Wednesday October 8, 2008 Doug Peterson

Theme: Oops!

17A: Beginning of autumn: FALL EQUINOX

28A: Cam-controlled tool: TRIP HAMMER

44A: Windblown vegetation: TUMBLE WEED

60A: Place to jot a note: SLIP OF PAPER

Great puzzle. Very smooth. Lots of nice compound words.

Only one letter (Z) away from a pangram. Did you notice that we only have 35 blocks today? So many times we have been offered a 38-block puzzle. I think that's the maximum number of blocks allowed in a grid.

Was ALAN (22A: Sillitoe or Paton) a gimme for you? I found this clue to be very obscure. I guess I am used to the ALAN Alda/Greenspan/Shepard clue. Tell me who is your favorite famous ALAN.

Have a look at Justin Smith's new puzzle site when you have time. He says he adds puzzles and updates daily.

Across:

1A: Token booth: KIOSK. Besides Kodak, knack, knock, can you think of any other 5-letter word that starts and ends with letter K?

6A: Kick out: EJECT. I like how it crosses JOINS IN (7D: Becomes part of).

11A: 2nd sight: ESP. I don't understand this one. "Sixth sense" yes, but why "2nd sight"?

15A: Shearer of "The Red Shoes": MOIRA. I've never heard of her before. See "The Red Shoes" clip. The music sounds great. Dictionary says MOIRA is also the personification of fate in Greek mythology.

25A: Thin pancake: CREPE. Here is some raspberry CREPE suzette for you, Razzberry. It has real flour.

35A: Russian horseman: COSSACK. No idea. Dictionary says it's a Turkish word meaning "adventurer". They are noted for "their horsemanship and military skill; they formed an elite cavalry corps in czarist Russia." See this clip. Taras Bulba is an Urkraine COSSACK.

41A: Infamous cow owner: O'LEARY (Catherine). I forgot. She appeared in our puzzle before, clued as "Chicago cow owner". (Addendum: Today is Mrs. O'LEARY's Cow Day. Nice one, Editor).

43A: Steps over a wall: STILE. What wall?

50A: One-ups: TRUMPS. Not us? You are fired.

59A: Verizon, once: GTE. It's merged with Bell Atlantic in 2000. Verizon is probably one of the better performers of Dow 30. Immelt, you are no Jack Welch.

66A: Pages in papers: OP-EDS. Ha, I struggled with this one.

67A: Rumormonger: YENTA. The name of the matchmaker in "Fiddler on the Roof" YENTE.

Down:

1D: Diplomat Anna: KOFI. I find it very hard to understand Ban Ki-moon's English.

8D: "__ kleine Nachtmusik": EINE. Enjoy this bit of Mozart. "Love, love, love, that is the soul of genius".

12D: Mexican shawl: SERAPE. It's the same as poncho, right? I like these ones.

13D: Board smoother: PLANER. What's the difference between a plane and a PLANER? Don't you call a worker who uses the plane to smooth things a PLANER also?

26D: Space-saving abbr. ETC

27D: Old card game: LOO. I've never played it. I really like "Elton's john?" clue for LOO, so clever. See here, Barry Silk's "Curly Poker" (MOE) made Paul's "Clever Clue of the Month".

29D: Devout request: PRAYER

39D: Land in la mer: ILE

45D: Long overcoat: ULSTER. I've never heard of ULSTER coat before.

46D: King novel: MISERY. No idea. Is it good?

47D: Hilary of pop: DUFF. She is so sweet. Her sister Haylie is very pretty too. We just had Howard DUFF last Wednesday.

51D: One of Potter's rabbits: MOPSY. Absolutely no idea. I've never read any Harry Potter novel. (Addendum: My bad. Potter here refers Beatrix Potter).

55D: Center of activity: HIVE. This reminds me of the Beehive hair.

C.C.

Tuesday October 7, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Space Music (All Song Titles)

17A: Wernher von Braun?: ROCKET MAN

21A: Cageless canary? FREE BIRD

37A: Pilot's request?: COME FLY WITH ME

56A: Elevens, not ones, in blackjack?: ACES HIGH

61A: British flyer?: AEROPLANE

Wow, Michael T. Williams sure loves space science. Remember his Celestial Cinema (Sciene Fiction Films) puzzle?

I am not familiar with any of above songs. In fact, I was thinking of "HOME SWEET HOME" for 37D, so many similar letters with COME FLY WITH ME.

Several obscure clues/answers for me. Had to google. I did love seeing ETS (43A: UFO pilots) in the grid, so fitting to the theme. And I thought "Cockpit communication device" would be a better clue for RADIO (19A: Brit's wireless) today.

Had to admire the symmetry of TOO (2D: Also) and NOR (64D: And also not). Very well done!

But "Cut sheep" for SHEAR (54D)? I think EWE are wrong.

Across:

1A: Alone: STAG. I penned in SOLO first.

5A: Acronym before World Series: NLCS (National League Championship Series). Whom are rooting for this year, Dodgers or Phillies? Very interesting, ORIOLES (42A: Ripken's team) won the World Series in 1966 (against Dodgers), and won it again in 1983 (against Phillies).

9A: African fever: LASSA. I've never heard of this disease. It's first discovered in a town called LASSA in Nigeria. Sade was born in Nigeria.

14A: Unhinged: LOCO. Are they really interchangeable?

30A: Sacred river of India: GANGES. See this map. It flows into the Bay of Bengal.

34A: San ___, CA: ANSELMO. Here is the map. New to me. What is it famous for? What's the origin of its name?

45A: Geisha garb: KIMONO. And NOH (32D: Japanese drama). This masked NOH character doll in KIMONO costs $295. Too much.

48A: Card poets: RHYMERS. Are you OK with this clue?

59A: Letters for 1051: MLI

60A: Strong, cotton thread: LISLE. It's named after the French city Lille (formerly Lisle), where it was first made.

66A: God of Assyria: ASHUR. Also spelled as ASSUR. I wanted ALLAH, thinking "Assyria" a Muslim name. See this map. Assyria is an ancient empire in northern Mesopotamia (Iraq). So confusing: ASHUR was not only one of the capitals of Assyria, but also its highest God. I don't understand this information. Is ASHUR the "Silly Hunter" Nimrod ( Noah's great-grandson) then?

