Theme: Slip
17A: Slip: PETTICOAT (Half Slip)
26A: Slip: RECEIPT (Paper Slip)
35A: Slip: FREUDIAN GAFFE (Freudian Slip)
47A: Slip: DECLINE (Quality/Quantity/Standard slip)
56A: Slip: YOUNG GIRL (Slip of a Girl)
OK, I've heard your voices, to borrow a line from Justin Timberlake's song, "I am bringing sexy back" on Thursday. But what's the raison d'ETRE (15A) for you guys to read my "Struggle Part" of the blog? Je ne comprend pas!!! Misery loves company?
I've never heard of the expression "She is a mere slip of girl, or he is mere slip of a lad", so it took me forever to figure out where I was going. It would really really drive me crazy had this new constructor Mr. Underwood used the pottery term Clay Slip.
Grid Analysis (15*15):
Total words: 78 (37 Across, 41Down). Total blank square: 38
I only realized this morning that the grids, as a rule, always have a center row (Today's puzzle: FREUDIAN GAFFE) and a center column (Today's puzzle: BRAY DEALT PONE). And they are always made up of an odd and equal number of squares on each side. That's why the total word counts for Across or Down are always odd number, hence the total word count for the whole grid has to be an even number.
There are 16 3-letter blocks in today's puzzle, very clunky and ungainly. Please do not put IRE and IRK in the same puzzle any more. And I am not fond of the intersection of 35A & 37D. The words FREUD & FEUD should never be put so close together. But it could be worse, suppose he put FEUD directly under the letter F in FREUD instead of the F in GAFFE, imagine how I would react!
Across clues:
1A: Pizzazz: ZING. I put ELAN first. I really do not like the letter of the clue makes a second appearance in the answers, unless it is alliteration, like Split into splinters: SLIVERED (Sunday March 23.).
5A: Small amounts: DABS
9A: Discompose: ABASH. I mis-read it as Decompose. So I was in the "rotten" direction.
16A: Rich cake: TORTE. Interesting. My dictionary says that Torte comes from German or Italian word Torta (cake, or tart) or Latin Torta (kind of bread). Wonder if anyone has ever made any savory torte before.
20A: Other side: ENEMY. Not fond of this clue.
21A: Exclude: DISBAR. I have nothing to say about this word. I keyed in this word only because I do not want to receive another email complaining about my omitting of certain non-gimme clues.
25A: Joe and his comrades: GIS
27A: Allocation plan: BUDGET. Without the letter B from the down EBB, I would've filled in TRIAGE. My brain was trying hard to allocate Katrina victims to different hospitals.
29A: Record of a voice-over: DUB
39A: In good order: NEATLY. Put NICELY first.
40A: Collection pieces: ITEMS. Had _ _ _ MS in place already, so I put in POEMS, thinking of Carl Sandburg and his annoying Chicago Poem collection last Thursday.
45A: Most remote, initially: ULT (Ultimate)
46A: Take for granted: ASSUME. I don't take your help for granted, guys. I deeply appreciate every piece of information you've offered to me.
50A: Star Wars, initially: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). I was thinking of Lucas' movie, not Reagan's Star Wars Proposal. OK, so initially it was SDI, then Clinton changed the name to BMDO (Ballistic Missile Defense Organization) in 1993, then Bush renamed it MDE (Missile Defense Agency) in 2002. Why did they keep changing the name? Trying to leave their own distinctive presidential legacy? Trying to claim the credit that they created some new initiative?
53A: Give a ring: PHONE
55A: "Six O'Clock" painter John: SLOAN. The painting is "Six O'Clock, Winter". OK, Mr. Underwood, even if you hate winter, you should not, and you can not omit the name part of a masterpiece. The season (Winter) and the time (pm) is essential to the the understanding of the subject of this painting.
60A: To the point: TERSE
61A: Hostile to: ANTI. Don't quite like the clue.
63A: Not so ordinary: ODDER. I am not fully convinced of this clue either.
64A: Kettle of fish: MESS. Never knew this expression before. It's also a comedy movie nobody probably have watched.
65A: Scottish terrier: SKYE. Are they the same? Wikipedia explains that "SKYE" and "Scottish terrier" are 2 different breeds of terrier.
Down entries:
1D: Use a stun gun: ZAP. Since Tase/Taser did not fit, I started thinking that maybe the Israeli gun UZI could be used as a verb. ZAP never entered my mind, esp since I could not get ZING for 1A.
4D: Box office take: GATE. I wanted CASH. At this point of my solving, I was only sure of AREA for 14A, so all my guesses were wild.
5D: Falseness: DECEIT
6D: Hee-haw: BRAY. Donkey cry.
