Saturday October 11, 2008 Matthew Higgins

Theme: None

Total block: 27

I really don't understand why Mr. Higgins continues to construct themeless. If the only weapons he has are those annoying affixes-laden "artificial long fills" (Embien's term) and obscure libraian words, then he should give up. There should be a limit on the number of ER, RE, ED, EST, ING & S allowed in a puzzle.

He could have fiddled with the grid a bit and made LANCES (55A: Knight's weapons) singular. He could have tied it in with ITO (21A: Simpson trial judge) and created a O. J. Simpson themed puzzle, with CHASE in the middle.

I really dislike the clue for ASCENDANCE (42A: Coming into prominence). The clue is asking for ASCENDING, isn't it? "Several" in the ROES (27D: Several small Eurasian deer) made me feel condescended. The clue for ARABLE (42D: Suitable for farming) is simply horrible. SUITABLE is the answer for the crossing 51A "Fitting".

I do like "Type of committee" for STEERTING (6D). Nice one.

Across:

1A: "When __ Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd": LILACS. "And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night..." Whitman's elegy for Lincoln. Nice "O Captain! My Captain!" animation.

15A: Ark's resting place: ARARAT. I always thought that Mountains of ARARAT and Mount ARARAT are the same.

16A: Soapstone: STEATITE. New word to me.

17A: Bell's clapper: TONGUE. I had no idea that the metal in the middle of the bell is called TONGUE.

18A: Horse-drawn vehicle operator: COACHMAN

19A: Lack of sufferance: INTOLERANCE. Are you OK with the clue? It feels so strained to me.

21A: Simpson trial judge: ITO (Lance). He has never written a book about the trial, has he?

22A: Himalayan gazelle: GOA. I always want YAK, which is an ox. Argyle found this GOA picture last time when we had the "Tibetan gazelle" clue.

25A: Cantankerous state: ORNERINESS. I always associate ORNERY with stubborn.

30A: Edible mushroom: MOREL. Another 5-letter edible Asian mushroom is the long-stemmed ENOKI, which has a very firm, chewy and textured taste if prepared properly.

34A: Helen's conductor: PARIS. He was portrayed by Orlando Bloom in "Troy". The guy on the left is Hector, played by Eric Bana ("Munich"). Helen's wife is Oenone.

47A: Part of APB: ALL. I had a mental block and wrote down AIR, thinking of the Air Pollution Index.

48A: Evil-doers: MALEFACTORS

53A: Compel with force: COERCE. Another "compel" clue is 38D: Compel: ENFORCE.

54A: Spotless: UNSOILED

57A: Thrust out: EXSERT. Unknown to me. I wanted EXERT.

Down:

1D: Cinch tightening straps: LATIGOS. No idea. Is LATIGO the white leather belt around the horse's stomach?

3D: Verbena plant: LANTANA. Doesitinink mentioned this Geoffrey Rush movie "LANTANA" last time. Have you seen it?

5D: Greater omentum: CAUL. No idea.

9D: Corps, pipes and officers: PEACES. Peace Corps, peace pipes, peace officers. Wow, is this a legitimate cluing? I do like it though.

10D: Portion of humanity: RACE. "Portion"?

12D: Degree of eminence: STATURE. I wish the constructor had tied in Lincoln with the clue.

14D: Ancient Greek beverage: OENOMEL. OENO is prefix for wine, MEL is from Greek MELI, meaning honey. I've never heard of this drink before. I only knew mead.

20D: Futhark alphabet: RUNES. Saw this clue before.

26D: Descried: ESPIED. I tend to confuse descry with decry.

33D: Highest point: PINNACLE. I rather like PINNACLE golf balls. Distance Doesn't Have to be Hard: Softer Feel.

34D: Winged horse: PEGASUS. I forgot. It's created from Medusa's blood. Red PEGASUS is the old Mobil mascot.

35D: Moon orbiter's apogee: APOLUNE. Absolutely no idea. It's opposite perilune, which is "Moon orbiter's perigee".

37D: Diatribes: SCREEDS

48D: Flexible type of armor: MAIL. New meaning of MAIL to me.

