Theme: GETTING ON
17A: Getting on: NO SPRING CHICKEN
29A: Getting on: OVER THE HILL
57A: Getting on: OLD AS METHUSELAH
Hmm, welcome back Robert A. Doll! It's been a long time.
I really like this guy's pseudonym, very spooky. Had to admire his discipline today not to clue 56A: OTTO as Robert the Doll family. That self-referential meta would've driven me up a wall. By the way, has anyone been to that museum (Key West, FL) and seen Robert the Doll?
"Haunted" is how I felt this morning while solving this puzzle. I was possessed by the stupefying number (30) of 3-letter words. So overpowering! What seized you to commit this frown-upon crossword construction sin, Mr. Doll?
On the other hand, all the three theme entries are very appealing to me. Some of the colloquial expressions (HEY, C'MON, IT'S ME, DIS, HOORAH) and simple phrases (GROSS OUT, NEAR MISS, ESCAPE KEY) are very lively, esp the grid structure of the last three. It has some elegance. OTT and OTTO should not be in the same puzzle though. The same with ODIUM and RADIUM. Juttingly clumsy!
No home run today. Not even a triple or double. Plenty of singles, all over the field.
Grid: Total letters filled: 187. Total blank squares: 38
Front Nine:
1A: Design detail: SPEC
5A: Shake a leg!: C'MON
9A: Intense loathing: ODIUM. Does ODIUM have a plural form? I could not find it in the dictionary. Maybe it follows the same pattern as Odeum (the ancient Greek hall): Odeums, or Odea?
14A: Celestial bear: URSA
16A: Actress Delta: BURKE. Have never heard of her.
20A: Funny Foxx: REDD. Learned his name from doing crossword. Have never watched Sanford and Son. Is it good?
22A: Red shade: CERISE
25A: Disgust: GROSS OUT
30A: Altdorf's canton: URI. Altdorf is the capital of URI. Home of William Tell, the legendary Archer. I spent about 5 years in Canton (Guangzhou), China before I moved to the US.
31A: Bond backer: ISSUER
33A: Silvery-gray: ASH. Did not know that silvery-gray can be a noun. Always thought it was an adjective.
34A: Went like the wind: RACED
36A: Way out on the computer: ESCAPE KEY
41A: Precedes: ANTEDATES
43A: Dirty look: GLARE. Really? I always thought "GLARE" was a harsh look. LEER is a dirty look, isn't it? (Update: here is what drdad says: A glare is a dirty look, i.e., a fierce or angry stare. A leer is a desirous and sly look. It can suggest a desire for sex or a malicious intent).
43A: On the back: DORSAL. Alright, its root is "dorsum" (Latin for back). VENTRAL means on the back, its root is "venter" (Latin for belly). POSTERIOR & ANTERIOR is so much easier to remember. (Update: According to Dennis, Dorsal' is used mostly in fish (dorsal fin) and aircraft (dorsal antennae). )
50A: Close call: NEAR MISS
53A: Sore: TENDER
56A: "Beetle Bailey'' pooch: OTTO. No idea at all. Is this a gimme for you?
65A: Gets really steamed: BOILS
66A: Put on: GAIN. I had GA _ _ idling there for a while. I was temped to pen in GARB (as in putting on clothes).
67A: Khartoum's river: NILE. Khartoum is the Capital of Sudan. Do you call Sudan a Muslim country or an Arab country? I can never tell the difference.
Back Nine:
4D: Old Mercury: CAPRI. Also can be clued as Island in Italy of course.
5D: Calls on the carpet: CHIDES. Not familiar with this phrase. Can you give me an example on the usage?
9D: Newspaper section, for short: OBITS
10D: Channels: DUCTS
13D: Part of "MIB": MEN. The movie, "Men in Black". Not my favorite Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones movie. I think I hate this clue, so unfair to those who have never seen the movie. Terrible abbreviation. Clue overkill!
18D: Domiciled: RESIDED
19D: Triumphant shout: HOORAH. Which is more common, Hoorah or Hurrah?
24D: Lasagna cheese: RICOTTA
25D: Productive oil wells: GUSHERS
26D: Alcove: RECESS
27D: California city: OAKLAND. A chance missed for Billy Beane. He could've bribed the constructor and got some exposure for his Athletics.
32D: Scraps: SET-TOS
35D: Cain raiser: EVE. Is this a good clue to you? Cain raiser, Cain rearer, it just sounds so weird to me.
37D: Baby oinkers: PIGLETS. I put PIGGIES first.
40D: Marie Curie material: RADIUM
41D: Conservative Coulter: ANN. She drives me mad all the time. But I love the clue. Very topical.
48D: Harmonize: ATTUNE
51D: Domain: REALM
52D: Billiard stroke: MASSÉ. Is it the same as CAROM? (Update: Feedback from drdad: in pool, a carom is any shot involving a strike of the ball and subsequent rebound. A masse is a shot taken with the cue almost vertical that causes the ball to follow an extremely curved path.)
54D: Interminably: NO END
56D: CSNY song: OHIO. Nope. Total stranger.
57D: Sapporo sash: OBI. I just don't get this editor's obsession with Sapporo. What happened to you in this city?
(Update at 6:01pm Friday. Orange said Robert A. Doll is the constructor's real name. My mistake. Sorry)
C.C.
