Sunday July 13, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: True or False?

24A: True or false?: (TRUE) BLUE AMERICAN

33A: True or false?: A DREAM COME (TRUE)

50A: True or false?: SHOW ONE'S (TRUE) COLOR

66A: True or false?: (FALSE) SENSE OF SECURITY

89A: True or false?: BE (TRUE) TO YOUR SCHOOL

103A: True or false?: SET OF (FALSE) TEETH

115A: True or false?: MAKE (FALSE) PROMISES

3D: True or false?: TO GOO TO BE (TRUE) - Mistake here, should be TOO.

16D: True or false?: (FALSE) IMPRESSION

73D: True or false?: MAKE A (FALSE) START

77D: True or false?: (TRUE) TO ONE'S WORD

So creative a theme concept! Stunning grid (only 68 blocks). I like how LIARS (65D: Perjurers) intersects with one TRUE and one FALSE theme answer.

I went through a very hard time today, esp the "MAKE PROMISES" corner. I simply forgot TOMBA (104D: Italian Olympic skier Alberto), did not know BROGAN (121A: Stout, workman's shoe), and could not figure out what was 118D: Four CDs (MDC). Very cleverly misleading Roman numberal clue.

I burned out Mr. Google today, way too many unknown words for me to handle: MYRRHS, ANNULI, MYNAH, ICHORS, SIAL, MADRAS, HOKKAIDO (91D: Japanese Island. I only knew the Chinese word for for this place. G-8 Summit was held there only 2 days ago), BROGAN, ANCON and several other actor/actress/singer/furniture designer names.

ACROSS:

5A: Painter Degas: EDGAR. He once said "In painting you must give the idea of the TRUE by means of the FALSE". No other words have expressed "Impressionism" more perfectly in my view.

10: Hurries: SCOOTS

16A: Here by the Eiffel Tower: ICI. "You are here" is "Vous êtes ICI" in French.

19A: Clarinet relative: OBOE. KittyB can probably come up with a bunch of OBOE clues.

21A: Hindu mystic writings: TANTRA. Here is the definition: "Any of several books of esoteric doctrine regarding rituals, disciplines, meditation, etc., composed in the form of dialogues between Shiva and his Shakti (wife)", also called "Agama". I vaguely heard about it before. Knew MANTRA though. What's your MANTRA?

22A: Bon __ (witticism): MOT

23A: Mil. group: REGT. And 12D: Maritime spy. grp.: ONI And 52D: College military org.: ROTC. Oh, also 97A: Navy commando: SEAL

26A: Air pressure unit: PSI. Also the penultimate letter of the Greek alphabet (before OMEGA).

29A: Post-dusk: EEN. Needs "in poetry" or "to a poet" in the clue.

30A: Aromatic resins: MYRRHS. Completely foreign to me.

32A: Earthy color: OCHRE. This is the British spelling, isn't it?

36A: Indian seaport: MADRAS. No idea, Wikipedia says MADRAS the city is now called Chennai. Is there another seaport called MADRAS?

38A: Filmmaker Riefenstahl: LENI

40A: Greek portico: STOA

45A: Cabinetmaker Phyfe: DUNCAN. Sorry. I don't know anything about furniture. Can't understand why some of the pieces are worth that much on the "Antique Road Shows".

53A: Broken-bone support: SPLINT. And 48D: Sound of a wet impact: SPLAT. Are you OK with the SPL intersection?

56A: Muffle: SOFTEN

59A: Infamous hotelier Helmsley: LEONA. The "Queen of Mean". What's that lucky dog's name? "Trouble"!

60A: Zeno's birthplace: ELEA

71A: Bitter regret: REMORSE

93A: __-masochism: SADO. That's Caligula's pervert indulgence, isn't it?

95A: Ring-shaped geometric figures: ANNULI. Singular form is ANNULUS, which originated from Latin ānulus. Hmm, interesting root word.

101A: "Five ___ Pieces": EASY. From the movie soundtrack, here is Tammy Wynette "Stand by Your Man".

102A: Slammers: POKEYS. Slang for jails.

110A: Stores for later: SALTS AWAY

119A: State of two of the Quad Cities: IOWA. Davenport & Bettendorf.

122A: Henry James novel, "___ Miller": DAISY. Another unknown. Have you read it before?

126A: Social stratum: CLASS

DOWN:

1D: Part of FDIC: CORP. I wish it were clued as "NYSE listing" to balance OTC (13D: Nasdaq milieu).

2D: Over in Bonn: UBER

4D: Device to regulate spring tension: SET SCREW. It looks like this.

6D: "La ___ Vita:": DOLCE. I've never seen the movie. DOLCE is "sweet" in Italian.

10D: Take the wheel: STEER

11D: "Bette Davis Eyes": CARNES (Kim). No idea. Very nice clip.

14D: Mine vehicles: TRAM CARS

15D: Electronics giant: SANYO. And 88D: Tokyo ta-ta: SAYONARA

17D: Hit on the head: COSH. Did anyone pen in CONK?

18D: Tonsil ending?: ITIS (Medical suffix)

25D: Average: MEDIAL. I wrote down "MEDIAN".

28D: Seven Wonders lighthouse: PHAROS. Or the Lighthouse of Alexandria.

31D: Sandhurst sch.: RMA (Royal Military Academy)

33D: Cornice bracket: ANCON. Not familiar with this architectural term. This illustrates pretty well.

34D: Alamogordo, NM event: A TEST

36D: Dayan or Arens: MOSHE. Know Dayan, the guy with the eye patch. Not Arens.

38D: British sheen: LUSTRE. I like our spelling LUSTER.

42D: Heavy metric weight: TONNE

43D: Sequence of eight: OCTAD. Why is "Sequence of eight"?

45D: Made less dangerous: DEFUSED

46D: Time being: NONCE. For the NONCE. I've never used this phrase in my daily conversation.

58D: Deductive: A PRIORI. Can you give me an example?

67D: Moran and Gray: ERINS. No idea. I pieced it together from the across fills.

68D: Caen's river: ORNE

69D: Soft-drink choice: FANTA. I've never had it before. I am a loyal Pepsi fan.

82D: Dangerous sub: U-BOAT

83D: Talking bird: MYNAH. It can also be spelled as MYHA, MINA, MINAH. Completely unknown to me. She looks very content, satisfied and eager to talk. Dictionary says they are "Any of various starlings of southeast Asia, having bluish-black or dark brown coloration and yellow bills. Certain species, are known for mimicry of human speech."

84D: Paper bets: IOUS. (The clue should be "Paper debts".)

85D: Discharges from wounds: ICHORS. Ick. Dictionary says it's also "the rarefied fluid said to run in the veins of the gods" in Greek Mythology.

90D: Boxing combination: ONE TWO

94D: 3 on the phone: DEF

100D: Cross back over: RESPAN. I dislike both the clue and the answer.

102D: Cline and Kensit: PATSYS. Sigh! No, they are total strangers to me.

110D: Light, granite rock: SIAL. Another new geological term to me. It's "the assemblage of rocks, rich in silica and alumina, that comprise the continental portions of the upper layer of the earth's crust".

111D: Polo goal?: ASIA. Marco Polo. Good clue.

113D: Swerves off course: YAWS

C.C.

Saturday July 12, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself..."

1A: "American Woman" band: GUESS WHO

24A: "Snow White" dwarf: HAPPY

27A: Minute fraction: SIXTIETH

41A: Info. needed by an astrologer: BIRTHDAY

43A: Great Gretzky: WAYNE

60A: "Moon River" singer: WILLIAMS

Happy Birthday, Mr. Editor! May you have many many more years of good HEALTH (42D: Fine fettle) and happiness!

