Tuesday November 4, 2008 Willy A. Wiseman

Theme: Winner or Loser?

4A: Winner or loser?: BARACK OBAMA

58A: Winner of loser?: JOSEPH BIDEN

1D: Winner or loser?: JOHN MCCAIN

31D: Winner or loser?: SARAH PALIN

I wish 58A were JOE BIDEN. But then the symmetry would have been lost.

Great puzzle, perfectly matched theme pairs in the grid. Brilliant! Even the none-theme presidential fills have a 180-degree symmetry and evenly divided between GOP and Dem:

3D: W: GEORGE BUSH. His anagram is "He bugs Gore".

29D: "Commander in Chief" star: GEENA DAVIS. Her Veep is a Democrat.

25D: Dick Cheney's predecessor: AL GORE

28D: Presidential also-ran of the past: LANDON. He lost to FDR in 1936.

Only one minor flaw, the clue for EKING (44A: Barely making do) should be "Barely making do, with "out").

I want to share with you this hilarious Yma Dream. Some of those guests are our crossword stalwarts: Yma Sumac, Ava Gardner, Abba Eban, Oona O'Neill, Eva Gabor, Uta Hagen, Ida Lupino, Matah Hari. The others are: Ugo Betti, Ona Munson, Aga Khan, Ira Wolfert, Ilya Ehrenburg, Anna Magnani, Pia Lindstrom & Mieczyslaw Horszowski. I love those photos in the clip.

All right, if you haven't, get out and vote.

Across:

16A: Exploit too much: OVERDEVELOP. Isn't this a photography term?

19A: Saul's uncle: NER. I memorized this name from doing Xword. OK, so Saul's father is Kish. And Kish and NER (father of Abner) are sons of Abiel. So complicated.

21A: Dodger Pee Wee: REESE. Ha, I did not know that he is a champion marbles player and pee wee is a small clay marble. I always thought he was very short. He is in the HOF of course. Here is a picture of REESE with Jackie Robinson.

24A: Speaks roughly: RASPS. Or "Sings roughly"? Do you like "Good Morning, Vietnam"?

28A: George Sand novel: LELIA. I've never read LELIA. I truly believe Chopin would have lived longer had he not left George Sand. "There is only one happiness in this life: to love and to be loved".

33A: Closet item: HANGER

34A: Former queen of Spain: ENA. She is the Queen of Spain from 1906 -1931.

39A: A Gandhi: INDIRA. Interesting, her son Rajiv's name is "lotus flower" in Hindu language. Why would she name her son a flower?

43A: Yellowish pink: PEACH. It's symbol of longevity in China.

50A: Altar of stars: ARA. It's always the palindromic ARA if it's a 3-letter blank.

56A: Extinct: DEAD AS A DODO. New expression to me, though I knew DODO is extinct.

Down:

2D: Too much to take: UNBEARABLE. Our Xword actress Lena Olin is in "The UNBEARABLE Lightness of Being". She also appears in "Chocolat", together with Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp.

4D: Hobgobins: BOGIES. What does "Boogie Street" refer in Leonard Cohen's song?

7D: Island group in the Moluccas: ARU. See this map. It's Indonesia's island. I've never heard of ARU or Moluccas before.

8D: Mil. watchdog grp.: CDI (Center for Defense Information). Absolutely no idea. Got it from the across clues. It's established in 1972 according to Wikipedia.

26D: Tuscany commune: SIENA. Our editor has been very fond of "commune" lately. But it's a city, isn't it?

30D: Factual fault: INACCURACY

37D: Phom Penh cash: RIEL. I guessed. Here is their bank note.

39D: Mushroom with black gills: INKY CAP. Unknown to me. See this picture. Wikipedia says INKY CAP is "poisonous when consumed with alcohol, hence another common name Tippler's Bane." Have you ever had it? Does it blacken your tongue?

45D: Chrissie of the Pretenders: HYNDE. Another unknown. Here is their "Stop Your Sobbing".

46D: Pilgrimage to Mecca: HADJ. Also spelled as HAJJ. It's the 5th pillar of Islam.

C.C.

Monday November 3, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: The Fab Four

17A: Cornpone: JOHNNYCAKE

66A: NYC street game: RINGO LEVIO

11D: Asian figwort trees: PAULOWNIAS

29D: D. C. neighborhood: GEORGETOWN

I recognized the PAULOWNIA tree when I saw the picture. I could almost smell its flowers and see my childhood. But too bad, I did not know its English name.

I am not fond of today's theme entries at all. They don't feel tight to me. And the word "Asian" should not have appeared in theme answer 11D or 38A: Asian nation (LAOS). Why not "China's neighbor"? ASIAN is an answer for 31D: From Tibet, for example.

Easier puzzle though. I was really hammered hard yesterday.

Across:

1A: Abrasive tool: RASP. Our editor likes to clue RASP as "Coarse file".

15A: Kukla's pal: OLLIE. Kukla, Fran & OLLIE.

16A: "Peter Pan" pet: NANA. She is a St. Bernard.

25A: New York City harbor entrance: NARROWS. See the red strait? Not a familiar name to me.

58A: Author of "Portnoy's Complaint": ROTH (Philip). No idea. Here is the book cover. Is it an interesting read?

65A: "Typee" sequel: OMOO. Its subtitle is "A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas".

68A: Bryn __ College: MAWR. Edith Hamilton's alma mater. Kathrine Hepburn also attended this college. I love the letter she wrote to Spencer Tracy in her biography "Me, Stories of My Life". Very touching.

69A: "Lou Grant" star: ASNER (Ed). He also "kidnapped" Kunta Kinte in "Roots".

70A: "The __ on the Floss": MILL. George Eliot novel. I got it from the down clues. What is it about?

Down:

1D: Hindu prince: RAJA."British rule in India" (before 1947) is RAJ.

6D: San Francisco Bay island: ALCATRAZ. I love "The Rock". It's set on ALCATRAZ Island.

8D: "Blue Voyage" poet: AIKEN (Conrad). Unknown to me. "Blue Voyage" is a novel. I like these two lines from his "All Lovely Things":"All lovely things must have an ending /All lovely things must fade and die..."

10D: Ancient Greek poet: ANACREON. Unknown to me also. Wikipedia says he is a "lyrical poet" and notable for his "drinking songs and hymns". And his songs often celebrated "women, wine, and entertaining, and today can be considered eroticism". Very interesting information: Francis Scott Key modified Stafford Smith's melody of "To ANACREON in Heaven" for "The Star-Spangled Banner".

39D: Mediterranean coast: SEASHORE. Why "Mediterranean"?

45D: Tennis star of the '90s: SAMPRAS. He has won 14 Grand Slam singles title: 2 Austrian Open, 7 Wimbledon, 5 US Open. Roger Federer now has 13 singles titles: 3 Australia Open, 5 Wimbledon and 5 US Open.

