Theme: THE POWER OF TEN (51A. Exponential measurement, and in a way, what's demonstrated in how answers were formed in 20-, 34- and 41-Across?) - IO, which looks like Arabic number 10 in a way, is attached to the end of each common phrase.
20A. Barbecue area without chairs?: STANDING PAT(IO). Standing Pat.
34A. Relative value used in a scientific workplace?: LABORATORY RAT(IO). Laboratory Rat.
41A. Small apartment for a comical septet?: SEVEN CARD STUD(IO). Seven-Card Stud. Poker game. (Card is a slang for someone who is comical/facetious. Thanks, Dennis.)
Then we also have OHIO (63A. One of Pittsburgh's Three Rivers). OH, IO, marvelous! Did you guys catch the IO & 10 connection immediately? I hope Bill G did. He just encountered a similar gimmick in another puzzle.
I really like the theme tie-in entry THE POWER OF TEN. It certainly spices up our regular add/delete/substitute a letter string Friday fare, exponentially.
The four 9-letter non-theme answers all crumbled easily for me, with their straightforward clues. Did struggle a bit with a few short entries, very deceptive clues with several alternative answers.
Across:
1. Sugar substitute?: DEAR. Endearment "Sugar" substitute. The intersecting DOT (1D. Pointillism unit) prevented me from filling in BABY/BABE. Shout-out to our Dot, whose husband Irv will be 96 years old at the end of this month. Possibly the oldest crossword solver in our group.
5. Flirtation: PASS
9. Travel needs, perhaps: VISAS. Travel abroad.
14. End of an estimate: OR SO
15. Rival rival: ALPO. Not familiar with the pet food brand Rival.
16. __ coffee: IRISH. I wanted TEA OR.
17. Hobart resident: TASMANIAN. Did not know Hobart is the capital of Tasmania, though the answer appeared rather swiftly.
19. Lip-smacking: TASTY.
22. Certain mil. member: NCO
23. Gray head?: LEE (R. E. ). The Civil War "Gray" side. Great clue.
24. Cereal ingredient: BRAN
27. Stallone role: RAMBO. Did you want ROCKY also?
31. Plant activity: Abbr.: MFG (Manufacturing)
38. Lost a lap?: AROSE. Mine was STOOD. At least, I was in the correct "lap" direction.
39. Padre's hermana: TIA. Hermana is Spanish for "sister". Father's sister = Aunt. Several Spanish references in the grid.
40. Snacking (on) to excess: OD'ING. Overdosing.
44. Before, in verse: ERE
45. Backspace, often: ERASE. And ERROR (61. What an X may indicate).
46. "O, gie me the __ that has acres o' charms": Burns: LASS. I peeked at the answer sheet. Have ne'er heard of the poem.
47. Word-word link: FOR. Word for word. FOR links word & word.
49. Pres. between JAG and GC: CAA (Chester A. Arthur). JAG = James A Garfield. GC = Grover Cleveland. Stumped me. Gimme, Melissa?
58. Bread: MOOLA. Tough without the question mark.
59. Like clones: IDENTICAL
62. Supply, as paper to a copier: FEED
64. California baseballer: GIANT. Could also be ANGEL.
65. Signs: INKS
66. Chuck __, only coach to win four Super Bowls: NOLL. With the Steelers. Learning moment for me.
Down:
