Theme: (Which) Way to GO
17A: Imagined: THOUGHT UP
58A: Duck product: EIDER DOWN
11D: Without guilt: RIGHTEOUS
33D: Soup ingredients, perhaps: LEFTOVERS
Good puzzle. I like the positon of UP, DOWN, LEFT & RIGHT, very well placed. But I just feel that something is missing at the heart of the grid. I want HERE or ICI (Vous êtes ICI) as an anchor.
I dislike how ELITE (16A: Privileged few) due to FEWER (51D: Not so many), visually very jarring. Tell me how you would clue ELITE.
Had some trouble at the lower right corner. Had to google Philosopher Mach (52D: ERNST).
Across:
1A: Not so much: LESS. And FEWER (51D: Not so many)
5A: Trigger-happy: EDGY. This reminds me of Barry's TENTER (cloth stretcher) &"On tenter hooks" connection explanation last month.
9A: Branchlet: SPRIG. "Branchlet" is a new word to me.
15A: Novelist Morrison: TONI. Nobel Literature winner in 1993. I know her only because of her "our first Black President" comment on Clinton. I've never read her books.
19A: Basketball player: CAGER. My favorite CAGER (KG).
21A: I haven't a clue: SEARCH ME. New phrase to me. I've never heard anyone use SEARCH ME to mean "I haven't a clue".
26A: Lizard with sticky feet: GECKO. Here is GEICO's GECHO.
28A: Still: AT REST
31A: Where van Gogh painted like mad: ARLES. Yes, this is the place where he madly painted all those blooming (and withering) sunflowers, and the beautiful "Starry Night Over the Rhone", and of course, the gorgeous "Bedroom at ARLES". Are you happy with the clue?
34A: Dawson or Gide: ANDRE. Hmm, another Nobel Literature winner (Gide). Do you think ANDRE Dawson will make HOF next year?
38A: Poppy extract: OPIUM. I am addicted to OPIUM.
39A: Sushi choice: TUNA. Delicious! Hot, hot wasabi!
41A: Zest: SPICE. Which one, Dennis?
45A: Group psyche: ETHOS. And 5D: Cultural: ETHNIC
47A: Parts of ranges: OVENS. I was in the mountain range direction.
49A: Western state capital: SANTA FE. I've never been to New Mexico. Do you like Georgia O'Keeffe?
53A: Turns back: REVERSES
56A: Pipe cleaner: REAMER. No idea. Always associate REAMER with citrus juice.
60A: Hold contents: CARGO. Ha, the nautical "Hold" got me again. I kept wanting "Hold" to be a verb.
62A: King toppers: ACES. I was thinking of this King and his wig.
63A: Middle of a tassel?: ESSES
65A: Do a postal job: SORT. Of course, I penned in MAIL first.
Down:
1D: Stop gripping: LET GO
2D" "___ Frome": ETHAN. Learned it from doing Xword. Have never touched any of Edith Wharton's books.
3D: Audible expression of contempt: SNORT. I wrote down SNEER first.
7D: Wildebeests: GNUS
8D: Holy cow!: YIPES. Sometimes this kind of simple exclamation stumps me. YIPES, Yipee, Holy mackerel! Have you ever used "Man alive"?
9D: Hide away: SECRETE
10D: Glacial deposit: PLACER. New to me. It's a "surficial mineral deposit formed by the concentration of small particles of heavy minerals, as gold, rutile, or platinum, in gravel or small sands."
18D: Wounds with a tusk: GORES. What, not us?
22D: Cause anxiety: ALARM
24D: Giraffe relative: OKAPI. I would not have got this one without the across fills. Barb B likes the pantaloons.
27D: Preserved for later: ON ICE. Is this also a hockey term?
32D: Sports zebras: REFS. Hmm, some kind of "striped" under-theme in this puzzle.
39D: Tex-Mex menu items: TOSTADAS. Yummy.
42D: Goofy error: BONER. I should really use this word instead of abusing "faux pas" & "screw-up" all the time.
44D: Even the score: AVENGE
46D: Islamic women's quarters: HAREMS. I was wondering if men really are not allowed to enter HAREMS. Will they be punished if they do?
50D: BP merger partner: AMOCO. They merged in 1998.
52D: Philosopher Mach: ERNST. So the the Mach in "Mach topper" (SST) refers to him?
53D: Chop into small pieces: RICE. Really, not DICE?
