Tuesday March 3, 2009 Adele Mann

Theme: In Other Words

20A: Railroad employee: TRAIN TRACKER (Train = Track ???)

28A: 9-to-5 worker: CLOCK - WATCHER (Clock = Watch)

45A: Certain cash machine: MONEY CHANGER (Money = Change)

55A: Garden company: PLANT FACTORY (Plant = Factory)

This is the strangest puzzle I've ever solved. The last theme answer simply does not fit the ER ending pattern. PLANT PRODUCER makes more sence.

Or am I missing something here? I am completely at sea! (Note: Thanks to Mrs. BC, now I got the theme, though the Train & Track connection is still confounding.)

My nitpicks today:

25A: Money player: PRO. MONEY is part of the theme answer. So it should not be allowed to appear as clue. Would be a great tie-in if the clue were "Not 4D" ("Opposing position": ANTI).

64A: Splitsville: RENO. The clue definitely need "?" mark.

23A: P. Goss grp.: CIA. I got the answer because I happen to be very interested in CIA stuff. But I dislike the abbreviation of Porter Goss's name. It's unnessary. "grp." is sufficient to indicate to the solvers that the answer is shortened. I don't know when this puzzle was submitted. But we've got 2 CIA directors after Goss: Michael Hayden and the current Leon Panetta. However, Peter Goss did have a distinguished career with CIA. So I suppose the clue is OK.

Thank you for the great responses yesterday. Very enjoyable reading. Some of your breakfast sound strange to me though. Now you've taken the first step, I really hope you can stop at the Comments box often.

Across:

5A: Econ. agcy.: FTC (Federal Trade Commission). They investigate the price-fixing, fraudulent advertising and other illegal practices. The National Do Not Call Registry was established by them as well. Stumper for me. I wanted CDC as I initially thought of COTERIES for the intersecting 5D: Cliques: FACTIONS.

8A: Of singers: CHORAL

16A: Inspirational discourse: HOMILY. How is it different from a sermon? Every time I see this word, I think of the HOMINY grit.

17A: Covered walkways: PORTICOS. Have you visited the White House before?

35A: 1945 conference site: YALTA. I often confuse this Big Three meeting with MALTA Conference, which also happened in 1945, between Churchill and FDR.

49A: Gerund maker: ING. The new CEO of ING Group should rethink their advertising strategy. Won't cost much to bribe our editor to put their name in crossword grid.

50A: "All over the World" grp.: ELO. Would not have got this group without the down fills. I thought "All over the World" might be a slogan for some organization like ILO (International Labor Union).

52A: Gangster's gun: GAT. "Mobster's gun" might be a better clue due to letter G repetition. "Gangster's girl" is MOLL.

58A: Social occasion: AFFAIR. Hmmm, to me, AFFAIR is a secretive, illicit, extramarital, "Unfaithful" fling.

61A: Rodent burrows: RATHOLES. Not RAT HOLES?

62A: Wagner heroine: ISOLDE. From his "Tristan und ISOLDE". From what I gleaned in Wikipedia, the story resembles the romances between Guinevere and Lancelot. What "a brief shining moment" Camelot is.

63A: Here, in Le Havre: ICI. See this map. Nothing special about this city. The constructor picked up "Le Havre" simply because of its alliteration with "Here".

66A: Mo: SEC. Moment. Second.

Down:

1D: Out of gas: EMPTY

3D: "Happy Days" co-star Erin: MORAN. Guessed. Have never seen "Happy Days". It doesn't look like her autograph. The most precious autograph I've got is from Johan Santana. Does he look handsome to you? He pitched the very first baseball game I saw when I arrived in the US.

6D: Of the chest: THORACIC. No idea. Thorax is Latin for chest. That's a very strange diagram, isn't it?

7D: Spanish house: CASA. "Italian house" as well. "Casa room" is SALA.

8D: Division of a polo match: CHUKKA. Obtained from across fills. I know nothing about polo. Kind of like baseball "inning" I presume? How many CHUKKAS are there in a polo match?

9D: Best policy?: HONESTY

10D:__ Khayyam: OMAR. The "Tentmaker" poet. His surname Khayyam means "Tentmaker", so his ancestor might be tentmakers. Like our Smith. I like his "A jug of Wine / A Loaf of Bread / And Thou..." poem. Very simple and beautiful.

13D: Sodium hydroxide: LYE. Sophisticated clue, but I was not intimidated. Whatever lipstick you put it on, LYE is still LYE still the "Soap ingredient" to me.

18D: Contents abbr.: INCL. Included? I don't know. I wanted ENCL (31A: Bus. letter abbr.).

25D: Flower of Texas: PHLOX. Pronounced as "flocks". Literally "flame" in Latin. Why "Texas"? We have this flower in Minnestoa too.

29D: Shrine at Mecca: KAABA. No idea. It's considered the very center of the Muslim world. KAABA is a "cube-shaped building in the Great Mosque of Mecca, containing the Black Stone". The word KAABA is from from Arabic ka'bah meaning "cubic structure". Muslims face towards the KAABA when they pray, regardless of where they are. Also, those pilgrims walk several times around the KAABA in a counter-clockwise direction during Hajj.

31D: Bursera resin: ELEMI. It's clued as "Varnish ingredient" several times before. I forgot what "Burser" is.

32D: Cynthia of "Sex and City": NIXON. What's wrong with her dress?

38D: Sign of sadness: LONG FACE. This is a happy "Sex and City" LONG FACE. Another one, happy too.

39D: Inflexible: DOGMATIC

46D: Red Bordeaux: CLARET

48D: Incise deeply: ETCH. I like this word ETCH, 3 consonants. KVETCH is great too. OREO is boring.

52D: Automation of Jewish legend: GOLEM. Absolutely no idea. It's literally "cocoon" in modern Hebrew. Might derive from the word gelem, meaning "raw material". Looks so clumy and ugly. Scary too. Wikipedia says "Frankstein" was inspired by GOLEM legends.

54D: Cicely or Mike: TYSON. Did not know Cicely TYSON, Miles Davis' wife.

56D: Speaker of baseball: TRIS. I don't think I own any of his card. Learned his name from doing Xword. He was inducted into HOFin 1937, together with Cy Young (the guy on the left).

57D: Lawnmower brand: TORO. Who is their major competitor? Deere?

58D: Some sloths: AIS. This has become a gimme to me. Here is a great picture, see their three toes? If anyone finds a picture clearly showing the two toes of the UNAU sloth, please come to the Comments section and share with us.

59D: Tallahassee sch.: FSU. The sports team name is The Seminoles.

60D: In place of: FOR. I thought of CUM, which is actually "with". Normally the answer for "In place of " is LIEU.

C.C.

Monday March 2, 2009 Jo Vita

Theme: Put on a Hat!

17A: Fish farms: HATCHERIES

25A: Three consecutive goals: HAT TRICK

53A: Carolina cape: HATTERAS

62A: Female pharaoh: HATSHEPSUT

11D: Location of Southern Miss: HATTIESBURG

24D: Sharp-featured visage: HATCHET FACE

Luckily we had HAT TRICK in our puzzle last week. Otherwise, I would have struck out six straight times. HATSHEPSUT looks insanely wrong to me. Wikipedia says this lady was the fifth pharaoh of Egypt, and is generally regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful ones.

Took me a while to realize CIT (3D: U. S. voter) stands for citizen. Is it a common abbreviation? I was not familiar with it at all. I love America and American politics, but I don't have the right to vote. I don't have the patience and courage to go through INS application again. They screwed up my green card big last time. Obviously my Chinese name Zhouqin needs a "u" to make sense to others.

