Theme: NONE
Too hot a puzzle for me to handle today: the palmy CYCADS, the exotic NIPA (Malay thatch), the tropical RATTAN, the LEG, the HES, the ERECTING. Felt like this puzzle was made from Ibiza Islands, for Michael Cretu, whose intoxicating ENIGMA album stole my heart!
I got LAID instead of LAIN at 57D: Reclined, again, just like last Sunday. Really need to look carefully before I jump next time. Money became a huge issue today, as both CRUZEIRO and INTI stumped me hard today. And AZAN, oh my gosh, that clue Muezzin was intimidating! Total SNAFU at the left corner. Lots of troubles in other area too. Tough puzzle.
ACROSS:
1A: Shotgun ammo: PELLETS
8A: Cravings: HUNGERS. Are they really the same?
15A: Blood deficiency: ANAEMIA. Shouldn't there be VAR mark in the clue?
16A: Coop flier: ESCAPEE. Great clue. Coop is slang for prison. I think adding a "?" would have made the clue more sparkling.
17A: Hang up: RING OFF
18A: Marine fauna: SEA LIFE
19A: J. Hancocked?: SGD (Signed). I put OK'D first.
22A: Attacked: RAIDED
28A: Actress Gilpin: PERI. Not familiar to me. I penned in TERI.
29A: Political meeting: CAUCUS. This caucus system is too absurd and is not viable any more. Important decisions should not be made by a few party insiders.
31A: CB-ers?: RADIO MEN. Um, I am not impressed by the cluing at all.
34A: Actor Tognazzi: UGO. I've never heard of him. Got it from down clues.
35A: Putting up: ERECTING. I like how ERECTING intersects with ADRENALIN and SEEDINGS. It would be sensational if 14D were not in ING form. I have ING phobia.
39A: The devil: OLD NICK. I've never heard of this expression. I filled in OLD DICK, thinking of "the Devil and Dick Cheney" joke.
42A: "Troilus and ___": CRESSIDA. Tragically, I've never read this Shakespeare play. Not familiar with the title at all.
46A: Like a square box: CUBOIDAL. New word to me. Cubelike.
47A: Of iron: FERRIC. What is lack of iron? ANEMIC?
51A: Muezzin's call to prayer: AZAN. Ridiculously impossible for me. AZAN is "the call to prayer proclaimed five times a day by the muezzin in Muslim countries". See here for Muezzin explanation.
60A: RN's nice: TLC. Wouldn't be cool to intersect TLC and ICU (24D) someday?
52A: Little yelp: YIP. Why not try "Small bark" or "Golf putting phobia"or something else? Ennui!
54A: Prepared for action: READY. Yes, I am! Surprise me, "Denis of Cork", tell me you are for real!
61A: Da Nang location: VIETNAM
63A: Standby army: MILITIA
66A: Unpredictable: ERRATIC
67A: Object of a computer instruction: OPERAND
68A: "The Thieving Magpie" composer: ROSSINI. No idea. I know nothing about classical music.
69A: Island wraps: SARONGS. I like how SARONGS crossing NIPA (Malay thatch), as Malaysians love wearing SARONGS.
DOWN:
1D: Unit of astronomical length: PARSEC. It comes from Par(allax) Sec(ond). PARSEC is "a unit of distance equal to that required to cause a heliocentric parallax of one second of an arc, equivalent to 206,265 times the distance from the earth to the sun, or 3.26 light-years". Umm, hard, I don't understand what I've written down.
2D: Elgar's "_____Variations": ENIGMA. No idea. It is "Elgar's best-known large-scale composition". Do you love this ENIGMA? It's very sensual and sexy, spiritual too. The gasps for air, the whispering, everything is just so enigmatic.
3D: Martin of "Mission: Impossible": LANDAU. Don't know him.
6D: Southern Georgia county: TIFT. I've never heard of it. Is it well known?
8D: All of guys: HES. I put MEN first.
11D: Impure resin of turpentine: GALIPOT. No idea. Did someone use this word at the Comments section lately? I vaguely remember I saw this word before.
12D: Rampant: EPIDEMIC
13D: Something alluded to: REFERENT
14D: Tournament positions: SEEDINGS. I actually like this cluing. I just hate when too many ING's appear in one puzzle.
21D: Epinephrine: ADRENALIN. I did not know the meaning of "Epinephrine", had to look up in the dictionary. But shouldn't it be ADRENALINE?
