Theme: The MASTERS (The theme is an Arnold Palmer quote, to be exact)
27A: Start of an Arnold Palmer quote: WHAT OTHER PEOPLE MAY
48A: Part 2 of quote: FIND IN POETRY OR ART
85A: Part 3 of quote: MUSEUMS I FIND IN THE
114A: End of quote: FLIGHT OF A GOOD DRIVE
Sub-theme:
70A: Garb at The Masters: GREEN JACKET
125A: Golf ball choice: DUNLOP
108A: Cromwell's nickname: IRONSIDES
130A: "Lelia" author: SAND (a bit of stretch for sand trap, but I want the puzzle to look better).
30D: Nobel Prize winner Wiesel: ELIE
No TEE for golf puzzle? You never cease to amaze me Mr. Editor! How can you clue TEE so many times in the past week yet fail to bring it up when it's aptly needed?
I marveled at the great timing of this puzzle when I first saw the titled theme (The MASTERS). I expected the theme entries to be the architectural features of Augusta National, you know, like the Hogan Bridge, Magnolia Lane, Crow's Nest, or just plain old Amen Corner, or some of the hole names, Azaleas, Juniper, Camellia, etc.
Alas, only GREEN JACKET and ARNIE (4 times Masters Champion) himself are directly related to The Masters. But the quote here is pretty good. Watching Tiger hitting his tee shots, or chipping or putting, is indeed much more enjoyable than going to an art museum or reading a poetry book, to me at least. His swing is poetry in motion. I really admire how GREEN JACKETS is positioned in the very center of the grid. Very nice concept and execution!
However, I am clearly not cut for the Sunday puzzles, still too forbidding and unapproachable to me. Way too many authors and actresses' names. I knew none of the actresses. And out of the 7 authors, I only knew ERLE Stanley Gardner. I vaguely remembered ERMA Bombeck, but I could only penned in _RMA as I was not sure whether her name is IRMA, or ERMA. I suppose George SAND (130A: "Lelia" author) was inferable, but only if you knew 105D: author EUDORA Welty, who was a total stranger to me. Susan SONTAG's name simply escaped my brain, though her photos taken by Annie Leibovitz came to my mind vividly.
"Lady Jane Grey" dramatist Nicholas ROWE was an utter tragedy for me. I had big problem with that knotty 3-author corner. Who else? Oh, Writer Shiley Ann GRAU, another weird name for me. And I pieced together CERF (Bennett of Random House) by the crossing clues. Not familiar with him either.
I hope you tamed this golf course with your TITLEIST PRO V1. I struggled with my stupid DUNLOP.
Front Nines:
1A: Sheriff's gang: POSSE. One bullying repeat offender!
6A: Political cartoonist (1840-1902): NAST (Thomas)
10A: Pastry shells: CRUSTS
16A: One of Ted's stations: TBS. The SAWYERS for 18D saved me from messing around with CNN or TNT.
19A: Arrivederci, Andre: ADIEU. Arrivederci is Italian for goodbye, ADIEU is French.
20A: "Star Trek: TNG" character: TROI. Learned it from doing crossword. Not a fan of Star Trek or Star War, or any science fiction stuff, or Lord of Rings fantasy.
21A: Cool due: HEPCAT
23A: Crevasse pinnacle: SERAC. This toughie tortured me on a Feb puzzle, and tormented me again today.
24A: Airfoil: WING. Not familiar with this term. It's "any surface, as a wing, aileron, or stabilizer, designed to aid in lifting or controlling an aircraft by making use of the air currents through which it moves".
25A: Satellite of Jupiter: EUROPA. Guess who sighted it first? Galileo! I dislike the word SATELLITE appeared again as the answer to 35A: Spy-in-the-sky.
26A: Spat: ROW
22A: Old-time high note: ELA. Nope, I don't know you.
31A: Classify: ASSORT
34A: Part of NLCS: NATL (National). NLCS is National League Championship Series.
