Theme: Los Angeles Clippers
23A: Toy guns?: FALSE A(LA)RMS
24A: Education for lab rats? (LA)MAZE CLASSES
39A: Thug down in the dumps?: BLUE (LA)GOON
43A: Where the South American school grp. meets?: RIO DE LA P(LA)TA
65A: Dana Carvey doing The Police's lead singer?: (LA)STING IMPRESSION
92A: Cop who brings back the genie when he goes AWOL?: ALADDIN'S (LA)MP
94A: Dubbed-in sounds of disgust?: (LA)UGH TRACK
113A: Appropriate style of dress for exams: (LA)TEST FASHION
115A: ATM accesses that nobody can guess?: GREAT P(LA)INS
Probably too obvious if the theme title were "LA Clippers".
This is a Sylvia Plath "Ariel" puzzle to me. I only started to understand "Roses are red..." not long ago. Struggled again.
Lots of wonderful clues in this puzzle. My favorites:
38A: Head lines?: EEG. Very clever. Always "Brain scan letters" in our old puzzle.
51D: Foreign correspondents?: PEN PALS
87D: Writing feature?: SILENT W. Letter W is not pronounced in "Writing".
123A: Henna and her sisters?: DYES. Play on movie title "Hannah and Her Sisters".
Things I need your help:
62D: Not counting fas and and las, word after "holly": 'TIS. Big stumper. Why?
76D: Walks like House: LIMPS. How come? What/Who is "House"?
83D: Stretch in the '90s, e.g.: HEAT WAVE. Again, why?
To those LA Times solvers who are offered Sylvia Bursztyn's "Light Fair". Please go to LA Times website for the Rich Norris puzzle we are discussing here today.
Across:
5A: Off-the-market apple spray: ALAR. Sometimes it's clued as "Wing-shaped". Did Ralph Nader play a big role in its banning?
9A: African expanse: SAHARA. I thought of DESERT first.
15A: Hanks Oscar-winning role: GUMP. "Forrest GUMP". "Life is a like a box of chocolate..." It's all about choices actually.
19A: Like some training program: IN SERVICE. Military?
21A: Cloisonné material: ENAMEL. Cloisonné technique was first developed in China.
22A: Ending for stink: AROO. Or "Ending for buck". EROO is the ending of smack & switch.
26A: Political essay: TRACT. It's always clued as "Political pamphlet" in our old puzzle.
29A: Capital on the Hudson: ALBANY
34A: Intersection caution: BLINKER
46A: Cold symptom: SNEEZE
48A: Fight ender, briefly: TKO. Boxing term.
49A: Coal industry labor org.: UMW (United Mine Workers). First encounter with this org.
50A: Bridge bid: NO TRUMP. And NO BET (42D: "Check"). Both are new terms to me. Not a bridge/poker player.
52A: Insect-world animated film: ANTZ. This film has become a gimme.
53A: Dungeness delicacy: CRAB. Have never heard of Dungenss CRAB. Wikipedia says it's named after Dungenss, Washington. And there is an annual Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival held there every October.
54A: Furniture wood: TEAK. "Shipbuilding wood" too. Oily, oily!
56A: Cubs' A.L. rivals: SOX. Both based in Chicago.
57A: 'Enry's Broadway protégée: ELIZA. "My Fair Lady". ELIZA Doolittle. Took me a while to realize 'Enry is Henry.
59A: Mr. Magoo, notably: MYOPE. Learned who Mr. Magoo is from doing Xword.
60A: Ralph Kramden's friend: ED NORTON. Stumper. This is the ED NORTON I am familiar with. He is so good in "American History X".
63A: Where to see 60A across: ON TV
64A: Loafs on the job: DOGS IT. New phrase to me.
72A: Musical syllables: TRAS
73A: The Azores are part of it: PORTUGAL. Barry Silk clued AZORES as "Portuguese islands" in his last puzzle.
80A: Hodges of baseball: GIL. Hmmm, no Dodgers reference? GIL Hodges spent most of his career with Brooklyn and LA Dodgers. Some of the old Brooklyn Dodgers collectibles are ridiculously high priced.
81A: Niño's emphatic yes: SI SI. In Chinese, it's "Shi, Shi'.
82A: Jordon's dowager queen: NOOR. She is rumored to have been dating Carlos Slim. Not sure if he is still the richest man in this world. Listened to some of her interviews when she was promoting her book "Leap of Faith". Very compelling personality.
84A: Biological subdivision: SPECIES
88A: '60 theater, briefly: NAM. I don't understand why they picked "What a Wonderful World" for "Good morning, Vietnam". They don't really match well.
