Theme: Career Path. Navigating the shark-infested corporate world.
17A Start of a business journey: ENTRY-LEVEL
24A. Way to get from 17- to 39-Across: CORPORATE LADDER. Here's a different take - fortunately I don't think I was in that word:
39A. Pinnacle of the journey: EXECUTIVE OFFICE. I wanted "CORNER OFFICE", except that corner was three letters too short. That was a clue.
52A. Way to get from 39- to 63-Across: GOLDEN PARACHUTE
63A. End of the journey: RETIREMENT
I enjoyed this theme from Jeff. The trick with these types of puzzle is to get enough crosses that one of the entries becomes apparent - in my case I got RETIREMENT when about six crosses were completed. From there it was a question of working backwards to guess at or solve the rest.
I like how the three "stages" were linked by two "how to get there" entries. Very elegant.
Across:
1. Bookie's concern: ODDS
5. Wedge-shaped bones: SACRA. Took me ages to tumble to this one.
10. Elite Eight org.: N.C.A.A. From the March Madness college basketball tourney organized by the N.C.A.A.
14. Bygone depilatory brand: NEET
15. Cantilevered window: ORIEL. I didn't know these were cantilevered. I do now.
16. Panhandler's income: ALMS. I see alms as more given to a charity, rather than an individual. I guess it's fine.
19. Watery defense, perhaps: MOAT
20. Hustle: HIE
21. First name in bike stunts: EVEL. Knievel.
23. Phased-out Secret Service weapon: UZI. I never knew the Secret Service used these. Wasn't there an acceptable US-made alternative?
29. Doce meses: ANO. Twelve months, one year. Spanish lesson for the day.
30. Roll of bills: WAD
31. Woolly mammal: EWE
32. Seasonal song ender: SYNE. I tried "TREE" as in the Partridge in a Pear one at first. I was wrong.
34. Proceed tediously: PLOD
37. Like pals who go way back: OLD
44. Three Gorges project: DAM. A big-assed dam spanning the Yangtze in China.
45. Wail: BAWL
46. Former autocrat: TSAR. __AR and wait for a cross to decide between TS and CZ
47. Stat for Miguel Cabrera: R.B.I. Runs Batted In. Baseball, natch.
59. Site with digging: RUIN
60. Witty remark: MOT. Doesn't it have to be a "bon mot"? I'm not convinced by "mot" flying solo here.
61. Word with work or play: BOOK. Workbook, playbook.
68. Field of work: LINE
69. Food poisoning cause: E. COLI. Nasty.
70. Times past: ERAS
71. Place of bliss: EDEN
72. Summer Triangle star: DENEB. Thank you crosses, completely unknown to me. Per Wikipedia:
"Deneb, also designated α Cygni, is the brightest star in the constellation of Cygnus. It is one of the vertices of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle and forms the 'head' of the neck-less Northern Cross."
73. WWI battle river: YSER
Down:
1. Top 40 title for Metallica or U2: ONE. Here's the U2 version.
2. Resting place: DEN
3. Overthrew: DETHRONED
4. Las Vegas feature: STRIP. Las Vegas Boulevard, officially. I'll be back in Vegas for another conference in a couple of weeks.
5. Peruvian currency: SOL. I swear I'll never remember this. I always rely on crosses.
6. Occur: ARE
7. Catlike carnivore: CIVET. I can never see "catlike" without "With catlike tread ... " from the Pirates of Penzance playing in my head.
8. "Deathtrap" actor: REEVE. Christopher Reeve in the 1972 movie adaptation of Ira Levin's stage play.
9. Gene variant: ALLELE. Thank you, crosses.
10. '60s hot spot: 'NAM
11. Data storage medium: CLOUD. Nice! With the C in place I was sorely tempted by CD-ROM but curbed my enthusiam.
12. Render speechless: AMAZE
13. On the move: ASTIR
18. Cry of pain: YEOW! That's my toe! A rather fun trait of the English is their tendency to apologize when some steps on their toe.
22. __ gravity: LAW OF
24. Wholesale quantity: CASE
25. Figurine material: ONYX
26. Mesmerized: RAPT
27. Wing it: AD LIB
28. Dutch earthenware city: DELFT. Why did I think it was DELPH? It's not, obviously.
33. High-tech greeting: E-CARD
35. Fertility clinic specimens: OVA
36. Big name in whisky: DEWAR. They make Teacher's. I mean Bell's. I mean Dewar's.
38. Naysayers: DISPUTERS
40. Darker-than-ocher pigment: UMBER. My watercolor paints sets as a kid always had "burnt umber".
41. Cantina cooker: OLLA. Big clay pot.
42. Threw: CAST
43. Pelee Island's lake: ERIE. Yay! Nailed it!
48. Toughened: INURED
50. Top of the heap: ACME
52. Triangular part of a house: GABLE. There's a mountain in the Lake District in England called Great Gable - you can see the triangular resemblance. I hiked up it a few times back in my youth.
53. Roundish: OVOID
54. Sierra __: LEONE. I stuck on MADRE and couldn't let it go for a while.
55. Pizza slice, say: PIECE. Also gable-shaped, if you think about it.
56. Playwright Chekhov: ANTON
57. Comfortably familiar: HOMEY. I'm more familiar with the British English variant "HOMELY".
62. Understanding: KEN
64. Seine site: ILE. The natural islands île Saint-Louis and île de la Cité and the man-made one île aux Cygnes
65. Corduroy feature: RIB
66. "Dream on, laddie": NAE
67. Original Dungeons & Dragons co.: T.S.R. Thanks, crosses. We've seen this before but it doesn't want to stick in my mind.
Here's the grind - I mean grid! (I'm on the daily grind). EWR to LAX later today. Home for the weekend!
