Tuesday February 17, 2009 Annabel Michaels

Theme: Weather Unit(s)

17A: Weather unit: SNOWFLAKE

59A: Weather units: RAINDROPS

10D: Weather unit: ICE CRYSTAL

29D: Weather units: HAILSTONES

I doubt the above theme clues are the constructor's originals. Remember what our editor did with John Underwood's Jan 12, 2009 puzzle? He changed all of Underwood's colorful and evocative clues into boring "Someone's opera".

I like the clue for LIED (21D: Manufactured facts). Quite tricky, with the plural "facts", the answer could also be LIES. Would have preferred "More factual" for TRUER (12D: Less of a lie?) due to the duplication of "lie".

As ART is the answer for 66A: Fleming or Garfunkel, it shouldn't appear as clue for INTAGLIO (6D: Glyptic art).

Across:

1A: African river: CONGO. The second longest river in Africa after Nile.

14A: Lend beauty to: ADORN. And the measurement for beauty is millihelen, after Helen of Troy, the face that launched a thousand ship. How many millihelens here?

15A: Lon __ of Cambodia: NOL. I thought U Thant was from Cambodia also. Turns out he was a Burmese. U simply means "sir".

22A: Pile of rocks: SCREE. I forgot. This word needs an additional letter N or D at the tail to make sense to me.

26A: Fancy schmancy: POSH. "Fancy Schmancy" indeed. They've decided to leave the US. David Beckham has probably made enough money for LA Galaxy.

33A: Raines of old film: ELLA. No idea. Her eyes are so piercing. I was actually picturing O-Lan, the "Good Earth" actress Luise Rainer. Raines & Rainer, quite close.

39A: Clan pattern: PLAID. I mindlessly wrote down TOTEM. Always associate "Clan" with those Native Indian tribes rather than the Scottish highlanders and their tartan kilt.

48A: Water of Guadalajara: AGUA. It's Shui (水) in Chinese. Feng (风) is wind. So "Feng Shui" is literally "Wind-water".

51A: "Stay (I Missed You)" singer Lisa: LOEB. Here is the song. She wears glasses all the time.

52A: Field event: SHOTPUT. Look at his left arm.

67A: Ancient region of Asia Minor: IONIA. Still remember last week's answer AEOLIS? I wanted IONIA then. How long did the Greek colonize Turkey?

70A: Subject to random chance: FLUKY. New adjective to me.

Down:

9D: Wynton or Branford: MARSALIS. No idea. I am very ignorant on jazz musicians. Wynton MARSALIS is a trumpeter. Brandford MARSALIS is a saxophone player.

11D: One of Bolivia's capitals: SUCRE. I wonder why it's named SUCRE, so sweet. Barry Silk probably would have gone LA PAZ, given his affinity with scrabbly letters.

26D: First name in cartoon skunks: PEPE. I linked this clip last Sunday. "Bon what?" I could not understand his first sentence.

28D: Smeltery waste: SLAG. Sometimes the answer is DROSS. Scum is "Pond dross".

36D: "Othello" conniver: IAGO. I used to confuse him with Prince IGOR.

37D: New Zealand island territory: NIUE. Unknown to me. See this map, between Tonga and Cook Islands. It's discovered by Captain Cook in 1774. This might be a tough fill if you don't know the intersecting singer Lisa LOEB.

53D: Craft starter?: HOVER. Also called ACV (Air-Cushion Vehicle). I have never heard of it before.

57D: Enlighten: EDIFY. Same root with edifice?

63D: Explorer Zebulon: PIKE. Did not know this guy or his exploration. Wikipedia says PIKES Peak in CO is named after him.

C.C.

Monday February 16, 2009 Jo Vita

Theme: It's Scintilla-ting

20A: Musical featuring "Maniac": FLASHDANCE

62A: Navigation beacon: LIGHTHOUSE

10D: Igniter: SPARKPLUG

33D: Luminous larvae: GLOWWORMS

I wonder why GLOWWORMS glow. Aren't they afraid of being eaten by bats or those night owls?

I rather like the theme answers today, very consistent. Those gleaming words brought to mind William Manchester's "One Brief Shining Moment" about JFK and his Camelot years. Truly beautiful things, like cherry blossoms, only last a very short time.

I don't think the clue for WHIT (34A: Smallest amount) is accurate. "Small amount", yes.

