Theme: Non-Dairy
26A: Ashen-hued: WHEY FACED
28A: Snow ride: SKIMOBILE
68A: Fall into disgrace: INCUR DISHONOR
105A: Those who refute: REBUTTERS
108A: Munch masterpiece: THE SCREAM
37D: Pix of minimally attired women: CHEESECAKE
45D: Assassinated S. F. city supervisor: HARVEY MILK
Just when I think I could not sink any lower.. My God, this puzzle takes all the little optimism I have slowly built up in the past several weeks and shreds it into pieces. I am so overtaken by my inadequacy and ignorance.
I am not blaming the constructor, as I am not good enough to judge whether certain clues/answers are structurally fair or not. But when I spent over one hour on googling just to get TRICUSPID, IFNI, APPALOOSA, KURIL, YTTRIA and a few other unknown words, I was not having any fun. I hated it.
Across entries:
1A: Soviet newspaper: PRAVDA. Soviet Newspaper (1912-1991). I only knew Soviet/Russian TASS News Agency.
7A: Goes over like a lead balloon: FALLS FLATS
20A: Enticers: LURERS. I always thought "lure"itself is an enticer.
21A: Spotted, saddle horse: APPALOOSA. Completely unknown to me. It looks like this.
22A: Arizona city: YUMA
23A: Husband/brother of Isis: OSIRIS. I can get Isis when it's clued as Osiris's wife/sister. Not the other way around.
24A: Limits: RESTRICTS
25A: French composer Satie: ERIK. Saw his name before, then forgot.
28A: Snow ride: SKI MOBILE. I only knew Snowmobile.
30A: Sounds of mild reproof: TUTS. Not tut -tut?
31A: Playing Marble: AGATE
34A: Van Gogh location: ARLES. Is it because he spent a long time there painting? Or is it because you can find a Van Gogh museum there?
35A: Roberts and Griffiths: RACHELS. Never heard of them.
39A: Russian rulers: CZARS. I guess I am used to TSAR.
40A: Snake, pref.: OPHI. It's Greek for snake/serpent.
44A: Ideas: THOUGHTS. It did not come to my mind immediately.
48A: Diver's milieu: REEF
49A: Worsted cloth: SERGE. Had no idea. But I will remember this because I am going to associate it with Serge Gainsbourg, the French singer, Jane Birkin's ex. Je t'aime... moi non plus!
51A: Unenthusiastic: COOL
52A: Instrument with seven pedals: HARP
53A: Studio apt: EFF (Efficiency Apartment)
55A: Stain: DISCOLOR
58A: White powder used in incandescent gas: YTTRIA. It's not made up. It's in the dictionary.
It's a "white, water-insoluble powder, Y2O3, used chiefly in incandescent gas and acetylene mantles."
60A: Nautical dir.: EBS (East by South)
62A: Weakly colored: LEUC, variant of leuko, meaning white, as in leukotomy.
64A: Trace: VESTIGE. This is not an easy word to jump into my little brain.
66A: Mover's vehicle: VAN
67A: Highland negative: NAE. Scottish are tough to understand.
71A: Freudian concept: EGO
72A: GOP Group: RNC (Republican National Committee). I can not believe I botched this one. By the way, DNC is for Democratic National Committee, whose current Chairman is Howard Dean.
73A: Annual, like Mediterranean summer winds: ETESIAN. Completely unknown to me.
74A: Former Spanish toehold in Africa: IFNI. It's in west coast of Morocco, if you care to know.
76A: Andre of tennis: AGASSI
78A: Baseball's Charlie Hustle: PETE ROSE. We have a whole box of Pete Rose's baseball cards in our basement. I just never knew that he was nicknamed Charlie Hustle. Well, he retired before I came to the US.
81A: Coll. period: SEM (Semester)
83A: Abrupt blow: POKE
84A: Duplicate: TWIN
86A: States forcefully: AVERS. What's the difference between AVER and AVOW? I always confuse these two words.
