2008 Championship Tribute Barry Silk

Theme: 2008 Championship Tribute

18A: With 29-Across, sports organization: MAJOR LEAGUE

29A: See 18-across: BASEBALL

40A: 2007 MVP for the 47-Across, shortstop Jimmy: ROLLINS

47A: 2008 winners of 62-Across: PHILLIES

62A: The "Fall classic": WORLD SERIES

1D: 2008 All-Star of 47-Across, second baseman Chase: UTLEY

4D: MVP of the 2008 62-across, ace pitcher Cole __: HAMELS

For those who have not solved this puzzle, I've uploaded the grid to Scribd. Just click on iPaper, then print it out. Barry also kindly provided us the special puzzle he made for Fairfax County Libray presentation on Jan 17, 2009. Very clever theme entries.

As for this Tribute puzzle, the last two answers I listed above are not symmetrically placed, so technically they are not part of the theme. But I think they fit in perfectly. TUES (51A: When the All-Star Game is played) and GMS (71A: 29-Across VIPs) are great baseball related fills too.

Lots of cross-references in this puzzle. Might be a bit tough for non-baseball fans. I thoroughly enjoyed the solving. It made me feel so smart. I think Barry should have sold this puzzle to Phillies. They can do a special Crossword Solving Day, you know, like Bobblehead Giveaway Day.

Across:

4A: Islamic militant group: HAMAS. It has become a "terrorist group". Fatah is not.

9A: Chipmunk of pop music: ALVIN. This music just sounds so jarring to me.

24A: Swiss stereotype: YODELER. I was thinking of watchmaker.

28A: Nittany Lions' sch.: PSU (Penn State). Why do they call themselves Nittany Lions? Reminds me of ninny.

52A: Horizon arc measurement: AZIMUTH. See this diagram. Too complicated for me to understand.

56A: Cell: suff.: CYTE. No idea. Dictionary gives an example of leukocyte (white blood cell). Also, the prefix for cell is CYTO, as in cytoplasm.

65A: Govt. investigation: INQ. Inquiry? Why "Govt. investigation"?

67A: Young salmon: SMOLT. I wonder how long it takes for this SMOLT to mature into this big salmon.

68A: "All Things Considered" network: NPR. "Fresh Air" network too. Terry Gross is sharp.

Down:

2D: Brigham Young University site: PROVO. Ken Jennings, the all-time champion of "Jeopardy", attended this university, so is our Barry G, Johnny Miller, Mitt Romney etc. See this alumini list.

3D: Ecclesiastical assembly: SYNOD. This word always escapes me.

6D: Woman of La Mancha: MUJER. No idea. I was thinking of señora.

7D: Old Testament prophet: AMOS. A minor one. I am more accustomed to the " "Famous cookie maker" clue.

10D: Pay no mind: LEAVE BE. New to me. Can you make a sentence with this phrase for me? I only know "Let it be".

11D: Carrot or Onion: VEGETABLE. I love the symmetrical placement of VEGETABLE and FRUIT TREE (35D: Orchard entity).

29D: Gaucho's weapons: BOLAS. Spanish for balls. What kind of material are those?

40D: It sounds real bad: RALE. Williams likes to clue RALE as "Death rattle".

41D: Todd Rundgren's rock band of the 1960's: NAZZ. I googled this band name. What's their most famous song?

44D: Puritanical ban: BLUE LAW. Now this ban is still valid in some states, right?

55D: Langley, for the CIA: HDQRS. I see HQS more often.

56D: 100-lb. units: CWTS (Hundredweights). New abbreviation to me.

63D: License to drill?: DDS. Great clue.

64D: "Strange Magic" rock band: ELO. Here is the song. I guessed. Three letter band name has to be ELO or REM.

C.C.

Tuesday January 27, 2009 Adele Mann

Theme: SCHOOLS (36A: Educates)

17A: Winged Foot or Sawgrass: GOLF COURSE

53A: Sentence: PRISON TERM

11D: Big time for batters: MAJOR LEAGUE

25D: Kind of suit: CLASS ACTION

"School Subject" is probably a better theme title.

