Words: 68 (missing J,Q,X,Z)
Blocks: 31
Doug and Brad combine again for a tough, but do-able, challenge this
week. For me, it was a hit....and then a miss; a hit....and then a
miss. A near perfect symmetry to the grid; two more black squares and
it would look the same even if you rotated the puzzle through 90°. Two
13-letter climbers in sequence;
14D. Currency printed on only one side : MONOPOLY MONEY - I landed on BANDO - need $200
15D. Rued years : MISSPENT YOUTH - I spent my youth well; it was after missing out on film school that I could say I 'rued' the next 15 years
And a pair of hard-to-work-into-a-grid 14-letter spanners;
30A. "That's the pot calling the kettle black!" : YOU'RE ONE TO TALK
35A. London arena that Pelé dubbed "the cathedral of football" : WEMBLEY STADIUM
- Nailed it - but not too difficult for me, since my parent's were born
in England, and my father was a HUGE (football) soccer fan - he wanted
his ashes scattered at midfield there; we may still....
~!ACROSS:
1. Hits the dirt? : SCRUBS - not a good start to this one; my whole NW corner was either blank or filled in with the wrong answers
7. Window in many loft conversions : DORMER - better; carpentry is my thing; I like this one
13. Prepared to fire : TOOK AIM - DAH~! I filled in "AIMED AT" - right, but wrong
15. Tool for hackers : MACHETE - who else was on a computer hacker train of thought?
16. Name on "The Name of the Rose" : UMBERTO - not a clue
17. Spoke like an uninspired lecturer : INTONED
18. Smartphone component, for short : CPU - DAH~! I put in APP - and only one "P" was good.
19. Soothes, in a way : SINGS TO
21. Mars, for one : ORB - DAH~! I went with the "GOD" version
22. Throw : CAST - DAH~! I put in TOSS ( and thought it was too easy, too )
24. Old language that gives us "berserk" : NORSE - WAGed it
25. Home of the Czech Republic's Supreme Court : BRNO - I got down to one cell, and it was the second here, fifth in the down clue - both foreign places, and the "R" was a total WAG - and when I got "Ta-Da~!", I still didn't like Brno - but I do like their advertising campaign....
26. Second to none : ON TOP - DAH~! I had ELITE
28. Spot in a casino : PIP - the dimples on dice
29. Crème de __ : CACAO - MENTHE did not fit, even with the "E" being silent
33. Hose holder : REEL
34. Indoor football name : NERF - not the league, just the toy
41. Fauvist painter Dufy : RAOUL
42. 5, spelled out? : MAY - The FIFTH month
43. Rayed bloom : ASTER - Crossword staple, Saturday cluing
45. Tendon attachment? : ITIS - tendonITIS
46. Pamplona runners : TOROS - Da Bullz
49. Mdse. : GDs - Goods
50. Like many consonants : LINGUAL - I tried "GLOTTAL"
52. Cat's batter : PAW - Did anyone else think of cake mix at first?
53. Ancient Syrian : HITTITE - Learned from watching Ghostbusters
55. First golfer to win the U.S., British and Canadian Opens in the same year : TREVINO
57. Overly sentimental : TREACLY
58. Side effect of a bike helmet : HAT HAIR - this is NOT what YOU were thinking....
59. Pet : STROKE - hwwwwsh - I had CARESS; so close....
60. Disrespected outwardly : SASSED
DOWN:
1. Masonry finish : STUCCO - here's where I could tell my first ACROSS pass was a 'fail'; I knew what masonry finish the guys were looking for; I did one for a customer on her porch, my shed is getting the treatment, and my future home will definitely be stucco
2. Firm : COMPANY - noun? adjective? verb? had to wait
3. Humidor item : ROBUSTO - I likes me a cigar; I prefer a Tatiana flavoured cigarillo over a robusto; refers to the ring size of the smoke
4. Island entertainment : UKE
5. Places to see a lot of spirits : BARS - yep, tis where I spent those 15 years....
6. March alternative : SIT-IN - I was on a toccata, fugue, corale wavelength
7. Poet translated by Longfellow : DANTE
8. Pi preceder? : OCTO - octopi, the plural of octopus....gritting my teeth
9. Pi follower : RHO - Greek letters
10. Mediterranean island, to locals : MENORCA - I guess everyone else refers to it as M-I-norca, as opposed to the other island in the area, Mallorca (MAJORca)
11. Like amaranth flowers, in myth : ETERNAL - from the Greek, for unwilting; I have taken inspiration from Yellowrocks, and found this poem
12. Magazine in which "The Thin Man" first appeared : REDBOOK - I have heard of it; more here from Wiki
20. Put on a happy face : GRIN
23. Sightseers can be seen on one : TOUR BUS
25. Spade-shaped reef swimmer : BATFISH
27. Alberto VO5 rival : PRELL - hair care products
29. Una __: using the soft pedal : CORDA
31. Brogan classification : EEE - shoe size
32. High __ : TEA
35. Pair commemorated on North Carolina's state quarter : WRIGHTS - the bicycle brothers who designed and built the first flying machine
36. Humble oneself : EAT DIRT
37. More likely to win the bakeoff, maybe : MOISTER
38. '33 Chicago World's Fair puppeteer : SARG - Fascinating; I found this clip - watch the king (sultan?) hitting the hookah (@6:55), and then it gets a bit DF about 8:15. If you want to see a modern take, there's some more marionettes in the movie "Still Breathing"
39. Beauty spots? : UTOPIAS
40. One-named singer/songwriter of the 1970 Woodstock-inspired hit "Lay Down" : MELANIE - link away~!
44. Paraphrase : RE-WORD
46. Safe-deposit box document : TITLE
47. Author Paretsky and others : SARAS
50. Defeat : LICK - Well, the guys could have gone the other way with the cluing
51. "Why, then, __ soldier drink!": Iago : "LET A"
54. Confucian path : TAO
56. Old Beta rival : VHS - Video Home System; definitely the winner in the consumer market, but the news shows I worked with swore by Beta.
