A variety of in the language phrases where the first word ends in "ER" but is not a comparative word, have an "I" added to make each a new phrase comparing things. Finding words ending in "ER" that are not descriptive like STRONGER or FATTER was the key to set up this return to Friday from our old friend marti. I feel like John Wayne cast in a new western, back in the saddle again. I really like all the visuals from the theme answers. We have many letter words and initialisms and a slew of intermediate fill such as AIRSEA, APOLLO, CAMERA, C CLAMP, DERIDE, ENTIRE, ICEAGE, KIGALI, NUTMEG, SHABBY, ELECTEES and PORTABLE to keep all of us on our Friday toes. So let me know your initial reaction to this latest from the mind of our divine miss m.
17A. Baseball, vis-à-vis jai alai? : POKIER GAME (10). (POKER GAME) I guess the word relates to slow poke, where someone or something moves slowly. I guess I learned this word HERE.
27A. GE range, vis-à-vis an Easy-Bake toy? : TOASTIER OVEN (12). (TOASTER OVEN).
44A. SpongeBob's underwear, vis-à-vis Mickey's? : BOXIER BRIEFS (12). (BOXER BRIEFS) Since Bob is square, this makes perfect sense. I changed to this style of underwear 15 years ago. TMI?
59A. Jeep, vis-à-vis a Cadillac? : BUMPIER CAR (10). (BUMPER CAR). The suspension certainly is not intended for a smooth ride in a Jeep.
Across:
1. SEC nickname : BAMA. Nick and his Crimson Tide need only to survive a mediocre Missouri team to make it to the first final four.
5. Seating choice : AISLE. Yes, now that I am no longer young this is my seat of choice.
10. Skills : ARTS. A practitioner of the secret ways.
14. Islamic leader : IMAM.
15. What recon may provide : INTEL. Cyberspeak for intelligence data; not related to 26A. "Hooked on Bach" company : KTEL.
16. Famille member : PERE. Father in French, only tangentially related to 39A. Hemingway and others : PAPAS.
19. Award for Jessica Tandy : OBIE. The theater award for Off-Broadway (OB=obie) performances, I think started by the Village Voice.
20. Poetic preposition : ERE. I hope you did not err here.
21. Short time, shortly : NSEC. Now if you had not read the author, the next two fill would tell you this is created by our marti who loves these type words. She did a puzzle themed by them, and who does not love a good C Clamp? I cannot find any support for N-SEC, which I assume is for nanosecond. Wiki and the dictionaries say the abbreviation is ns. Or maybe there are more kinds of seconds that I do not know, being very limited in my scientific knowledge.
22. Wood shop tool : C CLAMP.
24. Scoff at : DERIDE. Hmmm....maybe I can work this word into my comments.
33. Spread : STREW.
36. "A Challenge for the Actor" author : HAGEN. We usually get UTA as we did yesterday.
37. Commercial ending? : IZE. Commercialize. Something Ms. Hagen did not do with her craft.
38. Appear dramatically : LOOM. Though she often did this.
40. Letters on a cross : INRI. Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum. Like this puzzle, there is no letter "J" in Latin, so this phrase translates to Jesus of Nazarene King of the Jews. Pontious Pilate is credited with attaching this name.
41. Tulsa sch. : ORU. Oral Roberts University.
42. Shell rival : MOBIL.
43. Ryan of "Bones" : O'NEAL. Ryan as a fun ex-con and father of Temperance Brennan.
47. __ block : CITY. Luckily the perps were solid because my mind went to LEGO.
48. Certain evergreen seed : NUTMEG. Coming from Connecticut helped here.
52. One taking a shot : CAMERA. Really clever cluing.
55. Grub : EATS. A cowboy reference?
57. One or more : ANY.
58. "Sin City" actress : ALBA. She is always worth a look. LINK. (1:49)
62. Buck : STAG. The message learned in this AD.
64. First name in design : COCO. Chanel. No baseball player clue for marti.
65. Socks : HOSE. Unless you consider the Pale Hose?
66. Delight : ELATE.
67. Hill workers : ANTS.
Down:
1. Human, e.g. : BIPED. Walking on two legs.
2. Love abroad : AMORE. Italian.
3. Auto attachment? : MAKER. Automakers are scrambling to recall all the vehicles with the deadly airbags.
4. "__ being unreasonable?" : AM I.
5. Like some rescues : AIR SEA.
6. "Picnic" playwright : INGE. He wrote PLAYS and screenplays.
7. Mus. direction : STACcato. JzB?
8. 10-Down vehicle : LEM. Thanks for the CSO, from this Lunar Excursion Module. Excursion on the Moon is such a cool concept.
9. Ins : ELECTEES. Not the outs.
10. Mission program : APOLLO. The promise JFK made to the world.
11. Self-named sitcom : REBA. Gone but not FORGOTTEN. (6:10)
12. Cut : TRIM.
13. Percolate : SEEP.
18. Fund : ENDOW. The lifeblood of private universities and schools come from alumni endowments.
23. Large Hadron Collider acronym : CERN. This may be Friday, but this clue is too misleading, as the home of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) CERN is the European Organization for Nuclear Research. The name CERN is derived from the acronym for the French Conseil Européen pour la Recherche Nucléaire. The combination of the secondary nature of the relationship and it being a French acronym seem very unfair, but I confess I had it filled before I saw the clue. I had to google to get the information. How many of you knew CERN? I like learning new things, but one level at a time.
25. It's checked when it's done : ITEM.
26. Capital of Rwanda : KIGALI. I did not recall this. MAP.
28. Inferior : SHABBY. A Friday answer for sure.
29. Piglike animal : TAPIR. I think I linked this picture before.
30. Grape site : VINE. This clue/answer grew on me.
31. Poet friend of T.S. : EZRA. Pound, not a friend of mine.
32. 10-Down first name : NEIL. Armstrong.
33. Challenging roommate : SLOB.
34. 1989 Lawn-Boy acquirer : TORO.
35. Gravy base : ROUX. I regret that my mother did not teach me her gravy secrets.
39. Easily moved : PORTABLE.
40. Part of MIT: Abbr. : INSTitute.
42. Yom Kippur War prime minister : MEIR. Golda, her HISTORY.
43. Helpful : OF USE.
45. Film with Manny the Mammoth : ICE AGE. Never seen any of them.
46. Complete : ENTIRE.
49. "Heart of Georgia" : MACON. It literally is the in the center of the state. LINK.
50. Sign into law : ENACT.
51. Wrap relatives : GYROS. Eat up guys.
52. Get money for : CASH.
53. "__ Rhapsody": Brahms vocal work : ALTO. Showing off her musical taste, sorry marti, I do not know this PIECE.
54. Many CEOs have them : MBAS. Masters of Business Administration.
55. Stone of "The Help" : EMMA. Is she a redhead? Her mouth always looks a little off to me.
56. Miffed, with "in" : A PET. Never heard of this IDIOM.
60. Flier with Chicago H.Q. : UAL. United Airlines
61. Kelly Clarkson label : RCA. Radio Corporation of America.
I am not sure why I would care what record company she is signed to, but this was filled before I saw the clue so it did not matter. As always, marti delivered a nice challenge and wit and education.
The end of the year looms near so get ready for whatever holiday(s) you celebrate. Lemonade out.
