Theme: O Brother - Two pairs of aptly described, first name swapped names.
18A: "Little" comedian's big brother? HULK HERMAN. "Little" comedian here refers PEE-WEE HERMAN, the only fictional character among the four base theme entries. Big = HULK.
26A: "Big" wrestler's little brother?: PEEWEE HOGAN. "Big" wrestler refers to pro wrestler HULK HOGAN. Little = PEEWEE.
44A: "Thin" character actor's big brother?: FATS PICKENS. "Thin" character actor refers to actor SLIM PICKENS. Big = FATS? FAT?
56A: "Heavy" R & B singer's little brother?: SLIM DOMINO. "Heavy" R & B singer refers to singer FATS DOMINO. Little = SLIM.
I've never heard of SLIM PICKENS. Wikipedia says his most famous role was a pilot in "Dr. Strangelove". I actually misinterpreted his surname as SPICKENS, as Big = FAT to me.
Why are "Little", "Big", "Thin" & "Heavy" in quotation marks? Shouldn't the question mark at the end of each clue be sufficient enough to indicate wordplay?
This puzzle reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger & Danny DeVito's "Twins", silly fun.
Across:
1A: PDQ relative: ASAP. Or STAT, to a doctor.
5A: Violin virtuoso Zimbalist: EFREM. Zimbalist Sr. He and soprano Alma Gluck had a son: actor Zimbalist Jr. I can never remember his name. Hebrew for "fruitful".
14A: "To Sir With Love" singer: LULU. Wow, I want to drink from the same Fountain of Youth as she does. Beautiful.
15A: Decorative sofa fabric: TOILE. French for "cloth". Often sheer and scenically patterned.
16A: Dagger handle: HILT. Sometimes it's HAFT.
20A: Blink later than, in a contest: OUTSTARE.
22A: Scooter favored by '60 British mods: VESPA. Must be the influence of "Roman Holiday".
23A: "That __ hay!": AIN'T. No idea. Dictionary says it means "That's a great deal". Can you make a sentence for me?
33A: Homeric epic: ILIAD. Odyssey too.
37A: Streaker with a tail: COMET. Cute.
42A: Tabloid creature: ALIEN
48A: Conscription category: ONE A
49A: Words of sympathy: I CARE. And MEH (9D: Slangy word of indifference).
52A: Trivial: PIDDLING
60A: Put in the hold: LADE. "Hold" here refers to the space in a ship below the lower deck, in which cargo is stowed.
61A: Piebald horse: PINTO. "Piebald" is a new word to me. It means patched, esp in black and white.
62A: River through Saint Petersburg: NEVA. Pronounced like NEE-vuh. I got the river from Down fills. It's the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge (after the Volga and the Danube). It flows to the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea.
64A: Libidinous deity: SATYR. The horse-tailed MOREL guy with perpetual erection.
65A: State, to Sarkozy: ETAT. Nice alliteration. Sarkozy is the current French president, with enormous vanity.
Down:
2D: "Star Trek" navigator: SULU. Ah, I confused him with Han SOLO of the "Star Wars".
4D: Saves: PUTS AWAY
5D: Odorless gas: ETHANE
6D: Stick shift gear: FOURTH. No idea. Have never driven a stick shift car.
8D: Yellowstone grazer: ELK
12D: Brouhaha: FLAP. The answer is often TO-DO.
13D: Europe's highest active volcano: ETNA. Good trivia. ETNA is Greek for "I burn".
19D: It's what's happening: EVENT
21D: Made, as a knot: TIED
24D: Decoratively curved molding: OGEE. Hi, buddy, nice to see you back.
26D: Pie serving: PIECE. Thought of SLICE.
28D: Sea duck with prized plumage: EIDER
29D: "American Me" actor/director Edward James __: OLMOS. Unknown to me. He is a Mexican-American. OLMOS sounds German. Have never heard of "American Me" either.
30D: Courage, in Slang: MOXIE
31D: Senator Specter: ARLEN. Now a Democrat (PA). Just flip-flopped a few months ago.
39D: Like some batteries: ALKALINE. Baseball HOFer AL KALINE is probably a bit tough for non-baseball fans.
41D: Rubbed out, gangster style: OFFED. Both slang for "murdered".
45D: Like a spitz's ears: POINTY. Wanted POINTED. Spitz is German for "pointed".
46D: Not alfresco: INDOOR
47D: Packing heat: ARMED. Heat is a slang for gun.
49D: Key: ISLE. Like Florida Keys. I thought the clue was asking for an adjective.
50D: Modeling medium: CLAY. For potters. Another alliteration.
52D: Pub order: PINT
53D: Hip-hopper born Tracy Marrow: ICE-T. Gimme, right? We've seen identical clue before.
57D: Special __: military force: OPS. Special Operations.
Two announcements:
1) Argyle will blog Monday and Tuesday puzzles from now on.
2) Please email me at crosswordc@gmail.com if you have family photos to share. Thanks.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a great photo of our fellow LAT solver Chickie and her husband. It was taken in Germany at a Scientific Library in Berlin two summers' ago. Chickie is a retired primary teacher who taught Primary Grades for over 30 years. She loves sewing & knitting & reading.
C.C.
