Jeffrey is back with a 'replace the letters puzzle,' that takes some unraveling. AKES is replaced with OCKS to create new phrases that are clued whimsically. Each change occurs in the last word of a phrase with two changing five letter words and two six letters. A common grid design with 15 letter fill in row 3 and 13. No reveal was needed, so none was included. There are many interesting 7 letter fill like ABOLISH, CARACAS, DORMERS, ERECTED, EVEREST, FESTOON, KNUCKLE, MINERAL, NOVELLA, SAFE BET, STETSON, TED RALL, UNCROSS and VERBOSE. This makes the solver work a bit harder, but it is a Friday. Well, on to the themers.
17A. Why St. Peter owns darning needles? : FOR HEAVEN'S SOCKS (15). I doubt St. Peter would be doing the mending of socks, if there were socks to be worn in heaven.
31A. Museum of Home Security exhibits? : THE GREAT LOCKS (13). I like the Rabson which according to Bernie Rhodenbarr are the best. I wonder if the Museum is near one of the Great Lakes?
37A. What a shepherd sees after a snowstorm? : FROSTED FLOCKS (13). I love the alliteration and the cereal as well.
57A. Consumer reactions to big price hikes for brownies? : CHOCOLATE SHOCKS (15). Like sticker shock. I like chocolate shakes even better.
Across:
1. Enjoy deeply : SAVOR.
6. Verne voyager : NEMO. Captain Nemo to you.
10. Campus hangout : QUAD. the Quadrangle where the worlds all meet.
14. "Things are never quite as scary when you've got __ friend": Bill Watterson : A BEST. If you do not know this MAN, he created the great philosopher Calvin whose best friend was Hobbes.
15. Old Roman poet : OVID. He was my favorite Roman POET.
16. "Once more __ the breach": Shak. : UNTO. JW gets his Shakespeare reference in today, from Henry V, Act III, Scene I.
20. Actor Idris __ : ELBA. Idris has displaced the Napoleon palindrome and may replace Daniel Craig as James Bond.
21. "Take this" : HERE.
22. Naturally lit indoor spaces : ATRIA.
23. CV inclusion : BIO. Curriculum Vitae.
24. Not as good-looking? : PALER. Maybe not looking good...
25. Minimalist beachwear : THONG. Good for the right WOMAN.
26. "Ah, Wilderness!" mother : ESSIE. Eugene O'Neill play.
28. Future D.A.'s hurdle : LSAT. Law School Admission Test.
30. Fresno-to-L.A. dir. : SSE.
35. Peanut product : OIL. nearby 44A. Appreciative cry : OLE.
36. Fraser or Douglas : FIR. Christmas trees. Or heavyweight boxing champions.
46. Sol preceder : AERO. Spray can.
47. "Not possible" : I CAN'T.
48. Frigga portrayer in "Thor" : RUSSO. She was in the movie with Idris Elba. CAST.
51. Prefix in makeup product names : DERMA.
53. Feel sorry about : RUE.
54. Perfumer's ingredient : ATTAR. Essence of rose.
55. Red-coated security force: Abbr. : RCMP. Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
56. Diplomacy result : PACT.
60. Pointer's cry : LOOK. Mira!
61. O or Jay : ALER. Baseball.
62. Author Calvino : ITALO. He appears regularly in puzzles (this is his 7th 2017 appearance). My favorite quotation of his: "Although I am small, ugly and dirty, I am highly ambitious, and at the slightest flattery, I immediately start to strut like a turkey."
63. Coastal raptors : ERNS.
64. Cutlass, e.g. : OLDS.
65. City on the Ruhr : ESSEN.
Down:
1. It's in the bag : SAFE BET. Very few really are.
2. Void : ABOLISH. Are these synonymous?
3. Like a motormouth : VERBOSE.
4. Org. concerned with ladder safety : OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
5. GPS datum : RTE. Datum signifying a single route.
6. "An ill-defined and disreputable literary banana republic": Stephen King : NOVELLA. One of my favorite novellas is Stephen King's "Rita Haworth and the Shawshank Redemption." LINK.
7. High point of Hillary's career : EVEREST. A fun misdirection based on the "LL" used by both Clinton and Sir Edmund.
8. __ spring : MINERAL.
9. "__ bodkins!": old oath : ODS. JW sneaks in another Shakespeare reference.
10. "The Raven" verb : QUOTH. "Nevermore."
11. Straighten, as one's legs : UNCROSS.
12. Diet doctor : ATKINS. There are many diet doctors in that game now.
13. Pharmacist's concern : DOSAGE. And the patients.
18. "Now it's clear!" : AHA.
19. Didn't rise : SAT.
24. Dental procedure, for short : PERIO.
27. Composer Stravinsky : IGOR. The MAN. The MUSIC.
29. Devonshire dandy : TOFF. I learned of this reading British mysteries. John Creasey created this as a character. LINK. The Saint, Simon Templar was also a toff, as was James Bond.
32. "Born Free" lioness : ELSA.
33. Paramecium movers : CILIA.
34. McDonald's founder : KROC.
37. Bit of suspended decoration : FESTOON.
38. Controversial political cartoonist : TED RALL. Not as subtle as Calvin and Hobbes.
39. Put up : ERECTED. Next to....
40. Projecting architectural features : DORMERS. We had shed dormers on the house where I grew up. There are many types.
41. Capital NE of Bogotá : CARACAS. I have been there a couple of times on cruises and it was always depressing as the ride in was through horrible slums and the city was filled pickpockets, drug sellers etc.
42. Get to work, with "down" : KNUCKLE. In 1740, Thomas Dyche and William Pardon published a dictionary which defined knuckle down: "A particular phrase used by lads at a play called taw, wherein they frequently say, Knuckle down to your taw, or fit your hand exactly in the place where your marble lies." various.
43. Big hat : STETSON. It is a brand name and they produce more than cowboy hats. LINK.
44. Ancient prophet : ORACLE.
45. Comics villain since 1940 : LUTHOR. Introduced in issue 23 of Action Comics, he originally had a full head of red hair.
49. Gives the heave-ho : SACKS. I wish this were not in this puzzle.
50. Conquistador's treasure : ORO. Gold.
52. Speed meas. : MPS. Miles per second.
56. "Chopped" array : POTS. Never seen nor heard of this show though it is in season 22.
58. Southeast Asian tongue : LAO. My wife taught me that they do not say Laotian, simply LAO for the language.
59. Move it, quaintly : HIE. I nice variation for a handy three letter fill.
Another Friday and a treat from Jeffrey. This was not his most difficult puzzle but it took concentration and -as always- a sense of humor. Lemonade out from steamy Florida.
