Tuesday September 9, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Against the Clock

17A: Just before deadline: LAST MINUTE

49A: No time for photos: BAD HAIR DAY

11D: Blink: SPLIT SECOND

25D: Open mic night: AMATEUR HOUR

I disliked the clue for GIVES (43D: Hands over) because of the answer IN HAND (46A: Under control). A simple "Donates" should work perfectly. I also think "Var." should be added to the clue of SCEPTRES (9D: Sovereign's staffs).

Felt rather dumb this morning. Spent an awfully long time trying to figure out why LCS (3D) are "Letters before the W.S." I kept thinking of yesterday's Wall Street huge rally rather than the World Series. This is not the first time that I was stumped by LCS (League Championship Series).

Nice puzzle though. I like the theme, and the grid looks so pretty. But hang on a SECOND, if I drink MINUTE maid orange juice every morning, will I have an HOURglass figure? Or am I just a DAYdreamer?

Across:

1A: Future tulips: BULBS. Lovely pink tulip flowers.

14A: Computer data format: ASCII. I just have so much difficulty remembering this acronym.

19A: Hammer end: CLAW. What's the difference between CLAW and PEEN?

20A: Snappy one: BITER. Snakes are all BITERS, aren't they?

27A: Sawmill output: LUMBER. I've never been to a sawmill or LUMBER yard.

28A: Small spars: SPRITS. Not familiar with this sailing term. Here is a SPRITSAIL rigged boats.

34A: Suffragist Carrie: CATT. New to me. Carrie Chapman CATT. So many C's. She looks like Curt Schilling, doesn't she? This pair of Persian Blue dangling earrings will add some feminine touch to her face.

35A: Fraternity letters: BETAS. IT geeks probably want the clue to be bug related.

36A: 1405: MCDV

43A: Sergio and Andy: GARCIAS. It's never boring to watch Sergio play golf. I adore Andy GARCIAS in "The Untouchables" & "When a Man Loves a Woman". I like Michael Bolton, don't you?

46A: Under control: IN HAND. "Can I Touch You... There?"

47A: Legend automaker: ACURA

48A: Stringed instrument: VIOL. Which is harder to play, VIOLA or violin?

55A: "Dies ___": IRAE. So powerful and dynamic! Lots, lots of vodka!

56A: Day's march: ETAPE. Is it a commonly used word? I've never heard of it before.

58A: Ancient ointment: NARD. I forgot. It was clued as "Fragrant ointment" on an earlier puzzle. Also called spikenard, it's "a flowering plant that growns in Himalayas of China, India and Nepal". Melissa probably knows something about the NARD oil.

59A: Force units: DYNES

Down:

1D: Dance in France: BAL. Costume party is "BAL masqué".

2D: John Dos Passos trilogy: USA. I've never heard of this trilogy or the author. Very guessable though.

4D: Gradually: BIT BY BIT

5D: Literary comparisons: SIMILES. I did wake up feeling fresh as a daisy this morning. How about you? Got any inspirations from your dream last night?

10D: Reciprocal of a cosine: SECANT. Would not have got this word without the across clues.

28D: Girls of Sp: SRTAS (Señorita). French equivalent is MLLES.

32D: Infamous '50s flop: EDSEL. This has become a collectible car, right?

35D: Loaf location: BREAD BIN. Not BREAD BASKET? Who would want to put their bread in a BIN?

36D: Archrival of Sherlock Holmes: MORIARTY. Foreign to me also. I've never read any Arthur Conan Doyle novel.

38D: Vandyke site: CHIN. Strung the answer together from surrounds. I did not know the meaning of "Vandyke".

41D: Justice of the Supreme Court since 1986: SCALIA (Antonin). Probably the most consistently conservative justice.

42D: S. Amer. nation: ECUA. Its capital is Quito.

47D: Hebrew month: ADAR. The Purim month.

50D: Southern constellation: ARA. Or "Notre Dame's Parseghian".

C.C.

Monday Septemer 8, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: A Few Drops of *OYLE

18A: Card game authority: EDMOND HOYLE

61A: "The French Connection" role: POPEYE DOYLE

3D: "Monster's Ball" co-star: PETER BOYLE

30D: 1940 Ginger Rogers movie: KITTY FOYLE

None of the above 4 theme answers were gimmes to me today. I've actually seen the movie "Monster's Ball", but I do not remember this name PETER BOYLE. Have heard of EDMOND HOYLE, but I could not retrieve his name so readily from my brain. The other 2 were complete strangers to me.

