Theme: "See 'n Say"
17A: Lunch combo: SOUP AND SANDWICH
23A: Footwear combo: SHOES AND SOCKS
38A: Flag combo: STARS AND STRIPES
49A: Little girl combo: SUGAR AND SPICE
60A: Bonebreaking combo: STICKS AND STONES
I don't like seeing 5 repetitive "combo" in the above clues, very lazy. Given the creativity shown by the constructor on the theme entries, I suspect our editor might have tinkered with the constructor's original submission. Anyway, a "duet" sounds more appealing to me than a "combo".
This is a beautiful grid. I am so impressed with those S* & S* phrases. I was thinking of a similar T* & T* puzzle, but I could only think of "Thick and Thin" & "Toss and Turn". What other T*& T* phrases can you think of? They have to be 10-letter long I suppose, 15- letter will be ideal of course.
Several clever clues in today's puzzle, and several eyebrow-raising abbreviated answers too.
Across:
1A: Profundity: DEPTH. Wish the clue were "The third D (3-D)" to pair up with CCL (20A: Half of D). I've never realized that there is a "C C" in every "half of D".
6A: Erect: RAISE. Would have had a nice little sub-theme if RAISE were clued as "Worker's demand" since we have 56A: Workplace safety grp. (OSHA) & 30D: Work Station (DESK).
11A: VW predecessors: STU. Great clue. STUVW, in alphabetic order.
15A: Former defense secretary Les: ASPIN. "LES" was clued as "Aspin from Wisconsin" on July 8.
22A: Plumps (for): OPTS. I've never heard of "Plumps for" before. Dictionary defines the phrase as "Supports enthusiastically", but that would be "ROOTS for", how could it be "OPTS for"?
28A: Potato style: MASHED. The green pieces on top are chives, aren't they?
34A: Race of Norse gods: AESIR. I forgot. Had AESI? for a long time. AESIR is "the principal race of gods, led by Odin and living at Asgard." Very interesting root: "Old Norse, pl. of āss, god), no wonder they live in Asgard.
43A: Gov't security: T NOTE
45A: Annie or Harry Potter: ORPHAN
67A: Bit of binary code: ONE. This ONE is for you, xchefwalt.
68A: "The Highwayman poet": NOYES (Alfred). What a confusing name: NO YES. Thomas probably will "NOYER" into this name again.
69A: Dashing Flynn: ERROL. Know him, have never seen any of his movies though. Interesting book title - "My Wicked, Wicked Ways".
Down:
2D: Son of Cain: ENOCH
4D: County div., often: TWP (Township)
5D: San Simeon castle builder: HEARST. Got it from the cross fills. "San Simeon castle" is not a familiar name to me.
6D: Hazardous gas: RADON
7D: Varied: abbr: ASSTD (Assorted). What do you think of this clue?
8D: None for me, thanks: I PASS
11D: In good order: SHIPSHAPE
26D: Vocalist Vikki: CARR. Unknown to me. I googled her name. Here is her "It Must Be Him" & "All The Time".
33D: New state name: HAMPSHIRE. Another clever clue. New HAMPSHIRE.
41D: Title for M. Clouseau: INSP (Inspector). I have no idea who M. Clouseau is. I've never heard of "Pink Panther" before. This picture popped up when I googled "Inspector Clouseau".
46D: Anti-Red grp.: HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). I pieced the answer together from the perps. Vaguely remember seeing this word in someone's comment before. Wait....OK, it's from Melissa. She mentioned HUAC when she remarked on Zero MOSTEL a few weeks ago.
48D: African menace: TSETSE. Good to see a full fly. Here is a female TSETSE. How sad, this deadly fly kills 3 millions livestock in this region every year.
50D: Prepared for action: READY. See, here is good example of how a constructor/editor can make a clue more interesting, tricking people to think of a past tense verb. A present tense "Prepare for action" is also a valid clue since READY can also be a verb.
55D: Stand for something?: EASEL. I like the question mark in the clue.
