Sunday August 3, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Drop Me a Letter

23A: One way to look at dieting?: AS A MATTER OF FA(C)T

61A: Let them be so-so?: LAISSEZ - FAIR(E)

98A: Connected to nature?: (G)ONE WITH THE WIND

16D: PETA's position?: DOWN ON ALL F(O)URS

38D: Bribes?: GREASE MON(K)EY

51D: Kooky wish granter? (F)AIRY GODMOTHER

Great puzzle! Much more interesting than the "Exed Out" puzzle we had in June.

I like this kind of "word transformation" themed crossword - adding a letter or dropping a letter. I think I can handle changing- a- letter too. Not sure I am up to the word reversal or anagram, but I am game. Try me!

This morning I kept thinking why the constructor decided to drop C, E, G, O, K and F. Without the F, we could have had a "GECKO". I guess there is no hidden meaning behind her drops, she simply just needs those random drops for her grid. Sometimes a cigar is a just a cigar.

Structurally, this grid looks very appealing to me. I don't think I've seen an Across theme entry intersects a Down theme entry so perfectly, right in the middle and with the identical 11-letter word count. Very beautiful.

The only flaw is the clue for GOLLY (33A: Gee whiz! ). GEE WHIZ is the answer for (33D: Yipes). I can assure you that the constructor's original clue for GOLLY is not "Gee whiz".

I had some trouble with FAIRY GODMOTHER (51D: Kooky wish granter). I misread the clue as "Kooky fish granter", and I had the following silly intersecting fills:

68A: Scott Joplin's genre: RAG. I filled in RAP. Had never heard of Joplin before.

92A: Command to Fido: SIT. I had SIC.

77D: Dishes with chips: DIPS. Really struggled with this one. My final answer was RIMS, ridiculous, I know, but I filled in the M with a sound reason, as my answer for 65D: Covered with bubbles was FOAMY instead of SOAPY. I was thinking of dish plates with chips along the RIMS.

So I was staring at AIRYPORMOCHER for eons and could not make any sense of it. I still don't grok how "Kooky" and "AIRY" are connected. Kooky means eccentric, and AIRY means lofty or snobbish, how can they be synonymous?

Across:

13A: Miss Muffet's surprise: SPIDER. Ha, pure guess. Nursery rhymes stump me all the time.

19A: North star: POLARIS

22A: Gangster Al: CAPONE 50D: Writer Capote: TRUMAN. I always confuse CAPONE with CAPOTE.

25A: Frank admission: AVOWAL

31A: Winchester rival: ETON. Not familiar with Winchester college. ETON's rival is always "Harrow" to me. Wikipedia says ETON is modeled on Winchester.

32A: Wing movements: FLAPS

36A: Dancing Buttons: RED. I've never heard of him. Got his name from the down clues. For a long time I could not understand why RED is the "Dancing Buttons", so confused by the plural form "Buttons". Then I realized the B is in capital letter. Excellent clue. Who is that lady in the middle?

37A: Christie of "Don't Look Now": JULIE. I still think she should have won Oscar for "Away From Her", brilliant performance. I've never seen "Don't Look Now" before. Is it good?

38A: Cosmetic product: GELEE. Ah, irresistible lip gloss, tasty too.

43A: Byron poem: LARA. I don't know this poem. Only know LARA as "Dr. Zhivago's love", also played by the beautiful Julie Christie.

44A: Over in Ulm: UBER

49A: Put on: STAGED. Does this refer to "STAGED a play"?

53A: Pop preference: FAVE. Should have added "slangily' in the clue.

55A: Pavarotti performances: ARIAS

57A: Saw-tooth ranges: SIERRAS

59A: E-I connection: FGH. I think I like the "I follows them" clue better.

69A: Antique shop's affectation: OLDE. OK, this "Ye OLDE Shoppe" has been bothering me for a long time. What does "Ye" mean? Why "Shoppe" instead of "Shope"?

72A: Creamy dessert: MOUSSE. I want a slice of this berry MOUSSE.

73A: Deviation from the norm: ANOMALY

79A: Turning muscle: ROTATOR

82A: Prone to overacting: HAMMY

86A: ___, right in the kisser!: POW. I've never heard of this phrase before.

90A: Cardiff's country: WALES. Cardiff the capital of Wales. Here is Tom Jones, the best WALES has offered to us.

96A: Division in a group: SCHISM

102A: Person with a financial burden: LIENEE

107A: Moocher: CADGER. I would not have got HIC (101D: __ jacet) without this CADGER.

Down:

2D: Suggested: POSITED

3D: With ice cream: A LA MODE

4D: Asian noodles: RAMEN. I like udon, soba is good too. Lots of food in today's puzzle. Xchefwalt would have enjoyed it.

6D: Unit of Morse code: DIT. What's the difference between DIT and DOT? Someone mentioned last time that DOT and DASH are the codes, DIT & DAH are how those codes sound like aurally. Is that true?

12D: Accepted second best: SETTLED. Under certain circumstance, yes.

37D: Is in accord: JIBES

41D: Bandleader Xavier: CUGAT. Have difficulty committing his name into my memory.

43D: Burton of "Roots": LEVAR. I've seen "Roots", but I did not pay attention to his real name.

56D: Pitcher Koufax: SANDY. Gimme gimme. He is a HOFer. This is his 1955 Topps rookie card. Feels like PSA 8 rather than 5.

58D: Key of Beethoven's "Eroica": E FLAT. Learned from doing Xword. I've got no understanding of Beethoven's music. This is for you!

62D: Like speedy service: SAME DAY

63D: Throw out of bed: ROUST

76D: Tree colonies: FOREST. I just learned a new woody word today - sylvan.

78D: Cowboy bars: SALOONS. It indeed looks like a wonderful to eat, drink and have fun. Interesting photo above the bartender's head.

79D: Alice Kramden's hubby: RALPH. I don't know this RALPH. But I know this clue will someone very happy today.

80D: First part: OPENING. See, Sallyjane, here is another example where you do not need an *ING clue for an *ING answer.

81D: Love affair: ROMANCE. I think Oscar Wilde was wrong in saying "Nothing spoils a ROMANCE so much as a sense of humor in the woman."

82D: Bothersome situation: HASSLE

83D: Soul singer Keys: ALICIA. I like this photo, with her talent & passion in full display.

87D: "Our Town" playwright: WILDER (Thornton). I googled the book.

90D: Chess side: WHITE

95D: Fleck or Bartok: BELA. Know the composer Bartok, not Fleck.

To steal a line from Buckeye, I must be off. Make exciting comments today, and turn me on.

C.C.

Saturday, August 2, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

I am sorry for the troubles many of you (mainly Internet Explorer users) went through last night accessing to the blog. The SNAFU was caused by the Site Meter, which brought down every blog/website with its tracking code. I removed it as soon as I discovered the problem earlier this morning. This was the first time I encountered such a glitch in the 6 months since I installed it.

Everything should be fine now. However, I do suggest you to download Firefox, which is much better than IE. And it allows you to do automatic spelling check when you comment. It's the best browser in my view.

