Theme: Initial Exposé - reinterpretation of famous people's initials.
27A: Author who's rarin' to write?: EAGER BEAVER WHITE (E. B. WHITE - author of "Charlotte's Web")
45A: Daredevil writer?: HANG GLIDER WELLS (H. G. WELLS, writer of 'The Time Machine'')
67A: Explosive blues singer?: BIG BANG KING (B.B. KING, blues legend)
92A: Hard-hitting mystery writer?: PILE DRIVER JAMES (P. D. JAMES, British mystery writer)
109A: Threatening, but harmless, showman?: PAPER TIGER BARNUM (P. T. BARNUM, the circus showman)
15D: Merchant who moonlights as a union boss?: LABOR LEADER BEAN (L. L. BEAN, founder of the mail-order giant)
44D: Poet surfing the Net?: WEB BROWSER YEATS (W.B. YEATS, Nobel Literature poet)
Of all the 7 theme answers, I like PAPER TIGER BARNUM the post. Chairman Mao used to call the United States PAPER TIGER.
Good to see Edgar Fontaine's name again. It's been a long time since we last solved his TMS Daily puzzle.
Amusing theme. Some of the clues are very tough. Plus quite a few unknowns. I just struggled again.
Across:
1A: Autograph site: CAST. Wanted EBAY, the site where I got some of my autographed baseball cards.
5A: "Yesterday": ASAP
9A: Hefty competitor: GLAD
13A: Twist together: ENLACE
19A: Emperor after Galba: OTHO. No idea. He overthrew Galba and ruled for just only three months in AD 69.
20A: "A __ technicality": MERE
21A: Pressure, loan shark style: LEAN ON. Not familiar with the "Exert pressure" meaning of LEAN ON. "Rely on", yes
23A: Help out at the trampoline: SPOT. Why?
25A: Florida Marlins uniform color: TEAL. Ha ha, I've never paid attention to Marlins' uniform color. That's Miguel Cabrera, who is now with the Tigers.
26A: RoboCop, e.g.: CYBORG. It stands for Cybernetic Organism. New word to me. Not familiar with the movie RoboCop either.
31A: River through Silesia: ODER. The German/Polish border river. Flows to the Baltic Sea. I could not find Silesia though.
32A: __War: 1850s conflict: CRIMEAN
34A: Deep-seated: INBRED
36A: Connecting: BETWEEN. Can you explain to me how these two are synonymous?
39A: Insurance that covers bridges?: DENTAL. The ? mark did not prevent me from thinking of the river bridges.
41A: Vermont ski resort: STOWE. No idea. Is it named after Harriet Beecher STOWE?
50A: Jazzman Calloway's birth name: CABELL. Cab Calloway. Total stranger to me.
52A: Campanella of Ebbets Field fame: ROY. Gimme. Catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers who played in the Ebbets Field. Hall of Famer.
53A: Green-lighted: OK'D
54A: Sainted Norse King: OLAV II. Easy guess. It could only be OLAV II or OLAV IV or OLAV VI.
56A: Horse of the Middle East: ARAB
56A: Ocular sphincter: IRIS
58A: Africa's largest nation in area: SUDAN. I am glad I don't live in Darfur.
60A: Blue-pencils: EDITS. Oh, I associated EDITS with red-color.
61A: Dead center?: TOMB. Great clue.
62A: "Oh, brother!": MAN
63A: Series opener?: MINI. Miniseries.
64A: Hill worker: AIDE. Capitol Hill.
66A: Geppetto wished on one: STAR. "When You Wish Upon a STAR", from "Pinocchio". I was stumped. Did not know who Geppetoo is.
70A: Keep out of the lineup: REST
79A: Give rise to: SPAWN
82A: Pin on a rowboat: THOLE. Ah, T' HOLE. That's how I remember it.
84A: Come ci, comma ça: SOSO. "Come ci, comma ça" is literally "Like this, like that".
85A: Bring in: EARN
86A: Try to hit with: TOSS AT
88A: White House nickname: IKE. It can only be IKE or ABE.
89A: Take up, perhaps: HEM. Take up/HEM the sleeves an inch.
90A: Creamsicle color: ORANGE. Did not know the Creamsicle brand.
96A: Much of Chile: ANDES
97A: High-tech card interpreter: READER. Bar code READER?
