Theme: Before and After Bridge
Well it is Friday and time to present another way to hide the theme, this time with 4 sets of answers paired together where the answer to the the first fill needs BRIDGE added to the end to make sense of the clue/fill and the second part of the pair needs BRIDGE to precede the answer to complete the fill. The puzzle certainly made me aware of how many different meanings BRIDGE has. Without asterisks or other hints, locating and sussing the theme was quite difficult, even with the reveal. This is my third write up of Mr. Sessa, who has been one of the steadiest and most prolific constructors with about 30 LAT and 21 NYT in the past few years. The puzzle did not have much long fill, but the 7s and 8s were good. ARTISTE, CANTEEN, CORRODE, COURSES, IN TOTAL, MACABRE, NOODGES, STERNUM, COIN CASE, INTEGRAL. The cluing was hard, so I'd best get to work unraveling....
14A. Stream crosser : FOOT. (4) (Footbridge). and 16A. Sets of 13 cards : HANDS. (5). (Bridge hands).
24A. 1990 Newman/Woodward drama : MR AND MRS. (8) (Mr and Mrs Bridge). Never heard of this MOVIE (2:46), despite the cast, it only grossed $7 million; but knowing I was looking for BRIDGE from footbridge, this made sense, then I later saw the reveal, then 26A. Overcome a significant difference : THE GAP (6) had to be (Bridge the Gap).
54A. Oral prosthesis : DENTAL. (6) (Dental bridge). With implants, they may disappear. 56A. Spock and Uhura, e.g. : OFFICERS. (8) (Bridge officers). Notice how the length of the fill flip flops to maintain symmetry.
66A. Place for spectacles : NASAL. (5) (Nasal bridge) The bridge of your nose. 67A. Military fortification : HEAD. (bridgehead). I am not sure if it is intentional or not, but footbridge and bridge head which are the symmetrical 'hidden' theme answers, are the only ones which are a single word. Securing the end of a bridge in war has always been Military STRATEGY.
The reveal:
52D. Apt word to substitute for each of four black squares to make sense of the across answers on either side of them : BRIDGE. That made everything as clear as mud.
Across:
1. Creepy thing : MOSS. What a tough way to start, after giving up on bugs, and ghouls, I thought of IVY then VINE; 1 down not being easy made this a challenging beginning.
5. Oft-used PC key : ESC. How do you guess between ESC, ALT and DEL? Really hard with SOLAR and LUNAR both fitting.
8. Karel Capek genre : SCI FI. We have had various references to this AUTHOR before, usually because he coined the word ROBOT. This was a gimme for Owen, but for the rest of us, I knew this was not going to be a speed run.
13. "O.G. Original Gangster" rapper : ICE T. I do not know rap, and it is getting harder to find links without long ads, so we travel to Poland for this VERSION. (2:58). Along with ICE CUBE, he has made the transition to mainstream TV.
17. Residential plot : ACRE. Even this was tricky as so few houses are built on this large a lot.
18. Sweeping target : FLUE. Chimney sweeps...we have to work for every letter today.
19. Prologue : INTRO. Finally, and some may nit about it not suggesting an abbreviation.
20. Hindu collection : SUTRA. I know we have all heard of the Kama Sutra, but there is MORE.
22. Performer : ARTISTE.
29. Promise : ASSURE.
30. Doc who treats snorers : ENT. Ear Nose and Throat.
32. Lake __ College, near Cleveland : ERIE.
33. Wrong treatment : MISUSE. I had trouble seeing this definition.
35. Tree knot : GNARL.
36. 1957 Treaty of Rome org. : EEC. European Economic Community. This TREATY was a step on the way to the current European Union.
39. Consume : EAT. Placed nicely next to...
40. Consumer's guide, briefly : RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance. I never had an allowance.
42. Caustic chemical : LYE.
43. It may be pulled at a gym : GROIN. As opposed to your leg in conversation.
45. Bring up to speed : INFORM.
48. V __ Victor : AS IN.
49. Road warning : SLO. I do not like this sign, but the fill is legitimate.
50. Lit at the table, perhaps : FLAMBE. People and flames....
58. Become rusty : CORRODE.
60. "Shaddap!" : CAN IT! My New England upbringing always taught me, "You eat what you can, and what you can't, you can."
