Tuesday September 23, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: MIDDLEMAN (62A: Middle of 17A, 35A and 52A)

17A: Biblical injunctions: TEN COMMANDMENTS

35A: Did some questionable redistricting: GERRYMANDERED

52A: Charlemagne's domain: HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

Very nice puzzle. I like this go-between MAN theme. But "behind every great MAN is a great WOMAN, and behind her is his wife." So I really hope Ms. Steinberg can offer us a "Pretty WOMAN" or "Scent of a WOMAN" themed puzzle soon. Wife is not necessary.

Quite a few lovely words with MAN in the middle: romantic, permanent, adamant, etc. Some celebrities also have MAN in their names: Giorgio Armani, Nicole Kidman, Gene Hackman, Hugh Jackman, etc. All beautiful people.

I dislike the clue for HMOS (51D: Med. care gps.) due to the answer MEDS (34D: Rx item). A simple "Doctors' grps" would be just fine.

Across:

15A: At large: LOOSE. What exactly is an "Editor-at-Large"? Is he/she always traveling on the road?

23A: Plays a banjo: STRUMS. As opposed to picks?

31A: Dry by rubbing: WIPE. The clue does not sound very fluid to me. "Rub dry" would be OK.

33A: Online bookseller: AMAZON. Or the "Mythical warrior" who "burned off the right breast in order to use a bow and arrow more effectively."

39A: Hot, spicy drink: TODDY. No idea, only knew GROG.

40A: Dollar, slangily: CLAM. Thought of BUCK first.

45A: Shepard or Houston: SAM. Know Houston, not Shepard.

49A: Student of Socrates: PLATO. He is also the teacher of Aristotle.

58A: Home of BYU: PROVO. Know this because of Barry.

Down:

1D: Ramada chain: MOTEL. This word MOTEL always brings to mind the scary scene in "Psycho".

3D: Refusal to admit: DENIAL. I've never understood "DENIAL isn't just a river in Egypt". What does it mean?

8D: Kept inside: PENT- UP. Oh, that PENT -UP desire...

9D: Actor Lorenzo: LAMAS. I actually watched a few episodes of his "Are You Hot?" Rachel Hunter was another judge on the show.

11D: Runtish: PINT-SIZE. Is PINT-SIZE and PINT-SIZED the same? How about bone-head and bone-headed?

13D: Punner's duo?: ENS. I think the best ENS clue I've seen is "Dinner twosome?"

19D: Comic Deluise: DOM. I've never heard of him before. Got his name from across fills.

25D: Demonstrates connections: RELATES

33D: After-market item: ADD-ON. Why?

35D: Colorado tributary: GILA. Is this how GILA monster got its name?

42D: Gender bias: SEXISM

43D: __ del Fuego: TIERRA. Foreign to me. Obtained this name from the across fills. See this map.

44D: From the mountains of Peru: ANDEAN. Very nice picture. I wonder what those llamas are thinking.

46D: Bumps on a hog?: WARTS. No idea. How come?

55D: "..... __ gloom of night...": NOR. The postal motto: "Neither rain, nor sleet, NOR gloom of night...". I wonder why our editor did not clue NOR as "Neither rain, ___ sleet...". It would be more straightforward.

C.C.

Monday September 22, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: CHECK (28D: Word after 21A, 39A 54A, 3D and 30D)

21A: Carolyn Gold Heilbrun's pen name: AMANDA CROSS

39A: Resting place of the Edmund Fitzgerald: LAKE BED

54A: Some time: QUITE A SPELL

3D: Painter's application: FINISH COAT

30D: On-screen stand-in: BODY DOUBLE

What is COAT CHECK? I've never heard of it before. Nor have I heard of BED CHECK. BAD CHECK yes.

I thought of RAINCHECK, PAYCHECK and BACKGROUND CHECK, what other *CHECK phrases can you think of?

Very interesting theme. I like how CHECK is placed in the grid. Like Dennis, I prefer the defining entry to be structured in the middle rather than at the lower right corner, unless it's word END.

The clue for QUAG (54D: Bog) needs an abbreviation hint. And the clue for IOU (26A: Debt chit) is simply unacceptable, as CHIT is the answer for (19A: Voucher: CHIT). I am certain this is not the constructor's error. Just another botched effort from our editor. He seems to be very absent-minded in his editing.

I had a hard time this morning. Somehow I could not focus on solving this puzzle. I don't know why, too many proper names perhaps.

Across:

1A: Put off: DEFER. Shakespeare said: "DEFER no time, delays have dangerous ends."

14A: "Crazy" singer: CLINE (Patsy). Here is the song. I've never heard of it before. Did you know that Willie Nelson originally titled the song "Stupid"? Maybe it is "Stupid" to be so crazy in love. Oh, by the way, what does Forrest Gump mean by saying "Stupid is as stupid does"?

16A: Natural tone: ECRU. I thought of NUDE first.

17A: Virtual certainty: CINCH. I tend to confuse CINCH with CLINCH.

20A: Pilot's gauge: ASI (Airspeed Indicator). No idea. Barry Silk mentioned last time that our editor does not allow partial fills, just AS I thought. What a pity!

24A: Favorite to win: BEST BET

27A: Boondocks possessive: HIS'N. This Li'l Abner talks stump me all the time.

28A: Own-kind feeder: CANNIBAL. I did not understand the clue until I obainted CANNIBAL.

45A: Author of "The Swiss Family Robinson": WYSS (Johann David). Foreign to me. Wikipedia says his novel is based on Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe". Also, WYSS' son, Johann Rudolf WYSS, wrote the Swiss national anthem.

46A: Like some missiles: ANTI-TANK. Is this video real?

62A: Circuit: AMBIT. This is a new word to me.

64A: Violinist Leopold: AUER. I can never remember his name. He wrote "Violin Playing as I Teach It".

66A: French city on the Deule: LILLE. The textile city. Charles de Gaulle was born here. He did possess some TACT (65A: Savoir-faire), didn't he?

67A: Crimebuster: G-MAN. I still wanted some sort of "abbr." hint in the clue.

Down:

1D: 1983 Mr. T flick: D. C. CAB. Unknown to me. See the poster. Have you seen the movie?

2D: Beethoven's "Fur ___": ELISE. Here is "Fur ELISE" from a 8-year old.

5D: 12-step plans: REHABS

10D: New enlistee: RECRUIT. I like Colin Farrel/Al Pacino movie "The RECRUIT".

12D: Writer Murdoch: IRIS. I think I love van Gogh's IRIS. A puzzle without a flower is not appealing to me now.

