Theme: COLORFUL ANIMALS
17A: Colorful marine mammal: BLUE WHALE
37A: Colorful ruminant: RED DEER
58A: Colorful kodiak: BROWN BEAR
11D: Colorful reptile: GREEN SNAKE
29D: Colorful farm animal: BLACK SHEEP
Here are more subdued colors:
6D: Horse shade: ROAN
25D: Harbor hazard: SAND BAR
20D: Made of mud: EARTHEN
62A: Natural tone: ECRU
Let's see how many animals we've got here: WHALE, DEER, BEAR, SHEEP, SNAKE, BURRO, ROAN (Horse), BABE (the Ox, or the Pig), ALBEE, LEERAT, ABATTOIR, BOARDED. Total 12, plus yesterday's 8. I think I've had enough. No more animal tomorrow please!
I love the structure of this animal puzzle, and I really admire Ed Voile's ingenuity in building a DEN at the very center of the puzzle as an anchor. Superb!
CHOPPY is how I describe my solving experience this morning. The weather was very calm when I started the sail, but it got stormy when I met ANGER. BURRO (letter B) would not yield, and ABATTOIR simply refused to give me a hint of his name. So I had A_ATTOIR staring at me for eons. I decided to turn around clockwise and found the SKIN corner to be very thin and easy to crumble. The lower right DRUG corner was very weak too. I think I conquered it in less than 1 minute.
Then the weather turned tempestuous again. I had no idea what was KILOBAR, did not know BERBER, forgot URIAH, have never met PADDY. I did not get panicky though. I stayed cool and collected, and I made several educated guesses. In the end, they turned out to be correct. I think this is probably how experienced solvers tackle their puzzles. They may not know every entry of the crossword, but they have no problem ferreting out every fill. I definitely need to train myself to be more disciplined and refrain from checking on dictionary or flirting with google too impulsively.
Oh, a quick question for those who solve the TMS crossword from Chicago Tribune newspaper: Who is the author for last Saturday's themeless puzzle (April 26)? Is it Josiah Breward or Ed Voile? Or is the author name not printed in your paper?
ACROSS:
1A: Second to none: BEST. Great crossing of BABE & BEST. The Bambino is indeed the best of all time, isn't he? See also 59D: Slugger's stat: RBI. Good touch. The Ortiz jersey hex would probably send Babe spinning in his grave. Doe any one know what is Babe's career RBI number?
5A: Caspian feeder: URAL. The URAL River. Or the URAL Mountains. Again, I love how ALL & SOLE intersects in this corner.
9A: Madden: ANGER
16A: Pack animal: BURRO. A small donkey.
19A: Best players: A TEAM
25A: Crisp crackers: SALTINES
27A: "Seascape" playwright: ALBEE (Edward). He is still alive!
30A: Tom and Dennis of golf: WATSONS. Both of them are Senior PGA tour pros. The golf world now belongs to our bad boy Bubba WATSON!
31A: Tuesday in movie: WELD. Unknown to me. Pure guess. Another actress. Why did she change her name into Tuesday?
32A: Cozy room: DEN. Terrific fill! I do hate the crossing of DEN and DENOTE though.
33A: In a can in England: TINNED
36A: Actress Gabor: EVA. Or this beautiful "Desperate Housewife" actress (EVA Longoria).
42A: Tavern: BAR. Good to see ALE in the same grid with BAR, though I think PUB would probably be a more accurate companion.
44A: Pressure unit: KILOBAR. It's "a unit of pressure, equal to 1000 bars (14,500 pounds per square inch; equivalent to 100 megapascals). Abbreviation: kb". I am not fond of the intersection of BAR, KILOBAR, SANDBAR.
46A: White-sale buy: SHEET
47A: Certain New Yorker: UP STATER
49A: Aberdeen's river: DEE. Saw this clue before. The river is in Scotland.
52A: Got on: BOARDED. I don't get this one. Why? Can you give me an example?
56A: Fruit of the mind: IDEAS. Good one, though I prefer the clue to be "Fruit of the brain".
