Themeless
Tough journey this morning. This is unquestionably the most complex puzzle I've ever solved. The grid has a very quizzical look, do those black squares contribute to some kind of commercial sign/logo?
Here are the queasy Q's:
8A: Sought after: QUESTED
35A: Saddam Hussein associate: TARIQ AZIZ. I wanted Ba'athists. This AZIZ (Deputy Prime Minister) was # 43rd, later #25 in the Playing Card Deck (Most Wanted List). Saw his mug often on TV before the invasion. But I could never remember his name. Always confused him with the Bagdad Bob (the Information Minister).
52A: Ask: QUERY
21D: For the asking: ON REQUEST
7D: Question off location: WHERE AM I
8D: Nunavut's neighbor: QUEBEC. I had no idea where Nunavut is. O CANADA (1D: Neighbor's anthem), I hardly know ya! Interesting to learn that the song was originally commissioned by the then Lieutenant Governor of QUEBEC in French language. I dislike the clue for 1D, too narrowly defined.
37D: Poorly matched: UNEQUAL
And the zany Z's:
33A: ___ Zee, former Netherlands inlet: ZUIDER. Big stumper. ZUIDER Zee means "southern sea" in Dutch. See here for more information. Boy, I sure don't want to see that new name IJsselmeer appear in our puzzle ever. This J can drive you nuts, JIJ, who are you?
35A: Saddam Hussein associate: TARIQ AZIZ
25D: Low-maintenance hairstyle: BUZZ CUT. Another Army reference is 51A: Most G.I.s: PVTS.
34D: Moral-ending?: IZE. Hmm, moral-ending, let's start the tribute to morel then!
28A: Den denizen: BEAR CUB. I like the clue.
And the excellent X'es:
47A: Sturdy feller?: AXE. Good clue.
58A: Certain movie house: TRIPLEX
42D: Utmost: EXTREME
43D: Neuters: DESEXES
And the jazzy J's:
40A: Clampett patriarch, to Jethro: UNCLE JED. Hard for me. I know nothing about "The Beverly Hillbillies".
41D: Olympian's spear: JAVELIN. I look forward to seeing JAVIER Bardem and his current flame Penélope Cruz clued in one puzzle someday. With letter J & Z, that will be SAHARA hot.
To further scrabblize the grid, I suggest the following changes to the clues:
19A: Geeks: NERDS. Change to "school clique"
44A: Penguins' org.: NHL. Change to "Gretzky's org."
23A: Exclamation of grief: ALAS. Change to "Dejection exclamation"
Also noticiable are the three "Former":
61A: Former: ONE TIME
31A: Former New Yorker City mayor: ABE BEAME. NY's first Jewish mayor (1974-1977).
33A: ___ Zee, former Netherlands inlet: ZUIIDER.
Overall, this puzzle is too much of a Herculean task to me. I quit after 20 minutes of floundering and completely exhausted Mr. Google later on.
ACROSS:
1A: Current rule? OHM'S LAW. Very clever "Current" mislead.
15A: Somewhat aloof: COOLISH. I've never used this word before.
16A: Farther along the ascent: UPSLOPE
17A: One-celled organisms: AMOEBAE. The plural form could also be AMOEBAS.
18A: Abnormal site of an organ: ECTOPIC. Unknown to me, had never heard of Ecotopia either. Dictionary says it's from the Greek éktóp(os) (out of place). OK, so "ec" is a prefix for outside, tópos is place, and "ia" is a suffix for disease. "Ic", of course, is an adjective forming suffix.
20A: Nasal membranes: SEPTA. Singular is Septum. Here is the definition and examples from the dictionary: "A thin partition or membrane that divides two cavities or soft masses of tissue in an organism: the nasal septum; the atrial septum of the heart."
24A: Star in Cygnus: DENEB. It simply escaped my mind.
27A: Hammarskjold of the U. N.: DAG. He was awarded Noble Peace Prize in 1961 (the only person to have been awarded posthumously). JFK delivered a great speech one week after Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in Congo. He said "A noble servant is gone. But the QUEST for peace lies before us."
