29D. 13th-century English friar/philosopher : ROGER BACON. Who is Roger Bacon? LINK
68A. "We Have The Meats" fast food chain, and a homophonic hint to the six longest puzzle answers : ARBY'S
Argyle here. Plenty of entries so a few tricky spots. Mine was the left coast, middle.
Across:
1. Glass edge : RIM
4. Personal histories : PASTS
9. Infielder Rod in Cooperstown : CAREW. Remember him from last Thursday? And someone new 65A. Hall of Fame second baseman Bobby : DOERR. Wiki for this Red Soxer.
14. "Caught you!" : "A-HA!"
15. Stag, at a party : ALONE
16. Egg-shaped : OVATE
19. Battery acronym : NICAD. (nickel–cadmium)
20. Olympics skating analyst Ohno : APOLO. He was a short track speed skater.
21. Laborious tasks : TRAVAILS
23. Post-shower powder : TALC
26. "Twin Peaks" actress Sherilyn : FENN
27. USN officer : CDR. (Commander)
30. Buying plan with a down payment : LAYAWAY. Odd clue.
Theme: A LOW KEY Thursday, like this hilarious LOW KEY Comedian
Mary Lou's lovely Thursday exercise got me with LACT_/SAM_. I didn't know SAMI but had a good feeling about LACTO. Her LOW KEY theme used the gimmick that the word KEY could be appended to the last word in the four down fills with asterisks to form a common phrase. The first word of the amended phrase was also LOW on the vertical fill and so LOW KEY! 3. *Event for A-listers, say : PRIVATE FUNCTION - Where the elite meet and FUNCTION KEY on my MacBook Pro. Any of the 11 on the top row
11. *The Hagia Sophia, for nearly a millennium : BYZANTINE CHURCH - Constantinople CHURCH and CHURCH KEY - puncture or cap removal type
27. *Sirius' constellation : CANIS MAJOR - The winter constellation and MAJOR KEY signatures in music
29. *Space to maneuver : WIGGLE ROOM - Plausible denial or ROOM KEY (modern version) that all my Florida kids got and half managed to lose at one time or another
58. With 59-Down, subdued, and a hint to the answers to starred clues : LOW. 59. See 58. Down - KEY and there you have the reveal: LOW KEY Marti is off in Europe sightseeing, staying with friends and helping to kick off Oktoberfest in Bavaria. I am her envious and barely adequate pinch hitter. Across 1. Oz. sextet : TSPS - 6 TSPS per oz. abbr/abbr. Not Kazie's Oz. 5. Hamlet's foppish courtier : OSRIC - Yeah, I knew that! 10. Abba not known for singing : EBAN - ABBA Eban who held many posts in Israeli government 14. Other, in Orizaba : OTRO - EspaƱol - "On the other hand" becomes "pro OTRO lado" 15. __ Park: Knott's Berry Farm city : BUENA
16. Connecticut town for which a disease is named : LYME - Less favorable notoriety than Buena Park 17. Sinn __ : FEIN - An Irish political party. Name means "Ourselves" 18. 100-eyed guardian of Io : ARGUS - Yikes! I'm pretty sure we wouldn't see eye to eye to eye to eye...
19. Weizman of Israel : EZER - Seventh president of Israel 20. Bean used in falafel : FAVA - They were also a side dish in a grotesque meal in Silence Of The Lambs. 21. Half a comedy duo : MEARA - Part of Stiller and Meara and mother to Ben Stiller 22. Two-time MLB all-star Ron : GANT - Now host of Good Morning Atlanta, a city where he once played 23. Three-handed game : SKAT - Aggressive SKAT play
24. Wrench handle? : ALLEN - I loved this clue. My bike requires ALLEN wrenches on most bolts 25. Stats for QBs : INTS - When your number of INTerceptionS exceed your number of COMPletionS, you will probably have to seek other employment 26. "Clueless" co-star __ Dash : STACEY - I know it's lame, but I was CLUELESS about Stacey 28. Johannesburg section : SOWETO - SOWEstern Townships.
