Theme: BAR (65A. Happy hour site, and word that can follow each last name in the answers to starred clues) - Famous people whose last name can precede the word BAR.
18. *"Seven Year Ache" country singer: ROSANNE CASH. Cash bar. Rosanne Cash is Johnny Cash's daughter. I was not familiar with the song.
20. *"All I Wanna Do" singer: SHERYL CROW. Crowbar. I love "All I Wanna Do". Is this the seed entry, Dan?
32. *Longtime "American Bandstand" host: DICK CLARK. Clark bar. Brand of candy bar.
45. *Notable member of The Second City improv group: JOHN CANDY. Candy bar. I was ignorant on The Second City. Did recognize John Candy's mug when I googled.
59. *French writer who befriended Chopin: GEORGE SAND. Sandbar. "Befriended" is an understatement. They were lovers, though they might not be sexually involved due to Chopin's health.
63. *"The Mark of Zorro" star (1940): TYRONE POWER. PowerBar. I've only seen Antonio Banderas's "The Mask of Zorro".
It's been some time since we last saw Dan's stacked theme style (the first two and the last two theme answers have a 6-letter overlap). Such a tightly focused & colorful BAR unifying theme. Very nice. Heavy themage too, total 63 theme squares.
Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 16. Once again, two of the Down ones, ie, ACRYLIC and CODE RED, intersect three theme entries.
I've been thinking lately how crossword solving can be a very personal experience. Certain answers resonate with some people and bring back sweet memories. I was just musing on George Sand's "I love strongly, exclusively and steadfastly" yesterday morning, and was so pleasantly surprised to see her name in the grid. What were your touch points today?
Across:
1. Popular: HOT. And COOL (5D. Not nerdy).
4. Takes steps: ACTS
8. Does some garden maintenance: WATERS. And ADAM (26D. Eden gardener).
15. Masked critter: COON. Raccoon.
16. "Ditto": I DO TOO
17. Ecol. or agric.: SCI
22. 1963 role for Liz: CLEO. "Cleopatra". Shortened name in clue, shortened name in answer.
24. Nissan sedan: ALTIMA. More luxurious than Nissan Sentra but less so than Nissan Maxima, according to Wikipedia. All of them have 6 letters.
26. Mimosa family tree: ACACIA. The gum-yielding tree. I was unaware of its biological classification.
29. Part of TNT: NITRO
36. Lover of Christine, in "The Phantom of the Opera": RAOUL. I could only remember ERIK the Phantom.
38. Gardner of "Mogambo": AVA. And UTA (41A. Hagen of Broadway). Still remember "Yma Dream" sketch from Anne Bancroft? Both Ava Gardner and Uta Hagen were mentioned. And Ida Lupino, Oona Chaplin and many other Xword friendly names.
39. Parkinsonism drug: L-DOPA. I forgot again.
42. Bette's "Divine" nickname: MISS M. The "The Divine Miss M". Bette Midler.
48. "The Merry Widow" composer: LEHAR (Franz ).
50. Time-share units: CONDOS. Thought of Annette and her ordeal in the past 4 years.
51. Rolled oats cereal: MUESLI. Not fond of the taste.
55. Banned pesticide: DDT. Banned in 1972.
56. Voice above tenor: ALTO
66. World's largest river by volume: AMAZON. Nile is the longest.
67. King, to a subject: SIRE
68. Greater N.Y.C. campus: L.I.U. (Long Island University). I got the answer from down fill.
69. Not naked: DECENT
70. City west of Tulsa: ENID. Both Oklahoma cities.
Down:
1. "Bonanza" brother: HOSS. I can never remember those brothers name.
3. Hears arguments in court: TRIES A CASE.
4. Painter's medium: ACRYLIC. And CODE RED (46D. Official emergency status). Both connect three of the theme answers.
6. Puccini opera: TOSCA. Puccini answer is always Tosca.
7. Warning from a doghouse: SNARL
8. Best type of situation: WIN-WIN
9. Fruit drink suffix: ADE
10. Bach work: TOCCATA. New word to me. From Italian "toccare" (touch). Dictionary defines it as "a composition in the style of an improvisation, for the piano, organ, or other keyboard instrument, intended to exhibit the player's technique".
11. Catchall abbr.: ET AL. And others.
13. Fashionable London area: SOHO
19. "Just kidding!": NOT
21. Gibraltar landmark: ROCK
25. Fallen space station: MIR. Fell in 2001. Russian for "peace".
27. __ union: same-sex relationship status: CIVIL
30. King Arthur's meeting spot: ROUND TABLE. Camelot! Camelot! Summer lingers through SEP (52D: Labor Day mo.).
31. Finish ahead of: OUTDO
33. Noun modifier: Abbr.: ADJ
34. Friend of Pooh: ROO. From "Winnie-the-Pooh". Kanga's kid.
35. Canadian rd. sign letters: KPH (Kilometers Per Hour). I felt goosey, did not know Canada uses metric system.
37. Fires, with "off": LAYS
40. Very old: Abbr.: ANC (Ancient). Have never seen this abbreviation before.
43. Chat idly: Var.: SHMOOZE. Only knew schmooze.
44. Half a Kenyan rebel: MAU. Mau Mau. Learned from doing Xword.
49. University officer: REGENT
54. Author Shaw: IRWIN. Mindlessly penned in ARTIE the Clarinetist Shaw.
56. Just barely: A TAD
57. __ tick: disease carrier: LYME. Wanted DEER. Lyme disease & deer tick.
58. Gillette's __ II: TRAC. Fell for ATRA, anyone?
60. Spice Girl Halliwell: GERI. Ginger spice.
61. Wood fastener: NAIL
62. Bongo or conga: DRUM
64. Nantes negative: NON. Alliteration again. Nantes is French city on the Loire River. Edict of Nantes.
Answer grid.
