Sunday June 22, 2008 Annabel Michaels

Theme: EXED OUT

24A: Underground publisher, perhaps: MIDNIGHT (EX)PRESS

50A: Receive wine from France?: IMPORT (EX)PORT

70A: U.N.'s stance?: INTERNATIONAL (EX)POSITION

88A: Hamming it up?: OVER (EX) POSING

118A: Grinding power of molars?: TOOTH (EX)TRACTION

6D: Flippantly cocky point of view: (EX)PERT OPINION

73D: Keep a supply of coins?: STOCK (EX)CHANGE

The answer for 6D stands out as the only one with the head EXED. As an adjective, PERT is difficult to be clued as the second part of the phrase than a noun or verb I suppose. I thought of "COMPUTER (EX)PERT" and "ESCAPE (EX)PERT", but both have different amount of letters than "(EX)PERT OPINION". That would have screwed up the whole upper left corner.

But for a shock and awe effect, I would have clued 29A: METERS (Taxi device) as "Coin takers", so the letter X would be completely axed out of the answers and the clues.

I really like today's theme concept, but the puzzle is made more difficult than it should be due to the rigidly constrained theme answers. I experienced nightmares at several crucial intersections: SENNET and CONNATET, PESETA and SCUP. And these fishes really gave me headache today:

79A: Pogy: MENHADEN. Absolutely no idea. Dictionary says "Pogy" is short for "Poghaden", which is explained as MENHADEN, a herring like fish. See this picture.

113D: Type of Porgy: SCUP. Completely foreign to me. It's spelled out as a "Porgy of the northern Atlantic coastal waters, important commercially as a food fish." Look at his SCUP.

I did get GRILSE (101D: Young salmon) by crossing clues, but it's definitely a stranger to me. Dictionary said it originated from Middle English "grills/grilles". Obviously I don't know anything about fish or fishing. I also pieced together DAP (15D: Fly-fishing action) with the across references. It's a new word to me. I've never fly-fished before, have you?

It looks like our editor quit Roman numerals cold-turkey after the "Numerous Movies" binge on June 8. Great! Several major flaws in today's puzzle though:

39A: Mach + jets: SSTS. And 87A: Mach + plane: SST. This is simply unacceptable!

115A: Reach across: SPAN. And 1D: Spanning: ACROSS. Unbelievable! What can I say? Nuts! You either change SPAN's clue to "Time period" or reword ACROSS clue to "Down's opposite".

127A: Compositions: ESSAYS. Needs to add "Literary" to the clue.

51D: U. of Maine town: ORONO. The clue U. should NOT be abbreviated. Barry Silk has explained it clearly in his last BYU construction: "Generally, when a clue is abbreviated, the answer is also abbreviated."

90D: Green-eyed?: ENVIOUS. Why question mark? "Green-eyed" is "jealous", isn't it? If you want to be cutesy and loves to ask, try "Green?"

Alright, enough whining, let's go!

ACROSS:

1A: King Herold's last name: AGRIPPA. Stumped immediately. Hard to get A GRIP on his name. He defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the "Battle of Actium".

14A: "___ Fideles": ADESTE. One more Latin: 30A: In ___ (in position): SITU

20A: Loop thread with a hooked needle: CROCHET

21A: Hit the big time: ARRIVE

22A: Lurch and swerve: CAREEN. "Lurch" or "Swerve", one word clue is enough. Why waste ink?

23A: Correct maps: RECHART

27A: Collar fastener: STUD. Stunning STUD fee for Big Brown, isn't it? See also 77A: Fastens: TIES.

33A: Branding tool: IRON. I don't understand this clue or the answer. Why? It's not the Callaway or TaylorMade IRON brand, is it?

40A: Foot: pref.: PEDI. Pedicure.

45A: Straighten up: NEATEN

47A: City in southern France: AVIGNON. Here is the map. See it? It's on the Rhone River, very close to Marseille. This is the Papal palace in AVIGNON.

52A: Grad. deg.: SCD (Scientiae Doctor, Latin). Doctor of Science.

59A: Richard Attenborough film: CHAPLIN. I've never seen the movie, have you? I like this tag line: "Everyone has a wild side. Even a legend."

62A: Living on the street: HOMELESS

66A: Shout for attention: HALLOO. And 119D: Attention getter: HEY

75A: Man from Aberdeen: SCOT. This word has become our editor's new obsession lately. And 93D: Possess like a Scotsman: HAE. Scottish for "Have". Interesting Robert Burns' Some Hae Meat and Cannae Eat poem.

76A: Dance in France: BAL. BAL Masqué (costume party) for example.

78A: Adopted: TOOK ON

86A: Centering points: FOCI

83A: Like fluids trapped in rocks: CONNATE. Is this a familiar geology term to you? I don't think I even know the Chinese word for it.

92A: Sitarist Ravi: SHANKAR. Good to see SHANKAR clued as an answer.

99A: Links grp: USGA (United States Golf Association). Have to applaud them for their fair course setup during the last US Open.

112A: Old money of Madrid: PESETA. Toughie for me, as I had no idea about the intersecting SCUP.

122A: Authorize: ENTITLE

124A: Solicited orders: TOUTED. And 128A: Sales pitches: SPIELS

125A: Hawaii dress: MUUMUU. She looks pretty in her blue MUUMUU.

126A: Eternal: AGELESS. Helen Mirren, her beauty is AGELESS!

129A: Demonstrates connections: RELATES

DOWN:

2D: Legendary ones: GREATS. Here are two examples: 106A: Pitcher Hershiser: OREL. He won Cy Young in 1988. And HOFer "STAN the Man" (67D: Musial of baseball).

3D: Missile: ROCKET. Do you think "The ROCKET" Roger Clemens will make HOF someday?

4D: German pronoun: ICH. ICH Liebe Dich (我爱你 in Chinese). Say it!

5D: Distinct stage: PHASE

7D: Aleutian island: ATTU. The U from the crossing STUD prevented me from considering ADAK or ATKA.

9D: The best!: PRIMO

11D: Effort: DINT. I only know this word being used in the phrase "By DINT of". Found out today that DINT can also be a verb.

10D: Zealous: ARDENT

12D: Actress Arden, casually: EVIE. "Any Way That You Want Me" by EVIE Sands.

13D: Get back into formation: REGROUP. Does this clue sound OK to you? I always think of REGROUP as "Restart".

