Theme: None
Total blocks: 28
Total words: 70
Now I am feeling like "A RAISIN in the Sun (42D), completely dried up. Some of the clues/ANSWERS are relentlessly obscure to me. I definitely need the theme as my Sherpa. Themeless is too much of a Sisyphean challenge to me.
I would prefer "Abused verbally" rather than "Assailed abusively" for REVILED because ASSAILANTS is the answer for 17A: Violent attackers.
To those who did not read my Wednesday's post, Argyle will blog Barry Silk's Bonus Puzzle tomorrow morning. Also, LA Times just published Barry's themeless today. The blog will be published here on March 1 (Sunday). I have never solved a Saturday LA Times before. Very curious to see how it differs from our TMS themeless.
Across:
1A: Navigation aid: CHART. Would be easier if the clue is "Navigation map". All I could think of is COMPASS.
14A: Financial aid form: PAPER CHASE. New term to me. Chinese government paid all my college education, so I did not need any financial aid.
16A: Hokey rural humor: CORN. Did not know it's a "rural" humor.
19A: Remove from active use: SHELVE
20A: Lesser Antilles republic: DOMINICA. Here is a map.
25A: Judicial: ARBITRAL. They are not synonymous to me. "Judicial" is pertaining to the judge/justice, while ARBITRAL has something to do with arbiter or arbitration.
31A: Entrench oneself: DIG IN. Did not come to me readily.
35A: African fox: ASSE. Simply forgot. Also called Cape Fox. It "inhabits dry areas of southern Africa and has large pointed ears, silvery gray coat, and a bushy tail with a black tip".
36A: Type of boom: SONIC. SONIC boom. Like the boom from Concorde?
37A: Matador's adversary: TORO
38A: Cool or groovy: HIP. "Hep" in old times.
43A: Sound units: DECIBELS. SONE is often clued as "Loudness unit". It's 40 DECIBELS.
45A: Impedes: RETARDS. I wanted HINDERS. But it did not fit.
47A: Fillet fish: SOLE. I've never had SOLE fish. It's also called flatfish. I misread "Fillet" as a verb, so SKIN & DEBONE popped into my mind.
48A: Named: ENTITLED
50A: Belgrade's republic: SERBIA. Fully landlocked. It gained full independence in 2006. Not an EU memeber yet. SERBIA (esp Kosovo) and the whole Balkan area baffle the hell of me, very confusing civil/ethnic/religious fights.
54A: Suit toppers: ACES
55A: Fading away gradually: EVANESCING. New word to me. I only knew convalesce.
58A: Form into a network: RETICULATE. Another new word. RETIA is often clued as "Networks".
Down:
2D: Corned-beef dish: HASH
3D: Area in a basilica: APSE. Sometimes the answer is NAVE.
4D: Chronologically unbroken: REAL TIME. The clue does not feel natural to me.
5D: Hot-dish stands: TRIVETS. Was clued as "Hot-platter platform" last time.
8D: John Jacob and Mary: ASTOR
9D: Hypnotic: MESMERIC. I am used to the word "mesmerizing".
10D: Formulaic stylistically: ICONIC. This clue is too fancy for me. Why not "Like Jackie's sunglasses"?
11D: House trailer: MOBILE HOME. And RESIDENCE ((26D: Abodes)
12D: Of the rules: PROCEDURAL. Would not have got this word without the across fills. Have heard of PROCEDURAL vote many times. Never understand what it means.
13D: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Hogan and SNEAD, Jack and Arnie, Tiger and Phil.
21D: Reitman or Pavlov: IVAN. Did not know the Canadian film producer/director IVAN Reitman. His lower lip is very thick.
23D: Hazardous gas: RADON
25D: Old-time actress Menken: ADAH. No idea. She died when she was only 33. Wikipedia said she was romanced by Dumas when she performed in Paris. Dumas looks so content and happy.
27D: Splashes with mud: BESPATTERS. Knew SPATTER only.
28D: Like some tablets: LINED. Here is a somewhat LINED but MESMERIC face. Lots of milliadonis in my book.
32D: Lytton Strachey's first name: GILES. Bloody blue murder! Have never heard of this British writer/critic. He died in 1932. Wrote a biography of Queen Victoria.
36D: Blacksmiths' cohorts: SADDLERS. Oh, I had no idea that there are people specializing in saddle making/repairing.
37D: Protuberance on a bone: TUBERCLE. Only knew TUBER.
44D: Trig. function: COSEC. Mine was COSIN.
45D: Ranch in the movie "Giant": REATA. Carol probably still wants RIATA.
46D: "The __ Samurai": SEVEN. Probably the most famous Japanese movie ever made. The Tom Cruise movie is titled "The Last Samurai".
56D: Quick drink: NIP
C.C.
