Saturday June 14, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Themeless

Strange journey to the "Land of Oz" today. Too sudden a landing at the Munchkins' country I suppose. Had no idea who was "Mothers of Invention Inventor", could only think of Plato, who originated this "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"idiom. Did not know Ringo's oldest son ZAK, could only think of Julian, John Lennon's oldest son. ZANZIBAR was simply impossible for me, and ALYDAR was also completely foreign to me.

But I found my yellow brick road quickly, and conquered upper right corner after some mild struggle. Was not familiar with COLONNADE, had never heard of IDENTI-KIT, but ELAINE, INI and OSKAR helped.

The easiest part for me was the ALOE VERA corner. There was absolutely no IMPEDANCE (33D: Electrical resistance) there at all. With all those Blackwater shooting scandal talks last year, HESSIANS (Redux) came to me immediately.

The lower left also crumbled quickly, but I really dislike the clue for KAN (61D: Alternative to KS). Very lazy cluing. Would be very happy if it's reworded as Dorothy and " The Wizard of Oz" related, or simply "Neb. neighbor".

Then I went back to the thorny upper left corner, still could not get much done, and finally succumbed to Google. But hey, I arrived at the "Emerald City" and saw the great "Wizard of Oz".

I really like the below "?" clues today:

15A: Start of a number?: AREA CODE

27A: How much above?: A CUT

31A: Weapon of mass offense?: STINK BOMB. I wish its parallel ARMS (37A: Jacket parts) were clued as weaponry related.

44D: Shrinking flowers?: VIOLETS

Ready to tee off? Let's go!

Front nine:

1A: Island off Tanzania: ZANZIBAR. Here is the map. Wikipedia says the word "ZANZIBAR" probably derives from the Persian word "zangi-bar", meaning "Cost of the Blacks". And its main industries are spices, raffia and tourism. I like this zippy name.

I like country names with letter Z in them: Belize, Brazil, Czech Republic, Kazkhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mozambique, New Zealand, Switzerland, Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Zambia & Zimbabwe. Mozambique looks very intriguing, with Z & Q.

9A: Scruples: ETHICS. No "Moral standards" any more?

16A: Fill with false hope: LEAD ON

17A: Glimpsed surreptitiously: PEEKED AT

18A: San ___, Texas: ANGELO. ANGELO is also the villain in Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure".

19A: Foot: suff: PED, as in "Biped" and "Moped", according to Dennis. "PEDI"or "PEDO" are prefixes for foot.

20A: Type of scheme: PYRAMID. I am not familiar with this stock scheme. Only know the "Ponzi Scheme". Here is definition from the dictionary: "A fraudulent moneymaking scheme in which people are recruited to make payments to others above them in a hierarchy while expecting to receive payments from people recruited below them. Eventually the number of new recruits fails to sustain the payment structure, and the scheme collapses with most people losing the money they paid in."

22A: Three-time runner-up to Affirmed in 1978 Triple Crown: ALYDAR. Who remembers those runner-ups? Exotic name though. Here is Belmont Stakes ALYDAR vs. Affirmed clip, very exciting finish. ALYDAR is in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame now.

30A: Kamoze of reggae fame: INI. This is his "Here Comes the Hotstepper". I think this constructor Allan E. Parrish loves reggae music also. Last time he clued another reggae singer MAXI Priest ("Close to you") in his puzzle.

36A: Actor Werner: OSKAR. Weren't you here yesterday?

38A: Follow obsessively: STALK

40A: Cover up: HIDE

41A: Like Batman and Robin: CAPED

43A: Tires out: ENERVATES

46A: City st. : AVE. Thought it would be better to clue it as "___, Caesar!" to pair with 62D: Caesar's seven: VII.

48A: Spinnaker, e.g.: SAIL. I forgot what a spinnaker is. Pieced "SAIL" together from down clue.

49A: Clampett patriarch: JED. Ah Uncle JED to to Jethro. Everything I know, I learned from doing crossword.

57A: Braided hairdo: PIGTAIL. Here is Chatty Cathy in PIGGTAIL hairdo. Is she original?

59A: Small deer: ROE. This ROE topped Canapé looks delicious, is it rosemary sprig on the top?

60A: Signaled subtly: WINKED

62A: Soothing plant: ALOE VERA

64A: Box up: ENCASE

67A: Mercenary soldiers: HESSIANS

Back nine:

1D: Mothers of Invention inventor: ZAPPA (Frank). Is this a gimme to you? Here is more information about "The Mothers of Invention" band. Why is "the" omitted in the clue?

2D: Staggering: AREEL

3D: Disadvantaged: NEEDY

4D: Ringo's oldest son: ZAK (Starkey). I am not familiar with him or "The Who" band.

5D: Frozen floating mass: ICE PACK. Does this clue sound OK to you?

6D: Training room offerings: BODY RUBS. Wherever you say!

7D: Hebrew month: ADAR. It's the Purim's month. Here are the 12 months in Jewish calendar: Tishri, Heshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, and Elul. So, there are total three 4-letter months in the calendar, I think I saw ELUL clued in a TMS puzzle before, not Iyar. I bet every one of those names has an unique origin, just like our calendar.

10D: Adjust, as margins: RETAB

9D: "Seinfeld" character: ELAINE. NEWMAN next time!

11D: Old crone: HAG

12D: Composite pic maker: IDENTI- KIT

13D: Portico: COLONNADE. "Colonne" is French for "Column", "Ade" is a simply a noun forming suffix.

14D: Alternative to chains: SNOW TIRES

21D: Talks indistinctly: MUMBLES

24D: Saint-Saëns' "___ Macabre": DANSE. Saw this clue in a Feb TMS puzzle. Here is Matisse's "La DANSE".

28D: Satchel's cousin: TOTE BAG

31D: Lewis and Clark's guide: SACAJAWEA. And 32D: On a tour: TRAVELING. Great parallel.

33D: Electrical resistance: IMPEDANCE. The symbol is Z. Not familiar with this electricity term. But "IMPEDANCE" is easily inferable.

34D: Playing piece: MAN. I don't get this one. What playing piece?

36D: Commandment word: SHALT

39D: WWII word: K RATIONS

42D: Most profound: DEEPEST

47D: Dracula's conquests: BRIDES. Isn't Dracula also CAPED?

51D: Hoard away: STASH

54D: "Two women" Oscar winner: LOREN (Sophie)

55D: Makes tight: SEALS. And Sealed it with a Kiss. Wow, what kind of dance is that?

I am just so sad that Tim Russert is gone. My Sundays will never be the same. I will miss him tomorrow, and next Sunday, and the Sunday after, and every Sunday... I will remember you, Tim Russert, always.

C.C.

Friday June 13, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: PIG OUT

17A: Coin repository: PIGGY BANK

65A: Unskilled emoters: HAM ACTORS

11D: Fish of the wrasse family: HOG SNAPPER

29D: Flat-topped topper: PORK PIE HAT

I wish 65A were singular so all the theme answers can have a consistent form pattern. Good puzzle though, with Z, X, and all those K's. I did not strike out this morning, but I was half dazed by this new constructor Barry Silk's pitches.

