Theme: None
Total blocks: 33
Sherpa, sherpa, where is my sherpa? I just cannot seem to solve a puzzle without a theme guidance, feeling so lost and helpless.
It's by no means a grid of Byzantine complexity. In fact, it has very simple structure and lots of 3-letter crosswordese. I just could not understand why I was so intimidated by this themeless.
Got stumped immediately by the "Fiery Furnace survivor", but was able to filled in lots of blanks with the down clues. Completely forgot AUTOMAT (21D: Coin-op restaurant) and penned in BEATS for TEMPI (46A: Cadences), and wasted a long time to get the curvier RIPPLIER.
I am still mad at SWINGS (9A: Move to and fro). Just what were you thinking Mr. Editor? Add a "s" if you wanted it to be a verb. Otherwise, love your grandchildren and clue SWINGS as "Playground equipment".
Across:
1A: Fiery Furnace survivor: ABEDNEGO. "...There's Shadrach, Meshach and ABEDNEGO. And the fiery coals they trod. But the form of The Fourth Man that I see, is like the Son of God". Are you familiar with this Bible story?
9A: Acts as a go-between: MEDIATES
16A: Thin layer: LAMINA. My first thought was "veneer".
18A: Disconnect: UNPLUG
19A: Many-legged insect: CENTIPEDE. Oh, I did not know the English name for this insect. So, CENTI is "hundreds", "PEDE" is "foot". Wikipedia says their mating "does not involve copulation". The male just deposits his droplet of dew sperm on a web it has spun, and then "undertakes a courtship dance to encourage the female to engulf his sperm". He must have learned the tough lessons from the male black widow spiders.
32A: Deductive: A PRIORI. The opposite is "a posteriori". I cannot think analytically and rationally. I am too intuitive a free thinker.
34A: Mazel __!" TOV. "Viel Glück", Crockett.
36A: Some deodorants: ROLL-ONS
40A: Certain hired vehicle: MINICAB
46A: Cadences: TEMPI. Does the clue sound OK to you, KittyB & Xchefwalt?
47A: "Citizen Kane" studio: RKO. Howard Hughes is such a mysterious figure. Why he ventured into movie industry and RKO is beyond me. He was an excellent golfer though, so was Katharine Hepburn.
50A: Northwestern pine: LODGEPOLE. I forgot. Here stands a LODGEPOLE pine. It does not change color. Here are some LARCH pines that do change color. Both links were provided by Argyle.
54A: Keel-like structure: CARINA. New to me. Dictionary explains it as "a keel-like part or ridge, esp. a ridge of bone on the ventral side of the sternum of birds." See this diagram.
57A: Replacing a facing: RELINING. What is "facing"?
61A: Strengthen by tempering: ANNEAL
62A: Ribbed pasta: RIGATONI. This does not look like RIGATONI, does it?
64A: Finnish-American architect: SAARINEN (Eero). If it's just "Finnish architect", it might refer to his father Eliel. Melissa, do you know that Eero also designed these tulip chairs? They look sturdy enough for the weight of two.
Down:
7D: "The Goldbergs" creator: GERTRUDE BERG. I've never heard of her name before. Could be a gimme for Barry.
8D: Port city of old Rome: OSTIA. I forgot. It's clued as "Port city of Rome" on June 15 and I complained about the absense of word "ancient" in the clue. See this map. It's located at the mouth of the Tiber river.
10D: Nomadism: WANDERLUST. I don't they they are synonymous. "Nomadism" is a kind of lifestyle, WANDERLUST refers to the itch/urge to travel.
11D: Puts in danger: IMPERILS
14D: Droop: SAG. Hmm, I don't like the image this SAG evokes. How about SAG Awards? I wonder why "The Actor" statue is nude. Or a statue is just a statue?
20D: Stock of drugs: PHARMACOPEIA. New word to me.
23D: Embitter: ENVENOM. I would prefer the clue to be "make poisonous". I hate seeing "em" in clue, then prefix EN again in answer.
23D: Henhouse hunk: ROOSTER
27D: One Snoop Sister: ERNESTA. Played by Helen Hayes. I've never heard of "The Snoop Sisters". Wikipedia has a very short entry, so I suppose this was not a popular TV series.
30D: Insignificant: FRACTIONAL
31D: Bristles: SETAE
33D: City southeast of Bombay: POONA. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says the city is now called PUNE. Bombay is now named Mumbai, so I suppose the clue is technically OK. Here is a very good map.
38D: More wavy: RIPPLIER. I've never used this word "Ripply" before. So, the lake's surface has become RIPPLIER, and the wind is soughing the meadow. Hmm, I think I need a romantic sunset too.
