Theme: None
Total block: 30
Total words: 68
I just noticed this morning that all of the Tom Pruce puzzles we've solved are themeless. Have never seen his name in other newspapers before. I sure hope he starts to look for other venues. What a mess with Tribune!
Mr. Williams, if you are reading this blog, please talk to your constructors, pay what you owe them for God's sake. You are losing the loyalty and trust of those capable puzzle makers by continuously keeping silent.
Not a hammer, but definitely a gavel for me today. Lots of troubles with lower right corner. Most of the time I find down clues to be easier than the across ones, but today is an exception. Can you still clue ITO (3D) as "OJ's judge" after his recent trial? How would you clue Judge Jackie Glass then?
Forgot to show you this huge Crossword Building earlier this week. It looks like an empty grid in the day time, but all the words become visible when the light is on in the evening. Tell me how different it is from our puzzle pattern other than that it has an additional gray shade.
Across:
1A: Armed robbery: STICKUP
8A: Spanish port: ALMERIA. Arabic for "The Mirror". Unknown to me. See here. It's a seaport in south Spain on the Mediterranean Sea.
17A: Astronomer of Alexandria: PTOLEMY. I surprised the hell out of me by getting his name with only letters PT_ _ _ _ Y filled in.
18A: Huge statues: COLOSSI. I only knew the adjective colossal. Can you give me an example of a COLOSSUS?
24A: Physics Nobel laureate Isidor: RABI. Googled his name. Nobel winner 1944.
26A: Of Rome's predecessors: ETRUSCAN. I simply forgot this word. Saw the clue before. Wikipedia says ETRUSCAN civilization extended between 1200 BC to 100 BC.
34A: Member of a Catholic order: PAULIST. It's "a member of the Roman Catholic Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, founded in New York in 1858." Another unknown to me.
40A: British weapon: BREN. See this picture. I only knew STEN.
41A: Bootleg liquor: HOOCH. Have never heard of this word before. Does not sound like a liquor name to me.
45A: Tolkien creature: HOBBIT
46A: Anglo-Saxon tax: GELD. Nailed it this time. But does "Neuter" sound like an offensive clue? "Anglo-Saxon tax" strikes me as very obscure.
48A: Garment with a tight waistband: BLOUSON. Like this? I only know blouse.
53A: Rod shaped bacteria: BACILLI. See this picture. Why some of them have black dots on? It's another new word to me. Dictionary says BACILLUS is rooted in Latin "baculum" meaning rod/walking stick.
59A: Serengeti hunter: LIONESS. I don't get this clue. LIONESS is being hunted, how can it be "hunter"?
Down:
4D: Very pale green: CELADON. Hmm, "Very pale green" indeed. Good to learn this word.
7D: PGA golfer Stewart: PAYNE. Gimme to me. He died in a plane crash in 1999. He won three majors in his life, 2 US Open, 1 PGA Championship.
8D: Discover: ASCERTAIN. New definition to me. Always associate ASCERTAIN with "To make certain".
13D: Singer DeLange: ILSE. Have never heard of this Dutch country singer. She looks very pretty.
23D: Elvis Costello hit: ALISON. I got it from the across fills. Not a familar song to me. Could not find a YouTube clip either.
26D: Moray catcher: EELER. Sniggler is "Moray catcher" too.
27D: Mediterranean evergreens: CAROBS. Oh, good to know. CAROB is always powder to me. Are those ripe pods edible also?
28D: R & B singer Keys: ALICIA. Here is her "Fallin'"again. "... Lovin' you darlin'..."
31D: Ghastly quality: LURIDNESS. I wanted pallidness, but it did not fit.
35D: Mother-of-pearl sources: ABALONES. NACRE is often clued as "Mother-of-pearl".
36D: Of the chest: THORACIC. Oh well, I guess I don't know my own chest.
39D: Roger of Byrds: McGUINN. Another google. I've never heard of "The Byrds" either. What songs are they famous for?
42D: Pointed monolith: OBELISK. Why is it also called "Cleopatra's Needle"?
45D: 1962 John Wayne movie: HATARI. New movie to me. Wikipedia says the title means "danger" in Swahili.
48D: __ out (eject): BAIL. Is this another Janus phrase? I thought BAIL out means rescue, like the current bailout package.
49D: Currency of Georgia: LARI. No idea. See this picture.
55D: Letters before the World Series: LCS (League Championship Series). I think ALCS or NLCS is a more popular term than LCS itself.
56D: Addams Family relative: ITT. The cousin. Everything I know, I learned from doing Xword.
