Tuesday September 16, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: "Ring...ring..ring...Homophone's calling"

20A: Aviation pioneer: ORVILLE WRIGHT

35A: Dramatic exit direction: STAGE RIGHT

44A: Do uncredited work: GHOSTWRITE

59A: Bar mitzvah, e.g.: RELIGIOUS RITE

I've never heard of STAGE RIGHT before.

Very nice puzzle, another pangram. Once again, there are quite a few abbrevations, just like yesterday's.

I had fun solving this puzzle. I liked seeing SPAHN (12D: Hall-of-fame pitcher Warren) being clued in a grid. It always reminded me the poem "First we'll use SPAHN, then we use Sain, then an off day, followed by rain...". He was a great pitcher, the winningest southpaw in baseball history. I wish I had this SPAHN Hartland figurine, the original one.

Had huge problem in lower left corner earlier. Had to google STAN GETZ and a few other words.

Across:

5A: Forage crop: SOYA. Inaccurate clue. I eat SOYA product every day, and I am not a cattle.

14A: Quantum event?: LEAP. Nice clue. I like last time's "Act of Faith?" too.

15A: No. brains?: CPAS. Of course I read it as "No brains". Very clever use of "number" abbreviation.

17A: Vijay Singh's homeland: FIJI. Here is a good picture of Vijay & Tiger at the 2002 Masters. Vijay is very cold in person.

18A: Warmonger: HAWK. Hmm, I think I love DOVE more. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

19A: Along a rotation line: AXIAL

28A: Not orig.: IMIT. Look, the flower flies are sipping the morning dew. They look so real.

42A: Outer: pref: EXO. Or ECTO if it's 4-letter blank.

43A: Pitch woo: SPOON. I've never heard of this phrase "Pitch woo" before. Can you give me an example?

52A: Chapel Hill sch.: UNC (University of North Carolina). NPR's "The Story" is produced here.

55A: Sports division, est. 1969: NFC (National Football Conference). No idea. I had _ FC staring at me forever.

57A: Frilled strip: RUFFLE. What happened to her feathers?

63A: Castle that danced: IRENE. I've never heard of her name before. I like the embroidered flowers on her skirt. Roses?

68A: Stop order, asea: AVAST. And HALTS (13D: Terminates).

69A: Custard dessert: FLAN. I like crème brûlée, I like hard caramel on top of the custard.

71A: Frequency unit: HERTZ. Hz. One cycle per second. Gustov HERTZ won Nobel physicics in 1925.

Down:

1D: TV alien: ALF. Not familiar with this TV series. Only know ALF Landon, who has stubbornly made several appearances in our puzzles.

3D: Head steward: MAJORDOMO. New word to me.

4D: Richard's Agnew: SPIRO. And for RIPA (32D: Philbin's co-host). I forgot who was bothered by "Nixon's Agnew" clue last time. He/she should be happy now.

5D: Rifts: SCHISMS

6D: Fiery gem: OPAL. It's the birthstone for October. Mine is pearl. How about you?

7D: Ketch's sister: YAWL. Did not know the meaning of "Ketch". Thought it's a TV character. Have never heard of YAWL before. I know nothing about sailing or sailing vessels.

9D: George Lucas blockbuster: STAR WARS

11D: Pamplona pal: AMIGO. Good alliteration.

21D: Sch. in Lexington: VMI (Virginia Military Institute). I was thinking of Lexington, KY.

36D: Early invader of Rome: GOTH. Not familiar with this invasion at all.

37D: Cause of a rush: GOLD FEVER

39D: Govt. security: T NOTE. It was T BILL yesterday. Scary stock market lately. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and now AIG, in less than 5 months, truly frightening!

41D: "The Girl from Ipanema" guy: STAN GETZ. How could Barry Silk think of HERTZ to cross STAN GETZ is beyond me. He has such a creative mind.

45D: Hotspot service: WIFI. Xchefwalt must have been experiencing troubles accessing his "Hotspot service". Have not heard any flower/flour comment from him for a few days.

