Theme: Unmovable Vehicles
20A: "An Aperture Monograph" photographer: DIANE ARBUS
59A: Guy with "really big shew": ED SULLIVAN
11D: Cher film: MOONSTRUCK
29D: Island off Africa: MADAGASCAR
Hmm, we need a *JEEP for a pangram grid. But still, this puzzle will rank high in scrabbliness, with three X'es, two Z's, two V's and one Q, all hallmarks of a Allan E. Parrish puzzle.
I was not familiar with the book "An Aperture Monograph" or the photographer DIANE ARBUS. What is a "Monograph" anyway?
I wish ENOS (23A: Son of Seth) were clued as "Slaughter of Cooperstown" and EXPO (12D: Large intl. show) were clued as "National, formally". So together with ORTIZ (17A: Baseball's "Big Papi"), they would form a nice baseball sub-theme. Too bad, David ORTIZ was hurt all the time when he was with the Twins.
I hope we get a Barry Silk puzzle soon. I miss his wicked Q's.
Across:
1A: Belle or Bart: STARR. Only knew Bart STARR, Packers' quarterback, and Ringo STARR, not Belle.
9A: Packing heat: ARMED. OK, tell me why the answer for "Looking for big bucks?" is IN HEAT?
14A: Minor prophet: HOSEA. What's the difference between a "Minor prophet" and a major one? Who decides that?
16A: Two-month pope of 1605: LEO XI. This would have been a tricky one without the crossing help, you know, it could be LEO IX, LEO II, LEO IV or LEO VI.
18A: Latin 101 verb: AMO
19A: Parkinson's medication: L-DOPA. Another "My Pet Goat" moment for me. How can I remember this weird medicine name?
24A: Brandy letters: VSO
25A: Some binary compounds: OXIDES. Whatever you say. I know nothing about chemical compound.
27A: Salinger girl: ESME. Salinger's "For ESME – with Love and Squalor". Learned it from doing Xword.
32A: Type of gong: TAM TAM. I tend to confuse this one with Tom Tom drum.
36A: Mont of the Alps: BLANC. Does anyone own a Montblanc pen? This one looks very expsensive.
37A: Episcopal cleric: VICAR
40A: Hit by Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas: BAD TO ME. No idea. Here is the clip. I went from BED TIME to BAD TIME, then BAD TO ME.
42A: Follow-up to a hit film, maybe: PREQUEL. I am eager to see "Angels & Demons", a PREQUEL to "The Da Vinci Code".
45A: Socialite Perle: MESTA. My brain keeps rejecting this name.
47A: Ticket: DUCAT. New slang to me.
57A: Richie's mom, to Fonzie: MRS. C
64A: Copier brand: RICOH. Canon and Xerox both have 5-letter too.
68A: Writer Calvino: ITALO. His name has become a gimme to me.
73A: SALT topic: N-TEST
Down:
1D: Like broken horses: SHOD. Why "broken"?
3D: Cinema canine: ASTA. TOTO is 4-letter too.
7D: Ice-smoothing machine: ZAMBONI. I was so happy I nailed this one. Have never been to a hockey game.
8D: Plains people: SIOUX. I like some of their names: Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, so evocative.
13D: Portuguese explorer: DIAS. He discovered Cape of Good Hope.
28D: Drudge: SLAVE
33D: What to make with Monty?: A DEAL. I guessed. I've never heard of "Let's Make a DEAL". Did not know who Monty is.
34D: Valetta's island: MALTA. Interesting "honey" etymology. Now I want a jar of MALTA honey. A bit trivia: MALTA is the smallest EU member.
36D: Ajax rival: COMET
41D: Reagan's attorney general: MEESE (Ed). If confirmed, Eric Holder will be our first African-American AG.
43D: Result of division: QUOTIENT. Have you taken a IQ test before? I have not. I fear I am borderline.
49D: Pop brand: RC COLA. Have never tasted this cola before. That's a great 1969 Mets collectible I suppose.
54D: Morris or Stewart of Arizona: UDALL. No idea. Stewart UDALL is JFK and LBJ's Secretary of the Interior. Morris UDALL ran for the president in 1976. I wonder what's the origin of this UDALL. It sounds so made-up to me.
56D: Composer Berg: ALBAN. Got his name from across fills.
58D: "Norma Rae" director Martin: RITT. New name to me also. Wikipedia says he also directed "Hud" and "The Long Hot Summer" . He must like Paul Newman a lot then.
61D: Clinging flora: VINE. Nice morning glory VINE. Rise and Shine!
