Sunday August 17, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Do Something

23A: Instruction to a drinker?: HAVE A SHOT

24A: Instruction to a take-out diner?: CALL TO ORDER

36A: Instruction to a battery maker?: PUT IN CHARGE

42A: Instruction to a lumberjack's assistant?: GIVE THE AX

56A: Instruction to a sculptor?: PLAN AHEAD

59A: Instruction to ship Styrofoam?: SEND PACKING

78A: Instruction to a talcum buyer?: TAKE A POWDER

80A: Instruction to a corporal punisher?: HIT BOTTOM

96A: Instruction to a wooer? GO TO COURT

99A: Instruction to a judge after a mistrial: TRY TRY AGAIN

116A: Instruction to a mime?: MAKE A MOTION

119A: Instruction to a comic?: FEEL FUNNY

I felt so uncomfortable with 42A. I know GIVE THE AX is an idiom, but I still wanted to add ME. The clue seems to be asking for "GIVE (ME) THE AX".

I would put "Follow the instructions" rather than "Do something" as the theme title. In fact, all the above theme answers feel more like orders rather than instructions to me. The constructor chose "instructions" probably because of 24A CALL TO ORDER.

I like this punny theme. If someone has been reading our comments lately, he should be inspired to create a "Beauty Salon Names" themed puzzle, using Argyle & KittyB's "Curl up & Dye", "Shear Magic", "Hair Port", "Clipper Ship", "Chop Shop" etc.

Anyway, it's a great puzzle. I can't imagine how much research work he did in order to come up with such an amazing list of theme entries with a perfect combination of letters. Look at the way he gridded those 12 theme answers - all 20-letter fills separated by 1 block, amazing! As a result, lots of 3-letter fills are necessitated in the Across. But no complaints from me today.

Some minor flaws:

1) I would clue KNELT (69D: Prepared to pray) as "Prepared to propose" because of PRAYER (108A: Supplication).

2) 76A: Parallel grooves: STRIA. The clue should be in singular form. The plural "grooves" demands STRIAE. At least, that's what the dictionary says. It's a new word to me.

3) 6D: ___ -la -la!: OOH. The clue needs a quotation mark.

4) 100D: Astern: ABAFT. Visually grating. "Toward the stern" should be fine.

I had to resort to google for help, there is no way I can finish a Sunday puzzle unassisted. It may take me another half year. But he did it. I should be able to DO SOMETHING too.

Across:

1A: Ring overhead: HALO

19A: Orphanage transactions: ADOPTIONS. "Transactions"? Sounds so impersonal and cold.

22A: Civic firm: HONDA. Great clue.

27A: Discombobulate: BEMUSE. Ha, now I understand the clue. Thought it was a made-up word yesterday.

29A: In a hopeful manner: ROSILY. I've never seen ROSILY being used in any article. ROSY, yes.

45A: Jack-in-the-pulpit, e.g.: ARUM. I missed it last time, and I missed it again today. "Jack-in-the-pulpit", what a strange name. But isn't ARUM kind of lily?

47A: Canary island: LA PALMA. Unknown to me. Shouldn't the clue be "One of the Canary Islands"?

48A: Brother of Rebecca: LABAN. I had ?ABAN for eons. Had to google. I tank on almost everything Biblical. Anyway, Wikipedia says LABAN is the father of Leah & Rachel.

52A: Play part: ACT II

63A: Spoke snake: HISSED. I was in the wrong direction, thinking the clue was asking for a special kind of spoke-shaped snake like yesterday's RALES (death rattles).

72A: Valley where David and Goliath fought: ELAH. I got it from down clues.

73A: Of bears: URSINE

85A: Hagar's dog: SNERT. From "Hagar the Horrible". Just saw this clue last week. ODIE is anther comic strip (Garfield) dog, so is OTTO (Beetle Baily). Here is a list of all those Comic Dog Names.

88A: Hindu teacher: SWAMI. The Hindu guru. The alternative spelling is SWAMY.

89A: Picked for the wrong part: MISCAST

92A: Disguised, briefly: INCOG. Short for INCOGNITA or INCOGNITO.

95A: Nagy of Hungary: IMRE. I simply forgot, again. How can I remember his name? I'm RE?

104A: Address of a DPL: EMB. DPL (Diplomat) is not a familiar abbreviation for me.

111A: Upolu resident: SAMOAN. I just learned that Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last 5 years of his life here.

121A: Van Gogh location: ARLES. This is the place where he painted "The Sunflowers". I pass by this painting every morning on the way to the kitchen. So easy to get lost in his vibrant yellow cast.

123A: Silent quality: TACITNESS. Only knew the adjective TACIT.

Down:

3D: Zero in tennis: LOVE. And 49D: Zilch: NADA.

4D: Autobahn auto: OPEL. It's part of GM.

5D: Cut apart for analysis: DISSECT

9D: Disqualified due to prejudice: RECUSE

16D: Salad green: ENDIVE. It's too bitter for for salad, don't you think so? I like Belgium ENDIVE.

17D: Aguilar of Ariana Franklin novels: ADELIA. Unknown to me. I've never heard of Ariana Franklin or any of her book.

18D: Voice box: LARYNX

28D: Molten rock: MAGMA

33D: Upright walkers: BIPEDS

36D: Insect's feeler: PALP. How quickly I forgot this word! P-ALP. Good Pedi-PALP picture.

37D: Russian range: URAL. Also the Russian river. The city Orsk is on the URAL River.

38D: Big, band tote: TUBA. What kind of clue is this?

39D: Somali model: IMAN. They seem to be very happy together.

40D: Up, in the ballpark: AT BAT

42D: Senator/astronaut Jake and family: GARNS. I've never heard of him. Wikipedia says he was aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985.

43D: NBA all-star guard: T-MAC. Rockets' Tracy McGrady.

44D: Type of artificial fly: HACKLE. Did not know this angling term. Here is a black gnat soft HACKLE.

47D: Stay sleeping: LIE IN. Dictionary explains LIE IN as "to be confined to bed in childbirth". So, how can it be "Stay sleeping"?

57D: Overly excited: HET UP

58D: Madrid month: ENERO. Ah, the Año opener.

60D: Drummer of Rush: PEART (Neil). No, he is totally foreign to me. I've never heard of this "Rush" rock band.

67D: Japanese drink: SAKE. I guess this is not really a SAKE ad. The language is in Korean, what the heck is George Clooney drinking then?

68D: Dynamic leader?: THERMO. "Hot"!

75D: That is: Lat: ID EST

77D: Touch of color: TINCT

79D: Fan extension?: ATIC. Fanatic. Or "Problem ending".

