Theme: Three Bigs
17A: Three Bigs: BANG CHEESE HEART
39A: Three bigs: IDEA BROTHER BEND
63A: Three bigs: WIG PICTURE APPLE
3D: Three bigs: BEN VALLEY LEAGUE
7D: Three bigs: TOE COUNTRY HOUSE
11D: Three bigs: DEAL WHEEL DIPPER
Does Big VALLEY refer to the TV series? I've never heard of it before.
The clue for HUBERT (49D: V.P. Humphrey) should not have been abbreviated. But I am so happy to see his name in the puzzle. He is Minnesota's favorite son. There is a certain enigma about him, so idealistic yet realistic. He was so right when he said "Asia is rich in people, rich in culture and rich in resources. It is also rich in trouble."
Some of you might not like this kind of 3- thing theme concept, but I really like this puzzle. It only has 32 blocks, compared with 38 we get often. Besides, there are 6 run through 15-letter theme answers. That's 81 white squares, 36% of the grid. Most of the time we get somewhere between 45 and 55 I think. I've never counted it before though. There are 50 white squares themed entries in yesterday's quip puzzle.
I wonder if Michael T. Williams thought of the real "Big Three" Churchill, Roosevelt & Stalin when he constructed his puzzle.
Across:
1A: Watch pockets: FOBS. I was surprised that "watch chain" is not the #1 definition of FOB.
10A: Norse Zeus: ODIN. He only has one eye. The God of Thunder THOR is his oldest son.
15A: "Christ Stopped at ___": EBOLI. It's written by Carlo Levi. I learned the book title from doing Xword. The spelling is so close to ECOLI.
25A: Stu of early TV: ERWIN. Nope, he is a stranger to me. I wonder if ERWIN is variation of IRWIN.
28A: Jodie Foster film: NELL. Have you seen the movie? It does not look interesting to me.
30A: Celtic worshipper: DRUID. No idea. Dictionary says DRUID is rooted in DRU, Celtic for tree (esp oak tree). So DRUIDS worshipped trees then? It's animisim, isn't it?
43A: Napoleon's commander at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). The "Bravest of the Brave". Wikipedia says that NEY is also an "end-blown flute" in the middle east. What is an "end-blown flute"? Is there any flute called "front-blown"?
44A: "It's a Wonderful Life" director: CAPRA (Frank). I also like his "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Too bad, our politicians today promise so much and deliver so little.
45A: Impresario Hurok: SOL. No idea. Very impressive career.
48A: __ out (intimidate): PSYCH. One letter away from PSYCHE, the beautiful girl Cupid (Eros) loves. I just learned this morning that they have a daughter named Voluptas, the goddess of "sensual pleasures. " Wikipedia says "the first known mention of Voluptas was made by the Roman author Lucius Apuleius in his book "The Golden Ass" - the only Latin novel to survivie in its entirety."
58A: Painter Modigliani: AMEDEO. Not familiar with his name. I do remember seeing "Girl in Pigtail" somewhere before.
71A: Before, before: ERST. Or "Formerly, formerly"; "Once, once".
Down:
1D: Teen idol of the fifties: FABIAN. I've never heard of FABIAN before. That's an odd looking swimwear. What's that white stuff on his waist?
8D: Lohengrin's love: ELSA. I can never remember this Wagner heroine name. Can anyone give me a brief recap of what the story is about?
10D: Mark of the PGA: O'MEARA. Gimme for me. He is one of Tiger Woods' best buddies. He won both the Masters and British Open in 1998.
26D: Somali supermodel: IMAN. She is married to David Bowie. So close to IMAM in spelling.
31D: Cornell's town: ITHACA. Beautifully done. Barb B should like the background music.
40D: Novelist Koontz: DEAN. Not me?
42D: Scary word?: BOO. Ha ha, this reminds of BOOER (Raspberry blower) we had in early Sept.
59D: 651: DCLI. I actually like some math calculations in the clue.
56D: Poetic meadow: LEA. Ewe would love this clue. I am bored.
C.C.