25D: Classic Dracula: LUGOSI (Béla). Should have a "?" with the clue, don't you think so?
27D: Gandhi's garb: SARI
30D: 3-D shape: SOLID. I like how SOLID crossing CUBOIDAL.
33D: More googey: ICKIER
36D: Catcher-turned-sportscaster: McCARVER (Tim). No idea. I kept thinking of JIM KAAT, but he was a Pitcher-turned-sportscaster.
37D: Brazilian cash: CRUZEIRO. This Brazilian Supermodel will only take €€€, not CRUZEIRO, not even your $$$. Do ya feel lucky, punk? (Update later: Tom Brady is currently dating Gisele).
38D: Arguers: DEBATERS
43D: Instrumental compositions: SONATAS. Like the crossing of SONATAS with ROSSINI.
45D: Three in Roma: TRE. A little bit Chinese for you. This character "一" is one, "二" is two, and "三" is three. Super easy, isn't it?
48D: Wickerwork material: RATTAN. Saw this before.
49D: Not doing anything: IDLING
50D: Group of seed plants: CYCADS. Here is the definition: "any gymnospermous plant of the order Cycadales, intermediate in appearance between ferns and the palms, many species having a thick, unbranched, columnar trunk bearing a crown of large, leathery, pinnate leaves." Look at her CYCAD.
53D: California tribe: POMOS. Saw it somewhere before.
56D: Former Peruvian currency: INTI. SOL is Peru's money unit now, interesting, Sun as their currency. More interesting: INTI was the Sun God of Incas.
57D: Reclined: LAIN
59D: Malay thatch: NIPA. It's a palm in Southeast Asia, with foliage for thatching and basketry. Alright, see these 2 pictures: NIPA palm and NIPA hut.
64D: Celtic god: LER. Sea God. Father of Manannan. I am confused here. The dictionary says Manannan is also a Sea God, who is the Sea God then?
65D: Worldwide help grp.: IRO (International Refugee Organization). I wrote down IMF.
Forgot to say earlier that I dislike the appearances of 2 Roman numerals in one puzzle, very lazy cluing.
C.C.
Too hot a puzzle for me to handle today: the palmy CYCADS, the exotic NIPA (Malay thatch), the tropical RATTAN, the LEG, the HES, the ERECTING. Felt like this puzzle was made from Ibiza Islands, for Michael Cretu, whose intoxicating ENIGMA album stole my heart!
I got LAID instead of LAIN at 57D: Reclined, again, just like last Sunday. Really need to look carefully before I jump next time. Money became a huge issue today, as both CRUZEIRO and INTI stumped me hard today. And AZAN, oh my gosh, that clue Muezzin was intimidating! Total SNAFU at the left corner. Lots of troubles in other area too. Tough puzzle.
ACROSS:
1A: Shotgun ammo: PELLETS
8A: Cravings: HUNGERS. Are they really the same?
15A: Blood deficiency: ANAEMIA. Shouldn't there be VAR mark in the clue?
16A: Coop flier: ESCAPEE. Great clue. Coop is slang for prison. I think adding a "?" would have made the clue more sparkling.
17A: Hang up: RING OFF
18A: Marine fauna: SEA LIFE
19A: J. Hancocked?: SGD (Signed). I put OK'D first.
22A: Attacked: RAIDED
28A: Actress Gilpin: PERI. Not familiar to me. I penned in TERI.
29A: Political meeting: CAUCUS. This caucus system is too absurd and is not viable any more. Important decisions should not be made by a few party insiders.
31A: CB-ers?: RADIO MEN. Um, I am not impressed by the cluing at all.
34A: Actor Tognazzi: UGO. I've never heard of him. Got it from down clues.
35A: Putting up: ERECTING. I like how ERECTING intersects with ADRENALIN and SEEDINGS. It would be sensational if 14D were not in ING form. I have ING phobia.
39A: The devil: OLD NICK. I've never heard of this expression. I filled in OLD DICK, thinking of "the Devil and Dick Cheney" joke.
42A: "Troilus and ___": CRESSIDA. Tragically, I've never read this Shakespeare play. Not familiar with the title at all.
46A: Like a square box: CUBOIDAL. New word to me. Cubelike.
47A: Of iron: FERRIC. What is lack of iron? ANEMIC?
