Theme: Let Me C - Letter C is inserted in front of a R-starting 4-letter word of a familiar phrase/word.
20A. Grouch in the army?: MILITARY (C)RANK. Military Rank. A grouchy person is a crank.
27A. Small-time hood's pottery?: PUNK (C)ROCK. Punk Rock. Punk=hood. Ruffian.
36A. Accident in a qualifying race?: HEAT (C)RASH. Heat Rash. Heat = preliminary or qualifying race.
47A. Family insignia for designer Edith?: HEAD (C)REST. Headrest. Edith Head was a costume designer with 8 Oscar awards. Did anyone put PIAF first?
54A. Jalopy used as a trade-in?: EXCHANGE (C)RATE. Exchange Rate. Both jalopy and crate refer to beat-up cars. New to me.
Too bad the base word headrest is single word. All the other theme answers have two-word base phrases.
Simple yet clever theme. Neat to have CYCLE (30D. Repeating series) connecting three of the theme answers. Neater to have a letter C placed in the very middle of the grid.
Quite a few unfamiliar names, but mostly obtainable from crosses.
Across:
1. List of options: MENU. Easy start.
14. Informed about: UP ON. Sometimes the answer is IN ON.
15. Rod Stewart's ex: ALANA. Also George Hamilton's ex.
16. Parade honoree: HERO
17. Sugar and spice product?: GIRL. Nursery rhyme: "... What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all things nice". Boys from "snakes and snails and puppy dog tails."
18. Turbine part: ROTOR
19. __-Z: classic Camaro: IROC. I just remember it as I ROCK.
23. Upright, for one: PIANO. Or "Grand, for one". I like how it intersects PPP (23D. Very quietly). PPP stands for pianississimo. Piano can mean soft too, abbreviated as P.
26. Tell stories: LIE. Nice clue.
31. Hardwood tree: ALDER. Rot/water resistant. Birch family.
33. Downing St. VIPs: PMS (Prime Ministers). The "British legislators" are MPS (Members of Parliament).
34. Small island: CAY. Same as key.
39. Ford failures: EDSELS
42. "Bad" cholesterol, briefly: LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein). The "good" cholesterol is HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein). And OAT (29D. Cholesterol-reducing grain).
43. "The Gold Bug" author: POE. Easy guess. I was not aware of this short story.
46. Hedren of "The Birds": TIPPI. Melanie Griffith's mother.
51. '70s-'80s Pakistani leader: ZIA. Learned his name from doing Xword. Khan and ZIA.
53. Analyze grammatically: PARSE
64. River near Kassel, Germany: EDER. The red line? I only saw ELBE.
65. Like Chicago, so they say: WINDY. Chicago is nicknamed the "Windy City".
66. Where the Jazz play: UTAH. Utah Jazz.
67. Belgrade native: SERB
68. Pair in the middle of dressing?: ESSES. There are a pair of letter S in the very middle of the word "dressing".
Down:
3. Old Viking descendants of northern France: NORMANS. Derived from Norsemen.
4. Separate, as chain parts: UNLINK
5. Indian cover-up: SARI. I liked the clue. "Malaysian cover-up" is SARONG.
6. Congeal, as blood: CLOT
7. Pro __: RATA. In proportion.
8. Arctic jacket: ANORAK (AN-uh-rak). The Eskimo parka. The boy in the middle has a boy Dennis look.
9. Martin and Magdalene: MARYS. Don't know Mary Martin.
11. Harbingers: HERALDS
12. Many O. Henry endings: IRONIES. I like how it's placed side by side with MOCKERY (13D. Farce).
21. Express's opp.: LOC. Local?
24. Periodic table suffix: IUM. Elemental ending, as in titanium.
28. Old ColorTrak TVs: RCAS
35. Like worn tires: BALD. No tread.
36. With it: HEP
37. "My Fair Lady" flower seller: ELIZA. Eliza Doolittle.
38. Old vitamin bottle abbr.: RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance). What's the abbreviation on the "New vitamin bottle" then?
39. Refinery gases: ETHENES. Thought it's spelled ETHANES.
40. Carbon __: DIOXIDE. The greenhouse gas.
41. Phantom: SPECTER
43. Italian jewelry designer Elsa: PERETTI. No idea. Got her name from Across fill.
44. CIA predecessor: OSS (Office of Strategic Services)
45. When the French fry?: ETE. Ha ha, identical clue in Jack McInturff's March 25 puzzle.
47. Traditional Scottish dish: HAGGIES. Ewwww.
48. Yr.-end auditor: CPA. Kind of tired to see CPA every day. Probably not for KQ.
49. Inform on, slangily: RAT OUT
52. Really impressed: IN AWE
55. Chef's secret ingredient, perhaps: HERB. I only like chives.
56. Fish-eating birds: ERNS. OK, here is the correct ERN (Thanks again, Roger). Looks ferocious, doesn't it? TERN, on the other hand, looks rather dumb.
58. Actor Fernando et al.: REYS. Obtained his name from crossings. Spanish actor.
63. Short at the poker table: SHY
Answer grid.
Dot/Frank, read this interesting article on daily crossword & long marriage connections. 70 years, amazing!
