Thursday January 15, 2009 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: A Restless Mind

17A: Start of a quip: UNEASY LIES

27A: Part 2 of quip: THE HEAD WHICH

45A: Part 3 of quip: EATS CRACKERS

60A: End of quip: WHILE IN BED

Is this a play on "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"?

I am completely stumped by this quip. After our Florida cracker discussion a few days ago, now I am at a loss at what CRACKERS refer to here. Ritz Cracker CRACKERS or is it another slang for drug?

I would have clued CLUES (1D: Aids for Sherlock) as "You are reading them" or anything crossword related. By the way, there are 78 clues/fills in today's grid, the maximum count allowed for a weekday 15*15 themed puzzle (72 for Saturday themeless).

Across:

1A: "Lara __: Tomb Raider": CROFT. Guinness Book of World Records 2009 named Angelina Jolie the Most Powerful Actress. Brad Pitt took the title of the Most Powerful Actor.

6A: Iron pumper's pride: LATS. Short for Latissimus Dorsi, literally the broadest (muscle) of the back. I can never remember this word. What specific exercise is needed to build up that "pride"?

14A: Palmer of "The Gentle Sex": LILLI. Completely unknown to me. She was a German actress and was married to Rex Harrison for over a decade. If you find a poster of "The Gentle Sex" on the internet, please share with us.

15A: Japanese box: INRO. See this picture. The toggle at the top of that picture is called netsuke, highly collectible. These netsukes are so erotic. Japanese traditional clothes have no pockets, thus the need for a small case attached to the kimono.

23A: Mack of Keystone films: SENNETT. Look at these SENNETT Bathing Beautifies. Was the picture taken in 1920's? I've never heard of this guy before. Wikipedia says he is called "The King of Comedy”.

41A: Wine region of Italy: ASTI. ASTI Spumante.

49A: Ilie of tennis: NASTASE. Often see ILIE clued as "Nastase of tennis".

53A: Abrasive cloth: EMERY

58A: Award for a sitcom: EMMY. Do you know why this award is called EMMY?

64A: Orchestral instruments: CELLI. Had no idea that the plural form of cello is CELLI.

67A: Minotaur's home: CRETE. So, what's the lesson drawn from Icarus' flight from CRETE? Hubris?

Down:

3D: City on the Allegheny: OLEAN. I've never heard of Allegheny River. Is it an Indian name?

6D: Frasier's ex: LILITH. Played by Bebe Neuwirth. Unknown to me.

7D: Blue dye: ANIL. I forgot the difference between ANIL and Indigo.

8D: Cross the line?: TRESPASS. Why question mark?

10D: Anti-war: DOVISH. Opposite hawish.

18D: "The Dresser" director Peter: YATES. He just appeared in our puzzle last Sunday.

26D: Writer LeShan: EDA. Crossword construstors seem to be very fond of three letter A- ending words: EDA, IDA, ADA, AVA, EVA, UMA, ABA, AGA, A LA, BOA, ERA, PEA, PTA and of course BRA. She is so pretty.

38D: Stiffened, in a way: STARCHED

41D: Sore: ACHY. I wrote down ACHE first.

43D: Quiet partner?: PEACE

51D: Small silvery fish: SMELT. What's your favorite fish? I really like walleye.

52D: Vocalist Gorme: EYDIE. What's the title of this song? Sounds so familiar. I've never heard of EYDIE Gorme though.

61D: Former trucking regulating agcy.: ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission). From 1887 to 1995. New to me also. Wikipedia says "the agency's remaining functions were transferred to the Surface Transportation Board.

C.C.

Wednesday January 14, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: SETTLED THE SCORE (61A: Took revenge)

17A: Manassas conflict: BATTLE OF BULL RUN (Baseball)

23A: Meal container: PICNIC BASKET (Basketball)

38A: Calculus calculation: INFLECTION POINT (Football)

51A: Future target: LONG-TERM GOAL (Hockey)

What is INFLECTION POINT? Sounds like an abstract term to me.

