Theme: GALLERY (43D: Anagram of 54-Across's ending that can follow the first word of 20-, 30-, 40-, and 54-Across)
20A: "Kids Say the Darndest Things!" author: ART LINKLETTER
33A: Congressional bone of contention: NATIONAL DEBT
40A: Decide to prosecute: PRESS CHARGES
54A: Food reaction shared by about 3 million Americans: PEANUT ALLERGY
Does NATIONAL GALLERY refer to National Gallery of Art? I did not know that the place occupied by those press corps is called PRESS GALLERY. Always thought it's just press room or press briefing room. Wikipedia says US Senate established its first PRESS GALLERY in 1841. And the White House did not designate a press room until 1902.
PEANUT ALLERGY is a very creative theme entry, with the anagram ending and a word that can precede GALLERY. Peanut is actually not a nut. It belongs to the legume family. I vaguely remember a teenager died after kissing her boyfriend who had been eating peanut butter. Milk, egg and wheat can be life-threatening to some. Many don't tolerate soy/fish/shellfish and other tree nuts. Those eight food account for about 90% of all food allergies.
Once I had a tuna sandwich and I reacted severely. The doctor could not tell whether it's the tuna or wheat that caused my problem.
Smooth sailing this morning. I think I like puzzles with a simple 4 theme entries. Dan Naddor's heavy themage puzzles are awe-inspiring. But they overwhelm me. I guess they are for advanced solvers. This constructor Mike Peluso seems to be fond of word preceding/following theme pattern. Remember his last CAPE grid?
Across:
1A: Underworld VIPS: DONS. I was thinking of Hades' underworld, not the criminal mafia's underworld. I like how it crosses OMERTA (2D: Last book in Puzo's "Godfather" trilogy). The trilogy consists of "The Godfather", "The Last Don" and "OMERTA" (published after he died.) OMERTA, of course, is also the Mafia code of silence. I also like Puzo's "The Sicilian". So good. It's regarded by some as the literary sequel of "The Godfather".
5A: Bench warms: B TEAM
14A: Radiate: EMIT. Thought of BEAM first.
15A: Emmy winner on her 19th try: LUCCI (Susan). She looks very pretty. Beautiful skin. She said she snacks on sardine, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. I don't buy her secret though. I tried, it did not work on me.
16A: Guadalajara bread: PESO. Bread is slang for money. I don't think it can fool anyone any more.
17A: City on the Truckee: RENO. I kind of like the "Splitville" clue in our puzzle last time.
23A: "In my opinion...": I THINK. Descartes actually wrote "Je pense donc je suis" before he stated the Latin "cogito ergo sum".
24A: Raise canines?: TEETHE. I was trapped by "canines" again.
28A: Well-bred: GENTEEL. Like Jackie. She did not think "there are any men who are faithful to their wives". I bet every man has been unfaithful to their wife at some time. No? Have you always been faithful to your wife?
32A: Pirate's quaff: RUM. Oh, is it pirate's preferred drink? Not ALE?
38A: Clock-setting std.: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).
39A: Tracy's Trueheart: TESS. Learned from doing Xword. I like her surname Trueheart, I also like Ada Lovelace.
46A: Uncomfortable spot: HOT SEAT. Aren't you glad you are not A-Rod right now?
49A: Busy pro in April: CPA. I think Doug Peterson is a CPA.
50A: "Boston Legal" actor: SPADER (James). I like him in "The Pentagon Papers".
52A: Atoll encloser: LAGOON. Wikipedia says the word atoll was popularized by Charles Darwin.
58A: Phoenix suburb: MESA. Did you know MESA was founded by Mormon pioneers?
60A: Suffix with hippo-: DROME. Hippodrome is a new word to me. Hippo is from Greek, meaning "horse", like Latin prefix "equi" I suppose. DROME is a combining form meaning “running,” “course,” “racecourse”, says Dictionary.com.
61A: Mower-making giant: TORO. It's based here in MN.
63A: Western: OATER. Occident popped into my mind immediately.
64A: Shortly: ANON. Archaic word, right?
Down:
1D: Foil, as a plan: DERAIL
3D: Jazzy intervals: NINTHS. New definition to me. I only knew the baseball NINTH inning.
4D: Popular vodka, familiarly: STOLI. I've never had STOLI, have you? How about some CORONA (47D: Beer served with a lime)?
5D: Pancake, when holding a sausage: BLANKET. Pig in a BLANKET. Learned this food from Dr. Dad a year ago. This is Cantonese style. The sausage is sweet, so is the bun.
6D: Plastic surgery procedure: TUCK. The answer revealed itself. I've never heard of tummy TUCK or any other TUCK surgery.
