Theme: They Are Angels
20A: Angel: HEAVENLY SPIRIT
36A: Angel: AMERICAN LEAGUER
53A: Angel: BROADWAY BACKER
Angel is rooted in Greek angelos, meaning "messenger". Demon is from Greek daimon, "divine power". Strange. Nothing diabolical. You would think it shares the same root as devil.
Anaheim Angels (I am used to their old name) won the World Series in 2002 when I was back in Xi'An. Fun to watch the playoffs in Chinese.
Dictionary also says angel can be a verb -"to provide financial backing for".
"Charlie's Angels" are missing. Who is your favorite? Lucy Liu is kind of mean in the film. Have never seen the old Farrah Fawcett/ Jaclyn Smith "Charlie's Angels". Oh, by the way, look at this terrific HOURGLASS FIGURE link J.D brought to the Comment section yesterday. Scarlett Johansson's measurements are shown to be 36-23-34. Incredible.
I had a bit trouble with lower left corner, otherwise, smooth solving. Favorite clue today is ABACI and 38D: Government finger-pointer?: UNCLE SAM. Can't believe the term was used in 1812 already.
Across:
1A: Rock concert equipment: AMPS
14A: Sonny and Cher, e.g.: DUET. "I Got You Babe". Their only daughter Chastity Bono has just decided to become a man.
15A: "The Many Loves of __ Gillis": old sitcom: DOBIE. Got the answer from Down fills.
17A: This, in Seville: ESTO. Or ESTA, the feminine "this".
19A: Swan lover of myth: LEDA. Mother of Helen of Troy.
23A: SFO datum: ARR (Arrival). SFO is San Francisco International Airport.
25A: Asian counters: ABACI. Plural of abacus. Count-er. Just like the wordplay on flow-er for river. Nice clue.
28A: Lady of Bavaria: FRAU. "Mrs." in German. Wife of HERR.
33A: Disney villainess __ de Vil: CRUELLA. From the "101 Dalmatians". I only saw the Chinese version of the movie. Could not remember her name.
41A: Portuguese capital: ESCUDOS. Monetary unit. I was thinking of LISBON. Wiki says ESCUDO is Portuguese for "shield". Shouldn't "Portuguese capital" be EURO now?
43A: Math subj.: ALG
46A: Supporter: ALLY
48A: Lundi follower: MARDI. Tuesday. As in MARDI Gras. Lundi is our Monday.
50A: Diamonds, to a fence: ICE. Fence is a person who deals with stolen goods.
58A: Assess: LEVY. Wrote down RATE first.
59A: Honor with barbs: ROAST. Like what those journalists do at the annual Gridiron Club dinner.
60A: Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS. Wife/sister of Osiris.
62A: First place: EDEN. And ABEL (7D: Genesis victim). The real first families.
64A: Ideal for tubing, as a river: LAZY. I am stumped. Why?
65A: Senator from Kansas or North Carolina: DOLE. Bob DOLE (Kansas) or wife Elizabeth DOLE (North Carolina).
67A: Dark clouds, often: OMEN. Or "the writing on the wall".
Down:
2D: Grow exponentially: MUSHROOM
3D: Baseball's all-time leader with 4,256 hits: PETE ROSE. He should be in Hall-of-Fame. PETE ROSE played with a real passion.
4D: Colonnade of ancient Greeces: STOA. Colonnade is rooted in column.
5D: Bye that's bid: ADIEU. Bid ADIEU to.
6D: "Death, be not proud" poet: DONNE (John). He wrote lots of elegies.
8D: Boglike: MIRY
9D: Complete collections: SETS. Anyone owns 1955 Topps doubleheaders? Those cards look very neat.
10D: Ignore the script: AD-LIB
12D: Florentine ruling family: MEDICI. The Renaissance art patron family. I also learned this morning that the MEDICI family produced 3 popes (Leo X, Clement VII and Leo XI) .
21D: Beta alternative: VHS. History now.
22D: Zahn of TV news: PAULA. I watched her/CNN a lot immediately after 9/11. PAULA Zahn is a great cellist.
23D: He played Pierce on *M*A*S*H: ALDA (Alan).
27D: Parisian pop: PERE. Mon PERE, ma MERE, mes FRERES (brothers) et mes SOEURS (sisters).
28D: New Brunswick's Bay of __: FUNDY. No idea. See this map. Wiki says the name "Fundy" is thought to be a corruption of the French word "Fendu", meaning "split".
30D: Bass and others: ALES. Not familiar with Bass Ale brand. I don't drink beer.
33D: XXXV x X: CCCL. 35x10=350
34D: Fidel's successor: RAUL. Gimme, gimme. They are brothers.
35D: Lago contents: AGUA
37D: "I am ... __": Neil Diamond hit: I SAID. Here is the clip. Unknown to me.
39D: Put under: ETHERIZE. New verb to me. Same as anesthetize?
43D: Strolled lazily: AMBLED
44D: Texas border city: LAREDO. EL PASO came to me first.
45D: Humble oneself shamelessly: GROVEL. Both PANDER and KOWTOW have 6-letters too.
47D: Japanese computer giant: NEC
49D: "I'll Be Your Shelter" singer Tayler: DAYNE. Not familiar with the song.
50D: "A Doll's House" playwright: IBSEN (Henrik). The only Norwegian playwright I know.
51D: Spiteful: CATTY
54D: Court order: WRIT
56D: New Haven Ivy: YALE. The Bulldogs.
57D: Unit of mass, briefly: KILO. Kilogram. Equals to 2.2 pounds.
