Theme: Great Direction - Films/plays directed by ELIZA KAZAN (123A: Born 9/7/1909, he directed the answers to starred clues), who would have been 100 years old tomorrow.
23A: *1947 Tony winning Arthur Miller play: ALL MY SONS. Not a familiar play to me. Strange marriage between Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, who should not have left Joe DiMaggio.
28A: *With 113-Across, 1947 Tony-winning play starring Lee J. Cobb: DEATH OF A
113A: See 28-Across: SALESMAN. Arthur Miller play also.
42A: *With 45-Across, 1945 film based on a Betty Smith novel: A TREE GROWS
45A: See 42-Across: IN BROOKLYN. Have vaguely heard of the book. Nice left to right placement.
68A: *1947 Tennessee Williams play: A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE. Nailed it. Watched the Marlon Brando/Vivien Leigh movie. Quite heavy.
94A: *1955 film based on a Steinbeck novel: EAST OF EDEN. Great movie. James Dean played the explosive Cal.
97A: *1952 biopic starring Marlon Brando: VIVA ZAPATA. Senator John McCain's favorite movie.
A surprisingly fun puzzle. I went from "Oh no" to "Oh, wow!". What a finely constructed tribute puzzle.
Thought it would be hard when I read the first starred clue, but then "DEATH OF A SALESMAN"(perfect rotational symmetry), grid-spanning A STREET NAMED DESIRED, EAST OF EDEN & ELIA KAZAN (great to see his full name) all crumbled easily.
My favorite fill today is ZHIVAGO (98D: Title hero who married Tonya Gromeko). I just loved "the movie". Chief Justice John Roberts listed "Dr. Zhivago" & "North by Northwest" as his favorite movies. Julie Christie played the beautiful Lara, Zhivago's true love.
Across:
1A: Anabaptists, e.g.: SECT. Know Baptists, not Anabaptists.
9A: Philosopher William of __, known for his "razor": OCCAM. OCCAM's razor, law of succinctness, the simple, the better.
14A: Name on a WWII bomber: ENOLA. ENOLA Gay.
20A: Inter __: among others: ALIA. Sometimes the answer is ALII.
21A: "Moi": WHO ME. Not an ideal clue due to A MOI (78A: Mine, a Marseille).
25A: Go after, puppy style: NIP AT
26A: Static problem: CLING. And 35A: Sta-__: fabric softener: PUF. Obtained the answer from Down fills.
27A: Pinocchio's creator: GEPPETTO. I forgot. Last time STAR was clued as "Geppetoo wished on one".
30A: Cartoonist Keane: BIL. "The Family Circus" cartoonist.
33A: Alsace __: French region: LORRAINE. Quiche LORRAINE is from this region.
38A: Use up: EXHAUST. Wonderful answer.
53A: Crooked: ASKEW
57A: Boot add-ons: SPURS
58A: "__-haw!": YEE. Wanted HEE.
59A: Ivy League city: ITHACA. Cornell city.
65A: German pastries: STRUDELS. Yum! German for "eddy/whirlpool".
67A: Head, in slang: NOB. New to me. Knew noggin'/bean though.
75A: Patriotic women's org.: DAR. "Patriotic men's org" is SAR.
76A: Rats: STOOLIES
77A: Pantry concern: ANT. Not my concern. I've never seen an ANT in our kitchen. Fruit flies, yes.
81A: Disco guy on "The Simpsons": STU. Learned from doing Xword.
84A: Nine Inch Nails founder Reznor: TRENT. No idea. This guy is a musician who founded the Nine Inch Nails musical project.
88A: Auctioneer's word: GOING. Reminds me "the Red Violin", in which a precious red violin is being auctioned throughout the movie.
90A: Layer: HEN
91A: Greeted and seated: SAW IN. Then ADAGE is clued as "68D: Saw".
93A: Shankar's repertoire: RAGAS. The Hindu music. I penned in SITAR.
99A: Unlock, poetically: OPE
100A: "Yikes!": OMIGOSH
102A: Berlin article: DER. German "the". Sometimes it's DAS, as in Karl Marx's "Das Kapital".
