Theme: None
Total words: 68
Total blocks: 30
This puzzle is noticeable for its lack of 3-letter answers. Only 2. Nice stacked 9's in the upper left and lower right. My favorite today are the two scrabbly long Downs: TAKES A JOKE (11D. Tolerates teasing gracefully) and FOURSQUARE (27D. Unwavering). Awesome!
There is no A-LOP (25D. Crooked) in my dictionary, but I do remember someone found the definition somewhere last time when it appeared in our old puzzle.
An easier puzzle than I had expected. The abundance of plural S suffixes and fill-in-the-blank entries sure helped. Still had to cheat though.
Across:
1. War and more: CARD GAMES. Wanted CONFLICTS.
10. R.E.M. vocalist Michael: STIPE. Does it rhyme with stripe?
15. Strain: OVEREXERT. Came to me immediately. Nice entry.
16. Turkic inhabitant of Russia: TATAR. Was just clued as "Golden Horde member" yesterday.
17. Place with trays: CAFETERIA
18. Director Kurosawa: AKIRA. Probably best known for "Seven Samurai". Akira means bright/intelligent in Japanese, identical to Chinese character Ming (as in Yao Ming).
19. Aide's job: ASSISTING
20. Doctor's orders: TESTS. Mindlessly wrote down STATS.
21. Rolls on the lawn: SOD. Rolls here is a noun.
22. Hard to nail down: ELUSIVE. Like the first major title for Sergio Garcia.
24. Social blunder: GAFFE. And "Fish hook" is GAFF, without E.
28. Eritrea's capital: ASMARA. Man, I can never remember this capital name. I am surprised they speak Arabic rather than French there.
30. Ness et al.: ELIOTS. The most famous T-man.
32. Cosmetic surgeries: NOSE JOBS. Seed entry, Sam?
36. Vegan entrée: TOFU. Cantonese. Mandarin is doufu.
37. Imported cheeses: EDAMS. Dutch cheeses.
39. Cajun pod: OKRA. Stir-fried fresh okra is very tasty.
40. Sherry, often: APERITIF. By the way, do you use normal sherry for cooking or it has to be cooking sherry?
42. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show costar: OAKLEY (Annie). I was not familiar with the show. Wikipedia says it formed in 1883 and lasted until 1913.
44. Grab before someone else does: SNAP UP
46. It merged with Kmart in 2005: SEARS. I was shocked when it happened. I thought Kmart was still struggling with bankruptcy.
47. Film that's out of order? PREQUEL. Is "Angels and Demons" prequel or sequel to "The Da Vinci Code"?
50. PC panic button: ESC
52. Mammal of Madagascar: LEMUR. Alliteration.
53. Seeking advancement at any cost: ON THE MAKE. New idiom to me.
60. Eastern Canadian province grouping, with "the": MARITIMES. Consist of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Unknown to me.
61. Saltpeter, to a Brit: NITRE. Niter to us.
62. Smithsonian collection: AMERICANA
64. Nielsen ratings subjects: TELECASTS
Down:
1. Caesar's partner Imogene: COCA. Strange name.
3. Court call makers: REFS. Basketball/tennis court. I was thinking of judge's court.
4. Cologne crowd?: DREI. German for "three".
5. Prepares: GETS SET. Wrote down READIES first.
7. Yucatán's capital: MERIDA. No idea. I peeked at the cheat sheet. Tough crossing with ASMARA.
9. Child actor's chauffeur?: STAGE MOM
10. Height: STATURE
12. Formal answer to "Who's there?": IT IS I
13. End of a pentamerous serial: PART V. Penta is prefix for "five".
23. Will Rogers prop: LASSO
26. High wind: FIFE. Liked the clue.
29. Messy situation: SNAFU. It stands for Situation Normal All F****ed Up.
31. Hairlike parts, such as those that help geckos cling to walls: SETAE. Stumper. I am used to the simple "stiff hairs" clue. Geckos have a million foot hairs (SETAE)?
33. St. with counties named Comanche and Choctaw: OKLA. Easy guess. What's so special about those two counties besides the C start?
34. Uncle Remus's __ Fox: BR'ER
38. One with immunity: DIPLOMAT
41. Buried: INURNED. I only know inter. Easy to remember though: in + urn.
43. One leading a spartan lifestyle: ASCETIC. How do you define a hedonist? One leading a what lifestyle? Decadent?
45. Marine bird: PETREL. Here is one petrel soaring with wings wide.
49. Cry on cue, say: EMOTE
51. U.S.: county :: U.K. : __: SHIRE
55. Flaky mineral: MICA
56. Latin 101 verb: AMAS. Amo, AMAS, amat.
57. Colleague of Lane and Olsen: KENT. "Superman".
58. Those, to Teresa: ESAS. Or ESOS. ESA/ESO = "That".
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total words: 68
Total blocks: 30
This puzzle is noticeable for its lack of 3-letter answers. Only 2. Nice stacked 9's in the upper left and lower right. My favorite today are the two scrabbly long Downs: TAKES A JOKE (11D. Tolerates teasing gracefully) and FOURSQUARE (27D. Unwavering). Awesome!