37A: Moving vehicles: U-HAULS
45A: Letterpress printing plate: LINE CUT. Also called "Line graving". I am not familiar with this term.
56A: Anonymous: UNNAMED. I put UNKNOWN first.
60A: Gallery event: ART SALES
62A: Mope, perhaps: LOOK SAD
DOWN:
2D: Amateur developer's setup: HOME LAB
3D: Marina charge: MOORAGE
4D: Tundra transports: SLEDS
5D: Left-wingers: LIBS (Liberals). Who do you think is the most influential liberal columnist in the US right now?
6D: Sly-fox link: AS A
9D: Mdse. identifier: UPC (Universal Product Code)
10D: Ballpark figs.: ESTS
11D: Blackthorn berries: SLOES
12D: Knocked over: TOPPLED. Does this answer & 35A clue bring you the picture of Saddam's statue being TOPPLED?
13D: Quintessence: EPITOME
14D: Illinois city: DECATUR. "The Soybean Capital of the World". Did not know this before.
24D: Formal introduction?: DEAR SIR
28D: Important thing: BE ALL. I don't get this one. Why? Can you give me an example?
29D: Well-muscled: BUILT. Of course, I fell into the "ed" trap and wrote down TONED first.
36D: Forebear: ANCESTOR
38D: Saki's real name: H. H. MUNRO. Another toughie. Not familiar with him at all.
39D: Not recognizable by: ALIEN TO
46D: Essential: NEEDED
49D: "East of Eden"family name: TRASK. Completely unknown to me. I've never read any Steinbeck novel.
51D: ___ Bismol: PEPTO
53D: Singer Sumac and others: YMAS. Others? Who? I challenge you to provide me with another YMA of some fame.
57D: Old-time high note: ELA. Saw this clue before. But I forgot the meaning.
Finally, 55D: Carpe ___! (Seize the day): DIEM. And don't forget to Carpe Noctem (seize the night) as well. Here is Sade's Cherish the Day. Please don't go astray. And surprise me, Denis of Cork, show me you are really really for real this time!
C.C.
Tough journey this morning. This is unquestionably the most complex puzzle I've ever solved. The grid has a very quizzical look, do those black squares contribute to some kind of commercial sign/logo?
Here are the queasy Q's:
8A: Sought after: QUESTED
35A: Saddam Hussein associate: TARIQ AZIZ. I wanted Ba'athists. This AZIZ (Deputy Prime Minister) was # 43rd, later #25 in the Playing Card Deck (Most Wanted List). Saw his mug often on TV before the invasion. But I could never remember his name. Always confused him with the Bagdad Bob (the Information Minister).
52A: Ask: QUERY
21D: For the asking: ON REQUEST
7D: Question off location: WHERE AM I
8D: Nunavut's neighbor: QUEBEC. I had no idea where Nunavut is. O CANADA (1D: Neighbor's anthem), I hardly know ya! Interesting to learn that the song was originally commissioned by the then Lieutenant Governor of QUEBEC in French language. I dislike the clue for 1D, too narrowly defined.
37D: Poorly matched: UNEQUAL
And the zany Z's:
33A: ___ Zee, former Netherlands inlet: ZUIDER. Big stumper. ZUIDER Zee means "southern sea" in Dutch. See here for more information. Boy, I sure don't want to see that new name IJsselmeer appear in our puzzle ever. This J can drive you nuts, JIJ, who are you?
35A: Saddam Hussein associate: TARIQ AZIZ
25D: Low-maintenance hairstyle: BUZZ CUT. Another Army reference is 51A: Most G.I.s: PVTS.
34D: Moral-ending?: IZE. Hmm, moral-ending, let's start the tribute to morel then!
28A: Den denizen: BEAR CUB. I like the clue.
And the excellent X'es:
47A: Sturdy feller?: AXE. Good clue.
58A: Certain movie house: TRIPLEX
42D: Utmost: EXTREME
43D: Neuters: DESEXES
And the jazzy J's:
40A: Clampett patriarch, to Jethro: UNCLE JED. Hard for me. I know nothing about "The Beverly Hillbillies".