103A: Sinuous comics villain: CATWOMAN. Here is Halle Berry's CATWOMAN.
108A: Flying Cloud et al: REOS. Got the answer from Down fills. Have never heard of REO Flying Cloud.
109A: Former comm. giant: ITT. I misinterpreted "comm." as "communist".
115A: Loner: MAVERICK
120A: Lyric poet: ODIST. Still don't understand the brouhaha over Dan Naddor's ODIC last time. It's a legit word.
122A: Praiseful hymn: PAEAN
124A: Sign with scales: LIBRA. Zodiac sign.
125A: Nicholas Gage memoir: ELENI. No idea. It's the Greek variation of the name Helen. Nicholas Gage is a Greek-American author. ELENI is his mother's name. I actually misread the clue as Nicolas Cage the actor.
126A: Artistic Chinese dynasty: MING. I don't really know why Pancho thinks MING Dynasty was "Artistic". I suppose he means MING Vase?
127A: Old king of rhyme: COLE. "Old King COLE".
129A: Pick up on: SENSE. Took me a while to "Pick up on" the answer.
130A: Longtime Yugoslav leader: TITO. He advocated neutral foreign policy during Cold War.
131A: Goofing off: IDLE
Down:
2D: First name in courtroom fiction: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.
3D: Cosby's "I Spy" costar: CULP. No idea. Have never heard of Robert CULP.
4D: Largo, e.g.: TEMPO. Stumped. Largo is slow TEMPO.
7D: Bolivian boy: NINO. The "Bolivian" is picked mainly because of alliteration I think.
8D: Lots of fun: GAS
9D: Sports negotiations side: OWNERS. The other side is PLAYERS.
10D: Tuscan red: CHIANTI. Oh, red wine. I thought the clue was asking for Italian word for "red" rosso, unknown to me anyway.
11D: Egyptian Christian: COPT. No, no, nope! I bet they suffer from religious discrimination.
12D: Menotti title lad: AMAHL "AMAHL and the Night Visitors".
13D: "Ditto": ME TOO
14D: Snail on la carte: ESCARGOT. People really eat everything. Dog meat is a delicacy in North China/Korea.
16D: African grassland grazer: ORIBI. Hi, buddy, what's your favorite breakfast?
17D: Red Square honoree: LENIN
18D: Reporter's slant: ANGLE
24D: Bow wood: YEW
29D: Cold, to Carlos: FRIO. New to me. What is Spanish for "hot"? Salma Hayek is very sexy.
32D: "Training Day" actor Ethan: HAWKE. Uma Thurman's ex-husband.
34D: Pharaohs' crosses: ANKHS (angk). Often confuse this word with SIKH (seek), both end with KH.
35D: They hang together: PALS. Nice clue.
36D: Lone Star State sch.: UTEP (University of Texas, El Paso). Trouble again.
37D: Haus wife: FRAU. Haus is German for "house".
39D: It precedes Yankee in the phonetic alphabet: XRAY. D'oh, NATO phonetic alphabet.
40D: Hornswoggle: HOSE. Hornswoggle is a new word to me, to swindle.
43D: Diamond flaw?: ERROR. Baseball diamond. Excellent clue.
46D: Book before Habakkuk: NAHUM. Nope. Not easy to remember either.
47D: Cutting edge: BLADE. Oh, literally.
49D: Sped: RACED
51D: "Like __, all tears ...": Hamlet: NIOBE. The Greek mythical crier. I know nothing about Hamlet, except "To be, or not to be". Yesterday we had OSRIC (Courtier in "Hamlet"), so easy to confuse him with YORICK the jester. "Alas, poor YORICK...".
54D: Courtroom expert, often: WITNESS
61D: "M*A*S*H" star: ALDA (Alan)
65D: Hindu honorifics: SRIS. Another alliteration.
66D: Nissan compact: SENTRA. I wonder what SENTRA means in Japanese.
69D: Pago Pago's nation: SAMOA. Lots of coconuts there.
70D: Un + deux: TROIS. One+two=Three.
