Theme: None
Total blocks: 33
Total words: 72
Definitely an eased-up Saturday. I filled in so many blanks on the first pass. Loved the political flavor in this puzzle:
14A: Role in the film "W.": JEB BUSH. Very minor role. I don't like "W.", such a negative portrayal of Condi Rice.
45A: Leader with bouffant hairdo: KIM JONG-IL. Nailed it like it were OREO. He is grooming his son Kim Jong-un to be his successor.
59A: War on Poverty monogram: LBJ. I thought War on Poverty was one of FDR's New Deal programs.
2D: Front-page grabber: HEADLINE
34D: 1960 debate monogram: RMN. Did not know Nixon's middle initial: Richard Milhous Nixon.
45D: Post-Taliban president: KARZAI (Hamid). Wow, I always thought it's KARZIA.
58D: "Contract With America" first name: NEWT (Gingrich). A potential GOP 2012 presidential candidate.
I suppose you can add ABDULLAH (3D: Name meaning "servant of God") into the group too. The current king of Saudi Arabia is called ABDULLAH. I only knew ABDUL (as in Paula ABDUL) means "servant of".
Quite a scrabbly puzzle, with four J's, 1 Z & eight K's.
Across:
1A: "Bingo!": THAT'S IT. Nailed it with just letter H from the intersecting HEADLINE.
8A: Corn piece: COB
11A:. Links standard: PAR. Links & golf course are often used interchangeably, though links refers to a specific type.
15A: Griddle fare: HOECAKE. I've never had HOECAKE. Kind of like corn bread, isn't it?
17A: Went ape, like Bart Simpson: HAD A COW. No idea. "Don't have a cow, man!" showed up as a Bart Simpson quote when I googled.
18A: Not pointless: ON TOPIC
19A: Norfolk, Virginia, sch.: ODU (Old Dominion University). Unknown to me. Wikipedia says it derives its name from Virginia's official state nickname, "The Old Dominion", given to the state by King Charles II of England for remaining loyal to the crown during the English Civil War (1641-1651).
20A: Flair: KNACK. Jerome has a Flair/KNACK for anagram.
22A: Haunted castle sound: CLANK. CLANK from the chains of a prisoner once kept in the castle?
23A: It's a crock: OLLA. So true! But I was thinking of nonsense crock. Great clue.
25A: Contemporary of Agatha: ERLE
26A: Bookstore section: HOW-TO
27A: Firing places: KILNS
29A: "Cheers" actor: TED DANSON. Had trouble stringing his name together, though I've seen this picture at least 3 times.
31A: Perform on stage: ENACT
32A: Kicks: FUN
33A: Tries again, in court: REHEARS. Feels like the extra "in court" is just for me, since I could not understand the RETRY & "Hear again" connection last time.
36A: Make good on: PAY BACK
42A: Scrip spec: MED. Did not know scrip is short for prescription. I actually read the clue as "Script spec.".
44A: Act of insurance fraud, perhaps: ARSON. No "fire" play today.
51A: Legal search subject: TITLE
52A: Words after cut or close: A DEAL
53A: Vacationer's accumulation, perhaps: MAIL
57A: Title host of a talk show featuring dance routine: ELLEN. OK, here is Obama on ELLEN.
60A: Uses a MapQuest feature: ZOOMS IN
62A: Big name at the Peppermint Lounge: JOEY DEE. Big stumper. Have never heard of the Peppermint Lounge disco club, the home base of JOEY DEE and the Starliters, who recorded their #1 hit "Peppermint Twist" at the venue in the early 1960, according to Wikipedia.
64A: Down deep: AT HEART
65A: Impressive way to walk?: ON WATER. I actually knew the Biblical "walking ON WATER" story, but I was too dense to think outside of SWAGGER.
66A: Suffix with Marx.: ISM. Marxism, Leninism & Chairman Mao Thought, the stuff I grew up with.
67A: "The Royal Tenenbaums" director Anderson: WES. Gimme, though I've yet to see the movie.
68A: Do some strategic schmoozing: NETWORK. Great clue.
Down:
1D: '80s William Shatner cop series: T.J. HOOKER. Another stumper for me. Someone might have mentioned this TV series on the blog before.
4D: Sched. question mark: TBA
5D: What toadies do, with "up": SUCK
6D: "That __ for the record books": IS ONE
7D: Block: THWART. My first reaction is STYMIE.