Steve
17A Start of a business journey: ENTRY-LEVEL
24A. Way to get from 17- to 39-Across: CORPORATE LADDER. Here's a different take - fortunately I don't think I was in that word:
39A. Pinnacle of the journey: EXECUTIVE OFFICE. I wanted "CORNER OFFICE", except that corner was three letters too short. That was a clue.
52A. Way to get from 39- to 63-Across: GOLDEN PARACHUTE
63A. End of the journey: RETIREMENT
I enjoyed this theme from Jeff. The trick with these types of puzzle is to get enough crosses that one of the entries becomes apparent - in my case I got RETIREMENT when about six crosses were completed. From there it was a question of working backwards to guess at or solve the rest.
I like how the three "stages" were linked by two "how to get there" entries. Very elegant.
1. Bookie's concern: ODDS
5. Wedge-shaped bones: SACRA. Took me ages to tumble to this one.
10. Elite Eight org.: N.C.A.A. From the March Madness college basketball tourney organized by the N.C.A.A.
14. Bygone depilatory brand: NEET
15. Cantilevered window: ORIEL. I didn't know these were cantilevered. I do now.
16. Panhandler's income: ALMS. I see alms as more given to a charity, rather than an individual. I guess it's fine.
19. Watery defense, perhaps: MOAT
20. Hustle: HIE
21. First name in bike stunts: EVEL. Knievel.
23. Phased-out Secret Service weapon: UZI. I never knew the Secret Service used these. Wasn't there an acceptable US-made alternative?
29. Doce meses: ANO. Twelve months, one year. Spanish lesson for the day.
30. Roll of bills: WAD
31. Woolly mammal: EWE
32. Seasonal song ender: SYNE. I tried "TREE" as in the Partridge in a Pear one at first. I was wrong.
34. Proceed tediously: PLOD
37. Like pals who go way back: OLD
44. Three Gorges project: DAM. A big-assed dam spanning the Yangtze in China.
45. Wail: BAWL
46. Former autocrat: TSAR. __AR and wait for a cross to decide between TS and CZ
47. Stat for Miguel Cabrera: R.B.I. Runs Batted In. Baseball, natch.
59. Site with digging: RUIN
60. Witty remark: MOT. Doesn't it have to be a "bon mot"? I'm not convinced by "mot" flying solo here.
61. Word with work or play: BOOK. Workbook, playbook.
68. Field of work: LINE
69. Food poisoning cause: E. COLI. Nasty.
70. Times past: ERAS
71. Place of bliss: EDEN
72. Summer Triangle star: DENEB. Thank you crosses, completely unknown to me. Per Wikipedia:
"Deneb, also designated α Cygni, is the brightest star in the constellation of Cygnus. It is one of the vertices of the asterism known as the Summer Triangle and forms the 'head' of the neck-less Northern Cross."
73. WWI battle river: YSER
Down:
1. Top 40 title for Metallica or U2: ONE. Here's the U2 version.
2. Resting place: DEN
3. Overthrew: DETHRONED
4. Las Vegas feature: STRIP. Las Vegas Boulevard, officially. I'll be back in Vegas for another conference in a couple of weeks.
5. Peruvian currency: SOL. I swear I'll never remember this. I always rely on crosses.
6. Occur: ARE
7. Catlike carnivore: CIVET. I can never see "catlike" without "With catlike tread ... " from the Pirates of Penzance playing in my head.
8. "Deathtrap" actor: REEVE. Christopher Reeve in the 1972 movie adaptation of Ira Levin's stage play.
9. Gene variant: ALLELE. Thank you, crosses.
10. '60s hot spot: 'NAM
11. Data storage medium: CLOUD. Nice! With the C in place I was sorely tempted by CD-ROM but curbed my enthusiam.
12. Render speechless: AMAZE
13. On the move: ASTIR
18. Cry of pain: YEOW! That's my toe! A rather fun trait of the English is their tendency to apologize when some steps on their toe.
22. __ gravity: LAW OF
24. Wholesale quantity: CASE
25. Figurine material: ONYX
26. Mesmerized: RAPT
27. Wing it: AD LIB
28. Dutch earthenware city: DELFT. Why did I think it was DELPH? It's not, obviously.
33. High-tech greeting: E-CARD
35. Fertility clinic specimens: OVA
36. Big name in whisky: DEWAR. They make Teacher's. I mean Bell's. I mean Dewar's.
38. Naysayers: DISPUTERS
40. Darker-than-ocher pigment: UMBER. My watercolor paints sets as a kid always had "burnt umber".
41. Cantina cooker: OLLA. Big clay pot.
42. Threw: CAST
43. Pelee Island's lake: ERIE. Yay! Nailed it!
48. Toughened: INURED
50. Top of the heap: ACME
52. Triangular part of a house: GABLE. There's a mountain in the Lake District in England called Great Gable - you can see the triangular resemblance. I hiked up it a few times back in my youth.
53. Roundish: OVOID
54. Sierra __: LEONE. I stuck on MADRE and couldn't let it go for a while.
55. Pizza slice, say: PIECE. Also gable-shaped, if you think about it.
56. Playwright Chekhov: ANTON
57. Comfortably familiar: HOMEY. I'm more familiar with the British English variant "HOMELY".
62. Understanding: KEN
64. Seine site: ILE. The natural islands île Saint-Louis and île de la Cité and the man-made one île aux Cygnes
65. Corduroy feature: RIB
66. "Dream on, laddie": NAE
67. Original Dungeons & Dragons co.: T.S.R. Thanks, crosses. We've seen this before but it doesn't want to stick in my mind.
Here's the grind - I mean grid! (I'm on the daily grind). EWR to LAX later today. Home for the weekend!
Steve
