Theme: Traffic Circles - as the reveal explains:
63A. Intersecting road ... and one of a pair indicated by each puzzle circle : CROSS STREET
17A. Breakfast order : SESAME BAGEL
and
5D. North Dakota symbol : ELM TREE. Sesame Street/Elm Street. Fun juxtaposition here with one of America's friendliest streets crossing one that's definitely on the darker side.
35A. Breakfast order : OVER EASY.
and
11D. Line in a utility network : WATER MAIN. Easy Street/Main Street. Bob Seger sang about the Main Street in his home town of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
57A. Where the world is really flat? : WALL MAP.
and
34D. United Federation of Planets affiliate : STARFLEET. Wall Street/Fleet Street. Fleet Street is the odd one out here as it's in London. The area was the center of the British newspaper industry; most of the national and London dailies were printed on or around Fleet Street. The Starfleet comes from the Star Trek series.
G'day all! C.C's latest is a neat exercise in crossing theme entries. You might notice that the themers are not all arranged symmetrically in the grid, but I think it would be pretty much impossible to pull that off given the subject matter. The circles show us where to look for the street corners.
This wasn't the quickest solve for me; there were quite a few unknowns that I had to slowly fill with crosses, but everything came together at the end. There are quite a few unique or infrequently-used words in the grid which, coupled with the Thursday-level cluing, accounts for the crunchiness here. Good stuff.
Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Carmen of jazz : MCRAE. First of the unknowns for me right off the bat. I'm not a big jazz hat.
6. Ludicrous : ANTIC. Very nice. This area was tough for me, with this, LEONA and the unknown NEA crossing both of them.
11. It may be declared : WAR
14. Popular font : ARIAL
15. "Bleeding Love" singer Lewis : LEONA. Another unknown. The E was a WAG and thankfully a correct one.
16. Legendary fighter : ALI
19. Tee, for one : TOP. The shirt, not the golf gizmo.
20. Hymn relative : ODE
21. __-color pasta salad : TRI. Food! The colors in the salad are meant to be representative of "Il tricolore", the Italian flag. No olives were harmed in the preparation of this dish by any murderous sociopaths.
22. Grand cousins : SPINETS. I dithered around with this one - I understood the clue, but I thought there were two "n"s in the word. A spinet in this context is a small piano, hence a cousin to the much larger grand piano. In the past, I associated a spinet with a harpsichord. Learning moment.
24. Goth accessory : NOSE RING. My daughter has two. Kids these days, eh? Pah!
27. Sugarloaf lift : T-BAR. I was thinking of the famous Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio, and wondered why the answer wasn't GONDOLA. Sugarloaf ski resort in Maine.
28. Make equipment changes : RETOOL
30. Austen classic : EMMA. I tried Jane EYRE first, which was rather futile considering that Charlotte Brontë wrote the story of the governess.
32. Egypt's second president : NASSER. The reservoir lake formed by the Aswan High Dam is named for him.
38. Summer hrs. in Philly : EDT
39. Call off the affair : END IT
41. Expert follower? : -ISE
42. "However ... " : THAT SAID
45. Regular hangouts : HAUNTS. I was thinking along the "local pub" lines for a while.
48. Shootout shout : DRAW!
49. In shreds : TORN UP
51. Wig out : FLIP
53. Mentor's offering : GUIDANCE
60. Part of M.S.: Abbr. : SCI
61. Seaside raptor : ERN
62. Explosive state : IRE
66. Price of admission : FEE. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I was going to Disneyland with my daughter. We got "two park hopper" passes for the Happiest Place on Earth and California Adventure. The fee for that two-fer is not for the faint-hearted.
67. All together : AS ONE
68. Stranger : ODDER
69. Enjoy oysters, say : EAT. This seemed oddly random to me - why oysters? But then again, why not?
70. Runner of 1992 : PEROT
71. Like Satchmo's singing voice : RASPY. I had BASSO first and thought I was being clever until nothing would fit around it.
Down:
1. Worker with blocks : MASON. Check this out - this is the Crimple Valley Oracle in England. This is a dry-stone wall built in Yorkshire - no mortar is used. See the details of the project here.
