Theme: COURT BUSINESS (33A: What chambers of commerce do, and this puzzle's title - common phrases ending with words used in court.
17A: Exterior attractiveness, to a Realtor: CURB APPEAL. You file an APPEAL to the appellate court when you are not happy with the lower court decision.
20A: Beethoven's affliction: LOSS OF HEARING. The purpose of a preliminary HEARING is to decide whether the case against you should be dismissed or go on trial.
50A: Drug safety test: CLINICAL TRIAL. You are tried by a jury or by a judge (bench trial).
55A: Replay feature: SLOW MOTION. You can file a A MOTION before, during or after the trial. The judge either approves or denies your MOTION.
Chambers of Commerce, esp American Chamber of Commerce in China, play an essential role in courting business. Great wordplay on "court".
I hope my understanding of the above legal terms are correct. LAW (49A: Bar code?) is a lovely bonus fill. Sounds so hard to pass a bar exam. Remember the JFK Jr. "The Hunk Flunks" headline? He failed twice.
Look at the first and last pair of the theme answers. Dan Naddor is really into overlapping them now. I also counted 22 entries with 6 or more letters. I am going to call it as Dan Naddor index from now on.
Definitely a tougher puzzle than yesterday's, but the theme answers all came rather easily.
Across:
1A: Paul of "American Graffiti": LE MAT. I've actually seen "American Graffiti". Don't remember this guy at all. Ron Howard, yes.
6A: Big Apple sch.: CCNY (the City College of NY). Based in Manhattan.
10A: One often looking down?: SNOB. Great clue. I was picturing someone who always looks depressed.
14A: Part of Caesar's boast: I CAME. Well, Caesar did not really speak English. "Veni, vidi, vici": I CAME, I saw, I conquered.
15A: Former manager Felipe: ALOU (Felipe). Father of Moisés.
16A: Bishop of Rome: POPE. POPE Benedict is way too conservative.
19A: Wilson of "Wedding Crashers": OWEN. He used to date Kate Hudson, who is currently seeing A-Rod.
22A: Hunk: GOB. In what sense are they synonymous?
24A: Drei minus zwei: EINS. 3-2=1. Shouldn't "zwei" (German for "two") be capitalized? All German nouns are.
25A: Flummoxed: AT SEA
26A: Embraces, as a philosophy: ADOPTS
28A: Site for sapling: NURSERY
30A: Old Italian bread: LIRA. "Bread/capital" often refers to the currency.
31A: Lined up: IN A ROW
38A: Like a banquet: LAVISH. Chinese banquet can be really opulent.
41A: Thorny shrubs commonly with yellow flowers: ACACIAS. I vaguely remember Kazie said these flowers are called wattles in Australia.
44A: Livestock food: FORAGE
46A: Billiards bounce: CAROM. Often confuse CAROM with MASSE.
47A: James of "The Godfather": CAAN. The hot-tempered, reckless Sonny Corleone.
58A: Soap actress Sofer: RENA. Forgot. I linked this picture before. I remember those flowers on her shirt.
59A: Isle where Macbeth is buried: IONA. Pure guess. Scottish Isle, 4 letter, what else could it be?
61A: Scott in a landmark civil rights case: DRED. Tangentially related to the theme too.
63A: Kind of pressure that can cause headache: SINUS
Down:
1D: Driver's documents: Abbr.: LIC. What's your eye color?
2D: Old French coin: ECU. Sometimes it's SOU.
3D: Vermont music festival town: MARLBORO. No idea. See this map. Is it named after the MARLBORO man?
4D: Early Christian pulpit: AMBO. It escaped me. I linked this AMBO before. It's "a raised desk, or either of two such desks, from which the Gospels or Epistles were read or chanted".
5D: Afternoon service: TEA SET
6D: Menu fowl: CAPON. Is it often stuffed?
7D: Staff symbols: CLEFS. Musical staff.
8D: Wordsmith Webster: NOAH. I am using a Webster's College Dictionary.
10D: Golf pro shop array: SPORTS WEAR. Of course, I was thinking of those drivers/irons/putters.
11D: Not in any way: NOWISE. New word to me.
12D: Feature of some corkscrews: OPENER
13D: Popular analgesic cream: BENGAY. My husband uses Cryogel for his bowling elbow pain.