54D: John Lennon kit: WOMAN. Here is the song.

60D: Sicilian resort town: ENNA. The volcano is ETNA, "I burn" in Greek.

C.C.

Sunday November 2, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Fooled Again

23A: Start of Groucho Marx quip: IN AMERICA YOU CAN

38A: Part 2 of quip: GO ON THE AIR AND

56A: Part 3 of quip: KID THE POLITICIANS,

78A: Part 4 of quip: AND THE POLITICIANS

94A: Part 5 of quip: CAN GO THE AIR

114A: End of quip: AND KID THE PEOPLE

Oh boy, solving a crossword puzzle definitely needs total focus. I felt very distracted earlier and went through hell trying to fill in all the blanks.

Normally I don't have so many problems getting into Olschwang's wavelength, After all, I've solved 43 of his puzzles since I started blogging. But there seems to be an inordinate amount of proper nouns in today's grid. Several corners presented a Sisyphean challenge to me. I thought I had pushed the damned rock to the hilltop. But it kept rolling back. Now I have in front of me an ugly puzzle full of wite-out marks.

I do like the following clues:

36A: Piper's first name?: PIED

9D: Publicity stunt, of a sort: PHOTO OP

43D: Listens without hearing?: LIP READS

The "Lat." clue for ID EST (40D: That is: Lat.) should not be abbreviated.

Across:

5A: Peacock constellation: PAVO. Latin for "Peacock". Here is the map. Unknown to me.

19A: Okinawa port: NAHA. Another unknown. See this map. It's also Okinawa's capital.

20A: Ludwig or Jannings: EMIL. Jannings is the first winner of Oscar for Best Actor ("The Way of All Flesh"). Ludwig is a German author known for his biographies of Goethe, Napoléon, etc. I knew neither of them.

21A: Egypt's Mubarak: HOSNI. He succeeded Anwar Sadat.

22A: Conductor Georg: SOLTI. Another unknown. Wikipedia says he won 31 Grammys in his life time. He spent over 20 years with the Chicago Symphony. He looks so engaged.

27A: Like a lamb sauce: MINTY. Odd clue to me. Chinese people do not use any mint sauce for lamb dish or for any dish. Toothpaste is MINTY.

28A: Old French dance: GAVOTTE. Well, I am not Marie Antoinette, how am I supposed to know this old french dance?

29A: Maj. Barbara's creator: GBS (George Bernard Shaw). Toughie. I've never heard of "Major Barbara" before. Only knew his "Pygmalion".

31A: Dam-building grp.: CVA (Columbia Valley Authority). I only knew TVA.

32A: City west of Detroit: ANN ARBOR. It's home to the University of Michigan (Wolverines).

34A: Hawaiian acacia: KOA. See this picture. KOA wood is valued for furniture and musical instruments. New to me also.

35A: Calculator key abbr.: CLR (Clear). I dislike this clue.

37A: Swarm member: TEEMER. What a strained answer!

41A: Class for U.S. immigrants: ESL

47A: Restrain: INHIBIT. And RASHEST (93D: Most impulsive).

64A: Norway evergreen: RED PINE. It's our state tree.

65A: Arrived at: GOT UP TO. Mine was "TOT UP TO" for a long long time.

67A: Medley or Tilden: BILL. Had no idea that Bill Medley is the half of The Righteous Brothers. Great "Unchanged Melody". Was Bill Tilden a gimme to you? I was not familiar with him at all.

70A: Resembling: suff: OID. Since ISH does not fit. Android for example.

72A: Waldorf-__ Hotel: ASTORIA. This Waldorf salad looks good. I like the walnuts to be toasted and honeyed.

90A: First name in mysteries: ERLE. Did you know that Halliburton's founder is also named ERLE?

91A: Bygone map abbr.: S.S.R.

99A: New Hampshire city: NASHUA. See this map. I don't even know who are NH's senators.

107A: Narrow inlet: RIA

109A: Fall into obscurity: ECLIPSE

111A: Change shape: MORPH

112A: Square one: GET-GO

121A: "The Flying Dutchman" girl: SENTA. I googled. SENTA was clued as "Actress Berger" before.

122A: Comic actor Arnold: STANG. Another google.

123A: Door hardware: HASP. My first thought was JAMB.

124A: Spanish muralist Jose: SERT. See his murals at the Rockefeller Center. I am not familiar with his name.

Down:

1D: Give life to: ANIMATE

2D: Bicuspids' neighbors: CANINES. I did not know the meaning of "Bicuspids".

3D: Bed of a river: CHANNEL. I always thought CHANNEL is just a waterway.

4D: Type of gong: TAM-TAM. No idea. See this picture. Sounds so close to tom-tom drum.

7D: "The __ of Wakefield": VICAR. New book to me also. It's written by Oliver Goldsmith.

8D: Norwegian saint: OLAV

10D: Cassock: SOUTANE. Sigh... another new word to me. What do you call the band Pope Benedict wears around his waist?

11D: Last of coal?: ESCE. Coalesce. It's the "Last of opal" too.

12D: Actress O'Connor: UNA. Got her name from across fills. Have never heard of her before. Which famous movie(s) is she in?

13D: Town in Country Kerry: DINGLE. Here is the map. It's a ridiculously difficult for me. I had DIN??E for eons.

15D: Panama proposition: POR

30D: Highlands hillside: BRAE

33D: Astronomer Tycho: BRAHE. Hmm, this moustache picture looks familiar. I must have searched for him before.

35D: Colette novel: CHERI. The new movie starring Michelle Pfeiffer will be out next year. Colette also wrote "Gigi".

38D: Trade association: GUILD

39D: Jiffy: TRICE

44D: Hautboys: OBOES. Hautboy is French for OBOE.

48D: Brit. medical syst.: NHS (National Health Service). This has become a gimme to me.

49D: Step cautiously: TIPTOE

51D: Plane bisecting the body: SAGITTAL. All right, this is a great picture to show you those bisecting planes. Somehow I just could not get the letter G.

53D: Serengeti bounder: IMPALA. They look so skinny.

55D: Netlike caps: SNOODS

56D: Mystical teachings: var. KABALA. Cabala is more common of course.

57D: Part of eyes: IRISES. I am still waiting for van Gogh's IRISES clue.

60D: Lead-ins: INTROS

68D: Vietnam Memorial artist: LIN (Maya). She does have "A Strong, Clear Vision".

70D: Basketry willow: OSIER. Wow, look at these red OSIER dogwood. Kind of like cotton plants after all the cottons are picked.

88D: Writer H. L. __: MENCKEN. Yet another google. He is known as "The Sage of Baltimore". And he is "regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century."

91D: Card cheat: SHARPIE. New SHARPIE definition to me.

98D: Rainbow: pref.: IRID. As iridescent. I would not have obtained the word without the across fills.

101D: Sailing ships: SLOOPS. It looks like a boat rather than a ship.

