Another treat for me as marti and I have switched so I can blog her Thursday effort. It seems particularly timely as I have recently returned from visiting my son who lives in Denver. Denver has now added a new dimension to its nickname of mile high city. As a child of the sixties, it is very strange to walk around and see the marijuana shops. Anyway, on to the puzzle. It involves hiding a word (DOPE) which spans two-word fill. In the first three the break is D OPE, with the last DO PE. Not an expert on Thursday word length, but we do have a less than 5 letter average. Aside from theme answers, the longest fill is 6 letters, featuring DROWSE, ENGULF, HOODOO, NOVELS, OBJECT, OWED ON, SEVERE, SPIRAL, SPONGE, TAIPAN, TENONS and ZEALOT. She was nice enough to include a J. So let us dance....
18A. Genre that often includes a ballet : GRAND OPERA. m familiar with the TERM generally but I am not as high brow as miss m.
23A. TV teaser before the first commercial : COLD OPENING. Another TERM I do not know, but it was easily inferred.
37A. James Bond and others : FIELD OPERATIVES. Wiki prefers the TERM Field Agents.
52A. "Great" 1975 Redford role : WALDO PEPPER. I actually was glancing through the various clues when I saw this one, immediately put in the answer and saw the Theme and went back to fill the rest. This MOVIE character may have been based on a real pilot who died flying in a movie.
And the reveal:
58A. Skinny, so to speak, or what's hidden in 18-, 23-, 37- and 52-Across : INSIDE DOPE (10) A perfect reveal, as the DOPE is on the inside of the theme answers. An interesting slang word, the SKINNY on skinny.
Now for the skinny on the rest....
Across:
1. "That's terrible!" : OH NO.
5. Like some stockings : MESH. Oh my, Splinter?
9. Guck : SLIME.It reminds me of this scene from a slime MOVIE.
14. Windfall : BOON.
15. "The Salt-N-__ Show" : PEPA. The answer was easily inferable as I know the group but never heard of the SHOW.
16. Trojan War figure : PARIS. Now a name for the ladies, but this was a ladies man who stole away Helen from her Greek husband leading to war and the great measure of female beauty- the milihelen.
17. Roman god of the sky : JOVE. By Jove, I knew it was not Jupiter.
20. Utopias : EDENS.
22. Excited, with "up" : WOUND. Picture children with too much candy in them .
26. Côte d'Azur sight : MER. The sea in French. Not to be confused with 12D. Orbiter for 15 years : MIR. It seemed that it lasted longer. LINK.
29. Lean-__ : TOS.
30. Nasser's confed. : UAR. United Arab Republics. marti likes her initialisms.(#1).
31. Harsh : SEVERE. Winter 2014-5 in NE?
33. Swamp : ENGULF. I was thinking like the Evergaldes, not being swamped.
36. Bone-dry : ARID. I like the clue.
42. Open org. : USGA. United States Golf Association. (#2) See, I told you.
43. Second book in Clavell's "Asian Saga" : TAI-PAN. Not be confused with 61D. One might keep you from seeing the show : PAN. Of the SERIES of Books, I think SHOGUN is the most famous.
44. Fanatic : ZEALOT.Another interesting WORD which is appropriate for the season.
47. One-up : TOP.
48. Time zone word: Abbr. : STD. Standard as opposed to daylight.
51. Buddhist branch : ZEN.
56. Free-for-all : MELEE.A fun word
57. Savanna heavyweight : RHINO.
63. Lined up, with "in" : A ROW.
64. Movers' challenge : PIANO.
65. Degree holder : GRADuate.
66. Without : SANS.
67. Choose to join : OPT IN.
68. Ages and ages : EONS.
69. Choice word : ELSE.
Down:
1. Protest : OBJECT.
2. Jinx : HOODOO. Again? Who cursed me?
3. King output : NOVELS. Probably she means Stephen, not Don or Martin Luther nor Elvis.
4. Upright : ON END.
5. EPA sticker stat : MPG. Miles Per Gallon (#3).
6. Adverb in odes : E'ER.
7. Produce : SPAWN.
8. Capital NE of Vientiane : HANOI.
9. Quick learner : SPONGE.
10. "Dragnet" force, briefly : LAPD. Los Angeles Police Department (#4).
11. Rage : IRE.
13. Spanish "that" : ESA.
19. Pressures for payment : DUNS.
21. Ting or ping : SOUND. Ting?
24. When doubled, a South Pacific capital : PAGO. The capital of American Samoa, PAGO PAGO has nothing to with a volcano in Papua, New Guinea named Pago, which may or may not...
25. Blow : ERUPT.
26. First name in game shows : MERV. Griffin, responsible for both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.
27. Iroquoian people : ERIE. Do we have any Native Americans reading this?
28. Cabs and syrahs : REDS. No Cincinnati to commemorate the baseball season? Oops, marti does not like baseball.
32. "You're So ___": 1973 #1 hit : VAIN.
33a. Carrier that doesn't fly on the Sabbath : ELAL.
34. Where to hear maas and baas : LEA. Paa!
35. Popular chip : FRITO. Corn chips which led to nacho chips.
37. __ bass : FUZZ. A musical interlude; the effect can be from the amp or a pedal.
xxxx
38. Words of understanding : I SEE.
39. Eddie __, detective involved in the actual "French Connection" : EGAN.
40. Each : A POP.
41. Slender candle : TAPER. Finally, the TAPER from BG's April Fool's Day post.
45. Was in debt regarding : OWED ON.
46. Yarn : TALE. You may spin one but it will not make a scarf.
48. Fusilli shape : SPIRAL. A fun pasta.
49. Mortise partners : TENONS.
50. Nod : DROWSE.
53. Pigeon's place : LEDGE.
54. Golden, in Guadalajara : DE ORO.
55. Full moon, e.g. : PHASE.
56. Thigh-high attire : MINI.
58. 2010 GM financial event : IPO. Initial Public Offering (#5).
59. Little bite : NIP.
60. Did nothing : SAT.
62. Magazine VIPs : EDS. Editors.
No comments:
Post a Comment