82D: Writer Janowitz: TAMA. One more unknown. She wrote "Slaves of New York". Was she a gimme to you?

83D: Actor Katz: OMRI. I googled his name. I was too deeply mired in this corner. Wikipedia says he was in "Hocus Pocus" & "Dallas".

87D: '84 Modine movie: BIRDY. Another google. Not familiar with "BIRDY" or the actor Matthew Modine.

94D: Girl's school athletic uniform: GYMSLIP. No, no, no. What year was this photo taken? 1950's?

96D: See red: GET MAD

97D: Chicago cow owner: O'LEARY (Catherine). Nope. I enjoyed reading this story though.

98D: Small bell sound: TINKLE. I wanted JINGLE.

103D: Preface: PROEM. One more new word. Kind of like preamble, isn't it?

107D: Pravda source: TASS. Ha, finally a gimme. TASS was founded in 1925. Pravda ("Truth" in Russian) was founded in 1912.

108D: Boater's walkway: PIER

113D: Unique individual: ONER

114D: Latin handle: ANSA. I don't understand why the clue is always "Latin handle"? Is "Vase's looped handle" too long?

120D: Author Umberto: ECO. I forgot his name again. He has appeared several times in TMS puzzle. I would not have any problem were it clued as "Green" prefix or something environmentally friendly.

C.C.

Wednesday August 13, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Horsing Around? Neigh!

17A: City horse-to-be?: MARE (MAYOR) ELECT

62A: Equestrian leather work?: REIN (RAIN) MAKER

11D: Stable stall? MANE (MAIN) OFFICE

28D: Horse's blinder?: BRIDLE (BRIDAL) VEIL

This would have been a perfect Derby Day puzzle.

I was so enthralled by those homophonic puns, very interesting to solve. I wanted to merge 38A & 40A and somehow created **SADDLE**. I like puzzles with a run-through theme answer.

This constructor is very good at wordplay, and I think he loves animals, which are often found roaming around in his puzzles. I wonder when he is going to clue WOLF.

I am not fond of putting too many *SS words in one grid: ASS (44D: Pompous fool); USELESS (21A: Serving no purpose); HISS (47A: Spy Alger); ROSS (13D: Flag fabricator); SASS (31D: Lip). HARASS (47D: Really bother).

Quite A FEW (37A: Not many) new words/names to me, but they were all conquerable by the crossing fills.

Across:

5A: Firefighter's sprayer: HOSE. I like this outdoor sink with HOSE reel. It does not look too sturdy though.

9A: Truman's birthplace: LAMAR (MO)

16A: Balbo or Calvino: ITALO. I am tired of this clue. Why not clue it as "From Rome, prefix" to please all those ITALOphiles?

19A: Canonical hour: NONES. Here is a wonderful list Ken found last week:

Vigils: Night prayer
Matins: Sunrise prayer (note the spelling)
Lauds: Also at sunrise
Prime: first hour (6:00 am)
Terce: third hour (9:00 am)
Sext: 6th hour (12:00 noon)
None: 9th hour (3:00 pm )
Vespers: Sunset
Compline: (just before bed)

20A: Printing guide: STENCIL

25A: Ring above the collar?: HALO. Such a heavenly clue! I like it.

26A: Some roof ends: GABLES. What purpose do GABLES serve? Or are they just decorative features?

35A: Gold: AURUM. I only know its symbol is AU. Had no idea of its complete spelling. AG is for silver.

38A: Destroyer escort: FRIGATE. Foreign to me. I got it from the down fills.

40A: Sporting dog: SPANIEL. Spot looked so confused.

43A: Arab garments: ABAS. Yawner. Have some courage to rebel. "ABAS le roi"!

45A: Empirical philosopher: LOCKE (John). Know him only because of his "tabula rasa" idea, which was originally pioneered by Aristotle.

53A: Contrary: ADVERSE

64A: Filaments: HAIRS. Are you happy with this clue?

66: In __ veritas: VINO. So true, "There is truth in wine".

67A: "___ Shrugged": ATLAS. I've never read the book, probably as difficult as Sylvia Plath's "Ariel". I don't think I can understand.

69A: Novelist Shusaku: ENDO. Unknown to me. He wrote "The Samurai". Interesting way to clue ENDO, which is also the prefix for "Inner". See EXO (63D: Outer: pref). But I suppose the direct oppsite of ENDO is "ECTO".

Down:

1D: Money for mendicants: ALMS. "mendicant" is a new word to me.

2D: Perfectly: TO A T

5D: Greek sun god: HELIOS. Sol for the Romans.

6D: Nancy of "Access Hollywood": O'DELL. What's that red dot on her dress?

8D: Caesar's penultimate words: ET TU. BRUTE just appeared yesterday.

9D: Narrow and elongated: LINEAR

18D: Itchy skin woe: ECZEMA. I can never remember the spelling of this word.

26D: Faux pas: GAFFE. Isn't GAFFE a big "faux pas"?

27D: Of the ear: AURAL. Or OTIC.

29D: Racing sled: LUGE

39D: Follows: TAILS. Have to show you again this PREHENSIBLE TAIL Argyle found last week.

41D: Call to arms: ALARUM. Unknown to me also. It's the archaic spelling of ALARM. The clue should have "once" to indicate its old-fashionedness.

48D: Gordon ___, aka Sting: SUMNER. New to me again. I only knew Sting as Sting.

52D: Goldoni of "Shadows": LEILA. I've never seen "Shadows". Have never heard of her name either. (Addendum: The answer is wrong, should be LELIA)

C.C.

Thursday August 7, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Bad Hare Day

18A: Start of a quip: A GROUP OF

23A: Part 2 of a quip: RABBITS MARCHING

38A: Part 3 of quip: BACKWARDS IS

50A: Part 4 of quip: CALLED A RECEDING

57A: End of quip: HARE LINE

Funny quip, but "OUCH", hard puzzle. I had to google. Too many entertainment names for my taste. Too concentrated. There really should be a limit on how many actor names/sports terms/operas can appear in one puzzle. I suggest a maximum of 3.

Some of today's clues are very tricky and unfamiliar to me, for example: 66A: Tony who played Wally Cleaver (DOW), Why not clue it as " __ Jones" or simply "Market indicator"? And the clue for MALE (10A: Maldives capital) is just diabolical. I wonder how many people have ever heard of this smallest Asian country, nor to mention its tiny MALE capital. The clue for I DO I DO (47D) could have been easily phrased as "Emphatic yes" or something to that effect.

