Theme: JABBER (40D: Talk on and on, and a hint to the three-letter starts of 16-, 22-, 43- and 51-Across) - The first three letter of each theme answer is a synonym of JABBER.
16A. India's first prime minister: JAWAHARLAL NEHRU. Can never remember how to spell Nehru's given name. Quite a pragmatic figure in movie "Gandhi".
22A. Washington wine region: YAKIMA VALLEY. What does Yakima mean?
43A. Chicago 'L,' e.g.: RAPID TRANSIT. Indeed, RAP is a slang for "chitchat" also.
51A. Part of a twill suit: GABARDINE JACKET. Gabardine is a sturdy & tightly woven fabric used to make suits. Just learned that the material was invented by Thomas Burberry, founder of Burberry house.
All of the three-letter JABBER words are embedded in the start of first word of a two-word common phrase. All in non-JABBER context of course. Very consistent.
This puzzle is quite similar in concept to Jerome Gunderson's "Just a Tease" puzzle. Jerome's theme answers are:
17A: Mojave Desert grower: JOSHUA TREE
26A: Flashy theatrically: RAZZLE-DAZZLE
44A: VIP at a grand opening: RIBBON CUTTER
60A: Place to wade: KIDDIE POOL
Jerome's theme eluded many last time because he did not have a similar unifying & explanatory JABBER entry. In fact, he did have NEEDLE in the grid, but it's clued as "Bit of Christmas debris".
Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 7. A bit low in his standard, perhaps due to theme entry constriction (58 theme squares). The three Js, three Vs & three Ks sure liven up the grid.
Dan mentioned during his April 15, 2009 interview that he had about 50 LAT puzzles on queue. This is #46 I've blogged. We should have a few more pre-Interview Dan puzzles in the pipeline.
Across:
1. Bogs: FENS
5. New moon, e.g.: PHASE
10. Month, in Mexico: MES. Constructors like to use the month "mayo" (May) to trap us.
13. Short article: ITEM. Short news article.
14. Memory mishap: LAPSE
15. Brewer's need: MALT. HOPS & OAST also have 4 letters..
19. Lead-in for suited or timed: ILL. Ill-suited. Ill-timed.
20. Slurpee alternative: ICEE
21. Wrinkle-resistant fabric: ORLON
26A. Used the alley, in a way: BOWLED. Bowling alley, sure. But most bowlers would use "lane" rather than "alley".
28. Tweak, e.g.: ALTER
29. Nymph associated with Artemis: OREAD. The mountain nymph. Oros is Greek for "mountain".
30. Careful shopper's criterion: VALUE
33. Malice: VENOM
38. Taxpayer, e.g.: FILER
39. Iraqi, for instance: ASIAN. Funny how I seldom think of Iraqis as Asians.
40. Subway Restaurants spokesman __ Fogle: JARED. I find him to be very annoying.
42. Lake that's a source of the Mississippi: ITASCA. Lake Itasca. Literally "true head". It's located here in Minnesota.
46. Leg bone: TIBIA. So is the 5-letter word FEMUR.
47. Actress Sommer: ELKE. Oh, I recognized this lovely picture when I googled.
48. Model Landry: ALI. The Doritos girl. Gorgeous!
55. Southernmost cross-country U.S. highway: I-TEN.
57. Chick tenders: HENS. In Chinese, chicken is slang for "prostitute".
58. Away partner: FAR. Far and away.
59. Letter-shaped opening: T-SLOT. No idea. Which opening? I did not see any T-shape. (Added later: This is a better illustration.)
60. May race, for short: INDY
Down:
1. Pacific island nation: FIJI. Where Vijay Singh comes from.
2. Research paper abbr.. ETAL
3. Honeymooner, probably: NEWLY- WED. Where did you spend your honeymoon?
4. Wee, to Burns: SMA. For "small" I presume.
5. Unruffled: PLACID
6. Polygamous household group: HAREM. Literally "forbidden place" in Arabic. Section solely for women in Muslim households. I thought of the Waco Siege. What's the name of that group?
