Theme: Golf Fever - it's the Ryder Cup beginning tomorrow, Tiger's back to winning ways, and we have an aptly-timed theme for this Thursday.
1A. *Top selection: TEE SHIRT. You can't wear a t-shirt to play golf on most courses in the UK, they're very sniffy about dress code. You used to not be able to wear sneakers, but now that all the latest golf shoes look like sneakers, it mush be causing must angst and "what is the world coming to?" wailings from the old buffers in the clubhouse.
Nike have recently been dressing Tiger and Rory McIlroy in collarless shirts - I wonder if they'd be tossed off the course? I highly doubt it.
22A. *Preliminary sketch: ROUGH OUTLINE
36A. *Overly defensive stance: BUNKER MENTALITY. Bunkers on golf courses were originally natural depressions in the links that sheep used to scratch out to huddle from the wind whipping in over the dunes.
45A. *Newbie: GREEN RECRUIT
63A. *Stud poker element: HOLE CARD. From whence "ace in the hole".
and the unifier:
54D. What a sequence of single strokes from the start of each starred answer to the next often adds up to: PAR.
So, on a par-4 golf hole, you skew a tee shot into the rough, muscle it out into a bunker, splash a sand wedge onto the green and make the putt. Not a bad par save.
I once played a par 4 when my ball never even touched the grass. I teed it up, drove straight into a bunker, found a greenside bunker with the next shot and chipped straight into the hole without touching the green. Sheer fluke. I bought drinks.
Nice go from Jeffrey, slick work with the stacked 8's and 6's top and bottom and solid themage. Nothing particularly to cringe about in the fill either.
Let's examine further:
Across:
9. Bring pleasure (to): APPEAL
15. Horror film line that usually gets its speaker in trouble: I'LL GO SEE
16. With conviction: FIRMLY
17. Final Yahtzee roll, e.g.: LAST TURN. Took me a moment. The player who rolls "Yahtzee" has the final roll of the game.
18. Defies: FLOUTS. One of those words often mis-replaced, in "flouts" case by "flaunts".
19. Omaha-to-Milwaukee dir.: ENE
20. Epidermal flaw: ZIT
21. Its practice doesn't make it perfect: LAW. Odd clue, I think I must be missing something punny about "perfect" law?
28. Cowboy leggings: CHAPS
30. Quite small: WEE
31. __ culpa: MEA. My bad!
32. Indian noblewoman: RANI
33. Utopia: EDEN
35. Degrees of creativity, briefly: BFA'S. Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees. Two or more of these degrees are BFA's, two or more degree holders are Bachelors of Fine Arts - what would they be - B's.F.A? We should be told.
39. Track calculation: ODDS
40. Very long time: EONS
41. Support for a stroller: CANE
42. Seminarian's subj.: REL. Not nuclear physics? I'm surprised.
43. __ bran: OAT
44. Stun gun brand: TASER
49. Kareem, once: LEW. Lew Alcindor, UCLA basketball legend. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as an LA Laker.
50. Interoffice PC connection: LAN. Local Area Network.
51. Vehicle that really moves?: VAN
54. Canal zone: PANAMA
57. "Lives of the Mayfair Witches" trilogy author: ANNE RICE. I'd not heard of the trilogy, but it didn't take me long to slot her name in. I read her "Interview with a Vampire" and loved it.
60. Video game figure: AVATAR
61. Agonize about: STEW OVER
62. Deal with a bounced email: RE-SEND
Down:
1. Roofing unit: TILE
2. Vigorous spirit: ELAN
3. "Got anything __?": ELSE
4. Mil. three-striper: SGT.
5. High on the Scoville scale: HOT. Chili heat scale. I've got some fresh ghost peppers in the fridge, I chop them wearing latex gloves. They are not to be messed with!
6. Rodeos, e.g.: ISUZUS. Made me pause for a few seconds. It's an SUV from Isuzu.
7. Equip anew: RE-RIG. A couple of "re"-dos today.
8. Back nine opener: TENTH. More golf!
9. Wealthy: AFFLUENT
10. "Ecce homo" speaker: PILATE. "Behold the man".
11. Hunt stealthily: PROWL. Here, Kitty Kitty!
12. Source of lean red meat: EMU.
13. PC key: ALT
14. Fleur in heraldry: LYS. Lys vs. Lis. Let the debate re-begin.
22. Assigns relative value to: RANKS
23. Mayberry kid: OPIE
24. 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Terrell: OWENS. Known simply as "T-O" for a lot of his career.
25. "It's just a scratch": I'M FINE. I remember reading a quote from a claim form submitted to an Australian auto insurance company. "I told the other motorist I was not injured, but on removing my hat I discovered I had fractured my skull". There's stoic for you.
26. Not as messy: NEATER
27. "Nothing to it!": EASY
28. Less refined: CRUDER
29. Deal with: HANDLE
33. Put on quite an act: EMOTE
34. Cubs' digs: DEN
35. Heck of a party: BLAST
36. Swedish tennis great: BORG. Björn. He was fast around the court. I hear he was "Björn To Run".
37. Astern: REARWARD
38. Amazon berry: ACAI
43. Kind of band: ONE-MAN
44. Mine feature: TUNNEL
46. Please mightily: ELATE
47. Be at loggerheads: CLASH
48. Cost: RAN TO
51. Brawny rival: VIVA. I get Brawny from Costco. They do the job for me. I do go through a lot of them, though.
52. Big name in PCs: ACER
53. Bookish sort: NERD
55. Thoroughfare: Abbr.: AVE.
56. "Life Is Good" rapper: NAS. Grammy Award-nominated album in 2013.
58. Farm girl: EWE
59. Dungeons & Dragons bird: ROC. Muscle car: I-ROC. Fast food billionaire: KROC. LA-based music station: K-ROQ.
Rocking or not, here's the grid!
