April 26, 2008 Saturday Ed Voile

Theme: NONE

Wow, this is the worst Ed Voile puzzle I've ever solved. What a monstrous NESS grid! Grotesque!

Look:

52D: Lock for monsters: NESS

13D: Shiny quality: GLOSSINESS

14D: Tranquility: SERENENESS

35D: Slice-and-dice quality: GORINESS

58A: Hefty state: STOUTNESS

Wait, there are more SS.

24A: Part of USTA: ASSN

40A: First of September?: ESS

43A: Leaky balloon sound: SSS

And more lazy S cluing in HEDGEHOGS, PAVANES, PIS, SAGOS, RAMS, SATIRES, ETUIS, ENTHRONES.

What's the obsession with S today? What's on your mind exactly? If you can not build a good themeless Saturday grid without abusing prefixes and suffixes, just stick to your themed puzzle then!

Ugly. I hate it. I was actually very intrigued by the unusual grid structure when I had my first glance at the puzzle. And I expected some sparkling fills for 12D, 13D and 14D. However, after I filled in SSS and ESS for 40A and 43A, I realized that 13D and 15D would both end in NESS. Then I was very annoyed. I could not believe my eyes when I came to 52D: NESS, and got completely irked when GORINESS and STOUTNESS emerged.

All in all, a bad construction work from the author and a bad editing work from Mr. Williams.

ACROSS:

1A: Sean of "The Lord of Rings": ASTIN. Have never watched the "The Lord of Rings" series. But what a stellar cast! I adore Viggo Mortensen.

5A: Porcupines' kin: HEDGEHOGS. OK, so a group of porcupines is called a "Prickle". Interesting, isn't it? The name "porcupine" comes from French "porc d'épine" which means thorny, prickled or quilled pig/pork, hence the nickname "quill pig".

15A: Sufficient room: SPACE

16A: Fair: EQUITABLE. Good one.

17A: "The Alienist" author Carr: CALEB. Unknown to me. Here is more information about him. Now, how can I remember his name CALEB? OK, CALEB is a Hebrew word meaning "Dog". His initials is C. C. too.

18A: Supported, in a way: PULLED FOR

19A: Bring upon oneself: INCUR

22A: 16th-century dances: PAVANES. I faintly remember seeing this clue before. It's a "slow, stately court dance of the 16th and 17th centuries, usually in duple meter."

24A: Part of USTA: ASSN (Association). USTA is United States Tennis Association.

25A: Greek letters: PIS

28A: Palm starches: SAGOS. Kind of like tapioca. Very popular starch thickener in Southeast Asia.

29A: Daughter of Desi Arnaz: LUCIE

30A: Genetic carrier: RNA. Never know when to put DNA, when to put RNA.

31A: Kentucky fort: KNOX. Why not try "Gelatin brand" for a change?

32A: "Valley of the Dolls" writer: SUSANN (Jacqueline). Not familiar with either the book or the author.

33A: Pharmacy abbr.: OTC (Over-the-Counter)

34A: Actress Jillian: ANN. Saw this clue before. Not familiar with her works.

35A: Plant secretion: GUM

36A: Little links item: TEE. Links Golf Course. Tough to play. You'd better be good with your iron shots.

37A: Sister of Venus: SERENA. The Williams sisters.

39A: Memento __: MORI. "A reminder of life's mortality" (Latin). Remember you are mortal, so carpe diem!

40A: First of September?: ESS (First letter of September is ESS)

41A: Across: pref.: TRANS. Transaction. Transfer, etc.

42A: Theologian Kierkegarrd: SOREN. Father of Existentialism. He wrote "Fear and Trembling". His philosophy (or later Jean-Paul Sartre) is too complicated for me. I have a simple brain. I do love his quote "Most men pursue pleasure with such breathless haste that they hurry past it." So true.

44A: Butts: RAMS

45A: Swiftian works: SATIRES. Jonathan Swift.

48A: Michael of Monty Python: PALIN. Saw his name before. Then I promptly forgot.

49A: Femme fatale: SIREN. Or one of the part-woman, part-bird sea nymphs who lured seamen with their enchanting music (Greek Mythology). I love this picture The Siren. So suggestive yet sensual. She is holding a harp, isn't she?

53A: Not fully worked out: TENTATIVE. Please explain this to me. I don't get it.

55A: Glasgow's river: CLYDE. Vaguely remember "Firth of Clyde". I suppose "Bonnie & ___" would be too easy for a Saturday puzzle. Learned this morning that "CLYDE" can also mean "a stupid, inept, or boorish person".

56A: Makes a king: ENTHRONES

57A: Needle cases: ETUIS. Look, she is back! Oh my goodness, this word can also be spelled as ETWEE. Just for your information, ETUI came from old French ESTUIER meaning "to keep".

59A: Force units: DYNES. DYNE came from Greek word "dýnamis "(force, power).

DOWN:

1D: Spore sacs: ASCI. Like the alliteration of the clue. Singular is "ASCUS". It's "the sac in ascomycetes in which the sexual spores are formed."

2D: Reach across: SPAN. Need to reword the clue, "across" has already appeared in 41A.

3D: Soft mineral: TALC

4D: Freeze: ICE UP

5D: Omaha populace: NEBRASKANS. I like how it's structured against SACRAMENTO.

6D: Figure with seven sides: HEPTAGON

7D: 3/20 and 9/23 approx.: EQUINOX. My favorite clue today, though I am not fond of NOX & NOX intersection at 7D & 31A. NOX is Roman goddess of night. Its Greek counterpart is NYX. Add one letter O, you've got ONYX which has nothing to do with night.

8D: D. C. airport: DULLES

9D: Rupert of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer": GILES. Thought it was a actor name. Wrong. It's the character's name in the TV series. Complete stranger to me.

12D: Makes confusing intentionally: OBFUSCATES. Again, I like the structural balance of this word with LUMINESCED.

23D: Letter-turner White: VANNA. I forgot. "Wheel of Fortune" co-host.

24D: Eur. nation: AUS (Austria)

25D: Shows subservience: PROSTRATES

26D: Go-between: INTERAGENT

27D: California capital: SACRAMENTO

29D: Shone, as from a chemical reaction: LUMINESCED. I am not familiar with this word, but it's inferable.

32D: More reliable: SURER

38D: Letters in tennis?: ENS. TENNIS. Very nice clue.

39D: Causes: MOTIVES

42D: Sterile solution: SALINE

45D: Squelched: SAT ON

46D: Like choked deltas: SILTY. This whole puzzle feels choked to me.

48D: Piece of the whole: PART

50D: Distance runner Jim: RYUN. No idea. RYUN, interesting name, no wonder he ran. He served in the Congress from 1996-2007. Looks like he was very conservative.

51D: Falco or McClurg: EDIE. How rare! I know them both. Everything I learn, I learned from doing crossword.

54D: Wk. part: THU

C.C.

How Long Have You Been Doing Crosswords? Poll Result

Question: How Long Have You Been Doing Crosswords?