9D: Top story: ATTIC. I was trapped. I was on the train of "Headline news". The fact that I misread 9A Discompose as Decompose only made things worse.
10D: State capital meaning "Wooded": BOISE. I never knew this before. But it was easily inferable.
11D: Asian peninsula: ARABIA. Ugh. I felt stupid to miss this one. Wanted it to be Malay or Korea. Neither fitted, so I ran away from this corner in utter exasperation.
12D: Subway loops: STRAPS. The overhead hanging loop.
13D: Quarter deck?: HEARTS. I love this clue!!
18D: Innocent heroine: INGENUE
21D: Remove hidden ears: DEBUG. Great clue too.
23D: Wide separation: GULF. Had some problem with this word, esp since I could not get 27A BUDGET quickly enough.
26D: Inclined to flow: RUNNY
28D: Stefani or Verdon: GWEN. Knew Stefani well, vaguely heard of Verdon. Why not give PBS anchor Gwen Ifill a try. I like her style.
29D: Distributed hands: DEALT. Of course, I fell into the _ _ _ ED bunker.
32D: Championship: TITLE. Not a gimme to me at all.
33D: Bringing up: RAISING. Love the movie Raising Helen starring Kate Hudson. Her How to Lose a Guy in 10 days is pretty good too.
34D: New newts: EFTS. Another tough one for me.
36D: Frighten off: DAUNT. I put SCARE first.
37D: Clash of clans: FEUD
42D: Makes greater: ADDS TO. Good clue, simple yet trappy due to S.
43D: ___ over (fainted): KEELED. For some unfathomable reason, I penned in ASA instead of AKA for 42A: Pseudonym intro (AKA). What/Who was I thinking? So I was hellbent to put SWOON in, even though the clue was clearly asking for a past tense.
44D: Conflict compromise: ACCORD. I thought of some kind of armistice or treaty. Stupid! I was actually reading a short article on Oslo Accord last night.
46D: Poster boy: ADONIS. This word always reminds of the "Hunk Flunks" JFK Jr.
49D: At the center: INNER
50D: Locks up: SHUTS
53D: Corn mix: PONE. Never had this before. Not interested in any corn product.
58D: Flattened fish: RAY. What is this? Why is it flattened?
59D: Heavy-duty cleanser: LYE
My prediction for tomorrow's puzzle author: Philip J. Anderson.
C.C.
17A: Slip: PETTICOAT (Half Slip)
26A: Slip: RECEIPT (Paper Slip)
35A: Slip: FREUDIAN GAFFE (Freudian Slip)
47A: Slip: DECLINE (Quality/Quantity/Standard slip)
56A: Slip: YOUNG GIRL (Slip of a Girl)
OK, I've heard your voices, to borrow a line from Justin Timberlake's song, "I am bringing sexy back" on Thursday. But what's the raison d'ETRE (15A) for you guys to read my "Struggle Part" of the blog? Je ne comprend pas!!! Misery loves company?
I've never heard of the expression "She is a mere slip of girl, or he is mere slip of a lad", so it took me forever to figure out where I was going. It would really really drive me crazy had this new constructor Mr. Underwood used the pottery term Clay Slip.
Grid Analysis (15*15):
Total words: 78 (37 Across, 41Down). Total blank square: 38
I only realized this morning that the grids, as a rule, always have a center row (Today's puzzle: FREUDIAN GAFFE) and a center column (Today's puzzle: BRAY DEALT PONE). And they are always made up of an odd and equal number of squares on each side. That's why the total word counts for Across or Down are always odd number, hence the total word count for the whole grid has to be an even number.
There are 16 3-letter blocks in today's puzzle, very clunky and ungainly. Please do not put IRE and IRK in the same puzzle any more. And I am not fond of the intersection of 35A & 37D. The words FREUD & FEUD should never be put so close together. But it could be worse, suppose he put FEUD directly under the letter F in FREUD instead of the F in GAFFE, imagine how I would react!
Across clues:
1A: Pizzazz: ZING. I put ELAN first. I really do not like the letter of the clue makes a second appearance in the answers, unless it is alliteration, like Split into splinters: SLIVERED (Sunday March 23.).
5A: Small amounts: DABS
9A: Discompose: ABASH. I mis-read it as Decompose. So I was in the "rotten" direction.
16A: Rich cake: TORTE. Interesting. My dictionary says that Torte comes from German or Italian word Torta (cake, or tart) or Latin Torta (kind of bread). Wonder if anyone has ever made any savory torte before.
20A: Other side: ENEMY. Not fond of this clue.
21A: Exclude: DISBAR. I have nothing to say about this word. I keyed in this word only because I do not want to receive another email complaining about my omitting of certain non-gimme clues.