18A: "Little" comedian's big brother? HULK HERMAN. "Little" comedian here refers PEE-WEE HERMAN, the only fictional character among the four base theme entries. Big = HULK.
26A: "Big" wrestler's little brother?: PEEWEE HOGAN. "Big" wrestler refers to pro wrestler HULK HOGAN. Little = PEEWEE.
44A: "Thin" character actor's big brother?: FATS PICKENS. "Thin" character actor refers to actor SLIM PICKENS. Big = FATS? FAT?
56A: "Heavy" R & B singer's little brother?: SLIM DOMINO. "Heavy" R & B singer refers to singer FATS DOMINO. Little = SLIM.
I've never heard of SLIM PICKENS. Wikipedia says his most famous role was a pilot in "Dr. Strangelove". I actually misinterpreted his surname as SPICKENS, as Big = FAT to me.
Why are "Little", "Big", "Thin" & "Heavy" in quotation marks? Shouldn't the question mark at the end of each clue be sufficient enough to indicate wordplay?
This puzzle reminded me of Arnold Schwarzenegger & Danny DeVito's "Twins", silly fun.
Across:
1A: PDQ relative: ASAP. Or STAT, to a doctor.
5A: Violin virtuoso Zimbalist: EFREM. Zimbalist Sr. He and soprano Alma Gluck had a son: actor Zimbalist Jr. I can never remember his name. Hebrew for "fruitful".
14A: "To Sir With Love" singer: LULU. Wow, I want to drink from the same Fountain of Youth as she does. Beautiful.
15A: Decorative sofa fabric: TOILE. French for "cloth". Often sheer and scenically patterned.
16A: Dagger handle: HILT. Sometimes it's HAFT.
20A: Blink later than, in a contest: OUTSTARE.
22A: Scooter favored by '60 British mods: VESPA. Must be the influence of "Roman Holiday".
23A: "That __ hay!": AIN'T. No idea. Dictionary says it means "That's a great deal". Can you make a sentence for me?
33A: Homeric epic: ILIAD. Odyssey too.
37A: Streaker with a tail: COMET. Cute.
42A: Tabloid creature: ALIEN
48A: Conscription category: ONE A
49A: Words of sympathy: I CARE. And MEH (9D: Slangy word of indifference).
52A: Trivial: PIDDLING
60A: Put in the hold: LADE. "Hold" here refers to the space in a ship below the lower deck, in which cargo is stowed.
61A: Piebald horse: PINTO. "Piebald" is a new word to me. It means patched, esp in black and white.
62A: River through Saint Petersburg: NEVA. Pronounced like NEE-vuh. I got the river from Down fills. It's the third largest river in Europe in terms of average discharge (after the Volga and the Danube). It flows to the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea.
64A: Libidinous deity: SATYR. The horse-tailed MOREL guy with perpetual erection.
65A: State, to Sarkozy: ETAT. Nice alliteration. Sarkozy is the current French president, with enormous vanity.
Down:
2D: "Star Trek" navigator: SULU. Ah, I confused him with Han SOLO of the "Star Wars".
4D: Saves: PUTS AWAY
5D: Odorless gas: ETHANE
6D: Stick shift gear: FOURTH. No idea. Have never driven a stick shift car.
8D: Yellowstone grazer: ELK
12D: Brouhaha: FLAP. The answer is often TO-DO.
13D: Europe's highest active volcano: ETNA. Good trivia. ETNA is Greek for "I burn".
19D: It's what's happening: EVENT
21D: Made, as a knot: TIED
24D: Decoratively curved molding: OGEE. Hi, buddy, nice to see you back.
26D: Pie serving: PIECE. Thought of SLICE.
28D: Sea duck with prized plumage: EIDER
29D: "American Me" actor/director Edward James __: OLMOS. Unknown to me. He is a Mexican-American. OLMOS sounds German. Have never heard of "American Me" either.
30D: Courage, in Slang: MOXIE
31D: Senator Specter: ARLEN. Now a Democrat (PA). Just flip-flopped a few months ago.
39D: Like some batteries: ALKALINE. Baseball HOFer AL KALINE is probably a bit tough for non-baseball fans.
41D: Rubbed out, gangster style: OFFED. Both slang for "murdered".
45D: Like a spitz's ears: POINTY. Wanted POINTED. Spitz is German for "pointed".
46D: Not alfresco: INDOOR
47D: Packing heat: ARMED. Heat is a slang for gun.
49D: Key: ISLE. Like Florida Keys. I thought the clue was asking for an adjective.
50D: Modeling medium: CLAY. For potters. Another alliteration.
52D: Pub order: PINT
53D: Hip-hopper born Tracy Marrow: ICE-T. Gimme, right? We've seen identical clue before.
57D: Special __: military force: OPS. Special Operations.
Two announcements:
1) Argyle will blog Monday and Tuesday puzzles from now on.
2) Please email me at crosswordc@gmail.com if you have family photos to share. Thanks.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a great photo of our fellow LAT solver Chickie and her husband. It was taken in Germany at a Scientific Library in Berlin two summers' ago. Chickie is a retired primary teacher who taught Primary Grades for over 30 years. She loves sewing & knitting & reading.
C.C.
