Theme: None
Total blocks: 27
Total words: 72
I had lost the battle before I even started. As soon as I saw Brad Wilber's name, I froze. His puzzles are all hard.
My grid looked rather empty on the first try. But my sparse fills are mostly correct. The following names are absolutely gimmes to me:
41A: Tommie of the "Miracle Mets": AGEE. God in "Oh, God!" says "The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets". Hilarious.
50A: 2002 British Open champ: ELS (Ernie). David Duval won in 2001.
29D: Bush Supreme Court nominee: ALITO (Samuel). I wonder if anyone considered MIERS (Harriet). John Roberts is a Bush nominee as well.
I misread lots of clues today. All in all, too steep a mountain for me to climb.
Across:
1A: Colt 45, e.g.: MALT LIQUOR. Of course, I thought of baseball's Houston Colt .45's (now Astros).
11A: Shelter protests: ARFS. Animal shelter.
15A: Joy to the max: EXUBERANCE. Recklessly wrote down *EST at the end.
17A: Emmy-winning 1972 TV concert film: LIZA WITH A "Z". No idea. I liked Liza Minnelli's "New York, New York".
18A: Logical start? IDEO. Ideological.
19A: Greet the visitors?: BOO. Nice clue. Fans BOO the visiting team.
20A: Comparison words: AS A. There is nothing as beautiful AS A dewy red rose on a summer morning.
21A: Washington summit: RAINIER. No MT?
25A: Palais du Louvre resident, once: ROI. Oui, c'est vrai. Louvre is once a royal palace.
27A: Hybrid garment: SKORT. Had more fun following Natalie Gulbis than Michelle Wie during last year's US Open. She looks adorable in SKORT.
28A: Brief turndown: 'FRAID NOT
31A: Abbr. in a genealogy volume: DAU. Daughter I suppose. Not a familiar abbr. to me.
32A: Film follower: SEQUEL
39A: Street corner feature: SIGNAGE. I just call it SIGN.
35A: Site of semicircular canals: EAR. Was thinking of the waterway canal.
36A: "__ No Sunshine": 1971 Bill Withers hit: AIN'T. Here is the clip. Not a familiar song to me.
37A: Bismarck's realm: PRUSSIA. Gimme for Kazie.
42A: Logos, e.g.: Abbr.: TMS (Trademarks)
44A: Military brass?: BUGLES. I was in the high-ranking military officer direction.
45A: Knock over: ROB. "Knock over" is a new slang to me.
46A: Olivier's "Rebecca" costar: FONTAINE (Joan). Unknown to me. See the poster.
48A: Filing material: EMERY
51A: Comprehend: GRASP
55A: Best Buy's Geek Squad, e.g.: TECHIES. Best Buy is headquartered here in MN.
57A: New Deal dam-building org.: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)
59A: Battle of Chancellorsville victor, 1863: LEE. Stumped. Have never heard of Battle of Chancellorsville, Robert E. LEE's "perfect battle" because of his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force, according to Wikipedia.
61A: Prescription that might give you shakes?: LIQUID DIET. I was thinking of the trembling shakes rather than the milk/protein shakes.
64A: Head turner, at times: REIN. Sigh, too wicked a clue for me. I would never have thought of a bridle.
65A: 1988 winner of seven Olympic swimming medals: MATT BIONDI. No idea. He looks handsome. All the talk was focused on Mark Spitz when Michael Phelps won 8 golds at the 2008 Olympics.
66A: Celtic language: ERSE
67A: Opportunity for a Hollywood hopeful: SCREEN TEST
Down:
1D: Peach __: MELBA. I've never had this dessert. In Chinese myth, peach is the divine fruit of gods. It symbolizes long life and immortality.
2D: Hypothetical particle: AXION. No idea. But -ON is suffix for subatomic particle.
3D: Manila's island: LUZON. The largest island in the Philippines, where Martin's wife came from.
4D: Not yet filled: Abbr. TBA
5D: "Johnny Belinda" Oscar nominee: LEW AYRES. I forgot. I googled his name before. Wikipedia says Jane Wyman feel in love with him while filming this movie and left Ronald Reagan for LEW AYRES, "albeit unsuccessfully".
6D: Where a pupil sits?: IRIS. Clever clue.
7D: Saudi neighbor: QATARI. People of Qatar. I misinterpreted Saudi as Saudi Arabia the country.
8D: Granite State sch.: UNH (University of New Hampshire)
9D: Ovoid wind instruments: OCARINAS. I forgot. Dictionary says this word is diminutive of Italian oca, meaning goose, because its mouthpiece is shaped like a goose's beak.
