR.

78D: Windpipe: TRACHEA. The respiratory tube. New to me also.

84D: Workplace safety grp.: OSHA

93D: J. Hancocked?: SGD (Signed).

99D: Popeil company: RONCO. "But wait, there's more!"

100D: In a blunt manner: BALDLY. Did not know that bald also means "blunt".

104D: Supporting pillar: COLUMN

105D: Klown on "The Simpsons": KRUSTY. Another google. Here he is.

106D: Derrick for loading cargo: STEEVE. It's not in my dictionary. I still could not believe this is a real word.

114D: "Aurora" fresco painter Guido: RENI. See this captivating "Aurora", so soft and harmonious in touches. I like the mythological themes in his and Raphael's paintings. Very beautiful & poetic!

116D: Muslim unit of weight: ROTL. I simply forgot. Stared at _ OTL for eons.

C.C.

Aug 25, 2008

Monday August 25, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: (Which) Way to GO

17A: Imagined: THOUGHT UP

58A: Duck product: EIDER DOWN

11D: Without guilt: RIGHTEOUS

33D: Soup ingredients, perhaps: LEFTOVERS

Good puzzle. I like the positon of UP, DOWN, LEFT & RIGHT, very well placed. But I just feel that something is missing at the heart of the grid. I want HERE or ICI (Vous êtes ICI) as an anchor.

I dislike how ELITE (16A: Privileged few) due to FEWER (51D: Not so many), visually very jarring. Tell me how you would clue ELITE.

Had some trouble at the lower right corner. Had to google Philosopher Mach (52D: ERNST).

Across:

1A: Not so much: LESS. And FEWER (51D: Not so many)

5A: Trigger-happy: EDGY. This reminds me of Barry's TENTER (cloth stretcher) &"On tenter hooks" connection explanation last month.

9A: Branchlet: SPRIG. "Branchlet" is a new word to me.

15A: Novelist Morrison: TONI. Nobel Literature winner in 1993. I know her only because of her "our first Black President" comment on Clinton. I've never read her books.

19A: Basketball player: CAGER. My favorite CAGER (KG).

21A: I haven't a clue: SEARCH ME. New phrase to me. I've never heard anyone use SEARCH ME to mean "I haven't a clue".

26A: Lizard with sticky feet: GECKO. Here is GEICO's GECHO.

28A: Still: AT REST

31A: Where van Gogh painted like mad: ARLES. Yes, this is the place where he madly painted all those blooming (and withering) sunflowers, and the beautiful "Starry Night Over the Rhone", and of course, the gorgeous "Bedroom at ARLES". Are you happy with the clue?

34A: Dawson or Gide: ANDRE. Hmm, another Nobel Literature winner (Gide). Do you think ANDRE Dawson will make HOF next year?

38A: Poppy extract: OPIUM. I am addicted to OPIUM.

39A: Sushi choice: TUNA. Delicious! Hot, hot wasabi!

41A: Zest: SPICE. Which one, Dennis?

45A: Group psyche: ETHOS. And 5D: Cultural: ETHNIC

47A: Parts of ranges: OVENS. I was in the mountain range direction.

49A: Western state capital: SANTA FE. I've never been to New Mexico. Do you like Georgia O'Keeffe?

53A: Turns back: REVERSES

56A: Pipe cleaner: REAMER. No idea. Always associate REAMER with citrus juice.

60A: Hold contents: CARGO. Ha, the nautical "Hold" got me again. I kept wanting "Hold" to be a verb.

62A: King toppers: ACES. I was thinking of this King and his wig.

63A: Middle of a tassel?: ESSES

65A: Do a postal job: SORT. Of course, I penned in MAIL first.

Down:

1D: Stop gripping: LET GO

2D" "___ Frome": ETHAN. Learned it from doing Xword. Have never touched any of Edith Wharton's books.

3D: Audible expression of contempt: SNORT. I wrote down SNEER first.

7D: Wildebeests: GNUS

8D: Holy cow!: YIPES. Sometimes this kind of simple exclamation stumps me. YIPES, Yipee, Holy mackerel! Have you ever used "Man alive"?

