Sunday May 17, 2009 Kathleen Fay O'Brien

Theme: PIANISSIMO (115A: Musical direction, and a hint to the quiet meetings taking place in the answers to starred clues) - PP represents PIANISSIMO.

23A: *Recycled stuff: SCRAP PAPER

25A: *Most dreaming occurs in the last one: SLEEP PHASE

46A: *West Coast Marine Crops training base: CAMP PENDLETON

68A: *It's loaded with rolls: CAP PISTOL

90A: *"Science" employed in many a self-help book: POP PSYCHOLOGY

113A: *Game you have to dress for: STRIP POKER

35D: *Liability suit targets: DEEP POCKETS

42D: *Thing to do first: TOP PRIORITY

Today's constructor Kathleen Fay O'Brien is the lady who gave us our first LA Sunday puzzle, the LA Clippers.

I was stumped when PPP (Pianississimo) was clued as "Very softly, in music" in our old TMS Daily once. Could not understand why PPP when there's only one p in the word pianississimo. Then Barry G explained that it's because piano (soft) is represented by P and pianissimo (very soft) is represented by PP. Dictionary says pianissimo is the superlative of piano. And fortississimo is the superlative of forte. Fortissimo is the comparative. Sounds so complicated.

Nice quiet puzzle. Very doable. I like the theme title too: Quiet Meetings. Several alliterative clues in today's grid:

40A: Kennel call: ARF

63A: Rods with roasts: SPITS

72A: Cell centers: NUCLEI

64D: Seine sun: SOLEIL

82D: Tete thought: IDEE

101D: Spanish snacks: TAPAS

107D: Salty septet: SEAS

I love the last one the most. Sometimes I get bored by certain alliterations. Clues can get very constrained and less inventive if you focus too much on them. But I appreciate the effort the constructors/editor put into them.

By the way, Scott Atkinson mentioned a mini-theme in Michael Wiesenberg themeless yesterday: WHITE WATER & PURPLE RAIN, which cross each other (32A & 5D) in the grid.

Across:

1A: Nitty-gritty: PITH

5A: Company whose name is often quacked in ads: AFLAC. Those Yogi Berra AFLAC commercials are fun.

10A: Skier's wear: PARKA. The Eskimo PARKA is called anorak. What the heck are these?

20A: Capital at 12,000 feet: LHASA. Capital of Tibet. And OSCAR (103A: 13 1/2-inch-high award). I like clues with interesting trivia.

21A: Medicinal creams: ALOES

27A: Birch of "American Beauty": THORA. Can't remember her name, even though I've seen the movie.

30A: "Washington Merry-Go-Round" columnist: PEARSON (Drew). Nope. Don't know this guy. Great cover picture.

31A: Insinuating: SNIDE. Always thought SNIDE means contemptuous.

35A: North Dakota State's home: FARGO. Easy guess. Here is their bison mascot.

36A: When people retire: BED TIME. I was thinking of a different retirement.

41A: Cons: ANTIS

45A: It can't be returned: ACE. Tennis. I like the clue.

53A: Silly type: GOOSE. Nice clue too.

55A: Sunscreen nos.: SPFS

56A: Easy stride: LOPE. Rachel Alexander sure raced like a girl yesterday. I was surprised by the outstanding performance of Mine that Bird, who now I think might have won had Calvin Borel rode it.

57A: Professor "iggins: 'ENRY. From "My Fair Lady". Letter H is dropped in Cockney accent. 'OMES (homes) was once clued as "Cockney abodes" in our puzzle before.

59A: Chef's repertoire: RECIPES. Here is the "Julie & Julia" trailer.

61A: Take care of a boxer: PET SIT

65A: College offering: DEGREE

66A: Destroy over time: ERODE

71A: Debt evidence: CHITS

74A: Reel: LURCH

77A: Starts liking: TAKES TO

79A: 1950s-'60s "Man on the Street" comic: NYE (Louis). No idea. He does not look like a comic.

80A: Copy of an orig.: REPR (Reprint)

81A: Composer Satie: ERIK. I wonder why he changed his name from Eric to ERIK.

