Theme: I Like "U" (I → U)
17A: Flared garb for Tarzan: JUNGLE BELLS (Jingle Bells)
24A: Manage to provide morning refreshment?: MUSTER COFFEE (Mister Coffee)
37A: Scarf makers?: BOA CONSTRUCTORS (Boa Constrictors)
46A: Wrinkle on a dessert topper?: CHERRY PUCKER (Cherry Picker)
57A: Wolves full of themselves?: BLUSTER PACK (Blister Pack)
Why BELLS for "Flared garb"? I don't understand the connection. My favorite theme entry is BLUSTER PACK. I've been opening so many Blister Packs of baseball cards. And it also reminded me of Kim Jong-il and his blustering brinkmanship. Insane!
Typical Dan Naddor puzzle. Lots of theme squares (61). There are also four noticeable 10-letter long Down entries intersecting three of the theme entries:
11D: 1989 Daniel Day-Lewis film: MY LEFT FOOT. Wikipedia shows that the film won several Oscars. I've never seen it.
12D: One putting on a show: IMPRESARIO
27D: Cutting-edge farm parts: PLOWSHARES. Gimme for Windhover. But it's a new word to me. PLOWSHARE does not sound "cutting-edge" at all, PLOWSHARP does.
28D: It's hoisted on ice annually: STANLEY CUP. Nice, timely fill.
Quite a few clever clues. My favorite is BLTS (30A: Alphabetical orders?). I got B & S in position, then I filled in BCDS immediately, completely ignoring the question mark in the clue.
Across:
1A: Debacle: FIASCO. I've got no interest to read the sequel to "FIASCO".
7A: Fish used in sashimi: OPAH. Holy moley! I love sashimi, but I've never had OPAH. Wanted TUNA.
11A: "Good Will Hunting" setting, briefly: MIT. Great movie. The setting for Kevin Spacey's "21" is also MIT.
14A: Racket: UPROAR
15A: Denpasar is its capital: BALI. I had to check my dictionary to see where Denpasar is.
16A: Sumac from South America: YMA. From Peru. Her name means "Beautiful flower".
19A: Old platters: LPS
20A: First woman to land a triple axel in competition: ITO (Midori). Interesting trivia.
21A: Crumb: LOUSE. Did not know crumb is a slang for "worthless person". Was thinking of bread crumb.
22A: Levels: TIERS
26A: Orbital point: APSIS. Thought of APOGEE first.
29A: Keisters: PRATS. Both are new slang to me.
31A: Mogadishu native: SOMALI. The only SOMALI I know is Iman, wife to David Bowie.
35A: Actress Wray: FAY. Stranger to me. Wikipidia says FAY Wray is the first ever scream queen, originating from her appearances in the 1932 film "Doctor X" and the 1933 film "King Kong".
40A: Wheat beard: AWN. Fun clue. It reads like "Wheat bread".
41A: Short stops: PAUSES. Another great clue. Made me think of baseball's shortstop.
42A: Silk, in St. Étienne: SOIE. And TASSE (13D: Café cup). Alliteration in both clues.
43A: Finely contoured: SLEEK. I like the sequential clue order of 42 "Silk..."and then 43 "Finely contoured".
45A: Ulan __: BATOR. Ulan BATOR is literally "Red Hero". Russia's Ulan Ude is "Red Uda".
51A: Clapton hit that won the 1992 Best Rock Song Grammy: LAYLA. Here is the song clip. It's about Pattie Boyd, then wife of George Harrison.
52A: Off-the-wall piece on the wall: OP ART. Excellent clue.
53A: Humanities degs.: BAS
56A: Tolkien creature: ORC
60A: Modern, in Mannheim: NEU. Same pronunciation as our "new", Kazie? What is German for "old"?
61A: Tales and such: LORE
63A: Sixth of five?: ESP. The Sixth Sense. Stumped me.
64A: Odessa-to-Waco direction: EAST. I like this new cluing.
