- 18A: *Chicken soup dumpling (MATZO BALL).
- 35A: *Paleontologist's lucky find (DINOSAUR EGG).
- 43A: *Cappuccino seller (ESPRESSO BAR).
- 3D: *Basic computer component (SILICON CHIP).
- 27D: *Parting smooch (GOODBYE KISS).
- 61A: Confection that can start the ends of the answers to starred clues (CHOCOLATE).
The only real problem I had was a result of slapping in the AE plural ending on AURORAS (25D: Sky lights). I knew at the time that it could have gone either way, but I decided to take my chances. I know! Livin' on the edge! That mistake made SAID hard to see (52A: Came out with). Other than that, I didn't know that a barque has at least three MASTS. Possibly caused by the fact that I didn't know that a barque is a boat. I read 12D: Texter's guffaw as "Texan's guffaw" and wondered how to laugh with a drawl. (LOL)
I enjoyed this solid Tuesday puzzle. Let us know what you thought of it.
Crosswordese 101: Here are the EVAs you should know for crosswords:
- A character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- The youngest Gabor sister, who starred in "Green Acres."
- The actress EVA Longoria who plays Gabrielle on "Desperate Housewives."
- The actress EVA Mendes who appeared in the movies "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "Hitch."
- The actress EVA Marie Saint (and you don't have to know anything she's been in because she's only ever clued as a fill-in-the-blank).
- And, finally 11D: "The Loco-Motion" singer Little EVA.
- 15A: Athletic shoe brand (AVIA).
- 22A: Neophyte (TYRO).
- 47A: Baseball's Diamondbacks, on scoreboards (ARI).
- 7D: Breakfast for Brutus? (OVA).
Everything Else — 1A: Cold shower reactions (GASPS); 6A: Chicken or turkey (FOWL); 10A: Hair tamers (GELS); 14A: Sacro- ending (ILIAC); 16A: Stratford's river (AVON); 17A: Seward's Alaska purchase, to some (FOLLY); 20A: National flower of Scotland (THISTLE); 23A: Anatomical bag (SAC); 24A: Zeus' wife (HERA); 26A: Fight-or-flight response generator (DANGER); 30A: Ajar, say (OPEN); 32A: Atop (UPON); 34A: Typical studio apartment room count (ONE); 38A: Punch-in-the-gut grunt (OOF); 39A: "Batt. not __" (INCL.); 40A: Bon __: witticism (MOT); 41A: Sit in traffic (IDLE); 42A: Utmost degree (NTH); 48A: Apollo program org. (NASA); 49A: Wee (TINY); 50A: Bunny or kangaroo (HOPPER); 54A: Recede (EBB); 57A: Ahmadinejad's land (IRAN); 59A: Body surfer's ride (BREAKER); 65A: Come up (ARISE); 66A: Crest (PEAK); 67A: Coup d'__ (ETAT); 68A: Correct, as a stitch (RESEW); 69A: Torah holders (ARKS); 70A: Geologic stretches (EONS); 71A: A barque has at least three (MASTS); 1D: Birthday buys (GIFTS); 2D: Hawaii hi (ALOHA); 4D: Buddies (PALS); 5D: Grain-cutting tools (SCYTHES); 6D: Hall of __: athletic standout (FAMER); 8D: Two-time 1980s skating gold medalist Katarina (WITT); 10D: Cameroon neighbor (GABON); 13D: Tina Fey was its first female head writer, briefly (SNL); 19D: Asian ape (ORANG); 21D: Singer Horne (LENA); 28D: __ Gay (ENOLA); 29D: Send for consultation (REFER); 31D: D.C. go-getter (POL); 33D: Tennis's Sampras (PETE); 35D: Shore of Hollywood (DINAH); 36D: Words before the talk show guest enters (INTRO); 37D: Masked men at home? (UMPS); 41D: Charged particle (ION); 43D: Diciembre follower (ENERO); 44D: Frozen cake maker (SARA LEE); 45D: Recipe direction (STIR); 46D: Holstered pistol, e.g. (SIDEARM); 51D: Selections (PICKS); 53D: Looks out for, as a partner in crime (ABETS); 55D: Plague (BESET); 56D: Beer and ale (BREWS); 58D: Belg.-based peacekeeping gp. (NATO); 60D: Place (AREA); 61D: Tax pro (CPA); 62D: "I've Grown Accustomed to __ Face" (HER); 63D: Wine barrel wood (OAK); 64D: Brown shade (TAN).
