19A. Relationship where three is a crowd : LOVE TRIANGLE. The French might argue that a menage a trois is a perfectly normal arrangement.
28A. "Not another word!" : ZIP YOUR LIP. Nothing here except to make you smile
44A. Original Tevye player : ZERO MOSTEL. Oh Goodness. What a wonderful actor!
53A. "Forget it!", and a hint to the starts of 19-, 28- and 44-Across : NOTHING DOING
Well now, was it just me or was this a real Wednesday challenge? Hello everyone, Steve here and a little bit humbled by this outing from C.C. and Don. Usually I can stroll in on the third day of the week, flex my cruciverb muscles and finish things up pretty quickly. This one - not so much. I was doing a Saturday dance and loved it.
Across:
1. Leaves with a peppery taste : CRESS. In England we at least warn you and call these leaves Mustard Cress
6. Experian, formerly : TRW. Obscure, or just me?
9. FDR's dog : FALA, Cute.
13. Blimp filler : HELIUM
15. Young gang member : HOOLIGAN. I had trouble with this. Mainly because I've known many old hooligans, it's an Irish thing.
17. Pilot Earhart : AMELIA. See later comment
18. Classic sitcom sidekick : ED NORTON.
21. Makes level : EVENS. My first word of the puzzle, and lightly filled.
22. Nats' MLB div. : NL E (National League East). Oh, c'mon guys! Three abbreviations to clue one obscure one?
23. Entering-a-hot-tub sounds : AAHS
27. Revival setting : TENT. Loved this clue/answer.
31. Swamp critters : CROCS. Because Alligators, cottonmouths and ewwwwww didn't fit :)
33. With agility : NIMBLY. Needed crosses to exclude an "E" anywhere here
34. [Headdesk] : DOH. [Faceplant} Been that kind of day.
37. Mineral in the raw : ORE
38. Pebble Beach prop : TEE
39. Capp and Capone : ALS
40. Gamer's screen image : AVATAR
42. Happy hoops sound : SWISH. Go Lakers!
46. Feminizing suffix : ETTE
50. Canal to the Hudson River : ERIE
51. "__ we there yet?" : ARE
52. Roll-on brand : ARRID
57. Warning often shouted too late : IT'S A TRAP!
60. Emulate 17-Across : AVIATE. So I thoroughly SWISHED through the previous eight, then came up short on this one. DISAPPEAR is not a good first reaction; PLUMMET, MISS ISLAND, BAD NAVIGATOR and then I thought I should come back later.
61. Health program since 1965 : MEDICARE
62. Performer using lots of notes : SINGER. Hmmm
63. Beach toy : PAIL. BALL first. Darn.
64. Hot : MAD
65. West Yorkshire city : LEEDS. I lived here between the ages of two and eight, so just had to figure out whether BRADFORD, SHEFFIELD or LEEDS would fit. I'd tell y'all about my first kiss in the playground, but 7-Yo's don't kiss and tell
Down:
1. Après-ski hangout : CHALET. No, sorry. BAR. The chalet is the après-après-ski hangout :)
2. Do away with : REMOVE
3. Late news time : ELEVEN. Oops, I just missed it. Anything happen today?
4. Bit of muscle? : SILENT C. Wow, I was just about to ask for help here and finally saw it.
5. Looks good on : SUITS
6. Piz Bernina's range : THE ALPS. I said on my last outing that K2 was the most beautiful mountain in the world, but Piz Bernina comes close
7. Dangerfield of "Caddyshack" : RODNEY
8. "The World of Suzie ___": 1960 film : WONG
9. Pistol, e.g. : FIREARM. Not sure whether to hyphenate or not?
10. Player rep. : AGT. The Agent. Sometimes a great representative, sometimes not. SHOW ME THE MONEY!
11. Thai native : LAO. I'll need to research this one tomorrow. A native of LAOS maybe, but Thai? I'm sure this is correct, but I'm really surprised. I had no idea.
12. Former Texas governor Richards : ANN
14. Scuff up : MAR
16. Texter's roar : LOL. Hmmm, no, this is a texter's snigger. A roar would be ROFLMAO.
20. How freshly caught fish should be kept : IN ICE. Ahhhhh, no, sorry. On Ice.
24. Actress Jessica : ALBA
25. Cross-country course feature : HILL
26. 1974 Gould/Sutherland CIA spoof : SPYS.
28. Black-clad, masked hero : ZORRO. zzzzzz, zzzz zsssrrrrp! Love Zorro!
29. Newsman Roger : O'NEIL
30. One-eighties : UIES. Or UYES.
32. Give in to wanderlust : ROAM. This was my favorite clue/answer in the whole puzzle. Elegant, short and sweet, and made me think three times before .. oh, it couldn't be anything else!
34. Stupefy : DAZE
35. Walkie-talkie word : OVER
36. Big name in espionage : HARI. She wasn't that large, actually. Oh well.
38. Experienced trick-or-treater, perhaps : TWEEN. Hmmmm. Anyone?
41. Pedicure focus : TOENAIL
42. Like crosswalks : STRIPED
43. Leading lady : HEROINE
45. About 30% of Africa : SAHARA. Darn, I had DESERT and was so happy with it. Then not so much.
47. Emergency room procedure : TRIAGE
48. Added some color to : TINTED
49. Border neateners : EDGERS. I came back to this after I'd filled it and looked twenty times at it - I'm still not convinced - even so it went in without a thought - I really shouldn't keep second-guessing myself
52. Ibuprofen brand : ADVIL. I had some minor surgery last week. Advil was fine, the optional Oxycontin was the most weird feeling I've ever had and I really don't recommend it.
54. Available sans Rx : OTC. Not the Oxycontin. See above.
55. 37-Across carrier : TRAM
56. Utility bill item : GAS. Ohhhh, c'mon!
57. Little dickens : IMP
58. Spot in the afternoon? : TEA
59. Reagan-era mil. program : SDI
Answer grid.
Well, a Wonderful Wednesday. Thanks to Don and C.C. for what was a brain-stretcher for me. I like the Wednesday puzzles, you're never quite sure what you're going to get!
1) Note from C.C. & Don:
When I first proposed this idea to Don, it's simply a set of three entries: ZERO MOSTEL, ZIP YOUR LIP & LOVE CONQUERS ALL. Don said: "I won't say that it does nothing for me, but it needs more. Maybe a simple unifier like NOTHING DOING. I just like to stir things up, don't I?". This is the way he always improves my ideas.
2) One more promotion for our Mother's Day puzzles. Click here for more info.
