Tuesday January 6, 2009 Diane C. Baldwin

Theme: Heating Up

20A: Lives dangerously: SKATES ON THIN ICE

37A: Finds troubles: LANDS IN HOT WATER

48A: Loses one's punch: IS ALL OUT OF STEAM

Too bad RUNS OUT OF STEAM is one letter short. I feel it's a better clue than IS ALL OUT OF STEAM. BLOWING OFF STEAM has the correct number of the letters, but it does not fit the tense pattern.

Nice to see YOGI (11D: Berra of baseball) in the grid. Wish MITT (8D: Potholder alternative) were clued as "Glove for 11D" as a tie-in. YOGI Berra is a great catcher after all. Who is your favorite catcher? I used to like A. J. Pierzynski. Wish I had seen Johnny Bench play.

Easy sailing today. Notice how this puzzle differs from the ones offered by Allan E. Parrish/Barry Silk? No letter Q, X or Z.

Oh, for those who have trouble with Roman numerals, here is a great website for you to cheat. Also, I found this snowball clip JD/Clear Ayes located yesterday to be very funny.

Across:

15A: Pueblo dweller: HOPI. Zuni is 4-letter too. Look at these HOPI Kachina dolls, very intriguing. Their bodies are carved out of wood, right?

25A: Makes confused: ADDLES. Reminds me of that long fancy word "Discombobulates".

34A: React to a bad pun: GROAN. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!". Does this make you GROAN?

40A: Musical piece: OPUS. Have never seen OPUS clued as "__ Dei" in TMS puzzle.

41A: Demeanor: MIEN. This word always brings to mind the Marlboro Marine. He has such a tough MIEN, yet so fragile in real life.

57A: Asian capital: SEOUL. Literally "capital city" in Korean language. The same as Japanese city Kyoto. Beijing literally means "North capital" in Chinese. Nanjing (Nanking in Cantonese) is "South capital". Xi'An means "West peace".

60A: Marine ray: MANTA. I can never remember this fish. What is so special about it?

64A: March middle: IDES. The 15th of March, May, July, or October. And 13th of the other months.

Down:

13D: Withered: SERE. And WET (43A: Moisten).

25D: Luminous: AGLOW. Does anyone like J-Lo's GLOW?

26D: Cover loosely: DRAPE. Beautiful, isn't it?

35D: Purl's counterpart: KNIT. I thought PURL is a kind of knitting. Why "counterpart"?

36D: Glass panel: PANE. Horrible clue.

45D: Whiskey bottle sizes: FIFTHS. No idea. Why FIFTH instead of fifth or sixth?

46D: Mozart's "The Magic __": FLUTE. Here is "The Magic Flute" overture.

54D: New Old World money: EURO. I misread money as "monkey". Thought of TITI, which is actually "New World monkey".

55D: Kind of sax: ALTO. This clue made me laugh. But seriously, I have great difficulty pronouncing "sax" and "sex" distinctly. I need a patient person to sit in front of me and teach me how to say "bad", "bed" and "bide".

C.C.

Monday January 5, 2009 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Access Control

18A: "Fatal Attraction" star: GLENN CLOSE

57A: "Fallin" singer: ALICIA KEYS

3D: Magical command: OPEN SESAME

29D: Noted porridge taster: GOLDILOCKS

A few things first:

1) I know that some of you only read my main blog entry every day. I suggest you start visiting Comments section. You will find more fascinating information and intelligent discussions there.

2) For those who have been lurking on the Comments section, I hope you will join the fray today. I would love to hear your "whining" about the puzzle or puzzle inspired topics.

3) I've decided to cut down my blogging activity this year. There will be no change on the main blog entry. But I won't make as many appearances on the Comments section from now on, unless I have questions or feel some explanation is needed.

As every comment is forwarded to my email account, I will still read and study every one of your post. Can't tell you in words how appreciative I am of the time and effort you guys have given me to better understand American culture. I am very touched by your kindness and generosity. Thank you.

Now back to the puzzle. I know GLENN CLOSE starred in "Fatal Attraction", though I've never seen the movie. ALICIA KEYS is such a talented singer. I love "Fallin". I've never heard of "The Story of GOLDILOCKS and the Three Bears". But I don't like the embedded *LOCKS in this answer. KEYS, OPEN and CLOSE are all stand-alone independent theme answers. Lack of theme consistency in my opinion.

Also, the clue for PONDWEED (20A: Submerged perennials) should be in singular form. Easy solving today.

Across:

14A: Pith helmet: TOPI. Unknown to me. Pictures of antelopes showed up when I googled TOPI. I've never heard of "Pith helmet" either.

15A: Japanese-American: NISEI. Second generation, to be exact. The root word SEI means birth, Ni means second. ISSEI is first generation (IS means first). SANSEI is third generation (SAN means third), don't confuse it with SENSEI (Judo/Karate teacher). Also, KIBEI is a person of Japanese descent, born in the U.S. but educated in Japan (KI is to return, BEI is America).

25A: Granitelike rock: GNEISS. Only learned this morning that it's pronounced the same as nice. I might confuse you with my spoken English. There is no distinction between my "bad" and "bed", "sax" and "sex".

40A: Take away game: NIM. I got it from down clues. What is it? Why "Take away"? Is it related to Nimbod in anyway?

41A: Indian bread?: RUPEE. "Nepal/Pakistan/Sri Lanka bread?" as well.

47A: Alabama port: MOBILE. Had no idea that it's Alabama's only seaport. Hank Aaron was born here. Come to the Comments section and say Hi if you are from MOBILE.

54A: Gorbachev policy: GLASNOST. Literally "publicity/openess". I know the meaning of this word when I read it in the newspaper. But I could not spell it out without help.

64A: Many-headed monster: HYDRA. Nine-headed, to be accurate. He was slain by Hercules. Reminds me of Janus, the two-faced god, from whom we got January.

Down:

9D: Crystal radio component: ZINCITE. New to me. I only know ZINC.

13D: Very French?: TRES. Also "A Spanish crowd?" (three).

25D: Accra location: GHANA. Often see ACCRA clued as "Ghana Capital". Ex-UN Chief Kofi Anna came from GHANA. I have an autographed photo of him.

27D: Narcotic nut: BETEL. The same as areca nut, right?

30D: Bay window: ORIEL. Here is a photo. Doesn't look like bay-shape to me.

45D: Ancient calculator: ABACUS. I really, really hate this clue "Ancient". It implies to me that ABACUS was used ages ago. I used it when I was at primary school. And my uncle still prefers ABACUS over calculator. Sorry, Calef, I just can't be persuaded by your "been in existance for a long time" argument.

47D: Bad atmosphere: MIASMA. Just learned this word a few days ago.

54D: Anglo-Saxon tax: GELD. New definition to me. I always associate GELD with "castrate".

C.C.

