Favorite Clues 5/12/2008-5/18/2008

It was pointed out to me that both RED HAT and R-LESS are dictionary-sanctioned; RED HAT meaning "the ceremonial headgear of a cardinal", and R-LESS meaning "like some Northeastern accents". I would have preferred R-LESS to be clued in this manner, though it's still not a very common term; in any case, I'd like to remove the two "very"s in my statement "R-LESS is a very, very bad entry". (To my credit, I did look up RED HAT in my dictionary--Merriam-Webster's Collegiate--before posting...it wasn't there. I didn't bother to look up R-LESS.) Also, I forgot to put IT'S EASY from the Sunday NYT in the NDP list.

Anyway, clues. Lots of good ones this week, and I can't find my copy of Wednesday's Sun right now but I'm sure there were some from there too. (Sorry for the short shrift, PB)

My favorite clever/tricky clues of the week:
NYT Mon. 48A: {Top secret?}--TOUPEE
NYS Tue. 33D: {It takes checks and gives balances}--ATM
NYT Thu. 16A: {Eats at a bar}--TAPAS
CS Fri. 15A: {House of wax?}--HIVE. I don't remember seeing this one before, oddly.
NYS Fri. 1A: {Dick's running mate?}--JANE
WSJ Fri. 117A: {Present for the teacher?}--HERE
LAT Sat. 1D: {Cold blast?}--ACHOO
NYT Sat. 8A: {Helper after a crash}--TECHIE
NYT Sun. 91D: {Edsel driver's gas choice}--ESSO. Cute.

My favorite trivia-style clues of the week:
NYT Tue. 35A: {Where Kofi Annan earned his master's deg.}--MIT
NYS Thu. 8D: {Christy Mathewson's was exactly 2 in 1907}--ERA
NYS Thu. 34D: {Alissa Rosenbaum's assumed first name}--AYN
LAT Fri. 24A: {"That way madness lies" speaker}--LEAR
NYS Fri. 27D: {There's none in superconductivity}--RESISTANCE
NYT Fri. 39D: {Island that Truman wants to go to in "The Truman Show"}--FIJI. Maybe I just like this clue because I had it saved up for if I ever put FIJI in a grid.
CS Sat. 22A: {"I'm not a republican, but I'm saving up to be one" comic Phillips}--EMO
NYT Sat. 1A: {Places such as Anatevka in "Fiddler On The Roof"}--SHTETLS


Not really a trivia-style or a clever-type clue, but this one tickled me for some reason: {Bear whose chair was too hard}--PAPA (CS Fri. 1A). I was also amused by {Stop sign inventor William} for ENO (CS Sun. 20A).