41D: Olympian's spear: JAVELIN. I look forward to seeing JAVIER Bardem and his current flame Penélope Cruz clued in one puzzle someday. With letter J & Z, that will be SAHARA hot.
To further scrabblize the grid, I suggest the following changes to the clues:
19A: Geeks: NERDS. Change to "school clique"
44A: Penguins' org.: NHL. Change to "Gretzky's org."
23A: Exclamation of grief: ALAS. Change to "Dejection exclamation"
Also noticiable are the three "Former":
61A: Former: ONE TIME
31A: Former New Yorker City mayor: ABE BEAME. NY's first Jewish mayor (1974-1977).
33A: ___ Zee, former Netherlands inlet: ZUIIDER.
Overall, this puzzle is too much of a Herculean task to me. I quit after 20 minutes of floundering and completely exhausted Mr. Google later on.
ACROSS:
1A: Current rule? OHM'S LAW. Very clever "Current" mislead.
15A: Somewhat aloof: COOLISH. I've never used this word before.
16A: Farther along the ascent: UPSLOPE
17A: One-celled organisms: AMOEBAE. The plural form could also be AMOEBAS.
18A: Abnormal site of an organ: ECTOPIC. Unknown to me, had never heard of Ecotopia either. Dictionary says it's from the Greek éktóp(os) (out of place). OK, so "ec" is a prefix for outside, tópos is place, and "ia" is a suffix for disease. "Ic", of course, is an adjective forming suffix.
20A: Nasal membranes: SEPTA. Singular is Septum. Here is the definition and examples from the dictionary: "A thin partition or membrane that divides two cavities or soft masses of tissue in an organism: the nasal septum; the atrial septum of the heart."
24A: Star in Cygnus: DENEB. It simply escaped my mind.
27A: Hammarskjold of the U. N.: DAG. He was awarded Noble Peace Prize in 1961 (the only person to have been awarded posthumously). JFK delivered a great speech one week after Hammarskjold was killed in a plane crash in Congo. He said "A noble servant is gone. But the QUEST for peace lies before us."
37A: Moving vehicles: U-HAULS
45A: Letterpress printing plate: LINE CUT. Also called "Line graving". I am not familiar with this term.
56A: Anonymous: UNNAMED. I put UNKNOWN first.
60A: Gallery event: ART SALES
62A: Mope, perhaps: LOOK SAD
DOWN:
2D: Amateur developer's setup: HOME LAB
3D: Marina charge: MOORAGE
4D: Tundra transports: SLEDS
5D: Left-wingers: LIBS (Liberals). Who do you think is the most influential liberal columnist in the US right now?
6D: Sly-fox link: AS A
9D: Mdse. identifier: UPC (Universal Product Code)
10D: Ballpark figs.: ESTS
11D: Blackthorn berries: SLOES
12D: Knocked over: TOPPLED. Does this answer & 35A clue bring you the picture of Saddam's statue being TOPPLED?
13D: Quintessence: EPITOME
14D: Illinois city: DECATUR. "The Soybean Capital of the World". Did not know this before.
24D: Formal introduction?: DEAR SIR
28D: Important thing: BE ALL. I don't get this one. Why? Can you give me an example?
29D: Well-muscled: BUILT. Of course, I fell into the "ed" trap and wrote down TONED first.
36D: Forebear: ANCESTOR
38D: Saki's real name: H. H. MUNRO. Another toughie. Not familiar with him at all.
39D: Not recognizable by: ALIEN TO
46D: Essential: NEEDED
49D: "East of Eden"family name: TRASK. Completely unknown to me. I've never read any Steinbeck novel.
51D: ___ Bismol: PEPTO
53D: Singer Sumac and others: YMAS. Others? Who? I challenge you to provide me with another YMA of some fame.
57D: Old-time high note: ELA. Saw this clue before. But I forgot the meaning.
Finally, 55D: Carpe ___! (Seize the day): DIEM. And don't forget to Carpe Noctem (seize the night) as well. Here is Sade's Cherish the Day. Please don't go astray. And surprise me, Denis of Cork, show me you are really really for real this time!
C.C.
