Theme: A 200 Puzzle - Phrases that start with two letters that also could be Roman numerals, then clued as their equivalent numbers.
17. 400 athletes? : CD PLAYERS. Compact Disc.
26. 40 polos? : XL SHIRTS. Extra Large.
40. 4 tire inserts? : IV TUBES. Intravenous.
51. 600 stand-ups? : DC COMICS. Detective Comics.
64. 1,500 thermometer units? : MD DEGREES. Doctor of Medicine.(Medicinae Doctor)
Argyle here. Nice tight theme; all two letter numbers(or is it two number letters?). Four great verticals, too.
Across:
1. Pharmacy purchase : DRUG
5. Figure (out), slangily : DOPE
9. Early Yucatán settlers : MAYAs
14. German "a" : EINE. 'Eine' is used for feminine nouns.
15. Irish New Age singer : ENYA
16. Bite-the-bullet type : STOIC
19. "Star Trek" lieutenant : UHURA. (Nichelle Nichols) At one point, Uhura was promoted to full commander.
20. Trophy prized by actors : OSCAR
21. Watermelon eater's discard : SEED
23. Austin-to-Baton Rouge direction : EAST
24. Flat hat with a pompom : TAM
28. Football club based in Lombardy : A.C. MILAN. A professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Homepage
32. Many a casino visitor : LOSER
33. Bank offering : LOAN. Hmm, right after that visit to the casino.
34. Kelly of morning TV : RIPA
37. Moral code : ETHIC
39. Texter's "Horrors!" : [OMG].(Oh My God!)
42. Squeeze (out) : EKE
43. Local news hr. : TEN PM
45. Mix : STIR
46. ESPN analyst Hershiser : OREL
47. Wife of Abraham : SARAH
49. Chatty gathering : GABFEST
54. Plea at sea, briefly : S.O.S.
55. "Sadly ..." : "ALAS...", the SOS went unanswered.
56. Pouty expression : MOUE
58. Repetitive musical piece : RONDO
62. ACC team with a turtle mascot : TERPs. (Maryland Terrapins)
66. Gobbled up : EATEN
67. Letter carrier's sackful : MAIL
68. Starbucks order : TALL
69. Sound from an angry dog : SNARL
70. Sugar bowl invaders : ANTS
71. Battle of Normandy town : ST. LO
Down:
1. Geometric art style : DECO
2. Frees (of) : RIDS
3. Like the word "waitress," briefly : UN-PC. Server now.
4. Gummy bear ingredient : GELATIN
5. Susan of "L.A. Law" : DEY
6. Small bills : ONEs
7. Oven-safe brand : PYREX
8. Stand in a painting class : EASEL
9. East Lansing sch. : MSU. (Michigan State University)
10. Nonreligious sort : ATHEIST
11. Mall directory words : [YOU ARE HERE]
12. Bombing missions : AIR STRIKES
13. Sings like Ella : SCATS
18. Shrunken Asian sea : ARAL
22. Broadband initials : DSL. (Digital Subscriber Line)
25. Harry and __, "Home Alone" bad guys : MARV
27. Ground breakers : HOEs
28. Plenty : A LOT
29. Fesses up : COMES CLEAN
30. Document sealed by King John in 1215 : MAGNA CARTA
31. Petty peeves : NITS
35. Salt (away) : PUT
36. "Not __ deal" : A BIG
38. Boston NBAer : CELT
40. Islamic prayer leader : IMAM
41. Notable periods : ERAs
44. Thrive : PROSPER
46. In some respects : OF SORTS
48. That guy : HIM
50. Five-time Wimbledon champ Bjorn : BORG
51. Goes out with : DATES
52. Pause punctuation : COMMA
53. Khartoum's land : SUDAN
57. Cut a line from, say : EDIT
59. Well-kept : NEAT
60. Computer giant : DELL
61. Norway's most populous city : OSLO
63. NBC comedy staple : SNL
65. Some Bronx trains : ELs
Argyle
Notes from C.C.:
I'd like to share with you the email exchanges between me and Rich. This puzzle won't be possible without his always patient guidance. I'm amazing. I made up my own Roman Numerals :-)
From C.C:
"Hi
Rich,
In this theme, the first two letters are all Roman numerals:
ID BRACELET 10: Popular Roman wrist ornament in 499?
DC COMICS 8: Popular Roman standups in 600?
IV TUBES 7: Popular Roman river floaters in 4?
CC RIDER 7: Popular Roman jockey in 200?
MC HAMMER 8 : Popular Roman toolbox item in 1100?
CD ACCOUNTS 10 : Popular Roman tales in 400?
Attached is my clued grid. I hope it interests you.
Thank you for the time.
C.C."
In this theme, the first two letters are all Roman numerals:
ID BRACELET 10: Popular Roman wrist ornament in 499?
DC COMICS 8: Popular Roman standups in 600?
IV TUBES 7: Popular Roman river floaters in 4?
CC RIDER 7: Popular Roman jockey in 200?
MC HAMMER 8 : Popular Roman toolbox item in 1100?
CD ACCOUNTS 10 : Popular Roman tales in 400?
Attached is my clued grid. I hope it interests you.
Thank you for the time.
C.C."
Rich's reply:
"Hi C.C. (also a Roman numeral, I notice
now),
This theme idea works for me, but there are some problems with this version of it. For starters, the first entry isn't a valid Roman numeral. The "rule" is that a smaller preceding numeral can't be more than two levels lower than the one it precedes. Thus, IV and IX are valid. IL isn't, and as you can see. ID isn't close.
Roman numeral themes are familiar, but what would make this different is having Arabic numbers directly clue the answers--which would have to all be plurals. DC COMICS could be [600 joke tellers?]. IV TUBES could be [4 TVs?]. Names won't work unless the second part is a natural plural. HAMMER and RIDER aren't. CD BRACELETS doesn't seem very well-known--it gets only 10K Google hits in both singular and plural--but there are other possibilities with CD, such as investments. XL SHIRTS would work. MD something?
If you can revamp the theme, please query me on it before doing any kind of revision.
Thanks.
Rich"
This theme idea works for me, but there are some problems with this version of it. For starters, the first entry isn't a valid Roman numeral. The "rule" is that a smaller preceding numeral can't be more than two levels lower than the one it precedes. Thus, IV and IX are valid. IL isn't, and as you can see. ID isn't close.
Roman numeral themes are familiar, but what would make this different is having Arabic numbers directly clue the answers--which would have to all be plurals. DC COMICS could be [600 joke tellers?]. IV TUBES could be [4 TVs?]. Names won't work unless the second part is a natural plural. HAMMER and RIDER aren't. CD BRACELETS doesn't seem very well-known--it gets only 10K Google hits in both singular and plural--but there are other possibilities with CD, such as investments. XL SHIRTS would work. MD something?
If you can revamp the theme, please query me on it before doing any kind of revision.
Thanks.
Rich"
