Theme: BACK BUTTON (66A. Browser feature, or what the ends of
17-, 31-, 38- or 50-Across can have) - "Button" can follow the last word
of each 2-word theme entry.
7A. Series of "Got milk?" spots, e.g. : AD CAMPAIGN. Campaign button. Some of the rusty looking old JFK buttons at the flea markets are repros.
31A. Snowballing financial crisis : BANK PANIC. Panic button.
38A. It's used to break a habit : WILLPOWER. The only one-word theme answer. Power button.
50A. American bacon source : PORK BELLY. Belly button.
C.C.
here, pitch-hitting for Jazzbumpa, who still has no power due to the
big storm last weekend. He said "no home phone, TV, or internet... It's
taking me back to me early 'ute - the 40's."
Beautiful
grid from Victor. Normal word count, but only 34 black squares. Solid
7's in all four corners. This type of design is often the result of a
9-letter theme entry in the middle row 8 & an adventurous spirit
from the constructor, as it's easier to break one edge into two 3's.
I met Victor a few times. He's extremely talented. Very unassuming.
 |
| Left to Right: George, Victor, Andrea, C.C. & DK |
Across:
1. Food at a bar : SALAD
6. 54-Across vaccine developer : SALK (Jonas). And 54A. See 6-Across : POLIO. He chose not to patent his vaccine, while Oprah tried to patent her "Aha moment"!
10. "My stars!" : EGAD
14. Run off, in a way : ELOPE. 29. Ran off with : STOLE. Quite a few clue echos & cross references in this grid.
15. Help in solving : CLUE
16. Age-old stories : LORE
19. Suffragist Lucretia : MOTT. I must have googled her before. I recognize this face.
20. Emmy-winning Arthur : BEA
21. "__ Gang" : OUR
22. Tolstoy work subtitled "The Story of a Horse" : STRIDER. Never heard of it.
24. Queen's subjects : ANTS. Queen ants. I only know Queen bees.
26. Dismissive cry : BAH. My feeling when I clicked on that talk from Jayce's mean boss.
28. Kitchen attraction : AROMA
34. Mexican cover-up : SERAPE. SARAPE is a var.
36. JFK Library architect I.M. : PEI. He was born in Guangzhou.
37. Connecticut hrs. : EST
42. That girl : SHE
45. Garden pond fish : KOI
46. Weather map line : ISOBAR
55. Whirlpool subsidiary : AMANA
56. Sweet tuber : YAM. I just call it sweet potato.
58. MacDonald's home : FARM
59. Ristorante dish : RISOTTO. And 2D. Ristorante request : AL DENTE.
62. Apprehend : NAB
64. Place for some me-time : SPA
65. Make a muffler, perhaps : KNIT
69. Clothing fluff : LINT
70. Actress Elisabeth : SHUE. I only notice now that her name is not Elizabeth.
71. French sweetie : CHERI. Mon chéri/ma chérie.
72. Tense : EDGY
73. Undiluted : PURE
74. Company with "counting sheep" ads : SERTA
Down:
1. Popular food fish : SEA BASS
3. The "L" in URL : LOCATOR. URL= Uniform Resource Locator.
4. Org. for shrinks : APA
5. Showroom model : DEMO
6. Sacred beetle : SCARAB
7. Sacha Baron Cohen's "Da __ G Show" : ALI. Ali G, Borat & Brüno are 3 of Sacha Baron Cohen's characters.
8. Galoots : LUGS
9. Reporter known for ducking into phone booths : KENT (Clark)
10. New York city near the Pennsylvania border : ELMIRA. I can never remember this name. What's it famous for again?
11. "Well played!" : GOOD ONE!
12. Sister of Apollo : ARTEMIS. Twins.
13. Take away (from) : DETRACT
18. Watering hole : PUB
23. See 68-Down : RAP. And 68. With 23-Down, what an accused thug may beat : THE
25. Fries alternative : SLAW
27. Antepenultimate fairy tale word : HAPPILY. Antepenultimate is quite a mouthful. Third to last
30. Prefix with center : EPI
32. Not paleo- : NEO
33. New Zealander : KIWI
35. Actress Sommer : ELKE. Learned her name from doing xwords. Very pretty.
39. Typed chuckle : LOL
40. Seer's claim : ESP
41. Sleigh's parking spot : ROOF. Hi there Santa!
42. Vivacity : SPARKLE. Marti! So full of life and love.
43. Neanderthal, for one : HOMINID
44. Frequent schoolroom activity : ERASING
47. Weapon for Han Solo : BLASTER
48. Touchdown site : AIRPORT. Nice clue.
49. Bucharest's country : ROMANIA
51. Difficult : KNOTTY
52. Club on the diamond : BAT. And YANKEE (53. Mariano Rivera, e.g.). He's not going to save the Yankees any more.
57. Fairy queen of English legend : MAB
60. 1/16 of a cup: Abbr. : TBSP
61. Site of the Ko'olau range : OAHU. Easy guess.
63. Tampa NFLers : BUCs
67. Lowlife : CUR
Informal survey: Do you have an Old Country Buffet in your area? Do you like the place?
C.C.