35A: Spy-in-the-sky: SATELLITE. Would be a great clue if not for 25A.
36A: Private seals: SECRETA. Singular Secretum. No idea. Have never heard of "Sigillum Secretum". It's used "for private correspondence by medieval monarchs". My dictionary only explains SECRETA as "substances secreted by a cell, tissue, or organ."
41A: Way of old Rome: ITER
42A: Romance Lang.: ITAL
45A: Alternative to 9: SEPT.
55A: Ballet turn: PIROUETTE. I am proud that I got this one.
60A: Elroy Jetson's dog: ASTRO. Nailed this one too.
64A: Back and Red, etc: SEAS. Would be a good clue if SEAWORLD were not the answer for 4D.
68A: Devoted to schoolwork: STUDIOUS
69A: Commercial award: CLIO. The Clio Awards. Clio is the Muse of History in Greek.
75A: One who meddles: TAMPERER
77A: Hamlet or Ophelia: DANE
78A: Yields: CEDES
79A: Equipped with a tiller: STEERABLE. OK, I suppose so.
81A: Hindu tunes: RAGAS. Second appearance this week.
93A: Greek letter: THETA. My first fill is OMEGA, as I did not know the meaning of "Strumpets" for 94D. Did any of you fill in DELTA first?
97A: Bum around: ROAM
98A: __ Mahal: TAJ
100A: Pro __ (in proportion): RATA
104A: Hunt and peck: TYPE. First time I see this phrase. It's "a slow and inefficient method of typing by looking for each key separately before striking it: used by untrained typists." Opposite of Touch System/Typing.
106A: Ones who caution: WARNERS. I would prefer the clues to be "Virginia Senator John and others".
108A: Cromwell's nickname: IRONSIDES. No idea, why is it in plural form?
111A: Turn sharply: SLUE
113A: Get cozy: NESTLE
118A: Ambrosia of immortality: AMRITA. Hindu word. No, have never heard of it. Alright, so "A" is not, MRTA is dead! Try me next time then.
119A: "Lady Jane Grey" dramatist: ROWE (Nicholas). See here for more information. Dislike ROWE and ROW (26A) in the same puzzle.
126A: _ go bragh!: ERIN. So, the original Irish was "Éire go Brách". "Brách" is equivalent to "eternity" or "end of time". Ireland forever then? Wikipedia says that the other derivative spelling is "Érin go Brea". 'Brea" means beautiful. Is this the Irish poetic confusion? Beauty is seldom eternal.
127A: Digression: ASIDE
129A: Ancient Jewish mystic: ESSENE. Faintly remembered this word. It's "a member of an ascetic Jewish sect that existed in ancient Palestine from the second century B.C. to the second century A.D."
130A: "Lelia" author: SAND. George SAND. Chopin should have stayed with her. He could have lived a longer and more productive life. This is a very interesting name to mess up with the solvers' brain for any French related clues, like Sand's Sea for MER, or Sand's Salt for Sel (wonderful alliteration, isn't it?). Please share with us if you have some other clever ideas.
Back Nines:
4D: Orlando attraction: SEAWORLD. Could've been reclued as "Golf Channel's neighbor" to mislead solvers and highlight the MASTERS theme, since Golf Channel's HQ is in Orlando.
5D: Game played with 32 cards: EUCHRE. No idea.
6D: Content abbreviation: NT WT
7D: Greek poet saved by a dolphin: ARION. Ugh, another Greek myth. Wikipedia says ARION is also "the Greek music awards show". I guess it's like our Emmy Award. It's also a character in DC Comics called "ARION, Lord of Atlantis". Are you a fan of DC Comics?
8D: "Illness as Metaphor" writer: SONTAG (Susan). Her son David Rieff ("Swimming in a Sea of Death") was just on Terry Gross' Fresh Air a few months ago. Agonizing to hear how she came grips with illness!
10D: "Moonstruck" star: CHER
11D: Stays on in the military: REUPS
12D: Lift hooves, say: UPREAR. I did not get this one immediately.
