The theme entries are common phrases, rendered pun-ny by the addition of SUR to the beginnings:
17. Scoop a major news magazine? : SURPASS TIME.
27. Sheriff of Nottingham's plan? : SURROUND ROBIN. My favorite entry.
48. Hearst Castle? : SURREAL ESTATE. Situated in the hills above San Simeon.
64. Banner advertising overstocked shelves? : SURPLUS SIGN.
Even though it's a Thursday type of theme with an "add letters" gimmick, the fill seemed incredibly easy, and I finished in nearly typical Monday time. Your experience may vary.
Across
1. Actor who spoke the line, "I'd show him who was king of the forest!" : LAHR. Our cowardly lion from Wizard of Oz.
5. Sharing word : APIECE. DH and I shared a pizza last night, and had three slices APIECE.
11. Newborn nurturer : MOM.
14. Northern terminus of I-79 : ERIE.
15. Frank quality : CANDOR.
16. Andean tuber : OCA.
19. Install, as tiles : LAY. Been there, done that this past year.
20. It often gets blown off : STEAM.
21. Subscriber's gift : TOTE. Handled bag?
22. WWII battleground : ST LÔ. What little was left of the town was bulldozed so troops could advance to the front.
23. Cyberchats, briefly : IMs. Instant Messages.
25. Running wild : ON A TEAR.
32. Bag-screening org. : TSA. Transportation Security Administration.
33. Dent, say : MAR.
34. "The Magnificent Ambersons" director : WELLES. I just watched it last weekend!
37. Pioneering computer : ENIAC.
40. Pony up : PAY.
42. Wool source : LLAMA.
43. Purse counterpart : MAN BAG. Ryan Reynolds sports one well.
45. __ bath : MUD.
47. Gusto : VIM.
52. Anxious place to be : HOT SEAT.
54. Watering hole : BAR. and 36-Down. 54-Across reorder, with "the" : SAME. But not 18-Down. A few rounds, e.g. : AMMO. Another great misdirection.
55. Wind quintet member : OBOE.
56. Ignoring, with "to" : DEAF.
59. Greek restaurant offerings : GYROS.
63. Title for Sean Connery : SIR.
66. President pro __ : TEM. Latin abbr. of "pro TEMpore," for the time being.
67. Release payment : RANSOM.
68. Corrida critter : TORO.
69. Intractable beast : ASS.
70. Sacks out : SLEEPS.
71. Fume : STEW.
Down
1. Not as expensive : LESS.
2. In __: stuck : A RUT.
3. Bring in : HIRE.
4. Get to work again : REPAIR. Great misdirection in the clue!
5. Window units, briefly : ACs.
6. Over : PAST.
7. Fascinated by : IN TO.
8. Text __ : EDITOR.
9. "You can't be serious" : COME NOW.
10. Lyrical "before" : ERE.
11. Eruption output : MOLTEN LAVA. Also MOLTEN LAVA cake.
12. City west of Daytona Beach : OCALA.
13. City boss : MAYOR. RIP, Mayor Menino.
22. Moonshine source : STILL.
24. Dim __ : SUM. C.C. explained to me that Dim SUM and Cha ("tea") are daily fare for retired folks in Hong Kong. The daily social is called Yum Cha ("drink tea.") YUM!
26. Son of Adam : ABEL.
27. Mushroom part : STEM.
28. Annapolis inst. : USNA.
29. Reasons to pull out the tarp : RAINSTORMS. I wanted RAIN "delays" at first. Slowed me down for about 15 seconds.
30. Rest of the afternoon? : NAP.
31. Emmy category : DRAMA. The 2014 winner was "Breaking Bad."
35. Give off : EMIT.
38. Take unfair advantage of, as a privilege : ABUSE.
39. Attention to detail : CARE.
41. Actor Brynner : YUL.
44. Slow and steady : GRADUAL.
46. Cotillion honoree : DEB.
49. Everlasting, to the bard : ETERNE.
50. Yields to gravity : SAGS. I've been yielding for several years now...
51. Hush-hush hookups : TRYSTS.
52. Shade-loving plant : HOSTA. I have about 6 different varieties in my yard. So easy to take care of!
53. Village Voice awards : OBIES. From "Off Broadway."
57. Sanctuary section : APSE.
58. Probably not a really good show : FLOP.
60. Laugh-a-minute type : RIOT.
61. Big brute : OGRE. Poor Shrek. He seems like such a nice guy to me.
62. Put one over on : SNOW.
64. Many AARP members: Abbr. : SRs. Seniors.
65. Hesitant sounds : UMS.
Um...I think that's all I got!
Marti
Morning, all!