For those who are new to this blog, our TMS crossword editor, Mr. Wayne R. William often HIDES ( Stashes away) behind this alias name Willy A. Wiseman (an anagram of "i.e. Wayne Williams"). He did bravely show his true identity once on the tough "Quad Cities" puzzle last month.

I wish GORE (1D: Piece with a horn) were clued as Al GORE related, it would pair nicely with ELECTION DAY (11D: November date). The clue for NORM (52D: Avg.) should not have been abbreviated. And the clue for ORS (8D: Surgery rms) is screaming for editing, how can you have "Rooms" in both the clue and answer? Very inapt. "Surgery ctrs" would just be fine.

ACROSS:

9A: Breakfast choice: OMELET. Perfectly cooked.

15A: Broadcasting: ON THE AIR. Not "ON AIR"? What's the difference between the two?

16A: Small traveling bag: VALISE

17A: Jagger's partner: RICHARDS (Keith). How he could climb over a coconut tree is beyond me.

18A: Puts up: ERECTS. I've never seen the noun form of ERECT clued in a puzzle, have you?

21A: Chirping insect: CRICKET. Wasn't Buddy Holly a CRICKET?

22A: Give guff to: SASS

32A: Sweet, thick liqueur: CRÈME. Here is some CRÈME brûlée for you, Mr. Williams.

34A: Eye defect: suff.: OPIA. Myopia for example.

35A: Conrad or Barbara: BAIN. Big stumper here. I know neither of them.

36A: More mature: RIPER. Very nice anchor for the puzzle!

40A: Two times CCLVII: DXIV. And 56D: Twenty percent of DXXX: CVI. Can you think of better clues for these 2 answers?

44A: Canine command: HEEL

45A: Validate: OKAY. I like how OKAY parallels with BAN (50A: Interdiction).

47A: Object of a computer instruction: OPERAND

54A: Spring back: RESILE. I've never used this verb before. I suppose that's how we get "Resilient".

55A: Meat choice: PORK CHOP

57A: Plant unions: GRAFTS. I was actually thinking of the workers' unions in those manufacturing plants.

58A: Soothing plant juice: ALOE VERA. The juice does not look soothing to me. So sticky.

DOWN:

2D: Les Etats- ___: UNIS

3D: Customary extras, briefly: ETCS

5D: St. Lawrence, e.g.: SEAWAY. New to me. I only knew St. Lawrence the river.

9D: Tax: OVEREXERT. I like how it intersects REST (23A: What's left).

10D: Poughkeepsie college: MARIST. New to me. I only know VASSAR, which is also based in Poughkeepsie.

12D: Guitar run: LICK. New term to me.

21D: Black Sea peninsula: CRIMEA

22D: Wastrel: SPENDTHRIFT

24D: Beloved in Arabic: HABIB. It's a mysterious word to me. I've never seen it before. Chinese characters for "beloved" are : 心爱的人.

25D: Chinese adders: ABACI. Headache, headache. I really struggled with ABACI in my elementary arithmetics studies.

26D: One who works at a trade: PLIER. I don't under this clue. What is "works at a trade"?

27D:Indian soldier: SEPOY. Another new word to me. Dictionary defines SEPOY as "an indigenous soldier serving in the army of a foreign conqueror, especially an Indian soldier serving under British command in India."

28D: Strong glue: EPOXY

29D: Advertising gimmick: TIE IN. I really like McDonald's Madame Alexander Happy Meal mini-dolls, so cute. Look at this set of "The Wizard of Oz". The "wicked witch of the west" was very hard to get.

30D: Make two: HALVE. I was thinking of "DOUBLE".

32D: Raw state: CRUDENESS

33D: Blue and funny: RIBALD

43D: Rotary engine name: WANKEL. No idea. It's named after Felix WANKEL, the German inventor.

45D: Ancient Greek coins: OBOLI. Or OBOLS. Dictionary says that OBOLUS (plural is also OBOLI) is "a modern Greek unit of weight equal to 0.1 gram". Does it mean that OBOLI can be ancient and modern in the same time? So confusing.

46D: Pope John Paul II's first name: KAROL (Józef Wojtyła). Another unknown. He was always Pope John Paul II to me. Pope Benedict's original name is Joseph Alois Ratzinger. He is such a brilliant writer.

47D: Bacchanal: ORGY. Just learned this morning that the original wild bacchanalia was attended only by women. The admission to the mysterious rites was extended to men only later on.

48D: Nevertheless, in Napoli: PERÒ. In Spanish, it's PERO. Italian and Spanish are so similar.

51D: Mother of Hera: RHEA

C.C.

Friday July 11, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: ROOM (59A: Word that can follow 18A, 39A, 60A, 3D and 31D)

18A: Seasonal theater: SUMMER STOCK

39A: Foul-shooter's miss: AIR BALL

60A: City near Norfolk: NEWPORT NEWS

3D: Forecaster, of sorts: OUIJA BOARD

31D: Non-swimmer's hangout: WADING POOL

Hmm, room, MUSHroom... Is MOREL season over yet? Hard, hard puzzle! The letter "Z" of HERZOG and METZ intersection simply refused to crumble, the same with the K from ONKP/KAYE crossing.

Sub-theme: "I am Woman"

28A: "Hedda__": GABLER. Ibsen's play. New to me.

38A: Ms. Thurman: UMA

42A: "Ninotchka" star: GARBO (Greta)

66A: Lennon's love: ONO

4D: Glasgow girl: LASSIE

6D: "La ___ Nikita": FEMME. I like Peta Wilson's "La FEMME Nikita".

7D: Salinger girl: ESME. "For ESME with Love and Squalor" heroine.

45D: Caron title role: GIGI. Colette's work. Pretty good. "Love, my dear GIGI, is a thing of beauty like a work of art, and like a work of art it is created by ARTISTS (10D: Monet and Manet)."

53D: Deborah of "Quo Vadis": KERR. Not familiar with this film at all. "Quo Vadis" is Latin for "Where are you going". Japanese probably know this move movie very well.

54D: Org. founded in 1858: YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association)

I suppose A-LINE (48A: Dress shapes) should be added to the above list too. The clue for DEGAS (33D: "Women Drying Her Feet") is a very interesting & deliberate choice. Is there any hidden BATHroom concept here?

Feels like this constructor likes impressionist painting. I wonder why he did not clue "Mary Cassatt, e.g." for ARTISTS (18A), it would add more feminine touch to the puzzle.

Boy, it would be so easy for him (if he has not) to create another similiar *ROOM themed puzzle with some simple yet sensual words like BED, ELBOW, LEG & WIGGLE. All he needs to do is to spend 10 minutes looking at Renoir's various "After BATH" paintings.

Across:

1A: Blood-typing letters: ABO

8A: Acted as a leader: HEADED

16A: Nobelist Fermi: ENRICO. Nuclear Physicist. Nobel winner 1938. Been clued 2 since Jan 21.

17A: Israeli gun: UZI

20A: Voodoo charms: MOJOS. Do you carry a lucky charm? If so, what is it?

22A: City near Nancy: METZ. Here is a map. I see METZ, but Bill, where is Nancy?

26A: "Bonanza" role: HOSS. No idea. Which one is HOSS?

30A: Pennypincher: TIGHTWAD. New word to me.

45A: Sphinx location: GIZA. The Great Sphinx of GIZA.

