Theme: HUSH HUSH MEETING (41A: Secret get-together, or what occurs literally in each of this puzzle's circled squares) - All the circled letters where two words meet are silent.
5A: Clever move: COUP
8D: Prefix with science: PSEUDO
9A: Bad-mouth: KNOCK
9D: Hillock: KNOLL
28A: Organ numbers: HYMNS
4D: Newspaper feature: COLUMN
48A: Like Letterman lines: WRY
48D: Eerie apparition: WRAITH
54A: Omen: SIGN
40D: Oppose: REPUGN
64A: Like a question that isn't a question: RHETORICAL
57D: Prefix with stat: RHEO
73A: Oversimplify: DUMB
63D: Blockbuster, e.g.: BOMBBox office disaster
My goodness, P, K, N, W, G, H & B, only L is missing (almond). "Hard G" Don Gagliardo did it again.
The theme entries are not symmetrical in this grid, but the grid itself is. I counted total 70 theme squares.
I knew repugnant, REPUGN is new to me. Was also unaware of the criticism meaning of KNOCK. Did not know the Blockbuster BOMB either. Wikipedia says it's used in WWII by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Also called cookie.
Across:
1A: Like a dotted note, in mus.: STAC. Short for staccato, opposite legato, which is never shortened as leg, to my surprise.
14A: Cancún green: PESO. Money. I was thinking of the color green. VERDE in Spanish.
15A: Browser drop-down list, briefly: URLS. Those addresses starting http://.
16A: Film that involves a lot of taking off: NUDIE. I was in the plane take-off direction.
17A: Stem-to-branch angle: AXIL. Like this.
18A: Good: BENEVOLENT
20A: Peak in Jap.: MT. FUJI. It's FUJI San in Japanese. San is mountain.
22A: "The Clan of the Cave Bear" writer: AUEL (Jean). It's pronounced like "owl". She lives in Oregon.
23A: 7-5, e.g. in tennis: SET. We are lucky to witness both Roger Federer and Tiger Woods at their very best.
24A: Truck name: MACK. Not a familiar name to me. Wikipedia says it belongs to the Volvo Group. Volvo is literally "I roll" in Latin.
26A: Where to find heros: DELIS. Hero sandwichs. My mind wandered off to the battleground. Too bad McNamara's career is defined by Vietnam War. He was so successful before and after that.
31A: UN Workers' group: ILO (International Labor Organization)
33A: Vena __: heart vessel: CAVA. Vena = Vein. CAVA = Hollow. Latin.
36A: Pencil game winner: OOO. Use pencil for tic-tac-toe?
37A: Cell: suffix: CYTE. No idea. Dictionary gives leukocyte (white blood cell) as an example. Then it says CYTO is a "cell" prefix, as in cytoplasm.
39A: Favor: PREFER
44A: Bony: OSTEAL. Literal "Bony". You don't call Kate Moss as OSTEAL, do you? I thought of SKINNY, which has 6-letter also.
45A: Srs. lobbying gp.: AARP
46A: Gehrig of baseball: LOU. The "luckiest man on the face of earth". And the "Say Hey Kid" MAYS (43D: Giant Willie), who is quite aloof and unapproachable to fans.
47A: Actress Ward: SELA
49A: 1972 Bill Withers hit: USE ME. No idea. Here is the clip. What a strange song title.
51A: Not as healthy: ILLER. Made-up word.
58A: Country where Baha'i was founded: IRAN. Wikipedia says Baha'i is derived from the Arabic Bahá, meaning "glory" or "splendour". I think they have an annual Ramadan-style fast period too.
60A: "CSI" workplace: DNA LAB
67A: Accolade: KUDO. Always see this word in plural form.
68A: Fruit in balls: MELON. Thai fruit carving is an art. This rabbit is really cute.
70A: Jack of "Rio Lobo": ELAM. Lobo is Spanish for "wolf". Oso is "bear". I've never heard of the movie.
