Theme: Dee-lightful
17A: Small gray-and-black songbird: CHICKADEE
31A: "The Four Seasons" composer: VIVALDI
49A: Restaurant employee: MAITRE D'
66A: "Gidget" star: SANDRA DEE
11D: Miscellany: SALMAGUNDI
30D: One of two rivals: TWEEDLE DEE
I have never heard of SALMAGUNDI before. Thought it would be the same as the Swedish smörgåsbord. But Dictionary says it's a kind of "salad of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions, often arranged in rows on lettuce and served with vinegar and oil." Doesn't sound good to me. Right now, I am hankering for some French toast drizzled with maple syrup and slices of fresh strawberries.
I solved this puzzle the way John Roberts administered Obama's swearing-in. It looked quite simple yet I still botched a few spots. Interesting theme concept, but I felt the constructor overdid the theme entries. Six is a lot for a weekday puzzle.
I would have picked up one DEE ending, one DI ending, and add a DY ending and worked out a puzzle with four theme answers (together with MAITRE D'), or simply a puzzle with all DEE ending theme entries. I don't know, let me have your opinion.
Across:
14A: Anthracite, e.g.: COAL. I forgot the meaning of "Anthracite", thinking of the dreadful anthrax.
20A: Shinto temple gateway: TORII. Like this one. TORI means "bird", the last I is from Iru meaning "To dwell". Japanese kanji 鳥居 literally means "Bird's Dwelling". Wikipedia says it's originally designed as a large bird perch. In Shintoism, "birds are considered messengers of the gods". I wonder how Angels' TORRI Hunter got his name. People often misspell his name as Tori.
25A: Verbena plant: LANTANA. Very pretty. Wikipedia says "LANTANA berries are edible when ripe though though like many fruit are mildly poisonous if eaten while still green." I stopped picking up and sampling exotic wild berries after watching the movie "Into the Wild".
35A: Ayres and Wallace: LEWS. Both were unknown to me. My answer was ELIS.
38A: Phony: PSEUDO. Adjective here?
41A: Game similar to keno: BEANO. Have never played BEANO or bingo.
43A: Nabokov novel: PNIN. I suppose letter P is silent? "Nabokov novel" answer is always "Ada", "PNIN" or "Lolita".
44A: Audience loudmouth: JEERER. Sounds like a made-up word.
46A: D.C. old-timer: POL. This "old-timer" confuses me. Now, if Minnesota recount mess clears up and Al Franken becomes our senator, he will be a POL, but he won't be a "D.C. old-timer", right? He will simply be a "D.C. newcomer".
47A: Rehan and Huxtable: ADAS. ADA Rehan was an actress. ADA Huxtable won Pulitzer in 1970, and is currently the architecture critic for "The Wall Street Journal". Both were unknown to me.
53A: Henry VIII's court painter: HOLBEIN. No idea. Strange necklace. Is S a special symbol for something? (Addendum: The painting is Thomas More. Here is HOLBEIN's self-portrait).
57A: Profit makers: EARNERS. What do you think of the clue/answer?
64A: Arboreal lemur: INDRI. You should eat worms if you miss this answer again.
Down:
1D: $ in the bank: ACCT. I was thinking of amount.
6D: Focal point: NODE. Is this a math term? I am not familiar with this definition.
9D: Pairs of twins: GEMINIS
22D: Polliwogs: TADPOLES. Last time TADPOLE is clued as "Frog of the future".
24D: Cerebrum's neighbor: MIDBRAIN. I guessed. I don't know anything about my brain structure.
27D: King in "The Tempest": ALONSO. I only knew King Lear.
28D: Biblical prophet: ELIJAH. "According to the Bible, he did not die but was carried skyward in a chariot of fire." Does it mean that other "Biblical prophets" all died?
29D: Moon: pref.: SELENO. New prefix for me, though I do know the Greek goddess of moon is Selene.
36D: Former Sov. unit: SSR
39D: Reg. agcy.: EPA. Luckily I got the crossing PNIN, otherwise, this would be an impossible for me. The clue is so vague.
50D: Having actual existence: Lat.: IN ESSE. Opposite IN POSSE.
54D: Actor Bostwick: BARRY. I googled his name, then I realized who he is. "Bostwick" sounds Scottish.
56D: Praise: EXALT. Extol also has 5 letters.
63D: Broadcast: SENT. I often forget that the past tense of "Broadcast" is still "Broadcast".
