Theme: "Con Test" - Each common phrase is rephrased as if it's con (convention)-related.
22. Con current?: AIR OF EXCITEMENT.
33. Con tour?: MEET AND GREET.
37. Con quest?: AUTOGRAPH.
54. Con sorts?: COSPLAYERS.
68. Con note?: I LOVE YOUR WORK.
86. Con text?: FAN FICTION.
101. Con figure?: MOVIE STAR.
103. Con script?: GROUP READING.
119. Con form?: CARDBOARD CUTOUT.
Just
a perfect title. Also love that all the theme entries are
in-the-language phrases. Not easy for this type of theme where the
answers have to match the second parts of the con words and have to work
within the convention contest.
Hi All!
Sorry to tell you folks, you're stuck with me again.
I'm not sure what's on C.C.'s plate, but I'm sure she needs a break regardless.
I knew there was a reason I don't do Sunday puzzles, and now I remember - too many words for this dyslexic.
//I clued a Sunday LAT with C.C. once... Once! [Johnny Dangerously]
The Constructors take in-the-vernacular phrases and flips one word opposite for whimsy. Take a look:
23. Drill sergeant, perhaps?: PRIVATE ENEMY NUMBER ONE. As opposed to Public Enemy Number One - aka the dude on the Wanted poster.
A Drill Sgt's goal is to get the platoon to work as a team. He makes it a point to become the PVTs' common enemy. Ask me how I know. #GoArmy
36. Collective action by society women?: DEBUTANTE STRIKE. As opposed to a Debutante Ball - think baseball's strikes & balls.
49. Farm bird that never topples?: NO FALL CHICKEN. No Spring Chicken - we ain't getting any younger.
66. Amendment proposed by a technophile?: RIGHT TO ONES OWN DEVICES. Left To One's Own Devices - only using what (little) God gave you.
Lawsuits were filed and folks won the right-to-repair. [See: Apple / Deere lawsuits. Interesting story: when Russians stole Ukrainian farm equipment, John Deere remotely disabled all of them.]
78. Like a typical ride on a mechanical bull?: A FEW BUCKS LONG. A Few Bucks Short - not enough money to ride the bull again.
92. Endure within a group of peers?: LAST AMONG EQUALS. First Among Equals - The Crème de la Crème (in your circle) or to last through/put-up with their airs.
109. Death and taxes, per Benjamin Franklin?: UNIVERSAL BASIC OUTCOME. Universal Basic Income - what some in D.C. argue for instead of what out-goes every April 15th (when's Canada's tax due, C,Eh!?).
A very cute and well-executed theme. Debutante STRIKE threw me for a while 'cuz I was thinking, "what's opposite for Deb?"
And now, for the rest of the fill:
Across:
1. Cat's attention-getter, maybe: PAW. Some Cornites report their cats paw them awake them for their (cats') breakfast.
4. Car once advertised as a "well-built Swede": SAAB. A man called Ove cherished his.
8. Endpoint for some boots and skirts: THIGH. Just above the (67d) TIBIA.
13. Like cookies soon after the Cookie Monster spots them: EATEN. Nom, nom, nom.
18. Equine parent: SIRE. The daddy-horse that begat.
20. Anti-censorship org.: ACLU. American Civil Liberties Union. I wanted EFF (fights for right-to-repair) before I saw I needed to ink four squares.
21. Provençal mayo: AIOLI. Garlic and oil mayonnaise.
22. Only just: NEWLY. Minted.
23. [See: Theme]
27. New York, for one: STATE. And a city, and a county.
Ghost Busters - City, County, and, STATE
28. Lubricate: GREASE. For the squeaky-wheel.
29. Return: PROFIT. One's ROI [Return On Investment].
30. Audrey Hopburn letters: IPA. Indian Pale Ale. I assume this is a beer. Note the Hop(s) and not Hep.
31. Distribution parties: ISSUERS. People handing out stuff, not galas with swag.
34. Ellington composition: RAG. Duke.
Soda Fountain Rag
35. Inning's trio?: ENS. Not OUTs - There's three 'N's in iNNiNG. I'd like to speak with management about these types of clues/answers :-)
36. [See: Theme]
41. French bread?: EURO. Bread, dough, money. France was one of the first countries to eschew their currency and adopt the Euro on 1 Jan 1999.