98A: Seriously restrained, as a prisoner: IN IRONS
100A: Thwart: STYMIE. Crossing TRIPS (101D: Fools, with "up").
102A: GM debut of 1964: GTO (1964-1974).
103A: They work in wheels: POTTERS. POTTER's wheel.
108A: Rochester's love: EYRE. From "Jane EYRE".
114A: Frock wearers: FRIARS
117A: Bibliography abbr.: ET AL
118A: 13 for Al, e.g.: AT NO. Did not know aluminum's Atomic Number is 13.
119A: Go quietly: TIPTOE
120A Malibu landmark: PIER. Malibu PIER.
121A: "Clair de __": LUNE. Clair is French for "Clear". LUNE is "moon". "Clair de LUNE"= "moonlight". Debussy's piece.
122A: Luth. or Meth.: PROT (Protestant)
124A: Like a stained shirt pocket, maybe: INKY
125A: Christian name?: DIOR. Christian DIOR. Nailed it immediately.
128A: Title word in an annual Guy Lombardo classic: SYNE. "Auld Lang SYNE" (Literally "Old Long Since"). I've never heard of Guy Lombardo. He is credited with popularizing the use of the song at New Year’s celebrations in America, according to Wikipedia.
Down:
1D: Sine's reciprocal, in trig: COSEC. My goodness. I thought it's COSINE.
2D: How some stocks are sold: AT PAR
3D: Chess, Japanese style: SHOGI. Sho=General (as in Shogun). Gi=Chess.
4D: __ pole: TOTEM
5D: Unicellular life: AMEBAE. Plural of AMEBA, though AMOEBA is more common.
6D: "God Bless America" inning: SEVENTH. The effect of Sept 11. Weird to sing "Take Me to the Ball Game" while inside the stadium.
7D: Part of WATS: AREA. WATS = Wide Area Telecommunications Service. New acronym to me.
8D: Sicko, for short: PERV. Pervert. I only know perb, which stands for perpetrator (or perpendicular crossing in our blog).
9D: It doesn't conceal much: G-STRING. Lovely matching baby doll top.
10D: "Gigi" composer: LOEWE. Learner & LOEWE.
11D: Indian wet nurse: AMAH. It's called AMAH in Hongkong too.
12D: Place for a bagel with a schmear: DELI
13D: City in California's Imperial Valley: EL CENTRO. Literally "The Center". New to me. Wikipedia says Cher was born here.
14D: Napoleonic Wars marshal: NEY (Michel). Napoleon called him "the bravest of the brave".
16D: Galvanic cell part: ANODE
17D: Like baked apples: CORED. You don't want to bake an Honeycrisp apple.
18D: Certain B.S. holder: ENGR
28D: James Dean persona: REBEL. "REBEL Without a Cause" in particular. He was kind of a REBEL in "East of Eden" too.
29D: Milton's "Lycidas", e.g.: ELEGY. No idea. Wikipedia says "Lycidas" was a poem dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a collegemate of Milton's at Cambridge who had been drowned when his ship sank in the Irish Sea.
30D: Trident feature: TINE
35D: Turned on the waterworks: BAWLED
37D: Blender name: WARING. Not familiar with the brand. It's named after musician Fred WARNING.
38D: Grandson of Adam: ENOS
39D: Antelope named for the sound it makes when frightened: DIK-DIK. Oh, good to know. Good morning, DIK-DIK, don't be afraid.
40D: Icelandic epic: EDDA
41D: Sings like Ella: SCATS
42D: It has Lovers card: TAROT
43D: 2004 Democratic keynoter: OBAMA. I remember that speech very vividly. My first encounter with the name OBAMA.
46D: Lizard's habitat?: LOUNGE. LOUNGE lizard.
47D: DLX÷ X: LVI. 560÷ 10= 56.
48D: Beyong tipsy: LIT
49D: Word before boom: SIS. SIS boom bah.
51D: Perching places: LIMBS. For birds.
57D: Grammy winner Bonnie: RAITT. Fascinating voice.
58D: Inasmuch as: SINCE
59D: Some grandkid spoilers: NANAS
63D: Jiffy Bag, e.g.: MAILER. Oh, I just call Jiffy Bag bubbled envelop.