84A: People: ONES. This answer often gives me trouble, so does ONE, which stumped me last time when it's clued as "Fused".

87A: Two-time Tony winner Rivera: CHITA. Clear Ayes has probably seen all of those musicals.

88A: Actress Conn: DIDI. Unknown to me. She looks so happy.

93A: X, at times: TEN

96A: Work the aisles, slangily: USH. The letter S enabled me to fill in APSE rather than NAVE for the intersecting 86D: Church area.

97A: It borders It.: AUS (Austria). I did not pay attention to the abbreviated & capitalized "It."

98A: Lit: PIE- EYED. Both means drunk. I struggled with this answer.

100A: Bizarre: OUTRE

102D: PC hookup: CRT

104A: It can be hard to refold: ROADMAP. I like this clue too.

107A: Captain Marvel's magic word: SHAZAM. New to me. What does SHAZAM mean? Is it just a made-up word?

119A: Very, in score: ASSAI. What's the difference between ASSAI & MOLTO?

120A: Formed just for this project: AD HOC. Literally "for this".

121A: __'acte: ENTR

122A: WWII journalist Ernie: PYLE. What does letter C (his left arm) stand for?

124A: Serious: HEAVY. Why? Can you give me an example?

125A: Blotter site: DESK

Down:

2D: Yen: ITCH. Some ITCH just can't be scratched.

3D: Green party?: TYRO. I knew it's a play on "Green Party", but I could not think of an answer immediately. Very clever clue.

4D: Pulitzer rival: HEARST

6D: D.C. mortgage insurer: FHA (Federal Housing Administration).

11D: Shakespeare title starter: ALL'S. “ALL'S Well That Ends Well”.

13D: Continually remind: KEEP AFTER. New phrase to me.

14D: According to: AS PER. Reminds me of PER SE. Tricky to parse.

15D: "Silkwood" co-screenwriter Nora: EPHRON. Have never seen "Silkwood". Loved her "Sleepless in Seattle". Nora blogs at Huffington Post.

24D: Chicken Little's emotion: PANIC. Did not come to me immediately.

26D: Certain polytheist: PAGAN. Isn't strange that ancient Romans/Greeks/Egyptians are all polytheists?

29D: Opposite of ja: NEIN. German yes (ja) and no (NEIN).

32D: Publicists' concerns: IMAGES

33D: Possessed: DEMONIC. Obtained the answer with Across help.

35D: Guitar ridge: FRET. I forgot. FRET as a "Guitar ridge" appeared in our puzzle before.

37D: Cave phenomenon: ECHO

40D: "Little Men" author: ALCOTT. Only knew her "Little Women".

43D: How distances to ballpark fences are measured: IN FEET

44D: Gets cheeky with: SASSES. Typical grid edge word, so is SEUSS (123A: "If I ran the Zoo" author). Lots of S's.

47D: Fancy entrance: PORTAL

48D: Coffee go-with: DANISH. Yummy!

49D: Pigged out (on): ODED. Was this a gimmie to you? Somehow ODs or ODed always give me trouble.

52D: Ribs: NEEDLES. Both mean "teases".

55D: Seen from the crow's nest: SIGHTED. "Crow's nest" is a new term to me.

58D: Part of little girls' make-up: SPICE. And sugar. And all things nice.

60D: Singer Winans: CECE. BeBe & CeCe. Learned from doing Xword.

62D: Tiger's bagful: TEES. Meet Steve Williams, the world's most recognizable caddie.

63D: How acrobats perform: SPRYLY

67D: Former African territory ___Urundi (now two countries): RUANDA. Became Rwanda and Burundi in 1962. New to me.

69D: Fine, for instance: PUNISH

70D: Airport security concerns LAPTOPS

76D: Like "Macbeth": TRAGIC

80D: Pi followers: RHOS. I really liked last time's "Letters from Plato" for ETAS.

87D: Impudence: CHUTZPAH. Great answer.

90D: Portly: PLUMP

91D: Term of affection, in Asti: CARA. "Honey" in Italian?

92D: A long time: YEARS

95D: Nutrient in kelp: IODINE. I don't like kelp, so grainy and hard to wash. Love nori seaweed though.

