Monday December 8, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: The Who

15A: Lendl playing badly?: IVAN THE TERRIBLE

37A: Namath serving drinks? JOE THE BARTENDER

58A: O'Donnel working construction? ROSIE THE RIVETER

I was thinking of JOE THE PLUMBER. Had never heard of JOE THE BARTENDER.

Besides BILLY THE KID and JACK THE RIPPER, who else do you think will be a great theme answer candidate? This constructor (Stan B. Whitten) is probably too modest to clue STAN THE MAN. Had our ex-governor JESSE "THE BODY" run for the senate seat in November, Minnesota probably would not have this messy recount now.

I adore this puzzle. Great theme and a rare action-filled "Do" puzzle. Lots of verbs, so unusual: GOOF, ERRS, EMBED, ELATES, ENJOY, REVERE, OGLE, SNEAK, STATE, OVERLAP, ELEVATE, STUNS, MOOED, and ROTATES.

Some of the fills can also be verbalized too: DETOUR (34A: Way around), LIVE (2D: In person), OUT (7D: On the market), FORCE OUTS (9D: Some failures to advance runners) and ENTER (62A: Key PC key). I think a simple "Go in" would be perfect for ENTER.

Across:

1A: Pixyish: ELFIN. I always thought the adjective for pixie is "pixie-like".

19A: Palm starch: SAGO. Is anyone suffering from gluten intolerance/sensitivity? SAGO flour is safe, so is rice flour of course.

16A: Govt. agents: T-MEN. I think the most famous movie about T-MEN is probably "The Untouchables". Kevin Costner plays Eliot Ness.

20A: Long-distance operators?: REMOTES. Nice clue.

21A: Spotted wildcats: OCELOTS. Do you know that cougar, puma, mountain lion and panther are the same thing?

24A: First wife?: EVE. I suppose you can also clue EVE as "First mother?/grandma?" or "First offender?". "Second name?" though.

28A: Clarinet relative: OBOE. Ah, the most popular "blow" instrument in Xword!

30A: Dr. Tim's drug: LSD. I sure don't believe "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has anything to do with LSD.

44A: French movie: CINE. I always thought it's CINEMA.

64A: Scottish dagger: SNEE. Dirk is also "Scottish dagger". I don't know the difference between the two.

Down:

3D: "The Film-__ Man": FLAM. Here is clip. I've never seen the movie.

4D: Uncorrupted: INNOCENT. They are not really synonymous, are they?

10D: Subway gate: STILE. Good change. I am tired of the "Steps over a fence" clue.

11D: Early pulpit: AMBO. New word to me. This AMBO looks quite modern.

12D: Moolah: GELT. I wonder how many calories are in one of these GELT coins. Probably the same as in one clementine.

18D: Conditional contraction: HE'D. I don't think I would have got it without the across fills. Sometimes simple word stumps me.

27D: Afrikaners: BOERS. Taiwan was under the Dutch control from 1624 to 1662 (The Dutch Formosa).

29D: Cylinder diameter: BORE. I did not know this.

30D: Rock shelf: LEDGE. New definition to me also.

31D: Inscribed stone pillar: STELA. The plural is STELAE.

34D: Undies: DELICATES. That's why they should be hand-washed.

39D: Happening that didn't happen: NON-EVENT. I don't understand this clue. The event, though anticlimatic, did happen, right?

50D: Pitcher Hershiser: OREL. Wikipedia says OREL Hershiser is "the only player to receive the Cy Young award, the Championship Series MVP award, and the World Series MVP award in the same season (1988)."

51D: Lemming cousin: VOLE. What is he eating? Lemming is new to me.

53D: Unit of loudness: PHON. Learned from doing Xword. Looks like a sound prefix to me.

C.C.

Sunday December 7, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: Must "C" Movies

23A: Movie about George M. Cohan's sweet tooth?: YANKEE DOODLE CANDY (DANDY)

43A: Movie about interpreter fees?: COST (LOST) IN TRANSLATION

63A: Movie about a rain forest chef?: THE JUNGLE COOK (BOOK)

91A: Movie about a kennel owner's purchase: A FISTFUL OF COLLARS (DOLLARS)

114A: Movie about a versatile container?: A CAN (MAN) FOR ALL SEASONS

16D: Movie about a dance troupe?: THE CAST (LAST) WALTZ

62D: Movie about a sleuth's heavenly helper? THE CLUE (BLUE) ANGEL

Such a clever theme. Perfect theme title as well.

I thought of the movie "Some Like it Hot", but the "C" change will result "Come Like it Hot", probably too DF. "Annie Hall" is a great candidate too, but it's impossible to clue "Annie Call" grammatically. "Fargo" (Cargo) does not have enough letters to be a theme answer.

Of the above 7 movies, the only movie I've seen is LOST IN TRANSLATION. And the only movie I've never heard of is A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS.

I seriously doubt the GOLD clue (109A: Fort Knox cache) is the constructors' original. They are far too experienced a team to make clue/answer (65D: Military stronghold: FORT) duplication mistake.

The cluing mistake for DETENTE (17D: International accord) somehow comforts me. I thought I am the only one who is often confused by DETENTE and ENTENTE. What can I say? Confused minds think alike?

I loved the clue for SPA (117D: Bath, for one). Very clever. Bath is a city in England famous for its spas. See the map? It's to the west of London, close to Bristol.