89A: Rubble creator: TNT
98A: Arch city: ST LOUIS. The Gateway Arch was designed by Eero Sarrinen, who appears in crossword often.
99A: Including: WITH
100A: Some dirty politics: SMEARS
103A: November honoree: VET. Nov 11, to be exact.
104A: Observable: IN VIEW
107A: Powerful shooter marbles: STEELIES. See this picture. They don't look like to be made of steel.
109A: Massage targets: NECKS. The answer is always ACHE in our old puzzle.
117A: Camaro __ -Z: IROC. Completely unknown to me. Here is a photo. Wikipedia says it's named after the popular competition International Race of Champions. I thought it's play on "I Rock".
118A: Boys' Choir home: VIENNA. No idea. Have never heard of VIENNA Boys' Choir before.
119A: Tidal maximum: HIGH WATER. Also a new term to me. Just learned what WATER LINE is yesterday.
121A: Makes rhapsodic: ELATES
122A: Bugs, for one: TOON
Down:
1D: Baking instruction: SIFT. Mine was STEP.
2D: Tree trunk bulge: KNAR. Made-up crossword word.
3D: Cuba, to Cubans: ISLA. I like this clue.
4D: Come down: DESCEND. Thought of ALIGHT first.
6D: N.Y.C. commuter line: LIRR
8D: What's left, in Le Mans: RESTE. French for "rest". I was thinking of gauche, the real "left".
9D: Israeli, e.g.: SEMITE. OK, this is a word I've never understood. Arabs are Semitic, right? Why Anti-semitism is about prejudice against Jewish people then?
10D: Substances similar in structure, in chemistry: ANALOGS. No idea. I thought it should be ISO something.
11D: Fogs: HAZES
14D: Teeming with activity: ALL ABUZZ. Have to get used to this kind of 2-word fill.
15D: Blowhard: GASBAG
16D: __ Minor: URSA. My first reaction: ASIA
17D: Big name in faucets: MOEN. MOEN has several joint ventures in China.
18D: Bride's throwaway: POSY. All I could think of are flowers & bouquett.
25D: "Tiny Alice" dramatist: ALBEE. I've never heard of "Tiny Alice". But five letter dramatist has to be ALBEE.
33D: Prince Valiant's bride: ALETA. Another unknown. Only Just learned ARN ("Prince Valiant's son") a few months ago.
34D: Big bully: BRUTE. Give a whole new meaning to "Et tu, BRUTE?"
35D: Treated the soil, in a way: LIMED. What's the purpose of liming the soil?
36D: Davenport native: IOWAN. "Is this heaven?" "No, it's IOWA". My favorite baseball movie: "Field of Dreams".
37D: Fingers, so to speak: RATS ON. New definition of "Fingers" to me.
39D: Auto pioneer Karl: BENZ. I need the name Mercedes to get BENZ.
40D: Others: Span.: OTROS. OTRAS is also "Others: Span."
41D: Giraffe cousin: OKAPI. Hey, tell me, is giraffe your cousin?
44D: Plug projection: PRONG. Sounds silly, but I really blanked on Plug PRONG.
47D: Gullible: NAIVE. Won't be long, Rich Norris. Sooner or later, I am going to figure out all your "Little butter?".
53D: Swan constellation: CYGNUS. Forgot this word. Latin for "swan". See this diagram. PromiseMe mentioned Rush's song "CYGNUS X-1" last time when we encountered DENEB (clued as "Star in CYGNUS". In his words, "The song is about a journey through space to the black hole at the heart of the constellation Cygnus." Maybe he will provide a clip later.
55D: Authentic: KOSHER. Opposite tref. Kind of like Arab Halal/haraam, right?
58D: P.O. sackful: LTRS. In this electronic age, still "sackful" of letters? I doubt.
59D: No longer at issue: MOOT. Or still debatable. Janus letter, 2 meanings.
61D: Numbered rds.: RTES
63D: Actor Katz: OMRI. I forgot this "Dallas" actor. He appeared in our old puzzle before.
64D: N, E, S or W: DIR
66D: Roman prefix: ITALO. Williams liked to clue ITALO as "Author Calvino". In fact, I don't believe he ever tried "Roman prefix".
67D: Star in Virgo: SPICA. New to me. Here is the diagram.
68D: Pyramids, e.g.: SOLIDS
69D: African language group: BANTU. Both Zulu & Swahili belong to BANTU.
71D: Crown location: TOOTH. I was picturing a crown over someone's head.
74D: Infomercial knife: GINSU. They are of very poor quality, correct?