Steve
1A. *Top selection: TEE SHIRT. You can't wear a t-shirt to play golf on most courses in the UK, they're very sniffy about dress code. You used to not be able to wear sneakers, but now that all the latest golf shoes look like sneakers, it mush be causing must angst and "what is the world coming to?" wailings from the old buffers in the clubhouse.
Nike have recently been dressing Tiger and Rory McIlroy in collarless shirts - I wonder if they'd be tossed off the course? I highly doubt it.
22A. *Preliminary sketch: ROUGH OUTLINE
36A. *Overly defensive stance: BUNKER MENTALITY. Bunkers on golf courses were originally natural depressions in the links that sheep used to scratch out to huddle from the wind whipping in over the dunes.
45A. *Newbie: GREEN RECRUIT
63A. *Stud poker element: HOLE CARD. From whence "ace in the hole".
and the unifier:
54D. What a sequence of single strokes from the start of each starred answer to the next often adds up to: PAR.
So, on a par-4 golf hole, you skew a tee shot into the rough, muscle it out into a bunker, splash a sand wedge onto the green and make the putt. Not a bad par save.
I once played a par 4 when my ball never even touched the grass. I teed it up, drove straight into a bunker, found a greenside bunker with the next shot and chipped straight into the hole without touching the green. Sheer fluke. I bought drinks.
Nice go from Jeffrey, slick work with the stacked 8's and 6's top and bottom and solid themage. Nothing particularly to cringe about in the fill either.
Let's examine further:
Across:
9. Bring pleasure (to): APPEAL
15. Horror film line that usually gets its speaker in trouble: I'LL GO SEE
16. With conviction: FIRMLY
17. Final Yahtzee roll, e.g.: LAST TURN. Took me a moment. The player who rolls "Yahtzee" has the final roll of the game.
18. Defies: FLOUTS. One of those words often mis-replaced, in "flouts" case by "flaunts".
19. Omaha-to-Milwaukee dir.: ENE
20. Epidermal flaw: ZIT
21. Its practice doesn't make it perfect: LAW. Odd clue, I think I must be missing something punny about "perfect" law?
28. Cowboy leggings: CHAPS
30. Quite small: WEE
31. __ culpa: MEA. My bad!
32. Indian noblewoman: RANI
33. Utopia: EDEN
35. Degrees of creativity, briefly: BFA'S. Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees. Two or more of these degrees are BFA's, two or more degree holders are Bachelors of Fine Arts - what would they be - B's.F.A? We should be told.
39. Track calculation: ODDS
40. Very long time: EONS
41. Support for a stroller: CANE
42. Seminarian's subj.: REL. Not nuclear physics? I'm surprised.
43. __ bran: OAT
44. Stun gun brand: TASER
49. Kareem, once: LEW. Lew Alcindor, UCLA basketball legend. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as an LA Laker.
50. Interoffice PC connection: LAN. Local Area Network.
51. Vehicle that really moves?: VAN
54. Canal zone: PANAMA
57. "Lives of the Mayfair Witches" trilogy author: ANNE RICE. I'd not heard of the trilogy, but it didn't take me long to slot her name in. I read her "Interview with a Vampire" and loved it.
60. Video game figure: AVATAR
61. Agonize about: STEW OVER
62. Deal with a bounced email: RE-SEND
Down:
1. Roofing unit: TILE
2. Vigorous spirit: ELAN
3. "Got anything __?": ELSE
4. Mil. three-striper: SGT.
5. High on the Scoville scale: HOT. Chili heat scale. I've got some fresh ghost peppers in the fridge, I chop them wearing latex gloves. They are not to be messed with!
6. Rodeos, e.g.: ISUZUS. Made me pause for a few seconds. It's an SUV from Isuzu.
7. Equip anew: RE-RIG. A couple of "re"-dos today.
8. Back nine opener: TENTH. More golf!
9. Wealthy: AFFLUENT
10. "Ecce homo" speaker: PILATE. "Behold the man".
11. Hunt stealthily: PROWL. Here, Kitty Kitty!
12. Source of lean red meat: EMU.
13. PC key: ALT
14. Fleur in heraldry: LYS. Lys vs. Lis. Let the debate re-begin.
22. Assigns relative value to: RANKS
23. Mayberry kid: OPIE
24. 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Terrell: OWENS. Known simply as "T-O" for a lot of his career.
25. "It's just a scratch": I'M FINE. I remember reading a quote from a claim form submitted to an Australian auto insurance company. "I told the other motorist I was not injured, but on removing my hat I discovered I had fractured my skull". There's stoic for you.
26. Not as messy: NEATER
27. "Nothing to it!": EASY
28. Less refined: CRUDER
29. Deal with: HANDLE
33. Put on quite an act: EMOTE
34. Cubs' digs: DEN
35. Heck of a party: BLAST
36. Swedish tennis great: BORG. Björn. He was fast around the court. I hear he was "Björn To Run".
37. Astern: REARWARD
38. Amazon berry: ACAI
43. Kind of band: ONE-MAN
44. Mine feature: TUNNEL
46. Please mightily: ELATE
47. Be at loggerheads: CLASH
48. Cost: RAN TO
51. Brawny rival: VIVA. I get Brawny from Costco. They do the job for me. I do go through a lot of them, though.
52. Big name in PCs: ACER
53. Bookish sort: NERD
55. Thoroughfare: Abbr.: AVE.
56. "Life Is Good" rapper: NAS. Grammy Award-nominated album in 2013.
58. Farm girl: EWE
59. Dungeons & Dragons bird: ROC. Muscle car: I-ROC. Fast food billionaire: KROC. LA-based music station: K-ROQ.
Rocking or not, here's the grid!
Steve
