Theme: Final Advice - Familiar phrases are playfully clued as advice on how to ace a seemingly related course in finals.
23A. To ace Music Theory, don't wander off __: IN LA-LA LAND. Zoned out. La "a note to follow so". The sixth tone.
28A. To ace Oceanography, don't let the prof know you've __: GONE FISHING. Store sign. Taking a break.
40A. To ace Agricultural Science, avoid __ : GRASPING AT STRAWS. Being desperate.
69A. To ace Electrical Engineering, don't fall __: ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH. Not attending one's job.
95A. To ace Math, avoid being __: AT SIXES AND SEVENS. A state of confusion/disarray. Numbers & Math connection.
114A.To ace Cosmology, don't get __: LOST IN SPACE. The '60s sci-fi series.
120A.To ace Culinary Arts, avoid being __: OUT TO LUNCH. Not in touch with the real world. Crazy.
As the norm with John Lampkin (a musician) puzzles, there are music references:
116A.Clementi work: SONATINA. Clementi was an Italian composer best known for his piano sonatas and sonatinas, according to Wikipeida.
126A.Piano players?: HANDS. Wicked clue!
5D. Played crisply and detached, in mus.: STAC (Staccato)
36D. Slowing, in mus.: RIT (Ritardando)
115D.Schoenberg's "Moses und __": ARON. Three-act opera by Schoenberg, an Austrian/American composer. Maybe Elvis knew. I've got no clue.
Many probably would not notice that there's no cheater square in the whole grid (140-word, 4 less than our normal Sundays), which spoils the elegance of the puzzle in John's eyes. It takes some discipline and effort not to use the shortcut when you know it's there.
Again, a pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once. John said he always makes his Sunday a pangram to spice up the fill. And of course, his legendary cross-references & clue echos, which are highlighted in green colors in my write-up.
My favorite clues today are:
103./: SLASH
104., : COMMA
Very unexpected and fun. Great placement too. At first I thought those were printing errors.
Across:
1. 1996 Dream Team nickname: SHAQ (O'Neal). And LAY-UPS (24D. Dream Team shots).
5. Hit hard: SMASH
10. Bit of dough: CLAM. And LUCRE (22. "Filthy" dough)
14. Puritans: PRIGS. And MAYFLOWER (13D. Puritans' transport).
19. Machu Picchu's country: PERU. And INCAS (112D. Machu Picchu natives).
20. It goes from one joint to another: TIBIA. And KNEES (124. Creeping joints). Brilliant misdirections. Not the seedy bar joints I had in mind.
21. Role in the 1992 film "Chaplin": OONA. Easy guess.
25. Word with clerk or hall: CITY. City clerk. City hall.
26. "Save me __": A SEAT
27. Closet hangers: TIE RACKS
30. Piquant: ZESTY
31. Sycophant: YES-MAN
34. Rear-end: SLAM INTO. And DENT (127. Rear end blemish?).
35. Held by us: OUR. Our blog.
37. Done for: KAPUT. A seldom seen entry.
39. Arab League member: OMAN. IRAQ too, also 4 letters.
46. Clarified butter: GHEE. Indian cooking.
50. Clerical VIP: REV. And DIR (60. Film studio VIP).
51. Mink kin: STOAT
52. Certain about: SURE OF
54. Waterfront org.: ILA (International Longshoremen's Association)
23A. To ace Music Theory, don't wander off __: IN LA-LA LAND. Zoned out. La "a note to follow so". The sixth tone.
28A. To ace Oceanography, don't let the prof know you've __: GONE FISHING. Store sign. Taking a break.
40A. To ace Agricultural Science, avoid __ : GRASPING AT STRAWS. Being desperate.
69A. To ace Electrical Engineering, don't fall __: ASLEEP AT THE SWITCH. Not attending one's job.
95A. To ace Math, avoid being __: AT SIXES AND SEVENS. A state of confusion/disarray. Numbers & Math connection.
114A.To ace Cosmology, don't get __: LOST IN SPACE. The '60s sci-fi series.
120A.To ace Culinary Arts, avoid being __: OUT TO LUNCH. Not in touch with the real world. Crazy.
