Theme: It's another Wednesday, By Cracky! We are presented with beautifully common two-word phrases, beginning coincidentally with B and C. Is this a bold concept?
20 A. *Competition won by a knockout? : BEAUTY CONTEST. I have to admit I love this brilliant clue. In one sense, a knockout is physically incapacitating one's opponent in a combat sport. in another it's lady of beguiling charm.
36 A. *Certain cutlet : BONELESS CHICKEN. As the name suggests, this is a cut of chicken with the bones removed.
53 A. *Nonviolent revolution : BLOODLESS COUP. A Coup [d'état] is the sudden overthrow of a government, usually by a group of insiders. It's bloodless if done by non-violent means.
4 D. *Dressing with Buffalo wings : BLUE CHEESE. Blessedly cool to balance/contrast the heat of buffalo chicken.
31 D. *Arm-strengthening reps : BICEP CURLS. The barbell is curled upward from waist level to the chest.
31 D. *Arm-strengthening reps : BICEP CURLS. The barbell is curled upward from waist level to the chest.
Big contraction
And the unifier -- 66 A. Recently retired NCAA football ranking system, and, as a plural, a hint to the answers to starred clues : BCS. Acronym Finder lists 106 various things, from Bar Code Scanner to Bangladesh Civil Service that might be indicated by the abbreviation BCS. But, with the beginning of football season we have the somewhat more topical BOWL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES. This was a system in place from 1998 through 2013 that used 5 Bowl games involving 10 of the top rated college football teams in a vain attempt to define a national champion. Whether this was worth doing is a topic I'll let remain undiscussed.
Hi Gang, JazzBumpa here - though with symphony season back in session perhaps I should be Classical Bumpa, at least for today. [Wait - that's backwards. Oh, well.] At any rate, we have five long horizontal and vertical two-word theme answers, one a grid spanner, with the initials B and C. We needn't go back to Old Testament times, nor will our excursion take us to British Columbia, Boston College, nor Baja California. Let's see if we can blithely conquer this puzzle, before conceding.
Across:
Across:
1. "Hardball" station : MSNBC. Chris Matthews hosts this politically oriented program. 'Nuff said.
6. McCain's org. : GOP. John and the Grand Old Party. 'Nuff said.
9. Mardi Gras mementos : BEADS. Mardi Gras will land on Feb 9 in 2016. Are you ready?
14. São __, Brazil : PAULO. The most populous city in Brazil, the Americas, the Western Hemisphere and the Southern Hemisphere. It's named for Saul of Tarsus, who became St. Paul.
15. Body spray brand : AXE.
16. Baseball Hall of Famer Murray or Mathews : EDDIE. Steady Eddie Murray was a first baseman and designated hitter for the Baltimore Orioles, 1977-1988. He played until 1997 for several more teams. Eddie Matthews played 3rd base for the Braves as they were stationed in Boston, Milwaukee and then Atlanta from 1952 through 1966. After a partial year in Houston, he finished up with the Tigers in 1968.
17. Arrange ahead of time : SET UP.
18. Irish actor Stephen : REA. Best actor nominee for his performance in The Crying Game, and has been in many more films and TV series.
19. Jeans accent : RIVET.
23. Magazine fig. : CIRC. The abbrv'd figure is CIRCulation.
25. Easily led sorts : SHEEP. Figuratively speaking. We keep venturing dangerously close to politics.
26. Seminary subj. : REL. And now RELigion! What did I do to deserve this?
27. Kerfuffles : HOOHAS. Altercations, brouhahas, etc. This word also has other definitions, which you may discuss amongst yourselves.
29. Easily roused crowd : RABBLE. Sheep with teeth and claws?
32. Single : UNWED. Once wed, you are double, I suppose.
33. Highest North American peak, to natives : DENALI. And to everybody, now. [Well, almost] Formerly Mt. McKinley, so named in 1896 by a gold prospector who supported the then presidential candidate. This was made official by President Wilson in 1917. To be clear, pretty much everyone in Alaska has always called it by the Athabascan name, meaning great one. The Alaska Board of Geograhic Names changed it back to DENALI in 1975, and has been petitioning the Federal government to follow suit ever since.. It is located in a national park that has been named DENALI since 1980. {Reference}
41. Not quite boil : SIMMER. If you can't stand the heat . . .
42. Grammar class subject : TENSE. A verb characteristic expressing a time reference; Frex., past, present or future. Once in grammar class the teacher asked me, "What tense would it be if you said, 'I have money?'" My answer was, "Pretense."
43. Slide subject : AMOEBA. Tiny critter on a microscope slide. This has nothing to do with baseball, nor trombones. I hope.
46. Common motel prohibition : NO PETS. This refers to your animal friends, and presumably does not extend to physical contact.
