Theme: Going Off Half-cocked (Acting Prematurely)
23A: Revealing intentions: Tipping One's Hand
39A: Bridge tactic: Preemptive Bid
62A & 74A: Getting ahead of oneself: Putting the Cart before the Horse
99A: Beginning too soon: Jumping the Gun
17D: Scaring folk for nothing: Crying Wolf
72D: Do-over's cause: False Start
Another miserable Sunday for me. I had 3 breakfasts while solving this puzzle, my record.
I had a very shaky start, and never really gained any momentum. The only bright spot was the upper right corner. I was proud of myself for filling in NERVA for 16D: Emperor before Trajan. I also conquered the lower middle part without encountering much resistance.
But everywhere else was rife with knobby problems. So many intimidating unknowns: actress, actor, singer, athlete, author, & liquid measure. I had no idea what "Quinine" means in 41D. I filled in "Preempting Bid" instead of "Preemptive Bid" for 39A, misguided by the "ing"pattern I spotted from the other theme entries. Had no idea that foxtail was a kind of brush. Misread 36A "Battering equipment" as "Batting Equipment". Without Richard's help, I would never have solved this puzzle today.
Here are the across entries:
1A: Landing strip surface: TARMAC
7A: Lines for the theatre: DIALOGUE. I like the clue, esp the British spelling of "theater".
15A: Remove a lid: UNCAP
20A: Ring around the pupil: AREOLA. Got it from the down clues. It also means "colored circle around a nipple".
21A: In the file: ON RECORD
22A: Impudent boldness: NERVE
25A: "The Silver Streak" co-start: PRYOR (Richard). Never heard of Pryor, nor saw the movie. Don't want to be bored.
26A: Moses or Felipe of baseball: ALOU
29A: Experts: MAVINS. Or MAVEN.
30A: Spanish rice entree: PAELLA. The main ingredients are rice, olive oil & saffron, in case you want to make it yourself.
33A: French-American dialect: ACADIAN. Same as Cajun I suppose?
36A: Battering equipment: RAM. Why? I don't get it. (UPDATE: Pls read Comments Section for explanation).
43A: Test for coll. seniors: GRE (Graduate Record Exam)
46A: Newspaper honcho: EDITOR
48A: College organization: SORORITY
49A: "The Virginian" writer Wister: OWEN. Here is more information about him.
50A: Small taxi: MINICAB. I put in Minicar first.
52A: Sailor's grp: ONI (Office of National Intelligene)
56A: Seemingly forever? AEON. Why the question mark? Aeon means seemingly forever, no?
57A: Gradient: INCLINE
61A: Brand name on cakes: SARA LEE
66A: Trumped: RUFFED. New word to me.
67A: Sheriff's band of the Old West: POSSE
68A: Unrestrained breaks of violence: RIOTS
70A: Full-length tunic: CAFTAN. I had CAF_ _ forever. Had big problems with the down clues.
82A: Stritch and Boosler: ELAINES. Nailed this one today.
84A: Gathered: RAKED IN
85D: Duck feathers: DOWN
86A: Sequence verifier: COLLATOR. Never used this word before.
88A: Army rcts: GIS
89A: Was contrary to: OPPOSED
92A: MIT part: INST (Institute).
93A: Masculinity: MALENESS. Is this even a word? He is so male?
97A: City on the Rio Grande: LAREDO. Never heard of it.
98A: T-shirt size: LGE
103A: Small upright pianos: SPINETS
105A: Glossy type of paint: ENAMEL
107A: Senility: DOTAGE
109A: T or F, eg: ANS: True or False, Answers.
112A: NYC gambling center: OTB (Off-Track Betting)
113A: Spheres: ORBS
117A: Diet guru Jenny: CRAIG. They just sacked Kristie Alley.
118A: Edgar Allan Poe story, with "The": PREMATURE BURIAL. Never read it.
123A: Judy of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in": CARNE. She was married to Burt Reynolds for a short time.
124A: Wakayama farewell: SAYONARA. Japanese for good-bye. Also a Marlon Brando movie (1957).
125A: Cantankerous: ORNERY. It crumbled easily for me.
126A: Action or change starter: INTER
127A: Repeats: ITERATES
128A: Combine together: BLENDS
Down entries:
2D: Seed coat: ARIL. Learned it from doing crossword.
3D: Collection biz: REPO. Also a 2008 movie.
4D: Tidy loose ends: MOP UP. I put Sew Up, but quickly corrected myself.
