Theme: LEVEL (64A: It can follow the last word of 20-, 27-, 47- and 53-Across)
20A: Not give an inch: STAND ONE'S GROUND
27A: Garage door gadget: ELECTRIC EYE
47A: Dairy Queen treat: BANANA SPLIT
53A: Solar or wind power, e.g.: RENEWABLE ENERGY
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY would be a great answer for 53A too. Needs a bigger grid though.
Great tie-in clues:
15A: Aborted, as NASA: NO-GO. Hopefully there is no more NO-GO for Endeavor.
51A: NASA moon craft: LEM (Lunar Excursion Module). The 40th anniversary of moon landing is days away.
26D: Industry bigwig: TITAN
31D: Industry bigwigs: EXECS. I like how these two "bigwig/s" mirror each other in the grid.
Thanks for the great IMPULSE suggestions yesterday. How would you clue RISE (59D: Stand) then? STAND is part of the answer for 20A, so "Stand" is not an ideal clue here.
Across:
1A: Hamas-controlled strip: GAZA. Fatah controls the West Bank.
5A: Supply-and-demand subj.: ECON
9A: Dog attractor: SMELL. Kept reading the clue as "Dog attacker".
14A: TV host Trek: ALEX. "Jeopardy!" host.
16A: Comedian Fields: TOTIE. No idea. What a strange name: TO TIE.
17A: Auburn color named for a painter: TITIAN RED. Titian often painted women with red hair.
19A: When many coffee breaks occur: AT TEN. "Coffee breaks hr." would be TEN AM.
22A: Tomcat: GIB. New word to me.
23A: Vegas job: Abbr.: DLR. Dealer I suppose.
34A: Clay, since 1964: ALI. He changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad ALI in 1964 after he joined the Nation of Islam.
35A: Four.: Pref.: TETRA. Sometimes it's clued as "Colorful fish".
36A: Like most income: TAXED. Citibank plans to use bailout money to raise their employees' salaries (and dodge the bonus restriction of course).
37A: Ship's post that secures cables: BITT. See this picture. Another new word to me.
41A: Mailroom stamp: REC'D. Ah, see this monkey belly button tattoo J.D. found.
42A: __ Mountains: central U.S. range: OZARK. Interesting, Wikipedia says OZARK might be derived as a linguistic corruption of the French abbreviation "aux Arks" (short for Aux Arkansas, or "toward Arkansas" in English). Makes sense. The pronunciation is the same.
46A: Third-century date: CCI. Roman 201.
49A: Bear lead-in: SHE. Ha ha, I was thinking of FOR, forbear.
50A: Tenn. athlete: VOL (Volunteer). University of Tennessee. The Volunteers. I simply forgot.
62A: "The Hot Zone" virus: EBOLA. Named after a river in Congo.
63A: Antique work: RESTORING. Used to love "The Antiques Roadshow".
65A: Japan is in it, with "the": EAST. And Japanese golfer ISAO (66A: Golfer Aoki). Followed Nick Price a few holes at the 3M Championship last week. He just could not putt.
67A: Hair woe: SNARL. Thought of SPLIT (ends).
68A: Smack ending: EROO. "Switch ending too". AROO is "Buck ending".
69A: Okla. or La., once: TERR
Down:
1D: Hoods' guns: GATS. "Hoods' gals" is MOLLS.
3D: Epsilon follower: ZETA
5D: Elevates in rank: ENNOBLES
7D: S-shaped molding: OGEE. Have not seen OGEE for a long time.
9D: Twinkly at night: STARLIT. "Starry, starry night".
10D: British wheels: MOTORCAR. Rolls Royce leaped into my brain.
11D: Brute question?: ET TU. Caesar's last words: "ET TU, Brute?". Great clue.
12D: Security interest: LIEN. I was in the safety/security direction.
13D: Advance: LEND
21D: East Berlin's land, initially: GDR (German Democratic Republic). Mindlessly penned in GER.
24D: Fat cat: NABOB. "Nattering NABOBS of negativism" - Spiro Agnew.
25D: "Wouldn't It Be Lovely?" singer: ELIZA (Doolittle). I was stumped. The song is from "My Fair Lady".
28D: Cultural spirit: ETHOS
29D: Writer's woe: CRAMP. Have never heard of Writer's CRAMP. Wanted BLOCK.
30D: Sri Lankan language: TAMIL. I don't like curry, do you? It's rooted in TAMIL.
32D: "Ick factor 10": YECCH. Or Yech. I only knew YUCKY.
33D: Rocker Van Halen: EDDIE. He was born in Amsterdam.
38D: One with itinerary: TRAVELER
40D: Type of heel: STILETTO. Ah, the famous STILETTO Race in Amsterdam.
43D: One claiming to have answers: KNOW-ALL. Had trouble obtaining the answer.
45D: Court worker: STENO
54D: Irving Bacheller's "__ Holden": EBEN. Absolutely no idea. I've never heard of Irving Bacheller either. Wikipedia says he founded first modern newspaper syndicate in the US. I wonder what paper it was.
55D: PBS science show: NOVA
56D: Marcia's "Desperate Housewives" role: BREE. Unknown to me also. Marcia Cross is in the middle. Eva Longoria plays Gabrielle.
57D: Jet-setter's jet: LEAR. Got the answer from Across fills.
60D: Growl: GNAR. This word just looks so wrong.
61D: Demented blacksmith in "Son of Frankenstein": YGOR. Oh, YGOR and IGOR are the same person, correct?