22D: High-IQ crew: MENSA. "Stupid"! Dennis.

29D: Actress Jessica: ALBA. Wow, that's one daring shirt!

34D: Tennis situation: AD IN

36D: Blood-related: AKIN

39D: Shop machine: LATHE. What kind of shop?

40D: Actress Georgia: ENGEL. No idea. Wikipedia says she is in "The Mary Tyler Moore Show"

43D: Actor who is Sissy Spacek's cousin: RIP TORN. I did not know this trivia. What a strange name he has.

49D: "Deck the Halls" syllables: LALALA. Why? What is "Deck the Halls"?

51D: Piquant: ZESTY. There seems to be always a ZEST or ZESTY in Parrish's puzzle.

52D: Tremulous sound: TRILL. I did not know the meaning of "Tremulous".

57D: "Major Barbara" playwright: SHAW. The only SHAW play I know is "Pygmalion". This collection must be worth lots of money now. Do you collect first edition books?

63D: Shuffle: MIX. Or the surname of this oater cowboy.

C.C.

Sunday September 21, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: BG's AEIOU

23A: Red-eye service?: OVERNIGHT BAGGAGE CLAIM (OVERNIGHT BAGGAGE, BAGGAGE CLAIM)

43A: Above disagreement?: TOO PROUD TO BEG TO DIFFER (TOO PROUD TO BEG, BEG TO DIFFER)

68A: Speaking of major expenses?: TALKING BIG TICKET ITEMS (TALKING BIG, BIG TICKET ITEMS)

97A: Organic fuel delivery is delayed?: PEAT BOGS DOWN IN TRAFFIC (PEAT BOGS, BOGS DOWN IN TRAFFIC)

119A: '50s sci-fi/dance movie?: JITTERBUG-EYED MONSTERS (JITTERBUG, BUG-EYED MONSTERS)

The clue for 119A is inaccurate. The order should be reversed to "50s dance/sci-fi movie". Still, I could not find anything about "BUG-EYED MONSTERS" movie this morning. Or did I read the answer wrongly?

I caught the BAG, BEG, BIG, BOG, BUG vowel progression very early on, but did not get the "Before and After" concept until the very end. I am not good at this "Before & After" word game. Have never watched "Wheel of Fortune".

Nevertheless, it's a very unique puzzle, with five 21-letter running-through theme entries, the least I've seen since I started blogging in late Jan. I am not clear about TMS puzzle rule, but LA Times requires at least 6 theme entries (minimum 84 theme squares) for a Sunday 21*21. NY Times requires a minimum of 80 theme squares (at least 5 theme entries I presume).

Did you notice that SONTAG (40D: "Illness as Metaphor" writer) comes up a lot on Sundays? I think I've also seen enough of AGORA (82D: Old Greek market).

Across:

1A: Formal judicial order: WRIT. Habeas corpus is the most important WRIT.

5A: Make oneself presentable: CLEAN UP

12A: Designed to conform: ADAPTIVE

21A: Red phone: HOT LINE. I don't understand this Hillary "Red Phone" parody. Who are those characters in the middle of the clip?

22A: Bad repute: DISFAVOR. Are they really interchangeable?

34A: Balanced conditions: STASES. The singular form is STASIS. The plural for equilibrium can be equilibria or equilibriums.

39A: Old English characters: EDHS. How so?

40A: Fort Stewart neighbor: SAVANNAH. Pure guess. I've never heard of Fort Stewart before.

51A: Bad pun: GROANER. New to me. Can you give me an example?

52A: Verbena plant: LANTANA. Also unknown to me. I don't think I've seen this kind of flowering plant before, have you?

76A: Radioactivity pioneer: CURIE. I suppose this can refer to either of the couple. Without this answer, MME (23D: Fr. woman's title) could be clued as "CURIE title".

77A: In good working order: A-OK. Funny how the same hand-gesture can mean different thing in different culture.

83A: Wall St. letters: NYSE. And ASE (14D: NASD competitor). I am more familiar with AMEX & NASDAQ though. Are there any differences that I am not aware of?

90A: Poetic time of day: MIDMORN

101A: Jerkwater: ONE-HORSE. I did not know the meaning of "Jerkwater". What a strange name!

126A: Blood deficiency (var.): ANAEMIA. Dates, you need lots of sweet dates, they are very rich in iron content.

128A: Marine celebrities?: SEA STARS. Very nice clue.

129A: Author of "Kissing the Gunner's Daughter": RENDELL (Ruth). I've never heard of the book nor the author. Nice library.

Down:

5D: Hot lunch?: CHILI DOG. I've never quite understood this food Chili. Does it always have beans in it?

10D: Two-toed sloth: UNAU. I forgot. Here is a two-toed sloth UNAU. And this is a three-toed sloth AI".

31D: "Star Trek" role: UHURA. Nope. I've never watched "Star Trek". She is the communications officer on the Enterprise. I did get LEIA (88D: "Star Wars" role). How to pronounce UHURA?

32D: Windows basis: MS-DOS

34D: Actress Thompson: SADA. I filled in EMMA first. Have never heard of SADA Thompson. Here is SADA in "Family". Do you like "The Princess Bride"?

42D: Can't be beat: NO-LOSE. The clue feels like it's asking for a verb, doesn't it?

46D: Water depth: abbr.: FTH. I suppose it's for FATHOM. Not a familiar abbreviation to me.

48D: Insect: pref.: ENTOM. As in ENTOMOLOGY.

49D: Levels in London: RASES. I like our RAZES. Good alliteration in the clue. "Levels in Leeds" is great too.

57D: Stallone sequel: ROCKY II.

69D: Rolling Stones hit: ANGIE. Here is the song. It sounds so sad.

70D: Auto racer Niki: LAUDA. I googled his name. Wikipedia says this former Austrian Formula one champion owns 2 airlines: LAUDA Air and Niki.

71D: Farm: GRANGE. This is a new word to me. Isn't GRANGE a kind of music genre?

73D: Violet essence: IONONE. Another new word to me. Dictionary says it's "a colorless to yellowish liquid, C₁₃H₂₀O, having a strong odor of violets and used in perfumes."

91D: Old Greek coin: OBOL. No idea. Here is some very interesting information about OBOL & Hades.

95D: Type of molecular geometry: TRIGONAL. New to me also. Same as triangular I suppose.

99D: In the act of: DOING. This clue just feels so awkward to me.

104D: Indian princes: RAJAS. Wouldn't have got 119A without the letter "J" from RAJAS.