Anyway, I experienced an epiphnay this morning. I suddenly realized that a puzzle is indeed made tough by the cluing, not by the employment of long & obscure words. Eureka! And I was so ELATED (70A: In high spirit) by the IRONS (47A) clue. Thank you so much for the attention, Mr. Wolf Wolfe, thank you for reading my blog. I am keenly aware that you are in sheep's clothing today, I still like EWE (60D).

Across:

1A: Horsedrawn carriage: HANSOM. Big stumper. I could only think of troika and it did not fit. HANSOM is a one-horse, two-wheeled carriage for two passengers. See this HANSOM cab.

2A: Time-line segment: ERA

14A: Take in liquid: IMBIBE

15A: Greek letter: TAU. The Greek cross.

16A: Big name in Norway: OLAF. Very nice clue.

17A: "Wall Street" co-star James: SPADER. I don't remember seeing him in "Wall Street". He is often clued as James of "Boston Legal".

20A: Whence Zeno: ELEA. Zeno of ELEA.

31A: Stewart of "Swing Shift": ALANA. I simply forgot her name. Danielle should be happy with this answer.

33A: Be much concerned: CARE A LOT

41A: Hagar's dog: SNERT. From the comic strip "Hagar the Horrible". Unknown to me. What's so fun about this one? I don't get it.

43A: Heavy winter fall: DEEP SNOW

47A: Jeremy of "Damage": IRONS. With Juliette Binoche & Miranda Richardson. Very erotic and disturbing. The movie is based on Josephine Hart's novel. So good.

55A: "The Time Machine" race: ELOI. Learned from doing Xwords. I've never read the book.

61A: Ice houses?: IGLOOS. No need for the "?".

67A: Bell tower: BELFRY. I think this is the first time I saw BELFRY clued this way.

Down:

4D: Back of a tape: SIDE B

5D: Marks on old manuscripts: OBELI. Singular is OBELUS. It's "a mark (− or ÷) used in ancient manuscripts to point out spurious, corrupt, doubtful, or superfluous words or passages". Unknown to me also. This word reminds me of "Obelisk", which has the same root as OBELUS (obelós spit, pointed pillar). Do you still remember the magical LIA Fail (Irish crowning stone)?

6D: Lip service: MERE TALK

8D: Scrap collector: RAG MAN. I don't understand this answer. Is "RAG Man" a common phrase?

9D: Goddess of dawn: AURORA. The Roman goddess. The Greek equivalent is EOS.

11D: Yodeler's peak: ALP. Refreshing clue.

13D: Studio apt. EFF. GEE next time?

21D: Equally sad: AS LOW

23D: Singer Ocasek: RIC. Unknown to me. Obtainable though. His wife is so beautiful.

25D: Gym weight: BARBELL. I've never even touched a BARBELL.

26D: Bullfighter: MATADOR

27D: Not me!: IT ISN'T I. Does the clue/answer feel OK to you?

28D: Some TV sets: GES. I hate Jeff Immelt. Under his management, GE is not GE any more. Sigh... But Pluto is not a planet any more either.

37D: Primitive Pluto: DIS. I don't understand the clue, what does "Primitive" here refer to? Indian primitive religion or what?

40D: Paint a word picture: DESCRIBE

45D: Witty one: WAG. New to me also.

47D: 1966 musical: I DO I DO. I just DON'T know.

48D: Pour down upon: RAIN ON. I don't like the "upon" in the clue.

51D: Wary: LEERY. I don't like the clue either. "Distrustful" would be perfect. I really don't like the repetition of certain letter(s) in the clue and answers, esp when it's easily avoidable.

53D: Actress Georgia: ENGEL. She was in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". A stranger to me also.

54D: Perry's secretary: DELLA (Street). No idea. I've never heard of her name before.

59D: Silver or Glass: RON. No. Pure guess. RON Howard, yes.

63D: Klondike find: ORE. Another educated guess. I don't know where Klondike is.

C.C.

Thursday July 10, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: "To Be Continued..."

17A: Start of a quip: BEFORE I DIE

24A: Part 2 of a quip: I WILL GET ON A SOAP

43A: Part 3 of quip: OPERA SO I CAN COME

59A: End of quip: BACK TO LIFE

And OBIT (8D: Funeral info.), and OFF (56D: Slays, slangily), and FATAL BLOW (52A: Coup de grace). How dark! Don't you want to experience some "Coup de foudre" on this beautiful hot summer's day?

Not a good puzzle at all, too many unsightly eye sores:

1) AGO (38A: In the past); 12D: Othello's nemesis: IAGO; 24D: Insect stage: IMAGO.

2) OBI (29D) and OBIT (8D).

3) ANA (48A: Gasteyer of "SNL"); ANAT (46D: Me.school subj.) and ANALOGY (42D: Comparison).

The cluing for MAE WEST (9D: With 57D: life jacket) would be great if "LIFE" were not part of the 59A theme answer. Dennis would probably think the QUIP is perfectly complete without 59A.

Anyway, let's have a contest today and see who can come up with the best clue for MAE WEST.

ACROSS:

1A: Crooner Mel: TORME. "The Velvet Fog". "Chestnuts roasting on a open fire..."

10A: Greek letters: CHIS. CHI looks like our X.

15A: Sunscreen ingredient: PABA (Para-AminoBenzoic Acid). Why doesn't the clue reflect the acronymic nature of the answer? Or has PABA been fully assimilated into English language like OPEC?

16A: Act of faith?: LEAP. Good clue.

20A: Vegetarian rule: EAT NO MEAT

21A: Keaton/Garr movie: MR. MOM. No idea. Got it from the down fills.

37A: One-time homer king: MARIS (Roger). You've got to see Billy Crystal's 61*, it's so good.

40A: Gingiva: GUM. "Sweet stick in one's mouth" would be a better clue.

42A: French writer Gide: ANDRÉ. Noble Literature Winner 1947.

60A: Inventor Sikorsky: IGOR. New to me. So many IGOR's in crossword: The opera "Prince IGOR", Composer IGOR Stravinsky, and Frankenstein's IGOR.

61A: Actor Katz: OMRI. He was in "Dallas". Big stumper for me. I've never heard of his name before.

62A: Chasms: GULFS. And 3D: Breach: RIFT

63A: Distiller's grain: MALT. And 65A: Brewery supple: YEAST

DOWN:

1D: Inner attachment?: TUBE. What is Inner TUBE? I wanted Inner SELF.

10D: Some cigars: CLAROS. Mild and smooth. Here are some Torpedo Cigars (6"x50), ultra robust!