51A: Coach Amos Alonzo ___: STAGG. Foreign to me. I am not into college football at all. Sounds like a very accomplished renaissance sports man, a perfect model for Twins' catcher Joe Mauer.

52A: Terrier breed: SKYE. It's clued as "Scottish terrier" on March 25.

55A: Per unit: A POP

57A: Pickled-peppers picker Peter: PIPER. Pure guess. I thought PIPER has something to do with rats.

65A: Comic Danny: KAYE. No idea. Wikipedia says he was the original owner of Seattle Mariners.

67A: Talked to God: PRAYED. And 11D: God of Spain: DIOS. And 27D: Synagogue: SHUL. A slight undercurrent of religiosity here.

69A: Quick getaway: LAM. And meet Karena LAM, the incredibly talented actress from Hongkong. FYI, LAM is a very common surname in Cantonese speaking regions. It's a variant of Mandarin Chinese LIN meaning forest.

DOWN:

2D: Knucklehead: BOZO

8D: Director Werner: HERZOG. No, no, I've never heard of this "German New Wave Movement" director. HERZOG means "duke" in German, according to Wikipedia.

9D: Nixon has two: ENS. 2 letter N's in his name.

12D: Behold, Nero!: ECCE. I like how ECCE intersects I SEE (23A: Got it).

13D: Okey-_: DOKE. I always thought it's "Okey-DOKEY".

19D: Part of PETA: ETHICAL

21D: Capital on the Aker: OSLO. And 29D: Capital on the Jabbok: AMMAN. Wild guess. I have no idea that Jabbok is a river in Jordan. I like the consistent cluing pattern of these 2 answers.

28D: Overcharge: GOUGE. One of these days, the crude oil will drop $25/barrel.

30D: Roman river: TIBER

32D: Transfixed: AGAZE

36D: Prevent by anticipatory action: PREEMPT

43D: Standard salary: BASE PAY

47D: Equipped: GEARED

49D: Ran out: LAPSED

56D: Working in a mess?: ON KP (Kitchen Police). Toughie for me. Not familiar with this GI term.

58D: Old lab burner: ETNA. I've never heard of it. Does it look like this?

C.C.

Thursday July 10, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: "To Be Continued..."

17A: Start of a quip: BEFORE I DIE

24A: Part 2 of a quip: I WILL GET ON A SOAP

43A: Part 3 of quip: OPERA SO I CAN COME

59A: End of quip: BACK TO LIFE

And OBIT (8D: Funeral info.), and OFF (56D: Slays, slangily), and FATAL BLOW (52A: Coup de grace). How dark! Don't you want to experience some "Coup de foudre" on this beautiful hot summer's day?

Not a good puzzle at all, too many unsightly eye sores:

1) AGO (38A: In the past); 12D: Othello's nemesis: IAGO; 24D: Insect stage: IMAGO.

2) OBI (29D) and OBIT (8D).

3) ANA (48A: Gasteyer of "SNL"); ANAT (46D: Me.school subj.) and ANALOGY (42D: Comparison).

The cluing for MAE WEST (9D: With 57D: life jacket) would be great if "LIFE" were not part of the 59A theme answer. Dennis would probably think the QUIP is perfectly complete without 59A.

Anyway, let's have a contest today and see who can come up with the best clue for MAE WEST.

ACROSS:

1A: Crooner Mel: TORME. "The Velvet Fog". "Chestnuts roasting on a open fire..."

10A: Greek letters: CHIS. CHI looks like our X.

15A: Sunscreen ingredient: PABA (Para-AminoBenzoic Acid). Why doesn't the clue reflect the acronymic nature of the answer? Or has PABA been fully assimilated into English language like OPEC?

16A: Act of faith?: LEAP. Good clue.

20A: Vegetarian rule: EAT NO MEAT

21A: Keaton/Garr movie: MR. MOM. No idea. Got it from the down fills.

37A: One-time homer king: MARIS (Roger). You've got to see Billy Crystal's 61*, it's so good.

40A: Gingiva: GUM. "Sweet stick in one's mouth" would be a better clue.

42A: French writer Gide: ANDRÉ. Noble Literature Winner 1947.

60A: Inventor Sikorsky: IGOR. New to me. So many IGOR's in crossword: The opera "Prince IGOR", Composer IGOR Stravinsky, and Frankenstein's IGOR.

61A: Actor Katz: OMRI. He was in "Dallas". Big stumper for me. I've never heard of his name before.

62A: Chasms: GULFS. And 3D: Breach: RIFT

63A: Distiller's grain: MALT. And 65A: Brewery supple: YEAST

DOWN:

1D: Inner attachment?: TUBE. What is Inner TUBE? I wanted Inner SELF.

10D: Some cigars: CLAROS. Mild and smooth. Here are some Torpedo Cigars (6"x50), ultra robust!

13D: E-mail splatter: SPAM. What is "Splatter"? Such an odd word to clue junk mail. We have a SPAM museum here in MN.

18D: Webzine: EMAG

25D: Had already been awakened: WAS UP. Are you OK with this clue?

28D: Anklebones: TARSI. Tarsus (s).

29D: Oriental sash: OBI. Which kimono do you like?

30D: Better: OUTDO

32D: Martinique volcano: PELÉE. Another new name to me. Wikipedia says it had a violent eruption in 1902.

37D: Inspiration for some: MUSE. This is Picasso's "La MUSE". You can see it in Centre Pompidou (great snacks at the second floor cafe).

44D: Bly or Block: ROBERT. Know Bly (MN's first poet laureate), not Block. Good job, Mr. Wolfe, way to clue your own name into the grid!

45D: Willow flower cluster: CATKIN. New word to me. CATKIN is defined as "a spike of unisexual, apetalous flowers having scaly, usually deciduous bracts, as of a willow or birch". Also called ament.

52D: Cara film: FAME. Is this a well-known film? I've never heard of it.

55D: Actress Kedrova: LILA. Another unknown to me. She won an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress) for her performance in "Zorba the Greek" in 1964.

59D: Hit on the noggin: BOP. Is it Mel TORME's style?

C.C.

Wednesday July 9, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Color Songs

17A: Fruitful infatuation?: ORANGE CRUSH

24A: What fellow travelers live in?: PINK HOUSES

38A: Cowardly hero?: YELLOW SUBMARINE

52A: Murex shower?: PURPLE RAIN

63A: Valuable ticker?: HEART OF GOLD

The color GOLD in the last one seems to be positionally out of order with the other theme answers. Can you think of another 11-letter song whose title starts with color GOLD (or red, blue, or any color)? I thought of "GOLD Digger", Kanye West's signature song, but it's 1 letter short and therefore symmetrically impossible to be clued for 63A.

There are TINGES (51D: Slight traces) of smallness in this grid:

16A: Slightest bit: TAD

19A: Smallest bill: ONE

60A: Jerkwater: ONE-HORSE. Both the clue and the answer are new to me.

61A: American lizard: ANOLE. No idea. Obtained it from the down fills. Dictionary says it's related to iguana, "characterized by a distensible throat flap" and the ability to to change the color of their skin among a wide range of green and brown shades." That's very gecko-ISH (62A: Sorta), isn't it? Hmmm, very interesting photo, good timing!

11D: Molecular building blocks: ATOMS

I like how MEDAL (59D: Badge of honor) intersects GOLD. Hate the 64D: Isl. off Australia (TAS). TAS is not a commonly accepted abbreviation of Tasmania, TASM is.

Lots of wild guesses today. I did not know that "Murex" is purple color, and had no idea what connects "Fellow travelers" with color "PINK".

