Theme: None
Total block: 30
Total words: 72
Tough slog again. Bogged down from the very start. Wanted CAREW instead of BOGGS (1A. Winner of five of six A.L. batting titles from 1983 to 1988). Rod Carew actually is a winner of seven batting titles and retired in 1985. Wade Boggs (Hall of Famer, 2005 Class) had a stellar career with the Red Sox. His baseball cards are very affordable, even the authenticated signed ones.
Quite a few tricky clues in the grid. My favorites are the two short ones:
49A. Serial ending?: IZE. Ending of the word serialize.
8D. Drunk's chaser?: ARD. Ard is the end of drunkard, hence the literal "chaser".
Anyway, I am now resigned to the fact that I will always have to struggle with Brad Wilber puzzles. His name equals "trouble" for me. Besides, I just can't handle themeless!
Across:
6. Produce unit: HEAD. Lettuce/cabbage, etc.
10. Mil. stores: PXS. PX = Post Exchange. Three Xs in this grid.
13. Taking undeserved credit, perhaps: ON AN EGO TRIP. Alas, my multi-word trouble continues!
16. Psychotic TV pooch: REN. And TOON (57A. 16-Across, e.g.). "The Ren and Stimpy Show". I was ignorant of the fact that Ren is a psychotic. Stimpy is the cat.
17. "Fully loaded" purchase: DELUXE MODE. I am all for basics, even my iPod is Classic.
18. "Bed-in for Peace" figure: ONO (Yoko)
19. Regress: EBB
20. Next: THEN
21. Barn loft: HAYMOW. New term to me. Dictionary says it's called hayloft.
23. Fish preparation gadgets: SCALERS
25. Like "Marley & Me": RATED PG. Have yet to see "Marley & Me". I like most of the Jennifer Aniston movies.
26. Place for wallowers: STY
27. "Heartland" autobiographer: MORT SAHL. Nice to see his full name in a grid. Not aware of his autobiography though.
28. Joes at a diner: JAVAS. Coffees.
31. Aptly named novelist Charles: READE. The English novelist. Pronounced like "read". Apt indeed then!
33. Perched: ALIT
34. Casual pants, briefly: CORDS. Corduroys.
35. Friday player: WEBB (Jack). Of "Dragnet". He played Joe Friday.
37. Footwear ill-suited for stealth: CLOGS
38. Paris's __ d'Orsay: MUSEE. My favorite place in Paris.
39. Volcanic crater feature: LAVA LAKE
41. Grafton's "__ for Noose": N IS. The only way to clue NIS.
42. Seismograph stimuli: TREMORS
43. Waltz segment: BOX STEPS. Stymied me also.
47. 1844 Verdi premiere: ERNANI. Last time Dan Naddor clued as it "Verdi title bandit". I simply forgot. The opera was based on Hugo's play "Hernani". H is silent I suppose.
48. Act as lookout for, e.g.: ABET
50. Emmy-nominated Charlotte: RAE
51. Utility offering: ENERGY AUDIT. Didn't yield readily.
54. Sch. where Buzz Aldrin got a doctorate: MIT. Unknown trivia to me.
55. Castaway's dream come true: RESCUE PLANE
56. __-pitch: SLO
58. Hand net user, perhaps: EELER. Thought eelers use pot.
Down:
1. Augurs: BODES
2. Last year of its kind: ONE BC. Oh, last non-A.D. year. I did not parse "last year" properly.
3. Nero's successor: GALBA. Will probably forget his name again next time.
4. Serengeti antelope: GNU
5. Some chamber works: SEXTETS. Group of six.
6. Geography-class mnemonic: HOMES. The Great Lakes mnemonic. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.
7. 007's alma mater: ETON
9. Hardly fair-weather friends: DIE-HARDS
10. Some limo sharers: PROM DATES
11. Anti-diversity type: XENOPHOBE. Xeno is a prefix for "alien/strange".
12. Popular paperweight: SNOW GLOBE.
14. Frank __, architect of L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall: GEHRY. Complete stranger to me. I wrote down LLOYD, thinking of Frank Lloyd Wright.
15. Missouri tributary: PLATTE
22. Thumbs-up: YES
24. Aspiring atty.'s hurdle: LSAT
25. Courses: ROADS. Was thinking of meal "courses", not "route".
27. Amalgamate: MERGE
28. Consequences of one's convictions: JAIL TERMS. Again, my mind was in "belief" convictions direction, not guilty conviction.
29. Communion line setting: ALTAR RAIL
30. Upscale Roman shopping street: VIA VENETO. No idea. Have never been to Rome. Red roses, how romantic! Via is Italian for "avenue", right?
31. Corner pieces: ROOKS
34. Its trill opens "Rhapsody in Blue": CLARINET. Should be a gimme for Jazzbumpa. I am clueless.
35. Doormat: WUSS. No WIMP wobbling for me today due to the intersection U.
37. Plant geneticist, at times: CLONER. OK.
38. Homemade cassette with assorted songs: MIXTAPE. Mixedtape is more common, no?
40. Docs' lobby: Abbr.: AMA
41. "__ hath seen such scarecrows": "Henry IV, Part I": NO EYE. Shakespeare's stuff got me all the time.
43. Red Ryder, for one: BB GUN. It's featured in "A Christmas Story".
44. Word with bore or basin: TIDAL. Don't know what a tidal bore is.
45. Paperless read: EZINE
46. Fizzle (out): PETER
48. Not pizzicato: ARCO. Musical term for performance "with a bow". Same root with "Arc". Pizzicato is plucking rather than bowing the strings. I simply forgot.
52. That, to Teresa: ESO. Penned in ESA, since Teresa is a girl's name.
53. Diminutive suffix: ULE. Like nodule.
Answer grid.
C.C.