6A: Australia capital: CANBERRA
7D: Casual drawings: DOODLES
8D: Quaint quarters: INN. I've seen this clue several times. Why is Inn quaint? Holiday Inn, Baymont Inn are all very modern.
11D: Protest-singer Phil: OCHS. Never heard of him. The only Ochs I knew is Adolph Ochs, the former owner of NY Times.
12D: Tibetan gazelle: GOA. I put Yak, which is actually an ox.
13D: Large vase: URN
14D: Actor Byrnes: EDD. Nope, did not ring a bell.
15D: Still owing: UNPAID
16D: Emperor before Trajan: NERVA. It appeared on Friday March 7 's puzzle.
18D: English river: AVON
19D: Individual: abbr: PERS (Personal).
29D: 1501: MDI. I cannot help you if you cannot commit Roman numerals to your memory.
31D: Bk. of Revelation: APOC (Apocalypse)
32D: Latin lesson word: AMO
33D: Fauna starter: AVI. Have to thank Richard for the help. I put ANI there initially thinking it means Animal.
34D: Govt. training leg.: CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.)
35D: Vast chasm: ABYSS
36D: Revise charts: REMAP
38D: North Dakota city: MINOT. Known as the Magic City. Never been there.
40D: Worker: PROLE. Unknown to me. It stems from "proletarian".
41D: Quinine water: TONIC. I did not know the meaning of Quinine.
42D: Privalova or Vorobyeva: IRINA. Never heard of them.
44D: Taylor or Adoree: RENEE
47D: Trace of color: TINT
49D: Norwegian saint: OLAF
51D: Major Leagues, casually: BIGS
54D: Writer Bret: HARTE. I got him today!
55D: Rah!: CHEER
58D: Plain crush grp.: NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board)
63D: Toothpaste brand: IPANA. What? All the 5 letter toothpaste brands I can think of are Crest, Oral B, Reach and Gleem. Never heard of Ipana.
64D: Song for nine: NONET
65D: S. Amer. monkey: TITI. Hated the clue. It should not be abbreviated. Misleading.
69D: Cry of distress: OH NO
70D: De Mille of movies: CECIL. A prolific director.
71D: As company: ALONG
73D: Pinball goof: TILT
75D: Steely Dan Singer: FAGEN (Donald). Here is more information on this band.
76D: Giving the nod to: OKING
77D: Bowler's button: RESET
78D: Nose alert: ODOR
79D: Fragrant beds: ROSES
80D: Stockholm native: SWEDE. Some people also call "rutabaga" as "swede".
81D: Provide with property: ENDOW
83D: Amiens river: SOMME. In France. It flows into the English Channel.
87D: Spellbound: RAPT
90D: Vertical line: PLUMB BOB. I only knew plummet.
91D: Fleur-de_: LIS. French for Flower of Lily.
95D: "__ Loves you": SHE. Beatles' song.
96D: Ladies of Seville: SENORAS
99D: Liquor measure: JIGGER. My dictionary says it's a small cup/glass to measure liquor, containing usually 1 1/2 ounces.
100D: One of the French: UNE
101D: Entryway: GATE
106D: Actor GREENE: LORNE. He was in Bonanza.
107D: Fifth of MMMDV: DCCI (1/5 of 3505=701)
108D: Algerian city: ORAN. Gulf of Oran city.
109D: God of love: AMOR. or Cupid, the Greek equivalent is EROS.
111D: Wendy's dog: NANA. Who is Wendy? I thought Nana is Peter Pan's dog.
111D: RBI or ERA: STAT (Statistics)
114D: Nice nothing? RIEN. French word for nothing.
115D: Exalted poet: BARD. Robert Bly has just become MN's first Poet Laureate.
116D: Stone and Stallone: SLYS. Knew Stallone, never heard of Sly Stone though.
119D: Stoolie: RAT
120D: Scope out: EYE. I misread the clue as "Scoop out" and wasted my time in vain.
121D: End of post: URE. Posture
122D: Internet add.: URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
Finally I am done!
C. C.
23A: Revealing intentions: Tipping One's Hand
39A: Bridge tactic: Preemptive Bid
62A & 74A: Getting ahead of oneself: Putting the Cart before the Horse
99A: Beginning too soon: Jumping the Gun
17D: Scaring folk for nothing: Crying Wolf
72D: Do-over's cause: False Start
Another miserable Sunday for me. I had 3 breakfasts while solving this puzzle, my record.