13D: E-mail splatter: SPAM. What is "Splatter"? Such an odd word to clue junk mail. We have a SPAM museum here in MN.

18D: Webzine: EMAG

25D: Had already been awakened: WAS UP. Are you OK with this clue?

28D: Anklebones: TARSI. Tarsus (s).

29D: Oriental sash: OBI. Which kimono do you like?

30D: Better: OUTDO

32D: Martinique volcano: PELÉE. Another new name to me. Wikipedia says it had a violent eruption in 1902.

37D: Inspiration for some: MUSE. This is Picasso's "La MUSE". You can see it in Centre Pompidou (great snacks at the second floor cafe).

44D: Bly or Block: ROBERT. Know Bly (MN's first poet laureate), not Block. Good job, Mr. Wolfe, way to clue your own name into the grid!

45D: Willow flower cluster: CATKIN. New word to me. CATKIN is defined as "a spike of unisexual, apetalous flowers having scaly, usually deciduous bracts, as of a willow or birch". Also called ament.

52D: Cara film: FAME. Is this a well-known film? I've never heard of it.

55D: Actress Kedrova: LILA. Another unknown to me. She won an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress) for her performance in "Zorba the Greek" in 1964.

59D: Hit on the noggin: BOP. Is it Mel TORME's style?

C.C.

Friday June 6, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Animal Homophones

17A: Animal's cry: WHALE WAIL

25A: Beloved animal: DEAR DEER

36A: Animal that is pulled?: TOWED TOAD

57A: Unclothed animal?: BARE BEAR

59A: Golf-loving animal?: LINKS LYNX

Here (hear) are a few (phew) other animal clues (clews) for you to consider next time (thyme) Mr. Wolfe:

BEE (be); BOAR (Bore); FLEA (flee); FOWL (foul); GNU (new, knew); Gorilla (guerrilla); GRIZZLY(grisly); HARE (hair); HART (heart); Lamb (lam); Llama (Lama); Leach (leech); MITE (might); MOOSE (Mousse); MULE (mewl); MUSSEL (muscle); NIT (knit); RABBIT (rabbet); ROE (row); TAPIR (taper) and Tern (turn).

I(eye) like this puzzle. Great (Grate) theme entries, and the sheer (shear) amount of homophones in the clues/answers delights me. It does have a big attitude though, look: 68A: Nastily derogatory: SNIDE. And 13D: Look down upon: SNEER AT. 50D: Mimicked meanly: MOCKED. I guess you can also include 61D: Big fat mouth: YAP.

But (butt), I have high morals (morels), and I am in a good mood (mooed) this morning (mourning), so I am not going to whine (wine) too much. I enjoyed reading your yesterday's favorite books comments so much. Thank you all (awl) for sharing.

Here is the summary (summery):

ACROSS:

1A: Prohibit: BAR. If it were past tense "barred", we (wee) would (wood) have got "bard" for homophone.

9A: Parisian greenspace: PARCS. French for park. Love Monet's PARC Monceau.

16A: Briny deep: OCEAN. I am thinking of sea & see, seas & seize.

21A: Plains shelter: TEEPEE. Also spelled as TEPEE or TIPI.

22A: Singer Kathy: MATTEA. Did not know her. Here is her Goin' Gone.

28A: Hymn of praise: PAEAN. Here is the John Williams' Indiana Jones theme. A paean to Harrison Ford/Steven Spielberg/George Lucas' youth and their heroic deeds/dreams.

31A: Relished: ATE UP. ATE, eight

36A: Animal that's pulled: TOWED TOAD. And don't forget "toed".

39A: Rapid escape: LAM. LAM, Lamb.

42A: Singer Shore: DINAH. Or singer Washington.

47A: Sale-tag disclaimer: AS IS. Sale, sail. And of course, seller & cellar.

49A: King of Troy: PRIAM. I simply forgot. Like Brad Pitt's "Troy" a lot. PRIAM is "the father of Paris, Cassandra, Hector, Polyxena, and many others. He was killed during the capture of Troy". Tough intersection with AMEN-RA.

51A: Comic Rudner: RITA. I don't know (no) this RITA. RITA is the girl in Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5". He wants Monika in his life, Erica by his side. He says that RITA is all he needs, Tina is what he sees. And he wants Sandra in the sun, Mary all night long, and "A little bit Jessica here I am, and a little bit of you makes me your man".

Boy (buoy), can you imagine a constructor makes a whole (hole) puzzle out of these girls' names in the song?

57A: Moliere play part: ACTE. Act in French. Hmm, Acts, ax.

58A: Approach quickly: RUN TO. TO, Two.

65A: Type of pole: TOTEM. Pole and Poll.

67A: Brings up: REARS.

DOWN:

1D: Present knot: BOW. Knot, not; BOW, beau; BOWED, bold; And presents, presence.

4D: Part: PIECE. PIECE, PEACE

5D: Get to the present?: UNWRAP. Wrap, rap. Wrapped, rapt, rapped.

7D: Hindu title of respect: SRI. I wonder how those people address their ELDER (54A: Church VIP) in ___Lanka.

9D: Model, often: POSER. PLANE for you Ray (thanks for the mail) and Dennis?

10D: Acquiesce: ACCEDE. Partly, CEDE, seed.

18D: Release: LET OUT

21D: Ballroom dance: TANGO. Is this somehow related to the theme?

22D: Kingston Trio hit: MTA. No idea, I've never heard of Kingston. What does MTA stand for?

24D: Equal score: TIE. TIE, Thai.

25D: Silence while broadcasting: DEAD AIR

26D: Singer Kitt: EARTHA. Tough (tuff) for me. I had never heard of her name before, might have heard some of her songs though.

29D: Egyptian sun god: AMEN-RA. Another hard one (won) for me. I had no idea. Dictionary defined it as "a god in whom Amen and Ra were combined". Another homophone: sun, son.

38D: Rye grass: DARNEL. No, no, nope, completely unknown to me. Plural form "ryes" will give us "rise" though.

41D: Actress Richardson: MIRANDA. Or ___ Rights. MIRANDA Richardson played Ingrid (and was nominated for the Academy Award) in Louis Malle's "Damage". To answer some of your email questions regarding my favorite books yesterday, Josephine Hart's "Damage" is probably my favorite after Bob Woodward's "All the President's Men".

44D: Smits of NBA: RIK. Not a familiar name to me. Got it from the across clues.

48D: Irish dog: SETTER

53D: Ill-bred ones: BOORS. Bred, bread

54D: "Who's there" reply: IT'S ME. There, their.

57D: Against: ANTI. ANTI, Ante.