71D: "Takin' it __ Streets": Doobie Brothers hit: TO THE. Here is the clip. Have never heard of the song before. It's a 1976 hit.
72D: Cut out the middle of: CORED. As an apple.
73D: Coeur d'__: Idaho: ALENE. Anyone from there?
74D: Guitar attachment: STRAP
81D: Sips' opposites: SWIGS. I think Americans eat/drink too fast.
82D: Record, nowadays: TIVO
83D: Some, in Seville: UNAS. French would be UNES.
87D: Ivan IV, for one: TSAR. Ivan the Terrible.
89D: Snap: GO POSTAL. Loved the answer.
92D: Orly lander: AVION. French for "plane". Par AVION.
95D: Disaster relief org.: FEMA
96D: 11th century conquerors: NORMANS. The Norman Conquest, 1066, led by Williams the Conqueror.
101D: Bad guy: MEANIE
103D: Becomes less angry, with "off": COOLS
105D: Navajo, e.g.: TRIBE. Jerome said the Navajo rug makers always weave a tiny flaw into their work to show humbleness.
106D: Suisse range: ALPES. French for "Alps". Here, Suisse is the French name of Switzerland.
107D: Author Zora __ Hurston: NEALE. No idea. She wrote "Their Eyes Were Watching God".
110D: Shatner's "__ War": TEK. TEK is a drug.
111D: Actress Bingham or Lords: TRACI. Got the answer from Across fills. TRACI Bingham looks familiar. Wikipedia says TRACI Lords first achieved notoriety in porn movies.
115D: Mid 11th century year: MLII. 1052.
116D: "It __ over till it's over": Berra: AIN'T. Yogi also said "I really didn't say everything I said".
117D: Eddie Bauer competitor: IZOD. KQ loves Eddie Bauer.
118d: Summon: CALL
119D: "Trick" joint: KNEE. I liked the clue.
Answer Grid.
Should you have extra time today, have a try at Fred's Universal and Doug Peterson's CrosSynergy (Washington Post) puzzles.
And a warm welcome to Mary, Susie, Annette and all the new commenters. I hope you stay and play. It's fun!
C.C.
23A: *1947 Tony winning Arthur Miller play: ALL MY SONS. Not a familiar play to me. Strange marriage between Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, who should not have left Joe DiMaggio.
28A: *With 113-Across, 1947 Tony-winning play starring Lee J. Cobb: DEATH OF A
113A: See 28-Across: SALESMAN. Arthur Miller play also.
42A: *With 45-Across, 1945 film based on a Betty Smith novel: A TREE GROWS
45A: See 42-Across: IN BROOKLYN. Have vaguely heard of the book. Nice left to right placement.
68A: *1947 Tennessee Williams play: A STREET CAR NAMED DESIRE. Nailed it. Watched the Marlon Brando/Vivien Leigh movie. Quite heavy.
94A: *1955 film based on a Steinbeck novel: EAST OF EDEN. Great movie. James Dean played the explosive Cal.
97A: *1952 biopic starring Marlon Brando: VIVA ZAPATA. Senator John McCain's favorite movie.
A surprisingly fun puzzle. I went from "Oh no" to "Oh, wow!". What a finely constructed tribute puzzle.
Thought it would be hard when I read the first starred clue, but then "DEATH OF A SALESMAN"(perfect rotational symmetry), grid-spanning A STREET NAMED DESIRED, EAST OF EDEN & ELIA KAZAN (great to see his full name) all crumbled easily.
My favorite fill today is ZHIVAGO (98D: Title hero who married Tonya Gromeko). I just loved "the movie". Chief Justice John Roberts listed "Dr. Zhivago" & "North by Northwest" as his favorite movies. Julie Christie played the beautiful Lara, Zhivago's true love.
Across:
1A: Anabaptists, e.g.: SECT. Know Baptists, not Anabaptists.
9A: Philosopher William of __, known for his "razor": OCCAM. OCCAM's razor, law of succinctness, the simple, the better.
14A: Name on a WWII bomber: ENOLA. ENOLA Gay.
20A: Inter __: among others: ALIA. Sometimes the answer is ALII.