Total votes: 573

Less than a year: 88 (15%)

1-3 years: 56 (9%)

3-5 years: 54 (9%)

5-10 years: 96 (9%)

10-20 years: 95 (9%)

More than 20 years: 184 (32%)

Thank you for the participation.

By the way, if you've got any poll idea, please comment here or email me.

C. C.

Friday, April 25, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: CARS

18A: Canadian body of water: HUDSON BAY

24A: Historic D. C. spot: FORD'S THEATRE (sorry about the mistake earlier)

53A: Mayflower landing: PLYMOUTH ROCK

64A: "Gunsmoke" setting: DODGE CITY

Thank you FORD, without your surprise profit yesterday, the stock market would've plunged! Alan Mulally has finally seen the view from the mountaintop: Hey, look at me Boeing, still happy with your McNerney choice?

I've never heard of HUDSON car, nor have I known LEK, KIROV, SELMA, ASHLAR and BEMA. Tough puzzle today, esp the northwest region.

I filled in SCABS, BLONDE and STAFF with a brio, then my nightmare started. I did not know that "SEND UP" means "lampoon", so naturally I fell into the S trap and penned in S at the intersection of 5D and 35A. I did not know "Ragged Dick" author ALGER. Would've probably got ARGON if it were clued as "Inert gas". And the FIENDS, I could not even get the FIENDS! Sorry Orange!

Had to flirt with Mr. Google, and he quickly gave me what I wanted without making any OUTRÉ demand. Excellent!

ACROSS:

1A: Wound crusts: SCABS. No need to wobble between SCAR and SCAB due to clue 4D.

6A: Synagogue platform: BEMA. Unknown to me. It originated from Greek word "bēma" "meaning step or platform. Dictionary also says that BEMA is "the enclosed space surrounding the altar" in Eastern Orthodox Church, or "an open space between the end of the nave arcade and the apse" in a Christian basilica.

10A: Software platform: TECH

14A: Very fine netting: TULLE. Oh, isn't she beautiful in her satin and tulle mermaid wedding gown? TULLE is named after the French city where it's made.

15A: Firefighters' tools: AXES

17A: About 1% of the atmosphere: ARGON. AT NO. #18. Inert gas.

20A: Maniacs: FIENDS

23A: Begley and McMahon: EDS. Oh, McMahon, the "Heeeeere's Johnny" guy. It would make me happy if Bradley rather than Begley were clued.

28A: Haves of thirds: SIXTHS

35A: Bell ringers' performance: PEALS

38A: Japanese-American: NISEI. The root word SEI means birth, Ni means second. So NISEI means second generation. ISSEI is first generation (IS means first). SANSEI is third generation (SAN means third), don't confuse it with SENSEI (Judo/Karate teacher). Oh, KIBEI is a person of Japanese descent, born in the U.S. but educated in Japan (KI is to return, BEI is America). Have some SAKE with George Clooney if this explanation make you headache!

41A: Small birds: WRENS. Is that cactus you are perching upon?

43A: Skater Lipinski: TARA. She "won Olympic gold medal in figure skating at 1998 Winter Olympics, and remains the youngest gold medalist in the history of the Olympic Winter Games", according to Wikipedia.

44A: Russian city: KIROV. Have never heard of it. It's "a city in the E Russian Federation in Europe". Kirov is known as the "city of twins" for the unusually high number of multiple births there.

46A: Singer Ross: DIANA. Didn't she receive the Kennedy Center Honor last year?

48A: Diamond and others: SELMAS. No idea.

62A: Two-toed sloth: UNAU. Oh, the ugly UNAU is back. AIS is a 3-toed sloth.

63A: Loafer, e.g. : SLIP-ON

69A: Poet pound: EZRA. This is one incorrigible repeat offender.

70A: Hindu queen: var.: RANEE (RANI)

73A: Flexible Flyers: SLEDS. Totally unknown to me, I strung it together from the down clues. Here is a picture.

DOWN:

2D: Antique shop item: CURIO (from curiosity). I always thought CURIO refers to the "CURIO Box". Or do you call any of those old rusty stuff at the antique shop as CURIO?

3D: "Ragged Dick" author: ALGER (Horatio). Unknown to me. Boy, he sure was prolific.

5D: Lampoons: SENDS UP. New phrase to me.

7D: Ooze forth: EXUDE

8D: Euripides drama: MEDEA. Saw this clue before, then I promptly forgot. MEDEA is also the wife of "Jason the Argonaut".

9D: Holdings: ASSETS

11D: River of Hamburg: ELBE. Here is the map.

12D: Enclothed: CLAD. (Nelly said) It's gettin hot in here, so......

13D: "Airplane" star Robert: HAYS. Got his name from across clues. But I think I saw this clue before.

19D: Senator Hatch: ORRIN. Gimme Gimme. Utah Senator (R).

21D: Scatter: STREW

25D: Collection of artifacts: HOARD. Doesn't HOARD have a negative overtone? This clue does not feel smooth to me.

30D: Sub: Hero. "My heroes have always been the cowboys". How about yours?

32D: Birds' display areas: LEKS. Totally unknown to me. It's "a traditional place where males assemble during the mating season and engage in competitive displays that attract females". Courtship display then. Hmm, this clue is definitely more colorful than "Money unit of Alabama"

33D: Mayberry lad: OPIE. Learned his name from doing crossword. I know nothing about "The Andy Griffith Show."

37D: Military muddle: SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fouled UP). Were you thinking of Dennis when you saw this clue? I was. Still remember how stunned I was when he first explained the sanitized version of SNAFU. When will FUBAR appear then?

40D: Freebie: COMP

47D: Masonry stones: ASHLARS. OK, ASHLAR is "a squared block of building stone", like this. This word is easily gettable though.

50D: Matched up: SYNCED. Never know that SYNC can be a verb.

52D: Clannish: TRIBAL. Not SEPT -ish something?

54D: Indian corn: MAIZE

55D: Bizarre: OUTRÉ. Past participle of French word OUTRER (to push beyond the bound).

56D: Voice a thought: OPINE

61D: Biblical paradise: EDEN & 65D: Figure of worship: GOD. Great parallel.

C.C.

Newspaper Updates

Here is an update on all the newspapers that carry TMS (Tribune Media Service) crossword puzzle.

Please note that you can find TMS puzzle on line at Chicago Tribune's website (7-day archive only).

Please write a comment here or send me an email if you do not find your paper on the list. Thanks.

C.C.

Total: 89

International: 11

the Nation, Bangkok, Thailand.
Globe & Mail, Toronto, ON, Canada
Times Colonist, Victoria, BC, Cananda
The Province, Vancouver, B.C. Canada
The Montreal Gazette, Q.C., Canada (Sunday only, but publishes the puzzle on its Saturday "Weekend" section)
Taipei Times, Taiwan
Viet Nam News, Vietnam
??? Philippines (Levie, pls provide me with your paper name)
Times of India, Bangalore, India
Buenos Aires Herald, Buenos Aires, Argentina

??? UK

US: 77

AL: Anniston Star (Anniston); The Birmingham News (Birmingham)

AK:

AR: Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Little Rock)

AZ:

CA: Orange County Register; San Jose Mercury News (Mon. to Sat.); Bakersfield California; Daily Bulletin (Rancho Cucamonga); The Californian (Salinas, Mon.-Sat.); Redding Record Searchlight; "The Press-Enterprise" (Inland southern California, Riverside)

CO: Colorado Springs Gazette

CT: Waterbury Republican (Torrington, Sun.)