71A: Blow-gun ammo: DART. I did not know what a blow-gun is.

Down:

1D: Camera letters: SLR. What a boring clue.

3D: Coll. sports. grp.: ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference)

4D: Mini-racer: GO KART

6D: Hasty retreat: LAM. Somehow "Retreat'' brought SPA to my mind.

7D: Cause friction: CHAFE. I tend to confuse CHAFE with CHAFF.

8D: Composer of "The Nubians of Plutonia": SUN RA. Nope, I've never heard of him. What a cool name he picked for himself. RA is Egyptian God of Sun.

11D: Short section of a track: SIDING. What track?

22D: Pool spin: ENGLISH. Lois can probably provide us with her expert opinion on sidespin, topspin and backspin.

24D: Weakly colored: pref.: LEUC. Or LEUCO, LEUKO. As in "leukemia". Completely unknown to me.

26D: __ Park, NJ: MENLO. EDISON is often clued as "The Wizard of Menlo Park".

29D: Group in "The Godfather": MAFIOSI. The singular form is MAFIOSO. Their code of silence is OMERTA, which is also the title of a Mario Puzo book. I've also read his "The Last Don".

35D: Part of a wd.: SYL (Syllable)

44D: Old pol. unit: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic)

45D: Furry marsupials: KOALAS. Time to get up! Crossword has arrived.

46D: Carve: INCISE

47D: Brandy's sitcom: MOESHA. I have never heard of MOESHA. Brandy used to date Kobe Bryant, right?

59D: City near Essen: MORS. Also spelled as MOERS. Here is the map. Absolutely no idea. Dictionary says it's "a city of west-central Germany west of Essen. Chartered in 1300, it is a market center. In Ruhr district."

C.C.

Monday October 6, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: ReTAIL Tag

17A: User interface navigation technique: BREADCRUMB TRAIL

26A: Abbott/Haney board game: TRIVIAL PURSUIT

42A: Futile quest: WILD GOOSE CHASE

55A: Proceeding normally: ON THE RIGHT TRACK

WITHOUT A TRACE will be great too.

AL HUNT's name is probably too short for a theme answer. Is he famous enough or people know him only because he is Judy Woodruff's husband?

Felt like I was watching CNN's "The Situation Room" this morning:

47D: Newsman Blitzer: WOLF

18D: Powell of the Bush White House: COLIN

58D: GOP gathering: RNC

Too bad JACK (10A: Writer Kerouac) is not clued as "The Situation Room" commentator Cafferty. He whines too much though. I would prefer KILL (13D) to be clued as "Veto" rather than "Murder". That upper right corner felt weird to me this morning.

I disliked the clue for ATHLETES (38D: Track figures) because TRACK is part of the theme answer for 55A. Tell me how you would have clued ATHLETES. I really enjoyed hearing everyone's NURSE clue last time. So many sparkling ideas, esp Barry G's "One may be registered".

Across:

1A: Stamp pad: INKER. This reminds me of the boring Chinese calligraphy classes we were required to take in primary school.

16A: Race in "The Time Machine": ELOI. This has become a gimme, so are LOEB (21A: Leopold's co-defendant), ICBM (1D: SALT subject) and LSATS (28D: Exams for future attys). They used to be big stumpers for me.

20A: V x CCXXI: MCV. Roman 1105.

23A: Base on balls: WALK. Very nice clue.

33A: Audacious: BRAZEN. The spelling is quite close to CRAVEN.

35A: "___ la Douce": IRMA. I tend to confuse the name of this movie with "La Dolce Vita". TREVI (26D: Fountain of Roma) is featured in the movie.

36A: Actor Burton: LEVAR. He is so good in "Roots".

37A: GI Jill, once: WAC (Women's Army Corps). I would not have got it without the down clues.

38A: Blood vessel: pref.: ANGIO. Angioplasty e.g. Tough crossing with IMIDE (31D: Ammonia compound). I knew neither of them. "I" was hard to obtain.

Down:

3D: Ukraine's capital: KIEV. I like their prime minister (Yulia Tymoshenko). She is very pretty.

5D: Aussie lefty of tennis: ROD LAVER. I had no idea that he is a lefty. Whom do you like more, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal?

10D: Abrupt yank: JERK. Is "The JERK" a good movie?

23D: Washington cager: WIZARD. I don't follow NBA. Who is their best player?

27D: "Bolero" composer: RAVEL. Once again, the flowery "Bolero", to keep your blood flowing.

29D: Singer O'Connor: SINEAD. Her "Don't Cry for me, Argentina" is the best.

43D: Mavin of Motwon: GAYE. I learned his name from doing Xword. Not familiar with his songs. I like this song title.

54D: Hebrides island: SKYE. Here is the map. Did you see IONA on the south? Maybe that's how actress Ione SKYE (with John Cusack in "Say Anything") got her name. IONE was clued as "Actress Skye" on our August 29 puzzle.

C.C.

Sunday October 5, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Let's Face It

23A: Offer no resistance: TURN THE OTHER CHEEK

34A: All talk and no action: LIP SERVICE

42A: Old: LONG IN THE TOOTH

66A: Avoid danger like an ostrich? BURY ONE'S HEAD IN THE SAND

86A: Ideal of perfection: APPLE OF ONE'S EYE

96A: No time for photographs? BAD HAIR DAY

111A: Be way overcharged: PAY THROUGH THE NOSE

I always thought APPLE OF ONE'S EYE means something/somebody one loves and treasures. Besides, IDEAL is the answer for 37A: Perfect example. So I am not fond of 86A clue.

I've never heard of OMER (104A: Hebrew harvest month) before. But it's not really a Hebrew month, isn't it?

I dislike the clue for APRICOT (Peachlike fruit). Nectarine looks like peach, APRICOT? No!

The clue for ADIEU (19A: Farewell, mon amour) made me laugh. If you clue it as "mon amour", why don't you clue RIEN (36D: Nice nothing?) as Edith Piaf's "Non, je ne regrette RIEN"? Or better yet, clue SES (88D: His, in Hyeres) as Pascal's "Le coeur a SES raisons..."? We can launch a whole new discussion about love & reason today.