63A: Promoted to excess: HYPED. Oh the Hanna Montana fever. Incredible!
65A: Chinese secret society: TONG. Please! It's "Chinese American secret society"!
DOWN:
2D: Cinder ending?: ELLA. Cinderella.
4D: Grew molars: TEETHED
5D: Lead to seats: USHER. Hmm, I like this USHER and his Confessions. "YEAH!"
9D: Slaughterhouse: ABATTOIR. It's originated from French word ABATTRE (cut down). "Oir" is a noun-forming suffix I gather.
18D: Shout of joy: WHEE. I don't know. I've never shouted "WHEE". I might have cried "Oui, Oui" when I was expecting certain joy on certain occasions.
22D: Irish frieze overcoat: ULSTER. OK, it's " A loose, long overcoat made of heavy, rugged fabric and often belted". I suppose it's named after ULSTER the Irish province. Here is gentleman in his Ulster overcoat. What's he holding in his hands?
28D: Dolly of "Hello, Dolly": LEVI
37D: Backslid: RELAPSED
41D: Caboodle's partner?: KIT. The whole kit and caboodle. See here for its origin.
43D: Icy dessert: SHERBET. Isn't called SORBET in America? Want some Strawberry SHERBET?
45D: North African nomad: BERBER. Totally unknown to me. Hmm, interesting root. BERBER comes from Greek "Barbaros" meaning "barbarians" . It's "a member of a North African, primarily Muslim people living in settled or nomadic tribes from Morocco to Egypt." BERBERS settled in the region called Barbary, which was later conquered by the Arab.
47D: Heep of Dickens: URIAH. Have to commit this name to my memory, somehow!
48D: "Marty" writer Chayesfsky: PADDY. Complete stranger to me. Here is some information about him.
49D: Use a divining rod: DOWSE
52D: Moves up and down: BOBS. Have a look at this Holy Grail of Bobbing Head. Mickey Mantle, early 1960s, made in Japan, with the original box. Be a NODDER and bring this baby home.
53D: Art__: DECO. And the artist is ERTE.
C.C.
17A: Colorful marine mammal: BLUE WHALE
37A: Colorful ruminant: RED DEER
58A: Colorful kodiak: BROWN BEAR
11D: Colorful reptile: GREEN SNAKE
29D: Colorful farm animal: BLACK SHEEP
Here are more subdued colors:
6D: Horse shade: ROAN
25D: Harbor hazard: SAND BAR
20D: Made of mud: EARTHEN
62A: Natural tone: ECRU
Let's see how many animals we've got here: WHALE, DEER, BEAR, SHEEP, SNAKE, BURRO, ROAN (Horse), BABE (the Ox, or the Pig), ALBEE, LEERAT, ABATTOIR, BOARDED. Total 12, plus yesterday's 8. I think I've had enough. No more animal tomorrow please!
I love the structure of this animal puzzle, and I really admire Ed Voile's ingenuity in building a DEN at the very center of the puzzle as an anchor. Superb!
CHOPPY is how I describe my solving experience this morning. The weather was very calm when I started the sail, but it got stormy when I met ANGER. BURRO (letter B) would not yield, and ABATTOIR simply refused to give me a hint of his name. So I had A_ATTOIR staring at me for eons. I decided to turn around clockwise and found the SKIN corner to be very thin and easy to crumble. The lower right DRUG corner was very weak too. I think I conquered it in less than 1 minute.
Then the weather turned tempestuous again. I had no idea what was KILOBAR, did not know BERBER, forgot URIAH, have never met PADDY. I did not get panicky though. I stayed cool and collected, and I made several educated guesses. In the end, they turned out to be correct. I think this is probably how experienced solvers tackle their puzzles. They may not know every entry of the crossword, but they have no problem ferreting out every fill. I definitely need to train myself to be more disciplined and refrain from checking on dictionary or flirting with google too impulsively.
Oh, a quick question for those who solve the TMS crossword from Chicago Tribune newspaper: Who is the author for last Saturday's themeless puzzle (April 26)? Is it Josiah Breward or Ed Voile? Or is the author name not printed in your paper?
