Theme: Rock, Paper, Scissors
20A: Standard Oil family: Rockefellers
37A: Beatles hit of 1966: Paperback Writer
54A: Swimmer's propulsion: Scissors Kick
Tough slog today. Only a few known knowns, and several known unknowns, and scads of unknown unknowns. Oh, the poetry of Rumsfeld!
But the thing that bothers me the most is the lack of theme. (Update: I was wrong. Thank you a lot, Superfrey and Drdad)
I will spare you with my travails today. Here are across entries:
1A: Monastery head: ABBOT
6A: Def. mil. grp.: TAC (Tactical Air Command). There is also a SAC (Strategic Air Command)
9A: Unsuitable: INAPT. I put in UNAPT first. I always associated "inapt" with "incompetent."
19A: 14A: Quantitative diagram: GRAPH
15A: Of the ear: OTO
18A: Full of. suff. OSE. Or sugar suffix, as in "fructose". The only other _ose word that jumps to my mind right now is "verbose".
19A: Composer Grofe: FERDE. Never heard of him.
20A: Standard oil family: ROCKEFELLERS
23A: Japanese Nobelist in literature: KAWABATA (Yasunari). He won Nobel in 1968. He wrote lots of short stories, and he committed suicide in 1972, like Sylvia Plath. The only Japanese novel I really like is Norwegian Wood, a story about love, loss & sexuality.
26A: Rodeo ropes: LASSOS
29A: U.S. dance grp.: A. B. T. (American Ballet Theatre)
30A: Singletons: ONES. Not a fan of any card game.
32A: Making a bend in: CROOKING
37A: Beatles hit of 1966: PAPERBACK WRITER. Not familiar with this song.
41A: Clockwork element: FLYWHEEL. Unknown to me.
47A: AL-NL honoree: MVP (Most Valuable Player)
48A: In a faint: ASWOON. Never saw this word being used.
52A: Redgrave and Williams: VANESSAS. Did not know Redgrave, but I knew Vanessa Williams, who was just interviewed by Barbara Walters on her pre-Oscar show.
54A: Swimmer's propulsion: SCISSORS KICK. It's a "swimming kick, used esp. in the sidestroke, in which the motion of the legs is similar to the opening and closing of scissor blades."
56A: Composer of "The Planets": HOLST (Gustav). British composer. Here is more information about him.
58A: No-brainer: CINCH
62A: Medical condition: suff.: ENTIA. I was thinking of _itis. OK, Dementia is a word (Update: I was wrong, please read Comments Section for Orange's explanation), what other _entia can you think of?
63A: Studio letters: MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
64A: Liturgical vestment: AMICE.
65A: Change a timer: RESET
66A: Alfonso's queen: ENA. Queen Victoria Eugenia or, less formally, "Queen Ena". I was confused earlier, I thought "ena" means Queen in Spanish. The correct word is "reina".
67A: Room: SPACE
Down clues:
3D: Night flyer: BAT. I put OWL first.
4D: Musical drama: OPERA
5D: Pulsates: THROBS
6D: Liked from the start: TOOK TO
7D: Perplexed: AT SEA
8D: Math fig.: COEF (Coefficient)
9D: Tire pump, for example: INFLATOR
10D: Aage __ Bohr: NIELS. I only knew his surname Bohr, the famous father-son duo, who both won Nobel Prize in Physics (1922 & 1975). Look at his given name, 3 vowels.
12D: Ballplayer Guerrero: PEDRO. The only Guerrero I knew is Angels's Vladimir. But Pedro is easily gettable. So many Pedros in the MLB.
22D: Nudger's joint: ELBOW
23D: Big name in publishing: KNOPF. No scandal from them so far.
24D: Yearly record: ANNAL
25D: Tearful: WEEPY
32D: Quarter M: CCL. I would have gotten it immediately if it's clued as 1/4 of a M.
33D: Baby fox: KIT
34D: Agenda entries: ITEMS
35D: Emperor before Trajan: NERVA. No idea.
38D: Current controller: RHEOSTAT. Rheo comes from Greek, meaning flow, current.
39D: Form of bingo: BEANO. Never played Bingo before.
40D: Gas: pref.: AER. As in Aerosol. Aeo/Aero is of Greek/Latin origin, meaning "air".
44D: City in the Cascades: YAKIMA (WA). Never heard of this city. What kind of apple does it produce? Minnesota is the Honeycrisp State of course. To me, the best breakfast in the world is a freshly picked honeycrisp, still with dews on the skin.
