3.21.2011

03.21 Mon

M O N D A Y
March 21, 2011
David Levinson Wilk


Theme: R.O. MAN — Theme answers are famous men whose initials are R.O.

Theme answers:

  • 17A: *"Barry Lyndon" star (RYAN O'NEAL).
  • 59A: *Lead singer of The Cars (RIC OCASEK).
  • 10D: *"Oh, Pretty Woman" singer (ROY ORBISON).
  • 30D: *Henry Ford contemporary (RANSOM OLDS).
  • 40A: Caesar, e.g. (or each of the answers to the starred clues?) (ROMAN).
I got home from ACPT really late last night and need to get my butt into work this morning, so all you get today is the grid. I should be back in full force tomorrow and I promise I'll tell you all about the puzzle festivities soon! (Spoiler alert! It was a blast.)

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Everything Else 1A: King, queen or jack (CARD); 5A: URL starter (HTTP); 9A: Van Gogh setting (ARLES); 14A: Alan of "M*A*S*H" (ALDA); 15A: Davenport's state (IOWA); 16A: Dracula's title (COUNT); 19A: Singer Lauper (CYNDI); 20A: Against (ANTI); 21A: Used to reach a high shelf (STOOD ON); 23A: Sodom escapee (LOT); 26A: Armored vehicle (TANK); 28A: Being off target (ERRING); 29A: Genesis mountain (ARARAT); 31A: Brandy's music genre, briefly (R AND B); 33A: Under-the-chin helmet securer (STRAP); 34A: Saintly circle (HALO); 35A: Types (ILKS); 39A: Suffix with tele- (THON); 41A: It may be reserved (SEAT); 42A: Heavy drinkers (SOTS); 43A: Functions (USES); 44A: Second longest African river (CONGO); 45A: Deed holder (OWNER); 47A: Sea between Greece and Italy (IONIAN); 48A: Start of Juliet's balcony plea (O ROMEO); 51A: Male heirs (SONS); 53A: Opposite of SSW (NNE); 54A: Virgin Mary (MADONNA); 56A: Poet Silverstein (SHEL); 58A: Like the Leaning Tower (ATILT); 64A: Mazda rival (HONDA); 65A: Apple computer since 1998 (IMAC); 66A: Fairy tale beginning (ONCE); 67A: Dread (ANGST); 68A: Turkey meat choice (DARK); 69A: Fake coin (SLUG); 1D: Elevator compartment (CAR); 2D: One of the Khans (ALY); 3D: Nutritional no. (RDA); 4D: "The X-Files" agent Scully (DANA); 5D: Suggest (HINT AT); 6D: Wheel alignment service (TOE-IN); 7D: First coml. airline to show in-flight movies (TWA); 8D: Friends (PALS); 9D: Harmony (ACCORD); 11D: Day before mardi (LUNDI); 12D: __ a happy note (END ON); 13D: Attack, bee-style (STING); 18D: Ready to serve, as beer (ON TAP); 22D: Mortise insert (TENON); 23D: Doesn't fade (LASTS); 24D: Big name in garden care (ORTHO); 25D: Medium's card (TAROT); 27D: Adversaries in a Hoffman/Streep film (KRAMERS); 32D: "Woe is me!" ("ALAS!"); 34D: Siphoning aid (HOSE); 36D: Russian Revolution leader (LENIN); 37D: Elena of the Supreme Court (KAGAN); 38D: Weapon for David (STONE); 40D: Sentence that should be two sentences (RUN ON); 44D: Trig function (COSEC); 46D: Charged angrily (WENT AT); 47D: Like pawned items (IN HOCK); 48D: Nebraska city (OMAHA); 49D: Boca __ (RATON); 50D: Taking too much (OD'ING); 52D: Sesame Street grouch (OSCAR); 55D: Parched (ARID); 57D: Thailand neighbor (LAOS); 60D: Britney Spears's "__ Slave 4 U" (I'M A); 61D: NBC weekend revue (SNL); 62D: Old French coin (ECU); 63D: Oktoberfest need (KEG).

32 comments:

Petty guy said...

I HATE ILKS in the plural. I can't findy any support for it in dictionaries, and further, it makes no sense. It's a collective noun categorizing people of a given type, class or family, and it refers to the type, class or families. If you wish to expand the class to include two types, it's another class, and of one ilk.

Anonymous said...

Anyone else notice 2D is ALI with an "i" and 17A is RYAN with a "y"?

Anonymous said...

@Anon 7:34 that's a typo in PG's grid. It's ALY Khan/RYAN...

imsdave said...