13D: Gets a move on: SCOOTS
14D: Valve attachment: TAPPET. No idea. It's "a sliding rod, intermittently struck by a cam, for moving another part, as a valve".
15D: Delay by deception: STALL
16D: Wood eater: TERMITE
17D: Swollen: BLOATED
19D: Ruth and Diane: SAWYERS. Knew Diane Sawyer. Have no idea who Ruth Sawyer is.
28D: Harmonize: ATTUNE
29D: Mr. Fudd: ELMER. Got it this time.
32D: Planet-finding grp.: SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
37D: Cobra's cousins: ASPS
47D: Poker choice: STUD
49D: Simpson trial judge: ITO (Lance)
56D: Dublin's country: EIRE. See also 126A: ERIN
57D: Natterjack: TOAD. Sewn it together from down clues. I've never heard of "Natterjack".
58D: Use a diapason: TUNE. Did not know the meaning of "Diapason". Not fond of TUNE and ATTUNE appeared in the same puzzle.
61D: Louver piece: SLAT. (Update: I misread it as Louvre piece, so I wanted ARTS first)
62D: What cons do: TIME. Good clue. I am just so happy that "ET. AL" got some jail time today. It appeared in our puzzle 4 times in the past 6 days.
63D: Weapons in Clue: ROPE. Have never played this board game before.
66D: Steely Dan album: AJA. Saw this clue before, but I could not squeeze anything out of my brain quickly. It revealed itself after I got GREEN JACKET.
70D: Write Shirley Ann: GRAU. She won a Pulitzer in 1965 for her "The Keepers of the House".
72D: Agatha's contemporary: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.
73D: Bennett of Random House: CERF. Bennett CERF, founder of the Random House.
76D: "Maggi" creator Bombeck: ERMA. If Bombeck was not clued, I would've jumped into the train of the novel "Maggie". Of course, Stephen Crane did not fit. I've never heard of the sitom "Maggie". Old TV series are definitely my Achilles' heel.
82D: River island: AIT
83D: Do beaver work: GNAW
84D: Actress Isabelle: ADJANI. Non! Étrangère à moi!
86D: Witticism: MOT. Always thought it's "Bon Mot".
87D: Final authority: SAY SO
88D: Beseeches: IMPLORES
89D: Bilge water: NONSENSE
90D: Waste allowance: TRET
91D: Flax filament: HARL. Would've never got this one without the across clues. It's "hemp filament as well".
93D: Nothing to worry about: TRIFLE
94D: Strumpets: HARLOTS. Strumpet is such a weirld word. Where is the origin? Let me check. ... OK, so one theory says it's connected with "stuprare", Latin for "have illicit sexual relations with," or "strupum" (dishonor, violation). Others suggest "strompe" (stocking) or "strompen" (to stride, to stalk, as a prostitute might a customer). TO STRUM: to have carnal knowledge of a woman, also to play badly on the harpsichord or any other stringed instrument. I think I will remember it next time. STRUM PET.
95D: French stars: ETOILES
96D: Space juice?: TANG. By the way, TANG is also the name of a culturally very prosperous dynasty in China. Its capital city is Xi'An, where I grew up.
101D: Benchmark test: LITMUS
102D: Decorates: ADORNS
103D: Pollute: DEFILE
105D: Writer Welty: EUDORA. No idea. I had a quick glance at her bio at wikipedia, she wrote a book called "A Curtain of Green". Green is at least golf related. So "A Curtain of Green" author might work better here if not for the GREEN JACKET.
110D: Squelched: SAT ON. "Sit on" here means "to suppress or to silence". To "sit on" a bad news, to "squelch" a negative report, etc.
112: Booth or Meese: EDWIN
116D: Rip angrily: REND
121D: Actress SCALA: GIA. She appeared in the TMS puzzle before, but I forgot! My brain is very picky in what it chooses to remember.
122D: News chiefs, for short: EDS (Editors). How about Crossword Editors? They are not in charge of any news.