8D: Emotionally overcome: CHOKED UP
9D: Suffix with ball: OON. Balloon.
10D: "You __!": "Certainly": BETCHA. Ah, Minnesota!
11D: Fruit also called "prairie bananas": PAPAWS. Same as papaya? I don't know. Papaya tastes so different from banana.
12D: Very much like: AKIN TO
13D: S'pose: RECKON. The clue seems to indicate an abbreviated answer.
16D: Time punctuation: COLON. So simple in retrospect. 5:30, the middle two dots.
21D: Score symbol: CLEF
24D: Suffix with govern: ANCE. Governance. MENT won't fit.
28D: London's Victoria, e.g.: Abbr.: STA. No idea. Victoria Station is the second busiest railway terminus after Waterloo.
30D: ___ sequencing: DNA
35D: Parts: SEGMENTS
37D: China's Sun __-sen: YAT. He dethroned the last emperor of China. Brother-in-law of Chiang Kai-shek.
38D: Boater feature: BRIM. The boater hat, not the one who boats.
39D: Words on some autobiographies: AS TOLD TO. Mine was A MEMOIR(E). Wrong spelling to boot.
40D: Stadium vendor's cry: COLD BEER. Great answer.
41D: Unthinking: KNEE-JERK. I penned in HEEDLESS. Obviously I was unthinking.
43D: Regulating gadget: DIAL. For radio I suppose.
46D: Fools: IDIOTS
47D: Large unit of resistance: MEGOHM. Guessed. OHM is often clued as "unit of resistance".
48D: "The Bionic Woman" __ Sommers: JAIME. Have never heard of "The Bionic Woman". J'AIME ce nom, lovely.
49D: Familiar adage: OLD SAW
50D: "Crunk Juice" rapper: LIL JON. Nope. Looks so noisy.
54D: West African currency: LEONE. Currency for Sierra LEONE. Got me.
61D: Face reddener: IRE
63D: Deviate: YAW. As a ship/aircraft. Pitch, roll & YAW. I can never remember which line is for which.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is another great photo of our fellow solvers visiting the Spruce Goose. From left to right: Dick's wife Irene, Dick, Carol and Carol's husband Joe.
C.C.
Total blocks: 33
Total words: 72
Definitely an eased-up Saturday. I filled in so many blanks on the first pass. Loved the political flavor in this puzzle:
14A: Role in the film "W.": JEB BUSH. Very minor role. I don't like "W.", such a negative portrayal of Condi Rice.
45A: Leader with bouffant hairdo: KIM JONG-IL. Nailed it like it were OREO. He is grooming his son Kim Jong-un to be his successor.
59A: War on Poverty monogram: LBJ. I thought War on Poverty was one of FDR's New Deal programs.
2D: Front-page grabber: HEADLINE
34D: 1960 debate monogram: RMN. Did not know Nixon's middle initial: Richard Milhous Nixon.
45D: Post-Taliban president: KARZAI (Hamid). Wow, I always thought it's KARZIA.
58D: "Contract With America" first name: NEWT (Gingrich). A potential GOP 2012 presidential candidate.
I suppose you can add ABDULLAH (3D: Name meaning "servant of God") into the group too. The current king of Saudi Arabia is called ABDULLAH. I only knew ABDUL (as in Paula ABDUL) means "servant of".
Quite a scrabbly puzzle, with four J's, 1 Z & eight K's.
Across:
1A: "Bingo!": THAT'S IT. Nailed it with just letter H from the intersecting HEADLINE.
8A: Corn piece: COB
11A:. Links standard: PAR. Links & golf course are often used interchangeably, though links refers to a specific type.
15A: Griddle fare: HOECAKE. I've never had HOECAKE. Kind of like corn bread, isn't it?
17A: Went ape, like Bart Simpson: HAD A COW. No idea. "Don't have a cow, man!" showed up as a Bart Simpson quote when I googled.
18A: Not pointless: ON TOPIC
19A: Norfolk, Virginia, sch.: ODU (Old Dominion University). Unknown to me. Wikipedia says it derives its name from Virginia's official state nickname, "The Old Dominion", given to the state by King Charles II of England for remaining loyal to the crown during the English Civil War (1641-1651).
20A: Flair: KNACK. Jerome has a Flair/KNACK for anagram.
22A: Haunted castle sound: CLANK. CLANK from the chains of a prisoner once kept in the castle?
