Theme: Yarn-spinning
20A: Start of an investor's quip: I BOUGHT STOCK IN A
39A: Quip, part 2: BLANKET
41A: Quip, part 3: FACTORY
55A: End of the quip: BUT IT SOON FOLDED
The BLANKET FACTORY was closed. It FOLDED. Not the BLANKET. I don't know. Quip puzzles often fail to amuse me because I don't always understand the pun & the humor.
I'm convinced that our editor Rich Norris loves alliteration. Look at the amazing number of alliterative clues in today's clues:
14A: Absolut alternative: STOLI. Vodka brand.
15A: Caramel-filled candy: ROLO. Hershey's candy. Produced by Nestlé outside US. I've never tried it.
17A: Hawk's hook: TALON
64A: Source of a suit: TORT. Law suit.
66A: Fill fully: SATE
9D: College in Claremont, California: POMONA. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says POMONA College has ranked in the top ten of liberal arts colleges nationally since their inception in 1887. Sagehens is their nickname. POMONA is Roman goddess of fruit.
11D: Mine, in Metz: A MOI
27D: Big board: PLANK
54D: Leading the league: ON TOP. Twins' Joe Mauer is ON TOP of the AL leaderboard in several categories. What an extraordinary year! Joe Mauer = AL MVP, whether those writers vote for him or not.
60D: Far from flashy: DRAB
Some are probably an unconscious effort.
Dennis pointed out that the clue for LOOIE (31D: Certain NCO, slangily) is wrong. Lieutenant is a Commissioned Officer, not a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO).
Across:
1A: Syrian president: ASSAD. Bashar al-ASSAD (since 2000). His father ASSAD ruled Syria for over thirty years.
6A: 1/2 fl.oz.: TBSP
10A: Copacetic: JAKE. Both meaning "fine". Both new to me. Copacetic sounds toxic.
18A: Reason to cram: EXAM
19A: Kentucky Derby entrant: COLT. Filly too. I wonder why Rachel Alexandra did not enter Kentucky Derby this year.
25A: Pleasing breeze: ZEPHYR (ZEF-er). Greek god of west wind. This puzzle is quite scrabbly, with two Z's, one J, one X and several K's.
29A: Asian inland sea: ARAL. It's shrinking.
31A: Butcher's units: Abbr.: LBS
34A: Gallic she: ELLE. Gallic (GAL-ik) is related to Gaul/France. I often confuse it with the Celtic Gaelic (GEY-lik).
37A: Words on a desk box: IN/OUT. I used to have a PENDING tray when I worked.
43A: Dentist's request: RINSE. Thought SAY AH first.
44A: Pool table boundary: RAIL
48A: Sensible: WISE. Wrote down SANE first.
47A: One way to get directions: ASK. Men seldom ASK for direction.
48A: "Serpico" author Peter: MAAS. Here is the book cover. Vaguely remember seeing Al Pacino's movie sometime ago. I've never heard of Peter MAAS. He looks like a mafia consigliere, the advisor to the Don.
50A: Good-sized chamber ensembles: OCTETS. Pieces for eight.
52A: 45 or 78, e..g.: Abbr.: RPM
53A: Elmer Fudd, for one: TOON
63A: Western team that beat the Crimson Tide in the 2009 Sugar Bowl: UTES. The University of Utah. I could only think of UCLA.
65A: "Chestnuts roasting ..." co-writer: TORME (Mel). The Velvet Fog.
67A: 20th century basso Pinza: EZIO. He played the French plantation owner Emile in the musical "South Pacific".
68A: Cyberletters: E-MAIL
69A: If's partner, in logic: THEN
71A: Weaselike mammal: SABLE. So curious. Cute too. No fur, please!
Down:
1D: Piedmont wine region: ASTI. The Italian province or its capital. South of Turin.
3D: With no help: SOLO
4D: Any of three baseball brothers: ALOU. Basta! Let's honor the BOONE family for a change. I liked Bret BOONE.
5D: Lifeboat, perhaps: DINGHY. My god, I thought DINGHY is a garbage boat.
6D: Old waste allowances: TRETS. The "Container weights" is TARES.
7D: Premium opera house spot: BOX SEAT. "Premium stadium spot" too.
8D: Blind part: SLAT
10D: Athletic types: JOCKS
12D: Ceramics baker: KILN
13D: Place whom Sundance liked: ETTA. ETTA Place, Sundance Kid's girlfriend. I could only remember her given name. Loved "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Thought the "Place" was referring to an actual place.