I did a quick google search, and found another *OYLE name, Allan MOYLE, the Canadian film director. But I suppose his name is way too obscure to be gridded in our puzzle.

But boy, what an arduous TOIL for me this morning! Too many unfamiliar names. Very hard struggle. Felt like it's tailor-made for Barry G.

Across:

1A: Milk-carton abbreviation: EXP

4A: "The Grapes of Wrath" family: JOADS. No idea. I've never read this novel or any of John Steinbeck's work.

9A: Pal of Porthos: ATHOS. And Aramis. The Three Musketeers. "One for all, and all for one".

15A: Jetson boy: ELROY. ASTRO is often clued as "Jetsons' dog".

20A: Model: EXEMPLAR

23A: Pine product: ROSIN. What's the difference between ROSIN and RESIN?

24A: Noted Swiss psychologist: JUNG (Carl). The only Swiss psychologist I know. Founder of Analytical Psychology.

27A: "My Life in Court": NIZER (Louis). I forgot. Identical clue in Parrish's June 24 puzzle. He sure loves names with letters J's & Z's.

33A: Family of Canadian quintuplets: DIONNE. The second girl from the left looks very pretty.

37A: Dockers' org: ILA (International Longshoremen's Association)

39A: Dernier __ (Latest fashion): CRI. "CRI de coeur" would be a great clue too. Kazie probably could come up with more.

40A: Cooper's Bumppo: NATTY. Unknown to me. I've never read "The Last of the Mohicans".

45A: Tea Party site: BOSTON. I was immediately thinking of a beautiful flowery GARDEN where afternoon tea is served, then realized that "Party" is capitalized.

48A: Chutzpah: MOXIE

51A: Artistic piece: OPUS. Ha, I got it this time. Aren't you proud of me? Here is some Mozart, for you, Lois. It's soul-calming.

53A: Letter flourish: SERIF

58A: Lounging attire: BATHROBE. Probably Garrison Keillor's choice, not mine. What do you wear when lounging around?

67A: Golfer Calvin: PEETE. He was the most successful African-American golfer before Tiger. I've never seen him play though. Nice vintage card (1981 Donruss), but it's worth much, even though it's a limited issue.

Down:

2D: PlayStation rival: XBOX. Launched in 2001. Microsoft product.

4D: Army vehicles: JEEPS. JEEP was the ultimate symbol of power when I grew up. Only the very high-ranking government officials had JEEPS.

5D: Tired pickup attempt: OLD LINE. I've never heard of "OLD LINE" being used in this sense.

6D: Big name in fashion: ARMANI. Here is George Clooney in ARMANI.

10D: Certain sandals: THONGS. Hmm, this is not the THONG I am wearing. I like the low-rise one.

11D: Wilhelm of Cooperstown: HOYT. He is the best knuckleballer in baseball history, isn't he?

12D: Heraldic border: ORLE. No idea. I know nothing about heraldry.

19D: "Advise and Consent" writer: DRURY (Allen). Another unknown. Wikipedia says he won Pulitzer for this novel in 1959.

24D: "Star Wars" warrior: JEDI

25D: Red of firefighting: ADAIR. Not a familiar name to me. He does look fiery.

28D: Preston rival: ZEREX. I forgot. This constructor used the same clue in his May 19 puzzle. Dennis said both of them are antifreezes.

31D: Rocker John: ELTON. I love his "Candle in the Wind".

32D: Singer Newton: WAYNE. I don't like him. I like this WAYNE.

45D: Crop pests: BEETLES

49D: Because follower?: I SAY SO

55D: Per unit: A POP

58D: Flapdoodle: BOSH. I did not know the meaning of "Flapdoodle". I only knew "Baloney" & "Hogwash". Maybe you can educate me today with more "Nonesense".

59D: Wally's bro: BEAV. I remember BEAVER from our previous slang discussion. Had no idea that it can be shortned to BEAV. Kind of similar to Barb or Barbara, isn't it?

60D: "Only Time" singer: ENYA. Beautiful song.

C.C.