Theme: ET TU (59D: Famous last words (and homophonically, a hint to this puzzle's theme))
19A: Genetic coding for an official legislative trip?: JUNKET DNA (Junk DNA)
23A: NASA scrapheap?: ROCKET PILE (Rock Pile)
51A: Long-eared dog's performance?: BASSET SOLO (Bass Solo)
52A: Young hen's bar bill?: PULLET TAB (Pull Tab)
2D: Horn section?: CORNET ROW (Cornrow)
34D: Dance after getting a shock from an outlet?: SOCKET HOP (Sock Hop)
"ET TU, Brute?" are Julius Caesar's famous last words. I got the answer immediately. Then I got PULLET TAB in a hurry and realized that ET is added into the theme answer. But I simply could not parse ET TU. Forward to 1:24, you will hear ET TU is pronounced like "Add TU", homophonically. I was confused.
I've never heard of Junk DNA, but JUNKET came easily. Is Jack Abramoff sentenced yet? I think I would have taken his Scotland golf JUNKET too. I actually did not know what a pullet is. Only knew the French "poulet". Not familiar with the Sock Hop dance either.
Very choppy solving today. Quite a few tricky clues. I really liked the overlapping and the interlocking of the theme answers.
The helper squares Gareth Bain mentioned in his interview refer to two black squares directly above and below ADJ (13D) and BEL (60D).
Across:
1A: Bank holding: Abbr.: ACCT
5A: Village Voice awards: OBIES. Yep, OBIES are given by Village Voice.
10A: Place to wear a coat: LAB. Nice clue. I did not get it immediately. I need a science or chemist word for hint.
13A: Parting of the Pacific?: ALOHA. Another great clue. I was misguided into really "parting" the Pacific like Moses did with the Red Sea.
14A: They help form joints: ULNAE. More used to the "Arm bones" clue.
15A: Loved, with "up": ATE
16A: Florida home of Golf's WGC-CA Championship: DORAL. Played on its Blue Monster Course. Used to be the spot for DORAL Open.
17A: Jazz great Art: TATUM. I forgot. Googled this guy before. His left eye was blind.
18A: Columnist Hentoff: NAT
21A: It's shaken out: SALT. My favorite clue. I suppose PEPPER can be clued the same.
22A: __ Spielgel: German magazine: DER. German for "The Mirror". A weekly magazine. Similar to our Time or Newsweek.
28A: Organic compound: ENOL
29A: Mo. in which the Civil War began: APR. April 12, to be exact.
31A: Hercules' neighbor: LYRA. See this diagram. I did not know Hercules is a constellation. I kept thinking of the young boy Hylas, who found the treasure chamber with Hercules in "Jason and the Argonauts".
33A: Inventor friend of Henry Ford: EDISON. Easy guess. I don't know those two were friends.
37A: Ruth's mother-in-law: NAOMI
39A: H.S. VIPs.: SRS. Never attended a school here. Don't know why SRS are VIPS. You'd think the principals are.
46A: Cry near the ears?: CAW. Why? I wanted COO.
47A: Blacksmith's item: SHOE. For horse? I don't know.
49A: "Eight Days __": A WEEK. Beatles' song.
55A: Pic source: NEG. And PAN (30D: Shoot with a moving camera).
57A: Large group: ARMY. Like Arnie's ARMY, fans of the golf legend Arnie Palmer.
61A: Mauna __: KEA. Wrote down LOA immediately. Mauna KEA is "white mountain". Mauna LOA is "long mountain". LOA=long. Both are volcanos.
62A: Larry Flynt concern, briefly: PORNO. I forgot who Larry Flynt is. Did know his "Hustler" though.
65A: Funny pair?: ENS. Two letter N's in Funny.
66A: Give the boot: EVICT
67A: Fairy tale threat: TROLL. Do you collect TROLL dolls?
68A: Sound of support: RAH. Wanted OLE.
69A: Places for guards: GATES. This is so unfair. We see Mac and iPod so often in the grid, yet Bill GATES has never been given an opportunity to shine.
70A: Org. with carriers: USPS. Mail carriers.
Down:
1D: Audibly: ALOUD
3D: Yoga energy point: CHAKRA. No idea. It's also spelled CAKRA. Sanskrit for "wheel"/"circle". Humans have seven CHAKRA points. I guess I know why #7 is.
4D: Ghost story, e.g.: TALE
5D: Great area?: OUTDOORS. Stumped. Is this about the movie "The Great OUTDOORS"?
6D: Man with many voices: BLANC (Mel).
