Theme: Special K ( O"K"?)
17A: Shoe-banging Russian leader: KHRUSHCHEV
40A: African-American festival: KWANZAA
64A: Superman's bane: KRYPTONITE
11D: More clumsy than anyone: KLUTZIEST
35D: Fruits of education: KNOWLEDGE
And more K's in the grid:
1A: "___ Sutra": KAMA. Hmm, the art of positions... KAMA is Hindu god of love and erotic desire.
10A: 32-card game: SKAT
21A: Stan's "South Park" pal: KYLE. Learned his name from doing Xword.
33A: Encrusted: CAKY
49A: Is missing: LACKS
1D: Pal of Fran and Ollie: KUKLA. Again, learned this name from the OLLIE binge 2 weeks ago.
6D: Sennett of Keystone Cops: MACK. I've never heard of him or the film before. Only know Baseball HOFer Connie MACK. Is that an Old Judge card?
40D: "Show Boat" composer: KERN (Jerome). Stumper for me. Here is Julie Andrews' "The Last Time I Saw Paris", also composed by KERN.
48D: One on a quest: SEEKER
50D: __ Sabe: KEMO. The Lone Ranger.
I also like the "K" clue in SHELF ( 8D: Knickknack spot), hate the "K" clue in ACUTELY (4D: Keenly) due to the "ly" double appearances. I think the constructor missed his chance to put another "K" for RIAL (58D: Iranian cash). "Khamenei's cash" would work perfectly, right?
I wonder if Underwood is a Duke graduate. Is this a tribute to "Coach K" or what? Anyway, there is some precious joy at my Mudville today, I did not completely strike out. Got "K"illed only at the KERN (48D) & TOWERS corner. I do think I will skip my banana today, too much potassium (K) intake from the puzzle already.
ACROSS:
14A: Summer Games org. U.S.O.C. (United States Olympic Committee). I don't think I would have got it without crossing references.
15A: Hidden hoard: CACHE
16A: What you are reading now: CLUE. Perfect CLUE.
20A: Slow, musically: LENTO. What is opposite of LENTO?
22A: Envelope abbr.: ATTN (Attention). French is the same.
25A: On the ___ (broken): FRITZ. Fritz LEIBER (the fantasy author) appeared on a May TMS puzzle before.
30A: Live oak: ENCINA. New word to me. Pieced it together from the down clues.
47A: Cleese sitcom, "Fawlty ___": TOWERS. Not familiar with this sitcom or the actor Cleese at all. The clue read "Cheese sitcom" to me for a long time.
53A: Hunt and Reddy: HELENS. Know Hunt ("Mad about You"), not Reddy.
59A: Omar of "House": EPPS. He was also in Jude Law's "Alfie".
62A: Frenzied: MANIC
69A: Bob or dog vehicle: SLED
70A: Thin-voiced: REEDY. This refers to the sound of woodwind instruments, not the singer's voice, right?
DOWN:
3D: Day breaks: MORNS. And AROSE (43A: Cropped up). Wish it were clued as "Greeted the day".
5D: Wiesbaden wail: ACH. That's German for DARN (68A: Phooey!), isn't it?
9D: Forbidding: SEVERE
10D: Remove from competition: SCRATCH. Poor "Casino Drive"!
12D: Em in Kansas: AUNT. Dorothy's AUTIE Em in "The Wizard of Oz". Does anyone own a Frank Mint Autie Em doll? Does yours have the original chickens in the basket? See also 39D: Fowl females: HEN. And 36A: Relative of -ess or trix: ENNE (Feminine suffix). I like the girl power in this grid.
18D: Sect of Zen Buddhism: SOTO. No, not familiar with this sect at all. Look at this SOTO monk. So serene.
24D: Mutton dish: STEW. In which country?
31D: Without ice: NEAT
34D: Saab model: AERO. I've got no idea. I think I am used to the "Aviation prefix" clue.
37D: Poet Pound: EZRA
44D: Sushi Wrap: SEAWEED. Not a very accurate clue, sushi is wrapped in NORI, and NORI only. It would become inedible were it wrapped in KOMBU (Japanese for KELP), which is only used as a stock base for the vegetarian miso soup. The last kind of SEAWEED is called WAKAME, which tastes great both in soup and salad.
52D: Shopping bender: SPREE
54D: Early computer: ENIAC (Electronic Numeral Integrator And Computer)
57D: Cornfield cries: CAWS
60D: Gomer of Mayberry: PYLE. This once-obscure name has become a gimme for me now.
61D: Burned rubber: SPED
65D: Give it a go: TRY. "TRY me, TRY me..."
