Sunday September 21, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: BG's AEIOU

23A: Red-eye service?: OVERNIGHT BAGGAGE CLAIM (OVERNIGHT BAGGAGE, BAGGAGE CLAIM)

43A: Above disagreement?: TOO PROUD TO BEG TO DIFFER (TOO PROUD TO BEG, BEG TO DIFFER)

68A: Speaking of major expenses?: TALKING BIG TICKET ITEMS (TALKING BIG, BIG TICKET ITEMS)

97A: Organic fuel delivery is delayed?: PEAT BOGS DOWN IN TRAFFIC (PEAT BOGS, BOGS DOWN IN TRAFFIC)

119A: '50s sci-fi/dance movie?: JITTERBUG-EYED MONSTERS (JITTERBUG, BUG-EYED MONSTERS)

The clue for 119A is inaccurate. The order should be reversed to "50s dance/sci-fi movie". Still, I could not find anything about "BUG-EYED MONSTERS" movie this morning. Or did I read the answer wrongly?

I caught the BAG, BEG, BIG, BOG, BUG vowel progression very early on, but did not get the "Before and After" concept until the very end. I am not good at this "Before & After" word game. Have never watched "Wheel of Fortune".

Nevertheless, it's a very unique puzzle, with five 21-letter running-through theme entries, the least I've seen since I started blogging in late Jan. I am not clear about TMS puzzle rule, but LA Times requires at least 6 theme entries (minimum 84 theme squares) for a Sunday 21*21. NY Times requires a minimum of 80 theme squares (at least 5 theme entries I presume).

Did you notice that SONTAG (40D: "Illness as Metaphor" writer) comes up a lot on Sundays? I think I've also seen enough of AGORA (82D: Old Greek market).

Across:

1A: Formal judicial order: WRIT. Habeas corpus is the most important WRIT.

5A: Make oneself presentable: CLEAN UP

12A: Designed to conform: ADAPTIVE

21A: Red phone: HOT LINE. I don't understand this Hillary "Red Phone" parody. Who are those characters in the middle of the clip?

22A: Bad repute: DISFAVOR. Are they really interchangeable?

34A: Balanced conditions: STASES. The singular form is STASIS. The plural for equilibrium can be equilibria or equilibriums.

39A: Old English characters: EDHS. How so?

40A: Fort Stewart neighbor: SAVANNAH. Pure guess. I've never heard of Fort Stewart before.

51A: Bad pun: GROANER. New to me. Can you give me an example?

52A: Verbena plant: LANTANA. Also unknown to me. I don't think I've seen this kind of flowering plant before, have you?

76A: Radioactivity pioneer: CURIE. I suppose this can refer to either of the couple. Without this answer, MME (23D: Fr. woman's title) could be clued as "CURIE title".

77A: In good working order: A-OK. Funny how the same hand-gesture can mean different thing in different culture.

83A: Wall St. letters: NYSE. And ASE (14D: NASD competitor). I am more familiar with AMEX & NASDAQ though. Are there any differences that I am not aware of?

90A: Poetic time of day: MIDMORN

101A: Jerkwater: ONE-HORSE. I did not know the meaning of "Jerkwater". What a strange name!

126A: Blood deficiency (var.): ANAEMIA. Dates, you need lots of sweet dates, they are very rich in iron content.

128A: Marine celebrities?: SEA STARS. Very nice clue.

129A: Author of "Kissing the Gunner's Daughter": RENDELL (Ruth). I've never heard of the book nor the author. Nice library.

Down:

5D: Hot lunch?: CHILI DOG. I've never quite understood this food Chili. Does it always have beans in it?

10D: Two-toed sloth: UNAU. I forgot. Here is a two-toed sloth UNAU. And this is a three-toed sloth AI".

31D: "Star Trek" role: UHURA. Nope. I've never watched "Star Trek". She is the communications officer on the Enterprise. I did get LEIA (88D: "Star Wars" role). How to pronounce UHURA?

32D: Windows basis: MS-DOS

34D: Actress Thompson: SADA. I filled in EMMA first. Have never heard of SADA Thompson. Here is SADA in "Family". Do you like "The Princess Bride"?

42D: Can't be beat: NO-LOSE. The clue feels like it's asking for a verb, doesn't it?

46D: Water depth: abbr.: FTH. I suppose it's for FATHOM. Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

48D: Insect: pref.: ENTOM. As in ENTOMOLOGY.

49D: Levels in London: RASES. I like our RAZES. Good alliteration in the clue. "Levels in Leeds" is great too.

57D: Stallone sequel: ROCKY II.

69D: Rolling Stones hit: ANGIE. Here is the song. It sounds so sad.

70D: Auto racer Niki: LAUDA. I googled his name. Wikipedia says this former Austrian Formula one champion owns 2 airlines: LAUDA Air and Niki.

71D: Farm: GRANGE. This is a new word to me. Isn't GRANGE a kind of music genre?

73D: Violet essence: IONONE. Another new word to me. Dictionary says it's "a colorless to yellowish liquid, C₁₃H₂₀O, having a strong odor of violets and used in perfumes."

91D: Old Greek coin: OBOL. No idea. Here is some very interesting information about OBOL & Hades.

95D: Type of molecular geometry: TRIGONAL. New to me also. Same as triangular I suppose.

99D: In the act of: DOING. This clue just feels so awkward to me.

104D: Indian princes: RAJAS. Wouldn't have got 119A without the letter "J" from RAJAS.

106D: Siamese fighting fish BETTA. No idea. Dictionary says it's also called "Fighting fish". Wow, what a strange idea to put a plant and fish together in a vase.

109D: Befell:: TIDED. I did not know that TIDE can mean "Befall" also.

C.C.

Wednesday August 27, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: He Must Be Off

17A: Screwball pitcher: DIZZY DEAN

36A: Peculiar parodist: WEIRD AL

58A: Millinery fruitcake: MAD HATTER

11D: Touched toon: DAFFY DUCK

32D: Kook of Koontz: ODD THOMAS

Of the above 5 theme answers, DIZZY Dean was a gimme, and I knew DAFFY Duck. The three 3 were new to me. But I caught the theme very earlier on, so I did not struggle that much.

I solved this puzzle without peeking at the constructor's name. After I was done, I thought it was from John Underwood. We have not seen his work for a long time. Now I am so curious to see who will be the QUIP/QUOTE author tomorrow. Can't be Alan P. Olschwang as we just did his VICTORY puzzle yesterday. Maybe Robert H Wolfe?

The clue for EIDER (37D: Downy duck) definitely needs to be changed as we had DAFFY DUCK as an answer. "Spread Down?" sounds good to me.

Across:

4A: With 64A: Wild Sioux: CRAZY. And HORSE (64A: See 4A). The monument looks quite imposing right now. But I can't wait to see the finished sculpture.

9A: Golden-touch king: MIDAS. Interesting to see ANE (59D: Dijon donkey) in the grid. MIDAS has donkey ears.

15A: Actress Anouk: AIMEE. I've never seen any of her movies. Her parents must love her a lot to name her AIMEE.

19A: Crime group: MAFIA. I like "GoodFellas".

22A: Gabfest: CONFAB. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Is CONFAB a common word?

23A: Ground-nesting Old World bird: BUSTARD. Foreign to me. Dictionary says BUSTARD came from a blend of French word "bistarde" and "outarde'. Both from Latin "avis tarda", meaning "slow bird". Great BUSTARD.