C.C.
18. *"Seven Year Ache" country singer: ROSANNE CASH. Cash bar. Rosanne Cash is Johnny Cash's daughter. I was not familiar with the song.
20. *"All I Wanna Do" singer: SHERYL CROW. Crowbar. I love "All I Wanna Do". Is this the seed entry, Dan?
32. *Longtime "American Bandstand" host: DICK CLARK. Clark bar. Brand of candy bar.
45. *Notable member of The Second City improv group: JOHN CANDY. Candy bar. I was ignorant on The Second City. Did recognize John Candy's mug when I googled.
59. *French writer who befriended Chopin: GEORGE SAND. Sandbar. "Befriended" is an understatement. They were lovers, though they might not be sexually involved due to Chopin's health.
63. *"The Mark of Zorro" star (1940): TYRONE POWER. PowerBar. I've only seen Antonio Banderas's "The Mask of Zorro".
It's been some time since we last saw Dan's stacked theme style (the first two and the last two theme answers have a 6-letter overlap). Such a tightly focused & colorful BAR unifying theme. Very nice. Heavy themage too, total 63 theme squares.
Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 16. Once again, two of the Down ones, ie, ACRYLIC and CODE RED, intersect three theme entries.
I've been thinking lately how crossword solving can be a very personal experience. Certain answers resonate with some people and bring back sweet memories. I was just musing on George Sand's "I love strongly, exclusively and steadfastly" yesterday morning, and was so pleasantly surprised to see her name in the grid. What were your touch points today?
Across:
1. Popular: HOT. And COOL (5D. Not nerdy).
4. Takes steps: ACTS
8. Does some garden maintenance: WATERS. And ADAM (26D. Eden gardener).
15. Masked critter: COON. Raccoon.
16. "Ditto": I DO TOO
17. Ecol. or agric.: SCI
22. 1963 role for Liz: CLEO. "Cleopatra". Shortened name in clue, shortened name in answer.
24. Nissan sedan: ALTIMA. More luxurious than Nissan Sentra but less so than Nissan Maxima, according to Wikipedia. All of them have 6 letters.
26. Mimosa family tree: ACACIA. The gum-yielding tree. I was unaware of its biological classification.
29. Part of TNT: NITRO
36. Lover of Christine, in "The Phantom of the Opera": RAOUL. I could only remember ERIK the Phantom.
38. Gardner of "Mogambo": AVA. And UTA (41A. Hagen of Broadway). Still remember "Yma Dream" sketch from Anne Bancroft? Both Ava Gardner and Uta Hagen were mentioned. And Ida Lupino, Oona Chaplin and many other Xword friendly names.
39. Parkinsonism drug: L-DOPA. I forgot again.
42. Bette's "Divine" nickname: MISS M. The "The Divine Miss M". Bette Midler.
48. "The Merry Widow" composer: LEHAR (Franz ).
50. Time-share units: CONDOS. Thought of Annette and her ordeal in the past 4 years.
51. Rolled oats cereal: MUESLI. Not fond of the taste.
55. Banned pesticide: DDT. Banned in 1972.
56. Voice above tenor: ALTO
66. World's largest river by volume: AMAZON. Nile is the longest.
67. King, to a subject: SIRE
68. Greater N.Y.C. campus: L.I.U. (Long Island University). I got the answer from down fill.
69. Not naked: DECENT
70. City west of Tulsa: ENID. Both Oklahoma cities.
Down:
1. "Bonanza" brother: HOSS. I can never remember those brothers name.
3. Hears arguments in court: TRIES A CASE.
4. Painter's medium: ACRYLIC. And CODE RED (46D. Official emergency status). Both connect three of the theme answers.
6. Puccini opera: TOSCA. Puccini answer is always Tosca.
7. Warning from a doghouse: SNARL
8. Best type of situation: WIN-WIN
9. Fruit drink suffix: ADE
10. Bach work: TOCCATA. New word to me. From Italian "toccare" (touch). Dictionary defines it as "a composition in the style of an improvisation, for the piano, organ, or other keyboard instrument, intended to exhibit the player's technique".
11. Catchall abbr.: ET AL. And others.
13. Fashionable London area: SOHO
19. "Just kidding!": NOT
21. Gibraltar landmark: ROCK
25. Fallen space station: MIR. Fell in 2001. Russian for "peace".
27. __ union: same-sex relationship status: CIVIL
30. King Arthur's meeting spot: ROUND TABLE. Camelot! Camelot! Summer lingers through SEP (52D: Labor Day mo.).
31. Finish ahead of: OUTDO
33. Noun modifier: Abbr.: ADJ
34. Friend of Pooh: ROO. From "Winnie-the-Pooh". Kanga's kid.
35. Canadian rd. sign letters: KPH (Kilometers Per Hour). I felt goosey, did not know Canada uses metric system.
37. Fires, with "off": LAYS
40. Very old: Abbr.: ANC (Ancient). Have never seen this abbreviation before.
43. Chat idly: Var.: SHMOOZE. Only knew schmooze.
44. Half a Kenyan rebel: MAU. Mau Mau. Learned from doing Xword.
49. University officer: REGENT
54. Author Shaw: IRWIN. Mindlessly penned in ARTIE the Clarinetist Shaw.
56. Just barely: A TAD
57. __ tick: disease carrier: LYME. Wanted DEER. Lyme disease & deer tick.
58. Gillette's __ II: TRAC. Fell for ATRA, anyone?
60. Spice Girl Halliwell: GERI. Ginger spice.
61. Wood fastener: NAIL
62. Bongo or conga: DRUM
64. Nantes negative: NON. Alliteration again. Nantes is French city on the Loire River. Edict of Nantes.
Answer grid.
C.C.
