Theme: Old/New Things
23A: Any date in 2008? OLD YEAR'S DAY (New Year's Day)
25A: Replacement dog?: NEW YELLER (Old Yeller)
40A: City in ancient France?: OLD ORLEANS (New Orleans)
53A: Recently made?: NEW FASHIONED (Old Fashioned)
83A: Past eras in a city near Leeds?: OLD YORK TIMES (New York Times)
98A: Ebonics, e.g.?: NEW ENGLISH (Old English)
111A: Pink slip of a former GM Car?: OLDS PAPER (Newspaper)
116A: Waterway named for Paul?: NEWMAN RIVER (Ol' Man River)
"Ol' Man River" is a new song to me. As for 98A, Wikipedia says Ebonics refers to "Black English" or "African American Vernacular English". Why is it called NEW ENGLISH then? And How is it related to Old English? I guess I don't understand the rationale for his clue buildup.
Very nice and timely theme. Of those 8 theme answers, OLD YORK TIMES is my favorite.
Sunday's puzzle is always intimidating to me. The sheer size is overwhelming. And it often contains a few strange medical/chemical terms and obscure people' names. The difficulty level of NY Times Sunday puzzle is the same as their Thursday's. But our puzzle does not follow their pattern. I would say TMS Sunday is the most difficult, at least for me. I hope I can finish a 21*21 without cheating by the end of 2009.
Across:
11A: Playful troublemakers: SCALAWAGS. A new rascal word to me. Dictionary says that SCALAWAG also refers to "a native white Southerner who collaborated with the occupying forces during Reconstruction, often for personal gain."
20A: Unit of loudness: SONE. About 40 decibels.
21A: Civil War battle site: SHILOH. I was not familiar with Battle of SHILOH. What's so siginificant about it?
26A: Rocket launcher: BAZOOKA. OK, here is a picture. It's a portable. Topps also manufactures BAZOOKA baseball card.
27A: School in Sandhurst. Eng.: RMA (Royal Military Academy)
31A: Spaces between leaf veins: AREOLES. Can also be spelled AREOLAS, AREOLAE. The singular form is AREOLA. This is the only diagram I could find. And obviously they are not "Spaces between leaf veins".
35A: Chloroform discoverer: LIEBIG. OK, I checked, it's not a BIG LIE. This guy LIEBIG is indeed the discoverer of Chloroform, whatever it is. Wikipedia also says that he is known as the "father of the fertilizer industry" for his discovery of nitrogen as an essenitial plant nutrient.
45A: Wilson and Mulroney: BRIANS. Wilson is the lead singer for The Beach Boys. And Mulroney was the Canadian Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. I knew neither of them. Easy guess though.
52A: Gust of wind: SCUD. I always associate SCUD with ballistic missile.
63A: Arlene or Roald: DAHL. Arlene DAHL is an actress. Roald DAHL is the author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Both unknown to me.
67A: Isl. of Australia: TAS. I wish it were clued as "Prof's aides".
69A: Current flow restrictors: DIODES. No idea. This is too complicated for me to understand.
75A: "The Conformist" writer Moravia: ALBERTO. I googled his name.
79A: Destitute class: HAVE-NOTS
86A: Climb (a rope): SHINNY. New to me. Looks like an adjective.
96A: Mutation: FREAK. How so?
102A: Capital of ancient Lydia: SARDIS. See this map. Way obscure to me.
104A: "Roberta" star: ASTAIRE. Alright, here is the clip. I've never heard of "Roberta".
109A: Cooking sticks: SKEWERS
120A: Seaport in the Philippines: ILOILO. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Here is the map again. The spelling reminds of the African fly TSETSE.
124A: Scott of a famous case: DRED. Was he a gimme to you? I could only picture Scott Peterson in my mind. What a awful man he is.
Down:
4D: Milne character: EEYORE. Learned from doing Xword. How to pronounce EEYORE again?
6D: Racing org.: NHRA (National Hot Rod Association)
10D: Aromatic fungicide: THYMOL. THYME & OL (suffix for alcohol). Unknown to me. How can fungicide be "Aromatic"?
19D: Old pol. unit: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic). Pre-1991 obviously.
31D: Slow musical passages: ADAGIOS
34D: Sergeant fish: SNOOK. Had zero familiarity with this giant fish.