27A: Of armorial bearings: HERALDIC

30A: Came up: AROSE. Here is A ROSE for you. I also like the clues for ITCHES (47D: Restless desires) and YEN (8D: Desire), don't you?

42A: Balin and Clair: INAS. Yawner! Can you think of something else to clue INAS?

45A: Conventional: ORTHODOX

48A: Rabbits' kin: HARES. And HUTCH (50D: Rabbit residence). I wanted WARREN.

53A: Cigar fan: SMOKER. Yep, Freud is right, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

55A: Gumshoe: TEC. Always thought of Pinkerton seeing this clue. Pinkerton has a very successful Intellectual Property Investigation service in China.

57A: Actress Veronica: HAMEL. Unknown to me. WP says she is in "Hill Street Blues". Oh, I saw Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz) in the picture. Which one is HAMEL? The girl on the last row?

61A: Clean with a bill: PREEN. I am so vain.

62A: Fifth of MV: CCI. Hmm, me, I, myself.

63A: No longer in: PASSE

Down:

1D: Back of a tape: SIDE B

5D: Passengers: RIDERS. Great EASY RIDER clip.

7D: Fervor: ZEAL. I like the Z's in today's puzzle. See also ZETAS (18D: Greek letters).

9D: Champagne cocktail: MIMOSA. Did not know that MIMOSA was invented at Ritz Hotel in 1925.

10D: Without sense: INANELY

22D: Chick of jazz: COREA. This should make Katherine happy.

24D: Over again: ANEW

25D: Card displays: MELDS. No idea. I don't play canasta or any card game.

27D: Little well-furred rotund mammal: HYRAX. Another unknown animal. WP says "From a distance, a HYRAX could be mistaken for a very well-fed rabbit or guinea pig." He looks so cute.

29D: Charlotte or Gary, e.g.: CITY. Clever clue.

33D: Sots: WINOS. So many words to decribe a drunkard.

38D: Org. of Gulbis and Creamer: LPGA. Ah, the prettiest girls in LPGA Tour. Both have dangerous looking dip drives. See this clip.

41D: Movers' partners: SHAKERS

46D: End of a threat: OR ELSE. "?!!"

49D: Passover meal: SEDER. Did not know that SEDER means "order" in Hebrew.

51D: Standing tall: ERECT. Long, ERECT flower stalk.

55D: Cocoyam: TARO. I had no idea that TARO is also called cocoyam. I miss so much the TARO cakes in Guangzhou.

C.C.

Sunday July 13, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: True or False?

24A: True or false?: (TRUE) BLUE AMERICAN

33A: True or false?: A DREAM COME (TRUE)

50A: True or false?: SHOW ONE'S (TRUE) COLOR

66A: True or false?: (FALSE) SENSE OF SECURITY

89A: True or false?: BE (TRUE) TO YOUR SCHOOL

103A: True or false?: SET OF (FALSE) TEETH

115A: True or false?: MAKE (FALSE) PROMISES

3D: True or false?: TO GOO TO BE (TRUE) - Mistake here, should be TOO.

16D: True or false?: (FALSE) IMPRESSION

73D: True or false?: MAKE A (FALSE) START

77D: True or false?: (TRUE) TO ONE'S WORD

So creative a theme concept! Stunning grid (only 68 blocks). I like how LIARS (65D: Perjurers) intersects with one TRUE and one FALSE theme answer.

I went through a very hard time today, esp the "MAKE PROMISES" corner. I simply forgot TOMBA (104D: Italian Olympic skier Alberto), did not know BROGAN (121A: Stout, workman's shoe), and could not figure out what was 118D: Four CDs (MDC). Very cleverly misleading Roman numberal clue.

I burned out Mr. Google today, way too many unknown words for me to handle: MYRRHS, ANNULI, MYNAH, ICHORS, SIAL, MADRAS, HOKKAIDO (91D: Japanese Island. I only knew the Chinese word for for this place. G-8 Summit was held there only 2 days ago), BROGAN, ANCON and several other actor/actress/singer/furniture designer names.

ACROSS:

5A: Painter Degas: EDGAR. He once said "In painting you must give the idea of the TRUE by means of the FALSE". No other words have expressed "Impressionism" more perfectly in my view.

10: Hurries: SCOOTS

16A: Here by the Eiffel Tower: ICI. "You are here" is "Vous êtes ICI" in French.

19A: Clarinet relative: OBOE. KittyB can probably come up with a bunch of OBOE clues.

21A: Hindu mystic writings: TANTRA. Here is the definition: "Any of several books of esoteric doctrine regarding rituals, disciplines, meditation, etc., composed in the form of dialogues between Shiva and his Shakti (wife)", also called "Agama". I vaguely heard about it before. Knew MANTRA though. What's your MANTRA?

22A: Bon __ (witticism): MOT

23A: Mil. group: REGT. And 12D: Maritime spy. grp.: ONI And 52D: College military org.: ROTC. Oh, also 97A: Navy commando: SEAL

26A: Air pressure unit: PSI. Also the penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet (before OMEGA).

29A: Post-dusk: EEN. Needs "in poetry" or "to a poet" in the clue.

30A: Aromatic resins: MYRRHS. Completely foreign to me.

32A: Earthy color: OCHRE. This is the British spelling, isn't it?

36A: Indian seaport: MADRAS. No idea, Wikipedia says MADRAS the city is now called Chennai. Is there another seaport called MADRAS?

38A: Filmmaker Riefenstahl: LENI

40A: Greek portico: STOA

45A: Cabinetmaker Phyfe: DUNCAN. Sorry. I don't know anything about furniture. Can't understand why some of the pieces are worth that much on the "Antique Road Shows".

53A: Broken-bone support: SPLINT. And 48D: Sound of a wet impact: SPLAT. Are you OK with the SPL intersection?

56A: Muffle: SOFTEN

59A: Infamous hotelier Helmsley: LEONA. The "Queen of Mean". What's that lucky dog's name? "Trouble"!

60A: Zeno's birthplace: ELEA

71A: Bitter regret: REMORSE

93A: __-masochism: SADO. That's Caligula's pervert indulgence, isn't it?

95A: Ring-shaped geometric figures: ANNULI. Singular form is ANNULUS, which originated from Latin ānulus. Hmm, interesting root word.

101A: "Five ___ Pieces": EASY. From the movie soundtrack, here is Tammy Wynette "Stand by Your Man".

102A: Slammers: POKEYS. Slang for jails.

110A: Stores for later: SALTS AWAY

119A: State of two of the Quad Cities: IOWA. Davenport & Bettendorf.

122A: Henry James novel, "___ Miller": DAISY. Another unknown. Have you read it before?

126A: Social stratum: CLASS

DOWN:

1D: Part of FDIC: CORP. I wish it were clued as "NYSE listing" to balance OTC (13D: Nasdaq milieu).

2D: Over in Bonn: UBER

4D: Device to regulate spring tension: SET SCREW. It looks like this.

6D: "La ___ Vita:": DOLCE. I've never seen the movie. DOLCE is "sweet" in Italian.

10D: Take the wheel: STEER

11D: "Bette Davis Eyes": CARNES (Kim). No idea. Very nice clip.

14D: Mine vehicles: TRAM CARS

15D: Electronics giant: SANYO. And 88D: Tokyo ta-ta: SAYONARA

17D: Hit on the head: COSH. Did anyone pen in CONK?

18D: Tonsil ending?: ITIS (Medical suffix)

25D: Average: MEDIAL. I wrote down "MEDIAN".

