Theme: I'LL be back.
The sound of "I'LL" is attached to the end of in the language phrases to create a new and entertaining phrase. The second effort in the LAT by JE, who was introduced to us by Argyle back on D-O's birthday. All the words that are added on to are three letters, with only one part of a three word phrase. This type of consistency is part of creating a sound grid, I am told. Structurally, this does not seem like a Friday puzzle, as many of the words are 3 or 4 letters long, but the cluing of many of those requires some patience to find the fill. let's see where he takes us this time.
16A. Porky's jacket and tie? : PIG STYLE. (Pig Sty) (8). Another cartoon reference; I like cartoons.
27A. Prohibition at the Ivory soap factory? : NEVER SAY DIAL. (Never Say Die) (12). My favorite, mental picture, with lots of bars of soap floating in the factory.
44A. Pre-law classroom exercise? : COLLEGE TRIAL. (College Try) (12). Along with Beer a common Friday topic.
60A. Bad place to be shipwrecked? : EVIL ISLE. (Evil Eye) (8). My favorite SCENE. (2:58).
Across:
1. "__ goes!" : HERE. I needed to wait on this simple phrase.
5. Runway model? : JET. Really cute misdirection, and a way to make a three letter answer Friday word.
8. Brewery shipments : CASES. The Friday Beer reference out of the way early.
13. U.S. citizen : AMER. Ooo, a tortured abbreviation.
14. "Come __ the sea, / Maiden with me": Thomas Moore : O'ER. How appropriate here at poetry central that we have this POEM.
15. Area : LOCALE. The what becomes of hicale?
18. Hunter's trophy : ANTLER. Normally we nit about an unnecessary plural, here I wonder how a hunter would get just one.
19. Source of many dialogues : PLATO.
20. Big name in game shows : MERV. Griffin, who brought back Jeopardy and created Wheel of Fortune as well as having his own talk show, years as a band singer and hung out in Manhattan with Eva Gabor.
22. FDR power program : TVA. Tennessee Valley Authority. one of the earliest and most comprehensive of programs in response to the Great Depression.
23. Longing : YEN. Do Japanese people long for money when they are short?
24. Circle : REVOLVE. Revolve the wagons just does not have the same zip.
32. __ ghanouj: eggplant dish : BABA. The dip, quite yummy. Learn HOW.
35. Theoretical foreigners, briefly : ETS. Aliens, Extra Terrestrials
36. Declaim : ORATE.
37. Twist et al. : OLIVERS. I like it better when a second one is added, like Twist and Hardy, but that may be too easy for Friday.
39. Compact containers? : GARAGES. Another simple but effective misdirection.
41. It rarely happens at home : STEAL. A baseball clue, hidden here.
42. Equinox mo. : SEP. Along with MAR.
43. "__ you be my neighbor?": Mister Rogers : WON'T.
48. 1993 Disney acquisition : MIRAMAX. Nobody really knows this, but after a while it emerged.
49. More, in Morelia : MAS. Roberto Duran now denies saying "No mas" in the Leonard fight.
52. Spice : ZIP.
55. Daredevil Knievel : EVEL. More "evil' in our puzzle; where is Mike Myers?
56. "Awake in the Dark" author : EBERT. Movie critic intensive lately. BUY?
58. Waiting to buy tickets, say : IN LINE.
63. Allows : GRANTS.
64. Sermon topic : SIN. Do they sin in Cincinnati?
65. Making waves, perhaps : ASEA. An A word that is very common in puzzles.
66. Excites : SENDS. YOU SEND ME. (4:19).
67. Geometry shortening : TANgent. One way to get a gent in this room.
68. Go down : SINK. Well, I guess it is time to go to the down clues.
Down:
1. __ hour : HAPPY. Are we really limited to 60 minutes of joy per day?
2. Rousseau's "__, or On Education" : EMILE. No clue as to this BOOK.
3. Duke of Cornwall's wife, in Shakespeare : REGAN. In King Lear, who also has been popular lately. Love me the Shakespeare.
4. Back then, back when : ERSTwhile. A real but probably archaic word.
5. Delight : JOY. More than hour.
6. Fish with no pelvic fin : EEL. So that's the difference.
7. Seismograph readings : TREMORS.
8. __ belt : CONVEYOR. This is nice long, original fill, which I had from the perps.
9. Legislative decision : ACT.
10. Season, in a way : SALT.
11. Height meas. : ELEV. Denver really is 5280 feet.
12. Day song word : SERA. We had this song as the basis of a punny theme answer last week.
15. Baby bug : LARVA. Hi John Lampkin.
17. Rent : TORE. Really very difficult clue/fill, as the mind wants to think of a lease payment, not a garment ripped apart. As I said, while the puzzle has lots of short fill, like earlier in the week puzzles, much of the cluing is challenging.
21. Little League starters? : ELS. A nice change from the Golfer Ernie, clue.
25. "Oh, when will they __ learn?": Seeger lyric : EVER. The only song for which I know all the words. Where have all the flowers, gone. Especially if you live up north.
26. November honorees : VETS. A few days late, but we all should honor our vets every day of the week.
27. Maritime : NAVAL.
28. "Gone With the Wind" feature : DRAWL. The Southern accent affected by the cast.
29. "Aladdin" parrot : IAGO.
30. "... with __-foot pole!" : A TEN. I would not touch that with a ten foot pole...
31. For fear that : LEST. I end up with all those cooties.
32. Bartlett cousin : BOSC. The most famous pear pair.
33. Musical range : ALTO. Another theme word returns.
34. Jessica of "Total Recall" (2012) : BIEL. The remake of the Arnold movie. Two minutes for the boys. LINK. (2:03).
38. Halogens, e.g. : ELEMENTS. Our periodic LESSON of the day.
39. Lysol target : GERM.
40. Samoan port : APIA. The capital and largest city. I love the Mai Kai restaurant here in Fort Lauderdale and their Polynesian show.
42. Most hackneyed : STALEST. hey I know some of the jokes are old, but...
45. Hosts : GIVES.
46. Poetic preposition : ERE.
47. Dorothy Hamill maneuver : AXEL. Always a shout out to our dear departed Clear Ayes.
49. Soccer star Lionel who won the Ballon d'Or each of the last four years : MESSI. For those who like to shout GOAL. (2:06).
50. "Stormy Weather" composer : ARLEN. Great song by HAROLD.
51. Salisbury __ : STEAK.
52. Sharp turns : ZIGS. Do not zag.
53. Memo start : IN RE. Latin. 59D. Great Lakes st. : INDiana. 62D. Place to retire : INN. A final misdirection, not where you go when you are through working.
54. Blueprint : PLAN.
57. Decision clouder : BIAS. Oddly phrased clue.
61. Through : VIA. Latin.
I did not struggle too much with this one but it did take work, and I hope you all did not either. Thank you Jerry and see you next time. We begin with Porky and end, that way. BYE. (0:09). Lemonade.
