Theme: BAR
17A: Bar: UNIFORM INSIGNIA
27A: Bar: MUSICAL MEASURE
47A: Bar: COCKTAIL LOUNGE
62A: Bar: LEGAL PROFESSION
The theme entries today are not as awe-inspiring as Underwood's last "Chess Mate" theme, still great though. Would be better if BAR is not clued as the Answer to 70A: Stand in the way.
But I tanked! Could not get on his wavelength this morning. He was in AUGUSTA, MA. I was in AUGASTA, GA bemoaning Tiger's lost chance and his draggy putter. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, oh, Tiger!
All in all, a very foggy round of golf. Sun never came out and water never parted. Teed off OK, but lost my ball quickly after 2 holes. Put MING for Ho Chi _ City, had no idea what was SHIV, did not know the meaning of "licketys-split". Nightmare there! Also made a Herculean effort trying to putt ULRIC into the hole. Had trouble reading the line. Could not see where the breaks were. "Tack room" was a complete stranger to me.
Had lots of fun at the upper right corner though. The intersection of SEX with MANS, Knee-bending movements and IMAX made me laugh. BRAS & INKY night brought up a vivid picture, not to mention the evocative French words PARC, Semisoft BRIE, FEU (fire), AMIS (though not clued as male friends)!
Did you pay attention to the Front Nine (ACROSS) clues? They are probably the shortest I've ever seen in TMS puzzle. Felt like John Daly's golf style, powerful & quick.
Alright, let's take a mulligan and tee off again!
Front Nine:
1A: Sphere of power: ORB. A nice change from the "Poetic peeper" or "Eye, poetically" clue.
4A: Shillong's state: ASSAM. Have never heard of Shillong. It's the Capital city of ASSAM state. I want to take a walk at this ASSAM tea garden. Darjeeling tea is pretty good too.
9A: Adagio, allegro, etc.: TEMPI. Plural form of Tempo. Would have never strung this word together if not for the IMAX.
15A: Florida city: MIAMI. I love Will Smith's "Welcome to MIAMI".
16A: King's territory: REALM
20A: Audiophile's setup: STEREO
21A: Street-fighter's blade: SHIV. A knife, esp switchblade. Dictionary.com says it is probably originated from gypsy language "Chiv", meaning blade.
25A: Go lickety-split: ZIP. Now I know that "lickety-split" means "At great speed, rapidly".
35A: Tint: COLOR
36A: Closet type: LINEN
37A: Longfellow's bell town: ATRI. The Bell of ATRI.
39A: Go-ahead: SAY SO
41A: Tater: SPUD. Do you know that "murphy" is also a potato?
42A: Tack room gear: REINS. Alright, "tack room" is "a room in or near a stable for storing saddles, harnesses, and other tack."
44A: __ Loa volcano: MAUNA
46A: Switchback curve: ESS
52A: "Dune" composer Brian: ENO. The Microsoft Sound guy (Windows 95 start-up sound).
55A: High shots: LOBS. This would be a great clue entry for yesterday's The MASTERS puzzle.
58A: Code for one-on-one: DUELLO. No idea. It's of Italian origin. "The code of rules regulating dueling"
65A: Lennon's "Instant __": KARMA. Never heard of it. The only Lennon song I like is " Imagine"
68A: Simple weapon: SPEAR. Very simple indeed. Wikipedia shows 8 different kinds of wielding methods!
69A: The March King: SOUSA
Back Nine:
1D: Untitled work: OPUS. How so? Why untitled?
3D: Semisoft cheese: BRIE. Have some, avec Pinot Blanc.
4D: Of a single-celled organism: AMOEBIC
5D: Hot Sahara winds: SIROCCOS. Also spelled as SCIROCCO. Weird looking word. My Webster's says it originated from Arab word "sharq", means "east, to the rise of sun". Hot, oppressive wind blowing from Libyan deserts (Sahara Desert) across Mediterranean into S Europe. It seems more like north wind rather than east wind, doesn't it?
6D: "Casablanca" pianist: SAM. "As Time goes by", play it again, Sam. I don't like the crossing of SAM with 4A: ASSAM. (Updates from drdad and the Gargoyle. In the movie, Ilsa said, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By"'. Rick said, "You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it!")