I'd like to have a survey today. If you read this blog every day, can you pop into the Comments section and introduce yourself? Tell me which city/state you are from. Maybe your favorite breakfast too.

Here is the detailed instruction on how to post a comment. I look forward to hearing from you. (Note: Please post your comment on today's Comments section rather than the instruction Comments part).

Across:

1A: Chocolate coffee: MOCHA. Named after the Yemen port city MOCHA, from which the coffee was exported. Yemen is the birthplace of coffee cultivation. But Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee itself.

10A: Cartoonist Addams: CHAS. No idea. Nickname for Charles? The creator of "The Addams Family".

30A: Nearby things: THESE. Oh, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)". I always thought they are made of THESE.

35A: Full of worthless stuff: DROSSY. Only know DROSS.

38A: Golfer Mediate: ROCCO. Gimme. ROCCO Mediate finished second at US Open last year. I don't know. I can never warm up to this guy. Maybe he needs to change his glasses.

40A: A-Team guy: MR. T

42A: Pianist Blake: EUBIE. Ah, EUBIE, why did you pick up this nickname? So hard for me to remember.

43A: In heaven: ON HIGH

47A: Chinawood oil: TUNG. Glory be! Have never heard of TUNG oil before. It's used as varnish ingredient for furniture. I recognized the Chinese character for TUNG tree (油桐) when I googled. Did not know it's also called China wood-oil tree.

56A: Martina of tennis: HINGIS. Shocked to learn she used cocaine. Maybe she should not have broken up with Sergio Garcia. They were cute together. Sergio is a close amigo of Rafael Nadal. And Tiger Woods is of course rooting for his pal Roger Federer. Now you know Tiger and Sergio are no real buddies. Hope US Open (Bethpage Black) this year is as entertaining as the 2002 one.

59A: Caspian sturgeon: BELUGA. This looks dangerous. I did not know BELUGA is that huge. What is the average size of BELUGA caviar then?

66A: 750 in letters: DCCL

67A: Cinema pooch: ASTA. And ASTRO (22D: "The Jetsons").

68A: TV journalist Frank: SESNO. I know how he looks like, but would not have got his name without the down fills. He used to appear on Wolf Blitzer's "The Situation Room" often.

71A: Hebrew letter: TSADI. Nope. Can also be spelled as TSADE or SADHE. 18th of the 22 Hebrew letter. I only know the first one ALEF.

Down:

2D: Can or cup ending: OLA. I cook with canola oil. Oliver oil is too strong for me.

4D: One hundred : pref.: HECTO. As in hectogram. I know this prefix when I see it. But I can't spell it out without adjecent help.

12D: "Toys in the __": ATTIC. Easy guess. Not familiar with this Aerosmith album. Hmmm, Aerosmith sounds like a great name to play for an AERO clue. "Smith intro/head?".

23D: Eating utensil: SPOON. Bet Dennis wanted FORK. I really really like this Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture. That SPOON weighs about 5,800 pounds. Walker Arts Center just removed the cherry (1,200 pounds) to give it a fresh paint.

26D: Religious deg.: TH. D. (Theologicae Doctor). Doctor of Theology. Not a familiar abbreviation to me. Know SEM (29D: Theol. sch.) though.

32D: Minute trace: SCINTILLA

34D: Altar constellation: ARA. See this diagram. Latin for "Altar".

37D: Safecrackers: YEGGS. I wonder what's the origin of YEGG. It sounds Hebrew to me.

46D: Yep: UH-HUH

49D: "__ Cannonball": WABASH. Is this a very well-known song? I've never heard of it before. Very strange song title.

51D: Abridged version: DIGEST

55D: Fracas: SET-TO. Reminds me of the slangy & obscure squabble word RHUBARB we had last time.

65D: You, to Yves: TOI. "... C'est TOI pour moi. Moi pour TOI...."

C.C.

Sunday March 1, 2009 Willy A Wiseman

Theme: Verbatim

23A: Bankruptcy reorganization: CHAPTER ELEVEN

39A: Felon's full term: LIFE SENTENCE

61A: Annual muscleman contest: MR. UNIVERSE

85A: Repeat, but not verbatim: PARAPHRASE

104A: Japanese compact model: NISSAN STANZA

125A: Product for contemporary penners: MICROSOFT WORD

17D: Tim Allen film: THE SANTA CLAUSE

50D: NYC talk show host: DAVID LETTERMAN

I am confused by the theme title. All the above theme answers feel like part of a virtual epic poem. I don't know how they are connected to "Verbatim". Maybe I don't fully understand the meaning of "Verbatim".

Not a very tough puzzle. Some of the obscure answers are gettable from crossing fills. Still, I had to rely on Google for some thorny sticklers. But it's just such a bothering solving experience. I was/am clueless about the theme.

Some quibbles:

13A: Device for tossing empties: EJECTOR. It intersects OUSTED (18D), which is clued as "Ejected". Why not "Forced out"? Rod Blagojevich style!

41D: Dead Sea kingdom: EDOM. "Ancient" is needed for the clue.

79D: Crosses: SPANS. Intersects EONS (92D: Geologic span).

Is Barry Silk's "The Cruciverbalist" (NY Times syndication) puzzle in your paper today? Feel free to post your comments here. I am interested in what you have to say. Here is Dr. Dad's blog post on Barry Silk's LA Times themeless. Click here for Argyle's post on "Over and Over".

Across:

1A: Gloomy gus: SOURPUSS. Good clue alliteration.

9A: Lacking zip: SLOW. I interpreted "zip" as "oomph" rather than "speed". So the answer did not jump to me immediately.

20A: Irrationality: UNREASON. Did not know this is a word. It can also be a verb.

21A: Small and weak: PUNY. Mine was TINY initially.

28A: Handlelike parts: ANSAE. I can never remember this loopy word ANSA. Besides, I thought the plural form is ANSAS.

31A: Parts of bird wings: ALULAE. No idea. ALULAE is also called "Bastard Wing" or "Spurious Wing". Ala is Latin for "wing". The answer reminds me of "Spaces between leaf veins" AREOLES. Weird looking words.

38A: Radicals of the '60s: SDS (Students for a Democratic Society). Not a familiar group. I was thinking of SLA (Symbionese Liberation Army) which is often clued as "Radical group". But they are of '70s. Wikipedia says Tom Hayden is one of the founders of SDS. I presume all their activities are related to Vietnam War protests.

44A: In force: VALID

45A: Willie Wonka creator: DAHL (Roald). Another PETR style odd looking name. Maybe his mom did not know how to spell Ronald, as Mark said the other day. (Note: DAHL means "valley" in Norwegian language.)

48A: South of France: MIDI. Need Kazie's help here. I wanted SUD (106D: Nord's opposite). To me, MIDI is "noon". The best explanation I could find is that "Midday is synonymous with the direction of south because in France the Sun is in the south at noon".

68A: In an irregularly notched fashion: EROSELY. Like these EROSE lips.

84A: Part of AST: ATL. I blanked on this one. AST is Atlantic Standard Time.