28D: Seven Wonders lighthouse: PHAROS. Or the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

31D: Sandhurst sch.: RMA (Royal Military Academy)

33D: Cornice bracket: ANCON. Not familiar with this architectural term. This illustrates pretty well.

34D: Alamogordo, NM event: A TEST

36D: Dayan or Arens: MOSHE. Know Dayan, the guy with the eye patch. Not Arens.

38D: British sheen: LUSTRE. I like our spelling LUSTER.

42D: Heavy metric weight: TONNE

43D: Sequence of eight: OCTAD. Why is "Sequence of eight"?

45D: Made less dangerous: DEFUSED

46D: Time being: NONCE. For the NONCE. I've never used this phrase in my daily conversation.

58D: Deductive: A PRIORI. Can you give me an example?

67D: Moran and Gray: ERINS. No idea. I pieced it together from the across fills.

68D: Caen's river: ORNE

69D: Soft-drink choice: FANTA. I've never had it before. I am a loyal Pepsi fan.

82D: Dangerous sub: U-BOAT

83D: Talking bird: MYNAH. It can also be spelled as MYHA, MINA, MINAH. Completely unknown to me. She looks very content, satisfied and eager to talk. Dictionary says they are "Any of various starlings of southeast Asia, having bluish-black or dark brown coloration and yellow bills. Certain species, are known for mimicry of human speech."

84D: Paper bets: IOUS. (The clue should be "Paper debts".)

85D: Discharges from wounds: ICHORS. Ick. Dictionary says it's also "the rarefied fluid said to run in the veins of the gods" in Greek Mythology.

90D: Boxing combination: ONE TWO

94D: 3 on the phone: DEF

100D: Cross back over: RESPAN. I dislike both the clue and the answer.

102D: Cline and Kensit: PATSYS. Sigh! No, they are total strangers to me.

110D: Light, granite rock: SIAL. Another new geological term to me. It's "the assemblage of rocks, rich in silica and alumina, that comprise the continental portions of the upper layer of the earth's crust".

111D: Polo goal?: ASIA. Marco Polo. Good clue.

113D: Swerves off course: YAWS

C.C.

Saturday July 12, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself..."

1A: "American Woman" band: GUESS WHO

24A: "Snow White" dwarf: HAPPY

27A: Minute fraction: SIXTIETH

41A: Info. needed by an astrologer: BIRTHDAY

43A: Great Gretzky: WAYNE

60A: "Moon River" singer: WILLIAMS

Happy Birthday, Mr. Editor! May you have many many more years of good HEALTH (42D: Fine fettle) and happiness!

For those who are new to this blog, our TMS crossword editor, Mr. Wayne R. William often HIDES ( Stashes away) behind this alias name Willy A. Wiseman (an anagram of "i.e. Wayne Williams"). He did bravely show his true identity once on the tough "Quad Cities" puzzle last month.

I wish GORE (1D: Piece with a horn) were clued as Al GORE related, it would pair nicely with ELECTION DAY (11D: November date). The clue for NORM (52D: Avg.) should not have been abbreviated. And the clue for ORS (8D: Surgery rms) is screaming for editing, how can you have "Rooms" in both the clue and answer? Very inapt. "Surgery ctrs" would just be fine.

ACROSS:

9A: Breakfast choice: OMELET. Perfectly cooked.

15A: Broadcasting: ON THE AIR. Not "ON AIR"? What's the difference between the two?

16A: Small traveling bag: VALISE

17A: Jagger's partner: RICHARDS (Keith). How he could climb over a coconut tree is beyond me.

18A: Puts up: ERECTS. I've never seen the noun form of ERECT clued in a puzzle, have you?

21A: Chirping insect: CRICKET. Wasn't Buddy Holly a CRICKET?

22A: Give guff to: SASS

32A: Sweet, thick liqueur: CRÈME. Here is some CRÈME brûlée for you, Mr. Williams.

34A: Eye defect: suff.: OPIA. Myopia for example.

35A: Conrad or Barbara: BAIN. Big stumper here. I know neither of them.

36A: More mature: RIPER. Very nice anchor for the puzzle!

40A: Two times CCLVII: DXIV. And 56D: Twenty percent of DXXX: CVI. Can you think of better clues for these 2 answers?

44A: Canine command: HEEL

45A: Validate: OKAY. I like how OKAY parallels with BAN (50A: Interdiction).

47A: Object of a computer instruction: OPERAND

54A: Spring back: RESILE. I've never used this verb before. I suppose that's how we get "Resilient".

55A: Meat choice: PORK CHOP

57A: Plant unions: GRAFTS. I was actually thinking of the workers' unions in those manufacturing plants.

58A: Soothing plant juice: ALOE VERA. The juice does not look soothing to me. So sticky.

DOWN:

2D: Les Etats- ___: UNIS

3D: Customary extras, briefly: ETCS

5D: St. Lawrence, e.g.: SEAWAY. New to me. I only knew St. Lawrence the river.

9D: Tax: OVEREXERT. I like how it intersects REST (23A: What's left).

10D: Poughkeepsie college: MARIST. New to me. I only know VASSAR, which is also based in Poughkeepsie.

12D: Guitar run: LICK. New term to me.

21D: Black Sea peninsula: CRIMEA

22D: Wastrel: SPENDTHRIFT

24D: Beloved in Arabic: HABIB. It's a mysterious word to me. I've never seen it before. Chinese characters for "beloved" are : 心爱的人.

25D: Chinese adders: ABACI. Headache, headache. I really struggled with ABACI in my elementary arithmetics studies.

26D: One who works at a trade: PLIER. I don't under this clue. What is "works at a trade"?

27D:Indian soldier: SEPOY. Another new word to me. Dictionary defines SEPOY as "an indigenous soldier serving in the army of a foreign conqueror, especially an Indian soldier serving under British command in India."

28D: Strong glue: EPOXY

29D: Advertising gimmick: TIE IN. I really like McDonald's Madame Alexander Happy Meal mini-dolls, so cute. Look at this set of "The Wizard of Oz". The "wicked witch of the west" was very hard to get.

30D: Make two: HALVE. I was thinking of "DOUBLE".

32D: Raw state: CRUDENESS

33D: Blue and funny: RIBALD

43D: Rotary engine name: WANKEL. No idea. It's named after Felix WANKEL, the German inventor.

45D: Ancient Greek coins: OBOLI. Or OBOLS. Dictionary says that OBOLUS (plural is also OBOLI) is "a modern Greek unit of weight equal to 0.1 gram". Does it mean that OBOLI can be ancient and modern in the same time? So confusing.

46D: Pope John Paul II's first name: KAROL (Józef Wojtyła). Another unknown. He was always Pope John Paul II to me. Pope Benedict's original name is Joseph Alois Ratzinger. He is such a brilliant writer.

47D: Bacchanal: ORGY. Just learned this morning that the original wild bacchanalia was attended only by women. The admission to the mysterious rites was extended to men only later on.

48D: Nevertheless, in Napoli: PERÒ. In Spanish, it's PERO. Italian and Spanish are so similar.

51D: Mother of Hera: RHEA

C.C.

