Theme: The Double(t) Is Double(d) TT → DD
17A: Evidence of a spilled dessert? PUDDING ON THE DOG
22A: Nervous ticks?: SHUDDER BUGS
35A: Linens for jockeys?: OFF-TRACK BEDDING
51A: Slope where sycophants hang out?: NODDING HILL
57A: What a yenta exam does?: TESTS ONE'S MEDDLE
Just learned the idiom "putting on the dog" a few months ago from a LAT puzzle. Notting Hill is an affluent area in West London. Also a very romantic movie starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
Bitter & bidder should be interesting to work with. Latter & Ladder might not be fun. What else can you think of?
Quite a few tricky clues in today's puzzle:
54A: It may be added to impress: IVE. Impressive.
7D: Jet problem?: LAG. Jetlag.
I struggled with the multiple-word entries today.
Across:
1A: Per se: IN ITSELF. Per se is literally "by itself" in Latin.
9A: Research, perhaps: LOOK UP. Hmm, I often LOOK UP the word in my dictionary during solving. I am not cheating. Just doing my research.
15A: Statue, perhaps: MEMORIAL. I guess I understand the controversy over a Chinese designing MLK Memorial Statue. Maybe it should be sculpted by an African American. However, MLK transcended racial line.
16A: When some shifts start: AT NINE. Never know when to put AT NINE, when to put NINE AM.
19A: Symbol of love: EROS. Ha ha, I thought of ROSE. Red rose is my favorite flower.
20A: Any of the Beverly Hillbillies: YOKEL
21A: PC linkup: LAN (Local Area Network)
28A: Consider overnight: SLEEP ON. Don't think too much. Just do it.
30A: Sicily's capital?: ESS. Letter S is the first (capital) letter of Sicily.
32A: They're usually rolled outs: TARPS. D'oh, ballpark. I was thinking of dough.
34A: Hipbones: ILIA
41A: Miss equivalent?: MILE. I've never heard of the proverb "A miss is as good as a MILE". Thought of the French miss MLLE.
42A: W, once: YALIE. George W. Bush graduated from Yale. Harvard Business School as well.
43A: Sports drink suffix: ADE. Gatorade.
44A: Pinch, so to speak: NAB. I did not know pinch is a slang for arrest.
47A: Staples Center NBAer: LA LAKER. I am glad Kobe Bryant got his NBA Championship ring sans Shaq.
55A: Playground assertion: IS TOO
56A: 1961 space chimp: ENOS. I wonder why they named him ENOS.
63A: "The Joy Luck Club" author: AMY TAN. A rare author gimme for me. She is a Chinese American. "The Joy Luck Club" is the name of the mahjong club the four ladies formed. Great read.
64A: Fetch: RETRIEVE
65A: Artist's home, perhaps: COLONY. I am not familiar with this definition of COLONY. I thought of STUDIO.
66A: 2009 film based on a TV show that premiered in 1966A: STAR TREK
Down:
1D: Drives forward: IMPELS
2: __ network: NEURAL. Had problem piecing the answer together.
3D: "Finished!": I'M DONE. One blank too much for VOILA.
4D: "Dracula" (1931) director Browning et al?: TODS. I can never remember this guy. Last time the clue was "Pioneer filmmaker Browning".
5D: Hindu honorific: SRI. Sanskirt for "splendor/majesty". SRI Lanka means "Venerable Island".
6D: Cologne article: EIN. Or DER, DAS, all German articles.
8D: Rock's Pink __: FLOYD
9D: Fried fare often served with applesauce: LATKES. I don't know, I've never had LATKES or the Norwegian lefsa.
10D: Catchall column heading: OTHERS
11D: Produce amt.: ONE LB. Cherries are in season now. My favorite snack at the moment.
12D: Tease: KID
13D: Game with Draw Two Cards: UNO
14D: Takedown units?: PEG. Oh, "take down a PEG".
18D: Junction point: NODE
22D: Bandy words: SPAR. I think Chris Matthews (Hardball) has the best job in this world.
23D: Group dance done while holding hands: HORA. The Jewish wedding dance.
