Sunday May 10, 2009 John Lampkin

Theme: Mothers of Invention

23A: When Harriet Farnam invented her "Non-Swarmer" beehive, she __: GOT A HONEY OF A DEAL

44A: When Mary Walton invented sound dampers for elevated railways, she __: TOOK THE HIGH ROAD

64A: When Amanda Jones invented the automatic safety oil burner, she __: WASN'T JUST BLOWING SMOKE

87A: When Ruth Wakefield invented the chocolate-chip cookie, she __: SWEETENED THE POT

112A: When Ida Hyde invented the intracellular microelectrode, she __: CAUSED A SENSATION

16D: When Hedy Lamarr co-invented a radio-frequency encryption system, she __: MADE WAVES

78D: When Josephine Cochrane invented dishwasher, she __: CLEANED UP

All of above theme entries are in simple past tense except 64A. I guess the constructor needs an odd number verb phrases for the very central row #11. Very clever how he added a "JUST" to the entry. It sounds natural and it adds some scrabbliness to the grid, which is only one letter X away from being a pangram. And 9 K's. Incredible.

I thought the theme is very clever and obviously the constructor did a thorough research. Unfortunately I am scientifically challenged. And constructor's creativity and humor are lost on me. Are those "Mothers of Invention" all American? Hedy Lamarr is the only one I've heard of. And I thought she was only an actress. Had no idea that she ever invented anything.

Quite a few cross-referencing clues in the puzzle. And several clues made me laugh. I like how the below answers are clued, from A to AAA:

12D: A, in Arles: UNE

14D: AA co-founder: BILL W. He can continue to remain anonymous. I've never heard of him and don't feel the need to know him.

86A: AAA Option: RTE

I wonder if John Lampkin considered Bette Nesmith Graham (Michael Nesmith's mother) who invented Liquid Paper. I used tons of Liquid Paper this morning. Lots of OOPS instead of OH NO (6D: Klutz's cry) mistakes are made. And too many musical/musician related entries for my simple mind.

I hope you struggled as well. Everyone seems to be doing so well lately. I really don't want to be the only child left behind.

Across:

1A: "West Side Story" dance: MAMBO. Stumped immediately. Have never seen "West Side Story".

2A: Doling out mil. rations: ON K.P. K.P. is Kitchen Police.

10A: Jacket materials? BLURB. Book jacket. Nice misleading clue.

15A: Pianist Gilels: EMIL. No idea. Wikipedia says this pianist was born in Odessa.

19A: Nirvana #1 album "In __": UTERO. See the album cover.

20A: Consider in court: HEAR

21A: "Amazing" magician: RANDI (James). I forgot all about him. Googled him before.

22A: Chance it: DARE. Thought of RISK.

26A: Wedding pair: I DO'S. Good clue.

27A: Work on ribs: GNAW. I need a "with at" for the answer to come readily.

28A: Small Welsh river boats: CORACLES. Unknown to me. Strange boat. So tiny.

29A: Under the surface: LATENT

33A: '50s Reds slugger, familiarly: KLU. Ted Kluszewski. Nicknamed "Big Klu". I've never heard of him. Of course I was thinking of the guy on the right, Ted Williams.

34A: Kin of kitties and fishies?: BOWWOW

36A: About one in three Bosnians: SERBS. Oh, I did not know that fact. I do not have a clear understanding of the Balkans at all.

39A: Saint called the founder of Scholasticism: ANSELM. Have never heard of this saint (ANSELM of Canterbury). Wikipedia says he is famous as the originator of the ontological argument for the existence of God, whatever that is.

42A: Lyre-playing Muse: ERATO. Muse of love poetry. She does carry a lyre.

49A: TV control: VOL

50A: Leak results: DRIPS

51A: Female gamete: OVUM

52A: A joker might pull yours: LEG

53A: Go to: ATTEND

56A: Go on and on: RANT

57A: Drop: OMIT

58A: Parisian passes: NONS. French "No". Alliteration in the clue again.

59A: Popular cups: REESE'S. Good clue too.

61A: French cleric: ABBE

62A: Latin lover's word: AMO. AMO, amas, amat.

43A: __ Reader: UTNE. Named after its founder Eric UTNE. I leafed through a few pages of a recent UTNE Reader at Barnes & Noble the other day. It does not interest me.

73A: 130-lb. -plus ref.: OED (Oxford English Dictionary). 20-volume.

74A: Verified: TRUE

75A: No. beginning with a "-": NEG

76A: Certs competitor: TIC TAC. Have never tried this brand.

79A: Sartre's "Huh?": QUOI. I like the Sartre reference.