Great puzzle though, very nice theme concept and great execution. I think I like having 7 theme entries (all Across fills) for a Sunday 21*21. It requires longer theme answers and makes the grid look simpler and prettier. Oh, by the way, nearly all of quip/quote puzzles have their theme answers structured in the across clues.

As usual, I had to google. Some of the names are too obscure to me. But I only used Liquid Paper a few times, so I must be getting better.

Across:

16A: Dawber of "Mork and Mindy": PAM. I like her BANGS (60D: Forehead cover).

20A: Dishevel: TOUSLE

22A: Troy, NY sch.: RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). I can never remember this name. Wiki says it's "the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world". Which university is the oldest in the world, Cambridge?

27A: Initials of the "Wizard of Menlo Park": TAE. A stands for ALVA.

29A: Hodges of baseball: GIL. Gimme. He was the manager for the 1969 Miracle METS (63D: Queens Nine).

41A: Ex-quarterback Boomer: ESIASON. No idea. Only knew him as Boomer.

50A: Roman galleys: BIREMES. Another unknown. See this picture. It has two tiers of oars on each side.

51A: Baltimore player: RAVEN. Or the "Nevermore" bird.

53A: Liquid appetizers: APERITIFS. I've never had ouzo, have you?

57A: "Woman Drying Her Feet" painter: DEGAS. OK, here is the painting. He painted so many "After the Bath" scenes.

62A: Larry McMurtry western, "Streets of ___": LAREDO. I forgot. It appeared in our puzzle before.

63A: Grayish violet shades: MAUVE. I like this James Whistler line: "MAUVE is just pink trying to be purple". You'll find Whistler's Mother at Musée d'Orsay also.

65A: Six Day War battleground: SINAI

72A: Production figure: QUOTAS

74A: Guitarist Lofgren: NILS. Vaguely heard of his name. Who is Keith?

75A: Crushes to mush: PULPS. I penned in PUREE first.

76A: Amount of charm: SUAVENESS. If you say so.

79A: French solider of WWI: POILU. New to me. It's a slang for French solider during WWI. Literally, hairy one.

80A: More crude: CRASSER. I wanted COARSER.

106A: Not a people person: ASOCIAL

109A: The Racer's Edge: STP

116A: Cacoon fiber: SILK. This reminds me of a big childhood mulberry tree our neighbor used to have. Silkworms ate mulberry leaves, and I ate mulberries.

117A: "Bewitched" grandmother: ENDORA. I forgot. I am going to eat worm if I forget her name again next time.

122A: Arctic bloom: AVENS. No idea. They seem to have long STEMS (6D: Flower holders).

Down:

1D: Type of comb: RAT TAIL. Why is it called RAT TAIL?

2D: Da Silva of soccer: EDUARDO. Nope, I've never heard of his name before. Is he very famous?

11D: Saul's uncle: NER. Got it from across fills.

12D: TV screener?: V- CHIP

13D: Threat ender: OR ELSE

18D: Kitten's loss: MITTENS. Pure guess. Was not familiar with the "Three Little Kittens" nursery rhyme.

24D: Possess like a Scotsman: HAE. Scottish for HAVE.

25D: PC pic: CGI. No idea. Computer Generated Imagery?

30D: Terrible czar?: IVAN

34D: Sayer the singer: LEO. I had no idea that he is the original singer for "When I need you". Beautiful song.

38D: Sexual desire: LIBIDOS. Hmmm, I did not expect such a clue/answer.

40D: Romaine: COS. Originated from Greek COS/KOS Island.

43D: Radon, originally: NITON. Big stumper. I've never heard of it before.

45D: Playboy's founder, fondly: HEF. What a strange life he has lived!

47D: Fountain of coins: TREVI. Have you seen "La Dolce Vita"?

48D: Walter of golf: HAGEN. Gimme for me. He was the first American to win British Open.

53D: Composer Berg: ALBAN. No idea. This is a clip from his opera "Wozzeck". I only understood one word: Marie.

54D: 1945 Nobel Prize winner Wolfang: PAULI. Another unknown.

56D: Point NW of San Francisco: REYES. No idea. See this picture of Point REYES National Seashore. How to pronounce REYES?

67D: Distant beginning? EQUI

68D: Roman dictator (82-79B.C.): SULLA. No idea. Wikipedia says "His character was once described as being half fox and half lion, due to his perceived cunning and bravery." And Machivelli alluded to "this description of SULLA in outlining the most desirable characteristics of a prince."

69D: Jump aboard: HOP UP

75D: Sophie's Carlo: PONTI. Great marriage. PONTI produced "Doctor Zhivago".

77D: Tampa sch.: USF (University of South Florida). I did not know this.

78D: Kyushu volcano: ASO. Only know the Chinese word for ASO mountain (阿蘇山). Wiki says it's "the largest active volcano in Japan." By the way, is A SO the same as AH SO (Charlie Chan)?

79D: Tony or Carlos: PENA. So many great baseball players are from Dominican Republic.

81D: Sleep letter: REM (Rapid Eye Movement)

82D: "Lolita" novelist: NABOKOV. He also created the first Russian crossword.

83D: Worsted cloth: ETAMINE. Not familiar with this fabric. It's stamen in French, see this flower picture.

85D: Asian goat: TAHR. Too ugly for me to remember. It's a kind of Nepolese mountain goat.

87D: Be a buttinsky: PRY. "Buttinsky" is a new slang to me.

93D: Kind of socks: ARGYLE. Great ARGYLE socks.

97D: Iron Mike of the Bears: DITKA. Wikipedia says DITKA and Tom Flores are "the only two people to win Super Bowls as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach." I know neither of them.

100D: Earthy color: OCHRE

101D: Dove and Rudner: RITAS. Have never heard of poet RITA Dove before.

107D: Brewskie: SUDS. "Brewski" is also a new slang for me. I don't drink beer.

C.C.

Saturday October 4, 2008 Linda Bushman

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

We seem to have a lot of 27-block themeless on Saturdays. FYI, our lowest is a 26-block puzzle (a hard one) by Robert Wolfe on August 23.