This guy has quite an arm. I expect him to clue Reds' Edinson VÓLQUEZ (1.56 ERA, stunning!) in his next puzzle soon. By the way, regarding last Saturday's Tariq Aziz cross-hair target grid, Barry Silk said that the pattern he chose "was not meant to resemble anything in particular". I sure like Sandra's interpretation.

I would not have got OBOL (28D: Old Greek coin: OBOL) and KOPEK (36D: Part of a ruble) without the across clues. I did not know either of them, nor was I familiar with PHYLA. I was so happy to see OCHOA (64A: Lorena of LPGA) in the puzzle today. Love her and Suzann Petterson. The 2008 US Women's Open will be held here in MN next week. I've never seen Lorena in person before, nor have I seen Michelle Wie, who easily earned her qualification spot last week. I would have clued HOLE (27D: Aperture) as "Tiger's target", you know, with the US Open going on now.

Learned something new this morning: Piglets can also be called farrows; pigs between 100-180 pounds are called shoats; a gilt is a young pig that has not produced a litter; and a barrow is a castrated male pig.

Two more things:

1) JAF asked the other day "How to do better at crossword", I recommend reading "How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle" written by Amy Reynaldo (Orange). I've benefited enormously from her tips and instructions. She said that yesterday ANTES, ANTI, ANTIC are unrelated, since they have different root words. ANTE comes from Latin (before), ANTI from Greek (opposite), ANTIC from Italian Antico or Latin Antiquus (ancient, old).

So, TMS crossword constructors, please let me know if my criticisms of your puzzles are not on solid ground. I will never improve if you remain silent. In the meantime, since today is "Blame Someone Else Day", let's heap on our editor all the inaccurate/wrong clues, dull theme, unaesthetic grid, etc.

2) As you all know, Times of India carries TMS puzzle as well, here is a Crossword Op-Ed piece written by Mangesh Ghogre, one of our fellow solvers in Mumbai. Thought you might be interested.

Alright, enough babbling, let's tee off:

Front Nine:

4A: BYU location: PROVO. Why abbreviation in the clue?

9A: TV screening device: V CHIP

16A: Tom T. Hall hit: I LOVE. I LOVE U2.

19A: Enter name and password: LOG IN

20A: National park in Alaska: DENALI. Nailed it this time. Alaska's first governor is William A EGAN.

23A: Master conductor: MAESTRO. I like almost every Bob Woodward book, except MAESTRO, too many sophisticated financial terms and economic lingo for me to understand.

27A: Navajo's neighbor: HOPI. Beautiful HOPI pottery.

31A: Discovery rival: VISA. You could not believe the troubles I went through to get a VISA to the US.

37A: Wham!: POW. Senator McCain's campaign staff need to make contact with our editor, that's for sure!

40A: "Casablanca" co-star Peter: LORRE

41A: U.S. pub. grp.: GPO. It refers to "General Post Office", right? (Update: It stands for Government Printing Office.)

42A: Word with big or bad: APPLE. Meet APPLE Martin!

45A: Lounge lizard: CREEP. Political junkies are probably familiar with Nixon's CREEP.

47A: Calvin of fashion: KLEIN. The Obsession, for Men.

52A: 2005 MVP: AROD. Justin Morneau's surname has 4 vowels, and he is the 2006 MVP. I wonder why crossword constructors do not clue him.

53A: CCCLIII tripled: MLIX. Just for Mkat!

58A: Driver's license requirement: EYE TEST

60A: Final summary: WRAP UP

69A: ___ nous: ENTRE. Listen to Debra Ollivier's advice dispensed in her wildly popular "ENTRE nous", drink your wine, eat your cheese and enjoy your chocolate!

71A: Several of Siena: SETTE

72A: Corp. investment in the future: R AND D

Back nine:

1D: Letters for Nob Hill cops: SFPD (San Francisco Police Department)

4D: Biology kingdom divisions: PHYLA. Singular is Phylum. A new word to me.

5D: End of pay?: OLA

8D: Actor Werner: OSKAR. No idea, only know OSKAR of "Schindler's List"

9D: TV handyman Bob: VILA. Stranger to me also. I strung his name together from across clues.

12D: Like Wrigleys' walls: IVIED

18D: More ill-smelling: GAMIER

24D: Power peak: SURGE

25D: Circus apparatus: TRAPEZE. Would not have got this one without ZEE (50A: Last letter)

32D: Author Dinesen: ISAK. "Out of Africa" author. I wonder if ISAK is now a popular name in Denmark.

38D: Mixed bag: OLIO. It's Zaqi Zaba (杂七杂八) in Chinese. Letter "u" does not always follow "q" in Chinese.

39D: Make one's way: WEND. Another new word to me.

43D: Dabble in: PLAY AT

49D: Obtain by intimidation: EXTORT

51D: English prince: EDWARD. Which EDWARD are we talking about here? Him, Prince Charles' brother?

53D: Persian words?: MEOWS

54D: French school: LYCÉE. French secondary education terms: Collège and LYCÉE (grades 9-12). The students are ÉLÈVES, which was clued as "French classful" by our editor in May and stumped many solvers. Just remember those"École attendees" ÉLÈVES can refer to a broad range of students (enfant/adolescent/adult), full time/part time.

56D: Old anesthetic: ETHER

Finally, 67D: Atlas abbr.: MTN (Mountain). Here is a message from the spice girl POSH (61D: Swank): "listen, baby, Ain't no mountain high enough...if you need me, call me...". Enjoy!

C.C.

Thursday June 12, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Kin Hubbard Quip (Ideal Breaker)

17A:Start of Kin Hubbard quip: BEING AN OPTIMIST

25A: Part 2 of the quip: AFTER YOU'VE GOT

42A: Part 3 of the quip: EVERYTHING YOU

56A: End of quip: WANT DOESN'T COUNT

I've never heard of Kin Hubbard before. Here is another quote from him: "There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose." It's so evocative of a great Churchill's line: "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts".

This puzzle reminds me of the "globe-trotting guinea pig" Rick Steves and his "Europe Through the Back Door". Look, it's all over the places:

5A: Type of potato: IDAHO

24A: Mongolian horde: TATAR

31A: Hawaiian goose: NENE And another Hawaiian reference: 2D: 4-string guitars: UKES

32A: German article: EIN

30A: Dutch South Africans: BOERS

38A: Icelandic literary work: EDDA

40A: Neighbor of Algeria: MALI. Called "French Sudan" before.

9D: Toronto's prov.: ONT

25D: Swedish pop group: ABBA

37D: English cathedral city: ELY

52D: Marianas island: GUAM

Besides, 6D: Moolah: DINERO and 58A: Procession of matadors: PASEO bring Spain to my mind, and ASP (39A: Cleo's downfall) tranports me to Egypt. Very interesting!

Quite a few Repeat Offenders, but overall, not a bad QUIP.

ACROSS:

1A: Bankrupt: RUIN. "Crying is the refuge of plain women but the RUIN of pretty ones", quip this line next time Mr. Olschwang!