C.C.
17A: Shoe-banging Russian leader: KHRUSHCHEV
40A: African-American festival: KWANZAA
64A: Superman's bane: KRYPTONITE
11D: More clumsy than anyone: KLUTZIEST
35D: Fruits of education: KNOWLEDGE
And more K's in the grid:
1A: "___ Sutra": KAMA. Hmm, the art of positions... KAMA is Hindu god of love and erotic desire.
10A: 32-card game: SKAT
21A: Stan's "South Park" pal: KYLE. Learned his name from doing Xword.
33A: Encrusted: CAKY
49A: Is missing: LACKS
1D: Pal of Fran and Ollie: KUKLA. Again, learned this name from the OLLIE binge 2 weeks ago.
6D: Sennett of Keystone Cops: MACK. I've never heard of him or the film before. Only know Baseball HOFer Connie MACK. Is that an Old Judge card?
40D: "Show Boat" composer: KERN (Jerome). Stumper for me. Here is Julie Andrews' "The Last Time I Saw Paris", also composed by KERN.
48D: One on a quest: SEEKER
50D: __ Sabe: KEMO. The Lone Ranger.
I also like the "K" clue in SHELF ( 8D: Knickknack spot), hate the "K" clue in ACUTELY (4D: Keenly) due to the "ly" double appearances. I think the constructor missed his chance to put another "K" for RIAL (58D: Iranian cash). "Khamenei's cash" would work perfectly, right?
I wonder if Underwood is a Duke graduate. Is this a tribute to "Coach K" or what? Anyway, there is some precious joy at my Mudville today, I did not completely strike out. Got "K"illed only at the KERN (48D) & TOWERS corner. I do think I will skip my banana today, too much potassium (K) intake from the puzzle already.
ACROSS:
14A: Summer Games org. U.S.O.C. (United States Olympic Committee). I don't think I would have got it without crossing references.
15A: Hidden hoard: CACHE
16A: What you are reading now: CLUE. Perfect CLUE.
20A: Slow, musically: LENTO. What is opposite of LENTO?
22A: Envelope abbr.: ATTN (Attention). French is the same.
25A: On the ___ (broken): FRITZ. Fritz LEIBER (the fantasy author) appeared on a May TMS puzzle before.
30A: Live oak: ENCINA. New word to me. Pieced it together from the down clues.
47A: Cleese sitcom, "Fawlty ___": TOWERS. Not familiar with this sitcom or the actor Cleese at all. The clue read "Cheese sitcom" to me for a long time.
53A: Hunt and Reddy: HELENS. Know Hunt ("Mad about You"), not Reddy.
59A: Omar of "House": EPPS. He was also in Jude Law's "Alfie".
62A: Frenzied: MANIC
69A: Bob or dog vehicle: SLED
70A: Thin-voiced: REEDY. This refers to the sound of woodwind instruments, not the singer's voice, right?
DOWN:
3D: Day breaks: MORNS. And AROSE (43A: Cropped up). Wish it were clued as "Greeted the day".
5D: Wiesbaden wail: ACH. That's German for DARN (68A: Phooey!), isn't it?
9D: Forbidding: SEVERE
10D: Remove from competition: SCRATCH. Poor "Casino Drive"!
12D: Em in Kansas: AUNT. Dorothy's AUTIE Em in "The Wizard of Oz". Does anyone own a Frank Mint Autie Em doll? Does yours have the original chickens in the basket? See also 39D: Fowl females: HEN. And 36A: Relative of -ess or trix: ENNE (Feminine suffix). I like the girl power in this grid.
18D: Sect of Zen Buddhism: SOTO. No, not familiar with this sect at all. Look at this SOTO monk. So serene.
24D: Mutton dish: STEW. In which country?
31D: Without ice: NEAT
34D: Saab model: AERO. I've got no idea. I think I am used to the "Aviation prefix" clue.
37D: Poet Pound: EZRA
44D: Sushi Wrap: SEAWEED. Not a very accurate clue, sushi is wrapped in NORI, and NORI only. It would become inedible were it wrapped in KOMBU (Japanese for KELP), which is only used as a stock base for the vegetarian miso soup. The last kind of SEAWEED is called WAKAME, which tastes great both in soup and salad.
52D: Shopping bender: SPREE
54D: Early computer: ENIAC (Electronic Numeral Integrator And Computer)
57D: Cornfield cries: CAWS
60D: Gomer of Mayberry: PYLE. This once-obscure name has become a gimme for me now.
61D: Burned rubber: SPED
65D: Give it a go: TRY. "TRY me, TRY me..."
C.C.
