Do these pants make my theme look fat?
Oh my gosh - Steve here with one of those questions for the ages. Just as there are no polite answers to certain questions ("Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to cook the mushrooms - would you have liked some?") we have the MOAQ (the Mother Of All Questions). I'll leave it to you all to deal with that one, I have no good answer.
Let's get on with the crossword!
17A. Support, as a cause : GET BEHIND
23A. Inside scoop : SCUTTLEBUTT I think one word, and a lovely word at that.
36A. Washington neighborhood that's home to the State Department : FOGGY BOTTOM. A restaurant close to where I live serves a Foggy Bottom Burger, which is a beef patty with Peanut Butter and Jelly. I must ask them for the back-story.
49A. Position of advantage : CATBIRD SEAT This probably involves a huge amount of explanation around what is a catbird, why a cat bird has a seat, and why it's advantageous. This might be one phrase that we all accept we know, understand what the intention is, and move on.
59A. Ran into on the road, or an apt description of 17-, 23-, 36- and 49-Across : REAR-ENDED. The only issue I have with this unifier is that we all have a horrible memory of being the rear-ender or the rear-endee, and neither was pleasant.
So a nice theme - it really helped me, some of the fill was tough for me. At one point I was going to call this puzzle a MOAN (Mother Of All Naticks) but the theme really helped out. Let's see what caused the trouble.
Across:
1. When repeated, a Samoan city : PAGO. Bora Bora. No wait - city, not island.
5. "Fernando" foursome : ABBA. What an earworm! Maybe that didn't help going forward.
9. Hustle tickets outside the stadium : SCALP
14. Hardly snow-colored, to Keats : EBON. Loved the clue here. Needed white, then not white - so OK - black, or Ebony, then Keats, then the answer.
15. Campus bigwig : DEAN
16. Long-legged bird : WADER. One day we'll see Flamingo.
19. Flared dress : A-LINE
20. Take a shot at : TRY FOR
21. Naval forces : FLEETS. Or Navies, or Armadas, or Task Forces. Fleets are somewhere in the middle of that lot.
22. "Lord, is __?": Matthew : IT I. Did he ever get a straight answer that night? I'm not sure he did. It tends to ruin a Last Supper when you go home muttering about being a betrayer when all along you aren't.
26. Pinot noirs, e.g. : REDS. Got one right here. Alma Rosa 2008, Santa Rita Hills CA. Cheers!
Oh my gosh - Steve here with one of those questions for the ages. Just as there are no polite answers to certain questions ("Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to cook the mushrooms - would you have liked some?") we have the MOAQ (the Mother Of All Questions). I'll leave it to you all to deal with that one, I have no good answer.
Let's get on with the crossword!
17A. Support, as a cause : GET BEHIND
23A. Inside scoop : SCUTTLEBUTT I think one word, and a lovely word at that.
36A. Washington neighborhood that's home to the State Department : FOGGY BOTTOM. A restaurant close to where I live serves a Foggy Bottom Burger, which is a beef patty with Peanut Butter and Jelly. I must ask them for the back-story.
49A. Position of advantage : CATBIRD SEAT This probably involves a huge amount of explanation around what is a catbird, why a cat bird has a seat, and why it's advantageous. This might be one phrase that we all accept we know, understand what the intention is, and move on.
59A. Ran into on the road, or an apt description of 17-, 23-, 36- and 49-Across : REAR-ENDED. The only issue I have with this unifier is that we all have a horrible memory of being the rear-ender or the rear-endee, and neither was pleasant.
So a nice theme - it really helped me, some of the fill was tough for me. At one point I was going to call this puzzle a MOAN (Mother Of All Naticks) but the theme really helped out. Let's see what caused the trouble.
Across:
1. When repeated, a Samoan city : PAGO. Bora Bora. No wait - city, not island.
5. "Fernando" foursome : ABBA. What an earworm! Maybe that didn't help going forward.
9. Hustle tickets outside the stadium : SCALP
14. Hardly snow-colored, to Keats : EBON. Loved the clue here. Needed white, then not white - so OK - black, or Ebony, then Keats, then the answer.
15. Campus bigwig : DEAN
16. Long-legged bird : WADER. One day we'll see Flamingo.
19. Flared dress : A-LINE
20. Take a shot at : TRY FOR
21. Naval forces : FLEETS. Or Navies, or Armadas, or Task Forces. Fleets are somewhere in the middle of that lot.
22. "Lord, is __?": Matthew : IT I. Did he ever get a straight answer that night? I'm not sure he did. It tends to ruin a Last Supper when you go home muttering about being a betrayer when all along you aren't.
26. Pinot noirs, e.g. : REDS. Got one right here. Alma Rosa 2008, Santa Rita Hills CA. Cheers!
28. USS Enterprise counselor : TROI. Here's one of my close-but-not-quite Naticks. I had to look at the cross (25D) very carefully before I make my pick of the O.
29. Great Lakes' __ Canals : SOO. Wow - never heard of them. Now I have.
30. Hebrew name for God : ADONAI. I was muttering about Yahweh for a while. Apologies - never heard of this name either.
33. German surrealist : ERNST. Something about Germans and surrealists don't really go together. I expect Mercedes, Audis and BMW's, not melting clocks and experimental dances.