Sunday January 4, 2009 Ed Voile

Theme: Old/New Things

23A: Any date in 2008? OLD YEAR'S DAY (New Year's Day)

25A: Replacement dog?: NEW YELLER (Old Yeller)

40A: City in ancient France?: OLD ORLEANS (New Orleans)

53A: Recently made?: NEW FASHIONED (Old Fashioned)

83A: Past eras in a city near Leeds?: OLD YORK TIMES (New York Times)

98A: Ebonics, e.g.?: NEW ENGLISH (Old English)

111A: Pink slip of a former GM Car?: OLDS PAPER (Newspaper)

116A: Waterway named for Paul?: NEWMAN RIVER (Ol' Man River)

"Ol' Man River" is a new song to me. As for 98A, Wikipedia says Ebonics refers to "Black English" or "African American Vernacular English". Why is it called NEW ENGLISH then? And How is it related to Old English? I guess I don't understand the rationale for his clue buildup.

Very nice and timely theme. Of those 8 theme answers, OLD YORK TIMES is my favorite.

Sunday's puzzle is always intimidating to me. The sheer size is overwhelming. And it often contains a few strange medical/chemical terms and obscure people' names. The difficulty level of NY Times Sunday puzzle is the same as their Thursday's. But our puzzle does not follow their pattern. I would say TMS Sunday is the most difficult, at least for me. I hope I can finish a 21*21 without cheating by the end of 2009.

Across:

11A: Playful troublemakers: SCALAWAGS. A new rascal word to me. Dictionary says that SCALAWAG also refers to "a native white Southerner who collaborated with the occupying forces during Reconstruction, often for personal gain."

20A: Unit of loudness: SONE. About 40 decibels.

21A: Civil War battle site: SHILOH. I was not familiar with Battle of SHILOH. What's so siginificant about it?

26A: Rocket launcher: BAZOOKA. OK, here is a picture. It's a portable. Topps also manufactures BAZOOKA baseball card.

27A: School in Sandhurst. Eng.: RMA (Royal Military Academy)

31A: Spaces between leaf veins: AREOLES. Can also be spelled AREOLAS, AREOLAE. The singular form is AREOLA. This is the only diagram I could find. And obviously they are not "Spaces between leaf veins".

35A: Chloroform discoverer: LIEBIG. OK, I checked, it's not a BIG LIE. This guy LIEBIG is indeed the discoverer of Chloroform, whatever it is. Wikipedia also says that he is known as the "father of the fertilizer industry" for his discovery of nitrogen as an essenitial plant nutrient.

45A: Wilson and Mulroney: BRIANS. Wilson is the lead singer for The Beach Boys. And Mulroney was the Canadian Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. I knew neither of them. Easy guess though.

52A: Gust of wind: SCUD. I always associate SCUD with ballistic missile.

63A: Arlene or Roald: DAHL. Arlene DAHL is an actress. Roald DAHL is the author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Both unknown to me.

67A: Isl. of Australia: TAS. I wish it were clued as "Prof's aides".

69A: Current flow restrictors: DIODES. No idea. This is too complicated for me to understand.

75A: "The Conformist" writer Moravia: ALBERTO. I googled his name.

79A: Destitute class: HAVE-NOTS

86A: Climb (a rope): SHINNY. New to me. Looks like an adjective.

96A: Mutation: FREAK. How so?

102A: Capital of ancient Lydia: SARDIS. See this map. Way obscure to me.

104A: "Roberta" star: ASTAIRE. Alright, here is the clip. I've never heard of "Roberta".

109A: Cooking sticks: SKEWERS

120A: Seaport in the Philippines: ILOILO. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Here is the map again. The spelling reminds of the African fly TSETSE.

124A: Scott of a famous case: DRED. Was he a gimme to you? I could only picture Scott Peterson in my mind. What a awful man he is.

Down:

4D: Milne character: EEYORE. Learned from doing Xword. How to pronounce EEYORE again?

6D: Racing org.: NHRA (National Hot Rod Association)

10D: Aromatic fungicide: THYMOL. THYME & OL (suffix for alcohol). Unknown to me. How can fungicide be "Aromatic"?

19D: Old pol. unit: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic). Pre-1991 obviously.

31D: Slow musical passages: ADAGIOS

34D: Sergeant fish: SNOOK. Had zero familiarity with this giant fish.

36D: Italian bowling: BOCCI. Or BOCCE. Yet another unknown. Looks like they are having fun.

37D: Pelvic bone: ILIUM. Also the Latin name for ancient Troy.

45D: Actor De Wilde: BRANDON. Another google. Which movie is he famous for?

47D: Mountain nymph: OREAD. Echo is an OREAD in Greek mythology.

50D: FDR or JFK: DEM. BHO is a DEM too. Weird, isn't it? Obama sounds so much better.

52D: Blues or Cardinals: ST. LOUIS

53D: Pres. advisory grp.: NSC (National Security Council). James Jones will be Obama's National Security Advisor.

59D: Love potion, in Britain: PHILTRE. Holy smoke. Really? How come I've never heard of this word? It's rooted in Greek philos, love. I suppose PHILTER is "Love potion, in America". Maybe I need to learn how to brew PHILTER.

68D: Ratfink: STOOLIE

77D: Mass calendars: ORDOS. Latin for "order". I have no doubt that I won't be able to remember this word next time the clue comes up.

80D: Director Kurosawa: AKIRA. I recognized his Japanese name when I googled. What a brilliant career!

84D: Hebrew letter: KOPH. 19th letter of Hebrew alphabet. I got it from the across fills. It's pronounced the same as cough.

90d: Master of a ship SKIPPER. I always thought Joe DiMaggio's nickname is Yankee SKIPPER rather than Yankee Clipper.

93D: "Falconer" writer: CHEEVER (John). Here is the bookcover. Is it worth reading? Have never heard of this writer.

94D: Earthly: TERRENE. Only knew terrain.

95D: Blows a gasket: SEES RED. And HUFFS (79D: Blows hard). Someone is mad.

97D: "__ Fideles": ADESTE. Semper came up first.

105D: Austrian article: DER. Never know when to put DER, when to put DAS.

110D: Macrame feature: KNOT. I did not know the meaning of Macrame.

111D: Archaic: abbr.: OBS (Obsolete). Where can you find this abbreviation?

118D:Wire measure: MIL. It's about .001 inch. Saw this clue before.

C.C.

Saturday January 3, 2009 Josiah Breward

Theme: None

Total block: 38

Total word: 68

What's so special today? Why two crosses in the grid? Pure coincidence?

Funny how visual images can be so misguiding. After a quick glance at the simple grid, I had thought we might have a new record for the lowest total blocks. So wrong. It turns out that this puzzle actually has the highest number of black squares, though the total word count is quite low.

Still some suffixes, but not too excessive. CERN struck me as very obscure, but it's obtainable from the crossing fills, so is YAOUNDE.

But I cheated too early. Should have worked hard for MALACHI instead of looking up in the Reference Supplement section of my dictionary for "Books of Bible" immediately. Definitely not a satisfying solving experience.

