Theme: Three Lines
17A: Three lines: HEM RECEIVING TAN
39A: Three lines: TICKET FRONT STAG
64A: Three lines: AIR STARTING NECK
3D: Three lines: TIME PUNCH CHORUS
7D: Three lines: HAIR SHORE BOTTOM
11D: Three lines: DATE CLOTHES HEAD
What is a STAG line?
Normally I enjoy this kind of "Three Something" themed puzzles. They tend to have less blocks (30 today, compared with our average 38) and the the grid feels more open. But this morning I simply could not find much common ground with this constructor. I was larruped good.
Struggled from beginning to the end. SHIRR (14A) for "Make cloth gathers"? I only knew SHIRRED eggs. Is GNAR (19D: Snarl and growl) even a word? I've never heard of TETLEY tea (56A: Twinings rival), nor have I heard of the clue Twinings. All I drink is the real Chinese loose leaf tea.
I love the clue for EGOS (38D: Vanity cases). I was thinking of ETUI though.
Across:
1A: Lens: OPTIC. Really? I've never of OPTIC being referred as "Lens".
15A: Bourgeois sculpture: MAMAN. No idea. Why is it called MAMAN? Looks like a spider. Reminds me of ARACHNE (Spider woman of myth).
20A: Avian haven: NEST. I penned in COOP first.
23A: __-a-porter (ready to wear): PRET. Do you like Robert Altman's "PRET -a - Porter"? Pretty funny.
25A: Shows intestinal fortitude: STOMACHS. I sure don't have this "fortitude".
27A: For two, in music: A DUE. Dictionary explains A DUE as "together; in unison".
29A: N.T. book: EPH. Would not have got this one without the down fills. Bible is definitely my Achilles’ heel.
31A: Sound of rippling water: PURL. I only knew the Chinese sound for rippling water: gudu.
44A: Loudmouth lummox: YAHOO. I wonder why Jerry Yang picked up YAHOO for his company.
45A: Minnow cousin: CHUB. New fish to me. It's quite big. Are you sure it's "Minnow cousin"?
47A: Pen name: BIC. My instinctive thought is "AKA".
50A: Follow: ADHERE TO
53A: Martin or Kingsley: AMIS. Knew Martin AMIS only because of his affair with Tina Brown.
64A E. Lansing campus: MSU. The Spartans. I wonder if they will ever change Big Ten into Big Eleven or Big Twelve someday.
66A: At full speed, at sea: AMAIN
Down:
4D: Not std.: IRR. Are you OK with this clue?
5D: Minotaur's isle: CRETE. Some of the Greek mythology are ridiculous. How could a woman fall in love with a bull?
6D: Hook's underling: SMEE
8D: Ex-G.I.: AM VET (American Veterans). Did this answer come to you readily? I don't recall ever seeing this abbreviation before.
9D: Bared: LAID OPEN
10D: Spike TV, once: TNN
13D: Penchants: BENTS
26D: Like damp basements: MUSTY. I found some nice old Life Magazine at the flea market, but most of them are very MUSTY. The smell simply refused to go away, even after I put them under the sunshine for 3 days.
30D: Some e-mail attachments: PDFS
33D: Madagascar primate: LEMUR. INDRI is often clued as "Madagascar LEMUR".
37D: Ancient temple: NAOS. Greek for temple. I forgot. It appeared in our puzzle before.
40D: Lhasa natives: TIBETANS
41D: Lapland native: SAMI. No idea. Did not know where "Lapland" is.
46D: Shell rival: HESS. Last time our editor clued MYRA as "British pianist Hess".
48D: Normandy town: CAEN. ST LO also has 4 letters.
51D: James novel, "__ Miller": DAISY. Has anyone ever read this book?
54D: Sal of song: MY GAL. Here is the poster. Alien to me. I disliked the clue.
57D: Leslie Caron musical: LILI (1953). GIGI is another Caron musical. It's released in 1958.
60D: Designer letters: DKNY. It now belongs to Louis Vuitton. DKNY, Chanel, Dior all spend lots of money for their brand protection in China. Too many fake products.
63D: ID card letters, at times: NMI (No Middle Initial). The answer revealed itself after I filled in the across blanks.
