Theme: ALFRED HITCHCOCK (7D: Born 8/13/1899, he directed the answers to the starred clues)
21A: *Very difficult task: MURDER!
29A: *Aristophanes comedy: THE BIRDS
38A: *You may be picked up if you are under it: SUSPICION
49A: *Music to an interrogator's ears: I CONFESS
57A: *Loony: PSYCHO
12D: *Sunnybrook Farm girl: REBECCA
13D: See 51-Down: SCENE
41D: *Dizziness: VERTIGO 1958
51D: With 13-Down, something 7-Down is famous for in his films: CAMEO
Wow, 10 theme entries. Don "Hard G" Gagliardo did it again. Great tribute puzzle.
ALFRED HITCHCOCK had a CAMEO role in all the five Across movies. Excellent intersection. I also like vertical placement of VERTIGO. REBECCA is kind of scary, so is "Rear Window". I wish I had never seen PSYCHO.
Of all the HITCHCOCK movies, I like "To Catch a Thief" the most. How about you?
I don't know who Aristophanes was, but THE BIRDS came very easily, so did the other theme answers. I just adore this puzzle. Almost aced it.
Don G, if you are reading this blog, can you email me crosswordc@gmail.com?
Across:
1A: Toto's two?: ARF ARF. Toto is Dorothy's dog from "The Wizard of Oz". I was fixated on the two letter T/O in Toto's name.
7A: PC key next to the space bar: ALT
10A: Needle bearers: FIRS. Pine needle.
14A: Soap opera, e.g.: SERIAL
15A: Grassland: LEA
16A: Certain util.: ELEC
17A: Infant who succeeded Russia's Empress Anna in 1740: IVAN VI. Ivan the Terrible. I had IVAN?I sitting there forever.
18A: Interoffice memo, maybe: FAX
19A: North Sea feeder: ELBE. It simply means "river".
20A: Fifth bk. of the Torah: DEUT. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and DEUTERONOMY.
24A: Gazzara or Stiller: BEN. Only know BEN Stiller.
25A: Unit of work: ERG. From Greek ergon, meaning "work". It's ten-millionth of a joule.
26A: Freelancer's end: SAE (Self-Addressed Envelope). SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope) is more common.
27A: Seldom seen: SCARCE
33A: Sans opposite: AVEC. Voulez-vous coucher AVEC moi (ce soir)?
34A: Clinton's department: STATE. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State. Boy, she was testy.
35A: Towel word: HIS
37D: Educator LeShan: EDA. Always wanted ADA/IDA.
41D: Chocolate-making vessel: VAT. Tend to associate VAT with wine.
43A: Chocolate lover, often: TOT. I like the consecutive "Chocolate" clues.
44A: Fetch: GO GET
47A: Perry's creator: ERLE. Perry Mason. ERLE Stanley Gardner. Inspiration for Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
51A: Pressing issue?: CREASE. Great clue.
53A: Bunny __: HOP. Dance?
54A: "Fantasia" frame: CEL. Some of those cartoon CELS are highly collectible.
56A: Words with distance: AT A. Oh, AT A distance.
59A: Ale designation: PALE
60A: "La Bohème" heroine: MIMI. Obtained the answer from Down fills.
62A: Seesaw need: TWO
63A: Intervene: STEP IN
65A: "Omigosh!": EGAD. God probably does not really mind people invoke his name directly.
66A: Vocation: Abbr.: OCC (Occupation)
67A: Hire: TAKE ON
68A: "It slipped": OOPS. I do hit the PREVIEW button before I press PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT. Still have OOPS. .
69A: Indus R. country: PAK. Again, got the answer from Down fills. Not familiar with Indus River, the longest river in Pakistan. It rises in Tibet.
70A: Like some icy weather: SLEETY
Down:
1D: Lateral remark: ASIDE
2D: Goes back (to): REVERTS. Wrote down RETURNS first.