43. Part of an underwater forest: KELP. Dried & spiced, it's Eldest's favorite snack.
44. One-eighty: UIE. U-turn.
45. Movie trailer?: CREDITS. Cute.
47. Pick up: DETECT. Sense. You have five (or six if you're "special").
49. [See: Theme]
55. Wrath: IRE. The IRE of Khan [Star Trek] doesn't have the same ring to it.
Khaaaaan!
56. Honeycomb unit: CELL.
Perfect Little Hexagons
57. Rep. from the Bronx: AOC. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; the representative from the City of the New York. //Remember - no politics :-)
58. WWF, e.g.: NGO. World Wildlife Fund is a Non-Governmental Organization.
World Wrestling Federation lost a lawsuit to the NGO inre: WWF moniker so now they're WWE (Entertainment) - that ordeal made a comic Hahtoolah posted a bit back very LOL.
59. Mountain goats' terrain: CRAGS.
62. Temperamental: MOODY.
63. Org. with the largest-circulation magazine in the U.S.: AARP. American Association of Retired Persons. Bzzt - you don't have to be retired for them to start sending you membership forms when you hit 50 :-) //and how do they know?
65. Corner store: MART.
Apu's Quick-E-Mart
66. [See: Theme]
70. Cut and paste, say: EDIT. Editing commands to a computer (CTRL-C & CTRL-V / CMD-C & CMD-V [Apple]) or what folks physically did (with scissors & GLUE (11d)) before going to press.
71. Ibex range: ALPS. CRAGS there, too, I bet.
72. Drops: OMITS. Leaves out.
73. Invite for: ASK TO. A bit gluey fill, no?
74. Gretchen of "Boardwalk Empire": MOL. I've never watched this so ESP (Every. Single. Perpendicular.) #1.
Gretchen Mol
75. La Liga cheer: OLE. LaLiga is Spain's futbal division. Only English speakers add the space between La and Liga. I guessed the fill but thank Google for the expo.
76. Contact __: LENS.
77. Carol contraction: 'TIS the season to be jolly...
78. [See: Theme]
83. Some Japanese TVs: SANYOS.
86. "I don't care!": SO SUE ME. Can't get blood from a turnip.
87. Terr. divided in 1889: DAK. Into North & South DAKotas.
88. Kiwi-shaped: OVAL. The fruit, not the bird nor the people of New Zealand.
90. Color of Montana's flag: BLUE. Hi, Montana!
Montana's State Flag
92. [See: Theme]
97. __ carte: ALA.
98. "Hair Love" voice actress Issa: RAE. ESP #2
100. Strapless bralette: BANDEAU. ESP #3.
101. "__ Lasso": TED. If you have Apple+ TV, I highly recommend the show. Touching & funny at the same time.
Trailer
102. Passing remark?: GO DEEP. Football - for the "Hail Mary" pass.
104. Slides (over): SCOOTS. Skootch was a letter too long (and shows my Midwest upbringing).
107. Hides in plain sight?: TIPIS. ESP #4. I guess this is an alternate spelling of Tepees(?) made of animal hide. If I'm right (I am, I looked it up), this is really cute.
109. [See: Theme]
114. Contributed: ADDED. Y'all will get your chance to contribute / ADD commentary.
115. French 101 verb: AVOIR. Fr. for Have. //another ESP. #5.
116. Ziggurat level: TIER. I got this from "level." A ziggurat is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding stories or levels. [WikiP]
A Ziggurat
117. Shoestring catch?: SNAG. A trippy-moment or SNAG'n' a ball near your feet in the outfield? We should be told.
118. Creates a Maillard reaction on a steak, say: SEARS. Interaction of sugars with amino acids. She'll explain:
119. Gave back, as land: CEDED. Tense, -T, tense. See Gave (past) in the clue? (I didn't at first).
120. Be worthy of: EARN. You earned it.
121. Nestlé's __-Caps: SNO.
Sno-Caps
Down:
1. Nintendo : DS :: Sony : __: PSP. Sony's PlayStation, Portable, 1EA :-) //a joke for the Vets.
2. Measure typically given in knots: AIR SPEED. A nautical mile well above the waters.
3. Like some data disks: WRITABLE. I hope they were at least once writable or there's nothing on them.
4. Chili-based Vietnamese condiment: SATE SAUCE. Looks like very hot salsa.
5. The "A" of LGBTQIA+, for short: ACE. Perps.
6. The "A" of 30-Across: ALE. It's been a while, but remember 30a? It, Audrey Hopburn, was an IPAle.
7. __ cord: BUNGEE.
