Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: TV News Personality

20A: TV news personality: BRIAN WILLIAMS

32A: TV news personality: TIM RUSSERT

41A: TV news personality: LESTER HOLT

52A: TV news personality: CHARLES GIBSON

Where is KATIE COURIC? Or have you given up on her & CBS Evening News? How much did Steve Capus pay you to put 3 of his NBC anchors in your puzzle?

I aced this one today. All those TV news guys are gimmes to me. I often tune into ABC World News for my daily news dosage, and flip the channel to NBC Nightly News just to check what tie BRIAM WILLIAMS is wearing. Watch LESTER HOLT's weekend edition occasionally, and turn into Meet the Press when there are exciting guests.

Great to see AIRS (40A: Haughtiness), BARB (1A: Cutting remark), RECAP (46A: Go over again), ARGUE (61A: Bicker), LIPREAD (41D: Use one's eyes to hear) clued in the same grid.

I like the lower right corner a lot. It summarizes the sad story of "TESS of the d'Urbervilles" in a tiny 4*4 corner. I could see the rake Alec OGLEs and seduces Tess in the field. And I could hear the dairy maid telling Angel Clare: "Nobody could love 'ee more than Tess did! She would have LAID down her life for 'ee. I could do no more!", though Angel later left for Brazil rather than Chile. See 51D: Chilean mountain range: ANDES. The intersection of USAGE with LAID, OGLE and TESS is brilliant.

ACROSS:

14A: Arch type: OGEE. Lots of G-string words in today's puzzle: AGORA, GULL, SUGAR, BRAGI, PIG, USAGE, OGLE, ARGUE, EDGE.

17A: Drop down: MOLT. Hmm, I don't know. Does it sound like a good clue to you?

18A: Univalent radical: ALLYL & 8D: Univalent radical: ARYL. Drdad can probably explain these stuff to us. He got a Ph.D. in chemistry. I know neither of them. Pure guess.

25A: One way to be taken: ABACK. Take aback. Good clue.

27A: Prefix with acetylene: OXY (prefix for Oxygen). No idea. I got it from down clues.

39A: Portends: BODES. Without this B, I would not have gotten BRAGI for 39D.

43A: __ judicata: RES. Nailed it today.

58A: Downy duck: EIDER. Nice alliteration.

63A: Layer: TIER. Dislike the clue due to 57A: LAID. Maybe I should not.

64A: Exploits: DEEDS

DOWNS.

1D: Lead balloons: BOMBS

4D: __carotene: BETA. Don't drink too much carrot juice, your face will become yellow. I think sweet potato is rich in beta carotene too.

5D: Routes for ships: SEAWAYS. 7D: Deceive: GULL. I like how these 2 words are paralled in the grid.

9D: Dependent: RELIANT. Have to be self-reliant to be free.

10D: Punctuation mark: COMMA. And 49D: Grammar topic: USAGE

11D: Sound peak: CRESCENDO. Hmm, I like the intensity building.

21D: Connection: NEXUS. Without this X, I would not have got 27A.

31D: Rear position: LAST. Very interesting ENTRY.

39D: Norse god of poetry: BRAGI. Unknown to me. But it's inferable. BRAGI is the "god of poetry and eloquence, son of Odin, husband of Idun (Goddess of eternal youth).

42D: Some aliens: ÉMIGRÉS. What' the difference between immigrant, emigrant and ÉMIGRÉS?

48D: Pretentious one: PSEUD. Familiar with "psedo" as a prefix (pseudoscience, pseudonym), but I had no idea that PSEUD alone can be a word too.

50D: Agronomist's study: SOILS

55D: Smudge: BLOT

57D: Luau loop: LEI. Hey, we got lei'd again.

C.C.

Friday, April 25, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: CARS

18A: Canadian body of water: HUDSON BAY

24A: Historic D. C. spot: FORD'S THEATRE (sorry about the mistake earlier)

53A: Mayflower landing: PLYMOUTH ROCK

64A: "Gunsmoke" setting: DODGE CITY

Thank you FORD, without your surprise profit yesterday, the stock market would've plunged! Alan Mulally has finally seen the view from the mountaintop: Hey, look at me Boeing, still happy with your McNerney choice?

I've never heard of HUDSON car, nor have I known LEK, KIROV, SELMA, ASHLAR and BEMA. Tough puzzle today, esp the northwest region.

