Sunday December 7, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: Must "C" Movies

23A: Movie about George M. Cohan's sweet tooth?: YANKEE DOODLE CANDY (DANDY)

43A: Movie about interpreter fees?: COST (LOST) IN TRANSLATION

63A: Movie about a rain forest chef?: THE JUNGLE COOK (BOOK)

91A: Movie about a kennel owner's purchase: A FISTFUL OF COLLARS (DOLLARS)

114A: Movie about a versatile container?: A CAN (MAN) FOR ALL SEASONS

16D: Movie about a dance troupe?: THE CAST (LAST) WALTZ

62D: Movie about a sleuth's heavenly helper? THE CLUE (BLUE) ANGEL

Such a clever theme. Perfect theme title as well.

I thought of the movie "Some Like it Hot", but the "C" change will result "Come Like it Hot", probably too DF. "Annie Hall" is a great candidate too, but it's impossible to clue "Annie Call" grammatically. "Fargo" (Cargo) does not have enough letters to be a theme answer.

Of the above 7 movies, the only movie I've seen is LOST IN TRANSLATION. And the only movie I've never heard of is A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS.

I seriously doubt the GOLD clue (109A: Fort Knox cache) is the constructors' original. They are far too experienced a team to make clue/answer (65D: Military stronghold: FORT) duplication mistake.

The cluing mistake for DETENTE (17D: International accord) somehow comforts me. I thought I am the only one who is often confused by DETENTE and ENTENTE. What can I say? Confused minds think alike?

I loved the clue for SPA (117D: Bath, for one). Very clever. Bath is a city in England famous for its spas. See the map? It's to the west of London, close to Bristol.

Across:

1A: Fuzzy fruit: KIWI. Fuzzy indeed. But really we don't call KIWI "Chinese gooseberry" in China.

5A: Use elbow grease: SCRUB. I wonder why NASA prefers SCRUB over cancel when they call off the shuttle launch.

10A: 6-pointers: TDS. I still think "NFL" is needed in the clue for abbreviation hint. 6 is not good enough for me.

19A: Seed protector: ARIL. Testa is the hard, outer coating.

20A: Bath sponge: LOOFA. This is how it looks like before it enters your bathroom. Very tasty when stir-fried with a little bit of meat.

21A: Location of Bradley University: PEORIA. I googled. Caterpillar Headquarters is based here also. And WACO (57A: Baylor U. location). U should not have been abbreviated. Dr. Pepper Museum is in WACO.

29A: Printer's measures: PICAS

30A: Beckham's game: SOCCER. We call it football in China.

36A: Yarn bundle: HANK. Like a skein? I've never heard of HANK used as "Yarn bundle" before.

37A: Close-knit group: CLIQUE. Coterie is one letter too long.

39A: Salami type: GENOA. Can you believe that I've never had salami?

40A: Adriatic gulf: TRIESTE. See Gulf of TRIESTE. It's at the north end of Adriatic Sea. New to me also. Such a sad looking word, so close to TRISTE in spelling.

48A: Deserve: RATE. How so? I wanted EARN.

50A: "Leave it to Beaver" co-star: TONY DOW. Would not have got his name without the surrounds.

63A: Grilled sandwich: PANINI. This veggie PANINI looks so good. When do you use the singular form panino then?

67A: Bremen exclamation: ACH. I guessed. Not familiar with this city/state Bremen.

75A: Twisted treat: PRETZEL

79A: Rose extract: ATTAR. I wonder how many rose petals it takes to make a drop of rose oil.

80A: Rhine siren: LORELEI. Also spelled as LORELEY, which can also refer to the rock along the Rhine River where the siren LORELEI lured the sailors. Too bad, Kazie, I simply forgot it again. All I could think of is Circe.

83A: Legendary Hun king: ATLI. I can't understand why Attila the Hun is also called ATLI.

89A: Disco of "The Simpsons": STU. Learned his name from doing Xword. MOE is the bartender in "The Simpsons".

96A: Hack's question: WHERE TO

99A: Baker's item: PIE PAN. What kind of pie did you have for Thanksgiving?

104A: Ancient letters: RUNES. The first six letters of RUNES are F, U, TH, A, R, K, hence Futhark.

108A: "Over the Rainbow" composer: ARLEN (Harold). Normally I like the original song, but this medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World" is so beautiful.

110A: Osaka Okay: HAI. The same with "Cantonese Okay". "Mandarine Okay" is "Shi".

119A: Block: SCREEN

123A: Grandstander: HOTDOG

Down:

1D: Danny or Stubby: KAYE. Got this name from across fills. I know neither of them.

5D: Make glossy: SLEEKEN. New verb to me.

6D: Musical wrapups: CODAS

9D: Undesirable individual: BAD PENNY. New slang to me.

15D: "Banana Boat" shout: DAY-O. I've never heard of "Banana Boat" before. I like that guy's voice. The tune sounds so similar to "Come Mr. Taliban".

18D: Breathing device: SNORKEL

24D: Boredom: ENNUI

33D: Brainpower meas.: IQ TEST. Nice answer.

39D: Small cave: GROT. Only knew grotto. Also, I did not know that cavern is a big cave. Always thought cavern is smaller.

44D: Final strike: THREE. Great clue. Oh by the way, Babe Ruth’s jersey number is 3. Mantle's is 7. Kirby Puckett's number is 34. He died too young.

55D: Hit by the Stones: ANGIE. Is that Mick Jagger? He looks so different.

60D: Kin of CHiPs: LAPDS. But the official acronym for California Highway Patrol is CHP, isn't it?

63D: Opinion leader: PUNDIT

64D: Biotic beginning?: ANTI. Antibiotic. Very unexpected clue.

66D: Home decor co.: IKEA. Do you like the Swedish style food at IKEA?

73D: Bout-stopper: TKO (Technical knockout). The clue needs "for short".

82D: Immature newt: EFT

83D: Estrange: ALIENATE. I like this word "Estrange". I also like espouse.

86D: Hines footwear: TAP SHOES. I guessed. Have never heard of "Hines footwear" before.

89D: Eddied: SWIRLED. I wanted TWIRLED.

94D: Richly appointed: OPULENT. I did not know that "appoint" can mean "furnish".

103D: Monteverdi opera "L'__": ORFEO. Another google. ORFEO is Italian for Orpheus. He shouldn't look back when he tried to bring his wife Eurydice from Hades. Kind of like Lot's wife Pillar of Salt story, isn't it?

104D: Pine product: ROSIN. Never know when to put ROSIN and when to put RESIN.

106D: Pulverize: MASH

107D: Behold, to Guido: ECCO. Italian for ECCE I presume. Guido is the guy who invented the musical notation. Remember the ELA (Guido's high note)?

111D: Egyptian cross: ANKH. Very easy to mix ANKH with the Punjab religion SIKH.

C.C.

Saturday December 6, 2008 Matthew Higgins

Theme: None

Total blocks: 24

Total words: 66

Nice looking grid, isn't it? So open. Only 24 blocks (black squares). This is a record for us. More often we have between 27-32 on a Saturday themeless puzzle. NY Time's fewest block record is 18.

