Theme: Dog-tired
20A: Journalists with specialties: BEAT REPORTERS
33A: Washington Irving title setting: SLEEPY HOLLOW
41A: Dessert topping: WHIPPED CREAM
57A: Title place you "won't come back from," in a 1964 Jan & Dean hit: DEAD MAN'S CURVE
I'm exhausted!
I've never heard of Jan & Dean or their "DEAD MAN'S CURVE". BEAT REPORTERS and CITY DESK (38D: Local news department) brought to mind Watergate. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein started their investigative reporting from Washington Post's CITY DESK.
I am amazed by the expense scandals emerging from the British Parliament. Maybe Heather Brooke had a Deep Throat assisting her along the way as well. She should come back to the US and have a look at our own Congress.
Doug Peterson's Newsday Stumper is always hard. But his themed TMS Daily or LAT is just perfect for me. He likes to use 4 (sometimes 3) theme entries, and synonym theme is quite fascinating and educative, esp for a non-Native English speaker.
Across:
1A: Oil container: DRUM. Wanted TANK.
5A: Golden Arches pork sandwich: McRIB. Have never had McRIB. What's the white stuff? Doesn't look like onion.
14A: 2000s sitcom set in Texas: REBA. Could only think of "Dallas".
15A: Tabriz resident: IRANI. Tabriz is in northwest of Iran. Literally "causing heat to flow" in IRANI language.
16A: Three-sided sails: JIBS. Ah, now I see what a boom really is.
17A: Yankee nickname: A-ROD. He is rumored to be dating Kate Hudson. Madonna is history now.
19A: Sighed line: ALAS
23A: Sweden's neighbor across the Baltic: LATVIA. Its capital city is Riga.
24A: Holiday number: NOEL. "Number" here means song.
25A: Was holding: HAD. I did not get this one immediately. Nor did I get OWNS (36D: Just bought).
29A: IRS employee: AGT. Thought CPA first.
31A: Split: CLEAVE. Root word of cleavage. Disappointed? Well, that's THE cleavage of the election year.
36A: Sea predator: ORCA
39A: Rivière contents: EAU. Water is Shui in Chinese, as in Feng Shui, literally "water-wind".
40A: Chooser's first word: EENY. From "EENY, meeny, miney, mo"? Why racist?
46A: Spendable salary: NET PAY
47A: Bouncers check them: IDS. I misread it as "Bounced check" first. Nice clue.
48A: Sign of a smash: SRO (Standing Room Only). Smash hit. Another great clue.
52A: Green side: PEAS. Side dish. I thought of LEAS first.
55A: Sea surrounding Lemnos: AEGEAN. See this map. Lemnos is directly above the word AEGEAN Sea.
62A: Meir's successor: RABIN. He is succeeded by Begin during his first term.
63A: Eldly: AGED
65A: Damaged layer: OZONE. Damaged? Not damaging?
66A: Bath residue: RING. I was thinking of FOAM/SUDS.
67A: Beatle bride: YOKO. Nice to see YOKO rather than ONO.
68A: Nero at the piano: PETER. I forgot all about this pianist. By the way, what is exactly the instrument Nero was fiddling while Roman burned?
69A: Two gelcaps, e.g.: DOSE
Down:
1D: In a dreary: DRABLY
2D: Study, in a way: REREAD. "In a way", yes.
3D: WWII subs: U-BOATS
4D: Comedy show that once featured "Spy vs. Spy" cartoon: MADTV. No idea. I've never seen MADTV.
5D: Odometer reading: MILEAGE
6D: Cut short: CROP. D'oh, CROP the hair.
7D: Incriminate: RAT ON
8D: Lead-in: INTRO
9D: Gene therapist's field, briefly: BIOTECH. Easy guess. I don't know what a gene therapist does.
10D: Close to closed: AJAR. I like the clue. This puzzle is quite scrabbly.