C.C.
20A. Grouch in the army?: MILITARY (C)RANK. Military Rank. A grouchy person is a crank.
27A. Small-time hood's pottery?: PUNK (C)ROCK. Punk Rock. Punk=hood. Ruffian.
36A. Accident in a qualifying race?: HEAT (C)RASH. Heat Rash. Heat = preliminary or qualifying race.
47A. Family insignia for designer Edith?: HEAD (C)REST. Headrest. Edith Head was a costume designer with 8 Oscar awards. Did anyone put PIAF first?
54A. Jalopy used as a trade-in?: EXCHANGE (C)RATE. Exchange Rate. Both jalopy and crate refer to beat-up cars. New to me.
Too bad the base word headrest is single word. All the other theme answers have two-word base phrases.
Simple yet clever theme. Neat to have CYCLE (30D. Repeating series) connecting three of the theme answers. Neater to have a letter C placed in the very middle of the grid.
Quite a few unfamiliar names, but mostly obtainable from crosses.
Across:
1. List of options: MENU. Easy start.
14. Informed about: UP ON. Sometimes the answer is IN ON.
15. Rod Stewart's ex: ALANA. Also George Hamilton's ex.
16. Parade honoree: HERO
17. Sugar and spice product?: GIRL. Nursery rhyme: "... What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all things nice". Boys from "snakes and snails and puppy dog tails."
18. Turbine part: ROTOR
19. __-Z: classic Camaro: IROC. I just remember it as I ROCK.
23. Upright, for one: PIANO. Or "Grand, for one". I like how it intersects PPP (23D. Very quietly). PPP stands for pianississimo. Piano can mean soft too, abbreviated as P.
26. Tell stories: LIE. Nice clue.
31. Hardwood tree: ALDER. Rot/water resistant. Birch family.
33. Downing St. VIPs: PMS (Prime Ministers). The "British legislators" are MPS (Members of Parliament).
34. Small island: CAY. Same as key.
39. Ford failures: EDSELS
42. "Bad" cholesterol, briefly: LDL (Low-Density Lipoprotein). The "good" cholesterol is HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein). And OAT (29D. Cholesterol-reducing grain).
43. "The Gold Bug" author: POE. Easy guess. I was not aware of this short story.
46. Hedren of "The Birds": TIPPI. Melanie Griffith's mother.
51. '70s-'80s Pakistani leader: ZIA. Learned his name from doing Xword. Khan and ZIA.
53. Analyze grammatically: PARSE
64. River near Kassel, Germany: EDER. The red line? I only saw ELBE.
65. Like Chicago, so they say: WINDY. Chicago is nicknamed the "Windy City".
66. Where the Jazz play: UTAH. Utah Jazz.
67. Belgrade native: SERB
68. Pair in the middle of dressing?: ESSES. There are a pair of letter S in the very middle of the word "dressing".
Down:
3. Old Viking descendants of northern France: NORMANS. Derived from Norsemen.
4. Separate, as chain parts: UNLINK
5. Indian cover-up: SARI. I liked the clue. "Malaysian cover-up" is SARONG.
6. Congeal, as blood: CLOT
7. Pro __: RATA. In proportion.
8. Arctic jacket: ANORAK (AN-uh-rak). The Eskimo parka. The boy in the middle has a boy Dennis look.
9. Martin and Magdalene: MARYS. Don't know Mary Martin.
11. Harbingers: HERALDS
12. Many O. Henry endings: IRONIES. I like how it's placed side by side with MOCKERY (13D. Farce).
21. Express's opp.: LOC. Local?
24. Periodic table suffix: IUM. Elemental ending, as in titanium.
28. Old ColorTrak TVs: RCAS
35. Like worn tires: BALD. No tread.
36. With it: HEP
37. "My Fair Lady" flower seller: ELIZA. Eliza Doolittle.
38. Old vitamin bottle abbr.: RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance). What's the abbreviation on the "New vitamin bottle" then?
39. Refinery gases: ETHENES. Thought it's spelled ETHANES.
40. Carbon __: DIOXIDE. The greenhouse gas.
41. Phantom: SPECTER
43. Italian jewelry designer Elsa: PERETTI. No idea. Got her name from Across fill.
44. CIA predecessor: OSS (Office of Strategic Services)
45. When the French fry?: ETE. Ha ha, identical clue in Jack McInturff's March 25 puzzle.
47. Traditional Scottish dish: HAGGIES. Ewwww.
48. Yr.-end auditor: CPA. Kind of tired to see CPA every day. Probably not for KQ.
49. Inform on, slangily: RAT OUT
52. Really impressed: IN AWE
55. Chef's secret ingredient, perhaps: HERB. I only like chives.
56. Fish-eating birds: ERNS. OK, here is the correct ERN (Thanks again, Roger). Looks ferocious, doesn't it? TERN, on the other hand, looks rather dumb.
58. Actor Fernando et al.: REYS. Obtained his name from crossings. Spanish actor.
63. Short at the poker table: SHY
Answer grid.
Dot/Frank, read this interesting article on daily crossword & long marriage connections. 70 years, amazing!
C.C.