9D: Hide away: SECRETE

10D: Glacial deposit: PLACER. New to me. It's a "surficial mineral deposit formed by the concentration of small particles of heavy minerals, as gold, rutile, or platinum, in gravel or small sands."

18D: Wounds with a tusk: GORES. What, not us?

22D: Cause anxiety: ALARM

24D: Giraffe relative: OKAPI. I would not have got this one without the across fills. Barb B likes the pantaloons.

27D: Preserved for later: ON ICE. Is this also a hockey term?

32D: Sports zebras: REFS. Hmm, some kind of "striped" under-theme in this puzzle.

39D: Tex-Mex menu items: TOSTADAS. Yummy.

42D: Goofy error: BONER. I should really use this word instead of abusing "faux pas" & "screw-up" all the time.

44D: Even the score: AVENGE

46D: Islamic women's quarters: HAREMS. I was wondering if men really are not allowed to enter HAREMS. Will they be punished if they do?

50D: BP merger partner: AMOCO. They merged in 1998.

52D: Philosopher Mach: ERNST. So the the Mach in "Mach topper" (SST) refers to him?

53D: Chop into small pieces: RICE. Really, not DICE?

C.C.

Jul 27, 2008

Sunday July 27, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Just One of Those

23A: Wish me luck!: HERE GOES NOTHING

34A: Stop what you're doing: DROP EVERYTHING

55A: Vigorously: LIKE ANYTHING

80A: No holds barred: ANYTHING GOES

94A: All the bells and whistles: EVERYTHING ON IT

114A: Not directed at you: NOTHING PERSONAL

16D: A Skeleton in the closet: SOMETHING TO HIDE

43D: Approximate age: THIRTYSOMETHING

Out of those 8 theme answers, I had trouble understanding 80A & 55A. "No holds barred" was not a familiar phrase to me. I might have heard of the expression "LIKE ANYTHING" before, but I had never bothered to check what it means.

I go to dictionary for help only if the new word is long, complicated and exotic looking. "LIKE ANYTHING" just sounds too simple for me to spend extra energy to find its exact definition. Lots of nuances in English language. That's why sometimes my solving experience differs from yours. These little things often trip me, besides those familiar-to-you but foreign-to-me names (TV series or singers/movie stars).

Anyway, I enjoyed this puzzle. Nothing frustrating. Was very annoyed in the beginning by the repetitions of NOTHING, ANYTHING, SOMETHING & EVERYTHING in the theme answers, musing "Why not construct a 15*15 grid instead by using simply one of the above things". Then I noticed the 180-degree rotational symmetry. Take 23A & 114A for example, they are thematically opposite each other, 23A ends with NOTHING, and 114A starts with NOTHING. Same with the other 3 pairs. Obviously lots of thoughts were given to the construction of this puzzle. And they were noticed and appreciated.

Across:

9A: Twangy guitarist Eddy: DUANE. Unknown to me. Probably a gimme for Melissa/KittyB. He is in Rock and Roll HOF, and is "acclaimed as the most successful rock and roll instrumentalist of all time".

14A: State of India: ASSAM. The tea state.

19A: Acceptable excuse: ALIBI. And 91A: Commit a perjury: LIE

20A: Heat exchanger: CONDENSER. I had no idea that "CONDENSER" is a word.

22A: Replay gimmick: SLO MO

28A: Barnyard fowl: GOOSE. And the Hawaii GOOSE NENE (12D: State bird of Hawaii)

39A: "Raging Bull" boxer: LAMOTTA (Jake). No idea. Have never seen "Raging Bull".

33A: Burgundy wine: PINOT

38A: Daughter of Loki: HEL. Stranger to me. "Goddess of Dead" in Norse myth. Kind of like Hades in Greek I suppose. Another two Nordic references are: 73A: Gudrun's poetic victim: ATLI. Knew "Attila the Hun", but did not know that he had a wife named Gudrun, which sounds like a man's name. Also YMIR (81D: Norse giant).

41A: Chummy: MATEY. Besides the British, I think Australians also use "MATEY" for "Pal".

