Theme: “Say the secret word and win yourself a hundred dollars!” - Hint: It’s a “VETO”, hidden in the pockets of the theme entries.
17A. Symbolic gifts: LOVE TOKENS. For Valentine’s day, do you give “symbolic gifts” like chocolate hearts or roses? Or, something really significant like diamonds, or even a Ferrari??
22A. Exasperate: DRIVE TO DRINK. My mother always yelled this to us kids, although I don’t remember her ever taking anything stronger than a tiny glass of Ernest and Julio Gallo on New Year’s Eve…
35A. Soother for men: AFTERSHAVE TONIC. Would that be with gin??
45A. Indigenous language: NATIVE TONGUE. Mine is English. What’s yours?
and the unifier:
56A. President’s option, and a hint to the puzzle theme in17-, 22-, 35- and 45-Across: POCKET VETO. In this case, VE-TO is split the same way in all four theme entries. In other puzzles, constructors might try to split a hidden word in different ways. But can you think of common phrases with words ending in –v and the next beginning with eto-, or ending in –vet and beginning with o-? (I didn’t think so…)
Marti here, so it must be Thursday again. (Really, already??) (Yep, so get crackin’!) (OK, OK, already!)
Across:
1. Gaucho’s weapon: BOLA
5. What two lanterns in the Old North Church signified: BY SEA. From “Paul Revere’s Ride”, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow:
“…One if by land, and two if by sea:
And I on the opposite shore will be…”
10. Shenanigan: LARK
14. “Paradise Lost” setting: EDEN
15. Assessed: RATED
16. Holder of small tools: ETUI. Hello, old crosswordese friend!
19. Jose’s hand: MANO … a mano.
20. Like some ink cartridges: TRI-COLOR. I just bought a new printer today, but it only does B&W.
21. Vitruvian Man is on some Italian ones: EUROS. This is the Vitruvian Man, by Leonardo da Vinci.
Unfortunately, more people recognize him from this movie than from the work in the Louvre…
22. Pago Pago resident: SAMOAN
28. Sosa’s 1,667, briefly: RBIs. HA!! I knew this had to be a baseball clue, as I am beginning to recognize Sammy Sosa as some guy in baseball. But it still eluded me, if the clue was looking for ERAs or RBIs. Sighhh….OK, C.C. I did my due diligence: Sammy Sosa is from the Dominican Republic, and while a member of the Chicago Cubs, he and Mark McGuire achieved national fame for their ability to hit home-runs.
29A. Conspiracy theorist’s worry: PLOT
30. Zeno, notably: STOIC. (I had the “C” from filling in EDICT down…so what else could it be??)
32. Styled after: A LA. As in “Chicken à la King” (Does that mean the king is a chicken??). and a clecho with 33D. Styled after : LIKE
39. Stadium sound: RAH. Or boooo, if they are playing badly?
40. Shake: ELUDE. As in, shake (off) the cops.
41. Victory goddess: NIKE. And you thought she was just a sneaker, huh?
42. ___ Deion: NFL nickname: NEON. I had no clue, but with N-ON from perps, not hard to guess the rhyming nickname here.
43. Bk. After Proverbs: ECCLES. “Bk.” gives the hint that the answer is an abbr. of “Ecclesiastes”. (I had the darndest time spelling out that full name just now!!)
50. Selectric selection: ELITE. Does anyone still use an IBM Selectric (electric) typewriter? And, just which“Elite” does the answer refer to? There was the Elite 72, Auto Elite, LargeElite (12), Prestige Elite 72, Prestige Elite 96…not to mention the Presidential Elite!
51. Became one lane, say: NARROWED. Boston is famous for having 16 lanes narrow into one. So do you wonder why we have such aggressive drivers??
55. Hammer feature: CLAW. Ok, hands up for whoever entered the crosswordese “peen” here. (one, two, three, four, five…)
58. Soprano TeKanawa: KIRI. To my surprise, not everyone appreciates a pure operatic soprano voice like this. Do you?
59. Gets zero mpg: IDLES.
60. First name in bike stunts: EVEL. Knievel, motorcycle daredevil of the 70’s. After living through all of his unbelievable stunts, he died of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
61. Fall runner’s goal, perhaps: SEAT. Fall elections, that is.
62. Requirements: NEEDS
63. Take it easy: REST
So, after our brief REST, let’s continue
Down:
1. Whack: BELT. OK, OK, I’m awake after my REST!!
2. Glade target: ODOR. “Ewwww…fried fish tonight, dear??”
3. “Hello, Dolly!”surname: LEVI.
5. Josh of "True Grit" (2010) : BROLIN. I liked John Wayne better than this guy...
6. Comedian Smirnoff : YAKOV. Funny guy, famous for his ironic portrayals of life under communism. But back in the 80's, it seemed more "cutting edge" than it would now, I guess.
