Today's puzzle went down easier than yesterday's. Must be that Richard Silvestri added a spoonful of sugar. Y not?
The four theme answers were common words/phrases, except the last word of each had a variation on the spelling -- changing the I to Y.
20A: Stealing some computer memory? (taking a byte)
54A: Always use the term "coloring agent"? (never say dye)
11D: Ways to make lefts and rights? (turnstyles)
29D: Assorted hydroxides? (pack of lyes). Especially interesting in that it followed Tuesday's Leader of the Pack theme.
Nice to see Kelly Clarkson clued (along with Taylor Hicks) at 17A (Idol). I'll confess that I've never seen an episode of American Idol, but I've seen some of the winners perform since they won. Kelly Clarkson is more than the first winner--she's the best of them. I was hoping to see her in Las Vegas as part of her tour, but it conflicts with our Hawaii trip. Now it looks as though I'll have to drive to Denver to see her in July. Maybe we can get a hotel within walking distance of The Pepsi Center.
There were several words in this puzzle that I absolutely did not know, although I was able to get them with crosses.
9A: Perfume from petals (attar)
13D: Basketball's Tomjanovich (Rudy). Never heard of him, but I like his last name.
32D: Cordwood measure (stere). It's a cubic meter.
57D: Sledge (dray). We've had sledge before as an answer, but I don't remember how it was clued. I'm fairly certain it wasn't clued as "dray."
Words I really liked seeing in the puzzle, or clues that I thought were 51D: First-rate (primo). That's one of them.
3D: Running __ (amok). For as long as I can remember, I have liked that expression. One of my favorite movies is The American President. Annette Bening's character, Sydney Ellen Wade, apologizes to President Andrew Shepherd (played by Michael Douglas) for behavior she describes as "vanity run amok." Love the expression...love the movie. Come to think of it, I'm about due to watch it again.
22D: Get to the point? (taper). That clue ties in with the more graphic 19A: Like unfortunate bullfighters (gored).
26D: Outfielder's asset (arm). It's simplicity makes it great.
34D: Makeshift screwdriver (dime). Now I know that it's perfectly fine to use something else in a pinch. It's been validated by the New York Times! I would have preferred that it referred to a knife, since I tend to use that more often, but...
43D: Audio receiver (ear). They used to get me with this one...time and again. No more.
63A: Tiger club (iron). I thought they were looking for Tiger Beat, but that wasn't working out. A couple of the downs...and...voilà!
Alas (25A: "Too bad!"), it's getting late, and I have much to do before bed.
Linda G
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8 comments:
Although infrequently, attar, dray and stere have cropped up in the past (albeit, not all in one puzzle, but individually) -- I keep forgetting there are words I've crunched over in the past and fail to mention them, it's good you do -- even though we've seen them before.
I always put a dime when it has worn really thin into a spare pocket thinking I'm going to need this on a very small screw!
We both connected TAPER and GORED in the same breath, but I also threw in TORO. Ergo, the messed-up matador!
Have a good day!
33A totally misleading! store fits, making 28D attic, but then 27a just doesn't work. oh yes, 21D nerds - and then it all falls in place. ta da!
I didn't even notice TORO sitting there...
Barbara, don't you just love when it comes together after a string of good wrong answers!
This has nothing to with crosswords, but I thought you might be interested in knowing that it was 40 years ago this month that "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was released.
Here's some Pepper trivia from Mental Floss:
* In "With a Little Help from My Friends," the Lennon and McCartney lyric "What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?" originally contained a line about throwing tomatoes at the singer. Ringo remembered the years when George was pelted onstage with jelly babies by fans after he mentioned that they were his favorite candy. Just in case they ever took to the stage again, Starr asked the composers to change that line, and they obliged.
* Two people that were originally included on the Sgt. Pepper album cover were "retouched" out of the picture before the album was pressed. One was Bowery Boy Leo Gorcey, who requested a fee for his likeness. The other was Mahatma Gandhi, removed on the request of record company EMI, lest any fans in India feel offended.
* Speaking of the cover, the Sgt. Pepper's packaging was innovative for its day. Not only was it one of the first gatefold (open-up) album covers, but the full lyrics were printed on the inner spread, something never before done. A special cardboard insert featured fun cut-outs, including a stand-up of The Beatles and a wear-it-yourself moustache.
* The song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" was inspired by a poster John Lennon purchased in an antique store. It was promoting the Pablo Fanques Royal Circus, which was giving a benefit for a Mr. Kite. Many characters mentioned in the song's lyrics are referenced by name on the poster, including Henry the Horse. Oddly, the BBC banned the tune because it believed that Henry was, in fact, a sly reference to heroin.
Thanks for the Sgt. Pepper's trivia. I just put the CD in my car so I can listen to it during my travels today.
It was 40 years ago today...then we add the original 20...and it was 60 years ago today Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play : )
"It turns out I _have_ a rose garden."
Yeah, I love that movie too.
To me today's puzzle was a little trickier than yesterdays...got it done and all..but didn't enjoy it quite so much. Seems to me both were a bit harder than normal for Tues/Wed -- which I like!
My big mistake-- 5D instead of the "s" as a plural had "ed" (as past tense) just wasn't awake enough -- shoot.
I do the puzzle first thing when I get up in the am. It's my way of "getting going" -- so sometimes my mind isn't all the way awake HA!
That's my excuse and I'm stickin' to it.
I loved the theme though. Never heard of Nauru...need to Google and get more info.
I really liked the clue for 56D which turned out to be "exit" -- from what I remember it's a new way of cluing it.
Other than that -- looking forward to Thursday.
Rudy Tomjonovich was not only an excellent player for the Houston Rockets, but he was their coach for the last two times the Rockets won the NBA championship (while Michael Jordan was discovering he wasn't going to be a pro baseball player)
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