Theme: TURNSTILE (57A. Metro access, and a hint to the circled letters in 17-, 28-, 34- and 43-Across) - Each set of circled letters contains the turned (anagrammed) STILE. (Added later: The turned letters are in rotational order. Thanks, MJ.)
17A. Mah-jongg pieces, e.g.: GAME TILES. Mah-jong(g) is Ma-Jiang in Mandarin Chinese. This turned TILES is the only real word. ISLET is another possible alternative.
28A. Notable achievement: MILESTONE
34A. Site of the Beatles' last commercial concert: CANDLESTICK PARK. San Fransisco Giants's ballpark before 2000.
43A. Likely to spread disease: PESTILENT
Great theme! Very clever & creative interpretation of TURNSTILE. Like nuts, crazy, TURN is often an anagram indicator in cryptic crosswords.
Nice triple columns of 8s in the upper left and lower right corners. So open. No cheater/help square in this baby, an important measure of puzzle elegance for our LAT constructor John Lampkin.
My favorite non-theme entry today is KVETCH (22D. Whine). Fantastic string of consonants. What don't you love about this puzzle? Kvetch away!
Across:
1. Perform high-tech surgery on: LASE
5. Crack, in a way: CHAP. Crack from dryness. I was cracking nuts in my mind.
9. Capital near Casablanca: RABAT. Capital of Morocco. Casablanca is Morocco's largest city.
14. Being aired: ON TV
15. Spydom name: HARI (Mata). Always want BOND.
16. Rial spender: OMANI. So is Yemeni/Iranian.
19. Paul in the center square: LYNDE. Paul Lynde was a regular "center square" guest in the game show "Hollywood Squares". Stumped me.
20. Cry to a faith healer, maybe: I CAN SEE. Not into faith healing & its ritual.
21. Pug's stat: TKO (Technical Knockout). Pug is short for pugilist. Not dog.
23. Proof initials: QED. Mathematical proof.
24. In a way: SORT OF
25. AFC North, e.g.: DIV (Division). AFC = American Football Conference.
26. Place to dock: QUAY
27. Demolition supplies: TNTS. A common enough word not to need an abbreviation hint, a la Jerome.
30. Mean Amin: IDI. Nice rhyme.
31. "What __!": "This is fun!": A GAS. I think it will be fun but exhausting to be with Lois.
33. Clavell's "__-Pan": TAI. Here is the book cover. Tai means "big" in Cantonese. Tai Pan = Big Shot.
40. Off one's feed: ILL. I misread the clue as "off one's feet". We also had EAT (49A. Polish off).
41. "A Hard Road to Glory" author: ASHE (Arthur)
42. Reading room: DEN
47. Suffer from: HAVE. I suffer from coconut obsession now. Put coconut milk/flake in everything I eat. Thanks for the shrimp recipe, Jeannie!
48. Film in which Woody Allen voices Z: ANTZ. The 1998 animated bug film.
50. Flap-door home: TEEPEE. I've never seen a teepee in person.
52. Victrola company: RCA
53. Surg. centers: ORS
54. Can opener: PULL TAB
55. Hose problems: KINKS
59. 1944 Italian beachhead: ANZIO. No idea. It's a town in central Italy. Allied troops landed there on Jan 22, 1944.
60. Niagara River feeder: ERIE
61. What avengers get: EVEN. Get even. Nice clue.
62. Parasails, say: SOARS. Parasail = Para(chute) + sail. New to me.
63. Canyon perimeters: RIMS
64. Funny Foxx: REDD. Alliteration.
Down:
1. Like a wedding planner's skills: LOGISTIC. Only familiar with logistics or logistical.
2. Jungle crusher: ANACONDA. The large jungle boa.
3. Part-French, part-Dutch isl.: ST. MARTIN. The island in the northeast Caribbean.
4. Decathlon's 10: EVENTS
5. Top dog: CHIEF
6. In tiptop shape: HALE. Hale and hearty.
8. Flower organ: PISTIL. Flower's seed-bearing female organ. Stamen is the pollen-bearing male organ.
9. Caramel candy brand: ROLO
10. '70s-'80s first daughter: AMY (Carter)
11. "Macbeth" ghost: BANQUO. I peeked at the answer sheet.
