Theme: None
Total blocks: 30
Total words: 70
Probably the easiest Doug Peterson Saturday I've tackled. I filled in lots lots of blanks before I cheated. Maybe someday I will solve a Doug Peterson/Barry Silk LAT Saturday unassisted if Rich Norris keeps this easing-up phrase. You should try Doug's Newsday stumper sometime. It's just impossible for me.
Loads of multiple word entries in today's grid, 16 if I counted right:
5A: Dumps: SCRAP HEAPS. Initially thought the clue was asking for a verb phrase.
16A: Dashiell Hammett's last novel: THE THIN MAN. Unknown trivia to me. He also wrote "The Maltese Falcon".
18A: Tubeless and with no moving parts, electronically: SOLID-STATE. New word to me. Can you give me an example?
23A: "Care to make it interesting?" WANNA BET? Lovely.
30A: Speed limit posting, e.g.: ROAD SIGN
35A: Acknowledge silently: NOD AT. Mine was NOD TO.
49A: Recline next to: LIE BY
56A: "See ya!": I'M OUTA HERE. Thought it's OUTTA.
59A: Juvenile retort: AM SO. I TOO has four letters too.
60A: "London Fields" novelist: MARTIN AMIS. Had letter NA??S ready, then the "London" tip, MARTIN AMIS popped up immediately. He is the son of Kinglsey Amis.
62A: Very slow rate: SNAIL'S PACE
2D: Uncommon things: RARA AVIS. Latin for "rare bird". Our Kazie is a RARA AVIS. So is Sade.
3D: Successor to the mini: IPOD NANO. Was thinking of the miniskirt. I like my IPOD Classic.
8D: Busting one's hump: AT IT. "Busting one's hump" is a new phrase to me.
37D: Boggle accessory: EGG TIMER. Boggle makes me headache.
38D: Toy with engine: TRAIN SET. The Lionel model trains.
Did I miss any, Jerome/Crockett? Those triple-stacked 10's on the upper right and lower left corners are especially lively.
Across:
1A: Often dramatic number: ARIA. Nailed it. "Dramatic" tipped me off.
15A: Finds fault with: RAPS. Put down NAGS first.
17A: Marsh critter: CROC
19A: Site of the mythical Lethe River: HADES. Lethe (LEE-thee) is the river of forgetfulness in HADES (HEY-deez), Greek "hell". Hot there.
21A: Little foxes: KITS. Thought it's KIDS.
22A: Bible book before Nehemiah: EZRA. Also Hebrew name, meaning "help", as in poet EZRA Pound.
25A: Trout spot: BROOK. I love steamed trout.
26A: Personification: AVATAR. Mine is Justin Morneau, Twins' first baseman.
27A: How to see the obvious: PLAINLY. Oh well, obviously I don't know how. Stupid!
29A: Feminine force: YIN. Masculine force is YANG.
39A: Wearing a bolero: JACKETED. Did not know JACKET can be a verb.
42A: Lab alert?: GRR. Lab = Labrador.
44A: Some modern tribal operations: CASINOS
47A: Grammy category: REGGAE. The precursor to REGGAE is SKA.
50A: Blush, for one: COSMETIC
52A: River to the Ligurian Sea: ARNO. Only knew ARNO River as Italian river, which flows through Florence/Pisa. Had no idea where Ligurian Sea is.
53A: Playback machines, briefly: VCRS
55A: Move (away), like a coward: SLINK. Wrote down SNEAK.
63A: Disposal bits: ORTS
Down:
1D: Majestic entrance: ARCHWAY. The most famous one is probably Arc de triomphe, which looks quite plain in the daytime.
4D: Climb: ASCENT. Oh, "climb" here is a noun. Tried ASCEND first.
6D: Require the Heimlich maneuver: CHOKE. Heimlich is pronounced like HAHYM-lik.
9D: Profs' degrees: PHDS. Is PHD a must in order to be a professor?
11D: Recording, as in a journal: ENTERING
12D: Online shopping mecca: AMAZON
13D: Cop's duty: PATROL. Thought of the California girl who was slaved for 18 years. Those cops missed the chances to rescue her earlier.