The Girls loved Veggie Tales (and it was funny)
8. Maximally vanilla: TAMEST. Not fair to vanilla - it's my fav w/ peaches or malted milk (or both!).
9. "Howdy there!": HI YA. HolA fit, didn't it Lucina? My only ink-over.
10. Cyclotron particles: IONS. A Cyclotron is a ring of magnets that speed IONS to near light just to smash 'em into other particles. Subatomic physics. #Fermilabs
11. "I'm rubber, you're __ ... ": GLUE. Your insults bounce off me and stick on you.
12. That guy: HIM. I have a buddy who's "catch-line" was "That guy" as he thumb'd at someone nearby. I was the butt of that bit when we were at .conf in Vegas. He taught me Blackjack, so there's that.
13. Fired up: ENERGETIC.
14. Prefix with Mexico: AERO. Aeromexico is an airline.
15. BOGO deal: TWOFER. Buy-One/Get-One aka a Two-for-One deal. I thank WC talking about his BOGO deals at Publix for knowing this.
16. Weather-affecting Pacific current: EL NINO.
Difference between EL NINO & LA NINA
17. Politburo nos: NYETS. Not numbers but NO! in Russia before 1991.
19. Noblezada of "Easter Sunday": EVA. A&E I didn't know. A three-letter actor/actress with EV_ can only end with an A or E. No?
24. Bumping heads: AT IT. A row, a fight, going AT IT.
25. Drops the ball, say: ERRS. Oy! Boss-man: "Where are we regarding..." Me: "D'Oh!, I dropped the ball."
26. __-free plastic: BPA. BisPhenol A is a synthetic organic compound used in making certain plastics. It's thought to be harmful if ingested; they're probably right.
30. Brief "Beats me!": IDK.
Story: I texted Youngest, "When will you be home?"
She texts back, "idk"
I respond, "What's idk?"
Youngest: "I don't know"
Me: "Then why would you text me idk if you don't know what idk means?"
The penny dropped a microsecond after I hit send. #EggFace #EmojiGigglesEnsued.
Why would you tell me you have a plethora if you don't know what it means to have a plethora?
32. Fit of pique: SNIT. Yet another ado.
33. Great Basin native: UTE.
34. Sends off the soccer pitch: RED CARDS. Did y'all hear about the ref that Red-Carded himself?
37. Far from relaxed: UPTIGHT.
38. Color TV pioneer: RCA. Hi Misty!
39. Offline, briefly: IRL. In Real Life.
40. Kenan's "Good Burger" co-star: KEL.
42. Sch. that competes against Notre Dame for the Jeweled Shillelagh: USC. ESP #6. University of Southern California. Some history of the trophy.
46. [Crossing my fingers!]: I HOPE. Or, if behind your back, you're telling a lie.
48. German "first": ERST.
49. Bright shades: NEONS. Remember the '80's?
The Fresh Prince (Will Smith) Rocked It
50. Ye __ Shoppe: OLDE.
51. Eschew a co-pilot: FLY SOLO.
52. Real talent: KNACK. With "The" you get My Sharona
53. Wading bird: EGRET.
54. "Au contraire!": NOT SO. Oui, Oui! More French.
56. Member-owned grocery: CO-OP. A COOPerative.
59. Espresso froth: CREMA. I'm assuming Italian spelling of Crème(?) When DW & I were in Italy, I'd just quit smoking (again) so I loved to end the day with espresso & gelatto before our last bit of wine.
60. Free from: RID OF. Toss it if it doesn't bring joy. Or not: I'm just sure I can use this again ;-)
61. Fleet of foot: AGILE.
62. Chemistry class model: MOLECULE.
Water
63. Filling with wonder: AWING. Gluey IMHO.
64. Children's song marchers: ANTS. The ANTS go marching/One by one/The ANTS go...
65. Text in a long-distance relationship, maybe: MISS YOU. Or, just mid-day texts to Significant Other.
67. Tibia neighbor: TALUS. Dem Bones/Dem Bones...
68. Spilled salt, to some: OMEN. Throw a bit over your left-shoulder and the demon goes away, so they say.
"kill -9 all" makes the daemons go away [*nix joke for the techies]
I wrote "kill -9 all | sort -god out" on a buddy's white-board. He left the company 5 years ago, but the quip is still on the wall.