Across:

1A: Awllike tool: ICEPICK. The weapon Sharon Stone used in "Basic Instinct". Leon Trotsky was also murdered with an ICEPICK.

8A:Lug laboriously: SCHLEPP. I thought it's SCHLEP, one P.

15A: Old Testament closer: MALACHI. Wikipedia says MALACHI might not be "the name of the author, since MALACHI means 'my messenger' or 'my angel' in Hebrew".

16A: Rigby of song: ELEANOR. By The Beatles. Unknown to me, the tune sounds very familiar though.

18A: Alternative to pasta: RISOTTO. There is really a science behind a perfect RISOTTO. Very complicated to prepare.

20A: Poetic globe: ORB. Or "Eye, poetically".

21A: Troy, NY school: RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). My brain simply refuses to accept this school name. What is RPI famous for?

22A: Uris novel, with "The": HAJ. It was QB VII yesterday.

28A: Herbal quaff: SAGE TEA. I've never had SAGE TEA. Guess that's why I can't even finish a Saturday puzzle without cheating.

29A: Grp. of gridders: AFC (American Football Conference). I thought of NFL. Holy cow, the Vikings belongs to NFC. I didn't even know that. OK, now I know TDS, QBS, NFL, AFC and NFC. What else? Oh, YDS & wardrobe malfunction.

30A: Eur. particle accelerator location: CERN (Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire - European Council for Nuclear Research). It's the the world's largest particle physics lab according to Wikipedi. Doesn't feel like it's something worth knowing.

32A: Work unit: ERG. Ten-millionth of a joule.

35A: Old-style second person verb: WOULDST. Strung the answer together with the crossing help.

38A: Illumination unit: LUX. What? I thought LUX is a brand of soap.

40A: Primitive plant: ALGA. Nori, kelp and other seaweeds are all ALGAE.

42A: Take over for: RELIEVE. Ah, how I miss baseball! Goose Goosage made into HOF last year. He is a great reliever.

46A: Fractional ending: ETH. "Biblical verb ending" as well.

50A: German automobile pioneer: DAIMLER

55A: Can. province: QUE. Next I want "___ Sera, Sera".

56A: Capital of Cameroon: YAOUNDE. No idea. See this map. I wonder what YAOUNDE means in its local language.

62A: Parents: REARERS. I only knew REAR. If it's a valid word, then step-parents are REARERS too. My REARER is my grandma.

63A: Most labyrinthine: MAZIEST. Have never heard of MAZY before.

Down:

1D: Mrs. Marcos: IMELDA. Ah, shoes, of which she had too many. It's like my baseball card collection, very addictive.

2D: Indian pony: CAYUSE. I forgot. Saw this clue/answer before. CAYUSE is named after the Indian tribe.

5D: Discharges from wounds: ICHORS. I rememer ICHOR was clued as "Blood of gods" before,

6D: Nervous system disorder: CHOREA. Another new word to me. Is it pronounced the same as Korea?

8D: Saw-toothed: SERRATED

13D: French stewlike dish: POT-AU-FEU. I won't link a picture, since so many of you just hate this dish.

14D: Item on a secret agenda: PROJECT X

25D: Inveigh: DECLAIM. So many *claim words: DECLAIM, disclaim, reclaim, proclaim, exclaim, acclaim and misclaim.

34D: Sword lily: GLADIOLA. Not my favorite flower. Too wild for me. I did not know it's also called "Sword lily" though.

36D: Poisonous shrub: OLEANDER. Which part is poisonous?

43D: Jewish Jehovah: ELOHIM. You would think this would be a gimme for me after reading your comments three weeks ago. But no. Dear God, please let me know your name next time.

44D: City in a Shakespeare title: VERONA. "The Two Gentlemen of VERONA".

45D: Poor quality imitation: ERSATZ. Dealt with too many ERSATZ luxury products when I worked with Pinkerton (Intellectual Investigation) in China.

57D: Egy-Syr., for a time: UAR (United Arab Republic). Between 1958 to 1961, during Nasser's presidency.

C.C.

Interview with Barry Silk

Since July 2003, Barry Silk's puzzles have appeared in NY Times, LA Times, NY Sun, USA Today and TMS. As you can see from Jim's database, Barry constructed 14 puzzles for NY Times alone in 2008, very impressive record.

We first solved Barry's TMS puzzle on May 27, 2008. Since then, he has offered us 25 quality puzzles. I've always been intrigued by Barry and his scrabbly style. And I was so happy that Barry agreed to answer some of my questions. I hope you find them enjoyable.

Where did you get the inspiration for today's MATCH puzzle and how did you decide the four theme answers (I am curious about your thinking process)?

It's been a while since I've constructed this puzzle, but I believe one day during a power failure and having to light candles with a match, I thought that MATCH might make a good theme. With a little bit of research I was able to come up with the themed entries in this puzzle. I believe I chose SWIZZLESTICK and CARDBOARDBOX because of their "scrabblyness" and they both have the same number of letters required for symmetry. I can't remember exactly why I chose POPCORNMAKER and BROWNIEPOINT other than I thought it they would make good themed answers.

How do you think your puzzles are different from others and why do you go to such a direction?

When possible, I try to incorporate 'interesting' words and phrases into my puzzles that, to my knowledge, haven't appeared in any puzzle before. Also, I usually try to make each puzzle into a pangram with "scrabbly" fill. For those who aren't familiar with the term pangram (as applied to crosswords), it is a puzzle that uses every letter of the alphabet. I once read in a book about crossword construction that using the rarer letters (J,Q,X,Z) in the fill would have more appeal to crossword editors. I guess that stuck with me. However there's nothing inherently better about a puzzle that's a pangram, I just strive to do it as a personal challenge. I wouldn't however make a pangram if it required using an obscure answer.

What motivated you to construct your first puzzle? Can you also tell us a bit more about your background?

Back in 2003, I attended my first American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, CT, where I met several crossword constructors. Until then, I'd never given any thought to constructing, I just enjoyed solving. However, meeting those constructors gave me some motivation to try my hand at creating a crossword. I didn't think it would be that difficult, but it sure was a lot harder than I thought. My first few puzzles were constructed manually... no computer tools involved. That was quite a challenging experience and as a result I developed quite an appreciation for the construction process and a deeper respect for constructors.

It turns out that my first puzzle was accepted by Timothy Parker, the Universal Crossword editor. The theme was "BIG DIPPER": BIG DIPPER was the clue provided for the three themed answers (WILT CHAMBERLAIN, ROLLER COASTER, and CONSTELLATION). It was published on 7/5/2003.

Soon after that, I decided that it would be a lot more efficient to use a computer in the construction process. Professionally, I'm a software engineer, so I took some time to write software, build databases and word lists to help with the construction process. I also use commercial software for the construction process. After several years of constructing now, I'm still refining my word lists!

