17A. Easter song title critter : PETER COTTONTAIL
28A. Rich chocolate dessert with a crust : FRENCH SILK PIE
33A. Under-the-sink cleaners : STEEL WOOL PADS
41A. Dessert sometimes colored with beet juice : RED VELVET CAKE
And the unifier:
54. Important trial figure, or what you'll be when you read this puzzle's other longest answers :
MATERIAL WITNESS.
Marti here to walk you through the fabric of this puzzle.
Across :
1. Shake in reproach, as a finger : WAG. Or in our corner terms, "Wild A--ed Guess" (Sometimes Scientific WAG...)
4. E-junk : SPAM
8. Beats handily : WHOMPS
14. Raymond Burr's TV sleuth : IRONSIDE
16. Speed up : HASTEN
19. Plenty of poetry? : ENOW. "Enough". Who was the poet who wrote the following?
"A book of verses, underneath the bough,
A jug of wine, a loaf of bread - and thou
Beside me singing in the wilderness -
Ah, wilderness were paradise enow!"
20. Facility : EASE
21. Seattle's ___ Field : SAFECO. Home of the Mariners.
24. Not likely to bite : TAME
25. Mischievous moppet : IMP
31. Expensive : DEAR
32. City east of Wichita : IOLA. Map, for those not from the Wichita area. Zoom out 6x to see Wichita in the far left edge.
39. Nasty : MEAN
40. Bit of carpenter's gun ammo : NAIL
47. Massage facility : SPA. Our favorite crossword sound: "Aaaaaaahhhhh"
48. Some necklines : VEES. Like this.
49. It's often closed for the night : EYELID. Fun clue!
52. Safecracker : YEGG. Learned from x-words.
53. Vocal range : ALTO
61. 1887 La Scala debut : OTELLO. I love opera, and Placido Domingo did Otello so well! 1:10
62. Feminist poet Rich : ADRIENNE. I remember her for declining the National Medal of Arts award in protest of Newt Gingrich's proposal to end funding for the National Endowment of the Arts (more so than for her poetry!)
63. Novelist Waugh : EVELYN. Seems like a lot of names in this puzz, no? Either you know them...or you don't!
64. "Check this out!" : PSST
65. 33-Across brand : SOS. Do you mind when an non-theme answer refers to a theme answer?
Down:
1. Diaper bag supply : WIPES
2. Bowl game venue : ARENA
3. Escaped punishment : GOT OFF
4. Old geopolitical abbr. : SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic.
5. JPEG file, usually : PIC
6. Hue and cry : ADO
7. Confronted : MET
8. Guessing game question : WHO AM I ? Or, a song from Les Mis...2:52
9. Grimm brother : HANSEL. Wilhelm wouldn't fit, and Jacob didn't work with the perps. So it had to be Hansel, brother of Gretel.
10. Prefix meaning "bone" : OSTE
11. L.A. bus-and-rail org. : MTA. Metropolitan Tranist Authority. Also a famous subway in Boston.
12. Canada's smallest prov. : PEI. Prince Edward Island. Map. Between the Gaspé peninsula and Nova Scotia.
13. NBC weekend revue : SNL. Saturday Night Live.
15. Later : NEWER. As in, a "later" model car.
18. They may be black or green : TEAS
22. Give up : CEDE
23. Answer to "How do you Yanks spell 'travelling'?" : ONE "L" (Vs. the British "travelling"??)
24. Seats of power : THRONES
25. Device with earbuds : iPOD
26. Wire measures : MILS
27. Princess provoker : PEA. Not Grimm, but a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale!
29. Cry from a crow's nest : CAW. Loved this clue/answer - great misdirection!
30. Sportage supplier : KIA. Automaker.
33. Leak slowly : SEEP
34. "Look what I did!" : TA-DA!
35. It needs to be addressed: Abbr. : ENV.elope
36. Heart-healthy grain : OAT. Eat your Cheerios!
37. Layers of nits : LICE. HaHa, lice lay eggs which are called "nits" (...and they should be picked!!)
38. Quarterback's call : PLAY
39. Old Miss : MRS. LOL!! DH went to Ole Miss, so this was a real misdirection for me.
42. Either "Bye Bye Love" singer : EVERLY (Brothers). Song. 1:51
43. Troop group : LEGION
44. 1970s Chevy subcompact : VEGA
45. "The Family Circus" cartoonist : KEANE.
46. Actress Barkin et al. : ELLENS
50. "___ use!" : IT'S NO
51. Teaspoons, perhaps : DOSES
52. Make oneself heard : YELL
54. Curly tormenter : MOE. Curly, Moe and Larry - The Three Stooges.
55. Suzuki offering, briefly : ATV. All Terrain Vehicle.
56. Kickoff helper : TEE. Football tee. When Lucy is not available...
57. Runner's circuit : LAP
58. Sentence fragments?: Abbr. : WDS. Words.
59. Form letters? : IRS. Internal Revenue Service. Form 1040.
60. Bearded ___: small bird : TIT. Awwww, what a DF way to end this post!
Take your pick of the following two links. But you are ONLY allowed to click on ONE link. (No cheating!!): #1 or # 2
Answer grid.
See you next week!
Hugs,
Marti