7D: Green sci.: ECOL (Ecology)
9D: Herbal beverage: MINT TEA
10D: Binge: SPREE
11D: Partridge's home: PEAR TREE. My husband writes "The Twelve Day of Christmas" for his bowling column every year. I've never been amused. I don't know. Many times I don't understand the fun.
13D: Barber's challenge: MOP. No idea. Why challenge? Hard to cut?
25D: O'Hare and JFK: HUBS
26D: Initial response team, initially : EMTS. Needs "briefly" as hint. (Note: My bad. I did not notice "initially" earlier).
29D: When bats fly: NIGHT. I always want to add a prepositon (at) to this kind of fill.
30D: Inquisitor __ de Torquemada: TOMAS. No idea. Wikipedia says this guy spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition. TOMAS is Spanish for Thomas, right?
31D: __nous: ENTRE. "Between us". Debra Ollivier titled her book as ENTRE nous. Quite interesting read.
33D: Bahamas airport code: NAS. No idea. Maybe the rapper NAS knows. It's the code name for Nassau Interntional Airport.
34D: Sot's shake: DTS. DT is Delirium Tremens.
35D: Bldg. units: APTS
36D: Golf lesson subject: GRIP. Just had STANCE the other day. What next? Posture? Here are some simple tips on GRIP. It's actually not that easy to have a light grip pressure.
37D: Gets worse after getting better: RELAPSES
41D: Old Mets home: SHEA. Mets are now playing at Citi Field now. What's the name of that bridge on their logo? Here is my favorite METS player (Johan Santana).
42D: Deep-fried frank: CORN DOG. Have never had a CORN DOG before.
44D: List ender: ET AL
48D: "Fiddler on the Roof" fear: POGROM. I like "Fiddler on the Roof" a lot.
49D: Memorable repeated question by the economics teacher (played by Ben Stein" in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"): ANYONE. All right, forward to 0:48. Probably the longest clue I've ever seen in a LAT puzzle so far. I like it.
51D: Meted (out): DEALT
53D: Insinuate: GET AT. New phrase to me.
55D: River to the Caspian: URAL. See this map. The one on the right is the shrinking Aral Sea.
56D: Dorothy's dog: TOTO. Surprising. "The Wizard of Oz" is listed as #3 Top Musicals in Ameria.
57D: NAFTA part: Abbr.: AMER
59D: Outer: Pref.: EXO. "Inner: prefix" is ENTO.
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A: "Kids Say the Darndest Things!" author: ART LINKLETTER
33A: Congressional bone of contention: NATIONAL DEBT
40A: Decide to prosecute: PRESS CHARGES
54A: Food reaction shared by about 3 million Americans: PEANUT ALLERGY
Does NATIONAL GALLERY refer to National Gallery of Art? I did not know that the place occupied by those press corps is called PRESS GALLERY. Always thought it's just press room or press briefing room. Wikipedia says US Senate established its first PRESS GALLERY in 1841. And the White House did not designate a press room until 1902.
PEANUT ALLERGY is a very creative theme entry, with the anagram ending and a word that can precede GALLERY. Peanut is actually not a nut. It belongs to the legume family. I vaguely remember a teenager died after kissing her boyfriend who had been eating peanut butter. Milk, egg and wheat can be life-threatening to some. Many don't tolerate soy/fish/shellfish and other tree nuts. Those eight food account for about 90% of all food allergies.
Once I had a tuna sandwich and I reacted severely. The doctor could not tell whether it's the tuna or wheat that caused my problem.
Smooth sailing this morning. I think I like puzzles with a simple 4 theme entries. Dan Naddor's heavy themage puzzles are awe-inspiring. But they overwhelm me. I guess they are for advanced solvers. This constructor Mike Peluso seems to be fond of word preceding/following theme pattern. Remember his last CAPE grid?
Across:
1A: Underworld VIPS: DONS. I was thinking of Hades' underworld, not the criminal mafia's underworld. I like how it crosses OMERTA (2D: Last book in Puzo's "Godfather" trilogy). The trilogy consists of "The Godfather", "The Last Don" and "OMERTA" (published after he died.) OMERTA, of course, is also the Mafia code of silence. I also like Puzo's "The Sicilian". So good. It's regarded by some as the literary sequel of "The Godfather".
5A: Bench warms: B TEAM
14A: Radiate: EMIT. Thought of BEAM first.
15A: Emmy winner on her 19th try: LUCCI (Susan). She looks very pretty. Beautiful skin. She said she snacks on sardine, which is rich in omega-3 fatty acids. I don't buy her secret though. I tried, it did not work on me.
16A: Guadalajara bread: PESO. Bread is slang for money. I don't think it can fool anyone any more.
17A: City on the Truckee: RENO. I kind of like the "Splitville" clue in our puzzle last time.