10A: Carvey or Ivey: DANA. Or Scully in "The X-Files".

20A: Twisty letter: ESS. Dislike this one due to 51D: ESSE (Latin being)

22A: Mrs. DDE: MAMIE. 15A: President after Johnson: NIXON. IKE would be so happy that NIXON is not clued as his veep here.

35A: Synagogue platform: BEMA

36A: Routes around some cities: BELTS. Here are 3 BELTS for you.

49A: Egg-shaped: OVATE

50A: Nuclear physicist Enrico: FERMI. I forgot. Boy, I really have problem remembering his name. This is the 3rd time FERMI appears on a TMS puzzle since I started blogging.

61A: Rosebud, e.g.: SLED. Last time ROSEBUD was clued as "Citizen Kane's sled". It's the name of his childhood sled.

62A: Winged: pref.: PTERO. No idea, I only knew ALAR, ALAE or ALATE for "Winged" clue.

DOWN:

1D: After-bath wear: ROBE. Here is Seated Woman in Green ROBE for those Renoir adorers, and Matisse's Purple ROBE for Matisse fans. I love Manet, so I will go ROBELESS. My favorite piece at Musée d'Orsay is probably Ingres' "La Source", so silky and velvety the stroke, stunning!

4D: Bert Bobbsey's twin: NAN. Ennui! Please! Haven't "A Million Little Pieces" & Oprah made NAN Talese well-known?

7D: Impulse conductor: AXON. A new word for me. It's "the appendage of the neuron that transmits impulses away from the cell body".

10D: Whitewater investigator: D'AMATO (Alfonse). Unknown to me. He left the Senate before I came to the US.

11D: In a lively matter: ANIMATEDLY. I like this kind of long yet simple fill.

12D: Polite denial: NO SIR. Has anyone seen this Sir! NO SIR! document?

18D: Live wires: GOERS. Does this clue sound OK to you?

19D: Public persona: IMAGE. This puzzle does summon up an IMAGE of a busy traveler.

27D: Carry Nation's cause: TEMPERANCE. I pieced this fill together from across clues. I did not know who Carry Nation is. Wow, that's an intimidating look!

33D: Logical start?: IDEO. And 53D: Freeze front?: ANTI

34D: Half of Mork's sign-off: NANU. Nailed it this morning.

41D: Shenanigan: ANTIC. Dislike it. See 53D: ANTI

43D: Put in a large container: VATTED. Had no idea that VAT can be a verb.

44D: Nursery-rhyme Jack: HORNER. No, nope, no idea. I spent my childhood reciting Chairman Mao's thought. You probably also know James HORNER. He won 2 Oscars for the "Titanic" score and song compositions. He also composed the new theme music for Katie Couric's "CBS Evening News".

46D: Monks' hoods: COWLS

51D: Latin being: ESSE And another Latin word: 60A: Pro ___ (in proportion): RATA

56D: Antithesis: abbr.: OPP

Finally, 41A: "Over the Rainbow" composer: ARLEN (Harold). I am not familiar with him. I only know Senator ARLEN Specter. I do love "The Wizard of Oz", now close your eyes and tap your heels together three times and enjoy this Judy Garland's "Over the Rainbow"!

C.C.

Wednesday June 11, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: That is to "SAY"

21A: Prohibition hot spots: SPEAKEASIES

56A: Ten items or less, e.g.: EXPRESS LINE

3D: Utah seagull, e.g.: STATE BIRD

36D: Limbaugh's milieu: TALK RADIO

And an "Animal World" sub-theme:

26A: Baby fox: KIT. Ha ha, our fellow solver KIT simply adores David Cook to pieces!

63A: Loathsome person: TOAD

66A: Pooch pest: FLEA. Would prefer the clue to be "Pooch biter" due to PESTER (48D: Annoy).

1D: Stand up to: BUCK

3D: Utah seagull, e.g.: STATE BIRD

10D: Bullwinkle, e.g.: MOOSE

25D: Peruvian grazer: LLAMA

27D: "Memory" musical: CATS

30D: Woolly moms: EWES

And don't forget the 2 animals in th clues for ORGE (16A: Shrek) and EAGER (40A: Like a beaver?). The clues for GRIND (68A: Pulverize) can be reworded as "Rat race" and LASSIE (5A: Highland miss) can be rephrased as "Timmy's dog".

Looks like our old Wednesday constructor Philip J. Anderson has been sent to EXILE (52D: Napoleon's punishment). Have not seen his work in a month. The difficulty level of the Wednesday puzzle remains the same though, very doable (sans googling). I still think Wednesday is the easiest, and Thursday is the most boring.

Quite a few SS in the grid: LASSIE, ASSETS, MESSY EXPRESS, PASSÉ. But they don't bother me much. I kind of like today's grid structure and fills, no ARCH style obscure words or old TV/movie names to frustrate me. It's "like the ocean under the moon...", so smooth, Carlos Santana style!

ACROSS:

6A: Pay stub abbr.: FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act)

14A: Above and beyond: ULTRA. Do you like the Fleer ULTRA brand? I don't think I've seen 2008 yet.

17A: School session: CLASS. And 39A: School duration: TERM

24A: Inventor Howe: ELIAS. Or Walter ____ Disney.

26A: All the rage: TRENDY. And 22D: So last year: PASSÉ. Speedy In and Out!

27A: Bridge suspenders?: CABLES. Good one.

34A: Stopped slouching: SAT UP. Several actions in this puzzle. See 70A: Stand on hind legs: REAR. And don't forget the clue for BUCK (1D: Stand up to).

43A: Martyr of Egypt: SADAT. Yes, please stop calling those terrorists as "martyrs"and their cause as "Jihad". Don't unwittingly glorify them.

46A: Gymnast Korbut: OLGA. And 64A: Gymnast Comaneci: NADIA

49A: IOU: MARKER

55A: Kind of story or girl: COVER. COVERGirl is also a cosmetics brand of course. Easy, Breezy, Beautiful, CoverGirl. Drew Barrymore is their new face now.

DOWN:

6D: Lines of marchers: FILES. This word "marchers" always reminds me of "The March of the Penguins" and Mumble ("Happy Feet").

8D: Bop on the bean: CONK

12D: Riled: IRKED. And 48D: Annoy: PESTER. What happened? Why are you so SORE (57D: Painful joint) this morning?

33D: Conceal in one's hand: PALM. Oh, I want these PALM dates, to go with my PEAR (38D: Bosc or Barlett) and my CIDER (55D: Apple drink). You can have the BASIL (1A: Pesto herb). I don't like it.

41D: Actor Novarro: RAMÓN. Unknown to me. Strung his name together from the across fills. RAMÓN is Martin Sheen's real first name.

50D: Get even for: AVENGE. What's the difference between AVENGE and revenge?

54D: Elite: CREAM. Eric Clapton fans probably know all about the Cream.

Finally 2D: Popular diet pill: ALLI. I've never heard of it. I am in "the Zone". Love Sheryl Crow's "ALL I Wanna Do". "ALL I wanna do is have some fun, I got a feeling I'm not the only one...". Enjoy!