I think I am going to count the total words for Saturday grids from now on. 66 sounds quite low. Our average is probably 70. FYI, the maximum words allowed for a TMS themeless is 72 (78 for themed puzzle). This puzzle holds the record for lowest word count (only 59) in Jim's database.

The plethora of affixes (S, ER & ING) still bother me. But they sure helped me tremendously in tackling today's offering. TARSALS (26D: Ankles) are "Ankle bones", not "Ankles", right?

I have to say again, this grid just looks so pretty.

Across:

8A: Run playfully: SCAMPER. This word always brings to mind the photo of JFK Jr. crawling out of the Oval Office desk. He later said in an interview that the space was too small for Bill Clinton and Monica to play around.

15A: Quintessence: EPITOME. I would like to see QUINTESSENCE clued as "Epitome" some day.

16A: Greek cafe: TAVERNA. New to me. Ink, is this a neuter or a feminine noun?

17A: Invigorate: LIVEN UP

18A: Ice-breaking remarks: OPENERS

19A: Old Turkish title: AGA. I have a question regarding AGA Khan. Is it an Irani hereditary title? Where is his office based? I seem to remember a Pakistani AGA Khan who was active in the 1950s and dated some Hollywood actresses.

20A: Goldbrick: SLACKER. Not familiar with this slang. I was thinking of ingot.

27A: Sees a mental picture: ENVISIONS

29A: More inadequate: LAMER. INANER came to my mind first.

30A: Makes certain: SEES TO IT

31A: Action of endearment: CARESS. And LONGINGS (33D: Strong persistent desires). Hmmm, "amor vincit omnia". What a wonderful 15-letter phrase! Perfect for a Valentine's Day theme answer.

32A: Swinging freely: PENDULOUS. This is the only "ing" clue that I liked.

37A: Athenian philosopher: SOCRATES. He said "Know thyself".

41A: Word-weary: BLASE

42A: One of Sri Lanka's languages: SINHALESE. Or Sinhala. Fascinating, Wikipedia says "Sinha" means "lion", and "la" means "to seize". Unknown to me. The only Sri Lanka language I was aware of is Tamil. And I always associate it with the Tamil Tiger force.

43A: Stadium top, often: DOME. Can you believe that the Twins new stadium will be roofless?

44A: Mold, mildew and smut: FUNGI

45A: Bristle: SETA. Bristly would be setal or setose.

46A: Dos Passos trilogy: U.S.A. I was so happy I finally remembered this trilogy.

49A: Slap the cuffs on: NAB

54A: ABaAabAB rhyme scheme: TRIOLET. No idea. Waiting for Clear Ayes to explain what this scheme is. Funny how it has "Trio" as prefix rather than "Octo" since it has eight lines.

Down:

1D: Interacts: RELATES. I like how it intersects with TOLD (23A: Informed). Wish the clues reflected the tie between the two.

2D: Mediocre imitator of an artist: EPIGONE. New word to me. All I could think of is copycat.

3D: Cockle or mussel: BIVALVE. Oyster is also BIVALVE too. Do you like raw oysters? So tasty!

6D: Light-sensitive photographic coating: EMULSIONS. Got it from the across clues.

7D: Resembling a calyx: SEPALOID. Wow, it's a word. I did not know this. Sepal-oid.

9D: Canaveral and Coral: CAPES. Have never heard of Coral CAPE before.

14D: Scan-line patterns: RASTERS. Another new word to me.

21D: Bruising: CONTUSING. The noun form contusion is more commonly used, isn't it?

24D: Arrange: DISPOSE. Not a familiar definition to me.

28D: Cubic meter: STERE. Who actually uses this word in their daily life?

29D: Classic Gene Tierney film: LAURA. Ha ha, I got LAURA today. Felt a bit sorry for LAURA Bush. She deserves a clue.

31D: Red dye from insects: COCHINEAL. Completely unheard of. Sounds so cruel to crush the insects to get the dye. Wikipedia says the COCHINEAL insects live on cacti. Look at these harvesting baskets.

35D: Conclusion: CLOSURE. I wonder any constructor has thought of a "SURE" puzzle, you know, with CLOSURE, COMPOSURE, EXPOSURE, LEISURE, MEASURE, etc.

36D: Small, bushy-tailed monkey: TAMARIN. New monkey to me. It's tiny. Strange mustache. Wikipedia says TAMARIN's gestation is "typically 140 days, and births are normally twins". And they live to be 18 years old when in captivity.

38D: "I was a __ Werewolf": TEENAGE. I forgot. Mr. Higgins used the same clue in his last puzzle. Looks scary.

42D: Guarantee: SURETY

44D: Peggy Lee classic: FEVER. See this clip. I guessed. I actually thought of NEVER first.

53D: One of Bobbsey Twins: NAN. I bet our editor does not like Indian food. Otherwise, he would have clued NAN as "Indian bread".

C.C.

Friday December 5, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Roy Orbison Hits

20A: Hit by singer who died 12/6/88: ONLY THE LONELY

35A: See 20A: RUNNING SCARED

54A: See 20A: OH, PRETTY WOMAN

Too bad today is not Dec 6. It would have been a perfectly timed tribute.

Argyle probably enjoyed this puzzle. Roy Orbison is one of his favorite singers. I was only familiar with "OH, PRETTY WOMAN". I struggled getting into this constructor's wavelength. So many unfamiliar names.

I loved the clue for OCTOPUS (27A: Entree that serves eight?). I also liked how POEM (61A: Wordsworth work) intersects RHYME (51D: Poetic match). But why "Poetic" clue when POEM is the answer? I really hate our editor's lack of attention to details.

Across:

1A: IBM offerings: PCS. I don't understand what's so cool about Macs.

4A: Evil org. in Bond novels: SMERSH. I forgot. All I could think of is QUANTUM.

10A: GameCube competitor: XBOX. Or "Playstation" competitor.

15A: Kiribati capital: TARAWA. See this map. Unknown to me. I did not know where Kiribati is.

16A: Top choice, slangily: FAVE

18A: Movie category: ACTION. Or "Director's cry".

19A: Footnote wd.: IBID. "In the same place" in footnotes. I wonder if there is any way to clue IBID as I BID.

24A: Jordan/Bunny film: SPACE JAM. New film to me.

32A: Peter and a Wolfe: NEROS. Here is Peter NERO practicing Chopin Etude. I've never heard of his name before.

34A: Nabokov novel: PNIN. I memorized this novel from doing Xword. Without the P, I would have filled in SESAME for 34D: Magic word (PRESTO).

41A: Ballteam skipper Joe: TORRE. I misread the clue as "Ballteam clipper Joe", so I was thinking of Joe DiMaggio. Why "Ballteam"?

42A: Hobbit ally: ELF. I guessed. Have never read Tolkien's work. Would be a gimme if the clue were "Santa's ally".

46A: Twisted wool: WORSTED. Such a strange looking noun.

50A: Enzo's automobiles: FERRARIS. Another guess. I forgot who Enzo was. I actually read his bio last week and could not understand what "mule-shoer" is.

53A: Hokkaido port: OTARU. See this map. Foreign port to me.

