Sunday July 5, 2009 Richard Silvestri

Theme: Heard Down Under

23A: Cookie made with Chianti instead of figs? WINE NEWTON (Wayne Newton)

25A: Wood for sashes?: WINDOW PINE (Windowpane)

34A: Blue Danube relative: PURPLE RHINE (Purple Rain)

50A: Discovery of the mother lode?: MINE EVENT (Main Event)

76A: Put an "X" where you want to cut the cord?: MARK TWINE (Mark Twain)

90A: Female chiropractor?: LADY OF SPINE (Lady of Spain)

105A: Squall at sea?: BRINE STORM (Brainstorm)

107A: "I never forget a face," e. g.: MEMORY LINE (Memory Lane)

Hmm, the Aussie/Kiwi (Down Under) long A pronunciation does sound long I, doesn't it?

LADY OF SPINE is my favorite theme entry. I thought of Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Su Ki. She is a real LADY OF SPINE.

Lots of interesting clues in today's puzzle. I had several V-8 moments. Normally I am not fond of ALER (American Leaguer) or NLER (National Leaguer), but today's clue (48A: Ray or Jay) is outstanding. Tampa Bay Rays & Toronto Blue Jays. Nice rhyme.

I was also happy to see MINN (11D: Gopher's home?) again. Golden Gophers is the sports team for the University of Minnesota. I collect those adorable Goldy bobbleheads.

Across:

1A: Titanic obstacle: BERG. The last known Titanic survivor just died last month. She's 2-month old when she boarded Titanic.

9A: Opening frames: JAMBS. I need a "door" hint in the clue.

14A: Try: STAB. Have a try/STAB.

18A: 19th century tale of South Seas travel: OMOO. One more letter, the answer would be TYPEE/MARDI.

19A: Reach via radio: RAISE. Dictionary defines RAISE as "Make contact with by radio", then it gives an example: couldn't RAISE control tower after midnight. New meaning to me.

21A: Girl George?: ELIOT. George ELIOT, who's a "girl". Playing on Boy George. I suppose you can clue SAND as "Girl George" too.

22A: Lobby for: URGE

27A: Like some pens: ERASABLE. Have never used one.

28A: Collect little by little: GLEAN

30A: Snack maker's gizmo: POPPER. Popcorn POPPER.

32A: Samples from a doctor: PILLS

33A: Atheistic: GODLESS. I hope there is a God.

40A: Symbol of penance: ASHES. Oh, that's how we have Ash Wednesday.

41A: Dismayed cry: OY VEY

42A: Carpenter who sang: KAREN. I like her "We've Only Just Begun".

46A: Vientiane native: LAO. It's literally "old" in Chinese. LAO Tzu is literally "old master".

47A: Highest in order: UPMOST. Only knew uppermost.

49A: Scout outing: HIKE

53A: Malt drier: OAST

55A: Yankees' captain: JETER (Derek). I have his rookie card.

56A: Small biological cavities: AREOLES. Why "cavities"? They are just nipple rings.

57A: "I'll say": AND HOW

60D: Had right to: CLAIMED

63A: Unit of work: MAN-HOUR. Normally the answer is ERG.

65A: "My cousin Vinny" Oscar winner: TOMEI (Marisa).

68A: To boot: NO LESS. Why? They are not synonymous to me.

70A: Abates: EASES UP

74A: Hot spots: OVENS. Nice clue. I was thinking of North Korea/Iran.

75A: Money maker: MINT

78A: Buck, for one: MALE. "Tom, for one" too.

81A: Eats into: ERODES

83A: UV index monitor: EPA

84A: Letters on a lunch menu: BLT. Also PBJ. This bento lunch box looks so inviting.

85A: Woolly, perhaps: OVINE. Stumped. Hope ewe got it.

86A: Brilliance: ECLAT

87A: Jellied garnish: ASPIC. Why "garnish"? My grandma always made us ASPIC during Chinese Spring Festival.

