Theme: None
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 29
Interesting cross shape in the middle. It coheres the grid and gives the whole central part a tight connectedness which could collapse the entire puzzle if one fill goes wrong. Quite challenging construction-wise. The constructor also refrained from using any helper/cheater squares. Admirable.
I am quite fond of the paralleled triple 9s in Down today, all multiple words:
12D. Some clinic customers : PET OWNERS
13D. Run by an ex, as a household : ONE PARENT
14D. Bush country? : RED STATES. Those who voted for Bush?
30D. Be rewarded on the job : GET A RAISE. Sweet.
31D. Superhero first introduced as a teenager : SPIDER-MAN. Do you know his real name is Peter Parker.
32D. Track fixture : TOTE BOARD. Racetrack.
Across:
1. One is in the Guinness Book for its 1,728-word vocabulary : PARAKEET. Helpful hints with "its" and the number of vocabulary.
9. Foggy state : STUPOR. Always want *NESS ending for clues with "state".
15. It's SSE of Salt Lake City : OREM UTAH. Tricky combination. But the clue is asking for OREM UT, with abbreviated SSE.
16. Peaceful : SERENE
17. South-of-the-border sunblock? : SOMBRERO. Oh, hat.
18. Like "The Hurt Locker," e.g. : R-RATED. Haven't seen the movie yet.
19. Iteration opening : I SAID. And I AM (53. First two words of "Green Eggs and Ham"). I am Sam.
20. Ask too many questions : PRY
22. Big drop sounds : PLOPS
23. Actual wording : TEXT
24. It clashes with stripes : PLAID. Why "clashes"?
26. Hit : SWAT
27. Elbows on the table, say : FAUX PAS. Proper manner in our house.
29. Lobby with heaters?: Abbr. : NRA. Nailed it.
30. Guitar component : G-STRING. Our Al is a serious guitar player.
34. Where the Boss's band once rehearsed : E-STREET. I never know how the E Street Band got its name.
36. Horace works : EPODES. Lyric poems. New word to me.
37. Ludlum's amnesiac Jason : BOURNE. "The Bourne Identity".
38. Oberon's spouse : TITANIA. From "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Got me.
40. Conservationists' concerns : FORESTS
41. Drink suffix : ADE
42. Total : DESTROY. Verb "Total".
44. Sitcom named for its star : REBA
46. Weasel relative : STOAT
47. Building site sight : I-BAR
51. Woolf's "__ of One's Own" : A ROOM. Virginia Woolf.
54. Lose ground? : ERODE. Awesome clue.
55. Istanbul shelter : IMARET. Turkish hostel. I can never remember this word.
57. Liqueur made with coffee beans : TIA MARIA. Kahlua too.
59. Flaubert biographer : SARTRE. No idea. "Nausea", "No Exit", "Being and Nothingness" are all the works I know about Sartre. Womanizer. Most men cheat.
60. One may be civil : ENGINEER. Thought of MARRIAGE.
61. Ultimate objective : END ALL
62. Ones with "a case of mistaken nonentity": Barbara Stanwyck : EGOTISTS. Unaware of this quote.
Down:
1. Put forward : POSIT
2. Developed : AROSE
3. Big name in real estate : RE/MAX. Big indeed. But what does the company name mean?
4. Scope : AMBIT. No idea. I know gambit though.
5. About one in six Iraqis : KURD. Interesting trivia.
6. Hot time to see Nancy? : ETE. Nancy the city in France.
7. One of a swimmer's pair : EARPLUG
8. Insect section : THORAX
9. Lith., once : SSR
10. College Park athlete, for short : TERP. University of Maryland. College Park is a city? Sounds like a stadium name.
11. Source of some Russian copper : URALS. Unaware of the copper there.
21. Startled cry : YIPE
24. Multi-colored bloomers : PANSIES
25. 1981 Wolfgang Petersen film : DAS BOOT. "The Boat". A movie about some U-boat.
27. Evil sort : FIEND
28. Short __ : STORY
33. Suggested amt. to have : RDA
35. Want to take back : RUE
39. Moscato d'__: sparkling wine : ASTI
40. Setting up : FRAMING
43. Exactly : TO A TEE. Used to have problem parsing TOATEE.
45. Vital artery : AORTA
47. Farsi speaker : IRANI
48. Didactic types, often : BORES
49. Losing, after "on" : A DIET. Losing weight.
50. Backs : REARS
52. Jazz organist Saunders : MERL. His name escaped me.
54. Give out : EMIT
56. Address book abbr. : TEL
58. Back : AGO
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total words: 70
Total blocks: 29
Interesting cross shape in the middle. It coheres the grid and gives the whole central part a tight connectedness which could collapse the entire puzzle if one fill goes wrong. Quite challenging construction-wise. The constructor also refrained from using any helper/cheater squares. Admirable.
