Theme: The Deion Sanders Shout-Out
The first word of each theme entry is a prime number, the second word is a period of time. This actually is a blecho from Argyle's blog on Monday ("Not ready for prime time") which is kinda neat.
16A. *It classifies ancient times based on metals : THREE AGE SYSTEM. A very rare cluing misstep here. The three ages are the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Spot the one that isn't a metal. The basis for the system is the material used to make tools.
31A. *Typical worker's break : TWO DAY WEEKEND. Theme entry odd-man out here - the third word of this entry is also a time period, which seems a shame to me.
44A. *Possible reason for marriage counseling : SEVEN YEAR ITCH. And the best possible excuse for posting this iconic image of Tom Ewell from the movie of that name. I'm not sure who the scene-stealing actress in the dress was.
62A.*Justification for eating food that's fallen on the ground : FIVE SECOND RULE. Also depends on where you dropped it, whether anyone has trodden on it, and whether you have to fight the dog for it.
and the reveal entries:
69A. With 70-Across, prized programming slot ... or a hint to the first two parts of the answers to starred clues : PRIME
70A. See 69-Across : TIME
Merry Wednesday, everyone. Steve here with an unusual 14x16 grid from Tom McCoy. I liked the theme a lot, with the exception of the "WEEKEND" entry comprising two time periods, rather than a single one like the rest. That's my minor nit. Your mileage may vary. This is Tom's second LAT publication, the last one ("MERCURY") sparked a lot of debate here at the Corner.
I'm assuming that the grid dimensions came about due to difficulty finding an acceptable fill around the 63 theme squares - that's quite an impressive number for a midweek puzzle. I tried to fill a 15x15 grid for fun, but the SE and South-Central section with "PRIME" and "TIME" turned out to be a problem. At this point I'd have thrown in the towel, but kudos to Tom for resizing the grid and delivering a really fun Wednesday.
I remember reading that as late as the early twentieth century, the number 1 was considered to be prime, but that apparently made a mess of some mathematical theories so it was quietly dropped and swept under the rug. Poor digit. That leaves these four as the first four primes.
Righty-ho. Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Place for Lightning and Hurricanes : RINK. Respectively, Tampa Bay and Carolina of the NHL
5. Confederate soldiers : GRAYS. I finally remembered how to spell "gray" in US English. Yay!
10. "It's okay, I guess" : MEH
13. Sign : OMEN
14. Screen dot : PIXEL. My laptop has got almost two million of the little blighters.My first computer had eight or so. Or was it two?
15. "Rumble in the Jungle" fighter : ALI. The classic Ali vs. Foreman fight. Ali, the challenger, knocked out the previously-undefeated Foreman for the Heavyweight title.
19. Ancient volume : CODEX. I learned this when I read "The Da Vinci Code". Shame that I filled it in as "CODEC" when my computerese-brain got in the way.
20. Passports, licenses, etc. : IDS
21. "Egad!" : OH NO! Eek!
22. Itty bit : TAD
24. "Green Eggs and Ham" opening : I AM SAM. I've never read this. Perhaps I should.
26. Toward the back : ASTERN
30. Jamaican export : RUM. Cheers! Myers is probably the best-known variety.
36. Seals with pitch : TARS. I'd have gone for a "sailor" type clue here, being as RUM is right next door.
37. Some drafts : ALES. Cheers! Tinbeni's happy today.
38. Frightful cry : EEK! Egad!
40. Fitting : APT
41. Cone droppers : FIRS
43. Where Georgia is : ASIA. An ex-member of the Soviet Union. Here's the flag, I don't recall ever seeing it before:
48. Fictional planet : ORK. Birthplace of Mork.
49. Go downhill : WORSEN
50. "The Kiss" and "The Thinker" : RODINS. Both sculptures by the good Monsieur Auguste. There are three versions of "The Kiss" which are sculpted in marble, and more than 20 of "The Thinker", which are cast in bronze.
