Theme: Anagrams - the reveal explains what we're looking for - three "diapers" anagrams in the theme entries:
52A. New father's task, maybe ... and what the three other longest puzzle answers have in common?: CHANGING DIAPERS
And so we find:
17A. Dreamed of a career in politics: ASPIRED TO OFFICE. The alternative spelling of the past tense of "dream" is "dreamt", which occupies a singular place in the English language. Anyone know what's unique about the word?
26A. Took part in a revival: PRAISED THE LORD. And passed the ammunition, if you were Chaplain Forgy on the U.S.S New Orleans during the Pearl Harbor attacks in 1942.
42A. "We can't win!" and "It's useless!": CRIES OF DESPAIR. Accompanied by wailing and gnashing of teeth. Which brings me to the question of the day - what does a teeth-gnashing look like? The expression is so familiar that I never stopped to think about it before.
Fun puzzle from Ross today, it was a pretty straightforward solve even though there were quite a few unknowns for me, the crosses were all solid. By the time I'd worked my way down to the reveal, the theme entries were all complete, so it was just a case of admiring the elegant anagrams.
None of the theme entries have appeared in the major puzzles before, which is neat. There's one other "unique" word in the puzzle, we'll get to that later. Let's see what's what in the fill:
Across:
1. Hairy swinger: APE
4. Blue semiprecious stone: AZURITE. New to me. Pretty color:
11. Vainglory: EGO
14. "Blue Bloods" actor Selleck: TOM
15. Joint Chiefs member: GENERAL. There are six generals and an admiral on the current Joint Chiefs of Staff.
16. Bubbly title: DOM. Dom Pérignon, produced by the champagne house Moët & Chandon and named for a Benedictine monk who introduced a number of wine-making techniques and methods in the 1600's.
20. Mythical hunter: DIANA
21. Considerable stretches: EONS
22. Thames academy: ETON. Posh school across the river from Windsor Castle. You'd think the Queen would have sent her boys there as it's about five minutes walk from the castle, but she and Phil the Greek packed them off to a school in the north of Scotland.
23. Old Opry network: TNN. The Nashville Network, later The National Network.
24. Nice picnic spot?: PARC. The city of Nice, France.
25. Burn soothers: ALOES
29. Hit one out, in baseball parlance: GO DEEP
30. Atomic number of nitrogen: SEVEN
31. TV commentator Navarro: ANA
32. Fort Collins sch.: C.S.U. Colorado State U.
34. Cone producer: FIR
35. "Amscray!": GIT!
38. Singer Lopez: TRINI. I thought this person had passed me by thus far, but when I went look her up, I discovered firstly it's a man, and secondly he recorded "If I Had a Hammer" which I know from when I was a kid.
40. Name on a "Little Women" book jacket: LOUISA. M. Alcott.
45. "Something to Talk About" singer: RAITT. Quite a few proper names in the puzzle today.
46. Low-quality: POOR
47. Mining supply: TNT
48. Subject of the documentary "Blackfish": ORCA. The film deals critically with the treatment of orcas at SeaWorld.
49. __-g: ZERO. Took a while for the penny to drop on this one.
50. Terra __: COTTA. Resisted the temptation to fill in "FIRMA".
55. Luv: HON
56. Candy bowl holder's rule on Halloween: ONE EACH
57. __ generis: SUI
58. Short albums, for short: EP'S. Extended play 45's. Usually two songs on each side. Officially, an EP has a running time of less than 25 minutes and no more than four tracks.
59. "Afterwards ... ": AND THEN
60. Word before cow, dog or lion: SEA
Down:
1. Somewhat: A TAD
2. Physics particle: POSITRON. An electron and a positron go into a bar. The positron says "It's your round". The electron asks "Are you sure"? "I'm positive" comes the reply.