ReplyDeleteWhen I (finally) got SURPASS TIME, I realized the theme involved adding SUR to common phrases, but I wasn't sure whether it was always be at the front. Once I got SURROUND ROBIN, though, I knew exactly what was going on and was able to fill in the other two theme answers with no hesitation.
Overall, I found the rest of the puzzle to be a bit on the easy/dull side today. I didn't think 11A would be something as simple as MOM, for example, but then I saw that the initial M would give me MOLTEN LAVA and was able to stick that long down in with no other perps.
I didn't realize MAN BAG was a real thing, so that was a bit of a surprise. I also didn't know that HOSTA plants (which plenty of our neighbors have in their yards) were known for loving shade, so that was a learning moment. Other than that, nothing really to say.
Good morning all.
ReplyDeleteThank you Gail and thank you Marti. Pretty quick run here. Perps necessitated a change of a few initial answers, but no blots or erasure marks are now evident.
Hand up for seeing that handled bag again !
Read "Release payment" as a verb, which is probably what Gail or Rich intended.
Have fun today. I'm off to see the wiz... er, um, I mean it's time to start getting ready for an overbooked day at work. To save some time, I think I may skip a scheduled meeting with an intractable beast. HA !
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteWow, this one was quick. I didn't time it, but I managed to shower, shave, feed the cats, and work the puzzle -- all within a 30-minute window. My only stumble was the reveal -- it started out as SURPLUS Sale.
I visited the Hearst Castle many years ago. What a gauche display of opulence!
Fortunately that handled bag was singular today. It didn't fool me this time.
I guess I'm in the minority. This took a while for me, partially because a bunch of things like HOSTA and OCA were new to me.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the Hearst Castle called "surreal"? I didn't understand the clue.
This was a dnf for me! Didn't know 1 a, 5a, etc etc. never found theme! Actually did get the east side. Happy Thursday everyone.
ReplyDeleteHello Puzzlers -
ReplyDeleteZoomed right through today, just minor speed bumps. Guessed Molten Rock at first but was soon shown the way.
Morning Marti, thanks for elucidating!
So it's official: after weeks of hard work, we now have a driveway, sidewalks, and another coat of paint on the house. Plus, we put down a newfangled coating of textured epoxy on the garage floor (with so much salt being used on our winter roads, concrete is vulnerable to erosion).
"Puzzling thoughts":
ReplyDeleteMikem: here is as good an explanation of why they'd refer to Hearst Castle as "surreal"
WMS (What Marti Said) - this was a stroll in the park for me, too. No look ups or write-overs, but it was more Tuesday - tough than Thursday. Cute theme and cool clues. I had a slight issue with 12D as Ocala is at least a 2 hour drive west from Daytona Beach, but if you look on a map it is almost due west
No limerick today - got places to go and people to see!!
Dudley. Congrats on nearing the end of your great project. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteMonday easy type puzzle today.
CED, did you find the LAT in today's Star Ledger? I didn't. That entire page was missing: Ken Ken, Sudoku, Cryptoquotes, Word Game, Bridge, Dear Abby, the whole Magilla. I copied the LAT from Mensa.
Hi gang -
ReplyDeleteYou have me feeling very dull for my DNF. Got the theme, but CANDOR, COME NOW, and A/C eluded me, and I don't know WELLES.
I do like the heme, which is sort of a SUR-PRIZE.
Isn't MOLTEN LAVA redundant?
Cool regards!
JzB
Dim SUM, dim wit! Er, uh, UM.
ReplyDeleteThe art built into the façade of Hearst Castle is awesome and the word surreal is appropriate. I think gauche was the norm for all the nouveau riche of the US, just go to Newport, Rhode Island.
ReplyDeleteNot only is Ocala due West of Daytona, there is mainly forest in between to the two cities.
Happy Thursday
ReplyDeleteSURROUNDROBIN was my aha moment. It opened a lot of doors across the grid.
Just like Jazzbumpa I struggled with the due North section. Attribute to my premature (and incorrect) entries for 6D and 7D.
Heard on Turner Classic Movies last night that Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion costume is among items up for bids in a forthcoming auction. The piano from Casablanca is also on the block.
Thank you Gail for a great Thursday offering and thank you Marti for your write up.
I think lava is both the molten rock and the resulting rock after solidification and cooling, so molten lava distinguishes between the two.
ReplyDeleteChairman Moe, good explanation of the surreal castle. I was thinking of linking something similar.
The tile is being laid in my renovated bathroom today. After that only the installation of fixtures and painting is needed. At last!
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteGetting the theme quickly made the solve easy and fast. Not a typical Thursday in difficulty, at all, but fun, nonetheless. Nice job, Gail, and good expo, Marti.
Gloomy morning with lots of rain expected later.
YR, how is Alan doing?
Have a great day.
Good morning everyone.