3D: Full of , with "with": FRAUGHT
5D: Toyota __ 4, SUV model: RAV. Ridiculous ad. RAV4 stands for "Recreational Active Vehicle with 4-wheel drive". Did not know that.
6D: Like the worst excuse: FLIMSIEST
8D: X-ray vision thwarter: LEAD
9D: Political hot button: TAXES
11D: Lacking social graces: ILL-BRED
22D: Old Mideast org.: UAR (United Arab Republic). A union of Egypt & Syria, from 1958 to 1961.
23D: Color TV pioneer: RCA
28D: Vindicate: AVENGE
30D: "Chico and the Man" setting, briefly: EAST LA. The answer revealed itself. Have never heard of the sitcom "Chico and the Man".
31D: Heat unit, briefly: BTU
32D: [error left as is]: SIC. Here are the brackets marks again, indicating a non-verbal expression.
36D: Turnpike features: SIGN POSTS
39D: Pasty Hawaiian staple: POI
40D: Gut-punch reaction: OOF
42D: Local cartographer's creation: AREA MAP
45D: Reason for a search party: ESCAPEE
46D: "Four Quartets" poet: T. S. ELIOT. Nice to see his full name in the grid.
48D: Uncommon sense?: ESP
50D: "Wow!": OOH
52D: Legally prohibit: ESTOP. Learned from doing Xword.
55D: Controversial Bruce: LENNY. Why was he controversial?
58D: Fem. advocacy group: YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association). Established in 1855.
59D: Chinese toy: PEKE. We call them lion dogs due to their resemblance to the guardian lions. The lions always come in pairs, male on the left, female on the right.
61D: Fingers: IDS
64D: 1960-'61 chess champ Mikhail: TAL. "The Magician from Riga". He was born in Riga, Latvia.
Answer grid.
Alright, as promised yesterday, here is a closer look at our blog "it" girl Melissa Bee. She is just beautiful, including her incredible brain. I also adore this avatar photo, ethereal looking.
C.C.
21A: *Very difficult task: MURDER!
29A: *Aristophanes comedy: THE BIRDS
38A: *You may be picked up if you are under it: SUSPICION
49A: *Music to an interrogator's ears: I CONFESS
57A: *Loony: PSYCHO
12D: *Sunnybrook Farm girl: REBECCA
13D: See 51-Down: SCENE
41D: *Dizziness: VERTIGO 1958
51D: With 13-Down, something 7-Down is famous for in his films: CAMEO
Wow, 10 theme entries. Don "Hard G" Gagliardo did it again. Great tribute puzzle.
ALFRED HITCHCOCK had a CAMEO role in all the five Across movies. Excellent intersection. I also like vertical placement of VERTIGO. REBECCA is kind of scary, so is "Rear Window". I wish I had never seen PSYCHO.
Of all the HITCHCOCK movies, I like "To Catch a Thief" the most. How about you?
I don't know who Aristophanes was, but THE BIRDS came very easily, so did the other theme answers. I just adore this puzzle. Almost aced it.
Don G, if you are reading this blog, can you email me crosswordc@gmail.com?
Across:
1A: Toto's two?: ARF ARF. Toto is Dorothy's dog from "The Wizard of Oz". I was fixated on the two letter T/O in Toto's name.
7A: PC key next to the space bar: ALT
10A: Needle bearers: FIRS. Pine needle.
14A: Soap opera, e.g.: SERIAL
15A: Grassland: LEA
16A: Certain util.: ELEC
17A: Infant who succeeded Russia's Empress Anna in 1740: IVAN VI. Ivan the Terrible. I had IVAN?I sitting there forever.
18A: Interoffice memo, maybe: FAX
19A: North Sea feeder: ELBE. It simply means "river".
20A: Fifth bk. of the Torah: DEUT. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and DEUTERONOMY.
24A: Gazzara or Stiller: BEN. Only know BEN Stiller.
