Saturday, August 2, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

I am sorry for the troubles many of you (mainly Internet Explorer users) went through last night accessing to the blog. The SNAFU was caused by the Site Meter, which brought down every blog/website with its tracking code. I removed it as soon as I discovered the problem earlier this morning. This was the first time I encountered such a glitch in the 6 months since I installed it.

Everything should be fine now. However, I do suggest you to download Firefox, which is much better than IE. And it allows you to do automatic spelling check when you comment. It's the best browser in my view.

OK, back to puzzle. I had a very tough round. Sliced my opening tee shot immediately. Did not know how to HOOK (1D: Peter Pan" pirate). I filled in SMEE. Then I could not see clearly where the fairways went in the next couple of holes. Too many unfamiliar names. Some of the clues were purposely made tough and I could not correctly read the breaks. Felt like I had to putt 3, or 4 times to sink that damned ball.

I was very, very flattered that Mr. Michael T. William thought I was capable of solving his puzzle.

Front Nine:

1A: Takes by force: HIJACKS

8A: Going one better than: BESTING. Are you OK with this clue?

15A: Prize presenter: AWARDER. I've never heard of "presenter" being called an "AWARDER" before.

13A: Catalog customer: ORDERER.

18A: Soprano Renata: TEBALDI. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says TEBALDI "is famous for being Maria Callas' rival and for her large, voluminous soprano that was widely admired for its tonal beauty and evenness of vocal line.

19A: Short-lived 1920s car: KESSLER. Completely unknown to me. I googled, and still could not find anything about this car.

20A: Indisposition: ILLNESS

23A: In an early stage of development: INCHOATE. Another new word to me. Only knew "incipient".

31A: Despotic: TYRANNICAL. Again, only knew "tyranny".

35A: Zest: ELAN. It reminds me of "pizazz", a word that confused me for a long long time. I never knew how to spell it correctly.

37A: Future rock: LAVA

38A: Jazz pianist Thelonious: MONK. Another unknown to me. Very strange given name. Here is his "Round About Midnight".

39A: Figwort family member: SNAPDRAGON. So delicate!

41A: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Ben Hogan seems to have a more proununced hip move than SNEAD.

43A: Chatoyand gemstone: TIGER EYE. Interesting brown TIGER EYE.

44A: Sealed like flies: ZIPPERED. I did not know that "ZIPPER" is a verb also.

47A: Boris Badenov's cartoon partner: NATASHA. No idea. Pure guess.

50A: Pertinent: APROPOS

55A: Like bogeys: OVER PAR. "Below Par" is such a fascinating self-contradicting word. This puzzle has a slight golf theme. With SNEAD, TORSO (36A: Trunk of the body), HOOK (though it's clued differently) & TIGER.

56A: Ryder painting, "___ of the Sea": TOILERS. Here is the painting. I see no romance or mystic in that picture. Have never heard of Ryder before.

57A: Most in the pink?: ROSIEST. "In the pink" is a new phrase to me. The clue feels a bit strained to me.

60A: Puts to sleep: SEDATES

Back Nine:

3D: Clampett and others: JEDS

5D: Gordon Jump on "WKRP...": CARLSON. No idea. I googled the show.

6D: Short trousers: KNEE PANTS. I don't like the side slit, the color is OK.

7D: Saw-toothed edge: SERRATION. I only knew the adjective SERRATE.

8D: Hand-dyed fabric: BATIK. Another new word. Dictionary says it's also "a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with a color or colors, and dissolving the wax in boiling water."

9D: "The Seven Year Itch": co-star Tom: EWELL. Unknow to me. I've never seen the movie. Knew this Marilyn Monroe picture though.

10D: Natural Paintbrushes: SABLES. I was in the ART direction. Why avoiding "Fine Fur", just to be politically correct? (Addendum: It's clued as "Paintbrush display" on line).

11D: Crossing the Arctic Circle: TRANSPOLAR. Another new word.

14D: Spanish cubist: GRIS (Juan). This is his "Portrait of Picasso".

22D: Repack for reshipping: RECRATE. This actually is a very accurate clue.

25D: Hart or Stephen: CRANE. Know Stephen, not Hart

26D: "The Simpsons" voice: HANK AZARIA. He was married to Helen Hunt for a short period of time.

32D: Pronounces an initial H: ASPIRATES. New term to me.

33D: Northwestern pine: LODGEPOLE. Odd red-colored pines. New to me.

42D: Scatter: DISPEL

47D: Sushi wrapping: NORI. Yes, this is the only seaweed you use to wrap sushi or rice ball.

48D: Bath's river: AVON. I've never heard of this city "Bath" before. AVON is easily inferable though.

49D: New Age pianist John: TESH. Got his name from the across clues. I think I saw his mug before. Who is that girl on his left?

52D: Partially carbonized moss: PEAT. Every clue seems to be very complicated today.

53D: Caen's river: ORNE. Learned from doing Xword of course. Have not seen ST. LO (Town near Caen) for quite some time.

C.C.

Wednesday July 16, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Backup Band

17A: Hootie & the ___: BLOWFISH

30A: Prince & the ___: REVOLUTION

37A: Jay & the ___: AMERICANS

49A: Gerry & the ___: PACEMAKERS

49A: Echo & the ___: BUNNYMEN

They are all rock bands, aren't they? Out of those 5 bands, I've only heard of Hootie & the BLOWFISH. Know Prince, but not familiar with his backing band "The REVOLUTION".

I really like the baseball sub-theme:

23A: Ballplayer Garciaparra: NOMAR

44A: Yankee Slugger, in headlines: AROD

53A: Red Sox player "Big ___": PAPI (David Ortiz, an ex-Twin)

13D: Letters on Cardinal caps: STL

43D: Mark of home runs: MCGWIRE

I don't think this constructor likes "Field of Dream", otherwise he would have clued IOWA ( 4D: Davenport state) baseball related. If you build it, they will COME. Is this heaven? It's IOWA. Wonderful lines. I can not tell you how much I love this movie.

Several flaws with the puzzle:

1) 67A: Agua, to Fifi: EAU. The clue should be FiFi. No one spells this annual award as Fifi. (Addendum: My bad, the clue is correct. Fifi is French girl's name).