ACROSS:

1A: Produced roe: SPAWNED

14A: Cleanliness: HYGIENE

26A: Equestrian game: POLO. Where did Water POLO get its name? There is no horse play involved. The colors of those balls are hard to tell. Can't be blue though.

44A: Roman unlucky number: XIII(13). My instinct first response was IDES.

46A: Aussie's friend: MATE. Or Bloke.

50A: Parks or Convy: BERT. Pure guess. I know neither of them.

67: Esq. affixer: ATT (Attorney). I am starting to get tired of this "affixer" lawyer clue. Isn't ATT the ticker symbol for AT&T? Wait... Oh, no, it's T now. I did not know that.

68A: Nerval novel: AURÉLIA. No idea. I've never heard of the novel nor the author. Wikipedia says he successfully translated Goethe's "Faust" into French. And Marcel Proust was greatly influenced by his surrealist work.

70A: Oh yeah, __ who?: SEZ. The clue needs quotation marks.

71A: John of "20/20": STOSSEL. He is not my type.

DOWN:

2D: Funeral piles: PYRES. I saw this old Life magazine (June 1964, the Cremation of Nehru) at the flea market a few days ago. It's in pretty good condition.

3D: Former name of Hagatna, Guam: AGANA. Capital of Guam.

4D: Pitcher's motion: WINDUP. My favorite pitcher (Johan Santana) in mid-WINDUP position.

5D: Images in rev.: NEGS (Negatives)

8D: Full of vigor: SPUNKY

9D: Violinist Elman: MISCHA. Unknown to me. This is a beautiful serenade. Slow can be so good. Who is your favorite violinist? Here is a bit of Sara Chang for you.

12D: Dugout: CANOE. I only know baseball's "Dugout".

22D: Ponderer: MUSER

30D: Soak flex: RET

39D: Body liquid: LYMPH

40D: Actress Anderson: BIBI. I've never heard this actor/actress. To me, BIBI is always Netanyahu, my old unfruitful infatuation/CRUSH.

41D: Demeanor: MIEN. And 52D: Composure: POISE

48D: Shaped like a cylinder: TERETE. New to me.

49D: Bogus: ERSATZ. Gimme Gimme. Spent several years working for an IP investigation firm in China.

53D: Family of Indy winners: UNSER. Learned from doing crossword. I am not into racing at all.

54D: Actress Ada: REHAN. How quickly I forgot about her! She appeared on June 29 Sunday puzzle. Very very obscure actress.

65D: Into circulation: OUT. What? Magazines? Coins? Virus?

C.C.

Tuesday July 8, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: ONE - Syllable Longest English Words
(33D: Number of syllables in 17A, 25A, 36A, 51A and 61A)

17A: Carried with great effort: SCHLEPPED

25A: Rounded up: SCROUNGED

36A: Compacted: SCRUNCHED

51A: Suppressed: SQUELCHED

61A: Chewed the fat: SCHMOOZED

Very impressive theme answers, all of them are 9-letter long, with ONE anchoring the whole grid. Very solid. I thought of "Scratched" and "Stretched" earlier, what else could you come up with? "Strengths" is also 9-letter, but it does not fit the past tense "Mr. ED" pattern.

Several blemishes in the cluing though:

25A: Rounded up: SCROUNGED. SCROUNGED has an "searched and foraged" undertone, and the clue does not imply so, does it?

46A: Existing: Lat.: IN ESSE. The "Lat.' should not be abbreviated.

3D: Butt collector: ASH TRAY. Shouldn't "Butt" be in plural form?

43A: MD and ME: STS (States). This answer is clearly shouting for some editing. See HESSE (52D: German State). A simple "Peter, Paul and Mary: abbr" would have worked out nicely. The Streets abbreviation STS is impossible due to the AVENUE (9D: Street crosser) clue.

24D: LAPD alert: APB. Once again, "Police dispatch, quickly" would be a better clue due to NYPD (26D: "___ Blue").

58D: Finish second: LOSE. In the finals, yes, otherwise, it's not true. "Finish last" is more accurate a clue.

Flaws aside, I still enjoyed solving this puzzle. It's definitely more interesting than his humdrum QUIP puzzle.

ACROSS:

1A: Nabokov novel: ADA. Do you know that besides composing his "chess problems", Nabokov also constructed crosswords (in Russian)? And it's his opinion that the creating process of the two were very similar.

4A: Old World palm: ARECA. Stumper. I think I googled it before, but I failed to commit it to my memory. ARECA is a kind of Asian Tropical palm (Betel Palm).

14A: Aspin from Wisconsin: LES (Leslie). No idea. Wikipedia says he was Clinton's Secretary of Defense after spending more than 20 years in the Congress.

16A: Nemo's creator: VERNE (Jules). From "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea". Nemo (némō ) is Latin for "no one".

19A: Goldman and Lazarus: EMMAS

27A: Level off: PLATEAU. I wonder if there is a detailed description on the "PLATEAU phase" in 'KAMA Sutra".

30A: Pooh pal: EEYORE. From "Winnie-the-Pooh". The grumpy donkey. What's behind this strange name?

39A: __ of information: MINE. New phrase to me.

42A: French fathers: PERES. And 57A: Fr. lasses: MLLES (Mademoiselles). Together with LES (14A, French "the") and VERNE (16A), they form a quietly streaming French undercurrent, very characteristic of Olschwang's puzzles.

64A: Lying on one's stomach: PRONE

DOWN:

2D: Actress Yvonne: DE CARLO. Not a familiar name to me, though I've seen "The Ten Commandments" several times before. Why does this "The Munsters" Barbie cost so much ($299)? Is it a rare collector's item?

4D: Explorer Tasman: ABEL. New to me. According to Wikipedia, he was the first known European to reach Tasmania, New Zealand and the Fiji islands.

5D: Weather or traffic pc.: REPT (Report).

6D: "The Raven" monogram: EAP (Edgar Allan Poe). Can you think of a good clue for "Elvis Aron Presley" monogram?

7D: Opposite of dimin.: CRESC (Crescendo). "Dimin" is "diminuendo". So strange, "Innuendo" does not seem to have any musical overtone, or does it?

8D: Poisonous snake: ADDER. Here is a puff ADDER. Looks so thick, hard and long.

11D: Toon myopic: MR. MAGOO. Nope, nope, he is completely unknown to me. Did he fall off the cliff eventually?

12D: Vigilant: ON ALERT

18D: Inventory: LIST. Really? Are they the same?

25D: Offer a recap: SUM UP. I dislike the "p" in the clue.

34D: Bitter: ACRID

36D: Zaire's Mobutu __ Seko: SESE. Feels like I have not seen IDI Amin for ages.

39D: Accidents: MISHAPS

40D: Ask: INQUIRE

41D: Subatomic particle: NEUTRON

43D: Reacts to an allergen: SNEEZED. SQUEEZED is another long 1-syllable word.

44D: Promising ads?: TEASERS

47D: Trick pitch: SLIDER. I almost wrote in SINKER. Randy Johnson is probably the best SLIDER I know of.

48D: Outer: pref.: ECT. Or ECTO/EXO.

57D: 2501: MMDI

C.C.

Monday July 7, 2008 John Underwood

Theme: Special K ( O"K"?)

17A: Shoe-banging Russian leader: KHRUSHCHEV

40A: African-American festival: KWANZAA

64A: Superman's bane: KRYPTONITE

11D: More clumsy than anyone: KLUTZIEST

35D: Fruits of education: KNOWLEDGE

And more K's in the grid:

1A: "___ Sutra": KAMA. Hmm, the art of positions... KAMA is Hindu god of love and erotic desire.

