Saturday August 16, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: None

Total blocks: 26

So close to the 25 blocks target I mentioned a month ago. But boy, it's a hard puzzle. Lots of unfamiliar words. Some did appear in recent puzzles before, but I simply forgot. I have too selective a memory.

I am not sure what is the record for the fewest blocks in TMS puzzle history. But it's 19 for NYT puzzles, 53 blocks being the most.

Anyway, very choppy solving today. Conquered the upper right corner very quickly, and struggled in every other corner. I kept wanting LD for 32D: 45% of M (CDL) and I knew it was wrong. Had to google CALEB (40A: Novelist Carr) to get myself out of that boggy area. Then I decided to google some more.

Dislike the clue for ASCOTS (1A: Tie types) due to TIES (5D: Draws). It's an unforgivable crossword SIN (11D: Sermon topic).

Across:

7A: Syrian capital: DAMASCUS. It is indeed the oldest city in the world, isn't it?

16A: Bologna tongue: ITALIANO. Ti amo!

17A: Gave shape to: MOLDED. I like the color of this Jello MOLD.

18A: Opposite of an enlarger: SHRINKER. Not a common word to me.

19A: Sturm __ Drang: UND. UND is "and" in German. I am not familiar with "Sturm UND Drang". I do like the translation: "Storm and Urge". Sounds so rebellious.

27A: Jewish sect member: HASID. Last times HASIDIM was clued as "Members of a Jewish sect". What a strange plural form!

29A: Radio static letters: EMI. EMI is also a British record label

31A: Common mushroom: AGARIC. I wanted BUTTON. I've never heard of AGARIC before. What's on the cap of this Fly AGARIC?

35A: Empty-nesters' vacation: SECOND HONEYMOON. Really? Don't couples take SECOND HONEYMOON anytime their schedules allow and their pocketbooks permit?

40A: Novelist Carr: CALEB. Wikipedia says he was involved in the screenplay of "The Exorcist" prequel. I've never seen "The Exorcist", have you? It sounds terrifying.

41A: Oder-___ Line: NEISSE. Not familiar with this border line (German-Polish border).

42A: "Vegas $" star: URICH (Robert). Another unknown actor. Wikipedia says he also starred in "Spenser: For Hire".

47A: Stallone role: RAMBO. Here is the new RAMBO trailor.

49A: Death rattles: RALES. Oy vey, I forgot this snake again. A gimmie for Bill I am sure. He never says die, but he sometimes RALES.

52A: Pair of 501's: MII. And CDL ( 32D: 45% of M). Why is my LD wrong?

53A: Indian bean tree: CATALPA. I forgot. It was clue as "Tree with trumpet-shaped flowers" last time. Are those beans edible?

55A: Italian possessive pronoun: SUA. His. Unknown to me.

56A: With plastic: ON CREDIT. What do you think of this clue?

58A: "Java" trumpeter: AL HIRT. I don't know this "Java" man. That's a great statue.

60A: Crystalline gypsum: SELENITE. Last time GYPSUM is clued as "Selenite, e.g.".

61A: July 26th honoree: ST ANNE. I forgot again. It appeared on Josiah Breward's July 19 puzzle with the identical clue. Oh well, "Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

63A: Gnatlike flies: MIDGES

Down:

1D: Even though: AS MUCH AS. This answer did not come to me easily at all.

2D: Prehistoric period: STONE AGE

3D: Dead end: CUL- DE -SAC

4D: Roulette bet: ODD. (Addendum: Argyle told me about the online "Crimson or scarlet"clue for ODD. I don't understand it. How so?)

7D: Throws into confusion: DISCOMBOBULATES. Wow, I checked, it's a word. How absurb looking!

8D: Plato or Aristotle, e.g.: ATHENIAN

12D: More encrusted: CAKIER. CAKY is really a solid word, bad CAKY make-up, or Barry's eyelids. But of course, you guys are so good-looking (esp you Bill) that you don't need any make-up stuff.

13D: Irregular: UNEVEN

14D: Kierkegaard and Hansen: SORENS. I like SOREN Hansen, and Thomas Levet. I had my visor autographed by them.

24D: Wind from Sahara: SIROCCO. I have such difficulty remembering this hot, windy word.

28D: A Shore: DINAH

26D: Last period of Paleozoic Era: PERMIAN. No, no, I've never heard of it.