80A: Opera conductor Daniel: OREN. Foreign to me. He is an Israeli opera conductor. He looks angry. Wikipedia says he is a protégé of Leonard Bernstein.

81D: Note: MEMO

82A: Volunteer: ENLIST. Oh, volunteer for the military service.

83A: Certain brewer: URN

84A: Santa nickname: KRIS. I really like "Miracle on 34th Street".

85A: Oil burners: LAMPS

91A: Cycle part: PHASE

94A: Pulitzer-winning writer Welty: EUDORA. Nope, not a familiar name to me. Such a weathered face. EUDORA means "generous" in Greek, according to Dictionary.com.

96A: __ cordiale: friendly understanding: ENTENTE

98A: Tach readout: RPM

100A: "Whatever you want": NAME IT. "I wanna, I wanna..."

105A: Defraud: FLEECE

106A: Foreshadowed: PRESAGED

110A: K-12: ELHI. EL(ementary) + HI (gh-school).

111A: Teased: RODE. I did not know ride can mean "tease".

116A: Elton's "__ Song": YOUR. Beautiful song.

117A: 1999 Academy Honorary Award recipient: KAZAN (Elia). Not aware of this fact.

118A: Bop: CONK. On the head?

119A: Inched: CREPT

121A: Holst's "The Planets," for one: SUITE. Neither the composer Gustav Holst nor his work "The Planets' is familiar to me. Here is a clip.

122A: "Trick" joint: KNEE

123A: They're often bored: HOLES. Drill a hole. Love this clue too.

Down:

1D: Humid: MUGGY

2D: Compensate (for): ATONE

3D: Sodium, for one: METAL. Oh, I was thinking of my salt.

4D: Free-for-all: BRAWL

5D: "Impressive": OOH. And AWE (30D: Elicit a 5-Down)

6D: Klutz's cry: OH NO. Penned in OOPS of course.

7D: When hell freezes over, in verse: NE'ER. Another great clue. Hot!

8D: Inuit boat: KAYAK. Literally, "man's boat". Umiak means "woman's boat".

9D: Declare: PROCLAIM

10D: Hebrides hillside: BRAE. Another alliteration.

11D: Boys: LADS

13D: Inits. in nutrition: RDA

15D: Revisionist?: EDITOR. Can't fool me. Saw similar clue somewhere before.

17D: Heavy china material: IRONSTONE. New material to me. Looks heavy.

24D: Chamber work: OCTET. Sounds like a lot. What is the most popular Chamber Music ensemble? OCTET?

25D: Hurled: FLUNG. Slung too.

32D: Poses: ASKS. Thought of SITS.

34D: Modern journals: BLOGS

35D: Medical suffix: OMA. As in melanoma.

37D: Equilateral quadrilateral: RHOMBUS. I am having difficulty pronouncing the clue. Can't event tell sax from sex, for heaven's sake.

38D: Beauty groups: BEVIES. Bevy of beauties.

40D: Violinist Mintz: SHLOMO. Nope. He is an Israeli violinist. Wikipedia says Isaac Stern was his mentor.

41D: Heretofore: ERENOW

43D: Bygone GM line: OLDS. Gone in 2004.

44D: Refrain syllables: TRA LA

45D: Pen pal chatter?: OINKS. This clue is making all the pigs in the world happy. Hilarious.

46D: Decide: OPT. Not with a for?

47D: Primitive home: HUT

48D: Tranquilizing weapon: DART GUN. I was thinking of Taser.

50D: Attracted: DREW

54D: Linguist's subject: TENSE

55D: Swarm: TEAM

57D: Doesn't go along: OBJECTS. Like the verb here.

58D: Silent star Nita: NALDI. I tend to confuse this lady with the "Cleopatra" girl Theda Bara.

61D: Book with legends: ATLAS. And MAP (81D: 61Down component)

63D: Social rumblings: UNRESTS

65D: "The Little Red Hen" denial: NOT I. Ha ha, this is the first time I heard of "The Little Red Hen" story.

66D: Got the show on the road: TOURED

67D: Suspect: BE ONTO. Had difficulty obtaining this answer.

68D: "Let __!": high roller's cry: IT RIDE

69D: "__ Time": 70s musical: ONE MO'. Nope. Not even sure if this is the correct link.

70D: Tidy: KEMPT. I actually only know unkempt.

71D: Some are inflated: EGOS

76D: Md. athlete: TERP

77D: Trusted: IN THE LOOP. Can you give me an example?

79D: Line at the Old Vic: QUEUE. Perfect, perfect clue! British call their line QUEUE. Old Vic is the famous theatre in London. And its current artistic director is Kevin Spacey.

