Theme: Science Ed Adding "-ed" to a scientific item (all eponymous names) creates a new fun phrase!
18A Physicist got all wound up?: TESLA COILED. Tesla used his coils in a number of different experiments including the attempt to transmit electricity without wires.
29A Mathematician got ready for a shower?: MOEBIUS STRIPPED. If you cut a Moebius strip in half along its length, you get two loops interlinked, one of which is another Moebius strip. Awesomely weird!
36A Seismologist rose to new heights?: RICHTER SCALED: I'm very familiar with Mr. Richter's scale, living as I do in shaky Southern California.
44A Physicist made an opposing move?: GEIGER COUNTERED. The official name is a Gieger-Müller counter; Herr Müller must have been sore at being frequently forgotten.
61A Microbiologist spread some gossip?: PETRI DISHED. Funny, we had Petri the Pianist on Wednesday. Growing bacterial colonies in one of these was a highlight of high school biology.
Happy Friday everyone. Steve here subbing for Lemonade who is off celebrating Rosh Hashanah. Shanah Tova!
What a nice puzzle from Steve Blais today. I loved the theme - extremely clever to find five scientifically-related objects and add the common suffix. Two 15's, two 11's and a 13 (Thanks, Abejo). Really slick stuff!
Let's check out what else we've got:
Across:
1 Sign of trouble: SOS. Sometimes thought to stand for "Save Our Souls" it doesn't actually stand for anything - the Morse coding 'dit dit dit dah dah dah dit dit dit" was chosen because it is very recognizable.
4 Sword holder: SHEATH
10 San Joaquin Valley concern: SMOG. A concern shared by all of Southern California's valleys.
14 PC core: CPU. Not designated as an abbreviation any longer, originally the computer's Central Processing Unit.
15 Yes or no follower: SIRREE
16 Dance that tells a story: HULA
17 Farm girl: HEN. Third time this week for the egg-layer(s).
20 Prefix with European: INDO-
22 “Enough!”: STOP THAT
23 Race line: START.
25 Fireworks reaction: OOH.
26 “The Stepford Wives” author Levin: IRA.
34 Swing around on an axis: SLUE. Nice word.
35 Sigh of sorrow: ALAS!
42 California’s __ Valley: SIMI. No smog in Simi today - I was there for lunch.
43 Unrefined type: BOOR
52 Explosive letters: TNT. Trinitrotoluene.
53 “I’ll meet thee on the __-rig”: Burns: LEA. To a Scot, a ridge of land yet unplowed (or unploughed, if you're a Scot).
54 Fur piece: STOLE
55 Socrates, for one: ATHENIAN
60 Selma or Patty, to Bart Simpson: AUNT. Two great characters from the show.
[Homer enters the room]
Selma: Am I wrong, or did it just get fatter in here?
64 Even up: TIE. In the score-tying context.
65 On the lower side, in a heeling vessel: ALEE. We had this on Wednesday with a different meaning.
66 Twitterpated: IN LOVE. A new fun word for me. I was thinking along social media lines until the crosses helped me out.
67 Half of nine?: ENS. Two of them in the word, so 50% of the letters.
68 Insurance deals with it: RISK
69 Conical shelter: TEEPEE
70 Web address component: DOT. The O resolved my El Niño/Niña uncertainty.
Down:
1 Religious split: SCHISM
2 Not against entertaining: OPEN TO. I thought at first this was entertaining in the "having a party" sense, but actually it's the "considering" sense.
3 Cherry-topped treat: SUNDAE
4 Former flier: SST
5 Makes haste: HIES
6 In the past, in the past: ERST. I think the preceding "hies" has a touch of the erst about it.
7 He sang between Melanie and Joan at Woodstock: ARLO. Guthrie's set came between Melanie of no-last-name fame and Joan Baez of useful-last-name-for-crosswords fame.
8 Where to get a brew: TEAPOT. I'd never thought of keeping beer in a teapot before.
9 Victim of Achilles: HECTOR. Before dying, Hector pleaded that Achilles treat his lifeless body with respect. Achilles didn't exactly comply with that request - he decided to drag it back to Troy behind his chariot instead.
10 LaBeouf of “Transformers” films: SHIA
11 Six, nine or twelve, for three: MULTIPLE
12 Cry for a matador: OLE. "O heck" if he drops his cape.
13 Wander: GAD
19 Greeting to an unexpected visitor: OH HI. Or the Matador to the Bull, having dropped his cape.
21 Saturn, for one: ORB
24 Mrs. Addams, to Gomez: 'TISH. An affectionate contraction of Morticia.
27 Interpret, as X-rays: READ
28 They may be classified: ADS
30 Final: Abbr.: ULT.
31 Mystery writer Grafton: SUE
32 __-Croatian: SERBO
33 Amigo: PAL
36 Nothing, in Nice: RIEN
37 Knocks off: IMITATES:
38 One might be bummed, briefly: CIG. Can you bum anything else other than a cigarette?
39 Almost worthless amount: SOU. A French term originally, now widespread. French slang "sans le sou" means "broke" - without even a sou.
40 Put one over on: CON
41 Fine things: ARTS
42 Pepper or Snorkel: Abbr.: SGT. Not familiar with Snorkel, but very familiar with this
45 K thru 12: EL-HI. Elementary + High (school)
46 Make more changes to: RE-EDIT
47 Fang: INCISOR (Correction: It's CANINE).
48 Greek vowel: ETA
49 Much more than edged: ROUTED
50 Periodic weather disruption: EL NIÑO. I had to wait for 70A to choose between Niño and Niña
51 Not fancy at all: DETEST. Last of the misdirection clues today - I was thinking "plain" for a long time. The SE corner was tough for me.
56 Long migration, say: TREK
57 “Lost” setting: ISLE. Never saw an episode. Apparently it was pretty good.
58 One bounce, on the diamond: A HOP
59 Campbell of “Scream”: NEVE.
61 Birdie plus one: PAR. I'm playing golf tomorrow - hopefully plenty of both. A chap in my foursome had a hole-in-one last time out. My turn!
62 “Hostel” director Roth: ELI
63 Low grade: DEE
That's all from me - have a great weekend!
Steve
Note from C.C.:
"An Evening with the Puzzle Master" - Will Shortz, editor of the NY Times
crossword, is visiting Minnesota next Thursday Sept 12, 2013. He'll
answer all questions about puzzles. Please click here for
details. I think all of Twin Cities crossword
constructors will be there.
