Theme: The 5K
18A: Sightseeing at The Steppes?: STARK GAZING (Star Gazing)
24A: Dogs' communication systems?: BARK CODE (Bar Code)
39A: Creative executive compensation techniques?: PERK FORMING ARTS (Performing Arts)
51A: Price for the village green?: PARK VALUE (Par Value)
62A: Ones who never know what to use for their salad?: FORK DUMMIES (For Dummies)
Ah, finally an offering from our editor Rich Norris himself. Nora Pearlstone is his alias name, anagram of "Not a real person". Of this list, I like Gia Christian the most (anagram of "Again, it's Rich"). How about you?
It seems that every Friday we have a wordplay puzzle. On March 27, it's PRE prefix. Then last Friday we had an IR-RI-tating IR to RI transformation grid.
Hard struggle this morning. I think I can only handle Monday to Wednesday LA Times. Lots of wite-out. I wrote down RABIN for 3D: Co-Nobelist Arafat (YASIR) immediately. And I thought I was smart. Then I did not know "What's up?" (1A: SKY). What a simple yet tricky clue! Can you picture the V-8 prints on my forehead?
Besides SKY, I also love the clue for NON (30D: Nice way to beg off?). Nice refers to the French city. Can you think of a better way to clue QUA (14A: Sine __ non)? I know one is Latin, one is French, but I still don't like the repetition.
Across:
4A: It may be split at lunch: THE TAB. Nice to see THE as part of an answer.
10A: Big name in shoes: MCAN. Learned several months ago that the brand was named after some Scottish golfer named Thomas McCann. Rory McIlroy, the next Tiger Woods (or possibly just a Sergio Garcia as Lemonade said), shot 72 yesterday. I think he is a more exciting RORY clue than "Golfer Sabbatini".
15A: "L.A. Law" co-creator: BOCHCO (Steven). Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he is also the co-creator of "Hill Streets Blue" & "N.Y.P.D. Blue". His teeth look fake.
17A: Young __: UNS. Is this L'il Abner talk?
20A: Medical suffix: ITIS
23A: Stand at attention: SNAP TO
27A: Wall St. trader: ARB (Arbitrager). What exactly is a arbitrager? Is he part of the hedge fund mess?
28A: Final: Abbr.: ULT
29A: Close-at-hand: IN STORE
33A: Point of view: ANGLE. Slant has 5 letters too.
36A: Cádiz cat: GATO. No idea. It's CHAT in French. I don't speak Spanish. Cat in Chinese is MAO, same spelling but different tone than the Mao in Mao Ze-dong. Mandarin Chinese has 4 tones: flat, rising, falling then rising, and falling.
38A: '50 campaign monogram: AES. Ah, just mentioned yesterday that the E stands for Ewing. He did have an affair with Lauren Bacall, didn't he?
43A: Stowe girl: EVA. I forgot. Saw this clue before. The girl in "Uncle Tom's Cabin".
44A: Hurt: PAIN. And THROE (7D: Severe pang).
45A: Healthy-looking: RUDDY. Ruddy? I really think Rory McIlroy looks like Tony Blair.
46A: Cow country sights: RANCHES
49A: Crooner's asset: EAR
50A: Soft & __: deodorant: DRI. I wonder who will be the first constructor to clue DRI as "Female yak".
57A: Increasing: UPPING
60A: Certain presentee: DEB. Tough one for me. The surrounds provided me with no help.
61A: Old Mercury model: LYNX. No idea. How old? Our local WNBA team is called Minnesota LYNX.
65A: Cool air feature: NIP
66A: Swing era bandleader Cates: OPIE. Which one is he? The only OPIE I know is the "Mayberry boy".
67A: Egyptian god: AMEN RA. Or AMUN RA. See the upper left corner hieroglyph. I am used to seeing only the single AMEN/AMUN. Did anyone think of Osiris?
68A: Windy City "L" runner: CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). This *TA ofen stumps me.