17D: Pursue an inquiry: SEE INTO

19D: Consequent: ENSUANT. Unknown to me. I got it from the down clue. Only knew ENSUE.

28D: Failed to: DIDN'T

32D: Mandela's nat.: RSA (Republic of South Africa). His party is ANC (African National Congress).

34D: Roberto's river: RIO. Are we talking about Spanish or Portuguese river here? I think Roberto is also a very popular Italian name.

36D: Against a thing: IN REM. No problem today.

37D: Bristles: SETAE Singular form is SETA.

41D: Richard of "A Summer Place": EGAN. I wanted GERE. I didn't know Richard EGAN. Learned from doing Xword that the "First governor of Alaska" was named EGAN (Willam A.)

43D: Hastens: HIES

46D: Wisconsin city: APPLETON. I can not recall anything special about this city. I only remember its Mini Golf course.

52D: Division into sects: SCHISM

57D: Capital on the Delaware: TRENTON. The Delaware River.

60D: Overabundance: PLETHORA. Did not know that PLETHORA is also a medical term for "excess of body fluid". Dictionary says it's from the Greek plethore (fullness).

62D: Pelvic projections: HIPS. Great Clip on Shakira's "HIPS Don't Lie" Dubai Concert.

64D: Noses: SNOOTS

65D: Elizabethan fanfare: SENNET. Or SENNIT. From French "Signe" (sign). Completely unknown to me. Had great difficulty getting 83A: CONNATE. Here is the definition: "A call on a trumpet or cornet signaling the ceremonial exits and entrances of actors in Elizabethan drama."

74D: Greek colony: IONIA. I simply forgot. A total SNAFU in this CONNATE, IONIA and SENNET area.

80D: Plentifully: AMPLY

81D: Semiconductor: DIODE. I am just so used to the "Electron tube" clue.

88D: Saxophonist Coleman: ORNETTE. Vaguely remember his name from the Jazz Image. I don't think I would have got it without the crossing references. His album 'Sound Grammar" won 2007 Pulitzer for music.

89D: West Indian witchcrafts: VOODOOS

91D: Tailor's measure: INSEAM

94D: K. Capek play: R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). The debut of the word Robot (1921).

97D: Wink of an eye: NO TIME

100D: Group of seven: SEPTET. Heptad also means "Group of seven".

105D: "Car Talk" broadcaster: NPR. Do you like NPR's "The Splendid Table"?

107D: Dufy or Walsh: RAOUL. I don't know either of them. Is it a gimme to you?

109D: Chip maker: INTEL. Hope you don't own INTEL stock.

116D: Partridge's tree: PEAR. Lovely PEAR blossom.

121D: Greek letters: NUS, followed by XIS.

121D: 6-pointers: TDS (Touchdowns). T.D.S. in prescription means "Ter Die Sumendum" (to be taken three times a day.

123D: Dockers grp.: ILA ( International Longshoremen's Association).

C.C.

Saturday June 21, 2008 Tom Pruce

Themeless

I am not fond of this puzzle at all. I simply dislike the overuse of affixes (S, ER, ED, etc) in the grid. And the appearances of OLD both as the clue and the answer just irk me to bones, look:

22A: Study of old age: GERONTOLOGY. Geronto- is the root word, Greek origin (gérōn: old man). "Study of the elderly" would be fine.

41D: Over the hill: OLD

After getting PENSIONERS (18A: Retired employees), GERONTOLOGY and MUNRO, I started to think of Sarah Polley's "Away From Her". It's a very gripping TALE (57A: Narrative Story) about an OLD couple dealing with Alzheimer's disease. The loving ACTS (1D: Exploits) of sacrifice by the husband are very poignant and touching.

The film is based on "The Bear Came over the Mountain", a short story written by Alice MUNRO (7D: Saki's real name"), who is considered "the finest living short story writer" according to Wikipedia. Julie Christie was just brilliant in the movie. The Oscar should have gone to her instead of that French actress Marion Cotillard, who did not even make effort to sing in "La Vie en Rose". (Update later: Please don't misunderstand me regarding the Saki clue (H. H. MUNRO). Many times I am just playing with the answers.)

Ready? Uno, due, TRE (24D: Trevi fountain coin count), Allons-y!

ACROSS:

5A: Round after the quarters: SEMIS (Semifinals)

10A: Stirling man: SCOT. "O, my love is like a red, red rose, that's newly sprung in June...". Love this poem from "Scotland's favorite son".

15A: Main artery: TRUNK ROUTE. New to me.

17A: Legendary bowman: TELL (William). The legendary archer.

18A: Retired employees: PENSIONERS. And 25A: Firestarter: IGNITER. And 44A: Runaway lovers: ELOPERS.

19A: Psalms interjection: SELAH

21A: Circular buildings: ROTUNDAS

27A: "The Raven" monogram: EAP (Edgar Allan Poe). It's mine too, my middle name is ARON.

30A: Actress Fabray: NANETTE. Completely unknown to me. Is she a gimme to you?

33A: Maliciously derogatory: SNIDE

34A: Jiffy: TRICE. Here are some Jiffy Muffins for you.

40A: Got in shape: TONED UP

45A: Caribbeans: WEST INDIANS

47A: Consisting of various kinds: ASSORTED

52A: Aptitude: CLEVERNESS

55A: Brood of pheasants: NIDE. I've never heard of this word before.

56A: Passed on genetically: HEREDITARY

58A: Tree of life location: EDEN. "Did perpetual happiness in the Garden of EDEN maybe get so boring that eating the apple was justified?"

59A: State in northeast India: ASSAM. Ah, the tea state. Wikipedia says it's equivalent to the size of AUSTRIA (38D: Vienna's country) and the area is also known for its silk. Dispur is its capital.

DOWN:

2D: Betty MacDonald bestseller: THE EGG AND I. I've never heard of the author or the book/movie. I like the answer though, with "THE" and "AND".

3D: Generation of today: MILLENNIAL

4D: On the payroll: SALARIED

9D: T-bars: SKI TOWS. I am not familiar with this term.

10D: Jazzman Rollins: SONNY. Dimly remember his name due to MPR's Jazz Image. I don't think I would have got his name without the crossing clues though.

12D: Other: Sp. OTRA And another Spanish word: 53D: Mexican Mme: SRA

13D: Trueheart of "Dick Tracy": TESS. No idea. I took a SWAG. I do like Julia Roberts' TESS in "Ocean's Eleven".

