NYT Crossword, 0803

I really enjoyed this week's puzzle, even though I was stymied in the end. I got the top two-thirds, whose clues were at what I felt was just the right level of difficulty. But, the bottom third had a couple of proper names crossing each other, which got me. Oh well.


Washington State airport: SEATAC. (or Sea-Tac (Seattle/Tacoma) - makes sense, but I've never flown there, so how could I know?)

Teacher: Var.: PEDAGOG. (Come on - you have to spell stuff right to give us a chance! The word is pedagogue!!)

Any ship: SHE (Huh? - The puzzle authors must have read this poem: "Why is a ship a 'she'?")

Mushroom variety: ENOKI. (Not a big fan of rubbery fungi.)

Potato pancake: LATKE (Why don't I know this?)

Al's is almost 27: ATWT (I like chemistry; I was a short-lived major, in fact, but all I could think of here was, who the heck is Al, and why does he have something that is 26.98154? Another thought was Al Gore = A twit?)

Japanese-born Hall of Fame golfer: ISAOAOKI. (This guy is a crossword puzzler's dream come true - all vowels, all the time. Sheesh!)

Fess Parker TV role: BOONE (As in Daniel Boone. 1960s TV show. Before my time. Frankly, I though Fess would be a girl's name.)

Related to on the mother's side: ENATE (OK, my dissertation was on medieval kinship, and I've never heard of this word! Agnate and cognate I know.)

Jazz cornetist Adderley: NAT (I don't like Jazz!)