I had a very shaky start, and never really gained any momentum. The only bright spot was the upper right corner. I was proud of myself for filling in NERVA for 16D: Emperor before Trajan. I also conquered the lower middle part without encountering much resistance.
But everywhere else was rife with knobby problems. So many intimidating unknowns: actress, actor, singer, athlete, author, & liquid measure. I had no idea what "Quinine" means in 41D. I filled in "Preempting Bid" instead of "Preemptive Bid" for 39A, misguided by the "ing"pattern I spotted from the other theme entries. Had no idea that foxtail was a kind of brush. Misread 36A "Battering equipment" as "Batting Equipment". Without Richard's help, I would never have solved this puzzle today.
Here are the across entries:
1A: Landing strip surface: TARMAC
7A: Lines for the theatre: DIALOGUE. I like the clue, esp the British spelling of "theater".
15A: Remove a lid: UNCAP
20A: Ring around the pupil: AREOLA. Got it from the down clues. It also means "colored circle around a nipple".
21A: In the file: ON RECORD
22A: Impudent boldness: NERVE
25A: "The Silver Streak" co-start: PRYOR (Richard). Never heard of Pryor, nor saw the movie. Don't want to be bored.
26A: Moses or Felipe of baseball: ALOU
29A: Experts: MAVINS. Or MAVEN.
30A: Spanish rice entree: PAELLA. The main ingredients are rice, olive oil & saffron, in case you want to make it yourself.
33A: French-American dialect: ACADIAN. Same as Cajun I suppose?
36A: Battering equipment: RAM. Why? I don't get it. (UPDATE: Pls read Comments Section for explanation).
43A: Test for coll. seniors: GRE (Graduate Record Exam)
46A: Newspaper honcho: EDITOR
48A: College organization: SORORITY
49A: "The Virginian" writer Wister: OWEN. Here is more information about him.
50A: Small taxi: MINICAB. I put in Minicar first.
52A: Sailor's grp: ONI (Office of National Intelligene)
56A: Seemingly forever? AEON. Why the question mark? Aeon means seemingly forever, no?
57A: Gradient: INCLINE
61A: Brand name on cakes: SARA LEE
66A: Trumped: RUFFED. New word to me.
67A: Sheriff's band of the Old West: POSSE
68A: Unrestrained breaks of violence: RIOTS
70A: Full-length tunic: CAFTAN. I had CAF_ _ forever. Had big problems with the down clues.
82A: Stritch and Boosler: ELAINES. Nailed this one today.
84A: Gathered: RAKED IN
85D: Duck feathers: DOWN
86A: Sequence verifier: COLLATOR. Never used this word before.
88A: Army rcts: GIS
89A: Was contrary to: OPPOSED
92A: MIT part: INST (Institute).
93A: Masculinity: MALENESS. Is this even a word? He is so male?
97A: City on the Rio Grande: LAREDO. Never heard of it.
98A: T-shirt size: LGE
103A: Small upright pianos: SPINETS
105A: Glossy type of paint: ENAMEL
107A: Senility: DOTAGE
109A: T or F, eg: ANS: True or False, Answers.
112A: NYC gambling center: OTB (Off-Track Betting)
113A: Spheres: ORBS
117A: Diet guru Jenny: CRAIG. They just sacked Kristie Alley.
118A: Edgar Allan Poe story, with "The": PREMATURE BURIAL. Never read it.
123A: Judy of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in": CARNE. She was married to Burt Reynolds for a short time.
124A: Wakayama farewell: SAYONARA. Japanese for good-bye. Also a Marlon Brando movie (1957).
125A: Cantankerous: ORNERY. It crumbled easily for me.
126A: Action or change starter: INTER
127A: Repeats: ITERATES
128A: Combine together: BLENDS
Down entries:
2D: Seed coat: ARIL. Learned it from doing crossword.
3D: Collection biz: REPO. Also a 2008 movie.
4D: Tidy loose ends: MOP UP. I put Sew Up, but quickly corrected myself.
6A: Australia capital: CANBERRA
7D: Casual drawings: DOODLES
8D: Quaint quarters: INN. I've seen this clue several times. Why is Inn quaint? Holiday Inn, Baymont Inn are all very modern.
11D: Protest-singer Phil: OCHS. Never heard of him. The only Ochs I knew is Adolph Ochs, the former owner of NY Times.
12D: Tibetan gazelle: GOA. I put Yak, which is actually an ox.
13D: Large vase: URN
14D: Actor Byrnes: EDD. Nope, did not ring a bell.
