Saturday November 1, 2008 Matthew Higgins

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

Total words: 68

Letter S must be all constructors' favorite letter. It can start a word and end a word. It can be followed by either a vowel or a consonant. I guess that's why we see it popping up everywhere in the grid, esp the first row & last row, first column and last column.

We get 27 S'es today, too many for my taste. But one thing I really like about Higgins' puzzle is the lack of pop culture and actor/actress names, which often stump me. Additionally, he always does solid research on his clues. Nearly all of them are dictionary-accurate, though not lively.

Some of the clues today are pretty good:

32A: Virginia, for one: REEL

5D: Half and half?: ONE. Without the "?", the clue would be good too, but boring.

50D: Bannister, for one: MILER. Roger Bannister is the first man to run the mile in less than four minutes.

Across:

1A: Considers probable: SUPPOSES. Three S'es for the first word, three S'es for the last word (SCORSESE).

9A: Nabokov novel: LOLITA. Have you see the movie remake? My favorite Jeremy Irons movie is "Damage".

17A: Squatter: NESTER. Homesteader. I thought a "Squatter" is someone who squats.

20A: Sinuous: SERPENTINE. "Sinuous" is a new to me. I know "tortuous" though.

26A: Greek harp: TRIGON. It's "an ancient Greek stringed instrument with a triangular shape". New to me. I only know LYRE. If you find a TRIGON picture, please share with us. I could not find one on the internet. (Addendum: Here is a TRIGON picture, and here is LYRE).

28A: Roman deck count: LII. 52. Also the "Number of weeks in a year" for the Romans.

30A: Fix firmly: SECURE. I like the verb cluing.

35A: Wheys: SERA. I am more familiar with the "Blood fluids" clue.

42A: State in northwestern Mexico: SONORA. It's bordering Arizona.

53A: Cancellation: RESCISSION. Only knew the verb RESCIND.

57A: Bay windows: ORIELS. I tend to confuse ORIELS with ORIOLES.

60A: French department on the bay of Biscay: VENDEE. See this map. I've never heard of it before.

61A: Subtraction starters: MINUENDS

63A: "Mean Streets" director: SCORSESE. Have you seen "Mean Streets"? Looks interesting.

Down:

1D: Groups in groups: SUBSETS

3D: Like plunder at sea: PIRATIC. I wanted PIRATEY. I've never heard of PIRATIC before.

9D: State of being cheerlessly solitary: LONELINESS. LONELINESS can be beautiful and inspiring, esp if you are comfortable being alone.

11D: Tilt to one side: LIST. Is this solely a nautical term?

12D: Arteries' innermost linings: INTIMAE. New to me. The plural form of INTIMA can also be INTIMAS.

13D: "I Was a __Werewolf": TEENAGE. Have you seen the movie? It looks horrifying.

14D: Gland near the kidneys: ADRENAL. This is where adrenaline comes from, correct?

21D: Ballet movements: PLIE. These girls are pretty.

27D: Close calls: NEAR-MISSES

29D: Forms into small pellets: GRANULATES. OK, I checked, it's a word.

41D: Statements of obvious veracity: TRUISMS

43D: Semi-translucent glass: OPALINE. It's the same as opalescent, isn't it?

C.C.

Friday October 31, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: "Classical" Songs

17A: Hit by Della Reese and Puccini: DON'T YOU KNOW

39A: Hit by the Toys and Bach: A LOVER'S CONCERTO

65A: Hit by Eric Carmen and Rachmaninoff: ALL BY MYSELF

Is there a special term for this kind of classical music adapted song? Covering? Are there any other songs inspired by classical music?

This is Eric Carmen's "ALL BY MYSELF", and here is Rachmanioff's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor". I cannot really tell which part is plagiarized, can you?

Too many proper names in the grid. I was expecting a Halloween themed puzzle today.

I did not like the NAT clue (19A: Country: abbr.). "___ King Cole" would have fit the theme better. "Amtrak" should be added to the ACELA clue (15A: Bullet train).

Across:

1A: Mr. Basketball of the 1950s: MIKAN (George). He's a legend in Minnesota. Played for the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s. So sad that he had to sell his memorabilia to pay his medical cost.

6A: Sports commentator Albom: MITCH. ALBOM was clued as "Tuesdays With Morrie" author Mitch not long ago.

26A: Ms. enclosure: SAE

28A: Composer Schifrin: LALO. No idea. He composed the theme music for "Mission Impossible".

33A: "Original Sin" novelist: P. D. JAMES. I googled her name. What's the book about? (Southern Belle, thanks.)

37A: Rodeo type: LARIAT. What's the difference among LARIAT, lasso and riata?

44A: __ Island, NY: STATEN. Vaguely remember this Island from watching "Law & Order" reruns. Wikipedia says "Godfather" and "Working Girl" were shot there.

46A: Typical one: EPITOME. My first thought was EXAMPLE.

52A: Lawless princess?: XENA. Lucy Lawless has remarried. I wonder if she still keeps her Lawless surname.

57A: Part of CAP: PATROL. CAP is Civil Air PATROL. New to me.

68A: Stimpy's pal: REN. "You eediot!" Learned from doing Xword.

69A: Deejay Casey: KASEM. Another google for me. I've never listened to "American Top 40/20/10". Wikipedia says he provided the voice for Shaggy on "Scooby-Doo".

72A: Temples: SHULS. Somehow I always associate "Temples" with "pagodas". I suppose it's because I grew up in a city famous for its Wild Goose Pagoda, which is closer to downtown Xi'An than the Terra Cotta Warriors' Tomb.

Down:

1D: 1401: MCDI

4D: Montezuma, notably: AZTEC. Clue me next time! (San Diego State)

5D: Napoleon's commander at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). I am just so obsessed with this nickname: "bravest of the brave".

7D: Interior Secretary under FDR: ICKES (Harold L). Wikipedia says he is "the longest serving Cabinet officer of any department in U.S. history". His son Harold M. ICKES was Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff. (Note: James Wilson served as Secretary of Agriculture for 16 years under four presidents. Thanks, Jim Fratzke.)

11D: Small chicken: BANTAM. Named after the Indonesia city BANTAM. I've never heard of this breed of tiny chicken before.

13D: From the sublime to the ridiculous: BATHOS. I obtained this word after I cheated on P. D. JAMES. How is different from PATHOS?

32D: Long overcoat: ULSTER. Named after ULSTER the Irish province.

34D: ___ ladder: JACOB'S. Again, without P. D. JAMES, I would not have got this word. Remember Jacob's tears we had several weeks ago?

40D: West bank city: RAMALLAH. See this map. The Palestinian Authority is located there.

42D: Credit-tracking corp.: TRW. Unknown to me. It's now called Experian. So the clue should have "old" as a hint.

48D: Have in mind: INTEND

54D: Vocalist Mercer: MABEL. This is her "Isn't He Adorable". I've never heard of her before. "Vocalist" is the same as "Singer", right?

63D: Cookout brand: T-FAL. Do you own any Emerilware applicance?

66D: Baton Rouge sch.: LSU. The Fighting Tigers. Shaq's alma mater.

67D: Fashion letters: YSL. I am still in love with YSL Opium.

C.C.