10A: 32-card game: SKAT

21A: Stan's "South Park" pal: KYLE. Learned his name from doing Xword.

33A: Encrusted: CAKY

49A: Is missing: LACKS

1D: Pal of Fran and Ollie: KUKLA. Again, learned this name from the OLLIE binge 2 weeks ago.

6D: Sennett of Keystone Cops: MACK. I've never heard of him or the film before. Only know Baseball HOFer Connie MACK. Is that an Old Judge card?

40D: "Show Boat" composer: KERN (Jerome). Stumper for me. Here is Julie Andrews' "The Last Time I Saw Paris", also composed by KERN.

48D: One on a quest: SEEKER

50D: __ Sabe: KEMO. The Lone Ranger.

I also like the "K" clue in SHELF ( 8D: Knickknack spot), hate the "K" clue in ACUTELY (4D: Keenly) due to the "ly" double appearances. I think the constructor missed his chance to put another "K" for RIAL (58D: Iranian cash). "Khamenei's cash" would work perfectly, right?

I wonder if Underwood is a Duke graduate. Is this a tribute to "Coach K" or what? Anyway, there is some precious joy at my Mudville today, I did not completely strike out. Got "K"illed only at the KERN (48D) & TOWERS corner. I do think I will skip my banana today, too much potassium (K) intake from the puzzle already.

ACROSS:

14A: Summer Games org. U.S.O.C. (United States Olympic Committee). I don't think I would have got it without crossing references.

15A: Hidden hoard: CACHE

16A: What you are reading now: CLUE. Perfect CLUE.

20A: Slow, musically: LENTO. What is opposite of LENTO?

22A: Envelope abbr.: ATTN (Attention). French is the same.

25A: On the ___ (broken): FRITZ. Fritz LEIBER (the fantasy author) appeared on a May TMS puzzle before.

30A: Live oak: ENCINA. New word to me. Pieced it together from the down clues.

47A: Cleese sitcom, "Fawlty ___": TOWERS. Not familiar with this sitcom or the actor Cleese at all. The clue read "Cheese sitcom" to me for a long time.

53A: Hunt and Reddy: HELENS. Know Hunt ("Mad about You"), not Reddy.

59A: Omar of "House": EPPS. He was also in Jude Law's "Alfie".

62A: Frenzied: MANIC

69A: Bob or dog vehicle: SLED

70A: Thin-voiced: REEDY. This refers to the sound of woodwind instruments, not the singer's voice, right?

DOWN:

3D: Day breaks: MORNS. And AROSE (43A: Cropped up). Wish it were clued as "Greeted the day".

5D: Wiesbaden wail: ACH. That's German for DARN (68A: Phooey!), isn't it?

9D: Forbidding: SEVERE

10D: Remove from competition: SCRATCH. Poor "Casino Drive"!

12D: Em in Kansas: AUNT. Dorothy's AUTIE Em in "The Wizard of Oz". Does anyone own a Frank Mint Autie Em doll? Does yours have the original chickens in the basket? See also 39D: Fowl females: HEN. And 36A: Relative of -ess or trix: ENNE (Feminine suffix). I like the girl power in this grid.

18D: Sect of Zen Buddhism: SOTO. No, not familiar with this sect at all. Look at this SOTO monk. So serene.

24D: Mutton dish: STEW. In which country?

31D: Without ice: NEAT

34D: Saab model: AERO. I've got no idea. I think I am used to the "Aviation prefix" clue.

37D: Poet Pound: EZRA

44D: Sushi Wrap: SEAWEED. Not a very accurate clue, sushi is wrapped in NORI, and NORI only. It would become inedible were it wrapped in KOMBU (Japanese for KELP), which is only used as a stock base for the vegetarian miso soup. The last kind of SEAWEED is called WAKAME, which tastes great both in soup and salad.

52D: Shopping bender: SPREE

54D: Early computer: ENIAC (Electronic Numeral Integrator And Computer)

57D: Cornfield cries: CAWS

60D: Gomer of Mayberry: PYLE. This once-obscure name has become a gimme for me now.

61D: Burned rubber: SPED

65D: Give it a go: TRY. "TRY me, TRY me..."

C.C.

Sunday July 6, 2008 Michael T.Williams

Theme: What's Cooking?

23A: Ideas to consume?: FOOD FOR THOUGHT

33A: Regain one's cool in the kitchen?: SIMMER DOWN

35A: Much to do in the dining room?: FULL PLATE

54A: Chef's doomed instructions? RECIPE FOR DISASTER

80A: Take in dinner conversation?: DIGEST INFORMATION

101A: Dispense freely in the lunch line: DISH IT OUT

103A: Steamed in the stove?: BOILING MAD

117A: Entree at a tribute?: CELEBRITY ROAST

I really like how SPEAR (31D: Asparagus unit) intersects NECTARS (48A: Bees' finds) & FULL PLATE. I am not sure if CLARET (32D: Red table wine) pairs well with TUNA (62A: Yellowtail or albacore). LAMB would be a beautiful companion for this flavorful wine. STIR (114D: Mix up) is a perfect closing for the puzzle, very thematic.

The clue for FNN (35D: Stock-ticker stn) is simply wrong. FNN (Financial News Networking) stopped ticking in 1991. Anyone who loves CNBC's Sue Herera/Ron Insana should know that.

Only 2 Roman numerals in the grid, but the clues just feel so heavy. "Caesar's 701" would be great for 67A: Fifth of MMMDV (DCCI), and it matches nicely with IDES (85A: Bad day for Caesar"). Can you come up with a better clue for MCL (83D: Twice DLXXV)?

The "He or/and He" clues are very annoying. I understand this might be the constructor's intention to highlight his CELEBRITY ROAST theme answer, still, way too many names for my taste. Besides, don't you think John EDWARDS would be a more topical clue for EDWARDS (95D: Blake or Ralph)? I would go with "Winter Olympics participant" for SKATER (102D: Boitano or Button). I got BESTS (103D: George and Edna) from the across fills. I am not familiar with either of them. Would be a gimme if the clue were "Outperforms".

On the other hand, I am elated to see ALECTO (98D: One of the Furies) makes an appearance today. Her sister MEGAERA tortured many of us yesterday. Be prepared, the last Fury TISIPHONE is ready to attack us SOON (27A: At any minute), I can almost feel her whip and torch. For those who only do TMS Sunday puzzle, once again, Bouguereau's "Orestes Pursued by the Furies". Furiously awful, isn't it, esp compared with Raphael's Three Graces.

ACROSS:

1A: Shout approval: ACCLAIM. Would have filled in BRAVO if there were only 5 blanks.

14A: Zero of Broadway: MOSTEL. Foreign to me. He won three Tony Awards, amazing. Why was he nicknamed "Zero"?

21A: Sustained note: TENUTO. Not familiar with this musical term. It's defined as "(of a note, chord, or rest) held to the full time value." Sound so abstract to me.

25A: East African country: RWANDA. Did anyone pen in the bordering UGANDA?

26A: Protection grp for pets: SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals)

30A: Subatomic particle: ANION. Negatively charged ION.

31A: Hit the slopes: SCHUSS. Boy, I always crash (definitely Bode Miller style) on this word. Really struggled with the letter H and the first S.

41A: Queasiness: NAUSEA . Also the English title of Sartre's novel "La Nausée".

44A: Word Series semis: NLCS (National League Championship Series). And 87A: Associations of teams: LEAGUES.

48A: Bees' finds: NECTARS. I suppose that's where NECTARINES get their sweetness.

