Theme: C.C. - Both words in each theme phrase (and clues) start with letter C, including the unifier itself.
17A. Cough cause: COMMON COLD
27A. Courtside coverage: COLOR COMMENTARY
41A. Captain's concern: COLLISION COURSE. Two 15-letter grid spanning theme entries.
55A. Contract clone (whose abbreviation hints at this puzzle's theme): CARBON COPY
Argyle here.
Another clear and concise offering from Jeff Chen, whose note on this puzzle is attached at the end of my write-up.
Across:
1A. Pinochle plays: MELDS. A combination of cards for score or the act of laying down those cards, depending if you read the alliterated clue as a noun or a verb.
6A. Lure: BAIT.
10A. Arced line connecting two musical notes: SLUR. Image.
14A. Construction girder: I-BEAM.
15A. Rod in a hot rod: AXLE.
16A. Sniffer: NOSE.
19A. School reunion attendee: ALUM. Shortened version can mean male or female. Convenient.
20A. Ambient music pioneer Brian: ENO. Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality. From Wikipedia. Timbral - the adjective form of timbre: the quality given to a sound by its overtones. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (TMI, I know.)
21A. Madeline of "Blazing Saddles": KAHN. She portrayed Lilly Von Schtupp.
22A. Cathedral top: SPIRE. Top of the steeple.
23A. Not at any time, in verse: NE'ER.
25A. Flew a plane: AVIATED.
31A. Sources of fiber: BRANS.
32A. Blackens, as tuna: SEARS.
33A. Puts in stitches: SEWS.
34A. Like a birdbrain: DITZY.
35A. Rip: TEAR.
39A. Grand Canyon pack animal: BURRO.
40A. Flashy: GAUDY.
46A. Consecrates with oil: ANOINTS.
47A. Germany's von Bismarck: OTTO.
48A. Police operation: STING. Plus, 18D. 55-Down in a bust: NARC. 55D. One with a beat: COP. I was expecting 55D to be DEA.
49A. Central points: FOCI.
51A. Microwave: ZAP.
54A. Insect wound: BITE.
58A. Agreement from the flock: "AMEN!".
59A. Two-tone cookie: OREO.
60A. Office machine powder: TONER.
61A. One of a matching pair: HERS. (HIS & HERS)
62A. Red Rose: PETE. Pete Rose played baseball for the Cincinnati Reds; aka "Charlie Hustle".
63A. More than chunky: OBESE.
Down:
1D. Scampering squeakers: MICE.
2D. Black, in verse: EBON.
3D. Statute that protects car buyers: LEMON LAW.
4D. Public works project: DAM.
5D. Camel users?: SMOKERS. 34D. Pledge target: DUST. Hiding the fact that we are looking at proper names: Camel cigarettes and Pledge furniture polish.
6D. "Goldberg Variations" composer: BACH. A set of an aria and 30 variations for harpsichord published in 1741.
7D. Neural transmitter: AXON.
8D. Not well: ILL.
9D. Bill's "excellent adventure" partner: TED. Movie. Stupid fun.
10D. Be short with: SNAP AT.
11D. Nabokov nymphet: LOLITA. Lo-li-ta.
12D. Loan shark: USURER.
13D. Cure: REMEDY.
22D. Breaks a commandment: SINS.
24D. Ages and ages: EONS.
25D. Legendary female warrior: AMAZON. Was Xena an Amazon?
26D. Quite: VERY.
27D. Its eye is on TV: CBS. TV network.
28D. Refinable rock: ORE.
29D. Egyptian god of the dead: OSIRIS. Wikipedia entry.
30D. Part of MGM: METRO. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
35D. Lacking slack: TAUT.
36D. Multicountry union using the same currency: EUROZONE.
37D. Promos: ADS.
38D. Deli loaf: RYE.
39D. Soft-voiced Crosby: BING. Known as a crooner, sang "White Christmas".
40D. Started liking, as a hobby: GOT INTO.
41D. Section of Algiers: CASBAH. Specifically the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, spelled kasbah.
42D. Prompt: ON TIME.
43D. Hang around: LOITER.
44D. Tablecloths and more: LINENS.
45D. Designer Chanel: COCO. A CC echo.
49D. Guitar ridge: FRET.
50D. Double-reed woodwind: OBOE.
52D. Big galoots: APES.
53D. Combustible pile: PYRE.
56D. "We __ the World": ARE.
57D. Corn unit: COB.
Answer grid.
Notes from Jeff Chen:
I heard a friend use the phrase COLLISION COURSE a few months ago, and I thought it was catchy. I looked it up in the cruciverb database, and luckily it's only been used once in crosswords (in a themeless puzzle) since the database's inception, but I wasn't quite sure how to make a puzzle out of it. After some brainstorming, I thought that other two-word phrases using the initials CC might make a good easy-ish puzzle, so I came up with a list of about ten that I thought were interesting. However, it still didn't feel like a very good puzzle, since it didn't have anything that tied the phrases together. Luckily I was reading your blog one day and it hit me that CC is an abbreviation for CARBON COPY, so that would serve to link up the phrases nicely. Luckily Rich agreed! Thanks for the inspiration CC! Jeff
Argyle
PS: Blogger software is having some glitches showing Comments.
