Theme: B all you can be, but silently.
Well while marti is off in Italy I sit with the pleasure of presenting another Friday Frolic. This a combination of add a letter and a sound alike punny theme. with a B added the end of the first word of the first and fourth theme answer, and to the end of the last word of the middle two. Each B is added after an M and is silent in the new phrase, so it sounds exactly like the old one but with a twisted and amusing meaning. Lots of proper names, some hard clues and lots of new stuff to go along with some standard 4 letter fill. Let's see what our traveler has left us.
18A. Like a door with three people squeezing through it together? : JAMB PACKED.(10). I think the phrase jam packed comes from the roaring 20's when people would cram into phone booths. CED, I wasted 15 minutes looking for a good clown car video, but I gave up.
33A. Where to find wool? : ON THE LAMB.(9).Once again an Old Norse word, LEMJA, which mean to beat, is credited as being the origin of 'on the lam' to mean to "beat it."
45A. Out-of-control carpenter's tool? : WILD PLUMB. (9).If you watch the US Open golf this weekend you will see many plumb bob the line of the their putts. Splynter can explain the real use of the tool.
63A. Title for Shakespeare? : IAMB LEGEND.(10). The funniest and the one that is different because it takes two words and crunches them together with the B to make the new word. Will loved his Iambic Pentameter, so this is a very witty way to change the Will Smith movie.
Across:
1. Go like heck : ZOOM. An onomatopoeic word.
5. Code name : MORSE. The man who created one, Samuel. (1)
10. Lose on purpose : DIET. Misdirection, but this should not have fooled anyone.
14. Upper hand : EDGE.
15. Hodgepodges : OLIOS. A favorite word of the Corner.
16. Lincoln who was the first screen Tarzan : ELMO. In the silent movie days; the full hour is available LINK. (2)
17. D.C. dealers : POLS. miss m. should know better, NO Politics!
20. Maker of Dex-Cool antifreeze/coolant : PRESTONE.(3)
22. End of a conductor's shout : ABOARD. All aboarddddddddddddddddddddddd.
23. "Cotton Comes to Harlem" director Davis : OSSIE.(4)
24. Alice's restaurant : DINER. The Beer and Pizza joint my youngest works at in Denver was on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives.
26. Biol. branch : ANATomy to go with ogy.
29. Temperaments : NATURES. Do many of you have bad tempers? Or is life good and you...
37. Great way to have it : MADE.
38. Milne joey : ROO. Kanga's little one from Winnie the Pooh's world. (5)
39. Helpers of the ill-suited? : TAILORS. Love the phrasing of this clue. My grandfather was a tailor.
42. Long-nosed fish : GAR. Arg, not another Gar!
43. Expressionist Nolde : EMIL. Never heard of this PAINTER. (6)
47. Rauch who plays Bernadette on "The Big Bang Theory" : MELISSA. TBBT, and the little Mrs. (7) Howard, with the big...bangs.
50. Depression : DALE. Not mental but in the field.
51. Name that means "cool breeze" in Hawaiian : KEANU. Another learning moment for me; where is Mr. Reeves these days, anyone NEO? (8)
53. Like the columns in the Jefferson Memorial : IONIC.I will never forget, Ionic, Doric or Corinthian. (9)
57. Lava rock : BASALT. Do we have any geologists in our midst to explain this ROCK.
60. Nickname for Mendelssohn's Third Symphony : SCOTTISH. Not in my wheelhouse. A SAMPLE.(8:09) (10)
65. Troubling spots : ACNE.
66. Chanteur Jacques : BREL. A male singer and crossword favorite.(11).
67. Dropped the ball : ERRED.
68. Fraternity letters : RHOS.
69. WWI German vice admiral : SPEE. He was actually born in Denmark. READ. (12)
70. Hornet homes : NESTS.
71. P.D. ranks : DETS. Police Department has detectives.
Down:
1. Marx Brothers straight man : ZEPPO. The youngest of the brothers and the handsome ONE.(2:56).(13) He married Frank Sinatra's ex.
2. Stinks : ODORS.
3. Looks lustfully at : OGLES. Like looking at long legs in sheer nylons, hmm.
4. Delivery man? : MESSIAH. Really difficult cluing; and another taboo topic.
5. "Got My ___ Working": 1957 Muddy Waters song : MOJO. This SONG. (14)
6. Buck heroine : OLAN. From her Pulitzer Prize winning The Good Earth. (15).
7. Covered with frost : RIMED. I wish I had a quip that rhymed.
8. __ sister : SOB. From the old days when women journalists could only write puff. HISTORY.
9. Andorra neighbor, locally : ESPANA. Spanish for Spain. (16).
10. Propriety : DECORUM. We had to write an essay in 7th grade about how to maintain decorum and Peter Wylie said, you need to water it, and use good dirt.
11. "Now, Voyager" actress Chase : ILKA. She was the daughter of the editor of Vogue. (17)
12. Hosp. area : EMERgency.
13. Broadway barber : TODD. Sweeny, the play about the butcher barber.(18)
19. Support in a swindle : ABET. Aiding and...
21. Belief : TENET.
25. Shown so you can't miss it : IN BOLD. Just like every answer in the write ups.
27. In the manner of : A LA. From the French.
28. LPGA golfer Yani Tseng's homeland : TAIWAN. She was number 1 in the world of ladies golf last year, but has slipped.(19)
30. Prego rival : RAGU. (20).
31. Netherlands export : EDAM. One of marti's cheesy fill.( I will let this one slide).
32. Certain Slav : SERB. They have their own version of religion, Serbian Orthodox, similar to Greek and Russian.(21).
33. Utah Valley University city : OREM. A repeat performance for this little city.(22).
34. Iditarod terminus : NOME. It means clear waters and begin in Anchorage and takes a couple of weeks with 16 dogs as the average team.(various sources). (23).
35. Exhausting effort : TOIL. Boil and Bubble.
36. 11th-century date : MLI. 1051, so?
40. Nutritionist's no. : RDA. Recommended Daily Allowance.
41. Take a hike : SPLIT. Like go on the lam?
44. Charming : LIKABLE.
46. Suit in a circus : LEOTARD.Suit?
48. Peddle : SELL. Not your bicycle, but your wares.
49. Bed sheet material : SATEEN. Not to be confused with Satin.
52. Manipulators : USERS.
54. Specialized market segment : NICHE. I keep looking for mine.
55. Isn't expanded? : IS NOT. I love this simple deception.
56. Mating game : CHESS. Wonderful misdirection clue,.
57. Strained-carrot holders : BIBS. I should be seeing Charlotte in a few weeks.
58. Group with many boomers : AARP. They gave up as an acronym and this is the official name now. (24).
59. Fictional pirate : SMEE .He's back and number 25.
61. Tech news website : CNET. (26).
62. Track figures : ODDS. I bet you all got this right, even if you did not have any of the triple crown winners.
64. MBA hopeful's test : GRE. Graduate Records Examination. Whew.
Did this feel like taking a test in college? Really proper name intensive, lots of misdirection and marti mayhem. I hope she is enjoying herself, and it was nice of her to leave us a present. Speaking of presents, I am presently tired, so see you all next time.
Lemonade
Note from C.C.:
Happy 44th wedding anniversary to dear JD and Bob!
Note from C.C.:
Happy 44th wedding anniversary to dear JD and Bob!
