Rollin' Down the Highway. The last word of each theme answer is another name for a Street.
18-Across. "Show us how it's done": PAVE THE WAY.
24-Across. "Quit interfering": STAY IN YOUR LANE.
40-Across. "Don't stoop to their level": TAKE THE HIGH ROAD.
52-Across. "Perfect for me": RIGHT UP MY ALLEY.
And the unifier:
62-Across. Informal language, or what 18-, 24-, 40-, and 52-Across are examples of?: STREET TALK.
Here's the grid:
Across:
1. Liquefy: MELT.
5. Lima's country: PERU. Peru is a South American country that bordered by the Pacific Ocean, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia, and Chile. It's home to a section of Amazon rainforest. Machu Picchu, the ancient Incan city, is located high in the Peruvian Andes mountains.
9. Pokes (around): NOSES.
14. Fruit with wrinkled skin: UGLI. Ugli fruit is a Jamaican tangelo. It is a natural citrus hybrid created from a cross between a grapefruit (or pomelo), an orange, and a tangerine. It is larger than a grapefruit with a thick peel that fits loosely around the pulpy orange flesh inside. Green patches on the skin do not mean it is unripe. Did you know that it is also the registered trademark for a brand of Jamaican tangelo?
15. Greek Cupid: EROS.
16. Disconnected: APART.
17. Mouse catcher: TRAP.
20. Some office subs: TEMPS.
22. Wedding declaration: I DO.
23. Ascend: RISE.
28. Britches, informally: TROU. The last time I heard this word was back in college when the frat boys would joke about dropping trou.
29. Pod filler: PEA.
30. Part in four-part harmony: ALTO.
33. __ carte menu: À LA. A crossword staple.
35. Car in the Beach Boys' "Fun, Fun, Fun": T-BIRD.
44. Large deer: MOOSE. I never thought of a moose as a deer, but apparently they ar the largest living species in the deer family, known scientifically as Cervidae.
45. Contraction that's typically followed by "be": IT'D. Followed by another contraction: 46-Across. Fails to be: ISN'T.
47. Corp. VIP: CEO. As in Chief Executive Officer.
50. House of Lords title: EARL.
59. Junior staffer: AIDE.
60. Charcoal grill residue: ASH.
61. City with the Heat and the Hurricanes: MIAMI. A sports reference: Basketball and Football.
66. Out of control: AMOK.
67. "Money __": Netflix crime series: HEIST. In this series, a criminal mastermind (The Professor) developed a plan to pull off the biggest heist in recorded history ~ to print billions of euros in the Royal Mint of Spain. To help him carry out the plan, he recruited eight people with certain abilities and who have nothing to lose. The group of thieves took hostages to aid in their negotiations with the authorities.
68. Actor Morales: ESAI. Esai Morales (né Esai Manuel Morales Jr.; b. Oct. 1, 1962) used to make frequent guest appearances in the puzzles. He will be celebrating his 64th birthday on Thursday.
69. "Great" detective of kid-lit: NATE. Nate the Great is a children's chapter book series featuring a young boy detective and his dog, Sludge. There are 31 books in the series, which was initially created in 1972.
70. Donkeys: ASSES.
71. Credit report category: DEBT.
72. Uno y dos: TRES. Spanish math.
Down:
1. Mixed-breed dogs: MUTTS.
2. Everglades wader: EGRET. Egrets aren't limited to the Florida Everglades. There are many egrets that hang out near my house.
3. Woolly pack animal of 5-Across: LLAMA.
 |
| My encounter with a Llama in Peru. |
4. What a child might stand on to watch a parade: TIPPY-TOES.
5. Get-up-and-go: PEP.
6. Chapter of history: ERA.
7. Finnish game developer that created Angry Birds: ROVIO.
8. Depleted: USED UP.
9. Casual refusal: NAH.
10. "Tosca," for one: OPERA. Tosca is an opera by Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858 ~ Nov. 29, 1924). It is sometimes billed as a political thriller that takes place in Rome during the Napoleonic Wars.