Answer grid.
C.C.
20A: Not give an inch: STAND ONE'S GROUND
27A: Garage door gadget: ELECTRIC EYE
47A: Dairy Queen treat: BANANA SPLIT
53A: Solar or wind power, e.g.: RENEWABLE ENERGY
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY would be a great answer for 53A too. Needs a bigger grid though.
Great tie-in clues:
15A: Aborted, as NASA: NO-GO. Hopefully there is no more NO-GO for Endeavor.
51A: NASA moon craft: LEM (Lunar Excursion Module). The 40th anniversary of moon landing is days away.
26D: Industry bigwig: TITAN
31D: Industry bigwigs: EXECS. I like how these two "bigwig/s" mirror each other in the grid.
Thanks for the great IMPULSE suggestions yesterday. How would you clue RISE (59D: Stand) then? STAND is part of the answer for 20A, so "Stand" is not an ideal clue here.
Across:
1A: Hamas-controlled strip: GAZA. Fatah controls the West Bank.
5A: Supply-and-demand subj.: ECON
9A: Dog attractor: SMELL. Kept reading the clue as "Dog attacker".
14A: TV host Trek: ALEX. "Jeopardy!" host.
16A: Comedian Fields: TOTIE. No idea. What a strange name: TO TIE.
17A: Auburn color named for a painter: TITIAN RED. Titian often painted women with red hair.
19A: When many coffee breaks occur: AT TEN. "Coffee breaks hr." would be TEN AM.
22A: Tomcat: GIB. New word to me.
23A: Vegas job: Abbr.: DLR. Dealer I suppose.
34A: Clay, since 1964: ALI. He changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad ALI in 1964 after he joined the Nation of Islam.
35A: Four.: Pref.: TETRA. Sometimes it's clued as "Colorful fish".
36A: Like most income: TAXED. Citibank plans to use bailout money to raise their employees' salaries (and dodge the bonus restriction of course).
37A: Ship's post that secures cables: BITT. See this picture. Another new word to me.
41A: Mailroom stamp: REC'D. Ah, see this monkey belly button tattoo J.D. found.
42A: __ Mountains: central U.S. range: OZARK. Interesting, Wikipedia says OZARK might be derived as a linguistic corruption of the French abbreviation "aux Arks" (short for Aux Arkansas, or "toward Arkansas" in English). Makes sense. The pronunciation is the same.
46A: Third-century date: CCI. Roman 201.
49A: Bear lead-in: SHE. Ha ha, I was thinking of FOR, forbear.
50A: Tenn. athlete: VOL (Volunteer). University of Tennessee. The Volunteers. I simply forgot.
62A: "The Hot Zone" virus: EBOLA. Named after a river in Congo.
63A: Antique work: RESTORING. Used to love "The Antiques Roadshow".
65A: Japan is in it, with "the": EAST. And Japanese golfer ISAO (66A: Golfer Aoki). Followed Nick Price a few holes at the 3M Championship last week. He just could not putt.
67A: Hair woe: SNARL. Thought of SPLIT (ends).
68A: Smack ending: EROO. "Switch ending too". AROO is "Buck ending".
69A: Okla. or La., once: TERR
Down:
1D: Hoods' guns: GATS. "Hoods' gals" is MOLLS.
3D: Epsilon follower: ZETA
5D: Elevates in rank: ENNOBLES
7D: S-shaped molding: OGEE. Have not seen OGEE for a long time.
9D: Twinkly at night: STARLIT. "Starry, starry night".
10D: British wheels: MOTORCAR. Rolls Royce leaped into my brain.
11D: Brute question?: ET TU. Caesar's last words: "ET TU, Brute?". Great clue.
12D: Security interest: LIEN. I was in the safety/security direction.
13D: Advance: LEND
21D: East Berlin's land, initially: GDR (German Democratic Republic). Mindlessly penned in GER.
24D: Fat cat: NABOB. "Nattering NABOBS of negativism" - Spiro Agnew.
25D: "Wouldn't It Be Lovely?" singer: ELIZA (Doolittle). I was stumped. The song is from "My Fair Lady".
28D: Cultural spirit: ETHOS
29D: Writer's woe: CRAMP. Have never heard of Writer's CRAMP. Wanted BLOCK.
30D: Sri Lankan language: TAMIL. I don't like curry, do you? It's rooted in TAMIL.
32D: "Ick factor 10": YECCH. Or Yech. I only knew YUCKY.
33D: Rocker Van Halen: EDDIE. He was born in Amsterdam.
38D: One with itinerary: TRAVELER
40D: Type of heel: STILETTO. Ah, the famous STILETTO Race in Amsterdam.
43D: One claiming to have answers: KNOW-ALL. Had trouble obtaining the answer.
45D: Court worker: STENO
54D: Irving Bacheller's "__ Holden": EBEN. Absolutely no idea. I've never heard of Irving Bacheller either. Wikipedia says he founded first modern newspaper syndicate in the US. I wonder what paper it was.
55D: PBS science show: NOVA
56D: Marcia's "Desperate Housewives" role: BREE. Unknown to me also. Marcia Cross is in the middle. Eva Longoria plays Gabrielle.
57D: Jet-setter's jet: LEAR. Got the answer from Across fills.
60D: Growl: GNAR. This word just looks so wrong.
61D: Demented blacksmith in "Son of Frankenstein": YGOR. Oh, YGOR and IGOR are the same person, correct?
Answer grid.
C.C.