106D: Siamese fighting fish BETTA. No idea. Dictionary says it's also called "Fighting fish". Wow, what a strange idea to put a plant and fish together in a vase.

109D: Befell:: TIDED. I did not know that TIDE can mean "Befall" also.

C.C.

Saturday September 20, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: None

Total blocks: 28

There is slight stream of financial terms running in this puzzle:

28A: Nest-egg initials: IRA

31A: Financial specialist: ECONOMIST

5D: Wall St. unit: SHR

7D: Tax act letters: ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act)

I liked this puzzle, some of the clues are so refreshing. For example:

16A: Where Aesop shopped?: AGORA. The Greek mall.

19A: Zodiac butter?: RAM. I thought "Butter?" is even better.

33A: Spar alone?: SHADOW BOX

51A: Curly poker?: MOE

21D: Second course?: PLAN B

But shouldn't the clue for NAIL SETS (14D: Carpenter's tool) be in plural form? (Addendum: Please ignore this comment. The answer is NAIL SET. I made a mistake when I typed in the blog entry)

I had to google today. There is no way I can complete a Barry Silk puzzle unaided.

Across:

1A: Freezes: STOPS DEAD. I was brought to an immediate & complete halt by this clue.

15A: 1965 hit by the Zombies: TELL HER NO. No, no, I've never heard of this song.

16A: Crenshaw or casaba: MELON. Neither is my favorite. I like honeydew. What's your favorite MELON? How do you serve them? In balls?

17A: Backing: ENDORSING

18A: ___ Gras: MARDI. Ah, I am so hungry for some FOIE gras on toast.

20A: NASA's ISS partner: ESA (European Space Agency). Or "That" in Spanish.

21A: Melatonin gland: PINEAL. No idea.

22A: Warriors' org.: NBA. I don't think I've seen NBA clued as "Timberwolves' org." before. We have great sports teams here in MN: Twins (MLB), Vikings (NFL), Wild (NHL) and T'wolves (NBA). Oh, we have Thunder & Lightening too.

23A: Argue noisily: WRANGLE

29A: Writing-on-the-wall word: MENE. New to me. Dictionary defines MENE as "numbered, one of the words of the mysterious inscription written "upon the plaister of the wall" in Belshazzar's palace at Babylon. The writing was explained by Daniel".

35A: Pool game: EIGHT- BALL

38A: Insults wittily: ZINGS

43A: Linguistics suffix: EME. I misread the clue as "Language suffix", so I wanted ESE.

44A: Exam cramming: REVIEW. I don't understand this clue/answer. Is REVIEW here a noun or a verb?

46A: Annoyed: HASSLED

48A: Nashville-based awards org.: CMA (Country Music Association). I really do not understand Kenny Chesney's appeal.

49A: Six-feet of water: FATHOM

52A: 911 responder: EMT. Nice change from the"CPR specialist" clue.

54A: Retaliation: TIT FOR TAT

57A: "Odyssey" sorceress: CIRCE. She "detained Odysseus on her island and turned his men into swine". Not familiar with this Greek mythology at all. It kind of reminded me of the seamen-luring SIRENS.

58A: Make slender: ATTENUATE

59A: Exalt to the heavens: ENSKY. New to me also.

60A: Cut: SHORTENED. It seems that whenever "Cut" or "Read" are clued, the answer is always in past tense.

Down:

1D: Less flexible: STERNER

2D: Rationally defensible: TENABLE

3D: Children's card game: OLD MAID. Just learned this card game when we had WAR clue the other day.

6D: Skip out on: DESERT. I like this verb fill rather than "Sahara/Gobi" DESERT.

8D: 1993 Playmate of the Year: ANNA NICOLE SMITH. I thought of Pamela Anderson first.

11D: Alaska's fist governor: EGAN. It's clued as "Magnet and Steel" singer on Barry's Sept 5 puzzle.

12D: Marilyn's blond part?: LORELEI. Another unknown. I've never seen "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes". Dictionary says LORELI is "a quasilegendary nymph of the Rhine who lured sailors to shipwreck on her rock by singing". So, another SIREN?

27D: Undemanding: CUSHY. Really? Give you give me an example?

29D: 2014: MMXIV

31D: Dutch cheeses: EDAMS. Or GOUDAS if there is one more blank.

34D: Crosswise, nautically: ABEAM. It's perpendicular to the keel, isn't it? We seem to have nautical term every day now.

35D: Imposing structure: EDIFICE

37D: Old-fashioned footwear: GAITERS. Another unknown. Here is a picture. They look pretty cool to me.

39D: Comment to a sun worshiper: NICE TAN

40D: Having buds: GEMMATE. I can feel Spring.

44D: Sailor's jacket: REEFER. What's the difference between a REEFER and a pea coat?

46D: Hive product: HONEY. HONEY, you thrill me.

50D: Unrespected writer: HACK. What do you call those people who write fanfictions?

C.C.

Friday September 19, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: B, literally (Words/Phrase that start with letter B)

17A: B, literally: BANDLEADER

61A: B literally: BOBBLEHEAD

10D: B literally: BRITISH OPEN

25D: B literally: BATTLEFRONT

Hmmm, the farm boy Westley of "The Princess Bride" probably wants a BUTTERCUP COVER. How about BATMAN FACE? What else can you think of?

I liked this puzzle tremendously. Very creative theme idea and smooth cluing. A bit of musical instrument sub-theme:

41A: Slender reed: OBOE

47A: Luau music maker: UKE

50D: Big brass: TUBAS

I also thought of CHEERLEADER, CLUBHEAD, COLD FRONT, CANADIAN OPEN for a "C, literally" themed puzzle, with a golf-sub theme.

Across:

1A: Top points: ACMES. If it's a 5-letter blank, then it could be APICES, the plural form of APEX.

10A: Rorshach image: BLOT

20A: Pack animal: ASS. My first though was RAT.

22A: Wrestling ring duo: TAG TEAM. I learned this morning that only one match is allowed in the ring at one time. Such aggressive wrestling match types: Last Man Standing, Hard Ten Match, Strip Matches (Bra and Panties, Tuxedo), Pillow Fight, Mud Match, etc.

24A: Hitchcock thriller: THE BIRDS. Only saw the very end of the film, horrifying! I like Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief", lovely! "Rear Window" is a bit scary too.

29A: Spot for reporters: PRESS BOX

34A: Latte topping: FROTH. Holy hot wick FROTH. What caused it?

38A: Mia of soccer: HAMM. Very nice clip.

