Theme: Complete Failures
18A: 1963 international treaty subjects: ATOMIC BOMBS
23A: Politicians' dilemmas: FLIP-FLOPS
37A: Heavy gamebirds: WILD TURKEYS
51A: They usually involve undercover work: DRUG BUSTS
57A: Cowboy boots and Stetson hats: WESTERN DUDS
Very tight theme. All the "clunker" words are at the end of the theme entries. And all of them are all in plural form. What other synonyms can you think of?
Wanted DRUG RAID for 51A: They usually involve undercover work. Conducted quite a few raids with the old company. But never about drug. FLIP-FLOPS reminds me of John Kerry's disastrous "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it" statement. I've yet to find a politician who never changes his positions.
I had fun chewing this puzzle. Several tricky clues. My favorite is LOCK (9D: It might be picked). I wrote down LICE first and thought I was pretty smart.
Across:
1A: Gordon Shumway's title alias, in a sitcom: ALF. Easy guess. I've never seen ALF.
4A: Minnesota twin?: ST PAUL. Nice one. "Minnesota twins?" is a great clue for ENS too.
10A: Chick follower: ADEE. How many toes does a chickadee have?
14A: Chinese chairman: MAO. I bet nobody but I thought of "Zhuxi", which is Chinese for "chairman".
15A: Piemonte city: TORINO. Italian for Turin (upper left corner). The 2006 Olympics was held there. I don't know where Piemonte is.
20A: Dietary claim: LESS FAT
22A: Kind of chop: KARATE. Great clue. I was picturing pork chop.
27A: Vacation site: ISLE
28A: "You've go the wrong person": NOT I. I always say "NOT ME" and I know I am wrong grammatically.
31A: Mil. troop unit: CMD. Command?
34A: Lightweight bayou vessel: PIROGUE. No idea. Looks very long.
39A: Triumph: PREVAIL. Verb. Victory has 7 letters too.
41A: Soft & __: Henkel brand: DRI. Holy cow! I've never heard of Henkel. Are they very famous?
44A: Señor's "Absolutely": SI SI
54A: Not necessarily against: OPEN TO. I am against closing Guantanamo Bay, and I am "Not necessarily against" torture. I truly believe harsh measures are needed sometimes.
56A: Expand the viewed area, in a way: ZOOM OUT
60A: Cholesterol initials: LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein). The bad cholesterol. The good one is HDL ( High-Density Lipoprotein).
61A: Offensive comment: SLUR
62A: Pricey timepieces: SEIKOS. Cool watch. OMEGAS also has 6 letters.
64A: Notice: ESPY. Also the annual sports award.
65A: Quirk: ODDITY
66A: Dawn deity: EOS. The goddess of dawn. Aurora for the Romans. The Romaine lettuce is COS.
Down:
1D: Italy's __ Coast: AMALFI. The answer revealed itself. See this map. Also a town in Salerno. About 24 miles southeast of Naples, according to Wikipedia.
3D: Paleontologist's find: FOSSIL
6D: Positive particle: PROTON. Nice crossing with ATOMIC BOMBS.
8D: Lateral beginning: UNI. Unilateral.
10D: Dig deeply: ADORE. Lovely clue.
11D: Capital ESE of Beirut: DAMASCUS. Capital of Syria. I trust the constructor's direction is accurate.
12D: Drop in the ocean: EBB TIDE. Nice clue too.
13D: One of the reputed Dead Sea Scrolls writers: ESSENE. Got the answer from Across fills. Don't know who ESSENE is. It's only one letter away from essence.
19D: Spot for a screwdriver: BAR. The cocktail screwdriver. Nailed it immediately.
21D: Metallic money: SPECIE. New to me.
24D: Having caught on: POPULAR. Struggled with this fill.
25D: Brouhaha: STIR. Not TO-DO today.
29D: Rubs the wrong way: IRKS
32D: MMXC halved: MLV. 1/2 of 2110 = 1055.
33D: Time to attack: D-DAY. Nicolas Sarkozy finally got his wish. Obama will be at the Normandy the day after tomorrow for the D-DAY commemoration.
35D: Antipoverty agcy.: OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity). Unknown to me. I wrote down WHO (World Health Organization) first.
36D: Drywall mineral: GYPSUM. Could not keep plaster out of my mind.
37D: Records in detail: WRITES UP. I have problem with "in detail".
39D: Pushes forward: PROPELS. "Pushes forward" what?
41D: Nap: DROWSE. Verb. Thought of SIESTA.
43D: Maker of Boulevard motorcycles: SUZUKI. Have never heard of SUZUKI Boulevard.
45D: Tristan's love: ISOLDE. I can never remember this girl's name.
46D: Loft, perhaps: STUDIO
47D: Agave fibers: ISTLES. What's the difference between ISTLE and SISAL?
49D: Blog piece: ENTRY. Like what I am writing here every day.
50D: ___ Jeanne d'Arc: STE. French for saint. Feminine.
52D: Title character not in the cast: GODOT. Got it from across fills.
53D: Overbearing: BOSSY
55D: Not exactly: OR SO
58D: "Waking __ Devine": 1998 film: NED. Nope. New film to me.
59D: Impersonated: DID. APED won't fit.
Answer grid.
C.C.