18D: Pitchfork-shaped letter: PSIS. And NUS (32D: Frat letters).
21D: Hitter of 755 homers: AARON (Hank). The real home run king. Dennis probably has his rookie card.
22D: Hoedown dancer: GAL. Does GAL here carry a country girl connotation?
23D: Lyrical: ODIC. Of an ode.
27D: Three-time Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer winner: PAUL CONRAD. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he was the chief editorial cartoonist for the LA Times from 1964 to 1993. And he was named in Nixon's enemy list in 1973.
28D: "Parsley is gharsley" poet: NASH. Ah yeah, I don't like parsley at all.
29D: Ocean State sch.: URI (University of Rhode Island). I blanked. Did get OSU (56D: The Buckeyes, initially).
31D: Bird venerated by ancient Egyptians: IBIS. Yep, the ancient Egyptians consider the bird sacred. Thoth, the god of wisdom, has a head of an IBIS.
34D: "Spider-Man" director: RAIMI (Sam). Was it a gimme to you? I've never heard of this guy.
35D: New Deal prog.: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)
36D: Breeding horse: STALLION
43D: French satellite-launching rocket: ARIANE. Pronounced like ar-ee-AN. Completely stranger to me. Wikipedia says it comes from the French spelling of the mythological character Ariadne, daughter of Minos. She helped Theseus escape the labyrinth, but later was cruelly deserted.
44D: Old MacDonald's place: FARM. "Old MaDonald had a FARM, E-I-E-I-O...".
45D: Whopper toppers: ONIONS. Would have been a perfect rhyming clue if the answer were singular.
47D: Duplicate: CLONE
48D: Fighting big-time: AT WAR
51D: Members of Gil Grissom's team, briefly: CSIS. Crime Scene Investigators? I got the answer from Across fills. Have never watched CSI or any of its spin-off.
53D: Yours, in Tours: A TOI. Je suis tout A TOI, chéri.
57D: Super __: game console: NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our farmer/philosopher Windhover. The picture was taken on his 61st Birthday (12/7/2006) by his beautiful wife "Irish". I also liked this quiet view off his back porch.
C.C.
17A: Exterior attractiveness, to a Realtor: CURB APPEAL. You file an APPEAL to the appellate court when you are not happy with the lower court decision.
20A: Beethoven's affliction: LOSS OF HEARING. The purpose of a preliminary HEARING is to decide whether the case against you should be dismissed or go on trial.
50A: Drug safety test: CLINICAL TRIAL. You are tried by a jury or by a judge (bench trial).
55A: Replay feature: SLOW MOTION. You can file a A MOTION before, during or after the trial. The judge either approves or denies your MOTION.
Chambers of Commerce, esp American Chamber of Commerce in China, play an essential role in courting business. Great wordplay on "court".
I hope my understanding of the above legal terms are correct. LAW (49A: Bar code?) is a lovely bonus fill. Sounds so hard to pass a bar exam. Remember the JFK Jr. "The Hunk Flunks" headline? He failed twice.
Look at the first and last pair of the theme answers. Dan Naddor is really into overlapping them now. I also counted 22 entries with 6 or more letters. I am going to call it as Dan Naddor index from now on.
Definitely a tougher puzzle than yesterday's, but the theme answers all came rather easily.
Across:
1A: Paul of "American Graffiti": LE MAT. I've actually seen "American Graffiti". Don't remember this guy at all. Ron Howard, yes.
6A: Big Apple sch.: CCNY (the City College of NY). Based in Manhattan.
10A: One often looking down?: SNOB. Great clue. I was picturing someone who always looks depressed.
14A: Part of Caesar's boast: I CAME. Well, Caesar did not really speak English. "Veni, vidi, vici": I CAME, I saw, I conquered.
15A: Former manager Felipe: ALOU (Felipe). Father of Moisés.
16A: Bishop of Rome: POPE. POPE Benedict is way too conservative.
19A: Wilson of "Wedding Crashers": OWEN. He used to date Kate Hudson, who is currently seeing A-Rod.
22A: Hunk: GOB. In what sense are they synonymous?
24A: Drei minus zwei: EINS. 3-2=1. Shouldn't "zwei" (German for "two") be capitalized? All German nouns are.
