Theme: Change of Location
17A: Pretend to be confident: PUT UP A GOOD FRONT
37A: Empty-nester's weight problem: MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD
54A: Australia's Never-never: THE BACK OF BEYOND
A couple of things first:
1) From now on, I will only comment on answers that I feel deserve attention. As I've been blogging TMS puzzles for over a year, some of answers are not fresh to me any more, though they might stump certain new solvers. If you need immediate answers for the missing entries and the rationale behind the cluing, just visit the Comments section and ask.
2) Please respect the etiquette in blogging comments. Read others' posts before you post yours. No need to reply to questions that have already been addressed by others, unless you have something new to add.
Back to the puzzle. I've never heard of "Never-never land" or THE BACK OF BEYOND before. Thought the answer might be OUTBACK OF BEYOND. I don't think I fully understand the constructor's logic in putting FRONT in the back, MIDDLE in the front and BACK in the middle. Am I missing something here?
Across:
1A: "Seascape" playwright: ALBEE (Edward). Besides "Seascape", he also wrote "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Another frequent crossword playwright is James AGEE, who wrote "A Death in the Family" and the screenplay for "The African Queen". Both were Pulitzer winners.
6A: Arthur Marx's stage name: HARPO. I wonder why those Marx Brothers all have a letter O at the end of their names. Why not ER? You know, Harper, Groucher, etc.
22A: Hit with a blackjack: SAPPED. This is a new meaning of SAP to me. Dictionary says it's also a noun, meaning a "leather-covered hand weapon or a blackjack."
28A: Brownish grays: TAUPES. Like the color of her gown.
32A: Florence flooder: ARNO. I would prefer "Florence flower?" (flow-er) rather than "flooder". Is flooder a well-accepted word?
33A: Defoe character: CRUSOE. He and Man Friday, that's all I know about this Defoe novel.
45A: Denim buys: LEVIS. My instinctive response was JEANS.
50A: Make certain: ASSURE. Thought of ENSURE first. Besides the "Gurantee against loss" definition, INSURE also has "Make certain" meaning.
61A: Van Dine's Vance: PHILO. Have never heard of this fictional detective PHILO Vance. Not familiar with the author Van Dine either.
Down:
3D: Flying mammal: BAT. How bats sleep upside down is beyond me. But again, I did not know that turkeys fly.
4D: Second-largest bird: EMU. Oh, I did not know this trivia. The largest bird is ostrich.
5D: Descried: ESPIED. I confused "Descried" with "Decried".
8D: Botanical anchor: ROOT. These sweet potato chips look delicious.
9D: Schools of whales: PODS. "Schools of seals, dolphines" too. Learned this meaning several months ago.
22D: Transparent fakes: SHAMS. Why "Transparent"?
29D: Indicate by signs: AUGUR. So close to the hole making tool AUGER in spelling.
44D: Hogs the mirror: PREENS. I liked this clue. Reminded me of my college years. One of my roommates (we had 7 girls living in a tiny room) hogged the mirror all the time. She was very pretty.
45D: Gracefully slender: LITHE. Sam Snead could still kick the top of a 8-foot ceiling in his late 70s. Very LITHE. And he loved steak, potatoes and ice creams all his life. Exercise probably plays more roles than diet in terms of enhancing human longevity.
46D: Mrs. Fred Mertz: ETHEL. Cute barbie set. From the Chocolate Factory episode I suppose.
51D: Coating: SKIN. How come? Coating of what?
57D: "The __ and the Pussycat": OWL. I guessed. I've never heard of this poem before.
C.C.
17A: Pretend to be confident: PUT UP A GOOD FRONT
37A: Empty-nester's weight problem: MIDDLE-AGE SPREAD
54A: Australia's Never-never: THE BACK OF BEYOND
A couple of things first:
1) From now on, I will only comment on answers that I feel deserve attention. As I've been blogging TMS puzzles for over a year, some of answers are not fresh to me any more, though they might stump certain new solvers. If you need immediate answers for the missing entries and the rationale behind the cluing, just visit the Comments section and ask.
2) Please respect the etiquette in blogging comments. Read others' posts before you post yours. No need to reply to questions that have already been addressed by others, unless you have something new to add.
Back to the puzzle. I've never heard of "Never-never land" or THE BACK OF BEYOND before. Thought the answer might be OUTBACK OF BEYOND. I don't think I fully understand the constructor's logic in putting FRONT in the back, MIDDLE in the front and BACK in the middle. Am I missing something here?
Across:
1A: "Seascape" playwright: ALBEE (Edward). Besides "Seascape", he also wrote "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?". Another frequent crossword playwright is James AGEE, who wrote "A Death in the Family" and the screenplay for "The African Queen". Both were Pulitzer winners.
6A: Arthur Marx's stage name: HARPO. I wonder why those Marx Brothers all have a letter O at the end of their names. Why not ER? You know, Harper, Groucher, etc.
22A: Hit with a blackjack: SAPPED. This is a new meaning of SAP to me. Dictionary says it's also a noun, meaning a "leather-covered hand weapon or a blackjack."
28A: Brownish grays: TAUPES. Like the color of her gown.
32A: Florence flooder: ARNO. I would prefer "Florence flower?" (flow-er) rather than "flooder". Is flooder a well-accepted word?
33A: Defoe character: CRUSOE. He and Man Friday, that's all I know about this Defoe novel.
45A: Denim buys: LEVIS. My instinctive response was JEANS.
50A: Make certain: ASSURE. Thought of ENSURE first. Besides the "Gurantee against loss" definition, INSURE also has "Make certain" meaning.
61A: Van Dine's Vance: PHILO. Have never heard of this fictional detective PHILO Vance. Not familiar with the author Van Dine either.
Down:
3D: Flying mammal: BAT. How bats sleep upside down is beyond me. But again, I did not know that turkeys fly.
4D: Second-largest bird: EMU. Oh, I did not know this trivia. The largest bird is ostrich.
5D: Descried: ESPIED. I confused "Descried" with "Decried".
8D: Botanical anchor: ROOT. These sweet potato chips look delicious.
9D: Schools of whales: PODS. "Schools of seals, dolphines" too. Learned this meaning several months ago.
22D: Transparent fakes: SHAMS. Why "Transparent"?
29D: Indicate by signs: AUGUR. So close to the hole making tool AUGER in spelling.
44D: Hogs the mirror: PREENS. I liked this clue. Reminded me of my college years. One of my roommates (we had 7 girls living in a tiny room) hogged the mirror all the time. She was very pretty.
45D: Gracefully slender: LITHE. Sam Snead could still kick the top of a 8-foot ceiling in his late 70s. Very LITHE. And he loved steak, potatoes and ice creams all his life. Exercise probably plays more roles than diet in terms of enhancing human longevity.
46D: Mrs. Fred Mertz: ETHEL. Cute barbie set. From the Chocolate Factory episode I suppose.
51D: Coating: SKIN. How come? Coating of what?
57D: "The __ and the Pussycat": OWL. I guessed. I've never heard of this poem before.
C.C.
