Hi everyone, it’s RustyBrain on the first of three fortnightly visits.
Our illustrious Chairman is no Scrooge, but you may think of these reviews
as the spirits of Moe past, present and future!
Tracy Gray serves up a double scoop of goodness today. She's a veteran constructor so we expect nothing less. Let's get started on the double with the revealer:
53. Request to a bartender, and what must be done to the last words of
20-, 30-, 36-, and 47-Across for the answers to match their clues: MAKE IT A DOUBLE. By doubling the last word of each answer, we end up with wacky phrases.
20. Casual departure from a pub crawl after just one drink?: FIRST ROUND BYE. → FIRST ROUND BYE-BYE. In a tournament, the top seeded players often get to skip the preliminary rounds. Here, it's re-imagined as a bar-hopper who drops out early. Good thing, too, as you'd have to be drunk to follow this map!
30. Big name in transparent Band-Aids for toddlers?: PEEKABOO. → PEEK A BOO-BOO. Cute! And a good idea for bandages that match any skin color instead of generic flesh-tone.
36. Confident shout from a Moulin Rouge dancer?: OH YES I CAN. → OH YES, I CANCAN. My favorite of the bunch! It's rare that I actually chuckle at an answer, but this one conjured up a delightful image. She sure cancan!
47. Question of quality?: IS THAT SO. → IS THAT SO SO. Odd to see this posed as a question, but then again, everyone's a critic.
Double your pleasure, double your fun! A bit easy for a Friday, but I'm traveling in the Pacific Northwest (beautiful vistas everywhere!) so I'm a happy camper. Okay, let's go-go:
Across:
1. Chill (with): HANG. Cool beans.
5. Storied meanies: OGRES. I like the use of "storied" here.
10. Au naturel: BARE. My one erasure, I had nude.
14. Ancient theaters: ODEA. Plural of odeum, the theaters of Greece and Rome.
15. Steaming mad: IRATE.
16. Limburger feature: ODOR. Does anyone remember a children's story called "Giant Grummer's Christmas"? He planned to steal presents but Prince Toppsy Turvy knew he liked Limburger, the smelliest cheese. The prince outsmarted the giant by delivering wheels of the stinky cheese that he ate then fell asleep and missed Christmas. Since childhood, the thought of the world's smelliest cheese has intrigued me - although not enough to actually try it!
18. Get connected: LOG ON.
19. Blu-ray kin: DVDS. These are two types of optical discs for storing data, usually movies.
20. [theme]
23. Easily fooled sort: SAP.
24. Mai tai liquor: RUM. Just add a fruit salad and an umbrella!
25. Celebrity with a book club: OPRAH. Counterintuitively, while her book club increased sales of individual titles, it caused a short-term overall decrease in sales for the book industry as a whole. Since Oprah's selections were often longer and more difficult classics that demanded greater time and energy to read, those people who were reading from her list were not buying their usual fare of books.
28. "Rub-a-dub-dub" location, in a classic rhyme: IN A TUB. How many of you know the next lines?
30. [theme]
33. Cartomancy deck: TAROT. Cartomancy is a form of divination using cards, TAROT being one type of deck. It involves interpreting the symbols and meanings associated with each card to provide guidance or predict outcomes.
34. O'Reilly purchase: PART. O'Reilly's is a huge chain of auto PART stores.
35. Bora Bora, e.g.: ISLE.
36. [theme]
39. "Stop living in the __!": PAST. Also, a classic Jethro Tull album. Hey, I had to include at least one!
42. Olympic event with masks: EPEE. I dream that someday they'll come up with a sword that is spelled with all E's to help our constructors out of tight corners.
43. Crete's highest pt.: MT IDA. Point is abbrev. so Mount is MT. Speaking of mountains, here are some I'm looking at - the Olympics in Washington State. Pictures don't do it justice; their scope is almost too vast to comprehend.
47. [theme]
49. Decathlon equipment: DISCUS. Essay question for extra credit: What other equipment is needed for a decathlon? Please DISCUS.
