Theme: HEADY DOINGS
28A: Passing gossip: CHIN WAGGING
66A: M-m-m-good: MOUTH WATERING
103A: Awesome: JAW DROPPING
3D: Psychiatrist's treatment?: HEAD SHRINKING
15D: Nuzzie greeting: NOSE RUBBING
40D: Eerie: HAIR RAISING
56D: Verbal chastisement: TONGUE LASHING
66D: Maximally boring: MIND NUMBING
Here are more:
EAR SPLITTING, EYE OPENING, TEETH CLENCHING, BRAINWASHING or BRAINTEASING, LIP SYNCING, BROW LIFTING, What else?
I am of two minds on today's puzzles. I do like the "HEADY DOINGS" theme idea, but I get dizzy just looking at this inordinate amount of ING's (8, including 29D: GOING OUT). What's your opinion?
It's a bit disappointing, thought hardly surprising given this editor's poor track record in timing his puzzles, that a "Mothers' Day" theme or even a "Related to the mother's side" (ENATE) clue is no where to be seen today. You would think he could work out a TV MOMS themed puzzle to balance his TV DADS puzzle (Tuesday May 6, 2008).
And 48D: Wake of a scythe (SWATHE), no VAR mark with the clue? Did you expect me to know that SWATHE could be spelled as SWATH when it means "the scythe path"? Obviously you MISOVERESTIMATED me, the way this country MISUNDERESTIMATED President Bush's resolve to get things done.
I laughed when I first saw 73A: I came: Lat. VENI. Then I filled in ALLUDE for 79A: Refer indirectly and LAY for 93A: Non-clerical. Then I found myself writing CAME for 94A: Showed up. I was stunned. CAME twice in less than 2 minute? You are amazing! Very ÉTÉ (98A: Nice hot time?) indeed.
But nothing is funny about 90A: Win a chase (OUT RUN). 93D: Ran out (LAPSED). You've gonna be kidding me. Just when I thought he could not sink any lower, along come this ghastly cluing! This editor definitely has no intention to improve the quality of his puzzles. His stubbornness is only paled by his arrogance.
Quite a few obscure city names in today's puzzle: NIAMEY, NEVERS, ALEPPO. The only place I know is 70D: Strasbourg's region (ALSACE). QUAGGAS, TOCSIN, MIOSIS, BOCCI were completely unknown to me. I've never heard of Nicolas ROEG either. But thanks to this editor's painful "Medical pref:" clue in April, I was able to get 54A: Healer: pref (IATRO) without any problem, otherwise, I would have big trouble with RICTUS (50D: Fixed, gaping grin). And without the generous help from those ING's, I think I would have completely tanked this puzzle.
ACROSS:
4A: Bring upon oneself: BUCK FOR. I am only familiar with BUCK UP, not BUCK FOR.
11A: Michael of Monty Python: PALIN. Nailed him today.
16A: Letters in math proofs: QED (Quod Erat Démōnstrandum). Latin. I am so proud I got this one.
20A: Shakespearean tragedy: OTHELLO
21A: Dispatch boat: AVISO. I completely forgot this word. But was able to string it together by the down clues. Always want a verb for the fill.
24A: Widespread slaughter: CARNAGE
30A: Fraction of a joule: ERG. 1 joule = 107 erg.
35A: Mount Hood's state: OREGON. Hi there!
39A: NATO word: ATL (Atlantic). Do you know that NATO also stands for "North African Theater of Operations"? IKE served both NATO's.
41A: "Teenage __ Ninja Turtles:": MUTANT. Not familiar with this comic book at all.
42A: Singer Carter: DEANA. "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". Here is my favorite "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" (Bob Marley).
48A: Squelch: STIFLE
53A: Ascended: WENT UP
55A: Like plays and movies: SCRIPTED
65A: PA nuclear accident site: TMI (Three Miles Island). To me, TMI is simply "Too Much Information".
70A: Painter Matisse: HENRI. This Luxe, Calme, et Volupté is the only Matisse I've seen in person, and I don't think I like it.
72A: Raw fish dish: SUSHI. Technically, it's SASHIMI. SUSHI toppings are always cooked. I like how SUSHI parallels MOUTHWATERING. M-m-m good!
74A: Greek contest: AGON. I simply forgot. It's "a contest in which prizes were awarded in any of a number of events, as athletics, drama, music, poetry, and painting" in ancient Greece.
75A: Tense state: EDGINESS
82A: "M*A*S*H" co-star: STIERS (David Ogen). No idea. I've never watched "M*A*S*H".