53. Soup veggie : PEA. Food! I make mine with a smoked ham hock thrown in for flavor and seasoning.
54. Many a miniseries : EPIC
55. Spoil : MAR
57. Obedience school item : LEASH
65. Genetic info carrier : R.N.A. Compare and contrast with D.N.A. Fill in the "NA" and wait for the crosses.
66. Like Cheerios : OATEN
67. "Paradise Lost" character : ADAM
68. Hankering : YEN
Down:
1. Military prep prog. : R.O.T.C. The Reserve Officer's Training Program.
2. Texter's qualifier : IMHO. In my humble opinion, this now qualifies as crosswordese.
3. Stereotypical sci-fi fan : NERD
4. Joint where kids are welcome? : KNEE. Nice clue!
5. A D will usually lower it: Abbr. : G.P.A.
6. Unbending : RIGID
7. Took a hatchet to : AXED
8. "You got that right!" : YESSIREE! Egads! Eek! Quite a few "exclamations" in the puzzle today.
9. Wily : SLY
10. Trig or calc, to a Brit : MATHS. Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy for me. I was surprised to discover that this word has never been used (in the modern era at least) in either the LAT or the NYT crosswords.
11. Colleague of Antonin and Anthony : ELENA. The crosses filled this one in for me, so it's only now I look back and wonder where this came from. All Supreme Court Judges, thank you Google. Wow - and it's only Wednesday? Argyle called it on Monday expecting some unexpected hurdles during the week.
12. Call-home opener : HI MOM! Popular stadium sign text too.
17. Not needed : EXTRA
18. French river to the English Channel : SOMME. I had the "S" so SEINE went in, then quickly came out.
23. "__ more bright ideas?" : ANY
25. Arctic divers : AUKS
26. "__ girl!" : ATTA
27. Cashless deals : SWAPS. Does anyone swap things at a swap meet any more? I think it's all cash. C.C? (From C.C.: Mostly cash. And I do swap things with others at the flea market.)
28. Rich dessert : TORTE. Food! Gimme. As in, gimme more torte.
29. Newspaper figs. : EDS. Rich Norris is our favorite editor.
32. On the lookout : WARY
33. Otherwise : ELSE
34. Stacks like Tupperware : NESTS. Because "teeters uncontrollably in a cupboard with a collection of mismatched lids which cascade on your head when you open aforesaid cupboard" doesn't fit.
35. Unfreeze : DE-ICE
39. Madeline of "Clue" : KAHN. Thank you, crosses. It's very rare that I can fill in an actor without help.
41. Seedless plant : FERN
42. Lefty's writing concern : INK SMEAR. My brother is left-handed. I wanted to tease his writing style when we were kids, but he's two years older than me and he would have done unspeakable things to me. So I kept quiet.
43. __ Jordan : AIR
45. Give expression to : VOICE
46. Stun : AWE
47. Willy Wonka creator Dahl : ROALD. Why on earth for a brief couple of seconds did I think his name was RAOUL and was confused that it wouldn't fit?
50. Prepare beans, Mexican-style : REFRY
51. Weigh in : OPINE
52. Backless sofa : DIVAN
53. Introduction : PROEM. Brand-new to me, and therefore my personal word of the day. Introduction to a book written by the author. I thought it would crop up more due to the convenient vowel progression, but it was last seen in the LAT crossword back in 2008.
56. When Tony sings "Maria" : ACT I. Saving my music link to the end. Worth every saved second.
58. Q.E.D. word : ERAT
59. BMW rival : AUDI
60. Shut angrily : SLAM
61. Iron-rich blood pigment : HEME
63. Bread, at times : SOP
64. Hershey-to-Scranton dir. : NNE. From Chocolatetown, USA to the Electric City.
And .... the grid. See my word of the day the last to fill.
Steve
Notes from C.C.:
1) Congrats to TTP on his retirement! Now he'll have plenty of time to improve his golf and cooking skills. So nice to have you back, pal.
2) Last night Jazzbumpa (Ron) sent me this lovely picture of him and his grandkids. Nate has grown up! Ron said that Nate's team went to the Cal Ripken tournament at Myrtle Beach after this picture was taken and Nate pitched the last couple innings in their last game.