84D: Camper's aid: KNAPSACK

85D: Darth's daughter: LEIA

88D: Wrong, with "all": WET. All WET.

89D: Stumbled: ERRED

90D: Possession: HANDS. Why? I don't get it.

92D: Navigates: STEERS

93D: Common Market inits.: EEC (European Economic Community). Can never remember this abbreviation.

97D: Kisses and more: NECKS. Sweet clue!

99D: Bricklayer: MASON

101D: Prefix with __plex: METRO. Metroplex is new to me.

102D: Architect Sarrinen: ELIEL. Father of Eero, who appears in crossword often.

103D: Optimist's phrase: I HOPE. "WE CAN" jumped into my mind. It has 5 letters also.

105D: Popular boot brand: FRYE. Wikipedia says the FRYE Company claims to be the oldest continuously operated shoe company in the United States (since 1863).

106D: Exam for pre-srs.: PSAT. Why not just "Exam for jrs."?

108D: Code carrier: GENE. Wanted DNAS.

109D: 1980s speed skating gold medalist Karin: ENKE. No idea. Her Wikipedia entry shows that Karin ENKE is quite accomplished in the 1980s.

113D: Jr. Olympic Games sponsor: AAU (Amateur Athletic Union). Stymied again today.

114D: Commando's weapon: UZI. Often clued as "Israeli gun".

115D: 6-Down: in Essen: ACH

Answer grid.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms!

C.C.

Saturday May 9, 2009 Bruce Venzke

Theme: None

Total blocks: 38

Total words: 68

What a unique grid! I wonder if there is a special term for this kind of extra symmetry. Fold the puzzle in the middle along Row #8 or Column #8, you will find the mirroring pattern between left & right and up & down. Probably 99% of all the puzzles only have a 180 degree rotational symmetry, i.e., if you turn the puzzle upside down by rotating 180 degrees, the pattern of black squares remains the same.

This constructor Bruce Venzke (the guy with glasses on) seems to be fond of stacked long 15-letter words for his Saturday themeless. Remember this one we solved in April? Today, there are another two sets of triple-stacked long words at the top and the bottom:

1A: Makes some progress: GETS TO FIRST BASE

16A: Song that's acted out: I'M A LITTLE TEA POT

17A: Song also known as "Cowboy's Lament": STREETS OF LAREDO

56A: Responded in kind, in a way: COUNTER-ATTACKED

61A: Vague putoff: AT SOME OTHER TIME

62A: Post under a hood: BATTERY TERMINAL

The last one baffles me. What hood? And what post? To me, BATTERY TERMINAL is just + or -.

Neat to see TAO (37A: Eastern philosophy) crossing HAN (34D: Dynasty after the Qin) right in the middle of the grid. TAO (道) is often spelled DAO in China. Zhou, Qin, HAN & Tang are the four most famous dynasties with capital in my hometown Xi'An. I got my Mandarin name Zhouqin because of the Zhou & Qin dynasties connection.

Had my struggle again today. I failed the "Stress Test" before I even started. Those 15-letter blanks intimidate me.

Across:

18A: Took care of : SAW TO. My first fill of the grid.

19A: Shadow: UMBRA. Latin for "shade". Root word for umbrella.

20A: Gig component: AMP. This simple 3-letter answer stymies me all the time.

22A: Turner of music: IKE. Too bad it's not clued as " '50s nickname" to pair up with ETO (15D: WWII arena").

23A: Groovy toy?: SLOT CAR. The car runs on a groove.

27A: Knocks off: DEDUCTS. Not familiar with this slangy DEDUCT meaning of "knock off".

32A: Record for later: TIVO. Thought of TAPE first.

33A: Radar purchases?: NEHIS.

36A: Skip: OMIT

38A: "Young Frankenstein" lab assistant: INGA. No idea. Wanted IGOR/YGOR. Wikipedia says she's played by Teri Garr.

39A: Drawn things: LOTS. Draw lots.

40A: Monopoly deed sextet: RENTS. Any Monopoly related clue is a stumper to me.

42A: Corner: NOOK

43A: Agents of biochemical change: ENZYMES. Raw veggies/fruits are rich in ENZYMES, which help to break down protein. I like adding fresh pineapple to shrimps or other seafood I cook. Perfect combination.

45A: Contemporary of Lucille: IMOGENE. Big stumper. I need "Zany Coca" in the clue to get the answer.

47A: Me. summer setting: EDT. Shouldn't the letter e be capitalized (Maine)?

48A: Decimal meas.: CEN. No idea. Centimeter?

49A: Got to: IRKED. Is "get to" a slang?

