Good morning, Cruciverbalists. Malodorous Manatee here with this morning's recap. Today's puzzle exhibits a wistful choice of themes for one published on a midsummer's day. As she did with her recent (last June 17th) LAT puzzle, at places within the grid our puzzle setter, Amie Walker, has added a letter or two at the beginning of common expressions and, thereby, created new and different expressions. In today's puzzle she has added two letters - BR as in "Brrrrrr it's cold". We can only wish.
The reveal comes at:
55 Across: Harbingers of lower temperatures, and a hint to the answers to the starred clues: COLD FRONTS. A COLD FRONT is the leading edge of a cold air mass. In the puzzle, BR is the COLD FRONT appended to the start of the answer.
The theme is applied at (starred for our convenience):
17 Across: *Lord of the grill?: BROIL BARON. Oil Baron.
Lord of the Grill - Stephen Raichlen
26 Across: *Some spring newlyweds?: BRIDES OF MARCH. Ides of March. Beware!
43 Across: *Warning words from one holding the reins?: BRIDLE THREATS. Idle Threats.
The balance of the clues/answers:
Across:
1. Furnish funds for: ENDOW. For example:
6. Sleep restlessly: TOSS. _____ and TURN. _____ a coin. ____ one's cookies.
10. Three-time Olympic gold medalist Devers: GAIL. One of only two women to successfully defend an Olympic 100 meter championship.
14. Jeweler's glass: LOUPE.
15. Dance that tells a story: HULA. What did the animal control officer ask the Hawaiian dancer? "HULA the dogs out?"
16. "Breaking Bad" Emmy winner Gunn: ANNA. Consistent with the current fashion there are many proper nouns in the puzzle. Depending on which answers you wish to count, there are a dozen or so. This is the first.
19. Wine list heading: REDS.
20. Small batteries: AAS.
Third From The Left
21. Subdivision divisions: LOTS.
22. Fake eyelash, informally: FALSIE. Eyelashes? Today's "I had best not go there" moment.
24. "No warranties": AS IS.
25. Went around: ORBITED. AVOIDED was briefly a working guess. Literally to go around (and around and around).
30. Borrower: LENDEE. Not too hard to suss out but a word rarely seen/heard.
31. "The Chi" creator Waithe: LENA. Unknown to me. Another day of the week it might have been Horne, Olin or the Hyena.
32. Text an embarrassing screenshot to the wrong person, say: ERR.
35. Pre-K basics: ABCS. The basis for a pop song.
36. Sports radio host Patrick: DAN. So many Dans from which to choose.
37. H.S. exam: PSAT. We sit for the PSAT quite often in our puzzles.
38. "Caught you!": HAH. OHO, the answer is not AHA!
39. Rip-off: SCAM. "This is an ugly word, this SCAM." - Carmine Sabatini
41. __ solution: SALINE.
46. "Please let me give it a go": MAY I TRY.
48. Pond plant: REED. The clue was likely going to be either pond or oboe-related, n'est-ce pas?
49. "The Ranch" actress Cuthbert: ELISHA. Another unknown. Thanks, perps.
50. Apple variety: GALA. Not an electronics reference this time.
51. Rio automaker: KIA. KIA recently adopted a new logo.
54. Skating site: RINK. THIN ICE was too long.
58. Peniston with the Top 10 hit "Finally": CECE. CSO to C.C.
CeCe
59. __-slapper: KNEE. Ha Ha.
60. Wed: UNITE. Not a dy of the wk.
61. How most TV shows air: IN HD. High Definition.
62. Tournament ranking: SEED.
63. Triumphant April Fools' Day cry: GOT YA. Crosses ITTY at 52 Down. See 26 Down.
Down:
1. Island in a classic palindrome: ELBA.
2. Comedy Central's "Awkwafina Is __ From Queens": NORA. Does she have to pay royalties to Pepsico?
3. Pairs: DUOS.
4. Big name in nail polish: OPI. This proper noun is now part of the Croswordese lexicon.
5. "Maybe yes, maybe no": WE'LL SEE.
