Theme: G-CLEF (69A. Staff figure, and a hint to the starts of 17-, 23-, 37-, 53- and 59-Across) - The first words of the theme answers - Every Good Boy Does Fine - yield the mnemonic for EGBDF, the notes on the lines of the treble clef.
17A. 1989 Bobby Brown hit: EVERY LITTLE STEP. Have never heard of the song. Bobby Brown is the ex-husband of Whitney Houston.
23A. "Well played!": GOOD GAME
37A. Culture Club lead singer: BOY GEORGE. He seems to be in legal trouble all the time.
53A. Serves a sentence: DOES TIME
59A. Metaphorical search tool: FINE-TOOTHED COMB
Very nice successive order!
Today's constructor Brendan Emmett Quigley is also a musician. He plays for the band Boston Typewriter Orchestra in his spare time. And he tends to sprinkle various music/musician/band references in his puzzles. So, besides the music theme and the two music related theme clues, we also have:
58A. "Watermark" musician: ENYA. I liked her "May It Be".
4D. Singer Grant: AMY
25D. "__ in a Manger": AWAY. Lovely (Celtic Woman).
26D. "Watermelon Man" musician Santamaría: MONGO. Total stranger to me. Wikipedia describes him as an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist.
35. __ voce: softly: SOTTO. Literally "under" in Italian.
57D. Rapper Snoop __: DOGG
60D. "Discreet Music" composer Brian: ENO
How was your solving experience today? The new words/names, the trickiness of the clues and the D'oh moments all felt like a Friday puzzle to me. Maybe I was just not in the constructor's wavelength.
Across:
1. Civil War org.: CSA (Confederate States of America)
4. Multilevel marketing giant: AMWAY. Huge presence in China. AVON too.
9. Political pamphlet: TRACT
14. Witch: HAG
15. Thanksgiving decoration: MAIZE. Indian corn.
16. "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speaker: HENRY (Patrick). I confused him with Ethan Allen.
20. Cunning trick: WILE. Wrote down RUSE first.
22. Suffix with cyan-: IDE. Cyanide. Blue color I presume.
28. Dinar spenders: IRAQIS. IRANIS too. This puzzle is only one letter J away from a pangram.
30. Caterer's container: URN. For Coffee.
32. Military action?: SALUTE. Oh, the greeting. I was picturing the real military action.
33. Stir-fry additive: MSG. Not in my stir-fry.
36. Licensing prerequisite, often: TEST
40. This, to Ricardo: ESTO. Also ESTA.
43. "What the Butler Saw" playwright: ORTON (Joe). No idea. I've never heard of the playwright or the play.
44. Did nothing: SAT
47. Page size with four leaves: QUARTO. New word to me. Makes sense, since quart- is Latin prefix for "four".
50. Words to a backstabber: ET TU. "Et tu, Brute?", Caesar's rebuke to Brutus.
51. Brit. monarch's title: HRH
52. Disentangle: UNKNOT
55. Soreness?: IRE. Without the question mark, the clue will be valid too.
56. Certain candidate's goal, briefly: PHD. Got me.
65. Unanimously: AS ONE
66. Icy look, maybe: GLARE. Tiger Wood's cold glare can be very intimidating.
68. Gas used in arc lamps: XENON. Noble gas. Rooted in "xeno", prefix for "alien"/"foreign".
Down:
1. Some baseballers do it all game long: CHEW GUM. Yes indeed.
2. Redeemers: SAVIORS
3. Lasting quite a while: AGELONG
5. Adjusted opening?: MAL. Maladjusted. Nailed it.
6. Game system played with gestures: WII. Nintendo.
7. AIDS-fighting drug: AZT. The name escaped me again.
8. Bigfoot cousin: YETI. The Abominable Snowman.
9. Second Amendment-supporting gp.: THE NRA. And THE ABCS (46. What preschoolers learn). I think one THE is enough for a grid.
10. __ judicata: decided case: RES. Latin for "thing". Res judicata = a thing adjudicated, a decided case.
11. Many an auction piece: ANTIQUE
12. Movie trailer?: CREDITS. The film enders. Very clever clue.
13. Prepare for printing: TYPESET
19. "Family Guy" mom: LOIS. Stumper. I wonder if our Lois knows.
24. Helicopter's predecessor, briefly: GIRO. Or Gyro, right?
29. Der __: Adenauer epithet: ALTE. Konrad Adenauer's nickname. Der Alte is German for "the old man".
37. Delivered: BORN
39. Migratory antelopes: GNUS. Had no idea that they migrate.
40. Big name in credit reports: EQUIFAX. Wikipedia says it's considered one of the three largest American credit agencies along with Experian and TransUnion. Not a familiar name to me at all. Credit/CREDITS duplication, though of different meanings.
41. Dawn follower: SUNRISE. Wanted MORNING.
42. Hired: TAKEN ON. Did the answer come to you immediately?
44. Classic shoe polish brand: SHINOLA. Nope. Have never heard of the brand.
45. Stereotypical toy soldier: ARMY MAN. Not enough blanks for my GI JOE.
48. Hit list: TOP TEN
49. Roman emperor in 69 A.D.: OTHO. The emperor with a short three-month reign. Tripped me again.
54. Private eye, briefly: TEC (Detective)
61. Dr. Mom's forte: TLC
62. "2001" computer: HAL
63. Before, in verse: ERE. Simple palindrome.
64. OED offering: DEF (Definition). I am using Webster's New World College Dictionary. How about you?
Answer grid.