23A: It's a crock: OLLA. So true! But I was thinking of nonsense crock. Great clue.
25A: Contemporary of Agatha: ERLE
26A: Bookstore section: HOW-TO
27A: Firing places: KILNS
29A: "Cheers" actor: TED DANSON. Had trouble stringing his name together, though I've seen this picture at least 3 times.
31A: Perform on stage: ENACT
32A: Kicks: FUN
33A: Tries again, in court: REHEARS. Feels like the extra "in court" is just for me, since I could not understand the RETRY & "Hear again" connection last time.
36A: Make good on: PAY BACK
42A: Scrip spec: MED. Did not know scrip is short for prescription. I actually read the clue as "Script spec.".
44A: Act of insurance fraud, perhaps: ARSON. No "fire" play today.
51A: Legal search subject: TITLE
52A: Words after cut or close: A DEAL
53A: Vacationer's accumulation, perhaps: MAIL
57A: Title host of a talk show featuring dance routine: ELLEN. OK, here is Obama on ELLEN.
60A: Uses a MapQuest feature: ZOOMS IN
62A: Big name at the Peppermint Lounge: JOEY DEE. Big stumper. Have never heard of the Peppermint Lounge disco club, the home base of JOEY DEE and the Starliters, who recorded their #1 hit "Peppermint Twist" at the venue in the early 1960, according to Wikipedia.
64A: Down deep: AT HEART
65A: Impressive way to walk?: ON WATER. I actually knew the Biblical "walking ON WATER" story, but I was too dense to think outside of SWAGGER.
66A: Suffix with Marx.: ISM. Marxism, Leninism & Chairman Mao Thought, the stuff I grew up with.
67A: "The Royal Tenenbaums" director Anderson: WES. Gimme, though I've yet to see the movie.
68A: Do some strategic schmoozing: NETWORK. Great clue.
Down:
1D: '80s William Shatner cop series: T.J. HOOKER. Another stumper for me. Someone might have mentioned this TV series on the blog before.
4D: Sched. question mark: TBA
5D: What toadies do, with "up": SUCK
6D: "That __ for the record books": IS ONE
7D: Block: THWART. My first reaction is STYMIE.
8D: Emotionally overcome: CHOKED UP
9D: Suffix with ball: OON. Balloon.
10D: "You __!": "Certainly": BETCHA. Ah, Minnesota!
11D: Fruit also called "prairie bananas": PAPAWS. Same as papaya? I don't know. Papaya tastes so different from banana.
12D: Very much like: AKIN TO
13D: S'pose: RECKON. The clue seems to indicate an abbreviated answer.
16D: Time punctuation: COLON. So simple in retrospect. 5:30, the middle two dots.
21D: Score symbol: CLEF
24D: Suffix with govern: ANCE. Governance. MENT won't fit.
28D: London's Victoria, e.g.: Abbr.: STA. No idea. Victoria Station is the second busiest railway terminus after Waterloo.
30D: ___ sequencing: DNA
35D: Parts: SEGMENTS
37D: China's Sun __-sen: YAT. He dethroned the last emperor of China. Brother-in-law of Chiang Kai-shek.
38D: Boater feature: BRIM. The boater hat, not the one who boats.
39D: Words on some autobiographies: AS TOLD TO. Mine was A MEMOIR(E). Wrong spelling to boot.
40D: Stadium vendor's cry: COLD BEER. Great answer.
41D: Unthinking: KNEE-JERK. I penned in HEEDLESS. Obviously I was unthinking.
43D: Regulating gadget: DIAL. For radio I suppose.
46D: Fools: IDIOTS
47D: Large unit of resistance: MEGOHM. Guessed. OHM is often clued as "unit of resistance".
48D: "The Bionic Woman" __ Sommers: JAIME. Have never heard of "The Bionic Woman". J'AIME ce nom, lovely.
49D: Familiar adage: OLD SAW
50D: "Crunk Juice" rapper: LIL JON. Nope. Looks so noisy.
54D: West African currency: LEONE. Currency for Sierra LEONE. Got me.
61D: Face reddener: IRE
63D: Deviate: YAW. As a ship/aircraft. Pitch, roll & YAW. I can never remember which line is for which.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is another great photo of our fellow solvers visiting the Spruce Goose. From left to right: Dick's wife Irene, Dick, Carol and Carol's husband Joe.
C.C.
