Theme: Chef's Creations (Play on Words)
20A: Chef's quick creations: HALF-BAKED IDEAS
40A: Chef's brunch dilemma: CHICKEN OR THE EGG
54A: Chef's secret ingredient: FORBIDDEN FRUIT
Well, the real dilemma is: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or is it acceptable to say "Chicken or the egg"?
I had big problems this morning with the lower right corner. Could not figure out what's for 53A: Cross or Blue (BEN). Somehow I read the clue to be Red or Blue, and I had _ E_, I wanted SEA there, I was so desperate that Blue Sea sounded like a real place to me. Had no idea who the Diplomat Elihu was. Hear Ehud Olmert's name too often. I did not know 60D: New Rochelle college (IONA).
As for 68A: Slaughter of baseball (ENOS), I filled in OTIS. Then I could not work out anything around that area. Had to ask my husband, who was up earlier this morning. He corrected me and told me a story of how Enos Slaughter attended Fred Souba's retirement party. Fred also belonged to Twins Cities Sports Collectors club in 1980s. Orange also listed this ENOS name on her Word Bank list, but I forgot.
Overall, I feel this puzzle is easier than Monday's Babe Zaharias and Janet Guthrie one, don't you think so?
Here are some across entries:
1A: Rooster's pride: COMB
10A: Don't move!: HALT!
14A: Capital of Samoa: APIA
17A: Redhead Lucille: BALL. I Love Lucy. The Chocolate Factory Episode is my favorite.
18A: Excuse: ALIBI
19A: Seward Peninsula: NOME
25A: Jamaican cultist: RASTA. Would you believed I nailed this one? It's all because of Bob Marley. I like "No woman No cry".
28A: NYC arena: MSG
31A: Immature insect: LARVA
35A: Mind reading: ESP
36A: Place of worship: CHAPEL
39A: College bigwig: DEAN
43A: Head of France: TETE (French word for head). I was kind of impressed by Nicolas Sarkozy's attitude toward Lesley Stahl during the 60 minutes interview. I predict his marriage to that singer, Carla somebody, will end within 5 years, before he leaves the office.
44A: Oddball: WEIRDO. I wonder if Michael Jackson ever watched Finding Neverland (starring Johnny Depp).
46A: Lulus: ONERS
48A: Slightly shifty: SLY. I always thoughts of sly as "very shifty".
49A: Tightwad: MISER
53A: Cross or Blue: BEN. Ben Cross is an English actor. Ben Blue is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. I never heard of their names before.
63A: Soviet collective: ARTEL. I got this from the down clues. Here is the defination from Dictonary.com: In Russia or the Soviet Union) a peasants' or workers' cooperative; an association of workers or peasants for collective effort.
64A: Diplomat Elihu: ROOT. He won Nobel Peace Prize in 1912. Teddy Roosevelt won it in 1906.
66A: ___ Hari: MATA: The spy. She looked so exotic.
67A: "West Side Story" hit: MARIA. Unknown to me.
68A: Slaughter of baseball: ENOS. He is in baseball Hall-of-Fame. St Louis Cardinal's #9.
69A: Asian sea: ARAL
70A: Silvery food fish: SMELT
71A: Laertes or Hamlet, e.g.: DANE
Down entries:
1D: Hack: CAB. Taxi.
2D: Colorful marine fish: OPAH
3D: Uris novel "___" 18: MILA. Never read any of Uris' works.
4D: "Swan Lake, " e.g.: BALLET
5D: Riyadh residents: ARABS. Riyadh is Saudi Arabia's capital.
6D: Actor Lugosi: BELA. Known for his role in Dracula.
7D: Composer Satie: ERIK
9D: Maliciously derogatory: SNIDE
10D: Not from a factory: HANDMADE
12D: "Champagne Tony" of golf: LEMA
21D: "Killing Me Softly..." singer": FLACK (Roberta). I like "The First Time I ever Saw Your Face."
22D: Off one's feed: ILL
25D: Right-hand page: RECTO. Left is Verso.
27D: Malicous ill-will: SPITE
28D: Flowing tresses: MANES
29D: Ruin: SPOIL
30D: Saxophonist Mulligan: GERRY. Unknown to me.
32D: Marsh grass: REEDS
38D: Inc. in the UK.: LTD
41D: Of the brain: CEREBRAL. This answer reminds me of Ken Jennings. Have a look at his blog.