87A: Run of the ___: MILL
91A: Used a foot pedal: TREADLED
93A: Blanches: PALES
95A: Estevez of "St. Elmo's Fire": EMILIO. I will never remember your name if you don't change it into Sheen. By the way, I love Charlie Sheen's "Wild Thing" in Major League.
96A: Encounter: MEET
98A: Less decorated: BARER
99A: In a blunt manner: STARKLY
100A: Antigone's uncle: CREON. Greek mythology. My Achilles' heel.
103A: First, second and third: BASES
104A: Org.: ASSN.
105A: Those who refute: REBUTTERS. Do you use actually use this word? I mean, I rebut your rebuttal, does it make me a rebutter?
108A: Munch masterpiece: THE SCREAM. It's a very disturbing picture to me.
113A: In due time: ANON
114A: Car stopper element: BRAKE SHOE
118A: Danny of "Do the right thing": AIELLO. I don't remember seeing him in Godfather II, too many bad guys in that movie. He also plays the mafioso Tony in Léon (The Professional). Watch it if you love Natalie Portman.
120A: "Archie Bunker's Place" co-star: ANNE MEARA. Good to see her full name clued.
121A: All things considered: IN TOTO. All Things Considered is also a great NPR program. Robert Siegal is great.
122A: Marathon and Longboat: KEYS. I did not know. When I googled, the first hit was "Tom Longboat wins the Marathon in 1907."
123A: Blitzed: RED DOGGED. Never heard of this phrase. Not a football fan.
124A: One holding security: LIENOR
Down entries:
1D: Snow mover: PLOW
2D: Quicken the pace: RUSH
3D: 1997 Indy winner Luyendyk: ARIE. Learned his name from doing crossword.
5D: Job-hopper: DRIFTER
6D: Onslaughts: ASSAULTS
7D: Paying passengers: FARES
9D: Hi-fi discs: LPS
10D: Long. counterpart: LAT (Latitude).
11D: Camera letters: SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
12D: Inserts fraudulently: FOISTS. Did not come to my mind quickly.
13D: Empirical philosopher: LOCKE (John). According to him, we were born without any innate idea, ie, Tabula Rasa (blank slate), which pops up in crosswords occasionally.
14D: Italian wine center: ASTI. Here is the map.
15D: Australian isl.: TASM (Tasmania). No idea.
16D: Popular purple flowered plant: EYE BRIGHT. I wonder if it will grow in Minnesota. Looks pretty.
17D: Russian islands: KURIL. Here is the map. So close to Japan.
18D: Durkheim or Zola: EMILE
19D: ___ alive!: SAKES. Land Sakes! Holy Cow! I did not know this expression. My husband had to explain it to me.
27D: $ percentage: CTS (CENTS)
29D: Hawaiian island: OAHU. It's either Oahu or Maui.
31D: Mexican empire: AZTEC
32D: Go, in Glasgow: GAE. Whatever you say.
33D: Extension: ARM
35D: Capek's sci-fi play: R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). The word "Robot" first appeared in this fiction.
36D: Organic suffix: ANE
37D: Pix of minimally attired women: CHEESECAKE. This is a killer cheesecake.
38D: Snit: HUFF
39D: Teeth on a wheel: COGS
40D: Ah, I see!: OHO!
41D: Multi-sided plane figure: POLYGON
43D: Like some molars: TRICUSPID. Took me ages to get this one. I like the explanation "having three cusps or points, as a tooth". You've got to remember Bicuspid (2 cusps) too.
44D: Slowpokes: TORTOISES. I was just dense this morning, could not even get this one.
45D: Assassinated. S. F. city supervisor: HARVEY MILK. Never heard of him. According to Wikipedia, he was the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet." Don't know anyone with a surname of Milk.
46D: Process for sorting the injured: TRIAGE
47D: Joe and Vincent: SPANOS. Total strangers to me.
50D: Elicit: EDUCE
51D: Hit on the head: COSH. I put conk first.
54D: Goes by air: FLIES
56D: Sheep-ish?: OVINE
57D: Brown with a band: LES. I remember I blogged about him before.
59D: Copley and Garr: TERIS
60D: Captivated: ENRAPT
61D: City on the Penobscot: BANGOR. Seaport in Main. Did not know this.
