Today he invites us to Turn the completed grid into a greeting card!...with the following theme answers:
16A: Step 1: Highlight this answer (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO).
27A: Step 2: With 43- and 55-Across, do this in the grid (scrambled or not)...it works for almost anyone! (CIRCLE LETTERS TO / SPELL OUT THE NAME / OF YOUR RECIPIENT).
I checked to see who had a birthday on April 2, and found that the late Marvin Gaye was born on this date...so I made my birthday card for him.By the way, if you haven't already read it, be sure to check out Wendy's blog for an earlier post on Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell...two very talented singers who left us way too soon.
Famous names in the puzzle include 5A: 12-time Pro Bowl pick Junior __ (Seau), 36A: Diamond of note (Neil), 50A: "Star Wars" title (Darth), 4D: Some Dada prints (Arps), 31D: Louise's cinematic partner (Thelma), 41D: Root who won the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize (Elihu), 44D: One of the Jacksons (LaToya), 52D: Meg of "You've Got Mail" (Ryan) and 60D: "The Waste Land" poet's monogram (TSE).I didn't know 9D: Eighth note (quaver) but guessed it based on crosses, including 15A: Europe/Asia boundary river (Ural) and 20A: Sailor's "Stop!" (avast). According to my Webster's New World College Dictionary, it's the last definition and is marked [Chiefly Brit.]. No wonder I hadn't heard of it.
Also not familiar with 61A: Big name in supercomputers (Cray). I was missing only the first letter, and it didn't help that I drew a total blank on 50D: Where to tie one on? I had had trouble letting go of neck for that one...but even with three letters in place, it took me forever to see dock.
A word often tossed around in crossword blogs appears at 53A: The heart in "I Love New York" signs, e.g. (rebus). While this represents the actual meaning of the word, I will likely continue to use it incorrectly in the future.My favorite clue in the puzzle is 21D: Bakers' coats (icings). Other favorites include 33A: How Santa dresses, mostly (in red), 49A: End of a machine gun sound (tat), 1D: Good cheer? (rah), 7D: Figure on a hill (ant) and 46D: Usually black garb (habit).
I was up until midnight visiting with Leslie and Candy...ended up sleeping in and going to work at 9:30. If I do that two days in a row, I'll look like a slacker...that would not be a good thing.
Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
3 comments:
Is a greeting card a birthday card?
I can't believe I finished this messy thing. I enjoyed it very much, but it was so all over the place. And in the end I had two interconnected mistakes - Luv for GUV (I didn't think men called each other Luv, but that was all I could think of) and NLA for the longshoreman's group, so 21D was badly wrong all the way through.
One fave clue & answer - feature of Alfred E. Neumann's smile and GAP. Also: Usually black garb and HABIT.
All in all, fun and challenging but I found the notion of converting the puzzle into a greeting card with hand-circled squares a bit gauche. (If I greeted any of my friends that way on their birthday or any other day, they'd probably throw the thing into the circular file!)
But the long fill was worth it and far preferable to a quip, which I loathe.
It was a fun puzzle but I agree with Wendy's sentiments...like you Linda I got hung up on NECK rather than DOCK
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