59D: Some NFL linemen: LTS (Left Tackles)

63D: Greek letters: XIS. XI, psi & sigh. "Sighs" will give us "size", right?

Finally, 14A: Sugar ending: OSE. Here is Sugar, Sugar for you. Click (clique) and Enjoy!

C.C.

Wednesday May 28, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: PRISON TERMS

17A: Well-irrigated jail?: WATERING CAN

63A: Jail for cows?: DAIRY COOLER

11D: Maudlin jail?: HOKEY POKEY

29D: Soft-roofed jail?: FELT TIP PEN

And CELL, BRIG, what else? I've never heard of POKEY as a jail though.

Quite a few NO's in today's fills. NOOK, NO ANSWER, WELL NOW, NOYES and NONE. Are these somehow related to the theme? Would "Take NO Prisoners" be a better theme title?

I could not finish today's puzzle without Google's assistance. I simply forgot SENTA (34D: Actress Berger), and I had no idea who "Composer Dimitri" (41A: TIOMKIN) was. I did not know KEDGE, ALBERTO (45D: Writer Moravia) and NOYES, but I was able to weave their names together by the across clues.

But this puzzle makes me happy. I love these baseball nuggets:

30A: Dodger, in MLB jargon: NLER (National Leaguer)

8D: Smack: SOCK. Slug!

13D: Spring time: MAYS. "Say Hey Kid" Willie MAYS.

54D: Meet event: RACES

59D: Yankee, in MLB jargon: ALER (American Leaguer)

61D: Big times: ERAS. It's "Pitchers' stats (Earned Run Averages) to me.

65D: Not safe: OUT

ACROSS:

1A: "Sanford and Son" son: LAMONT. I can only remember FRED due to the Redd Foxx clue a few weeks ago. All these TV characters are killing me.

14A: Equal: ON A PAR

19A: Crucial fact: KEY. My mind wondered into a different direction. I was thinking of the cup size. It's a crucial fact to me.

24A: Threesome: TRIAD. I put in TRINE first.

36A: Harmonized: IN SYNC. 39A: So, we are here: WELL NOW. 4D: Not close-minded about: OPEN TO. And 26D: Carve toward the center: ARC IN. I just like these kind of fills, simple and elegant.

41A: Composer Dimitri: TIOMKIN. He was sure productive: It's a Wonderful Life, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, High Noon, etc. DIMITRI was clued as Composer Shostakovich on April 2.

43A: Art deco leader: ERTÉ (Romain de Tirtoff). ERTÉ is simply the French pronunciation of his initials R.T. This is his most famous Symphony in Black.

47A: Old-time newspaper section: ROTO. ENNUI! How about this ROTO-TILLER?

49A: Eric Clapton classic: LAYLA. Here is the song, just for you. I am not a Clapton fan.

51A: Squid squirts: INKS. I like the alliteration here, but I will probably yawn next time I see the identical clue. Please excite me with something new each day!

53A: Munchhausen, e. g.: BARON. I did not known him. Lois is probably familiar with the "Munchhausen Syndrome".

58A: Gawk: GAPE. And 71A: Gazes: STARES. And Here is SENTA (344D: Actress Berger).

DOWN:

5D: Thin wdt.: NAR (Narrow). Not a familiar abbreviation to me. Just found that NAR also stands for "National Association of Realtors".

6D: Singer Lopez: TRINI. Learned his name from doing crossword. Not familiar with his songs. I only like Peter, Paul and Mary's Lemon Tree & If I had a Hammer. I do like this Jenny (From the Block) Lopez.

7D: Impious: UNGODLY

9D: Bambi's aunt: ENA. Isn't ENA also a Spanish queen?

10D: Of kidney's: RENAL. Hmm, you've got to LEARN this RENAL. What an interesting anagram. Do you like HON QUIZ?

18D: Reply came there none: NO ANSWER. I don't get this clue. Sounds very strange to me.

23D: Proto- or ecto- add-on: PLASM. Hmm, someone gave me ECTOPLASM as an example of " ECTO" prefix last week. ENTO (inside) & ECTO (outside).

31D: Appeal: ENTREATY

37D: "The Highwayman" poet: NOYES (Alfred). I don't know him nor do I know his poem. But what a strange name, NO and YES? You just can't have your cake and eat it too!

40D: Spinks and Ames: LEONS. No, I know neither of them. I got LEONS from across clues. LEON Uris yes! This is my favorite LÉON.

45D: Writer Moravia: ALBERTO. No, a completely stranger to me. I only know ALBERTO Gonzales. Wikipedia says he wrote Sophia Loren's Two Women. it further states that his novels "explore matters of novels explore matters of modern sexuality, social alienation and existentialism". Isn't Kafka's "The TRIAL" (33D: Legal proceeding) also a work of existentialism?

50D: Cat or goat: ANGORA

52D: Small anchor: KEDGE. Unknown to me. I am very weak at all the nautical terms.

57D: Fivers: FINS. I know sawbuck is for 10, double sawbuck is for 20, half C is 50, what about 1 and 2 dollars then? And 1K? Good to see ONE (35A) and TEN (69A) in the same grid also.

Finally, 46A: Have a hero?: EAT. Here it is. Enjoy!

C.C.

PS: Drdad, have a safe trip to India. To Mark in Buenos Aires, can you tell me the name of your newspaper please? Does it carry Monday to Sunday TMS crossword puzzle or only weekdays'? Thank you.

Sunday May 25, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: TRIPLE LETTERS

23A: Gridiron group: FOOTBALL LEAGUE

40A: Past tolerance: ONCE TOO OFTEN

50A: Play by Shakespeare: RICHARD III

65A: Duel: CROSS SWORDS WITH

86A: Leaves in the direction of: SETS OFF FOR

92A: Best type of voting: FREE ELECTION

116A: 18th-century British statesman: PITT THE YOUNGER

A ho-hum puzzle. The theme entries are very dreary, or rather monotonous. TROIKA is a rare spark. Too many suffixes: S, ED, RE and ER. But LOIS, you are one, twice, three times a lady today.

I got very bored and annoyed by these ER's:

36A: Procrastinators: DELAYERS

22A: Ogler: STARERS

124A: Iron wielders: PRESSERS

71D: Doctor, often: DOSER

97D: Compliant one: OBEYER

And EERIER, DIRER, RERUN, REDRY. Very lazy construction.

I do like how TROIKA parallels HORSE, and I am happy to see ONE and UNE (83A: One of the Parisians), NAH and NOS appear in one puzzle. Interesting to see BARE, BATHS (56D: Tubbings), IN A TUB, STEAMS & REDRY (54D: Tower off again) in one grid.

