Let's begin with the reveal:
36-A. What the answers to starred clues are comprised of : US POSTAL CODES.
The 2-letter postal codes of states are formed into common words and phrases. There are duplicates, but without looking at a map, do you know which ones are missing? (I immediately saw one glaring omission…)
14-A. *Approach : CO/ME NE/AR. Colorado, Maine, Nebraska, Arkansas16-A. *Overly ornate : FL/OR/ID. Florida, Oregon, Idaho
24-A. *Messing with one's head : MI/ND GA/ME. Michigan, North Dakota, Georgia, Maine
49-A. *Tom Wolfe coinage for the 1970s : ME DE/CA/DE. Maine, Delaware, California, Delaware
62-A. *Drink of the gods : NE/CT/AR. Nebraska, Connecticut, Arkansas
63-A. *Simple forecasting aid : WI/ND VA/NE. Wisconsin, North Dakota, Virginia, Nebraska
5-D. *Sell weaponry : DE/AL AR/MS. Delaware, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi
39-D. *Appalachian resource : CO/AL MI/NE. Colorado, Alabama, Michigan, Nebraska.
I don't think I would have guessed this theme in a million years without the reveal! But at least I was able to fill the entire thing in without any lookups. From a constructor's viewpoint, this was an especially difficult type of theme to create. Competing 6- and 8-letter entries necessitated asterisks to differentiate the theme entries.
I can understand why TX was omitted...but here's a challenge: Find your state that was omitted, and come up with a valid word or phrase that includes it, along with at least two other postal codes. (***See spoiler at bottom of this post)
I can understand why TX was omitted...but here's a challenge: Find your state that was omitted, and come up with a valid word or phrase that includes it, along with at least two other postal codes. (***See spoiler at bottom of this post)
Across:
1. Just the right amount of tight : SNUG. (See 61-down)
5. Hip-hop's Run-__ : DMC. From the 80's. Never heard of them, but evidently they were very influential to the genre.
8. Significant : OF NOTE.
17. Beef at the dinner table : RIB ROAST. and 34-Across. Butcher's offering : T-BONE. Are you getting hungry yet?
18. Provoke : FOMENT.
19. Sports drink suffix : ADE.
20. Healing aid, briefly : TLC. Tender loving care.
21. Some August babies : LEOs.
22. Cyrus the Great's domain : PERSIA. Here is an interesting timeline map that goes from 8000 B.C. to modern Iran. 1:10
28. Right in an atlas : EAST.
29. Author Dahl : ROALD. We have had him many times before.
31. Cease, with "off" : LAY.
32. High-tech debut of 1981 : IBM PC.
40. Dressing vessel : CRUET.
41. "Oh, yeah!" : BOO-YA.
42. Minor concern, maybe : AGE. HaHa, "minor" in this case being one who is under-aged.
43. In a way, informally : SORTA.
45. Cries of pain : YOWS.
52. "60 Minutes" first name : LESLEY. Stahl. I like her style.
54. Choice usually made secretly : VOTE.
55. Minute measures: Abbr. : CMs. Centimeters.
56. Rehab concern, familiarly : DTs.
57. Like old videos : GRAINY.
60. Zealous to the extreme : WHITE HOT.
64. Eucharist plates : PATENS.
65. Suffix for Brooklyn or Manhattan : -ITE.
66. "Lemme __!" : AT 'EM.
Down
1. Tough spot : SCRAPE.
2. "I'm stumped" : NO IDEA.
3. Earthy colors : UMBERS. Had to look at perps to decide between ochres and UMBERS.
4. Angela Merkel's country: Abbr. : GER.many. This was a gimme.
6. Like the days of the week, in Span. : MASC.uline. WAG. I know very little Spanish, but with four letters, I guessed it would not be "fem." But now that I think of it, I could have gone with "neut."
7. Old PC component : CRT. Cathode Ray Tube.
8. Transgress : OFFEND.
9. __ insurance : FLOOD.
10. Asian menu assurance : NO MSG.
11. Gold or silver source : ORE.
12. Pie holder : TIN. My pies are baked in a pie plate. I associate a pie TIN with frozen ones.
13. D.C. summer setting : EDT.
15. "The Little Red Hen" denial : NOT I.
21. Short, for short : LI'L.
23. Michael of R.E.M. : STIPE. Should I link? Not a fan, so I'll let someone else who likes them pick their own.
24. Gruesome : MACABRE.
25. Hand lotion ingredient : ALOE.
26. __ best friend : MAN'S.
27. Major TV logo : EYE.
30. Go (for) : OPT.
33. AI game competitor : BOT. Artificial Intelligence. BOTs are considered NPCs (non-player characters.)
34. Play (with) : TOY.
35. Annual celebrations, casually : B-DAYS. Does C.C. know yours? Send her a note - she remembers everything!
36. Impulse : URGE.
37. Took to court : SUED.
38. Housing plan unit : LOT.
40. Rotating piece : CAM.
43. Half-goat creatures of myth : SATYRS.
44. Lines of praise : ODE.
I would write a nice ODE to our Owen,
Perhaps pen a Pindaric type poem.
But alas I cannot.
A limerick’s all I got.
And, besides, I have to get goin’!46. Dated : OLD HAT.
47. Sloppy kiss : WET ONE. Garfield just really doesn't appreciate them.
48. Nervous __ : SYSTEM.
50. Cybernotice for a party : E-VITE.
51. Late-night host O'Brien : CONAN.
53. Business sign abbr. : EST'D. Established.
55. IOU : CHIT.
57. Econ. yardstick : GNP.
58. "In Dreams" actor Stephen : REA. Did not remember this guy.
59. Fake being : ACT.
60. Doughboy's conflict, briefly : WWI.
61. Actress Mendes : EVA.
"I wanted to be a nun when I was very little. Well, that was until my sister told me that they don't get paid. Then I went off that idea quickly."
(Aren't you fellows glad that nuns don't get paid?)
***My missing state was MA. So, my word was DE/MA/ND.
That about wraps it up for me this week!
Marti