90A: Satellite of Jupiter: ELARA. This small moon escaped me long time ago. It's named after the mother by Zeus of the giant Tityus, who, according to Wikipedia, was phallic being who grew so vast that he split his mother's womb and had to be carried to term by Gaia herself. Tityos attempted to rape Leto at the behest of Hera and was slain by Apollo and Artemis. As a punishment, he was stretched out in Hades and and tortured by two vultures who fed on his liver. This punishment is extremely similar to that of the Titan Promeheus, whose liver was eaten by a huge eagle every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day. Kind of like the dripping venom over Loki's face, right? Are you still reading? OK, what is phallic being?

96A: Racing org.: NHRA

102A: Dugout stack: BATS. Awesome bat. Every baseball bat I've seen seems to be made by Louisville Slugger. Why?

111A: Calais summers: ETES. See this map. Calais is French port nearest England. It's on the Strait of Dover.

112A: Soviet mil. intelligence: GRU. Absolutely no idea. I wrote down KGB. GRU stands for Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Uupravlenie (Chief Intelligence Directorate). Founded in 1920 as a complement to the KGB.

123A: Homo sapiens: HOMINID. New word to me. Are we all HOMINID?

130A: Dimensions: abbr. MEAS. Measurement I presume.

131A: Island in the Baltic Sea: SAAREMAA. Nope! Lots of those words end with MAA? I suppose it means "land" in local language.

132A: Linear distances: LENGTHS

133A: Comic Johnson: ARTE. His name is tailor-made for crossword.

134A: In a stupid manner: OBTUSELY. I felt dense. The answer did not come to me easily.

Down:

1D: For example: SUCH AS

3D: Seventh planet: URANUS. Fun trivia. It has 27 known moons. all of which are named after characters from the works of Shakespeare and Alexander Pope.

7D: Alphabetize: SORT. Mine was LIST.

8D: Macbeth's dagger: SNEE. Thought of dirk. Never know when to put which.

9D: Relieved: SPELLED. Forgot this definition.

10D: Jack Lemmon film: LUV. I guessed. Is it romantic?

12D: Keenan or Ed: WYNN. Ed WYNN is a comedian. Keenan the actor is his son. They were strangers to me.

13D: Of Icelandic tales: EDDAIC. Only know EDDA.

14D: "The Joker is Wild" subject: JOE E LEWIS. I googled this one. Played by Frank Sinatra. I like this Joe Lewis quote: "I went on a diet, swore off drinking and heavy eating, and in 14 days I lost two weeks."

33D: Brennan and Heckart: EILEENS. I guessed. Don't know who they are.

42D: French student: ELEVE. Have not seen ECOLE in our puzzle for a long time.

47D: Fish for fertilizer: ALEWIFE. No idea. Why "fertilizer"? Are they not edible? Strange name. I can't find a fish that's named ALE HUSBAND.

55D: Indo-European: ARYAN. Why do I associate this word with Hitler?

57D: Distance measure: ROD. Unknown to me. "Distance" of what? And how long?

58D: Goddess of dawn: EOS. Aurora for the Romans. That's a perfect body. I want to have it.

63D: Slugger Garciaparra: NOMAR. He is married to Mia Hamm.

64D: Luigi's island: ISOLA. Is Luigi a common Italian name? Somehow I thought of the "Dracula" actor Bela Lugosi and started to imagine an island in Transylvania. My mind is not well constructed.

67D: Missionary Junipero: SERRA. The answer revealed itself. Have never heard of this guy.

75D: "Magnificent" Medici: LORENZO. Would not have got his name without the crossing fills. According to Wikipedia, this dude was the de factor ruler of the Florence Republic during the Italian Renaissance.

97D: More accessible: HANDIER

102D: Town near Jerusalem: BETHEL. A bit north of Jerusalem. Hebrew for "house of god". I only know Bethlehem.

105D: Sultan's decrees: IRADES. Arab for "Will/wish". I was only aware of FATWA, which is often issued by those terrorists.

107D: Over distance: pref.: TELO. As in Telodynamic, "pertaining to the transmission of mechanical power over considerable distances, as by means of endless cables on pulleys". I don't understand what I just wrote.

108D: DNA code: GENOME. Forgot. It's a combination of Gene & (chromos)om.

109D: Of religious rites: SACRAL. Another new word.

115D: "Love Boat" co-star: TEWES (Lauren). Well, the only "Love Boat" I was aware of is our Vikings' Love Boat Sex Scandale. But Daunte Culpepper won't fit. Lauren TEWES looks pretty, very fine facial LINEAMENTS.

121D: Utah city: MOAB. Was this city a gimme to you? I was stumped. The 4-letter answer for "Utah city" is always OREM.

C.C.

Sunday February 22, 2009 Linda and Charles Preston

Theme: Over and Over (Blogged by Argyle)

23A: Resumé accompaniment: COVER LETTER

42A: Cowboy: CATTLE DROVER

64A: President from New Jersey: GROVER CLEVELAND

90A: Bill Holman comic strip: SMOKEY STOVER

111A: “Lethal Weapon” sidekick: DANNY GLOVER

14D: Road arrangement: CLOVERLEAF

71D: Bulldozer: EARTHMOVER


Theme Song

Across:

IA: Rice dish: PILAF. Chow Time

6A: Defensive or end: ZONE. Defensive zone: hockey. End zone: football.

10A: Pilot’s place: PALM. Redneck Palm Pilot

14A: Leader Guevara: CHE. Castro’s amigo.

17A: Peninsular mideast region: ARABIA. map

19A: He finishes the cake: ICER.

20A: Steel support: I BEAM.

22A: Fall behind: LAG.

23A: Resumé accompaniment: COVER LETTER. A letter to coalesce the various items in the resume.

25A: Hugo hero: QUASIMODO. Victor Hugo wrote “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and Quasimodo was the hunchback.

27A: Compass pt.: E N E.

28A: Wells vegetarians: ELOI. The Eloi are one of the two post-human races in H. G. Wells' 1895 novel The Time Machine ; the other race, the Morlocks, are not vegetarians.

29A: Beyond help: SUNK. A goner.

30A: “When ___ Cry”: DOVES. The “Artist” Prince has muted all YouTube versions of his song so here are some originals.

31A: Wise ___ owl: AS AN. Wise as an owl.

32A: Acted like a chick: PEEPED. They’re coming soon. PEEPS!

35A: Actress Moorehead: AGNES. Agnes Moorehead, on the radio version of The Shadow in 1937, portrayed Margo Lane, The Shadow's confidant. The Shadow’s famous ability to "cloud men's minds," made him an invincible crime fighter, a figure never seen, only heard. Very convenient for radio!

36A: Ooze: SEEP.

39A: “Pal Joey” author: O’HARA. Pal Joey is a 1939 epistolary(written as a series of letters) novel by John O'Hara, which became the basis of the 1940 stage musical comedy and 1957 motion picture of the same name.

40A: Enter the picture: APPEAR. This reminds me of a clip I saw. Two elderly women are dozing in chairs at the beach; their camera on the table beside them. Some boys come along and one sneaks up and takes the camera.
“Oh,” you think to yourself, “he’s stealing the camera.” But instead he takes a picture of another boy ‘mooning’ the camera and then puts it back on the table and they go on down the beach.
I would have liked to have been there when the women got those photos back.

42A: Cowboy: CATTLE DROVER. One who drives cattle to market.

46A: Spruce: NEAT. Spruce, meaning smart, neat, fashionable, and spruce, the tree, come from the same root(Prussia) but by very different roads. The word, Pruce, indicates from Prussia, where the spruce fir came from. Also, a very fine leather came from Prussia and apparel made with 'spruce leather' was neat and dapper.

