Theme: Blind Date Symptoms
17A. Scratchy symptom of nerves : DRY THROAT
25A. Agitated symptom of nerves : RACING HEART
38A. Unstable symptom of nerves : WEAK KNEES
53A. Moist symptom of nerves : SWEATY PALMS
65A. Situation in which this puzzle's symptoms may appear : BLIND DATE
Neat unifier. I originally thought the theme entries are just "Adjective+body parts". Those symptoms are true for some men though. We girls are cool. No sweaty palms or weak knees.
Nice columns of triple 7's in the grid, which occurs when:
A: Your central grid is 9-letter long;
B: None of your other theme entries has 12 or more letters (unless they're grid spanners).
C: You're a good grid designer like Bruce Venzke, as it could be challenging to get clean crossing suitable for a Wednesday.
C.C. here. Our beautiful Bee needs an extra month off to settle down in her new home. She's one step closer to Mount Shasta.
Across:
1. Times to call, in ads : AFTs. Why not just a shorter "PMs?"
5. Graduate school degs. : MBAs. For Jazzbumpa & Marti. And W.
9. Zippo : ZILCH
14. The first Mrs. Copperfield : DORA. You all know this?
15. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE. Rhymes with "Herbie". German for "Descendent" or "Heir".
16. Diplôme issuer : ECOLE
19. Place to get eats : DINER
20. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song : ELISA. Have never seen the movie.
21. 22-Downs, e.g. : NCOs. And 22D. Mil. rank : SGT
23. Shoot the breeze : GAB. Can you picture a meeting between Dennis & Lois? More than breeze will be shot.
24. "We are __ amused" : NOT
29. Hive denizens : DRONES
31. Shoe part : TONGUE
32. Meara of comedy : ANNE. She's a crossword fan.
33. First name in Japanese golf : ISAO (Aoki). Here he is again. The hardest working golfer in crossword.
37. Parkinson's treatment : L-DOPA
41. Fictional neatnik : UNGER (Felix). From "The Odd Couple".
44. Treated, as a bump on the head : ICED. Boomer had a head fall last year. Scared me to death.
45. Bank statement abbr. : ACCT
49. Hardly skilled in : POOR AT
51. Mailer or Miller : AUTHOR. Norman Mailer and Arthur Miller.
57. 60 minutes, in Florence : ORA. "Hour".
58. "'Tain't" rebuttal : 'TIS. Apostrophe season!
59. Prego competitor : RAGU
60. Like cornstalks : EARED. Have you read this article about our Husker Gary? Best wishes for his daughter.
62. Comparable, distance-wise : AS FAR
67. Crystalline stone : GEODE
68. Emulate the 18-Down : LOSE. 18D. Overconfident critter of fable : HARE.
69. High: Pref. : ALTI. Or plural for alto.
70. Made a blooper : ERRED
71. Had chits to pay : OWED
72. Bad-tempered : MEAN
Down:
1. Riders, e.g. : ADDENDA. Plural of addendum. "Rider" refers to the addition to a bill, not the horse rider as I first thought.
2. Woebegone : FORLORN
3. "I wonder if this will fit" response : TRY IT ON. Normally it doesn't, for me anyway.
4. H.S. seniors' concerns : SATs
5. La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER
6. Hard-to-ride horse : BRONC. Lois can tame them all.
7. Ancient calculators : ABACI. "Ancient"? Sure makes me feel old, since I carried my own abacus for a few years.
8. New Jersey's __ Hall University : SETON. What's it famous for?
9. British series ender : ZED. We have two Brits on our blog.
10. Henri's here : ICI. Tricky use of 's.
11. Way back when : LONG AGO
12. Become cloudless : CLEAR UP
13. Chamomile soother, e.g. : HERB TEA. I always call it "Herbal tea".
26. Gobi Desert locale : ASIA
27. Boring result? : HOLE. Great clue.
28. Concludes by : ENDS AT
30. Period to usher in : NEW ERA
34. Enjoy Telluride, say : SKI. Oh, dear, Telluride is a ski area in Colorado. It just looks like some kind of drug/chemical to me, Marti!
35. "Best in Show" org. : AKC
36. Small bill : ONE
39. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT
40. Red-coated wheel : EDAM
41. Steal the spotlight from : UPSTAGE
42. Still clueless : NO WISER
43. Likes a lot : GOES FOR
46. Bach work : CHORALE
47. Civil rights leader __ Scott King : CORETTA. Wife of Martin Luther King, who's called "phony" by Jackie Kennedy.
48. Common car sale component : TRADE IN
50. Norse god of heroic glory : TYR. Thanks for giving us Tuesday, Mr. Tyr!
52. Employed : USED
54. Cellist Casals : PABLO
55. Softly lit : AGLOW
56. Rainer who was the first to win consecutive Oscars : LUISE. For "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) and "The Good Earth" (1937). I was unaware of the trivia.
61. Grandfather of Enos : ADAM. Oh, yeah, just another reminder that Enos lives forever in crossword as well. If not answer, then clue.
63. Soft drink suffix : ADE
64. Roulette bet : RED
66. Outlaw Kelly : NED. Aussie.
Answer grid.
Two more notes:
1) If you're interested in guest-blogging once a month here at the Corner, please send me an email (crosswordc@gmail.com). Thanks.
2) Happy Birthday to Dick!
3) Congratulations to Jazzbumpa on his new writing gig. His first post is up today.
C.C.