69A: Steamy: SEXY. And GRASP (36D: Get). Is this S & S, G & G repetition on purpose? Does it make the fill peppy in your view?
70A: __ à trois: MENAGE. Reminded me of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". What popped into your mind?
71A: Angry, with "up": HET. Crossword word. I've never used this phrase in my daily conversation.
Down:
1D: Witticism: SQUIB. New definition of SQUIB to me. I wanted BON MOT, but it did not fit.
2D: "Roots" hero: KUNTA. I saw one episode when KUNTA Kinte said the grits/dummy. Can't remember the exact lines.
4D: "Very funny" station: TBS. "We know drama" is TNT.
5D: Family-style Asian dish: HOT POT. Very popular winter food in China. The funny thing is that people seldom make HOT POT at home. Too much work.
6D: American Greetings "mailing": E-CARD
8D: Disgusted cry: ACK. I often use Ugh.
9D: Soft spots: BOGS. Another tricky clue. The swampy BOGS are indeed soft.
10D: Haydn contemporary: MOZART. Pure guess. I don't know those two are contemporaries.
11D: Medical office accessory: CLIP BOARD. Did not come to me immediately.
12D: Isn't wrong?: AIN'T. I like this clue.
13D: Canceled: NO-GO
19D: Literary miscellanea: ANAS
21D: Move stealthily: SKULK
25D: Pitch indicator: CLEF. The musical staff. Not baseball.
26D: Nonviolent protest: SIT-IN. Tiananmen Square Incident started with peaceful mass SIT-IN.
31D: Like Gen. Schwarzkopf: RETD. Oh, I have a question: Can you un-retire a general? For example, can General Shinseki be reinstalled into his previous Chief of Staff of Army post, since he was forced to retire?
32D: Swedish actress Persson: ESSY. No idea. I tried, Google asked me "Did you mean Person Essay"? Only one line entry in Wikipedia. So I guess she is not that famous.
33D: Imitator: APER. Another crossword word.
34D: St. Petersburg's river: NEVA. It's clued as "River to the Gulf of Finland" last time. Wikipedia says it's the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge, after the Volga and Danube.
35D: Formula One race: GRAND PRIX
37D: Chartres chum: AMI. Another alliteration. See this tiny map. Chartres is to the southwest of Paris. Unknown to me.
40D: "I __ you liked your drink", sez Gunga Din": 'OPE. Was this a gimme to you? I've never heard of this Rudyard Kipling poem.
41D: Attractive force: Abbr.: GRAV. Gravity.
42D: Kind of comprehension: AURAL. No idea. The only "Kind of comprehension" I am familiar with is reading.
47D: "Holy cow": CRIKEY
48D: Rear: HIND
49D: "La Dolce Vita" actress: EKBERG (Anita). Sigh, I could only picture how she looks in the movie. Could not remember her name.
52D: Pitch specialists?: AD MEN. Great clue.
53D: Madrid monarch: REINA. Spanish for queen. REY is king.
54D: "Mulholland Drive" director: LYNCH (David). He often talks about Transcental Meditation and the incredible "bliss" the practice brings to him. I tried once, and I simply could not concentrate.
55D: Get together: UNITE
56D: Politcal outcast: EXPAT. Really? I am a Chinese EXPAT living in the US, but I am not a "Political outcast".
57D: Sci-fi hoverers: UFOS
58D: Castel Gandolfo resident: POPE. Had no idea that Castel Gandolfo is the summer residence of the POPE. Wikipedia says it's 30km south-east of Rome.
59D: Largest of the Marianas: GUAM. "Where America's Day Begins".
63D: Fr. title: MME. "Sp. title" equivalent is SRA. I penned in STE first.
64D: MS. enclosure: SAE (Self-addressed Envelope). Baseball players will not sign your cards if you don't enclose a SAE. Politicians don't care. I guess their postage is paid by the taxpayers.
Answer Grid.
