Theme: "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." No-one ever accused the dastardly Goldfinger of having a bullion heart, but that's exactly what connects all these theme entries, chemical symbol-wise.
19A. Home of the Green Bay Packers : LAMBEAU FIELD. AKA "The Frozen Tundra".
35A. "Northanger Abbey" author : JANE AUSTEN. This was her house, not far from where I went to school in Winchester:
45A. Bistro drink : CAFE AU LAIT. Add a pain au chocolat, a Parisian bistro terrace and some people-watching and you've got the world's best breakfast. You can also pretend to read "Le Figaro" for authenticity.
56A. Olympic action involving a bar : POLE VAULTING. Crazy antics atop a 16-foot fiberglass whiplash of death.
And the reveal:
17D. Kind nature, and, symbolically, what 19-, 35-, 45- and 56-Across have : HEART OF GOLD. Also, for sci-fi comedy fans, the name of the spacecraft powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series of books.
Well now - Steve here this first Wednesday in August with "our" Marti's quite excellent auric-themed puzzle. Note how the "AU" is centered in each answer and the down reveal entry intersects all the horizonal themers. That's some mighty fine constructin'. Top that off with some great fill and cluing and we've got ourselves a grand Wednesday.
The theme could count as a CSO to a Corner regular, but I'm not sure you can shout-out to yourself!
Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Barbie maker : MATTEL
7. Dada pioneer : ARP. He called himself either Jean or Hans depending on which language he was speaking. This is my friend Jill's charcoal sketch of his "Torse des Pyrénées" sculpture:
10. Soviet air force acronym : MIG. I went through a MIR-er-um-no-MIG transmutation here. I didn't know it was an acronym - it comes from the names of the founders of the design bureau Микоян и Гуревич.
13. Melodic piece : ARIOSO. Thank you, crosses. Marti - does your knowledge of Italian help you with musical clues?
14. Source of Sun. inspiration : SER. Words from the Rev. Not too long, hopefully.
15. Life-altering words : I DO
16. Mississippi River explorer : DE SOTO. I remembered it! There's a De Soto Avenue not far from me, that's my aide-mémoire now.
17. Put to work : HIRE
18. Stock quote? : MOO
22. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA
25. Where to find a horse with no legs? : SEA
26. Outlaw Kelly : NED
27. Favre of the Green Bay Packers : BRETT. No stranger to 19A, he started at QB for 15 straight seasons from 1992 to 2007, before having an early mid-life crisis, decamping first for the New York Jets, and then the Packer's bitter rivals the Minnesota Vikings, and "retiring" twice along the way. He seems to have stayed retired now.
29. Evita's land: Abbr. : ARG. Don't cry for me.
31. Supply with more weapons : RE-ARM
38. __ code : AREA. 818 for me. Apparently that makes me a Valley Girl. Uh-huh, gag me with a spoon. Totally!
39. N.H. clock setting : EST
40. Chanted : INTONED
42. NFL snapper : CTR. Here's Jonathan Goodwin, the center for the San Francisco 49er's. Does wearing that uniform make him a red snapper?
43. Bistro awning word : CHEZ. Somewhere to enjoy your 45A.
47. Austrian state bordering three countries : TYROL. I learned to ski in the Tyrol many years ago. I also learned how to drink schnapps.
49. NFL positions : RGS. It's an NFL-fest today. Standard equipment issue for all playing that position (I hope):
50. Lovely, like a lass : BONNY
51. Cookie Monster eating sound : NOM
53. Poetic preposition : O'ER. How about this:
Nah, I'll leave the poeticals to those of you who know what you're doing.
55. Equipment : GEAR
61. Brother of Peyton : ELI. Their pop, Archie, played QB for Ole Miss, and the campus speed limit is 18 MPH in honor of his number. Neat-o.
62. Cornerstone abbr. : ESTD. Probably a good job you don't add the time as well. "ESTD MMDXLVI 9:00 EST"
63. "I'm clueless" : NO IDEA
67. Go pfft : DIE. Full disclosure. I had "DIS" here first, as in DISSING someone with a "pfft!". Of course DISS is the correct spelling, and I didn't notice that LISU at 58D didn't make any sense. So I got the dreaded "The puzzle is completely filled" (translation: "Yeah, you goofed, dingbat") message when I was done. You can see my hunt for the culprit in the grid at the bottom.
68. It's charged : ION
69. Stretched out on the beach : SUNNED. Lovely subtle part-of-speech clue. "Stretched" in the past tense sense, not the intransitive verb sense. Had me thinking for a while.
70. Promise from a shy person? : IOU. Nice! Shy in the "not quite enough" sense.
71. New Orleans-to-Detroit dir. : NNE
72. Put to work : ENGAGE. Clecho with 17A. All kinds of stuff going on today.
Down:
1. "Spy vs. Spy" magazine : MAD
2. Modern art? : ARE. Another great little clue/answer. Eventually the "verb" usage penny dropped.
3. "__ the year's midnight ... ": Donne : 'TIS
4. "You missed it" : TOO LATE
5. Spanish 101 verb : ESTA
6. Appears impressively on the horizon : LOOMS. Usually in a bad way. Icebergs, slab-sided rusty tankers, battleships, Godzilla, Mount Doom and what-not.
