Theme: None
Total blocks: 30
Total words: 72
A complete fiasco today.
So many unknowns and unusual clues. Several wicked misdirections too. I was very frustrated when OIL did not fit for "37A: Whistler's output" (AIR). Didn't you also see "Whistler's Mother" when you read the clue?
I also had trouble understanding the grammar structure of the clues:
15A: Not act well: EMOTE. OK, both are verbs.
42A: Not shut out of: IN ON. What's the function of "shut" here then? Past particle? I'd have got the answer immediately if the clue were "Privy to".
This constructor Bard Wilber is known for constructing hard grids. According to Jim's database, all of his 13 NYT puzzles appeared on Fridays/Saturdays. And all of the 12 puzzles he created for LAT appeared on Saturdays.
I like how he stacked those triple-stacked 9-letter fills in each quadrant.
Across:
1A: Clublike weapons: MACES. Used in the Middle Ages.
6A: Vague: IMPRECISE
16A: Ripped poser: MALE MODEL. Ashton Kutcher was a MALE MODEL before. I had trouble understanding the clue. Google asked me "Did you mean "Ripped poster" when I searched.
17A: Key of Chopins's "Raindrop Prelude": D-FLAT. I had ?FLAT sitting there for a long time.
18A: Work on galleys: PROOFREAD. I was thinking of the boat galley.
19A: E-mail qualifier: IMO. So simple in retrospect.
20A: Jane's "Klute" role: BREE. No idea. This back-exposed dress looks familiar though. I must have googled "Klute" before.
22A: Martini & Ross product: ASTI. Penned in WINE.
23A: Placed just so: ARRAYED. I supposed so.
25A: Waldenbooks rival: B. DALTON. Wrote down BORDERS, which actually owns Waldenbooks. B. DALTON belongs to Barnes & Noble.
28A: Journalist Walters, casually: BABS. Not a fan of Barbara Walters. I like Terry Gross.
29A: Roughen before repainting: DEGLOSS. A new word to me.
31A: They're often baked: IDAHOS. Potatoes. BREADS popped into my mind first.
33A: Absorbed: LOST. As in thought.
34A: Salem summer hrs.: PDT. Salem, Oregon. I was thinking of the witch trials Salem.
38A: More gracious: POLITER
41A: Help-wanted request: SOS
43A: Sponsor of the Socceroos: QANTAS. The Australian airline. I was stumped. I had no idea that the national soccer team of Australia is called Scocceroo. I suppose it's a combination of soccer & kangaroo?
45A: Art developed by ancient samurai: JUJITSU. Literally "Art of softness". Ju means "soft", like "judo" (do is just dao/TAO, Chinese "way").
47A: Squabbling: AT IT. Mine was SPAR.
48A: 1962 Lancaster title role: BIRDMAN. From the "BIRDMAN of Alcatraz". Stymie for me.
51A: Fake it, in a way: LIP SYNC
53A: Mil. school: ACAD. Academy. Like West Point.
54A: Addams family nickname: TISH. No idea. Cousin ITT is the only one I know. And I learned his name from doing Xword.
55A: 1959 hit with the lyric "Fight the fare increase!" MTA. More familiar with the "1959 Kingston Trio hit" clue.
56A: Dated but popular: RETRO CHIC. Sigh! Could not come up with the CHIC part.
60A: "When __ detected, a thousand are suspected": Thomas Paine: ONE IS. From Paine's letter to George Washington. What does the quote mean?
62A: Separate: DISENGAGE. Verb.
63A: Cotillion honoree: BELLE. Often see DEB clued as "Cotillion honoree/gal".
64A: They may be studded: SNOW TIRES. I was thinking of the stud earrings. But EARLOBES is one letter short.
65A: Bass-baritone Simon: ESTES. Oh well, the only ESTES I know is Senator Kefauver (Adlai Stevenson's running mate). Here is a clip of this guy singing some song from "Porgy and Bess".
Down:
1D: Slant in columns: MEDIA BIAS. I feel stupid not getting this one, considering my interest for the OP ED pages in our newspaper.
2D: Auto feature: AM/FM RADIO
3D: Test pattern display: COLOR BARS
4D: Cockpit approx.: ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
5D: Save for later use: SET BY. I had SIT ON.
6D: Obstruct: IMPEDE
7D: Colt carrier: MARE
8D: Oslo Accords gp.: PLO. A rare gimme. Rabin was assassinated because he signed the Oslo Accords. Clinton actually rehearsed several times for this infamous photo.
9D: Hupmobile contemporary: REO. Easy guess. I've never heard of Hupmobile before.
10D: Band with the 1991 #1 hit "Unbelievable": EMF. No idea. Wiki says EMF officially stands for "Epsom Mad Funkers", but there are plenty of unofficial alternatives. Unbelievable!
11D: Lipstick shades: CORALS. Diane Lane is wearing a CORAL lipstick.