47A: ___ Cruces, NM: LAS. Famous for it's breathtaking sunsets.

50A: Fireplace residue: ASH.

51A: Spur: INCITE. The cattle drover spurred his horse and incited it to move faster.

52A: “The Lion King” villain: SCAR. Animated Disney movie

53A: Gave for a while: LENT. ‘Gave up for a while’ time?: LENT

54A: Creepy Christopher: LEE. He doesn't look so creepy...wait a minute...yes, he does!

55A: “The Jungle Book” bear: BALOO. Nothing scary about this bear.

56A: Does nothing: IDLES.

58A: Paul Anka hit: DIANA. 1957, singing about his babysitter.

59A: Grasso or Raines:ELLA. Ella Grasso, 1919 – 1981, was an American politician, and first woman elected governor of Connecticut. She was elected governor "in her own right," without being the wife or widow of a past governor. Ella Raines, 1920 – 1988, was an American actress. She has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; one for movies, the other for TV.

61A: Wire gauge: MIL. one mil = 0.001 of an inch

62A: Inter ___: ALIA. Inter Alia, means among other things, in Latin.

63A: Go into a huddle: CONFER.

64A: President from New Jersey: GROVER CLEVELAND. Stephen Grover Cleveland, 1837 – 1908, was both the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Cleveland is the only President to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–89 and 1893–97) and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents.

69A: See 107 Down: SEEGER. 107 Down: PETE. An American folk singer and song writer. as the author or co-author of "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", "If I Had a Hammer ", and "Turn, Turn, Turn!". Pete Seeger with his wife Toshi Seeger, founded the Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., an organization that seeks to protect the Hudson River through advocacy and public education.

72A: Med subj.: ANAT.. Medical subject: anatomy: the study of the structure of animals.

73A: Fled: RAN.

74A: Eastern discipline: YOGA. In Hinduism, a set of mental and physical exercises aimed at producing spiritual enlightenment.

78A: Actor Delon: ALAIN. Alain Delon is a César Award-winning French actor. He rose quickly to stardom, and by the age of 23 he was garnering comparisons to famed French actors such as Gérard Philipe and Jean Marais, as well as American actor James Dean. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot.

79A: Reno or Jackson: JANET. Janet Reno was the Attorney General of the United States (1993–2001). Janet Jackson is an American recording artist and entertainer. She is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians.

81A: Velvety fabric: PANNE. A soft, lustrous, lightweight velvet with flattened pile.

83A: Down in the dumps: LOW.

84A: Bog: MIRE.

85A: Foodless day: FAST.

86A: Stuck one’s neck out: RISKED.

87A: “___ Sentimental Mood”: IN A. A jazz composition by Duke Ellington. I expect someone to give us a link to their favorite version of this composition.

88A: Tuck into a torte: EAT. Tuck into is a verb phrase meaning to eat with gusto and a torte a rich cake made with many eggs and little flour and usually containing chopped nuts.

89A: Big rig: SEMI. Tractor-trailer While we use the term semi to indicate the whole rig, it is more exact to call it just the trailer. A semi-trailer is a detachable trailer for hauling freight, with wheels at the rear end, the forward end being supported by the rear of a truck tractor when attached. A full trailer is a trailer supported entirely by its own wheels.

90A: Bill Holman comic strip: SMOKEY STOVER. Smokey Stover was a comic strip written and drawn by Bill Holman from the 1930s until he retired in 1973. Distributed through the Chicago Tribune, it featured the misadventures of the titular fireman, and had the longest run of any strip in the screwball genre.

93A: Priam’s wife: HECUBA. She was the wife of Priam, King of Troy therefore she was the queen in Greek Mythology. Priam and Hecuba had nineteen children. Nadya Suleman hasn't caught up with her...yet.

95A: Moisten the marigolds: WATER.

96A: Collie’s concern: HERD. Look at those eyes.

97A: Inlay: EMBED. Embed has more meanings than just inlay.

98A: Less benevolent: MEANER.

100A: London district: SOHO. Soho has the densest concentration of restaurants, cafés, clubs and bars in central London, and represents the vibrant, bustling heart of the city. The area immediately surrounding Old Compton Street in the southern part of Soho is widely recognized as London's premier gay village.

103A: Decorate: ADORN.

104A: “Schindler’s ___”: LIST. movie, 1993, Directed by Steven Spielberg. With Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes. It is about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand Polish Jews.

105A: Celebration: GALA.

106A: Choose, with for: OPT.

109A: Religious observances: DEVOTIONS.

111A: “Lethal Weapon” sidekick: DANNY GLOVER. As Sergeant Roger Murtaugh, he is afraid that Sergeant Martin Riggs(Mel Gibson) will get him killed in this series of films.

115A: In accord: ONE.

116A: Mead’s milieu: SAMOA. Margaret Mead authored of Coming of Age in Samoa.

117A: “Rigoletto” rendition: ARIA. “Rigoletto”, an opera (1851) with music by Giuseppe Verdi but not an individual aria so I feel this is a bad clue.

118A: Fly: AVIATE. You can’t be an aviator unless you aviate.

119A: Ukr., formerly: SSR. Ukraine is an independent country in Eastern Europe now, but at one time, it was a Soviet Socialist Republic.

120A: Not any, with a: NARY. I always heard it as “nary a one”.

121A: Make money: MINT. In debt, just mint more money(reserved for government use only).

122A: Where cats congregate: ALLEY. But at one time, they were on Broadway!

Down:

ID: Single step: PACE.

2D: Nutritional need: IRON.

3D: Wash: LAVE.

4D: Saperstein or Vigoda: ABE. Abe Saperstein was founder, owner, and coach of the Harlem Globetrotters Basketball Team. He was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1970. Abe Vigoda is an American movie and television actor. He's best known for his portrayal of Detective Sgt. Phil Fish on TV’s “Barney Miller”.

5D: Occasions for alarms: FIRES.

6D: Rigatoni relative: ZITI.

7D: UN Day month: OCT.. United Nations Day is the 24th of October.

8D: Society-page word: NEE.

9D: Stray: ERR.

10D: Stimulate: PIQUE.

11D: Plenty: ABUNDANCE.

12D: News source: LEAK.

13D: Bell and Barker: MAS. “Ma” Bell refers generally to all AT&T companies. “Ma” Barker’s sons went on a crime spree but she is thought to have not been involved in any actual crime. After she was killed in a shootout, J. Edgar Hoover tried to portray her as the leader to justify her death.

14D: Road arrangement: CLOVERLEAF. Interchange

15D: Pluto’s place: HADES. Pluto was the Roman version of the Greek God, Hades. The Romans called the underworld Hades. Confused yet?

16D: Inflatable items?: EGOS. Cute clue.

18D: ___ breve: ALLA. Alla Breve is tempo marking indicating a quick duple meter with the half note rather than the quarter note getting the beat (2/2 rather than 4/4). I’m sure somebody will explain it better in the comments section.

21D: Very small: MIDGET. Very small for its kind.

24D: Years on end: EON. Comprised of two or more eras.

26D: ___ Lisa: MONA. Aw, you know what she looks like.

29D: Practice punching: SPAR.

31D: Inclined: APT.

32D: Snapshot: PHOTO.

33D: Roof edge: EAVE.

34D: Poetic preposition: ERE. Before.

35D: On ___ with: equal to: A PAR.

36D: It’ll give you a weigh: SCALE. Clever.

37D: Art supporter?: EASEL. Used to be clever.