23 comments:
Very, very solid puzzle.
As with today's NYT, I thought that the theme was pretty much incidental to the solve. Nice to ponder after finishing, but no help nor hindrance during the experience.
RESEW? Probably the worst entry in the grid for me.
I didn't know a chocolate ball was a thing, but I do like me some chocolate covered matzah.
Good. Interesting theme answers that intersect (always tough). Like LAZY DOG, actually. Seems inventive.
rp
What a fun Tuesday.
Liked the themes and having my "real" initials, ARI, in the grid.
Plus BREWS, not just beer or ale.
Along with Avatar, I've encountered many, many BREWS.
Loved them all!
Fun fact:
According to Bender Mag. the # 1 song from 25 years ago today, "We Build This City" by Jefferson Starship IS the "worst Rock-n-Roll song" of all time ... wish I knew how to embed it ... I always thought it had a nice beat, the kids like to dance to it ... Dick, I rate it a 93.
Toasts to all at Sunset.
capcha: barren, NOT my imagination!
Now any constructor who uses CHOCOLATE as the theme and uses words like SARALEE cake, ESPRESSO, and BREWS; just must be a crossword-hall-of-FAMER!!!!
Very nice job, Jennifer!
How many people do you know that insist on calling it EXPRESSO instead of ESPRESSO? That irks me.
Glad the clue for 50A was “Bunny or kangaroo” and not “Hedda” (HOPPER).
Puzzlegirl, you posted an exact photo of my old typewriter, the Underwood, that I did my thesis on back in the day. Overheard in a 7th grade class--- "What's a typewriter?"
And don't forget the most famous EVA of all, EVA Perón.
How many times have we seen ETAT of “Coup d’____” in puzzles and it’s not even in CW101. How come?
And “Bon MOT” is the other overused crosswordese without a CW101.
Cute clue: “Quick brown fox’s obstacle” (LAZY DOG).
Great entries: SCYTHES, OOF, ENOLA Gay, DINAH Shore (can‘t get enough of her!), and GOODBYE KISS (her signature…muahhh!)
Off to Denny’s for a skillet breakfast.
Have a lovely day y’all.
My fastest solve. Actually fell back to sleep after.
I'm at that age where people are dropping not unlike proverbial flies.
I go to the wakes so that they'll come to mine. Yesterday I had one Jones, today, another.
@Seth - if you haven't esperienced this - you slam it on the table, then unwrap. ball
"We Build This City" by Jefferson Starship
I thought this puzzle was great fun, loved it. But then I love most things chocolate!
Agree, resew seems awkward.
Excellent puzzle today! I'm a sucker for intersecting theme answers, and you can never go wrong with CHOCOLATE. Big thumbs up for LAZY DOG too.
I thought is was an excellent puzzle for all of the reasons above. May I add EVA Green to your list, PG? My favorite Bond girl of the past fifty years.
The fox obstacle was a great clue. Must have typed it hundreds of times fifty years ago.
There's nothing like a smooth Tuesday puzzle to get the day started right. Particularly liked "Masked men at home" for UMPS.
It's hard to imagine a less inspiring bloom than the THISTLE to be your national flower. It fits the rugged beauty of Scotland, I suppose. It calls to mind Ewan McGregor's great rant from Trainspotting. NSFW but only due to profanity.
It might be a regional thing, but when I took typing a hundred years ago here in the middle of the country the phrase was "The quick red fox jumps over the lazy brown dog."
It didn't slow down my solve, but it seemed a bit off.
As a side bar, the first semester of typing it was required you use a manual. You had to graduate to the second semester to earn the electrics. :-)
I prolly enjoyed seeing scythe as much as any of the other fill. It took a while to remember how to spell that one.
Avg Joe
Has no one ever used EVA Braun in a crossword? Too soon?
I'd add INCL to RESEW in the kind of weak category.
I'm thinking the LAZY DOG was a CHOCOLATE lab, but that's just me. Oddly enough, had two dark Non-pareils with my ESPRESSO BAR selection this morning, while solving! Puzzles, coffee and chocolate-perfect together!
@Sfingi! Just found one of those chocolate oranges in my pantry, last evening! Must have been left over from last Christmas--still tasted good. (Not a Ferraro's, tho, which really are the best!)
I think we've had the ORANG answer in 3 puzzles this past week.
