Sunday December 13, 2009 Joon Pahk

Theme: Teeing Off - FORE is inserted in common phrases. Immediately upon teeing off, golfers might yell "Fore!" if they fear that their wild shots could endanger the spectators/players ahead.

23A. Sharp rock used by early hominids?: BLADE (FORE)RUNNER. Does the base phrase Blade Runner refers to the Harrison Ford movie?

33A. Choose Mounds over Almond Joy?: (FORE)GO NUTS. Go Nuts. Reminded me of Dan Naddor's "Gone nuts, horsewise" suggestion for Jerome's GELDING.

53A. Like the elbow of Rodin's "The Thinker"?: (FORE)VER BENDING. Plays on Verb Ending. Hard base phrase to parse.

70A. Anti-park service career advice?: DON'T BE A (FORE)ST RANGER. Don't Be a Stranger.

87A. According to predictions in the show "Medium"?: AS (FORE)SEEN ON TV. As Seen on TV.

103A. What Ali did often at the Rumble in the Jungle?: HIT (FORE)MAN. Hit Man. Foreman here refers to George Foreman, who lost to Ali in the historic bout in Rumble of the Jungle.

119A. "Clear skies tonight," to an astronomer?: ALL STAR (FORE)CAST. All-Star Cast.

And PAR (81D. 72, often). What's your best round? I've only had a couple under 90.

Also a bit of car/traffic undercurrent:

19A. Mercury or Saturn: AUTO. Not planet.

22A. Last Olds model: ALERO

93A. Went two ways: FORKED. I tried PARTED first.

118A. Family auto: SEDAN. Don't like the auto/AUTO duplication.

94D. Like a road section with a flagger, maybe: ONE-LANE

Nice pangram. One more W, we would have had a double pangram, i.e., all the 26 letters would have been used at least twice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle. It held my attention throughout. Worked from bottom up and realized the FORE gimmick immediately, then filled in all the possible FORE's. When I first read the theme title, I thought letter T might be cut off from common phrases, but then the title would be "Tee Off" rather than "Teeing Off".

As usual with the Sunday puzzle. I double bogeyed my round. Had to peek at the cheat sheet a few times. Sunday puzzle is just too formidable to me. Always a few new names to learn and a few traps to fall into.

Across:

1. Archie Bunker oath: JEEZ. Shock and Awe scrabbly start.

5. Spice (up): JAZZ. Four Z's, two J's, two X'es, and Two Q's in this grid.

9. Refracting device: PRISM

14. Fashions: MAKES. Verb.

20. __ fixe: IDEE. French for "idea".

21. Soprano Mitchell: LEONA. Have never heard of this name before.

26. One paid to make hoops, briefly: NBAER. And CLE (35A. Cavs, on scoreboards) & SHAQ (107A. Teammate of LeBron). LeBron James and Shaq O'Neal are both with Cleverland Cavaliers now.

27. Get rolling: BEGIN

28. __ paradoxes: ZENO'S. Zeno of Elea. Don't confuse him with Zeno of Citium (the stoic Zeno).

29. Refinement: ELEGANCE

32. It might be given orally: EXAM

37. Former Giants manager: ALOU (Felipe, 2003-2006)

39. Prone to prying: NOSY

40. Rained out, e.g.: Abbr.: PPD. Postponed. Not a familiar abbr. to me.

43. Not gun-shy?: ARMED. Great clue.

47. Scary movie reaction: SCREAM

56. "The Kitchen God's Wife" novelist: AMY TAN. I love her "The Joy Luck Club". The stories echo with me.

58. Box: CRATE

60. Singer Vannelli: GINO. His name escaped me again. Gino is Italian for Gene.

62. Reproductive cells: OVA

63. Vino __: dry wine: SECO. Spanish for "dry". SEC is French.

64. Capital of Pakistan's Punjab province: LAHORE. Pakistan's second-largest city, after Karachi.

68. Earth tones: SIENNAS. Isn't this earth tone beautiful?

75. Monarch's spouse: CONSORT

76. 1980s timekeeping fad: SWATCH. Still a fad in China.

77. Omnia vincit __: AMOR. "Love conquers all" in Latin.

79. Prefix with fauna: AVI. Prefix for birds.

82. Briny greeting: AHOY

84. Ocho minus uno: SIETE. Spanish for seven. Eight minus one.

85. Wet floor?: SEABED. Ocean floor. Nice clue too.

92. Bald eagle relative: ERNE

95. Lasso: REATA. Or RIATA.

96. "That's right," quaintly: 'TIS

97. MBA subject: ECON

99. Language that gave us "khaki": URDU. Would not have got it without the crossing USNA (100D. Sen. McCain's alma mater).

101. "M*A*S*H" NCO: CPL (Corporal). And PFCS (40D. 101-Across's subordinates). PFC = Private First Class.

111. Ageless pitcher Satchel: PAIGE. Love the "Ageless" clue. He pitched until he's 60 years old. He said his aging secret is fried food and hot shower.

115. "Spamalot" co-creator: ERIC IDLE. Unknown to me. Always good to see a full name.

