Theme: OPERA (52D: Highbrow entertainment)
10A: Berg opera: LULU
20A: Gounod opera: FAUST
26A: Bizet opera: CARMEN
41A: Puccini opera: MADAMA BUTTERFLY
51A: Strauss opera: SALOME
63A: Bellini opera: NORMA
71A: Verdi opera: AIDA
Well, I've only heard of CARMEN, AIDA and MADAMA BUTTERFLY. Actually, I thought it's MADAME. Nevertheless, I still got all the opera names sans cheating. The intersecting clues certainly helped.
John Underwood always amazes me with his theme ideas, so simple and original. Interesting how he could turn LULU into a "Berg opera". I wonder if he is a real opera fan or just constructed this puzzle with some research.
Across:
5A: Laminated rock: SHALE. Here are some SHALE rocks. Wikipedia says it's the most common sedimentary rock.
15A: "Rodeo" composer Copland: AARON. Have never heard of "Rodeo", the so-called "cowboy ballet".
16A: Genesis character: ENOS. Adam's grandson. Sometimes it's clued as "Slaughter of Cooperstown". This name Slaughter sounds very menacing. My husband told me our surname Burnikel means "Don't kill the child" in Viking language. Does your family name carry any special meaning also?
17A: Tolkien creatures: ORCS. The baddies. ENTS are those talking trees. Learned from doing Xword of course.
40A: Ottoman official: AGA. Can also be spelled as AGHA.
62A: Shakespearean curse: POX. Oh, so that's how Shakespeare cursed. Is it like our "damned"?
64A: Egyptian cross: ANKH. Is that the sun god Ra at the bottom of this gold ANKH? This word is very close to SIKH in spelling.
Down:
2D: Hebrew scroll: TORAH. How is it different from Talmud?
4D: University of Montana city: MISSOULA. See this map. I got it from the across fills. Wikipedia says Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, was born and grew up here. In fact, she attended the University of Montana. And to this day, she is the only woman to be elected to Congress from that state. What's the matter with Montana then? Is it a red state?
11D: Early computer OS: UNIX. How "Early"?
26D: Trophy shelf: MANTEL. I always confuse MANTEL with the "loose cape" Mantle. I wonder how many of those Mickey Mantle fans made mistakes spelling his name when they asked for his autograph via mails.
43D: Inflated language: RHETORIC. Bacon once said: Histories make men wise; poet, witty; mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and RHETORIC, able to contend.
53D: Virtuous: MORAL. Do you know why Bacon said "moral, grave"?
59D: First name in spy: MATA. MATA Hari. She looks so exotic.
60D: Letters on a cross: INRI. Abbreviation of Latin "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum". Funny how letter I became letter J.
66D: Casablanca cap: FEZ. It's called tarboosh in Egypt. Most of them seem to be in red color.
C.C.
10A: Berg opera: LULU
20A: Gounod opera: FAUST
26A: Bizet opera: CARMEN
41A: Puccini opera: MADAMA BUTTERFLY
51A: Strauss opera: SALOME
63A: Bellini opera: NORMA
71A: Verdi opera: AIDA
Well, I've only heard of CARMEN, AIDA and MADAMA BUTTERFLY. Actually, I thought it's MADAME. Nevertheless, I still got all the opera names sans cheating. The intersecting clues certainly helped.
John Underwood always amazes me with his theme ideas, so simple and original. Interesting how he could turn LULU into a "Berg opera". I wonder if he is a real opera fan or just constructed this puzzle with some research.
Across:
5A: Laminated rock: SHALE. Here are some SHALE rocks. Wikipedia says it's the most common sedimentary rock.
15A: "Rodeo" composer Copland: AARON. Have never heard of "Rodeo", the so-called "cowboy ballet".
16A: Genesis character: ENOS. Adam's grandson. Sometimes it's clued as "Slaughter of Cooperstown". This name Slaughter sounds very menacing. My husband told me our surname Burnikel means "Don't kill the child" in Viking language. Does your family name carry any special meaning also?
17A: Tolkien creatures: ORCS. The baddies. ENTS are those talking trees. Learned from doing Xword of course.
40A: Ottoman official: AGA. Can also be spelled as AGHA.
62A: Shakespearean curse: POX. Oh, so that's how Shakespeare cursed. Is it like our "damned"?
64A: Egyptian cross: ANKH. Is that the sun god Ra at the bottom of this gold ANKH? This word is very close to SIKH in spelling.
Down:
2D: Hebrew scroll: TORAH. How is it different from Talmud?
4D: University of Montana city: MISSOULA. See this map. I got it from the across fills. Wikipedia says Jeannette Rankin, the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress, was born and grew up here. In fact, she attended the University of Montana. And to this day, she is the only woman to be elected to Congress from that state. What's the matter with Montana then? Is it a red state?
11D: Early computer OS: UNIX. How "Early"?
26D: Trophy shelf: MANTEL. I always confuse MANTEL with the "loose cape" Mantle. I wonder how many of those Mickey Mantle fans made mistakes spelling his name when they asked for his autograph via mails.
43D: Inflated language: RHETORIC. Bacon once said: Histories make men wise; poet, witty; mathematics, subtle; natural philosophy, deep; moral, grave; logic and RHETORIC, able to contend.
53D: Virtuous: MORAL. Do you know why Bacon said "moral, grave"?
59D: First name in spy: MATA. MATA Hari. She looks so exotic.
60D: Letters on a cross: INRI. Abbreviation of Latin "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum". Funny how letter I became letter J.
66D: Casablanca cap: FEZ. It's called tarboosh in Egypt. Most of them seem to be in red color.
C.C.