The first word of each theme entry is a prime number, the second word is a period of time. This actually is a blecho from Argyle's blog on Monday ("Not ready for prime time") which is kinda neat.
16A. *It classifies ancient times based on metals : THREE AGE SYSTEM. A very rare cluing misstep here. The three ages are the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Spot the one that isn't a metal. The basis for the system is the material used to make tools.
31A. *Typical worker's break : TWO DAY WEEKEND. Theme entry odd-man out here - the third word of this entry is also a time period, which seems a shame to me.
44A. *Possible reason for marriage counseling : SEVEN YEAR ITCH. And the best possible excuse for posting this iconic image of Tom Ewell from the movie of that name. I'm not sure who the scene-stealing actress in the dress was.
62A.*Justification for eating food that's fallen on the ground : FIVE SECOND RULE. Also depends on where you dropped it, whether anyone has trodden on it, and whether you have to fight the dog for it.
and the reveal entries:
69A. With 70-Across, prized programming slot ... or a hint to the first two parts of the answers to starred clues : PRIME
70A. See 69-Across : TIME
Merry Wednesday, everyone. Steve here with an unusual 14x16 grid from Tom McCoy. I liked the theme a lot, with the exception of the "WEEKEND" entry comprising two time periods, rather than a single one like the rest. That's my minor nit. Your mileage may vary. This is Tom's second LAT publication, the last one ("MERCURY") sparked a lot of debate here at the Corner.
I'm assuming that the grid dimensions came about due to difficulty finding an acceptable fill around the 63 theme squares - that's quite an impressive number for a midweek puzzle. I tried to fill a 15x15 grid for fun, but the SE and South-Central section with "PRIME" and "TIME" turned out to be a problem. At this point I'd have thrown in the towel, but kudos to Tom for resizing the grid and delivering a really fun Wednesday.
I remember reading that as late as the early twentieth century, the number 1 was considered to be prime, but that apparently made a mess of some mathematical theories so it was quietly dropped and swept under the rug. Poor digit. That leaves these four as the first four primes.
Righty-ho. Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Place for Lightning and Hurricanes : RINK. Respectively, Tampa Bay and Carolina of the NHL
5. Confederate soldiers : GRAYS. I finally remembered how to spell "gray" in US English. Yay!
10. "It's okay, I guess" : MEH
13. Sign : OMEN
14. Screen dot : PIXEL. My laptop has got almost two million of the little blighters.My first computer had eight or so. Or was it two?
15. "Rumble in the Jungle" fighter : ALI. The classic Ali vs. Foreman fight. Ali, the challenger, knocked out the previously-undefeated Foreman for the Heavyweight title.
19. Ancient volume : CODEX. I learned this when I read "The Da Vinci Code". Shame that I filled it in as "CODEC" when my computerese-brain got in the way.
20. Passports, licenses, etc. : IDS
21. "Egad!" : OH NO! Eek!
22. Itty bit : TAD
24. "Green Eggs and Ham" opening : I AM SAM. I've never read this. Perhaps I should.
26. Toward the back : ASTERN
30. Jamaican export : RUM. Cheers! Myers is probably the best-known variety.
36. Seals with pitch : TARS. I'd have gone for a "sailor" type clue here, being as RUM is right next door.
37. Some drafts : ALES. Cheers! Tinbeni's happy today.
38. Frightful cry : EEK! Egad!
40. Fitting : APT
41. Cone droppers : FIRS
43. Where Georgia is : ASIA. An ex-member of the Soviet Union. Here's the flag, I don't recall ever seeing it before:
48. Fictional planet : ORK. Birthplace of Mork.
49. Go downhill : WORSEN
50. "The Kiss" and "The Thinker" : RODINS. Both sculptures by the good Monsieur Auguste. There are three versions of "The Kiss" which are sculpted in marble, and more than 20 of "The Thinker", which are cast in bronze.