57A: Osbourne of rock: OZZY

59A: Arctic attire: ANORAK. New name to me also. Inuit people are of Asian race, right?

62A: Notably the '72 Dolphin defense: NO-NAME. I was not aware of this. Only knew they had a perfect season.

64A: Cornmeal bread: PONE. And TAMALE (47D: Hacienda hot meal). Do you like Thai style fish wrapped in banana leaf?

65A: Stylish: DRESSY

66A: Byrnes or Hall: EDD. I kind of like "Hall of fame" for EDD.

Down:

1D: Mount __, PA: POCONO. Is it the same as POCONO Mountains?

2D: Carson character: CARNAC. I did not know this role.

4D: Big house: STATE PEN

5D: Austrian physicist Ernest: MACH. I googled. Can never remember this guy's name.

8D: Dives like an eagle: SWOOPS

9D: "__ and Her Sisters": HANNAH. One of the few Woody Allen movies that I liked.

10D: Case for Scully and Mulder: X-FILE

11D: Bette's title character of '62: BABY JANE. No idea. I have zero familiarity with this movie.

13D: Signed, kind of: XED

21D: Ms. de Carlo: YVONNE. She played Lily Munster.

22D: Author Umberto: ECO. He escaped my memory this morning. I used to remember him.

26D: Game pieces: MEN

28D: Swiss canton: URI. Or "Spoon-bender Geller".

33D: E. Bilko's rank: SGT. Another unknown film to me.

36D: Thawed out: UNFROZEN

38D: __-Magnon: CRO. Why not "Magnon opening?". It sounds more interesting, doesn't it?

39D: Cursor relocator: ARROW KEY

50D: Playboy's founder, fondly: HEF. This guy seems to wear pajamas all year long.

44D: Thing to do: ERRAND

45D: Certain claim holder: LIENOR

49D: Immersed: DUNKED. I SOAKED first.

52D: Boulder: STONE. I wanted ROCK.

C.C.

Thursday December 4, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Awakening

17A: Part 1 of a quip: IT'S NEVER TOO

27A: Part 2 of quip: LATE TO GET UP IN

40A: Part 3 of quip: THE

48A: Part 4 of quip: MORNING - UNLESS

64A: End of quip: IT'S PAST NOON

I like getting up earlier and watching the sun rise, with a cup of hot tea in my hands. It's the most beautiful moment of the day.

Some minor flaws with this puzzle:

59A: Haste result: WASTE. There should be a "?" mark for the clue.

37A: Covergirl Cheryl: TIEGS. Should be "Cover girl". CoverGirl is a cosmetic brand. I love their Lash Blast.

49D: Latin being: IN ESSE. The clue is asking for ESSE. IN ESSE is "Actually existing" in Latin.

Otherwise, just a typical Olschwang Thursday puzzle. Nothing exciting. I am really tired of this endless Evan Esar quip.

Across:

1A: Kind of crazy?: STIR. Yawner clue.

19A: Kingston trio: MTA. Another yawner.

22A: Email attack?: SPAM. Do you think Cyberspace will explode some day? So many traffics and junks.

25A: Fridge raiders: NOSHERS

43A: Singer Emmylou: HARRIS. Such a sad "For No One".

45A: Old Turkish title: AGA. Does "Old" here refer to "Not any more" or "Has been existing for a long time"? I am always confused about the exact definition of "Old".

52A: Strands, in a way: SNOWS IN

56A: Power input point: FEED. I don't understand this clue.

70A: Betel nut sources: ARECAS. See this picture. I always thought betel nuts grow on betel plants. Chewing tobacco is very addictive and so bad for your teeth.

Down:

1DL Finished a steal: SLID. I like this clue.

3D: Part of VMI: INST. George Marshall graduated from Virginia Military Institute. If our editor is not strict with partial fills, I bet many constuctors will go for a "Meet Me IN ST. Louis" clue.

4D: Play an improper card: RENEGE

5D: Off-roader, for short: ATV

8D: Packing a punch: POTENT

11D: Pay: COMPENSATE. It's symmetrical partner is THERMOSTAT (29D: A/C controller).

31D: Hawke or Coen: ETHAN. Have not seen "__ Frome" for a long time

36D: Brit. decorations: DSOS (Distinguished Service Orders). What is the equivalent for US military decoration?

38D: Matures: GROWS. I wrote down RIPES first.

44D: Brandy balloon: SNIFTER. New word to me. I also did not know that balloon can be "a large, globular wineglass".

50D: Politico Gingrich: NEWT. Or "Small salamander".

58D: Point of California: DANA. Not familiar with this city. What is it famous for?

61D: Enameled metalware: TOLE

C.C.

Wednesday December 3, 2008 Verna Suit

Theme: Three Lines

17A: Three lines: HEM RECEIVING TAN

39A: Three lines: TICKET FRONT STAG

64A: Three lines: AIR STARTING NECK

3D: Three lines: TIME PUNCH CHORUS

7D: Three lines: HAIR SHORE BOTTOM

11D: Three lines: DATE CLOTHES HEAD

What is a STAG line?

Normally I enjoy this kind of "Three Something" themed puzzles. They tend to have less blocks (30 today, compared with our average 38) and the the grid feels more open. But this morning I simply could not find much common ground with this constructor. I was larruped good.

Struggled from beginning to the end. SHIRR (14A) for "Make cloth gathers"? I only knew SHIRRED eggs. Is GNAR (19D: Snarl and growl) even a word? I've never heard of TETLEY tea (56A: Twinings rival), nor have I heard of the clue Twinings. All I drink is the real Chinese loose leaf tea.

I love the clue for EGOS (38D: Vanity cases). I was thinking of ETUI though.

Across:

1A: Lens: OPTIC. Really? I've never of OPTIC being referred as "Lens".

15A: Bourgeois sculpture: MAMAN. No idea. Why is it called MAMAN? Looks like a spider. Reminds me of ARACHNE (Spider woman of myth).

20A: Avian haven: NEST. I penned in COOP first.

23A: __-a-porter (ready to wear): PRET. Do you like Robert Altman's "PRET -a - Porter"? Pretty funny.

25A: Shows intestinal fortitude: STOMACHS. I sure don't have this "fortitude".

27A: For two, in music: A DUE. Dictionary explains A DUE as "together; in unison".

29A: N.T. book: EPH. Would not have got this one without the down fills. Bible is definitely my Achilles’ heel.

31A: Sound of rippling water: PURL. I only knew the Chinese sound for rippling water: gudu.

44A: Loudmouth lummox: YAHOO. I wonder why Jerry Yang picked up YAHOO for his company.

45A: Minnow cousin: CHUB. New fish to me. It's quite big. Are you sure it's "Minnow cousin"?

47A: Pen name: BIC. My instinctive thought is "AKA".

50A: Follow: ADHERE TO

53A: Martin or Kingsley: AMIS. Knew Martin AMIS only because of his affair with Tina Brown.

64A E. Lansing campus: MSU. The Spartans. I wonder if they will ever change Big Ten into Big Eleven or Big Twelve someday.

