Theme: Deliver-ANCE - ANCE is attached to the second word of a common phrase.
16A. Communist revenue management?: RED FINANCE. Redfin. The freshwater minnow with red fins. Communist = Red.
21A. Atonement from a soda jerk?: FOUNTAIN PENANCE. Fountain pen. Soda fountain. Atonement = Penance.
32A. Love that blossomed in a music store?: CD ROMANCE. CD-Rom. Love = Romance.
48A. Voice of choice? FAVORITE SONANCE. Favorite Son. Voice = Sonance.
55A. Square up with actor Jack?: PAY PALANCE. PayPal. My first encounter with actor Jack Palance. Wikipedia says he won an Oscar for "City Slickers".
Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 24. Very high. Great columns of triple 7's in each corner. The total word count is a themeless-like 70.
While solving this puzzle, I thought of Dennis' s trivia on the only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous and hazardous.
Tough slogging for me. Lots of tricky clues. My favorite is NARC (24D. Buster?). I still don't get POS (55. Bldgs. with boxes). PO Box, yes. Why buildings?
Across:
1. Hoodwink: CON
4. Exhausted, with "out": WIPED. Crossing DIE (8D. Go kaput).
9. Exaggerated fanfare: HYPE
13. Mayo is in it: ANO. Spanish for "year". Mayo here refers to the month "may". I was thinking of the sandwich spread mayo.
14. Italian deli offering: PANINI. With a bit of grilled eggplant. Yummy!
15. Skyrocket: SOAR
18. Toro, in sushi bars: TUNA. Toro is the fatty belly portion of the tuna. Very tasty.
19. Become: AMOUNT TO
20. Small batteries: AAS
26. Tarzan creator's monogram: ERB (Edgar Rice Burroughs). Stumped me.
28. Mike famously bit him in a 1997 fight: EVANDER (Holyfield). Tyson bit Holyfield's ear.
29. __ date: SET A. Wrote down UP TO first.
31. Torpors: INERTIAS
36. Faultfinding: CAPTIOUS. New word to me.
39. Old Dodge: DART. And PINTO (14D. Old Ford). Car makers and models are definitely my blind spots.
43. Prayers: ORISONS. Same root with oration. Learned from doing Xword.
44. Edible ginseng plant: UDO. Both the leaves and stems are edible. Japanese veggie.
47. Comic strip cry: WAH. Baby cry?
51. Waitress at Mel's: FLO
52. More isolated: LONELIER
53. Town-line sign abbr.: ESTD (Established)
57. Bum: REAR. I am surprised by the cluing.
58. Starts: ONSETS. Noun "starts".
59. __ station: GAS
60. Dash for a recipe, maybe: SALT
61. Restaurant row?: SCENE. The brawl "row", not those lines of seats.
62. Mexican Mrs.: SRA
Down:
1. Some wine containers: CARAFES. The left one?
2. Another: ONE MORE
3. Surely: NO DOUBT. Of course!
4. Classified: WANT AD
5. Rare way for football games to end: IN A TIE. And EVEN (23D. Neck and neck).
6. Attribute to, as blame: PIN ON
7. Ref. work: ENC (Encyclopedia). Or OED.
10. 1982 Eddie Rabbitt/Crystal Gale duet: YOU AND I. No idea. The tune sounds familiar though.
11. Elixir: PANACEA
12. They can fix slips: ERASERS. What slips were you thinking? Lingerie?
17. Frolic: FUN
22. Clinton cabinet member Federico: PENA. Alas, his name escaped me again. Tony Peña next time, please!
25. Fed the kitty: ANTED. Pot kitty. Nice clue too.
30. "Don't __ innocent": ACT SO
31. AOL exchanges: IMS
33. New Look designer: DIOR (Christian)
34. Food-box word with a cable car in its "o": RONI. Rice-A-Roni, the San Fransisco Treat.
35. Depose: OUST
36. Strongboxes: COFFERS
37. Asian border lake: ARAL SEA. The shrinking sea. Good to have its complete name for a change.
38. Like a deciding moment: PIVOTAL. Pivotal moment.
40. Shade providers: AWNINGS
41. Wheels on a track: RACE CAR. Race track
42. Russell of "Black Widow": THERESA. Nope. I like how she looks.
44. Ben Hogan won it four times: US OPEN. Gimme. Ben Hogan had the most effective swing.
45. Contribute: DONATE
46. First-year law students: ONE LS. First year law students.
49. "Family Ties" mom: ELYSE. Simply forgot.
50. King preceder: A LA. Shouldn't it be "King preceders" (plural)?
54. 2000 Gere title role: DR T. "Dr. T and the Women". So star-studded. But I've never heard of the movie.
56. Mandela's org.: ANC (African National Congress)
Answer grid.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!
C.C.