52A: Lassie was rarely seen on one: LEASH. Clever clue. I suppose you can say that about most of the movie/TV dogs?

Down:

1D: Grunts: GIS. "Grunt" is slang for infantry solider. I should have got this one. We had so many Army/Marines/Navy/Air Force nickname discussions a few weeks ago.

2D: Lifesavers, for shorts: EMTS

3D: Plantation near Twelve Oaks: TARA. I like the line "I'll always have TARA" in "Gone with the Wind". Also like "We'll always have Paris" in "Casablanca".

4D: Plethora: SLEW

5D: Stickpin kin: TIE TAC. Thought it's TIE TACK.

6D: Place to put your dogs up?: OTTOMAN. "Dogs" is slang or "feet". I was picturing the real dogs.

7D: NBA scores: FTS (Free Throws). No idea. Not a basketball fan. Maybe you can give me a NBA scores 101 today.

8D: 1969 Peace Prize-winning agcy.: ILO. Sigh. I actually mentioned this Nobel Peace Prize trivia about ILO when it appeared in our puzzle some time ago. This morning I could only think of Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières). They were awarded Nobel Peace in 1999.

9D: Ring leader?: REF. Boxing. Good clue.

10D: NYC hospital since 1858: ST LUKE'S. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says their Roosevelt Emergency Room is notable for being the site of John Lennon's death.

11D: Joined (with): TEAMED

12D: Comeback, perhaps: BARB. Another great clue. Not sufficient for me though. I definitely need an extra "biting" for hint.

13D: One who's often not himself?: APER. Did you get it immediately? I did not. Reminds me of Doug Peterson's wicked "Ape wrestlers" for GRAPPLE. Ape is a verb: "mimic".

14: Scotch partner: SODA. Like Gin and Tonic?

21D: Course admission requirement, perhaps: PRETEST. Not familiar with this term. We don't have PRETEST in our schools.

22D: Dumb: IDIOTIC. I feel dumb, not IDIOTIC though. I guess I don't want to be called an idiot. Dummy, yes.

23D: Ripped off: STOLE. Hmm, no more "It's a wrap". Kind of chiseled/sculpted face. Does she look pretty to you?

24D: Dance José: LIMON. No idea. Wikipedia says this guy was a pioneering modern dancer and choreographer. And his most famous dance is "The Moor's Pavane" (1949), based on Shakepeare's "Othello".

25D: Short-lived '90s Disney president: OVITZ (Michael). Unknown figure to me. His short lived tenure at Disney lasts 16 months. And he received $38 million in cash and $100 million in stock as a severance package. Unbelievable! Good job, Michael Eisner!

26D: Hotsy-__: TOTSY. High class hottie?

29D: Where standing is ill-advised: CANOE. What came to your mind first?

30D: "You don't __ Superman's cape": Jim Croce lyric: TUG ON. Unknown to me also. It's from the song "You Don't Mess Around with Jim".

31D: Quench: SLAKE

40D: Venison source: RED DEER. What's the matter with him? Such a desperate look. I wanted DEER MEAT.

41D: Place of refinement?: SMELTER. Sigh! I had trouble with this one.

44D: Lover's message: MEET ME. For some, it would be just "CALL ME".

46D: Bandit feature?: ONE-ARM. The slot machine. Or is it the bad guy in "The Fugitive"?

49D: Greek vowel: IOTA. Greek "i". I am used to the "Tiny amount" clue.

51D: Boater's unit: KNOT. No idea. What kind of unit? Anything to do with the rope?

53D: When Romeo spots Juliet: ACT I. Saw similar clue before.

54D: Large organ: SKIN. Holy moley, I've never thought of SKIN as organ.

55D: Blood: Pref: HEMA. Can you believe I forgot this prefix again? It appeared in our puzzle at least 3 times before. It's Greek for "blood".

56D: Semi-attached compartment?: CAB. Stumped. Semi refers to the 18-wheeler. Dictionary says CAB is "the covered or enclosed part of a locomotive, truck, crane, etc., where the operator sits."

57D: 2003 A.L. Cy Young Award winner Holladay: ROY. Gimme for any baseball fan. ROY Holladay is with Toronto Blue Jays. The 2004 & 2006 A.L. Cy Young is Johan Santana. I miss him a lot.

58D: NYSE ticker symbol changed to "T" in 1930: AT&T

59D: Every day article: THE. Nailed it immediately.

60D: V.P. Biden's state: DEL. My favorite Joe Biden quote is his comment on Rudy Guilian's sentence structure: "a noun, a verb and 9/11".

Answer grid.

C.C.