Dislike HONAN (107A: Chinese Province). It sounds so aged. Please clue it as either HENAN or HUNAN next time. And for 123A: British political party: LABOR. I suggest we call Gordon Brown and see if he accepts this American spelling.

ACROSS:

1A: Jonathan Swift or Mark Twain, for example: SATIRIST. Is Mark Twain a SATIRIST?

9A: Spherical: ORBED

20A: Opera-like musical composition: ORATORIO. Saw this clue before.

21A: __Adams (actress/wife of Steve McQueen): NEILE. Nope, I've never heard of her name before. Is she a well known name?

27A: Splits: RIVES

32A: Old sub: U- BOAT

34A: Stat start: RHEO. My first thought was those baseball stats.

45A: Radio host Don: IMUS. "Imus in the Morning". Not my cup of tea.

56A: Naked: BARE. I love this John Collier's Lady Godiva painting. Gorgeous!

59A: Music from the West Indies: REGGAE. Let's Stir it Up with Bob Marley.

70A: Words of wisdom: ADAGE

74A: Column in a wall: PILASTER. Unknown to me. Here is the definition from Wikipedia.: "A pilaster is a slightly-projecting flattened column built into or applied to the face of a wall." See this photo.

78A: Like Silver's rider: LONE. "The LONE Ranger".

79A: Opens an envelope, furtively: STEAMS

82A: Yiddish thief: GANEF. A new word for me. Why don't they spell it as SCHANEF then?

96A: Kennedy insider TED: SORENSEN. I like his book Kennedy.

101A: Joining: UNION

103A: Flex: BEND. I like how it crosses FEND.

114A: Writer Jong and others: ERICAS. Fear of Flying author. I was shocked the other day when I came across her blog, I thought she was dead.

119A: Adventurous rogue: PICARO. Unknown to me. Spanish origin.

121A: Skyrocketing: METEORIC. Hmm, Up and Up.

DOWNS:

4D: Addams Family cousin: ITT. Cousin ITT from The Addams Family. Learned it from doing crossword. ITT Sheraton (Beijing, 1985) was the first foreign hotel chain to operate a hotel in China. Just learned this morning that Sheraton was also the first hotel chain to be listed in NYSE.

5D: Whiskey cocktail: ROB ROY. Named after the Scottish folk hero Rob Roy. Did not know that there was a ROB ROY movie also. In fact, ERIC (106D: Actor Stoltz) had a supporting role in it.

6D: Aggressive poker table comment: I RAISE

7D: Cloud lining: SILVER. Needs to rework on 78A clue: Like Silver's rider (LONE)

8D: Lacquered metalware: TOLE. I like this floral TOLE tray.

11D: Whopper's rival: BIG MAC. No BIG MAC after "Super Size Me"

12D: Solution extracted using a solvent: ELUATE. No idea. The verb is ELUTE.

16D: Letter-directing words: CARE OF

17D: Coloratura's piece: ARIA. Did not know the meaning of "coloratura". Pieced this word together from across clues.

29D: Horse-drawn vehicle: TROIKA. I suppose it's Russian for threesome. Here is a Russian TROIKA.

33D: Plural of bonus: BONI. I always thought the plural is bonuses.

35D: Trigger, for one: HORSE. Roy Roger's horse. Trigger and SILVER, where is Mr. ED? Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses?

42D: Dick of the funnies: TRACY

43D: High nest: var.: EYRIE. Can also be EYRY. A variation of AERIE. I did not know it.

47D: Berlin ice: EIS. Somehow I can never remember this E IS (for Evidence) word.

52D: Collection biz: REPO

53D: Shannon and Crandall: DELS. I know neither of them. I got it from across fills.

62D: MacDonald's sleuth Travis: McGEE. No, not familiar with him. I do know Willie McGee though.

67D: Forceful flows: SPATES

68D: Sports column: WINS

69D: Intestinal prefix: ILEO. Comes from Ileum I suppose.

72D: Cavern, in poetry: ANTRE. It derived from Latin "antrum". I had no idea. ANTRE is French for "den".

75D: Clumps of hair: TUFTS

76D: Modern mail: ENOTE. Is there a ELOVE?

80D: Make off with, biblically: TAKETH

86D: Chinese leader?: SINO. I filled in INDO first, had to scrap it quickly as letter N would not work for 90A: PILE. SINO derived from Qin, the Qin Dynasty. The pronunciation of "Qin" is similar to the phonetic "cheen" (or chin), which is considered by many experts as the root of the word "China". For your information, both Zhou & Qin dynasties had their capital in Xi'An.

89D: Dance wear: LEOTARD. Here is a crew neck sleeveless style.

90D: Indicate: POINT TO

94D: Mississippi city: TUNICA. No, I've never heard of it. Is it well-known?

95D: Where to find 3 men?: IN A TUB

106D: Isinglass: MICA. Got it this time.

111D: Shrek, for one: OGRE. I like how it parallels with ORCS (113D: Tolkien baddies). Here is Enya's May it Be (Lord of The Rings). Enjoy!

C.C.

Friday May 23, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: A MATTER OF CONCERN

17A: Brewer's concern?: BEER MARKET (BEAR MARKET)

27A: Cab driver's concern?: FARE SHARE (FAIR SHARE)

36A: Shipbuilder's concern?: SAILS PROMOTION (SALES PROMOTION)

43A: Fabulist's concern?: TALESPIN (TAILSPIN)

59A: Shoemaker's concern?: SOLE SAVING (SOUL SAVING)

Except BEER and BEAR, all the others are homophones, very interesting. Is 36A a solid clue to you? I don't really get it.

Quite a few new names/words for me in today's puzzle: Enrico FERMI, Nagy IMRE, ANSON Williams, Jared LETO, PABA, BIS, COPA and XENON. Most of them were inferable, but the M between FERMI & IMRE was impossible for me.

I like the way EDIT (34A) is structured at the heart of the grid. It befits the theme entries. And I am happy to see it intersects ADORN (28D: Beautify). There are also 3 SS's in the puzzle: ASSAULTED (20A: Attacked), ESSES, and MUSSES (18D: Disarranges). I am OK with that, as the total account for S's is well within my tolerance range. For your information, there are 69 letter A's on a March 2002 NYT Thursday puzzle.

ACROSS:

5A: Doofus: SCHMO. Isn't POOP (1A: Inside info.) also a fool? Nincompoop?

15A:Type of terrier: CAIRN. Here is Toto and Dorothy.

16A: PBS series: NOVA. Know it, but I've never watched it.