I like this puzzle. It has such an eye-pleasing grid, so open and receptive. I wish I could solve it unassisted. But I enjoyed my struggle today.

I did not know why NIMRODS (8D) is clued as "Silly hunters?". After seeing the explanation from dictionary, I thought it's rather clever to have both NIMRODS and NOAH ( 19A: Ancient miner?) structured in one grid.

Across:

1) :-), for example: EMOTICON. A happy start for me.

9A: Zigzag braid as trimming: RIC-RAC. See Little Trimmings. New term to me.

15A: So-called feather of song: MACARONI. From "Yankee Doodle". I did not know this.

16A: Contend: ALLEGE

17A: Top-to-bottom renovation: EXTREME MAKEOVER

20A: Red-and-white sign: BARBER POLE

21A: Saharan formations: DUNES. This reminds me of "The English Patient".

24A: Take off the top: SKIM. Really? Is this the "Take off the top" in your mind?

25A: Infuses: STEEPS

27A: Brit bombshell Diana: DORS. She sure has the Marilyn Monroe look.

32A: Galley notation: STET. I got it from the across fills. Not familiar with "Galley" as a printing term.

34A: Scope of Tweed's influence?: BOSSDOM. Big stumper. I had never heard of Boss Tweed or Tammany Hall before.

38A: Parched: THIRSTY

43A: Poetic palindrome: ERE. Able was I ERE I saw Elba.

46A: Confuse: MUDDLE. And STIR UP (29D: Agitate)

52A: David's "Kill Bill" co-star: UMA. Don't know who David is. But UMA Thurman is always clued as "Kill Bill" star.

55A: Highly respected woman: GRANDE DAME. Like whom?

60A: Call a truce but remain at odds: AGREE TO DISAGREE

63A: Happening quickly and dizzingly: IN A WHIRL

64A: Entertainer O'Shea: TESSIE. Total stranger to me.

65A: Super bowl start: COIN TOSS

Down:

1D: Puts right: EMENDS

2D: Use up all credit: MAX OUT. Have you seen "MAXED OUT"?

4D: Carolina athletes: TAR HEELS. No idea. Why are they called TAR HEELS?

10D: Robert of "The Sopranos": ILER. I can never remember his name. It's a very rare surname, isn't it?

11D: Equine footfalls: CLOPS

12D: Those who annul: REVOKER. If you say so.

13D: Maturity cutoff point: AGE LIMIT

14D: Formal event: CEREMONY. I've never attended a Japanese tea CEREMONY, have you? That geisha's face is too white.

18D: Costello's straight man: ABBOTT. "Who's on first?" I love baseball.

22D: Web user: SPIDER. Ha, so simple, but I overthought.

34D: Boastful individual: BRAGGART. Learned a new word this morning: blow-hard.

35D: Win a debate: OUT- ARGUE. Is this a word?

36D: Track officials: STEWARDS. What track?

37D: Latino boy band: MENUDO. No idea. Did not know that Ricky Martin was a member of MENUDO.

39D: Stop signal: RED LIGHT

42D: Always on the move: NOMADIC

47D: Hollywood Dolores: DEL RIO. No idea. Wikipedia says she starred in "Madame DuBarry". That's the same DuBarry in the song "Lydia" (Guiess, DuBarry, Garbo./Rolled into one), right?

49D: Detroit duds: EDSELS. I am used to the "Ford flops" clue.

51D: Places for pads: KNEES

57D: Disk extension: ETTE. Diskette.

58D: Morales of "La Bamba": ESAI. I've never seen "La Bamba". I like his role Tony Rodriguez in "NYPD Blue".

61D: Grass bristle: AWN. This is Paul's Word of the Day.

C.C.

Friday October 3, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: EDU (Email address ending in 18A, 23A, 40A, 53A and 62A)

18A: Two-rope jumping: DOUBLE DUTCH

23A: Goods tax: EXCISE DUTY

40A: Manhattan Project's oralloy: ENRICHED URANIUM

53A: Stipulatory: AGREED UPON

62A: Waste land?: GARBAGE DUMP

Neat puzzle. But I messed up the upper left corner, trying so hard to cram in MORSE instead of HARD C for 3D: First letter sound in code?

It seems that our editor is now obsessed with ENYA (19D: "A Day without Rain" singer). She appears in our puzzle so often, always as the answer though. I suppose he can clue MAY (66D: Just might) as "Enya song "MAY It Be"" next time.

If you were the constructor, how would you clue NURSE? I don't like "RN word".

Did you notice that most of our weekday puzzles have 38 blocks?

Across:

14A: Nutritionist's abbr.: RDA. And NO FAT (69A: Like Jack Sprat's diet). The Zone diet probably has the most sensible combination (40% carb, 30% protein and 30% fat). The most effective way to lose weight is to fall in love. Your mind will be AWHIRL (31A: Spinning) with everything but food.

15A: Pele's first name: EDSON. I did not know this before. Wikipedia says "While his birth certificate shows his first name as Edison (after the American inventor), he prefers to call himself EDSON". See this autographed EDSON =Pelé ball.

20A: Chinese vine: KUDZU. If not for ZIP (21D: P. O. code), I would not have got this vine. It sounds so Japanese.

22A: 1940's computer: ENIAC. How to pronounce ENIAC?

34A: Bear greeting?: HUG. Such a tender loving hug.

37A: Yemeni seaport: ADEN. Shouldn't Somali explore its Gulf of EDEN coast for oil? Why is it so poor?

39A: Drum type: BONGO. They are handmade, aren't they? I am surprised that some of the vintage Ludwig snare drums are worth thousands of dollars. I don't understand "Let There Be drums."

47A: Right-angle degrees: NINETY And CIR (70A: Geometric fig.).

52A: Brit's omega: ZED. I like this clue.

58A: Lustrous finish for velvet: PANNE. New word to me. I like her outfit.

67A: Japanese drama: NOH. Or Nogaku. The Japanese opera. Funny NOH/Kabuki clip.

71A: __ sense (keen intuition): SIXTH. Have you seen Bruce Willis's "The SIXTH Sense"? Sounds scary.