17A: Three Bigs: BANG CHEESE HEART
39A: Three bigs: IDEA BROTHER BEND
63A: Three bigs: WIG PICTURE APPLE
3D: Three bigs: BEN VALLEY LEAGUE
7D: Three bigs: TOE COUNTRY HOUSE
11D: Three bigs: DEAL WHEEL DIPPER
Does Big VALLEY refer to the TV series? I've never heard of it before.
The clue for HUBERT (49D: V.P. Humphrey) should not have been abbreviated. But I am so happy to see his name in the puzzle. He is Minnesota's favorite son. There is a certain enigma about him, so idealistic yet realistic. He was so right when he said "Asia is rich in people, rich in culture and rich in resources. It is also rich in trouble."
Some of you might not like this kind of 3- thing theme concept, but I really like this puzzle. It only has 32 blocks, compared with 38 we get often. Besides, there are 6 run through 15-letter theme answers. That's 81 white squares, 36% of the grid. Most of the time we get somewhere between 45 and 55 I think. I've never counted it before though. There are 50 white squares themed entries in yesterday's quip puzzle.
I wonder if Michael T. Williams thought of the real "Big Three" Churchill, Roosevelt & Stalin when he constructed his puzzle.
Across:
1A: Watch pockets: FOBS. I was surprised that "watch chain" is not the #1 definition of FOB.
10A: Norse Zeus: ODIN. He only has one eye. The God of Thunder THOR is his oldest son.
15A: "Christ Stopped at ___": EBOLI. It's written by Carlo Levi. I learned the book title from doing Xword. The spelling is so close to ECOLI.
25A: Stu of early TV: ERWIN. Nope, he is a stranger to me. I wonder if ERWIN is variation of IRWIN.
28A: Jodie Foster film: NELL. Have you seen the movie? It does not look interesting to me.
30A: Celtic worshipper: DRUID. No idea. Dictionary says DRUID is rooted in DRU, Celtic for tree (esp oak tree). So DRUIDS worshipped trees then? It's animisim, isn't it?
43A: Napoleon's commander at Waterloo: NEY (Michel). The "Bravest of the Brave". Wikipedia says that NEY is also an "end-blown flute" in the middle east. What is an "end-blown flute"? Is there any flute called "front-blown"?
44A: "It's a Wonderful Life" director: CAPRA (Frank). I also like his "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington." Too bad, our politicians today promise so much and deliver so little.
45A: Impresario Hurok: SOL. No idea. Very impressive career.
48A: __ out (intimidate): PSYCH. One letter away from PSYCHE, the beautiful girl Cupid (Eros) loves. I just learned this morning that they have a daughter named Voluptas, the goddess of "sensual pleasures. " Wikipedia says "the first known mention of Voluptas was made by the Roman author Lucius Apuleius in his book "The Golden Ass" - the only Latin novel to survivie in its entirety."
58A: Painter Modigliani: AMEDEO. Not familiar with his name. I do remember seeing "Girl in Pigtail" somewhere before.
71A: Before, before: ERST. Or "Formerly, formerly"; "Once, once".
Down:
1D: Teen idol of the fifties: FABIAN. I've never heard of FABIAN before. That's an odd looking swimwear. What's that white stuff on his waist?
8D: Lohengrin's love: ELSA. I can never remember this Wagner heroine name. Can anyone give me a brief recap of what the story is about?
10D: Mark of the PGA: O'MEARA. Gimme for me. He is one of Tiger Woods' best buddies. He won both the Masters and British Open in 1998.
26D: Somali supermodel: IMAN. She is married to David Bowie. So close to IMAM in spelling.
31D: Cornell's town: ITHACA. Beautifully done. Barb B should like the background music.
40D: Novelist Koontz: DEAN. Not me?
42D: Scary word?: BOO. Ha ha, this reminds of BOOER (Raspberry blower) we had in early Sept.
59D: 651: DCLI. I actually like some math calculations in the clue.
56D: Poetic meadow: LEA. Ewe would love this clue. I am bored.
C.C.