69. Thinking a song is about oneself, say: VAIN. Cue Carly Simon.
75. Music store supply: OBOE REEDS. We get both OBOE and REED in the same fill!
77. Roll the dice, say: TAKE A TURN. My first thought was TAKE A risk.
79. Pacific Northwest sch.: WSU. Washington State University.
80. Hawaiian for "white": KEA. Ok, now the Hawaiian mountain's names make sense.
81. Texting tech: SMS. Short Messaging Service.
82. "If we must die, O __ us nobly die": McKay: LET.
83. Herb used in some smudging rituals: SAGE. DW's PhD department was so toxic - one night, she and fellow candidates took bunched SAGE, lit it, and smudged every office. You could smell the sweet for a week.
84. Big hands?: OVATIONS. Cute - give Brian & Brooke a big round of applause.
85. Word in an Arthur Miller title: SALESMAN. The Death of a...
87. RPG with a 20-sided die: DND. Dungeons-n-Dragons is a Role Playing Game. An icosahedron (20-sided die, aka a 20d) is used to determine chance of survival from an orc / dragon / random-monster attack. Or, if your character is strong, hit-points against a foe. I oft played a Paladin Ranger, so I'd usually end up w/ a 12d (dodecahedron) for hit-points. //the rules have changed since I played the 2nd edition (D&D is now on v5e) and now I have to keep up with Eldest's knowledge.
89. Acid initials: LSD. Lysergic acid diethylamide. More trippy-stuff (or so I am told).
90. Strawberry __: BLONDE. This took forever 'cuz I kept thinking margarita, jam, or preserve. Cue BLONDiE.
Call Me
91. Highfalutin: LA-DI-DA. Mr. Fancy Pants.
93. "All __!": ABOARD. Rise (think court-room) was too short so I got on the train.
94. Rolls in yoga class: MATS.
95. In the office: ON SITE. Post-Covid vaccines, a few departments are still 100% remote, but our team is ON-SITE, IRL, three days a week.
96. Word after rage or force: QUIT. Rage quit or force quit.
Rage quit -
Youngest @9p night b/f post explained Rage quit: it's when you're
so mad at something / someone you just stop fiddling / texting.
Force quit -
Stopping (ending) an unresponsive application on your Windows or Apple
device. Ctrl+Alt+Del on Windows devices, and Option-Command-Esc on a Mac.
97. __ frescas: fruit drinks: AGUAS.
99. Passover's month, often: Abbr.: APR. April. I was expecting this fill to be in Hebrew. Not that I speak it but, silly me, waited for perps.
103. Even once: EVER. Have you Ever...
That Dog
104. Back up: SAVE. Your data on Writable data disks or in "The Cloud."
105. Graceless one: CLOD. Some days, yes, that's me. //EVER just turn into a wall instead of the doorway thinking you were one step later?
110. __ fly: SAC. Short for Sacrifice. #Baseball! A SAC fly is when there's a runner at 3rd, fewer that 2 outs, and you hit it deep knowing you'll be out but hoping the out-fielder can't get the ball to home before the runner tags-up and takes off. I suppose, with less that two outs, you could SAC to move the runner to 3rd - but that's a risky bet.
111. Spy-fi org.: CIA. Central Intelligence Agency - USA's spooks. //Back in the day, at hacker conferences, we'd play spot-the-spook to figure out who was .gov. Eventually, they started recruiting us :-)
112. Not 'neath: O'ER. Poetry and more carols... "the river and through the woods..."
113. Nwodim of "SNL": EGO. We recently had her in the grid - and I remembered!
Theme: The Shape of Water - Best Picture Oscar shout-out! H2Ois the theme, the entries moving from "H" to "O", left-to-right.
18A. *Hobbyist's broadcasting equipment : HAM RADIO "describes the use of radio frequency spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emergency communication." So now we know, which just begs the question - what is "radiosport"?
