17A: "Cimarron" actress Irene's carriage?: DUN(N)E BUGGY. Knew Irene DUNNE. Not familiar with DUNE BUGGY ("The Other Woman" sounds sweet). It's used on sand dunes/beaches.
23A: Makers of knockoff artillery?: CAN(N)ON COPIERS. Had never heard of Ricoh until I came to the US. Xerox and CANON were the popular copier brands in China.
32A: Nordic winter wear?: FIN(NI)SH COAT. Nokia is all I know about Finland.
40A: Airer of fashion infomercials?: COCO CHAN(N)EL. Had lots of trouble obtaining this entry, despite seeing Clear Ayes' CHANNEL for CASSINI ("In My Own Fashion" autobiographer") mistake last Sunday. CHANEL once said "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance." So true.
50A: Film festival city guidebook for pedestrians?: WALKING CAN(N)ES. CANNES Film Festival.
59A: Cruise down the Rhine, perhaps?: BON(N) VOYAGE. BONN is former capital of Western Germany. On the Rhine River.
Another special 15*16 grid. One extra row to accommodate the overlapped theme answers FINNISH COAT and COCO CHANNEL.
Dan mentioned that he always shoots for at least 20 entries of 6-letter or more in his puzzle. I counted a total of 24 in today's grid.
Bumpy ride. As planned yesterday, I dived into the lower right corner immediately and got BONN VOYAGE in no time. Found no unifying answer there, then returned north and got DUNNE BUGGY. Then I noticed the extra N pattern. Unfortunately it did not help me with the other 4 theme answers at all.
Quite a few obscure words/abbreviations for me in the grid.
Across:
1A: Dear columnist? ABBY. Dear ABBY.
5A: Neighborhood near TriBeCa?: SOHO. TriBeCa stands for Triangle Below Canal Street.
9A: Alternative to Hires: DAD'S. Root beer brands.
13A: SST nose feature: DROOP. Wikipedia says DROOP nose was a distinctive feature of Concorde. And pilot would lower the nose to improve visibility of the runway and taxiway. When in flight, the nose would be raised. New term to me.
15A: À tout __: at all costs: PRIX. Simply "price" in French, as in PRIX fixe.
16A: Aunt with a "Cope Book": ERMA. From ERMA Bombeck.
19A: Worker's end-of-week cry: TGIF. Proper for a Friday puzzle.
20A: Abbr. in some Canadian place names: STE. In Québec or other French speaking places.
21A: 2002 Best New Artist Grammy winner Jones: NORAH. Very nice "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". NORAH Jones is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, the sitarist.
26A: Masters partner: JOHNSON. Stumped. The Masters and JOHNSON was a research team (William Masters & Virginia E. JOHNSON). They pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the 1990s, a la Wikipedia.
29A: Film director Petri: ELIO. Big stumper. Have never heard of this Italian film director. He died in 1982, the year TV entered my world.
30A: D'backs and Cards: NLERS. Diamondbacks & Cardinals: National Leaguers.
39A: "Bambi" character: ENA: Bambi's aunt.
42A: Promotes: SELLS. OK, Obama promotes/SELLS his heath care plan. I had problem understanding the connection.
43A: Prefix meaning height: ACRO. As in acrobat/acrophobia.
44A: "No kidding!": THAT SO. Can you give me an example of how these two are synonymous? I've never heard of THAT SO.
47A: With sophistication: SUAVELY
53A: "80's Ladies" country singer K. T.: OSLIN. Knew her name, not the song.
54A: Eager, in dialect: RARIN'. RARIN' to go.
58A: Fish's last meal?: BAIT. Great clue. Got me.
61A: "__ the picture!": I GET
62A: Car with a four-ring logo: AUDI. Very straightforward clue.
63A: Greek New Ager: YANNI. Enya & YANNI, the only two New Agers I know. YANNI attended University of Minnesota.
64A: Deep-six: TOSS. Origin for deep-six (discard): a burial at sea (where the body is weighted to force it to the bottom) requires a minimum of six fathoms of water.
65A: Column-lined pedestrian way: STOA. Alright, here is the STOA of Attalos in Athens. Of Doric order.
66A: Spunkmeyer of cookie fame: OTIS. Total stranger to me.
Down:
2D: Moët et Chandon label word: BRUT. Literally "very dry".
3D: Elegant tableware: BONE CHINA
4D: Over there, old-style: YON. Hither and YON.
5D: Encourage: SPUR ON
6D: Heart, e.g.: ORGAN. And UNIV (48D:: Harvard, e.g.: Abbr.). Same style of cluing.
7D: Impressive note: HIGH C. Wikipedia says it's also called Soprano C.
8D: Moronic intro?: OXY. Oxymoronic.
9D: Holds for questioning: DETAINS
11D: Composer Shostakovich: DMITRI. Got his name with Across help.
12D: Like AAA-rated bonds, as bonds go: SAFEST
14D: Actor Sean et al: PENNS. The only non-theme NN answer in the grid. (Update: YANNI too).