89A: Incline: SLANT

92A: Thanksgiving activity: BASTING

95A: Inn group: MAIDS. Great clue.

97A: Troop troupe sponsor, briefly: USO

98A: Frequently traded, in the stock market: ACTIVE. Like the stupid GE stock.

99A: Ballet with a hoedown: RODEO. No idea. It refers to Copland's ballet RODEO I suppose.

100A: Create financial trouble for: STRAITEN. New word to me.

109A: Tartan wraparound: KILT

112A: Work in the cutting room: EDIT

114A: German seaport: EMDEN. See upperleft? North Sea port. I've never heard of it.

116A: Carmine's family?: REDS. Had to check dictionary for "carmine".

Down:

1D: He beat Holyfield twice: BOWE (Riddick). No idea. Have never heard of this boxer. I only remembered Tyson bit Holyfield's ear.

2D: Islamic title: EMIR

3D: Columnist Barnett: RONA. Or Author Jaffe.

4D: Completely loses it: GOES APE

5D: High range: TREBLE. Guessed.

6D: Ketch kin: YAWL. Both two-masted sailboats.

7D: Toy with a tail: KITE

8D: Paul Anka's "__ Beso (That Kiss): ESO. Literally "that".

9D: Lapidary's product: JEWEL. Did not know the meaning of "lapidary".

10D: Item on a forged document, perhaps: ALIAS

12D: Physique: BOD. Needs "slangily", right?

13D: Brief visit: STOPOVER

14D: Price factor: SUPPLY. Plenty of corn & soy in the market this year.

16D: Hooey: TRIPE. To some, it's a delicacy.

16D: David Copperfield's second wife: AGNES. No idea. Have never read "David Copperfield". Thought of Claudia Schiffer, ex-girlfriend of David Copperfield.

17D: Round at the bar: BEERS

20D: Fire trucks: ENGINES

24D: They're at your fingertip: NAILS. My favorite clue.

26D: God for whom Wednesday was named: WODEN. Always thought Wednesday is named after Odin. Dictionary says WODEN is "Anglo-Saxon god identified with Odin."

29D: 2001 U.S. Open champ Hewitt: LLEYTON. I could picture his face. His name escaped me.

32D: Turn on one foot: PIVOT

33D: "Earth in the Balance": GORE. Wikipedia says his "An Inconvenient Truth" is based on this book.

34D: Balearic Islands capital: PALMA. Sigh, both the clue and the answer mean nothing to me. Ibiza is wild.

35D: Carrier that merged with Piedmont in 1989: USAIR. Not familiar with the Piedmont Airlines.

36D: River through the Lake of Geneva: RHONE

37D: Entices: ROPES IN

38D Choir offering: HYMN

39D: '80 Bond portrayer: DALTON (Timothy). Love the current 007 Daniel Craig.

42D: Buckwheat dish: KASHA. I tried buckwheat porridge once. Terrible taste. Cold buckwheat soba noodle is delicious.

43D: Sharp quality: BITE

44D: Strings of islands?: UKES. Nice clue too.

47D: Optic layer: UVEA. Latin for "grape".

49D: Talmud tongue: HEBREW. Talmud is literally "instruction".

51D: Tertiary Period epoch: EOCENE. I forgot. EO is prefix for "early". EOCENE is characterized by the advent of the modern mammalian orders, says the dictionary. And it occurred from 55 to 40 million years ago.

52D: "American Psycho" author: ELLIS. No idea. The book sounds horrifying.

54D: USN VIPS: ADMS (Admirals)

55D: Knight game: JOUST

57D: Arabian Sea's Gulf of __: ADEN

58D: Hack's question: WHERE TO. Hack is taxi driver.

61D: Point in time: MOMENT

62D: Slur over: ELIDE

64D: Symbols of might: OAKS

65D: Crypt: TOMB

66D: Kind of round: OVAL. Indeed.

67D: Get all gooey: MELT. Reminds me of Dali's "The Persistence of Memory".

