Wednesday May 6, 2009 Mike Peluso

Theme: GALLERY (43D: Anagram of 54-Across's ending that can follow the first word of 20-, 30-, 40-, and 54-Across)

20A: "Kids Say the Darndest Things!" author: ART LINKLETTER

33A: Congressional bone of contention: NATIONAL DEBT

40A: Decide to prosecute: PRESS CHARGES

54A: Food reaction shared by about 3 million Americans: PEANUT ALLERGY

Does NATIONAL GALLERY refer to National Gallery of Art? I did not know that the place occupied by those press corps is called PRESS GALLERY. Always thought it's just press room or press briefing room. Wikipedia says US Senate established its first PRESS GALLERY in 1841. And the White House did not designate a press room until 1902.

PEANUT ALLERGY is a very creative theme entry, with the anagram ending and a word that can precede GALLERY. Peanut is actually not a nut. It belongs to the legume family. I vaguely remember a teenager died after kissing her boyfriend who had been eating peanut butter. Milk, egg and wheat can be life-threatening to some. Many don't tolerate soy/fish/shellfish and other tree nuts. Those eight food account for about 90% of all food allergies.

Once I had a tuna sandwich and I reacted severely. The doctor could not tell whether it's the tuna or wheat that caused my problem.

Smooth sailing this morning. I think I like puzzles with a simple 4 theme entries. Dan Naddor's heavy themage puzzles are awe-inspiring. But they overwhelm me. I guess they are for advanced solvers. This constructor Mike Peluso seems to be fond of word preceding/following theme pattern. Remember his last CAPE grid?

Across:

1A: Underworld VIPS: DONS. I was thinking of Hades' underworld, not the criminal mafia's underworld. I like how it crosses OMERTA (2D: Last book in Puzo's "Godfather" trilogy). The trilogy consists of "The Godfather", "The Last Don" and "OMERTA" (published after he died.) OMERTA, of course, is also the Mafia code of silence. I also like Puzo's "The Sicilian". So good. It's regarded by some as the literary sequel of "The Godfather".

5A: Bench warms: B TEAM

14A: Radiate: EMIT. Thought of BEAM first.

15A: Emmy winner on her 19th try: LUCCI (Susan). She looks very pretty. Beautiful skin. She said she snacks on sardine, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. I don't buy her secret though. I tried, it did not work on me.

16A: Guadalajara bread: PESO. Bread is slang for money. I don't think it can fool anyone any more.

17A: City on the Truckee: RENO. I kind of like the "Splitville" clue in our puzzle last time.

23A: "In my opinion...": I THINK. Descartes actually wrote "Je pense donc je suis" before he stated the Latin "cogito ergo sum".

24A: Raise canines?: TEETHE. I was trapped by "canines" again.

28A: Well-bred: GENTEEL. Like Jackie. She did not think "there are any men who are faithful to their wives". I bet every man has been unfaithful to their wife at some time. No? Have you always been faithful to your wife?

32A: Pirate's quaff: RUM. Oh, is it pirate's preferred drink? Not ALE?

38A: Clock-setting std.: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).

39A: Tracy's Trueheart: TESS. Learned from doing Xword. I like her surname Trueheart, I also like Ada Lovelace.

46A: Uncomfortable spot: HOT SEAT. Aren't you glad you are not A-Rod right now?

49A: Busy pro in April: CPA. I think Doug Peterson is a CPA.

50A: "Boston Legal" actor: SPADER (James). I like him in "The Pentagon Papers".

52A: Atoll encloser: LAGOON. Wikipedia says the word atoll was popularized by Charles Darwin.

58A: Phoenix suburb: MESA. Did you know MESA was founded by Mormon pioneers?

60A: Suffix with hippo-: DROME. Hippodrome is a new word to me. Hippo is from Greek, meaning "horse", like Latin prefix "equi" I suppose. DROME is a combining form meaning “running,” “course,” “racecourse”, says Dictionary.com.

61A: Mower-making giant: TORO. It's based here in MN.

63A: Western: OATER. Occident popped into my mind immediately.

64A: Shortly: ANON. Archaic word, right?

Down:

1D: Foil, as a plan: DERAIL

3D: Jazzy intervals: NINTHS. New definition to me. I only knew the baseball NINTH inning.

4D: Popular vodka, familiarly: STOLI. I've never had STOLI, have you? How about some CORONA (47D: Beer served with a lime)?

