Theme: Equines
17A: Root of bitterness?: HORSERADISH
24A: 1966 Wilson Pickett hit: MUSTANG SALLY
36A: Sobriquet for Stallone: ITALIAN STALLION
48A: Colorado pro: DENVER BRONCO
58A: Mail system. 1860-61: PONY EXPRESS
Hmm, where are the MOUNT, STEED, COLT, FILLY & STUD?
I should not NAG.
This is a beautiful puzzle. The first pangram grid I've ever solved - all letters of the alphabets are used. I wonder if anyone has constructed an "HORSE" rebus puzzle before. Wouldn't that be interesting to decode?
The only flaw I saw is the clue for ROAN (29D: Motley horse), since HORSE is part of the theme answer (17A).
Figured out the theme very earlier on, which helped me fill in several otherwise unobtainable fills.
Had a few absent-minded flirting with Google. I still can not believe SCHISGAL (10D) is an actual name.
Across:
1A: Woody Allen movie: ZELIG. Not familiar with this mockumentary. I had ZEL?G for a long time. I like Woody Allan's "Annie Hall" & "Hannah and Her Sisters".
11A: Parts of gals: QTS
15A: Swiss canton: URI. Have not seen the "Mentalist Geller" clue for a long time.
21A: Laptop surfer's connection: WIFI. I've never used WIFI connection. Is it very quick?
22A: "The White Album" track: I WILL. Here is Paul McCartney's "I WILL". Not a familiar song to me.
27A: Color bands: STRIPES. This word and the EQUINES theme brings a Zebra to my mind.
30A: Safecracker: YEGG. Where did we get this strange word "YEGG" for a burglar?
32A: Elizabeth of "Lone Star": PENA. I don't know her. I do know this PENA. I own this card.
33A: Sch. in Lexington: VMI (Virginia Military Institute). Unknown to me. My answer was VMU until the very end.
43A: __ de vie (clear brandies): EAUX. An educated guess. I had EAU? in place, and letter "X" is the only choice since the clue is in plural form (EAUX is the plural of EAU).
45A: Steals, as livestock: RUSTLES. I like this answer and the clue. Could picture someone stealing a HORSE in the middle of the night.
53A: Exchange fee: AGIO. It appeared on last Sunday's puzzle.
67A: Nixon's Agnew: SPIRO. He got a good speech writer in William Safire. I don't think he himself would have come up with this alliterative term "Nattering nabobs of negativism".
Down:
1D: TV journalist Paula: ZAHN. I kind of like her replacement Campbell Brown at CNN. Paula ZAHN is also a great cellist (played at Carnegie Hall before.)
2D: Smack addition: EROO. or "Switch addtion". AROO is "Buck addition".
3D: Front-runners: LDRS (Leaders). Still have difficulty accepting this abbreviation.
4D: Island near Naxos: IOS. Big stumper for me. Wikipedia says Homer is said to be buried on IOS Island.
10D: "Luv" dramatist: SCHISGAL (Murray). Unknown to me. Wikipedia says Mike Nichols directed the Broadway play and ALAN Arkin & ELI Wallach were in the original cast.
11D: Chickenlike bird: QUAIL. This California QUAIL looks fearless.
12D: Fairy-tale toll collector: TROLL. Why "toll collector"? Wow, look at this amazing TROLL Doll collection. Some of the original Norweigian TROLLS are so beautifully ugly, with real wood.
13D: Half-baked: SILLY. New to me. I always thought of "Half-baked" as in "Not well cooked".
24D: Pepper grinder: MILL. See this antique MILL machinery, very different from my childhood MILL memory.
25D: Putin's refusal: NYET. DADA means "Yes, yes" in Russian. "Ya tebya lyublyu" is "I love you". So complicated. Vodka sounds much better. I vodka you.
26D: Actress Rowlands: GENA. I've never heard of her before.
32D: Ltr. addenda: PSS. Quite a few abbreviations in today's grid.
33D: Perfume holder: VIAL. Beautiful enamelled perfume VIALS. In great condition. I like the rosebuds & the butterfly in the middle. Very pretty.
34D: Pouting face: MOUE. Clear Ayes' "Self-depreciating/deprecating MOUE" really made me laugh last time.
35D: "Devil Inside" group: INXS (pronounced as In Excess). Had never heard of them before.
37D: Worldwide police grp.: INTERPOL. It's headquartered in Lyon, France. I feel sad for their finanical woes.
38D: Violinist Leopold: AUER. The Hungarian violinist. Have seen this clue 2 times before.
39D: Plane-crash grp.: NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board). Here is what Dennis said last time: "The FAA establishes the safety guidelines/rules, and the NTSB comes into play when something goes wrong. If you're a pilot, you never wanna hear from the NTSB."
40D: Apollo's mother: LETO. Gimme!
46D: Trademark DOS: UNIX. Developed by the Bell Labs.
48D: French mustard: DIJON. Here is a jar of HORSERADISH DIJON for you. Sounds good for potato salad.
51D: Spoked: RAYED. Had no idea that "spoke" can also be a verb.
54D: Lucie's dad: DESI (Arnaz). This "Job Switching"(Chocolate factory) Barbie is a probably one of the most sought-after Mattel dolls.
C.C.
PS: Barry Silk's original clue for ROAN is "Multicolored equine". Our editor also made 2 big changes on the grid: the upper middle part and the lower right. See here for the grid and the clues.
