Theme: The Scarlet Letters
17A: John Cougar Mellencamp hit: CHERRY BOMB
26A: Hit by the Psychedelic Furs: PRETTY IN PINK
43A: Hit by Chris DeBurgh: THE LADY IN RED
58A: Hit by Sting: DESERT ROSE
Why not "Hit by John Cougar Mellencamp" for 17A? It would be more consistent with the other three clues.
An odyssey for me this morning. The center grid where NUBIA/OMBRE/PRAIA intersects one another is very hard. As for the theme entries, I've heard of LADY IN RED and DESERT ROSE. Have forgotten all about CHERRY BOMB, I think someone linked that song before. PRETTY IN PINK is new to me. What a weird band name: The Psychedelic Furs.
There should be a "var." mark with the clue for TABU (9D:Prohibited). I have zero familiarity with SENSORIA (39D: Human CPUs), but "CPUs" should not be part of the clue, as it indicates an abbreviated answer.
Across:
1A: Collier's access: ADIT. Often clued as "Mine entrance". Coal + ier = Collier (coal miner)
15A: Snorer's peril: APNEA. What caused this sleep order?
19A: U.S. weather grp.: NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). New to me.
20A: Diarist Pepys: SAMUEL. Pepys has the same pronunciation as "peeps". His diary recorded the Great Fire of London (1666). Funny how that year is called "Annus Mirablis". It's a perfect "Annus Horribilis". Why do all those Latin words end in letter s?
34A: Women's Lib opponent, perhaps: MCP (Male Chauvinist Pig). Know the phrase, but the abbreviation did not come to me readily.
38A: Three-player card game: OMBRE. Or OMBER. From Spanish hombre (man). It's "a card game popular in the 17th and 18th centuries and played, usually by three persons, with 40 cards." Completely unknown to me.
41A: Cape Verde capital: PRAIA. No idea. See this map. Does it belong to Africa then? Wikipedia says Cape Verde was a Portuguese colony until 1975. About 71% of the population is Creole of mixed black African and Portuguese descent. And more than 85 percent of the population is Roman Catholic. Most of the Africans are Muslims, right?
53A: Ancient region in Asia Minor: AEOLIS. Or Aeolia. Another unknown to me. All I could think of is Ionia. Well, look at here, I was not that far off. I don't understand this part. How is Odysseus' Aeolus island connect with AEOLIS? Are they the same?
60A: Artist Mondrian: PIET. The Dutch painter famous for his "Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red". Also see this PIET Mondrian inspired Nike shoe.
61A: Anaheim player: ANGEL. Awkward Los Angels Angels of Anaheim. Yesterday's Rod Carew (7-time A.L batting champ) finished his career with the Angels.
Down:
4D: Maneuvering rocket: THRUSTER. I don't know. Like this?
10D: "Where the Wild Things Are" writer: SENDAK. I googled this author. Not familiar with the book.
11D: To have: Fr.: AVOIR. Santa, Je veux AVOIR this for Christmas.
18D: Right-hand page: RECTO. Reminds me of Barry G's outburst over RECTI (clued as "Belly muscles"). The singular form is rectus. RECTI is the same as abs, aren't they?
27D: Apple choice: ROME. Here is a clip for those who love the real ROMA.
29D: Nile region: NUBIA. No idea. Here is a map. Wikipedia says "most of NUBIA is situated in Sudan with a quarter of its terriory in Egypt. And in ancient times it was an independent kingdom." Why does this word sound so DF to me?
36D: Cowboy's chum: PARD. Short for Parter. Is it a common slang? I've never heard of it before.
46D: Sun: pref: HELIO
56D: Meeting: abbr.: SESS. This S-laden word is often found either at the bottom or the rightmost edge of the grid.
C.C.
17A: John Cougar Mellencamp hit: CHERRY BOMB
26A: Hit by the Psychedelic Furs: PRETTY IN PINK
43A: Hit by Chris DeBurgh: THE LADY IN RED
58A: Hit by Sting: DESERT ROSE
Why not "Hit by John Cougar Mellencamp" for 17A? It would be more consistent with the other three clues.
An odyssey for me this morning. The center grid where NUBIA/OMBRE/PRAIA intersects one another is very hard. As for the theme entries, I've heard of LADY IN RED and DESERT ROSE. Have forgotten all about CHERRY BOMB, I think someone linked that song before. PRETTY IN PINK is new to me. What a weird band name: The Psychedelic Furs.
There should be a "var." mark with the clue for TABU (9D:Prohibited). I have zero familiarity with SENSORIA (39D: Human CPUs), but "CPUs" should not be part of the clue, as it indicates an abbreviated answer.
Across:
1A: Collier's access: ADIT. Often clued as "Mine entrance". Coal + ier = Collier (coal miner)
15A: Snorer's peril: APNEA. What caused this sleep order?
19A: U.S. weather grp.: NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). New to me.
20A: Diarist Pepys: SAMUEL. Pepys has the same pronunciation as "peeps". His diary recorded the Great Fire of London (1666). Funny how that year is called "Annus Mirablis". It's a perfect "Annus Horribilis". Why do all those Latin words end in letter s?
34A: Women's Lib opponent, perhaps: MCP (Male Chauvinist Pig). Know the phrase, but the abbreviation did not come to me readily.
38A: Three-player card game: OMBRE. Or OMBER. From Spanish hombre (man). It's "a card game popular in the 17th and 18th centuries and played, usually by three persons, with 40 cards." Completely unknown to me.
41A: Cape Verde capital: PRAIA. No idea. See this map. Does it belong to Africa then? Wikipedia says Cape Verde was a Portuguese colony until 1975. About 71% of the population is Creole of mixed black African and Portuguese descent. And more than 85 percent of the population is Roman Catholic. Most of the Africans are Muslims, right?
53A: Ancient region in Asia Minor: AEOLIS. Or Aeolia. Another unknown to me. All I could think of is Ionia. Well, look at here, I was not that far off. I don't understand this part. How is Odysseus' Aeolus island connect with AEOLIS? Are they the same?
60A: Artist Mondrian: PIET. The Dutch painter famous for his "Composition with Yellow, Blue and Red". Also see this PIET Mondrian inspired Nike shoe.
61A: Anaheim player: ANGEL. Awkward Los Angels Angels of Anaheim. Yesterday's Rod Carew (7-time A.L batting champ) finished his career with the Angels.
Down:
4D: Maneuvering rocket: THRUSTER. I don't know. Like this?
10D: "Where the Wild Things Are" writer: SENDAK. I googled this author. Not familiar with the book.
11D: To have: Fr.: AVOIR. Santa, Je veux AVOIR this for Christmas.
18D: Right-hand page: RECTO. Reminds me of Barry G's outburst over RECTI (clued as "Belly muscles"). The singular form is rectus. RECTI is the same as abs, aren't they?
27D: Apple choice: ROME. Here is a clip for those who love the real ROMA.
29D: Nile region: NUBIA. No idea. Here is a map. Wikipedia says "most of NUBIA is situated in Sudan with a quarter of its terriory in Egypt. And in ancient times it was an independent kingdom." Why does this word sound so DF to me?
36D: Cowboy's chum: PARD. Short for Parter. Is it a common slang? I've never heard of it before.
46D: Sun: pref: HELIO
56D: Meeting: abbr.: SESS. This S-laden word is often found either at the bottom or the rightmost edge of the grid.
C.C.