109D: Icelandic epic: EDDA. Elder EDDA is the "Poetic EDDA". Younger EDDA is the "Prose EDDA". Both written between 8th to 13th century.

110D: God of Memphis: PTAH. I always think of ELVIS when I see this clue. PTAH is an Egyptian god. Wikipedia says "In art, he is portrayed as a bearded mummified man, often wearing a skull cap, with his hands holding an ankh, was, djed, the symbols of life, power and stability, respectively." Interesting WAS. I wonder if any constructor thought of cluing DJED as "Egyptian symbol of stability" rather than "spun record" (DJ-ed).

113D: Hood's heater: GAT. I thought ROD first.

116D: Explode: POP. "Explode"? I have problem accepting this clue.

C.C.

Saturday November 1, 2008 Matthew Higgins

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

Total words: 68

Letter S must be all constructors' favorite letter. It can start a word and end a word. It can be followed by either a vowel or a consonant. I guess that's why we see it popping up everywhere in the grid, esp the first row & last row, first column and last column.

We get 27 S'es today, too many for my taste. But one thing I really like about Higgins' puzzle is the lack of pop culture and actor/actress names, which often stump me. Additionally, he always does solid research on his clues. Nearly all of them are dictionary-accurate, though not lively.

Some of the clues today are pretty good:

32A: Virginia, for one: REEL

5D: Half and half?: ONE. Without the "?", the clue would be good too, but boring.

50D: Bannister, for one: MILER. Roger Bannister is the first man to run the mile in less than four minutes.

Across:

1A: Considers probable: SUPPOSES. Three S'es for the first word, three S'es for the last word (SCORSESE).

9A: Nabokov novel: LOLITA. Have you see the movie remake? My favorite Jeremy Irons movie is "Damage".

17A: Squatter: NESTER. Homesteader. I thought a "Squatter" is someone who squats.

20A: Sinuous: SERPENTINE. "Sinuous" is a new to me. I know "tortuous" though.

26A: Greek harp: TRIGON. It's "an ancient Greek stringed instrument with a triangular shape". New to me. I only know LYRE. If you find a TRIGON picture, please share with us. I could not find one on the internet. (Addendum: Here is a TRIGON picture, and here is LYRE).

28A: Roman deck count: LII. 52. Also the "Number of weeks in a year" for the Romans.

30A: Fix firmly: SECURE. I like the verb cluing.

35A: Wheys: SERA. I am more familiar with the "Blood fluids" clue.

42A: State in northwestern Mexico: SONORA. It's bordering Arizona.

53A: Cancellation: RESCISSION. Only knew the verb RESCIND.

57A: Bay windows: ORIELS. I tend to confuse ORIELS with ORIOLES.

60A: French department on the bay of Biscay: VENDEE. See this map. I've never heard of it before.

61A: Subtraction starters: MINUENDS

63A: "Mean Streets" director: SCORSESE. Have you seen "Mean Streets"? Looks interesting.

Down:

1D: Groups in groups: SUBSETS

3D: Like plunder at sea: PIRATIC. I wanted PIRATEY. I've never heard of PIRATIC before.

9D: State of being cheerlessly solitary: LONELINESS. LONELINESS can be beautiful and inspiring, esp if you are comfortable being alone.

11D: Tilt to one side: LIST. Is this solely a nautical term?

12D: Arteries' innermost linings: INTIMAE. New to me. The plural form of INTIMA can also be INTIMAS.

13D: "I Was a __Werewolf": TEENAGE. Have you seen the movie? It looks horrifying.

14D: Gland near the kidneys: ADRENAL. This is where adrenaline comes from, correct?

21D: Ballet movements: PLIE. These girls are pretty.

27D: Close calls: NEAR-MISSES

29D: Forms into small pellets: GRANULATES. OK, I checked, it's a word.

41D: Statements of obvious veracity: TRUISMS

43D: Semi-translucent glass: OPALINE. It's the same as opalescent, isn't it?

C.C.

Friday October 31, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: "Classical" Songs

17A: Hit by Della Reese and Puccini: DON'T YOU KNOW

39A: Hit by the Toys and Bach: A LOVER'S CONCERTO

65A: Hit by Eric Carmen and Rachmaninoff: ALL BY MYSELF

Is there a special term for this kind of classical music adapted song? Covering? Are there any other songs inspired by classical music?

This is Eric Carmen's "ALL BY MYSELF", and here is Rachmanioff's "Piano Concerto No. 2 in C Minor". I cannot really tell which part is plagiarized, can you?

Too many proper names in the grid. I was expecting a Halloween themed puzzle today.

I did not like the NAT clue (19A: Country: abbr.). "___ King Cole" would have fit the theme better. "Amtrak" should be added to the ACELA clue (15A: Bullet train).

Across:

1A: Mr. Basketball of the 1950s: MIKAN (George). He's a legend in Minnesota. Played for the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950s. So sad that he had to sell his memorabilia to pay his medical cost.

6A: Sports commentator Albom: MITCH. ALBOM was clued as "Tuesdays With Morrie" author Mitch not long ago.

26A: Ms. enclosure: SAE

28A: Composer Schifrin: LALO. No idea. He composed the theme music for "Mission Impossible".

33A: "Original Sin" novelist: P. D. JAMES. I googled her name. What's the book about? (Southern Belle, thanks.)

37A: Rodeo type: LARIAT. What's the difference among LARIAT, lasso and riata?

44A: __ Island, NY: STATEN. Vaguely remember this Island from watching "Law & Order" reruns. Wikipedia says "Godfather" and "Working Girl" were shot there.

46A: Typical one: EPITOME. My first thought was EXAMPLE.

52A: Lawless princess?: XENA. Lucy Lawless has remarried. I wonder if she still keeps her Lawless surname.

57A: Part of CAP: PATROL. CAP is Civil Air PATROL. New to me.

68A: Stimpy's pal: REN. "You eediot!" Learned from doing Xword.

69A: Deejay Casey: KASEM. Another google for me. I've never listened to "American Top 40/20/10". Wikipedia says he provided the voice for Shaggy on "Scooby-Doo".

72A: Temples: SHULS. Somehow I always associate "Temples" with "pagodas". I suppose it's because I grew up in a city famous for its Wild Goose Pagoda, which is closer to downtown Xi'An than the Terra Cotta Warriors' Tomb.

Down:

1D: 1401: MCDI

4D: Montezuma, notably: AZTEC. Clue me next time! (San Diego State)

5D: Napoleon's commander at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). I am just so obsessed with this nickname: "bravest of the brave".

7D: Interior Secretary under FDR: ICKES (Harold L). Wikipedia says he is "the longest serving Cabinet officer of any department in U.S. history". His son Harold M. ICKES was Clinton's Deputy Chief of Staff. (Note: James Wilson served as Secretary of Agriculture for 16 years under four presidents. Thanks, Jim Fratzke.)