What kind of puzzles do you solve every day? Any tips for our TMS solvers?

I solve the NY Times puzzle daily and occasionally the LA Times, NY Sun (now just "Sun puzzles"), and TMS. I especially look forward to solving the more challenging themeless puzzles.

Back when I first started constructing, I could not solve the NY Times themeless puzzles. but with lots of practice and determination, I was finally able to break through and start solving them. I think being a constructor also helps in solving the harder puzzles because you become familiar with the more frequently occurring answers and how they're clued. However, I'm definitely not a speed solver. It may take me anywhere from 15-60+ minutes to solve a typical NY Times themeless puzzle.

I don't think I can offer any tips for TMS solvers that haven't been mentioned before:

- Start filling in the grid with answers you know are correct. Then, work the puzzle around those filled in answers. Don't worry about solving in numerical order.
- Try to identify the theme and use it if possible
- Look for high-probably letter patterns (e.g, R's and V's are usually preceded by vowels)
- If you're stuck, walk away and come back later. Sometimes you'll notice something you couldn't think of before.
- Practice!

Any special planning for 2009? Seminar? Book? Your own website with free crossword and blog?

For those solvers in the Washington DC area, I have a presentation on crosswords coming up on January 17, 2009 at the Tysons-Pimmet Regional Branch of the Fairfax County Library. Attendance will be limited and registration required. Hope to see some of you there!

Thank you, Barry.

Friday January 2, 2009 Barry Silk

Theme: MATCH (39A: Word before ends of 20A, 28A, 48A and 58A)

20A: Movie theater appliance: POPCORN MAKER

28A: Parcel, possibly: CARDBOARD BOX

48A: Cocktail implement: SWIZZLE STICK

58A: Sycophant's reward: BROWNIE POINT

BROWNIE POINT is a new phrase to me. It takes "BROWNIE, you're doing a heck of a job" to a whole new dimension then.

I really like the clues for ARSON (2D: Illegal firing?) and LOO (49D: Elton's john). Very clever. I would prefer "Since Jan. 1" over "Since 1/1" for YTD. I also dislike the clue for SEL (24A: SSS word). Abbreviated answer should always be avoided when other choice exists. Besides, why not play with George Sand's name and clue SEL as "Sand's salt". Alliterative and misguiding.

I hope you enjoyed this pangram from Barry. It's been exactly a month since we last solved his puzzle.

Across:

1A: Delhi garb: SARI. And RANI (71A: Indian royalty). Perfect symmetry.

9A: Flashy: JAZZY. The style of Barry's puzzle as well. Four Z's today.

16A: "The Waste Land" poet: ELIOT. Boston accent?

23A: Surround with an aura: ENHALO. Was unaware of the verb form.

37A: Seed covering: ARIL. I forgot the difference between ARIL and TESTA again.

45A: Greek war god: ARES. He is also Aphrodite's lover, so are Adonis and Hermes and a bunch of other guys. Hugo once said "A woman with three lovers is a woman." I've yet to become a woman then.

61A: Leon Uris novel: QB VII. No idea. This is the book cover. What does QB stand for?

65A: Actor Franco: NERO. Unknown to me. I am used to the "Fictional Wolfe" clue. Hmm, his book looks interesting.

68A: Hydroxyl compound: ENOL. Often clued as "Organic compound".

Down:

3D: Writer Ellison: RALPH. New writer to me. Wikipedia says he is best known for novel "Invisible Man", which won the National Book Award in 1953.

4D: Emetic medication: IPECAC. My brain keeps burping this word.

5D: "Air Music" composer: NED ROREM. Have never heard of this composer before. He looks quite handsome.

8D: Half of UTEP: EL PASO. Another "My Pet Goat" moment for me. I just can't remember what UTEP stands for (University of Texas, EL PASO).

9D: Worn ornaments: JEWELRY. Does anyone collect Taxco sterling silver JEWLERY? Here is a vintage Los Castillo signed sterling silver owl pin. The seller is asking $475 for his item.

10D: Banned spray: ALAR. When was it banned?

11D: Quick turn: ZIG

12D: Tony winner Caldwell: ZOE. Here is a clip of Caldwell and Sean Connery in "MacBeth". I simply forgot her name. Googled her before. She has won four Tony Awards.

21D: "The Good Earth" wife: O-LAN. "The Good Earth" is the best book about China. No other author has ever captured the authentic Chinese spirit better than Pearl Buck did.

22D: Cyclades island: KEA. I would not have got it without the across fills. Can never remember this damned island. Isn't it strange that KEA is the only feminine sounding island while others all have *S ending masculine names?

27D: Neural transmitters: AXONS. They transmit impulses.

29D: Kind of fingerprint: DNA. I've always associated DNA with blood or hair, but never with fingerprint.

30D: Test versions: BETAS. Computer term I presume?

31D: River regulator: DAM. I was thinking there might be a federal agency that regulate those rivers.

32D: Fabricated: FALSE. LIED does not fit.

41D: Dutch brew: HEINEKEN. They have very formidable market share in Asia Pacific.

44D: Of Russian monarchy: CZARIST

46D: Porgy: SCUP. Holy cow. So this is what a S CUP looks like. Unknown to me. Where did I get the idea that "Porgy" is a pig name?

50D: One of the Blues Brothers: ELWOOD. Another new name to me.

51D: Scandinavian coins: KRONER. Strange plural form.

55D: City in Tuscany: SIENA

56D: Bankrupt giant: ENRON. We bought a pack of ENRON logo golf balls on Ebay after the ENRON collapse. My sister-in-law has this strange conspiracy theory that Ken Lay is not really dead.

57D: Popular vodka, familiarly: STOLI

60D: Andes autocrat: INCA. Again, why "autocrat"?

61D: NFL passers: QBS. And TDS. That's all I know about football.

62D: Emeril's exclamation: BAM. "Aw, yeah, babe", "feel the love", Emeril also likes to say "Kick it up a notch".

C.C.

Thursday January 1, 2009 Alan P. Olschwang

Theme: The Folly of Power

20A: Start of Napoleon quote: IN POLITICS, AN

39A: Part 2 of quote: ABSURDITY IS

56A: End of quote: NOT A HANDICAP

And a bonus fill EXILE (64A: Napoleon's fate).

I thought Napoleon said "In politics, stupidity is not a handicap." Whatever, I don't buy it. Look at what happened to Eliot Spitzer. What a stunning fall! He seems to be very happy with his Slate.com gig though.

I also found out this morning that Napoleon is the originator of "If you want a thing done well, do it yourself."

Very simple puzzle. I am really bored by some of the stale clues. "Nice summers?" for ETES (37D) does not feel nice to me any more. Why not "Are, in Paris" or a straightforward "Vous ____ ici"?

Across:

1A: Isinglass: MICA. According to Wikipedia, the #1 definition of "Isinglass" is a "substance obtained from the swimbladders of fish (esp Beluga sturgeon); used mainly for the clarification of wine and beer, it is a form of collagen".