C.C.
20A: "An Aperture Monograph" photographer: DIANE ARBUS
59A: Guy with "really big shew": ED SULLIVAN
11D: Cher film: MOONSTRUCK
29D: Island off Africa: MADAGASCAR
Hmm, we need a *JEEP for a pangram grid. But still, this puzzle will rank high in scrabbliness, with three X'es, two Z's, two V's and one Q, all hallmarks of a Allan E. Parrish puzzle.
I was not familiar with the book "An Aperture Monograph" or the photographer DIANE ARBUS. What is a "Monograph" anyway?
I wish ENOS (23A: Son of Seth) were clued as "Slaughter of Cooperstown" and EXPO (12D: Large intl. show) were clued as "National, formally". So together with ORTIZ (17A: Baseball's "Big Papi"), they would form a nice baseball sub-theme. Too bad, David ORTIZ was hurt all the time when he was with the Twins.
I hope we get a Barry Silk puzzle soon. I miss his wicked Q's.
Across:
1A: Belle or Bart: STARR. Only knew Bart STARR, Packers' quarterback, and Ringo STARR, not Belle.
9A: Packing heat: ARMED. OK, tell me why the answer for "Looking for big bucks?" is IN HEAT?
14A: Minor prophet: HOSEA. What's the difference between a "Minor prophet" and a major one? Who decides that?
16A: Two-month pope of 1605: LEO XI. This would have been a tricky one without the crossing help, you know, it could be LEO IX, LEO II, LEO IV or LEO VI.
18A: Latin 101 verb: AMO
19A: Parkinson's medication: L-DOPA. Another "My Pet Goat" moment for me. How can I remember this weird medicine name?
24A: Brandy letters: VSO
25A: Some binary compounds: OXIDES. Whatever you say. I know nothing about chemical compound.
27A: Salinger girl: ESME. Salinger's "For ESME – with Love and Squalor". Learned it from doing Xword.
32A: Type of gong: TAM TAM. I tend to confuse this one with Tom Tom drum.
36A: Mont of the Alps: BLANC. Does anyone own a Montblanc pen? This one looks very expsensive.
37A: Episcopal cleric: VICAR
40A: Hit by Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas: BAD TO ME. No idea. Here is the clip. I went from BED TIME to BAD TIME, then BAD TO ME.
42A: Follow-up to a hit film, maybe: PREQUEL. I am eager to see "Angels & Demons", a PREQUEL to "The Da Vinci Code".
45A: Socialite Perle: MESTA. My brain keeps rejecting this name.
47A: Ticket: DUCAT. New slang to me.
57A: Richie's mom, to Fonzie: MRS. C
64A: Copier brand: RICOH. Canon and Xerox both have 5-letter too.
68A: Writer Calvino: ITALO. His name has become a gimme to me.
73A: SALT topic: N-TEST
Down:
1D: Like broken horses: SHOD. Why "broken"?
3D: Cinema canine: ASTA. TOTO is 4-letter too.
7D: Ice-smoothing machine: ZAMBONI. I was so happy I nailed this one. Have never been to a hockey game.
8D: Plains people: SIOUX. I like some of their names: Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, so evocative.
13D: Portuguese explorer: DIAS. He discovered Cape of Good Hope.
28D: Drudge: SLAVE
33D: What to make with Monty?: A DEAL. I guessed. I've never heard of "Let's Make a DEAL". Did not know who Monty is.
34D: Valetta's island: MALTA. Interesting "honey" etymology. Now I want a jar of MALTA honey. A bit trivia: MALTA is the smallest EU member.
36D: Ajax rival: COMET
41D: Reagan's attorney general: MEESE (Ed). If confirmed, Eric Holder will be our first African-American AG.
43D: Result of division: QUOTIENT. Have you taken a IQ test before? I have not. I fear I am borderline.
49D: Pop brand: RC COLA. Have never tasted this cola before. That's a great 1969 Mets collectible I suppose.
54D: Morris or Stewart of Arizona: UDALL. No idea. Stewart UDALL is JFK and LBJ's Secretary of the Interior. Morris UDALL ran for the president in 1976. I wonder what's the origin of this UDALL. It sounds so made-up to me.
56D: Composer Berg: ALBAN. Got his name from across fills.
58D: "Norma Rae" director Martin: RITT. New name to me also. Wikipedia says he also directed "Hud" and "The Long Hot Summer" . He must like Paul Newman a lot then.
61D: Clinging flora: VINE. Nice morning glory VINE. Rise and Shine!
C.C.