65A: Lacing air: EYELET
Down:
1D: Big film maker: FUJI. Also the highest mountain in Japan. And of course, FUJI apples.
2D: "__ a Spell on You": 1957 Screamin' Jay Hawkins song: I PUT. Here is the song. I wanted CAST.
3D: Florentine flower?: ARNO. River flows, hence flow-er.
4D: Soak, in British dialect: SOG. No idea. Thought of RET, which is often clued as "Soak flax".
5D: "We want to hear from you": CALL US. Nailed it immediately. But when I looked at my finished grid, I kept seeing CALLUS.
6D: Ingredients in a McFlurry, perhaps: OREOS. Stumped. I've never had McFlurry.
8D: Not so bright: PALER. As in color?
10D: Memorable: HISTORIC
18D: "Despite what I just said ...": BUT
23D: "__ tree falls ...": IF A. "IF A tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?".
25D: Not quite a B: C PLUS
31D: Serpentine: SNAKY
32D: Home of the NCAA's Buckeyes: OSU (Ohio State University). Just learned that Jack Nicklaus attended OSU.
33D: Whitney et al.: Abbr.: MTS. Thought of ELI Whitney first.
36D: River to the North Sea: YSER
38D: In working order: OPERABLE
39D: 1917 abdicator: TSAR
44D: Goethe's "The __-King": ERL. Gimmie after yesterday's Schubert's "The ____-King" clue. So, the boy is indeed fevered and hallucinating about the ERL-King?
46D: Knockoff: CLONE
47D: Falls heavily: POURS. D'oh, rain!
48D: Discomfit: UPSET
49D: Ailurophobe's dread: CAT. Had to check the dictionary for ailurophobe.
50D: Last word in a doughnuts: KREME. Krispy KREME. Not a fan of doughnuts. I wrote down EAT ME first.
54D: Teen breakout?: ACNE. Got it immediately. Saw identical clue somewhere before.
55D: Game with no card lower than seven: SKAT
58D: Mauna __: LOA. Hope to see the full MAUNA LOA in a grid someday.
Answer grid.
C.C.
17A: Flared garb for Tarzan: JUNGLE BELLS (Jingle Bells)
24A: Manage to provide morning refreshment?: MUSTER COFFEE (Mister Coffee)
37A: Scarf makers?: BOA CONSTRUCTORS (Boa Constrictors)
46A: Wrinkle on a dessert topper?: CHERRY PUCKER (Cherry Picker)
57A: Wolves full of themselves?: BLUSTER PACK (Blister Pack)
Why BELLS for "Flared garb"? I don't understand the connection. My favorite theme entry is BLUSTER PACK. I've been opening so many Blister Packs of baseball cards. And it also reminded me of Kim Jong-il and his blustering brinkmanship. Insane!
Typical Dan Naddor puzzle. Lots of theme squares (61). There are also four noticeable 10-letter long Down entries intersecting three of the theme entries:
11D: 1989 Daniel Day-Lewis film: MY LEFT FOOT. Wikipedia shows that the film won several Oscars. I've never seen it.
12D: One putting on a show: IMPRESARIO
27D: Cutting-edge farm parts: PLOWSHARES. Gimme for Windhover. But it's a new word to me. PLOWSHARE does not sound "cutting-edge" at all, PLOWSHARP does.
28D: It's hoisted on ice annually: STANLEY CUP. Nice, timely fill.
Quite a few clever clues. My favorite is BLTS (30A: Alphabetical orders?). I got B & S in position, then I filled in BCDS immediately, completely ignoring the question mark in the clue.
Across:
1A: Debacle: FIASCO. I've got no interest to read the sequel to "FIASCO".
7A: Fish used in sashimi: OPAH. Holy moley! I love sashimi, but I've never had OPAH. Wanted TUNA.
11A: "Good Will Hunting" setting, briefly: MIT. Great movie. The setting for Kevin Spacey's "21" is also MIT.
14A: Racket: UPROAR
15A: Denpasar is its capital: BALI. I had to check my dictionary to see where Denpasar is.