14D: Double-dealing: SNEAKY
20D: Franco-German border region: SAAR (Zahr). I simply forgot. See this map (lower left). It's clued as "German coal region" last time.
24D: Rodeo mount: BRONCO
25D: Specialty, slangily: BAG
27D: Three-part H.S. exam: PSAT (Prelimary SAT). Verbal, Math and Writing.
28D: Some water bottles: LITERS. Did not come to me readily at all.
31D: NASA go-aheads: A-OKS
32D: '50s pres.: DDE. And DEMS (41D: 32-Down wasn't one of them). IKE was a Republican.
34D: Horn of Africa country: DJIBOUTI (ji-BOO-tee). See this map. On the Gulf of Aden.
43D: S'poses: RECKONS. South slang I s'pose.
44D: They may be staked: CLAIMS. Idiom: stake a claim.
45D: Aviator: AIRMAN. Airwoman=Aviatrix (ey-vee-EY-triks)
46D: Chihuahua female: SENORA. Chihuahua the Mexican state. Not the dog.
48D: Italian for "frozen": GELATO. Followed by another word CREMA (50D: Espresso foam). Italian for "cream".
51D: Courtier in "Hamlet": OSRIC. Needed the Across help.
53D: Movers, but hopefully not shakers: VANS. Is this your own clue, Doug? Very nice.
57D: '80s band '__ Tuesday: 'TIL. No idea. Guessed FAT first. Did not pay attention to the apostrophe before the blank. The guy on the lower right corner looks like a woman.
58D: Language suffix: ESE. Like Chinese.
If you have extra time tomorrow, have a look at Newsday puzzle. It's constructed by our Fred. I think it's his Newsday debut. Congratulations, Fred! (Update: Fred's puzzle is Universal Crossword.)
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a great photo of our fellow LAT solver Martin and his beautiful wife Imelda in Baguashan Park, Changhua. Martin is an Assistant Professor in Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology. He is from Ottawa, Canada. Martin has a very deep understanding of Chinese languages and culture. I love reading his comments because they often resonate with mine. This one has some very interesting statues behind them.
C.C.
Total blocks: 30
Total words: 70
Probably the easiest Doug Peterson Saturday I've tackled. I filled in lots lots of blanks before I cheated. Maybe someday I will solve a Doug Peterson/Barry Silk LAT Saturday unassisted if Rich Norris keeps this easing-up phrase. You should try Doug's Newsday stumper sometime. It's just impossible for me.
Loads of multiple word entries in today's grid, 16 if I counted right:
5A: Dumps: SCRAP HEAPS. Initially thought the clue was asking for a verb phrase.
16A: Dashiell Hammett's last novel: THE THIN MAN. Unknown trivia to me. He also wrote "The Maltese Falcon".
18A: Tubeless and with no moving parts, electronically: SOLID-STATE. New word to me. Can you give me an example?
23A: "Care to make it interesting?" WANNA BET? Lovely.
30A: Speed limit posting, e.g.: ROAD SIGN
35A: Acknowledge silently: NOD AT. Mine was NOD TO.
49A: Recline next to: LIE BY
56A: "See ya!": I'M OUTA HERE. Thought it's OUTTA.
59A: Juvenile retort: AM SO. I TOO has four letters too.
60A: "London Fields" novelist: MARTIN AMIS. Had letter NA??S ready, then the "London" tip, MARTIN AMIS popped up immediately. He is the son of Kinglsey Amis.
62A: Very slow rate: SNAIL'S PACE
2D: Uncommon things: RARA AVIS. Latin for "rare bird". Our Kazie is a RARA AVIS. So is Sade.
3D: Successor to the mini: IPOD NANO. Was thinking of the miniskirt. I like my IPOD Classic.
8D: Busting one's hump: AT IT. "Busting one's hump" is a new phrase to me.
37D: Boggle accessory: EGG TIMER. Boggle makes me headache.
38D: Toy with engine: TRAIN SET. The Lionel model trains.
Did I miss any, Jerome/Crockett? Those triple-stacked 10's on the upper right and lower left corners are especially lively.
Across:
1A: Often dramatic number: ARIA. Nailed it. "Dramatic" tipped me off.
