Theme: PIG OUT
17A: Coin repository: PIGGY BANK
65A: Unskilled emoters: HAM ACTORS
11D: Fish of the wrasse family: HOG SNAPPER
29D: Flat-topped topper: PORK PIE HAT
I wish 65A were singular so all the theme answers can have a consistent form pattern. Good puzzle though, with Z, X, and all those K's. I did not strike out this morning, but I was half dazed by this new constructor Barry Silk's pitches.
This guy has quite an arm. I expect him to clue Reds' Edinson VÓLQUEZ (1.56 ERA, stunning!) in his next puzzle soon. By the way, regarding last Saturday's Tariq Aziz cross-hair target grid, Barry Silk said that the pattern he chose "was not meant to resemble anything in particular". I sure like Sandra's interpretation.
I would not have got OBOL (28D: Old Greek coin: OBOL) and KOPEK (36D: Part of a ruble) without the across clues. I did not know either of them, nor was I familiar with PHYLA. I was so happy to see OCHOA (64A: Lorena of LPGA) in the puzzle today. Love her and Suzann Petterson. The 2008 US Women's Open will be held here in MN next week. I've never seen Lorena in person before, nor have I seen Michelle Wie, who easily earned her qualification spot last week. I would have clued HOLE (27D: Aperture) as "Tiger's target", you know, with the US Open going on now.
Learned something new this morning: Piglets can also be called farrows; pigs between 100-180 pounds are called shoats; a gilt is a young pig that has not produced a litter; and a barrow is a castrated male pig.
Two more things:
1) JAF asked the other day "How to do better at crossword", I recommend reading "How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle" written by Amy Reynaldo (Orange). I've benefited enormously from her tips and instructions. She said that yesterday ANTES, ANTI, ANTIC are unrelated, since they have different root words. ANTE comes from Latin (before), ANTI from Greek (opposite), ANTIC from Italian Antico or Latin Antiquus (ancient, old).
So, TMS crossword constructors, please let me know if my criticisms of your puzzles are not on solid ground. I will never improve if you remain silent. In the meantime, since today is "Blame Someone Else Day", let's heap on our editor all the inaccurate/wrong clues, dull theme, unaesthetic grid, etc.
2) As you all know, Times of India carries TMS puzzle as well, here is a Crossword Op-Ed piece written by Mangesh Ghogre, one of our fellow solvers in Mumbai. Thought you might be interested.
Alright, enough babbling, let's tee off:
Front Nine:
4A: BYU location: PROVO. Why abbreviation in the clue?
9A: TV screening device: V CHIP
16A: Tom T. Hall hit: I LOVE. I LOVE U2.
19A: Enter name and password: LOG IN
20A: National park in Alaska: DENALI. Nailed it this time. Alaska's first governor is William A EGAN.
23A: Master conductor: MAESTRO. I like almost every Bob Woodward book, except MAESTRO, too many sophisticated financial terms and economic lingo for me to understand.
27A: Navajo's neighbor: HOPI. Beautiful HOPI pottery.
31A: Discovery rival: VISA. You could not believe the troubles I went through to get a VISA to the US.
37A: Wham!: POW. Senator McCain's campaign staff need to make contact with our editor, that's for sure!
40A: "Casablanca" co-star Peter: LORRE
41A: U.S. pub. grp.: GPO. It refers to "General Post Office", right? (Update: It stands for Government Printing Office.)
42A: Word with big or bad: APPLE. Meet APPLE Martin!
45A: Lounge lizard: CREEP. Political junkies are probably familiar with Nixon's CREEP.
47A: Calvin of fashion: KLEIN. The Obsession, for Men.
52A: 2005 MVP: AROD. Justin Morneau's surname has 4 vowels, and he is the 2006 MVP. I wonder why crossword constructors do not clue him.
53A: CCCLIII tripled: MLIX. Just for Mkat!