18D: Activist Chaz: BONO. D'oh. Chastity BONO. Sonny & Cher's daughter. LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) activist. She is going to have a gender swap surgery and officially become a "he".
22D: Peloponnesian War victor: SPARTA. Easy guess. Not familiar with that ancient Greek war. It's fought between SPARTA and the Athens.
24D: Author. unknown: ANON
25D: Belief involving sorcery: OBEAH (OH-bee-uh). New word to me. Dictionary says it's practiced in some parts of the West Indies, Jamaica, and nearby tropical America. Kind of like Voodoo, isn't it?
26D: Boss, in Spanish: JEFE. Also new to me. It's pronounced like HE-fe.
27D: "thirtysomething" actor Ken: OLIN. Nope. Have never heard of this guy or TV series "thirtysomething".
30D: Some PX patrons: NCOS. PX is Post Exchange.
31D: __ cit.: footnote abbr.: LOC
33D: Strands at a chalet, perhaps: ICES IN
34D: Athenian reformer: SOLON. No idea. Wikipedia outlines a bunch of constitutional, economic, moral reforms he conducted but failed.
35D: Acid in gastric juice, chemically: HCL (Hydrocholoric). Absolutely no idea.
36D: Nonstop: INCESSANT
37D: Jazzman Saunders: MERL. Obtained his name with Across fills. What's the model of his car?
41D: Church area: NAVE
42D: Leeward Island north of Nevis: ST. KITTS. I am going to eat worms if I forget this name again.
44D: Small-time: TWO-BIT. Both the clue and answers are new to me. Only know "Big time". TWO-BITS is also a slang for a quarter. (Thanks, Bryan.)
45D: Tries one's hand (at): HAS A GO. Alas, multiple-word problem again.
46D: Unites (with): ALLIES
47D: Lake Huron port in Canada: SARNIA. I forgot. It's clued as "Largest city on Lake Huron" last time. See this map. Northeast of Detroit.
51D: Tiler's need: GROUT. Thin, coarse mortar. New to me.
52D: Positive-thinking: CAN-DO. Like Dennis's attitude.
56D: Lambs: Lat.: AGNI. Did not know the plural of Agnus is AGNI. Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).
57D: Floral rings: LEIS
59D: Box score figs.: BAS. BA stands for Batting Average in baseball or "Blocks Against" in basketball. (Thanks, Dennis & Argyle).
60D: Shanghai-born NBAer: YAO. His surname. Chinese put surname first.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a great wedding photo of our fellow solver Linda. In her own words: "L to R: Brides Parents, bride and groom (our youngest son,) moi and hubby."
C.C.
23A: Makers of knockoff artillery?: CAN(N)ON COPIERS. Had never heard of Ricoh until I came to the US. Xerox and CANON were the popular copier brands in China.
32A: Nordic winter wear?: FIN(NI)SH COAT. Nokia is all I know about Finland.
40A: Airer of fashion infomercials?: COCO CHAN(N)EL. Had lots of trouble obtaining this entry, despite seeing Clear Ayes' CHANNEL for CASSINI ("In My Own Fashion" autobiographer") mistake last Sunday. CHANEL once said "Simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance." So true.
50A: Film festival city guidebook for pedestrians?: WALKING CAN(N)ES. CANNES Film Festival.
59A: Cruise down the Rhine, perhaps?: BON(N) VOYAGE. BONN is former capital of Western Germany. On the Rhine River.
Another special 15*16 grid. One extra row to accommodate the overlapped theme answers FINNISH COAT and COCO CHANNEL.
Dan mentioned that he always shoots for at least 20 entries of 6-letter or more in his puzzle. I counted a total of 24 in today's grid.
Bumpy ride. As planned yesterday, I dived into the lower right corner immediately and got BONN VOYAGE in no time. Found no unifying answer there, then returned north and got DUNNE BUGGY. Then I noticed the extra N pattern. Unfortunately it did not help me with the other 4 theme answers at all.
Quite a few obscure words/abbreviations for me in the grid.
Across:
1A: Dear columnist? ABBY. Dear ABBY.
5A: Neighborhood near TriBeCa?: SOHO. TriBeCa stands for Triangle Below Canal Street.
9A: Alternative to Hires: DAD'S. Root beer brands.
13A: SST nose feature: DROOP. Wikipedia says DROOP nose was a distinctive feature of Concorde. And pilot would lower the nose to improve visibility of the runway and taxiway. When in flight, the nose would be raised. New term to me.
15A: À tout __: at all costs: PRIX. Simply "price" in French, as in PRIX fixe.
16A: Aunt with a "Cope Book": ERMA. From ERMA Bombeck.
19A: Worker's end-of-week cry: TGIF. Proper for a Friday puzzle.
20A: Abbr. in some Canadian place names: STE. In Québec or other French speaking places.
21A: 2002 Best New Artist Grammy winner Jones: NORAH. Very nice "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". NORAH Jones is the daughter of Ravi Shankar, the sitarist.