I filled in SCABS, BLONDE and STAFF with a brio, then my nightmare started. I did not know that "SEND UP" means "lampoon", so naturally I fell into the S trap and penned in S at the intersection of 5D and 35A. I did not know "Ragged Dick" author ALGER. Would've probably got ARGON if it were clued as "Inert gas". And the FIENDS, I could not even get the FIENDS! Sorry Orange!

Had to flirt with Mr. Google, and he quickly gave me what I wanted without making any OUTRÉ demand. Excellent!

ACROSS:

1A: Wound crusts: SCABS. No need to wobble between SCAR and SCAB due to clue 4D.

6A: Synagogue platform: BEMA. Unknown to me. It originated from Greek word "bēma" "meaning step or platform. Dictionary also says that BEMA is "the enclosed space surrounding the altar" in Eastern Orthodox Church, or "an open space between the end of the nave arcade and the apse" in a Christian basilica.

10A: Software platform: TECH

14A: Very fine netting: TULLE. Oh, isn't she beautiful in her satin and tulle mermaid wedding gown? TULLE is named after the French city where it's made.

15A: Firefighters' tools: AXES

17A: About 1% of the atmosphere: ARGON. AT NO. #18. Inert gas.

20A: Maniacs: FIENDS

23A: Begley and McMahon: EDS. Oh, McMahon, the "Heeeeere's Johnny" guy. It would make me happy if Bradley rather than Begley were clued.

28A: Haves of thirds: SIXTHS

35A: Bell ringers' performance: PEALS

38A: Japanese-American: NISEI. The root word SEI means birth, Ni means second. So NISEI means second generation. ISSEI is first generation (IS means first). SANSEI is third generation (SAN means third), don't confuse it with SENSEI (Judo/Karate teacher). Oh, KIBEI is a person of Japanese descent, born in the U.S. but educated in Japan (KI is to return, BEI is America). Have some SAKE with George Clooney if this explanation make you headache!

41A: Small birds: WRENS. Is that cactus you are perching upon?

43A: Skater Lipinski: TARA. She "won Olympic gold medal in figure skating at 1998 Winter Olympics, and remains the youngest gold medalist in the history of the Olympic Winter Games", according to Wikipedia.

44A: Russian city: KIROV. Have never heard of it. It's "a city in the E Russian Federation in Europe". Kirov is known as the "city of twins" for the unusually high number of multiple births there.

46A: Singer Ross: DIANA. Didn't she receive the Kennedy Center Honor last year?

48A: Diamond and others: SELMAS. No idea.

62A: Two-toed sloth: UNAU. Oh, the ugly UNAU is back. AIS is a 3-toed sloth.

63A: Loafer, e.g. : SLIP-ON

69A: Poet pound: EZRA. This is one incorrigible repeat offender.

70A: Hindu queen: var.: RANEE (RANI)

73A: Flexible Flyers: SLEDS. Totally unknown to me, I strung it together from the down clues. Here is a picture.

DOWN:

2D: Antique shop item: CURIO (from curiosity). I always thought CURIO refers to the "CURIO Box". Or do you call any of those old rusty stuff at the antique shop as CURIO?

3D: "Ragged Dick" author: ALGER (Horatio). Unknown to me. Boy, he sure was prolific.

5D: Lampoons: SENDS UP. New phrase to me.

7D: Ooze forth: EXUDE

8D: Euripides drama: MEDEA. Saw this clue before, then I promptly forgot. MEDEA is also the wife of "Jason the Argonaut".

9D: Holdings: ASSETS

11D: River of Hamburg: ELBE. Here is the map.

12D: Enclothed: CLAD. (Nelly said) It's gettin hot in here, so......

13D: "Airplane" star Robert: HAYS. Got his name from across clues. But I think I saw this clue before.

19D: Senator Hatch: ORRIN. Gimme Gimme. Utah Senator (R).

21D: Scatter: STREW

25D: Collection of artifacts: HOARD. Doesn't HOARD have a negative overtone? This clue does not feel smooth to me.

30D: Sub: Hero. "My heroes have always been the cowboys". How about yours?

32D: Birds' display areas: LEKS. Totally unknown to me. It's "a traditional place where males assemble during the mating season and engage in competitive displays that attract females". Courtship display then. Hmm, this clue is definitely more colorful than "Money unit of Alabama"

33D: Mayberry lad: OPIE. Learned his name from doing crossword. I know nothing about "The Andy Griffith Show."