45D: Black cuckoo: ANI. It looks like this.
46D: Attractive places?: MECCAS. Accidents happen in almost every Hajj. Very strange.
48D: "My name is ___ Lev": ASHER. Never heard of this novel.
49D: Doughy pastry: SCONE. Isn't all pastry doughy?
50D: Droops: WILTS
51D: Ruby Dee's husband: OSSIE. Did not know him. Watched Ruby Dee's A Raisin in the Sun the other day and responded with a 1-star to Netflix.
52D: Churchill's gesture: V SIGN
53D: Cut corners: SKIMP
55D: "The __ of the Ancient Mariner": RIME. Not familiar with this poem.
59D: Actress Long: NIA.
60D: New Deal grp.: CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). Way too many agencies from that era. Lately, I am very into (ex) Senator Tom Daschle's idea of creating a Federal Health Board, you know, kind of like the Federal Reserve Board, independently operated and insulated from the politics. Nothing outrages me more than the spiraling health care cost.
61D: " ___ Haw": HEE. Vaguely heard of this TV show.
I forgot to tell you earlier, Orange gave me a very interesting list of those crossword constructors who took part in this year's ACPT. I put it in yesterday's comment. Have a look if you are interested.
C.C.
20A: Standard Oil family: Rockefellers
37A: Beatles hit of 1966: Paperback Writer
54A: Swimmer's propulsion: Scissors Kick
Tough slog today. Only a few known knowns, and several known unknowns, and scads of unknown unknowns. Oh, the poetry of Rumsfeld!
But the thing that bothers me the most is the lack of theme. (Update: I was wrong. Thank you a lot, Superfrey and Drdad)
I will spare you with my travails today. Here are across entries:
1A: Monastery head: ABBOT
6A: Def. mil. grp.: TAC (Tactical Air Command). There is also a SAC (Strategic Air Command)
9A: Unsuitable: INAPT. I put in UNAPT first. I always associated "inapt" with "incompetent."
19A: 14A: Quantitative diagram: GRAPH
15A: Of the ear: OTO
18A: Full of. suff. OSE. Or sugar suffix, as in "fructose". The only other _ose word that jumps to my mind right now is "verbose".
19A: Composer Grofe: FERDE. Never heard of him.
20A: Standard oil family: ROCKEFELLERS
23A: Japanese Nobelist in literature: KAWABATA (Yasunari). He won Nobel in 1968. He wrote lots of short stories, and he committed suicide in 1972, like Sylvia Plath. The only Japanese novel I really like is Norwegian Wood, a story about love, loss & sexuality.
26A: Rodeo ropes: LASSOS
29A: U.S. dance grp.: A. B. T. (American Ballet Theatre)
30A: Singletons: ONES. Not a fan of any card game.
32A: Making a bend in: CROOKING
37A: Beatles hit of 1966: PAPERBACK WRITER. Not familiar with this song.
41A: Clockwork element: FLYWHEEL. Unknown to me.
47A: AL-NL honoree: MVP (Most Valuable Player)
48A: In a faint: ASWOON. Never saw this word being used.
52A: Redgrave and Williams: VANESSAS. Did not know Redgrave, but I knew Vanessa Williams, who was just interviewed by Barbara Walters on her pre-Oscar show.
54A: Swimmer's propulsion: SCISSORS KICK. It's a "swimming kick, used esp. in the sidestroke, in which the motion of the legs is similar to the opening and closing of scissor blades."
56A: Composer of "The Planets": HOLST (Gustav). British composer. Here is more information about him.
58A: No-brainer: CINCH
62A: Medical condition: suff.: ENTIA. I was thinking of _itis. OK, Dementia is a word (Update: I was wrong, please read Comments Section for Orange's explanation), what other _entia can you think of?
63A: Studio letters: MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
64A: Liturgical vestment: AMICE.
65A: Change a timer: RESET
66A: Alfonso's queen: ENA. Queen Victoria Eugenia or, less formally, "Queen Ena". I was confused earlier, I thought "ena" means Queen in Spanish. The correct word is "reina".
67A: Room: SPACE
Down clues:
3D: Night flyer: BAT. I put OWL first.
4D: Musical drama: OPERA
5D: Pulsates: THROBS
6D: Liked from the start: TOOK TO
7D: Perplexed: AT SEA
8D: Math fig.: COEF (Coefficient)
9D: Tire pump, for example: INFLATOR
10D: Aage __ Bohr: NIELS. I only knew his surname Bohr, the famous father-son duo, who both won Nobel Prize in Physics (1922 & 1975). Look at his given name, 3 vowels.