65D: All-natural abode: IGLOO. Inuit for "house". Constructed of snow, hence "all-natural" I suppose.
68D: Arrange, as a deal: BROKER
69D: Chemical relative: ISOMER. Same compound with different arrangement of atoms.
71D: Serengeti grazer: ELAND. The spiral-horned antelope.
72D: Suit material: SERGE. Woolen fabric.
73D: Nano or Shuffle fillers: TUNES. iPod Nano/iPod Shuffle.
75D: Ancient wreath for the head: ANADEM. New word to me. LAUREL doesn't fit.
79D: Indy additive: STP
80D: Pacific finger food: POI. You eat POI with finger?
81D: Comm. method reputedly used by Koko the gorilla: ASL (American Sign Language). Stumper for me.
83D: Cellular structure: HIVE
84D: High roller?: SEMI. Nice clue.
87D: Went (all over): TRAIPSED
89D: Capital WNW of Manila: HANOI. Vietnam's capital.
91D: Haile Selassie worshipper: RASTA. They wear dreadlocks.
93D: "The very __!": IDEA
94D: Wired, so to speak: JITTERY. Edgy.
95D: Opera heroine, often: SOPRANO
99D: More stately: NOBLER
100D: Fertile Crescent land: SYRIA. See this Fertile Crescent region map. It's shaped like a crescent.
102D: Gibberish, metaphorically: GREEK
104D: Nabs using trickery: TRAPS
105D: Log item: ENTRY
106D: Yak, yak, yak ..: RUN ON. I often imagine how Geri (our fellow Canadian solver) looks like. She is so quiet yet so present.
107D: Walloped, old-style: SMOTE. Biblically.
108D: New newts: EFTS
110D: Big __: baseball's David Ortiz: PAPI. Nick name for Ortiz, another steroid user.
111D: Tiger Wood's wife: ELIN. ELIN Nordegren. A former Swedish model/nanny.
112D: Fix, in a way: GELD. Oh, neuter fix.
13D: Fancy case: ETUI. Aren't you glad we don't have PTUI any more?
115D: Sushi ingredient: ROE. I've somehow lost appetite for salmon ROE sushi.
Answer grid.
C.C.
27A: Author who's rarin' to write?: EAGER BEAVER WHITE (E. B. WHITE - author of "Charlotte's Web")
45A: Daredevil writer?: HANG GLIDER WELLS (H. G. WELLS, writer of 'The Time Machine'')
67A: Explosive blues singer?: BIG BANG KING (B.B. KING, blues legend)
92A: Hard-hitting mystery writer?: PILE DRIVER JAMES (P. D. JAMES, British mystery writer)
109A: Threatening, but harmless, showman?: PAPER TIGER BARNUM (P. T. BARNUM, the circus showman)
15D: Merchant who moonlights as a union boss?: LABOR LEADER BEAN (L. L. BEAN, founder of the mail-order giant)
44D: Poet surfing the Net?: WEB BROWSER YEATS (W.B. YEATS, Nobel Literature poet)
Of all the 7 theme answers, I like PAPER TIGER BARNUM the post. Chairman Mao used to call the United States PAPER TIGER.
Good to see Edgar Fontaine's name again. It's been a long time since we last solved his TMS Daily puzzle.
Amusing theme. Some of the clues are very tough. Plus quite a few unknowns. I just struggled again.
Across:
1A: Autograph site: CAST. Wanted EBAY, the site where I got some of my autographed baseball cards.
5A: "Yesterday": ASAP
9A: Hefty competitor: GLAD
13A: Twist together: ENLACE
19A: Emperor after Galba: OTHO. No idea. He overthrew Galba and ruled for just only three months in AD 69.
20A: "A __ technicality": MERE
21A: Pressure, loan shark style: LEAN ON. Not familiar with the "Exert pressure" meaning of LEAN ON. "Rely on", yes
23A: Help out at the trampoline: SPOT. Why?
25A: Florida Marlins uniform color: TEAL. Ha ha, I've never paid attention to Marlins' uniform color. That's Miguel Cabrera, who is now with the Tigers.
26A: RoboCop, e.g.: CYBORG. It stands for Cybernetic Organism. New word to me. Not familiar with the movie RoboCop either.
31A: River through Silesia: ODER. The German/Polish border river. Flows to the Baltic Sea. I could not find Silesia though.
