Theme: Ill at Ease
18A: Grapevine, in a way: RUMOR MILL
38A: Stimulant drug: PEP PILL
57A: "One more Last Chance" singer: VINCE GILL
3D: Reason for a late fee: PAST DUE BILL
26D: Chad Michael Murray series: ONE TREE HILL
I can think of dill, fill, kill, and will, what other 4-letter rhyming words can you think of?
I experienced something new this morning: I solved the puzzle without peeking at the constructor's name. But I quickly decided that it has to be from Allan E. Parrish's atelier after filling in the below answers:
29A: Citation's final word: UNQUOTE
43A: Reggae relative: SKA
1D: "Tuesday with Morrie" author: ALBOM (Mitch)
5D: Wall Street acronym: NASDAQ
7D: Jewish month: ELUL
33D: Dayan or Arens: MOSHE
Those are all the clear fingerprints of his puzzles: generous amount of scrabbly Q, Z, K, X & J, Jewish references (month, personalities, etc.). Remember his SHTETL ("Fiddler on the Roof" village) on this "Finer Rhymes" puzzle? It also starts with ASPEN (1A: Colorado resort), identical clue, identical position.
I had to call Google several times to finish the puzzle, feeling a bit dumb and inadequate today.
Across:
1A: Colorado resort: ASPEN. And another skiing reference: 41A: Slope sliders: SKIERS
6A: Coastal bird: TERN. Sleepy TERN. Here is a ERNE (the white-tailed sea eagle).
10A: Maui retreat: HANA. Comment from our fellow TMS solver Joanne last Friday: "Should you visit Maui, rent a car and drive the gorgeous east coast Hana Hwy to the little town of Hana. Plan to spend a lot of time as there are dozens of one-way bridges, curves galore, but beauty everywhere. You might even plan to overnight in HANA."
15A: Zeno of ___: ELEA. The Stoic Zeno is "Zeno of Citium".
21A: Sheepskins: DIPLOMAS. Unknown to me. Sheepskins were just skins of the sheep to me.
25A: Walks softly: TIPTOES. And 31D: Not quite sober: TIPSY. The 2 answers are of the same roots, aren't they? If so, they should not be allowed in the same grid.
32A: Actress/director Marshall: PENNY. Not familiar with her. She directed "A League of Their Own", which starred Tom Hanks, Geena Davis & Madonna.
33A: Big name in faucets: MOEN. Kohler has a much bigger presence in China.
36A: Dancer Ben: VEREEN. I forgot his name. It appeared in our puzzle before. Wikipedia says he won a Tony for "Pippin" in 1973. He also appeared in the Broadway "Wicked" as the "Wizard of Oz" in 2005. Have you seen this musical?
40A: Alternative to HBO: TMC (The Movie Channel). Do you like Robert Osborne of TCM (Turner Classic Movies)?
46A: Visual blight: EYESORE
48A: Jazz up: ENLIVEN
50A: Give a shot: INJECT
62A: Chimney segment: FLUE. I also wonder if Santa has ever caught the chimney FLUE.
67A: D Sharp: E FLAT. Like the Key of ?
Down:
9D: Ruth's mother-in-law: NAOMI. I like this NAOMI. She is so good at "Le Divorce".
10D: Pet rodent: HAMSTER
11D: US fuel group: API (American Petroleum Institute). I've never heard of it before.
12D: "__ Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)": NEL. "In the blue painted blue". "NEL " is "in the" in Italian. I've never heard of this song, which placed 3rd in Eurovision Contest 1958.
19D: Come down a cliff face: RAPPEL. New word to me. I had a nightmare at this corner.
22D: Toughens up: INURES
28D: Brings into harmony: SYNCS
34D: Mork's language: ORKAN. "Mork & Mindy"
36D: Pickle brand name: VLASIC. Hmm, perfect pickle, perfect size, delicious!
38D: Movie trailer: PREVUE. There should be a "Var." with the clue, don't you think so?
39D: White House nickname: IKE
42D: Manifests: EVINCES
44D: Erving of hoops: DR. J. He, rather than Dr. X, should be clued in Michael T. William's "Three Doctors" puzzle. We would have had a pangram a month ago.
47D: Uptight: ON EDGE
49D: Swiss Alp: EIGER. New mountain peak to me. So pretty!
55D: Dodgers, in MLB jargon: NLER (National Leaguer)
61D: Wiedersehen lead-in: AUF. Zai Jian (再见) in Chinese.
C.C.