72A: '60s musical: HAIR
Down:
2D: Send a high-tech message to: TEXT
5D: Part of cc.: CUBIC. CUBIC centimeter. I was thinking of carbon copy.
6D: Tram contents: ORE
10D: Nada, to Noël: NUL. French for nil/zero.
11D: With "The", 1972 Frederick Forsyth novel: ODESSA FILE. No idea. Hmm, "Compulsively readable ..."
12D: Film: CINE. Short for cinema.
13D: Etta of old comics: KETT. Learned her name from doing Xword. Nice line: I've been saving myself for you.
21D: Violinist Heifetz: JASCHA. Completely unknown to me. It's pronounced like YAH Shuh, Russian form of Jacob or James.
25D: First-aid aids: KITS
27D: Gangsta rap pioneer: ICE-T. Oh, I did not know he pioneered gangsta rap. Thought it might be Dr. DRE.
28D: Hostess snack cakes: HO HOS. Both HO HOS & Drake's YODELS are Xword cakes to me.
29D: Brooklyn pronoun: YOUSE. No idea. It's plural of you.
30D: Probably: MOST LIKELY
32D: "The Merry Widow" operettist: LEHAR (Franz). He died in 1948. Somehow I thought he was a 19th century composer.
34D: Fang output, at times: VENOM. Cantonese eat everything, including snakes.
35D: Get contentious: ARGUE
38D: Brynner who played a king: YUL. "The King and I".
50D: Unclogged, as a pipe: SNAKED. I know plumber's snake. Was unaware that SNAKE can be a verb also.
52D: Motor City team: LIONS. Detroit LIONS. 0-16 last season. NFL record.
55D: Lazy type: IDLER
56D: It "marches on its stomach": Napoleon: ARMY. Nice fresh clue. Napoleon is 5'2''. I was surprised to read Dennis's FF yesterday that Stalin was only 5' 4''. He looked big.
59D: Sweet Sixteen initials: NCAA. March Madness.
62D: Cain raiser: ADAM. Raising Cain.
Answer grid.
C.C.
5A: Clever move: COUP
8D: Prefix with science: PSEUDO
9A: Bad-mouth: KNOCK
9D: Hillock: KNOLL
28A: Organ numbers: HYMNS
4D: Newspaper feature: COLUMN
48A: Like Letterman lines: WRY
48D: Eerie apparition: WRAITH
54A: Omen: SIGN
40D: Oppose: REPUGN
64A: Like a question that isn't a question: RHETORICAL
57D: Prefix with stat: RHEO
73A: Oversimplify: DUMB
63D: Blockbuster, e.g.: BOMBBox office disaster
My goodness, P, K, N, W, G, H & B, only L is missing (almond). "Hard G" Don Gagliardo did it again.
The theme entries are not symmetrical in this grid, but the grid itself is. I counted total 70 theme squares.
I knew repugnant, REPUGN is new to me. Was also unaware of the criticism meaning of KNOCK. Did not know the Blockbuster BOMB either. Wikipedia says it's used in WWII by the Royal Air Force (RAF). Also called cookie.
Across:
1A: Like a dotted note, in mus.: STAC. Short for staccato, opposite legato, which is never shortened as leg, to my surprise.
14A: Cancún green: PESO. Money. I was thinking of the color green. VERDE in Spanish.
15A: Browser drop-down list, briefly: URLS. Those addresses starting http://.
16A: Film that involves a lot of taking off: NUDIE. I was in the plane take-off direction.
17A: Stem-to-branch angle: AXIL. Like this.
18A: Good: BENEVOLENT
20A: Peak in Jap.: MT. FUJI. It's FUJI San in Japanese. San is mountain.
22A: "The Clan of the Cave Bear" writer: AUEL (Jean). It's pronounced like "owl". She lives in Oregon.
23A: 7-5, e.g. in tennis: SET. We are lucky to witness both Roger Federer and Tiger Woods at their very best.