30. Salad option : CAESAR - Et tu? 31. Social calls : VISITS 33. "__ Wiedersehen" : AUF - Literally means "until we see again". AUF Wiedersehen, Marti! 34. It often says "Hello" : NAME TAG 38. FDR loan org. : NHA - National Housing Agency was part of FDR's alphabet soup
39. "Pardon me, Giuseppe" : SCUSI - Dean Martin sang "Grazie, Grazie, SCUSI, Prego" 41. CPR provider : EMT - First responders run TO danger 42. Something in your eye : GLEAM 44. Wires, e.g. : SENDS - Used mainly to transfer money today 45. Mr. Rogers : ROY 46. Dairy prefix : LACTI - LACTOse occurred to me first 47. Brown shade : CAMEL 49. "He that __ down with dogs shall rise up with fleas": Franklin : LIETH - Birds of a feather... 51. Bar made by Hershey's : KIT KAT
53. Enterprise bridge regular : MR SULU 56. "Vous ĆŖtes __": Paris map words : ICI - You are here! 57. Dog days mo. : JUL - A fairly cool July on the prairie this year 59. Kitchy-__ : KOO 60. Cartoonist Chast : ROZ - Clueless redux 61. Disney's Bob Iger, e.g. : CEO 62. Dash prefix : ODO - The ODOmeter on your car's dashboard. Can they still be turned back? 63. Frequent co-producer of U2 albums : ENO - A frequent cwd commodity 64. "__: Miami" : CSI 65. 54-year-old doll : KEN - Middle-aged KEN and Barbie
66. VCR button : REW 67. Sweet tuber : YAM - YAMS with brown sugar, marshmallows and football. Now that's Thanksgiving! 68. Bulls and bucks : HE'S - Both male Down:
1. Farnham Fops - TOFFS - A gaggle of TOFFS
2. Outback condiment : STEAK SAUCE 4. Piano pieces : SONATAS 5. Period since 2009 : OBAMA ERA 6. Without a doubt : SURELY - From my "funniest movie ever"
7. Courtly : REGAL 8. Hardens : INURES 9. 18th-century Italian adventurer : CASANOVA - Oh, it's called adventuring 10. Poetic laments : ELEGIES - Was I the only one who read this in high school?
12. "I'll say!" : AMEN TO THAT - Right on, brother! 13. "Darn it!" : NERTS 30. Mama known for singing : CASS - "...and everyone's getting' fat 'cept Mama CASS" 32. Scandinavian native : SAMI- Not a clue, er no idea. These are Indigenous people living in the very north of Sweden, Finland and Norway. Tundra is a SAMI word used in many other languages. 35. Jazzman Saunders : MERL - SF jazz organist/keyboard player 36. Expressive music genre : EMO 37. Texter's sign-off : TTYL - Talk To You L8r 40. Home to Pierre: Abbr. : S DAK - Where Lewis and Clark encountered Teton Sioux or Lakota tribes 43. Back muscles, briefly : LATS - Latissimus Dorsi
48. Czerny piano piece : ETUDE 50. "__ roll!" : I'M ON A 51. Bit of excitement : KICK 52. Frozen treat : ICEE 54. Shed : LOSE 55. Strong arms? : UZIS - I'll bet EZER Weizman knew his way around one C.C. was very LOW KEY when we visited with her and Boomer but I wonder how many of my other crossword friends here. There are a lotta hot buttons out there! Who knew a comma could raise IRE?
Theme - INTO THE WOODS. The theme answers are the names of trees, but clued differently, of course [though cluing as the trees' woods or fruits is only slightly different] and they are located at the puzzle's periphery, thus surrounding all the other fill.
1 A. Hearth dust : ASH. That is what is left of the wood when the fire is done burning. Sadly, the ASH tree is under attack from a green boring beetle. I thought this might be why fewer baseball bats were being made from ash and more from MAPLE, but that turns out not to be the case. The word is derived from Latin, via Old English, meaning spear in both languages, which can provide another hint as to one of its uses
4 A. Snapple's __ Madness : MANGO. A fruity beverage made of kiwi and vegetable juices, MANGO puree and other stuff. The eponymous tree is tropical and cultivated for its fruit.
9 A. Jet black : EBONY. A deep black color, named for the wood of the EBONY trees - several species of the genus Diospyrosnative to Africa and Asia. The wood is used for decorative and ornamental purposes.
65 A. Syrup type : MAPLE. Made by boiling down the sap of the tree of the same name. There are other syrups made from corn and sugar cane, but only pure MAPLE syrup will adorn my pancakes!
66 A. __ Rapids, Iowa : CEDAR. Iowa's second largest city straddles the CEDAR River, named for the red CEDAR trees that grow in its Minnesota and Iowa watershed.