3. __ mgr.: ASST
4. Prominent facial feature: ROMAN NOSE
5. Ill-fated opener of myth: PANDORA. Pandora's Box.
6. Et __: and others: ALII. Masculine plural. Et alia is neutral plural. Et aliae is feminine plural.
7. Bridge: SPAN
8. Berlin number: SONG. Irving Berlin. I bet Kazie was in the German "number" direction too.
9. Curriculum __: VITAE. CV. Resumé.
10. Fit to be tied: IRATE
11. Spanish ayes: SI SI
12. Reference words: AS TO
13. Unassuming: SHY. Was surprised by how unassuming Andre Agassi is in his various interviews.
18. Mandela's gp.: ANC (African National Congress)
21. Gamer's maneuver: PLOT. (Added later: The answer should be PLOY. Sorry for the error.)
24. Apathetic: BLASE
25. Harder to dig up: RARER. Harder to find (dig up), like a Mint/Near Mint condition Mickey Mantle Topps 1956.
26. Upstairs: ABOVE
28. Fragrant oil: ATTAR. Rose oil.
29. Kelly of "One Tree Hill": MOIRA. First encounter with this actress. She looks demure.
30. Wire fasteners: BRADS
31. Highest peak on Crete: Abbr.: MT. IDA. Got me again. MT always give me trouble.
32. "Done!": FINIS. I sure need a French hint in the clue.
33. "We Got the Beat" singers: GO-GO'S. Here is the clip. I cheated.
35. TV Chihuahua: REN. Ren and Stimpy.
36. Baloney: ROT
37. Excessive flattery: ADULATION
42. Uno minus uno: CERO. Spanish for "zero" I suppose.
43. They can ruin diets: SECONDS. Really?
47. Pen resident: FELON. The prison "pen". I just can't get pigs out of my mind. I am a Pig. Can't be friends with those who are born in the year of Snake.
48. Illusionary genre: OP ART
50. Back on the water: AFT. Back of the boat.
51. Famous Amos: TORI. Tori Amos. Loved the sweet "Famous Amos" clue. What's your favorite cookie?
52. Joyful group dance: HORA
53. Coffeehouse connection: WIFI
54. 1950s British prime minister: EDEN (Anthony). Prime Minister from 1955-1957. Succeeded Churchill on the latter's second term.
55. Offend the olfactories: REEK. Thanks for the ODOR explanation yesterday, everyone.
57. Pointed fastener: NAIL
58. Unit of RAM: MEG (Megbyte). I was thinking of the component word unit for RAM (Random Access Memory).
60. Texter's tehee: LOL.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a happy photo of our gifted linguist Kazie and her husband in front of the Little Rock Capitol Building. The picture was taken last Friday March 19, 2010.
On the front page of the blog, there is a Blog Photo sidebar. Please email me (crosswordc@gmail.com) your picture if you want to be included in our virtual family. Thanks.
C.C.
20A. Barbecue area without chairs?: STANDING PAT(IO). Standing Pat.
34A. Relative value used in a scientific workplace?: LABORATORY RAT(IO). Laboratory Rat.
41A. Small apartment for a comical septet?: SEVEN CARD STUD(IO). Seven-Card Stud. Poker game. (Card is a slang for someone who is comical/facetious. Thanks, Dennis.)
Then we also have OHIO (63A. One of Pittsburgh's Three Rivers). OH, IO, marvelous! Did you guys catch the IO & 10 connection immediately? I hope Bill G did. He just encountered a similar gimmick in another puzzle.
I really like the theme tie-in entry THE POWER OF TEN. It certainly spices up our regular add/delete/substitute a letter string Friday fare, exponentially.
The four 9-letter non-theme answers all crumbled easily for me, with their straightforward clues. Did struggle a bit with a few short entries, very deceptive clues with several alternative answers.
Across:
1. Sugar substitute?: DEAR. Endearment "Sugar" substitute. The intersecting DOT (1D. Pointillism unit) prevented me from filling in BABY/BABE. Shout-out to our Dot, whose husband Irv will be 96 years old at the end of this month. Possibly the oldest crossword solver in our group.
5. Flirtation: PASS
9. Travel needs, perhaps: VISAS. Travel abroad.
14. End of an estimate: OR SO
15. Rival rival: ALPO. Not familiar with the pet food brand Rival.
16. __ coffee: IRISH. I wanted TEA OR.
17. Hobart resident: TASMANIAN. Did not know Hobart is the capital of Tasmania, though the answer appeared rather swiftly.
19. Lip-smacking: TASTY.
22. Certain mil. member: NCO
23. Gray head?: LEE (R. E. ). The Civil War "Gray" side. Great clue.
24. Cereal ingredient: BRAN
27. Stallone role: RAMBO. Did you want ROCKY also?
31. Plant activity: Abbr.: MFG (Manufacturing)
38. Lost a lap?: AROSE. Mine was STOOD. At least, I was in the correct "lap" direction.
39. Padre's hermana: TIA. Hermana is Spanish for "sister". Father's sister = Aunt. Several Spanish references in the grid.
