Theme: Cut the Painter? (If you have a better theme title, please let me know)
20A: Cost of some French art?: DEGAS PRICES (The GAS PRICES)
39A: Dutch/Mexican portraitist?: HALS OF MONTEZUMA (HALLS of MONTEZUMA)
53A: Surrealist in the White House?: DALI MADISON (DOLLY MADISON)
I cannot say I DIG (3D: Beatnik's "Gotcha"!) this puzzle. The INSECT (30D: Bug) is screaming for an "Extreme Makeover" on the clue for FLYPAPER (40D: Hanging insect trap). And I wish AVEC (8D: Opposite of sans) were clued as Picasso's famous "Colombe AVEC Fleurs". We would have got an impressionist (DEGAS), a portraitist (HALS), a surrealist (DALI) and a Cubist's work in the grid.
Otherwise, an OK Monday puzzle, no stumper or obscure word. Some of the clues are pretty refreshing.
ACROSS:
1A: Conspicuous jewelry: BLING. Gimme for those BLING-BLING obsessed rappers I am sure. Their music is just so difficult for me to understand, lots of slangs. What's so amusing about "Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)" anyway? I like how BLING intersects I DIG.
15A: Rod in a hot rod: AXLE. And 18A: Figure-skater's leap: AXEL
17A: Online periodical: EZINE. Slate.com is probably my favorite. Together with NPR, they produce "Day to Day" (a radio newsmagzine).
24A: Majority of V: III. Very creative clue.
33A: ___ you the clever one!: AREN'T
43A: Kissing equipment: LIPS. I have forgotten "What LIPS my LIPS Have Kissed, and where, and why..."
45A: Glasgow's river: CLYDE. Not familiar with this Scotland river. Only know Bonnie's CLYDE.
62A: Felon, to a cop: PERP (Perpetrator). Or "Crossing reference" (Perpendicular cousin) here in this twisted blog.
66A: Wallet fins: FIVES. For those fellow solvers outside US, "fin" is a American slang for a five-dollar bill.
DOWN:
4D: Santa Maria's sister? NINA. And Pinta. Look at this ridiculous NINA Ricci shoe!
5D: Divides evenly by: GOES INTO. I don't understand this one, why?
6D: Puppeteer Lewis: SHARI. I don't know her. Got her name from the perps.
11D: Put forth effort: EXERT. I like how it parallel with FLAIL (12D: Thrash about).
13D: Trustbuster Roosevelt: TEDDY. I had no idea that Trust Buster is also TR's nickname. Which one is correct, "Trust Buster" or "Trustbuster"?
28D: Bedouin, e.g.: ARAB. I did not know who/what was Bedouin. Would have never got it without the crossing references. According to Wikipedia, the Bedouin are a group of nomadic Arabs who live in the desert.
37D: Writer Oz: AMOS. He knows "How to Cure a Fanatic".
38D: Fuzzy rests?: NAPS. Good clue.
57D: Hindu deity: SIVA. Or SHIVA, "The Destroyer"of the Hindu Trinity. I simply forgot. Pieced it together from the across fills. Brahma is "The Creator" and Vishnu is "The Preserver".
C.C.
20A: Cost of some French art?: DEGAS PRICES (The GAS PRICES)
39A: Dutch/Mexican portraitist?: HALS OF MONTEZUMA (HALLS of MONTEZUMA)
53A: Surrealist in the White House?: DALI MADISON (DOLLY MADISON)
I cannot say I DIG (3D: Beatnik's "Gotcha"!) this puzzle. The INSECT (30D: Bug) is screaming for an "Extreme Makeover" on the clue for FLYPAPER (40D: Hanging insect trap). And I wish AVEC (8D: Opposite of sans) were clued as Picasso's famous "Colombe AVEC Fleurs". We would have got an impressionist (DEGAS), a portraitist (HALS), a surrealist (DALI) and a Cubist's work in the grid.
Otherwise, an OK Monday puzzle, no stumper or obscure word. Some of the clues are pretty refreshing.
ACROSS:
1A: Conspicuous jewelry: BLING. Gimme for those BLING-BLING obsessed rappers I am sure. Their music is just so difficult for me to understand, lots of slangs. What's so amusing about "Lolli Lolli (Pop That Body)" anyway? I like how BLING intersects I DIG.
15A: Rod in a hot rod: AXLE. And 18A: Figure-skater's leap: AXEL
17A: Online periodical: EZINE. Slate.com is probably my favorite. Together with NPR, they produce "Day to Day" (a radio newsmagzine).
24A: Majority of V: III. Very creative clue.
33A: ___ you the clever one!: AREN'T
43A: Kissing equipment: LIPS. I have forgotten "What LIPS my LIPS Have Kissed, and where, and why..."
45A: Glasgow's river: CLYDE. Not familiar with this Scotland river. Only know Bonnie's CLYDE.
62A: Felon, to a cop: PERP (Perpetrator). Or "Crossing reference" (Perpendicular cousin) here in this twisted blog.
66A: Wallet fins: FIVES. For those fellow solvers outside US, "fin" is a American slang for a five-dollar bill.
DOWN:
4D: Santa Maria's sister? NINA. And Pinta. Look at this ridiculous NINA Ricci shoe!
5D: Divides evenly by: GOES INTO. I don't understand this one, why?
6D: Puppeteer Lewis: SHARI. I don't know her. Got her name from the perps.
11D: Put forth effort: EXERT. I like how it parallel with FLAIL (12D: Thrash about).
13D: Trustbuster Roosevelt: TEDDY. I had no idea that Trust Buster is also TR's nickname. Which one is correct, "Trust Buster" or "Trustbuster"?
28D: Bedouin, e.g.: ARAB. I did not know who/what was Bedouin. Would have never got it without the crossing references. According to Wikipedia, the Bedouin are a group of nomadic Arabs who live in the desert.
37D: Writer Oz: AMOS. He knows "How to Cure a Fanatic".
38D: Fuzzy rests?: NAPS. Good clue.
57D: Hindu deity: SIVA. Or SHIVA, "The Destroyer"of the Hindu Trinity. I simply forgot. Pieced it together from the across fills. Brahma is "The Creator" and Vishnu is "The Preserver".
C.C.
