Wednesday October 15, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: PRO (18D: Word before 17A, 57A, 11D and 25D) & CON (52D: Word before 17A, 57A, 11D and 25D)

17A: Davy Crockett portrayer: FESS PARKER

57A: Certain nuclear weapon: FUSION BOMB

11D:Early TV transmission: TEST PATTERN

25D: Plot: TRACT OF LAND

The clues for 18D & 52D are inaccurate. They are the words before the first word of above 4 theme entries.

I wonder if Mr. Parrish thought of extending CLAIM (10D: State as true) into CLAIM TO FAME (clued as EDMUND Hillary & Mt. Everest related), then we would have a PROCLAIM. Don't you think "Explorer Hillary" is a better clue for EMDUND (34D: Novelist White)? I've never heard of White before. Does he compare his works to Proust's?

I thought of 4 more phrases for another PRO themed puzzle: DUCT*, GRAM*, POSE* and FILE*. And BODY*, DOTE*, TRUST* and QUE* for an ANTI grid. "QUE será, será" will be an awesome theme answer.

(Addendum: Please ignore the above two paragraphs. I failed to see 52D clue and misread the whole theme of this creative puzzle).

Before I forget, do you know why "Pinkie" is cited as an example for visual pun? I can not grok it.

Across:

1A: "The Grapes of Wrath" family: JOAD. Without J from JIF (1D: Peter Pan rival), I would not have got this one. Can never remember this name.

5A: Clever remarks: QUIPS. I really have difficulty in understanding the cleverness in Allan P. Olschwang's QUIPS.

10A: Keyboard key: CTRL. Wish it were clued as "PC Key" to indicate an abbreviation, but theoretically the clue is flawless.

16A: "Star War" princess: LEIA. Carrie Fisher co-hosted TCM's "The Essentials" with Robert Osbourne for a short period of time. TCM should be a solid answer for clue 30A: "All-films stn. " (AMC), right?

19A: Author of "The Nazarene": ASCH (Sholem). I forgot. He appeared in our puzzle before. He wrote in Yiddish. Is "Sholem" the same as "Shalom"?

21A: Paper boss: EDITOR. It's sad that the NY Sun newspaper was shut down. I seldom solved their puzzles though, too hard for me.

23A: Beat circuits: PATROLS. I would prefer PATROLS clued as a verb.

27A: Dublin's land: EIRE. Have not seen ERIN for a long time.

38A: ASCAP's counterpart: BMI (Broadcast Music Incorporated). I am more familiar with Body Mass Index.

41A: Letters for shock treatment: ECT (ElectroConvulsive Therapy). Absolutely no idea.

45A: 1904 roadster: REO. I did not know it was introduced in 1904.

51A: Legal go-ahead: LICENSE

55A: "Tuesdays with Morrie": ALBOM (Mitch). He also wrote "The Five People You Meet in Heaven".

62A: Brass element: ZINC. Do multivitamins really help? What's your favorite brand? I have a hard time swallowing those big pills.

63A: "The Maltese Falcon" co-star: ASTOR (Mary). Have never seen this movie.

64A: Pasternak character: LARA. Refreshing clue. Our editor likes cluing LARA as "Dr. Zhivago's love". Yuri is also 4-letter. Nice pictures for "LARA's Theme". Simple, beautiful music, probably one of the best movie theme music.

Down:

3D: __ longa, vita brevis: ARS. It's clued as "___ gratia artis" last time.

4D: Identifiable as a unit: DISCRETE. The clue feels odd to me.

5D: Shrank in fear: QUAILED. I only know QUAIL as birds.

9D: Final run: STRETCH. I would love STRETCH to be clued as seventh-inning related to pair up with HOMER (29D: Round-tripper). I am rooting for Phillies and Rays. How about you?

13D: Lion of Oz: LAHR (Bert). Very strange surname, hard to remember.

24D: Top flier: AIR ACE. "Take My Breath Away" popped into my mind.