18A: 1963 international treaty subjects: ATOMIC BOMBS
23A: Politicians' dilemmas: FLIP-FLOPS
37A: Heavy gamebirds: WILD TURKEYS
51A: They usually involve undercover work: DRUG BUSTS
57A: Cowboy boots and Stetson hats: WESTERN DUDS
Very tight theme. All the "clunker" words are at the end of the theme entries. And all of them are all in plural form. What other synonyms can you think of?
Wanted DRUG RAID for 51A: They usually involve undercover work. Conducted quite a few raids with the old company. But never about drug. FLIP-FLOPS reminds me of John Kerry's disastrous "I actually did vote for the $87 billion before I voted against it" statement. I've yet to find a politician who never changes his positions.
I had fun chewing this puzzle. Several tricky clues. My favorite is LOCK (9D: It might be picked). I wrote down LICE first and thought I was pretty smart.
Across:
1A: Gordon Shumway's title alias, in a sitcom: ALF. Easy guess. I've never seen ALF.
4A: Minnesota twin?: ST PAUL. Nice one. "Minnesota twins?" is a great clue for ENS too.
10A: Chick follower: ADEE. How many toes does a chickadee have?
14A: Chinese chairman: MAO. I bet nobody but I thought of "Zhuxi", which is Chinese for "chairman".
15A: Piemonte city: TORINO. Italian for Turin (upper left corner). The 2006 Olympics was held there. I don't know where Piemonte is.
20A: Dietary claim: LESS FAT
22A: Kind of chop: KARATE. Great clue. I was picturing pork chop.
27A: Vacation site: ISLE
28A: "You've go the wrong person": NOT I. I always say "NOT ME" and I know I am wrong grammatically.
31A: Mil. troop unit: CMD. Command?
34A: Lightweight bayou vessel: PIROGUE. No idea. Looks very long.
39A: Triumph: PREVAIL. Verb. Victory has 7 letters too.
41A: Soft & __: Henkel brand: DRI. Holy cow! I've never heard of Henkel. Are they very famous?
44A: Señor's "Absolutely": SI SI
54A: Not necessarily against: OPEN TO. I am against closing Guantanamo Bay, and I am "Not necessarily against" torture. I truly believe harsh measures are needed sometimes.
56A: Expand the viewed area, in a way: ZOOM OUT
60A: Cholesterol initials: LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein). The bad cholesterol. The good one is HDL ( High-Density Lipoprotein).
61A: Offensive comment: SLUR
62A: Pricey timepieces: SEIKOS. Cool watch. OMEGAS also has 6 letters.
64A: Notice: ESPY. Also the annual sports award.
65A: Quirk: ODDITY
66A: Dawn deity: EOS. The goddess of dawn. Aurora for the Romans. The Romaine lettuce is COS.
Down:
1D: Italy's __ Coast: AMALFI. The answer revealed itself. See this map. Also a town in Salerno. About 24 miles southeast of Naples, according to Wikipedia.
3D: Paleontologist's find: FOSSIL
6D: Positive particle: PROTON. Nice crossing with ATOMIC BOMBS.
8D: Lateral beginning: UNI. Unilateral.
10D: Dig deeply: ADORE. Lovely clue.
11D: Capital ESE of Beirut: DAMASCUS. Capital of Syria. I trust the constructor's direction is accurate.
12D: Drop in the ocean: EBB TIDE. Nice clue too.
13D: One of the reputed Dead Sea Scrolls writers: ESSENE. Got the answer from Across fills. Don't know who ESSENE is. It's only one letter away from essence.
19D: Spot for a screwdriver: BAR. The cocktail screwdriver. Nailed it immediately.
21D: Metallic money: SPECIE. New to me.
24D: Having caught on: POPULAR. Struggled with this fill.
25D: Brouhaha: STIR. Not TO-DO today.
29D: Rubs the wrong way: IRKS
32D: MMXC halved: MLV. 1/2 of 2110 = 1055.
33D: Time to attack: D-DAY. Nicolas Sarkozy finally got his wish. Obama will be at the Normandy the day after tomorrow for the D-DAY commemoration.
35D: Antipoverty agcy.: OEO (Office of Economic Opportunity). Unknown to me. I wrote down WHO (World Health Organization) first.
36D: Drywall mineral: GYPSUM. Could not keep plaster out of my mind.
37D: Records in detail: WRITES UP. I have problem with "in detail".
39D: Pushes forward: PROPELS. "Pushes forward" what?
41D: Nap: DROWSE. Verb. Thought of SIESTA.
43D: Maker of Boulevard motorcycles: SUZUKI. Have never heard of SUZUKI Boulevard.
45D: Tristan's love: ISOLDE. I can never remember this girl's name.
46D: Loft, perhaps: STUDIO
47D: Agave fibers: ISTLES. What's the difference between ISTLE and SISAL?
49D: Blog piece: ENTRY. Like what I am writing here every day.
50D: ___ Jeanne d'Arc: STE. French for saint. Feminine.
52D: Title character not in the cast: GODOT. Got it from across fills.
53D: Overbearing: BOSSY
55D: Not exactly: OR SO
58D: "Waking __ Devine": 1998 film: NED. Nope. New film to me.
59D: Impersonated: DID. APED won't fit.
Answer grid.
C.C.