C.C.
17A: Lunch combo: SOUP AND SANDWICH
23A: Footwear combo: SHOES AND SOCKS
38A: Flag combo: STARS AND STRIPES
49A: Little girl combo: SUGAR AND SPICE
60A: Bonebreaking combo: STICKS AND STONES
I don't like seeing 5 repetitive "combo" in the above clues, very lazy. Given the creativity shown by the constructor on the theme entries, I suspect our editor might have tinkered with the constructor's original submission. Anyway, a "duet" sounds more appealing to me than a "combo".
This is a beautiful grid. I am so impressed with those S* & S* phrases. I was thinking of a similar T* & T* puzzle, but I could only think of "Thick and Thin" & "Toss and Turn". What other T*& T* phrases can you think of? They have to be 10-letter long I suppose, 15- letter will be ideal of course.
Several clever clues in today's puzzle, and several eyebrow-raising abbreviated answers too.
Across:
1A: Profundity: DEPTH. Wish the clue were "The third D (3-D)" to pair up with CCL (20A: Half of D). I've never realized that there is a "C C" in every "half of D".
6A: Erect: RAISE. Would have had a nice little sub-theme if RAISE were clued as "Worker's demand" since we have 56A: Workplace safety grp. (OSHA) & 30D: Work Station (DESK).
11A: VW predecessors: STU. Great clue. STUVW, in alphabetic order.
15A: Former defense secretary Les: ASPIN. "LES" was clued as "Aspin from Wisconsin" on July 8.
22A: Plumps (for): OPTS. I've never heard of "Plumps for" before. Dictionary defines the phrase as "Supports enthusiastically", but that would be "ROOTS for", how could it be "OPTS for"?
28A: Potato style: MASHED. The green pieces on top are chives, aren't they?
34A: Race of Norse gods: AESIR. I forgot. Had AESI? for a long time. AESIR is "the principal race of gods, led by Odin and living at Asgard." Very interesting root: "Old Norse, pl. of āss, god), no wonder they live in Asgard.
43A: Gov't security: T NOTE
45A: Annie or Harry Potter: ORPHAN
67A: Bit of binary code: ONE. This ONE is for you, xchefwalt.
68A: "The Highwayman poet": NOYES (Alfred). What a confusing name: NO YES. Thomas probably will "NOYER" into this name again.
69A: Dashing Flynn: ERROL. Know him, have never seen any of his movies though. Interesting book title - "My Wicked, Wicked Ways".
Down:
2D: Son of Cain: ENOCH
4D: County div., often: TWP (Township)
5D: San Simeon castle builder: HEARST. Got it from the cross fills. "San Simeon castle" is not a familiar name to me.
6D: Hazardous gas: RADON
7D: Varied: abbr: ASSTD (Assorted). What do you think of this clue?
8D: None for me, thanks: I PASS
11D: In good order: SHIPSHAPE
26D: Vocalist Vikki: CARR. Unknown to me. I googled her name. Here is her "It Must Be Him" & "All The Time".
33D: New state name: HAMPSHIRE. Another clever clue. New HAMPSHIRE.
41D: Title for M. Clouseau: INSP (Inspector). I have no idea who M. Clouseau is. I've never heard of "Pink Panther" before. This picture popped up when I googled "Inspector Clouseau".
46D: Anti-Red grp.: HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). I pieced the answer together from the perps. Vaguely remember seeing this word in someone's comment before. Wait....OK, it's from Melissa. She mentioned HUAC when she remarked on Zero MOSTEL a few weeks ago.
48D: African menace: TSETSE. Good to see a full fly. Here is a female TSETSE. How sad, this deadly fly kills 3 millions livestock in this region every year.
50D: Prepared for action: READY. See, here is good example of how a constructor/editor can make a clue more interesting, tricking people to think of a past tense verb. A present tense "Prepare for action" is also a valid clue since READY can also be a verb.
55D: Stand for something?: EASEL. I like the question mark in the clue.
C.C.
