Theme: Backup Band
17A: Hootie & the ___: BLOWFISH
30A: Prince & the ___: REVOLUTION
37A: Jay & the ___: AMERICANS
49A: Gerry & the ___: PACEMAKERS
49A: Echo & the ___: BUNNYMEN
They are all rock bands, aren't they? Out of those 5 bands, I've only heard of Hootie & the BLOWFISH. Know Prince, but not familiar with his backing band "The REVOLUTION".
I really like the baseball sub-theme:
23A: Ballplayer Garciaparra: NOMAR
44A: Yankee Slugger, in headlines: AROD
53A: Red Sox player "Big ___": PAPI (David Ortiz, an ex-Twin)
13D: Letters on Cardinal caps: STL
43D: Mark of home runs: MCGWIRE
I don't think this constructor likes "Field of Dream", otherwise he would have clued IOWA ( 4D: Davenport state) baseball related. If you build it, they will COME. Is this heaven? It's IOWA. Wonderful lines. I can not tell you how much I love this movie.
Several flaws with the puzzle:
1) 67A: Agua, to Fifi: EAU. The clue should be FiFi. No one spells this annual award as Fifi. (Addendum: My bad, the clue is correct. Fifi is French girl's name).
2) 6D: "___ Street": SESAME. And 10D: Main or Maple: STREET. Ridiculous!
3) 18D: Stock-ticker stn.: FNN (Financial News Networking). Where? In Sue Herera's dream? When was the last time FNN was ticking? Unbelievable! CNBC took over FNN long long time ago.
Across:
1A: Tenth of MXXX: CIII. I dislike the clue, can you think of a better one?
16A: Substantiate: ATTEST
19A: Servitude: THRALL. New to me. Only know ENTHRALL, which takes its root from THRALL I suppose. Dictionary shows that THRALL can also be a verb (enslave).
20A: "Star Trek: Voyager" character: B'ELANNA. No idea. I strung the answer from the down fills.
33A: 1985 John Malkovich film: ELENI. I've never seen it. Is it good? The only Malkovich movie I like is "In the Line of Fire". Which is your favorite?
41A: Resistance unit: OHM. Its sign is Ω (Omega).
61A: Trivial talk: TWADDLE. I like the clue and the answer, nice T's.
63A: Critical point: CLIMAX. Tell me what follows CLIMAX.
66A: Scale notes: DO RE MI. Tangentially theme related.
68A: Philosopher Immanuel: KANT. He wrote "Metaphysics of Morals".
69A: Button holder: EYELET
71A: Inside: pref.: ENTO
Down:
1D: Moolah: CABBAGE. Slang for money. Chou in French, "mon petit chou", how I hate it!
5D: "Sense and Sensibility" heroine: ELINOR. I like Ang Lee's "Sense & Sensibility": Lose your heart, and come to your senses. Kate Winslet is such a brilliant actress.
7D: Old English letter: EDH. Or ETH.
9D: Holy Roman emperor: OTHO. Ugh, I simply forgot. His name appeared last time when I googled GALBA (Nero's successor). OTHO had a short 3-month reign. Here is the list of all the Roman emperors.
11D: Bowler's target, perhaps: HEAD PIN
12D: Class for U.S. immigrants: ESL (English as a second language)
21D: Rodeo mount, briefly: BRONC (Bronco). Not familiar with this abbreviation.
32D: Annapolis inst.: USNA (United States Naval Academy). Senator McCain's alma mater.
40D: LCD month: SEP. Why? What is LCD here?
41D: Goddess of the harvest: OPS. I would not have got her name without the across references. She is "the ancient Roman goddess of plenty, and the wife of Saturn and mother of Jupiter. Identified with the Greek goddess Rhea."
42D: Yokohama yes: HAI. It's "Haiya" in Cantonese. "Shi" in Mandarin Chinese.
46D: Bedtime visitor: SANDMAN. No idea. Pure guess. I've never heard of SANDMAN before.
47D: Luxurious: OPULENT
48D: All spice: PIMENTO. Also unknown to me.
52D: In the bag: SEWN UP
60D: Turnpike turnoff: EXIT
64D: Actress Myrna: LOY. Ah, Nora in "The Thin Man". Learned her name from doing Xword. Wikipedia says "In 1938 she was voted the "Queen of Hollywood" in a contest which also voted Clark Gable the "King". Interesting, you would think Vivien Leigh or Katherine Hepburn would be voted the "Queen".
