Theme: AFTERLIFE (62A. Spiritual existence, and where the ends of 17-, 23-, 39- and 49-Across can go) - Life can precede the end of each theme answer.
17A. Hunk: DREAMBOAT. Lifeboat. Ah, Daniel Craig, my dreamboat. Jeannie does not seem to be attracted to him.
23A. Upstages a performer, e.g.: CRAMPS ONE'S STYLE. Lifestyle. I thought "cramp one's style" just means "restrict your style".
39A. Becomes less leery: LOWERS ONE'S GUARD. Lifeguard. More familiar with "let one's guard down".
49A. Gets a single, double, triple and homer in one game: HITS FOR THE CYCLE. Life Cycle. Gimme. If a player hits the above in the exact order, then it's a natural cycle.
Jack also gives us two more baseball references:
2D. Boot in the field: ERROR
18D. N.L.'s Pujols and A.L.'s Mauer in 2009: MVPS. Mauer is with the Twins. Pjulos is my husband's favorite current player.
Very nice three 15-word grid spanner theme entries. AFTER LIFE is a great unifier too. To borrow Spitzboov, Bravo Zulu, Jack!
Across:
5. Muslim journey: HADJ. Or HAJJ.
9. Dig deep: PROBE. Alliteration.
14. First name in mystery: ERLE. Erle Stanley Gardner.
15. '50s Hungarian premier Nagy: IMRE. Pronounced like EEM-ruh. Thanks again for Inogolo, Lucina. What does dtr mean, by the way?
16. Kind of police gun that doesn't use bullets: RADAR. Nailed it.
19. Thus follower: AND SO
20. It's charged: ION
21. One of a Latin trio: VICI. Caesar's boast: Veni, vidi, Vici.
22. Called, old-style: DIALED
26. 33-time Rose Bowl sch.: USC (University of Southern California)
27. You, to Yves: TOI. Alliteration.
28. Campus home for some: FRAT
31. "Whoops": UH -OH
34. Pat, for one: NFLER. Oh, Pat here refers to New England Patriots then. Home team for the handsome Joshua.
44. Jam causes: LOGS
45. Beautician's supply: DYE
58. '50s-'60s TV Earp portrayer: O'BRIAN (Hugh). Not familiar with this guy. Wikipedia says he married for the first time in 2006, at the age 81. Sweet!
59. Congo river: UELE (WEY-luh). I forgot. UELE is on the upper right corner, to the south west of The Sudan. I saw Ebola too.
60. Fireplace shelf: HOB
61. "Bye Bye Bye" singers: N'SYNC. Here is the clip. The song was very popular around the time I left China.
64. Do a winter airport maintenance job: DEICE
65. Knock for a loop: STUN
66. "A Jug of Wine ..." poet: OMAR. "... a Loaf of Bread, and Thou Beside me ...". So romantic.
67. Tossed in a chip: ANTED
68. Nile biters: ASPS. Nice play on "Nail biters". Thought of Gunghy and his pet snakes. I can't breathe picturing a 7-foot (50 lbs) boa coiling around him.
69. Baltic dweller: LETT. People of Latvia.
Down:
1. Doc: MEDIC
3. Actress Verdugo: ELENA
4. Crumpets' partner: TEA. Have not had crumpets for eons.
5. Flower used in herbal teas: HIBISCUS. I've never had hibiscus tea. Not fond of TEA/teas duplication. So close together.
6. It began as Standard Oil of Indiana: AMOCO
7. Bathtub feature: DRAIN
8. Deep black: JET
9. Applauding: PRAISING
10. Attacked on foot: RAN AT
11. "Strange to say ...": ODDLY
12. Swiss city on the Rhine: BASEL (BAH-zuhl). See the map. The name escaped me also. So similar to basil in spelling.
13. Eat away at: ERODE
22. Brit. military award: DSO (Distinguished Service Order)
24. Deadens: MUTES
25. Old knockout cause: ETHER
28. Showman Ziegfeld: FLO. The name just flowed to me.
29. Hold up: ROB
32. Firefighter, at times: HOSER
17A. Hunk: DREAMBOAT. Lifeboat. Ah, Daniel Craig, my dreamboat. Jeannie does not seem to be attracted to him.
23A. Upstages a performer, e.g.: CRAMPS ONE'S STYLE. Lifestyle. I thought "cramp one's style" just means "restrict your style".
39A. Becomes less leery: LOWERS ONE'S GUARD. Lifeguard. More familiar with "let one's guard down".
49A. Gets a single, double, triple and homer in one game: HITS FOR THE CYCLE. Life Cycle. Gimme. If a player hits the above in the exact order, then it's a natural cycle.