ReplyDeleteIn hindsight I wonder if the sound of 63a - SIR - was meant to be the theme unifier. First theme fill was SURROUND ROBIN so that gave a hint to the others. Not hart as others pointed out.
Top center was a head scratcher and was deferred until last. CANDOR and PAST helped resolve it. We just got a TOTE sop offer the other day.
ERIE - North-South interstate 81 is near us, so the next LESS odd number, interstate 79, would be the one originating at Erie.
"She was only a moonshiner's daughter but folks loved her STILL"
OK, here we go again. Here is my collection:
ReplyDeleteDanger money? = Surcharge of the Light Brigade
Rescue orchestra from Titanic? = Surface the music.
Family reality show? = Surname of the game
Flasher? = Surprise open
White flag training? = Surrender assistance
Continental Adventure? = Survive La France.
It's foggy and rainy in Central PA today, and my brain was that way for a while. But things started clearing up and I ultimately filled in all of the blanks correctly in pencil (and a lot of eraser)
ReplyDeleteNorth center held me up for a while. I had PCs for 5d "Window units" and AWED for 7d "Fascinated by" and blanks for the rest of the north. Once I got my eraser out and changed 5d and 7d it all fell into place.
This was a good Thursday puzzle and a good expo. I liked the RANSOM clue. It was different.
The misdirection of "A few rounds" sounded like it should be ALEs or BEER or something in a bar, but AMMO was a good one.
Have a great day everyone and try to stay dry.
Hello, friends. Sparkling review, Marti, thank you.
ReplyDeleteWEES. After LAHR I was stymied at the north so slid downward and filled all the three lettered cells in the center which set the stage to fill the bottom of the pool. No DRAMA involved and easily completed the theme answers and then the top.
OCA is now part of crosswordese history so that gave me OCALA where I've never been. I enjoyed the misdirections of
rest of the afternoon, NAP
a few rounds, AMMO
yields to gravity, SAGS (only because it's so patently true)
Dudley and Marti, will we ever see photos of your handiwork?
Have yourselves a terrific Thursday, everyone!
Good day all,
ReplyDeleteFinished it off without any major hold ups. Figured out the theme early on but the cluing for Hearst Castle was ??????? Needed major perp help.
AMMO was not my first thought for the clue A Few Rounds.
Wanted Dim Wit rather then SUM. Thought of Pitas before GYROS.
Rain today & tomorrow, so the leaf blowers, mulching mowers, & their user get a day or two off to regenerate. Lucy's back. Another bachelorhood over! She had a terrific time. Not looking forward to seeing the credit card bill, but the Jameson will be relished.
ReplyDeleteFun Thursday puzzle--almost a speed run, so many thanks, Gail, for a great start to my morning! And you too, Marti, for the ever sparkly expo.
Not much literature in this one, but at least refs to two movies with LAHR and WELLES.
Congrats on house renovation work, Dudley and Yellowrocks.
Have a great Thursday, everybody!
No problems. I was unfamiliar with the word HOSTA, but it didn't slow me much. As Bert LAHR would have said, "It just gave me paws."
ReplyDeleteErgo @ 9:40,
Not sure I would bid on a movie prop or costume, but if anyone wants to sell Hearst's Castle for a song, I'm there. (But only for a song, mind you--and tax free, please...!)
It's a cold miserable rain today, and you know what I like best about that? No Harley Davidsons!!
ReplyDelete:-) !!
Lucina 10:43 - Good point, I oughta grab some pix and send 'em in.
I enjoyed the puzzle and the writeup. Thanks Gail and Marti! I thought another name for this puzzle might be "Add on in France." I too thought the puzzle was fairly easy but I figured it was just because I was especially clever today. But, maybe not...
ReplyDeleteGood morning all,
ReplyDeleteWell, it's not Gail's fault that I had so many write overs that it ceased to be fun.Never on her wavelength, and even when I knew the answers, like Welles, I needed a letter to be sure of myself. After filling hosta, I went to check Google to see if it was a real thing. Looking at it after the fact, it should not have been that difficult.Looking forward to tomorrow's offering.
Thanks for the write up, Marti.
Enjoy your day.
Only have two things to add: Yes, SUR! And Rosebud....
ReplyDeleteMarti: Wonderful, informative write-up & links.
ReplyDeleteGail: Thank you very much for a FUN Thursday puzzle.
Well I've become a NEAT-Freak performing my Fall-Cleaning this week.
Yup, the A/Cs have been turned-off, the windows opened ... Villa Incognito has been detailed within an inch of its life.
Dang, I swear, you could eat off the floor!!!