49D: Tooth: pref.: DENTI
51D: John of the PGA: DALY. Ah, the long John DALY. "Long ball is all he knows....".
C.C.
Total blocks: 33
Sherpa, sherpa, where is my sherpa? I just cannot seem to solve a puzzle without a theme guidance, feeling so lost and helpless.
It's by no means a grid of Byzantine complexity. In fact, it has very simple structure and lots of 3-letter crosswordese. I just could not understand why I was so intimidated by this themeless.
Got stumped immediately by the "Fiery Furnace survivor", but was able to filled in lots of blanks with the down clues. Completely forgot AUTOMAT (21D: Coin-op restaurant) and penned in BEATS for TEMPI (46A: Cadences), and wasted a long time to get the curvier RIPPLIER.
I am still mad at SWINGS (9A: Move to and fro). Just what were you thinking Mr. Editor? Add a "s" if you wanted it to be a verb. Otherwise, love your grandchildren and clue SWINGS as "Playground equipment".
Across:
1A: Fiery Furnace survivor: ABEDNEGO. "...There's Shadrach, Meshach and ABEDNEGO. And the fiery coals they trod. But the form of The Fourth Man that I see, is like the Son of God". Are you familiar with this Bible story?
9A: Acts as a go-between: MEDIATES
16A: Thin layer: LAMINA. My first thought was "veneer".
18A: Disconnect: UNPLUG
19A: Many-legged insect: CENTIPEDE. Oh, I did not know the English name for this insect. So, CENTI is "hundreds", "PEDE" is "foot". Wikipedia says their mating "does not involve copulation". The male just deposits his droplet of
32A: Deductive: A PRIORI. The opposite is "a posteriori". I cannot think analytically and rationally. I am too intuitive a free thinker.
34A: Mazel __!" TOV. "Viel Glück", Crockett.
36A: Some deodorants: ROLL-ONS
40A: Certain hired vehicle: MINICAB
46A: Cadences: TEMPI. Does the clue sound OK to you, KittyB & Xchefwalt?
47A: "Citizen Kane" studio: RKO. Howard Hughes is such a mysterious figure. Why he ventured into movie industry and RKO is beyond me. He was an excellent golfer though, so was Katharine Hepburn.
50A: Northwestern pine: LODGEPOLE. I forgot. Here stands a LODGEPOLE pine. It does not change color. Here are some LARCH pines that do change color. Both links were provided by Argyle.
54A: Keel-like structure: CARINA. New to me. Dictionary explains it as "a keel-like part or ridge, esp. a ridge of bone on the ventral side of the sternum of birds." See this diagram.
57A: Replacing a facing: RELINING. What is "facing"?
61A: Strengthen by tempering: ANNEAL
62A: Ribbed pasta: RIGATONI. This does not look like RIGATONI, does it?
64A: Finnish-American architect: SAARINEN (Eero). If it's just "Finnish architect", it might refer to his father Eliel. Melissa, do you know that Eero also designed these tulip chairs? They look sturdy enough for the weight of two.
Down:
7D: "The Goldbergs" creator: GERTRUDE BERG. I've never heard of her name before. Could be a gimme for Barry.
8D: Port city of old Rome: OSTIA. I forgot. It's clued as "Port city of Rome" on June 15 and I complained about the absense of word "ancient" in the clue. See this map. It's located at the mouth of the Tiber river.
10D: Nomadism: WANDERLUST. I don't they they are synonymous. "Nomadism" is a kind of lifestyle, WANDERLUST refers to the itch/urge to travel.
11D: Puts in danger: IMPERILS
14D: Droop: SAG. Hmm, I don't like the image this SAG evokes. How about SAG Awards? I wonder why "The Actor" statue is nude. Or a statue is just a statue?
20D: Stock of drugs: PHARMACOPEIA. New word to me.
23D: Embitter: ENVENOM. I would prefer the clue to be "make poisonous". I hate seeing "em" in clue, then prefix EN again in answer.
23D: Henhouse hunk: ROOSTER
27D: One Snoop Sister: ERNESTA. Played by Helen Hayes. I've never heard of "The Snoop Sisters". Wikipedia has a very short entry, so I suppose this was not a popular TV series.
30D: Insignificant: FRACTIONAL
31D: Bristles: SETAE
33D: City southeast of Bombay: POONA. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says the city is now called PUNE. Bombay is now named Mumbai, so I suppose the clue is technically OK. Here is a very good map.
38D: More wavy: RIPPLIER. I've never used this word "Ripply" before. So, the lake's surface has become RIPPLIER, and the wind is soughing the meadow. Hmm, I think I need a romantic sunset too.
49D: Tooth: pref.: DENTI
51D: John of the PGA: DALY. Ah, the long John DALY. "Long ball is all he knows....".
C.C.