42D: Ancient writer: HOMER
50D: Hardened (to): INURED
52D: Don or Samuel: ADAMS
53D: Musical note: B FLAT
54D: Disaster org: FEMA. Somehow I was not surprised by their fake press conference after the Brownie disaster.
56D: Poet Dove: RITA. She won Pulitzer in 1987.
57D: Whiskey shot: DRAM
58D: Tours to be: ETRE (Etre is French for be)
59D: Singer Young: NEIL
60D: New Rochelle college: IONA. Never heard of this college. Found out that Don McLean (American Pie) attended this college.
61D: Roger Rabbit feature: TOON
65D: Half a fly?: TSE I learned this tsetse fly only from doing crossword. I always thought it's a strange fly living somewhere in Africa. Imagine my surprise last night when I watched Finding Neverland and heard Barrie (Johnny Depp) telling Peter "Tsetse fly, quite horrible."
Alright, time for breakfast.
C. C.
20A: Chef's quick creations: HALF-BAKED IDEAS
40A: Chef's brunch dilemma: CHICKEN OR THE EGG
54A: Chef's secret ingredient: FORBIDDEN FRUIT
Well, the real dilemma is: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Or is it acceptable to say "Chicken or the egg"?
I had big problems this morning with the lower right corner. Could not figure out what's for 53A: Cross or Blue (BEN). Somehow I read the clue to be Red or Blue, and I had _ E_, I wanted SEA there, I was so desperate that Blue Sea sounded like a real place to me. Had no idea who the Diplomat Elihu was. Hear Ehud Olmert's name too often. I did not know 60D: New Rochelle college (IONA).
As for 68A: Slaughter of baseball (ENOS), I filled in OTIS. Then I could not work out anything around that area. Had to ask my husband, who was up earlier this morning. He corrected me and told me a story of how Enos Slaughter attended Fred Souba's retirement party. Fred also belonged to Twins Cities Sports Collectors club in 1980s. Orange also listed this ENOS name on her Word Bank list, but I forgot.
Overall, I feel this puzzle is easier than Monday's Babe Zaharias and Janet Guthrie one, don't you think so?
Here are some across entries:
1A: Rooster's pride: COMB
10A: Don't move!: HALT!
14A: Capital of Samoa: APIA
17A: Redhead Lucille: BALL. I Love Lucy. The Chocolate Factory Episode is my favorite.
18A: Excuse: ALIBI
19A: Seward Peninsula: NOME
25A: Jamaican cultist: RASTA. Would you believed I nailed this one? It's all because of Bob Marley. I like "No woman No cry".
28A: NYC arena: MSG
31A: Immature insect: LARVA
35A: Mind reading: ESP
36A: Place of worship: CHAPEL
39A: College bigwig: DEAN
43A: Head of France: TETE (French word for head). I was kind of impressed by Nicolas Sarkozy's attitude toward Lesley Stahl during the 60 minutes interview. I predict his marriage to that singer, Carla somebody, will end within 5 years, before he leaves the office.
44A: Oddball: WEIRDO. I wonder if Michael Jackson ever watched Finding Neverland (starring Johnny Depp).
46A: Lulus: ONERS
48A: Slightly shifty: SLY. I always thoughts of sly as "very shifty".
49A: Tightwad: MISER
53A: Cross or Blue: BEN. Ben Cross is an English actor. Ben Blue is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. I never heard of their names before.
63A: Soviet collective: ARTEL. I got this from the down clues. Here is the defination from Dictonary.com: In Russia or the Soviet Union) a peasants' or workers' cooperative; an association of workers or peasants for collective effort.
64A: Diplomat Elihu: ROOT. He won Nobel Peace Prize in 1912. Teddy Roosevelt won it in 1906.
66A: ___ Hari: MATA: The spy. She looked so exotic.
67A: "West Side Story" hit: MARIA. Unknown to me.
68A: Slaughter of baseball: ENOS. He is in baseball Hall-of-Fame. St Louis Cardinal's #9.
69A: Asian sea: ARAL
70A: Silvery food fish: SMELT
71A: Laertes or Hamlet, e.g.: DANE
Down entries:
1D: Hack: CAB. Taxi.
2D: Colorful marine fish: OPAH
3D: Uris novel "___" 18: MILA. Never read any of Uris' works.
