Tuesday November 18, 2008 John Underwood

Theme: America's Major Wars

20A: Conflict ended 11/11/18: WORLD WAR ONE

37A: Conflict ended 2/28/91: GULF WAR

51A: Conflict ended 9/2/45: WORLD WAR TWO

11D: Conflict ended 2/2/1848: MEXICAN WAR

28D: Conflict ended 4/30/75: VIETNAM WAR

I think this puzzle was intended for last Tuesday. I also think that the original clue for NOVEMBER (11D: Election month) is "Veterans Day month".

Revolutionary War has 16 letters, so it won't fit in a 15*15 grid. Civil War and Korean War have different number of letters, and there is no way they can be put in the grid symmetrically. I wonder if John Understood has considered IRAQ WAR for 37A to add some scrabbliness to his puzzle. It also has an odd number of letter, which is perfect for a center theme fill.

Because SEATS is the answer for 64A: Places at the tables, the clues for ROW (57A: Line of seat) and SADDLE (5D: Bike seat) definitely need to be changed.

I don't think I could finish this puzzle without the theme answer help today. Some of the fills were very obscure to me: LIVIA, IVOR, INO, AMON, JABBA, ALIDA, ADARE and YONNE. Oh, I've never heard of HI HO crackers either.

Across:

1A: Handmade weapons: SHIVS. Did you see "In Cold Blood"?

2A: Black-eyed or lazy girl?: SUSAN. Can you think of a clever way to clue Brooke Shields' "Suddenly SUSAN"?

14A: Durrell novel: LIVIA. I doubt this novel LIVIA is a gimme for anyone.

16A: "__ tu" (Verdi aria): ERI. Here is a clip. I got from the down fills. What's the meaning of "ERI tu"?

17A: Get __ of yourself: A HOLD. I wonder why ADARE (62A: Antarctic cape) is not clued as a partial fill as well, you know, "On A DARE". I am not familiar with Cape ADARE.

22A: Daughter of Cadmus: INO. Is it pronounced the same as "I know"? Have never heard of INO or Cadmus.

23A: Valli of "The Third Man": ALIDA. See this poster. Why is her name incomplete?

29A: Fat Hutt: JABBA. I obtained his name from the adjacent fills. Not a "Star Wars" fan. Eek, he is ugly.

40A: Former Dodges: INTREPIDS. Why "Former"?

44A: Makes a basket: SCORES. I was picturing a handmade basket rather than the basketball basket.

59A: Eye shade?: VISOR. I like this clue.

61A:Burgundy river: YONNE. See this map. I don't think even Carla Bruni knows this river, unless her husband desperately needs the votes in the YONNE Department.

Down:

2D: Brand of crackers: HI HO. Have never heard of HI HO crackers before. I can only think of Ritz, which is also 4-letter. By the way, we call crackers "biscuits" in China.

3D: Welsh actor Novello: IVOR. I googled his name. He appeared in our puzzle before.

4D: Bad guy: VILLAIN

8D: Pudding starch: SAGO. Want some?

9D: Egyptian fertility god: AMON. Also spelled as AMEN, AMUN. I would not have got this god without the across fills. Isn't BAAL "God of fertility" also? We just had ASTARTE (clued as "Ancient Fertility goddess") the other day. ASTARTE = Ishtar.

21D: Wag of the tongue: WIT. Mine was WET. I did not know that "wag" can mean "a humorous person".

33D: Old postal abbr.: RFD (Rural Free Delivery). Learned from doing Xword.

42D: Thrill trip: JOYRIDE. Is "joyrider" a word?

45D: Fancy tie: CRAVAT. From French cravate I suppose.

46D: Column style: DORIC. Ionic is also 5-letter.

C.C.

Monday November 17, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: Terms of Address for Women

20A: The Nine Days' Queen: LADY JANE GREY

36A: Sherwood Forest damsel: MAID MARIAN

42A: Musical set in Vietnam: MISS SAIGON

56A: Flaubert novel: MADAME BOVARY

Poor Mrs. Robbinson, I don't think Doug Peterson loves her at all. But I am glad IVANA is clued as "Former Mrs. Trump". Robin Williams' "Mrs. Doubtfire" should be a great theme entry too.

This puzzle SINGS (30D: Does a number) for me, full of pop culture and literary figures that I am actually familiar with: HEIGL, GARY SINISE, uncle LEO, JEM, MADAM BOVARY, etc.

Still needed a couple of googles and wite-out to finish this puzzle. But I enjoyed it tremendously. It did not make me feel stupid.

Across:

5A: Alda sitcom: M*A*S*H. I wish ALAN (6D: Novelist Paton) were clued as "5A star" for a tie-in. I've never heard of ALAN Paton. Fascinating, Wikipedia says his first book "Cry, Beloved Country" was picked up by Maxwell Perkins, the editor of genius (F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, etc.).

9A: Capital of Belarus: MINSK. Do you know that Louis B. Mayer was born in MINSK?

18A: Colombian city: CALI. It's Colombia's second largest city. Lots of drug here, I am sure.

19A: Element #54: XENON. I googled this element. Can never remeber this noble gas.

24A: City in central Israel: LOD. Can not find LOD in this map.

31A: San Luis __, CA: OBISPO. Here is the map. It appeared in our puzzle before.

45A: Slaughter of baseball: ENOS. Or "Adam's grandson". "Speaker of baseball" is TRIS.

52A: Tearjerker: WEEPER. Both sound like made-up words to me.

59A: Poppy product: OPIUM. I wonder if there is a way to legalize the OPIUM production in Afganistan. Did you watch "Charlie Wilson's War"? Philip Seymour Hoffman was simply brilliant as CIA operative Gust.

64A: Language of Iran: FARSI. I just learned the other day that "julep" is "rose water" in FARSI.

65A: "The King and I" actress: KERR. Here is a clip. I was thinking of Jodie Foster's "Anna and the King".

Down:

1D: Overflowed: SPILT. As in SPILT milk?

2D: Peninsula near Hongkong: MACAO. We spell it as MACAU in China. It's in south China. A former Portuguese colony until 1999. See it? See my hometown Xi'An?

4D: "CSI: NY" star: GARY SINISE. I like his Lieutenant Dan role in "Forrest Gump". He is also great in "Ransom".

5D: Paving material: MACADAM. Named after "J. L. McAdam, the Scottish engineer who invented it." PAVE was clued as "Macadamize" last time.

8D: Katherine of "27 Dresses": HEIGL. I like its happy ending, so romantic. I also like HEIGL's "Love Comes Softly".

9D: Motley assortment: MIXED BAG

10D: Judith of "Sister, Sister": IVEY. I've never heard of IVEY or "Sister, Sister". Is she very famous?

21D: "To Kill a Mockingbird" boy: JEM. Scout's brother. Great book.

26D: Joe of "NCIS": SPANO. He is very annoying in "NYPD Blue". I've never seen "NCIS".

33D: Nasser of Egypt: GAMAL. Got it from the across fills. I only knew NASSER when the clue is "Anwar's predecessor". His full name is GAMAL Abdel Nasser.

39D: Big wave: TSUNAMIS

54D: Susan Lucci's soap role: ERICA. Susan Lucci's beauty secret is to eat lots of sardines, What's yours?

57D: Champagne name: MOET. I've never had MOET et Chandon, have you? MOET is the M in LVMH. Louis Vuitton has probably spent more money than any other luxury brands to stop counterfeit products in China.

C.C.