67 A. C&W's __ Ridge Boys : OAK. They started in the 40's as country group Wally Fowler and the Georgia Clodhoppers [I am not making this up] who evolved into the OAK Ridge Boys [because that was where they usually performed,] a gospel singing quartet that changed their focus in the 70's, thus generating several country and crossover hits. Of course many personnel changes occurred over the years. The tree whose name is at the heart of all this is native to the northern hemisphere.
1 D. Jam fruit : APRICOT. Well, this could have been just about anything - but as is it is one of my favorites. Apricot trees are from the genus prunus - bearing fruits with a stone seed at the core.
13. Robin Hood's bow wood : YEW. Again, the wood and its tree. "The secret to the Yew bow’s strength and beauty is it’s natural laminate of heartwood and sapwood. The heartwood is where the power comes from, it’s ability to be compressed and return back to its original shape is almost unmatched in any other wood. The sapwood of the tree is superior under tension and protects the heartwood from being able to break, but also adds beauty. This is why some Native North American tribes believe this tree was put on earth for the making of bows and referred to it as the chief of the forest, being a small tree mostly almost vine-like under towering Old Growth forests."
27. Cookie fruit : FIG. Fruit and tree - an Asian species in the mulberry family, cultivated since ancient times.
39. Trident, e.g. : GUM. Well - this is different - and confusing. Trident is a brand name for sugar-free chewing gum. People have been chewing gum made from various tree bark extracts for millennia. In recent decades, though, natural gums have been replaced by polybutadiene, a synthetic polymer (yum!) GUM tree can refer to various types of trees from the eucalyptus, angophora or corymbia genera, native to Australia and/or Tasmania. The American Sweet GUM tree is completely different, native to the southeastern U. S., Mexico and Central America.
46. Poison drunk by Socrates : HEMLOCK. Here, we have a case of mistaken identity. Socrates' bane, corium maculatum, is a poisonous biennial herb of the carrot family, also known by several other names such as carrot fern, poison parsley and devil's bread. These plants contain several chemically similar highly potent alkaloids that attack the nervous system leading to paralysis of resperitory muscles. The completely unrelated and nontoxic HEMLOCK tree includes several species of the genus tsuga, tall conifers in the pine family, pinaceae. The crushed foliage exude an aroma similar to that of the poisonous plant, hence the name.
58. Common street name : ELM. Many American cities once had shady tree-lined streets - hence the name transfer from the tree. In the mid 20th century, elm growth in North America and Europe was devastated by dutch ELM disease, an affliction caused by three related fungus species spread by the ELM bark beetle. It's ben a mightmare.
And the unifier: 36 A. Like a shady boulevard ... and like this puzzle, in terms of its 12 border answers : TREELINED. Which by this time should need no further explanation.
Hi gang, it's JazzBumpa, back after a long hiatus. Despite what you may be thinking, I was neither lost in the woods nor up a tree. Wood you like to go exploring in today's sylvan adventure? I wood, so let's discover if we can find the forest for the trees.
But beware -- there may be danger!
Across
14. Shade of green : PEA. Like olive drab, but slightly less exciting.
15. Exemplary : IDEAL. Serving as a good example. Am I exemplary when I DEAL at the poker game?
16. "Irma la __" : DOUCE. Sweet Irma, the central character in a 1956 romantic comedy about prostitution, intrigue and moral degradation, starring Shirley MacLaine and Jack Lemon. Sweet, indeed!
17. Flock member : RAM. Likely to be an old goat.
18. Intimate : CLOSE. I guess this explains white intimate apparel is close fitting.
20. Provence pronoun : ILS. Google translate tells me this means "they."
21. Structures with many layers? : HEN HOUSES. Would you like more of this kind of yolk? Do you think I'm egging you on? Are you shell shocked? [Extra credit for anyone who can make a pun involving "albumin."]
23. "My Antonia" novelist : CATHER. Willa, 1873 - 1947. After growing up first in Virginia, which her family left in 1882 to avoid a TB outbreak, and Nebraska, she graduated from Nebraska U, thus becoming an official Husker! She then lived in Pittsburgh for 10 years and finally settled in New York City, though "settled" is probably a bit misleading, since she traveled extensively and spend her summers in New Brunswick.