15A: Finds fault with: RAPS. Put down NAGS first.
17A: Marsh critter: CROC
19A: Site of the mythical Lethe River: HADES. Lethe (LEE-thee) is the river of forgetfulness in HADES (HEY-deez), Greek "hell". Hot there.
21A: Little foxes: KITS. Thought it's KIDS.
22A: Bible book before Nehemiah: EZRA. Also Hebrew name, meaning "help", as in poet EZRA Pound.
25A: Trout spot: BROOK. I love steamed trout.
26A: Personification: AVATAR. Mine is Justin Morneau, Twins' first baseman.
27A: How to see the obvious: PLAINLY. Oh well, obviously I don't know how. Stupid!
29A: Feminine force: YIN. Masculine force is YANG.
39A: Wearing a bolero: JACKETED. Did not know JACKET can be a verb.
42A: Lab alert?: GRR. Lab = Labrador.
44A: Some modern tribal operations: CASINOS
47A: Grammy category: REGGAE. The precursor to REGGAE is SKA.
50A: Blush, for one: COSMETIC
52A: River to the Ligurian Sea: ARNO. Only knew ARNO River as Italian river, which flows through Florence/Pisa. Had no idea where Ligurian Sea is.
53A: Playback machines, briefly: VCRS
55A: Move (away), like a coward: SLINK. Wrote down SNEAK.
63A: Disposal bits: ORTS
Down:
1D: Majestic entrance: ARCHWAY. The most famous one is probably Arc de triomphe, which looks quite plain in the daytime.
4D: Climb: ASCENT. Oh, "climb" here is a noun. Tried ASCEND first.
6D: Require the Heimlich maneuver: CHOKE. Heimlich is pronounced like HAHYM-lik.
9D: Profs' degrees: PHDS. Is PHD a must in order to be a professor?
11D: Recording, as in a journal: ENTERING
12D: Online shopping mecca: AMAZON
13D: Cop's duty: PATROL. Thought of the California girl who was slaved for 18 years. Those cops missed the chances to rescue her earlier.
14D: Double-dealing: SNEAKY
20D: Franco-German border region: SAAR (Zahr). I simply forgot. See this map (lower left). It's clued as "German coal region" last time.
24D: Rodeo mount: BRONCO
25D: Specialty, slangily: BAG
27D: Three-part H.S. exam: PSAT (Prelimary SAT). Verbal, Math and Writing.
28D: Some water bottles: LITERS. Did not come to me readily at all.
31D: NASA go-aheads: A-OKS
32D: '50s pres.: DDE. And DEMS (41D: 32-Down wasn't one of them). IKE was a Republican.
34D: Horn of Africa country: DJIBOUTI (ji-BOO-tee). See this map. On the Gulf of Aden.
43D: S'poses: RECKONS. South slang I s'pose.
44D: They may be staked: CLAIMS. Idiom: stake a claim.
45D: Aviator: AIRMAN. Airwoman=Aviatrix (ey-vee-EY-triks)
46D: Chihuahua female: SENORA. Chihuahua the Mexican state. Not the dog.
48D: Italian for "frozen": GELATO. Followed by another word CREMA (50D: Espresso foam). Italian for "cream".
51D: Courtier in "Hamlet": OSRIC. Needed the Across help.
53D: Movers, but hopefully not shakers: VANS. Is this your own clue, Doug? Very nice.
57D: '80s band '__ Tuesday: 'TIL. No idea. Guessed FAT first. Did not pay attention to the apostrophe before the blank. The guy on the lower right corner looks like a woman.
58D: Language suffix: ESE. Like Chinese.
If you have extra time tomorrow, have a look at Newsday puzzle. It's constructed by our Fred. I think it's his Newsday debut. Congratulations, Fred! (Update: Fred's puzzle is Universal Crossword.)
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a great photo of our fellow LAT solver Martin and his beautiful wife Imelda in Baguashan Park, Changhua. Martin is an Assistant Professor in Central Taiwan University of Science and Technology. He is from Ottawa, Canada. Martin has a very deep understanding of Chinese languages and culture. I love reading his comments because they often resonate with mine. This one has some very interesting statues behind them.
C.C.
