Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: "Celestial" Cinema (All Science Fiction Films)

17A: Celestial simians?: PLANET OF THE APES

29A: Celestial zanies?: SPACEBALLS

37A: Celestial warfare?: MARS ATTACKS

45A: Celestial E. T.?: ALIEN THREE (ALIEN 3)

57A: Celestial visitor?: NIGHT OF THE COMET

If you have not, please read this What Constitutes a Good Crossword Puzzle post first and let me know your definition of a good crossword puzzle.

Lots of boring 3 letter fills today, very lazy cluing:

28A: Mideast nat. UAE

61A: Halfway, briefly: MID

16D: Ump's relative: REF

20D: Letters on many cars: AAA. Could've been clue as "Battery size" if not for 24D: Assault and ___ (BATTERY) I suppose.

26D: Most remote: ULT

27D: R. E. Lee's nat.: CSA

30D: School grp.: PTA

38D: Half a fly? TSE. What's the obsession with this fly? What's wrong with China's Mao TSE-Tung, or T. S. Eliot's initials?

41D: Yale booster: ELI

43D: High dudgeon: IRE

55D: DDE's command: ETO

57D: Final degree: NTH

58D: Sundial server: III

62D: U-turn from WSW: ENE

63D: Black goo: TAR

Good to see WIE, LCS, CEY, NOL in the grid though. EDP (1D) did give me plenty of trouble as I had no idea what is the prefix for twelve (14A: DODEC)

Also, lots of H, TH in today's puzzles: ETHENE, GOTHIC, NTH, ESTHETIC, THREE, THRONE, HEFT, HUM, HAMMER, BACH, THDS, HITS, , OH NO, and several THE. Is there a sub-theme here?

ACROSS:

6A: Racing sled: LUGE

10A: Soup serving: BOWL. And 10D: Gravy server: BOAT. Hmm, obviously some thoughts were given to clues. Thanks.

14A: Twelve: pref: DODEC. Unknown to me, it comes from ancient Greek word dōdekás (dō is two, adn dekás is ten)

15A: Uniform in all directions: ISOTROPIC. Another unfamiliar word to me. I know "iso" is "equal", had no idea that "-tropic" means turning toward or upward. It's another Greek originated word. Antonym: ANISOTROPIC (an is an prefix for not).

20A: Bulk: HEFT

21A: Nail hitter: HAMMER. "If I had a HAMMER"

24A: Open container: BIN. This bin is a very interesting word. In Arab, it means "son of", as in that Son of B BIN Laden. And I suppose the "BIN" in "Ich BIN ein Berliner" means "am"? I am not so sure. I only know "Ich liebe dich".

25A: Tempa Bay pro: BUC (Buccaneer)

33A: Lodging chain: MARRIOTT

40A: Peachy keen! NEATO. RAD!

42A: Having a love of beauty: ESTHETIC. Looks like our editor has been in an arty frame of mind lately.

49A: One heart, e. g.: BID

51A: Hepburn of Hollywood: AUDREY. I've never seen Breakfast at Tiffany's. Love Roman Holiday though. (Update: Today is "Eliza Doolittle Day". AUDREY Hepburn was cast as Doolittle in the movie My Fair Lady, thanks Drdad.). And 68A: Actress Winona: RYDER. She is so pretty. My favorite Winona movie is Autumn in New York.

54A: Actress Gilpin: PERI. I've never watched FRASIER.

56A: City on the Aker River: OSLO. Hmm, looks like nobody really cares much about OSLO Accords.

64A: Got drunk: TIED ONE ON. Is it another slang? I've never heard of it.

65A: Minneapolis suburb: EDINA. US Women's Open Golf Tournament will be held in EDINA in June.

DOWN

1D: Key-punch bus.: EDP (Electronic Data Processing). Unknown to me.

7D: Tampa sch.: USF (University of South Florida)

8D: Grotesque genre of fiction: GOTHIC

9D: Sweet smelling gas: ETHENE

11D: Antithesis: abbr. OPP (Opposite)

12D: Michelle of golf: WIE. This girl can sure hit a mile, a bit erratic in her putting though. Hope she qualifies the US Open sectional in early June.

13D: Pre-World Series abbr.: LCS (League Championship Series).

18D: Bulks of bodies: TORSOS

23D: Imaginary sea creature: MERMAID

25D: Raised bubble: BLISTER. I like this clue.

31D: One of the Three B's: BACH. Beethoven and Brahms.

32D: Huber of tennis: ANKE. Unknown to me. But this word ANKE looks very familiar, is it an Egyptian God or something?

39D: Military command: AT EASE

44D: Ron of hot corner: CEY. Not a familiar name to me. I got it from across clues. I like "hot corner".

46D: Seat of power: THRONE. Look at this Peacock THRONE. According to one of our fellow solvers, it's entirely encrusted with diamonds, rubies, emeralds and other gems and he saw it in person.

47D: Young cow: HEIFER

52D: Open sore: ULCER. This puzzle gives me an ULCER this morning, too many 3-letter eyesore fills.

C.C.

What Constitutes a Good Crossword Puzzle?

I absolutely hate puzzles with

1) Excessive amount of affixes, esp suffixes like ING's & S's.

2) QUIP theme. I am so tired of seeing the constructor take someone's QUOTE and twist it out of shape.

3) Three- letter Words. I can not breathe when I see too many of them in one grid.

I love puzzles with

1) Sparking theme, like the BROKEN HEARTS one around Valentine's Day.

2) Creative clues, like "Pecking Order?" for KISS ME.

3) Entertaining, exciting and interesting fills.

How about you? Please share with us.

C.C.

Monday, May 19, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: An ODD NUMBER of Songs (Thanks, Crockett1947)

20A: Blondie number: ONE WAY OR ANOTHER

41A: Commodores number: THREE TIMES A LADY

59A: Vogues number: FIVE O'CLOCK WORLD

A couple of things first:

1) For your information, the record for letter S appearing in a 15*15 NY Times' grid is 35, so Michael T. William's Saturday snaky puzzle (28 S's) is not too wild.

2) As you probably already know, besides Josiah Breward, our editor Wayne Robert R. Williams' other alias name is Willy A. Wiseman. It's an anagram of "i.e. Wayne Williams".

Quite a few unknown words/names in today's puzzle. I've never heard of ZEREX, AKIM. GOMER & ACTH. But I am just so smitten with those expensive & scrabbly letters (Z, X, K, Y, and V) in the grid. And I LOVE (15A: Adoration) the "songs with numbers in the title" theme entries. Ravishing!

ACROSS:

14A: Pituitary hormone: ACTH (Adrenocorticotropic Hormone). Too complicated for me to understand.

16A: "The Age of Anxiety" poet: AUDEN (Wystan Hugh Auden). The poem won him a Pulitzer prize in 1948.

17A: Wolf in Oaxaca: LOBO. Spanish for wolf.

