Theme: None
Total blocks: 28
Total words: 70
Tough puzzle. Tough (but clever) cluing. Hardest Gail Grabowski I've ever solved. The grid is anchored by two 15-letter fills crossing each other right in the middle:
36A: Washington address: MISTER PRESIDENT
8D: Timber, for one: NATURAL RESOURCE
I was thinking of the place "address". Got the last intersecting letter T from ENTRE (31D): immediately, so I confidently filled in *STREET at the end of 36A. Very nice "Between, in Brest" clue. Delicate sexual innuendo. Alliteration too of course. Brest is the west extremity of France. ENTRE nous = "between us".
ELS (44A: 1994 U.S. Open champ) and EAGLE (21D: Some U.S. Open scores) were gimmes. Double bogey, bogey, par, birdie, EALGE are common US Open scores. Rare to see double EAGLE (albatross).
Across:
1A: Village People classic: MACHO MAN. Not a good clue, as CLASSICS is the answer for (60A: Some required reading). Y.M.C.A. is their biggest hit.
9A: Locale of a Stephen King residence: BANGOR. Look at his Victorian mansion.
15A: Latin-American pastry: EMPANADA. No idea. Looks like it's savory.
16A: Simple life?: AMOEBA. "Simple" indeed. But what a stumper for me. Kept thinking of the idyllic life little Heidi lives.
17A: Visited overnight: STAYED AT
18A: One might excite a gambler: HOT TIP
19A: Hinny's mother: ASS. Hinny is an offspring of a male horse and a female donkey. Female donkey is JENNY.
20A: Site of Europe's Parkpop festival, with "The": HAGUE. No idea. Wikipedia says Parkpop is the largest free pop festival in Europe, and it's held at Zuiderpark in the HAGUE on the last Sunday of June.
22A: Up in the air: UNSET
23A: Focus group?: CAMERA CREW. Despite the ? mark, I still thought of A.C. Nielson style "Focus group".
25A: Apollo's nymph: DAPHNE. Literally "laurel" in Greek. DAPHNE did not want Apollo's love and was changed into a laurel tree when pursued. The tree then became sacred to Apollo, who crowned the victors with laurel wreath at the Pythian Game (forerunner of the Olympics). Origin of "resting on one's laurel".
28A: Reminiscing word: AGO
29A: Not localized: WIDE
32A: Beginning of a response to "Eh?": I SAID. And ERS (56D: Sounds from the stumped).
33A: Stand for: ALLOW. OK, I won't stand for/ALLOW this behavior. I was in the "represent" direction, as in CRS stands for "Can't remember sh*t".
35A: It's often blocked on beaches: SUN
39A: Seasonal hrs.: EDT (Eastern Daylight time)
40A: Takes in: DUPES
41A: One with a pad, perhaps: NOTER. Thought of STENO first.
42A: They may be rough: SEAS. Of course, I thought of the golf fairway rough. U.S. Open always has the toughest rough.
45A: Kick out: DEPOSE
46A: Movie nerd, e.g.: STEREOTYPE. Stymied.
49A: View from the Acropolis: AGORA. The old Greek market. Parthenon stands atop Acropolis.
51A: Less ambiguous: SURER
52A: "We don't know yet, "on skeds: TBA
55A: Carnival ride?: CRUISE. Carnival CRUISE Lines.
57A: Starving: RAVENOUS. And EATS A LOT (62A: Reacts to being 57-Across).
59A: "Freestyle" performer, perhaps: RAPPER. Have never heard of "Freestyle rap". It's an improvised rap style.
61A: Pacers and Rangers: EDSELS. Nope. Both EDSEL Pacers and EDSEL Rangers were strangers to me. Thought of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and baseball's Texas Rangers.
Down:
1D: Formation with walls: MESA. Steep walls and flat top.
2D: Balance, e.g.: Abbr.: AMTS
3D: Bk. reviewers?: CPAS. Financial books. Very tricky clue.
4D: It's cut and dried: HAY. Perfect clue for our charming farmer/philosopher Windhover.
5D: Like a diving catch: ONE-HANDED
6D: Title for Dickens's Defarge: MADAME. No idea. MADAME Defarge is a character in "A Tales of Two Cities".
7D: Byword: ADAGE. Did not know the meaning of "Byword".
