Theme: NURSERY RHYMES (37A. Mother Goose offerings, or in a different sense, this puzzle's title) - the first word of each rhyming phrase can be found in a plant nursery.
17A. Longing for a fronded plant?: FERN YEARN. Frond is the leaf of the fern.
21A. Zinfandel, but not sake?: VINE WINE. Sake is Japanese rice wine.
23A. Oxygen emanating from a lawn?: GRASS GAS. The answer made me laugh.
55A. Steep, e.g.?: HERB VERB. You steep the "herbal tea", hence a verb for herb I presume.
57A. Like areas above the timberline?: TREE FREE. Trees do not grow above the timberline.
61A. Group devoted to small, woody plants?: SHRUB CLUB. What's the difference between shrub and bush?
Heavy themage. Total 63 theme squares. Very Dan Naddor-ish, isn't it? Esp with the first and last pair of stacked theme answers.
I got the unifying entry NURSERY RHYMES rather quickly, but did not understand the theme until I was completely done. Had thought the theme answers were all arbitrary. Then the precious AHA (6D: Cry of realization) hit me. Very clever tie-in. Loved Dan's subtle metapuzzle gimmick. Or "You've got to dig deep to find the theme...", in his own words.
The clues are a bit trickier than our normal Wednesday, no?
Across:
1. Bridges of "The Big Lebowski": JEFF. He's "The Dude" in the movie. A bowler.
5. River projects: DAMS. I like how it crosses DREDGE (5D. Channel maintenance machine).
9. Ritz cracker alternative: ZESTA. The Keebler brand. Two Zs in the grid. And only Q away from a pangram.
14. Swedish furniture giant: IKEA. So easy to get lost inside IKEA store.
15. Ostrich cousin: RHEA
19. Connection: NEXUS
20. H.S. dropout's test: GED (General Equivalency Diploma)
27. Spews: EGESTS. Thought of ERUPTS.
28. Bench press target, briefly: PEC
29. Côte d'Azur view: MER. French for "sea". Nice is at Côte d'Azur (the French Riviera). We also have "water" EAU (52A. __ Claire, Wisconsin).
30. Scratch or dent: MAR
31. Ed.'s pile: MSS (Manuscripts). Used to stump me.
32. Rural skyline cylinder: SILO. For forage.
34. Rock collection specimens: AGATES. Raw agates do not look pretty at all.
42. Cloverleaf element: ON-RAMP. Highway interchange "Cloverleaf".
43. Follower of once?: UPON. "Once upon a time ...".
45. Some TVs: GES
48. Scrap for Spot: ORT. Spot is a common dog name. Alliteration.
49. Anaheim team, on scoreboards: LAA. Silly name: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
53. Pair of blows: ONE-TWO. No idea. Boxing term?
59. Govt. auditing gp.: GAO (General Accounting Office)
60. Fruit soda brand: FANTA. No Coca-Cola brand in our house. Loyal Pepsi consumers.
66. "I Kissed __": Katy Perry hit: A GIRL. Not familiar with the song or the singer.
67. Diggs of "Private Practice": TAYE. Loved him in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back".
68. Golfer Isao: AOKI. Just remember the AO combination in both his give name and surname.
69. Kidney-related: RENAL
71. Joan at Woodstock: BAEZ. Nicely intersects BIZ (65D. Show __).
Down:
1. Choice of "Choosy moms," in ads: JIF. "Choosy moms choose Jif"
3. Not agin: FER. "For". "Agin" = Against.
4. Werewolf's weapons: FANGS
7. Griffin and others: MERVS. Merv Griffin created "Jeopardy".
8. Cleaning product prefix: SANI. Got it from Across.
9. "Riders of the Purple Sage" author: ZANE GREY. Have faintly heard of the book. Full author name is always desirable.
10. "Maid of Athens, __ part": Byron: ERE WE. "Ere" = "Before". I guessed.
11. Discrimination fought by suffragists: SEXISM
12. Talks trash to: TAUNTS
13. Size up: ASSESS. Typical grid (right/bottom) edge word, with all the four Ss.
18. Polite country affirmative: YES' M
22. Not o'er: NEATH. Poetically.
23. Modern rental car feature, briefly: GPS
24. Hold back: REIN
25. Scopes Trial gp.: ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Was unaware of the Scopes Trial.
26. Turkish mount: ARARAT. The landing mount of Noah's Ark.
30. Christie heroine: MARPLE. Miss Marple.
33. Plata counterpart: ORO. Spanish for "gold". Plata = "silver". "Oro y Plata" (gold and silver) is Montana's motto.
17A. Longing for a fronded plant?: FERN YEARN. Frond is the leaf of the fern.
21A. Zinfandel, but not sake?: VINE WINE. Sake is Japanese rice wine.
23A. Oxygen emanating from a lawn?: GRASS GAS. The answer made me laugh.
55A. Steep, e.g.?: HERB VERB. You steep the "herbal tea", hence a verb for herb I presume.
57A. Like areas above the timberline?: TREE FREE. Trees do not grow above the timberline.
61A. Group devoted to small, woody plants?: SHRUB CLUB. What's the difference between shrub and bush?
Heavy themage. Total 63 theme squares. Very Dan Naddor-ish, isn't it? Esp with the first and last pair of stacked theme answers.