83A: Strolls easily: MOSEYS
89A: Silver or Gold: METAL. I put MEDAL first, then my fill for 80D: Husband of Salt? became LOD, which confused me for a long time.
92A: Big bell sound: BONG
97A: Most favorable conditions: OPTIMA. Singular form is OPTIMUM.
99A: Pig's sire: BOAR
101A: Norse pantheon: AESIR. Ugh, I forgot. This word is hard to remember.
106A: 90 deg. from vert. HOR (Horizontal)
107A: Scatter: DISSIPATE
110A: Type of general: ONE STAR
111A: O.T. book: ISA (Isaiah)
114A: Make a widow: BEREAVE. It bothers me a bit to see BEREAVE crossing 89D: Connubial: MARITAL.
117A: Pituitary or pineal: GLAND. I did not know the meaning of "Pituitary" and I have never heard of "pineal gland" before. Had to consult my dictionary.
118A: Washington Post honcho: BRADLEE (Ben). I did not realize that he is still with the Washington Post (vice president). Thought he left long time ago. I like his "A Good Life".
DOWN:
4D: Italian lawn bowling: BOCCI. Completely unknown to me. It's "an Italian variety of lawn bowling played on a dirt court that is shorter and narrower than the rink of a bowling green."
6D: Legendary Giant Mathewson: CHRISTY. Gimme for me. One of the first crop of Baseball HOFers 1936. The other 4 are Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson.
7D: Condominium for canines: KENNEL
8D: Blemishes: FLAWS
10D: "Performance" director Nicolas: ROEG. No, I've never heard of him.
11D: Neighbor of Iran: PAKISTAN
13D: Lisa of "The View": LING. She is not with "The View" any more.
16D: Extinct kin of zebra: QUAGGAS. No idea. Gettable though. Here is a picture.
18D: John's last name?: DOE. I like the "?" in the clue.
29D: Becoming extinguished: GOING OUT. Two OUT in the fills today, see 90A: OUT RUN.
32D: Crevices: CLEFTS
35D: Syndicated astrologer Sydney: OMARR. Unknown to me.
39D: Syrian city: ALEPPO. No, no, have never heard of it.
46D: Alarm bell: TOCSIN. No idea. Dictionary says this word derives from French "tocasenh", "tocar" means to strike, "senh" comes from the Latin signal, so it's bell.
48D: Wake of a scythe: SWATHE. A "VAR" mark is essential for this clue in my opinion.
49D: Designated: TERMED. Why? Can you explain it to me?
50D: Fixed, gaping grin: RICTUS. Completely unknown to me. It's from the past participle of Latin word ringī (to gape).
57D: Incarnate: EMBODY
58D: Keaton and Ladd: DIANES. Know Keaton, not Ladd.
61D: Down Under one?: AUSSIE. Good one.
63D: City on the Loire: NEVERS. Capital city of Nièvre (central France), on the Loire River. I've never heard of it.
67D: Bleached: WHITENED
68D: Capital of Niger: NIAMEY. I did not know. Got it from across clues. Interesting, they grow millet there. Have you had millet couscous before? The capital of Nigeria is Abuja, pretty cool name, isn't it?
74D: Strasbourg's region: ALSACE. In eastern France. The food there is mostly German style, lots of rye bread.
80D: Husband of salt?: LOT. Great clue. What is exactly the name of LOT's wife anyway? A Pillar of Salt? She shouldn't have looked back obviously, the same with Orpheus. He would have brought his wife out of Hades if he did not glance back. But it's just so hard to resist the temptation in life.
82D: Make a strong metal connection: SPOT WELD. No idea.
84D: Moo __ gai pan: GOO. "Moo GOO" means "mushroom" in Chinese. Gai is chicken. Pan means slice. Americanized Chinese dish. You won't find it in a real Chinese dining table.
89D: Connubial: MARITAL. It bothers me to see MARITAL crossing BEREAVE.
92D: Defeated: BEATEN
95D: Contraction of the pupil: MIOSIS. No, nope, total stranger to me. It's "excessive constriction of the pupil of the eye, as a result of drugs, disease, or the like". I do like how this author structured MIOSIS and 2D: Membrane of the eye: CORNEA in the same grid in such a balanced fashion. Very nice. And one more, 51A: Eyes, in poems (ORBS)
96D: Listing of text mistakes: ERRATA
99D: Goofy error: BONER
104D: Pitcher Nen: ROBB. Wow, I've never heard of his name before. Not a Giants fan.
108D: Tape-counter abbr.: IPS (Inches Per Second)
C.C.