11D: Sedimentary fuel source: OIL SHALE. I've vaguely heard of SHALE OIL, not OIL SHALE. Wish DRUM (1A: Oil container") were clued differently. Don't like the oil repetition.
12D: Org. with Heat and Thunder: NBA. Only know Miami Heat. Oklahoma City Thunder is new to me. Our Minnesota pro soccer team is called Thunder too.
21D: Muscat moolah: RIAL. Also the moolah in Iran and Yemen.
22D: Cockney greeting: 'ELLO. Letter H is dropped in Cockney accent.
26D: Mary Kay rival: AVON
27D: Damp at dawn: DEWY. These DEWY persimmons need frost to to be sweet.
32D: Type of sch.: ELEM
33D: Seven-time NFL Pro Bowler Warren: SAPP. Nope. Only know #4 Favre guy on his left. Is 99 the highest jersey number in NFL?
37D: Flightless bird: RHEA. Do you know RHEA only has three toes? Ostrich has only two.
43D: Bit of ocular irrigation: EYE DROP
44D: "Lou Grant" star: ED ASNER
45D: "Just __!": A SEC. Repeat offender.
48D: Brasil '66 bandleader Mendes: SERGIO. No idea. The only Mendes I know is Eva Mendes.
49D: Croaking birds: RAVENS
50D: Jumpy: ON EDGE
54D: Dutch shoe: SABOT. Like these?
56D: Keep safe: GUARD
58D: Really big show: EXPO
59D: Musical inspired by Fellini's "8 1/2": NINE. Completely unknown to me. Where is the other 1/2?
60D: Cook with a skillet: FRY. I only use skillet to stir-fry.
61D: Thai language: LAO. LAO is spoken in northern Thailand.
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Bay Area LAT solvers, please write to Katharine Fong (Deputy Managing Editor) of Mercury News if you prefer Rich Norris's LAT puzzles to the current Daily Communter. Her email address is kfong@mercurynews.com and her phone number is 408 278 3448. Thanks, WM.
20A: Journalists with specialties: BEAT REPORTERS
33A: Washington Irving title setting: SLEEPY HOLLOW
41A: Dessert topping: WHIPPED CREAM
57A: Title place you "won't come back from," in a 1964 Jan & Dean hit: DEAD MAN'S CURVE
I'm exhausted!
I've never heard of Jan & Dean or their "DEAD MAN'S CURVE". BEAT REPORTERS and CITY DESK (38D: Local news department) brought to mind Watergate. Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein started their investigative reporting from Washington Post's CITY DESK.
I am amazed by the expense scandals emerging from the British Parliament. Maybe Heather Brooke had a Deep Throat assisting her along the way as well. She should come back to the US and have a look at our own Congress.
Doug Peterson's Newsday Stumper is always hard. But his themed TMS Daily or LAT is just perfect for me. He likes to use 4 (sometimes 3) theme entries, and synonym theme is quite fascinating and educative, esp for a non-Native English speaker.
Across:
1A: Oil container: DRUM. Wanted TANK.
5A: Golden Arches pork sandwich: McRIB. Have never had McRIB. What's the white stuff? Doesn't look like onion.
14A: 2000s sitcom set in Texas: REBA. Could only think of "Dallas".
15A: Tabriz resident: IRANI. Tabriz is in northwest of Iran. Literally "causing heat to flow" in IRANI language.
16A: Three-sided sails: JIBS. Ah, now I see what a boom really is.
17A: Yankee nickname: A-ROD. He is rumored to be dating Kate Hudson. Madonna is history now.
19A: Sighed line: ALAS
23A: Sweden's neighbor across the Baltic: LATVIA. Its capital city is Riga.
24A: Holiday number: NOEL. "Number" here means song.
25A: Was holding: HAD. I did not get this one immediately. Nor did I get OWNS (36D: Just bought).
29A: IRS employee: AGT. Thought CPA first.