C.C.
18A: Sightseeing at The Steppes?: STARK GAZING (Star Gazing)
24A: Dogs' communication systems?: BARK CODE (Bar Code)
39A: Creative executive compensation techniques?: PERK FORMING ARTS (Performing Arts)
51A: Price for the village green?: PARK VALUE (Par Value)
62A: Ones who never know what to use for their salad?: FORK DUMMIES (For Dummies)
Ah, finally an offering from our editor Rich Norris himself. Nora Pearlstone is his alias name, anagram of "Not a real person". Of this list, I like Gia Christian the most (anagram of "Again, it's Rich"). How about you?
It seems that every Friday we have a wordplay puzzle. On March 27, it's PRE prefix. Then last Friday we had an IR-RI-tating IR to RI transformation grid.
Hard struggle this morning. I think I can only handle Monday to Wednesday LA Times. Lots of wite-out. I wrote down RABIN for 3D: Co-Nobelist Arafat (YASIR) immediately. And I thought I was smart. Then I did not know "What's up?" (1A: SKY). What a simple yet tricky clue! Can you picture the V-8 prints on my forehead?
Besides SKY, I also love the clue for NON (30D: Nice way to beg off?). Nice refers to the French city. Can you think of a better way to clue QUA (14A: Sine __ non)? I know one is Latin, one is French, but I still don't like the repetition.
Across:
4A: It may be split at lunch: THE TAB. Nice to see THE as part of an answer.
10A: Big name in shoes: MCAN. Learned several months ago that the brand was named after some Scottish golfer named Thomas McCann. Rory McIlroy, the next Tiger Woods (or possibly just a Sergio Garcia as Lemonade said), shot 72 yesterday. I think he is a more exciting RORY clue than "Golfer Sabbatini".
15A: "L.A. Law" co-creator: BOCHCO (Steven). Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he is also the co-creator of "Hill Streets Blue" & "N.Y.P.D. Blue". His teeth look fake.
17A: Young __: UNS. Is this L'il Abner talk?
20A: Medical suffix: ITIS
23A: Stand at attention: SNAP TO
27A: Wall St. trader: ARB (Arbitrager). What exactly is a arbitrager? Is he part of the hedge fund mess?
28A: Final: Abbr.: ULT
29A: Close-at-hand: IN STORE
33A: Point of view: ANGLE. Slant has 5 letters too.
36A: Cádiz cat: GATO. No idea. It's CHAT in French. I don't speak Spanish. Cat in Chinese is MAO, same spelling but different tone than the Mao in Mao Ze-dong. Mandarin Chinese has 4 tones: flat, rising, falling then rising, and falling.
38A: '50 campaign monogram: AES. Ah, just mentioned yesterday that the E stands for Ewing. He did have an affair with Lauren Bacall, didn't he?
43A: Stowe girl: EVA. I forgot. Saw this clue before. The girl in "Uncle Tom's Cabin".
44A: Hurt: PAIN. And THROE (7D: Severe pang).
45A: Healthy-looking: RUDDY. Ruddy? I really think Rory McIlroy looks like Tony Blair.
46A: Cow country sights: RANCHES
49A: Crooner's asset: EAR
50A: Soft & __: deodorant: DRI. I wonder who will be the first constructor to clue DRI as "Female yak".
57A: Increasing: UPPING
60A: Certain presentee: DEB. Tough one for me. The surrounds provided me with no help.
61A: Old Mercury model: LYNX. No idea. How old? Our local WNBA team is called Minnesota LYNX.
65A: Cool air feature: NIP
66A: Swing era bandleader Cates: OPIE. Which one is he? The only OPIE I know is the "Mayberry boy".
67A: Egyptian god: AMEN RA. Or AMUN RA. See the upper left corner hieroglyph. I am used to seeing only the single AMEN/AMUN. Did anyone think of Osiris?
68A: Windy City "L" runner: CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). This *TA ofen stumps me.
