Today's theme answers all end with words that rhyme:
20A: Tourism bureau's offering (welcome packet).
28A: It's swung at Wimbledon (tennis racket).
48A: Pesky wasp (yellow jacket).
58A: It helps determine how much tax you owe the I.R.S. (income bracket).
In addition to theme answers, there were a couple of good long ones...11D: Become acquainted with (get to know) and 34D: Noted performing arts school (Juilliard). In a recent post, Harris at water and waves mentioned a book called "The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music" by Steve Lopez. It's a story about a former Juilliard student who ends up homeless because of mental illness...definitely at the top of my must-read-soon list.
Other favorites:
1A: Meat featured in a Monty Python musical title (SPAM).9: Popeye's creator E. C. __ (Segar).
16A: Singer Cara (Irene).
17A: Difficult burden (onus).
36A: 1983 Barbra Streisand title role (Yentl)...it's appearing often enough that it should be a gimme for most.
37A: Notes in a poker pot (IOUs).
54A: Clears an Etch A Sketch, e.g. (erases)...had shakes at first.
64A: Venus de __ (Milo).
66A: Airs, in Latin (aurae).
1D: Vermont ski town (Stowe).
4D: Yale's bulldog, e.g. (mascot).
5D: Small amount of cash saved for an emergency (mad money). My mad money stash is only used for emergencies...you know, when I'm badly in need of a pedicure or other pampering.
9D: Time off from work with pay (sick day). I hope I don't have to take one tomorrow. I've spent the day in bed, sleeping on the couch, and reading in the big chair...I don't feel as achy but I'm still coughing.
27D: Canonized fifth-century pope (St. Leo). If we're looking at a canonized pope, it has to start with ST...and I don't know of any other three-letter popes.
41D: Become established (take root).
44D: Targets of Raid (roaches). Not a favorite word at all...I don't know why I feel compelled to include it. Definitely not an answer that gets a picture. Ick.
51D: Bit of strategy (tactic).
55D: Smidgen (skosh)...I've always liked both words.
61D: Unidentifiable mass (blob)...brings to memory the old Steve McQueen film of the same name. Now that was some good acting.
I just read through some down clues that I completely missed. 22D: Mercury or Saturn, but not Venus (car), 30D: Classic toothpaste brand (Ipana), 38D: "My gal" of song (Sal) and 60D: Country whose name is an anagram of 10-Down (Eire / Erie). That's it for today. Here's the grid...
...and I'll see you tomorrow.
Linda G
9 comments:
Linda, nearly all of Stella and Bruce's puzzles are joint ventures. They are part of the group of regular contributors for the CrosSynergy syndicate, and their work shows up in the LA Times perhaps more often than in the NYT. I hear that they started collaborating before they'd even met—with Stella specializing in themes and clues and Bruce enjoying filling the grids.
Just for grins, I'll add a bit of roach-related personal history ... when I was a poor social worker years ago I lived in a walk-up apartment in a very cheap district, and roaches and mice shared my space with me.
I deplored the use of poisons like Raid that I was sure would kill me too, so I used roach motels ("they check in but don't check out") and boric acid, the latter of which was ingested by the ROACHES, causing them to explode, or so I was told. I used to lie in bed at night imagining I could hear them bursting at the seams.
Sorry but you got me to reminiscing ;)
I had "shakes" first too. I love that kind of clue where the obvious answer turns out to be completely wrong.
I had ROdents instead of ROACHES based on the the RO. That gave me "doh" instead of AHA. Took a minute to unscramble, I didn't have Wendy's exploding varmint experience to rely on...just a month in some Cockroachy apartment behind the Ala Moana shopping center in Honolulu in 1975...whenever I mention this stay to anyone who knows Honolulu they ask "Cockroaches?"
Thanks for the book suggestion, Linda, looks interesting.
I'm not sure why I'm compelled to mention this but back when my good friend and I first moved to NYC we lived in a first floor one-bedroom. Right outside our window was where the super stored the trash and our place was absolutely infested with mice. We got the traps that I thought only existed in cartoons and put peanut butter on the triggers only to find later the peanut butter gone but the traps unsprung. We also tried those horrible glue traps. It was pretty miserable and, for whatever reason, we never once thought to call an exterminator.
Linda like yourself and jimhorn, I too had shakes rather than erases...to me mad money is not for emergencies, but like you Linda for something that I really want that may not be practical...RayBan sunglasses!...hope that you are feeling better today Linda
I am happy to say that today's puzzle was the first place I encountered a ROACH in over twenty years!
According to JimH, this is (I think) #15. I'm in awe of all constructors, but especially those who collaborate...and of those, those who manage to do it via the Internet.
Ick...so many nasty rodent/bug stories. Donald, I wish I could say the same thing...and I'm probably not alone in that.
I didn't have time to do the puzzle yesterday and only got to it today. I didn't realize how easy it was until I read the blog and saw a bunch of clues I didn't recall - because I did almost all of the top 2/3 with acrosses only :)
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