google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

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Jan 20, 2009

Tuesday January 20, 2009 Tom Pruce

Theme: The Fab Four

17A: Hard hat's potty: PORT-A-JOHN

35A: "A Way in the World" writer: V. S. NAIPAUL

41A: Singer O'Dowd, to fans: BOY GEORGE

57A: 1989 Jane Fonder movie: OLD GRINGO

Last time when we had "The Fab Four" puzzle, the theme answers are: JOHNNYCAKE (clued as "Cornpone"), RINGO LEVIO ("NYC street game"), PAULOWNIAS ("Asian figwort trees", ouch!) and GEORGETOWN ("D. C. neighborhood").

I had never heard of the book "A Way in the World", nor was I familiar with the author V. S. NAIPAUL. I also had zero familiarity with the movie OLD GRINGO. But I figured out the theme quickly. Otherwise, it would be a very hard puzzle for me.

This puzzle is quite scrabby, 3 Vs, 2 Xs, 1 Z, 1 J and 1K, probably my favorite Tom Pruce puzzle. I was expecting an Obama inauguration themed grid though.

I was planning to blog Barry Silk's "2008 Championship Tribute puzzle" today. But due to Barry's business trip this week, I will postpone it to next Tuesday or Wednesday. I've also uploaded the puzzle to Scribd. You can just click on iPaper, then print it out.

Across:

1A: Sleeping child: ANGEL. Stumped me. Is it somehow related to the Guardian ANGEL?

5A: Epitome of messiness: STY. Nice clue.

19A: Thick: MIDST

21A: Winter apple: RUSSET. Kind of Idaho potato. It bakes well. I like Yukon Gold for potato salad. (Addendum: RUSSET is a kind of apple. Unknown to me. I confused "Winter apple" with French pomme de terre earlier.)

28A: Maria __ of Austria: THERESA. No idea. All I could think of is Maria Antoinette, THERESA's daughter. Maria THERESA looks intimidating.

30A: Old-time high note: ELA. The sixth and highest note in Guido's musical scale. This word only exists in Xword world.

34A: Ponselle and Parks: ROSAS

38A: Town on the Firth of Lorn: OBAN. See this map. It's in west Scotland. Unknown to me.

39A: Women's sweethearts: BEAUX. Plural of beau.

44A: Curve type: ESS

48A: Blackthorns: SLOES. I can't believe these SLOES are tart, they look sweet. Have never seen them in person.

50A: Bean and Welles: ORSONS

51A: One-time French royal house: VALOIS. The House of VALOIS ruled France from 1328 to 1589. Completely unknown to me. Our fellow solver LOIS is from VA.

56A: Be jubilant: EXULT

64A: Milo of "The Verdict": O'SHEA. I always confuse Milo O'SHEA with Sal Mineo.

67A: Never existed: WASN'T

Down:

10D: Burglary: HEIST. Also the title of a Gene Hackman movie.

13D: Shot on the green: PUTT. Great PUTT.

18D: Iotas: JOTS

22D: Disco light: STROBE

23D: Satellite of Mars: PHOBOS. New to me. PHOBOS is also the God of fear" in Greek mythology. Son of Aphrodite and Ares (Mars in Roman). Phobia is rooted in PHOBOS. Also, "panic" derives from Pan, "God of shepherds and flocks". Pan inspired sudden fears in lonely places, according to Wikipedia.

25D: Large ape, briefly: ORANG

31D: Spanish quarter: BARRIO. Got it from across fills. I could only think of bodega.

39D: Clowns: BOZOS

42D: Stone tools: EOLITHS. Eo is a prefix for "early", Lith means "stone". It appeared in our puzzle before.

48D: Gannet goose: SOLAN. New goose to me. I did not know the meaning of "Gannet" either.

51D: Hindu sacred books: VEDA. Literally, "knowledge" in Sanskrit. Another new word to me, but shouldn't the clue be singular?

52D: Leafstalk angle: AXIL. See this picture. It's the angle between a leaf and its branch. Just learned this word a few days ago.

58D: O.T. book: ISA. And GEN (60D: O.T. book).

C.C.