Saturday November 22, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total block: 33

Incredible puzzle! I was stunned when I opened the newspaper. I've never seen a grid with left to right, up and down symmetry before. Our editor has always given us the conventional puzzles with 180 degree rotational symmetry.

This puzzle just looks so pretty to me. But what a hammer! Out of the following 15-letter run -through words, 3D was the only gimme to me:

16A: Shoulder shrugger?: TRAPEZIUS MUSCLE

52A: Sitcom starring Kevin James: THE KING OF QUEENS

3D: George H. W Bush's former jobsite: CIA HEADQUARTERS

10D: Japanese maritime video game: UNCHARTED WATERS

I like the crossing of REHID (18A: Moved to a new secret location) with CIA HEADQUARTERS.

I've never heard of "Sulawesi" (11D) before. After I googled, I think "formerly" should be added for the CELEBES clue.

SAKIS for "Japanese spirits" (45D)? New to me. The only "Japanese spirits" I've used are mirin (to cook) and SAKE.

Across:

1A: Dogpatch creator: AL CAPP. Have not seen "Li'l Abner" in our puzzle for a long time.

7A: Coniferous tree: SPRUCE

19A: Phone button trio: GHI. 4.

20A: Sub-Saharan region: SAHEL. I can never remember this arid region. It's "on the S flank of the Sahara desert that stretches across six countries from Senegal to Chad."

21A: Calif.-to-Fla. rte.: I-TEN. Boy, this did not come to me easily.

25A: Kingston Trio hit: M.T.A.. Can you think of a better way to clue M.T.A.?

26A: North Carolinian: TAR HEEL. I like this old postcard.

28A: Out of the bus.: RET. Retired? I don't understand this clue. How can "Out of the business" mean RETIRED? I was thinking of "bankrupt".

29A: Ornaments: ADORNS. Hard to accept "Ornaments" as a verb.

31A: Points of views: SLANTS. Really? I thought SLANTS are all biased "points of views".

33A: Old British bucks: QUID. No idea. Dictionary says it's a slang for "one pound sterling". I misunderstood "Old" as "former".

34A: French 101 verb: ETRE. I suppose "To be, or not to be" is "ETRE, ou pas ETRE" in French?

37A: Groups of eight: OCTADS. I filled in OCTETS first.

40A: Jimmy of "Red, Hot and Blue": DURANTE. I've never heard of the musical "Red, Hot and Blue". Did he ever explain clearly who "Mrs. Calabash" was?

42A: Female GI, once: WAC (Women's Army Corps). I did not know that it's a separate corps of US Army until 1978.

48A: Fragrant oil: ATTAR

50A: Classic Pontiac: GTO. I wonder why the song title is "Little GTO" rather than "Big GTO".

51A: Himalayan sightings: YETIS

56A: Programming language: FORTRAN. No idea. I've never heard of Formula Translation before.

58A: Gr. peek: MT OSSA

Down:

1D: Belfast's county: ANTRIM. Here is the map. Belfast in the south. I googled the answer.

4D: Clinton cabinet member: ASPIN (Les). How can I remember this guy's name? ASPIN, A SPIN, ASP IN. He looks like a spy.

5D: __ -a-terre: PIED. Did you misread it as "___ de terre"? I did.

6D: Dispensable candy: PEZ. Wow, look at these incredible PEZ dispensers. No "feet", extremely rare, probably worth hundreds of dollars a piece.

12D: Button slot: EYELET

14D: Harsh conditions: RIGORS

15D: Backs of singles: B SIDES

22D: Reach!: HANDS UP. I would not have got this one without your "Stick 'em up" explanations the other day. Thank you.

26D: True partner?: TRIED

32D: Gun lobby, briefly: NRA. Also FDR's "New Deal org."

35D: Transparent, modern-style: SEE THRU. What does "modern-style" mean?

36D: "Wild Thing" group: TROGGS. I love the song "Wild Thing" and "Wild Thing" (Charlie Sheen) in "Major League". But I've never heard of The TROGGS before.

37D: Unrepeated event: ONE-OFF. New word to me.

38D: Steinbeck's birthplace: SALINAS. Here is the map. So close to San Jose. I googled the answer.

39D: Washington airport: SEA-TAC. It serves Seattle and Tacoma. New to me. I was thinking of Dulles Airport.

43D: Aircraft pioneer: CESSNA

49D: La __ gauche: RIVE. The left bank in Paris.

