Susan returns for her second 2018 puzzle, 6th LAT, and first Friday. She found four standard automobile components with the second word being a type of apparel. Then she clued them to reflect the clothing, not the part. Her definition of TIMING BELT is pretty funny and the others witty. She then packages it all in a pinwheel grid loaded with some nice 7/8 letter fill - ANALYST, HOKIEST, LOSES TO, PIGS OUT, STRIPES, ZIPPERS, ARBITRATE and SNEEZED AT. Oddly, neither ZIPPERS nor RUBBED has ever appeared in a LAT puzzle. On the other hand, there was a slew of very obscure clue/fill combinations which made this work.
17A. *Footwear that slows you down?: BRAKE SHOES (10). We start with a part that gets 70,900,000 HITS.
38A. *Satchels with vents?: AIR BAGS (4). Can you believe 771,000,000 hits for THESE?
60A. *Headwear with a power supply?: BATTERY CAP (10). There were 170 million hits for THIS.
11D. *Leg covering with a warmer?: HEATER HOSE (10) There were 42 million hits for this part. LINK.
29D. *Trouser support with rhythm?: TIMING BELT (10). 81,700,000 hits HERE.
And the reveal which seemed unnecessary:
57D. What the answers to starred clues are part of: CARS.(4)1. Kid: JOSH. Not your nephew Josh, but "to make fun of, to banter," 1845 (intransitive), 1852 (transitive), American English; according to "Dictionary of American Slang.
5. Affected: ARTSY. It is interesting how culturally an appreciation for the fine arts has some negative connotation.
10. Layered hairstyle: SHAG. Speaking of connotations, Austin Powers, where are you? LINK.
14. Germany's von Bismarck: OTTO. This man was the most important figure in 19th century Europe.
15. Capital on the Aar: BERNE. An Old CITY.
16. Relate: TELL. Okay, this is easy.
19. Pro __: RATA.
20. Fancy pillow material: SATIN. Pillowcases? LINK.
21. Takes a gander at: EYES. Always will remind me of Splynter and legs.
LINK
22. Urban extensions?: ITES.
23. Dutch export: EDAM. A repeat from last Friday. Cheesy!
25. Backpack features: ZIPPERS. Why backpacks?
27. Prepare: GET SET. On your mark...
30. Clipped to a greater extent: TERSER. This first-time clue was very hard to parse
31. Ramp sign: EXIT.
32. Glorify: LAUD. Praise (a person or their achievements) highly, especially in a public context.
34. Virtually can't be beaten: IS HOT. Erm.
37. Flee: LAM. Not used to this as a verb: 3rd person present: lams; past tense: lammed; past participle: lammed; gerund or present participle: lamming
40. Big Ten sch. with eight national football championships: OSU. This the other one JzB mentioned on Wednesday- the Ohio State University.
41. Request before a shot: SMILE. Photoshoot.
43. Diminish: BATE. This also was slow, as I did not think of the definition to reduce the force or intensity of - e.g. waited with bated breath
44. "In your dreams!": AS IF. YEAH RIGHT! Made popular by the movie CLUELESS staring Alicia Silverstone.
45. "Walker, Texas Ranger" star: NORRIS. Chuck, not our editor Rich.
47. Name on the cover of "Death in the Afternoon": ERNEST. Hemingway by the way.
49. Goes overboard, in a way: PIGS OUT. Not o'ded.
51. Furniture giant: IKEA. You recall the acronym?
52. Jewelry location: LOBE. Ear, ear...
53. Muffin choice: BRAN. Not so much
55. "But I don't want to go among mad people" speaker: ALICE.
“But I don’t want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.
"Oh, you can’t help that," said the Cat: "we’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad."
"How do you know I’m mad?" said Alice.
"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn’t have come here.”
59. Singles: ONES. Money, honey.
62. What flowers may do: WILT.
63. Kitchen additions?: ETTES. We have a nice Italian restaurant called Kitchenetta in town. And, 38D. Space beginning: AERO.
64. LPGA golfer __ Pak: SE RI. The single most influential golfer in the history of women's golf, who paved the way for all the Korean stars who took up Athe game. LINK.
AA
65. 1974 Peace Nobelist from Japan: SATO. His STORY.
66. Passes out cards: DEALS.
67. Hardy title teenager: TESS. d'Ubervilles.
Down:
1. Positions: JOBS.
2. Other, in Oviedo: OTRA. Just Spanish.
3. Stolen bases, e.g.: STATistic.
4. Most contrived: HOKIEST. Dictionary (2) noticeably contrived. "a hokey country-western accent"
5. Hunk's pride: ABS.
6. Bring up again?: RE-HEM. More misdirection.
7. Horse victim?: TROY. Speaking of contrived...
8. Treated as unimportant: SNEEZED AT. My mother was big on using this phrase- " that $2.85 an hour is nothing to be sneezed at."
9. Polite affirmation: YES SIR.
10. Highway markings: STRIPES. So simple, yet elusive.
12. Make changes to: ALTER.
13. Wine __: GLASS. A toast-
18. Köln closing: ENDE. We call this city Cologne.
24. Hun king, in Norse legend: ATLI. Maybe you will want to read this VERSION.
26. Pitchfork-shaped letters: PSIS. ΨΨΨ
27. Some goop: GELS. Hair?
28. Knowledge determinant: EXAM. Not necessarily an accurate measure.
30. Big brass: TUBAS.
33. Resolve, in a way: ARBITRATE. Mediation and arbitration have replaced the need for so many trials, judges and juries.
35. Medical suffix: OSIS. E.G. denoting a pathological state. "stenosis" "psychosis" or
"neurosis"
36. Clump: TUFT. The difference between clump and tuft is that clump is a cluster or lump; an unshaped piece or mass while tuft is a bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc, held together at the base.
39. Computer whiz: GEEK. This site is proof this is not so any longer.
42. Finishes behind: LOSES TO.
44. Wall Street figure: ANALYST.
46. Massaged: RUBBED. Just do not do it the wrong way.
48. Tail: REAR.
49. Farm equipment: PLOWS.
50. Ancient Greek region: IONIA. More Greek rhymes with geek.
51. Debriefing info: INTEL.
54. "__ girl!": ATTA.
56. Cold drink brand: ICEE.
58. Christian denom.: EPIScopalian.
61. Curved shape: ESS.
I am not sure if my brain was scrambled by all the fireworks explosions this week, but this puzzle took me a long time and much second-guessing. That was after I got the theme early on. Made for a Friday challenge, which is what is supposed to happen. YMMV. Hope you all had a safe holiday, I am enjoying the renewed enthusiasm here with all your comments. Lemonade out.
Note from C.C.:
I've opened a thread for Jumble talk. Please mark this page. Just give a hint on the Corner blog that you need Jumble chat, then move the further discussions to that Comments section.
Thanks for the understanding.