25A: Joe and his comrades: GIS
27A: Allocation plan: BUDGET. Without the letter B from the down EBB, I would've filled in TRIAGE. My brain was trying hard to allocate Katrina victims to different hospitals.
29A: Record of a voice-over: DUB
39A: In good order: NEATLY. Put NICELY first.
40A: Collection pieces: ITEMS. Had _ _ _ MS in place already, so I put in POEMS, thinking of Carl Sandburg and his annoying Chicago Poem collection last Thursday.
45A: Most remote, initially: ULT (Ultimate)
46A: Take for granted: ASSUME. I don't take your help for granted, guys. I deeply appreciate every piece of information you've offered to me.
50A: Star Wars, initially: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). I was thinking of Lucas' movie, not Reagan's Star Wars Proposal. OK, so initially it was SDI, then Clinton changed the name to BMDO (Ballistic Missile Defense Organization) in 1993, then Bush renamed it MDE (Missile Defense Agency) in 2002. Why did they keep changing the name? Trying to leave their own distinctive presidential legacy? Trying to claim the credit that they created some new initiative?
53A: Give a ring: PHONE
55A: "Six O'Clock" painter John: SLOAN. The painting is "Six O'Clock, Winter". OK, Mr. Underwood, even if you hate winter, you should not, and you can not omit the name part of a masterpiece. The season (Winter) and the time (pm) is essential to the the understanding of the subject of this painting.
60A: To the point: TERSE
61A: Hostile to: ANTI. Don't quite like the clue.
63A: Not so ordinary: ODDER. I am not fully convinced of this clue either.
64A: Kettle of fish: MESS. Never knew this expression before. It's also a comedy movie nobody probably have watched.
65A: Scottish terrier: SKYE. Are they the same? Wikipedia explains that "SKYE" and "Scottish terrier" are 2 different breeds of terrier.
Down entries:
1D: Use a stun gun: ZAP. Since Tase/Taser did not fit, I started thinking that maybe the Israeli gun UZI could be used as a verb. ZAP never entered my mind, esp since I could not get ZING for 1A.
4D: Box office take: GATE. I wanted CASH. At this point of my solving, I was only sure of AREA for 14A, so all my guesses were wild.
5D: Falseness: DECEIT
6D: Hee-haw: BRAY. Donkey cry.
9D: Top story: ATTIC. I was trapped. I was on the train of "Headline news". The fact that I misread 9A Discompose as Decompose only made things worse.
10D: State capital meaning "Wooded": BOISE. I never knew this before. But it was easily inferable.
11D: Asian peninsula: ARABIA. Ugh. I felt stupid to miss this one. Wanted it to be Malay or Korea. Neither fitted, so I ran away from this corner in utter exasperation.
12D: Subway loops: STRAPS. The overhead hanging loop.
13D: Quarter deck?: HEARTS. I love this clue!!
18D: Innocent heroine: INGENUE
21D: Remove hidden ears: DEBUG. Great clue too.
23D: Wide separation: GULF. Had some problem with this word, esp since I could not get 27A BUDGET quickly enough.
26D: Inclined to flow: RUNNY
28D: Stefani or Verdon: GWEN. Knew Stefani well, vaguely heard of Verdon. Why not give PBS anchor Gwen Ifill a try. I like her style.
29D: Distributed hands: DEALT. Of course, I fell into the _ _ _ ED bunker.
32D: Championship: TITLE. Not a gimme to me at all.
33D: Bringing up: RAISING. Love the movie Raising Helen starring Kate Hudson. Her How to Lose a Guy in 10 days is pretty good too.
34D: New newts: EFTS. Another tough one for me.
36D: Frighten off: DAUNT. I put SCARE first.
37D: Clash of clans: FEUD
42D: Makes greater: ADDS TO. Good clue, simple yet trappy due to S.
43D: ___ over (fainted): KEELED. For some unfathomable reason, I penned in ASA instead of AKA for 42A: Pseudonym intro (AKA). What/Who was I thinking? So I was hellbent to put SWOON in, even though the clue was clearly asking for a past tense.
44D: Conflict compromise: ACCORD. I thought of some kind of armistice or treaty. Stupid! I was actually reading a short article on Oslo Accord last night.
46D: Poster boy: ADONIS. This word always reminds of the "Hunk Flunks" JFK Jr.
49D: At the center: INNER
50D: Locks up: SHUTS
53D: Corn mix: PONE. Never had this before. Not interested in any corn product.
58D: Flattened fish: RAY. What is this? Why is it flattened?
59D: Heavy-duty cleanser: LYE
My prediction for tomorrow's puzzle author: Philip J. Anderson.
C.C.