Splynter
7. Window in many loft conversions : DORMER - better; carpentry is my thing; I like this one
13. Prepared to fire : TOOK AIM - DAH~! I filled in "AIMED AT" - right, but wrong
15. Tool for hackers : MACHETE - who else was on a computer hacker train of thought?
16. Name on "The Name of the Rose" : UMBERTO - not a clue
17. Spoke like an uninspired lecturer : INTONED
18. Smartphone component, for short : CPU - DAH~! I put in APP - and only one "P" was good.
19. Soothes, in a way : SINGS TO
21. Mars, for one : ORB - DAH~! I went with the "GOD" version
22. Throw : CAST - DAH~! I put in TOSS ( and thought it was too easy, too )
24. Old language that gives us "berserk" : NORSE - WAGed it
25. Home of the Czech Republic's Supreme Court : BRNO - I got down to one cell, and it was the second here, fifth in the down clue - both foreign places, and the "R" was a total WAG - and when I got "Ta-Da~!", I still didn't like Brno - but I do like their advertising campaign....
26. Second to none : ON TOP - DAH~! I had ELITE
28. Spot in a casino : PIP - the dimples on dice
29. Crème de __ : CACAO - MENTHE did not fit, even with the "E" being silent
33. Hose holder : REEL
34. Indoor football name : NERF - not the league, just the toy
41. Fauvist painter Dufy : RAOUL
42. 5, spelled out? : MAY - The FIFTH month
43. Rayed bloom : ASTER - Crossword staple, Saturday cluing
45. Tendon attachment? : ITIS - tendonITIS
46. Pamplona runners : TOROS - Da Bullz
48. Green opening : HOLE
- Second time the guys threw me this week; instead of getting crafty
with a prefix like "ECO-" or "AGRI-", we are looking for the a plain old cup in the grass of a golf course....
49. Mdse. : GDs - Goods
50. Like many consonants : LINGUAL - I tried "GLOTTAL"
52. Cat's batter : PAW - Did anyone else think of cake mix at first?
53. Ancient Syrian : HITTITE - Learned from watching Ghostbusters
55. First golfer to win the U.S., British and Canadian Opens in the same year : TREVINO
57. Overly sentimental : TREACLY
58. Side effect of a bike helmet : HAT HAIR - this is NOT what YOU were thinking....
59. Pet : STROKE - hwwwwsh - I had CARESS; so close....
60. Disrespected outwardly : SASSED
DOWN:
1. Masonry finish : STUCCO - here's where I could tell my first ACROSS pass was a 'fail'; I knew what masonry finish the guys were looking for; I did one for a customer on her porch, my shed is getting the treatment, and my future home will definitely be stucco
2. Firm : COMPANY - noun? adjective? verb? had to wait
3. Humidor item : ROBUSTO - I likes me a cigar; I prefer a Tatiana flavoured cigarillo over a robusto; refers to the ring size of the smoke
4. Island entertainment : UKE
5. Places to see a lot of spirits : BARS - yep, tis where I spent those 15 years....
6. March alternative : SIT-IN - I was on a toccata, fugue, corale wavelength
7. Poet translated by Longfellow : DANTE
8. Pi preceder? : OCTO - octopi, the plural of octopus....gritting my teeth
9. Pi follower : RHO - Greek letters
10. Mediterranean island, to locals : MENORCA - I guess everyone else refers to it as M-I-norca, as opposed to the other island in the area, Mallorca (MAJORca)
11. Like amaranth flowers, in myth : ETERNAL - from the Greek, for unwilting; I have taken inspiration from Yellowrocks, and found this poem
12. Magazine in which "The Thin Man" first appeared : REDBOOK - I have heard of it; more here from Wiki
20. Put on a happy face : GRIN
23. Sightseers can be seen on one : TOUR BUS
25. Spade-shaped reef swimmer : BATFISH
27. Alberto VO5 rival : PRELL - hair care products
29. Una __: using the soft pedal : CORDA
31. Brogan classification : EEE - shoe size
32. High __ : TEA
35. Pair commemorated on North Carolina's state quarter : WRIGHTS - the bicycle brothers who designed and built the first flying machine
36. Humble oneself : EAT DIRT
37. More likely to win the bakeoff, maybe : MOISTER
38. '33 Chicago World's Fair puppeteer : SARG - Fascinating; I found this clip - watch the king (sultan?) hitting the hookah (@6:55), and then it gets a bit DF about 8:15. If you want to see a modern take, there's some more marionettes in the movie "Still Breathing"
39. Beauty spots? : UTOPIAS
40. One-named singer/songwriter of the 1970 Woodstock-inspired hit "Lay Down" : MELANIE - link away~!
44. Paraphrase : RE-WORD
46. Safe-deposit box document : TITLE
47. Author Paretsky and others : SARAS
50. Defeat : LICK - Well, the guys could have gone the other way with the cluing
51. "Why, then, __ soldier drink!": Iago : "LET A"
54. Confucian path : TAO
56. Old Beta rival : VHS - Video Home System; definitely the winner in the consumer market, but the news shows I worked with swore by Beta.
Splynter
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