18A: Grapevine, in a way: RUMOR MILL
38A: Stimulant drug: PEP PILL
57A: "One more Last Chance" singer: VINCE GILL
3D: Reason for a late fee: PAST DUE BILL
26D: Chad Michael Murray series: ONE TREE HILL
I can think of dill, fill, kill, and will, what other 4-letter rhyming words can you think of?
I experienced something new this morning: I solved the puzzle without peeking at the constructor's name. But I quickly decided that it has to be from Allan E. Parrish's atelier after filling in the below answers:
29A: Citation's final word: UNQUOTE
43A: Reggae relative: SKA
1D: "Tuesday with Morrie" author: ALBOM (Mitch)
5D: Wall Street acronym: NASDAQ
7D: Jewish month: ELUL
33D: Dayan or Arens: MOSHE
Those are all the clear fingerprints of his puzzles: generous amount of scrabbly Q, Z, K, X & J, Jewish references (month, personalities, etc.). Remember his SHTETL ("Fiddler on the Roof" village) on this "Finer Rhymes" puzzle? It also starts with ASPEN (1A: Colorado resort), identical clue, identical position.
I had to call Google several times to finish the puzzle, feeling a bit dumb and inadequate today.
Across:
1A: Colorado resort: ASPEN. And another skiing reference: 41A: Slope sliders: SKIERS
6A: Coastal bird: TERN. Sleepy TERN. Here is a ERNE (the white-tailed sea eagle).
10A: Maui retreat: HANA. Comment from our fellow TMS solver Joanne last Friday: "Should you visit Maui, rent a car and drive the gorgeous east coast Hana Hwy to the little town of Hana. Plan to spend a lot of time as there are dozens of one-way bridges, curves galore, but beauty everywhere. You might even plan to overnight in HANA."
15A: Zeno of ___: ELEA. The Stoic Zeno is "Zeno of Citium".
21A: Sheepskins: DIPLOMAS. Unknown to me. Sheepskins were just skins of the sheep to me.
25A: Walks softly: TIPTOES. And 31D: Not quite sober: TIPSY. The 2 answers are of the same roots, aren't they? If so, they should not be allowed in the same grid.
32A: Actress/director Marshall: PENNY. Not familiar with her. She directed "A League of Their Own", which starred Tom Hanks, Geena Davis & Madonna.
33A: Big name in faucets: MOEN. Kohler has a much bigger presence in China.
36A: Dancer Ben: VEREEN. I forgot his name. It appeared in our puzzle before. Wikipedia says he won a Tony for "Pippin" in 1973. He also appeared in the Broadway "Wicked" as the "Wizard of Oz" in 2005. Have you seen this musical?
40A: Alternative to HBO: TMC (The Movie Channel). Do you like Robert Osborne of TCM (Turner Classic Movies)?
46A: Visual blight: EYESORE
48A: Jazz up: ENLIVEN
50A: Give a shot: INJECT
62A: Chimney segment: FLUE. I also wonder if Santa has ever caught the chimney FLUE.
67A: D Sharp: E FLAT. Like the Key of ?
Down:
9D: Ruth's mother-in-law: NAOMI. I like this NAOMI. She is so good at "Le Divorce".
10D: Pet rodent: HAMSTER
11D: US fuel group: API (American Petroleum Institute). I've never heard of it before.
12D: "__ Blu Dipinto Di Blu (Volare)": NEL. "In the blue painted blue". "NEL " is "in the" in Italian. I've never heard of this song, which placed 3rd in Eurovision Contest 1958.
19D: Come down a cliff face: RAPPEL. New word to me. I had a nightmare at this corner.
22D: Toughens up: INURES
28D: Brings into harmony: SYNCS
34D: Mork's language: ORKAN. "Mork & Mindy"
36D: Pickle brand name: VLASIC. Hmm, perfect pickle, perfect size, delicious!
38D: Movie trailer: PREVUE. There should be a "Var." with the clue, don't you think so?
39D: White House nickname: IKE
42D: Manifests: EVINCES
44D: Erving of hoops: DR. J. He, rather than Dr. X, should be clued in Michael T. William's "Three Doctors" puzzle. We would have had a pangram a month ago.
47D: Uptight: ON EDGE
49D: Swiss Alp: EIGER. New mountain peak to me. So pretty!
55D: Dodgers, in MLB jargon: NLER (National Leaguer)
61D: Wiedersehen lead-in: AUF. Zai Jian (再见) in Chinese.
C.C.
