Theme: "The play's the thing". Not to catch the conscience of the king this time, but to have fun with words that can follow "play". As in:
17A. *Personal history : BACKGROUND. Playback and playground.
17A. *Personal history : BACKGROUND. Playback and playground.
24A. *Russia's is the largest in the world : LAND AREA. Playland and play area. Two similar meanings there. I'm not sure if "play land" is referring to a specific theme park (Like Rye Playland in NY), or just a generic "play land", like at McDonald's or something...
37A. *Only women understand one : GIRL THING. Play girl and play thing. Also two similar meanings??
53A. *Many a dorm resident : ROOMMATE. Play room and play mate.
61A. Exciting inning ender, and an apt description of the answers to the starred clues: DOUBLE PLAY. Each word, or in the case of 17- and 53-Across, each part of the word, can follow the word "play". Whew! I was really worried that this was taking me into the alien world of baseball for a minute!
Marti here, to play around with the other entries.
Across:
1. Statistician's fodder : DATA
5. Broke out of a slump? : SAT UP. Fun clue.
10. Soft drink seed : KOLA
14. Verve : ELAN
15. "___ porridge hot..." : PEASE. Recipe, if anyone has a mind to...
16. Asian sashes : OBIS
19. "Raiders of the Lost Ark" threats : ASPS. "I hate snakes!" 0:15
20. Queen in Showtime's "The Tudors" : BOLEYN. I just finished reading "The Other Boleyn Girl", so this was a gimme.
21. Many a surfer : AOLER.
23. Talk show complement : PANEL
27. Québec sidekick : AMI. French for "friend". "Amie" would be "girlfriend".
28. Team-building sessions : TRYOUTS. Another fun and misleading clue.
31. Mover, but hopefully not a shaker : VAN. Especially if you are moving your crystal and china!
32. South American rodent : PACA. Remember him?
34. Small salamander : NEWT. And him?
35. They have their own page : OP-EDS. "Opposite the editorial (page)(s)"
40. Out in the open : OVERT. Not to be confused with covert ops (eds?)
43. Serengeti predator : LION. I ain't lion - it's true!
44. Takes in slowly : SIPS. As a fine cognac. Tinbeni, do you sip at sunset?
48. ___-les-Bains: French commune : AIX. Geography lesson of the day. Between Geneva, Switzerland and Grenoble.
49. Caviar variety : SHAD ROE. Not as fine as sturgeon caviar.
52. Came upon : MET. Phew, dodged another baseball answer!
55. Nasal walls : SEPTA. Not to deviate from my task, but one would be a septum...
57. Water buy : LITER
58. First known European to reach New Zealand : TASMAN. I did not know this bit of trivia! I guess he was quite a devil.
60. Jacket-and-tie affair : GALA. Like a 1-down?
65. Bit of progress : STEP
66. "Aunt ___ Cope Book" : ERMA'S. Erma Bombeck, the perennial crossword comic.
67. Domesticate : TAME
68. Sol lead-in : AERO. Can you say "aerosol"?
69. Printer's proof : REPRO. duction.
70. River of Flanders : YSER. Ok, geography lesson # 2.
Down:
1. A ball may be thrown for one : DEB. (And a baseball clue averted!)
2. Tuskegee's locale : ALABAMA. Geography # 3.
3. Mount Greylock's range : TACONIC. Geography # 4. I always think of it as being in the Berkshires. Beautiful hiking trails. We used to ski out there sometimes - natural terrain, great for cross-country.
4. Low joint : ANKLE. In the neighborhood of low digits...
5. Agile : SPRY
6. Many millennia : AEON
7. Ancient cross shape : TAU. Here is a window from the convent at San Anton, Spain with Tau crosses.
8. Where many subs are served?: Abbr. : USN. United States Navy. Well, I guess they might have a lot of submarine sandwiches for lunch in the mess, but I don't think the sailors would find the nuclear kind very appetizing.
9. Intellectual showoff : PEDANT. Please don't think I am being a pedant, when I go off on a tangent explaining an answer!
10. Leaf-eating critter : KOALA. Awwwww...
11. Watch : OBSERVE
12. Compensate for a hearing loss, in a way : LIP-READ
13. Biblical mammal : ASS
18. Dinero : GELT. Yesterday we had "jack" as a synonym for money. Is "gelt" more familiar?
22. Has way too much, for short : ODS ON
23. Drivel : PAP. From German "pappe", meaning "cardboard". A nursery word that was used for bread soaked in water, having little nourishing value.
24. Good time for clamming : LOW TIDE
25. Name on the cover : AUTHOR
26. Solution: Abbr. : ANS. Like this one!
29. Furlough, to a GI : R 'N' R. "Rest and Recreation". I know some marines who called it "I & I" (Intoxication and intercourse).
30. Scold : YELL AT. Don't yell at me! I was only joking!
33. Growing field: Abbr. : AGR.iculture.
36. Some film ratings : PGS. "Parental Guidance"(s)
38. "I'm home!" relative : IT'S ME.
39. Goddess who rescued Odysseus : INO. I know! She gave Odysseus a veil and told him how to return to Ithaca.
40. Backwash creator : OAR. Our simple sculler's need is getting trickier as the week progresses...
41. Break, as laws : VIOLATE. Who, me??
42. Wayne Gretzky, notably : EX-OILER. Ex-Met, Ex-Pat, Ex-Cub, Ex-Lax...
45. Graceful antelopes : IMPALAS
46. Honey or sugar : PET NAME. Aw, shucks, sweetie!
47. MTA stop : STA.tion on the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Might as well link it! 2:25
50. More demanding : HARDER. This is getting harder and harder...
51. Being, to Cato : ESSE. Latin "to be" (or not to be?)
54. Highest pt. in the Philippines : MT APO. Geography lesson # (what, are we up to five already??)
56. Like some promises : EMPTY
58. Slope conveyance : T-BAR. Finally! One that I could fill in without hesitation!
59. In addition : ALSO
60. Fed. purchasing group : GSA. General Services Administration.
62. Refinery input : ORE
63. One who wears a mask every fourth game : UMP. Uh-oh, a baseball clue and answer that I couldn't dodge! So a quick search tells me that there are usually four umpires in baseball: One at home plate, and one at first, second and third bases. They switch positions at each game. Only the umpire at home plate requires a mask, because he is directly in the path of the pitcher. Hence, the reason one wears a mask every fourth game. TA-DA!!
64. "___ out!": 63-Down cry : YER. Yes indeed, I am outta here!
Answer grid.
Hugs,
Marti