@anonymous 7:34 - PG is rightfully tired after an amazing (but taxing) workout this weekend at the ACPT. Let's cut her a little slack.

Did any of you folks attend? It was a grand diversion, and I'd truly enjoy meeting all of you. Maybe next year?

@Petty guy, ILKS shows up in most of the dictionaries I looked at. You can't say "appropriate for art lovers of all ilk" - it truly needs the 'S' in that context.

JaxInL.A. said...

I could not figure out the theme until I came here, but it was a smooth, quick solve for me. It does seem that ALY is an alternate spelling, but not that unusual.

Congratulations on getting through the contest successfully, PG. I loved the BEQ interview some weeks back, and look forward to hearing your take on the tournament.

It was fun to see regulars here rank together in a cluster, with Orange, Joon and Doug placing 14, 15 and 16.

Did anyone here slog through the L.A. Marathon in the rain yesterday? I had a housemate who did it and I am dead impressed.

CarolC said...

For a Monday puzzle it was remarkably short on Crosswordese, very solvable yet still had some obscure (at least to me) answers like RICO CASEK, oops RIC OCASEK, still never heard of him. Sure, there's the familiar ALDA and ARARAT, but hey, it's a Monday.

For 60D, has IMA been clued as the real-life first name of a Texan whose last name was HOGG?

No ANGST for me today.

sjok said...

Too much french. The days of the week in french, a dutch painter painting a scene in a french city, an old french coin.
It is interesting that ecu was once truly an old french coin (starting in 1593). In 1979 it became an abbreviation for "European Currency Unit" which was some sort of combination of several european currencies used prior to the Euro.

I agree on the "ilks" thing - especially when the "S" and its "S" partner in the grid could be blacked out.

OD'ing without the "'" looks to me like describing the activity of someone writing a poem of praise, not eating too much chocolate.

VirginiaC said...

I didn't like "stoodon" as "used to reach a high shelf". It doesn't look like a noun to me, or am I just confused?

VirginiaC said...

Also don't like ilks but in the case of "people of all ilks liked..." there's not much else you could do.

Picky Guy. said...

@VirginiaC I STOOD ON the stool to reach the upper shelf. I used the stool to reach the upper shelf.
@imsdave - Or, one could say "appropriate for art lovers of every ilk" which has the advantage of being technically correct as because one cannot be either of all types or all ilks. However I should not be taken too seriously, given my name.

imsdave said...

@Picky Guy - well said. As a (very) amateur constructor, sometimes we need to stretch the language a bit. Necessary evil.

Ron W. said...

I thought the theme was lame.R.O.men because their was more than one of them. Stood on is the act of standing on a stool hated that clue also. Beer on tap I would rather have mine served icy cold. I thought juliet's response was romeo,oh romeo. To Carol Ric ocasek was the lead singer of the cars a rock group of the 70's and 80's. They were not one hit wonders with quite a few popular rock songs and album's to their credit

StudioCitySteve said...

Nice start to the week with this one, nothing bothered me much here, and some nice crisp cluing.

@JaxinLA - a buddy of mine ran the marathon and he was suprised to find he was only 8 minutes slower than his time last year, although he said he was close to hypothermic by the time he was done.

C said...

Good Monday puzzle. Some interesting answers. I'll add to the RICOCASEK answer with the fact that he married 80's SI swimsuit model Paulina Porizkova. The useless trivia stuck in my head needs to be flushed every now and then.

hazel said...

@Ron W. You seem a little cranky. Maybe this will cheer you up.

"O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?
Deny thy father and refuse thy name;
Or, if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love,
And I'll no longer be a Capulet."

Seemed like a solid, if not particularly memorable, Monday.

*David* said...

Cute puzzle and theme, I don't understand any of the complaining.

mac said...

Good Monday to me, although I needed lots of crosses for Ric Ocasek. Now sort of remember the way he looks because of pictures with Paulina. Thank you, @C!

I want to repeat what imsdave said, and tell you this may be my favorite weekend of the year, although I will never be on that podium! Just being with 700 likeminded people makes it great!

SethG said...

Kind of intricate for a Monday theme, but that's not a problem with the puzzle.

Not a fan of that Y cross--Rian is a name, Ali is a name, only those who knew how to spell one of them wasn't forced to play the odds. And, importantly, it would have been easy to avoid.

There was more than one of them, but the clue said "...or each of the answers...". R.O. MAN is correct.