7D: Writer Kingsley: AMIS. Father of Martin Kingsley, who was romantically involved with Tina Brown in her earlier lumpy days in London.
8D: Ho Chi _ City: MINH
9D: Insignificant: TRIVIAL
10D: Med. printout: EEG
11D: Provides with a crew: MANS
12D: Knee-bending movement: PLIÉ. Ballet movement.
13D: Big name in big pictures: IMAX (Image Maximum)
18D: Monks' titles: FRAS
24D: Genoese specialty: SALAMI
19D: Magnitude: SIZE
26D: Greek letters: PSIS
27D: San __, CA.: MATEO
28D: First Pope-canonized saint: ULRIC. Or Saint ULRICH, bishop and patron saint of Augsburg. Big stumper for me.
29D: True blue: LOYAL
30D: Crewman under Capt. Kirk: MR. SULU. Like this clue a lot.
31D: Dismantle mortise joints: UNPEG. Hurry up, you EMIRS of the Golf states, unpeg your currency from US dollars, Greenspan might be right this time!
32D: Try it again: REUSE
33D: Extremes: ENDS. Tire of this cluing.
34D: Paris Greenery: PARC (Park in French)
38D: Black as night: INKY
40D: As commanded: ON ORDERS. This phrase, together with SAY SO, A POP and a few other colloquial expressions in his other 2 puzzles has convinced me that Underwood is a very young guy. What do you think?
43D: Of constellations: STELLAR
45D: Maine's capital: AUGUSTA
48D: Each: A POP
52D: Moose cousins: ELKS
53D: Tidal situation: NEAP
54D: Made-up Monster: OGRE. Indeed, it's made up.
56D: Bikini parts: BRAS
59D: An arm or a leg: LIMB
60D: _ Linda, CA.: LOMA. Nope, I have never heard of this city.
61D: Unique person: ONER
63D: Doctor's org. AMA. I am an IATROPHOBIC, deeply skeptical of anything AMA recommends.
64D: Pot-au-__: FEU. Literally Pot on Fire. Needs some Dijon extra strong to spice it up!
C.C.
17A: Bar: UNIFORM INSIGNIA
27A: Bar: MUSICAL MEASURE
47A: Bar: COCKTAIL LOUNGE
62A: Bar: LEGAL PROFESSION
The theme entries today are not as awe-inspiring as Underwood's last "Chess Mate" theme, still great though. Would be better if BAR is not clued as the Answer to 70A: Stand in the way.
But I tanked! Could not get on his wavelength this morning. He was in AUGUSTA, MA. I was in AUGASTA, GA bemoaning Tiger's lost chance and his draggy putter. Coulda, shoulda, woulda, oh, Tiger!
All in all, a very foggy round of golf. Sun never came out and water never parted. Teed off OK, but lost my ball quickly after 2 holes. Put MING for Ho Chi _ City, had no idea what was SHIV, did not know the meaning of "licketys-split". Nightmare there! Also made a Herculean effort trying to putt ULRIC into the hole. Had trouble reading the line. Could not see where the breaks were. "Tack room" was a complete stranger to me.
Had lots of fun at the upper right corner though. The intersection of SEX with MANS, Knee-bending movements and IMAX made me laugh. BRAS & INKY night brought up a vivid picture, not to mention the evocative French words PARC, Semisoft BRIE, FEU (fire), AMIS (though not clued as male friends)!
Did you pay attention to the Front Nine (ACROSS) clues? They are probably the shortest I've ever seen in TMS puzzle. Felt like John Daly's golf style, powerful & quick.
Alright, let's take a mulligan and tee off again!
Front Nine:
1A: Sphere of power: ORB. A nice change from the "Poetic peeper" or "Eye, poetically" clue.
4A: Shillong's state: ASSAM. Have never heard of Shillong. It's the Capital city of ASSAM state. I want to take a walk at this ASSAM tea garden. Darjeeling tea is pretty good too.
9A: Adagio, allegro, etc.: TEMPI. Plural form of Tempo. Would have never strung this word together if not for the IMAX.
15A: Florida city: MIAMI. I love Will Smith's "Welcome to MIAMI".
16A: King's territory: REALM
20A: Audiophile's setup: STEREO
21A: Street-fighter's blade: SHIV. A knife, esp switchblade. Dictionary.com says it is probably originated from gypsy language "Chiv", meaning blade.