66A: At full speed, at sea: AMAIN

Down:

4D: Not std.: IRR. Are you OK with this clue?

5D: Minotaur's isle: CRETE. Some of the Greek mythology are ridiculous. How could a woman fall in love with a bull?

6D: Hook's underling: SMEE

8D: Ex-G.I.: AM VET (American Veterans). Did this answer come to you readily? I don't recall ever seeing this abbreviation before.

9D: Bared: LAID OPEN

10D: Spike TV, once: TNN

13D: Penchants: BENTS

26D: Like damp basements: MUSTY. I found some nice old Life Magazine at the flea market, but most of them are very MUSTY. The smell simply refused to go away, even after I put them under the sunshine for 3 days.

30D: Some e-mail attachments: PDFS

33D: Madagascar primate: LEMUR. INDRI is often clued as "Madagascar LEMUR".

37D: Ancient temple: NAOS. Greek for temple. I forgot. It appeared in our puzzle before.

40D: Lhasa natives: TIBETANS

41D: Lapland native: SAMI. No idea. Did not know where "Lapland" is.

46D: Shell rival: HESS. Last time our editor clued MYRA as "British pianist Hess".

48D: Normandy town: CAEN. ST LO also has 4 letters.

51D: James novel, "__ Miller": DAISY. Has anyone ever read this book?

54D: Sal of song: MY GAL. Here is the poster. Alien to me. I disliked the clue.

57D: Leslie Caron musical: LILI (1953). GIGI is another Caron musical. It's released in 1958.

60D: Designer letters: DKNY. It now belongs to Louis Vuitton. DKNY, Chanel, Dior all spend lots of money for their brand protection in China. Too many fake products.

63D: ID card letters, at times: NMI (No Middle Initial). The answer revealed itself after I filled in the across blanks.

C.C.

Tuesday December 2, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: CANYONS (40A: Copper or Snake River) (Note: The clue should be "and".)

17A: Evidence weigher: GRAND JUROR

24A: Manhattan neighborhood: HELL'S KITCHEN

51A: Part of Cambridge University: KING'S COLLEGE

64A: Family pariah: BLACK SHEEP

Boy, did the theme come to you immediately? I spent a long time staring at the theme answers. I've never heard of HELLS CANYON, KINGS CANYON or BLACK CANYON before.

So close to a pangram puzzle. Only letter X is missing.

I really like the clues for BRAND NAMES (29D: Trade words?) and SPUR (61D: Stud poker?), very clever. I also like the position of CANYONS.

The clue for YOST (69A: MLB Manager Ned) is inaccurate. "Former", yes. Ned YOST was fired by Brewers after his team was swept by the Phillies in September.

Across:

1A: McAn of shoes: THOM. I just learned this morning that the brand THOM McAn was named after some obscure Scottish golfer Thomas McCann.

10A: Protest-singer Phil: OCHS. Is OCHS a popular Scottish surname? Och is a Scottish for "Gee", like German "Ach" I suppose?

14A: Dynamic opening?: AERO

15A: Red Sea gulf: AQABA. I was so proud I that I finally got this gulf name.

20A: Conductor George: SOLTI. I forgot. SOLTI appeared in a Sunday puzzle before. Wikipedia says he won 31 Grammys in his life time. And he spent over 20 years with the Chicago Symphony.

21A: American chameleon: ANOLE. His throat looks so strange.

23A: Leaky PA reactor: TMI. I don't recall being informed of this accident when I was China. Maybe I was too young to remember.

27A: #1 hit by the Fleetwoods: MR. BLUE. Here is the song. It's #1 hit in 1959, ages ago.

36A: Italian epic poet: TASSO. I forgot. TASSO wrote the epic "Jerusalem Delivered", an account of the capture of the city during the First Crusade. What does he wear on his head?

46A: Generic poodle name: FIFI

47A: Corsica's neighbor: ELBA. Notice those Italian/French place names? So many end in a vowel. Greek language is unique, with so many words end in letter S.

47A: Cologne trio: DREI. And ZWEI (66A: Two, to a Teuton). "Teuton" is so close to "Teton". Grand Teton, what a DF name.

49A: One equinox: VERNAL. This is Dennis' favorite time.

57A: Edison's rival: TESLA. Our editor sometimes clues it as "Unit of magnetic flux". I was stumped last time when the clue was "Electric-coil creator".

67A: Mann of music: AIMEE. Here is her "I Should've Known". I've never heard of this singer before.

71A: Belgian river: YSER

Down:

4D: 12 times a year: MONTHLY. I wanted MONTHS.

5D: Uris novel, with "The": HAJ. Has anyone read this book?

6D: Peer: EQUAL

8D: Amazon download: E-BOOK

9D: Hit by the Beach Boys: DARLIN. I got it from the across clues. Not a familiar song to me. Barry Silk is a Beach Boys fan. Remember his "Good Vibrations" puzzle last time? Well, it sure helped Phillies win the World Series.

18D: God of France: DIEU. And more French words: ETATS (22D: Les __ - Unis) and OEIL (38D: Eye in Aix).

11D: Laundry clipper: CLOTHESPIN

25D: Queen of Sparta: LEDA. The Swan lady. She is Helen's mother.

28D: White Rose __-Tea: REDI. What kind of tea is this? I have no familiarity with it at all.

40D: Pirate's storage: CHEST

50D: Breastplate of Zeus: EGIS. Needs a "var" hint.

51D: Cartoon Kat: KRAZY

52D: Down in the middle: IN TWO

53D: Singer K. T. __: OSLIN. I forgot her name. Nice song.

55D: Corset tightener: LACER. Is this even a word?

65D: Kenan's comedy partner: KEL. Was this a gimme to you? "Kenan & KEL" is completely foreign to me.

C.C.

Monday December 1, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Tutti Frutti

17A: July 4 noisemaker: CHERRY BOMB

53A: Nonsense!: APPLESAUCE

11D: Neato!: PEACHY KEEN

28D: Bicyclist's perch: BANANA SEAT

I was wondering if this constructor thought of Christina APPLEGATE for 53A. It would be a lovely "Inedible fruit" puzzle. Pearl Buck has PEAR in her name.

My real given name consists of two Chinese dynastries whose capital city was in Xi'An. How did you get your name?

I don't like the clue for HOLMES (29D: Doyle's sleuth) because SLEUTH is the answer to 24A: Clue collector. I also hate the clue for SMEAR (5A: Smudge). So many ways to avoid the letter repetition.

Why "Witty quips" for SALLIES (24D)? Aren't all quips supposed to be witty? It should be "Witty remarks", right? By the way, this definition of of SALLY is new to me.

Nice puzzle, but not as sweet as John Underwood's "Fruity Places".

Across:

1A: A little night music?: TAPS. The military bugle night call I suppose. But why "A little"? TAPS is short for what?

14A: "Rhyme Pays": ICE T

19A: Rattan piece: CANE

20A: Stories in installments: SERIALS

21A: Dieter and Lou: BROCKS. Only know Lou BROCK. Have never heard of Dieter. What a strange name! David BROCK probably has more name recognition than either of them. Talk about a flip-flop.