23A: Sandberg of baseball: RYNE. He was inducted into Baseball HOF in 2005.

24A: Bobbsey twin: NAN. I am so tired of this clue. If you don't like Indian bread NAN, try Talese NAN then.

28A: Apothecary's amount: DRAM

33A: Astrologer Sydney: OMARR. Got him today.

37A: Tracy Marrow's stage name: ICE T. One of a few rappers that I know of.

46A: Pyle of classic TV: GOMER. A complete stranger to me.

55A: Certain fraternity letters: XIS.

65A: Actor Bridges: LLOYD. I don't know him. Lucky guess.

67A: Comic canine: ODIE. Garfield comic strip.

71A: Hallmark product: CARDS. Wow, I had no idea that the plural form of product is still product.

72A: Miniature race car: KART. I really like the 2 K's in today's puzzle.

73A: Formerly, once: ERST. He is back!!

DOWN:

3D: Swiss rescue breed: ST. BERNARD. Nana (Peter Pan) is one.

4D: Ostentatious: SHOWY

5D: Assassin: SLAYER. Buffy is one.

12D: Prestone rival: ZEREX. What is it?

27D: "As I see it" in chatroom shorthand: IMHO (In My Humble Opinion). JMO next time please!

29D: Actor Tamiroff: AKIM. Nope, not familiar to me. Would've not got it without the across clues.

38D: Portable audio-video device: CAMCORDER

39D: German river: EDER. Or ELBE sometimes. EGER is also a river in Germany, isn't it?

40D: Neophyte: TYRO. Can be spelled as TIRO as well.

48D: Mass departure: EXODUS

50D: Like broken promises: UNKEPT

52D: Company with a spokeduck: AFLAC. Love those Yogi Berra commercials.

53D: Cohort of Jane and Laraine: GILDA. Unknown to me. I got it from across clues.

54D: French auxiliary verb: AVOIR. Only 2 auxiliary verbs in French: AVOIR and ÊTRE.

56D: Loose: SLACK

58D: Boxer Archie: MOORE. Unknown to me. Only know Demi __ , Michael __ and Roger __.

64D: Artful: DEFT

Sorry about my flip-flop on theme summary today. But White Rose Movement's Love is a Number immediately popped into my head after I got all the songs with numbers and spotted LOVE on the upper middle corner.

C.C.

Sunday, May 18, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: OUCH

23A: 1992 Cyrus hit: ACHY BREAKY HEART

40A: Spanish-born Jewish philosopher: MAIMONIDES

59A: Meet cut: TENDERLOIN (Update later: The clue should be Meat cut)

82A: Failure to enforce a prohibition: SUFFERANCE

100A: Annika and Charlotta: SORENSTAMS

118A: Rains on a private parade?: CRAMPS ONE'S STYLE

16D: With meticulous care: PAINSTAKINGLY

58D: Going lickety-split: HURTLING ALONG

What an excruciating journey! The pain "which can not forget, falls drop by drop upon the heart" in my own despair and against my own will, and has crushed me completely. My gosh, the assaults of new words and names in this puzzle are unrelenting.

GESTALTS (45D: Symbolic configurations)? What is that? Can you explain it to me plainly? And SALUKIS (54A: Arabian hounds)? And SENTA (68A: "The Flying Dutchman" role")? To me, "The Flying Dutchman" is always Honus Wagner. ALISTAIR? Probably a gimme for Katherine, but a nightmare for me. ACETAL (30D: Hypnotic stuff) was hard, and the intersecting MAIMONIDES (40A: Spanish-born Jewish philosopher) only compounded the agony. So, a total SNAFU in that LYRIST (62A: Greek harp player) corner.

NEDDA, TARSAL, CCNY, PROA, ST. KITTS, CNS, YEAGER, EVONNE, BICORN, TSURIS, etc. Unknown words aplenty. I can not remember how many times I shouted "Merde!" this morning. TSURIS crossing MAIMONIDES? That's diabolic.

And 71A: CII x III: MDVI; 41D: 1950: MCML; 112D: CCCII tripled: CMVI. Three Roman numerals in one grid? You've got to be kidding.

Look at these 3 pairs:

50A: Ashen: PALE

95D: Gray-faced: ASHEN

122A: Sudden thrust: LUNGE

90D: Fencing charge: THRUST

103A: Of part of a foot: TARSAL

83D: One end of a table: FOOT

It's insane. Please, no more unsightly eyesores like these! Please test-solve your puzzle first!

I do love the OUCH theme though, very creative, esp the SORENSTAMS one. I wonder if Annika herself is aware of the SORE in her name.

I am also elated with 65A: "Six O'Clock, Winter" painter John: SLOAN. Remember last time I was outraged with John Underwood's "Six O'Clock" painter clue? I could not believe that the constructor/editor decided to omit the very important "Winter" from the painting. See, our arrogant editor, he is reading this blog. Good!

ACROSS:

4A: Star quality: EGO. Is "EGO" a quality? Not a problem?

7A: Had cravings: YEARNED. And learned & earned, that's a good life indeed.

14A: Turvy preceder: TOPSY. What's this one? I've never heard of this phrase. TOPSY was clued as "Electrocuted elephant" on an April TMS puzzle.

21A: Boyer film: ALGIERS. Not familiar with Charles Boyer nor the film ALGIERS (1938). Wikipedia says the movie is "notableable as one of the sources of inspiration to the screenwriters of the 1942 Warner Brothers film Casabalanca"

26A: New York city: UTICA

30A: Bout sites: ARENAS

31A: "___ Bulba": TARAS. No, not familiar with the movie at all. What a ride!

33A: Elia, really: LAMB (Charles). Love this clue. But why did he call himself "Elia"?

35A: Brings out: ELICITS

38A: Feudal lords: LIEGES. How can I remember this word? It trips me all the time.

46A: Baja seaport: ENSENADA. Here is the map. Not a familiar name to me.

49A: Apples, pears, etc.: POMES. I tried to pen in FRUIT. POME is "a fleshy fruit (apple or pear, quince or related fruits) having seed chambers and an outer fleshy part". Had no idea that pears and apples belong to the same family. I've never had the fresh quince or the quince jam before, have you?

54A: Arabian hounds: SALUKIS. Unknown to me. It was named after the ancient Arabian city Saluq. Wikipedia says " The saluki is perhaps the oldest known breed of domesticated dog". Great picture, isn't it?

65A: "Six O'Clock, Winter" painter John: SLOAN. Look at the painting.

66A: Hook's mate: SMEE

68A: "The Flying Dutchman" role: SENTA. Not familiar with this opera at all.

73A: Pierre's "the same": ÉGAL. Equal in French. Here is Pierre's motto" Liberté , Egalité, Fraternité.

74A: Part of UHF: ULTRA. UHF is "Ultrahigh Frequency". Did not know it before.