27A. *Drama in the Nielsen top 10 four times during the '70s : HAWAII FIVE-O. "Book 'em Danno. Murder One". Here are the opening credits, containing at least two continuity goofs.
47A. *Ball of fire : HUMAN DYNAMO. I don't think this comic book character scaled the dizzy heights of the other superheroes from Marvel and D.C. Comics:
60A. *"Oh boy, it's starting!" : HERE WE GO! British soccer fans would sing this to the tune of "Stars and Stripes Forever". "Here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go, here we go-oh". Repeat ad nauseam.
69A. Liquid whose chemical formula is a homophonic hint to the answers to starred clues : WATER
Neat puzzle today from Brian - one of those simple yet satisfying themes which almost make you wonder why you didn't think of it yourself. The theme entries are nice and fresh, and there are some lovely longer entries in the downs which I always enjoy. Let's explore the fill:
Across:
1. Vaccine pioneer Salk : JONAS. I confidently had JONAH, which had me wondering what "HIN" was doing when that showed up.
6. Biblical verb : HATH. Went with HAST. Should have waited.
10. Sever, with "off" : LOP
13. "The Good Wife" wife : ALICIA. Thank you, crosses. I'm hopeless with most TV and movie-related fill.
15. Irrawaddy River locale : ASIA. Myanmar, formerly Burma. My father was posted to Burma for part of WWII, he spoke fondly about the country, even though he wasn't there in exactly the best circumstances.
16. Hubbub : ADO
17. Grilled sandwich : PANINI. Panini are also a company that publishes sports stickers and trading cards. I'm not quite sure how, but I got sucked into collecting all the players, badges and stadia of the last soccer World Cup in 2014. It became quite an adventure.
20. Checked out : EYED
21. Gather : REAP
23. Domestic sock eater? : DRYER. I've got one brown sock sitting lonely and forlorn on the top of my dresser right now. I didn't even know I had brown socks.
24. Storied climber : JILL. Heading up the hill with her compadre Jack. I'm still confused as to why you would head up a hill to collect water, surely you're more likely to find it in the valley below? The things that keep me awake at night ..
26. Little limb : TWIG
32. Special __ : OPS
35. Mets modifier of 1969 : AMAZIN' They won the World Series in only their eighth season as a Major League Baseball franchise. I was at MLB HQ last week - here's part of the main lobby:
36. Noggin : BEAN
37. Case in Lat. grammar : DAT. Dative. In order - nominative, vocative, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative. Thank you, grammar school Latin class.
38. Twit : DITZ
39. Cuts and pastes, say : EDITS
41. Trellis climber : VINE
42. Corner PC key : ESC Didn't even have to look! What does a Mac have in the corner?
54. "__ Encounter": SeaWorld show : ORCA. A somewhat discredited destination now.
56. Shakespearean "You as well?" : ET TU? Brutus becomes Brute in the vocative. Latin class today.
62. First words : INTROS
64. Muffin grain : OAT
65. Believe : HOLD
66. Wind farm blades : ROTORS
67. Like some grins : WRY. Also broad grins. Any other offers of grin descriptors?
68. People : ONES. What? This is obscure, to say the least.
Down:
1. Zinger : JAPE
2. Body wash brand : OLAY. I didn't know this was a body wash, I only know the brand for face cream.
3. Largest single-digit square : NINE. One, four and nine.
4. Genre incorporating elements of funk and hip-hop : ACID JAZZ. New to me. Fresh fill to the LAT.
5. Transgression : SIN
6. "LOL" : HA HA
7. "Right away!" : ASAP!
8. Dickens boy : TIM. Tiny Tim, a character in the novel "A Christmas Carol".
9. Taxing and successful : HARD WON
10. Coventry rider : LADY GODIVA. Here's a statue representing the legendary ride in the city itself.
11. Dog that licks Garfield : ODIE
12. Low-quality : POOR
14. Where many missed connections occur : AIRLINE HUB. I''m generally pretty lucky making my connections. I came close to missing my flight to Delhi last month, my inbound from LAX to Newark arrived almost 90 minutes late, eight of us were running through the airport from one end of Terminal C to the other. No chance of that today, I'm on an up-and-back to San Francisco.