40A: Garden perennial: PEONY. Here is a beautiful PEONY for you. China does not really have a national flower. People simply can not decide whether to pick PEONY or winter plum blossom. We also have lotus for summer and chrysanthemum for autumn. So basically, China is one country, 4 flowers (for 4 seasons).

44A: Watch furtively: SPY ON

46A: Road marker: MILEPOST

49A: Potency: STRENGTH

54A: Austere: SPARTAN

65A: Kinks' title woman: LOLA. Here is the song. Not very familiar to me. LOLA is always the "Damn Yankees" girl to me.

66A: Ballet __ of Monte Carlo: RUSSE. No idea. Got it from the across fills.

69A: Thomas and Green: SETHS. Another educated guess. Have never heard either of them.

Down:

1D: No longer on deck: AT BAT. Wouldn't it be awesome if the clue for the intersecting TRADE (14A: Line of work) is "Baseall news"?

9D: Game plan: STRATEGY

12D: Southern side dish: OKRA. I always associate OKRA with Gumbo.

26D: Brussels ___: SPROUTS. Have you ever grown Brussels SPROUTS? The stems are so long.

31D: Mollycoddle: BABY. "BABY, I Love You."

33D: Wolverine' s group: X-MEN. The Marvel Comics.

34D: O'Hara's "___ the Terrace": FROM. Another unknown. Easy to infer though. Have you seen the movie?

44D: Kabob holders: SKEWERS

47D: River to the Caspian: URAL. Or URAL Mountains (Europe/Asia separator).

C.C.

Thursday September 18, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Don't Forget... (Evan Esar)

20A: Start of a quip: WRITING THINGS

32A: Part 2 of quip: DOWN IS

41A: Part 3 of quip: THE BEST

48A: Part 4 of quip: SECRET

59A: End of quip: OF GOOD MEMORY

This will be a short write-up. I cut my left index finger while peeling a nectarine earlier. Difficult to type. All I can say is that I had no problem understanding this quip.

Across:

1A: IV quantities: CCS. Or "E.R./O.R. quantities."

9A: Samantha of "The Collector": EGGAR. This is her website. I've never heard of her name or the movie before.

14A: Cheer in a bowl?: RAH. I wonder when/how this "bowl" came into being.

16A: Director of spaghetti westerns: LEONE (Sergio). No idea. Only knew Sierra LEONE the country. Who is the guy on the left? Would you call Clint Eastwood an OATER (33D: Shoot-'em-up) in those movies?

18A: Slowly, in music: LENTO. Like the opening tempo of this Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 I suppose. Do you like it?

19A: Wide receiver Terrel: OWENS. Poor Jessica.

24A: Japanese honorific: SAN. I cannot believe this restaurant's name is Mama-SAN. So audacious! Maybe they meant okaa - SAN?

34A: Workday start, often: NINE AM

37A: Jetson's dog: ASTRO. I bet Mr. Olschwang hates Houston ASTROS.

44A: Ivan of tennis: LENDL. So the ball hit McEnroe's chest only?

50A: Beset by problems: HARRIED. Are you OK with this clue?

54A: Spicy stew: OLLA. It's clued as "Earthen ware crock" in his last puzzle. I've never had OLLA before, have you? Is OLLA really cooked over a fire?

64A: Plays' players: CASTS. I like verbs in the puzzle, so I would clue it as "Flings".

72A: Coffee concoction: LATTE

Down:

3D: Australian lass: SHEILA. I've never heard of this expression before. Kazie, what's the slang for "Australian lad"?

6D: Band of pals: GANG. Have you heard of China's "GANG of Four"? The lower right lady is Jiang Qiang, Chair Mao's wife. They were arrested and charged with treason after Mao died.

9D: North Carolina University: ELON. I can never remember its name. See this Phoenix Rising statue at Elon University. Their sports teams are called the Phoenix.

10D: Baubles: GEWGAWS. What's the origin of GEWGAW?

13D: Legal thing: RES. And ESSE (63D: Latin being)

27D: Those, to Tomas: ESOS. Singular is ESA.

30D: Durham sch.: UNH. Got stumped again. Here is their Wildcats logo.

39D: Highland dance: REEL. No idea, it's "a lively Scottish dance".

40D: Penned in: ENCLOSED. Maybe I should be a cattle. I would have had no problem penning in ENCLOSED. Cleverly misleading clue.

45D: Forced inductee: DRAFTEE. I don't like this clue. Would prefer something "non-volunteer" related.

47D: Tap on a table: DRUM. I don't understand this clue/answer. What kind of DRUM is a "Tap"?

51D: Wagnerian heroine: ISOLDE. It's clued as "Tristan's beloved" last time.

57D: Main artery: AORTA

61D: Shoulder muscle, briefly: DELT (Deltoid). I forgot. See here. Isn't woman always looking for a warm shoulder to cuddle her head on?

62D: Carnivore's choice: MEAT. I don't think so. It's "Carnivore's diet". Would be OK were it clued as "Omnivore's choice".

C.C.

Wednesday September 17, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Mined Over Matter

17A: Old-time typescript duplicate: CARBON COPY

61A: Determined: IRON- WILLED

10D: Inherited wealth: SILVER SPOON

24D: Trophy wives, perhaps: GOLD DIGGERS

I am not fond of 61A, it's an adjective, all the other 3 are nouns. I thought of IRON CURTAIN & IRON HORSE, but neither fits the blank need. Maybe you can come up with a 10-letter IRON* noun phrase.

I would be very pleased if there were 5 theme answers, with IRON CHEF AMERICA (15-letter) placed in Row #8 running through the whole grid.

Very smooth puzzle. Nice and easy. I had no problem obtaining OSCAR (37A: Lyricist Hammerstein) and LEVI (58D: Italian writer Primo), though I knew neither of them. I liked this new cluing approach. Felt refreshing.

Disliked the clue for OLIVIER (22A: "Hamlet" Oscar winner) because OSCAR is an answer. I think "Fabled city of treasure" should be OK for EL DORADO (26A: Fabled city of gold) as GOLD is part of the answer for 24D.

Across:

6A: Ltr. carriers: ENVS. And ENCS (6D: Ltr. extras)

10A: Ocean extract: SALT. Don't forget SALT is also an acronym for "Strategic arms limitation talks".

19A: "Sweater Girl" Turner: LANA. She is stunning. What's that background music? Sounds so familiar.

20A: 6-points: TDS. And KOS (21A: WBA stats)

41A: Southern cornbread: PONE. Does it look like this? I've never seen PONE in person. Dictionary says it's also called johnnycake.

45A: Killer whale: ORCA. The spelling of ORCA is so close to OCA, often clued as "Andean tuber". They are longer and thicker than Hawaiian TAROS.

