Theme: Rock, Paper, Scissors
20A: Standard Oil family: Rockefellers
37A: Beatles hit of 1966: Paperback Writer
54A: Swimmer's propulsion: Scissors Kick
Tough slog today. Only a few known knowns, and several known unknowns, and scads of unknown unknowns. Oh, the poetry of Rumsfeld!
But the thing that bothers me the most is the lack of theme. (Update: I was wrong. Thank you a lot, Superfrey and Drdad)
I will spare you with my travails today. Here are across entries:
1A: Monastery head: ABBOT
6A: Def. mil. grp.: TAC (Tactical Air Command). There is also a SAC (Strategic Air Command)
9A: Unsuitable: INAPT. I put in UNAPT first. I always associated "inapt" with "incompetent."
19A: 14A: Quantitative diagram: GRAPH
15A: Of the ear: OTO
18A: Full of. suff. OSE. Or sugar suffix, as in "fructose". The only other _ose word that jumps to my mind right now is "verbose".
19A: Composer Grofe: FERDE. Never heard of him.
20A: Standard oil family: ROCKEFELLERS
23A: Japanese Nobelist in literature: KAWABATA (Yasunari). He won Nobel in 1968. He wrote lots of short stories, and he committed suicide in 1972, like Sylvia Plath. The only Japanese novel I really like is Norwegian Wood, a story about love, loss & sexuality.
26A: Rodeo ropes: LASSOS
29A: U.S. dance grp.: A. B. T. (American Ballet Theatre)
30A: Singletons: ONES. Not a fan of any card game.
32A: Making a bend in: CROOKING
37A: Beatles hit of 1966: PAPERBACK WRITER. Not familiar with this song.
41A: Clockwork element: FLYWHEEL. Unknown to me.
47A: AL-NL honoree: MVP (Most Valuable Player)
48A: In a faint: ASWOON. Never saw this word being used.
52A: Redgrave and Williams: VANESSAS. Did not know Redgrave, but I knew Vanessa Williams, who was just interviewed by Barbara Walters on her pre-Oscar show.
54A: Swimmer's propulsion: SCISSORS KICK. It's a "swimming kick, used esp. in the sidestroke, in which the motion of the legs is similar to the opening and closing of scissor blades."
56A: Composer of "The Planets": HOLST (Gustav). British composer. Here is more information about him.
58A: No-brainer: CINCH
62A: Medical condition: suff.: ENTIA. I was thinking of _itis. OK, Dementia is a word (Update: I was wrong, please read Comments Section for Orange's explanation), what other _entia can you think of?
63A: Studio letters: MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
64A: Liturgical vestment: AMICE.
65A: Change a timer: RESET
66A: Alfonso's queen: ENA. Queen Victoria Eugenia or, less formally, "Queen Ena". I was confused earlier, I thought "ena" means Queen in Spanish. The correct word is "reina".
67A: Room: SPACE
Down clues:
3D: Night flyer: BAT. I put OWL first.
4D: Musical drama: OPERA
5D: Pulsates: THROBS
6D: Liked from the start: TOOK TO
7D: Perplexed: AT SEA
8D: Math fig.: COEF (Coefficient)
9D: Tire pump, for example: INFLATOR
10D: Aage __ Bohr: NIELS. I only knew his surname Bohr, the famous father-son duo, who both won Nobel Prize in Physics (1922 & 1975). Look at his given name, 3 vowels.
12D: Ballplayer Guerrero: PEDRO. The only Guerrero I knew is Angels's Vladimir. But Pedro is easily gettable. So many Pedros in the MLB.
22D: Nudger's joint: ELBOW
23D: Big name in publishing: KNOPF. No scandal from them so far.
24D: Yearly record: ANNAL
25D: Tearful: WEEPY
32D: Quarter M: CCL. I would have gotten it immediately if it's clued as 1/4 of a M.
33D: Baby fox: KIT
34D: Agenda entries: ITEMS
35D: Emperor before Trajan: NERVA. No idea.
38D: Current controller: RHEOSTAT. Rheo comes from Greek, meaning flow, current.
39D: Form of bingo: BEANO. Never played Bingo before.
40D: Gas: pref.: AER. As in Aerosol. Aeo/Aero is of Greek/Latin origin, meaning "air".
44D: City in the Cascades: YAKIMA (WA). Never heard of this city. What kind of apple does it produce? Minnesota is the Honeycrisp State of course. To me, the best breakfast in the world is a freshly picked honeycrisp, still with dews on the skin.
45D: Black cuckoo: ANI. It looks like this.
46D: Attractive places?: MECCAS. Accidents happen in almost every Hajj. Very strange.
48D: "My name is ___ Lev": ASHER. Never heard of this novel.
49D: Doughy pastry: SCONE. Isn't all pastry doughy?
50D: Droops: WILTS
51D: Ruby Dee's husband: OSSIE. Did not know him. Watched Ruby Dee's A Raisin in the Sun the other day and responded with a 1-star to Netflix.
52D: Churchill's gesture: V SIGN
53D: Cut corners: SKIMP
55D: "The __ of the Ancient Mariner": RIME. Not familiar with this poem.
59D: Actress Long: NIA.
60D: New Deal grp.: CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). Way too many agencies from that era. Lately, I am very into (ex) Senator Tom Daschle's idea of creating a Federal Health Board, you know, kind of like the Federal Reserve Board, independently operated and insulated from the politics. Nothing outrages me more than the spiraling health care cost.
61D: " ___ Haw": HEE. Vaguely heard of this TV show.
I forgot to tell you earlier, Orange gave me a very interesting list of those crossword constructors who took part in this year's ACPT. I put it in yesterday's comment. Have a look if you are interested.