36D: Iron ore: HEMATITE. Sigh... no...

37D: Passing through a membrane: OSMOSING. Boy, not an easy word to obtain.

38D: Ozzy of Black Sabbath: OSBOURNE. What a dysfunctional family he has!

39D: Maternity ward VIPs: NEONATES. I was thinking of the doctors.

42D: Greatest degree: UTMOST. I was used to the NTH answer.

43D: Fassbinder or Rilke: RAINER. I know neither of them. Too obscure a clue.

44D: Eaves dripper: ICICLE. Very nice ICICLE photo, I could almost feel the drop.

50D: Burst of energy: SPASM. I penned in SURGE first.

54D: High: pref.: ALTI

57D: FDR power group: REA. I start to miss Stephen REA.

C.C.

Saturday June 21, 2008 Tom Pruce

Themeless

I am not fond of this puzzle at all. I simply dislike the overuse of affixes (S, ER, ED, etc) in the grid. And the appearances of OLD both as the clue and the answer just irk me to bones, look:

22A: Study of old age: GERONTOLOGY. Geronto- is the root word, Greek origin (gérōn: old man). "Study of the elderly" would be fine.

41D: Over the hill: OLD

After getting PENSIONERS (18A: Retired employees), GERONTOLOGY and MUNRO, I started to think of Sarah Polley's "Away From Her". It's a very gripping TALE (57A: Narrative Story) about an OLD couple dealing with Alzheimer's disease. The loving ACTS (1D: Exploits) of sacrifice by the husband are very poignant and touching.

The film is based on "The Bear Came over the Mountain", a short story written by Alice MUNRO (7D: Saki's real name"), who is considered "the finest living short story writer" according to Wikipedia. Julie Christie was just brilliant in the movie. The Oscar should have gone to her instead of that French actress Marion Cotillard, who did not even make effort to sing in "La Vie en Rose". (Update later: Please don't misunderstand me regarding the Saki clue (H. H. MUNRO). Many times I am just playing with the answers.)

Ready? Uno, due, TRE (24D: Trevi fountain coin count), Allons-y!

ACROSS:

5A: Round after the quarters: SEMIS (Semifinals)

10A: Stirling man: SCOT. "O, my love is like a red, red rose, that's newly sprung in June...". Love this poem from "Scotland's favorite son".

15A: Main artery: TRUNK ROUTE. New to me.

17A: Legendary bowman: TELL (William). The legendary archer.

18A: Retired employees: PENSIONERS. And 25A: Firestarter: IGNITER. And 44A: Runaway lovers: ELOPERS.

19A: Psalms interjection: SELAH

21A: Circular buildings: ROTUNDAS

27A: "The Raven" monogram: EAP (Edgar Allan Poe). It's mine too, my middle name is ARON.

30A: Actress Fabray: NANETTE. Completely unknown to me. Is she a gimme to you?

33A: Maliciously derogatory: SNIDE

34A: Jiffy: TRICE. Here are some Jiffy Muffins for you.

40A: Got in shape: TONED UP

45A: Caribbeans: WEST INDIANS

47A: Consisting of various kinds: ASSORTED

52A: Aptitude: CLEVERNESS

55A: Brood of pheasants: NIDE. I've never heard of this word before.

56A: Passed on genetically: HEREDITARY

58A: Tree of life location: EDEN. "Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of EDEN maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?"

59A: State in northeast India: ASSAM. Ah, the tea state. Wikipedia says it's equivalent to the size of AUSTRIA (38D: Vienna's country) and the area is also known for its silk. Dispur is its capital.

DOWN:

2D: Betty MacDonald bestseller: THE EGG AND I. I've never heard of the author or the book/movie. I like the answer though, with "THE" and "AND".

3D: Generation of today: MILLENNIAL

4D: On the payroll: SALARIED

9D: T-bars: SKI TOWS. I am not familiar with this term.

10D: Jazzman Rollins: SONNY. Dimly remember his name due to MPR's Jazz Image. I don't think I would have got his name without the crossing clues though.

12D: Other: Sp. OTRA And another Spanish word: 53D: Mexican Mme: SRA

13D: Trueheart of "Dick Tracy": TESS. No idea. I took a SWAG. I do like Julia Roberts' TESS in "Ocean's Eleven".

