Theme: None
Total blocks: 28
Total words: 72
Barry weaved a mini-theme in this grid, with four non-symmetrically placed entries. (Corrections: This is not a mini-theme. From the editor Rich Norris: Cross-referencing alone doesn't qualify. The main mini-theme answers should be either symmetrically placed or crisscrossed in the middle.)
50A. Singer with four recent best-selling albums of pop standards: ROD STEWART. What's your favorite Rod Stewart song? I like his "Have I Told You Lately".
1D. Soul immortal: JAMES BROWN. "The Godfather of Soul".
43A. 1-Down or 50-Across, e.g.: MALE
54A. Where 1-Down or 50-Across may be heard: ON THE RADIO
There are also six very noticeable "it" clues in the puzzle:
34A. It's sometimes deep-fried in the South: OKRA. I've never deep-fried mine.
44A. It heats up your food immediately: TABASCO. Superb clue. Hot!
2D. It may be twisted apart: OREO COOKIE. Sweeter than OREO alone.
7D. Think of it: IDEA. Somehow the grammar of this particular "it" clue bothers me. You?
38D. Washington is on it: QUARTER
52D. Chattering tongues do it: WAG. Just lovely.
Lots of V-8 moments for me during the solving. Tricky clues aplenty. And I was so pleased to see the new clue for TORII (44D. Angels outfielder Hunter who has won nine straight Gold Gloves). Just mentioned a few days ago about Torii Hunter and his Gold Gloves when TORII was clued as "Shinto temple gateway". Eat worm if you missed it. I met Torii a few times at various Twins events. He's super friendly.
Across:
1. Prominent bloodhound feature: JOWL. Scrabbly start.
5. Southwestern site of gypsum dunes: WHITE SANDS. In New Mexico. Unknown to me.
15. Burnoose wearer: ARAB. Dictionary defines burnoose (also spelled as burnous) as "a hooded mantle or cloak, as that worn by Arabs".
16. Accountant's concern: AUDIT TRAIL. Have only heard of money trail.
17. Citi Field team: METS. Started this year. Citi Field is named after the Citigroup. Another baseball reference is ERA (51D. Hurler's stat). Barry is a Phillies fan.
18. Polite invite: PLEASE STAY. Triple-stacks of 10-letter answers in each corner makes this puzzle look very open.
19. Want ad abbr.: EOE (Equal-Opportunity Employer)
20. "Diana" singer: ANKA (Paul)
21. Places for dips: POOLS
22. Fights: SCRAPES. Misread the clue as "Flights".
24. Benefit: BOON
26. One unhappy about a split: BOWLER. D'oh, bowling split.
27. "Coppélia" costume: TUTU
28. Trapper's ware: FUR. Was picturing pottery ware rather than the merchandise.
31. 1976 best-seller that spanned three centuries: ROOTS. By Alex Haley. I watched a few episodes in Chinese.
32. Frightening ordeal: NIGHTMARE. Frightening indeed.
35. Chihuahua chicken: POLLO. Spanish for "chicken" I presume.
36. Hamburg's river: ELBE. It flows to the North Sea.
37. User-edited online compendium of notable snippets: WIKIQUOTE. Refreshing answer.
39. Like ens: NASAL
40. Nintendo's Super __: NES
41. Coffee houses?: URNS. Nice clue.
42. Pop, e.g.: PARENT. Was thinking of the music genre "Pop".
45. Can't stand: ABHOR
48. Pixels: DOTS
49. Work on the road: TAR. And PAVE (53A. Work on the road). I absolutely dig this kind of clue connection.
55. Independent: FREE
56. Swearing-off words: NEVER AGAIN. Nailed it.
57. Key in a corner: CTRL. Lower left corner of your keyboard.
Down:
