Theme: FUNERAL RITUALS (In proper order)
20A: James Joyce classic: FINNEGANS WAKE
40A: Len Deighton classic: FUNERAL IN BERLIN
56A: Gettysburg tourist attraction: CEMETERY RIDGE
Too dark a theme for me. I would prefer driving down the Magnolia Lane this morning and lingering around Amen Corner to see how Tiger masterfully tames the whole GOLF field. I want to smell the pine trees, the azaleas, the dogwoods, and the sunshine. I want to feel the VIBES and the AURA from Augusta Golf Course, and never think about life and its fragility.
I had another double-bogey round today. This golf course just did not fit my eyes. Too many doglegs. Besides, I dubbed almost everyone of my fairway wood shot. I had no idea that OSLO was once called Christiania. Did not know that HORSE SENSE means Savvy. Horse does not have much sense for God's sake. Had to google ISAK Dinesen, then I realized that I had searched for her before. But why did she change her original name Karen into a weird ISAK? Or is ISAK a common Danish name?
And the stupid GEER! Drdad will be so disappointed to hear this, but I completely forgot what he told me last week. Sigh! I also failed miserably on LEAR, GALABA, LEVO, LOGE, COLORATURA, UVULAE. And the two literary classics meant nothing to me, I've never heard of them. My only highlight today is BOB DYLAN.
Grid: Total letters filled: 191. Total blank squares: 34
Let's tee off! Front Nine:
1A: Low in pitch: DEEP
5A: Jagged cut: GASH. Did not get this one immediately. Also, I was never aware of the crude slangy side of GASH until this morning. GASHED was clued "Cut deeply" in yesterday's puzzle.
9A: Slangy feelings: VIBES
14A: Latin and others: ET AL. Third day in a roll!
15A: Christiania, today: OSLO. Is this a gimme for you?
16A: French river: ISÈRE. Got it this time.
17A: Ambiance: AURA
18A:Goneril's father: LEAR. King LEAR's other two daughters are REGAN and CORDELIA.
19A: Core group: CADRE
23A: Jefferson's bill: TWO
24A: Will of "The Waltons": GEER
25A: Kilmer of "The Doors": VAL. He is also in Déjà Vu (Agent Paul Pryzwarra).
28A: Lead balloon: DUD
31A: Yada, yada, yada: ETC. The annoying Seinfeld! Why deceive kids with "Deceptively Delicious" food? I don't get it.
33A: Nautical distance: SEA MILE
35A: Bad to the bone: EVIL
37A: Stockings: HOSE
39A: Nero's successor: GALBA. Who succeeded him? OTHO! Here is a list of all Roman Emperors.
43A: Martini garnish, perhaps: OLIVE
45A: Numbers game: KENO. Never knew that KENO originated from China until nytanonimo told me a few days ago. My ignorance knows no bounds, that's for sure!
46A: Went for a quick visit: RAN OVER
50A: Put on: DON
51A: Actress Tilly: MEG. Nope, not familiar with her. Would've nailed it if it's clued as "Actress Ryan" or "Ebay CEO Whitman".
62A: Plot of hair?: SCALP. I like the clue.
64A: River to the Caspian Sea: URAL
65A: Breakfast area: NOOK
66A: Cliffside dwelling: AERIE
67A: Baltic capital: RIGA. Not fond of the crossing of RIGA and RAGA. Not pretty!
69A: Put forward: POSED
Back Nine:
1D: Unhearing: DEAF. Is this a self-referential meta clue of yourself Mr. Editor?
2D: Needle case: ETUI. Weren't you here yesterday?
4D: Factory: PLANT
5D:Calvary: GOLGOTHA. It's "a hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified"
6D: On the Indian: ASEA
7D: Casual coinage: SLANG. Would be alright if not for 9A: Slangy feelings.
8D: Savvy: HORSE SENSE
9D: Rectory: VICARAGE
10D: Author Dinesen: ISAK. Author of "Out of Africa".
11D: Driven to distraction: BEDEVILLED
21D: Sheepish she: EWE. The alliteration here is so so.
22D: Little in Stirling: WEE. I am just so BEDEVILLED by this clue. How come WEE is always clued as "Little in Scotland"? Doesn't WEE mean "little" in America also?