17A. Scratchy symptom of nerves : DRY THROAT
25A. Agitated symptom of nerves : RACING HEART
38A. Unstable symptom of nerves : WEAK KNEES
53A. Moist symptom of nerves : SWEATY PALMS
65A. Situation in which this puzzle's symptoms may appear : BLIND DATE
Neat unifier. I originally thought the theme entries are just "Adjective+body parts". Those symptoms are true for some men though. We girls are cool. No sweaty palms or weak knees.
Nice columns of triple 7's in the grid, which occurs when:
A: Your central grid is 9-letter long;
B: None of your other theme entries has 12 or more letters (unless they're grid spanners).
C: You're a good grid designer like Bruce Venzke, as it could be challenging to get clean crossing suitable for a Wednesday.
C.C. here. Our beautiful Bee needs an extra month off to settle down in her new home. She's one step closer to Mount Shasta.
Across:
1. Times to call, in ads : AFTs. Why not just a shorter "PMs?"
5. Graduate school degs. : MBAs. For Jazzbumpa & Marti. And W.
9. Zippo : ZILCH
14. The first Mrs. Copperfield : DORA. You all know this?
15. Kathryn of "Law & Order: C.I." : ERBE. Rhymes with "Herbie". German for "Descendent" or "Heir".
16. Diplôme issuer : ECOLE
19. Place to get eats : DINER
20. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song : ELISA. Have never seen the movie.
21. 22-Downs, e.g. : NCOs. And 22D. Mil. rank : SGT
23. Shoot the breeze : GAB. Can you picture a meeting between Dennis & Lois? More than breeze will be shot.
24. "We are __ amused" : NOT
29. Hive denizens : DRONES
31. Shoe part : TONGUE
32. Meara of comedy : ANNE. She's a crossword fan.
33. First name in Japanese golf : ISAO (Aoki). Here he is again. The hardest working golfer in crossword.
37. Parkinson's treatment : L-DOPA
41. Fictional neatnik : UNGER (Felix). From "The Odd Couple".
44. Treated, as a bump on the head : ICED. Boomer had a head fall last year. Scared me to death.
45. Bank statement abbr. : ACCT
49. Hardly skilled in : POOR AT
51. Mailer or Miller : AUTHOR. Norman Mailer and Arthur Miller.
57. 60 minutes, in Florence : ORA. "Hour".
58. "'Tain't" rebuttal : 'TIS. Apostrophe season!
59. Prego competitor : RAGU
60. Like cornstalks : EARED. Have you read this article about our Husker Gary? Best wishes for his daughter.
62. Comparable, distance-wise : AS FAR
67. Crystalline stone : GEODE
68. Emulate the 18-Down : LOSE. 18D. Overconfident critter of fable : HARE.
69. High: Pref. : ALTI. Or plural for alto.
70. Made a blooper : ERRED
71. Had chits to pay : OWED
72. Bad-tempered : MEAN
Down:
1. Riders, e.g. : ADDENDA. Plural of addendum. "Rider" refers to the addition to a bill, not the horse rider as I first thought.
2. Woebegone : FORLORN
3. "I wonder if this will fit" response : TRY IT ON. Normally it doesn't, for me anyway.
4. H.S. seniors' concerns : SATs
5. La Méditerranée, e.g. : MER
6. Hard-to-ride horse : BRONC. Lois can tame them all.
7. Ancient calculators : ABACI. "Ancient"? Sure makes me feel old, since I carried my own abacus for a few years.
8. New Jersey's __ Hall University : SETON. What's it famous for?
9. British series ender : ZED. We have two Brits on our blog.
10. Henri's here : ICI. Tricky use of 's.
11. Way back when : LONG AGO
12. Become cloudless : CLEAR UP
13. Chamomile soother, e.g. : HERB TEA. I always call it "Herbal tea".
26. Gobi Desert locale : ASIA
27. Boring result? : HOLE. Great clue.
28. Concludes by : ENDS AT
30. Period to usher in : NEW ERA
34. Enjoy Telluride, say : SKI. Oh, dear, Telluride is a ski area in Colorado. It just looks like some kind of drug/chemical to me, Marti!
35. "Best in Show" org. : AKC
36. Small bill : ONE
39. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT
40. Red-coated wheel : EDAM
41. Steal the spotlight from : UPSTAGE
42. Still clueless : NO WISER
43. Likes a lot : GOES FOR
46. Bach work : CHORALE
47. Civil rights leader __ Scott King : CORETTA. Wife of Martin Luther King, who's called "phony" by Jackie Kennedy.
48. Common car sale component : TRADE IN
50. Norse god of heroic glory : TYR. Thanks for giving us Tuesday, Mr. Tyr!
52. Employed : USED
54. Cellist Casals : PABLO
55. Softly lit : AGLOW
56. Rainer who was the first to win consecutive Oscars : LUISE. For "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) and "The Good Earth" (1937). I was unaware of the trivia.
61. Grandfather of Enos : ADAM. Oh, yeah, just another reminder that Enos lives forever in crossword as well. If not answer, then clue.
63. Soft drink suffix : ADE
64. Roulette bet : RED
66. Outlaw Kelly : NED. Aussie.
Answer grid.
Two more notes:
1) If you're interested in guest-blogging once a month here at the Corner, please send me an email (crosswordc@gmail.com). Thanks.
2) Happy Birthday to Dick!
3) Congratulations to Jazzbumpa on his new writing gig. His first post is up today.
C.C.