23A: Handyman's letter: DIY. Handyman also needs KIT (34A: Set of parts)

26A: Jazz vocalist Mercer: MABEL. I was so ecstatic about this clue because I finally committed her to my memory. And I am so ready for "Normand of Silent movie".

29A: Beauty parlor do: HAIRSTYLE. Helen Mirren looks great in any HAIRSTYLE.

33A: Lassie's breed: COLLIE. I wonder what's the origin of COLLIE.

36A: Ziegfeld show: FOLLIES. Not familiar with this show. See also the 1946 film trailer.

41A: Forest fauna: PINE TREES. The clue should be "Forest flora".

43A: Perfect or past: TENSE

46A: Six-shooter: PISTOL

48A: Pirate ship: CORSAIR. I forgot. SHIVER ME TIMBERS was clued as "Cry on a CORSAIR" on a NYT puzzle several days ago. Have you used that phrase or "Well Blow Me Down" before?

59A: Der __ (Adenauer): ALTE. Man, this guy's nickname always gives me trouble. It's the same as IL DUCE (Mussolin's title), isn't it? "The leader"?

Down:

4D: "The Lord of the Rings" character: STRIDER. No idea. I guessed.

10D: "Jo's Boys" author: ALCOTT. Have you read this book? I read "Little Women" in Chinese long time ago.

22D: Subterfuges: RUSES. Every time I see "Subterfuge", I see mushroom cloud. Always confuse the word with centrifuge.

25D: "__ of the Field": LILIES. Great movie.

26D: Tidy any loose ends: MOP UP

27D: Treasured violin: AMATI. Strad is the other one.

33D: One of a pair: CORRELATE. I always thought CORRELATE is a verb.

40D: Leave port: SET SAIL

46D: 12-point type: PICA. What is "12-point"?

51D: Rip apart: REND. Its past tense is RENT.

55D: Mom-and-pop grp.: PTA. I was thinking of the Mom-and-Pop stores, so I wanted Small Business Association (SBA?).

C.C.

Sunday November 30, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Canine Connections

23A: Marine canine?: SEA BASS (BASS)ET HOUND

42A: Central American canine?: GUATEMALA (MALA)MUTE

64A: Tennis player's canine?: NADAL (DAL)MATIAN

75A: Dancer's canine?: ASTAIRE (AIRE)DALE

99A: Sculptor's canine?: NOGUCHI (CHI)HUAHUA

117A: Sioux holy man's canine?: SITTING BULL (BULL)DOG

16D: Fancy-tailed canine?: PEACOCK (COCK)ER SPANIEL

40D: Island canine?: GRAND BAHAMAS (MAS)TIFF

Great theme, isn't it? My best Sunday ever. Still needed to google a few proper names though.

Some of the clues struck me as annoyingly and unnecessarily obscure, especially BLAIRS (83A: Brown and Underwood: BLAIRS). Aren't these BLAIRS a better clue?

I think the clue for RAM (88A: Farm butter) needs a question mark to warn the unsuspecting solvers about the word play on butt-er. I could not think of a better way to clue OTHO (110D: Holy Roman emperor). But it has to be reworded because of HRE (78A: Bygone Eur. realm) as an answer in the grid.

I still don't understand the clue for SOLO (109A: Arias for one). Why "Arias" instead of "Aria"? (Addendum: My mistake. The answer is SOLI).

Across:

8A: Sail-extending pole: SPRIT. See this diagram. It's "a small pole or spar crossing a fore-and-aft sail diagonally from the mast to the upper aftermost corner, serving to extend the sail". New nautical term to me.

28A: Seine tributary: OISE. Here is the map. I wonder why there is no le, or la in front of this river. Is it a neuter river?

31A: Height: pref.: ACRO. As in acrophobia. New to me. Somehow I wanted ELEV.

35A: Proud of being wealthy: PURSY. Have never heard of this word before.

45A: Saul's uncle: NER. Learned his name from doing Xword. NER is Abner's father. Saul's father is Kish.

46A: Partner of Porthos: ATHOS. The other Musketeer is Aramis. How come these names all end with letter S? I thought only Greek masculine nouns end with letter s.

51A: Pianist Cliburn: VAN. Is this Dan Rather's voice? I did not know this pianist.

55A: Vinegar produced from fermented ale: ALEGAR. Ale + (Vin)negar. It appeared in our puzzle a few days ago. Sometimes I make my own honegar in summer time: honey and apple cider vinegar.

70A: Slot fills: TABS. Mortise insert is TENON.

71A: Skiing mishap: SPILL. Falling from the skis?

77A: Asian goat: TAHR. I've never seen this Asian TAHR in China. He looks so lonely.

82A: Tropical black birds: ANIS. Normally clued as "Black cuckoos".

89A: Cold remedies?: ICE BAGS. Good clue.

93A: French wine region: RHONE. Its capital is Lyon.

102A: His: Fr. SES. Or her, its.

104A: Eat greedily: ENGORGE. New word to me. Only knew gorge.

111A: Permafrost region: TUNDRA

115A: Like an opera song: ARIOSE. Another new word to me. I've never heard of arioso neither.

122A: Pocatello's state: IDAHO. I guessed. I've never heard of Pocatello before. What is it famous for? Potatos?

Down:

4D: Import-export difference: TRADE GAP

5D: Remove with caution: EASE OUT

8D: Division into factions: SCHISM. Lots of consonants in this word.

10D: Black sheep: ROUE. The likes of Casanova & Don Juan. Have you heard of Lothario?

12D: Tiresome times: TEDIUMS. Strange that the plural form is not TEDIA.

13D: Hawker: HUCKSTER. Another new word to me.

15D: Greek peak: OSSA. It's the only Greek mountain I know.

17D: Spanked: LARRUPED. This word looks so wrong, with the spelling RRUP, yet it's a real word.

18D: Losers: ALSO-RANS. Like Senators McCain & Kerry.

34D: DDE's command: ETO (European theater of operations)

39D: 1930s programs: NEW DEAL. I just learned that Social Security program is part of the NEW DEAL too.

43D: Berman or Cariou: LEN. Have never heard of sportcaster LEN Berman. I like those bobblehead figurines on his shelf. I was not acquainted with actor LEN Cariou either.

50D: Eminent conductors: MAESTRI. I did not know that the plural form for maestro is MAESTRI.

51D: The 4 Seasons singer Frankie: VALLI. Another google. I did not know that it's VALLI who sang "Can't Take My Eyes Off You". Lovely song.

55D: Latin handle: ANSA

61D: "Guitar Town" singer Steve: EARLE. Here is the clip.

66D: Turndown, from Putin: NYET. A "No" from Putin obviously still carries enormous authority in Russia.

69D: Famous meteor shower member: PERSEID. New word to me also. Perseus is the guy who killed Gorgon Medusa in Greek mythology.

76D: Martini's partner: ROSSI. Nice poster.

79D: Moran and Gray: ERINS. Have heard of Moran, not Gray.