51A: Muezzin's call to prayer: AZAN. Ridiculously impossible for me. AZAN is "the call to prayer proclaimed five times a day by the muezzin in Muslim countries". See here for Muezzin explanation.
60A: RN's nice: TLC. Wouldn't be cool to intersect TLC and ICU (24D) someday?
52A: Little yelp: YIP. Why not try "Small bark" or "Golf putting phobia"or something else? Ennui!
54A: Prepared for action: READY. Yes, I am! Surprise me, "Denis of Cork", tell me you are for real!
61A: Da Nang location: VIETNAM
63A: Standby army: MILITIA
66A: Unpredictable: ERRATIC
67A: Object of a computer instruction: OPERAND
68A: "The Thieving Magpie" composer: ROSSINI. No idea. I know nothing about classical music.
69A: Island wraps: SARONGS. I like how SARONGS crossing NIPA (Malay thatch), as Malaysians love wearing SARONGS.
DOWN:
1D: Unit of astronomical length: PARSEC. It comes from Par(allax) Sec(ond). PARSEC is "a unit of distance equal to that required to cause a heliocentric parallax of one second of an arc, equivalent to 206,265 times the distance from the earth to the sun, or 3.26 light-years". Umm, hard, I don't understand what I've written down.
2D: Elgar's "_____Variations": ENIGMA. No idea. It is "Elgar's best-known large-scale composition". Do you love this ENIGMA? It's very sensual and sexy, spiritual too. The gasps for air, the whispering, everything is just so enigmatic.
3D: Martin of "Mission: Impossible": LANDAU. Don't know him.
6D: Southern Georgia county: TIFT. I've never heard of it. Is it well known?
8D: All of guys: HES. I put MEN first.
11D: Impure resin of turpentine: GALIPOT. No idea. Did someone use this word at the Comments section lately? I vaguely remember I saw this word before.
12D: Rampant: EPIDEMIC
13D: Something alluded to: REFERENT
14D: Tournament positions: SEEDINGS. I actually like this cluing. I just hate when too many ING's appear in one puzzle.
21D: Epinephrine: ADRENALIN. I did not know the meaning of "Epinephrine", had to look up in the dictionary. But shouldn't it be ADRENALINE?
25D: Classic Dracula: LUGOSI (Béla). Should have a "?" with the clue, don't you think so?
27D: Gandhi's garb: SARI
30D: 3-D shape: SOLID. I like how SOLID crossing CUBOIDAL.
33D: More googey: ICKIER
36D: Catcher-turned-sportscaster: McCARVER (Tim). No idea. I kept thinking of JIM KAAT, but he was a Pitcher-turned-sportscaster.
37D: Brazilian cash: CRUZEIRO. This Brazilian Supermodel will only take €€€, not CRUZEIRO, not even your $$$. Do ya feel lucky, punk? (Update later: Tom Brady is currently dating Gisele).
38D: Arguers: DEBATERS
43D: Instrumental compositions: SONATAS. Like the crossing of SONATAS with ROSSINI.
45D: Three in Roma: TRE. A little bit Chinese for you. This character "一" is one, "二" is two, and "三" is three. Super easy, isn't it?
48D: Wickerwork material: RATTAN. Saw this before.
49D: Not doing anything: IDLING
50D: Group of seed plants: CYCADS. Here is the definition: "any gymnospermous plant of the order Cycadales, intermediate in appearance between ferns and the palms, many species having a thick, unbranched, columnar trunk bearing a crown of large, leathery, pinnate leaves." Look at her CYCAD.
53D: California tribe: POMOS. Saw it somewhere before.
56D: Former Peruvian currency: INTI. SOL is Peru's money unit now, interesting, Sun as their currency. More interesting: INTI was the Sun God of Incas.
57D: Reclined: LAIN
59D: Malay thatch: NIPA. It's a palm in Southeast Asia, with foliage for thatching and basketry. Alright, see these 2 pictures: NIPA palm and NIPA hut.
64D: Celtic god: LER. Sea God. Father of Manannan. I am confused here. The dictionary says Manannan is also a Sea God, who is the Sea God then?
65D: Worldwide help grp.: IRO (International Refugee Organization). I wrote down IMF.
Forgot to say earlier that I dislike the appearances of 2 Roman numerals in one puzzle, very lazy cluing.
C.C.
