Theme: QUAD CITIES (14D: Mississippi quartet?)
10D: One of 14D: ROCK ISLAND (IL)
20D: One of 14D: DAVENPORT (IA)
25D: One of 14D: BETTENDORF (IA)
28D: Not exactly one of 14D: EAST MOLINE (IL)
The one left off the list is MOLINE (IL).
Great theme concept, very creative. I like it a lot. My first reaction to 14D clue ( Mississippi quartet?), though, was ESSES, since there are 4 letter S in the word "Mississippi".
But why "Not exactly" in 28D? Wikipedia says EAST MOLINE is still part of this misnomer "Quint Cities" QUAD CITIES, though BETTENDORF outgrew it and became the 4th in terms of size and population. You cannot say Penn State is "not exactly one of the Big Ten", can you?
I truly adore the OPEC clue (42A: Well-fixed grp.), what a sweet (crude oil) "Well"! I don't like how SENIOR (7D: AARP member) is clued, as the AARP abbreviation demands an abbreviated SENIOR answer. This might be a SENIOR moment cluing error from our editor, who finally decided to put his real name as the puzzle constructor today. Good, I am tired of the Josiah Breward and Willy A. Wiseman pretenses.
I could not finish today's puzzle unassisted, quite a few unknown words/places/names to me. Had some half-hearted flirting with Google and decided to call today a success.
ACROSS:
7A: Volcanic rock ejecta: SCORIA. Stumper. Not familiar with this geology term. SCORIA is "Porous cinderlike fragments of dark lava".
17A: Poorly matched: UNEQUAL
15A: Motives: REASONS. Here is Rod Stewart's "REASON to believe". "If I listened long enough to you, I'd find a way to believe that its all true.."
16A: Rolled pastry loaf: STRUDEL. I love apple STRUDEL.
17A: Contaminates: INFECTS
18A: City near Anchorage: KENAI. Foreign to me. Here is the map. I am not familiar with KENAI Peninsula either.
19A: Vedder of Pearl Jam: EDDIE. Did not know him, I took a SWAG. Here is the definition of SWAG according to Chris in LA: "Scientific wild a** guess for those of you who've never created a budget for a retail establishment".
21A: Cyclades island: KEA. Unknown to me. See here for more information.
25A: Feathered friend: BIRD. This BIRD (Larry) and CAGY (54D: Good at evasion) remind me of KG (Kevin Garnett) and his victorious Celtics. What a season for them! KG would have never got this NBA title had he stayed with the inapt Minnesota T-Wolves.
26A: Reverberate again and again: REECHO. Yes, I can hear/feel it miles away.
29A: Makes diverse: VARIES
32A: Narrow valley: GLEN
34A: U. near Tampa: ST. LEO. Unknown to me. Thought ST. LEO was a Pope. Wikipedia says Desi Arnaz graduated from there.
37A: "Beau___": GESTE. P. C. Wren novel. I've never read the book nor seen the movie.
39A: SASE, e.g.: ENC (Enclosed). SASE is "Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope".
40A: To any extent: AT ALL
41A: Composer Erik: SATIE. It's clued as "Gymnopedies" composer in a March TMS puzzle.
44A: Geraint's lady: ENID. I like this kind of romance.
45A: Very dark: pref.: MELANO. New to me. What, for example?
47A: Bamboo eaters: PANDAS. This Kung Fu PANDA looks cool.
49A: Ring rulings, briefly: TKOS (Technical Knockouts)
53A: Cartoonist Keane: BIL. Gimme for me. "The Family Circus" is placed side by side with "Dennis the Menace" in our Star Tribune newspaper. I like that middle panel.
54A: Schilling and Gowdy: CURTS. Know Schilling, not Gowdy. In fact, Ron Guildry (ex-Yankees' pitcher) popped into my mind when I saw Gowdy, so for a fleeting second I thought the clue was asking for an abbreviation of "Pitchers". Here is another CURT in baseball.
56A: Actress Esther: ROLLE. Of "Good Times". Unknown to me.
