Thursday September 18, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Don't Forget... (Evan Esar)

20A: Start of a quip: WRITING THINGS

32A: Part 2 of quip: DOWN IS

41A: Part 3 of quip: THE BEST

48A: Part 4 of quip: SECRET

59A: End of quip: OF GOOD MEMORY

This will be a short write-up. I cut my left index finger while peeling a nectarine earlier. Difficult to type. All I can say is that I had no problem understanding this quip.

Across:

1A: IV quantities: CCS. Or "E.R./O.R. quantities."

9A: Samantha of "The Collector": EGGAR. This is her website. I've never heard of her name or the movie before.

14A: Cheer in a bowl?: RAH. I wonder when/how this "bowl" came into being.

16A: Director of spaghetti westerns: LEONE (Sergio). No idea. Only knew Sierra LEONE the country. Who is the guy on the left? Would you call Clint Eastwood an OATER (33D: Shoot-'em-up) in those movies?

18A: Slowly, in music: LENTO. Like the opening tempo of this Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 I suppose. Do you like it?

19A: Wide receiver Terrel: OWENS. Poor Jessica.

24A: Japanese honorific: SAN. I cannot believe this restaurant's name is Mama-SAN. So audacious! Maybe they meant okaa - SAN?

34A: Workday start, often: NINE AM

37A: Jetson's dog: ASTRO. I bet Mr. Olschwang hates Houston ASTROS.

44A: Ivan of tennis: LENDL. So the ball hit McEnroe's chest only?

50A: Beset by problems: HARRIED. Are you OK with this clue?

54A: Spicy stew: OLLA. It's clued as "Earthen ware crock" in his last puzzle. I've never had OLLA before, have you? Is OLLA really cooked over a fire?

64A: Plays' players: CASTS. I like verbs in the puzzle, so I would clue it as "Flings".

72A: Coffee concoction: LATTE

Down:

3D: Australian lass: SHEILA. I've never heard of this expression before. Kazie, what's the slang for "Australian lad"?

6D: Band of pals: GANG. Have you heard of China's "GANG of Four"? The lower right lady is Jiang Qiang, Chair Mao's wife. They were arrested and charged with treason after Mao died.

9D: North Carolina University: ELON. I can never remember its name. See this Phoenix Rising statue at Elon University. Their sports teams are called the Phoenix.

10D: Baubles: GEWGAWS. What's the origin of GEWGAW?

13D: Legal thing: RES. And ESSE (63D: Latin being)

27D: Those, to Tomas: ESOS. Singular is ESA.

30D: Durham sch.: UNH. Got stumped again. Here is their Wildcats logo.

39D: Highland dance: REEL. No idea, it's "a lively Scottish dance".

40D: Penned in: ENCLOSED. Maybe I should be a cattle. I would have had no problem penning in ENCLOSED. Cleverly misleading clue.

45D: Forced inductee: DRAFTEE. I don't like this clue. Would prefer something "non-volunteer" related.

47D: Tap on a table: DRUM. I don't understand this clue/answer. What kind of DRUM is a "Tap"?

51D: Wagnerian heroine: ISOLDE. It's clued as "Tristan's beloved" last time.

57D: Main artery: AORTA

61D: Shoulder muscle, briefly: DELT (Deltoid). I forgot. See here. Isn't woman always looking for a warm shoulder to cuddle her head on?

62D: Carnivore's choice: MEAT. I don't think so. It's "Carnivore's diet". Would be OK were it clued as "Omnivore's choice".

C.C.

Wednesday September 17, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Mined Over Matter

17A: Old-time typescript duplicate: CARBON COPY

61A: Determined: IRON- WILLED

10D: Inherited wealth: SILVER SPOON

24D: Trophy wives, perhaps: GOLD DIGGERS

I am not fond of 61A, it's an adjective, all the other 3 are nouns. I thought of IRON CURTAIN & IRON HORSE, but neither fits the blank need. Maybe you can come up with a 10-letter IRON* noun phrase.

I would be very pleased if there were 5 theme answers, with IRON CHEF AMERICA (15-letter) placed in Row #8 running through the whole grid.

Very smooth puzzle. Nice and easy. I had no problem obtaining OSCAR (37A: Lyricist Hammerstein) and LEVI (58D: Italian writer Primo), though I knew neither of them. I liked this new cluing approach. Felt refreshing.

Disliked the clue for OLIVIER (22A: "Hamlet" Oscar winner) because OSCAR is an answer. I think "Fabled city of treasure" should be OK for EL DORADO (26A: Fabled city of gold) as GOLD is part of the answer for 24D.

Across:

6A: Ltr. carriers: ENVS. And ENCS (6D: Ltr. extras)

10A: Ocean extract: SALT. Don't forget SALT is also an acronym for "Strategic arms limitation talks".

19A: "Sweater Girl" Turner: LANA. She is stunning. What's that background music? Sounds so familiar.

20A: 6-points: TDS. And KOS (21A: WBA stats)

41A: Southern cornbread: PONE. Does it look like this? I've never seen PONE in person. Dictionary says it's also called johnnycake.

45A: Killer whale: ORCA. The spelling of ORCA is so close to OCA, often clued as "Andean tuber". They are longer and thicker than Hawaiian TAROS.

46A: Yearn for: DESIRE. I DESIRE U2. ".... Burning, Burning..."

48A: Thought out: REASONED. And PONDERS (15D: Mulls over).

52A: Put on: DON. And CLAD (2D: Dressed in)

50A: Lytton Strachey's first name: GILES. No idea. I got his name from across fills. Are you familiar with "The Letters of Lyatton Strachey"?

64A: Cordelia's father: LEAR. The two bad daughters are Regan and Goneril.

68A: Vogue competitor: ELLE. Or "Model MacPherson".

Down:

5D: Dracula's creator: STOKER (Bram). See this book cover.

9D: Engraving tool: STYLUS. I am not familiar with STYLUS engraver.

13D: Symbol of sadness: TEAR. Very sad "TEARS in Heaven".

32D: John ___ Gardner: NANCE. No idea. Wikipedia says he was FDR's veep from 1933 to 1941, and he was the longest-living vice-president in US history (almost 99 years old). President Ford was the oldest former president, followed by Reagan, both over 93 years old.

47D: Plaza Hotel girl of comics: ELOISE. I vaguely recalled this name, but I could not remember what was the story behind this ELOISE.

49D: Some pool balls: SOLIDS. Lois probably will give us more explanation on SOLIDS. She is an expert on balls: bowling balls, pool balls, golf balls, etc, etc, etc.

55D: Enjoy some haikus, e.g. : READ. I thought it would be a good idea to clue READ as "Enjoyed some haikus, e.g." Past tense could be very cleverly misleading.

57D: Actress Nazimova: ALLA. No idea. This is a rather unique shot of her in the silent film "Camille". Wikipedia says Rudolph Valentino starred in the movie too.

59D: First place?: EDEN. Good clue. EDEN is Hebrew for "pleasure".

C.C.