Theme: Backronyms, sort of. Common internet TLAs (Three-Letter Acronyms) are reinterpreted as a new phrase, and the pairings appear together, each pair on the same row in the grid..
17A. Acquire incriminating info (on), as hinted by 19-Across: GET THE GOODS.
19A. "I'm heading out," in netspeak: GTG. Got To Go.
32A. "Here's how I see it," in netspeak: IMO. In My Opinion
33A. Lament about a lost opportunity, as hinted by 32-Across: I MISSED OUT.
38A. "Break time's over," as hinted by 41-Across: BACK TO WORK.
41A. "Oh, and did I mention ...," in netspeak: BTW. By The Way.
55A. "That's too funny!" in netspeak: LOL. Laugh Out Loud.
56A. Charity for young alopecia sufferers, as hinted by 55-Across: LOCKS OF LOVE. Getting long hair cut short to make wigs.
Hi all, Al here. That's one way to minimize the effects of having small abbreviations as grid fill, make them be part of the theme! Eight theme entries today; it's "odd" to have a high even number of clues.
ACROSS:
1. "__: Legacy": 2010 sci-fi sequel: TRON.
5. Chihuahua city: JUAREZ.
11. Is for all?: ARE. Verbs, forms of "to be". I am, he is, you are. Just another reason English is maddening to learn.
14. Top-notch: A-ONE.
15. 2010 World Cup campeón: ESPANA. Champion, Spain. Waka Waka. I could have linked a vuvuzuela vid instead...
16. Polar abbr.: NEG. Battery poles, negative and positive.
20. Ethically indifferent: AMORAL. Neutral, as opposed to immoral.
21. Facebook friends, e.g.: USERS.
23. Pearl weights: CARATS. 1 carat = 200 milligrams, 0.007055 oz, the weight of an average carob seed.
25. Stone's 14: Abbr.: LBS. One stone = 14 pounds. no longer a "legal" measurement, but still customarily used to express a person's weight. Not all stone measures are the same, just as troy pounds do not equal avoirdupois pounds. So a pound of feathers really does weigh more than a pound of gold...
28. First-century B.C. pharaoh, briefly: CLEO.patra
29. "... but a __ without a cat!": Alice: GRIN. Alice in Wonderland, the Cheshire Cat.
30. Pay-per-view event: BOUT. Old English byht, a bend, in the sense of a circuit, as a plow path. Evolved to a "round" of any sort of exercise, to a round at fighting, or of drinking.
31. Color in a stable: ROAN. Reddish brown cattle or horses.
36. Unexpected issue: SNAG. The stump of a tree or a branch, Old Norse snaggi, a clothes peg. From the sense of steamboats getting caught on stumps lodged in riverbeds.
37. Bracelet bit: BEAD. From Old English gebed "prayer", as the beads of a rosary.
44. Bullish start?: TAUR. Latin prefix form of taurus, the bull.
45. Eliza's 'elper: 'ENRY. George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion. Oh, ok, if I must, the movie My Fair Lady.
46. Storied cocky racer: HARE. Aesop's fable
47. Poet Pound: EZRA.
48. Check out: SEE.
49. Slatted containers: CRATES.
51. Rich soils: LOAMS.
53. Wood shop device: C CLAMP. Shaped just as it is named.
61. Scrape up, with "out": EKE.
62. Turn right?: ORIENT. To right something, as in to put it in an upright position, not to "gee" as per horse instructions.
63. Mideast airline: EL AL. Hebrew, to the skies.
64. "Norma __": RAE. Sally Field. The subject matter of unions has been much in the news of late.
65. Large TV family: BRADYS. It's the story/ of a lovely lady/ who was bringing up three very lovely girls...
66. Marathon prep, maybe: TEN-K. 26.2 miles (42 Kilometers) vs 6.2 miles (10 Kilometers)
DOWN:
1. Playground runaround?: TAG.
2. Fish delicacy: ROE. I wonder about the first person who thought it would be a good idea to eat fish eggs.
3. Michigan neighbor: ONTARIO. As has been previously mentioned, a part of Windsor Canada lies south of Detroit.
4. Court figure: NET MAN. Tennis, badminton? Others?
5. Greets the visitors: JEERS. Sports rivals, not Big Box Mart.
6. Open org.: USGA. Golf.
7. Good-lookers: APOLLOS. Adonises.
8. 1991-'96 Indian prime minister: RAO.
9. Put the kibosh on: END.
10. Silents star Pitts: ZASU. Two family members named EliZA and SUsan each wanted her to be named for them.
11. "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" autobiographer: ANGELOU. Maya.
12. Private place: RETREAT.
13. Exhorts: EGGS ON. From Latin exhortari "to encourage, stimulate"
18. Gossip-worthy: HOT.
22. New England catch: SCROD. A guy hops into a cab and asks the driver, "My good man, take me someplace where I can get scrod." The cabbie replies, "Pal, that's the first time I've ever been asked that in the passive pluperfect subjunctive."
23. "Avatar" spec. effects: CGI. Computer Generated Imagery.
24. Upper limb: ARM.
26. Water bearer, maybe: BUSBOY.
27. One in a herd: STEER.
30. It often gets away, so we've heard: BIG ONE.
33. Cartridge filler: INK. Printers, not ammunition.
34. Partners: MATES.
35. Deadwood's terr.: DAK. An HBO series about crime and corruption in early South Dakota.
36. "Get lost!": SCRAM. Could be a shortened form of "scramble" or possibly from German "schramm": depart.
38. Antitank weapon: BAZOOKA. From name of a junkyard musical instrument used as a prop by U.S. comedian Bob Burns; extension of bazoo, slang for "mouth" or "boastful talk", probably from Dutch bazuin "trumpet."
39. Civil War love song: AURA LEE. The melody was used by Elvis for "Love Me Tender".
40. Totaled: WRECKED.
41. Robin's way down: BATPOLE. Robin's pole was smaller in diameter than Batman's. Just sayin'...
42. Uno e due: TRE. Italian (I think).
43. Bentley of "Ghost Rider": WES. Played a demon, Blackheart, pitted at the end against Nicolas Cage's Johnny Blaze, who sold his soul to Mephistopheles, Blackheart's father.
44. One taking a lot of notes: TELLER. Bank notes, i.e. money.
46. Claudius' nephew: HAMLET.
49. Congeals: CLOTS. As with cream or blood.
50. Brit. fliers: RAF. Royal Air Force.
52. Pig at the table: SLOB. I wanted CHOP or LOIN first, but tricksy Thursday. Although, there wasn't too much of this today.
54. "Ohio" folk-rock quartet, initially: CSNY. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
57. Hockey great: ORR. Bobby. Played defense, but won the league scoring title.
58. "Covert Affairs" org.: CIA. Central Intelligence Agency.
59. Soccer mom's need: VAN. Don't see all that many station wagons any more, or at least, I don't.
60. Hooved grazer: ELK.
Al