There is no A-LOP (25D. Crooked) in my dictionary, but I do remember someone found the definition somewhere last time when it appeared in our old puzzle.
An easier puzzle than I had expected. The abundance of plural S suffixes and fill-in-the-blank entries sure helped. Still had to cheat though.
Across:
1. War and more: CARD GAMES. Wanted CONFLICTS.
10. R.E.M. vocalist Michael: STIPE. Does it rhyme with stripe?
15. Strain: OVEREXERT. Came to me immediately. Nice entry.
16. Turkic inhabitant of Russia: TATAR. Was just clued as "Golden Horde member" yesterday.
17. Place with trays: CAFETERIA
18. Director Kurosawa: AKIRA. Probably best known for "Seven Samurai". Akira means bright/intelligent in Japanese, identical to Chinese character Ming (as in Yao Ming).
19. Aide's job: ASSISTING
20. Doctor's orders: TESTS. Mindlessly wrote down STATS.
21. Rolls on the lawn: SOD. Rolls here is a noun.
22. Hard to nail down: ELUSIVE. Like the first major title for Sergio Garcia.
24. Social blunder: GAFFE. And "Fish hook" is GAFF, without E.
28. Eritrea's capital: ASMARA. Man, I can never remember this capital name. I am surprised they speak Arabic rather than French there.
30. Ness et al.: ELIOTS. The most famous T-man.
32. Cosmetic surgeries: NOSE JOBS. Seed entry, Sam?
36. Vegan entrée: TOFU. Cantonese. Mandarin is doufu.
37. Imported cheeses: EDAMS. Dutch cheeses.
39. Cajun pod: OKRA. Stir-fried fresh okra is very tasty.
40. Sherry, often: APERITIF. By the way, do you use normal sherry for cooking or it has to be cooking sherry?
42. Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show costar: OAKLEY (Annie). I was not familiar with the show. Wikipedia says it formed in 1883 and lasted until 1913.
44. Grab before someone else does: SNAP UP
46. It merged with Kmart in 2005: SEARS. I was shocked when it happened. I thought Kmart was still struggling with bankruptcy.
47. Film that's out of order? PREQUEL. Is "Angels and Demons" prequel or sequel to "The Da Vinci Code"?
50. PC panic button: ESC
52. Mammal of Madagascar: LEMUR. Alliteration.
53. Seeking advancement at any cost: ON THE MAKE. New idiom to me.
60. Eastern Canadian province grouping, with "the": MARITIMES. Consist of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. Unknown to me.
61. Saltpeter, to a Brit: NITRE. Niter to us.
62. Smithsonian collection: AMERICANA
64. Nielsen ratings subjects: TELECASTS
Down:
1. Caesar's partner Imogene: COCA. Strange name.
3. Court call makers: REFS. Basketball/tennis court. I was thinking of judge's court.
4. Cologne crowd?: DREI. German for "three".
5. Prepares: GETS SET. Wrote down READIES first.
7. Yucatán's capital: MERIDA. No idea. I peeked at the cheat sheet. Tough crossing with ASMARA.
9. Child actor's chauffeur?: STAGE MOM
10. Height: STATURE
12. Formal answer to "Who's there?": IT IS I
13. End of a pentamerous serial: PART V. Penta is prefix for "five".
23. Will Rogers prop: LASSO
26. High wind: FIFE. Liked the clue.
29. Messy situation: SNAFU. It stands for Situation Normal All F****ed Up.
31. Hairlike parts, such as those that help geckos cling to walls: SETAE. Stumper. I am used to the simple "stiff hairs" clue. Geckos have a million foot hairs (SETAE)?
33. St. with counties named Comanche and Choctaw: OKLA. Easy guess. What's so special about those two counties besides the C start?
34. Uncle Remus's __ Fox: BR'ER
38. One with immunity: DIPLOMAT
41. Buried: INURNED. I only know inter. Easy to remember though: in + urn.
43. One leading a spartan lifestyle: ASCETIC. How do you define a hedonist? One leading a what lifestyle? Decadent?
45. Marine bird: PETREL. Here is one petrel soaring with wings wide.
49. Cry on cue, say: EMOTE
51. U.S.: county :: U.K. : __: SHIRE
55. Flaky mineral: MICA
56. Latin 101 verb: AMAS. Amo, AMAS, amat.
57. Colleague of Lane and Olsen: KENT. "Superman".
58. Those, to Teresa: ESAS. Or ESOS. ESA/ESO = "That".
Answer grid.
C.C.