60A: Paper folding: ORIGAMI. This always reminds me of my poor Grandma and the agony she suffered due to foot-binding. She was very good at this ORIGAMI and needle work.
62A: Engender: INBREED. Really? Are they the same?
64A: Periods of immaturity: NONAGES
65A: Foliage: LEAFAGE. I don't like this "age" rhyme. "Greenery" would be fine with me.
66A: Crabtree's partner in skin care products: EVELYN. No, nope, I've never heard of this brand. Katherine might know it.
DOWN:
1D: Nightfall: DUSK. Ah, those wild times at DUSK til Dawn!
4D: Weekend cowboy-like: DUDISH. New word to me. I only knew "Dude".
5D: Abu Dhabi loc.: UAE. Have not seen EMIR/AMIR/EMEER/AMEER for a while. And another Middle East reference besides OPEC is ASSAD (12D: Syrian leader).
6D: Macpherson of "Sirens": ELLE. Know ELLE, have never seen Sirens.
8D: Type of society or curtains: CAFÉ. I've never heard of CAFÉ society.
9D: Sugary suffix: OSE
11D: Collegiate starter?: INTER
15D: Good __ to bad rubbish: RIDDANCE. Ha ha, I only know Good RIDDANCE. Had no idea that there is some bad rubbish following.
23D: Dress (up): TOG
26D: Riches, once?: RAGS. I like this clue also. RAGS to riches.
27D: Zeno's birthplace: ELEA. Gimme. Learned it from doing crossword of course. Now, next time, if the clue is "Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus nickname", CALIGULA will be a gimme for me also.
33D: "Trinity" author: LEON URIS. Great to see his full name in a grid.
36D: Antique auto: OLDS. And 48A: Automotive safety device: AIR BAG
46D: Keen insight: ACUMEN
50D: City on the Vyatka River: KIROV. It appeared on an April TMS puzzle before. I simply forgot. The city is known as the "City of Twins" for the unusually high number of multiple births there.
And 61D: Guy's date: GAL. "Oh, well, I love you GAL, yes, I love you...", "Peggy Sue" from Buddy Holly & The Crickets. Enjoy this precious clip!
C.C.
10D: One of 14D: ROCK ISLAND (IL)
20D: One of 14D: DAVENPORT (IA)
25D: One of 14D: BETTENDORF (IA)
28D: Not exactly one of 14D: EAST MOLINE (IL)
The one left off the list is MOLINE (IL).
Great theme concept, very creative. I like it a lot. My first reaction to 14D clue ( Mississippi quartet?), though, was ESSES, since there are 4 letter S in the word "Mississippi".
But why "Not exactly" in 28D? Wikipedia says EAST MOLINE is still part of this misnomer "Quint Cities" QUAD CITIES, though BETTENDORF outgrew it and became the 4th in terms of size and population. You cannot say Penn State is "not exactly one of the Big Ten", can you?
I truly adore the OPEC clue (42A: Well-fixed grp.), what a sweet (crude oil) "Well"! I don't like how SENIOR (7D: AARP member) is clued, as the AARP abbreviation demands an abbreviated SENIOR answer. This might be a SENIOR moment cluing error from our editor, who finally decided to put his real name as the puzzle constructor today. Good, I am tired of the Josiah Breward and Willy A. Wiseman pretenses.
I could not finish today's puzzle unassisted, quite a few unknown words/places/names to me. Had some half-hearted flirting with Google and decided to call today a success.
ACROSS:
7A: Volcanic rock ejecta: SCORIA. Stumper. Not familiar with this geology term. SCORIA is "Porous cinderlike fragments of dark lava".
17A: Poorly matched: UNEQUAL
15A: Motives: REASONS. Here is Rod Stewart's "REASON to believe". "If I listened long enough to you, I'd find a way to believe that its all true.."
16A: Rolled pastry loaf: STRUDEL. I love apple STRUDEL.
17A: Contaminates: INFECTS
18A: City near Anchorage: KENAI. Foreign to me. Here is the map. I am not familiar with KENAI Peninsula either.
19A: Vedder of Pearl Jam: EDDIE. Did not know him, I took a SWAG. Here is the definition of SWAG according to Chris in LA: "Scientific wild a** guess for those of you who've never created a budget for a retail establishment".
