Monday January 12, 2009 John Underwood

Theme: OPERA (52D: Highbrow entertainment)

10A: Berg opera: LULU

20A: Gounod opera: FAUST

26A: Bizet opera: CARMEN

41A: Puccini opera: MADAMA BUTTERFLY

51A: Strauss opera: SALOME

63A: Bellini opera: NORMA

71A: Verdi opera: AIDA

Well, I've only heard of CARMEN, AIDA and MADAMA BUTTERFLY. Actually, I thought it's MADAME. Nevertheless, I still got all the opera names sans cheating. The intersecting clues certainly helped.

John Underwood always amazes me with his theme ideas, so simple and original. Interesting how he could turn LULU into a "Berg opera". I wonder if he is a real opera fan or just constructed this puzzle with some research.

Across:

5A: Laminated rock: SHALE. Here are some SHALE rocks. Wikipedia says it's the most common sedimentary rock.

15A: "Rodeo" composer Copland: AARON. Have never heard of "Rodeo", the so-called "cowboy ballet".

16A: Genesis character: ENOS. Adam's grandson. Sometimes it's clued as "Slaughter of Cooperstown". This name Slaughter sounds very menacing. My husband told me our surname Burnikel means "Don't kill the child" in Viking language. Does your family name carry any special meaning also?

17A: Tolkien creatures: ORCS. The baddies. ENTS are those talking trees. Learned from doing Xword of course.

40A: Ottoman official: AGA. Can also be spelled as AGHA.

62A: Shakespearean curse: POX. Oh, so that's how Shakespeare cursed. Is it like our "damned"?

64A: Egyptian cross: ANKH. Is that the sun god Ra at the bottom of this gold ANKH? This word is very close to SIKH in spelling.

Down:

2D: Hebrew scroll: TORAH. How is it different from Talmud?

4D: University of Montana city: MISSOULA. See this map. I got it from the across fills. Wikipedia says Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, was born and grew up here. In fact, she attended the University of Montana. And to this day, she is the only woman to be elected to Congress from that state. What's the matter with Montana then? Is it a red state?

11D: Early computer OS: UNIX. How "Early"?

26D: Trophy shelf: MANTEL. I always confuse MANTEL with the "loose cape" Mantle. I wonder how many of those Mickey Mantle fans made mistakes spelling his name when they asked for his autograph via mails.

43D: Inflated language: RHETORIC. Bacon once said: Histories make men wise; poet, witty; mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and RHETORIC, able to contend.

53D: Virtuous: MORAL. Do you know why Bacon said "moral, grave"?

59D: First name in spy: MATA. MATA Hari. She looks so exotic.

60D: Letters on a cross: INRI. Abbreviation of Latin "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum". Funny how letter I became letter J.

66D: Casablanca cap: FEZ. It's called tarboosh in Egypt. Most of them seem to be in red color.

C.C.

Sunday January 11, 2009 Josiah Breward

Theme: EE - to - OO

23A: Weak force?: POOR PRESSURE (Peer Pressure)

40A: Pink tiles of a skylines?: CORAL ROOF (Coral Reef)

61A: Fell trees?: TUMBLE WOOD (Tumbleweed)

71A: Successful dive?: CLEAN SWOOP (Clean Sweep)

90A: Endearment for a cowgirl?: SUGAR BOOTS (Sugar Beets)

111A: Cancel filming?: SCRATCH SHOOT (Scratch Sheet)

16D: Chandler's nautical novel: THE BIG SLOOP (The Big Sleep)

67D: Yellow swimming holes?: BANANA POOLS (Banana Peels)

Do you know that Sugar Beets are actually white-rooted? I always had this image that they were all red-colored like our regular beets. Had never heard of Scratch Sheet before, but SCRATCH SHOOT was very easy to infer.

Great theme idea. The title is a bit too straightforward for my taste though. I think I prefer something more subtle, can you think of a better one?

