Theme: Robin Williams Movie Roles
18A: Robin Williams in "Jumanji": Alan Parrish (look at the crossword constructor's name)
59A: Robin Williams in "Dead Posts Society": John Keating
3D: Robin Williams in "Good Will Hunting": Sean Maguire
27D: Robin Williams in "Insomnia": Walter Finch
I gave up very earlier on. Impossible for me. Too many unfamiliar band name, author name, actress name.
I was convinced at one point that Star Tribune made a mistake on the Perot clue. I only knew him as Ross Perot. I suspected that the first letter could be an abbreviation of his given name. But I dismissed the idea quickly because the clue for 53D: Indian Royalty is a singular form, thus the last letter cannot be S. I was so lost in that corner.
The movie characters got my goat too. I actually watched "Good Will Hunting" once, but I can not remember the professor's name. Never watched the other three movies. I do remember his character Mr. Dobbs in "Man of the Year".
There are also 3 Russia related clues.
50A: Putin turndown: NYET. This is the Russian for "NO". I bet Bush can fill in this one quickly. I wonder if Bush does crosswords.
64A.: Czar's decree: UKASE. What a weird looking word.
38D: Russian Villas: DACHAS. I acturally got this one. The interview of Putin by Time's reporter on its Person of the Year piece was conducted in Putin's Dacha I think.
Here is more:
4A: Multi-talented Rivera: CHITA. Never heard of her. She received 2 Tony Awards.
9A: Perpendicular: PLUMB. This is an interesting word, it can be noun, verb, adj or adv.
14A: Abu Dhabi, Dubai et al.: UAE (United Arab Emirates). UAR (United Arab Republic) is a union of Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961.
17A: One-time time connection: AT A (One at a time)
22A: Quite cold: GELID. New word to me. MN has been gelid in the past several days. I just can not SHRUG (47A: "I dunno" gesture) off the cold I caught from the Edwards rally.
24A: Smarted: STUNG
26A: Pirates' take: SWAG. Another word for booty.
30A: Escargot: SNAIL. I've never eaten snail before. Snake, yes, once, not bad, but I don't want to try it again.
35A: Martha of mysteries: GRIMES. Did I blog about her before? Her name sounds familar to me.
37A: Pandemonium: BEDLAM. I got this one.
39A: Day-night tie: EQUINOX. Very tough for me. The down clues did not help at all.
40A: Average score: PAR. I put CEE first.
52A: "Like a Rock" Sing: SEGER. Knew the song, did not know the singer.
68A: Politico Perot: H ROSS (Henry Ross). I found out that Ross is actually the middle name of his brother, who died at age of 3. Perot's original middle name is Ray. He changed it into Ross in honor of his brother.
Down clues:
1D: Liquid measures: QUARTS
2D: Luzon Island battle site: BATAAN. According to the dictionary, it's "a peninsula on W Luzon, in the Philippines: U.S. troops surrendered to Japanese April 9, 1942"
4D: Actress Rosalind: CHAO. Never heard of her. The only Rosalind I know is Russel.
8D: Quaking trees: ASPENS. I spent a long time analyzing the poem Scooter Libby sent to Judith Miller when she was in prison. He wrote "Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them". It's definitely coded.
9D: _mutuel: Pari. A form of betting. Never heard of it.
11D: Swiss Canton: URI.
25D: "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" band: T REX. Look at here if you want to delve more into this band.
28D: Winglike parts: ALAE. Winglike is ALAR.
33D: Fashion designer: MODISTE. I was misled. I kept thinking of a real fashion designer like Vera Wang or Marc Jacobs. I could not get any help from the across clues either. MODISTE is a French word for a designer or producer in women's fashions.
40D: wharf: QUAY. I put PIER first.
43D: Denier: NEGATOR.
46D: Six-winged angel: SERAPH
48D: Writer LeGuin: URSULA. Vaguely remembered her name.
49D: Wound up: TENSE. I put _ _ _ ED quickly, too quickly.
53D: Indian Royalty: RANIS. I put RAJAH initially and felt very proud of myself for a minute. But nothing made sense after that. Should it be clued as plural form (Royalties)?
56D: Classic Jags: XKES. By the way, in yesterday's crossword, 69A: British exports (MGS), one reader pointed out that MG is a British sport car.
59D: Water pitcher: JUG. I put jar first.
60D: Volga tributary: OKA.
61D: _mat (dangerous cargo). HAZ. Hazard Material
62D: Late starter: ISO. Isolate.
That's all.
By the way, if you have time, please go to the Cruciverbalist's website and vote for the clever clue of the month. The candidates for this month are:
Cheese that's made backward? EDAM (Made backward is EDAM)
Snow boarders? SEVENDWARFS (Snow White)
Christmas trees? PEARS (As in '...a partridge in a PEAR tree)
Half a huge cost? ARM (As in something costing an arm and a leg)
Ones taking a lot of interest in their work? USURER (Usurer: someone who lends money at excessive rates of interest)
Idle and then some? ERICS (As in Eric Idle, the English comedian/actor).
Have a wonderful February everyone.
