Wednesday August 20, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Initial Reactions

20A: F. __: SCOTT FITZGERALD

35A: E.G. ___: MARSHALL

40A: D. H. __: LAWRENCE

53A: T. __: JEFFERSON PARKER

I've never heard of E. G. MARSHALL or T. JEFFERSON PARKER before. I found 35A to be an odd choice since all the other 3 theme entries are all authors.

I thought of T. S. Eliot, A. A. Milne, e. e, cummings, J. D. Salinger, J. R. R. Tolkien & J.K. Rowling earlier, all famous literary names. Of course, we also have O. J. Simpson, J. Edgar Hoover & the crossword stalwart L. Ron Hubbard as non-writer names with intriguing initials. What other interesting names can you think of?

Anyway, I like this puzzle. I like most of the puzzles with 15-letter run-through theme answers. I am very easy to please.

I did not know the meanings of HIC (24A: __ jacet ) and RIGOR (3D: __ mortis). After consulting the dictionary, I don't think I like how these two were clued. Too dark and harsh for my morning. I would prefer a drunk bar-sound choice for HIC and a boot camp experience for RIGOR.

Quite a few obscure words to me today. I took several wild guesses.

Across:

5A: The great unwashed: PLEBS. "The great unwashed" is a new phrase to me. I had no idea that "unwashed" also means the "common folk". I suppose ancient Greeks call ancient Roman PLEBS as "Hoi polloi"?

15A: Isuzu model: RODEO. Not familiar with this model. A risky guess, cowboy style.

17A: Herb of wisdom?: SAGE. "Are you going to Scarborough Fair? Parsley, SAGE, rosemary and thyme. Remember me to one who lives there, she was once a true love of mine...". Do you know why they chose those 4 herbs instead of chives/basil?

18A: Circular gasket: O-RING

26A: French stewlike dish: POT-AU-FEU. Hmm, I am not going to link a POT-AU-FEU picture. Dennis hates it. He hates ASPIC too.

39A: Chills and fever: AGUE. This is Paul's Word of the Day today. He selected it because "Mosquito transmission of malaria discoverned on this day in 1897."

43A: Pleasantly diverted: AMUSED. Are you OK with "diverted"?

46A: Of a benefactor PATRONAL. New adjective to me.

63A: Anklebone: TALUS. The plural is TALI.

Down:

1D: Chase group: POSSE. Why? Does the "Chase" here refer to Chevy Chase?

2D: Bananalike plant: ABACA. No idea. This is a ABACA plant. It does not look like a banana to me.

5D: Benefits: PROFITS

6D: Roman body armor: LORICA. Absolutely no idea. See this LORICA.

8D: Automobile pioneer: BENZ. OLDS did not fit.

9D: Wetter and mushier: SOGGIER. I recklessly sank into MUGGIER.

10D: Dweeb: TWIRP. New word to me.

27D: Brown pigment: UMBER. I only knew AMBER. Dictionary says it's called raw UMBER when used in its natural state, and burnt UMBER when used after heating.

30D: Pivot: SLUE. "Who else would the ultimate cowboy fall in love with than the ultimate cowgirl? That's SLUE-foot Sue all right...". I've never heard of that folklore, have you?

42D: Tell the tale: NARRATE

43D: Metrical foot: ANAPEST. Foreign to me also. I might have seen someone mentioned this term in a comment somewhere before, but I could not recall clearly. Can you give me an ANAPEST example?

44D: Supernatural force: MANA. No idea. A variation of MANNA?

47D: Comes clean: OWNS UP

50D: Cut corners: SKIMP

51D: Gilpin and others: PERIS. Gilpin Again? Too lazy to do more research for a different clue? PERI is also "one of a large group of beautiful, fairylike beings of Persian mythology, represented as descended from fallen angels and excluded from paradise until their penance is accomplished."

53D: Protrudes: JUTS

57D: Like a dipstick: OILY. I kind of like this clue. Very slick!

58D: Perlman of "Cheers": RHEA. I really like her earrings.

C.C.

Tuesday August 19, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: FINE Tunes

20A: Fireball hit: BOTTLE OF WINE

29A: Guns N' Roses hit: SWEET CHILD O'MINE

58A: Johnny Cash hit: I WALK THE LINE

Finally we have a "Tic-tac-toe winner" (13D: XXX)! We've been losing or near-missing on this game for a long time.

Out of those 3 theme entries, I was only familiar with 58A. I liked the movie "WALK THE LINE", and I always associated "BOTTLE OF WINE" with Tom Paxton.

I liked this puzzle, a precious pangram (Thanks for pointing it out Barry). It always made me happy to see my Chinese name initials (ZQ) gridded in one puzzle. There were, of course, a few unknown names/words to me, but most obtainable from the crossing fills. I think I am getting better at making educated guesses.

