Theme: Numerous Movies
23A: Keir Dullea film: MMI A SPACE ODYSSEY (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)
42A: Jennifer O'Neill film: SUMMER OF XLII (SUMMER OF '42)
72A: Edmond O'Brien film: MCMLXXXIV (1984)
97A: Terry-Thomas film: MM YEARS LATER (2000 YEARS LATER)
121A: James Stewart film: WINCHESTER LXXIII (WINCHESTER '73)
17D: Charlton Heston film: AIRPORT MCMLXXV (AIRPORT 1975)
50D: Marilyn Monroe film: THE VII YEAR ITCH (THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH)
And here are five more Roman numerals:
81A: Tenth of MCXC: CXIX
88A: Roman 16: XVI
59D: 570 in letters: DLXX
119D: 141 in old Rome: CXLI
125D: CXII halved: LVI
Why not clue 51A: Decimal base (TEN) as X then? It would be perfect, wouldn't it? Did you notice that there are total TEN X'es in this puzzle?
Very noticeable in this puzzle are the following presidential/political abbreviations:
25A: HST or DDE: PRES
30A: WWII zone for DDE: ETO
10D: Neither Rep. nor Dem: IND. And 84D: FDR or JFK: DEM. Ridiculous double appearance!
4D: End of demo: CRAT. Democrat. Or end of Auto/Bureau/Pluto!
100D: JFK notice: ARR
And several containers:
27A: Gas container: TANK
34A: Water tanks: CISTERNS. Would have been clued as "Water storer" to avoid the TANK double appearance.
41A: Washstand pitcher: EWER
38D: Large wine casks: TUNS
And so many vexing UP's.
9A: Joins the queue: LINES UP
29A: Curry favor with: SUCK UP TO
14D: Deplete: USE UP
58D: Muddle: MIX UP
I am also annoyed by
63A: Applications: USES. And 14D: Deplete: USE UP.
130A: Resolute: DEAD SET. And the intersecting 92D: Lionel product: TRAIN SET.
I think it's a crossword sin to let the same root word appear both as the clue and the answer, though I am not so sure of the repetitive use of the same words (like today's UP, USE and SET) as the answers in the same grid. They just don't fit my eyes, so clumsy.
In summary, a very TOILSOME (115A: Arduous) journey for me. Too many unknowns and tough cluing, not to mention that excessive amount of Roman numerals. I would have got FRET (87D: Guitar ridge) easily if it were clued as "stew over" or something. And ABELS (113D: Tasman and Muzorewa) was completely out of my brain reach. My hunch is that our editor purposely made some of clues more difficult today to torture us.
However, I do like today's theme concept and the theme entries. Very creative! It's not easy to pull off such a feat.
ACROSS:
1A: Piece of men's jewelry: TIECLASP
20A: Auto racer Mario: ANDRETTI. And 85A: Indy 500 Sponsor: STP. I am not into racing. Know neither of the answers. What does STP stand for? Is it the "Racer's Edge"?
21A: Solidarity: ONENESS. And 24D: Wholes: ENTIRES. Really? Can you pluralize "whole" and "ENTIRE" by adding a "s"? How strange!
22A: Planted explosive: MINE. "Gimme"!
26A: Personal histories: PASTS
35A: Publicity stunt, of a sort: PHOTO OP. And 111D: Photog's prompt: SMILE.
45A: Bright aquarium fish: TETRA. And 122D: Grand Banks fish: COD. I did not know where Grand Banks was, so COD did not come to me easily.
52A: Stout's stout sleuth: NERO (Wolfe). I like the clue.
54A: Japanese ornamental tree: MEI. Unknown to me. It's defined as "Japanese ornamental tree with fragrant white or pink blossoms and small yellow fruit". MEI is Chinese for Ume (the Japanese Apricot). Look at this Ume Blossome. I can not find a MEI tree on the internet. I suspect this MEI refers to Ume, not sure.
55A: A likely story!: HAH
66A: Rice dish: PILAF
68A: French probability theorist: FERMAT. Pierre de FERMAT, the French mathematician. Did not know his name before.
70A: ELO drummer: BEVAN (Bev). No idea, I barely know ELO.
76A: "The Gods Themselves" author: ASIMOV (Isaac). Know ASIMOV, did not know that he wrote this book. Wikipedia says that he was afraid of flying, and he seldom traveled great distance. Funny how he could be so creative and productive in his life.
