Theme: I, for one, welcome our new bird overlords. All the theme answers start with a type of bird that, except for the center, when taken in full are not actually about birds per se. The clues are all indicated with a "?" to indicate a wacky interpretation.
18. Bird bonnet?: ROBIN HOOD. Speculation on his "realness" mostly debunked, a few shreds of speculative coincidence for two different men named Robert Hood.
24. Bird boo-boo?: CARDINAL SIN. The final seven: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
34. Bird brain?: CHICKEN NOODLE. Soup or flavored pasta, it still contains chicken.
50. Bird backpackers?: EAGLE SCOUTS. Gerald Ford was the only US President to ever be one.
56. Bird bottoms?: KITE TAILS. A kite is a raptor in the same family as hawks, eagles and other birds of prey.
Al here.
Did you notice a lot of artist references, or is it just me? Composers, painters, Actors, directors, poets, writers, performers. Or, maybe that's just another way to say there were a lot of proper names in the puzzle. Even so, most of the cluing didn't seem all that tricky. I didn't need any helper squares, and finished it faster than Dan's puzzle yesterday.
ACROSS:
1. Bouillabaisse base: BROTH. Fish stew. The broth is made using olive oil, onions, garlic, celery, bay leaf, pepper, thyme, fish bones, water and wine. Alliterative clue and answer.
6. "Coffee Cantata" composer: BACH. A small excerpt.
10. "Once I had ... love and it was __": Blondie lyric: A GAS. Heart of Glass. This clip contains the original PITA phrase that they had to clean up to perform on TV. Most wouldn't give it a second thought today.
14. So out it's in: RETRO. Latin prefix meaning: backwards, behind.
15. In unison, musically: A DUE.
16. Caffeine source: COLA. Kola nuts. And 30D. 16-Across, e.g.: SODA.
17. One of Israel's 12 tribes: ASHER. I'm pretty sure this refers to the 12 sons of Jacob who became tribal patriarchs: 1-Reuben 2-Simeon 3-Levi 4-Judah 5-Dan 6-Naphtali 7-Gad 8-Asher 9-Issachar 10-Zebulun 11-Joseph (and his amazing technicolor dreamcoat) 12-Benjamin.
20. Shows scorn: SNEERS.
22. Director Wertmüller: LINA. The original "Swept Away" movie before the, perhaps, not so great Madonna remake.
23. Hound over a debt: DUN."to insist on payment of debt," 1620s, perhaps related to dunnen "to sound, resound, make a din", or shortened from dunkirk "privateer," a private vessel licensed to attack enemy ships during wartime, from Dunkirk, French port from which they sailed. The oldest theory traces it to a Joe Dun, supposedly a London bailiff famous for catching defaulters.
26. Ruby of "A Raisin in the Sun": DEE. With Sidney Poitier.
27. Favorable times, as for pics: OPS. Photo ops.
28. Marshland: FEN.
29. Afternoon services: TEA SETS.
31. Mazda MX-5, familiarly: MIATA. Zoom Zoom.
33. Granola grains: OATS.
39. Author Silverstein: SHEL. Cartoonist, poet, and songwriter. Along with his children's books, he also wrote "The Unicorn Song" which was a big hit for the Irish Rovers.
40. First first name in Olympic gymnastic tens: NADIA. Comăneci. She grew up...
41. Cardinal Cooke: TERENCE. Later Archbishop of New York.
45. 1,000 G's: MIL. Million, one megabuck.
46. Free TV ad: PSA. Public Service Announcement. No longer a mandate that stations must air them for free.
49. Suffix with expert: ISE.
53. Cubs, on scoreboards: CHI. One of two Chicago baseball teams.
54. Morlock haters: ELOI. The Time Machine races.
55. Clawed: TORE AT.
59. "Tootsie" Oscar winner: LANGE. Jessica. Best Supporting Actress.
60. Ireland, to poets: ERIN. Always need to wait for perps to distinguish from EIRE.
61. Cuba, to Castro: ISLA. Spanish for island.
62. Polecat relative: OTTER. Interesting factoid. Another: fishermen in southern Bangladesh have bred otters and trained them to chase fish into their nets.
63. Something to take lying down: REST.
64. It helps you get up: STEP. I liked the proximity of this clue with the previous clue, both a little tricky, too.
65. Orchestra section: REEDS.
DOWN:
1. 1997 Depp title role: BRASCO. Joseph Dominick Pistone, alias Donnie Brasco, is a former FBI agent who worked undercover for six years infiltrating two of the Five Families of the Mafia in New York City. He wrote the book Donnie Brasco, which became the movie. Not to be confused with "Donnie Darko", which was an entirely different Mad World.
2. Close again, as a change purse: RE-SNAP. I don't know if this should be hyphenated or not. Funny word, the "re" is kind of unnecessary.
3. Unlisted ones: OTHERS. Et al.
4. Cornered, in a way: TREED.
5. Frightful: HORRIFIC. Literally: hair-raising.
6. Milky Way, e.g.: BAR. Galaxy didn't fit.
7. "Be __": "Help me out": A DOLL. This seems like an old movie line, but I can't quite place it... If you try a search like I did, be careful what you click on, the word doll seems to return lots of "interesting" results.
8. Georges Braque, for one: CUBIST. Picasso is another. In cubist artworks, objects are broken up, analyzed, and re-assembled in an abstracted form—instead of depicting objects from one viewpoint, the artist depicts the subject from a multitude of viewpoints to represent the subject in a greater context. Often the surfaces intersect at seemingly random angles, removing a coherent sense of depth.
9. Bum: HEINIE. Prat. Fanny (US). Arse (UK).
10. Oberhausen "Oh!": ACH. German.
11. Considerable amount: GOOD DEAL.
12. Traditional song with the line "Je te plumerai": ALOUETTE. Anyone else have to sing this as a round back when they were in school?
13. Blue state: SADNESS. No politics, please...
19. Zola novel: NANA. Emile Zola. What a cheerful book. A story of a prostitute who destroys every man who pursues her. Several are ruined financially, others commit suicide, one with scissors, another burns himself to death in his barn. In the end, she dies of smallpox described in graphic detail. Critically acclaimed, of course.
21. Furtive type: SNEAK. Root words for sneak and snake are related.
25. Get in the game: ANTE. From Latin: before. Paying to play (cards).
31. Miss's equal?: MILE. idiom: "A miss is as good as a mile." Close only counts in horseshoes. Close but no cigar.
32. Landers with advice: ANN. As well as her sister Abigail Van Buren. (Dear Abby)
34. Wonderland cat: CHESHIRE. Grinning like one actually pre-dates Lewis Carrol. John Wolcot (Peter Pindar) used it in his satire, but the phrase was probably common before being written down. One interesting possible guess is that some influential family in Cheshire, with a lion rampant as its crest, employed some sign painter to paint the crest on the signboards of many of the inns. The painter was none too sure of the appearance of a lion and the final result looked, to the country folk, like an attempt to depict a grinning cat.
35. Finder's cry: HERE IT IS.
36. Title: NAME.
37. Keats or Shelley: ODIST. I'll leave poetry to the experts...
38. Artist's choice: OIL COLOR.
39. Price that's rarely paid: STICKER.
42. Depilatory brand: NEET. Name has been changed to Veet.
43. French city near a Chunnel terminus: CALAIS.
44. Diva, stereotypically: EGOIST. At least they have a sense of humor about themselves...
46. Mambo bandleader Tito: PUENTE.
47. Faked, as a fight: STAGED.
48. Autumn blooms: ASTERS. From a Greek word meaning star.
51. Former French textile city: LILLE. L'Isle, the island, in a mostly marshy area. So named for the castle of the counts of Flanders built on dry land in the middle of the marsh.