64A: Lancelot's lady: ELAINE. I always forget her name. Can only think of Queen Guinevere. What a destructive love affair!

65A: Brave feats: COUPS

72A: Household gods of Rome: LARES. Unknown to me. Very interesting, the singular form is LAR.

77A: Rocky outcrop: CRAG

79A: Sure thing: CERT. I've never heard of CERT expression before.

86A: Resin used in plastics: ACRYLIC. I am more familiar with ACRYLIC painting than with "Resin used in plastics".

93A: Dog dogger: FLEA. I like the alliteration in the clue. Also SIC (39A: __'em, Fido). And ASTA (113D: Nora's dog). From "The Thin Man".

97A: Hypnotic state: TRANCE

111A: LeSage's "Gil __": BLAS. Have never heard of "Gil BLAS" before. Did not know until today that it's Alain-René LeSage who said "Facts are stubborn things", always thought it was from some Machiavellian politician.

123A: Retired faculty members: EMERITI

124A: Netlike caps: SNOODS

125A: Bean and Welles: ORSONS. ORSON Bean is new to me.

126A: Palindromic vehicle: RACECAR. Interesting, I've never paid attention to this before.

DOWN:

4D: Queen of Sparta: LEDA. I confused her with DIDO, who's actually "Queen of Carthage". It would be a gimme for me if there were a "Swan" hint in the clue.

5D: Booze, butts and bullets bureau: ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms). And 93D: Patted down: FRISKED.

7D: Actress Mason: MARSHA. No idea. She was in "The Goodbye Girl".

8D: Cultural value systems: ETHOSES. Tough cookie for me, esp since I had trouble with the intersecting SCHUSS. I thought ETHOS was already a plural form. See also 12D: Cultural: ETHNIC.

9D: Geological periods: AEONS. And And 81A: Glacial epoch: ICE AGE.

10D: Wildebeest: GNU. Why is he looking so sad?

11D: Classic Dracula: LUGOSI (Bela). Are you OK with the clue?

14D: Soviet orbiter: MIR. Literally "Peace" in Russian. So easy to confuse it with the Russian warplane MIG.

11D: Ahead: ONWARDS

29D: Mosaic pieces: SMALTI. The singular form is SMALTO, "colored glass or similar vitreous material used in mosaic". New English word to me.

38D: D-Day craft: LST (Landing Ship, Tank)

43D: Verizon, formerly: GTE (General Telephone and Electronics)

47D: Staunch: ARREST. Ah, the verb. I was adamantly "ARDENT" for a long time.

49D: Gust of wind: SCUD. No, nope, always thought SCUD was a missile. Wanted GALE.

52D: Soft-drink choice: FRESCA. My heart belongs to Pepsi.

53D: Musician Hayes: ISAAC. It's on a TMS puzzle before. I just forgot. I think I have very selective memories. I only remember what excites me, or rather what I want to remember.

55D: End of a bus.?: INC. I like this clue.

56D: Conciliate: PACIFY

58D: Maine national park: ACADIA. Got it this time.

59D: Meteoric fireball: BOLIDE. New to me. Pieced it together from the across clues. This word sounds like a chemical product to me.

60D: Protruding parts: BULGES. Wow, talk about protruding BULGES!

71D: Kite part: TAIL. Look at my beautiful TAIL.

76D: "The Tempest" role: ARIEL. ARIEL Sharon is still alive, isn't he?

78D: "Faust" poet: GOETHE. "Faust" is the poem from which we got "Faustian Bargain", isn't it?

84D: Nostril: NARIS. Plural is NARES.

88D: Mobster's rod: GAT. Slang for pistol.

90D: Old French coin: ECU

96D: Biscayne Bay city: MIAMI. I love Will Smith "MIAMI".

99D: Walk of life: CAREER. Walk? Not work?

104D: Singer K. T. __: OSLIN. Here is her "Hold Me".

106D: Small scale: MICRO

107D: Truman's V.P. Barkley: ALBEN. No memory of him at all. Was it a gimme to you?

111D: Cylinder diameter: BORE. Another new machinery term to me.

116D: '60s radical org.: SDS (Students for a Democratic Society)

118D: "Do Ya" rockers: ELO. "Do ya do ya want my love..."!

C.C.

Saturday, July 5, 2008 Tom Pruce

Themeless

Have you seen Diane Lane's "Unfaithful" before? If not, you should immediately netflix it after solving this puzzle, which has quite a few answers evocative of the erotic thriller: TWO TIME (8A: Be unfaithful to), STAMINA (43D: Lasting power), STARE, ENDEARS, AGITATO (3D: Energetically, in music), ACT, ENTRE nous (51D: Just between us), TRYSTED (44D: Had a rendezvous), IMMORAL (12D: Iniquitous), TOUSLE (8D: Dishevel), ERRED, RUER, and of course our twisted LEIS.

Ali Farka Touré's "Ai du" is heard during the steamy foreplay and the bathtub scene. Last time Melissa linked Touré's son's version of "Ai du". So good. His "Diaraby' used to accompany me to sleep.

Nothing striking about this puzzle. Once again, too many affixes (S, ER, etc), which render the puzzle highly solvable but unappealing and unsatisfying. I think I crave some exotic themeless.

I did get stumped by letters M & F in two pockets of the grid today. MEGAERA (15A) was completely foreign to me, and I did not know anything about composers/operas, so I wobbled and wobbled and finally went with letter L (among H, L, M, N, P, T and W) for SMETANA, and it turned out to be an expensive mistake.

I also totally forgot about SKIFF ( 26D: Small rowboat), so I had trouble obtaining SFAX (38A: Tunisian port). That's a tough F, isn't it? I was totally screwed here. How can F follow S?

Some of the answers sound so made-up to me, so iffy:

33A: Worthy of confession: AVOWABLE

7D: In an impish manner: RASCALLY

38D: Most composed: SEDATEST

Are you OK with them?

ACROSS:

15A: One of Furies: MEGAERA. The other 2 are Alecto & Tisiphone, the "terrible winged goddesses with serpentine hair, who relentlessly pursue and punish doers of unavenged crimes". And they carried "torches and whips" to torment the bad evildoers. This is William-Adolphe Bouguereau's "The Remorse of Orestes"(or "Orestes Pursued by the Furies"). He stabbed his mother to death, no wonder those Furies were furious.

16A: Shell's crew member: OARSMAN. I would have penned in OILMAN if there were only 6 BLANKS (48D: Empty spaces). Bravi to those tenacious Irish who stood up against the Shell Crown.

17A: Medicinal concoctions: ELIXIRS

22A: Irregularly worn: EROSE. Would not have got ORNE (10D: Caen's river) without the E from EROSE.

27A: Ms. from Cadiz: SRTA. "Ms"? Why so vague today? "Miss" is too hot to handle? And another Spanish word is DIOS (42D: Deity in Madrid).

28A: Fertilizer ingredient: NITER

35A: Balbo and Calvino: ITALOS. Dimly remember Calvino. Not familiar with Balbo. Probably a gimme to those ITALOphiles.

37A: Deuterium discoverer: UREY (Harold C.). New to me. Got it from the down fills.

39A: Moisten: DAMPEN. Lots of "EN" combination in today's grid.

42A: Thaws out: DEFROSTS

52A: "Six O'Clock" painter John: SLOAN. No, no, the painting is titled "Six O'Clock, Winter".

57A: "The Maltese Falcon" co-star: ASTOR (Mary)

60A: Nuclear cease-fire: TEST BAN

64A: Following a course: ON TRACK. Straying with me! Do you dare?