C.C.
Total block: 30
Total words: 68
I just noticed this morning that all of the Tom Pruce puzzles we've solved are themeless. Have never seen his name in other newspapers before. I sure hope he starts to look for other venues. What a mess with Tribune!
Mr. Williams, if you are reading this blog, please talk to your constructors, pay what you owe them for God's sake. You are losing the loyalty and trust of those capable puzzle makers by continuously keeping silent.
Not a hammer, but definitely a gavel for me today. Lots of troubles with lower right corner. Most of the time I find down clues to be easier than the across ones, but today is an exception. Can you still clue ITO (3D) as "OJ's judge" after his recent trial? How would you clue Judge Jackie Glass then?
Forgot to show you this huge Crossword Building earlier this week. It looks like an empty grid in the day time, but all the words become visible when the light is on in the evening. Tell me how different it is from our puzzle pattern other than that it has an additional gray shade.
Across:
1A: Armed robbery: STICKUP
8A: Spanish port: ALMERIA. Arabic for "The Mirror". Unknown to me. See here. It's a seaport in south Spain on the Mediterranean Sea.
17A: Astronomer of Alexandria: PTOLEMY. I surprised the hell out of me by getting his name with only letters PT_ _ _ _ Y filled in.
18A: Huge statues: COLOSSI. I only knew the adjective colossal. Can you give me an example of a COLOSSUS?
24A: Physics Nobel laureate Isidor: RABI. Googled his name. Nobel winner 1944.
26A: Of Rome's predecessors: ETRUSCAN. I simply forgot this word. Saw the clue before. Wikipedia says ETRUSCAN civilization extended between 1200 BC to 100 BC.
34A: Member of a Catholic order: PAULIST. It's "a member of the Roman Catholic Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle, founded in New York in 1858." Another unknown to me.
40A: British weapon: BREN. See this picture. I only knew STEN.
41A: Bootleg liquor: HOOCH. Have never heard of this word before. Does not sound like a liquor name to me.
45A: Tolkien creature: HOBBIT
46A: Anglo-Saxon tax: GELD. Nailed it this time. But does "Neuter" sound like an offensive clue? "Anglo-Saxon tax" strikes me as very obscure.
48A: Garment with a tight waistband: BLOUSON. Like this? I only know blouse.
53A: Rod shaped bacteria: BACILLI. See this picture. Why some of them have black dots on? It's another new word to me. Dictionary says BACILLUS is rooted in Latin "baculum" meaning rod/walking stick.
59A: Serengeti hunter: LIONESS. I don't get this clue. LIONESS is being hunted, how can it be "hunter"?
Down:
4D: Very pale green: CELADON. Hmm, "Very pale green" indeed. Good to learn this word.
7D: PGA golfer Stewart: PAYNE. Gimme to me. He died in a plane crash in 1999. He won three majors in his life, 2 US Open, 1 PGA Championship.
8D: Discover: ASCERTAIN. New definition to me. Always associate ASCERTAIN with "To make certain".
13D: Singer DeLange: ILSE. Have never heard of this Dutch country singer. She looks very pretty.
23D: Elvis Costello hit: ALISON. I got it from the across fills. Not a familar song to me. Could not find a YouTube clip either.
26D: Moray catcher: EELER. Sniggler is "Moray catcher" too.
27D: Mediterranean evergreens: CAROBS. Oh, good to know. CAROB is always powder to me. Are those ripe pods edible also?
28D: R & B singer Keys: ALICIA. Here is her "Fallin'"again. "... Lovin' you darlin'..."
31D: Ghastly quality: LURIDNESS. I wanted pallidness, but it did not fit.
35D: Mother-of-pearl sources: ABALONES. NACRE is often clued as "Mother-of-pearl".
36D: Of the chest: THORACIC. Oh well, I guess I don't know my own chest.
39D: Roger of Byrds: McGUINN. Another google. I've never heard of "The Byrds" either. What songs are they famous for?
42D: Pointed monolith: OBELISK. Why is it also called "Cleopatra's Needle"?
45D: 1962 John Wayne movie: HATARI. New movie to me. Wikipedia says the title means "danger" in Swahili.
48D: __ out (eject): BAIL. Is this another Janus phrase? I thought BAIL out means rescue, like the current bailout package.
49D: Currency of Georgia: LARI. No idea. See this picture.
55D: Letters before the World Series: LCS (League Championship Series). I think ALCS or NLCS is a more popular term than LCS itself.
56D: Addams Family relative: ITT. The cousin. Everything I know, I learned from doing Xword.
C.C.
