Monday September 22, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: CHECK (28D: Word after 21A, 39A 54A, 3D and 30D)

21A: Carolyn Gold Heilbrun's pen name: AMANDA CROSS

39A: Resting place of the Edmund Fitzgerald: LAKE BED

54A: Some time: QUITE A SPELL

3D: Painter's application: FINISH COAT

30D: On-screen stand-in: BODY DOUBLE

What is COAT CHECK? I've never heard of it before. Nor have I heard of BED CHECK. BAD CHECK yes.

I thought of RAINCHECK, PAYCHECK and BACKGROUND CHECK, what other *CHECK phrases can you think of?

Very interesting theme. I like how CHECK is placed in the grid. Like Dennis, I prefer the defining entry to be structured in the middle rather than at the lower right corner, unless it's word END.

The clue for QUAG (54D: Bog) needs an abbreviation hint. And the clue for IOU (26A: Debt chit) is simply unacceptable, as CHIT is the answer for (19A: Voucher: CHIT). I am certain this is not the constructor's error. Just another botched effort from our editor. He seems to be very absent-minded in his editing.

I had a hard time this morning. Somehow I could not focus on solving this puzzle. I don't know why, too many proper names perhaps.

Across:

1A: Put off: DEFER. Shakespeare said: "DEFER no time, delays have dangerous ends."

14A: "Crazy" singer: CLINE (Patsy). Here is the song. I've never heard of it before. Did you know that Willie Nelson originally titled the song "Stupid"? Maybe it is "Stupid" to be so crazy in love. Oh, by the way, what does Forrest Gump mean by saying "Stupid is as stupid does"?

16A: Natural tone: ECRU. I thought of NUDE first.

17A: Virtual certainty: CINCH. I tend to confuse CINCH with CLINCH.

20A: Pilot's gauge: ASI (Airspeed Indicator). No idea. Barry Silk mentioned last time that our editor does not allow partial fills, just AS I thought. What a pity!

24A: Favorite to win: BEST BET

27A: Boondocks possessive: HIS'N. This Li'l Abner talks stump me all the time.

28A: Own-kind feeder: CANNIBAL. I did not understand the clue until I obainted CANNIBAL.

45A: Author of "The Swiss Family Robinson": WYSS (Johann David). Foreign to me. Wikipedia says his novel is based on Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe". Also, WYSS' son, Johann Rudolf WYSS, wrote the Swiss national anthem.

46A: Like some missiles: ANTI-TANK. Is this video real?

62A: Circuit: AMBIT. This is a new word to me.

64A: Violinist Leopold: AUER. I can never remember his name. He wrote "Violin Playing as I Teach It".

66A: French city on the Deule: LILLE. The textile city. Charles de Gaulle was born here. He did possess some TACT (65A: Savoir-faire), didn't he?

67A: Crimebuster: G-MAN. I still wanted some sort of "abbr." hint in the clue.

Down:

1D: 1983 Mr. T flick: D. C. CAB. Unknown to me. See the poster. Have you seen the movie?

2D: Beethoven's "Fur ___": ELISE. Here is "Fur ELISE" from a 8-year old.

5D: 12-step plans: REHABS

10D: New enlistee: RECRUIT. I like Colin Farrel/Al Pacino movie "The RECRUIT".

12D: Writer Murdoch: IRIS. I think I love van Gogh's IRIS. A puzzle without a flower is not appealing to me now.

22D: High-IQ crew: MENSA. "Stupid"! Dennis.

29D: Actress Jessica: ALBA. Wow, that's one daring shirt!

34D: Tennis situation: AD IN

36D: Blood-related: AKIN

39D: Shop machine: LATHE. What kind of shop?

40D: Actress Georgia: ENGEL. No idea. Wikipedia says she is in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

43D: Actor who is Sissy Spacek's cousin: RIP TORN. I did not know this trivia. What a strange name he has.

49D: "Deck the Halls" syllables: LALALA. Why? What is "Deck the Halls"?

51D: Piquant: ZESTY. There seems to be always a ZEST or ZESTY in Parrish's puzzle.

52D: Tremulous sound: TRILL. I did not know the meaning of "Tremulous".

57D: "Major Barbara" playwright: SHAW. The only SHAW play I know is "Pygmalion". This collection must be worth lots of money now. Do you collect first edition books?

63D: Shuffle: MIX. Or the surname of this oater cowboy.

C.C.

Sunday September 21, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: BG's AEIOU

23A: Red-eye service?: OVERNIGHT BAGGAGE CLAIM (OVERNIGHT BAGGAGE, BAGGAGE CLAIM)

43A: Above disagreement?: TOO PROUD TO BEG TO DIFFER (TOO PROUD TO BEG, BEG TO DIFFER)

68A: Speaking of major expenses?: TALKING BIG TICKET ITEMS (TALKING BIG, BIG TICKET ITEMS)

97A: Organic fuel delivery is delayed?: PEAT BOGS DOWN IN TRAFFIC (PEAT BOGS, BOGS DOWN IN TRAFFIC)

119A: '50s sci-fi/dance movie?: JITTERBUG-EYED MONSTERS (JITTERBUG, BUG-EYED MONSTERS)

The clue for 119A is inaccurate. The order should be reversed to "50s dance/sci-fi movie". Still, I could not find anything about "BUG-EYED MONSTERS" movie this morning. Or did I read the answer wrongly?