25A: Unit of work: ERG. From Greek ergon, meaning "work". It's ten-millionth of a joule.
26A: Freelancer's end: SAE (Self-Addressed Envelope). SASE (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope) is more common.
27A: Seldom seen: SCARCE
33A: Sans opposite: AVEC. Voulez-vous coucher AVEC moi (ce soir)?
34A: Clinton's department: STATE. Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State. Boy, she was testy.
35A: Towel word: HIS
37D: Educator LeShan: EDA. Always wanted ADA/IDA.
41D: Chocolate-making vessel: VAT. Tend to associate VAT with wine.
43A: Chocolate lover, often: TOT. I like the consecutive "Chocolate" clues.
44A: Fetch: GO GET
47A: Perry's creator: ERLE. Perry Mason. ERLE Stanley Gardner. Inspiration for Justice Sonia Sotomayor.
51A: Pressing issue?: CREASE. Great clue.
53A: Bunny __: HOP. Dance?
54A: "Fantasia" frame: CEL. Some of those cartoon CELS are highly collectible.
56A: Words with distance: AT A. Oh, AT A distance.
59A: Ale designation: PALE
60A: "La Bohème" heroine: MIMI. Obtained the answer from Down fills.
62A: Seesaw need: TWO
63A: Intervene: STEP IN
65A: "Omigosh!": EGAD. God probably does not really mind people invoke his name directly.
66A: Vocation: Abbr.: OCC (Occupation)
67A: Hire: TAKE ON
68A: "It slipped": OOPS. I do hit the PREVIEW button before I press PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT. Still have OOPS. .
69A: Indus R. country: PAK. Again, got the answer from Down fills. Not familiar with Indus River, the longest river in Pakistan. It rises in Tibet.
70A: Like some icy weather: SLEETY
Down:
1D: Lateral remark: ASIDE
2D: Goes back (to): REVERTS. Wrote down RETURNS first.
3D: Full of , with "with": FRAUGHT
5D: Toyota __ 4, SUV model: RAV. Ridiculous ad. RAV4 stands for "Recreational Active Vehicle with 4-wheel drive". Did not know that.
6D: Like the worst excuse: FLIMSIEST
8D: X-ray vision thwarter: LEAD
9D: Political hot button: TAXES
11D: Lacking social graces: ILL-BRED
22D: Old Mideast org.: UAR (United Arab Republic). A union of Egypt & Syria, from 1958 to 1961.
23D: Color TV pioneer: RCA
28D: Vindicate: AVENGE
30D: "Chico and the Man" setting, briefly: EAST LA. The answer revealed itself. Have never heard of the sitcom "Chico and the Man".
31D: Heat unit, briefly: BTU
32D: [error left as is]: SIC. Here are the brackets marks again, indicating a non-verbal expression.
36D: Turnpike features: SIGN POSTS
39D: Pasty Hawaiian staple: POI
40D: Gut-punch reaction: OOF
42D: Local cartographer's creation: AREA MAP
45D: Reason for a search party: ESCAPEE
46D: "Four Quartets" poet: T. S. ELIOT. Nice to see his full name in the grid.
48D: Uncommon sense?: ESP
50D: "Wow!": OOH
52D: Legally prohibit: ESTOP. Learned from doing Xword.
55D: Controversial Bruce: LENNY. Why was he controversial?
58D: Fem. advocacy group: YWCA (Young Women's Christian Association). Established in 1855.
59D: Chinese toy: PEKE. We call them lion dogs due to their resemblance to the guardian lions. The lions always come in pairs, male on the left, female on the right.
61D: Fingers: IDS
64D: 1960-'61 chess champ Mikhail: TAL. "The Magician from Riga". He was born in Riga, Latvia.
Answer grid.
Alright, as promised yesterday, here is a closer look at our blog "it" girl Melissa Bee. She is just beautiful, including her incredible brain. I also adore this avatar photo, ethereal looking.
C.C.
