Theme: They R Different
17A: 11:00a.m. restaurant patrons?: BRUNCH BUNCH
29A: Fraternity nerd?: GREEK GEEK
39A: Advice from the auto club?: TRIP TIP
48A: Whimsical Barbie?: DROLL DOLL
63A: Quite small-minded?: PRETTY PETTY
The first three pairs rhyme. The last two don't. Adding one letter R is like adding a stroke to a Chinese character, the meaning and the pronunciation of the word can change dramatically. The same with letter L: FLAIR, FAIR; FLOUR, FOUR; GLUT, GUT, etc.
I like seeing REAR (23A: Caboose's place) & END (36A: Caboose's place) with the same clue. The same with EVEN (37A: Deadlocked) and TIED (52A: Deadlocked). Nice pair.
My favorite clue today is TAR (66A: Seasoned salt?). Of all the slang for sailor, gob is the strangest. But I learned yesterday that gob is actually short for gobshite, old English for wad of spit chewing tobacco or tobacco juice. I don't know, maybe sailors like chewing tobacco?
The STUD clue (58D: It may be ear-piercing) is cute too. I used to think all STUD earrings are penetrative, then Argyle found some clip-on STUD earrings on internet. So "may be" here is quite accurate.
Oh I got several questions regarding Dan Feyer's best time. Dan said his paper record is 1:56 for Monday March 9, 2009 NYT puzzle. And his online record (Across Lite) is 1:17 for an old NYT. Do you think he will break 1 minute threshold?
Across:
1A: E-junk: SPAM. Wikipedia says Rolex and Viagra-type drugs are two common products advertised in SPAM e-mail.
5A: Honshu port: OSAKA. Literally "large hill" or "large slope". Its Japanese Kanji and Chinese characters are the same, both are 大阪市. I did not know it's so close to Kyoto.
10A: No.-crunching pro: CPA
13A: Shakespearean betrayer: IAGO. The villain in "Othello".
14A: Fancy calligraphy strokes: SERIFS. I would not call SERIFS fancy. These calligraphy strokes are fancy. Does Chinese word "love" look complicated to you?
20A: Ocean color: SEA GREEN
21A: Em and Bee: AUNTS. Another famous one is Aunt Jemima.
34A: Ace the exam: NAIL IT
38A: Banned bug killer: DDT. Banned in the US in 1972. I think we still used it on apple orchard in 1980's.
45A: Big oaf: APE. This reminds me of my babu (baboo) and baboon confusion. I always thought Seinfeld calls the Indian immigrant Baboon.
46A: Crocodile hunter of film: DUNDEE. Learned this film from doing Xword.
58A: Answer: SOLUTION
62A: "__ said it": YOU. I wanted I'VE.
67A: Patriot Adams: SAMUEL. Why emphasizes "Patriot" here?
68A: Organ knob: STOP
Down:
3D: Juanita's water: AGUA. Shui, in Chinese. Like Feng Shui. Feng is literally "wind".
4D: Mutt: MONGREL
5D: __Jackson: rapper Ice Cube's birth name: O'SHEA. No idea. Only know him as Ice Cube. O'SHEA is often clued as "Actor Milo". Ice-T's original name is Tracy Marrow, which appeared in our TMS Daily before.
6D: Jean of "Saint Joan": SEBERG. Unknown to me also. Wikipedia says Jean SEBERG had an affair with Clint Eastwood while shooting "Paint Your Wagon".
7D: Make __ for it: A RUN
9D: Org. with Patriots and Jets: AFC. The answer emerged after I filled in the across. I don't know which teams are AFC, which are NFC. Most of the time I just fill in NFL.
11D: Animal hide: PELT
15D: Predatory lender: SHARK. Hmm, no California hockey reference here. Too bad, JD, maybe Rich Norries does not like San Jose Sharks.
18D: Plastic, so to speak: CREDIT. Good clue.
24D: Out of shape?: BENT. I like this clue too.
26D: Like most movie rentals: ON DVD
28D: Explosive stuff, briefly: NITRO (Nitroglycerin). Always thought NITRO is a complete word itself.
32D: Went sniggling: EELED. Koreans men eat eels for "stamina". Vietnamese men drink snake blood for "stamina". Weird, isnt it? Snakes and eels actually look quite similiar.
33D: Patched pants parts: KNEES. I like the alliteration in the clue.
35D: Livelihood: TRADE
40D: Product with earbuds: iPOD. Use mine mainly for NPR podcast.
41D: Upper body strengthener: PUSH-UP
44D: Crunchy sandwiches: BLTS. Have never had a BLT in my life. Can't get used to the mayonnaise taste.
49D: Speaks like Daffy: LISPS
60D: Plains native: OTOE. The "Plains" here refers to "The Great Plains", right?
61D: Big Apple enforcement org.: NYPD. Reminds me of "NYPD Blue" and crossword stalwart ESAI Morales.
64D: It's used for battering: RAM. The long pole in the middle? Vaguely remember someone explained battering RAM to me before.
65D: Flightless bird: EMU. Dennis just mentioned at the Comments section that EMU can't walk backward. Nor can kangaroo. Both are in Australia's coat of arms. They signify Australia's "Forward with Pride" spirit.
Answer grid.
