Theme: Beau Knows (and so do Jeff, Dorothy and Lloyd)
14A. *Billboard entry : POP SONG. Sometimes known as the middle eight, the bridge usually follows the second chorus in a pop song and forms a stylistic break. Many great examples could be referenced, but let's go with "Born To Run" from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The bridge follows the great Clarence Clemons and his sax solo at around the 2:10 mark
20A. *Upright instrument in a bluegrass band : BASS FIDDLE. There's the bridge in the middle with the strings crossing it:
36A. *Place to land when there's no land in sight : AIRCRAFT CARRIER
On a traditional vessel, the bridge spans the superstructure from port to starboard. Due to the fact that you can't put a bridge on the flight deck, the bridge is off to one side.
49A. *LensCrafters products : EYE GLASSES. The bit in the middle that kids break and repair with a band-aid for maximum nerdiness.
and the reveal:
61A. Hollywood family name ... and what the answers to starred clues have in common : BRIDGES. Brothers Beau and Jeff and parents Lloyd and Dorothy.
Nice theme here and some tricky Thursday-level cluing to keep us on our toes. I made couple of missteps in the northwest that slowed me up, but once I gave them a second thought it all fell into place up there. Let's see what jumps out.
Across:
1. "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) director : ROMERO. Thank you, crosses.
7. Street, in Stuttgart : STRASSE
16. "S'pose so" : I RECKON
17. First of a film series about Damien Thorn : THE OMEN. Scared the living daylights out of me, as did the Exorcist. No more horror movies for me after that. I don't do scary.
18. Cultural environments : MILIEUS
19. Marines NCO : S/SGT Staff Sergeant.
22. Head of Hollywood : EDITH. Lots of Hollywood and movie references today.
24. Switchback feature : ESS. Bends.
25. Bordeaux wine : CLARET. The English name for the classic Bordeaux blends; pick two or more varietals from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec and mix. Winemakers in the US produce a similar blend known as Meritage, usually mispronounced with a long "a" at the end. It is "merit-idge" not "merit-arge"
28. Hankering : ITCH
30. Mauna __ : LOA. Could be KOA. Wait for the cross.
33. 19-Across boss : LOOIE. Slang for lieutenant. Pronounced left-tenant in the UK for no good reason I can see.
34. Conniption : FIT
35. "Oh, crud!" : DANG!
40. Span. miss : SRTA. Senorita.
41. "U R 2 funny!" : LOL' Laugh Out Loud in text-speak.
42. Goosebump-inducing : EERIE. See The Omen, above.
43. Neptune's realm : SEA
44. Hot state : RAGE
45. Irritating inconvenience : HASSLE
46. Post-Manhattan Project org. : A.E.C. Nice logo:
47. Selling points? : SHOPS. Nice clue.
53. Grouch : CRAB
57. "Let's talk in my office" : NOT HERE
58. Word in many hymns : REJOICE
60. "Inka Dinka Doo" singer : DURANTE. More crosses, thank you.
62. Son of Clytemnestra : ORESTES. Complicated family. His mother killed his father, then Orestes killed his mother to avenge the deed. All kinds of complications ensued.
63. Campaign ugliness : SMEARS
Down:
1. Official accts. : RPTS. Reports. Not a fan of this one.
2. Sounds of amazement : OOHS. Tried WOWS, didn't work.
3. Compressed video file format : MPEG. Moving Picture Experts Group? Really? Who knew?
4. Abstruse knowledge : ESOTERICA
5. Com can follow it : ROM. Once I took out my first try DOT here and thought twice about WOWS things started to come together in this area. It was my last section to finish.
6. At all : ONE BIT
7. "The Urbz: __ in the City": video game : SIMS. Guesswork. I knew the game Sim City, I didn't know this title.
8. Long-odds bet : TRIFECTA. One-two-three in the race. I won a quite sizable sum of money at Santa Anita when I hit a trifecta. It was a complete fluke, I was looking at the next race in the Racing Form when I picked my numbers.
9. It's often put on a dog : RELISH. Nice clue again. Relish, mustard. No ketchup, ever.
10. Litmus reddeners : ACIDS. Alkalis turn litmus paper blue, if chemistry lesson memory serves me correct. Or was that Universal Indicator Paper? It's been a while since science class.