DE:

DC: Washington Post (Tue. to Thur, delivered to MD, DC and VA; Crossynergy puzzles from Monday to Friday).

FL: Palm Beach Post; Naples Daily News; Sun-Sentinel; St. Petersburg Times. Port Saint Lucie News (Port Saint Lucie); Tampa Tribune (Tampa); Florida Times Union- Jacksonville; The Ledger (Lakeland); Orlando Sentinel.


GA: Savannah Morning News

HI:

ID: Idaho Statesman (Boise)

IL: Chicago Tribune

IN: Herald-Bulletin (Anderson)

IA: Iowa State Daily (Ames)

KS:

KY: Daily News (Bowling Green); Lexington Herald-Leader; Messenger-Inquirer (Owensboro).

LA: Lake Charles American Press; The Times Picayune (New Orleans)

ME: Bangor Daily News

MD: Baltimore Sun (only Sun.)

MA: The Boston Globe

MI: Detroit Free Press

MN: Minneapolis Star Tribune (Mon.-Sun.); the Minnesota Daily (U of M paper); St. Cloud Times

MO:

MS:

NE: The Omaha World Herald (Omaha)

NV: Review Journal (Las Vegas, Sun. only)

NH: Concord Monitor Concord

NJ: Philadelphia Inquirer (Medford Lakes)

NM: Santa Fe New Mexican (Mon - Sat)

NY: AM New York; New York Daily News; Post Stars (Glens Falls); Times-Union (Albany); Utica Observer Dispatch; Post Standard (Syracuse); The Daily Freeman (Kingston, Mon-Sat)

NC: The Courier-Tribune (Asheboro, NC)

ND: The Forum (Fargo)

OH: Dayton Daily News (Mon.-Sat.); Louisville Herald Leader, the News Herald (Willoughby); Spring Field News-Sun (Mon.-Sat.)

OK:

OR: the Oregonian (Portland, Mon. to Sat.); Mail Tribune (Medford)

PA: Reading Eagle (Reading); Philadelphia Inquirer; Beaver Valley Times (Mon.-Sat.); Pittsburgh Post Gazette (Sun.)

RI: The Providence Journal(Providence)

SC: The Sun News (Myrtle Beach).

SD: Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)

TN:

TX: Abilene Reporter News (Abilene, Mon.-Sun.); Amarillo Globe-News; Osessa American; San Angelo Standard-Times (Mon. to Sat.); Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX); Corpus Christi Caller-Times; San Angelo Standard Times

UT:

VT:

VA: The Virginia Pilot; The Daily Press

WA: The Seattle Times; Spokesman-Review (Spokane)

WV: Daily Athenaeum (Morgantown, campus paper)

WI: Wisconsin State Journal (Madison)

WY:

Thursday, April 24, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: INSULT

18A: Start of an insult: LET'S PLAY

20A: Part 2 of an insult: HORSE I'LL PRETEND

35A: Part 3 of insult: TO BE THE FRONT END

54A: Part 4 of insult: AND YOU CAN JUST BE

60A: End of an insult: YOURSELF

Wow, can I say this to Jeff Immelt? Can I tell him that I've had enough of his Kool-Aid and he can go to hell with his Bear Stearns meltdown-I-could-NOT-close-asset-deals excuse? GE sucks!

Oh I am so delirious with my 3rd career home run today, though I had no idea that DELIRIA is the name of the "Interactive urban fantasy game".

I had a very impulsive start, filling in ASLOPE and ASHORE rather recklessly. I was stunned that they turned out to be right fills. The whole northwest corner yielded to me so quickly that I started to think I had entered the Tiger Zone.

I proceeded very boldly to the other areas, and really astonished myself by conquering the whole field without much resistance. I had no idea what is SEPT, or who are BOYD or TASSO, but I was able to piece the names together either by the across or the down clues.

No need to flirt with Mr. Google.

ACROSS:

1A: Topped (off): CAPPED

10A: Belgrade native: SERB

14A: Slanted: ASLOPE. Aslant. Atilt. What else?

17A: Inclined troughs: CHUTES. Here is a picture.

24A: Interactive urban fantasy game: DELIRIA. Have never heard of it. But the answer is easily gettable.

32A: Italian epic poet: TASSO. Unknown to me. The only Italian poet I know is Dante and his "Divine Comedy". Tasso wrote the epic "Jerusalem Delivered"(1581), an account of the capture of the city during the First Crusade, according to the dictionary.

34A: Uniform: EVEN. The crossing of EVE and EVEN bugs me.

41A: NFL kicker Jason: ELAM. Vaguely remembered seeing his name before. Wow, his uniform is #1. Cool! Is he good?

42A: Fancy headdress: TIARA

47A: Pecan candy: PRALINE. I've never had this candy before.

51A: Coniferous tree: SPRUCE

61A: Peter or Annette: O'TOOLE. Know Peter, not Annette.

62A: Morales of "La Bamba": ESAI. He is always Tony Rodriguez to me.

64A:"Maverick" star: GARNER (James). Total stranger to me. I strung his name together by down clues. To make Ben Affleck happy, please clue the beautiful Jennifer GARNER next time!

65A: Ward of "The Fugitive": SELA

66A: 1960s radical grp: S.D.S. (Students for a Democratic Society). I tend to confuse this SDS with S.L.A. (Symbionese Liberation Army). Aren't they both from 1960s?

67A: Change direction sharply: SHEERS. Had no idea that SHEER can be a verb.

DOWNS:

1D: Hidden away: CACHED

2D: Off the boat: ASHORE

3D: More than one: PLURAL

6D: Bandleader Arnaz: DESI. "I Love Lucy", who doesn't?

7D: Type of lily: CALLA. Beautiful, isn't it?

8D: Proficient one: ADEPTS

9D: Lengths in France: MÈTRES

10D: Family clans: SEPTS. My dictionary says it's a variation of SECT (probably by confusion with Latin word Septum, meaning paddock, enclosure). It refers to a clan in Ancient Ireland and Scotland. I have no idea. I only know SEPT is French for 7.

11D: Perry's creator: ERLE (Stanley Gardner)

12D: Horse color: ROAN

13D: "Ben Hur" co-star: BOYD (Stephen). No idea. Only knew Charlton Heston was in the movie.

19D: Inoculants: SERA. Singular form is "Serum".

25D: Thing: ITEM

30D: Sebaceous cyst: WEN. Did not know the meaning of "sebaceous". But cyst is sufficient for me to ferret out the answer. OK, "Sebaceous" means fatty, greasy. The root word is "sebum", fatty secretion of sebaceous glands, like tallow I suppose. Then "aceous" is a suffix meaning "resembling, made of", oh, like curvaceous?