52. Use the soapbox: ORATE.
57. Tolkien's Treebeard is one: ENT. Tolkien borrowed "Ent" from the (same) Anglo-Saxon word meaning "giant".
58. Doofus: SAP. Probably from earlier sapskull, from sap as a shortened form of sapwood "soft wood between the inner bark and the heartwood, that is to say, "soft in the head".
Answer Grid
Al
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
LA Times, Thu, Sep 23, 2010 Author: John Pounders / Ed. Rich Norris
Theme: The Kool-Aid Man's catchphrase, Oh, Yeah! All three answers end with THAT. Each is punctuated differently to have a different meaning.
20. "Oh, yeah?": SURE ABOUT THAT?
36. "Oh, yeah!": I LIKE IT LIKE THAT.
53. "Oh, yeah ...": I REMEMBER THAT.
Al here.
Lots of tricky cluing today, only four proper names and a couple of geography clues. A fun puzzle, but nothing really stood out structurally to me, so on with the answers.
ACROSS:
1. A teaspoon, maybe: DOSE. It seems so obvious after you see it. Not so much before.
5. It may involve splashing: BATH.
9. Old hat: PASSE. Out of fashion, trite. The allusion is to nothing more than the appearance of worn-out headgear, but there is an older, more vulgar meaning...
14. Quechua speaker: INCA. Estimates are that 6-8 million people in the Andes region speak it today. You can take lessons...
15. Return from the Alps?: ECHO. Hike, anyone?
16. Sticky resin used in paint: ALKYD. Oil-based as opposed to Latex water-based. The term alkyd is a modification of the original name "alcid", reflecting the fact that they are derived from alcohol and organic acids.
17. Hot quaff: GROG. Supposedly an allusion to Old Grog, nickname of Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral who wore a grogram cloak and who in August 1740 ordered his sailors' rum to be diluted.
18. Love god: EROS. Greek. Cupid was the corresponding Roman God.
19. "Thelma and Louise" car: T-BIRD. Movie Spoiler picture.
23. __ manual: USERS. The one for my blue ray player came in 8 different languages. What a waste of paper.
24. Canadian sentence enders?: EHS. How do you spell the country to our north? C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?
25. Start using: TAP. Like a beer keg.
28. High degree: PHD. Needed perps to eliminate NTH.
29. Prone: LIABLE. Apt is actually the older meaning from Latin: bent forward, inclined. To lie face-down wasn't recorded until the 1570s.
33. "Carnival of Harlequin" surrealist: MIRO. Joan. We just had her for "Sill Life With Shoes" last Thursday.
34. Angler's accessory: SEINE. A net.
35. Silas Marner, e.g.: MISER. Subtitled The Weaver of Raveloe, by George Eliot (the pseudonym of Mary Ann(e) Evans).
41. Garden bulb: TULIP. Do you think of flowers or vegetables first when you see or hear the word garden? I wanted ONION at first. Gardenias are named for naturalist Dr. Alexander Garden, Vice President of the Royal Society.
42. Sharp ridge: ARETE. There are several in this picture.
43. Repose: CALM. A related word to repose is "pause". Calm is from from Old Italian calma, which is from Late Latin cauma "heat of the mid-day sun" (in Italy, a time when everything rests and is still).
44. Journey: VOYAGE. A journey was originally one day's travel. Or a group once again made popular by a bunch of Gleeks.
46. Merit badge org.: BSA. Boy Scouts of America.
49. Quarterback's cry: HUT. Why? I also found this, which claims that back when Roman Centurions gave orders, they then said HUT to execute it immediately. It could be true, the military today still uses HUT in marching cadence.
50. Time in a pool: DIP. To dip was originally to baptize, and is possibly related to "deep".
51. Willow tree twig: OSIER. Used in basket weaving. And they're coming to take me away, ha ha.
58. Virile one: HE-MAN. Dolph Lundgren in the live movie adaptation of the earlier cartoon.
60. Cranny's partner: NOOK. I think we just had INGLE recently, too.
61. First name in Indian music: RAVI. Shankar. Father of Norah Jones.
62. Church chorus: AMENS. Choir first anyone?
63. Tackle box item: LURE.
64. Mars counterpart: ARES. Mars/Roman, Ares/Greek Gods of war. Ares and "ire" are related. He was an angry god.
65. Opinion giver: JUDGE.
66. Cravings: YENS. Earlier yin "intense craving for opium", from Chinese yan "craving," or from a Beijing dialect word for "smoke." Reinforced in Eng. by influence of "yearn".
67. Word with cheap or bike: DIRT.
DOWN:
1. Unearths: DIGS UP.
2. Assault: ONRUSH. Assault from Latin prefix ad- (toward) + saltus (a leap or jump).
3. Homered, say: SCORED. Baseball home run. Nothing to do with the Simpsons.
4. Thirsty: EAGER.
5. Overseas network, with "the": BEEB. BBC is the British Broadcasting corporation. Also called "Auntie" Beeb.
6. Polis leader?: ACRO. Acropolis, acro for "high", and polis for "city". Usually translated as "citadel". The famous one at Athens, Greece. A picture that shows it high on a hill.
7. Commandment pronoun: THOU.
8. Hiker's stopover: HOSTEL. Not sure why a hiker, specifically. More budget-oriented than a hotel, I suppose.
9. Rustic ways: PATHS.
10. Jessica of "Sin City": ALBA. Another "comic book" movie. "Visually groundbreaking", rated moderately high.
11. People-wary, as a horse: SKITTISH.
12. Turk. neighbor: SYR. Turkey, Syria.
13. Byrnes of "77 Sunset Strip": EDD. TV detective show, ended in 1964.
21. Dreaming, perhaps: ASLEEP.
22. Not just a: THE. Definite article "the" vs. indefinite "a".
26. Space: AREA.
27. Sea side: PORT. The left side of a ship, that faces the harbor when docked. Opposite of starboard (the side where early boats were steered)
30. 1969 Super Bowl: III. The first two were retroactively renamed Super Bowls. They weren't called that at the time.
31. Colony dweller: ANT. From a compound of bases *ai- "off, away" + *mait- "cut." Thus the insect's name is "the biter off." Emmet survived into the 20th c. as an alternative form.
32. Secure, as a ship's line: BELAY. To coil a running rope around a cleat or pin.
33. Tick cousin: MITE. Little suckers. Another recent word.
34. Whole alternative: SKIM. Wanted semi. Didn't think of milk at first.
35. Falling star: METEOR. Meteor formerly meant any atmospheric phenomenon (thus meteorology for weather study). Atmospheric phenomena were formerly classified as aerial meteors (wind), aqueous meteors (rain, snow, hail), luminous meteors (aurora, rainbows), and igneous meteors (lightning, shooting stars).
36. Allergic reaction: ITCH.
37. Place to see grass skirts: LUAU. Had HULA in there at first.
38. Poorly planned: ILL-TIMED.
39. Bank offering, for short: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
40. Powder container: KEG.
44. Animation: VIM.
45. For all to see: OPENLY.
46. Native of NE India: BIHARI. Bihar.
47. Pitcher known as "Tom Terrific": SEAVER. Awards galore.
48. Escape __: ARTIST. Hatch was too short.
50. Crowded: DENSE. Also Thick.
52. Valuable violin: STRAD. Also AMATI.
54. "You __?": RANG. Lurch, from the Addams Family.
55. Pout: MOUE.
56. Conceived, as an idea: BORN.
57. Barely manages, with "out": EKES.
58. Muslim's duty: HAJ. Hajj, Hadj
59. Source of lean meat: EMU.
Answer Grid
Al
20. "Oh, yeah?": SURE ABOUT THAT?
36. "Oh, yeah!": I LIKE IT LIKE THAT.
