Theme: Prefixed People
26A: More than one "Cape Fear" co-star?: POLYBERGEN (Polly Bergen)
28A: Wrong fictional detective?: MISMARPLE (Miss Marple)
48A: Small country singer?: MINIPEARL (Minnie Pearl)
69A: Driven director?: AUTOPREMINGER (Otto Preminger)
96A: 1/10 of a bandleader?: DECIARNAZ (Desi Arnaz)
110A: Around a fictional lawyer?: PERIMASON (Perry Mason)
115A: Dry Broadway star? XEROMOSTEL (Zero Mostel)
36D: Little fashion designer?: OLIGCASSINI (Oleg Cassini)
44D: Broadcast TV cop?: TELESAVALAS (Telly Savalas)
I was not aware that XERO is a prefix for "dry", as in xeroderma, "a disease in which the skin becomes dry, hard, and scaly."
I only knew OLIG from oligarchy, so I always thought OLIG means a few. "Little" made me think Cassini is short. Is he?
Normally I don't like actor/actresse - laden puzzles. But I enjoyed this one. Very creative theme.
Got a bit emotional when I filled in the Roman numeral XXXIV for 107D: "34, once." Thought of Twins great Kirby Puckett whose jersey number was 34. Kirby used to say "Don't take anything for granted, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us.
I dislike the clue for ILIA (52D: Pieces of pelvises). I know the constructor is having alliteration in his mind, but "Pieces" bring fractured bones to my mind.
Across:
1A: San Joaquin Valley tribe: YOKUTS. Literally "people" in their own language. Alien to me. I also did not know where San Joaquin Valley is. "San Joaquin" is Saint Joachim in Spanish.
12A: Mixed sandwich spread: EGG SALAD. So messy to eat.
20A: Dismount: ALIGHT. The past tense ALIT seems to make more appearances in crossword.
21A: In the work cited: OP. CIT. I tend to confuse this phrase with IBID.
22A: Type of gland: SALIVARY. I only knew SALIVA.
23A: "Robocop" co-star: WELLER (Peter). Googled his name. The title of this film does not sound interesting to me.
25A: In complete agreement: AS ONE MAN
30A: Matador's foe: TORO. "Matar" is "Kill" in Spanish.
40A: Potvin or Savard: DENIS. Both are former NHL players. Denis Potvin was with the New York Islanders, and DENIS Savard was with Chicago Blackhawks for a long time. I was not familiar with either of them. Why DENIS instead of DENNIS?
59A: International business conflict: TRADE WAR
62A: CBS hit: CSI
66A: Noble family of Ferrara: ESTE. Also, "East" in Spanish.
67A: Mouths: Lat.: ORA. Dictionary says ORA is a plural of Latin "os" (mouth). Unknown to me. I've only seen ORA clued as " __ pro nobis" before.
79A: Carpool-lane letters: HOV
85A: "The Bartered Bride" composer: SMETANA. I googled his name. Here is the overture of "The Bartered Bride".
94A: Virgil's Trojan hero: AENEAS. Ah, I remember him. Dido, the queen of Carthage, committed suicide because AENEAS could not be with her any more. How sad! But at least he loved her when they were together.
106A: Stock index: AMEX
121A: Rabble-rouser: AGITATOR
122A: Canonical hours: SEXTS. I obtained this answer from down fills. Sex, sexi, sext are all Latin prefixes for six.
125A: Number sheets: PAGINATE
127A: Sundial: GNOMON. I can never remember GNOMON. It's Greek for "indicator".
128A: Unit of radiation wavelengths: ANGSTROM. Named after the Swedish physicist Anders ANGSTROM. Unknown to me also. ANGST ROM, such an angry-looking name.
130A: Kennedy assassin: OSWALD. This issue of Life magazine with Lee Harvey OSWALD on the cover is very collectible.
Down:
1D: Bawl: YAWP. New word to me. I don't like the "aw" duplication in the clue and the answer.
2D: Butter's bro: OLEO. Why "bro" instead of "sis"?
5D: Neighbor of Luxor: THEBES. Neighbor? Really? I can only find Luxor on this map. Have only heard of the Greek city THEBES.
7D: "Marty" star: BORGNINE. How can I remember his name? BORG NINE. We just had ERNEST clued as "Actor Borgnine" last Tuesday.
10D: Third word of "America": 'TIS. I guessed. Not familiar with the lyrics.
14D: Takes by theft: GLOMS
15D: Old Blue Eyes: SINATRA. Do you know that "My Way" was written by Paul Anka?
19D: Unit of force: DYNE. Newton fraction. "Unit of work" is ERG, "Joule faction".
35D: Elite wheel: LIMO
37D: Plays around?: GOLFS. A round of GOLF. Nice play on "around".
39D: Becloud: MIST UP. I like compound word answers.
41D: Bringer of bad news: ILL WIND. See the origin. I like the verse in the end: "... And the oboe it is clearly understood/Is an ill wind that no one blows good". Look at the line above the verse, "presumably as 'French horn' didn't scan". What does "scan" mean? Rhyme?
