Theme: TERROR TRAIN (55A: Film starring first names of 21A, 33A and 42A)
21A: "The Naked Chef": JAMIE OLIVER
33A: "The Father of Radio": LEE DE FOREST
42A: "Old Iron Pants": CURTIS LEMAY
Boy, I was not familiar with any of those nicknames. I recognized JAMIE OLIVER's face when I googled his name. I must have seen him on "Iron Chef America" or some other Food Network program.
I was stumped last time when LEMAY was clued as "Wallace’s running mate". But I never bothered to read details of the Wikipedia entry. "Old Iron Pants", what a strange nickname! Have never heard of LEE DE FOREST either. I always thought Edison or Tesla is "The Father of Radio".
Easy puzzle though. Most of the unknowns were obtainable from crossing fills. I really like the clue for I DO (41A: Rite answer?"). Yesterday's "Union Contract?" is great too. ASIA is the answer for 66A: One side of the Urals, so to avoid any kind of remote duplication of clue/answer, I would have clued ABACI (2D: Asian calculations") as "63A counters" (63A: Sphere of sweat: BEAD)
The clue for EDGAR (67A: Degas or Bergen) made me laugh. Way to go, Mr. EDGAR Fountaine.
Across:
15A: Gag reflex?: HAHA. Funny clue.
16A: Waterfall fallout: SPRAY. The clue reminds me of "Deliverance", with those dangerous stretches of rapids.
18A: Joie de vivre: ELAN. I love Frédéric Fekkai's "A Year of Style". I like his view on "Joie de vivre".
19A: Irregularly notched: EROSE. Probably only a crossword word, isn't it?
23A: Mythical mariner: SINBAD. I wonder if SINBAD worshipped Poseidon/Neptune as his god of sea. Or do Arabs have their own sea god?
29A: Jodie of "The Accused": FOSTER. She won an Oscar for "The Accused". I've never seen it. I don't like her movies. "The Silence of the Lambs" is very scary.
39A: Gen. Arnold's nickname: HAP. I forgot. He is a five-star general. Was he as famous as Gen. Omar Bradley/George Marshal?
46A: Sagan series: COSMOS. I guessed. I've never heard of Carl Sagan or COSMOS.
48A: Bounding main: OCEAN. I know "main" can refer to "sea", but why "Bounding"? Or is it a common phrase?
49A: Greek god of war: ARES. It's Mars for the Romans. Do you also think that Americans are from Mars, Europeans are from Venus?
65A: Singer Simone: NINA. Nope, I've never heard of her name before. Which song(s) is she famous for?
Down:
1D: "Gigi" setting: PARIS. "Thank Heaven for Little Girls". I like the happy ending. "We will always have PARIS" at the end of "Casablanca" is so sad.
3D: Neighbor of Oman: YEMEN. It's also the "Neighbor of Saudi Arabia". San'a, strange capital name.
4D: Indy 500 sponsor: STP. Often clued as "The Racer's Edge".
9D: "The Waste Land" poet: T. S. ELIOT. Here is the poem. Why "For Ezra Pound" in the upper left corner? Hmmm, "April is the cruelest month...". I disagree.
11D: Part of Can.: PROV. I was thinking of the actual name of the provinces.
21D: Green shade: JADE. Ersatz JADE can bring you bad luck.
22D: Lummoxes: OAFS. Add one letter F, we have "flummox". English can be very confusing.
24D: Summoned: BADE
27D: Quantum theorist Niels: BOHR. He won Nobel in 1922. His son Aage Niels BOHR also received the Nobel Physics in 1975.
28D: Muse of verse: ERATO. "Muse of Love or Erotic verse", to be exact. "Muse of epic poem" is Calliope, and "Muse of lyrical poem" is Euterpe.
34D: Japanese novelist Shusaku: ENDO. I guessed. Have never heard of him. Wikipedia says his most famous work is "Silence" and Martin Scorsese "announced his intention to shoot a film based on the book in summer 2008".
35D: Cain's nephew: ENOS. Also HOF Slaughter.
47D: Tomei of "In the Bedroom": MARISA. Have you seen "In the Bedroom"? Is it good? I only saw her "My Cousin Vinny".
53D: Post sans postage: EMAIL
54D: Knobby: NODAL
59D: Pisa's river: ARNO. Or "Florence's river". A 4-letter Italian river has to be ARNO.
