Summer Beach Reading. Each summer, I pack a big bag of PAPER BACK books to take to with me on my beach vacation. In today's puzzle, the word Paper is found at the "Back" of the last word in each theme answer.
18-Across. * TV coverage of city events, say: LOCAL NEWS. Newspaper
23-Across. * Metaphorical boundary that shouldn't be crossed: LINE IN THE SAND. Sandpaper
30-Across. * "That'll be the day": WHEN PIGS FLY. Flypaper
41-Across. * Jerusalem prayer site: WESTERN WALL. Wallpaper
47-Across. * Phrase used by experts: TECHNICAL TERM. Term Paper
And the Unifier:
58-Across. Softcover book, and what the last words of the answers to starred clues can have: PAPER BACK.
Across:
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| 1928 John Deere Tractor |
6. Silly: DAFT.
10. Flow very slowly: SEEP.
14. __Valdez: oil-spill ship: EXXON. // And 31-Down. Fuel in a tank: GAS.
15. Palm tree berry: AÇAI. This must be my special word. This is the 4th Tuesday puzzle in a row in which this word has appeared.
16. Gucci of fashion: ALDO. Aldo Gucci (May 25, 1905 ~ Jan. 19, 1990) was the son of Guccio Gucci (Mar. 26, 1881 ~ Jan. 2, 1953), who was the founder of the fashion House of Gucci. He ran his father's company for years. Sadly, in 1986, when he was 81 years old, he was convicted for tax evasion and spent a year in Federal Prison in Florida. The following year, the family-owned company was sold.
17. Disney World's __ Center: EPCOT. Epcot opened despite the pandemic. I hope its July visitors didn't contract Covid-19.
20. Author of macabre fiction: POE. Edgar Allan Poe (Jan. 19, 1809 ~ Oct. 7, 1849) had an entire puzzle devoted to him recently.
21. Container weight: TARE. The Tare Weight is the weight of an empty vehicle or container. Noun: a deduction from the gross weight of a substance and its container made in allowance for the weight of the container. As defined by Merriam-Webster.
22. Start of a choosing rhyme: EENIE.
27. Creamy pastry: ÉCLAIR. Yummers!
29. Paintings and such: ART.
34. Amazement: AWE.
37. Geologic time frames: EONS.
38. Octogenarian's 80, e.g.: AGE.
39. Nobelist Wiesel: ELIE. Elie Wiesel (né Eliezer Wiesel; Sept. 30, 1928 ~ July 2, 2016) was a holocaust survivor. He is probably best known for his book Night, which was semi-autobiographical about his experiences in Auschwitz.
40. Drunkard: SOT.
45. Scot's cap: TAM. Tam is short for Tam o'Shanter, which is a traditional cap worn by men.
46. Honks at, say: ALERTS. // I liked how this crossed with 34-Down. Source of a ringing warning: ALARM BELL.
53. Be mad about: ADORE. This was my last fill. I was thinking of mad as being angry. Think: I am mad about you.
54. Historical times: ERAs.
55. Library contents: Abbr.: BKs. As in Books. My library now offers curb-side service. I just picked up a whole new stack of reading materials. They are hard cover, however, and not PaperBacks.
60. Censor: BLEEP.
62. "__ miracle!": IT'S A.
63. "Got it!": I SEE!
64. Middle East ship, perhaps: OILER.
65. Marsh growth: REED. Reeds in the Louisiana Marshes are being destroyed by some sort of insect. The reeds are an important element in helping to prevent land-loss along the Louisiana coastline. Did you know that Louisiana loses the equivalent of a football field a day along its coast?
66. Kings and queens: BEDS. Fun misdirection.
67. Word with laugh or dance: BELLY. You, too, can learn how to Belly Dance.
Down:
1. Thought-provoking: DEEP.
2. Montreal MLBer before 2005: EXPO.
3. Like A+ work: EXCELLENT.
4. Piglet's joey pal: ROO. A reference to A.A. Milne's critters from Winnie the Pooh.
5. Tolkien talking tree: ENT. I'm not a fan of Tolkien, but this word appears with some frequency in the puzzles.
6. __ Lama: DALAI.
The 14th and current Dalai Lama.
7. Nut from an oak: ACORN.
8. Gem surface: FACET.
9. Acapulco aunt: TIA. Today's Spanish lesson.
10. Most sensible: SANEST.
11. Colleague of Ruth and Sonia: ELENA. Sonia Sotomayor (b. June 25, 1954), Ruth Bader Ginsburg (b. Mar. 15, 1933), and Elena Kagan (b. Apr, 28, 1960).
12. Astronomer Hubble: EDWIN. The Hubble Telescope is named in honor of Edwin Hubble (Nov. 20, 1889 ~ Sept. 28, 1953).
13. Sat for a photo: POSED. I had the present tense of this verb last week.
19. Suspicious: LEERY.
21. Actress Garr: TERI. Teri Garr (b. Dec. 11, 1944) is a comedic actress. She was in Tootsie.
24. McShane and McKellen: IANs. I am not familiar with Ian McShane (b. Sept. 29, 1942), but Sir Ian McKellen (b. May 25, 1939) is more familiar.
 |
| Ian McShane |
 |
| Ian McKellen |
25. Little bite: NIP.
26. "2001" computer: HAL.
27. Female sheep: EWEs. // And 36-Down. "Electric" fish: EELs. The words Sheep and Eel can be both plural or singular. In this case, both were plural.
28. Half a toy train?: CHOO.
32. Army NCO: SGT. As in Sergeant.
33. Lawyer's charge: FEE.
35. Go limp: WILT.
39. Big pitcher: EWER. Change the R to an S and you get 37-Down.
41. Lloyd or Paul of Cooperstown: WANER. The brothers Paul Glee Waner (Apr. 16, 1903 ~ Aug. 29, 1965) and Lloyd James Waner (Mar. 16, 1906 ~ July 22, 1982) both played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1920s and 30s. Paul was known as Big Poison and Lloyd was called Little Poison.
 |
| Lloyd (left) and Paul (right) Waner. |
42. Former U.K. recording giant: EMI. The name is the initialization of the originally named company of Electic and Musical Industries.
43. "Darn!": RATS.
44. N.Y. Mets' division: NLE. As in Baseball's National League East. From Sunday, we also know that the Phillies are in the NLE.
45. Needle eye insert: THREAD.
47. Hoglike animal: TAPIR.
48. Skype appointment: E-DATE.
49. Thicket of trees: COPSE. Not to be confused with Corpse.
50. Halt: CEASE.
51. Shaped like a rainbow: ARCED.
52. "Great" quintet: LAKES.
56. Ship's spine: KEEL.
57. Quick-footed: SPRY.
59. Tot's food-catching chest protector: BIB.
60. Hope or Newhart: BOB.
Bob Hope (né Leslie Townes Hope; May 29, 1903 ~ July 27, 2003). Yesterday was the 17th anniversary of his death.
Bob Newhart (né George Robert Newhart; b. Sept. 5, 1929)
61. Falsehood: LIE.
Here's the Grid:
Which is the hardest to say?
a. You are right, I was wrong. I'm sorry.
b. I need help.
c. Worcestershire sauce
d. I love you.
