Theme: Cover Letters
20A: Photographer of a letter? P(ea) SHOOTER
26A: Letter's rest period?: T(ea) BREAK
49A: Undercover operation to trap a letter?: B(ee) STING
56A: One who can't hold a letter?: I(eye) DROPPER
10D: Letter out for a stroll?: J(ay) WALKING
38D: Official in charge of a letter?: C(sea) CAPTAIN
Hmm, 6 theme entries, quite heavy. Fred must have sifted through a ton of theme candidates. I wonder if he considered any phrase with letter Q (cue) or Y (why).
B STING and J WALKING are so evocative. T BREAK is great too. Hot scone & strawberry jam & tea. Yum!
When I first saw the question mark after each "letter", I actually thought of landlord. You know, the one who lets. Someone asked on the blog last summer why RENT is clued as "Letter amount?".
Lovely puzzle. I still had to cheat, but I fared better than I did with last Thursday's Dan Naddor "Take Action" puzzle.
Across:
1A: [Snore]: HO-HUM. And BLAH (27D: Eliciting a "So what").
6A: Blow hard: HUFF. HUFF and puff.
10A: Singer Joan: JETT. Wrote down BAEZ first.
14A: Ex-TV host Stewart: ALANA. She co-hosted the "George & ALANA" show with her then husband George Hamilton. I only knew her as Rod Stewart's ex.
15A: River to the Mediterranean: EBRO. The Spanish river. ELBE, the Hamburg river, flows into the North Sea.
16A: Guitarist's effect: WAWA. No idea. Dictionary says it's some kind of muted guitar/trumpet effect.
17A: Hear again: RETRY. I don't get this one.
18A: Speed Wagons, e.g.: REOS
19A: Stress, it's said: AGER. Probably only in crossword world. Stress does age us faster.
22A: Flea market figure: SELLER. Wrote down DEALER first. They have 4 letters in common.
24A: Tops with cups: BRAS. Nailed it immediately. Quite a crossing with UNROBE (4D: Strip).
25A: Ready to collapse: RICKETY
29A: Old Mughal Empire capital: DELHI. It's the same place as New DELHI, correct?
30A: suffix with glob: ULE. A diminutive suffix.
31A: Blocks that lock: LEGOS
33A: At the ready: ON TAP
37A: Rash preventer: TALC. Thought of ALOE, which actually treats rather than prevents rash.
39A: Like some checking accounts: NO-FEE
41A: Nuts (over): GAGA
42A: Word before radio or wave: SHOCK. SHOCK radio = Howard Stern.
44A: "I dunno": GOT ME. NO IDEA won't fit.
46A: Mark, as a ballot: X IN. No abbreviation hint? For your information, XIN means "new" in Chinese. New Year is XIN Nian. Nian means "year".
47A: Shady retreat: ARBOR
51A: Crow relatives: MAGPIES
54A: Like Burbank City Hall, for short: DECO. Have never heard of Burbank City Hall before. It's in California.
55A: Respectful gesture: CURTSY
60A: "Bess, You is My Woman," e.g.: ARIA
61A: Muskogee's st.: OKLA. What is Muskogee famous for?
63A: Heavy herbivore: RHINO. Horny, horny. RHINO's horn is more valuable than gold.
64A: Suspense novelist Hoag: TAMI. Unknown figure to me. What does her neck scarf say?
66A: Country singer Tucker: TANYA. Jimbo, happy?
68A: Muchas horas: DIAS. Spanish for DAYS. "Muchas horas" is "Many hours". I pieced the answer together from Down fills.
69A: Rile (up): STEAM
Down:
1D: Dwell (on): HARP
2D: Cheers at some World Cup games: OLES
3D: "Hell __ no fury ...": HATH. "Hell HATH no fury like a woman scorned".
5D: Like some elections: MAYORAL. Wow, there is an adjective for mayor? I only know gubernatorial.
7D: Slangy prefix meaning "super": UBER
8D: One way to sway: FRO. To and FRO.
9D: Dig discovery: FOSSIL
11D: Apollo 11 module: EAGLE
12D: Twitter message: TWEET. Sarah Palin is a Twitterati (the Twitter elite).
13D: Linger: TARRY
21D: Unavailable: TAKEN. Directly above BEYOND (48D: Not within reach of).
23D: Return call?: ECHO. Good clue.
25D: Pedometer button: RESET
28D: Possible result of a job change, for short: RELO
29D: Attend of the needs of: DO FOR. The answer is often SEE TO.
32D: "We Got the Beat" band, with "The": GO-GO'S. Here is the clip. Both the band and the song are unfamiliar to me.
34D: Part of a pickup line?: TAXI. Great clue too.
35D: Opposin': AGIN. Against. Not "fer".
36D: Remorseful feeling: PANG
40D: Cookout remnant: EMBER
43D: Barbra's "A Star is Born" costar: KRIS (Kristofferson)
45D: Accompanists?: ESCORTS. Can you clue ABETTORS as "Accompanists?" also?
50D: Signature wear for Astair: TOP HAT. In his musical TOP HAT.
51D: Future docs' exams: MCATS (Medical College Admission Tests). I forgot.
52D: Surrounding glows: AURAE. The plural of aura can also be AURAS.
53D: Mr. Clean target: GRIME
54D: Times to attack: D-DAYS
56D: "Casablanca" role: ILSA. Hey, "Here's looking at you, kid", welcome back.
57D: Cabinet wood: PINE
58D: "Orinoco Flow" singer: ENYA. Simply beautiful.
59D: Itinerate: ROAM. I only know the noun itinerary. In fact, I misread the clue as "Iterate".
62D: Colorful carp: KOI. Some of the KOI can cost thousands of dollars.