2) 6D: "___ Street": SESAME. And 10D: Main or Maple: STREET. Ridiculous!

3) 18D: Stock-ticker stn.: FNN (Financial News Networking). Where? In Sue Herera's dream? When was the last time FNN was ticking? Unbelievable! CNBC took over FNN long long time ago.

Across:

1A: Tenth of MXXX: CIII. I dislike the clue, can you think of a better one?

16A: Substantiate: ATTEST

19A: Servitude: THRALL. New to me. Only know ENTHRALL, which takes its root from THRALL I suppose. Dictionary shows that THRALL can also be a verb (enslave).

20A: "Star Trek: Voyager" character: B'ELANNA. No idea. I strung the answer from the down fills.

33A: 1985 John Malkovich film: ELENI. I've never seen it. Is it good? The only Malkovich movie I like is "In the Line of Fire". Which is your favorite?

41A: Resistance unit: OHM. Its sign is Ω (Omega).

61A: Trivial talk: TWADDLE. I like the clue and the answer, nice T's.

63A: Critical point: CLIMAX. Tell me what follows CLIMAX.

66A: Scale notes: DO RE MI. Tangentially theme related.

68A: Philosopher Immanuel: KANT. He wrote "Metaphysics of Morals".

69A: Button holder: EYELET

71A: Inside: pref.: ENTO

Down:

1D: Moolah: CABBAGE. Slang for money. Chou in French, "mon petit chou", how I hate it!

5D: "Sense and Sensibility" heroine: ELINOR. I like Ang Lee's "Sense & Sensibility": Lose your heart, and come to your senses. Kate Winslet is such a brilliant actress.

7D: Old English letter: EDH. Or ETH.

9D: Holy Roman emperor: OTHO. Ugh, I simply forgot. His name appeared last time when I googled GALBA (Nero's successor). OTHO had a short 3-month reign. Here is the list of all the Roman emperors.

11D: Bowler's target, perhaps: HEAD PIN

12D: Class for U.S. immigrants: ESL (English as a second language)

21D: Rodeo mount, briefly: BRONC (Bronco). Not familiar with this abbreviation.

32D: Annapolis inst.: USNA (United States Naval Academy). Senator McCain's alma mater.

40D: LCD month: SEP. Why? What is LCD here?

41D: Goddess of the harvest: OPS. I would not have got her name without the across references. She is "the ancient Roman goddess of plenty, and the wife of Saturn and mother of Jupiter. Identified with the Greek goddess Rhea."

42D: Yokohama yes: HAI. It's "Haiya" in Cantonese. "Shi" in Mandarin Chinese.

46D: Bedtime visitor: SANDMAN. No idea. Pure guess. I've never heard of SANDMAN before.

47D: Luxurious: OPULENT

48D: All spice: PIMENTO. Also unknown to me.

52D: In the bag: SEWN UP

60D: Turnpike turnoff: EXIT

64D: Actress Myrna: LOY. Ah, Nora in "The Thin Man". Learned her name from doing Xword. Wikipedia says "In 1938 she was voted the "Queen of Hollywood" in a contest which also voted Clark Gable the "King". Interesting, you would think Vivien Leigh or Katherine Hepburn would be voted the "Queen".

C.C.

Wednesday July 9, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Color Songs

17A: Fruitful infatuation?: ORANGE CRUSH

24A: What fellow travelers live in?: PINK HOUSES

38A: Cowardly hero?: YELLOW SUBMARINE

52A: Murex shower?: PURPLE RAIN

63A: Valuable ticker?: HEART OF GOLD

The color GOLD in the last one seems to be positionally out of order with the other theme answers. Can you think of another 11-letter song whose title starts with color GOLD (or red, blue, or any color)? I thought of "GOLD Digger", Kanye West's signature song, but it's 1 letter short and therefore symmetrically impossible to be clued for 63A.

There are TINGES (51D: Slight traces) of smallness in this grid:

16A: Slightest bit: TAD

19A: Smallest bill: ONE

60A: Jerkwater: ONE-HORSE. Both the clue and the answer are new to me.

61A: American lizard: ANOLE. No idea. Obtained it from the down fills. Dictionary says it's related to iguana, "characterized by a distensible throat flap" and the ability to to change the color of their skin among a wide range of green and brown shades." That's very gecko-ISH (62A: Sorta), isn't it? Hmmm, very interesting photo, good timing!

11D: Molecular building blocks: ATOMS

I like how MEDAL (59D: Badge of honor) intersects GOLD. Hate the 64D: Isl. off Australia (TAS). TAS is not a commonly accepted abbreviation of Tasmania, TASM is.

Lots of wild guesses today. I did not know that "Murex" is purple color, and had no idea what connects "Fellow travelers" with color "PINK".

ACROSS:

1A: Produced roe: SPAWNED

14A: Cleanliness: HYGIENE

26A: Equestrian game: POLO. Where did Water POLO get its name? There is no horse play involved. The colors of those balls are hard to tell. Can't be blue though.

44A: Roman unlucky number: XIII(13). My instinct first response was IDES.

46A: Aussie's friend: MATE. Or Bloke.

50A: Parks or Convy: BERT. Pure guess. I know neither of them.

67: Esq. affixer: ATT (Attorney). I am starting to get tired of this "affixer" lawyer clue. Isn't ATT the ticker symbol for AT&T? Wait... Oh, no, it's T now. I did not know that.

68A: Nerval novel: AURÉLIA. No idea. I've never heard of the novel nor the author. Wikipedia says he successfully translated Goethe's "Faust" into French. And Marcel Proust was greatly influenced by his surrealist work.

70A: Oh yeah, __ who?: SEZ. The clue needs quotation marks.

71A: John of "20/20": STOSSEL. He is not my type.

DOWN:

2D: Funeral piles: PYRES. I saw this old Life magazine (June 1964, the Cremation of Nehru) at the flea market a few days ago. It's in pretty good condition.

3D: Former name of Hagatna, Guam: AGANA. Capital of Guam.

4D: Pitcher's motion: WINDUP. My favorite pitcher (Johan Santana) in mid-WINDUP position.

5D: Images in rev.: NEGS (Negatives)

8D: Full of vigor: SPUNKY

9D: Violinist Elman: MISCHA. Unknown to me. This is a beautiful serenade. Slow can be so good. Who is your favorite violinist? Here is a bit of Sara Chang for you.

