Theme: BABY (55D: Word that can precede the starts of the answers to starred clues)
17A: *Nitpick: SPLIT HAIRS (Baby Split, bowling, the 3-10 split, or 2-7 for left-handed.)
27A: *Take no action: SIT TIGHT (Baby-Sit)
46A: *Gold rush phenomenon: BOOM TOWN (Baby Boom)
60A: *B. B. King's genre: BLUES MUSIC (Baby Blues, the postpartum depression)
11D: *Group that might indict: GRAND JURY (Baby Grand, piano)
35D: *Hits the gas: STEPS ON IT (Baby Steps)
Six starred answers, plus a unifying BABY, quite theme-intensive.
I got BABY very earlier on (yep, I flitted around again today), but it did not really speed up my solving. All the theme answers were easily obtainable without the tie-in help.
Gail mentioned that she enjoys cooking and gardening in her interview. Today we have BASIL (52D: Herb garden staple) and DICED (54D: Chopped into cubes).
Across:
1A: Muscleman's quality: BRAWN. Look at the arms of our blog muscleman. He has brain too.
6A: Prefix with sphere: HEMI. Meaning "half". ATMO can also be a "Prefix with sphere", meaning "air".
14A: High nest: AERIE
16A: Rugged outcropping: CRAG
19A: Detest: HATE. Followed immediately by IRE (20A: Rage), which irked many when clued as a verb last time.
21A: Neil Simon's "The Goodbye __": GIRL. Have you seen the movie?
22A: Did some pressing work?: IRONED. There won't be a ? mark to indicate a wordplay if it's Friday or Saturday puzzle.
24A: Must-miss movie rating, probably? NO STARS. I was able to string the answer together, but had the same trouble parsing it as I did with yesterday's NOT OK (clued as "Prohibited).
30A: Slim __: snack sausage: JIM. And UFO (62D: Sighting in the sky, for short). Nice s, s, s alliteration in the clue.
33A: Scottish singing sensation Boyle: SUSAN. What an extreme makeover! I like her Burberry scarf though.
36A: Boozer: SOT. Don't forget TOPER.
38A: Galileo's sci.: ASTR (Astronomy). ASTR/ASTRO is a prefix for "star".
39A: Boston team, briefly: CELTS. Kevin Garnett would never have got the NBA championship ring had he stayed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
43A: Classic TV brand: RCA
44A: Final authority: SAY-SO
51A: Train track foundation: ROADBED. New word to me.
57A: German industrial area: RUHR. And the RUHR city is ESSEN.
58A: Parisian pal: AMI. "Parisian flow-er" is SEINE.
59A: Bee, to Opie: AUNT. AUNT Bee, from "The Andy Griffith Show". And SWARMED (44D: Moved like bees). Real bees.
64A: Assents at sea: AYES
65A: Use Turbo Tax, say: E-FILE
66A: Furry Himalayan legend: YETI. The Abominable Snowman.
Down:
1D: Washroom tub: BASIN
2D: Copy, for short: REPRO
3D: Where Van Gogh painted "Sunflowers": ARLES. I am waiting for Van Gogh's bedroom clue for ARLES. Van Gogh painted over 300 paintings/drawings while staying in ARLES. Unfortunately he also cut his left ear there.
4D: Nintendo system involving physical exertion: WII. Interesting, Wikipedia says "Nintendo's spelling of "Wii" with two lower-case "i" characters is meant to resemble two people standing side by side, representing players gathering together". And Wii sounds like 'we', which emphasizes that the console is for everyone.
5D: Bottom line: NET GAIN
6D: Publisher with a castle: HEARST. The HEARST Castle.
7D: Wicked: EVIL. And GOOD (26A: Well-behaved).
8D: La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER. French for "sea".
9D: Moments of clarity: INSIGHTS. Would not have got the answer without Across fills.
10D: Cold outburst?: ACHOO. We've seen identical clue before. Still like it.
13D: Like fine wine: AGED
18D: Trumpeter Al: HIRT. I just found out that one of his nicknames is "Sugar Lips".
25D: Russian rulers of yore: TSARS. No TSAR/CZAR wobbling today.
28D: Sunni's faith: ISLAM. Penned in ALLAH first.
29D: Caught on to: GOT
31D: Spring blossom: IRIS. Here is Van Gogh's IRISES.
33D: Ump's outstretched-arms call: SAFE. Such a vivid description.
39D: Goalpost part: CROSSBAR
40D: Green prefix: ECO. As in ecology.
53D: "Nana" author Zola: EMILE
61D: Chemical in drano: LYE
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a picture of our fellow solver Al & his family. Al sure knows a lot about guitar, computer, nutrition, and yeah, 20-minute physical exercises that help you with insomnia.