78A: Crazy Horse, e.g.: SIOUX
83A: One heart, e.g.: BID
86A: Bass symbol: F CLEF. Is this a gimme to you?
90A: SSS classification: ONE A
93A: Collections of valuables: TROVES
95A: Fast starter?: STEAD. I put BREAK initially.
102A: Sacred bull of Egypt: APIS. Also called Hapi or Hap. It's said to act as "an intermediary between Ptah (Egyptian creator god) and humans." Here is a picture. Aren't we seeing Egyptian deity almost every day now?
104A: Actress Fawcett: FARRAH. Don't know much about her. Love the new Charlie's Angels.
105A: Laugh-track users: SITCOMS
109A: McMurtry novel, "__ of Laredo": STREETS. I don't know the author or the book.
112A: Soak in wine: MARINATE. In wine? I thought you MARINATE meat in a mixture of oil, vinegar, soy sauce (or other sauce), herbs and some spices.
114A: Weasel sound?: POP. "POP Goes the Weasel"
117A: Mount of Moses: NEBO
126A: Bogie in "Casablanca": RICK. Good to see SAM (64D: Actor Waterston) in the same grid.
127A: Gregory Nava film of 1983: EL NORTE. Not familiar with this "The North" (?) film at all.
128A: Complete: LIVELONG. I've never heard of this expression before. Only know LIVE LONG (and Prosper).
129A: Architect Mies van der __: ROHE. Rae lives in an apartment building designed by him.
131A: Ship departures: SAILINGS. And the annoying crossing with MOOING (106D: Cow talk).
DOWN:
1D: Interfere: TAMPER
2D: Fellow prisoner: INMATE
3D: Prolific inventor: EDISON
6D: Org. of Federer: ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). Good timing. I am rooting for Rafael Nadal though.
7D: Belief in centralized government: STATISM
8D: Printer's measures: PICAS. And 12D: Printer's spaces: ENS
11D: One of Napoleon's marshals: NEY. The "Bravest of the Brave".
15D: Lover of Eros: PSYCHE. And 2 more Greek references. 19D: Greek fable writer: AESOP. 75A: Greek letter: DELTA
16D: One who has lost a limb: AMPUTEE
18D: Pico de ___ (Pyreness peak): ANETO. No, nope, not familiar to me at all.
29D: Buckled under: KOWTOWED
31D: Walk-on parts: CAMEOS
32D: Coast of Morocco: RIF. Another unknown. Dictionary says it also refers to "discharge (a person) from military or civil service, esp. as part of an economy program".
33D: Goddess of night: NOX. Roman goddess. The Greek equivalent is Nyx.
34D: Letters on Cardinal caps: STL (St. Louis"). Rams too I suppose.
43D: Morals: ETHICS
44D: End of cash?: IER. Cashier.
46D: Having pertinence: RELATIVE
47D: Planes for hire: AIR TAXIS. Another unknown for me. It's "a small aircraft for passengers, cargo, and mail operated, either on a scheduled or nonscheduled basis, along short routes not serviced by large airlines."
48D: Tart plants for pies: RHUBARBS. Have never had RHUBARB pie before. It sounds sour.
49D: Removes carefully: EASES OUT
57D: Lap dog. briefly: POM
60D: Bird's horn?: SAX. Bird refers to Charlie Parker.
67D: Financial: FISCAL
71D: Nonentities: NOBODIES
73D: Bad: pref: MIS. I put DYS.
74D: Actor Kilmer: VAL. And 75D: Actor Diesel: VIN.
80D: Dylan song "____ Moore": NETTIE. Did not know this song. Not a Dylan fan.
86D: Mesh fabric: FISHNET
91D: Bowling equipment mfr: AMF (American Machine and Foundry). Brunswick is their competitor.
101D: Waldorf - __ Hotel: ASTORIA
103D: Put away, as gear: STOWED
106D: Choice: OPTION
108D: Parsley pieces: SPRIGS
109D: Bart or Kenneth: STARR. Ah Bart, the Packers' guy. As for Ken STARR, go ask the Clintons'.
110D: Mann novel, "___ Kroger": TONIO. Had to google for this book.
Feeling bruised by today's puzzle? Here is Sade's "No Ordinary Love" to salve your wound: "I gave you more than I could give...I gave you all that I have inside...".
C.C.