32D: La ___, WI: CROSSE. I wonder if the constructor considered putting in LACROSSE as a fill.

38D: A/C figures: BTUS

40D: Matched outfit: ENSEMBLE

43D: Singer Gloria: ESTEFAN. "I Just Can't Stop Loving You".

44D: ___ Bridge (NYC span): TRIBORO. When will it officially become RFK Bridge?

47D: "Billy __ ": ELLIOT. No, I've never heard of the movie or the musical. Only know "Mama" Cass ELLIOT.

53D: Haagen- ___: DAZS. I really like mochi ice cream.

55D: Hammett's terrier: ASTA. Toto is probably jealous of ASTA's status in our crossword world. He also has two vowels in his name.

59D: Single grain: OAT. I don't understand this clue. Why "Single grain"?

60D: Richie's father, to Fonzie: MR. C

C.C.

Tuesday October 14, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Types of Lumber

17A: Legitimate: ABOVEBOARD

65A: Package delivery service: PARCEL POST

10D: Gymnastics apparatus: BALANCE BEAM

25D: Taper holder: CANDLE STICK

I am not sure I got the theme right.

Lately I've been obsessed with the consistency of theme entries. Strictly speaking, 17A does not really fit into the other 2-word pattern. But I cannot think of 2-word *BOARD with 10 letters, can you?

Interesting to see ST. PETER (48A: Heavenly gatekeeper), SATAN (26A: Head of Hades) and EVIL (31D: Devil's doings) in one grid. I would prefer cluing EVIL as "Axis of ___" , as I am averse to having duplicated letters in both the clue and the answer. I always thought the "Head of Hades" is Hades himself. Hard for me to associate SATAN with Greek Hades.

The clue for CHARM (1D: Bracelet bangle) is incorrect. "Bracelet dangler" yes.

Across:

1A: Dollar, slangily: CLAM. Dennis said last time that CLAMS is always used in plural form when it refers to money slangily.

14A: Sword handle: HILT. Sometimes it's haft. I don't know what's the difference between the two.

19A: Yearn (for): LONG. I thought of PINE first.

24A: Team animal: MASCOT. This is our Goldy Gopher.

28A: Pronto!: ASAP. And STAT (45D: Immediately, in the O. R.). STAT is from Latin "statim". Unknown to me. I am more used to the baseball "ERA or RBI" clue.

30A: Way down: DESCENT. I have problem understanding the structure of "Way down". Is "down" an adjective here?

34A: TV journalist Paula: ZAHN. Not any more. She left CNN last year.

37A: Bandleader Puente: TITO. Here is Carlos Santana's "Oye Como Va", composed by TITO, so rhythmical. I like Santana's "Smooth" a lot: "... Give me your heart, make it real, or else forget about it...".

44A: Rings out: PEALS. Why "out"? "Rings" is enough.

58A: Small cave: GROTTO. This Blue GROTTO looks magical.

64A: Son of Leah and Jacob: LEVI. Or LEVI Strauss of jeans. A bit of religious undertone in today's puzzle. See also IDOL (6D: Religious statue).

69A: Inventor Howe: ELIAS. I had no idea that he invented the sewing machine. Always thought it's Singer.

71A: Student grind: WONK. Fascinating word origin.

Down:

2D: Qaddafi's land: LIBYA. It belongs to OPEC (68A: Oil cartel).

3D: Medicinal lilies: ALOES. I did not know that ALOE is of lily family. (Note: The clue is "Medicinal plants" in syndication papers).

4D: Cable channel choice: MTV

9D: Unruffled: SEDATE. Always thought SEDATE is a verb. I wanted SERENE.

18D: Personalities: EGOS. Really? They are not the same to me.

59D: "__ Man", Harry Dean Stanton film: REPO. I've never seen this movie.

62D: Winner's mantra: I CAN. Yes, I CAN. "I am just hot, I am totally ready to lead..."

C.C.