12D: Ballplayer Guerrero: PEDRO. The only Guerrero I knew is Angels's Vladimir. But Pedro is easily gettable. So many Pedros in the MLB.
22D: Nudger's joint: ELBOW
23D: Big name in publishing: KNOPF. No scandal from them so far.
24D: Yearly record: ANNAL
25D: Tearful: WEEPY
32D: Quarter M: CCL. I would have gotten it immediately if it's clued as 1/4 of a M.
33D: Baby fox: KIT
34D: Agenda entries: ITEMS
35D: Emperor before Trajan: NERVA. No idea.
38D: Current controller: RHEOSTAT. Rheo comes from Greek, meaning flow, current.
39D: Form of bingo: BEANO. Never played Bingo before.
40D: Gas: pref.: AER. As in Aerosol. Aeo/Aero is of Greek/Latin origin, meaning "air".
44D: City in the Cascades: YAKIMA (WA). Never heard of this city. What kind of apple does it produce? Minnesota is the Honeycrisp State of course. To me, the best breakfast in the world is a freshly picked honeycrisp, still with dews on the skin.
45D: Black cuckoo: ANI. It looks like this.
46D: Attractive places?: MECCAS. Accidents happen in almost every Hajj. Very strange.
48D: "My name is ___ Lev": ASHER. Never heard of this novel.
49D: Doughy pastry: SCONE. Isn't all pastry doughy?
50D: Droops: WILTS
51D: Ruby Dee's husband: OSSIE. Did not know him. Watched Ruby Dee's A Raisin in the Sun the other day and responded with a 1-star to Netflix.
52D: Churchill's gesture: V SIGN
53D: Cut corners: SKIMP
55D: "The __ of the Ancient Mariner": RIME. Not familiar with this poem.
59D: Actress Long: NIA.
60D: New Deal grp.: CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). Way too many agencies from that era. Lately, I am very into (ex) Senator Tom Daschle's idea of creating a Federal Health Board, you know, kind of like the Federal Reserve Board, independently operated and insulated from the politics. Nothing outrages me more than the spiraling health care cost.
61D: " ___ Haw": HEE. Vaguely heard of this TV show.
I forgot to tell you earlier, Orange gave me a very interesting list of those crossword constructors who took part in this year's ACPT. I put it in yesterday's comment. Have a look if you are interested.
C.C.
25 comments:
My Daily Press says it's by Ed Voile (?)
Chicago Tribune says it's Josiah Breward, weird.
C. C.
The Theme is Rock, Paper, Scissors... HAHAHA
The theme is "Rock, Paper, Scissors."
Thanks a lot superfry & drdad,
I've amended the blog.
Did you guy do last Friday's puzzle by Randall J. Hartman (Feb 29)?
We did not find any theme, and it still bothers me a lot, as Friday is always themed.
C. C.
I didn't finish this one, either. I got caught on thwe middle top and the bottom left-- I had some of the clues in, but not quite enough for me to get the rest. Oh, well, maybe tomorrow. Saturdays always seem to have a ton of long clues, though.
Today was definitely a tougher one. Knew enough to get the ones I didn't know. Though I finished, I can't say that I have that same sense of accomplishment.
At least it's Friday, though! Have a great day.
Was able to sail through this one until 28A/D. Went all the way around and back to it to no avail. Never heard of either Kawabata or Knopf. Finally had to Google to get it. So much for a perfect week...
40D WHY? AEROSOL, Etymology: Latin, from Greek aer-, aero-, from aēr
The Yakima Valley is the apple capital of the world. When I lived in the area Delicious Apples were the main ones. Ohh so good. Big red and green delicious apples, yummy. They also grow hops for beer.
This was failure for me. First time I didn't finish for along time. Sgt.
This is a comment from someone who misplaced it on Monday's comment.
"Although the "V" sign now generally means victory it meant something else in the past to the Brits. Supposedly the two-fingers salute and/or V sign derives from the gestures of longbowmen fighting in the English army at the Battle of Agincourt during the Hundred Years' War. The story claims that, before the battle, the French boasted that they would cut two fingers off the right hand of captured archers and that the gesture was a sign of defiance after the greatly outnumbered English won the battle. Some say true some say it's a myth."
