Monday November 24, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: Settle "Down"

4D: Down: FINE FEATHERS

8D: Down: NOT FUNCTIONING

14D: Down: SWALLOW QUICKLY

23D: Down: GRIDIRON PLAY

I am glad "Bear market's heading" is not part of the theme answers. It would definitely make me feel DOWN.

I think it would be very hard to make an ACROSS themed puzzle. Lots of possiblities with CROSS though: Symbol of Christianity; Peeved; X mark; Betray, etc.

Nice theme. Too many abbreviations for my taste. Some of them can be easily avoided:

10A: Pampering, briefly: TLC. I think this trio TLC is famous enough for a clue.

19A: Can. province: QUE. How about "What" in Spanish/French?

I like the clue for GRAINS (62A: Wood patterns). But the WHEAT clue (37A: Flour grain) definitely needs to be reworded.

Across:

1A: Pitch indicators: CLEFS. I was picturing a baseball catcher using his fingers to indicate the pitch location.

13A: Pinesap: ROSINS. Never know when to put ROSINS and when to put RESINS.

17A: Informercial tagline: ACT NOW. Lots of compound words today. I like I'M OK (39A: Reassuring response).

18A: Bill killer: VETO. I was thinking of Uma Thurman in "Kill Bill".

20A: Middle-of-the-road: MODERATE. This word reminds me of Tim Russert. I think a verb clueing would have pleased him.

22A: Diagram: FIGURE. Rather dull clue, isn't it? How about FIGURE Skating?

32A: Art style of '20s and '30s: DECO. ERTE is often clued as "Art DECO artist".

41A: Math text abbr.: QED

42A: State since '48: ISRAEL

44A: French waters: EAUX. The same with gâteau/chapeau/château, just add letter X for the plural form. The pronunication remains the same.

47A: Spanish pianist Jose: ITURBI. I forgot about him completely. Linked his Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu last time. Wikipedia says that he played himself in the movie "Anchors Aweigh".

51A: Lung compartment: AIR SAC

52A: Election day survey: EXIT POLL

59A: Journalist Bly: NELLIE. How can I remember her name? I shudder everytime I see a "Bly" clue.

60A: Garment with straps: BRA. What's your favorite brand? I like Wacoal. Her body shape looks surreal.

63A: Japanese honorific: SAN. Just add SAN to the end of their given name or surname, regardless of gender or age.

Down:

3D: Cornerstone abbr.: ESTD

10D: Brimless hat: TOQUE. Do you know why chefs wear tall TOQUE?

11D: Gene Tierney classic: LAURA. I guessed. Have never heard of this movie before. The plot sounds interesting.

26D: Pinochle combo: MELD. Got the answer from the across fills. Not familiar with "Pinochle". I only played a very simple Chinese card game with my families during holiday seasons. My Dad liked to cheat.

29D: Minor League level: AAA. I like this clue. Much better than "Battery type" or "Motorist's org.". Rochester Red Wings Triple A is Twins affiliate.

30A: Half of UTEP: EL PASO. Maybe I will like this clue on another day. I got headache seeing so many abbreviations today.

33D: Online read: EMAG. The clue needs an abbreviation hint.

43D: Roofing specialists: SLATER. This reminds me of TILER. Our editor likes to clue it as "Masonic doorkeeper" rather than "Flooring specialist".

47D: Poetic feet: IAMBS. Is the B silent in pronunciation?

49D: Type of sprawl or renewal: URBAN

54D: "The Mod Squad" character: LINC. Got this name after I googled NELLIE Bly. Not familiar with "The Mod Squad". That girl looks so pretty.

55D: Reduced by: LESS. I believe in "Less is More". So many things are better left unsaid.

C.C.

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.