I am quite fond of the paralleled triple 9s in Down today, all multiple words:
12D. Some clinic customers : PET OWNERS
13D. Run by an ex, as a household : ONE PARENT
14D. Bush country? : RED STATES. Those who voted for Bush?
30D. Be rewarded on the job : GET A RAISE. Sweet.
31D. Superhero first introduced as a teenager : SPIDER-MAN. Do you know his real name is Peter Parker.
32D. Track fixture : TOTE BOARD. Racetrack.
Across:
1. One is in the Guinness Book for its 1,728-word vocabulary : PARAKEET. Helpful hints with "its" and the number of vocabulary.
9. Foggy state : STUPOR. Always want *NESS ending for clues with "state".
15. It's SSE of Salt Lake City : OREM UTAH. Tricky combination. But the clue is asking for OREM UT, with abbreviated SSE.
16. Peaceful : SERENE
17. South-of-the-border sunblock? : SOMBRERO. Oh, hat.
18. Like "The Hurt Locker," e.g. : R-RATED. Haven't seen the movie yet.
19. Iteration opening : I SAID. And I AM (53. First two words of "Green Eggs and Ham"). I am Sam.
20. Ask too many questions : PRY
22. Big drop sounds : PLOPS
23. Actual wording : TEXT
24. It clashes with stripes : PLAID. Why "clashes"?
26. Hit : SWAT
27. Elbows on the table, say : FAUX PAS. Proper manner in our house.
29. Lobby with heaters?: Abbr. : NRA. Nailed it.
30. Guitar component : G-STRING. Our Al is a serious guitar player.
34. Where the Boss's band once rehearsed : E-STREET. I never know how the E Street Band got its name.
36. Horace works : EPODES. Lyric poems. New word to me.
37. Ludlum's amnesiac Jason : BOURNE. "The Bourne Identity".
38. Oberon's spouse : TITANIA. From "A Midsummer Night's Dream". Got me.
40. Conservationists' concerns : FORESTS
41. Drink suffix : ADE
42. Total : DESTROY. Verb "Total".
44. Sitcom named for its star : REBA
46. Weasel relative : STOAT
47. Building site sight : I-BAR
51. Woolf's "__ of One's Own" : A ROOM. Virginia Woolf.
54. Lose ground? : ERODE. Awesome clue.
55. Istanbul shelter : IMARET. Turkish hostel. I can never remember this word.
57. Liqueur made with coffee beans : TIA MARIA. Kahlua too.
59. Flaubert biographer : SARTRE. No idea. "Nausea", "No Exit", "Being and Nothingness" are all the works I know about Sartre. Womanizer. Most men cheat.
60. One may be civil : ENGINEER. Thought of MARRIAGE.
61. Ultimate objective : END ALL
62. Ones with "a case of mistaken nonentity": Barbara Stanwyck : EGOTISTS. Unaware of this quote.
Down:
1. Put forward : POSIT
2. Developed : AROSE
3. Big name in real estate : RE/MAX. Big indeed. But what does the company name mean?
4. Scope : AMBIT. No idea. I know gambit though.
5. About one in six Iraqis : KURD. Interesting trivia.
6. Hot time to see Nancy? : ETE. Nancy the city in France.
7. One of a swimmer's pair : EARPLUG
8. Insect section : THORAX
9. Lith., once : SSR
10. College Park athlete, for short : TERP. University of Maryland. College Park is a city? Sounds like a stadium name.
11. Source of some Russian copper : URALS. Unaware of the copper there.
21. Startled cry : YIPE
24. Multi-colored bloomers : PANSIES
25. 1981 Wolfgang Petersen film : DAS BOOT. "The Boat". A movie about some U-boat.
27. Evil sort : FIEND
28. Short __ : STORY
33. Suggested amt. to have : RDA
35. Want to take back : RUE
39. Moscato d'__: sparkling wine : ASTI
40. Setting up : FRAMING
43. Exactly : TO A TEE. Used to have problem parsing TOATEE.
45. Vital artery : AORTA
47. Farsi speaker : IRANI
48. Didactic types, often : BORES
49. Losing, after "on" : A DIET. Losing weight.
50. Backs : REARS
52. Jazz organist Saunders : MERL. His name escaped me.
54. Give out : EMIT
56. Address book abbr. : TEL
58. Back : AGO
Answer grid.
C.C.