46A: Yearn for: DESIRE. I DESIRE U2. ".... Burning, Burning..."

48A: Thought out: REASONED. And PONDERS (15D: Mulls over).

52A: Put on: DON. And CLAD (2D: Dressed in)

50A: Lytton Strachey's first name: GILES. No idea. I got his name from across fills. Are you familiar with "The Letters of Lyatton Strachey"?

64A: Cordelia's father: LEAR. The two bad daughters are Regan and Goneril.

68A: Vogue competitor: ELLE. Or "Model MacPherson".

Down:

5D: Dracula's creator: STOKER (Bram). See this book cover.

9D: Engraving tool: STYLUS. I am not familiar with STYLUS engraver.

13D: Symbol of sadness: TEAR. Very sad "TEARS in Heaven".

32D: John ___ Gardner: NANCE. No idea. Wikipedia says he was FDR's veep from 1933 to 1941, and he was the longest-living vice-president in US history (almost 99 years old). President Ford was the oldest former president, followed by Reagan, both over 93 years old.

47D: Plaza Hotel girl of comics: ELOISE. I vaguely recalled this name, but I could not remember what was the story behind this ELOISE.

49D: Some pool balls: SOLIDS. Lois probably will give us more explanation on SOLIDS. She is an expert on balls: bowling balls, pool balls, golf balls, etc, etc, etc.

55D: Enjoy some haikus, e.g. : READ. I thought it would be a good idea to clue READ as "Enjoyed some haikus, e.g." Past tense could be very cleverly misleading.

57D: Actress Nazimova: ALLA. No idea. This is a rather unique shot of her in the silent film "Camille". Wikipedia says Rudolph Valentino starred in the movie too.

59D: First place?: EDEN. Good clue. EDEN is Hebrew for "pleasure".

C.C.

Tuesday September 16, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: "Ring...ring..ring...Homophone's calling"

20A: Aviation pioneer: ORVILLE WRIGHT

35A: Dramatic exit direction: STAGE RIGHT

44A: Do uncredited work: GHOSTWRITE

59A: Bar mitzvah, e.g.: RELIGIOUS RITE

I've never heard of STAGE RIGHT before.

Very nice puzzle, another pangram. Once again, there are quite a few abbrevations, just like yesterday's.

I had fun solving this puzzle. I liked seeing SPAHN (12D: Hall-of-fame pitcher Warren) being clued in a grid. It always reminded me the poem "First we'll use SPAHN, then we use Sain, then an off day, followed by rain...". He was a great pitcher, the winningest southpaw in baseball history. I wish I had this SPAHN Hartland figurine, the original one.

Had huge problem in lower left corner earlier. Had to google STAN GETZ and a few other words.

Across:

5A: Forage crop: SOYA. Inaccurate clue. I eat SOYA product every day, and I am not a cattle.

14A: Quantum event?: LEAP. Nice clue. I like last time's "Act of Faith?" too.

15A: No. brains?: CPAS. Of course I read it as "No brains". Very clever use of "number" abbreviation.

17A: Vijay Singh's homeland: FIJI. Here is a good picture of Vijay & Tiger at the 2002 Masters. Vijay is very cold in person.

18A: Warmonger: HAWK. Hmm, I think I love DOVE more. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."

19A: Along a rotation line: AXIAL

28A: Not orig.: IMIT. Look, the flower flies are sipping the morning dew. They look so real.

42A: Outer: pref: EXO. Or ECTO if it's 4-letter blank.

43A: Pitch woo: SPOON. I've never heard of this phrase "Pitch woo" before. Can you give me an example?

52A: Chapel Hill sch.: UNC (University of North Carolina). NPR's "The Story" is produced here.

55A: Sports division, est. 1969: NFC (National Football Conference). No idea. I had _ FC staring at me forever.

57A: Frilled strip: RUFFLE. What happened to her feathers?

63A: Castle that danced: IRENE. I've never heard of her name before. I like the embroidered flowers on her skirt. Roses?

68A: Stop order, asea: AVAST. And HALTS (13D: Terminates).

69A: Custard dessert: FLAN. I like crème brûlée, I like hard caramel on top of the custard.

71A: Frequency unit: HERTZ. Hz. One cycle per second. Gustov HERTZ won Nobel physicics in 1925.

Down:

1D: TV alien: ALF. Not familiar with this TV series. Only know ALF Landon, who has stubbornly made several appearances in our puzzles.

3D: Head steward: MAJORDOMO. New word to me.

4D: Richard's Agnew: SPIRO. And for RIPA (32D: Philbin's co-host). I forgot who was bothered by "Nixon's Agnew" clue last time. He/she should be happy now.

5D: Rifts: SCHISMS

6D: Fiery gem: OPAL. It's the birthstone for October. Mine is pearl. How about you?

7D: Ketch's sister: YAWL. Did not know the meaning of "Ketch". Thought it's a TV character. Have never heard of YAWL before. I know nothing about sailing or sailing vessels.

9D: George Lucas blockbuster: STAR WARS

11D: Pamplona pal: AMIGO. Good alliteration.

21D: Sch. in Lexington: VMI (Virginia Military Institute). I was thinking of Lexington, KY.

36D: Early invader of Rome: GOTH. Not familiar with this invasion at all.

37D: Cause of a rush: GOLD FEVER

39D: Govt. security: T NOTE. It was T BILL yesterday. Scary stock market lately. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and now AIG, in less than 5 months, truly frightening!

41D: "The Girl from Ipanema" guy: STAN GETZ. How could Barry Silk think of HERTZ to cross STAN GETZ is beyond me. He has such a creative mind.

45D: Hotspot service: WIFI. Xchefwalt must have been experiencing troubles accessing his "Hotspot service". Have not heard any flower/flour comment from him for a few days.

46D: Loop or stud: EARRINGS

50D On the __ vive: QUI. Besides SHAQ (49A: O'Neal of basketball) and IRAQ, what other 4-letter words end with letter Q?

52D: Fictional Heep: URIAH

62D: Use an MRI: SCAN. I would prefer a simple "Read quickly". MRI is an abbreviation after all.

66D: Justice Fortas: ABE. I like how ABE parallels LAW (67D: Perry Mason's field).

C.C.

Monday September 15, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Food Idioms

17A: Raring to go: FULL OF BEANS

26A: Male body part: ADAM'S APPLE

36A: Braggart's cry: EAT YOUR HEART OUT

49A: Face-saving disdain: SOUR GRAPES

58A: Win: TAKE THE CAKE

I don't like 36A. I know people do eat HEART in some parts of the world, but it just conjures up such an unpleasant picture.

