Friday March 13, 2009 Josiah Breward

Theme: A.A. Group

1A: All confused: AT SEA

17A: Eroticism: APHRODISIA

28A: World of scholars: ACADEMIA

45A: Gardens of trees: ARBORETA

58A: Capital of Ethiopia: ADDIS ABABA

67A: Old World lizard: AGAMA

5D: Loss-of-hair condition: ALOPECIA

11D: Jerry Stiller's wife: ANNE MEARA

35D: Janet Suzman film, "Nicholas and __": ALEXANDRA

40D: Mechanical men: AUTOMATA

I have never heard of that Janet Suzman movie. ALOPECIA & AUTOMATA are complete unknowns to me. I just learned this morning that the plural form of certain Greek ma-ending words end in ta. Like stigma, the plural form is stigmata.

Do you like the theme? I am not enthralled by it at all. Feel bored actually. I counted 35 letter A's in this puzzle. This puzzle by Patrick Berry for NY Times on March 21, 2002 has 69 A's.

Too many ER suffixes for my taste:

47A: Debate participant: ARGUER

26D: Storyteller: RELATOR

27D: Scenery chewer: EMOTER

I've got quite a few "So long" emails from our TMS solvers in the past week. Maybe I did not make my point clear. TMS just decided to stop using Wayne R Williams' TMS Daily puzzle on March 22. We will get LA Times Daily starting on March 23, 2009 Monday. LA Times Daily is part of TMS also. And you can always get LA Times on line if your paper does not carry the puzzle. Just print it out if you prefer solving on paper as I do. Click on Print, then Blank Puzzle, you will get a empty grid with clues on.

I like the small but tight community we've built here. Don't leave. I need your participation to make this crossword corner vibrant.

Across:

14A: Transferred design: DECAL. Bumper sticker is a kind of DECAL, isn't it?

15A: Corridor: HALL. I wonder who first thought of the HALL of Fame idea. It sure sounds better than Corridor of Fame. Was Don Mattingly rude to reporters during his career as Bert Blyleven was? Why isn't he in HOF yet?

19A: Module: UNIT. Always think of NASA's LEM when I see the word "Module".

21A: Shriver of tennis: PAM. Have never heard of this girl. Her facial bone structure does look like Maria Shriver. Wikipedia says they are cousins.

22A: Top berths: UPPERS

24A: Silver server: TEA SET. Have never had any tea served in a silver server before.

26A: Cash in: REDEEM

33A: Hindu mystic: SWAMI. Literally "master" in Sanskrit. Guru is "teacher". Yoga is "union".

38A: Mrs. Fred Flintstone: WILMA. Got her name from down clues. TV characters are definitely my Achilles' heel.

40A: Of the ear: AURAL. Or OTIC.

44A: Singer Ritter: TEX. John Ritter's dad.

53A: Wish bestowers: GENIES. So if you had one wish from a GENIE, what would it be?

64A: Jazz pianist Art: TATUM. No idea. Is he blind?

67A: Old World of lizard: AGAMA. I forgot. His tail is so long.

Down:

3D: Unstressed vowel: SCHWA. The inverted "e", as in the either end of "America". I've never had problem pronouncing SCHWA, it's the vowel in bad/bed, sax/sex that confuses me.

6D: Leveling piece: SHIM. The yellow piece he is trying to insert? It's a new word to me.

8D: Ring king: ALI. Bush gave him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005. Can you believe Marilyn Monroe was a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient also (1952)?

9D: Acclaim: PLAUDIT

25D: Emma of "Dynasty": SAMMS. Barry G's younger day crush.

29D: Vienna's river: DANUBE. Here is the map. Vienna is Wien in German. The river flows from southern Germany into the Black Sea.

42D: Holy war: CRUSADE. The Muslim CRUSADE is Jihad.

50D: Mazda model: MIATA. No idea. I know nothing about sports cars. MIATA means "reward" in old German.

52D: Andes ruminant: LLAMA. Just learned this morning that the gestation period of LLAMA is 11 1/2 months (350 days). And the average gestation period of elephants is 22 months. Poor elephants!

C.C.