Theme: Going Off Half-cocked (Acting Prematurely)
23A: Revealing intentions: Tipping One's Hand
39A: Bridge tactic: Preemptive Bid
62A & 74A: Getting ahead of oneself: Putting the Cart before the Horse
99A: Beginning too soon: Jumping the Gun
17D: Scaring folk for nothing: Crying Wolf
72D: Do-over's cause: False Start
Another miserable Sunday for me. I had 3 breakfasts while solving this puzzle, my record.
I had a very shaky start, and never really gained any momentum. The only bright spot was the upper right corner. I was proud of myself for filling in NERVA for 16D: Emperor before Trajan. I also conquered the lower middle part without encountering much resistance.
But everywhere else was rife with knobby problems. So many intimidating unknowns: actress, actor, singer, athlete, author, & liquid measure. I had no idea what "Quinine" means in 41D. I filled in "Preempting Bid" instead of "Preemptive Bid" for 39A, misguided by the "ing"pattern I spotted from the other theme entries. Had no idea that foxtail was a kind of brush. Misread 36A "Battering equipment" as "Batting Equipment". Without Richard's help, I would never have solved this puzzle today.
Here are the across entries:
1A: Landing strip surface: TARMAC
7A: Lines for the theatre: DIALOGUE. I like the clue, esp the British spelling of "theater".
15A: Remove a lid: UNCAP
20A: Ring around the pupil: AREOLA. Got it from the down clues. It also means "colored circle around a nipple".
21A: In the file: ON RECORD
22A: Impudent boldness: NERVE
25A: "The Silver Streak" co-start: PRYOR (Richard). Never heard of Pryor, nor saw the movie. Don't want to be bored.
26A: Moses or Felipe of baseball: ALOU
29A: Experts: MAVINS. Or MAVEN.
30A: Spanish rice entree: PAELLA. The main ingredients are rice, olive oil & saffron, in case you want to make it yourself.
33A: French-American dialect: ACADIAN. Same as Cajun I suppose?
36A: Battering equipment: RAM. Why? I don't get it. (UPDATE: Pls read Comments Section for explanation).
43A: Test for coll. seniors: GRE (Graduate Record Exam)
46A: Newspaper honcho: EDITOR
48A: College organization: SORORITY
49A: "The Virginian" writer Wister: OWEN. Here is more information about him.
50A: Small taxi: MINICAB. I put in Minicar first.
52A: Sailor's grp: ONI (Office of National Intelligene)
56A: Seemingly forever? AEON. Why the question mark? Aeon means seemingly forever, no?
57A: Gradient: INCLINE
61A: Brand name on cakes: SARA LEE
66A: Trumped: RUFFED. New word to me.
67A: Sheriff's band of the Old West: POSSE
68A: Unrestrained breaks of violence: RIOTS
70A: Full-length tunic: CAFTAN. I had CAF_ _ forever. Had big problems with the down clues.
82A: Stritch and Boosler: ELAINES. Nailed this one today.
84A: Gathered: RAKED IN
85D: Duck feathers: DOWN
86A: Sequence verifier: COLLATOR. Never used this word before.
88A: Army rcts: GIS
89A: Was contrary to: OPPOSED
92A: MIT part: INST (Institute).
93A: Masculinity: MALENESS. Is this even a word? He is so male?
97A: City on the Rio Grande: LAREDO. Never heard of it.
98A: T-shirt size: LGE
103A: Small upright pianos: SPINETS
105A: Glossy type of paint: ENAMEL
107A: Senility: DOTAGE
109A: T or F, eg: ANS: True or False, Answers.
112A: NYC gambling center: OTB (Off-Track Betting)
113A: Spheres: ORBS
117A: Diet guru Jenny: CRAIG. They just sacked Kristie Alley.
118A: Edgar Allan Poe story, with "The": PREMATURE BURIAL. Never read it.
123A: Judy of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in": CARNE. She was married to Burt Reynolds for a short time.
124A: Wakayama farewell: SAYONARA. Japanese for good-bye. Also a Marlon Brando movie (1957).
125A: Cantankerous: ORNERY. It crumbled easily for me.
126A: Action or change starter: INTER
127A: Repeats: ITERATES
128A: Combine together: BLENDS
Down entries:
2D: Seed coat: ARIL. Learned it from doing crossword.