16D: Double-deck solitaire: ROUGE ET NOIR. Not familiar with this game at all. Pure WAG. Look at this Christian Lacroix ROUGE ET NOIR commerical.

20D: Easily infuriated: HOT TEMPERED

27D: Offering proof: EVIDENTIAL

28D: In a hateful manner: ACCURSEDLY. New word to me.

35D: Does a second watercolor: REPAINTS

46D: Fruit of the mind: IDEAS. The "Fruit" here is the plural form, I presume? I like this Emerson line: "Gibraltar may be strong, but IDEAS are impregnable, and bestow on the hero the invincibility".

54D: Pathetic starter?: SYM. Sympathetic. I rather like this "Phony Starter?". SYM/Syn" mean "with", Greek origin.

Alright, the last one, 60A: Stone and the Stallone: SLYS. Here is the "Hot Fun in the Summer Time" from "SLY and the Family Stone". I love those beautiful sceneries in the clip. Happy first day of summer, everyone!

C.C.

Saturday, May 3, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: NONE

Too hot a puzzle for me to handle today: the palmy CYCADS, the exotic NIPA (Malay thatch), the tropical RATTAN, the LEG, the HES, the ERECTING. Felt like this puzzle was made from Ibiza Islands, for Michael Cretu, whose intoxicating ENIGMA album stole my heart!

I got LAID instead of LAIN at 57D: Reclined, again, just like last Sunday. Really need to look carefully before I jump next time. Money became a huge issue today, as both CRUZEIRO and INTI stumped me hard today. And AZAN, oh my gosh, that clue Muezzin was intimidating! Total SNAFU at the left corner. Lots of troubles in other area too. Tough puzzle.

ACROSS:

1A: Shotgun ammo: PELLETS

8A: Cravings: HUNGERS. Are they really the same?

15A: Blood deficiency: ANAEMIA. Shouldn't there be VAR mark in the clue?

16A: Coop flier: ESCAPEE. Great clue. Coop is slang for prison. I think adding a "?" would have made the clue more sparkling.

17A: Hang up: RING OFF

18A: Marine fauna: SEA LIFE

19A: J. Hancocked?: SGD (Signed). I put OK'D first.

22A: Attacked: RAIDED

28A: Actress Gilpin: PERI. Not familiar to me. I penned in TERI.

29A: Political meeting: CAUCUS. This caucus system is too absurd and is not viable any more. Important decisions should not be made by a few party insiders.

31A: CB-ers?: RADIO MEN. Um, I am not impressed by the cluing at all.

34A: Actor Tognazzi: UGO. I've never heard of him. Got it from down clues.

35A: Putting up: ERECTING. I like how ERECTING intersects with ADRENALIN and SEEDINGS. It would be sensational if 14D were not in ING form. I have ING phobia.

39A: The devil: OLD NICK. I've never heard of this expression. I filled in OLD DICK, thinking of "the Devil and Dick Cheney" joke.

42A: "Troilus and ___": CRESSIDA. Tragically, I've never read this Shakespeare play. Not familiar with the title at all.

46A: Like a square box: CUBOIDAL. New word to me. Cubelike.

47A: Of iron: FERRIC. What is lack of iron? ANEMIC?

51A: Muezzin's call to prayer: AZAN. Ridiculously impossible for me. AZAN is "the call to prayer proclaimed five times a day by the muezzin in Muslim countries". See here for Muezzin explanation.

60A: RN's nice: TLC. Wouldn't be cool to intersect TLC and ICU (24D) someday?

52A: Little yelp: YIP. Why not try "Small bark" or "Golf putting phobia"or something else? Ennui!

54A: Prepared for action: READY. Yes, I am! Surprise me, "Denis of Cork", tell me you are for real!

61A: Da Nang location: VIETNAM

63A: Standby army: MILITIA

66A: Unpredictable: ERRATIC

67A: Object of a computer instruction: OPERAND

68A: "The Thieving Magpie" composer: ROSSINI. No idea. I know nothing about classical music.

69A: Island wraps: SARONGS. I like how SARONGS crossing NIPA (Malay thatch), as Malaysians love wearing SARONGS.

DOWN:

1D: Unit of astronomical length: PARSEC. It comes from Par(allax) Sec(ond). PARSEC is "a unit of distance equal to that required to cause a heliocentric parallax of one second of an arc, equivalent to 206,265 times the distance from the earth to the sun, or 3.26 light-years". Umm, hard, I don't understand what I've written down.