23A: Keir Dullea film: MMI A SPACE ODYSSEY (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY)
42A: Jennifer O'Neill film: SUMMER OF XLII (SUMMER OF '42)
72A: Edmond O'Brien film: MCMLXXXIV (1984)
97A: Terry-Thomas film: MM YEARS LATER (2000 YEARS LATER)
121A: James Stewart film: WINCHESTER LXXIII (WINCHESTER '73)
17D: Charlton Heston film: AIRPORT MCMLXXV (AIRPORT 1975)
50D: Marilyn Monroe film: THE VII YEAR ITCH (THE SEVEN YEAR ITCH)
And here are five more Roman numerals:
81A: Tenth of MCXC: CXIX
88A: Roman 16: XVI
59D: 570 in letters: DLXX
119D: 141 in old Rome: CXLI
125D: CXII halved: LVI
Why not clue 51A: Decimal base (TEN) as X then? It would be perfect, wouldn't it? Did you notice that there are total TEN X'es in this puzzle?
Very noticeable in this puzzle are the following presidential/political abbreviations:
25A: HST or DDE: PRES
30A: WWII zone for DDE: ETO
10D: Neither Rep. nor Dem: IND. And 84D: FDR or JFK: DEM. Ridiculous double appearance!
4D: End of demo: CRAT. Democrat. Or end of Auto/Bureau/Pluto!
100D: JFK notice: ARR
And several containers:
27A: Gas container: TANK
34A: Water tanks: CISTERNS. Would have been clued as "Water storer" to avoid the TANK double appearance.
41A: Washstand pitcher: EWER
38D: Large wine casks: TUNS
And so many vexing UP's.
9A: Joins the queue: LINES UP
29A: Curry favor with: SUCK UP TO
14D: Deplete: USE UP
58D: Muddle: MIX UP
I am also annoyed by
63A: Applications: USES. And 14D: Deplete: USE UP.
130A: Resolute: DEAD SET. And the intersecting 92D: Lionel product: TRAIN SET.
I think it's a crossword sin to let the same root word appear both as the clue and the answer, though I am not so sure of the repetitive use of the same words (like today's UP, USE and SET) as the answers in the same grid. They just don't fit my eyes, so clumsy.
In summary, a very TOILSOME (115A: Arduous) journey for me. Too many unknowns and tough cluing, not to mention that excessive amount of Roman numerals. I would have got FRET (87D: Guitar ridge) easily if it were clued as "stew over" or something. And ABELS (113D: Tasman and Muzorewa) was completely out of my brain reach. My hunch is that our editor purposely made some of clues more difficult today to torture us.
However, I do like today's theme concept and the theme entries. Very creative! It's not easy to pull off such a feat.
ACROSS:
1A: Piece of men's jewelry: TIECLASP
20A: Auto racer Mario: ANDRETTI. And 85A: Indy 500 Sponsor: STP. I am not into racing. Know neither of the answers. What does STP stand for? Is it the "Racer's Edge"?
21A: Solidarity: ONENESS. And 24D: Wholes: ENTIRES. Really? Can you pluralize "whole" and "ENTIRE" by adding a "s"? How strange!
22A: Planted explosive: MINE. "Gimme"!
26A: Personal histories: PASTS
35A: Publicity stunt, of a sort: PHOTO OP. And 111D: Photog's prompt: SMILE.
45A: Bright aquarium fish: TETRA. And 122D: Grand Banks fish: COD. I did not know where Grand Banks was, so COD did not come to me easily.
52A: Stout's stout sleuth: NERO (Wolfe). I like the clue.
54A: Japanese ornamental tree: MEI. Unknown to me. It's defined as "Japanese ornamental tree with fragrant white or pink blossoms and small yellow fruit". MEI is Chinese for Ume (the Japanese Apricot). Look at this Ume Blossome. I can not find a MEI tree on the internet. I suspect this MEI refers to Ume, not sure.
55A: A likely story!: HAH
66A: Rice dish: PILAF
68A: French probability theorist: FERMAT. Pierre de FERMAT, the French mathematician. Did not know his name before.
70A: ELO drummer: BEVAN (Bev). No idea, I barely know ELO.
76A: "The Gods Themselves" author: ASIMOV (Isaac). Know ASIMOV, did not know that he wrote this book. Wikipedia says that he was afraid of flying, and he seldom traveled great distance. Funny how he could be so creative and productive in his life.
