(Notes from C.C.:
Chairman Moe (Chris) is on vacation. Steve, who used to guide us on Thursdays, will be covering for Chris the next few weeks. Steve has been in Las Vegas for a conference, but he still wrote his post. Reminds me of the old days when he completed his blog at various airports. It's so nice to have you back, Steve!)
Theme: Eden Hazard
The reveal describes the theme much more neatly than I can:
58A. John Milton epic, and a hint to how four long answers in this puzzle were formed: PARADISE LOST.
Each of the theme entries drops the last letter of the original noun to form a punny new entry, and the dropped letters in order spell EDEN, hence "paradise" is "lost".
19A. Victory that has a real shine to it?: SPARKLING WIN(E).
29A. Environmental law that targets hair ties?: ELASTIC BAN(D).
37A. Fish that's only on an unofficial menu?: SECRET COD(E).
49A. Provide spiced tea?: SUPPLY CHAI(N).
Happy Friday! I loved the theme and the thematic entries of this puzzle. The new phrases formed from dropping the last letter are fun and clued nicely. I solved the puzzle basically clockwise starting at one o'clock and working my way around to midnight. On my first scan of the NW I didn't see anything obvious so moved on and around. A fun solve.
It looks like a first LAT collaboration from Josh and Katie, so congratulations if that's the case. Both have been published as individuals.
Let's see what else jumps out:
Across:
1. "Lord above!": OH GOD! I'm still getting used to what editor Patti will allow and Rich would not. C.C. can chime in here, but I'd have submitted "EGADS" as a fill to Rich and probably self-edited this one.
6. Mork's planet: ORK.9. Pacific resort, popularly: CABO. Cabo San Lucas is probably the best known, but there are others, collectively known as Los Cabos.
13. Burning: FERVID. Word of the day for me
15. Mammal also called a scaly anteater: PANGOLIN. Weird looking dudes, sadly highly trafficked.
17. Seek refuge from: FLEE TO.
18. Electrify: ENERGIZE.
21. Unknowns: IFS. There are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns according to Donald Rumsfeld. Quite astute.
22. Knee surgery target, for short: ACL. Anterior Cruciate Ligament. I often hear the middle word pronounced (or misunderstood to be) "crucial".
23. Hula or hora: DANCE.
27. "Ten __ Commandments": "Hamilton" song: DUEL. Maybe the theatrical experience is different, but I just couldn't get into the filmed performance on Disney+
33. Like a big sister: ELDER.
35. Yarn spinner: LIAR. I'd call a yarn spinner more of a storyteller, but your mileage may vary.
36. "Is there more to this story?": AND?
41. Boho-chic boot brand: UGG.
44. Wash and dice veggies, e.g.: PREP. If I'm short of time I buy my mirepoix ready prepped from the grocery store and I don't end up with most of a head of celery that I don't need or use.
45. __ Pole: NORTH.
53. iPhone assistant: SIRI.
54. Jia Tolentino piece: ESSAY. She's new to me - Jia's a staff writer at the New Yorker, author of the essay collection Trick Mirror and a screenwriter.
55. "I'm thinking ... ": HMM.
57. Set (down): PUT.
63. Painting featured in Marcel Duchamp's "L.H.O.O.Q.": MONA LISA. The famous mustachio'd painting. The title is a gramogram - when you pronounce the letters (using the french pronounciation) you get a phrase which begins "Elle a chaud ..." or "She has a hot ..." I'll leave you to look up the rest to protect the innocent.
66. Garbage tech: E-WASTE.
67. Shout from the rooftops: PROCLAIM.
68. One working in beta: TESTER.
69. SpongeBob's pet snail: GARY. Thank you, crosses. Never watched the show.
70. Drift off for a bit: NAP.
71. Closing documents: DEEDS.
Down:
1. Soccer ref's ruling: OFFSIDE. Cue lots of arguments. The Video Assistant Referee, or VAR, was introduced to attempt to reduce incorrect offside calls, but the micro-analysis of the relative positions of the players has generated more arguments than before.
2. Advantageous: HELPFUL.
3. Readied, as a baking pan: GREASED.
4. Roger follower, at times: OVER. And out.
5. Former Bears coach: DITKA. Da Bears! WWDD, or What Would Ditka Do?
6. Word in many tournament names: OPEN. I'm going to the US Open Golf Championship here in LA on Sunday. Look out for me at the 18th hole!
7. "You __?": RANG.
8. "Who __?": KNEW.
9. After-dinner brandy: COGNAC.
10. Wong of "Baby Cobra": ALI. Stand-up special from 2016. I know I watched it, don't recall a thing about it.
11. Profession, casually: BIZ.
12. Single: ONE.
14. Fellini's "La __ Vita": DOLCE. Classic 1960's Italian cinema.
16. Football field: GRIDIRON.
20. Green around the gills: ILL.
24. Org. with a February All-Star Weekend: NBA.
25. Coke holder: CAN.
26. Coda: END.
28. "__ Misèrables": LES.
30. First Hebrew letter: ALEPH.
31. "Stay" preceder, perhaps: SIT. My mind jumped to "The Loadout" which is the track which segues into "Stay" on Jackson Browne's classic album "Running on Empty". Here's my earworm music link for the day.
32. Tic-__-toe: TAC.
34. Email button to avoid when sharing office gossip: REPLY ALL.
38. Holler: CRY.
39. TiVo button: REC. Is TiVo still a thing? It feels like the world has moved on to built-in DVR in your cable box and streaming services.
40. __ Equis beer: DOS. Popular in Cabo.
41. Functionality: USE.
42. Director Van Sant: GUS.
43. Route-finding app: GPS.
46. Witty retort to an insult: RIPOSTE.
47. Put faith in: TRUSTED.
48. Baseball lineup: HITTERS. I'm not a baseball expert but do you have a lineup of hitters rather than batters?
50. Vatican City office: PAPACY.
51. Yellowfin tuna: AHI. Tuna + three-letter crossword entry = Ahi. This is starting to become one of those staple fills that may as well have been printed in the grid.
52. "No more for me, thanks": I'M SET.
56. Spoke Siamese?: MEWED. Cute.
59. "Poker Face" creator Johnson: RIAN. Streams on the Peacock service provided by my peeps NBCUniversal. I get a free subscription, which is rather nice.
60. China setting: ASIA.
61. Like a post-bath towel: DAMP.
62. Use a surgical beam: LASE.
63. Fuel efficiency letters: MPG. Miles Per Gallon. I just leased a new car, I'll be keeping a close eye on this over the first few weeks.
64. "You for Me" singer Rita: ORA.
65. Scand. land: NOR. Way. Here's a Scandinavian oddity that I love. When Sweden play Denmark in international soccer games, the scoreboard shows "SWE DEN" which is fun. What is more fun is that the dropped parts of the country names spell "DEN MARK". Cool, huh!
