The theme answers are pairs of homonyms (or are they homophones?) clued in punny and/or amusing ways.
18A: Blasé group of directors? (bored board).
62A: Lovely hotel accommodations? (sweet suite).
3D: Farm-grown labyrinth? (maize maze). This was the first theme answer to fall. It was uphill from then on as to the remaining theme answers.7D: Wake at dawn? (morning mourning). Aah, a wake. I get it now.
10D: Pit in its entirety? (whole hole).
33D: Mooing group of cattle? (heard herd).
37D: Key passage? (isle aisle). Another one I didn't understand until just this minute.
There were a few answers that just didn't feel Tuesday level. Things I didn't know include:
5A: Fiesta Bowl site (Tempe). I'm sure many of you knew that one...I know Rose Bowl and Aloha Bowl.
34A: "Pomp and Circumstance" composer (Elgar). I had everything but the L...and 30D: Hebrew leader? (Alef) was no help. Is that a Hebrew letter?
45A: "Lohengrin" lass (Elsa). Guessed it, but didn't know it.
55A: Exclude (debar). Huh?
2D: Arsenic or antimony (semimetal). I know arsenic as a poison...didn't know it was a semimetal. For that matter, I didn't know semimetals existed. Candy knew that and confirmed it. She also knew 68A: Refinery waste (slag). Candy is a science major...that may not be necessary for that knowledge, but it sure didn't hurt.
52D: Actor Cary of "Twister" (Elwes). Sorry...never heard of him.
I was thrown briefly by 12D: Lew who played Dr. Kildare. I only know Richard Chamberlain as Dr. Kildare and never realized it was a movie before it was a series. The upside was the name Lew Ayres came to mind quickly.
The southeast corner killed me...on a Tuesday! My downfall was 71A: Partners of haws. For some ridiculous reason, I had hees rather than hems...I must have been thinking of these guys. Anyway, there was no way I was getting an answer for 38D: Light in a light show...which turned out to be laser beam.There were a few words that I especially liked seeing in the grid...20A: 5, 7, 9, etc., for juniors' dresses (sizes), 44A: Under way (afoot), 8D: Primp (preen), 25D: Film material (acetate) and 27D: Kind of artery (carotid).
That's it for tonight. Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
8 comments:
I agree, it didn't feel like a Tuesday. A couple late-week obscurities, and some easy areas as well. Enjoyable though.
I never heard of semimetal either, would have guessed it was a musical genre made up by a radio station, like "Soft Rock". I also did the HEES thing.
There was an advertising jingle on the radio in the SF Bay Area several decades ago:
"If the size of the clothes you are wearing
Is five, seven or nine
The you'll love to go shopping
At the House of Nine!"
Cool how they got Nine to rhyme with Nine.
Cary Elwes... go rent "The Princess Bride".... you'll remember him forever after...
Nice to have you back!
I just snorted over karma's comment ...
Ditto on the 'this was no Tuesday' assessment. I couldn't finish because I thought the Fiesta Bowl was in Tampa instead of TEMPE (and don't get me started on the fact that my alma mater has been to this bowl any number of times in the past and my memory just flat out failed me).
Once I saw my error (by coming here) I could discern the squash type and the football player, but not a moment sooner.
Also had Edgar instead of EDGAR and thus Adef for ALEF. And briefly had headwear instead of HEADGEAR. And yeah, no, on DEBAR.
On the upside, CAROTID looked nice in the grid!
This was a bit tough for a Tuesday - Once I got "MORNINGMOURNING" I had the theme answers - they were not that bad. My problem was I kept looking for theme answers is the other long answers.
Alef (or Aleph) is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
I think "HEES" was a universal today as I got stuck on it too.
In any event - it's good to see you back (I only get Mon - Fri and yesterday's was so easy I didn't even bother coming. I needed some help with the NE corner so I stopped by to see if you were back.)
And, to keep in mind for the future (because it always throws _me_ off), the first letter of the Arabic alphabet is ALIF.
Welcome back and AS...YOU...WISH,
sg
A nice surprise to see you back at it!
I googled the 2nd Sunday puzzle and was perplexed that it referenced your blog, since I knew you were on sabbatical. Glad it was a short one! I enjoyed that puzzle, like two puzzles in one. It must have been tricky to construct!
Re today's puzzle:It seems like I always go to HEES first for Haw partner, and I don't think I have ever been right. Old habits die hard!
Welcome back!
So good to know I had company with HEES...
While it was a fairly short sabbatical, a few thought it seemed like an eternity. Between you and me...I was lost without this blog ; )
Just wanted to add my 'welcome back' to all the others. You were missed. ET
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