Theme: COVERT OPS (59A. Hush-hush activities, briefly, and a hint to the hidden theme in 18-, 23-, 38- and 49-Across) - OPS are embedded in all the theme answers.
18A. Jam on the brakes: STOP SHORT. Remember this Seinfeld episode? "You stop short with me? We don't do that in Korea".
23A. Soft court stroke: DROP SHOT. Who has the best drop shot in tennis?
38A. Small family businesses: MOM AND POP STORES. Hard for them to survive in this Wal-Mart world.
49A. Stir-fried dish: CHOP SUEY. Suey is literally "small pieces". American Chinese food: meat & bean sprout & mushroom & onion or other veggies, served over rice or chow mein.
Very clever tie-in answer, COVERT OPS. Did you also consider COVERT/SECRET AGENT, Donna?
All of the hidden OPS span two words, very consistent. Silly, but I interpreted COVERTOPS as COVER TOPS initially.
Covert Ops is short for Covert Operations. According to Wikipedia, they maybe include sabotage, assassination, support for coups d’état & subversion, all those clandestine stuff. Any of them is better than war, isn't it? Had we allowed CIA to assassinate Saddam, so much lives would have been saved.
Very smooth puzzle. All of the multiple words are common phrases and easily obtainable.
Across:
1. Athenian with harsh laws: DRACO (DREY-koh). That's how we get draconian (drey-KOH-nee-uhn), meaning "very severe/harsh". Draconian measure, Draconian budget cut, etc.
6. "Star Wars" princess: LEIA. Played by Carrie Fisher. And UHURA (51D. "Star Trek" communications officer). Played by Nichelle Nichols. The latter always give me trouble. All I know about "Star Trek" is Spock and Sulu.
10. Hip-hop mogul who married Beyoncé: JAY-Z. Powerful couple. Jay-Z is unbelievably astute in his investment. Part owner of New Jersey Nets.
14. Grapevine traveler: RUMOR
16. "Dies __": hymn: IRAE. Literally "wrath".
17. Get hitched quick: ELOPE
20. Stick-on design: DECAL. Tough to find a 1950's/60's bobblehead with the original decal on.
21. Go astray: SIN
22. Press conf. format: Q AND A. Man, I never learn. Had trouble parsing the answer again.
25. Wallowing place: MUD. Was picturing a sty.
26. Pasture: LEA
27. Colorfully patterned fabric: PAISLEY. Name after the Scottish city famous for such fabric.
31. Songstress Adams: EDIE. What's her most famous song?
34. RCA Victor pooch: NIPPER. The dog in "His Master's Voice".
41. Driver's lic. et al.: IDS
42. Lend a hand: ASSIST
43. Fast time: LENT. For Christians. Muslims have their Ramadan.
44. Gander: LOOK-SEE
46. Embarrassed: RED
48. World Series mo.: OCT. Topical clue/fill. Damned Yankees. Nothing went right for the Twins yesterday.
54. Legend automaker: ACURA. Honda luxury brand.
57. Cross shape: TAU. The Greek T. Cross-shaped.
58. Yellowish earth tone: OCHRE. Or ocher.
61. Magician Henning et al.: DOUGS. Easy guess. Not familiar with Doug Henning.
63. Shoshoneans: UTES
64. __ the side of caution: ERR ON
66. Like slasher movies: GORY. A slasher is a horror film featuring gory special effects.
67. 1954-1977 defense gp.: SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization). Formed in Manila.
Down:
1. "Judge __": Stallone film: DREDD. Obtained the film title from crossings.
2. School tool: RULER
3. Big name in gas: AMOCO. Merged with BP in 1998.
4. Admit one's guilt to serve less time: COP A PLEA
5. Threat-ending words: OR ELSE
6. Rodeo rope: LASSO
7. Weird Al Yankovic parody of a Michael Jackson hit: EAT IT. Here is the clip. Unknown to me.
8. It's pumped in gyms: IRON. Jazzbumpa's "I, RON".
9. PC program: APP (Application). Applet is a small application. App(lication) + let.
10. Holy wars: JIHADS. The Koran says those who die in Jihad will go to heaven immediately.
13. Epsilon follower: ZETA. This is Dennis's favorite "Epsilon follower".
19. Water gun stream: SQUIRT
24. Desk phone unit: HANDSET. Wrote down HEADSET first.
25. Orchestra leader: MAESTRO. Italian for "master".
27. Third afterthought, in a ltr.: PPPS. The most I've used is PPS.
28. Old Italian money: LIRE. Plural of Lira.
30. Eddie of the '40s-'50s Senators: YOST. Washington Senators (now Twins). I drew a blank. Only knew the former Brewers' manager Ned YOST. Might have this card in my collection though. Wikipedia says he's nicknamed the "Walking Man" and he's still alive.