34D: List ender: ET. AL. Hey, he is back!

38D: Mature: RIPEN

39D: Dinghy mover: OAR. I want to be in this dinghy.

40D: Blue Eagle org.: NRA (National Recovery Administration). NRA is also the powerful National Rifle Association.

44D: Mil. mail drops: APOS (Army & Air Force Post Office). OK, what's the mail drop for the Marines and Navy Force then? (Update from Dennis: It's Fleet Post Office).

46D: Geometry master: EUCLID. I know his Chinese name from my middle school geometry class. No idea how to spell it in English. But it's easily pieced together from across clues. EUCLID is the "Greek mathematician who applied the deductive principles of logic to geometry, thereby deriving statements from clearly defined axioms."

45D: Vinegar holders: CRUETS

48D: Chant: INTONE

49D: More aristocratic: NOBLER

50D: Muslim leaders: var: EMEERS. When are you going to unleash AMIR?

51D: Assad's land: SYRIA. The Assad family has been in power since 1970. There are no "EMIRS" in Syria, right?

52D: Bistros: CAFÉS

54D: Mariner's assents: AYES

57D: Trots: JOGS. I like the appearance of "J" in the puzzle. Its scrabbliness (Is it a word?) adds weight to the grid and zests up the puzzle.

58D: Bryce Canyon state: UTAH

59D: Achy: SORE. What the heck has happened to you? Achy every day, hit too many "clubs"?

C.C.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008 Verna Suit

Theme: THREE BLUE THINGS

17A: Three blue things: PRINT TOOTH GRASS

57A: Three blue things: STREAK JAY CHEESE

3D: Three blue things: CHIP DANUBE BERRY

11D: Three blue things: JEANS RIBBON BELL

Alright, it looks like Hillary is hellbent on fighting until the very last "Bitter" end, since she has scored a string of big BLUE States wins. Why can't Obama close the deal?

Anyway, I don't care. I only want to know how Jeff Immelt faces shareholders' PILLORY today in PA. I want to know how he spins his rationale for the GE's disastrous report. More "BLUE Chips blue" excuse? Bear Stearn's collapse? What on earth happened during the last month of the quarter? Gosh, this guy is unbelievable!

I've never heard of BLUE DANUBE, BLUE TOOTH and BLUE STREAK, but the "BLUE" theme eased my solving pain tremendously. My nightmare this morning was the MAU MAUS and MaCrae part of the puzzle. After penning in TSAR, I put SCORN for "Pillory purpose" (SHAME). Have never watched the "Terminator", so "I'M BACK" did not succumb to me easily. I've heard of TAMIL Tigers many times, but I had no idea that TAMIL refers to the language. Philip AHN, MAU MAUS, MaCrae were all strangers to me. Wanted BHUTAN for 46A: Borneao sultanate (BRUNEI), but NOKIA and DEEJAY both said NO.

So, I called Mr. Google, and we had a short but intense flirting.

ACROSS:

1A: PC alternative: MACS

5A: Intruded: BARGED

11A: Tight spot: JAM

14A: Massage target: ACHE. Massage again? Didn't you just have one yesterday? Oh ACHY!

15A: Former San Francisco mayor: ALIOTO (Joseph). No idea. Gavin Newsom is enough for me!

20A: Old photo color: SEPIA

21A: Harrow rival: ETON. James Bond's school. Churchill attended Harrow.

23A: "___ the Explora": DORA. Hi Dora!

29A: Unhip one: NERD

34A: Philip of "Kung Fu": AHN. See here for more information.

35A: Velvety flora: MOSS. Too unhip! Try her next time! That's my perfume. (Update later: The Opium girl in the picture is supermodel Kate MOSS)

36A: Lake near Syracuse: ONEIDA

37A: '50s Kenyan rebels: MAU MAUS

39A: Sowing site: SEEDBED

40A: "Terminator" sequel words: I'M BACK

41A: Micro-processors': abbr.: CPUS (Central Processing Unit)

43A: Parasitic creature: LEECH

44A: Take off: DOFF

45A: Refuses to: WON'T

46A: Borneo sultanate: BRUNEI. Its capital city is Bandar Seri Begawan, no wonder the constructor used the island name for the clue. Here is a map.

52A: Prefix for one: OENO. Hey, any oenophilia here? OENO is also "Goddess of Wine" in Greek Mythology.

54A: Scrapbook: ALBUM

61A: Luxury watch maker: PIAGET. Faintly remembered it.

64A: Hounds, sometimes: BAYERS

DOWN:

5D: Night flyer: BAT. Wish it were clued as "Baseball player's club", it would be great companion for MISS (13D: Not hit).

7D: Unruly mob: RIOTERS

8D: Aged: GOT OLD

9D: Culture: pref.: ETHNO. As in Ethnology.

13D: Not hit: MISS

19D: Shortened, as sails: REEFED. Did not know it until today.

24D: Actress Aimee: ANOUK. Saw AIMEE clued as "Actress Anouk" before.

26D: French door parts: PANES

27D: Sri Lankan language: TAMIL

28D: Pillory purpose: SHAME

30D: Tee preceder: ESS. Put "TO A" first.

32D: Classic theater: ODEON. Better than "Music Hall" clue.

35D: ___ Picchu: MACHU

36D: French eggs: OEUFS. Hmm, want some oeufs brouillés?

38D: Gordon of "Oklahoma": MacRae. See here for more information.

39D: Tanning lotion letters: SPF (Sun Protection Factor). I think mine is SPF30.

41D: Mint function: COINAGE. I put REFRESH first, but quickly corrected myself.

44D: Record player?: DEEJAY. Why question mark?

45D: Polish Peace Nobelist: WALESA. Nice touch here by the Editor. He avoided "Nobelist Lech" due to clue 43A (Leech).

47D: Cell phone maker: NOKIA

49D: Crying sound: WAH

50D: Nile snakes: ASPS. As lethal as SEPS?

53D: __ and terminer: OYER. No idea. Wanted COMMENCER but could not cram it in!

55D: Old VOA parent: USIA (United States Information Agency). Used to like VOA China.

56D: Shea nine: METS. Hello Santana, we miss you!

58D: Police call letters: APB (All Points Bulletin)

59D: $ percentages: CTS (CENTS)

C. C.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: DINNER ORDER

20A: Part of a dinner order: SMALL HOUSE SALAD

36A: Part of a dinner order: MEDIUM RARE STEAK

49A: Part of a dinner oder: LARGE ONION RINGS

More orts:

6D: Greek sandwiches: GYROS

46D: Kind of sauce: TARTAR

28A: Herring's cousin: SHAD

Yes! Let's eat! Let's shut up on global warming talk and ignore those pesky scientists! Who cares if the EPA reports are altered/doctored? Who cares if any solver expects a Earth Day themed puzzle on April 22? Let's go with STALIN, nobody will ever notice that LENIN was born on April 22.

