Wednesday December 24, 2008 Diane C. Baldwin

Theme: Play It Safe

20A: Way to lessen risk: HEDGE ONE'S BETS

41A: Ponder pros and cons: WEIGH THE OPTIONS

58A: Put out feelers, maybe: TEST THE WATERS

Did I catch the right theme? I seem to have trouble coming up with an apt title lately. Maybe too much pomegranate green tea?

I don't think the clue for HEDGE ONE'S BETS is accurate. The clue is asking for a noun phrase, while the answer turns out to be a verb phrase.

I had quite a few false starts this morning. Some of the clues are a bit unexpected. I like how NOSE (64A: Poke (around) intersects YENTA (55D: Meddlesome woman). It reminded me of the matchmaker YENTE in "Fiddler on the Roof".

Across:

9A: Felt, for one: CLOTH. Nice clue. "Linen, for one" would probably be too easy.

15A: Ex-QB Aikman: TROY. The guy on the right is Joe Buck, who has a rather distinctive voice.

15A: Scales sign: LIBRA. Interesting traits, Dennis.

19A: Love, French style: AMOUR. Ha, I wrote down AIMER carelessly, thinking "Love" is a verb.

23A: Words to live by: CREDO. ''I believe'' in Latin. "All Things Considered" (NPR) has a "This I Believe" statement segment every Monday.

37A: Spiny tree: ACACIA. Why is it called "Spiny tree"? Wikipedia says some of the most valuable ukuleles and acoustic guitars are made of ACACIA koa wood, like this one used by Taylor Swift. These flowers are so pretty.

44A: Decide with authority: DECREE. I am more familiar with the noun DECREE.

68A: German pistol: LUGER. New name to me. She is a LUGER too.

71A: Fencing equipment: EPEES. Better clue than "Fencing swords", which straightforwardly demands a plural answer. "Fencing gear" is a tricky clue too.

72A: Stat equivalent: ASAP. Probably a gimme for those doctors. But I was thinking of the sports figure "Stat", you know, ERA, RBI, etc.

Down:

3D: Bona fide: AUTHENTIC. I was only familiar with "in good faith" definition of "Bona fide".

4D: Mighty mount: STEED

9D: Paragon: CLASS ACT

21D: Sleepy's pal: DOC. Some of the rejected Seven Dwarfs names sound pretty good. I like Gloomy, Cranky and Silly.

22D: One on the run: ESCAPEE. I wonder why it's not ESCAPER. Oh, no, I don't like this alternate ending for ''The Shawshank Redemption'.

23D: Invade one's space: CROWD. I am not fond this clue.

29D: Revive a lost lesson: RETEACH. I wrote down RELEARN first.

38D: Matrimony prelude: COURTSHIP. Do you like short & intense COURTSHIP or long, gradual buildup one?

40D: Narnia's lion hero: ASLAN. Turkish/Persian word for "lion". I can never remember the name. Liam Neeson voices ASLAN in "The Chronicales of Narnia".

42D: Expectant beneficiaries: HERITORS. I was thinking of HEIR TO BE. At least, 4 letters fit perfectly.

53D: Missouri feeder: OSAGE. Also a type of orange.

59D: Old you: THEE. I was thinking of THOU. Still can't believe that I've never heard of THOU as a slang for "10 C-notes". Where have I been?

60D: Difficulties: WOES. I associate WOES with miseries rather than "Difficulties".

67D: Landscaping shrub: YEW. Now, which part of this YEW is poisonous?

C.C.

Tuesday December 23, 2008 John Underwood

Theme: Hollywood Actor Brothers

20A: Brothers Jeff and Beau: BRIDGES

22A: Brothers John and James: BELUSHI

39A: Brothers River and Joaquin: PHOENIX

56A: Brothers Ben and Casey: AFFLECK

59A: Brothers Alec, William et al.: BALDWIN

25D: Brothers Emilio and Carlos, a.k.a. Charles Sheen: ESTEVEZ

I am a bit confused by the clues. If it's "Brothers Ben and Casey", shouldn't the answer be plural form AFFLECKS?