As the norm with John Lampkin (a musician) puzzles, there are music references:
116A.Clementi work: SONATINA. Clementi was an Italian composer best known for his piano sonatas and sonatinas, according to Wikipeida.
126A.Piano players?: HANDS. Wicked clue!
5D. Played crisply and detached, in mus.: STAC (Staccato)
36D. Slowing, in mus.: RIT (Ritardando)
115D.Schoenberg's "Moses und __": ARON. Three-act opera by Schoenberg, an Austrian/American composer. Maybe Elvis knew. I've got no clue.
Many probably would not notice that there's no cheater square in the whole grid (140-word, 4 less than our normal Sundays), which spoils the elegance of the puzzle in John's eyes. It takes some discipline and effort not to use the shortcut when you know it's there.
Again, a pangram, all 26 letters are used at least once. John said he always makes his Sunday a pangram to spice up the fill. And of course, his legendary cross-references & clue echos, which are highlighted in green colors in my write-up.
My favorite clues today are:
103./: SLASH
104., : COMMA
Very unexpected and fun. Great placement too. At first I thought those were printing errors.
Across:
1. 1996 Dream Team nickname: SHAQ (O'Neal). And LAY-UPS (24D. Dream Team shots).
5. Hit hard: SMASH
10. Bit of dough: CLAM. And LUCRE (22. "Filthy" dough)
14. Puritans: PRIGS. And MAYFLOWER (13D. Puritans' transport).
19. Machu Picchu's country: PERU. And INCAS (112D. Machu Picchu natives).
20. It goes from one joint to another: TIBIA. And KNEES (124. Creeping joints). Brilliant misdirections. Not the seedy bar joints I had in mind.
21. Role in the 1992 film "Chaplin": OONA. Easy guess.
25. Word with clerk or hall: CITY. City clerk. City hall.
26. "Save me __": A SEAT
27. Closet hangers: TIE RACKS
30. Piquant: ZESTY
31. Sycophant: YES-MAN
34. Rear-end: SLAM INTO. And DENT (127. Rear end blemish?).
35. Held by us: OUR. Our blog.
37. Done for: KAPUT. A seldom seen entry.
39. Arab League member: OMAN. IRAQ too, also 4 letters.
46. Clarified butter: GHEE. Indian cooking.
50. Clerical VIP: REV. And DIR (60. Film studio VIP).
51. Mink kin: STOAT
52. Certain about: SURE OF
54. Waterfront org.: ILA (International Longshoremen's Association)
55. Sudanese president __ al-Bashir: OMAR. Not familiar with this dude. Looks like a tyrant.
57. Vacuum, e.g.: CLEAN. Verb "vacuum".
61. Olympic racers: LUGES
63. Brobdingnagian: GOLIATH. Brobdingnagian is named after Brobdingnag, fictional land in Johnathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels", where everything was huge.
66. Shape using heat: FORGE. Verb "shape".
68. Beach protection: SUN HAT
73. Scrapped, as a car: JUNKED. And LEASE (75. Car dealer's deal). Consecutive "car" clues.
76. Poetic "soon": ERELONG
79. Ref. set: ENCYC (Encyclopedia)
80. Harmless cyst: WEN
81. Cheri of "SNL": OTERI. She has become a gimme.
84. Smack back?: EROO. Back of the word smackeroo.
85. Fed. medical org.: NIH (National Institutes of Health)
86. "We build, we fight" military member: SEABEE. From letters CB (Construction Battalion).
89. Tennessee father-son politicos: GORES. Nice change from gory horn related clue.
92. Turn on the waterworks, so to speak: SOB. True.
93. Jump for Sonja: AXEL. And HENIE (2. 1932 Lake Placid gold medalist Sonja) & SKATE (32D. Emulate 2-Down).
99. Uruguay's Punta del __: ESTE
101.Rationed (out): DOLED
102.Clavell's "__-Pan": TAI. Literally "big" in Cantonese. Pan = Boss. "Tai-Pan" = Big Boss.
103.Kids' transports: SCOOTERS
107.Removed soap from: RINSED
110.Holy quest object: GRAIL
118.Mideast capital once called Philadelphia: AMMAN. Jordan's capital. Was unaware of this trivia.