3. Spanish stuffed pastry: EMPANADA. Yum!
4. Taj Mahal city: AGRA
5. Zombiepocalypse start?: ZEE. What a great word!
6. Like a zombie: UNDEAD
7. Snappy comebacks: RETORTS
8. Japanese show set in a kitchen: IRON CHEF. I loved the show. It thought it was funny when the English voice-over translator would include the "mmmm" sounds the judges were making and add the laughs "ha ha ha" too.
9. New Mexico resort: TAOS
10. Pixie: ELF
11. Publishing house hiree: EDITOR
12. Start admitting both men and women: GO CO-ED
13. Fodder for soothsayers: OMENS
18. Navel variety: INNIE. Wait for the crosses.
19. Pen denizen: FELON
24. Soft drink choices: PEPSIS
25. Last Olds models: ALEROS
26. Dustin Johnson's org.: P.G.A. Need to be careful here - DJ belongs to the PGA TOUR. The Professional Golfer's Association of America is for club professionals.
27. Confidential: SECRET
28. More wicked: EVILER
33. Still wrapped: UNOPENED
35. Garganta of "Femforce" comics, e.g.: GIANTESS. Crosses all the way.
36. "No kidding?": IS IT TRUE?
37. Road gunk: TAR
38. Saturn's largest moon: TITAN
39. "It's not coming to me": I FORGET
41. "High five!": UP TOP!
42. Drive-in server: CAR HOP. My local Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake still features car hops on weekend nights. The Friday night has a classic and custom car show in the parking lot; Jay Leno often turns up with one of his prized collection.
43. Puerto __: San Juan natives: RICANS
44. "Camptown Races" refrain syllables: DOO-DAH
45. Valium maker: ROCHE
49. "A People's History of the United States" writer Howard: ZINN. This is the other unique word in the puzzle, which I find surprising. I'd not heard of the author before, so thank you, crosses.
50. "High Hopes" lyricist: CAHN
51. China setting: ASIA
53. Small Indian state: GOA
54. Puck's place: ICE. Topical as the Stanley Cup Finals are underway.
If you're still wondering about "dreamt", it's the only word in the English language which ends "amt".
That should do it for me. Here's the grid!
Steve
52A. New father's task, maybe ... and what the three other longest puzzle answers have in common?: CHANGING DIAPERS
And so we find:
17A. Dreamed of a career in politics: ASPIRED TO OFFICE. The alternative spelling of the past tense of "dream" is "dreamt", which occupies a singular place in the English language. Anyone know what's unique about the word?
26A. Took part in a revival: PRAISED THE LORD. And passed the ammunition, if you were Chaplain Forgy on the U.S.S New Orleans during the Pearl Harbor attacks in 1942.
42A. "We can't win!" and "It's useless!": CRIES OF DESPAIR. Accompanied by wailing and gnashing of teeth. Which brings me to the question of the day - what does a teeth-gnashing look like? The expression is so familiar that I never stopped to think about it before.
Fun puzzle from Ross today, it was a pretty straightforward solve even though there were quite a few unknowns for me, the crosses were all solid. By the time I'd worked my way down to the reveal, the theme entries were all complete, so it was just a case of admiring the elegant anagrams.
None of the theme entries have appeared in the major puzzles before, which is neat. There's one other "unique" word in the puzzle, we'll get to that later. Let's see what's what in the fill:
Across:
1. Hairy swinger: APE
4. Blue semiprecious stone: AZURITE. New to me. Pretty color:
11. Vainglory: EGO
14. "Blue Bloods" actor Selleck: TOM
15. Joint Chiefs member: GENERAL. There are six generals and an admiral on the current Joint Chiefs of Staff.
16. Bubbly title: DOM. Dom Pérignon, produced by the champagne house Moët & Chandon and named for a Benedictine monk who introduced a number of wine-making techniques and methods in the 1600's.
20. Mythical hunter: DIANA
21. Considerable stretches: EONS
22. Thames academy: ETON. Posh school across the river from Windsor Castle. You'd think the Queen would have sent her boys there as it's about five minutes walk from the castle, but she and Phil the Greek packed them off to a school in the north of Scotland.