75D: "Me, too!": AS AM I
78D: Show the rope: TEACH
79D: Pool accessory: RACK. Billiard. Not swimming pool.
80D: It holds locks in place: GEL. Well, I was thinking of real locks. Key does not fit.
85D: Like the Holy See: PAPAL
86D: 1999 Ron Howard film: EDTV. See this poster. I saw identical clue somewhere before. But I could not recall the film name.
90D: Lawyer's writing: BRIEF
91D: "Give me an example!": NAME ONE. Like this clue also.
93D: Jotting place: NOTE PAD
95D: Muscle spasm: TWITCH. Or TIC for a 3-letter fill.
97D: Perceived to be: SEEN AS
100D: Tour of duty: STINT
101D: Correct: RIGHT. Verb or adjective?
102D: Comic opening: SERIO. Have never heard of seriocomic before. Derived from SERI(ous) + O + Comic.
104D: Tendon suffix: ITIS. Tendonitis. Did not come to me immediately. I am used to the " Medical suffix" clue.
105D: Husband of Octavia: NERO. I know the NERO who fiddled while Roman burned. Don't know who Octavia is. Dictionary says Marc Anthony's wife is also called Octavia, a name rooted in Octavius, meaning "the eighth".
106D: Brandy letters: VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale). Unknown to me. Here is a bottle.
107D: 2000 World Series venue: SHEA. Yankees beat the Mets. I was unaware of this. My US history started in May 16, 2001, almost 8 years.
108D: Lily with an edible root: SEGO. Really? I only know tiger lily buds are edible.
111D: Cello stabilizer: KNEE. I still marvel at the CELLIST clue ("Ma, for one") the other day. Just brilliant. Crossword constructors/editors are so creative.
112D: Georgia et al., once: Abbr.: SSRS. I love this "Georgia" ambiguity. In late 1980s and early 1990s, I was very into Eduard Shevardnadze, who later became the President of Georgia. Later one, I moved to Netanyahu. I don't know what they have in common. They just attracted me.
116D: "Kung Fu" actor: AHN. No idea. Interesting trivia: His parent were the first Korean married couple admitted into the United States, according to Wikipedia. He looks very Korean. His surname AHN would be spelled An or Ang in Chinese, as in director Ang Lee. An simply means "Peace".
Full Answer Grid.
C.C.
23A: Toy guns?: FALSE A(LA)RMS
24A: Education for lab rats? (LA)MAZE CLASSES
39A: Thug down in the dumps?: BLUE (LA)GOON
43A: Where the South American school grp. meets?: RIO DE LA P(LA)TA
65A: Dana Carvey doing The Police's lead singer?: (LA)STING IMPRESSION
92A: Cop who brings back the genie when he goes AWOL?: ALADDIN'S (LA)MP
94A: Dubbed-in sounds of disgust?: (LA)UGH TRACK
113A: Appropriate style of dress for exams: (LA)TEST FASHION
115A: ATM accesses that nobody can guess?: GREAT P(LA)INS
Probably too obvious if the theme title were "LA Clippers".
This is a Sylvia Plath "Ariel" puzzle to me. I only started to understand "Roses are red..." not long ago. Struggled again.
Lots of wonderful clues in this puzzle. My favorites:
38A: Head lines?: EEG. Very clever. Always "Brain scan letters" in our old puzzle.
51D: Foreign correspondents?: PEN PALS
87D: Writing feature?: SILENT W. Letter W is not pronounced in "Writing".
123A: Henna and her sisters?: DYES. Play on movie title "Hannah and Her Sisters".
Things I need your help:
62D: Not counting fas and and las, word after "holly": 'TIS. Big stumper. Why?
76D: Walks like House: LIMPS. How come? What/Who is "House"?
83D: Stretch in the '90s, e.g.: HEAT WAVE. Again, why?
To those LA Times solvers who are offered Sylvia Bursztyn's "Light Fair". Please go to LA Times website for the Rich Norris puzzle we are discussing here today.
Across:
5A: Off-the-market apple spray: ALAR. Sometimes it's clued as "Wing-shaped". Did Ralph Nader play a big role in its banning?
9A: African expanse: SAHARA. I thought of DESERT first.
15A: Hanks Oscar-winning role: GUMP. "Forrest GUMP". "Life is a like a box of chocolate..." It's all about choices actually.
19A: Like some training program: IN SERVICE. Military?
21A: Cloisonné material: ENAMEL. Cloisonné technique was first developed in China.
22A: Ending for stink: AROO. Or "Ending for buck". EROO is the ending of smack & switch.