76A: Malayan outrigger: PROA. No, another unknown. PROA is boat in Malay language. It's "any of various types of Indonesian boats, esp. a swift Malay sailing boat built with the lee side flat and balanced by a single outrigger". It looks like this.

78A: Pre-surrealist painter: REDON (Odilon). Saw his self portrait in person, not inspired at all.

79A: Letter opening, often: SLIT. I was so clever, I put SIRS first.

80A: Napping: ASLEEP

86A: Carpenter's tool: NAIL SET. I am not a carpenter, so I do not know this tool.

88A: Encourages, actively: PRODS. Sigh... URGE is always my first fill.

91A: Big apple school: CCNY (City College of New York)

94A: Tic-tac-toe win: OOO. Alright, give me "Bowler's turkey (XXX)" next time.

95A: Refined lover of beauty: AESTHETE

99A: Heart chart: EKG (Electrocardiograph)

103A: Of part of a foot: TARSAL. Tarsus, nope, no idea. I don't know myself well enough obviously.

104A: Utterly stupid: ASININE. I am smart enough to know this word though.

106A: First chancellor of reunified Germany: KOHL (Helmut). Bill, thanks for the Medal of Freedom, now tell me what is the exact meaning of the word "IS"!

108A: Like pinups: BUSTY. She is not, is she?

109A: Small landmasses: ISLETS. Interesting crossing of ISLETS with 109D: Isolated land: ISLE.

114A: Sesame oil: TEEL. Unknown to me. It's from the black sesame seeds, and I only eat white ones.

116A: 800 exams: SATS. And 115D: Would-be atty.'s exam: LSAT

123A: Having more chutzpah: NERVIER

126A: Border tool: EDGER

127A: __ and Nevis: ST. KITTS. No, this is the first time I heard of this island country.

128A: Wash. or Jackson in NYC: HTS. Good crossing with 121D: Ave. crossers: STS

129A: B & O and others: RRS. I got the answer easily, though I completely forgot what B & O stands for (Baltimore & Ohio Railroad).

DOWN:

1D: Mariners' base: SEATTLE. I like Ichiro, don't you?

2D: Fetter: ENCHAIN

3D: Sticks: ADHERES

7D: City in the Cascade Range: YAKIMA. Stumped by this clue last time, and again today. It's the "Apple Capital of the World", says the locals.

9D: Turkish officer: AGHA. Or AGA. Literally "older brother" in Turkish.

10D: Cambodian cash: RIEL

14D: Yiddish aggravation: TSURIS. No idea. The dictionary says it's Yiddish slang for "woe, trouble". Guess that's how you get a "Oy, vey" response.

15D: Octopus arms, e.g.: OCTET. Are you happy with this 8 clue?

17D: Shelter for strays: SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

24D: "The Right Stuff" role: YEAGER (Chuck). Nope, nope, completely unknown to me. I don't normally know "The Right Stuff".

25D: Old world lizard: AGAMA. Wow, his tail is so long, interesting blue color.

30D: Hypnotic stuff: ACETAL. No, too technical a term for me. Acet(o) is a prefix meaning vinegar, as in “acetic acid". "Al" is short for alcohol. I don't know, I don't understand what Wikipedia says, but I know that there is some ACETAL in wines.

34D: Shaped like crescent: BICORN. Another new word for me. Can also be spelled as BICORNE. Here is Napoleon in his BICORN hat.

44D: Cooke of "Masterpiece Theatre": ALISTAIR. COOKE was clued as TV host Alistair in a March puzzle. I simply forgot.

45D: Symbolic configurations: GESTALTS. Hard one. Here is the explanation: a configuration, pattern, or organized field having specific properties that cannot be derived from the summation of its component parts; a unified whole. I still don't get it.

47D: Big name in tires: DUNLOP. Or DUNLOP golf balls.

52D: London fog: PEA SOUP. What a weird idiom! How can a bowl of delicious pea soup become dreaded fog?

53D: Cooks just below the boiling point: SIMMERS. Very accurate clue.

55D: Fleur - de ___: LYS. Could also be spelled as LIS. Literally "Lily Flower" in French.

56D: Publication: ISSUANCE. I only knew ISSUE.

57D: Bag of anthracite: COAL SACK. I did not know the meaning of anthracite (hard coal).

61D: " Pagliacci" role: NEDDA. Did you go with TONIO? I did.

67D: Goolagong of tennis: EVONNE. Another unknown.

72D: Sexual crime: INCEST

75D: Dem. candidate of the '50s: AES (Adlai Ewing Stevenson)

78D: City near Council Bluffs: RED OAK. Is it a very well known place?

81D: Juan and Evita: PERONS. "Don't Cry for Me Argentina". I like Sinéad O'Connor's version.

84D: Abbr. on a building: ESTAB (Established)

87D: Spelling of "Trick": TORI. Yes, indeed, lots of tricks can be played with Spelling's name.

93D: Sebaceous cyst: WEN

96D: Evaluator: ESSAYER

97D: Beans spiller: TATTLER

98D: Le Champs __: ÉLYSÉES. Le? No, sir, it's Les. Les Champs ÉLYSÉES (Avenue des Champs ÉLYSÉES). L'arc de triomphe, le parfum, et l'amour! I don't need more reasons to love you...

100D: Tot tender: SITTER

101D: La Guardia alternative: NEWARK. What's the origin of this word NEWARK?

102D: General __ Corporation: MOTORS. And General Electric Company, and General Dynamics Corporation, and General Mills, what other General can you think of?

105D: Suit material: SERGE. It seems like our editor does not like SERGE Gainsbourg. But it's OK, Gainsbourg is not everybody's cup of tea. Some of his songs can be very disturbing, esp Lemon INCEST.

107D: Sponger: LEECH

113D: Barbecue rod: SPIT

118D: Brain, spinal cord, etc. (abbr.): CNS (Central Nervous System). Big stumbling block today.

119D: Part of IRA: RET (Retirement). The first IRA that pops into my brain is always the Irish Republican Army.

120D: Fixed: SET. Given so much pain today, this clue should be reworded as "Heal, as a bone".

C. C.

Saturday May 17, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Themeless:

I dislike this puzzle, too many S's (28 in total, almost 15% of the grid), too snaky, look:

25A: Cobra's cousins: ASPS

14D: Serpent's sound: SSS

62D: Snaky character: ESS

This has become a very annoying pattern for Williams' SATURDAY themeless. I mean our editor Wayne R. Williams, not his nephew Michael T. Williams who authored today's puzzle.

I played through the upper left corner without encountering any obstacle this morning. I could not believe my eyes when SATURDAY turns out to be the right fill for 1A: Day like today? But why question mark? The clue felt very anemic to me. Had some problems with SCAUPS & POD crossing. I did not know that a group of whale is called POD, and I had not heard of SCAUPS before.