OK, back to puzzle. I had a very tough round. Sliced my opening tee shot immediately. Did not know how to HOOK (1D: Peter Pan" pirate). I filled in SMEE. Then I could not see clearly where the fairways went in the next couple of holes. Too many unfamiliar names. Some of the clues were purposely made tough and I could not correctly read the breaks. Felt like I had to putt 3, or 4 times to sink that damned ball.

I was very, very flattered that Mr. Michael T. William thought I was capable of solving his puzzle.

Front Nine:

1A: Takes by force: HIJACKS

8A: Going one better than: BESTING. Are you OK with this clue?

15A: Prize presenter: AWARDER. I've never heard of "presenter" being called an "AWARDER" before.

13A: Catalog customer: ORDERER.

18A: Soprano Renata: TEBALDI. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says TEBALDI "is famous for being Maria Callas' rival and for her large, voluminous soprano that was widely admired for its tonal beauty and evenness of vocal line.

19A: Short-lived 1920s car: KESSLER. Completely unknown to me. I googled, and still could not find anything about this car.

20A: Indisposition: ILLNESS

23A: In an early stage of development: INCHOATE. Another new word to me. Only knew "incipient".

31A: Despotic: TYRANNICAL. Again, only knew "tyranny".

35A: Zest: ELAN. It reminds me of "pizazz", a word that confused me for a long long time. I never knew how to spell it correctly.

37A: Future rock: LAVA

38A: Jazz pianist Thelonious: MONK. Another unknown to me. Very strange given name. Here is his "Round About Midnight".

39A: Figwort family member: SNAPDRAGON. So delicate!

41A: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Ben Hogan seems to have a more proununced hip move than SNEAD.

43A: Chatoyand gemstone: TIGER EYE. Interesting brown TIGER EYE.

44A: Sealed like flies: ZIPPERED. I did not know that "ZIPPER" is a verb also.

47A: Boris Badenov's cartoon partner: NATASHA. No idea. Pure guess.

50A: Pertinent: APROPOS

55A: Like bogeys: OVER PAR. "Below Par" is such a fascinating self-contradicting word. This puzzle has a slight golf theme. With SNEAD, TORSO (36A: Trunk of the body), HOOK (though it's clued differently) & TIGER.

56A: Ryder painting, "___ of the Sea": TOILERS. Here is the painting. I see no romance or mystic in that picture. Have never heard of Ryder before.

57A: Most in the pink?: ROSIEST. "In the pink" is a new phrase to me. The clue feels a bit strained to me.

60A: Puts to sleep: SEDATES

Back Nine:

3D: Clampett and others: JEDS

5D: Gordon Jump on "WKRP...": CARLSON. No idea. I googled the show.

6D: Short trousers: KNEE PANTS. I don't like the side slit, the color is OK.

7D: Saw-toothed edge: SERRATION. I only knew the adjective SERRATE.

8D: Hand-dyed fabric: BATIK. Another new word. Dictionary says it's also "a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with a color or colors, and dissolving the wax in boiling water."

9D: "The Seven Year Itch": co-star Tom: EWELL. Unknow to me. I've never seen the movie. Knew this Marilyn Monroe picture though.

10D: Natural Paintbrushes: SABLES. I was in the ART direction. Why avoiding "Fine Fur", just to be politically correct? (Addendum: It's clued as "Paintbrush display" on line).

11D: Crossing the Arctic Circle: TRANSPOLAR. Another new word.

14D: Spanish cubist: GRIS (Juan). This is his "Portrait of Picasso".

22D: Repack for reshipping: RECRATE. This actually is a very accurate clue.

25D: Hart or Stephen: CRANE. Know Stephen, not Hart

26D: "The Simpsons" voice: HANK AZARIA. He was married to Helen Hunt for a short period of time.

32D: Pronounces an initial H: ASPIRATES. New term to me.

33D: Northwestern pine: LODGEPOLE. Odd red-colored pines. New to me.

42D: Scatter: DISPEL

47D: Sushi wrapping: NORI. Yes, this is the only seaweed you use to wrap sushi or rice ball.

48D: Bath's river: AVON. I've never heard of this city "Bath" before. AVON is easily inferable though.

49D: New Age pianist John: TESH. Got his name from the across clues. I think I saw his mug before. Who is that girl on his left?

52D: Partially carbonized moss: PEAT. Every clue seems to be very complicated today.

53D: Caen's river: ORNE. Learned from doing Xword of course. Have not seen ST. LO (Town near Caen) for quite some time.

C.C.

Limit on Comments

I would like to keep the comments around 100 per day. I've been having great difficulty managing the posts in the past 2 weeks.

Please write fewer but longer posts. They can be equally as enjoyable as the back-and-forth banters if you stretch your imagination and get creative in your wording.

Posts after #100 should be exclusively for the further discussion of that specific day's crossword.

Thank you for the understanding.

C.C.

Friday August 1, 2008 Verna Suit

Theme: "See 'n Say"

17A: Lunch combo: SOUP AND SANDWICH

23A: Footwear combo: SHOES AND SOCKS

38A: Flag combo: STARS AND STRIPES

49A: Little girl combo: SUGAR AND SPICE

60A: Bonebreaking combo: STICKS AND STONES

I don't like seeing 5 repetitive "combo" in the above clues, very lazy. Given the creativity shown by the constructor on the theme entries, I suspect our editor might have tinkered with the constructor's original submission. Anyway, a "duet" sounds more appealing to me than a "combo".

This is a beautiful grid. I am so impressed with those S* & S* phrases. I was thinking of a similar T* & T* puzzle, but I could only think of "Thick and Thin" & "Toss and Turn". What other T*& T* phrases can you think of? They have to be 10-letter long I suppose, 15- letter will be ideal of course.

Several clever clues in today's puzzle, and several eyebrow-raising abbreviated answers too.

Across:

1A: Profundity: DEPTH. Wish the clue were "The third D (3-D)" to pair up with CCL (20A: Half of D). I've never realized that there is a "C C" in every "half of D".

6A: Erect: RAISE. Would have had a nice little sub-theme if RAISE were clued as "Worker's demand" since we have 56A: Workplace safety grp. (OSHA) & 30D: Work Station (DESK).

11A: VW predecessors: STU. Great clue. STUVW, in alphabetic order.

15A: Former defense secretary Les: ASPIN. "LES" was clued as "Aspin from Wisconsin" on July 8.

22A: Plumps (for): OPTS. I've never heard of "Plumps for" before. Dictionary defines the phrase as "Supports enthusiastically", but that would be "ROOTS for", how could it be "OPTS for"?

28A: Potato style: MASHED. The green pieces on top are chives, aren't they?

34A: Race of Norse gods: AESIR. I forgot. Had AESI? for a long time. AESIR is "the principal race of gods, led by Odin and living at Asgard." Very interesting root: "Old Norse, pl. of āss, god), no wonder they live in Asgard.

43A: Gov't security: T NOTE

45A: Annie or Harry Potter: ORPHAN

67A: Bit of binary code: ONE. This ONE is for you, xchefwalt.

68A: "The Highwayman poet": NOYES (Alfred). What a confusing name: NO YES. Thomas probably will "NOYER" into this name again.

69A: Dashing Flynn: ERROL. Know him, have never seen any of his movies though. Interesting book title - "My Wicked, Wicked Ways".

