Wednesday December 17, 2008 Diane C. Baldwin

Theme: Choice Words

20A: Poker player's alternative: GET IN OR GET OUT

39A: Negotiator's option: TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

53A: A call for action: FISH OR CUT BAIT

This constructor seems to favor three theme answers, with the middle one running through the grid.

Lots of vowels in this puzzle. And quite a few 5-letter words with 3 vowels alone. Felt like I just had a few OREO cookies for breakfast. I think I need more than that to sustain me through the morning.

The clue for ODDS (54D: Track stats) needs to be changed into "Track figures", as "stats" suggests an abbreviation. I would prefer a "Track fence" clue for RAIL (55D: Balustrade), since ODDS parallels RAIL in the grid.

Across:

1A: Plunk down: PLOP. I dislike the letter duplications. "Set down heavily" is fine. Or simply clue PLOP as a noun, like "Stone dropping into water sound", or something like that.

9A: Power for Fulton: STEAM

14A: Tibetan monk: LAMA. Literally "superior one" in Tibetan language. Wikipedia has a different definition, claiming it's similar to Sankrit "Guru", meaning "teacher".

19A: Bow lubricant: ROSIN. Baseball pitchers also use ROSIN for better grip, when their hands are wet or cold.

30A: Removal from office: OUSTING. I did not expect an *ING ending noun.

35A: Render harmless: UNARM. Same clue applies to DISARM I suppose.

38A: Debate side: ANTI. And ANTE (8D: Feed the kitty). They are of different root, so it's acceptable to place the two words in one grid.

44A: Captain Nemo's creator: VERNE (Jules). "Father of Science Fiction". Interesting, Wikipedia says Verne is "the second most translated author of all time, only behind Agatha Christie". I wonder where Shakepeare is placed.

46A: Snappy comeback: RIPOSTE. It's the same as repartee, isn't it?

49A: Yule quaff: EGGNOG. Very seasonable answer. Seasoned too of course, with nutmeg.

67A: Abrasive cloth: EMERY. This lower left corner is very boring, with NICER crossing RARER.

69A: Wild plum: SLOE. "Wild plum"? New to me. I thought SLOE only looks like a plum. I am more used to the "Blackthorn" clue.

69A: Big jerk: YANK. "Big jerk"? Is this about Yankees' Steinbrenner?

Down:

4D: Place for a barbecue: PATIO. Another 3-vowel word.

5D: Number puzzle: SUDOKU. Numbers give me headache.

7D: Percussion instrument: GONG. I wonder if our editor is aware of GONG Li, who has been the most influential Chinese actress in the past two decades.

10D: Rainbow in the water: TROUT

11D: New Yorkers, for instance: EASTERNERS

12D: Rope-a-dope poet: ALI. I was not aware of the origin.

21D: Model Campbell: NAOMI. Hebrew for “pleasant”, not a word to describe NAOMI Campbell though. NAOMI Watts, yes.

25D: Eyeball membrane: RETINA

26D: Treated with malice: SPITED

28D: Digital alternative: ANALOG

29D: Machine gun assault, perhaps: RAKING FIRE. The answer revealed itself after I filled in the across fills. Have never heard of this term before.

36D: Gen. Powell's status: RET. I wonder if Gen. Powell knows that RET is "Soak flax" in our Xword world. His wife is an avid crossword solver.

38D: Hail to Caesar: AVE. Probably not many St. for Caesar to cross during his life time.

40D: Dark meat serving: THIGH. Can you imagine what Dennis would say if the clue were "Breast alternative"?

52D: Dark, heavy wood: EBONY. I just saw "The Piano" last night. Are black piano keys still made of EBONY?

60D: Bard's before: ERE

C.C.

Tuesday December 16, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: Pardonable Robberies

20A: Asleep for a while: GRABBING SOME Z'S

38A: Upstaging a star: STEALING THE SHOW

56A: Humbling: TAKING DOWN A PEG

Bernard Madoff and his staggering Ponzi scheme are certainly unpardonable and unforgivable. What this mad, mad, Madoff did was gravity-defying daylight robbery. Amazing, $50 billion, even HSBC was victimized.

Easy solving today. Simple theme, simple fills. I really like the RAMBO clue (25A: Sly character?), very cleverly misleading. But "USA foe" for USSR (32A)? No. Definitely needs "Former" or "Once".

Across:

5A: Biathlon equipment: SKIS. Every time I see this answer, I picture Bode Miller skiing while intoxicated. He is wild, living on edge all the time.

14A: Chanteuse Horne: LENA. Why "Chanteuse"? Edith Piaf is a chanteuse.

17A: Big golf tournament: OPEN. And IRWIN (40D: Golfer Hale): Hale IRWIN is a three - time US OPEN champion. He designed the Jewel Golf Course here in MN.

19A: WWII landing site: ANZIO. See it? It's to the south of Rome. So many Italian names end in letter A, O or I.

28A: Vacation option: RESORT

44A: NASA affirmatives: A-OKS. What is "NASA negatives then"? NO GOES?

47A: "Mack the Knife" singer: DARIN. Here is the clip. I've never understood what the song is about.

52A: "Bewitched" role: ENDORA. One again, I had to rely on the surrounds to get her name. I know, I should eat worms. But worms are frozen here. Too cold.

60A: Like candles: WAXEN. Madame Tussauds' figures are WAXEN too.

61A: Quattro maker: AUDI. Very clever name change. AUDI sure sounds catchier than Horch.

62A: Goneril's royal pop: LEAR. King LEAR's other two daughters are Cordelia and Regan.

65A: First name in whodunits: ERLE. And his contemporary NGAIO (51D: Marsh of mysteries), whose name I forgot completely. Last time our editor clued MARSH as "Ngaio of mysteries".

Down:

1D: Laceless shoes: CLOGS. No "Drain problem" today.

4D: Down under capital: CANBERRA. If Roger Elbert is correct, why the movie "Austrialia" then?

6D: Zen riddle: KOAN. This is another difficult word for me to remember.

9D: Annual Calgary event: STAMPEDE. New event to me. STAMPEDE always brings to mind those dangerous Hajj scenes.

11D: Heckle: RAZZ. Remember the "Bronx cheer" we discussed a while ago?

12D: Goddess of discord: ERIS. Discordia in Roman. She and her golden apple indirectly sparked the Trojan War.

22D: Woman with a book club: OPRAH

27D: 1977 George Burns film: OH, GOD. Easy guess. Have never heard of this movie. Looks interesting.

29D: Cuatro doubled: OCHO. Italian eight is OTTO.

33D: Town near Caen: ST. LO

36D: Sicilian rumbler: ETNA. When did it last rumble?

41D: Shod for the beach: SANDALED

48D: Spool back: REWIND

59D: Comic strip canine: ODIE. The "Garfield's dog. O?IE seems to be a very popular crossword pattern, with three vowels. I can think of OBIE (Theater Award), OPIE (Mayberry kid) and OKIE (Dust Bowl migrant). What else?

C.C.