38D: Merman or Mertz: ETHEL. Ethel Merman, 1908 – 1984, was an American actress and singer known for musical theatre; well known for her powerful voice. Ethel Mertz is a fictional character played by Vivian Vance in the 1950s TV sitcom I Love Lucy, where she was Lucy’s friend and landlady.

39D: Baltimore Batsman: ORIOLE. A baseball player on the Baltimore Orioles team.

41D: Soup veggies: PEAS.

43D: Prog.: LIB.. I think they meant a member of a PROGressive party. Party members are LIBerals.

44D: Captivate: ENAMOR.

45D: CCXVIII tripled: DCLIV. 218 X 3 = 654

48D: Prince Philip’s daughter: ANNE. Prince Philip is Queen Elizabeth’s husband and their four children are Prince Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward.

49D: Show-stopper: STAR. But the show must go on.

52D: Eastern European: SLAV.

53D: Jitterbug dance: LINDY. This is NOT how we did it at our record hops.

56D: ___ ease: uncomfortable: ILL AT. Ill at ease; socially uncomfortable

57D: Spare fare: DIET. Another clever clue.

58D: Oxford bigwig: DON. The English have Dons instead of Deans like American Universities.

60D: Certain marble: AGGIE.

62D: Sebaceous gland problem: ACNE. Sebaceous is such an icky word.

63D: Cinema site: CANNES. I pondered this clue for awhile, thinking they wanted a type of theater. The Cannes Film Festival is one of the world's oldest, most influential and prestigious film festivals. The private festival is held usually in the month of May at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.

65D: Stimpy’s pal: REN. The Ren and Stimpy Show is an American/Canadian animated television series created by Canadian animator John Kricfalusi. The series first aired on MTV before going to Nickelodeon. They had a reputation for controversy, mostly stemming from imagery and cartoon violence. They pushed TV animation to new, borderline-tastelessness with episodes such as “Stimpy’s First Fart.”

66D: Carry on: RANT.

67D: School item: ERASER. Often a crossword item, also.

68D: Like Lincoln: LANKY. There is talk of getting some Lincoln’s DNA to see if he did, in fact, have Marfan’s syndrome.

69D: Identical: SAME.

70D: Literary pseudonym: ELIA. The pen name of Charles Lamb, 1775–1834, English essayist and critic.

71D: Bulldozer: EARTHMOVER. Early Japanese bulldozer.

75D: Popeye’s favorite color?: OLIVE. Popeye’s favorite gal, Olive Oyl.

76D: Hopeless case: GONER.

77D: Oscar or Tony: AWARD. Oscar is awarded for achievements in motion picture production and performance. Tony is awarded for achievements in theatrical production and performance.

79D: Door part: JAMB.

80D: Near East: ASIA MINOR.

81D: Tightwad: PIKER.

82D: NY hours: EDT. Eastern Daylight-saving Time.

85D: Clan clash: FEUD.

86D: Learning method: ROTE.

89D: Hunts like a hound: SCENTS.

90D: Ruth’s sultanate?: SWAT. The Great Bambino, The Sultan of Swat, The Colossus of Clout

91D: Chess piece: MAN.

92D: Triumphant cry: OHO.

94D: Spanish river: EBRO. The main river (Rio Ebro) of northern Spain.

97D: Barbara and Anthony: EDEN. Barbara Eden is an American film and television actress and singer who is best known for her starring role in the sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. This is one outfit that never made it on to television. Anthony Eden, 1st Earl of Avon, 1897 – 1977, was a British Conservative politician, who was Prime Minister from 1955 to 1957.

99D: English-class assignment: ESSAY.

100D: Utter: SAY.

101D: Gymnast Korbut: OLGA. Olga Korbut, Gold Medalist 1972 Olympics, the Munchkin of Munich.

102D: Turkish treat: HALVA. A confection consisting of crushed sesame seeds in a binder of honey.

103D: Commotions: ADOS.

104D: ___ Linda, Cal: LOMA. Here

105D: Pesky insect: GNAT.

106D: Egg-shaped: OVAL.

107D: With 69 Across, “Turn! Turn! Turn” composer: PETE.

108D: Deck member: TREY. As in a deck of cards, the three. If there had been nautical clues/answers in the area, this could have been a stinker.

110D: Rock musician ___ Hunter: IAN. Ian Hunter was formerly frontman of Mott the Hoople;

111D: Beaver’s construction: DAM.

112D: Onassis’ nickname: ARI.

113D: Diarist Anais: NIN. Anais Nin (1903-1977). She wrote Delta of Venus which has been called porno for poets.

114D: It may be crude: OIL.

Argyle

Saturday February 28, 2009 Tom Pruce

Theme: None

Total blocks: 28

Total words: 70

Noticed how this puzzle differs from Matthew Higgins' themeless? The sparse and prudent use suffixes. Two ED and several S, which are very common in any Saturday grid. I simply can't stand puzzles with oodles of affixes like ER, RE, ING, ED and EST.

Lots of 10-letter words. 12, to be exact. That results in plenty of 4-letter words, most of which are clued pretty straighforwardedly.

The clue for NEWSSTANDS (1A: Place for papers) should be in plural form. I understand the constructor's alliteration purpose in cluing MISSEND (50A) as "Mail by mistake". I just dislike the letter duplication. "Mail by error" sounds OK to me.

I am lost on ANTECEDENT (14D: Cause). What's the rationale here?

For those regulars who don't have TMS Sunday puzzle, click "Over and Over". I will publish Argyle's blog post here tomorrow morning.

Across:

11A: Caesar's partner: COCA. Stumped immediately. I need "Caesar's TV partner" to think of the Imogene COCA. I thought of Caesar salad.

15A: Pharmacist: APOTHECARY. Recognize this word when I see it. But I can't spell it out.

16A: Son of Judah: ONAN. The guy who spilled his seeds on the ground. Onanism is easier to remember than the Latin "coitus interruptus". "Can I ...?"

17A: Ballet turns: PIROUETTES

18A: Flat fee?: RENT. Nice clue.

19A: Get a whiff of: SCENT. I wrote SMELL first.

21A: Summon to court: CITE. Would have come to me immediately if the clue were "Quote".

22A: Sicilian volcano: ETNA. The insurance giant AETNA is named after this volcano. Greek for "I burn". My surname Burn-ikel has no burning desire at all. It simply means "Don't kill the child" in Viking talks.

27A: Chandler novel, with "The": BIG SLEEP. Easy guess. I've never read this book.

31A: Team spirit: MORALE. I bet those Afghan warlords' MORALE is very high now, with CIA's supply of our friendship blue pills. Viagra is a potent weapon in war on terror, correct?

36A: Abbr. on folk music: TRAD. Add a prefix S, you suddenly have Joshua Bell's expensive STRAD.

46A: Black sea port: ODESSA. Still remember AZOV the "Black sea arm"? It's quite close to ODESSA.

46A: Unskilled: INEXPERT. Only know EXPERT.

56A: Of the kidney: RENAL. And OTIC (60A: Of the ear). What is "Of love"?

65A: Facial features: LINEAMENTS. You won't believe it, but I really have never heard of this word before.

67A: Took the first step: STARTED OUT

Down:

2D: Heroic in scope: EPIC. Are you a fan of "The Lord of the Rings"? Somehow I've never developed an interest in those fantasy novels.

5D: Airport connector: SHUTTLE

11D: Washington D.C. art gallery: CORCORAN. No idea. What is their most precious collection?

