Theme: Be careful how you pet my cats!
17A. Pirates' home : PITTSBURGH. This Major League Baseball team is the Pittsburgh Pirates, in the Central Division of the National League.
26A. Group working on tips? : NEWS BUREAU. Fun clue. "Tips" aren't the extra cash left on the restaurant table, but news items furnished from those in the know.
48A. Jersey Shore city popularized by Springsteen : ASBURY PARK. "The Boss" performed regularly at this seaside resort in the 70's. Here's his "4th of July, Asbury Park (Sandy)".
59A. Trudeau comic : DOONESBURY. One of my favorite un-PC comics here. (Note: A "Deaniac" was a supporter of the liberal Vermont Governor Harold Dean's unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2004).
And the unifier:
39. Bugs, or what's literally found in 17-, 26-, 48- and 59-across : RUBS THE WRONG WAY. In each of the theme entries, the word "rubs" appears the "wrong way", or backwards.
Marti here, so it must be Thursday again. I started off very slowly on this one, but when I finally went back and figured out 2D. UZI, it finally seemed to all flow in the right direction! Loved this unusual theme, and clean execution. Let's look at the fill:
Across:
1. Big picture : MURAL. Why yes, that would be a really big picture.
6. Title holder? : SASH. I wanted "belt"...
10. Bean used in Asian sauces : SOYA. I'm sure C.C. uses this bean in her cooking, right?
14. Protective layer : OZONE. I skipped this one for the time being...
15. "Salome" solo : ARIA. This Strauss opera highlights Salome's disturbing obsession with St. John the Baptist that drives her to demand his head on a platter, in exchange for performing the "Dance of the Seven Veils".
16. Piece of mind? : OP-ED. "Opposite the Editorials (page)". And 11D. Write a 16-Across : OPINE
19. Complete, in Cannes : FINI. Literally, "end". Seen at the end of French films in Cannes.
Correction from Kazie (thank you!): "Fini" actually means "finished" rather than end
which is "fin", which I think is more likely at the end of movies.
And then we have 13D. Final word at Orly : ADIEU. Yes, I guess the last word you would say to someone embarking on the plane in Paris would be "adieu" (good-bye!)
20. Committed to : SET ON. I'm set on having a turkey next Thursday for dinner.
21. "Divine Comedy" poet : DANTE
22. High-tech printer capability : SCAN. I just bought a new printer that faxes, scans, and prints wirelessly. Problem is, I can't figure out how to make it work !
28. Playwright Pinter : HAROLD. Surely you know him as the author of "The French Lieutenant's Woman"? Correction: Harold Pinter wrote the screenplay adaptation. John Fowles didn’t write it, either (really). In 1977, Fowles translated the 1893 novel “Ourika” by Claire de Duras, and titled it “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”. He later revised it in 1994. What a tangled web !
30. Six-pack muscles : ABS. We have a mini-muscle theme going on here, with 29D. Back muscle, for short : LAT. (Could have been clued as "Publisher of this puzzle: Abbr."). And this is for the gals...
31. Laundry room brand : AMANA. I was looking for a detergent, not the washing machine!
32. About half a million square miles of Asia : GOBI. The Gobi desert is most notable as the location of several cities along the Silk Road.
35. Dept. of Labor arm : OSHA. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
42. Caesarean infinitive : ESSE. "To be" (or not to be...). Not to be confused with a Caesarean section, which has an entirely different meaning!
43. It parallels the radius : ULNA. The two bones of the forearm.
44. John Barleycorn : BOOZE. The "Z" in this one was my very last fill. I was thinking of "Daniel BOOnE". (What was I thinking???)
45. "___ Sera, Sera" : QUE. What will be, will be.
47. One with goals : SCORER. Loved this clue/answer! A real V-8 moment, when I realized they were talking about things like hockey goals. I bet Eddy B and JD got this one immediately!
54. Pol. convention attendees : DELS. I had "DEmS" at first. Then realized, they wanted "delegates", not "democrats".
55. Swing vigorously : FLAIL. I think of "flailing" as swinging randomly, not vigorously?
56. Flexible wood : OSIER. Willow wood, used for making baskets and other crosswordese items.
58. Down the drain : LOST. Oh goodness, my train of thought just went down the drain...
64. Largest of the Near Islands : ATTU. Part of the Aleutians, and site of a famous ski hill. (You knew I had to get in a reference to my favorite sport, right?)
