Relative difficulty: Easy
THEME: BE QUIET (52A: "Shut up!" ... or a phonetic hint to this puzzle's theme) — theme answers have silent "B"s added, creating wacky phrases, clued "?"-style
Word of the Day: Weeb EWBANK (31D: Only coach to win both N.F.L. and A.F.L. championships) —
Wilbur "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. [...] Ewbank is the only man ever to coach two different American pro football teams to victory in a championship game, and the only man to coach winners of NFL, AFL, and World Championships: (NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 with the Colts, an AFL championship in 1968 with the Jets, and a World Championship in Super Bowl III in 1969 with the Jets). Weeb's record in the AFL was 50-42-6 (71-77-6 all-time with the Jets) and his career regular season record in the NFL and AFL was 130-129-7 and his playoff record was 4-1. Ewbank was selected as the Head Coach of the AFL All-Time Team. // He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978. (wikipedia)
• • •
3:48 says eeeeeasy, even with two answers that were complete mysteries to me: EWBANK (see above), and KIEL (65A: German port), the last thing in the grid and an entry that looked horribly wrong. I had to double-check the whole area to make sure it couldn't be anything else. Oh, and I didn't know this WEISS guy either, but I'm pretty sure I've said that before, and will say it again someday (67A: "Marat/Sade" playwright Peter). The theme is OK, though only SAM IAMB really does anything for me. I am really distracted, for some reason, by the non-quiet Bs, especially in ABBA (the only Bs in the whole puzzle outside of theme answers) (32A: "Take a Chance on Me" group). I also wish the ABBA clue had been "S.O.S" group, to tie in with the clue on PLEAS (38A: S O S's, essentially).Theme answers:
- 17A: Where lead weights grow? (PLUMB TREE)
21A: Bit of a Coleridge poetry line? (SAM IAMB) — strange ... here, you don't just add the "B," but you mush two words together as well- 39A: Ammo for idiots? (DUMB DUMB BULLETS)
- 61A: Toy house door support? (PAPER JAMB)
Bullets:
- 1A: Org. known for drilling? (ROTC) — wanted ADA, and when that didn't fit, OPEC
- 9A: Soap operas, essentially (SAGAS) — soaps are dying. In this house, we kind of follow "As The World Turns," which ends, permanently ... this week or next, I forget.
19A: Horatio who wrote about down-and-out boys (ALGER) — I have a few of these in vintage paperback form. One has a picture of one boy knocking another boy on his ass. It's cool.- 20A: How babies may be carried (TO TERM) — this one stopped me cold. Needed nearly every cross. It's not really a self-standing phrase. An odd adverbial phrase. Tricky.
- 48A: Gulager of "The Virginian" (CLU) — As I may have said before, I know him only for his role in "The Killers" (1963) with Lee Marvin (my hero).
- 69A: Singer Perry with the 2010 #1 hit "California Gurls" (KATY) — my interest in her is somewhere near zero. Her name is everywhere this summer, but I have somehow managed (I think) to avoid hearing any of her new music at all. Spelling alone on this one makes me gag. I'd rather listen to this:
- 2D: Munch Museum's locale (OSLO) — seen this clue before. Seems a suitably Wednesday way to clue OSLO.
- 38D: Bandage, across the pond (PLASTER) — yep, that's what it's called.
- 54D: Helen Mirren's crowning role, informally? (QEII) — without "crowning," this clue wouldn't need a "?" Mirren of course won the 2006 Best Actress Award for playing Queen Elizabeth II in "The Queen." She is super hot. Even as the Queen. Can't act her way out of her own hotness. It's a curse, I guess.
[Follow Rex Parker on Twitter]
No comments:
Post a Comment