As such, I was concentrating on other things, NOT on Gail's wavelength ... leading to a major Ink-Blot/Write-Over fest
7-d, AWED before INTO
51-d, FALL before SAGS
64-d, RET before SRS
Geez, what a mess!!! (Unlike Villa Incognito, which is Spotless!)
Faves today, what a surprise, were STILL, BAR and TRYSTS (a favorite activity & hobby).
From Tampa Bay with its PERFECT Weather today a "toast" to ALL at Sunset.
Cheers!!!
Bill G @ 1:04,
ReplyDelete"Add on" in France = neat theme title.
And to you and others who found this one easy to do, it is ALWAYS that you are cleverer, never that the pzl is a pushover. Trust me. I do wonder sometimes why I grow dimmer as the week goes on...
Lucina, I did post pictures – they are on C.C.’s “Ginger Roots” blog. You can find the link in the Olio section under “Blog Photos.” On the right side of that blog is a “Search This Blog” field. Enter “renovation” and it should bring up a link to the pics. I only have one piece of trim to paint on the exterior before I take the final "after" shot of that. Maybe Saturday, if the weather cooperates!
ReplyDeleteNice Cuppa, very funny! I loved "Survive La France" best, but Surprise open ran a close second...
Tin, I just did the same thing, but I took out the ACs and closed all the windows, LOL!! BTW, if you have any stainless steel appliances, here's a neat trick to keep them spotless and print-free: Spray WD40 onto a soft cloth and wipe it on. Just a bit goes a long way, and keeps them shiny for weeks!
What’s worse than giving up a golf day? Making a presentation for my friend for nothing.
ReplyDeleteMusings
-Have you ever hurt/been hurt by conversations where CANDOR was requested?
-My 75 yr old friend and I IM each other about arrival times at the golf course. Old dogs…
-I accidentally left some cranberry pancake syrup in my carryon bag and the TSA agent carefully unwrapped the gift package and couldn’t have been nicer about it but…
-ENIAC and its modern equivalent
-Seifeld’s MAN PURSE (:18)
-Ransom – I thought Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute was Thomas Jefferson’s reaction to Barbary pirates, but no, it was here
-Windows units were NOT PCS
-He’s just not that INTO you
-MOLTEN LAVA is a slow motion disaster on the big island
-An Emmy portmanteau category of the future?
-Several colleagues have had TRYSTS and became public quickly. I wonder how many weren’t discovered.
Irish Miss, thanks for your concern about Alan. Most of the time he is very well. On Oct.15-17 he had another setback and missed work. On the 15th he felt sick enough to spend hours sleeping in the daytime. For the past three weeks he is fine again. The cause remains a mystery. I am not as worried as I had been last summer when I suspected it would lead to something far worse.
ReplyDeleteWe have not had a killing frost as yet and the outdoor mums are lovely. They usually die from the frost in the last week in October. About 2/3 of the leaves are still on the trees. It has been an amazingly long foliage season. It is often done by Nov. 1. Just this week some trees produced the most beautiful reds of the year.
I like Gail Grabowski's puzzles. Well, I like Gareth Bain's puzzles, too. And Marti DuGuay-Carpenter's and Barry Silk's and C.C.'s and ...
ReplyDeleteHeck, I like them all. Thanks to all you constructors for giving such pleasure to all of us.
Barry G. said pretty much what I was going to say about today's puzzle.
Best wishes to you all.
Greetings!
ReplyDeleteGreat puzzle and write-up, Gail and Marti!
(Gail has published puzzles in other crosswords, too. Always enjoy her work.)
No problems. Not at all dull to me! Loved the theme. Hearst Castle complex is interesting, if nothing else.
Am recovering from dentist yesterday still. Back killing me. Harvey hurt himself, too, and is out of commission.
Cheers!
YR - I'm glad to hear that Alan is doing well and hope he continues on this path. I'm also glad your worries have lessened somewhat.
ReplyDeleteFerm, sorry to hear of your health problems. Hope you get some relief soon.
I just saw a TV ad for the Dodge Charger. I didn't know Dodge was still around.
My number captcha is so dark I would need X-Ray vision to read it. The second one is just as bad.
Chairman Moe and Lemonade714, thank you for the explanation about Hearst Castle! Surreal indeed.
ReplyDeleteHi puzzle pals...
ReplyDeleteFun puzzle Gail, and wonderful writeup and links Marti; thanks to both of you.
One day I will learn OCA and not yam for tuber. The C was the last square to fall.
First theme answer was SURPASSTIME. With SUR and a perp or four - I got SUR ROUND ROBIN.
How do you spell eruos, geros, oh, GYROS. Thanks perps! And I get those delicious things every chance I get!
Fav - ENIAC. Nice link HG.
MANBAG == MURSE with the kids today.
Since Marti titled today SURrender, there's Cheep Trick.
Cheers, -T