17. Office evaluations : JOB RATINGS.
23. Posh Riviera residence : SEASIDE VILLA.
46. "That's my general impression" : I'M PRETTY SURE.
58. Summer venue where kids can clown around? : CIRCUS CAMP.
And the reveal, sitting smack in the middle of the grid:
37. Mischievous ones hiding in plain sight in 17-, 23-, 46- and 58-Across : TROUBLEMAKERS.
BRAT, DEVIL, IMP and SCAMP all span more than one word.
My Thursday friend JW is back. 78 words and 42 blocks is a lot for an end-of-week puzzle, but theme entries of 10, 12, 13, 12, 10 make it tough to create a simple grid design. This one includes long 9- and 10-letter down entries to add to the mix. None of those down entries came immediately to mind, so this seemed tougher than a typical Thursday for me.
Across
1. 122-square-mile republic : MALTA. Oh good grief, who has memorized the acreage of every republic? Tough start.
6. Three or four, say : A FEW.
10. Incise with acid : ETCH.
14. Voiced : ALOUD. Not "spoke."
15. Racing sled : LUGE.
16. Mozart's "__ fan tutte" : COSI. Gimme. "Thus do all (women)."
19. Industrialist who's had his ups and downs? : OTIS. HaHa - the elevator inventor.
20. Plenty : A TON.
21. Syncopated work : RAG.
22. Fla. neighbor : ALA.bama
29. Peaceful harmony : AMITY.
31. "Bravo!" relative : OLE.
32. Tied (to) : WED.
33. Riga native : LETT. If they are from Latvia, why aren't they called "Lats"?
34. Bamboozle : FOOL.
36. Damage, so to speak : COST. When you ask your mechanic, "What are the damages?" be prepared for even more - to your wallet.
40. Acute : KEEN.
41. Troubadour's offerings : AIRS.
42. Sinus docs : ENTs. Not to be confused with Tolkien tree folk.
43. Western treaty gp. : OAS. Organization of American States. Originally just the US and South American states, it later included Canada and the nations of the Caribbean.
44. One in a sports page column : WIN. I don't get it. "One" as in the #1 team? Or just a win that gets written up? [Update: The "columns" would be WINs-Losses-Ties. Thanks for enlightening me, TTP!]
45. Art print, briefly : LITHO. I toyed with "repro" at first, but that wasn't going to work very well.
50. Wear (through) : EAT. Such a small word, but it gave me lots of trouble.
51. Huffington Post parent co. : AOL.
52. Whiskey choices : RYES.
56. "Sea Change" musician : BECK. "Lost Cause" is one of the best songs on the album, IMO.
61. Seize : TAKE.
62. Pen sound : OINK.
63. Part of a TV signal : AUDIO.
64. Milquetoast : WUSS.
65. Pine for : MISS.
66. False __ : START.
Down
1. Subject of clothed and nude Goya portraits : MAJA. We have had her...
2. Frequently : ALOT.
3. Gray wolf : LOBO.
4. Becomes even more charming, say : TURNS IT ON. This is one of the long down answers that wasn't at the tip of my tongue.
5. Org. promoting water fluoridization : ADA. American Dental Association.
6. Police profile datum : ALIAS.
7. Spore producers : FUNGI.
8. Custard component : EGG.
9. Broncos wide receiver Welker : WES. Formerly of the New England Patriots...who are doing just fine without him, thank you very much!
10. USDA inspector's concern : E COLI.
11. Gross figure : TOTAL WORTH. TOTAL (sales?), (costs?), (value?)...
12. CBS series set in a lab : CSI. Crime Scene Investigation.
13. Presley's "(Marie's the Name) __ Latest Flame" : HIS.
18. Serving aid : TRAY.
22. Street sign abbr. : AVE.
24. Words to a traitor : ET TU. Another one of those little entries that gave me fits.
25. Seals the fate of : DOOMS.
26. First name in jazz : ELLA.
27. On a smaller scale : LESS SO.
28. Home security letters : ADT. American District Telegraph. I have Discount Alarm, and pay half the price of ADT.
29. Orioles, e.g., briefly : AL TEAM.
30. Buildings from a plane, metaphorically : MERE SPECKS. Another long down answer that wasn't on the tip of my tongue.
34. City northwest of Detroit : FLINT.
35. "A hot temper leaps __ a cold decree": Shakespeare : O'ER.
36. Butcher's offering : CENTER CUT. Not my first thought.
38. Worms, perhaps : BAIT.
39. Actor Dullea : KEIR. You may remember him as Dr. David Bowman in "2001: A Space Odyssey." Or not...
40. Showy carp : KOI.
44. Moisten : WET.
45. Ripsnorter : LULU.
47. Does some gardening : RAKES. Been doing plenty of that the last couple weeks. We finally hired a crew to come in and help, and they ended up taking out seven pickup trucks full of leaves!!
48. Incredible stories : YARNS.
49. '90s White House cat : SOCKS. The "First Cat" of the Clinton era.
53. When tripled, a story shortener : YADA...yada...yada.
54. Muslim dignitary : EMIR.
55. Pal of Rover : SPOT.
56. Incidentally, in textspeak : BTW. "By the way..."
57. __ de parfum : EAU.
58. Kin of org : COM. Both url endings.
59. Trio on Big Ben : III. Nit: "Big Ben" is the name of the bell in the clock of Elizabeth Tower, not the clock itself.
60. Sweden-based carrier : SAS. Scandinavian Airlines System.
I'm off to see what kind of trouble I can stir up now...
Marti