C.C.

Tuesday June 10, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: PICTURE POSTCARD (57A: Image of the first word of 17A, 26A and 43A)

17A: 1950 Billy Wilder film: SUNSET BOULEVARD

26A: Eagles hit: HOTEL CALIFORNIA

43A: Olympic sport since '96: BEACH VOLLEY BALL

Not sure if the TALC clue (18D: Powder base) is Doug Peterson's original submission. I just hate it, as BASE is the answer for 1D: Ignoble.

With ALOU (60A: Baseball's Matty or Moises), RBI (58D: Slugger's stat), you would think the constructor would reclue SUBS (39D: Hogies) as "Non starters" and BASE as "Diamond Corner" to form a nice baseball sub-theme.

I am really tired of this sluggish "Slugger's stat"clue for RBI. Can't you pay some tribute to Griffey's 600th HR milestone? Or you couldn't see it coming?

I also dislike the clue 'ENRY for 34A: Professor 'iggins, to Eliza. It should be either "Professor 'iggins" or simply "Professor Higgins, to Eliza". I do like the H BOMB (26D: One WMD) and SPAY (49D: Keep from littering?) clues though, very refreshing!

ACROSS:

1A: "Carmen" composer: BIZET (Georges). "Carmen" is the only BIZET piece that I know.

6A: Small flute: FIFE. Those who love golfing might be aware that St. Andrews Golf Course is on the east of FIFE, Scotland. The 2010 British Open will be held there again.

10A: Warrior princess of TV: XENA

14A: "Witness" sect: AMISH. Do you like Viggo Mortensen? "Witness" is his film debut. Love his "A Perfect Murder".

16A: Cut down: AXED

33A: React to Bright light: BLINK. Can never seem to find time to read this widely popular BLINK.

36A: Oil of ___: OLAY. I really like their "Total Effects Daily Moisturizer".

37A: Chutney choice: MANGO. I've never had MANGO chutney before. Just had a perfectly ripe MANGO earlier for breakfast.

39A: Rentals at Vail: SKIS. Hi there Der Katze.

40A: Soviet orbiter: MIR. I am glad it's not "Russian orbiter"(MIR was de-orbed in 2001). "Bygone Russian orbiter" should be fine.

41A: Prom-night safety org.: SADD. And don't forget MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving).

42A: Craftiness: GUILE

49A: Water vapor: STEAM

52A: Fiji's neighbor: TONGA. It's in east of Fiji. See this map. "The Friendly Islands".

62A: Vixen on "All My Children": ERICA. I had no idea. Got it from the down clues. Should you have time, please read ERICA Jong's Morals To Be Drawn from Spitzer's Case, and learn, esp moral #2.

63A: Bark excitedly: YELP. Hmm, "excitedly".

65A: Like a tell-all bio: DISHY. Barbara Walters will probably fill in this 5-letter blank without reading the clue.

DOWN:

2D: Don of talk radio: IMUS

3D: Silvery metal: ZINC. Element #30.

5D: Bruce Banner's alter ego: THE HULK. Completely unknown to me. Pieced the answer together from the across clues.

6D: Leg bone: FIBULA

8D: Arthur Ashe Stadium location: FLUSHING. Nope, not familiar to me. Gettable though.

10D: Bandleader Cugat: XAVIER. I simply forgot. Realized that I had searched him before when I googled his name earlier.

19D: George Jetson's boy: ELROY. ASTRO was clued as ELROY Jetson's dog on an April TMS puzzle.

27D: Stan's comic partner: OLLIE

29D: Tennis great Ivan: LENDL

30D: Big name in cell phone: NOKIA

32D: Photographer Adams: ANSEL. This is his iconic Moon Rise . One rare print fetched a cool $600,000 at a Sotheby's auction in 2006. This photograph greets every morning when I wake up.

37D: Dallas B-ballers: MAVS (Mavericks)

38D: Emigrants from orphanages: ADOPTEES. Interesting clue.

41D: SeaWorld attraction: SHAMU. SeaWorld, don't screw with us!

42D: Spun around: GYRATED

44D: Flirt with: CHAT UP. What's the best chat up lines you've heard?

45D: "The Raven" maiden: LENORE. I know nothing about "The Raven" except "Nevermore".

50D: Bit of flooring: TILE. Do you play Scrabble?

54D: Lectern stand: DAIS

55D: Roguish: ARCH. Hi there 1D!

56D: Yrly. event: B'DAY. You don't like Beyoncé B'DAY album?

59D: Dernier ___ (latest fashion): CRI. C'est le dernier CRI in Japan.

Here is the Eagles's HOTEL CALIFORNIA. Enjoy!

C.C.

Monday June 9, 2008 Michael T. Williams

heme: BEARS

24A: Bears: YOGI AND BOO BOO

38A: Bears: CHICAGO GRIDDERS

50A: Bears: PRODUCES FRUIT

Before I forget, please read this comment from our fellow solver Sandra (D&SK, 12:52pm) regarding Saturday's unique grid structure. Very interesting observation on the target position of Tariq Aziz, isn't it?

Back to day's puzzle, I like the theme concept and the execution, 2 major flaws though:

1) 19A: Links grp. PGA. And 67A: Ernie of the PGA: ELS. I can not tell you how much this double appearance of the same word in the clue and the answer annoys me. No responsible crossword editor should allow this awful construction error slips away. Besides, why "Links" all the time? Who the heck wants to play the formidable "Links" course so often? With today's BEARS theme, why not get creative and somehow clue the "Golden BEAR" Jack Nichlaus for PGA?

2) I know I've said it before, but it BEARS repeating that I simply can not BEAR to see a puzzle with the theme title bared in the clues. It really deprives me of the fun to ferret out the theme.

Not sure if today's constructor Michael Williams should BEAR the brunt of my grudge, BEAR in mind that our Editor has the final say. But he never deigns to talk to us, what can I say? I guess we will just have to grin and BEAR it.

ACROSS:

5A: Coats with crumbs: BREADS. Love panko breaded croquette.

15A: Close a purse: RESNAP

16A: Fmr. Mideast alliance: UAR (United Arab Republic). And 2 more Mideast references: 23A: Ship with a lateen sail: DHOW. Can also be spelled as DOW, or DAU. Unknown to me. First time I heard of "lateen sail" too. Dictionary defines DHOW as "any of various types of sailing vessels used by Arabs on the east African, Arabian, and Indian coasts, generally lateen-rigged on two or three masts." And 42A: Israeli seaport: EILAT (Gulf of Aqaba port).

20A: Bait fish: MINNOW. I wish NET in 64A: Badminton barrier were clued as fishing related, just to pair up with 20A.

28A: Like an old tree trunk: GNARLED

37A: Brit's wireless: RADIO. And another Brit term: DOSS (30D: Flophouse in London). DOSS is a new word to me. Easily gettable from across fills though.

45A: Rising current of warm air: THERMAL. I was only familiar with the adjective THERMAL, not the noun form.

