Sunday August 17, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Do Something

23A: Instruction to a drinker?: HAVE A SHOT

24A: Instruction to a take-out diner?: CALL TO ORDER

36A: Instruction to a battery maker?: PUT IN CHARGE

42A: Instruction to a lumberjack's assistant?: GIVE THE AX

56A: Instruction to a sculptor?: PLAN AHEAD

59A: Instruction to ship Styrofoam?: SEND PACKING

78A: Instruction to a talcum buyer?: TAKE A POWDER

80A: Instruction to a corporal punisher?: HIT BOTTOM

96A: Instruction to a wooer? GO TO COURT

99A: Instruction to a judge after a mistrial: TRY TRY AGAIN

116A: Instruction to a mime?: MAKE A MOTION

119A: Instruction to a comic?: FEEL FUNNY

I felt so uncomfortable with 42A. I know GIVE THE AX is an idiom, but I still wanted to add ME. The clue seems to be asking for "GIVE (ME) THE AX".

I would put "Follow the instructions" rather than "Do something" as the theme title. In fact, all the above theme answers feel more like orders rather than instructions to me. The constructor chose "instructions" probably because of 24A CALL TO ORDER.

I like this punny theme. If someone has been reading our comments lately, he should be inspired to create a "Beauty Salon Names" themed puzzle, using Argyle & KittyB's "Curl up & Dye", "Shear Magic", "Hair Port", "Clipper Ship", "Chop Shop" etc.

Anyway, it's a great puzzle. I can't imagine how much research work he did in order to come up with such an amazing list of theme entries with a perfect combination of letters. Look at the way he gridded those 12 theme answers - all 20-letter fills separated by 1 block, amazing! As a result, lots of 3-letter fills are necessitated in the Across. But no complaints from me today.

Some minor flaws:

1) I would clue KNELT (69D: Prepared to pray) as "Prepared to propose" because of PRAYER (108A: Supplication).

2) 76A: Parallel grooves: STRIA. The clue should be in singular form. The plural "grooves" demands STRIAE. At least, that's what the dictionary says. It's a new word to me.

3) 6D: ___ -la -la!: OOH. The clue needs a quotation mark.

4) 100D: Astern: ABAFT. Visually grating. "Toward the stern" should be fine.

I had to resort to google for help, there is no way I can finish a Sunday puzzle unassisted. It may take me another half year. But he did it. I should be able to DO SOMETHING too.

Across:

1A: Ring overhead: HALO

19A: Orphanage transactions: ADOPTIONS. "Transactions"? Sounds so impersonal and cold.

22A: Civic firm: HONDA. Great clue.

27A: Discombobulate: BEMUSE. Ha, now I understand the clue. Thought it was a made-up word yesterday.

29A: In a hopeful manner: ROSILY. I've never seen ROSILY being used in any article. ROSY, yes.

45A: Jack-in-the-pulpit, e.g.: ARUM. I missed it last time, and I missed it again today. "Jack-in-the-pulpit", what a strange name. But isn't ARUM kind of lily?

47A: Canary island: LA PALMA. Unknown to me. Shouldn't the clue be "One of the Canary Islands"?

48A: Brother of Rebecca: LABAN. I had ?ABAN for eons. Had to google. I tank on almost everything Biblical. Anyway, Wikipedia says LABAN is the father of Leah & Rachel.

52A: Play part: ACT II

63A: Spoke snake: HISSED. I was in the wrong direction, thinking the clue was asking for a special kind of spoke-shaped snake like yesterday's RALES (death rattles).

72A: Valley where David and Goliath fought: ELAH. I got it from down clues.

73A: Of bears: URSINE

85A: Hagar's dog: SNERT. From "Hagar the Horrible". Just saw this clue last week. ODIE is anther comic strip (Garfield) dog, so is OTTO (Beetle Baily). Here is a list of all those Comic Dog Names.

88A: Hindu teacher: SWAMI. The Hindu guru. The alternative spelling is SWAMY.

89A: Picked for the wrong part: MISCAST

92A: Disguised, briefly: INCOG. Short for INCOGNITA or INCOGNITO.

95A: Nagy of Hungary: IMRE. I simply forgot, again. How can I remember his name? I'm RE?

104A: Address of a DPL: EMB. DPL (Diplomat) is not a familiar abbreviation for me.

111A: Upolu resident: SAMOAN. I just learned that Robert Louis Stevenson spent the last 5 years of his life here.