28A: Passing gossip: CHIN WAGGING
66A: M-m-m-good: MOUTH WATERING
103A: Awesome: JAW DROPPING
3D: Psychiatrist's treatment?: HEAD SHRINKING
15D: Nuzzie greeting: NOSE RUBBING
40D: Eerie: HAIR RAISING
56D: Verbal chastisement: TONGUE LASHING
66D: Maximally boring: MIND NUMBING
Here are more:
EAR SPLITTING, EYE OPENING, TEETH CLENCHING, BRAINWASHING or BRAINTEASING, LIP SYNCING, BROW LIFTING, What else?
I am of two minds on today's puzzles. I do like the "HEADY DOINGS" theme idea, but I get dizzy just looking at this inordinate amount of ING's (8, including 29D: GOING OUT). What's your opinion?
It's a bit disappointing, thought hardly surprising given this editor's poor track record in timing his puzzles, that a "Mothers' Day" theme or even a "Related to the mother's side" (ENATE) clue is no where to be seen today. You would think he could work out a TV MOMS themed puzzle to balance his TV DADS puzzle (Tuesday May 6, 2008).
And 48D: Wake of a scythe (SWATHE), no VAR mark with the clue? Did you expect me to know that SWATHE could be spelled as SWATH when it means "the scythe path"? Obviously you MISOVERESTIMATED me, the way this country MISUNDERESTIMATED President Bush's resolve to get things done.
I laughed when I first saw 73A: I came: Lat. VENI. Then I filled in ALLUDE for 79A: Refer indirectly and LAY for 93A: Non-clerical. Then I found myself writing CAME for 94A: Showed up. I was stunned. CAME twice in less than 2 minute? You are amazing! Very ÉTÉ (98A: Nice hot time?) indeed.
But nothing is funny about 90A: Win a chase (OUT RUN). 93D: Ran out (LAPSED). You've gonna be kidding me. Just when I thought he could not sink any lower, along come this ghastly cluing! This editor definitely has no intention to improve the quality of his puzzles. His stubbornness is only paled by his arrogance.
Quite a few obscure city names in today's puzzle: NIAMEY, NEVERS, ALEPPO. The only place I know is 70D: Strasbourg's region (ALSACE). QUAGGAS, TOCSIN, MIOSIS, BOCCI were completely unknown to me. I've never heard of Nicolas ROEG either. But thanks to this editor's painful "Medical pref:" clue in April, I was able to get 54A: Healer: pref (IATRO) without any problem, otherwise, I would have big trouble with RICTUS (50D: Fixed, gaping grin). And without the generous help from those ING's, I think I would have completely tanked this puzzle.
ACROSS:
4A: Bring upon oneself: BUCK FOR. I am only familiar with BUCK UP, not BUCK FOR.
11A: Michael of Monty Python: PALIN. Nailed him today.
16A: Letters in math proofs: QED (Quod Erat Démōnstrandum). Latin. I am so proud I got this one.
20A: Shakespearean tragedy: OTHELLO
21A: Dispatch boat: AVISO. I completely forgot this word. But was able to string it together by the down clues. Always want a verb for the fill.
24A: Widespread slaughter: CARNAGE
30A: Fraction of a joule: ERG. 1 joule = 107 erg.
35A: Mount Hood's state: OREGON. Hi there!
39A: NATO word: ATL (Atlantic). Do you know that NATO also stands for "North African Theater of Operations"? IKE served both NATO's.
41A: "Teenage __ Ninja Turtles:": MUTANT. Not familiar with this comic book at all.
42A: Singer Carter: DEANA. "Everything's Gonna Be Alright". Here is my favorite "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" (Bob Marley).
48A: Squelch: STIFLE
53A: Ascended: WENT UP
55A: Like plays and movies: SCRIPTED
65A: PA nuclear accident site: TMI (Three Miles Island). To me, TMI is simply "Too Much Information".
70A: Painter Matisse: HENRI. This Luxe, Calme, et Volupté is the only Matisse I've seen in person, and I don't think I like it.
72A: Raw fish dish: SUSHI. Technically, it's SASHIMI. SUSHI toppings are always cooked. I like how SUSHI parallels MOUTHWATERING. M-m-m good!
74A: Greek contest: AGON. I simply forgot. It's "a contest in which prizes were awarded in any of a number of events, as athletics, drama, music, poetry, and painting" in ancient Greece.
75A: Tense state: EDGINESS
82A: "M*A*S*H" co-star: STIERS (David Ogen). No idea. I've never watched "M*A*S*H".