56A: QB Aikman: TROY. Wonder how much his rookie card costs now.

58A: Rationers of WWII: OPA (Office of Price Administration). I simply forgot. Luckily the down fills helped.

61A: Up and about: ARISEN

63A: Danube feeder: ISAR. No idea. Here is the map, see München (Munich)?

65A: Slow musical passage: LENTOS

68A: "Our Man in Havana": GREENE (Graham). Not familiar with the author. Wikipedia says that he had a long affair with Yvonne Cloetta (32 years). I love this note GREENE wrote to Cloetta: "If I were to live my life again, there is only one thing I would want unchanged: meeting you, knowing you, and loving you."

69A: Customary extras, briefly: ETCS

DOWN:

1D: Viscous: SLIMY. Hmmm, Who is the SLIMY guy?

2D: Mann novel: "____ Kroger": TONIO. It was in yesterday's puzzle.

3D: As company: ALONG. "To BEAR a Ring of Power is to be alone". Tell me if this is a familiar line to you, don't google!

4D: "Live at the Acropolis" performer: YANNI. Can you feel the "Mozart Effect" in this Standing in Motion? Oh, YANNI, If I could tell you...

5D: Lunch carrier: BROWN BAG. Want to take a bite from this bento box?

8D: Computer type: ANALOG

9D: Rosario or Roxann: DAWSON. Know Rosario, not Roxann. Do you think Andre DAWSON will make the HOF next year?

11D: Spot for a drink in a car: CUP HOLDER

12D: "Othello" role: IAGO

23D: Small southern constellation: DORADO. Not familiar with this one. Given the BEARS theme today, wouldn't be great if we have the URSA (Constellation Bear) appear somewhere in the grid?

25D: Queen of Carthage: DIDO. Another unknown mythological figure to me. She "killed herself when abandoned by Aeneas". Aeneas is "the Trojan hero of Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid, and son of Anchises and Aphrodite. He escaped the sack of Troy and wandered for seven years before settling in Italy." Thank you, dictionary & DIDO.

26D: Exalted poet: BARD

29D: Dublin's land: EIRE. Hmm, I am a "Denis of Cork" ADORER (46D: Worshiper). Why not clue it as "Cork's land" and make me happy?

31D: "Rhyme Pays" rapper: ICE T. Easier than last time's "Tracey Marrow stage name" clue, isn't it?

32D: __ Tze: SHIH. Just for your information, "___ Ching" (or Shi Jing in Mandarin Chinese) is a classic book of Chinese poetry (Book of Odes).

33D: Distance sign: MILE POST

34D: Little Golden Books artist: SCARRY (Richard). Unknown to me. Pieced his name together from across fills.

36D: J. Hancocked: SGD. Hmm, I could picture Barry's frown in my mind...

40D: Partly: IN A SENSE

47D: Like a wolf: LUPINE

49D: Org. of Argonauts: CFL (Canadian Football League). Did not know this before. Only knew Jason's Argonauts, not Toronto Argonauts. Learned this morning that their championship/ trophy name is called "Grey Cup".

53D: Distressed: UPSET. Poor BEAR Stearns employees...

54D: Hayes of "South Park": ISAAC. Got it this time, thanks Dr. Dad.

55D: Provisions: TERMS

"Every dream that we share, every cross that we BEAR, come to me - Darling rescue me...." Here is Bryan Adams' Do I Have to Say the Words? Enjoy!

C.C.

Sunday June 8, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Numerous Movies

23A: Keir Dullea film: MMI A SPACE ODYSSEY (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)

42A: Jennifer O'Neill film: SUMMER OF XLII (SUMMER OF '42)

72A: Edmond O'Brien film: MCMLXXXIV (1984)

97A: Terry-Thomas film: MM YEARS LATER (2000 YEARS LATER)

121A: James Stewart film: WINCHESTER LXXIII (WINCHESTER '73)

17D: Charlton Heston film: AIRPORT MCMLXXV (AIRPORT 1975)

50D: Marilyn Monroe film: THE VII YEAR ITCH (THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH)

And here are five more Roman numerals:

81A: Tenth of MCXC: CXIX

88A: Roman 16: XVI

59D: 570 in letters: DLXX

119D: 141 in old Rome: CXLI

125D: CXII halved: LVI

Why not clue 51A: Decimal base (TEN) as X then? It would be perfect, wouldn't it? Did you notice that there are total TEN X'es in this puzzle?

Very noticeable in this puzzle are the following presidential/political abbreviations:

25A: HST or DDE: PRES

30A: WWII zone for DDE: ETO

10D: Neither Rep. nor Dem: IND. And 84D: FDR or JFK: DEM. Ridiculous double appearance!

4D: End of demo: CRAT. Democrat. Or end of Auto/Bureau/Pluto!

100D: JFK notice: ARR

And several containers:

27A: Gas container: TANK

34A: Water tanks: CISTERNS. Would have been clued as "Water storer" to avoid the TANK double appearance.

41A: Washstand pitcher: EWER

38D: Large wine casks: TUNS

And so many vexing UP's.

9A: Joins the queue: LINES UP

29A: Curry favor with: SUCK UP TO

14D: Deplete: USE UP

58D: Muddle: MIX UP

I am also annoyed by

63A: Applications: USES. And 14D: Deplete: USE UP.

130A: Resolute: DEAD SET. And the intersecting 92D: Lionel product: TRAIN SET.

I think it's a crossword sin to let the same root word appear both as the clue and the answer, though I am not so sure of the repetitive use of the same words (like today's UP, USE and SET) as the answers in the same grid. They just don't fit my eyes, so clumsy.

In summary, a very TOILSOME (115A: Arduous) journey for me. Too many unknowns and tough cluing, not to mention that excessive amount of Roman numerals. I would have got FRET (87D: Guitar ridge) easily if it were clued as "stew over" or something. And ABELS (113D: Tasman and Muzorewa) was completely out of my brain reach. My hunch is that our editor purposely made some of clues more difficult today to torture us.

However, I do like today's theme concept and the theme entries. Very creative! It's not easy to pull off such a feat.

ACROSS:

1A: Piece of men's jewelry: TIECLASP

20A: Auto racer Mario: ANDRETTI. And 85A: Indy 500 Sponsor: STP. I am not into racing. Know neither of the answers. What does STP stand for? Is it the "Racer's Edge"?

21A: Solidarity: ONENESS. And 24D: Wholes: ENTIRES. Really? Can you pluralize "whole" and "ENTIRE" by adding a "s"? How strange!

22A: Planted explosive: MINE. "Gimme"!

26A: Personal histories: PASTS

35A: Publicity stunt, of a sort: PHOTO OP. And 111D: Photog's prompt: SMILE.

45A: Bright aquarium fish: TETRA. And 122D: Grand Banks fish: COD. I did not know where Grand Banks was, so COD did not come to me easily.

52A: Stout's stout sleuth: NERO (Wolfe). I like the clue.