3. Source of tears, slangily: WATERWORKS
4. Dumbbell abbr.: LBS
5. Original "People's Court" judge: WAPNER (Joseph). Nope. Total stranger to me.
6. Clumsy vessels: HULKS. Rich Norris once clued "ARKS" as "Clumsy vessels".
8. Familia member: TIA. TIO too. Spanish aunt/uncle.
9. Some say they live among us, briefly: ETS. Oh, I've never heard anyone says so.
10. Leave temporarily: STEP OUT
11. Hot pursuit?: ARSON. Awesome clue. I was still in awe of Barry's "Illegal firing?" for ARSON last time.
12. Brussels-based intl. alliance: NATO
13. Watch part: DIAL
14. Stone and Stallone: SLYS
20. Galoots: APES
23. __ Mountains: Central Asian range: ALTAI. Al is Turkic for "gold", Tai is "mount".
24. Army brass?: BUGLE. Another great clue.
25. Emperor Galba's successor: OTHO. The Roman emperor who reigned for a short three-month (January to April 69). His name simply escaped me.
27. Arcade violations: TILTS
Total blocks: 28
Total words: 72
Barry weaved a mini-theme in this grid, with four non-symmetrically placed entries. (Corrections: This is not a mini-theme. From the editor Rich Norris: Cross-referencing alone doesn't qualify. The main mini-theme answers should be either symmetrically placed or crisscrossed in the middle.)
50A. Singer with four recent best-selling albums of pop standards: ROD STEWART. What's your favorite Rod Stewart song? I like his "Have I Told You Lately".
1D. Soul immortal: JAMES BROWN. "The Godfather of Soul".
43A. 1-Down or 50-Across, e.g.: MALE
54A. Where 1-Down or 50-Across may be heard: ON THE RADIO
There are also six very noticeable "it" clues in the puzzle:
34A. It's sometimes deep-fried in the South: OKRA. I've never deep-fried mine.
44A. It heats up your food immediately: TABASCO. Superb clue. Hot!
2D. It may be twisted apart: OREO COOKIE. Sweeter than OREO alone.
7D. Think of it: IDEA. Somehow the grammar of this particular "it" clue bothers me. You?
38D. Washington is on it: QUARTER
52D. Chattering tongues do it: WAG. Just lovely.
Lots of V-8 moments for me during the solving. Tricky clues aplenty. And I was so pleased to see the new clue for TORII (44D. Angels outfielder Hunter who has won nine straight Gold Gloves). Just mentioned a few days ago about Torii Hunter and his Gold Gloves when TORII was clued as "Shinto temple gateway". Eat worm if you missed it. I met Torii a few times at various Twins events. He's super friendly.
Across:
1. Prominent bloodhound feature: JOWL. Scrabbly start.
5. Southwestern site of gypsum dunes: WHITE SANDS. In New Mexico. Unknown to me.
15. Burnoose wearer: ARAB. Dictionary defines burnoose (also spelled as burnous) as "a hooded mantle or cloak, as that worn by Arabs".
16. Accountant's concern: AUDIT TRAIL. Have only heard of money trail.
17. Citi Field team: METS. Started this year. Citi Field is named after the Citigroup. Another baseball reference is ERA (51D. Hurler's stat). Barry is a Phillies fan.
18. Polite invite: PLEASE STAY. Triple-stacks of 10-letter answers in each corner makes this puzzle look very open.
19. Want ad abbr.: EOE (Equal-Opportunity Employer)
20. "Diana" singer: ANKA (Paul)
21. Places for dips: POOLS
22. Fights: SCRAPES. Misread the clue as "Flights".
24. Benefit: BOON
26. One unhappy about a split: BOWLER. D'oh, bowling split.
27. "Coppélia" costume: TUTU
28. Trapper's ware: FUR. Was picturing pottery ware rather than the merchandise.
31. 1976 best-seller that spanned three centuries: ROOTS. By Alex Haley. I watched a few episodes in Chinese.
