I did this puzzle in ink and the now visible man reminded me that the PENIS mightier than the sword. Combined with yesterday's puzzle we now are ready to talk about Windows 7...the new OS.

roses are red
violets are blue
the yankees won
what else is new?
miguel | 11.04.09 - 10:06 pm | #

UP THE Wazoo? LOL. Rhymes with Violets are blue. Third line might be "I have had baseball" but leave that to others. Thanks, Miguel & Amy

My only temporary misstep wasn't the STEP-INS but Rooters for ADORERS, which would lead to a Tishi at 21D (said she, briefly).

Not sure why THE INVISIBLE MAN is composed of Esses, as SNAKING hair is more Medusa-like -- but I suppose a construction of Y chromosomes would be next to impossible.

INANER is one of those thingies you wouldn't say...

Trivia -- What was the name of the historic theater where Lincoln was shot?
ArtLvr | 11.05.09 - 3:36 am | #

The Ford Theater: Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was "Our American Cousin?"
What did JWBooth say after leaping to the stage and breaking his leg? Who was his famous brother? What doctor treated Booth and was subsequently imprisoned? Name one or more Booth co-conspirators. Who else was attacked (but not killed) that night as part of the plot?

Watch the trivia, ArtLvr!
Elaine | 11.05.09 - 4:02 am | #

Elaine -- (1) something about tyrants, but the actual quote escapes me; (2) Edwin Booth, a very well-known actor at the time; (3) Samuel Mudd (an ancestor of Roger Mudd); (4) His poor landlady, Mary Surratt, was hanged for conspiring with him, but I don't know if she actually had anything to do with it--they put Mudd in prison, too; (5) Hmm. This one I don't remember.

As to the puzzle--I wasn't crazy about this one. I didn't like the theme, and I hated INANER and ADORER.
Gayla | 11.05.09 - 4:19 am | #

Yeah, nobody starts a puzzle thinking, "I've just *got* to get INANER in there!" I thought it a slight improvement over IRONER, tho.

Thanks for the nice write-up about my latest word baby.

Best,
Patrick
pauer | 11.05.09 - 5:18 am | #

Great puzzle -- although I stupidly had CLAMPS instead of CLASPS and convinced myself RIMHI was a word I didn't know...
Perhaps I can redeem myself by answering the final question with Sec'y of State William Seward? And another conspirator was supposed to kill VP Andrew Johnson but thought better of it.
Matt M. | 11.05.09 - 5:58 am | #

Seward was in bed recovering from a carriage accident; he was attacked and cut very badly in the face with a knife. Booth allegedly cried out, "Sic Semper Tyrannis" or "Always thus to tyrants". Johnson was in fact targeted but his German-born would-be attacker backed out at the last minute. I can picture all of these men, but their names escape me. Who was in the box with the Lincolns? Who was supposed to be there but wasn't?

I had a problem with the NW corner - I had to look up the AFB, and then it all fit.
David | 11.05.09 - 7:35 am | #

@ Elaine -- I'm sorry I started that! I never saw it in DC when living there, but if you google you'll find it's called Ford's Theatre by the Park Service et al, not the "Ford"!
ArtLvr | 11.05.09 - 8:04 am | #

p.s. Booth actually had two actor-brothers whose careers were more distinguished than John's...

@ Patrick -- yes, your latest word-baby is very cute and satisfying! Please excuse this fan's inaner musings from the wee hours of the night!
ArtLvr | 11.05.09 - 8:16 am | #

A young major and his wife (the name's escaping me -- is it Rathbone? OK, I've just looked it up and it is Rathbone) were in the booth with the Lincolns -- Ulysses S. Grant and his wife were originally supposed to attend but bowed out at the last minute. Also notable is that Lincoln's de facto bodyguard happened to be on a mission to the south at the time of the assassination.
For much, much more, I recommend Sarah Vowell's fabulous "Assassination Vacation." And I also enjoyed (though in a different way) Gore Vidal's fictionalized "Lincoln."
Matt M. | 11.05.09 - 9:22 am | #

Apparently I'm the only solver who is unfamiliar with the construction "words escape me" ("words fail me" is in my cortex). Very well then.
Jon88 | 11.05.09 - 10:09 am | #

i'm totally confused as to why we're all talking about lincoln's assassination, but "sic semper tyrannis" is the state motto of virginia.

boy, i really liked xan's LAT puzzle. i actually thought the reveal answer was going to be SILENT TREATMENT, for the third time in the last two days (passive-aggressive retaliation in dan naddor's LAT yesterday, and the title of ben's puzzle), but SILENCE IS GOLDEN works too. what a random, but fun, way to clue USA...
joon | 11.05.09 - 11:36 am | #

I agree with Amy, although she didn't put it into so many words. Lass for Filly is just not acceptable, though it was accepted by all the checkers.
Zulema | 11.05.09 - 1:09 pm | #

I liked the LAT too. I had pretty much stopped doing them since they tend to feel more like filling out a form than doing any actual thinking. But Joon's recommendation lured me in. In addition to being fun, it struck me as a wee bit harder than they have been.
Quentinc | 11.05.09 - 3:36 pm | #

Zulema,

Filly in this sense is in all the dictionaries. The first citation in the OED is from 1616, so it's not slang, Damon Runyon or otherwise.

Test solvers and fact checkers are not editors. Our job ends with an authoritative source.

That said, a word meaning a strong-willed young woman who (according to one 1849 citation) "will neither be led nor driven" doesn't sound like the worst thing to appear in a crossword.
Martin | 11.05.09 - 3:44 pm | #

Of course, Martin, "filly" was used to clue LASS and not STRONGWILLEDYOUNGWOMAN. I suspect you'd be hard-pressed to find many current non-equine uses of "filly" that would pass muster with Zulema and me. Applying animal terms to humans can be demeaning.

I recognize that test solvers bear no responsibility for a puzzle's content and, in fact, may often find their objections overruled by the editor.
Orange | Homepage | 11.05.09 - 4:07 pm | #

Amy,

Cougars don't wish they were fillies again? Not that you'd know, of course.

A last point FWIW -- when "filly" entered the language, a high-spirited young horse was universally valued by the culture. Sort of the sexy sports car of the day.

That just made it worse, didn't it?
Martin | 11.05.09 - 4:39 pm | #

Yes, Martin. It did. It's good you have this self-awareness.
Orange | Homepage | 11.05.09 - 5:31 pm | #

Due times cinquanta, your last bit in the final commentary (Tausig puzzle), is CENTO (not centi): the last letter has to accommodate the cross at MOORS...

I got the bottom half of this stinker, including HEAVEN SCENT and seldom-seen JOWL, but had trouble elsewhere. In the NW corner, how to choose between Geez and JEEZ, if you don't know JBS?

In the NE, I didn't know SKOPJE or CABLE ACE and I just pooped out, rather than try again later. I did have the PLUMB but not the JAMB! Yum.

I loved the CLONE for "Knockoff" -- though a misreading of the clue as "Knock off" (2 words) first led to CLOSE, as in ending a session or somethiing. I shall knock off for now!
ArtLvr | 11.05.09 - 6:11 pm | #