Theme: Just Do It
17A: Start of G. K. Chesterton quip: IF A THING IS
29A: Part 2 of quip: NOT WORTH
40A: Part 3 of quip: DOING
48A: Part 4 of quip: IT'S WORTH
64A: End of quip: DOING BADLY
Well, Chesterton's original quote is "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly".
Mr. Olschwang's distorted quip does not make any sense to me. Why would you want to waste your effort on something that's not worth doing?
This is the first time that the quip actually helped me fill in quite a few blanks. Normally I rely on the down clues for the across quip answers.
Across:
1A: Waste from smelting: SLAG. Or DROSS for a 5-letter synonym.
2A: Lie about publicly: SMEAR. I suppose so, though I associate SMEAR with anonymous sources and their sleazy tactics.
10A: Pool surface?: FELT. Why "?" mark? I don't think it's needed.
20A: Panama Canal engineer: LESSEPS. I googled his name. He was also the developer of the Suez Canal. Wikipedia says he was only involved in the early efforts of the Panama Canal construction. And George Washington Goethals is more well-known as the chief engineer.
21A: Bargains: DICKERS. New word to me. DICKER sounds very DF.
23A: Chou of China: ENLAI. It's Zhou ENLAI in Mandarin Chinese. He is our first premier and the most beloved one.
32A: Emulate a beaver: GNAW. Lots of squirrels in our neighborhood. So I would have clued it as "Emulate a squrrel".
45A: Cultural mediums: AGARS. I always thought the plural form for medium is media.
59A: Flower arrangement: IKEBANA. I like this one. Very simple & Zen-like. I think you can break IKEBANA into IKE + BANA if you have difficulty remembering this word. Eric Bana is excellent in "Munich" and "Troy".
66A: Guitarist Clapton: ERIC. OK, clue ERIC as "Actor Bana" next time then. Here is Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight". So good. What a rock muse Pattie Boyd is!
68A: Cambodia currency: RIEL. Cambodia is the only country with RIEL as its currency. I tend to confuse RIEL with RIAL, the prevalent currency in the Middle East.
71A: Swimmer Torres: DARA. She looks pretty. Saw her name somewhere before, but then I promptly forgot. Had to google again.
Down:
1D: Big name in tools: SKIL. I got this tool after cheating on LESSEPS. What does SKIL stand for?
2D: Word of woe: ALAS. Would be AH ME if the clue were in plural form ("Words of woe").
4D: Readied: GOT SET
5D: Maritime cargo: SHIPLOAD
6D: Table constellation: MENSA. New constellation to me. I always associate MENSA with those who have high IQ. MENSA is "table" in Latin. "Stupid" in Spanish.
26D: Desert plants: CACTI. The hosts for those cochineal insects.
27D: Enlightened one, in Buddhism: ARHAT. I obtained the answer from across clues. It refers to "a Buddhist who has attained Nirvana through rigorous discipline and ascetic practices". I just mentioned the Zen enlightment Satori yesterday. How is Nirvana different from Satori?
31D: Dressing pick: RANCH. I don't understand this clue. Why "pink"? (Note: I misread the clue as "Dressing pink" earlier.)
41D: Hades, e.g.: GREEK GOD
46D: LP surface: SIDE B
49D: Crosspiece of a ladder: RUNDLE. I got the answer from across clues. New word to me.
51D: Part of a knight's outfit: TABARD. New word to me. It's sleeveless. What is that logo emblazoned on his TABARD?
60D: 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit: ADIA. I really have difficult memorizing this song. ADIA is Swahili for "Gift from God".
61D: Dodger, in MLB jargon: NLER (National Leaguer). I wish we could get rid of DH in American League.
62D: "Clan of the Cave Bear" heroine: AYLA. I drew a blank on her name again. The book is written by Jean M Auel whose surname appeared in our puzzle occasionally.
C.C.
17A: Start of G. K. Chesterton quip: IF A THING IS
29A: Part 2 of quip: NOT WORTH
40A: Part 3 of quip: DOING
48A: Part 4 of quip: IT'S WORTH
64A: End of quip: DOING BADLY
Well, Chesterton's original quote is "If a thing is worth doing, it's worth doing badly".
Mr. Olschwang's distorted quip does not make any sense to me. Why would you want to waste your effort on something that's not worth doing?
This is the first time that the quip actually helped me fill in quite a few blanks. Normally I rely on the down clues for the across quip answers.
Across:
1A: Waste from smelting: SLAG. Or DROSS for a 5-letter synonym.
2A: Lie about publicly: SMEAR. I suppose so, though I associate SMEAR with anonymous sources and their sleazy tactics.
10A: Pool surface?: FELT. Why "?" mark? I don't think it's needed.
20A: Panama Canal engineer: LESSEPS. I googled his name. He was also the developer of the Suez Canal. Wikipedia says he was only involved in the early efforts of the Panama Canal construction. And George Washington Goethals is more well-known as the chief engineer.
21A: Bargains: DICKERS. New word to me. DICKER sounds very DF.
23A: Chou of China: ENLAI. It's Zhou ENLAI in Mandarin Chinese. He is our first premier and the most beloved one.
32A: Emulate a beaver: GNAW. Lots of squirrels in our neighborhood. So I would have clued it as "Emulate a squrrel".
45A: Cultural mediums: AGARS. I always thought the plural form for medium is media.
59A: Flower arrangement: IKEBANA. I like this one. Very simple & Zen-like. I think you can break IKEBANA into IKE + BANA if you have difficulty remembering this word. Eric Bana is excellent in "Munich" and "Troy".
66A: Guitarist Clapton: ERIC. OK, clue ERIC as "Actor Bana" next time then. Here is Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight". So good. What a rock muse Pattie Boyd is!
68A: Cambodia currency: RIEL. Cambodia is the only country with RIEL as its currency. I tend to confuse RIEL with RIAL, the prevalent currency in the Middle East.
71A: Swimmer Torres: DARA. She looks pretty. Saw her name somewhere before, but then I promptly forgot. Had to google again.
Down:
1D: Big name in tools: SKIL. I got this tool after cheating on LESSEPS. What does SKIL stand for?
2D: Word of woe: ALAS. Would be AH ME if the clue were in plural form ("Words of woe").
4D: Readied: GOT SET
5D: Maritime cargo: SHIPLOAD
6D: Table constellation: MENSA. New constellation to me. I always associate MENSA with those who have high IQ. MENSA is "table" in Latin. "Stupid" in Spanish.
26D: Desert plants: CACTI. The hosts for those cochineal insects.
27D: Enlightened one, in Buddhism: ARHAT. I obtained the answer from across clues. It refers to "a Buddhist who has attained Nirvana through rigorous discipline and ascetic practices". I just mentioned the Zen enlightment Satori yesterday. How is Nirvana different from Satori?
31D: Dressing pick: RANCH. I don't understand this clue. Why "pink"? (Note: I misread the clue as "Dressing pink" earlier.)
41D: Hades, e.g.: GREEK GOD
46D: LP surface: SIDE B
49D: Crosspiece of a ladder: RUNDLE. I got the answer from across clues. New word to me.
51D: Part of a knight's outfit: TABARD. New word to me. It's sleeveless. What is that logo emblazoned on his TABARD?
60D: 1998 Sarah McLachlan hit: ADIA. I really have difficult memorizing this song. ADIA is Swahili for "Gift from God".
61D: Dodger, in MLB jargon: NLER (National Leaguer). I wish we could get rid of DH in American League.
62D: "Clan of the Cave Bear" heroine: AYLA. I drew a blank on her name again. The book is written by Jean M Auel whose surname appeared in our puzzle occasionally.
C.C.