53. Soup veggie : PEA. Food! I make mine with a smoked ham hock thrown in for flavor and seasoning.
54. Many a miniseries : EPIC
55. Spoil : MAR
57. Obedience school item : LEASH
65. Genetic info carrier : R.N.A. Compare and contrast with D.N.A. Fill in the "NA" and wait for the crosses.
66. Like Cheerios : OATEN
67. "Paradise Lost" character : ADAM
68. Hankering : YEN
Down:
1. Military prep prog. : R.O.T.C. The Reserve Officer's Training Program.
2. Texter's qualifier : IMHO. In my humble opinion, this now qualifies as crosswordese.
3. Stereotypical sci-fi fan : NERD
4. Joint where kids are welcome? : KNEE. Nice clue!
5. A D will usually lower it: Abbr. : G.P.A.
6. Unbending : RIGID
7. Took a hatchet to : AXED
8. "You got that right!" : YESSIREE! Egads! Eek! Quite a few "exclamations" in the puzzle today.
9. Wily : SLY
10. Trig or calc, to a Brit : MATHS. Easy-Peasy-Lemon-Squeezy for me. I was surprised to discover that this word has never been used (in the modern era at least) in either the LAT or the NYT crosswords.
11. Colleague of Antonin and Anthony : ELENA. The crosses filled this one in for me, so it's only now I look back and wonder where this came from. All Supreme Court Judges, thank you Google. Wow - and it's only Wednesday? Argyle called it on Monday expecting some unexpected hurdles during the week.
12. Call-home opener : HI MOM! Popular stadium sign text too.
17. Not needed : EXTRA
18. French river to the English Channel : SOMME. I had the "S" so SEINE went in, then quickly came out.
23. "__ more bright ideas?" : ANY
25. Arctic divers : AUKS
26. "__ girl!" : ATTA
27. Cashless deals : SWAPS. Does anyone swap things at a swap meet any more? I think it's all cash. C.C? (From C.C.: Mostly cash. And I do swap things with others at the flea market.)
28. Rich dessert : TORTE. Food! Gimme. As in, gimme more torte.
29. Newspaper figs. : EDS. Rich Norris is our favorite editor.
32. On the lookout : WARY
33. Otherwise : ELSE
34. Stacks like Tupperware : NESTS. Because "teeters uncontrollably in a cupboard with a collection of mismatched lids which cascade on your head when you open aforesaid cupboard" doesn't fit.
35. Unfreeze : DE-ICE
39. Madeline of "Clue" : KAHN. Thank you, crosses. It's very rare that I can fill in an actor without help.
41. Seedless plant : FERN
42. Lefty's writing concern : INK SMEAR. My brother is left-handed. I wanted to tease his writing style when we were kids, but he's two years older than me and he would have done unspeakable things to me. So I kept quiet.
43. __ Jordan : AIR
45. Give expression to : VOICE
46. Stun : AWE
47. Willy Wonka creator Dahl : ROALD. Why on earth for a brief couple of seconds did I think his name was RAOUL and was confused that it wouldn't fit?
50. Prepare beans, Mexican-style : REFRY
51. Weigh in : OPINE
52. Backless sofa : DIVAN
53. Introduction : PROEM. Brand-new to me, and therefore my personal word of the day. Introduction to a book written by the author. I thought it would crop up more due to the convenient vowel progression, but it was last seen in the LAT crossword back in 2008.
56. When Tony sings "Maria" : ACT I. Saving my music link to the end. Worth every saved second.
58. Q.E.D. word : ERAT
59. BMW rival : AUDI
60. Shut angrily : SLAM
61. Iron-rich blood pigment : HEME
63. Bread, at times : SOP
64. Hershey-to-Scranton dir. : NNE. From Chocolatetown, USA to the Electric City.
And .... the grid. See my word of the day the last to fill.
Steve
Notes from C.C.:
1) Congrats to TTP on his retirement! Now he'll have plenty of time to improve his golf and cooking skills. So nice to have you back, pal.
2) Last night Jazzbumpa (Ron) sent me this lovely picture of him and his grandkids. Nate has grown up! Ron said that Nate's team went to the Cal Ripken tournament at Myrtle Beach after this picture was taken and Nate pitched the last couple innings in their last game.
In front: Samantha, Emily and Nate.
Behind: Danny, Alexa, me, Amanda, Ryan.
July 2, 2015
July 2, 2015