37D: Military muddle: SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fouled UP). Were you thinking of Dennis when you saw this clue? I was. Still remember how stunned I was when he first explained the sanitized version of SNAFU. When will FUBAR appear then?

40D: Freebie: COMP

47D: Masonry stones: ASHLARS. OK, ASHLAR is "a squared block of building stone", like this. This word is easily gettable though.

50D: Matched up: SYNCED. Never know that SYNC can be a verb.

52D: Clannish: TRIBAL. Not SEPT -ish something?

54D: Indian corn: MAIZE

55D: Bizarre: OUTRÉ. Past participle of French word OUTRER (to push beyond the bound).

56D: Voice a thought: OPINE

61D: Biblical paradise: EDEN & 65D: Figure of worship: GOD. Great parallel.

C.C.

Friday, April 11, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: FUNERAL RITUALS (In proper order)

20A: James Joyce classic: FINNEGANS WAKE

40A: Len Deighton classic: FUNERAL IN BERLIN

56A: Gettysburg tourist attraction: CEMETERY RIDGE

Too dark a theme for me. I would prefer driving down the Magnolia Lane this morning and lingering around Amen Corner to see how Tiger masterfully tames the whole GOLF field. I want to smell the pine trees, the azaleas, the dogwoods, and the sunshine. I want to feel the VIBES and the AURA from Augusta Golf Course, and never think about life and its fragility.

I had another double-bogey round today. This golf course just did not fit my eyes. Too many doglegs. Besides, I dubbed almost everyone of my fairway wood shot. I had no idea that OSLO was once called Christiania. Did not know that HORSE SENSE means Savvy. Horse does not have much sense for God's sake. Had to google ISAK Dinesen, then I realized that I had searched for her before. But why did she change her original name Karen into a weird ISAK? Or is ISAK a common Danish name?

And the stupid GEER! Drdad will be so disappointed to hear this, but I completely forgot what he told me last week. Sigh! I also failed miserably on LEAR, GALABA, LEVO, LOGE, COLORATURA, UVULAE. And the two literary classics meant nothing to me, I've never heard of them. My only highlight today is BOB DYLAN.

Grid: Total letters filled: 191. Total blank squares: 34

Let's tee off! Front Nine:

1A: Low in pitch: DEEP

5A: Jagged cut: GASH. Did not get this one immediately. Also, I was never aware of the crude slangy side of GASH until this morning. GASHED was clued "Cut deeply" in yesterday's puzzle.

9A: Slangy feelings: VIBES

14A: Latin and others: ET AL. Third day in a roll!

15A: Christiania, today: OSLO. Is this a gimme for you?

16A: French river: ISÈRE. Got it this time.

17A: Ambiance: AURA

18A:Goneril's father: LEAR. King LEAR's other two daughters are REGAN and CORDELIA.

19A: Core group: CADRE

23A: Jefferson's bill: TWO

24A: Will of "The Waltons": GEER

25A: Kilmer of "The Doors": VAL. He is also in Déjà Vu (Agent Paul Pryzwarra).

28A: Lead balloon: DUD

31A: Yada, yada, yada: ETC. The annoying Seinfeld! Why deceive kids with "Deceptively Delicious" food? I don't get it.

33A: Nautical distance: SEA MILE

35A: Bad to the bone: EVIL

37A: Stockings: HOSE

39A: Nero's successor: GALBA. Who succeeded him? OTHO! Here is a list of all Roman Emperors.

43A: Martini garnish, perhaps: OLIVE

45A: Numbers game: KENO. Never knew that KENO originated from China until nytanonimo told me a few days ago. My ignorance knows no bounds, that's for sure!

46A: Went for a quick visit: RAN OVER

50A: Put on: DON

51A: Actress Tilly: MEG. Nope, not familiar with her. Would've nailed it if it's clued as "Actress Ryan" or "Ebay CEO Whitman".

62A: Plot of hair?: SCALP. I like the clue.

64A: River to the Caspian Sea: URAL

65A: Breakfast area: NOOK

66A: Cliffside dwelling: AERIE

67A: Baltic capital: RIGA. Not fond of the crossing of RIGA and RAGA. Not pretty!

69A: Put forward: POSED

Back Nine:

1D: Unhearing: DEAF. Is this a self-referential meta clue of yourself Mr. Editor?

