Theme: None
Total block: 31
Total words: 72
This grid looked so solver-friendly to me in the beginning, with the seemingly accessible word breaks/crossings. And I did fill in oodles of blanks. But the tricky clues abound. I avoided a few minefields. Still got myself hopelessly mired in the lower left corner.
I buy eggs every week, yet I could not come up with DOZENS for 63A: Egg buys. I felt like a stupid goose. Shouldn't "What caring people give" (49D: A HOOT) have a question mark? I've only heard of "I don't give A HOOT". Never mind, even if it had a ? hint, I don't think A HOOT would jump into me. I was totally in the "love" and "attention" direction. Those are what really caring people give. Such a wicked clue for my innocent mind. I need a steroid injection to hit Barry's curveball, too much spin.
I read Barry's answers on the seed word immediately after I finished the puzzle. Was surprised that it's PARRAFFIN WAX and not RATSO RIZZO. What's your favorite clue today? Mine is "Offer?" for HITMAN.
Across:
1A: Has a gift for: EXCELS AT. First entry with an scrabbly X splash.
9A: Not impromptu: STAGED. "Impromptu" is also a title of a movie about the love affair between George Sand and Chopin.
15A: Sci-fi portal: STARGATE. No idea. Looks cool.
16A: Brightly colored bird: ORIOLE
17A: Gladiator weapons: TRIDENTS. Russell Crowe's "Gladitor" is using a knife or a sword. I don't remeber seeing him with TRIDENTS.
18A: Loved 'un: DARLIN. Chiang Kai-Shek and his wife Soong May-Ling were famous for calling each other "Darling", which was scorned upon as bourgeois trait in China. Soong was educated in Wellesley College.
19A: Jutland native: DANE
20A: Woman in an insect name: KATY. No idea. What insect?
23A: Pelvic bone: SACRUM. "Holy (bone)" in Greek. Plural is sacra.
25A: Originate, as a river: RISE. I felt dumb. I had ???E in place for a long time.
26A: Mother of Issac: SARAH
30A: "I beg indulgence": HUMOR ME. Does ALLOW ME carry the same meaning?
32A: Capitol group: STATE SENATE. Piece of cake.
34A: Only pres. born in Missouri: HST. Can't be ABE or IKE since I already got the S from SNAG (35D: Complication).
37A: For the full time: TO TERM. Need your help. I don't get this answer at all.
38A: Lizard with a dewlap: IGUANA. Very ugly.
41A: Candlemaker's supply: PARAFFIN WAX. Another letter X at the edge of the grid. How surprising: they are edible. PARAFFIN was clued as "Candle wax" in our old puzzle before.
45A: More or less: OF A SORT. I struck out on this multiple fill.
47A: New Wave band __ Boingo: OINGO. Unknown to me. What is the significance of their name?
48A: Actor whose '70s-'80s sitcom character was cross-dresser: FARR (Jamie). No idea. He played Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Klinger in M*A*S*H.
50A: Offer?: HITMAN. Off, verb, to kill. Off-er = HITMAN. I understood the trick immediately, but I wanted KILLER.
52A: Sch. in Athens: OHIO U. Brutal. I figured Athens here is not the Greek Athens, but I had no idea where it is. Wikipedia says Matt Lauer & Paul Newman are Ohio University alumni.
54A: Does, perhaps: DEER. Doe, a DEER, a female DEER. Nice clue.
55A: Plagiarize: CRIB. Forgot the "Plagiarize" meaning of CRIB.
59A: Hose part: NOZZLE. Three Z's in this thorny corner.
61A: Bit of steamy prose: MASH NOTE. Somehow I associate MASH NOTE with something romantic and sentimental. You know, like what George Sand wrote to Chopin: "I love you strongly, exclusively and steadfastly". The clue "Bit of steamy prose" brought to mind those sexual text-messages Detroit mayor Kilpatrick sent to his chief of staff.
64A: "Wanna bet?": I DOUBT IT. Did not get it immediately either.
65A: Lacking a key: ATONAL. Musical key.
66A: Message sent home from a shy freshman?: SEND CASH. "Shy" here refers to short on cash.
Down:
1D: Cornerstone abbr.: ESTD. Nailed it immediately.
2D: More, commercially: XTRA
3D: Number one son?: CAIN. Biblical first son. Can't fool me.
4D: German earth: ERDE. We discussed this last time when Mahler's "Das Lied von der ERDE" (The Song of the Earth") appeared. But I forgot completely. Wanted something like TERRA.
5D: Shirt designation: Abbr.: LGE
6D: Onetime "Drink it and sleep!" sloganeer: SANKA. No idea. Kraft decaf coffee. I hate anything decaf, low-fat/no-fat, low-carb.
7D: Case at the embassy: ATTACHE. Love this two-layered clue. I can picture a military ATTACHE carrying an ATTACHE case, full of secret spy information.
8D: Trial: TEST RUN
9D: Grass rolls: SOD. Nice clue. SOD comes in rolls.
10D: Disney World transport: TRAM. Have never been to Disney World.
