Theme: The Ultimate Sandwich - NTH is sandwiched in each theme answer, spanning two words.
24A. Course covering the Roman Empire, perhaps: ANCIENT HISTORY
34A. Pentathlon event: JAVELIN THROW. More familiar with the sole word javelin rather than javelin throw.
51A. Rehearse quickly: RUN THROUGH
59A. "Under Milk Wood" playwright: DYLAN THOMAS. A Welsh writer/poet. Stranger to me. I've never heard of the play "Under Milk Wood".
77A. Malfunctioned: WENT HAYWIRE
89A: Gardener's gift: GREEN THUMB. Our KittyB sure has a green thumb.
102A. One of the Seven Sisters colleges: MOUNT HOLYOKE. Have vaguely heard of this college. Wikipedia says Emily Dickinson spent sometime here.
121A. College accommodations: STUDENT HOUSING
And 123D. Ultimate degree hidden in eight puzzle answers: NTH
I thought "sandwich" implies that NTH is inserted in an existing base phrase, but it's not. Good play on our crossword stalwart NTH.
This puzzle is of perfect difficulty level to me. I was engaged throughout the solving (some Sundays I was not), with a few "D'oh" V-8 moments, a few peeks at the cheat sheet and a few erasings.
As the norm with our Sunday puzzle, quite a few clever clues and unfamilair words/names for me.
Across:
1. Place to surf: THE NET. Internet surfing.
7. Like the best straight, in poker: ACE-HIGH. And DEAL IN (93A. Include, at the poker table).
14. Creature that divides to multiply: AMOEBA. The single-celled creature.
20. One-named Tejano singer: SELENA. She was murdered by a fan. J-Lo played her in the movie.
22. Scams: BUNCOS. Or Bunkos. New word to me.
23. Like hawks, vis-à-vis doves: PRO-WAR
27. Pilot: FLIER. And AIR BASE (43A. Post with planes).
28. "You're not telling the truth!": THAT'S A LIE
29. White Rose __-Tea, first instant iced tea: REDI. It simply means "ready", yes?
31. Take pieces from?: DISARM. Pieces=firearm. Great clue.
33. Noodge: PEST. Forgot the meaning of "noodge", a variant of nudge.
42. Jazz singer Anderson: IVIE. No idea. Wikipedia says she was best-known for her performances with Duke Ellington's orchestra between 1931 and 1942.
44. __ Raton, Florida: BOCA. Literally "mouth" in Spanish.
48. Chaos: BEDLAMS
50. Slangy "OK": YEH. Thought it's "Yeah".
55. Gods' drink: NECTAR. Root word for nectarine, my favorite fruit of the summer. Gods' food is ambrosia.
57. Bambi's aunt: ENA. Bambi & ENA are the only two "Bambi" characters I know.
58. British county: SHIRE
62. Lunes y martes, e.g.: DIAS. Spanish for "days". Lunes y martes = Monday and Tuesday.
65. Small songbird: WREN
66. Mother of the Titans: GAEA (JEE-uh). The Greek earth goddess.
69. Attend: GO TO
71. Deity skilled at archery: AMOR. Roman love god. Eros for the Greeks.
83. Toon skunk Pepé : LE PEW. The constant "l'amour" seeker.
85. Vintage auto: REO
87. __ Sebastian Bach: JOHANN. The greatest composer of the Baroque period.
88. Lux. neighbor: GER
92. Org. with a longstanding journal: AMA (American Medical Association). "The Journal of the American Medical Association".
95. NC State's gp.: ACC (Altantic Coast Conference). Stumper for me.
97. Starts: ADVENTS
101. Turner on screen: LANA. She was married to Artie Shaw for a few months.
104. Bank-confiscated auto, briefly: REPO
107. Reach rudely for: GRAB AT
111. Hints at: ALLUDES TO. Quite a few verb + preposition fill in today's grid.
113. Poland Spring competitor: EVIAN. Ours is Aquafina.
117. Bandleader's cry: HIT IT
123. "Driver carries __": robbery deterrent: NO CASH
124. Like a stiff drink: POTENT
125. Operative, as a rule: IN FORCE
126. Psychologist's concern: TRAUMA. Psychological damage is hard to treat.
127. Horseplay sounds?: SNORTS. Why? I got the answer from crosses.
128. Vegas light source: NEON GAS
129. __-skelter: HELTER
Down:
1. Recipe amts.: TSPS (Teaspoons). TBSPS is tablespoons.
3. "The Time Machine" race: ELOI. Yummy meal for the Morlock.
