Theme: To Get What You Want
20A: Use one's influence: Pull Some Strings
37A: Ask nicely: Say Pretty Please
48A: Influence under the table: Grease a Few Palms
I screwed up the upper left corner again. Purely self-inflicted wounds. I mis-read Humdinger as Harbinger, so I was adamant about my OMEN fill. The fact that I could not dislodge ORAL from my dense brain this morning for _Roberts U only exasperated me further. I remember the improper use of fund scandal by Richard Roberts last year, but I just could not summon up his father's/his university's name.
I filled in "pretty" for the theme entry 37A very early on, and I had "some" already penned in for 20A, so naturally I wanted it to be "handsome", briefly flirting with the idea that the theme might be handsome -pretty-ravishing or something like that.
After a great "O" (I counted 11 O) feast, I managed to piece everything together in 30 minutes (including google). And it looked like a good puzzle, esp the crossing of 47A: FLU and 47D: FEVER. I start to appreciate this kind of effort the constructor puts in.
Across entries:
1A: Viscous clump: GLOB. Not a good image to evoke the first thing in the morning.
3A: Evil spell: CURSE
14A: Ambiance: AURA. I still insist that, oratory skill aside, Obama has the RFK (not JFK) aura. Have to disagree with Ted Sorensen.
16A: In seventh heaven: ON AIR
17A: Take-out side order: SLAW. 4-letter word, what else could it be?
18A: Indonesian island: BALI. Or Java sometimes.
19A: Fetch: BRING
24A: Jazz piece: RAG. Have no knowledge of jazz, don't know what exactly is a rag.
25A: River swirls: EDDIES. Could never fill in this word without thinking of Eddie Guardado.
29A: Gay Nineties and the like: ERAS.
31A: Jiffy: SEC. Could not recall if JIFF as a brand was ever clued in a TMS puzzle.
34A: Bakery come-on: AROMA. I can smell it.
35A: Course culmination: EXAM. Not fond of this clue.
36A: Paparazzi prey: STAR. Depending on what the meaning of "IS" is. OK, isn't Meryl Streep a bigger star than fame-craved Lindsey Lohan? Paparazzi never preys on her (Streep).
42A: Gutter side: EAVES. I was thinking of bowling.
43A: Novelist Deighton: LEN
44A: Work the soil: TILL. Interesting information: "Till" is also a popular song recorded by quite a few artist. Unknown to me. By the way, "Till" can also mean "unstratified, unsorted, glacial drift of clay, sand, boulders and gravel".
45A: Bear witness: ATTEST. Oh, "Kristen". I still could not understand how Eliot Spitzer tossed away his career just like that.
47A: Respiratory malady: FLU. I tend to associate "flu" with fever, headache, can not think of any respiratory involvement. "Asthma" is a big respiratory problem.
57A: English aristocrats: LORDS
58A: Classic Chevy model: NOVA. Got it from down clue. Unknown to me. Not a car fan.
59A: Fossil fuel: COAL
60A: Au revoir!: ADIEU. I hear "à bientôt" or "salut" more often. But I never lived in Paris before. Could not tell for sure.
61A: Low card: TREY. Learned from doing crossword. Never play any card game.
63A: Slow-witted: DENSE. Slower than that, it will be imbecilic.
64A: Otologist's focus: EAR. I like the clue, first time I saw "Otologist", tired of of Ear-related OTO though.
Down entries:
2D: Humdinger: LULU. Doozy.
6D: Crockett's last stand: ALAMO (Davy). Where have you been, crockett1947?
7D: Man or Dogs: ISLE. Never heard of Isle of Dogs. But I like the clue.
8D: Clark's gal: LOIS. Superman girl.
9D: Hooded vipers: COBRAS. Anyone read Michael Gordon's Cobra II? By the way, COPRA is coconut meat, dried.
10D: Take down the sails: UNRIG. I wanted DE RIG.
12D: Tell at: SING. Never knew that "Sing" can mean "to rat".