11D: Military aviators, collectively: AIR ARM. New to me. Thought of TOP GUN first. I know the navy aviator nickname is wing nut.
12D: "Cactus Flower" Oscar winner: GOLDIE HAWN. She is a Buddhist. I've never seen "Cactus Flower". I liked her "Private Benjamin".
13D: St. __ Mountains: Alaska/Canada range: ELIAS. Here is a map. Foreign to me. Who is St. ELIAS?
14D: Torino tooth: DENTE. As in al DENTE, literally "to the tooth".
21D: Arizona county or its seat: YUMA
23D: Elite Asian mountaineer: SHERPA. I like this new clue.
24D: Recurring theme: MOTIF
26D: Former fast fliers: SSTS. Alliteration again.
27D: Pierre's possessive: A TOI. "Yours". A MOI does not fit.
28D: Dustin Hoffman role: RATSO RIZZO. From "Midnight Cowboy". I am going to netflix the movie. Sounds good.
31D: Zone: REGION
33D: Wreck: SMASH
36D: Classification prefix: TAXO. As in Taxonomy, the science or technique of classification. I simply forgot. Saw this clue somewhere before.
39D: Aussie's school: UNI. Aussi slang for university?
42D: Cause of rage, briefly: ROID. Short for anabolic steroids. ROID rage is a new phrase to me also. I was thinking of road rage, 3 of the letters actually fit.
43D: Greek goddess of the hunt: ARTEMIS. Goddess of moon as well. She is Apollo's twin sister. Diane for the Romans.
44D: Site of NSA headquarters: FT MEADE. In Maryland. CIA is headquartered in Langley, Virginia.
46D: Ready to skate on: FROZEN. I was FROZEN with this clue, could not come up with an answer.
48D: "The Grapes of Wrath" star, 1940: FONDA (Henry). The movie might be difficult for me to understand.
51D: Bad lighting?: ARSON. I was thinking of the bad spotlight like A-Rod has been facing.
53D: Humerus neighbor: ULNA. Nailed it. Often see it clued as "Radius neighbor".
55D: "Closing Bell" network: CNBC. My husband watches "Closing Bell". He likes Maria Bartiromo.
56D: Membership list: ROTA. I only knew roster.
58D: "Little Women" woman: BETH. Meg, Jo, BETH and Amy.
60D: Immigrant's subj.: ESL (English as a second language). Maybe I should have attended this class when I first arrived. They might have corrected my sex/sax problem.
62D: Cabinet dept involved with community planning: HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). Just found out it's established in 1965, during LBJ's presidency.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total block: 31
Total words: 72
This grid looked so solver-friendly to me in the beginning, with the seemingly accessible word breaks/crossings. And I did fill in oodles of blanks. But the tricky clues abound. I avoided a few minefields. Still got myself hopelessly mired in the lower left corner.
I buy eggs every week, yet I could not come up with DOZENS for 63A: Egg buys. I felt like a stupid goose. Shouldn't "What caring people give" (49D: A HOOT) have a question mark? I've only heard of "I don't give A HOOT". Never mind, even if it had a ? hint, I don't think A HOOT would jump into me. I was totally in the "love" and "attention" direction. Those are what really caring people give. Such a wicked clue for my innocent mind. I need a steroid injection to hit Barry's curveball, too much spin.
I read Barry's answers on the seed word immediately after I finished the puzzle. Was surprised that it's PARRAFFIN WAX and not RATSO RIZZO. What's your favorite clue today? Mine is "Offer?" for HITMAN.
Across:
1A: Has a gift for: EXCELS AT. First entry with an scrabbly X splash.
9A: Not impromptu: STAGED. "Impromptu" is also a title of a movie about the love affair between George Sand and Chopin.
15A: Sci-fi portal: STARGATE. No idea. Looks cool.
16A: Brightly colored bird: ORIOLE
17A: Gladiator weapons: TRIDENTS. Russell Crowe's "Gladitor" is using a knife or a sword. I don't remeber seeing him with TRIDENTS.
18A: Loved 'un: DARLIN. Chiang Kai-Shek and his wife Soong May-Ling were famous for calling each other "Darling", which was scorned upon as bourgeois trait in China. Soong was educated in Wellesley College.
19A: Jutland native: DANE
20A: Woman in an insect name: KATY. No idea. What insect?
23A: Pelvic bone: SACRUM. "Holy (bone)" in Greek. Plural is sacra.
25A: Originate, as a river: RISE. I felt dumb. I had ???E in place for a long time.
26A: Mother of Issac: SARAH
30A: "I beg indulgence": HUMOR ME. Does ALLOW ME carry the same meaning?
32A: Capitol group: STATE SENATE. Piece of cake.
34A: Only pres. born in Missouri: HST. Can't be ABE or IKE since I already got the S from SNAG (35D: Complication).
37A: For the full time: TO TERM. Need your help. I don't get this answer at all.
38A: Lizard with a dewlap: IGUANA. Very ugly.
41A: Candlemaker's supply: PARAFFIN WAX. Another letter X at the edge of the grid. How surprising: they are edible. PARAFFIN was clued as "Candle wax" in our old puzzle before.
