Theme: Santa's Upgrades
23A: Online funnies?: DOT(-COM) COMIC BOOKS
38A: Emoticon contests? KEY(BOARD) BOARD GAMES
70A: Collectibles featuring online notables?: E(-TRADING) TRADING CARDS
103A: Mini-Frisbee?: COMPACT (DISC) DISCUS
123A: Small round object? MICRO(SOFT) SOFTBALL
17D: Blazing blades?: HIGH (SPEED) SPEED SKATES
45D: Pick-up sticks call? PHONE (JACK) JACK STRAWS
I have never heard of JACK STRAWS before. JACK STRAW, yes, the ex British Foreign Secretary. Nice to see TRADING CARDS though. Hopefully I will be able to afford this graded 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle card someday, before I get too old.
BAH (79A: Scrooge's expletive) can not damp my enthusisam for this puzzle. Wow, what a great theme! Santa is a bit late though.
The clue for SUNUNU (74D: Political pundit John) confused the hell out of me. Can you call a current US Senator "Political pundit"? I don't think so.
I was not familiarwith PEPIN (43A: Son of Charlemagne), but Wikipedia says he is the father , not the son, of Charlemagne.
Also, too many Roman numerals for my taste:
63A: IV x XIII: LII
4D: Fifth of MMMDV: DCCI
67D: 1700 in letters: MDCC
I'd like to share with you three excellent answers using Roman numerals as hinted clues:
1500: PHYSICIAN
400: MUSIC MEDIUM
30: DIRTY MOVIE
I think I want Santa to upgrade me from C.C. to 200 today.
Across:
21A: Eric of "Top Hat": BLORE. Have never heard of this British comic actor or the musical "Top Hat".
22A: Newman of "SNL": LARAINE. I googled her name. Wikipedia says she is the original "SNL" cast member.
26A: "Seinfeld" gal: ELAINE. I did not find ELAINE's dance to be funny. "No Soup for You" episode is hilarious.
28A: Land of Oranjestad: ARUBA. OK, what does "-jestad" mean in Dutch then?
32A: E. O'Brien film: D.O. A. I got this answer from down fills. Saw this clue before.
34A: __ volente (God willing): DEO. In Islam, it's Insha' Allah.
47A: Heart rhythm: DIASTOLE. New word to me. I've never heard of SYSTOLE either.
51A: Actor Knight: TED. Here is a picture of him in "Caddyshack".
52A: Overrefined: EFFETE. If you say so.
55A: Volcanic rock ejecta: SCORIA. Holy hotwick. I completely forgot this word.
65A: Wire-service letters: UPI. Does it still exist? Feels like AP dominates all the news sources.
68A: Feudal laborer: ESNE. What's the difference between ESNE and SERF?
69A: Mary of "Where Eagles Dare": URE. A complete fail-URE for me. I can never remember this actress's name.
75A: Spanish red: ROJO. New Spanish word to me.
78A: Patriotic men's org: SAR (Sons of the American Revolution). "Patriotic women's org." is DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution).
81A: Porthos, to Athos: AMI. Great clue.
82A: Satellite of Jupiter: ELARA. Unknown to me. How can I remember it? E LARA (Zhivago's love)?
90A: Place position: SECOND. Win, place and show, horse racing term.
95A: Full of: suff.: ULENT. As in opulent and fraudent. I went through lots of trouble getting this answer.
100A: Hemlock homes: NESTS. Why?
114A: Kind of ray: MANTA. Great picture. Is it edible?
127A: Antiknock fluid: ETHYL. Ha, I got it today.
128A: Adenauer: DER ALTE. I am more used to seeing ALTE is often clued as "Der ___: Adenauer".
129A: Pearson and Flatt: LESTERS. The answer revealed itself after I filled in the surrounds. I knew neither of them. LESTER Pearson was a Canadian politician who won Nobel peace prize in 1957. Wikipedia says LESTER Flatt is "one of the pioneers of bluegrass music".
Down:
2D: Tropical lizard: ANOLE. Such a strange mix of green and blue.
7D: R. Reagan's Star Wars: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Introduced in 1983.
8D: "Fernando" group: ABBA. Here is the clip. It's a new song to me. Who is "Fernando"?
10D: Hornswoggled: ROOKED. "Hornswoggle" is new word to me.
13D: Rains and Debussy: CLAUDES. Monet too.