17A: Getting on: NO SPRING CHICKEN
29A: Getting on: OVER THE HILL
57A: Getting on: OLD AS METHUSELAH
Hmm, welcome back Robert A. Doll! It's been a long time.
I really like this guy's pseudonym, very spooky. Had to admire his discipline today not to clue 56A: OTTO as Robert the Doll family. That self-referential meta would've driven me up a wall. By the way, has anyone been to that museum (Key West, FL) and seen Robert the Doll?
"Haunted" is how I felt this morning while solving this puzzle. I was possessed by the stupefying number (30) of 3-letter words. So overpowering! What seized you to commit this frown-upon crossword construction sin, Mr. Doll?
On the other hand, all the three theme entries are very appealing to me. Some of the colloquial expressions (HEY, C'MON, IT'S ME, DIS, HOORAH) and simple phrases (GROSS OUT, NEAR MISS, ESCAPE KEY) are very lively, esp the grid structure of the last three. It has some elegance. OTT and OTTO should not be in the same puzzle though. The same with ODIUM and RADIUM. Juttingly clumsy!
No home run today. Not even a triple or double. Plenty of singles, all over the field.
Grid: Total letters filled: 187. Total blank squares: 38
Front Nine:
1A: Design detail: SPEC
5A: Shake a leg!: C'MON
9A: Intense loathing: ODIUM. Does ODIUM have a plural form? I could not find it in the dictionary. Maybe it follows the same pattern as Odeum (the ancient Greek hall): Odeums, or Odea?
14A: Celestial bear: URSA
16A: Actress Delta: BURKE. Have never heard of her.
20A: Funny Foxx: REDD. Learned his name from doing crossword. Have never watched Sanford and Son. Is it good?
22A: Red shade: CERISE
25A: Disgust: GROSS OUT
30A: Altdorf's canton: URI. Altdorf is the capital of URI. Home of William Tell, the legendary Archer. I spent about 5 years in Canton (Guangzhou), China before I moved to the US.
31A: Bond backer: ISSUER
33A: Silvery-gray: ASH. Did not know that silvery-gray can be a noun. Always thought it was an adjective.
34A: Went like the wind: RACED
36A: Way out on the computer: ESCAPE KEY
41A: Precedes: ANTEDATES
43A: Dirty look: GLARE. Really? I always thought "GLARE" was a harsh look. LEER is a dirty look, isn't it? (Update: here is what drdad says: A glare is a dirty look, i.e., a fierce or angry stare. A leer is a desirous and sly look. It can suggest a desire for sex or a malicious intent).
43A: On the back: DORSAL. Alright, its root is "dorsum" (Latin for back). VENTRAL means on the back, its root is "venter" (Latin for belly). POSTERIOR & ANTERIOR is so much easier to remember. (Update: According to Dennis, Dorsal' is used mostly in fish (dorsal fin) and aircraft (dorsal antennae). )
50A: Close call: NEAR MISS
53A: Sore: TENDER
56A: "Beetle Bailey'' pooch: OTTO. No idea at all. Is this a gimme for you?
65A: Gets really steamed: BOILS
66A: Put on: GAIN. I had GA _ _ idling there for a while. I was temped to pen in GARB (as in putting on clothes).
67A: Khartoum's river: NILE. Khartoum is the Capital of Sudan. Do you call Sudan a Muslim country or an Arab country? I can never tell the difference.
Back Nine:
4D: Old Mercury: CAPRI. Also can be clued as Island in Italy of course.
5D: Calls on the carpet: CHIDES. Not familiar with this phrase. Can you give me an example on the usage?
9D: Newspaper section, for short: OBITS
10D: Channels: DUCTS
13D: Part of "MIB": MEN. The movie, "Men in Black". Not my favorite Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones movie. I think I hate this clue, so unfair to those who have never seen the movie. Terrible abbreviation. Clue overkill!
18D: Domiciled: RESIDED
19D: Triumphant shout: HOORAH. Which is more common, Hoorah or Hurrah?
24D: Lasagna cheese: RICOTTA
25D: Productive oil wells: GUSHERS
26D: Alcove: RECESS
27D: California city: OAKLAND. A chance missed for Billy Beane. He could've bribed the constructor and got some exposure for his Athletics.
32D: Scraps: SET-TOS
35D: Cain raiser: EVE. Is this a good clue to you? Cain raiser, Cain rearer, it just sounds so weird to me.
37D: Baby oinkers: PIGLETS. I put PIGGIES first.
40D: Marie Curie material: RADIUM
41D: Conservative Coulter: ANN. She drives me mad all the time. But I love the clue. Very topical.
48D: Harmonize: ATTUNE
51D: Domain: REALM
52D: Billiard stroke: MASSÉ. Is it the same as CAROM? (Update: Feedback from drdad: in pool, a carom is any shot involving a strike of the ball and subsequent rebound. A masse is a shot taken with the cue almost vertical that causes the ball to follow an extremely curved path.)
54D: Interminably: NO END
56D: CSNY song: OHIO. Nope. Total stranger.
57D: Sapporo sash: OBI. I just don't get this editor's obsession with Sapporo. What happened to you in this city?
(Update at 6:01pm Friday. Orange said Robert A. Doll is the constructor's real name. My mistake. Sorry)
C.C.
