Theme: DOUBLE PLAY (37A. Baseball coups, and a hint to the homophonic relationship in the sequence of first words in 18-, 24-, 54- and 61-Across).
18A. Barely came out on top: WON BY A NOSE. Won = One.
24A. Overly taxing: TOO MUCH TO HANDLE. Too = Two.
54A. Temporarily: FOR THE TIME BEING. For = Four
61A. Really enjoyed something: ATE IT UP. Ate = Eight.
Great puzzle, isn't it? Such a innovative theme. Lively, natural theme phrases. And nicely "doubled up" sequential order.
All the theme clues are quite straightforward. And I grokked the theme early on. So, a rare smooth Friday for me.
Favorite clues today:
29A. Group with a lot of hits?: MOB
53A. Caligula's card count?: LII. 52 cards in a deck. LII is Roman numeral 52.
44D. They can be offensive: LINEMEN
Across:
1. Young ones: LADS. Are you bothered by "ones" in the clue?
5. Court smash: SPIKE. Volleyball.
14. Attending to the assignment: ON IT
15. "Alas": SO SAD. Now I won't be able to eat my Larabars without thinking of "hair of the dog". Awful Dennis/Buckeye!
16. Biblical twin: ESAU. Jacob's twin.
17. Check out: CASE. Before the heist.
20. How some bonds are bought: AT PAR
22. John abroad: LOO. In Britain. Toilet "john".
23. Irked: RILED
27. Some dashes: EMS. Or ENS.
28. Farm cry: BAA. MAA too.
30. Series opener?: ESS. The opening letter of Series is letter S.
33. "Kidnapped" author's monogram: RLS (Robert Louis Stevenson)
35. Big cheese: VIP. Normally there's no abbr. hint for VIP.
43. You might make one with a Hamilton Beach DrinkMaster: MALT. Had trouble obtaining the answer. Thought Hamilton Beach DrinkMaster is like my Jack Lalanne veggie/fruit juicer.
46. Classical dance gp.: ABT (American Ballet Theatre). Simply forgot.
58. Achille __: hijacked ship: LAURO. Was unaware of this hijacked event in 1985.
59. Ivy League nickname: ELI. Yale.
60. No spendthrift: SAVER. The clue seems to be asking for an adjective, doesn't it? "Not a spendthrift" would be a noun.
64. Lansbury Broadway role: MAME. Auntie Mame.
65. Dole: METE
66. Soft fleece: LLAMA. And SUEDES (13D. Soft leathers). I kept reading "Soft fleece" as "Soft cheese".
67. Hot times in Paris: ETES. French for "summer".
68. Winged god: EROS. Cupid.
69. Another name for hopscotch: POTSY. New to me.
70. Kerry and Kirk of Mass., e.g.: SENS (Senators). Paul Kirk is taking the seat of Ted Kennedy.
Down:
2. Gray topic: ANATOMY. The TV series "Grey's Anatomy" is derived from "Gray's Anatomy". And DYED (31A. No longer gray, say). Nice "gray" echo in the crossing.
3. Inclined (to): DISPOSED. Just had INDISPOSED yesterday.
4. Iron horse power: STEAM
5. Vienna-to-Rome dir.: SSW
7. Playground comeback: IS NOT
8. Comics explosion: KABOOM
9. Joseph of ice cream fame: EDY. Easy guess.
10. Russian revolutionary: LENIN. Big hero when I grew up.
11. She had a tryst with Tristan: ISOLDE. Love the alliterativeness of "tryst" and "Tristan".
19. Mecca's peninsula: ARABIA. This one connects three theme entries. So does its symmetrical partner UPSHOT (38. Result).
21. Obstacle: RUB. "Ay, there's the rub", Melissa!
25. Semiautomatic rifle: CARBINE (KAHR-been). Not in my vocabulary. He looks like a good sniper.
26. It's reserved for ones in a pool: HOV LANE. Carpool. HOV = High-Occupancy Vehicle. Not fond of duplication of the clue "pool" and answer POOL HALL (6D. Place to find cues).
34. Match unit: SET. Tennis match.
36. British novelist Barbara __: PYM. Nope. Total stranger to me.
39. Coverage charges: PREMIUMS
40. Show great anticipation, informally: SALIVATE. Great fill.
45. Jungle female: TIGRESS
46. Burning: AFLAME. Did anyone try ON FIRE first?
47. Traditional barbershop quartet hat: BOATER. Mine was BOWLER.
48. Honest with: TRUE TO
50. Opera with the aria "Qui trarrò Cassio": OTELLO. Verdi's opera based on Shakespeare's "Othello". Stumper for me.
52. Baby docs: OBS (Obstetricians)
56. __ ease: ILL AT
57. Chair designer Charles: EAMES (Eemz). I can never remember this guy's name.
62. Matterhorn, e.g.: ALP. Had no idea that Matterhorn is a mountain on the border of Switzerland and Italy.
Answer grid.