Sunday, April 6, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: FULL CALENDAR (Pls let me know if you spot any mistake)

110A: Kevin Kline movie, with "The": JANUARY MAN

89A: Groundhog Day: FEBRUARY SECOND

1A: Step in step: MARCH

33D: Annual fall: APRIL SHOWERS

129A: Chicken Itza man: MAYAN

57A: Followup to 33D: JUNE WEDDING

23A: Summer holiday: JULY FOURTH

44D: "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" playwright: AUGUST WILSON

110A: 1980 Neil Diamond hit: SEPTEMBER MORN

79A: German-American celebration: OCTOBER FEST

48A: Walt Whitman work: NOVEMBER BOUGHS

29A: Spring Byington's TV classic: DECEMBER BRIDE

First of all, I love Sade the beautiful singer, not Sade the sadistic writer. I don't enjoy being tortured. But I was put through a waterboading this morning. It's excruciating! I am certain that some of you will breeze through the puzzle without encountering any bad weather. But for me, it was a stormy and turbulent sailing experience. Oodles of unknown terms like OLEIC, ELASTIN, TETRYL, IATRO. Loads of films, songs, singers, playwright I've never heard of. In fact, I don't remember I've ever spent such an unendurably long time flirting with Google. Painful!

Maybe I should not try Sunday puzzle. It frustrates me and robs me of the precious confidence I've built up during the weekdays. The amount of new information is simply too overwhelming.

I was flustered and paralyzed from the very beginning 1D: Fastfood position (McJOB). I've never, ever heard of this slang. I guess I could've taken a wild stab if 18A: SHANKS (CRURA) was an easily obtainable answer. Alas, it was formidably flinty. I pictured all kinds of shanks in my brain, including the shank shot that hit my right ankle by a stupid golfer. Ouch! Could not think of anything, so I limped away.

I actually figured out the theme very quickly, immediately after I got Y from 4D: Shed Tears (CRY). That enabled me to fill in the beginning MONTH part a few long across theme entries. But, what followed the months (Jan, Sept, Nov. & Dec, Nov) were impenetrable. The down clues were of no help, in fact, they only added to my miseries.

Besides, I self-inflicted myself with some near-fatal wounds. Take 66A: Manufactured baloney? (LIED) for example. I was hellbent to fill in LIES. I wanted a noun and I would not consider any other choice. Then 43D (Mathematical figures of earth) became GEOISS. I checked all the dictionary sources, and could not find any evidence to validate my fill. However, I convinced myself somehow that GEOISS was correct. I thought it was probably another made-up ATIP word by Wiseman (asa as our Editor Williams). So I decided to hammer in this last nail GEOISS on the puzzle and call it a success. Only realized that I was wrong when I tried to type in LIED for the blog entry. Stupid!

Now looking back at this puzzle, it is pretty elegant. It's not an easy task to pull off these 12-month feat in one grid. My only gripe is about the lower right corner. LEMAY (107D) and MAYAN (129A) should not have crossed each other that way. It looks very awkward to me. Besides, the month MAY could've been constructed as an independent entry (just like every other month) rather than embedded in another word.

Some of today's clues are very clever, esp those with question marks. The best is 100A: Roman Crowd?: III (Roman number three. Two's a company, Three's a crowd). Very refreshing.

Grid (21*21): Total letters filled: 369. Total blank squares: 72

Across entries:

6A: Ancient Greek portico: STOA. Plural can be STOAS, or STOAE. OK, Ancient Greek Mall: AGORA, AGORAE. Ancient Greek concert hall: ODEUM, ODEUMS or ODEA.

10A: Bub: FELLA

15A: Lowly NCO: CPL (Corporal)

18A: Shanks: CRURA. Singular form is CRUS.

19A: Greek crosses: TAUS. Greek letter T.

20A: Trojan War epic: ILIAD

21A: American Omegas: ZEES. Omega is the last letter of Greek alphabet.

25A: Stallone persona: RAMBO

26A: Asian inland sea: ARAL. Saw it clued as "Shrinking Asian Sea" before.

27A: Eng. honor: OBE (Order of British Empire). Thought Tina Brown received an OBE. Wrong. She received a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire), which is higher than OBE.

32A: Theda of silents: BARA. Not familiar with this name. Interesting, Wikipedia says her name is an anagram of "Arab Death". No wonder she was cast as "Cleopatra".

34A: Sparta site: LACONIA

37A: Like a little Glaswegian: WEE. How so? Doesn't Wee also mean "a little bit" in American English?.

38A: Fraction of a rupee: PAISA. Well, I suppose if you are from Indian or Pakistan, this is a gimme for you. I have no idea.

40A: Pass slowly: DRAG

43A: "I Can't Make You Love Me" singer: RAITT. Not familiar with the song.

45A: Actor McGavin: DARREN. Nope. Another stranger.

53A: Acid in soap: OLEIC. No idea. Totally beyond my ken.

55A: Pigeon talk: COOING. Could've, should've got this one, but I did not. I was thinking a real noun, not a fake ING verb-noun.

56A: Window part: SILL. Put PANE first of course.

60A: Various functions: USES

64A: Collected: AMASSED. 2 other SS in today's puzzle: UMASS, PUSS.

66A: Manufactured baloney?: LIED. Couldn't believe that I was snagged here for so long.

67A: Refuges: ASYLA. Plural of Asylum. An insanely difficult answer for a simple clue.

68A: 1977-to-2005 Missouri congressman: GEPHARDT (Dick). Shouldn't the c in Congressman should be capitalized? Or is it just another Obama Democrat/democrat thing? My husband likes Gephardt a lot. Me, lukewarm toward him.

70A: Lively dance: JIG

71A: Ghostly: SPECTRAL

74A: CNN correspondent David: ENSOR. I tend to confuse him with Jamie McIntyre (CNN Pentagon reporter). They don't even look alike.

75A: Coup d'_: ETAT. I want Zimbabwe army to have a Coup d'ETAT, NOW. Mugabe has to go.

77A: Remove snarls: UNTWIST. Sounds good to me, though I've never used this word before.

78A: Goulash or slumgullion: STEW. Slumgullion sounds so unappealing to me. Slum...

84A: Former Peruvian currency: INTI. The insanity goes on! Had_ _ _ I sitting there for over 30 minutes.

85A: Slope of a rampart: ESCARP. Nope. It's "a steep artificial slope in front of a fortification''.. Derived from French "escarper" (to cut).

87A: St. Louis bridge: EADS. Vaguely heard of it.

88A: City in Scotland or Illinois: ELGIN

94A: Barrymore film, "__ Lupin": ARSÈNE. No idea.

95A: New England sch. UMASS (University of Massachusetts)

96A: Vega's constellation: LYRA

97A: Medical: pref.: IATRO. Big stumper for me. I have IATROPHOBIA. I am skeptical of most of the doctors who try to foist new medicines/procedures on patients. US Health Care system, in Dennis' military term, is totally FUBAR (Fouled up beyond all recognition). Oh, by the way, "Iatro" is a Greek word, meaning physician. Here is an example: IATROGENIC: "a disease or problem caused, or made worse by a physician, surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures."

99A: Snoop: SPY

103A: Graphite removers: ERASERS

106A: Workers' rights. grp.: NLRB (National Labor Relations Board)

114A: Ref. set: OED (Oxford English Dictionary)

117A: Switch addition?: EROO (Switcheroo).

118A: Very, in music: ASSAI. Allegro assai is very quick.

122A: Alphabetize: SORT

124A: Saucers without cups?: UFOS. Good clue too.

125A: Noted violin maker: AMATI. Or STRAD (AMATI's student)

127A: Insinuating: SNIDE

128A: Stock shade: NUDE

Down clues:

1D: Fastfood position: McJOB. Slang for "a low-paying, low-prestige job that requires few skills and offers very little chance of intracompany advancement". Is it a gimme for you?

