Theme: Sports Nicknames - Famous athletes in various sports known by their nicknames.
20A. MAGIC: EARVIN JOHNSON. Has not died of AIDS, which made him decide to retire for awhile, but then return, then retire, then return, then retire again. Claims to have slept with 10,000 women.
26A. TIGER: ELDRICK WOODS. Going after Magic's record.
46A. PRIME TIME: DEION SANDERS. Played both baseball and football. How many other sports has he courted?
53A. YOGI: LAWRENCE BERRA. Voiced 10,000 malaprops.
Bonus sport personalities:
41A. Palmer with his own "army": ARNIE.
58A. Nastase with a racket: ILIE.
60D. Kareem, formerly: LEW. Alcindor.
Al guest blogging today. Bet you all are jealous I got to do one of Dan's. It upped the ante on the usual Tuesday fare.
Across:
1. Somewhat warm: TEPID. "Luke"warm. Who the heck is that, you may ask? Luke is a Middle English form of the Old English hléow meaning warm or sunny, from as early as 1205.
6. Polio vaccine developer: SALK. Injected form. Sabin created the safer oral version. There is an interesting chart that offers circumstantial evidence that pesticides had a more likely role.
10. Wheel edges: RIMS.
14. Like top-quality beef: PRIME. The highest rating of a combined high ratio of marbling with the youngest maturity of beef.
15. Prefix with logical: IDEO. Having a doctrine or philosophy.
16. Jacques's state: ETAT. French for state. Coup d' etat is to overthrow the government (state).
17. Phi Beta __: KAPPA. The oldest Academic Society, founded Dec 5, 1776 at William and Mary.
18. Earth inheritors, with "the": MEEK. Beatitude in the book of Matthew.
19. Water barrier: DIKE. Also a French word meaning "men's clothing".
23. Saint Francis's home: ASSISI. Italy.
25. Little Red Book follower: MAOIST. One who follows, not a sequel.
30. Madre's brother: TIO. Spanish. Aunt is TIA.
31. Silky synthetic: RAYON. Actually it is only semi-synthetic. And 49A. Glossy cotton fabric: SATEEN. A structure in the weaving process, can be made from different materials, like cotton and rayon.
32. Volkswagen sedan: JETTA. Derives from the German language word for 'jet stream', reflecting the period in Volkswagen's history when it named its vehicles after prominent winds.
36. Stuff of headlines: NEWS. Pretty much Haiti these days. 200,000 dead and 1.5 mil homeless. Everything else sort of pales in comparison.
38. Cooking apples: ROMES.
40. Teen detective Nancy: DREW. The original 56 books were written by 8 different authors.
43. Stories: TALES. Had to wait to make sure it wasn't SAGAS or EPICS or even EDDAS.
45. Hagen of Broadway: UTA. Died at 84 in 2004.
52. Bath sponge: LOOFAH. How to harvest and make them.
57. Akron's state: OHIO. Where Goodyear was started.
59. Tells really badly, as a joke: KILLS. Not to be confused with SLAYS, which means the opposite.
62. Suvari of "American Pie": MENA. Also the "rose petal" girl in American Beauty. I guess she's American...
63. Society oddball: NERD. A badge of honor to some...
64. And the following, in bibliographies: Abbr.: ET SEQ. Latin phrase et sequens (et sequentes, et sequentia).
65. Pigged out (on), as junk food: OD'ED. Overdosed.
66. Takes one's turn: GOES.
67. Cinema chain: LOEWS. Originally a chain of nickelodeons in Cincinatti, OH.
Down:
1. Rd. often spanning an entire state: TPK. No turnpikes in WI, this abbr. gets me all the time.
2. Historical span: ERA.
3. Shuts up: PIPES DOWN. Nice opposition.
4. Damage: IMPAIR. As in hearing, for example.
5. Letter opener?: DEAR SIR. or John.
6. California's __ Valley: SIMI. North of LA, near Thousand Oaks.
7. Yemen's Gulf of __: ADEN. Part of the Indian Ocean, south of Yemen, north of Somalia.
8. Actor Cobb: LEE J. Death of a Salesman.
9. City north of Indianapolis: KOKOMO. Unless you listen to the Beach Boys, then it's a Jamaican Island now known as Sandals Cay.
10. Like Rudolph: RED NOSED. Or W.C. Fields.
11. "Who's calling?" response: IT IS I. Pretty formal. Also not very helpful.