C.C.
17A: Hootie & the ___: BLOWFISH
30A: Prince & the ___: REVOLUTION
37A: Jay & the ___: AMERICANS
49A: Gerry & the ___: PACEMAKERS
49A: Echo & the ___: BUNNYMEN
They are all rock bands, aren't they? Out of those 5 bands, I've only heard of Hootie & the BLOWFISH. Know Prince, but not familiar with his backing band "The REVOLUTION".
I really like the baseball sub-theme:
23A: Ballplayer Garciaparra: NOMAR
44A: Yankee Slugger, in headlines: AROD
53A: Red Sox player "Big ___": PAPI (David Ortiz, an ex-Twin)
13D: Letters on Cardinal caps: STL
43D: Mark of home runs: MCGWIRE
I don't think this constructor likes "Field of Dream", otherwise he would have clued IOWA ( 4D: Davenport state) baseball related. If you build it, they will COME. Is this heaven? It's IOWA. Wonderful lines. I can not tell you how much I love this movie.
Several flaws with the puzzle:
1) 67A: Agua, to Fifi: EAU. The clue should be FiFi. No one spells this annual award as Fifi. (Addendum: My bad, the clue is correct. Fifi is French girl's name).
2) 6D: "___ Street": SESAME. And 10D: Main or Maple: STREET. Ridiculous!
3) 18D: Stock-ticker stn.: FNN (Financial News Networking). Where? In Sue Herera's dream? When was the last time FNN was ticking? Unbelievable! CNBC took over FNN long long time ago.
Across:
1A: Tenth of MXXX: CIII. I dislike the clue, can you think of a better one?
16A: Substantiate: ATTEST
19A: Servitude: THRALL. New to me. Only know ENTHRALL, which takes its root from THRALL I suppose. Dictionary shows that THRALL can also be a verb (enslave).
20A: "Star Trek: Voyager" character: B'ELANNA. No idea. I strung the answer from the down fills.
33A: 1985 John Malkovich film: ELENI. I've never seen it. Is it good? The only Malkovich movie I like is "In the Line of Fire". Which is your favorite?
41A: Resistance unit: OHM. Its sign is Ω (Omega).
61A: Trivial talk: TWADDLE. I like the clue and the answer, nice T's.
63A: Critical point: CLIMAX. Tell me what follows CLIMAX.
66A: Scale notes: DO RE MI. Tangentially theme related.
68A: Philosopher Immanuel: KANT. He wrote "Metaphysics of Morals".
69A: Button holder: EYELET
71A: Inside: pref.: ENTO
Down:
1D: Moolah: CABBAGE. Slang for money. Chou in French, "mon petit chou", how I hate it!
5D: "Sense and Sensibility" heroine: ELINOR. I like Ang Lee's "Sense & Sensibility": Lose your heart, and come to your senses. Kate Winslet is such a brilliant actress.
7D: Old English letter: EDH. Or ETH.
9D: Holy Roman emperor: OTHO. Ugh, I simply forgot. His name appeared last time when I googled GALBA (Nero's successor). OTHO had a short 3-month reign. Here is the list of all the Roman emperors.
11D: Bowler's target, perhaps: HEAD PIN
12D: Class for U.S. immigrants: ESL (English as a second language)
21D: Rodeo mount, briefly: BRONC (Bronco). Not familiar with this abbreviation.
32D: Annapolis inst.: USNA (United States Naval Academy). Senator McCain's alma mater.
40D: LCD month: SEP. Why? What is LCD here?
41D: Goddess of the harvest: OPS. I would not have got her name without the across references. She is "the ancient Roman goddess of plenty, and the wife of Saturn and mother of Jupiter. Identified with the Greek goddess Rhea."
42D: Yokohama yes: HAI. It's "Haiya" in Cantonese. "Shi" in Mandarin Chinese.
46D: Bedtime visitor: SANDMAN. No idea. Pure guess. I've never heard of SANDMAN before.
47D: Luxurious: OPULENT
48D: All spice: PIMENTO. Also unknown to me.
52D: In the bag: SEWN UP
60D: Turnpike turnoff: EXIT
64D: Actress Myrna: LOY. Ah, Nora in "The Thin Man". Learned her name from doing Xword. Wikipedia says "In 1938 she was voted the "Queen of Hollywood" in a contest which also voted Clark Gable the "King". Interesting, you would think Vivien Leigh or Katherine Hepburn would be voted the "Queen".
C.C.