116. Major muddle: SNAFU

117. Turkish coins: LIRAS. I thought the plural form is LIRE as well.

123. Wind, as a river: SNAKE

124. When la luna rises, usually: NOCHE. Spanish for "night" I suppose.

125. Falafel holder: PITA. Have never tried falafel, not fond of chickpeas or any bean.

126. Blue-green hue: AQUA

127. Fished using pots, perhaps: EELED. True.

128. Turn out: END UP

129. Farm team: OXEN. Real farm team. Not the minor league affiliates.

130. Reading material for some?: LIPS

Down:

1. "Star Wars" gangster: JABBA. No idea. Have never seen "Star Wars". Jabba the Hutt.

2. Swiss mathematician: EULER. Same pronunciation as Oiler. Stumped me again.

3. Floor, in France: ETAGE

4. 12-part belt: ZODIAC. D'oh.

5. Skippy competitor: JIF. Chunky chunky!

6. Napping: ADOZE. Man, it's a real word.

7. Antifreeze brand: ZEREX. Keep learning and unlearning this damned brand. What's the name origin of Zerex?

8. Ethan Frome's sickly wife: ZEENA. Nope. Only know the basic plot line.

9. And: PLUS

10. "You eediot!" speaker of cartoons: REN. Stumped by the new clue. From "The Ren and Stimpy Show".

13. 4 Seasons hit of 1963: MARLENA. Waiting for Argyle for the correct link. I've never heard of the song.

14. Tropical fruits: MANGOS. Sweet!

15. Capital west of Boston, MA: ALBANY, NY. Abbreviation of the state in the clue, abbrevivation of the state in the answer.

16. Reeves of "Speed": KEANU. What's your favorite Keanu Reeves movie?

17. Upright: ERECT

24. Shackle: ENSLAVE

25. It's up the coast from Napoli: ROMA. Easy guess.

30. Bloated condition?: EGOMANIA. Bloated head. Awesome clue.

33. Convergence points: FOCI. Plural for focus.

34. Boondocks possessive: OURN. Ours?

36. Afore: ERE

38. Source of some '60s trips: LSD

41. Studied in detail: PORED OVER

42. Extremely unforgiving: DRACONIAN. Derived from the Greek harsh lawgiver Draco.

44. Richie's dad, to the Fonz: MR. C

45. African virus: EBOLA. Named after the Ebola River in Congo.

46. Joltless joes?: DECAFS. Another good clue. Thought of Shoeless Joe immediately.

48. Silly Putty holder: EGG

50. Amends: ATONEMENT

51. Vocalist who gave his farewell performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin: PAVAROTTI. Did not know this trivia.

54. Jackets facetiously called bum-freezers: ETONS. Was ignorant of this trivia also.

55. Not at all: NO HOW

57. Big name in showerheads: MOEN

61. Leb. neighbor: ISR. The answer always seems to be Israel.

65. __ pro nobis: ORA. Latin for "pray for us".

66. Pave over: RETAR

67. Artist who explored infinity in his work: ESCHER (M. C.). Did not know the "infinity" connection. Here is his famous "Drawing Hands".

69. Marsh of whodunits: NGAIO. Always have trouble remembering her name. Maori origin. Some kind of tree.

71. Rent: TORE. Rent here is the past tense of rend. Tricky clue.

72. Primary author of the Mayflower Compact: BRADFORD (William). Total stranger to me. Wikipedia says he is credited as the first to proclaim what popular American culture now views as the first Thanksgiving.

73. UFO pilots, ostensibly: ETS

74. More than that: THOSE. And "these" in Spanish ESTAS (114D. Spanish pronoun). Could also be ESTOS.

75. Docket item: CASE

78. Guns: REVS

84. Drink with a Real Fact on each bottle cap: SNAPPLE. Easy guess.

86. Some women's mag photos: BEEFCAKE. Ryan Reynolds, husband of Scarlett Johansson.

88. Arctic seabird: SKUA

89. Common office plant: FERN

90. Uneven?: ODD. As in number.

98. Neologized: COINED

102. Not of the clergy: LAICAL. LAIC is more often seen in the puzzle.

103. Frankfurt's state: HESSE

104. 1935 Nobelist Joliot-Curie: IRENE. Only know her mother Marie.

105. Word with basin or flat: TIDAL

106. Dieter's breakfast: MELON. I've got to eat real food for breakfast, or lunch/dinner.

108. Curly-haired pantomimist: HARPO. Harpo Marx.

109. Paste on: AFFIX

110. Dealer's offering: QUOTE

112. Kirkuk native: IRAQI. Lots of oil in Kirkuk.

113. Refuel: GAS UP

120. Calculator display, briefly: LCD

121. Moo __ pork: SHU. Cantonese again. Mu Xu Pork in Mandarin Chinese.

Answer grid.

C.C.

Saturday December 12, 2009 Doug Peterson

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

Total words: 72

A smooth pangram. All 26 letters are used at least once.

The puzzle is anchored by two 15-letter entries intersecting each other right in the middle of the grid:

36A. Gets off suddenly: QUITS COLD TURKEY. Sparkling answer.