32A: __War: 1850s conflict: CRIMEAN
34A: Deep-seated: INBRED
36A: Connecting: BETWEEN. Can you explain to me how these two are synonymous?
39A: Insurance that covers bridges?: DENTAL. The ? mark did not prevent me from thinking of the river bridges.
41A: Vermont ski resort: STOWE. No idea. Is it named after Harriet Beecher STOWE?
50A: Jazzman Calloway's birth name: CABELL. Cab Calloway. Total stranger to me.
52A: Campanella of Ebbets Field fame: ROY. Gimme. Catcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers who played in the Ebbets Field. Hall of Famer.
53A: Green-lighted: OK'D
54A: Sainted Norse King: OLAV II. Easy guess. It could only be OLAV II or OLAV IV or OLAV VI.
56A: Horse of the Middle East: ARAB
56A: Ocular sphincter: IRIS
58A: Africa's largest nation in area: SUDAN. I am glad I don't live in Darfur.
60A: Blue-pencils: EDITS. Oh, I associated EDITS with red-color.
61A: Dead center?: TOMB. Great clue.
62A: "Oh, brother!": MAN
63A: Series opener?: MINI. Miniseries.
64A: Hill worker: AIDE. Capitol Hill.
66A: Geppetto wished on one: STAR. "When You Wish Upon a STAR", from "Pinocchio". I was stumped. Did not know who Geppetoo is.
70A: Keep out of the lineup: REST
79A: Give rise to: SPAWN
82A: Pin on a rowboat: THOLE. Ah, T' HOLE. That's how I remember it.
84A: Come ci, comma ça: SOSO. "Come ci, comma ça" is literally "Like this, like that".
85A: Bring in: EARN
86A: Try to hit with: TOSS AT
88A: White House nickname: IKE. It can only be IKE or ABE.
89A: Take up, perhaps: HEM. Take up/HEM the sleeves an inch.
90A: Creamsicle color: ORANGE. Did not know the Creamsicle brand.
96A: Much of Chile: ANDES
97A: High-tech card interpreter: READER. Bar code READER?
98A: Seriously restrained, as a prisoner: IN IRONS
100A: Thwart: STYMIE. Crossing TRIPS (101D: Fools, with "up").
102A: GM debut of 1964: GTO (1964-1974).
103A: They work in wheels: POTTERS. POTTER's wheel.
108A: Rochester's love: EYRE. From "Jane EYRE".
114A: Frock wearers: FRIARS
117A: Bibliography abbr.: ET AL
118A: 13 for Al, e.g.: AT NO. Did not know aluminum's Atomic Number is 13.
119A: Go quietly: TIPTOE
120A Malibu landmark: PIER. Malibu PIER.
121A: "Clair de __": LUNE. Clair is French for "Clear". LUNE is "moon". "Clair de LUNE"= "moonlight". Debussy's piece.
122A: Luth. or Meth.: PROT (Protestant)
124A: Like a stained shirt pocket, maybe: INKY
125A: Christian name?: DIOR. Christian DIOR. Nailed it immediately.
128A: Title word in an annual Guy Lombardo classic: SYNE. "Auld Lang SYNE" (Literally "Old Long Since"). I've never heard of Guy Lombardo. He is credited with popularizing the use of the song at New Year’s celebrations in America, according to Wikipedia.
Down:
1D: Sine's reciprocal, in trig: COSEC. My goodness. I thought it's COSINE.
2D: How some stocks are sold: AT PAR
3D: Chess, Japanese style: SHOGI. Sho=General (as in Shogun). Gi=Chess.
4D: __ pole: TOTEM
5D: Unicellular life: AMEBAE. Plural of AMEBA, though AMOEBA is more common.
6D: "God Bless America" inning: SEVENTH. The effect of Sept 11. Weird to sing "Take Me to the Ball Game" while inside the stadium.
7D: Part of WATS: AREA. WATS = Wide Area Telecommunications Service. New acronym to me.
8D: Sicko, for short: PERV. Pervert. I only know perb, which stands for perpetrator (or perpendicular crossing in our blog).
9D: It doesn't conceal much: G-STRING. Lovely matching baby doll top.
10D: "Gigi" composer: LOEWE. Learner & LOEWE.