19. MLB's D-backs : ARI. Arizona on scoreboards.
22. 2003 holiday film : ELF
25. IV lead? : III. Roman numeral progression, I, II, III, IV. Nice clue.
26. Bouffant feature : TEASED HAIR
27. Flame-haired villain in Disney's "Hercules" : HADES. More help from the crosses.
28. Mennonite sect : AMISH
29. Super Bowl gathering, e.g. : WATCH PARTY. I think this expression is new to me. I've heard of a gamewatch event, but not a watch party. Fresh fill, this hasn't been used in the LAT before.
30. Mediterranean vacation island : IBIZA. A popular destination beginning in the 80's for house music aficionados. Most of the nightclubs play house.
31. Zoo doc : VET
33. "The Hunger Games" land : PANEM. Thank you, crosses.
34. __ pad : STENO
40. Barely lit : DIM
41. Blood feud : VENDETTA
43. List of notables : WHO'S WHO. Most industries have a "vanity" Who's Who publication that you can pay a fee to have your profile included.
45. Soap chemical : LYE
48. Defense advisory gp. : N.S.C. National Security Council.
50. __ whiskey : RYE
52. Thing to put on : SHOW
53. Put on : WEAR
54. Look bad? : OGLE. Fun clue. I think I might have written it as "Bad look".
55. Slender cylinders : RODS
57. Budweiser Clydesdales' pace : TROT
58. Shredded : TORE
59. TASS country : USSR. The news agency TASS from the now-defunct USSR
61. Many years : EON
63. "Spring the trap!" : NOW!
I think that's it from me today. I just need to post the grid and I'm finished!
6. Vitello __ parmigiana: ristorante offering: ALLA
10. Map out: PLAN
14. Jeans material: DENIM
15. Porky Pig or Elmer Fudd: TOON
16. Hawaiian dance: HULA
20. "Life of Pi" author __ Martel: YANN
21. Cookie containers: TINS
22. Fields of study: AREAS
23. Off base sans permission, in the mil.: AWOL
25. Italian volcano: ETNA
31. Big galoots: OAFS
35. Vermouth bottle name: ROSSI. Martini & Rossi Distilleria.
36. Dazed and confused: IN A WHIRL
38. "Lost" network: ABC
42. Foe of Chiang: MAO
43. '40s coat-and-trousers outfit: ZOOT SUIT
45. Quickly looks over: SCANS
47. Jazz legend James: ETTA
51. Dick Tracy's love __ Trueheart: TESS
53. Thin stream of smoke: WISP
54. Is __: likely will: APT TO
57. Many a freshman: TEEN
59. Triangle ratio: SINE
66. Crowd sound: ROAR
67. Casting-off place: PIER
68. The John B, e.g.: SLOOP
69. Requests: ASKS
70. Tarzan raisers: APES
71. Coin with Lincoln: PENNY. No relation to Shatner.
Down:
1. Like avant-garde art: EDGY
2. Aloe __: VERA
3. __ empty stomach: ON AN
4. Snatches for ransom: KIDNAPS
5. Flightless Aussie bird: EMU
6. Number one Hun: ATTILA
7. Pork cut: LOIN
8. Bit of unfinished business: LOOSE END
9. Cape NNW of Cod: ANN
10. Exodus tyrant: PHARAOH
11. Attract: LURE
12. Opposite of baja: ALTA. In place names, Spanish baja, literally "lower," either in elevation or geography so does ALTA mean higher?
13. Those opposed: NAYS
18. Perched on: ATOP
19. Searing utensil: PAN
24. Taylor and Fillmore, politically: WHIGS. Back in the day.
26. Ensnare: TRAP
27. Enjoy the field, as cattle do: GRAZE, but the bovines are always looking for 63-Across GREENER PASTURES and will break a fence to get to it if they have to.
