17A. Tension-easing activity : ICE BREAKER. "You come here often?"
23A. Music to a collector's ears : MINT CONDITION. C.C. has a few of these baseball cards, I bet.
47A. New Orleans tourist spot : BOURBON STREET. Hahtoolah can tell us all about it!
58A. Starlet's benefactor, perhaps : SUGAR DADDY.
37A. Drink suggested by the starts of 17-, 23-, 47- and 58-Across : JULEP
and
56A. Mixer that completes 37-Across : WATER. (OK, same color as "ice".)
Kentucky Derby is this Saturday, so our constructor is getting us ready by preparing mint juleps for us - they serve over 80,000 of them on race day! This reminds me of one of Don G's puzzles from last year, where he cleverly hid the components of a dry martini in the "mix". I really enjoyed this one, too. Fun fill and clever clues make me want to see more from our constructor.
Marti here, with what I believe is Bart Beisner's debut puzzle. Congratulations! And only a "Q" missing for a pangram. I hope you stop by to tell us what was the germ of this idea, Lt. Col. Beisner! (Update: Our constructor today is now a retired Colonel. Thanks for stopping by!)
ACROSS:
1. River movement : FLOW. Go with it.
5. Your can count on them : ABACI
10. Braff of "Scrubs" : ZACH. This cutie.
14. Cleanse : LAVE
15. Does a scrapbooking task : GLUES
16. Away from the wind : ALEE
19. Breathing organ : GILL
20. In accordance with : PER
21. Road trip respite : INN
22. Triangular architectural feature : GABLE. Really? Triangular?
28. Pursue quietly : STALK. I swear, I only wanted his autograph!
30. IRS business designation : S-CORP. They are untaxed, because this type of corporation passes all profits on to the shareholders, who then must claim them on their individual tax returns.
31. Partner of ciencias : ARTES. Spanish for "Science" and "Art". But you knew that, right?
32. Perfect : UTOPIAN
36. Warsaw ___ : PACT. The Russian response to NATO.
39. Ancient gathering place : STOA. "Stoa" is a covered walkway for public use. Here is the stoa of Attalus in Athens.
41. Fried filled tortilla : CHALUPA. Lucina, do you make these, in addition to your wonderful tamales? Chalupas are named for the canoe-like boats that the Aztecs used to navigate the waters around Tenochitlan (Mexico City).
43. All-out : UTTER
44. Be gaga over : ADORE. Do you adore Lady Gaga?
46. Keystone State team, familiarly : PHILS. Philadelphia Phillies, I assume?
52. Patron saint of girls : AGNES. St Agnes of Rome. The nuns used to pray to her on my behalf...
53. Campaigned : RAN.
54. www address : URL
57. Men's clothing cut : SLIM. Maybe in your younger days, but how about now?
62. Alien-seeking org. : SETI. Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence.
63. Circle : EVADE. "Evade the wagons!" (Doesn't quite sound right, does it?)
64. Thunder sound : PEAL. Who else wanted "clap"???
65. African antelope : ORYX. Hello, there!
67. Start of North Carolina's motto : ESSE...quam videri. ("To be, rather than to seem.")
DOWN:
1. Turn on a griddle : FLIP. flop.
2. Doily material : LACE. C'mon Rich, who wants to look at doily material?
3. Outclass : OVERMATCH. OK, this one was a stretch.
4. "Charlotte's ___" : WEB. Email me if you need an explanation of this one!
5. Cut taker : AGENT
6. White wine cooking liquids : BLANCS. As in Sauvignon blanc. It adds wonderful flavor to many dishes - especially fish.
7. Diving bird : AUK. Sweet!
8. Hook shape : CEE. See?
9. Leb. neighbor : ISR. Lebanon and Israel.
10. Big name in restaurant surveys : ZAGAT
11. Out : ALIBI
12. Yo-Yo Ma's instrument : CELLO. Whoa! I finally get to link music! I hope you find this link as interesting as I did...4:17
13. Abductee of Paris : HELEN. of Troy.
18. Skating venues : RINKS
22. George who famously asked Knute Rockne to "win just one" for him : GIPP.
24. Ellington's "___ Song Go Out of My Heart" : I LET A. More music. 4:13. This one has Ella Fitzgerald singing.
25. Eyepieces : OCULARS
26. Thing to pass in class : NOTE
27. Word with gum or rain : DROP
28. Gullible sort : SAP
29. Gillete's ___ II : TRAC
33. "Tender ___ Night" : IS THE. 1934 F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.
34. Rebellious dispositions : ATTITUDES
35. Wassailer's song : NOEL
37. Olympic sport in which belts are worn : JUDO
38. Second word of many fairy tales : UPON. Once...
40. They're rolled in Spain : ARS. You perro, you!
42. Chocolate critters : LABS. Since we just had Easter, I was thinking of bunnies and chicks...
43. Turn over : UPEND
45. Company with a spokesbaby : E*TRADE. I have no problem with this "E" word - it is a legitimate company logo. Plus, I love the baby commercials! 0:31
47. ___ profundo: low voice : BASSO
48. Obvious flirt : OGLER. "Come here often?"
49. Kwanzaa principle : UNITY. "Umoja""
50. Alternate song recording : REMIX. How about a pop remix? 4:36
51. Less grilled : RARER. That's how I like it!
55. Nutritional figs. : RDAs. Recommended Dietary Allowance(s). But that is an old initialism. Nowadays, it is RDI, or "Recommended Daily Intake".
56. Singer Lovett : LYLE. Country singer. Sorry, no link for this one.
58. Hem, say : SEW. And "haw"?
59. Sch. founded by Jefferson : UVA. University of Virginia.
60. Heater : GAT. Gangsta gun.
61. King Kong, e.g. : APE. And for our final act, here are the Kinks. 3:41
Answer grid.
See you all next week!
Hugs,
Marti