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A: Photographer of a letter? P(ea) SHOOTER
26A: Letter's rest period?: T(ea) BREAK
49A: Undercover operation to trap a letter?: B(ee) STING
56A: One who can't hold a letter?: I(eye) DROPPER
10D: Letter out for a stroll?: J(ay) WALKING
38D: Official in charge of a letter?: C(sea) CAPTAIN
Hmm, 6 theme entries, quite heavy. Fred must have sifted through a ton of theme candidates. I wonder if he considered any phrase with letter Q (cue) or Y (why).
B STING and J WALKING are so evocative. T BREAK is great too. Hot scone & strawberry jam & tea. Yum!
When I first saw the question mark after each "letter", I actually thought of landlord. You know, the one who lets. Someone asked on the blog last summer why RENT is clued as "Letter amount?".
Lovely puzzle. I still had to cheat, but I fared better than I did with last Thursday's Dan Naddor "Take Action" puzzle.
Across:
1A: [Snore]: HO-HUM. And BLAH (27D: Eliciting a "So what").
6A: Blow hard: HUFF. HUFF and puff.
10A: Singer Joan: JETT. Wrote down BAEZ first.
14A: Ex-TV host Stewart: ALANA. She co-hosted the "George & ALANA" show with her then husband George Hamilton. I only knew her as Rod Stewart's ex.
15A: River to the Mediterranean: EBRO. The Spanish river. ELBE, the Hamburg river, flows into the North Sea.
16A: Guitarist's effect: WAWA. No idea. Dictionary says it's some kind of muted guitar/trumpet effect.
17A: Hear again: RETRY. I don't get this one.
18A: Speed Wagons, e.g.: REOS
19A: Stress, it's said: AGER. Probably only in crossword world. Stress does age us faster.
22A: Flea market figure: SELLER. Wrote down DEALER first. They have 4 letters in common.
24A: Tops with cups: BRAS. Nailed it immediately. Quite a crossing with UNROBE (4D: Strip).
25A: Ready to collapse: RICKETY
29A: Old Mughal Empire capital: DELHI. It's the same place as New DELHI, correct?
30A: suffix with glob: ULE. A diminutive suffix.
31A: Blocks that lock: LEGOS
33A: At the ready: ON TAP
37A: Rash preventer: TALC. Thought of ALOE, which actually treats rather than prevents rash.
39A: Like some checking accounts: NO-FEE
41A: Nuts (over): GAGA
42A: Word before radio or wave: SHOCK. SHOCK radio = Howard Stern.
44A: "I dunno": GOT ME. NO IDEA won't fit.
46A: Mark, as a ballot: X IN. No abbreviation hint? For your information, XIN means "new" in Chinese. New Year is XIN Nian. Nian means "year".
47A: Shady retreat: ARBOR
51A: Crow relatives: MAGPIES
54A: Like Burbank City Hall, for short: DECO. Have never heard of Burbank City Hall before. It's in California.
55A: Respectful gesture: CURTSY
60A: "Bess, You is My Woman," e.g.: ARIA
61A: Muskogee's st.: OKLA. What is Muskogee famous for?
63A: Heavy herbivore: RHINO. Horny, horny. RHINO's horn is more valuable than gold.
64A: Suspense novelist Hoag: TAMI. Unknown figure to me. What does her neck scarf say?
66A: Country singer Tucker: TANYA. Jimbo, happy?
68A: Muchas horas: DIAS. Spanish for DAYS. "Muchas horas" is "Many hours". I pieced the answer together from Down fills.
69A: Rile (up): STEAM
Down:
1D: Dwell (on): HARP
2D: Cheers at some World Cup games: OLES
3D: "Hell __ no fury ...": HATH. "Hell HATH no fury like a woman scorned".
5D: Like some elections: MAYORAL. Wow, there is an adjective for mayor? I only know gubernatorial.
7D: Slangy prefix meaning "super": UBER
8D: One way to sway: FRO. To and FRO.
9D: Dig discovery: FOSSIL
11D: Apollo 11 module: EAGLE
12D: Twitter message: TWEET. Sarah Palin is a Twitterati (the Twitter elite).
13D: Linger: TARRY
21D: Unavailable: TAKEN. Directly above BEYOND (48D: Not within reach of).
23D: Return call?: ECHO. Good clue.
25D: Pedometer button: RESET
28D: Possible result of a job change, for short: RELO
29D: Attend of the needs of: DO FOR. The answer is often SEE TO.
32D: "We Got the Beat" band, with "The": GO-GO'S. Here is the clip. Both the band and the song are unfamiliar to me.
34D: Part of a pickup line?: TAXI. Great clue too.
35D: Opposin': AGIN. Against. Not "fer".
36D: Remorseful feeling: PANG
40D: Cookout remnant: EMBER
43D: Barbra's "A Star is Born" costar: KRIS (Kristofferson)
45D: Accompanists?: ESCORTS. Can you clue ABETTORS as "Accompanists?" also?
50D: Signature wear for Astair: TOP HAT. In his musical TOP HAT.
51D: Future docs' exams: MCATS (Medical College Admission Tests). I forgot.
52D: Surrounding glows: AURAE. The plural of aura can also be AURAS.
53D: Mr. Clean target: GRIME
54D: Times to attack: D-DAYS
56D: "Casablanca" role: ILSA. Hey, "Here's looking at you, kid", welcome back.
57D: Cabinet wood: PINE
58D: "Orinoco Flow" singer: ENYA. Simply beautiful.
59D: Itinerate: ROAM. I only know the noun itinerary. In fact, I misread the clue as "Iterate".
62D: Colorful carp: KOI. Some of the KOI can cost thousands of dollars.
Answer grid.
C.C.
