Theme: Female Athletes
20A: First female Indy entrant: Janet Guthrie
38A: LPGA superstar: Annika Sorenstam
54A: Ms. Didrikson: Babe Zaharias
I don't see any consistency in the difficulty rating of the Star Tribune puzzle, do you? I mean, their Monday puzzles are always more difficult than Tuesdays' and Wednesdays'. The puzzle for Feb 12 Tuesday (Allan E. Parish, the mythical crier Niobe one) was obviously more difficult than Feb 15 Friday's (Randall J. Hartman).
I hope I am not the only one who feels this way. I would love to have your thoughts.
I tanked this one miserably, from the very beginning. I was so adamantly sure of my HAJJ for 1D: Pilgrimage to Mecca (HADJ) that I refused to consider DIRT for 17A: Gossip. I met Annika in person, and I am a huge fan of her, but I could never spell her name properly. I should have been patient and worked out the down clues first, then let her surname reveal itself. But NO, I wanted to key in her name first. Overly excited! I always knew Babe as Babe Zaharias, I would never associate her with Ms. Didrikson.
Here are some of the entries for Across:
1A: Noggin toppers: HATS
15A: Latin handle: ANSA. It was in yesterday's puzzle.
16A: Author Jong: ERICA. Fear of Flying author.
18A:Billy or nanny: GOAT
19A: Covered with hoarfrost: RIMED
20A: First female Indy entrant: JANET GUTHRIE. The only female racer I've heard is Danica Patrick.
23A: Small amount of residue: DREG
24A: Lamprey: EEL. Sniggler's catch. Japanese call it Unagi. The smell of grilled unagi (kabayaki) is heavenly.
25A: Drag behind: TOW. I put Lag first, it messed up the whole corner.
31A: Sticks: ADHERES. Every time I see "stick", I just fill in "adhere". It never fails.
34A: Purple shade: LILAC
36A: N. T. book: REV.
37A: Golda of Israel: MEIR. I was a bit disappointed by the portrayal of her in the movie Munich.
38A: LPGA superstar: ANNIKA SORENSTAM. She is back. She just won LPGA season opener in Hawaii 2 days ago. It's been a long winless streak for her. I have her autographed card, very cool.
42A: Installed at carpet: LAID
44A: Representative: AGENT
45A: Stock-market abbr. OTC (Over the Counter). I am not cut for any stock market trading. I cannot stomach the violent up-and-down swings.
46A: "Citizen Kane" sled: ROSEBUD. I watched 2 minutes of Citizen Kane, then I gave it up. I did not like it and could not understand what's the beauty in the movie.
50A: Chinese chairman: MAO. His famous quote: Studying hard, improving every day.
51A: Powerful ruler: EMP (EMPEROR)
52A: Novelist Bagnold: ENID
54A: Ms. Didrikson: BABE ZAHARIAS. An incredible all-around athlete. Voted Female Athlete of the Century by Sports Illustrated. She even sewed her own golfing outfits.
59A: Bit of info: DATUM
62A: Vena __ : CAVA: Latin: hollow vein. Look at the definition here.
68A: Deep-orange chalcedony: SARD.
Down entry:
1D: Pilgrimage to Mecca. HADJ. It's a variation on HAJ. HAJJ is a more popular spelling than HADJ. I wish the editor would put a Var mark besides the clue.
3D: Sea swallow: TERN
5D: Drooped: SAGGED
21D: Follow closely: TRACK.
22D: "Still me" writer: REEVE Never read it. I enjoyed very much Katharine Hepburn's autobiography Me. The letter she wrote to Spencer Tracy moved me to tears.
25D: Balance on the brink: TEETER.
26D: "The Egotists" author Fallaci: ORIANA. Did not know her. Here is an interesting tidbit for you from wikipedia: During her 1972 interview with Hentry Kissingerh, Kissinger agreed that the Vietnam War was a "useless war" and compared himself to "the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse". Kissinger later wrote that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press."
I guess Bush read this line, no, I take it back, he does not read, maybe Rove told him so, then he decided that he would refuse to admit making any mistake when confronted by the media. Wrong lesson, cowboy! But enjoy your own holiday in Tanzania!
27D: Friendliness: WARMTH
28D: Ski race: SLALOM
29D: Mexican party item: PINATA. I learned this word from a Torii Hunter TV commercial.
30D: Alloy for magnets: ALNICO. Unknown to me.
32D: Worn away unevenly: EROSE
37D: NYC arena: MSG (Madison Square Garden)
39D: Alamogordo headline word: A BOMB. The first atomic bomb test, 1945.
40D: Surmises to be true: SUSPECTS
41D: Gymnast Comaneci: NADIA. The first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 in Olympics.
46D: Enlarged (a hole): REAMED
47D: Cleaver of TV: BEAVER
48D: Let go of: UNHAND
53D: Muumuu or sack: DRESS
54D: Set on fire: BURN
55D: Hannibal's "Waterloo": ZAMA. Why the quotation mark in the clue?
57D: Soprano Gluck: ALMA
60D: Cobbler's tool: AWL
61D: Menlo Park initials: TAE (thomas Alva Edison)
Have a great week everyone.
