Thursday, March 28, 2013 Jeff Hyson and Victor Barocas

Theme: "Whatever floats your boat!"

20A. New Year's Day staple, familiarly : ROSE BOWL PARADE. The official name is the "XXXth Rose Parade," sponsored by the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation.

32A. Place to learn to crawl : SWIM CLASS. Australian or American crawl.

43A. It has a handle and flies : TACKLE BOX. Fun riddle for the clue!

56A. Place to split a split : ICE CREAM PARLOR. Aw, sweet.

And the unifier:

68A. What one might see in a 20-, 32-, 43- or 56-Across : FLOAT.

Just missing a V for a pangram (or Victor?) I was racking my brain, trying to figure out the theme as I went along. Nope. No chance. Without the unifier, I doubt if I would have "got" it. So I had a real "AHA" moment, which should please Victor no end. (^0^)

Marti here, blogging for our Thursday puzzlers. I have had the great pleasure of blogging a couple of Victor’s puzzles, so it was wonderful to see him team up here with another new constructor, Jeff Hyson (isn’t he some kind of tea I have spotted before in crosswords??) Unlike Jeff, BEQ’s #3 ACPT had me scratching my head. The first entry was CAPTCHA, if that will give you any hint…

Across:

1. Short glasses? : SPECS. I wanted "shots" at first.

6. 1979 exile : SHAH.

10. "Collective unconscious" coiner : JUNG. I put myself dangerously near to a coma by reading on and on about this. So, I will eschew any link...

14. Necklace material : CORAL.

Nicolaas Rubens wearing a coral necklace, by Peter Paul Rubens

15. Big Island port : HILO.

16. "Beauty ___ the eye..." : IS IN.

17. President who appointed Sotomayor to the Supreme Court : OBAMA.

18. Loads : A LOT.

19. Beatles movie : HELP.

23. One making sidelong glances : EYER. One who sees beauty?

24. Bias-___ tire : PLY.

25. Mil. roadside hazard : IED. Improvised Exploding Device.

26. Highest of MLB's "minors" : AAA. Division in the minor league of baseball.

28. Ode relic : URN.

29. Animation unit : CEL.

37. "Harold and Maude" director Hal : ASHBY.

39. Aptly named 22-Down : LE CAR. And 22-Down. 39-Across automaker : RENAULT. French automaker.

40. Band since 1980 that disbanded in 2011 : R.E.M. The name was chosen at random from a dictionary.

41. Freeway no-no : U-TURN.

42. "The Wizard of Oz" device : IRONY.

45. Comăneci score : TEN. At the 1976 Olympics, Nadia became the first female gymnast to score a perfect "10."

46. "Now I ___ me..." : LAY.

48. Getting-in approx. : ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.

49. 90210, e.g. : ZIP.

50. Stylist's supply : GEL.

52. Run in the heat? : MELT.

60. Goes downhill fast : SKIS. The season is winding down, but there's still some great skiing out there.

61. Ricelike pasta : ORZO.

62. Worthless : SORRY. As in, "You're a sorry excuse for a man!"

63. Confined, with "up" : PENT.

64. "Terrif!" : NEAT.

65. Lena and others : OLINS.

66. Surfers' guides : FAQS. Internet surfers. Frequently Asked Questions.

67. ___ qua non : SINE. Latin for "without which [there would be] nothing."

Down:

1. Make a point : SCORE.

2. NOLA sandwich : PO' BOY. A New Orleans, Louisiana classic. Where's your favorite place to get them, Hahtoolah?

3. Wipe clean : ERASE.

4. One concerned with composition and angles : CAMERA MAN.

5. Hunk : SLAB. Oh. Sorry, I was thinking of this kind of hunk.

6. Wrapped accessory : SHAWL.

7. Like links golf courses : HILLY.  "Link" comes from Old English "hlinc," which means "ridge." Links courses are typically found along the seashore, built on sand dunes.

8. Crooked : ALOP.

9. Bloviator's talk : HOT AIR. Love that word!  I'm going to use it in a sentence today.

10. Muslim holy war : JIHAD.

11. Exploited : USED.

12. "Aida" backdrop : NILE.

13. Macroeconomics fig. : GNP. Gross National Product. Jazzbumpa knows everything about economics.

21. Gem for a Scorpio, perhaps : OPAL.

27. Fake nail material : ACRYLIC. Don't they look real?

28. "Semper Fi" org. : USMC. Short form of "Semper Fidelis" ("Always Loyal"), the motto of the United States Marine Corps.

29. Carp family fish : CHUB. Pretty fish.

30. Spanish Civil War battle site : EBRO. The Ebro river was the site of one of the bloodiest and most devastating battles of the war.  Map.

31. Snowshoe hare hunter : LYNX.

32. Narrow cut : SLIT.

33. Are in the past? : WERE. Fun clue!

34. Emblem : ICON.

35. Pretentiously showy : ARTY.

36. "Wide Sargasso ___": Jean Rhys novel : SEA.

38. Overpower : STEAMROLL.

44. Plant in an underwater forest : KELP.

47. Golf green borders : APRONS.

49. Citrus peels : ZESTS.

50. Certain strip native : GAZAN. From this strip.

51. Overact : EMOTE.

53. California town whose name means "the river" : EL RIO. Pop. 7,198.

54. Doone who turned out to be Lady Dugal's daughter : LORNA.

55. Secret rendezvous : TRYST.

56. Furniture store that also sells Swedish meatballs : IKEA.

57. Quatre et un : CINQ. 4+1=5. French.

58. "...___ saw Elba" : ERE I. Our favorite crossword palindrome.

59. Starting from : AS OF.

60. No. at the beach : SPF. Sun Protection Factor. Dennis knows how important this is!

See you all next week!

Hugs,

Marti