Thursday November 20, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Be Careful

20A: Start of practical advice: NEVER TEST THE

39A: Part 2 of advice: DEPTH OF THE WATER

59A: End of advice: WITH BOTH FEET

Is this supposed to be an sarcastic advice? Who tests the depth of water with both feet?

I think I have common ground with Stan. We can talk. He seldom stumps me with obscure words or names. There is a certain ALOE calmness about his grid.

Some flaws:

10A: No-no: TABU. Needs "var" in the clue.

24A: Mets stadium: SHEA. Not any more, SHEA is being demolished now. Citi Field will be Mets stadium in 2009.

29D: Booze, butts and bullets bureau: ATF. Needs an abbreviated "org." or "agcy" to replace "bureau".

39D: Isl. off Australia: TAS. The official abbreviation of Tasmania is TASM. "Prof.'s helpers" would be a better clue for TAS.

Across:

5A: Korbut and others: OLGAS. Another Olympic gold medal winner is TARA (65A: Skater Lipinski)

15A: Apply blusher: ROUGE. I did not know that ROUGE can be a verb.

25A: Turkey mister: TOM. Did anyone think the clue was asking for "Mr." in Turkish language?

30A: Free from restraint: AT LARGE. The first word that popped into my brain is BRALESS.

32A: McBain and McMahon: EDS. Did not know ED McBain.

44A: Mafia leader: CAPO. Sometimes it's clued as "Guitar device".

45A: B'way sign: SRO. Do they really have SRO sign in B'way now?

46A: Napoleon's birthplace: CORSICA. See this map. The answer could be BAKERY if the constructor is in the mood to play with "birthplace". Want some Napoleon?

53A: Board joint: DADO. No idea. I got it from the down fills. See this DADO joint.

64A: "Jurassic Park" star Sam: NEILL. Not familiar with this actor. Have never seen "Jurassic Park".

70A: Acapulco bread?: PESOS

Down:

5D: Sacred story set to music: ORATORIO. Got it this time. Wikipedia says Handel is "credited with writing the first English language ORATORIO. Is his "Messiah" in English then?

8D: First name in mysteries: AGATHA. Interesting to read her adventurous stories in Iraq during 1930's with her archaeologist husband.

9D: Last part of a sonnet: SESTET. New definition to me. Dictionary says "it's the last six lines of a sonnet in Italian form".

12D: Hogan or Franklin: BEN. Hogan had such a compact & powerful swing. Another golfer is HAL (22D: Sutton of PGA), one of the nicest guys in PGA Tour. He cries easily.

21D: Stick 'em up!: REACH. Is "Stick 'em up" a slang? I've never heard of it before. And ADHERE (49D: Stick fast). I thought "Stick (to)" is a better clue.

32D: Formal proclamation: EDICT

33D: Apollo's birthplace: DELOS. Also the birthplace for his Twin sister Artemis of course. I wonder why there are so many islands ending with letter "os" in Cyclades. See KEA? It's in our puzzle last time.

41D: Formal letters: EPISTLES. New definition to me.

59D: Split: WENT. They are not synonymous, are they? I penned in RENT (pp form of REND) first.

61D: Shriner topper: FEZ. "Shriner" is a new word to me.

C.C.

Wednesday November 19, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: Methods of Travel

20A: Jet parked on a hill?: INCLINED PLANE

35A: Genoa-based ship?: ITALIAN SUB

42A: Ragu on rails? GRAVY TRAIN

56A: Bus on a bumpy road?: PITCHING COACH

Ragu is not GRAVY, is it? I don't understand the clue and answer for 56A. How is "on a bumpy road" connected with "PITCHING"? So strained, why not "Visitor to the Mound?"

I like how ITER (29D: Cicero's road) anchors the puzzle and intersects two theme entries. Excellent placement. I cannot tell whether the clue for SHEA (9D: George Beverly or John) is the constructors' original or not. It just strikes me as very obscure, though easily obtainable from the across fills.

For those who are interested in Merl Reagle's NY Times crossword puzzle & "The Simpsons" episode, this is Part I, this is Part II. If you don't have access to NY Times, try Philadelphia Inquirer. Merl also wrote a recap. There are some hidden diagnol messages for you to discover.

Across:

1A: Took wing: FLEW. I am not familiar with the idiom "Take wing". The first word that popped into my mind is ATE. I was thinking of the buffalo wings.

14A: Burt's ex: LONI. Here they are. Interesting, Reynolds dated both Adrienne Barbeau & Dolly Parton before. I just find it so hard to believe a 36-24-36 measurment. 34-24-34 is more real to me.

15A: Ancient mariner: NOAH. SINBAD is clued as "Mythical mariner" last time.

17A: Asian inland sea: ARAL. Often clued as "Shrinking Asian sea".

30A: Fragment: PIECE. And ITEM (57D: Article).

38A: Relevant: GERMANE. Is this word derived from "German"?

41A: Frankie's beach blanket partner: ANNETTE. From this movie I suppose. I've never heard of ANNETTE and Frankie.

46A: Family of Indy winners: UNSER. Learned from doing Xword. Not a racing fan.

61A: Vamp's accessory: FEATHER BOA

65A: Shady stand: ELMS. I could not figure why the clue is singular, then I remembered the clue for TREE ("A member of the stand") last Sunday. How can "stand" refer to "a group of trees" is beyond me.

66A: Golf hazard: TRAP. Our puzzle regular Ernie Els is brilliant at bunker shot.

67A: The Orlons 1963 hit: NOT ME. I got it from the down fills. Had no idea who The Orlons are.

Down:

1D: Natural talent: FLAIR. And ECLAT (54D: Great brilliance). I like positive & sunny words. AIDS & DIE depress me, even if they are innocently clued as "Lends a hand" & "Casino cube".

3D: Ratify: ENACT. My first thought is "endorse". ENACT is often clued as "Make into law".

4D: "Die Hard" star: WILLIS. Unless specified, the movie star clue is always asking for the surname of the actor/actress.

10D: Jazz flautist Herbie: MANN. Here is a nice clip. See Tito Puente? I did not know that "flautist" means "flutist".

11D: Holds the attention of: INTERESTS

26D: Grill brand: WEBER. Nice sign. New name to me also. I've never paid attention to our grill brand.

28D: "__ That a Shame": AIN'T. I guessed. Not familiar with this song.

31D: Serpent tail?: INE. Serpentine. "Hero tail?" too (Heroine).

34D: International accord: TRADE PACT

51D: Chucked: THREW. I kept reading the clue as "Chuckled".

59D: Iditarod destination: NOME. See this trail map. Why "Willow restart" instead of "Willow start"?

C.C.