25A: Go lickety-split: ZIP. Now I know that "lickety-split" means "At great speed, rapidly".
35A: Tint: COLOR
36A: Closet type: LINEN
37A: Longfellow's bell town: ATRI. The Bell of ATRI.
39A: Go-ahead: SAY SO
41A: Tater: SPUD. Do you know that "murphy" is also a potato?
42A: Tack room gear: REINS. Alright, "tack room" is "a room in or near a stable for storing saddles, harnesses, and other tack."
44A: __ Loa volcano: MAUNA
46A: Switchback curve: ESS
52A: "Dune" composer Brian: ENO. The Microsoft Sound guy (Windows 95 start-up sound).
55A: High shots: LOBS. This would be a great clue entry for yesterday's The MASTERS puzzle.
58A: Code for one-on-one: DUELLO. No idea. It's of Italian origin. "The code of rules regulating dueling"
65A: Lennon's "Instant __": KARMA. Never heard of it. The only Lennon song I like is " Imagine"
68A: Simple weapon: SPEAR. Very simple indeed. Wikipedia shows 8 different kinds of wielding methods!
69A: The March King: SOUSA
Back Nine:
1D: Untitled work: OPUS. How so? Why untitled?
3D: Semisoft cheese: BRIE. Have some, avec Pinot Blanc.
4D: Of a single-celled organism: AMOEBIC
5D: Hot Sahara winds: SIROCCOS. Also spelled as SCIROCCO. Weird looking word. My Webster's says it originated from Arab word "sharq", means "east, to the rise of sun". Hot, oppressive wind blowing from Libyan deserts (Sahara Desert) across Mediterranean into S Europe. It seems more like north wind rather than east wind, doesn't it?
6D: "Casablanca" pianist: SAM. "As Time goes by", play it again, Sam. I don't like the crossing of SAM with 4A: ASSAM. (Updates from drdad and the Gargoyle. In the movie, Ilsa said, "Play it, Sam. Play 'As Time Goes By"'. Rick said, "You played it for her, you can play it for me. Play it!")
7D: Writer Kingsley: AMIS. Father of Martin Kingsley, who was romantically involved with Tina Brown in her earlier lumpy days in London.
8D: Ho Chi _ City: MINH
9D: Insignificant: TRIVIAL
10D: Med. printout: EEG
11D: Provides with a crew: MANS
12D: Knee-bending movement: PLIÉ. Ballet movement.
13D: Big name in big pictures: IMAX (Image Maximum)
18D: Monks' titles: FRAS
24D: Genoese specialty: SALAMI
19D: Magnitude: SIZE
26D: Greek letters: PSIS
27D: San __, CA.: MATEO
28D: First Pope-canonized saint: ULRIC. Or Saint ULRICH, bishop and patron saint of Augsburg. Big stumper for me.
29D: True blue: LOYAL
30D: Crewman under Capt. Kirk: MR. SULU. Like this clue a lot.
31D: Dismantle mortise joints: UNPEG. Hurry up, you EMIRS of the Golf states, unpeg your currency from US dollars, Greenspan might be right this time!
32D: Try it again: REUSE
33D: Extremes: ENDS. Tire of this cluing.
34D: Paris Greenery: PARC (Park in French)
38D: Black as night: INKY
40D: As commanded: ON ORDERS. This phrase, together with SAY SO, A POP and a few other colloquial expressions in his other 2 puzzles has convinced me that Underwood is a very young guy. What do you think?
43D: Of constellations: STELLAR
45D: Maine's capital: AUGUSTA
48D: Each: A POP
52D: Moose cousins: ELKS
53D: Tidal situation: NEAP
54D: Made-up Monster: OGRE. Indeed, it's made up.
56D: Bikini parts: BRAS
59D: An arm or a leg: LIMB
60D: _ Linda, CA.: LOMA. Nope, I have never heard of this city.
61D: Unique person: ONER
63D: Doctor's org. AMA. I am an IATROPHOBIC, deeply skeptical of anything AMA recommends.
64D: Pot-au-__: FEU. Literally Pot on Fire. Needs some Dijon extra strong to spice it up!
C.C.