5A: Olympic swimmer Janet?: EVANS. Unknown to me. I got her name from down fills.

10A: Body shops?: SPAS. I thought of GYMS first.

14A: Aphrodite's son: EROS. And another Greek god is ARES (38A: Belligerent deity).

29A: Archibald and Thurmond: NATES. NAT is also the nickname for Nathaniel, right?

45A: Night school subj.: ESL (English as a second language). I've never attended this "Night school".

50A: German state: HESSE. See this map. Is their state legislature called diet also? Just saw SENAT clued as "French diet" the other day.

54A: Argentine plain: LLANO. Is double L word common in Spanish?

65A: __ Levu, Fiji: VITI. Unknown to me. It's the largest island in Fiji. Its capital city Suva is on this island. I wonder what VITI Levu mean in local language.

66A: River through Dresden: ELBE. The river originates in Czech and flows northwest across German to the North Sea.

67A: Ink ingredient: ELEMI. No idea. Olschwang clued ELEMI as "Varnish ingredient" in his July 24 puzzle.

Down:

1D: Dillon of "A Christmas Story": MELINDA. I guessed. Have never heard this MELINDA. "A Christmas Story" is a very strange movie to me.

5D: Fancy needle case: ETUI

10D: Force to be a sailor: SHANGHAI. Interesting to see a word rooted in Chinese city SHANGHAI. I just can't stand men who speak Shanghai dialect.

22D: Islet: AIT

27D: Legal matter: RES. It's clued as "Notes of scales" the other day.

30D: August in Avignon: AOUT. July is juillet, and September is just septembre. March is mars. French months and days are not capitalized, but all German nouns are capitalized. Isn't it strange?

32D:Pooch on "Frasier": EDDIE. Learned this name from doing Xword.

40D: Fit in: BELONGED

41D: Traffic directive: YIELD

47D: Roller-coaster comparative: LOOPIER. Why?

49D: Brace amount: TWO. Both "Brace" and "Span" can mean "a pair". A brace/span of oxen.

55D: Lawrence Durrel novel: LIVIA. OK, here is the obscure book again. It's in John Underwood's Nov 18 puzzle. But his original clue is "Mother of Tiberius", which is equally mystifying to me.

Happy New Year everyone! I am going to stop obsessing about my eye wrinkles and wasting money on those miracle creams. What's your New Year's resolution?

C.C.

Wednesday December 31, 2008 Diane C. Baldwin

Theme: On the Road To Success

20A: Proceeded slowly: TOOK BABY STEPS

37A: Didn't hesitate: JUMPED RIGHT IN

52A: Accomplished easily: SAILED THROUGH

I am not sure I got the theme right. Those answers are three different manners to achieve one's goal, right?

This is probably the easiest Wednesday puzzle we've had in December. Simple clues, simple answer. "Nice life?" for VIE is a breath of fresh air. Nice has quite a few interesting museums: Musée Chagall, Musée Matisse, etc. I would like to visit there someday.

I really miss baseball, so I might have clued ESS (27D: Slalom trail) as "Season opener?". Lots of other ways to play with ESS, you know, "Slow start?", "Strong start?". Might be too risky to have "Sex start?" though.

Across:

9A: Patriot Allen: ETHAN. Or one of the Coen brothers. I could not grok "Fargo" when I first saw it in 2001. Very strange Minnesota dialect. Yah, you betcha!

15A: Jason's vessel: ARGO. Out of those Argonauts, Atlanta is the only girl, right?

19A: Like sailor's stories: SALTY. Do you know why SALTY dog is named so? What does "dog" refer to?

25A: Presidential nickname: IKE. I thought of ABE first.

33A: Binary digits: ONES. Zeros and ONES.

57A: Yoga position: LOTUS. My grandma used to make pickled LOTUS root for us during Chinese Spring Festival.

60A: Guernsey or Anglesey: ISLE. I've never heard of those two ISLES. Here is the map for Guerney. Wikipesia says "Guernsey is not part of the UK but rather a separate possession of the Crown, comparable to the ISLE of Man". What does "the Crown" refer to then? ISLE of Angelsey is in the northwest coast of Wales. I suppose "Sey" is a corrupted form of "sea"?

Down:

2D: City in a Shakespeare title: VERONA. "The Two Gentlemen of VERONA". Also the setting for "Romeo and Juliet".

3D: Tour guide: ESCORT. "Tour guide"? Really?

4D: Military hat: SHAKO. Without the across fills, I would not have got this plumed hat.

11D: Finland destination: HELSINKI. Is Finnish language very different from from Swedish?

32D: Broadcast again: RERAN

45D: Practiced conservation: REUSED. I think weekday puzzle should limit its prefix to two.

46D: Sought indirectly: ANGLED

47D: Old anesthetics: ETHERS. See, I understand this "Old", meaning "former" or "bygone". Some of the "Old" city clues drive me nuts.

51D: Ta-da!: VOILA. Done! See you tomorrow!

C.C.

Tuesday December 30, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Friends of Sloppy Joes

17A: Cheap, low quality wine: SNEAKY PETE

60A: Pal of Roy Rogers: GABBY HAYES

11D: 2002 Giants manager: DUSTY BAKER

28D: Clint Eastwood role: DIRTY HARRY

Well, I got DUSTY BAKER immediately, then obtained its symmetrical partner DIRTY HARRY very quickly too. I did have this "lucky" feeling and thought the other theme answers might be soil-y people, like golfer SANDY LYLE (Masters, and British Open winner) or someone MUDDY or SLUSHY.

Have never heard of SNEAKY PETE. Is it a slang? GABBY HAYES is not a name I could fetch out of my memory shelf readily. In fact, I don't remember where and when I stored it. I also encountered various problems at different spots: TAMMUZ & BUTE, SETI & EZIO, tough intersections for me.

I really like the clues for ACRE (49A: Part of a plot?) and IRENE (33D: Castle that danced), very clever.

Stan, I know you are reading this blog, please don't tell me the clue for BUTE (42A: Island in the Firth of Clyde) is your original. You have CLYDE as an answer for 50D: Glasgow waterway.

Across:

14A: New Italian bread: EURO. "Old Italian bread" is LIRA or LIRE.

15A: Refashion: ALTER. I like this "Re*" clue.

19A: Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS. Ennui. Give me Bill Clinton's "IS IS" definition clue.

20A: Chafing-dish heat: STERNO. I wonder what's the origin of STERNO.

21A: Large knives: MACHETES. Have you ever been to a sugarcane field?

23A: '58 Presley hit: DON'T. No idea. If you find the clip, please share with us on the Comments box. I could only find his "Don't Be Cruel".

26A: Sub finder's acronym: ASDIC (Anti Submarine Detection Investigation Committee). Completely unknown to me. I could only think of SONAR.

36A: Sitcom equine: MR. ED. I am more used to the "Talking horse" clue. Was it a good show?