11D: Small chicken: BANTAM. Named after the Indonesia city BANTAM. I've never heard of this breed of tiny chicken before.

13D: From the sublime to the ridiculous: BATHOS. I obtained this word after I cheated on P. D. JAMES. How is different from PATHOS?

32D: Long overcoat: ULSTER. Named after ULSTER the Irish province.

34D: ___ ladder: JACOB'S. Again, without P. D. JAMES, I would not have got this word. Remember Jacob's tears we had several weeks ago?

40D: West bank city: RAMALLAH. See this map. The Palestinian Authority is located there.

42D: Credit-tracking corp.: TRW. Unknown to me. It's now called Experian. So the clue should have "old" as a hint.

48D: Have in mind: INTEND

54D: Vocalist Mercer: MABEL. This is her "Isn't He Adorable". I've never heard of her before. "Vocalist" is the same as "Singer", right?

63D: Cookout brand: T-FAL. Do you own any Emerilware applicance?

66D: Baton Rouge sch.: LSU. The Fighting Tigers. Shaq's alma mater.

67D: Fashion letters: YSL. I am still in love with YSL Opium.

C.C.

Thursday October 30, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Be a Team Player

18A: Start of Bernard Baruch quote: WE DID NOT ALL

24A: Part 2 of quote: COME OVER ON

36A: Part 3 of quote: THE SAME SHIP, BUT

49A: Part 5 of quote: WE ARE ALL IN

54A: End of quote: THE SAME BOAT

Hooray! I actually understand this quote. I've never heard of Bernard Baruch though. He also said:

"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail."

"Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why."

This grid looks strange. I've never seen 2 theme answers split up in the center (Row 8) on a 15*15 before. I was confused for a minute, thinking this might be a left-to-right symmetrical puzzle rather than a conventional 180 degree rotational one. Stupid!

Once again, I feel like this puzzle was guest-edited by someone else:

17A: Bull markets: UPS. Our editor Williams would clue it as "Raises".

20A: Cost of living?: RENT. Williams: "Monthly payment"

19D: Alternative to smoking?: NON. Williams: "French/Nice turndown".

29A: Piccadilly Circus statue: EROS. Williams: "Greek god of love".

43A: Deer sirs: STAGS. Great clue. Williams: "Some male deer".

62A: 1969 Peace Prize grp.: ILO. Williams: "Worldwide workers gp."

63A: In place: SITED. Williams: "Located".

47D: Pint drink, perhaps: ALE. Williams :"Pub order".

It's nice to have fresh clues. Our brains need constant stimulation. The clue for CEO (22A: Boardroom bigwig) needs an abbreviation hint. "Boardroom VIP" is good.

Across:

4A: Deep, unnatual sleep: SOPOR. Rip Van Winkle is waking up after 20 years of SOPOR.

14A: "Seinfeld" uncle: LEO. I like this episode.

27A: Olympic sled: LUGE. I just learned that LUGE is also the winning word of 1984 National Spelling Bee. Have you seen "Spellbound"? Those kids are incredible.

28A: Deposited: LAID. I don't think any editor wants to try "__ off" clue during this worrying economic downturn period.

33A: Former French coin: SOU. Another old French coin is ECU.

46A: "South Park" boy: STAN. It also means "country": Pakistan, Afghanistan, etc. Persian origin.

48A: Baloney!: PISH. New word to me.

51A: Junior exec.: ASST

52A: Chem. contaminant: PCB (Polychlorinated Biphenyl). No idea. Its spelling does look toxic.

61A: Churchill Downs event: DERBY. The on-line clue is "Kentucky hat?", which sounds more appealing to me.

65A: Big Apple letters: NYC. Technically, it should have "initially" in the clue.

Down:

2D: Censure: REPROACH. I often confuse "censure" with "censor".

7D: Greek vowel: OMICRON. It's between XI and PI. I cheated on this one.

8D: Cowboy's showcases: RODEOS

10D: Keep inside: BOTTLE UP

11D: Old-fashioned warning: ALARUM. No idea. I am not Shakespeare.

12D: Caviar source: BELUGA. I've never had BELUGA caviar before. Love salmon roe on sushi (ikura).

25D: "Chicago" role: VELMA. Played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. Great musical.

26D: Buffalo's county: ERIE

33D: Alan Ladd classic: SHANE. Have never seen the movie. Samuel Jackson did mention the name SHANE in "The Negotiator".

35D: Take a tour: SIGHT SEE

37D: Brief announcement: BULLETIN

38D: Early or late: UNTIMELY

39D: Warner Bros. creation: TOON. I like the alliteration in those character names: Daffy/Donald Duck, Porky Pig, Roger Rabbit, etc. And DOC (59D: Elmer, to Bugs). I am still waiting for the "What's up, ____?"clue.

43D: Forceful flowings: SPATES

44D: Hebrew month: TISHRI. New to me. It's the first month in Hebrew calendar. The last month is ELUL.

49D: Typist's stat: WPM

Does anyone know what's the music behind this "Women in Art" clip?

C.C.

Wednesday October 29, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: GOOD VIBRATIONS (48A: This puzzle's theme song)

20A: Oscillators: ELECTRIC RAZORS

25A: Oscillators: STEREO SPEAKERS

42A: Oscillators: BUMBLE BEE WINGS

And a bit of musician sub-theme:

60A: New Age music superstar: ENYA

61A: Crooner Jerry: VALE. I don't know him.

10D: Leader of the Medicine Show: DR. HOOK. Unknown to me also. This sounds nice.

Also a river undertone:

47A: Ubangi feeder: UELE. Big stumper! OK, this is the best map I could find (It will enlarge if you click on it). See the two rivers? UELE is on the upper right corner. The word Ubangi is on the upper middle part, under "Central African Republic". Ubangi flows more than 1,400 miles to the west before it joins the Congo River.

11D: German border river: ODER. It divides Germany and Poland. Flows to the Baltic Sea.

27D: Flower of Paris?: SEINE. Flow-er.

The following two clues definitely need "for short or abbr.":

39A: Tussaud's title: MME

55D: Dallas hoopster: MAV

I also don't like the clue for INDY (50D: 500-mi. race). The abbreviation of "mile" does not please my eyes.

Not an easy puzzle for me. I struggled at various spots.

Across:

5A: Dana of "Baretta": ELCAR. No idea. Wikipedia says he is the FBI Agent Polk (aka "Hickey") in "The Sting". No wonder he looks familiar to me.

10A: Martial arts school: DOJO. Literally "place of way" in Japanese, from old Chinese "Dao Chang" (道場).

16A: Vitamin bottle figs.: RDAS. Wow, I just found out that those guide lines were adopted in 1941.

18A: Gradually declined: EBBED

34A: Joker: WAG. New definition to me.

36A: Between, in poetry: TWIXT And ETERNE (5D: Without end, in poetry).

40A: Dancer Verdon: GWEN. She is Lola in "Damn Yankees". She appeared in our puzzle before.

