Theme: Bar Hop
17A: "Frasier" location: CAFE NERVOSA
56A: "Family Guy" location: DRUNKEN CLAM
11D: "Friends" location: CENTRAL PERK
24D: "I Love Lucy" location: BABALOO CLUB
Of the above 4 sitcom locations, CENTRAL PERK was the only gimme to me. "Friends" was a very popular show when I lived in Guangzhou (Canton). I had difficulty adjusting to the English dialogues when I first moved here. Had been so used to their Cantonese conversations.
Easy solving though. Lots of gimme 3-letter words are structured in the grid to help. If the constructor Josiah Breward (aka Willy A Wiseman, alias name of our editor Wayne R. Williams) wanted this puzzle to be more difficult, he would have reclued many entries. Take DCCI (54D) for example. He used the most straightforward number clue 701. "Start of the 8th century" would be very hard, and "First year of John VI's papacy" would be very very hard if not impossible. I really think a puzzle should be made more difficult by tough cluing rather than putting in some obscure or imagined words.
Some extra notes:
Due to the increase of the posters in the past two days, I've decided to lift the 100 comments limit I imposed a few months ago. But the 5 posts/per day/per person rule still applies. I would appreciate your efforts in sticking to that. I am very interested in a detailed first post of your crossword solving experinces, but please keep your post #2 to #5 concise and succinct.
Also, you might have noticed, I've been less involved in Comments section as I once was. I simply don't have the time/access to the computer. If you need an immediate answer to a crossword clue or want a prompt reply to some question, please ask Dennis. He has agreed to help me responding to the inquiries, which means he obviously won't be bound by the 5 post limit.
As I said before, every comment is forwarded into my mail box. So I will still read every one of them in the evening time. And I will address the unanswered questions on the next morning. I won't be able to thank each of you for the great answers you provide to me on the blog or via private mails, but I am truly grateful for your help. Every bit of information/post is valued, including the negative remarks.
I will try my best to make my main blog entry as informative as possible. And I need your active participation to make this crossword corner vibrant and entertaining. Serious crossword discussions are welcome, so are simple poems, sports talk, music links, jokes, movie star gossips, favorite food, etc.
Please join the fray and let's entertain ourselves, esp when the puzzle gets very boring. Let's Nero-fiddle and leave the burning Rome to those ELECTED (53A: Chosen by vote). Let's have some fun.
Across:
1A: Humbles: ABASES. Nothing ABASES the pachydematous Rod Blagojevich, who just signed a 6-figure book deal to expose "the dark side of politics". Is that a doctored photo?
25A: Break in the audience: AISLE
26A: __ diem (seize the day): CARPE. The late Twins great Kirby Puckett used to say "Don't take anything for granted, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us." This motto originally came from Horace's poem: CARPE diem quam minimum credula postero (Seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow). "Seize the day tomorrow" is "CARPE diem cras". How to say "Seized yesterday" then?
29A: Letter after zeta: ETA. Greek H. Or "JFK infor" occasionally.
30A: Asta's mistress: NORA. Nice to see Asta as a clue rather than answer. NORA Ephron is a great candidate for NORA clue too. I like her "Sleepless in Seattle". Have to admire Carl Berstein for not revealing the Deep Throat secret to Ephron while they were married.
31A: Facing the pitcher: AT BAT. Always fun for me to see NL pitchers AT BAT. But I kind of like AL's DH too. I wonder who first thought of this DH idea.
40A: Valuable dental items: GOLD TEETH. Any diamond teeth?
42A: At bay in a bay: TREED. I don't get this. Does the second bay refer to bay tree?
46A: Indy-winner Luyendyk: ARIE. Learned his name from doing Xword. He is a two-time Indy 500 winner. Is ARIE Dutch for Ari? It sounds like a nickname to me.
47A: Oar holder: THOLE. What kind of wood is THOLE made of?
65A: Mark of infamy: STIGMA. Good clue. I wanted ANTONY. Mark Antony & Cleopatra. Also thought of the Watergate Deep Throat Mark Felt.
Down:
5D: Nine: pref.: ENNEA. I've never used a word with ENNEA as a pref.
6D: Wonder of Motown: STEVIE. Who is the singer at 0:58?
7D: Actor Telly: SAVALAS. All Greek words of male gender end with letter S. That's why we always see S at the end of those Greek male surnames.
8D: Substitute for soap: AMOLE. This word has appeared in our crossword so often that it's become a gimme to me, though I have no idea what exactly is AMOLE.
18D: Put on a revival: RESTAGE. And RERENT (14A: Find a new tenant). There should be a limit on these prefixes.
21D: Feldon of "Get Smart": BARBARA. Pure guess. Have never heard of "Get Smart".
30D: Bk. after Ezra: NEH. Before Esther.
34D: Bit of clowning: SCHTICK. Very nice word, 5 consonants. Vowels are boring!
38D: Napoleon's marshal: NEY. Marshal Michel NEY, "bravest of the brave". He was arrested, tried and executed after the Waterloo.
47D: Two toppers: TREYS. Crockett's "Deuce toppers" is better.
56D: Fly-fishing action: DAP. Not a familiar "action" to me.
58D: USN big shot: ADM. Thought of Obama's Security Adviser James Jones immediately. Forgot he was a Marine general. Both ADM and general are 4-star ranks.
Dennis flitted occasionally to my blog in Feb, 2008. But a year ago today, he started his daily morning comment and I could count the days when he was missing. Thanks for the interesting information & humor you bring to us every day, Dennis. To quote Xchefwalt, "you are the funniest guy I've never met".
C.C.