16D: Double-deck solitaire: ROUGE ET NOIR. Not familiar with this game at all. Pure WAG. Look at this Christian Lacroix ROUGE ET NOIR commerical.

20D: Easily infuriated: HOT TEMPERED

27D: Offering proof: EVIDENTIAL

28D: In a hateful manner: ACCURSEDLY. New word to me.

35D: Does a second watercolor: REPAINTS

46D: Fruit of the mind: IDEAS. The "Fruit" here is the plural form, I presume? I like this Emerson line: "Gibraltar may be strong, but IDEAS are impregnable, and bestow on the hero the invincibility".

54D: Pathetic starter?: SYM. Sympathetic. I rather like this "Phony Starter?". SYM/Syn" mean "with", Greek origin.

Alright, the last one, 60A: Stone and the Stallone: SLYS. Here is the "Hot Fun in the Summer Time" from "SLY and the Family Stone". I love those beautiful sceneries in the clip. Happy first day of summer, everyone!

C.C.

Friday June 20, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Man Friday

21A: Some western resorts: DUDE RANCHES

49A: Longtime New Year's Eve conductor: GUY LOMBARDO

3D: Second-story man: CAT BURGLAR

29D: Society: FELLOWSHIP

MATE in Australia, BLOKE/CHAP in the UK.

I've never heard of GUY LOMBARDO, nor am I familiar with DUDE RANCHES or CAT BURGLAR. But they are all gettable from the crosses. I am surprised to see Norman Steinberg's name on today's puzzle though, she is our Wednesday girl. This puzzle does have an easy Wednesday feel, doesn't it? I expect many of you will ace this one.

Not much to gripe about, except 32A: A & M student: AGGIE. It's not an accurate clue. Needs to add "Texas", as there is also a Florida A & M (Rattlers). FYI, AGGIE is also a variant spelling of AGATE (the "Playing marble"). (Update: I was wrong, please read Dr. Dad's opinion on Comments section).

I don't find this puzzle to possess any ELAN (14A: Panache). It's pretty dry and flat, with all those repeat offenders.

ACROSS:

5A: Misbehave: ACT UP

10A: Dorothy's dog: TOTO. Does TOTO have a star in Hollywood Walk of Fame? Look at this TITO (41D: Musician Puente) Star.

15A: Capital of Idaho: BOISE. I was the same as Bill, always thought that "I da ho" was only a type of potato.

18A: ___ of magnitude: ORDER. I would not have got it without down clues. I only knew the Chinese word 數量級. Can you read these 3 Chinese characters? Or are they just 3 square boxes to you?

19A: Part of a lot sometimes: ACRE. And 10D: Parcels of land: TRACTS

23A: Transmission cells: NEURONS

26A: McNally's partner: RAND. Foreign to me. Only knew Ayn RAND.

27A: Summons: SENDS FOR

34A: Chemist Pauling: LINUS. No idea. Wow, he got 2 Nobel prize (Chemistry in 1954 & Nobel Peace in 1962). Wikiepedia says he is "a member of a small group of individuals who have been awarded more than one Nobel Prize, one of only two people to receive them in different fields (the other was Marie Curie), and the only person in that group to have been awarded each of his prizes without having to share it with another recipient". I only knew this LINUS.

37A: Ricochet: CAROM. Billiards bounce.

45A: Traded without money: BARTERED

46A: Escaped: GOT AWAY. I don't know much about crossword construction, but I dislike when GOT and GETS (49D: Catches on to) appear in the same grid. I was also bothered by the appearance of both SLEEP & SLEPT on Tuesday Barry Silk's CLASS puzzle.

45A: Lyricist Gershwin: IRA. Yawner, yawner. When are you going to clue it as "Grp from Belfast"?

56A: Els or Kovacs: ERNIE. ERNIE Els has hopped onto the Butch Harmon's bandwagon. Not a good time for David Leadbetter right now, unless Michelle Wie pulls off a win at US Open next week. I wonder why our editor never Cubs' great ERNIE Banks, given that TMS puzzle primarily serves the Chicago area.

DOWN:

6D: Quantities of wood: CORDS. I was not familiar with this "wood stacks" meaning of CORDS.

9D: Every year: PER ANNUM. Could not jam in PERENNIAL.

24D: Fence piece: RAIL. My first response was EPEE (Fencing piece).

32D: Peck in "Moby Dick": AHAB. Have never watched "Moby Dick".

33D: Festive: GALA. Have some GALA apples.

34D: After midnight, say: LATE. Here is Simon & Garfunkel's "LATE in the Evening". I am now listening to Michael Learns to Rock's "That's Why You Go Away". I also love their "25 Minutes LATE": "Boy I've missed your kisses all the time, but this is 25 minutes too LATE...".

It's such a boring puzzle today, let's discuss a little bit about music. What have you been listening to lately? Who are your favorite singers? Please share with us.

37D: Chewy candies: CARAMELS

38D: Caesar's TV sidekick: COCA (Imogene)

44D: Gnawing animal: RODENT. How can you get rid of those squirrels? They love to RUIN (16A: Destroy) our vegetable garden.

46D: Pam or Rosey: GRIER. I did not know Pam GRIER. She was in "Jackie Brown". Rosey GRIER was one of RFK's bodyguards. Wikipedia says he was a member of the original "Fearsome Foursome" of the 1957 NY Giants & also a member of the "Fearsome Foursome "of the 1963 LA RAMS (31D: St. Louis football team), very interesting!

51D: Eli's alma mater: YALE. I think we've had enough YALE graduate presidents, almost 20 years, way too long.

52D: Newscaster Hume: BRIT. Anchor of Fox News' "Special Report with BRIT Hume". He is a very very avid crossword solver.

57D: New Deal agcy.: WPA (Work Projects Administration).

Alright, the last one, 40D: Deli offering: HERO. "There is a HERO if you look inside your heart..." Enjoy!

Thursday June 19, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: QUIP

17A: Start of a Casey Stengel quip: THE YANKEES

21A: Part of 2 of quip: DON'T PAY

40A: Part 3 of quip: ME TO WIN EVERY DAY

54A: Part 4 of quip: JUST TWO

63A: End of quip: OUT OF THREE

Ah, the Stengelese, I admire so much his philosophical wit! A very intelligent man: "They say Yogi Berra is funny. Well, he has a lovely wife and family, a beautiful home, money in the bank, and he plays golf with millionaires. What's funny about that?"