7. Cordwood measure : STERE
8. Bard's nightfall : E'EN
9. Many pop-ups : ADS. grrr, I hate those things!
10. Madagascar mammals : LEMURS
11. Asteroids maker : ATARI
12. Syntax problem : RUNON (... like the answer)
13. Newsstand booth : KIOSK
18. When said three times, a WWII film : TORA
21. Order from on high : EDICT
23. Valuable stash : TROVE
24. Tony's cousin : OBIE. Not Tony Orlando, silly! The American Theater awards.
25. Bandy words : SPAR. Do you bandy words with your boss? My DH would check to see if the spar tar was in good condition before going on a long trip. But then, he is from the south...
26. It's five before Foxtrot : ALFA. NATO phonetic alphabet.
27. Light-headed insect? : MOTH. Loved this clue! And a chance for a fav song.
30. Railroad switch : SHUNT. Much better clue than "Atrial septal defect with left-to-right ___"
31. Smidgen : TAD
32. Indigo dye source : ANIL
34. Whizzes : ACES. (Oops! I put "pees")
36. "The Canterbury Tales" estate manager : REEVE. "The Reeve's Tale" is the third of the Canterbury tales.
37. Gin flavoring : SLOE. Oh, here's the gin I was looking for at 35A !!
38. Quick look : ONCE-OVER. Hmmm, wanna come up and see me some time?
42. Dipstick : NITWIT
43. Door to the street : EGRESS
44. Brusque : CURT
45. Kisses and then some : NECKS... Hmmm, wanna come up and see me some time?
46. Kate's TV roommate : ALLIE. "Kate and Allie", a popular TV series in the 80's.
47. Regal topper : TIARA
48. Frère de la mère : ONCLE. Sorry Abejo, here is your required French entry...
49. Blunt, as truth : NAKED. Yeh, sure. We know how this was originally clued, right?
:
:
:
("The ___ Ape" !!)
52. "Houston, __ had a problem" : WE'VE. Often misquoted as "Houston, we have a problem..."
53. Nice warm times : ETES. Ahhh, here's our nice misdirection. Nice, as in the city in southern France. I would really, really love to see this just once clued as "Summers (Fr.)" (Sorry Abejo, that makes two in one puzzle!)
54. Dimbulb : DOLT
56. Verb associated with blame : PIN. Not the tail on the donkey?
57. Neruda's "__ to Conger Chowder" : ODE. You really should read this...it is a very different poetic offering than the dishes served up by our dear Clear Ayes!
Answer grid.
Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to comment!
Hugs,
Marti
5. Josh of "True Grit" (2010) : BROLIN. I liked John Wayne better than this guy...
6. Comedian Smirnoff : YAKOV. Funny guy, famous for his ironic portrayals of life under communism. But back in the 80's, it seemed more "cutting edge" than it would now, I guess.
7. Cordwood measure : STERE
8. Bard's nightfall : E'EN
9. Many pop-ups : ADS. grrr, I hate those things!
10. Madagascar mammals : LEMURS
11. Asteroids maker : ATARI
12. Syntax problem : RUNON (... like the answer)
13. Newsstand booth : KIOSK
18. When said three times, a WWII film : TORA
21. Order from on high : EDICT
23. Valuable stash : TROVE
24. Tony's cousin : OBIE. Not Tony Orlando, silly! The American Theater awards.
25. Bandy words : SPAR. Do you bandy words with your boss? My DH would check to see if the spar tar was in good condition before going on a long trip. But then, he is from the south...
26. It's five before Foxtrot : ALFA. NATO phonetic alphabet.
27. Light-headed insect? : MOTH. Loved this clue! And a chance for a fav song.
30. Railroad switch : SHUNT. Much better clue than "Atrial septal defect with left-to-right ___"
31. Smidgen : TAD
32. Indigo dye source : ANIL
34. Whizzes : ACES. (Oops! I put "pees")
36. "The Canterbury Tales" estate manager : REEVE. "The Reeve's Tale" is the third of the Canterbury tales.
37. Gin flavoring : SLOE. Oh, here's the gin I was looking for at 35A !!
38. Quick look : ONCE-OVER. Hmmm, wanna come up and see me some time?
42. Dipstick : NITWIT
43. Door to the street : EGRESS
44. Brusque : CURT
45. Kisses and then some : NECKS... Hmmm, wanna come up and see me some time?
46. Kate's TV roommate : ALLIE. "Kate and Allie", a popular TV series in the 80's.
47. Regal topper : TIARA
48. Frère de la mère : ONCLE. Sorry Abejo, here is your required French entry...
49. Blunt, as truth : NAKED. Yeh, sure. We know how this was originally clued, right?
:
:
:
("The ___ Ape" !!)
52. "Houston, __ had a problem" : WE'VE. Often misquoted as "Houston, we have a problem..."
53. Nice warm times : ETES. Ahhh, here's our nice misdirection. Nice, as in the city in southern France. I would really, really love to see this just once clued as "Summers (Fr.)" (Sorry Abejo, that makes two in one puzzle!)
54. Dimbulb : DOLT
56. Verb associated with blame : PIN. Not the tail on the donkey?
57. Neruda's "__ to Conger Chowder" : ODE. You really should read this...it is a very different poetic offering than the dishes served up by our dear Clear Ayes!
Answer grid.
Thanks for stopping by, and feel free to comment!
Hugs,
Marti