12D: Body of water near Syracuse: ONEIDA LAKE. It's the largest lake entirely within NY State. I just learned this morning that the name ONEIDA literally means "Erected stone".

13D: Type of bridge: CANTILEVER. Like this one? According to Dictionary, only one end of the CANTILEVER bridge is fixed. That picture does not seem to fit the definition.

24D: Sponsorship: AEGIS. See Athena's AEGIS shield. The center is Medusa's head. Poor Medusa. She used to be pretty. But then she made love to Poseidon in Athena's temple. Bam! Athena turned her into a monster! Her ugly face could turn any onlooker into stone, maybe an "Erected stone".

26D: Hang in loose folds: LOP. Not a familiar definition to me. "Chop off" is more common.

28D: Casts light on: IRRADIATES

29D: Jefferson Airplane singer: GRACE SLICK. Easy guess. In Chinese culture, that's a very rude gesture.

37D: Examines in minute detail: DISSECTS

44D: Off the charts: EXTREME. "Off the chart" is a new phrase to me.

51D: Shipboard crane: DAVIT. Is it mainly used to lift boat?

55D: Gershon of "Bound": GINA. Don't know "Bound". Only saw GINA Gershon in "Showgirls". She was rumored to have affair with Bill Clinton last year.

57D: One-billionth: pref.: NANO

58D: Westernmost of the Aleutian Islands: ATTU. Also the westernmost of the US.

C.C.

Friday February 27, 2009 Jo Vita

Theme: Go a-head

17A: Deceived: HOODWINKED

34A: Eat quickly: SCARF DOWN

45A: Hockey feats: HAT-TRICKS

66A: Collectible toy tot: BEANIE BABY

11D: North African city: FEZ, MOROCCO

29D: Financial investor: CAPITALIST

I am not hip into the hockey term HAT-TRICK. Is it equivalent to baseball's grand slam?

This puzzle held my interest. Great to see FEZ, MOROCCO in the grid. What a brilliant theme entry! Bonnet is missing. So is bowler hat. What else can you think of?

Why "Wild again" for FERAL (12D)? Isn't "Wild" sufficient? I would have clued SMEAR (72A: Smudge) as "Campaign tactic" due to my averseness to letter duplication. SLOTH (24D: Unau or ai) made me think of our constructor John Underwood. His old website is called SLOTH2toed. Our editor used to clue UNAU as "Two-toed sloth". AI is a just 3-toed sloth that lives in who knows where.

Across:

1A: Booty: SWAG. I forgot this slang. It's clued as "Thief's haul" last time.

15A: Artist Matisse: HENRI. Without Gertrude/Leo Stein, I doubt Matisse would have achieved what he later achieved.

19A: Stone or Pound: EZRA. In 10 years' time, EZRA probably will be clued as "Pundit Klein". He is the current liberal darling.

20A: Touchdown vessel: LANDER. Like LEM?

23A: Puppy barks: YIPS. Have yet to see YIPS clued as golf-related.

27A: NRC preceder: AEC. Existed from 1946 to 1975.

32A: Czech physicist Beckmann: PETR. Zowie! Look at the book he is holding, "The Health Hazards of Not Going Nuclear". I wonder if his theories have been challenged. Anyway, I forgot all about him. He also wrote "The History of Pi." I think his mom forgot to put an vowel at the end of his name.

38A: Corsican patriot: PAOLI. Had to get reacquainted with this fellow again. Could only think of Napoléon, as he was born in Corsica. Why is he considered a patriot?

41A: Natural starter?: SUPER. Supernatural. Good clue.

44A: Artless: NAIVE

50A: Explorer Johnson: OSA. Are those eggs? Her name escaped me once again. OSA, OSA, she-bear. Won't forget you next time.

51A: Andes tuber: OCA. Learned these tubers the way I learned about UGLI, from doing crossword.

56A: Ayres and Wallace: LEWS. I wanted ELIS again, confusing the "Ben-Hur" author LEW Wallace with ELI Wallach. Wikipedia says the actor LEW Ayres was married to Ginger Rogers from 1934 until 1940. And Jane Wyman fell in love with him while filing "Johnny Belinda" and left her husband Ronald Reagan for him, "albeit unsuccessfully".

61A: Kevin of "SNL": NEALON. I googled his name. Hard to find a perfect Granny Smith at this time of the year.

68A: Unless, in law: NISI. Decree NISI. Learned from doing crossword. You can't get married if you have received "Decree NISI" but not "Decree absolute". Maybe Paul McCartney has secretly married to her girlfriend, who received her "Decree absolute" from the court a while ago.

69A: Eccentric: OUTRE. I wrote down WEIRD first.

70A: Ends of small intestines: ILEA. Singular is ileum. (Note: Sorry about the mistake earlier. I mixed it up with the hipbones ILIA (singular Ilium).

71A: 1994 pact: GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trades). Gimme. GATT was mentioned so often in China around the time when I graduated from college. It was replaced by WTO in 1994. Tough entering process for China.

73A: DEA Operative: NARC. DEA is often clued as "Narc's agcy."

Down:

3D: Egyptian god: AMON. Or AMEN/AMUN. No AMIN, since there is no "I" in modern interpretation of those Egyptian heiroglyphs. See this AMON-Ra on relief.

4D: Lee of Rush: GEDDY. No idea. Not familiar with the Canadian rock band Rush or the lead singer Geddy Lee, the guy in the middle.

7D: Egyptian cross: ANKH. I tend to confuse this word with the Hindu SIKH.

18D: Chinese dynasty: WEI. There are two WEI Dynasties in Chinese history. Here is a great list of all major dynasties. Click on Three Kingdoms or Southern and Northern Dynasties, you will find detailed information on the two WEIs that you don't really need to know.

28D: S. Amer. nation: ECUA. Capital: Quito. Currency: Sucre. Sucre has nothing to do with sugar. It's named after a South American independence leader named Antonio Jose de Sucre.

33D: Hirsch sitcom: TAXI. Easy guess. I've never heard of the actor Judd Hirsch. He is the guy with big nose. I was thinking of Emile Hirsch, the actor in "Into the Wild". Are they somehow related?

35D: Dream in Rheims: REVE. French for "Dream". Got the answer. Had no idea where exactly Rheims is. No painting is more erotic and DF than Picasso's "Le REVE".

36D: Soft-drink brand: FRESCA. Only Pepsi products in our house.

39D: Bird's display area: LEKS. I forgot. Saw this clue before. It's basically bird's mating arena. LEK is also Albanian currency.

48D: Some sports cars: TURBOS. Don't know anything about sports cars.

52D: Compound in ceramics: CERIA. Completely unknown to me. Some kind of white powder to polish ceramics or glass.

54D: Lung: pref: PNEUM. This prefix stumps me all the time.

57D: Polio vaccine developer: SABIN. He developed oral, "live virus" vaccine. Salk developed "killed virus" injection vaccine.

62D: Los Angeles land?: LA-LA

63D: German head waiter: OBER. Alien to me. I only know Über, German for "over".

64D: Central park S. landmark: NYAC (New York Athletic Club). Blue murder! I can never remember this building or its abbreviation.

Is anyone going to attend the ACPT this weekend? Barry Silk will be there.

C.C.

Thursday February 26, 2009 Ed Voile

Theme: Love is Sharing

17A: Start of a quip: LOVE DOES

29A: Part 2 of quip: NOT EXIST

44A: Part 3 of quip: UNLESS IT

58A: End of quip: IS SHARED

This is so similiar to that memorable line in "Into the Wild": Happiness is only real when it's shared.