4. Old movie house staple: NEWSREEL
5. Canine coat?: ENAMEL. D'oh, teeth.
8. Child's plea: CAN I
12. Classy fellows: GENTS. Harmon Killebrew is a true gent, so is the guy on his right, of course!
13. __ yoga: HATHA. The most popular form of yoga, isn't it, KQ/Moon?
14. Slightly more than one can tolerate: A BIT MUCH. Multi-word fill elude me often.
15. Dishevel: MUSS
16. Recorded with a VCR: ON TAPE
17. French school: ECOLE. The students are élèves.
18. Tennis great Becker: BORIS. No idea. According to Wikipedia, he is the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17.
19. So far: AS YET
25. "Portia is Brutus' __, not his wife": Shak.: HARLOT. From Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". I was clueless. LOVER does not fit.
27. All done, in Verdun: FINI. French for "over". I've never head of Verdun, a city in NE France. It's picked to rhyme with "done".
30. Radius times two: DIAMETER
32. "If __ a Rich Man": I WERE. From "Fiddler on the Roof".
34. Were in accord: JIBED. And AGREE (60D. Go along).
35. Big name in labels: AVERY
36. Gore who wrote "Lincoln": VIDAL. His mother was once married to Jackie Kennedy's step-father.
37. "__ see it my way ...": Beatles lyric: TRY TO. No idea. Those are the opening words of the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out".
38. Letter-shaped girder: H-BEAM. Same as I-BEAM, correct? I forgot our discussion result last time.
39. Enthusiastic: RAH-RAH. Ardent is six-letter too.
41. It's bad to be behind them: BARS. Behind the bars. Excellent clue. I was in the deadline direction.
44. __ B'rith: B'NAI. Literally "Sons of". B'nai B'rith = Sons of the Covenant.
45. Naturalist John: MUIR. The founder of Sierra Club.
47. Invitation word: WHEN
49. "The King and I" teacher: ANNA. Anna and the King.
52. Berlin conjunction: UND. German for "and".
53. "I'm amazed!": OH WOW
56. Indian tea: CHAI. "Chinese tea" is just CHA.
63. Turkish general: AGHA. Or AGA.
64. %#&!#! ones: SO AND SO'S. I thought those symbols refer to the F word.
68. "This seems familiar" feeling: DEJA VU. All over again.
70. Actress Daly: TYNE. Learned her name from doing Xword.
71. Pond organism: ALGA. The plural form is ALGAE.
72. Hired soldier, briefly: MERC. Mercenary, not a familiar abbreviation. Neither is VIRG (114D Arlington's state: Abbr.).
73. Crude cartel: OPEC. Nice C.C. alliteration.
75. Cross, in Cádiz: CRUZ. Another C.C. alliteration. Now I have a better understanding of Penélope CRUZ.
78. Ladies' club policy: NO MEN
79. U __, '60s UN secretary general: THANT. U is just Mr. in Burmese. Thant is his only name.
80. White house?: IGLOO. In Arctic. White indeed. Very clever clue.
81. Freshen, as a stamp pad: REINK
82. Banks of baseball: ERNIE. Hall-of-Famer. Played his entire career with the Chicago Cubs. What Els? ERNIE!
84. Ladies' hoops gp.: WNBA. Our WNBA team is called Minnestoa Lynx, owned by the same guy who owns the Timberwolves.
86. "Dreams From My Father" memoirist: OBAMA. He'd probably be happier with a Nobel Literature rather than Nobel Peace.
90. Digressions: TANGENTS
91. West Coast castle builder: HEARST. The Hearst Castle.
94. Not ordinary: ATYPICAL. Cool entry.
98. Spoils, as a grandchild: DOTES ON. I can picture how Jazzbumpa spoils his grandchildren.
101. "Turn it up, please": LOUDER. I like the er-less clue.
103. Pakistan's second-largest city: LAHORE. Karachi is the largest city.
104. Woodworking files: RASPS
105. John with a colorful wardrobe: ELTON. Oh, he is a SIR too.
106. Demoted planet: PLUTO
108. Dylan's "Ballad of __ Man": A THIN. Unknown to me. I did get BAEZ (96A. "Diamonds & Rust" singer Joan) though. Both were at Woodstock, right?
109. Wilderness Road pioneer: BOONE (Daniel)
115. Andean of yore: INCA
116. Mighty long time: AGES. Wrote down AEON first.
120. Whaler's direction: THAR. "There", as in "THAR she blows!"
122. ET carrier: UFO. What if aliens do exist?
A warm welcome to all our Canadian solvers. I enjoyed your comments last week and hope to hear more of your solving experience on Sundays.