65. Ornamental vases : URNS.
66. Aqua ___: alcohol : VITAE. Thank goodness, the constructor provided the "alcohol" hint. Otherwise, I would have penned in VELVA without any hesitation!
67. Singer who said "Men should be like Kleenex: soft, strong and disposable" : CHER. Always the philosopher, that one...
68. Enlightened response : I SEE.
69. Frost and others : POETS
Down:
1. Clean, in a way : MOP
2. Israeli gun designer ___ Gal : UZI. My one gate-opener for this puzzle! It's usually clued as "Israeli submachine gun". Nice to see this attribute to it's creator. (I think...)
3. Turn bad : ROT.
4. Exterminator's target : ANT. Wanted "rat", at first.
5. Diminished state : LESS. Ah, but "Less is more", right?
6. Brown : SAUTE. Wow! This one whacked me upside the head when I finally sussed it through perps. What an ambiguous clue for such a common word. Loved it!
7. Robin's weapon : ARROW. Had to think: "Batman" or "Hood"?
8. Traces : SIGNS
9. "That's rich!" : HAH. HAH! Loved this one, too!
10. "Everything's fine for now" : SO FAR SO GOOD. Wonderful, lively fill. And so far so good...only 31 more clues to unravel.
12. Gossipmonger : YENTA. A Yiddish busybody.
18. Give a little : BEND
21. Add (in), as music to a film : DUB
22. Piece of the pie : SHARE. Hands up for all who filled in "slice"??
23. "The Stranger" writer : CAMUS. "L'Etranger" by Albert Camus. Said to be an existentialist novel, but the novel had much broader meanings and explores absurdism to the extreme. Curious to know, have you read it, Hahtool?
24. Most Egyptians : ARABS
25. Conclusion that doesn't follow : NON SEQUITUR. "So, I plan to make meatloaf for dinner tonight..."
27. Scott of "Happy Days" : BAIO
32. Hair goop : GEL
33. Have : OWN
34. Uplifting garb : BRA. For the guys..
36. Cursed : SWORE. #*^@&!~$%#&@* puzzle...
37. Not brown or blue, perhaps : HAZEL. Like this here.
38. Australia's ___ Rock : AYERS. In the land of "Oz" (Australia). I immediately thought of our Kazie.
40. One of three duck brothers : HUEY. Dewey and Louie are the other two, but they wouldn't fit here.
41. Letters after C or MS : NBC. CNBC and MSNBC are both cable networks. CNBC is the "Consumer News and Business Channel". MSNBC is another cable news channel, whose name comes from a combination of "Microsoft" and "NBC".
46. www address : URL. Does anyone need an explanation of this one? (email me...)
47. Arcade game starter : SKEE. -ball
48. Company with a spokesduck : AFLAC.
49. A deadly sin : SLOTH. To cover all the bases, you need to have wrath, greed, pride, lust, envy and gluttony as well.
50. Moisten while cooking : BASTE. See 20A. It requires careful basting.
51. Standard partner : POORS. Standard & Poors, a US based financial services company that publishes financial research analysis on stocks and bonds.
52. In cahoots : AS ONE. Any questions?
53. Light wash : RINSE. Hmmmm...I still think a light wash requires some sort of soap?
57. Invitation letters : RSVP. "Répondez s'il vous plaît". Literally, "Respond, if it pleases you." Well, what if I don't feel like responding?? Emily Post would frown on that attitude, I'm afraid.
59. SADD focus : DUI. Students Against Drunk Driving are concerned about people who Drive Under the Influence.
60. Theater program item : BIO. Biography. No hint of abbr. in the clue? So, I guess "bio" is a legit modern term?
61. Colorado native : UTE. What's a "ute"??? (See "My Cousin Vinny" clip, done before.)
62. Informer : RAT. "You dirty rat..."
63. Celebratory cry : YES! ("I FINISHED THIS BAD PUPPY!!")
Answer grid.
Thanks for hangin' with me for a while. I'm looking forward to hearing all your comments. I am flying down to Chapel Hill, N.C this morning to meet DH (he's doing a project down there this week). So I will be offline for part of the day. But I will check in as soon as I get settled into our hotel room. In the meantime, carry on, and play nice!
Hugs,
Marti