41A: "Lola" band: KINKS. I like the melody of "Lola". Don't quite get the lyrics. What does it mean when he sings "I know what I am, I'm glad I'm a man. And so is Lola"?

46A: Bad, in Limousin: MAL. The regional capital of Limousin is Limoges, which is famous for its porcelain. This is a unicorn Limoges style. I really like Franklin Mint's "Collector's Treasury" unicorn set. Very artfully done.

55A: Albert of Throneberry: MARV. I know neither Marv Albert or MARV Throneberry.

59A: Rework to make work: ADAPT

62A: Winged mimic: MYNAH. It's also spelled as MYNA. New to me. This is so cute.

Down:

4D: Charlatan's doings: QUACKERY

6D: Lustful desire: LIBIDO

9D: Crisis period: RED ALERT

12D: Benchley novel: JAWS. I like some of the Steven Spielberg movies, not "Jaws". "Saving Private Ryan" & "Schindler's List" are my favorites. "Munich" is good too.

21D: Lose will: TIRE. I don't think so. "Lose energy" yes.

22D: Gusto: ZEAL

25D: Whale star: SHAMU

28D: Period of stability: PAX. It's clued as " ___ Romana" in our puzzle before.

30D: Official positions: RANKS. "Official" refer to "Military official" I presume?

36D: Midnight: TWELVE AM

37D: Place to surf: WEB. My first thought was SEA.

38D: Bookkeeping entry: LINE ITEM. Does US President now holds the LINE-ITEM veto power?

43D: No Oscar contender: B MOVIE. I don't quite understand the concept of B MOVIE. What does B stand for? A, B, C? Bad?

44D: Icy satellite of Jupiter: EUROPA. Unknown to me. It's named after a Greek mythical beauty EUROPA, who was abducted by Zeus. Interesting, Europe got its name from EUROPA too. See Rembrandt's "The Abduction of EUROPA".

54D: Police jacket letters: S.W.A.T. It's also a film name. Pretty good. Colin Farrell is a great actor. I like his "Cassandra's Dream".

C.C.

Tuesday October 28, 2008 John Underwood

Theme: Echo Words

17A: Lacking in decisiveness: WISHY-WASHY

62A: Bit of whatnot: KNICKKNACK

11D: Drag one's feet: DILLY-DALLY

28D: Travel back and forth: CRISSCROSS

I think ZIGZAG (39A: With 40A, sharp turn: ZIG & 40A: See 39A: ZAG) and TIPTOP (24D: With 44D: first-rate: TIP & 44D: See 24D: TOP) should be counted as part of the theme answers, even though they are broken (so artfully). I feel that lots of thoughts were given to the grid construction.

Here is a wonderful link on reduplicatives. Flip-flop, riff-raff and chitchat all sound appealing to me.

Great puzzle. Fantastic clue for TKOS (60D: Match ends?). I dislike the clue for SIZE (30D: XL, XXL or XXXL). Why all big sizes?

Across:

1A: "12 Angry Men" director Sidney: LUMET. Have never watched "12 Angry Men". I wonder why "Eight Men Out" is not "8 Men Out".

6A: Sharp, localized pain: STAB. Why "localized"?

10A: Picked from a lineup: IDED

25A: "Family Ties" mother: ELYSE. I googled. Looks like a fun show.

29A: Aquatic crustacean: ISOPOD. New word to me. Dictionary says they have 7 pairs of legs. Are they edible?

33A: Plunder: RAPINE. This is a new word to me also. The root of this word reminds me of canola oil, which is extracted from rapeseed. Canola stands for Can(ada) o(il) l(ow) a(cid).

35A: Latin primer word: AMO. AMO, amas, amat.

45A: Miss in Fr.: MLLE. Have you seen "Mon père, ce héros"? This is a remake "My Father the Hero". Katherine Heigl was 14 when she appeared in the movie. Very sexy bathing suit, isn't it?

46A: Artist Botticelli: SANDRO. I did not know his given name. See his "Birth of Venus".

54A: Pointer, for one: BIRD DOG. Do you like Everly Brother's "BIRD DOG"? I like their "Bye Bye Love".

Down:

5D: President after Polk: TAYLOR. Polk's middle inital K stands for KNOX.

8D: Wiesbaden wails: ACHS. See this ACH list. ACH so!

9D: Evan from Indiana: BAYH. I can never remember how to spell Senator BAYH's name. He was on Obama's VP search list.

10D: Philippines port: ILOILO. No idea. It's also the capital city of ILOILO Province. It's so named because of its nose-like shape. "Nose" is "ilong" in local Illonggo languag. See this map. It is known also for its "raw-silk and pineapple-fiber fabrics".

31D: Son of Judah: ONAN. Learned from doing Xword.

34D: Antiquing element: AGER. I don't understand this. What is AGER?

36D: Bamako's land: MALI. Ah, Ali Farka Touré's land. Wonderful "Diaraby".

45D: "Vogue" singer: MADONNA. I guessed. I've never heard of "Vogue" before. She is divorcing Guy Ritchie.

48D: Livened (up): PERKED

C.C.

Monday October 27, 2008 Norma Steinberg

Theme: Phrasal Verbs with OFF ON

17A: Authorize in writing: SIGN OFF ON

56A: Argue toe-to-toe: FACE OFF ON

11D: Begin, as a trip: START OFF ON

28D: State one's opinions: SOUND OFF ON

I wish 56A were SQUARE/SLACK OFF ON, then every theme entry would start with letter S.

I really liked the ERIE clue (13D: Superior's inferior?), very clever. UNDO (14A: Cancel) could be clued as "Computer edit command" to complete a computer sub-theme, together with EXE (20A: Program file extension) and UNIX (2D: Trademark DOS).

It's an OK puzzle. I didn't find the theme inspiring though.

Across:

15A: Icefield: FLOE. Dictionary says ice FLOE is smaller than "Icefield", which is smaller than ice sheet and similar in area to ice cap. Very confusing.

21A: Essential meaning: POINT

36A: French you: VOUS. "Voulez-VOUS" from "Mamma Mia!".

40A: Seine feeder: MARNE. Unknown to me. See this map. It's a famous W.W. I battle site. Alfred Joyce Kilmer, the poet of "I think that I shall never see /A poem lovely as a tree" was killed at the second battle of the MARNE in 1918.

42: Homer's TV neighbor: NED. No idea. NED is always clued as "Actor Beatty". So is Bart Simpson's "Aye carumba" is a corruption of Spanish "Ay caramba"?

43A: Deuterium discoverer: UREY (Harold). I forgot. Saw his name before. He won Nobel Chemistry in 1934 and he was also involved in the Manhattan Project.

44A: Film festival site: CANNES. Palme d'Or for CANNES, Golden Lion for Venice Film Festival (the oldest film festival in the world).

55A: Actress Woodard: ALFRE. Ha, what can I say. I forgot her name again. Do you watch "Desperate Housewives"?

