Theme: None
Total blocks: 32
Definitely not an easy puzzle for me. Somehow I just could not focus on solving it. My mind was somewhere else.
Quite a few unfamiliar clues/anwers. Great to see ARI clued as "Jackie's second husband" (48A) rather than the factually wrong "Jackie's ex". I still do not understand the clue for NOMINATIONS (20A: Proposed candidates). Shouldn't the answer be NOMINEES?
I wonder if our editor is also clueless about Governor Sarah PALIN (66A: Michael of Monty Python). What a missed opportunity! With the current financial crisis, you would think he would choose "Fannie & Ginnie" rather than "West and Jemison" (61A).
I am so tired seeing ESA clued as "NASA's partner in space" (59D). Why not "Spanish pronoun" for a change?
I've never heard of BRIN (32D: Sci-fi writer David). Is he more famous than Sergey BRIN, the founder of Google?
Across:
1A: Jessica Parker or Vaughan: SARAH. Do you think SARAH Jessica Parker is UNE (50A: Nice one?) jolie-laide?
15A: ____ Spumante: ASTI. The sparkling white wine.
17A: Noted violin maker: AMATI. He is the teacher of STRAD. Joshua Bell used a $3.5 million STRAD in this famous Metro morning rush hour incognito performance. Over 1,000 people hurried by him, and he collected a total of $32.
18A: Furry-muzzled dog: SCHNAUZER. Here is a snow white miniture SCHNAUZER. Not a familiar breed to me. I am not a dog (or cat) person.
23A: Vin of movies: DIESEL. I wonder why he picked up Vin Diesel as his name.
27A: Danced to victory: CAKEWALKED. I did not know that CAKEWALK can be a verb too.
31A: Big band leader: LES BROWN. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he wrote "Sentimental Journey", which brought Doris Day to fame.
35A: Bring back to life: REANIMATE. I didn't like this answer.
38A: Melodies: MUSIC. I penned in SONGS first. I rather like Huge Grant and Drew Barrymore's "MUSIC and Lyrics".
41A: Be tipped off: FOREKNOW. What a strange word!
45A: Style of Gaudi: ART NOUVEAU. I've never heard of Gaudi before. He designed Casa Mila. Some of René Lalique's ART NOUVEAU piece can fetch thousands of dollars.
49A: Uris novel, with "The": HAJ
58A: Efficiency expert: TIMESAVER
62A: Vaccines: SERA
64A: Latin handle: ANSA. I am really tired of this clue too.
Down:
1D: Cause of public outrage: SCANDAL
2D: Ornate wardrobe: ARMOIRE
5D: "Die Lorelei" poet: HEINE (Heinrich). Unknown to me also. Kazie probably knows this poet. She mentioned about Lorelei and its seamen-luring sirens in a comment some time ago.
7D: Spore sacs: ASCI. Singular is ascus. Big stumper for me.
11D: Lively Polish dance: MAZURKA. Another unknown to me. See this clip.
19D: Actor Armand: ASSANTE. I googled his name. His mug looks very familiar. I must have seen him in some movies.
28D: Arista: AWN. I forgot the meaning of "Arista".
30D: Symbol of Wales: LEEK. Good to know. This LEEK potato soup looks so white. Too much potato, Xchefwalt?
33D: Makes up for: RECOUPS
36D: Extinct bird: MOA. DODO if it's a 4-letter blank.
37D: Orangjestad's island: ARUBA
38A: Gandhi's title: MAHATMA. Sage. Ha, I always thought MAHATAMA was Gandhi's given name.
39D: Person of a third sex: URANIAN. What???
40D: "____ Infirmary Blues": ST. JAMES. Is this the song? I've never heard of it before.
44D: Groom or Churchill: WINSTON. Had no idea who WINSTON Groom is. He wrote "Forrest Gump".
47D: Old World monkey: VERVET. Another unknown. What happened to his tail?