54A: Japanese ornamental tree: MEI. Unknown to me. It's defined as "Japanese ornamental tree with fragrant white or pink blossoms and small yellow fruit". MEI is Chinese for Ume (the Japanese Apricot). Look at this Ume Blossome. I can not find a MEI tree on the internet. I suspect this MEI refers to Ume, not sure.

55A: A likely story!: HAH

66A: Rice dish: PILAF

68A: French probability theorist: FERMAT. Pierre de FERMAT, the French mathematician. Did not know his name before.

70A: ELO drummer: BEVAN (Bev). No idea, I barely know ELO.

76A: "The Gods Themselves" author: ASIMOV (Isaac). Know ASIMOV, did not know that he wrote this book. Wikipedia says that he was afraid of flying, and he seldom traveled great distance. Funny how he could be so creative and productive in his life.

78A: Crazy Horse, e.g.: SIOUX

83A: One heart, e.g.: BID

86A: Bass symbol: F CLEF. Is this a gimme to you?

90A: SSS classification: ONE A

93A: Collections of valuables: TROVES

95A: Fast starter?: STEAD. I put BREAK initially.

102A: Sacred bull of Egypt: APIS. Also called Hapi or Hap. It's said to act as "an intermediary between Ptah (Egyptian creator god) and humans." Here is a picture. Aren't we seeing Egyptian deity almost every day now?

104A: Actress Fawcett: FARRAH. Don't know much about her. Love the new Charlie's Angels.

105A: Laugh-track users: SITCOMS

109A: McMurtry novel, "__ of Laredo": STREETS. I don't know the author or the book.

112A: Soak in wine: MARINATE. In wine? I thought you MARINATE meat in a mixture of oil, vinegar, soy sauce (or other sauce), herbs and some spices.

114A: Weasel sound?: POP. "POP Goes the Weasel"

117A: Mount of Moses: NEBO

126A: Bogie in "Casablanca": RICK. Good to see SAM (64D: Actor Waterston) in the same grid.

127A: Gregory Nava film of 1983: EL NORTE. Not familiar with this "The North" (?) film at all.

128A: Complete: LIVELONG. I've never heard of this expression before. Only know LIVE LONG (and Prosper).

129A: Architect Mies van der __: ROHE. Rae lives in an apartment building designed by him.

131A: Ship departures: SAILINGS. And the annoying crossing with MOOING (106D: Cow talk).

DOWN:

1D: Interfere: TAMPER

2D: Fellow prisoner: INMATE

3D: Prolific inventor: EDISON

6D: Org. of Federer: ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). Good timing. I am rooting for Rafael Nadal though.

7D: Belief in centralized government: STATISM

8D: Printer's measures: PICAS. And 12D: Printer's spaces: ENS

11D: One of Napoleon's marshals: NEY. The "Bravest of the Brave".

15D: Lover of Eros: PSYCHE. And 2 more Greek references. 19D: Greek fable writer: AESOP. 75A: Greek letter: DELTA

16D: One who has lost a limb: AMPUTEE

18D: Pico de ___ (Pyreness peak): ANETO. No, nope, not familiar to me at all.

29D: Buckled under: KOWTOWED

31D: Walk-on parts: CAMEOS

32D: Coast of Morocco: RIF. Another unknown. Dictionary says it also refers to "discharge (a person) from military or civil service, esp. as part of an economy program".

33D: Goddess of night: NOX. Roman goddess. The Greek equivalent is Nyx.

34D: Letters on Cardinal caps: STL (St. Louis"). Rams too I suppose.

43D: Morals: ETHICS

44D: End of cash?: IER. Cashier.

46D: Having pertinence: RELATIVE

47D: Planes for hire: AIR TAXIS. Another unknown for me. It's "a small aircraft for passengers, cargo, and mail operated, either on a scheduled or nonscheduled basis, along short routes not serviced by large airlines."

48D: Tart plants for pies: RHUBARBS. Have never had RHUBARB pie before. It sounds sour.

49D: Removes carefully: EASES OUT

57D: Lap dog. briefly: POM

60D: Bird's horn?: SAX. Bird refers to Charlie Parker.

67D: Financial: FISCAL

71D: Nonentities: NOBODIES

73D: Bad: pref: MIS. I put DYS.

74D: Actor Kilmer: VAL. And 75D: Actor Diesel: VIN.

80D: Dylan song "____ Moore": NETTIE. Did not know this song. Not a Dylan fan.

86D: Mesh fabric: FISHNET

91D: Bowling equipment mfr: AMF (American Machine and Foundry). Brunswick is their competitor.

101D: Waldorf - __ Hotel: ASTORIA

103D: Put away, as gear: STOWED

106D: Choice: OPTION

108D: Parsley pieces: SPRIGS

109D: Bart or Kenneth: STARR. Ah Bart, the Packers' guy. As for Ken STARR, go ask the Clintons'.

110D: Mann novel, "___ Kroger": TONIO. Had to google for this book.

Feeling bruised by today's puzzle? Here is Sade's "No Ordinary Love" to salve your wound: "I gave you more than I could give...I gave you all that I have inside...".

C.C.

Saturday June 7, 2008 Barry Silk

Themeless

Tough journey this morning. This is unquestionably the most complex puzzle I've ever solved. The grid has a very quizzical look, do those black squares contribute to some kind of commercial sign/logo?

Here are the queasy Q's:

8A: Sought after: QUESTED

35A: Saddam Hussein associate: TARIQ AZIZ. I wanted Ba'athists. This AZIZ (Deputy Prime Minister) was # 43rd, later #25 in the Playing Card Deck (Most Wanted List). Saw his mug often on TV before the invasion. But I could never remember his name. Always confused him with the Bagdad Bob (the Information Minister).

52A: Ask: QUERY

21D: For the asking: ON REQUEST

7D: Question off location: WHERE AM I

8D: Nunavut's neighbor: QUEBEC. I had no idea where Nunavut is. O CANADA (1D: Neighbor's anthem), I hardly know ya! Interesting to learn that the song was originally commissioned by the then Lieutenant Governor of QUEBEC in French language. I dislike the clue for 1D, too narrowly defined.

37D: Poorly matched: UNEQUAL

And the zany Z's:

33A: ___ Zee, former Netherlands inlet: ZUIDER. Big stumper. ZUIDER Zee means "southern sea" in Dutch. See here for more information. Boy, I sure don't want to see that new name IJsselmeer appear in our puzzle ever. This J can drive you nuts, JIJ, who are you?

35A: Saddam Hussein associate: TARIQ AZIZ

25D: Low-maintenance hairstyle: BUZZ CUT. Another Army reference is 51A: Most G.I.s: PVTS.

34D: Moral-ending?: IZE. Hmm, moral-ending, let's start the tribute to morel then!

28A: Den denizen: BEAR CUB. I like the clue.

And the excellent X'es:

47A: Sturdy feller?: AXE. Good clue.

58A: Certain movie house: TRIPLEX

42D: Utmost: EXTREME

43D: Neuters: DESEXES

And the jazzy J's:

40A: Clampett patriarch, to Jethro: UNCLE JED. Hard for me. I know nothing about "The Beverly Hillbillies".