Down:

2D: Son of Cain: ENOCH

4D: County div., often: TWP (Township)

5D: San Simeon castle builder: HEARST. Got it from the cross fills. "San Simeon castle" is not a familiar name to me.

6D: Hazardous gas: RADON

7D: Varied: abbr: ASSTD (Assorted). What do you think of this clue?

8D: None for me, thanks: I PASS

11D: In good order: SHIPSHAPE

26D: Vocalist Vikki: CARR. Unknown to me. I googled her name. Here is her "It Must Be Him" & "All The Time".

33D: New state name: HAMPSHIRE. Another clever clue. New HAMPSHIRE.

41D: Title for M. Clouseau: INSP (Inspector). I have no idea who M. Clouseau is. I've never heard of "Pink Panther" before. This picture popped up when I googled "Inspector Clouseau".

46D: Anti-Red grp.: HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). I pieced the answer together from the perps. Vaguely remember seeing this word in someone's comment before. Wait....OK, it's from Melissa. She mentioned HUAC when she remarked on Zero MOSTEL a few weeks ago.

48D: African menace: TSETSE. Good to see a full fly. Here is a female TSETSE. How sad, this deadly fly kills 3 millions livestock in this region every year.

50D: Prepared for action: READY. See, here is good example of how a constructor/editor can make a clue more interesting, tricking people to think of a past tense verb. A present tense "Prepare for action" is also a valid clue since READY can also be a verb.

55D: Stand for something?: EASEL. I like the question mark in the clue.

C.C.

Thursday July 31, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: In Praise of Flattery

18A: Start of Samuel Johnson quote: JUST PRAISE

28A: Part 2 of quote: IS ONLY A DEBT

49A: Part 3 of quote: BUT FLATTERY

64A: End of quote: IS A PRESENT

From "The Rambler" # 155.

I have difficulty grokking this rambling quote. Samuel Johnson did think FLATTERY was more superior than PRAISE, right? I am simply so confused by the weird grammatical structure of "JUST PRAISE IS ONLY A DEBT". It sounds so wrong.

Not a bad puzzle, I like the lower middle part: SURGE, TEASER, GAZA, ZETA & GALLANTS, all quality fills.

I suspect our editor changed the EASING/SOFTENING corner of the grid, just as he did to Barry Silk's puzzle yesterday. This Olschwang might be a boring QUIP/QUOTE guy, but he is too professional to clue 2 ING's fills with 2 ING's clues: EASING (34A: Palliating) & SOFTENING (35D: Toning down). Very unpleasant eyesores.

Across:

5A: Banned orchard spray: ALAR. Wikiepedia says it's banned in 1989.

9A: Woo: COURT. Here is "How to Woo a Girl".

16A: "Lou Grant" star: ASNER (Ed). Learned his name from doing Xword. Have never seen "Lou Grant".

20A: Waste maker?: HASTE. And 52D: SWIFT (Speedy)

23A: Attends: GOES. Is "Attends" a good clue to you? I don't like seeing 2 GO'es in the puzzle. See 38D: Elapse: GO BY

24A: Model Macpherson: ELLE. She is beautiful. FLAB-u-less! (48A: Love handle).

33A: Hot time in Le Havre: ETE. Le Havre is here.

41A: Hosp. readout: ECG (Electrocardiogram). What's the difference between ECG & EKG?

43A: Cowboy's showcase: RODEO. What a daring RODEO Girl!

44A: People with pad: STENOS. Very interesting anagram: NOTES.

56A: Draw breath: LIVE. I had difficulty breathing seeing this clue.

58A: "Eyeless in ___": GAZA. Not familiar with this novel. GAZA strip yes, and the Golen Heights. I used to vodka him.

70A: Back of the neck: NAPE

Down:

4D: Eavesdrops: LISTENS IN

6D: Honored poet: LAUREATE. Who is your favoirte poet?

10D: Missouri feeder: OSAGE

19D: West point beginner: PLEBE. Also the first-year student at Navy Academy/Marine Military Academy. How come they named those freshmen as PLEBES?

42D: Gents: GALLANTS. Always thought GALLANT was an adjective only. Dictionary explains that GALLANT can also be a verb, meaning "To woo or pay COURT (to a lady)".

45D: Puzzling problem: TEASER

51D: Dam-building grp: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority). Learned this acronym from doing Xword also. I have no idea what their responsibilites were/are.

53D: Desert greenery: OASIS. Plural is OASES.

54D: Refrain syllables: TRA LA. Crossword fills can be so whimsical, TRA, TRA LA, TRA LA LA.

55D: Too high-strung: HYPER. Here is the entrance to the French HYPERmarket Carrefour in Beijing.

59D: Greek letter: ZETA. This ZETA is Gorgeous.

C.C.

Wednesday July 30, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: Equines

17A: Root of bitterness?: HORSERADISH

24A: 1966 Wilson Pickett hit: MUSTANG SALLY

36A: Sobriquet for Stallone: ITALIAN STALLION

48A: Colorado pro: DENVER BRONCO

58A: Mail system. 1860-61: PONY EXPRESS

Hmm, where are the MOUNT, STEED, COLT, FILLY & STUD?

I should not NAG.

This is a beautiful puzzle. The first pangram grid I've ever solved - all letters of the alphabets are used. I wonder if anyone has constructed an "HORSE" rebus puzzle before. Wouldn't that be interesting to decode?

The only flaw I saw is the clue for ROAN (29D: Motley horse), since HORSE is part of the theme answer (17A).

Figured out the theme very earlier on, which helped me fill in several otherwise unobtainable fills.

Had a few absent-minded flirting with Google. I still can not believe SCHISGAL (10D) is an actual name.

Across:

1A: Woody Allen movie: ZELIG. Not familiar with this mockumentary. I had ZEL?G for a long time. I like Woody Allan's "Annie Hall" & "Hannah and Her Sisters".

11A: Parts of gals: QTS

15A: Swiss canton: URI. Have not seen the "Mentalist Geller" clue for a long time.

21A: Laptop surfer's connection: WIFI. I've never used WIFI connection. Is it very quick?

22A: "The White Album" track: I WILL. Here is Paul McCartney's "I WILL". Not a familiar song to me.

27A: Color bands: STRIPES. This word and the EQUINES theme brings a Zebra to my mind.

30A: Safecracker: YEGG. Where did we get this strange word "YEGG" for a burglar?

32A: Elizabeth of "Lone Star": PENA. I don't know her. I do know this PENA. I own this card.

33A: Sch. in Lexington: VMI (Virginia Military Institute). Unknown to me. My answer was VMU until the very end.

43A: __ de vie (clear brandies): EAUX. An educated guess. I had EAU? in place, and letter "X" is the only choice since the clue is in plural form (EAUX is the plural of EAU).

45A: Steals, as livestock: RUSTLES. I like this answer and the clue. Could picture someone stealing a HORSE in the middle of the night.

53A: Exchange fee: AGIO. It appeared on last Sunday's puzzle.

67A: Nixon's Agnew: SPIRO. He got a good speech writer in William Safire. I don't think he himself would have come up with this alliterative term "Nattering nabobs of negativism".

Down:

1D: TV journalist Paula: ZAHN. I kind of like her replacement Campbell Brown at CNN. Paula ZAHN is also a great cellist (played at Carnegie Hall before.)