36D: Italian bowling: BOCCI. Or BOCCE. Yet another unknown. Looks like they are having fun.
37D: Pelvic bone: ILIUM. Also the Latin name for ancient Troy.
45D: Actor De Wilde: BRANDON. Another google. Which movie is he famous for?
47D: Mountain nymph: OREAD. Echo is an OREAD in Greek mythology.
50D: FDR or JFK: DEM. BHO is a DEM too. Weird, isn't it? Obama sounds so much better.
52D: Blues or Cardinals: ST. LOUIS
53D: Pres. advisory grp.: NSC (National Security Council). James Jones will be Obama's National Security Advisor.
59D: Love potion, in Britain: PHILTRE. Holy smoke. Really? How come I've never heard of this word? It's rooted in Greek philos, love. I suppose PHILTER is "Love potion, in America". Maybe I need to learn how to brew PHILTER.
68D: Ratfink: STOOLIE
77D: Mass calendars: ORDOS. Latin for "order". I have no doubt that I won't be able to remember this word next time the clue comes up.
80D: Director Kurosawa: AKIRA. I recognized his Japanese name when I googled. What a brilliant career!
84D: Hebrew letter: KOPH. 19th letter of Hebrew alphabet. I got it from the across fills. It's pronounced the same as cough.
90d: Master of a ship SKIPPER. I always thought Joe DiMaggio's nickname is Yankee SKIPPER rather than Yankee Clipper.
93D: "Falconer" writer: CHEEVER (John). Here is the bookcover. Is it worth reading? Have never heard of this writer.
94D: Earthly: TERRENE. Only knew terrain.
95D: Blows a gasket: SEES RED. And HUFFS (79D: Blows hard). Someone is mad.
97D: "__ Fideles": ADESTE. Semper came up first.
105D: Austrian article: DER. Never know when to put DER, when to put DAS.
110D: Macrame feature: KNOT. I did not know the meaning of Macrame.
111D: Archaic: abbr.: OBS (Obsolete). Where can you find this abbreviation?
118D:Wire measure: MIL. It's about .001 inch. Saw this clue before.
C.C.
23A: Any date in 2008? OLD YEAR'S DAY (New Year's Day)
25A: Replacement dog?: NEW YELLER (Old Yeller)
40A: City in ancient France?: OLD ORLEANS (New Orleans)
53A: Recently made?: NEW FASHIONED (Old Fashioned)
83A: Past eras in a city near Leeds?: OLD YORK TIMES (New York Times)
98A: Ebonics, e.g.?: NEW ENGLISH (Old English)
111A: Pink slip of a former GM Car?: OLDS PAPER (Newspaper)
116A: Waterway named for Paul?: NEWMAN RIVER (Ol' Man River)
"Ol' Man River" is a new song to me. As for 98A, Wikipedia says Ebonics refers to "Black English" or "African American Vernacular English". Why is it called NEW ENGLISH then? And How is it related to Old English? I guess I don't understand the rationale for his clue buildup.
Very nice and timely theme. Of those 8 theme answers, OLD YORK TIMES is my favorite.
Sunday's puzzle is always intimidating to me. The sheer size is overwhelming. And it often contains a few strange medical/chemical terms and obscure people' names. The difficulty level of NY Times Sunday puzzle is the same as their Thursday's. But our puzzle does not follow their pattern. I would say TMS Sunday is the most difficult, at least for me. I hope I can finish a 21*21 without cheating by the end of 2009.
Across:
11A: Playful troublemakers: SCALAWAGS. A new rascal word to me. Dictionary says that SCALAWAG also refers to "a native white Southerner who collaborated with the occupying forces during Reconstruction, often for personal gain."
20A: Unit of loudness: SONE. About 40 decibels.
21A: Civil War battle site: SHILOH. I was not familiar with Battle of SHILOH. What's so siginificant about it?
26A: Rocket launcher: BAZOOKA. OK, here is a picture. It's a portable. Topps also manufactures BAZOOKA baseball card.
27A: School in Sandhurst. Eng.: RMA (Royal Military Academy)
31A: Spaces between leaf veins: AREOLES. Can also be spelled AREOLAS, AREOLAE. The singular form is AREOLA. This is the only diagram I could find. And obviously they are not "Spaces between leaf veins".