119.Mata __: HARI
122.With 64-Down, wiseguys: SMART. And ALECS (64D. See 122-Across).
123.Love god: EROS
125.French state: ETAT
128.Shabby: SEEDY
129. Sonoran assent: SI SI. Sonora is a state in Mexico.
Down:
1. Thick-furred dog: SPITZ. German for "pointed'. The dog has erect ears.
3. Inspiration for Van Gogh: ARLES. Look at my compact mirror. Van Gogh's "Bedroom in Arles".
4. Publishing formats for Shakespeare: QUARTOS. No idea. Four leaves (eight pages).
6. Like liquid in 10-Down: MILKY. And COCONUTS (10. Palm produce). Fresh coconut water is actually not milky.
7. Denigrate: ABASE
8. Sloth, for one: SIN
9. Possessed: HAD
11. Cut of meat: LOIN
12. Chips in a chip: ANTES. Good clue.
14. TV type: PLASMA
15. Super Bowl stat category: RUSHING
16. Trap up north, maybe: ICE IN
17. Research money: GRANT
18. Ready followers?: SET GO. "Ready, Set, Go!"
28. Voids: GAPS
29. Retort to a skeptic: I AM SO. And NOT SO (59. Skeptical retort). Not fond of the SO repetition.
33. Pin cushion?: MAT. Wrestling "pin" = "fall". Great clue.
38. Plod: TRUDGE
40. Blackbeard's quaff: GROG. Blackbeard the pirate.
41. San __: Riviera resort: REMO
42. Big snow fall?: AVALANCHE. Awesome answer/clue.
43. Night, in Nogales: NOCHE. Alliteration. I've never heard of Nogales, a city in Sonora, Mexico. Also a town in Arizona, bordering the Mexican Nogales.
44. Liq. measure: GAL
45. Taurus preceder: ARIES. First zodiac sign.
47. Haughty attitude: HIGH HORSE. Get off your high horse.
48. Zeno's town: ELEA: Zeno of Elea. Greek philosopher.
49. Right way to go?: EAST. Direction. Nice clue.
53. Toaster's glass: FLUTE
56. Dicey: RISKY
58. Mennen lotion: AFTA. After Shave.
62. Org. in a '60s spy series: U.N.C.L.E. Spy series "The Man from U. N. C. L. E."(United Network Command for Law and Enforcement). I forgot.
65. Knight on TV: TED
67. Part of the anc. art of discourse: RHET (Rhetoric). Anc is "ancient"?
68. Common honorific: SIR. And PLEBS (70. Common folk). Another consecutive echo.
71. Virgil epic: AENEID
72. More than strange: WEIRD
73. German university city: JENA. Have never heard of University of Jena.
74. Windows alternative: UNIX. Operating system.
77. Certain halfway point: NOON. D'oh!
78. Oodles: GOBS
80. Transition point: WATERSHED. Watershed moment.
82. "Tarnation!": EGADS. "Tarnation" is new expression to me.
83. '70s-'80s pitcher Guidry: RON. Gimme. Spent his whole career with the Yankees. I have quite a few of his baseball cards. Unfortunately they are not worth anything.
87. Corroded: EATEN
88. Dispossessor?: EXORCIST. No problem!
90. Part of ETA: Abbr. : EST
91. "Fire Down Below" star: SEAGAL (Steven)
94. It's named for a trapeze artist: LEOTARD. Can you picture Dennis in his infamous leotard? I just can't.
96. "Night" writer Wiesel: ELIE
97. H. Clinton, once: SEN
98. Good points: VIRTUES. Sweet clue.
100.Tours of duty: STINTS
105.Turkish empire founder: OSMAN. No idea. Ottoman Empire is named after him.
106.Doughnut for the road: SPARE. Why? The tires are doughnut shaped?
108. Big name in compacts: ESTEE. Oh, Cosmetics products.
109.Fussed over, with "on": DOTED
111."__ a stinker?": Bugs Bunny line: AIN'T I
113.Emmy winner Christine: LAHTI. Man, I can never remember her name.
117.Curious to a fault: NOSY
120.Green lights: OKS
121.A, in France: UNE
Answer grid.
JD's Crossword Story continues. Here is the updated version with letter D.
C.C.