C.C.
27A: Start of an Arnold Palmer quote: WHAT OTHER PEOPLE MAY
48A: Part 2 of quote: FIND IN POETRY OR ART
85A: Part 3 of quote: MUSEUMS I FIND IN THE
114A: End of quote: FLIGHT OF A GOOD DRIVE
Sub-theme:
70A: Garb at The Masters: GREEN JACKET
125A: Golf ball choice: DUNLOP
108A: Cromwell's nickname: IRONSIDES
130A: "Lelia" author: SAND (a bit of stretch for sand trap, but I want the puzzle to look better).
30D: Nobel Prize winner Wiesel: ELIE
No TEE for golf puzzle? You never cease to amaze me Mr. Editor! How can you clue TEE so many times in the past week yet fail to bring it up when it's aptly needed?
I marveled at the great timing of this puzzle when I first saw the titled theme (The MASTERS). I expected the theme entries to be the architectural features of Augusta National, you know, like the Hogan Bridge, Magnolia Lane, Crow's Nest, or just plain old Amen Corner, or some of the hole names, Azaleas, Juniper, Camellia, etc.
Alas, only GREEN JACKET and ARNIE (4 times Masters Champion) himself are directly related to The Masters. But the quote here is pretty good. Watching Tiger hitting his tee shots, or chipping or putting, is indeed much more enjoyable than going to an art museum or reading a poetry book, to me at least. His swing is poetry in motion. I really admire how GREEN JACKETS is positioned in the very center of the grid. Very nice concept and execution!
However, I am clearly not cut for the Sunday puzzles, still too forbidding and unapproachable to me. Way too many authors and actresses' names. I knew none of the actresses. And out of the 7 authors, I only knew ERLE Stanley Gardner. I vaguely remembered ERMA Bombeck, but I could only penned in _RMA as I was not sure whether her name is IRMA, or ERMA. I suppose George SAND (130A: "Lelia" author) was inferable, but only if you knew 105D: author EUDORA Welty, who was a total stranger to me. Susan SONTAG's name simply escaped my brain, though her photos taken by Annie Leibovitz came to my mind vividly.
"Lady Jane Grey" dramatist Nicholas ROWE was an utter tragedy for me. I had big problem with that knotty 3-author corner. Who else? Oh, Writer Shiley Ann GRAU, another weird name for me. And I pieced together CERF (Bennett of Random House) by the crossing clues. Not familiar with him either.
I hope you tamed this golf course with your TITLEIST PRO V1. I struggled with my stupid DUNLOP.
Front Nines:
1A: Sheriff's gang: POSSE. One bullying repeat offender!
6A: Political cartoonist (1840-1902): NAST (Thomas)
10A: Pastry shells: CRUSTS
16A: One of Ted's stations: TBS. The SAWYERS for 18D saved me from messing around with CNN or TNT.
19A: Arrivederci, Andre: ADIEU. Arrivederci is Italian for goodbye, ADIEU is French.
20A: "Star Trek: TNG" character: TROI. Learned it from doing crossword. Not a fan of Star Trek or Star War, or any science fiction stuff, or Lord of Rings fantasy.
21A: Cool due: HEPCAT
23A: Crevasse pinnacle: SERAC. This toughie tortured me on a Feb puzzle, and tormented me again today.
24A: Airfoil: WING. Not familiar with this term. It's "any surface, as a wing, aileron, or stabilizer, designed to aid in lifting or controlling an aircraft by making use of the air currents through which it moves".
25A: Satellite of Jupiter: EUROPA. Guess who sighted it first? Galileo! I dislike the word SATELLITE appeared again as the answer to 35A: Spy-in-the-sky.
26A: Spat: ROW
22A: Old-time high note: ELA. Nope, I don't know you.
31A: Classify: ASSORT
34A: Part of NLCS: NATL (National). NLCS is National League Championship Series.
35A: Spy-in-the-sky: SATELLITE. Would be a great clue if not for 25A.