11D: Indian wet nurse: AMAH. It's called AMAH in Hongkong too.
12D: Place for a bagel with a schmear: DELI
13D: City in California's Imperial Valley: EL CENTRO. Literally "The Center". New to me. Wikipedia says Cher was born here.
14D: Napoleonic Wars marshal: NEY (Michel). Napoleon called him "the bravest of the brave".
16D: Galvanic cell part: ANODE
17D: Like baked apples: CORED. You don't want to bake an Honeycrisp apple.
18D: Certain B.S. holder: ENGR
28D: James Dean persona: REBEL. "REBEL Without a Cause" in particular. He was kind of a REBEL in "East of Eden" too.
29D: Milton's "Lycidas", e.g.: ELEGY. No idea. Wikipedia says "Lycidas" was a poem dedicated to the memory of Edward King, a collegemate of Milton's at Cambridge who had been drowned when his ship sank in the Irish Sea.
30D: Trident feature: TINE
35D: Turned on the waterworks: BAWLED
37D: Blender name: WARING. Not familiar with the brand. It's named after musician Fred WARNING.
38D: Grandson of Adam: ENOS
39D: Antelope named for the sound it makes when frightened: DIK-DIK. Oh, good to know. Good morning, DIK-DIK, don't be afraid.
40D: Icelandic epic: EDDA
41D: Sings like Ella: SCATS
42D: It has Lovers card: TAROT
43D: 2004 Democratic keynoter: OBAMA. I remember that speech very vividly. My first encounter with the name OBAMA.
46D: Lizard's habitat?: LOUNGE. LOUNGE lizard.
47D: DLX÷ X: LVI. 560÷ 10= 56.
48D: Beyong tipsy: LIT
49D: Word before boom: SIS. SIS boom bah.
51D: Perching places: LIMBS. For birds.
57D: Grammy winner Bonnie: RAITT. Fascinating voice.
58D: Inasmuch as: SINCE
59D: Some grandkid spoilers: NANAS
63D: Jiffy Bag, e.g.: MAILER. Oh, I just call Jiffy Bag bubbled envelop.
65D: All-natural abode: IGLOO. Inuit for "house". Constructed of snow, hence "all-natural" I suppose.
68D: Arrange, as a deal: BROKER
69D: Chemical relative: ISOMER. Same compound with different arrangement of atoms.
71D: Serengeti grazer: ELAND. The spiral-horned antelope.
72D: Suit material: SERGE. Woolen fabric.
73D: Nano or Shuffle fillers: TUNES. iPod Nano/iPod Shuffle.
75D: Ancient wreath for the head: ANADEM. New word to me. LAUREL doesn't fit.
79D: Indy additive: STP
80D: Pacific finger food: POI. You eat POI with finger?
81D: Comm. method reputedly used by Koko the gorilla: ASL (American Sign Language). Stumper for me.
83D: Cellular structure: HIVE
84D: High roller?: SEMI. Nice clue.
87D: Went (all over): TRAIPSED
89D: Capital WNW of Manila: HANOI. Vietnam's capital.
91D: Haile Selassie worshipper: RASTA. They wear dreadlocks.
93D: "The very __!": IDEA
94D: Wired, so to speak: JITTERY. Edgy.
95D: Opera heroine, often: SOPRANO
99D: More stately: NOBLER
100D: Fertile Crescent land: SYRIA. See this Fertile Crescent region map. It's shaped like a crescent.
102D: Gibberish, metaphorically: GREEK
104D: Nabs using trickery: TRAPS
105D: Log item: ENTRY
106D: Yak, yak, yak ..: RUN ON. I often imagine how Geri (our fellow Canadian solver) looks like. She is so quiet yet so present.
107D: Walloped, old-style: SMOTE. Biblically.
108D: New newts: EFTS
110D: Big __: baseball's David Ortiz: PAPI. Nick name for Ortiz, another steroid user.
111D: Tiger Wood's wife: ELIN. ELIN Nordegren. A former Swedish model/nanny.
112D: Fix, in a way: GELD. Oh, neuter fix.
13D: Fancy case: ETUI. Aren't you glad we don't have PTUI any more?
115D: Sushi ingredient: ROE. I've somehow lost appetite for salmon ROE sushi.
Answer grid.
C.C.
