Friday February 13, 2009 Annabel Michaels

Theme: Chow Time

17A: Well-rounded repasts: SQUARE MEALS

60A: Purim: FEAST OF LOTS

11D: Summoner to supper: DINNER BELL

29D: Dinner for thirteen: LAST SUPPER

"With "The"" should be added to the last clue.

What a terrible editing job! I don't mind seeing SYRIA (68A: Aleppo's land) and BREAM (51D: Silvery European fish) for second day in a row, with the identical clues. But supper SUPPER, dinner DINNER duplications are outrageous. More felonies:

49A: Prov. follower: ECCLES. Have never seen Proverbs abbreviated as Prov before.

44D: Ecclesiastical residence: DEANERY. I was not aware of this ecclesiastical dean residence. But the clue definitely should be reworded to accommodate ECCLES.

47A: Unbroken stretch: STREAK. Why not "Unbroken run"?

Too many Roman numerals:

21A: 7 on a sundial: VII

46A: CCLXIII x IV: MLII

63D: CXII halved: LVI

I did not enjoy this puzzle at all. I've seen much better puzzles from Annabel Michaels.

Across:

1A: Fonda film: JULIA. Obtained the film title with the down fill help. Has anyone seen Annette Bening's "Being JULIA"?

15A: Gods' images: IDOLS. I wrote down ICONS first.

16A: Adjective-forming suffix: IAL. Presidential?

19A: Govt. advisory grp.: NSA (National Security Agency). Will Smith's "Enemy of the State" is about those NSA agents and their wire-tapping activities.

20A: Old California fort: ORD. What's so special about this fort? I faintly remember we had this answer before.

22A: Part of LBJ: BAINES. All his family members, including his dog, share the LBJ initials. I don't think any US president knows more about the congressional maneuvers than LBJ did. Stunning record of legislative achievements.

25A: Protesting workers: STRIKERS

27A: Native American language: SALISH. New word to me. Wikipedia says "All SALISH (or Salishan) languages are endangered - some extremely so with only three or four speakers left".

30A: Obedient dog?: HEELER

31A: Active volcano near Manila: TAAL. No idea. See this map. I wonder what TAAL means in local language.

37A: African fever: LASSA. I forgot. The disease was first discovered in a town called LASSA in Nigeria. Can't find a map.

39A: Score of zero: NIL. Soccer, I think.

51A: Sunday prohibitions: BLUE LAWS

53A: Bygone bird: MOA. The extinct New Zealand flightless bird. See Australia's coat of arms. It has a kangaroo and emu. Incapable of stepping backward, they can only move forward, signifying Australia's forward progression. "Forward with Pride", the Aussi spirit.

54A: Lasso: ROPE IN

55A: Cure or gram preceder: EPI

56A: Marsh or West: MAE. Have never heard of MAE Marsh before. She looks like a dangerous lorelei who delights in breaking others' heart. Men might need some of this magic nepenthe to relieve their sorrows.

59A: Key-punch bus.: EDP (Electronic Data Processing). Got it with the surrounds.

67A: Sea to Debussy: MER. Here is Debussy's "La MER."

Down:

2D: Roman acronym: SPQR. Holy mackerel Roman Empire! I really don't know this acronym. It stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus (the Senate and the people of Rome). OK, Maria said SPQR is most commonly known among Italians as "Sono Porci Questi Romani", loosely translated as " These Romans are Pigs".

3D: King Ibn -- of Saudi Arabia: SAUD. I am confused here. Wikipedia says this guy is the first monarch of Saudi Arabia. I thought Saudi has a long kingdom history.

7D: Ulan-_, Russ.: UDE. See this map. Located on the Siberian Uda River. Quite close to Mongolian capital Ulan Bator. Ulan is "red" in Mongolian. Ulan Bator means "Red Hero". Ulan Ude is simply "Red Ude". A bit of communism vestiage.

10D: Beset: ASSAIL

12D: Loom bar: EASER. Uh-uh, no, no. No idea. What is it?

23D: Eisenhower: IKE. Strictly speaking, this is not allowed in crossword construction. An abbreviated answer (even if it's a nickname) needs an abbreviation hint.