69A: Steamy: SEXY. And GRASP (36D: Get). Is this S & S, G & G repetition on purpose? Does it make the fill peppy in your view?
70A: __ à trois: MENAGE. Reminded me of "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". What popped into your mind?
71A: Angry, with "up": HET. Crossword word. I've never used this phrase in my daily conversation.
Down:
1D: Witticism: SQUIB. New definition of SQUIB to me. I wanted BON MOT, but it did not fit.
2D: "Roots" hero: KUNTA. I saw one episode when KUNTA Kinte said the grits/dummy. Can't remember the exact lines.
4D: "Very funny" station: TBS. "We know drama" is TNT.
5D: Family-style Asian dish: HOT POT. Very popular winter food in China. The funny thing is that people seldom make HOT POT at home. Too much work.
6D: American Greetings "mailing": E-CARD
8D: Disgusted cry: ACK. I often use Ugh.
9D: Soft spots: BOGS. Another tricky clue. The swampy BOGS are indeed soft.
10D: Haydn contemporary: MOZART. Pure guess. I don't know those two are contemporaries.
11D: Medical office accessory: CLIP BOARD. Did not come to me immediately.
12D: Isn't wrong?: AIN'T. I like this clue.
13D: Canceled: NO-GO
19D: Literary miscellanea: ANAS
21D: Move stealthily: SKULK
25D: Pitch indicator: CLEF. The musical staff. Not baseball.
26D: Nonviolent protest: SIT-IN. Tiananmen Square Incident started with peaceful mass SIT-IN.
31D: Like Gen. Schwarzkopf: RETD. Oh, I have a question: Can you un-retire a general? For example, can General Shinseki be reinstalled into his previous Chief of Staff of Army post, since he was forced to retire?
32D: Swedish actress Persson: ESSY. No idea. I tried, Google asked me "Did you mean Person Essay"? Only one line entry in Wikipedia. So I guess she is not that famous.
33D: Imitator: APER. Another crossword word.
34D: St. Petersburg's river: NEVA. It's clued as "River to the Gulf of Finland" last time. Wikipedia says it's the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge, after the Volga and Danube.
35D: Formula One race: GRAND PRIX
37D: Chartres chum: AMI. Another alliteration. See this tiny map. Chartres is to the southwest of Paris. Unknown to me.
40D: "I __ you liked your drink", sez Gunga Din": 'OPE. Was this a gimme to you? I've never heard of this Rudyard Kipling poem.
41D: Attractive force: Abbr.: GRAV. Gravity.
42D: Kind of comprehension: AURAL. No idea. The only "Kind of comprehension" I am familiar with is reading.
47D: "Holy cow": CRIKEY
48D: Rear: HIND
49D: "La Dolce Vita" actress: EKBERG (Anita). Sigh, I could only picture how she looks in the movie. Could not remember her name.
52D: Pitch specialists?: AD MEN. Great clue.
53D: Madrid monarch: REINA. Spanish for queen. REY is king.
54D: "Mulholland Drive" director: LYNCH (David). He often talks about Transcental Meditation and the incredible "bliss" the practice brings to him. I tried once, and I simply could not concentrate.
55D: Get together: UNITE
56D: Politcal outcast: EXPAT. Really? I am a Chinese EXPAT living in the US, but I am not a "Political outcast".
57D: Sci-fi hoverers: UFOS
58D: Castel Gandolfo resident: POPE. Had no idea that Castel Gandolfo is the summer residence of the POPE. Wikipedia says it's 30km south-east of Rome.
59D: Largest of the Marianas: GUAM. "Where America's Day Begins".
63D: Fr. title: MME. "Sp. title" equivalent is SRA. I penned in STE first.
64D: MS. enclosure: SAE (Self-addressed Envelope). Baseball players will not sign your cards if you don't enclose a SAE. Politicians don't care. I guess their postage is paid by the taxpayers.
Answer Grid.
C.C.
