Theme: Mega Mix - Word scrambles
17A. Get-even competition : GRUDGE MATCH. The rematches between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fit nicely into this category. After Ali's sad passing last Friday, George Foreman related that Ali wanted George to come out of retirement so he could beat up Ken Norton for him. Fun stuff. And a great excuse for an iconic photograph taken by Neil Liefer:
24A. Kunta Kinte's country : THE GAMBIA. I confess I've never seen "Roots", so I needed crosses here. I'm looking forward to the new remake.
38A. They're often seen under hoods : GARAGE MECHANICS. I just got shot of my old car, my mechanic was spending more time with it that I was. I leased a "for fun" sports coupe that allegedly has a top speed of 160MPH. I need to take it to Germany to figure out if that's true.
50A. "I didn't get that" : COME AGAIN?
62A. Last-minute interception, say, and a hint to this puzzle's circles : GAME CHANGER. The famous last-second interception in Superbowl XLIX was an all-time doozy. I don't think Pete Carroll can still believe it happened.
Nice theme from Matt, and the themers all split the GAME scramble across two words. Nothing at all clunky in the fill, I thought this was very nice and smooth. A grid-spanner across the middle and a couple of long downs filled things out nicely. Let's take a look at what else jumps out.
Across:
1. Two cents : SAY. I had the S and decided on a whim that a SOU was a French coin worth two cents. I couldn't have been more 66% wrong.
4. Place for pews : SANCTUM. Nice! I'd never thought of a sanctum being anything other than an inner one, with secrets I'd never be privy to. NAVE is often the answer for this clue.
11. Hubcap holder : RIM
14. NASDAQ news : I.P.O. Initial Public Offering. Usually followed by Immediate Profit Offloading.
15. Awabi sushi mollusk : ABALONE. Food! Abalone in California are caught by hand, and there's a guy who fishes the Farallon Islands off San Francisco who shares the waters with between 30 and 100 Great White sharks depending on the time of year. He admits to being nervous at times.
16. Actress Brenneman : AMY
19. "Tell Me More" broadcaster : NPR
20. __ de Cervantes : MIGUEL. Of Don Quixote fame.
21. El stop: Abbr. : STA. Tried STN first. Got it wrong.
22. City SSE of Sana'a : ADEN
23. Bath oil additive : ALOE
26. Traffic slower : GLARE
29. Suffix in skin product names : DERM
30. Pressure letters : PSI Pounds per Square Inch.
32. Usual : NORM. Check out Norm drinking his usual in "Cheers".
34. Tests using mice : MAZES
42. "It's __ simple" : ALL SO
43. The other side of midnight? : NOON. Didn't think twice about this. I was on Matt's wavelength today.
44. __ reaction : GUT
45. Skated : SLID
48. Crammer's tablet : NO-DOZ. Last fill; I couldn't shake the "iPad" tablet thinking and then rumbled the pill angle. Too much caffeine gives me a migraine, not what you want when you're cramming.
54. One of a Social Security card pair : DASH 999-99-9999
57. Problem for Lady Macbeth : SPOT. She needed better detergent. What was that stuff we had on here last week - Soil-be-gone or something?
58. Unwritten parts of some addresses : UMS. We've all sat through extremes of the "Ladies and, um, gentlemen, um, thanks for um, coming today and um, um ....". Makes your toes curl.
59. Scarlet letter, e.g. : STIGMA. Had -IGMA so didn't stop to read the clue and just threw ENIGMA in. Went back and fixed that about a minute later.
61. Babe's environs : PEN. No crosses at the time, so impetuously STY went in.
64. Torah holder : ARK
65. Fallacious : IN ERROR
66. Cauliflower __ : EAR. Ali avoided these, as do many boxers nowadays. I think the referees are much more on guard for nefarious ear-abuse.