My understanding of Casey Stengel's life mainly comes from the Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio books I've mindlessly leafed through. When I think of him, I think of the "Most ball games are lost, not won" quote. I always thought of him as a Yankees/Mets Manager. Did not know until this morning that he had played for both NY Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers before. That's amazing. Who else could claim that he played/managed all the 4 MLB teams in NY?

Good to see PEDRO (32D: Cy Young winner Martinez) in today's puzzle. I wish JOSH (54D: Kid) were clued as "Red Sox pitcher Beckett" and MINE (35A: Planted explosive) clued as " Outfielder's cry". It would have been a great baseball themed puzzle.

Had to flirt with Google again this morning. Had difficulty getting into this Michael T. William's wavelength. It's odd to get a QUIP puzzle from him.

ACROSS:

6A: Autobahn auto: AUDI. Regarding yesterday's OLDS (36D: Antique auto), I think Richard @ 1:35pm explained it very well. REO would be a perfectly fine answer for the "Antique auto" clue.

10A: __ does it: THAT. "EASY" does it Tiger! See you at the Masters next year!

14A: Pita fiber: ISTLE. I only knew "Pita" as the TASTY (10D: Delectable) flatbread topped with hummus. Had no idea that it can also be a fiber-yielding plant. ISTLE is a new word to me. Here is the definition: "a fiber from any of several tropical American plants of the genus Agave or Yucca, used in making bagging, carpets, etc."

16A: Dynamic intro?: AERO

20A: Singer Brewer: TERESA. Completely unknown to me. Mother TERESA & TERESA Heinz Kerry, yes.

23A: Camera-ready copy: REPRO

26A: Let down: LAY. Here is Eric Clapton's "LAY Down Sally".

30A: Disarranged: TOUSLED. This is Kate Moss' classic "Tousled, Just Out of Bed" look.

37A: Boot binding: LACE. And 9D: Boot cushion: INSOLE. How you guys could segue the topic yesterday from SCORIA into boots and sandwich is beyond me.

38A: Roeper's co-host: EBERT (Roger). He has not been on the show for a longtime. I don't think he can talk now.

44A: Murder: DO IN. Here is another great line from the great Casey Stengel: "Being with a woman all night never hurt no professional baseball player. It's staying up all night looking for a woman that DOes him IN".

47A: Ability to walk aboard: SEA LEGS. Is it gimme to you? I've never heard of "SEA LEGS" before.

52A: Mature: ADULT. "As youth lives in the future, so the ADULT lives in the past: No one rightly knows how to live in the present."

58A: Stevedore: LOADER

68A: Collection of artifacts: HOARD. Really? I thought HOARD has a negative "greedy" connotation.

71A: Some lilies: SEGOS Utah State Flower SEGO Lily.

DOWN:

5D: Wonderland service: TEA SET

7D: A. Godfrey's instrument: UKE (Ukulele)

11D: Dickens hypocrite: HEEP (Uriah). From "David Copperfield".

13D: Singer Orlando: TONY. Ah, got him this time, the "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" singer. This is the list of 2008 TONY Award Winners. That "In the Height" actor (Lin-Manuel Miranda) sounds extremely talented.

18D: City on the Tyrrhenian Sea: NAPOLI. Italian name for Naples. Here is the map. I am not familiar with the Tyrrhenian Sea at all.

22D: 2000 candidate Ralph: NADER. He wrote "Unsafe at Any Speed".

24D: Kagali's country: var.: RUANDA (Rwanda). New to me also. Dictionary says "RUANDA" can also refer to the "Bantu language".

25D: Seminole chief: OSCEOLA. I forgot his name again. How can I remember him?

27D: Goldman and Lazarus: EMMAS. I know neither of them. Got the answer from across clues. Oh, Another Goldman (Steven) has written a book titled "Forging Genius: The Making of Casey Stengel".

31D: Taxed: LEVIED

33D: Egghead: BRAIN. That's what he wished.

34D: "Funny girl" composer: STYNE. Another unknown. Pieced together from the across clues.

41D: "The Man Who ___ There": WASN'T. Cohen brothers' film. I wish the clue was "Rome _____ built in a day", it would form a mini Italy sub-theme with ITER (3D: Roman way) and 18D: NAPOLI.

42D: Completely surround: ENGULF. Lois has probably got her copy of "When You Are ENGULFed in Flame".

48D: Tim Burton film: ED WOOD. Here is more information about the film, starring Johnny Depp. I've never seen it.

49D: Three-hanging vegans: SLOTHS. What? SLOTHS do not eat meat? Are you sure?

53D: Lake near Reno: TAHOE. Could have been clued as "Chevy offering" to pair up with 6D: AUDI.

57D: Yorkshire river: OUSE

59D: Move with a mouse: DRAG

60D: One Saarine: EERO. His father is Eliel.

64D: Thoughtful letter: TLC. Oh I need some.

Alright, the last one, 1D: Skater Katarina: WITT. I did not know her. Wikipedia says she is in the World Figure Skating HOF now. I'm bad, I'm bad...who's bad?

C.C.

LAT Daily Newspaper Updates

Below is the most update information on all the newspapers that carry LAT Daily (distributed by Tribune Media Service) crossword puzzle.

I still need paper names from AK, AZ, DE, KS, MO, MS, TN, VT and WY. Please send me an email or just write a comment here so that I can add your paper to the list.

You can always go to LA Times website and print out the puzzle. They have a 30-day archive.

Thank you.

C.C.


Total: 95

International: 13

the Nation, Bangkok, Thailand.

Globe & Mail, Toronto, ON, Canada

Times Colonist, Victoria, BC, Cananda

The Province, Vancouver, B.C. Canada

The Montreal Gazette, Q.C., Canada (Sunday only, but publishes the puzzle on its Saturday "Weekend" section)

Arabian Sun (Weekly paper of Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arab)

Taipei Times (update) & Taiwan News (old TMS syndication), Taiwan

Viet Nam News, Vietnam

??? Philippines (Levie, pls provide me with your paper name)

Times of India, Bangalore & Mumbai & New Delhi, India

Buenos Aires Herald, Buenos Aires, Argentina



US: 82

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

AK:

AR: Arkansas Democrat Gazette (Little Rock)

AZ: The Arizona Republic

CA: Orange County Register (7-day); San Jose Mercury News (Mon. to Sat.); Bakersfield California; Daily Bulletin (Rancho Cucamonga); The Californian (Salinas, Mon.-Sat.); Redding Record Searchlight; "The Press-Enterprise" (Inland southern California, Riverside); San Francisco Chronicle

CO: Colorado Springs Gazette

CT: Waterbury Republican (Torrington, Sun.)