I don't understand why "Failing on purpose" for TANKING (24A). The stock market has been TANKING since last September, is it "Failing on purpose"? Who manipulated this scandal then? "The Talented Mr. Madoff"?

Also, why "Alternative beau" for RIVAL (55D)? RIVAL to whom?

Across:

1A: Thief's haul: SWAG. New slang to me. I could only think of LOOT.

5A: Stowaway, e.g.: HIDER. And NEWER (18A: More recent). And SCOWLER (52A: Sour looker). Special deal for ER today, buy one, get two free.

15A: Dig deeply?: ADORE. Good clue.

16A: Carson's predecessor: PAAR. I often confuse Jack PAAR with Catherine PARR, Henry VIII's wife.

40A: Eye: pref.: OCULO. I am more familiar with ocular. Easily gettable though. Oculus is Latin for "eye".

42A: "__ You Experienced?": ARE. Have never heard of this Jimi Hendrix song.

43A: Pianist Blake: EUBIE. Obtained his name with down fill help. Wikipedia says he smoked all his life and he died five days after his 100th birthday.

44A: Domingo, eg.: TENOR. The Three Tenors. Domingo is in the left.

45A: Cartoonist Drucker: MORT. Googled his name, cartoonist for the "Mad Magazine". Egads, I did not know that "Mad Magazine" is still in circulation.

64A: Drunkard: WINO. Thought of LUSH immediately, after our "A lush lushed lush in a lush lush" discussion last week.

65A: Asseverate: AVER. Did not know the meaning of "Asseverate". I parsed the word as "Make less severe", but EASE did not fit.

67A: Ready and willing partner: ABLE. I am ready, willing and ABLE to let Vikings go. Los Angeles Vikings does have a nice ring on it.

68A: Writer O'Flaherty: LIAM. Irish writer. Unknown to me. Is LIAM an unique Irish name? LIAM Neeson (Oskar in "Schindler's List") is from Ireland. He is going to play ABE (37D: Presidential nickname) in a Steven Spielberg biopic.

69A: Moon lander: EAGLE. Was not aware of this Apollo 11’s module name. Spider (Apollo 9) sounds quite apt.

71A: Bracket shapes: ELLS. Holy moley. I was really uneducated on this term.

Down:

2D: Writer Cather: WILLA. Her "O Pineers" appeared in our puzzle before. Unfortunately I don't remember her name.

3D: Mr. T's outfit: A-TEAM. I was thinking of the enormous amount of bling blings he is wearing, not the TV series. "The" is missing from the clue.

4D: Painter's base: GESSO. Eat a worm if you missed this one.

8D: Standing: ERECT. Made me think of the "Like member of congress clue" again. I bet John Boehner/Eric Cantor would go nuts if this clue appeared in a newspaper.

11D: Hawaiian island: KAUAI. What's so special about this island? I've never been to Hawaii. Must be very difficult to live with only 12 letters. I can understand 5 vowels, but only 7 consonants (h, k, l, m, n, p and w)?

25D: French Riviera resort: NICE."To Catch a Thief" is set in French Riviera. Nice movie. There is a picnic scene when Grace Kelly offered Cary Grant some chicken, and she asked "Do you want a leg or a breast?" Don't google, give me your guess on Grant's response.

27D: Put-up job: SHAM. Like FEMA's fake "News Conference".

28D: Russian city on the Vyatka: KIROV. See this map. Vyatka is a river. It has appeared in our puzzle several times. But I would not have got it without the Across fills. Chris mentioned the KIROV Ballet last time.

31D: Service winner: ACE. Tennis.

46D: Dreaded flies: TSETSES. I am surprised that our editor did not bring back "Nagana carriers" this time. He seems to be in an incurable repeating mood right now.

52D: Low tract: SWALE. This has become a gimme. Swamp anyone?

58D: Minsk money: RUBLE. Only knew RUBLE is Putin's bread. Was unaware that it's used in Belarus as well.

59D: Country singer K.T.: OSLIN. See, whatever Jimbo wants, Jimbo gets.

63D: Caron role: GIGI. Colette's most famous novel. Once again, her great quote: "I love

my past, I love my present. I am not ashamed of what I have had, and I am not sad because I no longer have it".

64D: 1965 Beatles movie: HELP. This promo looks great. Here is the list of movies the Beatles made.

C.C.