Sunday November 23, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Legal-Easy

23A: Star of Arthur Baer quote: BETTING IS PRETTY

47A: Part 2 of quote: MUCH LIKE LIQUOR: YOU

67A: Part 3 of quote: CAN MAKE IT

92A: Part 4 of quote: ILLEGAL, BUT YOU CAN'T

119A: End of quote: MAKE IT UNPOPULAR

I was not familiar with Arthur Baer. Wikipedia says he was the reported source of Babe Ruth's nickname "The Sultan of Swat".

Had a tough time solving this puzzle. It's not that difficult, but I made it so with a few confident false starts. Filled in NORMA for 7D: Actress Shearer (MOIRA) and ADAM for 52A: Scott of the PGA (HOCH). And I made a total mess in the lower left corner.

So now I have in front of me a very ugly finished puzzle. I could not even get NETSUKE (68D: Japanese collectibles). I just sat besides a hardcore NETSUKE collector on a wedding not so long ago. He bored me with his collections. These are so erotic.

I thought "Red leader?" is a better clue for INFRA (14A: Red beginning?). Infrastructure is another potential word to clue INFRA. "Structure beginning?" sounds good.

Across:

1A: Waggable appendage: TAIL. Is "waggable" a real word?

5A: Leggy legs: GAMS. This answer made me question my sanity. I was convinced that the intersecting 7D ("Actress Shearer") is NORMA rather than MOIRA. I wish the clue were "Ballerina Shearer".

9A: James and Tommie: AGEES. James AGEE drank too much in his life. I've never seen Tommie AGEE play baseball. This is his 1970s Topps cards.

27A: Police officer, at times: ARRESTER

37A: Greenish blue: CYAN. What's the difference between CYAN and teal?

39A: Musical practice piece: ETUDE. Chopin's ETUDE "The Winter Wind".

45A: No. cruncher: CPA

57A: Home port of War of 1812: ERIE. I guessed. I was not aware of the Battle of Lake ERIE (1813).

58A: Sicilian resort: ENNA. "Sicilian Volcano" is ETNA.

59A: Money managers of a sort: LAUNDERERS. So true!

66A: Kernel's coat: TESTA. The outer, hard cover. ARIL is the soft coat.

71A: Most-wanted group: A LIST. I like this clue, though I was thinking of "American's Most Wanted" criminals.

77A: Scottish Gaelic: ERSE. The clue should be changed to "Irish tongue" because of GAELS (108A: Some Highlanders).

78A: "Exodus" co-star: SAL MINEO. I've never seen "Exodus", have you?

80A: Unblemished: IMMACULATE. And 106D: Blemished: ACNED. I only knew the noun.

88A: Mountain passes: COLS. I got it from down fills.

89A: Teton Sioux tribe: OGLALA. Crazy Horse was a member of OGLALA Lakota, so was Red Cloud. Very cool names.

96A: Peg with a concave top: TEE. Golf TEE, right?

99A: Former deejay Casey: KASEM. How can I remember his name? KASEM sounds so Muslim.

111A: Accelerate!: STEP ON IT. And 14D: Will, by all expectations (3 wds). Strange to have "3 wds", totally unnecessary.

122A: Illinois city near St. Louis: ALTON. See this map. It's 15 miles north of St. Louis. Famous for the 7th debate between Lincoln and Douglas in 1858. Completely unknown to me.

126A: Feudal lord: MESNE. Another stranger to me. I am used to LIEGE as an answer to "Feudal lord".

128A: Icelandic literary work: EDDA. Most of the Norse mythology came from the two EDDAS.

Down:

1D: Big brass: TUBAS. I was surprised to learn that the tuba player is called tubist.

3D: Technical details: INTRICACIES

6D: Infamous Hiss: ALGER. Last time ALGER was clued as "Ragged Dick" author.

10D: Lobbed missile: GRENADE

12D: Those, south of the border: ESTAS. Vs. ESOS. And 15D: North of Mexico: NORTE. Vs. SUR.

13D: Sutherland movie: S*P*Y*S. I got this movie title from the across fills.

16D: Improvisational performance: FREE STYLE

25D: Flower part: PISTIL. See this diagram. It's opposite of stamen.

30D: Viewer's magazine: TV GUIDE

33D: Type of toast: MELBA. Looks delicious. Needs some foie gras though.

35D: Old, ugly woman: BELDAME. New word to me. How strange, since BEL means "good".

38D: Life-drawing subjects: NUDES

40D: A. Godfrey's instrument: UKE

41D: Area meas.: SQ IN

46D: __ cochere (sheltered entrance): PORTE. Here is a great picture. PORTE is simply "door" in French.

48D: Like dunce caps: CONIC. I always want CONED.

49D: Barbera's partner in cartoon: HANNA. I googled this one. HANNA-Barbera Cartoons now belongs to Time Warner.

51D: Country characteristic: RURALISM. I checked, it's a real word, so is urbanism.

53D: Hot period: HEAT WAVE

59D: Dam's creation: LAKE. I wish this clue were "57A, e.g." (ERIE).

60D: Mild yellow cheese: EDAM. What's your favorite cheese?

62D: __ de Triomphe: L'ARC. It's not grand at all in the daylight. Quite beautiful in the evening time.

63D: Nagy of Hungary: IMRE. Another google. This guy always gives me trouble. He looks like a bad Japanese guy in our elementary history book.

70D: Indian drum: TABLA. Here is a picture. I can only think of sitar, which is a lute.

72D: 2005 Jessica Alba film: INTO THE BLUE. I've never seen this film, is it good?

73D: Cast net: SEINE. I was fooled again. SEINE is more than a river. SEINE with a SEINE in SEINE.

76D: Mexican peninsula: YUCATAN

80D: Mother of Horus: ISIS. I linked ISIS feeding Horus last time when ISIS was clued as "Goddess of fertility".

81D: Miss: Fr.: MLLE. SRTA in Spain.

82D: Abuses: MALTREAT. Did you try MISTREAT first?

83D: Droop: LOLL

93D: French river: GARONNE. Very frustrating intersection with MESNE. I knew neither of them. I can only find GARONNE Canel.

95D: Prepare to advance: TAG UP. Baseball term. After a flyball, the runner has to return and touch the base before advancing.

103D: Sort of strings?: APRON. APRON string. Not a cute clue to me.

110D: Turkish gulf: SAROS. See this map. I got it from across fills. Have never heard of Gulf of SAROS.

111D: Body toss: SLAM. Boxing term?

112D: TV part?: TELE. Greek prefix for "far".

113D: Apple offering: iMAC

117D: __ Linda, CA: LOMA. See this map. It appeared in our puzzle before.

120D: Author Follett: KEN. His name emerged after I got the surrounds. Have never heard of this author before. He has dimples too.

121D: Shoshone: UTE. I am bored by this clue.

C.C.

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.