Theme: None
Total blocks: 32
Total words: 66
The four corners of this grid looks so balanced. Each with stacked 4*7 entries. And the whole puzzle has only five 3-letter fills. Neat. Once again, I found the long answers in Down entries to be very interesting.
Where did you get your foothold today? Do you always start with 1-Across? I solved the lower right corner first. ORDONEZ (40D: 2007 A.L. batting champ Magglio) was a gimme. He is a very interesting character, being a staunch supporter of Hugo Chávez. His baseball cards are not worth anything though, unless they are authenticated autographs.
There is an international flavor to this puzzle: ROMANIA (34D: Nadia Comaneci's homeland), SPAIN (50A: View from Gibraltar) & MONTE CARLO (48A: Riviera attraction). Then we have ISRAELI, SUEZ, NEIN, TE AMO and TETE. Colorful fills.
Across:
1A: Journalist Kupcinet et al.: IRVS. Stumped immediately. He was a long-time columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and his nickname was "Kup". The lady on his left is Lauren Bacall.
5A: Take by force: WREST
10A: Fix: BIND. Can you give me an example on how they are interchangeable?
14A: Word repeated before "Born is the king of Israel": NOEL. The only Christmas song I can remember by heart is "Silent Night". Taught by an American who was immediately fired for teaching us this "religious song".
15A: Games immortal: HOYLE. His first name stumped many last time when it's clued as "Card game authority" (EDMOND HOYLE).
16A: Lou's "La Bamba" co-star: ESAI (Morales). Learned this fact from doing Xword. I liked ESAI Morales in "NYPD Blue". He was so cool, at least, before he reconnected with his ex.
17A: Certain something: AURA. Well, this "Certainly something" sure did not come to me immediately. Lovely clue.
18A: Clinch the deal: ICE IT
19A: Love and war, to some: ARTS. Love is an art? To whom? Do these Chinese characters for "The Art of War" look complicated to you?
20A: Like some dads: STAY-AT-HOME. Nice fill. Nice clue too.
22A: PGA Champions Tour standout Jay: HAAS. "Standout" indeed. Jay HAAS has had such an incredible Champions Tour (formerly Sr. PGA) winning record. Hale Irwin used to be the dominant figure (Thanks, Jerome).
23A: Blackjack holdings: NINETEENS. No idea. Are they good or bad holdings?
24A: Shakespeare contemporary George: PEELE. Completely unknown to me.
25A: Maryland Air Force base: ANDREWS. Just found out ANDREWS Air Force Base was named for General Frank M. Andrews, former Commanding General of United States Forces in the ETO (European Theater of Operations) during WWII, according to Wikipedia.
26A: Slanted, in a way: ITALIC
28A: Nutritional regimen since the 1970s: ATKINS DIET. Not for me. Meat is just a side dish in Asian diet.
31A: Ich liebe dich: German:: __: Spanish: TE AMO. In Chinese, it's Wo Ai Ni.
32A: Prince classic: PURPLE RAIN. Being from from Minnesota, Prince's every move is followed closely by the local media.
37A: Houston MLBer: 'STRO
41A: One might keep you from going out: SNORER. I got the answer. Don't understand the rationale.
42A: Ring in a crib: TEETHER
44A: Like mercenaries: ARMED
45A: California's Highway 1, for one: COAST ROAD. Easy guess.
47A: Farm lands: LEAS
49A: Staffs: MANS. Verb.
51A: Frau's refusal: NEIN. How to you say "I don't love you" in German?
52A: Prefix meaning "peculiar": IDIO. As in idiosyncrasy.
53A: They may be sheepish: GRINS. I was thinking of EWES.
54A: Fog: DAZE
55A: Printer's primary color: CYAN. Oh, I am definitely a dummy. I thought it's black.
56A: Noncom nickname: SARGE. Isn't it strange that the shortened form of sergeant is SARGE instead of the more reasonable SERGE? This gives me an excuse to link SERGE Gainsbourg's "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus".
57A: Canal site: SUEZ. Hard to believe it's already opened in 1869.