2D: Smack addition: EROO. or "Switch addtion". AROO is "Buck addition".

3D: Front-runners: LDRS (Leaders). Still have difficulty accepting this abbreviation.

4D: Island near Naxos: IOS. Big stumper for me. Wikipedia says Homer is said to be buried on IOS Island.

10D: "Luv" dramatist: SCHISGAL (Murray). Unknown to me. Wikipedia says Mike Nichols directed the Broadway play and ALAN Arkin & ELI Wallach were in the original cast.

11D: Chickenlike bird: QUAIL. This California QUAIL looks fearless.

12D: Fairy-tale toll collector: TROLL. Why "toll collector"? Wow, look at this amazing TROLL Doll collection. Some of the original Norweigian TROLLS are so beautifully ugly, with real wood.

13D: Half-baked: SILLY. New to me. I always thought of "Half-baked" as in "Not well cooked".

24D: Pepper grinder: MILL. See this antique MILL machinery, very different from my childhood MILL memory.

25D: Putin's refusal: NYET. DADA means "Yes, yes" in Russian. "Ya tebya lyublyu" is "I love you". So complicated. Vodka sounds much better. I vodka you.

26D: Actress Rowlands: GENA. I've never heard of her before.

32D: Ltr. addenda: PSS. Quite a few abbreviations in today's grid.

33D: Perfume holder: VIAL. Beautiful enamelled perfume VIALS. In great condition. I like the rosebuds & the butterfly in the middle. Very pretty.

34D: Pouting face: MOUE. Clear Ayes' "Self-depreciating/deprecating MOUE" really made me laugh last time.

35D: "Devil Inside" group: INXS (pronounced as In Excess). Had never heard of them before.

37D: Worldwide police grp.: INTERPOL. It's headquartered in Lyon, France. I feel sad for their finanical woes.

38D: Violinist Leopold: AUER. The Hungarian violinist. Have seen this clue 2 times before.

39D: Plane-crash grp.: NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board). Here is what Dennis said last time: "The FAA establishes the safety guidelines/rules, and the NTSB comes into play when something goes wrong. If you're a pilot, you never wanna hear from the NTSB."

40D: Apollo's mother: LETO. Gimme!

46D: Trademark DOS: UNIX. Developed by the Bell Labs.

48D: French mustard: DIJON. Here is a jar of HORSERADISH DIJON for you. Sounds good for potato salad.

51D: Spoked: RAYED. Had no idea that "spoke" can also be a verb.

54D: Lucie's dad: DESI (Arnaz). This "Job Switching"(Chocolate factory) Barbie is a probably one of the most sought-after Mattel dolls.

C.C.

PS: Barry Silk's original clue for ROAN is "Multicolored equine". Our editor also made 2 big changes on the grid: the upper middle part and the lower right. See here for the grid and the clues.

Tuesday July 29, 2008 Edgar Fontaine

Theme: HUH (2D: Whazzat?)

17A: At all: WHATSOEVER

26A: "Twelfth Night": WHAT YOU WILL

39A: Thingamabob: WHATCHAMACALLIT

50A: Alfred E. Neuman line: WHAT, ME WORRY

61A: Streisand film: WHAT'S UP, DOC

Sub-theme: "The Sound of Music"

15A: Opera star: DIVA

22A: Prima donna's number: ARIA

23A: Notes of scales: FAS

31A: Refrain syllable: TRA

68A: Yamaha product: PIANO

3D: Lyrical Gershwin: IRA

6D: Lyric poem: ODE

30D: NYC opera house: MET. Techinically it's "The MET", isn't it?

Great puzzle. I like the grid. I simply adore puzzles with a running-through theme answer (39A). They fit my eyes. I also like how the constructor tied in the theme title HUH (2D) to the grid. Very clever, awesome "Whazzat"? clue.

Many WHAT* phrases can fit in a 15*15 grid, for example:

WHAT a cry baby!

WHAT a drag!

WHAT's the problem?

WHAT's the point?

WHAT's the meaning of this?

WHAT did you think I meant?

WHAT else?

It's a pity that MAD (46A: Insane) was not clued as the "Humor Magazine". It would have been a wonderful parallel to 50A: WHAT, ME WORRY. Maybe our editor changed the constructor's original clue. Who knows?

Across:

19A: Get-up: TOGS. Why is TOGS always in plural form? I am very confused by these clothing words: get-up, attire, apparel, dress, outfit, duds and clothes. I can never tell which one is plural and which is singular.

21A: "The Lord of Rings" baddie: ORC. Are you a Tolkien fan?

33A: Delhi attire: SARIS. Three ways to wear a SARI. The spelling of "Delhi" is very baffling to me, so is Gandhi and Lhasa, very whimsical silent "h" position.

44A: "Easy ___": RIDER. I enjoyed this clip last week.

45A: Irish Republic: EIRE

55A: Ipanema locale: RIO. Very interesting "The Girl from Ipanema"clip. Who is your favorite Bond girl?

57A: Rhine tributary: AAR. Or AARE, the Swiss river.

66A: Mark ___ -Baker: LINN. No idea. Obtained his name from the down clues.

69A: Sundance's girlfriend: ETTA. Great movie. I like Robert Redford. He is "The Natural" and he always lives what he has dreamed.

Down:

4D: Charlie Brown's exclamation: RATS. I have this bobblehead.

7D: Swivel: PIVOT

11D: New Zealand Polynesian: MAORI. Only learned this morning that the word MAORI means "ordinary people" in the native language.

12D: Potter's clay: ARGIL. No idea. Dictionary says it's mostly "a white clay used by potters". ARG(os) is a Latin prefix meaning "white". "ARG" means "angry" in Swedish/Norwegian languages, very interesting.

23D: Islamic ruling: FATWA

24D: Hi, on HI: ALOHA. "on HI"? Not "in HI"?

25D: Twilled silk fabric: SURAH. Or SURAT. New word to me. I found out that SURAH is also an alternative spelling of SURA (the Koran chapter). Odd!

28D: Major in astronomy?: URSA. I like this clue.

34D: French soul: AME. Anima/Animus in Latin.

37D: Wispy clouds: CIRRI. Singualr is CIRRUS (Latin for "a lock, curl, tendril"). Saw this clue somewhere before.

41D: Retreat: HIDEAWAY. Indeed, a beautiful place for a HIDEAWAY.

42D: Do-over service: LET. The tennis call.

46D: Sicilian spouter: MT ETNA. Ha, this one had me confused for quite sometime. Shouldn't the clue has some hint to indicate an abbreviated MT?

48D: Bellicose deity: ARES. Mars for the Romans.

50D: Marine mammal: WHALE. Thar she blows!

51D: Daily routine: HABIT. "...You could have a big dipper. Going up and down, all around the bends...I've kicked the HABIT....I've been feeding the rhythm. It's what we're doing, doing, all day and night". For Melissa.

53D: Large mackerel: WAHOO. Also called Peto. New to me. Pretty big.

54D: Borneo ape, briefly: ORANG. What are you thinking?

62D: Crumpet complement: TEA. I have not eaten CRUMPETS for ages.

65D: Kind of lettuce: COS. Romaine lettuce. My favorite.