24D: Offensive to some, briefly: UN-PC (UN - Politically Correct). And ETTE (29D: Suffix which may be 24-Down). I don't understand why ETTE is UN-PC.
25D: Wrinkly fruit: UGLI. It's actually quite sweet.
26D: Cross the threshhold: GO IN
27D: Beast with a rack: STAG. Ha ha, I just typed in "Breast with a rack" a moment ago.
33D: Shade of blue: SKY. The clue is quite Monday-ish.
34D: Flash of sorts: IDEA
35D: Arabian Sea nation: OMAN. Capital Muscat.
36D: Generic pooch: FIDO. What's the name of your dog(s)?
37D: Hightailed it: FLED
38D: Site of the active volcano Mount Agung: BALI. Guessed MALI first.
39D: Airline to Eilat: EL AL. Eilat, pronounced as ey-laht, is the southernmost city of Israel.
40D: Pickle flavoring: DILL. The only herb I use are chives. The basil at the Farmer's Market makes me headache.
44D: Xterra maker: NISSAN. My knowledge on car makers is as weak as my understanding of Bible.
45D: "I come to bury Caesar" speaker: ANTONY (Mark). "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him...".
46D: Weed __: lawn care product: B-GON. Not familiar with this brand at all. No chemical spray in my garden. And HOERS (53D: Weed whackers).
49D: Exhibit Darwinism: EVOLVE. This clue feels so highbrow.
52D: "Same here!": DITTO. Interesting to see a lone TT here.
56D: Work for Money, maybe: EDIT. I did not pay attention to the capitalized Money (Money magazine).
57D: Part of a winning trio: TAC. Tic-TAC-Toe. Stumped also.
58D: Musical genre related to punk: EMO
59D: Dict. division: SYL (Syllable). I wanted SYN (synonym).
60D: An hour's worth of tunes, maybe: SET. OK, Dictionary says SET can refer to "a group of pieces played by a band, as in a night club, and followed by an intermission". Is this the correct rationale?
61D: NYC subway inits.: MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority). I wrote down IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit).
Answer grid.
C.C.
17A: Evidence of a spilled dessert? PUDDING ON THE DOG
22A: Nervous ticks?: SHUDDER BUGS
35A: Linens for jockeys?: OFF-TRACK BEDDING
51A: Slope where sycophants hang out?: NODDING HILL
57A: What a yenta exam does?: TESTS ONE'S MEDDLE
Just learned the idiom "putting on the dog" a few months ago from a LAT puzzle. Notting Hill is an affluent area in West London. Also a very romantic movie starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant.
Bitter & bidder should be interesting to work with. Latter & Ladder might not be fun. What else can you think of?
Quite a few tricky clues in today's puzzle:
54A: It may be added to impress: IVE. Impressive.
7D: Jet problem?: LAG. Jetlag.
I struggled with the multiple-word entries today.
Across:
1A: Per se: IN ITSELF. Per se is literally "by itself" in Latin.
9A: Research, perhaps: LOOK UP. Hmm, I often LOOK UP the word in my dictionary during solving. I am not cheating. Just doing my research.
15A: Statue, perhaps: MEMORIAL. I guess I understand the controversy over a Chinese designing MLK Memorial Statue. Maybe it should be sculpted by an African American. However, MLK transcended racial line.
16A: When some shifts start: AT NINE. Never know when to put AT NINE, when to put NINE AM.
19A: Symbol of love: EROS. Ha ha, I thought of ROSE. Red rose is my favorite flower.
20A: Any of the Beverly Hillbillies: YOKEL
21A: PC linkup: LAN (Local Area Network)
28A: Consider overnight: SLEEP ON. Don't think too much. Just do it.
30A: Sicily's capital?: ESS. Letter S is the first (capital) letter of Sicily.
32A: They're usually rolled outs: TARPS. D'oh, ballpark. I was thinking of dough.
34A: Hipbones: ILIA
41A: Miss equivalent?: MILE. I've never heard of the proverb "A miss is as good as a MILE". Thought of the French miss MLLE.
42A: W, once: YALIE. George W. Bush graduated from Yale. Harvard Business School as well.