Lots of animal fills in today's puzzle: SWINE, SCAUPS, TERN, SABLE, ASPS, SKATE (24D: Flat fish), CAT, and a half TSE. I guess it's too much of a stretch to include DEER from DEERE (6D) in the list. There are also quite a few animals in the clue: 65A: Bronco-busting events (RODEOS), Raccoon distinction (RINGTAIL), whale group (POD), Serpent's noise (SSS).

Of the 2 singers today, BILLIE Holiday was a gimme, and CAT Stevens was easily gettable, though I had no idea who he was. Very interesting to see ALLUSIVE (58A: Having indirect references), ASPERSE (22D: Badmouth), BUM RAPS (43D: False charges) structured in one grid. It's painfully pleasant to see SKATE intersects SPRAIN. A bit disturbing to see SWINE crosses SHRILL. Have you ever heard of a last shrill cry from a pig? Boy, it's really piercing, you can hear it a village away.

ACROSS:

9A: Cousins of canvasbacks: SCAUPS. The plural form can be SCAUP too. Wikipedia says there are three kinds of SCAUP: Greater SCAUP (also called Bluebill), Lesser SCAUP & New Zealand SCAUP.

15A: Rump: DERRIÈRE. Aright, yesterday's ITEM picture, the girl is Jessica Biel, who is currently dating Justin Timberlake.

16A: Trunks: TORSOS. Hmm, TORSO rotation. Big problem if you can not unwind properly during the downswing.

19A: Field of Jets: GRIDIRONS. This might be difficult for our fellow solvers in Asia & Europe. Jets here refers to NY Jets, an American football team.

21A: "Peace Train" singer: CAT STEVENS. He said he wrote this song while on a train, and he was thinking of Alfred Hitchcock at the time.

29A: Japanese port: OSAKA. Literally "large hill". The gourmet food capital of Japan. I love OSAKA style kitsune udon!

32A: Ankle injury: SPRAIN. You do need to COSSET your ankle after the sprain, don't you?

37A: Comes to rest: SETTLES. I tried SLEEPS first.

39A: Tenor Pavarotti: LUCIANO, Yes, We are the world!

41A: First name in mysteries: ERLE. Unbelievable, 3 appearances in one week!

42A: Hunter of films: TAB. No. Completely unknown to me.

44A: Gum flapper: GABBER. Very interesting clue.

45A: Half an African fly?: TSE. Remember what Orange said about this clue? "Tsetse is one word! If it's acceptable to clue half of it as an entity, what's stopping the editor from trying TSET for "two thirds of a fly"?

48A: French city known for textiles: LILLE. Known as Lisle before. Probably less than 1 hour away from Gare du Nord if you take Eurostar.

49A: Collectors' groups: SETS. Does anyone here own a 1952 Topps set?

51A: Sportscaster of note: AL MICHAELS. Do you believe in miracles? YES!

53A: Bonapartes' last battle: WATERLOO. Or _____International Station, which used to be the London terminus of Eurostar. About 2 1/2 hours away from Paris.

55A: Piecing in tone: SHRILL

63A: Coetzer of tennis: AMANDA. Not familiar with her name. But it's easily obtainable.

64A: Mechanical music makers: PIANOLAS. What is it? I've never heard of it.

65A: Bronco-busting events: RODEOS

66A: Activity periods: SESSIONS. What a desperate need for S's!

DOWN:

1D: '60s radicals: SDS. And 2D: NRC predecessor: AEC. They've become gimmes to me now. Repeat offenders.

5D: Raccoon distinction: RINGTAIL. Good morning cutie! (Update: The cutie in the picture is a lemur. Sorry about the mistake).

6D: Tractor maker: DEERE. Look at this John DEERE collector's corner.

7D: Make it big: ARRIVE. I like this clue. Still waiting for Günther and the Sunshine Girls to ARRIVE in the US.

10D: Italian resort lake: COMO. Want to go to Lake COMO?

12D: Sailors org: USN. Or ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) sometimes.

13D: Whale group: POD. Seal group is POD too. Seal is probably a better clue as many solvers will be trapped into thinking singer Seal.

20D: Pentium manufacturers: INTEL. Why plural form?

21D: Pampers: COSSETS. Treat me like a baby!

23D: Mini-pie: TARTLET. Want some?

27D: Roberts of "Bonanza": PERNELL. No idea. I got his name from across clues.

28D: Spanish gentlemen: SENORES

40D: John C. and Rory: CALHOUNS. Not familiar with either of them. Again, I strung this fill from across clues.

60D: Worldwide workers' grp: ILO (International Labor Organization). And they celebrate Labor's Day on May 1.

C.C.

Friday, May 16, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Addition Alteration

17A: Unwritten things to do?: MENTAL LIST (MENTALIST)

60A: Magical circle?: WONDER RING (WONDERING)

11D: Interior designer's fee?: DECOR RATE (DECORATE)

34D: Put off monthly payment?: DEFER RENT (DEFERENT)

This is one effervescent puzzle! Seems like the author can hardly contain his emotions. We've got FIRE (54D), ENTHUSED (20A: Agog), ZEAL (16A: Ardor), so exuberant! And LOSER (24A, Vanquished one), PRISSY (35A: Prim) are both treated with WINCE (15A: Cringe), BOOS (32D: Ghostly greetings) and SNEER (44A: Look of contempt).

I also like the following pairings:

SLED (13D: Winter transport) & SNOW (56D: Winter fall);

SELECTOR (56A: One who chooses) & OPTS (26D: Makes up one's mind);

AWLS (5D: Hole-making tools) & 36D: Carpentry tools: SAWS.

Quite a few TRICKS (27: Bamboozles) in today's puzzle. Some of the clues are wickedly misleading to me, esp 24A: Vanquished one (LOSER) and 24D: Wound (LESION). I was thinking of a past tense verb in both cases. But it's a solid puzzle.

ACROSS:

1A: Cold-cut palace: DELI. Why palace? Is it typo?

5A: Perpendicular to the keel: ABEAM. At right angles to the keel of a ship. Not familiar with this nautical term.

10A: Puts on: ADDS. As in weight, I suppose.

14A: Folk singer Burl: IVES. Did not know him. Had no idea that he was the singer for "A Holly Jolly Christmas".

19A: Break out problem: ACNE

21A: Firing line order: RELOAD. Any one ever followed William F. Buckley's "Firing Line"?

23A: Brown ermine: STOAT. You talkin' to me?

25A: Play the flute: TOOTLE. Saw this clue before.

29A: Skinned: PARED. Dislike the clue. Skin always means PEEL to me. I PEEL my fruits first, then PARE down, unless it's pineapple or cantaloupe.

35A: Prim: PRISSY. PRISSY comes from PRIM & SISSY.

39A: Leg bone: TIBIA

40A: Gossip pair: ITEM. Who are the the ITEM on this photo?

42A: Third party funds: ESCROW

43A: Capone's nemesis: NESS (Eliot). Love the "The Untouchables".

46A: "Dust in the wind" group: KANSAS. No idea. Strung it together from down clues.