37A: Kicker Yepremian: GARO. Another unknown. Was he already bald when he was playing? Why was he named GARO instead of GARY?

45A: String along: COZEN. I was unaware of the "deceive" meaning of "String along".

51A: Heart rhythm: DIASTOLE. OK, according to Clear Ayes, diastolic blood pressure should be less than 80, and systolic pressure should be less than 120. Funny how I've never paid attention to this stuff before.

55A: Crooner Julius: LA ROSA. This is an interesting clip.

63A: Old defense acronym: NORAD. Its motto is 3D: Deter, Detect and Defend.

64A: Riga resident: LETT. Why LETT? Shouldn't its resident be called Latvian?

65A: Blackstone: ONYX

67A: Basso Pinza: EZIO. I forgot. This guy is in "South Pacific". What a strange name.

Down:

1D: Porgy's woman: BESS. "Harry's woman" too.

4D: Billboards, in Britain: HOARDINGS. New British word to me.

5D: Synthetic fabric: RAYON

6D: Matterhorn, e.g.: ALP. Gimme to me only when it's clued as "Mont Blanc, e.g."

8D: Stiff bristle: SETA. Stiff, stiff clue. Why can't we just have a normal partical "SET A good example" clue?

24D: Hebrew month: TAMMUZ. If the answer is not the 4-letter ADAR, then I am lost. TAMMUZ is the tenth month in Jewish calendar.

26D: Some Egyptian clerics: ABBAS. Oh, is that how Mahmoud ABBAS got his name? Good to know. What a mess there!

31D: Sister of Venus: SERENA. The Williams sisters.

37D: Carbonated beverage: GINGER ALE

48D: Cromwell's earldom: ESSEX

51D: Dealer's wheels: DEMO. Can we also clue it as "Obama's party"?

54D: River of Spain: EBRO. This flow-er travels entirely within Spain before it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. I've found out that the answer for a "River of Spain" clue is either RIO or EBRO.

56D: Court crier's word: OYEZ. I could only think of "All rise".

57D: Planet-finding grp.: SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Mine was NASA.

58D: In the matter of: AS TO

C.C.

Monday December 29, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Unmovable Vehicles

20A: "An Aperture Monograph" photographer: DIANE ARBUS

59A: Guy with "really big shew": ED SULLIVAN

11D: Cher film: MOONSTRUCK

29D: Island off Africa: MADAGASCAR

Hmm, we need a *JEEP for a pangram grid. But still, this puzzle will rank high in scrabbliness, with three X'es, two Z's, two V's and one Q, all hallmarks of a Allan E. Parrish puzzle.

I was not familiar with the book "An Aperture Monograph" or the photographer DIANE ARBUS. What is a "Monograph" anyway?

I wish ENOS (23A: Son of Seth) were clued as "Slaughter of Cooperstown" and EXPO (12D: Large intl. show) were clued as "National, formally". So together with ORTIZ (17A: Baseball's "Big Papi"), they would form a nice baseball sub-theme. Too bad, David ORTIZ was hurt all the time when he was with the Twins.

I hope we get a Barry Silk puzzle soon. I miss his wicked Q's.

Across:

1A: Belle or Bart: STARR. Only knew Bart STARR, Packers' quarterback, and Ringo STARR, not Belle.

9A: Packing heat: ARMED. OK, tell me why the answer for "Looking for big bucks?" is IN HEAT?

14A: Minor prophet: HOSEA. What's the difference between a "Minor prophet" and a major one? Who decides that?

16A: Two-month pope of 1605: LEO XI. This would have been a tricky one without the crossing help, you know, it could be LEO IX, LEO II, LEO IV or LEO VI.

18A: Latin 101 verb: AMO

19A: Parkinson's medication: L-DOPA. Another "My Pet Goat" moment for me. How can I remember this weird medicine name?

24A: Brandy letters: VSO

25A: Some binary compounds: OXIDES. Whatever you say. I know nothing about chemical compound.

27A: Salinger girl: ESME. Salinger's "For ESME – with Love and Squalor". Learned it from doing Xword.

32A: Type of gong: TAM TAM. I tend to confuse this one with Tom Tom drum.

36A: Mont of the Alps: BLANC. Does anyone own a Montblanc pen? This one looks very expsensive.

37A: Episcopal cleric: VICAR

40A: Hit by Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas: BAD TO ME. No idea. Here is the clip. I went from BED TIME to BAD TIME, then BAD TO ME.

42A: Follow-up to a hit film, maybe: PREQUEL. I am eager to see "Angels & Demons", a PREQUEL to "The Da Vinci Code".

45A: Socialite Perle: MESTA. My brain keeps rejecting this name.

47A: Ticket: DUCAT. New slang to me.

57A: Richie's mom, to Fonzie: MRS. C

64A: Copier brand: RICOH. Canon and Xerox both have 5-letter too.

68A: Writer Calvino: ITALO. His name has become a gimme to me.

73A: SALT topic: N-TEST

Down:

1D: Like broken horses: SHOD. Why "broken"?

3D: Cinema canine: ASTA. TOTO is 4-letter too.

7D: Ice-smoothing machine: ZAMBONI. I was so happy I nailed this one. Have never been to a hockey game.

8D: Plains people: SIOUX. I like some of their names: Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, so evocative.

13D: Portuguese explorer: DIAS. He discovered Cape of Good Hope.

28D: Drudge: SLAVE

33D: What to make with Monty?: A DEAL. I guessed. I've never heard of "Let's Make a DEAL". Did not know who Monty is.

34D: Valetta's island: MALTA. Interesting "honey" etymology. Now I want a jar of MALTA honey. A bit trivia: MALTA is the smallest EU member.

36D: Ajax rival: COMET

41D: Reagan's attorney general: MEESE (Ed). If confirmed, Eric Holder will be our first African-American AG.

43D: Result of division: QUOTIENT. Have you taken a IQ test before? I have not. I fear I am borderline.

49D: Pop brand: RC COLA. Have never tasted this cola before. That's a great 1969 Mets collectible I suppose.

54D: Morris or Stewart of Arizona: UDALL. No idea. Stewart UDALL is JFK and LBJ's Secretary of the Interior. Morris UDALL ran for the president in 1976. I wonder what's the origin of this UDALL. It sounds so made-up to me.

56D: Composer Berg: ALBAN. Got his name from across fills.

58D: "Norma Rae" director Martin: RITT. New name to me also. Wikipedia says he also directed "Hud" and "The Long Hot Summer" . He must like Paul Newman a lot then.

61D: Clinging flora: VINE. Nice morning glory VINE. Rise and Shine!

C.C.