53. "Oh, yeah ...": I REMEMBER THAT.
Al here.
Lots of tricky cluing today, only four proper names and a couple of geography clues. A fun puzzle, but nothing really stood out structurally to me, so on with the answers.
ACROSS:
1. A teaspoon, maybe: DOSE. It seems so obvious after you see it. Not so much before.
5. It may involve splashing: BATH.
9. Old hat: PASSE. Out of fashion, trite. The allusion is to nothing more than the appearance of worn-out headgear, but there is an older, more vulgar meaning...
14. Quechua speaker: INCA. Estimates are that 6-8 million people in the Andes region speak it today. You can take lessons...
15. Return from the Alps?: ECHO. Hike, anyone?
16. Sticky resin used in paint: ALKYD. Oil-based as opposed to Latex water-based. The term alkyd is a modification of the original name "alcid", reflecting the fact that they are derived from alcohol and organic acids.
17. Hot quaff: GROG. Supposedly an allusion to Old Grog, nickname of Edward Vernon (1684-1757), British admiral who wore a grogram cloak and who in August 1740 ordered his sailors' rum to be diluted.
18. Love god: EROS. Greek. Cupid was the corresponding Roman God.
19. "Thelma and Louise" car: T-BIRD. Movie Spoiler picture.
23. __ manual: USERS. The one for my blue ray player came in 8 different languages. What a waste of paper.
24. Canadian sentence enders?: EHS. How do you spell the country to our north? C, eh? N, eh? D, eh?
25. Start using: TAP. Like a beer keg.
28. High degree: PHD. Needed perps to eliminate NTH.
29. Prone: LIABLE. Apt is actually the older meaning from Latin: bent forward, inclined. To lie face-down wasn't recorded until the 1570s.
33. "Carnival of Harlequin" surrealist: MIRO. Joan. We just had her for "Sill Life With Shoes" last Thursday.
34. Angler's accessory: SEINE. A net.
35. Silas Marner, e.g.: MISER. Subtitled The Weaver of Raveloe, by George Eliot (the pseudonym of Mary Ann(e) Evans).
41. Garden bulb: TULIP. Do you think of flowers or vegetables first when you see or hear the word garden? I wanted ONION at first. Gardenias are named for naturalist Dr. Alexander Garden, Vice President of the Royal Society.
42. Sharp ridge: ARETE. There are several in this picture.
43. Repose: CALM. A related word to repose is "pause". Calm is from from Old Italian calma, which is from Late Latin cauma "heat of the mid-day sun" (in Italy, a time when everything rests and is still).
44. Journey: VOYAGE. A journey was originally one day's travel. Or a group once again made popular by a bunch of Gleeks.
46. Merit badge org.: BSA. Boy Scouts of America.
49. Quarterback's cry: HUT. Why? I also found this, which claims that back when Roman Centurions gave orders, they then said HUT to execute it immediately. It could be true, the military today still uses HUT in marching cadence.
50. Time in a pool: DIP. To dip was originally to baptize, and is possibly related to "deep".
51. Willow tree twig: OSIER. Used in basket weaving. And they're coming to take me away, ha ha.
58. Virile one: HE-MAN. Dolph Lundgren in the live movie adaptation of the earlier cartoon.
60. Cranny's partner: NOOK. I think we just had INGLE recently, too.
61. First name in Indian music: RAVI. Shankar. Father of Norah Jones.
62. Church chorus: AMENS. Choir first anyone?
63. Tackle box item: LURE.
64. Mars counterpart: ARES. Mars/Roman, Ares/Greek Gods of war. Ares and "ire" are related. He was an angry god.
65. Opinion giver: JUDGE.
66. Cravings: YENS. Earlier yin "intense craving for opium", from Chinese yan "craving," or from a Beijing dialect word for "smoke." Reinforced in Eng. by influence of "yearn".
67. Word with cheap or bike: DIRT.
DOWN:
1. Unearths: DIGS UP.
2. Assault: ONRUSH. Assault from Latin prefix ad- (toward) + saltus (a leap or jump).
3. Homered, say: SCORED. Baseball home run. Nothing to do with the Simpsons.
4. Thirsty: EAGER.
5. Overseas network, with "the": BEEB. BBC is the British Broadcasting corporation. Also called "Auntie" Beeb.
6. Polis leader?: ACRO. Acropolis, acro for "high", and polis for "city". Usually translated as "citadel". The famous one at Athens, Greece. A picture that shows it high on a hill.
7. Commandment pronoun: THOU.
8. Hiker's stopover: HOSTEL. Not sure why a hiker, specifically. More budget-oriented than a hotel, I suppose.
9. Rustic ways: PATHS.
10. Jessica of "Sin City": ALBA. Another "comic book" movie. "Visually groundbreaking", rated moderately high.
11. People-wary, as a horse: SKITTISH.
12. Turk. neighbor: SYR. Turkey, Syria.
13. Byrnes of "77 Sunset Strip": EDD. TV detective show, ended in 1964.
21. Dreaming, perhaps: ASLEEP.
22. Not just a: THE. Definite article "the" vs. indefinite "a".
26. Space: AREA.
27. Sea side: PORT. The left side of a ship, that faces the harbor when docked. Opposite of starboard (the side where early boats were steered)
30. 1969 Super Bowl: III. The first two were retroactively renamed Super Bowls. They weren't called that at the time.
31. Colony dweller: ANT. From a compound of bases *ai- "off, away" + *mait- "cut." Thus the insect's name is "the biter off." Emmet survived into the 20th c. as an alternative form.
32. Secure, as a ship's line: BELAY. To coil a running rope around a cleat or pin.
33. Tick cousin: MITE. Little suckers. Another recent word.
34. Whole alternative: SKIM. Wanted semi. Didn't think of milk at first.
35. Falling star: METEOR. Meteor formerly meant any atmospheric phenomenon (thus meteorology for weather study). Atmospheric phenomena were formerly classified as aerial meteors (wind), aqueous meteors (rain, snow, hail), luminous meteors (aurora, rainbows), and igneous meteors (lightning, shooting stars).
36. Allergic reaction: ITCH.
37. Place to see grass skirts: LUAU. Had HULA in there at first.
38. Poorly planned: ILL-TIMED.
39. Bank offering, for short: IRA. Individual Retirement Account.
40. Powder container: KEG.
44. Animation: VIM.
45. For all to see: OPENLY.
46. Native of NE India: BIHARI. Bihar.
47. Pitcher known as "Tom Terrific": SEAVER. Awards galore.
48. Escape __: ARTIST. Hatch was too short.
50. Crowded: DENSE. Also Thick.
52. Valuable violin: STRAD. Also AMATI.
54. "You __?": RANG. Lurch, from the Addams Family.
55. Pout: MOUE.
56. Conceived, as an idea: BORN.
57. Barely manages, with "out": EKES.
58. Muslim's duty: HAJ. Hajj, Hadj
59. Source of lean meat: EMU.
Answer Grid
Al
Thursday, September 16, 2010
LA Times, Thu, Sep 16, 2010 Author: David J. Kahn
Theme: SPORTS BARS. Sports-related clues with the last word of the answer being a type of bar: 58A. Places where you can watch (and whose end can follow the ends of) the answers to starred clues.
17A. *Powerful punch: RIGHT CROSS. Boxing/Cross bars. Found in luggage racks and soccer (and football) goals.
26A. *Where the tight end is positioned, in football lingo: STRONG SIDE. American Football/Side bars. An edge column on a web page, or SUV accessories that you can step on to enter the vehicle.
50A. *Shot pioneered by Wilt Chamberlain: FINGER ROLL. Basketball/Roll bars. A protective cage in a racing vehicle.