7. Where most live : ASIA
8. "M*A*S*H" episode, now : RERUN. RETRO went in, TRO came out.
9. Favor : PREFER
10. Silent ape : MIME. Why aren't mimes particularly original? Because they can't think outside the box.
11. "American __" : IDOL
12. Like no news? : GOOD
20. Make it big in Hollywood : BE A STAR
21. Bean sprout? : IDEA. Lovely clue/answer. Food! Well, the clue was. I'm making pad thai tonight.
22. Goal : OBJECT
23. Like many tabloids : TRASHY
24. Tenant : RENTER
28. Mai __ : TAI
30. 64-Down research subject : GENE SET. Used in gene set variation analysis, as everybody knows. Well, as everybody knows who just Googled it like me. Thank you, crosses.
32. Obscure : ARCANE
33. Light-sensitive eye layer : RETINA
34. Saint Stephen, e.g. : MARTYR. My patron saint. December 26th is his Saint's day, for those of you who pay attention to such matters.
36. Mom's bro : UNC
37. PBS funder : NEA. National Endowment for the Arts. Lovely people.
41. Name : DUB
44. Temperate __ : ZONE
46. Lumberjack's trade : LOGGING. I can't resist.
48. Hippie happening : LOVE-IN
52. Layer of stones : MASON
54. Shampoo instruction : RINSE. Then, apparently, repeat. In other words "use twice as much product as you need to, thank you very much".
56. Mani counterpart : PEDI
57. Mishmash : OLIO. One of my personal crossword faves - C.C. patiently explained the difference between OLEO and OLIO to me when I first started reading this blog,
58. Stead : LIEU. Ha! I had "DIS" in lieu of "DIE"! How apropos.
59. "Cure Ignorance" online reader : UTNE. I didn't even see this until I got here, so thank you, crosses.
60. Doohickey or whatchamacallit, e.g. : NOUN. Very neat. Another of the day's fun clues.
64. "CSI" evidence : DNA
65. Brain scan, for short : EEG. I'm starting to finally get all the "E-something-G" stuff straight.
66. Citrusy drink : ADE.
Here's the grid. I'll get my coat.
Steve
19A. Home of the Green Bay Packers : LAMBEAU FIELD. AKA "The Frozen Tundra".
35A. "Northanger Abbey" author : JANE AUSTEN. This was her house, not far from where I went to school in Winchester:
45A. Bistro drink : CAFE AU LAIT. Add a pain au chocolat, a Parisian bistro terrace and some people-watching and you've got the world's best breakfast. You can also pretend to read "Le Figaro" for authenticity.
56A. Olympic action involving a bar : POLE VAULTING. Crazy antics atop a 16-foot fiberglass whiplash of death.
And the reveal:
17D. Kind nature, and, symbolically, what 19-, 35-, 45- and 56-Across have : HEART OF GOLD. Also, for sci-fi comedy fans, the name of the spacecraft powered by the Infinite Improbability Drive in "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series of books.
Well now - Steve here this first Wednesday in August with "our" Marti's quite excellent auric-themed puzzle. Note how the "AU" is centered in each answer and the down reveal entry intersects all the horizonal themers. That's some mighty fine constructin'. Top that off with some great fill and cluing and we've got ourselves a grand Wednesday.
The theme could count as a CSO to a Corner regular, but I'm not sure you can shout-out to yourself!
Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Barbie maker : MATTEL
7. Dada pioneer : ARP. He called himself either Jean or Hans depending on which language he was speaking. This is my friend Jill's charcoal sketch of his "Torse des Pyrénées" sculpture:
10. Soviet air force acronym : MIG. I went through a MIR-er-um-no-MIG transmutation here. I didn't know it was an acronym - it comes from the names of the founders of the design bureau Микоян и Гуревич.
13. Melodic piece : ARIOSO. Thank you, crosses. Marti - does your knowledge of Italian help you with musical clues?
14. Source of Sun. inspiration : SER. Words from the Rev. Not too long, hopefully.
15. Life-altering words : I DO
16. Mississippi River explorer : DE SOTO. I remembered it! There's a De Soto Avenue not far from me, that's my aide-mémoire now.
17. Put to work : HIRE
18. Stock quote? : MOO
22. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRA
25. Where to find a horse with no legs? : SEA
26. Outlaw Kelly : NED
27. Favre of the Green Bay Packers : BRETT. No stranger to 19A, he started at QB for 15 straight seasons from 1992 to 2007, before having an early mid-life crisis, decamping first for the New York Jets, and then the Packer's bitter rivals the Minnesota Vikings, and "retiring" twice along the way. He seems to have stayed retired now.