69D: Metal playing marble: STEELIE

71D: Basso Cesare: SIEPI. No, no, nope. Total stranger to me.

73D: Word spoken with a two-fingered sign: PEACE

76D: Gets into shape: MOLDS

77D: Forever partner?: A DAY. Forever and A DAY.

79D: Fade away: EVANESCE. Another new word to me.

80D: Double checker?: KING. Checkers. Here is Embien's explanation: You make a "king" in checkers by putting another piece on top, thus a "double checker" (the checker piece).

82D: Colts' home before Lucas Oil Stadium: RCA DOME (1984-2007). I guessed. Wikipedia says it's similar in design and appearance to Twins' Metrodome.

85D: Oil source: OLIVE. I was in the crude oil direction.

87D: Ore analysis: ASSAY

88D: Third-party candidate, perhaps: SPOILER

89D: Is frugal: STINTS

91D: Like many mammals: FURRED

92D: Spongy cake: BABKA. The cake with raisins and rum. Diminutive of baba, Polish for "grandmother".

93D: Bitter: ACRID

94D: Underground gate: STILE. Subway turnstile.

95D: "What has God wrought?" sender: MORSE

96D: Commercial developers: AD MEN. Excellent clue.

99D: Route for Bob and Bing: ROAD. ROAD to....

101D: It's a drag: TOKE. OK, TOKE is "a puff of a marijuana cigarette".

102D: Phenomenon measured by a marigraph: TIDE. Had to check the meaning of marigraph: a device that automatically registers the rise and fall of the TIDE.

103D: Oklahoma city: ENID

104D: Trawling gear: NETS

108D: Costar of Teri, Felicity, et al.: EVA (Longoria). From "Desperate Housewives"

Answer grid.

Happy Birthday, Linda, wherever you are!

C.C.

Saturday July 4, 2009 Dan Naddor

Theme: Happy Birthday, America!

16A: Devoted to one's land: PATRIOTIC

36A: With 39-Across, historic birth announcement? THE DECLARATION

39A: See 36-Across: OF INDEPENDENCE

59A: Spectacular display: FIREWORKS

15D: Slice of Americana?: APPLE PIE

37D: Soft drink since 7/4/1982: DIET COKE

Another 15*16 grid! One more row is added to accommodate the even-numbered 36A & 39A.

I was surprised to see Dan Naddor's byline earlier, as he does not construct themeless Saturday. Then I realized it's a special Fourth of July puzzle.

I had no idea that DIET COKE was launched on 7/4/1982. Was surprised to learn further that Diet Pepsi was introduced in 1964.

A nice 73-worder. A Saturdayish word count (since this is 15*16) with a theme. Great! I liked how the 2 Down theme entries intersect the two middle Across ones.

I had fun. The long words popped up when I had a few letters filled in.

Across:

1A: Defiant way to respond to insults: TIT FOR TAT. So "turn the other cheek" will be "Obedient way to respond to insults"?

13A: Pull off the ultimate diamond theft?: STEAL HOME. Baseball diamond. A home run clue!

14A: Radio Dr.: LAURA. NPR is all I listen.

17A: Footnote abbr.: OP CIT. The other one is IBID.

18A: Sine's reciprocal: COSEC

19A: Start to sort out, as stored boxes: UNPILE. Thought of UNPACK first.

20A: __-dieu: PRIE. The prayer bench.

23A: Opaque vase material: MILKGLASS. Lots of people collect Fenton MILKGLASS.

25A: Landlord: LESSOR. Always wanted LEASER.

29A: Manual transmissions?: Abbr.: ASL. (American Sign Language). I was stumped.

30A: Fuzz site: PEACH. Ty Cobb's nickname is "The Georgia PEACH". And 70 years ago today, on July 4, 1939, Lou Gehrig gave his famous "luckiest man on the face of earth" speech (thanks, JD).

33A: Humane Soc. ally: SPCA

41A: Times for basking au soleil: ETES. Nice clue.

42A: Hotel courts: ATRIA. One letter L away from ALTRIA (ex-Philip Morris), which is Latin for "high".