83A: Strolls easily: MOSEYS
89A: Silver or Gold: METAL. I put MEDAL first, then my fill for 80D: Husband of Salt? became LOD, which confused me for a long time.
92A: Big bell sound: BONG
97A: Most favorable conditions: OPTIMA. Singular form is OPTIMUM.
99A: Pig's sire: BOAR
101A: Norse pantheon: AESIR. Ugh, I forgot. This word is hard to remember.
106A: 90 deg. from vert. HOR (Horizontal)
107A: Scatter: DISSIPATE
110A: Type of general: ONE STAR
111A: O.T. book: ISA (Isaiah)
114A: Make a widow: BEREAVE. It bothers me a bit to see BEREAVE crossing 89D: Connubial: MARITAL.
117A: Pituitary or pineal: GLAND. I did not know the meaning of "Pituitary" and I have never heard of "pineal gland" before. Had to consult my dictionary.
118A: Washington Post honcho: BRADLEE (Ben). I did not realize that he is still with the Washington Post (vice president). Thought he left long time ago. I like his "A Good Life".
DOWN:
4D: Italian lawn bowling: BOCCI. Completely unknown to me. It's "an Italian variety of lawn bowling played on a dirt court that is shorter and narrower than the rink of a bowling green."
6D: Legendary Giant Mathewson: CHRISTY. Gimme for me. One of the first crop of Baseball HOFers 1936. The other 4 are Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner and Walter Johnson.
7D: Condominium for canines: KENNEL
8D: Blemishes: FLAWS
10D: "Performance" director Nicolas: ROEG. No, I've never heard of him.
11D: Neighbor of Iran: PAKISTAN
13D: Lisa of "The View": LING. She is not with "The View" any more.
16D: Extinct kin of zebra: QUAGGAS. No idea. Gettable though. Here is a picture.
18D: John's last name?: DOE. I like the "?" in the clue.
29D: Becoming extinguished: GOING OUT. Two OUT in the fills today, see 90A: OUT RUN.
32D: Crevices: CLEFTS
35D: Syndicated astrologer Sydney: OMARR. Unknown to me.
39D: Syrian city: ALEPPO. No, no, have never heard of it.
46D: Alarm bell: TOCSIN. No idea. Dictionary says this word derives from French "tocasenh", "tocar" means to strike, "senh" comes from the Latin signal, so it's bell.
48D: Wake of a scythe: SWATHE. A "VAR" mark is essential for this clue in my opinion.
49D: Designated: TERMED. Why? Can you explain it to me?
50D: Fixed, gaping grin: RICTUS. Completely unknown to me. It's from the past participle of Latin word ringī (to gape).
57D: Incarnate: EMBODY
58D: Keaton and Ladd: DIANES. Know Keaton, not Ladd.
61D: Down Under one?: AUSSIE. Good one.
63D: City on the Loire: NEVERS. Capital city of Nièvre (central France), on the Loire River. I've never heard of it.
67D: Bleached: WHITENED
68D: Capital of Niger: NIAMEY. I did not know. Got it from across clues. Interesting, they grow millet there. Have you had millet couscous before? The capital of Nigeria is Abuja, pretty cool name, isn't it?
74D: Strasbourg's region: ALSACE. In eastern France. The food there is mostly German style, lots of rye bread.
80D: Husband of salt?: LOT. Great clue. What is exactly the name of LOT's wife anyway? A Pillar of Salt? She shouldn't have looked back obviously, the same with Orpheus. He would have brought his wife out of Hades if he did not glance back. But it's just so hard to resist the temptation in life.
82D: Make a strong metal connection: SPOT WELD. No idea.
84D: Moo __ gai pan: GOO. "Moo GOO" means "mushroom" in Chinese. Gai is chicken. Pan means slice. Americanized Chinese dish. You won't find it in a real Chinese dining table.
89D: Connubial: MARITAL. It bothers me to see MARITAL crossing BEREAVE.
92D: Defeated: BEATEN
95D: Contraction of the pupil: MIOSIS. No, nope, total stranger to me. It's "excessive constriction of the pupil of the eye, as a result of drugs, disease, or the like". I do like how this author structured MIOSIS and 2D: Membrane of the eye: CORNEA in the same grid in such a balanced fashion. Very nice. And one more, 51A: Eyes, in poems (ORBS)
96D: Listing of text mistakes: ERRATA
99D: Goofy error: BONER
104D: Pitcher Nen: ROBB. Wow, I've never heard of his name before. Not a Giants fan.
108D: Tape-counter abbr.: IPS (Inches Per Second)
C.C.
