Theme: Rip Off
17A: "A Few Good Men" director: ROB REINER
64A: Exit furtively: STEAL AWAY
10D: Common Florida tree: THATCH PALM
31D: Pool table position: SIDE POCKET
So close to a pangram (J & Q missing)! Lots of K words today:
5A: Champagne musicmaker: WELK (Lawrence). Unknown to me. Sewed together his name from down clues. Wikipedia says he loved playing golf, and he was a regular at Bob Hope Desert Classics. His autobiography is titled "Wunnerful, Wunnerful!"
26A: Razz: HECKLE. Even the clue is very scrabbly, isn't it? Wunnerful!
42A: Army vehicles: TANKS
57A: Pop choice: COKE. Pepsi please, for those who think young!
61A: Spirit of a screwdriver: VODKA. "Spirit of Black Russian" too.
8D: Mini race car: KART
27D: Pottery oven: KILN
28D: Plumbing woe: LEAK
31D: Pool table position: SIDE POCKET
44D: Difficult journey: TREK
This is my favorite Monday puzzle after John Underwood's "Chess Mate" in April. Can you feel that the quality of our puzzles is getting better lately? I don't seem to groan and gripe as much as I did before. And no clue makes me cringe today. I like it. I like the direction where we are heading.
ACROSS:
1A: Knight's aide: PAGE. BethPAGE Black will host US Open next year. This sign makes me laugh.
9A: NJ military post: FT DIX. Unfamiliar to me. The abbreviation of FT (FORT) always tricked me.
14A: Latin I word: AMAT. I like how it intersects ETRE (4D: French 101 verb).
16A: Windy City airport: O'HARE
19A: Goes ballistic: RAGES. And 50D: Angry rant: TIRADE. This reminds me of Chris Matthews and his frequent tongue-lashing. He was noticeably absent in "Meet the Press" special tribute to Tim Russert yesterday though.
20A: Opts for: SELECTS
21A: Negotiator's need: TACT. Love "The Negotiator". Speaking of "Negotiate", this "Battle Royale" between Rocco MEDIATE and Tiger Woods today brings to my mind 2000 PGA Valhalla. The result might be the same too.
23A: U.K. honor: OBE (Order of the British Empire). J. K. Rowling was awarded OBE in 2000.
24A: Catherine __-Jones: ZETA. This is the sexiest Greek letter clue I've seen in TMS puzzle.
30A: Former Egyptian leader: NASSER. I am truly tired of this clue though. Here is another beautiful picture of Lake NASSER.
32A: Wall St. debut: IPO (Initial Public Offering). No need for Cargill to go public, obviously.
34A: Tore out: HIED. I've never used this word "HIED" before.
35A: Brenda Lee hit: I'M SORRY. Not familiar with this song.
37A: Broadway presentation: PLAY
38A: Miata maker: MAZDA. It's headquartered in Hiroshima.
41A: Day-__ paint: GLO. I wish J. Lo. would name her perfume G.LO.
43A: "Dies ___": IRAE
44A: Petty: TRIVIAL
46A: Bygone cosmonaut's insignia: CCCP. Russian (Cyrillic alphabet) for USSR. New to me.
48A: P. Lorre character: MR. MOTO. Unknown to me. Only knew he was in Casablanca.
52A: On land: ASHORE
54A: Speaker of Cooperstown: TRIS. Boring clue. Try something else to excite me, like OMEGA diamond watch, "Tris of Diamond"?
59A: Display piece: ÉTAGÈRE. This corner ÉTAGÈRE looks neat.
66A: Against a thing, in law: IN REM. Unknown to me. Only knew "REM" is thing in Latin. (Update: I was wrong. RES is thing in Latin)
67A: Part of MVP: MOST. And 61D: B. M. O. C.: VIP. B.M.O.C. is Big Man on Campus.
68A: Whipped up: MADE
69A: Hangs one's lip: POUTS. No wonder, I need to learn how to hang my lip.
71A: Observed: EYED
DOWN:
1D: Minister: PARSON
3D: Some roof ends: GABLES. Saw this clue before. Forgot promptly. Here are GABLES. Here is the GABLE that I am familiar with.
6D: Surrealist Max: ERNST This is his famous "The Elephant Celebes".
9D: Strong-arm: FORCE
11D: Diplomat Hammarskjold: DAG. This is probably the only good news we've heard from the UN chief lately.
13D: Marks on ballots: XES
18D: Itchy skin condition: ECZEMA. Would not have got it without the across clues. I can never seem to remember this word.
22D: Mariner's greeting: AHOY. Hmmm, Chips AHOY.
25D: 1948-1949 flights to Berlin: AIR LIFT
29D: Ice cream brand: EDY'S. I don't believe there is any EDY'S in China, Häagen-Dazs yes.
33D: B. C. or P. E. I.: PROV. O Canada.
38D: Isinglass: MICA
40D: Braff of "Scrubs": ZACH. Unknown to me. Only know ZACH Johnson, who regrettably missed the cut on Friday.
42D: Ankle-related: TARSAL
45D: Act just like: IMITATE
49D: Type of street: ONE WAY. Or Another.
51D: Did as told to: OBEYED
58D: Salinger lass: ESME
63D: "Red River" co-star Joanne: DRU. Foreign to me. Got her name from across clues.
65D: Lid: TOP. Why not clue it as "Zenith" to make the puzzle more scrabbly? Here is Take My Breath Away from the "TOP Gun". Enjoy!