Across:

1A: Fuzzy fruit: KIWI. Fuzzy indeed. But really we don't call KIWI "Chinese gooseberry" in China.

5A: Use elbow grease: SCRUB. I wonder why NASA prefers SCRUB over cancel when they call off the shuttle launch.

10A: 6-pointers: TDS. I still think "NFL" is needed in the clue for abbreviation hint. 6 is not good enough for me.

19A: Seed protector: ARIL. Testa is the hard, outer coating.

20A: Bath sponge: LOOFA. This is how it looks like before it enters your bathroom. Very tasty when stir-fried with a little bit of meat.

21A: Location of Bradley University: PEORIA. I googled. Caterpillar Headquarters is based here also. And WACO (57A: Baylor U. location). U should not have been abbreviated. Dr. Pepper Museum is in WACO.

29A: Printer's measures: PICAS

30A: Beckham's game: SOCCER. We call it football in China.

36A: Yarn bundle: HANK. Like a skein? I've never heard of HANK used as "Yarn bundle" before.

37A: Close-knit group: CLIQUE. Coterie is one letter too long.

39A: Salami type: GENOA. Can you believe that I've never had salami?

40A: Adriatic gulf: TRIESTE. See Gulf of TRIESTE. It's at the north end of Adriatic Sea. New to me also. Such a sad looking word, so close to TRISTE in spelling.

48A: Deserve: RATE. How so? I wanted EARN.

50A: "Leave it to Beaver" co-star: TONY DOW. Would not have got his name without the surrounds.

63A: Grilled sandwich: PANINI. This veggie PANINI looks so good. When do you use the singular form panino then?

67A: Bremen exclamation: ACH. I guessed. Not familiar with this city/state Bremen.

75A: Twisted treat: PRETZEL

79A: Rose extract: ATTAR. I wonder how many rose petals it takes to make a drop of rose oil.

80A: Rhine siren: LORELEI. Also spelled as LORELEY, which can also refer to the rock along the Rhine River where the siren LORELEI lured the sailors. Too bad, Kazie, I simply forgot it again. All I could think of is Circe.

83A: Legendary Hun king: ATLI. I can't understand why Attila the Hun is also called ATLI.

89A: Disco of "The Simpsons": STU. Learned his name from doing Xword. MOE is the bartender in "The Simpsons".

96A: Hack's question: WHERE TO

99A: Baker's item: PIE PAN. What kind of pie did you have for Thanksgiving?

104A: Ancient letters: RUNES. The first six letters of RUNES are F, U, TH, A, R, K, hence Futhark.

108A: "Over the Rainbow" composer: ARLEN (Harold). Normally I like the original song, but this medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" is so beautiful.

110A: Osaka Okay: HAI. The same with "Cantonese Okay". "Mandarine Okay" is "Shi".

119A: Block: SCREEN

123A: Grandstander: HOTDOG

Down:

1D: Danny or Stubby: KAYE. Got this name from across fills. I know neither of them.

5D: Make glossy: SLEEKEN. New verb to me.

6D: Musical wrapups: CODAS

9D: Undesirable individual: BAD PENNY. New slang to me.

15D: "Banana Boat" shout: DAY-O. I've never heard of "Banana Boat" before. I like that guy's voice. The tune sounds so similar to "Come Mr. Taliban".

18D: Breathing device: SNORKEL

24D: Boredom: ENNUI

33D: Brainpower meas.: IQ TEST. Nice answer.

39D: Small cave: GROT. Only knew grotto. Also, I did not know that cavern is a big cave. Always thought cavern is smaller.

44D: Final strike: THREE. Great clue. Oh by the way, Babe Ruth’s jersey number is 3. Mantle's is 7. Kirby Puckett's number is 34. He died too young.

55D: Hit by the Stones: ANGIE. Is that Mick Jagger? He looks so different.

60D: Kin of CHiPs: LAPDS. But the official acronym for California Highway Patrol is CHP, isn't it?

63D: Opinion leader: PUNDIT

64D: Biotic beginning?: ANTI. Antibiotic. Very unexpected clue.

66D: Home decor co.: IKEA. Do you like the Swedish style food at IKEA?

73D: Bout-stopper: TKO (Technical knockout). The clue needs "for short".

82D: Immature newt: EFT

83D: Estrange: ALIENATE. I like this word "Estrange". I also like espouse.

86D: Hines footwear: TAP SHOES. I guessed. Have never heard of "Hines footwear" before.

89D: Eddied: SWIRLED. I wanted TWIRLED.

94D: Richly appointed: OPULENT. I did not know that "appoint" can mean "furnish".

103D: Monteverdi opera "L'__": ORFEO. Another google. ORFEO is Italian for Orpheus. He shouldn't look back when he tried to bring his wife Eurydice from Hades. Kind of like Lot's wife Pillar of Salt story, isn't it?

104D: Pine product: ROSIN. Never know when to put ROSIN and when to put RESIN.

106D: Pulverize: MASH

107D: Behold, to Guido: ECCO. Italian for ECCE I presume. Guido is the guy who invented the musical notation. Remember the ELA (Guido's high note)?

111D: Egyptian cross: ANKH. Very easy to mix ANKH with the Punjab religion SIKH.

C.C.