Theme: None
Total blocks: 30
I am sorry for the troubles many of you (mainly Internet Explorer users) went through last night accessing to the blog. The SNAFU was caused by the Site Meter, which brought down every blog/website with its tracking code. I removed it as soon as I discovered the problem earlier this morning. This was the first time I encountered such a glitch in the 6 months since I installed it.
Everything should be fine now. However, I do suggest you to download Firefox, which is much better than IE. And it allows you to do automatic spelling check when you comment. It's the best browser in my view.
OK, back to puzzle. I had a very tough round. Sliced my opening tee shot immediately. Did not know how to HOOK (1D: Peter Pan" pirate). I filled in SMEE. Then I could not see clearly where the fairways went in the next couple of holes. Too many unfamiliar names. Some of the clues were purposely made tough and I could not correctly read the breaks. Felt like I had to putt 3, or 4 times to sink that damned ball.
I was very, very flattered that Mr. Michael T. William thought I was capable of solving his puzzle.
Front Nine:
1A: Takes by force: HIJACKS
8A: Going one better than: BESTING. Are you OK with this clue?
15A: Prize presenter: AWARDER. I've never heard of "presenter" being called an "AWARDER" before.
13A: Catalog customer: ORDERER.
18A: Soprano Renata: TEBALDI. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says TEBALDI "is famous for being Maria Callas' rival and for her large, voluminous soprano that was widely admired for its tonal beauty and evenness of vocal line.
19A: Short-lived 1920s car: KESSLER. Completely unknown to me. I googled, and still could not find anything about this car.
20A: Indisposition: ILLNESS
23A: In an early stage of development: INCHOATE. Another new word to me. Only knew "incipient".
31A: Despotic: TYRANNICAL. Again, only knew "tyranny".
35A: Zest: ELAN. It reminds me of "pizazz", a word that confused me for a long long time. I never knew how to spell it correctly.
37A: Future rock: LAVA
38A: Jazz pianist Thelonious: MONK. Another unknown to me. Very strange given name. Here is his "Round About Midnight".
39A: Figwort family member: SNAPDRAGON. So delicate!
41A: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Ben Hogan seems to have a more proununced hip move than SNEAD.
43A: Chatoyand gemstone: TIGER EYE. Interesting brown TIGER EYE.
44A: Sealed like flies: ZIPPERED. I did not know that "ZIPPER" is a verb also.
47A: Boris Badenov's cartoon partner: NATASHA. No idea. Pure guess.
50A: Pertinent: APROPOS
55A: Like bogeys: OVER PAR. "Below Par" is such a fascinating self-contradicting word. This puzzle has a slight golf theme. With SNEAD, TORSO (36A: Trunk of the body), HOOK (though it's clued differently) & TIGER.
56A: Ryder painting, "___ of the Sea": TOILERS. Here is the painting. I see no romance or mystic in that picture. Have never heard of Ryder before.
57A: Most in the pink?: ROSIEST. "In the pink" is a new phrase to me. The clue feels a bit strained to me.
60A: Puts to sleep: SEDATES
Back Nine:
3D: Clampett and others: JEDS
5D: Gordon Jump on "WKRP...": CARLSON. No idea. I googled the show.
6D: Short trousers: KNEE PANTS. I don't like the side slit, the color is OK.
7D: Saw-toothed edge: SERRATION. I only knew the adjective SERRATE.
8D: Hand-dyed fabric: BATIK. Another new word. Dictionary says it's also "a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with a color or colors, and dissolving the wax in boiling water."
9D: "The Seven Year Itch": co-star Tom: EWELL. Unknow to me. I've never seen the movie. Knew this Marilyn Monroe picture though.
10D: Natural Paintbrushes: SABLES. I was in the ART direction. Why avoiding "Fine Fur", just to be politically correct? (Addendum: It's clued as "Paintbrush display" on line).
11D: Crossing the Arctic Circle: TRANSPOLAR. Another new word.
14D: Spanish cubist: GRIS (Juan). This is his "Portrait of Picasso".
22D: Repack for reshipping: RECRATE. This actually is a very accurate clue.
25D: Hart or Stephen: CRANE. Know Stephen, not Hart
26D: "The Simpsons" voice: HANK AZARIA. He was married to Helen Hunt for a short period of time.
32D: Pronounces an initial H: ASPIRATES. New term to me.
33D: Northwestern pine: LODGEPOLE. Odd red-colored pines. New to me.
42D: Scatter: DISPEL
47D: Sushi wrapping: NORI. Yes, this is the only seaweed you use to wrap sushi or rice ball.
48D: Bath's river: AVON. I've never heard of this city "Bath" before. AVON is easily inferable though.
49D: New Age pianist John: TESH. Got his name from the across clues. I think I saw his mug before. Who is that girl on his left?
52D: Partially carbonized moss: PEAT. Every clue seems to be very complicated today.
53D: Caen's river: ORNE. Learned from doing Xword of course. Have not seen ST. LO (Town near Caen) for quite some time.
C.C.