45A: More or less: OF A SORT. I struck out on this multiple fill.
47A: New Wave band __ Boingo: OINGO. Unknown to me. What is the significance of their name?
48A: Actor whose '70s-'80s sitcom character was cross-dresser: FARR (Jamie). No idea. He played Corporal (later Sergeant) Maxwell Klinger in M*A*S*H.
50A: Offer?: HITMAN. Off, verb, to kill. Off-er = HITMAN. I understood the trick immediately, but I wanted KILLER.
52A: Sch. in Athens: OHIO U. Brutal. I figured Athens here is not the Greek Athens, but I had no idea where it is. Wikipedia says Matt Lauer & Paul Newman are Ohio University alumni.
54A: Does, perhaps: DEER. Doe, a DEER, a female DEER. Nice clue.
55A: Plagiarize: CRIB. Forgot the "Plagiarize" meaning of CRIB.
59A: Hose part: NOZZLE. Three Z's in this thorny corner.
61A: Bit of steamy prose: MASH NOTE. Somehow I associate MASH NOTE with something romantic and sentimental. You know, like what George Sand wrote to Chopin: "I love you strongly, exclusively and steadfastly". The clue "Bit of steamy prose" brought to mind those sexual text-messages Detroit mayor Kilpatrick sent to his chief of staff.
64A: "Wanna bet?": I DOUBT IT. Did not get it immediately either.
65A: Lacking a key: ATONAL. Musical key.
66A: Message sent home from a shy freshman?: SEND CASH. "Shy" here refers to short on cash.
Down:
1D: Cornerstone abbr.: ESTD. Nailed it immediately.
2D: More, commercially: XTRA
3D: Number one son?: CAIN. Biblical first son. Can't fool me.
4D: German earth: ERDE. We discussed this last time when Mahler's "Das Lied von der ERDE" (The Song of the Earth") appeared. But I forgot completely. Wanted something like TERRA.
5D: Shirt designation: Abbr.: LGE
6D: Onetime "Drink it and sleep!" sloganeer: SANKA. No idea. Kraft decaf coffee. I hate anything decaf, low-fat/no-fat, low-carb.
7D: Case at the embassy: ATTACHE. Love this two-layered clue. I can picture a military ATTACHE carrying an ATTACHE case, full of secret spy information.
8D: Trial: TEST RUN
9D: Grass rolls: SOD. Nice clue. SOD comes in rolls.
10D: Disney World transport: TRAM. Have never been to Disney World.
11D: Military aviators, collectively: AIR ARM. New to me. Thought of TOP GUN first. I know the navy aviator nickname is wing nut.
12D: "Cactus Flower" Oscar winner: GOLDIE HAWN. She is a Buddhist. I've never seen "Cactus Flower". I liked her "Private Benjamin".
13D: St. __ Mountains: Alaska/Canada range: ELIAS. Here is a map. Foreign to me. Who is St. ELIAS?
14D: Torino tooth: DENTE. As in al DENTE, literally "to the tooth".
21D: Arizona county or its seat: YUMA
23D: Elite Asian mountaineer: SHERPA. I like this new clue.
24D: Recurring theme: MOTIF
26D: Former fast fliers: SSTS. Alliteration again.
27D: Pierre's possessive: A TOI. "Yours". A MOI does not fit.
28D: Dustin Hoffman role: RATSO RIZZO. From "Midnight Cowboy". I am going to netflix the movie. Sounds good.
31D: Zone: REGION
33D: Wreck: SMASH
36D: Classification prefix: TAXO. As in Taxonomy, the science or technique of classification. I simply forgot. Saw this clue somewhere before.
39D: Aussie's school: UNI. Aussi slang for university?
42D: Cause of rage, briefly: ROID. Short for anabolic steroids. ROID rage is a new phrase to me also. I was thinking of road rage, 3 of the letters actually fit.
43D: Greek goddess of the hunt: ARTEMIS. Goddess of moon as well. She is Apollo's twin sister. Diane for the Romans.
44D: Site of NSA headquarters: FT MEADE. In Maryland. CIA is headquartered in Langley, Virginia.
46D: Ready to skate on: FROZEN. I was FROZEN with this clue, could not come up with an answer.
48D: "The Grapes of Wrath" star, 1940: FONDA (Henry). The movie might be difficult for me to understand.
51D: Bad lighting?: ARSON. I was thinking of the bad spotlight like A-Rod has been facing.
53D: Humerus neighbor: ULNA. Nailed it. Often see it clued as "Radius neighbor".
55D: "Closing Bell" network: CNBC. My husband watches "Closing Bell". He likes Maria Bartiromo.
56D: Membership list: ROTA. I only knew roster.
58D: "Little Women" woman: BETH. Meg, Jo, BETH and Amy.
60D: Immigrant's subj.: ESL (English as a second language). Maybe I should have attended this class when I first arrived. They might have corrected my sex/sax problem.
62D: Cabinet dept involved with community planning: HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development). Just found out it's established in 1965, during LBJ's presidency.
Answer grid.
C.C.