C.C.
20A: Standard Oil family: Rockefellers
37A: Beatles hit of 1966: Paperback Writer
54A: Swimmer's propulsion: Scissors Kick
Tough slog today. Only a few known knowns, and several known unknowns, and scads of unknown unknowns. Oh, the poetry of Rumsfeld!
But the thing that bothers me the most is the lack of theme. (Update: I was wrong. Thank you a lot, Superfrey and Drdad)
I will spare you with my travails today. Here are across entries:
1A: Monastery head: ABBOT
6A: Def. mil. grp.: TAC (Tactical Air Command). There is also a SAC (Strategic Air Command)
9A: Unsuitable: INAPT. I put in UNAPT first. I always associated "inapt" with "incompetent."
19A: 14A: Quantitative diagram: GRAPH
15A: Of the ear: OTO
18A: Full of. suff. OSE. Or sugar suffix, as in "fructose". The only other _ose word that jumps to my mind right now is "verbose".
19A: Composer Grofe: FERDE. Never heard of him.
20A: Standard oil family: ROCKEFELLERS
23A: Japanese Nobelist in literature: KAWABATA (Yasunari). He won Nobel in 1968. He wrote lots of short stories, and he committed suicide in 1972, like Sylvia Plath. The only Japanese novel I really like is Norwegian Wood, a story about love, loss & sexuality.
26A: Rodeo ropes: LASSOS
29A: U.S. dance grp.: A. B. T. (American Ballet Theatre)
30A: Singletons: ONES. Not a fan of any card game.
32A: Making a bend in: CROOKING
37A: Beatles hit of 1966: PAPERBACK WRITER. Not familiar with this song.
41A: Clockwork element: FLYWHEEL. Unknown to me.
47A: AL-NL honoree: MVP (Most Valuable Player)
48A: In a faint: ASWOON. Never saw this word being used.
52A: Redgrave and Williams: VANESSAS. Did not know Redgrave, but I knew Vanessa Williams, who was just interviewed by Barbara Walters on her pre-Oscar show.
54A: Swimmer's propulsion: SCISSORS KICK. It's a "swimming kick, used esp. in the sidestroke, in which the motion of the legs is similar to the opening and closing of scissor blades."
56A: Composer of "The Planets": HOLST (Gustav). British composer. Here is more information about him.
58A: No-brainer: CINCH
62A: Medical condition: suff.: ENTIA. I was thinking of _itis. OK, Dementia is a word (Update: I was wrong, please read Comments Section for Orange's explanation), what other _entia can you think of?
63A: Studio letters: MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
64A: Liturgical vestment: AMICE.
65A: Change a timer: RESET
66A: Alfonso's queen: ENA. Queen Victoria Eugenia or, less formally, "Queen Ena". I was confused earlier, I thought "ena" means Queen in Spanish. The correct word is "reina".
67A: Room: SPACE
Down clues:
3D: Night flyer: BAT. I put OWL first.
4D: Musical drama: OPERA
5D: Pulsates: THROBS
6D: Liked from the start: TOOK TO
7D: Perplexed: AT SEA
8D: Math fig.: COEF (Coefficient)
9D: Tire pump, for example: INFLATOR
10D: Aage __ Bohr: NIELS. I only knew his surname Bohr, the famous father-son duo, who both won Nobel Prize in Physics (1922 & 1975). Look at his given name, 3 vowels.
12D: Ballplayer Guerrero: PEDRO. The only Guerrero I knew is Angels's Vladimir. But Pedro is easily gettable. So many Pedros in the MLB.
22D: Nudger's joint: ELBOW
23D: Big name in publishing: KNOPF. No scandal from them so far.
24D: Yearly record: ANNAL
25D: Tearful: WEEPY
32D: Quarter M: CCL. I would have gotten it immediately if it's clued as 1/4 of a M.
33D: Baby fox: KIT
34D: Agenda entries: ITEMS
35D: Emperor before Trajan: NERVA. No idea.
38D: Current controller: RHEOSTAT. Rheo comes from Greek, meaning flow, current.
39D: Form of bingo: BEANO. Never played Bingo before.
40D: Gas: pref.: AER. As in Aerosol. Aeo/Aero is of Greek/Latin origin, meaning "air".
44D: City in the Cascades: YAKIMA (WA). Never heard of this city. What kind of apple does it produce? Minnesota is the Honeycrisp State of course. To me, the best breakfast in the world is a freshly picked honeycrisp, still with dews on the skin.
45D: Black cuckoo: ANI. It looks like this.
46D: Attractive places?: MECCAS. Accidents happen in almost every Hajj. Very strange.
48D: "My name is ___ Lev": ASHER. Never heard of this novel.
49D: Doughy pastry: SCONE. Isn't all pastry doughy?
50D: Droops: WILTS
51D: Ruby Dee's husband: OSSIE. Did not know him. Watched Ruby Dee's A Raisin in the Sun the other day and responded with a 1-star to Netflix.
52D: Churchill's gesture: V SIGN
53D: Cut corners: SKIMP
55D: "The __ of the Ancient Mariner": RIME. Not familiar with this poem.
59D: Actress Long: NIA.
60D: New Deal grp.: CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps). Way too many agencies from that era. Lately, I am very into (ex) Senator Tom Daschle's idea of creating a Federal Health Board, you know, kind of like the Federal Reserve Board, independently operated and insulated from the politics. Nothing outrages me more than the spiraling health care cost.
61D: " ___ Haw": HEE. Vaguely heard of this TV show.
I forgot to tell you earlier, Orange gave me a very interesting list of those crossword constructors who took part in this year's ACPT. I put it in yesterday's comment. Have a look if you are interested.
C.C.
