Theme: On the Road To Success
20A: Proceeded slowly: TOOK BABY STEPS
37A: Didn't hesitate: JUMPED RIGHT IN
52A: Accomplished easily: SAILED THROUGH
I am not sure I got the theme right. Those answers are three different manners to achieve one's goal, right?
This is probably the easiest Wednesday puzzle we've had in December. Simple clues, simple answer. "Nice life?" for VIE is a breath of fresh air. Nice has quite a few interesting museums: Musée Chagall, Musée Matisse, etc. I would like to visit there someday.
I really miss baseball, so I might have clued ESS (27D: Slalom trail) as "Season opener?". Lots of other ways to play with ESS, you know, "Slow start?", "Strong start?". Might be too risky to have "Sex start?" though.
Across:
9A: Patriot Allen: ETHAN. Or one of the Coen brothers. I could not grok "Fargo" when I first saw it in 2001. Very strange Minnesota dialect. Yah, you betcha!
15A: Jason's vessel: ARGO. Out of those Argonauts, Atlanta is the only girl, right?
19A: Like sailor's stories: SALTY. Do you know why SALTY dog is named so? What does "dog" refer to?
25A: Presidential nickname: IKE. I thought of ABE first.
33A: Binary digits: ONES. Zeros and ONES.
57A: Yoga position: LOTUS. My grandma used to make pickled LOTUS root for us during Chinese Spring Festival.
60A: Guernsey or Anglesey: ISLE. I've never heard of those two ISLES. Here is the map for Guerney. Wikipesia says "Guernsey is not part of the UK but rather a separate possession of the Crown, comparable to the ISLE of Man". What does "the Crown" refer to then? ISLE of Angelsey is in the northwest coast of Wales. I suppose "Sey" is a corrupted form of "sea"?
Down:
2D: City in a Shakespeare title: VERONA. "The Two Gentlemen of VERONA". Also the setting for "Romeo and Juliet".
3D: Tour guide: ESCORT. "Tour guide"? Really?
4D: Military hat: SHAKO. Without the across fills, I would not have got this plumed hat.
11D: Finland destination: HELSINKI. Is Finnish language very different from from Swedish?
32D: Broadcast again: RERAN
45D: Practiced conservation: REUSED. I think weekday puzzle should limit its prefix to two.
46D: Sought indirectly: ANGLED
47D: Old anesthetics: ETHERS. See, I understand this "Old", meaning "former" or "bygone". Some of the "Old" city clues drive me nuts.
51D: Ta-da!: VOILA. Done! See you tomorrow!
C.C.
20A: Proceeded slowly: TOOK BABY STEPS
37A: Didn't hesitate: JUMPED RIGHT IN
52A: Accomplished easily: SAILED THROUGH
I am not sure I got the theme right. Those answers are three different manners to achieve one's goal, right?
This is probably the easiest Wednesday puzzle we've had in December. Simple clues, simple answer. "Nice life?" for VIE is a breath of fresh air. Nice has quite a few interesting museums: Musée Chagall, Musée Matisse, etc. I would like to visit there someday.
I really miss baseball, so I might have clued ESS (27D: Slalom trail) as "Season opener?". Lots of other ways to play with ESS, you know, "Slow start?", "Strong start?". Might be too risky to have "Sex start?" though.
Across:
9A: Patriot Allen: ETHAN. Or one of the Coen brothers. I could not grok "Fargo" when I first saw it in 2001. Very strange Minnesota dialect. Yah, you betcha!
15A: Jason's vessel: ARGO. Out of those Argonauts, Atlanta is the only girl, right?
19A: Like sailor's stories: SALTY. Do you know why SALTY dog is named so? What does "dog" refer to?
25A: Presidential nickname: IKE. I thought of ABE first.
33A: Binary digits: ONES. Zeros and ONES.
57A: Yoga position: LOTUS. My grandma used to make pickled LOTUS root for us during Chinese Spring Festival.
60A: Guernsey or Anglesey: ISLE. I've never heard of those two ISLES. Here is the map for Guerney. Wikipesia says "Guernsey is not part of the UK but rather a separate possession of the Crown, comparable to the ISLE of Man". What does "the Crown" refer to then? ISLE of Angelsey is in the northwest coast of Wales. I suppose "Sey" is a corrupted form of "sea"?
Down:
2D: City in a Shakespeare title: VERONA. "The Two Gentlemen of VERONA". Also the setting for "Romeo and Juliet".
3D: Tour guide: ESCORT. "Tour guide"? Really?
4D: Military hat: SHAKO. Without the across fills, I would not have got this plumed hat.
11D: Finland destination: HELSINKI. Is Finnish language very different from from Swedish?
32D: Broadcast again: RERAN
45D: Practiced conservation: REUSED. I think weekday puzzle should limit its prefix to two.
46D: Sought indirectly: ANGLED
47D: Old anesthetics: ETHERS. See, I understand this "Old", meaning "former" or "bygone". Some of the "Old" city clues drive me nuts.
51D: Ta-da!: VOILA. Done! See you tomorrow!
C.C.