17A: Root of bitterness?: HORSERADISH
24A: 1966 Wilson Pickett hit: MUSTANG SALLY
36A: Sobriquet for Stallone: ITALIAN STALLION
48A: Colorado pro: DENVER BRONCO
58A: Mail system. 1860-61: PONY EXPRESS
Hmm, where are the MOUNT, STEED, COLT, FILLY & STUD?
I should not NAG.
This is a beautiful puzzle. The first pangram grid I've ever solved - all letters of the alphabets are used. I wonder if anyone has constructed an "HORSE" rebus puzzle before. Wouldn't that be interesting to decode?
The only flaw I saw is the clue for ROAN (29D: Motley horse), since HORSE is part of the theme answer (17A).
Figured out the theme very earlier on, which helped me fill in several otherwise unobtainable fills.
Had a few absent-minded flirting with Google. I still can not believe SCHISGAL (10D) is an actual name.
Across:
1A: Woody Allen movie: ZELIG. Not familiar with this mockumentary. I had ZEL?G for a long time. I like Woody Allan's "Annie Hall" & "Hannah and Her Sisters".
11A: Parts of gals: QTS
15A: Swiss canton: URI. Have not seen the "Mentalist Geller" clue for a long time.
21A: Laptop surfer's connection: WIFI. I've never used WIFI connection. Is it very quick?
22A: "The White Album" track: I WILL. Here is Paul McCartney's "I WILL". Not a familiar song to me.
27A: Color bands: STRIPES. This word and the EQUINES theme brings a Zebra to my mind.
30A: Safecracker: YEGG. Where did we get this strange word "YEGG" for a burglar?
32A: Elizabeth of "Lone Star": PENA. I don't know her. I do know this PENA. I own this card.
33A: Sch. in Lexington: VMI (Virginia Military Institute). Unknown to me. My answer was VMU until the very end.
43A: __ de vie (clear brandies): EAUX. An educated guess. I had EAU? in place, and letter "X" is the only choice since the clue is in plural form (EAUX is the plural of EAU).
45A: Steals, as livestock: RUSTLES. I like this answer and the clue. Could picture someone stealing a HORSE in the middle of the night.
53A: Exchange fee: AGIO. It appeared on last Sunday's puzzle.
67A: Nixon's Agnew: SPIRO. He got a good speech writer in William Safire. I don't think he himself would have come up with this alliterative term "Nattering nabobs of negativism".
Down:
1D: TV journalist Paula: ZAHN. I kind of like her replacement Campbell Brown at CNN. Paula ZAHN is also a great cellist (played at Carnegie Hall before.)
2D: Smack addition: EROO. or "Switch addtion". AROO is "Buck addition".
3D: Front-runners: LDRS (Leaders). Still have difficulty accepting this abbreviation.
4D: Island near Naxos: IOS. Big stumper for me. Wikipedia says Homer is said to be buried on IOS Island.
10D: "Luv" dramatist: SCHISGAL (Murray). Unknown to me. Wikipedia says Mike Nichols directed the Broadway play and ALAN Arkin & ELI Wallach were in the original cast.
11D: Chickenlike bird: QUAIL. This California QUAIL looks fearless.
12D: Fairy-tale toll collector: TROLL. Why "toll collector"? Wow, look at this amazing TROLL Doll collection. Some of the original Norweigian TROLLS are so beautifully ugly, with real wood.
13D: Half-baked: SILLY. New to me. I always thought of "Half-baked" as in "Not well cooked".
24D: Pepper grinder: MILL. See this antique MILL machinery, very different from my childhood MILL memory.
25D: Putin's refusal: NYET. DADA means "Yes, yes" in Russian. "Ya tebya lyublyu" is "I love you". So complicated. Vodka sounds much better. I vodka you.
26D: Actress Rowlands: GENA. I've never heard of her before.
32D: Ltr. addenda: PSS. Quite a few abbreviations in today's grid.
33D: Perfume holder: VIAL. Beautiful enamelled perfume VIALS. In great condition. I like the rosebuds & the butterfly in the middle. Very pretty.
34D: Pouting face: MOUE. Clear Ayes' "Self-depreciating/deprecating MOUE" really made me laugh last time.
35D: "Devil Inside" group: INXS (pronounced as In Excess). Had never heard of them before.
37D: Worldwide police grp.: INTERPOL. It's headquartered in Lyon, France. I feel sad for their finanical woes.
38D: Violinist Leopold: AUER. The Hungarian violinist. Have seen this clue 2 times before.
39D: Plane-crash grp.: NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board). Here is what Dennis said last time: "The FAA establishes the safety guidelines/rules, and the NTSB comes into play when something goes wrong. If you're a pilot, you never wanna hear from the NTSB."
40D: Apollo's mother: LETO. Gimme!
46D: Trademark DOS: UNIX. Developed by the Bell Labs.
48D: French mustard: DIJON. Here is a jar of HORSERADISH DIJON for you. Sounds good for potato salad.
51D: Spoked: RAYED. Had no idea that "spoke" can also be a verb.
54D: Lucie's dad: DESI (Arnaz). This "Job Switching"(Chocolate factory) Barbie is a probably one of the most sought-after Mattel dolls.
C.C.
PS: Barry Silk's original clue for ROAN is "Multicolored equine". Our editor also made 2 big changes on the grid: the upper middle part and the lower right. See here for the grid and the clues.