Sunday December 28, 2008 Josiah Breward

Theme: Santa's Upgrades

23A: Online funnies?: DOT(-COM) COMIC BOOKS

38A: Emoticon contests? KEY(BOARD) BOARD GAMES

70A: Collectibles featuring online notables?: E(-TRADING) TRADING CARDS

103A: Mini-Frisbee?: COMPACT (DISC) DISCUS

123A: Small round object? MICRO(SOFT) SOFTBALL

17D: Blazing blades?: HIGH (SPEED) SPEED SKATES

45D: Pick-up sticks call? PHONE (JACK) JACK STRAWS

I have never heard of JACK STRAWS before. JACK STRAW, yes, the ex British Foreign Secretary. Nice to see TRADING CARDS though. Hopefully I will be able to afford this graded 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle card someday, before I get too old.

BAH (79A: Scrooge's expletive) can not damp my enthusisam for this puzzle. Wow, what a great theme! Santa is a bit late though.

The clue for SUNUNU (74D: Political pundit John) confused the hell out of me. Can you call a current US Senator "Political pundit"? I don't think so.

I was not familiarwith PEPIN (43A: Son of Charlemagne), but Wikipedia says he is the father , not the son, of Charlemagne.

Also, too many Roman numerals for my taste:

63A: IV x XIII: LII

4D: Fifth of MMMDV: DCCI

67D: 1700 in letters: MDCC

I'd like to share with you three excellent answers using Roman numerals as hinted clues:

1500: PHYSICIAN

400: MUSIC MEDIUM

30: DIRTY MOVIE

I think I want Santa to upgrade me from C.C. to 200 today.

Across:

21A: Eric of "Top Hat": BLORE. Have never heard of this British comic actor or the musical "Top Hat".

22A: Newman of "SNL": LARAINE. I googled her name. Wikipedia says she is the original "SNL" cast member.

26A: "Seinfeld" gal: ELAINE. I did not find ELAINE's dance to be funny. "No Soup for You" episode is hilarious.

28A: Land of Oranjestad: ARUBA. OK, what does "-jestad" mean in Dutch then?

32A: E. O'Brien film: D.O. A. I got this answer from down fills. Saw this clue before.

34A: __ volente (God willing): DEO. In Islam, it's Insha' Allah.

47A: Heart rhythm: DIASTOLE. New word to me. I've never heard of SYSTOLE either.

51A: Actor Knight: TED. Here is a picture of him in "Caddyshack".

52A: Overrefined: EFFETE. If you say so.

55A: Volcanic rock ejecta: SCORIA. Holy hotwick. I completely forgot this word.

65A: Wire-service letters: UPI. Does it still exist? Feels like AP dominates all the news sources.

68A: Feudal laborer: ESNE. What's the difference between ESNE and SERF?

69A: Mary of "Where Eagles Dare": URE. A complete fail-URE for me. I can never remember this actress's name.

75A: Spanish red: ROJO. New Spanish word to me.

78A: Patriotic men's org: SAR (Sons of the American Revolution). "Patriotic women's org." is DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution).

81A: Porthos, to Athos: AMI. Great clue.

82A: Satellite of Jupiter: ELARA. Unknown to me. How can I remember it? E LARA (Zhivago's love)?

90A: Place position: SECOND. Win, place and show, horse racing term.

95A: Full of: suff.: ULENT. As in opulent and fraudent. I went through lots of trouble getting this answer.

100A: Hemlock homes: NESTS. Why?

114A: Kind of ray: MANTA. Great picture. Is it edible?

127A: Antiknock fluid: ETHYL. Ha, I got it today.

128A: Adenauer: DER ALTE. I am more used to seeing ALTE is often clued as "Der ___: Adenauer".

129A: Pearson and Flatt: LESTERS. The answer revealed itself after I filled in the surrounds. I knew neither of them. LESTER Pearson was a Canadian politician who won Nobel peace prize in 1957. Wikipedia says LESTER Flatt is "one of the pioneers of bluegrass music".

Down:

2D: Tropical lizard: ANOLE. Such a strange mix of green and blue.

7D: R. Reagan's Star Wars: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Introduced in 1983.

8D: "Fernando" group: ABBA. Here is the clip. It's a new song to me. Who is "Fernando"?

10D: Hornswoggled: ROOKED. "Hornswoggle" is new word to me.

13D: Rains and Debussy: CLAUDES. Monet too.

14D: Beat: LAMBASTE

24D: Wholly confused: CHAOTIC

29D: Incarnation of Vishnu: RAMA. No idea. See this picture. I bet I will forget it after lunch.

35D: Versifier Nash: OGDEN

38D: Bleaching vat: KIER. Have never heard of this vat before. Sounds like a German name to me.

40D: Gilberto of Bossa-Nova fame: ASTRUD. I forgot her name. Do remember the song "The Girl From Ipanema".

42D: Michael Caine film: ALFIE. "Jude Law film" too.

43D: Salad green: ESCAROLE. I always call it endive. It's quite bitter, so different from Belgian endive.

56D: Small isles: AITS. This word only exists in the crossword world, doesn't it?

58D: Center starter?: EPI. Epicenter.

59D: Windy City rail inits: CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Wikipedia says CTA is "the second largest transit system in the United States and fourth largest in North America". New York City's MTA is the #1 I suppose? Who are the other two before CTA?

60D: Soprano Te Kanawa: KIRI. I googled her name. She is from New Zealand, and she sang at Diana and Prince Charles' wedding.

71D: Indonesian island group: ARU. I can never remember this island group (lower right corner).

72D: Long-snouted fish: GAR. Also called needlefish. This GAR is ruthless.

73D: Masticated: CHEWED. "Masticate" is a new word to me. Sounds so DF.

77D: University of Maine town: ORONO

83D: Dijon donkey: ANE. I wish it were broken up as AN E ("Wheel of Fortune" buy).

86D: Travel stamps: VISAS

91D: Trump namer: DECLARER. Bridge?

99D: "The Bells of __": ST MARYS. New film to me.

101D: Quantity of a look?: EYEFUL. Nice clue.

104D: Like successful jingles: CATCHY

111D: Boston cagers, for short: CELTS

112D: Small harbor: INLET. How is it different from cove?

116D: Ed or Leon: AMES. I got it from the across fills. AMES is always clued as "Iowa college town".

124D: Eng. instruction letters: ITA (Initial Teaching Alphabet). Too obscure for me. This is where I prefer the clue to be a partical, you know, "Call IT A day" sounds so much better.

C.C.

Saturday December 27, 2008 Tom Pruce

Theme: None

Total blocks: 27

Total words: 70

This grid looks unbelievably open and balanced. I wonder if it's because of the 27 neatly placed 7-letter words. And it only has six 3-letter words, probably the least I've seen in a TMS puzzle.

I did not like seeing ICE BOAT (3D: Winter craft), ICE AGE (62A: Glacial periods) and AGER (56D: Last of a teen?) in one puzzle. It does not look elegant to me.

I wish ECON (22A: M. Friedman's field) were clued as "Paul Krugman's field (abbr.)". He won Nobel prize in Economics this year and he certainly deserves a place in our puzzle.

