Theme: "Ring...ring..ring...Homophone's calling"
20A: Aviation pioneer: ORVILLE WRIGHT
35A: Dramatic exit direction: STAGE RIGHT
44A: Do uncredited work: GHOSTWRITE
59A: Bar mitzvah, e.g.: RELIGIOUS RITE
I've never heard of STAGE RIGHT before.
Very nice puzzle, another pangram. Once again, there are quite a few abbrevations, just like yesterday's.
I had fun solving this puzzle. I liked seeing SPAHN (12D: Hall-of-fame pitcher Warren) being clued in a grid. It always reminded me the poem "First we'll use SPAHN, then we use Sain, then an off day, followed by rain...". He was a great pitcher, the winningest southpaw in baseball history. I wish I had this SPAHN Hartland figurine, the original one.
Had huge problem in lower left corner earlier. Had to google STAN GETZ and a few other words.
Across:
5A: Forage crop: SOYA. Inaccurate clue. I eat SOYA product every day, and I am not a cattle.
14A: Quantum event?: LEAP. Nice clue. I like last time's "Act of Faith?" too.
15A: No. brains?: CPAS. Of course I read it as "No brains". Very clever use of "number" abbreviation.
17A: Vijay Singh's homeland: FIJI. Here is a good picture of Vijay & Tiger at the 2002 Masters. Vijay is very cold in person.
18A: Warmonger: HAWK. Hmm, I think I love DOVE more. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
19A: Along a rotation line: AXIAL
28A: Not orig.: IMIT. Look, the flower flies are sipping the morning dew. They look so real.
42A: Outer: pref: EXO. Or ECTO if it's 4-letter blank.
43A: Pitch woo: SPOON. I've never heard of this phrase "Pitch woo" before. Can you give me an example?
52A: Chapel Hill sch.: UNC (University of North Carolina). NPR's "The Story" is produced here.
55A: Sports division, est. 1969: NFC (National Football Conference). No idea. I had _ FC staring at me forever.
57A: Frilled strip: RUFFLE. What happened to her feathers?
63A: Castle that danced: IRENE. I've never heard of her name before. I like the embroidered flowers on her skirt. Roses?
68A: Stop order, asea: AVAST. And HALTS (13D: Terminates).
69A: Custard dessert: FLAN. I like crème brûlée, I like hard caramel on top of the custard.
71A: Frequency unit: HERTZ. Hz. One cycle per second. Gustov HERTZ won Nobel physicics in 1925.
Down:
1D: TV alien: ALF. Not familiar with this TV series. Only know ALF Landon, who has stubbornly made several appearances in our puzzles.
3D: Head steward: MAJORDOMO. New word to me.
4D: Richard's Agnew: SPIRO. And for RIPA (32D: Philbin's co-host). I forgot who was bothered by "Nixon's Agnew" clue last time. He/she should be happy now.
5D: Rifts: SCHISMS
6D: Fiery gem: OPAL. It's the birthstone for October. Mine is pearl. How about you?
7D: Ketch's sister: YAWL. Did not know the meaning of "Ketch". Thought it's a TV character. Have never heard of YAWL before. I know nothing about sailing or sailing vessels.
9D: George Lucas blockbuster: STAR WARS
11D: Pamplona pal: AMIGO. Good alliteration.
21D: Sch. in Lexington: VMI (Virginia Military Institute). I was thinking of Lexington, KY.
36D: Early invader of Rome: GOTH. Not familiar with this invasion at all.
37D: Cause of a rush: GOLD FEVER
39D: Govt. security: T NOTE. It was T BILL yesterday. Scary stock market lately. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and now AIG, in less than 5 months, truly frightening!
41D: "The Girl from Ipanema" guy: STAN GETZ. How could Barry Silk think of HERTZ to cross STAN GETZ is beyond me. He has such a creative mind.
45D: Hotspot service: WIFI. Xchefwalt must have been experiencing troubles accessing his "Hotspot service". Have not heard any flower/flour comment from him for a few days.
46D: Loop or stud: EARRINGS
50D On the __ vive: QUI. Besides SHAQ (49A: O'Neal of basketball) and IRAQ, what other 4-letter words end with letter Q?
52D: Fictional Heep: URIAH
62D: Use an MRI: SCAN. I would prefer a simple "Read quickly". MRI is an abbreviation after all.
66D: Justice Fortas: ABE. I like how ABE parallels LAW (67D: Perry Mason's field).