11. Short itinerary? : SKED.
12. Motown music : SOUL
13. First word of Massachusetts' motto : ENSE. Quite a mouthful, this motto:
"Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" Usually translated as "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty".
15. Pest in a swarm : GNAT
21. Lazy : SHIFTLESS
23. Stag, for one : DEER
25. Elegance : CLASS
26. French wine valley : LOIRE. France has some beautiful countryside, including the quite stunning Loire Valley. Did you see the Tour de France this last three weeks? Plenty of aerial shots of the French countryside. Beautiful.
27. Main artery : AORTA. Not the 405 or the 101 in this neck of the woods.
29. It may be nervous : TIC
30. Hibernation spots : LAIRS
31. NBC newsman Roger : O'NEIL. Nailed it. Finally got this name set in my head.
32. Come to terms : AGREE
35. Specification regarding threads : DRESS CODE. Great clue.
37. Like many steakhouse menus : A LA CARTE. Just steakhouses?
38. London bank? : FOG. The legendary and notorious London fogs are a thing of the past since the introduction of the Clean Air Act and the phasing out of coal fires for heating homes. The air is still pretty bad, mainly from emissions from diesel engines (taxis and buses).
39. Harvest : REAP
44. Give in : RELENT
45. Unmannerly sorts, in Canadian slang : HOSERS. We had a discussion about this a couple of months ago when it appeared in another Thursday puzzle.
46. Turkish honorifics : AGHAS. That middle "H" seem to make me stumble.
48. Window box plant : HERB. I've got basil in mine.
49. Opposite of exo- : ENDO-
50. Part of FYI : YOUR. For Your Information.
51. Raison d'__ : ETRE. Reason for being, literally.
52. Witnesses : SEES
54. Latvian capital : RIGA
55. Taiwan-based computer giant : ACER. I thought until recently this company had gone out of business, but no.
56. Gershwin heroine : BESS
59. Parsons of "Hidden Figures" : JIM
Wow, that went quickly. So here's the grid, and I'm done!
Steve
14A. *Billboard entry : POP SONG. Sometimes known as the middle eight, the bridge usually follows the second chorus in a pop song and forms a stylistic break. Many great examples could be referenced, but let's go with "Born To Run" from Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The bridge follows the great Clarence Clemons and his sax solo at around the 2:10 mark
20A. *Upright instrument in a bluegrass band : BASS FIDDLE. There's the bridge in the middle with the strings crossing it:
36A. *Place to land when there's no land in sight : AIRCRAFT CARRIER
On a traditional vessel, the bridge spans the superstructure from port to starboard. Due to the fact that you can't put a bridge on the flight deck, the bridge is off to one side.
49A. *LensCrafters products : EYE GLASSES. The bit in the middle that kids break and repair with a band-aid for maximum nerdiness.
and the reveal:
61A. Hollywood family name ... and what the answers to starred clues have in common : BRIDGES. Brothers Beau and Jeff and parents Lloyd and Dorothy.
Nice theme here and some tricky Thursday-level cluing to keep us on our toes. I made couple of missteps in the northwest that slowed me up, but once I gave them a second thought it all fell into place up there. Let's see what jumps out.
Across:
1. "Dawn of the Dead" (1978) director : ROMERO. Thank you, crosses.
7. Street, in Stuttgart : STRASSE
16. "S'pose so" : I RECKON
17. First of a film series about Damien Thorn : THE OMEN. Scared the living daylights out of me, as did the Exorcist. No more horror movies for me after that. I don't do scary.
18. Cultural environments : MILIEUS
19. Marines NCO : S/SGT Staff Sergeant.
22. Head of Hollywood : EDITH. Lots of Hollywood and movie references today.
24. Switchback feature : ESS. Bends.
25. Bordeaux wine : CLARET. The English name for the classic Bordeaux blends; pick two or more varietals from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Malbec and mix. Winemakers in the US produce a similar blend known as Meritage, usually mispronounced with a long "a" at the end. It is "merit-idge" not "merit-arge"
28. Hankering : ITCH
30. Mauna __ : LOA. Could be KOA. Wait for the cross.
33. 19-Across boss : LOOIE. Slang for lieutenant. Pronounced left-tenant in the UK for no good reason I can see.