2D: Elgar's "_____Variations": ENIGMA. No idea. It is "Elgar's best-known large-scale composition". Do you love this ENIGMA? It's very sensual and sexy, spiritual too. The gasps for air, the whispering, everything is just so enigmatic.

3D: Martin of "Mission: Impossible": LANDAU. Don't know him.

6D: Southern Georgia county: TIFT. I've never heard of it. Is it well known?

8D: All of guys: HES. I put MEN first.

11D: Impure resin of turpentine: GALIPOT. No idea. Did someone use this word at the Comments section lately? I vaguely remember I saw this word before.

12D: Rampant: EPIDEMIC

13D: Something alluded to: REFERENT

14D: Tournament positions: SEEDINGS. I actually like this cluing. I just hate when too many ING's appear in one puzzle.

21D: Epinephrine: ADRENALIN. I did not know the meaning of "Epinephrine", had to look up in the dictionary. But shouldn't it be ADRENALINE?

25D: Classic Dracula: LUGOSI (Béla). Should have a "?" with the clue, don't you think so?

27D: Gandhi's garb: SARI

30D: 3-D shape: SOLID. I like how SOLID crossing CUBOIDAL.

33D: More googey: ICKIER

36D: Catcher-turned-sportscaster: McCARVER (Tim). No idea. I kept thinking of JIM KAAT, but he was a Pitcher-turned-sportscaster.

37D: Brazilian cash: CRUZEIRO. This Brazilian Supermodel will only take €€€, not CRUZEIRO, not even your $$$. Do ya feel lucky, punk? (Update later: Tom Brady is currently dating Gisele).

38D: Arguers: DEBATERS

43D: Instrumental compositions: SONATAS. Like the crossing of SONATAS with ROSSINI.

45D: Three in Roma: TRE. A little bit Chinese for you. This character "一" is one, "二" is two, and "三" is three. Super easy, isn't it?

48D: Wickerwork material: RATTAN. Saw this before.

49D: Not doing anything: IDLING

50D: Group of seed plants: CYCADS. Here is the definition: "any gymnospermous plant of the order Cycadales, intermediate in appearance between ferns and the palms, many species having a thick, unbranched, columnar trunk bearing a crown of large, leathery, pinnate leaves." Look at her CYCAD.

53D: California tribe: POMOS. Saw it somewhere before.

56D: Former Peruvian currency: INTI. SOL is Peru's money unit now, interesting, Sun as their currency. More interesting: INTI was the Sun God of Incas.

57D: Reclined: LAIN

59D: Malay thatch: NIPA. It's a palm in Southeast Asia, with foliage for thatching and basketry. Alright, see these 2 pictures: NIPA palm and NIPA hut.

64D: Celtic god: LER. Sea God. Father of Manannan. I am confused here. The dictionary says Manannan is also a Sea God, who is the Sea God then?

65D: Worldwide help grp.: IRO (International Refugee Organization). I wrote down IMF.

Forgot to say earlier that I dislike the appearances of 2 Roman numerals in one puzzle, very lazy cluing.

C.C.

Saturday, April 12, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: NONE

Wow, our TMS crossword stalwart golfers Ernie ELS, RORY Sabbatini both missed the cut yesterday. BUBBA Watson is hanging there strong though. I don't think K. J. Choi stands a chance this time, so I am going to flip-flop on my prediction. I will pick up Retief Goosen. I do like Travor Immelman and Ian Poulter though. Have been following both of them (and Justin Rose) since their European Tour.

I almost shot a bogey free round today. Nice and easy. Everything was in sync. I found my TIGER zone. No slice or hook, all my tee shots are straight. No chip flub. And the greens were so receptive. No undulations at all. I only went to dictionary once to check the meaning of 22A: "Subjugates" (had a bit of problem with VIREO and HELEN). Polished off this puzzle around 25 minutes.

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

Front Nine:

1A: One of the Seven Sisters college: VASSAR. Vassar has gone co-ed, right? Meryl Streep, Lisa Kudrow (Phoebe in "Friends") and Edna St. Vincent Millay all graduated from this college. Jackie Kennedy also studied here for 2 years before her Sorbonne venture.