C.C.
17A. 1989 Bobby Brown hit: EVERY LITTLE STEP. Have never heard of the song. Bobby Brown is the ex-husband of Whitney Houston.
23A. "Well played!": GOOD GAME
37A. Culture Club lead singer: BOY GEORGE. He seems to be in legal trouble all the time.
53A. Serves a sentence: DOES TIME
59A. Metaphorical search tool: FINE-TOOTHED COMB
Very nice successive order!
Today's constructor Brendan Emmett Quigley is also a musician. He plays for the band Boston Typewriter Orchestra in his spare time. And he tends to sprinkle various music/musician/band references in his puzzles. So, besides the music theme and the two music related theme clues, we also have:
58A. "Watermark" musician: ENYA. I liked her "May It Be".
4D. Singer Grant: AMY
25D. "__ in a Manger": AWAY. Lovely (Celtic Woman).
26D. "Watermelon Man" musician Santamaría: MONGO. Total stranger to me. Wikipedia describes him as an Afro-Cuban Latin jazz percussionist.
35. __ voce: softly: SOTTO. Literally "under" in Italian.
57D. Rapper Snoop __: DOGG
60D. "Discreet Music" composer Brian: ENO
How was your solving experience today? The new words/names, the trickiness of the clues and the D'oh moments all felt like a Friday puzzle to me. Maybe I was just not in the constructor's wavelength.
Across:
1. Civil War org.: CSA (Confederate States of America)
4. Multilevel marketing giant: AMWAY. Huge presence in China. AVON too.
9. Political pamphlet: TRACT
14. Witch: HAG
15. Thanksgiving decoration: MAIZE. Indian corn.
16. "Give me liberty, or give me death!" speaker: HENRY (Patrick). I confused him with Ethan Allen.
20. Cunning trick: WILE. Wrote down RUSE first.
22. Suffix with cyan-: IDE. Cyanide. Blue color I presume.
28. Dinar spenders: IRAQIS. IRANIS too. This puzzle is only one letter J away from a pangram.
30. Caterer's container: URN. For Coffee.
32. Military action?: SALUTE. Oh, the greeting. I was picturing the real military action.
33. Stir-fry additive: MSG. Not in my stir-fry.
36. Licensing prerequisite, often: TEST
40. This, to Ricardo: ESTO. Also ESTA.
43. "What the Butler Saw" playwright: ORTON (Joe). No idea. I've never heard of the playwright or the play.
44. Did nothing: SAT
47. Page size with four leaves: QUARTO. New word to me. Makes sense, since quart- is Latin prefix for "four".
50. Words to a backstabber: ET TU. "Et tu, Brute?", Caesar's rebuke to Brutus.
51. Brit. monarch's title: HRH
52. Disentangle: UNKNOT
55. Soreness?: IRE. Without the question mark, the clue will be valid too.
56. Certain candidate's goal, briefly: PHD. Got me.
65. Unanimously: AS ONE
66. Icy look, maybe: GLARE. Tiger Wood's cold glare can be very intimidating.
68. Gas used in arc lamps: XENON. Noble gas. Rooted in "xeno", prefix for "alien"/"foreign".
Down:
1. Some baseballers do it all game long: CHEW GUM. Yes indeed.
2. Redeemers: SAVIORS
3. Lasting quite a while: AGELONG
5. Adjusted opening?: MAL. Maladjusted. Nailed it.
6. Game system played with gestures: WII. Nintendo.
7. AIDS-fighting drug: AZT. The name escaped me again.
8. Bigfoot cousin: YETI. The Abominable Snowman.
9. Second Amendment-supporting gp.: THE NRA. And THE ABCS (46. What preschoolers learn). I think one THE is enough for a grid.
10. __ judicata: decided case: RES. Latin for "thing". Res judicata = a thing adjudicated, a decided case.
11. Many an auction piece: ANTIQUE
12. Movie trailer?: CREDITS. The film enders. Very clever clue.
13. Prepare for printing: TYPESET
19. "Family Guy" mom: LOIS. Stumper. I wonder if our Lois knows.
24. Helicopter's predecessor, briefly: GIRO. Or Gyro, right?
29. Der __: Adenauer epithet: ALTE. Konrad Adenauer's nickname. Der Alte is German for "the old man".
37. Delivered: BORN
39. Migratory antelopes: GNUS. Had no idea that they migrate.
40. Big name in credit reports: EQUIFAX. Wikipedia says it's considered one of the three largest American credit agencies along with Experian and TransUnion. Not a familiar name to me at all. Credit/CREDITS duplication, though of different meanings.
41. Dawn follower: SUNRISE. Wanted MORNING.
42. Hired: TAKEN ON. Did the answer come to you immediately?
44. Classic shoe polish brand: SHINOLA. Nope. Have never heard of the brand.
45. Stereotypical toy soldier: ARMY MAN. Not enough blanks for my GI JOE.
48. Hit list: TOP TEN
49. Roman emperor in 69 A.D.: OTHO. The emperor with a short three-month reign. Tripped me again.
54. Private eye, briefly: TEC (Detective)
61. Dr. Mom's forte: TLC
62. "2001" computer: HAL
63. Before, in verse: ERE. Simple palindrome.
64. OED offering: DEF (Definition). I am using Webster's New World College Dictionary. How about you?
Answer grid.
C.C.