Down:

1D: Italian actress Elenora: DUSE. No idea. Wikipedia says she is the first woman to be featured on the cover of Time magazine (July 30, 1923).

6D: Michael Caine film: ALFIE. I've only seen Jude Law's 2004 ALFIE.

8D: Only penciled in: TENTATIVE

26D: Singing chipmunk: ALVIN. Here is their "The Christmas Song". So weird.

27D: Singer Pat: BOONE. Here is his "Ain't That a Shame".

31D: Unmanned aircraft: DRONE. I wonder if the constructor's original clue is bee related, since she has STING (34A: Wasp attack) gridded so close by.

34D: Nerve - wracking: STRESSFUL

37D: Indian garb: SARI. Has anyone seen "The Darjeeling Limited"?

57D: Temporary mania: FAD. I can never understand the Beanie Babies FAD.

C.C.

Sunday October 26, 2008 William S. Richardson

Theme: Green

65A: Green: EARTH FRIENDLY

3D: Green: FILLED WITH ENVY

30D: Green: PLACE FOR PUTTING

34D: Green: INEXPERIENCED

36D: Green: BLUE AND YELLOW

50D: Green: ADOLPH OR HUBERT

All those answers really feel like clues for GREEN, don't they? I wish BLUE AND YELLOW were structured in 3D to form a symmetry with ADOLPH OR HUBERT.

I've never seen a TMS Sunday puzzle with the majority of the theme answers clued in Down. I wonder what's the reason for this change. The puzzle looks nice too if you turn it 90 degrees.

The first theme answer I got is PLACE FOR PUTTING, which prompted me to expect "Masters jacket color", thinking this might be a golf-green related theme.

The clue for SUISSE (1D: Genevan nationality) is not to my liking. Since SUISSE is the French spelling, the clue should have inclued "Genève" as a hint.

Had to resort to OneAcross & Google for help, too many new words/names for me.

Across:

1A: Moroccan port: SAFI. Here is the map. Have never heard of the port before.

14A: Acid of apples: MALIC. New to me. It's derived from Latin "malum" meaning "apple".

20A: First Hebrew letter: ALEPH. First Arab letter is ALIF.

26A: Fuzzy or frizzy: NAPPY

31A: Guinea - ___: BISSAU. See this map. BISSAU is also the capital of the country. Another unknown. It's a Portuguese colony before.

36A: Lab vessels: BEAKERS

37A: Like cars in a traffic jam: END-TO-END

46A: Case for Fox Mulder: X- FILE. Or "Case for Dana Scully".

57A: Pastoral paradise: ARCADIA. Unknown to me. So close to ACADIA in spelling. Dictionary says ARCADIA is "a mountainous region of ancient Greece, traditionally known for the contented pastoral innocence of its people." Kind of like Shangrila, isn't it?

64A: Dutch commune: EDE. I only know Swiss canton URI. See EDE?

69A: Language of Bangladesh: BENGALI. New to me also. I thought they speak Bangladesh language. Dictionary says "jute" is from BENGALI "jhuto".

72A: Hole in a needle: EYE

74A: RSVP-er: INVITEE

81A: Immune system component: T CELL

87A: "Gypsy Love" composer: LEHAR (Franz). No idea. Have only heard of his "The Merry Widow". Here is a clip. She is not singing in Italian, is she?

93A: Sportscaster Scully: VIN. He "holds the distinction of the longest consecutive service of any current major league broadcaster for one team." I've never heard of him before. Not a Dodgers fan.

94A: Publisher' s mark: COLOPHON. It's "A brief description usually located at the end of a book, describing production notes relevant to the edition." I had no idea that there is even a word for that page.

97A: Skintight outfit: LEOTARD

102A: Juicy fruits: MANGOES. One medium-sized MANGO has all the vitamin A & C you need. Some of them are so stringy.

104A: Of words: VERBAL. See the origin of cruciverbalist. I like Ken's example last week: "I never talk to cruciverbalists; they are either cross or down."

108A: View again: RESEE. And I SEE (4D: Words of understanding). I don't like seeing two SEE's.

113A: Mortise insertion: TENON

115A: Ordinary language: PROSE. "Purple PROSE" is not ordinary.

Down:

5D: Squeals: TATTLE. The other ?ATTLE words are battle, cattle and rattle. Constructors always keep several options open.

8D: Columnist's opinion pg.: OPED. I would prefer a simple "Columnists' pg". I don't like the OP duplication.

9D: Remnants of a grenade: SHRAPNEL. I did not know that SHRAPNEL has no plural form.

14D: Wild ones: MANIACS. Mozart is genius MANIAC.

16D: One who loses faith: LAPSER. If you say so.

17D: To some extent: IN PART

18D: Indian pony: CAYUSE. New word to me. He is named after the Indian tribe CAYUSE I suppose.

38D: Restaurateur Shor: TOOTS. Learned his name from doing Xword of course. Is the Toots Shor's Restaurant still in business?

44D: Type of dysentery: AMOEBIC. The other type is bacillary. New to me.

45D: Jejunum connections: DUODENA. Singular form is DUODENUM. Another unknown to me. I did not know the meaning of "Jejunum". It's "the middle portion of the small intestine, between the duodenum and the ileum."

51D: Ruling house of Great Britain: WINDSOR

52D: English poet Siegfried: SASSOON. No idea. His eyes look very penetrating. SASSOON is "joy" in Hebrew.

54D: Marshy depression: SWALE. I wrote down SWAMP first.

82D: Wrenches: CONTORTS

88D: Football teams: ELEVENS. The same with soccer and cricket, both have 11 players on each side.

90D: Whaler's cohort: SEALER. Okey-dokey.

91D: Matador: TORERO

94D: Aircraft pioneer: CESSNA (Clyde). No idea. See this picture. He is in Aviation Hall of Fame. His company is still in operation, and "currently, CESSNA produces 2-, 4- and 6-place single-engine airplanes, utility turboprops, and business jets."

98D: Brooke Shields film, "___ Nevada": Nope, nope. New film to me. Only knew "A Fish Called WANDA".

C.C.

Saturday October 25, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

Total words: 72

FYI, the maximum word count for a Saturday 15*15 themeless is 72 (78 for Monday-Friday themed puzzle and 142 for Sunday 21*21). The maximum block (black square) count for a 15*15 is 38, though LA Times sets a limit of 43.

I like today's grid. It looks pretty. Perfect symmetry of INTEGRA (2D: One-time Acura model) and ELANTRA (41D: Hyundai model).

But some of the clues/answers are way obscure to me. "Was in Bologna" (57D: ERO)? I don't even know what "Is" is in Bologna. Had never heard of DEIRDRE (59A: Ill-starred lady of Celtic legend). How sad, she committed suicide after her husband was murdered.