2D: Orangjestad's land: ARUBA

3D: Sovereign: RULER

5D: Weapon handle: HAFT

6D: Buddhist shrines: STUPAS. Did not know this word. I only knew PAGODAS. What's the difference between these two? (Update from drdad: Stupa is a mound like structure containing relics of Guatama Buddha (founder of Buddhism). Pagoda is a tiered tower found in may parts of Asia and also commonly dealing with Buddhism. I guess the mound vs. the tower is the key.)

8D: Better: OUTDO

10D: Gun: FIREARM

11D: NFL kicker Jason: ELAM

12D: Tree branch: LIMB

13D: Tag: LABEL

15D: Russian ruler: CZAR. No!! It's "Former Russian ruler". Right now, Putin is the man, as he has been since 1999, at least, until May 2008. Secondly, there should be a "Variant" mark besides the clue, as TSAR is more common.

16D: Hairpiece: PERIWIG

17D: "He __ me beside the still waters": LEADETH

24D: Singer K. T. __: OSLIN. Nope, no memory of this singer at all. Here is more information about her.

30D: Killing: suff: CIDE (Homicide, e. g.)

35D: Religious law: CANON

39D: NRC forerunner: AEC (Atomic Energy Commission). NRC is Nuclear Regulatory Commison.

41D: First letters: ABCDE

42D: Mathematical figures of Earth: GEOIDS. Another stumper. It's "an imaginary surface that coincides with mean sea level in the ocean and its extension through the continents.". "Geo" is earth earth obviously, "oid" means "like", as in ellipsoid. Factoid has the same root I think. OK, so the adjective for "Geoid" is a "Geoidal".

45D: Medicinal quantities: DOSAGES

46D: Sustenance: ALIMENT. A new word for me. But ALIMENT looks like something stunting rather than nourishing. Maybe because of AILMENT? Spelling is almost the same.

47D: Blackslide: RELAPSE. So easy to go astray in life.

51D: Silver or Wood: RON. I made a blind-squirrel guess and RON happened to the right acorn.

52D: Expansive: BIG

54D: Melville novel: "Billy __": BUDD

57D: O. T. book: JER (Jeremiah)

58D: High society: ELITE. I like of like "High Society" the movie. It's the only Bing Crosby work I've seen.

61D: Shot putter?: SYRINGE. Another stumper. I misread the clue as "Short Putter"?. So I was walking on the green of "Yip" and "Gimme", all those golf terms. When I realized it's "Shot", I marveled at the cleverness of the clue. Hope you did not go to the "Shot Put" the athletics term. But you doctor/nurse INJECTS shot, NOT puts shot into your body, don't they?

62D: Ligament substance: ELASTIN. No idea. It's " a protein constituting the basic substance of elastic tissue.".

63D: Type of cracker: SALTINE

65D: Patriotic men's org: SAR (Sons of the American Revolution). DAR is Daughters of American Revolution.

67D: Do one's part?: ACT. Act one's role. In fact, the clue is sufficient without the question mark, don't you agree?

69D: Detonator stuff: TETRYL. No idea. I was exploded at this point of my solving. The suffix "YL" looks so crazy. Oh, "yl" is a suffix used to "form the chemical names of organic compounds when they are radicals (parts of larger compounds), such as ethyl and phenyl." Who cares!

70D: Straight punch: JAB

72D: Mug or kisser: PUSS

73D: Tolkien tree: ENT. Tolkien baddie is ORC. That's all I know. Somehow "Lord of the Ring" has never caught my fancy.

76D: Electrocuted elephant: TOPSY. Was not aware of this event. A bit disturbing to me.

79D: Andean tuber: OCA. It looks like this.

82D: Wind machine: FAN. Should have a question mark after this clue I think.

83D: Jockey Arcaro: EDDIE. The Master of Triple Crown!

86D: "Calvin and Hobbes" girl: SUSIE. Another stranger. But it's inferable.

89D: Botherations: FUSSES. Does the word "bothers" bother you, Editor? Why bent so far for "Botherations"?

90D: Kind of penguin: EMPEROR

91D: Long Island hamlet: BAYPORT

92D: Recluse: EREMITE

93D: Dear Italian: CARO. OK, so it's "Dear" in Italian: mia caro, mia cara. Same with French mon chéri, ma chérie. Want to learn a bit Chinese? It's "Qin Ai De" ("亲爱的"). And it does not have femininity or masculinity difference.

101D: Mosque officials: IMAMS. I tend to confuse Somalia Supermodel IMAN with this IMAM.

102D: "Peer Gynt" dramatist: IBSEN. Got it this time.

104D: Indian golfer Atwal: ARJUN. Nope, not familiar with him. He spent way too long at the Asian/European Tour I suppose.

105D: Military muddle: SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fouled UP). This word brings smile to my face. I remember I was very shocked when Dennis first explained the sanitized version of SNAFU on a March puzzle.

107D: Wallace's 1968 running mate: LeMAY (Curtis). A total stranger to me. But who can remember a vice presidential candidate's name? LeMay, hmm, not a familiar surname to me at all. He had to have some French heritage I suppose.

108D: Rodeo rope: REATA

109D: Nigeria's neighbor: BENIN. Porto Novo is Benin's Capital. I don't think any other Capital City in this world has 4 Os in its name.

112D: Actor Morales: ESAI. Enough said about this NYPD Blues guy.

114D: "Atlas Shrugged" author: RAND (Ayn). That's why it's so hard to parse what on earth Greenspan tried to say. He was way too influenced by RAND. So was Mark Cuban, who had a crush on Rand and her "The Fountainhead".

115D: Whiskey shot: DRAM

120D: Land of sleep: NOD. Land of NOD, the "mythical land of sleep".

121D: Singer Sumac: YMA.

C.C.

Thursday, March 20, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: "CHICAGO"

20A: Local poet: CARL SANDBURG

32A: Start of a local sobriquet: CITY OF THE

40A: Part 2 of sobriquet: BIG

43A: End of a sobriquet: SHOULDERS

58A: Local collection: CHICAGO POEMS

First of all, define "local", am I supposed to call a dead Chicago poet as a hometown boy? This puzzle is tailor-made for the Chicago Tribune readers, not for us, Mr. who-cares-what-you-think Editor, you should have done some basic editing before you release it to our syndication papers.

I fought hard with every breath I took for this damned puzzle, and got absolutely no satisfaction after I was done with it, so irked by the unfairness of the clues.

You know what's shocking? I actually breezed through the ever-intimidating upper left corner today without any problem. And I nailed the lower left corner easily. But all the other areas are blanketed with "could be this, could be that" clues. I experienced tremendous difficulties committing answers to quite a few seemingly easy clues.

However, I do love how MOOLA parallels DINAR, and I appreciate the symmetry of LOBAR & INCUS. Nicely balanced. At least, you know the constructor put some thoughts into his work. And there is no obscure actor, or actress, or composer to frustrate me. So, that's good.

I also noticed three Middle East words appear in today's puzzle: UAR, DINAR, EILAT & two Japanese words: SAN & KOBE.

OK, without further ado, here we go:

4A: Fishhook features: BARBS. I enjoy every cutting barb Maureen Daud throws at Hillary.