Answer grid.
C.C.
24A. Course covering the Roman Empire, perhaps: ANCIENT HISTORY
34A. Pentathlon event: JAVELIN THROW. More familiar with the sole word javelin rather than javelin throw.
51A. Rehearse quickly: RUN THROUGH
59A. "Under Milk Wood" playwright: DYLAN THOMAS. A Welsh writer/poet. Stranger to me. I've never heard of the play "Under Milk Wood".
77A. Malfunctioned: WENT HAYWIRE
89A: Gardener's gift: GREEN THUMB. Our KittyB sure has a green thumb.
102A. One of the Seven Sisters colleges: MOUNT HOLYOKE. Have vaguely heard of this college. Wikipedia says Emily Dickinson spent sometime here.
121A. College accommodations: STUDENT HOUSING
And 123D. Ultimate degree hidden in eight puzzle answers: NTH
I thought "sandwich" implies that NTH is inserted in an existing base phrase, but it's not. Good play on our crossword stalwart NTH.
This puzzle is of perfect difficulty level to me. I was engaged throughout the solving (some Sundays I was not), with a few "D'oh" V-8 moments, a few peeks at the cheat sheet and a few erasings.
As the norm with our Sunday puzzle, quite a few clever clues and unfamilair words/names for me.
Across:
1. Place to surf: THE NET. Internet surfing.
7. Like the best straight, in poker: ACE-HIGH. And DEAL IN (93A. Include, at the poker table).
14. Creature that divides to multiply: AMOEBA. The single-celled creature.
20. One-named Tejano singer: SELENA. She was murdered by a fan. J-Lo played her in the movie.
22. Scams: BUNCOS. Or Bunkos. New word to me.
23. Like hawks, vis-à-vis doves: PRO-WAR
27. Pilot: FLIER. And AIR BASE (43A. Post with planes).
28. "You're not telling the truth!": THAT'S A LIE
29. White Rose __-Tea, first instant iced tea: REDI. It simply means "ready", yes?
31. Take pieces from?: DISARM. Pieces=firearm. Great clue.
33. Noodge: PEST. Forgot the meaning of "noodge", a variant of nudge.
42. Jazz singer Anderson: IVIE. No idea. Wikipedia says she was best-known for her performances with Duke Ellington's orchestra between 1931 and 1942.
44. __ Raton, Florida: BOCA. Literally "mouth" in Spanish.
48. Chaos: BEDLAMS
50. Slangy "OK": YEH. Thought it's "Yeah".
55. Gods' drink: NECTAR. Root word for nectarine, my favorite fruit of the summer. Gods' food is ambrosia.
57. Bambi's aunt: ENA. Bambi & ENA are the only two "Bambi" characters I know.
58. British county: SHIRE
62. Lunes y martes, e.g.: DIAS. Spanish for "days". Lunes y martes = Monday and Tuesday.
65. Small songbird: WREN
66. Mother of the Titans: GAEA (JEE-uh). The Greek earth goddess.
69. Attend: GO TO
71. Deity skilled at archery: AMOR. Roman love god. Eros for the Greeks.
83. Toon skunk Pepé : LE PEW. The constant "l'amour" seeker.
85. Vintage auto: REO
87. __ Sebastian Bach: JOHANN. The greatest composer of the Baroque period.
88. Lux. neighbor: GER
92. Org. with a longstanding journal: AMA (American Medical Association). "The Journal of the American Medical Association".
95. NC State's gp.: ACC (Altantic Coast Conference). Stumper for me.
97. Starts: ADVENTS
101. Turner on screen: LANA. She was married to Artie Shaw for a few months.
104. Bank-confiscated auto, briefly: REPO
107. Reach rudely for: GRAB AT
111. Hints at: ALLUDES TO. Quite a few verb + preposition fill in today's grid.
113. Poland Spring competitor: EVIAN. Ours is Aquafina.
117. Bandleader's cry: HIT IT
123. "Driver carries __": robbery deterrent: NO CASH
124. Like a stiff drink: POTENT
125. Operative, as a rule: IN FORCE
126. Psychologist's concern: TRAUMA. Psychological damage is hard to treat.
127. Horseplay sounds?: SNORTS. Why? I got the answer from crosses.
128. Vegas light source: NEON GAS
129. __-skelter: HELTER
Down:
1. Recipe amts.: TSPS (Teaspoons). TBSPS is tablespoons.
3. "The Time Machine" race: ELOI. Yummy meal for the Morlock.