7D: Pipe opening: INTAKE. Silly. But I really did not know this.
8D: Evian, par exemple: EAU. Evian is part of Danone, which has many joint ventures in China.
10D: Island on the Kalohi Channel: LANAI. Well, I know LANAI the Dole "Pineapple Island". Have never heard of Kalohi Channel. Please come to Comments section if you found a good map.
11D: In any way: AT ALL
12D: Davis of "The Little Foxes": BETTE. Ignorant of the movie.
13D: Dict. designation: ADJ. Adjective. Got the answer from Across fills.
20D: Priam's kingdom: TROY. Priam is the father of Paris/Hector/Cassandra.
21D: Took off: SPLIT
24D: 67.5 degrees: ENE. Mine was NNE.
27D: Happy-go-lucky: BLITHE. This word always brings to mind Blythe Danner, mother of Gwyneth Paltrow.
29D: "Wheel of Fortune" buy: AN I. I like this clue better than the black ANI bird.
32D: Discipline: ART. Don't get this one.
35D: Words with whim: ON A. On a whim.
36D: Out-of-the-box: NEW
38D: Hip-hopper Elliott: MISSY. Ha ha, a rare gimme for me. She is quite slim now.
40D: Leek cousins: SHALLOTS. Oil/Vinegar/SHALLOT/mustard, classic vinaigrette recipe.
43D: Angry: HOT. Mine was MAD.
45D: Missing at roll call, maybe: AWOL
48D: Lively wit: ESPRIT. Wrote down BON MOT.
50D: Partner of breaks: ENTERS. "Partner" in the clue always suggests an "and". Breaks and ENTERS.
51D: One of a nursery rhyme trio: BAKER. Butcher and the candlestick maker.
52D: Spartacus' stage: ARENA. Oh, the gladiator. I confused Spartacus with Spartan.
53D: Shatter: SMASH
54D: Wee bit: OUNCE
56D: Certain Scots: GAELS. Are CELTS "Certain Scots" too?
60D: Sound measure: BEL. I forgot. Saw this clue before. It's equal to 10 decibels. SONE is "Loudness measures".
62D: Hanging aid: PEG. I was in a totally different direction, thinking of the hanging of Saddam.
63D: Oft-donated cells: OVA. Oh, I thought only sperms are "Oft-donated".
Answer grid.
C.C.
19A: Genetic coding for an official legislative trip?: JUNKET DNA (Junk DNA)
23A: NASA scrapheap?: ROCKET PILE (Rock Pile)
51A: Long-eared dog's performance?: BASSET SOLO (Bass Solo)
52A: Young hen's bar bill?: PULLET TAB (Pull Tab)
2D: Horn section?: CORNET ROW (Cornrow)
34D: Dance after getting a shock from an outlet?: SOCKET HOP (Sock Hop)
"ET TU, Brute?" are Julius Caesar's famous last words. I got the answer immediately. Then I got PULLET TAB in a hurry and realized that ET is added into the theme answer. But I simply could not parse ET TU. Forward to 1:24, you will hear ET TU is pronounced like "Add TU", homophonically. I was confused.
I've never heard of Junk DNA, but JUNKET came easily. Is Jack Abramoff sentenced yet? I think I would have taken his Scotland golf JUNKET too. I actually did not know what a pullet is. Only knew the French "poulet". Not familiar with the Sock Hop dance either.
Very choppy solving today. Quite a few tricky clues. I really liked the overlapping and the interlocking of the theme answers.
The helper squares Gareth Bain mentioned in his interview refer to two black squares directly above and below ADJ (13D) and BEL (60D).
Across:
1A: Bank holding: Abbr.: ACCT
5A: Village Voice awards: OBIES. Yep, OBIES are given by Village Voice.
10A: Place to wear a coat: LAB. Nice clue. I did not get it immediately. I need a science or chemist word for hint.
13A: Parting of the Pacific?: ALOHA. Another great clue. I was misguided into really "parting" the Pacific like Moses did with the Red Sea.
14A: They help form joints: ULNAE. More used to the "Arm bones" clue.
15A: Loved, with "up": ATE
16A: Florida home of Golf's WGC-CA Championship: DORAL. Played on its Blue Monster Course. Used to be the spot for DORAL Open.
17A: Jazz great Art: TATUM. I forgot. Googled this guy before. His left eye was blind.
18A: Columnist Hentoff: NAT
21A: It's shaken out: SALT. My favorite clue. I suppose PEPPER can be clued the same.
22A: __ Spielgel: German magazine: DER. German for "The Mirror". A weekly magazine. Similar to our Time or Newsweek.
