etui is a needle case
tats = makes lace
Lexicographer
I see clues for ASEA far too often, 80% of the time its the lower right hand corner word.
Looking forward to it! I’ve been wondering how my clues stack up.
Giant Giant = OTT
Noah Webster.
Ahab’s home-Pequod
Taj Mahal’s milieu-Agra
Maine college town-Orono
FDR’s dog-Fala
4-letter playwrights- Inge, Agee
Then there’s all those Roman numeral clues…
I think, when it comes to crosswords, the word you are looking for is cruciverbalist.
One I can never, ever remember is Chaplin’s wife: Oona. As many times as I’ve seen it, I just can’t ever recall it.
Askia, good call on The Star Lost. Ellison references don’t come up nearly often enough 'round here.
D’oh! You’re right…I got my Webster in my Shortz!
How he got into my shortz I’ll never know…
From time to time I see clues asking for the Maple genus: ACER
Sorry, y’all, I didn’t have time to do this last night. Believe it or not, I’m getting ready to move on from The Coolest Job In The Universe ™, and was putting together something for a job interview today. I will try to do it tonight, in between watching figure skating.
I wonder if they ever go for the “Hard” category and ask “Middle Earth Continent”.
Architect’s curve - OGEE
twickster! What the heck are you thinking? Unless you’re interviewing for Will Shortz’ job, or Merl Reagle’s, or maybe Wayne Robertson’s (I think that’s his name), what are you doing!?
Getting pretty damn tired of living paycheck to paycheck, basically.
Since it was my post (#33) in this thread that inspired the OP, I felt I should weigh in. Lots of the standards have been identified, but I don’t recall seeing any of these in previous posts:
Jacob’s brother – ESAU
Indigo – ANIL
Art Deco master – ERTE
Guido’s high note – ELA (I assumed “Guido” was some Italian opera singer until not long ago, when I read an explanation similar to the one on this page.)
Actress Anna – STEN (“Submachine gun” is another frequent clue for this word)
European river – ELBE or ODER
Russian city – OREL (in the last twenty years, “pitcher Hershiser” has become an alternate clue for this entry)
Rail – SORA (this refers to the bird, not part of a train track)
Dill – ANET
Lasso – RIATA
Mountain peak – TOR
And finally, an anecdote about an anagram of the last example above:
My mother’s father was a big crossword solver, but preferred to do the puzzles with no help from anyone. In contrast, my dad and his father frequently ask/asked anyone within earshot for assistance when stumped. So when she began dating Dad, my mother got a big kick out of learning that a “scrap of food” is an ORT, and henceforth asked her father if ORT was in the grid on the occasions when he was doing a crossword in her presence.
50 clues for “star”
Easy
celestial body
leading actor
headliner
celeb
matinee idol
lead
celebrity
box office gold
luminary
top of the bill
leading thespian
given top billing
centre of a solar system
leading lady
cosmic ball of gas
of great renown
diva
well-known actor
prima donna
spark
spotlight
asterisk
point of light
multi-pointed symbol
illustrious
leading light
David’s symbol
Medium
wise man’s guide
quality mark
treetop ornament
shuriken
telephone key
destiny
equine mark
pentagram
hexagram
red dwarf
fateful influence
Magen David
Hard
mullet
cynosure
Atlantic race
Tarot card
computer network topology
BCG quadrent
illustrious step, not I
mad emperor is well known
famous crazy rodents
leading light in pasta restaraunts
look, note celebrity
mad arts lead
do I get the job?
Thought of a couple more for STAR:
Footnoter
Operator’s neighbor
Fine print follows
I had a thought about a month ago to start this exact same thread. Thankfully, for every forgetful birdmonster, there’s a tellmei’mnotcrazy waiting in the wings. Here’s a few, and forgive me if I repeat:
Fencer’s weapon: epee (although once it was “foil” and I threw a hissy-fit)
Taj Mahal site: agra
Both were in the Washington Post online crossword I dd last night, inspired by this thread.
Whoops. Didn’t mean to submit yet…onwards:
Banned pesticide: DDT
Big moment in an Opera: aria
Russian Mountain range: Ural
Playground retort: AmNot