12D: Dugout: CANOE. I only know baseball's "Dugout".

22D: Ponderer: MUSER

30D: Soak flex: RET

39D: Body liquid: LYMPH

40D: Actress Anderson: BIBI. I've never heard this actor/actress. To me, BIBI is always Netanyahu, my old unfruitful infatuation/CRUSH.

41D: Demeanor: MIEN. And 52D: Composure: POISE

48D: Shaped like a cylinder: TERETE. New to me.

49D: Bogus: ERSATZ. Gimme Gimme. Spent several years working for an IP investigation firm in China.

53D: Family of Indy winners: UNSER. Learned from doing crossword. I am not into racing at all.

54D: Actress Ada: REHAN. How quickly I forgot about her! She appeared on June 29 Sunday puzzle. Very very obscure actress.

65D: Into circulation: OUT. What? Magazines? Coins? Virus?

C.C.

Sunday July 6, 2008 Michael T.Williams

Theme: What's Cooking?

23A: Ideas to consume?: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

33A: Regain one's cool in the kitchen?: SIMMER DOWN

35A: Much to do in the dining room?: FULL PLATE

54A: Chef's doomed instructions? RECIPE FOR DISASTER

80A: Take in dinner conversation?: DIGEST INFORMATION

101A: Dispense freely in the lunch line: DISH IT OUT

103A: Steamed in the stove?: BOILING MAD

117A: Entree at a tribute?: CELEBRITY ROAST

I really like how SPEAR (31D: Asparagus unit) intersects NECTARS (48A: Bees' finds) & FULL PLATE. I am not sure if CLARET (32D: Red table wine) pairs well with TUNA (62A: Yellowtail or albacore). LAMB would be a beautiful companion for this flavorful wine. STIR (114D: Mix up) is a perfect closing for the puzzle, very thematic.

The clue for FNN (35D: Stock-ticker stn) is simply wrong. FNN (Financial News Networking) stopped ticking in 1991. Anyone who loves CNBC's Sue Herera/Ron Insana should know that.

Only 2 Roman numerals in the grid, but the clues just feel so heavy. "Caesar's 701" would be great for 67A: Fifth of MMMDV (DCCI), and it matches nicely with IDES (85A: Bad day for Caesar"). Can you come up with a better clue for MCL (83D: Twice DLXXV)?

The "He or/and He" clues are very annoying. I understand this might be the constructor's intention to highlight his CELEBRITY ROAST theme answer, still, way too many names for my taste. Besides, don't you think John EDWARDS would be a more topical clue for EDWARDS (95D: Blake or Ralph)? I would go with "Winter Olympics participant" for SKATER (102D: Boitano or Button). I got BESTS (103D: George and Edna) from the across fills. I am not familiar with either of them. Would be a gimme if the clue were "Outperforms".

On the other hand, I am elated to see ALECTO (98D: One of the Furies) makes an appearance today. Her sister MEGAERA tortured many of us yesterday. Be prepared, the last Fury TISIPHONE is ready to attack us SOON (27A: At any minute), I can almost feel her whip and torch. For those who only do TMS Sunday puzzle, once again, Bouguereau's "Orestes Pursued by the Furies". Furiously awful, isn't it, esp compared with Raphael's Three Graces.

ACROSS:

1A: Shout approval: ACCLAIM. Would have filled in BRAVO if there were only 5 blanks.

14A: Zero of Broadway: MOSTEL. Foreign to me. He won three Tony Awards, amazing. Why was he nicknamed "Zero"?

21A: Sustained note: TENUTO. Not familiar with this musical term. It's defined as "(of a note, chord, or rest) held to the full time value." Sound so abstract to me.

25A: East African country: RWANDA. Did anyone pen in the bordering UGANDA?

26A: Protection grp for pets: SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

30A: Subatomic particle: ANION. Negatively charged ION.

31A: Hit the slopes: SCHUSS. Boy, I always crash (definitely Bode Miller style) on this word. Really struggled with the letter H and the first S.

41A: Queasiness: NAUSEA . Also the English title of Sartre's novel "La Nausée".

44A: Word Series semis: NLCS (National League Championship Series). And 87A: Associations of teams: LEAGUES.

48A: Bees' finds: NECTARS. I suppose that's where NECTARINES get their sweetness.

64A: Lancelot's lady: ELAINE. I always forget her name. Can only think of Queen Guinevere. What a destructive love affair!

65A: Brave feats: COUPS

72A: Household gods of Rome: LARES. Unknown to me. Very interesting, the singular form is LAR.

77A: Rocky outcrop: CRAG

79A: Sure thing: CERT. I've never heard of CERT expression before.

86A: Resin used in plastics: ACRYLIC. I am more familiar with ACRYLIC painting than with "Resin used in plastics".

93A: Dog dogger: FLEA. I like the alliteration in the clue. Also SIC (39A: __'em, Fido). And ASTA (113D: Nora's dog). From "The Thin Man".

97A: Hypnotic state: TRANCE

111A: LeSage's "Gil __": BLAS. Have never heard of "Gil BLAS" before. Did not know until today that it's Alain-René LeSage who said "Facts are stubborn things", always thought it was from some Machiavellian politician.

123A: Retired faculty members: EMERITI

124A: Netlike caps: SNOODS

125A: Bean and Welles: ORSONS. ORSON Bean is new to me.

126A: Palindromic vehicle: RACECAR. Interesting, I've never paid attention to this before.

DOWN:

4D: Queen of Sparta: LEDA. I confused her with DIDO, who's actually "Queen of Carthage". It would be a gimme for me if there were a "Swan" hint in the clue.

5D: Booze, butts and bullets bureau: ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms). And 93D: Patted down: FRISKED.

7D: Actress Mason: MARSHA. No idea. She was in "The Goodbye Girl".

8D: Cultural value systems: ETHOSES. Tough cookie for me, esp since I had trouble with the intersecting SCHUSS. I thought ETHOS was already a plural form. See also 12D: Cultural: ETHNIC.

9D: Geological periods: AEONS. And And 81A: Glacial epoch: ICE AGE.

10D: Wildebeest: GNU. Why is he looking so sad?