9A: Wounded by a wasp: STUNG. Why do I have this intense interest in Client No. 9 and his collapse? I guess I am just worried that he might not be an exception but a norm in the upper echelons of our government. He just happened to be caught.

14A: Gun it in neutral: REV. Saw it before, never knew why. Here is Dick's explanation: "The speed of an engine is often defined as revolutions per minute thus the slang REV for speeding up the engine."

15A: Yep!: UH HUH. For a non-native speaker, these simple Uh Uh, Uh-Huh, Uh-Oh can be quite tough to grasp.

16A: Part of the plan: PHASE

17A: Dander: IRE I did not know the meaning of Dander, hence could not get the answer.

18A: Crystal-lined rock: GEODE. Saw it before.

19A: Distinctive atmosphere:s AURAE. The plural form could also be AURAS.

24A: Purify sea water: DESALT

30A: Team charm: MASCOT. I like those old college bobbleheads, 1960s, awesome.

38A: Honshu port: KOBE. Kobe beef is a luxury. Tongue in Kobe is Ichiro (Seattle Mariners)'s favorite food.

39A: Handlelike parts: ANSAE. ANSA is Latin for handle. Another interesting plural form.

41A: Israeli seaport: EILAT. Be careful with this word, as it could be also spelled as ELATH. But I am obsessed with HAIFA. Always want to fill in HAIFA whenever I see an Israeli port clue.

45A: Execrable: CURSED. I did not know the meaning of "Execrable".

49A: Forerunner of the CIA: OSS (Office of Strategic Services). Another repeat offender. But I will let you loose, do not have time to imprison every one of your fame-craved hag.

50A: Wayside shelter: SPITAL. Shelter on a highway. Never heard of it.

60A: Smackers: MOOLA. Have never heard of smackers being slangily used to mean money.

63A: Life and toss: HEAVE. I heaved several heavy groans of hopelessness over this puzzle.

65A: Kuwaiti cash: DINAR. Also the money unit in Iraq, Jordon, Libya, Bahrain, and a few other Middle East countries. Does "Dinar" mean Dollar in Arabic language, anyone?

66A: NYC theater awards: OBIES. Vacillated between TONYS and OBIES until AGAIN revealed itself.

68A: Heavy tread: CLOMP. Clump. Which is more commonly used?

69A: Last movement of sonata: RONDO. It escaped my mind this morning. It's "a work or movement, often the last movement of a sonata, having one principal subject that is stated at least three times in the same key and to which return is made after the introduction of each subordinate theme."

70A: Japanese honorific: SAN. I found out that San is also "a member of a nomadic, racially distinct, short-statured people of southern Africa." or river in Central Europe.

Down entries:

1D: Writer Jong: ERICA. The Fear of Fly author. Never read her books.

4D: Cartoon Bunny: BUGS

5D: Leading: AHEAD OF. I saw AHEAD clued as Leading often. I don't know, shouldn't the clue be reinforced by a preposition also? Or are you guys OK with the clue?

6D: European River: RHONE. Rhone originates from Alps in Switzerland and flows south into the Mediterranean through SE France. Rhine also originates from Alps, but it flows north into North Sea (through Germany and the Netherlands).

7D: Billy and Zola: BUDDS. Here is Zola BUDD the Track & Field sensation, here is Billy BUDD the novela by Herman Melville. I was not acquainted with either of them.

8D: Biblical land: SHEBA. I put SINAI.

9D: Laconian city: SPARTA. Nope. No idea.

11D: Egy.-Syr., once: UAR (United Arab Republic). Gimme for me. Nasser signed the treaty. UAE is United Arab Emirates which consists of Abu Dhabi, Dubai and 5 other states. We have a fellow TMS puzzle solver there in UAE. Hi.

12D: Govt. advisory grp.: NSA (National Security Agency). The eavesdropping agency. This is their insignia which consists of "a bald eagle facing its right, grasping a key in its talons, representing NSA's clutch on security as well as the mission to protect and gain access to secrets." I gather you do not abbreviate National Security Adviser as NSA?

13D: Turn right! GEE. Turn left: HAW

21D: Tripoli populace: LIBYANS. Remember Tripoli is also a seaport in Lebanon.

26D: Of the lungs: LOBAR

31D: Hit the road: SKIDDOO. Not familiar with this slang.

32D: Portland's bay: CASCO. No idea. (Update later: Casco Bay in Portland, Maine)

33D: Ear bone: INCUS. Nope.

34D: Winter Palace rulers: TSARS.

35D: One of Ted's stations: TBS. Does Turner still own this station? I thought he sold his shares of Time Warner long time ago.

36D: Royal address, in brief: HIH (His Imperial Highness; Her Imperial Highness.). I put HRM (Her Royal Majesty).

37D: Psyche part: EGO. Somehow I put ESP here earlier. I must be thinking of the Psychic.

44D: Lonely: UNLOVED. How can "not loved" become "lonely?". "Lonely" means lack of companionship. An army wife might be lonely when her husband leaves her and risks his life in Iraq, but she is not "unloved", isn't she? Did I miss something here?

46D: Also known as F.: E SHARP

47D: Printer letters: DPI (dots per inch)

51D: God's blood: ICHOR. No idea. It's "an ethereal fluid flowing in the veins of the gods." Greek mythology.

52D: Billy Blanks workout: TAE BO. Did not know who was Billy Blanks, and had no idea what was Tae Bo.

55D: clobbers: BELTS. Did not know that Belt could mean "hard blow".

56D: Missouri River port: OMAHA. Only know Omaha, NE. I have an autographed photo of the Oracle of Omaha (Warren Buffett).

60D: Sixteen hundred: MDC. Hmm. Who said "Can't wait til the roman numerals rear their ugly heads'' yesterday? Ha ha.

61D: Tin Man's cure-all: OIL. The Wizard of Oz, who does not like it?

62D: Lennon's Yoko: ONO. Wonder what Yoko is thinking of the $48 million Heather mills milked from Paul McCartney.

It's still dark outside now. And we are on the fringe of another several inches of snow. Please come quickly Spring! Bring me your warm sunshine and the sweet scent of freshly cut grass.

C. C.

Friday, Feb 22, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: Familiar Phrases starting B_T, the vowels are in A-E-I-O-U order.

17A: Swimsuit models: BATHING BEAUTIES

23A: Intuitive Reading?: BETWEEN THE LINES

40A: Facing misfortune bravely: BITING THE BULLET

53A: Ace place?: BOTTOM OF THE DECK

61A: Shut up: BUTTONED ONE'S LIP

A few things to say before I start today's puzzle:

1) On Feb 3 Sunday Arlan and Linda Bushman puzzle, the answer for 86D: Brace or Span is TWO. Can anyone please explain to me why? (Update: Thanks to Joey and Dennis, now I know that brace/span means a pair, as in a span of horses, a brace of dogs. I hope Curt of Palm Beach Post is reading this).

2) On yesterday's puzzle, the answer for 44D: Upstate NY School is RPI. I thought you would be interested to know that that young guy Tyler Hinman, who won the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament the last three years, graduated from RPI. I have to thank Orange for providing me with this information.

By the way, tonight, both Orange and Tyler will be on the Nick Digilio Show (Chicago WGN 720AM). There is supposed to be "Listen Now!" button on their website. Go there if you have time, maybe you can glean a few wisdom from these 2 ace solvers.

3) If you have not watched the movie Wordplay, please put it on your Netflix queue. Can you believe that someone can finish one puzzle in a little over 2 minutes? That's insane.