Anyway, I beg to differ. Unrequited love is not shared, but it does exist.

Nothing exciting about this puzzle. I think "Most senior" is more accurate than just "Senior " for 63A ELDEST. Really liked the clue for PARER (49D: Trimmer). The clue misguided me into thinking LEANER/THINNER.

If you have solved Barry Silk's LA Times themeless puzzle (Feb 21, Saturday), please scroll own and read Dr. Dad's blog post. I apologize for the earlier release. I am aware that some of you have not solved the puzzle yet. Neither have I, as I intended to publish the post here on March 1 Sunday. I had planned to solve it on Saturday myself so I would have fresh memories when I comment. Unfortunately the news was leaked last night and I don't want to dilute the comments into various segments.

Across:

5A: __ d'Isere, France: VAL. The French skiing resort. Literally "Valley of the Isere River".

19A: Hogs the mirror: PRIMPS. Brought back the campus life again. The girl who used to hog our mirror has changed so much.

22A: Also: PLUS. Did not come to me immediately. I am more used to the "Plus" clue for ALSO.

25A: Republican symbol: ELEPHANT. The symbol was created by cartoonist Nast. It first appeard in Harper's Weekly on Nov 7, 1874.

31A: Cover crop: SOY. What exactly is "Cover crop"?

37A: Tippy vessel: CANOE. The Eskimo CANOE is Kayak, "man's boat". Umiak is literally "woman's boat". All those paddlers are men though.

40A: Singer Vallee: RUDY. Vaguely remember this singer. What are his signature songs?

41A: Kin partner: KITH. KITH and kin.

52A: Tracy's Trueheart: TESS. I like this name Trueheart. Ada Lovelace, Baron's daughter, has an affectionate surname too.

55A: Neville and Burr: AARONS. Oh, AARON Neville and Linda Ronstadst made "Don't Know Much" famous. I did not know that.

62A: Selfsame: VERY. I thought "selfsame" means "identical", "the same".

Down:

1D: Ike's opponent: ADLAI. Better than "Loser to Ike". I imagine Illinois was as messy as it is today when ADLAI Stevenson was the governor.

5D: Bluish purple: VIOLET. This puzzle is so boring today. Let's create some silly poems. Roses are red, VIOLETS are blue .... now you finish the last two lines.

10D: Actress Van Devere: TRISH. Easy guess. She was married to George C Scott.

22D: Bases of columns: PLINTHS. I thought of PILLARS first.

25D: Demanded with force: EXACTED. Kim Jong-il has been suspiciously missing.

30D: Stars in Bordeaux: ETOILES. Van Gogh's "La Nuit Etoilée" ("Starry Night"). I wish I could paint my dreams.

36D: Capital of Ecuador: QUITO. ECUADOR was clued as "Quito's country" a week ago. Sucre is their monetary unit.

39D: Computer snag: GLITCH

41D: Israel's parliament: KNESSET. Netanyahu's right-wing Likud Party won 27 seats (out of a total of 120) in the last election. Does he look charming to you?

45D: Group in a group: SUBSET. I am very confused.

55D: Bart's grandpa: ABE. "The Simpsons". Homer's father.

56D: To a man: ALL. "To a man" is a new phrase to me. Is it similar to "As one man"?

57D: Actor Steiger: ROD. He won Best Actor Oscar for "In the Heat of the Night", my favorite Sidney Poitier movie.

C.C.

Saturday, February 21, 2009 Barry Silk LA Times

(Note from C.C.: Today's post is blogged by Dr. Dad who is currently on a business trip. Barry Silk's themeless puzzle was published in LA Times on Saturday Feb 21, 2009.)

Hello! My name is Dr. Dad. I found C.C.'s Star Tribune Crossword Corner by accident a while ago when solving the Trib puzzle published in the Providence Journal (RI). I have had a great time on her site and she graciously asked me to guest blog and, therefore - today I am guest blogging for the Star Tribune Crossword Corner. She does an excellent job with analyzing crosswords and has numerous visitors. I hope I do her justice with Barry Silk's themeless puzzle of February 21st.

There seems to be a hint of a "theme" in this puzzle - 12D: Action Hero. Many times the heroes of action films can be seen wearing Jump Suits (35D) and Life Jackets (1A) with numerous Sweat Stains (57A). They need a lot of Horse Sense (14D), especially when Standing Guard (13D). Not my best effort at figuring out themes, but ---

Enough of that. Off to the puzzle (70 words).

Across:

11A: Bills: CASH. My cash is dwindling in this troubled economy.

15A: It's 42 miles NNW of Bar Harbor: ORONO, MAINE. I was surprised that the answer contained the state as well. The University of Maine is located here and Orono is a frequent answer in Xwords.

16A: Pi opening?: OCTO. Nice trick. I looked for other Greek letters. Ugly looking but they taste delicious. I first ate them when I visited China.

17A: Warning sign: DO NOT ENTER.

18A: Sky light: STAR.

19A: _____' acte: ENTR. French for "between the acts." It can refer to an intermission but more often refers to a piece of music performed between acts of a theatrical production. It is also a 1924 film.

20A: Short change?: CTS. Goes hand in hand with my "11A cash" that is also getting short.

21A: Morning prayers: MATINS. The early morning or night prayer service in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Eastern Orthodox liturgies.

23A: Liberally "strong" in Hawaiian: MAHI. Mahi Mahi is "strong strong" for dolphin fish. This Mahi Mahi with Ginger Soy Sauce looks delicious.

25A: 1963 system based on a 1944 Robert Moon proposal: ZIP CODE. I wonder if Mr. Moon prepared for the nine-digit system or only the five-digit one.

26A: Like jambalaya: CREOLE. Creole is not the same as Cajun.

29A: Billboard listings: HIT SONGS.

30A: Energize: REV UP. Plenty of revving up a couple of Sundays ago at this place.

31A: Soprano Fleming: RENEE. Not familiar with this person. My favorite is Ian.

32A: Old TV knob: HUE. Does anyone still own a TV with knobs?

33A: Latin 101 verb: AMAS

34A: Dermatology issues: SORES. What about acne?

35A: Psychologist Piaget: JEAN. Well known (but not to me) for his work studying children and their cognitive development.

36A: Adverb ending: IAL

37A: Runs through: STABS

38A: Doesn't knock?: PURRS. Most of the engines at Daytona were "purring."

39A: Some tennis players: GRUNTERS. At 101 decibels, Wimbledon's defending champion Maria Sharapova is judged the loudest grunter so far.

41A: No longer très chic: DEMODE. Très chic is from French "very smart". Démodé is French, past participle of démoder, to outmode.

42A: Christmas village display figures: SKATERS. I still think she was one of the best.

43A: One for the books?: PERP. Help! I don't understand this one. All I know is perpendicular for Xwords. And the perp helped me to get this answer.

44A: Not on time for: LATE TO

45A: Military rank: MAJ. Major.

46A: Where T. Rex Sue was found: SDAK. South Dakota. You can see her at the Field Museum.

50A: Sacred bird of old Egypt: IBIS

51A: Not enough: INADEQUATE. Like my cash and short change and if you have enough you can give it to:

54A: Bandit one hopefully gives money to?: SLOT. And then your CPA can be concerned with:

55A: DEDUCTIBLE(s)

56A: Knockouts, so to speak: TENS. Kind of in keeping with the short change and bills. Not enough to go around.