C.C.
17A: Three lines: HEM RECEIVING TAN
39A: Three lines: TICKET FRONT STAG
64A: Three lines: AIR STARTING NECK
3D: Three lines: TIME PUNCH CHORUS
7D: Three lines: HAIR SHORE BOTTOM
11D: Three lines: DATE CLOTHES HEAD
What is a STAG line?
Normally I enjoy this kind of "Three Something" themed puzzles. They tend to have less blocks (30 today, compared with our average 38) and the the grid feels more open. But this morning I simply could not find much common ground with this constructor. I was larruped good.
Struggled from beginning to the end. SHIRR (14A) for "Make cloth gathers"? I only knew SHIRRED eggs. Is GNAR (19D: Snarl and growl) even a word? I've never heard of TETLEY tea (56A: Twinings rival), nor have I heard of the clue Twinings. All I drink is the real Chinese loose leaf tea.
I love the clue for EGOS (38D: Vanity cases). I was thinking of ETUI though.
Across:
1A: Lens: OPTIC. Really? I've never of OPTIC being referred as "Lens".
15A: Bourgeois sculpture: MAMAN. No idea. Why is it called MAMAN? Looks like a spider. Reminds me of ARACHNE (Spider woman of myth).
20A: Avian haven: NEST. I penned in COOP first.
23A: __-a-porter (ready to wear): PRET. Do you like Robert Altman's "PRET -a - Porter"? Pretty funny.
25A: Shows intestinal fortitude: STOMACHS. I sure don't have this "fortitude".
27A: For two, in music: A DUE. Dictionary explains A DUE as "together; in unison".
29A: N.T. book: EPH. Would not have got this one without the down fills. Bible is definitely my Achilles’ heel.
31A: Sound of rippling water: PURL. I only knew the Chinese sound for rippling water: gudu.
44A: Loudmouth lummox: YAHOO. I wonder why Jerry Yang picked up YAHOO for his company.
45A: Minnow cousin: CHUB. New fish to me. It's quite big. Are you sure it's "Minnow cousin"?
47A: Pen name: BIC. My instinctive thought is "AKA".
50A: Follow: ADHERE TO
53A: Martin or Kingsley: AMIS. Knew Martin AMIS only because of his affair with Tina Brown.
64A E. Lansing campus: MSU. The Spartans. I wonder if they will ever change Big Ten into Big Eleven or Big Twelve someday.
66A: At full speed, at sea: AMAIN
Down:
4D: Not std.: IRR. Are you OK with this clue?
5D: Minotaur's isle: CRETE. Some of the Greek mythology are ridiculous. How could a woman fall in love with a bull?
6D: Hook's underling: SMEE
8D: Ex-G.I.: AM VET (American Veterans). Did this answer come to you readily? I don't recall ever seeing this abbreviation before.
9D: Bared: LAID OPEN
10D: Spike TV, once: TNN
13D: Penchants: BENTS
26D: Like damp basements: MUSTY. I found some nice old Life Magazine at the flea market, but most of them are very MUSTY. The smell simply refused to go away, even after I put them under the sunshine for 3 days.
30D: Some e-mail attachments: PDFS
33D: Madagascar primate: LEMUR. INDRI is often clued as "Madagascar LEMUR".
37D: Ancient temple: NAOS. Greek for temple. I forgot. It appeared in our puzzle before.
40D: Lhasa natives: TIBETANS
41D: Lapland native: SAMI. No idea. Did not know where "Lapland" is.
46D: Shell rival: HESS. Last time our editor clued MYRA as "British pianist Hess".
48D: Normandy town: CAEN. ST LO also has 4 letters.
51D: James novel, "__ Miller": DAISY. Has anyone ever read this book?
54D: Sal of song: MY GAL. Here is the poster. Alien to me. I disliked the clue.
57D: Leslie Caron musical: LILI (1953). GIGI is another Caron musical. It's released in 1958.
60D: Designer letters: DKNY. It now belongs to Louis Vuitton. DKNY, Chanel, Dior all spend lots of money for their brand protection in China. Too many fake products.
63D: ID card letters, at times: NMI (No Middle Initial). The answer revealed itself after I filled in the across blanks.
C.C.
