Theme: V-oice Exercise: A vowel progression on "V". I shared a flat with two drama students in London many moons ago, and they would trill their vowel progression voice exercises over breakfast: "Mah-may-mee-my-mow-moo-mah" or in this case "Va-Veh-Vih-Voe-Vuh". Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders were in the same class; Jennifer's boyfriend owned the house we were renting. What's that got to do with the price of gas? Not a whole lot, let's get back on track.
18A. Personal guide : VALUE SYSTEM. Not Nordstrom shopper?
24A. Shoe fastener : VELCRO STRIP. My bike cleats have these. Handy.
38A. Historic Manhattan jazz club : VILLAGE VANGUARD. Crosses all the way for me. The club opened in Greenwich Village in 1935 and became an all-jazz venue in 1975.
48A. Cloud above a peak : VOLCANIC ASH. One of those tricky-to-parse entries. I had "CASH" in place at the end, and once you see something like that, it's tough to un-see it.
58A. Source of the Romance languages : VULGAR LATIN. Or what is inscribed on the walls of Roman public bathrooms? We studied Latin poetry at school; let me tell you, some of the stanzas from Catullus and Martial would make your hair curl. Google at your peril.
Solid Thursday from Jacob; minor gripe is that VANGUARD repeats the first vowel progression and doesn't form part of the theme, although it's part of a theme entry. Minor, but a gripe.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. One of a pair in "Waiting for Godot" : ACT. Not "tramp" or derivative thereof - nice cluing. I once saw a production of "Godot" where Vladimir and Estragon were both in grecian urns with only their heads visible. It's not exactly the most exciting play, and this static staging was curious to say the least.
4. __ ray : COSMIC
10. Where rds. meet : JCTS. Roads/Junctions. How about some Tuxedo Junction?
14. Frat address : BRO. bluto@deltatauchi.bro? Maybe not that kind of address.
15. Iris ring : AREOLA. I'm going to sit back and wait for the picture links in the comments.
16. Obama's birthplace : OAHU
17. Basic resting place : COT. Basic Training. Barracks. Cot. Basic it might have been, but very welcome.
20. Start of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" : 'TWAS the night before Christmas ...
22. Common base : TEN. We geeks also have binary, octal and hexadecimal in our bag of bases.
23. "Joke's on you!" : HA HA!
27. Animal's gullet : MAW
30. "To see __ is a picture": Dickinson : HER
31. Make subservient : ENSLAVE
33. Nincompoop : BOOB. Snigger. With 15A. Snigger.
35. "Biggest Little City in the World" : RENO
37. Next Dodger after Fernando to win the Cy Young Award : OREL. If Clayton Kershaw keeps it up, he's going to be the next Cy Young winner.
41. Ancient Icelandic text : EDDA
42. Birthstone for some Scorpios : OPAL
43. Bavarian count opener : EINS, zwei, drei ...
44. Pose anew, as a question : REFRAME
46. Hosp. areas : E.R.S
47. Put away : ATE
54. Hideout : LAIR
56. Crude shelter : HUT
57. Thing on a string : KITE
62. Sound after a punch : OOF!
63. How some games are won, briefly : IN O.T.
64. Dawn goddess : AURORA
65. Aflame : LIT
66. Cuts : MOWS. All sing along: "One man went to mow, went to mow a meadow, one man and his dog went to mow a meadow. Two men went to mow, went to mow a meadow, two men one man and his dog, Spot, went to mow a meadow. Three men went to mow ... " Continue ad nauseam.
When I used to go to Stamford Bridge in London in the '70s to watch my soccer club Chelsea, prior to kick-off the pitch would be given the once-over with the mower, Zamboni-style, and the crowd would serenade the mower guy up and down the pitch. He usually finished around "Twenty-three men went to mow". We were easily amused in those halcyon days. You want an ear worm? Here you go!
67. Shows disapproval, in a way : HISSES
68. Far from friendly : ICY
Down:
1. "How to Get Away With Murder" airer : ABC TV
2. Actor Russell : CROWE
3. Whole : TOTAL
4. Member of the reigning NBA champs : CAV. This clue breaks the "time-independent" convention for crosswords. If I came to solve this puzzle next year, there's no guarantee this clue/answer would be correct.
