Three Letters, Six Words. The circles give us the sign.
16-Across. Carrier to Cork and Shannon: AER LINGUS.
22-Across. She played Ika in "Quest for Fire": RAE DAWN CHONG. Rae Dawn Chong (b. Feb. 28, 1961) is the daughter of Tommy Chong of Cheech and Chong fame.
29-Across. "Really?": ARE YOU SURE?
41-Across. Best Actor nominee for "The Crying Game": STEPHEN REA. Stephen Rea (b. Oct. 31, 1946) had been in many films, but is probably best know for 1992 film The Crying Game.
46-Across. Ignore, with "to": TURN A DEAF EAR.
59-Across. Period preceding Reagan's presidency: CARTER ERA.
President Jimmy Carter (b. Oct. 1, 1924)
Notice the symmetry. In the first three answers, the theme "word" begins the phrase. In the last three answers, the theme "word" ends the phrase.
Across:1. Church seating: PEW. The eytomology of the word pew.
8. Hint of hunger: PANG.
12. Señora Perón: EVA. Eva Perón (né María Eva Duarte, May 7, 1919 ~ July 26, 1952) was the 2nd wife of Argentine President Juan Perón. The musical Evita was based on her life.
13. Soften the effect of, as words: MINCE. My mother made the best Minced pie.
14. Pen name: ALIAS. // And 37-Across. Letters before a pen name: AKA. As in Also Known As.
18. Release: LET GO.
19. Streamlined, as a sports car: SLEEK.
20. Miner's find: ORE. A crossword staple.
21. Kitchen protector with strings: APRON. Cute clue.
25. Tiered Eastern temple: PAGODA.
The Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an, China
28. "Definitely": YES.
33. Chomped: BIT.
36. Graduating group: CLASS. There were 99 students in my high school graduating class.
38. Back of a hit 45 record: B-SIDE. Here are 25 B-side hits that you have probably listened to.
40. Rocky crest: TOR. I learned this word from doing the crossword puzzles.
43. Slippery, as a winter road: ICY.
45. Colossus island: RHODES. The Colossus of Rhodes was one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It was said to have been a giant (colossus) statue of the Greek sun god Helios. According to contemporary descriptions, it was about 108 feet tall, making it the tallest man-made structure in the ancient world. Sadly, an earthquake that occurred in about 226 BCE was the statue's demise. We can only speculate what the statue looked like.
53. Baton Rouge sch.: LSU. I'll that the CSO for Louisiana State University.
54. Snake secretion: VENOM.
58. Italian sauce with pine nuts: PESTO. I misread this clue as being Italian sausage.
61. Tavern mug: STEIN. The Maine Stein song is the song of my alma mater.
62. Killed time: IDLED.
63. Boomer's kid: X'ER. Generation X.
64. Change for a ten: ONEs.
63. Boomer's kid: X'ER. Generation X.
64. Change for a ten: ONEs.
66. Mattel product: TOY. This company makes lots and lots of toys.
2. Daredevil Robbie's dad: EVEL. Evel Knievel (né Robert Craig Knievel; Oct. 17, 1938 ~ Nov. 30, 2007) bragged that he could jump the Grand Canyon on his motorcycle. He never actually attempted this stunt, however.
3. Suffix with hard or soft: WARE. As in Hardware and Software.
4. "Hamilton" creator __-Manuel Miranda: LIN. Not only did Lin-Manuel Miranda (b. Jan. 16, 1980), write Hamilton, he starred in the original musical as Alexander Hamilton.
8. Regal abode: PALACE. The Neuschwanstein Castle may be one of the most recognizable palaces in the world. It was one of Mad King Ludwig II's castles. He had this castle commissioned to honor composer Richard Wagner.
10. Part of TNT: NITRO. The full name of this chemical compound is Trinitrotoluene, or more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene. Its the formula C₆H₂(NO₂)₃CH₃.
11. Be unable to swallow: GAG ON.
13. Onetime Japanese emperors: MIKADOS. The Mikado is also the name of an opera by Gilbert and Sullivan.
15. Neil Diamond work: SONG.
17. Composer Anderson and Jim Croce's "Bad, Bad" Brown: LEROYs. Leroy Anderson (June 29, 1908 ~ May 18, 1975) was a New Englander and wrote many pieces that were played by the Boston Pops Orchestra. Sadly, Jim Croce (né James Joseph Croce; Jan. 10, 1943 ~ Sept. 20, 1973) was killed when the small plane he was in crashed in Natchitoches, Louisiana.
23. Nice water?: EAU. // And 34-Across. Cannes concept: IDÉE. Today's French lesson. Both cities are on the French Riviera. We frequented both cities when we lived in Aix-en-Provence.
24. "Science Guy" Bill: NYE. Bill Nye (né William Sanford Nye; b. Nov. 27, 1955) makes frequent appearances in the crossword puzzles.
25. Agreement: PACT.
26. Woody's son: ARLO. Arlo Guthrie (né Arlo Davy Guthrie; b. July 10, 1947) is best known for Alice's restaurant.
27. Camping equipment: GEAR.
32. Eminem genre: RAP. Marshall Bruce Mathers, III (b. Oct. 17, 1972) is better known by his Rap name of Eminem. He always looks so angry.
35. Black or green beverages: TEAS. Do you know the difference between Black and Green teas?
38. Acted properly: BEHAVED.
39. Noisy napper: SNORER.
41. Australian airport code: SYD. As in the airport that services Sydney, Australia. // Not to be confused with 49-Down. Legendary Spanish hero: EL CID. El Cid (né Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar; 1043 ~ July 10, 1099) was a Castilian knight and national folk hero.
42. Charlemagne's realm: Abbr.: HRE. As in the Holy Roman Empire, which as we have noted before was neither Holy nor Roman. Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as the 1st Holy Roman Emperor after Charlemagne protected the Pope from his enemies. Charlemagne is sometimes referred to as Charles I, as Charles was his given name. Charlemagne comes from a corruption of the old French, Charles le Magne, meaning Charles the Great. The territory of the HRE was largely in what is now Germany and France.
43. How football games rarely end: IN A TIE.
48. Up: RISEN.
50. South American grilled meat dish: ASADO.
51. Rolls up, as a flag: FURLS. Furl vs. Unfurl.
55. Deli counter call: NEXT.
57. Contrary girl of rhyme: MARY.
60. Golf ball holder: TEE.
Here's the Grid:
Notes from C.C.:
1) Chairman Moe (Chris Gross) and I made today's Universal puzzle, edited by David Steinberg. Click here to solve. Congrats on your crossword debut, Chris!
2) Happy birthday to Husker Gary's amazing wife Joann and her twin sister
Joyce! Both turn 74 years old today. Here they're with their mom Martha.
