17A. How poets write? : IN VERSES. This one gave me pause until I remembered "function inverses" in algebra.
21A. How moonshine is made? : IN STILLS. "Pinch" would be a better clue for this blog, eh Tinbeni?
33A. How parts of a whole can be written? : IN FRACTIONS. Math day today.
44A. How a priest preaches? : IN VESTMENTS. Fire, brimstone and what-not.
57A. How kangaroos travel? : IN BOUNDS. Timely March Madness basketball reference.
62A. How some paper is packaged? : IN QUIRES. My favorite, I like to see these old measurements or quantities being kept alive. If our priest above addresses 24 sheets of paper, is he preaching to the quire?
Welcome to Wednesday everyone. Steve here with what looks to be the first collaboration between Doug and Patti and a fun one at that. Six theme entries and no reveal - it's up to us solvers to figure it out. We're only a Z short of a pangram too. Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. "That's enough from you!" : SHH
4. City whose tower's construction began in 1173 : PISA. It began tilting during the first phase of construction. Wouldn't you fix it before things got out of hand?
8. Pops out of the cockpit : EJECTS. "Pops" sounds very gentle for a maneuver in which the rocket-propelled seat subjects the occupant to between 14 and 22 gs of force and compression fractures of the vertebrae are not uncommon.
14. Seoul-based automaker : KIA
15. Bulky boats : ARKS. The British Navy's aircraft carrier Ark Royal certainly fits the "bulky" adjective.
16. Hit one's limit, in slang : MAX OUT
19. Like a classic French soup : ONIONY
20. Tree of Knowledge locale : EDEN
23. Quick summary : RUNDOWN
26. Learned : WISE
27. Actress Thurman : UMA. Shown below in "Pulp Fiction" - one of my favorite movies.
28. Bath bathroom : LOO. Understanding that "Bath" refers to the spa city in the west of England is the key to this clue/answer combo.
29. Go to the bottom : SINK
38. Middling grade : CEE
39. "Doctor Who" actress Gillan : KAREN. Crosses all the way for me here. The good Doctor has been waging war against various space aliens since 1963. I used to hide behind the sofa when the Daleks appeared.
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| Exterminate! Exterminate! |
41. Strong glue : EPOXY
43. Lyrical preposition : ERE
47. Electrically flexible : AC/DC. A device that can run on either alternating or direct current.
49. Lyrical preposition : O'ER
50. Feel crummy : AIL
51. World power until 1991: Abbr. : U.S.S.R.
53. Spirits brand with a Peppar variety : ABSOLUT. It's spicy in the chili pepper fashion.
60. Former Cubs slugger : SOSA. Sammy's appearance is appropriate for this week of Opening Days, except that the Dodgers and D-backs had Opening Day in Sydney, Australia last week for no good reason that I can tell.
61. Meadow lows : MOOING. Low is to moo as bleat is to baa. I think.
65. Land on two continents : RUSSIA. Europe and Asia. And a member of the 51A union.
66. Squeaker in Stuttgart : MAUS. The world's most famous rodent is spelt without an "E" in Germany.
67. Big fan : NUT
68. 1987 Beatty flop : ISHTAR. It was a box office flop, but maybe not an outright bomb. Even with estimated losses of $48m, it doesn't crack the top 50 world's worst, which is some consolation for Warren.
69. Freelancer's detail : SPEC
70. Big primate : APE
Down:
1. One going downhill fast : SKIER. "To turn is to admit defeat" - the downhiller's mantra.
2. __ Kush mountains : HINDU. The range dividing Afghanistan from Pakistan.
3. Port in a storm, so to speak : HAVEN
4. Score to shoot for : PAR. A pipe-dream for most golfers for an entire round of 18 holes.
5. Taxing initials : I.R.S. It's that month again.
6. Knitter's coil : SKEIN. Another great word. Some nice stuff today.
7. Part of LPGA: Abbr. : ASSN. The association for lady professional golfers. They don't pipe-dream about par.
8. What the cold-blooded don't feel : EMOTION
9. She performed between Creedence and Sly at Woodstock : JANIS. This song was part of her encore after the main set.
10. Sends away : EXILES
11. Aloof : COOL
12. Napa vessels : TUNS
13. Piggery : STY
18. Last : ENDURE
22. Needs a fainting couch : SWOONS
24. Saudi neighbor : OMANI
25. WWII female : W.A.C. The Women's Army Corps.
28. Hard-hit ball : LINER. Sammy Sosa hammered quite a number of these in his time.
30. Clickable image : ICON
31. Coming up : NEXT
32. Florida __ : KEYS
33. Blue-and-yellow megastore : IKEA
34. Stash finder : NARC. Narcotics.
35. Willard of "Best in Show" : FRED
36. Brewpub : TAVERN. Hmmm. To me, a brewpub is a pub that brews its own beer (like the Gordon Biersch chain). A tavern is a place that serves drink, whether it's made there or not. A minor distinction.
37. Pre-final rounds : SEMIS
42. Speaker between Hastert and Boehner : PELOSI. Nancy is the only woman to have served as Speaker of the House.
45. Coffee order : NO SUGAR. No milk in mine either.
46. Pickup at a 36-Down : TAB. Oh. I was thinking of something else.
48. Picasso, for one : CUBIST
52. Justice Sotomayor : SONIA. Another notable high-ranking female.
53. "Easy-peasy!" : A SNAP
54. Fictional Doone : LORNA. The novel was published in 1869, I guess it's about time I got around to reading it.
55. Go through entirely : USE UP
56. Small bite : TASTE
57. Short notes? : IOUs
58. Small bite : NOSH. Clecho with 56D.
59. Lowers, as lights : DIMS
61. X-ray kin : MRI, or Magnetic Resonance Imaging if we're going to be formal about it.
63. Ont. neighbor : QUE. CanadianEh could probably draw this map with his eyes closed. I needed the atlas though.
64. L.A. campus : U.S.C.
That's about it from me, or as they might say in Toledo - "Es una envoltura".
Steve