10D: Exiled Shah Mohammed __ Pahlavi: REZA. Who the heck knows his middle name? Anyone? Anyone?
11D: Didn't sleep __: A WINK. Is this an idiom?
12D: Car tuning aid: RADIO DIAL
13D: Allowed to graze: FREE RANGE
14D: Durango and Sorento: SPORT UTES. I've never heard of Sorento.
22D: Lobby add-on: IST. Lobbyist. Excellent clue.
24D: Helpful: OF USE
26D: Dedicated lines: ODES
30D: Small antelope: ORIBI. Can never remember this antelope name. His horns are rather short, erect though.
32D: You'll need one for your flat: SPARE TIRE. I thought of the apartment "flat".
33D: Indoor rowing machine: ERGOMETER. New machine to me. Ergo is a prefix for "work".
34D: North American Francophone: QUEBECOIS. "-Phone" is a suffix for "speaker of a language". Francophone, Anglophone, etc.
36D: Inflame: ANGER
38D: One having an identity crisis?: AMNESIAC. Another diabolic clue. I struggled of course.
40D: Kipling's "Limpin' lump o' brick-dust": GUNGA DIN. No idea.
43D: Cardinal's insignia: STL. St. Louis Cardinals.
46D: Memo opener: FYI
47D: Perceptive: ASTUTE
49D: Lake Geneva feeder: RHONE
52D: Dress introduced by Dior: A-LINE. Learned this fact while doing some googling on DIOR some time ago.
52D: Navel orange's lack: SEEDS. I wish cherries have no pits.
54D: Word before four or point: PETIT. Know the small cake PETIT four. Not PETIT point.
56D: Colonnade choices: ELMS. The #2 meaning of colonnade in dictionary: a series of trees planted in a long row, as on each side of a driveway or road. New definition to me.
58D: Vague feeling: VIBE. Wanted AURA.
62D: Super Bowl div.: QTR. Thought of AFC/NFC. This puzzle has three letter Q's, two Z's & one X. Quite scrabbly.
63D: Semi-colon?: DOT. Good clue. Colon : has two dots.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total blocks: 27
Total words: 72
I had lost the battle before I even started. As soon as I saw Brad Wilber's name, I froze. His puzzles are all hard.
My grid looked rather empty on the first try. But my sparse fills are mostly correct. The following names are absolutely gimmes to me:
41A: Tommie of the "Miracle Mets": AGEE. God in "Oh, God!" says "The last miracle I did was the 1969 Mets". Hilarious.
50A: 2002 British Open champ: ELS (Ernie). David Duval won in 2001.
29D: Bush Supreme Court nominee: ALITO (Samuel). I wonder if anyone considered MIERS (Harriet). John Roberts is a Bush nominee as well.
I misread lots of clues today. All in all, too steep a mountain for me to climb.
Across:
1A: Colt 45, e.g.: MALT LIQUOR. Of course, I thought of baseball's Houston Colt .45's (now Astros).
11A: Shelter protests: ARFS. Animal shelter.
15A: Joy to the max: EXUBERANCE. Recklessly wrote down *EST at the end.
17A: Emmy-winning 1972 TV concert film: LIZA WITH A "Z". No idea. I liked Liza Minnelli's "New York, New York".
18A: Logical start? IDEO. Ideological.
19A: Greet the visitors?: BOO. Nice clue. Fans BOO the visiting team.
20A: Comparison words: AS A. There is nothing as beautiful AS A dewy red rose on a summer morning.
21A: Washington summit: RAINIER. No MT?
25A: Palais du Louvre resident, once: ROI. Oui, c'est vrai. Louvre is once a royal palace.
27A: Hybrid garment: SKORT. Had more fun following Natalie Gulbis than Michelle Wie during last year's US Open. She looks adorable in SKORT.
28A: Brief turndown: 'FRAID NOT
31A: Abbr. in a genealogy volume: DAU. Daughter I suppose. Not a familiar abbr. to me.
32A: Film follower: SEQUEL
39A: Street corner feature: SIGNAGE. I just call it SIGN.
35A: Site of semicircular canals: EAR. Was thinking of the waterway canal.
36A: "__ No Sunshine": 1971 Bill Withers hit: AIN'T. Here is the clip. Not a familiar song to me.
37A: Bismarck's realm: PRUSSIA. Gimme for Kazie.