3D: Collection biz: REPO. Also a 2008 movie.
4D: Tidy loose ends: MOP UP. I put Sew Up, but quickly corrected myself.
6A: Australia capital: CANBERRA
7D: Casual drawings: DOODLES
8D: Quaint quarters: INN. I've seen this clue several times. Why is Inn quaint? Holiday Inn, Baymont Inn are all very modern.
11D: Protest-singer Phil: OCHS. Never heard of him. The only Ochs I knew is Adolph Ochs, the former owner of NY Times.
12D: Tibetan gazelle: GOA. I put Yak, which is actually an ox.
13D: Large vase: URN
14D: Actor Byrnes: EDD. Nope, did not ring a bell.
15D: Still owing: UNPAID
16D: Emperor before Trajan: NERVA. It appeared on Friday March 7 's puzzle.
18D: English river: AVON
19D: Individual: abbr: PERS (Personal).
29D: 1501: MDI. I cannot help you if you cannot commit Roman numerals to your memory.
31D: Bk. of Revelation: APOC (Apocalypse)
32D: Latin lesson word: AMO
33D: Fauna starter: AVI. Have to thank Richard for the help. I put ANI there initially thinking it means Animal.
34D: Govt. training leg.: CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.)
35D: Vast chasm: ABYSS
36D: Revise charts: REMAP
38D: North Dakota city: MINOT. Known as the Magic City. Never been there.
40D: Worker: PROLE. Unknown to me. It stems from "proletarian".
41D: Quinine water: TONIC. I did not know the meaning of Quinine.
42D: Privalova or Vorobyeva: IRINA. Never heard of them.
44D: Taylor or Adoree: RENEE
47D: Trace of color: TINT
49D: Norwegian saint: OLAF
51D: Major Leagues, casually: BIGS
54D: Writer Bret: HARTE. I got him today!
55D: Rah!: CHEER
58D: Plain crush grp.: NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board)
63D: Toothpaste brand: IPANA. What? All the 5 letter toothpaste brands I can think of are Crest, Oral B, Reach and Gleem. Never heard of Ipana.
64D: Song for nine: NONET
65D: S. Amer. monkey: TITI. Hated the clue. It should not be abbreviated. Misleading.
69D: Cry of distress: OH NO
70D: De Mille of movies: CECIL. A prolific director.
71D: As company: ALONG
73D: Pinball goof: TILT
75D: Steely Dan Singer: FAGEN (Donald). Here is more information on this band.
76D: Giving the nod to: OKING
77D: Bowler's button: RESET
78D: Nose alert: ODOR
79D: Fragrant beds: ROSES
80D: Stockholm native: SWEDE. Some people also call "rutabaga" as "swede".
81D: Provide with property: ENDOW
83D: Amiens river: SOMME. In France. It flows into the English Channel.
87D: Spellbound: RAPT
90D: Vertical line: PLUMB BOB. I only knew plummet.
91D: Fleur-de_: LIS. French for Flower of Lily.
95D: "__ Loves you": SHE. Beatles' song.
96D: Ladies of Seville: SENORAS
99D: Liquor measure: JIGGER. My dictionary says it's a small cup/glass to measure liquor, containing usually 1 1/2 ounces.
100D: One of the French: UNE
101D: Entryway: GATE
106D: Actor GREENE: LORNE. He was in Bonanza.
107D: Fifth of MMMDV: DCCI (1/5 of 3505=701)
108D: Algerian city: ORAN. Gulf of Oran city.
109D: God of love: AMOR. or Cupid, the Greek equivalent is EROS.
111D: Wendy's dog: NANA. Who is Wendy? I thought Nana is Peter Pan's dog.
111D: RBI or ERA: STAT (Statistics)
114D: Nice nothing? RIEN. French word for nothing.
115D: Exalted poet: BARD. Robert Bly has just become MN's first Poet Laureate.
116D: Stone and Stallone: SLYS. Knew Stallone, never heard of Sly Stone though.
119D: Stoolie: RAT
120D: Scope out: EYE. I misread the clue as "Scoop out" and wasted my time in vain.
121D: End of post: URE. Posture
122D: Internet add.: URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
Finally I am done!