15D: Still owing: UNPAID
16D: Emperor before Trajan: NERVA. It appeared on Friday March 7 's puzzle.
18D: English river: AVON
19D: Individual: abbr: PERS (Personal).
29D: 1501: MDI. I cannot help you if you cannot commit Roman numerals to your memory.
31D: Bk. of Revelation: APOC (Apocalypse)
32D: Latin lesson word: AMO
33D: Fauna starter: AVI. Have to thank Richard for the help. I put ANI there initially thinking it means Animal.
34D: Govt. training leg.: CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.)
35D: Vast chasm: ABYSS
36D: Revise charts: REMAP
38D: North Dakota city: MINOT. Known as the Magic City. Never been there.
40D: Worker: PROLE. Unknown to me. It stems from "proletarian".
41D: Quinine water: TONIC. I did not know the meaning of Quinine.
42D: Privalova or Vorobyeva: IRINA. Never heard of them.
44D: Taylor or Adoree: RENEE
47D: Trace of color: TINT
49D: Norwegian saint: OLAF
51D: Major Leagues, casually: BIGS
54D: Writer Bret: HARTE. I got him today!
55D: Rah!: CHEER
58D: Plain crush grp.: NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board)
63D: Toothpaste brand: IPANA. What? All the 5 letter toothpaste brands I can think of are Crest, Oral B, Reach and Gleem. Never heard of Ipana.
64D: Song for nine: NONET
65D: S. Amer. monkey: TITI. Hated the clue. It should not be abbreviated. Misleading.
69D: Cry of distress: OH NO
70D: De Mille of movies: CECIL. A prolific director.
71D: As company: ALONG
73D: Pinball goof: TILT
75D: Steely Dan Singer: FAGEN (Donald). Here is more information on this band.
76D: Giving the nod to: OKING
77D: Bowler's button: RESET
78D: Nose alert: ODOR
79D: Fragrant beds: ROSES
80D: Stockholm native: SWEDE. Some people also call "rutabaga" as "swede".
81D: Provide with property: ENDOW
83D: Amiens river: SOMME. In France. It flows into the English Channel.
87D: Spellbound: RAPT
90D: Vertical line: PLUMB BOB. I only knew plummet.
91D: Fleur-de_: LIS. French for Flower of Lily.
95D: "__ Loves you": SHE. Beatles' song.
96D: Ladies of Seville: SENORAS
99D: Liquor measure: JIGGER. My dictionary says it's a small cup/glass to measure liquor, containing usually 1 1/2 ounces.
100D: One of the French: UNE
101D: Entryway: GATE
106D: Actor GREENE: LORNE. He was in Bonanza.
107D: Fifth of MMMDV: DCCI (1/5 of 3505=701)
108D: Algerian city: ORAN. Gulf of Oran city.
109D: God of love: AMOR. or Cupid, the Greek equivalent is EROS.
111D: Wendy's dog: NANA. Who is Wendy? I thought Nana is Peter Pan's dog.
111D: RBI or ERA: STAT (Statistics)
114D: Nice nothing? RIEN. French word for nothing.
115D: Exalted poet: BARD. Robert Bly has just become MN's first Poet Laureate.
116D: Stone and Stallone: SLYS. Knew Stallone, never heard of Sly Stone though.
119D: Stoolie: RAT
120D: Scope out: EYE. I misread the clue as "Scoop out" and wasted my time in vain.
121D: End of post: URE. Posture
122D: Internet add.: URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
Finally I am done!
C. C.
12 comments:
Below is a comment I got from Richard. It was misplaced on another entry.
"In the March 9 puzzle it seems to me that 39A is PREEMPTIVEBID which will make 33D AVI AND 34D ceta neither of which I have ever heard of."
116D sly stone. " sly and the family stone." a music funk rock and soul combo in the late 60's and into the 70's probably before your time i am guessing
Ah youth! FYI - Ipana is a toothpaste from the olden days which unfortunately I remember. Edd Byrnes was in a long-ago TV series called "77 Sunset Strip." A battering ram was a pole used to knock down gates in a castle, or more currently, by the cops to get into drug houses. A plumb bob is a weight on the end of a string which you attach to a wall, for instance, and let hang down to find a straight vertical line. Wendy was the oldest child that Peter Pan came to visit, Nana was the children's "nurse."
I enjoy your help and comments. Great fun.
Two things to keep on hand for crosswords: an atlas and a Roman numeral conversion website under favorites.
"Cajun" is derived from Acadian; they were forced to move from Maine to Louisiana;hence Cajun food, etc.
