Theme: HALF- BAKED, and I was half baked this morning, and did not see it was a John Lampkin puzzle til later - one of the few constructors that I know of, and I like his style. The usual misdirection, and a tough to get theme, with it's circular reference - but hey~! it's Friday, right?
61A. Not well thought out : HALF-BAKED
Each theme answer is half of a common phrase:
17A. 61-Across Asian appetizer? : PU PLATTER - pu-pu platter, used to get this all the time.
21A. 61-Across cheer? : HIP HOORAY - "Hip-hip, horray ~!!!"
37A. 61-Across musical? : BYE BIRDIE - Bye-bye Birdie - not familiar with the "actual" story - according to Wiki, it's an Elvis related one.
55A. 61-Across gag? : KNOCK JOKE - Knock-knock joke, as in;
"knock, knock...who's there ?...Disguise...Disguise who ?...This guy's doing the blog today ~!"
Splynter
And away we GO ~!
ACROSS:
1. Work on a batter : STIR - theme related, and I was immediately mis-directed by John, thinking this was a baseball clue: Pitch didn't fit, and I'm not a big fan, so I waited on the perps.
5. Grandly appointed : POSH - again, I was looking for named, voted, etc....
9. Stand for : ABIDE
14. Strong-spined volume : TOME - Slight clecho w/23A. Spine movement? : SHIVER
15. Forte : AREA - ugh, so easy I missed it
16. "I __ Piano": Irving Berlin hit : LOVE A - my only music clue today.
19. Class figs. : PROFS - professors
20. Bleak : GRIM
25. Code-cracking gp. : NSA - National Security Agency; their website has a "7D. Greet warmly : SEE IN" feel to it....
26. Chatspeak qualifier : IMO - 'In My Opinion'
27. Batter's supply : PINE TAR - ah, now we have baseball; I need some pine tar when I play the drums - I keep dropping my sticks ~!
29. Select, in a way : SCREEN - good clue
32. "Then again ..." : YET
33. Doglike carnivore : HYENA
36. Ballet __ : RUSSE - total unknown, it's the Russian Ballet company
39. Ashes, e.g. : TREES - Baseball bat wood.
42. Geometry basic : AXIOM - I am familiar with the 'common' version - you can read about the geometric, Euclid version here.
43. Animal's gullet : MAW
46. Personally give : HAND TO
50. Hamburger's article : EIN - Hamburg, Germany, not French, thank you...
51. A.L. rival of N.Y. : BOS - yes, the hard-core baseball rivalry, BOSton Red Sox vs. New York Yankees. AL= American League.
54. Flashes : GLINTS - good clue/answer
59. Seed coating : ARIL - crossword word
60. Inspire profoundly : IMBUE
64. Great Lakes explorer La __ : SALLE
65. Convenient abbr. : Et. Al. - and others, from the Latin Et Alia
66. "Pretty Woman" actor : GERE - Richard Gere
67. Fishhook connector : SNELL - didn't know - here's how to tie one.
68. Disallow : DENY
69. Highland tongue : ERSE
DOWN:
1. Letters at Indy : STP
2. Head-scratcher : TOUGHIE - and, 13D. Hardly a head-scratcher : EASY ONE
3. Fossil indentation : IMPRINT
4. Be haunted by, perhaps : RELIVE
5. Square on the table? : PAT - oh, butter
6. Sports MD's specialty : ORTH - Orthopedic - my mom is slowly healing from her broken ankle, toughing it out at rehab for one more week - hopefully.
8. Dwells incessantly (on) : HARPS
9. Chow chow : ALPO - Chow, the dog; had one; they can be vicious
10. Town name ending : BORO - from German burg, meaning "fort", and the English version "bury"
11. They don't laugh when they're tickled : IVORIES - ah, "I Love A Piano"
12. Discredits : DEFAMES
18. Purple hue : AMETHYST - great clue, and my birthstone
22. Eats : HAS
23. Code user : SPY - and, my shortened nickname
24. Comedic actress Martha : RAYE
28. 1988 self-titled C&W album : REBA
30. FBI facility since 1932 : CRIME LAB
31. Nice street : RUE - Yup, here we go....Nice, in France, the town, and the French for street - three times, now, man.
34. Disallow : NIX
35. Diva's moment : ARIA
37. Daffodils' digs : BED
38. Bell sound : DONG
39. 1889 work of art deemed unsuitable for general display at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair : THE KISS - don't know it: here it is.
40. Title savant in a 1988 Oscar-winning film : RAINMAN - Played by Dustin Hoffman; my good friend Elizabeth was the bank officer that Tom Cruise speaks to - she's listed on IMDb, and still gets paid for her two lines....
41. Dignify : ENNOBLE
43. Handle : MONIKER - great clue
44. Pair in a rack : ANTLERS - down, boys - I wondered, too... hey~! "show me your links"
45. Horror filmmaker Craven : WES
47. Gram. case : OBJ - object, as in subject, verb, object: "John fooled Splynter", and I am the object in this sentence.
49. Illusion : MIRAGE - as in thinking you were going to see some "racks".
52. Gasped in delight : OOHED
53. Ray in the sea : SKATE - We have a "touchy-feely" tank of these at Atlantis, the aquarium in Riverhead.
56. Select : CULL - lumber reference, too, to pull out the warped boards, etc.
57. Sailing stabilizer : KEEL
58. Vigorous style : ELAN
62. Annoying buzzer : FLY
63. Danish capital? : DEE - Capital letter in Danish.
Answer grid.
Stepping in for Lemonade today - thanks for letting me be a part of this wonderful blog, and part of your morning ritual ~!
Answer grid.
Stepping in for Lemonade today - thanks for letting me be a part of this wonderful blog, and part of your morning ritual ~!
Splynter