C.C.
17A: "A Few Good Men" director: ROB REINER
64A: Exit furtively: STEAL AWAY
10D: Common Florida tree: THATCH PALM
31D: Pool table position: SIDE POCKET
So close to a pangram (J & Q missing)! Lots of K words today:
5A: Champagne musicmaker: WELK (Lawrence). Unknown to me. Sewed together his name from down clues. Wikipedia says he loved playing golf, and he was a regular at Bob Hope Desert Classics. His autobiography is titled "Wunnerful, Wunnerful!"
26A: Razz: HECKLE. Even the clue is very scrabbly, isn't it? Wunnerful!
42A: Army vehicles: TANKS
57A: Pop choice: COKE. Pepsi please, for those who think young!
61A: Spirit of a screwdriver: VODKA. "Spirit of Black Russian" too.
8D: Mini race car: KART
27D: Pottery oven: KILN
28D: Plumbing woe: LEAK
31D: Pool table position: SIDE POCKET
44D: Difficult journey: TREK
This is my favorite Monday puzzle after John Underwood's "Chess Mate" in April. Can you feel that the quality of our puzzles is getting better lately? I don't seem to groan and gripe as much as I did before. And no clue makes me cringe today. I like it. I like the direction where we are heading.
ACROSS:
1A: Knight's aide: PAGE. BethPAGE Black will host US Open next year. This sign makes me laugh.
9A: NJ military post: FT DIX. Unfamiliar to me. The abbreviation of FT (FORT) always tricked me.
14A: Latin I word: AMAT. I like how it intersects ETRE (4D: French 101 verb).
16A: Windy City airport: O'HARE
19A: Goes ballistic: RAGES. And 50D: Angry rant: TIRADE. This reminds me of Chris Matthews and his frequent tongue-lashing. He was noticeably absent in "Meet the Press" special tribute to Tim Russert yesterday though.
20A: Opts for: SELECTS
21A: Negotiator's need: TACT. Love "The Negotiator". Speaking of "Negotiate", this "Battle Royale" between Rocco MEDIATE and Tiger Woods today brings to my mind 2000 PGA Valhalla. The result might be the same too.
23A: U.K. honor: OBE (Order of the British Empire). J. K. Rowling was awarded OBE in 2000.
24A: Catherine __-Jones: ZETA. This is the sexiest Greek letter clue I've seen in TMS puzzle.
30A: Former Egyptian leader: NASSER. I am truly tired of this clue though. Here is another beautiful picture of Lake NASSER.
32A: Wall St. debut: IPO (Initial Public Offering). No need for Cargill to go public, obviously.
34A: Tore out: HIED. I've never used this word "HIED" before.
35A: Brenda Lee hit: I'M SORRY. Not familiar with this song.
37A: Broadway presentation: PLAY
38A: Miata maker: MAZDA. It's headquartered in Hiroshima.
41A: Day-__ paint: GLO. I wish J. Lo. would name her perfume G.LO.
43A: "Dies ___": IRAE
44A: Petty: TRIVIAL
46A: Bygone cosmonaut's insignia: CCCP. Russian (Cyrillic alphabet) for USSR. New to me.
48A: P. Lorre character: MR. MOTO. Unknown to me. Only knew he was in Casablanca.
52A: On land: ASHORE
54A: Speaker of Cooperstown: TRIS. Boring clue. Try something else to excite me, like OMEGA diamond watch, "Tris of Diamond"?
59A: Display piece: ÉTAGÈRE. This corner ÉTAGÈRE looks neat.
66A: Against a thing, in law: IN REM. Unknown to me. Only knew "REM" is thing in Latin. (Update: I was wrong. RES is thing in Latin)
67A: Part of MVP: MOST. And 61D: B. M. O. C.: VIP. B.M.O.C. is Big Man on Campus.
68A: Whipped up: MADE
69A: Hangs one's lip: POUTS. No wonder, I need to learn how to hang my lip.
71A: Observed: EYED
DOWN:
1D: Minister: PARSON
3D: Some roof ends: GABLES. Saw this clue before. Forgot promptly. Here are GABLES. Here is the GABLE that I am familiar with.
6D: Surrealist Max: ERNST This is his famous "The Elephant Celebes".
9D: Strong-arm: FORCE
11D: Diplomat Hammarskjold: DAG. This is probably the only good news we've heard from the UN chief lately.
13D: Marks on ballots: XES
18D: Itchy skin condition: ECZEMA. Would not have got it without the across clues. I can never seem to remember this word.
22D: Mariner's greeting: AHOY. Hmmm, Chips AHOY.
25D: 1948-1949 flights to Berlin: AIR LIFT
29D: Ice cream brand: EDY'S. I don't believe there is any EDY'S in China, Häagen-Dazs yes.
33D: B. C. or P. E. I.: PROV. O Canada.
38D: Isinglass: MICA
40D: Braff of "Scrubs": ZACH. Unknown to me. Only know ZACH Johnson, who regrettably missed the cut on Friday.
42D: Ankle-related: TARSAL
45D: Act just like: IMITATE
49D: Type of street: ONE WAY. Or Another.
51D: Did as told to: OBEYED
58D: Salinger lass: ESME
63D: "Red River" co-star Joanne: DRU. Foreign to me. Got her name from across clues.
65D: Lid: TOP. Why not clue it as "Zenith" to make the puzzle more scrabbly? Here is Take My Breath Away from the "TOP Gun". Enjoy!
C.C.