C.C.
17A: Small gray-and-black songbird: CHICKADEE
31A: "The Four Seasons" composer: VIVALDI
49A: Restaurant employee: MAITRE D'
66A: "Gidget" star: SANDRA DEE
11D: Miscellany: SALMAGUNDI
30D: One of two rivals: TWEEDLE DEE
I have never heard of SALMAGUNDI before. Thought it would be the same as the Swedish smörgåsbord. But Dictionary says it's a kind of "salad of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, and onions, often arranged in rows on lettuce and served with vinegar and oil." Doesn't sound good to me. Right now, I am hankering for some French toast drizzled with maple syrup and slices of fresh strawberries.
I solved this puzzle the way John Roberts administered Obama's swearing-in. It looked quite simple yet I still botched a few spots. Interesting theme concept, but I felt the constructor overdid the theme entries. Six is a lot for a weekday puzzle.
I would have picked up one DEE ending, one DI ending, and add a DY ending and worked out a puzzle with four theme answers (together with MAITRE D'), or simply a puzzle with all DEE ending theme entries. I don't know, let me have your opinion.
Across:
14A: Anthracite, e.g.: COAL. I forgot the meaning of "Anthracite", thinking of the dreadful anthrax.
20A: Shinto temple gateway: TORII. Like this one. TORI means "bird", the last I is from Iru meaning "To dwell". Japanese kanji 鳥居 literally means "Bird's Dwelling". Wikipedia says it's originally designed as a large bird perch. In Shintoism, "birds are considered messengers of the gods". I wonder how Angels' TORRI Hunter got his name. People often misspell his name as Tori.
25A: Verbena plant: LANTANA. Very pretty. Wikipedia says "LANTANA berries are edible when ripe though though like many fruit are mildly poisonous if eaten while still green." I stopped picking up and sampling exotic wild berries after watching the movie "Into the Wild".
35A: Ayres and Wallace: LEWS. Both were unknown to me. My answer was ELIS.
38A: Phony: PSEUDO. Adjective here?
41A: Game similar to keno: BEANO. Have never played BEANO or bingo.
43A: Nabokov novel: PNIN. I suppose letter P is silent? "Nabokov novel" answer is always "Ada", "PNIN" or "Lolita".
44A: Audience loudmouth: JEERER. Sounds like a made-up word.
46A: D.C. old-timer: POL. This "old-timer" confuses me. Now, if Minnesota recount mess clears up and Al Franken becomes our senator, he will be a POL, but he won't be a "D.C. old-timer", right? He will simply be a "D.C. newcomer".
47A: Rehan and Huxtable: ADAS. ADA Rehan was an actress. ADA Huxtable won Pulitzer in 1970, and is currently the architecture critic for "The Wall Street Journal". Both were unknown to me.
53A: Henry VIII's court painter: HOLBEIN. No idea. Strange necklace. Is S a special symbol for something? (Addendum: The painting is Thomas More. Here is HOLBEIN's self-portrait).
57A: Profit makers: EARNERS. What do you think of the clue/answer?
64A: Arboreal lemur: INDRI. You should eat worms if you miss this answer again.
Down:
1D: $ in the bank: ACCT. I was thinking of amount.
6D: Focal point: NODE. Is this a math term? I am not familiar with this definition.
9D: Pairs of twins: GEMINIS
22D: Polliwogs: TADPOLES. Last time TADPOLE is clued as "Frog of the future".
24D: Cerebrum's neighbor: MIDBRAIN. I guessed. I don't know anything about my brain structure.
27D: King in "The Tempest": ALONSO. I only knew King Lear.
28D: Biblical prophet: ELIJAH. "According to the Bible, he did not die but was carried skyward in a chariot of fire." Does it mean that other "Biblical prophets" all died?
29D: Moon: pref.: SELENO. New prefix for me, though I do know the Greek goddess of moon is Selene.
36D: Former Sov. unit: SSR
39D: Reg. agcy.: EPA. Luckily I got the crossing PNIN, otherwise, this would be an impossible for me. The clue is so vague.
50D: Having actual existence: Lat.: IN ESSE. Opposite IN POSSE.
54D: Actor Bostwick: BARRY. I googled his name, then I realized who he is. "Bostwick" sounds Scottish.
56D: Praise: EXALT. Extol also has 5 letters.
63D: Broadcast: SENT. I often forget that the past tense of "Broadcast" is still "Broadcast".
C.C.