47. Turned on : LIT. As a light bulb.
48. With no affection : ICILY. As, for example, when encountering one's ex.
52. Corp. bigwigs : CEOS. Chief Executive OfficerS.
57. First name on a 1945 bomber : ENOLA Gay. Delivered a nuke.
58. SoCal team, on scoreboards : LAA. Los Angeles Angels. Long shot for a wild card this year.
59. Athenian with harsh laws : DRACO. In the 7th century B. C. he replaced oral laws that could be arbitrarily applied and interpreted with a written constitution that was publicly displayed. These laws led to the death penalty for even minor offenses, and were more lenient to the upper classes.
62. Race with batons : RELAY. The baton is passed from runner to runner on a team, at set distance intervals.
63. Clean one's plate : EAT. Figuratively, except for the Sprats, of course.
64. Respected church member : ELDER.
65. Deuce beaters : TREYS. Twos and threes in a deck of cards.
67. Pitcher's arm, say : ASSET. But only if he can get a grip.
Down
1. U.S. Army cops :. Military Police (plural S.)
Well, that wraps it up for today. Lots of themeage, and some clever cluing but also a lot of 3-letter verticals, many of which were abbrvs. There's always a trade-off. And thus end my blog comments.
Big Cool Regards!
Jz[&C]B
Down
1. U.S. Army cops :. Military Police (plural S.)
2. Encl. with a manuscript : SAE. Self Addressed Envelope.
3. Type of ale : NUT BROWN.
5. Nightclub of song : COPA. A Barry Manilow song that I will not link.
6. Brooks of C&W : GARTH. A County singer who I will not link.
7. Daisy variety : OX EYE. So prolific it is now considered to be a noxious weed.
8. Flower child's parting word : PEACE.
9. Swiss capital : BERN. Neither Francs nor Euros; instead the capital city.
10. Revise text : EDIT.
11. Sooner or later : ADVERB. Self-referential clue.
12. Semi-filling liquid : DIESEL. Fuel for semi tractor trailer rigs, not light beer.
13. Come to terms : SETTLE. Reach an agreement.
21. Pearl Harbor's __ Arizona Memorial : USS. United States Ship, a prefix applied to a commissioned ship of the U. S. Navy. This is only used during the time that the ship is commissioned.
22. Personality with an online book club : OPRAH. Winfrey (b. January 29, 1954.)
23. Carp family fish : CHUB. A common fish name applied to a variety of families and genera.
24. Prefix with sphere : IONO-. The upper region of the atmosphere, from about 40 to over 600 miles of altitude, where the molecules of the atmosphere are ionized by solar radiation and cosmic rays.
28. Go off-script : AD LIB.
30. 2005 Bush Supreme Court nominee : ALITO. Samuel (b. April 1, 1950)
33. Mil. award : DSM. Distinguished Service Medal. British, awarded from 1914 to 1993.
34. L.A.-to-Tucson dir. : ESE. East-SouthEast.
35. ATM giant : NCR. National Cash Register.
37. Phishing medium : EMAIL.
38. Rollerblading safety gear : KNEE PADS. So they don't get skinned.
39. José's "this" : ESTO. Spanish.
40. Loch near Inverness : NESS. Scottish Lake with a mythical monster.
43. Angels' slugger Pujols : ALBERT. He was more of a slugger, and hit for higher average with the Cardinals from 2001 through 2011. Things fell off dramatically when he changed uniforms in 2012. This year the HR's are back on track, but the average is still slipping.
44. Martin of "Adam-12" : MILNER. Sadly, passed away on Monday.
45. "Lawrence of Arabia" Oscar nominee : O'TOOLE. Irish stage and screen actor ((2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013)
46. 1785-'90 U.S. capital : NYC. New York City.
49. Star : CELEBrity. O'Toole, not Milner.
50. Newton associated with apples, not figs : ISAAC. (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726) English physicist and mathematician. Very clever clue, too.
51. Exams for future J.D.s : LSATS. Law School Admission TestS.
54. Nivea rival : OLAY. Skin care products.
55. Diary pages : DAYS.
56. Old Greek theaters : ODEA. Plural of ODEON. Ancient Greek or Roman structures used for performances in singing, poetry, and theater. I imagine some of the performances were odious.
60. Average grade : CEE. Spelt out letter name.
61. Food scrap : ORT. From Middle English, with cognates in German and Dutch; evidently derived from ǣt, Old English for food.
61. Food scrap : ORT. From Middle English, with cognates in German and Dutch; evidently derived from ǣt, Old English for food.
Well, that wraps it up for today. Lots of themeage, and some clever cluing but also a lot of 3-letter verticals, many of which were abbrvs. There's always a trade-off. And thus end my blog comments.
Big Cool Regards!
Jz[&C]B
