Theme: REBUS, let your mind see the picture.
By now everyone should be used to the concept that Friday will give you something challenging, and often something new to deal with as you solve. We have had conversation (YR, I believe?) as to rebus puzzles being pictures like this classic FRAME GAME from USA Weekend magazine. This will be my third of Kurt's Kreations to blog, and by far the most complex. All of the theme answers require two fill, which intersect, and the intersection is what reveals the single final fill. In effect the second word is inserted "in to" the first word to create a phrase that then stands alone. Tricky, but once you see the idea the rest really fell into place quickly. The symmetry of the top two sets have the intersecting word come from the top down, and the bottom two going down to the bottom from the intersection, along with some very nice 8 letter fill, like ACADEMIA, ONTARIAN, REFRAINS, SERPENTS, SNEAKERS and VAN BUREN makes this a very fun looking puzzle.
20A. See 4-Down : SADKDLE. 4D. With 20-Across, working again, aptly : BACK. (11). The common K tells you the fill is "Back in the saddle." Picture the perpendicular message here.
22A. See 8-Down : FAMSILY. 8D. With 22-Across, what red hair often does, aptly : RUNS. (11), The common S reveals, "Runs in the family."
35A. See 30-Down : BANNK. 30D. With 35-Across, a financially sure thing, aptly : MONEY. (10). this central combination gives us, "Money in the bank."
50A. See 51-Down : MIRLROR. 51D. With 50-Across, do some self-examination, aptly : LOOK. (11). The intersection yields, "Look in the Mirror."
52A. See 53-Down : BUCDKET. 53D. With 52-Across, trivial amount, aptly : DROP(11). And we finish with my favorite, "Drop in the Bucket."
Across:
1. Biblical kingdom near the Dead Sea : MOAB. I knew I was going to have a good day when I confidently put this in and then confirmed with the perps.
5. Blue : LOW. Feeling kinda punk, down.
8. Chew (out) : REAM. He reamed him a new a******
12. Old empire builder : INCA. Love this near 16A. Donald's address, in comics : UNCA. By his sweet NEPHEWS. (7:33), I called my father's brother "Unc."
13. Construction materials : I-BARS.
17. Like a dotted note, in mus. : STAC. I knew this had to be STACCATO. See LINK. Any more commentary will have to come from those not musically deficient.
18. Bob preceder : SIREE. leaving out the "YES" to confuse you. (Yessiree bob!).
19. Tiny fraction of a min. : NSEC. We get this nanosecond frequently.
24. Dander : IRE.
25. Some tech sch. grads : EES. Electrical Engineers. Again.
26. Soweto's home: Abbr. : RSA. Republic of South Africa. Home to our now veteran veterinarian constructor, Gareth Bain, who has used NSEC in his works.
27. Great time, in slang : GAS. From nitrous oxide?
28. Rain cloud : NIMBUS. Our friend the cumulonimbus.
30. Fair ones : MAIDENS.
32. Julius Caesar's first name : GAIUS. A very common name, but this was an UNCOMMON man. 46D. Gallic girlfriends : AMIES. Gallic being French, amies are French girlfriends; in homage to Gaius Julius Caesar we can recall "Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est...." The beginning of his history of the invasion of Gaul. More on our Latin/Roman mini-theme, 21D. Roman god : DEUS. Just the Latin word, but because it looks like the name of the Greek god, ZEUS, this could be hard. Also, 44D. Dawn goddess : AURORA. The city outside of Denver.
33. Said : VOICED. Often times opinions....
34. Tandoori bread : NAN. Or NAAN.
36. Grilling sound : SSS. The steak or shrimp on the Barbie. Welcome back Kazie.
39. Macduff and Macbeth : THANES. This is/was a Scottish term the equivalent of Counts.
41. Charity, e.g. : DONEE. One who receives from a donor is a donee. A bit of a stretch.
43. Slipped past : EASED BY.
45. Sunday best : FINERY.
46. Soccer star Freddy : ADU. The son of Ghanian woman who won a green card lottery, Adu was considered an up-and-comer for United States football; much speculation surrounded his potential for future success, and he was even referred to as "the next Pele." With our mini-theme, 31D. Pelé's first name : EDSON. More specifically, Edson Arantes do Nascimento.
47. __ Simbel, site of Ramses II temples : ABU. You can read about it HERE. Do you agree the next fill should our old friend the Simpson's shopkeeper, APU?
48. Michaels et al. : ALS. So many Michaels in the world, we get the 'Miracle on Ice' announcer.
49. Galoot : APE.
54. "Was __ loud?" : I TOO.
55. Having no room for hedging : YES/NO. In cross-examining a witness you can often restrict the answer to Yes or No.
57. '20s tennis great Lacoste : RENE. Nice shirts? Chemise?
58. Designer Saarinen : EERO. Old time crosswordese. An architectural family, not like Ted Mosby.
59. Cynical response : SNEER.
60. Leftover bits : ORTS.
61. 40th st. : S DAK. Guess what state was 39th?
62. Whiz : PRO.
63. "Over here!" : PSST.
Down:
1. Not where it's expected to be : MISSING. So simple, yet I can see it hiding for a while.
2. Windsor resident : ONTARIAN. Eh, another Canadian reference.
3. Scholarly milieu : ACADEMIA. Where I become Dr. Lemonade.
5. Fine cotton threads : LISLES. Made from long staple cotton. Yeah, I really know what that means.
6. Awards named for a location : OBIES. Off Broadway.
7. Kids' card game : WAR. This is now a real money game in the casinos here.
9. Banner : ENSIGN. Apparently when you use your national flag at sea it becomes an Ensign. If you have watched Sheldon, I am sure you would know all about vexillology, or on the Game of Thrones, the bannerman. Sunday night!!!
10. Amtrak speedsters : ACELAS. The high speed trains incorporated into our rail system. The name comes from Acceleration and Excellence, they say.
11. Store with a star : MACY'S.
14. Choruses : REFRAINS.
15. Queasy near the quay : SEASICK. This made me queasy.
23. Earned : MADE. Oh that life were fair and people actually made what they earned and earned what they made.
29. Squeeze plays involve them : BUNTS. Aren't you glad we had the discussion of this last week.
33. Jackson follower : VAN BUREN. Martin, president number 8 following Andrew Jackson, #7. Martin was from Buffalo and the first president born after the US was born.
35. 1995 Will Smith/Martin Lawrence film : BAD BOYS. Twenty years ago they made this MOVIE. (2:46).
37. Running pair : SNEAKERS.
38. Malicious types : SERPENTS. If the answer were snakes it would have come easier.
40. Try, as a case : HEAR. The Judge and/or jury "hear" the case.
41. Record : DISC. Hard to get away from the verb.
42. Seer's challenge : EYE TEST. The one examination I have never been able to do well on.
43. Corrected, in a way : EDITED.
45. Prefix with carbon : FLUORO. The ENEMYof our world?
48. Running back Haynes, first AFL player of the year : ABNER. On Friday, you do not get Lil, you get this. He is perhaps most famous for winning the toss and choosing to kick off in overtime in the championship game against Houston. LINK.
56. Equinox mo. : SEPtember. The autumnal season of equal day and night.
Wow, we are through already. I hope you all had a good time and found the visual theme easily. Until then It is Lemonade off into the night.