43A: Sports drink suffix: ADE. Gatorade.
44A: Pinch, so to speak: NAB. I did not know pinch is a slang for arrest.
47A: Staples Center NBAer: LA LAKER. I am glad Kobe Bryant got his NBA Championship ring sans Shaq.
55A: Playground assertion: IS TOO
56A: 1961 space chimp: ENOS. I wonder why they named him ENOS.
63A: "The Joy Luck Club" author: AMY TAN. A rare author gimme for me. She is a Chinese American. "The Joy Luck Club" is the name of the mahjong club the four ladies formed. Great read.
64A: Fetch: RETRIEVE
65A: Artist's home, perhaps: COLONY. I am not familiar with this definition of COLONY. I thought of STUDIO.
66A: 2009 film based on a TV show that premiered in 1966A: STAR TREK
Down:
1D: Drives forward: IMPELS
2: __ network: NEURAL. Had problem piecing the answer together.
3D: "Finished!": I'M DONE. One blank too much for VOILA.
4D: "Dracula" (1931) director Browning et al?: TODS. I can never remember this guy. Last time the clue was "Pioneer filmmaker Browning".
5D: Hindu honorific: SRI. Sanskirt for "splendor/majesty". SRI Lanka means "Venerable Island".
6D: Cologne article: EIN. Or DER, DAS, all German articles.
8D: Rock's Pink __: FLOYD
9D: Fried fare often served with applesauce: LATKES. I don't know, I've never had LATKES or the Norwegian lefsa.
10D: Catchall column heading: OTHERS
11D: Produce amt.: ONE LB. Cherries are in season now. My favorite snack at the moment.
12D: Tease: KID
13D: Game with Draw Two Cards: UNO
14D: Takedown units?: PEG. Oh, "take down a PEG".
18D: Junction point: NODE
22D: Bandy words: SPAR. I think Chris Matthews (Hardball) has the best job in this world.
23D: Group dance done while holding hands: HORA. The Jewish wedding dance.
24D: Offensive to some, briefly: UN-PC (UN - Politically Correct). And ETTE (29D: Suffix which may be 24-Down). I don't understand why ETTE is UN-PC.
25D: Wrinkly fruit: UGLI. It's actually quite sweet.
26D: Cross the threshhold: GO IN
27D: Beast with a rack: STAG. Ha ha, I just typed in "Breast with a rack" a moment ago.
33D: Shade of blue: SKY. The clue is quite Monday-ish.
34D: Flash of sorts: IDEA
35D: Arabian Sea nation: OMAN. Capital Muscat.
36D: Generic pooch: FIDO. What's the name of your dog(s)?
37D: Hightailed it: FLED
38D: Site of the active volcano Mount Agung: BALI. Guessed MALI first.
39D: Airline to Eilat: EL AL. Eilat, pronounced as ey-laht, is the southernmost city of Israel.
40D: Pickle flavoring: DILL. The only herb I use are chives. The basil at the Farmer's Market makes me headache.
44D: Xterra maker: NISSAN. My knowledge on car makers is as weak as my understanding of Bible.
45D: "I come to bury Caesar" speaker: ANTONY (Mark). "I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him...".
46D: Weed __: lawn care product: B-GON. Not familiar with this brand at all. No chemical spray in my garden. And HOERS (53D: Weed whackers).
49D: Exhibit Darwinism: EVOLVE. This clue feels so highbrow.
52D: "Same here!": DITTO. Interesting to see a lone TT here.
56D: Work for Money, maybe: EDIT. I did not pay attention to the capitalized Money (Money magazine).
57D: Part of a winning trio: TAC. Tic-TAC-Toe. Stumped also.
58D: Musical genre related to punk: EMO
59D: Dict. division: SYL (Syllable). I wanted SYN (synonym).
60D: An hour's worth of tunes, maybe: SET. OK, Dictionary says SET can refer to "a group of pieces played by a band, as in a night club, and followed by an intermission". Is this the correct rationale?
61D: NYC subway inits.: MTA (Metropolitan Transportation Authority). I wrote down IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit).
Answer grid.
C.C.
