Theme: The Real (e)State
17A: Realtor's "lavish landscaping"? Frankly, there are ___: WEEDS EVERYWHERE
24A: Realtor's "charming"? Actually, it's __: REALLY TINY
35A: Realtor's "expansive backyard"? Honesty, there's __: NO POOL OR SPA
45A: Realtor's "needs TLC"? Candidly, __: IT'S A PIGSTY
53A: Realtor's "quiet setting"? Truthfully, it's __: OUT IN THE BOONIES
I discovered this morning that "realtor" was coined by a guy named Charles N. Chadbourn from Minneapolis. He sold the rights to the word to the National Association of Real Estate Boards for only one dollar.
Amazing. I wonder how much Jack Dorsey is willing to part with his Twitter. I bet Rupert Murdock is salivating.
Dan Naddor probably constructed this puzzle when the current housing bubble just started to burst. Nice puzzle. Amusing theme, Merl Reagle style.
Across:
4A: Not for most teens: RATED R
10A: Gambling game: FARO. Named after the Egyptian king Pharaoh.
15A: "Same here": I DO TOO.
16A: "The X-Files" extras: G-MEN. FBI Agents.
20A: Hi-tech eye surgery: LASIK. Tiger Woods had LASIK surgery.
22A: German pronoun: SIE. German "you". I wrote down ICH, thinking of JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner".
28A: Opposite of FF: REW
29A: Student's buy: TEXT. Short for textbook I suppose. Really wish I had attended some school when I first came to the US.
30A: Stood: ROSE
31A: Toaster treat: POP-TART. Kellogg dropped Michael Phelps after his pot-smoking photo.
34A: Blown away: AWED
37A: Eisner's successor at Disney: IGER (Robert). Sigh. I could picture his face, but his name escaped me. He used to appear on CNBC often, before he succeeded Michael Eisner in 2005.
39A: Ad staples: SLOGANS
40A: Speaker before Dennis: NEWT (Gingrich). Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999. He is going to run for the presidency in 2012 I think.
41A: Arroyo __: Southern California watershed: SECO. Literally "dry creek".
42A: Mass vestment: ALB. See, this L is pronounced. But the L in alms/salmon is silent. I do not pronounce the L in almond either.
49A: Diction problem: SLUR. Sylvester Stallone has a SLUR problem.
50A: Homer consequence: RBI (Run Batted In). I like this new clue.
51A: Anecdotal collection: ANA. The Old Norse literary collection is EDDA.
52A: Deadly snake: COBRA. The "Dried coconut meat" is COPRA.
58A: Tiny time pd.: NSEC (Nanosecond)
59A: Barrel cleaner: RAMROD. I know nothing about gun.
60A: Robertson of CNN: NIC. I find NIC Robertson to be very attractive, don't you?
61A: Northeast clothing chain: SYMS. No idea. Wikipedia says it's founded by Sy SYMS in 1959.
62A: Recorded: ON TAPE
63A: "Starpeace" album maker, 1985: ONO. "Starpeace" is a statement against Reagan's "Star Wars".
Down:
1D: Loud crier: BAWLER. The "Mythical crier" is NIOBE, and the "Irish folklore crier" is BANSHEE.
4D: Reward seeker's concern: RISK
5D: Gator chaser?: ADE. Gatorade. Nice clue.
6D: Good, in Hebrew: TOV. As in "Mazel TOV!" (Good fortune, Congratulations)
7D: Hot time in Paris: ETE. Quite an ordinary "summer" clue.
8D: Florida's "Blue Monster" golf course: DORAL. The previous DORAL Open was played at the "Blue Monster".
9D: King or queen: ROYAL. Thought of RULER first.
10D: E followers: FGH. Alphabetically.
11D: City north of Des Moines: AMES, IOWA. The clue seems to be asking for a 8-letter city name.
12D: Perform a shampooing step: RERINSE. I actually do RERINSE.
