Theme: Common Phrases for "WORN OUT"
20A: In need of a boost: RUNNING ON EMPTY
39A: Energy depleted: ALL OUT OF STEAM
60A: Exhausted: ON ONE'S LAST LEGS
I enjoyed your comments on yesterday's ICED/ICE tea, very entertaining. Keep 'em coming!
It's a "S" Fest today. Total 23, that's about 12% of the total fill. These rampant ESSE, ESSEN, MESS, ASSES made me cringe! Did you groan at all?
I had a double-bogey round of golf today, mainly due to the heavy-rough right corner. First of all, I had no idea where the fairway was. I did not know that "bark'' can be a boat/SHIP. And WISTERIA was not an easy word to be squeezed out of my brain, neither was ARMYWORM. I felt so stupid falling into the ISMS bunker again. What a waste of my years studying Marxism, Leninism and Mao Ze-Dong Thought.
So I cheated, I went to the dictionary for the definition of "bark", kicked my ball out of the rough a la Mulligan President Clinton, hacked it close to the green and somehow chipped it in. All the other holes were fairly easy, no dogleg, no severe slope, no unfair pin position. All in all, a fun round!
The grid structure of the first several rows and the middle part is so similar to Ms. Baldwin's last offering. She might be using a crossword software for the construction I think. Are any of you guys foodies? Do the crossings of ASPIC, TOAST & OGEES look pleasing to your eyes?
Grid: Total letters filled: 189. Total blank squares: 36 (identical to yesterday's).
Front Nine:
10A: Swing to and fro: SWAY
15A: Half-pints: RUNTS. I got it from down clues. I had no idea that "Half-pints" is a slang for a short person. Besides "shrimp", what other words have the similar meaning?
19A: Doctrines: ISMS
24A: Word with Whiz: GEE. Good, no more "Turns right" (GEES), singular for a change. This should make one solver happy. Want to know who he/she is? Go to the Comments section of the March 27 puzzle, and see who opined at 7:39am.
25A: Generic stuff: DNA. Never know when to put DNA and when to put RNA.
26A: Flock member: EWE
30A: Pi follower: RHO. Very easy to infer, even if you are not sure of the exact order of the Greek alphabet.
32A: Atomic number 5: BORON. No idea. I suck at this atomic matter.
34A: Took the cake: WON. I ATE first.
36A: Frequently, to a bard: OFT
38A: Encircle: GIRD. Variant spelling is GIRT.
43A: Utter joy: GLEE. I always associate utter joy with "BLISS". To me, "GLEE" has a "GLOAT" connotation.
45A: "Annabel Lee" poet: POE. I tried too hard to outsmart the editor. I penned in EAP recklessly.
46A: Small salamanders: NEWTS
50A: Meat stock jelly: ASPIC
65A: Poultry housing: COOPS. Good clue. "Housing" refers to houses collectively, in case you wonder why "S" is there.
68A: Be entertaining: AMUSE
69A: Soybean paste: MISO. Hmm, it's clued as "Sushi bar soup" last time. Someone misread the clue as "Sushi bar soap" (you know who you are). And this soap does exist, look at here.
Back Nine:
1D: Hooded vipers: COBRAS. Never knew that "Hood" a special term for snake's neck skin. Interesting. Snakes do not have sternum.
2D: Exceedingly sudden: ABRUPT
3D: Primitive shelter: LEAN TO. Weren't you here yesterday?
4D: Loretta of country music: LYNN. Surprise me with something else! Jaime __ Spears!
5D: Stretch one's neck: CRANE. I try to picture how COBRAS can "stretch their ribs outwards which expands the hood."
6D: Kind of strike: HUNGER.Solution: Force-feed!
8D: Stalemate: STANDOFF
9D: City on the Ruhr: ESSEN
10D: Ark or bark: SHIP
11D: Showy ornamental vine: WISTERIA. It's "any climbing shrub belonging to the genus Wisteria, of the legume family, having showy, pendent clusters of blue-violet, white, purple, or rose flowers." Look at this picture, isn't it lovely?
12D: Destructive moth larva: ARMYWORM. Ick.