14D: Beat: LAMBASTE
24D: Wholly confused: CHAOTIC
29D: Incarnation of Vishnu: RAMA. No idea. See this picture. I bet I will forget it after lunch.
35D: Versifier Nash: OGDEN
38D: Bleaching vat: KIER. Have never heard of this vat before. Sounds like a German name to me.
40D: Gilberto of Bossa-Nova fame: ASTRUD. I forgot her name. Do remember the song "The Girl From Ipanema".
42D: Michael Caine film: ALFIE. "Jude Law film" too.
43D: Salad green: ESCAROLE. I always call it endive. It's quite bitter, so different from Belgian endive.
56D: Small isles: AITS. This word only exists in the crossword world, doesn't it?
58D: Center starter?: EPI. Epicenter.
59D: Windy City rail inits: CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Wikipedia says CTA is "the second largest transit system in the United States and fourth largest in North America". New York City's MTA is the #1 I suppose? Who are the other two before CTA?
60D: Soprano Te Kanawa: KIRI. I googled her name. She is from New Zealand, and she sang at Diana and Prince Charles' wedding.
71D: Indonesian island group: ARU. I can never remember this island group (lower right corner).
72D: Long-snouted fish: GAR. Also called needlefish. This GAR is ruthless.
73D: Masticated: CHEWED. "Masticate" is a new word to me. Sounds so DF.
77D: University of Maine town: ORONO
83D: Dijon donkey: ANE. I wish it were broken up as AN E ("Wheel of Fortune" buy).
86D: Travel stamps: VISAS
91D: Trump namer: DECLARER. Bridge?
99D: "The Bells of __": ST MARYS. New film to me.
101D: Quantity of a look?: EYEFUL. Nice clue.
104D: Like successful jingles: CATCHY
111D: Boston cagers, for short: CELTS
112D: Small harbor: INLET. How is it different from cove?
116D: Ed or Leon: AMES. I got it from the across fills. AMES is always clued as "Iowa college town".
124D: Eng. instruction letters: ITA (Initial Teaching Alphabet). Too obscure for me. This is where I prefer the clue to be a partical, you know, "Call IT A day" sounds so much better.
C.C.
23A: Online funnies?: DOT(-COM) COMIC BOOKS
38A: Emoticon contests? KEY(BOARD) BOARD GAMES
70A: Collectibles featuring online notables?: E(-TRADING) TRADING CARDS
103A: Mini-Frisbee?: COMPACT (DISC) DISCUS
123A: Small round object? MICRO(SOFT) SOFTBALL
17D: Blazing blades?: HIGH (SPEED) SPEED SKATES
45D: Pick-up sticks call? PHONE (JACK) JACK STRAWS
I have never heard of JACK STRAWS before. JACK STRAW, yes, the ex British Foreign Secretary. Nice to see TRADING CARDS though. Hopefully I will be able to afford this graded 1956 Topps Mickey Mantle card someday, before I get too old.
BAH (79A: Scrooge's expletive) can not damp my enthusisam for this puzzle. Wow, what a great theme! Santa is a bit late though.
The clue for SUNUNU (74D: Political pundit John) confused the hell out of me. Can you call a current US Senator "Political pundit"? I don't think so.
I was not familiarwith PEPIN (43A: Son of Charlemagne), but Wikipedia says he is the father , not the son, of Charlemagne.
Also, too many Roman numerals for my taste:
63A: IV x XIII: LII
4D: Fifth of MMMDV: DCCI
67D: 1700 in letters: MDCC
I'd like to share with you three excellent answers using Roman numerals as hinted clues:
1500: PHYSICIAN
400: MUSIC MEDIUM
30: DIRTY MOVIE
I think I want Santa to upgrade me from C.C. to 200 today.
Across:
21A: Eric of "Top Hat": BLORE. Have never heard of this British comic actor or the musical "Top Hat".
22A: Newman of "SNL": LARAINE. I googled her name. Wikipedia says she is the original "SNL" cast member.
26A: "Seinfeld" gal: ELAINE. I did not find ELAINE's dance to be funny. "No Soup for You" episode is hilarious.
28A: Land of Oranjestad: ARUBA. OK, what does "-jestad" mean in Dutch then?
32A: E. O'Brien film: D.O. A. I got this answer from down fills. Saw this clue before.