C.C.
Total blocks: 32
Definitely not an easy puzzle for me. Somehow I just could not focus on solving it. My mind was somewhere else.
Quite a few unfamiliar clues/anwers. Great to see ARI clued as "Jackie's second husband" (48A) rather than the factually wrong "Jackie's ex". I still do not understand the clue for NOMINATIONS (20A: Proposed candidates). Shouldn't the answer be NOMINEES?
I wonder if our editor is also clueless about Governor Sarah PALIN (66A: Michael of Monty Python). What a missed opportunity! With the current financial crisis, you would think he would choose "Fannie & Ginnie" rather than "West and Jemison" (61A).
I am so tired seeing ESA clued as "NASA's partner in space" (59D). Why not "Spanish pronoun" for a change?
I've never heard of BRIN (32D: Sci-fi writer David). Is he more famous than Sergey BRIN, the founder of Google?
Across:
1A: Jessica Parker or Vaughan: SARAH. Do you think SARAH Jessica Parker is UNE (50A: Nice one?) jolie-laide?
15A: ____ Spumante: ASTI. The sparkling white wine.
17A: Noted violin maker: AMATI. He is the teacher of STRAD. Joshua Bell used a $3.5 million STRAD in this famous Metro morning rush hour incognito performance. Over 1,000 people hurried by him, and he collected a total of $32.
18A: Furry-muzzled dog: SCHNAUZER. Here is a snow white miniture SCHNAUZER. Not a familiar breed to me. I am not a dog (or cat) person.
23A: Vin of movies: DIESEL. I wonder why he picked up Vin Diesel as his name.
27A: Danced to victory: CAKEWALKED. I did not know that CAKEWALK can be a verb too.
31A: Big band leader: LES BROWN. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he wrote "Sentimental Journey", which brought Doris Day to fame.
35A: Bring back to life: REANIMATE. I didn't like this answer.
38A: Melodies: MUSIC. I penned in SONGS first. I rather like Huge Grant and Drew Barrymore's "MUSIC and Lyrics".
41A: Be tipped off: FOREKNOW. What a strange word!
45A: Style of Gaudi: ART NOUVEAU. I've never heard of Gaudi before. He designed Casa Mila. Some of René Lalique's ART NOUVEAU piece can fetch thousands of dollars.
49A: Uris novel, with "The": HAJ
58A: Efficiency expert: TIMESAVER
62A: Vaccines: SERA
64A: Latin handle: ANSA. I am really tired of this clue too.
Down:
1D: Cause of public outrage: SCANDAL
2D: Ornate wardrobe: ARMOIRE
5D: "Die Lorelei" poet: HEINE (Heinrich). Unknown to me also. Kazie probably knows this poet. She mentioned about Lorelei and its seamen-luring sirens in a comment some time ago.
7D: Spore sacs: ASCI. Singular is ascus. Big stumper for me.
11D: Lively Polish dance: MAZURKA. Another unknown to me. See this clip.
19D: Actor Armand: ASSANTE. I googled his name. His mug looks very familiar. I must have seen him in some movies.
28D: Arista: AWN. I forgot the meaning of "Arista".
30D: Symbol of Wales: LEEK. Good to know. This LEEK potato soup looks so white. Too much potato, Xchefwalt?
33D: Makes up for: RECOUPS
36D: Extinct bird: MOA. DODO if it's a 4-letter blank.
37D: Orangjestad's island: ARUBA
38A: Gandhi's title: MAHATMA. Sage. Ha, I always thought MAHATAMA was Gandhi's given name.
39D: Person of a third sex: URANIAN. What???
40D: "____ Infirmary Blues": ST. JAMES. Is this the song? I've never heard of it before.
44D: Groom or Churchill: WINSTON. Had no idea who WINSTON Groom is. He wrote "Forrest Gump".
47D: Old World monkey: VERVET. Another unknown. What happened to his tail?
C.C.