I really like topical clues, you know, "I can see Russia from my house!" comic clue for TINA FEY amuses me. And I think "Obama's daughter" is a perfectly fine clue for "SASHA" yesterday.

Across:

8A: Skunk: POLECAT. I wonder what's the origin of "panda". We just call it "bear cat" in China.

15A: Play place: REC ROOM. I was thinking of the theater play.

16A: Prayers: ORISONS. Dictionary says that ORISON is a "doublet of oration" etymologically. What is a doublet?

18A: Organic compound: PENTANE. New word to me.

19A: Nightclubs: CABARETS

21A: Spiny-finned fish: MULLET. I only knew the awful hairstyle MULLET. See this picture. But aren't all the fish "Spiny-finned"?

25A: Clan sub-divisions: SEPTS. New word to me. Only knew SEPT as seven in French.

26A: Flat fish: SKATE. Came across this fish clue a few weeks ago. So ugly.

32A: Deprives of vigor: EMASCULATES. I thought of emaciates, but it's one letter short.

43A: Group of whales: POD. Last time when PODS was clued as "Movable classrooms", I thought it referred to "School of whales".

46A: 112 letters: CXII

47A: Jack-in-the-pulpit: ARUM. How can I remember this word? A RUM?

48A: End of land or sea?: SCAPE

55A: Loss of muscular coordination: ATAXIA. The prefix A means "not", and TAXI is a Greek suffix meaning "order". New word to me.

57A: Sweetbread: PANCREAS. Omigod, really?

59A: News: TIDINGS

61A: Author of "Gigi": COLETTE. Ha, gimme for me. COLETTE once said: "I love my past. I love my present. I'm not ashamed of what I've had, and I'm not sad because I have it no longer".

64A: Square dance leaders: CALLERS. New definition of CALLERS to me.

Down:

7D: "The Bartered Bride" composer: SMETANA. Would not have got his name without the crossing fills. I wonder what SMELTANA mean in his native language.

9D: City near Provo: OREM

10D: Chemist Pauling: LINUS. Holy moly, he is a two-time Nobel prize winner. But the only LINUS I knew is him.

11D: Crime novelist Loren D. __: ESTLEMAN. I googled this novelist. Feels like a consonant is missing from his name. Why not PESTLEMAN or NESTLEMAN?

12D: Colliery: COAL PIT. I did not know the meaning of "Colliery".

13D: Bening of "What Planet Are Your From": ANNETTE. Know Bening, who once claimed that the Columbia "Torch Lady" was modeled after her. Have never seen "What Planet Are Your From".

14D: Dreaded African flies: TSETSES

35D: Type of electrical cable: TRIAXIAL. I guessed. How is it related to cable coaxial?

37D: Of the ischium: SCIATIC. Hip related. Foreign to me. I did not what "ischium" is.

38D: Unusual stuff: EXOTICA. So close EROTICA in spelling.

39D: Fortress: CITADEL

40D: Altar constellation: ARA. Have not seen "Coach Parseghian" clue for a long time.

44D: Sleep inducers: OPIATES

58D: Last book of "The Alexandria Quartet": CLEA. No idea. Ink mentioned "The Alexandria Quartet" last time when we had LIVIA (clued as "Durrell novel") in John Underwood's "America's Major Wars" puzzle. CLEA is the name of a bi-sexual painter.

C.C.

Friday December 26, 2008 Allan E. Parrish

Theme: Vowel Progression

17A: Kitchen items: FRYING PANS

26A: Spots for tots: PLAYPENS

37A: Certain hair clips: BOBBY PINS

52A: Legendary coloratura soprano: LILY PONS

61A: Some cartoons: VISUAL PUNS

This reminds of Sallie's "facetious"comment several days ago. It has all the vowels in it and all the vowels are in proper order.

OK, if LILY PONS made the Times' cover, she has to be a legend then. I wanted her name to be LILY POND. But it broke the P_NS theme pattern.

Nice to see VISUAL PUNS in a grid, after our discussion of "Pinkie" several weeks ago.

Was disappointed by the SASHA (54D: Skater Cohen ) clue. You would think "Obama's daughter" is now famous enough to appear in our puzzle. I bet our editor "can't handle the truth", otherwise, he would have clued MEN (8D) as "A Few Good __''. This "Game pieces" clue bores me to pieces now.

Across:

6A: Sgt. Preston's crew: RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police). I did not know who Sgt. Preston is. That dog looks very loyal.

16A: Bonn mister: HERR. Frau's husband.

26A: 1996 British Open winner: LEHMAN (Tom). Gimme for me. Pride of Minnesota. He was unstoppable in 1996. Then Tiger burst into the scene and you know what happened after that.

29A: Flash flood: FRESHET. New word to me.

40A: Pear choice: BOSC. I love Hosui (Asian Pear) more. It's crisper and sweeter.

44A: Hops kilns: OASTS. Do you know why there is always a white cone atop those OASTS?

48A: Latin I word: AMO. "I love". How to say "I love you, honey" in Latin?

49A: Jolie movie: GIA. Know the movie, have never seen it.

50A: Irish lass: COLLEEN. Got it this time.

55A: Thin layer: LAMINA. Thought of veneer.

55A: Lake Titicaca location: ANDES. See this map. New lake to me.

65A: Ringlet: CURL

67A: Principal artery: AORTA

70A: Brittany port: BREST. The red dot on the left. I just learned this city name the other day when LAIT was clued as "Milk of BREST" in another puzzle. Kind of DF, isn't it?

Down:

1D: Spanky's pal: ALFALFA. No idea. Have never heard of Our Gang before. Strange name.

2D: Certain writing implements: MARKERS

3D: Subjects for analysts: PSYCHES

9D: On-base mil. stores: PXS (Post Exchange). New abbreviation to me.

13D: Karen of "Little House on the Prairie": GRASSLE. Would not have got her name without across fills.

22D: Dancer Charisse: CYD. Alien to me also. Wow, look at this picture. She looks stunning. She is in "Singin' in the Rain".

24D: "Morning Joe" airer: MSNBC. The only MSNBC program I watch every day is "Hardball". Joe Scarborough appears as a guest from time to time.

27D: City near Santa Barbara: LOMPOC. According to Wikipedia, the name of the city is derived from a Chumash word "Lum Poc" meaning "little lake" or "lagoon". Not a familiar name to me. Here is the map.

30D: Underground Railroad leader: TUBMAN (Harriet). Is there a movie made about her life?

35D: Pathetic start?: SYM. Sympathetic.

38D: Actor Scott: BAIO. He looks familiar. I must have seen him somewhere before. But his name meant nothing to me.

39D: Vincent Lopez theme song: NOLA. See this clip. I just keep forgetting this song title.

49D: Nav. by satellite: GPS (Global Positioning System). Or "Family MD".

58D: Crisp bread: RUSK. See here for more information. It's the same as zwieback (twice-baked bread).

C.C.