26A: Political essay: TRACT. It's always clued as "Political pamphlet" in our old puzzle.
29A: Capital on the Hudson: ALBANY
34A: Intersection caution: BLINKER
46A: Cold symptom: SNEEZE
48A: Fight ender, briefly: TKO. Boxing term.
49A: Coal industry labor org.: UMW (United Mine Workers). First encounter with this org.
50A: Bridge bid: NO TRUMP. And NO BET (42D: "Check"). Both are new terms to me. Not a bridge/poker player.
52A: Insect-world animated film: ANTZ. This film has become a gimme.
53A: Dungeness delicacy: CRAB. Have never heard of Dungenss CRAB. Wikipedia says it's named after Dungenss, Washington. And there is an annual Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival held there every October.
54A: Furniture wood: TEAK. "Shipbuilding wood" too. Oily, oily!
56A: Cubs' A.L. rivals: SOX. Both based in Chicago.
57A: 'Enry's Broadway protégée: ELIZA. "My Fair Lady". ELIZA Doolittle. Took me a while to realize 'Enry is Henry.
59A: Mr. Magoo, notably: MYOPE. Learned who Mr. Magoo is from doing Xword.
60A: Ralph Kramden's friend: ED NORTON. Stumper. This is the ED NORTON I am familiar with. He is so good in "American History X".
63A: Where to see 60A across: ON TV
64A: Loafs on the job: DOGS IT. New phrase to me.
72A: Musical syllables: TRAS
73A: The Azores are part of it: PORTUGAL. Barry Silk clued AZORES as "Portuguese islands" in his last puzzle.
80A: Hodges of baseball: GIL. Hmmm, no Dodgers reference? GIL Hodges spent most of his career with Brooklyn and LA Dodgers. Some of the old Brooklyn Dodgers collectibles are ridiculously high priced.
81A: Niño's emphatic yes: SI SI. In Chinese, it's "Shi, Shi'.
82A: Jordon's dowager queen: NOOR. She is rumored to have been dating Carlos Slim. Not sure if he is still the richest man in this world. Listened to some of her interviews when she was promoting her book "Leap of Faith". Very compelling personality.
84A: Biological subdivision: SPECIES
88A: '60 theater, briefly: NAM. I don't understand why they picked "What a Wonderful World" for "Good morning, Vietnam". They don't really match well.
89A: Rubble creator: TNT
98A: Arch city: ST LOUIS. The Gateway Arch was designed by Eero Sarrinen, who appears in crossword often.
99A: Including: WITH
100A: Some dirty politics: SMEARS
103A: November honoree: VET. Nov 11, to be exact.
104A: Observable: IN VIEW
107A: Powerful shooter marbles: STEELIES. See this picture. They don't look like to be made of steel.
109A: Massage targets: NECKS. The answer is always ACHE in our old puzzle.
117A: Camaro __ -Z: IROC. Completely unknown to me. Here is a photo. Wikipedia says it's named after the popular competition International Race of Champions. I thought it's play on "I Rock".
118A: Boys' Choir home: VIENNA. No idea. Have never heard of VIENNA Boys' Choir before.
119A: Tidal maximum: HIGH WATER. Also a new term to me. Just learned what WATER LINE is yesterday.
121A: Makes rhapsodic: ELATES
122A: Bugs, for one: TOON
Down:
1D: Baking instruction: SIFT. Mine was STEP.
2D: Tree trunk bulge: KNAR. Made-up crossword word.
3D: Cuba, to Cubans: ISLA. I like this clue.
4D: Come down: DESCEND. Thought of ALIGHT first.
6D: N.Y.C. commuter line: LIRR
8D: What's left, in Le Mans: RESTE. French for "rest". I was thinking of gauche, the real "left".
9D: Israeli, e.g.: SEMITE. OK, this is a word I've never understood. Arabs are Semitic, right? Why Anti-semitism is about prejudice against Jewish people then?
10D: Substances similar in structure, in chemistry: ANALOGS. No idea. I thought it should be ISO something.
11D: Fogs: HAZES
14D: Teeming with activity: ALL ABUZZ. Have to get used to this kind of 2-word fill.
15D: Blowhard: GASBAG
16D: __ Minor: URSA. My first reaction: ASIA
17D: Big name in faucets: MOEN. MOEN has several joint ventures in China.
18D: Bride's throwaway: POSY. All I could think of are flowers & bouquett.
25D: "Tiny Alice" dramatist: ALBEE. I've never heard of "Tiny Alice". But five letter dramatist has to be ALBEE.
33D: Prince Valiant's bride: ALETA. Another unknown. Only Just learned ARN ("Prince Valiant's son") a few months ago.