Other than that, a solid puzzle. I love the double meaning of ORDER here. Great theme and well executed!

Had a bit of a shaky start. Had problem getting SLAPS due to 1D & 4D clues. Only knew ASP and COBRA for serpents, SEPS was a complete stranger to me. Wanted AL PACINO for "Scarface" star, not familiar with PAUL MUNI. Wanted HAIFA for Israeli port (my Pavlov' Dog reflex). Wanted EDUARD (Shevardnadz) for 5D: Dictator born in Georgia, misled by his long presidency of Georgia.

ALDA and LIAM ware the only 2 words I penned in with authority in the upper left corner. I actually had no idea what was "...The Phantom Menace", not a fan of Star War or Star Treks. But I liked Neeson's "Schindler's List", so LIAM was an easy crumble. BB GUNS and MIAS eventually brought STALIN to me. Always thought STALIN was born in Russia.

Smooth sailing in other areas though.

ACROSS:

1A: High--fives: SLAPS. Naughty Naughty (40A)! Raise your hand if these two clues brought Borat to your mind!

9A: Allied: SIDED

14A: Israeli port: EILAT. Could also be spelled as ELATH.

15A: Nautical swerve: YAW. I pieced it together from down clues. I had no idea what "yaw" can mean "deviate from a straight course".

16A: Loan sharking: USURY

17A: "The Taming of the Shrew'' City: PADUA. No idea. I wish 16A were clued as "The Merchant of Venice" practice or something like that. It would have a bit of Shakespeare sub-theme.

18A: Greek letter: RHO. The intersection of GYROS (6D) with RHO is very nice, both Greek.

19A: Hold responsible: BLAME

23A: Sara and Farrow: MIAS. Know Farrow, not Sara.

25A: Toy shooters: BB GUNS

33A: Lena of "Chocolat": OLIN. Great movie. Juliette Binoche was impeccable in "Chocolat"! I love almost every one of her movie, esp Damage (with Jeremy Irons).

34A: The ones here: THESE. Too lazy a clue.

35A: Prohibitionist: DRY

40A: Naughty: BAD

44A: Milanese eight: OTTO. I've been quite pleased with our editor's various clues for OTTO lately. Great! Now please use Jim's "A Dandy in __" for ASPIC next time, no more "Meat stocky jelly".

45A: Accent: STRESS

48A: Jack of talk shows: PAAR

59A: Govt. security: T BILL. Treasury Bill. My favorite clue.

60A: Form: SHAPE. Hmm, 2 APES here, see 47D.

61A: Stooge name: MOE. Larry & Curly. Aw, those ugly Three Stooges' golf/football NODDER bobbleheads! Why do people want them?

62A: "A Delicate Balance" playwright: ALBEE. Did not know the play, but knew ALBEE due to "Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf?"

63A: Key-stroked: TYPED. Nice one.

DOWN:

1D: Numidian serpent: SEPS. Numidian is "an ancient country in N Africa, corresponding roughly to modern Algeria." Here is a picture of SEPS.

2D: Neeson of "... The Phantom Menace": LIAM. Why abbreviated the movie title?

4D: "Scarface" star: PAUL MUNI. No idea who he is.

5D: Dictator born in George: STALIN

6D: Greek sandwiches: GYROS. OK, I want to get rid of "Greek" in the clue because 18A: Greek letter. Got any good idea? Share with us.

9D: Falls to the bottom: SUBSIDES

10D: Muhammad's religion: ISLAM. Wish this one would be clued as "Abbas' religion" and the 14A as "Olmert's port". That would elevate this puzzle to a whole new level!

11D: Binary: DUAL

12D: Columnist Bombeck: ERMA. I've been waiting for Mr. Williams to clue BOMBECK as Columnist ERMA.

21D: Embodies: HAS

22D: Clear, as a disk: ERASE

25D: Lead balloons: BOMBS

26D: Sound sheepish: BLEAT. Or BAA.

27D: Lightheaded: GIDDY. That's how I am feeling now. Could not contain my enthusiasm for today's primary. Show me your real color, Pennsylvania!

28D: Military hat: SHAKO. Can also be spelled as SHACKO. It's "a military cap in the form of a cylinder or truncated cone, with a visor and a plume or pompon". See this photo. Rooted from Hungarian word "csákó süveg" meaning "peaked cap." How come this word looks so familiar to me?

30D: Designer Simpson: ADELE. Nope, I've never heard of her. Strung together her name by across clues.

31D: Boorish: CRASS

34D: Jogging pace: TROT

37D: Intact: UNOPENED

38D: Words to remember: MOTTO

39D: Very poor: TERRIBLE

47D: Yawning: AGAPE

48D: Put forward: POSED

50D: In need a massage: ACHY. Hmm, Dennis might need one after hitting so many clubs in South Beach!

52D: "Finding __": NEMO. I love Ellen's Dory!

55D: Happiness: GLEE

56D: Passel: SLEW

C.C.

Monday, April 21, 2008 Edgar Fontaine

Theme: KENTUCKY DERBY

20A: Kentucky Derby to some: RUN FOR THE ROSES

33A: 2007 Kentucky Derby winner: STREET SENSE

40A: 33A's rider: CALVIN BOREL

49A: Kentucky Derby track: CHURCHILL DOWNS

A bit extra: 45D: Headlong assault: ONRUSH. Triple Crown winner, ASSAULT, had a shock and awe performance in Kentucky Derby 1946. (update later: Please notice how 37A: OAT anchors the whole puzzle, very impressive construction!)

But why jump the gun like Barbaro at Preakness 2006? Kentucky Derby (May 3, 2008 Saturday) is still 10 days away, isn't it? I know this won't fit in the themeless Saturday pattern, but why not publish it on May 2 Friday?

Great theme entries though. Needs some "mint julep" for an intoxicating finish.

Well, you know I love ASPIC, so with the sexy "S" filled in for 33A, my choices for the horses were limited to SMARTY JONES, SEATTLE SLEW, or STREET SENSE (I don't have much knowledge on other S horses). So, the horse revealed its name to me without much spurs. I think I picked up "Any Given Saturday" last year, and got really pissed off at Todd Pletcher when none of his five horses fired!

It took a bit effort to string together the jockey's name (CALVIN BOREL). Mike Smith and Edgar Prado were the only ones that popped into my brain this morning.

I did flirt with Mr. Google a bit (3 visits). Nothing hot and heavy.

ACROSS:

1A: Deeply engrossed: RAPT

5A: Primitive calculators: ABACI(算盤). The singular form is abacus. Had to use it in my elementary arithmetics class. Insufferable headache!

15A: Punctuation mark: COLON

16A: Bahrain ruler: EMIR. It's AMEER in yesterday's puzzle, clued as "Muslim VIP, var." So, we've got EMIR, EMEER, AMEER, next one on deck will be AMIR.

18A: Perch: ROOST

23A: Chicago Team: CUBS. Thought of BULL(S) first. Had a glance at 6D, and then filled in CUBS. The letter C was essential for me to ferret out 4D: Digging machine (TRENCHER).