65A: Feminist Gloria: STEINEM. I always associate her with the "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle" one-liner.

67A: Filaments: THREADS

DOWN:

1D: "The Bartered Bride" composer: SMETANA. Simply too ERUDITE (62A: Learned) a clue for me. Unattainable M intersection with 15A: MEGAERA.

2D: ___ Jaffa, Israel: TEL AVIV And 56A: Israeli statesman Abba: EBAN

3D: ___ Romana: PAX (Roman goddess of peace). The Greek equivalent is "Irene".

13D: Conductor's title: MAESTRO. Or Alan Greenspan's title given by Bob Woodward.

36D: Nerve parts: AXONS. The impulse transmitters.

40D: Eisenhower's boyhood home: ABILENE (KS). Not a familiar place to me. Wikipedia says that the Greyhound Hall of Fame is located there.

41D: Harasses: MOLESTS

63D: Buy the farm: DIE. Is "Buy the farm" a common phrase? I've never heard of it. Maybe it's just an Asian thing, but I really dislike seeing "DIE" clued in such a depressing way. I wouldn't mind if it's clued as the movie title "DIE another Day". There are hundreds of cheerful ways to clue this "Casino cube".

C.C.

Friday July 4, 2008 John Underwood

Theme: INDEPENDENCE DAY (17A: Today)

27A: Today's celebrant: THE UNITED STATES

46A: Today's colors: RED WHITE AND BLUE

61A: Today's song: GOD BLESS AMERICA

Were John Underwood a woman, I would shout "BRAVA" (16A) to him for this great puzzle. Wow, look at those 15-letter theme answers running through the grid, amazing!

Both OBSERVE (45D: Keep an eye on) and TGIF (52D: End-of-the-week cheer) are brilliant answers for today in my opinion. And Shish KEBAB (57A: Food on a stick) is an ideal grilled dish to be served on the 4th of July. Large shrimps, bell pepper cubes & chunks of fresh pineapple on a skewer, hmmm, delicious!

It's also nice to see both MOM (63D: May honoree) and DAD (23A: Father) appear in the same grid, but why DAD is not clued as "June honoree"? I like the way FREEMAN intersects INDEPENDENCE DAY, and BAD IDEA (7D: I wouldn't, if I were you) balances out WE'LL SEE (44D). Very nice.

I hate the clues for OATS (45A: Feedbag contents) due to FEEDS (67A: Flows into) and BIEN (58D: Well in France) because of WE'LL SEE (44D). "Très BIEN" would be parfait!

New words/names to me today: ELISA, ARPEL, BRAVA, ERI TU & RAYE.

ACROSS:

1A: Normandy town: ST. LO. Reagan's (or rather Peggy Noonan's) patriotic masterpiece D-Day "The Boys of Pointe du Hoc" speech popped into my mind earlier this morning: "...These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war..." Look, Pointe du Hoc is so close to ST. LO & Caen.

14A: Dnieper port: KIEV. I've never heard of the Dnieper River before. But KIEV is easily obtainable here.

15A: Gentleman caller: BEAU. I don't get this one. "Caller", what does that mean? (Update later: "Gentleman caller" is "an old-fashioned term for boyfriend").

16A: Soprano's accolade: BRAVA. New to me, I always thought the exclamation "Bravo" applies to both male and female.

20A: Wisdom unit?: PEARL. PEARL of Wisdom. Bernard-Henri Lévy had a very interesting take on "Who killed Daniel PEARL?". Lévy's "J'accuse" sometimes can be very overwhelming.

21A: Queen of Carthage: DIDO. Same clue on June 9 puzzle. Here is DIDO & Youssou N'Dour's Live 8 (2005) "Thank you".

22A: Slack off: EASE. The opposite of yesterday's "MAL dans sa peau" (Ill at EASE) is "BIEN (58D) dans sa peau".

37A: Permission doc.: LIC (License). I was misled into thinking of some doctor rather than document.

42A: Immunoassay diagnostic: ELISA ( Enzyme-Linked ImmunoSorbent Assay). Absolutely no idea. What an intimidating clue! If ELISA is an acronym, why there is no hint in the clue?

50A: Adrien of cosmetics: ARPEL. I am not familiar with this brand or the person at all. Pieced the answer together from down clues.

51A: Greek letters: XIS

69A: Tight positions?: ENDS. I like how this answer ENDS the grid.

DOWN:

3D: Swan's mate of myth: LEDA. Mother of Helen of Troy.

4D: Outstanding: OVERDUE

8D: Made to resemble nappy leather: SUEDED. Did not know that SUEDE can also be a verb.

10D: Actor Morgan: FREEMAN. My favorite FREEMAN movie is "The Shawshank Redemption". What's yours? Oh, I also like his "Million Dollar Baby" and "March of the Penguins".

13D: "Big Mouth" Martha: RAYE. I filled in ROYE as I got BRAVO for 16A. I sure have difficulty remembering her name. Why was she called "Big Mouth" Martha? I want a Big Bertha.

27D: 10th President: TYLER (John). I tend to confuse him with the 12th President Zachary Taylor.

28D: Selassie of Ethiopia: HAILE. Know him due to my love for Bob Marley.

29D: Spanish national hero: EL CID. I like how TYLER, HAILE and EL CID are stacked together.

32D: "Un Ballo in Maschera" aria: ERI TU. No idea. Strung the answer together from across clues. Here is Leo Nucci's ERI TU.

40D: Wildcat: LYNX. Obviously our Minnesota LYNX (WNBA) is not good enough to be clued.

43D: Used a Q-tip: SWABBED

47D: __dixt: IPSE. And another Latin phrase: 19D: Sine qua __(essential things): NONS

59D: LSD, to users: ACID. CNN had a very interesting news segment on the "Magic Mushroom LSD effect" the other day. Sounds very intriguing. Too bad, "Magic Mushroom" is banned in the US.

Happy 17A everyone!

C.C.

Thursday July 3, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Live and Learn (Evan Esar Quip)

17A: Start of a quip: IT'S NEVER TOO

24A: Part 2 of a quip: LATE TO LEARN

37A: Part 3 of quip: AND

46A: Part 4 of quip: IT'S NEVER TOO

57A: End of quip: EARLY EITHER

Sub-theme: Golf

1A: Monroe's successor: ADAMS. Nice looking ADAMS' golf bag. Is anyone playing with their Tom Watson wedge set?

20A: Heads, slangily: NOODLES. Maxfli NOODLE, Long & Soft.

36A: Best of the best: ELITE. Here is a box of Wilson Staff 's True Tour ELITE golf balls. Too much spin on Maxfli ELITE.

25D: Zero in golf: EVEN PAR. What??? Have you ever carded a "zero"? Ridiculous clue.

I did not know that every QUIP themed puzzle has its own specific title until I solved Alan P. Olschwang "Young Adults" QUIP last Sunday. Live and Learn, indeed.

Nothing scintillating about this puzzle. The clues/answers are way TOO (4 TOO's embedded in the grid) ordinary, there is no "extra", if any, flashes of brilliance to make it extraordinary. This constructor really needs to DEVIATE (41D: Go off course) from his annoying QUIP rut and create some quality puzzles for TMS solvers.

ACROSS:

6A: Timex rival: CASIO. And another watch brand is OMEGA (43A: Final Greek letter).

15A: Robbery: HEIST. Gene Hackman's HEIST is pretty good.

33A: Candler or Gray: ASA. And another palindromic word CIVIC (38A: Municipal).

53A: "Great" czar: PETER I (from 1682-1725).