Down:
1D: Quickly: In A SNAP. Still have trouble with multiple words.
2D: Ordinary: ROUTINE
3D: Open porch: VERANDA
4D: TV's Buffy and Faith, e.g.: SLAYERS
5D: Kayaking challenge: WHITEWATER. Upstream, looks impossible to me.
6D: Kodak's home: ROCHESTER. I did not know Kodak is headquartered in ROCHESTER, NY. Wikipedia says Xerox was also founded in ROCHESTER in 1906.
8D: Loses, in a way, with "down": SLIMS
9D: Dijon dome?: TETE. Had no idea that "dome" is a slang for head.
10A: Lead: BE AHEAD. Need to get used to this BE something verb phrase as well.
11D: Begin, e.g.: ISRAELI. Begin shared Nobel Peace with Anwar Sadat in 1978.
12D: Wood of Hollywood: NATALIE. I like the cute girl in "Miracle on 34th Street".
13D: Analyze: DISSECT
24D: Liq. measures: PTS (Pints)
26D: By some measure: IN ONE SENSE. I thought it's IN A SENSE.
29D: Kipling python: KAA. The answer emerged after I filled in the Acrosses. Why did he name the snake KAA?
30D: Doing, so to speak: IMITATING. I am lost here. Why?
32D: Like much worship music: PSALMIC. First time I encountered this adjective.
33D: Not prepared: UNREADY. Do you use this word in your daily conversation often? I always say "I am not ready".
35D: Persevere: PRESS ON
37D: Leaves high and dry: STRANDS
38D: "Civil Disobedience": THOREAU. Has anyone read THOREAU's "Civil Disobedience"? What is it about?
39D: Come to understand: REALIZE
43D: Handy abbr.: ETC. Good clue.
45D: Dried coconut meat: COPRA. I tend to confuse this word with the snake cobra.
46D: Station sign: ON AIR
48D: In-box contents: Abbr.: MSGS (Messages). Thought of LTRS first. My "dome" does not work well.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total blocks: 32
Total words: 66
The four corners of this grid looks so balanced. Each with stacked 4*7 entries. And the whole puzzle has only five 3-letter fills. Neat. Once again, I found the long answers in Down entries to be very interesting.
Where did you get your foothold today? Do you always start with 1-Across? I solved the lower right corner first. ORDONEZ (40D: 2007 A.L. batting champ Magglio) was a gimme. He is a very interesting character, being a staunch supporter of Hugo Chávez. His baseball cards are not worth anything though, unless they are authenticated autographs.
There is an international flavor to this puzzle: ROMANIA (34D: Nadia Comaneci's homeland), SPAIN (50A: View from Gibraltar) & MONTE CARLO (48A: Riviera attraction). Then we have ISRAELI, SUEZ, NEIN, TE AMO and TETE. Colorful fills.
Across:
1A: Journalist Kupcinet et al.: IRVS. Stumped immediately. He was a long-time columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times and his nickname was "Kup". The lady on his left is Lauren Bacall.
5A: Take by force: WREST
10A: Fix: BIND. Can you give me an example on how they are interchangeable?
14A: Word repeated before "Born is the king of Israel": NOEL. The only Christmas song I can remember by heart is "Silent Night". Taught by an American who was immediately fired for teaching us this "religious song".
15A: Games immortal: HOYLE. His first name stumped many last time when it's clued as "Card game authority" (EDMOND HOYLE).
16A: Lou's "La Bamba" co-star: ESAI (Morales). Learned this fact from doing Xword. I liked ESAI Morales in "NYPD Blue". He was so cool, at least, before he reconnected with his ex.
17A: Certain something: AURA. Well, this "Certainly something" sure did not come to me immediately. Lovely clue.
18A: Clinch the deal: ICE IT
19A: Love and war, to some: ARTS. Love is an art? To whom? Do these Chinese characters for "The Art of War" look complicated to you?
20A: Like some dads: STAY-AT-HOME. Nice fill. Nice clue too.