99D: Cleared the board: ERASED. The clue brought to me immediately Target's messy "Board of Directors" fight. I don't really feel sorry for William Ackman. Does he look handsome to you?

102D: '90s "SNL" regular Farley: CHRIS. Nope. Don't know this guy.

104D: Brief answer?: RSVP. Nice clue.

105D: Our Gang assent: OTAY. No idea. Wanted OKAY.

106D: Seed cover: ARIL. This has become a gimme. Argyle linked this nice mace and nutmeg picture last time.

108D: Subordinate: AIDE

110D: Brief reading?: ZINE. Short for Fanzine, hence the "brief" hint in the clue.

114D: Manhattan sch: KSU (Kansas State University). I don't know there is a Manhattan in Kansas. But NYU won't fit.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Sunday March 29, 2009 Kathleen Fay O'Brien

Theme: Los Angeles Clippers

23A: Toy guns?: FALSE A(LA)RMS

24A: Education for lab rats? (LA)MAZE CLASSES

39A: Thug down in the dumps?: BLUE (LA)GOON

43A: Where the South American school grp. meets?: RIO DE LA P(LA)TA

65A: Dana Carvey doing The Police's lead singer?: (LA)STING IMPRESSION

92A: Cop who brings back the genie when he goes AWOL?: ALADDIN'S (LA)MP

94A: Dubbed-in sounds of disgust?: (LA)UGH TRACK

113A: Appropriate style of dress for exams: (LA)TEST FASHION

115A: ATM accesses that nobody can guess?: GREAT P(LA)INS

Probably too obvious if the theme title were "LA Clippers".

This is a Sylvia Plath "Ariel" puzzle to me. I only started to understand "Roses are red..." not long ago. Struggled again.

Lots of wonderful clues in this puzzle. My favorites:

38A: Head lines?: EEG. Very clever. Always "Brain scan letters" in our old puzzle.

51D: Foreign correspondents?: PEN PALS

87D: Writing feature?: SILENT W. Letter W is not pronounced in "Writing".

123A: Henna and her sisters?: DYES. Play on movie title "Hannah and Her Sisters".

Things I need your help:

62D: Not counting fas and and las, word after "holly": 'TIS. Big stumper. Why?

76D: Walks like House: LIMPS. How come? What/Who is "House"?

83D: Stretch in the '90s, e.g.: HEAT WAVE. Again, why?

To those LA Times solvers who are offered Sylvia Bursztyn's "Light Fair". Please go to LA Times website for the Rich Norris puzzle we are discussing here today.

Across:

5A: Off-the-market apple spray: ALAR. Sometimes it's clued as "Wing-shaped". Did Ralph Nader play a big role in its banning?

9A: African expanse: SAHARA. I thought of DESERT first.

15A: Hanks Oscar-winning role: GUMP. "Forrest GUMP". "Life is a like a box of chocolate..." It's all about choices actually.

19A: Like some training program: IN SERVICE. Military?

21A: Cloisonné material: ENAMEL. Cloisonné technique was first developed in China.

22A: Ending for stink: AROO. Or "Ending for buck". EROO is the ending of smack & switch.

26A: Political essay: TRACT. It's always clued as "Political pamphlet" in our old puzzle.

29A: Capital on the Hudson: ALBANY

34A: Intersection caution: BLINKER

46A: Cold symptom: SNEEZE

48A: Fight ender, briefly: TKO. Boxing term.

49A: Coal industry labor org.: UMW (United Mine Workers). First encounter with this org.

50A: Bridge bid: NO TRUMP. And NO BET (42D: "Check"). Both are new terms to me. Not a bridge/poker player.

52A: Insect-world animated film: ANTZ. This film has become a gimme.

53A: Dungeness delicacy: CRAB. Have never heard of Dungenss CRAB. Wikipedia says it's named after Dungenss, Washington. And there is an annual Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival held there every October.

54A: Furniture wood: TEAK. "Shipbuilding wood" too. Oily, oily!

56A: Cubs' A.L. rivals: SOX. Both based in Chicago.

