Theme: Un-state-ly State
18A: "Show me" state?: SKEPTICISM
24A: Empire state? SUPREMACY
37A: Volunteer state?: WILLINGNESS
53A: Beehive state?: DILIGENCE
59A: Granite state?: DURABILITY
Not an easy battle this morning. If those states were real states, I bet I would struggle too. I can never remember those state nicknames. Minnesota is "North Star State". Our state motto is "L'Etoile du Nord" (the Star of North). Maybe you can educate me today with your state nickname and why it's named so.
Normally I don't like clues-as-theme style grid, but I do like this puzzle. I thought it's quite creative. I also love the 5 K's. Just heard on the radio the other day that the K in Kn combination (knock, knot, knife) was pronounced 500 hundred years ago. Nobody k-nows why it suddenly became silent.
I don't like the clue for SHUTS (68A: Turns (off) because OFF is the answer for 55A: Not working. Wish APR (22A: Car loan letters) were clued as "19D month". It would be a great crossing with IRS (19D: Treasury Dept), don't you think so?
To those who worked on Barrel of A Pencil's "Get the Lead Out" puzzle, here is the answer sheet. He also provided additonal information on his pencil theme at the Comments section.
Across:
1A: Summon the genie: RUB. My answer was ASK. Genie is the English transliteration of the Arabic jinn.
4A: Stacy who played Mike Hammer: KEACH. Unknown name to me. I have no idea who Mike Hammer is.
9A: Fischer man?: PAWN. Bobby Fischer. Great clue. Play on fisherman.
13A: Greek goddess of discord: ERIS. Discordia for the Romans. She is the sister of Ares, god of war. She indirectly caused the Trojan War, correct? Since she threw the Apple of Discord at the party.
16A: Pentathlon event: EPEE. Oh, I did not know this. According to Wikipedia, modern penthathlon consists five events: pistol shooting, EPEE fencing, 200-meter freestyle swimming, show jumping and a 3 km cross-country run.
17A: Almanac tidbit: FACT
20A: Anxious feeling: UNEASE. Who else thought of QUALMS?
23A: Lunched or brunched: ATE. or "munched".
32A: A unicycle has one: TIRE
35A: "Men in Black" extras: ALIENS. Have never seen the movie. I remember we had ETS clued as "Men in Black" extras once.
40A: Broadway opening?: SCENE I. Tricky. I wanted LETTER B, thinking of the first letter of Broadway, but I needed one more blank.
42A: Cork sources: OAKS. Learned a new phrase this morning: Blow/Pop one's cork, meaning "to lose temper". Give another dimension to wine/whine.
44A: With 6-Down, it's "bitter" in England: PALE 6D: See 44-Across: ALE. New to me. I don't drink beer.
46A: Francisco's farewell: ADIOS. Alliteration in the clue again.
51A: Leading the pack: ON TOP
56A: Instrument sometimes made from koa wood: UKE. Learned this when I researched for "Hawaiian acacia" last time. KOA wood is valued for furniture and musical instruments.
65A: East Asian capital: SEOUL. Tokyo is another 5-letter word that might fit. Beijing, Pyongyang (North Korea), Taipei, Ulan Bator (Mongolia) have too many letters. But those are all the East Asian capitals.
66A: Trig ratio: SINE
67A: "Sneaked" look: PEEK. Lovely clue.
Down:
1D: Scow load: REFUSE. Hmm, noun. Verb would be good too, since we have I CAN (33A: Optimist's credo) in the grid.
2D: First planet discovered using a telescope: URANUS. In 1781, by William Herschel. Can you believe telescope was already developed in 1608?
3D: Weightlifters's pride: BICEPS. And PEC (9D: Push-up muscle). Thought of the pump-ous Dennis.
4D: Casey who provided Shaggy's voice in TV's "Scooby-Doo": KASEM. Only knew him "Deejay Casey". He is a Lebanese-American.
5D: Bugling grazer: ELK. I forgot ELK bugles. It only bugles during the rut season, right?
7D: Common HMO requirements: COPAYS
10D: They're abuzz with activity: APIARIES. Learned this word a few months ago. Can't be BEEHIVES since it's part of the clue for 53A.
11D: Gene Autry film: WESTERN. Thought the clue was asking for a specific film title. I often confuse his horse Champion with Lone Ranger's Silver & Roy Roger's Trigger/Bullet.
12D: Luthor and Brainiac, to Superman: NEMESES. An educated guess. Wow, FRIENDS also have 7 letters.