2. Set of beliefs : CREDO
3. Stops lying : RISES
4. Class for baseball's Durham Bulls : AAA
6. White whale, e.g. : ALBINO
7. Org. with a "Raise Your Hand" campaign : NEA. Wild stab in the dark, fortunately I stabbed correctly. The National Education Association's campaign for educators to become leaders in a national movement for public education.
8. Wardrobe : TOGS
9. Ham-handed : INEPT
10. Ammunition measurement : CALIBER. Inches, millimeters, all kinds of measurements going on here.
12. Gazillions : A LOT
13. Turbulent currents : RIPS
18. Nation east of Sudan : ERITREA
23. Sonny or Cher : NAME
25. RNs' workplaces : ER'S
26. Compliment to a boxer : GOOD DOG! I just couldn't get NICE PUNCH! to fit.
29. Half of CXII : LVI
31. Coach's aide: Abbr : ASST.
32. Service stopper : NET. Too many service faults and you're going to hear some colorful language.
33. Adderall target : ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
36. Ones bonded by a common culture : ETHNICS
37. "Sounds good" : YES
40. Little beef : NIT
43. Like most supermodels : TALL. Gisele Bündchen, the model married to QB Tom Brady, is 5'11".
44. Pool wear : SWIM CAP. When I was spending a lot of time in chlorinated pools training for triathlons, my hair started to break off by the handful. I got a swim cap.
46. Reviewer of books : AUDITOR
47. Put __ fight : UP A
50. McDonald's potato variety : RUSSET. The french fries have not been the same since they stopped cooking 'em in lard.
52. Break down, as a sentence : PARSE
54. They may be pressing : NEEDS
55. Move at a snail's pace : CREEP
56. Contest submission : ENTRY
57. Certain partner : WIFE
58. Calculus calculation : AREA. This stuff gave me nightmares at school. I never "got" calculus.
59. Lame, as an excuse : POOR
64. __-Caps: candy : SNO
65. Nutritional stat : RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance.
And ... here's the grid.
Steve
63A. Intersecting road ... and one of a pair indicated by each puzzle circle : CROSS STREET
17A. Breakfast order : SESAME BAGEL
and
5D. North Dakota symbol : ELM TREE. Sesame Street/Elm Street. Fun juxtaposition here with one of America's friendliest streets crossing one that's definitely on the darker side.
35A. Breakfast order : OVER EASY.
and
11D. Line in a utility network : WATER MAIN. Easy Street/Main Street. Bob Seger sang about the Main Street in his home town of Ann Arbor, Michigan.
57A. Where the world is really flat? : WALL MAP.
and
34D. United Federation of Planets affiliate : STARFLEET. Wall Street/Fleet Street. Fleet Street is the odd one out here as it's in London. The area was the center of the British newspaper industry; most of the national and London dailies were printed on or around Fleet Street. The Starfleet comes from the Star Trek series.
G'day all! C.C's latest is a neat exercise in crossing theme entries. You might notice that the themers are not all arranged symmetrically in the grid, but I think it would be pretty much impossible to pull that off given the subject matter. The circles show us where to look for the street corners.
This wasn't the quickest solve for me; there were quite a few unknowns that I had to slowly fill with crosses, but everything came together at the end. There are quite a few unique or infrequently-used words in the grid which, coupled with the Thursday-level cluing, accounts for the crunchiness here. Good stuff.
Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Carmen of jazz : MCRAE. First of the unknowns for me right off the bat. I'm not a big jazz hat.
6. Ludicrous : ANTIC. Very nice. This area was tough for me, with this, LEONA and the unknown NEA crossing both of them.
11. It may be declared : WAR
14. Popular font : ARIAL
15. "Bleeding Love" singer Lewis : LEONA. Another unknown. The E was a WAG and thankfully a correct one.
16. Legendary fighter : ALI
19. Tee, for one : TOP. The shirt, not the golf gizmo.
20. Hymn relative : ODE
21. __-color pasta salad : TRI. Food! The colors in the salad are meant to be representative of "Il tricolore", the Italian flag. No olives were harmed in the preparation of this dish by any murderous sociopaths.