I thought of "hard nut to crack", "cool as cucumber", "bring home the bacon" and "cream of the crop", but none of them fits. Can you think of a 15-letter food idiom?

Too many abbreviations for my taste. SEL (3D: Choice abbr.) could easily be reworded as "French salt" to avoid this annoying "abbr." in the clues. The clue for TORTES (13D: Rich cakes) is very amaterish, as CAKE is part of the answer for 58A. Xchefwalt might not like "Flourless dessert", but it's a perfect clue here.

I think Dennis has warped my thinking. I pictured this sacred Greek stone (Herm) and the "frank and beans" in front when I read 26A: Male body part.

Across:

1A: Phylicia or Ahmad: RASHAD. Ha, the Pop Secret commercial couple.

15A: Satellite of Saturn: RHEA. She is also the mother of Hera/Zeus/Hades.

29A: Disney dwarf: SLEEPY. And Sneezy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful and Grumpy.

33A: "Straight Is the Gate" writer Gide: ANDRE. I've never heard of this book. (Addendum: The correct book title is "Strait Is the Gate"). But why obsessed with Gide all the time? How about pianoist/conductor ANDRE Previn (Mia Farrow's ex) or this ANDRE?

42A: Govt. security: T BILL (Treasury BILL). I've always liked this misleading clue.

44A: Largest piggy?: BIG TOE. The sophisticated podiatric term is hallux.

48A: Graphic artist M. C. ___: ESCHER. I only know this "Relativity". Not familiar with his other works.

53A: Australian isl: TASM. It's here. Why are this Tasmania Devil's ears red?

64A: Way in, in brief: ENT (Entrance). Hard one! I kept reading the clue as "Way in, in briefs".

66A: Went out: EXITED. Very quick "in" and "out".

67A: His: Fr.: SES. Or her/its.

68A: Daly of "Cagney & Lacey": TYNE. Know her name, not familar with "Cagney & Lacey".

69A: Albert Pinkham and Winona: RYDERS. Know Winona, not Albert Pinkham.

Down:

1D: Coast of Morocco: RIF. This has become a gimme to me. Here is map again.

3D: "2001" mainframe: HAL

6D: Pay for: DEFRAY

9D: Bo's number: TEN. No idea. Who is Bo? Why TEN?

10D: Swed. flyers: SAS

30D: Picture taker, briefly: PHOTOG

34D: Org. of Rangers and Ducks: NHL. I would prefer the clue to be "Org. with Penguins and Ducks". It's more fun, would be very misleading for those who do not follow hockey.

37D: Over in Ulm: UBER. Vs. UNTER.

38D: Delicacy: TACT. I was thinking of this delicacy. I vodka and caviar you.

44D: Backs of singles: B SIDES

45D: Cut stinger: IODINE. Are you OK with this clue?

48D: Old Testament book: ESTHER

51D: Calvin or Rodney: PEETE. Know golfer Calvin PEETE, not familiar with Rodney PEETE.

56D: Lolita-ish: SEXY. I've never read "Lolita", have you?

61D: Plunk starter?: KER. Or "Flop starter?". What else?

63D: Goddess of folly: ATE. If not for EAT in theme answer 36A, I would prefer the clue to be a simple "Had a bite", considering so many food choices in today's puzzle.

C.C.

Sunday September 14, 2008 Annabel Michaels

Theme: Icky Stuff

23A: Of ill health: SICKLINESS

25A: Knockout drink: MICKEY FINN

39A: Quick as a wink: LICKETY-SPLIT

100A: Treat: PICK UP THE TAB

115A: Superlatively dilapidated: RICKETIEST

120A: Assigning monikers: NICKNAMING

36D: Running smoothly: TICKING OVER

45D: Doors in doors: WICKET GATES

48D: Whistle stop: HICK TOWN

51D: Battled for bargains: DICKERED

I hope you liked this puzzle. I did not. Too "Icky" for me. The overuse of suffixes like NESS, ED, EST, ING in the theme answers struck me as unimaginative and uncreative. The whole puzzle conjured up an image of the "WICKED Witch of the West" frantically swinging her BROOMSTICK, trying to get the magical "Icky" slippers.

I would not mind if sweet "Icky Stuff" like CINNAMON STICK, and POPSICKLE are constructed into the puzzle, or exciting words like HOCKEY STICK, GIMMICKY, MAVERICK, LIMERICK, SCHTICK, or other whole BAGS OF TRICKS.

CHERRY PICKING sounds good too. What do you think of FLOWER PICKER?

Two counts of major felonies:

22A: Stout's stout sleuth: NERO

127A: Duchin or Nero: PETER

52D: Peter of "My Favorite Year": O'TOOL

I remember Stan Newman of Newsday mentioned that on average crossword editors make about 4 such mistakes in a year. Our editor has been committing this sin on a daily basis. Unbelievable!

Across:

1A: Limelight hog: HAM. I like this clue. "Stage hog" would be great too.

15A: Middle of Roman months: IDES. Or "Fateful day for Caesar".

19A: Altar constellation: ARA. It's always ARA when the clue is asking for a 3-letter constellation.

21A: Violinist's move: UP-BOW. New term to me. It's "an upward stroke from the tip to the heel of the bow".

28A: Swan genus: OLOR. New to me also. I don't think this is an accurate clue though. The complete name is Cygnus OLOR.

31A: "___ and Louise": THELMA. Good movie, very nice "You Needed Me". I've been constantly impressed by the creativity shown in some of the YouTube clips.

42A: Controlled entrance: STILE. Like this one?

43A: Coolidge's VP: DAWES (Charles). Not familiar with this name. He won Nobel Peace Prize in 1925 for his work on DAWES Plan - "a program to enable Germany to restore and stabilize its economy."

47A: Psalm ending: SELAH

51A: Polyester fabric: DACRON. No idea. It's wrinkle-resistant. These sails are made of DACRON.

54A: Anchor position: ATRIP

56A: Frontier scout Carson: KIT. Have never heard of him before. Lois probably wants KIT to be clued as “Santa Baby” singer.

61A: Musical sweet potato: OCARINA. New wood instrument to me. It does look like sweet potato.

66A: Old Scottish dagger: SKEAN

67A: African antelope: RHEBOK. New to me also. See this picture. Wikipedia says the Afrikaans/Dutch spelling is Reebok. That's how Reebok sportwear got its name.

69A: Of pants: TROUSER. Wow, I had no idea that TROUSER can be an adjective.