DE:

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

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


GA: Savannah Morning News

HI: Honolulu Advertiser

ID: Idaho Statesman (Boise) - No longer carries LAT.

IL: Chicago Tribune

IN: Herald-Bulletin (Anderson)

IA: Iowa State Daily (Ames)

KS:

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

LA: Lake Charles American Press; The Times Picayune (New Orleans); The Advocate (Baton Rouge, Louisiana)

ME: Bangor Daily News

MD: Baltimore Sun (only Sun.)

MA: The Boston Globe; Berkshire Eagle

MI: Detroit Free Press; The Morning Sun of Mt Pleasant, Michigan

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

MO:

MS:

NC: The Courier-Tribune (Asheboro, NC); The Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, NC. Monday-Friday); Charlotte Observer (LA Sunday)

NE: The Omaha World Herald (Omaha)

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

NH: Concord Monitor Concord

NJ: Philadelphia Inquirer (South Jersey); The Newark Star Ledger

NM: Santa Fe New Mexican (Mon - Sat)

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

ND: The Forum (Fargo)

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

OK: Bartlesville Examiner Enterprise (Bartlesville)

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

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

RI: The Providence Journal(Providence)

SC: The Sun News (Myrtle Beach).

SD: Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)

TN:

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

UT:

VT:

VA: The Virginia Pilot; The Daily Press

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

WV: Daily Athenaeum (Morgantown, campus paper)

WI: Wisconsin State Journal (Madison); The Post Crescent (Appleton); The Green Bay Press Gazette

WY:

Wednesday June 18, 2008 Wayne Robert Williams

Theme: QUAD CITIES (14D: Mississippi quartet?)

10D: One of 14D: ROCK ISLAND (IL)

20D: One of 14D: DAVENPORT (IA)

25D: One of 14D: BETTENDORF (IA)

28D: Not exactly one of 14D: EAST MOLINE (IL)

The one left off the list is MOLINE (IL).

Great theme concept, very creative. I like it a lot. My first reaction to 14D clue ( Mississippi quartet?), though, was ESSES, since there are 4 letter S in the word "Mississippi".

But why "Not exactly" in 28D? Wikipedia says EAST MOLINE is still part of this misnomer "Quint Cities" QUAD CITIES, though BETTENDORF outgrew it and became the 4th in terms of size and population. You cannot say Penn State is "not exactly one of the Big Ten", can you?

I truly adore the OPEC clue (42A: Well-fixed grp.), what a sweet (crude oil) "Well"! I don't like how SENIOR (7D: AARP member) is clued, as the AARP abbreviation demands an abbreviated SENIOR answer. This might be a SENIOR moment cluing error from our editor, who finally decided to put his real name as the puzzle constructor today. Good, I am tired of the Josiah Breward and Willy A. Wiseman pretenses.

I could not finish today's puzzle unassisted, quite a few unknown words/places/names to me. Had some half-hearted flirting with Google and decided to call today a success.

ACROSS:

7A: Volcanic rock ejecta: SCORIA. Stumper. Not familiar with this geology term. SCORIA is "Porous cinderlike fragments of dark lava".

17A: Poorly matched: UNEQUAL

15A: Motives: REASONS. Here is Rod Stewart's "REASON to believe". "If I listened long enough to you, I'd find a way to believe that its all true.."

16A: Rolled pastry loaf: STRUDEL. I love apple STRUDEL.

17A: Contaminates: INFECTS

18A: City near Anchorage: KENAI. Foreign to me. Here is the map. I am not familiar with KENAI Peninsula either.

19A: Vedder of Pearl Jam: EDDIE. Did not know him, I took a SWAG. Here is the definition of SWAG according to Chris in LA: "Scientific wild a** guess for those of you who've never created a budget for a retail establishment".

21A: Cyclades island: KEA. Unknown to me. See here for more information.

25A: Feathered friend: BIRD. This BIRD (Larry) and CAGY (54D: Good at evasion) remind me of KG (Kevin Garnett) and his victorious Celtics. What a season for them! KG would have never got this NBA title had he stayed with the inapt Minnesota T-Wolves.

26A: Reverberate again and again: REECHO. Yes, I can hear/feel it miles away.

29A: Makes diverse: VARIES

32A: Narrow valley: GLEN

34A: U. near Tampa: ST. LEO. Unknown to me. Thought ST. LEO was a Pope. Wikipedia says Desi Arnaz graduated from there.

37A: "Beau___": GESTE. P. C. Wren novel. I've never read the book nor seen the movie.

39A: SASE, e.g.: ENC (Enclosed). SASE is "Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope".

40A: To any extent: AT ALL

41A: Composer Erik: SATIE. It's clued as "Gymnopedies" composer in a March TMS puzzle.

44A: Geraint's lady: ENID. I like this kind of romance.

45A: Very dark: pref.: MELANO. New to me. What, for example?

47A: Bamboo eaters: PANDAS. This Kung Fu PANDA looks cool.

49A: Ring rulings, briefly: TKOS (Technical Knockouts)

53A: Cartoonist Keane: BIL. Gimme for me. "The Family Circus" is placed side by side with "Dennis the Menace" in our Star Tribune newspaper. I like that middle panel.

54A: Schilling and Gowdy: CURTS. Know Schilling, not Gowdy. In fact, Ron Guildry (ex-Yankees' pitcher) popped into my mind when I saw Gowdy, so for a fleeting second I thought the clue was asking for an abbreviation of "Pitchers". Here is another CURT in baseball.

56A: Actress Esther: ROLLE. Of "Good Times". Unknown to me.

60A: Paper folding: ORIGAMI. This always reminds me of my poor Grandma and the agony she suffered due to foot-binding. She was very good at this ORIGAMI and needle work.

62A: Engender: INBREED. Really? Are they the same?

64A: Periods of immaturity: NONAGES

65A: Foliage: LEAFAGE. I don't like this "age" rhyme. "Greenery" would be fine with me.

66A: Crabtree's partner in skin care products: EVELYN. No, nope, I've never heard of this brand. Katherine might know it.

DOWN:

1D: Nightfall: DUSK. Ah, those wild times at DUSK til Dawn!

4D: Weekend cowboy-like: DUDISH. New word to me. I only knew "Dude".

5D: Abu Dhabi loc.: UAE. Have not seen EMIR/AMIR/EMEER/AMEER for a while. And another Middle East reference besides OPEC is ASSAD (12D: Syrian leader).

