Theme: The Pains of Parenthood
18A: Start of a quip: IT IS HARD TO
27A: Part 2 of quip: RAISE A FAMILY
44A: Part 3 of quip: ESPECIALLY IN
59A: End of quip: THE MORNING
Also an avian sub-theme:
32A: Everglades wader: EGRET
31D: Extinct bird: MOA. It's native to New Zealand and extinct at the end of 18th century. Daunting size. Those Maoris look fearless though
38D: Bird of prey: RAPTOR
Don't you wish there is a TURKEY somewhere in the middle of the grid? I was rather disappointed by the theme. Was expecting a puzzle stuffed with cranberry sauce, green beans and apple pies.
My husband has to have rutabaga and wild rice for Thanksgiving. What's on your table today?
Easy puzzle. Nothing to rave about.
Across:
1A: By way of, briefly: THRU. Did you notice that there are always more consonants in the first row and the first column? I suppose most of the languages start with consonants. Should you have extra time, you can count the total vowels in today's grid. They normally take up 50% of the total fills.
21A: Italian noble: CONTE. I don't understand this one, is it Italian for "Count"?
25A: Planets: WORLDS. I was thinking of EARTHS.
42A: Eagles hit, "___ it Easy": TAKE. I guessed. Not familiar with this song.
43A: Trunk artery: AORTA. Crossword constructors love A*A: ATRA (Gillette razor); ASTA (The Thin Man dog); ASTRA (Latin stars); ATRIA (Skylit courts); ALTRIA (Parent company of Kraft Foods), ALCOA, Jessica ALBA, ABBA, ASIA, ASEA, etc. Oh, don't forget Barry Silk's AQUA.
50A: Skidded: SLID. I don't like those letter repetitions. "Lost traction" would be fine.
51A: Woman alone on stage: SOLA. "Man alone on stage" is SOLUS.
52A: Actor Davis: OSSIE. Only know him as Ruby Dee's husband. Have no idea what film he was in.
61A: Mine entrance: ADIT. And ORE (60D: Mine find).
62A: Trevanian's "The ___ Sanction": EIGER. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Have you seen the film?
63A: Utah ski resort: ALTA. Another A*A word.
65A: "Charlie's Angels" co-star: DOYLE (David). I guessed. I only know the new "Charlie's Angels".
Down:
2D: Cup on a green: HOLE. Have any of you shot HOLE-in-one before?
3D: Pride signal: ROAR. Good clue. A pride of Lion. I also like the clue for ADAM (56D: First grandfather).
7D: Land of Blarney and Killarney: ERIN. Killarney is foreign to me. What is it famous for? Another stone?
9D: Reggae's cousin: SKA
10D: Charging shout: WAR CRY
11D: "Rush, Rush" singer Paula: ABDUL. Here is the song. ABDUL means "servant of the..." in Arabic.
19D: Doing a hatchet job?: HEWING
29D: Former Curtain: IRON. I like this clue too. IRON Curtain sounds very ancient now, doesn't it?
40D: Type of type: BOLDFACE
42D: "The Waste Land" auth.: TSE. Good. I've had enough "Half African fly".
44D: Glossy paint: ENAMEL
45D: Digs: IS INTO
46D: Sour brew: ALEGAR. Got this word from across fills.
47D: You in Juarez: USTED. I am surprised that the clue is not "You in Yucatan". Our editor loves alliteration.
48D: Rockefeller's 1870 company: SOHIO (Standard Oil of Ohio). Now BP. I googled this one.
49D: Lyric lamentation: ELEGY
57D: Unless, in law: NISI. Learned from doing Xword. I've never seen NISI used in any newspaper or magazine.
Happy Thanksgiving!
C.C.
18A: Start of a quip: IT IS HARD TO
27A: Part 2 of quip: RAISE A FAMILY
44A: Part 3 of quip: ESPECIALLY IN
59A: End of quip: THE MORNING
Also an avian sub-theme:
32A: Everglades wader: EGRET
31D: Extinct bird: MOA. It's native to New Zealand and extinct at the end of 18th century. Daunting size. Those Maoris look fearless though
38D: Bird of prey: RAPTOR
Don't you wish there is a TURKEY somewhere in the middle of the grid? I was rather disappointed by the theme. Was expecting a puzzle stuffed with cranberry sauce, green beans and apple pies.
My husband has to have rutabaga and wild rice for Thanksgiving. What's on your table today?
Easy puzzle. Nothing to rave about.
Across:
1A: By way of, briefly: THRU. Did you notice that there are always more consonants in the first row and the first column? I suppose most of the languages start with consonants. Should you have extra time, you can count the total vowels in today's grid. They normally take up 50% of the total fills.
21A: Italian noble: CONTE. I don't understand this one, is it Italian for "Count"?
25A: Planets: WORLDS. I was thinking of EARTHS.
42A: Eagles hit, "___ it Easy": TAKE. I guessed. Not familiar with this song.
43A: Trunk artery: AORTA. Crossword constructors love A*A: ATRA (Gillette razor); ASTA (The Thin Man dog); ASTRA (Latin stars); ATRIA (Skylit courts); ALTRIA (Parent company of Kraft Foods), ALCOA, Jessica ALBA, ABBA, ASIA, ASEA, etc. Oh, don't forget Barry Silk's AQUA.
50A: Skidded: SLID. I don't like those letter repetitions. "Lost traction" would be fine.
51A: Woman alone on stage: SOLA. "Man alone on stage" is SOLUS.
52A: Actor Davis: OSSIE. Only know him as Ruby Dee's husband. Have no idea what film he was in.
61A: Mine entrance: ADIT. And ORE (60D: Mine find).
62A: Trevanian's "The ___ Sanction": EIGER. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Have you seen the film?
63A: Utah ski resort: ALTA. Another A*A word.
65A: "Charlie's Angels" co-star: DOYLE (David). I guessed. I only know the new "Charlie's Angels".
Down:
2D: Cup on a green: HOLE. Have any of you shot HOLE-in-one before?
3D: Pride signal: ROAR. Good clue. A pride of Lion. I also like the clue for ADAM (56D: First grandfather).
7D: Land of Blarney and Killarney: ERIN. Killarney is foreign to me. What is it famous for? Another stone?
9D: Reggae's cousin: SKA
10D: Charging shout: WAR CRY
11D: "Rush, Rush" singer Paula: ABDUL. Here is the song. ABDUL means "servant of the..." in Arabic.
19D: Doing a hatchet job?: HEWING
29D: Former Curtain: IRON. I like this clue too. IRON Curtain sounds very ancient now, doesn't it?
40D: Type of type: BOLDFACE
42D: "The Waste Land" auth.: TSE. Good. I've had enough "Half African fly".
44D: Glossy paint: ENAMEL
45D: Digs: IS INTO
46D: Sour brew: ALEGAR. Got this word from across fills.
47D: You in Juarez: USTED. I am surprised that the clue is not "You in Yucatan". Our editor loves alliteration.
48D: Rockefeller's 1870 company: SOHIO (Standard Oil of Ohio). Now BP. I googled this one.
49D: Lyric lamentation: ELEGY
57D: Unless, in law: NISI. Learned from doing Xword. I've never seen NISI used in any newspaper or magazine.
Happy Thanksgiving!
C.C.