7A: Mass produce efficiently: CHURN OUT. Efficiently? Really, not hurriedly or routinely? How come I cannot see any efficiency in the puzzles you CHURN OUT for us Editor? Where is the Quality Control?

15A: Slip away, as time: ELAPSE. I like the addition of "as time", rendering the clue much more accurate than "Slip away" alone.

16A: Biddies residence: HEN HOUSE

17A: Belly buttons: NAVELS

18A: Apportioned: ALLOTTED

19A: Breakfast choices: OMELET

20A: Place-kicker's need: TEE. Poor Fred Couples. Had he made that birdie on the last hole, he would've held the consecutive Masters cut record all by himself rather than sharing it with Gary Player. Speaking of Gary Player, all you crossword constructors or constructors wannabes, why not misguide us with his surname for golf related clues next time?

21A: TV journalist Safer: MORLEY. Don't you just love his interview with Helen Mirren? I bet FCC is lurking around ready to pounce on their next nude interview!

22A: Subjugates: ENSLAVES

30A: Oral moisture: SALIVA. Hope your first kiss experience is better than Leonardo DiCaprio's.

31A: Husky pull: SLED

35A: Ornamental case: ETUI. It's painful to watch Ms. ETUI's wrinkly face 3 times a week!

38A: "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" Co-star Dillon: MELINDA. No idea. I got her name from the down clues. The only actor/actress Dillon I know is Matt. Had a mild crush on him after" Crash".

42A: Accustom: INURE. No hesitation this time between INURE and ENURE due to the "I" in SMIRK.

46A: Low mountain crests: RIDGE. Alright, I am ready for former Homeland Security Secretary Tom ___ !

48A: Folk tale: MYTH

50A: Fully committed: KNEE DEEP. I thought KNEE DEEP has a negative undertone, like Hillary (Wellesley Grad) is now KNEE DEEP in trouble. "Fully committed" sounds very positive to me. Are they the same to you?

58A: Fold: CREASE

59A: Thiamine deficiency: BERIBERI. No idea. I got it from the down clues. It's of Sri Lanka origin, meaning "I cannot, I cannot" in Sinhalese language. The word is "doubled for emphasis".

64A: Laws issued by monarchs: EDICTS. Disagree. Any public proclamation issued by the authority can be EDICT, including those fatwas.

65A: Monty Python troupe member: ERIC IDLE. Pieced it together from down clues.

66A: Relative intensity: DEGREE

67A: Ready-for-anything attitude: GAMENESS

68A: Borgnine or Hemingway: ERNEST. Knew Hemingway, had no idea who Borgnine is.

Back nine:

1D: Animal toxin: VENOM

3D: Piggybank filler: SAVER

4D: Indefinite period: SPELL

5D: In dreamland: ASLEEP

6D: Fashioned anew: RESTYLED. Oh by the way, the RESTYLE maven Stacy London (TLC's What Not to Wear) also graduated from VASSAR.

7D: French manor house: CHATEAU (Castle). Here is a beautiful CHATEAU at Feste's suggestion. And enjoy some sumptuous Chocolate Gâteau if you do not care for ASPIC.

8D: Euripides play: HELEN. No idea. Anything Greek related is tragically daunting to me. According to Wikipedia, Euripides' greatest works include Alcestis, Medea, Eletra and the Bacchae.

9D: Except if: UNLESS

11D: Slangy contradiction: NOT. How come it's a "Slangy contradiction"? I don't get this one. (update: See Comments section for explanation).

12D: Inning ender: OUT. The intersection of this OUT with 7A CHURN OUT is NOT pretty.

14D: Actor Knight: TED. Knew him from the "Chess Mate" puzzle.

23D: Stick it out: LAST. Needs recluing. Don't like the double appearances of OUT (12D: Inning ender) and out.

25D: Small green bird: VIREO. Lovely, isn't it? The plumage is indeed green.

27D: Prone to backtalk: SASSY

29D: Relative to etc.: ET AL. This makes me laugh! Look how ET AL and I SAY are stacked together to anchor the whole puzzle! Is that your statement Mr. Editor? I say, bloody!!

31D: Insolent smile: SMIRK

32D: Red Square figure: LENIN

33D: Give the slip to: ELUDE. Good clue. But really I hate when "slip" appeared twice in the clue. See 15A: Slip away.