17A: "Frasier" location: CAFE NERVOSA
56A: "Family Guy" location: DRUNKEN CLAM
11D: "Friends" location: CENTRAL PERK
24D: "I Love Lucy" location: BABALOO CLUB
Of the above 4 sitcom locations, CENTRAL PERK was the only gimme to me. "Friends" was a very popular show when I lived in Guangzhou (Canton). I had difficulty adjusting to the English dialogues when I first moved here. Had been so used to their Cantonese conversations.
Easy solving though. Lots of gimme 3-letter words are structured in the grid to help. If the constructor Josiah Breward (aka Willy A Wiseman, alias name of our editor Wayne R. Williams) wanted this puzzle to be more difficult, he would have reclued many entries. Take DCCI (54D) for example. He used the most straightforward number clue 701. "Start of the 8th century" would be very hard, and "First year of John VI's papacy" would be very very hard if not impossible. I really think a puzzle should be made more difficult by tough cluing rather than putting in some obscure or imagined words.
Some extra notes:
Due to the increase of the posters in the past two days, I've decided to lift the 100 comments limit I imposed a few months ago. But the 5 posts/per day/per person rule still applies. I would appreciate your efforts in sticking to that. I am very interested in a detailed first post of your crossword solving experinces, but please keep your post #2 to #5 concise and succinct.
Also, you might have noticed, I've been less involved in Comments section as I once was. I simply don't have the time/access to the computer. If you need an immediate answer to a crossword clue or want a prompt reply to some question, please ask Dennis. He has agreed to help me responding to the inquiries, which means he obviously won't be bound by the 5 post limit.
As I said before, every comment is forwarded into my mail box. So I will still read every one of them in the evening time. And I will address the unanswered questions on the next morning. I won't be able to thank each of you for the great answers you provide to me on the blog or via private mails, but I am truly grateful for your help. Every bit of information/post is valued, including the negative remarks.
I will try my best to make my main blog entry as informative as possible. And I need your active participation to make this crossword corner vibrant and entertaining. Serious crossword discussions are welcome, so are simple poems, sports talk, music links, jokes, movie star gossips, favorite food, etc.
Please join the fray and let's entertain ourselves, esp when the puzzle gets very boring. Let's Nero-fiddle and leave the burning Rome to those ELECTED (53A: Chosen by vote). Let's have some fun.
Across:
1A: Humbles: ABASES. Nothing ABASES the pachydematous Rod Blagojevich, who just signed a 6-figure book deal to expose "the dark side of politics". Is that a doctored photo?
25A: Break in the audience: AISLE
26A: __ diem (seize the day): CARPE. The late Twins great Kirby Puckett used to say "Don't take anything for granted, because tomorrow is not promised to any of us." This motto originally came from Horace's poem: CARPE diem quam minimum credula postero (Seize the day and place no trust in tomorrow). "Seize the day tomorrow" is "CARPE diem cras". How to say "Seized yesterday" then?
29A: Letter after zeta: ETA. Greek H. Or "JFK infor" occasionally.
30A: Asta's mistress: NORA. Nice to see Asta as a clue rather than answer. NORA Ephron is a great candidate for NORA clue too. I like her "Sleepless in Seattle". Have to admire Carl Berstein for not revealing the Deep Throat secret to Ephron while they were married.
31A: Facing the pitcher: AT BAT. Always fun for me to see NL pitchers AT BAT. But I kind of like AL's DH too. I wonder who first thought of this DH idea.
40A: Valuable dental items: GOLD TEETH. Any diamond teeth?
42A: At bay in a bay: TREED. I don't get this. Does the second bay refer to bay tree?
46A: Indy-winner Luyendyk: ARIE. Learned his name from doing Xword. He is a two-time Indy 500 winner. Is ARIE Dutch for Ari? It sounds like a nickname to me.
47A: Oar holder: THOLE. What kind of wood is THOLE made of?
65A: Mark of infamy: STIGMA. Good clue. I wanted ANTONY. Mark Antony & Cleopatra. Also thought of the Watergate Deep Throat Mark Felt.
Down:
5D: Nine: pref.: ENNEA. I've never used a word with ENNEA as a pref.
6D: Wonder of Motown: STEVIE. Who is the singer at 0:58?
7D: Actor Telly: SAVALAS. All Greek words of male gender end with letter S. That's why we always see S at the end of those Greek male surnames.
8D: Substitute for soap: AMOLE. This word has appeared in our crossword so often that it's become a gimme to me, though I have no idea what exactly is AMOLE.
18D: Put on a revival: RESTAGE. And RERENT (14A: Find a new tenant). There should be a limit on these prefixes.
21D: Feldon of "Get Smart": BARBARA. Pure guess. Have never heard of "Get Smart".
30D: Bk. after Ezra: NEH. Before Esther.
34D: Bit of clowning: SCHTICK. Very nice word, 5 consonants. Vowels are boring!
38D: Napoleon's marshal: NEY. Marshal Michel NEY, "bravest of the brave". He was arrested, tried and executed after the Waterloo.
47D: Two toppers: TREYS. Crockett's "Deuce toppers" is better.
56D: Fly-fishing action: DAP. Not a familiar "action" to me.
58D: USN big shot: ADM. Thought of Obama's Security Adviser James Jones immediately. Forgot he was a Marine general. Both ADM and general are 4-star ranks.
Dennis flitted occasionally to my blog in Feb, 2008. But a year ago today, he started his daily morning comment and I could count the days when he was missing. Thanks for the interesting information & humor you bring to us every day, Dennis. To quote Xchefwalt, "you are the funniest guy I've never met".
C.C.