8D. "A Fish Called Wanda," e.g.: SCREWBALL COMEDY. I was not clear about the exact definition of the genre. Wikipedia cited that film critic Andrew Sarris defined the screwball comedy as "a sex comedy without the sex". No wonder screwball.

Quite a few great multiple-word entries. Total 11 if I counted correctly. My favorite is DIRTY JOKES (12D. Bar exchanges, perhaps).

Across:

1. It provides more details: ZOOM LENS. Was picturing the Secret Service details. Not camera. Scrabbly start.

9. Raid target: FRIDGE. Again, the bug killer Raid popped into my mind.

15. Where many scenes occur: IN PUBLIC. Wanted ON STAGE.

16. Rich: MONIED

17. Rebounds from: GETS OVER. Sad to hear that Tiger wants to take "an indefinite break" from golf. Hope he rebounds as quickly as Kobe Bryant did.

18. Gaped: STARED

19. Uniform band: SASH

20. Nails down, as a victory: ICES. Wanted ACES.

22. Nervous: ANTSY

23. '90s-'00s sitcom star: DREW CAREY. The sitcom here refers to "The Drew Carey Show" I presume.

25. Pulpy fruit: PAPAYA. Delicious. I love tropical fruits.

29. Handle with care: BABY

30. Rattle: JAR

33. "As if __!": I CARE. And I DUNNO (55A. Words spoken with a shrug).

34. Blush opposite: PALE

35. Botanical trunk: BOLE. Oh, did not know tree trunk has a special name.

39. Largish pottery pieces: URNS. Here is the Greek urn at Louvre. I seem to remember it depicts Dionysus drinking.

40. "__ Well ...": ALL'S. Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well".

41. Name on a combine: DEERE. Just had TORO the other day. Fair & Balanced coverage.

43. Govt. money insurer: FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation)

44. Salutes with words: TOASTS

45. Pop or blow: BURST OPEN. Awesome entry.

48. Friend of Spanky: DARLA. No idea. She's from "Our Gang".

50. Qatari big shot: EMIR

51. Ore carrier: TRAM. Mining accidents occur too often in China.

57. It can involve dumbbells and jerks: EXERCISE. Weight-lifting.

59. "High Fidelity" star John: CUSACK. I love his "Say Anything..." (with Ione Skye). "Eight Men Out" is great too, one of my favorite baseball movies.

60. Sabotages: DISABLES. Kazie linked a sabot song some time ago. Sabotage is rooted in the French peasant shoe sabot.

61. Giggled: TE-HEED

62. "I'll bet!": YEAH, YEAH. I like the answer.

Down:

1. Turns on a jagged course: ZIGS

2. Fit to serve: ONE-A

3. Withdraws, with "out": OPTS. Oh...

4. Cornmeal concoction: MUSH. Mine was PONE.

5. Wall St. deal: LBO (Leveraged buyout)

6. "__ Madigan": 1967 Swedish film: ELVIRA. No idea. Sounds sad.

7. Antigone, to Creon: NIECE. Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus and his mother. Creon is her uncle. Got me.

9. Radio settings: FMS

10D. __ Club: ROTARY. And EDDY (14D. 10-Down current). I was confused for a while because I was trying to connect EDDY with ROTARY Club rather than ROTARY current.

11. Without substance: INANE. To me, inane means "without sense".

13. Heist units: GEES. Slang for "thousands". And ABET (24D. Be partly responsible for a holdup).

21. Really burns: SCALDS

23. Adjusts shades, in a way: DYES

25. Excite: PIQUE. Did not come to me readily.

26. Honda high-end brand: ACURA. Like Toyota's Lexus.

27. Roller alternative: PAINT BRUSH. What's the color of your bedroom wall?

28. Liberal group?: ARTS. D'oh! Liberal Arts.

32. Alfonso XII and XIII: REYES. Spanish for "kings". Singular is REY.

34. Not at all boorish: POLITE. Thought of GENTLE first.

35. City north of Anaheim: BREA. Was used to the "La Brea Tar Pits" clue. Did not know its exact location.

37. Bounders: CADS. Bounder is a new word to me.

38. Thick Japanese soup noodle: UDON. My favorite is Seafood Udon.

43. Seven Years' War participant: FRANCE. No idea. Have never heard of Seven Years' War. It happened in 18th century. I was not there.

44. "The Pride of the Yankees" costar Wright: TERESA. Lou Gehrig's wife in the movie. I could only remember Gary Cooper. Did you cry watching the movie? I did. Doug Peterson is a Yankees fan.

46. They parallel radii: ULNAE. I like the radii & ulnae consistency. The plurals could also be radiuses and ulnas.

47. Folklore trickster: PIXIE. The Norse trickster god is LOKI.

48. Vol. on a stand, maybe: DICT (Dictionary)

49. Together, on a score: A DUE

51. Beriyo Smoothie server: TCBY. Have never had Beriyo Smoothie. What does Beriyo mean?

52. Get to in a bad way: RILE

53. Between ports: ASEA. AT SEA too.

56. Didn't deny: OK'D.

58. Backing cry: RAH. In the stadium. Excellent clue.

Answer grid.

Zai jian!

C.C.