Theme: All about "O" (Happy St. Patrick's Day!)
17A: Willa Cather classic: O Pioneers!
26A: 19th Century Italian song: O Sole Mio
37A: Trial-of-the Century name: O. J. Simpson
54A: Gunfight site: O. K. Corral
64A: 1973 Malcolm McDowell film: O Lucky Man!
A few questions for you before I start today's recap.
1) Have any of you constructed a crossword before? I am a bit baffled by the surfeit of "e", "o", "s" carpeting Tribune's Saturday puzzles. Does the lack of theme entail the excessive use of vowels & affixes?
2) To readers in Chicago: What puzzle do you have on your Sunday Tribune? Is it the same as mine? Or are you offered a different plate of puzzle (NY Times/LA Times syndication)?
OK, now back to our O Fest. I had a very sluggish start. Once again, the upper left corner stumped me. The theme was actually crystallized very early on, but I just could not muddle through my way out of SNAFU & the faraway African animals. I spent over 1 hour on this puzzle.
Across entries:
1A: Reach for a pianist: SPAN
9A: "Sweet" river of Robert Burns: AFTON. No idea.
14A: River into the Wash: OUSE. It's in England. Unknown to me.
19A: Mil. mess: SNAFU. "Situation Normal: All Fouled Up"
21A: Hollow part of a bird: AIR SAC
23A: Greek letters: NUS. I waffled between NUS and MUS.
24A: T. S. and George: ELIOTS. Please give Eliot Spitzer a chance!
29A: Riviera resort: SAN REMO. Or Nice.
31A: Noisy insect: CICADA. Indeed, ear-splitting blast.
33A: Broom made of twigs: BESOM. Is that the kind the wicked witch of the west used?
41A: Dutch commune: EDE. My mind somehow jumped to URI (the Swiss canton).
45A: Leaning precariously: ATIP. I salute your ingenuity Mr. Ed Voile. Very creative way to make up a word. See if others care!
49A: Tongue: LINGUA
51A: On the line: At STAKE
57A: Came to a stop: HALTED
58A: E O'Brien film: D.O.A. Well, the movie was titled D. O. A, no need to abbreviate Edmond O'Brien's name on the clue, don't you think so?
61A: Arab cloak: ABA. I am not fond of the image this cloak summons up. Let's try American Banker's Association (ABA). Can not understand how these highly educated guys get us into this subprime loan mess. But what a bargain for JPMorgan! $2 a share. Where else can you find a 93% discount?
66A: V-formation flock: SKEIN. I put GEESE first.
68A: Money factory: MINT. Not surprised that the Zimbabwean Mint is now mothballed, talk about inflation/hyperinflation.
70A: Popeye's charge: _ Pea: SWEE. Boy, those Linemar Popeye wind-up toys can fetch over $1,500 on ebay, esp with the original box.
Down entries:
1D: With the least delay: SOONEST
2D: Of an eye part: PUPILAR
3D: Utterly stupid: ASININE. So many asinine mistakes are made by so many intelligent guys, every day.
4D: Modern prefix: NEO. William Kristol is probably the only Neocon guy I read/listen to.
5D: Generation-based bias: AGEISM
6D: _do-well: NE'ER. That's James Cayne (the ex-CEO of Bear Stearns). This guy played rounds after rounds of golf while his company stock sunk. He actually put his scores on line. Dick, his scores are 96, 97, 98.
8D: Maxwell and Schiaparelli: ELSAS
10D: African fox: FENNEC. Utterly unknown to me. He looks so cute!
11D: Emotional wounds: TRAUMAS
12D: Ahead of the puck: OFF SIDE. Hockey lingo.
13D: Tahlequah, OK school: NSU (Northeastern State University)
14D: Archibald of the NBA: NATE
22D: Chanel and others: COCOS. Or Red Sox center fielder Crisp.
28D: Feed-bag bite: OAT. You've got to try Bear Baked Granola, so delicious!
35D: Pet protection grp.: SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Sometimes it's ASPCA (American SPCA). IGGY, Ellen DeGeneres' dog, knows both them better than I do.
40D: Part of NLCS: NATL. NLCS is National League Championship Series. Rockies is the 2007 NLCS champion.
41D: "Xanadu" grp.: ELO. Learned it from doing crossword.
42D: Small African antelopes: DIK-DIKS. They are herbivores.
43D: Uses a cipher: ENCODES
46D: Japanese mats: TATAMIS. I tried once, did not like it.
47D: Flower arrangement: IKEBANA. It's definitely a high art. I really like the paralleled structure of these 2 Japanese words.
48D: Nit-pickers: PEDANTS
52D: "Growing Pains" star: THICKE (Alan). He is a stranger to me.
53D: Can. province: SASK.
56D: S. Dey series: LA LAW. Why does the editor keep abbreviating actor/actress names this morning? Too tired to write Susan? Or watched too much Bay Hill Invitational yesterday?
63D: Way in: abbr.: ENT. Entry.
65D: Singer Sumac: YMA. She is still alive!