40. Snacking (on) to excess: OD'ING. Overdosing.
44. Before, in verse: ERE
45. Backspace, often: ERASE. And ERROR (61. What an X may indicate).
46. "O, gie me the __ that has acres o' charms": Burns: LASS. I peeked at the answer sheet. Have ne'er heard of the poem.
47. Word-word link: FOR. Word for word. FOR links word & word.
49. Pres. between JAG and GC: CAA (Chester A. Arthur). JAG = James A Garfield. GC = Grover Cleveland. Stumped me. Gimme, Melissa?
58. Bread: MOOLA. Tough without the question mark.
59. Like clones: IDENTICAL
62. Supply, as paper to a copier: FEED
64. California baseballer: GIANT. Could also be ANGEL.
65. Signs: INKS
66. Chuck __, only coach to win four Super Bowls: NOLL. With the Steelers. Learning moment for me.
Down:
3. __ mgr.: ASST
4. Prominent facial feature: ROMAN NOSE
5. Ill-fated opener of myth: PANDORA. Pandora's Box.
6. Et __: and others: ALII. Masculine plural. Et alia is neutral plural. Et aliae is feminine plural.
7. Bridge: SPAN
8. Berlin number: SONG. Irving Berlin. I bet Kazie was in the German "number" direction too.
9. Curriculum __: VITAE. CV. Resumé.
10. Fit to be tied: IRATE
11. Spanish ayes: SI SI
12. Reference words: AS TO
13. Unassuming: SHY. Was surprised by how unassuming Andre Agassi is in his various interviews.
18. Mandela's gp.: ANC (African National Congress)
21. Gamer's maneuver: PLOT. (Added later: The answer should be PLOY. Sorry for the error.)
24. Apathetic: BLASE
25. Harder to dig up: RARER. Harder to find (dig up), like a Mint/Near Mint condition Mickey Mantle Topps 1956.
26. Upstairs: ABOVE
28. Fragrant oil: ATTAR. Rose oil.
29. Kelly of "One Tree Hill": MOIRA. First encounter with this actress. She looks demure.
30. Wire fasteners: BRADS
31. Highest peak on Crete: Abbr.: MT. IDA. Got me again. MT always give me trouble.
32. "Done!": FINIS. I sure need a French hint in the clue.
33. "We Got the Beat" singers: GO-GO'S. Here is the clip. I cheated.
35. TV Chihuahua: REN. Ren and Stimpy.
36. Baloney: ROT
37. Excessive flattery: ADULATION
42. Uno minus uno: CERO. Spanish for "zero" I suppose.
43. They can ruin diets: SECONDS. Really?
47. Pen resident: FELON. The prison "pen". I just can't get pigs out of my mind. I am a Pig. Can't be friends with those who are born in the year of Snake.
48. Illusionary genre: OP ART
50. Back on the water: AFT. Back of the boat.
51. Famous Amos: TORI. Tori Amos. Loved the sweet "Famous Amos" clue. What's your favorite cookie?
52. Joyful group dance: HORA
53. Coffeehouse connection: WIFI
54. 1950s British prime minister: EDEN (Anthony). Prime Minister from 1955-1957. Succeeded Churchill on the latter's second term.
55. Offend the olfactories: REEK. Thanks for the ODOR explanation yesterday, everyone.
57. Pointed fastener: NAIL
58. Unit of RAM: MEG (Megbyte). I was thinking of the component word unit for RAM (Random Access Memory).
60. Texter's tehee: LOL.
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is a happy photo of our gifted linguist Kazie and her husband in front of the Little Rock Capitol Building. The picture was taken last Friday March 19, 2010.
On the front page of the blog, there is a Blog Photo sidebar. Please email me (crosswordc@gmail.com) your picture if you want to be included in our virtual family. Thanks.
C.C.