13D: Like two jacks: ONE-EYED. The Jack of Spades and Jack of Hearts.
18D: CCLI doubled: DII. 251 X 2 = 502.
24D: Deadbeats's autos, eventually: REPOS. Hmm, where is Realtor's "RELO" when you need it?
25D: Praise: EXTOL
26D: Baffled: AT A LOSS
27D: Corners: TRAPS. Verb.
29D: Preeminent: TOP. I still can't believe tops is an adjective.
31D: Potty opening?: PORTA. PORTA-potty. Just saw someone selling his old outhouse at the Flea Market the other day. He wanted $1,500.
32D: Man of many words: ROGET. Ah, ROGER's Thesaurus. He was also a doctor.
33D: Frequent leading man for Hepburn: TRACY (Spencer). He always demanded the top billing, in all the movies they made together. I often wonder if Spencer TRACY really loved Hepburn. Too much surprising sacrifice on her part. I like their "Woman of the Year" the best.
35D: The "this" in "This just in": NEWS ITEM
36D: __-Cat: SNO
37D: Shackled: IN IRONS
38D: Order to a slacker: GET BUSY
42D: White rat, e.g.: ALBINO
43D: Entice: LURE IN
44D: FBI undercover agent Donnie, title subject of a 1997 film: BRASCO. "Donnie BRASCO" is a great movie.
46D: Put down in writing? PAN. Put down here means to "criticize". Great clue.
47D: Opening words: INTRO. Kept thinking DEAR SIR.
48D: Cartoonist Wilson: GAHAN. A complete stranger to me. GAHAN is Hindu for "deep/complex".
52D: UPC part: CODE. UPC is Universal Product CODE.
54D: Suffix with robot: ICS. Dictionary says robotics is coined by Isaac Asimov.
56D: Support provider: BRA. Wacoal is my favorite brand.
57D: Alley __: OOP. Alley OOP is derived from French "Allez, hop!" (Let's go).
Answer grid.
C.C.
17A: Realtor's "lavish landscaping"? Frankly, there are ___: WEEDS EVERYWHERE
24A: Realtor's "charming"? Actually, it's __: REALLY TINY
35A: Realtor's "expansive backyard"? Honesty, there's __: NO POOL OR SPA
45A: Realtor's "needs TLC"? Candidly, __: IT'S A PIGSTY
53A: Realtor's "quiet setting"? Truthfully, it's __: OUT IN THE BOONIES
I discovered this morning that "realtor" was coined by a guy named Charles N. Chadbourn from Minneapolis. He sold the rights to the word to the National Association of Real Estate Boards for only one dollar.
Amazing. I wonder how much Jack Dorsey is willing to part with his Twitter. I bet Rupert Murdock is salivating.
Dan Naddor probably constructed this puzzle when the current housing bubble just started to burst. Nice puzzle. Amusing theme, Merl Reagle style.
Across:
4A: Not for most teens: RATED R
10A: Gambling game: FARO. Named after the Egyptian king Pharaoh.
15A: "Same here": I DO TOO.
16A: "The X-Files" extras: G-MEN. FBI Agents.
20A: Hi-tech eye surgery: LASIK. Tiger Woods had LASIK surgery.
22A: German pronoun: SIE. German "you". I wrote down ICH, thinking of JFK's "Ich bin ein Berliner".
28A: Opposite of FF: REW
29A: Student's buy: TEXT. Short for textbook I suppose. Really wish I had attended some school when I first came to the US.
30A: Stood: ROSE
31A: Toaster treat: POP-TART. Kellogg dropped Michael Phelps after his pot-smoking photo.
34A: Blown away: AWED
37A: Eisner's successor at Disney: IGER (Robert). Sigh. I could picture his face, but his name escaped me. He used to appear on CNBC often, before he succeeded Michael Eisner in 2005.
39A: Ad staples: SLOGANS
40A: Speaker before Dennis: NEWT (Gingrich). Speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999. He is going to run for the presidency in 2012 I think.