11D. *2010 St. Andrews competition: BRITISH OPEN. Golf/Open bars. Free drinks.
25D. *Wimbledon event: MENS SINGLES. Tennis/Singles bars. The "meet" market.
Al here.
As usual, ramped up for a Thursday. Seven names, tricky and several cross-referential clues, and a bit unusual. It seems to me that vertical theme answers in a weekday puzzle are seen less often than not.
ACROSS:
1. Piano pro: TUNER. You can't tuna piano, but you can tuna fish. And 49D. Needing a 1-Across: FLAT.
6. Fizzy drink: COLA. Sugar, caramel color, caffeine, phosphoric acid, high fructose corn syrup, coca extract, kola nut extract, lime extract, vanilla and glycerin. Notice that sugar is actually there twice, in first and fifth place. And whoever thought it was a good idea to drink phosphoric acid?
10. Kellogg School deg.: MBA. Master of Business Administration. I'm guessing Kellogg that is part of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
13. UV ray absorber: OZONE. O-Zone is the Moldovan pop group responsible for this internet meme sung in Romanian.
14. x and y, perhaps: AXES. Graphing lines.
15. Blackberry lily, e.g.: IRIS.
19. "Still Life With Old Shoe" artist: MIRO. Joan. Psychedelic...
20. Together, in music: ADUE. For two musicians.
21. Ham: EMOTER. Bad acting.
23. Depict artistically: LIMN. Originally to "illuminate" manuscripts by adding artwork.
29. Polar buildup: ICE CAP.
31. Extremists: ULTRAS.
32. West pointers, sometimes?: VANES. Wind indicators, originally "fane" from Old English "fana", a flag, banner, or piece of cloth.
33. Sulky state: SNIT. Not a horse carriage, but supposedly related nonetheless. A sulky is a one-person conveyance, thus considered to be used by stand-offish people (because there wasn't room for two).
34. See 59-Down: SHOP. 59D. With 34-Across, country club feature: PRO. Where you buy golf equipment and supplies. Sports theme related clues
37. It prints many scheds.: IRS. Tax forms are called schedules. Latin schida: "one of the strips forming a papyrus sheet". Yes, that's about how old taxes are...
38. "Spartacus" Oscar winner: USTINOV. Peter. A 50 year old movie.
41. Mined matter: ORE.
42. Sitcom pal of Fred: DESI. Arnaz and Mertz, I Love Lucy.
44. Shades that fade in fall: TANS. Suntans. This threw me for a bit wondering how brown leaves could fade any further.
45. Bond trader's phrase: AT PAR. Selling a bond at the same price it was issued. Bonds make money by paying dividends.
47. Not completely: IN PART.
49. Admirals' concerns: FLEETS. Enema, enemy, both to be feared.
53. Knife of yore: SNEE. Snickersnee?
54. Like "ASAP" memos: URGENT. Being cynical here, but urgency create by a memo seems to be something created artificially rather than something that is a real emergency...
55. Beer-making aid: OAST. For drying hops.
57. Kerouac's Paradise et al.: SALS. Salvatore Paradise is the "narrator" of On The Road by Jack Kerouac.
64. "Don't change it": STET. Anyone miss this "standing" crossword answer?
65. Liver nutrient: IRON. The liver stores a multitude of substances, including glucose (in the form of glycogen), vitamin A (1–2 years' supply), vitamin D (1–4 months' supply), vitamin B12 (1-3 years' supply), iron, and copper.
66. Bother persistently: NAG AT.
67. Curly shape: ESS.
68. "Forget about it": NOPE.
69. Like an evening in a Frost title: SNOWY. "Whose woods are these, I think I know..."
DOWN:
1. Rocky hill: TOR. From Old English "torr" for tower (of rock).
2. Weapon designer __ Gal: UZI. Uziel Gal, born Gotthard Glas.
3. Nutmeg-topped drink: NOG. Earliest record from1690s, “old, strong type of beer brewed in Norfolk,” of unknown origin. Now a sweetened dairy-based drink whipped with eggs and spiked with various alcohols. Does anyone drink it "plain" (or even at all?)
4. Add pizazz to: ENHANCE.
5. Like many a volunteer: Abbr.: RETD. Retired (so they have time on their hands?)
6. Wedge-shaped mark: CARET. A circumflex, atop the "6" key.
7. Kitchen gadgets brand: OXO.
8. Haitian seaport __ Cayes: LES.
9. Be convinced about: ASSENT TO.
10. Cocktails similar to a Buck's Fizz: MIMOSAS. Champagne + orange juice but combined in different proportions. Grenadine may also be added, but is not an "official" ingredient.
12. Made public: AIRED.
16. Peeved: SORE. and 23D. Really, really 16-Down: LIVID. And 51D. Really 16-Down: IRATE.
18. Where some signs change: CUSP. Latin cuspis: pointed end, (as with a tooth) is the imaginary line which separates any two signs of the zodiac. The Leo/Virgo cusp dates between August 19 and 26, so people born in that range are said to have characteristics of both.
22. Retail VIP: MGR. Manager.
24. Sympathetic words: I CARE.
27. Meet unexpectedly: RUN INTO.
28. Actor Ken and others: OLINS. Sometimes clued with Lena, no relation.
30. Barry Bonds's alma mater, briefly: ASU. Arizona State University.
33. Fab Four member: STARR. Since we just had this recently, I filled it without hesitation, and it was right...
35. Wax eloquent: ORATE. Latin oratus, pp. of orare "pray, plead, speak before a court or assembly". Maybe I'm imagining a connection to orale, (clued as papal fanon), which is part of the vestments the pope wears during a pontifical mass. Fanon also relates to fane (the VANE answer earlier) as a piece of cloth.
36. As such: PER SE.
39. Gets going: STARTS IN.
40. Batman before George: VAL. Val Kilmer was in between Michael Keaton and George Clooney.
43. Consumes: INGESTS.
46. Treaty subject: TEST BAN.
48. Reliever's spot, for short: PEN. In baseball, a relief pitcher warms up in the bull pen.
50. Hoo-ha: FUSS. Perhaps an alteration of force, or imitative of bubbling or sputtering sounds, or from Dan. fjas "foolery, nonsense." No further comment on slang meanings for Hoo-ha, I wouldn't want to cause a fuss...
52. Ben player on "Bonanza": LORNE. Ben Cartwright was played by Lorne Greene (Lymon Himon Green).
56. Payroll figs.: SSNS. Figures, social security numbers.
60. Rider of Dinny the dinosaur: OOP. Alley oop, the caveman comic strip. Never mind that dinosaurs and cavemen didn't live at the same time.
61. In days past: AGO.
62. Untrained: RAW. As in a military recruit.
63. Place to serve slop: STY. Old English sti, stig "hall, pen". Is that why they're called "mess" halls?
Answer Grid.
Al
17A. *Powerful punch: RIGHT CROSS. Boxing/Cross bars. Found in luggage racks and soccer (and football) goals.
26A. *Where the tight end is positioned, in football lingo: STRONG SIDE. American Football/Side bars. An edge column on a web page, or SUV accessories that you can step on to enter the vehicle.
50A. *Shot pioneered by Wilt Chamberlain: FINGER ROLL. Basketball/Roll bars. A protective cage in a racing vehicle.
11D. *2010 St. Andrews competition: BRITISH OPEN. Golf/Open bars. Free drinks.
25D. *Wimbledon event: MENS SINGLES. Tennis/Singles bars. The "meet" market.
Al here.
As usual, ramped up for a Thursday. Seven names, tricky and several cross-referential clues, and a bit unusual. It seems to me that vertical theme answers in a weekday puzzle are seen less often than not.