Total block: 30
Total words: 72
Tough slog again. Bogged down from the very start. Wanted CAREW instead of BOGGS (1A. Winner of five of six A.L. batting titles from 1983 to 1988). Rod Carew actually is a winner of seven batting titles and retired in 1985. Wade Boggs (Hall of Famer, 2005 Class) had a stellar career with the Red Sox. His baseball cards are very affordable, even the authenticated signed ones.
Quite a few tricky clues in the grid. My favorites are the two short ones:
49A. Serial ending?: IZE. Ending of the word serialize.
8D. Drunk's chaser?: ARD. Ard is the end of drunkard, hence the literal "chaser".
Anyway, I am now resigned to the fact that I will always have to struggle with Brad Wilber puzzles. His name equals "trouble" for me. Besides, I just can't handle themeless!
Across:
6. Produce unit: HEAD. Lettuce/cabbage, etc.
10. Mil. stores: PXS. PX = Post Exchange. Three Xs in this grid.
13. Taking undeserved credit, perhaps: ON AN EGO TRIP. Alas, my multi-word trouble continues!
16. Psychotic TV pooch: REN. And TOON (57A. 16-Across, e.g.). "The Ren and Stimpy Show". I was ignorant of the fact that Ren is a psychotic. Stimpy is the cat.
17. "Fully loaded" purchase: DELUXE MODE. I am all for basics, even my iPod is Classic.
18. "Bed-in for Peace" figure: ONO (Yoko)
19. Regress: EBB
20. Next: THEN
21. Barn loft: HAYMOW. New term to me. Dictionary says it's called hayloft.
23. Fish preparation gadgets: SCALERS
25. Like "Marley & Me": RATED PG. Have yet to see "Marley & Me". I like most of the Jennifer Aniston movies.
26. Place for wallowers: STY
27. "Heartland" autobiographer: MORT SAHL. Nice to see his full name in a grid. Not aware of his autobiography though.
28. Joes at a diner: JAVAS. Coffees.
31. Aptly named novelist Charles: READE. The English novelist. Pronounced like "read". Apt indeed then!
33. Perched: ALIT
34. Casual pants, briefly: CORDS. Corduroys.
35. Friday player: WEBB (Jack). Of "Dragnet". He played Joe Friday.
37. Footwear ill-suited for stealth: CLOGS
38. Paris's __ d'Orsay: MUSEE. My favorite place in Paris.
39. Volcanic crater feature: LAVA LAKE
41. Grafton's "__ for Noose": N IS. The only way to clue NIS.
42. Seismograph stimuli: TREMORS
43. Waltz segment: BOX STEPS. Stymied me also.
47. 1844 Verdi premiere: ERNANI. Last time Dan Naddor clued as it "Verdi title bandit". I simply forgot. The opera was based on Hugo's play "Hernani". H is silent I suppose.
48. Act as lookout for, e.g.: ABET
50. Emmy-nominated Charlotte: RAE
51. Utility offering: ENERGY AUDIT. Didn't yield readily.
54. Sch. where Buzz Aldrin got a doctorate: MIT. Unknown trivia to me.
55. Castaway's dream come true: RESCUE PLANE
56. __-pitch: SLO
58. Hand net user, perhaps: EELER. Thought eelers use pot.
Down:
1. Augurs: BODES
2. Last year of its kind: ONE BC. Oh, last non-A.D. year. I did not parse "last year" properly.
3. Nero's successor: GALBA. Will probably forget his name again next time.
4. Serengeti antelope: GNU
5. Some chamber works: SEXTETS. Group of six.
6. Geography-class mnemonic: HOMES. The Great Lakes mnemonic. Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.
7. 007's alma mater: ETON
9. Hardly fair-weather friends: DIE-HARDS
10. Some limo sharers: PROM DATES
11. Anti-diversity type: XENOPHOBE. Xeno is a prefix for "alien/strange".
12. Popular paperweight: SNOW GLOBE.
14. Frank __, architect of L.A.'s Walt Disney Concert Hall: GEHRY. Complete stranger to me. I wrote down LLOYD, thinking of Frank Lloyd Wright.
15. Missouri tributary: PLATTE
22. Thumbs-up: YES
24. Aspiring atty.'s hurdle: LSAT
25. Courses: ROADS. Was thinking of meal "courses", not "route".
27. Amalgamate: MERGE
28. Consequences of one's convictions: JAIL TERMS. Again, my mind was in "belief" convictions direction, not guilty conviction.
29. Communion line setting: ALTAR RAIL
30. Upscale Roman shopping street: VIA VENETO. No idea. Have never been to Rome. Red roses, how romantic! Via is Italian for "avenue", right?
31. Corner pieces: ROOKS
34. Its trill opens "Rhapsody in Blue": CLARINET. Should be a gimme for Jazzbumpa. I am clueless.
35. Doormat: WUSS. No WIMP wobbling for me today due to the intersection U.
37. Plant geneticist, at times: CLONER. OK.
38. Homemade cassette with assorted songs: MIXTAPE. Mixedtape is more common, no?
40. Docs' lobby: Abbr.: AMA
41. "__ hath seen such scarecrows": "Henry IV, Part I": NO EYE. Shakespeare's stuff got me all the time.
43. Red Ryder, for one: BB GUN. It's featured in "A Christmas Story".
44. Word with bore or basin: TIDAL. Don't know what a tidal bore is.
45. Paperless read: EZINE
46. Fizzle (out): PETER
48. Not pizzicato: ARCO. Musical term for performance "with a bow". Same root with "Arc". Pizzicato is plucking rather than bowing the strings. I simply forgot.
52. That, to Teresa: ESO. Penned in ESA, since Teresa is a girl's name.
53. Diminutive suffix: ULE. Like nodule.
Answer grid.
C.C.