Considering the basketball theme today, I wonder why MVP (44A: Letters for baseball's best) is not clued as "Letters for basketball's best". NBA does have MVP award, right? (Addendum: My bad. I misunderstood the theme this morning.)

The clue for ATF (21A: Booze, butts and bullets bureau) definitely needs an abbreviation hint. It should be "Org." rather than "bureau". I love the clue for ATTIC (3D: Top story?). Very clever.

Barry Silk mentioned last time that he is going to hold a presentation on crossword in D.C. (Tysons-Pimmet Regional Branch of the Fairfax County Library) on Jan 17 Saturday. Has anyone registered yet? I hope you can take pictures of Barry and share with us next week.

Across:

1A: Wild hogs: BOARS. Do you think "Hogs wild?" will be a good clue for BOARS?

6A: "Pygmalion" dramatist: SHAW. I wonder why the musical/film was renamed "My Fair Lady" later on. I rather like the mythological aura of the original title.

10A: Spiced tea beverage: CHAI. Rooted in Chinese Cha, meaning "Tea". Strange to see people put sugar, or milk, or spice in tea. Loose leaves and hot water, that's all you need for a perfect tea.

14A: John of the keys: ELTON. I like his "Can You Feel the Love Tonight".

16A: Sources of online help: FAQS (Frequently Asked Questions)

22A: Bother greatly: EAT AT

29A: The Sweetest Place on Earth: HERSHEY. Ha, this is new to me. I did not know that HERSHEY is actually a town in PA. Thought it's only the brand name of the chocolate. I like M & M anyway. Look at this cute dispenser.

46A: Computer model: DESKTOP

56A: Do-it-yourself mover: U-HAUL

69A: Vaio maker: SONY. I don't think this is Barry's original clue. I am not familiar with Vaio notebook.

Down:

1D: Jazz style: BEBOP. What on earth is BEBOP style? Fast? Slow? Broody? Romantic?

2D: Norwegian king (995-1000): OLAV I. I guessed. It could only be OLAV I, OLAV V or OLAV X. Oh, I checked, there is no OLAV X.

6D: Passed quickly: SHOT BY

7D: Vanished union boss: HOFFA (Jimmy). Read stories about this guy in various JFK/RFK books. Very intriguing case. His son James HOFFA is currently the president of Teamsters.

9D: Sch. in Pullman: WSU (Washington State University). I guessed. Have never heard of Pullman. Is it named after the railroad sleeping car guy Pullman?

10D: Some major scales: C-FLAT

11D: Poet Crane: HART. New poet to me. Interesting name. How did his friend address him when they wrote him letters then? Deer HART?

12D: Lung opener?: AQUA. Is AQUA-lung a familiar diving equipment to you? I've never heard of it before. Hmmm, interesting, Dennis might like this one: "Marine opener?"

13D: Ain't correct?: ISN'T

33D: Multicolored: PIED. It's clued as "__ -a-terre" in Barry's last puzzle.

34D: Gender-biased suffix: ENNE. Like trix.

35D: Old-time postal rtes.: RFDS (Rural Free Deliveries)

42D: NASA unit: ONE G. There is no G in outer space, right?

47D: Like an oaf: KLUTZY

49D: Female peasant: PEAHEN. Funny how PEAHEN looks so different from peacock.

50D: English composer: ARNE (Thomas). Often clued as "Rule, Britannia" composer. I look forward to a "Secretary of Education Duncan" clue for ARNE after Jan 20.

53D: Threatened layer: OZONE. I don't understand the clue. Why "Threatened"?

55D: Loamy soil: LOESS. I can never remember this word.

58D: Egyptian god: ATEN. Or ATON. The Egyptian sun god. There is no vowel in Egyptian hieroglyphs, hence various variations in Egyptian God/Goddess names later on, including ATEN and ATON.

64D: The Racer's Edge: STP. Very strange brand name: Son of a Gun!.

65D: Disney collectible: CEL. Remember these three Disney "Snow White" CELS on Antiques Roadshow? Amazing price.

C.C.