11D: Classic Dracula: LUGOSI (Bela). Are you OK with the clue?

14D: Soviet orbiter: MIR. Literally "Peace" in Russian. So easy to confuse it with the Russian warplane MIG.

11D: Ahead: ONWARDS

29D: Mosaic pieces: SMALTI. The singular form is SMALTO, "colored glass or similar vitreous material used in mosaic". New English word to me.

38D: D-Day craft: LST (Landing Ship, Tank)

43D: Verizon, formerly: GTE (General Telephone and Electronics)

47D: Staunch: ARREST. Ah, the verb. I was adamantly "ARDENT" for a long time.

49D: Gust of wind: SCUD. No, nope, always thought SCUD was a missile. Wanted GALE.

52D: Soft-drink choice: FRESCA. My heart belongs to Pepsi.

53D: Musician Hayes: ISAAC. It's on a TMS puzzle before. I just forgot. I think I have very selective memories. I only remember what excites me, or rather what I want to remember.

55D: End of a bus.?: INC. I like this clue.

56D: Conciliate: PACIFY

58D: Maine national park: ACADIA. Got it this time.

59D: Meteoric fireball: BOLIDE. New to me. Pieced it together from the across clues. This word sounds like a chemical product to me.

60D: Protruding parts: BULGES. Wow, talk about protruding BULGES!

71D: Kite part: TAIL. Look at my beautiful TAIL.

76D: "The Tempest" role: ARIEL. ARIEL Sharon is still alive, isn't he?

78D: "Faust" poet: GOETHE. "Faust" is the poem from which we got "Faustian Bargain", isn't it?

84D: Nostril: NARIS. Plural is NARES.

88D: Mobster's rod: GAT. Slang for pistol.

90D: Old French coin: ECU

96D: Biscayne Bay city: MIAMI. I love Will Smith "MIAMI".

99D: Walk of life: CAREER. Walk? Not work?

104D: Singer K. T. __: OSLIN. Here is her "Hold Me".

106D: Small scale: MICRO

107D: Truman's V.P. Barkley: ALBEN. No memory of him at all. Was it a gimme to you?

111D: Cylinder diameter: BORE. Another new machinery term to me.

116D: '60s radical org.: SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)

118D: "Do Ya" rockers: ELO. "Do ya do ya want my love..."!

C.C.

Friday June 27, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Three Doctors

17A: Three doctors: SEUSS CRANE QUINN

41A: Three doctors: ZHIVAGO X DETROIT

65A: Three doctors: DOLITTLE WHO KATZ

3D: Three doctors: HOUSE ZAIUS WELBY

10D: Three doctors: QUINCY NO KILDARE

One letter (J) away from a pangram puzzle.

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

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

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

ACROSS:

1A: TV screening device: V-CHIP

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

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

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

20A: Expel: CAST OUT

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

27A: Sharp turn: ZIG

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

35A: Routinized: IN A RUT

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

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

46A: Quenches: SLAKES

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

59A: Black Sea port: ODESSA

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

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

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

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

DOWN:

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

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

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

19D: Letters in a math proofs: QED

24D: Urgers: COAXERS. Urgers?

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

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

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

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

37D: Wage-slave's letters: TGIF

39D: Town near Caen: ST. LO

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

48D: Nosegays: POSIES

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

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

C.C.

Thursday June 19, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: QUIP

17A: Start of a Casey Stengel quip: THE YANKEES

21A: Part of 2 of quip: DON'T PAY

40A: Part 3 of quip: ME TO WIN EVERY DAY

54A: Part 4 of quip: JUST TWO

63A: End of quip: OUT OF THREE

Ah, the Stengelese, I admire so much his philosophical wit! A very intelligent man: "They say Yogi Berra is funny. Well, he has a lovely wife and family, a beautiful home, money in the bank, and he plays golf with millionaires. What's funny about that?"

My understanding of Casey Stengel's life mainly comes from the Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio books I've mindlessly leafed through. When I think of him, I think of the "Most ball games are lost, not won" quote. I always thought of him as a Yankees/Mets Manager. Did not know until this morning that he had played for both NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers before. That's amazing. Who else could claim that he played/managed all the 4 MLB teams in NY?

Good to see PEDRO (32D: Cy Young winner Martinez) in today's puzzle. I wish JOSH (54D: Kid) were clued as "Red Sox pitcher Beckett" and MINE (35A: Planted explosive) clued as " Outfielder's cry". It would have been a great baseball themed puzzle.

Had to flirt with Google again this morning. Had difficulty getting into this Michael T. William's wavelength. It's odd to get a QUIP puzzle from him.

ACROSS:

6A: Autobahn auto: AUDI. Regarding yesterday's OLDS (36D: Antique auto), I think Richard @ 1:35pm explained it very well. REO would be a perfectly fine answer for the "Antique auto" clue.

10A: __ does it: THAT. "EASY" does it Tiger! See you at the Masters next year!

14A: Pita fiber: ISTLE. I only knew "Pita" as the TASTY (10D: Delectable) flatbread topped with hummus. Had no idea that it can also be a fiber-yielding plant. ISTLE is a new word to me. Here is the definition: "a fiber from any of several tropical American plants of the genus Agave or Yucca, used in making bagging, carpets, etc."

16A: Dynamic intro?: AERO

20A: Singer Brewer: TERESA. Completely unknown to me. Mother TERESA & TERESA Heinz Kerry, yes.

23A: Camera-ready copy: REPRO

26A: Let down: LAY. Here is Eric Clapton's "LAY Down Sally".

30A: Disarranged: TOUSLED. This is Kate Moss' classic "Tousled, Just Out of Bed" look.

37A: Boot binding: LACE. And 9D: Boot cushion: INSOLE. How you guys could segue the topic yesterday from SCORIA into boots and sandwich is beyond me.

38A: Roeper's co-host: EBERT (Roger). He has not been on the show for a longtime. I don't think he can talk now.

44A: Murder: DO IN. Here is another great line from the great Casey Stengel: "Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It's staying up all night looking for a woman that DOes him IN".

47A: Ability to walk aboard: SEA LEGS. Is it gimme to you? I've never heard of "SEA LEGS" before.

52A: Mature: ADULT. "As youth lives in the future, so the ADULT lives in the past: No one rightly knows how to live in the present."