I can't believe I've never heard of Sawgrass GOLF COURSE before. It's PGA Tour's headquarters. But "Winged Foot" clue alone is enough for me. I remember Phil Mickelson's nightmarish collapse there in 2006 US Open. I would never understand why he decided to go with the driver on the last hole.

My favorite US Open is 2002 Bethpage Black. Brutal weather, brutal rough, brutally entertaining, esp with Sergio Garcia's endless whining. Lots of fans cheered for Phil, but Tiger never relented his lead. I hope the drama repeats this year.

I just don't feel "Sentence" is synonymous with PRISON TERM, do you? I wonder if the constructor thought of CREDIT CRUNCH for the theme answer. Fannie Mae is asking for another $16 billion aid from the government now, Freddie Mac wants an additional $35 billion. Plus the $700 billion for the Wall Street bailout, and the $825 billion stimulus package Obama is asking. We are talking about real money, right?

Across:

1A: Org. of Wie and Webb: LPGA. Followed both Michelle Wie and Karrie Webb for a few holes at the US Open last year. Karrie Webb is in Golf HOF. Very nice person. She seldom smiles though.

10A: City on the Irtysh River: OMSK. Here is the map again. This has become a gimme for me. The city on the URAL River (14A: Caspian feeder) is called ORSK. I can't find a map. But it's there.

16A: Okinawa city: NAHA. Got it from down fills. Can never remember this city name. Okinawa belongs to those Blue Zones, where you will find lots of centenarians living a happy & healthy life. Loma Linda, CA is also in the Blue Zones, so is Sardinia, Italy. See their secret. Nuts, ah, nuts, I love nuts.

33A: Singer Janis: IAN. Here is her "At Seventeen". I googled her name.

34A: Sherwood or Epping: FOREST. Know Robin Hood's Sherwood FOREST. Have never heard of Epping FOREST. What is it famous for?

38A: One-time link: AT A. One AT A time.

45A: Coach Rockne: KNUTE. Of Notre Dame. I bought a Sports Illustrated for Kids once (simply because Babe Ruth is on the cover) and read a brief bio of KNUTE Rockne. He died in a plane crash. So did golfer Payne Stewart and Baseball HOFer Roberto Clemente. Very sad. Flying can be so risky.

49A: Of plants: BOTANIC. What is "Of animals" then? I am drawing a blank here.

58A: Stop up: CLOG. Have never heard of "Stop up" before. Strange "up" phrase.

60A: Abbr. on folk music: TRAD. Traditional?

Down:

4D: Nobel and Noyes: ALFREDS. ALFRED Noyes is the guy who wrote "The Highwayman". No-yes is pronounced the same as "Noise". I wonder if anyone is named Yes-no.

9D: Trademark refrigerant: FREON. I can never remember this product. Can I find it in our refrigerator?

10D: Streaking: ON A TEAR. I like this clue and the answer.

13D: Economist Marx: KARL. Weird to see him clued as an "Economist", though he really was one. These are the pictures that used to adorn our school walls: Chairman Mao, Lenin, Starlin, Engels and Marx, the so called "Fathers of Communism".

22D: Preminger and Graham: OTTOS. Know Preminger, not Graham.

26D: Second brightest star: CANOPUS. No idea. It's indeed brighter than the other stars. The brightest is Sirius. Both ending in letters "us", have to be rooted in Greek then, masculine form.

33D: Lemieux milieu: ICE. I suppose "Lemieux milieu" sounds better than "Crosby milieu".

36D: Lazy lady?: SUSAN. Good clue. The "Smart guy?" would be ALEC.

42D: Orange-red food dye: ANNATTO. New word to me. Dictionary says ANNATTO is "a yellowish-red dyestuff obtained from the seed aril of ANNATTO shrub (also called lipstick tree), used especially to dye fabric and to color food products such as margarine and cheese."

44D: Court decision: DECREE. Paul McCartney can now marry his girlfriend, who has just received her divorce DECREE.

45D: "Show Boat" composer: KERN (Jerome). Got him this time.

49D: Beer choice: BOCK. Absolutely no idea. Feel so full just looking at the picture. So dark. I don't drink beer.

50D: Stew pot: OLLA. I've never seen a "Stew pot" OLLA before. To me, OLLA is this kind of Indian pottery. Very beautiful!

C.C.