C. C.
20A: First female Indy entrant: Janet Guthrie
38A: LPGA superstar: Annika Sorenstam
54A: Ms. Didrikson: Babe Zaharias
I don't see any consistency in the difficulty rating of the Star Tribune puzzle, do you? I mean, their Monday puzzles are always more difficult than Tuesdays' and Wednesdays'. The puzzle for Feb 12 Tuesday (Allan E. Parish, the mythical crier Niobe one) was obviously more difficult than Feb 15 Friday's (Randall J. Hartman).
I hope I am not the only one who feels this way. I would love to have your thoughts.
I tanked this one miserably, from the very beginning. I was so adamantly sure of my HAJJ for 1D: Pilgrimage to Mecca (HADJ) that I refused to consider DIRT for 17A: Gossip. I met Annika in person, and I am a huge fan of her, but I could never spell her name properly. I should have been patient and worked out the down clues first, then let her surname reveal itself. But NO, I wanted to key in her name first. Overly excited! I always knew Babe as Babe Zaharias, I would never associate her with Ms. Didrikson.
Here are some of the entries for Across:
1A: Noggin toppers: HATS
15A: Latin handle: ANSA. It was in yesterday's puzzle.
16A: Author Jong: ERICA. Fear of Flying author.
18A:Billy or nanny: GOAT
19A: Covered with hoarfrost: RIMED
20A: First female Indy entrant: JANET GUTHRIE. The only female racer I've heard is Danica Patrick.
23A: Small amount of residue: DREG
24A: Lamprey: EEL. Sniggler's catch. Japanese call it Unagi. The smell of grilled unagi (kabayaki) is heavenly.
25A: Drag behind: TOW. I put Lag first, it messed up the whole corner.
31A: Sticks: ADHERES. Every time I see "stick", I just fill in "adhere". It never fails.
34A: Purple shade: LILAC
36A: N. T. book: REV.
37A: Golda of Israel: MEIR. I was a bit disappointed by the portrayal of her in the movie Munich.
38A: LPGA superstar: ANNIKA SORENSTAM. She is back. She just won LPGA season opener in Hawaii 2 days ago. It's been a long winless streak for her. I have her autographed card, very cool.
42A: Installed at carpet: LAID
44A: Representative: AGENT
45A: Stock-market abbr. OTC (Over the Counter). I am not cut for any stock market trading. I cannot stomach the violent up-and-down swings.
46A: "Citizen Kane" sled: ROSEBUD. I watched 2 minutes of Citizen Kane, then I gave it up. I did not like it and could not understand what's the beauty in the movie.
50A: Chinese chairman: MAO. His famous quote: Studying hard, improving every day.
51A: Powerful ruler: EMP (EMPEROR)
52A: Novelist Bagnold: ENID
54A: Ms. Didrikson: BABE ZAHARIAS. An incredible all-around athlete. Voted Female Athlete of the Century by Sports Illustrated. She even sewed her own golfing outfits.
59A: Bit of info: DATUM
62A: Vena __ : CAVA: Latin: hollow vein. Look at the definition here.
68A: Deep-orange chalcedony: SARD.
Down entry:
1D: Pilgrimage to Mecca. HADJ. It's a variation on HAJ. HAJJ is a more popular spelling than HADJ. I wish the editor would put a Var mark besides the clue.
3D: Sea swallow: TERN
5D: Drooped: SAGGED
21D: Follow closely: TRACK.
22D: "Still me" writer: REEVE Never read it. I enjoyed very much Katharine Hepburn's autobiography Me. The letter she wrote to Spencer Tracy moved me to tears.
25D: Balance on the brink: TEETER.
26D: "The Egotists" author Fallaci: ORIANA. Did not know her. Here is an interesting tidbit for you from wikipedia: During her 1972 interview with Hentry Kissingerh, Kissinger agreed that the Vietnam War was a "useless war" and compared himself to "the cowboy who leads the wagon train by riding ahead alone on his horse". Kissinger later wrote that it was "the single most disastrous conversation I have ever had with any member of the press."
I guess Bush read this line, no, I take it back, he does not read, maybe Rove told him so, then he decided that he would refuse to admit making any mistake when confronted by the media. Wrong lesson, cowboy! But enjoy your own holiday in Tanzania!
27D: Friendliness: WARMTH
28D: Ski race: SLALOM
29D: Mexican party item: PINATA. I learned this word from a Torii Hunter TV commercial.
30D: Alloy for magnets: ALNICO. Unknown to me.
32D: Worn away unevenly: EROSE
37D: NYC arena: MSG (Madison Square Garden)
39D: Alamogordo headline word: A BOMB. The first atomic bomb test, 1945.
40D: Surmises to be true: SUSPECTS
41D: Gymnast Comaneci: NADIA. The first gymnast to be awarded a perfect 10 in Olympics.
46D: Enlarged (a hole): REAMED
47D: Cleaver of TV: BEAVER
48D: Let go of: UNHAND
53D: Muumuu or sack: DRESS
54D: Set on fire: BURN
55D: Hannibal's "Waterloo": ZAMA. Why the quotation mark in the clue?
57D: Soprano Gluck: ALMA
60D: Cobbler's tool: AWL
61D: Menlo Park initials: TAE (thomas Alva Edison)
Have a great week everyone.
C. C.