ACROSS:
1. Piano pro: TUNER. You can't tuna piano, but you can tuna fish. And 49D. Needing a 1-Across: FLAT.
6. Fizzy drink: COLA. Sugar, caramel color, caffeine, phosphoric acid, high fructose corn syrup, coca extract, kola nut extract, lime extract, vanilla and glycerin. Notice that sugar is actually there twice, in first and fifth place. And whoever thought it was a good idea to drink phosphoric acid?
10. Kellogg School deg.: MBA. Master of Business Administration. I'm guessing Kellogg that is part of Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.
13. UV ray absorber: OZONE. O-Zone is the Moldovan pop group responsible for this internet meme sung in Romanian.
14. x and y, perhaps: AXES. Graphing lines.
15. Blackberry lily, e.g.: IRIS.
19. "Still Life With Old Shoe" artist: MIRO. Joan. Psychedelic...
20. Together, in music: ADUE. For two musicians.
21. Ham: EMOTER. Bad acting.
23. Depict artistically: LIMN. Originally to "illuminate" manuscripts by adding artwork.
29. Polar buildup: ICE CAP.
31. Extremists: ULTRAS.
32. West pointers, sometimes?: VANES. Wind indicators, originally "fane" from Old English "fana", a flag, banner, or piece of cloth.
33. Sulky state: SNIT. Not a horse carriage, but supposedly related nonetheless. A sulky is a one-person conveyance, thus considered to be used by stand-offish people (because there wasn't room for two).
34. See 59-Down: SHOP. 59D. With 34-Across, country club feature: PRO. Where you buy golf equipment and supplies. Sports theme related clues
37. It prints many scheds.: IRS. Tax forms are called schedules. Latin schida: "one of the strips forming a papyrus sheet". Yes, that's about how old taxes are...
38. "Spartacus" Oscar winner: USTINOV. Peter. A 50 year old movie.
41. Mined matter: ORE.
42. Sitcom pal of Fred: DESI. Arnaz and Mertz, I Love Lucy.
44. Shades that fade in fall: TANS. Suntans. This threw me for a bit wondering how brown leaves could fade any further.
45. Bond trader's phrase: AT PAR. Selling a bond at the same price it was issued. Bonds make money by paying dividends.
47. Not completely: IN PART.
49. Admirals' concerns: FLEETS. Enema, enemy, both to be feared.
53. Knife of yore: SNEE. Snickersnee?
54. Like "ASAP" memos: URGENT. Being cynical here, but urgency create by a memo seems to be something created artificially rather than something that is a real emergency...
55. Beer-making aid: OAST. For drying hops.
57. Kerouac's Paradise et al.: SALS. Salvatore Paradise is the "narrator" of On The Road by Jack Kerouac.
64. "Don't change it": STET. Anyone miss this "standing" crossword answer?
65. Liver nutrient: IRON. The liver stores a multitude of substances, including glucose (in the form of glycogen), vitamin A (1–2 years' supply), vitamin D (1–4 months' supply), vitamin B12 (1-3 years' supply), iron, and copper.
66. Bother persistently: NAG AT.
67. Curly shape: ESS.
68. "Forget about it": NOPE.
69. Like an evening in a Frost title: SNOWY. "Whose woods are these, I think I know..."
DOWN:
1. Rocky hill: TOR. From Old English "torr" for tower (of rock).
2. Weapon designer __ Gal: UZI. Uziel Gal, born Gotthard Glas.
3. Nutmeg-topped drink: NOG. Earliest record from1690s, “old, strong type of beer brewed in Norfolk,” of unknown origin. Now a sweetened dairy-based drink whipped with eggs and spiked with various alcohols. Does anyone drink it "plain" (or even at all?)
4. Add pizazz to: ENHANCE.
5. Like many a volunteer: Abbr.: RETD. Retired (so they have time on their hands?)
6. Wedge-shaped mark: CARET. A circumflex, atop the "6" key.
7. Kitchen gadgets brand: OXO.
8. Haitian seaport __ Cayes: LES.
9. Be convinced about: ASSENT TO.
10. Cocktails similar to a Buck's Fizz: MIMOSAS. Champagne + orange juice but combined in different proportions. Grenadine may also be added, but is not an "official" ingredient.
12. Made public: AIRED.
16. Peeved: SORE. and 23D. Really, really 16-Down: LIVID. And 51D. Really 16-Down: IRATE.
18. Where some signs change: CUSP. Latin cuspis: pointed end, (as with a tooth) is the imaginary line which separates any two signs of the zodiac. The Leo/Virgo cusp dates between August 19 and 26, so people born in that range are said to have characteristics of both.
22. Retail VIP: MGR. Manager.
24. Sympathetic words: I CARE.
27. Meet unexpectedly: RUN INTO.
28. Actor Ken and others: OLINS. Sometimes clued with Lena, no relation.
30. Barry Bonds's alma mater, briefly: ASU. Arizona State University.
33. Fab Four member: STARR. Since we just had this recently, I filled it without hesitation, and it was right...
35. Wax eloquent: ORATE. Latin oratus, pp. of orare "pray, plead, speak before a court or assembly". Maybe I'm imagining a connection to orale, (clued as papal fanon), which is part of the vestments the pope wears during a pontifical mass. Fanon also relates to fane (the VANE answer earlier) as a piece of cloth.
36. As such: PER SE.
39. Gets going: STARTS IN.
40. Batman before George: VAL. Val Kilmer was in between Michael Keaton and George Clooney.
43. Consumes: INGESTS.
46. Treaty subject: TEST BAN.
48. Reliever's spot, for short: PEN. In baseball, a relief pitcher warms up in the bull pen.
50. Hoo-ha: FUSS. Perhaps an alteration of force, or imitative of bubbling or sputtering sounds, or from Dan. fjas "foolery, nonsense." No further comment on slang meanings for Hoo-ha, I wouldn't want to cause a fuss...
52. Ben player on "Bonanza": LORNE. Ben Cartwright was played by Lorne Greene (Lymon Himon Green).
56. Payroll figs.: SSNS. Figures, social security numbers.
60. Rider of Dinny the dinosaur: OOP. Alley oop, the caveman comic strip. Never mind that dinosaurs and cavemen didn't live at the same time.
61. In days past: AGO.
62. Untrained: RAW. As in a military recruit.
63. Place to serve slop: STY. Old English sti, stig "hall, pen". Is that why they're called "mess" halls?
Answer Grid.
Al
Thursday, September 9, 2010
LA Times, Thu, Sep 9, 2010 Author: John "Doppler" Schiff
Theme: 61. Cassette deck feature, and a hint to this puzzle's theme: AUTO REVERSE. Two-word car parts that are clued to have wacky backwards meanings, indicated with a "?".
17. Excessive pride in one's china?: PLATE VANITY. Vanity Plate examples.
26. Brawl during a game of musical chairs?: SEAT RUMBLE. Last built in 1939. Decapitation, really? I wonder why they're no longer an option.
36. What Winfrey couldn't do during a noted couch-jumping episode?: CONTROL CRUISE. If you like Tom Cruise, don't watch this...
51. Zorro's chamois?: BLADE WIPER. Poor choice IMO. Ever try to get blood stains out of suede leather?
Al here.
Definitely a step up with tricky cluing today. Another puzzle that you look back at after solving and think, why did this take me so long? I think because of all the wrong words I put in at first.
ACROSS:
1. "__ the Line": Johnny Cash hit: I WALK. A modernized version. Definitely not traditional.
6. Beatles beat provider: STARR. I confidently put Ringo in there first.
11. "Gosh!": GEE.
14. Trailer follower: MOVIE. Kind of clever, you see the trailer first before the movie comes out, or before the movie starts. They are called trailers though, because they used to show them at the end of movies. Not marketing genius at the time.
