Each of the 4 theme answers takes the first word of a two- word phrase and by adding D or ED creates past participles used adjectivally (fun for all our teachers!) in a new and whimsical phrase, the resulted first words all synonyms of "tired". Hey, marti did it not me. Each time the meaning of both words in the original phrase are changed completely. A simple, but fun theme, that was harder to describe than to suss. Lemonade sitting in for miss m, as she is too shy to review and praise her own work, So as Flip Wilson said, We are here to seize her berry. not praise it. (Bill G, they were much kinder to you than to me when I posted some of mine). On we go.
20A. Post-marathon sounds? : FATIGUED PANTS. (13). Military style morphs into the breathing challenge after 26 miles.
37A. Golfer's outdated set of clubs? : TIRED IRONS. (10). See how the addition of the little "D" changes everything.
43A. Casualty of an all-night poker game? : POOPED DECK. (10). Now we see the added "ED." No Viagra jokes here, and no bathroom humor, provide your own..
55A. Problem for Sherlock when he's run out of tobacco? : EXHAUSTED PIPE.(13). Interesting two theme clues are car related.
Across:
1. Gives pieces to : ARMS. We begin with the subtle use of "piece" meaning a gun.
5. Space-saving abbr. : ET AL.
9. Academy teacher : PLATO. Not just any one, but THE ACADEMY.
14. Leak slowly : SEEP. These days, ideas seldom seep into my brain.
15. Prep, as apples for applesauce : PARE. Generally using a paring knife. Why not say Peel? Paring is more precise? Nothing like TARE.
16. Didn't despair : HOPED.
17. Support girder : I-BAR.
18. Teatro alla Scala highlight : ARIA. The famous Opera house.
19. From days gone by : OF OLD. Did anyone else see this as O Fold for minute? (This is one).
23. Salon supply : GEL.
24. Scottie's relative : WESTIE. The West Highland White Terrier, marti resolved the Scottie issue.
27. ID theft target : SSN. Social Security Number.
30. Wined and dined : REGALED. Treated like a king.
34. Messenger ___ : RNA.
35. Bygone depilatory : NEET. Nair wins, nair wins!
39. Egyptian leader between Gamal and Hosni : ANWAR. This Nobel Prize winner. LINK, Killed in 1981.
41. MIV ÷ II : DII. One way to divide the Romans.
42. Pester, puppy style : NIP AT. Marti is using the Dan Naddor like short word combos to make the puzzle harder.
46. "___ be young again!" : OH TO. See. I told you she was.
47. SFO posting : ARR.ivals.
48. Welcome sight for early explorers : DRY LAND. Land Ho!
50. Poetic dusk : EEN.
51. "Thy Neighbor's Wife" author : TALESE. A nice GUY.
53. Ill-fated fruit picker : EVE. Cute clue, and more apple reference.
62. Eastern adders? : ABACI. Back again so soon?
64. Smart : CHIC. pronounced Sheak. (Avoiding 1940s condom humor).
65. Corp. money mgrs. : CFOS. Chief Financial Officers.
66. Sax range : TENOR. I knew marti would get us to the SAX talk.
67. Rolling rock : LAVA.
68. Berlusconi's bone : OSSO. Italian
69. Is without : HASN'T. There are the haves and the have nots, I was explaining to one of my Y-chromosome deficient friends, there are the Ys and the Ynots.
70. One bounce, in baseball : A HOP. Not an A word, but more commonly a one hopper.
71. Kids : TOTS. Would they taste the same if they were called Tater Kids?
Down:
1. "A likely story!" : AS IF. Another one.
2. Country's McEntire : REBA. Have they canceled this SHOW? (2:39)
3. Crux : MEAT. The heart, the gist, you get the idea.
4. Bit of mistletoe : SPRIG. If athletes get athlete's foot, do astronauts get missile toe?
5. Dress uniform decoration : EPAULET. From the French for shoulder, which comes from the Latin Spatula. Do you ladies want to go back to the 80's when your shoulders were so padded?
6. Empty-truck weight: TARE. Per wiki: The word tare originates from the Middle French word tare "wastage in goods, deficiency, imperfection" (15, from Italian tara, from Arabic tarah, lit. "thing deducted or rejected," from taraha "to reject" usually TARE WEIGHT.
7. Desertlike : ARID. You need an extra R for your underarm.
8. Route to an illogical conclusion : LEAP.
9. Expressed an opinion on "The Dan Patrick Show," say : PHONED IN. I debated this as a theme answer for a while.
10. Many converted apartments : LOFTS. Especially in big cities.
11. Sign of omission : APOSTROPHE. Sin of commission. Cool clue.
12. ___ Aviv : TEL. No way, I am not saying a word.
13. Like some socks after laundry day : ODD. I am on a 7 month win streak.
21. Whence BMWs : GERmany. marti just wanted to be back on the autobahn heading to the Alps.
22. Floored : AWED. As opposed to awwed.
25. Hard-wired : INNATE.
26. Crayola Factory's Pennsylvania home : EASTON. Also the birthplace of heavyweight champ, Larry Holmes.
27. Get testy with : SNAP AT. An another.
28. Madrid madam : SENORA. Be careful.
29. City whose average elevation is below sea level : NEW ORLEANS. Hence not a good place to be in a hurricane.
31. Dizzy with delight : GIDDY. This comes from the same German root word which we got our word G-d, as dizzy people were thought to be possessed.
32. Prospero's spirit servant : ARIEL. From Will Shakespeare's The Tempest. Study THIS.
33. High-end camera : LEICA. I wonder if JL likes this kind or the Nikon.
36. Borrow money from : TAP.
38. ___ Grande : RIO. River great.
40. Prophetic attire worn by most doomed characters on the original "Star Trek" TV show : RED SHIRT. The guest role was usually very short if they had on red.
44. De Matteo of "The Sopranos" : DREA. Also, of the short lived JOEY. Finally moved to Wisteria Lane. WATCH (0:54) if you dare.
45. Patella : KNEECAP. I am getting HYALGAN shots in my knees.
49. Netflix rental : DVD.
52. Sentence finisher? : EX-CON. They let you out when you finish, nice clue.
54. Florida attraction : EPCOT. Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.
56. Kareem's coll. team : UCLA. Actually, he was still Lew Alcindor in his UCLA days when he helped John Wooden become king of the hardwood.
57. Deposed ruler : SHAH.
58. Modern recorder : TiVO.
59. "Given that..." : IF SO. And the last.
60. Chime in at a blog : POST. A shout out to all of you!
61. Those, in Tijuana : ESOS.
62. Olympics entrant: Abbr. : ATHlete.
63. Actress Arthur : BEA. Maude or Golden Girl take your pick.
Well it's an extreme pleasure to get back to marti's work; there was a while I was blogging her at least once a month, but now that she is famous, and jetting all over we have to be grateful for what we get. Curious what you all thought, so I will shut up and read. I hope we have an exciting Masters. Congratulations Lady Huskies for your 8th NCAA basketball title. So amazing to me that these kids want to live in Storrs, CT. I did not not even when I was in school there.
L. out.
Note from C.C.:
Hope some of you could attend Marbles' 5th Annual Crossword Tournament. Click here for details.