31A: Split: CLEAVE. Root word of cleavage. Disappointed? Well, that's THE cleavage of the election year.
36A: Sea predator: ORCA
39A: Rivière contents: EAU. Water is Shui in Chinese, as in Feng Shui, literally "water-wind".
40A: Chooser's first word: EENY. From "EENY, meeny, miney, mo"? Why racist?
46A: Spendable salary: NET PAY
47A: Bouncers check them: IDS. I misread it as "Bounced check" first. Nice clue.
48A: Sign of a smash: SRO (Standing Room Only). Smash hit. Another great clue.
52A: Green side: PEAS. Side dish. I thought of LEAS first.
55A: Sea surrounding Lemnos: AEGEAN. See this map. Lemnos is directly above the word AEGEAN Sea.
62A: Meir's successor: RABIN. He is succeeded by Begin during his first term.
63A: Eldly: AGED
65A: Damaged layer: OZONE. Damaged? Not damaging?
66A: Bath residue: RING. I was thinking of FOAM/SUDS.
67A: Beatle bride: YOKO. Nice to see YOKO rather than ONO.
68A: Nero at the piano: PETER. I forgot all about this pianist. By the way, what is exactly the instrument Nero was fiddling while Roman burned?
69A: Two gelcaps, e.g.: DOSE
Down:
1D: In a dreary: DRABLY
2D: Study, in a way: REREAD. "In a way", yes.
3D: WWII subs: U-BOATS
4D: Comedy show that once featured "Spy vs. Spy" cartoon: MADTV. No idea. I've never seen MADTV.
5D: Odometer reading: MILEAGE
6D: Cut short: CROP. D'oh, CROP the hair.
7D: Incriminate: RAT ON
8D: Lead-in: INTRO
9D: Gene therapist's field, briefly: BIOTECH. Easy guess. I don't know what a gene therapist does.
10D: Close to closed: AJAR. I like the clue. This puzzle is quite scrabbly.
11D: Sedimentary fuel source: OIL SHALE. I've vaguely heard of SHALE OIL, not OIL SHALE. Wish DRUM (1A: Oil container") were clued differently. Don't like the oil repetition.
12D: Org. with Heat and Thunder: NBA. Only know Miami Heat. Oklahoma City Thunder is new to me. Our Minnesota pro soccer team is called Thunder too.
21D: Muscat moolah: RIAL. Also the moolah in Iran and Yemen.
22D: Cockney greeting: 'ELLO. Letter H is dropped in Cockney accent.
26D: Mary Kay rival: AVON
27D: Damp at dawn: DEWY. These DEWY persimmons need frost to to be sweet.
32D: Type of sch.: ELEM
33D: Seven-time NFL Pro Bowler Warren: SAPP. Nope. Only know #4 Favre guy on his left. Is 99 the highest jersey number in NFL?
37D: Flightless bird: RHEA. Do you know RHEA only has three toes? Ostrich has only two.
43D: Bit of ocular irrigation: EYE DROP
44D: "Lou Grant" star: ED ASNER
45D: "Just __!": A SEC. Repeat offender.
48D: Brasil '66 bandleader Mendes: SERGIO. No idea. The only Mendes I know is Eva Mendes.
49D: Croaking birds: RAVENS
50D: Jumpy: ON EDGE
54D: Dutch shoe: SABOT. Like these?
56D: Keep safe: GUARD
58D: Really big show: EXPO
59D: Musical inspired by Fellini's "8 1/2": NINE. Completely unknown to me. Where is the other 1/2?
60D: Cook with a skillet: FRY. I only use skillet to stir-fry.
61D: Thai language: LAO. LAO is spoken in northern Thailand.
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Bay Area LAT solvers, please write to Katharine Fong (Deputy Managing Editor) of Mercury News if you prefer Rich Norris's LAT puzzles to the current Daily Communter. Her email address is kfong@mercurynews.com and her phone number is 408 278 3448. Thanks, WM.