45D: What is left: ESTATE. I have problem understanding the grammar structure of the clue. "Stuff that's left" is easier for me to parse.
46D: Entrance gates: STILES
48D: "Simpsons" barkeep: MOE. Also the name of a Stooge.
55D: Grubs: CADGES. I toiled hard for this answer. Always associate "Grubs" with food.
58D: Play starter: ACT ONE
64D: Shoreline state: LOW TIDE. Why? What is "Shoreline state"?
68D: Lion, at times: ROARER
71D: Actress Loy: MYRNA. Another google. She played Nora in "The Thin Man".
80D: Hokkaido port: OTARU. I forgot. Here is the map again. Lot of AINU (The aboriginal Japanese) live there I suppose.
83D: "The __ Cometh": ICEMAN. An educated guess. Not familiar with this Eugene O'Neill play. That guy looks like Henry Fonda in "12 Angry Men", doesn't he?
84D: Beginning of the large intestine: CECUM. New word to me. Did you notice the three embedded ICE in this part of the grid?
86D: Frequency meas.: MHZ. The answer came to me after I cheated on the intersecting composer SMETANA.
87D: River to the Gulf of Finland: NEVA. See this map. Another new river to me.
88D: Arabian Sea port: ADEN. Belongs to Yemen.
95D: Sway-resistant: ADAMANT. Odd clue.
101D: 1539 Florida visitor: DE SOTO. No idea. I was thinking of De Leon, who tried to find the "Fountain of Youth" in Florida. I wonder if they knew each other.
109D: Insect stage: IMAGO. Larva, pupa and IMAGO.
111D: Richard of "A Summer Place": EGAN. I penned in GERE first. Not familiar with this actor or the movie. Nice theme song.
112D: Diana of "The Avengers": RIGG. I wrote down LANE first. I've never heard of her or "The Avengers".
113D: Suffix for diseases: ITIS. I would prefer a partial fill IT IS clue.
114D: Provo neighbor: OREM. Learned this city name from doing Xword.
116D: Kett of comics: ETTA. Sometimes ETTA is clued as "Singer James". Such a daring song title!
117D: Garbage barge: SCOW
118D: Author Janowitz: TAMA. One more google. She wrote "Slaves of New York". Wikipedia says TAMA Janowitz is one of the four original "brat pack" authors.
119D: Organic compound: ENOL. Is "carbon compound" also organic?
C.C.
26A: More than one "Cape Fear" co-star?: POLYBERGEN (Polly Bergen)
28A: Wrong fictional detective?: MISMARPLE (Miss Marple)
48A: Small country singer?: MINIPEARL (Minnie Pearl)
69A: Driven director?: AUTOPREMINGER (Otto Preminger)
96A: 1/10 of a bandleader?: DECIARNAZ (Desi Arnaz)
110A: Around a fictional lawyer?: PERIMASON (Perry Mason)
115A: Dry Broadway star? XEROMOSTEL (Zero Mostel)
36D: Little fashion designer?: OLIGCASSINI (Oleg Cassini)
44D: Broadcast TV cop?: TELESAVALAS (Telly Savalas)
I was not aware that XERO is a prefix for "dry", as in xeroderma, "a disease in which the skin becomes dry, hard, and scaly."
I only knew OLIG from oligarchy, so I always thought OLIG means a few. "Little" made me think Cassini is short. Is he?
Normally I don't like actor/actresse - laden puzzles. But I enjoyed this one. Very creative theme.
Got a bit emotional when I filled in the Roman numeral XXXIV for 107D: "34, once." Thought of Twins great Kirby Puckett whose jersey number was 34. Kirby used to say "Don't take anything for granted, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us.
I dislike the clue for ILIA (52D: Pieces of pelvises). I know the constructor is having alliteration in his mind, but "Pieces" bring fractured bones to my mind.
Across:
1A: San Joaquin Valley tribe: YOKUTS. Literally "people" in their own language. Alien to me. I also did not know where San Joaquin Valley is. "San Joaquin" is Saint Joachim in Spanish.
12A: Mixed sandwich spread: EGG SALAD. So messy to eat.
20A: Dismount: ALIGHT. The past tense ALIT seems to make more appearances in crossword.
21A: In the work cited: OP. CIT. I tend to confuse this phrase with IBID.
22A: Type of gland: SALIVARY. I only knew SALIVA.
23A: "Robocop" co-star: WELLER (Peter). Googled his name. The title of this film does not sound interesting to me.
25A: In complete agreement: AS ONE MAN
30A: Matador's foe: TORO. "Matar" is "Kill" in Spanish.
40A: Potvin or Savard: DENIS. Both are former NHL players. Denis Potvin was with the New York Islanders, and DENIS Savard was with Chicago Blackhawks for a long time. I was not familiar with either of them. Why DENIS instead of DENNIS?