21D: Golden __: Mongol invaders: HORDE. Faintly remember the Mongol Empire was divided into Golden/White/Blue/Great HORDE after Genghis Khan died.
22D: Baby's ailment: COLIC
25D: Striped equine: ZEBRA. I might watch some ZEBRA in action this football season, now we have Brett Favre.
26D: Perry of fashion: ELLIS. He died of AIDS.
28D: Coop moms: HENS. What do you call a female pigeon? HEN also?
30D: Get a new mortgage on, briefly: REFI (Refinance)
32D: Pop: BURST. Verb. I was thinking of soda pop.
36D: Gillette Machs3 predecessor: ATRA
38D: Food-minus-pkg. measure: NT WT. This and AT NO used to stymie me. Not any more.
40D: Neat and trim: KEMPT. More familiar with unkempt.
42D: Standoffish: ALOOF. Like Senator John Kerry.
45D: Oregon city near the mouth of the Columbia: ASTORIA. See this map. It's named after John Jacob Astor, who founded a fur trading post there in 1810.
49D: Dutch brew: AMSTEL. Stumper for me, Windhover/Jerome. It belongs to Heineken. Named after the AMSTEL River. What's so funny about this commercial?
51D: Bills with Franklin on them: C-NOTES. Slang for a hundred-dollar bill.
52D: Up from bed: RISEN
55D: Narc's arrest: BUST
56D: Westernmost D-Day beachhead: UTAH. I guessed. Have never heard of the code name UTAH Beach. Omaha Beach, yes.
57D: Chapeau's perch: TETE. French for "head".
58D: Move like sludge: OOZE. Always associate OOZE with running liquid. Sludge sounds thick and muddy.
59D: __ Linda, San Bernadino suburb: LOMA. No idea. It's to the south of LA. LOMA means "hill" in Spanish.
61D: Jannings of old movies: EMIL. The first guy to win Best Actor Oscar.
62D: Take out, editorially: DELE. Then a STET can cancel the DELE.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our fellow LAT solver KQ, flanked by her daughter and husband at a golf tournament. Her daughter was a member of the University of Iowa golf team. Here is another picture of KQ, her two sons and husband at an Angels game a couple of weeks ago.
C.C.
20A: Start of an investor's quip: I BOUGHT STOCK IN A
39A: Quip, part 2: BLANKET
41A: Quip, part 3: FACTORY
55A: End of the quip: BUT IT SOON FOLDED
The BLANKET FACTORY was closed. It FOLDED. Not the BLANKET. I don't know. Quip puzzles often fail to amuse me because I don't always understand the pun & the humor.
I'm convinced that our editor Rich Norris loves alliteration. Look at the amazing number of alliterative clues in today's clues:
14A: Absolut alternative: STOLI. Vodka brand.
15A: Caramel-filled candy: ROLO. Hershey's candy. Produced by Nestlé outside US. I've never tried it.
17A: Hawk's hook: TALON
64A: Source of a suit: TORT. Law suit.
66A: Fill fully: SATE
9D: College in Claremont, California: POMONA. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says POMONA College has ranked in the top ten of liberal arts colleges nationally since their inception in 1887. Sagehens is their nickname. POMONA is Roman goddess of fruit.
11D: Mine, in Metz: A MOI
27D: Big board: PLANK
54D: Leading the league: ON TOP. Twins' Joe Mauer is ON TOP of the AL leaderboard in several categories. What an extraordinary year! Joe Mauer = AL MVP, whether those writers vote for him or not.
60D: Far from flashy: DRAB
Some are probably an unconscious effort.
Dennis pointed out that the clue for LOOIE (31D: Certain NCO, slangily) is wrong. Lieutenant is a Commissioned Officer, not a Non-Commissioned Officer (NCO).
Across:
1A: Syrian president: ASSAD. Bashar al-ASSAD (since 2000). His father ASSAD ruled Syria for over thirty years.
6A: 1/2 fl.oz.: TBSP
10A: Copacetic: JAKE. Both meaning "fine". Both new to me. Copacetic sounds toxic.
18A: Reason to cram: EXAM
19A: Kentucky Derby entrant: COLT. Filly too. I wonder why Rachel Alexandra did not enter Kentucky Derby this year.
25A: Pleasing breeze: ZEPHYR (ZEF-er). Greek god of west wind. This puzzle is quite scrabbly, with two Z's, one J, one X and several K's.
29A: Asian inland sea: ARAL. It's shrinking.