25A: Flummoxed: AT SEA
26A: Embraces, as a philosophy: ADOPTS
28A: Site for sapling: NURSERY
30A: Old Italian bread: LIRA. "Bread/capital" often refers to the currency.
31A: Lined up: IN A ROW
38A: Like a banquet: LAVISH. Chinese banquet can be really opulent.
41A: Thorny shrubs commonly with yellow flowers: ACACIAS. I vaguely remember Kazie said these flowers are called wattles in Australia.
44A: Livestock food: FORAGE
46A: Billiards bounce: CAROM. Often confuse CAROM with MASSE.
47A: James of "The Godfather": CAAN. The hot-tempered, reckless Sonny Corleone.
58A: Soap actress Sofer: RENA. Forgot. I linked this picture before. I remember those flowers on her shirt.
59A: Isle where Macbeth is buried: IONA. Pure guess. Scottish Isle, 4 letter, what else could it be?
61A: Scott in a landmark civil rights case: DRED. Tangentially related to the theme too.
63A: Kind of pressure that can cause headache: SINUS
Down:
1D: Driver's documents: Abbr.: LIC. What's your eye color?
2D: Old French coin: ECU. Sometimes it's SOU.
3D: Vermont music festival town: MARLBORO. No idea. See this map. Is it named after the MARLBORO man?
4D: Early Christian pulpit: AMBO. It escaped me. I linked this AMBO before. It's "a raised desk, or either of two such desks, from which the Gospels or Epistles were read or chanted".
5D: Afternoon service: TEA SET
6D: Menu fowl: CAPON. Is it often stuffed?
7D: Staff symbols: CLEFS. Musical staff.
8D: Wordsmith Webster: NOAH. I am using a Webster's College Dictionary.
10D: Golf pro shop array: SPORTS WEAR. Of course, I was thinking of those drivers/irons/putters.
11D: Not in any way: NOWISE. New word to me.
12D: Feature of some corkscrews: OPENER
13D: Popular analgesic cream: BENGAY. My husband uses Cryogel for his bowling elbow pain.
18D: Pitchfork-shaped letter: PSIS. And NUS (32D: Frat letters).
21D: Hitter of 755 homers: AARON (Hank). The real home run king. Dennis probably has his rookie card.
22D: Hoedown dancer: GAL. Does GAL here carry a country girl connotation?
23D: Lyrical: ODIC. Of an ode.
27D: Three-time Editorial Cartooning Pulitzer winner: PAUL CONRAD. Unknown to me. Wikipedia says he was the chief editorial cartoonist for the LA Times from 1964 to 1993. And he was named in Nixon's enemy list in 1973.
28D: "Parsley is gharsley" poet: NASH. Ah yeah, I don't like parsley at all.
29D: Ocean State sch.: URI (University of Rhode Island). I blanked. Did get OSU (56D: The Buckeyes, initially).
31D: Bird venerated by ancient Egyptians: IBIS. Yep, the ancient Egyptians consider the bird sacred. Thoth, the god of wisdom, has a head of an IBIS.
34D: "Spider-Man" director: RAIMI (Sam). Was it a gimme to you? I've never heard of this guy.
35D: New Deal prog.: TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)
36D: Breeding horse: STALLION
43D: French satellite-launching rocket: ARIANE. Pronounced like ar-ee-AN. Completely stranger to me. Wikipedia says it comes from the French spelling of the mythological character Ariadne, daughter of Minos. She helped Theseus escape the labyrinth, but later was cruelly deserted.
44D: Old MacDonald's place: FARM. "Old MaDonald had a FARM, E-I-E-I-O...".
45D: Whopper toppers: ONIONS. Would have been a perfect rhyming clue if the answer were singular.
47D: Duplicate: CLONE
48D: Fighting big-time: AT WAR
51D: Members of Gil Grissom's team, briefly: CSIS. Crime Scene Investigators? I got the answer from Across fills. Have never watched CSI or any of its spin-off.
53D: Yours, in Tours: A TOI. Je suis tout A TOI, chéri.
57D: Super __: game console: NES (Nintendo Entertainment System)
Answer grid.
Picture of the Day: Here is great photo of our farmer/philosopher Windhover. The picture was taken on his 61st Birthday (12/7/2006) by his beautiful wife "Irish". I also liked this quiet view off his back porch.
C.C.
