Theme: LINER (54D: Word defining 21A, 55A, 3D, and 30D)
21A: See 54D: ALBUM JACKET
55A: See 54D: BASEBALL HIT
3D: See 54D: MAKE UP ITEM
30D: See 54D: CRUISE SHIP
I know cruise liner, eyeliner, and line drive, but I've never heard of album liner before.
It's a quality puzzle, only one letter (W) away from a pangram. But a hard, hard struggle for me. I was simply not familiar with this kind of "See 54D" style word-defining clueing. Felt very intimidated and hopeless at various spots.
I think I needed more sleep too.
Across:
1A: Of blood: HEMAL. Identical clue on Sept 2.
14A: Red Sea gulf: AQABA. Here is the map again. It's the gulf between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Barry Silk intersected AQABA with AQI (Air Quality Index) last time. We should be prepared for a future crossing of AQABA with FAQ & QED, both words have no U after Q.
16A: Bantu language: ZULU. It's also a Michael Caine film title ('64). Do you like his "Sleuth"?
17A: Perry and Wilson: LUKES. Know Wilson, not Perry.
24A: Nancy's comics friend: SLUGGO (Smith). Unknown to me. Only 10 cents, must be very old. Her hair looks strange.
26A: Rustling sound: SOUGH. New to me also. Same pronunciation with SOW. Dictionary defines SOUGH as "to make a rushing, rustling, or murmuring sound: the wind soughing in the meadow."
27A: Black-and-white bear: PANDA. USA Today clued PANDA as "It eats, shoots & leaves?" several months ago and raised quite a few eyebrows. I thought it was cool to play on Lynne Truss's punctuation book title, though to grammatically correct, the clue should have been "It eats shoots & leaves".
29A: Strong-arm man: MUSCLE. Are you OK with the clue?
33A: U.K. insurance group: AVIVA. No, not familiar with this AVIVA. What's the odds of a golf hack like Xchefwalt makes a hole-in-one? (Addendum: Syndication paper clue for AVIVA is "Walled Spanish City". And it's wrong. The city name is AVILA. There is no way you can get AVILA with the intersecting V from 25D: GAVE (Donated)).
39A: Perfect match: MATE. And EQUAL (2D: Match in value).
44A: Flock members: LAITY
45A: Answer to an accusation: I AM NOT. No, I AM NOT a DF.
52A: Flockhart role: MCBEAL (Ally). I've only seen a few episodes. I think I like Vonda Shepard more than Ally McBeal.
59A: R. Reagan's Star Wars: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Always have problem remembering this acronym.
60A: Currier's partner: IVES. No idea. I've never heard of Currier and IVES before. Lovely scene. So idyllic.
61A: Cyrano's distinction: NOSE. I did not know who Cyrano is. He does have a big nose.
66A: Bonn waterway: RHINE. Remember the "Swiss City on the RHINE" clue we had several months ago? The answer is BASLE, and the clue had no "Var.".
69A: Stock lacking face value: NO-PAR.
Down:
1D: Stoppages: HALTS. I prefer the clue to be "Stops". I like actions. I like verbs.
4D: Tad's dad: ABE. Ha, I know this one. I like Doris Goodwin.
5D: Pasta dish: LASAGNA. Have some!
9D: Nordic chutes: SKI JUMPS
10D: Prague populace: CZECHS. Do you like Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"?
13D: "Candid Camera" man: FUNT (Allen). Foreign to me.
22D: City in Central Israel: LOD. Where is it? I can not locate this city.
31D: Alfred of theater: LUNT. Would not have got this one without the across fills. LUNT is clued as "Fontanne's partner" on a May puzzle.
33D: Dextrous beginner?: AMBI. Or "Valence beginner?"
34D: __ con Dios: VAYA. Where are you, Jimbo?
40D: Destination in Nepal: KATMANDU. I don't think Argyle and Dennis want to go to KATMANDU, they probably would like to spend "One Night in Bangkok", ... sans Lois.
41D: Door frame part: JAMB. Great Scrabble word.
43D: Leopold's co-conspirator: LOEB
44D: Speaker's stand: LECTERN
46D: Banned blast: N TESTS. Also, "The SALT concern".
48D: Static letters: EMI. Or the "British record label". U2 belongs to EMI, right?
51D: Football great Merlin: OLSEN. He is in Football HOF. But I've never heard of him before.
53D: Ancient Turkish city: ADANA. No, no, here is a good map. Why "Ancient"?
57D: Erotic: SEXY "It you want my body, and you think I'm SEXY, come on sugar, let me know..."
58D: Mythical queen: HERA . Queen of Heavens. Wife/sister of Zeus.