17A. Cough cause: COMMON COLD
27A. Courtside coverage: COLOR COMMENTARY
41A. Captain's concern: COLLISION COURSE. Two 15-letter grid spanning theme entries.
55A. Contract clone (whose abbreviation hints at this puzzle's theme): CARBON COPY
Argyle here.
Another clear and concise offering from Jeff Chen, whose note on this puzzle is attached at the end of my write-up.
Across:
1A. Pinochle plays: MELDS. A combination of cards for score or the act of laying down those cards, depending if you read the alliterated clue as a noun or a verb.
6A. Lure: BAIT.
10A. Arced line connecting two musical notes: SLUR. Image.
14A. Construction girder: I-BEAM.
15A. Rod in a hot rod: AXLE.
16A. Sniffer: NOSE.
19A. School reunion attendee: ALUM. Shortened version can mean male or female. Convenient.
20A. Ambient music pioneer Brian: ENO. Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality. From Wikipedia. Timbral - the adjective form of timbre: the quality given to a sound by its overtones. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary (TMI, I know.)
21A. Madeline of "Blazing Saddles": KAHN. She portrayed Lilly Von Schtupp.
22A. Cathedral top: SPIRE. Top of the steeple.
23A. Not at any time, in verse: NE'ER.
25A. Flew a plane: AVIATED.
31A. Sources of fiber: BRANS.
32A. Blackens, as tuna: SEARS.
33A. Puts in stitches: SEWS.
34A. Like a birdbrain: DITZY.
35A. Rip: TEAR.
39A. Grand Canyon pack animal: BURRO.
40A. Flashy: GAUDY.
46A. Consecrates with oil: ANOINTS.
47A. Germany's von Bismarck: OTTO.
48A. Police operation: STING. Plus, 18D. 55-Down in a bust: NARC. 55D. One with a beat: COP. I was expecting 55D to be DEA.
49A. Central points: FOCI.
51A. Microwave: ZAP.
54A. Insect wound: BITE.
58A. Agreement from the flock: "AMEN!".
59A. Two-tone cookie: OREO.
60A. Office machine powder: TONER.
61A. One of a matching pair: HERS. (HIS & HERS)
62A. Red Rose: PETE. Pete Rose played baseball for the Cincinnati Reds; aka "Charlie Hustle".
63A. More than chunky: OBESE.
Down:
1D. Scampering squeakers: MICE.
2D. Black, in verse: EBON.
3D. Statute that protects car buyers: LEMON LAW.
4D. Public works project: DAM.
5D. Camel users?: SMOKERS. 34D. Pledge target: DUST. Hiding the fact that we are looking at proper names: Camel cigarettes and Pledge furniture polish.
6D. "Goldberg Variations" composer: BACH. A set of an aria and 30 variations for harpsichord published in 1741.
7D. Neural transmitter: AXON.
8D. Not well: ILL.
9D. Bill's "excellent adventure" partner: TED. Movie. Stupid fun.
10D. Be short with: SNAP AT.
11D. Nabokov nymphet: LOLITA. Lo-li-ta.
12D. Loan shark: USURER.
13D. Cure: REMEDY.
22D. Breaks a commandment: SINS.
24D. Ages and ages: EONS.
25D. Legendary female warrior: AMAZON. Was Xena an Amazon?
26D. Quite: VERY.
27D. Its eye is on TV: CBS. TV network.
28D. Refinable rock: ORE.
29D. Egyptian god of the dead: OSIRIS. Wikipedia entry.
30D. Part of MGM: METRO. (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer)
35D. Lacking slack: TAUT.
36D. Multicountry union using the same currency: EUROZONE.
37D. Promos: ADS.
38D. Deli loaf: RYE.
39D. Soft-voiced Crosby: BING. Known as a crooner, sang "White Christmas".
40D. Started liking, as a hobby: GOT INTO.
41D. Section of Algiers: CASBAH. Specifically the citadel of Algiers in Algeria and the traditional quarter clustered around it. More generally, spelled kasbah.
42D. Prompt: ON TIME.
43D. Hang around: LOITER.
44D. Tablecloths and more: LINENS.
45D. Designer Chanel: COCO. A CC echo.
49D. Guitar ridge: FRET.
50D. Double-reed woodwind: OBOE.
52D. Big galoots: APES.
53D. Combustible pile: PYRE.
56D. "We __ the World": ARE.
57D. Corn unit: COB.
Answer grid.
Notes from Jeff Chen:
I heard a friend use the phrase COLLISION COURSE a few months ago, and I thought it was catchy. I looked it up in the cruciverb database, and luckily it's only been used once in crosswords (in a themeless puzzle) since the database's inception, but I wasn't quite sure how to make a puzzle out of it. After some brainstorming, I thought that other two-word phrases using the initials CC might make a good easy-ish puzzle, so I came up with a list of about ten that I thought were interesting. However, it still didn't feel like a very good puzzle, since it didn't have anything that tied the phrases together. Luckily I was reading your blog one day and it hit me that CC is an abbreviation for CARBON COPY, so that would serve to link up the phrases nicely. Luckily Rich agreed! Thanks for the inspiration CC! Jeff
Argyle
PS: Blogger software is having some glitches showing Comments.
