Oh, Jeffrey Wechsler, what did you do to me? When a puzzle begins with 1A as part of the theme you know you are going to have to work for your supper. Confidently putting in AMERICAN (the airline of the Admirals Club) and then ATL as 1D and MAD as 2D, I got slapped in the face with 3D which had to be RET(ired). Scuttling along like a beetle, I went to the next starred clue and knew Centurion was one of many AmEx cards, which gave me the theme; revived, I went back and fixed the beginning and had a mostly smooth solve. I loved the theme for this holiday with AMERICAN the unsaid beginning to each starred answer. The thought of the invisible American in each answer brought me to Mr. Ellison. Without any politics or religion subplot, there are so many reasons I am proud to be an American and proud to blog this fun work from JW. A few unknowns and some distant memories, but it all filled. Aside from the 9 short theme fill (if you see asterisks you know there are fill longer than the designated theme fill in the grid) there are some crunchy, yummy fill. INGENUE, PUMMELS, SNEERED, TIEPOLO, UNTAMED, BIO-DOME, LET ME TRY, LUTENIST, TREE BARK all are great. Of course to get this many interesting things in the fill, you are going to need some short fill and JW goes the acronym route, I hope that does not make you acrimonious. So let's get to the fireworks.
1A. *Admirals Club carrier : AIRLINES. (8). American Airlines.
9A. *Rose variety : BEAUTY. (6). American Beauty.
29A. *Centurion card issuer : EXPRESS. (7). American Express. Worked for them for a while.
37A. *Entertainment phenomenon since 2002 : IDOL. (4). American Idol.
38A. *TV show that had a 50th anniversary celebration in 2002 : BANDSTAND. (9). American Bandstand.
41A. *Line of 18-inch dolls : GIRL. (4). American Girl. This was 4 letters but the one I needed the most help on.
51A. *PBS cultural documentary series : MASTERS. (7). American Masters. I do appreciate PBS.
70A. *Armed forces support group : LEGION. (6). American Legion. Very important in New England where I grew up.
and the reveal
71A. Apt adjective for today that's needed to make sense of eight puzzle answers : AMERICAN. (8).
Across:
15. Cork, essentially : TREE BARK. I bet you did not know all of THIS.
16. "Right away, boss!" : I'M ON IT. An interesting vowel consonant progression, with its partner...
17. "I'd like a shot" : LET ME TRY.
18. Like some windshields : TINTED.
19. Condescends : STOOPS. These are not synonymous for me at all. How could you STOOP so low, does not equate to he CONDESCENDED to speak to the crowd. IMO.
21. __ tide : NEAP.
22. Toot : JAG. A bender.
25. River in Hades : LETHE. For Greek scholars, I guess I forgot about this ONE, not as famous as STYX. (4:28).
27. Stylish '60s Londoner : MOD. The mods and the rockers ruled my teen age years.
33. Beats badly : PUMMELS. Not to be confused with Pommel.
35. Know : BE SURE. My mind went here....
36. Kitchen spray : PAM. Did you this is an acronym for Product of Arthur Meyerhoff?
44. Word with job or laborer : DAY.
45. Bahamian capital : NASSAU. A real gimme for us here in So.Fla.
49. Showed contempt : SNEERED.
52. Turkish honorific : AGA. Not a British cook stove.
53. Speak : ORATE. Not related to O Ration the favorite food for Orangutans.
55. Woven thing : WEB. Tangled usually...
56. Wax-wrapped import : EDAM. Cheesy. Sub theme? 50D. Parmesan alternative : ROMANO. I get them together.
58. Wiser partner? : SADDER. There are many things we all learn the hard way.
62. The NFL's "Golden Arm" : UNITAS. Loved those high tops.
64. Closed ecosystems : BIODOMES.
68. They're likely to be edited : RUN-ONS.
69. Renaissance musician : LUTENIST. New word for me. Just don't see that many Lutes outside of GOT.
Down:
1. N.L. East team : ATLanta Braves. Are they and Cleveland next after the Washington Redskins?
2. Choler : IRE.
3. Like Gen. Powell : RETired.
4. NASA moon landers : LEMS. An unintentional SO to this blogger, and a reference to a junked name for the Lunar Excursion Module which is apparently now just LM.
5. "That's doubtful" : I BET. She asked you out?
6. Intl. alliance since 1949 : NATO. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Acronym time. part II ( I do not count PAM as so few know this is an acronym).
7. Director Morris et al. : ERROLS. Flynn is too easy but is this one too HARD?
8. Video chat choice : SKYPE. Great tool for overseas business. Not an acronym, not a portmanteau, but close.
9. Small amount : BIT.
10. "8 Mile" star : EMINEM. Marshall Bruce Mathers, III is among the top ten in career album sales. He is an twisted acronym.
11. Top-notch : A-ONE. Do you like their steak sauce?
12. Wild : UNTAMED.
13. 18th-century Venetian painter : TIEPOLO. Just as Erroll Morris is arguably the greatest documentary director, this prolific PAINTER may be the best of his time, but is also not a household name.
14. Until now, to CPAs : YTD. Year To Date.
20. Mar. honoree : ST. PATrick.
22. Son and brother of George : JEB. Clearly Bush league cluing here. John Ellis Bush.
23. Tool for fellers? : AXE. More SSO here.
24. Tracking aid: Abbr. : GPS. Global Positioning System.
26. Wellpoint competitor : HUMANA. Health care giants.
28. Broadband letters : DSL. Digital Subscriber Line. Beginning to see red? 48D. PC port : USB. Universal Serial Bus. 62D. High-tech address : URL. Uniform Resource Locator.
30. Belarus currency : RUBLE. A lucky guess.
31. Historical period : ERA.
32. Shipping worker : SENDER.
34. Core : MIDST.
36. Korean musician with the hit "Gangnam Style" : PSY. 15 minutes over? Do you want a Link?
39. Certain parents, to their tots : DADAS.
40. __ in November : N AS.
41. Fed. procurement agency : GSA. General Services Administration.
42. Vamp opposite : INGENUE. Ah, all the poor ingenues who flocked to Hollywood.
43. Grade school focus : READING. 'Riting and 'Rithmatic.
46. Darn, say : SEW. Socks, not curses.
47. "There you __!" : ARE. Yes I am right here.
51. Pizza order : MEDIUM. Not in my house.
54. Drum with a sitar : TABLA. A total learning experience. Join and READ.
57. Yours, in Tours : A TOI.
59. Lavish attention : DOTE.
60. Linda of Broadway's "Jekyll & Hyde" : EDER.
61. Rice-A-__ : RONI. Still a San Francisco treat.
63. Federal ID : SSN. Social Security Number.
65. Karaoke need, briefly : MICrophone. Not always are you told it is an abbreviation.
66. That: Sp. : ESA.
67. Where many stand and wait: Abbr. : STN. Station. A little POETRY dear to me to end the day. MILTON.
A Happy Fourth of July to all of you, happy birthday America and many more; 238 candles! and thank you JW for another challenge which both suits the day but also shows the diversity of clues and life. Lemonade out.
