Theme: Friends of Sloppy Joes
17A: Cheap, low quality wine: SNEAKY PETE
60A: Pal of Roy Rogers: GABBY HAYES
11D: 2002 Giants manager: DUSTY BAKER
28D: Clint Eastwood role: DIRTY HARRY
Well, I got DUSTY BAKER immediately, then obtained its symmetrical partner DIRTY HARRY very quickly too. I did have this "lucky" feeling and thought the other theme answers might be soil-y people, like golfer SANDY LYLE (Masters, and British Open winner) or someone MUDDY or SLUSHY.
Have never heard of SNEAKY PETE. Is it a slang? GABBY HAYES is not a name I could fetch out of my memory shelf readily. In fact, I don't remember where and when I stored it. I also encountered various problems at different spots: TAMMUZ & BUTE, SETI & EZIO, tough intersections for me.
I really like the clues for ACRE (49A: Part of a plot?) and IRENE (33D: Castle that danced), very clever.
Stan, I know you are reading this blog, please don't tell me the clue for BUTE (42A: Island in the Firth of Clyde) is your original. You have CLYDE as an answer for 50D: Glasgow waterway.
Across:
14A: New Italian bread: EURO. "Old Italian bread" is LIRA or LIRE.
15A: Refashion: ALTER. I like this "Re*" clue.
19A: Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS. Ennui. Give me Bill Clinton's "IS IS" definition clue.
20A: Chafing-dish heat: STERNO. I wonder what's the origin of STERNO.
21A: Large knives: MACHETES. Have you ever been to a sugarcane field?
23A: '58 Presley hit: DON'T. No idea. If you find the clip, please share with us on the Comments box. I could only find his "Don't Be Cruel".
26A: Sub finder's acronym: ASDIC (Anti Submarine Detection Investigation Committee). Completely unknown to me. I could only think of SONAR.
36A: Sitcom equine: MR. ED. I am more used to the "Talking horse" clue. Was it a good show?
37A: Kicker Yepremian: GARO. Another unknown. Was he already bald when he was playing? Why was he named GARO instead of GARY?
45A: String along: COZEN. I was unaware of the "deceive" meaning of "String along".
51A: Heart rhythm: DIASTOLE. OK, according to Clear Ayes, diastolic blood pressure should be less than 80, and systolic pressure should be less than 120. Funny how I've never paid attention to this stuff before.
55A: Crooner Julius: LA ROSA. This is an interesting clip.
63A: Old defense acronym: NORAD. Its motto is 3D: Deter, Detect and Defend.
64A: Riga resident: LETT. Why LETT? Shouldn't its resident be called Latvian?
65A: Blackstone: ONYX
67A: Basso Pinza: EZIO. I forgot. This guy is in "South Pacific". What a strange name.
Down:
1D: Porgy's woman: BESS. "Harry's woman" too.
4D: Billboards, in Britain: HOARDINGS. New British word to me.
5D: Synthetic fabric: RAYON
6D: Matterhorn, e.g.: ALP. Gimme to me only when it's clued as "Mont Blanc, e.g."
8D: Stiff bristle: SETA. Stiff, stiff clue. Why can't we just have a normal partical "SET A good example" clue?
24D: Hebrew month: TAMMUZ. If the answer is not the 4-letter ADAR, then I am lost. TAMMUZ is the tenth month in Jewish calendar.
26D: Some Egyptian clerics: ABBAS. Oh, is that how Mahmoud ABBAS got his name? Good to know. What a mess there!
31D: Sister of Venus: SERENA. The Williams sisters.
37D: Carbonated beverage: GINGER ALE
48D: Cromwell's earldom: ESSEX
51D: Dealer's wheels: DEMO. Can we also clue it as "Obama's party"?
54D: River of Spain: EBRO. This flow-er travels entirely within Spain before it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. I've found out that the answer for a "River of Spain" clue is either RIO or EBRO.
56D: Court crier's word: OYEZ. I could only think of "All rise".
57D: Planet-finding grp.: SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Mine was NASA.
58D: In the matter of: AS TO
C.C.
