The theme was great, although I haven't heard of the book...revealed at 37A: Theme of this puzzle, as hinted at by 17-, 23-, 45- and 59-Across (Le Carré book). The four theme answers are:17A: Constructing things (Tinker Toys). The most clever theme clue.
23A: Custom (tailor-made).
45A: 1962 #1 hit by the Shirelles (Soldier Boy).
59A: Means of remote monitoring (spy camera).
The only theme answer to come easily was Soldier Boy, although I was able to get the others with the help of crosses. Even so, I wasn't sure where I was going with the theme. Once I said the first words a couple of times, it began to sound like the name of a book...which made it easy to fill in the blanks in 37A.
Just a few multiword answers...other than theme answers...but they were good ones.
20A: Couples cruise vessel? (Noah's ark). I managed to get it with just the N in place...that was in place only because 1D: Mailing label abbr. (Attn) was a good guess.
52A: It's made up of columns (op ed page).
22D: Burglarized (broke in).
53D: Key of Pachelbel's Canon: Abbr. (D Maj). That song is the reason I took piano lessons in the first place, although I still haven't been able to play a decent version of it.
There were a few unfamiliar answers...some came from crosses, others from Dogpile.
31A: Annoyance, in British slang (aggro).
3D: Director Wertmuller (Lina).
27D: Turkish title (Agha). Aargh...
33D: Choreographer Lubovitch (Lar).
35D: Actress Skye (Ione).
55D: Actress Meyers and others (Aris).
57D: City near Padua (Este).
Favorite clues include 25A: Some flames (beaus), 40A: Hard-rock filler (as a), 58A: Part of a camp schedule (mess), 13D: Like some calls (close), 50D: House call? (yea) and 60D: Anti anti (pro).
Favorite answers...10A: Jeanne (D'Arc), 14A: Father, Son and Holy Ghost (trine), 16A: Even, to Yves (egal), 21A: '50s two-seaters (Tbirds), 4D: Old cross (ankh), 6D: Prefix with fluoride (tetra), 7D: Edible mushroom (enoki), 11D: Outdoor market (agora), 12D: Corp. budget item (R and D)...research and development, for those of you who were lost, 25D: Californian's vacation
destination, maybe (Baja)...good guess there, 43D: Subject of a 1940 biopic starring Spencer Tracy (Edison), 45D: It was split into two parts by the 1899 Treaty of Berlin (Samoa) and 48D: Charles __, "Gaslight" star, 1944 (Boyer).Took some time to get 9D: Museum specialist (restorer) and 29D: Lobby (solicit)...but for some reason 38D: Departures (egresses) came to me with only the G in place. That meant that 43A: Hosiery hue was ecru, rather than nude...which actually would have been funny since it was followed by 44A: Stripped (naked).
I was initially stumped by the connected cluing at 66A: With 46-Down, Ohio State's __ Memorial Stadium. With J as the first letter, though, the name Jesse/Owens immediately came to mind. I have no idea why...or where it came from.
I'm guessing the roads will be bad in the morning, which means I'll need to get an early start. It snowed for about six hours today...very rare in this part of Colorado. If we'd gotten the giant flakes that sometimes fall, we'd have been buried. As it was, we got about six inches. Some of the streets are rutted...and freezing tonight. If we get more snow tonight, it will be that much more difficult to get around.
Better wrap this up then. Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
6 comments:
Loved the puzzle, especially since I had just watched The Russia House the other night. However, the top corner was tough, I had triad instead of trine. Also could somebody explain how you get in 1A - Atlas from Country Store? What am I missing?
Good luck with the snow Linda, here in the Northeast we are experiencing spring weather.
Cheers
Linda,
If you want to see and hear an excellent rendition of Pachelbel's Canon played on an electric guitar, check out:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=QjA5faZF1A8
Bougeotte - 1A Country Store? Reclue as Where Countries are stored? - The Atlas. I mentally had Silos in mind - storage places in the country.
Norman
bougeotte...ATLAS= Contry Store in that you can find countries in an Atlas..ie a book of maps...the puzzle was fun and a bit difficult especially the theme but finished without too much Gooling.
Linda I hope that the roads are not too bad least you 36 down!!!
Safe travels
thanks Bob and anonymous. I kept thinking a country store as in Vermont, where you get necessities.
Now I get it - a little slow today.
The NW was the last to fall. I hesitated over trine, which popped immediately into my brain, no idea from where, but I didn't trust it. And it took a bit to get the country store clue. Love that one.
As soon as I got tailor and soldier, the theme opened up. I've read the book, and loved it. Didn't know Aris Meyers or Jesse Owens Stadium, but they came easily from the crosses. This was a fun puzzle.
Drive carefull and stay safe, Linda.
Norman, my first thought was silos...but a quick look at 1D dispelled that thought. ATLAS was clever.
I don't think I mentioned TRINE...I'd never heard of it and also had TRIAD...but the third definition refers to the Trinity.
Some day I want to read all of the books that have been mentioned in crossword puzzles. Maybe when I retire.
No more snow last night, and the roads were clean and dry. Thanks for the warnings. Bob, yours made me laugh. Clever to write out 36 down...otherwise it looks like we're talking about something else.
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