Theme: B All You Can B
17A: Excellent performance: BANG-UP JOB
29A: Sci. class where many an "Eeuw!" is heard: BIO LAB
46A: Bill for what you drink: BAR TAB
62A: Satan: BEELZEBUB
11D: Betray by bad-mouthing: BACK STAB
39D: Angels or Dodgers: BALL CLUB
Another puzzle from our editor Rich Norris. Gia Christian is his alias name, anagram of "Again It's Rich".
There are total 16 letter B's (NY Times' record is 20) in this puzzle. And 1 Z, 1 J, 1 X and 5 K's. Quite impressive for a Monday puzzle.
I've never heard of BANG-UP referred to as "excellent". Argyle said the related words are: bully (?), corking (?), cracking, dandy and great.
My favorite fill today: KIBITZ (41D: Be a nuisance at the card game). I just learned this word a few weeks ago and I was able to nail it in one try. Quality word, very scrabbly.
Argyle co-blogged today's post with me. He will blog here alone next Monday.
Across:
5A: Beatnik's "I understood": I DIG. Whom exactly does a beatnik refer to?
9A: "I goofed": MY BAD. Can you imagine Shakespeare saying "MY BAD" to Anne Hathaway?
15A: The Beatles' "Love __": ME DO. Here is the clip.
16A: Italian violin maker: AMATI. Joshua Bell used his expensive STRAD for the famous subway incognito performance. Antonio Stradivari is a student of Nicolo AMATI.
19A: Big name in precision blades: X-ACTO. New brand name to me. Argyle said it's used by model makers everywhere.
20A: Dangerous household gas: RADON. Dictionary says it can cause lung cancer.
21A: Perp's excuse: ALIBI. Argyle is not OK with this clue.
23A: Author Kesey: KEN. He wrote "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
24A: Winter fisherman's tool: ICE SAW. Is it electric? (Argyle said: bar, auger, yes. Saw, no. Saws are used to harvest ice blocks.)
26A: Out of kilter: AMISS
33A: Germany's von Bismarck: OTTO. He originated "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made." Just learned the other day that OTTO has a "Wealth/Rich" root in German.
41A: Skewered meal: KABOB. Have never used KABOB alone. Always shish KABOB.
47A: Concorde, e.g.: SST. SuperSonic Transport. It's clued as "By gone boomers" in a NYT puzzle in March.
50A: Academy trainee: PLEBE. First year student. Thought of CADET first.
54A: The Big Apple, initially: NYC
55A: Eurasian range: URALS. The mountain range between Asia and Europe.
59A: Flourless cake: TORTE. This TORTE does have flour.
60A: Conger catcher. EELER. Rather ugly.
64A: Handles roughly: MAULS
66A: Old Bologna bucks: LIRE. Or LIRA.
67A: Round trip?: ORBIT. Great clue.
68A: Revue component: SKIT
Down:
1D: Rubble: DEBRIS
2D: Newton and Stern: ISAACS. A mathematician/physicist and a Jewish violin virtuoso.
3D: Smoothing tool: SANDER. Have never seen a SANDER in person.
4D: Science fiction award: HUGOS. Named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stores, according to Wikipeida. And the awards have been presented since 1955. See HUGO Awards logo. It has a rocket.
5D: Babysitter's handful: IMP. Little Beelzebub? I was thing of TOY.
6D: __ vu: DEJA. Opposite of "jamais vu". And the last vu is "presque vu".
8D: Desert largely in Mongolia: GOBI. True. It has a large presence inside China too (the Inner Mongolia autonomous region). We call GOBI Desert as "Gebi Shamo". Shamo is literally "desert" in Chinese.
9D: A stitch in time..." is one: MAXIM
10D: Vocalist Sumac: YMA. Just learned that her stage name means "beautiful flower/girl".
12D: Vouch for: ATTEST TO
13D: Singer Celine: DION. I like "The Power of Love".
18D: Lacking what it takes: UNABLE
22D: Eater of puréed peas: BABY
25D: Nintendo game system: WII. It competes with Microsoft's Xbox360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, according to Wikipedia.
27D: Dubuque native: IOWAN. Got the answer. Don't understand why the constructor singles out Dubuque.
32D: Put on __: pretend: AN ACT
34D: Tout's hangout, briefly: OTB (Off-Track Betting)
35D: Eagle's nest: AERIE. 80% vowels in this word.
38D: 2012 is the next one: LEAP YEAR
43D: "Ten-four" speaker: CBER. "Ten-four" is OK in CB talk.
44D: "Krazy" comics feline: KAT. That KAT was a real kard.
47D: Belgrade's country: SERBIA. Kosovo is part of SERBIA, isn't it?
48D: Ringed planet: SATURN. Ringed indeed.
49D: Host who expects you to answer his answer: TREBEK (Alex). This is Jeopardy!
51D: Explode: BURST
53D: Carols: NOELS
54D: Verne captain: NEMO. Has anyone read Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea"?
56D: First grade basics: ABCS
57D: Faucet problem: LEAK
58D: 18-wheeler: SEMI
61D: Connecticut Ivy Leaguer: ELI. Yale University is founded by Eli Yale.
Answer grid.
Arygle & C.C.