2D: Needle case: ETUI. Weren't you here yesterday?

4D: Factory: PLANT

5D:Calvary: GOLGOTHA. It's "a hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified"

6D: On the Indian: ASEA

7D: Casual coinage: SLANG. Would be alright if not for 9A: Slangy feelings.

8D: Savvy: HORSE SENSE

9D: Rectory: VICARAGE

10D: Author Dinesen: ISAK. Author of "Out of Africa".

11D: Driven to distraction: BEDEVILLED

21D: Sheepish she: EWE. The alliteration here is so so.

22D: Little in Stirling: WEE. I am just so BEDEVILLED by this clue. How come WEE is always clued as "Little in Scotland"? Doesn't WEE mean "little" in America also?

26D: One lacking pigment: ALBINO

27D: Look to (for): LEAN ON

28D: Bend out of shape: DEFORM

29D:Soft palate attachments: UVULAE. Singular UVULA.

30D: Some train units: DINING CARS

32D: One soprano: COLORATURA. Brutal clue. Who knows? It's "a lyric soprano of high range who specializes in runs, trills, and other florid decorations in vocal music."

34D: Visible impression: MARK

36D: To the left: pref: LEVO. Counterclockwise. Opposite of DEXTRO, clockwise.

41D: Made over extensively: REVAMPED

42D: Robert Zimmerman: BOB DYLAN. Great clue, very topical too, given his recent Pulitzer award. Did not know that Bob Zimmerman got his last name from the poet Dylan Thomas until Winfield told me. Thanks.

49D: Court room railing: BAR

55D: Bush-league: MINOR. Disagree. It's MINORS. You don't call a Minor League a MINOR, do you? It's always MINORS to me. Unless you refer to the player, then you will have to re-clue it as Bush Leaguer. (Update: My mistake. Bush-league means Mediocre, Minor. Bush League, without the hyphen, refers to Minor League. )

57D: Nobel-winner Wiesel: ELIE

58D: Hindu Music: RAGA. I doubt there would be such rave about Anoushaka Shankar and her RAGA-heavy "Breathing Under Water" if not for the the featured guests (Her father Ravi Shankar, Norah Jones (her half-sister) and Sting) in the album.

59D: Venetian notable: DOGE. Dictionary.com says it's "The chief magistrate in the former republics of Venice and Genoa." Is this word still in use today?

62D: Chucklehead: SAP & 63D: Boardroom bigwig: CEO. Perfect parallel, perfect words to describe the ilks of Dennis Kozlowski. By the way Mr. Cayne (James), does anyone still call you for a tee time? And bridge?

Please have a look at yesterday's comment section. Littlelj offered a delicious plate of Scones/Biscuits/Cookies for your afternoon tea.

C.C.

Monday, March 31, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Oral Cavity

17A: Senior Bush pronouncement: READ MY LIPS

63A: Harmonica: MOUTH ORGAN

11D: At a loss for words: TONGUE TIED

29D: Dentyne, e.g.: CHEWING GUM

I did it! I hit the ball out of the park! No steroid, no corked bat, no google visit. It's just gone! That ball is history! My first ever cheat-free puzzle!

It's a smooth sailing from the beginning to the end. I did not chance upon any obscure words or get tangled by any "could be this""could be that" snag. I only used Liquid Paper once to correct one mis-fill.

The appearance of both 40A: SENOR and 39D: SENORITA in the same puzzle made me cringe a bit, but they are structured so nicely in the grid, so I will let it go. But I would reclue 14A: "Type of code or rug" to something else, since the word CODE appears again as the answer to clue 36D: Encryptions. What do you think?

Grid: 15*15. Total word counts: 74. Total blank squares: 34

Oh, another thing, I have a quick question for you: On Sunday's puzzle, BANJOS is clued as "Lute kin". I know kin's plural form is still kin, so, technically, the pluralized BANJO is correct, but shouldn't "Lute" be in plural form to be completely harmonious with the answer? Or do you think the clue is perfectly fine as it is? Let me have your view.

Across Entries:

5A: Calyx part: SEPAL

10A: Bus driver on "The Simpsons". OTTO. An educated guess. Have never watched this TV series.

15A: Play Tricks on: TEASE

16A: Quantum physicist Niels: BOHR. Repeat offender!