26A: Masters partner: JOHNSON. Stumped. The Masters and JOHNSON was a research team (William Masters & Virginia E. JOHNSON). They pioneered research into the nature of human sexual response and the diagnosis and treatment of sexual disorders and dysfunctions from 1957 until the 1990s, a la Wikipedia.
29A: Film director Petri: ELIO. Big stumper. Have never heard of this Italian film director. He died in 1982, the year TV entered my world.
30A: D'backs and Cards: NLERS. Diamondbacks & Cardinals: National Leaguers.
39A: "Bambi" character: ENA: Bambi's aunt.
42A: Promotes: SELLS. OK, Obama promotes/SELLS his heath care plan. I had problem understanding the connection.
43A: Prefix meaning height: ACRO. As in acrobat/acrophobia.
44A: "No kidding!": THAT SO. Can you give me an example of how these two are synonymous? I've never heard of THAT SO.
47A: With sophistication: SUAVELY
53A: "80's Ladies" country singer K. T.: OSLIN. Knew her name, not the song.
54A: Eager, in dialect: RARIN'. RARIN' to go.
58A: Fish's last meal?: BAIT. Great clue. Got me.
61A: "__ the picture!": I GET
62A: Car with a four-ring logo: AUDI. Very straightforward clue.
63A: Greek New Ager: YANNI. Enya & YANNI, the only two New Agers I know. YANNI attended University of Minnesota.
64A: Deep-six: TOSS. Origin for deep-six (discard): a burial at sea (where the body is weighted to force it to the bottom) requires a minimum of six fathoms of water.
65A: Column-lined pedestrian way: STOA. Alright, here is the STOA of Attalos in Athens. Of Doric order.
66A: Spunkmeyer of cookie fame: OTIS. Total stranger to me.
Down:
2D: Moët et Chandon label word: BRUT. Literally "very dry".
3D: Elegant tableware: BONE CHINA
4D: Over there, old-style: YON. Hither and YON.
5D: Encourage: SPUR ON
6D: Heart, e.g.: ORGAN. And UNIV (48D:: Harvard, e.g.: Abbr.). Same style of cluing.
7D: Impressive note: HIGH C. Wikipedia says it's also called Soprano C.
8D: Moronic intro?: OXY. Oxymoronic.
9D: Holds for questioning: DETAINS
11D: Composer Shostakovich: DMITRI. Got his name with Across help.
12D: Like AAA-rated bonds, as bonds go: SAFEST
14D: Actor Sean et al: PENNS. The only non-theme NN answer in the grid. (Update: YANNI too).
18D: Activist Chaz: BONO. D'oh. Chastity BONO. Sonny & Cher's daughter. LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) activist. She is going to have a gender swap surgery and officially become a "he".
22D: Peloponnesian War victor: SPARTA. Easy guess. Not familiar with that ancient Greek war. It's fought between SPARTA and the Athens.
24D: Author. unknown: ANON
25D: Belief involving sorcery: OBEAH (OH-bee-uh). New word to me. Dictionary says it's practiced in some parts of the West Indies, Jamaica, and nearby tropical America. Kind of like Voodoo, isn't it?
26D: Boss, in Spanish: JEFE. Also new to me. It's pronounced like HE-fe.
27D: "thirtysomething" actor Ken: OLIN. Nope. Have never heard of this guy or TV series "thirtysomething".
30D: Some PX patrons: NCOS. PX is Post Exchange.
31D: __ cit.: footnote abbr.: LOC
33D: Strands at a chalet, perhaps: ICES IN
34D: Athenian reformer: SOLON. No idea. Wikipedia outlines a bunch of constitutional, economic, moral reforms he conducted but failed.
35D: Acid in gastric juice, chemically: HCL (Hydrocholoric). Absolutely no idea.
36D: Nonstop: INCESSANT
37D: Jazzman Saunders: MERL. Obtained his name with Across fills. What's the model of his car?
41D: Church area: NAVE
42D: Leeward Island north of Nevis: ST. KITTS. I am going to eat worms if I forget this name again.
44D: Small-time: TWO-BIT. Both the clue and answers are new to me. Only know "Big time". TWO-BITS is also a slang for a quarter. (Thanks, Bryan.)
45D: Tries one's hand (at): HAS A GO. Alas, multiple-word problem again.
46D: Unites (with): ALLIES
47D: Lake Huron port in Canada: SARNIA. I forgot. It's clued as "Largest city on Lake Huron" last time. See this map. Northeast of Detroit.
51D: Tiler's need: GROUT. Thin, coarse mortar. New to me.
52D: Positive-thinking: CAN-DO. Like Dennis's attitude.
56D: Lambs: Lat.: AGNI. Did not know the plural of Agnus is AGNI. Agnus Dei (Lamb of God).
57D: Floral rings: LEIS
59D: Box score figs.: BAS. BA stands for Batting Average in baseball or "Blocks Against" in basketball. (Thanks, Dennis & Argyle).
60D: Shanghai-born NBAer: YAO. His surname. Chinese put surname first.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a great wedding photo of our fellow solver Linda. In her own words: "L to R: Brides Parents, bride and groom (our youngest son,) moi and hubby."
C.C.