26D: One lacking pigment: ALBINO
27D: Look to (for): LEAN ON
28D: Bend out of shape: DEFORM
29D:Soft palate attachments: UVULAE. Singular UVULA.
30D: Some train units: DINING CARS
32D: One soprano: COLORATURA. Brutal clue. Who knows? It's "a lyric soprano of high range who specializes in runs, trills, and other florid decorations in vocal music."
34D: Visible impression: MARK
36D: To the left: pref: LEVO. Counterclockwise. Opposite of DEXTRO, clockwise.
41D: Made over extensively: REVAMPED
42D: Robert Zimmerman: BOB DYLAN. Great clue, very topical too, given his recent Pulitzer award. Did not know that Bob Zimmerman got his last name from the poet Dylan Thomas until Winfield told me. Thanks.
49D: Court room railing: BAR
55D: Bush-league: MINOR. Disagree. It's MINORS. You don't call a Minor League a MINOR, do you? It's always MINORS to me. Unless you refer to the player, then you will have to re-clue it as Bush Leaguer. (Update: My mistake. Bush-league means Mediocre, Minor. Bush League, without the hyphen, refers to Minor League. )
57D: Nobel-winner Wiesel: ELIE
58D: Hindu Music: RAGA. I doubt there would be such rave about Anoushaka Shankar and her RAGA-heavy "Breathing Under Water" if not for the the featured guests (Her father Ravi Shankar, Norah Jones (her half-sister) and Sting) in the album.
59D: Venetian notable: DOGE. Dictionary.com says it's "The chief magistrate in the former republics of Venice and Genoa." Is this word still in use today?
62D: Chucklehead: SAP & 63D: Boardroom bigwig: CEO. Perfect parallel, perfect words to describe the ilks of Dennis Kozlowski. By the way Mr. Cayne (James), does anyone still call you for a tee time? And bridge?
Please have a look at yesterday's comment section. Littlelj offered a delicious plate of Scones/Biscuits/Cookies for your afternoon tea.
C.C.
20A: James Joyce classic: FINNEGANS WAKE
40A: Len Deighton classic: FUNERAL IN BERLIN
56A: Gettysburg tourist attraction: CEMETERY RIDGE
Too dark a theme for me. I would prefer driving down the Magnolia Lane this morning and lingering around Amen Corner to see how Tiger masterfully tames the whole GOLF field. I want to smell the pine trees, the azaleas, the dogwoods, and the sunshine. I want to feel the VIBES and the AURA from Augusta Golf Course, and never think about life and its fragility.
I had another double-bogey round today. This golf course just did not fit my eyes. Too many doglegs. Besides, I dubbed almost everyone of my fairway wood shot. I had no idea that OSLO was once called Christiania. Did not know that HORSE SENSE means Savvy. Horse does not have much sense for God's sake. Had to google ISAK Dinesen, then I realized that I had searched for her before. But why did she change her original name Karen into a weird ISAK? Or is ISAK a common Danish name?
And the stupid GEER! Drdad will be so disappointed to hear this, but I completely forgot what he told me last week. Sigh! I also failed miserably on LEAR, GALABA, LEVO, LOGE, COLORATURA, UVULAE. And the two literary classics meant nothing to me, I've never heard of them. My only highlight today is BOB DYLAN.
Grid: Total letters filled: 191. Total blank squares: 34
Let's tee off! Front Nine:
1A: Low in pitch: DEEP
5A: Jagged cut: GASH. Did not get this one immediately. Also, I was never aware of the crude slangy side of GASH until this morning. GASHED was clued "Cut deeply" in yesterday's puzzle.
9A: Slangy feelings: VIBES
14A: Latin and others: ET AL. Third day in a roll!
15A: Christiania, today: OSLO. Is this a gimme for you?
16A: French river: ISÈRE. Got it this time.
17A: Ambiance: AURA
18A:Goneril's father: LEAR. King LEAR's other two daughters are REGAN and CORDELIA.
19A: Core group: CADRE
23A: Jefferson's bill: TWO
24A: Will of "The Waltons": GEER
25A: Kilmer of "The Doors": VAL. He is also in Déjà Vu (Agent Paul Pryzwarra).