19A: Judah's son: ONAN. The only Judah's son that I know of.

21A: Tabs horn: BUGLE. Still waiting for its anagram BULGE to appear in a TMS puzzle.

22A: Dr. Leary's turn-on: LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide). I like the clue. Dictionary says L. S. D. is also the abbreviation of "Pounds, Shilling & Pence". I wonder why pound is always abbreviated as lb, and why D for pence?

23A: Drag along: LUG 24A: And 24A: Drags forcibly: HAULS. Why drag twice, Mr. Editor?

35A: Again, in music: BIS. I don't know this word. Got it from down clues. Again is always "Encore" to me.

41A: Nagy of Hungary: IMRE. Nope, I've never heard of him. I only know its anagram EMIR.

42A: Absinthe flavoring: ANISE. Is it legal to sell absinthe in the US now?

48A: Furry TV alien: ALF. Got it this time. Also ALF Landon, the Republican guy who was defeated by FDR in 1936.

52A: Not another person: NO ONE ELSE. NO ONE ELSE comes close you, no one makes me feel the way you do...

61A: Acid type: AMINO. It's the protein unit.

64A: Inert gas: XENON. Came From Greek Xenos, hmm, foreign to me that's for sure. It's Element #54.

DOWN:

1D: Sunscreen ingredient: PABA (Para-AminoBenzoic Acid). Completely unknown to me. Here is the definition: "A crystalline para form of aminobenzoic acid that is part of the vitamin B complex, is required by many organisms for the formation of folic acids, and is widely used in sunscreens to absorb ultraviolet light. Also called vitamin B_x"

4D: One type of parking: PARALLEL

7D: QB's command: HIKE. The clue seems to be asking for an abbreviated answer, doesn't it?

8D: Sitcom equine: MR. ED. No problem this time.

10D: Stop, already: ENOUGH. Yes, everyone has a limit.

11D: Round instrument: GONG. Do you love GONG Li ? She starred in Memoirs of a Geisha. She is my favorite Chinese actress.

23D: Actor Jared: LETO. His face looks familiar to me. But I don't remember his name.

24D: Lacks: HASN'T

25D: Guam port, once: AGANA. Capital of Guam. Why "once" in the clue?

26D: One of the archangels: URIEL

27D: Nuclear physicist Enrico: FERMI. He won Nobel Physics in 1938. Not a familiar name to me.

29D: Singer LeAnn: RIMES. "And tell me now, how do I live without you?"

30D: Seething: ABOIL. And 39D: Hotly: IN FEVER

32D: Middle of messes?: ESSES?

37D: Corncob or briar: PIPE. Are you familiar with "Meerchaum Pipe"?

38D: Initial data sheet: TABLE A. What is it?

44D: List of printing mistakes: ERRATA

48D: Williams of "Happy Days": ANSON. Ugh, I just hate TV sitcom characters. Could not never remember their names. I wonder how much this Cap ANSON Old Judge card costs. He is Baseball HOF.

49D: Nightclub in Manilow song: COPA. Nope, I am not familiar with COPACABANA.

52D: Town on the Seward Peninsula: NOME. Often clued as "iditarod terminus".

54D: Prefix for wine: OENO. Also Greek Goddess of wine according to Wikipedia.

57D: Breastplate of Zeus: EGIS. Or AEGIS. It's "the shield or breastplate of Zeus or Athena, bearing at its center the head of the Gorgon". Here is a picture of Medusa's head.

59D: Jazzy instrument: SAX. Why "jazzy" instead of "jazz"?

C.C.

Friday, May 16, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Addition Alteration

17A: Unwritten things to do?: MENTAL LIST (MENTALIST)

60A: Magical circle?: WONDER RING (WONDERING)

11D: Interior designer's fee?: DECOR RATE (DECORATE)

34D: Put off monthly payment?: DEFER RENT (DEFERENT)

This is one effervescent puzzle! Seems like the author can hardly contain his emotions. We've got FIRE (54D), ENTHUSED (20A: Agog), ZEAL (16A: Ardor), so exuberant! And LOSER (24A, Vanquished one), PRISSY (35A: Prim) are both treated with WINCE (15A: Cringe), BOOS (32D: Ghostly greetings) and SNEER (44A: Look of contempt).

I also like the following pairings:

SLED (13D: Winter transport) & SNOW (56D: Winter fall);

SELECTOR (56A: One who chooses) & OPTS (26D: Makes up one's mind);

AWLS (5D: Hole-making tools) & 36D: Carpentry tools: SAWS.

Quite a few TRICKS (27: Bamboozles) in today's puzzle. Some of the clues are wickedly misleading to me, esp 24A: Vanquished one (LOSER) and 24D: Wound (LESION). I was thinking of a past tense verb in both cases. But it's a solid puzzle.

ACROSS:

1A: Cold-cut palace: DELI. Why palace? Is it typo?

5A: Perpendicular to the keel: ABEAM. At right angles to the keel of a ship. Not familiar with this nautical term.

10A: Puts on: ADDS. As in weight, I suppose.

14A: Folk singer Burl: IVES. Did not know him. Had no idea that he was the singer for "A Holly Jolly Christmas".

19A: Break out problem: ACNE

21A: Firing line order: RELOAD. Any one ever followed William F. Buckley's "Firing Line"?

23A: Brown ermine: STOAT. You talkin' to me?

25A: Play the flute: TOOTLE. Saw this clue before.

29A: Skinned: PARED. Dislike the clue. Skin always means PEEL to me. I PEEL my fruits first, then PARE down, unless it's pineapple or cantaloupe.

35A: Prim: PRISSY. PRISSY comes from PRIM & SISSY.

39A: Leg bone: TIBIA

40A: Gossip pair: ITEM. Who are the the ITEM on this photo?

42A: Third party funds: ESCROW

43A: Capone's nemesis: NESS (Eliot). Love the "The Untouchables".

46A: "Dust in the wind" group: KANSAS. No idea. Strung it together from down clues.

54A: Actor Jose: FERRER. Unknown to me. But it's easily obtainable.

62A: Milieu for Lemieux: RINK. Sometimes I think the constructor has IDEE fixe (59A: Obsession) with this alliteration or half alliteration stuff. Aren't all eyes on Sidney Crosby now?

63A: "Reversal of Fortune" star: IRONS (Jeremy). Have never seen this movie. Like IRONS a lot, esp Damage, stunningly erotic and thrilling.

66A: Unfamiliar with: NEW AT

67A: Gull cousin: TERN. Is this a gull or a TERN?