63D: Give a right: ENTITLE
65D: Surmise: INFER
69D: Nice nothing: RIEN (nothing in French)
70D: CD's competitor: DAT (Digital Audiotape)
77D: Mid-ocean peaks: SEAMOUNTS. Unknown. Here is more information for you.
79D: Death rattles: RALES. Nope. Did not ring a bell.
80D: Finished: OVER
82D: Abu Dhabi ruler: EMIR. What's the obsession with Abu Dhabi? Don't they have EMIR in Oman also? Or you just want us to remember the UAE Port debacle? I hate keying in Abu Dhabi into my blog every day. I am very bad at spelling, period!
85D: Drench: WET
87D: Goes to sea: SETS SAIL
89D: Abner's size? LI'L. The comic strip character. Have to thank razzberry for the "not fer not agin" comment on Thursday.
90D: Actress Myrna: LOY. Vaguely remember her name. She was Nora in The Thin Man.
92D: Pockmark: DENT
93D: Faux __: PAS
96D: "Moon River" composer: MANCINI (Henry). Knew the song (Breakfast at Tiffany's).
98D: Soaked up rays: BASKED
100D: Fracture: CRACK
101D: Taylor or Adoree: RENEE. Taylor is Fran's mother in the Nanny. Did not known Adoree.
102D: Jet black: EBONY
103D: Product name: BRAND
104D: Leading: AHEAD
106D: Skier's ride: T BAR
107D: Osprey's cousin: ERNE. Look at this Osprey's claws.
108D: made great haste: TORE. Why?
109D: Anatomical network: RETE Learned from doing crossword. Remember the plural form is RETIA.
110D: Carolina school: ELON. Nope, never heard of it.
112D: Heath: MOOR
111D: Chorus voice: ALTO
115D: Comic Philips: EMO. See here for more information on him.
116D: Pc.: SEG (Segment). Pc is piece.
117D: Crone: HAG
Done!
C. C.
26A: Ashen-hued: WHEY FACED
28A: Snow ride: SKIMOBILE
68A: Fall into disgrace: INCUR DISHONOR
105A: Those who refute: REBUTTERS
108A: Munch masterpiece: THE SCREAM
37D: Pix of minimally attired women: CHEESECAKE
45D: Assassinated S. F. city supervisor: HARVEY MILK
Just when I think I could not sink any lower.. My God, this puzzle takes all the little optimism I have slowly built up in the past several weeks and shreds it into pieces. I am so overtaken by my inadequacy and ignorance.
I am not blaming the constructor, as I am not good enough to judge whether certain clues/answers are structurally fair or not. But when I spent over one hour on googling just to get TRICUSPID, IFNI, APPALOOSA, KURIL, YTTRIA and a few other unknown words, I was not having any fun. I hated it.
Across entries:
1A: Soviet newspaper: PRAVDA. Soviet Newspaper (1912-1991). I only knew Soviet/Russian TASS News Agency.
7A: Goes over like a lead balloon: FALLS FLATS
20A: Enticers: LURERS. I always thought "lure"itself is an enticer.
21A: Spotted, saddle horse: APPALOOSA. Completely unknown to me. It looks like this.
22A: Arizona city: YUMA
23A: Husband/brother of Isis: OSIRIS. I can get Isis when it's clued as Osiris's wife/sister. Not the other way around.
24A: Limits: RESTRICTS
25A: French composer Satie: ERIK. Saw his name before, then forgot.
28A: Snow ride: SKI MOBILE. I only knew Snowmobile.
30A: Sounds of mild reproof: TUTS. Not tut -tut?
31A: Playing Marble: AGATE
34A: Van Gogh location: ARLES. Is it because he spent a long time there painting? Or is it because you can find a Van Gogh museum there?
35A: Roberts and Griffiths: RACHELS. Never heard of them.
39A: Russian rulers: CZARS. I guess I am used to TSAR.
40A: Snake, pref.: OPHI. It's Greek for snake/serpent.
44A: Ideas: THOUGHTS. It did not come to my mind immediately.
