20A. *"The Sound of Music" heroine : MARIA VON TRAPP. Let's get the day's earworm out of the way courtesy of a pretty cool flashmob in Antwerp's Central Station.
33A. *Common Italian restaurant fixture : PIZZA OVEN. For all the home-cook pizza fans out there, you can get your own from Williams-Sonoma for a mere $5,995,99. The ocean view costs extra.
44A. *Completely in vain : TO NO AVAIL. Just like my hints to Santa Claus for a pizza oven, complete with Malibu-overlook property.
Leading to:
54A. Breakfast serving, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters : SCRAMBLED EGGS. Also the working title of the Beatles' "Yesterday" before Sir Paul wrote the lyrics.
Hi everyone - Steve checking in with Gareth's fun puzzle. I grinned when I realized what Gareth was up to - I tried some months ago to make the theme work myself, however I was stuck on "Level 1" of looking for anagrams of EGGS, of which there are few. Gareth was a lot smarter than me and added the extra twist of using OVA instead. Bravo!
Let's see what else we've got today:
Across:
1. Desert partly in northern China : GOBI
5. Allergic reaction : RASH
9. Make overly dry : PARCH. As eastern Asia does to 1A.
14. Air or Mini : IPAD
15. Capital on a fjord : OSLO.
16. Union Pacific Railroad headquarters : OMAHA. It seems pretty logical when you see it's pretty much slap-dab in the middle of the country. Learning moment.
17. Acidic : TART
18. Laser __ : BEAM
19. Up to this point : SO FAR
23. Ho Chi Minh City, once : SAIGON. On my bucket list for the French and Asian influences in the food.
25. Tribute in verse : ODE
26. Part of ETA: Abbr. : EST
27. Fresno-to-L.A. direction : SSE. Hey, I got this one without waiting for crosses!
29. Altar oath : I DO.
30. Conk on the head : BOP. Enjoyed this one.
36. Construction site sight : CRANE
38. "__ Nagila" : HAVA. Musical staple of 3D, among other occasions.
39. '50s vice president : NIXON
41. Snow Queen in "Frozen" : ELSA
42. Unsuitable : INAPT. A member of the crosswords-only lexicon, no?
46. Remains in a tray : ASH
47. Row-making tool : HOE
49. Photo lab blowup: Abbr. : ENL. Enlargement.
50. Had a meal : ATE
51. According to : PER
52. Appeared : SEEMED
60. Soap vamp __ Kane : ERICA. Thank you, crosses. If I had a wheelhouse, this wouldn't be in it, nor anywhere close.
61. Novelist Turgenev : IVAN
62. Laryngitis sound : RASP
65. Handled bags : TOTES. Nouns, not the past verb tense which had me barking up the wrong tree for a moment.
66. Insect eggs : NITS
67. Hockey great Phil, familiarly : ESPO. He played for the Blackhawks, the Bruins and the Rangers, thereby alternately delighting and alienating the good residents of Chicago, Boston and New York.
68. Stimulate : SPARK
69. Swiss abstractionist : KLEE. "Tunisian Gardens" painted in 1919 is a great example of his work.
70. Former Russian autocrat : TSAR. Czar or Tsar? Wait for the crosses.
Down:
1. "Amscray!" : GIT
2. __-Locka, Florida : OPA. Recently popular in these parts?
3. Coming-of-age event : BAR MITZVAH
4. Luggage tie-on : ID TAG
5. "Miniver Cheevy" poet Edwin Arlington __ : ROBINSON. Thank you crosses!
6. Sailing, say : ASEA
7. Moravian or Czech : SLAV
8. __ sapiens : HOMO
9. Like some specialized research, for short : POST-DOC. Post-doctoral. I don't think I've seen the shortened form before, but it slotted right in.
10. Luigi's love : AMORE
11. Nadal of tennis, familiarly : RAFA
12. Become overly dry : CHAP. Lips seem to chap more than anything else.
13. Angelic strings : HARP
21. Activist Parks : ROSA. I took a time-out from business last week and visited the Ford Museum in Dearborn - I stepped aboard the actual bus that she was riding in Montgomery when she refused to give up her seat. Stirring stuff.
22. Show assent : NOD
23. Old Kia model : SEPHIA. I tried SENORA at first for no good reason other than it seemed familiar.
24. Koreans, e.g. : ASIANS
28. Party-planning site : EVITE
29. All-__ printer : IN ONE
30. One of two talking animals in the Old Testament : BALAAMS ASS. That's one heck of a lot of S's and A's in 10 letters!
31. Like some training : ONSITE
32. Rang out : PEALED
34. Ray gun sound : ZAP
35. Outer: Pref. : EXO. Exoskeletons are moving from the realms of sci-fi to sci-fact.
37. Get ready to drag : REV. Gentlemen, start your engines! Drag racing.
40. Drivel : NONSENSE
43. 1994 Jim Carrey movie : THE MASK
45. "Break __!" : A LEG. The acting community deem it ill-fated to wish a fellow thespian "good luck". Instead they exhort them to fall 16 feet from the apron of the stage into the orchestra pit and enjoy a spot of fibula-fracturing. I broke mine when I was a kid, not an experience I'd wish on anyone.
48. Planet, poetically : ORB
51. Hoosier hoopster : PACER. Indiana cager. A youthful Reggie Miller some years before his Hall of Fame induction.
53. Blue heron kin : EGRET
54. Tennis divisions : SETS
55. Field goal? : CROP. Harvesting a crop would be a farmer's goal after the field was planted.
56. Grammy winner Coolidge : RITA
57. Sausage serving : LINK. Food! Let's hear it for the great British Banger.
58. Like some movie twins : EVIL
59. Historian's tidbit : DATE
63. Fancy tub : SPA
64. ESP neighbor, to the IOC : POR. Spain's cross-border chum Portugal, in the eyes of the International Olympic Committee.
That's about all from me. Tonight is Guy Fawkes' Night in the UK - fireworks, festivities and cooking bangers in the bonfire all to commemorate a chap who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament back in the 1600's. Let's say it didn't end well for Mr. Fawkes.
Steve