67. "Street Dreams" rapper : NAS
68. Droopy face feature : SAD EYES
69. Like about half the counties in Arkansas : DRY. Not going there on vacation, right, Tinbeni?
Down:
1. 18th Greek letter : SIGMA
2. 4, at times : APRIL. This clued me into the fact that SOU was a rather idiotic attempt to solve 1A.
3. Cry of support : YOU GO GIRL!
4. Herb in a ballad : SAGE. Food! Along with parsley, rosemary and thyme in "Scarborough Fair". Simon and Garfunkel got the pronunciation of the town mostly correct.
5. Genesis brother : ABEL
6. "We Were Soldiers" setting : NAM. From the book "We were soldiers once, and young" written by Harold Moore, the officer portrayed in the movie, and the amazing Vietnam news reporter Joe Galloway. Intense reading.
7. What stripes and polka dots do : CLASH. I think the yellow Bug clashes more with the pink purse, to be honest.
8. Added (up) : TOTTED. Is this British English? I've not heard it for a while.
9. Free, as a bird : UNCAGE. Love the clue.
10. "Does nothing for me" : MEH.
11. Anita Baker genre : R AND B. Rhythm and Blues. I always put an extra "y" in rhythm and then wonder why it looks wrong.
12. 1983 Pritzker prize recipient : I.M. PEI. Solid crosses.
13. Loy of "Thin Man" films : MYRNA Solid crosses!
18. Fight with rules : DUEL. Gadzoiks, ye bounder! Pistols at twenty paces!
22. Mideast capital : AMMAN
24. __ paper : TERM
25. Tycoon Hammer : ARMAND. Hall-of-fame name.
27. Its capital is Luanda : ANGOLA
28. Sushi topper : ROE. Food! Remind me to go get sushi this week, it's been way too long. I roll my own sometimes for parties:
30. Sports org. founded in 1916 : P.G.A.
31. Co-star of James and Natalie in "Rebel Without a Cause" : SAL. Mineo.
33. Wise __ : MEN ".. say, only fools rush in"
35. Went like lightning : ZIG-ZAGGED
36. Former French coin : ECU
37. 2003 retiree, briefly : SST. Supersonic Transports. It's a shame they retired the Concorde, but I lived under the Heathrow flight path in London for a few years and those things rattled the windows. They were LOUD.
39. Positive point : ASSET
40. Fifth state: Abbr. : CONN. Oh, so not COLOrado then? I guess not. Zero marks for history.
41. Half a beverage : HOO. Maybe this one might raise some eyebrows. Yoo-hoo is the beverage.
46. Reptile with a "third eye" : IGUANA. Wikipedia notes:
"A parietal eye, also known as a third eye or pineal eye, is a part of the epithalamus present in some animal species. The eye is photoreceptive and is associated with the pineal gland, regulating circadian rhythmicity and hormone production for thermoregulation.".
So there we have it. Now repeat back to me. "A parietal .....".
47. Blocked, beaver-style : DAMMED
49. God in both Eddas : ODIN. There are two Eddas? There I was, all smug because I knew there was (were)? an edda (eddas?) and now I find there are two varieties - the prose and the poetic. Cross "smug" off my list of boasts today.
50. Where to see the House : C-SPAN. Capital "H" warning - it's not what you think.
51. Dvorák's "Rusalka," for one : OPERA
52. Some ascetics : MONKS
53. Rhone tributary : ISÈRE. I skied many times in Val D'Isère, site of the 1992 Winter Olympics downhill races, so this came relatively easy (unlike the skiing). The river in the village was about <- yay -> wide and mostly frozen; I've jumped across it in ski boots. In spring with the snowmelt at the bottom of the valley in Moutiers, it was usually <^^^^^^^^^^^^^ YAY ^^^^^^^^^^^^> wide and happy to turn tour buses into cruise ships.
55. Sully : SMEAR. What you'd be if you missed a turn on the Val D'Isère Olympic course.
56. Bother no end : HARRY.
59. It's about a foot : SHOE
60. Works on roads : TARS. The Black Stuff.
62. PX patrons : GI'S
63. Blubber : CRY
And ... here's the grid. Time to finish off some chicken thighs braising on the cooktop. Food!