C.C.
17A: Imagined: THOUGHT UP
58A: Duck product: EIDER DOWN
11D: Without guilt: RIGHTEOUS
33D: Soup ingredients, perhaps: LEFTOVERS
Good puzzle. I like the positon of UP, DOWN, LEFT & RIGHT, very well placed. But I just feel that something is missing at the heart of the grid. I want HERE or ICI (Vous êtes ICI) as an anchor.
I dislike how ELITE (16A: Privileged few) due to FEWER (51D: Not so many), visually very jarring. Tell me how you would clue ELITE.
Had some trouble at the lower right corner. Had to google Philosopher Mach (52D: ERNST).
Across:
1A: Not so much: LESS. And FEWER (51D: Not so many)
5A: Trigger-happy: EDGY. This reminds me of Barry's TENTER (cloth stretcher) &"On tenter hooks" connection explanation last month.
9A: Branchlet: SPRIG. "Branchlet" is a new word to me.
15A: Novelist Morrison: TONI. Nobel Literature winner in 1993. I know her only because of her "our first Black President" comment on Clinton. I've never read her books.
19A: Basketball player: CAGER. My favorite CAGER (KG).
21A: I haven't a clue: SEARCH ME. New phrase to me. I've never heard anyone use SEARCH ME to mean "I haven't a clue".
26A: Lizard with sticky feet: GECKO. Here is GEICO's GECHO.
28A: Still: AT REST
31A: Where van Gogh painted like mad: ARLES. Yes, this is the place where he madly painted all those blooming (and withering) sunflowers, and the beautiful "Starry Night Over the Rhone", and of course, the gorgeous "Bedroom at ARLES". Are you happy with the clue?
34A: Dawson or Gide: ANDRE. Hmm, another Nobel Literature winner (Gide). Do you think ANDRE Dawson will make HOF next year?
38A: Poppy extract: OPIUM. I am addicted to OPIUM.
39A: Sushi choice: TUNA. Delicious! Hot, hot wasabi!
41A: Zest: SPICE. Which one, Dennis?
45A: Group psyche: ETHOS. And 5D: Cultural: ETHNIC
47A: Parts of ranges: OVENS. I was in the mountain range direction.
49A: Western state capital: SANTA FE. I've never been to New Mexico. Do you like Georgia O'Keeffe?
53A: Turns back: REVERSES
56A: Pipe cleaner: REAMER. No idea. Always associate REAMER with citrus juice.
60A: Hold contents: CARGO. Ha, the nautical "Hold" got me again. I kept wanting "Hold" to be a verb.
62A: King toppers: ACES. I was thinking of this King and his wig.
63A: Middle of a tassel?: ESSES
65A: Do a postal job: SORT. Of course, I penned in MAIL first.
Down:
1D: Stop gripping: LET GO
2D" "___ Frome": ETHAN. Learned it from doing Xword. Have never touched any of Edith Wharton's books.
3D: Audible expression of contempt: SNORT. I wrote down SNEER first.
7D: Wildebeests: GNUS
8D: Holy cow!: YIPES. Sometimes this kind of simple exclamation stumps me. YIPES, Yipee, Holy mackerel! Have you ever used "Man alive"?
9D: Hide away: SECRETE
10D: Glacial deposit: PLACER. New to me. It's a "surficial mineral deposit formed by the concentration of small particles of heavy minerals, as gold, rutile, or platinum, in gravel or small sands."
18D: Wounds with a tusk: GORES. What, not us?
22D: Cause anxiety: ALARM
24D: Giraffe relative: OKAPI. I would not have got this one without the across fills. Barb B likes the pantaloons.
27D: Preserved for later: ON ICE. Is this also a hockey term?
32D: Sports zebras: REFS. Hmm, some kind of "striped" under-theme in this puzzle.
39D: Tex-Mex menu items: TOSTADAS. Yummy.
42D: Goofy error: BONER. I should really use this word instead of abusing "faux pas" & "screw-up" all the time.
44D: Even the score: AVENGE
46D: Islamic women's quarters: HAREMS. I was wondering if men really are not allowed to enter HAREMS. Will they be punished if they do?
50D: BP merger partner: AMOCO. They merged in 1998.
52D: Philosopher Mach: ERNST. So the the Mach in "Mach topper" (SST) refers to him?
53D: Chop into small pieces: RICE. Really, not DICE?
C.C.