34. Conniption : FIT
35. "Oh, crud!" : DANG!
40. Span. miss : SRTA. Senorita.
41. "U R 2 funny!" : LOL' Laugh Out Loud in text-speak.
42. Goosebump-inducing : EERIE. See The Omen, above.
43. Neptune's realm : SEA
44. Hot state : RAGE
45. Irritating inconvenience : HASSLE
46. Post-Manhattan Project org. : A.E.C. Nice logo:
47. Selling points? : SHOPS. Nice clue.
53. Grouch : CRAB
57. "Let's talk in my office" : NOT HERE
58. Word in many hymns : REJOICE
60. "Inka Dinka Doo" singer : DURANTE. More crosses, thank you.
62. Son of Clytemnestra : ORESTES. Complicated family. His mother killed his father, then Orestes killed his mother to avenge the deed. All kinds of complications ensued.
63. Campaign ugliness : SMEARS
Down:
1. Official accts. : RPTS. Reports. Not a fan of this one.
2. Sounds of amazement : OOHS. Tried WOWS, didn't work.
3. Compressed video file format : MPEG. Moving Picture Experts Group? Really? Who knew?
4. Abstruse knowledge : ESOTERICA
5. Com can follow it : ROM. Once I took out my first try DOT here and thought twice about WOWS things started to come together in this area. It was my last section to finish.
6. At all : ONE BIT
7. "The Urbz: __ in the City": video game : SIMS. Guesswork. I knew the game Sim City, I didn't know this title.
8. Long-odds bet : TRIFECTA. One-two-three in the race. I won a quite sizable sum of money at Santa Anita when I hit a trifecta. It was a complete fluke, I was looking at the next race in the Racing Form when I picked my numbers.
9. It's often put on a dog : RELISH. Nice clue again. Relish, mustard. No ketchup, ever.
10. Litmus reddeners : ACIDS. Alkalis turn litmus paper blue, if chemistry lesson memory serves me correct. Or was that Universal Indicator Paper? It's been a while since science class.
11. Short itinerary? : SKED.
12. Motown music : SOUL
13. First word of Massachusetts' motto : ENSE. Quite a mouthful, this motto:
"Ense petit placidam sub libertate quietem" Usually translated as "By the sword we seek peace, but peace only under liberty".
15. Pest in a swarm : GNAT
21. Lazy : SHIFTLESS
23. Stag, for one : DEER
25. Elegance : CLASS
26. French wine valley : LOIRE. France has some beautiful countryside, including the quite stunning Loire Valley. Did you see the Tour de France this last three weeks? Plenty of aerial shots of the French countryside. Beautiful.
27. Main artery : AORTA. Not the 405 or the 101 in this neck of the woods.
29. It may be nervous : TIC
30. Hibernation spots : LAIRS
31. NBC newsman Roger : O'NEIL. Nailed it. Finally got this name set in my head.
32. Come to terms : AGREE
35. Specification regarding threads : DRESS CODE. Great clue.
37. Like many steakhouse menus : A LA CARTE. Just steakhouses?
38. London bank? : FOG. The legendary and notorious London fogs are a thing of the past since the introduction of the Clean Air Act and the phasing out of coal fires for heating homes. The air is still pretty bad, mainly from emissions from diesel engines (taxis and buses).
39. Harvest : REAP
44. Give in : RELENT
45. Unmannerly sorts, in Canadian slang : HOSERS. We had a discussion about this a couple of months ago when it appeared in another Thursday puzzle.
46. Turkish honorifics : AGHAS. That middle "H" seem to make me stumble.
48. Window box plant : HERB. I've got basil in mine.
49. Opposite of exo- : ENDO-
50. Part of FYI : YOUR. For Your Information.
51. Raison d'__ : ETRE. Reason for being, literally.
52. Witnesses : SEES
54. Latvian capital : RIGA
55. Taiwan-based computer giant : ACER. I thought until recently this company had gone out of business, but no.
56. Gershwin heroine : BESS
59. Parsons of "Hidden Figures" : JIM
Wow, that went quickly. So here's the grid, and I'm done!
Steve