58A: Stevedore: LOADER

68A: Collection of artifacts: HOARD. Really? I thought HOARD has a negative "greedy" connotation.

71A: Some lilies: SEGOS Utah State Flower SEGO Lily.

DOWN:

5D: Wonderland service: TEA SET

7D: A. Godfrey's instrument: UKE (Ukulele)

11D: Dickens hypocrite: HEEP (Uriah). From "David Copperfield".

13D: Singer Orlando: TONY. Ah, got him this time, the "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" singer. This is the list of 2008 TONY Award Winners. That "In the Height" actor (Lin-Manuel Miranda) sounds extremely talented.

18D: City on the Tyrrhenian Sea: NAPOLI. Italian name for Naples. Here is the map. I am not familiar with the Tyrrhenian Sea at all.

22D: 2000 candidate Ralph: NADER. He wrote "Unsafe at Any Speed".

24D: Kagali's country: var.: RUANDA (Rwanda). New to me also. Dictionary says "RUANDA" can also refer to the "Bantu language".

25D: Seminole chief: OSCEOLA. I forgot his name again. How can I remember him?

27D: Goldman and Lazarus: EMMAS. I know neither of them. Got the answer from across clues. Oh, Another Goldman (Steven) has written a book titled "Forging Genius: The Making of Casey Stengel".

31D: Taxed: LEVIED

33D: Egghead: BRAIN. That's what he wished.

34D: "Funny girl" composer: STYNE. Another unknown. Pieced together from the across clues.

41D: "The Man Who ___ There": WASN'T. Cohen brothers' film. I wish the clue was "Rome _____ built in a day", it would form a mini Italy sub-theme with ITER (3D: Roman way) and 18D: NAPOLI.

42D: Completely surround: ENGULF. Lois has probably got her copy of "When You Are ENGULFed in Flame".

48D: Tim Burton film: ED WOOD. Here is more information about the film, starring Johnny Depp. I've never seen it.

49D: Three-hanging vegans: SLOTHS. What? SLOTHS do not eat meat? Are you sure?

53D: Lake near Reno: TAHOE. Could have been clued as "Chevy offering" to pair up with 6D: AUDI.

57D: Yorkshire river: OUSE

59D: Move with a mouse: DRAG

60D: One Saarine: EERO. His father is Eliel.

64D: Thoughtful letter: TLC. Oh I need some.

Alright, the last one, 1D: Skater Katarina: WITT. I did not know her. Wikipedia says she is in the World Figure Skating HOF now. I'm bad, I'm bad...who's bad?

C.C.

Monday June 9, 2008 Michael T. Williams

heme: BEARS

24A: Bears: YOGI AND BOO BOO

38A: Bears: CHICAGO GRIDDERS

50A: Bears: PRODUCES FRUIT

Before I forget, please read this comment from our fellow solver Sandra (D&SK, 12:52pm) regarding Saturday's unique grid structure. Very interesting observation on the target position of Tariq Aziz, isn't it?

Back to day's puzzle, I like the theme concept and the execution, 2 major flaws though:

1) 19A: Links grp. PGA. And 67A: Ernie of the PGA: ELS. I can not tell you how much this double appearance of the same word in the clue and the answer annoys me. No responsible crossword editor should allow this awful construction error slips away. Besides, why "Links" all the time? Who the heck wants to play the formidable "Links" course so often? With today's BEARS theme, why not get creative and somehow clue the "Golden BEAR" Jack Nichlaus for PGA?

2) I know I've said it before, but it BEARS repeating that I simply can not BEAR to see a puzzle with the theme title bared in the clues. It really deprives me of the fun to ferret out the theme.

Not sure if today's constructor Michael Williams should BEAR the brunt of my grudge, BEAR in mind that our Editor has the final say. But he never deigns to talk to us, what can I say? I guess we will just have to grin and BEAR it.

ACROSS:

5A: Coats with crumbs: BREADS. Love panko breaded croquette.

15A: Close a purse: RESNAP

16A: Fmr. Mideast alliance: UAR (United Arab Republic). And 2 more Mideast references: 23A: Ship with a lateen sail: DHOW. Can also be spelled as DOW, or DAU. Unknown to me. First time I heard of "lateen sail" too. Dictionary defines DHOW as "any of various types of sailing vessels used by Arabs on the east African, Arabian, and Indian coasts, generally lateen-rigged on two or three masts." And 42A: Israeli seaport: EILAT (Gulf of Aqaba port).

20A: Bait fish: MINNOW. I wish NET in 64A: Badminton barrier were clued as fishing related, just to pair up with 20A.

28A: Like an old tree trunk: GNARLED

37A: Brit's wireless: RADIO. And another Brit term: DOSS (30D: Flophouse in London). DOSS is a new word to me. Easily gettable from across fills though.

45A: Rising current of warm air: THERMAL. I was only familiar with the adjective THERMAL, not the noun form.

56A: QB Aikman: TROY. Wonder how much his rookie card costs now.

58A: Rationers of WWII: OPA (Office of Price Administration). I simply forgot. Luckily the down fills helped.

61A: Up and about: ARISEN

63A: Danube feeder: ISAR. No idea. Here is the map, see München (Munich)?

65A: Slow musical passage: LENTOS

68A: "Our Man in Havana": GREENE (Graham). Not familiar with the author. Wikipedia says that he had a long affair with Yvonne Cloetta (32 years). I love this note GREENE wrote to Cloetta: "If I were to live my life again, there is only one thing I would want unchanged: meeting you, knowing you, and loving you."

69A: Customary extras, briefly: ETCS

DOWN:

1D: Viscous: SLIMY. Hmmm, Who is the SLIMY guy?

2D: Mann novel: "____ Kroger": TONIO. It was in yesterday's puzzle.

3D: As company: ALONG. "To BEAR a Ring of Power is to be alone". Tell me if this is a familiar line to you, don't google!

4D: "Live at the Acropolis" performer: YANNI. Can you feel the "Mozart Effect" in this Standing in Motion? Oh, YANNI, If I could tell you...

5D: Lunch carrier: BROWN BAG. Want to take a bite from this bento box?

