Monday November 10, 2008 Michael T. Williams

Theme: Shape Up

17A: Starting all over again: BACK TO SQUARE ONE

38A: Prepare to be surrounded: CIRCLE THE WAGONS

59A: Geometric arrangement of binomial coefficients: PASCAL'S TRIANGLE

I've heard of PASCAL'S TRIANGLE, but I have no clue what it is. CIRCLE THE WAGON is a new idiom to me. Is "Katy bar the door" a well-known phrase?

I like this puzzle. Nice theme and straightforward cluing. And a gentle spa-coddling for my raisin-in-the-sun like brain.

Across:

14A: Panache: BRIO. Are you familiar with the musical term "con BRIO"?

15A: Ostriches' kin: RHEAS. RHEA is also the mother of Zeus, Hades, Hera, Poseidon and Demeter in Greek mythology.

21A: Abalone opener: OTTER. Wikipedia says some OTTERS are expert in opening shellfish.

27A: Assassinated Israeli leader: RABIN. Nobel peace winner 1994. He was assassinated in 1995. President Clinton called RABIN "a martyr for peace". I wonder if the constructor thought of BEGIN & Sadat & Camp David when he worked on this grid.

31A: Money plant?: MINT. I like this clue.

42A: Sicilian volcano: ETNA. Literally "I burn" in Greek. The Sicilian resort is called ENNA. See ETNA and ENNA?

44A: Granter of wishes: GENIE. Is there a "Granter of dreams" in any lore/myth?

68A: Palm fruits: DATES. Inaccurate clue. Chinese DATES are not "Palm fruits". I really miss the fresh dates and the tree-ripe persimmons in Xi'An.

Down:

3D: Guitar run: LICK. No idea. What is "LICK"? I don't understand the clue either. What does "run" mean?

7D: Next in a series: abbr.: SEQ (Sequel). I would not have got this one without the across fills.

9D: NASA's partner: ESA (European Space Agency). I am tired of this clue.

12D: Use a diapason: TUNE. Is "diapason" a special musical term?

18D: Holland or Lincoln, e.g.: TUNNEL. Not familiar with Holland TUNNEL.

24D: Small-time gambler: TINHORN. New word to me.

25D: International accord: ENTENTE. So close to détente.

26D: Goulash or slumgullion: STEW. Not familiar with slumgullion. It does not sound or look appealing to me.

40D: Island near Corsica: ELBA. I had no idea that ELBA belongs to Italy.

51D: Beaver Cleaver's dad: WARD. I guessed. Have never watched "Leave it to Beaver".

C.C.

Sunday November 9, 2008 Robert H. Wolfe

Theme: Selective Collective

27A: Group of pooches: OODLES OF POODLES

120A: Group of tropical fish: MASSES OF WRASSES

16D: Group of swine: SCORES OF BOARS

34D: Group of food fish (var.): SCADS OF SHADS

37D: Group of jumpers: LOADS OF TOADS

39D: Group of jumpers, briefly: SLEWS OF ROOS

59A: Group of male donkeys: STACKS OF JACKS

I've never heard of the tropical fish WRASSES (120A). Why there is a "var." mark for 34D?

What a puzzle! Now I feel like a raisin in the morning sun, not dried up and not plump either. I think I still have some moisture left.

I've never filled in so many blanks on a Sunday puzzle. The simple rhyming theme certainly helped. And there was no obscure medical/chemical term intersecting one another to frustrate me.

Had to do a few googling and a few V-8 moment wite-outs in the end. But today's efficient solving makes me feel rather smart. Not much to complain except the clue for SASH (86A: Pageant ID). The abbreviated ID is asking for an abbreviated answer. A simple "Pageant wear" will do the job.

Across:

9A: Type of committee: AD HOC. And another Latin phrase: HIC (77A: __ jacet).

21A: Dentition: TEETH. Dention and teething are synonymous, not TEETH, right?

25A: Mediterranean island nation: MALTA. Its capital is Valletta.

26A: Parkinson's medication: L-DOPA. I forgot. It appeared in our puzzle before.

32A: Gang follower?: STER. Gangster, mobster, teamster, etc.

36A: Kind of tea or remedy: HERBAL

60A: "__ the Explorer": DORA. Lovely DORA bedding set for a small girl.

80A: Switched switch: OFF ON. I don't understand the grammar of the clue.

88A: Both haves of a fly?: TSES. Tsetse. I guess there is no other better way to clue TSES.

89A: "The Right Stuff" org.: NASA. Pure guess. I've never heard of the movie "The Right Stuff" .

92A: Prairie coverage: OAT GRASS. Oh, I did not know that this grass is called OAT GRASS. So different from wheatgrass.

95A: Swanson of Hollywood: GLORIA. She appears in almost every JFK biography due to her affair with Joe Kennedy Sr.

97A: Disney World attraction: EPCOT. Have you been to EPCOT Center?

107A: Everett of "Citizen Kane": SLOANE. I googled his name. I found the movie hard to follow.

111A: such being the case: AS IT IS

123A: Plant with two seed leaves: DICOT. No idea. See this Monocot vs DICOT link. What are "two seed leaves"?

128A: Century plant: AGAVE. The fiber AGAVE yields is called sisal hemp.

132A: Desert traveler: NOMAD

133A: DOD part: DEPT. DOD is Department of Defense.

Down:

1D: Poetic stanza: STROPHE. I would not have got this word without the across fills.

2D: Spaces between leaf veins: AREOLES. The singular form is AREOLA, which was clued as " Ring around the pupil" last time.

4D: Space station of old: SKYLAB. From 1973-1979. MIR was de-orbed in 2001.

6D: New bread abroad: EUROS. I like this clue.

9D: Start of sphere: ATMO. Atmosphere.

10D: View from Mount Pisgah: DEAD SEA. Where is Mount Pisgah? I only see Mount Nebo.

15D: Capp of comic strips: ANDY. Hmm, I'd love the clue to be ANDY Garcia related.

17D: Long-snouted animal: TAPIR. He is ugly, like a pig. I did not know his name before.

28D: Day's march: ETAPE. Again, without the adjacent fills, I would not have obtained this word. I don't think I understood "Day's march" last time when we had the discussion.

29D: Bay window: ORIEL. See this link.

45D: Animal fat: LARD. It's pork fat. Suet is beef/mutton fat.

47D: Thin wdt.: NAR. Narrow? What is "wdt"? Width?

50D: Defeat decisively: TROUNCE

51D: Bombing runs: SORTIES

52D: Corey of "Murphy's Romance": HAIM. Another google. Have never heard of Corey HAIM or "Murphy's Romance" before.

53D: Silents star Theda: BARA. The Vamp. I often confuse her with the "It" girl Clara Bow.

55D: Oscar winner Kedrova: LILA. She won Oscar for "Zorba the Greek".

63D: Supreme Court Justice Black: HUGO. What case is he famous for?

74D: Far from the flock: LOST

94D: Diamond of "Night Court": SELMA. Is she the pretty girl on the front row? I've never heard of her name before.

96D: Fretting: IN A STEW

98D: Tapioca source: CASSAVA. Have you had fresh CASSAVA before?

102D: Yellowstone attraction: GEYSERS. Great picture.

108D: Eviction: OUSTER

109D: Trooper's gun: RADAR. Or the Nehi drinker (M*A*S*H).

119D: Vincent Lopez theme song: NOLA. I could only find this theme music clip, not the song.

C.C.