58A: Driver's license requirement: EYE TEST
60A: Final summary: WRAP UP
69A: ___ nous: ENTRE. Listen to Debra Ollivier's advice dispensed in her wildly popular "ENTRE nous", drink your wine, eat your cheese and enjoy your chocolate!
71A: Several of Siena: SETTE
72A: Corp. investment in the future: R AND D
Back nine:
1D: Letters for Nob Hill cops: SFPD (San Francisco Police Department)
4D: Biology kingdom divisions: PHYLA. Singular is Phylum. A new word to me.
5D: End of pay?: OLA
8D: Actor Werner: OSKAR. No idea, only know OSKAR of "Schindler's List"
9D: TV handyman Bob: VILA. Stranger to me also. I strung his name together from across clues.
12D: Like Wrigleys' walls: IVIED
18D: More ill-smelling: GAMIER
24D: Power peak: SURGE
25D: Circus apparatus: TRAPEZE. Would not have got this one without ZEE (50A: Last letter)
32D: Author Dinesen: ISAK. "Out of Africa" author. I wonder if ISAK is now a popular name in Denmark.
38D: Mixed bag: OLIO. It's Zaqi Zaba (杂七杂八) in Chinese. Letter "u" does not always follow "q" in Chinese.
39D: Make one's way: WEND. Another new word to me.
43D: Dabble in: PLAY AT
49D: Obtain by intimidation: EXTORT
51D: English prince: EDWARD. Which EDWARD are we talking about here? Him, Prince Charles' brother?
53D: Persian words?: MEOWS
54D: French school: LYCÉE. French secondary education terms: Collège and LYCÉE (grades 9-12). The students are ÉLÈVES, which was clued as "French classful" by our editor in May and stumped many solvers. Just remember those"École attendees" ÉLÈVES can refer to a broad range of students (enfant/adolescent/adult), full time/part time.
56D: Old anesthetic: ETHER
Finally, 67D: Atlas abbr.: MTN (Mountain). Here is a message from the spice girl POSH (61D: Swank): "listen, baby, Ain't no mountain high enough...if you need me, call me...". Enjoy!
C.C.
17A: Coin repository: PIGGY BANK
65A: Unskilled emoters: HAM ACTORS
11D: Fish of the wrasse family: HOG SNAPPER
29D: Flat-topped topper: PORK PIE HAT
I wish 65A were singular so all the theme answers can have a consistent form pattern. Good puzzle though, with Z, X, and all those K's. I did not strike out this morning, but I was half dazed by this new constructor Barry Silk's pitches.
This guy has quite an arm. I expect him to clue Reds' Edinson VÓLQUEZ (1.56 ERA, stunning!) in his next puzzle soon. By the way, regarding last Saturday's Tariq Aziz cross-hair target grid, Barry Silk said that the pattern he chose "was not meant to resemble anything in particular". I sure like Sandra's interpretation.
I would not have got OBOL (28D: Old Greek coin: OBOL) and KOPEK (36D: Part of a ruble) without the across clues. I did not know either of them, nor was I familiar with PHYLA. I was so happy to see OCHOA (64A: Lorena of LPGA) in the puzzle today. Love her and Suzann Petterson. The 2008 US Women's Open will be held here in MN next week. I've never seen Lorena in person before, nor have I seen Michelle Wie, who easily earned her qualification spot last week. I would have clued HOLE (27D: Aperture) as "Tiger's target", you know, with the US Open going on now.
Learned something new this morning: Piglets can also be called farrows; pigs between 100-180 pounds are called shoats; a gilt is a young pig that has not produced a litter; and a barrow is a castrated male pig.
Two more things:
1) JAF asked the other day "How to do better at crossword", I recommend reading "How to Conquer the New York Times Crossword Puzzle" written by Amy Reynaldo (Orange). I've benefited enormously from her tips and instructions. She said that yesterday ANTES, ANTI, ANTIC are unrelated, since they have different root words. ANTE comes from Latin (before), ANTI from Greek (opposite), ANTIC from Italian Antico or Latin Antiquus (ancient, old).