25D: Frantic cries: SHRIEKS

38D: Flying rescue missions: AIRLIFTS

58D: Book after Neh.: ESTH. Before Job. Often see NEH clued as "Bk before Esth".

C.C.

Thursday February 12, 2009 Adele Mann

Theme: What is Love?

1A: Start of a quip: LOVE IS

21A: Part 2 of quip: A CROCODILE

41A: Part 3 of quip: ALONG

60A: Part 4 of quip: THE RIVER OF

73A: End of quip: DESIRE

Does it mean that love is dangerous?

I have never solved a puzzle where the quip starts with 1A. Was worried that this puzzle might be a “Shock and Awe”. It turns out to be just a “shock and uh”.

Mike WEIR (26A: Masters champion from Canada) might be a bit obscure to non-golf fans. But it’s easily gettable. He is probably the best known left-handed golfer in PGA, after Phil Mickelson. I've forgotten most of the 2003 Masters. Do remember the intimate embrace he gave to his wife after he sank the final putt.

Too many “Be…” clues for my taste:

71A: Be without: NEED. Why not "Can't live without"?

45D: Be worthy of: MERIT. "Worth" alone is enough, isn't it?

13D: Be vanquished: LOSE. Dennis probably wants "Take the booby prize" or "Mislay".

Across:

17A: Grasping part: PINCER. Have never seen a singular PINCER before.

18A: Shaded walkways: ALAMEDAS. New word to me. Like this? Dictionary explains that ALAMEDA is rooted in Spanish word "alamo", a poplar tree in the Southwest.

25A: Temper: ANNEAL. Temper metal.

23A: Enticed: LED ON. I often confuse inveigle with inveigh.

28A: Archie’s command to Edith: STIFLE. Easy guess. I watched one or two episodes of "All in the Family". Don't remember this rude command.

44A: Silvery European fish: BREAM. No idea. Scary eyes. It does not look "Silvery" to me. Remember last time we had SCUP (clued as "Porgy")? Now that's "Silvery".

46A: Aleppo’s country: SYRIA. Last time ALEPPO was clued as "Syria city". Wikipedia says 70% of Aleppo's inhabitants are Sunni Muslims.

49A: Flower part: STAMEN. It bears pollen. The white stuff on top is the anther.

51A: 500-mile event, briefly: INDY. I know it runs over the Memorial weekend. And Daytona 500 will be held this weekend. Other than that, I know nothing about racing. Are those two like Baseball's American League Champion Series & National League Champion Series?

69A: Singer Peerce: JAN. Not a familiar name to me. Jan, he must be of Dutch root.

Down:

3D: Having blades, as a windmill: VANED. New adjective form to me.

4D: Mortgage condition: ESCROW. What exactly is ESCROW?

5D: Tina Turner’s ex: IKE. Nice change from the stale "Presidential nickname" clue. Not sure if they were really married though.

6D: F.D.R.’s mother: SARA. Learned her name from doing Xword. F.D.R.’s dog is FALA.

8D: Manmade fiber: ORLON. Wanted NYLON. Both are synthetic fiber, right?

10D: Young plant: SEEDLING. “Ling” is a suffix for small. Duckling, underling, yearling, etc.

27D: “Sliver” author Levin: IRA. Thrillingly scary movie. I did not know Ira Levin wrote it though.

37D: First name in tenors: ENRICO. For opera fans, 20th century started with ENRICO Caruso and ended with Pavarotti.

40D: Asian evergreen: TAMARIND. Interesting, Wikipedia says TAMARIND is Arabic for "Indian date" due to its date-like fruit shape. Palm dates I suppose. Our Chinese dates are round. Some people like TAMARIND in their chutney.

42D: Southwest people: NAVAJO. The largest tribal group in the US. I really adore some of the NAVAJO turquoise silver bracelets. Very pretty.

57D: Belafonte or Lewis: SHARI. Another easy guess. SHARI Belafonte is an actress. SHARI Lewis is the original puppeteer for "Lamb Chop".

58D: Lush: TOPER. Is this a real word?

59D: Edberg or Sorenstam: SWEDE. I've got several autographs from Annika Sorenstam. Have never heard of Stefan Edberg the tennis player.

C.C.