Theme: Common Phrases Meaning "GRASP"
20A: Understand: SEE THE LIGHT
38A: Comprehend: GET THE MESSAGE
55A: Catch on: TAKE THE HINT
I did not detect any April's Fools' hoax in this puzzle, did you?
This grid reminded me of John Underwood's March 25 SLIP puzzle (last Tuesday's). Lots of three letter words, though theme was not as lively. I don't think I like the way those two 4-blank squares are stacked & cornered together in the middle of the grid. It just does not fit my eyes.
I did not finish the puzzle today mainly due to my English vocabulary deficiency. I did not know the meaning of "Metronome" and "Solfeggio", and I've never heard of the movie "Free Willy", so I went through hell trying to fill in the DEER part of the puzzle.
I do like the CLAW clue, and I love how it intersects CLASP. It evokes such a vivid image! I am a bit irked by 43A: Oral delivery: SPEECH. This "Oral" is as unpleasant as yesterday's CODE. If ORAL appears as the answer to 6D: Voiced, this "Oral delivery" clue should really be promptly discarded. Hello Williams, can you hear me now?
Grid structure: Total words counts: 78. Total blank square: 36 (maximum is 43).
1A: Grizzly weapon: CLAW. Do you know that grizzly bears eat plant also?
5A: Fall flat: BOMB
9A: Alluring trait: CHARM. Just do not clue ALLUREMENT as "Charming trait" next time. It will drive someone nuts!
14A: Old Italian bread? LIRA. Money. This bread clue is getting staler now. Bake something new for us.
15A: "Stride la vampa.": e. g.: ARIA
19A: Can't do without: NEEDS. I gather you can also clue NEED to be "Can't do without", right?
29A: Spook, maybe: SPY. Never knew that spook is a slang for espionage.
34A: Ho Chi Minh City, formerly: SAIGON. "Good morning, Vietnam"! We have a fellow TMS crossword solver there.
44A: Electron tube parts: ANODES
47A: "Free Willy" star: ORCA. Unknown to me, but it's a good change from the "Killer whale" clue.
51A: Old-fashioned messages: TELEXES
53A: One of Florida's Keys: LARGO
59A: Tubby plus: OBESE
64A: Cut and paste: EDIT. Shouldn't it be clued as "Cut and paste, e. g."?
66A: Gondola alternative: T-BAR. I was thinking of the Italian boat. Did not know anything about the Gondola lift.
68A: Tete topper: BERET. The unbearable ennui! Surprise me with something new next time!
Down entries:
1D: Jewelry fasteners: CLASPS
2D: Get into position: LINE UP
3D: Red cell carrier: ARTERY
4D: Cool one's heels: WAITS
5D: In the altogether: BARE. Hmm, I've never heard of this expression before. I thought it meant SANE. American idioms are killing me!
9D: Negative beginning: CONTRA. I like this clue. Contra- is a prefix here.
10D: Cry's partner: HUE. Cry and Hue.
21D: Courage to continue: HEART. Not fond of this clue at all. I don't know. I guess I was expecting something more audacious & intrepid. The HEART here sounds so Coward Lion-ly.
25D: Singer Shore or Washington: DINAH. One name is enough!
26D: Hyped up: AGOG
33D: Metronome's reminder: TEMPO
35D: Chopin piano piece: ÉTUDE
41D: Solfeggio: SCALE
48D: Rein in: BRIDLE. Yep, this is not a time for "unbridled enthusiasm" & "irrational exuberance".
49D: Catch fire: IGNITE
58D: Rhino's weapon: HORN
59D: Poetic peeper: ORB. Nice change from yesterday's "Eye, poetically" clue.
60D: Quilting klatch: BEE. This is the first time I meet Klatch.
C.C.
20A: Understand: SEE THE LIGHT
38A: Comprehend: GET THE MESSAGE
55A: Catch on: TAKE THE HINT
I did not detect any April's Fools' hoax in this puzzle, did you?
This grid reminded me of John Underwood's March 25 SLIP puzzle (last Tuesday's). Lots of three letter words, though theme was not as lively. I don't think I like the way those two 4-blank squares are stacked & cornered together in the middle of the grid. It just does not fit my eyes.
I did not finish the puzzle today mainly due to my English vocabulary deficiency. I did not know the meaning of "Metronome" and "Solfeggio", and I've never heard of the movie "Free Willy", so I went through hell trying to fill in the DEER part of the puzzle.
I do like the CLAW clue, and I love how it intersects CLASP. It evokes such a vivid image! I am a bit irked by 43A: Oral delivery: SPEECH. This "Oral" is as unpleasant as yesterday's CODE. If ORAL appears as the answer to 6D: Voiced, this "Oral delivery" clue should really be promptly discarded. Hello Williams, can you hear me now?
