Sunday August 10, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Avian Adventure

23A: Connected in an avian manner?: DOVETAILED

25A: Avian dance?: TURKEY TROT

109A: Avian con game?: PIGEON DROP

111A: Avian lawyer?: LEGAL EAGLE

30D: Avian architect?: CHRISTOPHER WREN

39D: Avian mimic?: PARROTFISH

44D: Avian tournament?: ROUND ROBIN

45D: Avian guardian?: SCARECROW

47D: Harassed avian style?: HENPECKED

Why "Avian mimic?" for 39D? I don't understand it.

Here are some more bonus "Avian" fills:

7D: Birds in barns: OWLS

13D: Birds' display areas: LEKS. It appeared on an April puzzle before. I simply forgot.

5D: Insect-eating birds: TITMICE

I am very curious to know if the above entries are the constructor's originals. The fact is that neither "Avian" nor "Birds" is really needed in the clues. The constructor/editor deprive the solvers a certain "Aha" moment by repetitively writing in "Avian" in every theme clue, how boring! I wonder why he CHICKENED out on Larry BIRD, which could be a perfect tie-in theme title. I thought of GOOSE Goosage earlier. He is now a HOFer and deserves some recognition in the crossword world too.

I dislike the following fills:

79A: Squeal to a halt: SKID

87A: Bad part of town: SKID ROW

107A: Pub potations: ALES

27A: Alternative to lager: ALE

And of course, the clue for I DO (46A: Wedding vow) should definitely be reworded due to VOW (89A: Pledge). Other crossword editors probably make this kind of mistake 2 or 3 times a year. For our "splicing device" (EDITOR), sky is the limit.

Overall, it's a good puzzle. Not exactly a SNAP (120A: Piece of cake) for me, but much easier than the previous Sunday's puzzles and more enjoyable. And the grid is very pretty and neat. I've never seen 2 theme entries running through in one line, separated by one block (23A & 25A, 109A & 111A).

Across:

6A: Bean paste: TOFU. Wrong clue. TOFU is bean curd. Bean paste is a completely different soybean product.

10A: Actress Oberon: MERLE. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says she was nominated for Oscar for her role in "The Dark Angel".

15A: Pers. with a handle?: CBER. I don't like the way "Pers." is abbreviated. In fact, CBER is a well accepted word, there is no need for clue abbreviation.

19A: Mites: ACARI. Singular is ACARUS. New to me.

28A: Wire thickness units: MILS

29A: Eyelike window: OCULUS. Like this one at the Pantheon (Rome).

32A: False report?: MISFIRE

37A: Tank toppers: TURRETS. Unknown to me. Look at this squirrel. I always thought of TURRETS as the top of some castles.

42A: Rock debris: SCREE. Another new word to me. It came from the old Norse word skriða (landslide). Here is a SCREE slope.

47A: Kingdom founded by St. Stephen: HUNGARY. Not familiar with St. Stephen. Pure guess. Here is Lang Lang's Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody #2.

50A: Certain grasses: REEDS. I filled in WEEDS first. Tricky clue.

56A: Addams family cousin: ITT. Learned from doing Xwords. Not familiar with this TV series.

59A: Highland tongue: ERSE. The Scottish Gaelic. Irish Gaelic is just Irish, right?

60A: Outline: CONTOUR

62A: Gather greedily: SCOOP UP. "Greedily"?

67A: Part of EKG: ELECTRO

71A: Veteran's abbr.: RET. Doesn't RET always refer to those high positioned generals?

74A: Nurse: CARE FOR. I dislike the clue due to RNS (53A: Hosp. personnel), even if N in latter is in abbreviated form.

84A: Swayed to and fro: ROCKED. I wonder who owns the original JFK's Rocking Chair now.

86A: Cay or key: ISLE. And INLET (101D: Channel opening). And AIT (113D: River island). Can also be spelled as EYOT. Strange looking word, isn't it?

92A: __ chloride (refrigerant): ETHYL. I googled this answer.

93A: Extreme poverty: PENURY

94A: Animal Planet's "___ Manor": MEERKAT. Dutch for "Lake cat", though it's not a cat. It belongs to the mongoose family. I've never heard of this animal. If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to knee (on your knees boy!).

99A: Container for a fossil fuel: COALBIN

103A: Cheap cigar: STOGY. Could also be spelled as STOGIE. I just learned this STOGY is short for Conestoga, a town in Pennsylvania.

106A: Weasel cousin: ERMINE

115A: Spartan market: AGORA. The Greek mall.

119A: Staircase support: NEWEL

Down:

6D: Linen fabric: TOILE. Hmm, too blue for my taste. That bed looks so small.

9D: One causing a downfall: UNDOER

11D:Successful mimic: EMULATOR. Knew EMULATE. Had never used EMULATOR before.

15D: Shop-at-home guide: CATALOG

17D:Berkshire college: ETON. Since 1440.

24D: Affectedly nonchalant: AIRY. Oh, has anyone read Hugo's "Les Miserables"?

33D: Feudal estate: FIEF

41D: Subside, as symptoms: LYSE. Got it from the across clues. I am not familiar with this medical term. Initially I filed in EASE. Another tricky clue.

49D: Unnamed work: OPUS. What exactly is OPUS? Why is it "unnamed"? Also, what's the difference between a orchestra and a symphony orchestra? I received no musical education when I grew up.

50D: Like Miss Congeniality: NICEST. Silly movie.

52D: Cannes water: EAU. And AGUA (107D: Spanish water).

63D: Detachable container: POD. How so? Why is it "Detachable"?