22A: PGA Champions Tour standout Jay: HAAS. "Standout" indeed. Jay HAAS has had such an incredible Champions Tour (formerly Sr. PGA) winning record. Hale Irwin used to be the dominant figure (Thanks, Jerome).
23A: Blackjack holdings: NINETEENS. No idea. Are they good or bad holdings?
24A: Shakespeare contemporary George: PEELE. Completely unknown to me.
25A: Maryland Air Force base: ANDREWS. Just found out ANDREWS Air Force Base was named for General Frank M. Andrews, former Commanding General of United States Forces in the ETO (European Theater of Operations) during WWII, according to Wikipedia.
26A: Slanted, in a way: ITALIC
28A: Nutritional regimen since the 1970s: ATKINS DIET. Not for me. Meat is just a side dish in Asian diet.
31A: Ich liebe dich: German:: __: Spanish: TE AMO. In Chinese, it's Wo Ai Ni.
32A: Prince classic: PURPLE RAIN. Being from from Minnesota, Prince's every move is followed closely by the local media.
37A: Houston MLBer: 'STRO
41A: One might keep you from going out: SNORER. I got the answer. Don't understand the rationale.
42A: Ring in a crib: TEETHER
44A: Like mercenaries: ARMED
45A: California's Highway 1, for one: COAST ROAD. Easy guess.
47A: Farm lands: LEAS
49A: Staffs: MANS. Verb.
51A: Frau's refusal: NEIN. How to you say "I don't love you" in German?
52A: Prefix meaning "peculiar": IDIO. As in idiosyncrasy.
53A: They may be sheepish: GRINS. I was thinking of EWES.
54A: Fog: DAZE
55A: Printer's primary color: CYAN. Oh, I am definitely a dummy. I thought it's black.
56A: Noncom nickname: SARGE. Isn't it strange that the shortened form of sergeant is SARGE instead of the more reasonable SERGE? This gives me an excuse to link SERGE Gainsbourg's "Je T'aime... Moi Non Plus".
57A: Canal site: SUEZ. Hard to believe it's already opened in 1869.
Down:
1D: Quickly: In A SNAP. Still have trouble with multiple words.
2D: Ordinary: ROUTINE
3D: Open porch: VERANDA
4D: TV's Buffy and Faith, e.g.: SLAYERS
5D: Kayaking challenge: WHITEWATER. Upstream, looks impossible to me.
6D: Kodak's home: ROCHESTER. I did not know Kodak is headquartered in ROCHESTER, NY. Wikipedia says Xerox was also founded in ROCHESTER in 1906.
8D: Loses, in a way, with "down": SLIMS
9D: Dijon dome?: TETE. Had no idea that "dome" is a slang for head.
10A: Lead: BE AHEAD. Need to get used to this BE something verb phrase as well.
11D: Begin, e.g.: ISRAELI. Begin shared Nobel Peace with Anwar Sadat in 1978.
12D: Wood of Hollywood: NATALIE. I like the cute girl in "Miracle on 34th Street".
13D: Analyze: DISSECT
24D: Liq. measures: PTS (Pints)
26D: By some measure: IN ONE SENSE. I thought it's IN A SENSE.
29D: Kipling python: KAA. The answer emerged after I filled in the Acrosses. Why did he name the snake KAA?
30D: Doing, so to speak: IMITATING. I am lost here. Why?
32D: Like much worship music: PSALMIC. First time I encountered this adjective.
33D: Not prepared: UNREADY. Do you use this word in your daily conversation often? I always say "I am not ready".
35D: Persevere: PRESS ON
37D: Leaves high and dry: STRANDS
38D: "Civil Disobedience": THOREAU. Has anyone read THOREAU's "Civil Disobedience"? What is it about?
39D: Come to understand: REALIZE
43D: Handy abbr.: ETC. Good clue.
45D: Dried coconut meat: COPRA. I tend to confuse this word with the snake cobra.
46D: Station sign: ON AIR
48D: In-box contents: Abbr.: MSGS (Messages). Thought of LTRS first. My "dome" does not work well.
Answer grid.
C.C.