Grid structure: Total words counts: 78. Total blank square: 36 (maximum is 43).
1A: Grizzly weapon: CLAW. Do you know that grizzly bears eat plant also?
5A: Fall flat: BOMB
9A: Alluring trait: CHARM. Just do not clue ALLUREMENT as "Charming trait" next time. It will drive someone nuts!
14A: Old Italian bread? LIRA. Money. This bread clue is getting staler now. Bake something new for us.
15A: "Stride la vampa.": e. g.: ARIA
19A: Can't do without: NEEDS. I gather you can also clue NEED to be "Can't do without", right?
29A: Spook, maybe: SPY. Never knew that spook is a slang for espionage.
34A: Ho Chi Minh City, formerly: SAIGON. "Good morning, Vietnam"! We have a fellow TMS crossword solver there.
44A: Electron tube parts: ANODES
47A: "Free Willy" star: ORCA. Unknown to me, but it's a good change from the "Killer whale" clue.
51A: Old-fashioned messages: TELEXES
53A: One of Florida's Keys: LARGO
59A: Tubby plus: OBESE
64A: Cut and paste: EDIT. Shouldn't it be clued as "Cut and paste, e. g."?
66A: Gondola alternative: T-BAR. I was thinking of the Italian boat. Did not know anything about the Gondola lift.
68A: Tete topper: BERET. The unbearable ennui! Surprise me with something new next time!
Down entries:
1D: Jewelry fasteners: CLASPS
2D: Get into position: LINE UP
3D: Red cell carrier: ARTERY
4D: Cool one's heels: WAITS
5D: In the altogether: BARE. Hmm, I've never heard of this expression before. I thought it meant SANE. American idioms are killing me!
9D: Negative beginning: CONTRA. I like this clue. Contra- is a prefix here.
10D: Cry's partner: HUE. Cry and Hue.
21D: Courage to continue: HEART. Not fond of this clue at all. I don't know. I guess I was expecting something more audacious & intrepid. The HEART here sounds so Coward Lion-ly.
25D: Singer Shore or Washington: DINAH. One name is enough!
26D: Hyped up: AGOG
33D: Metronome's reminder: TEMPO
35D: Chopin piano piece: ÉTUDE
41D: Solfeggio: SCALE
48D: Rein in: BRIDLE. Yep, this is not a time for "unbridled enthusiasm" & "irrational exuberance".
49D: Catch fire: IGNITE
58D: Rhino's weapon: HORN
59D: Poetic peeper: ORB. Nice change from yesterday's "Eye, poetically" clue.
60D: Quilting klatch: BEE. This is the first time I meet Klatch.
C.C.
25 comments:
Good morning, CC
Fun one today. Quick and easy! I didn't see anything that was tied to April Fool's, either. I think the only clue that really had me stumped was 60D. I don't think I've seen that one before.
Again, there were repeat offenders throughout. If it weren't for your blog, I'm not sure how many of those repeat offenders I would have actually remembered! :o) Clues like 14A I always enjoy.
33D took me back to my piano practicing days as a kid with the metronome going back and forth. Yikes.
Have a great day!
Good morning, C.C. I liked today's puzzle. Went fast and easily for me. I didn't get the gondola alternative tho'. Never heard a T-bar being called that. And I don't understand the connection btw cry and hue. Do you get that? Unless it's crying the blues, but blues didn't work. Hue came from the across words for me tho'. And claw had a cute clue, I agree. I'm sure we're being set up for a real challenge later this week. Hope you have a good day. Mine's off to a good start.
Mkat, that's funny! I teach piano and call the metronome my torture machine. I use it sparingly. I would rather tap my toe or heel on the floor, or head against the wood than to use that thing for very long. And 60D I thought was clever. Never saw that before either. I've heard of coffee klatch, but the quilting one was cute. Have a good day.
Mkat, good to finally see you!! what's the name of your dog?
Lois, "Hue and Cry" is a phrase.
Good morning cc et al. Another easy one to begin the week. Took about 8 minutes but maybe Dennis will accurately predict a hard one coming. I never heard of 41A SOLFEGGIO but worked it in with the other clues and then I looked it up.
Lois it is HUE and CRY and is a very old expression and I have no idea where it came from.
Good morning. I didn't think I was going to get this one, but I did! I didn't know metronome or salfeggio either. I have heard of hue and cry, but don't know what it means.Nor did I know the gondola alternative either, but with the other clues I got them all. Nice picture mkat. I missed every one the last couple of days, been real busy.
Have a good day everyone.
Thank you, C.C. I've never heard that before and will look into it. I "get the message". I learn so much from you.
To save space, google Hue and Cry and a Wikipedia site will be one of the hits with a definition.
Not a bad puzzle today. I concur with repeat offenders. Bee, beret, lira, Dinah, orb.