Ming tian jian!
C.C.
18A. Barely came out on top: WON BY A NOSE. Won = One.
24A. Overly taxing: TOO MUCH TO HANDLE. Too = Two.
54A. Temporarily: FOR THE TIME BEING. For = Four
61A. Really enjoyed something: ATE IT UP. Ate = Eight.
Great puzzle, isn't it? Such a innovative theme. Lively, natural theme phrases. And nicely "doubled up" sequential order.
All the theme clues are quite straightforward. And I grokked the theme early on. So, a rare smooth Friday for me.
Favorite clues today:
29A. Group with a lot of hits?: MOB
53A. Caligula's card count?: LII. 52 cards in a deck. LII is Roman numeral 52.
44D. They can be offensive: LINEMEN
Across:
1. Young ones: LADS. Are you bothered by "ones" in the clue?
5. Court smash: SPIKE. Volleyball.
14. Attending to the assignment: ON IT
15. "Alas": SO SAD. Now I won't be able to eat my Larabars without thinking of "hair of the dog". Awful Dennis/Buckeye!
16. Biblical twin: ESAU. Jacob's twin.
17. Check out: CASE. Before the heist.
20. How some bonds are bought: AT PAR
22. John abroad: LOO. In Britain. Toilet "john".
23. Irked: RILED
27. Some dashes: EMS. Or ENS.
28. Farm cry: BAA. MAA too.
30. Series opener?: ESS. The opening letter of Series is letter S.
33. "Kidnapped" author's monogram: RLS (Robert Louis Stevenson)
35. Big cheese: VIP. Normally there's no abbr. hint for VIP.
43. You might make one with a Hamilton Beach DrinkMaster: MALT. Had trouble obtaining the answer. Thought Hamilton Beach DrinkMaster is like my Jack Lalanne veggie/fruit juicer.
46. Classical dance gp.: ABT (American Ballet Theatre). Simply forgot.
58. Achille __: hijacked ship: LAURO. Was unaware of this hijacked event in 1985.
59. Ivy League nickname: ELI. Yale.
60. No spendthrift: SAVER. The clue seems to be asking for an adjective, doesn't it? "Not a spendthrift" would be a noun.
64. Lansbury Broadway role: MAME. Auntie Mame.
65. Dole: METE
66. Soft fleece: LLAMA. And SUEDES (13D. Soft leathers). I kept reading "Soft fleece" as "Soft cheese".
67. Hot times in Paris: ETES. French for "summer".
68. Winged god: EROS. Cupid.
69. Another name for hopscotch: POTSY. New to me.
70. Kerry and Kirk of Mass., e.g.: SENS (Senators). Paul Kirk is taking the seat of Ted Kennedy.
Down:
2. Gray topic: ANATOMY. The TV series "Grey's Anatomy" is derived from "Gray's Anatomy". And DYED (31A. No longer gray, say). Nice "gray" echo in the crossing.
3. Inclined (to): DISPOSED. Just had INDISPOSED yesterday.
4. Iron horse power: STEAM
5. Vienna-to-Rome dir.: SSW
7. Playground comeback: IS NOT
8. Comics explosion: KABOOM
9. Joseph of ice cream fame: EDY. Easy guess.
10. Russian revolutionary: LENIN. Big hero when I grew up.
11. She had a tryst with Tristan: ISOLDE. Love the alliterativeness of "tryst" and "Tristan".
19. Mecca's peninsula: ARABIA. This one connects three theme entries. So does its symmetrical partner UPSHOT (38. Result).
21. Obstacle: RUB. "Ay, there's the rub", Melissa!
25. Semiautomatic rifle: CARBINE (KAHR-been). Not in my vocabulary. He looks like a good sniper.
26. It's reserved for ones in a pool: HOV LANE. Carpool. HOV = High-Occupancy Vehicle. Not fond of duplication of the clue "pool" and answer POOL HALL (6D. Place to find cues).
34. Match unit: SET. Tennis match.
36. British novelist Barbara __: PYM. Nope. Total stranger to me.
39. Coverage charges: PREMIUMS
40. Show great anticipation, informally: SALIVATE. Great fill.
45. Jungle female: TIGRESS
46. Burning: AFLAME. Did anyone try ON FIRE first?
47. Traditional barbershop quartet hat: BOATER. Mine was BOWLER.
48. Honest with: TRUE TO
50. Opera with the aria "Qui trarrò Cassio": OTELLO. Verdi's opera based on Shakespeare's "Othello". Stumper for me.
52. Baby docs: OBS (Obstetricians)
56. __ ease: ILL AT
57. Chair designer Charles: EAMES (Eemz). I can never remember this guy's name.
62. Matterhorn, e.g.: ALP. Had no idea that Matterhorn is a mountain on the border of Switzerland and Italy.
Answer grid.
Ming tian jian!
C.C.