29. Evita's land: Abbr. : ARG. Don't cry for me.
31. Supply with more weapons : RE-ARM
38. __ code : AREA. 818 for me. Apparently that makes me a Valley Girl. Uh-huh, gag me with a spoon. Totally!
39. N.H. clock setting : EST
40. Chanted : INTONED
42. NFL snapper : CTR. Here's Jonathan Goodwin, the center for the San Francisco 49er's. Does wearing that uniform make him a red snapper?
43. Bistro awning word : CHEZ. Somewhere to enjoy your 45A.
47. Austrian state bordering three countries : TYROL. I learned to ski in the Tyrol many years ago. I also learned how to drink schnapps.
49. NFL positions : RGS. It's an NFL-fest today. Standard equipment issue for all playing that position (I hope):
50. Lovely, like a lass : BONNY
51. Cookie Monster eating sound : NOM
53. Poetic preposition : O'ER. How about this:
"With the ebon glass-fiber'd wand
in her grip held tight,
the 56A goddess arc'd
o'er the bar at such height,
falling softly to earth's bosom
afore e'en tis night".
in her grip held tight,
the 56A goddess arc'd
o'er the bar at such height,
falling softly to earth's bosom
afore e'en tis night".
Nah, I'll leave the poeticals to those of you who know what you're doing.
55. Equipment : GEAR
61. Brother of Peyton : ELI. Their pop, Archie, played QB for Ole Miss, and the campus speed limit is 18 MPH in honor of his number. Neat-o.
62. Cornerstone abbr. : ESTD. Probably a good job you don't add the time as well. "ESTD MMDXLVI 9:00 EST"
63. "I'm clueless" : NO IDEA
67. Go pfft : DIE. Full disclosure. I had "DIS" here first, as in DISSING someone with a "pfft!". Of course DISS is the correct spelling, and I didn't notice that LISU at 58D didn't make any sense. So I got the dreaded "The puzzle is completely filled" (translation: "Yeah, you goofed, dingbat") message when I was done. You can see my hunt for the culprit in the grid at the bottom.
68. It's charged : ION
69. Stretched out on the beach : SUNNED. Lovely subtle part-of-speech clue. "Stretched" in the past tense sense, not the intransitive verb sense. Had me thinking for a while.
70. Promise from a shy person? : IOU. Nice! Shy in the "not quite enough" sense.
71. New Orleans-to-Detroit dir. : NNE
72. Put to work : ENGAGE. Clecho with 17A. All kinds of stuff going on today.
Down:
1. "Spy vs. Spy" magazine : MAD
2. Modern art? : ARE. Another great little clue/answer. Eventually the "verb" usage penny dropped.
3. "__ the year's midnight ... ": Donne : 'TIS
4. "You missed it" : TOO LATE
5. Spanish 101 verb : ESTA
6. Appears impressively on the horizon : LOOMS. Usually in a bad way. Icebergs, slab-sided rusty tankers, battleships, Godzilla, Mount Doom and what-not.
7. Where most live : ASIA
8. "M*A*S*H" episode, now : RERUN. RETRO went in, TRO came out.
9. Favor : PREFER
10. Silent ape : MIME. Why aren't mimes particularly original? Because they can't think outside the box.
11. "American __" : IDOL
12. Like no news? : GOOD
20. Make it big in Hollywood : BE A STAR
21. Bean sprout? : IDEA. Lovely clue/answer. Food! Well, the clue was. I'm making pad thai tonight.
22. Goal : OBJECT
23. Like many tabloids : TRASHY
24. Tenant : RENTER
28. Mai __ : TAI
30. 64-Down research subject : GENE SET. Used in gene set variation analysis, as everybody knows. Well, as everybody knows who just Googled it like me. Thank you, crosses.
32. Obscure : ARCANE
33. Light-sensitive eye layer : RETINA
34. Saint Stephen, e.g. : MARTYR. My patron saint. December 26th is his Saint's day, for those of you who pay attention to such matters.
36. Mom's bro : UNC
37. PBS funder : NEA. National Endowment for the Arts. Lovely people.
41. Name : DUB
44. Temperate __ : ZONE
46. Lumberjack's trade : LOGGING. I can't resist.
48. Hippie happening : LOVE-IN
52. Layer of stones : MASON
54. Shampoo instruction : RINSE. Then, apparently, repeat. In other words "use twice as much product as you need to, thank you very much".
56. Mani counterpart : PEDI
57. Mishmash : OLIO. One of my personal crossword faves - C.C. patiently explained the difference between OLEO and OLIO to me when I first started reading this blog,
58. Stead : LIEU. Ha! I had "DIS" in lieu of "DIE"! How apropos.
59. "Cure Ignorance" online reader : UTNE. I didn't even see this until I got here, so thank you, crosses.
60. Doohickey or whatchamacallit, e.g. : NOUN. Very neat. Another of the day's fun clues.
64. "CSI" evidence : DNA
65. Brain scan, for short : EEG. I'm starting to finally get all the "E-something-G" stuff straight.
66. Citrusy drink : ADE.
Here's the grid. I'll get my coat.
Steve