83D: Armband: BRASSARD. I was surprised when the dictionary says it's a word. It also looks so wrong. -ARD is suffix denoting "persons who regularly engage in an activity, who are characterized in a certain way, as indicated by the stem; now usually pejorative: coward; dullard; drunkard; wizard. "

84D: Niagara's source: LAKE ERIE. New trivia to me.

85D: Faultfinders: SCOLDERS

93D: Altercation: RUN-IN

96D: Cultivate: NURTURE

100D: Sun god: HELIOS. He is the brother of Selene (goddess of the moon) and Eos (goddess of the dawn). Sol in Roman.

114D: Turkish officer: AGHA. Also spelled as AGA.

C.C.

Saturday November 29, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

I think I will enjoy themeless puzzles more once I get better at solving. I really like the open field and long words.

This is a nice puzzle. No strained or forced entries, except ELA (35D: Old time high note). I wonder how many people know about this high note on Guido's Music Notation.

I love the crossing of AMERICANA (16A: Bits and pieces of U. S. history) and VALUABLE (12D: Great worth). It reminds me of "Antiques Roadshow" and our local flea markets. I have yet to find something of "Great worth" though.

Across:

1A: Trudge (on): PRESS. I definitely need a "Iron" clue for the answer to come to me immediately.

6A: Ralph Kramden, for one: BUS DRIVER. Easy guess. I did not know who Ralph Kramden is.

17A: Buzzing: ASTIR. I thought of AROAR, too strong for the "Buzzing" clue I suppose.

19A: Stone Age implement: NEOLITH

21A: Dowel: PEG. Got it from the down clue. I did not know the meaning of "Dowel".

22A: Spoon-bender Geller: URI. This looks interesting.

25A: Chronicle: SAGA. They are not the same to me. A "Chronicle" is a real account of the event, right? SAGA is often mythified and romanticized.

26A: Team player: SPORTSMAN. I don't like this clue. A PGA Pro is a SPORTSMAN, but he is not a "Team player", unless it's for the Ryder Cup.

30A: Donnybrook: MELEE

31A: Jumper cable connection: ANODE. NY Times puzzle once had TENDONS (53A: Kin of ligaments) clued as "Jumper's cables?".

36A: Dauphin's dad: ROI. Another guess. I did not know that Dauphin means "the eldest son of the king of France from 1349 to 1830". Kind of like Prince of Wales.

37A: Leafy garnish: CRESS. It's the same as watercress, isn't it? You will more likely find dried CRESS and pickled rutabaga in Asian Stores. They are seldom eaten fresh in China.

39A: New Rochelle college: IONA. Don McLean's alma mater. I never get tired of "Starry Night". I also like his "American Pie", very touching.

42A: Shown, as in a museum: ON EXHIBIT

50A: Pacific weather pattern: LA NINA. I could only think of EL NINO.

51A: Guess at LAX: ETA

54A: Game often stalemated: TIC- TAC- TOE

57A: Miser Marner: SILAS. I have difficulty remembering this George Eliot book.

58A: Puts up with: TOLERATES

60A: Jokes like Dangerfield's: ONE LINERS. Here are some of his best ONE LINERS.

61A: Jazz vocalist Mercer: MABEL. I forgot. She appeared in our puzzle before. We just had " Normand of the silent movie" two days ago.

Down:

1D: Shop tools: PLANES

2D: Rebel: RISE UP

3D: La corrida beast: EL TORO. The clue is asking for TORO, not "EL TORO", isn't it?

4D: Admiral or cabin boy: SAILOR

5D: Actor's lines: SCRIPTS

7D: Diamond arbiter: UMP. I can't remember clearly, did they make UMP bobbleheads in the 1960's? These are adorable. Senators became the Twins.

8D: Sinuous: SERPENTINE

13D: Efforts: ENERGIES

14D: Branches out: RADIATES

20D: Check out: TEST

27D: Performer with strings attached: MARIONETTE. "Performer"? What do you call the person who manipulates the MARIONETTE then?

28D: Run _ of Hip Hop fame: D.M.C.. The answer emerged after I got the across fills. Had no familarity with this Hip Hop group.

31D: Almond liqueur: AMARETTO. I've never had it. Is it bitter?

32D: Marginal marking: NOTATION

33D: Impediment: OBSTACLE. Obstruct has the same amount of letters.

40D: Rod in a car: AXLE

43D: Horsedrawn carriage: HANSOM

44D: Gandhi of India: INDIRA. She had two sons, Rajiv and Sanjay.

45D: Cloning spot, for short: BIOLAB

46D: Present at birth: INNATE. And ENATE is "Maternally related", AGNATE is "Paternally related) and COGNATE is "Related by birth".

47D: Mortarboard fixture: TASSEL

53D: Mrs. Dick Tracy: TESS. Does any one collect Kellogg's Pep pinbacks?

C.C.

Friday November 28, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Same Rhymes

18A: Comden/Green musical: AUNTIE MAME

24A: Rainout remedy: MAKEUP GAME

37A: University of South Bend: NOTRE DAME

54A: Cooperstown attraction: HALL OF FAME

61A: Delano or Alva, e.g.: MIDDLE NAME

I wish I could say "I CAME, I saw, I conquered". With all those ?AME endings, you would think I should have finished this puzzle without googling or wite-out.

I love the appearance of SURI (33A: Daughter of Tom Cruise). I also like the clueing of ALASKAN (3D: Palin, to name one). I could picture this constructor having fun working out his puzzle rather than sitting in the libary and laboring over some archaic fills.

I only wish LONGA (7D: Ars__, vita brevis) were clued differently. You know, with MAME, GAME, DAME, FAME and NAME, don't you think LONG A would be a better fill? How about the clue "LAME part?"

Across:

5A: Moolah: GELT. I've never heard of this slang before.

9A: Canada's __ National Park: BANFF. I bet no other English word ends with *NFF. What a strange name! I like how BANFF intersects NIAGARA (11D: Famous falls).

14A: Stitch's sidekick: LILO. I can never remember this Disney film. Always confuse LILO with REN ("Stimpy's pal").

15A: Melville novel: OMOO. The "Typee" sequel.

16A: Historian Durant: ARIEL. I would not have got this name without the down fills. I am more familiar with "Disney's Little Mermaid" clue. ARIEL Durant and her husband spent over 40 years writing "The Story of Civilization", and they died within 2 weeks of each other. How moving! I like this Will Durant quote: "A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself from within".

17A: Comet rival: AJAX

20A: Legendary Cardinal: MUSIAL (Stan). A rare gimme for me. He is in HOF.

22A: Stan of sax jazz: GETZ

27A: "Bambi" character: ENA. Also the "Spanish queen".

52A: Toshiba rival: NEC

53A: Channel island: SARK. See this map. It's new to me.

59A: Golf warning: FORE. I think the most dangerous shot in golf is shank. Are you a hooker or a slicer?

64A: Australian lake: EYRE. It's in South Australia. Saw this clue somewhere before. I am sure Jane EYRE is happy to stay away from this unwanted Xword limelight.

66A: Reebok rival: AVIA. The other 4-letter rival is FILA.

67A: Weizman of Israel: EZER. I googled. EZER Weisman was Israel's 7th President (1993-2000).