28. Automaton: ROBOT
29. Neckwear for Fred in "Scooby-Doo": ASCOT
30. Ship of 1492: PINTA
32. Set one's sights on: AIM AT
33. Swiss coin: FRANC
34. Trudge through water: SLOSH
37. Hornets and yellow jackets: WASPS
40. Persians on the floor: RUGS
41. Local landing location: AIRSTRIP
44. Ragged clothes: TATTERS
46. Time-release med: CAPSULE
49. Takes an oath: SWEARS
50. Reasons to repent: SINS
52. Waiting time at the DMV, seemingly: EON
54. Taj Mahal city: AGRA
55. Golf instructors: PROs
56. Shipbuilding wood: TEAK
58. Sport with swords: ÉPÉE
60. Cold War curtain material?: IRON
61. Bright sign: NEON
62. Catch sight of: ESPY
64. UV index monitor: Abbr.: EPA. (Environmental Protection Agency)
Theme: Un-hip Paragon- as the 1960's flower child might describe her squeaky-clean parent.
The reveal sits across the middle of the grid:
36A. With some unscrambling, the contents of each set of circles : PERFECT SQUARE
The four nine-letter scrambles are, clockwise from the North-West: SIXTY-FOUR, THIRTY-SIX, EIGHTY-ONE and FORTY-NINE, or 8x8, 6x6, 9x9 and 7x7.
Very inventive puzzle from Brian, and it also appears to be his LAT debut; if so congratulations! I did a little Googling and found a namesake of his who occasionally comments over on Amy Reynaldo's blog. Stop in at the Corner, Mr. Thomas and tell us something about yourself!
This was a fun puzzle to solve. It took me way longer than my regular Thursday time but fortitude paid off. My last fill was the A of ULTIMA/ABT which was, quite honestly, a toss-up between A and O, ballet not being my strong suit.
Regarding the theme, I filled in the "49" square first, and was thinking about NFL teams but that didn't last long.
I did find it a little "bitty" with a slew of 3's, 4's and 5's, but crafting around those four cubes isn't easy. Nothing really annoyed me though. Maybe ABT did, a tad.
Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Port initials : USB. I started off on the wrong foot here by filling in FOB and feeling smug that I was hep to shipping terms.
4. Fallon's predecessor : LENO
8. Negative quality : MINUS partnering 8D's MERIT. Very nice.
13. Late July arrival : LEO
14. No longer hung up on : OVER
15. Composed : SERENE
16. Going rate? : TAXI FARE
18. Younger daughter of Hi and Lois, in comics : TRIXIE. No clue, thank you crosses.
19. Admission of defeat : I LOST! Which I would have done if I'd have given up early on this puzzle
20. Petal pusher? : FLORIST. Hand up for reading "pedal" and trying to work out why CYCLIST should be clued with a question mark. I left it alone and when I came back to it I read the clue properly.
22. Baseball's Wills and TV's Povich : MAURYS
24. __ zone: shallowest oceanic region that sunlight doesn't reach : BATHYAL. Pure learning moment. Or, as a southern Mom might say to her muddy tyke - BATH, Y'ALL
27. Co. once led by Baryshnikov : A.B.T. American Ballet Theatre. I tried MET first which fit nicely with BOX OUT but this area required some serious unpicking at the finish.
28. Sap sucker : APHID
31. Green prefix : ECO-
32. Suffix with Bieber : MANIA.Not from me.
34. Like aged cheddar : SHARP
40. Invoice word : REMIT
41. Blow one's fuse : ERUPT
42. Once-sacred snake : ASP
43. Straight sides of a pizza slice, e.g. : RADII. Food! I don't eat a lot of pizza, but there's a joint near me where the chef is credited with inventing the barbecue chicken pizza, one of CPK's best sellers.
45. Relaxation destination : SPA
48. Low-down prank? : HOT FOOT. I'd never heard of this.Setting someone's shoelaces on fire. Seems like a recipe for instant and unpleasant revenge.
51. __ torpedo: "Star Trek" weapon : PHOTON
54. Symbol of complementary principles : YIN-YANG
57. Watching intently : EYING
58. Bakery-café chain : PANERA. Food! They make pretty good sandwiches. Soup's nice too.
60. Man of steel? : CARNEGIE
62. "Wild" author Strayed : CHERYL. Very good book. She didn't hold anything back, she's a strong woman to reveal some of the things she'd done in her life.
63. Actor Baldwin : ALEC
64. Tillis of country : MEL. Crosses filled this in for me.
65. "Sonatine Bureaucratique" composer : SATIE. Erik. Born Éric Alfred Leslie Satie. Not sure if you've ever heard anything he composed? Yeah, you have.