I caught the BAG, BEG, BIG, BOG, BUG vowel progression very early on, but did not get the "Before and After" concept until the very end. I am not good at this "Before & After" word game. Have never watched "Wheel of Fortune".

Nevertheless, it's a very unique puzzle, with five 21-letter running-through theme entries, the least I've seen since I started blogging in late Jan. I am not clear about TMS puzzle rule, but LA Times requires at least 6 theme entries (minimum 84 theme squares) for a Sunday 21*21. NY Times requires a minimum of 80 theme squares (at least 5 theme entries I presume).

Did you notice that SONTAG (40D: "Illness as Metaphor" writer) comes up a lot on Sundays? I think I've also seen enough of AGORA (82D: Old Greek market).

Across:

1A: Formal judicial order: WRIT. Habeas corpus is the most important WRIT.

5A: Make oneself presentable: CLEAN UP

12A: Designed to conform: ADAPTIVE

21A: Red phone: HOT LINE. I don't understand this Hillary "Red Phone" parody. Who are those characters in the middle of the clip?

22A: Bad repute: DISFAVOR. Are they really interchangeable?

34A: Balanced conditions: STASES. The singular form is STASIS. The plural for equilibrium can be equilibria or equilibriums.

39A: Old English characters: EDHS. How so?

40A: Fort Stewart neighbor: SAVANNAH. Pure guess. I've never heard of Fort Stewart before.

51A: Bad pun: GROANER. New to me. Can you give me an example?

52A: Verbena plant: LANTANA. Also unknown to me. I don't think I've seen this kind of flowering plant before, have you?

76A: Radioactivity pioneer: CURIE. I suppose this can refer to either of the couple. Without this answer, MME (23D: Fr. woman's title) could be clued as "CURIE title".

77A: In good working order: A-OK. Funny how the same hand-gesture can mean different thing in different culture.

83A: Wall St. letters: NYSE. And ASE (14D: NASD competitor). I am more familiar with AMEX & NASDAQ though. Are there any differences that I am not aware of?

90A: Poetic time of day: MIDMORN

101A: Jerkwater: ONE-HORSE. I did not know the meaning of "Jerkwater". What a strange name!

126A: Blood deficiency (var.): ANAEMIA. Dates, you need lots of sweet dates, they are very rich in iron content.

128A: Marine celebrities?: SEA STARS. Very nice clue.

129A: Author of "Kissing the Gunner's Daughter": RENDELL (Ruth). I've never heard of the book nor the author. Nice library.

Down:

5D: Hot lunch?: CHILI DOG. I've never quite understood this food Chili. Does it always have beans in it?

10D: Two-toed sloth: UNAU. I forgot. Here is a two-toed sloth UNAU. And this is a three-toed sloth AI".

31D: "Star Trek" role: UHURA. Nope. I've never watched "Star Trek". She is the communications officer on the Enterprise. I did get LEIA (88D: "Star Wars" role). How to pronounce UHURA?

32D: Windows basis: MS-DOS

34D: Actress Thompson: SADA. I filled in EMMA first. Have never heard of SADA Thompson. Here is SADA in "Family". Do you like "The Princess Bride"?

42D: Can't be beat: NO-LOSE. The clue feels like it's asking for a verb, doesn't it?

46D: Water depth: abbr.: FTH. I suppose it's for FATHOM. Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

48D: Insect: pref.: ENTOM. As in ENTOMOLOGY.

49D: Levels in London: RASES. I like our RAZES. Good alliteration in the clue. "Levels in Leeds" is great too.

57D: Stallone sequel: ROCKY II.

69D: Rolling Stones hit: ANGIE. Here is the song. It sounds so sad.

70D: Auto racer Niki: LAUDA. I googled his name. Wikipedia says this former Austrian Formula one champion owns 2 airlines: LAUDA Air and Niki.

71D: Farm: GRANGE. This is a new word to me. Isn't GRANGE a kind of music genre?

73D: Violet essence: IONONE. Another new word to me. Dictionary says it's "a colorless to yellowish liquid, C₁₃H₂₀O, having a strong odor of violets and used in perfumes."

91D: Old Greek coin: OBOL. No idea. Here is some very interesting information about OBOL & Hades.

95D: Type of molecular geometry: TRIGONAL. New to me also. Same as triangular I suppose.

99D: In the act of: DOING. This clue just feels so awkward to me.

104D: Indian princes: RAJAS. Wouldn't have got 119A without the letter "J" from RAJAS.

106D: Siamese fighting fish BETTA. No idea. Dictionary says it's also called "Fighting fish". Wow, what a strange idea to put a plant and fish together in a vase.

109D: Befell:: TIDED. I did not know that TIDE can mean "Befall" also.

C.C.