11. Welcomed at the door: SAW IN.
12. Delete: ERASE.
13. Eyelid irritation: STYE.
19. Dashed: TORE.
21. Title for Paul McCartney: SIR. Paul McCartney (b. June 18, 1942) was knighted in 1997. He was the first Beatle to be awarded this honor.
25. "Hurt Somebody" singer-songwriter Kahan: NOAH. I am not familiar with this singer-songwriter.
26. Christmas season: YULE.
27. Lattice strip: LATH.
30. Convenience in many cash-only establishments: ATM. This used to be a crossword staple.
31. Thai neighbor: LAO.
32. Boxing ref's ruling, for short: TKO. As in Technical Knock-Out.
34. Tropical tuna: AHI. Yummers!
36. Sparkling: BRILLIANT.
37. iPhone platform: iOS. As in iPhone Operating System.
38. Tried to get elected: RAN.
39. Pesticide in Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring," for short: DDT. Silent Spring was first published in 1962. The book exposed the hazards of indiscriminate pesticide use, particularly DDT, and launched the modern environmental movement. Rachel Carson (May 27, 1907 ~ April 14, 1964) named the book Silent Spring because it envisioned a future spring morning where no birds sang due to the devastation of wildlife from chemical pesticides.
41. __ support: TECH.
42. Thing: ITEM.
43. Aussie greeting: G'DAY.
48. Coup d'__: ÉTAT. Today's French lesson. A coup d'état is a sudden, illegal overthrow of an existing government by a small group, usually backed by the military or internal state forces.
49. Removed from power: OUSTED. Probably ousted due to a coup d'état.
51. Smash (into): RAM.
52. Ceremonial acts: RITES.
53. Elba of "Cats": IDRIS.
54. Grown goslings: GEESE.
55. Lunar cycle part: PHASE.
56. Rapper Kendrick: LAMAR.
 |
| Kendrick Lamar (b. June 17, 1987) |
57. Act with passion: EMOTE.
58. Expression of surprise: YIKES.
59. Girl who befriends a magical star in Disney's "Wish": ASHA.
63. Sci-fi figures: ETS. As in ExtraTerrestrials.
64. Chem class site: LAB.
65. Hobby shop purchase: KIT.
חתולה
Not too tough! (And the
ReplyDelete“street” phrases easily came to mind.)
FIR, so I’m happy.
FIR without erasure. Guessed right at HEIST x ASHA. HEIST seemed obvious, but one never knows when the showbiz types will throw in a pun.
ReplyDeleteKind of an unremarkable puzzle marred by an overabundance of A&E drek. YMMV. But Ha2la's clever and funny review saved the day.
Good morning!
ReplyDeleteGot all the street references without recognizing the theme. There was a reveal? This was an easy six-minute romp, which is about as fast as I can write. I worked in Tech Support for a while. It usually turned out to be a pebcac -- Problem Exists Between Computer And Chair. In my day the Great NATE role was filled by Frank and Joe, the Hardy Boys. Thanx, Kelly and Hahtoolah.
This CW was RIGHT UP MY ALLEY. DNK ROVIO, ASHA, LAMAR and NATE, but no problem, perps took care of them. Otherwise, it all filled smoothly. The theme was neat and obvious enough for a Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteI knew Hahtoolah was back when I saw all the great funnies. BRILLIANT.
Good Morning:
ReplyDeleteI fail to see the over abundance of A and E Jinx refers to but, as he said, YMMV. I thought this was a great puzzle that had a simple yet fun and very tight theme and, surprisingly, offered a reveal when one was not really necessary. The phrases were all strong, in the language expressions and matched their cluing to a T. The few unknowns, Asha, Noah, Rovio, were handled by the generous perps.
Thanks, Kelly, for a very enjoyable solve, and thanks, Hahtoolah, for a delightful commentary and review. The comics were chuckle-worthy, especially the Mouse Trap, the I Dos, and the Split Peas. Also love the photo of you and the Llama!
Have a great day.