6. "Oh, really?": THAT SO. Is it?
7. Sharing word: OURS.
8. "__ Pitch": Canadian web series about softball: SLO.
9. Bay city, briefly: SAN FRAN. The folks who live there don't usually take too well to this sort of thing.
10. Aioli base: GARLIC. Basic recipe: 4 cloves fresh garlic, 2 egg yolks, 1/2 tsp coarse grained salt, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 cup EVOO, 1 teaspoon water
11. Prime number?: ANESTHESIA. As in to make NUMB. This muttonheaded marine mammal initially missed the context. Thanks, Cat.
12. Not mainstream: INDIE. Usually used in a show-biz context.
13. Cut with light: LASED. Crossword constructors, and editors, love verbs that are the same in present and past tense - Cut, put, shed, cast, quit, hit, etc. etc. etc.
18. Capital known as "The City of Trees": BOISE. State Capital of Idaho.
23. Syllables in an incantation: ABRA.
24. Throws in: ADDS.
25. Black cat, to some: OMEN. Having passed on the Steve Miller Band possibility a couple of clues above, I shall attempt to redeem myself:
Howlin' Wolf - 1961
26. Meh: BLAH. 'Nuff said
27. "Queen of Country" McEntire: REBA.
28. Slowly but surely: INCH BY INCH.
29. Moth attractor: FLAME.
A moth goes into a podiatrist’s office. The doctor asks, “What’s the problem?” The moth replies, “Doc, let me tell you. I hate my job. Every single day I have to go but I hate my boss and I hate my work. I wake up every day next to a woman that I once loved, but I stopped loving her long ago. Last week my dog died. I don't know what to do." The doctor says, “Those are some serious problems. You need help. But you need a psychiatrist. Why in the world did you come into a podiatrist’s office?” The moth says, “Because the light was on.”
33. Harangue: RANT.
34. GPS lines: RTES. We never know if it will be Roads, Route, Avenues, Streets, Highways, etc. I love working with GPS devices. I do not love the clues/answers that they have brought us.
36. Tyne of "Judging Amy": DALY. The actress.
37. Begged: PLED. A robot accused of stealing his neighbor's electricity PLED guilty as charged.
39. Jedi enemy: SITH. A Star Wars reference.
40. Classic music libraries?: CD RACKS. In the age of Mp3s, Compact Discs qualify as "classic".
41. __ life: SHELF. Some items are marked with those dates that are overly pessimistic.
42. Accent piece: AREA RUG.
44. Gambled: RISKED.
45. Available on the stock exchange: TRADED. Hand up for first trying LISTED,
46. "__ beaucoup": MERCI. Today's French 101 lesson.
47. Unrecognizable: ALIEN. Used as an adjective not as a visitor from another galaxy.
50. Sheer delight: GLEE.
51. Work on a muffler, say: KNIT. Not an automotive reference.
52. __-bitty: ITTY. ITSY BITSY wouldn't work with the perps, I suppose. A musical moment missed.
53. Between ports: ASEA. Where we may sometimes find ourselves, metaphorically.
56. Low digit: ONE. The number this time (see 11 Down). Not (here) a part of the anatomy.
57. Artist Yoko: ONO. The last of today's proper nouns . . . and a frequent visitor.
Here is how all of this looks in the grid:
Amie, you are invited to post anything you'd like to share about this puzzle, its evolution, the theme, or whatever in the Comments section. We'd love to hear from you.
Well that wraps things up for today's puzzle recap. I am presently in Victoria British Columbia helping to celebrate two dear friends' 50th wedding anniversary. The scary part is that I was at the wedding. The temperature could not be considered to be cold but it is pleasantly closer to "brrrr" than it is presently in SoCal.
Have a great Thursday, everyone. And a great weekend, t00.
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