13D: Work units: ERGS. Here is the definition I lifted from the dictionary: "The unit of energy or work in the centimeter-gram-second system, equal to the force of one dyne over a distance of one centimeter. This unit has been mostly replaced by the joule."
21D: Promise solemnly: SWEAR
22D: Vagabond: TRAMP. Hobo. Could not see any beauty in those hobo bags.
25D: Art supporter: EASEL. I was on the wrong track, thinking of those Broadway backer angels and Art Gallery patrons.
26D: Mallard mister: DRAKE. Mallard is wild duck. Drake is a male duck. What is a female duck then, a hen?
27D: Group's senior member: DOYEN. Unknown to me. Got it from across clues. "The senior member, as in age, rank, or experience, of a group, class, profession, etc." French origin.
30D: Mantas: RAYS. The fish. No idea. In fact, I mis-read it as "Mantra", so I was chanting in my head.
31D: Barrel piece: STAVE
33D: Wave top: CREST
35D: List end, sometimes: ET AL. Abbreviation of 'et alii' (masculine plural) or 'et aliae' (feminine plural) or 'et alia' (neuter plural).
36D: Pants part: SEAT. I put SEAM first. Did not know Seat-of-the-Pants slang until this morning.
38D: Cream of the crop: ELITE. I toyed with A LIST for a brief second, then quickly dismissed it after filling in LIT for 46A: Brightened up.
39D: Abate: LET UP
44D: Paper hankie: TISSUE. Bounty, only Bounty.
45D: Without fail: ALWAYS
46D: Fills the hold: LADES
47D: Temperature: FEVER. Don't like this clue either.
50D: Celtic land: ERIN. Ireland. What distinguishes Erin from Eire? So confusing for me.
52D: Open discussions: FORA. Never knew that the plural for Forum is Fora.
53D: One litmus test conclusion: ACID
54D: Word with star or ranger: LONE. Lone Star yes, but isn't it "the Lone Ranger"?
55D: Either one of a pair: MATE
56D: Swine's supper: SLOP. This puzzle starts with GLOB, ends with SLOP. Perfect!
C. C.
20A: Use one's influence: Pull Some Strings
37A: Ask nicely: Say Pretty Please
48A: Influence under the table: Grease a Few Palms
I screwed up the upper left corner again. Purely self-inflicted wounds. I mis-read Humdinger as Harbinger, so I was adamant about my OMEN fill. The fact that I could not dislodge ORAL from my dense brain this morning for _Roberts U only exasperated me further. I remember the improper use of fund scandal by Richard Roberts last year, but I just could not summon up his father's/his university's name.
I filled in "pretty" for the theme entry 37A very early on, and I had "some" already penned in for 20A, so naturally I wanted it to be "handsome", briefly flirting with the idea that the theme might be handsome -pretty-ravishing or something like that.
After a great "O" (I counted 11 O) feast, I managed to piece everything together in 30 minutes (including google). And it looked like a good puzzle, esp the crossing of 47A: FLU and 47D: FEVER. I start to appreciate this kind of effort the constructor puts in.
Across entries:
1A: Viscous clump: GLOB. Not a good image to evoke the first thing in the morning.
3A: Evil spell: CURSE
14A: Ambiance: AURA. I still insist that, oratory skill aside, Obama has the RFK (not JFK) aura. Have to disagree with Ted Sorensen.
16A: In seventh heaven: ON AIR
17A: Take-out side order: SLAW. 4-letter word, what else could it be?
18A: Indonesian island: BALI. Or Java sometimes.
19A: Fetch: BRING
24A: Jazz piece: RAG. Have no knowledge of jazz, don't know what exactly is a rag.
25A: River swirls: EDDIES. Could never fill in this word without thinking of Eddie Guardado.
29A: Gay Nineties and the like: ERAS.
31A: Jiffy: SEC. Could not recall if JIFF as a brand was ever clued in a TMS puzzle.
34A: Bakery come-on: AROMA. I can smell it.
35A: Course culmination: EXAM. Not fond of this clue.