41D: Olympian's spear: JAVELIN. I look forward to seeing JAVIER Bardem and his current flame Penélope Cruz clued in one puzzle someday. With letter J & Z, that will be SAHARA hot.

To further scrabblize the grid, I suggest the following changes to the clues:

19A: Geeks: NERDS. Change to "school clique"

44A: Penguins' org.: NHL. Change to "Gretzky's org."

23A: Exclamation of grief: ALAS. Change to "Dejection exclamation"

Also noticiable are the three "Former":

61A: Former: ONE TIME

31A: Former New Yorker City mayor: ABE BEAME. NY's first Jewish mayor (1974-1977).

33A: ___ Zee, former Netherlands inlet: ZUIIDER.

Overall, this puzzle is too much of a Herculean task to me. I quit after 20 minutes of floundering and completely exhausted Mr. Google later on.

ACROSS:

1A: Current rule? OHM'S LAW. Very clever "Current" mislead.

15A: Somewhat aloof: COOLISH. I've never used this word before.

16A: Farther along the ascent: UPSLOPE

17A: One-celled organisms: AMOEBAE. The plural form could also be AMOEBAS.

18A: Abnormal site of an organ: ECTOPIC. Unknown to me, had never heard of Ecotopia either. Dictionary says it's from the Greek éktóp(os) (out of place). OK, so "ec" is a prefix for outside, tópos is place, and "ia" is a suffix for disease. "Ic", of course, is an adjective forming suffix.

20A: Nasal membranes: SEPTA. Singular is Septum. Here is the definition and examples from the dictionary: "A thin partition or membrane that divides two cavities or soft masses of tissue in an organism: the nasal septum; the atrial septum of the heart."

24A: Star in Cygnus: DENEB. It simply escaped my mind.

27A: Hammarskjold of the U. N.: DAG. He was awarded Noble Peace Prize in 1961 (the only person to have been awarded posthumously). JFK delivered a great speech one week after Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in Congo. He said "A noble servant is gone. But the QUEST for peace lies before us."

37A: Moving vehicles: U-HAULS

45A: Letterpress printing plate: LINE CUT. Also called "Line graving". I am not familiar with this term.

56A: Anonymous: UNNAMED. I put UNKNOWN first.

60A: Gallery event: ART SALES

62A: Mope, perhaps: LOOK SAD

DOWN:

2D: Amateur developer's setup: HOME LAB

3D: Marina charge: MOORAGE

4D: Tundra transports: SLEDS

5D: Left-wingers: LIBS (Liberals). Who do you think is the most influential liberal columnist in the US right now?

6D: Sly-fox link: AS A

9D: Mdse. identifier: UPC (Universal Product Code)

10D: Ballpark figs.: ESTS

11D: Blackthorn berries: SLOES

12D: Knocked over: TOPPLED. Does this answer & 35A clue bring you the picture of Saddam's statue being TOPPLED?

13D: Quintessence: EPITOME

14D: Illinois city: DECATUR. "The Soybean Capital of the World". Did not know this before.

24D: Formal introduction?: DEAR SIR

28D: Important thing: BE ALL. I don't get this one. Why? Can you give me an example?

29D: Well-muscled: BUILT. Of course, I fell into the "ed" trap and wrote down TONED first.

36D: Forebear: ANCESTOR

38D: Saki's real name: H. H. MUNRO. Another toughie. Not familiar with him at all.

39D: Not recognizable by: ALIEN TO

46D: Essential: NEEDED

49D: "East of Eden"family name: TRASK. Completely unknown to me. I've never read any Steinbeck novel.

51D: ___ Bismol: PEPTO

53D: Singer Sumac and others: YMAS. Others? Who? I challenge you to provide me with another YMA of some fame.

57D: Old-time high note: ELA. Saw this clue before. But I forgot the meaning.

Finally, 55D: Carpe ___! (Seize the day): DIEM. And don't forget to Carpe Noctem (seize the night) as well. Here is Sade's Cherish the Day. Please don't go astray. And surprise me, Denis of Cork, show me you are really really for real this time!

C.C.

Friday June 6, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Animal Homophones

17A: Animal's cry: WHALE WAIL

25A: Beloved animal: DEAR DEER

36A: Animal that is pulled?: TOWED TOAD

57A: Unclothed animal?: BARE BEAR

59A: Golf-loving animal?: LINKS LYNX

Here (hear) are a few (phew) other animal clues (clews) for you to consider next time (thyme) Mr. Wolfe:

BEE (be); BOAR (Bore); FLEA (flee); FOWL (foul); GNU (new, knew); Gorilla (guerrilla); GRIZZLY(grisly); HARE (hair); HART (heart); Lamb (lam); Llama (Lama); Leach (leech); MITE (might); MOOSE (Mousse); MULE (mewl); MUSSEL (muscle); NIT (knit); RABBIT (rabbet); ROE (row); TAPIR (taper) and Tern (turn).

I(eye) like this puzzle. Great (Grate) theme entries, and the sheer (shear) amount of homophones in the clues/answers delights me. It does have a big attitude though, look: 68A: Nastily derogatory: SNIDE. And 13D: Look down upon: SNEER AT. 50D: Mimicked meanly: MOCKED. I guess you can also include 61D: Big fat mouth: YAP.

But (butt), I have high morals (morels), and I am in a good mood (mooed) this morning (mourning), so I am not going to whine (wine) too much. I enjoyed reading your yesterday's favorite books comments so much. Thank you all (awl) for sharing.

Here is the summary (summery):

ACROSS:

1A: Prohibit: BAR. If it were past tense "barred", we (wee) would (wood) have got "bard" for homophone.

9A: Parisian greenspace: PARCS. French for park. Love Monet's PARC Monceau.

16A: Briny deep: OCEAN. I am thinking of sea & see, seas & seize.

21A: Plains shelter: TEEPEE. Also spelled as TEPEE or TIPI.

22A: Singer Kathy: MATTEA. Did not know her. Here is her Goin' Gone.

28A: Hymn of praise: PAEAN. Here is the John Williams' Indiana Jones theme. A paean to Harrison Ford/Steven Spielberg/George Lucas' youth and their heroic deeds/dreams.

31A: Relished: ATE UP. ATE, eight

36A: Animal that's pulled: TOWED TOAD. And don't forget "toed".

39A: Rapid escape: LAM. LAM, Lamb.

42A: Singer Shore: DINAH. Or singer Washington.

47A: Sale-tag disclaimer: AS IS. Sale, sail. And of course, seller & cellar.

49A: King of Troy: PRIAM. I simply forgot. Like Brad Pitt's "Troy" a lot. PRIAM is "the father of Paris, Cassandra, Hector, Polyxena, and many others. He was killed during the capture of Troy". Tough intersection with AMEN-RA.

51A: Comic Rudner: RITA. I don't know (no) this RITA. RITA is the girl in Lou Bega's "Mambo No. 5". He wants Monika in his life, Erica by his side. He says that RITA is all he needs, Tina is what he sees. And he wants Sandra in the sun, Mary all night long, and "A little bit Jessica here I am, and a little bit of you makes me your man".