78A: Crazy Horse, e.g.: SIOUX
83A: One heart, e.g.: BID
86A: Bass symbol: F CLEF. Is this a gimme to you?
90A: SSS classification: ONE A
93A: Collections of valuables: TROVES
95A: Fast starter?: STEAD. I put BREAK initially.
102A: Sacred bull of Egypt: APIS. Also called Hapi or Hap. It's said to act as "an intermediary between Ptah (Egyptian creator god) and humans." Here is a picture. Aren't we seeing Egyptian deity almost every day now?
104A: Actress Fawcett: FARRAH. Don't know much about her. Love the new Charlie's Angels.
105A: Laugh-track users: SITCOMS
109A: McMurtry novel, "__ of Laredo": STREETS. I don't know the author or the book.
112A: Soak in wine: MARINATE. In wine? I thought you MARINATE meat in a mixture of oil, vinegar, soy sauce (or other sauce), herbs and some spices.
114A: Weasel sound?: POP. "POP Goes the Weasel"
117A: Mount of Moses: NEBO
126A: Bogie in "Casablanca": RICK. Good to see SAM (64D: Actor Waterston) in the same grid.
127A: Gregory Nava film of 1983: EL NORTE. Not familiar with this "The North" (?) film at all.
128A: Complete: LIVELONG. I've never heard of this expression before. Only know LIVE LONG (and Prosper).
129A: Architect Mies van der __: ROHE. Rae lives in an apartment building designed by him.
131A: Ship departures: SAILINGS. And the annoying crossing with MOOING (106D: Cow talk).
DOWN:
1D: Interfere: TAMPER
2D: Fellow prisoner: INMATE
3D: Prolific inventor: EDISON
6D: Org. of Federer: ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals). Good timing. I am rooting for Rafael Nadal though.
7D: Belief in centralized government: STATISM
8D: Printer's measures: PICAS. And 12D: Printer's spaces: ENS
11D: One of Napoleon's marshals: NEY. The "Bravest of the Brave".
15D: Lover of Eros: PSYCHE. And 2 more Greek references. 19D: Greek fable writer: AESOP. 75A: Greek letter: DELTA
16D: One who has lost a limb: AMPUTEE
18D: Pico de ___ (Pyreness peak): ANETO. No, nope, not familiar to me at all.
29D: Buckled under: KOWTOWED
31D: Walk-on parts: CAMEOS
32D: Coast of Morocco: RIF. Another unknown. Dictionary says it also refers to "discharge (a person) from military or civil service, esp. as part of an economy program".
33D: Goddess of night: NOX. Roman goddess. The Greek equivalent is Nyx.
34D: Letters on Cardinal caps: STL (St. Louis"). Rams too I suppose.
43D: Morals: ETHICS
44D: End of cash?: IER. Cashier.
46D: Having pertinence: RELATIVE
47D: Planes for hire: AIR TAXIS. Another unknown for me. It's "a small aircraft for passengers, cargo, and mail operated, either on a scheduled or nonscheduled basis, along short routes not serviced by large airlines."
48D: Tart plants for pies: RHUBARBS. Have never had RHUBARB pie before. It sounds sour.
49D: Removes carefully: EASES OUT
57D: Lap dog. briefly: POM
60D: Bird's horn?: SAX. Bird refers to Charlie Parker.
67D: Financial: FISCAL
71D: Nonentities: NOBODIES
73D: Bad: pref: MIS. I put DYS.
74D: Actor Kilmer: VAL. And 75D: Actor Diesel: VIN.
80D: Dylan song "____ Moore": NETTIE. Did not know this song. Not a Dylan fan.
86D: Mesh fabric: FISHNET
91D: Bowling equipment mfr: AMF (American Machine and Foundry). Brunswick is their competitor.
101D: Waldorf - __ Hotel: ASTORIA
103D: Put away, as gear: STOWED
106D: Choice: OPTION
108D: Parsley pieces: SPRIGS
109D: Bart or Kenneth: STARR. Ah Bart, the Packers' guy. As for Ken STARR, go ask the Clintons'.
110D: Mann novel, "___ Kroger": TONIO. Had to google for this book.
Feeling bruised by today's puzzle? Here is Sade's "No Ordinary Love" to salve your wound: "I gave you more than I could give...I gave you all that I have inside...".
C.C.