36A: Private seals: SECRETA. Singular Secretum. No idea. Have never heard of "Sigillum Secretum". It's used "for private correspondence by medieval monarchs". My dictionary only explains SECRETA as "substances secreted by a cell, tissue, or organ."
41A: Way of old Rome: ITER
42A: Romance Lang.: ITAL
45A: Alternative to 9: SEPT.
55A: Ballet turn: PIROUETTE. I am proud that I got this one.
60A: Elroy Jetson's dog: ASTRO. Nailed this one too.
64A: Back and Red, etc: SEAS. Would be a good clue if SEAWORLD were not the answer for 4D.
68A: Devoted to schoolwork: STUDIOUS
69A: Commercial award: CLIO. The Clio Awards. Clio is the Muse of History in Greek.
75A: One who meddles: TAMPERER
77A: Hamlet or Ophelia: DANE
78A: Yields: CEDES
79A: Equipped with a tiller: STEERABLE. OK, I suppose so.
81A: Hindu tunes: RAGAS. Second appearance this week.
93A: Greek letter: THETA. My first fill is OMEGA, as I did not know the meaning of "Strumpets" for 94D. Did any of you fill in DELTA first?
97A: Bum around: ROAM
98A: __ Mahal: TAJ
100A: Pro __ (in proportion): RATA
104A: Hunt and peck: TYPE. First time I see this phrase. It's "a slow and inefficient method of typing by looking for each key separately before striking it: used by untrained typists." Opposite of Touch System/Typing.
106A: Ones who caution: WARNERS. I would prefer the clues to be "Virginia Senator John and others".
108A: Cromwell's nickname: IRONSIDES. No idea, why is it in plural form?
111A: Turn sharply: SLUE
113A: Get cozy: NESTLE
118A: Ambrosia of immortality: AMRITA. Hindu word. No, have never heard of it. Alright, so "A" is not, MRTA is dead! Try me next time then.
119A: "Lady Jane Grey" dramatist: ROWE (Nicholas). See here for more information. Dislike ROWE and ROW (26A) in the same puzzle.
126A: _ go bragh!: ERIN. So, the original Irish was "Éire go Brách". "Brách" is equivalent to "eternity" or "end of time". Ireland forever then? Wikipedia says that the other derivative spelling is "Érin go Brea". 'Brea" means beautiful. Is this the Irish poetic confusion? Beauty is seldom eternal.
127A: Digression: ASIDE
129A: Ancient Jewish mystic: ESSENE. Faintly remembered this word. It's "a member of an ascetic Jewish sect that existed in ancient Palestine from the second century B.C. to the second century A.D."
130A: "Lelia" author: SAND. George SAND. Chopin should have stayed with her. He could have lived a longer and more productive life. This is a very interesting name to mess up with the solvers' brain for any French related clues, like Sand's Sea for MER, or Sand's Salt for Sel (wonderful alliteration, isn't it?). Please share with us if you have some other clever ideas.
Back Nines:
4D: Orlando attraction: SEAWORLD. Could've been reclued as "Golf Channel's neighbor" to mislead solvers and highlight the MASTERS theme, since Golf Channel's HQ is in Orlando.
5D: Game played with 32 cards: EUCHRE. No idea.
6D: Content abbreviation: NT WT
7D: Greek poet saved by a dolphin: ARION. Ugh, another Greek myth. Wikipedia says ARION is also "the Greek music awards show". I guess it's like our Emmy Award. It's also a character in DC Comics called "ARION, Lord of Atlantis". Are you a fan of DC Comics?
8D: "Illness as Metaphor" writer: SONTAG (Susan). Her son David Rieff ("Swimming in a Sea of Death") was just on Terry Gross' Fresh Air a few months ago. Agonizing to hear how she came grips with illness!
10D: "Moonstruck" star: CHER
11D: Stays on in the military: REUPS
12D: Lift hooves, say: UPREAR. I did not get this one immediately.