15. She played Adrian in "Rocky": TALIA. Shire.
16. Cellular transmitter: RNA. and 52D. Cellular transmitter: PHONE.
19. A storm might delay it: Abbr.: ARR. Arrival.
20. Sailor's rear: AFT.
21. Sorrowful comment: PITY. I took this in the sense of showing pity, not actually using the word in a sentence.
22. Congo neighbor: GABON.
24. Coveted role: LEAD. Wanted to think of some specific play or movie instead of just a general term.
29. Relevant, in law: AD REM. To the matter. Get to the point, no digression.
31. Tuxedos, often: RENTALS. I wore one once, at my brother's wedding. I don't even own a suit, myself.
32. Power source size: AAA. Battery.
34. Bolt, e.g.: EAT. And 2D. Gobbled: WOLFED. Swallow hurriedly, with little or no chewing.
35. Acquire: GET.
41. Case, for instance: Abbr.: SYN. Case and instance are synonyms: In this case; in this instance.
42. Apt. ad spec: RMS. Apartment, rooms, abbreviations.
43. Middle-earth monster: ORC. From JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novels.
44. Followed, as an impulse: ACTED ON.
47. Respectful refusal: NO SIR.
55. Chihuahua child: NINO. Spanish.
56. B on a table: BORON. A chemical symbol on the table of elements.
57. High, to Henri: HAUT. French
59. Sheet with beats, for short: EKG. A chart of heart electrical activity. From German: Elektrokardiogramm
60. Filmmaker Lee: ANG. Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, The Hulk, Brokeback Mountain. Can't pigeonhole him.
65. Ball-bearing device: TEE. Golf. I was looking for something automotive here instead.
66. Queen's mate: DRONE. Bees. Hi Melissa!
67. Reason for a raise: MERIT. I make money the old-fashioned way. I earn it. There are older professions though, and I should stop short of the obvious here.
68. Marshall Plan pres.: HST. Harry S Truman. His middle initial didn't actually stand for anything, but it was given to him in an attempt to please both grandfathers: Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. Barely born and already a politician.
69. Sighted: AIMED.
70. Thicke and Rickman: ALANS.
DOWN:
1. Savanna leaper: IMPALA. Or a model of Chevy to go along with the car theme.
3. 2009 James Cameron blockbuster: AVATAR.
4. Burning: LIT.
5. Medieval castle tower: KEEP. Used as a dungeon or a stronghold.
6. Clinton's department: STATE.
7. Tucker of country: TANYA.
8. "Float like a butterfly" boxer: ALI.
9. Accel.'s opposite, in music: RIT. Accelerando, ritardando. Tempo change terms.
10. Flash Gordon weapon: RAY GUN. This is probably the inspiration for the SDI program (Reagan/Star Wars). OK, I'm so not funny.
11. Random assortments: GRAB BAGS.
12. Course taker: ENROLLEE.
13. Not kidding: EARNEST. It's important to be this.
18. It drops with fog: Abbr.: VIS. Visibility. Might have been temperature: TMP.
23. Tsp. or tbsp.: AMT. Amount measurements.
25. Jerry's comedy partner: DEAN. Martin and Lewis. And 63D. Jerry's partner: TOM.
27. __ II razor: TRAC.
28. Fashionably dated: RETRO.
30. Gym safety item: MAT. I had PAD here first.
33. Feathered flier: ARROW. I put AVIAN in after getting the leading A.
34. Trains overhead: ELS.
36. Twisters: CYCLONES. Greek kyklon "moving in a circle, whirling around"
37. In line with the goal: ON TARGET.
38. Defunct sci-fi magazine: OMNI. Why we're alone in the universe. A short story that appeared in the magazine. I used to subscribe...
39. Vase relative: URN.
40. Clickable pic: ICON. Greek: eikon "likeness, image, portrait"
41. Day of rest: SABBATH.
45. Fishing village that became Tokyo: EDO. Picture from 1865-66
46. "Gracias" response: DE NADA. Spanish: thank you; it's nothing.
48. High chain: SIERRA. Mountain chain.
49. Finalizes, as a cel: INKS IN. Hand-colors one frame of animation, (of which you need anywhere from 10-30 for just one second of film).
50. Word-for-word reference?: ROGETS. Thesaurus. Used to substitute words, as in a homework assignment.
53. Like cornstalks: EARED. Seemed too obvious to be correct.
54. Wish one hadn't: RUE.
58. Adult cable rating: TV-MA. The following program is intended for mature audiences. Viewer discretion advised.
62. Alleged spoon-bender Geller: URI.
64. Sushi fish: EEL. Unagi.
Answer Grid.
Al
17. Excessive pride in one's china?: PLATE VANITY. Vanity Plate examples.
26. Brawl during a game of musical chairs?: SEAT RUMBLE. Last built in 1939. Decapitation, really? I wonder why they're no longer an option.
36. What Winfrey couldn't do during a noted couch-jumping episode?: CONTROL CRUISE. If you like Tom Cruise, don't watch this...
51. Zorro's chamois?: BLADE WIPER. Poor choice IMO. Ever try to get blood stains out of suede leather?
Al here.
Definitely a step up with tricky cluing today. Another puzzle that you look back at after solving and think, why did this take me so long? I think because of all the wrong words I put in at first.
ACROSS:
1. "__ the Line": Johnny Cash hit: I WALK. A modernized version. Definitely not traditional.
6. Beatles beat provider: STARR. I confidently put Ringo in there first.
11. "Gosh!": GEE.
14. Trailer follower: MOVIE. Kind of clever, you see the trailer first before the movie comes out, or before the movie starts. They are called trailers though, because they used to show them at the end of movies. Not marketing genius at the time.
15. She played Adrian in "Rocky": TALIA. Shire.
16. Cellular transmitter: RNA. and 52D. Cellular transmitter: PHONE.
19. A storm might delay it: Abbr.: ARR. Arrival.
20. Sailor's rear: AFT.
21. Sorrowful comment: PITY. I took this in the sense of showing pity, not actually using the word in a sentence.
22. Congo neighbor: GABON.
24. Coveted role: LEAD. Wanted to think of some specific play or movie instead of just a general term.
29. Relevant, in law: AD REM. To the matter. Get to the point, no digression.
31. Tuxedos, often: RENTALS. I wore one once, at my brother's wedding. I don't even own a suit, myself.
32. Power source size: AAA. Battery.
34. Bolt, e.g.: EAT. And 2D. Gobbled: WOLFED. Swallow hurriedly, with little or no chewing.
35. Acquire: GET.
41. Case, for instance: Abbr.: SYN. Case and instance are synonyms: In this case; in this instance.
42. Apt. ad spec: RMS. Apartment, rooms, abbreviations.
43. Middle-earth monster: ORC. From JRR Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novels.
44. Followed, as an impulse: ACTED ON.
47. Respectful refusal: NO SIR.
55. Chihuahua child: NINO. Spanish.
56. B on a table: BORON. A chemical symbol on the table of elements.
57. High, to Henri: HAUT. French
59. Sheet with beats, for short: EKG. A chart of heart electrical activity. From German: Elektrokardiogramm
60. Filmmaker Lee: ANG. Sense and Sensibility, Crouching Tiger, The Hulk, Brokeback Mountain. Can't pigeonhole him.
65. Ball-bearing device: TEE. Golf. I was looking for something automotive here instead.
66. Queen's mate: DRONE. Bees. Hi Melissa!
67. Reason for a raise: MERIT. I make money the old-fashioned way. I earn it. There are older professions though, and I should stop short of the obvious here.
68. Marshall Plan pres.: HST. Harry S Truman. His middle initial didn't actually stand for anything, but it was given to him in an attempt to please both grandfathers: Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. Barely born and already a politician.