I got the unifying entry NURSERY RHYMES rather quickly, but did not understand the theme until I was completely done. Had thought the theme answers were all arbitrary. Then the precious AHA (6D: Cry of realization) hit me. Very clever tie-in. Loved Dan's subtle metapuzzle gimmick. Or "You've got to dig deep to find the theme...", in his own words.
The clues are a bit trickier than our normal Wednesday, no?
Across:
1. Bridges of "The Big Lebowski": JEFF. He's "The Dude" in the movie. A bowler.
5. River projects: DAMS. I like how it crosses DREDGE (5D. Channel maintenance machine).
9. Ritz cracker alternative: ZESTA. The Keebler brand. Two Zs in the grid. And only Q away from a pangram.
14. Swedish furniture giant: IKEA. So easy to get lost inside IKEA store.
15. Ostrich cousin: RHEA
19. Connection: NEXUS
20. H.S. dropout's test: GED (General Equivalency Diploma)
27. Spews: EGESTS. Thought of ERUPTS.
28. Bench press target, briefly: PEC
29. Côte d'Azur view: MER. French for "sea". Nice is at Côte d'Azur (the French Riviera). We also have "water" EAU (52A. __ Claire, Wisconsin).
30. Scratch or dent: MAR
31. Ed.'s pile: MSS (Manuscripts). Used to stump me.
32. Rural skyline cylinder: SILO. For forage.
34. Rock collection specimens: AGATES. Raw agates do not look pretty at all.
42. Cloverleaf element: ON-RAMP. Highway interchange "Cloverleaf".
43. Follower of once?: UPON. "Once upon a time ...".
45. Some TVs: GES
48. Scrap for Spot: ORT. Spot is a common dog name. Alliteration.
49. Anaheim team, on scoreboards: LAA. Silly name: the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
53. Pair of blows: ONE-TWO. No idea. Boxing term?
59. Govt. auditing gp.: GAO (General Accounting Office)
60. Fruit soda brand: FANTA. No Coca-Cola brand in our house. Loyal Pepsi consumers.
66. "I Kissed __": Katy Perry hit: A GIRL. Not familiar with the song or the singer.
67. Diggs of "Private Practice": TAYE. Loved him in "How Stella Got Her Groove Back".
68. Golfer Isao: AOKI. Just remember the AO combination in both his give name and surname.
69. Kidney-related: RENAL
71. Joan at Woodstock: BAEZ. Nicely intersects BIZ (65D. Show __).
Down:
1. Choice of "Choosy moms," in ads: JIF. "Choosy moms choose Jif"
3. Not agin: FER. "For". "Agin" = Against.
4. Werewolf's weapons: FANGS
7. Griffin and others: MERVS. Merv Griffin created "Jeopardy".
8. Cleaning product prefix: SANI. Got it from Across.
9. "Riders of the Purple Sage" author: ZANE GREY. Have faintly heard of the book. Full author name is always desirable.
10. "Maid of Athens, __ part": Byron: ERE WE. "Ere" = "Before". I guessed.
11. Discrimination fought by suffragists: SEXISM
12. Talks trash to: TAUNTS
13. Size up: ASSESS. Typical grid (right/bottom) edge word, with all the four Ss.
18. Polite country affirmative: YES' M
22. Not o'er: NEATH. Poetically.
23. Modern rental car feature, briefly: GPS
24. Hold back: REIN
25. Scopes Trial gp.: ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). Was unaware of the Scopes Trial.
26. Turkish mount: ARARAT. The landing mount of Noah's Ark.
30. Christie heroine: MARPLE. Miss Marple.
33. Plata counterpart: ORO. Spanish for "gold". Plata = "silver". "Oro y Plata" (gold and silver) is Montana's motto.
35. Place where sweaters get fit?: GYM. "Sweat-ers" = Ones who sweat. Hot clue!
36. The Mustangs of coll. football: SMU (Southern Methodist University). The answer emerged itself.
38. Winter wonderland creator: SNOW FALL. Lovely Heidi Klum "Wonderland".
39. Shortstop's boot: ERROR. "Boot" is misplay of the ground ball.
40. Foil alternative: EPEE. Was picturing the wrap "foil", not "fencing weapon".
41. Fly high: SOAR
44. Worn-down pencil: NUB
45. Was successful: GOT FAR. And SEEN IN (47D. Shown to a seat). Tricky little multi-words, esp with the tense.
46. Bring to a boil?: ENRAGE. With the question mark, I still thought of liquid boil. Dummy!
50. Pleads in court: ARGUES
51. Simple poetry pattern: ABAB
54. Aquarium denizen: TETRA. Maybe Dennis has this species in his fish tank.
55. "__ it coming": "Serves him right": HE HAD. Again, obtained the answer with Across help.
56. Eng. lesson: VOCAB (Vocabulary).
58. "¿Cómo ____ usted?": ESTA. How do you reply then?
62. Bakery product: RYE
63. Mauna __: LOA. Hawaiian for "long".
64. Strummed strings: UKE. The Hawaiian strings. Nice parallel with LOA.
Here is a picture of our Jazzbumpa in full orchestra uniform. It's taken in Dec 2009 before their Sebelius concert.
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Answer grid.
C.C.