72A: Salty calls: AHOYS

Down:

2D: For two: A DEUX. Dinner A DEUX, are you ready?

4D: One Gorgon: MEDUSA. She really looks awful. The other two are Stheno and Euryale.

11D: Walk-in veterinarian: PET CLINIC

24D: Porter's "Well, Did You __?": EVAH. Why EVAH? I wanted EVER. I actually saw "High Society", but I don't remember this song.

25D: Fiddle follower?: DE-DEE. New to me also. Maybe I've heard people say it, I just never pay attention to it.

29D: Video effect: SLO-MO

34D: Big name in pickle packing: HEINZ. My first thought was Vlasic.

36D: Intl. road race: GRAND PRIX

54D: Davis of "Hero": GEENA. I've never seen "Hero". I like her "Thelma & Louise" & "A League of Their Own".

55D: Old pound parts: PENCE. Mark, is it old? How old?

60D: Writer Ogden: NASH. Ha, gimme. Have to thank Clear Ayes/Ken for their "Candy is dandy" posts. But why "Writer" instead of "poet"?

C.C.

Thursday October 2, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Miller's Law (Olin Miller Quip)

20A: Start of quip: EXCEPTIONS PROVE

36A: Part 2 of quip: THE RULE AND BREAK

49A: End of quip: THE FAMILY BUDGET

Well, the original quote is "Exceptions prove the rule - and wreck the budget."

I think I understand "Exceptions prove the rule", but why "break the family budget"? Who is Olin Miller anyway? All I could find is that he also said "A man who will not lie to a woman has very little consideration for her feelings.”

Lots of 4-letter words in this puzzle, maybe due to three 15-letter theme entries? I just learned yesterday that if there is an odd number of theme answers, then the middle one has to be structured in the very center of the grid - Row #8 for a 15*15. And it has to have an odd number of blanks. I've never paid attention to this before.

Also, not every quote/quip can be worked into a puzzle. It has to have the right number of words for constructors to break them down sensibly and symmetrically.

I disliked the clue for SOBERS (45D: Gets serious). It needs an "up". And "One" is not needed for STAIR (61A: One step). "Step" alone is sufficient. And cluing ISLE (33A: Tiny landmass) is really a third degree felony. Can't you see the huge LANDMASS (38D: Pangaea, for example)?

The clue for LANCE (41A: Calvary weapon) is fine, but wouldn't it be nice if it's LANCE Armstrong related? Esp since we have 54D: __ d'Italia (bicycle race): GIRO. I think LANCE Armstrong is going to ride in the next GIRO d'Italia (the 100th anniversary).

I also thought "Comet, for one" would be a better clue for REINDEER (39D: Santa's team), since we have AJAX (2D: Comet competition).

Across:

17A: Brace: PAIR. Span means PAIR too. As in a brace/span of oxen.

24A: Abu Dhabi loc.: UAE. Dubai is more populated than Abu Dhabi.

25A: In conclusion: LASTLY

28A: Singer Vikki: CARR. She is not the original singer for "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You", is she?

30A: Sweat shop?: GYM. I like this clue. "Body shop?" is great too.

34A: Impressionist painter: MONET. I have a "Water Lily Pond" bookmark too.

43A: Tennis twosome?: ENS. Two letter N's in "Tennis".

44A: Bolt holder: T NUT. I rather like these T * fills: T-BAR, T-BONE, T-MEN & T-SHIRT.

45A: Is frugal: STINTS

47A: Former California Fort: ORD. I had no idea that Fort ORD was closed (1994).

62A: Sal's canal: ERIE. Here is Bruce Springsteen's "ERIE Canal".

65A: Mythical bird of prey: ROCS

Down:

1D: Stair stupidly: GAPE. I penned in GAWK first.

4D: Police officer, at times: ARRESTER

5D: Turnover, e.g.: PASTRY. I want this apple turnover for breakfast.

9D: Rebuked officially: CENSURED. So close to CENSORED.

22D: 2nd section: PART B

28D: Do together: COACT. New word to me.

31D: What Matzo's missing: YEAST. Hilarious "20 Things to do with Matzoh".

37D: Radical: ULTRA. That's TRES & TRES (49D: Very at Versailles).

46D: Greek cross: TAU

48D: Tattoed lady of song: LYDIA. Here is Groucho's "Tattooed Lady". New to me.

55D: Sevareid or Roberts: ERIC. Do you like ERIC Bana? He is so good in "Munich".

C.C.

Wednesday October 1, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: CUFF links

18A: "Felony Squad" star: HOWARD DUFF

61A: Refuse baloney: TAKE NO GUFF

3D: Weakling: CREAM PUFF

26D: Half a pair of warmers: EAR MUFF

37D: Unclothed: IN THE BUFF

HUFF and LUFF are two other ?UFF rhymes. I've never heard of the wader RUFF before. Dennis probably loves this RUFF.

There is also a car related sub-theme:

9A: 1986 Indy winner Bobby: RAHAL

40A: ___ Romeo (Italian car): ALFA

39D: Miniature racer: KART

57D: Classic Brit. sports cars: MGBS

59D: Sporty Camaro: IROC

Great to see both ZSA ZSA (20A: One Gabor) and EVA (62D: Sister of 20A) in one puzzle. Magda's name has 2 vowels too. I wonder why her name does not appear on Xword often.

I had another hard time this morning. Too many proper names for me. Besides, I was so sad. Twins lost their one-night stand. All of the sudden, this season is over. But I don't really hate the White Sox or A. J. Pierzynski. A.J. might drive many players and fans crazy, but he was my favorite Twins before he was traded to the Giants (then White Sox). Then Johan Santana became my favorite, but he was traded away too.

Never mind, it's still a great season for Justin Morneau and the Twins.

Across:

1A: Opening letters: ABCD. I like how ABCD intersects A TO Z (1D: All-inclusive breadth).

5A: Richie's mom, to the Fonz: MRS. C. Big stumper for me. She is played by Marion Ross. Everybody is so happy in that picture.

14A: One-thrid of a WWII movie?: TORA. It's pretty good movie. But "Pearl Harbor" is better.

16A: Garlic sauce: AIOLI. Ai (garlic) + Oli (oil). This AIOLI looks so green, too much herb I think.

