Theme: Homophones
17A: Doe: ANONYMOUS PERSON. John/Jane Doe. "A DEER, A FEMALE DEER" won't fit. It has 16 letters.
27A: Do: KEY NOTE IN A SCALE. Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti.
49A: Dough: BREAD BAKING NEED. Chinese don't bake. We steam our buns. Milk is not an ingredient in our dough either. Only flour, water and yeast.
65A: D'oh: HOMER SIMPSON CRY. Yep, D'oh is Homer's catch phrase.
Words are homophones if they have the same pronunciation but different spelling/meaning.
Words are homonyms if they have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meaning, such as left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right).
Also a bit of animal sub-theme:
71A: Animal: BEAST
72A. She-bears, in Seville: OSAS. He-bears is OSOS.
50D. White 66-Down, e.g.: ALBINO. And RAT (66D: Pied Piper follower).
51D. Cat, in Cancún: GATO. Netflix is headquartered in Los GATOS (the cats), CA.
Nice puzzle. Nice grid-spanning theme answers. The concept is quite original.
Across:
1. Gillette's __ II razor: TRAC. Not ATRA today.
5. Young reporters: CUBS. Cub reporter.
9. Half-and-half half: CREAM. The other half is MILK. Delicious clue.
14. __ sapiens: HOMO. Our genus.
15. European capital: OSLO. Four-letter capital. What else could it be?
16. Speed: HASTE. It makes waste.
20. Get loose for the game: WARM UP
21. French monarch: ROI. Louis XIV is the Le ROI Soleil (the Sun King).
25. Maker of ergonomic kitchenware: OXO. The cushioned rubber grips are definitely ergonomic.
35. Suffix with ranch: ERO. Ranchero (rancher). Spanish for ranch is "rancho".
36. Coastal bird: ERN. Or ERNE, the sea eagle. TERN is "Coastal bird" too, with a forked tail.
37. Curb, as spending: REIN IN. Tell the Congress.
38. Dentist's directive: BRUSH. FLOSS is five letter too.
43. Nearly boil: SCALD. My goodness. I had the wrong idea of SCALD then. I thought it more than boils.
44. Relating to the body's main blood line: AORTIC. From Kazie yesterday: The phrase "there oughta be A LAW" reminded me of the tongue-in-cheek Oz reference to people always saying "they oughta...", which is then shortened to "aorta" to refer to such people: "the great aorta".
46. Laddie's negative: NAES. Scottish for "no".
48. Indians, on scoreboards: CLE. Cleveland Indians. And another baseball term RBI (59A. Hitter's stat). Twins have to win tomorrow, otherwise, they are done.
53. Sushi fish: EEL. Hmmm, unagi.
54. Final Four initials: NCAA
55. __ acetate: banana oil: AMYL (AM-il). Rooted in Latin amylum, "starch". Unknown to me.
61. Duke Ellington's "Take the __": A TRAIN. Have never been to NY. Don't know where A TRAIN runs.
68. Big name in kitchen foil: ALCOA. They make the Reynolds Wrap. Dow 30 component.
69. Sculptor's subject: NUDE. Wanted BODY.
73. Promgoer's concern, maybe: ACNE
Down:
2. Gossipy Barrett: RONA. She is still alive.
3. Passionate deity: AMOR. Love god.
4. Hustler: CON MAN. Paul Newman's "The Hustler" is probably the best film on pool.
5. Vie: COMPETE
6. Military morale-boosting gp.: USO (United Service Organizations)
8. "Already?": SO SOON
9. "Evita" narrator: CHE. Learned from doing Xword. Have never seen "Evita".
11. Canadian gas sign: ESSO. Yep, they still call ESSO in Canana.
13. Clothing store section: MEN'S
18. Bygone Serbian auto: YUGO. No idea. Does YUGO stand for Yugoslavia?
19. "Finding Nemo" studio: PIXAR. It belongs to Disney now.