Good morning Ellie, mkat, Dennis Sgt, and others,
Knopf was the publisher for Bill Clinton's My Life. Carl Bernstein's latest book on Hillary Clinton was also published by Knopf.
Anonymous at 8:53am,
Thanks. I've made changes in my blog.
Anonymous at 9:24am
I googled "Apple Capital of the World". Here is what I found:
Wenatchee (WA) is known as the "Apple Capital of the World" for the valley's many orchards, which produce apples enjoyed around the world.
Is Yakima Valley close to Wenatchee?
Thanks for the V Sign also Anonymous at 9:54am.
c.c., your comment on 30A mentions card games. I believe "singletons" is a monetary reference -- hence the ONES for the answer. The good old G. Washingtons in you wallet.
Ack! I haven't seen this puzzle, just C.C.'s writeup of the clues, but here are my gripes.
TAC could be clued much more fairly. Tactical Air Command seems a tad obscure.
Never heard of FERDE. I'd love to see the section that name was in, to see how hard it would be to redo that section without obscurities. WRW doesn't like fill-in-the-blank partial entries, but wouldn't it be more fair to clue that as [___ lance (pit viper)], fer de lance?
I'd never heard of KAWABATA.
The A-words are quaint and almost never used outside of crosswords. They're not good crossword fill, but I can't help loving them a little bit. Most of us know awry, amok, amiss, asunder, and akimbo. Crosswords give us words like amain, apace, aswoon, agape, and aglare, and I'm tempted to used them in speech (but could only do so among crossword addicts).
ENTIA as a medical suffix? No! No! A thousand times no! It certainly isn't a suffix in dementia (that's de, not, and mentia, thinking). And I don't think it's a separable suffix in incontinentia, either.
AMICE is old-school crosswordese. ALB still shows up every now and then, but I've rarely seen AMICE in years.
NERVA? Hasn't been in the NYT or any of the other puzzles indexed in Cruciverb in the last decade. We shouldn't be expected to know this one! Will Shortz wouldn't throw it at his solvers.
Crockett1947,
I never heard anyone call one dollar bills as singletons, singles yes.
Am I right here? Anyone?
Orange,
Ferde is only inferable if get the E from Niels (clued as Aage _ Bohr, the Nobel Physics guy), and D from PEDR0 (clued as Ballplayer Guerrero).
I like _ _ Lance much better.
Entia is not a medical condition suffix? I should have checked Dementia before I put it there. I've updated my blog.
I don't believe this is the first time Amice appears in the TMS puzzle.
Inept=incompetent, not inapt. Apt=appropriate; inapt therefore means inappropriate.
Inapt and inept are very nearly synonyms, but not quite.
Well, I don't know about the Apple capital of the world, but I am from the Raspberry capital. Picked them when I was a kid and was paid .06 per pint. Too bad, the raspberry fields are now a bunch of office buildings. The box factory burned down, now all that's left is the Festival.
Boomer
Alex,
Thanks for the explanation. I was actually thinking of "inept" when I wrote down "incompetent" earlier.
Boomer,
Hopkins MN is indeed the Raspberry capital of the world, undisputed.
Yakima, Wa. is 112 miles from Wenatchee. This area is noted for its apples, peaches, pears, plums, apricots,cherries and many more kinds of fruit. There are many kinds of apples grown here. Also known as the fruit basket.
Did anyone have trouble with "Scissors kick"? I tried "Scissor Kicks"
In the Rime Of the Ancient Mariner(my husband spelled it Ryme) there is no wind after the mariner kills the lucky albatross, so he had to wear it around his neck, hence the phrase for a burden. Also they were surrounded by salt water, giving us the phrase "Water water everywhere nor any drop to drink"
And by the way, the Yakima Valley is about 100 miles from the Cascades. For those of us on the left coast these things matter. It's like saying Chicago is a suburb of Minneapolis.
Thanks for the geography lesson on Yakima. I like all those fruits.
Anonymous at 8:52pm,
Ernie Els likes to say "Take the albatross/monkey" off his shoulders. I always wondered why, but I never bothered to check. Good to know. Thank you.
C. C.
"Although the "V" sign now generally means victory it meant something else in the past to the Brits."
There are two separate V signs in Britain. Back of hand to viewer is obscene. Palm of hand to viewer is victory. The story that the obscene version dates from Agincourt is widely debunked.
Welcome back Huge Brown,
I still have not figured out how to get a link from the blogger Comment section.
Do you copy and paste from words or what?
Thanks.
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