MACHO (47A) clue should be "He-man like" rather than "Heman like". The clue for SAME SEX (42D: Man-to-man?) just felt weird to me.

Across:

1A: Number on a letter: ZIP CODE

8A: Hockey-surface smoother: ZAMBONI. Not a hockey fan. Have never heard of ZAMBONI machine before. It's named after its inventor Frank ZAMBONI.

16A: Saw-tooth ranges: SIERRAS

17A: Was humiliated: ATE DIRT

18A: One type of signal transmission: AM RADIO. Do you know why some talk shows are on AM RADIO while some choose FM RADIO?

20A: Sternutations: SNEEZES. "Sternutation" is a new word to me. Strange, the verb "sternutate" is not a word in my dictionary.

26A: Kingston Trio hit: M.T.A. Here is the song. Learned from doing Xword. Their band name really sounds like a reggae group from Jamaica.

30A: Masonic doorkeeper: TILER. Was this a gimme to you? I was stumped last time and again today. It's also spelled as TYLER.

31A: City near Oakland: SAN MATEO. Wikipedia says both Merv Griffin and Tom Brady were born here.

33A: Initial ones: FIRSTS. I was thinking of ABCDE's.

35A: Hindu title: BABU. Funny "Seinfeld" BABU blooper.

36A: Prepare: GET SET

39A: Dissenting religious beliefs: HERESIES

45A: Electric-coil creator: TESLA. Struggled with this one also. I am used to the "Magnetic unit" clue.

49A: Whack: SLAM

50A: Free-throw value: ONE. Lots of NBA fans in China. I had never heard of baseball before I came to the US.

51A: Fishing weights: SINKERS. It's baseball term too.

54A: "Star Wars" character: HAN SOLO. What's your favorite Harrison Ford movie?

56A: Earliest flicks: SILENTS

61A: Charlie Parker's instrument: ALTO SAX. I could only think of SAXOPHONE.

Down:

8D: One Gabor: ZSA ZSA

9D: __ Semple McPherson: AIMEE. Absolutely no idea. Here is more information. Our editor used to clue AIMEE as "Actress Anouk".

12D: Tough times: ORDEALS

13D: Carpenter's tool: NAILSET. See this picture.

14D: Chemical compounds: ISOMERS. And ANE (53A: Chemical suffix).

21D: Within: pref.: ENTO. "Outside: pref." is ECTO.

24D: All together: EN MASSE. I wanted ENTIRE. I dislike how EN MASSE intersects AMASS (43A: Store up), visually jarring to me.

26D: Computer invaders: VIRUSES

28D: Revere's cohort: DAWES (William). I forgot. I think I googled his name before.

30D: Land of lamas: TIBET. I misread "lamas" as "llamas", so my first thought was PERU.

35D: D.C. suburb: BETHESDA. I forgot. It's in Maryland. According to Wikipedia, it's "the best-educated city in the United States of America with a population of 50,000 or more."

36D: Alternative fuel: GASOHOL. GASO(line) + (alco)HOL. I would not have got it without across clues. Only familiar with ethanol.

37D: Spring (from): EMANATE

40D: Archipelago segments: ISLANDS

47D: La Scala city: MILAN. And NY, London & Paris, fashion capitals of the world.

C.C.

Friday October 24, 2008 Edgar Fontaine

Theme: "Marry" Has a Little Rhyme

18A: Hogwarts' student: HARRY POTTER

23A: Former Heavyweight Champion: LARRY HOLMES

38A: Director of "Rain Man": BARRY LEVINSON

51A: Phillie with eight gold gloves: GARRY MADDOX

58A: Hatchet-wielding temperance advocate: CARRY NATION

"Rain Man" is a great movie, but I've never paid attention to its director's name. I am not familiar with either LARRY HOLMES or GARRY MADDOX. The only Phillie I could think of is Mike Schmidt (also 11-letter).

Besides GARRY MADDOX, there are also CUB (58D: Chicago pro) and ABNER (54D: Doubleday of baseball) for a baseball undertone. Though it's been debunked, I still like the myth that Doubleday invented baseball.

I think our editor was watching ball games while editing this puzzle, so many flaws. Awful clue for HITHERTO (11D: Until now) due to UNTIL (63A: Up to). A clue for Clara BARTON (6D: Coen film, "__ Fink") would have avoided the COEN (27D: "Fargo" director) duplication. There should be a "briefly" hint for OTS (32A: Bonus periods).

Across:

1A: Maternal flower?: MUM. Well, only in the UK, isn't it? It's MOM here. "Silent flower?" is better.

4A: Travail: LABOR

9A: Cause for a blessing? ACHOO

17A: Sound intensity units: abbr.: DBS (Decibels). Stumper for me.

20A: Hardest to fathom?: DEEPEST. Can you think of a word/phrase to clue DEEPEST without using "-est" (or "most"/"least")?

22A: Hebrew letter: RESH. New to me. It's 20th letter of Hebrew alphabet. Notice nun, tet and shin? Great words to play around for those Xword constructors.

26A: Writer Umberto: ECO. Hee, I finally remember his name.

29A: Needle case: ETUI. Long time no see!

30A: Toshiba rival: NEC. NEC belongs to Sumitomo. One of the earliest foreign companies to enter China after our "Open Door" policy (1978). Coca - Cola was an early bird too.

31A: Rider's whip: CROP. New to me. I've never heard of riding CROP or leather tongue.

35A: Oscillates: VIBRATES. I always associate VIBRATES with a trembling motion rather than "swing back and force".

55A: Alaska's first governor: EGAN. Wikipedia says EGAN is "the only governor in the state's history to have actually been born in Alaska." Sarah Palin was born in Sandpoint, Idaho.

57A: Singer Flack: ROBERTA. I love her "Killing Me Softly With His Song".

Down:

1D: Be a busybody: MEDDLE

3D: Capital of Lesotho: MASERU. No idea. LESOTHO was clued as "Basutoland, today" on a TMS Sunday puzzle before. It's encircled by South Africa.

4D: Massachusetts medical clinic: LAHEY. Another unknown. Is it as famous as Mayo Clinic?

8D: Actor Alejandro: REY. I googled his name, then I realized that I had searched for him before. He is in Elvis's "Fun in Acapulco".

24D: Tool for evening: LEVELER. New word to me.

25D: DLII times II: MCIV. Roman 1104.

28D: Saturn's wife: OPS. Googled again. Her equivalent is Rhea in Greek mythology. Saturn (Cronus) ate all his children except Jupiter (Zeus). How cruel!

36D: Again, in music: BIS. I wonde what's the origin for BIS.

39D: Be ruled by: ANSWER TO

49D: Forces from: EXACTS. The clue should be "Forces (from)", don't you think so?

C.C.

Thursday October 23, 2008 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: Cold-play

17A: Start of Ed Howe quip: I WISH IT WERE

28A: Part 2 of quip: POSSIBLE TO

40A: Part 3 of quip: PULL A

48A: Part 4 of quip: COLD, LIKE AN

63A: End of quip: ACHING TOOTH

Have you ever paid attention to how crossword constructors number their Across/Down clues? The first 13 Down clues are always in sequential order.