22D: Queen of fairies: MAB. "Queen Mab". It's also the name of Marianne's horse in "Sense and Sensibility."
29D: Little screecher: OWLET
31D: Hogwash: HOOEY
33D: Curvy moldings: OGEES. It's a "molding having the profile of an S-shaped curve". Now this is very fascinating: "In fluid mechanics, the term ogee is used for an aerodynamic curve due to the "oh, gee!" effect of physically navigating such a curve. For example, a wing may be shaped as an ogee curve, particularly on supersonic aircraft such as the Condord. Also, the downstream face of a dam spillway is usually formed in an ogee curve to minimize erosion."
35D: Crackpot: NUT
39D: Tavern: ALE HOUSE. I put TEA HOUSE first.
40D: Indecency: LEWDNESS
41D: Humdrum: TIRESOME. I put BORESOME first.
42D: Drinker's salute: TOAST
43D: Economic stat.: GNP (Gross Nation Product). I am just so intrigued by Bhutan's GNH (Gross National Happiness) measurement. It's such an innovative way to ascertain the quality of our life, albeit not as scientific as GNP.
49D: Slip away: ELAPSE. Don't like the double "P" appearance here.
51D: Lyrical: POETIC. Have yet to hear from Bob Dylan himself on the Pulitzer!
52D: Consume: INGEST. Antonym: EGEST
53D: Universe: COSMOS. The plural for COSMOS could be COSMOS or COSMOSES.
56D: Coffeehouse order: DECAF
58D: Nincompoops: ASSES. Could not find the origin of this "Nincompoops" anywhere.
61D: Fodder for the smelter: ORES. I never knew that "Fodder"s plural form is still "Fodder". Good to learn. This is my favorite clue of today's puzzle. I like the "er" rhyme.
62D: Churlish individual: LOUT. I put BOOR first.
63D: Succotash morsel: LIMA. Disagree. It's LIMA BEAN. Cooked with kernels of corns.
64D: Sleep state: R. E. M. (Rapid Eye Movement". It's was clued as "Man on the Moon" group on March 18.
Please let Philip J. Anderson return tomorrow!
C.C.
20A: In need of a boost: RUNNING ON EMPTY
39A: Energy depleted: ALL OUT OF STEAM
60A: Exhausted: ON ONE'S LAST LEGS
I enjoyed your comments on yesterday's ICED/ICE tea, very entertaining. Keep 'em coming!
It's a "S" Fest today. Total 23, that's about 12% of the total fill. These rampant ESSE, ESSEN, MESS, ASSES made me cringe! Did you groan at all?
I had a double-bogey round of golf today, mainly due to the heavy-rough right corner. First of all, I had no idea where the fairway was. I did not know that "bark'' can be a boat/SHIP. And WISTERIA was not an easy word to be squeezed out of my brain, neither was ARMYWORM. I felt so stupid falling into the ISMS bunker again. What a waste of my years studying Marxism, Leninism and Mao Ze-Dong Thought.
So I cheated, I went to the dictionary for the definition of "bark", kicked my ball out of the rough a la Mulligan President Clinton, hacked it close to the green and somehow chipped it in. All the other holes were fairly easy, no dogleg, no severe slope, no unfair pin position. All in all, a fun round!
The grid structure of the first several rows and the middle part is so similar to Ms. Baldwin's last offering. She might be using a crossword software for the construction I think. Are any of you guys foodies? Do the crossings of ASPIC, TOAST & OGEES look pleasing to your eyes?
Grid: Total letters filled: 189. Total blank squares: 36 (identical to yesterday's).
Front Nine:
10A: Swing to and fro: SWAY
15A: Half-pints: RUNTS. I got it from down clues. I had no idea that "Half-pints" is a slang for a short person. Besides "shrimp", what other words have the similar meaning?
19A: Doctrines: ISMS
24A: Word with Whiz: GEE. Good, no more "Turns right" (GEES), singular for a change. This should make one solver happy. Want to know who he/she is? Go to the Comments section of the March 27 puzzle, and see who opined at 7:39am.
25A: Generic stuff: DNA. Never know when to put DNA and when to put RNA.