The clue for PGA (119A: Org. of Couples and Love) made me laugh. Brilliant use of the names of Fred Couples and David Love III.

What's your answer for 57A: S Kubrick movie? Right now I have AMI. But it does not make any sense to me. My intersecting fill is STEAMERS for 39D: Miner's tamping bars, an answer I am not sure either. (Addendum: The answer for S. Kubrick movie is MMI (2001: A Space Odyssey). And the answer for 39D is STEMMERS.)

Across:

1A: Builds up: ACCRUES. My instinctive thought is ERECTS. An addition of "interest" would have made the answer easier for me.

19A: Controversy: POLEMIC. I am more familiar with its adjective polemical.

33A: Ambler and Lindros: ERICS. Have only faintly heard of ERIC Ambler the English author. The hockey player ERIC Lindros is foreign to me. Was he good?

45A: Frank of "Wagon Train": MCGRATH. I googled. Is that he the guy on the picture?

51A: Strikes with a club: BLUDGEONS. I tend to confuse this word with dungeon.

68A: French city known for textiles: LILLE. De Gaulle was born here (close to the Belgium border).

69A: Pertinent: APROPOS. The opposite is malapropos.

70A: Bric-a-brac holder: ETAGERE. I suppose you can call this plant stand ETAGERE too.

73A: Chair craftsmen: CANERS

74A: Tomlin and Pons: LILYS. Barely remember French soprano LILY Pons, who appeared in our puzzle not long ago.

81A: Cast rays of light upon: IRRADIATE

86A: Base cops: MPS (Military Police)

94A: Italian actress Eleonora: DUSE. Uh-uh, no idea. This actress has been dead for almost 85 years.

104A: Fox follower?: TROT. I thought of Fox NEWS first.

117A: High fashion: COUTURE. I think Vogue's Anna Wintour will get the British Ambassador job. Want a bet?

119A: Lohengrin's love: ELSA. I can never remember this girl's name.

Down:

1D: Computer brand: APPLE. Don't think I will ever get one, so used to PC.

3D: Blocking passage through: CLOSING UP. Football term? What does it mean?

6D: Leprechaun's land: EIRE. ERIN does not fit.

8D: Degree with teeth: DDS (Doctor of Dental Science).

9D: Carpenter tools: ROUTERS. Have never heard of ROUTERS as "Carpenter tools".

10D: Borealis and australis: AURORAE. Aurora is Roman goddess of dawn (Eos in Greek mythology).

11D: Fairy-tale girl: GRETEL. "Hansel and GRETEL". I learned from doing Xword. Have never read any Grimm story.

24D: Distinct mus. tones: STAC. How come LEG is not a legit abbreviation of legato then?

43D: Poet Metastasio: PIETRO. Another google. Have never heard of this Italian poet.

46D: Calculator key abbr.: CLR

47D: Newman movie: HOMBRE. Here is the poster. Is it worth seeing?

58D: Ribbed fibrics: TWILLS

59D: Ventilated, in a way: HOLEY. I suppose so, "in a way". Weird looking word.

60D: Having domes: CUPOLAED. I only know the noun form cupola.

66D: And others: Lat: ET ALII (masculine plural). ET ALIAE is feminine plural. ET ALIA is neuter plural.

76D: Cleverly amusing: FACETIOUS. The only word with all the vowels in its proper order is FACETIOUSLY I think.

85D: Marilyn Monroe movie: BUS STOP. Here is a nice clip. Have never seen the movie either.

86D: Mr. Peanut's eyewear: MONOCLE. Do you collect any Mr. Peanut item?

92D: College treasurer: BURSAR. New word to me. Rooted in bursa, Latin for purse.

101D: "The Dresser" director Peter: YATES. One more google. Is he very well-known? This film does not look interesting to me.

103D: Nuncupative: ORAL. I guessed. My first encounter with "Nuncupative".

114D: Italian possessive noun: SUA. Italian for "his", SUO is "her". Both new to me.

C.C.