12. Like vicuña: ANDEAN. Wikipedia says vicuña is the national animal of Peru. Like our bald eagle.
13. Project done to a tee: TIE-DYE. Tee = T-shirt. I was trapped into the idiomatic "to a tee". You wicked Scott!
18. Chinese menu general: TSO. Man, I am tired of this guy.
25. Far from cordial: DISTANT
26. Swab brand: Q-TIP
28. Some advanced degs.: MAS
29. Sushi bar order: SAKE. Rice wine. The sweet rice wine is mirin. Used in cooking.
17A. Mah-jongg pieces, e.g.: GAME TILES. Mah-jong(g) is Ma-Jiang in Mandarin Chinese. This turned TILES is the only real word. ISLET is another possible alternative.
28A. Notable achievement: MILESTONE
34A. Site of the Beatles' last commercial concert: CANDLESTICK PARK. San Fransisco Giants's ballpark before 2000.
43A. Likely to spread disease: PESTILENT
Great theme! Very clever & creative interpretation of TURNSTILE. Like nuts, crazy, TURN is often an anagram indicator in cryptic crosswords.
Nice triple columns of 8s in the upper left and lower right corners. So open. No cheater/help square in this baby, an important measure of puzzle elegance for our LAT constructor John Lampkin.
My favorite non-theme entry today is KVETCH (22D. Whine). Fantastic string of consonants. What don't you love about this puzzle? Kvetch away!
Across:
1. Perform high-tech surgery on: LASE
5. Crack, in a way: CHAP. Crack from dryness. I was cracking nuts in my mind.
9. Capital near Casablanca: RABAT. Capital of Morocco. Casablanca is Morocco's largest city.
14. Being aired: ON TV
15. Spydom name: HARI (Mata). Always want BOND.
16. Rial spender: OMANI. So is Yemeni/Iranian.
19. Paul in the center square: LYNDE. Paul Lynde was a regular "center square" guest in the game show "Hollywood Squares". Stumped me.
20. Cry to a faith healer, maybe: I CAN SEE. Not into faith healing & its ritual.
21. Pug's stat: TKO (Technical Knockout). Pug is short for pugilist. Not dog.
23. Proof initials: QED. Mathematical proof.
24. In a way: SORT OF
25. AFC North, e.g.: DIV (Division). AFC = American Football Conference.
26. Place to dock: QUAY
27. Demolition supplies: TNTS. A common enough word not to need an abbreviation hint, a la Jerome.
30. Mean Amin: IDI. Nice rhyme.
31. "What __!": "This is fun!": A GAS. I think it will be fun but exhausting to be with Lois.
33. Clavell's "__-Pan": TAI. Here is the book cover. Tai means "big" in Cantonese. Tai Pan = Big Shot.
40. Off one's feed: ILL. I misread the clue as "off one's feet". We also had EAT (49A. Polish off).
41. "A Hard Road to Glory" author: ASHE (Arthur)
42. Reading room: DEN
47. Suffer from: HAVE. I suffer from coconut obsession now. Put coconut milk/flake in everything I eat. Thanks for the shrimp recipe, Jeannie!
48. Film in which Woody Allen voices Z: ANTZ. The 1998 animated bug film.
50. Flap-door home: TEEPEE. I've never seen a teepee in person.
52. Victrola company: RCA
53. Surg. centers: ORS
54. Can opener: PULL TAB
55. Hose problems: KINKS
59. 1944 Italian beachhead: ANZIO. No idea. It's a town in central Italy. Allied troops landed there on Jan 22, 1944.