34A: __ volente (God willing): DEO. In Islam, it's Insha' Allah.
47A: Heart rhythm: DIASTOLE. New word to me. I've never heard of SYSTOLE either.
51A: Actor Knight: TED. Here is a picture of him in "Caddyshack".
52A: Overrefined: EFFETE. If you say so.
55A: Volcanic rock ejecta: SCORIA. Holy hotwick. I completely forgot this word.
65A: Wire-service letters: UPI. Does it still exist? Feels like AP dominates all the news sources.
68A: Feudal laborer: ESNE. What's the difference between ESNE and SERF?
69A: Mary of "Where Eagles Dare": URE. A complete fail-URE for me. I can never remember this actress's name.
75A: Spanish red: ROJO. New Spanish word to me.
78A: Patriotic men's org: SAR (Sons of the American Revolution). "Patriotic women's org." is DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution).
81A: Porthos, to Athos: AMI. Great clue.
82A: Satellite of Jupiter: ELARA. Unknown to me. How can I remember it? E LARA (Zhivago's love)?
90A: Place position: SECOND. Win, place and show, horse racing term.
95A: Full of: suff.: ULENT. As in opulent and fraudent. I went through lots of trouble getting this answer.
100A: Hemlock homes: NESTS. Why?
114A: Kind of ray: MANTA. Great picture. Is it edible?
127A: Antiknock fluid: ETHYL. Ha, I got it today.
128A: Adenauer: DER ALTE. I am more used to seeing ALTE is often clued as "Der ___: Adenauer".
129A: Pearson and Flatt: LESTERS. The answer revealed itself after I filled in the surrounds. I knew neither of them. LESTER Pearson was a Canadian politician who won Nobel peace prize in 1957. Wikipedia says LESTER Flatt is "one of the pioneers of bluegrass music".
Down:
2D: Tropical lizard: ANOLE. Such a strange mix of green and blue.
7D: R. Reagan's Star Wars: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Introduced in 1983.
8D: "Fernando" group: ABBA. Here is the clip. It's a new song to me. Who is "Fernando"?
10D: Hornswoggled: ROOKED. "Hornswoggle" is new word to me.
13D: Rains and Debussy: CLAUDES. Monet too.
14D: Beat: LAMBASTE
24D: Wholly confused: CHAOTIC
29D: Incarnation of Vishnu: RAMA. No idea. See this picture. I bet I will forget it after lunch.
35D: Versifier Nash: OGDEN
38D: Bleaching vat: KIER. Have never heard of this vat before. Sounds like a German name to me.
40D: Gilberto of Bossa-Nova fame: ASTRUD. I forgot her name. Do remember the song "The Girl From Ipanema".
42D: Michael Caine film: ALFIE. "Jude Law film" too.
43D: Salad green: ESCAROLE. I always call it endive. It's quite bitter, so different from Belgian endive.
56D: Small isles: AITS. This word only exists in the crossword world, doesn't it?
58D: Center starter?: EPI. Epicenter.
59D: Windy City rail inits: CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). Wikipedia says CTA is "the second largest transit system in the United States and fourth largest in North America". New York City's MTA is the #1 I suppose? Who are the other two before CTA?
60D: Soprano Te Kanawa: KIRI. I googled her name. She is from New Zealand, and she sang at Diana and Prince Charles' wedding.
71D: Indonesian island group: ARU. I can never remember this island group (lower right corner).
72D: Long-snouted fish: GAR. Also called needlefish. This GAR is ruthless.
73D: Masticated: CHEWED. "Masticate" is a new word to me. Sounds so DF.
77D: University of Maine town: ORONO
83D: Dijon donkey: ANE. I wish it were broken up as AN E ("Wheel of Fortune" buy).
86D: Travel stamps: VISAS
91D: Trump namer: DECLARER. Bridge?
99D: "The Bells of __": ST MARYS. New film to me.
101D: Quantity of a look?: EYEFUL. Nice clue.
104D: Like successful jingles: CATCHY
111D: Boston cagers, for short: CELTS
112D: Small harbor: INLET. How is it different from cove?
116D: Ed or Leon: AMES. I got it from the across fills. AMES is always clued as "Iowa college town".
124D: Eng. instruction letters: ITA (Initial Teaching Alphabet). Too obscure for me. This is where I prefer the clue to be a partical, you know, "Call IT A day" sounds so much better.
C.C.