C.C.

Monday July 28, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: "You People Are All Animals"

18A: WWII fleet admiral: BULL HALSEY

56A: One-time Crimson Tide chief: BEAR BRYANT

3D: Author of "How I Play Golf": TIGER WOODS

30D: "Peace Train" singer: CAT STEVENS

Vaguely heard of 30D, TIGER WOODS was gimme as I own the book. Not familiar with 18A & 56A.

Very fascinating puzzle, with a few obscure animal names though. I was just reading KITTY Kelley's "Jackie O" last night. Her name, plus TIGER Woods and CAT Stevens can be easily constructed into a "Feline'" themed puzzle. TIGER's full name is so theme answer friendly, with the WOODS, you know, add FORREST Gump, Lefty GROVE, you've got another solid "Tree" related puzzle. (Addendum: I was wrong on FORREST, wrong spelling, can you think of a real person whose name has "FOREST" in it?)

Many interesting names came to my mind earlier:

WOLF Blitzer: (CNN's "The Situation Room")

Dick WOLF ("Law & Order" producer)

Joe BUCK (Fox Sports)

Pearl S. BUCK ("The Good Earth" author)

BUCK O'Neil (the Great Negro League Baseball Player)

Matthew FOX ("Lost")

Michael J FOX ("Spin City")

Can you think of other similar names?

Across:

17A: Hindu music: RAGA. Literally "color' in Sanskrit language. Plus RAVI Shankar & SITAR, that's all you need to know about Indian music/musician/musical instrument.

20A: Whitecaps: CRESTS. Had big trouble here. I did not know the meaning of "Whitecaps" and could not figure out TORC (1D) either.

22A: Croquet sticks: MALLETS. New to me. I had no idea that the stick is called MALLET. Is it a special term for croquet only?

24A: Retro VW: BEETLE

26A: ___ Decimal System: DEWEY. This DEWEY stumped me big time in an early Feb puzzle, the one with the tough SERAC (Crevasse pinnacle) and the THAR (Whale's location) fills. I still don't understand "THAR she blows". Where does this phrase come? What's the exact meaning of THAR? Why "she blows" rather than "he blows"?

29A: British racecourse: ASCOT. Long history (since 1711).

34A: Fierce mythical bird: ROC. ROC in "Sinbad the Sailor" . It eats elephant. Must have gigantic eggs.

35A: Admission conduit: INTAKE. Pure guess. I've never heard of INTAKE valve before.

36A: Bill's partner?: COO

37A: Satisfying returns: REWARDS. Interesting crossing with BLOW (24D: Hard punch).

47A: Spiny-finned fishes: GOBIES. Foreign to me. He looks very ADDLED (50A: Confused). Wikipedia says most of GOBIES are less than 4-inch long, but some exceptionally large ones can reach over 1 foot in length.

49A: Shoshone: UTE. I always confuse "Shoshone" with "Gumshoe", which is often the clue for TEC. What does "Shoshone" mean exactly?

61A: Large auk: MURRE. Not familiar with "Auk" the bird, somehow Ayveq's large oosik slided right into my unconsious mind. Wikepedia says it's of genus URIA. Hmm, that's one curious observer.

DOWN:

1D: Celtic neck-ring: TORC. Stranger to me. Dictionary defines TORC as "a collar, necklace, or similar ornament consisting of a twisted narrow band, usually of precious metal, worn esp. by the ancient Gauls and Britons." He is wearing a golden TORC. That's a rather dreamy & unfocused look.

7D: Hooter: OWL. Here is Picasso's OWL. So simple!

9D: Enlightened Buddhist: ARHAT. No idea. I only know it's called Luo han (羅漢) in Chinese. It refers to "a Buddhist who has attained Nirvana through rigorous discipline and ascetic practice. ARHAT is Sanskrit for "He deserves" (Present participle of arhati). "Zen enlighttnment" is SATORI.

19D: Ramsay and Pinkerton: ALLANS. Knew Pinkerton, not Ramsay. Worked for Pinkerton China for a few years.

21D: Cracker Jack bonus: TOY. Look at this amazing 1915 Cracker Jack Honus Wagner card. I have a reprint.

25D: Coop flier: ESCAPEE. So many slangs for prison.

31D: Giraffe cousin: OKAPI. Completely unknown to me. Her neck is rather short. Wikipedia says OKAPI has very long blue tongue (about a foot long), which enable it to "wash its eyelids and clean its ears: it is one of the few mammals that can lick its own ears".

37D: Take up again: RESORB. I wanted RESUME. I had never heard of "RESORB" before.

34D: Cabernet, e.g. RED. And REDS (38D: 1990 W.S. champions). Cincinnati Reds. I dislike RED & REDS appear in the same grid. MARGE Schott, the extremely eccentric owner for the Reds, is a good candidate for "Simpson" themed puzzle too.

41D: Shackle: LEG IRON

43D: Coin-op eatery: AUTOMAT. No, nope, no idea.

48D: Road shoulders: BERMS

52D: Horse do: MANE. Boy, this was a very tricky clue for me. I spent a few minutes musing what the horse wanted to do.

C.C.

Sunday July 27, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Just One of Those

23A: Wish me luck!: HERE GOES NOTHING

34A: Stop what you're doing: DROP EVERYTHING

55A: Vigorously: LIKE ANYTHING

80A: No holds barred: ANYTHING GOES

94A: All the bells and whistles: EVERYTHING ON IT

114A: Not directed at you: NOTHING PERSONAL

16D: A Skeleton in the closet: SOMETHING TO HIDE

43D: Approximate age: THIRTYSOMETHING

Out of those 8 theme answers, I had trouble understanding 80A & 55A. "No holds barred" was not a familiar phrase to me. I might have heard of the expression "LIKE ANYTHING" before, but I had never bothered to check what it means.

I go to dictionary for help only if the new word is long, complicated and exotic looking. "LIKE ANYTHING" just sounds too simple for me to spend extra energy to find its exact definition. Lots of nuances in English language. That's why sometimes my solving experience differs from yours. These little things often trip me, besides those familiar-to-you but foreign-to-me names (TV series or singers/movie stars).

Anyway, I enjoyed this puzzle. Nothing frustrating. Was very annoyed in the beginning by the repetitions of NOTHING, ANYTHING, SOMETHING & EVERYTHING in the theme answers, musing "Why not construct a 15*15 grid instead by using simply one of the above things". Then I noticed the 180-degree rotational symmetry. Take 23A & 114A for example, they are thematically opposite each other, 23A ends with NOTHING, and 114A starts with NOTHING. Same with the other 3 pairs. Obviously lots of thoughts were given to the construction of this puzzle. And they were noticed and appreciated.

Across:

9A: Twangy guitarist Eddy: DUANE. Unknown to me. Probably a gimme for Melissa/KittyB. He is in Rock and Roll HOF, and is "acclaimed as the most successful rock and roll instrumentalist of all time".

14A: State of India: ASSAM. The tea state.

19A: Acceptable excuse: ALIBI. And 91A: Commit a perjury: LIE

20A: Heat exchanger: CONDENSER. I had no idea that "CONDENSER" is a word.