C.C.
21A: "The Naked Chef": JAMIE OLIVER
33A: "The Father of Radio": LEE DE FOREST
42A: "Old Iron Pants": CURTIS LEMAY
Boy, I was not familiar with any of those nicknames. I recognized JAMIE OLIVER's face when I googled his name. I must have seen him on "Iron Chef America" or some other Food Network program.
I was stumped last time when LEMAY was clued as "Wallace’s running mate". But I never bothered to read details of the Wikipedia entry. "Old Iron Pants", what a strange nickname! Have never heard of LEE DE FOREST either. I always thought Edison or Tesla is "The Father of Radio".
Easy puzzle though. Most of the unknowns were obtainable from crossing fills. I really like the clue for I DO (41A: Rite answer?"). Yesterday's "Union Contract?" is great too. ASIA is the answer for 66A: One side of the Urals, so to avoid any kind of remote duplication of clue/answer, I would have clued ABACI (2D: Asian calculations") as "63A counters" (63A: Sphere of sweat: BEAD)
The clue for EDGAR (67A: Degas or Bergen) made me laugh. Way to go, Mr. EDGAR Fountaine.
Across:
15A: Gag reflex?: HAHA. Funny clue.
16A: Waterfall fallout: SPRAY. The clue reminds me of "Deliverance", with those dangerous stretches of rapids.
18A: Joie de vivre: ELAN. I love Frédéric Fekkai's "A Year of Style". I like his view on "Joie de vivre".
19A: Irregularly notched: EROSE. Probably only a crossword word, isn't it?
23A: Mythical mariner: SINBAD. I wonder if SINBAD worshipped Poseidon/Neptune as his god of sea. Or do Arabs have their own sea god?
29A: Jodie of "The Accused": FOSTER. She won an Oscar for "The Accused". I've never seen it. I don't like her movies. "The Silence of the Lambs" is very scary.
39A: Gen. Arnold's nickname: HAP. I forgot. He is a five-star general. Was he as famous as Gen. Omar Bradley/George Marshal?
46A: Sagan series: COSMOS. I guessed. I've never heard of Carl Sagan or COSMOS.
48A: Bounding main: OCEAN. I know "main" can refer to "sea", but why "Bounding"? Or is it a common phrase?
49A: Greek god of war: ARES. It's Mars for the Romans. Do you also think that Americans are from Mars, Europeans are from Venus?
65A: Singer Simone: NINA. Nope, I've never heard of her name before. Which song(s) is she famous for?
Down:
1D: "Gigi" setting: PARIS. "Thank Heaven for Little Girls". I like the happy ending. "We will always have PARIS" at the end of "Casablanca" is so sad.
3D: Neighbor of Oman: YEMEN. It's also the "Neighbor of Saudi Arabia". San'a, strange capital name.
4D: Indy 500 sponsor: STP. Often clued as "The Racer's Edge".
9D: "The Waste Land" poet: T. S. ELIOT. Here is the poem. Why "For Ezra Pound" in the upper left corner? Hmmm, "April is the cruelest month...". I disagree.
11D: Part of Can.: PROV. I was thinking of the actual name of the provinces.
21D: Green shade: JADE. Ersatz JADE can bring you bad luck.
22D: Lummoxes: OAFS. Add one letter F, we have "flummox". English can be very confusing.
24D: Summoned: BADE
27D: Quantum theorist Niels: BOHR. He won Nobel in 1922. His son Aage Niels BOHR also received the Nobel Physics in 1975.
28D: Muse of verse: ERATO. "Muse of Love or Erotic verse", to be exact. "Muse of epic poem" is Calliope, and "Muse of lyrical poem" is Euterpe.
34D: Japanese novelist Shusaku: ENDO. I guessed. Have never heard of him. Wikipedia says his most famous work is "Silence" and Martin Scorsese "announced his intention to shoot a film based on the book in summer 2008".
35D: Cain's nephew: ENOS. Also HOF Slaughter.
47D: Tomei of "In the Bedroom": MARISA. Have you seen "In the Bedroom"? Is it good? I only saw her "My Cousin Vinny".
53D: Post sans postage: EMAIL
54D: Knobby: NODAL
59D: Pisa's river: ARNO. Or "Florence's river". A 4-letter Italian river has to be ARNO.
C.C.