35A: Chloroform discoverer: LIEBIG. OK, I checked, it's not a BIG LIE. This guy LIEBIG is indeed the discoverer of Chloroform, whatever it is. Wikipedia also says that he is known as the "father of the fertilizer industry" for his discovery of nitrogen as an essenitial plant nutrient.
45A: Wilson and Mulroney: BRIANS. Wilson is the lead singer for The Beach Boys. And Mulroney was the Canadian Prime Minister from 1984 to 1993. I knew neither of them. Easy guess though.
52A: Gust of wind: SCUD. I always associate SCUD with ballistic missile.
63A: Arlene or Roald: DAHL. Arlene DAHL is an actress. Roald DAHL is the author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Both unknown to me.
67A: Isl. of Australia: TAS. I wish it were clued as "Prof's aides".
69A: Current flow restrictors: DIODES. No idea. This is too complicated for me to understand.
75A: "The Conformist" writer Moravia: ALBERTO. I googled his name.
79A: Destitute class: HAVE-NOTS
86A: Climb (a rope): SHINNY. New to me. Looks like an adjective.
96A: Mutation: FREAK. How so?
102A: Capital of ancient Lydia: SARDIS. See this map. Way obscure to me.
104A: "Roberta" star: ASTAIRE. Alright, here is the clip. I've never heard of "Roberta".
109A: Cooking sticks: SKEWERS
120A: Seaport in the Philippines: ILOILO. I forgot. Saw this clue before. Here is the map again. The spelling reminds of the African fly TSETSE.
124A: Scott of a famous case: DRED. Was he a gimme to you? I could only picture Scott Peterson in my mind. What a awful man he is.
Down:
4D: Milne character: EEYORE. Learned from doing Xword. How to pronounce EEYORE again?
6D: Racing org.: NHRA (National Hot Rod Association)
10D: Aromatic fungicide: THYMOL. THYME & OL (suffix for alcohol). Unknown to me. How can fungicide be "Aromatic"?
19D: Old pol. unit: SSR (Soviet Socialist Republic). Pre-1991 obviously.
31D: Slow musical passages: ADAGIOS
34D: Sergeant fish: SNOOK. Had zero familiarity with this giant fish.
36D: Italian bowling: BOCCI. Or BOCCE. Yet another unknown. Looks like they are having fun.
37D: Pelvic bone: ILIUM. Also the Latin name for ancient Troy.
45D: Actor De Wilde: BRANDON. Another google. Which movie is he famous for?
47D: Mountain nymph: OREAD. Echo is an OREAD in Greek mythology.
50D: FDR or JFK: DEM. BHO is a DEM too. Weird, isn't it? Obama sounds so much better.
52D: Blues or Cardinals: ST. LOUIS
53D: Pres. advisory grp.: NSC (National Security Council). James Jones will be Obama's National Security Advisor.
59D: Love potion, in Britain: PHILTRE. Holy smoke. Really? How come I've never heard of this word? It's rooted in Greek philos, love. I suppose PHILTER is "Love potion, in America". Maybe I need to learn how to brew PHILTER.
68D: Ratfink: STOOLIE
77D: Mass calendars: ORDOS. Latin for "order". I have no doubt that I won't be able to remember this word next time the clue comes up.
80D: Director Kurosawa: AKIRA. I recognized his Japanese name when I googled. What a brilliant career!
84D: Hebrew letter: KOPH. 19th letter of Hebrew alphabet. I got it from the across fills. It's pronounced the same as cough.
90d: Master of a ship SKIPPER. I always thought Joe DiMaggio's nickname is Yankee SKIPPER rather than Yankee Clipper.
93D: "Falconer" writer: CHEEVER (John). Here is the bookcover. Is it worth reading? Have never heard of this writer.
94D: Earthly: TERRENE. Only knew terrain.
95D: Blows a gasket: SEES RED. And HUFFS (79D: Blows hard). Someone is mad.
97D: "__ Fideles": ADESTE. Semper came up first.
105D: Austrian article: DER. Never know when to put DER, when to put DAS.
110D: Macrame feature: KNOT. I did not know the meaning of Macrame.
111D: Archaic: abbr.: OBS (Obsolete). Where can you find this abbreviation?
118D:Wire measure: MIL. It's about .001 inch. Saw this clue before.
C.C.