24A: Truck name: MACK. Not a familiar name to me. Wikipedia says it belongs to the Volvo Group. Volvo is literally "I roll" in Latin.
26A: Where to find heros: DELIS. Hero sandwichs. My mind wandered off to the battleground. Too bad McNamara's career is defined by Vietnam War. He was so successful before and after that.
31A: UN Workers' group: ILO (International Labor Organization)
33A: Vena __: heart vessel: CAVA. Vena = Vein. CAVA = Hollow. Latin.
36A: Pencil game winner: OOO. Use pencil for tic-tac-toe?
37A: Cell: suffix: CYTE. No idea. Dictionary gives leukocyte (white blood cell) as an example. Then it says CYTO is a "cell" prefix, as in cytoplasm.
39A: Favor: PREFER
44A: Bony: OSTEAL. Literal "Bony". You don't call Kate Moss as OSTEAL, do you? I thought of SKINNY, which has 6-letter also.
45A: Srs. lobbying gp.: AARP
46A: Gehrig of baseball: LOU. The "luckiest man on the face of earth". And the "Say Hey Kid" MAYS (43D: Giant Willie), who is quite aloof and unapproachable to fans.
47A: Actress Ward: SELA
49A: 1972 Bill Withers hit: USE ME. No idea. Here is the clip. What a strange song title.
51A: Not as healthy: ILLER. Made-up word.
58A: Country where Baha'i was founded: IRAN. Wikipedia says Baha'i is derived from the Arabic Bahá, meaning "glory" or "splendour". I think they have an annual Ramadan-style fast period too.
60A: "CSI" workplace: DNA LAB
67A: Accolade: KUDO. Always see this word in plural form.
68A: Fruit in balls: MELON. Thai fruit carving is an art. This rabbit is really cute.
70A: Jack of "Rio Lobo": ELAM. Lobo is Spanish for "wolf". Oso is "bear". I've never heard of the movie.
72A: '60s musical: HAIR
Down:
2D: Send a high-tech message to: TEXT
5D: Part of cc.: CUBIC. CUBIC centimeter. I was thinking of carbon copy.
6D: Tram contents: ORE
10D: Nada, to Noël: NUL. French for nil/zero.
11D: With "The", 1972 Frederick Forsyth novel: ODESSA FILE. No idea. Hmm, "Compulsively readable ..."
12D: Film: CINE. Short for cinema.
13D: Etta of old comics: KETT. Learned her name from doing Xword. Nice line: I've been saving myself for you.
21D: Violinist Heifetz: JASCHA. Completely unknown to me. It's pronounced like YAH Shuh, Russian form of Jacob or James.
25D: First-aid aids: KITS
27D: Gangsta rap pioneer: ICE-T. Oh, I did not know he pioneered gangsta rap. Thought it might be Dr. DRE.
28D: Hostess snack cakes: HO HOS. Both HO HOS & Drake's YODELS are Xword cakes to me.
29D: Brooklyn pronoun: YOUSE. No idea. It's plural of you.
30D: Probably: MOST LIKELY
32D: "The Merry Widow" operettist: LEHAR (Franz). He died in 1948. Somehow I thought he was a 19th century composer.
34D: Fang output, at times: VENOM. Cantonese eat everything, including snakes.
35D: Get contentious: ARGUE
38D: Brynner who played a king: YUL. "The King and I".
50D: Unclogged, as a pipe: SNAKED. I know plumber's snake. Was unaware that SNAKE can be a verb also.
52D: Motor City team: LIONS. Detroit LIONS. 0-16 last season. NFL record.
55D: Lazy type: IDLER
56D: It "marches on its stomach": Napoleon: ARMY. Nice fresh clue. Napoleon is 5'2''. I was surprised to read Dennis's FF yesterday that Stalin was only 5' 4''. He looked big.
59D: Sweet Sixteen initials: NCAA. March Madness.
62D: Cain raiser: ADAM. Raising Cain.
Answer grid.
C.C.