5D: Pancake, when holding a sausage: BLANKET. Pig in a BLANKET. Learned this food from Dr. Dad a year ago. This is Cantonese style. The sausage is sweet, so is the bun.

6D: Plastic surgery procedure: TUCK. The answer revealed itself. I've never heard of tummy TUCK or any other TUCK surgery.

7D: Green sci.: ECOL (Ecology)

9D: Herbal beverage: MINT TEA

10D: Binge: SPREE

11D: Partridge's home: PEAR TREE. My husband writes "The Twelve Day of Christmas" for his bowling column every year. I've never been amused. I don't know. Many times I don't understand the fun.

13D: Barber's challenge: MOP. No idea. Why challenge? Hard to cut?

25D: O'Hare and JFK: HUBS

26D: Initial response team, initially : EMTS. Needs "briefly" as hint. (Note: My bad. I did not notice "initially" earlier).

29D: When bats fly: NIGHT. I always want to add a prepositon (at) to this kind of fill.

30D: Inquisitor __ de Torquemada: TOMAS. No idea. Wikipedia says this guy spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition. TOMAS is Spanish for Thomas, right?

31D: __nous: ENTRE. "Between us". Debra Ollivier titled her book as ENTRE nous. Quite interesting read.

33D: Bahamas airport code: NAS. No idea. Maybe the rapper NAS knows. It's the code name for Nassau Interntional Airport.

34D: Sot's shake: DTS. DT is Delirium Tremens.

35D: Bldg. units: APTS

36D: Golf lesson subject: GRIP. Just had STANCE the other day. What next? Posture? Here are some simple tips on GRIP. It's actually not that easy to have a light grip pressure.

37D: Gets worse after getting better: RELAPSES

41D: Old Mets home: SHEA. Mets are now playing at Citi Field now. What's the name of that bridge on their logo? Here is my favorite METS player (Johan Santana).

42D: Deep-fried frank: CORN DOG. Have never had a CORN DOG before.

44D: List ender: ET AL

48D: "Fiddler on the Roof" fear: POGROM. I like "Fiddler on the Roof" a lot.

49D: Memorable repeated question by the economics teacher (played by Ben Stein" in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"): ANYONE. All right, forward to 0:48. Probably the longest clue I've ever seen in a LAT puzzle so far. I like it.

51D: Meted (out): DEALT

53D: Insinuate: GET AT. New phrase to me.

55D: River to the Caspian: URAL. See this map. The one on the right is the shrinking Aral Sea.

56D: Dorothy's dog: TOTO. Surprising. "The Wizard of Oz" is listed as #3 Top Musicals in Ameria.

57D: NAFTA part: Abbr.: AMER

59D: Outer: Pref.: EXO. "Inner: prefix" is ENTO.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Tuesday May 5, 2009 David W. Cromer

Theme: Of Course!

17A: Golfer's java-dispensing target?: CUP OF COFFEE

62A: Drawing of the area next to the fairway?: ROUGH SKETCH

11D: Mound near a sand trap?: BUNKER HILL

29D: Really large putting surface? GREEN ACRE

Ha ha, no water hazard! Wish there were a TEE though. From TEE to GREEN, "Golf is a good walk spoiled", as scoffed by Mark Twain.

I am more used to aiming at the "hole" rather than at the "CUP". Cute clue for 17A though. I like the consistency of all the theme entries, all placed at the very beginning.

More bonus golf fills:

46A: Golfer's position: LIE. Tough to hit a good shot when the ball lies below your feet.

28D: Golfer's choice: IRON. I started golfing with my 7-IRON.

53D: Golf legend Walter: HAGEN. Gimme. I read some tidbits about him, Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen in various Jack Nicklaus' books. He was the first American to win British Open. And he had 11 major wins, just behind Jack (14) and Tiger (18). He was also very flamboyant, so unlike Ben Hogan, who was such a mysterious & secretive loner.

I did mis-hit a few shots though. The worst club in my bag definitely is my brain.

Across:

1A: Cab fare calculator: METER. Nailed it immediately. Spectacular start at the upper left corner for me this morning.

6A: Old saw: ADAGE. "Saw" means maxim/ADAGE.

3A: Jazz style: BOP. Learned from doing Xword. I don't really know what BOP/bebop is.

15A: ___ dance: BELLY. Look at Shakira's abs. Her father is of Lebanese descent. Guess that's how she loves BELLY dancing.

16A: Game with Skip and Reverse cards: UNO. Obtained the answer from down fills. Is it really the world's #1 family card game? Or just a wordplay on numbero UNO?