I had absolutely zero familarity with the name PHOENIX. I watched and enjoyed Coen brother's "The Big Lebowski", but I did not know that Jeff BRIDGES was the guy who played "the Dude".

When you highlight all the six theme answers of this puzzle, the grid looks quite pretty, with ESTEVEZ crossing PHOENIX.

Why is the clue for "ONE L" (36D: S. Turow book) abbreviated? It's the original title of Scott Turow's book. If it were clued as "First year law student" related, then there should be an abbreviation hint.

Did you like the clue for AIMER (54D: Target sighter)? I would prefer a nice and romantic "To Love, in Paris" clue. It's so cold everywhere, hope this hot & sexy "Je t'aime... moi no plus" warm you up.

Across:

1A: Lead balloons: BOMBS

6A: NYC theatrical award: OBIE. No hesitation between TONY and OBIE this morning as I got the intersecting ODDS (6D: Track figures) immediately.

14A: To pieces: APART. Alright then, I love you APART. Hmm, it does not make sense. I guess I love you only "To pieces".

17A: Anatomical networks: RETIA. I only knew the singular form RETE.

24A: Birth-control pioneer: SANGER (Margaret). See here for more information. New name to me also.

28A: Writer Greene: GRAHAM. Knew his name. Have never read his books.

35A: Roman orator: CATO. "The Elder" ("The Censor") or "The Younger"? Wikipedia says The CATO Institute is named after CATO the Younger.

37A: Prince Valiant's wife: ALETA. See this list of all the characters. "Prince Valiant's son" is ARN. Both appeared in our puzzle before.

44A: Cinematographer Nykvist: SVEN. Unknown to me. I do like "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", but I've never paid attention to who the cinematographer is. Wikipedia says he "worked on over 120 films, but is known especially for his work with director Ingmar Bergman". He won 2 Oscars.

50A: Polish coin: GROSZ. No idea. GROSZ is 100th of a ZLOTY, which appeared in our puzzle a few days ago.

61A: Dublin's land: EIRE

63A: "Battlestar Galactica" role: ADAMA. Unknown to me. ADAMA is derived from ancient Greek "adamas" meaning "invincible".

64A: Rugged rock: CRAG. Looks too steep to climb.

Down:

2D: Puccini work: OPERA. "Tosca" doesn't fit. But it has 5-letter too.

3D: Metz morning: MATIN. Beautiful "Chanson de MATIN" clip.

4D: Female Fonda: BRIDGET. Is "Female" a wordplay on her movie "Single White Female"?

8D: Pitcher Hideki: IRABU. Former pitcher to be exact. His card is not worth much. Interesting, I did not know that Yankees fans called him "I rob you". That's a great play on his name I RAB U.

9D: Sportscaster Dick: ENBERG. "Oh My!". I do live under the rock. Have never heard of this guy before.

21D: Writer Segal: ERICH. I can never remember this author's name. How to pronounce ERICH? Like Eric? "Love Story" is so moving.

23D: Dr. Seuss book (with "The"): LORAX. No idea. What does "The LORAX" mean? Another whimisically made-up word?

32D: Newtons' filler: FIGS. Good clue.

39D: Chaplain: PADRE. It's "Military chaplain", isn't it?

43D: Angled fairways: DOGLEGS. OK, this hole doglegs to the left. I bet there are waters on the left so hookers will have trouble finding their balls. Most of my friends are slicers. I wish I knew how to fade/draw.

45D: Singer Mercury: FREDDIE. Foreign to me. I googled his name and found out that he wrote "We Are the Champions". I seem to remember that Josh Groban covered that song also, but I couldn't find it in the YouTube. Anyway, I love, love "You Raise Me Up", so good.

47D: Mammalian epoch: EOCENE. Would not have got it had I not cheated on the crossing GROSZ. Boy, my memory really sucks. We just had this word a week ago.

49D: Mercedes-Benz model: E-CLASS. E stands for "Einspritzung", German for "fuel injection", says Wikipedia. I've never heard of it before.

53D: Bob Hope film, "Call me__": BWANA. Learned this film from doing crossword. Swahili for "our father".

59D: __ noire: BETE. What, a kind of cake also? Doesn't sound appealing, does it? I would try it if it were called BELLA noire.

C.C.