Theme: MARGIN OF VICTORY (Winning difference - a small one starts 17-, 26- and 47-Across)
17A: "That fact is worth considering": A POINT WELL TAKEN (basketball/football/tennis)
26A: "Brilliant": A STROKE OF GENIUS (golf)
47A: Wall Street nightmare: A RUN ON THE MARKET (baseball)
Hmm, another scrabbly puzzle. Only one letter Q away from a pangram. 6 K's.
Four 15-letter theme entries. Lovely. No A GOAL for the hockey/soccer fans though.
I am not familiar with A RUN ON THE MARKET. Similar to the stock market crash we just weathered?
I don't understand the clue for LONG (18D: Unlike any vowels in dictionaries?). Is it because all the vowels in the word "dictionaries" have short sounds?
Across:
1A: Hook's mate: SMEE. The pirate in "Peter Pan".
5A: Swedish import: SAAB. GM still owns SAAB, though won't for long.
9A: Letter vender?: SAJAK (Pat). Host of "Wheel of Fortune". I was in the rental let-ter (one who lets) direction.
14A: Utterly unapproachable: COLD AS ICE
16A: Love abroad: AMORE. Italian for "love".
19A: Approaching the hour: TEN TO. I used to say five fifty (5:50) rather than TEN TO six.
20A: Janis's comics mate: ARLO. "ARLO and Janis".
22A: Clandestine maritime org.: ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). The Navy CIA. I simply forgot.
24A: Sgt., for one: NCO
35A: Japanese drama: NOH. Derived from Chinese "Neng", literally "ability". Most NOH characters are masked. Actors are usually males.
36A: Fair-sized fair: EXPO. Nice clue.
37A: Petrol measure: LITRE. Petrol is British for "gas", hence British spelling of LITER.
38A: Angelou's "And Still __": I RISE. Penned in "I SING". Must have confused it with something else.
41A: Places for RNs: ERS. ORS too.
42A: Café container: TASSE. French for "cup". TASSE à café = coffee cup.
43A: Not hit off the ground: TEE UP. You use a tee to TEE UP (i.e., not "hit off the ground") when teeing off. I felt stupid not being able to interpret the clue.
44A: Premature, perhaps: RASH
46A: W. Hemisphere alliance: OAS (Organization of American States).
51A: Shaq's alma mater: LSU (Louisiana State University)
52A: Wall St. wall plaque: MBA. Do they really display their MBA on the wall? Even after this financial meltdown?
53A: Inclusive prefix: AMBI. Prefix for "both", as in ambidextrous.
60A: Middle of three black keys: A FLAT. Easy guess.
67A: Menotti's shepherd boy: AMAHL. "AMAHL and the Night Visitors". Literally "labor"/ "hard work" in Hebrew/Sanskrit. Maybe it's related to AMAH.
68A: "Reach": STICK 'EM UP
69A: Sip or bite: TASTE
70A: Piece of work: TASK
71D: Musician's mailing: DEMO
Down:
1D: Word to a pest: SCAT
2D: Brood: MOPE. Sometimes I feel blue for no reason.
3D: North Carolina campus: ELON. Wow, this Tar Heel State sure gets lots of play lately.
4D: Prose pro: EDITOR. Yes, you are a "Prose pro", Rich!
5D: Old JFK arrival: SST
6D: Bygone audio brand: AIWA. Sony acquired AIWA in 2002, and then discontinued the brand in 2006.
7D: One offering outstanding services?: ACER. Is "service" the same as "serve" in tennis?
8D: Bossy's ringer: BELL. I wonder why a cow is called bossy.
10D: Endangered South American watershed: AMAZONIA. New word to me.
11D: Part of a routine: JOKE. Oh, "comic routine". Not a JOKE that Kathy Griffin is now dating Sarah Palin's 19-year-old almost son-in-law.
12D: War deity: ARES. Greek God of War.