6D: Macpherson of "Sirens": ELLE. Know ELLE, have never seen Sirens.

8D: Type of society or curtains: CAFÉ. I've never heard of CAFÉ society.

9D: Sugary suffix: OSE

11D: Collegiate starter?: INTER

15D: Good __ to bad rubbish: RIDDANCE. Ha ha, I only know Good RIDDANCE. Had no idea that there is some bad rubbish following.

23D: Dress (up): TOG

26D: Riches, once?: RAGS. I like this clue also. RAGS to riches.

27D: Zeno's birthplace: ELEA. Gimme. Learned it from doing crossword of course. Now, next time, if the clue is "Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus nickname", CALIGULA will be a gimme for me also.

33D: "Trinity" author: LEON URIS. Great to see his full name in a grid.

36D: Antique auto: OLDS. And 48A: Automotive safety device: AIR BAG

46D: Keen insight: ACUMEN

50D: City on the Vyatka River: KIROV. It appeared on an April TMS puzzle before. I simply forgot. The city is known as the "City of Twins" for the unusually high number of multiple births there.

And 61D: Guy's date: GAL. "Oh, well, I love you GAL, yes, I love you...", "Peggy Sue" from Buddy Holly & The Crickets. Enjoy this precious clip!

C.C.

Tuesday June 17, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: CLASS (36A: Word after 20A, 25A, 42A and 48A in flight)

20A: Largest sector of the gross domestic product: SERVICE ECONOMY

25A: Trickery: MONKEY BUSINESS

42A: Constitution Day in Slovakia: SEPTEMBER FIRST

48A: Fred Shero or Scotty Bowman, e.g.: ICE HOCKEY COACH

Not a good puzzle from Barry Silk today. Lots to dislike:

1) The largest sector of the GDP is SERVICE INDUSTRY, not SERVICE ECONOMY, which is a different economic term.

2) The word "briefly" should have been added to the clue for SLOT (63A: One-armed bandit). It's SLOT machine.

3) I hate the clue for 44D: Kind of monkey (RHESUS) because of the 25A: MONKEY BUSINESS. I found out this morning that there is a King RHESUS of Thrase during the Trojan War, and some complicated RHESUS factors. Both of them might be labeled as too obscure I suppose.

4) The clue for 36A CLASS is a total spoiler. Why not clue it simply as "Elegance"? It completely strips away the fun of ferreting out the theme title by myself. A precious "Wow" moment is regrettably lost. I do like how CLASS anchors the grid though.

5) The clue for 48A is perfectly fine, but I would prefer to have 3 instead of 4 theme answer entries. Airlines normally only have 3 travel classes: ECONOMY (COACH), BUSINESS & FIRST. Oh by the way, I've never heard of Fred Shero or Scotty Bowman before, not a hockey fan. Is Scotty Bowman somehow related to the Bowman card?

Are you ready? Allons-y!

ACROSS:

1A: British puzzle centre?: ZEDS. Great clue. I like how "centre" is spelled. (Update: ZED is the British pronunciation of ZEE, and there are 2 Z's in the word "puzzle", hence ZEDS).

9A: Georgia city: MACON. The "Heart of Georgia". Unknown to me. What? "Cherry Blossom Capital of the World"? That's a bold statement, isn't it? Love this SAKURA sidewalk.

16A: Kukla's pal: OLLIE. Kukla, Fran and OLLIE. Only learned this last Tuesday.

19A: Florida city: OCALA. Yawner. Same old, same old.

32A: Zestful: TANGY. Do you know that OCA can taste TANGY and sweet?

34A: Year Caligula died: XLI: Not familiar with this Roman ruthless emperor. Only knew Colts won Super Bowl XLI. Tony Dungy is very respected and loved here in MN. He played for the Gophers in the '70s.

38A: Pugilist Max: BAER. Quite a few AE/EA combination in today's grid. See 17A: PLEA, 13D: NEA, 27D: BEALE, and 49D: Normandy city: CAEN.

56A: Seine feeder: OISE. This is Daubigny's "Boats on the OISE".

57A: 20th cen. conflict: WWII

58A: Stop counting sheep?: SLEEP. And 30D: Snoozed: SLEPT. Lots of Z's to catch!

61A: Chrissie of the Pretenders: HYNDE. Completely foreign to me. Got it from down clues.

DOWN:

4D: Forage for scraps: SCAVENGE

5D: Mrs. George Burns: GRACIE. Can you believe this is a gimme for me? "Say goodnight, GRACIE".

7D: Der ___(Adenauer): ALTE. Der ALTE is German for "the old man". Wikipedia says Konrad Adenauer was "the oldest chancellor ever to serve German, leaving at the age of eighty-seven." Wait, let me see how old Mubarak is...80. I am sure there will be some grumbling for a new investigation on who on earth killed Sadat after Mubarak dies.

8D: Type of pear: BOSC. Have you tried NASHI pear? It's the sweetest.

9D: marshmallow-filled snack: MOON PIE. New to me. I don't think I will like it, not fond of marshmallow at all. I love MOON cake.

10D: Mississippi's ___ State University: ALCORN. Is it famous? I've never heard of it. Wikipedia says Alex Haley graduated from this university.

11D: Chowder chunk: CLAM. Have some, New England style.

12D: Unctuous: OILY And 48D: In a bad way: ILLY. Well, were 48D LEAN, I might have appreciated the symmetry here. But ILLY, ugh, I dislike it.

21D: Pitch black: INKY

22D: Desert springs: OASES. Just for you, Melissa Bee. These sweet dates are perfect for a single girl like you, aren't they?

25D: Pine Tree State: MAINE

26D: Beer list category: ON TAP

27D: Street in a W.C. Handy title: BEALE. "BEALE Street Blues". Unknown to me. Easily gettable though.

28D: Boom times: UPS

38D: Hooters: BARN OWLS. Look at three BARN OWLS.

40D: Pennsylvania town on the Delaware: NEW HOPE

41D: Conic sect: CIRC (Circle)

45D: Vestibules: FOYERS. Here is Degas' "Le FOYER de la Danse" at Musée d'Orsay.

50D: Amount paid: COST. "All that matters is that you treat me right, give me all the things I need...", from J. Lo's My Love Don't COST a Thing. Enjoy!

C.C.

