Saturday October 25, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

Total words: 72

FYI, the maximum word count for a Saturday 15*15 themeless is 72 (78 for Monday-Friday themed puzzle and 142 for Sunday 21*21). The maximum block (black square) count for a 15*15 is 38, though LA Times sets a limit of 43.

I like today's grid. It looks pretty. Perfect symmetry of INTEGRA (2D: One-time Acura model) and ELANTRA (41D: Hyundai model).

But some of the clues/answers are way obscure to me. "Was in Bologna" (57D: ERO)? I don't even know what "Is" is in Bologna. Had never heard of DEIRDRE (59A: Ill-starred lady of Celtic legend). How sad, she committed suicide after her husband was murdered.

MACHO (47A) clue should be "He-man like" rather than "Heman like". The clue for SAME SEX (42D: Man-to-man?) just felt weird to me.

Across:

1A: Number on a letter: ZIP CODE

8A: Hockey-surface smoother: ZAMBONI. Not a hockey fan. Have never heard of ZAMBONI machine before. It's named after its inventor Frank ZAMBONI.

16A: Saw-tooth ranges: SIERRAS

17A: Was humiliated: ATE DIRT

18A: One type of signal transmission: AM RADIO. Do you know why some talk shows are on AM RADIO while some choose FM RADIO?

20A: Sternutations: SNEEZES. "Sternutation" is a new word to me. Strange, the verb "sternutate" is not a word in my dictionary.

26A: Kingston Trio hit: M.T.A. Here is the song. Learned from doing Xword. Their band name really sounds like a reggae group from Jamaica.

30A: Masonic doorkeeper: TILER. Was this a gimme to you? I was stumped last time and again today. It's also spelled as TYLER.

31A: City near Oakland: SAN MATEO. Wikipedia says both Merv Griffin and Tom Brady were born here.

33A: Initial ones: FIRSTS. I was thinking of ABCDE's.

35A: Hindu title: BABU. Funny "Seinfeld" BABU blooper.

36A: Prepare: GET SET

39A: Dissenting religious beliefs: HERESIES

45A: Electric-coil creator: TESLA. Struggled with this one also. I am used to the "Magnetic unit" clue.

49A: Whack: SLAM

50A: Free-throw value: ONE. Lots of NBA fans in China. I had never heard of baseball before I came to the US.

51A: Fishing weights: SINKERS. It's baseball term too.

54A: "Star Wars" character: HAN SOLO. What's your favorite Harrison Ford movie?

56A: Earliest flicks: SILENTS

61A: Charlie Parker's instrument: ALTO SAX. I could only think of SAXOPHONE.

Down:

8D: One Gabor: ZSA ZSA

9D: __ Semple McPherson: AIMEE. Absolutely no idea. Here is more information. Our editor used to clue AIMEE as "Actress Anouk".

12D: Tough times: ORDEALS

13D: Carpenter's tool: NAILSET. See this picture.

14D: Chemical compounds: ISOMERS. And ANE (53A: Chemical suffix).

21D: Within: pref.: ENTO. "Outside: pref." is ECTO.

24D: All together: EN MASSE. I wanted ENTIRE. I dislike how EN MASSE intersects AMASS (43A: Store up), visually jarring to me.

26D: Computer invaders: VIRUSES

28D: Revere's cohort: DAWES (William). I forgot. I think I googled his name before.

30D: Land of lamas: TIBET. I misread "lamas" as "llamas", so my first thought was PERU.

35D: D.C. suburb: BETHESDA. I forgot. It's in Maryland. According to Wikipedia, it's "the best-educated city in the United States of America with a population of 50,000 or more."

36D: Alternative fuel: GASOHOL. GASO(line) + (alco)HOL. I would not have got it without across clues. Only familiar with ethanol.

37D: Spring (from): EMANATE

40D: Archipelago segments: ISLANDS

47D: La Scala city: MILAN. And NY, London & Paris, fashion capitals of the world.

C.C.

Friday October 24, 2008 Edgar Fontaine

Theme: "Marry" Has a Little Rhyme

18A: Hogwarts' student: HARRY POTTER

23A: Former Heavyweight Champion: LARRY HOLMES

38A: Director of "Rain Man": BARRY LEVINSON

51A: Phillie with eight gold gloves: GARRY MADDOX

58A: Hatchet-wielding temperance advocate: CARRY NATION

"Rain Man" is a great movie, but I've never paid attention to its director's name. I am not familiar with either LARRY HOLMES or GARRY MADDOX. The only Phillie I could think of is Mike Schmidt (also 11-letter).

Besides GARRY MADDOX, there are also CUB (58D: Chicago pro) and ABNER (54D: Doubleday of baseball) for a baseball undertone. Though it's been debunked, I still like the myth that Doubleday invented baseball.

I think our editor was watching ball games while editing this puzzle, so many flaws. Awful clue for HITHERTO (11D: Until now) due to UNTIL (63A: Up to). A clue for Clara BARTON (6D: Coen film, "__ Fink") would have avoided the COEN (27D: "Fargo" director) duplication. There should be a "briefly" hint for OTS (32A: Bonus periods).

Across:

1A: Maternal flower?: MUM. Well, only in the UK, isn't it? It's MOM here. "Silent flower?" is better.

4A: Travail: LABOR

9A: Cause for a blessing? ACHOO

17A: Sound intensity units: abbr.: DBS (Decibels). Stumper for me.

20A: Hardest to fathom?: DEEPEST. Can you think of a word/phrase to clue DEEPEST without using "-est" (or "most"/"least")?

22A: Hebrew letter: RESH. New to me. It's 20th letter of Hebrew alphabet. Notice nun, tet and shin? Great words to play around for those Xword constructors.

26A: Writer Umberto: ECO. Hee, I finally remember his name.

29A: Needle case: ETUI. Long time no see!

30A: Toshiba rival: NEC. NEC belongs to Sumitomo. One of the earliest foreign companies to enter China after our "Open Door" policy (1978). Coca - Cola was an early bird too.

31A: Rider's whip: CROP. New to me. I've never heard of riding CROP or leather tongue.

35A: Oscillates: VIBRATES. I always associate VIBRATES with a trembling motion rather than "swing back and force".

55A: Alaska's first governor: EGAN. Wikipedia says EGAN is "the only governor in the state's history to have actually been born in Alaska." Sarah Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho.

57A: Singer Flack: ROBERTA. I love her "Killing Me Softly With His Song".

Down:

1D: Be a busybody: MEDDLE

3D: Capital of Lesotho: MASERU. No idea. LESOTHO was clued as "Basutoland, today" on a TMS Sunday puzzle before. It's encircled by South Africa.

4D: Massachusetts medical clinic: LAHEY. Another unknown. Is it as famous as Mayo Clinic?

8D: Actor Alejandro: REY. I googled his name, then I realized that I had searched for him before. He is in Elvis's "Fun in Acapulco".

24D: Tool for evening: LEVELER. New word to me.

25D: DLII times II: MCIV. Roman 1104.

28D: Saturn's wife: OPS. Googled again. Her equivalent is Rhea in Greek mythology. Saturn (Cronus) ate all his children except Jupiter (Zeus). How cruel!

36D: Again, in music: BIS. I wonde what's the origin for BIS.

39D: Be ruled by: ANSWER TO

49D: Forces from: EXACTS. The clue should be "Forces (from)", don't you think so?

C.C.