25A: Respiratory disorder: ASTHMA

28A: Manacle: HANDCUFF. I did not know the meaning of "Manacle". But it's gettable.

35A: Dent starter?: TRI. Trident.

36A: Poker holding: PAIR

37A: Morsel for dobbin: OAT. Put ORT initially, did not know that "dobbin" is a horse. Great clue for a Derby themed puzzle.

38A: Sense: FEEL. Dislike the clue due to STREET SENSE.

39A: O. T. book: ISA (ISAIAH). 2 religious books today.

44A: Chemical compound: CHLORIDE. A subtle nice touch on the Derby too.

46A: Imitation gold alloy: OROIDE. Stranger to me. Could also be spelled as OREIDE. It's "alloy containing copper, tin, etc., used to imitate gold". OK, so "oro" means gold, "ide" is rooted in "eide" meaning "resembling".

47A: Hide-hair link: NOR. Unknown to me. I've never heard of this phrase before. It means "Nothing whatsoever". Here is the origin.

48A: Miners entrance: ADIT. It looks like this.

56A: Corker: LULU. Did not know the meaning of "corker".

57A: Related to the mother's side: ENATE. AGNATE is related on the father's side. COGNATE is related by birth. NATE is the pp of NASCI, Latin for to be born. Oh I guess that's how INATE got its root too. Very interesting, it reminds of "Naître".

61A: Pursuing: AFTER

62A: Pull (for): ROOT

63A: Humdrum: BLAH

64A: Active sorts: DOERS

DOWN:

1D: Dreamed letter: R.E.M. Ennui! Try something new to excite me.

2D: Declare: AVER. Have to ask one more time, what's the exact difference between AVER and AVOW?

4D: Digging machine: TRENCHER. Would've not got this one with C from CUBS (23A). Here is a track trencher.

5D: Circus performer: ACROBAT

6D: Crude dudes: BOORS

8D: Bobby's blackjack: COSH. Who is Bobby? (Pls visit the Comments section for explanation)

9D: "ER" extras: INTERNS

10D: Brave: HEROIC. Oh what a diving catch by Carlos Gomez yesterday! And Justin Morneau's clutch performance! "Wild thing, you make my heart sing!"

11D: Book after Joel: AMOS

12D: Sexologist Shere: HITE. Wow, she is still alive. Doubt if anyone here has ever read her book. Mary Roach's "Bonk" looks very interesting though.

13D: Greek god of war: ARES. MARS for the Romans.

21D: Seethe with anger: FUME

25D: Meat stock jelly: ASPIC. Wow, identical grid spot on April 10th puzzle!

26D: Hidden store: STASH

27D: Courtroom event: TRIAL

28D: Throw with effort: HEAVE

30D: Wombs: UTERI. Singular form is Uterus.

31D: Emancipated: FREED

32D: French girl: FILLE. Or French daughter. Fils et Fille (son and daughter).

34D: Auctioneer's last word: SOLD!

38D: Soccer skill: FOOTWORK. Is this a common soccer term?

40D: Gator's cousin: CROC

41D: Mindless individual: AIRHEAD

42D: Non-verbal consenters: NODDERS. Whoa, that's a stretch, isn't it? To me, nodders are bobblehead, like this Johan Santana one.

43D: Panache: BRIO. Hi, welcome back.

45D: Headlong assault: ONRUSH. I don't get this one. Why?

48D: Change: ALTER. Awful intersection between ALTER and AFTER.

49D: Simple weapon: CLUB. I really really like Sergio Garcia's "Hit the Club" commercial. Bet Dennis was hitting the wrong clues in South Beach.

50D: Throw: HURL. Why not "Toss" for the clue? Why did you foist two "Throw"s on us? (see 28D)?

52D: Scuttlebutt: INFO. Did not know the meaning of "scuttlebutt". Very inferable though.

53D: After time: LATE. I hate this clue. After what time?

54D: Lunch time: NOON. Time and time again!

55D: Oxford or brogue: SHOE. I like this clue.

59D: Sault __ Marie: STE. One in Michigan and one in Ontario.

C.C.

Sunday, April 20, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: AFTER TAX (Not BEFORE TAX? I don't get it. Please educate me on this!)

29A: Everything-must-go tax?: CLEARANCE SALES

112A: Generous endowment tax?: CHARITABLE GIFT

3D: Non-dropout's tax: FINISHING SCHOOL

10D: Bourgeoisie tax?: THIRD ESTATE

43D: REM tax?: DREAM STATE

45D: Whiskey tax?: HARD LIQUOR

49D: Tar-reduction tax?: FILTER CIGARETTE

71D: In-demand tax?: HOT PROPERTY

A quick question first: This puzzle appears on Star Tribune (Mpls) on April 20, 2008 Sunday. and I know that many of you solve this puzzle on a much later date. Pls let me know how long is your lag time. I only know for sure that this puzzle appears on The Globe and Mail (Canada) one day before us. You can either leave a comment here or send me an email. Thanks.

Now back the puzzle. It's a stunner! I thoroughly enjoyed solving it. Felt so silky and velvety. Much more delightful than last week's "The Masters" themed puzzle (too many stupid author names).

Great theme. Very topical. For those fellow TMS solvers in Asia, April 15 is American Tax Day. Some of our Editor's Sunday themes have been pretty impressive: the "Broken Heart" around Valentine's Day, the "Play Ball" when baseball season started, and "The Masters" when Masters Tournament was on. I was also pleased with yesterday's "Pope Benedict" tinted themeless puzzle. Good stuff.

I had a solid start, and breezed through most of the areas without being stumped. I did encounter some unfamiliar names, but most of them were inferable. I did get stalled in the upper middle corner though. I put ETTE for 14D, and I filled in EGRET for 21A. Did not know Former Airline of Eng. (BOAC), had no idea who was the character in "The Faerie Queene". Have heard of REMAND so often in "Law & Order", but I could not commit it to "Send back" for 11D. So, I was floundering in that wet & spongy ground until "I MEAN" lent me a solving hand.

I was also soaked in the SALAD OIL area for eons. I put OSSA instead of OSSO for 77D. And I wrongly put LIQUER instead of LIQUOR for 45D. My reference bk is "OED" instead of "ENC", and I just blanked on DHOTI. ONONDAGA was definitely beyond my ken of knowledge. So, my "Early course additive" became a strange mix of weird letters instead of a simple SALAD OIL.

All in all, an hour well spent. I hope you enjoyed this puzzle too.

ACROSS:

1A: Davenport: SOFA. Did the original manufacturer come from Davenport, IA?

10A: Clan: TRIBE

15A: Intro to physics?: META. The founding father of Metaphysics is Aristotle, isn't it? Meta also means self-referential.

21A: Wading bird: HERON

22A: Last bio?: OBIT

25A: "That is to say...": I MEAN. I felt stupid tanking on this one.

27A: Certain vacuum tube: TRIODE. Unknown to me. It's "a vacuum tube containing three elements, usually anode, cathode, and control grid." See here.