31. German artist Nolde: EMIL. I guessed. EMIL sounds German.
32. Dimwit: DODO. The extinct bird too.
33. "__ Excited": Pointer Sisters hit: I'M SO. Here is the clip.
35. __ dixit: assertion without proof: IPSE. Literally "he himself". IPSO is "itself", as in "ipso facto" (by the fact itself). Don't confuse it with Lhasa Apso the dog.
36. Luau fare: POI
39. Sprint Cup org.: NASCAR
40. It may take years to settle one: OLD SCORE. I like this fill a lot.
45. Seoul man: KOREAN. Seoul food is very hot. Koreans use lots of hot red pepper.
47. Lyric poems: EPODES. New word to me. Dictionary defines it as "a kind of lyric poem, invented by Archilochus, in which a long verse is followed by a short one".
49. Playful prank: CAPER
50. Brazen minx: HUSSY. Just learned this word a few months ago. Bad form of "housewife".
52. Grain disease: ERGOT. Wait for our in-house farmer/philosopher Windhover for expert explanation.
53. Like some simple questions: YES-NO
54. West Point, e.g.: Abbr.: ACAD (Academy)
56. Eye part containing the iris: UVEA. Latin for "grape".
57. He bit Miss Gulch in a 1939 film: TOTO. From "The Wizard of Oz". I bet this is Donna's original clue, given her fondness for the movie.
60. Pull hard: TUG. Tried LUG first.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a beautiful photo of our fellow solver Carol2 (in black) and her daughter-in-law, who is from Romania. They were in a local restaurant celebrating the 90th birthday of Carol's mother.
C.C.
18A. Jam on the brakes: STOP SHORT. Remember this Seinfeld episode? "You stop short with me? We don't do that in Korea".
23A. Soft court stroke: DROP SHOT. Who has the best drop shot in tennis?
38A. Small family businesses: MOM AND POP STORES. Hard for them to survive in this Wal-Mart world.
49A. Stir-fried dish: CHOP SUEY. Suey is literally "small pieces". American Chinese food: meat & bean sprout & mushroom & onion or other veggies, served over rice or chow mein.
Very clever tie-in answer, COVERT OPS. Did you also consider COVERT/SECRET AGENT, Donna?
All of the hidden OPS span two words, very consistent. Silly, but I interpreted COVERTOPS as COVER TOPS initially.
Covert Ops is short for Covert Operations. According to Wikipedia, they maybe include sabotage, assassination, support for coups d’état & subversion, all those clandestine stuff. Any of them is better than war, isn't it? Had we allowed CIA to assassinate Saddam, so much lives would have been saved.
Very smooth puzzle. All of the multiple words are common phrases and easily obtainable.
Across:
1. Athenian with harsh laws: DRACO (DREY-koh). That's how we get draconian (drey-KOH-nee-uhn), meaning "very severe/harsh". Draconian measure, Draconian budget cut, etc.
6. "Star Wars" princess: LEIA. Played by Carrie Fisher. And UHURA (51D. "Star Trek" communications officer). Played by Nichelle Nichols. The latter always give me trouble. All I know about "Star Trek" is Spock and Sulu.
10. Hip-hop mogul who married Beyoncé: JAY-Z. Powerful couple. Jay-Z is unbelievably astute in his investment. Part owner of New Jersey Nets.
14. Grapevine traveler: RUMOR
16. "Dies __": hymn: IRAE. Literally "wrath".
