ACES HIGH
Aces High - Iron Maiden
Kevin and daughter Kaela ( see here ) have teamed up to give us a mirror symmetry, FOURTEEN x 16 grid with horizontal Royalty in the themers, and a vertical Royal Reveal. Kevin and wife Zhou Zhang paired up here for the LA Times back on July 10. Because of the odd-sized grid, both 52A. and 57A. are unique fills. Triple-five corners, 24 3LWs, ten names, and no circles. The themers and reveal;
19. Head of a hive: QUEEN BEE
29. Colorful bird with a daggerlike bill: KINGFISHER
52. Milkweed pollinator also called "common tiger": MONARCH BUTTERFLY
10. With 39-Down, defenders over London, or an apt description of 19-, 29-, and 52-Across?: ROYAL
39. See 10-Down: AIR FORCE - I do the Down clues first, so I 'revealed the reveal' to start
Here's me back in 2006 at MacArthur Airport standing beside a fully functional P-51 Mustang
TWELVE cylinder monster - you felt it take off
And in case you can't see the above link, here's a PS image of the same page.
And . . . . Happy Left-Hander's Day~!
YO DUDE, that's like, backwards, my man. . . .25A.
Up, Up, And Away We Go~!ACROSS:
1. Weight-to-height meas.: BMI - Body Mass Index - my trainer has me do a "weigh-in" every two weeks; my fat % went from 40 down to 29.8 over the three months I have been working out - and we're steady holding at 30lbs lost, as well - the next 30 are going to be harder
4. Classic diner order: BLT - Bacon, Lettuce & Tomato, crosswordese
7. Baton Rouge sch.: LSU - Louisiana State University -shoutout~!
10. Big truck: RIG
13. Go on the __: LAM - A little Blue Öyster Cult for you
I'm on the Lam....but I Ain't No Sheep
14. Slaps after shots: BAR FIGHT - my 8D. was "ENOUGH", so this section was all wrong
17. "I __ you one!": "OWE"
18. Verbal hesitations: UMs....ers, uhs, needed crossings
20. __ and yang: YIN
21. Site with "gently used" items: eBAY
23. Buyer's incentive: REBATE - AND - 24A. Buyer's incentive: SALE
25. "My man!": "YO DUDE~!"
27. Frequent toddler mishaps: SPILLS
34. Gather: AMASS - we had this Monday
37. Nevada gambling city: RENO - name #1
38. Parting words: CIAOs - a bit meh.
42. "Cool" amount: MILlion - I have not made my first "cool" million - yet.
43. State between the Pacific Ocean and the Snake River: OREGON - name #2
45. Pen filler: INK
46. Announcement after a brief game stoppage: "PLAY ON~!"
49. Big name in hiking backpacks: OSPREY - not clued as the bird to avoid a theme conflict
57. Reluctant whine: "AWW, DO I HAVE TO~?" - cute 12-letter clue/answer
58. Winnie-the-Pooh's creator: MILNE - name #3
60. "Hot To Go!" singer Chappell: ROAN - don't know of her, more here - name #4
61. Join: MERGE
64. Runway worker: MODEL
65. Overly proud: SMUG
66. Implicit: TACIT - two "-cit" words
67. Complicated situation: SNARL
68. Snakelike: EELY
69. End of the Greek alphabet: OMEGA
DOWN:
1. TV dog whose mum and dad are Chilli and Bandit: BLUEY - I wonder who came up with this clue....
And name #5
And name #5
2. Caribbean dance: MAMBO - I can never remember if it's SAMBA or MAMBO - I was wrong today
Perry Como Papa Loves Mambo from Ocean's Eleven - UH~!
3. [Crying emoji]: I'M SAD 😢
4. Cookout, for short: BBQ - Barbecue - no "Q" in the word, actually
5. Fashion icon Ralph: LAUREN - name #6, but I have heard of him - he's worth a cool $11.9 Billion
6. Peach or beech: TREE - rhyme time
7. Pride parade inits.: LGBT - the acronym has expanded - more here
8. "OK, OK!": "SHEESH~!" - I tried ENOUGH, then STOP IT
9. SLC athlete: UTE - the Utes, short for University of Utah sports players, and Salt Lake City
11. Volunteer's response: "I WILL."
12. Parental hand-me-downs: GENES
15. Black History Mo.: FEBruary
16. Two peas __ pod: IN A
22. Hardy-har-hars: YUKs
24. Speaker on an iPad: SIRI - I am PC - and nam(ish)
26. Put down: DIS - as in DISrespect
28. Delt neighbor: PECtorals, muscles of the chest
30. Watchdog's warning: GRR~!!! - argh~! Not ARF~!
31. Service charge: FEE
32. Gerund suffix: ING - a form derived from a verb that acts like a noun
33. Phillipa of "Hamilton": SOO - name #7
34. Time toggle: AM/PM - nice alliteration in the clue
35. Venus de __: MILO - and now Spinal Tap, with their album, Intravenus De Milo -name #8
36. Hawkeye Pierce player on "M*A*S*H": ALAN ALDA - his whole crossword-friendly name ( #9 ) today
40. Law school newbie: ONE L - crossword staple
41. Absolut alternative: SKYY - Vodkas; here's some "JACK" for a Royal Flush
43. Like audiobooks, once: ON CD
44. Child's punishment, maybe: NO TV - that was my generation; today I am guessing it's "no phone"
47. Snoozefest: YAWNER - Booooooring~!
48. "Animal Farm" novelist George: ORWELL - Double Plus Ungood - his 'other' novel, name #10
50. Appear that way: SEEM TO
51. Image-cultivating group, informally: PR TEAM - Public Relations - the spin doctors
53. Carriage puller: HORSE - OK I was looking for a "10" horse team for the Royal Flush
Alas, we only have eight . . . .
54. Desert or tundra: BIOME - toyed with CLIME
55. Company for DIY movers: U-HAUL
It does say you can move a 2-3 bedroom house . . . .
56. Like some tartar sauce: TANGY
58. Ruler divs., casually: MMs - not "INs", which I didn't think was correct; not sure why we had the 'casually' in the clue, with 'divs.' already there for the abbr.
59. Non-neutral particle: ION
62. Short-term engagement: GIG
63. "When ru coming?": "ETA~?"
Splynter