So, TMS crossword constructors, please let me know if my criticisms of your puzzles are not on solid ground. I will never improve if you remain silent. In the meantime, since today is "Blame Someone Else Day", let's heap on our editor all the inaccurate/wrong clues, dull theme, unaesthetic grid, etc.
2) As you all know, Times of India carries TMS puzzle as well, here is a Crossword Op-Ed piece written by Mangesh Ghogre, one of our fellow solvers in Mumbai. Thought you might be interested.
Alright, enough babbling, let's tee off:
Front Nine:
4A: BYU location: PROVO. Why abbreviation in the clue?
9A: TV screening device: V CHIP
16A: Tom T. Hall hit: I LOVE. I LOVE U2.
19A: Enter name and password: LOG IN
20A: National park in Alaska: DENALI. Nailed it this time. Alaska's first governor is William A EGAN.
23A: Master conductor: MAESTRO. I like almost every Bob Woodward book, except MAESTRO, too many sophisticated financial terms and economic lingo for me to understand.
27A: Navajo's neighbor: HOPI. Beautiful HOPI pottery.
31A: Discovery rival: VISA. You could not believe the troubles I went through to get a VISA to the US.
37A: Wham!: POW. Senator McCain's campaign staff need to make contact with our editor, that's for sure!
40A: "Casablanca" co-star Peter: LORRE
41A: U.S. pub. grp.: GPO. It refers to "General Post Office", right? (Update: It stands for Government Printing Office.)
42A: Word with big or bad: APPLE. Meet APPLE Martin!
45A: Lounge lizard: CREEP. Political junkies are probably familiar with Nixon's CREEP.
47A: Calvin of fashion: KLEIN. The Obsession, for Men.
52A: 2005 MVP: AROD. Justin Morneau's surname has 4 vowels, and he is the 2006 MVP. I wonder why crossword constructors do not clue him.
53A: CCCLIII tripled: MLIX. Just for Mkat!
58A: Driver's license requirement: EYE TEST
60A: Final summary: WRAP UP
69A: ___ nous: ENTRE. Listen to Debra Ollivier's advice dispensed in her wildly popular "ENTRE nous", drink your wine, eat your cheese and enjoy your chocolate!
71A: Several of Siena: SETTE
72A: Corp. investment in the future: R AND D
Back nine:
1D: Letters for Nob Hill cops: SFPD (San Francisco Police Department)
4D: Biology kingdom divisions: PHYLA. Singular is Phylum. A new word to me.
5D: End of pay?: OLA
8D: Actor Werner: OSKAR. No idea, only know OSKAR of "Schindler's List"
9D: TV handyman Bob: VILA. Stranger to me also. I strung his name together from across clues.
12D: Like Wrigleys' walls: IVIED
18D: More ill-smelling: GAMIER
24D: Power peak: SURGE
25D: Circus apparatus: TRAPEZE. Would not have got this one without ZEE (50A: Last letter)
32D: Author Dinesen: ISAK. "Out of Africa" author. I wonder if ISAK is now a popular name in Denmark.
38D: Mixed bag: OLIO. It's Zaqi Zaba (杂七杂八) in Chinese. Letter "u" does not always follow "q" in Chinese.
39D: Make one's way: WEND. Another new word to me.
43D: Dabble in: PLAY AT
49D: Obtain by intimidation: EXTORT
51D: English prince: EDWARD. Which EDWARD are we talking about here? Him, Prince Charles' brother?
53D: Persian words?: MEOWS
54D: French school: LYCÉE. French secondary education terms: Collège and LYCÉE (grades 9-12). The students are ÉLÈVES, which was clued as "French classful" by our editor in May and stumped many solvers. Just remember those"École attendees" ÉLÈVES can refer to a broad range of students (enfant/adolescent/adult), full time/part time.
56D: Old anesthetic: ETHER
Finally, 67D: Atlas abbr.: MTN (Mountain). Here is a message from the spice girl POSH (61D: Swank): "listen, baby, Ain't no mountain high enough...if you need me, call me...". Enjoy!
C.C.