Monday June 16, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Rip Off

17A: "A Few Good Men" director: ROB REINER

64A: Exit furtively: STEAL AWAY

10D: Common Florida tree: THATCH PALM

31D: Pool table position: SIDE POCKET

So close to a pangram (J & Q missing)! Lots of K words today:

5A: Champagne musicmaker: WELK (Lawrence). Unknown to me. Sewed together his name from down clues. Wikipedia says he loved playing golf, and he was a regular at Bob Hope Desert Classics. His autobiography is titled "Wunnerful, Wunnerful!"

26A: Razz: HECKLE. Even the clue is very scrabbly, isn't it? Wunnerful!

42A: Army vehicles: TANKS

57A: Pop choice: COKE. Pepsi please, for those who think young!

61A: Spirit of a screwdriver: VODKA. "Spirit of Black Russian" too.

8D: Mini race car: KART

27D: Pottery oven: KILN

28D: Plumbing woe: LEAK

31D: Pool table position: SIDE POCKET

44D: Difficult journey: TREK

This is my favorite Monday puzzle after John Underwood's "Chess Mate" in April. Can you feel that the quality of our puzzles is getting better lately? I don't seem to groan and gripe as much as I did before. And no clue makes me cringe today. I like it. I like the direction where we are heading.

ACROSS:

1A: Knight's aide: PAGE. BethPAGE Black will host US Open next year. This sign makes me laugh.

9A: NJ military post: FT DIX. Unfamiliar to me. The abbreviation of FT (FORT) always tricked me.

14A: Latin I word: AMAT. I like how it intersects ETRE (4D: French 101 verb).

16A: Windy City airport: O'HARE

19A: Goes ballistic: RAGES. And 50D: Angry rant: TIRADE. This reminds me of Chris Matthews and his frequent tongue-lashing. He was noticeably absent in "Meet the Press" special tribute to Tim Russert yesterday though.

20A: Opts for: SELECTS

21A: Negotiator's need: TACT. Love "The Negotiator". Speaking of "Negotiate", this "Battle Royale" between Rocco MEDIATE and Tiger Woods today brings to my mind 2000 PGA Valhalla. The result might be the same too.

23A: U.K. honor: OBE (Order of the British Empire). J. K. Rowling was awarded OBE in 2000.

24A: Catherine __-Jones: ZETA. This is the sexiest Greek letter clue I've seen in TMS puzzle.

30A: Former Egyptian leader: NASSER. I am truly tired of this clue though. Here is another beautiful picture of Lake NASSER.

32A: Wall St. debut: IPO (Initial Public Offering). No need for Cargill to go public, obviously.

34A: Tore out: HIED. I've never used this word "HIED" before.

35A: Brenda Lee hit: I'M SORRY. Not familiar with this song.

37A: Broadway presentation: PLAY

38A: Miata maker: MAZDA. It's headquartered in Hiroshima.

41A: Day-__ paint: GLO. I wish J. Lo. would name her perfume G.LO.

43A: "Dies ___": IRAE

44A: Petty: TRIVIAL

46A: Bygone cosmonaut's insignia: CCCP. Russian (Cyrillic alphabet) for USSR. New to me.

48A: P. Lorre character: MR. MOTO. Unknown to me. Only knew he was in Casablanca.

52A: On land: ASHORE

54A: Speaker of Cooperstown: TRIS. Boring clue. Try something else to excite me, like OMEGA diamond watch, "Tris of Diamond"?

59A: Display piece: ÉTAGÈRE. This corner ÉTAGÈRE looks neat.

66A: Against a thing, in law: IN REM. Unknown to me. Only knew "REM" is thing in Latin. (Update: I was wrong. RES is thing in Latin)

67A: Part of MVP: MOST. And 61D: B. M. O. C.: VIP. B.M.O.C. is Big Man on Campus.

68A: Whipped up: MADE

69A: Hangs one's lip: POUTS. No wonder, I need to learn how to hang my lip.

71A: Observed: EYED

DOWN:

1D: Minister: PARSON

3D: Some roof ends: GABLES. Saw this clue before. Forgot promptly. Here are GABLES. Here is the GABLE that I am familiar with.

6D: Surrealist Max: ERNST This is his famous "The Elephant Celebes".

9D: Strong-arm: FORCE

11D: Diplomat Hammarskjold: DAG. This is probably the only good news we've heard from the UN chief lately.

13D: Marks on ballots: XES

18D: Itchy skin condition: ECZEMA. Would not have got it without the across clues. I can never seem to remember this word.

22D: Mariner's greeting: AHOY. Hmmm, Chips AHOY.

25D: 1948-1949 flights to Berlin: AIR LIFT

29D: Ice cream brand: EDY'S. I don't believe there is any EDY'S in China, Häagen-Dazs yes.

33D: B. C. or P. E. I.: PROV. O Canada.

38D: Isinglass: MICA

40D: Braff of "Scrubs": ZACH. Unknown to me. Only know ZACH Johnson, who regrettably missed the cut on Friday.

42D: Ankle-related: TARSAL

45D: Act just like: IMITATE

49D: Type of street: ONE WAY. Or Another.

51D: Did as told to: OBEYED

58D: Salinger lass: ESME

63D: "Red River" co-star Joanne: DRU. Foreign to me. Got her name from across clues.

65D: Lid: TOP. Why not clue it as "Zenith" to make the puzzle more scrabbly? Here is Take My Breath Away from the "TOP Gun". Enjoy!

C.C.

Sunday June 15, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: Casting Re-Calls

23A: Movie not starring Queen Latifah?: THE KING AND I

36A: Movie not starring Sid Caesar?: ROMAN HOLIDAY

61A: Movie not starring Vincent Price?: CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN

73A: Movie not starring Billy Crystal?: ROMANCING THE STONE

97A: Movie not starring Orlando Bloom?: CACTUS FLOWER

119A: Movie not starring Robin Williams?: BIRD ON A WIRE

16D: Movie not starring Robert Morse?: THE DA VINCI CODE

49D: Movie not starring Gregory Peck?: PRELUDE TO A KISS

A decent puzzle, isn't it? No Roman numerals for a change! Are you bothered by the exceeding amount of suffixes "S"?

Given that today is Father's Day, I would have clued SIRE (113A: Royal address) as "Father", and POP (47A: What a weasel goes) as "Dad". Shouldn't the clue be "How a weasel goes" instead of "What a weasel goes"? The clue for LEMON (72D: Pop flavoring) needs to be changed to "Citrus fruit" or "Dud". I simply hate the word POP popped up twice.

