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Nov 8, 2008

Saturday November 8, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: None

Total blocks: 30

This does not feel like an Allan E. Parrish puzzle, does it? There are no Z, Q or X. I think Barry Silk's puzzles are more consistent, with all those scrabbly letters.

I just had a quick look at my blog summery earlier. Since Jan 21, we've solved 45 Alan P. Olschwang puzzles, 28 Alan E. Parrish, 25 Michael T. Williams, 20 Barry Silk and 18 Josiah Breward. I wish John Underwood could be more productive. Some of Norma Steinberg's and Stan Whitten's puzzles are very entertaining too.

I don't expect much grumbling about this puzzle today. Pretty straightforward cluing. Most of the new words are obtainable from the adjacent fills. The clue for TRADE NAME (33D: Corporate ID) should not be abbreviated.

Across:

1A: '80 arcade game: MS. PAC-MAN. Stumper for me. I only knew PAC-MAN.

15A: Bologna tongue: ITALIANO. Both Jude Law and Matt Damon are great in "The Talented Mr. Ripley". I like "Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano", though I don't understand the meaning of the lyrics.

17A: Denial: NEGATION

20A: Loss of memory: AMNESIA. I also love "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". It's about AMNESIA, lacunar AMNESIA to be exact.

23A: Show shock, e.g.: REACT. "It's not what happens to you, but how you REACT to it that matters". Hard to obtain Epictetus' stoical self-discipline though.

26A: NASA orbiter: ISS (International Space Station). Our editor likes to clue ESA as "NASA's ISS partner".

27A: 1997 Nicolas Cage movie: CON AIR. Some of it is too violent for my taste. I like the song "How Do I Live".

31A: Space station visitor: ASTRONAUT. I have an autographed John Glenn picture.

34A: Behind with bills: IN ARREARS

39A: Ones with a will: TESTATORS. What is the word for "Ones without a will"?

45A: Old-time actress Renee: ADOREE. I forgot. Saw this clue before. She was a silent film star. And she died when she was only 35, without a will.

46A: D-Day vessel: LST. It's used in "Saving Private Ryan".

55A: Aircraft pioneer: CESSNA (Clyde). Ha, I forgot all about him & his aircraft. My poor graying brain!

59A: Spanish pianist Jose: ITURBI. No idea. Here is ITUBRBI playing Chopin's "Fantaisie-Impromptu".

61A: Molded dishes: ASPICS. I am going to try this vegetable ASPIC someday. Marvelous idea to sprinkle over some pistachio nuts.

62A: Pittsburgh players: STEELERS. They have won 5 Super Bowls. Vikings: 0.

Down:

1D: Mediterranean island: MINORCA. Great map. See MINORA & Majorca? They belong to Spain. I've never heard of it before.

3D: Public spectacle: PAGEANT. What a mysterious case with that little PAGEANT princess JonBenet!

5D: Tickets: CITATIONS

12D: Vertical bar between panes: MULLION. Unknow to me. These are not MULLIONS, are they? They are horizontal.

24D: Piranha: CARIBE. No idea. Ozzi Guillen likes to call Twins players "Piranhas".

30D: Greek advisor at Troy: NESTOR. Another unknown. Dictionary says NESTOR is "the oldest and wisest of the Greeks in the Trojan War and a king of Pylos." He was an Argonaut and was 110 when the war started. I don't remember seeing him in "Troy".

32D: Conductor Toscanini: ARTURO. I forgot his name, again. He has appeared twice in our puzzle before. He was a conductor for the New York Philharmonic for 10 years (1926-1936). He looks so intense.

35D: One-time link: AT A. One AT A time.

36D: Island near Martinique: ST LUCIA. See this map.

37D: Mollycoddles: COSSETS. Any other synonym besides pampers?

40D: Mouth: ORIFICE

44D: French port on the channel: CALAIS. Forgot also. Shouldn't the clue be "French port on the English Channel"?

