Good Mornng, Crucuverbalists! Malodorous Manatee here with a recap of a puzzle by Josh Horowitz. Josh is a fellow Los Angeleno. Here is a link to the "About Me" section of his web site where I learned that bit of information: Josh Horowitz "About Me" You can peruse the rest of his site by clicking on the headings at the top of that web page.
Per Josh, "(This is) my first published crossword to date. I got interested in crosswords during the Pandemic era lockdowns and came up with the idea to make one myself during the heat of that summer of 2020."
Let's jump right in and take a look at this inaugural effort in which Josh has added the letters A and C to the start of three everyday two-word descriptions in order to morph those into the answers to their respective clues. The reveal comes at:
61 Across: Summertime chore, or an apt title for this puzzle: AC INSTALLATION. Install the Air Conditioner.
We are asked to "install" AC in the following places:
16 Across: What poker chips might do?: ACCOMPANY CARDS. As this was the first "themer" to fall, for a while this solver thought that the "gimmick" might involve A, C and D. I was thinking of COMPANY CARS. As it turned out, however, this one was based on COMPANY CARDS (as in business cards) with the D already in place. Armed with this knowledge the others fell fairly easily.
29 Across: What people waiting in a long line might do?: ACCOST CUTTERS. From COST CUTTERS but here folks might be confronting those who are trying to cut the line.
46 Across: What people who eschew online banking might do?: ACCLAIM CHECKS. From CLAIM CHECK. Handwritten checks long preceded Veno, Zelle, Google Wallet and Apple Pay. In Santa Barbara in the mid 1970's, a poster in the form of a scenic a check showing the Isla Vista branch of Bank of Americawas widely acclaimed.
Here are the other clues and answers:
Across:
1. Map out: PLAN.
5. With 5-Down, summer shirt: TANK. The T does double duty here.
9. Keeping folks waiting: LATE.
13. Brontė heroine: EYRE. A frequent visitor.
14. Woodwind played by Andy Mackay of Roxy Music: OBOE. He also plays the saxophone.
15. Ireland, poetically: ERIN.
19. Stretch, as one's neck: CRANE.
20. __ and aahs: OOHS.
21. Business letters?: INC. Not as in correspondence. LLC would have fit the space.
23. Starpilot and smuggler Solo: HAN. A Star Wars reference. In real life not such a star pilot.
24. No. cruncher: CPA. A frequent consultant in our puzzles.
27. Rival: FOE. We all know who is the arch FOE of capitalism. The lower cases.
28. Scottish no: NAE. In this case, aye.
33. Synthesizer brand: CASIO. Also a maker of watches and and calculators.
34. By land __: OR SEA.
35. Folder's loss: ANTE. A poker (as in card game) reference. "I fold" means "I quit. Keep the chips I have bet so far".
38. Cabs: TAXIS. Not a wine reference, this time.
41. Spy-fi side: USSR.
42. Knobs: DIALS. I got offered an amazing deal today. Someone offered to sell me a stereo with a broken volume knob. I couldn’t turn it down!
44. Words of clarification: I MEAN.
50. Sat: MET. As in convened.
51. Brandy bottle letters: VSO. I am aware of VSOP (very special old pale) , VS (very special) and XO (extra old) on brandy bottles but had not previously seen VSO as a designation.
52. Corvallis sch.: OSU.
53. "Never hurts to __": ASK.
56. Fed. stipend: SSI.
57. Like good angel food cake: AIRY.
59. Rolls partner: ROYCE. Neither a food nor a music nor a dice game nor an orientation reference . One of those clues playing on the leading cap convention.
65. Immense: VAST. Is less immense half-vast?
66. Woeful sigh: ALAS. In a recent Newsday Saturday Stumper puzzle, ALAS was clued as "word from the Latin for weary".
67. In a thumb-twiddling way: IDLY. We often encounter variations of IDLE in our puzzles (IDLE, IDLY, IDLED).
68. Shady trees: ELMS. We frequently avail ourselves of their shade when solving our puzzles.
69. Comedian Foxx: REDD. Perhaps best known for the TV show Sanford & Son. Redd often worked blue.
70. Egg cream component: SODA. Neither egg nor cream are included in the recipe.
Down:
1. Cobbler fruit: PEACH. Does include PEACH in the recipe.
2. Sports bra fabric: LYCRA.
3. Obscure stuff: ARCANA. Not to be confused with Texarkana.
4. Like Crayola's Unmellow Yellow and Atomic Tangerine: NEON. The referenced colors were unknown but the clue clearly hinted at NEON.
5. See 5-Across: TOP.
6. Law school accrediting org.: ABA.
7. Double negative?: NO NO.
8. Early topic in music theory: KEY OF C. No sharps. No flats.
9. Allow use of for a fee: LEASE TO.
10. Pt. of ETA: ARR. Estimated Time of ARRival.
11. Neat quality: TIDINESS.
12. Captures: ENSNARES.
17. Holy city of Islam: MECCA.
18. Singer Jay known as the "King of Mandopop": CHOU. Unknown to this solver. He has sold over 30,000,000 record albums. Thanks, perps.
22. Civil rights activist Chavez: CESAR. Front and center during many of our formative years.
25. Fruity Pebbles maker: POST. A cereal reference. Kellogg's was too long.
26. Ulaanbaatar's locale: ASIA. So many ASIAn locations from which to choose for the clue.
30. Common flashlight battery: C CELL. Mine always had either D cells or triple A's. Now it has a USB port for charging.
31. __ waste: TOXIC. Sometimes, in old insulation there can be toxic chemicals. You should avoid them asbestos you can.
32. Footlocker: TRUNK.
35. "Vice" Oscar nominee Amy: ADAMS.
36. "Wow, you almost dropped that!": NICE SAVE. The old saying: If you want to make the highlight reel misjudge the fly ball.
37. Strategic: TACTICAL. Actually, not exactly.
39. Intro to a texter's two cents: IMHO. In My Humble Opinion
40. Catches on: SEES. Also, a purveyor of chocolate candy.
43. Learned experts: SAVANTS.
45. Luxury Honda brand: ACURA.
47. Goddess often depicted holding an ankh: ISIS. A frequent visitor,
48. Masonry mixture: MORTAR.
49. Marry: SAY I DO.
54. Tell off: SCOLD. I stubbed my toe and got SCOLDed by my parents for yelling “What the duck”. They were angry that I used fowl language.
55. Home country of marathon world record holder Kelvin Kiptum: KENYA. Home of many long distance running champions.
58. Handsome Dan's school: YALE. The mascot of YALE University is a bulldog named Handsome Dan.
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