4. Old movie house staple: NEWSREEL
5. Canine coat?: ENAMEL. D'oh, teeth.
8. Child's plea: CAN I
12. Classy fellows: GENTS. Harmon Killebrew is a true gent, so is the guy on his right, of course!
13. __ yoga: HATHA. The most popular form of yoga, isn't it, KQ/Moon?
14. Slightly more than one can tolerate: A BIT MUCH. Multi-word fill elude me often.
15. Dishevel: MUSS
16. Recorded with a VCR: ON TAPE
17. French school: ECOLE. The students are élèves.
18. Tennis great Becker: BORIS. No idea. According to Wikipedia, he is the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17.
19. So far: AS YET
25. "Portia is Brutus' __, not his wife": Shak.: HARLOT. From Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar". I was clueless. LOVER does not fit.
27. All done, in Verdun: FINI. French for "over". I've never head of Verdun, a city in NE France. It's picked to rhyme with "done".
30. Radius times two: DIAMETER
32. "If __ a Rich Man": I WERE. From "Fiddler on the Roof".
34. Were in accord: JIBED. And AGREE (60D. Go along).
35. Big name in labels: AVERY
36. Gore who wrote "Lincoln": VIDAL. His mother was once married to Jackie Kennedy's step-father.
37. "__ see it my way ...": Beatles lyric: TRY TO. No idea. Those are the opening words of the Beatles' "We Can Work It Out".
38. Letter-shaped girder: H-BEAM. Same as I-BEAM, correct? I forgot our discussion result last time.
39. Enthusiastic: RAH-RAH. Ardent is six-letter too.
41. It's bad to be behind them: BARS. Behind the bars. Excellent clue. I was in the deadline direction.
44. __ B'rith: B'NAI. Literally "Sons of". B'nai B'rith = Sons of the Covenant.
45. Naturalist John: MUIR. The founder of Sierra Club.
47. Invitation word: WHEN
49. "The King and I" teacher: ANNA. Anna and the King.
52. Berlin conjunction: UND. German for "and".
53. "I'm amazed!": OH WOW
56. Indian tea: CHAI. "Chinese tea" is just CHA.
63. Turkish general: AGHA. Or AGA.
64. %#&!#! ones: SO AND SO'S. I thought those symbols refer to the F word.
68. "This seems familiar" feeling: DEJA VU. All over again.
70. Actress Daly: TYNE. Learned her name from doing Xword.
71. Pond organism: ALGA. The plural form is ALGAE.
72. Hired soldier, briefly: MERC. Mercenary, not a familiar abbreviation. Neither is VIRG (114D Arlington's state: Abbr.).
73. Crude cartel: OPEC. Nice C.C. alliteration.
75. Cross, in Cádiz: CRUZ. Another C.C. alliteration. Now I have a better understanding of Penélope CRUZ.
78. Ladies' club policy: NO MEN
79. U __, '60s UN secretary general: THANT. U is just Mr. in Burmese. Thant is his only name.
80. White house?: IGLOO. In Arctic. White indeed. Very clever clue.
81. Freshen, as a stamp pad: REINK
82. Banks of baseball: ERNIE. Hall-of-Famer. Played his entire career with the Chicago Cubs. What Els? ERNIE!
84. Ladies' hoops gp.: WNBA. Our WNBA team is called Minnestoa Lynx, owned by the same guy who owns the Timberwolves.
86. "Dreams From My Father" memoirist: OBAMA. He'd probably be happier with a Nobel Literature rather than Nobel Peace.
90. Digressions: TANGENTS
91. West Coast castle builder: HEARST. The Hearst Castle.
94. Not ordinary: ATYPICAL. Cool entry.
98. Spoils, as a grandchild: DOTES ON. I can picture how Jazzbumpa spoils his grandchildren.
101. "Turn it up, please": LOUDER. I like the er-less clue.
103. Pakistan's second-largest city: LAHORE. Karachi is the largest city.
104. Woodworking files: RASPS
105. John with a colorful wardrobe: ELTON. Oh, he is a SIR too.
106. Demoted planet: PLUTO
108. Dylan's "Ballad of __ Man": A THIN. Unknown to me. I did get BAEZ (96A. "Diamonds & Rust" singer Joan) though. Both were at Woodstock, right?
109. Wilderness Road pioneer: BOONE (Daniel)
115. Andean of yore: INCA
116. Mighty long time: AGES. Wrote down AEON first.
120. Whaler's direction: THAR. "There", as in "THAR she blows!"
122. ET carrier: UFO. What if aliens do exist?
A warm welcome to all our Canadian solvers. I enjoyed your comments last week and hope to hear more of your solving experience on Sundays.
Answer grid.
C.C.