32. Frightening ordeal: NIGHTMARE. Frightening indeed.
35. Chihuahua chicken: POLLO. Spanish for "chicken" I presume.
36. Hamburg's river: ELBE. It flows to the North Sea.
37. User-edited online compendium of notable snippets: WIKIQUOTE. Refreshing answer.
39. Like ens: NASAL
40. Nintendo's Super __: NES
41. Coffee houses?: URNS. Nice clue.
42. Pop, e.g.: PARENT. Was thinking of the music genre "Pop".
45. Can't stand: ABHOR
48. Pixels: DOTS
49. Work on the road: TAR. And PAVE (53A. Work on the road). I absolutely dig this kind of clue connection.
55. Independent: FREE
56. Swearing-off words: NEVER AGAIN. Nailed it.
57. Key in a corner: CTRL. Lower left corner of your keyboard.
Down:
3. Source of tears, slangily: WATERWORKS
4. Dumbbell abbr.: LBS
5. Original "People's Court" judge: WAPNER (Joseph). Nope. Total stranger to me.
6. Clumsy vessels: HULKS. Rich Norris once clued "ARKS" as "Clumsy vessels".
8. Familia member: TIA. TIO too. Spanish aunt/uncle.
9. Some say they live among us, briefly: ETS. Oh, I've never heard anyone says so.
10. Leave temporarily: STEP OUT
11. Hot pursuit?: ARSON. Awesome clue. I was still in awe of Barry's "Illegal firing?" for ARSON last time.
12. Brussels-based intl. alliance: NATO
13. Watch part: DIAL
14. Stone and Stallone: SLYS
20. Galoots: APES
23. __ Mountains: Central Asian range: ALTAI. Al is Turkic for "gold", Tai is "mount".
24. Army brass?: BUGLE. Another great clue.
25. Emperor Galba's successor: OTHO. The Roman emperor who reigned for a short three-month (January to April 69). His name simply escaped me.
27. Arcade violations: TILTS
28. Race infraction: FALSE START
29. Unauthorized explorer of city tunnels and sewers: URBAN CAVER. Not in my vocabulary.
30. Cassette alternative: REEL TO REEL. Did not come to me readily.
32. "__ Knows": 1958 hit: NO ONE. Here is the clip. By Dion and The Belmonts. I was stymied.
33. "Awakenings" actress: MEARA (Anne). Got me. Have never seen "Awakening".
35. Knitting loop: PURL
39. Busts: NABS. Again, I was in the sculpture bust direction.
42. Battle of the Bulge commander: PATTON. Did you like the movie "Patton"?
43. Arens of Israel: MOSHE. Nope, not in my radar. Somehow Ariel Sharon popped into to my mind.
45. Cal's brother in "East of Eden": ARON. Gimme. I liked the movie.
46. Something to pick?: BONE. Nailed it.
47. Cutting-edge set, briefly: HD TV
48. Arp works: DADA. ARP is often clued as "Dada pioneer". Nice to have a clue/answer swap.
53. Rank below cpl.: PFC (Private First Class)
Answer grid.
29. Unauthorized explorer of city tunnels and sewers: URBAN CAVER. Not in my vocabulary.
30. Cassette alternative: REEL TO REEL. Did not come to me readily.
32. "__ Knows": 1958 hit: NO ONE. Here is the clip. By Dion and The Belmonts. I was stymied.
33. "Awakenings" actress: MEARA (Anne). Got me. Have never seen "Awakening".
35. Knitting loop: PURL
39. Busts: NABS. Again, I was in the sculpture bust direction.
42. Battle of the Bulge commander: PATTON. Did you like the movie "Patton"?
43. Arens of Israel: MOSHE. Nope, not in my radar. Somehow Ariel Sharon popped into to my mind.
45. Cal's brother in "East of Eden": ARON. Gimme. I liked the movie.
46. Something to pick?: BONE. Nailed it.
47. Cutting-edge set, briefly: HD TV
48. Arp works: DADA. ARP is often clued as "Dada pioneer". Nice to have a clue/answer swap.
53. Rank below cpl.: PFC (Private First Class)
Answer grid.
C.C.