OK, back to today's puzzle. I breezed through the upper left corner and the middle left section, and spotted the B_T pattern fairly quickly, which allowed me to sweep through the gut part and the lower left corner of the puzzle. Bubba Watson (23D: Watson of golf) might stump some of you, but it's a gimme for most of the golf fans (me included). This guy is crazy in his tee shots (longest drive: 398 yards).

But then I was bogged down on the upper right part of the puzzle. It's a nightmare for me. I did not know what to fill for 15A: Judith or Dana (IVEY), all that came to my mind was a picture of Dana Milbank of Washington Post appearing on MSNBC discussing Judith Miller's CIA leak case. I really had no idea who was Mohammed's favorite wife (AYESHA), I did not even know that he was married. This is a bit disturbing, I found out that he married this girl when she was only 6-year-old.

For your information, today's constructor Mr. Wiseman also gave us the golf themed Bogey-Par-Birdie-Eagle puzzle on Jan. 25 Friday and the broken heart puzzle on Sunday Feb 10.

Here are the across entries:

1A: Somewhat wet: DAMP

5A: Poet Teasdale: SARA. Have you read her poem "I shall not care"?

9A: Tibetan capital: LHASA. Also known as the real Forbidden City.

15A: Judith or Dana: IVEY. Both are actresses. Generally I suck at movie stars names, esp if they are old.

16A: 2nd-year coeds: SOPHS (Sophomores)

17A: Swimsuit models: BATHING BEAUTIES. For a moment, I thought all the theme entries will be alliterations.

20A: Math branch: ALG

29A: Ms. Thurman: UMA. Kill Bill.

30A: Take a load of: SIT

31A: Cuckoopint: ARUM. Learned this word a few weeks ago.

32A: Rope fiber: BAST

34A: Part of Can.: NWT (Northwest Territory)

44A: Coeur d'___, ID: ALENE

45A: River in Devon: EXE. Another river in England. I got it from the down clues.

47A: End of demo: CRAT (as in Democrat)

52A: Meas. across: DIA (Diameter)

60A: "__ Gotta Be Me": I'VE. Sammy Davis Jr. Song. Sorry about the mistake earlier. Buddy Holly song is "I've Got to be me". I put "It's" first, thinking of the "It's Gonna be me" by 'N Sync.

68A: Satellite of Jupiter: ELARA. Mr. Wiseman used the exact clue for his last puzzle.

69A: Squat down: DUCK

70A: Philosopher Immanuel: KANT. His idea is too abstract for me. I love the concept of "Dare to Know" though.

71A: Letter flourish: SERIF

72A: Makes up one's mind: OPTS

73A: Word before jerk or water: SODA

Down entries:

1D: Localize the soundtrack: DUB

2D: Candler or Gray: ASA. Candler is the Coca Cola guy (Candler's Park in Atlanta). ASA is often clued as the botanist Gray.

4D: Pish!: PSHAW!

5D: Scorching superficially: SINGEING

6D: Part of GPA: AVG (Average)

6D: Attempt to disprove: REBUT

8D: Mohammed's favorite wife: AYESHA. Wikipedia shows that it can also be spelled as A'isha. Does anyone know how many wives Mohammed had?

9D: Baton Rouge sch.: LSU (Louisiana State University, Shaq O'Neal's alma mater).

11D: Concerning bees: APIAN

12D: Sex researcher Hite: SHERE. Never heard of her. Kinsey is the only name that came to my mind.

13D: Nincompoops: ASSES

18D: French islands: ILES

19D: Computer brand: ACER. I put Dell first. Acer is a huge electronic manufacturer based in Taiwan. In fact, it's the third largest PC producer in the world, after HP and Dell.

23D: Watson of golf: BUBBA. He tied for 5th in last year's US Open I think. I love Tom Watson of the Sr. PGA Tour a lot.

25D: Discernment: TASTE

26D: Contents abbreviation: NT WT (Net Weight)

27D: Maui feast: LUAU

28D: Hint at: IMPLY

33D: Add color to: TINCT

37D: Slip away from: ELUDE

38D: Old treasure: RELIC

41D: Actor Franco: NERO. Italian actor. Never heard of him before. Heard of James Franco though.

43D: Remembers, once: BETHINKS

48D: God of Thebes: AMON. Also spelled as Amen, an Egytian God, represented as a man with a ram's head. Thebes is an ancient city in Egypt.

49D: Ohio city: TOLEDO

51D: Golfer Ballesteros: SEVE. This guy can chip! He is a golf genius.

53D: "___ in Toyland": BABES. A band formed here in Minnesota.

54D: Early-stage seed: OVULE

55D: Crimean man: TATAR

56D: Sick and tired: FED UP

62D: Dent or corn starter: TRI (Trident and Tricorn)

63D: Clumsy fellow: OAF

64D: 10 of calendars: OCT

65D: Thai ethnic group: LAO. I bet this is a gimme for my blog reader Alan in Thailand.

66D: Ky.neighbor: IND

67D: School org: PTA: This has to go to the Repeat Offender list.

C.C.

Sunday, Feb 10, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: Broken Hearts (with the word "heart" embedded in the phrases, but broken into pieces)

23A: "Arrangement in Black and Gray No 1:_": The Artist's Mother
44A: Some sculptures: Papier Mache Art
70A: Be induced: Hear the call
93A: Certain Native American item of value: Apache Artifact
120A: Antique Gallic hearing aid: French ear trumpet.
17D: Warm browns: Rich earthtones
52D: Succeed at eavesdropping: Overhear things

An early Valentine's gift for us, thank you editor, whoever you are. I decided not to whine today. Soldiers never complain.

Here are some keys:

Across:

1A: Candle wax: PARAFFIN. I am currently obsessed with bee wax product.

9A: Green clusters: LEAFAGE

16A: Scottish hillside: BRAE. Scottish word for "hill".

20A: Australian city: ADELAIDE. Capital of the State of South Australia.

21A: Formula math: ALGEBRA

22A: Enunciation problem: LISP

23A: "Arrangement in Black and Gray No 1:_": The Artist's Mother. Also known as Whistler's Mother.

29A: "Over there" composer: COHAN (George)

30A: Product to mine: ORE

31A: Prescribing medicine: DOSING

35A: Variety of corundum: EMERY

36A: Silk-fiber binder: SERICIN , "viscous gelatinous protein that forms on the surface of raw-silk fibers." Never heard of this word.

39A: Mil. address: APO (Army & Air Force Post Office)

44A: Some sculptures: Papier Mache Art. Lots of old dolls are made of Papier Mache.

49A: Doc in training: RES (Resident)

50A: German toast: PROSIT. Remember the "L'chaim and Prosit" clue for Toast on Friday?

54A: Russian chess champion: TAL (Mikhai).

55A: Once, once: ERST

57A: Stable staffers: LIVERY MEN.

59A: Indonesian island: JAVA

60A: For example: SUCH AS

64A: S. American tuber: OCA. It looks like this. Has anyone had it before? Is it good?

65A: Southwest desert: SONORA

67A: Taiwan Strait islands: MATSU

68A: Word after Scotland: YARD. British Police Force.

70A: Be induced: HEAR THE CALL.