Total blocks: 28
Total words: 70
Now I am feeling like "A RAISIN in the Sun (42D), completely dried up. Some of the clues/ANSWERS are relentlessly obscure to me. I definitely need the theme as my Sherpa. Themeless is too much of a Sisyphean challenge to me.
I would prefer "Abused verbally" rather than "Assailed abusively" for REVILED because ASSAILANTS is the answer for 17A: Violent attackers.
To those who did not read my Wednesday's post, Argyle will blog Barry Silk's Bonus Puzzle tomorrow morning. Also, LA Times just published Barry's themeless today. The blog will be published here on March 1 (Sunday). I have never solved a Saturday LA Times before. Very curious to see how it differs from our TMS themeless.
Across:
1A: Navigation aid: CHART. Would be easier if the clue is "Navigation map". All I could think of is COMPASS.
14A: Financial aid form: PAPER CHASE. New term to me. Chinese government paid all my college education, so I did not need any financial aid.
16A: Hokey rural humor: CORN. Did not know it's a "rural" humor.
19A: Remove from active use: SHELVE
20A: Lesser Antilles republic: DOMINICA. Here is a map.
25A: Judicial: ARBITRAL. They are not synonymous to me. "Judicial" is pertaining to the judge/justice, while ARBITRAL has something to do with arbiter or arbitration.
31A: Entrench oneself: DIG IN. Did not come to me readily.
35A: African fox: ASSE. Simply forgot. Also called Cape Fox. It "inhabits dry areas of southern Africa and has large pointed ears, silvery gray coat, and a bushy tail with a black tip".
36A: Type of boom: SONIC. SONIC boom. Like the boom from Concorde?
37A: Matador's adversary: TORO
38A: Cool or groovy: HIP. "Hep" in old times.
43A: Sound units: DECIBELS. SONE is often clued as "Loudness unit". It's 40 DECIBELS.
45A: Impedes: RETARDS. I wanted HINDERS. But it did not fit.
47A: Fillet fish: SOLE. I've never had SOLE fish. It's also called flatfish. I misread "Fillet" as a verb, so SKIN & DEBONE popped into my mind.
48A: Named: ENTITLED
50A: Belgrade's republic: SERBIA. Fully landlocked. It gained full independence in 2006. Not an EU memeber yet. SERBIA (esp Kosovo) and the whole Balkan area baffle the hell of me, very confusing civil/ethnic/religious fights.
54A: Suit toppers: ACES
55A: Fading away gradually: EVANESCING. New word to me. I only knew convalesce.
58A: Form into a network: RETICULATE. Another new word. RETIA is often clued as "Networks".
Down:
2D: Corned-beef dish: HASH
3D: Area in a basilica: APSE. Sometimes the answer is NAVE.
4D: Chronologically unbroken: REAL TIME. The clue does not feel natural to me.
5D: Hot-dish stands: TRIVETS. Was clued as "Hot-platter platform" last time.
8D: John Jacob and Mary: ASTOR
9D: Hypnotic: MESMERIC. I am used to the word "mesmerizing".
10D: Formulaic stylistically: ICONIC. This clue is too fancy for me. Why not "Like Jackie's sunglasses"?
11D: House trailer: MOBILE HOME. And RESIDENCE ((26D: Abodes)
12D: Of the rules: PROCEDURAL. Would not have got this word without the across fills. Have heard of PROCEDURAL vote many times. Never understand what it means.
13D: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Hogan and SNEAD, Jack and Arnie, Tiger and Phil.
21D: Reitman or Pavlov: IVAN. Did not know the Canadian film producer/director IVAN Reitman. His lower lip is very thick.
23D: Hazardous gas: RADON
25D: Old-time actress Menken: ADAH. No idea. She died when she was only 33. Wikipedia said she was romanced by Dumas when she performed in Paris. Dumas looks so content and happy.
27D: Splashes with mud: BESPATTERS. Knew SPATTER only.
28D: Like some tablets: LINED. Here is a somewhat LINED but MESMERIC face. Lots of milliadonis in my book.
32D: Lytton Strachey's first name: GILES. Bloody blue murder! Have never heard of this British writer/critic. He died in 1932. Wrote a biography of Queen Victoria.
36D: Blacksmiths' cohorts: SADDLERS. Oh, I had no idea that there are people specializing in saddle making/repairing.
37D: Protuberance on a bone: TUBERCLE. Only knew TUBER.
44D: Trig. function: COSEC. Mine was COSIN.
45D: Ranch in the movie "Giant": REATA. Carol probably still wants RIATA.
46D: "The __ Samurai": SEVEN. Probably the most famous Japanese movie ever made. The Tom Cruise movie is titled "The Last Samurai".
56D: Quick drink: NIP
C.C.
