Thursday, October 17, 2013 Julian Lim

Theme: "Master of None"

17A. *Victor at Little Bighorn : CHIEF CRAZY HORSE.

24A. *2006 "Survivor" setting : COOK ISLANDS.

"&"

36A. *Nursed, in a way : BOTTLE FED.

50A. *All-in-one appliance : WASHER DRYER.

And the unifier:

58. Handy person suggested by the starts of the answers to starred clues : JACK OF ALL TRADES.

Nice wide open grid, and a fun theme. In spite of my inauspicious start, I flew through in just over my typical Monday speed. Did you all find it easier than most Thursdays?  With 61 theme squares, you might expect to find some iffy fill. But Julian manages to more or less avoid that minefield.

Marti reporting in, to offer my experiences with the solve.

Across:

1. Fur tycoon : ASTOR. Uh-oh.  When 1-A doesn't fill automatically for me, I get a bad feeling.

6. "Due Date" co-star Galifianakis : ZACH. Uh-oh, when the second across clue doesn't fill automatically for me, I get a bad feeling.

10. Rock blasters : AMPS. Uh-oh, when the third across answer doesn't fill, I punt and go directly to the downs. Ahhh...10-D "Cookie shop enticement" - AROMA  (whew!) ...and, it's off to the races!

14. Conveyed : BORNE. As in "air-borne virus."

15. Bassoon cousin : OBOE.

16. Wreak havoc in the streets : RIOT.

20. Zilch : NADA.

21. Fantasy game brute : ORC. From "Lord of the Rings" video games.

22. Latin lesson word : AMAT. Amo, amas, amat.

"Latin is a language,

Dead as dead can be.

It killed off all the Romans,

And now it's killing me!"

23. New Year's ___: EVE. This is a Thursday clue? I would have gone with "Plumb in a famous bunch." (Eve Plumb, who played Jan in "The Brady Bunch.") (But then, I am devious that way!!)

28. Attacked : WENT AT.

30. November honoree : VET.eran. (Not the one in the gp. that houses strays.)

31. "I'm an idiot!" : D'OH.

32. Abs strengthener : SIT UP.

33. Leave port : SAIL.

35. Apportioning word : EACH.

39. Gp. that houses strays : SPCA. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

42. Bowlers and trilbies : HATS.

"Man in a Bowler Hat" by Rene Magritte

Olly Murs in a trilby

43. Millionaire's retreat : VILLA.

47. Strudel ___ mode : ALA.

48. Jon Hamm's "Mad Men" role __ Draper : DON.

49. Vocation : METIER. Not your common everyday word, and I love the sound of it. I'm going to make it my WOTD (word of the day.)  "CrossEyedDave, what is your METIER?  You seem to be an entertainer at heart..."

54. Dye holder : VAT. Almost wanted "wig."

55. Classy : CHIC.

56. Fish you can smoke : EEL. Do you ever smoke it, C.C.? (I should think more people would prefer to smoke Marlboros or Winstons, than eel...) (From C.C.: I never smoked eels. I did buy my Dad a carton of Marlboro after I got my first month's salary. He did not really like them better than his cheap Chinese cigarettes.)

57. Ricky portrayer : DESI. Arnez on "I Love Lucy." Has anyone seen the Broadway play?

62. Nebraska native : OTOE.

63. Like Iago, say : EVIL.

64. Rice/Lloyd Webber musical : EVITA.

65. Trees used to make longbows : YEWS.

66. Attends to one's whistle? : WETS. One WETS one's whistle, but whets one's appetite.

67. Unreactive gas : XENON.

Down:

1. Sawyer employer : ABC NEWS. "Huck Finn" wouldn't fit.

2. "Same here!" : SO HAVE I.

3. Poseidon's staff : TRIDENT.

4. __ Day vitamins : ONE A. We more often see this clued in relation to the military draft.  The partial of a vitamin brand seemed awkward.

5. Authority on a field : REF.eree.

6. Masked hero who debuted in the 1919 story "The Curse of Capistrano" : ZORRO.

7. Stunned way to be taken : ABACK.

8. Member of the fam : COZ. Short for "cousin."

9. Casual greeting : HEY. "Hey, coz!"

10. Cookie shop enticement : AROMA.

11. Ferdinand's love in "The Tempest" : MIRANDA.

12. Ph.D.'s further studies : POST DOC. Like Julian Lim.

13. Jeanne d'Arc, for one: Abbr. : STE. French abbr. for female "saint."

18. Old geezer : COOT.

19. "Come no closer!" : HALT.

24. Consiglieri's boss : CAPO. Literally, "head" in Italian.

25. Penn et al. : IVIES. Univ. of Penn. is one of the Ivy league schools.

26. Contained opening? : SELF. Self-contained, as an RV.

27. "Too noisy!" : SHH.

29. Big band instrument : TUBA. I thought of Abejo. Is your true METIER to be a musician? For our newcomers, here is a video of him playing last Christmas. I think he is just below and slightly to the left of the pink tuba. His is not as shiny, and has a front-facing bell (...his tuba, that is!!!)

33. Defensive effort : STAND.

34. Ctrl-__-Delete : ALT. It's a PC thing.

35. Correct : EDIT.

37. Superhero with a hammer : THOR.

38. Even once : EVER.

39. Chain __ : SAW.

40. Give a sop to : PLACATE.

41. Moneymaker : CASH COW.

44. Not vacant : LIVED IN. The house we bought next door has not been LIVED IN for over three years.

45. Charge for using, as an apartment : LEASE TO. We hope to fix it up quickly and LEASE TO a suitable tenant...

46. Potter or jeweler, e.g. : ARTISAN.

48. Style of a historic Miami Beach district : DECO. Art DECO is the signature architectural style of South Beach.

49. Get gooey : MELT.

51. Outdoor outings : HIKES.

52. Bright again : RELIT.

53. Argues ineffectively : YELLS. (LIKE THIS, IN AN EMAIL!!)

57. Comic Chappelle : DAVE. No clue. It was filled by perps.

58. Almond __ : JOY.

59. Select group? : FEW. "Many are called, but FEW are chosen..."

60. Roman salutation : AVE. More Latin.

61. T. __ : REX.  I'll leave you with this, since there weren't very many other musical opportunities...

Til next week, amigos!
Marti