31A: Butcher's units: Abbr.: LBS
34A: Gallic she: ELLE. Gallic (GAL-ik) is related to Gaul/France. I often confuse it with the Celtic Gaelic (GEY-lik).
37A: Words on a desk box: IN/OUT. I used to have a PENDING tray when I worked.
43A: Dentist's request: RINSE. Thought SAY AH first.
44A: Pool table boundary: RAIL
48A: Sensible: WISE. Wrote down SANE first.
47A: One way to get directions: ASK. Men seldom ASK for direction.
48A: "Serpico" author Peter: MAAS. Here is the book cover. Vaguely remember seeing Al Pacino's movie sometime ago. I've never heard of Peter MAAS. He looks like a mafia consigliere, the advisor to the Don.
50A: Good-sized chamber ensembles: OCTETS. Pieces for eight.
52A: 45 or 78, e..g.: Abbr.: RPM
53A: Elmer Fudd, for one: TOON
63A: Western team that beat the Crimson Tide in the 2009 Sugar Bowl: UTES. The University of Utah. I could only think of UCLA.
65A: "Chestnuts roasting ..." co-writer: TORME (Mel). The Velvet Fog.
67A: 20th century basso Pinza: EZIO. He played the French plantation owner Emile in the musical "South Pacific".
68A: Cyberletters: E-MAIL
69A: If's partner, in logic: THEN
71A: Weaselike mammal: SABLE. So curious. Cute too. No fur, please!
Down:
1D: Piedmont wine region: ASTI. The Italian province or its capital. South of Turin.
3D: With no help: SOLO
4D: Any of three baseball brothers: ALOU. Basta! Let's honor the BOONE family for a change. I liked Bret BOONE.
5D: Lifeboat, perhaps: DINGHY. My god, I thought DINGHY is a garbage boat.
6D: Old waste allowances: TRETS. The "Container weights" is TARES.
7D: Premium opera house spot: BOX SEAT. "Premium stadium spot" too.
8D: Blind part: SLAT
10D: Athletic types: JOCKS
12D: Ceramics baker: KILN
13D: Place whom Sundance liked: ETTA. ETTA Place, Sundance Kid's girlfriend. I could only remember her given name. Loved "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". Thought the "Place" was referring to an actual place.
21D: Golden __: Mongol invaders: HORDE. Faintly remember the Mongol Empire was divided into Golden/White/Blue/Great HORDE after Genghis Khan died.
22D: Baby's ailment: COLIC
25D: Striped equine: ZEBRA. I might watch some ZEBRA in action this football season, now we have Brett Favre.
26D: Perry of fashion: ELLIS. He died of AIDS.
28D: Coop moms: HENS. What do you call a female pigeon? HEN also?
30D: Get a new mortgage on, briefly: REFI (Refinance)
32D: Pop: BURST. Verb. I was thinking of soda pop.
36D: Gillette Machs3 predecessor: ATRA
38D: Food-minus-pkg. measure: NT WT. This and AT NO used to stymie me. Not any more.
40D: Neat and trim: KEMPT. More familiar with unkempt.
42D: Standoffish: ALOOF. Like Senator John Kerry.
45D: Oregon city near the mouth of the Columbia: ASTORIA. See this map. It's named after John Jacob Astor, who founded a fur trading post there in 1810.
49D: Dutch brew: AMSTEL. Stumper for me, Windhover/Jerome. It belongs to Heineken. Named after the AMSTEL River. What's so funny about this commercial?
51D: Bills with Franklin on them: C-NOTES. Slang for a hundred-dollar bill.
52D: Up from bed: RISEN
55D: Narc's arrest: BUST
56D: Westernmost D-Day beachhead: UTAH. I guessed. Have never heard of the code name UTAH Beach. Omaha Beach, yes.
57D: Chapeau's perch: TETE. French for "head".
58D: Move like sludge: OOZE. Always associate OOZE with running liquid. Sludge sounds thick and muddy.
59D: __ Linda, San Bernadino suburb: LOMA. No idea. It's to the south of LA. LOMA means "hill" in Spanish.
61D: Jannings of old movies: EMIL. The first guy to win Best Actor Oscar.
62D: Take out, editorially: DELE. Then a STET can cancel the DELE.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our fellow LAT solver KQ, flanked by her daughter and husband at a golf tournament. Her daughter was a member of the University of Iowa golf team. Here is another picture of KQ, her two sons and husband at an Angels game a couple of weeks ago.
C.C.