81A: Italian gentleman: SIGNORE

87A: Pagliacci's beloved: NEDDA. I can never remember her name.

97A: Distresses: HURTS. They are not really synonymous, are they? HURTS bring "Distresses".

106A: Barnum's first name: PHINEAS. Sigh... no, how could I know? Wikipedia says he never said "There is a sucker born every minute".

107A: Attack of painful spasms: ANGINA. Completely unknown to me. Dictionary says ANGINA is "a condition, such as severe sore throat, in which spasmodic attacks of suffocating pain occur." ANGINA looks very DF to me.

114A: Sharp-cornered: ANGULAR. Katharine Hepburn has the classic ANGULAR face.

122A: Big name in sound system: BOSE. No idea. I've never paid attention to the names of those car audio manufacturers.

126A: Munich's river: ISAR

Down:

1D: Attacks: HAS AT

3D: Twinned crystal: MACLE. See this picture. It appeared in our puzzle before. I still don't understand why it's called "Twinned crystal".

5D: Egg receptacle: OVISAC. I like the makeup of this word, OVI & SAC, easy to remember.

9D: Ballerina Collier: LESLEY. Pure guess. I don't think her name is recognized by many, if any. "60 Minutes" LESLEY Stahl would be a very reasonable clue.

10D: False accusations: BUM RAPS. New idiom to me.

15D: Congregates too much: INFESTS. I don't like the clue. I don't think they are of the same meaning.

18D: Word in sequels: SON. What "sequels"?

29D: Goddess of harvest: OPS. She is the wife of Saturn.

32D: Mariner's jacket: PEA COAT

37D: French actor Delon: ALAIN. I just discovered this morning that his first major role was Tom Ripley in "Plein Soleil", the French version of "The Talented Mr. Ripley".

38D: "The Flying Dutchman" girl: SENTA. I forgot. I always associated "The Flying Dutchman" with T206 Honus Wagner.

40D: S.S. Kresge's discount chain: KMART. Another guess. I was not aware of KMART's origin.

60D: Mignonette: RESEDA. I've never heard of RESEDA before. Had no idea that "Mignonette" was a plant of the genus RESEDA. Very quiet-looking flowers. Wikipedia says it's extremely fragrant.

71D: Indonesia currency: RUPIAHS. Foreign to me. Here are some Indonesia banknotes. The exchange rate is about 9,428 RUPIAHS = 1 US $.

79D: Bay on the English Channel: POOLE. I got it from the across fills.

81D: Newsman Frank: SESNO. He appears on Wolf Blitzer's "Situation Room" often.

82D: Bulge at the back of the head: INION. Strung this word together from the across clues.

90D: Revolt against conventions: TITANISM. New to me also. Only faintly aware of the Titans in Greek mythology.

91D: Chinese dish: SUBGUM. Weird Cantonese spelling. It's Shijin in Mandarin Chinese.

93D: Goldbrick: SLACKER. I did not know the meaning of "Goldbrick". I was picturing gold ingots.

101D: Nice one?: UNE. And Spanish UNO (125A: One to Juan).

102D: Bird feathers: PENNAE. Nope, nope. Did not know that there is a special name for "Bird feathers".

105D: Legally bar: ESTOP

108D: Pelvic bone: ILIUM. Also the Latin name for the ancient Troy.

110D: Rival of Sparta and Athens: ARGOS. Wikipedia also shows that ARGOS was also the name of "Odysseus' faithful dog", who waited over 20 years for Odyssues to return to Ithaca.

116D: Greek island: IOS. Homer is buried here.

121D: Cohort of Fidel: CHE (Guevara). He was a highly romanticized character in my childhood textbooks. Oh, by the way, the symbol HAMMER AND SICKLE would be a great theme answer too.

C.C.

Saturday September 13, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: None

Total blocks: 33

Sherpa, sherpa, where is my sherpa? I just cannot seem to solve a puzzle without a theme guidance, feeling so lost and helpless.

It's by no means a grid of Byzantine complexity. In fact, it has very simple structure and lots of 3-letter crosswordese. I just could not understand why I was so intimidated by this themeless.

Got stumped immediately by the "Fiery Furnace survivor", but was able to filled in lots of blanks with the down clues. Completely forgot AUTOMAT (21D: Coin-op restaurant) and penned in BEATS for TEMPI (46A: Cadences), and wasted a long time to get the curvier RIPPLIER.

I am still mad at SWINGS (9A: Move to and fro). Just what were you thinking Mr. Editor? Add a "s" if you wanted it to be a verb. Otherwise, love your grandchildren and clue SWINGS as "Playground equipment".

Across:

1A: Fiery Furnace survivor: ABEDNEGO. "...There's Shadrach, Meshach and ABEDNEGO. And the fiery coals they trod. But the form of The Fourth Man that I see, is like the Son of God". Are you familiar with this Bible story?

9A: Acts as a go-between: MEDIATES

16A: Thin layer: LAMINA. My first thought was "veneer".

18A: Disconnect: UNPLUG

19A: Many-legged insect: CENTIPEDE. Oh, I did not know the English name for this insect. So, CENTI is "hundreds", "PEDE" is "foot". Wikipedia says their mating "does not involve copulation". The male just deposits his droplet of dew sperm on a web it has spun, and then "undertakes a courtship dance to encourage the female to engulf his sperm". He must have learned the tough lessons from the male black widow spiders.

32A: Deductive: A PRIORI. The opposite is "a posteriori". I cannot think analytically and rationally. I am too intuitive a free thinker.

34A: Mazel __!" TOV. "Viel Glück", Crockett.

36A: Some deodorants: ROLL-ONS

40A: Certain hired vehicle: MINICAB

46A: Cadences: TEMPI. Does the clue sound OK to you, KittyB & Xchefwalt?

47A: "Citizen Kane" studio: RKO. Howard Hughes is such a mysterious figure. Why he ventured into movie industry and RKO is beyond me. He was an excellent golfer though, so was Katharine Hepburn.

50A: Northwestern pine: LODGEPOLE. I forgot. Here stands a LODGEPOLE pine. It does not change color. Here are some LARCH pines that do change color. Both links were provided by Argyle.

54A: Keel-like structure: CARINA. New to me. Dictionary explains it as "a keel-like part or ridge, esp. a ridge of bone on the ventral side of the sternum of birds." See this diagram.

57A: Replacing a facing: RELINING. What is "facing"?

61A: Strengthen by tempering: ANNEAL

62A: Ribbed pasta: RIGATONI. This does not look like RIGATONI, does it?