24. Laura of "Jurassic Park": DERN
26. Plural ending for neur-: OSES. Neuroses. Plural of neurosis. The clue doesn't sound natural to me.
27. Meal on a skewer: KEBAB. Shish KEBAB. KEBAB = roasted meat. Shish = spit. Turkish origin.
28. 1 + 1 = 3, for example: ERROR
29. "__ a Good Man, Charlie Brown": YOU'RE. Have never heard of this Broadway musical.
30. How contracts are usually signed: IN INK
31. Pres., vis-à--vis the armed forces: CIC (Commander in Chief)
32. Has __ up one's sleeve: AN ACE
33. City in which de Gaulle was born: LILLE. The French textile city. Eat worms if you missed this one. I mentioned LILLE & de Gaulle connection before. Close to the Belgium border.
34. Rear-__: hit from behind: ENDED
39. Grand Central, e.g.: Abbr.: STA (Station)
40. Sweep under the rug: HIDE
45. "Good buddies": CB'ER. "Good buddy" on the road.
47. Sheathes: ENCASES
52. Land chronicled by C.S. Lewis: NARNIA. "The Chronicles of NARNIA".
55. One giving Starbuck orders?: AHAB. From "Moby-Dick". Starbuck is AHAB's first mate. I fell into the constructor's trap and misread the clue as "Starbucks orders". The Starbucks Coffee is named in part after Starbuck.
56. Double agent: MOLE
57. Pantomimed disco song title: YMCA
58. Many August babies: LEOS
60. Don of talk radio: IMUS. Did not know that "nappy" has a racism connotation until the Don IMUS incident.
62. Outlet letters: AC/DC. Oh, power outlet.
63. Golfer's choice: IRON. Or driver/putter, etc.
64. AMEX rival: NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). I tried VISA first, thinking of credit card.
67. BlackBerry or Sidekick, briefly: PDA. Not familiar with Sidekick, the gadget from T-Mobile.
Answer grid.
C.C.
17A: Doe: ANONYMOUS PERSON. John/Jane Doe. "A DEER, A FEMALE DEER" won't fit. It has 16 letters.
27A: Do: KEY NOTE IN A SCALE. Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti.
49A: Dough: BREAD BAKING NEED. Chinese don't bake. We steam our buns. Milk is not an ingredient in our dough either. Only flour, water and yeast.
65A: D'oh: HOMER SIMPSON CRY. Yep, D'oh is Homer's catch phrase.
Words are homophones if they have the same pronunciation but different spelling/meaning.
Words are homonyms if they have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meaning, such as left (past tense of leave) and left (opposite of right).
Also a bit of animal sub-theme:
71A: Animal: BEAST
72A. She-bears, in Seville: OSAS. He-bears is OSOS.
50D. White 66-Down, e.g.: ALBINO. And RAT (66D: Pied Piper follower).
51D. Cat, in Cancún: GATO. Netflix is headquartered in Los GATOS (the cats), CA.
Nice puzzle. Nice grid-spanning theme answers. The concept is quite original.
Across:
1. Gillette's __ II razor: TRAC. Not ATRA today.
5. Young reporters: CUBS. Cub reporter.
9. Half-and-half half: CREAM. The other half is MILK. Delicious clue.
14. __ sapiens: HOMO. Our genus.
15. European capital: OSLO. Four-letter capital. What else could it be?
16. Speed: HASTE. It makes waste.
20. Get loose for the game: WARM UP
21. French monarch: ROI. Louis XIV is the Le ROI Soleil (the Sun King).
25. Maker of ergonomic kitchenware: OXO. The cushioned rubber grips are definitely ergonomic.
35. Suffix with ranch: ERO. Ranchero (rancher). Spanish for ranch is "rancho".
36. Coastal bird: ERN. Or ERNE, the sea eagle. TERN is "Coastal bird" too, with a forked tail.
37. Curb, as spending: REIN IN. Tell the Congress.
38. Dentist's directive: BRUSH. FLOSS is five letter too.
43. Nearly boil: SCALD. My goodness. I had the wrong idea of SCALD then. I thought it more than boils.
44. Relating to the body's main blood line: AORTIC. From Kazie yesterday: The phrase "there oughta be A LAW" reminded me of the tongue-in-cheek Oz reference to people always saying "they oughta...", which is then shortened to "aorta" to refer to such people: "the great aorta".