36A: Paparazzi prey: STAR. Depending on what the meaning of "IS" is. OK, isn't Meryl Streep a bigger star than fame-craved Lindsey Lohan? Paparazzi never preys on her (Streep).
42A: Gutter side: EAVES. I was thinking of bowling.
43A: Novelist Deighton: LEN
44A: Work the soil: TILL. Interesting information: "Till" is also a popular song recorded by quite a few artist. Unknown to me. By the way, "Till" can also mean "unstratified, unsorted, glacial drift of clay, sand, boulders and gravel".
45A: Bear witness: ATTEST. Oh, "Kristen". I still could not understand how Eliot Spitzer tossed away his career just like that.
47A: Respiratory malady: FLU. I tend to associate "flu" with fever, headache, can not think of any respiratory involvement. "Asthma" is a big respiratory problem.
57A: English aristocrats: LORDS
58A: Classic Chevy model: NOVA. Got it from down clue. Unknown to me. Not a car fan.
59A: Fossil fuel: COAL
60A: Au revoir!: ADIEU. I hear "à bientôt" or "salut" more often. But I never lived in Paris before. Could not tell for sure.
61A: Low card: TREY. Learned from doing crossword. Never play any card game.
63A: Slow-witted: DENSE. Slower than that, it will be imbecilic.
64A: Otologist's focus: EAR. I like the clue, first time I saw "Otologist", tired of of Ear-related OTO though.
Down entries:
2D: Humdinger: LULU. Doozy.
6D: Crockett's last stand: ALAMO (Davy). Where have you been, crockett1947?
7D: Man or Dogs: ISLE. Never heard of Isle of Dogs. But I like the clue.
8D: Clark's gal: LOIS. Superman girl.
9D: Hooded vipers: COBRAS. Anyone read Michael Gordon's Cobra II? By the way, COPRA is coconut meat, dried.
10D: Take down the sails: UNRIG. I wanted DE RIG.
12D: Tell at: SING. Never knew that "Sing" can mean "to rat".
13D: Work units: ERGS. Here is the definition I lifted from the dictionary: "The unit of energy or work in the centimeter-gram-second system, equal to the force of one dyne over a distance of one centimeter. This unit has been mostly replaced by the joule."
21D: Promise solemnly: SWEAR
22D: Vagabond: TRAMP. Hobo. Could not see any beauty in those hobo bags.
25D: Art supporter: EASEL. I was on the wrong track, thinking of those Broadway backer angels and Art Gallery patrons.
26D: Mallard mister: DRAKE. Mallard is wild duck. Drake is a male duck. What is a female duck then, a hen?
27D: Group's senior member: DOYEN. Unknown to me. Got it from across clues. "The senior member, as in age, rank, or experience, of a group, class, profession, etc." French origin.
30D: Mantas: RAYS. The fish. No idea. In fact, I mis-read it as "Mantra", so I was chanting in my head.
31D: Barrel piece: STAVE
33D: Wave top: CREST
35D: List end, sometimes: ET AL. Abbreviation of 'et alii' (masculine plural) or 'et aliae' (feminine plural) or 'et alia' (neuter plural).
36D: Pants part: SEAT. I put SEAM first. Did not know Seat-of-the-Pants slang until this morning.
38D: Cream of the crop: ELITE. I toyed with A LIST for a brief second, then quickly dismissed it after filling in LIT for 46A: Brightened up.
39D: Abate: LET UP
44D: Paper hankie: TISSUE. Bounty, only Bounty.
45D: Without fail: ALWAYS
46D: Fills the hold: LADES
47D: Temperature: FEVER. Don't like this clue either.
50D: Celtic land: ERIN. Ireland. What distinguishes Erin from Eire? So confusing for me.
52D: Open discussions: FORA. Never knew that the plural for Forum is Fora.
53D: One litmus test conclusion: ACID
54D: Word with star or ranger: LONE. Lone Star yes, but isn't it "the Lone Ranger"?
55D: Either one of a pair: MATE
56D: Swine's supper: SLOP. This puzzle starts with GLOB, ends with SLOP. Perfect!
C. C.