C.C.
21A: See 54D: ALBUM JACKET
55A: See 54D: BASEBALL HIT
3D: See 54D: MAKE UP ITEM
30D: See 54D: CRUISE SHIP
I know cruise liner, eyeliner, and line drive, but I've never heard of album liner before.
It's a quality puzzle, only one letter (W) away from a pangram. But a hard, hard struggle for me. I was simply not familiar with this kind of "See 54D" style word-defining clueing. Felt very intimidated and hopeless at various spots.
I think I needed more sleep too.
Across:
1A: Of blood: HEMAL. Identical clue on Sept 2.
14A: Red Sea gulf: AQABA. Here is the map again. It's the gulf between Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Barry Silk intersected AQABA with AQI (Air Quality Index) last time. We should be prepared for a future crossing of AQABA with FAQ & QED, both words have no U after Q.
16A: Bantu language: ZULU. It's also a Michael Caine film title ('64). Do you like his "Sleuth"?
17A: Perry and Wilson: LUKES. Know Wilson, not Perry.
24A: Nancy's comics friend: SLUGGO (Smith). Unknown to me. Only 10 cents, must be very old. Her hair looks strange.
26A: Rustling sound: SOUGH. New to me also. Same pronunciation with SOW. Dictionary defines SOUGH as "to make a rushing, rustling, or murmuring sound: the wind soughing in the meadow."
27A: Black-and-white bear: PANDA. USA Today clued PANDA as "It eats, shoots & leaves?" several months ago and raised quite a few eyebrows. I thought it was cool to play on Lynne Truss's punctuation book title, though to grammatically correct, the clue should have been "It eats shoots & leaves".
29A: Strong-arm man: MUSCLE. Are you OK with the clue?
33A: U.K. insurance group: AVIVA. No, not familiar with this AVIVA. What's the odds of a golf hack like Xchefwalt makes a hole-in-one? (Addendum: Syndication paper clue for AVIVA is "Walled Spanish City". And it's wrong. The city name is AVILA. There is no way you can get AVILA with the intersecting V from 25D: GAVE (Donated)).
39A: Perfect match: MATE. And EQUAL (2D: Match in value).
44A: Flock members: LAITY
45A: Answer to an accusation: I AM NOT. No, I AM NOT a DF.
52A: Flockhart role: MCBEAL (Ally). I've only seen a few episodes. I think I like Vonda Shepard more than Ally McBeal.
59A: R. Reagan's Star Wars: SDI (Strategic Defense Initiative). Always have problem remembering this acronym.
60A: Currier's partner: IVES. No idea. I've never heard of Currier and IVES before. Lovely scene. So idyllic.
61A: Cyrano's distinction: NOSE. I did not know who Cyrano is. He does have a big nose.
66A: Bonn waterway: RHINE. Remember the "Swiss City on the RHINE" clue we had several months ago? The answer is BASLE, and the clue had no "Var.".
69A: Stock lacking face value: NO-PAR.
Down:
1D: Stoppages: HALTS. I prefer the clue to be "Stops". I like actions. I like verbs.
4D: Tad's dad: ABE. Ha, I know this one. I like Doris Goodwin.
5D: Pasta dish: LASAGNA. Have some!
9D: Nordic chutes: SKI JUMPS
10D: Prague populace: CZECHS. Do you like Milan Kundera's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"?
13D: "Candid Camera" man: FUNT (Allen). Foreign to me.
22D: City in Central Israel: LOD. Where is it? I can not locate this city.
31D: Alfred of theater: LUNT. Would not have got this one without the across fills. LUNT is clued as "Fontanne's partner" on a May puzzle.
33D: Dextrous beginner?: AMBI. Or "Valence beginner?"
34D: __ con Dios: VAYA. Where are you, Jimbo?
40D: Destination in Nepal: KATMANDU. I don't think Argyle and Dennis want to go to KATMANDU, they probably would like to spend "One Night in Bangkok", ... sans Lois.
41D: Door frame part: JAMB. Great Scrabble word.
43D: Leopold's co-conspirator: LOEB
44D: Speaker's stand: LECTERN
46D: Banned blast: N TESTS. Also, "The SALT concern".
48D: Static letters: EMI. Or the "British record label". U2 belongs to EMI, right?
51D: Football great Merlin: OLSEN. He is in Football HOF. But I've never heard of him before.
53D: Ancient Turkish city: ADANA. No, no, here is a good map. Why "Ancient"?
57D: Erotic: SEXY "It you want my body, and you think I'm SEXY, come on sugar, let me know..."
58D: Mythical queen: HERA . Queen of Heavens. Wife/sister of Zeus.
C.C.