4D: "Swan Lake, " e.g.: BALLET
5D: Riyadh residents: ARABS. Riyadh is Saudi Arabia's capital.
6D: Actor Lugosi: BELA. Known for his role in Dracula.
7D: Composer Satie: ERIK
9D: Maliciously derogatory: SNIDE
10D: Not from a factory: HANDMADE
12D: "Champagne Tony" of golf: LEMA
21D: "Killing Me Softly..." singer": FLACK (Roberta). I like "The First Time I ever Saw Your Face."
22D: Off one's feed: ILL
25D: Right-hand page: RECTO. Left is Verso.
27D: Malicous ill-will: SPITE
28D: Flowing tresses: MANES
29D: Ruin: SPOIL
30D: Saxophonist Mulligan: GERRY. Unknown to me.
32D: Marsh grass: REEDS
38D: Inc. in the UK.: LTD
41D: Of the brain: CEREBRAL. This answer reminds me of Ken Jennings. Have a look at his blog.
42D: Ancient writer: HOMER
50D: Hardened (to): INURED
52D: Don or Samuel: ADAMS
53D: Musical note: B FLAT
54D: Disaster org: FEMA. Somehow I was not surprised by their fake press conference after the Brownie disaster.
56D: Poet Dove: RITA. She won Pulitzer in 1987.
57D: Whiskey shot: DRAM
58D: Tours to be: ETRE (Etre is French for be)
59D: Singer Young: NEIL
60D: New Rochelle college: IONA. Never heard of this college. Found out that Don McLean (American Pie) attended this college.
61D: Roger Rabbit feature: TOON
65D: Half a fly?: TSE I learned this tsetse fly only from doing crossword. I always thought it's a strange fly living somewhere in Africa. Imagine my surprise last night when I watched Finding Neverland and heard Barrie (Johnny Depp) telling Peter "Tsetse fly, quite horrible."
Alright, time for breakfast.
C. C.
10 comments:
Thank you! I have a hard time with words from "untraditional" foreign languages like "soviet collective" and feel like those are not fair. Maybe it's just me. Your help is invaluable! You make my day every day.
Anonymous at 6:15am,
Thanks for the comment.
I just learned that this "Soviet Collective" started in the Stalin Era (1930s). And most of them have been privatized since the Soviet Union Break-up in 1990-1991.
In fact, I doubt if there is any Artel left. I wonder if Russian themselves (esp young kids)know Artel.
C.C.
Thank you, thank you for your blog. I fight with this puzzle everyday in the Detroit Free Press. It's great to come here when my ignorance prevails.
You should try reading Uris. I read him years ago and really enjoyed him. What's with Madison Square Garden this week -- that's twice by my count. I thought today's puzzle was fairly easy, but I don't know if it was easier than Monday's.
Come back anytime Ann.
Being curious and willing to learn is a very precious thing. It keeps us young.
I've been blogging for a month, and still have not finished even one puzzle sans googling. But it's OK. I am learning new things every day.
C.C.
Crockett1947,
Good observation, 2 strikes for MSG this week.
Champagne Tony (LEMA) must be drunk. He was here on Sunday, and then came back again today.
C.C.
Thanks for your blog. I have always wanted to learn how to do crossword puzzles and so I decided a few weeks ago that I was going to try them. Your blog has definitely helped me to understand how authors of these come up with their clues and what they are looking for. Thanks.
I can't recall when, but I know repeat offenders tend to include "Slaughter of baseball", "asian sea", "half of a fly" - as I would probably not know these as readily as I do when I see them in the crossword puzzle.
Thanks m, I've added your suspects in the list. I am sure they will commit a crime soon.
Anonymous at 1:27pm, I felt completely clueless about crossword at the very beginning. I think it took me 3 or 4 days to finish my first Monday puzzle. I did not even know how to google correctly.
You will be amazed at how much progress you will have made if you just persist and enjoy doing the puzzles. Please always feel free to drop me a line if you need any help on some clues.
C.C.
I like TSE clued as T.S. Eliot's initials better than "half a fly." Tsetse is one word! If it's acceptable to clue half of it as an entity, what's stopping the editor from trying TSET for "two thirds of a fly"?
Your instinct is right when you question CHICKEN OR THE EGG. If they include one THE, they ought to include the other. And to clue it as a brunch dilemma—sorry, but nobody cooks or eats "the egg" at brunch. They may have an egg, or they order eggs.
Post a Comment