Theme: A Whole New Ball Game (idioms derived from baseball)
20A: Completely unexpected: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
28A: Fail to get a job done: DROP THE BALL
45A: Be super-successful: HIT A HOME RUN
53A: From day one: RIGHT OFF THE BAT
And FANS (56D: Bleacherites, e.g.). Sweet puzzle. Quite scrabbly too. Three X'es, one Z and one J.
A very pronounced car sub-theme too:
37A: Wheel shaft: AXLE
66A: Old Pontiac muscle cars: GTOS
33D: Car for which a law in named: LEMON
52D: Roomy auto: SEDAN
53D: Patronize Hertz, say: RENT
1D: Powerful shark: MAKO. Does this refer to the real shark or Corvette's MAKO Shark car?
I guess the constructor could clue ALAMO (44A: Crockett's last stand) as "Car rental name" too. Our own Crockett just visited ALAMO last year.
Does ANTH (44D: Lit. collection) stand for anthropology? (Note: It's short for anthology.) I am not familiar with this abbreviation at all. Only know ANA.
Across:
1A: CEO's degrees: MBAS. Bush is a YALIE, but got his MBA from Harvard.
10A: Pull up stakes: MOVE. "Pull up stakes" is a new idiom to me.
15A:___ vivace: quite lovely, on scores: MOLTO. Literally "very"/"much".
17A: Casino numbers game: KENO
18A: Oater saloon fight: BRAWL
19A: Leafy green that's high in vitamin K: KALE. You've got to eat some fat with KALE, otherwise the nutrient is wasted. Vitamin K is only fat-soluble.
25A: Speedster at JFK, once: SST
34A: Halloween witches' blemishes: WARTS. Crossing TREAT (27D: Halloween goody).
36A: Brazilian hot spot: RIO
38A: Yesterday, to Juan: AYER. I only know Mañana.
41A: Muslim leader: IMAM. Leader in a mosque.
42A: Spicy Asian cuisine: THAI. Yes, indeed. THAI food quite spicy.
49A: Tandoori bread: NAN. NAN/naan is baked in tandoori oven.
51A: Tolkien tree creatures: ENTS
61A: "... bombs bursting __": IN AIR. American National anthem, Martin.
62A: Martial arts school: DOJO. Japanese DO is just like Chinese TAO, meaning "way", JO is "place". So, DOJO is literally "place of the way".
64A: __ Park: Edison lab site: MENLO. Edison is called "The Wizard of MENLO Park".
65A: Sixth Jewish month: ADAR. Purim's month
68A: First in the waiting line: NEXT
Down:
2D: __ cheese dressing: BLEU. What's your favorite salad dressing?
3D: "__ Misbehavin'": AIN'T. Got the answer from the crosses. Have never heard of the song.
5D: "Epitaph for a Spy" author Eric: AMBLER. See the book cover. I learned his name from doing Xword.
6D: "West Wisde Story" Oscar winner Rita: MORENO. The only Hispanic female to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
8D: Foot package amt.: NT WT
9D: Pitch or chip: GOLF SHOT. Pitch shot has a high trajectory and the ball rolls a little bit upon landing on the green. Chip shot has less of a air time & more roll.
10D: Puts up get-out-of- jail money: MAKES BAIL
12D: South African grassland: VELD. Pronounced like VELT. Afrikaans for "field". New word to me.
13D: Program file suffix: EXE
21D: T-men and G-men: FEDS
25D: Strip of mowed grass: SWATH
29D: Babble on and on: PRATE. I really miss my grandma lately. I wish I could talk to her about my life. She's a woman of very few words. She just listened.
30D: Metal in solder: TIN. I actually got the answer by misreading the clue as "Metal in soldier". TIN soldier.
31D: Forest feller: AXMAN. Alliterative clue.
32D: Camel cousin: LLAMA. Also alliterative.
35D: Sources of romantic conflict: TRIANGLE
39D: When the curtain rises: SHOW TIME
40D: Web video gear, for short: CAM
46D: Half an evil laugh: HEH. Got the answer from Across fills.
47D: Submit an amended 1040: REFILE
48D: Having no paths or trails: UNTROD. Or untroden.
54D: "Othello" conniver: IAGO. He is so evil.
55D: Top draft status: ONE A
57D: Be an omen of: BODE. I don't believe I've seen AUGUR in a puzzle before.
58D: "Foaming cleanser" of old ads: AJAX. Here is a commercial clip. Again, I obtained the answer from Across fills.
59D: Legal wrong: TORT. Civil wrong.
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Here is our fellow LAT solver Kathleen Wolf's (WM) beautiful American Landscape for an online competition. Do vote and rate her painting. Five-star would be lovely. Thanks.