Wanted SHIVER for 1A, but one letter too long and first had REAPERS instead of SCYTHES (great word!) for 5D. Once I figured out my missteps in the NW corner, it was clear sailing from there.
GOODBYEKISS for now.
CAPTCHA: fergica? (Fergi from California?)
@PG and I are on the same path today, I had one momentary lapse with my dive in with AURORAE before AURORAS, yes, it feels good to live on the edge, getting that crossword adrenalin pumping.
Good puzzle today, smooth solve and I didn't figure out the theme without the reveal. Then again, I am allergic to chocolate so none of these things are part of my reality.
Based on my browser autofill, I have a repeat CAPTCHA today, hydron. Strange.
Very nice Tuesday puzzle. Anything to do with CHOCOLATE is just fine by me. Also liked that LAZY DOG and the HOPPER.
@John Wolfenden THISTLES are kind of weedy looking, but the get beautiful pink or purple flowers. I have artichokes growing in my yard. They're a member of the thistle family. I recently discovered that if you don't pick the bud (the thing you eat) they get a spectacular purple flower.
Artichoke flower
@Tuttle - Too soon? Only half a century has passed. Good comment. A young person once said to me, after someone suggested a monument for WWII, "Gee, the whole country is a monument to WWII." If we're ready for Inglorious Basterds, we're ready for EVA Braun in the puzzle. I knew a fellow who liberated a camp and who confessed when he was near death that he took part in a massacre of Nazis there. It's time for chapter 2.
@John - I wonder if they'll ever rerun Dinah's show.
Nice write-up, @PG. I agree, very solid and little chaff.
I'm with @Anon@8:25(Avg Joe) on the typing phrase. I learned to type it, not on the hefty Underwood like @JNH, but on its smaller cousin, the Olivetti-Underwood Lettra 32, which I still have somewhere up in the attic. No thesis ever came out of it, but plenty of pretty hefty term papers. By the time grad school rolled around, I wised up and found someone who was both a professional typist AND could actually read my handwriting. The time saved was worth every penny!
@ddbmc- love the thought that the LAZY brown DOG is a chocolate lab.
@Tinbini-interesting to learn that "We Built This City" lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin.
@PG- What's up with dissin' Superman's Mom EVA Marie Saint? Best Supporting Actress Oscar opposite Brando in On The Waterfront, Superman's Mom, Martha Kent in Superman Returns, and opposite Cary Grant in North by Northwest, among others. Not too shabby in my view.
@Nighthawk, That was a fun little trip down memory lane on the Olivetti-Underwood. That's what I learned on. I'd completely forgotten that it lacked a 1, but still make that substitution often. It's also been a while since I've thought about mimeographs. I never typed one, but I sure saw my share as a grade schooler and can still smell the ammonia.
When faced with the quick fox standard how many others were reminded of "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." I still use that phrase when I sit down at a keyboard to test it out.
Avg Joe
(I figured I might as well get an ID since I post here often enough now. So far I've been subscribing to Groucho Marx's theory on club membership :-)
Did this puzz last night and don't remember anything special about it. Looking again, still don't see anything special, except for a minimum of pop culture. Little Eva and Lena Horne were gimmes for us oldies.
Don't think I've eaten anything from Sara Lee since I got my first apartment.
I really can't figure out what "We Built This City" has to do with the puzz. I listened to the YouTube and, although it was not great, it was certainly danceable and the lyrics were not only understandable, but also not offensive.
My favorotie clue was "Breakfast for Brutus?"
Good puzzle! Wonderful for all the reasons mentioned before. One write-over, "sanct" for iliac, but it worked itself out easily. Loved the breakfast for Brutus!
@PG: really funny write-up today.
@Sfingi: LOL. Who's that you want to come to your wake?
Mmmmm, dark non-pareils. That's Christmas candy in Holland, in the shape of a wreath, sometimes hung on the tree with a red ribbon.
@Mac - the Dutch have some great candies. I've ordered from All Things Dutch on occasion. The only thing I don't care for is the salty licorice. Weird.
I've been going through boxes of things typed by my maternal g'mother. She did everything in triplicate with no mistakes. She was a genealogist.
Discovered a wonderful "app" - we admired a picture at a restaurant. A kid there used Google Goggle by taking a picture of it to immediately discover the artist.
@sfingi. The app must be Google Goggles. Great fun.
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