14D: Unsettling look: STARE
21D: Declining from old age: SENILE. Really like Julie Christie's "Away From Her". To me, she is more beautiful than Sophie Loren.
26D: Sicilian pastry: CANNOLI. Have never had CANNOLI before. Are those cherries on the open ends?
28D: Elevator man: OTIS. His given name is Elisha. Hebrew for "God is salvation". Interesting, Dictionary says El is "God" and yesha is "salvation". So, the ELIHU Yale's name is God related too then. Oh, my god, Dictionary further explains that ELIHU means "He is my god" or "my god is he".
34D: Movie excerpt: CLIP
36D: "Gil Blas" novelist: LESAGE. Sigh, I forgot all about this novelist. Identical clue a few months ago. I quoted his "Pride and conceit were the original sins of man" and "Facts are stubborn things" last time. Need to split his name into LE SAGE to remember him.
37D: Was released: WENT FREE. Had trouble obtaining this phrase. Kept thinking of parole.
38D: Not __ many words: IN SO
39DL One who may converse in Erse: GAEL. CELT is 4-letter too.
40D: Failed to meet as planned: STOOD UP
41D: Befuddle: CONFUSE
45D: "The Story of __"L 1975 Isabelle Adjani film: ADELE H. Complete unknown to me. ADELE H refers to ADELE Hugo, second daughter of Victor Hugo. Wikipedia says it's destructive story of her unrequited love to a naval officer.
47D: Collection agency concerns: DEBTS. And IOU (61D: Debtor's concerns). Do you have a better clue for IOU? I am just not fond of this debtor/DEBT.
49D: Gas rating: OCTANE
50D: Get riled: SEE RED. You won't believe the trouble I had parsing SEERED.
52D: Dartboard setting: PUB. Or BAR.
54D: Pastoral poems: IDYLS. More familiar with IDYLL.
57D: Sleeping Beauty awakener: KISS. What's the name of the prince who kissed her? I thought the clue was asking for him.
60D: Scriptural ship: ARK. I am surprised that Noah's ARK is also mentioned in Qur'an.
62D: Disapproving word: TUT. No waffling between TUT and TSK this time due to the crossing SEOUL.
Answer Grid.
C.C.
18A: "Show me" state?: SKEPTICISM
24A: Empire state? SUPREMACY
37A: Volunteer state?: WILLINGNESS
53A: Beehive state?: DILIGENCE
59A: Granite state?: DURABILITY
Not an easy battle this morning. If those states were real states, I bet I would struggle too. I can never remember those state nicknames. Minnesota is "North Star State". Our state motto is "L'Etoile du Nord" (the Star of North). Maybe you can educate me today with your state nickname and why it's named so.
Normally I don't like clues-as-theme style grid, but I do like this puzzle. I thought it's quite creative. I also love the 5 K's. Just heard on the radio the other day that the K in Kn combination (knock, knot, knife) was pronounced 500 hundred years ago. Nobody k-nows why it suddenly became silent.
I don't like the clue for SHUTS (68A: Turns (off) because OFF is the answer for 55A: Not working. Wish APR (22A: Car loan letters) were clued as "19D month". It would be a great crossing with IRS (19D: Treasury Dept), don't you think so?
To those who worked on Barrel of A Pencil's "Get the Lead Out" puzzle, here is the answer sheet. He also provided additonal information on his pencil theme at the Comments section.
Across:
1A: Summon the genie: RUB. My answer was ASK. Genie is the English transliteration of the Arabic jinn.
4A: Stacy who played Mike Hammer: KEACH. Unknown name to me. I have no idea who Mike Hammer is.
9A: Fischer man?: PAWN. Bobby Fischer. Great clue. Play on fisherman.
13A: Greek goddess of discord: ERIS. Discordia for the Romans. She is the sister of Ares, god of war. She indirectly caused the Trojan War, correct? Since she threw the Apple of Discord at the party.
16A: Pentathlon event: EPEE. Oh, I did not know this. According to Wikipedia, modern penthathlon consists five events: pistol shooting, EPEE fencing, 200-meter freestyle swimming, show jumping and a 3 km cross-country run.
17A: Almanac tidbit: FACT
20A: Anxious feeling: UNEASE. Who else thought of QUALMS?
23A: Lunched or brunched: ATE. or "munched".
32A: A unicycle has one: TIRE
35A: "Men in Black" extras: ALIENS. Have never seen the movie. I remember we had ETS clued as "Men in Black" extras once.