Also, in Quip/Quote puzzle, all the theme answers are supposed to be structured in Across. If there are an odd number of theme entries (Five in today's puzzle), the middle one has to be gridded in the very center of the puzzle and it must have an ODD number of letters (PULL A, 5 letters).

I hate the clue for MISLAID (25D: Lost). LOST TO is an answer for 5A: Was defeated by. Certain rules of cluing are not supposed to be broken. This duplication of clue/answer is a big No-No.

With OTT (6D: Polo Grounds great) in the grid and the World Series going on, you would think our editor has the foresight to clue SERIES (70A: One thing after another) differently.

Across:

1A: Vino region: ASTI. I like this clue better than the partial fill "___ Spumante".

11A: Letters for shock treatment: ECT (ElectroConvulsive Therapy). I would not have got it without the down clues. ECT just appeared in our puzzle last week.

24A: Scottish uncle: EME. No idea. How can the spelling and pronunciation are so drastically different from "uncle"? See this list of Scottish words and phrases. Lots of QU* words for Barry Silk to muse over.

26A: "Fiddler on the Roof" role: TEVYE. This is his "If I Were a Rich Man". I wanted YENTE.

34A: Egg-coloring brand: PAAS. Ha, this is the first time I encountered this brand. Why is it called PAAS instead of PASS?

35A: Emetic medication: IPECAC. I forgot. Identical clue on Sept. 2.

54A: Brahman, e.g.: CASTE. Brahman is "member of the highest, or priestly, class among the Hindus". Big stumper for me. I am used to the "Hindu social stratum/class" clue.

61A: Seal engraved on a ring: SIGNET

67A: Can skip: NEEDN'T. This kind of answer always give me trouble.

71A: Jewish month: ADAR. It's Purim's month.

Down:

4D: Part of foot: INSTEP. I thought of INCHES first.

8D: What's worldwide: THE WEB. I like this clue.

10D: Ballroom dance: ONE-STEP

11D: Undecided: EQUIVOCAL

12D: Like Shirley Temple's hairdo: CURLY. She is so sweet. I cannot undertand the appeal of this CURLY though.

13D: Linen fabric: TOILE. What's the story on this TOILE pillow?

18D: Billy of the Dead End kids: HALOP. I googled his name. He said he hated the name Dead End.

29D: Flavorful: SAPID. SAPID does not sound "flavorful" to me. In fact, it sounds vapid and unpalatable.

30D: Hansen of NPR's "Weekend Edition": LIANE. She is the lady on the left. Her husband is Neal Conan, host of NPR's "Talk of the Nation", which I listen occasionally.

41D: Gospel writer: LUKE. What does "Physician, heal thyself" mean?

46D: Implied: TACIT

50D: Honshu city: NAGOYA. I googled again. I only know the Chinese word for NAGOYA (名古屋) . See this map.

64D: Despot Amin: IDI. Do you still remember the name of the president who preceded and succeeded Amin? I don't. Let me check...Ah, Milton OBOTE. Actually, it's Apollo Milton OBOTE.

C.C.

Wednesday October 22, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: J & J

18A: Denim item: JEANS JACKET

61A: Party punch: JUNGLE JUICE

3D: Jumpin' hot spot: JUKE JOINT

34D: Portly planes?: JUMBO JET

And more J words to intersect the above theme entries:

1A: M. Houlihan's rank: MAJ. "M*A*S*H".

24A: Horizontal beams: JOISTS

34A: Lively dance: JIG

58A: H-M connection: IJKL

4D: __ Mahal: TAJ

19D: King's comic: JESTER. I don't understand the clue and the answer.

49D: Prized trinket: BIJOU. New word to me.

57D: Member of the "Love Train" soul group: O'JAY. Unknown to me also. Here is "Love Train".

So many famous JJ names: Janis Joplin, Joan Jett and Jesse Jackson. Oh, don't forget Shoeless Joe (Joe Jackson). He deserves to be in HOF. If you build it, he will come.

I hope you enjoyed solving this puzzle as much as I did. It's a great construction. There are quite a few unfamiliar names, but most of them are inferable from crossing fills. I still had to resort to Google though.

The clue for SERER (47A: Senegalese language) made me laugh. How obscure! Barry must be very excited to find this language. Otherwise, he would have to clue it as "more dry", which might irk some solvers.

Across:

4A: Puccini opera: TOSCA. Does anyone know the meaning of "TOSCA la ha" (Emperor Gene Nelson sign-off line)?

15A: Turkish bigwigs: AGHAS. PASHAS are also "Turkish bigwigs".

17A: Shatner novel: "__ War": TEK. Got it this time.

20A: Skater's jump: AXEL. Can you believe the first AXEL jump was performed in 1882?

26A: Lymphoid organ: SPLEEN

28A: Geological period: AZOIC. No idea. Dictionary defines it as "noting or pertaining to the Precambrian Era, esp. that part formerly believed to precede the first appearance of life". Rooted in Greek ázō(os) meaning "lifeless".

33A: Insertion symbol: CARET

52A: San Luis __: OBISPO. Here is the map. I've never heard of it before. Wikipedia says Loren Roberts was born and raised there. He has such an enviable putting stroke, so smooth and unhurried. OBISPO is Spanish for "Bishop".

55A: Japanese sci-fi film: RODAN. See the movie trailer. So horrifying.

69A: Like some questions: YES-NO

Down:

2D: NYSE rival: AMEX. NASDAQ is very scrabbly too.

5D: S-shaped moldings: OGEES. Can anyone explain to me what exactly is OGEE? I cannot see any S-shape in this OGEE clock frame.

7D: Game with four jokers: CANASTA. Did you know that CANASTA originally came from Uruguay?

12D: "Guys and Dolls" song: SUE ME. I got it from the across clue. See the clip.

13D: Mythical giant: TITAN. ATLAS is a TITAN.

21D: Lane in Metropolis: LOIS. I like this clue. Much more interesting than "Superman's girlfriend Lane".

25D: Like navigable northern waterways: ICE-FREE

28D: Actress Baxter: ANNE. I guessed. Wikipedia says she won Oscar for best supporting role in "The Razor's Edge", which stars GENE Tiernery also (see 36D: Tierney of films).

33D: G. P. A. slangily: CUME (Cumulative). New slang to me. I wish I had attended some kind of school here in the US.

39D: "No Exit" playwright: SARTRE. I think his "Being and Nothingness" & "Nausea" are more famous. Speaking of existentialism, do you like Milan Kundera's "The Unbreable Lightness of Being"?

46D: Arizona tribe: HOPI. Does anyone collect HOPI Kachina dolls?

63D: Paul Anka's "__ Beso": His voice sounds so warm.

C.C.