Good morning, Cruciverbalists one and all! It's time to rise and shine. Let's shake out those cobwebs and continue our perpetual search for answers. It might be a good idea to start by opening our eyes.
Today's puzzle setter is Grant Howell. This writer was unable to find any LAT puzzles with his byline so this might be his LAT debut. If that is incorrect, I hope that he will accept my sincere apologies. If true, welcome, Grant!
THE AYES HAVE IT. Or, the eyes have it. Or, in this case, the I's (or the i's) have it. How does one write the plural of the letter I? We? Is?
At four places in the grid our constructor has replaced the word "eye" in a common idiomatic expression with the letter "I". He reveals this substitution at . . . .
54 ACROSS: Payback phrase altered to provide a hint to solving four other puzzle answers: AN I FOR AN EYE. Although an eye for an eye seems vengeful, the original intent was to restrict retribution to the value of the loss.
. . . . and the substitution is employed as follows:
20 ACROSS: Good-looking: EASY ON THE IS. Easy on the eyes. Nice to look at.
39 ACROSS: Vegas loser, often: SNAKE IS. Snake eyes. In dice play, (e.g. backgammon or craps) a pair of ones, a single pip on each die. The odds of doing this are one in thirty-six. When shooting craps, if you roll Snake Eyes you lose instantly.
11 DOWN: Affectionate idiom that originally referred to a pupil: APPLE OF MY I. Apple of my eye. As the clue says, the phrase originally referred to the "aperture at the center of the human eye" - the pupil.
29 DOWN: Perch perspective: BIRDS I VIEW. Bird's eye view. These days, perhaps, a drone's camera view.
. . . . and here is how the rest of the clues and answers appear to our eyes . . . .
1. Big drink of water: GULP. SWIG would have fit the allotted space but would not have worked out.
5. Choice: PLUM. In this case, not the fruit itself but, rather, something that is desirable.
9. Pesky crawler: ROACH. My father claimed that, as a child growing ip in NYC, he had learned to identify the gender and species of almost any roach. There is no substitute for experience, I suppose. My mother told me that I was named for my maternal grandfather. Maybe not.
Joey The Roach
14. Like most eggs: OVAL.
15. Making people wait, maybe: LATE. In the context that was presented, I first thought of RUDE. The E worked. Nothing else did.
16. Wolf pack leader: ALPHA.
17. Self-named 2000s sitcom set in Texas: REBA.
18. Somewhat: A TAD. Until we check the surroundings, we never know if it will turn out to be A TAD or A BIT or A FEW or A DAB.
19. Landlocked Asian country: NEPAL.
23. Awesome, in slang: LIT. I was totally unfamiliar with this use of LIT. It used to mean drunk. Thanks, perps.
24. Chinese toy: PEKE. A bit of misdirection intended to lead us to think of a kite, or of Chinese Checkers or maybe even something to do with the balance of trade. Instead, we get a small, or "toy", dog. In this case, a Pekingese or PEKE.
Wasabi. Best In Show. 2021 Westminster Dog Show
25. Works a wedding: CATERS. I first thought of USHERS. Ushes? Too few letters.
27. Prince in a can?: ALBERT. The old prank. Phone a tobacco store and inquire of whoever answers, "Do you have Prince Albert in a can?" "Yes." "Well, then, please let him out!"
30. Classic film involving a split personality: PSYCHO. Alfred's vision is deservedly a classic. So is Mel's.
32. Chow __: MEIN. MEIN is the Chinese word for noodles. Chow means fried. Lo means tossed.
33. Wind heard in Dion's "Abraham, Martin and John": OBOE. More misdirection. I kept running through the lyrics in my head trying to find something Mariah-like. Instead we got instrumentation. You'd think that I'd be on to this trick by now.
35. "The Metamorphosis" author: KAFKA.
38. Bag or ball lead-in: AIR. An AIR bag is a passive safety device in an automobile. An AIR ball is a shot in basketball that completely misses the basket, the rim, and the backboard.
41. Early 11th-century year: MII. 1002 A.D. More i's.
42. Couldn't say no: HAD TO.
44. Help to withdraw: WEAN.
45. Many a gospel song: HYMN.
46. Run-scoring out: SAC FLY. A baseball reference. SACrifice FLY.
48. Lao-tzu follower: TAOIST.
The Tao of Pooh
50. "Peer Gynt Suite" dancer: ANITRA. ANITRA is the daughter of a Bedouin chief and she steals Peer Gynt's money after he attempts to seduce her.