46A: Italian boyfriend: AMICO. Girlfriend is AMICA.

48A: Turkish title: AGHA

53A: Ecclesiastical council: SYNOD

62A: Like last night's pajamas?: SLEPT IN. Do you really wear pajamas to sleep? I don't, never.

65A: Osprey's cousin: ERN. This is the best picture I've ever fished out of the Google Ocean. Superb!

67A: German-French Dadaist Jean: ARP. And the movement ARP cofounded DADA (107D: Art of the absurd). Very interesting clue. Dadaism itself was not absurd, it just focused on the absurdities in daily life.

69A: Currency exchange fee: AGIO. Foreign to me, and I've changed many different currencies before.

70A: Einstein's field: PHYSICS. I tried SCIENCE first.

75A: Makes more rewarding: ENRICHES

79A: Miss from the highlands: LASS. And more girl power. 117A: Portuguese ladies: DONAS And 41D: Address for a lady is MA'AM.

84A: Laxative derived from aloe: ALOIN. No. Got it from the perps.

88A: Tennis situation: AD IN

90A: Cost of Morocco: RIF. I crossed the River Lethe on this word. Saw this clue before. Great map here. Why is it called Er RIF?

92A: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Flowing & flexible & flawless swing, amazing! He had total 82 PGA wins in his career. Another golf related entry is DOG LEG (21D: Fairway bend).

107A: "The Blue __": DAHLIA. Here is the poster. I've never seen the movie. DAHLIA is Mexico's national flower. Just learned earlier that DAHLIA is named after the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.

109A: Twinned crystal: MACLE. No, unknown to me. I got it from the down clues. What is "Twinned crystal"?

113A: Like an old woman: ANILE

118A: Right to enter: ADMISSION

120A: Gut-wrenching feeling: ANGST. Feel the ANGST? (The Scream - Edvard Much).

122A: Part of PST: STD. I wonder if anyone will object STD appears on a Sunday puzzle. It's an innocent shortened form in this case though.

DOWN:

1D: 1986 Indy winner: RAHAL (Bobby). Not a familiar name to me. Had no idea that he is the co-owner of the RAHAL Letterman Racing team.

3D: U.S. Grant's first name: HIRAM. Wow, who knows?

4D: Penny picture?: ABE. Good one.

5D: Intolerance: BIGOTRY

6D: Frozen region: ICE CAP. Another great picture.

10D: Immoral: UNHOLY

15D: Irish bay: SLIGO. See this map. I've never heard of this bay.

31D: Old music halls: ODEA

29D: Dog's first name: RIN. Dislike this clue. "Dog star" is more apt.

33D: Mountaineer's spikes: PIT-ONS

35D: Overrefined: EFFETE. Are they really interchangable?

40D: Waterproof cloth: LODEN. No idea. Is it really made from sheep wool? How can it be waterproof then?

47D: Nearsighted: MYOPIC

55D: Currency of Georgia: LARI. New to me. Nice photos.

56D: Final innings: NINTHS

60D: Talk of the town: GOSSIP

66D: Endorse: RATIFY

68D: Long John Silver feature: PEG LEG. No idea. I did not know who Long John Silver was until today.

70D: Rio de la ___: PLATA. "Silver' in Spanish.

71D: Bill __ and the Comets: HALEY. I've never heard of Bill HALEY. Are they very famous?

72D: Trapper's traps: SNARES. "Traps" alone is sufficient.

76D: Frisco hill: NOB

92D: Animated Homer or Bart: SIMPSON. No need for "Animated".

95D: Int. broadcasters: VOA

96D: Computer geek: TECHIE

97D: One seeing the whole as greater than the sum of its part: HOLIST. Only familar with the "Holistic approach" in health healing.

98D: Belgian seaport: OSTEND. Unheard of. It's located in West Flanders. They must be speaking Flemish there.

99D: Not e'en once: NE'ER

104D: Song for nine: NONET. Pieced it together from the across clues. ENNEAD was clued as "Group of nine" in yesterday's puzzle.

C.C.