74A: Deck off. BOSN (BOATSWAIN)

75A: For a specific purpose: AD HOC

77A: Backs of boats: STERNS

78A: Memory unit: BIT

80A: Beat follower: NIK

81A: See-through curtains: SHEERS

83A: Art colony in New Mexico: TAOS

84A: Sea-scented air: SEA BREEZE

87A: Beginning on: AS OF

88A: Yuck!: ICK

89A: Explode: POP

90A: China's Sun___: YAT-SEN

91A: 90 degrees from vert: HOR (Horizontal)

93A: Certain Native American item of value: APACHE ARTIFACT

99A: "__ Gracias": DEO. Thanks be to God.

100A: Star in Scorpio: ANTARES

104A: Iranian religion: BAHA'I. Never heard of it. Most of the Iranians are Shias I think. Read more if you are interested in it. I have no curiosity for this faith.

106A: Die dot: PIP

109A: Fragrances: SCENTS

110A: 1964 A. L. Rookie of the Year: OLIVA (Tony). He should be in Hall of Fame. Those baseball writers/voters are deaf and blind. OK, Maybe I am too harsh, but some of them indeed are oblivious to what Oliva has achieved.

116A: Actress Arden: EVE

117A: Glossed term: LEMMA

119A: Cows: KINE. Such a weird plural form.

120A: Antique Gallic hearing aid: FRENCH EAR TRUMPET

124A: M. I. T. grad: ENGR

125A: Responded to a stimulus: REACTED

126A: Reduce by ten percent: DECIMATE

127A: Scottish loch: NESS

128A: City on the Loire: ORLEANS

129A: Desalination byproduct: SEA SALTS.

Down Clues:

1D: Pitifulness: PATHOS

2D: Stick: ADHERE

3D: Jai follower: A LAI

5D: Gambler's card game: FARO

4D: Tailor's concern: FIT

7D: Brutal Amin: IDI

9D: Patronymic: LASTNAME (sorry for the mistake yesterday)

11D: Greek contest: AGON. Here is the definition from dictionary.com: (in ancient Greece) a contest in which prizes were awarded in any of a number of events, as athletics, drama, music, poetry, and painting.

12D: Gala celebrations: FETES

13D: Really hate: ABHOR

14D Caribbean island: GRENADA

15D: Jug handle: EAR

16D: Blossom: BLOOM

17D: Warm browns: RICH EARTHTONES

18D: Fertility goddess: ASTARTE. BAAL is God of Fertility.

19D: Names turned into words: EPONYMS

24D: Mai __ cocktail: TAI

29D: Vitamin brand: CENTRUM. I don't like it, the pills are too big.

31D: Painting in two panels: DIPTYCH. New word to me. Here is how it looks like.

32D: Sailor's grp: ONI (Office of Navy Intelligence)

33D: Coll. student's rating: GPA

37D: __ dixit: IPSE. Latin. He himself said it (an assertion without proof)

40D: Numbers at the pump: OCTANES

42D: Greek god of war: ARES. Mars is the Roman God of War.

46D: Take flight: RUN

47D: Widespread confusion: HAVOC

48D: Satellite of Jupiter: ELARA

50D: Spanish beaches: PLAYAS

51D: Capital of Saudi Arabia: RIYADH. Would you believe I nailed this one?

52D: Succeed at eavesdropping: OVERHEAR THINGS

56D: Wound cover: SCAB

61D: Court session: ASSIZE. Never heard of this word.

62D: Submerged: SUNKEN

63D: Set the rowing pace: STROKED

66D: Jessica of "Dark Angel": ALBA. She is very pretty.

69D: Bunny moms: DOES

71D: Top room: ATTIC

72D: Stretch: REACH

73D: Tripoli populace: LIBYANS. There is also a seaport in Lebanon called Tripoli.

76D: Land of Zagreb: CROATIA.

79D: Flier: TRACT

82D: Letters from Nob Hill cops: SFPD (San Francisco Police Dept)

84D: Bar fly: SOT

85D: Center starter: EPI

86D: Kett of the comics: ETTA

89D: Continues after a pause: PROCEEDS

91D: Sinatra's birthplace: HOBOKEN. I forgot. I actually read Kitty Kelley's His Way a few months ago. Too gossipy.

92D: Like a translucent gemstone: OPALINE

94D: Hopeful one: ASPIRER. Always thought it was Aspirant.

95D: DDE's rival: AES. Can never remember Stevenson's middle name Ewing.

101D: Flutist Jean Pierre: RAMPAL. He is unknown to me.

102D: Clown Kelly: EMMETT. Next time I will remember this tramp clown.

103D: Sudden flows: SPATES

105D: States with conviction: AVERS

107D: Paradigm: IDEAL

108D: Pieces of pounds?: PENCE (plural of penny, British way)

111D: Socially inept losers: NERDS. Bill Gates is a nerd, look at how successful he is. He is a also good bridge player. Oh, he also plays golf. I picture him slicing the ball. I bet he can't hook.

115D: Proceedings? ACTA. I don't understand the answer to the clue. Pls help me here.

117D: San __ Obispo: LUIS

118D: Jane Austen novel: EMMA. I should read this book. I wasted over one hour this morning reading Victoria Beckham's "That Extra Half Inch" while waiting for our newspaper (crossword) to arrive.

123D: Pioneering TV co. RCA

That's all. Pls let me know if you spot any mistake.

Oh, by the way, you can watch Orange (Amy Reynaldo) on Merv Griffin's Crossword show here and here. The quality of Part I is very good, but I had trouble viewing Part II. Read her Feb 7 blog recap should you have time. She is just incredibly talented & efficient.

C. C.

Friday, Jan 25, 2008 Willy A Wiseman

Theme: Golf

20A: Strouse/Adams musical: Bye Bye Birdie
29A: Cooked a bit: Parboiled
45A: "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" bird: Albatross
51A: Hidden advantage: Ace in the Hole
10D: Kiddy Frightener: Bogeyman
38D: Erne: Sea Eagle

I do not see any other theme related words, do you?

I got WEBB for 1D: Golfer Karrie right off the bat. My husband and I follow LPGA closely. I have an autographed card of Webb.

I finished the lower left and right corners quickly, but googled furiously for the middle parts. I also stared at the upper right corner for a long time, unbelievably hard for me.

These are the reasons for the long tanglement there:

9D: Hawks' former arena: OMNI Coliseum. Did not know it. My knowlege of NBA is limited to KG, Yao Ming & the Target Center for the Timberwolves. They are winning now, at least.

13D: Brit. Med. syst.: NHS (National Health Service)

8D: Back of a 45: B SIDE. I was thinking of gun. Now looking back, gun clue would be .45

7D: Frequenter: DENIZEN

24A: Sleep symbol: ZEE. I put REM (Rapid Eye Movement) immediately.

8A: Sewing spool: BOB PIN? Am I wrong here? (update: It should be BOBBIN)

Here are more troubles for me today:

25A: Norse giant: YMIR. The Norse Gods I know are ODIN and THOR. Maybe they are not giants.

40A: "the Rose Tattoo" start: MAGNANI (Anna). She won an Oscar for her performance in this movie.

41A: French City: AMIENS. A city in North France.

44A: Bandleader Xavier: CUGAT. No, no memory of this guy.

65A: Singer O'Connor: SINEAD. She is the singer who torn up a photo of Pope John Paul II, then her career went downhill. I like her "Nothing Compared 2 U".

5D: Energetic ones: LIVE WIRES?

29D: Pulpy refuse: POMACE, new word for me. Dictionary says it's the pulpy residue from apple or other fruits after crushing. See here.

30D: Bad blood: ANIMUS. Heard of this word before. Never used it. Enmity is bad blood too.

C. C.