50. "Chopped" contestants: CHEFS. I like "The Bear," a TV series about a restaurant in Chicago. Everyone in the kitchen addresses each other as CHEF. Now I have some friends that also call each other CHEF!
51. "Corduroy" writer/illustrator Freeman: DON. "Corduroy" is a childhood classic that tells the heartwarming story of a teddy bear and a little girl finding friendship.
52. Center of Dallas?: ELS. They're letterally in the middle!
53. [theme]
58. Prefix with conductor: SEMI. This guy's a full conductor.
60. Banjo sound: TWANG.
61. __ plaid: fabric also known as Prince of Wales check: GLEN. Don't stare at it too long...you are getting sleepy...very sleepy...
62. "Your turn," in radio lingo: OVER.
63. Decadent dessert: TORTE.
64. Blow hard: GUST. Not unlike a windbag at your party. He's an uninvited GUST.
65. "Downton Abbey" title: LADY. Not my cup of tea.
66. Got in on a deal: ANTED. Better clue than usual for this crosswordese.
67. Gels: SETS.
Down:
1. Travels on foot: HOOFS IT. Fun answer.
2. Girls in Tech founder Gascoigne: ADRIANA. ADRIANA Gascoigne is an American technology executive and activist. Girls in Tech is a global non-profit dedicated to empowering, educating, and mentoring women in the technology industry.
3. Decent, in golf: NEAR PAR. I don't play golf, mainly because when I hit a ball, I like someone to try and hit it back, not for me to go chase after it. In any case, NEAR PAR seems better than "decent."
4. "Archie's Pals 'n' __": classic comic book series: GALS. One of the GALS from the long running comic was Josie, who later went on to fame as the leader of the Pussycats.
5. Massage option: OIL RUB.
6. Stable figure: GROOM. The happy couple.
7. Newman's Own rival: RAGU. I don't know how they fare in a taste-test, but Newman's donates most of their profits to charities if that helps you pick one.
8. Historic British school: ETON.
9. Pop in the mail: SEND. Pop up in the mail: SPAM
10. Temporary art media: BODY PAINTS.
11. Some modifiers: ADVERBS. This is totally correct.
12. Eye cell that plays a role in night vision: ROD. The photo-receptor counterpart of a ROD is a "cone," which provides color perception.
13. Hosp. areas: ERS. Emergency Rooms aka the waiting area.
21. "Facts!": TRUTH.
22. __ choy: BOK. BOK choy is a type of Chinese cabbage that is sometimes called spoon cabbage because of its shape.
27. Garden tool: HOE.
29. Visitor who leaves money under a kid's pillow: TOOTH FAIRY. What's the current exchange rate?
30. Public walkway: PASEO. PASEO means "stroll" in Spanish, but I'm more familiar with the Toyota model which, now that I think about it, is a rather uninspiring name for a car.
32. "The rest is obvious" abbr.: ETC.
34. Spices (up): PEPS. "Let's take it up a notch!"
37. Still: YET.
38. __ acid: AMINO.
39. Snap: PIC.
40. Bat wood, once: ASH.
44. Glacial hue: ICE BLUE. Shades of blue in July on Mount Rainier as we flew into Seattle.
45. Least exciting: DULLEST.
46. Says yes: ASSENTS.
48. "Shoot!": ASK. "Shoot" also means "darn," but not like socks - unless you shoot yourself in the foot.
49. Managed to avoid: DODGED.
54. James of blues: ETTA. OK, you twisted my arm. One more album because she is sooo good!
55. Victor's shout: I WON. Another Victor shouted, "It's alive!"
57. Fleecy boots: UGGS.
58. Santiago sun: SOL.
59. "Hadestown" Tony nominee Noblezada: EVA. I thought she was nominated for the Noble-zada Prize. Seriously, though, why didn't this clue mention any of the awards she actually won? Like the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album?
And remember, kiddies, never double dip your chip!