13D: Daily Planet reporter: KENT (Clark)
15D: "That's __!": parental warning: A NO NO
23D: Tina's ex: IKE
25D: Druid, for one: CELT. Druid is ancient CELT. Dictionary says druid is derived from duiwid, dru means "oak", (w)id means "to know". No wonder Druids worshipped oak trees.
26D: Ekberg of "La Dolce Vita": ANITA. I remember this scene. But her name escaped me.
28D: 1960s-'70s South Vietnamese president: THIEU. No idea. This guy was South Vietnam's last president (1965-1975).
29D: Bring to bear: EXERT
30D: Daytime TV mogul: OPRAH. Ennui.
31D: "All that Jazz" choreographer: FOSSE (Bob). Wikipedia says he won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography.
32D: "Not to worry": IT'S OK
33D: Latin bears: URSAE. Mine was URSAS.
34D: Behold, of old: SEEST. Biblically. I was thinking of ECCE, the Latin "behold".
39D: Morning awakener, perhaps: SUNLIGHT. What came to your mind first?
40D: Long poem: EPOS. Literally "tale" in Greek. "Odyssey" is an EPOS. New word to me also.
45D: "I'm thinking ...": HMM
48D: Former Georgia senator Sam: NUNN. Georgia senator from 1972 to 1997.
50D: Took a Grand Canyon trip, say: RAFTED
53D: Latin trio word: AMAT. Amo (I love), amas (You love) & AMAT (He loves).
55A: Tops at the beach: BRAS. So pretty.
57D: Go for: COST
58D: Mennen lotion: AFTA. A pun on "after".
59D: Dollar competitor: AVIS
61D: Togo's capital: LOME. No idea. See this map. They speak French, so Lomé is pronounced like law-MEY.
62D: Carla lily family: ARUM. Learned from doing Xword. Jack-in-the-pulpit belongs to the ARUM family also.
63D: Slip of the finger?: TYPO. Lovely clue.
65D: Seine sight: ILE. French for "island".
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Here is photo of our fellow solver Elissa and her family after bar mitzvah last week. In her words: "You can just see me next to my husband (the handsome guy with the mustache) peeking over my mother's head. In my next life I plan to be tall!"
17A: "That fact is worth considering": A POINT WELL TAKEN (basketball/football/tennis)
26A: "Brilliant": A STROKE OF GENIUS (golf)
47A: Wall Street nightmare: A RUN ON THE MARKET (baseball)
Hmm, another scrabbly puzzle. Only one letter Q away from a pangram. 6 K's.
Four 15-letter theme entries. Lovely. No A GOAL for the hockey/soccer fans though.
I am not familiar with A RUN ON THE MARKET. Similar to the stock market crash we just weathered?
I don't understand the clue for LONG (18D: Unlike any vowels in dictionaries?). Is it because all the vowels in the word "dictionaries" have short sounds?
Across:
1A: Hook's mate: SMEE. The pirate in "Peter Pan".
5A: Swedish import: SAAB. GM still owns SAAB, though won't for long.
9A: Letter vender?: SAJAK (Pat). Host of "Wheel of Fortune". I was in the rental let-ter (one who lets) direction.
14A: Utterly unapproachable: COLD AS ICE
16A: Love abroad: AMORE. Italian for "love".
19A: Approaching the hour: TEN TO. I used to say five fifty (5:50) rather than TEN TO six.
20A: Janis's comics mate: ARLO. "ARLO and Janis".
22A: Clandestine maritime org.: ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence). The Navy CIA. I simply forgot.
24A: Sgt., for one: NCO
35A: Japanese drama: NOH. Derived from Chinese "Neng", literally "ability". Most NOH characters are masked. Actors are usually males.
36A: Fair-sized fair: EXPO. Nice clue.
37A: Petrol measure: LITRE. Petrol is British for "gas", hence British spelling of LITER.
38A: Angelou's "And Still __": I RISE. Penned in "I SING". Must have confused it with something else.
41A: Places for RNs: ERS. ORS too.
42A: Café container: TASSE. French for "cup". TASSE à café = coffee cup.