21A: "Moi": WHO ME. Not an ideal clue due to A MOI (78A: Mine, a Marseille).
25A: Go after, puppy style: NIP AT
26A: Static problem: CLING. And 35A: Sta-__: fabric softener: PUF. Obtained the answer from Down fills.
27A: Pinocchio's creator: GEPPETTO. I forgot. Last time STAR was clued as "Geppetoo wished on one".
30A: Cartoonist Keane: BIL. "The Family Circus" cartoonist.
33A: Alsace __: French region: LORRAINE. Quiche LORRAINE is from this region.
38A: Use up: EXHAUST. Wonderful answer.
53A: Crooked: ASKEW
57A: Boot add-ons: SPURS
58A: "__-haw!": YEE. Wanted HEE.
59A: Ivy League city: ITHACA. Cornell city.
65A: German pastries: STRUDELS. Yum! German for "eddy/whirlpool".
67A: Head, in slang: NOB. New to me. Knew noggin'/bean though.
75A: Patriotic women's org.: DAR. "Patriotic men's org" is SAR.
76A: Rats: STOOLIES
77A: Pantry concern: ANT. Not my concern. I've never seen an ANT in our kitchen. Fruit flies, yes.
81A: Disco guy on "The Simpsons": STU. Learned from doing Xword.
84A: Nine Inch Nails founder Reznor: TRENT. No idea. This guy is a musician who founded the Nine Inch Nails musical project.
88A: Auctioneer's word: GOING. Reminds me "the Red Violin", in which a precious red violin is being auctioned throughout the movie.
90A: Layer: HEN
91A: Greeted and seated: SAW IN. Then ADAGE is clued as "68D: Saw".
93A: Shankar's repertoire: RAGAS. The Hindu music. I penned in SITAR.
99A: Unlock, poetically: OPE
100A: "Yikes!": OMIGOSH
102A: Berlin article: DER. German "the". Sometimes it's DAS, as in Karl Marx's "Das Kapital".
103A: Sinuous comics villain: CATWOMAN. Here is Halle Berry's CATWOMAN.
108A: Flying Cloud et al: REOS. Got the answer from Down fills. Have never heard of REO Flying Cloud.
109A: Former comm. giant: ITT. I misinterpreted "comm." as "communist".
115A: Loner: MAVERICK
120A: Lyric poet: ODIST. Still don't understand the brouhaha over Dan Naddor's ODIC last time. It's a legit word.
122A: Praiseful hymn: PAEAN
124A: Sign with scales: LIBRA. Zodiac sign.
125A: Nicholas Gage memoir: ELENI. No idea. It's the Greek variation of the name Helen. Nicholas Gage is a Greek-American author. ELENI is his mother's name. I actually misread the clue as Nicolas Cage the actor.
126A: Artistic Chinese dynasty: MING. I don't really know why Pancho thinks MING Dynasty was "Artistic". I suppose he means MING Vase?
127A: Old king of rhyme: COLE. "Old King COLE".
129A: Pick up on: SENSE. Took me a while to "Pick up on" the answer.
130A: Longtime Yugoslav leader: TITO. He advocated neutral foreign policy during Cold War.
131A: Goofing off: IDLE
Down:
2D: First name in courtroom fiction: ERLE. ERLE Stanley Gardner.
3D: Cosby's "I Spy" costar: CULP. No idea. Have never heard of Robert CULP.
4D: Largo, e.g.: TEMPO. Stumped. Largo is slow TEMPO.
7D: Bolivian boy: NINO. The "Bolivian" is picked mainly because of alliteration I think.
8D: Lots of fun: GAS
9D: Sports negotiations side: OWNERS. The other side is PLAYERS.
10D: Tuscan red: CHIANTI. Oh, red wine. I thought the clue was asking for Italian word for "red" rosso, unknown to me anyway.
11D: Egyptian Christian: COPT. No, no, nope! I bet they suffer from religious discrimination.
12D: Menotti title lad: AMAHL "AMAHL and the Night Visitors".
13D: "Ditto": ME TOO
14D: Snail on la carte: ESCARGOT. People really eat everything. Dog meat is a delicacy in North China/Korea.