9D: Cross word: BAH. Cross is an adjective here, angry/annoyed.
10D: Illicit affair: AMOUR. It's just French for "love", fair l'AMOUR = make love.
11D: Unsurprising: NOT NEW. Wanted COMMON.
12D: Figures out: GETS WISE TO. This multiple word fill just drives me nuts.
13D: Award for "Hot l Baltimore": OBIE. No idea. The neon light of letter e of Hotel was burned out, hence Hot l.
14D: Engaged, in a way: RAPT
23D: Receipt: CHIT. Used to the IOU clue.
24D: __Bay, largest Oregon Coast City: COOS. No idea. The city is located in COOS County, where the COOS River enters COOS Bay on the Pacific Ocean, according to Wikipedia.
25D: Symbols of thinness: DIMES. I wanted RAILS. Have never heard of the expression "thin as a dime".
26D: Where all kidding occurs?: ASIDE. Idiom: "all kidding ASIDE".
27D: Some Campbell's creations: PASTA SOUPS. I make my own soup.
30D: Kara Kum features: DUNES. Kara Kum is a desert in Central Asia. Turkish for "Black Sand". New to me.
33D: Half an incomparable mixture: APPLES. Comparing APPLES and oranges.
34D: Gallo gadget: WINE PRESS. Not familiar with the Gallo Winery, the largest exporter of California wines.
37D: Hand wringer: RUER
38D: Knucklehead: DOPE
43D: ATM card feature: STRIPE
45D: Textile factor fixture: DYE VAT
47D: Means of support: EASEL. Oh, support for painters.
48D: Lilting refrain: TRA LA
49D: Parcel unit: ACRE. Was thinking of the post office parcel package rather than the plot of land parcel.
50D: Scholarship drive donor: GRAD
52D: One of Churchill's four offerings: TOIL. Churchill's famous line: "I have nothing to offer but blood, TOIL, tears and sweat".
53D: Osso __: BUCO. Osso=bone. BUCO=hole. Have some.
54D: Short staffer?: ASST. Nailed it immediately.
58D: Bug-loving org.: NSA. D'oh, the listening device bug.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total blocks: 28
Total words: 70
Tough puzzle. Tough (but clever) cluing. Hardest Gail Grabowski I've ever solved. The grid is anchored by two 15-letter fills crossing each other right in the middle:
36A: Washington address: MISTER PRESIDENT
8D: Timber, for one: NATURAL RESOURCE
I was thinking of the place "address". Got the last intersecting letter T from ENTRE (31D): immediately, so I confidently filled in *STREET at the end of 36A. Very nice "Between, in Brest" clue. Delicate sexual innuendo. Alliteration too of course. Brest is the west extremity of France. ENTRE nous = "between us".
ELS (44A: 1994 U.S. Open champ) and EAGLE (21D: Some U.S. Open scores) were gimmes. Double bogey, bogey, par, birdie, EALGE are common US Open scores. Rare to see double EAGLE (albatross).
Across:
1A: Village People classic: MACHO MAN. Not a good clue, as CLASSICS is the answer for (60A: Some required reading). Y.M.C.A. is their biggest hit.
9A: Locale of a Stephen King residence: BANGOR. Look at his Victorian mansion.
15A: Latin-American pastry: EMPANADA. No idea. Looks like it's savory.
16A: Simple life?: AMOEBA. "Simple" indeed. But what a stumper for me. Kept thinking of the idyllic life little Heidi lives.
17A: Visited overnight: STAYED AT
18A: One might excite a gambler: HOT TIP
19A: Hinny's mother: ASS. Hinny is an offspring of a male horse and a female donkey. Female donkey is JENNY.
20A: Site of Europe's Parkpop festival, with "The": HAGUE. No idea. Wikipedia says Parkpop is the largest free pop festival in Europe, and it's held at Zuiderpark in the HAGUE on the last Sunday of June.
22A: Up in the air: UNSET
23A: Focus group?: CAMERA CREW. Despite the ? mark, I still thought of A.C. Nielson style "Focus group".
25A: Apollo's nymph: DAPHNE. Literally "laurel" in Greek. DAPHNE did not want Apollo's love and was changed into a laurel tree when pursued. The tree then became sacred to Apollo, who crowned the victors with laurel wreath at the Pythian Game (forerunner of the Olympics). Origin of "resting on one's laurel".