42A: Logos, e.g.: Abbr.: TMS (Trademarks)
44A: Military brass?: BUGLES. I was in the high-ranking military officer direction.
45A: Knock over: ROB. "Knock over" is a new slang to me.
46A: Olivier's "Rebecca" costar: FONTAINE (Joan). Unknown to me. See the poster.
48A: Filing material: EMERY
51A: Comprehend: GRASP
55A: Best Buy's Geek Squad, e.g.: TECHIES. Best Buy is headquartered here in MN.
57A: New Deal dam-building org.: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)
59A: Battle of Chancellorsville victor, 1863: LEE. Stumped. Have never heard of Battle of Chancellorsville, Robert E. LEE's "perfect battle" because of his risky but successful division of his army in the presence of a much larger enemy force, according to Wikipedia.
61A: Prescription that might give you shakes?: LIQUID DIET. I was thinking of the trembling shakes rather than the milk/protein shakes.
64A: Head turner, at times: REIN. Sigh, too wicked a clue for me. I would never have thought of a bridle.
65A: 1988 winner of seven Olympic swimming medals: MATT BIONDI. No idea. He looks handsome. All the talk was focused on Mark Spitz when Michael Phelps won 8 golds at the 2008 Olympics.
66A: Celtic language: ERSE
67A: Opportunity for a Hollywood hopeful: SCREEN TEST
Down:
1D: Peach __: MELBA. I've never had this dessert. In Chinese myth, peach is the divine fruit of gods. It symbolizes long life and immortality.
2D: Hypothetical particle: AXION. No idea. But -ON is suffix for subatomic particle.
3D: Manila's island: LUZON. The largest island in the Philippines, where Martin's wife came from.
4D: Not yet filled: Abbr. TBA
5D: "Johnny Belinda" Oscar nominee: LEW AYRES. I forgot. I googled his name before. Wikipedia says Jane Wyman feel in love with him while filming this movie and left Ronald Reagan for LEW AYRES, "albeit unsuccessfully".
6D: Where a pupil sits?: IRIS. Clever clue.
7D: Saudi neighbor: QATARI. People of Qatar. I misinterpreted Saudi as Saudi Arabia the country.
8D: Granite State sch.: UNH (University of New Hampshire)
9D: Ovoid wind instruments: OCARINAS. I forgot. Dictionary says this word is diminutive of Italian oca, meaning goose, because its mouthpiece is shaped like a goose's beak.
10D: Exiled Shah Mohammed __ Pahlavi: REZA. Who the heck knows his middle name? Anyone? Anyone?
11D: Didn't sleep __: A WINK. Is this an idiom?
12D: Car tuning aid: RADIO DIAL
13D: Allowed to graze: FREE RANGE
14D: Durango and Sorento: SPORT UTES. I've never heard of Sorento.
22D: Lobby add-on: IST. Lobbyist. Excellent clue.
24D: Helpful: OF USE
26D: Dedicated lines: ODES
30D: Small antelope: ORIBI. Can never remember this antelope name. His horns are rather short, erect though.
32D: You'll need one for your flat: SPARE TIRE. I thought of the apartment "flat".
33D: Indoor rowing machine: ERGOMETER. New machine to me. Ergo is a prefix for "work".
34D: North American Francophone: QUEBECOIS. "-Phone" is a suffix for "speaker of a language". Francophone, Anglophone, etc.
36D: Inflame: ANGER
38D: One having an identity crisis?: AMNESIAC. Another diabolic clue. I struggled of course.
40D: Kipling's "Limpin' lump o' brick-dust": GUNGA DIN. No idea.
43D: Cardinal's insignia: STL. St. Louis Cardinals.
46D: Memo opener: FYI
47D: Perceptive: ASTUTE
49D: Lake Geneva feeder: RHONE
52D: Dress introduced by Dior: A-LINE. Learned this fact while doing some googling on DIOR some time ago.
52D: Navel orange's lack: SEEDS. I wish cherries have no pits.
54D: Word before four or point: PETIT. Know the small cake PETIT four. Not PETIT point.
56D: Colonnade choices: ELMS. The #2 meaning of colonnade in dictionary: a series of trees planted in a long row, as on each side of a driveway or road. New definition to me.
58D: Vague feeling: VIBE. Wanted AURA.
62D: Super Bowl div.: QTR. Thought of AFC/NFC. This puzzle has three letter Q's, two Z's & one X. Quite scrabbly.
63D: Semi-colon?: DOT. Good clue. Colon : has two dots.
Answer grid.
C.C.
