Theme: ring my bell
18A. February Hollywood speculation : OSCAR BUZZ
27A. Station branding tune : RADIO JINGLE
43A. Applaud acknowledgement : CURTAIN CALL
55A. School souvenir : CLASS RING
63A. Instrument used to give someone the end of 18-A, 27-A, 43-A or 55-Across : PHONE
melissa here, reporting for duty.
the dream team is at it again, what a treat to blog a c.c. and don hard-g puzzle. lots of great cluing. see the constructor's note at the bottom.
melissa here, reporting for duty.
the dream team is at it again, what a treat to blog a c.c. and don hard-g puzzle. lots of great cluing. see the constructor's note at the bottom.
Across:
1. Highlights segment: RECAP
6. Gets ready to seal, maybe : WETS
10. Short rests : NAPS
14. Penobscot County college town : ORONO. university of maine.
15. Robust : HALE
16. Tony's cousin : OBIE. theater awards - tony = broadway; obie = off-broadway.
17. Mermaid who rescued Prince Eric : ARIEL. the little mermaid.
20. Flat bodied bottom-feeder : MANTA RAY. so sleek.
22. "The Blue Danube," e.g.: WALTZ. i was thinking river.
23. Aout time : ETE. aout is french for august. ete is french for summer.
24. Butter : RAM. butt-er.
25. Anger : MAKE MAD. oh, verb.
30. Oil spill-monitoring org: Abbr. : EPA. environmental protection agency.
31. Langley letters : CIA. langley is a metonym for the CIA, which is headquartered in langley, a community in mclean, virginia.
32. The NBA's Magic : ORL. orlando magic - basketball.
33. Short cut : SNIP. great clue. french idiom for short cut is 'cut the cheese.' i learned this from my french amie, when we were walking somewhere and took a shortcut, and she said, "let's cut the cheese." umm, what?
34. In heaps : PILED
37. Beta rival, once: VHS. the beta format was superior, imo. both are outdated now. i wonder what will replace blu-ray.
38. Memory units : BYTES
39. Part of Q.E.D. : ERAT. latin for quod erat demonstrandum, meaning "which was to be demonstrated."
40. Mai ___ : TAI. often followed by a hangover.
41. PC hookup: LAN. Local Area Network.
42. Hong Kong currency : DOL. dollar.
50. Joke : GAG
51. Forte automaker : KIA
52. Supplied hints for, as a crossword : CLUED. so apropos.
53. Lottery winner's cry : WE'RE RICH
57. "Tiny Bubbles" singer : DON HO. always nice to see first and last names.
58. Passionate blog entry : RANT. passionate ... so diplomatic.
59. Jessica of "Sin City" : ALBA. woops.
60. Out-and-out : UTTER
61. Line in Vegas : ODDS. betting odds.
62. Painful rebuff : SLAP
Down:
1. Gadabout : ROAMER. synonyms for vagabond, hobo, tramp, wanderer.
2. Manuscript mess-ups : ERRATA. plural of erratum.
3. Made cents : COINED
4. Working without __ : A NET
5. Instant photo : POLAROID
6. End of many a riddle : WHO AM I?
7. Piece of cake : EASY
8. Dr. Mom's forte : TLC. tender loving care. sweet.
9. Shoreline container? : SEA WALL.
10. Highborn : NOBLE
11. Arch support : ABUTMENT. nice misdirection. here's a diagram.
12. Round item in a square box : PIZZA PIE
13. "__ you!" : SEZ. anyone listen to 'says you!' on npr?
19. Bunker smoother : RAKE. golf.
21. Indian leader : RAJA
25. MLB team leaders : MGRS
26. Skips along the water : DAPS
28. "O.G. Original Gangster" rapper : ICE-T.
29. Like four Sandy Koufax games : NO HIT. more baseball.
33. harmony : SYNC.
34. Mani partner, in a spa : PEDI. do you like pedicure, too?
35. Rigid, as a contract : IRON CLAD
36. Spaced-out state : LALA LAND
37. Diversify : VARY
38. Bruised and hurting : BANGED UP. aw.
40. Arctic plains : TUNDRAS
41. False witness : LIAR. snort.
43. Miler Sebastian, et al : COES
44. Difference between generations : AGE GAP
45. Like : AKIN TO
47. Capital of Pakistan's Punjab province: LAHORE
49. Flag wavers? : GUSTS
53. Org. with the Minnesota Lynx : WNBA
54. "Goodbye, Columbus" author Philip : ROTH
55. __-Magnon : CRO
56. Out of sorts : ILL
Answer grid.
melissa
Constructor's note:
Boomer's eight 300 rings inspired this puzzle. Don designed the grid with only 32 squares. We had fun (and frustration) filling this grid. 20A used to be BOY OH BOY, but it resulted in a NIRO, which is not allowed in LAT. Shout out to our own LaLaLinda with 36D.
Answer grid.
melissa
Constructor's note:
Boomer's eight 300 rings inspired this puzzle. Don designed the grid with only 32 squares. We had fun (and frustration) filling this grid. 20A used to be BOY OH BOY, but it resulted in a NIRO, which is not allowed in LAT. Shout out to our own LaLaLinda with 36D.