Theme: None
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 26
Quite low block count. 7-letter entries aplenty. Six in each quadrant. Clear Aye's "Pack and Stack".
But what a total disaster for me. Hindenburg crashing into the Titanic! The lower right corner was simply impossible.
So many unknown answers. Lots of unfamiliar references in the clues too. IAGO (26A. "So will I ... make the net / That shall enmesh them all" speaker) typifies the trickiness today. I know he is the "Othello" villain, but I am not acquainted with the quote at all.
Across:
1. Reacted with embarrassment, maybe: GIGGLED. Three Gs in this entry alone. I am embarrassed to say it did not come to me readily.
8. Moderate pace: JOG TROT. Unaware the existence of this term.
15. Legally gone: ON LEAVE. My first reaction is something death related.
16. Ignorant: UNAWARE
17. Spenserian beings: FAERIES. No idea. Edmund Spenser is an English poet known chiefly for his allegorical epic romance "The Faerie Queene", according to Dictionary.com. Faery is a variant of fairy.
18. Sparks resident: NEVADAN. Sparks is a city in W Nevada, E of Reno. I've never heard of it.
19. __ pro nobis: ORA. Pray for us.
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 26
Quite low block count. 7-letter entries aplenty. Six in each quadrant. Clear Aye's "Pack and Stack".
But what a total disaster for me. Hindenburg crashing into the Titanic! The lower right corner was simply impossible.
So many unknown answers. Lots of unfamiliar references in the clues too. IAGO (26A. "So will I ... make the net / That shall enmesh them all" speaker) typifies the trickiness today. I know he is the "Othello" villain, but I am not acquainted with the quote at all.
Across:
1. Reacted with embarrassment, maybe: GIGGLED. Three Gs in this entry alone. I am embarrassed to say it did not come to me readily.
8. Moderate pace: JOG TROT. Unaware the existence of this term.
15. Legally gone: ON LEAVE. My first reaction is something death related.
16. Ignorant: UNAWARE
17. Spenserian beings: FAERIES. No idea. Edmund Spenser is an English poet known chiefly for his allegorical epic romance "The Faerie Queene", according to Dictionary.com. Faery is a variant of fairy.
18. Sparks resident: NEVADAN. Sparks is a city in W Nevada, E of Reno. I've never heard of it.
19. __ pro nobis: ORA. Pray for us.
20. Fry corrugation: CRINKLE. I know corrugation crinkle connection. But why fry? What fry?
22. Company abbr.: INC
23. Undersized one: RUNT
25. Nearly a billion people live in them: SLUMS. Wow, that's way more than I thought. The plural "them" and "Nearly a billion" in the clue did not prevent me from thinking of China (1.3 billion people). Felt stupid!
27. Rhone tributary: ISERE. Flowing from the Alps to the Rhone River. I drew a blank.
29. Janeane's co-star in "The Truth About Cats and Dogs": UMA (Thurman). Fun movie.
30. Asked for a hand?: ANTED. Oh, poker hand.
31. Excite: THRILL
33. Seen from above, as a view: BIRD'S EYE
35. In person: BIG AS LIFE. I've only heard of the idiom "bigger than life".
37. Deceptive lingo: JIVE TALK. Didn't know the "deceptive" connotation.
40. Carbohydrate used in jellies: PECTIN. It's stuff that makes jelly jell. Who knows they are carb? Well, maybe Al & Jazzbumpa do.
44. Chilled: ON ICE
45. Abner's radio partner: LUM. "Lum and Abner". Not in my radar.
47. Prefix with graphic: ETHNO. Ethnographic. New word to me.
48. Court org.: USTA (United States Tennis Association). Tennis court.
49. Techies' campus hangout: PC LAB
51. They can get high: SEAS. Stumped me. High seas are the open seas of the world outside the territorial waters of any nation. I was thinking of alcohol or drugs.