64A: Finnish-American architect: SAARINEN (Eero). If it's just "Finnish architect", it might refer to his father Eliel. Melissa, do you know that Eero also designed these tulip chairs? They look sturdy enough for the weight of two.

Down:

7D: "The Goldbergs" creator: GERTRUDE BERG. I've never heard of her name before. Could be a gimme for Barry.

8D: Port city of old Rome: OSTIA. I forgot. It's clued as "Port city of Rome" on June 15 and I complained about the absense of word "ancient" in the clue. See this map. It's located at the mouth of the Tiber river.

10D: Nomadism: WANDERLUST. I don't they they are synonymous. "Nomadism" is a kind of lifestyle, WANDERLUST refers to the itch/urge to travel.

11D: Puts in danger: IMPERILS

14D: Droop: SAG. Hmm, I don't like the image this SAG evokes. How about SAG Awards? I wonder why "The Actor" statue is nude. Or a statue is just a statue?

20D: Stock of drugs: PHARMACOPEIA. New word to me.

23D: Embitter: ENVENOM. I would prefer the clue to be "make poisonous". I hate seeing "em" in clue, then prefix EN again in answer.

23D: Henhouse hunk: ROOSTER

27D: One Snoop Sister: ERNESTA. Played by Helen Hayes. I've never heard of "The Snoop Sisters". Wikipedia has a very short entry, so I suppose this was not a popular TV series.

30D: Insignificant: FRACTIONAL

31D: Bristles: SETAE

33D: City southeast of Bombay: POONA. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says the city is now called PUNE. Bombay is now named Mumbai, so I suppose the clue is technically OK. Here is a very good map.

38D: More wavy: RIPPLIER. I've never used this word "Ripply" before. So, the lake's surface has become RIPPLIER, and the wind is soughing the meadow. Hmm, I think I need a romantic sunset too.

49D: Tooth: pref.: DENTI

51D: John of the PGA: DALY. Ah, the long John DALY. "Long ball is all he knows....".

C.C.

Friday September 12, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: LINER (54D: Word defining 21A, 55A, 3D, and 30D)

21A: See 54D: ALBUM JACKET

55A: See 54D: BASEBALL HIT

3D: See 54D: MAKE UP ITEM

30D: See 54D: CRUISE SHIP

I know cruise liner, eyeliner, and line drive, but I've never heard of album liner before.

It's a quality puzzle, only one letter (W) away from a pangram. But a hard, hard struggle for me. I was simply not familiar with this kind of "See 54D" style word-defining clueing. Felt very intimidated and hopeless at various spots.

I think I needed more sleep too.

Across:

1A: Of blood: HEMAL. Identical clue on Sept 2.

14A: Red Sea gulf: AQABA. Here is the map again. It's the gulf between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Barry Silk intersected AQABA with AQI (Air Quality Index) last time. We should be prepared for a future crossing of AQABA with FAQ & QED, both words have no U after Q.

16A: Bantu language: ZULU. It's also a Michael Caine film title ('64). Do you like his "Sleuth"?

17A: Perry and Wilson: LUKES. Know Wilson, not Perry.

24A: Nancy's comics friend: SLUGGO (Smith). Unknown to me. Only 10 cents, must be very old. Her hair looks strange.

26A: Rustling sound: SOUGH. New to me also. Same pronunciation with SOW. Dictionary defines SOUGH as "to make a rushing, rustling, or murmuring sound: the wind soughing in the meadow."

27A: Black-and-white bear: PANDA. USA Today clued PANDA as "It eats, shoots & leaves?" several months ago and raised quite a few eyebrows. I thought it was cool to play on Lynne Truss's punctuation book title, though to grammatically correct, the clue should have been "It eats shoots & leaves".

29A: Strong-arm man: MUSCLE. Are you OK with the clue?

33A: U.K. insurance group: AVIVA. No, not familiar with this AVIVA. What's the odds of a golf hack like Xchefwalt makes a hole-in-one? (Addendum: Syndication paper clue for AVIVA is "Walled Spanish City". And it's wrong. The city name is AVILA. There is no way you can get AVILA with the intersecting V from 25D: GAVE (Donated)).

39A: Perfect match: MATE. And EQUAL (2D: Match in value).

44A: Flock members: LAITY

45A: Answer to an accusation: I AM NOT. No, I AM NOT a DF.

52A: Flockhart role: MCBEAL (Ally). I've only seen a few episodes. I think I like Vonda Shepard more than Ally McBeal.

59A: R. Reagan's Star Wars: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Always have problem remembering this acronym.

60A: Currier's partner: IVES. No idea. I've never heard of Currier and IVES before. Lovely scene. So idyllic.

61A: Cyrano's distinction: NOSE. I did not know who Cyrano is. He does have a big nose.

66A: Bonn waterway: RHINE. Remember the "Swiss City on the RHINE" clue we had several months ago? The answer is BASLE, and the clue had no "Var.".

69A: Stock lacking face value: NO-PAR.

Down:

1D: Stoppages: HALTS. I prefer the clue to be "Stops". I like actions. I like verbs.

4D: Tad's dad: ABE. Ha, I know this one. I like Doris Goodwin.

5D: Pasta dish: LASAGNA. Have some!

9D: Nordic chutes: SKI JUMPS

10D: Prague populace: CZECHS. Do you like Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"?

13D: "Candid Camera" man: FUNT (Allen). Foreign to me.

22D: City in Central Israel: LOD. Where is it? I can not locate this city.

31D: Alfred of theater: LUNT. Would not have got this one without the across fills. LUNT is clued as "Fontanne's partner" on a May puzzle.

33D: Dextrous beginner?: AMBI. Or "Valence beginner?"

34D: __ con Dios: VAYA. Where are you, Jimbo?

40D: Destination in Nepal: KATMANDU. I don't think Argyle and Dennis want to go to KATMANDU, they probably would like to spend "One Night in Bangkok", ... sans Lois.

41D: Door frame part: JAMB. Great Scrabble word.

43D: Leopold's co-conspirator: LOEB

44D: Speaker's stand: LECTERN

46D: Banned blast: N TESTS. Also, "The SALT concern".

48D: Static letters: EMI. Or the "British record label". U2 belongs to EMI, right?

51D: Football great Merlin: OLSEN. He is in Football HOF. But I've never heard of him before.

53D: Ancient Turkish city: ADANA. No, no, here is a good map. Why "Ancient"?

57D: Erotic: SEXY "It you want my body, and you think I'm SEXY, come on sugar, let me know..."

58D: Mythical queen: HERA . Queen of Heavens. Wife/sister of Zeus.

C.C.