69. Sighted: AIMED.
70. Thicke and Rickman: ALANS.
DOWN:
1. Savanna leaper: IMPALA. Or a model of Chevy to go along with the car theme.
3. 2009 James Cameron blockbuster: AVATAR.
4. Burning: LIT.
5. Medieval castle tower: KEEP. Used as a dungeon or a stronghold.
6. Clinton's department: STATE.
7. Tucker of country: TANYA.
8. "Float like a butterfly" boxer: ALI.
9. Accel.'s opposite, in music: RIT. Accelerando, ritardando. Tempo change terms.
10. Flash Gordon weapon: RAY GUN. This is probably the inspiration for the SDI program (Reagan/Star Wars). OK, I'm so not funny.
11. Random assortments: GRAB BAGS.
12. Course taker: ENROLLEE.
13. Not kidding: EARNEST. It's important to be this.
18. It drops with fog: Abbr.: VIS. Visibility. Might have been temperature: TMP.
23. Tsp. or tbsp.: AMT. Amount measurements.
25. Jerry's comedy partner: DEAN. Martin and Lewis. And 63D. Jerry's partner: TOM.
27. __ II razor: TRAC.
28. Fashionably dated: RETRO.
30. Gym safety item: MAT. I had PAD here first.
33. Feathered flier: ARROW. I put AVIAN in after getting the leading A.
34. Trains overhead: ELS.
36. Twisters: CYCLONES. Greek kyklon "moving in a circle, whirling around"
37. In line with the goal: ON TARGET.
38. Defunct sci-fi magazine: OMNI. Why we're alone in the universe. A short story that appeared in the magazine. I used to subscribe...
39. Vase relative: URN.
40. Clickable pic: ICON. Greek: eikon "likeness, image, portrait"
41. Day of rest: SABBATH.
45. Fishing village that became Tokyo: EDO. Picture from 1865-66
46. "Gracias" response: DE NADA. Spanish: thank you; it's nothing.
48. High chain: SIERRA. Mountain chain.
49. Finalizes, as a cel: INKS IN. Hand-colors one frame of animation, (of which you need anywhere from 10-30 for just one second of film).
50. Word-for-word reference?: ROGETS. Thesaurus. Used to substitute words, as in a homework assignment.
53. Like cornstalks: EARED. Seemed too obvious to be correct.
54. Wish one hadn't: RUE.
58. Adult cable rating: TV-MA. The following program is intended for mature audiences. Viewer discretion advised.
62. Alleged spoon-bender Geller: URI.
64. Sushi fish: EEL. Unagi.
Answer Grid.
Al
Thursday, September 2, 2010
LA Times, Thu, Sep 2, 2010 Author: Dan Naddor
Theme: Palindrome pairs. 36A. Three pairs of them end the answers to starred clues: PALINDROMES.
17. *Dense fabrics: DOUBLE KNITS. And 60A. *More than just grumble: RAISE A STINK. The first and last theme answers are paired. Knits is stink spelled backwards.
20. *Ready to blow?: OVER STRESSED. paired with 54A. *"Top Chef" spin-off involving competitive baking: JUST DESSERTS. Then the second answer is paired with the penultimate answer. This one impressed me the most. Not just an acronym, stressed is desserts spelled backwards.
27. *It'll keep your hat on: CHIN STRAP. paired with 44A. *Carquest stock: AUTO PARTS. Finally the third answer is paired with the anti-penultimate answer. Strap is parts spelled backwards.
Al here.
Along with the pairing, there was also some impressive symmetry work involved. The tip-off answer was positioned in the very center. Every pair has one answer that starts on the left edge of the grid and its mating answer answer ends on the right edge, and constructed so that both answers within a given pair are the same length as each other. I can't help wondering how many puzzles from Dan are left before they are gone. Seven theme answers, using 75 squares, that's over 40% of the puzzle letters. Another quick solve for me today though, the short answers were mostly easy. I think abjure was the only word where I had to look up the meaning afterwards.
ACROSS:
1. Yankees' div.: AL EAST. Baseball. The Yankees are in the American League.
7. Deal: COPE. From Old French: couper, to hit, originally meant "come to blows with", and later evolved into "handle successfully". This would make coping so much more satisfactory, sometimes...
11. Jenny or jack: ASS. Names which became generic for male and female, applied to other animals (wren) and objects (spinning jenny, car jack). Note that "jack" was not capitalized here, so a name was not being clued. Ridden by 69A. Quixote's squire __ Panza: SANCHO.
14. Alter, as boundaries: REDRAW. Elbridge Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, was lampooned when his party redistricted the state in a blatant bid to preserve an Antifederalist majority. One Essex County district resembled a salamander, and a newspaper editor dubbed it a Gerrymander.
15. Slain shepherd: ABEL. Killed by his brother Cain. With 49A. 15-Across's dad: ADAM.
16. "Fer sher": YEP.
19. Prior to, to Prior: ERE. Interesting echo here. The second Prior (capitalized) is the old name for the head of a religious order, so an old word.
22. Fettuccine follower: ALFREDO. Noodles with Parmesan cheese and butter. And in the US mostly with cream as well.
25. Aborigines of Hokkaido: AINU. Japan.
26. Compress, in a way: BALE. Hay, straw, cotton, etc.
32. Cat tail motion: SWITCH. Twitch + swish making a portmanteau word that already exists?
35. Specialty: AREA.
40. Lots: A TON. Originally "space occupied by a tun or cask of wine," thus identical to tun.
41. Area 51 location: NEVADA.
50. Bingo call: B-TEN. Each letter has a possible 15 sequential numbers starting with one. There are 552,446,474,061,128,648,601,600,000 different Bingo cards possible.
51. Kettle pair: MA AND PA.
59. www address: URL. Uniform Resource Locator. With 3D. 59-Across ending: EDU.
64. Messenger letters?: RNA. RiboNucleic Acid. Travels out of the cell nucleus to deliver coded instructions to assemble proteins.
65. Ain't right?: ISN'T.
66. Have suspicions about: BE ON TO.
67. One hairpin turn after another: ESS.
68. Cribbage markers: PEGS.
DOWN:
1. Not easy, to a Cockney?: 'ARD.
2. MGM mascot: LEO.
4. Botanical gardens: ARBORETA. An arboretum is a collection of trees or woody plants. Specific arboreta names include: fruticetum, viticetum, and pinetum.
5. Soother: SALVE.
6. Rough wool cloth: TWEED. A trade name said to have developed from a misreading (supposedly by London hatter James Locke) of tweel, Scottish variant of twill, possibly influenced by the river Tweed in Scotland.
7. Six-pack units: CANS. And 22A. Six-pack units: ABS. Mostly an either/or choice, unless you really work at it.
8. Notice with a bio, often: OBIT.
9. Czech hockey player Nedved: PETR. Why would we care? Well, he married her.
10. Threat ender: ELSE.
11. Music to a captain's ears: AYE, SIR.
12. Star sometimes seen opposite Venus?: SERENA. The Williams sisters, tennis stars.
13. Stepped on it: SPED UP.
18. McDonald's founder: KROC. Ray.
21. Gathered dust: SAT.
23. Postgraduate study: LAW.
24. Emma Peel's hair style: FLIP.
28. "I wish I __ seen that": HADN'T. That which has been seen can never be un-seen. I'll be kind and not link anything here.
29. Factory outlet tag abbr.: IRR. Irregular.
30. Vegas gas: NEON. Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas gas gas.
31. Identical: SAME. Literally from Latin: idem "the same" (from id "it, that one") + demonstrative suffix -dem.
33. Show enjoyment at a show: CLAP.
34. __ high note: HIT A. Payoff at 3:34.