57A: 'Enry's Broadway protégée: ELIZA. "My Fair Lady". ELIZA Doolittle. Took me a while to realize 'Enry is Henry.

59A: Mr. Magoo, notably: MYOPE. Learned who Mr. Magoo is from doing Xword.

60A: Ralph Kramden's friend: ED NORTON. Stumper. This is the ED NORTON I am familiar with. He is so good in "American History X".

63A: Where to see 60A across: ON TV

64A: Loafs on the job: DOGS IT. New phrase to me.

72A: Musical syllables: TRAS

73A: The Azores are part of it: PORTUGAL. Barry Silk clued AZORES as "Portuguese islands" in his last puzzle.

80A: Hodges of baseball: GIL. Hmmm, no Dodgers reference? GIL Hodges spent most of his career with Brooklyn and LA Dodgers. Some of the old Brooklyn Dodgers collectibles are ridiculously high priced.

81A: Niño's emphatic yes: SI SI. In Chinese, it's "Shi, Shi'.

82A: Jordon's dowager queen: NOOR. She is rumored to have been dating Carlos Slim. Not sure if he is still the richest man in this world. Listened to some of her interviews when she was promoting her book "Leap of Faith". Very compelling personality.

84A: Biological subdivision: SPECIES

88A: '60 theater, briefly: NAM. I don't understand why they picked "What a Wonderful World" for "Good morning, Vietnam". They don't really match well.

89A: Rubble creator: TNT

98A: Arch city: ST LOUIS. The Gateway Arch was designed by Eero Sarrinen, who appears in crossword often.

99A: Including: WITH

100A: Some dirty politics: SMEARS

103A: November honoree: VET. Nov 11, to be exact.

104A: Observable: IN VIEW

107A: Powerful shooter marbles: STEELIES. See this picture. They don't look like to be made of steel.

109A: Massage targets: NECKS. The answer is always ACHE in our old puzzle.

117A: Camaro __ -Z: IROC. Completely unknown to me. Here is a photo. Wikipedia says it's named after the popular competition International Race of Champions. I thought it's play on "I Rock".

118A: Boys' Choir home: VIENNA. No idea. Have never heard of VIENNA Boys' Choir before.

119A: Tidal maximum: HIGH WATER. Also a new term to me. Just learned what WATER LINE is yesterday.

121A: Makes rhapsodic: ELATES

122A: Bugs, for one: TOON

Down:

1D: Baking instruction: SIFT. Mine was STEP.

2D: Tree trunk bulge: KNAR. Made-up crossword word.

3D: Cuba, to Cubans: ISLA. I like this clue.

4D: Come down: DESCEND. Thought of ALIGHT first.

6D: N.Y.C. commuter line: LIRR

8D: What's left, in Le Mans: RESTE. French for "rest". I was thinking of gauche, the real "left".

9D: Israeli, e.g.: SEMITE. OK, this is a word I've never understood. Arabs are Semitic, right? Why Anti-semitism is about prejudice against Jewish people then?

10D: Substances similar in structure, in chemistry: ANALOGS. No idea. I thought it should be ISO something.

11D: Fogs: HAZES

14D: Teeming with activity: ALL ABUZZ. Have to get used to this kind of 2-word fill.

15D: Blowhard: GASBAG

16D: __ Minor: URSA. My first reaction: ASIA

17D: Big name in faucets: MOEN. MOEN has several joint ventures in China.

18D: Bride's throwaway: POSY. All I could think of are flowers & bouquett.

25D: "Tiny Alice" dramatist: ALBEE. I've never heard of "Tiny Alice". But five letter dramatist has to be ALBEE.

33D: Prince Valiant's bride: ALETA. Another unknown. Only Just learned ARN ("Prince Valiant's son") a few months ago.

34D: Big bully: BRUTE. Give a whole new meaning to "Et tu, BRUTE?"

35D: Treated the soil, in a way: LIMED. What's the purpose of liming the soil?

36D: Davenport native: IOWAN. "Is this heaven?" "No, it's IOWA". My favorite baseball movie: "Field of Dreams".

37D: Fingers, so to speak: RATS ON. New definition of "Fingers" to me.