16A: Sumac from South America: YMA. From Peru. Her name means "Beautiful flower".
19A: Old platters: LPS
20A: First woman to land a triple axel in competition: ITO (Midori). Interesting trivia.
21A: Crumb: LOUSE. Did not know crumb is a slang for "worthless person". Was thinking of bread crumb.
22A: Levels: TIERS
26A: Orbital point: APSIS. Thought of APOGEE first.
29A: Keisters: PRATS. Both are new slang to me.
31A: Mogadishu native: SOMALI. The only SOMALI I know is Iman, wife to David Bowie.
35A: Actress Wray: FAY. Stranger to me. Wikipidia says FAY Wray is the first ever scream queen, originating from her appearances in the 1932 film "Doctor X" and the 1933 film "King Kong".
40A: Wheat beard: AWN. Fun clue. It reads like "Wheat bread".
41A: Short stops: PAUSES. Another great clue. Made me think of baseball's shortstop.
42A: Silk, in St. Étienne: SOIE. And TASSE (13D: Café cup). Alliteration in both clues.
43A: Finely contoured: SLEEK. I like the sequential clue order of 42 "Silk..."and then 43 "Finely contoured".
45A: Ulan __: BATOR. Ulan BATOR is literally "Red Hero". Russia's Ulan Ude is "Red Uda".
51A: Clapton hit that won the 1992 Best Rock Song Grammy: LAYLA. Here is the song clip. It's about Pattie Boyd, then wife of George Harrison.
52A: Off-the-wall piece on the wall: OP ART. Excellent clue.
53A: Humanities degs.: BAS
56A: Tolkien creature: ORC
60A: Modern, in Mannheim: NEU. Same pronunciation as our "new", Kazie? What is German for "old"?
61A: Tales and such: LORE
63A: Sixth of five?: ESP. The Sixth Sense. Stumped me.
64A: Odessa-to-Waco direction: EAST. I like this new cluing.
65A: Lacing air: EYELET
Down:
1D: Big film maker: FUJI. Also the highest mountain in Japan. And of course, FUJI apples.
2D: "__ a Spell on You": 1957 Screamin' Jay Hawkins song: I PUT. Here is the song. I wanted CAST.
3D: Florentine flower?: ARNO. River flows, hence flow-er.
4D: Soak, in British dialect: SOG. No idea. Thought of RET, which is often clued as "Soak flax".
5D: "We want to hear from you": CALL US. Nailed it immediately. But when I looked at my finished grid, I kept seeing CALLUS.
6D: Ingredients in a McFlurry, perhaps: OREOS. Stumped. I've never had McFlurry.
8D: Not so bright: PALER. As in color?
10D: Memorable: HISTORIC
18D: "Despite what I just said ...": BUT
23D: "__ tree falls ...": IF A. "IF A tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?".
25D: Not quite a B: C PLUS
31D: Serpentine: SNAKY
32D: Home of the NCAA's Buckeyes: OSU (Ohio State University). Just learned that Jack Nicklaus attended OSU.
33D: Whitney et al.: Abbr.: MTS. Thought of ELI Whitney first.
36D: River to the North Sea: YSER
38D: In working order: OPERABLE
39D: 1917 abdicator: TSAR
44D: Goethe's "The __-King": ERL. Gimmie after yesterday's Schubert's "The ____-King" clue. So, the boy is indeed fevered and hallucinating about the ERL-King?
46D: Knockoff: CLONE
47D: Falls heavily: POURS. D'oh, rain!
48D: Discomfit: UPSET
49D: Ailurophobe's dread: CAT. Had to check the dictionary for ailurophobe.
50D: Last word in a doughnuts: KREME. Krispy KREME. Not a fan of doughnuts. I wrote down EAT ME first.
54D: Teen breakout?: ACNE. Got it immediately. Saw identical clue somewhere before.
55D: Game with no card lower than seven: SKAT
58D: Mauna __: LOA. Hope to see the full MAUNA LOA in a grid someday.
Answer grid.
C.C.