I can't find a dictionary that _doesn't_ support ILKS.
"Because Mr. Clinton's strongest speech of the year was delivered at Memphis to a black audience, calling for individual moral responsibility and a rebirth of family values, look for a return to this theme -- this time, aimed at Americans of all ilks."
-William Safire.

Mortuorum said...

@CarolC: As others have pointed out, Ric Ocasek was lead vocalist for The Cars and was, at least back in the '80s, an iconic figure of the New Wave movement in music.

Look for future crosswords featuring Morrissey, Michael Stipe, David Byrne, Debbie Harry, Michael Hutchence and Susanna Hoffs (and many, many others!).

CarolC said...

Ok, y'all have shamed me into checking out The Cars, and of course I remember songs like Just What I Needed and Let the Good Times Roll. Somehow I just never paid attention to the name of the band or the members. I have however heard of the Smiths and of Debbie Harry. But I came of age with the Doors, the Stones, the Grateful Dead, and even Crosby, Stills and Young before Nash joined them. . . And my captcha is even olodshe - yep, I'm an old she, or at least getting there!

Avg Joe said...

OK Carol. Riddle me this. Are you talking about Smith or are you talking about the band that was often called The Smiths,?

mac said...

@SethG: what a good example. Who is going to question that authority? Ben Zimmer was at the ACPT on Sunday.

Anonymous said...

Got r o man on crosses didnt understand until I came here still not liking it much can someone explain captcha to me

John Wolfenden said...

Cool to see RICK OCASEK in a puzzle. The Cars were definitely one of the better pop bands of the 80s and managed to use synthesizers in a way that wasn't cheesy.

The SW gave me a surprising amount of trouble. Took me awhile to get ODING even after I'd filled it in, and I've never heard of Random Olds though I'm happy to learn. TOE IN was a term I'd never heard until I looked at the printout from a tire place that had done an alignment.

I thought this was a well-above-average Monday.

John Wolfenden said...

I think one of the reasons Petty Guy is perhaps hypersensitive to ILKS is that we see it incorrectly used so often in the plural as a collective noun, as a quick Google search will demonstrate.

Petty Guy said...

@SethG - You think a quote from Safire's gonna stop me? Bah!
Yes, it's a legitimate word, it's [buried deeply with-] in dictionaries. What I don't like is the act of, within a sentence, distinguishing between groups then bundling them back up. In imsdave's example, my way works better. In Safire's usage, the differentiation was in a different clause, so what bothers me about it is mitigated. However, I still feel even his usagage would be better as "... each and every ilk" rather than ".. all ilks", even though I know "all" = "each and every" in this case.

xxpossum@html.cm said...

LOVE a little side of jalapeno w my Monday morning C.W! Got me @44D w cosec (H2G). Alas, Had2Google the sea between as well.....Good eye to Anonymous for catch'n the typo @ Ryan. Evidence that Pzl Grl is in need of recharging.We'll give 'er that.L8eR.

CrazyCat said...

Really late chiming in here. I wasn't a huge fan of this puzzle. Not sure why. Maybe it's because I don't like having to think too hard on a Monday, especially after being kept awake most of the night by very loud rain. Struggled in the SW with ATILT, ANGST and ODING. Didn't know RANSOM OLDS or RICK OCASEK. I know the Cars, but didn't know the lead singer's name. Although, I think I've seen him before in puzzles. Have to say I enjoyed the NYT puzzle way more today.

Sounds like great fun at ACPT. Can't wait to hear details.
@Mac According to RP's blog you did quite well. Good for you!

Anonymous said...

I've only been doing crosswords for a few years now and I must say that since I stumbled onto this website it has made the experience much more enjoyable. I love the comments and learn a lot from them. I especially enjoyed the quote from Romeo and Julliet, I too thought it was "Romeo, oh Romeo...

Sfingi said...

I didn't think the theme was lame, but I just didn't notice it.
Had a roommate freshman year who played Roy Orbison day and night.
ALso thought it was RICO CASEK.

I had trouble in the NW because I had fAce before CARD and Aga before ALi before ALY.

@Sjok - ARLES is actually crosswordese. I've seen it several times since I started 2 yrs ago. There are paintings with ARLES in the titles- about 30 at www.vggallery.com.

We had davenport recently. There's another piece of furniture called a davenport desk, one of which I have. davenport

xyz said...

2 days late to the party but chalk me up as a fan for the theme

Never knew OLDS was RANSOM

Anonymous said...

I don't know if this has been brought up before, but David Levinson Wilk is also a writer for "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." I saw his name in today's credits and knew I had seen it somewhere before.