34D: Big bully: BRUTE. Give a whole new meaning to "Et tu, BRUTE?"
35D: Treated the soil, in a way: LIMED. What's the purpose of liming the soil?
36D: Davenport native: IOWAN. "Is this heaven?" "No, it's IOWA". My favorite baseball movie: "Field of Dreams".
37D: Fingers, so to speak: RATS ON. New definition of "Fingers" to me.
39D: Auto pioneer Karl: BENZ. I need the name Mercedes to get BENZ.
40D: Others: Span.: OTROS. OTRAS is also "Others: Span."
41D: Giraffe cousin: OKAPI. Hey, tell me, is giraffe your cousin?
44D: Plug projection: PRONG. Sounds silly, but I really blanked on Plug PRONG.
47D: Gullible: NAIVE. Won't be long, Rich Norris. Sooner or later, I am going to figure out all your "Little butter?".
53D: Swan constellation: CYGNUS. Forgot this word. Latin for "swan". See this diagram. PromiseMe mentioned Rush's song "CYGNUS X-1" last time when we encountered DENEB (clued as "Star in CYGNUS". In his words, "The song is about a journey through space to the black hole at the heart of the constellation Cygnus." Maybe he will provide a clip later.
55D: Authentic: KOSHER. Opposite tref. Kind of like Arab Halal/haraam, right?
58D: P.O. sackful: LTRS. In this electronic age, still "sackful" of letters? I doubt.
59D: No longer at issue: MOOT. Or still debatable. Janus letter, 2 meanings.
61D: Numbered rds.: RTES
63D: Actor Katz: OMRI. I forgot this "Dallas" actor. He appeared in our old puzzle before.
64D: N, E, S or W: DIR
66D: Roman prefix: ITALO. Williams liked to clue ITALO as "Author Calvino". In fact, I don't believe he ever tried "Roman prefix".
67D: Star in Virgo: SPICA. New to me. Here is the diagram.
68D: Pyramids, e.g.: SOLIDS
69D: African language group: BANTU. Both Zulu & Swahili belong to BANTU.
71D: Crown location: TOOTH. I was picturing a crown over someone's head.
74D: Infomercial knife: GINSU. They are of very poor quality, correct?
75D: "Me, too!": AS AM I
78D: Show the rope: TEACH
79D: Pool accessory: RACK. Billiard. Not swimming pool.
80D: It holds locks in place: GEL. Well, I was thinking of real locks. Key does not fit.
85D: Like the Holy See: PAPAL
86D: 1999 Ron Howard film: EDTV. See this poster. I saw identical clue somewhere before. But I could not recall the film name.
90D: Lawyer's writing: BRIEF
91D: "Give me an example!": NAME ONE. Like this clue also.
93D: Jotting place: NOTE PAD
95D: Muscle spasm: TWITCH. Or TIC for a 3-letter fill.
97D: Perceived to be: SEEN AS
100D: Tour of duty: STINT
101D: Correct: RIGHT. Verb or adjective?
102D: Comic opening: SERIO. Have never heard of seriocomic before. Derived from SERI(ous) + O + Comic.
104D: Tendon suffix: ITIS. Tendonitis. Did not come to me immediately. I am used to the " Medical suffix" clue.
105D: Husband of Octavia: NERO. I know the NERO who fiddled while Roman burned. Don't know who Octavia is. Dictionary says Marc Anthony's wife is also called Octavia, a name rooted in Octavius, meaning "the eighth".
106D: Brandy letters: VSOP (Very Superior Old Pale). Unknown to me. Here is a bottle.
107D: 2000 World Series venue: SHEA. Yankees beat the Mets. I was unaware of this. My US history started in May 16, 2001, almost 8 years.
108D: Lily with an edible root: SEGO. Really? I only know tiger lily buds are edible.
111D: Cello stabilizer: KNEE. I still marvel at the CELLIST clue ("Ma, for one") the other day. Just brilliant. Crossword constructors/editors are so creative.
112D: Georgia et al., once: Abbr.: SSRS. I love this "Georgia" ambiguity. In late 1980s and early 1990s, I was very into Eduard Shevardnadze, who later became the President of Georgia. Later one, I moved to Netanyahu. I don't know what they have in common. They just attracted me.
116D: "Kung Fu" actor: AHN. No idea. Interesting trivia: His parent were the first Korean married couple admitted into the United States, according to Wikipedia. He looks very Korean. His surname AHN would be spelled An or Ang in Chinese, as in director Ang Lee. An simply means "Peace".
Full Answer Grid.
C.C.