60. Niagara River feeder: ERIE
61. What avengers get: EVEN. Get even. Nice clue.
62. Parasails, say: SOARS. Parasail = Para(chute) + sail. New to me.
63. Canyon perimeters: RIMS
64. Funny Foxx: REDD. Alliteration.
Down:
1. Like a wedding planner's skills: LOGISTIC. Only familiar with logistics or logistical.
2. Jungle crusher: ANACONDA. The large jungle boa.
3. Part-French, part-Dutch isl.: ST. MARTIN. The island in the northeast Caribbean.
4. Decathlon's 10: EVENTS
5. Top dog: CHIEF
6. In tiptop shape: HALE. Hale and hearty.
8. Flower organ: PISTIL. Flower's seed-bearing female organ. Stamen is the pollen-bearing male organ.
9. Caramel candy brand: ROLO
10. '70s-'80s first daughter: AMY (Carter)
11. "Macbeth" ghost: BANQUO. I peeked at the answer sheet.
12. Like vicuña: ANDEAN. Wikipedia says vicuña is the national animal of Peru. Like our bald eagle.
13. Project done to a tee: TIE-DYE. Tee = T-shirt. I was trapped into the idiomatic "to a tee". You wicked Scott!
18. Chinese menu general: TSO. Man, I am tired of this guy.
25. Far from cordial: DISTANT
26. Swab brand: Q-TIP
28. Some advanced degs.: MAS
29. Sushi bar order: SAKE. Rice wine. The sweet rice wine is mirin. Used in cooking.
31. "... for __ care!": ALL I
32. See 58-Down: GELLER. And URI (58. With 32-Down, self-proclaimed "mystifier"). Had no idea that he called himself "mystifier".
35. Scatterbrain: DITZ. I only know the adjective ditzy.
36. Ideal conclusion?: IST. Idealist.
37. Capable of change: ADAPTIVE
38. Uncovered: REVEALED
39. Calisthenics exercise: KNEE BEND. Was reading a biography on Greta Garbo. She's very into calisthenics.
43. Winter outerwear: PARKAS. Still some snow left in our yard.
44. San Fernando Valley community: ENCINO. A district of LA. Spanish for "evergreen". Got me.
45. Song section: STANZA. Poem section too.
46. Hams are often seen on it: EASTER. Ham is the traditional food on Easter Sunday. I was picturing some kind of bread.
47. __-skelter: HELTER
50. iPod files: TUNES
51. High trains: ELS
53. Barcelona bears: OSOS. Alliteration again. The she-bear is OSA in Spanish.
54. Strait-laced: PRIM
56. Wine-and-cassis apéritif: KIR (Keer). No idea. It's an apéritif of white wine flavored with cassis (black currant). Named after Canon Félix Kir (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon, who is said to have invented the recipe.
32. See 58-Down: GELLER. And URI (58. With 32-Down, self-proclaimed "mystifier"). Had no idea that he called himself "mystifier".
35. Scatterbrain: DITZ. I only know the adjective ditzy.
36. Ideal conclusion?: IST. Idealist.
37. Capable of change: ADAPTIVE
38. Uncovered: REVEALED
39. Calisthenics exercise: KNEE BEND. Was reading a biography on Greta Garbo. She's very into calisthenics.
43. Winter outerwear: PARKAS. Still some snow left in our yard.
44. San Fernando Valley community: ENCINO. A district of LA. Spanish for "evergreen". Got me.
45. Song section: STANZA. Poem section too.
46. Hams are often seen on it: EASTER. Ham is the traditional food on Easter Sunday. I was picturing some kind of bread.
47. __-skelter: HELTER
50. iPod files: TUNES
51. High trains: ELS
53. Barcelona bears: OSOS. Alliteration again. The she-bear is OSA in Spanish.
54. Strait-laced: PRIM
56. Wine-and-cassis apéritif: KIR (Keer). No idea. It's an apéritif of white wine flavored with cassis (black currant). Named after Canon Félix Kir (1876–1968), mayor of Dijon, who is said to have invented the recipe.