43A: Not hit off the ground: TEE UP. You use a tee to TEE UP (i.e., not "hit off the ground") when teeing off. I felt stupid not being able to interpret the clue.
44A: Premature, perhaps: RASH
46A: W. Hemisphere alliance: OAS (Organization of American States).
51A: Shaq's alma mater: LSU (Louisiana State University)
52A: Wall St. wall plaque: MBA. Do they really display their MBA on the wall? Even after this financial meltdown?
53A: Inclusive prefix: AMBI. Prefix for "both", as in ambidextrous.
60A: Middle of three black keys: A FLAT. Easy guess.
67A: Menotti's shepherd boy: AMAHL. "AMAHL and the Night Visitors". Literally "labor"/ "hard work" in Hebrew/Sanskrit. Maybe it's related to AMAH.
68A: "Reach": STICK 'EM UP
69A: Sip or bite: TASTE
70A: Piece of work: TASK
71D: Musician's mailing: DEMO
Down:
1D: Word to a pest: SCAT
2D: Brood: MOPE. Sometimes I feel blue for no reason.
3D: North Carolina campus: ELON. Wow, this Tar Heel State sure gets lots of play lately.
4D: Prose pro: EDITOR. Yes, you are a "Prose pro", Rich!
5D: Old JFK arrival: SST
6D: Bygone audio brand: AIWA. Sony acquired AIWA in 2002, and then discontinued the brand in 2006.
7D: One offering outstanding services?: ACER. Is "service" the same as "serve" in tennis?
8D: Bossy's ringer: BELL. I wonder why a cow is called bossy.
10D: Endangered South American watershed: AMAZONIA. New word to me.
11D: Part of a routine: JOKE. Oh, "comic routine". Not a JOKE that Kathy Griffin is now dating Sarah Palin's 19-year-old almost son-in-law.
12D: War deity: ARES. Greek God of War.
13D: Daily Planet reporter: KENT (Clark)
15D: "That's __!": parental warning: A NO NO
23D: Tina's ex: IKE
25D: Druid, for one: CELT. Druid is ancient CELT. Dictionary says druid is derived from duiwid, dru means "oak", (w)id means "to know". No wonder Druids worshipped oak trees.
26D: Ekberg of "La Dolce Vita": ANITA. I remember this scene. But her name escaped me.
28D: 1960s-'70s South Vietnamese president: THIEU. No idea. This guy was South Vietnam's last president (1965-1975).
29D: Bring to bear: EXERT
30D: Daytime TV mogul: OPRAH. Ennui.
31D: "All that Jazz" choreographer: FOSSE (Bob). Wikipedia says he won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography.
32D: "Not to worry": IT'S OK
33D: Latin bears: URSAE. Mine was URSAS.
34D: Behold, of old: SEEST. Biblically. I was thinking of ECCE, the Latin "behold".
39D: Morning awakener, perhaps: SUNLIGHT. What came to your mind first?
40D: Long poem: EPOS. Literally "tale" in Greek. "Odyssey" is an EPOS. New word to me also.
45D: "I'm thinking ...": HMM
48D: Former Georgia senator Sam: NUNN. Georgia senator from 1972 to 1997.
50D: Took a Grand Canyon trip, say: RAFTED
53D: Latin trio word: AMAT. Amo (I love), amas (You love) & AMAT (He loves).
55A: Tops at the beach: BRAS. So pretty.
57D: Go for: COST
58D: Mennen lotion: AFTA. A pun on "after".
59D: Dollar competitor: AVIS
61D: Togo's capital: LOME. No idea. See this map. They speak French, so Lomé is pronounced like law-MEY.
62D: Carla lily family: ARUM. Learned from doing Xword. Jack-in-the-pulpit belongs to the ARUM family also.
63D: Slip of the finger?: TYPO. Lovely clue.
65D: Seine sight: ILE. French for "island".
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Here is photo of our fellow solver Elissa and her family after bar mitzvah last week. In her words: "You can just see me next to my husband (the handsome guy with the mustache) peeking over my mother's head. In my next life I plan to be tall!"