41A: Arroyo __: Southern California watershed: SECO. Literally "dry creek".
42A: Mass vestment: ALB. See, this L is pronounced. But the L in alms/salmon is silent. I do not pronounce the L in almond either.
49A: Diction problem: SLUR. Sylvester Stallone has a SLUR problem.
50A: Homer consequence: RBI (Run Batted In). I like this new clue.
51A: Anecdotal collection: ANA. The Old Norse literary collection is EDDA.
52A: Deadly snake: COBRA. The "Dried coconut meat" is COPRA.
58A: Tiny time pd.: NSEC (Nanosecond)
59A: Barrel cleaner: RAMROD. I know nothing about gun.
60A: Robertson of CNN: NIC. I find NIC Robertson to be very attractive, don't you?
61A: Northeast clothing chain: SYMS. No idea. Wikipedia says it's founded by Sy SYMS in 1959.
62A: Recorded: ON TAPE
63A: "Starpeace" album maker, 1985: ONO. "Starpeace" is a statement against Reagan's "Star Wars".
Down:
1D: Loud crier: BAWLER. The "Mythical crier" is NIOBE, and the "Irish folklore crier" is BANSHEE.
4D: Reward seeker's concern: RISK
5D: Gator chaser?: ADE. Gatorade. Nice clue.
6D: Good, in Hebrew: TOV. As in "Mazel TOV!" (Good fortune, Congratulations)
7D: Hot time in Paris: ETE. Quite an ordinary "summer" clue.
8D: Florida's "Blue Monster" golf course: DORAL. The previous DORAL Open was played at the "Blue Monster".
9D: King or queen: ROYAL. Thought of RULER first.
10D: E followers: FGH. Alphabetically.
11D: City north of Des Moines: AMES, IOWA. The clue seems to be asking for a 8-letter city name.
12D: Perform a shampooing step: RERINSE. I actually do RERINSE.
13D: Like two jacks: ONE-EYED. The Jack of Spades and Jack of Hearts.
18D: CCLI doubled: DII. 251 X 2 = 502.
24D: Deadbeats's autos, eventually: REPOS. Hmm, where is Realtor's "RELO" when you need it?
25D: Praise: EXTOL
26D: Baffled: AT A LOSS
27D: Corners: TRAPS. Verb.
29D: Preeminent: TOP. I still can't believe tops is an adjective.
31D: Potty opening?: PORTA. PORTA-potty. Just saw someone selling his old outhouse at the Flea Market the other day. He wanted $1,500.
32D: Man of many words: ROGET. Ah, ROGER's Thesaurus. He was also a doctor.
33D: Frequent leading man for Hepburn: TRACY (Spencer). He always demanded the top billing, in all the movies they made together. I often wonder if Spencer TRACY really loved Hepburn. Too much surprising sacrifice on her part. I like their "Woman of the Year" the best.
35D: The "this" in "This just in": NEWS ITEM
36D: __-Cat: SNO
37D: Shackled: IN IRONS
38D: Order to a slacker: GET BUSY
42D: White rat, e.g.: ALBINO
43D: Entice: LURE IN
44D: FBI undercover agent Donnie, title subject of a 1997 film: BRASCO. "Donnie BRASCO" is a great movie.
46D: Put down in writing? PAN. Put down here means to "criticize". Great clue.
47D: Opening words: INTRO. Kept thinking DEAR SIR.
48D: Cartoonist Wilson: GAHAN. A complete stranger to me. GAHAN is Hindu for "deep/complex".
52D: UPC part: CODE. UPC is Universal Product CODE.
54D: Suffix with robot: ICS. Dictionary says robotics is coined by Isaac Asimov.
56D: Support provider: BRA. Wacoal is my favorite brand.
57D: Alley __: OOP. Alley OOP is derived from French "Allez, hop!" (Let's go).
Answer grid.
C.C.
