“Pin Numbers” by Harvey Estes – 11:09
Hi and welcome to another edition of crosswords with Jeffrey.
Theme: 62A. [Bowling challenge, and this puzzle’s theme] – SEVEN TEN SPLIT. SEVEN is split between words on the left side of the grid; ten is split between words on the right side of the grid.
A very clever effort from Harvey Estes. I wonder if he is a bowler?
Theme answers:
SEVENS:
23A. [Clearance, for example] – SALES EVENT
35A. [Later today] – THIS EVENING
81A. [Former governor who co-starred in 1987’s “Predator”] – JESSE VENTURA. How to clue JESSE VENTURA without saying “wrestling”.
107A. [Has no profit or loss] – BREAKS EVEN
TENS:
25A. [Agree to a merger] – GET ENGAGED. A shotgun wedding would be an acquisition.
51A. [Shut-in’s aide] – PRIVATE NURSE
90A. [Talk of London, informally] – BRIT ENGLISH
109A. [Neutralizing waves] – WHITE NOISE. I think that is what you hear solving championship puzzles. Question to those of you who have experienced it: What does it sound like?
84A. [Maine flag feature] – PINE TREE. The ten is heading backwards to hit the seven, as in this clip:
Other stuff:
5A. [Socially dominant] – ALPHA. ALPHA totally dominates the Bits in the cereal.
21A. [“Everything’s curious today” speaker] – ALICE
30A. [Tribe in some logic puzzles] – LIARS. Someone please explain.
48A. [Tendon-protecting bones] – PATELLAS. How to clue PATELLA without saying “knee”.
72A. [Flautist Jean-Pierre] – RAMPAL
98A. [No faster] – EATER. Good clue.
99A. [Supreme authority?] – MOTOWN
113A. [Filer’s worry] – AUDIT. File properly and no need to worry.
1D. [Maggie Simpson’s sister] – LISA. A rare Simpson’s reference.
16D. [Prop for Groucho] – CIGAR/17D. [Tex who created Bugs Bunny] – AVERY
35D. [Writer’s wrongs] – TYPOS. All my solving errors are TYPOS. Honset.
37D. [Rudy with a megaphone] – VALLEE
44D. [Caret’s key] – SIX. I peeked.
53D. [The power behind the thrown?] – UMP. Another good clue.
59D. [Scarlett’s friend] – MELANIE
92D. [Singer Stefani] – GWEN
93D. [Julius fired on the air by Arthur Godfrey] – LAROSA
94D. [Pierre Curie’s wife] – MARIE. Amy, how do you feel about “she’s someone’s wife” clues?
103D. [Its products appear in many stories] – OTIS. I don’t go it. Oh! Elevators!
104D. [KISS’s biggest hit] – BETH
79D. [Bottom line] – SUM. Bottom line is this is a very cool puzzle.
it sounds like a bunch of people chattering in a crowded ballroom. which is, pretty much, exactly what it’s a recording of. i think somebody said it was recorded at the UN.
the JESSE VENTURA clue is a trap, because the star of predator was none other than arnold schwarzenegger. then again, not only does he not fit, he’s not a former governor.
i loved the LIARS clue because it reminded me of the late, great, martin gardner. there are many variants on this logic puzzle, but the basic one goes like this.
Oh, you know, Jeffrey. That Marie Curie, she was just sittin’ back home while Pierre was off being scientific. She made a nice lunch for him, starched and ironed his lab coats, and took care of the kids. Little-known fact: She received the Nobel Prize in Physics and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in recognition of her delicious pierogi recipe.
I just read the Wikipedia bio of Marie Sklodowska-Curie and dayumn! She was incredibly accomplished.
It’s fine to clue RAISA as Mikhail Gorbachev’s wife because that’s the reason she’s known to Americans, and we have no other famous Raisas. But for any woman who is famous in her own right to be clued as the wife or ex of Mr. Man Who Counts More? Irritating. (I could make an exception for cluing ELLEN Degeneres as [Portia’s wife], though.)
I haven’t heard the ACPT white noise. I just took out my hearing aids, put on the headphones, and enjoyed the silence.
I don’t see a problem with the Marie Curie clue. As long as you also have clues like “Husband of Michelle Obama”.
Actually this is a reverse RAISA, since I know Pierre Curie only as Marie’s husband.
I think the backwards TEN in PINE TREE is probably just a coincidence. When you include it you have 4 SEVENs and 5 TENs.
@zifmia – You may discover this isn’t the first time I have “found” theme entries that others don’t.
Hey GLUTEN has a TEN in it, but I guess that one was a strike.
*David* – GLUTEN is a down answer. All the themed answers were across.