51D: Mongolian tent: YURT

53D: Jarret of Nascar: NED. I guessed. I've never heard of this guy before.

54D: River of Iran: QOM. Here is the map. I cannot find the river. Wikipedia says QOM city is "currently the largest center for Shi'a scholarship in the world". Unknown to me.

C.C.

Friday November 21, 2008 Edgar Fontaine

Theme: Sequels - Better Than the Originals

18A: Barbra Streisand sequel?: FUNNIER GIRL

24A: Adam Sandler sequel? HAPPIER GILMORE

40A: Lee Marvin sequel?: THE DIRTIER DOZEN

52A: Molly Ringwald sequel?: PRETTIER IN PINK

63A: Dennis Hopper sequel?: EASIER RIDER

Very interesting "Y" --> "IER" sequel idea, very creative. Is there a movie title with the word "ugly"?

"Dirty Harry" would have matched better with the other movie titles, with no "THE". But it has an even amount of numbers. So it's impossible to be structured in row #8.

I laughed at the clue for DIET (41D: Lose on purpose?). Remember what Lisa said about the "Loses on purpose?" clue on "The Simpsons"? Forward to 8:36, she said "DIETS.....Will Shortz, you clever rascal".

I don't think the "?" mark is necessary for PYRES (71A: Funeral arrangements?), but TILDE (13D: Spanish accent mark) could have been clued as "Señorita's curve?", with a "?" mark. The EGIS (19D: Patronage) needs a "var." hint.

I love how RAIN (42D: Precipitation) parallels DROP (43D: Let lapse). Only wish DROP were clued as "Bit of 42D".

Across:

1A: Moon buggy: LEM (Lunar Excursion Vehicle). I like this "buggy" clue. Better than "NASA vehicle".

14A: Clare of "Bleak House": ADA. I've never heard of Dickens' "Bleak House". I wanted INA, thinking of the actress INA Claire, who often appeared in our puzzle.

15A: Disney's Little Mermaid: ARIEL. Do you collect Barbie dolls? ARIEL is very reasonably priced. Some of the "I Love Lucy" and "The Munsters" dolls are quite expensive. This is the original Barbie, probably worth thousands of dollars.

16A: Isle in the Bay of Naples: CAPRI. Is "Bay of Naples" the same as Gulf of Naples?

20A: Kind of crazy?: STIR. Got it from down fills. I was not familiar with STIR-crazy. Good clue though.

22A: African river: CONGO. Too bad, our editor missed an opportunity to pay tribute to Michael Crichton.

23A: Pioneer film Browning: TOD. He is the director of "Dracula" & "Freaks". Unknown to me. He looks like a very cold guy.

30A: Affirmative action?: NOD. Great clue.

44A: Pueblo dweller: HOPI. The answer would have been ZUNI if it were a Barry Silk puzzle.

46A: Dawn goddess: EOS. It's Aurora for the Romans. I am confused, how can a goddess name ends in "os"? I thought only Greek masculine nouns end in "os", "is" and "as". Or "us" as in Zeus I suppose.

59A: Thing, in law: RES

69A: Basketry willow: OSIER

Down:

2D: Archie's better half: EDITH. I've seen one or two episodes. Pretty funny.

3D: Beatles phenomenon: MANIA

5D: Indonesian islands: ARU. See the lower right corner of this map. I would not have got it without the across fills.

6D: Insomuch as: SINCE. Do you like "SINCE I Don't Have You"?

7D: Domingo, e.g.: TENOR. Domingo performed at the closing of Beijing Summer Olympics.

9D: Roll of papyrus: SCROLL

11D: Typify: EPITOMIZE

21D: Record speed?: RPM

25D: Roz on "Frazier": PERI. Boy, I can never remember PERI Gilpin's name. PERI is also the fairy in Persian mythology.

26D: Borodin prince: IGOR. Or "Composer Stravinsky".

27D: Shifty shark: MAKO. I wanted ORCA. Wow, look at this big hook.

32D: Tongue ___: DEPRESSOR. "Twister" does not fit.

38D: Sign of summer: LEO. Or Uncle LEO of "Seinfeld".

48D: Fast-lane woe: STRESS

52D: Occurring before surg.: PRE-OP. "Before surg." should be sufficient.

58D: Whitewater vessel: KAYAK. What's so special about "Whitewater"? Why not other river? Whitewater always reminds me of the Clinton scandal.

C.C.