DOWN:

2D: Happening: EVENT

3D: Slowly, in music: LENTO. What's the difference between LENTO and ADAGIO?

4D: No kidding: IS THAT SO. And 45D: A-ha!: EUREKA. I like them both.

10D: Showy shrub: AZALEA. Has anyone been to Augusta Golf Course before?

18D: Mobile leader?: AUTO. Automobile.

22D: Spot in a crowd: ESPY. When are you going to turn to ___ Awards?

28D: Zodiac sing: LIBRA

31D: Sen. group: DEMS (DEMOCRATS). Hmm, looks like TMS puzzle is liberal leaning. Harry REID and now DEMS.

40D: Privately: IN SECRET

42D: Perry's creator: ERLE. Also EDIT (55D: Emulate Perry White), nice author and editor pair.

47D: Sketch artist: APER. I don't get this one? Why?

49D: Field Marshal Rommel: ERWIN. "The Desert Fox".

51D: Steps over a fence: STILE

52D: Skin cream: TONER. No, no, TONER is liquid, not cream.

54D: "Chariots of __": FIRE. Didn't we see this clue a month ago?

57D: Millay of poetry: EDNA. Hate the clue. St. Vincent should not be omitted.

C.C.

Thursday, April 24, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: INSULT

18A: Start of an insult: LET'S PLAY

20A: Part 2 of an insult: HORSE I'LL PRETEND

35A: Part 3 of insult: TO BE THE FRONT END

54A: Part 4 of insult: AND YOU CAN JUST BE

60A: End of an insult: YOURSELF

Wow, can I say this to Jeff Immelt? Can I tell him that I've had enough of his Kool-Aid and he can go to hell with his Bear Stearns meltdown-I-could-NOT-close-asset-deals excuse? GE sucks!

Oh I am so delirious with my 3rd career home run today, though I had no idea that DELIRIA is the name of the "Interactive urban fantasy game".

I had a very impulsive start, filling in ASLOPE and ASHORE rather recklessly. I was stunned that they turned out to be right fills. The whole northwest corner yielded to me so quickly that I started to think I had entered the Tiger Zone.

I proceeded very boldly to the other areas, and really astonished myself by conquering the whole field without much resistance. I had no idea what is SEPT, or who are BOYD or TASSO, but I was able to piece the names together either by the across or the down clues.

No need to flirt with Mr. Google.

ACROSS:

1A: Topped (off): CAPPED

10A: Belgrade native: SERB

14A: Slanted: ASLOPE. Aslant. Atilt. What else?

17A: Inclined troughs: CHUTES. Here is a picture.

24A: Interactive urban fantasy game: DELIRIA. Have never heard of it. But the answer is easily gettable.

32A: Italian epic poet: TASSO. Unknown to me. The only Italian poet I know is Dante and his "Divine Comedy". Tasso wrote the epic "Jerusalem Delivered"(1581), an account of the capture of the city during the First Crusade, according to the dictionary.

34A: Uniform: EVEN. The crossing of EVE and EVEN bugs me.

41A: NFL kicker Jason: ELAM. Vaguely remembered seeing his name before. Wow, his uniform is #1. Cool! Is he good?

42A: Fancy headdress: TIARA

47A: Pecan candy: PRALINE. I've never had this candy before.

51A: Coniferous tree: SPRUCE

61A: Peter or Annette: O'TOOLE. Know Peter, not Annette.

62A: Morales of "La Bamba": ESAI. He is always Tony Rodriguez to me.

64A:"Maverick" star: GARNER (James). Total stranger to me. I strung his name together by down clues. To make Ben Affleck happy, please clue the beautiful Jennifer GARNER next time!

65A: Ward of "The Fugitive": SELA

66A: 1960s radical grp: S.D.S. (Students for a Democratic Society). I tend to confuse this SDS with S.L.A. (Symbionese Liberation Army). Aren't they both from 1960s?

67A: Change direction sharply: SHEERS. Had no idea that SHEER can be a verb.

DOWNS:

1D: Hidden away: CACHED

2D: Off the boat: ASHORE

3D: More than one: PLURAL

6D: Bandleader Arnaz: DESI. "I Love Lucy", who doesn't?

7D: Type of lily: CALLA. Beautiful, isn't it?

8D: Proficient one: ADEPTS

9D: Lengths in France: MÈTRES

10D: Family clans: SEPTS. My dictionary says it's a variation of SECT (probably by confusion with Latin word Septum, meaning paddock, enclosure). It refers to a clan in Ancient Ireland and Scotland. I have no idea. I only know SEPT is French for 7.

11D: Perry's creator: ERLE (Stanley Gardner)

12D: Horse color: ROAN

13D: "Ben Hur" co-star: BOYD (Stephen). No idea. Only knew Charlton Heston was in the movie.

19D: Inoculants: SERA. Singular form is "Serum".

25D: Thing: ITEM

30D: Sebaceous cyst: WEN. Did not know the meaning of "sebaceous". But cyst is sufficient for me to ferret out the answer. OK, "Sebaceous" means fatty, greasy. The root word is "sebum", fatty secretion of sebaceous glands, like tallow I suppose. Then "aceous" is a suffix meaning "resembling, made of", oh, like curvaceous?

34D: List ender: ET. AL. Hey, he is back!

38D: Mature: RIPEN

39D: Dinghy mover: OAR. I want to be in this dinghy.

40D: Blue Eagle org.: NRA (National Recovery Administration). NRA is also the powerful National Rifle Association.

44D: Mil. mail drops: APOS (Army & Air Force Post Office). OK, what's the mail drop for the Marines and Navy Force then? (Update from Dennis: It's Fleet Post Office).

46D: Geometry master: EUCLID. I know his Chinese name from my middle school geometry class. No idea how to spell it in English. But it's easily pieced together from across clues. EUCLID is the "Greek mathematician who applied the deductive principles of logic to geometry, thereby deriving statements from clearly defined axioms."

45D: Vinegar holders: CRUETS

48D: Chant: INTONE

49D: More aristocratic: NOBLER

50D: Muslim leaders: var: EMEERS. When are you going to unleash AMIR?

51D: Assad's land: SYRIA. The Assad family has been in power since 1970. There are no "EMIRS" in Syria, right?

52D: Bistros: CAFÉS

54D: Mariner's assents: AYES

57D: Trots: JOGS. I like the appearance of "J" in the puzzle. Its scrabbliness (Is it a word?) adds weight to the grid and zests up the puzzle.

58D: Bryce Canyon state: UTAH

59D: Achy: SORE. What the heck has happened to you? Achy every day, hit too many "clubs"?

C.C.