C.C.
20A: Aviation pioneer: ORVILLE WRIGHT
35A: Dramatic exit direction: STAGE RIGHT
44A: Do uncredited work: GHOSTWRITE
59A: Bar mitzvah, e.g.: RELIGIOUS RITE
I've never heard of STAGE RIGHT before.
Very nice puzzle, another pangram. Once again, there are quite a few abbrevations, just like yesterday's.
I had fun solving this puzzle. I liked seeing SPAHN (12D: Hall-of-fame pitcher Warren) being clued in a grid. It always reminded me the poem "First we'll use SPAHN, then we use Sain, then an off day, followed by rain...". He was a great pitcher, the winningest southpaw in baseball history. I wish I had this SPAHN Hartland figurine, the original one.
Had huge problem in lower left corner earlier. Had to google STAN GETZ and a few other words.
Across:
5A: Forage crop: SOYA. Inaccurate clue. I eat SOYA product every day, and I am not a cattle.
14A: Quantum event?: LEAP. Nice clue. I like last time's "Act of Faith?" too.
15A: No. brains?: CPAS. Of course I read it as "No brains". Very clever use of "number" abbreviation.
17A: Vijay Singh's homeland: FIJI. Here is a good picture of Vijay & Tiger at the 2002 Masters. Vijay is very cold in person.
18A: Warmonger: HAWK. Hmm, I think I love DOVE more. "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
19A: Along a rotation line: AXIAL
28A: Not orig.: IMIT. Look, the flower flies are sipping the morning dew. They look so real.
42A: Outer: pref: EXO. Or ECTO if it's 4-letter blank.
43A: Pitch woo: SPOON. I've never heard of this phrase "Pitch woo" before. Can you give me an example?
52A: Chapel Hill sch.: UNC (University of North Carolina). NPR's "The Story" is produced here.
55A: Sports division, est. 1969: NFC (National Football Conference). No idea. I had _ FC staring at me forever.
57A: Frilled strip: RUFFLE. What happened to her feathers?
63A: Castle that danced: IRENE. I've never heard of her name before. I like the embroidered flowers on her skirt. Roses?
68A: Stop order, asea: AVAST. And HALTS (13D: Terminates).
69A: Custard dessert: FLAN. I like crème brûlée, I like hard caramel on top of the custard.
71A: Frequency unit: HERTZ. Hz. One cycle per second. Gustov HERTZ won Nobel physicics in 1925.
Down:
1D: TV alien: ALF. Not familiar with this TV series. Only know ALF Landon, who has stubbornly made several appearances in our puzzles.
3D: Head steward: MAJORDOMO. New word to me.
4D: Richard's Agnew: SPIRO. And for RIPA (32D: Philbin's co-host). I forgot who was bothered by "Nixon's Agnew" clue last time. He/she should be happy now.
5D: Rifts: SCHISMS
6D: Fiery gem: OPAL. It's the birthstone for October. Mine is pearl. How about you?
7D: Ketch's sister: YAWL. Did not know the meaning of "Ketch". Thought it's a TV character. Have never heard of YAWL before. I know nothing about sailing or sailing vessels.
9D: George Lucas blockbuster: STAR WARS
11D: Pamplona pal: AMIGO. Good alliteration.
21D: Sch. in Lexington: VMI (Virginia Military Institute). I was thinking of Lexington, KY.
36D: Early invader of Rome: GOTH. Not familiar with this invasion at all.
37D: Cause of a rush: GOLD FEVER
39D: Govt. security: T NOTE. It was T BILL yesterday. Scary stock market lately. Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, and now AIG, in less than 5 months, truly frightening!
41D: "The Girl from Ipanema" guy: STAN GETZ. How could Barry Silk think of HERTZ to cross STAN GETZ is beyond me. He has such a creative mind.
45D: Hotspot service: WIFI. Xchefwalt must have been experiencing troubles accessing his "Hotspot service". Have not heard any flower/flour comment from him for a few days.
46D: Loop or stud: EARRINGS
50D On the __ vive: QUI. Besides SHAQ (49A: O'Neal of basketball) and IRAQ, what other 4-letter words end with letter Q?
52D: Fictional Heep: URIAH
62D: Use an MRI: SCAN. I would prefer a simple "Read quickly". MRI is an abbreviation after all.
66D: Justice Fortas: ABE. I like how ABE parallels LAW (67D: Perry Mason's field).
C.C.