20A: Completely unexpected: OUT OF LEFT FIELD
28A: Fail to get a job done: DROP THE BALL
45A: Be super-successful: HIT A HOME RUN
53A: From day one: RIGHT OFF THE BAT
And FANS (56D: Bleacherites, e.g.). Sweet puzzle. Quite scrabbly too. Three X'es, one Z and one J.
A very pronounced car sub-theme too:
37A: Wheel shaft: AXLE
66A: Old Pontiac muscle cars: GTOS
33D: Car for which a law in named: LEMON
52D: Roomy auto: SEDAN
53D: Patronize Hertz, say: RENT
1D: Powerful shark: MAKO. Does this refer to the real shark or Corvette's MAKO Shark car?
I guess the constructor could clue ALAMO (44A: Crockett's last stand) as "Car rental name" too. Our own Crockett just visited ALAMO last year.
Does ANTH (44D: Lit. collection) stand for anthropology? (Note: It's short for anthology.) I am not familiar with this abbreviation at all. Only know ANA.
Across:
1A: CEO's degrees: MBAS. Bush is a YALIE, but got his MBA from Harvard.
10A: Pull up stakes: MOVE. "Pull up stakes" is a new idiom to me.
15A:___ vivace: quite lovely, on scores: MOLTO. Literally "very"/"much".
17A: Casino numbers game: KENO
18A: Oater saloon fight: BRAWL
19A: Leafy green that's high in vitamin K: KALE. You've got to eat some fat with KALE, otherwise the nutrient is wasted. Vitamin K is only fat-soluble.
25A: Speedster at JFK, once: SST
34A: Halloween witches' blemishes: WARTS. Crossing TREAT (27D: Halloween goody).
36A: Brazilian hot spot: RIO
38A: Yesterday, to Juan: AYER. I only know Mañana.
41A: Muslim leader: IMAM. Leader in a mosque.
42A: Spicy Asian cuisine: THAI. Yes, indeed. THAI food quite spicy.
49A: Tandoori bread: NAN. NAN/naan is baked in tandoori oven.
51A: Tolkien tree creatures: ENTS
61A: "... bombs bursting __": IN AIR. American National anthem, Martin.
62A: Martial arts school: DOJO. Japanese DO is just like Chinese TAO, meaning "way", JO is "place". So, DOJO is literally "place of the way".
64A: __ Park: Edison lab site: MENLO. Edison is called "The Wizard of MENLO Park".
65A: Sixth Jewish month: ADAR. Purim's month
68A: First in the waiting line: NEXT
Down:
2D: __ cheese dressing: BLEU. What's your favorite salad dressing?
3D: "__ Misbehavin'": AIN'T. Got the answer from the crosses. Have never heard of the song.
5D: "Epitaph for a Spy" author Eric: AMBLER. See the book cover. I learned his name from doing Xword.
6D: "West Wisde Story" Oscar winner Rita: MORENO. The only Hispanic female to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony.
8D: Foot package amt.: NT WT
9D: Pitch or chip: GOLF SHOT. Pitch shot has a high trajectory and the ball rolls a little bit upon landing on the green. Chip shot has less of a air time & more roll.
10D: Puts up get-out-of- jail money: MAKES BAIL
12D: South African grassland: VELD. Pronounced like VELT. Afrikaans for "field". New word to me.
13D: Program file suffix: EXE
21D: T-men and G-men: FEDS
25D: Strip of mowed grass: SWATH
29D: Babble on and on: PRATE. I really miss my grandma lately. I wish I could talk to her about my life. She's a woman of very few words. She just listened.
30D: Metal in solder: TIN. I actually got the answer by misreading the clue as "Metal in soldier". TIN soldier.
31D: Forest feller: AXMAN. Alliterative clue.
32D: Camel cousin: LLAMA. Also alliterative.
35D: Sources of romantic conflict: TRIANGLE
39D: When the curtain rises: SHOW TIME
40D: Web video gear, for short: CAM
46D: Half an evil laugh: HEH. Got the answer from Across fills.
47D: Submit an amended 1040: REFILE
48D: Having no paths or trails: UNTROD. Or untroden.
54D: "Othello" conniver: IAGO. He is so evil.
55D: Top draft status: ONE A
57D: Be an omen of: BODE. I don't believe I've seen AUGUR in a puzzle before.
58D: "Foaming cleanser" of old ads: AJAX. Here is a commercial clip. Again, I obtained the answer from Across fills.
59D: Legal wrong: TORT. Civil wrong.
Answer grid.
C.C.
PS: Here is our fellow LAT solver Kathleen Wolf's (WM) beautiful American Landscape for an online competition. Do vote and rate her painting. Five-star would be lovely. Thanks.