C. C.
17A: Willa Cather classic: O Pioneers!
26A: 19th Century Italian song: O Sole Mio
37A: Trial-of-the Century name: O. J. Simpson
54A: Gunfight site: O. K. Corral
64A: 1973 Malcolm McDowell film: O Lucky Man!
A few questions for you before I start today's recap.
1) Have any of you constructed a crossword before? I am a bit baffled by the surfeit of "e", "o", "s" carpeting Tribune's Saturday puzzles. Does the lack of theme entail the excessive use of vowels & affixes?
2) To readers in Chicago: What puzzle do you have on your Sunday Tribune? Is it the same as mine? Or are you offered a different plate of puzzle (NY Times/LA Times syndication)?
OK, now back to our O Fest. I had a very sluggish start. Once again, the upper left corner stumped me. The theme was actually crystallized very early on, but I just could not muddle through my way out of SNAFU & the faraway African animals. I spent over 1 hour on this puzzle.
Across entries:
1A: Reach for a pianist: SPAN
9A: "Sweet" river of Robert Burns: AFTON. No idea.
14A: River into the Wash: OUSE. It's in England. Unknown to me.
19A: Mil. mess: SNAFU. "Situation Normal: All Fouled Up"
21A: Hollow part of a bird: AIR SAC
23A: Greek letters: NUS. I waffled between NUS and MUS.
24A: T. S. and George: ELIOTS. Please give Eliot Spitzer a chance!
29A: Riviera resort: SAN REMO. Or Nice.
31A: Noisy insect: CICADA. Indeed, ear-splitting blast.
33A: Broom made of twigs: BESOM. Is that the kind the wicked witch of the west used?
41A: Dutch commune: EDE. My mind somehow jumped to URI (the Swiss canton).
45A: Leaning precariously: ATIP. I salute your ingenuity Mr. Ed Voile. Very creative way to make up a word. See if others care!
49A: Tongue: LINGUA
51A: On the line: At STAKE
57A: Came to a stop: HALTED
58A: E O'Brien film: D.O.A. Well, the movie was titled D. O. A, no need to abbreviate Edmond O'Brien's name on the clue, don't you think so?
61A: Arab cloak: ABA. I am not fond of the image this cloak summons up. Let's try American Banker's Association (ABA). Can not understand how these highly educated guys get us into this subprime loan mess. But what a bargain for JPMorgan! $2 a share. Where else can you find a 93% discount?
66A: V-formation flock: SKEIN. I put GEESE first.
68A: Money factory: MINT. Not surprised that the Zimbabwean Mint is now mothballed, talk about inflation/hyperinflation.
70A: Popeye's charge: _ Pea: SWEE. Boy, those Linemar Popeye wind-up toys can fetch over $1,500 on ebay, esp with the original box.
Down entries:
1D: With the least delay: SOONEST
2D: Of an eye part: PUPILAR
3D: Utterly stupid: ASININE. So many asinine mistakes are made by so many intelligent guys, every day.
4D: Modern prefix: NEO. William Kristol is probably the only Neocon guy I read/listen to.
5D: Generation-based bias: AGEISM
6D: _do-well: NE'ER. That's James Cayne (the ex-CEO of Bear Stearns). This guy played rounds after rounds of golf while his company stock sunk. He actually put his scores on line. Dick, his scores are 96, 97, 98.
8D: Maxwell and Schiaparelli: ELSAS
10D: African fox: FENNEC. Utterly unknown to me. He looks so cute!
11D: Emotional wounds: TRAUMAS
12D: Ahead of the puck: OFF SIDE. Hockey lingo.
13D: Tahlequah, OK school: NSU (Northeastern State University)
14D: Archibald of the NBA: NATE
22D: Chanel and others: COCOS. Or Red Sox center fielder Crisp.
28D: Feed-bag bite: OAT. You've got to try Bear Baked Granola, so delicious!
35D: Pet protection grp.: SPCA (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Sometimes it's ASPCA (American SPCA). IGGY, Ellen DeGeneres' dog, knows both them better than I do.
40D: Part of NLCS: NATL. NLCS is National League Championship Series. Rockies is the 2007 NLCS champion.
41D: "Xanadu" grp.: ELO. Learned it from doing crossword.
42D: Small African antelopes: DIK-DIKS. They are herbivores.
43D: Uses a cipher: ENCODES
46D: Japanese mats: TATAMIS. I tried once, did not like it.
47D: Flower arrangement: IKEBANA. It's definitely a high art. I really like the paralleled structure of these 2 Japanese words.
48D: Nit-pickers: PEDANTS
52D: "Growing Pains" star: THICKE (Alan). He is a stranger to me.
53D: Can. province: SASK.
56D: S. Dey series: LA LAW. Why does the editor keep abbreviating actor/actress names this morning? Too tired to write Susan? Or watched too much Bay Hill Invitational yesterday?
63D: Way in: abbr.: ENT. Entry.
65D: Singer Sumac: YMA. She is still alive!
C. C.