28A: Organic compound: ENOL
29A: Mo. in which the Civil War began: APR. April 12, to be exact.
31A: Hercules' neighbor: LYRA. See this diagram. I did not know Hercules is a constellation. I kept thinking of the young boy Hylas, who found the treasure chamber with Hercules in "Jason and the Argonauts".
33A: Inventor friend of Henry Ford: EDISON. Easy guess. I don't know those two were friends.
37A: Ruth's mother-in-law: NAOMI
39A: H.S. VIPs.: SRS. Never attended a school here. Don't know why SRS are VIPS. You'd think the principals are.
46A: Cry near the ears?: CAW. Why? I wanted COO.
47A: Blacksmith's item: SHOE. For horse? I don't know.
49A: "Eight Days __": A WEEK. Beatles' song.
55A: Pic source: NEG. And PAN (30D: Shoot with a moving camera).
57A: Large group: ARMY. Like Arnie's ARMY, fans of the golf legend Arnie Palmer.
61A: Mauna __: KEA. Wrote down LOA immediately. Mauna KEA is "white mountain". Mauna LOA is "long mountain". LOA=long. Both are volcanos.
62A: Larry Flynt concern, briefly: PORNO. I forgot who Larry Flynt is. Did know his "Hustler" though.
65A: Funny pair?: ENS. Two letter N's in Funny.
66A: Give the boot: EVICT
67A: Fairy tale threat: TROLL. Do you collect TROLL dolls?
68A: Sound of support: RAH. Wanted OLE.
69A: Places for guards: GATES. This is so unfair. We see Mac and iPod so often in the grid, yet Bill GATES has never been given an opportunity to shine.
70A: Org. with carriers: USPS. Mail carriers.
Down:
1D: Audibly: ALOUD
3D: Yoga energy point: CHAKRA. No idea. It's also spelled CAKRA. Sanskrit for "wheel"/"circle". Humans have seven CHAKRA points. I guess I know why #7 is.
4D: Ghost story, e.g.: TALE
5D: Great area?: OUTDOORS. Stumped. Is this about the movie "The Great OUTDOORS"?
6D: Man with many voices: BLANC (Mel).
7D: Pipe opening: INTAKE. Silly. But I really did not know this.
8D: Evian, par exemple: EAU. Evian is part of Danone, which has many joint ventures in China.
10D: Island on the Kalohi Channel: LANAI. Well, I know LANAI the Dole "Pineapple Island". Have never heard of Kalohi Channel. Please come to Comments section if you found a good map.
11D: In any way: AT ALL
12D: Davis of "The Little Foxes": BETTE. Ignorant of the movie.
13D: Dict. designation: ADJ. Adjective. Got the answer from Across fills.
20D: Priam's kingdom: TROY. Priam is the father of Paris/Hector/Cassandra.
21D: Took off: SPLIT
24D: 67.5 degrees: ENE. Mine was NNE.
27D: Happy-go-lucky: BLITHE. This word always brings to mind Blythe Danner, mother of Gwyneth Paltrow.
29D: "Wheel of Fortune" buy: AN I. I like this clue better than the black ANI bird.
32D: Discipline: ART. Don't get this one.
35D: Words with whim: ON A. On a whim.
36D: Out-of-the-box: NEW
38D: Hip-hopper Elliott: MISSY. Ha ha, a rare gimme for me. She is quite slim now.
40D: Leek cousins: SHALLOTS. Oil/Vinegar/SHALLOT/mustard, classic vinaigrette recipe.
43D: Angry: HOT. Mine was MAD.
45D: Missing at roll call, maybe: AWOL
48D: Lively wit: ESPRIT. Wrote down BON MOT.
50D: Partner of breaks: ENTERS. "Partner" in the clue always suggests an "and". Breaks and ENTERS.
51D: One of a nursery rhyme trio: BAKER. Butcher and the candlestick maker.
52D: Spartacus' stage: ARENA. Oh, the gladiator. I confused Spartacus with Spartan.
53D: Shatter: SMASH
54D: Wee bit: OUNCE
56D: Certain Scots: GAELS. Are CELTS "Certain Scots" too?
60D: Sound measure: BEL. I forgot. Saw this clue before. It's equal to 10 decibels. SONE is "Loudness measures".
62D: Hanging aid: PEG. I was in a totally different direction, thinking of the hanging of Saddam.
63D: Oft-donated cells: OVA. Oh, I thought only sperms are "Oft-donated".
Answer grid.
C.C.