C. C.
23A: Revealing intentions: Tipping One's Hand
39A: Bridge tactic: Preemptive Bid
62A & 74A: Getting ahead of oneself: Putting the Cart before the Horse
99A: Beginning too soon: Jumping the Gun
17D: Scaring folk for nothing: Crying Wolf
72D: Do-over's cause: False Start
Another miserable Sunday for me. I had 3 breakfasts while solving this puzzle, my record.
I had a very shaky start, and never really gained any momentum. The only bright spot was the upper right corner. I was proud of myself for filling in NERVA for 16D: Emperor before Trajan. I also conquered the lower middle part without encountering much resistance.
But everywhere else was rife with knobby problems. So many intimidating unknowns: actress, actor, singer, athlete, author, & liquid measure. I had no idea what "Quinine" means in 41D. I filled in "Preempting Bid" instead of "Preemptive Bid" for 39A, misguided by the "ing"pattern I spotted from the other theme entries. Had no idea that foxtail was a kind of brush. Misread 36A "Battering equipment" as "Batting Equipment". Without Richard's help, I would never have solved this puzzle today.
Here are the across entries:
1A: Landing strip surface: TARMAC
7A: Lines for the theatre: DIALOGUE. I like the clue, esp the British spelling of "theater".
15A: Remove a lid: UNCAP
20A: Ring around the pupil: AREOLA. Got it from the down clues. It also means "colored circle around a nipple".
21A: In the file: ON RECORD
22A: Impudent boldness: NERVE
25A: "The Silver Streak" co-start: PRYOR (Richard). Never heard of Pryor, nor saw the movie. Don't want to be bored.
26A: Moses or Felipe of baseball: ALOU
29A: Experts: MAVINS. Or MAVEN.
30A: Spanish rice entree: PAELLA. The main ingredients are rice, olive oil & saffron, in case you want to make it yourself.
33A: French-American dialect: ACADIAN. Same as Cajun I suppose?
36A: Battering equipment: RAM. Why? I don't get it. (UPDATE: Pls read Comments Section for explanation).
43A: Test for coll. seniors: GRE (Graduate Record Exam)
46A: Newspaper honcho: EDITOR
48A: College organization: SORORITY
49A: "The Virginian" writer Wister: OWEN. Here is more information about him.
50A: Small taxi: MINICAB. I put in Minicar first.
52A: Sailor's grp: ONI (Office of National Intelligene)
56A: Seemingly forever? AEON. Why the question mark? Aeon means seemingly forever, no?
57A: Gradient: INCLINE
61A: Brand name on cakes: SARA LEE
66A: Trumped: RUFFED. New word to me.
67A: Sheriff's band of the Old West: POSSE
68A: Unrestrained breaks of violence: RIOTS
70A: Full-length tunic: CAFTAN. I had CAF_ _ forever. Had big problems with the down clues.
82A: Stritch and Boosler: ELAINES. Nailed this one today.
84A: Gathered: RAKED IN
85D: Duck feathers: DOWN
86A: Sequence verifier: COLLATOR. Never used this word before.
88A: Army rcts: GIS
89A: Was contrary to: OPPOSED
92A: MIT part: INST (Institute).
93A: Masculinity: MALENESS. Is this even a word? He is so male?
97A: City on the Rio Grande: LAREDO. Never heard of it.
98A: T-shirt size: LGE
103A: Small upright pianos: SPINETS
105A: Glossy type of paint: ENAMEL
107A: Senility: DOTAGE
109A: T or F, eg: ANS: True or False, Answers.
112A: NYC gambling center: OTB (Off-Track Betting)
113A: Spheres: ORBS
117A: Diet guru Jenny: CRAIG. They just sacked Kristie Alley.
118A: Edgar Allan Poe story, with "The": PREMATURE BURIAL. Never read it.
123A: Judy of "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-in": CARNE. She was married to Burt Reynolds for a short time.
124A: Wakayama farewell: SAYONARA. Japanese for good-bye. Also a Marlon Brando movie (1957).
125A: Cantankerous: ORNERY. It crumbled easily for me.
126A: Action or change starter: INTER
127A: Repeats: ITERATES
128A: Combine together: BLENDS
Down entries:
2D: Seed coat: ARIL. Learned it from doing crossword.
