The theme was PUT IT IN WRITING. The addition of IT somewhere within the title of a fairly well-known book (or play) changed it to a new (and funny) title, which was then appropriately clued.
23A: Quentin Tarantino paperback about a minister's stories? (PULPIT FICTION). I'm fairly certain that was in a recent puzzle...possibly the Sun.
29A: Randy Shilts exposé of an outlaw musician? (AND THE BANDIT PLAYED ON).
57A: Susan Howatch novel about protesting clergy? (SITINS OF THE FATHER). I inserted IT in the wrong place here...SINITS...which meant the downs wouldn't cooperate. Finally figured it out.
82A: Marlo Thomas storybook for liberated vampires? (FREE TO BITE YOU AND ME). This one makes me laugh every time I read it.
107A: Grimm Brothers story about a sorry leader, with "The"? (PITIED PIPER OF HAMELIN). This was the one that finally gave me the theme. Things started making much more sense at that point.
121A: Shakespearean play about a monarch who writes bad checks? (KITING HENRY IV).
I set this aside for about an hour. When I came back, all kinds of answers popped into my head...things I'd been struggling with earlier. Things like:
1A: Heart of a bus. district (Main St.) Had the A and the N for the longest time, but nothing was coming to mind.
13A: Mexican state east of Veracruz (Tabasco). Had Jalisco, but then nothing made sense for 13D: Wreck (total). Actually, I had total, then erased it to enter Jalisco. When will I learn to go with my gut?
28A: Became fully evident (sank in). I had 17D: Doesn't just bad-mouth (slanders), so I knew it didn't end in -ed, but it took walking away to see it.
11D: Hunk (Adonis). I can't remember how many letters I had before I finally caught on.
41D: Deli order (tuna on rye). I knew it was on rye, but I couldn't figure out a sandwich ingredient that ended in A.
58D: Win in a children's game (OOO). Jeez! I had OOA, thinking that 67A: Mexican Indians was Otamis, rather than the correct Otomis.
There were quite a few things that were completely unknown to me:
20A: Squeezed at the ends, as leaves (oblate).
51A: Warning signal, once (alarum).
119A: Copycat (epigone).
109D: "Funny Face" director Stanley (Donen).
Favorite multi-word answers include: 55A: "Just because" (no reason), 127A: This second (at once), 131A: One way to live transsexually (as a man), 29D: Little League issue (age limit), 30D: "Don't sweat it" (no matter), and 64D: City served by Indira Gandhi International Airport (New Delhi)...got that off the LH.
Clues/answers that I just plain liked:
89A: Piddling (picayune). I think we've had the word before, because I remember commenting on it...or maybe that was just a comment I posted elsewhere.
99A: Saucy dance (salsa). That's a perfect clue for those of us who confuse samba, mambo, and other Latin dances.
128A: Second __ (banana).
130A: Crowds, it is said (threes). That's the best of the bunch.
6D: Peevish (tetchy). I don't remember the last time I've seen the word anywhere, but it's a great one.
10D: Rat race (grind).
91D: One whose work may suit you (clothier).
105D: Study in multiplication and division? (amoeba).
I didn't know 27A: State where Geo. W. Bush was born (Conn). I figured he was born in Texas. I was born in Connecticut, and I don't like sharing that with him.
I'm always proud to get the simplest sports-related clue. 18D: Oriole Ripken (Cal) was a gimme. I think that may be the only sports trivia in this puzzle.
Interesting that we have mop (1D: Big job for a barber), as well as mope (62A: Be down)...Abu (2D: __ Ghraib, Iraqi prison) and Sabu (70D: "Elephant Boy" boy)...86D: Leandro's love (Ero) and 100A: Love child? (Eros).
I spent a couple of hours lying poolside with a friend today, and that just wipes me out. I stupidly forgot my own advice about sunscreen...don't know what I was thinking. Anyway, I'm tired out and ready to call it a night.
Here's the grid. I started to check it and lost the whole thing when I was almost finished...didn't bother to do it over again. Let me know if you see any errors.
And if I didn't mention your favorite clues or answers, please share. I really enjoy reading what others thought of the puzzle. I already know what I thought ; )
Enjoy your Sunday...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
8 comments:
You are right about PULPITFICTION, that was in Joe Bower's August 21st NY Sun puzzle. In that one half the theme entries had an IT added and half had IT deleted. Funny how that happens with similar themes cropping up close together.
Thanks for the confirmation on PULPITFICTION, mellocat. Sometimes I think I'm making things up!
Oh yeah, Bush birthplace ... I don't like sharing it with him either. I knew it wasn't Texas or Maine, but I was unpleasantly surprised to see it. And in New Haven, no less, which means he was probably born in the same damn hospital (Hartford).
Stanley DONEN, collaborating with Gene Kelly, was responsible for bringing the world Singin' in the Rain. He was a great director.
Truly one of the most enjoyable Sunday puzzles in a long, long while. Kudos to Lee and Nancy.
Wendy, this is too freaky. I'm pretty sure I was born in Hartford Hospital, although my birth certificate only says Hartford. Was there another hospital there in the fifties? Maybe a Catholic hospital?
According to our friend the Internet, there is (and was) a St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, so that's a possibility if your birth certificate doesn't specify.
Hi, folks -- I have a general question for Linda and for anyone else who'd like to answer. Is it cheating to use the internet to find some of the answers? Do you?
Anonymous, there are some who never Google, some who do occasionally, and some who do for most of the puzzles. I can do Monday through Thursday without Googling, but most weekend puzzles will have a couple of obscure crosses. I don't think of it as cheating...more like a learning process.
Bottom line...do whatever works for you. Some solvers go for speed, some just for completion. I'm one of the latter.
Thanks for coming by ; )
I did the same thing. Started it yesterday and got about six answers before setting it down. Sat down with it today & knocked it out.
I google when I have to, but I consider it an accomplishment to finish a Fri/Sat/Sun puzzle without it :-)
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