25. To some degree : SORT OF. So you might say she SORT OF lived in New York.
28. Situation before a two-run homer : ONE ON. Baseball! The condition of having ONE runner ON base - any base.
29. "Barnaby Jones" star : EBSEN. Buddy (1908-2003.) I remember him as Holly Golightly's [Audrey Hepburn] abandoned husband, Doc, in Breakfast at Tiffany's, a thoroughly ghastly movie, in a way that only something from the early 60's could be. But that gives me an excuse to link to this wonderful Henry Mancini song featuring Dick Nash on trombone, from the score album. Mysteriously, the song is never heard in the movie.
32. Lilly of pharmaceuticals : ELI. (1838-1898) He was a successful pharmacist, Union army hero in the Civil War, and unsuccessful plantation owner after the war. He returned to pharmacy and became wealthy by making several advances in the manufacture of medicines.
33. Hardly talkative : TERSE. And that's all I have to say.
34. Strange: Pref. : XENO-. From the Greek
35. Take down __ : A PEG. Reprimand someone for being arrogant.
39. Long-jawed fish : GARS. No hint that a plural is needed.
42. Order in the court : WRIT. Clever, but I'm not sure it's correct. A WRIT is an order issued by a court, but generally sent to a recipient outside of the court. That may be a lower level court, but still. I rest my case
43. "Happy Pills" singer Jones : NORAH. Ravi Shankar's daughter.
4. Author of "Hawaii," "Alaska," and "Texas" : MICHENER. James Albert (1907 - 1997) His novels are too big and sprawling for me.
5. Psychologist Alfred : ADLER. Alfred (1870-1937) founder of individual psychology, a post-Freudian method influential in counseling.
6. Lamp gas : NEON. It glows.
7. Cut that may need stitches : GASH.
8. Parkay, say : OLEO. Ersatz butter. What do Hungarians put on their toast? Magyarine! [Actually, we're pretty big on bacon grease.]
9. New Jersey township named for an inventor : EDISON. Thomas Alva (1847-1931.)
10. Silly blunder : BONER. Probably derived from making a bone-headed play.
11. Walk faster than : OUT STEP. I wanted OUT PACE, which seems more in-the-language.
12. PX shopper : NCO. Non Commissioned Officer at the Post Exchange.
22. Try to tempt with : USE ON. You can use all your charms on your next victim.
24. Party throwers : HOSTS. Etymology, via Wictionary: From Old French oste (French: hĆ“te), from Middle Latin hospitem, accusative of hospes (“a host, also a sourjourner, visitor, guest; hence, a foreigner, a stranger”), from Proto-Indo-European *gŹ°Ć³spot- (“master of guests”), from *gŹ°Ć³stis (“stranger, guest, host, someone with whom one has reciprocal duties of hospitality”) and *pĆ³tis (“owner, master, host, husband”). Used in English since 13th century.
26. "Hip, hip, Jorge!" : OLE. Spanish cheer, here presented as a ghastly pun and a reach too far.
29. Wield : EXERT. As force, as in using a weapon.
30. Prove otherwise : BELIE. Debunk.
31. Piques : SNITS. Little anger episodes. Aren't they cute?
35. Beautify : ADORN. Decorate.
37. "The Seven Year Itch" actor Tom : EWELL. Star of the stage play and the movie.
38. Jeopardize : ENDANGER. As one's marriage, per the above clip.
40. Anti-apartheid org. : ANC. African National Congress, the ruling national political party of the Republic of South Africa since 1994.
41. 1987 title law-enforcing cyborg : ROBOCOP.
44. Meets, as a challenge : RISES TO.
45. "Anne of Green Gables" community : AVONLEA. A fictional community on Prince Edward Island
54. Old Norse explorer : ERIC. (EirĆkr Ćorvaldsson; 950 – c. 1003) The turn-of-the-millennium Norse had spent the previous couple of centuries earning a reputation as nasty people. Ćorvald Ćsvaldsson was so nasty that the other Norse could not tolerate him. He was exiled from Norway and settled with his family on the West coast of Iceland. Continuing the family tradition, his son Eric - called "The Red" due to his Marxist leanings the color of his hair and beard - was exiled in turn for committing "some killings" in Iceland, ca. 982. Per Wikipedia, he spent his three years of exile exploring Greenland, and established the first successful Norse settlement there. Lovely fellow.