19D: Give the cold shoulder to: SNUB

20D: Island nation of east of Fiji: TONGA. Thought this country used GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS(GNH) to define their quality of life. Wrong, it is Bhutan.

21D: Retirement accounts: NEST EGGS

23D: Sponsorship: EGIS. Could also be spelled as AEGIS.

26D: Former Indian leader: NEHRU

31D: Musical sound effect: REVERB. Reverberative effective, I gather?

45D: Low point: NADIR

47D: Dusk, to Donne: E'EN. I love like the alliteration of the clue. John Donne is an English Poet. This is a great bar in Hongkong called "Dusk Till Dawn".

55D: Actor Ewin: MCGREGOR. Refreshing! I am really tired to see Actor McGregor (EWIN) clue.

71D: Farmer's place. in song: DELL. The Farmer in the Dell. Sadly, I am not familiar with any of the English nursery rhyme. I got it from down clues.

Down entries:

1D: Links vehicle: CART. Cannot understand why so many teenagers take golf cart!

4D: Wisconsin mascot: BADGER. I love our Goldy Gopher!

8D: Colorado ski resort: ASPEN

13D: Eye, poetically: ORBS

18D: Conjuring: MAGIC. I only knew and used the verb "conjure, or conjure up".

24D: Nile bird: IBIS. No question asked, it's always IBIS for Nile bird.

28D: Lower oneself: STOOP. Hello, Hillary, 3am phone call, just curious to see how low will you stoop for the April 22 primary?

41D: "Little Caesar" role: RICO. Unknown to me. I got it from across clues.

44D: Artist Magritte: RENÉ. Another surrealist. I don't get this picture. If it's not a pipe, what is it then?

46D: Drive in Beverly Hills: RODEO

49D: Church doctrines: DOGMA

51D: Exemplar of stiffness: RAMROD

53D: Truth, of yore: SOOTH. I did not know this before.

55D: British pianist Hess: MYRA. I just noticed that MYRA is also an ancient town in Lycia (Turkey).

Alright, time for baseball! Twins Vs Angels (Torii who?) tonight. Justin Moreau was 3-for-4 last year at the Opening Day against the Orioles.

C.C.

PS: Oops, I forgot to say a special Thank you to Orange (Amy Reynaldo) earlier. Without her book and her generous help, I would've never finished this puzzle unaided. She has unveiled the mystery of crossword world to me. She taught me how, and she explained to me why.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Choices

20A: Howie Mandel's choice?: DEAL OR NO DEAL

37A: Doris Day's choice?: LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME

49A: Halloweener's choice?: TRICK OR TREAT

Or ELSE (52D).... ALAS (53D)...Very desperate.

I like this puzzle. The theme is easy for me to understand and there is no obscure/made-up words to stump me.

I had trouble with ARTU_O (46A) and O_RERY (44D). I knew neither of them, so I hazarded a guess with letter T instead of R.

I also self-inflicted myself with some minor wounds. I put in ERAS for 5A: Periods, then A DUO for 7D: Small combo. I mis-read 9A: Garlic-basil sauce as Garlic-based sauce. I put in AIOLI, which has plenty of garlic as main ingredient. I managed to correct myself eventually, but looking back, those were stupid mistakes.

It seems that we encounter a few French words almost every day. Today it's ADIEU, Raison d'ETRE, ENVOI, Are they fully assimilated into English language? Oh, George Sand is a French writer also.

Here are across entries:

1A: Pluck: GRIT. Yep, her name is not Diablo Cody for nothing! Don't pimp her feet with your stupid diamond shoes.

5A: Periods: DOTS

9A: Garlic-basil sauce: PESTO. Do you really put garlic in pesto sauce? To me, a pesto consists of basil, pine nuts and olive oil, maybe some parmesan cheese. Look at this classic pesto recipe from Epicurious.

14A: Gernreich of fashion: RUDI. Never heard of him.

15A: Book before Nehemiah: EZRA. Could also be clued as Poet Pound. If you are a political junkie, you are probably familiar with Erza Klein.

16A: Effective use: AVAIL

18A:To __ a phrase: COIN

19A: Yearned: PINED

20A: Fencing sword: EPEE

24A: Some antibodies: LYSINS. Not a familiar word to me. It's an "antibody that is capable of causing the destruction or dissolution of red blood cells, bacteria, or other cellular elements."