Check out Richard Pryor's recordings; he was one of the most influential black comedians. Also check out Phil Ochs music.
Crosswords definitely enhance one's knowledge if one is open to it.
From: ihavebeentoMinot
Silverstreak has always been my favorite Gene Wilder film. The train wreck at the end is classic.
As a reader of the Bridge Club column that appears in our daily paper ruffed was a given.
Please check out Silver Streak, it is one of the best
Hello, sorry I'm so late today! Just now had time to open up the paper!
This was a nice easy one. Bless your heart, C.C., for getting it done, because there were a lot of answers here that you simply would not know. Like Edd Byrnes or Ipana toothpaste. Or Sly and the Family Stone. Or Richard Pryor. He had his issues, but was a truly gifted comedian.
29A. MAVINS Have never seen this variation on what I thought was MAVENS.
33A. ACADIAN You are correct about the Cajun. It's a slur of the word Acadian that I'm sure happened over time. They were, in fact, relocated from Maine to Louisiana. Seems to me Longfellow's "Evangeline" was about the Acadians. I still remember the beginning of that poem from jr. high school: "This is the forest primeval. The murmuring pines and the hemlocks, bearded with moss and in garments green, indistinct in the twilight...." Good grief! I'm
brainwashed! :)
66A. RUFFED Don't play bridge, but knew this one.
82A. ELAINES I thought Elayne Boosler spelled her name with a Y.
93A. MALENESS Originally wanted MACHISMO there.
6D. CANBERRA Gotta watch those constructors who like to switch actual capital cities with currency!
19D. PERS Actually, I think this is an abbreviation for Person, not Personal.
32D. AMO Put all the variations of this, AMO, AMAT, AMAS in the memory bank. You will see them all the time.
41D. TONIC Look on a bottle of tonic water. It will say "quinine". Learned this one a long, long time ago. Another one for the memory bank.
42D. IRINA Those darned Russian girl names. Can never tell if they're going to be IRENA or IRINA, or ELENA for that matter!
96D. SENORAS Now here's the unabbreviated version of those abbreviations you should have in the memory bank! :)
See you all tomorrow!
SJ
Thank you all for the comments. I really appreciate your help.
Blogging has been such a humbling experience for me. I am constantly amazed that you guys all breeze through certain clues while I am fighting so hard to get the fills.
But as ihavebeentominot (7:58pm) said "Crosswords definitely enhance one's knowledge if one is open to it."
This is another reader's comment, but it was misplaced on Wednesday's puzzle.
"Never heard of Pryor.. He was greeaatttt!!! Here is what Wikipedia has to say...
Pryor was a storyteller known for unflinching examinations of racism and customs in modern life, and was well-known for his frequent use of colorful language and vulgarities. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations, although public opinion of his act was often divided. He is commonly regarded as one of the most important stand up comedians of his time: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession";[3] Whoopi Goldberg cited him as her biggest influence, stating "The major influence was Richard - I want to say those things he's saying." Bob Newhart has called Pryor "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years." [4]
His body of work includes such concert movies and recordings as Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin' (1971), That Nigger's Crazy (1974), ...Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial Nigger (1976), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) and Richard Pryor: Here and Now. He also starred in numerous films as an actor, usually in comedies such as Silver Streak, but occasionally in dramatic roles, such as Paul Schrader's film Blue Collar and epic roles like Gus Gorman from Superman III (1983). He also collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder. He won an Emmy Award in 1973, and five Grammy Awards in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1982. In 1974, he also won two American Academy of Humor awards and the Writers Guild of America Award. In 2004, Pryor was voted the greatest stand-up act of all time by Comedy Central."
6D. What did you mean by "6D. CANBERRA Gotta watch those constructors who like to switch actual capital cities with currency!"? Sorry that I didn't get it.
Anonymous at 9:21pm,
Cuba's Capital, 4 letter, what's that? PESO! It's the money/currency.
If you fix your mind on Havana, you are in trouble.
C.C.
33A Acadian -- Acadia is in Canada; Acadians were the "neutral French" until forced to pledge allegiance to Canada. Their refusal led to the Great Expulsion and that's when Longfellow's Evangeline lost her Gabriel. Many Acadians eventually came back to Canada and many others ended up in Louisiana. (More than you needed/wanted to know.)
25A Richard Pryor -- you've got to see him in "Brewster's Millions," not exactly Oprah's "Big Give."
I like your comments in general and the explanations for answers such as GRE. Thanks.
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