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A: Angel: HEAVENLY SPIRIT
36A: Angel: AMERICAN LEAGUER
53A: Angel: BROADWAY BACKER
Angel is rooted in Greek angelos, meaning "messenger". Demon is from Greek daimon, "divine power". Strange. Nothing diabolical. You would think it shares the same root as devil.
Anaheim Angels (I am used to their old name) won the World Series in 2002 when I was back in Xi'An. Fun to watch the playoffs in Chinese.
Dictionary also says angel can be a verb -"to provide financial backing for".
"Charlie's Angels" are missing. Who is your favorite? Lucy Liu is kind of mean in the film. Have never seen the old Farrah Fawcett/ Jaclyn Smith "Charlie's Angels". Oh, by the way, look at this terrific HOURGLASS FIGURE link J.D brought to the Comment section yesterday. Scarlett Johansson's measurements are shown to be 36-23-34. Incredible.
I had a bit trouble with lower left corner, otherwise, smooth solving. Favorite clue today is ABACI and 38D: Government finger-pointer?: UNCLE SAM. Can't believe the term was used in 1812 already.
Across:
1A: Rock concert equipment: AMPS
14A: Sonny and Cher, e.g.: DUET. "I Got You Babe". Their only daughter Chastity Bono has just decided to become a man.
15A: "The Many Loves of __ Gillis": old sitcom: DOBIE. Got the answer from Down fills.
17A: This, in Seville: ESTO. Or ESTA, the feminine "this".
19A: Swan lover of myth: LEDA. Mother of Helen of Troy.
23A: SFO datum: ARR (Arrival). SFO is San Francisco International Airport.
25A: Asian counters: ABACI. Plural of abacus. Count-er. Just like the wordplay on flow-er for river. Nice clue.
28A: Lady of Bavaria: FRAU. "Mrs." in German. Wife of HERR.
33A: Disney villainess __ de Vil: CRUELLA. From the "101 Dalmatians". I only saw the Chinese version of the movie. Could not remember her name.
41A: Portuguese capital: ESCUDOS. Monetary unit. I was thinking of LISBON. Wiki says ESCUDO is Portuguese for "shield". Shouldn't "Portuguese capital" be EURO now?
43A: Math subj.: ALG
46A: Supporter: ALLY
48A: Lundi follower: MARDI. Tuesday. As in MARDI Gras. Lundi is our Monday.
50A: Diamonds, to a fence: ICE. Fence is a person who deals with stolen goods.
58A: Assess: LEVY. Wrote down RATE first.
59A: Honor with barbs: ROAST. Like what those journalists do at the annual Gridiron Club dinner.
60A: Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS. Wife/sister of Osiris.
62A: First place: EDEN. And ABEL (7D: Genesis victim). The real first families.
64A: Ideal for tubing, as a river: LAZY. I am stumped. Why?
65A: Senator from Kansas or North Carolina: DOLE. Bob DOLE (Kansas) or wife Elizabeth DOLE (North Carolina).
67A: Dark clouds, often: OMEN. Or "the writing on the wall".
Down:
2D: Grow exponentially: MUSHROOM
3D: Baseball's all-time leader with 4,256 hits: PETE ROSE. He should be in Hall-of-Fame. PETE ROSE played with a real passion.
4D: Colonnade of ancient Greeces: STOA. Colonnade is rooted in column.
5D: Bye that's bid: ADIEU. Bid ADIEU to.
6D: "Death, be not proud" poet: DONNE (John). He wrote lots of elegies.
8D: Boglike: MIRY
9D: Complete collections: SETS. Anyone owns 1955 Topps doubleheaders? Those cards look very neat.
10D: Ignore the script: AD-LIB
12D: Florentine ruling family: MEDICI. The Renaissance art patron family. I also learned this morning that the MEDICI family produced 3 popes (Leo X, Clement VII and Leo XI) .
21D: Beta alternative: VHS. History now.
22D: Zahn of TV news: PAULA. I watched her/CNN a lot immediately after 9/11. PAULA Zahn is a great cellist.
23D: He played Pierce on *M*A*S*H: ALDA (Alan).
27D: Parisian pop: PERE. Mon PERE, ma MERE, mes FRERES (brothers) et mes SOEURS (sisters).
28D: New Brunswick's Bay of __: FUNDY. No idea. See this map. Wiki says the name "Fundy" is thought to be a corruption of the French word "Fendu", meaning "split".
30D: Bass and others: ALES. Not familiar with Bass Ale brand. I don't drink beer.
33D: XXXV x X: CCCL. 35x10=350
34D: Fidel's successor: RAUL. Gimme, gimme. They are brothers.
35D: Lago contents: AGUA
37D: "I am ... __": Neil Diamond hit: I SAID. Here is the clip. Unknown to me.
39D: Put under: ETHERIZE. New verb to me. Same as anesthetize?
43D: Strolled lazily: AMBLED
44D: Texas border city: LAREDO. EL PASO came to me first.
45D: Humble oneself shamelessly: GROVEL. Both PANDER and KOWTOW have 6-letters too.
47D: Japanese computer giant: NEC
49D: "I'll Be Your Shelter" singer Tayler: DAYNE. Not familiar with the song.
50D: "A Doll's House" playwright: IBSEN (Henrik). The only Norwegian playwright I know.
51D: Spiteful: CATTY
54D: Court order: WRIT
56D: New Haven Ivy: YALE. The Bulldogs.
57D: Unit of mass, briefly: KILO. Kilogram. Equals to 2.2 pounds.
Answer grid.
C.C.