49D: Persuade gently: COAX. Lovely "Maggie May": "... I laughed at all of your jokes, my love you didn't need to COAX..."

C.C.

Friday October 10, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Festive Occasions

17A: Diplomatic dustup of 1790s: XYZ AFFAIR

21A: Spongelike plaything: NERF BALL

39A: Hail Mary conclusion?: PASS RECEPTION

58A: CNN Capitol Hill reporter: DANA BASH

64A: Crew: WORK PARTY

Somehow I thought DANA BASH is CNN's White House correspondent.

A bit of Italian sub-theme:

36A: Christmas in Italia: NATALE

3D: Italian eatery: PIZZERIA

10D: Italian Olympic skier Alberto: TOMBA

Also some baseball undertone:

20A: 2002 Cy Young Award winner: ZITO (Barry)

50D: Bronx Bomber: YANKEE

62D: Ted or Connie: MACK. Connie MACK is in Baseball's HOF.

I wish HOME (60D: Web-site page) were clued as diamond plate related. PACKS (31D: Decks of cards) refer to the baseball card PACKS, right?

I suppose the clue for DR. J (25A: Erving of hoops) is OK, but I would prefer "Erving of NBA" to reflect the abbreviation in the answer. But the clue for ET ALII (27A: & others: Lat.) is inaccurate. "Lat" should not be shortened.

The clue for TONER (68A: Salon lotion) is simply wrong. TONER is not lotion.

Overall, I did not enjoy this puzzle. Too many unfamiliar names for me.

Across:

9A: Panache: STYLE. I like really like George Clooney's STYLE. I think he should go to politics, so should Ben Affleck. There are certain idealististic "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" optimism in them.

15A: German wife: FRAU. It's QI ZI in Chinese, very scrabbly.

23A: Haggard novel: SHE. I wonder if our editor has ever read the book. He seems to be very fond of this SHE clue.

30A: Shakur of rap renown: TUPAC. I've never heard of his name (2Pac) before.

34A: Word before tale or ring: FAIRY. FAIRY ring is new to me. Why do those mushrooms grow in a circle?

44A: Tony Randall movie role: DR. LAO. Have vaguely heard of "7 Faces of DR. LAO".

49A: Hot blooded: LUSTY. New to me also. I only know lustful.

51A: 1999 Ron Howard film: EDTV. No idea. It looks interesting. Matthew McConaughey is stud muffin.

69A: Pure Prairie League hit: AMIE. Unknown to me also. Very unique album covers.

70A: Red's Kaddlehopper: CLEM. Nope. Had no idea what the clue is about. Here is an interesting clip.

72A: Ms. Neuwirth: BEBE. Saw her at "Celebrity Jeapardy!" once.

73A: Pioneering U. S. radio station: KDKA. Wikipedia says it's "the oldest commercial radio station in the US". New to me.

Down:

1D: Author Stout: REX. NERO is often clued as "Stout's wolfe".

7D: Actor Conrad: BAIN. He is in "Diff'rent Strokes". Another unknown to me.

9D: Mine passage: SHAFT. No idea.

12D: Actor Nielsen: LESLIE. He is in "The Naked Gun". I googled his name.

13D: Mascara site: EYELID. I would clue CANINE (48D: Eyetooth) simply as "Long tooth". I don't like the duplication of eye's.

18D: Bouquet-delivery syst.: FTD. Syst? I thought FTD is the name of the company.

23D: Tanning lotion letters: SPF

26D: Northernmost state capital: JUNEAU. Only learned this morning that it's named after the gold prospector Joe JUNEAU.

39D: Richie's mom, to Fonzie: MRS. C. Finally I remembered her this time.

32D: Explosive trials: A TESTS

35D: Fashion monogram: YSL

37D: Old Ford model: LTD. Or the British "Inc."

40D: City in Central Missouri: ROLLA. Here is the map. University of Missouri is located there. New to me also.

45D: Lactor- ___-Vegetarian: OVO. They eat eggs and dairy products. Are any of you vegans?

47D: Alternative to digital: ANALOG

66D: Shatner novel: "___ War": TEK. Is it a very famous novel?

C.C.