Friday September 19, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: B, literally (Words/Phrase that start with letter B)

17A: B, literally: BANDLEADER

61A: B literally: BOBBLEHEAD

10D: B literally: BRITISH OPEN

25D: B literally: BATTLEFRONT

Hmmm, the farm boy Westley of "The Princess Bride" probably wants a BUTTERCUP COVER. How about BATMAN FACE? What else can you think of?

I liked this puzzle tremendously. Very creative theme idea and smooth cluing. A bit of musical instrument sub-theme:

41A: Slender reed: OBOE

47A: Luau music maker: UKE

50D: Big brass: TUBAS

I also thought of CHEERLEADER, CLUBHEAD, COLD FRONT, CANADIAN OPEN for a "C, literally" themed puzzle, with a golf-sub theme.

Across:

1A: Top points: ACMES. If it's a 5-letter blank, then it could be APICES, the plural form of APEX.

10A: Rorshach image: BLOT

20A: Pack animal: ASS. My first though was RAT.

22A: Wrestling ring duo: TAG TEAM. I learned this morning that only one match is allowed in the ring at one time. Such aggressive wrestling match types: Last Man Standing, Hard Ten Match, Strip Matches (Bra and Panties, Tuxedo), Pillow Fight, Mud Match, etc.

24A: Hitchcock thriller: THE BIRDS. Only saw the very end of the film, horrifying! I like Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief", lovely! "Rear Window" is a bit scary too.

29A: Spot for reporters: PRESS BOX

34A: Latte topping: FROTH. Holy hot wick FROTH. What caused it?

38A: Mia of soccer: HAMM. Very nice clip.

40A: Garden perennial: PEONY. Here is a beautiful PEONY for you. China does not really have a national flower. People simply can not decide whether to pick PEONY or winter plum blossom. We also have lotus for summer and chrysanthemum for autumn. So basically, China is one country, 4 flowers (for 4 seasons).

44A: Watch furtively: SPY ON

46A: Road marker: MILEPOST

49A: Potency: STRENGTH

54A: Austere: SPARTAN

65A: Kinks' title woman: LOLA. Here is the song. Not very familiar to me. LOLA is always the "Damn Yankees" girl to me.

66A: Ballet __ of Monte Carlo: RUSSE. No idea. Got it from the across fills.

69A: Thomas and Green: SETHS. Another educated guess. Have never heard either of them.

Down:

1D: No longer on deck: AT BAT. Wouldn't it be awesome if the clue for the intersecting TRADE (14A: Line of work) is "Baseall news"?

9D: Game plan: STRATEGY

12D: Southern side dish: OKRA. I always associate OKRA with Gumbo.

26D: Brussels ___: SPROUTS. Have you ever grown Brussels SPROUTS? The stems are so long.

31D: Mollycoddle: BABY. "BABY, I Love You."

33D: Wolverine' s group: X-MEN. The Marvel Comics.

34D: O'Hara's "___ the Terrace": FROM. Another unknown. Easy to infer though. Have you seen the movie?

44D: Kabob holders: SKEWERS

47D: River to the Caspian: URAL. Or URAL Mountains (Europe/Asia separator).

C.C.

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.