Thursday November 13, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Use it or Lost it

23A: Start of quip: THE BRAIN IS NO

37A: Part 2 of quip: STRONGER THAN ITS

47A: End of quip: WEAKEST THINK

Well, it's a twist of Thomas L. Masson's quote: "No brain is stronger than its weakest think." And it appeared initially as "The brain is as strong as its weakest think".

Is THINK a noun here? I don't think I fully understand the grammatical structure of this quip.

I also don't understand the clue for HORN (24D: Plenty, for one?). Why?

Easy puzzle though, very doable.

Across:

5A: Actress Bernhardt: SARAH. Known as "The Divine Sarah". She was so famous that the Le Figaro newspapers declared in 1899 that "everyone was coming to Paris to see two profiles: that of the Eiffel Tower, and SARAH Bernhardt''. But I've never heard of her before.

18A: Rot-resistant wood: ALDER. It's also resistant to water damage and insect infestation.

19A: Muffin pans: TINS. Hmmm, muffins, want some?

22A: City on the Rhone delta: ARLES. Here is van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace at Night in ARLES".

27A: President after Polk: TAYLOR. He is the last elected Whig president. And ABRAM (59A: Pres. James __ Garfield). "Pres." should not be abbreviated.

30A: Cameo stone: ONYX. What's the difference between ONYX and agate?

32A: Ste. Jeanne __: D'ARC. Jeanne is French for Joan, I suppose?

46A: Double dealing: DECEIT

62A: Hide in the shadows: LURK. I like how it intersects SKULKS (44D: Moves about stealthily).

Down:

1D: Glob of paint: DAUB. Move your mouse here and see if you can create your own Pollock drip masterpiece.

3D: Write off?: DELE. I like this clue.

4D: University near Tempa: SAINT LEO. I got it from the across clues. Wikipedia says Desi Arnaz & Lee Marvin attended this university.

5D: Undercoat material: SEALER

10D: Numerical array: MATRIX. Not familiar with this math term.

11D: Seed cover: ARILS. What's the difference between ARIL and testa?

29D: Mongol's tent: YURT. Turkish origin. Literally "dwelling place". Too strong an orange color inside his YURT.

35D: Needle case: ETUI. Dictionary says ETUI is rooted in old French estuier, meaning "to guard".

40D: V formation: NECKLINE. Yes, indeed, "It may be plunging".

46D: Rheostat: DIMMER. What? DIMMER in 1890 already?

C.C.

Wednesday November 12, 2008 Edgar Fontaine

Theme: TERROR TRAIN (55A: Film starring first names of 21A, 33A and 42A)

21A: "The Naked Chef": JAMIE OLIVER

33A: "The Father of Radio": LEE DE FOREST

42A: "Old Iron Pants": CURTIS LEMAY

Boy, I was not familiar with any of those nicknames. I recognized JAMIE OLIVER's face when I googled his name. I must have seen him on "Iron Chef America" or some other Food Network program.

I was stumped last time when LEMAY was clued as "Wallace’s running mate". But I never bothered to read details of the Wikipedia entry. "Old Iron Pants", what a strange nickname! Have never heard of LEE DE FOREST either. I always thought Edison or Tesla is "The Father of Radio".

Easy puzzle though. Most of the unknowns were obtainable from crossing fills. I really like the clue for I DO (41A: Rite answer?"). Yesterday's "Union Contract?" is great too. ASIA is the answer for 66A: One side of the Urals, so to avoid any kind of remote duplication of clue/answer, I would have clued ABACI (2D: Asian calculations") as "63A counters" (63A: Sphere of sweat: BEAD)

The clue for EDGAR (67A: Degas or Bergen) made me laugh. Way to go, Mr. EDGAR Fountaine.

Across:

15A: Gag reflex?: HAHA. Funny clue.

16A: Waterfall fallout: SPRAY. The clue reminds me of "Deliverance", with those dangerous stretches of rapids.

18A: Joie de vivre: ELAN. I love Frédéric Fekkai's "A Year of Style". I like his view on "Joie de vivre".

19A: Irregularly notched: EROSE. Probably only a crossword word, isn't it?

23A: Mythical mariner: SINBAD. I wonder if SINBAD worshipped Poseidon/Neptune as his god of sea. Or do Arabs have their own sea god?

29A: Jodie of "The Accused": FOSTER. She won an Oscar for "The Accused". I've never seen it. I don't like her movies. "The Silence of the Lambs" is very scary.

39A: Gen. Arnold's nickname: HAP. I forgot. He is a five-star general. Was he as famous as Gen. Omar Bradley/George Marshal?

46A: Sagan series: COSMOS. I guessed. I've never heard of Carl Sagan or COSMOS.

48A: Bounding main: OCEAN. I know "main" can refer to "sea", but why "Bounding"? Or is it a common phrase?

49A: Greek god of war: ARES. It's Mars for the Romans. Do you also think that Americans are from Mars, Europeans are from Venus?

65A: Singer Simone: NINA. Nope, I've never heard of her name before. Which song(s) is she famous for?

Down:

1D: "Gigi" setting: PARIS. "Thank Heaven for Little Girls". I like the happy ending. "We will always have PARIS" at the end of "Casablanca" is so sad.

3D: Neighbor of Oman: YEMEN. It's also the "Neighbor of Saudi Arabia". San'a, strange capital name.

4D: Indy 500 sponsor: STP. Often clued as "The Racer's Edge".

9D: "The Waste Land" poet: T. S. ELIOT. Here is the poem. Why "For Ezra Pound" in the upper left corner? Hmmm, "April is the cruelest month...". I disagree.

11D: Part of Can.: PROV. I was thinking of the actual name of the provinces.

21D: Green shade: JADE. Ersatz JADE can bring you bad luck.

22D: Lummoxes: OAFS. Add one letter F, we have "flummox". English can be very confusing.

24D: Summoned: BADE

27D: Quantum theorist Niels: BOHR. He won Nobel in 1922. His son Aage Niels BOHR also received the Nobel Physics in 1975.

28D: Muse of verse: ERATO. "Muse of Love or Erotic verse", to be exact. "Muse of epic poem" is Calliope, and "Muse of lyrical poem" is Euterpe.

34D: Japanese novelist Shusaku: ENDO. I guessed. Have never heard of him. Wikipedia says his most famous work is "Silence" and Martin Scorsese "announced his intention to shoot a film based on the book in summer 2008".

35D: Cain's nephew: ENOS. Also HOF Slaughter.

47D: Tomei of "In the Bedroom": MARISA. Have you seen "In the Bedroom"? Is it good? I only saw her "My Cousin Vinny".

53D: Post sans postage: EMAIL

54D: Knobby: NODAL

59D: Pisa's river: ARNO. Or "Florence's river". A 4-letter Italian river has to be ARNO.

C.C.