google.com, pub-2774194725043577, DIRECT, f08c47fec0942fa0 L.A.Times Crossword Corner

Advertisements

Aug 10, 2008

Sunday August 10, 2008 Stanley B. Whitten

Theme: Avian Adventure

23A: Connected in an avian manner?: DOVETAILED

25A: Avian dance?: TURKEY TROT

109A: Avian con game?: PIGEON DROP

111A: Avian lawyer?: LEGAL EAGLE

30D: Avian architect?: CHRISTOPHER WREN

39D: Avian mimic?: PARROTFISH

44D: Avian tournament?: ROUND ROBIN

45D: Avian guardian?: SCARECROW

47D: Harassed avian style?: HENPECKED

Why "Avian mimic?" for 39D? I don't understand it.

Here are some more bonus "Avian" fills:

7D: Birds in barns: OWLS

13D: Birds' display areas: LEKS. It appeared on an April puzzle before. I simply forgot.

5D: Insect-eating birds: TITMICE

I am very curious to know if the above entries are the constructor's originals. The fact is that neither "Avian" nor "Birds" is really needed in the clues. The constructor/editor deprive the solvers a certain "Aha" moment by repetitively writing in "Avian" in every theme clue, how boring! I wonder why he CHICKENED out on Larry BIRD, which could be a perfect tie-in theme title. I thought of GOOSE Goosage earlier. He is now a HOFer and deserves some recognition in the crossword world too.

I dislike the following fills:

79A: Squeal to a halt: SKID

87A: Bad part of town: SKID ROW

107A: Pub potations: ALES

27A: Alternative to lager: ALE

And of course, the clue for I DO (46A: Wedding vow) should definitely be reworded due to VOW (89A: Pledge). Other crossword editors probably make this kind of mistake 2 or 3 times a year. For our "splicing device" (EDITOR), sky is the limit.

Overall, it's a good puzzle. Not exactly a SNAP (120A: Piece of cake) for me, but much easier than the previous Sunday's puzzles and more enjoyable. And the grid is very pretty and neat. I've never seen 2 theme entries running through in one line, separated by one block (23A & 25A, 109A & 111A).

Across:

6A: Bean paste: TOFU. Wrong clue. TOFU is bean curd. Bean paste is a completely different soybean product.

10A: Actress Oberon: MERLE. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says she was nominated for Oscar for her role in "The Dark Angel".

15A: Pers. with a handle?: CBER. I don't like the way "Pers." is abbreviated. In fact, CBER is a well accepted word, there is no need for clue abbreviation.

19A: Mites: ACARI. Singular is ACARUS. New to me.

28A: Wire thickness units: MILS

29A: Eyelike window: OCULUS. Like this one at the Pantheon (Rome).

32A: False report?: MISFIRE

37A: Tank toppers: TURRETS. Unknown to me. Look at this squirrel. I always thought of TURRETS as the top of some castles.

42A: Rock debris: SCREE. Another new word to me. It came from the old Norse word skriĆ°a (landslide). Here is a SCREE slope.

47A: Kingdom founded by St. Stephen: HUNGARY. Not familiar with St. Stephen. Pure guess. Here is Lang Lang's Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody #2.

50A: Certain grasses: REEDS. I filled in WEEDS first. Tricky clue.

56A: Addams family cousin: ITT. Learned from doing Xwords. Not familiar with this TV series.

59A: Highland tongue: ERSE. The Scottish Gaelic. Irish Gaelic is just Irish, right?

60A: Outline: CONTOUR

62A: Gather greedily: SCOOP UP. "Greedily"?

67A: Part of EKG: ELECTRO

71A: Veteran's abbr.: RET. Doesn't RET always refer to those high positioned generals?

74A: Nurse: CARE FOR. I dislike the clue due to RNS (53A: Hosp. personnel), even if N in latter is in abbreviated form.

84A: Swayed to and fro: ROCKED. I wonder who owns the original JFK's Rocking Chair now.

86A: Cay or key: ISLE. And INLET (101D: Channel opening). And AIT (113D: River island). Can also be spelled as EYOT. Strange looking word, isn't it?

92A: __ chloride (refrigerant): ETHYL. I googled this answer.

93A: Extreme poverty: PENURY

94A: Animal Planet's "___ Manor": MEERKAT. Dutch for "Lake cat", though it's not a cat. It belongs to the mongoose family. I've never heard of this animal. If you want to kiss the sky, better learn how to knee (on your knees boy!).

99A: Container for a fossil fuel: COALBIN

103A: Cheap cigar: STOGY. Could also be spelled as STOGIE. I just learned this STOGY is short for Conestoga, a town in Pennsylvania.

106A: Weasel cousin: ERMINE

115A: Spartan market: AGORA. The Greek mall.

119A: Staircase support: NEWEL

Down:

6D: Linen fabric: TOILE. Hmm, too blue for my taste. That bed looks so small.

9D: One causing a downfall: UNDOER

11D:Successful mimic: EMULATOR. Knew EMULATE. Had never used EMULATOR before.

15D: Shop-at-home guide: CATALOG

17D:Berkshire college: ETON. Since 1440.

24D: Affectedly nonchalant: AIRY. Oh, has anyone read Hugo's "Les Miserables"?

33D: Feudal estate: FIEF

41D: Subside, as symptoms: LYSE. Got it from the across clues. I am not familiar with this medical term. Initially I filed in EASE. Another tricky clue.

49D: Unnamed work: OPUS. What exactly is OPUS? Why is it "unnamed"? Also, what's the difference between a orchestra and a symphony orchestra? I received no musical education when I grew up.

50D: Like Miss Congeniality: NICEST. Silly movie.

52D: Cannes water: EAU. And AGUA (107D: Spanish water).

63D: Detachable container: POD. How so? Why is it "Detachable"?

69D: Clouded by sediment: ROILY. I like the clue and the answer. I like this kind of seemingly inconsistent cluing (in terms of part of speech).

70D: Architectural projection: ORIEL. The Bay window.

82D: Dry gulch: ARROYO. Her name is ARROYO (Gloria) too, and she is the President of the Philippines.

83D: For eternity: EVERMORE. How I wanted it to be NEVERMORE! We can have one more bird related clue (The Raven).

88D: Castle cell: DUNGEON. Do you like "The Count of Monte Cristo"?

90D: Of a parent-child Freudian relationship: OEDIPAL. Oedipus complex.

100D: Horn for reveille: BUGLE

103D: Jam or pickle: SPOT. "Tough SPOT", maybe yes. But SPOT, I am not sure. I can not see any commonality between Jam/pickle & SPOT.

105D: Arch type: OGEE

110D: Bobbsey twin: NAN. Another boring clue. Have you ever had Tandoori-baked NAN before?

C.C.