37. Where the Lofoten Isl. are: NOR. Abbr. for Islands, and for Norway.
38. Northwestern University city: EVANSTON. The only private school in the Big-10. The Wildcats.
39. Teen safety org.: SADD. Originally: Students Against Driving Drunk, now they are against Destructive Decisions. Founders of the "Contract for Life" between parents and their children.
42. Skip over water, as stones: DAP. There is actually a North American Stone Skipping Association. The record is 40 skips.
43. Doc bloc: AMA. American Medical Association.
44. Officially retract: ABJURE. From Latin abjurare "deny on oath," from ab- "away" + jurare "to swear,"
45. One-way street no-nos: U-TURNS.
46. Magnetic measures: TESLAS. If only he was this popular in his day...
47. Hudson Bay prov.: ONT. Ontario. Did you ever notice that Canananananada is like banananana? It's hard to know when to stop.
48. Hook's right hand: SMEE. I wanted this to be hook, just for the irony, but "gone" would have worked, too.
52. Saudis, usually: ARABS.
53. On the Aegean: AT SEA.
55. Water waster: DRIP.
56. Slack off: EASE.
57. Participate in karaoke: SING.
58. Grounded jets: Abbr.: SSTS.
61. Ltd. relative: INC. Limited is the British "incorporated".
62. Nonspecific extreme: NTH.
63. "Koochie-__!": KOO. Possibly not safe for work, or while you're drinking something...
Answer Grid
Al
17. *Dense fabrics: DOUBLE KNITS. And 60A. *More than just grumble: RAISE A STINK. The first and last theme answers are paired. Knits is stink spelled backwards.
20. *Ready to blow?: OVER STRESSED. paired with 54A. *"Top Chef" spin-off involving competitive baking: JUST DESSERTS. Then the second answer is paired with the penultimate answer. This one impressed me the most. Not just an acronym, stressed is desserts spelled backwards.
27. *It'll keep your hat on: CHIN STRAP. paired with 44A. *Carquest stock: AUTO PARTS. Finally the third answer is paired with the anti-penultimate answer. Strap is parts spelled backwards.
Al here.
Along with the pairing, there was also some impressive symmetry work involved. The tip-off answer was positioned in the very center. Every pair has one answer that starts on the left edge of the grid and its mating answer answer ends on the right edge, and constructed so that both answers within a given pair are the same length as each other. I can't help wondering how many puzzles from Dan are left before they are gone. Seven theme answers, using 75 squares, that's over 40% of the puzzle letters. Another quick solve for me today though, the short answers were mostly easy. I think abjure was the only word where I had to look up the meaning afterwards.
ACROSS:
1. Yankees' div.: AL EAST. Baseball. The Yankees are in the American League.
7. Deal: COPE. From Old French: couper, to hit, originally meant "come to blows with", and later evolved into "handle successfully". This would make coping so much more satisfactory, sometimes...
11. Jenny or jack: ASS. Names which became generic for male and female, applied to other animals (wren) and objects (spinning jenny, car jack). Note that "jack" was not capitalized here, so a name was not being clued. Ridden by 69A. Quixote's squire __ Panza: SANCHO.
14. Alter, as boundaries: REDRAW. Elbridge Gerry, governor of Massachusetts, was lampooned when his party redistricted the state in a blatant bid to preserve an Antifederalist majority. One Essex County district resembled a salamander, and a newspaper editor dubbed it a Gerrymander.
15. Slain shepherd: ABEL. Killed by his brother Cain. With 49A. 15-Across's dad: ADAM.
16. "Fer sher": YEP.
19. Prior to, to Prior: ERE. Interesting echo here. The second Prior (capitalized) is the old name for the head of a religious order, so an old word.
22. Fettuccine follower: ALFREDO. Noodles with Parmesan cheese and butter. And in the US mostly with cream as well.
25. Aborigines of Hokkaido: AINU. Japan.
26. Compress, in a way: BALE. Hay, straw, cotton, etc.
32. Cat tail motion: SWITCH. Twitch + swish making a portmanteau word that already exists?
35. Specialty: AREA.
40. Lots: A TON. Originally "space occupied by a tun or cask of wine," thus identical to tun.
41. Area 51 location: NEVADA.
50. Bingo call: B-TEN. Each letter has a possible 15 sequential numbers starting with one. There are 552,446,474,061,128,648,601,600,000 different Bingo cards possible.
51. Kettle pair: MA AND PA.
59. www address: URL. Uniform Resource Locator. With 3D. 59-Across ending: EDU.
64. Messenger letters?: RNA. RiboNucleic Acid. Travels out of the cell nucleus to deliver coded instructions to assemble proteins.
65. Ain't right?: ISN'T.
66. Have suspicions about: BE ON TO.
67. One hairpin turn after another: ESS.
68. Cribbage markers: PEGS.
DOWN:
1. Not easy, to a Cockney?: 'ARD.
2. MGM mascot: LEO.
4. Botanical gardens: ARBORETA. An arboretum is a collection of trees or woody plants. Specific arboreta names include: fruticetum, viticetum, and pinetum.
5. Soother: SALVE.
6. Rough wool cloth: TWEED. A trade name said to have developed from a misreading (supposedly by London hatter James Locke) of tweel, Scottish variant of twill, possibly influenced by the river Tweed in Scotland.
7. Six-pack units: CANS. And 22A. Six-pack units: ABS. Mostly an either/or choice, unless you really work at it.
8. Notice with a bio, often: OBIT.
9. Czech hockey player Nedved: PETR. Why would we care? Well, he married her.
10. Threat ender: ELSE.
11. Music to a captain's ears: AYE, SIR.
12. Star sometimes seen opposite Venus?: SERENA. The Williams sisters, tennis stars.
13. Stepped on it: SPED UP.
18. McDonald's founder: KROC. Ray.
21. Gathered dust: SAT.
23. Postgraduate study: LAW.
24. Emma Peel's hair style: FLIP.
28. "I wish I __ seen that": HADN'T. That which has been seen can never be un-seen. I'll be kind and not link anything here.
29. Factory outlet tag abbr.: IRR. Irregular.
30. Vegas gas: NEON. Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas gas gas.
31. Identical: SAME. Literally from Latin: idem "the same" (from id "it, that one") + demonstrative suffix -dem.
33. Show enjoyment at a show: CLAP.
34. __ high note: HIT A. Payoff at 3:34.
37. Where the Lofoten Isl. are: NOR. Abbr. for Islands, and for Norway.
38. Northwestern University city: EVANSTON. The only private school in the Big-10. The Wildcats.
39. Teen safety org.: SADD. Originally: Students Against Driving Drunk, now they are against Destructive Decisions. Founders of the "Contract for Life" between parents and their children.
42. Skip over water, as stones: DAP. There is actually a North American Stone Skipping Association. The record is 40 skips.
43. Doc bloc: AMA. American Medical Association.
44. Officially retract: ABJURE. From Latin abjurare "deny on oath," from ab- "away" + jurare "to swear,"
45. One-way street no-nos: U-TURNS.
46. Magnetic measures: TESLAS. If only he was this popular in his day...
47. Hudson Bay prov.: ONT. Ontario. Did you ever notice that Canananananada is like banananana? It's hard to know when to stop.
48. Hook's right hand: SMEE. I wanted this to be hook, just for the irony, but "gone" would have worked, too.
52. Saudis, usually: ARABS.
53. On the Aegean: AT SEA.
55. Water waster: DRIP.
56. Slack off: EASE.
57. Participate in karaoke: SING.
58. Grounded jets: Abbr.: SSTS.
61. Ltd. relative: INC. Limited is the British "incorporated".
62. Nonspecific extreme: NTH.
63. "Koochie-__!": KOO. Possibly not safe for work, or while you're drinking something...
Answer Grid
Al
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