46D: Loop or stud: EARRINGS

50D On the __ vive: QUI. Besides SHAQ (49A: O'Neal of basketball) and IRAQ, what other 4-letter words end with letter Q?

52D: Fictional Heep: URIAH

62D: Use an MRI: SCAN. I would prefer a simple "Read quickly". MRI is an abbreviation after all.

66D: Justice Fortas: ABE. I like how ABE parallels LAW (67D: Perry Mason's field).

C.C.

Monday September 15, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Food Idioms

17A: Raring to go: FULL OF BEANS

26A: Male body part: ADAM'S APPLE

36A: Braggart's cry: EAT YOUR HEART OUT

49A: Face-saving disdain: SOUR GRAPES

58A: Win: TAKE THE CAKE

I don't like 36A. I know people do eat HEART in some parts of the world, but it just conjures up such an unpleasant picture.

I thought of "hard nut to crack", "cool as cucumber", "bring home the bacon" and "cream of the crop", but none of them fits. Can you think of a 15-letter food idiom?

Too many abbreviations for my taste. SEL (3D: Choice abbr.) could easily be reworded as "French salt" to avoid this annoying "abbr." in the clues. The clue for TORTES (13D: Rich cakes) is very amaterish, as CAKE is part of the answer for 58A. Xchefwalt might not like "Flourless dessert", but it's a perfect clue here.

I think Dennis has warped my thinking. I pictured this sacred Greek stone (Herm) and the "frank and beans" in front when I read 26A: Male body part.

Across:

1A: Phylicia or Ahmad: RASHAD. Ha, the Pop Secret commercial couple.

15A: Satellite of Saturn: RHEA. She is also the mother of Hera/Zeus/Hades.

29A: Disney dwarf: SLEEPY. And Sneezy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful and Grumpy.

33A: "Straight Is the Gate" writer Gide: ANDRE. I've never heard of this book. (Addendum: The correct book title is "Strait Is the Gate"). But why obsessed with Gide all the time? How about pianoist/conductor ANDRE Previn (Mia Farrow's ex) or this ANDRE?

42A: Govt. security: T BILL (Treasury BILL). I've always liked this misleading clue.

44A: Largest piggy?: BIG TOE. The sophisticated podiatric term is hallux.

48A: Graphic artist M. C. ___: ESCHER. I only know this "Relativity". Not familiar with his other works.

53A: Australian isl: TASM. It's here. Why are this Tasmania Devil's ears red?

64A: Way in, in brief: ENT (Entrance). Hard one! I kept reading the clue as "Way in, in briefs".

66A: Went out: EXITED. Very quick "in" and "out".

67A: His: Fr.: SES. Or her/its.

68A: Daly of "Cagney & Lacey": TYNE. Know her name, not familar with "Cagney & Lacey".

69A: Albert Pinkham and Winona: RYDERS. Know Winona, not Albert Pinkham.

Down:

1D: Coast of Morocco: RIF. This has become a gimme to me. Here is map again.

3D: "2001" mainframe: HAL

6D: Pay for: DEFRAY

9D: Bo's number: TEN. No idea. Who is Bo? Why TEN?

10D: Swed. flyers: SAS

30D: Picture taker, briefly: PHOTOG

34D: Org. of Rangers and Ducks: NHL. I would prefer the clue to be "Org. with Penguins and Ducks". It's more fun, would be very misleading for those who do not follow hockey.

37D: Over in Ulm: UBER. Vs. UNTER.

38D: Delicacy: TACT. I was thinking of this delicacy. I vodka and caviar you.

44D: Backs of singles: B SIDES

45D: Cut stinger: IODINE. Are you OK with this clue?

48D: Old Testament book: ESTHER

51D: Calvin or Rodney: PEETE. Know golfer Calvin PEETE, not familiar with Rodney PEETE.

56D: Lolita-ish: SEXY. I've never read "Lolita", have you?

61D: Plunk starter?: KER. Or "Flop starter?". What else?

63D: Goddess of folly: ATE. If not for EAT in theme answer 36A, I would prefer the clue to be a simple "Had a bite", considering so many food choices in today's puzzle.

C.C.