48A: Diver's milieu: REEF
49A: Worsted cloth: SERGE. Had no idea. But I will remember this because I am going to associate it with Serge Gainsbourg, the French singer, Jane Birkin's ex. Je t'aime... moi non plus!
51A: Unenthusiastic: COOL
52A: Instrument with seven pedals: HARP
53A: Studio apt: EFF (Efficiency Apartment)
55A: Stain: DISCOLOR
58A: White powder used in incandescent gas: YTTRIA. It's not made up. It's in the dictionary.
It's a "white, water-insoluble powder, Y2O3, used chiefly in incandescent gas and acetylene mantles."
60A: Nautical dir.: EBS (East by South)
62A: Weakly colored: LEUC, variant of leuko, meaning white, as in leukotomy.
64A: Trace: VESTIGE. This is not an easy word to jump into my little brain.
66A: Mover's vehicle: VAN
67A: Highland negative: NAE. Scottish are tough to understand.
71A: Freudian concept: EGO
72A: GOP Group: RNC (Republican National Committee). I can not believe I botched this one. By the way, DNC is for Democratic National Committee, whose current Chairman is Howard Dean.
73A: Annual, like Mediterranean summer winds: ETESIAN. Completely unknown to me.
74A: Former Spanish toehold in Africa: IFNI. It's in west coast of Morocco, if you care to know.
76A: Andre of tennis: AGASSI
78A: Baseball's Charlie Hustle: PETE ROSE. We have a whole box of Pete Rose's baseball cards in our basement. I just never knew that he was nicknamed Charlie Hustle. Well, he retired before I came to the US.
81A: Coll. period: SEM (Semester)
83A: Abrupt blow: POKE
84A: Duplicate: TWIN
86A: States forcefully: AVERS. What's the difference between AVER and AVOW? I always confuse these two words.
87A: Run of the ___: MILL
91A: Used a foot pedal: TREADLED
93A: Blanches: PALES
95A: Estevez of "St. Elmo's Fire": EMILIO. I will never remember your name if you don't change it into Sheen. By the way, I love Charlie Sheen's "Wild Thing" in Major League.
96A: Encounter: MEET
98A: Less decorated: BARER
99A: In a blunt manner: STARKLY
100A: Antigone's uncle: CREON. Greek mythology. My Achilles' heel.
103A: First, second and third: BASES
104A: Org.: ASSN.
105A: Those who refute: REBUTTERS. Do you use actually use this word? I mean, I rebut your rebuttal, does it make me a rebutter?
108A: Munch masterpiece: THE SCREAM. It's a very disturbing picture to me.
113A: In due time: ANON
114A: Car stopper element: BRAKE SHOE
118A: Danny of "Do the right thing": AIELLO. I don't remember seeing him in Godfather II, too many bad guys in that movie. He also plays the mafioso Tony in Léon (The Professional). Watch it if you love Natalie Portman.
120A: "Archie Bunker's Place" co-star: ANNE MEARA. Good to see her full name clued.
121A: All things considered: IN TOTO. All Things Considered is also a great NPR program. Robert Siegal is great.
122A: Marathon and Longboat: KEYS. I did not know. When I googled, the first hit was "Tom Longboat wins the Marathon in 1907."
123A: Blitzed: RED DOGGED. Never heard of this phrase. Not a football fan.
124A: One holding security: LIENOR
Down entries:
1D: Snow mover: PLOW
2D: Quicken the pace: RUSH
3D: 1997 Indy winner Luyendyk: ARIE. Learned his name from doing crossword.
5D: Job-hopper: DRIFTER
6D: Onslaughts: ASSAULTS
7D: Paying passengers: FARES
9D: Hi-fi discs: LPS
10D: Long. counterpart: LAT (Latitude).
11D: Camera letters: SLR (Single Lens Reflex)
12D: Inserts fraudulently: FOISTS. Did not come to my mind quickly.
13D: Empirical philosopher: LOCKE (John). According to him, we were born without any innate idea, ie, Tabula Rasa (blank slate), which pops up in crosswords occasionally.