24A: Oceanic: MARINE. I would prefer the clue to be "Devil dog" related to tie in with PFCS (71A: Military E-3s). What is E-3s?

31A: Public funds: TREASURY. Are you OK with this clue?

33A: Legendary drummer Gene: KRUPA. An unknown legend to me. I don't understand this "Drum Boogie" clip, which one is KRUPA?

36A: Moo juice: MILK. Is this a play for word or is "Moo juice" a well-accepted slang for MILK?

41A: Irish patriot Robert: EMMET. I really like "Bold Robert EMMET" folksong: "... A hero I lived, a hero I'll die..."

42A: One-named Irish singer: ENYA. "Believe, and you will find your way..."

46A: Sitcom about nothing: SEINFELD. This is my favorite SEINFELD moment.

50A: Breakfast fare: CEREAL. I am curious, what do you normally have for breakfast? Do you solve crossword puzzle before or after breakfast?

53A: Hold it right there: FREEZE

66A: Parisian pupil: ELEVE. Have not seen École for a long time.

67A: Runny cheese: BRIE. Nuts with runny cheese?

69A: Valuable fiddle: STRAD. Joshua Bell bought one for $3.5 million.

Down:

2D: Ribbon knots: BOWS. Or "Joshua Bell's needs".

4D: "Taxi" co-star: DANZA. I would not have got his name without the across clues.

5D: Goat coat: MOHAIR. Angora goat to be exact.

9D: Josh of "How I met Your Mother": RADNOR. Unknown to me. Did he have a fling with Britney Spears?

11D: Julianne of "Dancing with the Stars": HOUGH. Another unknown. She looks very pretty.

12D: Actress Woodard: ALFRE. I forgot. Her face looks very familiar, so I must have seen her somewhere before.

13D: Full-term con: LIFER

25D: __-Marcus: NEIMAN. Have you read "Bergdorf Blondes"? Plum Sykes used to work for Anna Wintour (Vogue).

28D: "So Much in Love" group: TYMES. Here is the song. I've never heard of "The TYMES" before. I like the title. It reminds me of Buttercup and her farm boy. They are "So Much in Love".

41D: Actor Estevez: EMILIO. Can never remember his name. Wish he would change his name into Sheen.

45D: Biographer of Henry James: EDEL (Leon). Learned his name from doing Xword. He wrote a five-volumn biography of Henry James.

54D: Fasten a fly: ZIP UP

64D: By gone expletive: FIE. I vaguely remember someone uttered FIE on a comment not long ago.

C.C.

Tuesday September 30, 2008 John Underwood

Theme: Fruity Places

17A: Colorado site of three U. S. Opens: CHERRY HILLS

24A: Miami neighborhood: COCONUT GROVE

36A: Atlanta's main drag: PEACHTREE STREET

48A: Santa Ana, CA location: ORANGE COUNTY

58A: Roy and Dale's California town: APPLE VALLEY

COCONUT is not a fruit. It's a nut, isn't it? Such high fat content. I've never been fond of raw COCONUT milk or COCONUT meat. Always bake them first.

I liked this puzzle very much, so fresh, fruity and sweet. I still can not grok Norma Steinberg's choice of CLANG CLANG CLANG as a theme answer yesterday. I know it's trolley sound, but really it does not fit the other 2 theme entry pattern, unless I completely misread her mind.

I also liked how DECKS (1D: Ship's floor) intersects KOS (20A: Bout enders). I wonder what John Underwood's original clue is for DECKS, since it can also mean "Knocks down". The clue for SKILLET (46A: Cast-iron pan) is simply wrong. He probably never cooks.

Across:

1A: Thingamajig: DOODAD. I wonder if anyone has constructed a "Gizmo" themed puzzle. It would be very scrabbly.

11A: Canine grp.: AKC (American Kennel Club). I just learned that except Kenturky Derby (first held in 1875), no other continuously held sporting event in the US is older than Westminster show (1877).

14A: Bakery treat: ECLAIR. Decadent and delicious.

15A: Temple, ancient: NAOS. Greek for "temple". "Cella" for the Romans. I've never heard of it before. I suppose you can call Temple of Applo a NAOS. I wonder what is the diameter of those great columns.

31A: So I think, online: IMO. This is an excellent acronyms list. Thx, Clear Ayes.

27A: Gordon and Sheila: MACRAES. I got it from the down fills. Know neither of them.

32A: "And I love ___": HER. Here is the song. Does "HER" refer to Yoko Ono?

43A: Zigzag: WEAVE. They are not really synonymous, are they?

52A: Paid male date: GIGOLO. "American GIGOLO" is the first Richard Gere movie I saw.

62A: Tours season: ETE. Here is a map, see where Tours is? I like this clue.

Down:

2D: Cinco y tres: OCHO That will be "HUIT" in Tours.

4D: __ es Salaam: DAR. No idea. It's the largest city in Tanzania.

5D: Jordan's nickname: AIR. Always thought it's "AIR Jordan" altogether, not AIR alone.

6D: Solid carbon dioxide: DRY ICE

7D: Vidalia veggie: ONION. Nice gift box.

9D: Cell phone clip-ons: HOLSTERS. Here?

12D: City on the Vyatka River: KIROV. Foreign to me. See this map. Lots of "oblast", what does it mean? Province?

13D: __ de menthe: CREME. But I want some CREME brûlée, and this, and this. Je te veux, que je t'adore.

29D: Hammer end: CLAW. Seattle John said last time that the CLAW "is not technically an end of a hammer. It is an end of the hammer poll. A hammer has two parts - the handle and the poll. The poll is commonly called the hammer head. The poll has two ends - the face and the peen. The face obviously is the flat end for pounding things. The peen can take on various shapes depending on the hammer's intended use. The most common shapes are ball and claw. A ball peen hammer is used for forging materials and a claw peen hammer can be used for prying things like extracting nails."

34D: Campbell of "Scream": NEVE. I've never seen "Scream". I liked her Julia role on "Party of Five".

38D: Recruiting grp.: ROTC. Really?

39D: Piccadilly dilly: TWIT. I don't understand this one. What is "Piccadilly dilly"?