22. Grand cousins : SPINETS. I dithered around with this one - I understood the clue, but I thought there were two "n"s in the word. A spinet in this context is a small piano, hence a cousin to the much larger grand piano. In the past, I associated a spinet with a harpsichord. Learning moment.
24. Goth accessory : NOSE RING. My daughter has two. Kids these days, eh? Pah!
27. Sugarloaf lift : T-BAR. I was thinking of the famous Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio, and wondered why the answer wasn't GONDOLA. Sugarloaf ski resort in Maine.
28. Make equipment changes : RETOOL
30. Austen classic : EMMA. I tried Jane EYRE first, which was rather futile considering that Charlotte Brontë wrote the story of the governess.
32. Egypt's second president : NASSER. The reservoir lake formed by the Aswan High Dam is named for him.
38. Summer hrs. in Philly : EDT
39. Call off the affair : END IT
41. Expert follower? : -ISE
42. "However ... " : THAT SAID
45. Regular hangouts : HAUNTS. I was thinking along the "local pub" lines for a while.
48. Shootout shout : DRAW!
49. In shreds : TORN UP
51. Wig out : FLIP
53. Mentor's offering : GUIDANCE
60. Part of M.S.: Abbr. : SCI
61. Seaside raptor : ERN
62. Explosive state : IRE
66. Price of admission : FEE. I mentioned a couple of weeks ago I was going to Disneyland with my daughter. We got "two park hopper" passes for the Happiest Place on Earth and California Adventure. The fee for that two-fer is not for the faint-hearted.
67. All together : AS ONE
68. Stranger : ODDER
69. Enjoy oysters, say : EAT. This seemed oddly random to me - why oysters? But then again, why not?
70. Runner of 1992 : PEROT
71. Like Satchmo's singing voice : RASPY. I had BASSO first and thought I was being clever until nothing would fit around it.
Down:
1. Worker with blocks : MASON. Check this out - this is the Crimple Valley Oracle in England. This is a dry-stone wall built in Yorkshire - no mortar is used. See the details of the project here.
2. Set of beliefs : CREDO
3. Stops lying : RISES
4. Class for baseball's Durham Bulls : AAA
6. White whale, e.g. : ALBINO
7. Org. with a "Raise Your Hand" campaign : NEA. Wild stab in the dark, fortunately I stabbed correctly. The National Education Association's campaign for educators to become leaders in a national movement for public education.
8. Wardrobe : TOGS
9. Ham-handed : INEPT
10. Ammunition measurement : CALIBER. Inches, millimeters, all kinds of measurements going on here.
12. Gazillions : A LOT
13. Turbulent currents : RIPS
18. Nation east of Sudan : ERITREA
23. Sonny or Cher : NAME
25. RNs' workplaces : ER'S
26. Compliment to a boxer : GOOD DOG! I just couldn't get NICE PUNCH! to fit.
29. Half of CXII : LVI
31. Coach's aide: Abbr : ASST.
32. Service stopper : NET. Too many service faults and you're going to hear some colorful language.
33. Adderall target : ADHD. Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
36. Ones bonded by a common culture : ETHNICS
37. "Sounds good" : YES
40. Little beef : NIT
43. Like most supermodels : TALL. Gisele Bündchen, the model married to QB Tom Brady, is 5'11".
44. Pool wear : SWIM CAP. When I was spending a lot of time in chlorinated pools training for triathlons, my hair started to break off by the handful. I got a swim cap.
46. Reviewer of books : AUDITOR
47. Put __ fight : UP A
50. McDonald's potato variety : RUSSET. The french fries have not been the same since they stopped cooking 'em in lard.
52. Break down, as a sentence : PARSE
54. They may be pressing : NEEDS
55. Move at a snail's pace : CREEP
56. Contest submission : ENTRY
57. Certain partner : WIFE
58. Calculus calculation : AREA. This stuff gave me nightmares at school. I never "got" calculus.
59. Lame, as an excuse : POOR
64. __-Caps: candy : SNO
65. Nutritional stat : RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance.
And ... here's the grid.
Steve