54A: Actor Jose: FERRER. Unknown to me. But it's easily obtainable.

62A: Milieu for Lemieux: RINK. Sometimes I think the constructor has IDEE fixe (59A: Obsession) with this alliteration or half alliteration stuff. Aren't all eyes on Sidney Crosby now?

63A: "Reversal of Fortune" star: IRONS (Jeremy). Have never seen this movie. Like IRONS a lot, esp Damage, stunningly erotic and thrilling.

66A: Unfamiliar with: NEW AT

67A: Gull cousin: TERN. Is this a gull or a TERN?

DOWN:

2D: Happening: EVENT

3D: Slowly, in music: LENTO. What's the difference between LENTO and ADAGIO?

4D: No kidding: IS THAT SO. And 45D: A-ha!: EUREKA. I like them both.

10D: Showy shrub: AZALEA. Has anyone been to Augusta Golf Course before?

18D: Mobile leader?: AUTO. Automobile.

22D: Spot in a crowd: ESPY. When are you going to turn to ___ Awards?

28D: Zodiac sing: LIBRA

31D: Sen. group: DEMS (DEMOCRATS). Hmm, looks like TMS puzzle is liberal leaning. Harry REID and now DEMS.

40D: Privately: IN SECRET

42D: Perry's creator: ERLE. Also EDIT (55D: Emulate Perry White), nice author and editor pair.

47D: Sketch artist: APER. I don't get this one? Why?

49D: Field Marshal Rommel: ERWIN. "The Desert Fox".

51D: Steps over a fence: STILE

52D: Skin cream: TONER. No, no, TONER is liquid, not cream.

54D: "Chariots of __": FIRE. Didn't we see this clue a month ago?

57D: Millay of poetry: EDNA. Hate the clue. St. Vincent should not be omitted.

C.C.

Thursday May 15, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: QUOTE

17A: Start of Abram Chasins quote: THE MORE

28A: Part 2 of quote: YOU LOVE MUSIC

45A: Part 3 of quote: THE MORE MUSIC

61A: End of quote: YOU LOVE

Finally a QUOTE! I just get headache when facing a QUIP theme. But what a boring QUOTE! And so many repeat offenders. Stuffy! Nothing melodious and nothing sparkling. In fact, it feels very noisy. Look:

24A: Commotions: ADOS
56A: Uproarious commotion: HOO-HAH
62A: Corrida call: OLE
46D: Cacophony: RACKET

And I always associate 31D: MAORI with the roaring MAORI Haka dance, so this whole puzzle is just too loud for me. As for 32D: Skedaddles: SCATS, why not jazz up the clue musically to fit in your theme? The same with 58D: Soft drink: POP. You don't like POP music?

The only highlight is to see I DOS (24A) parallel LOVE and intersect APPROVE (8D) and CHOOSE (9D). I also like how YES (61D) echoes I DOS.

ACROSS:

1A: Even more saccharine: MUSHIER

14A: Baltic republic: ESTONIA. Do you like Carmen Kass? Dior' J'adore girl perfume girl. She is from ESTONIA.

16A: Actor Torn: RIP. What a strange name, isn't RIP and TORN the same?

18A: "The Bells" poet: POE. I've never read this poem. Lots of bells in the poem. Are you familiar with Poe's "The Fall of the House of USHER"?

21A: Like some humor: IRONIC

25A: Colorful salamander: NEWT

36A: Supermarket passageway: AISLE. I think I prefer "Lover's lane?" clue with today's LOVE MUSIC theme. In fact, I won't complain if it's clued as 2D's lane.

37A: Synagogue singer: CANTOR. No idea. Got it from down clues. It's "the religious official of a synagogue who conducts the liturgical portion of a service and sings or chants the prayers and parts of prayers designed to be performed as solos".

40A: Be part of the cast of: ACT IN. I am happy any time a preposition or a definite article is clued in the grid.

49A: Game point situation: AD IN. Another tennis related clue is 52D: Rod of tennis: LAVER.

64A: Stored fodder: ENSILED

65A: LAX setting: PST (Pacific Standard Time)

67A: Some hunting dogs: SETTERS. Hmm, STREET & TESTER, interesting.

DOWN:

2D: Theater worker: USHER. YEAH, this constructor must be very old. Or he simply could not INTERPRET (34D: Give meaning to) USHER's Confessions.

3D: Inscribed pillar: STELA. Variation of STELE. I did not known before.

4D: Inspirational discourse: HOMILY

6D: Hibernia: EIRE Latin for Ireland. Why did they give such a wintry name to Ireland? I think I am a mild a hibernophile. I have an irrational interest in IRA, and I love listening the Corrs when I am feeling lonely. Where do you go when you are blue?

8D: OK: APPROVE.

9D: Take one from Column B: CHOOSE. Does this clue feel alright to you?

11D: Puts through a procedure: PROCESSES

22D: Indigenous Canadian: INUIT

26D: Novelist Cather: WILLA. Unknown to me. Just found out earlier that she wrote O Pioneers! She got Pulitzer for her One of Ours.

27D: Immune syst. component: T CELL. T stands for thymus. Belong to white blood cells. I don't know this, very gettable though.

31D: Native New Zealand: MAORI. Have you seen MAORI Haka dance in person? Earsplitting! I guess it's OK on the Rugby field, like this one.

47D: Calm yourself!: COOL IT! And 39A: I'm all ears: DO TELL. Very colloquial. I like them both.

53D: Molts: SHEDS. I kind of like the "Drop Down" clue after reading Crockett1947's "When that EIDER duck molts, he certainly drops down" comment.

55D: Man or Dogs: ISLE. Saw this clue before. ISLE of Dogs is in the east of London.

56D: Make a point?: HONE. Nice clue.

57D: Throw out: OUST. Wanted TOSS.

Happy Birthday Mkat & Justin Morneau (Great home run last night)!

C.C.

How to Add a Link to the Comments Section?

It's simple. You just need to code it in HTML. Here is the instruction.

C.C.

Wednesday May 14, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: SHACK UP

17A: Homemade goods for sale: COTTAGE INDUSTRY
35A: Expose: SHED LIGHT UPON
52A: Cadence count: HUT TWO THREE FOUR

This is a very SOLID (4A) puzzle: 3 SHACKS and 3 UPS. Did you find the 3 UP's in the theme? One is inside 35A: UPON, one is the intersection of 35A & 34D, but you have to look UP, the other one is the intersection of 17A & 9D, see the UP there?

This is the best TMS puzzle I've ever done. Here are my reasons:

1) ANAGRAM (25D: Letters written anew)

I like how ANAGRAM anchors the grid, and I am impressed that the constructor provides an example of an ANAGRAM in the puzzle: LIE (6D: Commit perjury) & ELI (45A: Yale student).