36A: Singer Travis: TRITT. Stranger to me. Looks like he is an accomplished country music singer/writer. Watched "My Cousin Vinny" before, did not realize that he wrote the lyric for the song"Bible Belt".

37A: Small salmon: COHOS. Saw it before, but I forgot. It's also called "silver salmon" or "silvers". Wikipedia says "Its popularity (in Pacific Northwest) is due in part to the reckless abandon which it frequently displays chasing bait and lure while in salt water". Very interesting. Even fish have reckless behavior. They still look pretty big.

39A: Narrowing: TAPERED. Not TAPERING? I don't get this one.

42A: Rx watchdog: FDA (Food and Drug Administration). Hard to trust those folks! Don't they all go to pharmaceutical lobbying firms eventually? American Health Care system is definitely FUBAR.

44A: State of the union: IDAHO. I was thinking of Bush's State of Union address.

46A: Israeli guns: UZIS. Did not realize UZI was named after its designer Uzi Gal. I got very excited after seeing letter Z & Q, thought this might be a pangrammatic grid (containing all 26 letter), but alas, I could not find J or X.

47A: Like a requiem: DIRGEFUL

52A: Succeeded big: GONE FAR

54A: Nasty kid: BRAT. Wow, isn't the clue a bit too harsh?

55A: One of the French: UNE. Saw Vanessa Paradis' "Une Chance Sur Deux" before?

57A: Chang's twin: ENG. The Siamese Twins. Eng and Chang Bunker. 22 children between them, unbelievable, how did they accomplish that?

58A: Use a grenade to a fellow solider: FRAG. I have a muted reaction to this word today after learning its meaning from Dennis last time.

60A: California county: ALAMEDA. I've never heard of it. Strung it together from the down clues.

62A: "Paper Lion" star: ALDA. I guessed. I've never watched "Paper Lion".

66A: Ollie's chum: STAN

67A: Photo finish: MATTE

69A: Reference bk.: ENC (Encyclopedia)

70A: Clasp tight: CLENCH

72A: Actor Borgnine: ERNEST. Could not remember him clearly. But the answer is highly inferable.

76A: Hindu loincloth: DHOTI. Alright, he is wearing DHOTI. So clumsy!

80A: Mediterranean country: MALTA. I tend to confuse MALTA with YALTA (the Yalta Conference).

82A: Actor/director Tarantino: QUENTIN. Where did I see his name before? A recent TMS puzzle?

86A: Scoria: SLAG. Did not know the meaning of "Scoria". Latin for scum.

94A: Early course additive: SALAD OIL

96A: Old-time newspaper section: ROTO. Please take next week off, I've seen you enough this week.

97A: Son of Eber: PELEG. Literally "division". So called because "in his days was the earth divided", according to dictionary.com.

99A: Lethal stuff: POISONS. Did not know that "stuff"'s plural is still "Stuff".

101A: Jungle vine: LIANA. Here is a picture. See those intertwining climbers?

104A: Fable finale: MORAL

108A: Crunch of cereal?: CAP'N. No idea. I don't eat cereal for breakfast.

109A: First name in architecture: EERO. His father is ELIEL (Sarrinen).

117A: Cheerful: UPBEAT

119A: Carol of "Taxi": KANE. Took an educated guess. I don't know her.

120A: Muslim VIP: var: AMEER. I thought of EMEER first, but then President TAFT said NO.

121A: Actress Lindsay: LOHAN. Know her. One of the "Mean Girls". She has ruined her once promising career.

123A: Gridder Graham: OTTO. Vaguely remembered him. Easily gettable from the down clues. Bet this word "Gridder" baffles many of our fellow TMS solvers in Asia. It's American football player.

125A: Top position: FIRST. My mind was picturing something else! Teehee!

126A: Napped leather: SUEDE

127A: British gun: STEN. And UZIS earlier, this is one powerful puzzle.

129A: Peevish: TESTY

130A: Rich tapestry: ARRAS. Whoa! This obsession with ARRAS has to stop!

DOWN:

1D: Infected: SEPTIC

2D: Exaggerate: OVERDO

4D: Sax for Bird: ALTO. Had no idea that ALTO could also be instrument. Did not know that "Bird" was Charlie Parker's nickname. In fact, I've barely heard of Charlie Parker. Good clue though.

7D: Safe place: SANCTA. Plural of SANCTUM.

8D: Mountains of Russia: URAL. Why is "Mountains" in plural form? Wouldn't that dictate "URALS" as an answer?

9D: Fictional Jane: EYRE

11D: Send back: REMAND

12D: "The Faerie Queen" character: IRENA. No idea, I've never heard of "The Faerie Queen". Actually I could not find IRENA in the list of major characters, where was she?

13D: Former airline of Eng.: BOAC (British Overseas Airways Cooperations). Now British Airways.

14D: Feminine ending: ENNE

15D: Back tooth: MOLAR

16D: Levi's "Christ Stopped at __": EBOLI. Somehow I put EBOLA, so my 36A Singer was TRATT, which looked like a reasonable name to me.

17D: Lhasa's land: TIBET. Here is a good quote from Dalai Lama during his visit to Mayo Clinic on Wednesday: "If there is no solution, why worry? If there is a solution, why worry?" So, don't worry, be happy!

18D: 1950's Bikini blast: A TEST (Atomic Test)

28D: Alienate: DISAFFECT

30D: Antennae: AERIALS

31D: Dateless: STAG

34D: Depository for goods: STORAGE

40D: Tavern near a tube station: PUB. Hmm, I could picture that pub and its endless supple of ALE.

41D: Pound of poetry: EZRA

42D: Locate: FIND

47D: Chaperones: DUENNAS. No idea.

50D: Submarine: UNDERSEA

51D: Where the kine dine: LEA. I like the rhyme of the clue.

52D: Heredity information carrier: GENE

53D: Tribe of the Five Nations: ONONDAGA. A disaster for me. Here is the complete list: "Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca, and, after the 18th century, the Tuscarora."

59D: Overly polite and refined: GENTEEL

61D: School teacher of the Old West: MARM. Need your help on this one. I could not find it in my dictionary.

68D: Riding fast: AT A GALLOP. Very nice.

73D: Certain conic section: ELLIPSE

75D: Egyptian god of sun: ATEN. Could also be spelled as "ATON". Utterly beyond my grasp!

77D: Peak in Thessaly: OSSA. MT. OSSA.

79D: Storing, as grain: SILOING. Did not know that SILO could also be a verb.

82D: Bandleader Brown of renown: LES

84D: "Exodus"author: URIS

91D: Slime: GOO

99D: Most ashen: PALEST

100D: Of the underworld: NETHER

102D: More tidy: NEATER. I am not fond of today's DOWN clues overall, too many "er, est, ing".

103D: Play start: ACT ONE

104D: Jim of "ABC's Wide World of Sports": McKAY. Was he in the movie "Munich"? I could not remember it clearly. I like his "Thrill of victory, agony of defeat".

105D: Busy hub: O'HARE. Don't like the clue. Too arbitrary.