3D: Collection biz: REPO. Also a 2008 movie.
4D: Tidy loose ends: MOP UP. I put Sew Up, but quickly corrected myself.
6A: Australia capital: CANBERRA
7D: Casual drawings: DOODLES
8D: Quaint quarters: INN. I've seen this clue several times. Why is Inn quaint? Holiday Inn, Baymont Inn are all very modern.
11D: Protest-singer Phil: OCHS. Never heard of him. The only Ochs I knew is Adolph Ochs, the former owner of NY Times.
12D: Tibetan gazelle: GOA. I put Yak, which is actually an ox.
13D: Large vase: URN
14D: Actor Byrnes: EDD. Nope, did not ring a bell.
15D: Still owing: UNPAID
16D: Emperor before Trajan: NERVA. It appeared on Friday March 7 's puzzle.
18D: English river: AVON
19D: Individual: abbr: PERS (Personal).
29D: 1501: MDI. I cannot help you if you cannot commit Roman numerals to your memory.
31D: Bk. of Revelation: APOC (Apocalypse)
32D: Latin lesson word: AMO
33D: Fauna starter: AVI. Have to thank Richard for the help. I put ANI there initially thinking it means Animal.
34D: Govt. training leg.: CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act.)
35D: Vast chasm: ABYSS
36D: Revise charts: REMAP
38D: North Dakota city: MINOT. Known as the Magic City. Never been there.
40D: Worker: PROLE. Unknown to me. It stems from "proletarian".
41D: Quinine water: TONIC. I did not know the meaning of Quinine.
42D: Privalova or Vorobyeva: IRINA. Never heard of them.
44D: Taylor or Adoree: RENEE
47D: Trace of color: TINT
49D: Norwegian saint: OLAF
51D: Major Leagues, casually: BIGS
54D: Writer Bret: HARTE. I got him today!
55D: Rah!: CHEER
58D: Plain crush grp.: NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board)
63D: Toothpaste brand: IPANA. What? All the 5 letter toothpaste brands I can think of are Crest, Oral B, Reach and Gleem. Never heard of Ipana.
64D: Song for nine: NONET
65D: S. Amer. monkey: TITI. Hated the clue. It should not be abbreviated. Misleading.
69D: Cry of distress: OH NO
70D: De Mille of movies: CECIL. A prolific director.
71D: As company: ALONG
73D: Pinball goof: TILT
75D: Steely Dan Singer: FAGEN (Donald). Here is more information on this band.
76D: Giving the nod to: OKING
77D: Bowler's button: RESET
78D: Nose alert: ODOR
79D: Fragrant beds: ROSES
80D: Stockholm native: SWEDE. Some people also call "rutabaga" as "swede".
81D: Provide with property: ENDOW
83D: Amiens river: SOMME. In France. It flows into the English Channel.
87D: Spellbound: RAPT
90D: Vertical line: PLUMB BOB. I only knew plummet.
91D: Fleur-de_: LIS. French for Flower of Lily.
95D: "__ Loves you": SHE. Beatles' song.
96D: Ladies of Seville: SENORAS
99D: Liquor measure: JIGGER. My dictionary says it's a small cup/glass to measure liquor, containing usually 1 1/2 ounces.
100D: One of the French: UNE
101D: Entryway: GATE
106D: Actor GREENE: LORNE. He was in Bonanza.
107D: Fifth of MMMDV: DCCI (1/5 of 3505=701)
108D: Algerian city: ORAN. Gulf of Oran city.
109D: God of love: AMOR. or Cupid, the Greek equivalent is EROS.
111D: Wendy's dog: NANA. Who is Wendy? I thought Nana is Peter Pan's dog.
111D: RBI or ERA: STAT (Statistics)
114D: Nice nothing? RIEN. French word for nothing.
115D: Exalted poet: BARD. Robert Bly has just become MN's first Poet Laureate.
116D: Stone and Stallone: SLYS. Knew Stallone, never heard of Sly Stone though.
119D: Stoolie: RAT
120D: Scope out: EYE. I misread the clue as "Scoop out" and wasted my time in vain.
121D: End of post: URE. Posture
122D: Internet add.: URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
Finally I am done!
C. C.