39. Far from original : BANAL
40. Like some icy weather : SLEETY. Could do with some sleety weather here in LA. 100+. Nice and toasty.
43. Photo __: media events : OPS. Thank goodness they're not called Photographic Opportunities any more, otherwise the tabloids would run out of ink.
46. City on Utah Lake : OREM.
48. De Matteo of "The Sopranos" : DREA. My confession Natick - missed this one letter - gambled on "I" and it didn't work. I didn't watch "The Sopranos" and I've never lived in Jersey, so DRIA and TIANECK sounded fine to me. DNF for this one letter.
54. Scoff at a scarecrow? : CAW. Loved, loved this clue.
55. Vehement speech : TIRADE
56. Deep serving bowl : TUREEN. I'm going to market a wider, shallower tureen and see if anyone objects.
58. Pop up : ARISE
62. The "'em" in "Put 'em up!" : DUKES - You know I'm a Notre Dame fan and can't possibly let this one go by!
63. __ breve: 2/2 time : AL'LA
64. "Eeew!" : YECH
65. Broke down into letters : SPELT
66. Forest growth : MOSS
67. Pops the question : ASKS. If the pants/theme question was navigated successfully, this might be the next challenge.
Down:
1. Pin for hanging : PEG
2. Cased the joint, perhaps : ABETTED. The criminal charge is usually "Aiding and Abetting". I always wonders where you stopped aiding and started abetting, and which was the worse of the two. If I was a Defense Attorney I'd claim my clients only aided for a while, and stopped short of abetting when things started to get out of hand. No?
3. Eradicated : GOT RID OF
4. "Walk __": Dionne Warwick hit : ON BY Awesome! I can stop listening to ABBA now.
5. Specialized, committee-wise : AD-HOC. This was intriguing to me. I'd never thought of "ad-hoc" meaning anything other than off-the-cuff, but then thought maybe I was confusing "ad lib". I still think of ad-hoc as unscripted.
6. Lebanon's capital : BEIRUT. This was such a beautiful city.
7. Outlaw : BAN. Verb, not noun.
8. "What else?" : AND.
9. Low-lying wetland : SWALE. I knew this from playing golf - a swale is a low-lying area next to the green - think a bunker with no sand in it.
10. Biblical spy : CALEB. My name is Bond. Caleb Bond.
11. Farewells : ADIEUS. I first learned this word in an old British sea shanty
"Farewell and Adieu to you fair Spanish Ladies
Farewell and Adieu to you ladies of Spain
For we're under orders to sail for olde England
And we never will see you fair ladies again".
And I thought it odd the sailors weren't happy to be going home to their brunette wives! Funny how you learn!
12. Let use for a bit : LENT TO. I thought this was pretty cool as "Let" could be present or past tense, which would make either "Lend" or "Lent".
13. Magician's word : PRESTO
18. Affluent couple? : EFS. Hmmm. I thought F was spelt EFF?
21. Spark-producing stones : FLINTS
22. Roth plan, briefly : I.R.A. Please don't confuse your Individual Retirement Account with the Irish Republican Army.
24. Multiplies by three : TREBLES. Hand up for TRIPLES first.
25. Mower maker : TORO. See close Natick-avoidance.
27. Nose-in-the-air sort : SNOB
31. Turk's title of honor : AGA
32. Slight : IGNORE
34. Arch city: Abbr. : STL
35. __ the line: conformed : TOED. I think you did this when you were in the ...
37. Prison area : YARD
38. Luxury car biggie : MERCEDES
41. New Jersey township bordering Hackensack : TEANECK. Natick fail for me.
42. Veer from a course : YAW
43. Groups of eight : OCTADS. Hand up for OCTETS first
44. Group in twos : PAIR UP
45. X in an alley : STRIKE
47. Iron and zinc : METALS. Had a real problem with this, I put in ALLOYS first when I knew (KNEW!) that Iron and Zinc are elements. I fiddled around with it and finally gave it up.
50. Swiss city on the Rhine : BASEL. Alternate spelling is BASLE, so always wait for the crosses.
51. Clarifying Latin phrase : ID EST. I love how you clarify a point in English using a Latin phrase which isn't exactly daily usage.
52. Glowing emanations : AURAS
53. III, in modern Rome : TRE. Hand up for reading "ill" as in "sick" and wondering how you spell "Excuse me, I'm not feeling quite myself this morning" in Italian and three letters.
57. New Ager with four Grammys : ENYA.
59. Hull-cracking projection : RAM
60. "Telephone Line" rock gp. : E.L.O. E.W.T. (Ear Worm Three)
61. Players who only bat, briefly : D.H.s. There seems to be no consensus about how you spell and punctuate the abbreviation for "Designated Hitters", so I'm going with my own transatlantic best guess.
Answer grid.
That's it from me. I hope you had as much fun with this as I did for a Wednesday - thanks to Kurt for a good mental workout midweek.
Steve