Boy (buoy), can you imagine a constructor makes a whole (hole) puzzle out of these girls' names in the song?

57A: Moliere play part: ACTE. Act in French. Hmm, Acts, ax.

58A: Approach quickly: RUN TO. TO, Two.

65A: Type of pole: TOTEM. Pole and Poll.

67A: Brings up: REARS.

DOWN:

1D: Present knot: BOW. Knot, not; BOW, beau; BOWED, bold; And presents, presence.

4D: Part: PIECE. PIECE, PEACE

5D: Get to the present?: UNWRAP. Wrap, rap. Wrapped, rapt, rapped.

7D: Hindu title of respect: SRI. I wonder how those people address their ELDER (54A: Church VIP) in ___Lanka.

9D: Model, often: POSER. PLANE for you Ray (thanks for the mail) and Dennis?

10D: Acquiesce: ACCEDE. Partly, CEDE, seed.

18D: Release: LET OUT

21D: Ballroom dance: TANGO. Is this somehow related to the theme?

22D: Kingston Trio hit: MTA. No idea, I've never heard of Kingston. What does MTA stand for?

24D: Equal score: TIE. TIE, Thai.

25D: Silence while broadcasting: DEAD AIR

26D: Singer Kitt: EARTHA. Tough (tuff) for me. I had never heard of her name before, might have heard some of her songs though.

29D: Egyptian sun god: AMEN-RA. Another hard one (won) for me. I had no idea. Dictionary defined it as "a god in whom Amen and Ra were combined". Another homophone: sun, son.

38D: Rye grass: DARNEL. No, no, nope, completely unknown to me. Plural form "ryes" will give us "rise" though.

41D: Actress Richardson: MIRANDA. Or ___ Rights. MIRANDA Richardson played Ingrid (and was nominated for the Academy Award) in Louis Malle's "Damage". To answer some of your email questions regarding my favorite books yesterday, Josephine Hart's "Damage" is probably my favorite after Bob Woodward's "All the President's Men".

44D: Smits of NBA: RIK. Not a familiar name to me. Got it from the across clues.

48D: Irish dog: SETTER

53D: Ill-bred ones: BOORS. Bred, bread

54D: "Who's there" reply: IT'S ME. There, their.

57D: Against: ANTI. ANTI, Ante.

59D: Some NFL linemen: LTS (Left Tackles)

63D: Greek letters: XIS. XI, psi & sigh. "Sighs" will give us "size", right?

Finally, 14A: Sugar ending: OSE. Here is Sugar, Sugar for you. Click (clique) and Enjoy!

C.C.

Thursday June 5, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: QUIP

20A: Start of a quip: GIVE CRABGRASS AN

37A: Part 2 of quip: INCH AND

51A: End of a quip: IT WILL TAKE A YARD

Hand-pulling is probably the most effective way to control CRABGRASS in a small garden.

So, this is the 22rd puzzle from Mr. Alan P. Olschwang since I started blogging. Stunning consistency in QUIP/QUOTE theme and difficulty rating, every Thursday, amazing! I am really bored to tears. Too many repeat offenders, too many humdrum clues.

I did get stumped immediately by 1A: Style inhibitor? (CRAMP). Took me a few seconds to realize the "Style" here refers to the "Swimming style". (Update later: I was wrong. I did not know the phrase "CRAMP one's style"). And I would not have got 11D: BALSA (11D: Model material) without the across clues, I was thinking of Claudia Schiffer and those supermodel models.

I did not know 17A: ANITA (Actress Ekberg), I pieced her name together from down clues. It would be great if it's clued as Santa ___ Race Track. Together with 28A: Like horse's hooves: SHOD, and 5D: Finished second: PLACED, it would form a lovely horse racing sub-theme. Looks like Big Brown is going to end this Triple Crown drought on Saturday. Are you rooting for him also? Anyone picks Casino Drive? I will stick to Denis of Cork though. I like his style.

ACROSS:

1A: Style inhibitor?: CRAMP. I like this wonderful Michael Phelps slow motion clip.

14A: Entangle: RAVEL. Knew "unravel", had no idea that RAVEL is a word itself.

16A: Movie piglet: BABE. Hey, Wilbur is the new piglet on the block.

17A: Actress Ekberg: ANITA. Did not know her. She was in "La Dolce Vita".

30A: Ear-piecing: LOUD. And 36A: Musician's pride: EAR. The clue for 30A could be easily reworded as blaring or something to avoid this annoying double EAR appearance.

31A: Superman's makeup: STEEL

40A: Old name of Tokyo: EDO. This reminds me of Nobel author Yasunari Kawabata's "The Old Capital" (Koto, Kyoto). I like his "The Dancing Girl of Izu". It stars Momoe Yamaguchi, my favorite Japanese actress.

41A: Exhibit extravagant desire: DROOL. Wow, what a sophisticated clue!

43A: Flatfoot's circuit: BEAT. So many slangs for cops.

44A: Exchange: SWITCH

46A: Native-born Israeli: SABRA. And 3D: Tel _ -Jaffa: AVIV. And 35D: Second Hebrew letter: BETH. I did not know BETH. Got it from across clues.

58A: Part of BYOB: YOUR. Tell me what YOUR favorite books are.

59A: Trial's locale: VENUE

61A: Philbin co-host: RIPA (Kelly)

DOWN:

1D: Rugged cliff: CRAG

2D: Rajah's wife: RANI. Another Indian reference: 46D: Indian instrument: SITAR. Here is Beatles' "Norwegian Wood" with the exotic SITAR instrument.

4D:Like utilities: METERED

11D: Model material: BALSA. What model? I still don't get it.

12D: WWII maritime marauder: U BOAT. Did not know before that U BOAT comes from German U-Boot, short for Unterseeboot (undersea boat).

22D: In contact: AHOLD. Another annoying AWord. Why don't you break it up into A HOLD and romanticize the puzzle a bit? "You've Really Got __ ___on Me, baby, I love you..."

25D: Kind of club: GLEE. And 43D: Kind of shower: BRIDAL. "Kind of" tiresome, isn't it?

28D: Navy commando: SEAL. "I Ain't Got Time to Bleed". Our ex-governor Jesse Ventura was a Navy SEAL.

33D: Leg ends: FEET. Love Happy ___. Sorry Dick, Mkat and all your Pens fans.

34D: With, in Paris: AVEC. I dare you to clue "Voulez vous coucher ___ moi ce soir...", enjoy this Lady Marmalade!

42D: Annual halfway point: MIDYEAR

44D: __ Anne de Beaupre: STE. It's in Québec. I had no idea. I was used to the Sault ___ Marie clue.

45D: Drove erratically: WEAVED

48D: African address: BWANA. Swahili for "our father", hence Master.

49D: Brownish gray: TAUPE. So many different shades of TAUPE.

52D: Vega's constellation: LYRA. I like this succinct line from Wikipedia: "Beginning at the north, Lyra is surrounded by the Dragon Draco, the Greek hero Hercules, the Little Fox Vulpecula and Cygnus the swan." See here.

C.C.