12D: Explanatory phrase: ID EST. That is (i.e.)
13D: Defunct defense gp.: SEATO (1954-1977). Another 5-letter defense gp. is NORAD.
14D: "Murphy Brown" house painter: ELDIN. No idea. The guy on the most left?
21D: "She-devil with a sword" of comics: RED SONJA. New name to me also.
24D: Guitar wood: ASH. Wanted KOA.
25D: Reputation stain: BLOT
26D: Mexican beer with XX on its label: DOS EQUIS. Foreign to me. According to Wiki, this brand was named "Siglo XX" ("20th century") to commemorate the arrival of the new century, and the bottles were marked with the Roman numerals XX, or Dos Equis (two Xs in Spanish).
27D: Stars in the Forum?: ASTRA. Latin for stars.
30D: Inkling: GLINT
32D: Kind of den: OPIUM. I did not know those OPIUM joints are called dens.
34D: Burger cooked like a grilled cheese: PATTY MELT. I've never seen my husband prepares his burger this way before.
35D: Foundation protector: DRAIN TILE. Absolutely no idea. The black stuff? I was thinking of the makeup foundation.
36D: Guinea pigs: TEST CASES. I can't believe it took so much effort to obtain this answer.
39D: Filet mignon cut: LOIN. Beef or pork?
44D: "Stillmatic" rapper: NAS. Well, it could only be EVE or NAS, the only two 3-letter rappers I know.
45D: Red Sox outfielder since 2007: J.D. DREW. J. D. Drew started his Major League career with the Cardinals.
46D: Driving errors: SLICES. Or HOOKS. Golf term. I don't know how to fade/draw.
48D: Foot specialists?: BARDS. Ugh. Metrical foot.
49D: Trap in the chalet: ICE IN. Verb phrase?
50D: "Midnight Cowboy" role: RATSO. Played by Dustin Hoffman.
52D: Commitment __: modern type with cold feet: PHOBE. Makes sense. I could only thought of FEAR.
54D: Buster Brown's dog: TIGE. I forgot his name.
57D: Windsor home: Abbr.: ONT. I did not know Windsor is a city in south Ontario. Kept thinking of the British royal family Windsor.
58D: Special effects technique, briefly: CGI (Computer-Generated Image). I drew a blank again.
59D: Laugh syllable: HAR. Is this a comic laugh?
61D: Video game letters: NES. No idea. Nintendo Entertainment System I suppose?
Answer grid.
Total blocks: 30
Total words: 72
A complete fiasco today.
So many unknowns and unusual clues. Several wicked misdirections too. I was very frustrated when OIL did not fit for "37A: Whistler's output" (AIR). Didn't you also see "Whistler's Mother" when you read the clue?
I also had trouble understanding the grammar structure of the clues:
15A: Not act well: EMOTE. OK, both are verbs.
42A: Not shut out of: IN ON. What's the function of "shut" here then? Past particle? I'd have got the answer immediately if the clue were "Privy to".
This constructor Bard Wilber is known for constructing hard grids. According to Jim's database, all of his 13 NYT puzzles appeared on Fridays/Saturdays. And all of the 12 puzzles he created for LAT appeared on Saturdays.
I like how he stacked those triple-stacked 9-letter fills in each quadrant.
Across:
1A: Clublike weapons: MACES. Used in the Middle Ages.
6A: Vague: IMPRECISE
16A: Ripped poser: MALE MODEL. Ashton Kutcher was a MALE MODEL before. I had trouble understanding the clue. Google asked me "Did you mean "Ripped poster" when I searched.
17A: Key of Chopins's "Raindrop Prelude": D-FLAT. I had ?FLAT sitting there for a long time.
18A: Work on galleys: PROOFREAD. I was thinking of the boat galley.
19A: E-mail qualifier: IMO. So simple in retrospect.
20A: Jane's "Klute" role: BREE. No idea. This back-exposed dress looks familiar though. I must have googled "Klute" before.
22A: Martini & Ross product: ASTI. Penned in WINE.
23A: Placed just so: ARRAYED. I supposed so.
25A: Waldenbooks rival: B. DALTON. Wrote down BORDERS, which actually owns Waldenbooks. B. DALTON belongs to Barnes & Noble.
28A: Journalist Walters, casually: BABS. Not a fan of Barbara Walters. I like Terry Gross.
29A: Roughen before repainting: DEGLOSS. A new word to me.
31A: They're often baked: IDAHOS. Potatoes. BREADS popped into my mind first.
33A: Absorbed: LOST. As in thought.
34A: Salem summer hrs.: PDT. Salem, Oregon. I was thinking of the witch trials Salem.
38A: More gracious: POLITER
41A: Help-wanted request: SOS
43A: Sponsor of the Socceroos: QANTAS. The Australian airline. I was stumped. I had no idea that the national soccer team of Australia is called Scocceroo. I suppose it's a combination of soccer & kangaroo?