8D: Computer type: ANALOG

9D: Rosario or Roxann: DAWSON. Know Rosario, not Roxann. Do you think Andre DAWSON will make the HOF next year?

11D: Spot for a drink in a car: CUP HOLDER

12D: "Othello" role: IAGO

23D: Small southern constellation: DORADO. Not familiar with this one. Given the BEARS theme today, wouldn't be great if we have the URSA (Constellation Bear) appear somewhere in the grid?

25D: Queen of Carthage: DIDO. Another unknown mythological figure to me. She "killed herself when abandoned by Aeneas". Aeneas is "the Trojan hero of Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid, and son of Anchises and Aphrodite. He escaped the sack of Troy and wandered for seven years before settling in Italy." Thank you, dictionary & DIDO.

26D: Exalted poet: BARD

29D: Dublin's land: EIRE. Hmm, I am a "Denis of Cork" ADORER (46D: Worshiper). Why not clue it as "Cork's land" and make me happy?

31D: "Rhyme Pays" rapper: ICE T. Easier than last time's "Tracey Marrow stage name" clue, isn't it?

32D: __ Tze: SHIH. Just for your information, "___ Ching" (or Shi Jing in Mandarin Chinese) is a classic book of Chinese poetry (Book of Odes).

33D: Distance sign: MILE POST

34D: Little Golden Books artist: SCARRY (Richard). Unknown to me. Pieced his name together from across fills.

36D: J. Hancocked: SGD. Hmm, I could picture Barry's frown in my mind...

40D: Partly: IN A SENSE

47D: Like a wolf: LUPINE

49D: Org. of Argonauts: CFL (Canadian Football League). Did not know this before. Only knew Jason's Argonauts, not Toronto Argonauts. Learned this morning that their championship/ trophy name is called "Grey Cup".

53D: Distressed: UPSET. Poor BEAR Stearns employees...

54D: Hayes of "South Park": ISAAC. Got it this time, thanks Dr. Dad.

55D: Provisions: TERMS

"Every dream that we share, every cross that we BEAR, come to me - Darling rescue me...." Here is Bryan Adams' Do I Have to Say the Words? Enjoy!

C.C.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: "Celestial" Cinema (All Science Fiction Films)

17A: Celestial simians?: PLANET OF THE APES

29A: Celestial zanies?: SPACEBALLS

37A: Celestial warfare?: MARS ATTACKS

45A: Celestial E. T.?: ALIEN THREE (ALIEN 3)

57A: Celestial visitor?: NIGHT OF THE COMET

If you have not, please read this What Constitutes a Good Crossword Puzzle post first and let me know your definition of a good crossword puzzle.

Lots of boring 3 letter fills today, very lazy cluing:

28A: Mideast nat. UAE

61A: Halfway, briefly: MID

16D: Ump's relative: REF

20D: Letters on many cars: AAA. Could've been clue as "Battery size" if not for 24D: Assault and ___ (BATTERY) I suppose.

26D: Most remote: ULT

27D: R. E. Lee's nat.: CSA

30D: School grp.: PTA

38D: Half a fly? TSE. What's the obsession with this fly? What's wrong with China's Mao TSE-Tung, or T. S. Eliot's initials?

41D: Yale booster: ELI

43D: High dudgeon: IRE

55D: DDE's command: ETO

57D: Final degree: NTH

58D: Sundial server: III

62D: U-turn from WSW: ENE

63D: Black goo: TAR

Good to see WIE, LCS, CEY, NOL in the grid though. EDP (1D) did give me plenty of trouble as I had no idea what is the prefix for twelve (14A: DODEC)

Also, lots of H, TH in today's puzzles: ETHENE, GOTHIC, NTH, ESTHETIC, THREE, THRONE, HEFT, HUM, HAMMER, BACH, THDS, HITS, , OH NO, and several THE. Is there a sub-theme here?

ACROSS:

6A: Racing sled: LUGE

10A: Soup serving: BOWL. And 10D: Gravy server: BOAT. Hmm, obviously some thoughts were given to clues. Thanks.

14A: Twelve: pref: DODEC. Unknown to me, it comes from ancient Greek word dōdekás (dō is two, adn dekás is ten)

15A: Uniform in all directions: ISOTROPIC. Another unfamiliar word to me. I know "iso" is "equal", had no idea that "-tropic" means turning toward or upward. It's another Greek originated word. Antonym: ANISOTROPIC (an is an prefix for not).

20A: Bulk: HEFT

21A: Nail hitter: HAMMER. "If I had a HAMMER"

24A: Open container: BIN. This bin is a very interesting word. In Arab, it means "son of", as in that Son of B BIN Laden. And I suppose the "BIN" in "Ich BIN ein Berliner" means "am"? I am not so sure. I only know "Ich liebe dich".

25A: Tempa Bay pro: BUC (Buccaneer)

33A: Lodging chain: MARRIOTT

40A: Peachy keen! NEATO. RAD!

42A: Having a love of beauty: ESTHETIC. Looks like our editor has been in an arty frame of mind lately.

49A: One heart, e. g.: BID

51A: Hepburn of Hollywood: AUDREY. I've never seen Breakfast at Tiffany's. Love Roman Holiday though. (Update: Today is "Eliza Doolittle Day". AUDREY Hepburn was cast as Doolittle in the movie My Fair Lady, thanks Drdad.). And 68A: Actress Winona: RYDER. She is so pretty. My favorite Winona movie is Autumn in New York.

54A: Actress Gilpin: PERI. I've never watched FRASIER.

56A: City on the Aker River: OSLO. Hmm, looks like nobody really cares much about OSLO Accords.

64A: Got drunk: TIED ONE ON. Is it another slang? I've never heard of it.

65A: Minneapolis suburb: EDINA. US Women's Open Golf Tournament will be held in EDINA in June.

DOWN

1D: Key-punch bus.: EDP (Electronic Data Processing). Unknown to me.

7D: Tampa sch.: USF (University of South Florida)

8D: Grotesque genre of fiction: GOTHIC

9D: Sweet smelling gas: ETHENE

11D: Antithesis: abbr. OPP (Opposite)

12D: Michelle of golf: WIE. This girl can sure hit a mile, a bit erratic in her putting though. Hope she qualifies the US Open sectional in early June.

13D: Pre-World Series abbr.: LCS (League Championship Series).

