Well in the old days quips and quotes always appeared on Thursdays, but here we are with second such theme in the last 30 days on my watch. This appears to be another debut puzzle, so welcome Jeb. I wonder if he like all the others I know or have heard of, is really something like James Edward Bennett, hence the JEB. Anyway, the secret to a quip, which generally are not that favored, is how cute the result is and "I couldn't figure why the ball was getting bigger, and then it hit me" is a really entertaining one. We also have fewer 3 and 4 letter fill and some sparkly in between fill HERLIHY, LITHEST, HOTSHOTS, SON-IN-LAW, CLIENTELE, OVERDRAWN. So let us take a ride and see where Jeb brought us.
20A. Start of an optical illusion quip : I COULDN'T FIGURE.
24A. Quip, part 2 : WHY THE BALL WAS.
46A. Quip, part 3 : GETTING BIGGER.
52A. End of the quip : AND THEN IT HIT ME.
Across:
1. Dressage gear : CROP. This was harder than it should have been, but there were so many 3 letter possibilities for 1 down...I understood the show horse reference, but....
5. Sound of warning : HISS.
9. Repel, with "off" : STAVE.
14. Member of a '60s quartet : PAPA. Luckily I had put CPO in by the time I got here.
15. Competitive blade : EPEE. Very popular in the puzzles these days.
16. Projecting window : ORIEL.
17. Like an insufficient account : OVER DRAWN. British fiction leads one to believe that Brits live on their over-drafts.(draughts?).
19. Best-dressed goal? : NINES. To the nines and the other expression using nine are all mysterious. LINK.
22. Agnus __ : DEI.
23. Film dog's first name? : RIN. A reverse CSO for the TINman?
31. "A little __ the mightiest Julius fell": Horatio : ERE. The sentinels in Hamlet preparing the audience for the excitement to come. The belief was that the dead walked just before Julius Caesar was assassinated. Zombies anyone? MMMM Shakespeare. 9D. Duke of Albany, to Lear : SON-IN-LAW. I like this and of course love me a double dose of Shakespeare. He married Goneril and paid the price.
32. Rocket retired in 2011 : YAO. I do watch some basketball so this was EASY.
33. Cry for help : MAYDAY.Along with pommes de terre frits, something else we got from the French, from 'venez m'aider', which translates to "come help me". According to wiki, it was adopted by a British officer at Croydon airport.
35. "The Scream" artist : MUNCH. Edvard. You want to read an ANALYSIS? Or just look?
38. One in a cage : RIB. Cute clue, I think coined by Brendan Emmet Quigley.
40. Drive erratically : WEAVE. Mini-theme. 12D. Avoid a suddenly stopped car, say : VEER.
41. Like the thing not to do : UNCOOL.
43. Zip : NIL. A common soccer (football) score.
45. Org. with an elephant in its logo : GOP. Grand Old Party.
50. "No more seats" letters : SRO. Standing Room Only.
51. Cross shape : TAU.
60. Small songbird : VIREO. They seem cute and are popular in the mid-west I am told. LISTEN. (0:14)
61. Customers : CLIENTELE. Pronounced differently but letter for letter from the French for a group of clients.
63. Not showing much life : INERT.
64. Masseur's selection : OILS. My masseuse prefers watercolors.
65. Project : EMIT.
66. New beginnings : DAWNS. No Eos, this time.
67. Stout grain : MALT. The creation of stouts, which are actually stout porters, stems from the use of roasted grains, which makes the liquid dark. Stout referred to the higher alcoholic content.
68. Rip violently : REND. Then you must mend.
Down:
1. USN rank : CPO. Chief Petty Officer. 47D. 1-Down, for one : NON-COM. Non-commissioned officer.
2. Sitar master Shankar : RAVI. I like listening to his DAUGHTER.
3. Gp. that includes Venezuela : OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries:Venezuela was on of the 5 original founders; can you name the other 4?
4. Ridicule : PARODY. I do not like this paring as parodies generally have some warmth.
5. Ed who was the longtime voice of Kraft Foods : HERLIHY. Not sure why we would remember this man's name. OBIT.
6. FaceTime device : I-PAD. I-Phone, I I I I
7. Needled? : SEWN. Cute clue.
8. Nissan model : SENTRA. I like the new MODEL.
10. Subj. with many functions : TRIG. Cute.
11. Indigenous Japanese : AINU. Today's history LESSON.
13. End of a threat : ELSE.
18. Righteous Brothers hit, e.g. : DUET.Wasted a lot of time trying to recall a four letter hit.
21. Record, in a way : FILM. Not so much anymore. Maybe 8MM.
24. Squeezed : WRUNG.
25. From now : HENCE.
26. Spot for a stud : EAR. What do you think ladies?
27. Spring sound : BOING.
28. River to the Severn : WYE. It separates England and Wales; but I defer to Steve and NC for real commentary.
30. Relish : SAVOR. Do you relish relish?
31. Flightless zoo bird : EMU. They are flightless when not in a zoo as well.
34. "Okey-doke!" : YEP. I am an okey dokey smokey man myself.
36. "M*A*S*H" set piece : COT. Where Hawkeye, Trapper John and their roommates often interacted. At first when I had CO_, my mind went to cod piece...
37. Up-and-comers with egos : HOT SHOTS. Charlie Sheen? Tom Cruise?
39. Catcher behind a plate? : BIB. I have seen this clue/fill before, but it still rings hollow for me, as my bib are opposite the plate, protecting my shirt and tie.
42. Old Italian capital : LIRE. No Friday solver will fall for this old trick.
44. Most supple : LITHEST. A fun word, unless you lisp. Diana Rigg always looked lithe as Mrs. Peel; guys who would you nominate?
48. Profit : GAIN.
49. Water catcher : GUTTER.
52. Enthusiastic : AVID.
53. 1492 caravel : NINA. It was easy to guess because of the date, but it was a new WORD.
54. Took from the deck : DREW. Just not from the bottom, please.
55. Gull-like bird : TERN.
56. Pelvic bones : ILIA. My favorite I[l]lya. LINK. (1:47).
57. Spot for ten-spots : TILL. Nice layered clue, with the advent of credit cards and electronic cash registers, the word is not heard much anymore.
58. Fast-spreading Internet phenomenon : MEME. It is fascinating to have lived for many years without this word, which comes from an ancient Greek CONCEPT. I was watching a rerun from the first year of Criminal Minds and the characters were being told what a "viral" video was. So much changes in 10 years, and our age group sees the before and after.
59. Nordegren who married Tiger Woods in 2004 : ELIN. She was Jasper Parnevik's nanny, and now she is fabulously wealthy as well as being...after two children.
62. Flight board abbr. : ETD. Estimated Time of Departure. Well it is my exact time of departure, as another week has gone by. This is the anniversary of the birth of my paternal grandmother, so to all the departed grandparents out there, rest well and enjoy the puzzles. Happy holidays and get ready for Columbus Day coming soon.
Lemonade out.