2) PUN (34D: Bits of wordplay)

I sure love this "SHACK UP" theme, don't you? After all, PUN is what our dysfunctional family are good at. Dizzying amounts of double entendre every day. But seriously, how many kinds of mushrooms exist in this world? Has anyone tried magic mushroom yet? Total bliss?

3) DENNIS (8D: Actor Quaid)

It makes me happy to see DENNIS being clued in the puzzle. I was stunned this morning when I played with DENNIS and found his name turned into SINNED if spelled backward. I was not aware of that before. Thank you for the ANAGRAM TIP (28D: Peach center: PIT) Ms. Steinberg.

4) Lion and Bear

I like the clues of 15A: Collection of lions: PRIDE & 16A: Kind of bear: POLAR. Add tiger please!

5) Direction

21A: North of Mexico: NORTE & 29A: Hrs. in Big Apple: EST (EST is French for EAST)

6) I like the appearance of both LIE (6D: Commit perjury) and YARNS (41A: Tall tales). And I like how YENTAS (41A: Gossips) intersects YARNS. Great to see both POTENT (3D: Packing a wallop) and MILD (40A: Temperate) in the same puzzle.

ACROSS:

9A: Rascal: SCAMP

23A: Symbol of servitude: CHAINS. I like how it intersects ANAGRAM.

30A: Cusack and Jett: JOANS. Know Cusack, not Jett.

32A: "Tell ___ I Love Her": LAURA. No idea. But it's inferable.

33A: Faucet: SPIGOT

38A: Daydreamed: MOONED. That's what you do when you are smitten with someone, isn't it? Look at this Randy Moss MOON that lighted up the Lambeau Field in 2005.

46A: Non-taxable: EXEMPT

49A: Ancient Greek sage: SOLON. Didn't he say "Know thyself"?

51A: Ipso ___: FACTO. Latin. "Literally by the deeds itself."

57A: Brookner or Baker: ANITA. Know Baker, have no idea who Brookner is.

60A: Duck hunter's lure: DECOY. I like these two hand painted DECOYS.

DOWN:

1D: __ pink (delight): TICKLE

2D: Beloved of Aphrodite: ADONIS. Aphrodite had way too many lovers. ADONIS, ARES (God of War), etc. EROS the love God was the son of Aphrodite and ARES. Anyway, he is a real ADONIS.

9D: Eggs on: SPURS. I impulsively filled in URGES first.

11D: Second self: ALTER EGO

13D: Snoop: PRY

23D: Just might: COULD

25D: Letters written anew: ANAGRAM. If you break the word ANAGRAM itself, you will find MAN (59A: Homo sapiens), and MAR (12D: Damage) in the grid as well. Very interesting.

30D: Green stone: JADE. Doesn't JADE mean "adulteress" also?

36D: Of the whole: HOLISTIC. I think I like "Kind of medicine" clue. "Whole" and "ho" are too similar in pronunciation.

37D: Kind of seal: HARP. Look at this cute baby HARP seal. My favorite Seal, however, is him.

38D: Parisian Mrs. MME (Madame). Another French word: 53D: One for Paulette: UNE. So here we 1, 2, 3, 4 in one puzzle, with UNE crossing 2, 3, 4, good stuff, isn't it?

44D: Embellishes: ADORNS

46D: Former Bronco QB: ELWAY (John). I think we still have this issue of Sports Illustrated when he was inducted into HOF. I like jersey #7. Twins' catcher Joe Mauer also wears #7.

47D: Losing tic-tac-toe line: XOO

C.C. (204)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: TV News Personality

20A: TV news personality: BRIAN WILLIAMS

32A: TV news personality: TIM RUSSERT

41A: TV news personality: LESTER HOLT

52A: TV news personality: CHARLES GIBSON

Where is KATIE COURIC? Or have you given up on her & CBS Evening News? How much did Steve Capus pay you to put 3 of his NBC anchors in your puzzle?

I aced this one today. All those TV news guys are gimmes to me. I often tune into ABC World News for my daily news dosage, and flip the channel to NBC Nightly News just to check what tie BRIAM WILLIAMS is wearing. Watch LESTER HOLT's weekend edition occasionally, and turn into Meet the Press when there are exciting guests.

Great to see AIRS (40A: Haughtiness), BARB (1A: Cutting remark), RECAP (46A: Go over again), ARGUE (61A: Bicker), LIPREAD (41D: Use one's eyes to hear) clued in the same grid.

I like the lower right corner a lot. It summarizes the sad story of "TESS of the d'Urbervilles" in a tiny 4*4 corner. I could see the rake Alec OGLEs and seduces Tess in the field. And I could hear the dairy maid telling Angel Clare: "Nobody could love 'ee more than Tess did! She would have LAID down her life for 'ee. I could do no more!", though Angel later left for Brazil rather than Chile. See 51D: Chilean mountain range: ANDES. The intersection of USAGE with LAID, OGLE and TESS is brilliant.

ACROSS:

14A: Arch type: OGEE. Lots of G-string words in today's puzzle: AGORA, GULL, SUGAR, BRAGI, PIG, USAGE, OGLE, ARGUE, EDGE.

17A: Drop down: MOLT. Hmm, I don't know. Does it sound like a good clue to you?

18A: Univalent radical: ALLYL & 8D: Univalent radical: ARYL. Drdad can probably explain these stuff to us. He got a Ph.D. in chemistry. I know neither of them. Pure guess.

25A: One way to be taken: ABACK. Take aback. Good clue.

27A: Prefix with acetylene: OXY (prefix for Oxygen). No idea. I got it from down clues.

39A: Portends: BODES. Without this B, I would not have gotten BRAGI for 39D.

43A: __ judicata: RES. Nailed it today.

58A: Downy duck: EIDER. Nice alliteration.

63A: Layer: TIER. Dislike the clue due to 57A: LAID. Maybe I should not.

64A: Exploits: DEEDS

DOWNS.

1D: Lead balloons: BOMBS

4D: __carotene: BETA. Don't drink too much carrot juice, your face will become yellow. I think sweet potato is rich in beta carotene too.

5D: Routes for ships: SEAWAYS. 7D: Deceive: GULL. I like how these 2 words are paralled in the grid.

9D: Dependent: RELIANT. Have to be self-reliant to be free.

10D: Punctuation mark: COMMA. And 49D: Grammar topic: USAGE

11D: Sound peak: CRESCENDO. Hmm, I like the intensity building.

21D: Connection: NEXUS. Without this X, I would not have got 27A.

31D: Rear position: LAST. Very interesting ENTRY.

39D: Norse god of poetry: BRAGI. Unknown to me. But it's inferable. BRAGI is the "god of poetry and eloquence, son of Odin, husband of Idun (Goddess of eternal youth).

42D: Some aliens: ÉMIGRÉS. What' the difference between immigrant, emigrant and ÉMIGRÉS?

48D: Pretentious one: PSEUD. Familiar with "psedo" as a prefix (pseudoscience, pseudonym), but I had no idea that PSEUD alone can be a word too.