FIR. Except for the crossing of two proper names, Lamar and Nate, this was an extremely easy puzzle.
ReplyDeleteI picked up on the theme early on and did not need the reveal. It was more that I needed the theme to get the reveal
Overall a very enjoyable puzzle.
You saved me from having to make the same comment on Lamar and Nate. It was a fun puzzle.
DeleteTerrific Tuesday. Thanks for the fun, Kelly and Hahtoolah (welcome back).
ReplyDeleteI FIRed in good time and saw the STREET TALK. PAVE was an Easter Egg in the first themer.
Unknown ROVIO perped.
Mirvish Theatre in Toronto is bringing back Agatha Christie’s Mouse TRAP in the New Year.
Wishing you all a great day.
A fun and wite-out free Tuesday offering from Kelly Morenus. I liked it.
ReplyDeleteBoth Idris and Esai are aging like fine wine.
A lil eye candy for our lady solvers.
A clever, tight, well constructed puzzle.
Thanks for recap Ha2lah.
Road rage? Not exactly but an excellent theme/clue/answer combo’but its only Tuesday; the clue for NOAH shoulda been other than an unknown proper name.
ReplyDeleteMore Romance language arithmetic
Rachel Carson’s “Silent Spring” is now likely found on the banned book list in some states.
“Grown Goslings” Ryans wouldn’t fit 😄. Never heard of “Wish”. But somewhere I’ve heard of “Nate the Great”
For his final trick the magician would ______ half his lovely assistant …. SAWIN
Digital ethnicity: ERASE, digital ditch: EMOTE
Where big pack deer carried oil across a river: the Strait of Hor - ____ MOOSE
H2LH always look forward to your great toons. Love your Peru picture but who’s the bespectacled smiling lady next to you? (JK 😄)
Musings
ReplyDelete-The only issue was what the reveal would be
-AS_A/_EIST was the only guess but the H was the only logical insert
-My first Beach Boy car was a WOODY
-A tip of my ball cap to anyone who knew ROVIO
-I used to see lots of kids playing Angry Birds but its time has passed
-After the recent beautiful full Harvest Moon, the moon is now in the waning gibbous phase
-D-O, Frank and Joe were a big part of my childhood too.
When I got to RIGHT UP MY ALLEY, I thought that was the reveler because all the synonyms of Street were on the Right. But while true, I was on the wrong path.
ReplyDeleteHahtoolah, I liked the pic of you with your new wool cap worn at a jaunty angle on the side. Stylish!
12 names, only 4 DNKs among them, which were the same as Monkey listed at 8:19, plus HEIST. This is the fastest I have ever completed a CW: FIR in 6, like D.O. This one was right in my wheelhouse.
ReplyDeleteAnd I absolutely love this CW for all the reasons others mentioned, and I got the theme with ....ROAD which helped speed things along.
Thanx KM, please, let's see more of your work.
Thanx too to Hahtoolah for the truly terrific write-up. I loved all the cartoons. If I had to pick a favorite I guess it would be the Automated Taco Machine. Actually, that would be a great invention!
Took 3:06 today to finish this one today while using the information superhighway.
ReplyDeleteFor me, 59D was a wild Asha guess. I also didn't know "Rovio". I squeaked by on today's French lessons (etat & ala). I guess we had "ash" & "Asha".
Anyone know the song "Brimful of Asha"? It's an earworm.
ARCH SUPPORT before TECH SUPPORT. Anyone else? Fun theme.
ReplyDeleteHola! After a long weekend recovering from surgery my friend was finally able to go home yesterday afternoon. It was nice having her company and I'll miss her.
ReplyDeleteThe puzzle was easy enough for a Tuesday; thank you, Kelly Morenus. It's always nice to encounter familiar fill such as UGLI, PERU, EROS, ESAI, and so much more. Thank you, Hahtolah, for your contribution and welcome back.
One of my gr-nephews is named NATE and of course, he's always called "the great."
Sigh. It's IDRIS Elba!
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
ROVIO was the only real unknown in this ppuzzle.