66. Soothing succulent : ALOE
67. Pitches during breaks : ADS. Warm-ups from the bullpen? No, C.C. isn't here today.
Down:
1. Word's last syllable : ULTIMA. Torn. Ultima/Ultimo. Both seemed reasonable. As I said at the top of the blog, I WAG'd it.
2. Aquanaut's base : SEALAB. Cartoon Network had a big hit with their late-night animation of the same name.
3. Block during rebounding, in basketball : BOX OUT. The NBA finals just finished. Lots of fun. Contrast and compare "finals" with "final" at 37D.
4. Up in the air : LOFTY. Anyone taller than 6' tall when I was growing up in England was guaranteed to be nicknamed "Lofty", I made it to 6' even, so never was awarded the moniker. It annoyed my elder brother to heck though, he only made 5'11" and only accepted that I was taller than him during a family visit a couple of years ago. He's still grumpy about it.
5. Actress Longoria : EVA
6. Soft toy brand : NERF
7. Russian city where Turgenev was born : OREL. Mr. Hershiser gets a rest from clue duty today.
8. Positive quality : MERIT. Great pairing with 8A today.
9. "Fighting" Indiana team : IRISH. Gimme. This is me at the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu in 2008. I didn't have anything better to do that year, so why not Christmas on Oahu watching the Irish?
10. When some fans have to wait till : NEXT YEAR. Most fans. Most years. My UK soccer team, Chelsea, won the Premier League this year, so no waiting in 2017 for me. My Champions T-Shirt is en route.
11. Solitary prefix : UNI-. Tard. Cycle. Vision? I'm sure there's plenty more, but I've run out of ideas.
12. "Told you!" : SEE?
15. Fine fiddle : STRADivarius.
17. Med. nation : ISR.ael.
21. Sapporo sash : OBI
23. Reasonable : SANE. Took a while to see this, but if you make a sane argument, you're being pretty reasonable.
25. Zoning unit : ACRE
26. Cut : LOP
29. Shot : PIC
30. Word repeated twice in a Roger Ebert title about bad movies : HATED. I tried to look this up, but I drew a blank - even IMDb doesn't list a title which has Roger Ebert credited? What did I miss?
32. Injured pro's test, perhaps : MRI
33. Toward the stern : AFT. Get back there, you salty swab.
34. "What's doin'?" : 'SUP?. Obligatory man-nod required. Upwards chin-tilt, not the downwards one. Try it. "'Sup?" (Upwards chin-tilt) See? You'll be hanging with your new homeys in no time.
35. Haberdasher's item : HAT
36. Latin American capital : PESO. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Capital as in currency.
37. Like some late-game hockey goals : EMPTY NET. The last goal of this NHL season was an empty-netter scored by Pittsburgh against Nashville in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Final. Now, look back to 3D and try and explain Finals vs Final.
38. Hindu title : SRI
39. Wisecrack : QUIP
40. Fan sound : RAH!
43. __ blue : ROYAL
44. Words with clip or crossroads : AT A
45. Mark of shame : STIGMA
46. Paid (up) : PONIED
47. Cloud dwellers? : ANGELS
49. Guy in the kitchen : FIERI. He's a horrible cook, a terrible food critic but a great host and personality. Dear Food Network, please stop him critiquing other people's food and get him to stick to being a natural on TV. You notice he doesn't have his own cooking show any more?
50. Deli order : ON RYE. Food! Pastrami, please. At Katz's Deli on Houston in the lower East Side in Manhattan. Pickle spear. Fries if you must. Don't lose the ticket they give you on the way in, I believe you get thrown in the East River if you can't produce it on your way out to show what you ate and cash out.
52. For this reason : HENCE. Hence don't lose your ticket at Katz's
53. "Listen up," to Luis : OYE!
55. Indiana-based sports org. : NCAA. Two Indiana shout-outs today. South Bend for Notre Dame, and these wonderfully organized, rational and non-profit-making people in Indianapolis.
56. Chutzpah : GALL
58. Best Buy buys : PCS. I bought the Lenovo I'm composing this compostable blog at Best Buy a couple of months ago.
59. "That's it!" : AHA!
61. Flying Cloud, for one : REO. I really only know the Speedwagon, and that's because of the band. What a lovely car - this one is from 1931.
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