22A: Replay gimmick: SLO MO

28A: Barnyard fowl: GOOSE. And the Hawaii GOOSE NENE (12D: State bird of Hawaii)

39A: "Raging Bull" boxer: LAMOTTA (Jake). No idea. Have never seen "Raging Bull".

33A: Burgundy wine: PINOT

38A: Daughter of Loki: HEL. Stranger to me. "Goddess of Dead" in Norse myth. Kind of like Hades in Greek I suppose. Another two Nordic references are: 73A: Gudrun's poetic victim: ATLI. Knew "Attila the Hun", but did not know that he had a wife named Gudrun, which sounds like a man's name. Also YMIR (81D: Norse giant).

41A: Chummy: MATEY. Besides the British, I think Australians also use "MATEY" for "Pal".

46A: Italian boyfriend: AMICO. Girlfriend is AMICA.

48A: Turkish title: AGHA

53A: Ecclesiastical council: SYNOD

62A: Like last night's pajamas?: SLEPT IN. Do you really wear pajamas to sleep? I don't, never.

65A: Osprey's cousin: ERN. This is the best picture I've ever fished out of the Google Ocean. Superb!

67A: German-French Dadaist Jean: ARP. And the movement ARP cofounded DADA (107D: Art of the absurd). Very interesting clue. Dadaism itself was not absurd, it just focused on the absurdities in daily life.

69A: Currency exchange fee: AGIO. Foreign to me, and I've changed many different currencies before.

70A: Einstein's field: PHYSICS. I tried SCIENCE first.

75A: Makes more rewarding: ENRICHES

79A: Miss from the highlands: LASS. And more girl power. 117A: Portuguese ladies: DONAS And 41D: Address for a lady is MA'AM.

84A: Laxative derived from aloe: ALOIN. No. Got it from the perps.

88A: Tennis situation: AD IN

90A: Cost of Morocco: RIF. I crossed the River Lethe on this word. Saw this clue before. Great map here. Why is it called Er RIF?

92A: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Flowing & flexible & flawless swing, amazing! He had total 82 PGA wins in his career. Another golf related entry is DOG LEG (21D: Fairway bend).

107A: "The Blue __": DAHLIA. Here is the poster. I've never seen the movie. DAHLIA is Mexico's national flower. Just learned earlier that DAHLIA is named after the Swedish botanist Anders Dahl.

109A: Twinned crystal: MACLE. No, unknown to me. I got it from the down clues. What is "Twinned crystal"?

113A: Like an old woman: ANILE

118A: Right to enter: ADMISSION

120A: Gut-wrenching feeling: ANGST. Feel the ANGST? (The Scream - Edvard Much).

122A: Part of PST: STD. I wonder if anyone will object STD appears on a Sunday puzzle. It's an innocent shortened form in this case though.

DOWN:

1D: 1986 Indy winner: RAHAL (Bobby). Not a familiar name to me. Had no idea that he is the co-owner of the RAHAL Letterman Racing team.

3D: U.S. Grant's first name: HIRAM. Wow, who knows?

4D: Penny picture?: ABE. Good one.

5D: Intolerance: BIGOTRY

6D: Frozen region: ICE CAP. Another great picture.

10D: Immoral: UNHOLY

15D: Irish bay: SLIGO. See this map. I've never heard of this bay.

31D: Old music halls: ODEA

29D: Dog's first name: RIN. Dislike this clue. "Dog star" is more apt.

33D: Mountaineer's spikes: PIT-ONS

35D: Overrefined: EFFETE. Are they really interchangable?

40D: Waterproof cloth: LODEN. No idea. Is it really made from sheep wool? How can it be waterproof then?

47D: Nearsighted: MYOPIC

55D: Currency of Georgia: LARI. New to me. Nice photos.

56D: Final innings: NINTHS

60D: Talk of the town: GOSSIP

66D: Endorse: RATIFY

68D: Long John Silver feature: PEG LEG. No idea. I did not know who Long John Silver was until today.

70D: Rio de la ___: PLATA. "Silver' in Spanish.

71D: Bill __ and the Comets: HALEY. I've never heard of Bill HALEY. Are they very famous?

72D: Trapper's traps: SNARES. "Traps" alone is sufficient.

76D: Frisco hill: NOB

92D: Animated Homer or Bart: SIMPSON. No need for "Animated".

95D: Int. broadcasters: VOA

96D: Computer geek: TECHIE

97D: One seeing the whole as greater than the sum of its part: HOLIST. Only familar with the "Holistic approach" in health healing.

98D: Belgian seaport: OSTEND. Unheard of. It's located in West Flanders. They must be speaking Flemish there.

99D: Not e'en once: NE'ER

104D: Song for nine: NONET. Pieced it together from the across clues. ENNEAD was clued as "Group of nine" in yesterday's puzzle.

C.C.

Saturday July 26, 2008 Matthew Higgins

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27.

If this is the direction to approach the 25 blocks target I mentioned last Saturday, I would prefer to solve a 37 black- squared puzzle.

Too many affixes, esp suffixes. I truly dislike and despise any grid with a heavy reliance on S, ING, ER, EST, which really cheapen the construction in my view. This has become a hallmark of Mr. Matthew Higgins' puzzles. I wonder why he is so stubbornly sticking to this clumsy style.

Had a very tough time battling through this monster, stumped by quite a few obscure names/words. But I should not have looked at the constructor's name first, which put me in a very negative frame of mind immediately.

I do like seeing LION (26A: MGM mascot) and ROAR (60D: Leonine cry) in the same grid. And reeling in URANUS (65A: Seventh planet) brought a smile to my face. Loved Dr. Dad's blue ball.

All in all, it's not an experience that I want to repeat again.

Across:

1A: Low bow: SALAAM. Literally "peace". SHALOM in Hebrew. MIR, the old Russian space station, also means peace.

7A: Brake-lining material: ASBESTOS. Ugh, I struggled here. Would have got it if it's clued as litigation related.

15A: High-pitched: TREBLE

16A: Most immediately available: READIEST

19A: Companion of Caspar and Melchior: BALTHASAR. Toughie. Of the three magi, I only know Caspar.

21A: Unit of magnetic flux density: TESLA. Now how can I remember this word? I always lose it at the bottom of the River Lethe.

23A: Sourish: ACIDIC. What's different between "sour" and "sourish"?

28A: Group of nine: ENNEAD. Here is Gustave Moreau "Apollo and the Nine Muses".

33A: Light anchors: KEDGES. KEDGE was clued as "Small anchor" on an earlier puzzle.

41A: Rudder post lever: TILLER. I totally forgot this nautical aspect of TILLER.

45A: South American plain: LLANO

54A: Fly lava: MAGGOT

59A: Movement away: DISPERSAL. Only know "Disperse" & "Dispersion".

56A: Bishop's jurisdiction: SEE. There is actually a slight religious overtone in this puzzle.

61A: Maryland athlete: TERRAPIN. Just saw TERP the other day. I wonder why this album was called the Terrapin Station.

63A: Larry Fine, for one: STOOGE. The other two are Moe & Curly. Saw someone was selling their bobbleheads at the flea market a few weeks ago. Very ugly.

64A: Informative: EDIFYING. Ungainly crossing with EDGINGS (43D: Decorative borders).