121A: Van Gogh location: ARLES. This is the place where he painted "The Sunflowers". I pass by this painting every morning on the way to the kitchen. So easy to get lost in his vibrant yellow cast.

123A: Silent quality: TACITNESS. Only knew the adjective TACIT.

Down:

3D: Zero in tennis: LOVE. And 49D: Zilch: NADA.

4D: Autobahn auto: OPEL. It's part of GM.

5D: Cut apart for analysis: DISSECT

9D: Disqualified due to prejudice: RECUSE

16D: Salad green: ENDIVE. It's too bitter for for salad, don't you think so? I like Belgium ENDIVE.

17D: Aguilar of Ariana Franklin novels: ADELIA. Unknown to me. I've never heard of Ariana Franklin or any of her book.

18D: Voice box: LARYNX

28D: Molten rock: MAGMA

33D: Upright walkers: BIPEDS

36D: Insect's feeler: PALP. How quickly I forgot this word! P-ALP. Good Pedi-PALP picture.

37D: Russian range: URAL. Also the Russian river. The city Orsk is on the URAL River.

38D: Big, band tote: TUBA. What kind of clue is this?

39D: Somali model: IMAN. They seem to be very happy together.

40D: Up, in the ballpark: AT BAT

42D: Senator/astronaut Jake and family: GARNS. I've never heard of him. Wikipedia says he was aboard Space Shuttle Discovery in 1985.

43D: NBA all-star guard: T-MAC. Rockets' Tracy McGrady.

44D: Type of artificial fly: HACKLE. Did not know this angling term. Here is a black gnat soft HACKLE.

47D: Stay sleeping: LIE IN. Dictionary explains LIE IN as "to be confined to bed in childbirth". So, how can it be "Stay sleeping"?

57D: Overly excited: HET UP

58D: Madrid month: ENERO. Ah, the Año opener.

60D: Drummer of Rush: PEART (Neil). No, he is totally foreign to me. I've never heard of this "Rush" rock band.

67D: Japanese drink: SAKE. I guess this is not really a SAKE ad. The language is in Korean, what the heck is George Clooney drinking then?

68D: Dynamic leader?: THERMO. "Hot"!

75D: That is: Lat: ID EST

77D: Touch of color: TINCT

79D: Fan extension?: ATIC. Fanatic. Or "Problem ending".

82D: Writer Janowitz: TAMA. One more unknown. She wrote "Slaves of New York". Was she a gimme to you?

83D: Actor Katz: OMRI. I googled his name. I was too deeply mired in this corner. Wikipedia says he was in "Hocus Pocus" & "Dallas".

87D: '84 Modine movie: BIRDY. Another google. Not familiar with "BIRDY" or the actor Matthew Modine.

94D: Girl's school athletic uniform: GYMSLIP. No, no, no. What year was this photo taken? 1950's?

96D: See red: GET MAD

97D: Chicago cow owner: O'LEARY (Catherine). Nope. I enjoyed reading this story though.

98D: Small bell sound: TINKLE. I wanted JINGLE.

103D: Preface: PROEM. One more new word. Kind of like preamble, isn't it?

107D: Pravda source: TASS. Ha, finally a gimme. TASS was founded in 1925. Pravda ("Truth" in Russian) was founded in 1912.

108D: Boater's walkway: PIER

113D: Unique individual: ONER

114D: Latin handle: ANSA. I don't understand why the clue is always "Latin handle"? Is "Vase's looped handle" too long?

120D: Author Umberto: ECO. I forgot his name again. He has appeared several times in TMS puzzle. I would not have any problem were it clued as "Green" prefix or something environmentally friendly.

C.C.

Saturday August 16, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: None

Total blocks: 26

So close to the 25 blocks target I mentioned a month ago. But boy, it's a hard puzzle. Lots of unfamiliar words. Some did appear in recent puzzles before, but I simply forgot. I have too selective a memory.

I am not sure what is the record for the fewest blocks in TMS puzzle history. But it's 19 for NYT puzzles, 53 blocks being the most.

Anyway, very choppy solving today. Conquered the upper right corner very quickly, and struggled in every other corner. I kept wanting LD for 32D: 45% of M (CDL) and I knew it was wrong. Had to google CALEB (40A: Novelist Carr) to get myself out of that boggy area. Then I decided to google some more.