17A: Cheap, low quality wine: SNEAKY PETE
60A: Pal of Roy Rogers: GABBY HAYES
11D: 2002 Giants manager: DUSTY BAKER
28D: Clint Eastwood role: DIRTY HARRY
Well, I got DUSTY BAKER immediately, then obtained its symmetrical partner DIRTY HARRY very quickly too. I did have this "lucky" feeling and thought the other theme answers might be soil-y people, like golfer SANDY LYLE (Masters, and British Open winner) or someone MUDDY or SLUSHY.
Have never heard of SNEAKY PETE. Is it a slang? GABBY HAYES is not a name I could fetch out of my memory shelf readily. In fact, I don't remember where and when I stored it. I also encountered various problems at different spots: TAMMUZ & BUTE, SETI & EZIO, tough intersections for me.
I really like the clues for ACRE (49A: Part of a plot?) and IRENE (33D: Castle that danced), very clever.
Stan, I know you are reading this blog, please don't tell me the clue for BUTE (42A: Island in the Firth of Clyde) is your original. You have CLYDE as an answer for 50D: Glasgow waterway.
Across:
14A: New Italian bread: EURO. "Old Italian bread" is LIRA or LIRE.
15A: Refashion: ALTER. I like this "Re*" clue.
19A: Egyptian fertility goddess: ISIS. Ennui. Give me Bill Clinton's "IS IS" definition clue.
20A: Chafing-dish heat: STERNO. I wonder what's the origin of STERNO.
21A: Large knives: MACHETES. Have you ever been to a sugarcane field?
23A: '58 Presley hit: DON'T. No idea. If you find the clip, please share with us on the Comments box. I could only find his "Don't Be Cruel".
26A: Sub finder's acronym: ASDIC (Anti Submarine Detection Investigation Committee). Completely unknown to me. I could only think of SONAR.
36A: Sitcom equine: MR. ED. I am more used to the "Talking horse" clue. Was it a good show?
37A: Kicker Yepremian: GARO. Another unknown. Was he already bald when he was playing? Why was he named GARO instead of GARY?
45A: String along: COZEN. I was unaware of the "deceive" meaning of "String along".
51A: Heart rhythm: DIASTOLE. OK, according to Clear Ayes, diastolic blood pressure should be less than 80, and systolic pressure should be less than 120. Funny how I've never paid attention to this stuff before.
55A: Crooner Julius: LA ROSA. This is an interesting clip.
63A: Old defense acronym: NORAD. Its motto is 3D: Deter, Detect and Defend.
64A: Riga resident: LETT. Why LETT? Shouldn't its resident be called Latvian?
65A: Blackstone: ONYX
67A: Basso Pinza: EZIO. I forgot. This guy is in "South Pacific". What a strange name.
Down:
1D: Porgy's woman: BESS. "Harry's woman" too.
4D: Billboards, in Britain: HOARDINGS. New British word to me.
5D: Synthetic fabric: RAYON
6D: Matterhorn, e.g.: ALP. Gimme to me only when it's clued as "Mont Blanc, e.g."
8D: Stiff bristle: SETA. Stiff, stiff clue. Why can't we just have a normal partical "SET A good example" clue?
24D: Hebrew month: TAMMUZ. If the answer is not the 4-letter ADAR, then I am lost. TAMMUZ is the tenth month in Jewish calendar.
26D: Some Egyptian clerics: ABBAS. Oh, is that how Mahmoud ABBAS got his name? Good to know. What a mess there!
31D: Sister of Venus: SERENA. The Williams sisters.
37D: Carbonated beverage: GINGER ALE
48D: Cromwell's earldom: ESSEX
51D: Dealer's wheels: DEMO. Can we also clue it as "Obama's party"?
54D: River of Spain: EBRO. This flow-er travels entirely within Spain before it flows into the Mediterranean Sea. I've found out that the answer for a "River of Spain" clue is either RIO or EBRO.
56D: Court crier's word: OYEZ. I could only think of "All rise".
57D: Planet-finding grp.: SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence). Mine was NASA.
58D: In the matter of: AS TO
C.C.
