Theme: Vowel Progression
17A: London art museum, as it was formerly known: TATE GALLERY
25A: Its seat is Jackson, Wyoming: TETON COUNTY
35A: It shows a book's name, author. publisher, etc.: TITLE PAGE
52A: Photographic memory: TOTAL RECALL
59A: Multi-flavored ice cream: TUTTI FRUTTI
TAT - Make lace
TET - Vietnamese New Year
TIT - Small bird
TOT - Small child
TUT - Mild reproof
52A: Photographic memory: TOTAL RECALL
59A: Multi-flavored ice cream: TUTTI FRUTTI
TAT - Make lace
TET - Vietnamese New Year
TIT - Small bird
TOT - Small child
TUT - Mild reproof
Lila Cherry is just Rich Norris, anagram of "Really Rich". He uses this alias name for Monday puzzles.
All theme entries are two-word phrases, and the T?T is the start of the first word. Very consistent. Nice triple stacks of 7's Down fills in each corner. (Notes from Rich: The main inspiration was to see if I could come up with TAT/TET/etc. words which use long vowels, unlike the 3-letter words which all use short ones.)
All theme entries are two-word phrases, and the T?T is the start of the first word. Very consistent. Nice triple stacks of 7's Down fills in each corner. (Notes from Rich: The main inspiration was to see if I could come up with TAT/TET/etc. words which use long vowels, unlike the 3-letter words which all use short ones.)
I'm going to say that this puzzle is just right for a Monday. The pros should have no trouble; the tyros will struggle some, but if they have been solving on a regular basis, they should recognize some from recent puzzles, i.e. 64A: Actor Zimbalist Jr.: EFREM.
Then there is what I think of as the Jeopardy clues: You have no idea so you give the only answer you can come up with, i.e. 25A: Its seat is Jackson, Wyoming: TETON COUNTY. On Jeopardy, they are the answers that usually start a category.
Oh yeah, Argyle here and I feel like putting in a lot of links today. And if you're wondering, no troubles with Across Lite today.
Across:
1A: Places for chickens: COOPS. A-frame style for free rangers with good nighttime protection.
6A: Teapot feature: SPOUT. Teapot
11A: Roman 901: CMI. And 49A: AT&T competitor: MCI.
14A: Comics orphan: ANNIE. Scary
15A: Skier's jacket: PARKA. and 16A: Youthful fellow: LAD. Parka lad
19A: Some MIT grads: EES. Electrical Engineers.
20A: Extreme degrees: NTHS.
21A: LPGA teen phenom Michelle: WIE. With her hair down. She is coming off a bad weekend.
22A: Tibet's capital: LHASA. Chinese call Tibet as Xizang, very scrabbly.
24A: "__ you ready for this?": ARE.
28A: Oinker: PIG.
29A: Proofs of age, briefly: IDS. Identifications
30A: Ones making money: EARNER.
31A: Pointy-eared "Star Trek" guy: SPOCK. "Live long and prosper."
33A: Cookie holder: JAR. Or
34A: Small jazz combo: TRIO.
39A: Parts of the Rockies: Abbr.: MTNS. Mountains.
42A: Boiling: HOT.
43A: Kitchen allure: AROMA. It depends on who's in the kitchen.
47A: Norse mariner Leif: ERICSON. His route. Leif is also the son of "Eric the Red".
51A: King, in France: ROI.
54A: Prickly chestnut case: BUR. Here.
55A: Blackmore's " Doone": LORNA. R. D. Blackmore, (d. 1900). Lorna Doone: A Romance of Exmoor, is a romance novel based on a group of historical characters and set in the late 17th century in Devon and Somerset, England.
56A: Paul Bunyan's tool: AXE.
57A: Piece of sausage: LINK.
58A: Stock mkt. debut: IPO. Initial Public Offering: a company's first stock offering to the public.
63A: Fire, to the French: FEU. Look, it's Monday, they even tell you it's French. Pot-au-FEU is literally "pot on fire", which Dennis hates.
65A: "__ the loneliest number": old song lyric: ONE IS. Not that old, is it?
66A: Ambulance destinations, for short: ERS. Emergency Rooms
67A: Goes bad, as milk: SOURS.
68A: Strolls in shallow water: WADES.
Down:
1D: Short snoozes: CATNAPS. Cats napping.
2D: Traveling away from home: ON A TRIP. And 3D: Very busy: ON THE GO.
4D: Pumpkin desserts: PIES. T'is the season. Yum. And 25D: __ torch: patio light: TIKI. Time to put them away for the year.
5D: Part of a line: Abbr.: SEG.
6D: Bowler's challenges: SPLITS. Remember? We had BABY SPLIT awhile back.
7D: Opposite of neo-: PALEO. A combining form meaning “old” or “ancient.” Paleosong lyric?
8D: Source of iron: ORE.
9D: Kiev is its cap.: UKR.
10D: "Fire and Rain" singer/songwriter James: TAYLOR.
11D: Vacuum __: CLEANER.
12D: Orchestra conductors, formally: MAESTRI. Italian plural of maestro.
13D: "Sounds about right to me": I'D SAY SO.
18D: Dumbfounded: AWED.
23D: Big game tracker: HUNTER. Can you see HUNTER (Torri) on his back?
26D: Twice-monthly tide: NEAP. The tide occurring at the end of the first and third quarters of the lunar month, in which high water mark is at the lowest. The tide at full and new moon is when the water mark is at its highest.
27D: Irene of "Fame": CARA. Image
32D: Radiologist's procedure, briefly: CT SCAN.
33D: Fast plane: JET. Did anyone try SST first?
36D: Norse thunder god: THOR. Image. Two Viking references today.
37D: "The __ Ranger": LONE. Ah, the memories.
38D: "Passages" author Sheehy: GAIL. Her book.
39D: Insurance company with Snoopy on its blimp: METLIFE. Blimp.
40D: State cop: TROOPER. Are all state policemen called troopers?
41D: __ oxide: laughing gas: NITROUS.
44D: Circled the earth: ORBITED.
45D: Canadian cop: MOUNTIE. Not troopers. Great left to right "cop" mirror to TROOPER.
46D: Smooch that even misses the cheek: AIR KISS. A maestro of air kisses.
48D: Political candidate lineups: SLATES.
49D: Adages: MAXIMS. Axioms too.
50D: First symbol on a musical staff: CLEF. For C.C.
53D: Supply party food for: CATER.
57D: Pale-green moth: LUNA. Pretty.
60D: ET's vehicle: UFO.
61D: One-man show about Capote: TRU. He was an American writer who wrote both Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood.
62D: Use oars: ROW. Banacek on the Charles River, Boston. (TV show, mystery).
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a photo of today's constructor Lila Cherry (Rich Norris, editor of LA Times Daily Crossword, the taller guy). On his left is the master of tribute puzzles David Kahn, the author of NY Times' Barack Obama "Making History" & Michael Jackson puzzles.
Argyle
