Friday, February 21, 2025, Jeff Stillman

 

Good Morning, Cruciverbalists.  Malodorous Manatee, here, with the recap of a Friday Puzzle by Jeff Stillman who has previously had puzzles published by the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times.

Today's theme is quite straightforward.  At four places within the grid, Jeff has added the letter A to morph common expressions into witty answers to the out-of-necessity-somewhat-convoluted clues.  In each case, the A follows an E and is the third letter of the "new" word and the first three letters form a word or acronym that could stand alone.  Here are the places where this occurs:

20 Across:  Say, "Everyone put your key in the ignition and turn," e.g.?: TEACH STARTUPS.  From Tech Startups.  (A cuppa, anyone?)

28 Across:  Brief reminder before a Disney musical featuring Belle?: BEAST IN SHOW.  From Best In Show. (Bureau of Economic Analysis)

Disney's Beauty and the Beast

44 Across:  Sidewalk stand earnings arranged in tidy stacks of cash?: NEAT PROFITS.  From Net Profits. (National Educational Association)

55 Across:  One overseeing a reform program for kleptomaniacs?: DEAN OF THIEVES.  From Den Of Thieves. (Drug Enforcement Agency)

This is how it all looks in the grid:

... and the rest of the story:

Across:

1. Big production: EPIC.  The Waco Kid knows EPIC.

5. Half an island in French Polynesia: BORA.

9. Mediocre grade: C-PLUS.  Actually, just a little bit better than average.

14. Fish tacos fish, on menus: MAHI.

15. Bus alternative: UBER.  RAIL and LYFT would both fit but neither would work out.

16. Window treatment: DRAPE.  I don't know if I can afford new DRAPEs for my windows.  These are un-curtain times.

17. D.C. VIP: PRES.  PRESident

18. Kunis of "Family Guy": MILA.  She voices Meg.

With A Cameo

19. __ knife: BOWIE.

23. Ump's cry: YER OUT.  If your grid requires YER this is the way to pull it off.

24. Early late-night host: PAAR.  Jack PAAR followed Steve Allen and preceded Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show.

 

25. Rite Aid rival: CVS.  A drug store reference.

31. Cut with a beam: LASE.

35. Bull's-__: EYE.  Did anyone check with the cattle on this one?

36. Lyric poem: EPODE.  EPODE - Wikipedia

37. Tablet option: IPAD PRO.  Not a medicinal reference.

39. Bar sing-along: KARAOKE.   This guy comes up to me at the karaoke bar and asks, "Are you the guy who spends all night singing Neil Diamond songs?"  "I am", I said.

41. Actress Kemper: ELLIE.  Best known for her role in The Office.

42. Elevator part: CAR.  Ever pause to reflect on what is really going on when you are riding in an elevator CAR two hundred feet above the ground floor?

43. Bed support: SLAT.

48. Dejected: SAD.

49. VMI program: ROTC.  Reserve Officer Training Corps

50. Opening word?: SESAME.

58. The least bit: AT ALL.

60. After-lunch sandwich: OREO.  How do I clue thee . . . .

61. Some watch displays: LEDS.

62. Faithful: LOYAL.  What is a 3 letter word for playful, LOYAL, and unconditional love?  Dog.

63. Bound: LEAP.  Where do most people dine out on LEAP day?  IHOP

64. Empire State canal: ERIE.

65. "R u kidding me?": SRSLY.  Seriously?

66. Seals' meals: EELS.  How does it feel when they reel in the EEL with zeal?

67. Chips-in-a-can brand: STAX.  I might have clued this differently.

Down:

1. Without value: EMPTY.

2. French city, in song: PAREE.  Paris

3. "A little birdie tells me ... ": I HEAR.

4. Networking giant: CISCO.  Cisco - Wiki  Thirty years ago few people had ever heard of the company.  Fortunately, I knew someone who had.

5. Lousy piece of advice: BUM STEER.  It turns out that one need not bother checking with the cattle on this one.  From Wikipedia: Its origin is possibly from 19th-century American maritime humor and the difficulty of trying to steer a vessel in reverse.  A ship's stern is flat and lacks the pointed structure of a bow, and a ship is therefore difficult to maneuver in reverse when using the rudder, also found on the stern.

6. Account of life after death?: OBIT.  OBITuary

7. Turn for the worse: RELAPSE.  A bit odd in the cluing.  One could get worse without having previously been in that condition.

8. Turkey's highest peak: ARARAT.  Where many people believe Noah's ark landed.

9. Data recording device: CD BURNER.  Hey, at the time, it was a significant step forward!

10. Play thing: PROP.  Not a toy for a child to play with.  An item used in a stage play.

11. "The Paper Chase" setting: LAW SCHOOL.  A book and a movie.

12. Letters in the news: UPI.  Long before social media.

13. "Get it?": SEE.  Ya dig?

21. Busy airport: HUB.  A general response.  The answer could have been a specific airport but with only three letters the clue would require an abbreviation.

22. __ chi: TAI.

26. Salty dog option: VODKA.

FLATT would have fit.

27. Saccharine: SWEET.  From whence the artificial SWEETener got its name.

29. "Big Mouth" writer/voice actress Edebiri: AYO.  Unknown to this solver.  She plays a chef on The Bear.

30. Luxury home features: SPAS.  Novel cluing and almost on target.

31. Credit report entries: LIENS.  A legal claim on an asset.

32. Cop __: bargain in court: A PLEA.

33. Times of youthful innocence: SALAD DAYS.

Where does the noun salad days come from?

Earliest known use

early 1600s

The earliest known use of the noun salad days is in the early 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for salad days is from before 1616, in the writing of William Shakespeare, playwright and poet.

34. Perfect copy: EDIT.  Not perfect as in without flaws.  Perfect is used, here, as a verb as in "to make perfect" and copy is a body of writing.

38. Pregame event: PEP RALLY.

39. Ryssdal who hosts NPR's "Marketplace": KAI.  

40. Places to pick up paint: ART SHOPS.  Home Depot would not fit.

42. Like most aerosol cans, now: CFC FREE.  Without chlorofluorocarbons.

45. Former Mets pitcher Darling: RON.

46. "Smallville" actress Annette: O'TOOLE.  Not related to Peter.

47. Cinque e uno: SEI.  5 + 1 = 6  La lección de español y matemáticas de hoy.

51. Monica who won three consecutive French Opens: SELES.  Five letters with two E's and two S's - a construtor's friend.

52. Head off: AVERT.  A man was about to be hit by a Voyager minivan.  Fortunately, the driver stopped in time.  Chrysler AVERTed!

53. Radio and such: MEDIA.

54. County in the Greater Boston area: ESSEX.  Unknown to this solver but, in our puzzles, county names are often ESSEX.

56. Airline to Israel: EL AL.

57. Blue-green: TEAL.

58. Weather anchor Roker and actor Pacino: ALS.

59. Only Canadian MLB city, for short: TOR.  At one time there was also MON.

BBFN, for short.

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