55. Marketing leader? : TELE. TELEmarketing is a rude intrusion. This type of affix clue always annoys me.
56. Nudge : PROD. As with an elbow.
59. Pastoral expanse : LEA. From Middle English for a grass land, and what you might find when you emerge from the woods. Well, here we are on the lea-ward side, safe and sound. IMHO we had a successful excursion. We were able to branch out a bit, and I only barked my shins a couple of times. Hope you enjoyed it, too. [Full disclosure: I used Wikipedia and Mr. Google to root out the information contained herein.] Cool regards! JzB
61A. *Venue for hypothetical legal cases : MOOT COURT
11D. *Wallet alternatives : MONEY CLIPS
29D. *Hannah Montana portrayer : MILEY CYRUS
Argyle here, bro. Easy theme and plentiful. The crossing theme entries and the fill lift this up from being a mediocre Monday.
Across:
1. Gear tooth : COG
4. Scotch whisky brand : J AND B
9. Apples, e.g. : POMES. A botanical name ultimately from Late Latin pomum.
14. Sushi bar tuna : AHI
15. "Inside the NBA" analyst Shaq : O'NEAL. Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal, nicknamed Shaq, is an American retired professional basketball player, former rapper, actor and current analyst on the television program Inside the NBA. Wikipedia
16. Scary bacteria : E COLI
19. Charged toward : RAN AT
20. Long Island airport town : ISLIP. Long Island MacArthur Airport.
21. "Divergent" star Woodley : SHAILENE. "Divergent" is a novel, a film and a sequel already.
23. Robber, to cops : PERP. Short for perpetrator and not our perpendicular.
26. Join the game : PLAY
27. Electrical unit of resistance : OHM
30. Fish market offering : SEA BASS
33. Revolutionary Guevara : CHE
38. Linen fiber source : FLAX
39. Statesman Stevenson : ADLAI
40. Part of UNLV : LAS. (University of Nevada-Las Vegas)
41. Fly like a parasailer : GLIDE
42. Weed-control tools : HOEs
45. "Take your pick" : "ANY"
46. Ironed : PRESSED
47. Grounded fast jet, briefly : SST. (Supersonic transport)
48. Affordable __ Act : CARE
50. "This __ unfair!" : IS SO
52. Car thief on a pleasure spin : JOY RIDER
56. Car wheel shafts : AXLES
60. Offensively pungent : ACRID
64. Stop to think, say : PAUSE
65. Alma __ : MATER
66. Word in itineraries : VIA
67. Tricky road curves : ESSES
69. Wild blue yonder : SKY
Down:
1. Victoria's Secret garment, for short : CAMI. (camisole)
2. Cries of discovery : "O HO!"s
3. "You go, __!" : GIRL
4. "My Cousin Vinny" co-star : JOE PESCI. The favorite scene here on the Corner.
5. Post-apartheid ruling party: Abbr. : ANC, (African National Congress)
6. Prefix with conservative : NEO
7. Father figures : DADS
8. "Ick!" : "BLEH!"
9. Hazards : PERILS
10. Central Florida city : OCALA. "Snakes and gators and bears, oh my Ocala perils!"
12. Zing : ELAN
13. Web browsing destination : SITE
18. Dainty taste : SIP
22. Church recess : APSE
24. Vintage vehicle : REO. REO was founded by Ransom E. Olds.
25. One of Tony Soprano's henchmen : PAULIE
27. Mutual of __ : OMAHA. Make sure your policy is paid up if Paulie is coming to visit.
28. Was wearing : HAD ON
31. Fiber-rich cereals : BRANS
32. St. Francis of __ : ASSISI
34. Greek god of the underworld : HADES
35. Use, as influence : EXERT
37. __ in November : N AS
38. Showman Ziegfeld : FLO
41. Devout term for a churchyard : GOD'S ACRE. Gottesacker. (German)
43. TV "neigh" sayer : "MR. ED"
44. These, in Nice : CES
46. Lion family units : PRIDES
49. Roll out of the sack : ARISE
51. Kitchenware brand : OXO
52. Bit of mockery : JAPE
53. Andean stew tubers : OCAs
54. Buxom one-named supermodel : EMME
55. What the buffalo do, in song : ROAM Go to YouTube for the lyrics.
57. Disposable diapers brand : LUVS
58. "CHiPs" star Estrada : ERIK
59. Time at a motel : STAY
62. Non-Rx : OTC. (Over-the-counter)
63. Golfer's gadget ... or where it's used : TEE...or fashion accessory.