16D: African grassland grazer: ORIBI. Hi, buddy, what's your favorite breakfast?
17D: Red Square honoree: LENIN
18D: Reporter's slant: ANGLE
24D: Bow wood: YEW
29D: Cold, to Carlos: FRIO. New to me. What is Spanish for "hot"? Salma Hayek is very sexy.
32D: "Training Day" actor Ethan: HAWKE. Uma Thurman's ex-husband.
34D: Pharaohs' crosses: ANKHS (angk). Often confuse this word with SIKH (seek), both end with KH.
35D: They hang together: PALS. Nice clue.
36D: Lone Star State sch.: UTEP (University of Texas, El Paso). Trouble again.
37D: Haus wife: FRAU. Haus is German for "house".
39D: It precedes Yankee in the phonetic alphabet: XRAY. D'oh, NATO phonetic alphabet.
40D: Hornswoggle: HOSE. Hornswoggle is a new word to me, to swindle.
43D: Diamond flaw?: ERROR. Baseball diamond. Excellent clue.
46D: Book before Habakkuk: NAHUM. Nope. Not easy to remember either.
47D: Cutting edge: BLADE. Oh, literally.
49D: Sped: RACED
51D: "Like __, all tears ...": Hamlet: NIOBE. The Greek mythical crier. I know nothing about Hamlet, except "To be, or not to be". Yesterday we had OSRIC (Courtier in "Hamlet"), so easy to confuse him with YORICK the jester. "Alas, poor YORICK...".
54D: Courtroom expert, often: WITNESS
61D: "M*A*S*H" star: ALDA (Alan)
65D: Hindu honorifics: SRIS. Another alliteration.
66D: Nissan compact: SENTRA. I wonder what SENTRA means in Japanese.
69D: Pago Pago's nation: SAMOA. Lots of coconuts there.
70D: Un + deux: TROIS. One+two=Three.
71D: "Takin' it __ Streets": Doobie Brothers hit: TO THE. Here is the clip. Have never heard of the song before. It's a 1976 hit.
72D: Cut out the middle of: CORED. As an apple.
73D: Coeur d'__: Idaho: ALENE. Anyone from there?
74D: Guitar attachment: STRAP
81D: Sips' opposites: SWIGS. I think Americans eat/drink too fast.
82D: Record, nowadays: TIVO
83D: Some, in Seville: UNAS. French would be UNES.
87D: Ivan IV, for one: TSAR. Ivan the Terrible.
89D: Snap: GO POSTAL. Loved the answer.
92D: Orly lander: AVION. French for "plane". Par AVION.
95D: Disaster relief org.: FEMA
96D: 11th century conquerors: NORMANS. The Norman Conquest, 1066, led by Williams the Conqueror.
101D: Bad guy: MEANIE
103D: Becomes less angry, with "off": COOLS
105D: Navajo, e.g.: TRIBE. Jerome said the Navajo rug makers always weave a tiny flaw into their work to show humbleness.
106D: Suisse range: ALPES. French for "Alps". Here, Suisse is the French name of Switzerland.
107D: Author Zora __ Hurston: NEALE. No idea. She wrote "Their Eyes Were Watching God".
110D: Shatner's "__ War": TEK. TEK is a drug.
111D: Actress Bingham or Lords: TRACI. Got the answer from Across fills. TRACI Bingham looks familiar. Wikipedia says TRACI Lords first achieved notoriety in porn movies.
115D: Mid 11th century year: MLII. 1052.
116D: "It __ over till it's over": Berra: AIN'T. Yogi also said "I really didn't say everything I said".
117D: Eddie Bauer competitor: IZOD. KQ loves Eddie Bauer.
118d: Summon: CALL
119D: "Trick" joint: KNEE. I liked the clue.
Answer Grid.
Should you have extra time today, have a try at Fred's Universal and Doug Peterson's CrosSynergy (Washington Post) puzzles.
And a warm welcome to Mary, Susie, Annette and all the new commenters. I hope you stay and play. It's fun!
C.C.