66A: Evaluate anew: REASSESS. A savior word for all the crossword constructors I am sure. It's a miracle that we have not seen REASSESSESS.

67A: Diagrams a sentence: PARSES

DOWN:

1D: Stationary sculptures: STABILES. Not an easy word to pull out of my memory. This is Alexander Calder's STABILE "Man".

2D: Man from Tripoli, Greece: ARCADIAN. Had no idea that there was even a city named Tripoli in Greece.

7D: Daughter of King Minos: ARIADNE. Another stumper. I actually knew who she was, just could not remember her name. She gave Theseus, the Minotaur slayer, the clue to the labyrinth built by Daedalus and his son Icarus. And she was later deserted by Theseus.

8D: Pressed together in rows: SERRIED. New word to me.

11D: Web spots: SITES. And 34D: Web makeup: SILK.

12D: Wonderland service: TEA SET

13D: Stableman at an inn: OSTLER. Or HOSTLER. Another new word to me.

27D: Undiluted: NEAT

38D: Coffin carriers, at times: CAISSONS. I've never heard of this word before. Dictionary explains CAISSON as "a horse-drawn vehicle, usually two-wheeled, used to carry artillery ammunition and coffins at military funerals".

40D: Lacking vitality: TONELESS. It's clued as "Lacking shading" in one of Higgins' earlier puzzles.

39D: Allied (with): IN LEAGUE

42D: Intros: LEAD-IN

44D: Decor one throws?: RUGS

46D: Spanker: BEATER. Are you OK with this clue?

48D: Coypu fur: NUTRIA. No, I've never heard of it. I pieced the answer together from the across references. Looks so close to the artificial sugar NUTRA sweet.

50D: Appears without warning: POPS UP

53D: Feudal masses: SERFS

58D: Tampa Bay team: RAYS

C.C.

Friday July 25, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: “Clothing Closures"

17A: Kind of cookie: GINGER SNAP

61A: Michale J. Fox sitcom: FAMILY TIES

10D: Navel: BELLY BUTTON

24D: Peter Pan's arch enemy: CAPTAIN HOOK

Yawner, yawner, yawner! Too many crosswordese, hard for me to get excited about.

TLC (63D: Gentle treatment) needs a "Briefly" in the clue. And ERAS (29D: Important periods) needs to be changed to "Pitchers' stats" or something else because of the answer PERIOD (46A: Full stop).

Not a bad theme idea, but why TIES (61A) is in plural form while the other theme answers are all in singular form? Where is the consistency?

Across:

10A: Huffed and puffed: BLEW. "Boy you really BLEW my mind..., I think I'm in love with you. I been doin' silly things when it comes to you..." Lovely lyrics. Do you like Jessica Simpson? My favorite Jessica song is "I Wanna Love You Forever".

14A: Likeness: IMAGE. "Behavior is a mirror in which every one displays his IMAGE", so true.

24A: Today's OSS: CIA. Have you seen Robert De Niro/Matt Damon's "The Good Shepherd"? It's indeed "The Godfather of CIA movies".

25A: Gardner's Mason: PERRY. ERLE Stanley Gardner.

26A: Truth, vis-a-vis fiction?: STRANGER. Good clue. Truth is STRANGER than fiction. Only learned this morning that this saying comes from Byron's poem "Don Juan".

35A: "East of Eden" twin: ARON. No idea. I got it from down fills.

37A: Actress Irene: DUNNE. Learned from doing Xword. I've never seen any of her movies.

41A: Ensnare: TRAP. And 5D: Catch by persistence: REEL IN

48A: Offered sympathy to: CONSOLED. I penned in CONDOLED first.

53A: You go girl!: RIGHT ON. Are they really interchangeable?

57A: AKA's commerce cousin: DBA (Doing Business As). No, I've never heard of it. Where will you see this acronym?

67A: Unassuming: MEEK. I don't think they are synonyms, do you?

Down:

1D: Way up: HIGH. Hmm, does this clue/answer bring to your mind U2's Mysterious Way: "...If you want to kiss the sky. Better learn how to kneel. On your knees boy..."

9D: Documents: PAPERS. PAPER CLIP would be a great theme answer too.

23D: 2005 MVP: AROD. Ah, Madonna, Lenny Kratz, what a SNAFU (51D: Major glitch).

26D: Throw out: SCRAP. Saw it clued as "Deep-Six" before. Six is a very interesting number, esp in Swedish & Latin languages.

25D: Grocery section: PRODUCE. The precious MOREL is placed at the PRODUCE section in our local grocery store.

43D: Lampblack: SOOT. Thought of Santa and his chimney.

47D: Clumsy clod: DOOFUS

49D: Accept a proposal: SAY YES. Why not?

56D: Yearn to see again: MISS. "How can I MISS you if you don't go away?"

58D: ___ around the block: BEEN. I've never heard of this idiom before.

C.C.

Thursday July 24 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: The Comic Element

17A: Start of G. K. Chesterton quip: EVERY MAN IS FUNNY

27A: Part 2 of quip: IF HE LOSES

47A: Part 3 of quip: HIS HAT AND

61A: End of quip: HAS TO RUN AFTER IT

The complete quip is "Every man is important if he loses his life; and every man is funny if he loses his hat and has to run after it."

This is Chesterton's "On Running After One's Hat" essay:

"......There is an idea that it is humiliating to run after one's hat; and when people say it is humiliating they mean that it is comic. It certainly is comic; but man is a very comic creature, and most of the things he does are comic - eating, for instance. And the most comic things of all are exactly the things that are most worth doing - such as making love. A man running after a hat is not half so ridiculous as a man running after a wife......".

I don't think I totally grokked this hat trick. How can "humiliating" be equated as "comic"? Love the last 2 sentences though, perfect for a Sunday 21*21 grid quip, should Mr. Williams dare.

I also like the Chesterton line Mike Huckabee quoted last January in his Iowa victory speech:

"G.K. Chesterton once said that 'a true soldier fights not because he hates those who are in front of him but because he loves those who are behind him'".

Very powerful. Huckabee really has a good sense of humor and is so gifted with gab. I like men who have a way with words, who can combine a series of seemingly helpless words and somehow transform them into dynamic stuff. I do believe that the penis pen is mightier than the sword.

Not a bad puzzle, some of the clues are very creative. But I won't hide my disdain for this weekly quip themed puzzle. It's excruciatingly boring and irksome.

Across:

1A: Rain unit: DROP. Lois was right yesterday, don't ever compromise the quality of your special raincoat.

5A: King of Crete: MINOS. The labyrinth king. Some of Greek mythologies are so tragically beautiful. Reagan's "Slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God" Challenger speech always reminded me of Icarus' escaping of Crete.

15A: Pathogenic bacteria: E. COLI. I survived the Dole pre-bagged salad scare 3 years ago because I ate MOREL and other mushrooms often, which undeniably strengthened my immune system.

21A: Stellar blasts: NOVAE. Almost trapped by the plural S again. With V from OLIVES (8D: Drink garnish) in place, I thought of LAVAS for a fleeting second, imagining the LAVA Bombs.

23A: Venetian strip: SLAT. I had no idea that such blind is called Venetian.