46. Laddie's negative: NAES. Scottish for "no".
48. Indians, on scoreboards: CLE. Cleveland Indians. And another baseball term RBI (59A. Hitter's stat). Twins have to win tomorrow, otherwise, they are done.
53. Sushi fish: EEL. Hmmm, unagi.
54. Final Four initials: NCAA
55. __ acetate: banana oil: AMYL (AM-il). Rooted in Latin amylum, "starch". Unknown to me.
61. Duke Ellington's "Take the __": A TRAIN. Have never been to NY. Don't know where A TRAIN runs.
68. Big name in kitchen foil: ALCOA. They make the Reynolds Wrap. Dow 30 component.
69. Sculptor's subject: NUDE. Wanted BODY.
73. Promgoer's concern, maybe: ACNE
Down:
2. Gossipy Barrett: RONA. She is still alive.
3. Passionate deity: AMOR. Love god.
4. Hustler: CON MAN. Paul Newman's "The Hustler" is probably the best film on pool.
5. Vie: COMPETE
6. Military morale-boosting gp.: USO (United Service Organizations)
8. "Already?": SO SOON
9. "Evita" narrator: CHE. Learned from doing Xword. Have never seen "Evita".
11. Canadian gas sign: ESSO. Yep, they still call ESSO in Canana.
13. Clothing store section: MEN'S
18. Bygone Serbian auto: YUGO. No idea. Does YUGO stand for Yugoslavia?
19. "Finding Nemo" studio: PIXAR. It belongs to Disney now.
24. Laura of "Jurassic Park": DERN
26. Plural ending for neur-: OSES. Neuroses. Plural of neurosis. The clue doesn't sound natural to me.
27. Meal on a skewer: KEBAB. Shish KEBAB. KEBAB = roasted meat. Shish = spit. Turkish origin.
28. 1 + 1 = 3, for example: ERROR
29. "__ a Good Man, Charlie Brown": YOU'RE. Have never heard of this Broadway musical.
30. How contracts are usually signed: IN INK
31. Pres., vis-à--vis the armed forces: CIC (Commander in Chief)
32. Has __ up one's sleeve: AN ACE
33. City in which de Gaulle was born: LILLE. The French textile city. Eat worms if you missed this one. I mentioned LILLE & de Gaulle connection before. Close to the Belgium border.
34. Rear-__: hit from behind: ENDED
39. Grand Central, e.g.: Abbr.: STA (Station)
40. Sweep under the rug: HIDE
45. "Good buddies": CB'ER. "Good buddy" on the road.
47. Sheathes: ENCASES
52. Land chronicled by C.S. Lewis: NARNIA. "The Chronicles of NARNIA".
55. One giving Starbuck orders?: AHAB. From "Moby-Dick". Starbuck is AHAB's first mate. I fell into the constructor's trap and misread the clue as "Starbucks orders". The Starbucks Coffee is named in part after Starbuck.
56. Double agent: MOLE
57. Pantomimed disco song title: YMCA
58. Many August babies: LEOS
60. Don of talk radio: IMUS. Did not know that "nappy" has a racism connotation until the Don IMUS incident.
62. Outlet letters: AC/DC. Oh, power outlet.
63. Golfer's choice: IRON. Or driver/putter, etc.
64. AMEX rival: NYSE (New York Stock Exchange). I tried VISA first, thinking of credit card.
67. BlackBerry or Sidekick, briefly: PDA. Not familiar with Sidekick, the gadget from T-Mobile.
Answer grid.
C.C.