Have a good one.
Thank you, Dick. Can you use Hue and Cry in a sentence? Solfeggio is also a piece by C.E. Bach, the son of J.S., and is a 30 second Baroque piano piece that is fast and furious, intermediate level, basically one hand at a time, but challenging...all scales of course. It flies! I think it's fun to play. Did you play that, mkat? And you're right! A good theme was missed for today.
Good morning, C.C. and all - the hotel didn't have the paper this morning; had to run out to get one. Another beauty, huh? Probably the two easiest back-to-back yet.
Lois, you'd have to be a skiier to get the gondola/t-bar reference; they're both lifts to the top of a mountain.
Mkat, is that an Akita? We've had 2 - my favorite dog.
Still waiting for the hammer....rest assured, it's coming. Hope it's a great day for everybody.
Lois, as an example, "he raised a hue and cry" over the theft of his car". Hope this helps.
"Hue and Cry" is from English common law and was an obligation of all citizens to raise the alarm in the apprehension of a felon.
Hue is from the French "hu e cri"(thank the Normans. Check World Wide Words for more:
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hue1.htm
BC
I thought today's puzzle was easy also. Finished it without looking anything up for a change!
"Hue and cry" is familiar to me, I've actually heard people use it in a sentence ... 'a huge hue and cry went up after the property taxes went up...'
I really enjoy this site, CC.
lois - yes, the metronome was def torture! I had nightmares. :o)
CC - thanks. Good to be seen. It's always a little weird to not check the blog for a couple of days, but it just couldn't be helped.
To the dog questions - he's an Akita named Tenshi ("angel"). He's approx. 10 mos. old. I rescued him a little over two months ago. Such a doll! Best addition to my house!
And Dennis - don't go mentioning the hammer as that means that roman numerals will be rearing their ugly heads soon! ;o)
I love this sight and knowing that I don't have to wait until tomorrow if I'm stumped. Today was an easy one for me but I also was thinking of the Italian boat with the Gondola clue so had a bit of trouble there. Never heard of solfeggio either but was able to get it through the other clues. I learn so much from all of you!
I sailed through this one unbridled. The only clue I didn't know was solfeggio and got that from the surrounding words. About 15 minutes.
I knew TELEXES immediately, but for the life of me I don't know what a telex is. Never saw one, never got one and don't know anyone who ever did. - - but it was a good puzzle because I managed to finish in less tan 30 min.
Before I 'ink' in a letter in an 'across' word that I'm not absolutely sure of I look at the 'down 'clue to see if that letter fits. If not then I move on. Does anyone know if this is fairly common??
I have not been able to get the latest TMS crossword on line. It cuts off at 29Mar.
I'm wondering what's going on.
Feste
C. C. An easy one today... only 41A SOLFEGGIO did I struggle with, but I got that quad from the surrounding clues. All in all fairly easy... the hammer is coming two easy ones in a row.
C. C. The Twins looked great on Opening Day.... :-)
c.c. I have to disagree with your comment on ORAL DELIVERY. How many times have we read of a 'delivered' speech and other uses of commentary. I thought it was a 'goodun'.
re. 28D. It would have been a better clue if the word 'singer' was omitted.
Sometimes the creators give too many clues to fairly simple ones and not enough to tough ones.
Feste,
Here is the feedback I got from Chicago Tribune:
"We sincerely apologize. We have passed your comments to the Manager of Projects and Quality for Chicago Tribune Interactive. We appreciate your patience regarding this matter.
Jim,
Yes, your way of penning in the answers is very common.
Yes, the omission of "Singer" would've made the clue 25D interesting. I did not think of that earlier.
I am perfectly OK with SPEECH being clued as "Oral Delivery" if "ORAL" does not appear as the answer for 6D.
superfrey,
I am in awe of Carlos Gomez!
I had just one minor (and rather technical) issue today. 'Solfeggio' (41D) isn't the same as 'scale'. It's the practice of using syllables to represent the notes, rather than latters. (do, re, mi, instead of C, D, E).
I know. I'm very picky.
Oh my goodness. First time in a long time that I didn't have to Google anything or look here for answers! I don't know if that is good or bad. It was comforting to know I had you guys to help me if needed.
c.c. So sorry you didn't double up. I was concerned about the Solfeggio clue and 44A -- doubt that you've ever heard of yet seen an electron tube in this day of silicon chips. Actually, my singing experience helped with 41D -- doubt that the term is in a majority of American's vocabulary. I was also in Venice on 66A until it emerged. Hang in there-- tomorrow is another day.
johnboy,
I happen to like your "pickiness". I've learned quite a few thing from you in the past several days.
twriter,
Indeed. I am very comforted by the fact that those experienced solvers are so generous with their help for us.
Crockett1947,
Are you still singing?
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