45A: Art developed by ancient samurai: JUJITSU. Literally "Art of softness". Ju means "soft", like "judo" (do is just dao/TAO, Chinese "way").
47A: Squabbling: AT IT. Mine was SPAR.
48A: 1962 Lancaster title role: BIRDMAN. From the "BIRDMAN of Alcatraz". Stymie for me.
51A: Fake it, in a way: LIP SYNC
53A: Mil. school: ACAD. Academy. Like West Point.
54A: Addams family nickname: TISH. No idea. Cousin ITT is the only one I know. And I learned his name from doing Xword.
55A: 1959 hit with the lyric "Fight the fare increase!" MTA. More familiar with the "1959 Kingston Trio hit" clue.
56A: Dated but popular: RETRO CHIC. Sigh! Could not come up with the CHIC part.
60A: "When __ detected, a thousand are suspected": Thomas Paine: ONE IS. From Paine's letter to George Washington. What does the quote mean?
62A: Separate: DISENGAGE. Verb.
63A: Cotillion honoree: BELLE. Often see DEB clued as "Cotillion honoree/gal".
64A: They may be studded: SNOW TIRES. I was thinking of the stud earrings. But EARLOBES is one letter short.
65A: Bass-baritone Simon: ESTES. Oh well, the only ESTES I know is Senator Kefauver (Adlai Stevenson's running mate). Here is a clip of this guy singing some song from "Porgy and Bess".
Down:
1D: Slant in columns: MEDIA BIAS. I feel stupid not getting this one, considering my interest for the OP ED pages in our newspaper.
2D: Auto feature: AM/FM RADIO
3D: Test pattern display: COLOR BARS
4D: Cockpit approx.: ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival).
5D: Save for later use: SET BY. I had SIT ON.
6D: Obstruct: IMPEDE
7D: Colt carrier: MARE
8D: Oslo Accords gp.: PLO. A rare gimme. Rabin was assassinated because he signed the Oslo Accords. Clinton actually rehearsed several times for this infamous photo.
9D: Hupmobile contemporary: REO. Easy guess. I've never heard of Hupmobile before.
10D: Band with the 1991 #1 hit "Unbelievable": EMF. No idea. Wiki says EMF officially stands for "Epsom Mad Funkers", but there are plenty of unofficial alternatives. Unbelievable!
11D: Lipstick shades: CORALS. Diane Lane is wearing a CORAL lipstick.
12D: Explanatory phrase: ID EST. That is (i.e.)
13D: Defunct defense gp.: SEATO (1954-1977). Another 5-letter defense gp. is NORAD.
14D: "Murphy Brown" house painter: ELDIN. No idea. The guy on the most left?
21D: "She-devil with a sword" of comics: RED SONJA. New name to me also.
24D: Guitar wood: ASH. Wanted KOA.
25D: Reputation stain: BLOT
26D: Mexican beer with XX on its label: DOS EQUIS. Foreign to me. According to Wiki, this brand was named "Siglo XX" ("20th century") to commemorate the arrival of the new century, and the bottles were marked with the Roman numerals XX, or Dos Equis (two Xs in Spanish).
27D: Stars in the Forum?: ASTRA. Latin for stars.
30D: Inkling: GLINT
32D: Kind of den: OPIUM. I did not know those OPIUM joints are called dens.
34D: Burger cooked like a grilled cheese: PATTY MELT. I've never seen my husband prepares his burger this way before.
35D: Foundation protector: DRAIN TILE. Absolutely no idea. The black stuff? I was thinking of the makeup foundation.
36D: Guinea pigs: TEST CASES. I can't believe it took so much effort to obtain this answer.
39D: Filet mignon cut: LOIN. Beef or pork?
44D: "Stillmatic" rapper: NAS. Well, it could only be EVE or NAS, the only two 3-letter rappers I know.
45D: Red Sox outfielder since 2007: J.D. DREW. J. D. Drew started his Major League career with the Cardinals.
46D: Driving errors: SLICES. Or HOOKS. Golf term. I don't know how to fade/draw.
48D: Foot specialists?: BARDS. Ugh. Metrical foot.
49D: Trap in the chalet: ICE IN. Verb phrase?
50D: "Midnight Cowboy" role: RATSO. Played by Dustin Hoffman.
52D: Commitment __: modern type with cold feet: PHOBE. Makes sense. I could only thought of FEAR.
54D: Buster Brown's dog: TIGE. I forgot his name.
57D: Windsor home: Abbr.: ONT. I did not know Windsor is a city in south Ontario. Kept thinking of the British royal family Windsor.
58D: Special effects technique, briefly: CGI (Computer-Generated Image). I drew a blank again.
59D: Laugh syllable: HAR. Is this a comic laugh?
61D: Video game letters: NES. No idea. Nintendo Entertainment System I suppose?
Answer grid.
C.C.