28A: Nice guy, he is not: BADDIE

34A: Nice goodbye: ADIEU

35A: Signaled: CUED

36A: Raison d'__: ETRE. Has NeoCon lost its raison d'etre?

40A: Engendered: BRED

41A: Final Four org.: NCAA. It was clued as March madness org. yesterday.

42A: Of punishment: PENAL

43A: "___ the ramparts...": O'ER. Embarrassing, but I really had no idea that it's part of the American anthem.

44A: Track shape: OVAL

45A: Almost not: HARDLY

46A: Conductor Toscanini: ARTURO. According to wikipedia, he was one of the greatest conductor of all times, renowned for "his brilliant intensity, his restless perfectionism, his phenomenal ear for orchestral detail and sonority..." Sounds like a genius, but I've never heard of him. The only conductor that came to my mind is Previn (Andre), Mia Farrow's ex.

48A: 1976-80 Wimbledon Champion: BORG (Bjorn). Can you believe he won 61 Singles Career Titles between the age of 17 and 26? Roger Federer, by comparison, only won 45.

50A: Sticking stuff: PASTE

58A: Sibilant sound: HISS

60A: Higher one of two: UPPER

61A: Cosmetics ingredient: ALOE. In Japan, they put aloe vera in yogurt.

63A: Inclined to weep: TEARY

Down clues:

1D: Alum: GRAD. Same clue, same spot, Feb 28 puzzle.

2D: Local yokel: RUBE. Never heard anyone spews this word.

4D: Real estate paper: TITLE DEED

5D: Court judgment: DECREE

6D: Allotrope of oxygen: OZONE. Did not know this before.

7D: Novelist George: SAND. Famous for her 10-year romance with Chopin. Chopin died 2 years after they broke up. A very prolific writer, extremely disciplined.

9D: Juicy tropical fruit: PAPAYA. Never tasted it before. So I could not say whether it's juicy or not.

10D: Bad deeds: EVILS

13D: On its last legs: OLD

21D: Poppy product: OPIUM. Occasionally I use Opium. Was crazy about Tendre Poison (the green bottle) in late 1990s.

22D: Slur over: ELIDE

25D: Mean: INTEND. I was toying with the word "unkind" for a few seconds.

26D: Typical: NORMAL

27D: Hard like metal: STEELY

28D: Cash of Panama: BALBOA. Unknown to me.

29D: Worshiper: ADORER. Never used this word before. I just adore. J'adore!

30D: Shunt: DIVERT

31D: Of the ear: AURAL

32D: Actress Ward: SELA. Love her in Once and Again.

35D: Zany Imogene: COCA Vaguely remember her.

36D: Undying: EVERGREEN

38D: Closing stanza: var. ENVOI. Or Envoy.

39D: Separate: APART

44D: Solar-system mobile: ORRERY. Here is the explanation: "an apparatus for representing the positions, motions, and phases of the planets, satellites, etc., in the solar system." It's named after a British guy named Charles Boyle, Earl of Orrery.

45D: Hold your ___!: HORSES. Whoa!

47D: Pronounce: UTTER

48D: Human chest: BOSOM

50D: Confab: CHAT. I got it from across clues. I did not know the meaning of confab.

51D: Metric weight, briefly: KILO (Kilometer, Kilogram)

52D: If all __ fails...: ELSE

53D: Lamenter's comment: ALAS

54D: Like a drumhead: TAUT. That's how Teri Hatcher's face looks like all the time. I buy the Botox rumor.

I am so pumped up today. I predict Ohio, Rhode Island go to Clinton, and Texas and Vermont go to Obama.

C. C.

Monday, Feb 18, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Female Athletes

20A: First female Indy entrant: Janet Guthrie

38A: LPGA superstar: Annika Sorenstam

54A: Ms. Didrikson: Babe Zaharias

I don't see any consistency in the difficulty rating of the Star Tribune puzzle, do you? I mean, their Monday puzzles are always more difficult than Tuesdays' and Wednesdays'. The puzzle for Feb 12 Tuesday (Allan E. Parish, the mythical crier Niobe one) was obviously more difficult than Feb 15 Friday's (Randall J. Hartman).

I hope I am not the only one who feels this way. I would love to have your thoughts.

