Theme: None
Total blocks: 29
Total words: 68
I often have millet soup. It's gluten free and safe for me to eat. But the finger millet RAGI (11D: Asian cereal grass) is an exotic new grain to me. Have never seen ONAGERS (62D: Wild asses of Asia) in my life, after living in Asia for over 30 years. They are native to desert areas of Asia like Syria, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, etc.
A bit of Scottish flavor in this grid:
27A: Possess like a Scot: HAE. Guessed this one. Then I remembered I linked Burns "Some HAE meat and canna eat" poem sometime last year.
28A: Scot's negative: NAE
12D: Scott hero: IVANHOE. I wanted ROB ROY. Last time IVANHOE was clued as "Sir Walter Scott hero".
Not a difficult puzzle. Most of the short words are clued very straightforwardly. So that makes the long words obtainable. I filled in lots of blanks before I googled. I think I will struggle mightily with LA Times Saturday themeless. I was only able to fill in a few words last time when Argyle blogged Barry Silk's puzzle. Rich Norris (editor for LA Times crossword) has accepted a few of Barry's puzzles, and they are all themeless. So, be prepared for the struggle.
Oh by the way, Barry's puzzle appeared in NT Times today. Read this interesting interview (Spoiler alert: It contains some answers to the puzzle) conducted by Jim Horne, the official NY Times crossword blogger. "Dr. Pangram" sounds so APT. Want to see how Barry looks like?
Additionally, Mary Elson, the Manging Director for Tribune Media Service, told me yesterday that they have informed all the papers about the puzzle change. I don't know why our local papers have not relayed this important news to us the solvers.
For those who don't have access to TMS Sunday puzzle, have a look at LA Times March 12 Thursday puzzle, Argyle will blog it tomorrow morning.
Across:
1A: Primitive believer: ANIMIST. How is it different from Shamanism?
8A: Land named for Vespucci: AMERICA. The feminized Latin version of his given name Amerigo. Here is how AMERICA is called in Chinese, "the beautiful country".
15A: Puerto Rican boxer Hector: CAMACHO. Googled his name. He looks quite gentle. Is KO a boxing magazine?
17A: Oodles: UMPTEEN
16A: Exquisite: ELEGANT. Anna Wintour is icily ELEGANT.
23A: Byrnes or Roush: EDD. Have never heard of the baseball player EDD Rouse. A HOFer. Wikipedia says he "used a massive 48-ounce Louisville Slugger (the heaviest bat used in baseball)" and he claimed that he never broke a bat in his big league career. Is that a record?
24A: Surveying instrument: ALIDADE. I forgot. This instrument appeared in our puzzle 2 months ago.
29A: Having a harmful effect: DELETERIOUS. I know the meaning of this long word. But it sure was not a gimme to me.
31A: Greenstreet and Pollack: SYDNEYS. Did not know the British actor SYDNEY Greenstreet. He is the bad club owner Signor Ferrari in "Casablanca". The big guy on the right.
36A: Roman transportation: CHARIOT. Driven by two horses. I like this Roman CHARIOT, so finely sculpted.
44A: Explore ahead: RECONNOITER. This is another long word that I can't spell it out without surrounds.
47A: Mdse. identifier: UPC
49A: J. Hancocked?: SGD. My initial answer was OK'D. Look at his autograph. Very clear indeed. No wonder "John Hancock" became an synonym for signature.
53A: Two-headed: DUAL. I don't understand this clue. "Two-headed" conjured up a very unpleasant Greek mythical animal.
57A: Separate metals by melting: LIQUATE. New word to me. I was thinking of ABLATE, which actually means "to remove or dissipate by melting, vaporization, erosion".
Down:
1D: Tapering points: ACUMENS. Not a familiar definition to me.
2D: Date to celebrate: NAME DAY. Hey, Congress just passed a National Pi Day (March 14) resolution.
4D: Groening or Dillon: MATT. Knew MATT Dillon. Loved his "Crash". Have never heard of MATT Groening, the creator of "The Simpsons". Is his named pronounced the same as "groaning"?
5D: Hard water?: ICE
6D: "Cheers" co-star: SHELLEY LONG. Dennis pointed her name last time when I linked this picture.
7D: Uvula neighbors: TONSILS
8D: Film material: ACETATE. Would not have got this material without the crossing help.
10D: Dutch commune: EDE. No idea. This is the best map I could find. The temperature is in C of course.
13D: Horse-man?: CENTAUR. No idea. Holy moly. Horse-man indeed. Reminds me of the part bull, part man Minotaur. Both end in TAUR, prefix for "bull". Those Greek mythology figures can be very absurd.
24D: Operatic soprano Patti: ADELINA. Another google. Italian soprano. Died in 1919. She looks pretty. Verdi called her the greatest vocalist that he ever heard.
25D: Vivid verbal description: DELINEATIONS
37D: Solvent from petroleum: HEPTANE. Its molecule has seven carbon atoms, hence prefix HEPT. I got the answer from across fills.
38D: Stresses: ACCENTS
40D: The Moor of Venice: OTHELLO. His betrayer is IAGO.
41D: Make less severe: ASSUAGE
51D: DCCLI doubled: MDII. 751X2=1502
58D: Sine __ non: QUA. Can you make a sentence for me? I know the meaning of this Latin phrase. Have never used it in conversation or writing.