Jack also gives us two more baseball references:
2D. Boot in the field: ERROR
18D. N.L.'s Pujols and A.L.'s Mauer in 2009: MVPS. Mauer is with the Twins. Pjulos is my husband's favorite current player.
Very nice three 15-word grid spanner theme entries. AFTER LIFE is a great unifier too. To borrow Spitzboov, Bravo Zulu, Jack!
Across:
5. Muslim journey: HADJ. Or HAJJ.
9. Dig deep: PROBE. Alliteration.
14. First name in mystery: ERLE. Erle Stanley Gardner.
15. '50s Hungarian premier Nagy: IMRE. Pronounced like EEM-ruh. Thanks again for Inogolo, Lucina. What does dtr mean, by the way?
16. Kind of police gun that doesn't use bullets: RADAR. Nailed it.
19. Thus follower: AND SO
20. It's charged: ION
21. One of a Latin trio: VICI. Caesar's boast: Veni, vidi, Vici.
22. Called, old-style: DIALED
26. 33-time Rose Bowl sch.: USC (University of Southern California)
27. You, to Yves: TOI. Alliteration.
28. Campus home for some: FRAT
31. "Whoops": UH -OH
34. Pat, for one: NFLER. Oh, Pat here refers to New England Patriots then. Home team for the handsome Joshua.
44. Jam causes: LOGS
45. Beautician's supply: DYE
58. '50s-'60s TV Earp portrayer: O'BRIAN (Hugh). Not familiar with this guy. Wikipedia says he married for the first time in 2006, at the age 81. Sweet!
59. Congo river: UELE (WEY-luh). I forgot. UELE is on the upper right corner, to the south west of The Sudan. I saw Ebola too.
60. Fireplace shelf: HOB
61. "Bye Bye Bye" singers: N'SYNC. Here is the clip. The song was very popular around the time I left China.
64. Do a winter airport maintenance job: DEICE
65. Knock for a loop: STUN
66. "A Jug of Wine ..." poet: OMAR. "... a Loaf of Bread, and Thou Beside me ...". So romantic.
67. Tossed in a chip: ANTED
68. Nile biters: ASPS. Nice play on "Nail biters". Thought of Gunghy and his pet snakes. I can't breathe picturing a 7-foot (50 lbs) boa coiling around him.
69. Baltic dweller: LETT. People of Latvia.
Down:
1. Doc: MEDIC
3. Actress Verdugo: ELENA
4. Crumpets' partner: TEA. Have not had crumpets for eons.
5. Flower used in herbal teas: HIBISCUS. I've never had hibiscus tea. Not fond of TEA/teas duplication. So close together.
6. It began as Standard Oil of Indiana: AMOCO
7. Bathtub feature: DRAIN
8. Deep black: JET
9. Applauding: PRAISING
10. Attacked on foot: RAN AT
11. "Strange to say ...": ODDLY
12. Swiss city on the Rhine: BASEL (BAH-zuhl). See the map. The name escaped me also. So similar to basil in spelling.
13. Eat away at: ERODE
22. Brit. military award: DSO (Distinguished Service Order)
24. Deadens: MUTES
25. Old knockout cause: ETHER
28. Showman Ziegfeld: FLO. The name just flowed to me.
29. Hold up: ROB
32. Firefighter, at times: HOSER
35. To the nth degree: FULLY
36. Mekong River dweller: LAO
37. Work measure: ERG
38. Tobacco and Abbey: Abbr.: RDS. I've never heard of Tobacco Road. It's in North Carolina, referring to the tobacco-producing area.
40. Embarrassed: RED-FACED
41. 1980 erupter: ST. HELENS. Two nice consecutive long entries.
46. Over there, poetically: YON
48. One serving well: ACER. Tennis serve.
49. Civic engineer?: HONDA. Great clue.
50. "Peer Gynt" playwright: IBSEN
51. "Have a little": TRY IT
52. "__ You Went Away": 1944 Best Picture nominee: SINCE. Here is a poster. New to me also. Saw Shirley Temple's name.
53. The great horned owl has prominent ones on its ears: TUFTS. Stumper. He seems irked. What's the matter, pal?
54. Excited: HET UP
55. Add one's two cents, with "in": CHIME
56. Dieter's catchword: LO-FAT
57. "Questions for the Movie Answer Man" author: EBERT (Roger)
62. Comparison words: AS A
63. Online yuk: LOL
Answer grid.
Several weeks ago, Dennis mentioned a long word meaning "forgetting about words". Does anyone still remember how that word is spelled? It's been bothering me.
C.C.
PS: NY Times is running Dan Naddor's last puzzle today.