59A: International business conflict: TRADE WAR
62A: CBS hit: CSI
66A: Noble family of Ferrara: ESTE. Also, "East" in Spanish.
67A: Mouths: Lat.: ORA. Dictionary says ORA is a plural of Latin "os" (mouth). Unknown to me. I've only seen ORA clued as " __ pro nobis" before.
79A: Carpool-lane letters: HOV
85A: "The Bartered Bride" composer: SMETANA. I googled his name. Here is the overture of "The Bartered Bride".
94A: Virgil's Trojan hero: AENEAS. Ah, I remember him. Dido, the queen of Carthage, committed suicide because AENEAS could not be with her any more. How sad! But at least he loved her when they were together.
106A: Stock index: AMEX
121A: Rabble-rouser: AGITATOR
122A: Canonical hours: SEXTS. I obtained this answer from down fills. Sex, sexi, sext are all Latin prefixes for six.
125A: Number sheets: PAGINATE
127A: Sundial: GNOMON. I can never remember GNOMON. It's Greek for "indicator".
128A: Unit of radiation wavelengths: ANGSTROM. Named after the Swedish physicist Anders ANGSTROM. Unknown to me also. ANGST ROM, such an angry-looking name.
130A: Kennedy assassin: OSWALD. This issue of Life magazine with Lee Harvey OSWALD on the cover is very collectible.
Down:
1D: Bawl: YAWP. New word to me. I don't like the "aw" duplication in the clue and the answer.
2D: Butter's bro: OLEO. Why "bro" instead of "sis"?
5D: Neighbor of Luxor: THEBES. Neighbor? Really? I can only find Luxor on this map. Have only heard of the Greek city THEBES.
7D: "Marty" star: BORGNINE. How can I remember his name? BORG NINE. We just had ERNEST clued as "Actor Borgnine" last Tuesday.
10D: Third word of "America": 'TIS. I guessed. Not familiar with the lyrics.
14D: Takes by theft: GLOMS
15D: Old Blue Eyes: SINATRA. Do you know that "My Way" was written by Paul Anka?
19D: Unit of force: DYNE. Newton fraction. "Unit of work" is ERG, "Joule faction".
35D: Elite wheel: LIMO
37D: Plays around?: GOLFS. A round of GOLF. Nice play on "around".
39D: Becloud: MIST UP. I like compound word answers.
41D: Bringer of bad news: ILL WIND. See the origin. I like the verse in the end: "... And the oboe it is clearly understood/Is an ill wind that no one blows good". Look at the line above the verse, "presumably as 'French horn' didn't scan". What does "scan" mean? Rhyme?
45D: What is left: ESTATE. I have problem understanding the grammar structure of the clue. "Stuff that's left" is easier for me to parse.
46D: Entrance gates: STILES
48D: "Simpsons" barkeep: MOE. Also the name of a Stooge.
55D: Grubs: CADGES. I toiled hard for this answer. Always associate "Grubs" with food.
58D: Play starter: ACT ONE
64D: Shoreline state: LOW TIDE. Why? What is "Shoreline state"?
68D: Lion, at times: ROARER
71D: Actress Loy: MYRNA. Another google. She played Nora in "The Thin Man".
80D: Hokkaido port: OTARU. I forgot. Here is the map again. Lot of AINU (The aboriginal Japanese) live there I suppose.
83D: "The __ Cometh": ICEMAN. An educated guess. Not familiar with this Eugene O'Neill play. That guy looks like Henry Fonda in "12 Angry Men", doesn't he?
84D: Beginning of the large intestine: CECUM. New word to me. Did you notice the three embedded ICE in this part of the grid?
86D: Frequency meas.: MHZ. The answer came to me after I cheated on the intersecting composer SMETANA.
87D: River to the Gulf of Finland: NEVA. See this map. Another new river to me.
88D: Arabian Sea port: ADEN. Belongs to Yemen.
95D: Sway-resistant: ADAMANT. Odd clue.
101D: 1539 Florida visitor: DE SOTO. No idea. I was thinking of De Leon, who tried to find the "Fountain of Youth" in Florida. I wonder if they knew each other.
109D: Insect stage: IMAGO. Larva, pupa and IMAGO.
111D: Richard of "A Summer Place": EGAN. I penned in GERE first. Not familiar with this actor or the movie. Nice theme song.
112D: Diana of "The Avengers": RIGG. I wrote down LANE first. I've never heard of her or "The Avengers".
113D: Suffix for diseases: ITIS. I would prefer a partial fill IT IS clue.
114D: Provo neighbor: OREM. Learned this city name from doing Xword.
116D: Kett of comics: ETTA. Sometimes ETTA is clued as "Singer James". Such a daring song title!
117D: Garbage barge: SCOW
118D: Author Janowitz: TAMA. One more google. She wrote "Slaves of New York". Wikipedia says TAMA Janowitz is one of the four original "brat pack" authors.
119D: Organic compound: ENOL. Is "carbon compound" also organic?
C.C.