28A: Reminiscing word: AGO
29A: Not localized: WIDE
32A: Beginning of a response to "Eh?": I SAID. And ERS (56D: Sounds from the stumped).
33A: Stand for: ALLOW. OK, I won't stand for/ALLOW this behavior. I was in the "represent" direction, as in CRS stands for "Can't remember sh*t".
35A: It's often blocked on beaches: SUN
39A: Seasonal hrs.: EDT (Eastern Daylight time)
40A: Takes in: DUPES
41A: One with a pad, perhaps: NOTER. Thought of STENO first.
42A: They may be rough: SEAS. Of course, I thought of the golf fairway rough. U.S. Open always has the toughest rough.
45A: Kick out: DEPOSE
46A: Movie nerd, e.g.: STEREOTYPE. Stymied.
49A: View from the Acropolis: AGORA. The old Greek market. Parthenon stands atop Acropolis.
51A: Less ambiguous: SURER
52A: "We don't know yet, "on skeds: TBA
55A: Carnival ride?: CRUISE. Carnival CRUISE Lines.
57A: Starving: RAVENOUS. And EATS A LOT (62A: Reacts to being 57-Across).
59A: "Freestyle" performer, perhaps: RAPPER. Have never heard of "Freestyle rap". It's an improvised rap style.
61A: Pacers and Rangers: EDSELS. Nope. Both EDSEL Pacers and EDSEL Rangers were strangers to me. Thought of the NBA's Indiana Pacers and baseball's Texas Rangers.
Down:
1D: Formation with walls: MESA. Steep walls and flat top.
2D: Balance, e.g.: Abbr.: AMTS
3D: Bk. reviewers?: CPAS. Financial books. Very tricky clue.
4D: It's cut and dried: HAY. Perfect clue for our charming farmer/philosopher Windhover.
5D: Like a diving catch: ONE-HANDED
6D: Title for Dickens's Defarge: MADAME. No idea. MADAME Defarge is a character in "A Tales of Two Cities".
7D: Byword: ADAGE. Did not know the meaning of "Byword".
9D: Cross word: BAH. Cross is an adjective here, angry/annoyed.
10D: Illicit affair: AMOUR. It's just French for "love", fair l'AMOUR = make love.
11D: Unsurprising: NOT NEW. Wanted COMMON.
12D: Figures out: GETS WISE TO. This multiple word fill just drives me nuts.
13D: Award for "Hot l Baltimore": OBIE. No idea. The neon light of letter e of Hotel was burned out, hence Hot l.
14D: Engaged, in a way: RAPT
23D: Receipt: CHIT. Used to the IOU clue.
24D: __Bay, largest Oregon Coast City: COOS. No idea. The city is located in COOS County, where the COOS River enters COOS Bay on the Pacific Ocean, according to Wikipedia.
25D: Symbols of thinness: DIMES. I wanted RAILS. Have never heard of the expression "thin as a dime".
26D: Where all kidding occurs?: ASIDE. Idiom: "all kidding ASIDE".
27D: Some Campbell's creations: PASTA SOUPS. I make my own soup.
30D: Kara Kum features: DUNES. Kara Kum is a desert in Central Asia. Turkish for "Black Sand". New to me.
33D: Half an incomparable mixture: APPLES. Comparing APPLES and oranges.
34D: Gallo gadget: WINE PRESS. Not familiar with the Gallo Winery, the largest exporter of California wines.
37D: Hand wringer: RUER
38D: Knucklehead: DOPE
43D: ATM card feature: STRIPE
45D: Textile factor fixture: DYE VAT
47D: Means of support: EASEL. Oh, support for painters.
48D: Lilting refrain: TRA LA
49D: Parcel unit: ACRE. Was thinking of the post office parcel package rather than the plot of land parcel.
50D: Scholarship drive donor: GRAD
52D: One of Churchill's four offerings: TOIL. Churchill's famous line: "I have nothing to offer but blood, TOIL, tears and sweat".
53D: Osso __: BUCO. Osso=bone. BUCO=hole. Have some.
54D: Short staffer?: ASST. Nailed it immediately.
58D: Bug-loving org.: NSA. D'oh, the listening device bug.
Answer grid.
C.C.