C.C.
Total blocks: 29
Total words: 68
I often have millet soup. It's gluten free and safe for me to eat. But the finger millet RAGI (11D: Asian cereal grass) is an exotic new grain to me. Have never seen ONAGERS (62D: Wild asses of Asia) in my life, after living in Asia for over 30 years. They are native to desert areas of Asia like Syria, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, etc.
A bit of Scottish flavor in this grid:
27A: Possess like a Scot: HAE. Guessed this one. Then I remembered I linked Burns "Some HAE meat and canna eat" poem sometime last year.
28A: Scot's negative: NAE
12D: Scott hero: IVANHOE. I wanted ROB ROY. Last time IVANHOE was clued as "Sir Walter Scott hero".
Not a difficult puzzle. Most of the short words are clued very straightforwardly. So that makes the long words obtainable. I filled in lots of blanks before I googled. I think I will struggle mightily with LA Times Saturday themeless. I was only able to fill in a few words last time when Argyle blogged Barry Silk's puzzle. Rich Norris (editor for LA Times crossword) has accepted a few of Barry's puzzles, and they are all themeless. So, be prepared for the struggle.
Oh by the way, Barry's puzzle appeared in NT Times today. Read this interesting interview (Spoiler alert: It contains some answers to the puzzle) conducted by Jim Horne, the official NY Times crossword blogger. "Dr. Pangram" sounds so APT. Want to see how Barry looks like?
Additionally, Mary Elson, the Manging Director for Tribune Media Service, told me yesterday that they have informed all the papers about the puzzle change. I don't know why our local papers have not relayed this important news to us the solvers.
For those who don't have access to TMS Sunday puzzle, have a look at LA Times March 12 Thursday puzzle, Argyle will blog it tomorrow morning.
Across:
1A: Primitive believer: ANIMIST. How is it different from Shamanism?
8A: Land named for Vespucci: AMERICA. The feminized Latin version of his given name Amerigo. Here is how AMERICA is called in Chinese, "the beautiful country".
15A: Puerto Rican boxer Hector: CAMACHO. Googled his name. He looks quite gentle. Is KO a boxing magazine?
17A: Oodles: UMPTEEN
16A: Exquisite: ELEGANT. Anna Wintour is icily ELEGANT.
23A: Byrnes or Roush: EDD. Have never heard of the baseball player EDD Rouse. A HOFer. Wikipedia says he "used a massive 48-ounce Louisville Slugger (the heaviest bat used in baseball)" and he claimed that he never broke a bat in his big league career. Is that a record?
24A: Surveying instrument: ALIDADE. I forgot. This instrument appeared in our puzzle 2 months ago.
29A: Having a harmful effect: DELETERIOUS. I know the meaning of this long word. But it sure was not a gimme to me.
31A: Greenstreet and Pollack: SYDNEYS. Did not know the British actor SYDNEY Greenstreet. He is the bad club owner Signor Ferrari in "Casablanca". The big guy on the right.
36A: Roman transportation: CHARIOT. Driven by two horses. I like this Roman CHARIOT, so finely sculpted.
44A: Explore ahead: RECONNOITER. This is another long word that I can't spell it out without surrounds.
47A: Mdse. identifier: UPC
49A: J. Hancocked?: SGD. My initial answer was OK'D. Look at his autograph. Very clear indeed. No wonder "John Hancock" became an synonym for signature.
53A: Two-headed: DUAL. I don't understand this clue. "Two-headed" conjured up a very unpleasant Greek mythical animal.
57A: Separate metals by melting: LIQUATE. New word to me. I was thinking of ABLATE, which actually means "to remove or dissipate by melting, vaporization, erosion".
Down:
1D: Tapering points: ACUMENS. Not a familiar definition to me.
2D: Date to celebrate: NAME DAY. Hey, Congress just passed a National Pi Day (March 14) resolution.
4D: Groening or Dillon: MATT. Knew MATT Dillon. Loved his "Crash". Have never heard of MATT Groening, the creator of "The Simpsons". Is his named pronounced the same as "groaning"?
5D: Hard water?: ICE
6D: "Cheers" co-star: SHELLEY LONG. Dennis pointed her name last time when I linked this picture.
7D: Uvula neighbors: TONSILS
8D: Film material: ACETATE. Would not have got this material without the crossing help.
10D: Dutch commune: EDE. No idea. This is the best map I could find. The temperature is in C of course.
13D: Horse-man?: CENTAUR. No idea. Holy moly. Horse-man indeed. Reminds me of the part bull, part man Minotaur. Both end in TAUR, prefix for "bull". Those Greek mythology figures can be very absurd.
24D: Operatic soprano Patti: ADELINA. Another google. Italian soprano. Died in 1919. She looks pretty. Verdi called her the greatest vocalist that he ever heard.
25D: Vivid verbal description: DELINEATIONS
37D: Solvent from petroleum: HEPTANE. Its molecule has seven carbon atoms, hence prefix HEPT. I got the answer from across fills.
38D: Stresses: ACCENTS
40D: The Moor of Venice: OTHELLO. His betrayer is IAGO.
41D: Make less severe: ASSUAGE
51D: DCCLI doubled: MDII. 751X2=1502
58D: Sine __ non: QUA. Can you make a sentence for me? I know the meaning of this Latin phrase. Have never used it in conversation or writing.
C.C.