7. Cop __: A PLEA
8. FICA funds it: SSA (Social Security Administration)
9. Sushi bar serving: EEL. I've got to have unagi every time I visit a sushi bar.
10. "Symphony of a Thousand" composer: MAHLER (Gustav). Austrian composer. More known for his song cycle "Das Lied von der Erde" (The Song of the Earth).
11. Judy Jetson's brother: ELROY. Stumped me. I've never seen "The Jetsons". Elroy means "the king". Strange combination of Spanish article "el" and French word "roy" (roi).
12. Leave speechless: STUN
15. First name in country: MERLE (Haggard)
17. Raised: HIKED. Like tax.
18. "The Prince of Tides" co-star: NOLTE (Nick). Nailed it with the last two letter TE in place. Man, I rock, Lois!
23. Quaint complaint: ALAS
24. Medalworthy behavior: VALOR
25. Homecoming guest: ALUM
26. Conk: BOP
27. Juegos Olímpicos goal: ORO. Spanish for "gold". Juegos Olímpicos = Olympic Games. Easy guess.
30. African grassland: VELDT. In southern African. Old Dutch for "field". I can never remember this word either.
31. "Wheel of Fortune" purchase: AN E. Or AN I/O/U. Any vowel.
34. Tony's portrayer on "NYPD Blue": ESAI (Morales)
35. All wet: MISTAKEN
36. Buddy: MAC
38. Frock wearer: FRIAR
39. Confused: AT SEA
41. Like some swarms: APIAN. Bee-like.
42. Type of printer: INK JET
43. Gaucho's rope: RIATA. Or REATA. Lariat comes from "la riata".
44. Related to the kidneys: RENAL
45. Last Olds off the line: ALERO. The model was made between 1999-2004.
46. Cry after a hard week: TGIF. And ITS (53D. Part of 46-Down).
49. Extend credit: LEND
50. Minuscule: ITSY. Is this a real word? I only know it from "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini".
52. It ends in Nov.: DST (Daylight-Saving Time). DST starts on the second Sunday of March, and ends on the first Sunday of November.
54. Fraternity letter: CHI. The Greek X.
Answer grid.
C.C.
16A. India's first prime minister: JAWAHARLAL NEHRU. Can never remember how to spell Nehru's given name. Quite a pragmatic figure in movie "Gandhi".
22A. Washington wine region: YAKIMA VALLEY. What does Yakima mean?
43A. Chicago 'L,' e.g.: RAPID TRANSIT. Indeed, RAP is a slang for "chitchat" also.
51A. Part of a twill suit: GABARDINE JACKET. Gabardine is a sturdy & tightly woven fabric used to make suits. Just learned that the material was invented by Thomas Burberry, founder of Burberry house.
All of the three-letter JABBER words are embedded in the start of first word of a two-word common phrase. All in non-JABBER context of course. Very consistent.
This puzzle is quite similar in concept to Jerome Gunderson's "Just a Tease" puzzle. Jerome's theme answers are:
17A: Mojave Desert grower: JOSHUA TREE
26A: Flashy theatrically: RAZZLE-DAZZLE
44A: VIP at a grand opening: RIBBON CUTTER
60A: Place to wade: KIDDIE POOL
Jerome's theme eluded many last time because he did not have a similar unifying & explanatory JABBER entry. In fact, he did have NEEDLE in the grid, but it's clued as "Bit of Christmas debris".
Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 7. A bit low in his standard, perhaps due to theme entry constriction (58 theme squares). The three Js, three Vs & three Ks sure liven up the grid.
Dan mentioned during his April 15, 2009 interview that he had about 50 LAT puzzles on queue. This is #46 I've blogged. We should have a few more pre-Interview Dan puzzles in the pipeline.
Across:
1. Bogs: FENS
5. New moon, e.g.: PHASE
10. Month, in Mexico: MES. Constructors like to use the month "mayo" (May) to trap us.
13. Short article: ITEM. Short news article.
14. Memory mishap: LAPSE
15. Brewer's need: MALT. HOPS & OAST also have 4 letters..
19. Lead-in for suited or timed: ILL. Ill-suited. Ill-timed.
20. Slurpee alternative: ICEE
21. Wrinkle-resistant fabric: ORLON
26A. Used the alley, in a way: BOWLED. Bowling alley, sure. But most bowlers would use "lane" rather than "alley".