31A: Christian's frocks: DIORS. Christian DIOR. Clever clue, very misguiding. I like how it intersects SPEND (34D: Use credit cards).

42A: Rocky's last name: BALBOA. No idea. I googled. Only knew him as Rocky.

44A: Incisive remark: MOT. Literally "word" in French. And their crossword is called "mots croisés". I like the Spanish "crucigrama". It just sounds so mysterious and enigmatic to me.

55A: Storage battery type: NICAD (Nickel-Cadmium battery). Another unknown to me.

57A: Dental exams?: ORAL. Good clue.

68A: Grow dark: LATEN. Unknown to me also. I've never seen LATEN being used in any paper/magazine that I've read.

Down:

4D: Reads with care: PERUSES. That's how I deal with your comments. So you'd better write with care too.

5D: Hebrew letter: MEM. No idea. I got it from across fills. It's the 13th letter of Hebrew alphabet (total 22).

9D: Fiber source: SISAL. It's clued as "Agave Plant" twice before.

19D: Battled on and on: FEUDED

24D: Way from the heart: AORTA. Are you OK with this clue?

28D: Parade entry: FLOAT

29D: Selassie of Ethiopia: HAILE. Gimme for any Bob Marley fan.

30D: Varnish ingredient: ELEMI. Absolutely no idea. Lacquer was the only thing that came to my mind and it did not fit.

32D: Honshu port: OSAKA. Literally "large hill/slope" in Japanese.

33D: Harp on: RUB IN. New phrase to me. I only RUB lotion IN/on my skin.

37D: River of forgetfulness: LETHE. The river in Hades. Obviously I've crossed this river because I could not remember it. I also accidentally crossed the River of Rubicon a few days ago and could not find my way back home now. Help!

39D: County bordering Napa: SOLANO. Big stumper here for me, with the thorny BALBOA & NICAD intersections.

40D: Follow in time: POSTDATE

47D: Priam's wife: HECUBA. Mother of Paris & Hector. Loved TROY, but I could not remember seeing this lady.

50D: Like the flu: VIRAL

52D: Perlman of "Cheers": RHEA. Unknown to me. I pieced her name together from the across references. She is Danny DeVito's wife. Pretty dangling earrings.

C.C.

Comments

1) To: Fellow TMS crossword solvers

As a result of the latest surprising surge in comments section, I won't be able to respond to every of your remark. However, I'd like you to know that each comment, even if it's for a 3-month lag behind puzzle, is forwarded to my email account. And I do read (and study) every one of them with interest and appreciation. Thank you for delurking and taking time to contribute to the blog. I hope we all learn something new from one another every day.

2) To: TMS crossword constructors & Mr. Williams

Due to my special background, inexperience in crossword solving and lack of understanding about crossword constructing, some of my criticisms may not be on solid ground. If you think my comments on certain cluing are simply wrong or you don't feel my summarized theme title is proper, please feel free to jump in the Comments section and let our fellow TMS solvers share your thinking. Or you can always write me a private email.

Thank you.

C.C.

Wednesday July 23, 2008 Edgar Pontaine

Theme: The Simpsons (1A: Hint at this puzzle's theme: D'OH)

3D: Jethro Burns partner: HOMER HAYNES

9D: Mrs. Clint Black: LISA HARTMAN

21D: First Super Bowl MVP: BART STARR

23D: "Gosford Park" co-star: MAGGIE SMITH

26D: "The Moon is Always Female" poet: MARGE PIERCY

Had some struggle with this puzzle, esp with Senator INOUYE's name (27D: First Japanese-American congressman). Maybe he needs to divorce his new wife, or has some other scandal so the spelling of vowel-rich, odd-looking name can be indelibly stamped on my mind.

This grid just does not fit my eyes. I've never seen one with all the theme answers contained exclusively in the DOWN clues. Wanted so badly to turn it 90 degree. I wonder why the constructor chose this style. Just to make it unique?

This is only the 2nd Edgar Fontaine puzzle I've blogged, so I can't really tell his style. Some of the cluing feel very Tom Pruce-like, esp 52A & 58A. I am so happy that we finally hit a cycle with today's AMIRS. Now we know fully how to call those Abu Dhabi bigwigs: EMIR, EMEER, AMIR and AMEER. Bring them on!

Across:

4A: The Racer's Edge: STP. The clue should have a quotation mark.

7A: Step on the scale?: SOL. I like the clue.

13A: Mesabi Range output: IRON ORE

15A: Chicago Newspaper: TRIBUNE. The 5th largest newspaper in the US in terms of circulation according to this list. TRIBUNE Media Service (TMS), which syndicates our Daily Crossword & LA Times Daily Crossword, has nothing to do with the Chicago Tribune Newspaper, though both owned by the TRIBUNE Company.

19A: Hammered on a slant: TOED. I can never remember this oblique meaning of TOE.

20A: Like straws: TUBULAR

25A: Surround: HEM IN

29A: German exclamation: ACH. "D'OH" dubbed as "Nein" in German. I suppose it's a slang for "kein", not sure.

31A: Moslem VIPs: AMIRS. I like clue. Variant in clue, variant in answer.

33A: Stewart of "Swing Shift": ALANA. Wow, what a desperate clue! Look at this cast in credits order, her name is so far down. I had no idea who she was until this morning. A gimme for Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter I am sure.

35A: Navy mascot: GOAT. Bill the GOAT. Does GOAT really need those hard horns?

36A: Timber fungus: DRY ROT. New to me.

38A: Firing: GUNSHOT

41A: Mama, for one: AUNTIE. Look at these cute Uncle Henry and AUTIE Em dolls (Madame Alexander). Or do you still prefer your McDonald's Woody & Buzz toys?

45A: Rhone tributary: ISERE. I just learned earlier that ISERE was also the name of the French ship which sent us the Statue of Liberty.

48A: Ponselle and Parks: ROSAS. Know Parks, not Ponselle.

50A: ID card letters, at times: NMI. Do you all have middle names?

52A: Iniquitous: IMMORAL. Identical clue on July 5th "Unfaithful" puzzle.

55A: Saab model: AERO. I like how it intersects OLDS (57D: Carmaker Ransoom).

58A: The devil: OLD NICK

61A: Principal: CENTRAL

63A: Peter or Paul, but not Mary: APOSTLE. Good clue.

64A: Indigestion relief: ANTACID

Down:

2D: Treat with milk: OREO. Nabisco really has a very formidable presence in China.

5D: Transport-loss allowance: TRET

6D: Lima man: PERUVIAN. Have not seen YMA Sumac for a long time. She is probably the most famous PERUVIAN in this crossword world.

8D: Hershiser of baseball: OREL. Cy Young winner 1988. Who is your all time favorite pitcher?

14D: Computer network terminal: NODE. New to me.

28D: Talk non-stop: NATTER

29D: Social event: AFFAIR. Is AFFAIR really a social event?

30D: "CSI: Miami" star: CARUSO (David). I like his role (detective John Kelly) in "NYPD Blue"

32D: Pouty look: MOUE. Would not have got this word without the across references.

36D: Carries out: DOES. DOES are also female goats, aren't they? Would be great if DOES intersects GOAT.

39D: Of a rising star: HELIACAL. HELI(0) is a prefix for sun, how is it related to star?

C.C.