5. Big talker : ORATOR
6. Graf rival : SELES. Steffi and Monica of 90's professional tennis.
7. See 12-Down : MOUNT. Cross-referential angst for some.
8. The Seine's __ Saint-Germain : ÎLE. The city's' foremost professional soccer team is Paris Saint-Germain, which gives English-speaking commentators a crisis of pronunciation. Do you say "Paree" or "Paris"? You can't say "Parriss Saint Jerman", that sounds all wrong, "Parriss San-Germanne" is a curious hybrid and the correct "Paree San-Germanne" seems peculiar when you've been calling the city "Paris" all night. I'd stick to "PSG", but it's fun to listen to the manglings on TV.
9. Use to one's advantage : CASH IN ON
10. Tease : JOSH
11. Regatta racer : CATAMARAN
12. With 7-Down, sermon site : THE
13. (In) brief : SUM
19. Prattles : YAPS
21. Gentleman, at times? : SCHOLAR. Not always.
25. Sitcom that starred a singer : REBA
26. Kidney-related : RENAL
28. States as fact : AVERS
29. Join with heat : WELD
32. Comedian who said, "I have a lot of beliefs, and I live by none of 'em" : LOUIS C.K. Never heard of him, so had to look up how to parse the name. Crosses all the way for me. His real name is Louis Székely.
33. Lavatory fixture : BIDET. The first time I saw one I thought it was for washing your socks.
34. Chap : OLD FELLOW
35. Turn off : REPEL
36. Green of "Penny Dreadful" : EVA. Thank you, crosses. BBC America "psychological thriller" series, apparently. Here's Ms. Green looking appropriately deep and disturbed:
38. Designer Wang : VERA
39. Scene of biblical destruction : GOMORRAH. Twin city of Begorrah, Ireland. No, wait ...
40. Spice Girl Halliwell : GERI
45. Nike competitor : AVIA. I had ASIC first, forgetting the final "S".
46. Whole : ENTIRE
49. Blackens : CHARS
50. Jaguars, for instance : AUTOS. Funny, I'm much more likely to think of German cars as "autos" rather than British ones. Automobiles, maybe.
51. Garlicky spread : AIOLI
52. Unlikely to come unglued : STOIC
53. Big name in the bags aisle : HEFTY. Was looking for purses at first. Louis Vuitton didn't fit, Coach didn't work with my crosses, then I was struggling. Ah, trash!
55. Fed. employees : AGTS
58. Energetic spirit : VIM. Usually partnered with "Vigor". A tennis doubles duo you don't want to come up against.
59. Game with wild cards : UNO. Never played it. Anyone know the rules?
60. Him, to Henri : LUI
61. "A Queens Story" rapper : NAS. Slowly but surely this is taking root in my crossword brain.
Alrighty then! Heeere's the grid! My work here is done.
Steve
18A. Personal guide : VALUE SYSTEM. Not Nordstrom shopper?
24A. Shoe fastener : VELCRO STRIP. My bike cleats have these. Handy.
38A. Historic Manhattan jazz club : VILLAGE VANGUARD. Crosses all the way for me. The club opened in Greenwich Village in 1935 and became an all-jazz venue in 1975.
48A. Cloud above a peak : VOLCANIC ASH. One of those tricky-to-parse entries. I had "CASH" in place at the end, and once you see something like that, it's tough to un-see it.
58A. Source of the Romance languages : VULGAR LATIN. Or what is inscribed on the walls of Roman public bathrooms? We studied Latin poetry at school; let me tell you, some of the stanzas from Catullus and Martial would make your hair curl. Google at your peril.
Solid Thursday from Jacob; minor gripe is that VANGUARD repeats the first vowel progression and doesn't form part of the theme, although it's part of a theme entry. Minor, but a gripe.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. One of a pair in "Waiting for Godot" : ACT. Not "tramp" or derivative thereof - nice cluing. I once saw a production of "Godot" where Vladimir and Estragon were both in grecian urns with only their heads visible. It's not exactly the most exciting play, and this static staging was curious to say the least.
4. __ ray : COSMIC
10. Where rds. meet : JCTS. Roads/Junctions. How about some Tuxedo Junction?
14. Frat address : BRO. bluto@deltatauchi.bro? Maybe not that kind of address.
15. Iris ring : AREOLA. I'm going to sit back and wait for the picture links in the comments.
16. Obama's birthplace : OAHU
17. Basic resting place : COT. Basic Training. Barracks. Cot. Basic it might have been, but very welcome.
20. Start of "A Visit From St. Nicholas" : 'TWAS the night before Christmas ...
22. Common base : TEN. We geeks also have binary, octal and hexadecimal in our bag of bases.
23. "Joke's on you!" : HA HA!