16A. Communist revenue management?: RED FINANCE. Redfin. The freshwater minnow with red fins. Communist = Red.
21A. Atonement from a soda jerk?: FOUNTAIN PENANCE. Fountain pen. Soda fountain. Atonement = Penance.
32A. Love that blossomed in a music store?: CD ROMANCE. CD-Rom. Love = Romance.
48A. Voice of choice? FAVORITE SONANCE. Favorite Son. Voice = Sonance.
55A. Square up with actor Jack?: PAY PALANCE. PayPal. My first encounter with actor Jack Palance. Wikipedia says he won an Oscar for "City Slickers".
Today's Dan Naddor Index (non-theme entries with 6 or more letters) is 24. Very high. Great columns of triple 7's in each corner. The total word count is a themeless-like 70.
While solving this puzzle, I thought of Dennis' s trivia on the only four words in the English language which end in "dous": tremendous, horrendous, stupendous and hazardous.
Tough slogging for me. Lots of tricky clues. My favorite is NARC (24D. Buster?). I still don't get POS (55. Bldgs. with boxes). PO Box, yes. Why buildings?
Across:
1. Hoodwink: CON
4. Exhausted, with "out": WIPED. Crossing DIE (8D. Go kaput).
9. Exaggerated fanfare: HYPE
13. Mayo is in it: ANO. Spanish for "year". Mayo here refers to the month "may". I was thinking of the sandwich spread mayo.
14. Italian deli offering: PANINI. With a bit of grilled eggplant. Yummy!
15. Skyrocket: SOAR
18. Toro, in sushi bars: TUNA. Toro is the fatty belly portion of the tuna. Very tasty.
19. Become: AMOUNT TO
20. Small batteries: AAS
26. Tarzan creator's monogram: ERB (Edgar Rice Burroughs). Stumped me.
28. Mike famously bit him in a 1997 fight: EVANDER (Holyfield). Tyson bit Holyfield's ear.
29. __ date: SET A. Wrote down UP TO first.
31. Torpors: INERTIAS
36. Faultfinding: CAPTIOUS. New word to me.
39. Old Dodge: DART. And PINTO (14D. Old Ford). Car makers and models are definitely my blind spots.
43. Prayers: ORISONS. Same root with oration. Learned from doing Xword.
44. Edible ginseng plant: UDO. Both the leaves and stems are edible. Japanese veggie.
47. Comic strip cry: WAH. Baby cry?
51. Waitress at Mel's: FLO
52. More isolated: LONELIER
53. Town-line sign abbr.: ESTD (Established)
57. Bum: REAR. I am surprised by the cluing.
58. Starts: ONSETS. Noun "starts".
59. __ station: GAS
60. Dash for a recipe, maybe: SALT
61. Restaurant row?: SCENE. The brawl "row", not those lines of seats.
62. Mexican Mrs.: SRA
Down:
1. Some wine containers: CARAFES. The left one?
2. Another: ONE MORE
3. Surely: NO DOUBT. Of course!
4. Classified: WANT AD
5. Rare way for football games to end: IN A TIE. And EVEN (23D. Neck and neck).
6. Attribute to, as blame: PIN ON
7. Ref. work: ENC (Encyclopedia). Or OED.
10. 1982 Eddie Rabbitt/Crystal Gale duet: YOU AND I. No idea. The tune sounds familiar though.
11. Elixir: PANACEA
12. They can fix slips: ERASERS. What slips were you thinking? Lingerie?
17. Frolic: FUN
22. Clinton cabinet member Federico: PENA. Alas, his name escaped me again. Tony Peña next time, please!
25. Fed the kitty: ANTED. Pot kitty. Nice clue too.
30. "Don't __ innocent": ACT SO
31. AOL exchanges: IMS
33. New Look designer: DIOR (Christian)
34. Food-box word with a cable car in its "o": RONI. Rice-A-Roni, the San Fransisco Treat.
35. Depose: OUST
36. Strongboxes: COFFERS
37. Asian border lake: ARAL SEA. The shrinking sea. Good to have its complete name for a change.
38. Like a deciding moment: PIVOTAL. Pivotal moment.
40. Shade providers: AWNINGS
41. Wheels on a track: RACE CAR. Race track
42. Russell of "Black Widow": THERESA. Nope. I like how she looks.
44. Ben Hogan won it four times: US OPEN. Gimme. Ben Hogan had the most effective swing.
45. Contribute: DONATE
46. First-year law students: ONE LS. First year law students.
49. "Family Ties" mom: ELYSE. Simply forgot.
50. King preceder: A LA. Shouldn't it be "King preceders" (plural)?
54. 2000 Gere title role: DR T. "Dr. T and the Women". So star-studded. But I've never heard of the movie.
56. Mandela's org.: ANC (African National Congress)
Answer grid.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, everyone!
C.C.
