Theme: None
Total words: 68. Total blocks: 33
Very unusual grid design. It has:
1) the standard 180 degree rotation;
2) a left to right symmetry;
3) a top to bottom mirroring pattern.
Rarely do we see this kind of grid structure. As a result, we have a even-numbered count of all entries with various length, including an amazing 28 of seven-letter words.
The puzzle is anchored by a pair of music grid spanners:
27A. It lost to "Moon River" for a Best Song Oscar : TOWN WITHOUT PITY. Unknown trivia to me. "Moon River" is lovely.
42A. 1964 Record of the Year Grammy winner, with "The" : GIRL FROM IPANEMA. Sweet song.
Across:
1. Avid ones keep Life Lists : BIRDERS. Is "Life Lists" a specific term to birders?
8. Weapons restriction of a sort : TEST BAN
15. Circling : IN ORBIT
16. Coin's "heads" : OBVERSE
17. Take a plane? : SKYJACK. My favorite clue today.
18. Formed before delivery, as concrete : PRECAST
19. Mom and pop financing gp. : SBA
20. Roger who coached eight NHL teams : NEILSON. No idea. Obviously this guy is in Hall of Fame. Is eight a record?
22. Taste : SIP. Drink.
23. Collaborator with a Count and a Duke : ELLA (Fitzgerald). Count Basie. Duke Ellington. I don't feel the two a's are necessary. You?
25. Dance genre : TAP
26. Peak in Thessaly : OSSA. Mt Ossa. Peak near Olympus.
32. View from Jackson Hole : TETONS. Grand Tetons. Big boobs.
33. Safe portfolio investments : T-NOTES
34. Ad-committee link : HOC. Ad hoc committee.
35. Dr. Ray Langston's TV team : CSI. Have never watched CSI. Don't know the doctor.
36. Come to a head : BOIL UP
39. Puget Sound port : TACOMA
45. Sub. for omitted names : ET AL. Literally "and others". French got their "et" from Latin I gather.
46. Hammett's Spade : SAM. Sam Spade. And 11D. Hammett's Spade, e.g. : TEC. Short for detective. Nice clue tie-in.
47. Library Card Sign-up mo. : SEPT
48. Like some painkillers, briefly : OTC
49. French lover? : AMATEUR. I don't get it. Is it literally "lover" in French, Kazie?
53. Frat letter : RHO
54. Told : RELATED. And 59. Not told : UNAWARE. Another clecho (clue echo).
56. Easily attached : STICK ON
58. Island north of Trinidad : GRENADA. Needed crossing help.
60. Sect linked to the Dead Sea Scrolls : ESSENES. I can never remember this sect. So close to Essences.
Down:
61. Jai alai balls : PELOTAS. It's just Spanish for "balls", correct?
1. "Bullitt" co-star : BISSET (Jacqueline). Total stranger to me. Bullitt is a character's name in the film.
2. Therapy aid : INK BLOT
3. Pluralis majestatis : ROYAL WE. Pluralis majestatis is "majestic plural" in Latin.
4. Court physician? : DR. J. Julius Erving. Basketball court.
5. "Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes" author : EBAN (Abba)
6. Potatoes alternative : RICE
7. Nevis neighbor : ST KITTS. See this map. Crazy STK*start.
8. Leadership position : TOP SPOT
9. River through Aragon : EBRO. To the Mediterranean.
10. 1984 Swedish speed skating medalist Gustafson : SVEN. Both his given name and surname are so Swedish/Norwegian.
12. Golfer's 2-wood : BRASSIE. Gimme to me. Watched lots of the old Bobby Jones golf tips when I first started golfing.
13. Rink stats : ASSISTS
14. Working capital? : NET PAY. Nice misdirecting "working".
21. __-di-dah : LAH
24. Colonial mound : ANTHILL. Tricky "colonial".
26. Sunroof and CD changer, e.g. : OPTIONS
28. "A Room of One's Own" author : WOOLF (Virginia). Not familiar with the book. What's it about?
29. Arouse, as wrath : INCUR
30. Open without a corkscrew : UNCAP
31. 1900 Puccini premiere : TOSCA. Well, 5-letter Puccini work answer is either TOSCA or OPERA.
36. Pink Gin ingredient : BITTERS. No idea. Have never heard of Pink Gin.
37. Sources of ambiguous answers : ORACLES. Warren Buffett would love this clue. He's called the Oracle of Omaha. Guess who's the Oracle of Nebraska?
38. Some Iberian inns : POSADAS. Spanish for "inns"?
39. "Pencils down" : TIME'S UP. From proctors.
40. Mongoose family member : MEERKAT. Cute.
41. Antique oil holder : AMPHORA. Or "Antique wine holder". The Greek vase. Learning moment for me.
42. Magazine whose debut issue featured a cover photo of Cindy Crawford dressed as Washington : GEORGE. Another gimme. See the cover. It's not worth anything collection-wise. The first issue of Playboy with Marilyn Monroe in good condition can easily fetch hundreds of bucks (just to annoy Annette).
43. Comb breaker, perhaps : MAT. Have never heard of "hair" being referred as "mat".
44. Makes up (for) : ATONES
49. __ end : AT AN. Partial.
50. Early Iranian : MEDE. They live din Media.
51. Big name in alternative press : UTNE. Utne Reader.
52. Shiraz spending money : RIAL. Another Iran reference. Shiraz the city. Not the wine.
55. Suffix with oct- : ANE. Octane.
57. USN rank : CWO (Chief Warrant Officer). Is it a common abbr, Spitzboov? I was clueless.
Answer grid.r grid.