43A: Videotape format: VHS

44A: Tight ends?: TEES. The both ends of "Tight".

46A: "No way!": MY FOOT

48A: Cutting: SARCASTIC

53A: Literary governess: EYRE. "Jane EYRE".

54A: Melodic: ARIOSO. Rooted in aria. This word often gives me trouble.

55A: Seasonal number: CAROL

58A: Con game: BUNKO. New word to me.

63A: His aluminum dust allergy kept him from playing the Tin Man: EBSEN (Buddy). I forgot his name. Was aware of this trivia though.

64A: Like a house on the market, often: REPAINTED

65A: Arctic explorer John: RAE. This has become a gimme.

66A: "Kate & Allie" actress: ARI MEYERS. I forgot all about her. Last time ARI is clued as "Actress Meyers".

Down:

1D: Medicinal amount: TSP

2D: Spanish diminutive suffix: ITA. Feminine diminutive. Opposite ITO.

4D: Satire relatives: FARCES

5D: Mélange: OLIO

6D: Sorority letters: RHOS. Greek P.

7D: Carved pole: TOTEM

8D: Bari buddies: AMICI. Plural of amico. Italian "buddy". Bari is a seaport in SE Italy, on the Adriatic.

9D: Dick: TEC. Detective.

10D: St. __: Caribbean island state: LUCIA

11D: Seed coverings: ARILS

12D: Frequent swingers?: GATE. Another great clue.

14D: 1962 WWII epic, with "The": LONGEST DAY. About D-Day. I've yet to see the film.

19D: The sopranino is the smallest one: UKE. Got the answer from Across fills. I did not know the meaning of sopranino. Here, ino is a diminutive suffix (of soprano).

21D: Do a smith's job: RESHOE. The Ferrari founder Enzo Ferrari was a mule-shoer for the Italian Army during WWI.

22D: Remains: IS LEFT. Thought the clue was asking for a noun.

24D: Satirical songwriter Tom who wrote "The Masochism Tango": LEHRER. Easy guess. I am not familiar with the song.

26D: Time for hunting: OPEN SEASON

27D: Abbr. stamped on an invoice: REC'D

31D: The Rays' div.: AL EAST. Also includes the Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays & the Yankees.

32D: Kangaroo, for one: Abbr.: CAPT. Captain Kangaroo. I was lost. "Lincoln, for one: Abbr." will work too, right? Since Whiteman called him "O Captain! My Captain!". It adds a bit of patriotism in the very center of the grid.

34D: Military escort: CONVOY

35D: News coordinator: ANCHOR. I suppose so.

38D: Lively, in mus.: ANIM. No idea. It stands for animato. What's the opposite of animato then?

40D: Town near Padua: ESTE. Padua is the setting for Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew". It's located 40 km west of Venice. I saw Verona close by. Could not find ESTE.

45D: Tomás's "that": ESO. Or ESA.

47D: Fraud, usually: FELONY. I don't know. If we can not trust an ex-Nasdaq Chairman (Bernard Madoff), whom else can we trust?

48D: Cavalry weapon: SABER. One-edged sword.

49D: Oranjestad's island: ARUBA. They speak Dutch there. Oranjestad is related to the Dutch House of Orange I think.

50D: Eschew the soap: RINSE. The clue feels odd.

52D: Wrist bones: CARPI. Plural of carpus. The blue-colored parts.

56D: Chew (out): REAM. "REAM out" is a new phrase to me.

57D: Boo-boo, in kidspeak: OWIE

59D: Brother: FRA. Monk.

60D: Shortcut, e.g.: Abbr.: RTE. Excellent clue too.

61D: Plop preceder: KER. Plunk preceder as well.

62D: Campus activist org. reformed in 2006: SDS (Students for a Democratic Society). Learned this "reformed in 2006" fact last time when we had SDS, clued as "'60s radicals". I often confuse SDS with '70 radicals SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army).

Answer grid.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!


C.C.