I tanked this one miserably, from the very beginning. I was so adamantly sure of my HAJJ for 1D: Pilgrimage to Mecca (HADJ) that I refused to consider DIRT for 17A: Gossip. I met Annika in person, and I am a huge fan of her, but I could never spell her name properly. I should have been patient and worked out the down clues first, then let her surname reveal itself. But NO, I wanted to key in her name first. Overly excited! I always knew Babe as Babe Zaharias, I would never associate her with Ms. Didrikson.

Here are some of the entries for Across:

1A: Noggin toppers: HATS

15A: Latin handle: ANSA. It was in yesterday's puzzle.

16A: Author Jong: ERICA. Fear of Flying author.

18A:Billy or nanny: GOAT

19A: Covered with hoarfrost: RIMED

20A: First female Indy entrant: JANET GUTHRIE. The only female racer I've heard is Danica Patrick.

23A: Small amount of residue: DREG

24A: Lamprey: EEL. Sniggler's catch. Japanese call it Unagi. The smell of grilled unagi (kabayaki) is heavenly.

25A: Drag behind: TOW. I put Lag first, it messed up the whole corner.

31A: Sticks: ADHERES. Every time I see "stick", I just fill in "adhere". It never fails.

34A: Purple shade: LILAC

36A: N. T. book: REV.

37A: Golda of Israel: MEIR. I was a bit disappointed by the portrayal of her in the movie Munich.

38A: LPGA superstar: ANNIKA SORENSTAM. She is back. She just won LPGA season opener in Hawaii 2 days ago. It's been a long winless streak for her. I have her autographed card, very cool.

42A: Installed at carpet: LAID

44A: Representative: AGENT

45A: Stock-market abbr. OTC (Over the Counter). I am not cut for any stock market trading. I cannot stomach the violent up-and-down swings.

46A: "Citizen Kane" sled: ROSEBUD. I watched 2 minutes of Citizen Kane, then I gave it up. I did not like it and could not understand what's the beauty in the movie.

50A: Chinese chairman: MAO. His famous quote: Studying hard, improving every day.

51A: Powerful ruler: EMP (EMPEROR)

52A: Novelist Bagnold: ENID

54A: Ms. Didrikson: BABE ZAHARIAS. An incredible all-around athlete. Voted Female Athlete of the Century by Sports Illustrated. She even sewed her own golfing outfits.

59A: Bit of info: DATUM

62A: Vena __ : CAVA: Latin: hollow vein. Look at the definition here.

68A: Deep-orange chalcedony: SARD.

Down entry:

1D: Pilgrimage to Mecca. HADJ. It's a variation on HAJ. HAJJ is a more popular spelling than HADJ. I wish the editor would put a Var mark besides the clue.

3D: Sea swallow: TERN

5D: Drooped: SAGGED

21D: Follow closely: TRACK.

22D: "Still me" writer: REEVE Never read it. I enjoyed very much Katharine Hepburn's autobiography Me. The letter she wrote to Spencer Tracy moved me to tears.

25D: Balance on the brink: TEETER.

26D: "The Egotists" author Fallaci: ORIANA. Did not know her. Here is an interesting tidbit for you from wikipedia: During her 1972 interview with Hentry Kissingerh, Kissinger agreed that the Vietnam War was a "useless war" and compared himself to "the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse". Kissinger later wrote that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press."

I guess Bush read this line, no, I take it back, he does not read, maybe Rove told him so, then he decided that he would refuse to admit making any mistake when confronted by the media. Wrong lesson, cowboy! But enjoy your own holiday in Tanzania!

27D: Friendliness: WARMTH

28D: Ski race: SLALOM

29D: Mexican party item: PINATA. I learned this word from a Torii Hunter TV commercial.

30D: Alloy for magnets: ALNICO. Unknown to me.

32D: Worn away unevenly: EROSE

37D: NYC arena: MSG (Madison Square Garden)

39D: Alamogordo headline word: A BOMB. The first atomic bomb test, 1945.

40D: Surmises to be true: SUSPECTS

41D: Gymnast Comaneci: NADIA. The first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 in Olympics.

46D: Enlarged (a hole): REAMED

47D: Cleaver of TV: BEAVER

48D: Let go of: UNHAND

53D: Muumuu or sack: DRESS

54D: Set on fire: BURN

55D: Hannibal's "Waterloo": ZAMA. Why the quotation mark in the clue?

57D: Soprano Gluck: ALMA

60D: Cobbler's tool: AWL

61D: Menlo Park initials: TAE (thomas Alva Edison)

Have a great week everyone.

C. C.