26A: Flock member: EWE
30A: Pi follower: RHO. Very easy to infer, even if you are not sure of the exact order of the Greek alphabet.
32A: Atomic number 5: BORON. No idea. I suck at this atomic matter.
34A: Took the cake: WON. I ATE first.
36A: Frequently, to a bard: OFT
38A: Encircle: GIRD. Variant spelling is GIRT.
43A: Utter joy: GLEE. I always associate utter joy with "BLISS". To me, "GLEE" has a "GLOAT" connotation.
45A: "Annabel Lee" poet: POE. I tried too hard to outsmart the editor. I penned in EAP recklessly.
46A: Small salamanders: NEWTS
50A: Meat stock jelly: ASPIC
65A: Poultry housing: COOPS. Good clue. "Housing" refers to houses collectively, in case you wonder why "S" is there.
68A: Be entertaining: AMUSE
69A: Soybean paste: MISO. Hmm, it's clued as "Sushi bar soup" last time. Someone misread the clue as "Sushi bar soap" (you know who you are). And this soap does exist, look at here.
Back Nine:
1D: Hooded vipers: COBRAS. Never knew that "Hood" a special term for snake's neck skin. Interesting. Snakes do not have sternum.
2D: Exceedingly sudden: ABRUPT
3D: Primitive shelter: LEAN TO. Weren't you here yesterday?
4D: Loretta of country music: LYNN. Surprise me with something else! Jaime __ Spears!
5D: Stretch one's neck: CRANE. I try to picture how COBRAS can "stretch their ribs outwards which expands the hood."
6D: Kind of strike: HUNGER.
8D: Stalemate: STANDOFF
9D: City on the Ruhr: ESSEN
10D: Ark or bark: SHIP
11D: Showy ornamental vine: WISTERIA. It's "any climbing shrub belonging to the genus Wisteria, of the legume family, having showy, pendent clusters of blue-violet, white, purple, or rose flowers." Look at this picture, isn't it lovely?
12D: Destructive moth larva: ARMYWORM. Ick.
22D: Queen of fairies: MAB. "Queen Mab". It's also the name of Marianne's horse in "Sense and Sensibility."
29D: Little screecher: OWLET
31D: Hogwash: HOOEY
33D: Curvy moldings: OGEES. It's a "molding having the profile of an S-shaped curve". Now this is very fascinating: "In fluid mechanics, the term ogee is used for an aerodynamic curve due to the "oh, gee!" effect of physically navigating such a curve. For example, a wing may be shaped as an ogee curve, particularly on supersonic aircraft such as the Condord. Also, the downstream face of a dam spillway is usually formed in an ogee curve to minimize erosion."
35D: Crackpot: NUT
39D: Tavern: ALE HOUSE. I put TEA HOUSE first.
40D: Indecency: LEWDNESS
41D: Humdrum: TIRESOME. I put BORESOME first.
42D: Drinker's salute: TOAST
43D: Economic stat.: GNP (Gross Nation Product). I am just so intrigued by Bhutan's GNH (Gross National Happiness) measurement. It's such an innovative way to ascertain the quality of our life, albeit not as scientific as GNP.
49D: Slip away: ELAPSE. Don't like the double "P" appearance here.
51D: Lyrical: POETIC. Have yet to hear from Bob Dylan himself on the Pulitzer!
52D: Consume: INGEST. Antonym: EGEST
53D: Universe: COSMOS. The plural for COSMOS could be COSMOS or COSMOSES.
56D: Coffeehouse order: DECAF
58D: Nincompoops: ASSES. Could not find the origin of this "Nincompoops" anywhere.
61D: Fodder for the smelter: ORES. I never knew that "Fodder"s plural form is still "Fodder". Good to learn. This is my favorite clue of today's puzzle. I like the "er" rhyme.
62D: Churlish individual: LOUT. I put BOOR first.
63D: Succotash morsel: LIMA. Disagree. It's LIMA BEAN. Cooked with kernels of corns.
64D: Sleep state: R. E. M. (Rapid Eye Movement". It's was clued as "Man on the Moon" group on March 18.
Please let Philip J. Anderson return tomorrow!
C.C.