69A: Ex-Georgia Senator Miller: ZELL. I watched and loved this interview, but I forgot the senator's name. I wanted Zoey.

Down:

1D: Big house: SLAMMER. Slang for prison. "Big House" is new to me. I was thinking of mansion.

2D: San Diego's sister city: TIJUANA. The answer revealed itself after I filled in the surrounds. I did not know this before.

4D: Roker of "The Jeffersons": ROXIE. Which one is Roker? I've never heard of this actress or "The Jeffersons". I am surprised that ROXIE is not clued as "Velma's rival in "Chicago", since this constructor seems to be in a rival mood today.

5D: Gridiron upright: GOAL POST

6D: Big bird Down Under: EMU. Look at this EMU egg. Is it edible?

8D: Kind of pole: TOTEM

9D: Joan of folk: BAEZ. Here is Joan BAEZ and Bob Dylan's "Blowing in the Wind". I think I like Peter, Paul and Mary's version.

13D: Language of Flanders: FLEMISH. Most Belgians seem to be fluent in French, FLEMISH and English.

25D: Natural vessel: GOURD. This reminds of my grandma's GOURD scooper. What's the difference between GOURD and squash?

26D: Normand of silent movies: MABEL. She appeared in many movies with Chaplin. I've never heard of her name before.

42D: Fulminations: TIRADES. "Fulmination" is a new word to me. The spelling is so similar to fumigation.

45D: Break down: ANALYZE. Do you like "ANALYZE This"?

46D: Imation rival: MEMOREX. I had no familarity with MEMOREX.

47D: Ham actor's nosh: SCENERY. See Chew the SCENERY origin.

56D: Tear out: LEAVE. Is this a slang? I've never heard of it.

57D: Tears out: FLEES. I used to be very bothered by the same clue for different answers. Not any more. It's not a crossword construction sin.

59D: "___ Joy" (1972 Supremes hit): FLOY. New song to me.

63D: Inch fraction: MIL. Brewers fans probably want another clue for MIL.

C.C.

Thursday November 27, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: The Pains of Parenthood

18A: Start of a quip: IT IS HARD TO

27A: Part 2 of quip: RAISE A FAMILY

44A: Part 3 of quip: ESPECIALLY IN

59A: End of quip: THE MORNING

Also an avian sub-theme:

32A: Everglades wader: EGRET

31D: Extinct bird: MOA. It's native to New Zealand and extinct at the end of 18th century. Daunting size. Those Maoris look fearless though

38D: Bird of prey: RAPTOR

Don't you wish there is a TURKEY somewhere in the middle of the grid? I was rather disappointed by the theme. Was expecting a puzzle stuffed with cranberry sauce, green beans and apple pies.

My husband has to have rutabaga and wild rice for Thanksgiving. What's on your table today?

Easy puzzle. Nothing to rave about.

Across:

1A: By way of, briefly: THRU. Did you notice that there are always more consonants in the first row and the first column? I suppose most of the languages start with consonants. Should you have extra time, you can count the total vowels in today's grid. They normally take up 50% of the total fills.

21A: Italian noble: CONTE. I don't understand this one, is it Italian for "Count"?

25A: Planets: WORLDS. I was thinking of EARTHS.

42A: Eagles hit, "___ it Easy": TAKE. I guessed. Not familiar with this song.

43A: Trunk artery: AORTA. Crossword constructors love A*A: ATRA (Gillette razor); ASTA (The Thin Man dog); ASTRA (Latin stars); ATRIA (Skylit courts); ALTRIA (Parent company of Kraft Foods), ALCOA, Jessica ALBA, ABBA, ASIA, ASEA, etc. Oh, don't forget Barry Silk's AQUA.

50A: Skidded: SLID. I don't like those letter repetitions. "Lost traction" would be fine.

51A: Woman alone on stage: SOLA. "Man alone on stage" is SOLUS.

52A: Actor Davis: OSSIE. Only know him as Ruby Dee's husband. Have no idea what film he was in.

61A: Mine entrance: ADIT. And ORE (60D: Mine find).

62A: Trevanian's "The ___ Sanction": EIGER. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Have you seen the film?

63A: Utah ski resort: ALTA. Another A*A word.

65A: "Charlie's Angels" co-star: DOYLE (David). I guessed. I only know the new "Charlie's Angels".

Down:

2D: Cup on a green: HOLE. Have any of you shot HOLE-in-one before?

3D: Pride signal: ROAR. Good clue. A pride of Lion. I also like the clue for ADAM (56D: First grandfather).

7D: Land of Blarney and Killarney: ERIN. Killarney is foreign to me. What is it famous for? Another stone?

9D: Reggae's cousin: SKA

10D: Charging shout: WAR CRY

11D: "Rush, Rush" singer Paula: ABDUL. Here is the song. ABDUL means "servant of the..." in Arabic.

19D: Doing a hatchet job?: HEWING

29D: Former Curtain: IRON. I like this clue too. IRON Curtain sounds very ancient now, doesn't it?

40D: Type of type: BOLDFACE

42D: "The Waste Land" auth.: TSE. Good. I've had enough "Half African fly".

44D: Glossy paint: ENAMEL

45D: Digs: IS INTO

46D: Sour brew: ALEGAR. Got this word from across fills.

47D: You in Juarez: USTED. I am surprised that the clue is not "You in Yucatan". Our editor loves alliteration.

48D: Rockefeller's 1870 company: SOHIO (Standard Oil of Ohio). Now BP. I googled this one.

49D: Lyric lamentation: ELEGY

57D: Unless, in law: NISI. Learned from doing Xword. I've never seen NISI used in any newspaper or magazine.

Happy Thanksgiving!

C.C.

Wednesday November 26, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: MIDDLE EARTH (58A: Tolkie place... or this puzzle's theme)

18A: Dispel differences: CLEAR THE AIR

28A: Like some good food?: HEART-HEALTHY

44A: Woomera, e.g.: SPEAR THROWER

I did not know the meaning of "Woomera", and I heedlessly filled in SEPTET instead of HEPTAD for 46D: "Seven Dwarfs, e.g." and ZEST instead of ZEAL for 53D: "Enthusiasm". So I made a mess at the lower middle section.

I really don't know much about crossword construction, but I do know it's not easy coming up with two J's (JUJUBE) and two Z's (ZZ TOP) in one fill. Barry Silk is unbelievable. I am always impressed by his repeated efforts in coming up with scrabbly grids, so effortlessly.

I hope you enjoyed his pangram today. This is probably my favorite Barry Silk puzzle. I love the theme. I think I am getting better understanding his mind. I filled in AQI (14A: EPA pollution measure) like it's a OREO cookie. Can you believe a year ago I did not even know what ORT is? My first ever crossword fill is SOSA. What about you?

Across:

4A: One way to fall: APART. Fall APART. Good clue.

15A: Film version: MOVIE. What's the difference between Film and MOVIE?

16A: Articles of faith: CREDO. Without ADIOS (12D: Spanish ta-ta), I would probably have penned in CREED. Or should it be the plural CREEDS?

23A: Brief expert: PROS. I was picturing James Bond in "Brief" (Daniel Craig in "Casino Royale"). I wish the clue were "Experts, briefly".