27. Animal's gullet : MAW
30. "To see __ is a picture": Dickinson : HER
31. Make subservient : ENSLAVE
33. Nincompoop : BOOB. Snigger. With 15A. Snigger.
35. "Biggest Little City in the World" : RENO
37. Next Dodger after Fernando to win the Cy Young Award : OREL. If Clayton Kershaw keeps it up, he's going to be the next Cy Young winner.
41. Ancient Icelandic text : EDDA
42. Birthstone for some Scorpios : OPAL
43. Bavarian count opener : EINS, zwei, drei ...
44. Pose anew, as a question : REFRAME
46. Hosp. areas : E.R.S
47. Put away : ATE
54. Hideout : LAIR
56. Crude shelter : HUT
57. Thing on a string : KITE
62. Sound after a punch : OOF!
63. How some games are won, briefly : IN O.T.
64. Dawn goddess : AURORA
65. Aflame : LIT
66. Cuts : MOWS. All sing along: "One man went to mow, went to mow a meadow, one man and his dog went to mow a meadow. Two men went to mow, went to mow a meadow, two men one man and his dog, Spot, went to mow a meadow. Three men went to mow ... " Continue ad nauseam.
When I used to go to Stamford Bridge in London in the '70s to watch my soccer club Chelsea, prior to kick-off the pitch would be given the once-over with the mower, Zamboni-style, and the crowd would serenade the mower guy up and down the pitch. He usually finished around "Twenty-three men went to mow". We were easily amused in those halcyon days. You want an ear worm? Here you go!
67. Shows disapproval, in a way : HISSES
68. Far from friendly : ICY
Down:
1. "How to Get Away With Murder" airer : ABC TV
2. Actor Russell : CROWE
3. Whole : TOTAL
4. Member of the reigning NBA champs : CAV. This clue breaks the "time-independent" convention for crosswords. If I came to solve this puzzle next year, there's no guarantee this clue/answer would be correct.
5. Big talker : ORATOR
6. Graf rival : SELES. Steffi and Monica of 90's professional tennis.
7. See 12-Down : MOUNT. Cross-referential angst for some.
8. The Seine's __ Saint-Germain : ÎLE. The city's' foremost professional soccer team is Paris Saint-Germain, which gives English-speaking commentators a crisis of pronunciation. Do you say "Paree" or "Paris"? You can't say "Parriss Saint Jerman", that sounds all wrong, "Parriss San-Germanne" is a curious hybrid and the correct "Paree San-Germanne" seems peculiar when you've been calling the city "Paris" all night. I'd stick to "PSG", but it's fun to listen to the manglings on TV.
9. Use to one's advantage : CASH IN ON
10. Tease : JOSH
11. Regatta racer : CATAMARAN
12. With 7-Down, sermon site : THE
13. (In) brief : SUM
19. Prattles : YAPS
21. Gentleman, at times? : SCHOLAR. Not always.
25. Sitcom that starred a singer : REBA
26. Kidney-related : RENAL
28. States as fact : AVERS
29. Join with heat : WELD
32. Comedian who said, "I have a lot of beliefs, and I live by none of 'em" : LOUIS C.K. Never heard of him, so had to look up how to parse the name. Crosses all the way for me. His real name is Louis Székely.
33. Lavatory fixture : BIDET. The first time I saw one I thought it was for washing your socks.
34. Chap : OLD FELLOW
35. Turn off : REPEL
36. Green of "Penny Dreadful" : EVA. Thank you, crosses. BBC America "psychological thriller" series, apparently. Here's Ms. Green looking appropriately deep and disturbed:
38. Designer Wang : VERA
39. Scene of biblical destruction : GOMORRAH. Twin city of Begorrah, Ireland. No, wait ...
40. Spice Girl Halliwell : GERI
45. Nike competitor : AVIA. I had ASIC first, forgetting the final "S".
46. Whole : ENTIRE
49. Blackens : CHARS
50. Jaguars, for instance : AUTOS. Funny, I'm much more likely to think of German cars as "autos" rather than British ones. Automobiles, maybe.
51. Garlicky spread : AIOLI
52. Unlikely to come unglued : STOIC
53. Big name in the bags aisle : HEFTY. Was looking for purses at first. Louis Vuitton didn't fit, Coach didn't work with my crosses, then I was struggling. Ah, trash!
55. Fed. employees : AGTS
58. Energetic spirit : VIM. Usually partnered with "Vigor". A tennis doubles duo you don't want to come up against.
59. Game with wild cards : UNO. Never played it. Anyone know the rules?
60. Him, to Henri : LUI
61. "A Queens Story" rapper : NAS. Slowly but surely this is taking root in my crossword brain.
Alrighty then! Heeere's the grid! My work here is done.
Steve