45D: Crazy Horse, for one: OGLALA

46D: Operatic spear carrier: SUPE. I did not know the meaning of "operatic spear carrier".

47D: Jacks: KNAVES. This answer did not come easily to me at all.

48D: Eyeballed: OGLED. I always thought of "eyeball" as "roughly measure something", as Rachel Ray often does.

51D: Tiny hooter: OWLET. Look at this lovely saw-whet, the smallest owl according to Kit.

55D: Unskilled toiler: PEON. So close to PEONY.

59D: Free ad: PSA (Public Service Announcement).

C.C.

Monday September 29, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Bang a Gong

20A: Verisimilitude: RING OF TRUTH

39A: Trolley sound: CLANG CLANG CLANG

53A: Yuletide song: JINGLE BELLS

I am not sure I got the theme right. RING is singular, but BELLS is plural. What purpose does CLANG CLANG CLANG serve here? The echoing sounds when you RING BELLS? I really have difficulty understanding this constructor's thinking process. (Addendum: My bad. JINGLE, not BELLS, is part of the theme).

Somehow this puzzle brought back memories of Paul Newman. Too bad our editor missed the opportunity to pay tribue to him:

14A: Macho guy: HE-MAN. Didn't Paul Newman always present a tough, rugged HE-MAN persona?

25A: Energetic drive: HUSTLE: How about "Emulate Paul Newman's Fast Eddie"?

32D:Round of applause: HAND: Who doesn't like his "Cool ___ Luke"?

The clue for FED (21D: G-man) should be changed to a simple "Nourished" to avoid the duplication of MAN & man. I would have clued CAESAR (48A: Funny Sid) as "Veni, vidi, vici" speaker" to pair up with ET TU (8D: Ides of March rebuke).

Across:

1A: Cowboy leggings: CHAPS. Can Christina Aguilera really ride a horse wearing this CHAPS?

10A: Persian poet Khayyam: OMAR. "A jug of wine, a loaf of bread, and Thou..." That's all I need in paradise too. So simple, so beautiful.

19A: Jackknife or swan: DIVE. Jackknife DIVE is a new term to me.

23A: Girlie: SIS. What the heck is this? Isn't "Girlie" an offensive term to describe an effeminate man?

24A: 26th letter: ZEE. "Fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."

27A: Lacking vitality: PALLID

44A: Flexible joint: HINGE

45A: Upstanding: ERECT. This pink ERECT anthurium is so pretty.

62A: Composer Porter: COLE. Lovely clip.

Down:

2D: Dodge Ram engine: HEMI. New to me. I only knew HEMI as a prefix for sphere.

5D: Nodding off: SNOOZING. And SOOTHING (9D: Comforting). I think any grid should have a maximum of 2 *ING's.

28D: Actress Nazimova: ALLA. How boring! Is this the only way to clue ALLA? How about this?

40D: Office job category: CLERICAL

46D: British rule in India: RAJ. And CASTE (48D: Societal station).

47D: Jack Horner's dessert: PIE. I wonder what kind of pie he is eating.

56D: "So Big" author Ferber: EDNA. Have you read the book? What is it about? What is "So Big"?

C.C.

Sunday, September 28, 2008 Arlan and Linda Bushman

Theme: Chem Lingo

23A: Einstein with no more einsteinium in stock, e.g.?: OUT OF ONE'S ELEMENT

36A: Incipient chemical concoction? INFANT FORMULA

54A: Caustic chemical couriers?: BASE RUNNERS

78A: Caustic remark about a litmus test result?: ACID COMMENT

97A: Report concerning chemical ions?: CHARGE ACCOUNT

112A: Attention given to a chemical mixture? COMPOUND INTEREST

16D: Where one buys chemical supplies?: MASS MARKET

71D: Neither black nor white chemical stuff?: GRAY MATTER

Where is ORGANIC/INORGANIC?

I really liked this puzzle, so well constructed. I had expected something complicated after I saw the titled theme, so I was elated when I got most of the themed entries without encountering too much resistance.

Wasted a long time on SNORE (73D: Saw wood in bed). I had actually heard of the idiom "saw wood" before, but I could not remember the exact meaning. I just kept wanting a past tense word and SLEPT sounded perfect.

I thought "Dorothy's surname" would be a better clue for GALE (22A: Whitecap weather) since we have AUNT EM (49D: Dorothy's guardian) in the grid.

It warmed my heart to see THAMES clued as "Flower by Big Ben" (35A), so comforting after my repeated pleas for a "flow-er" clue last week. But there should definitely be a "?" in the clue. Otherwise, it's too startling and senseless for a unsuspecting solver. I thought "Spanish flower?" would be a great clue for (48D: River of Spain) too.

There are so many things that flow: river, cash, air, hot lava, champagne, thought, information, idea, words, sweat, love and tears. But a broken heart is indeed like a river that won't flow.

I've been enjoying the real flowers and music in this Ravel Bolero clip. I hope you like it too.

Across:

1A: Natural fountain: SPRING. This flows too. What's the real difference between SPRING water and mineral water?

20A: Unbroken view: PANORAMAS. For those who only solve Sunday's crossword puzzle, enjoy this Outer Space flash movie Sallie linked yesterday. Beautiful!

27A: West coat seagull: MEW. Here is a picture. New to me.

40A: Ranch name in "Giant": REATA. I forgot. Saw this clue long time ago on a TMS puzzle. Have you seen "Giant" before? So many people collect James Dean memorabilia.

47A: Roskalnikov's refusals: NYETS. Is Roskalnikov from Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment"? Or is it just a popular Russian name? I had never heard of it before.

67A: Mr. Peanut's spiffy legwear: SPATS. New to me also. Is it the same as gaiter? SPATS was clued as "Rhubarbs" earlier this week.

68A: Kevin Klein movie: DAVE. It's a pretty good movie.

84A: Niels or Aage of physics: BOHR. Both of them won Nobel prize in physics.

92A: Pers. with a handle?: CBER

96A: "All Men Are Whores" dramatist: MAMET (David). I've never heard of his name before. But what a terrible play title. I dislike so much the word "whore".

105A: Canvas colors?: OILS. What do you think about this clue?