17. Get hitched quick: ELOPE
20. Stick-on design: DECAL. Tough to find a 1950's/60's bobblehead with the original decal on.
21. Go astray: SIN
22. Press conf. format: Q AND A. Man, I never learn. Had trouble parsing the answer again.
25. Wallowing place: MUD. Was picturing a sty.
26. Pasture: LEA
27. Colorfully patterned fabric: PAISLEY. Name after the Scottish city famous for such fabric.
31. Songstress Adams: EDIE. What's her most famous song?
34. RCA Victor pooch: NIPPER. The dog in "His Master's Voice".
41. Driver's lic. et al.: IDS
42. Lend a hand: ASSIST
43. Fast time: LENT. For Christians. Muslims have their Ramadan.
44. Gander: LOOK-SEE
46. Embarrassed: RED
48. World Series mo.: OCT. Topical clue/fill. Damned Yankees. Nothing went right for the Twins yesterday.
54. Legend automaker: ACURA. Honda luxury brand.
57. Cross shape: TAU. The Greek T. Cross-shaped.
58. Yellowish earth tone: OCHRE. Or ocher.
61. Magician Henning et al.: DOUGS. Easy guess. Not familiar with Doug Henning.
63. Shoshoneans: UTES
64. __ the side of caution: ERR ON
66. Like slasher movies: GORY. A slasher is a horror film featuring gory special effects.
67. 1954-1977 defense gp.: SEATO (Southeast Asia Treaty Organization). Formed in Manila.
Down:
1. "Judge __": Stallone film: DREDD. Obtained the film title from crossings.
2. School tool: RULER
3. Big name in gas: AMOCO. Merged with BP in 1998.
4. Admit one's guilt to serve less time: COP A PLEA
5. Threat-ending words: OR ELSE
6. Rodeo rope: LASSO
7. Weird Al Yankovic parody of a Michael Jackson hit: EAT IT. Here is the clip. Unknown to me.
8. It's pumped in gyms: IRON. Jazzbumpa's "I, RON".
9. PC program: APP (Application). Applet is a small application. App(lication) + let.
10. Holy wars: JIHADS. The Koran says those who die in Jihad will go to heaven immediately.
13. Epsilon follower: ZETA. This is Dennis's favorite "Epsilon follower".
19. Water gun stream: SQUIRT
24. Desk phone unit: HANDSET. Wrote down HEADSET first.
25. Orchestra leader: MAESTRO. Italian for "master".
27. Third afterthought, in a ltr.: PPPS. The most I've used is PPS.
28. Old Italian money: LIRE. Plural of Lira.
30. Eddie of the '40s-'50s Senators: YOST. Washington Senators (now Twins). I drew a blank. Only knew the former Brewers' manager Ned YOST. Might have this card in my collection though. Wikipedia says he's nicknamed the "Walking Man" and he's still alive.
31. German artist Nolde: EMIL. I guessed. EMIL sounds German.
32. Dimwit: DODO. The extinct bird too.
33. "__ Excited": Pointer Sisters hit: I'M SO. Here is the clip.
35. __ dixit: assertion without proof: IPSE. Literally "he himself". IPSO is "itself", as in "ipso facto" (by the fact itself). Don't confuse it with Lhasa Apso the dog.
36. Luau fare: POI
39. Sprint Cup org.: NASCAR
40. It may take years to settle one: OLD SCORE. I like this fill a lot.
45. Seoul man: KOREAN. Seoul food is very hot. Koreans use lots of hot red pepper.
47. Lyric poems: EPODES. New word to me. Dictionary defines it as "a kind of lyric poem, invented by Archilochus, in which a long verse is followed by a short one".
49. Playful prank: CAPER
50. Brazen minx: HUSSY. Just learned this word a few months ago. Bad form of "housewife".
52. Grain disease: ERGOT. Wait for our in-house farmer/philosopher Windhover for expert explanation.
53. Like some simple questions: YES-NO
54. West Point, e.g.: Abbr.: ACAD (Academy)
56. Eye part containing the iris: UVEA. Latin for "grape".
57. He bit Miss Gulch in a 1939 film: TOTO. From "The Wizard of Oz". I bet this is Donna's original clue, given her fondness for the movie.
60. Pull hard: TUG. Tried LUG first.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a beautiful photo of our fellow solver Carol2 (in black) and her daughter-in-law, who is from Romania. They were in a local restaurant celebrating the 90th birthday of Carol's mother.
C.C.