47D: "Countdown" network: MSNBC. I only watch "Hardball with Chris Matthews" now.

51D: Fractions of a joule: ERGS. 1 joule = 10 million ERGS.

52D: Frobe of "Goldfinger": GERT. No idea. Got his name from the across fills.

58D: Latvian chess maker: TAL (Mikhail). He was born in Riga, Latvia. See this picture. I've never heard of Iakov Damsky.

C.C.

Nov 7, 2008

Friday November 7, 2008 Barry Silk

Theme: How Now Brown Cow

20A: Feeling Okay?: HOW ARE THINGS?

29A: Occasionally: NOW AND THEN

46A: Rolling Stones hit: BROWN SUGAR

56A: Farmer's outing contest: COW CHIP THROW

I was bewildered by Barry's choice for 46A. I wanted a BOW* phrase, thinking of a WOW rhyming theme. (Addendum: I was not aware of "How now brown cow" phrase. Thanks, Chris.)

I've never heard of COW CHIP THROW. I did not know the meaning of COW CHIP. How can people stand the smell?

Are you OK with the HORNET clue (67A: Charlotte pro)? Shouldn't be "New Orleans pro"? I also don't understand the STRIP clue (55D: Get into your birthday suit?). How so?

Across:

1 Math proof letter: QED. Have not seen ERAT (Often clued as "Part of QED") for a while.

4A: Triton's sch.: UCSD (University of California, San Diego). I did not know that Tritons is their mascot.

14A: Verse starter?: UNI. No guts to clue it as "Sex starter"?

15A: Lanai neighbor: MAUI. I wonder why Hawaiian language are so vowel intensive.

16A: Having a tapering end: POINTY

18A: Tournament passes: BYES

23A: Luke's Jedi mentor: OBI-WAN. Do you know how the author came up with this name? It sounds very Japanese.

33A: Glum drop: TEAR. Very unexpected clue. I like it though.

44A: Linguist Chomsky: NOAM. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Is he very famous?

48A: Key with 3 sharps: A MAJ. I suppose "3" indictes that the answer needs to be abbreviated.

53A: QVC rival: HSN (Home Shopping Network). QVC will be a very scrabbly answer for "HSN rival".

54A: Court decree: ASSIZE. This is a new word to me. I thought of WRIT.

59A: #1 hit by the Fleetwoods: MR. BLUE. Here is the song. New to me also.

62A: Purim's month: ADAR

65A: Soda brand: NEHI

68A: C. Everett __: KOOP. I googled. He was Reagan's Surgeon General.

Down:

1D: Cape Cod clam: QUAHOG

4D: Eclipse shadow: UMBRA. Partial shadow is penumbra.

6D: Mutton fat: SUET. Is it the same as lard?

9D: Beatnik instrument: BONGO DRUM. BONGO was clued as "Drum type" in Barry's last puzzle. Here is "Let There Be Drums" again.

12D: MO town: STL. I am used to the "Cardinal's letters" clue.

13D: Part of a wd: SYL And PHRASE (64A: String of word).

27D: Cameo stone: ONYX. This ONYX tile looks broken.

31D: Injustice: WRONG

32D: Bo's number: TEN. Very sexy bellyrolling scene.

33D: Brownstone, perhaps: TOWNHOUSE. Or this brand of cracker, perhaps.

37D: Roof with removable panels: T- TOP

40D: Nonvenomous snake: BOA. I had no idea that it's nonvenomous.

43D: Comparable to candy or kisses: AS SWEET. How old is this sign?

45D: Plains tribe: ARAPAHO. Sigh, I forgot again. It's been in our puzzle 3 times since I started blogging.

49D: Desert illusion: MIRAGE. Do you like "The English Patient"?

50D: Portuguese islands: AZORES. See this map. It's in North Atlantic. New to me.

51D: Gems: JEWELS

57D: Slugger Aaron: HANK. We often see AARON clued as "Slugger Hank".

59D: Radar gun meas.: MPH

C.C.