34D: Funeral song: DIRGE

36D: Brit's indignant comment: I SAY

41D: Go before: ANTECEDE. OK clue. Don't like how ANTECEDE parallels SECEDE.

44D: Uses up: EMPTIES

47D: Leave the union: SECEDE. I was on the wrong train initially, thinking of separate and divorce.

49D: More difficult: HARDER

51D: Some noblemen: EARLS. OK, OK, I know your name is EARL.

53D: Period in power: REIGN

54D: Mother of pearl: NACRE. Here is a picture.

55D: __ Park, Colo.: ESTES

61D: Periphery: RIM

63D: Open container: BIN. Most of the bins have lids, don't they?

C.C.

Saturday, March 15, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: NONE

Hmm, Ides of March, beware! Et tu, Brute? A REPROBATE?

Even though I spent more than 45 minutes plowing and harrowing this puzzle, I still like it. There are no obscure actress/actor/author names or American slangs to bother me, so the ground is not frozen, and I enjoyed my tilling and digging.

I also like the open structure of the upper left and lower right corners, and I like how 13D: FIERCER and 14D: TENSEST are paralleled in a gradual "er, est" fashion.

I only visited google 3 times, irritated a bit by the SAGITTA/REGINA intersection. Neither of the words are familiar to me. I also had problem committing AVATAR to 45A.

Here are the across entries:

1A: Morally unprincipled person: REPROBATE. Jack Abrafmoff, Duke Cunningham, Bob Ney, too many.

10A: Working copy: DRAFT

15A: Fell to pieces: UNRAVELED. Really painful to watch such a brilliant, dazzling Presidential Material Mr. Clean fall down to disgrace so swiftly. I also look at Spitzer's career "with a sense of what might have been".

16A: Unearthly: EERIE

17A: Gossip channel?: GRAPEVINE. E! All I thought was the gossipy E! channel.

18A: City on the Ruhr: ESSEN

20A: Scout's job, briefly: RECON (Reconnaissance)

21A: Jury makeup: PEERS.

25A: Medium meeting: SÉANCE

26A: Asian peninsula: KOREA. I thought of Malay Peninsula at first.

28A: Mommie's sisters: AUNTIES

29A: Must haves: ESSENTIALS. I am so proud that I filled in this word with only one E penned in priorly.

34A: Khrushchev and others: NIKITAS. Hugo Chavez's "The Devil came yesterday" speech in 2006 has put Khrushchev's shoe-pounding incident to shame.

36A: Rolling stone's lack: MOSS (A rolling stone gathers no moss). Or ex-Viking's "I Play when I want to Play" wild receiver Randy. Had Packers signed Randy Moss in 2007, Brett Favre would not have retired today. Poor Cheeseheads!

40A: Of plane navigation: AERONAUTIC. No problem.

45A: Virtual reality folk: AVATAR. I only knew this word as Hindu incarnation of God.

47A: Maine town: ORONO. The college town. Learned it from doing crossword.

48A: Saskatchewan capital: REGINA. Did not known this before.

49A: Cut the greens: MOW. Thick rough, narrow fairway, stupid bunkers, impossible pin positions, shame on you USGA.

52A: Cape Kennedy org.: NASA

53A: Salty: BRINY. I was on the wrong direction, thinking of Senator McCain's snappy, pungent and salty jokes.

54A: No-frills: BASIC

56A: Dressing outfit, casually: TUX

57A: Stop gripping: LET GO

58A: Pen: ENCLOSURE. Oh I felt so smart this morning. Filled it in like it's ALOE.

61A: Stuttering speaker: STAMMERER. Alliteration, J'adore.

62A: Extended gaze: STARE.

63A: Stately court dances: SARABANDS. Have never heard of it before. It's "a slow, stately Spanish dance, esp. of the 17th and 18th centuries, in triple meter, derived from a vigorous castanet dance." SARABAND is also Ingmar Bergman's last movie (2003).

Down clues:

1D: Quality of a cheap toupee: RUGLIKE. Is it even a word?

2D: Caruso and Fermi: ENRICOS. Knew Caruso, not Fermi.

3D: Babblers: PRATERS

4D: Utter sharply: RAP

5D: Beyond: OVER. I put AFAR first.

6D: Angle maker: BEVEL. This small English word posed some problem for me. I kept asking myself "What's the English word for 斜边?"

8D: Mortise's partner: TENON. See this picture. It will show you which one is which.