Steve
17A. Get-even competition : GRUDGE MATCH. The rematches between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier fit nicely into this category. After Ali's sad passing last Friday, George Foreman related that Ali wanted George to come out of retirement so he could beat up Ken Norton for him. Fun stuff. And a great excuse for an iconic photograph taken by Neil Liefer:
38A. They're often seen under hoods : GARAGE MECHANICS. I just got shot of my old car, my mechanic was spending more time with it that I was. I leased a "for fun" sports coupe that allegedly has a top speed of 160MPH. I need to take it to Germany to figure out if that's true.
50A. "I didn't get that" : COME AGAIN?
62A. Last-minute interception, say, and a hint to this puzzle's circles : GAME CHANGER. The famous last-second interception in Superbowl XLIX was an all-time doozy. I don't think Pete Carroll can still believe it happened.
Nice theme from Matt, and the themers all split the GAME scramble across two words. Nothing at all clunky in the fill, I thought this was very nice and smooth. A grid-spanner across the middle and a couple of long downs filled things out nicely. Let's take a look at what else jumps out.
Across:
1. Two cents : SAY. I had the S and decided on a whim that a SOU was a French coin worth two cents. I couldn't have been more 66% wrong.
4. Place for pews : SANCTUM. Nice! I'd never thought of a sanctum being anything other than an inner one, with secrets I'd never be privy to. NAVE is often the answer for this clue.
11. Hubcap holder : RIM
14. NASDAQ news : I.P.O. Initial Public Offering. Usually followed by Immediate Profit Offloading.
15. Awabi sushi mollusk : ABALONE. Food! Abalone in California are caught by hand, and there's a guy who fishes the Farallon Islands off San Francisco who shares the waters with between 30 and 100 Great White sharks depending on the time of year. He admits to being nervous at times.
16. Actress Brenneman : AMY
19. "Tell Me More" broadcaster : NPR
20. __ de Cervantes : MIGUEL. Of Don Quixote fame.
21. El stop: Abbr. : STA. Tried STN first. Got it wrong.
22. City SSE of Sana'a : ADEN
23. Bath oil additive : ALOE
26. Traffic slower : GLARE
29. Suffix in skin product names : DERM
30. Pressure letters : PSI Pounds per Square Inch.
32. Usual : NORM. Check out Norm drinking his usual in "Cheers".
34. Tests using mice : MAZES
42. "It's __ simple" : ALL SO
43. The other side of midnight? : NOON. Didn't think twice about this. I was on Matt's wavelength today.
44. __ reaction : GUT
45. Skated : SLID
48. Crammer's tablet : NO-DOZ. Last fill; I couldn't shake the "iPad" tablet thinking and then rumbled the pill angle. Too much caffeine gives me a migraine, not what you want when you're cramming.
54. One of a Social Security card pair : DASH 999-99-9999
57. Problem for Lady Macbeth : SPOT. She needed better detergent. What was that stuff we had on here last week - Soil-be-gone or something?
58. Unwritten parts of some addresses : UMS. We've all sat through extremes of the "Ladies and, um, gentlemen, um, thanks for um, coming today and um, um ....". Makes your toes curl.
59. Scarlet letter, e.g. : STIGMA. Had -IGMA so didn't stop to read the clue and just threw ENIGMA in. Went back and fixed that about a minute later.
61. Babe's environs : PEN. No crosses at the time, so impetuously STY went in.
64. Torah holder : ARK
65. Fallacious : IN ERROR
66. Cauliflower __ : EAR. Ali avoided these, as do many boxers nowadays. I think the referees are much more on guard for nefarious ear-abuse.
67. "Street Dreams" rapper : NAS
68. Droopy face feature : SAD EYES
69. Like about half the counties in Arkansas : DRY. Not going there on vacation, right, Tinbeni?
Down:
1. 18th Greek letter : SIGMA
2. 4, at times : APRIL. This clued me into the fact that SOU was a rather idiotic attempt to solve 1A.