28. Tweak, e.g.: ALTER
29. Nymph associated with Artemis: OREAD. The mountain nymph. Oros is Greek for "mountain".
30. Careful shopper's criterion: VALUE
33. Malice: VENOM
38. Taxpayer, e.g.: FILER
39. Iraqi, for instance: ASIAN. Funny how I seldom think of Iraqis as Asians.
40. Subway Restaurants spokesman __ Fogle: JARED. I find him to be very annoying.
42. Lake that's a source of the Mississippi: ITASCA. Lake Itasca. Literally "true head". It's located here in Minnesota.
46. Leg bone: TIBIA. So is the 5-letter word FEMUR.
47. Actress Sommer: ELKE. Oh, I recognized this lovely picture when I googled.
48. Model Landry: ALI. The Doritos girl. Gorgeous!
55. Southernmost cross-country U.S. highway: I-TEN.
57. Chick tenders: HENS. In Chinese, chicken is slang for "prostitute".
58. Away partner: FAR. Far and away.
59. Letter-shaped opening: T-SLOT. No idea. Which opening? I did not see any T-shape. (Added later: This is a better illustration.)
60. May race, for short: INDY
Down:
1. Pacific island nation: FIJI. Where Vijay Singh comes from.
2. Research paper abbr.. ETAL
3. Honeymooner, probably: NEWLY- WED. Where did you spend your honeymoon?
4. Wee, to Burns: SMA. For "small" I presume.
5. Unruffled: PLACID
6. Polygamous household group: HAREM. Literally "forbidden place" in Arabic. Section solely for women in Muslim households. I thought of the Waco Siege. What's the name of that group?
7. Cop __: A PLEA
8. FICA funds it: SSA (Social Security Administration)
9. Sushi bar serving: EEL. I've got to have unagi every time I visit a sushi bar.
10. "Symphony of a Thousand" composer: MAHLER (Gustav). Austrian composer. More known for his song cycle "Das Lied von der Erde" (The Song of the Earth).
11. Judy Jetson's brother: ELROY. Stumped me. I've never seen "The Jetsons". Elroy means "the king". Strange combination of Spanish article "el" and French word "roy" (roi).
12. Leave speechless: STUN
15. First name in country: MERLE (Haggard)
17. Raised: HIKED. Like tax.
18. "The Prince of Tides" co-star: NOLTE (Nick). Nailed it with the last two letter TE in place. Man, I rock, Lois!
23. Quaint complaint: ALAS
24. Medalworthy behavior: VALOR
25. Homecoming guest: ALUM
26. Conk: BOP
27. Juegos Olímpicos goal: ORO. Spanish for "gold". Juegos Olímpicos = Olympic Games. Easy guess.
30. African grassland: VELDT. In southern African. Old Dutch for "field". I can never remember this word either.
31. "Wheel of Fortune" purchase: AN E. Or AN I/O/U. Any vowel.
34. Tony's portrayer on "NYPD Blue": ESAI (Morales)
35. All wet: MISTAKEN
36. Buddy: MAC
38. Frock wearer: FRIAR
39. Confused: AT SEA
41. Like some swarms: APIAN. Bee-like.
42. Type of printer: INK JET
43. Gaucho's rope: RIATA. Or REATA. Lariat comes from "la riata".
44. Related to the kidneys: RENAL
45. Last Olds off the line: ALERO. The model was made between 1999-2004.
46. Cry after a hard week: TGIF. And ITS (53D. Part of 46-Down).
49. Extend credit: LEND
50. Minuscule: ITSY. Is this a real word? I only know it from "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini".
52. It ends in Nov.: DST (Daylight-Saving Time). DST starts on the second Sunday of March, and ends on the first Sunday of November.
54. Fraternity letter: CHI. The Greek X.
Answer grid.
C.C.
