Tuesday, March 4, 2014 Jeffrey Wechsler

  

First word starts with a F, middle word starts with an A, and last word starts with a T.  

18. Eternally : FOR ALL TIME

31A. "Let's move on to something else" : "FORGET ABOUT THAT"

37A. Building safety procedure : FIRE ALARM TEST

44A. Some studio-based educators : FINE ART TEACHERS

59A. What 3/4/2014 is, and a hint to 18-, 31-, 37- and 44-Across : FAT TUESDAY

Argyle here. Throw me some beads. A timely puzzle with two grid spanners and some interesting fill. Not much trouble.

Across:

1. American Revolution supporter : WHIG. "Early activists in the colonies called themselves "Whigs", seeing themselves as in alliance with the political   in Britain, until they turned to independence and started emphasizing the label Patriots." - Wikipedia

5. Cracked fixture across from Independence Hall : BELL

9. Suitor : SWAIN. Most dictionaries show a reference to Old Norse.

14. Loser in a fable : HARE

15. Ice formation : FLOE

16. Garden violet : PANSY

17. Big name in door-to-door sales : AVON

20. Moral precept : TENET

22. Arctic inhabitant : INUIT. The preferred term for Eskimo.

23. Suffix with Manhattan : ITE

24. In the know : HIP

27. Soak up some rays : TAN

28. URL letters : WWW

35. Davis of "Do the Right Thing" : OSSIE. Directed by Spike Lee. (1989)

36. Geologic periods : EONs

42. Obstruct : CLOG

43. Paper tray unit : SHEET

51. Brief missions? : OPs. (operations)

52. Drill sergeant's address : "SIR!"

53. Barbecue residue : ASH

54. On the __ vive: alert : QUI. (literally: long live who?)

55. Debate focus : ISSUE

57. Took a cut : SWUNG. Baseball.

64. Ill-considered : RASH

65. Word before circle or child : INNER

66. Shore phenomenon : TIDE

67. Attacking the task : AT IT

68. Reply to "Who wants to clean up this mess?" : "NOT ME!"

69. Cry of pain : [YEOW!]

70. Ballpoints : PENs

Down:

1. "Consider this scenario ..." : "WHAT IF ..."

2. Must : HAVE TO

3. One with pressing chores? : IRONER

4. One in a pool : GENE. On another day, it might be STENO.

5. Pal 4 life : BFF. (Best Friends Forever)

6. "Xanadu" band : ELO. (Electric Light Orchestra)

7. Loughlin of "Full House" : LORI. Full House was a hugely popular ABC sitcom which ran for 192 episodes.   Link

8. Crude shed : LEAN-TO

9. Support for a broken digit : SPLINT

10. Power unit : WATT

11. "Give me __!": start of a Hawkeye's cheer : AN I. (Iowa Hawkeyes)

12. Philosophy suffix : ISM

13. Bill, the "Science Guy" : NYE

19. Waikiki feast : LUAU

21. This and this : THESE

25. "__ miracle!" : IT'S A

26. Beach bucket : PAIL

28. Villagers below the Grinch's cave : WHOs

29. Have a yen for : WANT

30. Oz. and kg. : WTs. & 40D. Oz. or kg. : MEAS. (Dept. of Weights and Measures)

32. Steep-walled canyon : GORGE. Interesting usage for this word. Dict.

33. Creature : BEAST

34. Pearly whites : TEETH

37. Turn, as pancakes : FLIP. Today is National Pancake Day at IHOP. Get a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes.

38. Electrical particles : IONs

39. "Cheers" actress Perlman : RHEA. She met her match when she met Lilith's mother.

                  LINK

41. Geek Squad pros : TECHs

42. Money VIP : CFO. (chief financial officer)

45. Guarantee : ASSURE

46. Go up : RISE

47. Unlikely to disappoint : TRUSTY

48. Compare apples to apples? : EQUATE

49. Takes to jail : RUNS IN

50. Tourist attractions : SIGHTS

55. News piece : ITEM

56. Actress Falco : EDIE. IMDb bio.

58. Food truck offering : WRAP

59. Snorkeling aid : FIN

60. Year, south of the border : AÑO

61. Tunneler's explosive : T-N-T

62. Ruckus : ADO

63. Evergreen with elastic wood : YEW

I'll leave you with some mood music. Link

 

Argyle