As much as I enjoyed the luxury of a slow solve on Sunday's puzzle, it was a nice change to whip through this one in short order.
The theme was revealed in the center of the puzzle, at 26D: What the last words of 17- and 61-Across and 10- and 25-Down are kinds of (markets). The theme answers are:
17A: Supreme Court justice known for a literalist interpretation of the Bill of Rights (Hugo Black).
61A: Pie filling (mince meat). For those of you who don't know how absolutely disgusting real mince meat is (I'm not talking about the benign stuff you find in a jar), here's a recipe from 1860.
10D: Some theater productions (summer stock).
25D: 1966 Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass hit (Spanish Flea). If you don't recognize it by name, you can listen to it here. If you're a boomer, you may remember it as the theme from The Dating Game.
Old friends making yet another appearance, some with fresh clues, include 1D: Pale-faced (ashen), 9A: __ Park, Colo. (Estes), 15A: Cheers for toreros (oles), 42A: Jai __ (Alai), 12D: Barely makes, with "out" (ekes), and 56D: Alimony receivers, e.g. (exes).
It helps to know Latin if you're doing the New York Times. 31D: "__, vidi, vici" (veni) comes around fairly often. Know them--they'll be back.
I loved seeing 18D: Onion-flavored roll (Bialy). Don't believe I've ever seen it in a puzzle, although those who have been doing them longer may well have.
30D: Don formerly of morning radio (Imus). Glad to see the word formerly in there. It was well deserved.
46D: Hoops great Abdul-Jabbar (Kareem). One of the few sports-related clues I know. Although there was actually another one in this very puzzle. 66A: Auto racer Yarborough (Cale).
Clever clue and answer at 59A: Syllable repeated after "hot" (cha). Jimmy Durante...what a guy.
There seems to be a mini-theme involving kids. 5D: "What'd I say?!" (told ya), 65A: Winnie-the-__ (Pooh), 37D: Toy block brand (Lego), and 53D: Writer on a slate (chalk). Alas, no playground retorts to go with it.
Alas, however, appears at 6D: "__ poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio."
Very much liked seeing Q up in the NE. 16A: Seismic occurrence (quake), sharing its Q with 9D: Consider identical (equate).
33D: Key related to F# minor: Abbr. (A Maj). Timely, because we had a piano recital today, and I played something in A major. More importantly, I made a chocolate chip cake with butterscotch filling and chocolate glaze. Our piano teacher and her husband will both be 87 next week, and the cake was to celebrate their birthdays.
It seems funny to see peachy (at 48D) clued as A-O.K. We've used the word sarcastically more often than not. You know, saying "She's a peach" because she's really something else that sounds somewhat similar.
I think the only word in the puzzle that was completely foreign to me was 38A: Eurasian duck (smew). I hope Rex shows a picture of it. I've decided I like links much more than pictures. For those of you who blog, you know that inserting pictures really messes up your spacing. I figure I'll do without, except on rare occasions, like the Energizer bunny last week!
Happy Monday. Hope it's a good start to a good week.
Linda G
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7 comments:
Thanks for a cheerful Monday blog!
Incidentally, in regard to pictures, I find that under "Add an image from your computer" if under "Choose a layout", one chooses "None" for uploading the picture that it can be more easily placed and does not disturb the text. I struggled for a month before I figured that one out!
Have good week, too!
Thanks for the tip on uploading. I've always selected one of the options. I may try it again now.
Fun puzzle, fun write-up! I liked seeing BIALY emerge from my brain, I shocked myself, actually. I am assuming its some species of New York deli treat (?) The appearance of regional words like this are one of the many reasons I love the NYT crossword.
Your comments on PEACHY made me smile. I am just returned from a southeast roadtrip, and twice passed the famous Gaffney, SC water tower painted like a giant peach, visible for miles from Interstate 85. You can even buy a postcard of it. Down South, peaches ain't no sarcastic matter! Have a good one :)
I hate to think of car racing as a sport. Where's the athleticism, exactly? "Motor sports," my ass. Unless I'm an athlete in the field of word sports, that is.
Orange,
not that I am a "motor sports" fan, but I understand from my spouse (who works in the race car field) that the drivers have to be in pretty good shape to be able to stay alert and competitive (much less conscious) while swathed in a fireproof suit and strapped into the car, which puts out immense heat. HOT, cha cha cha!
Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Used by itself, sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determiner of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors. Sports are used as entertainment for the player and the viewer. It has also been proven by experiments that daily exercise increases mental strength and power to study.
For the monumental list of sports see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sports
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