111A: Dated leader?: ANTE. A nice change from "Feed the kitty' clue.

119A: Combo bet: EXACTA. And trifecta. What else?

Down:

4D: Forge output: IRON BAR

5D: Letters on a rubber check: NSF. I did not know that a bounced check is also called a rubber check.

6D: Euclid's province: GEOMETRY. I also did not know that province also means "a department or branch of learning or activity".

18D: Loudly laments: KEENS. And 80D: Poetic lament: ELEGY

33D: Trivial stuff: DROSS. New to me also. I always thought of DROSS as "discarded waste matter".

38D: Old French bread?: FRANC. It's the "Stale Swiss bread" too.

39D: Series of eight: OCTAD. Basically there is no difference between OCTAD and OCTET, right?

50D: Bearded grazers: GNUS. I only remembered his horns, had never paid attention to his beard .

58D: Goalie's feat: SAVE. A closer can achieve this feat too.

61D: Robin Cook thriller: COMA. Learned this from doing Xword. Have you read this book?

65D: Novi Sad resident: SERB. Novi Sad is Serbia's second largest city, after Belgrade. New to me also.

68D: Moral obligation: DUTY. I vodka Dennis so much. He has done such a great job fulfilling his morel moral obligation for this country.

72D: Polecat defense: ODOR. Did not know that skunk is also called polecat.

75D: "As You Liked it" forest: ARDEN. I just learned that Shakespeare's mother's name is Mary ARDEN.

76D: Cereal box fig.: NET WT. Ha, I always thought it's NT WT.

91D: Big-billed bird: PELICAN. Gimme for Chris I am sure. It's their state bird. I really liked Denzel Washington's role in "The PELIAN Brief".

92D: Pause in conversation: CAESURA. Completely foreign to me. What exactly is a CAESURA?

98D: Spartan drudge: HELOT. I forgot. All I could think of was SERF. Have difficulty remembering any Spartan/Laconian stuff.

108D: Orlop or poop: DECK. I've never heard of poop deck before. What a strange name!

109D: Italian noble family: ESTE. I forgot how they are related to Ferrara.

115D: Joanne of films: DRU. I googled her name, and found out that she did quite a few movies with John Wayne.

116D: Outer: pref.: EXO. The opposite prefix is ENDO.

C.C.

Saturday September 27, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: None

Total blocks: 32

Definitely not an easy puzzle for me. Somehow I just could not focus on solving it. My mind was somewhere else.

Quite a few unfamiliar clues/anwers. Great to see ARI clued as "Jackie's second husband" (48A) rather than the factually wrong "Jackie's ex". I still do not understand the clue for NOMINATIONS (20A: Proposed candidates). Shouldn't the answer be NOMINEES?

I wonder if our editor is also clueless about Governor Sarah PALIN (66A: Michael of Monty Python). What a missed opportunity! With the current financial crisis, you would think he would choose "Fannie & Ginnie" rather than "West and Jemison" (61A).

I am so tired seeing ESA clued as "NASA's partner in space" (59D). Why not "Spanish pronoun" for a change?

I've never heard of BRIN (32D: Sci-fi writer David). Is he more famous than Sergey BRIN, the founder of Google?

Across:

1A: Jessica Parker or Vaughan: SARAH. Do you think SARAH Jessica Parker is UNE (50A: Nice one?) jolie-laide?

15A: ____ Spumante: ASTI. The sparkling white wine.

17A: Noted violin maker: AMATI. He is the teacher of STRAD. Joshua Bell used a $3.5 million STRAD in this famous Metro morning rush hour incognito performance. Over 1,000 people hurried by him, and he collected a total of $32.

18A: Furry-muzzled dog: SCHNAUZER. Here is a snow white miniture SCHNAUZER. Not a familiar breed to me. I am not a dog (or cat) person.

23A: Vin of movies: DIESEL. I wonder why he picked up Vin Diesel as his name.

27A: Danced to victory: CAKEWALKED. I did not know that CAKEWALK can be a verb too.

31A: Big band leader: LES BROWN. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he wrote "Sentimental Journey", which brought Doris Day to fame.

35A: Bring back to life: REANIMATE. I didn't like this answer.

38A: Melodies: MUSIC. I penned in SONGS first. I rather like Huge Grant and Drew Barrymore's "MUSIC and Lyrics".

41A: Be tipped off: FOREKNOW. What a strange word!

45A: Style of Gaudi: ART NOUVEAU. I've never heard of Gaudi before. He designed Casa Mila. Some of René Lalique's ART NOUVEAU piece can fetch thousands of dollars.

49A: Uris novel, with "The": HAJ

58A: Efficiency expert: TIMESAVER

62A: Vaccines: SERA

64A: Latin handle: ANSA. I am really tired of this clue too.

Down:

1D: Cause of public outrage: SCANDAL

2D: Ornate wardrobe: ARMOIRE

5D: "Die Lorelei" poet: HEINE (Heinrich). Unknown to me also. Kazie probably knows this poet. She mentioned about Lorelei and its seamen-luring sirens in a comment some time ago.

7D: Spore sacs: ASCI. Singular is ascus. Big stumper for me.

11D: Lively Polish dance: MAZURKA. Another unknown to me. See this clip.

19D: Actor Armand: ASSANTE. I googled his name. His mug looks very familiar. I must have seen him in some movies.

28D: Arista: AWN. I forgot the meaning of "Arista".

30D: Symbol of Wales: LEEK. Good to know. This LEEK potato soup looks so white. Too much potato, Xchefwalt?

33D: Makes up for: RECOUPS

36D: Extinct bird: MOA. DODO if it's a 4-letter blank.

37D: Orangjestad's island: ARUBA

38A: Gandhi's title: MAHATMA. Sage. Ha, I always thought MAHATAMA was Gandhi's given name.

39D: Person of a third sex: URANIAN. What???

40D: "____ Infirmary Blues": ST. JAMES. Is this the song? I've never heard of it before.

44D: Groom or Churchill: WINSTON. Had no idea who WINSTON Groom is. He wrote "Forrest Gump".

47D: Old World monkey: VERVET. Another unknown. What happened to his tail?

C.C.