39D: Auto pioneer Karl: BENZ. I need the name Mercedes to get BENZ.

40D: Others: Span.: OTROS. OTRAS is also "Others: Span."

41D: Giraffe cousin: OKAPI. Hey, tell me, is giraffe your cousin?

44D: Plug projection: PRONG. Sounds silly, but I really blanked on Plug PRONG.

47D: Gullible: NAIVE. Won't be long, Rich Norris. Sooner or later, I am going to figure out all your "Little butter?".

53D: Swan constellation: CYGNUS. Forgot this word. Latin for "swan". See this diagram. PromiseMe mentioned Rush's song "CYGNUS X-1" last time when we encountered DENEB (clued as "Star in CYGNUS". In his words, "The song is about a journey through space to the black hole at the heart of the constellation Cygnus." Maybe he will provide a clip later.

55D: Authentic: KOSHER. Opposite tref. Kind of like Arab Halal/haraam, right?

58D: P.O. sackful: LTRS. In this electronic age, still "sackful" of letters? I doubt.

59D: No longer at issue: MOOT. Or still debatable. Janus letter, 2 meanings.

61D: Numbered rds.: RTES

63D: Actor Katz: OMRI. I forgot this "Dallas" actor. He appeared in our old puzzle before.

64D: N, E, S or W: DIR

66D: Roman prefix: ITALO. Williams liked to clue ITALO as "Author Calvino". In fact, I don't believe he ever tried "Roman prefix".

67D: Star in Virgo: SPICA. New to me. Here is the diagram.

68D: Pyramids, e.g.: SOLIDS

69D: African language group: BANTU. Both Zulu & Swahili belong to BANTU.

71D: Crown location: TOOTH. I was picturing a crown over someone's head.

74D: Infomercial knife: GINSU. They are of very poor quality, correct?

75D: "Me, too!": AS AM I

78D: Show the rope: TEACH

79D: Pool accessory: RACK. Billiard. Not swimming pool.

80D: It holds locks in place: GEL. Well, I was thinking of real locks. Key does not fit.

85D: Like the Holy See: PAPAL

86D: 1999 Ron Howard film: EDTV. See this poster. I saw identical clue somewhere before. But I could not recall the film name.

90D: Lawyer's writing: BRIEF

91D: "Give me an example!": NAME ONE. Like this clue also.

93D: Jotting place: NOTE PAD

95D: Muscle spasm: TWITCH. Or TIC for a 3-letter fill.

97D: Perceived to be: SEEN AS

100D: Tour of duty: STINT

101D: Correct: RIGHT. Verb or adjective?

102D: Comic opening: SERIO. Have never heard of seriocomic before. Derived from SERI(ous) + O + Comic.

104D: Tendon suffix: ITIS. Tendonitis. Did not come to me immediately. I am used to the " Medical suffix" clue.

105D: Husband of Octavia: NERO. I know the NERO who fiddled while Roman burned. Don't know who Octavia is. Dictionary says Marc Anthony's wife is also called Octavia, a name rooted in Octavius, meaning "the eighth".

106D: Brandy letters: VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale). Unknown to me. Here is a bottle.

107D: 2000 World Series venue: SHEA. Yankees beat the Mets. I was unaware of this. My US history started in May 16, 2001, almost 8 years.

108D: Lily with an edible root: SEGO. Really? I only know tiger lily buds are edible.

111D: Cello stabilizer: KNEE. I still marvel at the CELLIST clue ("Ma, for one") the other day. Just brilliant. Crossword constructors/editors are so creative.

112D: Georgia et al., once: Abbr.: SSRS. I love this "Georgia" ambiguity. In late 1980s and early 1990s, I was very into Eduard Shevardnadze, who later became the President of Georgia. Later one, I moved to Netanyahu. I don't know what they have in common. They just attracted me.

116D: "Kung Fu" actor: AHN. No idea. Interesting trivia: His parent were the first Korean married couple admitted into the United States, according to Wikipedia. He looks very Korean. His surname AHN would be spelled An or Ang in Chinese, as in director Ang Lee. An simply means "Peace".

Full Answer Grid.

C.C.