18D: Bulks of bodies: TORSOS

23D: Imaginary sea creature: MERMAID

25D: Raised bubble: BLISTER. I like this clue.

31D: One of the Three B's: BACH. Beethoven and Brahms.

32D: Huber of tennis: ANKE. Unknown to me. But this word ANKE looks very familiar, is it an Egyptian God or something?

39D: Military command: AT EASE

44D: Ron of hot corner: CEY. Not a familiar name to me. I got it from across clues. I like "hot corner".

46D: Seat of power: THRONE. Look at this Peacock THRONE. According to one of our fellow solvers, it's entirely encrusted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other gems and he saw it in person.

47D: Young cow: HEIFER

52D: Open sore: ULCER. This puzzle gives me an ULCER this morning, too many 3-letter eyesore fills.

C.C.

Saturday May 17, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Themeless:

I dislike this puzzle, too many S's (28 in total, almost 15% of the grid), too snaky, look:

25A: Cobra's cousins: ASPS

14D: Serpent's sound: SSS

62D: Snaky character: ESS

This has become a very annoying pattern for Williams' SATURDAY themeless. I mean our editor Wayne R. Williams, not his nephew Michael T. Williams who authored today's puzzle.

I played through the upper left corner without encountering any obstacle this morning. I could not believe my eyes when SATURDAY turns out to be the right fill for 1A: Day like today? But why question mark? The clue felt very anemic to me. Had some problems with SCAUPS & POD crossing. I did not know that a group of whale is called POD, and I had not heard of SCAUPS before.

Lots of animal fills in today's puzzle: SWINE, SCAUPS, TERN, SABLE, ASPS, SKATE (24D: Flat fish), CAT, and a half TSE. I guess it's too much of a stretch to include DEER from DEERE (6D) in the list. There are also quite a few animals in the clue: 65A: Bronco-busting events (RODEOS), Raccoon distinction (RINGTAIL), whale group (POD), Serpent's noise (SSS).

Of the 2 singers today, BILLIE Holiday was a gimme, and CAT Stevens was easily gettable, though I had no idea who he was. Very interesting to see ALLUSIVE (58A: Having indirect references), ASPERSE (22D: Badmouth), BUM RAPS (43D: False charges) structured in one grid. It's painfully pleasant to see SKATE intersects SPRAIN. A bit disturbing to see SWINE crosses SHRILL. Have you ever heard of a last shrill cry from a pig? Boy, it's really piercing, you can hear it a village away.

ACROSS:

9A: Cousins of canvasbacks: SCAUPS. The plural form can be SCAUP too. Wikipedia says there are three kinds of SCAUP: Greater SCAUP (also called Bluebill), Lesser SCAUP & New Zealand SCAUP.

15A: Rump: DERRIÈRE. Aright, yesterday's ITEM picture, the girl is Jessica Biel, who is currently dating Justin Timberlake.

16A: Trunks: TORSOS. Hmm, TORSO rotation. Big problem if you can not unwind properly during the downswing.

19A: Field of Jets: GRIDIRONS. This might be difficult for our fellow solvers in Asia & Europe. Jets here refers to NY Jets, an American football team.

21A: "Peace Train" singer: CAT STEVENS. He said he wrote this song while on a train, and he was thinking of Alfred Hitchcock at the time.

29A: Japanese port: OSAKA. Literally "large hill". The gourmet food capital of Japan. I love OSAKA style kitsune udon!

32A: Ankle injury: SPRAIN. You do need to COSSET your ankle after the sprain, don't you?

37A: Comes to rest: SETTLES. I tried SLEEPS first.

39A: Tenor Pavarotti: LUCIANO, Yes, We are the world!

41A: First name in mysteries: ERLE. Unbelievable, 3 appearances in one week!

42A: Hunter of films: TAB. No. Completely unknown to me.

44A: Gum flapper: GABBER. Very interesting clue.

45A: Half an African fly?: TSE. Remember what Orange said about this clue? "Tsetse is one word! If it's acceptable to clue half of it as an entity, what's stopping the editor from trying TSET for "two thirds of a fly"?

48A: French city known for textiles: LILLE. Known as Lisle before. Probably less than 1 hour away from Gare du Nord if you take Eurostar.

49A: Collectors' groups: SETS. Does anyone here own a 1952 Topps set?

51A: Sportscaster of note: AL MICHAELS. Do you believe in miracles? YES!

53A: Bonapartes' last battle: WATERLOO. Or _____International Station, which used to be the London terminus of Eurostar. About 2 1/2 hours away from Paris.

55A: Piecing in tone: SHRILL

63A: Coetzer of tennis: AMANDA. Not familiar with her name. But it's easily obtainable.

64A: Mechanical music makers: PIANOLAS. What is it? I've never heard of it.

65A: Bronco-busting events: RODEOS

66A: Activity periods: SESSIONS. What a desperate need for S's!

DOWN:

1D: '60s radicals: SDS. And 2D: NRC predecessor: AEC. They've become gimmes to me now. Repeat offenders.

5D: Raccoon distinction: RINGTAIL. Good morning cutie! (Update: The cutie in the picture is a lemur. Sorry about the mistake).

6D: Tractor maker: DEERE. Look at this John DEERE collector's corner.

7D: Make it big: ARRIVE. I like this clue. Still waiting for Günther and the Sunshine Girls to ARRIVE in the US.

10D: Italian resort lake: COMO. Want to go to Lake COMO?

12D: Sailors org: USN. Or ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) sometimes.

13D: Whale group: POD. Seal group is POD too. Seal is probably a better clue as many solvers will be trapped into thinking singer Seal.

20D: Pentium manufacturers: INTEL. Why plural form?

21D: Pampers: COSSETS. Treat me like a baby!

23D: Mini-pie: TARTLET. Want some?

27D: Roberts of "Bonanza": PERNELL. No idea. I got his name from across clues.

28D: Spanish gentlemen: SENORES

40D: John C. and Rory: CALHOUNS. Not familiar with either of them. Again, I strung this fill from across clues.

60D: Worldwide workers' grp: ILO (International Labor Organization). And they celebrate Labor's Day on May 1.