10D: Dig more: DEEPEN

7D: Carroll's heroine: ALICE. Have never read Alice in Wonderland.

11D: Ushers after the interval: RESEATS. What's the matter with Florida? Every 4 years! Do you know that it's against Florida law to authenticate voters' signatures? The mail-in do-over primary will only invite more troubles. I would not SEAT, or RESEAT any of Florida/Michigan delegate.

12D: Host Hall: ARSENIO. Knew him only because Clinton played "Heartbreak Hotel" on the saxphone on his show in 1992. It's the coolest TV moment, for me. I used to love that man, Mr. Clinton.

13D: More violent: FIERCER

14D: Most on edge: TENSEST

25D: Dey of "The Partridge Family": SUSAN. Only knew her as the LA Law actress.

27D:_ - Margret: ANN. Unknown to me. I got it from across clues. I think I hated this clue. That "-" makes it look like a treaty's name. It should be clued as Swedish actress/singer _ -Margret.

28D: Countertenor: ALTO

31D: Eisenhower and others: IKES. Besides Ike the President and Ike Turner, who else is named Ike?

35D: _ Tome and Principe: SAO. Lots of oil in this small African country, shall we go?

36D: Lose one's _: MARBLES. Better not to go, need to have all our marbles together. Let Chevron and ExxonMobile spread our democracy and capitalism there.

37D: Stuff oneself: OVEREAT. It intersects with 60A: EATEN. But I am not fond of 2 EATs in one puzzle.

38D: Constellation near Aquila: SAGITTA. No idea.

39D: Brandy cocktail: STINGER. No idea, my husband probably knows.

42D: Perfectly: TO A TURN. Have never heard of this phrase. Only knew "to a tee".

44D: Wheedlers: COAXERS. Pas de problème here.

49D: Marine ray: MANTA. Got it. A reverse of yesterday's clue.

51D: Mrs. Fred Flintstone: WILMA. Unknown to me. I just guessed.

54D: Porgy's love: BESS. Funny, I read this clue as Porky's love, so I could not figure out why his girlfriend was not Petunia Pig any more. By the way, I have never heard of Porgy & Bess the opera.

55D: Search carefully: COMB

59D: Galilee or Marmara: SEA. Marmara sea is here. See Istanbul?

Have a great weekend.

C. C.

Saturday, Feb 16, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: NONE ( It seems that all Saturday puzzles are themeless).

Ouch! Got stumped immediately. Sophism, Occlude. German sub (U-BOAT), old, ugly woman (BELDAME), Migrating herring (ALEWIFE). All too heavy for me to whack.

Knew all too well the mug of Shennen Doherty, who liked to fight with the likes of Tara Reid and Paris Hilton, over some scumbag/sex tape stuff. But I did not know how to spell her damned name. By the way, Doherty can also be clued as Babyshambles singer Pete, supermodel Kate Moss's boyfriend, or ex-boyfriend, if you care to know.

Anyway, I probably filled in 3/5 of the puzzles, then I started googling with a vengeance!

Across:

1A: Plausible but fallacious argument: SOPHISM. Fallacy!

8A: Cause to become closed: OCCLUDE. This word is a stranger to me.

15A: Corrode: EAT INTO

16A: Change tags: RELABEL. I put Reprice first.

17A: Vandalized: TRASHED

16A: Like reserved seats: PRESOLD

19A: PC command: SAVE. I was trapped by the abbreviation of PC. Figured it had to be DELE, or CTRL, or any shortened computer key.

20A: Bad actor: HAM

25A: Old, ugly woman: BELDAME. Brutal. Never heard of this word. Hag, yes!

27A: Cigarette negative: TAR. I put in ASH.

28A: Secreted: HID. I was thinking of the body fluid secretion. Never knew that you could use "secret" as a verb to mean conceal.

29A: Singing plain songs: INTONING

31A: Praises: EXALTS

33A: Acted like a bully: HECTORED. The utter hubris of Rumsfeld!

37A: Olin of "the Ninth Gate": LENA. She is in Chocolat with Juliette Binoche. Wonderful movie.

38A: Cincinnati player: RED

39A: Denuded: BARE

40A: Flapping more freely: FLOPPIER Don't like the cluing on this one, the "ing" is misguiding. Flappier would be fine, or Saggier, Droopier.