Total words: 68. Total blocks: 33
Very unusual grid design. It has:
1) the standard 180 degree rotation;
2) a left to right symmetry;
3) a top to bottom mirroring pattern.
Rarely do we see this kind of grid structure. As a result, we have a even-numbered count of all entries with various length, including an amazing 28 of seven-letter words.
The puzzle is anchored by a pair of music grid spanners:
27A. It lost to "Moon River" for a Best Song Oscar : TOWN WITHOUT PITY. Unknown trivia to me. "Moon River" is lovely.
42A. 1964 Record of the Year Grammy winner, with "The" : GIRL FROM IPANEMA. Sweet song.
Across:
1. Avid ones keep Life Lists : BIRDERS. Is "Life Lists" a specific term to birders?
8. Weapons restriction of a sort : TEST BAN
15. Circling : IN ORBIT
16. Coin's "heads" : OBVERSE
17. Take a plane? : SKYJACK. My favorite clue today.
18. Formed before delivery, as concrete : PRECAST
19. Mom and pop financing gp. : SBA
20. Roger who coached eight NHL teams : NEILSON. No idea. Obviously this guy is in Hall of Fame. Is eight a record?
22. Taste : SIP. Drink.
23. Collaborator with a Count and a Duke : ELLA (Fitzgerald). Count Basie. Duke Ellington. I don't feel the two a's are necessary. You?
25. Dance genre : TAP
26. Peak in Thessaly : OSSA. Mt Ossa. Peak near Olympus.
32. View from Jackson Hole : TETONS. Grand Tetons. Big boobs.
33. Safe portfolio investments : T-NOTES
34. Ad-committee link : HOC. Ad hoc committee.
35. Dr. Ray Langston's TV team : CSI. Have never watched CSI. Don't know the doctor.
36. Come to a head : BOIL UP
39. Puget Sound port : TACOMA
45. Sub. for omitted names : ET AL. Literally "and others". French got their "et" from Latin I gather.
46. Hammett's Spade : SAM. Sam Spade. And 11D. Hammett's Spade, e.g. : TEC. Short for detective. Nice clue tie-in.
47. Library Card Sign-up mo. : SEPT
48. Like some painkillers, briefly : OTC
49. French lover? : AMATEUR. I don't get it. Is it literally "lover" in French, Kazie?
53. Frat letter : RHO
54. Told : RELATED. And 59. Not told : UNAWARE. Another clecho (clue echo).
56. Easily attached : STICK ON
58. Island north of Trinidad : GRENADA. Needed crossing help.
60. Sect linked to the Dead Sea Scrolls : ESSENES. I can never remember this sect. So close to Essences.
Down:
61. Jai alai balls : PELOTAS. It's just Spanish for "balls", correct?
1. "Bullitt" co-star : BISSET (Jacqueline). Total stranger to me. Bullitt is a character's name in the film.
2. Therapy aid : INK BLOT
3. Pluralis majestatis : ROYAL WE. Pluralis majestatis is "majestic plural" in Latin.
4. Court physician? : DR. J. Julius Erving. Basketball court.
5. "Personal Witness: Israel Through My Eyes" author : EBAN (Abba)
6. Potatoes alternative : RICE
7. Nevis neighbor : ST KITTS. See this map. Crazy STK*start.
8. Leadership position : TOP SPOT
9. River through Aragon : EBRO. To the Mediterranean.
10. 1984 Swedish speed skating medalist Gustafson : SVEN. Both his given name and surname are so Swedish/Norwegian.
12. Golfer's 2-wood : BRASSIE. Gimme to me. Watched lots of the old Bobby Jones golf tips when I first started golfing.
13. Rink stats : ASSISTS
14. Working capital? : NET PAY. Nice misdirecting "working".
21. __-di-dah : LAH
24. Colonial mound : ANTHILL. Tricky "colonial".
26. Sunroof and CD changer, e.g. : OPTIONS
28. "A Room of One's Own" author : WOOLF (Virginia). Not familiar with the book. What's it about?
29. Arouse, as wrath : INCUR
30. Open without a corkscrew : UNCAP
31. 1900 Puccini premiere : TOSCA. Well, 5-letter Puccini work answer is either TOSCA or OPERA.
36. Pink Gin ingredient : BITTERS. No idea. Have never heard of Pink Gin.
37. Sources of ambiguous answers : ORACLES. Warren Buffett would love this clue. He's called the Oracle of Omaha. Guess who's the Oracle of Nebraska?
38. Some Iberian inns : POSADAS. Spanish for "inns"?
39. "Pencils down" : TIME'S UP. From proctors.
40. Mongoose family member : MEERKAT. Cute.
41. Antique oil holder : AMPHORA. Or "Antique wine holder". The Greek vase. Learning moment for me.
42. Magazine whose debut issue featured a cover photo of Cindy Crawford dressed as Washington : GEORGE. Another gimme. See the cover. It's not worth anything collection-wise. The first issue of Playboy with Marilyn Monroe in good condition can easily fetch hundreds of bucks (just to annoy Annette).
43. Comb breaker, perhaps : MAT. Have never heard of "hair" being referred as "mat".
44. Makes up (for) : ATONES
49. __ end : AT AN. Partial.
50. Early Iranian : MEDE. They live din Media.
51. Big name in alternative press : UTNE. Utne Reader.
52. Shiraz spending money : RIAL. Another Iran reference. Shiraz the city. Not the wine.
55. Suffix with oct- : ANE. Octane.
57. USN rank : CWO (Chief Warrant Officer). Is it a common abbr, Spitzboov? I was clueless.
Answer grid.r grid.
To Jayce, a belated 生日快乐! Jayce speaks and recognizes some Chinese characters. I bet he knows a few naughty slang.
C.C.