17A: Excellent performance: BANG-UP JOB
29A: Sci. class where many an "Eeuw!" is heard: BIO LAB
46A: Bill for what you drink: BAR TAB
62A: Satan: BEELZEBUB
11D: Betray by bad-mouthing: BACK STAB
39D: Angels or Dodgers: BALL CLUB
Another puzzle from our editor Rich Norris. Gia Christian is his alias name, anagram of "Again It's Rich".
There are total 16 letter B's (NY Times' record is 20) in this puzzle. And 1 Z, 1 J, 1 X and 5 K's. Quite impressive for a Monday puzzle.
I've never heard of BANG-UP referred to as "excellent". Argyle said the related words are: bully (?), corking (?), cracking, dandy and great.
My favorite fill today: KIBITZ (41D: Be a nuisance at the card game). I just learned this word a few weeks ago and I was able to nail it in one try. Quality word, very scrabbly.
Argyle co-blogged today's post with me. He will blog here alone next Monday.
Across:
5A: Beatnik's "I understood": I DIG. Whom exactly does a beatnik refer to?
9A: "I goofed": MY BAD. Can you imagine Shakespeare saying "MY BAD" to Anne Hathaway?
15A: The Beatles' "Love __": ME DO. Here is the clip.
16A: Italian violin maker: AMATI. Joshua Bell used his expensive STRAD for the famous subway incognito performance. Antonio Stradivari is a student of Nicolo AMATI.
19A: Big name in precision blades: X-ACTO. New brand name to me. Argyle said it's used by model makers everywhere.
20A: Dangerous household gas: RADON. Dictionary says it can cause lung cancer.
21A: Perp's excuse: ALIBI. Argyle is not OK with this clue.
23A: Author Kesey: KEN. He wrote "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest".
24A: Winter fisherman's tool: ICE SAW. Is it electric? (Argyle said: bar, auger, yes. Saw, no. Saws are used to harvest ice blocks.)
26A: Out of kilter: AMISS
33A: Germany's von Bismarck: OTTO. He originated "Laws are like sausages, it is better not to see them being made." Just learned the other day that OTTO has a "Wealth/Rich" root in German.
41A: Skewered meal: KABOB. Have never used KABOB alone. Always shish KABOB.
47A: Concorde, e.g.: SST. SuperSonic Transport. It's clued as "By gone boomers" in a NYT puzzle in March.
50A: Academy trainee: PLEBE. First year student. Thought of CADET first.
54A: The Big Apple, initially: NYC
55A: Eurasian range: URALS. The mountain range between Asia and Europe.
59A: Flourless cake: TORTE. This TORTE does have flour.
60A: Conger catcher. EELER. Rather ugly.
64A: Handles roughly: MAULS
66A: Old Bologna bucks: LIRE. Or LIRA.
67A: Round trip?: ORBIT. Great clue.
68A: Revue component: SKIT
Down:
1D: Rubble: DEBRIS
2D: Newton and Stern: ISAACS. A mathematician/physicist and a Jewish violin virtuoso.
3D: Smoothing tool: SANDER. Have never seen a SANDER in person.
4D: Science fiction award: HUGOS. Named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stores, according to Wikipeida. And the awards have been presented since 1955. See HUGO Awards logo. It has a rocket.
5D: Babysitter's handful: IMP. Little Beelzebub? I was thing of TOY.
6D: __ vu: DEJA. Opposite of "jamais vu". And the last vu is "presque vu".
8D: Desert largely in Mongolia: GOBI. True. It has a large presence inside China too (the Inner Mongolia autonomous region). We call GOBI Desert as "Gebi Shamo". Shamo is literally "desert" in Chinese.
9D: A stitch in time..." is one: MAXIM
10D: Vocalist Sumac: YMA. Just learned that her stage name means "beautiful flower/girl".
12D: Vouch for: ATTEST TO
13D: Singer Celine: DION. I like "The Power of Love".
18D: Lacking what it takes: UNABLE
22D: Eater of puréed peas: BABY
25D: Nintendo game system: WII. It competes with Microsoft's Xbox360 and Sony's PlayStation 3, according to Wikipedia.
27D: Dubuque native: IOWAN. Got the answer. Don't understand why the constructor singles out Dubuque.
32D: Put on __: pretend: AN ACT
34D: Tout's hangout, briefly: OTB (Off-Track Betting)
35D: Eagle's nest: AERIE. 80% vowels in this word.
38D: 2012 is the next one: LEAP YEAR
43D: "Ten-four" speaker: CBER. "Ten-four" is OK in CB talk.
44D: "Krazy" comics feline: KAT. That KAT was a real kard.
47D: Belgrade's country: SERBIA. Kosovo is part of SERBIA, isn't it?
48D: Ringed planet: SATURN. Ringed indeed.
49D: Host who expects you to answer his answer: TREBEK (Alex). This is Jeopardy!
51D: Explode: BURST
53D: Carols: NOELS
54D: Verne captain: NEMO. Has anyone read Verne's "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea"?
56D: First grade basics: ABCS
57D: Faucet problem: LEAK
58D: 18-wheeler: SEMI
61D: Connecticut Ivy Leaguer: ELI. Yale University is founded by Eli Yale.
Answer grid.
Arygle & C.C.
