Title: Themeless Friday with a Mini-Theme
I have been doing puzzle blogging here for close to nine years, Friday for 7 years, I think. I have never been faced with a themeless puzzle, so I have spent a very long time looking for a theme in this cooperative effort from Tracy Bennett and Victor Fleming. We had our debut for TRACY on a Wednesday blogged by Steve. He commented she was getting into themeless puzzles. She had one here on a Saturday with Erik Agard recently. In a comment on xwordinfo, she mentioned that Victor Fleming was her "mentor." I really do not know how to write-up a themeless. There are lots of long, sparkly fill FINITUDE, IT CAN'T BE, NOT A HOPE, TRAWL NET, PULLAPART, SATIN DOLL, BULL MARKET FAIR ENOUGH and the mini-theme ALMOST HEAVEN /WEST VIRGINIA. Splynter, where are you when I need you? Here he is suggesting that concept in a C.C. SATURDAY. So here I go...
5. Like 22-Down, according to a song by John Denver (born 12/31/1943): ALMOST HEAVEN. 22D. See 5-Down: WEST VIRGINIA.
1. Caesar's fault: CULPA. In the incomparable luck of the puzzle, hopefully you all saw IM's mea culpa in yesterdays comments.
6. Big box office success, slangily: BOFF. I do not like this fill, as I always thought it was BOFFO, but dictionary.com says "Theater. a box-office hit.; a joke or humorous line producing hearty laughter. a loud hearty laugh; belly laugh."
10. PC scroll key: PGUP. Page up.
14. Rental brand with a hyphen: U-HAUL. Rental was so unhelpful.
15. Like the 1998 Pikachu Illustrator card: RARE. There’s an old saying, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” and this card sold at auction in 2016 for more than FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS.
16. Source of fizz: SODA. That is backasswards to me.
17. Stock up time?: BULL MARKET. When stocks are going up it is considered a bull marker; when down a bear market.
19. Does sum work: ADDS. A tiny pun.
20. Hebrew wishing well?: SHALOM. שלום is such an important word in Hebrew, and the pun here is wonderful, worth the 25 cents you need to throw in.
21. Shrimper's catcher: TRAWL NET.
23. More than dream: ASPIRE. To direct one's hopes or ambitions toward achieving something
25. Atlanta campus: EMORY. The University.
26. Dreamt, perchance: SLEPT. Shakespeare.
29. Monument Valley features: MESAS. A natural wonder in Utah. and the clecho 53A. Hilly terrain features: RIDGES.
31. Zero chance: NOT A HOPE.
33. Starfleet Acad. grad at the helm: LT. SULU. Our friend...
38. Woman in the picture: ACTRESS. A tricky generic clue.
39. Old duple-time dances: PAVANES. Duple meter (or duple metre, also known as duple-time) is a musical metre characterized by a primary division of 2 beats to the bar.
40. Some religious sculptures: PIETAS.
41. Limited state: FINITUDE. A finite state or quality. For example, one quickly senses the finitude of his patience.
42. Event with a horse: VAULT. Actually, this is no longer true, as it has been replaced with the vault TABLE.
44. "How Do I Live" singer: RIMES. LeAnn
45. Binary pronoun: HESHE. Is this now an accepted unique pronoun?
49. Quit: RESIGN.
51. "Unbelievable!": IT CAN'T BE. It reminds me of a commercial but I can't remember the product.
57. Retreat: LAIR.
58. Negotiation-ending words: FAIR ENOUGH. This is ridiculously hard, as I have never seen a negotiation end this way.
60. __ hack: LIFE.
61. Hathaway of "Rachel Getting Married": ANNE. Very popular actress, not so much the MOVIE.
62. Willing offer: I'LL GO. Also not easy. But with 64A...
63. Not likely: SLIM. And none.
64. Big name in little bricks: LEGO. We see GO often in this puzzle; 55D. "Too good not to share" breakfast brand: EGGO.
65. Permit: ALLOW.
Down:
1. Chicago's "North Siders": CUBS. Baseball- CUBS to the North, WHITE SOX to the South.
2. "Don't think so": UH UH.
3. __ land: LA LA. A CSO to our friend Linda who I hope is doing well now.
4. Separate: PULL APART.
6. Cold reaction: BRR.
7. Symbol of might: OAK TREE. There have been many POEMS extolling the Oak.
8. Famille members: FRERES. Brother, in French families.
9. Cheese served with kalamata olives: FETA. Made from sheep and goat milk. READ.
10. One of a Biblical 150: PSALM. These are poems of praise originated in Hebrew literature and revered also by Christians.
11. "What terrible news!": GOD NO. Oddly placed.-
12. Whence milk: UDDER. A very literal answer.
13. Irish pub pie: PASTY. A pie or turnover, especially one with a savory filling including seasoned meat, fish, or vegetables. These are popular in more places than Irish pubs.
18. Energize: AMP. If you think of being "amped" this makes sense.
24. Provocative little ones: IMPS. Next to amp, this is a cute use of a common fill.
26. __ bean: SNAP.
27. Math points: LOCI.
28. Marion's conclusion: ETTE.
30. Actor Thicke on Canada's Walk of Fame: ALAN. Alan Thicke was born on March 1, 1947, in Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada as Alan Willis Jeffrey. He died in 2016.
32. Mountain near Pelion: OSSA. Tough unless you are up on your Greek geography or mythology. Pelion a wooded mountain in Greece, near the coast of SE Thessaly, which in Greek mythology was held to be the home of the centaurs, and the giants were said to have piled Mounts Olympus and Ossa on its summit in their attempt to reach heaven and destroy the gods. This story has given rise to the phrase pile Pelion on Ossa, meaning to add an extra difficulty or task to something which is already difficult or onerous.
34. Ellington classic: SATIN DOLL.
35. Coined word?: UNUM. E Pluribus...cute clue.
36. News article intro: LEDE. Often mistaken for "lead"
37. Avails oneself of: USES.
39. Drupe remains: PITS. A drupe is any fruit, such as a peach, cherry, plum, etc., consisting of an outer skin, a usually pulpy and succulent middle layer, and a hard and woody inner shell usually enclosing a single seed, or pit.
41. Hardly turning oneself in: FLEEING. The fleeing felon.
43. Polished: URBANE. Thin David Niven.
45. Roman septet: HILLS. Septet = 7. Seven Hills of Rome, the group of hills on or about which the ancient city of Rome was built. The original city of Romulus was built upon Palatine Hill (Latin: Mons Palatinus). The other hills are the Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Esquiline, Caelian, and Aventine (known respectively in Latin as the Mons Capitolinus, Mons Quirinalis, Mons Viminalis, Mons Esquilinus, Mons Caelius, and Mons Aventinus).
46. Much cashless commerce: E-TAIL.
47. Ursula K. Le Guin's genre: SCI-FI. This acclaimed AUTHOR died in 2018.
48. Polyamorous anime subgenre: HAREM. I understand the words but knew nothing about this graphic genre of anime where there is a possibility of a polygamous romantic relationship. It is a reverse harem when it is more than one boy involved. You can look it up yourselves.
50. Wrath: IRE. Maybe the most common fill in crosswords.
52. Pan name: T-FAL. Also very common fill. Lots of hyphens today.
54. Seaside soarer: GULL.
56. Take third: SHOW. WIN/PLACE/SHOW. Easy if you bet on horses.
59. __ Speedwagon: REO. I will leave you with some music and a sincere thanks to Tracy and Victor providing my first themeless review, C.C. and the rest of our bloggers for help and reassurance in my efforts and to all of you I wish healthy, happy, successful 2019.