69D: Clouded by sediment: ROILY. I like the clue and the answer. I like this kind of seemingly inconsistent cluing (in terms of part of speech).

70D: Architectural projection: ORIEL. The Bay window.

82D: Dry gulch: ARROYO. Her name is ARROYO (Gloria) too, and she is the President of the Philippines.

83D: For eternity: EVERMORE. How I wanted it to be NEVERMORE! We can have one more bird related clue (The Raven).

88D: Castle cell: DUNGEON. Do you like "The Count of Monte Cristo"?

90D: Of a parent-child Freudian relationship: OEDIPAL. Oedipus complex.

100D: Horn for reveille: BUGLE

103D: Jam or pickle: SPOT. "Tough SPOT", maybe yes. But SPOT, I am not sure. I can not see any commonality between Jam/pickle & SPOT.

105D: Arch type: OGEE

110D: Bobbsey twin: NAN. Another boring clue. Have you ever had Tandoori-baked NAN before?

C.C.

Saturday August 9, 2008 Matthew Higgins

Theme: None

Total block: 27

Sigh...another Matthew Higgins, what can I say?

Annoying amount of affixes and obscure words. Maybe Mr. Higgins should give up this ambitious themeless idea and plunge into themed puzzles for some badly needed batting practice and minor league training. Amazing how he can come up with 27 blocks every Saturday.

Look at how many ER, RE, ED he employed to create this grid, not to mention those pesky S'es:

15A: Puts back: REPLACES

61A: Raised letter designer: EMBOSSER

62A: More compressed: DENSER

1D: Gave a big hand to: PRAISED

45D: Those relaxing: RESTERS

37D: Populated: PEOPLED

And the irksome RENCOUNTER (27D: Hostile contest). Have you ever heard of it before? I have not. What a desperate a 10-letter word for a desperate constructor who desperately needs RE & ER affixes.

Sloppy editing job from our editor too:

6D: Frozen fruity treats: ICES

50D: Unfreeze: DEICE

58A: Wheel-driving channel: MILLRACE. Completely unkown to me.

29D: Garden tractor brand: WHEEL HORSE. Another unknown.

I had to flirt with Mr. google a few times, and I don't think I enjoyed the experience at all.

Have to share with you this interesting piece on Matthew Higgins.

Across:

1A: Perfect maker?: PRACTICE. PRACTICE makes perfect.

9A: Chucklehead: STUPES

16A: Sword of Damocles, e.g.: THREAT. This is Richard Westall's "The Sword of Damocles", the symbol of hidden perils of power.

17A: Cause supporter: ADHERENT

18A: Speakers' platforms: ROSTRA. Singular is ROSTRUM.

20A: Bony-plated dinosaurs: STEGOSAURS. I googled this one. Could not get the letter G and O. See this picture. Why is it called STEGOSAURUS? Needs some polishing with the clue. Terrible repetition of "saurs". Can you come up with a better clue?

22A: Rope fiber: SISAL. Named for SISAL, Yucatán.

24A: Worsted fabric: SERGE. Yawner. It's time to recognize the genius in SERGE Gainsbourg. No other song is more exotic and erotic than "Je T'aime... Moi No Plus": "Je vais et je viens, entre tes reins..." What other words do you need?

25A: U.S. Medical grp.: NIH (National Institutes of Health). I would not have got this one without the down clues.

26A: Splicing device: EDITOR. New to me. I always thought EDITOR is a person.

28A: Extinct bird: MOA

30A: Expression wish: DESIRE. I DESIRE U2.

37A: Lay down asphalt: PAVE. Now we are on PAVE binge. I kind of miss ET AL now.

46A: Narrative poetry: EPOS. Epic poetry. Also new word to me.

48A: Sleekly graceful: FELINE. Dictionary has another definition for FELINE: "Sly, stealthy, or treacherous".

52A: __ the ticket!: THAT'S. I don't understand this one. Is it a slang?

53A: Fitted for grasping: PREHENSILE. New to me also. So close to COMPREHENSIBLE.

57A: Blow a gasket: LOSE IT. SEE RED is clued as "Blue a gasket" last time.

60A: Make manifest: EVINCE. No need to "Make". "Manifest" is sufficient.

63A: Wakame and kelp: SEAWEEDS. I like wakame. Kelp is too coarse for me. My favorite SEAWEED is nori. Delicious!

Down:

2D: Beach close cause: RED TIDE

3D: Especial to special, e.g.: APHESIS. I've never heard of this term before. Was it a gimme to you?

4D: Some flowering vines: CLEMATISES. CLEMATIS the "Virgin's Bower".

9D: Russian count's wish: STROGANOFF. Or STROGNOV. Vaguely heard of it before. It's named after Russian diplomat Paul Stroganov. It's "a dish of tender beef strips, mushrooms, and onions cooked in a sour-cream sauce and served with noodles or rice." Russians put sour-cream in everything.

10D: Porky's sweetheart: PETUNIA. Learned this from doing Xword. PETUNIA was always a flower to me before.

21D: Fourpence piece, once: GROAT. Ha, I wonder if Mark (Buenos Aires) knows this English silver. I had on idea.

23D: Tribal knowledge: LORE

38D: Judge favorably: APPROVE. Are you happy with the "Judge" clue?

39D: Elects: VOTES IN

43D: Dark igneous rock: DIABASE. Another unknown. Here is a picture. Amazing how those yellow flowers can survive and bloom there.

44D: Inveigled: ENTICED. I did not know the meaning of "Inveigle". I only knew "Inveigh".

51D: Slug trail: SLIME. Icky!

C.C.