21A: Cyclades island: KEA. Unknown to me. See here for more information.
25A: Feathered friend: BIRD. This BIRD (Larry) and CAGY (54D: Good at evasion) remind me of KG (Kevin Garnett) and his victorious Celtics. What a season for them! KG would have never got this NBA title had he stayed with the inapt Minnesota T-Wolves.
26A: Reverberate again and again: REECHO. Yes, I can hear/feel it miles away.
29A: Makes diverse: VARIES
32A: Narrow valley: GLEN
34A: U. near Tampa: ST. LEO. Unknown to me. Thought ST. LEO was a Pope. Wikipedia says Desi Arnaz graduated from there.
37A: "Beau___": GESTE. P. C. Wren novel. I've never read the book nor seen the movie.
39A: SASE, e.g.: ENC (Enclosed). SASE is "Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope".
40A: To any extent: AT ALL
41A: Composer Erik: SATIE. It's clued as "Gymnopedies" composer in a March TMS puzzle.
44A: Geraint's lady: ENID. I like this kind of romance.
45A: Very dark: pref.: MELANO. New to me. What, for example?
47A: Bamboo eaters: PANDAS. This Kung Fu PANDA looks cool.
49A: Ring rulings, briefly: TKOS (Technical Knockouts)
53A: Cartoonist Keane: BIL. Gimme for me. "The Family Circus" is placed side by side with "Dennis the Menace" in our Star Tribune newspaper. I like that middle panel.
54A: Schilling and Gowdy: CURTS. Know Schilling, not Gowdy. In fact, Ron Guildry (ex-Yankees' pitcher) popped into my mind when I saw Gowdy, so for a fleeting second I thought the clue was asking for an abbreviation of "Pitchers". Here is another CURT in baseball.
56A: Actress Esther: ROLLE. Of "Good Times". Unknown to me.
60A: Paper folding: ORIGAMI. This always reminds me of my poor Grandma and the agony she suffered due to foot-binding. She was very good at this ORIGAMI and needle work.
62A: Engender: INBREED. Really? Are they the same?
64A: Periods of immaturity: NONAGES
65A: Foliage: LEAFAGE. I don't like this "age" rhyme. "Greenery" would be fine with me.
66A: Crabtree's partner in skin care products: EVELYN. No, nope, I've never heard of this brand. Katherine might know it.
DOWN:
1D: Nightfall: DUSK. Ah, those wild times at DUSK til Dawn!
4D: Weekend cowboy-like: DUDISH. New word to me. I only knew "Dude".
5D: Abu Dhabi loc.: UAE. Have not seen EMIR/AMIR/EMEER/AMEER for a while. And another Middle East reference besides OPEC is ASSAD (12D: Syrian leader).
6D: Macpherson of "Sirens": ELLE. Know ELLE, have never seen Sirens.
8D: Type of society or curtains: CAFÉ. I've never heard of CAFÉ society.
9D: Sugary suffix: OSE
11D: Collegiate starter?: INTER
15D: Good __ to bad rubbish: RIDDANCE. Ha ha, I only know Good RIDDANCE. Had no idea that there is some bad rubbish following.
23D: Dress (up): TOG
26D: Riches, once?: RAGS. I like this clue also. RAGS to riches.
27D: Zeno's birthplace: ELEA. Gimme. Learned it from doing crossword of course. Now, next time, if the clue is "Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus nickname", CALIGULA will be a gimme for me also.
33D: "Trinity" author: LEON URIS. Great to see his full name in a grid.
36D: Antique auto: OLDS. And 48A: Automotive safety device: AIR BAG
46D: Keen insight: ACUMEN
50D: City on the Vyatka River: KIROV. It appeared on an April TMS puzzle before. I simply forgot. The city is known as the "City of Twins" for the unusually high number of multiple births there.
And 61D: Guy's date: GAL. "Oh, well, I love you GAL, yes, I love you...", "Peggy Sue" from Buddy Holly & The Crickets. Enjoy this precious clip!
C.C.