C. C.
18A: Robin Williams in "Jumanji": Alan Parrish (look at the crossword constructor's name)
59A: Robin Williams in "Dead Posts Society": John Keating
3D: Robin Williams in "Good Will Hunting": Sean Maguire
27D: Robin Williams in "Insomnia": Walter Finch
I gave up very earlier on. Impossible for me. Too many unfamiliar band name, author name, actress name.
I was convinced at one point that Star Tribune made a mistake on the Perot clue. I only knew him as Ross Perot. I suspected that the first letter could be an abbreviation of his given name. But I dismissed the idea quickly because the clue for 53D: Indian Royalty is a singular form, thus the last letter cannot be S. I was so lost in that corner.
The movie characters got my goat too. I actually watched "Good Will Hunting" once, but I can not remember the professor's name. Never watched the other three movies. I do remember his character Mr. Dobbs in "Man of the Year".
There are also 3 Russia related clues.
50A: Putin turndown: NYET. This is the Russian for "NO". I bet Bush can fill in this one quickly. I wonder if Bush does crosswords.
64A.: Czar's decree: UKASE. What a weird looking word.
38D: Russian Villas: DACHAS. I acturally got this one. The interview of Putin by Time's reporter on its Person of the Year piece was conducted in Putin's Dacha I think.
Here is more:
4A: Multi-talented Rivera: CHITA. Never heard of her. She received 2 Tony Awards.
9A: Perpendicular: PLUMB. This is an interesting word, it can be noun, verb, adj or adv.
14A: Abu Dhabi, Dubai et al.: UAE (United Arab Emirates). UAR (United Arab Republic) is a union of Egypt and Syria from 1958 to 1961.
17A: One-time time connection: AT A (One at a time)
22A: Quite cold: GELID. New word to me. MN has been gelid in the past several days. I just can not SHRUG (47A: "I dunno" gesture) off the cold I caught from the Edwards rally.
24A: Smarted: STUNG
26A: Pirates' take: SWAG. Another word for booty.
30A: Escargot: SNAIL. I've never eaten snail before. Snake, yes, once, not bad, but I don't want to try it again.
35A: Martha of mysteries: GRIMES. Did I blog about her before? Her name sounds familar to me.
37A: Pandemonium: BEDLAM. I got this one.
39A: Day-night tie: EQUINOX. Very tough for me. The down clues did not help at all.
40A: Average score: PAR. I put CEE first.
52A: "Like a Rock" Sing: SEGER. Knew the song, did not know the singer.
68A: Politico Perot: H ROSS (Henry Ross). I found out that Ross is actually the middle name of his brother, who died at age of 3. Perot's original middle name is Ray. He changed it into Ross in honor of his brother.
Down clues:
1D: Liquid measures: QUARTS
2D: Luzon Island battle site: BATAAN. According to the dictionary, it's "a peninsula on W Luzon, in the Philippines: U.S. troops surrendered to Japanese April 9, 1942"
4D: Actress Rosalind: CHAO. Never heard of her. The only Rosalind I know is Russel.
8D: Quaking trees: ASPENS. I spent a long time analyzing the poem Scooter Libby sent to Judith Miller when she was in prison. He wrote "Out West, where you vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them". It's definitely coded.
9D: _mutuel: Pari. A form of betting. Never heard of it.
11D: Swiss Canton: URI.
25D: "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" band: T REX. Look at here if you want to delve more into this band.
28D: Winglike parts: ALAE. Winglike is ALAR.
33D: Fashion designer: MODISTE. I was misled. I kept thinking of a real fashion designer like Vera Wang or Marc Jacobs. I could not get any help from the across clues either. MODISTE is a French word for a designer or producer in women's fashions.
40D: wharf: QUAY. I put PIER first.
43D: Denier: NEGATOR.
46D: Six-winged angel: SERAPH
48D: Writer LeGuin: URSULA. Vaguely remembered her name.
49D: Wound up: TENSE. I put _ _ _ ED quickly, too quickly.
53D: Indian Royalty: RANIS. I put RAJAH initially and felt very proud of myself for a minute. But nothing made sense after that. Should it be clued as plural form (Royalties)?
56D: Classic Jags: XKES. By the way, in yesterday's crossword, 69A: British exports (MGS), one reader pointed out that MG is a British sport car.
59D: Water pitcher: JUG. I put jar first.
60D: Volga tributary: OKA.
61D: _mat (dangerous cargo). HAZ. Hazard Material
62D: Late starter: ISO. Isolate.
That's all.
By the way, if you have time, please go to the Cruciverbalist's website and vote for the clever clue of the month. The candidates for this month are:
Cheese that's made backward? EDAM (Made backward is EDAM)
Snow boarders? SEVENDWARFS (Snow White)
Christmas trees? PEARS (As in '...a partridge in a PEAR tree)
Half a huge cost? ARM (As in something costing an arm and a leg)
Ones taking a lot of interest in their work? USURER (Usurer: someone who lends money at excessive rates of interest)
Idle and then some? ERICS (As in Eric Idle, the English comedian/actor).
Have a wonderful February everyone.
C. C.