23. Old Opry network: TNN. The Nashville Network, later The National Network.
24. Nice picnic spot?: PARC. The city of Nice, France.
25. Burn soothers: ALOES
29. Hit one out, in baseball parlance: GO DEEP
30. Atomic number of nitrogen: SEVEN
31. TV commentator Navarro: ANA
32. Fort Collins sch.: C.S.U. Colorado State U.
34. Cone producer: FIR
35. "Amscray!": GIT!
38. Singer Lopez: TRINI. I thought this person had passed me by thus far, but when I went look her up, I discovered firstly it's a man, and secondly he recorded "If I Had a Hammer" which I know from when I was a kid.
40. Name on a "Little Women" book jacket: LOUISA. M. Alcott.
45. "Something to Talk About" singer: RAITT. Quite a few proper names in the puzzle today.
46. Low-quality: POOR
47. Mining supply: TNT
48. Subject of the documentary "Blackfish": ORCA. The film deals critically with the treatment of orcas at SeaWorld.
49. __-g: ZERO. Took a while for the penny to drop on this one.
50. Terra __: COTTA. Resisted the temptation to fill in "FIRMA".
55. Luv: HON
56. Candy bowl holder's rule on Halloween: ONE EACH
57. __ generis: SUI
58. Short albums, for short: EP'S. Extended play 45's. Usually two songs on each side. Officially, an EP has a running time of less than 25 minutes and no more than four tracks.
59. "Afterwards ... ": AND THEN
60. Word before cow, dog or lion: SEA
Down:
1. Somewhat: A TAD
2. Physics particle: POSITRON. An electron and a positron go into a bar. The positron says "It's your round". The electron asks "Are you sure"? "I'm positive" comes the reply.
3. Spanish stuffed pastry: EMPANADA. Yum!
4. Taj Mahal city: AGRA
5. Zombiepocalypse start?: ZEE. What a great word!
6. Like a zombie: UNDEAD
7. Snappy comebacks: RETORTS
8. Japanese show set in a kitchen: IRON CHEF. I loved the show. It thought it was funny when the English voice-over translator would include the "mmmm" sounds the judges were making and add the laughs "ha ha ha" too.
9. New Mexico resort: TAOS
10. Pixie: ELF
11. Publishing house hiree: EDITOR
12. Start admitting both men and women: GO CO-ED
13. Fodder for soothsayers: OMENS
18. Navel variety: INNIE. Wait for the crosses.
19. Pen denizen: FELON
24. Soft drink choices: PEPSIS
25. Last Olds models: ALEROS
26. Dustin Johnson's org.: P.G.A. Need to be careful here - DJ belongs to the PGA TOUR. The Professional Golfer's Association of America is for club professionals.
27. Confidential: SECRET
28. More wicked: EVILER
33. Still wrapped: UNOPENED
35. Garganta of "Femforce" comics, e.g.: GIANTESS. Crosses all the way.
36. "No kidding?": IS IT TRUE?
37. Road gunk: TAR
38. Saturn's largest moon: TITAN
39. "It's not coming to me": I FORGET
41. "High five!": UP TOP!
42. Drive-in server: CAR HOP. My local Bob's Big Boy in Toluca Lake still features car hops on weekend nights. The Friday night has a classic and custom car show in the parking lot; Jay Leno often turns up with one of his prized collection.
43. Puerto __: San Juan natives: RICANS
44. "Camptown Races" refrain syllables: DOO-DAH
45. Valium maker: ROCHE
49. "A People's History of the United States" writer Howard: ZINN. This is the other unique word in the puzzle, which I find surprising. I'd not heard of the author before, so thank you, crosses.
50. "High Hopes" lyricist: CAHN
51. China setting: ASIA
53. Small Indian state: GOA
54. Puck's place: ICE. Topical as the Stanley Cup Finals are underway.
If you're still wondering about "dreamt", it's the only word in the English language which ends "amt".
That should do it for me. Here's the grid!
Steve