12. Strong sharks: MAKOS. They can get pretty big.
13. Surgical tube: STENT.
21. Goldsmith's Wakefield clergyman: VICAR. Set in rural eighteenth-century England, The Vicar of Wakefield chronicles the life of Vicar Charles Primrose, his wife Deborah, and their children. Narrated by the protagonist, the novel recounts the reversal of the Vicar's modest fortunes and a series of blows to the family's unity. Daughter Olivia marries a scoundrel who subsequently deserts her. The family loses all their money, and son George must end his engagement. The family is forced to move to a smaller house, which catches fire. Primrose is injured saving his family. Although destitute, Primrose finds the inner strength to rise above circumstances and to comfort those around him. The novel ends with a series of improbable resolutions that restore the Vicar and his family to their previous happiness and good fortune.
22. Trip to Mecca: HADJ. Religious pilgrimage that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so.
23. Health insurance giant: AETNA. Latin name for Mount Etna. Not to be confused with Prudential, which uses the Rock of Gibraltar as its symbol.
24. More devious: SLIER.
27. Former Japanese capital: KYOTO.
28. "Witchy __": Eagles hit: WOMAN.
29. Law school beginners: ONE LS. 1L
33. Test type with only two possible answers: TRUE FALSE. Technically, three. Leaving it blank means "I don't know". Had a teacher that gave negative points for guessing wrong answers, as opposed to zero if you didn't answer.
34. Aquarium fish: TETRA.
35. Covered with water: AWASH.
37. Hardly a main drag: SIDE ROAD.
39. Black Panthers co-founder: SEALE. Bobby.
42. Very wide shoe: EEEE.
44. Coral reef explorer's device: SNORKEL. Or a Sergeant in Beetle Bailey.
47. Unit with six outs: INNING. A little tricky at first. There are two sides that play each inning.
48. Frito-Lay chip: DORITO. Ali Landry
49. NFL replay feature: SLO-MO.
50. Responded to a massage: AAHED.
51. Strong string: TWINE.
54. Egyptian played by Liz: CLEO. She fell on her Asp.
55. Green land: EIRE. Or ERIN. Always have to wait for perps.
56. Dream worlds?: BEDS.
61. Four-sided figs.: SQS. Kind of a dud abbreviation, but how else to fit in 64A. ET SEQ?
Answer grid.
Al
20A. MAGIC: EARVIN JOHNSON. Has not died of AIDS, which made him decide to retire for awhile, but then return, then retire, then return, then retire again. Claims to have slept with 10,000 women.
26A. TIGER: ELDRICK WOODS. Going after Magic's record.
46A. PRIME TIME: DEION SANDERS. Played both baseball and football. How many other sports has he courted?
53A. YOGI: LAWRENCE BERRA. Voiced 10,000 malaprops.
Bonus sport personalities:
41A. Palmer with his own "army": ARNIE.
58A. Nastase with a racket: ILIE.
60D. Kareem, formerly: LEW. Alcindor.
Al guest blogging today. Bet you all are jealous I got to do one of Dan's. It upped the ante on the usual Tuesday fare.
Across:
1. Somewhat warm: TEPID. "Luke"warm. Who the heck is that, you may ask? Luke is a Middle English form of the Old English hléow meaning warm or sunny, from as early as 1205.
6. Polio vaccine developer: SALK. Injected form. Sabin created the safer oral version. There is an interesting chart that offers circumstantial evidence that pesticides had a more likely role.
10. Wheel edges: RIMS.
14. Like top-quality beef: PRIME. The highest rating of a combined high ratio of marbling with the youngest maturity of beef.
15. Prefix with logical: IDEO. Having a doctrine or philosophy.
16. Jacques's state: ETAT. French for state. Coup d' etat is to overthrow the government (state).
17. Phi Beta __: KAPPA. The oldest Academic Society, founded Dec 5, 1776 at William and Mary.
18. Earth inheritors, with "the": MEEK. Beatitude in the book of Matthew.
19. Water barrier: DIKE. Also a French word meaning "men's clothing".
23. Saint Francis's home: ASSISI. Italy.
25. Little Red Book follower: MAOIST. One who follows, not a sequel.
30. Madre's brother: TIO. Spanish. Aunt is TIA.
31. Silky synthetic: RAYON. Actually it is only semi-synthetic. And 49A. Glossy cotton fabric: SATEEN. A structure in the weaving process, can be made from different materials, like cotton and rayon.
32. Volkswagen sedan: JETTA. Derives from the German language word for 'jet stream', reflecting the period in Volkswagen's history when it named its vehicles after prominent winds.