23A: "In my opinion...": I THINK. Descartes actually wrote "Je pense donc je suis" before he stated the Latin "cogito ergo sum".
24A: Raise canines?: TEETHE. I was trapped by "canines" again.
28A: Well-bred: GENTEEL. Like Jackie. She did not think "there are any men who are faithful to their wives". I bet every man has been unfaithful to their wife at some time. No? Have you always been faithful to your wife?
32A: Pirate's quaff: RUM. Oh, is it pirate's preferred drink? Not ALE?
38A: Clock-setting std.: GMT (Greenwich Mean Time).
39A: Tracy's Trueheart: TESS. Learned from doing Xword. I like her surname Trueheart, I also like Ada Lovelace.
46A: Uncomfortable spot: HOT SEAT. Aren't you glad you are not A-Rod right now?
49A: Busy pro in April: CPA. I think Doug Peterson is a CPA.
50A: "Boston Legal" actor: SPADER (James). I like him in "The Pentagon Papers".
52A: Atoll encloser: LAGOON. Wikipedia says the word atoll was popularized by Charles Darwin.
58A: Phoenix suburb: MESA. Did you know MESA was founded by Mormon pioneers?
60A: Suffix with hippo-: DROME. Hippodrome is a new word to me. Hippo is from Greek, meaning "horse", like Latin prefix "equi" I suppose. DROME is a combining form meaning “running,” “course,” “racecourse”, says Dictionary.com.
61A: Mower-making giant: TORO. It's based here in MN.
63A: Western: OATER. Occident popped into my mind immediately.
64A: Shortly: ANON. Archaic word, right?
Down:
1D: Foil, as a plan: DERAIL
3D: Jazzy intervals: NINTHS. New definition to me. I only knew the baseball NINTH inning.
4D: Popular vodka, familiarly: STOLI. I've never had STOLI, have you? How about some CORONA (47D: Beer served with a lime)?
5D: Pancake, when holding a sausage: BLANKET. Pig in a BLANKET. Learned this food from Dr. Dad a year ago. This is Cantonese style. The sausage is sweet, so is the bun.
6D: Plastic surgery procedure: TUCK. The answer revealed itself. I've never heard of tummy TUCK or any other TUCK surgery.
7D: Green sci.: ECOL (Ecology)
9D: Herbal beverage: MINT TEA
10D: Binge: SPREE
11D: Partridge's home: PEAR TREE. My husband writes "The Twelve Day of Christmas" for his bowling column every year. I've never been amused. I don't know. Many times I don't understand the fun.
13D: Barber's challenge: MOP. No idea. Why challenge? Hard to cut?
25D: O'Hare and JFK: HUBS
26D: Initial response team, initially : EMTS. Needs "briefly" as hint. (Note: My bad. I did not notice "initially" earlier).
29D: When bats fly: NIGHT. I always want to add a prepositon (at) to this kind of fill.
30D: Inquisitor __ de Torquemada: TOMAS. No idea. Wikipedia says this guy spearheaded the Spanish Inquisition. TOMAS is Spanish for Thomas, right?
31D: __nous: ENTRE. "Between us". Debra Ollivier titled her book as ENTRE nous. Quite interesting read.
33D: Bahamas airport code: NAS. No idea. Maybe the rapper NAS knows. It's the code name for Nassau Interntional Airport.
34D: Sot's shake: DTS. DT is Delirium Tremens.
35D: Bldg. units: APTS
36D: Golf lesson subject: GRIP. Just had STANCE the other day. What next? Posture? Here are some simple tips on GRIP. It's actually not that easy to have a light grip pressure.
37D: Gets worse after getting better: RELAPSES
41D: Old Mets home: SHEA. Mets are now playing at Citi Field now. What's the name of that bridge on their logo? Here is my favorite METS player (Johan Santana).
42D: Deep-fried frank: CORN DOG. Have never had a CORN DOG before.
44D: List ender: ET AL
48D: "Fiddler on the Roof" fear: POGROM. I like "Fiddler on the Roof" a lot.
49D: Memorable repeated question by the economics teacher (played by Ben Stein" in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off"): ANYONE. All right, forward to 0:48. Probably the longest clue I've ever seen in a LAT puzzle so far. I like it.
51D: Meted (out): DEALT
53D: Insinuate: GET AT. New phrase to me.
55D: River to the Caspian: URAL. See this map. The one on the right is the shrinking Aral Sea.
56D: Dorothy's dog: TOTO. Surprising. "The Wizard of Oz" is listed as #3 Top Musicals in Ameria.
57D: NAFTA part: Abbr.: AMER
59D: Outer: Pref.: EXO. "Inner: prefix" is ENTO.
Answer grid.
C.C.