C.C.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: HOLIDAYS

18A: December Day: CHRISTMAS

62A: February Day: GROUND HOG

3D: May Day: MEMORIAL

5D: March Day: ST. PATRICK'S

32D: February Day: VALENTINE'S

35D: Jan. Day: MLK

40D: October Day: COLUMBUS

Um, it looks like our editor's pipeline is drying up. Two Josiah Breward puzzles in less than 4 days, and now another Michael T. Williams. TMS definitely needs to ante up their woeful payment to attract some creative puzzle constructors. We need fresh blood and we deserve quality puzzles!

In case you have not heard yet, Michael T. Williams is the nephew of our editor Mr. Wayne Robert Williams, who often uses Josiah Breward or Willy A. Wiseman as his alias names.

But this is a great puzzle, isn't it? Lovely theme. Simple yet elegant grid structure, though the intersection of MLK and AMORAL bothered me a bit. I was not able to close the deal today unassisted, not even with the generous help from those long self-revealing theme entries. Too bad, I squandered a great chance for a Wednesday home run. I completely screwed up the lower left corner. I did not know what was Quamash (CAMASS), had no idea who was the French historian (RENAN), forgot Saul's uncle's name (NER). PNIN also escaped me this morning. PECCAVI was a total stranger to me too.

ACROSS:

1A: Spiritual leaders: LAMAS. LAMA originally referred to a monk of higher rank, now it has evolved into "Guru" status. FYI, Dalai means "Ocean". So "Dalai LAMA" literally means a man of great spiritual depth.

6A: Consumer protection org.: FTC (Federal Trade Commission). Thought of FDA (Food and Drug Administration) first.

9A: Use elbow grease: SCRUB

16A: Stomachs of ruminants: OMASA. Singular is Omasum. Unknown to me. It's "the third stomach of a ruminant, between the reticulum and the abomasum". Also called manyplie.

17A: Recapitulate: SUM UP

20A: Funny Phillips: EMO. Vaguely heard of this name before.

21A: City in Pennsylvania: ALTOONA. Have never heard of this city. Strung the words together by down clues.

23A: Ball carriers, briefly: RBS. Why? What ball carriers? (Update from Dennis: RBS is Running backs)

27A: Green target: HOLE. Nice clue, though my first response was PIN. You shoot for the PIN when you are in the fairway, or rough, or bunker, don't you? But of course, you target is HOLE when your ball safely lands on the green.

28A: Make clucking sounds: CHIRRUP. Stumper for me. This word looks so wrong to me.
31A: Dodges: EVADES

33A: Raccoon's cousin: COATI

34A: Lacking values: AMORAL

37A: Reminder of times past: RELIC

38A: They: Fr: ILS. Tired of French words/painters/authors every day. How about "Instrument Landing System, briefly?"

39A: Legal: LICIT. English is strange. See, you add one letter E, then you have this completely different ELICIT (68A: EDUCE). Different root I suppose.

43A: Lurks: SKULKS

46A: Black: EBONY. Also a magazine name.

46A: Quamash: CAMASS. No idea. It's the definition of CAMASS: "any of several plants of the genus Camassia, of the lily family, esp. C quamash, of western North America, having long clusters of blue to white flowers and edible bulbs." Here is a picture.

49A: Ring-shaped: ANNULAR

51A: Arabian sultanate: OMAN. Clued as "Muscat's land" in yesterday's puzzle.

52A: Boob Tubes: TVS. Would be an OK clue if not for the intersecting 53D: TV monitor.

55A: Aleutian island: ATTU. Sometimes it's ADAK or ATKA.

56A: Saul's uncle: NER

57A: Confession: PECCAVI. Latin, literally I have sinned (first person singular).

66A: Pathogenic bacteria: E. COLI

67A: Inhabitant of: suff.: ITE. I can only think of "Israelite" at this moment.

69A: French historian: RENAN (Ernest). Total étranger to me. Is he very well known?

70A: Score figs.: PTS (Points)

71A: Bird in "Peter and the Wolf": SASHA. No idea, thought it's very gettable.

DOWN:

1D: _ majesty: LESE. It's "a crime committed against the sovereign power". Treason. I suppose LESE comes from French word LÉSER (damage)

2D: Bard grad, e.g.: ALUM

4D: Prefix for puncture: ACU. Aw, the painful needles. Have you ever had acupuncture before?

6D: Datum: FACT

8D: Entertainer Channing: CAROL. Unknown to me until this morning. I always thought Marilyn Monroe was the original singer of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend."

10D: "Most Wanted Live" stn.: CMT (Country Music TV). Did not know this before. I was actually thinking of John Walsh's "America Most Wanted" (FOX).

11D: Exemplar of stiffness: RAMROD

12D: Operative: USABLE

13D: Deep voices: BASSES

22D: Fighting Tigers of the NCAA: LSU (Louisiana State University). Fighting Tigers always reminds me of General Chennault and his "Flying Tigers".

25D: Crafty person?: ARTISAN. Good clue.

27D: Large flatfish: HALIBUT

28D: "Born on the Bayou" grp.: CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival). Do not know the song nor the band.

41D: Balin or Claire: INA. Learned from doing crossword of course.

42D: Norse deity: TYR. I faintly I remember I saw this word somewhere before. It's God of Strife/War. Son of Odin. English equivalent is TIU.

44D: You in the Yucatan: USTED. Spanish for You (the formal address).

46D: Marine eel: CONGER

47D: Punish arbitrarily: AMERCE. OK, AMERCE is from à merci, at the mercy of). Is this a special legal term?

48D: Abandon: MAROON

50D: Map reader abbr.: NAV. Navigation I gather?

53D: TV monitor: V-CHIP. See here for more information.

54D: George C. ___: SCOTT. I like his "Patton".

57D: Nabokov novel: PNIN. Has anyone read this book?

60D: Mr. Walesa: LECH. A TMS stalwart.

61D: Ends of small intestines: ILEA. Singular is Ilium.

63D: Tail of a fib?: ULA. Fibula. Plural is Fibulae.

65D: Harem room: ODA. Definitely a repeat offender. OK, some extra information: HAREM is Islamic women's quarters, which could also be called SERAGIO (a sequestered area for wives). Hijab is the headscarf Muslim women wear. Houri is the beautiful virgin promised to those faithfuls in their Koranic paradise.

C.C.