Tuesday September 23, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: MIDDLEMAN (62A: Middle of 17A, 35A and 52A)

17A: Biblical injunctions: TEN COMMANDMENTS

35A: Did some questionable redistricting: GERRYMANDERED

52A: Charlemagne's domain: HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

Very nice puzzle. I like this go-between MAN theme. But "behind every great MAN is a great WOMAN, and behind her is his wife." So I really hope Ms. Steinberg can offer us a "Pretty WOMAN" or "Scent of a WOMAN" themed puzzle soon. Wife is not necessary.

Quite a few lovely words with MAN in the middle: romantic, permanent, adamant, etc. Some celebrities also have MAN in their names: Giorgio Armani, Nicole Kidman, Gene Hackman, Hugh Jackman, etc. All beautiful people.

I dislike the clue for HMOS (51D: Med. care gps.) due to the answer MEDS (34D: Rx item). A simple "Doctors' grps" would be just fine.

Across:

15A: At large: LOOSE. What exactly is an "Editor-at-Large"? Is he/she always traveling on the road?

23A: Plays a banjo: STRUMS. As opposed to picks?

31A: Dry by rubbing: WIPE. The clue does not sound very fluid to me. "Rub dry" would be OK.

33A: Online bookseller: AMAZON. Or the "Mythical warrior" who "burned off the right breast in order to use a bow and arrow more effectively."

39A: Hot, spicy drink: TODDY. No idea, only knew GROG.

40A: Dollar, slangily: CLAM. Thought of BUCK first.

45A: Shepard or Houston: SAM. Know Houston, not Shepard.

49A: Student of Socrates: PLATO. He is also the teacher of Aristotle.

58A: Home of BYU: PROVO. Know this because of Barry.

Down:

1D: Ramada chain: MOTEL. This word MOTEL always brings to mind the scary scene in "Psycho".

3D: Refusal to admit: DENIAL. I've never understood "DENIAL isn't just a river in Egypt". What does it mean?

8D: Kept inside: PENT- UP. Oh, that PENT -UP desire...

9D: Actor Lorenzo: LAMAS. I actually watched a few episodes of his "Are You Hot?" Rachel Hunter was another judge on the show.

11D: Runtish: PINT-SIZE. Is PINT-SIZE and PINT-SIZED the same? How about bone-head and bone-headed?

13D: Punner's duo?: ENS. I think the best ENS clue I've seen is "Dinner twosome?"

19D: Comic Deluise: DOM. I've never heard of him before. Got his name from across fills.

25D: Demonstrates connections: RELATES

33D: After-market item: ADD-ON. Why?

35D: Colorado tributary: GILA. Is this how GILA monster got its name?

42D: Gender bias: SEXISM

43D: __ del Fuego: TIERRA. Foreign to me. Obtained this name from the across fills. See this map.

44D: From the mountains of Peru: ANDEAN. Very nice picture. I wonder what those llamas are thinking.

46D: Bumps on a hog?: WARTS. No idea. How come?

55D: "..... __ gloom of night...": NOR. The postal motto: "Neither rain, nor sleet, NOR gloom of night...". I wonder why our editor did not clue NOR as "Neither rain, ___ sleet...". It would be more straightforward.

C.C.

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.