13D: Gets a move on: SCOOTS
14D: Valve attachment: TAPPET. No idea. It's "a sliding rod, intermittently struck by a cam, for moving another part, as a valve".
15D: Delay by deception: STALL
16D: Wood eater: TERMITE
17D: Swollen: BLOATED
19D: Ruth and Diane: SAWYERS. Knew Diane Sawyer. Have no idea who Ruth Sawyer is.
28D: Harmonize: ATTUNE
29D: Mr. Fudd: ELMER. Got it this time.
32D: Planet-finding grp.: SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
37D: Cobra's cousins: ASPS
47D: Poker choice: STUD
49D: Simpson trial judge: ITO (Lance)
56D: Dublin's country: EIRE. See also 126A: ERIN
57D: Natterjack: TOAD. Sewn it together from down clues. I've never heard of "Natterjack".
58D: Use a diapason: TUNE. Did not know the meaning of "Diapason". Not fond of TUNE and ATTUNE appeared in the same puzzle.
61D: Louver piece: SLAT. (Update: I misread it as Louvre piece, so I wanted ARTS first)
62D: What cons do: TIME. Good clue. I am just so happy that "ET. AL" got some jail time today. It appeared in our puzzle 4 times in the past 6 days.
63D: Weapons in Clue: ROPE. Have never played this board game before.
66D: Steely Dan album: AJA. Saw this clue before, but I could not squeeze anything out of my brain quickly. It revealed itself after I got GREEN JACKET.
70D: Write Shirley Ann: GRAU. She won a Pulitzer in 1965 for her "The Keepers of the House".
72D: Agatha's contemporary: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.
73D: Bennett of Random House: CERF. Bennett CERF, founder of the Random House.
76D: "Maggi" creator Bombeck: ERMA. If Bombeck was not clued, I would've jumped into the train of the novel "Maggie". Of course, Stephen Crane did not fit. I've never heard of the sitom "Maggie". Old TV series are definitely my Achilles' heel.
82D: River island: AIT
83D: Do beaver work: GNAW
84D: Actress Isabelle: ADJANI. Non! Étrangère à moi!
86D: Witticism: MOT. Always thought it's "Bon Mot".
87D: Final authority: SAY SO
88D: Beseeches: IMPLORES
89D: Bilge water: NONSENSE
90D: Waste allowance: TRET
91D: Flax filament: HARL. Would've never got this one without the across clues. It's "hemp filament as well".
93D: Nothing to worry about: TRIFLE
94D: Strumpets: HARLOTS. Strumpet is such a weirld word. Where is the origin? Let me check. ... OK, so one theory says it's connected with "stuprare", Latin for "have illicit sexual relations with," or "strupum" (dishonor, violation). Others suggest "strompe" (stocking) or "strompen" (to stride, to stalk, as a prostitute might a customer). TO STRUM: to have carnal knowledge of a woman, also to play badly on the harpsichord or any other stringed instrument. I think I will remember it next time. STRUM PET.
95D: French stars: ETOILES
96D: Space juice?: TANG. By the way, TANG is also the name of a culturally very prosperous dynasty in China. Its capital city is Xi'An, where I grew up.
101D: Benchmark test: LITMUS
102D: Decorates: ADORNS
103D: Pollute: DEFILE
105D: Writer Welty: EUDORA. No idea. I had a quick glance at her bio at wikipedia, she wrote a book called "A Curtain of Green". Green is at least golf related. So "A Curtain of Green" author might work better here if not for the GREEN JACKET.
110D: Squelched: SAT ON. "Sit on" here means "to suppress or to silence". To "sit on" a bad news, to "squelch" a negative report, etc.
112: Booth or Meese: EDWIN
116D: Rip angrily: REND
121D: Actress SCALA: GIA. She appeared in the TMS puzzle before, but I forgot! My brain is very picky in what it chooses to remember.
122D: News chiefs, for short: EDS (Editors). How about Crossword Editors? They are not in charge of any news.
C.C.