54A: Jazz devotee: HIPSTER. Always thought HIPSTER refers someone who is hip. Had no idea that HIPSTER can also mean a jazz fan.

60A: Mexican Mrs.: SRA (Señora). And her top curve is TILDE (26D: Diacritical mark).

62A: French student: ELEVE. "Nice pupil"!

64A: Play tricks on: TEASE. "...The way you talk, the way you TEASE, right now I think you see, there Ain't Nothing 'Bout You that don't do something for me..."

DOWN:

1D: Nitrogen compound: AMINE. Learned this chemical compound word from doing Xword.

2D: Artoo's last name: DETOO. No idea. Got it from the perps. This is how R2-D2 looks like.

5D: Star-shaped: STELLATE. New word to me. Only know "Stellar".

7D: __ Lingus (Irish airline): AER. And another Irish reference is actor REA (58D: Stephen of "Fear Dot Com"). I've never seen "Fear Dot Com" (FeardotCom). Just saw his Prêt-à-Porter a few days ago.

9D: Some crustaceans: ISOPODS. Another new word to me. Dictionary defines ISOPODS as "Any of numerous crustaceans of the order Isopoda, characterized by a flattened body bearing seven pairs of legs and including the sow bugs and gribbles." How strange! Where can you find 7 in the word ISOPODS? Shouldn't it be HEPTAPOD, like "Four: prefix" TETRA (47D: Colorful tropical fish) in TETRAPOD?

10D: "The Stunt Man" star: O'TOOLE (Peter). I've never seen the movie, have you?

11D: Bara of the silents: THEDA. BARA was clued as Theda of the silents on a TMS puzzle before. Wikipedia says her name is an anagram of "Arab Death". She did not look wild to be Cleopatra, did she? So easy to confuse her with the IT girl CLARA Bow.

12A: Boring tool: AUGER. AUGER in action. I had no idea that this tool is called AUGER, which looks so similar to AUGUR.

13D: Irriatation: THORN

22D: Keanu in "The Matrix": NEO. I really like Keanu's role in "Something's Gotta Give", don't you? Which is your favorite Keanu movie?

32D: Measuring instrument: GAUGE

38D: Four-poster covers: CANOPIES

45D: Peau de __: SOIE (soft silk). Lime Peau de SOIE. SOIE is silk in French, peau is skin. "MAL (27A: __de Mer) dans sa peau" means "ILL as ease" (39D).

46D: "No bid": I PASS

49D: Soup herb: THYME. I never sprinkle THYME in my soup. I do like roasted asparagus with fresh THYME.

50D: One Barrymore: ETHEL. Unknown to me. I only knew DREW Barrymore and LIONEL Barrymore, who was also a very talented painter. I am surprised that this Wikipedia bio did not mention any of his artwork.

C.C.

Wednesday July 2, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Vowel Movement

17A: Gung-ho guy: BALL OF FIRE

26A: Quasimodo, for one: BELL RINGER

36A: "I Spy" co-star: BILL COSBY

50A: Cotton-grower's bane: BOLL WEEVIL

60A: Wall Street upsurge: BULL MARKET

Haven't we done a similar vowel progression themed puzzle before? Let me check....OK, here it is. Hmm, it's not entirely the same. I don't think I like this double-consonant ending B?LL****** rolling. Besides, the answer for the theme entry 36A has only 9 letters while the others all have 10, though the symmetry is still perfectly fine. I think I like Wiseman's better, all of his theme entries have 15 letters running through whole grid.

"Lust" came to my mind immediately after I spot the them, LAST, LEST, LIST, LOST, LUST would make a similar themed puzzle, so would MASS, MESS, MISS, MOSS, MUSS & PACK, PECK, PICK, POCK, Puck. What else can you think of?

It's a very thorny puzzle for me today, too many unknown singers. Had to ask google for help.

ACROSS:

1A: Hawaiian island: LANA'I. Lovely pineapple field in LANA'I (The Pineapple Island).

2A:Minute amt. of time: NSEC (Nanosecond)

14A: Concorde, e.g.: AVION (Plane). And another French word: ECOLE (28A: Nice schools)

16A: Novelist Hoag: TAMI. Unknown to me. One of her novels is titled "The ALIBI (25D: Mystery excuse?) Man".

19A: "Outside the Lines" shower: ESPN. Very misleading show-er, esp if you are not familiar with "Outside the Lines". "Baseball Tonight" shower would be much easier to obtain.

24A: Bonet or Alther: LISA. I know neither of them. Are they very famous?

39A: "La Boheme" heroine: MIMI. Foreign to me. Is it a gimme to you? I only know this MIMI (Tom Cruise's ex). And basso EZIO (63A: Pinza of opera). Always confuse his name with poet EZRA Pound.

42A: Patron saint of Norway: OLAV

43A: "The Zoo Story" dramatist: ALBEE (Edward). He also wrote "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?"

48A: Egg: pref.: OVI. And 64A: Bone: pref. OSTE

54A: Hair-removal brand name: NEET. It was clued as "Nair competitor" before. And another brand LYSOL (51D: Disinfectant brand).

55A: Violent killer: SLAYER

65A: NH city: KEENE. Unknown to me. I pieced it together from the down clues. The NH in the clue should not be abbreviated.

67A: Brewers' manager Ned: YOST. Hmm, Robin YOUNT yesterday, Ned YOST today, are we expecting Ben SHEETS tomorrow? What's behind this Brewers' promotion?

DOWN:

3D: "Everybody's talking" singer: NILSSON (Harry). I've never heard of his name nor the song. Wikipedia says "Without You" is one of his best-known songs. I always thought Maria Carey was the original singer. "Everybody's been a-talking" is the first line of Robert Plant & Alison Krauss's "Stick with me Baby".

6D: Type of checking: NO FEE

7D: Skiing mishap: SPILL. No idea. Is it Bode Miller style skiing mishap or what?

8D: Cochlea site: EAR. I had no idea what "Cochlea" is. Flyingears only mentioned the three bones last time: INCUS (the Anvil), Malleus (the hammer) and Stapes (Stirrup).

9D: Cereal brand: CHEERIOS. The company (General Mills) is based here in MN. It's one of the major corporate donors to the GOP convention (RNC) this year. We have a bunch of Fortune 500 companies (3M, Best Buy, Cargill, etc) here, so it's much much easier to raise money for the conventions in Mpls/St. Paul than in Denver (DNC).

10D: Hard-as-nail: STERN. I suspect the original clue is "Violinist Isaac" since this constructor seems to have a wide range of music interest.

11D: Layered pasta dish: LASAGNA. Want some? Go to epicurious.com for the recipe.

12D: Indistinct number: UMPTEEN

17D: Mosque tower: MINARET. Alien to me. This is a Mosque with a MINARET.

27D: State's number-2 job: LT. GOV. (Lieutenant Governor)

35D: Bridge support: PYLON. Another unknown. Look at this picture.

37D: "Working for the Weekend" outfit: LOVERBOY. No idea. I am not familiar with the song or the rock band. I thought "Working for the Weekend" was a movie, and the answer was some kind of special clothes.

39D: Tony Soprano, for one: MOBSTER

40D: Place on a pedestal: IDOLIZE

41D: "Brand New Key" singer: MELANIE. No idea. Here is "Brand New Key".

44D: More unpromising: BLEAKER. I kept reading the clue as "More uncompromising".

45D: Honda model: ELEMENT

49D: Supermodel Heidi: KLUM. OK, let's continue this SongFest. This is Heidi KLUM's "Wonderland". What are inside those Tiffany blue boxes?

C.C.