Theme: Got change?
I know little (if nothing) about coin collecting. Everything that follows is totally gg'd!!
20-Across. *7 ___ : BUFFALO NICKELS. Buffalo nickels were minted from 1913-1938. A 1916/16 (double die variety) could be worth $50,000. What would seven of those suckers be worth?
33-Across. *5 ___ : WHEAT PENNIES. Wheat pennies were minted from 1909 to 1958. A 1943 D-bronze/copper could be worth $1,000,000 !! (That's more than a buck, by my reckoning...)
42-Across. *6 ___ : MERCURY DIMES. Mercury dimes were minted from 1916 to 1945. A 1916-D could bring about $375. $2,250 for six of 'em.
And the unifier:
57-Across. What the starred clues and their no-longer-minted answers come to : CHANGE FOR A BUCK. The coins in the other three theme entries are no longer minted. Therefore, they are "changed" from the modern-day version of the respective coins. If you add them all up, 7 nickels, 5 pennies plus 6 dimes all add up to $1.00. Got it?
It's Thursday, and Marti here to look at the rest.
Across:
1. Ones crying foul : REFS
5. Bishop's representative : VICAR. A vicar is any representative. For example, in the Catholic church, the pope is the "vicar" of Christ.
10. Letters for Dick and Jane : ABCS
14. Nerve cell projection : AXON
15. "Guitar Town" singer Steve : EARLE.Link. 2:29
16. Place to find a 62-Across : PERU. And 62-Across. Animal of 16-Across : LLAMA
17. "Not so quick, Silver!" : WHOA. "Hi-ho Silver, awaaaay...!"
18. Tequila source : AGAVE
19. Like some chances : SLIM...to none.
23. Affaire de coeur : AMOUR. "Affair of the heart": Love, in French.
24. Low bender : KNEE
25. Impersonate : APE
27. Classic roadster : REO
28. Gene's "Brigadoon" partner : CYD. Charisse.
31. "Who Wants to Be Me?" co-author, familiarly : REGIS. Philbin. I haven't read it. You?
37. Sutherland solo : ARIA. Joan Sutherland sings the aria from Handel's "Alcina". 4:46
40. Attention-getting sound : ALARM. Don't you just love it when the cats decide to chase a moth at 3:00 A.M., and set off the alarm in the process???
41. Matador's foe : TORO. The "bull", in Spanish.
45. Soft fly : BLOOP. Hmmph, I'll leave it to the baseball experts to explain that one!
46. Country miss : GAL
47. Court do-over : LET. Tennis court, that is.
50. Cyclotron bit : ION
51. Spartan spirits : OUZO. Greek spirits. Tastes like licorice!
55. Bingo relative : BEANO. Or, a gas-preventing pill.
61. False god : BAAL. Any of the spirit deities worshiped as cult images called "ba'al". Regarded as false gods in the Hebrew bible.
63. Like much lore : ORAL
64. Sicilian spewer : ETNA. Italian volcano.
65. Fabled grasshopper, for one : IDLER. Aesop's "The Ant and the Grasshopper"
66. '60s golfer "Champagne" Tony : LEMA. He joked that he would buy champagne for the press if he won the Orange County Open Invitational in 1962. Ironically, he died in a plane that crashed in the water hazard short of the seventh green of the Lansing Country Club on the way to an event there.
67. Knight and others : TEDS. He played Ted Baxter on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show".
68. Dip before dinner, maybe : SALSA. Cute clue.
69. "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" backdrop : ALPS. From "The Sound of Music". Link. 2:21
Down:
1. Place for shuckers : RAW BAR. Aw, shucks!
2. Dig up : EXHUME.
3. Miss Piggy's poodle : FOO-FOO. Hilarious, amazing talented dog! 2:49
4. One fine mess : SNAFU. "Systems normal, all f(owl)ed up"!
5. Saltimbocca meat : VEAL. Yumm!
6. "I hate the Moor" speaker : IAGO. From "Othello"
7. Curmudgeon : CRANK
8. Animated chipmunk: ALVIN. You really don't want an ear worm, do you?
9. Volleyball star Gabrielle : REECE. Did anyone watch the Olympic volleyball matches?
10. Recess near an altar : APSE
11. Casino known for its fountains : BELLAGIO. Have you seen this famous display in Las Vegas, done to music? One of my favs is this one. 2:13
12. Cooked longer, perhaps : CRISPIER. Do you like your steak "crispier", or medium-rare?
13. Tidy ___ : SUM. If you have a 1943 D Bronze/Copper wheat penny, it could fetch a tidy sum!
21. Sneaker feature : ARCH. My first thought was "odor"...
22. "Ol' Man River" composer : KERN. Jerome Kern, composer. This is Paul Robeson's 1936 "Showboat" vocal. 4:18
26. Gas acronym : ESSO. "Standard Oil". (For its initials, "Ess" and "O")
29. About 1.2% of Uranus's orbital period, on Earth : YEAR
30. John on the links : DALY. Ya gotta love his outfits!
32. Tolkien creatures : ENTS. Hands up for those who did not know this, after having it about 1,376 times in the past two months?
33. Baylor Bears' home : WACO. Texas.
34. Little shaver : TAD
35. Puritan : PRIG
36. Jane Austen opus : EMMA
37. Dextrous beginning : AMBI
38. Get a move on? : RELOCATE. Loved this clue!
39. What a tyrant wields : IRON HAND. "HANDs" up for those who thought of IRON "fist" at first?
43. On top of : UPON. Once on top of a time...
44. 1814-'15 exile site : ELBA
47. Victory emblem : LAUREL. Many of our US athletes are wearing laurels this week!
48. Pitch tents : ENCAMP
49. Gertrude Stein confidante : TOKLAS. Alice B. Toklas.
52. Wrinkly fruits : UGLIS. Yes, they are!
53. Author Fitzgerald married to F. Scott : ZELDA. "Save Me the Waltz", about her marriage to F. Scott.
54. "___ the nerve!" : OF ALL
56. "The Hot Zone" subject : EBOLA. virus. Scary.
58. Word of woe : ALAS
59. East End abodes : 'OMES. To 'enry 'iggins, that is.
60. Avis lead-in : RARA. Literally, "rare bird" in Latin.
61. Pot builder : BET. Poker pot.
Answer grid.
I'll bet you had as much fun with this puzzle as I did? Until next week!
Hugs,
Marti
