Theme: Pardonable Robberies
20A: Asleep for a while: GRABBING SOME Z'S
38A: Upstaging a star: STEALING THE SHOW
56A: Humbling: TAKING DOWN A PEG
Bernard Madoff and his staggering Ponzi scheme are certainly unpardonable and unforgivable. What this mad, mad, Madoff did was gravity-defying daylight robbery. Amazing, $50 billion, even HSBC was victimized.
Easy solving today. Simple theme, simple fills. I really like the RAMBO clue (25A: Sly character?), very cleverly misleading. But "USA foe" for USSR (32A)? No. Definitely needs "Former" or "Once".
Across:
5A: Biathlon equipment: SKIS. Every time I see this answer, I picture Bode Miller skiing while intoxicated. He is wild, living on edge all the time.
14A: Chanteuse Horne: LENA. Why "Chanteuse"? Edith Piaf is a chanteuse.
17A: Big golf tournament: OPEN. And IRWIN (40D: Golfer Hale): Hale IRWIN is a three - time US OPEN champion. He designed the Jewel Golf Course here in MN.
19A: WWII landing site: ANZIO. See it? It's to the south of Rome. So many Italian names end in letter A, O or I.
28A: Vacation option: RESORT
44A: NASA affirmatives: A-OKS. What is "NASA negatives then"? NO GOES?
47A: "Mack the Knife" singer: DARIN. Here is the clip. I've never understood what the song is about.
52A: "Bewitched" role: ENDORA. One again, I had to rely on the surrounds to get her name. I know, I should eat worms. But worms are frozen here. Too cold.
60A: Like candles: WAXEN. Madame Tussauds' figures are WAXEN too.
61A: Quattro maker: AUDI. Very clever name change. AUDI sure sounds catchier than Horch.
62A: Goneril's royal pop: LEAR. King LEAR's other two daughters are Cordelia and Regan.
65A: First name in whodunits: ERLE. And his contemporary NGAIO (51D: Marsh of mysteries), whose name I forgot completely. Last time our editor clued MARSH as "Ngaio of mysteries".
Down:
1D: Laceless shoes: CLOGS. No "Drain problem" today.
4D: Down under capital: CANBERRA. If Roger Elbert is correct, why the movie "Austrialia" then?
6D: Zen riddle: KOAN. This is another difficult word for me to remember.
9D: Annual Calgary event: STAMPEDE. New event to me. STAMPEDE always brings to mind those dangerous Hajj scenes.
11D: Heckle: RAZZ. Remember the "Bronx cheer" we discussed a while ago?
12D: Goddess of discord: ERIS. Discordia in Roman. She and her golden apple indirectly sparked the Trojan War.
22D: Woman with a book club: OPRAH
27D: 1977 George Burns film: OH, GOD. Easy guess. Have never heard of this movie. Looks interesting.
29D: Cuatro doubled: OCHO. Italian eight is OTTO.
33D: Town near Caen: ST. LO
36D: Sicilian rumbler: ETNA. When did it last rumble?
41D: Shod for the beach: SANDALED
48D: Spool back: REWIND
59D: Comic strip canine: ODIE. The "Garfield's dog. O?IE seems to be a very popular crossword pattern, with three vowels. I can think of OBIE (Theater Award), OPIE (Mayberry kid) and OKIE (Dust Bowl migrant). What else?
C.C.
20A: Asleep for a while: GRABBING SOME Z'S
38A: Upstaging a star: STEALING THE SHOW
56A: Humbling: TAKING DOWN A PEG
Bernard Madoff and his staggering Ponzi scheme are certainly unpardonable and unforgivable. What this mad, mad, Madoff did was gravity-defying daylight robbery. Amazing, $50 billion, even HSBC was victimized.
Easy solving today. Simple theme, simple fills. I really like the RAMBO clue (25A: Sly character?), very cleverly misleading. But "USA foe" for USSR (32A)? No. Definitely needs "Former" or "Once".
Across:
5A: Biathlon equipment: SKIS. Every time I see this answer, I picture Bode Miller skiing while intoxicated. He is wild, living on edge all the time.
14A: Chanteuse Horne: LENA. Why "Chanteuse"? Edith Piaf is a chanteuse.
17A: Big golf tournament: OPEN. And IRWIN (40D: Golfer Hale): Hale IRWIN is a three - time US OPEN champion. He designed the Jewel Golf Course here in MN.
19A: WWII landing site: ANZIO. See it? It's to the south of Rome. So many Italian names end in letter A, O or I.
28A: Vacation option: RESORT
44A: NASA affirmatives: A-OKS. What is "NASA negatives then"? NO GOES?
47A: "Mack the Knife" singer: DARIN. Here is the clip. I've never understood what the song is about.
52A: "Bewitched" role: ENDORA. One again, I had to rely on the surrounds to get her name. I know, I should eat worms. But worms are frozen here. Too cold.
60A: Like candles: WAXEN. Madame Tussauds' figures are WAXEN too.
61A: Quattro maker: AUDI. Very clever name change. AUDI sure sounds catchier than Horch.
62A: Goneril's royal pop: LEAR. King LEAR's other two daughters are Cordelia and Regan.
65A: First name in whodunits: ERLE. And his contemporary NGAIO (51D: Marsh of mysteries), whose name I forgot completely. Last time our editor clued MARSH as "Ngaio of mysteries".
Down:
1D: Laceless shoes: CLOGS. No "Drain problem" today.
4D: Down under capital: CANBERRA. If Roger Elbert is correct, why the movie "Austrialia" then?
6D: Zen riddle: KOAN. This is another difficult word for me to remember.
9D: Annual Calgary event: STAMPEDE. New event to me. STAMPEDE always brings to mind those dangerous Hajj scenes.
11D: Heckle: RAZZ. Remember the "Bronx cheer" we discussed a while ago?
12D: Goddess of discord: ERIS. Discordia in Roman. She and her golden apple indirectly sparked the Trojan War.
22D: Woman with a book club: OPRAH
27D: 1977 George Burns film: OH, GOD. Easy guess. Have never heard of this movie. Looks interesting.
29D: Cuatro doubled: OCHO. Italian eight is OTTO.
33D: Town near Caen: ST. LO
36D: Sicilian rumbler: ETNA. When did it last rumble?
41D: Shod for the beach: SANDALED
48D: Spool back: REWIND
59D: Comic strip canine: ODIE. The "Garfield's dog. O?IE seems to be a very popular crossword pattern, with three vowels. I can think of OBIE (Theater Award), OPIE (Mayberry kid) and OKIE (Dust Bowl migrant). What else?
C.C.
