Theme: "I am not a crook"*
17. Cookies named for their flavor : NILLA WAFERS. Vanilla flavored.
28. Flu sufferer's complaint : I FEEL AWFUL. DH's complaint for the entire month of January!
34. Fib : TELL A WHITE LIE. Would I lie to you?
40. Washington county or its seat : WALLA WALLA. Love the name of that city. I'll have to visit it one day.
And the reveal:
55. Ones often in custody ... and what 17-, 28-, 34- and 40-Across are? : LAW BREAKERS. The word LAW is "broken" in the theme entries.
My old friend Jeffrey is back in the Thursday lineup with a buried word theme. I wasn't looking for the theme, but spotted LAW in the first two entries, and confirmed it with the third and fourth. I liked the reveal, because it describes the phrases perfectly. I finished this one in about my typical Wednesday time, so slightly easier than normal for a Thursday. Let's see why I was on Jeffrey's wavelength.
*(Bonus points if you can name the source of the quote.)
Across:
1. Move suddenly : DART. Filled immediately.
5. Art style emphasizing gritty reality : VERISM. In old Roman art, it could be described as "warts and all," for busts that represent the subject realistically instead of romanticized.
11. Cut, as a branch : LOP.
14. Maker of BESTÅ storage products : IKEA. Odd-looking diacritical marks? Probably Swedish...
15. G8 member country : FRANCE.
16. "__ Got No Strings": Pinocchio : I'VE.
19. Chemin de __ : FER. French for railroad. Literally, "road of iron." Much better clue than "Not agin'…"
20. First name in American poetry : EMILY. Dickinson.
21. Carrier with a hub in Oslo : SAS. Scandinavian Airlines System. I wonder how many BESTÅs they carry each week?
22. Physics unit : ERG.
23. Toed the line : OBEYED.
25. Modesto-to-San Jose dir. : WSW. 1 hour and 23 minutes, depending on the route you take.
26. __ speak : SO TO.
27. Agree, in a way : NOD.
31. Trig ratios : SINES.
33. "It's a Wonderful Life" director : CAPRA. One of the all-time greatest movies ever, and my personal motto!
38. Some stereos : SONYS.
39. Stage device : ASIDE.
43. Spooner, for one: Abbr. : REV.erend.
46. "Perhaps" : I MAY.
47. Have the flu : AIL. Kinda sorta clecho with one of the theme entries.
48. Plant with edible seeds : SESAME.
51. On behalf of : FOR.
52. Initials on old globes : SSR. Soviet Socialist Republic.
53. Stingy one : PIKER.
54. Yank : TUG.
59. Computer add-on? : ESE. (Why not "Crossword add-on?") He could not clue it as a direction, since WSW was also in the grid.
60. Brought down : ABASED.
61. Really important : HUGE.
62. Blushing : RED.
63. Desert shimmer : MIRAGE.
64. Shot : SPED.
Down:
1. Eat at the main meal : DINE ON.
2. Like Superman's arms, often : AKIMBO.
4. Running amount : TALLY.
5. Group for ex-GIs : VFW. Veterans of Foreign Wars.
6. Stat that's better if it's lower : ERA. Earned Run Average. Baseball. I wanted "par."
7. Luftwaffe foe: Abbr. : RAF. Royal Air Force.
8. Actually existing: Lat. : IN ESSE.
9. Poor penmanship : SCRAWL. DH needs me to read his "notes to self" sometimes, because he cannot make them out.
10. Fool (with) : MESS.
11. 2012 film for which Ang Lee won Best Director : LIFE OF PI. Read the book. Saw the movie. Loved them both.
12. Operatic opening : OVERTURE. Recognize this one? 3:06
13. Vine-covered walkway : PERGOLA. Pretty!
18. Assent to a captain : AYE.
24. Actress Merrill : DINA. I remember her from "Operation Petticoat."
25. Formal group assent : WE SHALL...overco-o-ome
26. Soggy lowland : SWALE.
29. Handful : FEW.
30. Completed with one stroke : ACED. Golf. If you hit the ball into the hole in one stroke on a par three, it is called an ACE. I have had exactly one in my life.
31. In a foxy way : SLYLY.
32. "As Time Goes By" requester : ILSA.
34. Burns' "tim'rous beastie" ode : TO A MOUSE.
35. Blew up : ENLARGED. Nice misdirection. I wanted "exploded" at first.
36. Catalina, for one: Abbr. : ISL.and.
37. Familia members : TIAS. Spanish "aunts." Uncles = tios.
38. More rapid : SWIFTER. I get housework done SWIFTER with my Swiffer.
41. Horseradish relative : WASABI. Yesterday, I bought some WASABI peas. Healthy and yummy!
42. Elevated conflict : AIR WAR.
43. Gather, as fallen leaves : RAKE UP. As opposed to "Gather, as money": RAKE in.
44. Come out : EMERGE.
45. Skilled : VERSED.
49. Pollution-fighting org. : EPA. Environmental Protection Agency.
50. Followers of Guru Nanak : SIKHS.
52. Bang on the way out : SLAM. (the door)
56. Merit badge gp. : BSA. Boy Scouts of America.
57. Short rule? : REG.ulation
58. Stamp ending : EDE. Stampede
And that's it from me for this week!
Marti
Notes from C.C.:
1) Here is a photo of Mike Alpern & George Barany at
the ACPT. Mike organizes the annual Cru Dinner. Our own Minnesotan George was the judge
this year. You can click here and view Mike's ACPT 2013 pictures. See Marti and Rich? Hopefully Mike will have a 2014 Picasa album to share with us.
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| March 9, 2014 ACPT |
2) Happy Birthday to JJM, who has been posting here on our blog for quite some time. Yet I don't feel I quite know him. So, use your imagination for the cake picture, Dave! (Added later: JJM's birthday is tomorrow. Sorry for the mistake.)