Total blocks: 30
I am sorry for the troubles many of you (mainly Internet Explorer users) went through last night accessing to the blog. The SNAFU was caused by the Site Meter, which brought down every blog/website with its tracking code. I removed it as soon as I discovered the problem earlier this morning. This was the first time I encountered such a glitch in the 6 months since I installed it.
Everything should be fine now. However, I do suggest you to download Firefox, which is much better than IE. And it allows you to do automatic spelling check when you comment. It's the best browser in my view.
OK, back to puzzle. I had a very tough round. Sliced my opening tee shot immediately. Did not know how to HOOK (1D: Peter Pan" pirate). I filled in SMEE. Then I could not see clearly where the fairways went in the next couple of holes. Too many unfamiliar names. Some of the clues were purposely made tough and I could not correctly read the breaks. Felt like I had to putt 3, or 4 times to sink that damned ball.
I was very, very flattered that Mr. Michael T. William thought I was capable of solving his puzzle.
Front Nine:
1A: Takes by force: HIJACKS
8A: Going one better than: BESTING. Are you OK with this clue?
15A: Prize presenter: AWARDER. I've never heard of "presenter" being called an "AWARDER" before.
13A: Catalog customer: ORDERER.
18A: Soprano Renata: TEBALDI. Foreign to me. Wikipedia says TEBALDI "is famous for being Maria Callas' rival and for her large, voluminous soprano that was widely admired for its tonal beauty and evenness of vocal line.
19A: Short-lived 1920s car: KESSLER. Completely unknown to me. I googled, and still could not find anything about this car.
20A: Indisposition: ILLNESS
23A: In an early stage of development: INCHOATE. Another new word to me. Only knew "incipient".
31A: Despotic: TYRANNICAL. Again, only knew "tyranny".
35A: Zest: ELAN. It reminds me of "pizazz", a word that confused me for a long long time. I never knew how to spell it correctly.
37A: Future rock: LAVA
38A: Jazz pianist Thelonious: MONK. Another unknown to me. Very strange given name. Here is his "Round About Midnight".
39A: Figwort family member: SNAPDRAGON. So delicate!
41A: Slammin' Sammy: SNEAD. Ben Hogan seems to have a more proununced hip move than SNEAD.
43A: Chatoyand gemstone: TIGER EYE. Interesting brown TIGER EYE.
44A: Sealed like flies: ZIPPERED. I did not know that "ZIPPER" is a verb also.
47A: Boris Badenov's cartoon partner: NATASHA. No idea. Pure guess.
50A: Pertinent: APROPOS
55A: Like bogeys: OVER PAR. "Below Par" is such a fascinating self-contradicting word. This puzzle has a slight golf theme. With SNEAD, TORSO (36A: Trunk of the body), HOOK (though it's clued differently) & TIGER.
56A: Ryder painting, "___ of the Sea": TOILERS. Here is the painting. I see no romance or mystic in that picture. Have never heard of Ryder before.
57A: Most in the pink?: ROSIEST. "In the pink" is a new phrase to me. The clue feels a bit strained to me.
60A: Puts to sleep: SEDATES
Back Nine:
3D: Clampett and others: JEDS
5D: Gordon Jump on "WKRP...": CARLSON. No idea. I googled the show.
6D: Short trousers: KNEE PANTS. I don't like the side slit, the color is OK.
7D: Saw-toothed edge: SERRATION. I only knew the adjective SERRATE.
8D: Hand-dyed fabric: BATIK. Another new word. Dictionary says it's also "a technique of hand-dyeing fabrics by using wax as a dye repellent to cover parts of a design, dyeing the uncovered fabric with a color or colors, and dissolving the wax in boiling water."
9D: "The Seven Year Itch": co-star Tom: EWELL. Unknow to me. I've never seen the movie. Knew this Marilyn Monroe picture though.
10D: Natural Paintbrushes: SABLES. I was in the ART direction. Why avoiding "Fine Fur", just to be politically correct? (Addendum: It's clued as "Paintbrush display" on line).
11D: Crossing the Arctic Circle: TRANSPOLAR. Another new word.
14D: Spanish cubist: GRIS (Juan). This is his "Portrait of Picasso".
22D: Repack for reshipping: RECRATE. This actually is a very accurate clue.
25D: Hart or Stephen: CRANE. Know Stephen, not Hart
26D: "The Simpsons" voice: HANK AZARIA. He was married to Helen Hunt for a short period of time.
32D: Pronounces an initial H: ASPIRATES. New term to me.
33D: Northwestern pine: LODGEPOLE. Odd red-colored pines. New to me.
42D: Scatter: DISPEL
47D: Sushi wrapping: NORI. Yes, this is the only seaweed you use to wrap sushi or rice ball.
48D: Bath's river: AVON. I've never heard of this city "Bath" before. AVON is easily inferable though.
49D: New Age pianist John: TESH. Got his name from the across clues. I think I saw his mug before. Who is that girl on his left?
52D: Partially carbonized moss: PEAT. Every clue seems to be very complicated today.
53D: Caen's river: ORNE. Learned from doing Xword of course. Have not seen ST. LO (Town near Caen) for quite some time.
C.C.