61. Muse of poetry : ERATO. More popular than lady gaga and miley combined.
63. Mythical maneater : OGRE. Musical interlude. ONE. (4:25).
65. Sit tight : BIDE.
68. Fly off the handle : RAGE. Many of us have had to deal with rageaholics in life.
69. Inscribed pillar : STELE. This has become a CW staple, we saw it at the end of November here..
70. Sneaky : SLY.
71. Sch. level : ELEM.
Down:
1. Noxious gas : MIASMA. I am more familiar with its use as to noxious atmosphere; a Friday word.
2. Comes to pass : OCCURS.
3. SmartSurface mattresses : SERTAS. Interesting that SEALY has the same number of letters as SERTA.
4. Rib cage part : STERNUM. From the Greek Sternos. This finally got me started.
5. Valedictorian's nightmare : EFF. Man, is this where I get to link the EFF word pics?
6. __ eclipse : SOLAR. Lunar/solar...
7. Soup-to-nuts listing : COURSES. Four courses is about the most I can handle.
8. Turkish for "skewer" : SHISH. Sheesh, we should know this from all the Kebab (kabob?) we eat.
9. Hiker's container : CANTEEN. Hydrate.
10. Vital : INTEGRAL.
11. New Deal initials : FDR. Do I need to spell this one out?
12. Prefix meaning "equal" : ISO.
15. Asian festival : TET. To most my age inextricably associated with the Vietnam War.
21. Brody of "The Pianist" : ADRIEN. Wonderful, sad, moving movie.
23. TV cousin : ITT. The Addams family.
25. Phoenix suburb : MESA.
27. Light : AIRY.
28. Soccer superstar : PELE. His legend lives on in the CW world.
31. Maker of the Super Soaker : NERF. Unrelated by I recently heard this SONG.(3:57).
34. Monthly exp. : UTILities.
35. Enticing kitchen aroma : GARLIC. A shout out to our Gilroy girl.
36. "Gosh!" : EGAD.
37. Scots Gaelic : ERSE.
38. Place for petty cash? : COIN CASE. Like alliteration, but struggled a bit here.
41. Tip : DOFF. My cap at this one.
44. Taken together : IN TOTAL.
46. Nags : NOODGES. From Yiddish nudyen (to pester, bore), from Polish nudzic. The word developed a variant spelling 'nudge' under the influence of the English word 'nudge'. A cousin of this word is nudnik (a boring pest). First recorded use: 1960. Per wordsmith.
47. Saint-Saëns' "Danse __" : MACABRE. A Halloween staple, seen HERE (7:18) from a visual perspective.
49. Camera letters : SLR. Single Lens Reflex.
51. Lowly : MENIAL. Followed by...
53. Value : ESTEEM.
55. Play __ in : A ROLE.
57. Born in the wild : FERAL. I guess this is accurate but I think of feral as a domesticated animal living in the wild.
59. "How lovely!" : OOH. AHH, we are almost done and these three letter ones helped.
61. Annapolis grad. : ENSign.
62. Squealer with a tale or a tail : RAT. Lovely use of language.
64. Market freezer name : EDY. Because Breyer's never fits.
Well, here is another year upon us, and almost time for the Corner's anniversary, as C.C. pointed out, and so many responded on the 1st. I hope this one did not keep you late night solvers up too late, and I look forward to opinions hearing from all the readers, the lurkers, the regulars, the now and agains, and the long lost. Peace out and may 2014 be the best yet.
Lemonade.
Note from C.C.:
Husker Gary just updated his brilliant Crossword Corner map. Click on it for a clearer view. Please contact Gary (gschlapfer@gmail.com) if you want to be added or removed from the map. Thanks for the hard work, Gary!
Husker Gary just updated his brilliant Crossword Corner map. Click on it for a clearer view. Please contact Gary (gschlapfer@gmail.com) if you want to be added or removed from the map. Thanks for the hard work, Gary!
