Theme: Travelocity. Car makers' brands are combined into fun vacation trips. Let's see what they are...
16A. Joint Chevrolet/Kia vacation package? : VENTURE TO SEDONA. Well, I would VENTURE to say, that a trip to SEDONA, AZ would be a relaxing vacation.
23A. Joint GMC/Hyundai vacation package? : SAFARI TO SANTA FE. I don't know how many wild beasts I might find on this SAFARI, but SANTA FE is certainly a wild place.
41A. Joint Ford/Chrysler vacation package? : ESCAPE TO NEWPORT. I love to ESCAPE for a weekend in NEWPORT, visiting all the mansions of Astor and Vanderbilt.
56A. Joint Dodge/Toyota vacation package? : JOURNEY TO TACOMA. I guess I could visit the Museum of Glass on my JOURNEY to TACOMA, WA.
In the center of grid: DROVE (36. Took the wheel). See 19A...Yes, I DROVE the Mercedes on the autobahn.
Hearti here, with this week's Thursday exploration. Another fun theme from Rich - I do hope he will drop in to say hello today! So, on to the rest of the fill:
Across:
1. Payment option : CASH. I don't carry much CASH these days...debit cards are so much more convenient.
5. The Arthur Ashe Award for Courage is one : ESPY. Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Awards, part of the ESPN team and individual athletic achievement awards.
9. Detergent target : DIRT.
13. Peek-__ : ABOO. ("I see you!")
14. One-named singer of "Rolling in the Deep" : ADELE. OK, you know this one...rock on!!
15. Creepy lake? : ERIE. "Eerie" sounding lake.
19. Burns rubber : STEPS ON IT. DH is terrified to be a passenger when I drive. I can't understand why...I had a great time on the autobahn last December!!
20. Sources of inspiration : LUNGS. HaHa, funny clue. "in-spiration" - (breathing "in")
21. Spy novelist Deighton : LEN. Famous for his novel, "The Ipcress File", which was made into a movie starring Michael Caine.
22. Pres. before RWR : JEC. Ronald Wilson Reagan, James Earl Carter.
32. Sheepshank, e.g. : KNOT. This one. Boy Scouts and sailors in our group will recognize it, right?
33. Cleveland's Quicken Loans __ : ARENA. Did not know about this venue for the Cleveland Cavaliers. And then we have 1D. Cleveland cagers : CAVS
34. Blend : MIX
35. Elihu for whom an Ivy is named : YALE. You are all on a first-name basis by now, right?
37. Colada fruit : PINA. In English, "pineapple".
38. Sidewall letters : PSI. Pounds per Square Inch. (Why not "PPSI"?)
39. Glistened : SHONE. Shined, glared, flashed...none fit. What did you come up with?
40. Feature of American panneling, but not British? : ONE L. In the UK they spell it "panelling". Devious clue.
45. Chap : LAD
46. ICU workers : RNS. Registered Nurses in the Intensive Care Unit.
47. Two-time loser to Ike : ADLAI. Stevenson.
50. Sought at auction : PUT A BID ON. Tough to parse this one...not a common expression.
58. Clock radio letters : AM/PM. Anyone else want AM/FM???
59. Colleague of Thomas : ALITO. Supreme Court Justice nominated by George W. Bush in January 2006. And 18 D. Colleague of Clarence : ELENA. Clarence Thomas and Elena Kagan, associate justices of the Supreme Court.
60. Pale-green moth : LUNA. HaHa, I just used this one as part of a clue to a theme entry I am working on today!
61. Homer's tavern : MOE'S. The Simpsons, never watched it.
62. Legendary Brazilian footballer : PELE
63. Celtic land : ERIN
Down:
2. Contribute to, as a crime : ABET
3. Sound measure : SONE
4. Portable cooker : HOT PLATE
5. Site of an early exile : EDEN
6. Space exploration org. : SETI. Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. Why don't we just search for intelligence in our own senate?
7. It's hatched : PLOT
8. Ja or da, stateside : YES. "Ja", in German and "Da", in Russian mean "Yes", in English
9. Take off, as a discount : DEDUCT
10. Malleable metal : IRON
11. Thieves' group : RING
12. Earl Grey et al. : TEAS. I like NesTEA Raspberry flavor.
14. Rice-__ : -A-RONI, the San Francisco treat...
17. App downloader : USER. I have tons of apps on my iPhone. But I love playing scrabble with my friends, best!
22. Dick's partner : JANE. Click on my avatar...they got me started!
23. Internet telephony provider : SKYPE
24. Jawbone of __: Samson's weapon : AN ASS
25. Type of acid found in veggies : FOLIC. One of the important B-Vitamins. And don't forget the 29D. Essential acid : AMINO
26. Mystic's medium : TAROT
27. Home to Maine's Black Bears : ORONO
28. Lowest card in klaberjass : SEVEN. OK, so this was a new one to me, but with a W.A.G. and some perps, I got it right. Maybe Hahtool knows the game? Lemonade tells me that the game is played with a French-suited Piquet deck, which was used to tell fortunes. It's a skill he learned from his grandmother!
30. Of a higher quality : FINER
31. Praise : EXALT
36. Played, but not in the field, briefly: DH'ED. Refers to "Designated Hitter"? So, played as a DH, or "DH'ed"? Boy, I needed all perps for this one!
37. Ice cream truck offering : POPSICLE. Yummm!
39. 1992 Summer Olympics country : SPAIN
42. Roosters, at times : ALARMS
43. Lyre-playing Muse : ERATO
44. Ladies' court gp. : WNBA. Women's National Basketball Association.
47. Stuck, after "in" : A JAM
48. Major-__ : DOMO. Interesting explanation of the term on wiki.
49. Rapper __ Fiasco : LUPE. He's in to skateboarding...
50. Pulitzer-winning WWII journalist : PYLE. Ernie, not Gomer!
51. $150 Monopoly prop. : UTIL. ity
52. Carry : TOTE
53. Gloomy : DOUR
54. Present opening? : OMNI-present. According to Eastern Christianity, God is present everywhere.
55. Asian flatbread : NAAN. This stuff:
57. "The Purloined Letter" monogram : EAP. Edgar Allen Poe. One of three detective stories in a series. The other two were (the more well-known?) "The Murders in the Rue Morgue" and (the less-known?) "The Mystery of Marie Rogêt". Hmmmm...I think I have to go get out my EAP books!
That's it for tonight, folks. See you on the "other side" of midnight!
Hugs,