C.C.
17A: 11:00a.m. restaurant patrons?: BRUNCH BUNCH
29A: Fraternity nerd?: GREEK GEEK
39A: Advice from the auto club?: TRIP TIP
48A: Whimsical Barbie?: DROLL DOLL
63A: Quite small-minded?: PRETTY PETTY
The first three pairs rhyme. The last two don't. Adding one letter R is like adding a stroke to a Chinese character, the meaning and the pronunciation of the word can change dramatically. The same with letter L: FLAIR, FAIR; FLOUR, FOUR; GLUT, GUT, etc.
I like seeing REAR (23A: Caboose's place) & END (36A: Caboose's place) with the same clue. The same with EVEN (37A: Deadlocked) and TIED (52A: Deadlocked). Nice pair.
My favorite clue today is TAR (66A: Seasoned salt?). Of all the slang for sailor, gob is the strangest. But I learned yesterday that gob is actually short for gobshite, old English for wad of spit chewing tobacco or tobacco juice. I don't know, maybe sailors like chewing tobacco?
The STUD clue (58D: It may be ear-piercing) is cute too. I used to think all STUD earrings are penetrative, then Argyle found some clip-on STUD earrings on internet. So "may be" here is quite accurate.
Oh I got several questions regarding Dan Feyer's best time. Dan said his paper record is 1:56 for Monday March 9, 2009 NYT puzzle. And his online record (Across Lite) is 1:17 for an old NYT. Do you think he will break 1 minute threshold?
Across:
1A: E-junk: SPAM. Wikipedia says Rolex and Viagra-type drugs are two common products advertised in SPAM e-mail.
5A: Honshu port: OSAKA. Literally "large hill" or "large slope". Its Japanese Kanji and Chinese characters are the same, both are 大阪市. I did not know it's so close to Kyoto.
10A: No.-crunching pro: CPA
13A: Shakespearean betrayer: IAGO. The villain in "Othello".
14A: Fancy calligraphy strokes: SERIFS. I would not call SERIFS fancy. These calligraphy strokes are fancy. Does Chinese word "love" look complicated to you?
20A: Ocean color: SEA GREEN
21A: Em and Bee: AUNTS. Another famous one is Aunt Jemima.
34A: Ace the exam: NAIL IT
38A: Banned bug killer: DDT. Banned in the US in 1972. I think we still used it on apple orchard in 1980's.
45A: Big oaf: APE. This reminds me of my babu (baboo) and baboon confusion. I always thought Seinfeld calls the Indian immigrant Baboon.
46A: Crocodile hunter of film: DUNDEE. Learned this film from doing Xword.
58A: Answer: SOLUTION
62A: "__ said it": YOU. I wanted I'VE.
67A: Patriot Adams: SAMUEL. Why emphasizes "Patriot" here?
68A: Organ knob: STOP
Down:
3D: Juanita's water: AGUA. Shui, in Chinese. Like Feng Shui. Feng is literally "wind".
4D: Mutt: MONGREL
5D: __Jackson: rapper Ice Cube's birth name: O'SHEA. No idea. Only know him as Ice Cube. O'SHEA is often clued as "Actor Milo". Ice-T's original name is Tracy Marrow, which appeared in our TMS Daily before.
6D: Jean of "Saint Joan": SEBERG. Unknown to me also. Wikipedia says Jean SEBERG had an affair with Clint Eastwood while shooting "Paint Your Wagon".
7D: Make __ for it: A RUN
9D: Org. with Patriots and Jets: AFC. The answer emerged after I filled in the across. I don't know which teams are AFC, which are NFC. Most of the time I just fill in NFL.
11D: Animal hide: PELT
15D: Predatory lender: SHARK. Hmm, no California hockey reference here. Too bad, JD, maybe Rich Norries does not like San Jose Sharks.
18D: Plastic, so to speak: CREDIT. Good clue.
24D: Out of shape?: BENT. I like this clue too.
26D: Like most movie rentals: ON DVD
28D: Explosive stuff, briefly: NITRO (Nitroglycerin). Always thought NITRO is a complete word itself.
32D: Went sniggling: EELED. Koreans men eat eels for "stamina". Vietnamese men drink snake blood for "stamina". Weird, isnt it? Snakes and eels actually look quite similiar.
33D: Patched pants parts: KNEES. I like the alliteration in the clue.
35D: Livelihood: TRADE
40D: Product with earbuds: iPOD. Use mine mainly for NPR podcast.
41D: Upper body strengthener: PUSH-UP
44D: Crunchy sandwiches: BLTS. Have never had a BLT in my life. Can't get used to the mayonnaise taste.
49D: Speaks like Daffy: LISPS
60D: Plains native: OTOE. The "Plains" here refers to "The Great Plains", right?
61D: Big Apple enforcement org.: NYPD. Reminds me of "NYPD Blue" and crossword stalwart ESAI Morales.
64D: It's used for battering: RAM. The long pole in the middle? Vaguely remember someone explained battering RAM to me before.
65D: Flightless bird: EMU. Dennis just mentioned at the Comments section that EMU can't walk backward. Nor can kangaroo. Both are in Australia's coat of arms. They signify Australia's "Forward with Pride" spirit.
Answer grid.
C.C.