40A: Broadway opening?: SCENE I. Tricky. I wanted LETTER B, thinking of the first letter of Broadway, but I needed one more blank.
42A: Cork sources: OAKS. Learned a new phrase this morning: Blow/Pop one's cork, meaning "to lose temper". Give another dimension to wine/whine.
44A: With 6-Down, it's "bitter" in England: PALE 6D: See 44-Across: ALE. New to me. I don't drink beer.
46A: Francisco's farewell: ADIOS. Alliteration in the clue again.
51A: Leading the pack: ON TOP
56A: Instrument sometimes made from koa wood: UKE. Learned this when I researched for "Hawaiian acacia" last time. KOA wood is valued for furniture and musical instruments.
65A: East Asian capital: SEOUL. Tokyo is another 5-letter word that might fit. Beijing, Pyongyang (North Korea), Taipei, Ulan Bator (Mongolia) have too many letters. But those are all the East Asian capitals.
66A: Trig ratio: SINE
67A: "Sneaked" look: PEEK. Lovely clue.
Down:
1D: Scow load: REFUSE. Hmm, noun. Verb would be good too, since we have I CAN (33A: Optimist's credo) in the grid.
2D: First planet discovered using a telescope: URANUS. In 1781, by William Herschel. Can you believe telescope was already developed in 1608?
3D: Weightlifters's pride: BICEPS. And PEC (9D: Push-up muscle). Thought of the pump-ous Dennis.
4D: Casey who provided Shaggy's voice in TV's "Scooby-Doo": KASEM. Only knew him "Deejay Casey". He is a Lebanese-American.
5D: Bugling grazer: ELK. I forgot ELK bugles. It only bugles during the rut season, right?
7D: Common HMO requirements: COPAYS
10D: They're abuzz with activity: APIARIES. Learned this word a few months ago. Can't be BEEHIVES since it's part of the clue for 53A.
11D: Gene Autry film: WESTERN. Thought the clue was asking for a specific film title. I often confuse his horse Champion with Lone Ranger's Silver & Roy Roger's Trigger/Bullet.
12D: Luthor and Brainiac, to Superman: NEMESES. An educated guess. Wow, FRIENDS also have 7 letters.
14D: Unsettling look: STARE
21D: Declining from old age: SENILE. Really like Julie Christie's "Away From Her". To me, she is more beautiful than Sophie Loren.
26D: Sicilian pastry: CANNOLI. Have never had CANNOLI before. Are those cherries on the open ends?
28D: Elevator man: OTIS. His given name is Elisha. Hebrew for "God is salvation". Interesting, Dictionary says El is "God" and yesha is "salvation". So, the ELIHU Yale's name is God related too then. Oh, my god, Dictionary further explains that ELIHU means "He is my god" or "my god is he".
34D: Movie excerpt: CLIP
36D: "Gil Blas" novelist: LESAGE. Sigh, I forgot all about this novelist. Identical clue a few months ago. I quoted his "Pride and conceit were the original sins of man" and "Facts are stubborn things" last time. Need to split his name into LE SAGE to remember him.
37D: Was released: WENT FREE. Had trouble obtaining this phrase. Kept thinking of parole.
38D: Not __ many words: IN SO
39DL One who may converse in Erse: GAEL. CELT is 4-letter too.
40D: Failed to meet as planned: STOOD UP
41D: Befuddle: CONFUSE
45D: "The Story of __"L 1975 Isabelle Adjani film: ADELE H. Complete unknown to me. ADELE H refers to ADELE Hugo, second daughter of Victor Hugo. Wikipedia says it's destructive story of her unrequited love to a naval officer.
47D: Collection agency concerns: DEBTS. And IOU (61D: Debtor's concerns). Do you have a better clue for IOU? I am just not fond of this debtor/DEBT.
49D: Gas rating: OCTANE
50D: Get riled: SEE RED. You won't believe the trouble I had parsing SEERED.
52D: Dartboard setting: PUB. Or BAR.
54D: Pastoral poems: IDYLS. More familiar with IDYLL.
57D: Sleeping Beauty awakener: KISS. What's the name of the prince who kissed her? I thought the clue was asking for him.
60D: Scriptural ship: ARK. I am surprised that Noah's ARK is also mentioned in Qur'an.
62D: Disapproving word: TUT. No waffling between TUT and TSK this time due to the crossing SEOUL.
Answer Grid.
C.C.