36. Stuff of headlines: NEWS. Pretty much Haiti these days. 200,000 dead and 1.5 mil homeless. Everything else sort of pales in comparison.
38. Cooking apples: ROMES.
40. Teen detective Nancy: DREW. The original 56 books were written by 8 different authors.
43. Stories: TALES. Had to wait to make sure it wasn't SAGAS or EPICS or even EDDAS.
45. Hagen of Broadway: UTA. Died at 84 in 2004.
52. Bath sponge: LOOFAH. How to harvest and make them.
57. Akron's state: OHIO. Where Goodyear was started.
59. Tells really badly, as a joke: KILLS. Not to be confused with SLAYS, which means the opposite.
62. Suvari of "American Pie": MENA. Also the "rose petal" girl in American Beauty. I guess she's American...
63. Society oddball: NERD. A badge of honor to some...
64. And the following, in bibliographies: Abbr.: ET SEQ. Latin phrase et sequens (et sequentes, et sequentia).
65. Pigged out (on), as junk food: OD'ED. Overdosed.
66. Takes one's turn: GOES.
67. Cinema chain: LOEWS. Originally a chain of nickelodeons in Cincinatti, OH.
Down:
1. Rd. often spanning an entire state: TPK. No turnpikes in WI, this abbr. gets me all the time.
2. Historical span: ERA.
3. Shuts up: PIPES DOWN. Nice opposition.
4. Damage: IMPAIR. As in hearing, for example.
5. Letter opener?: DEAR SIR. or John.
6. California's __ Valley: SIMI. North of LA, near Thousand Oaks.
7. Yemen's Gulf of __: ADEN. Part of the Indian Ocean, south of Yemen, north of Somalia.
8. Actor Cobb: LEE J. Death of a Salesman.
9. City north of Indianapolis: KOKOMO. Unless you listen to the Beach Boys, then it's a Jamaican Island now known as Sandals Cay.
10. Like Rudolph: RED NOSED. Or W.C. Fields.
11. "Who's calling?" response: IT IS I. Pretty formal. Also not very helpful.
12. Strong sharks: MAKOS. They can get pretty big.
13. Surgical tube: STENT.
21. Goldsmith's Wakefield clergyman: VICAR. Set in rural eighteenth-century England, The Vicar of Wakefield chronicles the life of Vicar Charles Primrose, his wife Deborah, and their children. Narrated by the protagonist, the novel recounts the reversal of the Vicar's modest fortunes and a series of blows to the family's unity. Daughter Olivia marries a scoundrel who subsequently deserts her. The family loses all their money, and son George must end his engagement. The family is forced to move to a smaller house, which catches fire. Primrose is injured saving his family. Although destitute, Primrose finds the inner strength to rise above circumstances and to comfort those around him. The novel ends with a series of improbable resolutions that restore the Vicar and his family to their previous happiness and good fortune.
22. Trip to Mecca: HADJ. Religious pilgrimage that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so.
23. Health insurance giant: AETNA. Latin name for Mount Etna. Not to be confused with Prudential, which uses the Rock of Gibraltar as its symbol.
24. More devious: SLIER.
27. Former Japanese capital: KYOTO.
28. "Witchy __": Eagles hit: WOMAN.
29. Law school beginners: ONE LS. 1L
33. Test type with only two possible answers: TRUE FALSE. Technically, three. Leaving it blank means "I don't know". Had a teacher that gave negative points for guessing wrong answers, as opposed to zero if you didn't answer.
34. Aquarium fish: TETRA.
35. Covered with water: AWASH.
37. Hardly a main drag: SIDE ROAD.
39. Black Panthers co-founder: SEALE. Bobby.
42. Very wide shoe: EEEE.
44. Coral reef explorer's device: SNORKEL. Or a Sergeant in Beetle Bailey.
47. Unit with six outs: INNING. A little tricky at first. There are two sides that play each inning.
48. Frito-Lay chip: DORITO. Ali Landry
49. NFL replay feature: SLO-MO.
50. Responded to a massage: AAHED.
51. Strong string: TWINE.
54. Egyptian played by Liz: CLEO. She fell on her Asp.
55. Green land: EIRE. Or ERIN. Always have to wait for perps.
56. Dream worlds?: BEDS.
61. Four-sided figs.: SQS. Kind of a dud abbreviation, but how else to fit in 64A. ET SEQ?
Answer grid.
Al