50D: Agronomist's study: SOILS

55D: Smudge: BLOT

57D: Luau loop: LEI. Hey, we got lei'd again.

C.C.

Monday, May 12, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: BANNING Rhymes (Famous people whose last names end with ANNING)

20A: "The Cat in the Hat" star: DAKOTA FANNING

37A: "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" singer: CAROL CHANNING

54A" Super Bowl XLI MVP: PEYTON MANNING

Happy Limerick Day everyone! I love today's puzzle, despite my ING phobia. Here are my reasons:

1) ANNING is Chinese for CALM, and CALM is clued as Tranquil (5A) in this puzzle.

2) I am happy to see NASDAQ & XANAX in one gird. Very scrabbly, though I've never heard of XANAX.

3) I like how COLONIAL intersects with CUP. Quite a few sports events are named as "COLONIAL CUP". I also like the intersections of URGENT and WHEN, NABS and BOOKED, TOGO and SOMALI.

4) The appearance of TETON and OGLER in one grid makes me laugh (TETON is a French slang for... hmm... "Milk Source").

There are also 2 computer abbreviations in today's puzzle: ISP and URL. And 2 rivals: RAGU (18A: Prega rival) and SAAB (59A: Volvo rival). And 2 racing related fills: 30D: ELLIOTT (30D: Auto racer Sadler) & LAP (31: Track circuit). And 2 Jamaica connections: KINGSTON (11D: Jamaica's largest city), ALLSPICE (38D: Jamaica pepper). Oh, by the way, MAXI Priest is of Jamaican descent too. That's how he got reggae talent in his blood I suppose. Don't you just love Bob Marley? "No woman no cry!"

ACROSS:

9A: Douglas and Ditka: MIKES. Know Douglas, not Ditka.

14A: Buck's tail: AROO. Buckaroo. Buck is always chased by AROO. For everything else, it's EROO (Switch, Smack, Smash, etc).

17A: Stirling man: SCOT. Stirling is in Central Scotland. I like this name Stir-ling.

19A: Alphrazolam brand name: XANAX. Completely unknown to me. Very intimidating clue, isn't it? I've never heard of alphrazolam. It's a drug for anxiety disorder. Why do they pick up XANAX for their trade name? This word is full of anxiety.

23A: Ms. Rogers St. Johns: ADELA. Got her today.

24A: Wings: Lat.: ALAE

28A: Proof letter: QED (Quod Erat Démōnstrandum). It was on yesterday's puzzle too.

29A: Soak flax: RET

35A: Pad: NOTEBOOK

40A: Early American style: COLONIAL. Sergio Garcia finally ended his drought yesterday at the Players' Championship. His first PGA win at COLONIAL (May 21, 2001) had a profound impact on my life. It's the first golf tournament I've ever watched.

45A: Actor Gulager: CLU. I don't know him. Pieced his name by the down clues.

60A: Entr'__: ACTE. You would not believe it, but I did fill in NOUS first. I boarded the train of Coupe de Foudre (Entre Nous) without looking carefully at the destination. What an INANE (10D: Really silly) mistake!

DOWN:

1D: Stock exchange: NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations). Shouldn't there be some words with the clue to indicate an abbreviated answer?

4D: Chihuahua drink: SOTOL. I've never heard of it. Here is a SOTOL plant. It's also called "Desert Spoon". Wikipedia says this plant "takes approximately 15 years to mature, and creates only one bottle of Sotol per plant".

5D: Irene of "Fame": CARA. Not familiar with her. I got her name from across clues.

6D: Bygone PLO Leader: ARAFAT (Yasser). What a historical opportunity he squandered at Camp David! This guy played double games all his life. Ridiculous!

8D: Hawaiian volcano: MAUNA LOA. Great to see its full name.

9D: "Close to You" singer Priest: MAXI. I don't like his "Close to you". I got an instant crush on his "That Girl" though.

21D: Florida fishes: TARPONS. Fishes? Not fish? Unknown to me. It's "a large, powerful game fish inhabiting the warmer waters of the Atlantic Ocean, having a compressed body and large, silvery scales." Here is a picture.

22D: Fastidious one: NEATNIK

26D: Syst. of instructions: PROG (Program). Is it an accepted abbreviation?

32D: Retiree's cash: PENSION. Goodbye Tension, Hello PENSION.

35D: Org. of Flames: NHL (National Hockey League). Good clue. And we are all WILD here in MN.

36D: Marceau character: BIP. No idea. Have never heard of "BIP the clown".

39D: Real cars: CABOOSES

47D: Foreigner hit: URGENT. I've heard of the band, not the song.

49D: Grand __ National Park: TETON. Have never been there before. But what a great name to lure visitors!

C.C.

Sunday May 11, 2008 Annabel Michaels

Theme: HEADY DOINGS

28A: Passing gossip: CHIN WAGGING

66A: M-m-m-good: MOUTH WATERING

103A: Awesome: JAW DROPPING

3D: Psychiatrist's treatment?: HEAD SHRINKING

15D: Nuzzie greeting: NOSE RUBBING

40D: Eerie: HAIR RAISING

56D: Verbal chastisement: TONGUE LASHING

66D: Maximally boring: MIND NUMBING

Here are more:

EAR SPLITTING, EYE OPENING, TEETH CLENCHING, BRAINWASHING or BRAINTEASING, LIP SYNCING, BROW LIFTING, What else?

I am of two minds on today's puzzles. I do like the "HEADY DOINGS" theme idea, but I get dizzy just looking at this inordinate amount of ING's (8, including 29D: GOING OUT). What's your opinion?

It's a bit disappointing, thought hardly surprising given this editor's poor track record in timing his puzzles, that a "Mothers' Day" theme or even a "Related to the mother's side" (ENATE) clue is no where to be seen today. You would think he could work out a TV MOMS themed puzzle to balance his TV DADS puzzle (Tuesday May 6, 2008).

And 48D: Wake of a scythe (SWATHE), no VAR mark with the clue? Did you expect me to know that SWATHE could be spelled as SWATH when it means "the scythe path"? Obviously you MISOVERESTIMATED me, the way this country MISUNDERESTIMATED President Bush's resolve to get things done.

I laughed when I first saw 73A: I came: Lat. VENI. Then I filled in ALLUDE for 79A: Refer indirectly and LAY for 93A: Non-clerical. Then I found myself writing CAME for 94A: Showed up. I was stunned. CAME twice in less than 2 minute? You are amazing! Very ÉTÉ (98A: Nice hot time?) indeed.

But nothing is funny about 90A: Win a chase (OUT RUN). 93D: Ran out (LAPSED). You've gonna be kidding me. Just when I thought he could not sink any lower, along come this ghastly cluing! This editor definitely has no intention to improve the quality of his puzzles. His stubbornness is only paled by his arrogance.