24A: Infomercial knife: GINSU. OK, here is the original GINSU ad.

32A: Like Rembrandt: DUTCH

37A: Corner aloft: TREE. I think the best TREE clue I've seen is "Leaves home?".

41A: Columnist Marilyn __ Savant: VOS. Her name came to me via the adjacent fills. I am not familiar with this columnist. She has a IQ of 228, "the highest ever recorded", according to Wikipedia.

42A: Composer Thomas: ARNE. The composer for "Rule, Britannia".

47A: Chewy candy: JUJUBE. Chinese date is called JUJUBE also. But I've never heard of KIWI (56D) being called "Chinese gooseberry". Is gooseberry edible? I used to binge on mulberry.

51A: Words before end or angle: AT AN. I don't like this clue. You either clue it as "AT AN angle" or "AT AN end". Dennis probably wants to "Get A TAN".

52A: "Legs" band: ZZ TOP. Here is the song. Those beards are too long for my taste. Interesting, Wikipedia says Frank Beard, "Ironically, in spite of his own surname", almost always "sports just a mustache".

55A: "Lonely Boy" singer Paul: ANKA. Look at those girls, they are all chewing bubblegum. Baseballcards came with the bubblegum in 1959, right? This Mickey Mantle Topps 1959 was sold for $2.850 at an auction.

61A: Fort __, NJ: DIX. Learned it from doing Xword.

62A: Sheep peep: BLEAT. BLEAT always reminds of "The Silence of the Lambs". I wish I had never seen it. What a nightmare!

63A: How some stocks sell: AT PAR

66A: Yorkshire city: LEEDS. Mark Knopler, who scored "The Princess Bride", graduated from the University of Leeds.

67A: Milwaukee's st.: WIS. I misread "st" as "street" first.

Down:

1D: Bit of reality: FACT

2D: Pastel hue: AQUA. It's a shade of cyan, so is teal.

3D: Mr. Microsoft?: BILL GATES. It's symmetrical partner is BAY WINDOW (34D: Oriel). Nice to see "Oriel" as the clue rather than the answer. I like seeing GATES, WINDOW and JAMBS (47D: Doorframe parts) in one puzzle.

4D: All-films stn.: AMC. So is TMC.

5D: Buff: POLISH. I misread the clue as "Bluff", so I was picturing the bluffs above Omaha Beach and Reagan's D-Day speech. That's a strange memory statue, isn't it?

6D: Line of inquiry: AVENUE. I was stumped, how so? What is "Line of inquiry"?

7D: Iranian cash: RIAL. It's the money unit of Yemen, Oman and Iran.

8D: Trillion: pref.: TERA. I would not have got this one without the across fills. See this list. Barry can clue PETA as "Quadrillion" prefix rather than "Animal rights grp." next time. I cannot count above a million.

11D: Tripper Timothy: LEARY. The LSD guy.

13D: Body of art: TORSO. Venus de Milo is probably the most famous "Body of art".

19D: Conway of country music: TWITTY. Here is his Hello Darlin'. Sounds so sad. I obtained his name from across fills.

21D: "Odyssey" sorceress: CIRCE. Siren does not fit and sirens don't really appear in "Odyssey", right?

38D: Zephyr: BREEZE

39D: __ roll (streaking): ON A. Strange that Williams allows partial fill from time to time.

44D: Ice cream treat: SUNDAE. I wish there were no whipped cream in SUNDAE. I also don't like icing on the cake.

45D: 1912 Olympian: THORPE. My first thought was Jesse Owens, who was a 1936 Olympian. Here is a picture of Jim THORPE at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. I vaguely remember one of his game worn jerseys was sold over half a million at an auction several years ago.

49D: Word-weary: JADED

57D: Lumber camp stack: AXES

59D: USPS piece: LTR. Lots of three-letter words in today's grid.

60D: "48 __": HRS. New film to me. Is it good?

C.C.

Tuesday November 25, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Word of Mouth

17A: Stammering: TONGUE-TIED

60A: Performed like Milli Vanilli: LIP SYNCHED

10D: Ursine-shaped candies: GUMMY BEARS

30D: Five-year-old's money source: TOOTH FAIRY

A couple of things first:

1) Thank you for the nice words yesterday regarding the 1 million hit. What an interesting journey! Thank you for the company. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your generosity in sharing your knowledge and time with me and several thousands of solvers every day. I hope you continue to find this blog informative and worthy of your time. I also hope you find the comments from other solvers educating and entertaining.

2) I still can not access my Hotmail account from Firefox, and I don't like IE. So I decided to go back to my dormant Gmail account. If you have any question or comment on the blog, please email me at crosswordc@gmail.com from now on. What I don't understand is why Hotmail is suddenly blocked from Firefox. I've changed nothing for the setup.

Now back to the puzzle. I am not fond of GUM being embedded in GUMMY in 10D. Bubble gum, chewing gum are better GUM candidates.

I like how TOTO (37A: Dorothy's pet) crossing ASTA (29D: Cinema pooch). I also like how HIS (33D: That guy's) parallels HER (38D: That girl's), with HIS slightly above and on the right of HER, wonderful position.

The clue for COPRA (50D: Coconut meat) is incorrect. I cook with coconut meat and but I've never used COPRA, which is dried coconut meat and is used to extract coconut oil.

This is probably the easiest puzzle I've solved this month. Not much pause.

Across:

1A: Myers or Nesmith: MIKE. Only know MIKE Myers. Have never heard of Nesmith. What's he famous for?

5A: Elegant behavior: CLASS. I think the best CLASS clue I've seen is "Type of act". He has CLASS.

10A: Shoots the breezes: GABS. I thought of YAK first.

15A: Arthur Marx's stage name: HARPO. I did not know that his original name is Arthur.

19A: Gangster's girl: MOLL

39A: Verdi heroine: AIDA. Interesting, Wikipedia says AIDA is an "Arabic female name meaning "visitor" or "returning". And it means "reward" in Swahili.

45A: Little-hand indication: HOUR. $355 for this hand clock? Ridiculous!

52A: Norse God: THOR. God of Thunder. His hammer always returns to him magically after being thrown to a target. Most of the Norse myths come from the two Eddas I think: The Poetic Edda (the elder EDDA) or the The Prose Edda (the younger EDDA).

Down:

1D: First name in spies: MATA. Bond jumped into my my mind first. By the way, does anyone know who shot Dominic Greene in "Quantum of Solace"?

5D: Fidel's friend: CHE. If Guevara were still alive, he would have launched a revolutionary against our editor's stiff way to clue his name. I don't think he would be happy to be connected with Fidel Castro all the time.

12D: Chagall's "____ in Green": BELLA. I am not familiar with this painting. Looks like "BELLA in black" to me. BELLA is Chagall's first wife.

34D: __ Inch Nails: NINE. I guessed. This rock band is completely foreign to me. I don't like their Gothic look.

55D: Pasadena campus: UCLA. Doug Peterson, the constructor for yesterday's puzzle, is from Pasadena. Today's constructor Steinberg lives in San Francisco.

C.C.