C.C.
17A: *Nitpick: SPLIT HAIRS (Baby Split, bowling, the 3-10 split, or 2-7 for left-handed.)
27A: *Take no action: SIT TIGHT (Baby-Sit)
46A: *Gold rush phenomenon: BOOM TOWN (Baby Boom)
60A: *B. B. King's genre: BLUES MUSIC (Baby Blues, the postpartum depression)
11D: *Group that might indict: GRAND JURY (Baby Grand, piano)
35D: *Hits the gas: STEPS ON IT (Baby Steps)
Six starred answers, plus a unifying BABY, quite theme-intensive.
I got BABY very earlier on (yep, I flitted around again today), but it did not really speed up my solving. All the theme answers were easily obtainable without the tie-in help.
Gail mentioned that she enjoys cooking and gardening in her interview. Today we have BASIL (52D: Herb garden staple) and DICED (54D: Chopped into cubes).
Across:
1A: Muscleman's quality: BRAWN. Look at the arms of our blog muscleman. He has brain too.
6A: Prefix with sphere: HEMI. Meaning "half". ATMO can also be a "Prefix with sphere", meaning "air".
14A: High nest: AERIE
16A: Rugged outcropping: CRAG
19A: Detest: HATE. Followed immediately by IRE (20A: Rage), which irked many when clued as a verb last time.
21A: Neil Simon's "The Goodbye __": GIRL. Have you seen the movie?
22A: Did some pressing work?: IRONED. There won't be a ? mark to indicate a wordplay if it's Friday or Saturday puzzle.
24A: Must-miss movie rating, probably? NO STARS. I was able to string the answer together, but had the same trouble parsing it as I did with yesterday's NOT OK (clued as "Prohibited).
30A: Slim __: snack sausage: JIM. And UFO (62D: Sighting in the sky, for short). Nice s, s, s alliteration in the clue.
33A: Scottish singing sensation Boyle: SUSAN. What an extreme makeover! I like her Burberry scarf though.
36A: Boozer: SOT. Don't forget TOPER.
38A: Galileo's sci.: ASTR (Astronomy). ASTR/ASTRO is a prefix for "star".
39A: Boston team, briefly: CELTS. Kevin Garnett would never have got the NBA championship ring had he stayed with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
43A: Classic TV brand: RCA
44A: Final authority: SAY-SO
51A: Train track foundation: ROADBED. New word to me.
57A: German industrial area: RUHR. And the RUHR city is ESSEN.
58A: Parisian pal: AMI. "Parisian flow-er" is SEINE.
59A: Bee, to Opie: AUNT. AUNT Bee, from "The Andy Griffith Show". And SWARMED (44D: Moved like bees). Real bees.
64A: Assents at sea: AYES
65A: Use Turbo Tax, say: E-FILE
66A: Furry Himalayan legend: YETI. The Abominable Snowman.
Down:
1D: Washroom tub: BASIN
2D: Copy, for short: REPRO
3D: Where Van Gogh painted "Sunflowers": ARLES. I am waiting for Van Gogh's bedroom clue for ARLES. Van Gogh painted over 300 paintings/drawings while staying in ARLES. Unfortunately he also cut his left ear there.
4D: Nintendo system involving physical exertion: WII. Interesting, Wikipedia says "Nintendo's spelling of "Wii" with two lower-case "i" characters is meant to resemble two people standing side by side, representing players gathering together". And Wii sounds like 'we', which emphasizes that the console is for everyone.
5D: Bottom line: NET GAIN
6D: Publisher with a castle: HEARST. The HEARST Castle.
7D: Wicked: EVIL. And GOOD (26A: Well-behaved).
8D: La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER. French for "sea".
9D: Moments of clarity: INSIGHTS. Would not have got the answer without Across fills.
10D: Cold outburst?: ACHOO. We've seen identical clue before. Still like it.
13D: Like fine wine: AGED
18D: Trumpeter Al: HIRT. I just found out that one of his nicknames is "Sugar Lips".
25D: Russian rulers of yore: TSARS. No TSAR/CZAR wobbling today.
28D: Sunni's faith: ISLAM. Penned in ALLAH first.
29D: Caught on to: GOT
31D: Spring blossom: IRIS. Here is Van Gogh's IRISES.
33D: Ump's outstretched-arms call: SAFE. Such a vivid description.
39D: Goalpost part: CROSSBAR
40D: Green prefix: ECO. As in ecology.
53D: "Nana" author Zola: EMILE
61D: Chemical in drano: LYE
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a picture of our fellow solver Al & his family. Al sure knows a lot about guitar, computer, nutrition, and yeah, 20-minute physical exercises that help you with insomnia.
C.C.