Down:

1D: Valuable deposit: LODE. Wish I'd find one to help my short change, cash, and tens.

2D: Word with hand or horse: IRON. Fits well with "Horse Sense" in this puzzle.

3D: Newspaper option: FONT.

4D: Titanic: ENORMOUS. And SHE was. Loved the movie.

5D: Scribble: JOT

6D: "Cocoon" Oscar Winner: AMECHE. I am glad that Heath Ledger got the posthumous award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

7D: "C'mon . . . please?": CAN'T I?

8D: Hobbyists' buys: KITS

9D: Storm hdg: ENE. Much better than "opposite of "WSW."

10D: Home wreckers: TERMITES. I thought of "Exes" but then again, I have had termites and they truly are home wreckers.

11D: BJ's competitor: COSTCO. Another competitor is Sam's Club (used to be PACE).

22D: Sanctuary section: APSE. A crossword staple, along with NAVE.

24D: Matterhorn, e.g.: ALP. Here is another famous Alp - the Eiger (Clint Eastwood fans might remember "The Eiger Sanction.").

25D: Popular issues: ZINES. (pronounced 'zene') - An abbreviation of the word fanzine, or magazine. It is most commonly a small circulation, non-commercial publication of original or appropriated texts and images.

26D: Alternative to newspaper classifieds: CRAIG'S LIST. This is indeed becoming popular as the alternative.

27D: Noteworthy: REMARKABLE. Describes nicely the tribute Barry Silk gave C.C. and her site with his "Star Tribune Crossword Puzzle" from last week. Thanks, Barry.

28D: Critique: EVALUATION

29D: Tea flavorings: HERBS

31D: Comedy club sounds: ROARS

34D" Subject of the 2007 Mitchell Report: STEROIDS. 'Nuff' said on this subject.

37D: Proof instruction: STET. Another Xword staple.

38D: By way of: PER. This helped me get "perp" for 43A which I still don't understand.

40D: Powerful experiments: NTESTS. The chemist in me kept thinking laboratory. Here is one of the most powerful N Tests. I am glad we stopped these and hope no one else wants to start.

41D: Bring down: DEJECT

43D: "The Taming of the Shrew" setting: PADUA. Here is the the map.

45D: Good way to have it: MADE. Don't we all wish that?

47D: "The Aba ___ Honeymoon": DABA. I was glad it was 'daba' because all I could think of was Fred Flintstone and 'Yabba Dabba Doo!"

48D: Mythical Hun King: ATLI. This has become a staple in recent Xwords.

49D: Insightful: KEEN

52D: Just out: NEW. As am I on this crossword blogging. I hope I've done okay.

53D: Dairy units: Abbr.: QTS.

Thank you, C.C. for asking me to do this. It was fun and I hope you and all visitors like my "Critique = Evaluation (28D)".

Dr. Dad

Wednesday February 25, 2009 Annabel Michaels

Theme: "Pulp" Art

17A: Accordion: SQUEEZE BOX

26A: Broadway moneymaker: SMASH HIT

32A: 1977-79 Broncos' nickname: ORANGE CRUSH

41A: Crash protection space: CRUMPLE ZONE

50A: Whiskey ingredient: SOUR MASH

61A: When push comes to shove: CRUNCH TIME

I think we've done two similar themed puzzles before, though neither contained so many theme answers.

What exactly is SOUR MASH? I got the answer from down fills. ORANGE CRUSH was an easy guess. I don't even know why Vikings were called "Purple People Eaters" in 1970's. Who cares! They want to move to Los Angeles anyway.

There should be a "briefly" with the clue for TKOS (60A: Fight stoppers). Otherwise, no twisty clues. Solvable if you are not PRESSed for time.

Across:

1A: Tessie or Milo: O'SHEA. Not familiar with Welsh actress/singer Tessie O'SHEA. She sounds like genuinely funny. Wikipedia says she was on "The Ed Sullivan Show" the same day when the Beatles made their first appearance.

10A: Sphere starter?: ATMO. Atmosphere.

15A: Corduroy rib: WALE. Faintly remembered the term corduroy WALE.

22A: French floor: ETAGE. The bric-a-brac shelf ETAGERE is rooted in ETAGE.

28AL Czech Republic region: MORAVIA. No idea. I could only think of Bohemia. Here is the map. Madeleine Albright is probably the most famous Czech American. She could, if she would, have become Czech's President in 2002.

31A: Balanced conditions: STASES. Singular is STASIS. Can you make a sentence for me? I've never used this word before. Equilibriums, yes.

35A: Wall upright: STUD. Very unfamiliar definition to me. Dictionary explains STUD as "an upright post in the framework of a wall for supporting sheets of lath, wallboard, or similar material."

36A: Moon car, briefly: LEM. To an untrained eye, this Apollo 11 Eagle looks ugly and junky. Who is that astronaut?

45A: Greek letters: THETAS. The 8th of Greek alphabet (total 24). Consonant. Interesting how Egyptian hieroglyph has 24 glyphes, but no vowel. I like that "tongue" (mdw).

49A: Wise king: SOLOMON. OK, the first paragraph here: "I've been staring at this Academy Award ballot for the past 20 minutes. The decisions! Now I know how SOLOMON felt." What does "The decisions! Now I know how SOLOMON felt" mean?

66A: "Bellefleur" writer: OATES. Probably our editor's favorite OATES book. He keeps using the same clue. Have you read Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar"? Joyce Carol OATES said it's a "near perfect work of art".

67A: Unfledged bird: EYAS. Uh-uh, nope, this is an imagined word.

69A: City on the Adige: TRENT. Called TRENTO in Italy. Adige River seems to be a branch of that unnamed river that runs through Trento, doesn't it?

Down:

2D: Roman acronym: SPQR. Senatus Populusque Romanus (the Senate and the people of Rome). I can only remember "pigs". Maria mentioned last time that Italians call SPQR "Sono Porci Questi Romani", loosely translated as "These Romans are Pigs".

3D: Soccer mom in Munich?: HAUSFRAU. It's just German for "housewife", right, Kazie? I don't know what's so fun about this clue.

5D: Peer Gynt's mother: ASE. I can never remember this lady's name. Nor can I commit the African bushy-tailed fox ASSE into my memory. Can anyone who has read this Ibsen play give us a short summary of what "Peer Gynt" is about?

6D: Bedside pitcher: EWER. No EWER on my bedside table. Never. What's on your bedside? EWER?

9D: Put forth flowers: BLOOM. "Put forth" sounds so laborious. Most flowers "Burst through". The clue reminded me of this Anais Nin quote: And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

11D: Synagogue scrolls: TORAHS. Does synagogue allow non-Jewish people in?

12D: Actress Smith: MAGGIE. She is so old. Time to clue MAGGIE Q, the hottest MAGGIE on earth.

18D: Yikes!: ZOWIE. I need to use this word often.

34D: Pitch callers: UMPS. Cute, so cute. Can't find an UMP bobblehead. Has to be 1960's & Made in Japan to be valuable.

37D: Black Sea arm: AZOV. I was unaware of Sea of AZOV.

45D: Pestilent fly: TSETSE. Have you heard of blow-fly? Wikipedia says it belongs to the same family as TSETSE fly does.

47D: Satellite of Jupiter: EUROPA. Galileo must be very versed in Greek mythology. Otherwise, he would not have named this moon as EUROPA.

52D: Noon and midnight, e.g.: HOURS. Boy, I felt dense. This did not come to me readily at all.

61D: 905: CMV

C.C.