106D: Arrested: RAN IN

108D: Talking truckers: CB'ERS. Do they still use CB radio now? You'd think they all have cell phones.

110D: Mystical characters: RUNES

113D: 27th President: TAFT. The only US president to serve on the Supreme Court. TAFT family has been pretty active in US political arena (OHIO). What a disaster for Bob TAFT!

115D: Ingrid's "Casablanca" role: ILSA. Where is Rick?

118D: Flapdoodle: BOSH. I've never heard anyone say "Flapdoodle" before.

122D: Vladimir Nabokov novel: ADA. Learned from doing crossword. I've never read the book. Might give a "Lolita" if I have time, that's a big IF.

C.C.

Saturday, April 19, 2008 Matthew Higgins

Theme: NONE

I feel that our editor has been saving this themeless puzzle just for this specific Saturday to coincide with Pope Benedict's visit. There are 2 "Christian"s in the clue, and "Book, bk, bks". NICENE, ECCLES, and BABI all have some religious overtone. And 9D: CISTERCIAN (under the rule of St. Benedict) is kind of self-revealing, isn't it? Or maybe I am just over-stretching my imagination?

I tanked again today. I think I am still in my C. C. Sabathia style slump now, "My arms feel fine, I just can't command either side of the plate".

I actually had a shock and awe start, filling in APERÇUS, CYCLIST TONG, UPSET and SATRAP like they were all sweet "OREO". I dazzled myself by conquering the whole upper left corner in less than 3 minutes. Then I rushed to the other battle fields eager to vanquish all the insurgents. But I was greeted with heavy resistance everywhere I set my feet upon. Horrible. I could not even get TONELESS for 63A. My TREELESS stood proudly there until the very end.

ACROSS:

1A: Signed for: ACCEPTED

9A: Of the ribs: COSTAL. No idea. The root word is "costa", Latin for rib.

15A: Disappearing communication device: PAY PHONE

16A: Glacial epoch: ICE AGE

17A: Some of Whistler's works: ETCHING. Did not know who Whistler was, but the answer was easily inferable.

18A: Molded: SHAPED

19A: Death rattle: RALE. Pure guess. I forgot this word.

20A: Sparkling: GLISTENING

22A: Weather of a region, so to speak: CLIME. Poetically I suppose?

24A: Organic compound: ESTER

26A: Underdog wins: UPSETS

28A: Rocky outcrops: TORS. Great picture. Want to take a walk?

30A: Petty tyrant: SATRAP. Nailed it this time.

31A: Part of ASCAP: SOC (Society). Don't like it. This abbreviation just doesn't fit my eyes.

32A: Soviet news agcy.: TASS (Abbreviation of Telegraphic Agency of the Soviet Union, in Russian). Ah, gimme for me, mainly because of my intense interest in him for a short period of time. Now it's ITAR-TASS in Russia, with ITAR focusing on domestic news and TASS on international affairs. Oh, the Soviet newspaper is PRAVDA (The Truth).

35A: Designer Christian: DIOR. J'adore! For those who dare, try Poison, in the evening!

37A: Webber play: CATS

42A: Humiliated: ABASED

47A: Icelandic epic: EDDA

48A: Creed of Christians: NICENE. Nicene Creed. No idea.

49A: One of a set of bks: VOL

50A: Black suit: CLUBS. Good clue.

52A: Certain dagger: SKEAN. Hmm, this would be the second time Dennis met with Ms. SKEAN. Hope he remembered her name.

53A: Free from bondage: EMANCIPATE. Like this Emancipation of Mimi? Very creative name for her latest album: E=MC2. I figure it's "The Emancipation = Mariah Carey 2". What does that 2 stand for then?

56A: Persian sect: BABI. Now replaced by Baha'i. I wanted SHIA.

57A: Tex-Mex pick: TAMALE

58A: Word for barely acceptable writing: READABLE

61A: Signer-upper: ENROLLER. What the heck is "Signer-Upper"? Is it the person who "Sign-up?"

62A: Hereditary ruler: DYNAST. Ah, that's how we got Dynasty! Good to know.

63A: Lacking shading: TONELESS

DOWN:

1D: Revealing glimpses: APERÇUS. Or a synopsis.

2D: Tree with trumpet-shaped flowers: CATALPA. See this picture. I can smell summer.

3D: Tour-de-France racer: CYCLIST

4D: Transitory things: EPHEMERAS. The plural form can also be EPHEMERAE. Don't you wish you saved all your childhood ticket stubs/programs? Stunning price on Ebay!

5D: Greek letter: PHI. Ugh, dislike the clue due to 23D. Can't you reclue this as something Philly related, to salve the wounds of those depressed Philly fans? Good job, Santana, you rocked last night!

6D: Chinese secret society: TONG (堂). Literally "assembly hall". In fact, it's a "Chinese American secret society". You won't find TONG in modern China.

7D: Writer Medeleine L'___: ENGLE. No, completely unknown to me. Oh, she also graduated from Smith College, she might have bumped into Sylvia Plath then.

8D: Stops: DESISTS

9D: Member of an austere monastic order: CISTERCIAN. It's "a member of an order of monks and nuns founded in 1098 at Cîteaux, near Dijon, France, under the rule of St. Benedict." Looks like the word CISTERCIAN is derived from Cîteaux the site.

10D: Earthy pigments: OCHERS. Here is more information for you. Drdad probably knows a ton about this stuff.

12D: Starch from cassava root: TAPIOCA. "Tapioca Pearl Tea" is a very popular drink in Southern China and Southeast Asia.

13D: Meeting schedules: AGENDAS

14D: Business books: LEDGERS. Too bad, Mr. Higgins missed a precious opportunity to pay tribute to Heath Ledger. It's so hard letting you go, Heath, you were so young!

21D: Arose: STOOD. I mis-read this clue as "Arouse".

23D: Greek letters: ETAS

27D: Most long, thin, and frail-looking: SPINDLIEST. This guy is really getting very wordy today.

32D: Monitor cursor mover: TRACKBALL

34D: Sick and tired: FED UP. That's how I felt about the whole Bittergate brouhaha. Crazy!

37D: Wished for excessively and culpably: COVETED. Oh, that's what "COVET" means! Thank you for the detailed explanation. Should I stop coveting certain things then?

38D: Incongruity: ANOMALY

39D: Father of Ajax: TELAMON. No, no idea. The dictionary says he is "an Argonaut and friend of Hercules, and the father of Ajax and Teucer." It also says that TELAMON is "a figure of a man used as a supporting pillar." It looks like this.

41D: Striped fabric: TABARET. It's "a durable silk or acetate fabric having alternating stripes of satin and moiré, for drapery and upholstery."

43D: Within view: SEEABLE

45D: Makes possible: ENABLES

45D: Withholders: DENIERS. This suffix of "er" sounds so arbitrary to me.

47D: Bk. of the Old Testament: ECCLES (Ecclesiasticus). Just found out that ECCLES, the Australian neurophsiologist, won Noble Prize (Physiology/Medicine) in 1963.

51D: Off. skill: STENO

C.C.