Monday, June 30, 2008

Monday, June 30, 2008

Title: Show People
Author: Patrick Blindauer
Theme: Shows whose titles include MEN, WOMEN, GIRLS, and BOYS.
  • 17a: 1981 musical with the song "One Night Only" (DREAMGIRLS).

  • 61a: 2006 Best Musical (JERSEY BOYS).

  • 10d: 1989 Aaron Sorkin play (A FEW GOOD MEN). I didn't realize this was a play; the movie was great.

  • 25d: 2005 musical starring Sutton Foster (LITTLE WOMEN).


Quick write-up today. I'm totally fried and don't have much to say, so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking.

This is a pretty normal, nothing fancy Monday theme. Not the sort of thing you expect from Patrick Blindauer. Until you realize that the puzzle is a pangram (uses all the letters of the alphabet) and is chock-full of scrabbly, later week letters, which is not at all what you expect on a Monday. Let's have a look.


Sunny Spots:

  • 26a: Captain in "The Caine Mutiny" (QUEEG). Famously played by Humphret Bogart.

  • 44a: Coauthor with Friedrich Engels of "The Communist Manifesto" (KARL MARX). Nice to see his full name.

  • 2d: He told the Once-ler, "Sir! You are crazy with greed. There is no one on earth who would buy that fool Thneed!" (LORAX). Dr. Seuss, of course.

  • 53d: Hungarian composer Franz (LISZT). Not my favorite piano composer (I prefer Chopin), but a great name for crosswords.

  • I also like the following as a pair:

  • 22a: Grow unchecked (RUN WILD).

  • 34a: State of panic (HYSTERIA).


Sundries:

  • 5a: "My Fair Lady" composer (LOEWE).

  • 10a: Sitcom in which Sherman Hemsley played a deacon (AMEN).

  • 15a: New York city on the Allegheny River (OLEAN). Also a fat substitute.

  • 20a: Not stringent (LAX).

  • 24a: Banish (EXILE).

  • 27a: Son of Daedalus (ICARUS). These were the father and son that flew too close to the sun, so the wax on their wings melted. Or something like that.

  • 37a: Skeleton's spot? (CLOSET). Great clue.

  • 41a: "Saving Private Ryan" event (D-DAY).

  • 42a: Annie ___ (free ticket) (OAKLEY). Why does this mean free ticket? What's the story here?

  • 47a: "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken" sloganeer (PERDUE).

  • 48a: Cooled one's heels? (WADED).

  • 57a: NYC commuting option since 1904 (IRT). This shows up a lot, so if you're not from NYC, just remember it.

  • 60a: Entrance requirement, perhaps (EXAM).

  • 65a: Rival of Sonicare (ORAL B).

  • 68a: Capital of France's Gard department (NIMES).

  • 69a: Gusto (ZEST).

  • 6d: Lena of "Chocolat" (OLIN). She shows up a lot.


  • 8d: Marine mammal with tusks (WALRUS).

  • 11d: Seamstress in "La Bohème" (MIMI).

  • 12d: "The ___ Dead" (1983 horror film) (EVIL).

  • 18d: Rodents, jocularly (MEECE). I'm not always crazy about words that aren't words finding their way into puzzles, but somehow this one doesn't bother me too much.

  • 26d: Made like a duck (QUACKED).

  • 33d: Mythological river of the underworld (STYX).

  • 45d: Full of vigor (LUSTY).

  • 47d: Czar whose reign ended in MDCCXXV (PETER I).

  • 49d: Mustard type (DIJON).


  • 52d: Jeter's crosstown rival (Jose REYES).

  • 55d: Industrial show (EXPO).

  • 63d: URL ender since 2001 (BIZ).


Suns of Bitches:
A few answers that I needed the crossings to get.

  • 66a: WWII correspondent ___ Robb (INEZ).

  • 3d: Soccer star Lalas (ALEXI).

  • 56d: ___ doble (ballroom dance) (PASO).



Overall, a nice Monday puzzle.

Thanks for listening.

- Pete M.

5 comments:

janie said...

as i always understood it -- annie oakley was a sharpshooter; comp tickets historically were hole-punched (before the mod'ren age and scanning). the appearance of the hole-punch was likened to having been shot-thru by an annie oakley-type sharpshooter. then, there's also the shape of that "o" of "oakley" and the round hole in the ticket -- and the the "0" amount paid by the ticket holder...

loved the use of men/women/boys/girls to convey the theme -- and the way the fill in general also supported the theme.

nice monday puzz!!

;-)

janie

janie said...

annie oakley:

tmi...

;-)

j.

Joon said...

oof, what a sock in the gut. this puzzle stymied me at every turn. AMEN? never heard of it. PASO doble? nope. NIMES? yikes, i only vaguely recognize that as the name of a french city, and i needed every cross. INEZ robb? who? OLEAN? that one seems like i really should have seen it before, but i haven't. all in all, it was rough. is it really monday? i feel like i've had a solid wednesday workout.

on the other hand, it was a great puzzle, with a super-tight theme and outstanding fill. MOCHA? yes please! rampant scrabbliness? you bet.

as for PETERI ... do we need an acronym for "czar of the year"? :)

Pete M said...

@jls: Just enough info. 25 bonus points for clearing that up.

@joon: I agree it was kind of tough for a Monday.

janie said...

dee-lightful. until i actually went looking for info on the internet, had forgotten about the tv show. one look at those braids, though, reminded me that as a kid, i'd *loved* this show and wanted to look just like gail davis -- who was cuter and "funner" than dale evans. and i never let the fact that i had dark, curly (and usually *short*) hair deter me either!

thx for the bonus points, pete. willl be careful not to spend 'em all at one time!

;-)

janie