19A: "If I ruled the World" rapper: NAS. Learned his name from doing Xword. Can't stand rap.

20A: Woman with a habit?: SISTER. Good clue.

25A: Distance runners: MILERS. COE is often clued as "Miler Sebastian".

27A: "Who cares?": BIG DEAL

30A: Sesame Street grouch: OSCAR. The trash can muppet. Schindler of "Schindler's List" is OSKAR.

31A: Discount rack abbr.: IRR

34A: Dispenser of theater programs: USHER. Wonder why USHER's parents named him USHER.

39A: Curved sword: SABER. OK, it's curved, too-edged too.

41A: What to do just before the surprise party starts: HIDE. Not if the party is for me.

42A: Calendario page: ENERO. January. Caldendario is Spanish for calendar. I did not get the answer immediately.

44A: Stunning weapon: TASER. Love the clue.

47A: Guitar parts: NECKS. See this picture. Strange defintion of heel.

49A: Detected, as a rat?: SMELLED. Nailed it immediately.

51A: Cascades peak: SHASTA. Is it a Native Indian word? What's the meaning of SHASTA then?

53A: Port-au-Prince's country: HAITI. Just learned that French is HAITI's official language. I thought they speak Spanish.

54A: Bodybuilder's pride, briefly: PECS. Has anyone seen Gerard Butler's "300"? Incredible body, all those Sparta soldiers.

57A: Command used when creating a new file name: SAVE AS

64A: "__ Got a Secret": I'VE. Easy guess. Have never heard of this TV game show.

65A: Nurse, vis--à-vis medication: DOSER. Is DOSER a common word?

67A: Avignon article: LES. Like "LES Misérables", Dennis' favorite musical. I think he only likes Susan Bolye's voice though.

Down:

1D: Apples with screens: MACS. I am a PC person. This kind of apple clue can't fool anybody now.

2D: Needle case: ETUI. Will Nediger clued ETUI as "Notions holder" last time. I like that clue better.

6D: Blood classification letters: ABO. Has anyone tried Blood Type Diet? Scroll down and see which food you should allow/avoid in your daily diet. I am a type O, and I can't give up cauliflower.

7D: Skim, as soup: DEFAT. Oh, it's a real word.

8D: __ Romeo: sports car: ALFA. Learned this name when Kazie suggested ALFA Romeo for a possible ROMEO clue in late March. They belong to Fiat now, according to Wikipedia.

12D: Studio sign: ON AIR

13D: Internet forum messages: POSTS. "Blog messages" too. By the way, what are your favorite movies? Come to the Comments section and share with us. I like "The Godfather" (I & III), "Major League" & "Cold Mountain".

22D: Symbol after "Http:": SLASH

24D: Soccer player's shoes: CLEATS

26D: Post-op section: ICU. Reminds me of my SKIS ("Street supplies?") confusion last time. I was not familiar with the Olympic skier Picabo Street. Buckeye later joked that she made a large contribution to a Denver hospital, and they named a wing after her. And the wing is called "Picabo, ICU".

27D: Light meal: BITE

30D: Ukrainian port: ODESSA. Interesting. I did not know all city names in Greek/Latin are feminine.

33D: Org. for Bucks and Bulls: NBA. Alliteration again.

35D: Pop singer Brickell: EDIE. Paul Simon's wife. What song is she famous for?

36D: Sax or oboe: REED. Only learned this morning that saxophone is named after its Beligum inventor Adophe Sax.

38D: Bride's purchase: DRESS. Katherine Heigl's "27 Dresses" is pretty silly. This is her famous thong bikini shot (0:18).

40D: Careless: REMISS

45D: Hollywood do-overs: RETAKES

48D: Explosion sound: KABOOM. I like this fill.

50D: Horse stable: LIVERY. Got the answer from across fills. I've never heard of "livery stable" before. Dictionary defines it as "a stable that boards horses and keeps horses and carriages for hire."

51D: Go bad: SPOIL

52D: Throw with strain: HEAVE

58D: Harrow rival: ETON. Both Churchill and Nehru are Harrow graduates.

59D: Elec. designation: AC/DC. Or the rock band name.

60D: "__ Gotta Have It": Spike Lee film: SHE'S. Another easy guess. Have never heard of this film. What a strange blurb: A Seriously Sexy Comedy.

63D: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., e.g.: HRS. Just saw Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" the other day. Very silly too.

Answer grid.

C.C.