43A: Satellite of Neptune: TRITON. Or Sea God. Greek Mythology.

45A: Cone bearer: PINE TREE

47A: Begley and Begley: EDS. I like the Begley and Asner clue more.

53A: Silk trap: WEB

55A: Sale-tag disclaimer: AS IS

57A: Stretchable: ELASTIC

59A: Period from request to delivery: TIME LAG. I was thinking of Process. But it did not fit.

63A: Put up again: REBUILT

64A: Migrating herring: ALEWIFE. Or a woman who operates a alehouse.

65A: Model positions: STANCES

66A: Keystone Kops creator: SENNETT (Mack). Not my "King of Comedy."

Down Entry:

1D: Sun's fall: SET

2D: Thole insert: OAR Thole is "a pin, or either of two pins, inserted into a gunwale to provide a fulcrum for an oar."

3D: School grp.: PTA

4D: Snake speech: HISS

5D: Live in: INHABIT

6D: Cat or Ray: STEVENS. Knew neither of them. Cat is here, Ray is here.

7D: Early Ford: MODEL T

8D: Left parentless: ORPHANED

9D: Fired clay: CERAMIC

10D: Merciful: CLEMENT.

12D: German sub: U-BOAT

13D: Perry Mason's street: DELLA. Erle Stanley Gardner wrote many detective books under various pseudonyms.

14D: Church leader: ELDER

22D: Knickknack spot: SHELF.

23D: Video image unit: PIXEL

24D: Hersey's bell town: ADANO John Hersey book: A Bell for Adano.

26D: Actress Shannen: DOHERTY

27D: Mongolia desert: GOBI. Techniqually, Gobi desert covers northern part of China and southern part of Mongolia. Asian desert would be a perfect clue!

32D: Northern Scandinavian: LAPP. Never heard of it before. Here is the definition: "a member of a Finnic people of northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, and adjacent regions."

34D: Time charges: RATES

35D: Wear away: ERODE

36D: Compact: DENSE

38D: Returns the incumbent: REELECTS. Could not believe those crowds shouting "Four More Years" when Bush appeared on the Conservative PA Conference last week. Nuts!

41D: Like unlicensed TV Stations: PIRATIC.

42D: Banished: IN EXILE

43D: Pliable: TENSILE. New word to me.

44D: Course of physical training: REGIMEN

46D: Gaucho's lassos: RIATAS (sometimes it's REATAS)

48D: Water pitchers: EWERS

49D: Fill an empty flat: RELET

50D: Addis __, Eth.: ABABA

56D: Stitched: SEWN

58D: Start of a Day?: SUN (as in SUNDAY)

60D: Falsehood: LIE

61D: Astern: AFT

62D: Acquire: GET

Have a good weekend everyone.

C. C.

Saturday, Jan 26, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: None?

I could not identify a theme for this puzzle. Please let me know if there is one.

I cheated a few times, but managed to finish this puzzle within 45 minutes. That's a very good time for me.

Here are what tripped me:

16A: Antenna: AERIAL.

31A: Troublesome: ONEROUS. It was clued as Burdensome on Thursday's Star Tribune.

32A: Malay Thatch: NIPA. Kind of palm in Southeast with leaves for thatching. New to me.

55A: Brief summary: APERCU. The spelling of this word drives me nuts.

57A: Like a requiem: DIRGEFUL. Appeared in Star Tribune a few days ago, the same clue.

4D: Blue Hen St: DEL. I got the answers from the across clue, but had no idea that Delaware is nicknamed Blue Hen. I wish I were born and grew up here in the US, I would have nailed this one, and many others I suppose.

5D: "Presumed Innocent" Writer: SCOTT TUROW. He wrote ONE L also. Saw him at Celebrity Jeopardy last Oct. Very intelligent man.

12D: Alan Ladd film, "The Blue _": DAHLIA. Never watched it.

30D: Clan pattern: TARTAN. Here is more information if you want to have a better understanding of the Clan Tartan.

36D: Vindictive: VENGEFUL.

40D: Buddhist scriptural language: PALI. Nope, never heard of it. The Encyclopedia Britannica says Pali is the "sacred language of the Theravada Buddhist canon, a Middle Indo-Aryan language of north Indian origin".

43D: Singer Cyndi: LAUPER. I always thought her name is LAUDER.

C. C.