Dislike the clue for ASCOTS (1A: Tie types) due to TIES (5D: Draws). It's an unforgivable crossword SIN (11D: Sermon topic).

Across:

7A: Syrian capital: DAMASCUS. It is indeed the oldest city in the world, isn't it?

16A: Bologna tongue: ITALIANO. Ti amo!

17A: Gave shape to: MOLDED. I like the color of this Jello MOLD.

18A: Opposite of an enlarger: SHRINKER. Not a common word to me.

19A: Sturm __ Drang: UND. UND is "and" in German. I am not familiar with "Sturm UND Drang". I do like the translation: "Storm and Urge". Sounds so rebellious.

27A: Jewish sect member: HASID. Last times HASIDIM was clued as "Members of a Jewish sect". What a strange plural form!

29A: Radio static letters: EMI. EMI is also a British record label

31A: Common mushroom: AGARIC. I wanted BUTTON. I've never heard of AGARIC before. What's on the cap of this Fly AGARIC?

35A: Empty-nesters' vacation: SECOND HONEYMOON. Really? Don't couples take SECOND HONEYMOON anytime their schedules allow and their pocketbooks permit?

40A: Novelist Carr: CALEB. Wikipedia says he was involved in the screenplay of "The Exorcist" prequel. I've never seen "The Exorcist", have you? It sounds terrifying.

41A: Oder-___ Line: NEISSE. Not familiar with this border line (German-Polish border).

42A: "Vegas $" star: URICH (Robert). Another unknown actor. Wikipedia says he also starred in "Spenser: For Hire".

47A: Stallone role: RAMBO. Here is the new RAMBO trailor.

49A: Death rattles: RALES. Oy vey, I forgot this snake again. A gimmie for Bill I am sure. He never says die, but he sometimes RALES.

52A: Pair of 501's: MII. And CDL ( 32D: 45% of M). Why is my LD wrong?

53A: Indian bean tree: CATALPA. I forgot. It was clue as "Tree with trumpet-shaped flowers" last time. Are those beans edible?

55A: Italian possessive pronoun: SUA. His. Unknown to me.

56A: With plastic: ON CREDIT. What do you think of this clue?

58A: "Java" trumpeter: AL HIRT. I don't know this "Java" man. That's a great statue.

60A: Crystalline gypsum: SELENITE. Last time GYPSUM is clued as "Selenite, e.g.".

61A: July 26th honoree: ST ANNE. I forgot again. It appeared on Josiah Breward's July 19 puzzle with the identical clue. Oh well, "Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

63A: Gnatlike flies: MIDGES

Down:

1D: Even though: AS MUCH AS. This answer did not come to me easily at all.

2D: Prehistoric period: STONE AGE

3D: Dead end: CUL- DE -SAC

4D: Roulette bet: ODD. (Addendum: Argyle told me about the online "Crimson or scarlet"clue for ODD. I don't understand it. How so?)

7D: Throws into confusion: DISCOMBOBULATES. Wow, I checked, it's a word. How absurb looking!

8D: Plato or Aristotle, e.g.: ATHENIAN

12D: More encrusted: CAKIER. CAKY is really a solid word, bad CAKY make-up, or Barry's eyelids. But of course, you guys are so good-looking (esp you Bill) that you don't need any make-up stuff.

13D: Irregular: UNEVEN

14D: Kierkegaard and Hansen: SORENS. I like SOREN Hansen, and Thomas Levet. I had my visor autographed by them.

24D: Wind from Sahara: SIROCCO. I have such difficulty remembering this hot, windy word.

28D: A Shore: DINAH

26D: Last period of Paleozoic Era: PERMIAN. No, no, I've never heard of it.

36D: Iron ore: HEMATITE. Sigh... no...

37D: Passing through a membrane: OSMOSING. Boy, not an easy word to obtain.

38D: Ozzy of Black Sabbath: OSBOURNE. What a dysfunctional family he has!

39D: Maternity ward VIPs: NEONATES. I was thinking of the doctors.

42D: Greatest degree: UTMOST. I was used to the NTH answer.

43D: Fassbinder or Rilke: RAINER. I know neither of them. Too obscure a clue.

44D: Eaves dripper: ICICLE. Very nice ICICLE photo, I could almost feel the drop.

50D: Burst of energy: SPASM. I penned in SURGE first.

54D: High: pref.: ALTI

57D: FDR power group: REA. I start to miss Stephen REA.

C.C.