52. Put on: WEAR.
53. Rainbow mnemonic surname: BIV. Roy G. BIV. Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet.
60. Jennyanydots' creator: ELIOT. From T S Eliot's poem Cats.
Jennyanydots - As portrayed in what some consider
to be the worst movie ever made.
62. Farm house: COOP.
63. "The Favourite" actress Stone: EMMA.
64. The "A" in CDA, to an Idahoan: ALENE. Coeur d'ALENE is a city in Idaho with a population of roughly 55,000 people.
65. Automaker Ferrari: ENZO. The last name is eponymous.
Enzo Ferrari
66. Verbal quirks, like "y'know": TICS. A frequent, often unconscious quirk of speech. Below, The Waco Kid Exhibits a TIC.
67. Coolidge's VP: DAWES.
68. Texter's sign-off: TTYL. Talk To You Later
69. "Right now!": STAT. When used in a medical context. We often see the editing mark STET.
Down:
1. 2000 presidential runner-up: GORE. Albert Arnold Gore.
2. Pigmented eye layer: UVEA. Appropriate for today.
3. Some yellow dogs: LABS.
4. New parent's purchase: PLAY PEN.
5. Mr. Krabs' nemesis: PLANKTON. A SpongeBob SquarePants reference.
Plankton and Mr. Krabs
6. Dunkin' Donuts offering: LATTE. In a wonderfully clever bit, Merl Reagle anagramed Dunkin to Unkind Donuts. Now re-branded as, simply, Dunkin' the chain seems to be trying to be though of as more a purveyor of coffee than of donuts.
7. U.S. territory until 1896: UTAH. The UTAH Territory included what became the State of Utah, most of what became the State of Nevada, and parts of what became the States of Colorado and Wyoming.
8. Ancient Persian: MEDE. The MEDEs established an extensive empire in the 7th Century BCE.
9. Pillages: RANSACKS. Via Middle English from Old Norse. Literally, house seek.
10. Cry after un gol: OLE. Today's Spanish lesson with significant global overtones.
12. Committee leader: CHAIR.
9. Pillages: RANSACKS. Via Middle English from Old Norse. Literally, house seek.
10. Cry after un gol: OLE. Today's Spanish lesson with significant global overtones.
12. Committee leader: CHAIR.
13. Stops: HALTS.
21. Above, to a bard: O'ER. Variant of OvER.
22. Like some stares: ICY. We also get ICE T today at 55 Down.
26. Lil Wayne's "__ Carter III": THA. The sixth studio album released by Lil Wayne (2008).
27. Asian nurse: AMAH. A nursemaid frequently appearing in crossword puzzles.
28. Princess from Alderaan: LEIA. A Star Wars reference. LEIA Skywalker Organa Solo. Alderaan is the name of a planet.
30. Stir: POKEY. Another bit of misdirection. Hmmm, MIX IN? BLEND? Both have five letters. Nope. A riff on two slang terms for jail.
31. "I __ red door and I want it painted black": Stones: SEE A. A straight-forward fill-in-the-blank clue.
34. Cry buckets: BAWL.
36. Basinger and Cattrall: KIMS. I was unable to find a photo of KIM Basinger and KIM Cattrall together. Like Batman and Bruce Wayne?
37. "If it __ broke ... ": AINT. . . . don't fix it. Another straight-forward fill-in-the-blank clue.
39. Ancient dialogues subject: SOCRATES. Plato wrote approximately thirty-five dialogues in most of which SOCRATES is the main character.
Bill & Ted's Take on the Subject
40. Worldwide anti-crime group: INTERPOL. Officially, The INTERnational Criminal POLice Organization.
43. Ankle pic: TAT. A few alternative locations for a TATtoo come to mind.
45. Charlotte NBA team: HORNETS. The professional basketball team.
45. Charlotte NBA team: HORNETS. The professional basketball team.
47. Autograph seeker: FAN. An ardent devotee or enthusiast.
49. Duracell size: AAA.
49. Duracell size: AAA.
50. Draw __ on: aim at: A BEAD.
51. Wafer brand: NILLA.
52. Light-headed: WOOZY.
55. Very cool rapper?: ICE T. Ice is very cool, as in cold. ICE T is a well-known rap artist.
56. Type of type: FONT. Clever clue.
57. Radiate: EMIT.
58. Disco hit with arm motions: YMCA. As someone who has been known to wear a "Death Before Disco" T-shirt, I cannot bring myself to use the original here. Subsequent to the last administration, most of the really good spoofs are too political for this blog. So, let's go with something nerdy.
DMCA
59. Towards sunrise: EAST
61. Phone button with no letters: ONE.
. . . . and on that note (or tone) . . . .
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