Two minor flaws:

44A: "The Bronx __": ZOO. Why the quotation mark?

47D: Gray shade: PEWTER. Says who? Where can I find this "Gray shade" definition of PEWTER?

Across:

1A: Basie music: JAZZ. A quick guess. I don't know Count Basie & his Orchestra.

9A: Heat-resistant glass: PYREX. Very interesting brand name. PYR (o)= fire. REX =king. Here are some Fire-King mixing bowls.

14A: Winglike parts: ALAE. Singular is ALA.

16A: China brand: LENOX. So simple, yet so presidential. I wonder when they are going to clue Wedgwood or Noritake, both are great brands.

18A: Maddux or Norman: GREG. Hmm, the Shark attacks again today. This is GREG Maddux's Donruss 1987 rookie card. NM to MT condition. Only $8.00. The only good card in 1987 is probably Barry Bonds' rookie card.

19A: Cromwell's earldom: ESSEX. Thomas Cromwell, first Earl of ESSEX.

25A: Popular place: HOT SPOT

47A: Bombards: PELTS

53A: Annapolis or West Point: ACADEMY. Jon Stewart probably wants ACADEMY to be clued this way.

55A: QVC rival: HSN (Home Shopping Network)

57A: Wash rm.: LAV. I don't like "rm". "W.C." should be perfectly fine.

61A: Pursuit: QUEST. I was confused for a long time over the wrong spelling of the word "Happiness" in Will Smith's "The Pursuit of Happyness". Thank you Melissa.

65A: Part of VMI: INST. Now we are on a VMI binge. Poor MIT. The clue still needs "abbr.", doesn't it?

66A: Fanny of vaudeville: BRICE. I've never heard of her name before. Oh, so Barbara Streisand's "Funny Girl" was about BRICE's life. What was she holding?

70A: Astronaut Slayton: DEKE. Unknown to me. I've seen "Apollo 13", but I don't remember seeing him. Wikipedia says he was was one of the original "Mercury Seven" NASA astronauts. Oh, by the way, are you a hockey fan?

Down:

1D: Poked: JABBED

2D: Former S. F. mayor: ALIOTO (Joseph). How I wanted his name to spell the same as Justice Samuel ALITO's!

3D: Stomach acid inhibitor brand: ZANTAC. I don't think I would have got this word without the neighboring fills.

8D: Automotive bling: MAG WHEEL. New bling term to me. Good to know.

12D: Want-ad abbr.: EOE (Equal Opportunity Employer)

21D: "Liebestraume" composer: LISZT. Another educated guess.

22D: Antioxidant ion: IODIDE. No idea. Dictionary says it's "a compound of iodine with a more electropositive element or group".

30D: German port: KIEL. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says KIEL is "famous for its sailing events, including KIEL Week, the biggest sailing event in the world. See this map. It's on the Baltic.

32D: Author of "Adam Bede": ELIOT (George). Another guess. I've never heard of this novel.

35D: Scaly inflammation: ECZEMA. And 49A: In need of scratch: ITCHY

37D: Bus. school entrance exam: GMAT. Has anyone here taken this exam before?

38D: Pet protection grp.: SPCA. Aren't you bored by "grp."? Why not "agcy" for a change?

39D: Female military grp.: WAAC (Women's Army Auxiliary Corps). I got it from the perps. But I was annoyed by another "grp." clue. What's wrong with "org"? "

41D: Pilgrimage destination: HOLY LAND. It's the same as the Promised Land, isn't it?

48D: Bit of clowning: SHTICK

50D: Outpatient facility: CLINIC

51D: Horsedrawn carriage: HANSOM. This carriage just appeared in our puzzle 2 weeks ago.

54D: Dance music: DISCO. I remember we had this DISCO fever in Xi'An around 1987.

52D: Ms. Mimieux: YVETTTE . Another guess. She appeared in "Where the Boys Are".

56D: Agitate: SHAKE. SHAKE Your Bon-Bon (Ricky Martin). What does "Bon-Bon" mean here? I like the "You are my temple of desire" line.

59D: Swiss painter: KLEE (Paul). This is his "Fish Magic". Such an complex imagery. So hard to understand KLEE's hidden theme/humor. He had too abstract a mind, too poetic and philosophical.

60D: Old Italian coin: LIRA. I just learned that LIRA is a monetary unit in Turkey too.

61D: NFL passers: QBS. Who do you think is the best QB in NFL history? Joe Montana?

62D: Mary of "Where Eagles Dare": URE. No idea. I've never heard of "Where Eagles Dare". How do you pronounce her name URE? You're?

63D: One in Emden: EIN. "Ich bin EIN Berliner". What a donut!

C.C.