ACROSS:
1A: Second to none: BEST. Great crossing of BABE & BEST. The Bambino is indeed the best of all time, isn't he? See also 59D: Slugger's stat: RBI. Good touch. The Ortiz jersey hex would probably send Babe spinning in his grave. Doe any one know what is Babe's career RBI number?
5A: Caspian feeder: URAL. The URAL River. Or the URAL Mountains. Again, I love how ALL & SOLE intersects in this corner.
9A: Madden: ANGER
16A: Pack animal: BURRO. A small donkey.
19A: Best players: A TEAM
25A: Crisp crackers: SALTINES
27A: "Seascape" playwright: ALBEE (Edward). He is still alive!
30A: Tom and Dennis of golf: WATSONS. Both of them are Senior PGA tour pros. The golf world now belongs to our bad boy Bubba WATSON!
31A: Tuesday in movie: WELD. Unknown to me. Pure guess. Another actress. Why did she change her name into Tuesday?
32A: Cozy room: DEN. Terrific fill! I do hate the crossing of DEN and DENOTE though.
33A: In a can in England: TINNED
36A: Actress Gabor: EVA. Or this beautiful "Desperate Housewife" actress (EVA Longoria).
42A: Tavern: BAR. Good to see ALE in the same grid with BAR, though I think PUB would probably be a more accurate companion.
44A: Pressure unit: KILOBAR. It's "a unit of pressure, equal to 1000 bars (14,500 pounds per square inch; equivalent to 100 megapascals). Abbreviation: kb". I am not fond of the intersection of BAR, KILOBAR, SANDBAR.
46A: White-sale buy: SHEET
47A: Certain New Yorker: UP STATER
49A: Aberdeen's river: DEE. Saw this clue before. The river is in Scotland.
52A: Got on: BOARDED. I don't get this one. Why? Can you give me an example?
56A: Fruit of the mind: IDEAS. Good one, though I prefer the clue to be "Fruit of the brain".
63A: Promoted to excess: HYPED. Oh the Hanna Montana fever. Incredible!
65A: Chinese secret society: TONG. Please! It's "Chinese American secret society"!
DOWN:
2D: Cinder ending?: ELLA. Cinderella.
4D: Grew molars: TEETHED
5D: Lead to seats: USHER. Hmm, I like this USHER and his Confessions. "YEAH!"
9D: Slaughterhouse: ABATTOIR. It's originated from French word ABATTRE (cut down). "Oir" is a noun-forming suffix I gather.
18D: Shout of joy: WHEE. I don't know. I've never shouted "WHEE". I might have cried "Oui, Oui" when I was expecting certain joy on certain occasions.
22D: Irish frieze overcoat: ULSTER. OK, it's " A loose, long overcoat made of heavy, rugged fabric and often belted". I suppose it's named after ULSTER the Irish province. Here is gentleman in his Ulster overcoat. What's he holding in his hands?
28D: Dolly of "Hello, Dolly": LEVI
37D: Backslid: RELAPSED
41D: Caboodle's partner?: KIT. The whole kit and caboodle. See here for its origin.
43D: Icy dessert: SHERBET. Isn't called SORBET in America? Want some Strawberry SHERBET?
45D: North African nomad: BERBER. Totally unknown to me. Hmm, interesting root. BERBER comes from Greek "Barbaros" meaning "barbarians" . It's "a member of a North African, primarily Muslim people living in settled or nomadic tribes from Morocco to Egypt." BERBERS settled in the region called Barbary, which was later conquered by the Arab.
47D: Heep of Dickens: URIAH. Have to commit this name to my memory, somehow!
48D: "Marty" writer Chayesfsky: PADDY. Complete stranger to me. Here is some information about him.
49D: Use a divining rod: DOWSE
52D: Moves up and down: BOBS. Have a look at this Holy Grail of Bobbing Head. Mickey Mantle, early 1960s, made in Japan, with the original box. Be a NODDER and bring this baby home.
53D: Art__: DECO. And the artist is ERTE.
C.C.