28A: Lead balloon: DUD
31A: Yada, yada, yada: ETC. The annoying Seinfeld! Why deceive kids with "Deceptively Delicious" food? I don't get it.
33A: Nautical distance: SEA MILE
35A: Bad to the bone: EVIL
37A: Stockings: HOSE
39A: Nero's successor: GALBA. Who succeeded him? OTHO! Here is a list of all Roman Emperors.
43A: Martini garnish, perhaps: OLIVE
45A: Numbers game: KENO. Never knew that KENO originated from China until nytanonimo told me a few days ago. My ignorance knows no bounds, that's for sure!
46A: Went for a quick visit: RAN OVER
50A: Put on: DON
51A: Actress Tilly: MEG. Nope, not familiar with her. Would've nailed it if it's clued as "Actress Ryan" or "Ebay CEO Whitman".
62A: Plot of hair?: SCALP. I like the clue.
64A: River to the Caspian Sea: URAL
65A: Breakfast area: NOOK
66A: Cliffside dwelling: AERIE
67A: Baltic capital: RIGA. Not fond of the crossing of RIGA and RAGA. Not pretty!
69A: Put forward: POSED
Back Nine:
1D: Unhearing: DEAF. Is this a self-referential meta clue of yourself Mr. Editor?
2D: Needle case: ETUI. Weren't you here yesterday?
4D: Factory: PLANT
5D:Calvary: GOLGOTHA. It's "a hill near Jerusalem where Jesus was crucified"
6D: On the Indian: ASEA
7D: Casual coinage: SLANG. Would be alright if not for 9A: Slangy feelings.
8D: Savvy: HORSE SENSE
9D: Rectory: VICARAGE
10D: Author Dinesen: ISAK. Author of "Out of Africa".
11D: Driven to distraction: BEDEVILLED
21D: Sheepish she: EWE. The alliteration here is so so.
22D: Little in Stirling: WEE. I am just so BEDEVILLED by this clue. How come WEE is always clued as "Little in Scotland"? Doesn't WEE mean "little" in America also?
26D: One lacking pigment: ALBINO
27D: Look to (for): LEAN ON
28D: Bend out of shape: DEFORM
29D:Soft palate attachments: UVULAE. Singular UVULA.
30D: Some train units: DINING CARS
32D: One soprano: COLORATURA. Brutal clue. Who knows? It's "a lyric soprano of high range who specializes in runs, trills, and other florid decorations in vocal music."
34D: Visible impression: MARK
36D: To the left: pref: LEVO. Counterclockwise. Opposite of DEXTRO, clockwise.
41D: Made over extensively: REVAMPED
42D: Robert Zimmerman: BOB DYLAN. Great clue, very topical too, given his recent Pulitzer award. Did not know that Bob Zimmerman got his last name from the poet Dylan Thomas until Winfield told me. Thanks.
49D: Court room railing: BAR
55D: Bush-league: MINOR. Disagree. It's MINORS. You don't call a Minor League a MINOR, do you? It's always MINORS to me. Unless you refer to the player, then you will have to re-clue it as Bush Leaguer. (Update: My mistake. Bush-league means Mediocre, Minor. Bush League, without the hyphen, refers to Minor League. )
57D: Nobel-winner Wiesel: ELIE
58D: Hindu Music: RAGA. I doubt there would be such rave about Anoushaka Shankar and her RAGA-heavy "Breathing Under Water" if not for the the featured guests (Her father Ravi Shankar, Norah Jones (her half-sister) and Sting) in the album.
59D: Venetian notable: DOGE. Dictionary.com says it's "The chief magistrate in the former republics of Venice and Genoa." Is this word still in use today?
62D: Chucklehead: SAP & 63D: Boardroom bigwig: CEO. Perfect parallel, perfect words to describe the ilks of Dennis Kozlowski. By the way Mr. Cayne (James), does anyone still call you for a tee time? And bridge?
Please have a look at yesterday's comment section. Littlelj offered a delicious plate of Scones/Biscuits/Cookies for your afternoon tea.
C.C.