Quite a few obscure city names in today's puzzle: NIAMEY, NEVERS, ALEPPO. The only place I know is 70D: Strasbourg's region (ALSACE). QUAGGAS, TOCSIN, MIOSIS, BOCCI were completely unknown to me. I've never heard of Nicolas ROEG either. But thanks to this editor's painful "Medical pref:" clue in April, I was able to get 54A: Healer: pref (IATRO) without any problem, otherwise, I would have big trouble with RICTUS (50D: Fixed, gaping grin). And without the generous help from those ING's, I think I would have completely tanked this puzzle.

ACROSS:

4A: Bring upon oneself: BUCK FOR. I am only familiar with BUCK UP, not BUCK FOR.

11A: Michael of Monty Python: PALIN. Nailed him today.

16A: Letters in math proofs: QED (Quod Erat Démōnstrandum). Latin. I am so proud I got this one.

20A: Shakespearean tragedy: OTHELLO

21A: Dispatch boat: AVISO. I completely forgot this word. But was able to string it together by the down clues. Always want a verb for the fill.

24A: Widespread slaughter: CARNAGE

30A: Fraction of a joule: ERG. 1 joule = 10⁷ erg.

35A: Mount Hood's state: OREGON. Hi there!

39A: NATO word: ATL (Atlantic). Do you know that NATO also stands for "North African Theater of Operations"? IKE served both NATO's.

41A: "Teenage __ Ninja Turtles:": MUTANT. Not familiar with this comic book at all.

42A: Singer Carter: DEANA. "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". Here is my favorite "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" (Bob Marley).

48A: Squelch: STIFLE

53A: Ascended: WENT UP

55A: Like plays and movies: SCRIPTED

65A: PA nuclear accident site: TMI (Three Miles Island). To me, TMI is simply "Too Much Information".

70A: Painter Matisse: HENRI. This Luxe, Calme, et Volupté is the only Matisse I've seen in person, and I don't think I like it.

72A: Raw fish dish: SUSHI. Technically, it's SASHIMI. SUSHI toppings are always cooked. I like how SUSHI parallels MOUTHWATERING. M-m-m good!

74A: Greek contest: AGON. I simply forgot. It's "a contest in which prizes were awarded in any of a number of events, as athletics, drama, music, poetry, and painting" in ancient Greece.

75A: Tense state: EDGINESS

82A: "M*A*S*H" co-star: STIERS (David Ogen). No idea. I've never watched "M*A*S*H".

83A: Strolls easily: MOSEYS

89A: Silver or Gold: METAL. I put MEDAL first, then my fill for 80D: Husband of Salt? became LOD, which confused me for a long time.

92A: Big bell sound: BONG

97A: Most favorable conditions: OPTIMA. Singular form is OPTIMUM.

99A: Pig's sire: BOAR

101A: Norse pantheon: AESIR. Ugh, I forgot. This word is hard to remember.

106A: 90 deg. from vert. HOR (Horizontal)

107A: Scatter: DISSIPATE

110A: Type of general: ONE STAR

111A: O.T. book: ISA (Isaiah)

114A: Make a widow: BEREAVE. It bothers me a bit to see BEREAVE crossing 89D: Connubial: MARITAL.

117A: Pituitary or pineal: GLAND. I did not know the meaning of "Pituitary" and I have never heard of "pineal gland" before. Had to consult my dictionary.

118A: Washington Post honcho: BRADLEE (Ben). I did not realize that he is still with the Washington Post (vice president). Thought he left long time ago. I like his "A Good Life".

DOWN:

4D: Italian lawn bowling: BOCCI. Completely unknown to me. It's "an Italian variety of lawn bowling played on a dirt court that is shorter and narrower than the rink of a bowling green."

6D: Legendary Giant Mathewson: CHRISTY. Gimme for me. One of the first crop of Baseball HOFers 1936. The other 4 are Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson.

7D: Condominium for canines: KENNEL

8D: Blemishes: FLAWS

10D: "Performance" director Nicolas: ROEG. No, I've never heard of him.

11D: Neighbor of Iran: PAKISTAN

13D: Lisa of "The View": LING. She is not with "The View" any more.

16D: Extinct kin of zebra: QUAGGAS. No idea. Gettable though. Here is a picture.

18D: John's last name?: DOE. I like the "?" in the clue.

29D: Becoming extinguished: GOING OUT. Two OUT in the fills today, see 90A: OUT RUN.

32D: Crevices: CLEFTS

35D: Syndicated astrologer Sydney: OMARR. Unknown to me.

39D: Syrian city: ALEPPO. No, no, have never heard of it.

46D: Alarm bell: TOCSIN. No idea. Dictionary says this word derives from French "tocasenh", "tocar" means to strike, "senh" comes from the Latin signal, so it's bell.

48D: Wake of a scythe: SWATHE. A "VAR" mark is essential for this clue in my opinion.

49D: Designated: TERMED. Why? Can you explain it to me?

50D: Fixed, gaping grin: RICTUS. Completely unknown to me. It's from the past participle of Latin word ringī (to gape).

57D: Incarnate: EMBODY

58D: Keaton and Ladd: DIANES. Know Keaton, not Ladd.

61D: Down Under one?: AUSSIE. Good one.

63D: City on the Loire: NEVERS. Capital city of Nièvre (central France), on the Loire River. I've never heard of it.

67D: Bleached: WHITENED

68D: Capital of Niger: NIAMEY. I did not know. Got it from across clues. Interesting, they grow millet there. Have you had millet couscous before? The capital of Nigeria is Abuja, pretty cool name, isn't it?

74D: Strasbourg's region: ALSACE. In eastern France. The food there is mostly German style, lots of rye bread.

80D: Husband of salt?: LOT. Great clue. What is exactly the name of LOT's wife anyway? A Pillar of Salt? She shouldn't have looked back obviously, the same with Orpheus. He would have brought his wife out of Hades if he did not glance back. But it's just so hard to resist the temptation in life.

82D: Make a strong metal connection: SPOT WELD. No idea.

84D: Moo __ gai pan: GOO. "Moo GOO" means "mushroom" in Chinese. Gai is chicken. Pan means slice. Americanized Chinese dish. You won't find it in a real Chinese dining table.

89D: Connubial: MARITAL. It bothers me to see MARITAL crossing BEREAVE.

92D: Defeated: BEATEN

95D: Contraction of the pupil: MIOSIS. No, nope, total stranger to me. It's "excessive constriction of the pupil of the eye, as a result of drugs, disease, or the like". I do like how this author structured MIOSIS and 2D: Membrane of the eye: CORNEA in the same grid in such a balanced fashion. Very nice. And one more, 51A: Eyes, in poems (ORBS)

96D: Listing of text mistakes: ERRATA

99D: Goofy error: BONER

104D: Pitcher Nen: ROBB. Wow, I've never heard of his name before. Not a Giants fan.

108D: Tape-counter abbr.: IPS (Inches Per Second)

C.C.