3. Cry of support : YOU GO GIRL!
4. Herb in a ballad : SAGE. Food! Along with parsley, rosemary and thyme in "Scarborough Fair". Simon and Garfunkel got the pronunciation of the town mostly correct.
5. Genesis brother : ABEL
6. "We Were Soldiers" setting : NAM. From the book "We were soldiers once, and young" written by Harold Moore, the officer portrayed in the movie, and the amazing Vietnam news reporter Joe Galloway. Intense reading.
7. What stripes and polka dots do : CLASH. I think the yellow Bug clashes more with the pink purse, to be honest.
8. Added (up) : TOTTED. Is this British English? I've not heard it for a while.
9. Free, as a bird : UNCAGE. Love the clue.
10. "Does nothing for me" : MEH.
11. Anita Baker genre : R AND B. Rhythm and Blues. I always put an extra "y" in rhythm and then wonder why it looks wrong.
12. 1983 Pritzker prize recipient : I.M. PEI. Solid crosses.
13. Loy of "Thin Man" films : MYRNA Solid crosses!
18. Fight with rules : DUEL. Gadzoiks, ye bounder! Pistols at twenty paces!
22. Mideast capital : AMMAN
24. __ paper : TERM
25. Tycoon Hammer : ARMAND. Hall-of-fame name.
27. Its capital is Luanda : ANGOLA
28. Sushi topper : ROE. Food! Remind me to go get sushi this week, it's been way too long. I roll my own sometimes for parties:
30. Sports org. founded in 1916 : P.G.A.
31. Co-star of James and Natalie in "Rebel Without a Cause" : SAL. Mineo.
33. Wise __ : MEN ".. say, only fools rush in"
35. Went like lightning : ZIG-ZAGGED
36. Former French coin : ECU
37. 2003 retiree, briefly : SST. Supersonic Transports. It's a shame they retired the Concorde, but I lived under the Heathrow flight path in London for a few years and those things rattled the windows. They were LOUD.
39. Positive point : ASSET
40. Fifth state: Abbr. : CONN. Oh, so not COLOrado then? I guess not. Zero marks for history.
41. Half a beverage : HOO. Maybe this one might raise some eyebrows. Yoo-hoo is the beverage.
46. Reptile with a "third eye" : IGUANA. Wikipedia notes:
"A parietal eye, also known as a third eye or pineal eye, is a part of the epithalamus present in some animal species. The eye is photoreceptive and is associated with the pineal gland, regulating circadian rhythmicity and hormone production for thermoregulation.".
So there we have it. Now repeat back to me. "A parietal .....".
47. Blocked, beaver-style : DAMMED
49. God in both Eddas : ODIN. There are two Eddas? There I was, all smug because I knew there was (were)? an edda (eddas?) and now I find there are two varieties - the prose and the poetic. Cross "smug" off my list of boasts today.
50. Where to see the House : C-SPAN. Capital "H" warning - it's not what you think.
51. Dvorák's "Rusalka," for one : OPERA
52. Some ascetics : MONKS
53. Rhone tributary : ISÈRE. I skied many times in Val D'Isère, site of the 1992 Winter Olympics downhill races, so this came relatively easy (unlike the skiing). The river in the village was about <- yay -> wide and mostly frozen; I've jumped across it in ski boots. In spring with the snowmelt at the bottom of the valley in Moutiers, it was usually <^^^^^^^^^^^^^ YAY ^^^^^^^^^^^^> wide and happy to turn tour buses into cruise ships.
55. Sully : SMEAR. What you'd be if you missed a turn on the Val D'Isère Olympic course.
56. Bother no end : HARRY.
59. It's about a foot : SHOE
60. Works on roads : TARS. The Black Stuff.
62. PX patrons : GI'S
63. Blubber : CRY
And ... here's the grid. Time to finish off some chicken thighs braising on the cooktop. Food!
Steve