Besides, the clue for OSTIA (74D: Port city of Rome) is incorrect, it should be "Port City of ancient Rome". It's not there any more. OSTIA the town yes. And STE (92D: Fr. title) should be "Fr. Holy woman". It has to be a Mlle.

Lots of 3-letter words in the grid, and "EE" combinations, CEE, DEEP, GEESE, SMEE (31D: Neverland pirate), FOR FREE, REDEEM (20A: Win back) and LEE (44A: Stan of Marvel Comics). By the way, I am eagerly waitinging for LEE Westwood to pull off an upset at US Open later today. I like Geoff Ogilvy too. Who are you rooting for? Tiger?

ACROSS:

21A: Soap Box Derby Site: AKRON OHIO. Knew AKRON, had no idea what was "Soap Box Derby". AKRON is also the location of National Inventors Hall of Fame.

25A: In an unhurried manner: LEISURELY. And then 107D: Rash: HASTY

26A: Greenhorns: NOVICES

29A: Struts: PARADES.

30A: Rugged mountain ridge: ARETE. I just learned that ARETE also means "the aggregate of qualities, as valor and virtue, making up good character". Greek origin.

31A: Disconnected musically: STACCATO. Another musical term: 58D: Slow musical passage: ADAGIO

34A: Writer LeShan: EDA. Not a familiar name to me. A rather short Wikipedia bio.

39A: __out (be a couch potato): VEG

42A: Goggle: STARE

45A: Resolve: DECIDE. Do you like the Cranberries "Free to DECIDE"? I am listening to their Linger right now..."you know I am such a fool for you..."

50A: When asked for: ON DEMAND

54A: Payback: REVENGE. "It's sweet and not fattening".

56A: At no cost: FOR FREE

60A: Andean tubers: OCAS. Has anyone tried them before? Does they taste like sweet potatoes?

68A: Author of "The Hundred Secret Senses": TAN (Amy). Only read her "The Joy Luck Club", and it's good.

81A: Queen of Sparta: LEDA. Ah, the Swan lady, mother of Helen of Troy. I am slowly learning this Greek mythology stuff.

85A: Backed off: EASED UP

88A: Bleak: DESOLATE. And 89D: Depressions: LOWS. How can I cheer you up? How about some Spanish OMELETS (86A: Folded dishes) and mozzarella ROTINI (91A: Pasta choice) salad? Now, are you feeling a bit ZESTFUL (114A: Spirited)?

90A: Hellenic vowel: ETA

94A: In the open: OVERT

96A: Year in Yucatan: ANO. And 51D: Yucatan dwellers: MAYANS.

102A: Kachina maker: HOPI. Look at these ones. Tough to identify the artist I suppose.

106A: "Take on Me" trio: A-HA. Here is the clip. I've never heard of this Norwegian band before, have you?

108A: Biddy condos?: HEN COOPS

109A: Body of rules: CANON. Wish it were clued as CANON camera to pair up with 13D: Camera adjunct: TRIPOD.

110A: Capital of Indonesia: JAKARTA. Too hot and humid there.

116A: Being: EXISTENCE. This reminds me of Sartre's Being and Nothingness.

121A: Intervening spaces: DISTANCES

122A: Titled: LEANED

124A: Suburb of Paris: ISSY. ORLY is another 4-letter city in the suburb of Paris.

126A: Literary compositions: ESSAYS

DOWN:

1D: Refreshing rest: CAT NAP

2D: Shudders at: ABHORS

3D: Irks: PEEVES. See also 65A: Pique: IRE. Not in good mood today...

4D: Nevis partner: ST. KITTS. Got it this time.

5D: "Judith" composer: ARNE (Thomas). Took an educated guess. Only keow ARNE as the "Rule, Britannia" composer.

7D: Nabokov novel: ADA. Have you read this book? Oh, ADA Lovelace is Byron's daughter.

8D: Diva Scotto: RENATA. Completely unknown to me. Got her name from across clues. Here is more information about this diva.

9D: Highway divider: MEDIAN

10D: Dishonor: SMIRCH

14D: Homer-hitter Sammy: SOSA. Not anymore, not without steroid!

15D: ICBM watchdog: NORAD (North American Air Defense Command)

17D: ___ E. Coyote: WILE. Learned this from doing crossword of course.

22D: Rudolf of ballet: NUREYEV

24D: Saloon rocks?: ICE

28D: Upbraid: SCOLD

32D: Schooner fill: ALE

33D: Make fast: TIE. I don't understand this one. What is "make fast"? And how is "TIE" related to "Make fast"?

36D: Hindu aristocrat: RANEE. Or RAJAH. The 4-letter answers would be RANI and RAJA.

37D: Harmony: ORDER

38D: Fashionable Simpson: ADELE. She was on April 22 TMS puzzle.

40D: Mystery award: EDGAR

41D: Silly skein?: GEESE. I like this clue.

43D: Lethargy: TORPOR

47D: Platoon mem: PFC

52D: Lark: ANTIC

54D: Peri on "Frasier": ROZ. I got her name from the across clues. Vaguely remember seeing this name mentioned in a comment long time ago.

56D: CAB successor: FAA. This should have become a gimme to you.

59D: Refuses to: WON'T . Why "refuses to" instead of "refuse to"? Why "s"?

62D: Reveal secrets: BLAB

63D: Old lab burners: ETNAS

64D: Egyptian leader: NASSER. There is also a Lake NASSER in Egypt.

71D: Botanist's study: FLORA

75D: Lambda followers: MUS. No idea. Why?

80D: MPG monitor: EPA

82D: Larter of "Heroes": ALI. Unknown to me. She is pretty.

87D: Wikipedia alternative: ENCARTA. Did you get this one?

88D: Data storage units: DISCS

95D: Direction giver's phrase: THAT WAY

98D: Serendipity: CHANCE. "Can once in a lifetime happen twice?" Silly movie.

99D: Quirk: FOIBLE

100D: Brightly colored parrots: LORIES. So pretty.

101D: Bizet creations: OPERAS

104D: Add, as a liquid: POUR IN

109D: Coastal recesses: INLETS

110D: "Star Wars" group: JEDI. Ha ha, I know this one.

111D: Chart line: AXIS

114D: Nickelodeon's "___101": ZOEY. Jamie-Lynn Spears TV series.

120D: Strand of evidence: DNA

Here is to you, Dr. Dad, and to all those who are Dads, Happy Father's Day!

C.C.