52. FDR home loan gp.: NHA (National Housing Agency). Outside my ken also.
53. Become payable: FALL DUE. Is this a real phrase?
55. Austin-to-Del Rio dir.: WSW. Got me also.
56. Make notes?: COMPOSE. Musical note.
58. Scholarly: ERUDITE
60. Italian colony from 1890 to 1941: ERITREA. Oh, I thought it's a French colony, like so many countries in Africa.
61. Frenzied fits: DELIRIA. Again, only knew the singular delirium.
62. Chamber group member?: SENATOR. Man, I was definitely not in the legislative chamber direction.
63. Watching carefully: ON ALERT
Down:
1. "Don't miss this chance": GO FOR IT. Just had this fill yesterday. Clued as "Words of encouragement".
2. Hurrying along: IN A RUSH. I instinctively knew the answer would not end in ING.
3. Information gatherer: GLEANER
4. Where BMW was born: GER (Germany)
5. Worldly: LAIC. I associate LAIC with nonclerical, not worldly.
6. Activist who said "You can kill a man but you can't kill an idea": EVERS (Medgar). Neither the quote nor the guy is known to me.
7. First "Mission: Impossible" TV production company: DESILU. The Arnaz-Ball studio.
8. Many ad circulars: JUNK MAIL
9. Law school newcomers: ONE Ls. One L = First Year Law Student.
10. Yielded: GAVE
11. Old carrier: TWA. Howard Hughes's airline.
12. Project, as cheer: RADIATE
13. Aptly named red tabby who played Cat in "Breakfast at Tiffany's": ORANGEY. Here is a picture. I only knew Audrey Hepburn calls the cat Cat.
14. Police radio lingo: TEN CODE. Forgot. Here is Argyle's link again.
21. Knucklehead: NUMBSKULL. I am definitely feeling like one.
24. Manhattan district: TRIBECA. Portmanteau composed of the words "Triangle Below Canal Street" .
26. Spray targets: INSECTS
28. Cream of the crop: ELITE
30. Magazine revenue item: AD FEE
32. Airport on Flushing Bay, briefly: LGA. LaGuardia Airport. Was ignorant of the Flushing Bay.
34. Sewer's target: RIP. Sewer = One who sews.
36. Safe call: ALL CLEAR. Did you think of baseball also?
37. Bumps along: JOUNCES. Yet another new word. Sigh! Did you want BOUNCES also?
38. Close to the coast: IN SHORE. OK!
39. A, B or C, e.g.: VITAMIN. Another sly clue.
41. Deadline, metaphorically: THE WIRE. Again, I only know the phrase "Down to the wire".
42. Upset: IN A STIR. Is this a common phrase?
43. "A cinch": NO SWEAT. I liked the clue and the answer.
46. Managed: MADE DO
49. Public promenade: PASEO. Stumped many last time.
50. Raeburn van __, cartoonist who drew "Abbie an' Slats": BUREN. I peeked at the answer sheet. Have never heard of this guy.
53. Defense structure: FORT
54. "The Long, Hot Summer" vixen __ Varner: EULA. Another total stranger. This poster looks hot. What's the title of that song with lyric "... making love on a long, hot summer's night"?
57. Class action gp.?: PTA. Saw this clue somewhere before.
59. "Rugrats" infant: DIL. Absolutely clueless.
32. Airport on Flushing Bay, briefly: LGA. LaGuardia Airport. Was ignorant of the Flushing Bay.
34. Sewer's target: RIP. Sewer = One who sews.
36. Safe call: ALL CLEAR. Did you think of baseball also?
37. Bumps along: JOUNCES. Yet another new word. Sigh! Did you want BOUNCES also?
38. Close to the coast: IN SHORE. OK!
39. A, B or C, e.g.: VITAMIN. Another sly clue.
41. Deadline, metaphorically: THE WIRE. Again, I only know the phrase "Down to the wire".
42. Upset: IN A STIR. Is this a common phrase?
43. "A cinch": NO SWEAT. I liked the clue and the answer.
46. Managed: MADE DO
49. Public promenade: PASEO. Stumped many last time.
50. Raeburn van __, cartoonist who drew "Abbie an' Slats": BUREN. I peeked at the answer sheet. Have never heard of this guy.
53. Defense structure: FORT
54. "The Long, Hot Summer" vixen __ Varner: EULA. Another total stranger. This poster looks hot. What's the title of that song with lyric "... making love on a long, hot summer's night"?
57. Class action gp.?: PTA. Saw this clue somewhere before.
59. "Rugrats" infant: DIL. Absolutely clueless.