14D: Italian wine center: ASTI. Here is the map.
15D: Australian isl.: TASM (Tasmania). No idea.
16D: Popular purple flowered plant: EYE BRIGHT. I wonder if it will grow in Minnesota. Looks pretty.
17D: Russian islands: KURIL. Here is the map. So close to Japan.
18D: Durkheim or Zola: EMILE
19D: ___ alive!: SAKES. Land Sakes! Holy Cow! I did not know this expression. My husband had to explain it to me.
27D: $ percentage: CTS (CENTS)
29D: Hawaiian island: OAHU. It's either Oahu or Maui.
31D: Mexican empire: AZTEC
32D: Go, in Glasgow: GAE. Whatever you say.
33D: Extension: ARM
35D: Capek's sci-fi play: R. U. R. (Rossum's Universal Robots). The word "Robot" first appeared in this fiction.
36D: Organic suffix: ANE
37D: Pix of minimally attired women: CHEESECAKE. This is a killer cheesecake.
38D: Snit: HUFF
39D: Teeth on a wheel: COGS
40D: Ah, I see!: OHO!
41D: Multi-sided plane figure: POLYGON
43D: Like some molars: TRICUSPID. Took me ages to get this one. I like the explanation "having three cusps or points, as a tooth". You've got to remember Bicuspid (2 cusps) too.
44D: Slowpokes: TORTOISES. I was just dense this morning, could not even get this one.
45D: Assassinated. S. F. city supervisor: HARVEY MILK. Never heard of him. According to Wikipedia, he was the first openly gay man elected to any substantial political office in the history of the planet." Don't know anyone with a surname of Milk.
46D: Process for sorting the injured: TRIAGE
47D: Joe and Vincent: SPANOS. Total strangers to me.
50D: Elicit: EDUCE
51D: Hit on the head: COSH. I put conk first.
54D: Goes by air: FLIES
56D: Sheep-ish?: OVINE
57D: Brown with a band: LES. I remember I blogged about him before.
59D: Copley and Garr: TERIS
60D: Captivated: ENRAPT
61D: City on the Penobscot: BANGOR. Seaport in Main. Did not know this.
63D: Give a right: ENTITLE
65D: Surmise: INFER
69D: Nice nothing: RIEN (nothing in French)
70D: CD's competitor: DAT (Digital Audiotape)
77D: Mid-ocean peaks: SEAMOUNTS. Unknown. Here is more information for you.
79D: Death rattles: RALES. Nope. Did not ring a bell.
80D: Finished: OVER
82D: Abu Dhabi ruler: EMIR. What's the obsession with Abu Dhabi? Don't they have EMIR in Oman also? Or you just want us to remember the UAE Port debacle? I hate keying in Abu Dhabi into my blog every day. I am very bad at spelling, period!
85D: Drench: WET
87D: Goes to sea: SETS SAIL
89D: Abner's size? LI'L. The comic strip character. Have to thank razzberry for the "not fer not agin" comment on Thursday.
90D: Actress Myrna: LOY. Vaguely remember her name. She was Nora in The Thin Man.
92D: Pockmark: DENT
93D: Faux __: PAS
96D: "Moon River" composer: MANCINI (Henry). Knew the song (Breakfast at Tiffany's).
98D: Soaked up rays: BASKED
100D: Fracture: CRACK
101D: Taylor or Adoree: RENEE. Taylor is Fran's mother in the Nanny. Did not known Adoree.
102D: Jet black: EBONY
103D: Product name: BRAND
104D: Leading: AHEAD
106D: Skier's ride: T BAR
107D: Osprey's cousin: ERNE. Look at this Osprey's claws.
108D: made great haste: TORE. Why?
109D: Anatomical network: RETE Learned from doing crossword. Remember the plural form is RETIA.
110D: Carolina school: ELON. Nope, never heard of it.
112D: Heath: MOOR
111D: Chorus voice: ALTO
115D: Comic Philips: EMO. See here for more information on him.
116D: Pc.: SEG (Segment). Pc is piece.
117D: Crone: HAG
Done!
C. C.
