THEME: This is one of those times where the reveal is better than anything I can think of to describe this letter replacement puzzle, which only requires remembering how to parse reveal clues.
63A. Modernize, in a way ... and when divided into three parts, a hint to the answers to starred clues : RE TO OL (6).
This is Mark's second puzzle for me to blog; his first publication was an LAT I wrote about on October 3, 2014 which involved adding DD into phrases. He since has had other publications, and while he stopped by to introduce himself, he did so a week after the puzzle, so in case you missed it, here are his words. About myself? I've enjoyed xwords for many years, but just started tinkering around with constructing late in 2013 and started submitting puzzles early this year. This puzzle was actually made in March 2013, but went through a revision with Rich and was finally approved in June. I've had 8 puzzles approved for publication, including one in collaboration with Brad Wilber, who has been a great source of encouragement and knowledge. We started our dialog a few months ago when he approved one of my puzzles (scheduled for December). I live in Salem, Virginia, in the mountains near the Appalachian Trail and Blue Ridge Parkway. Both my long-time partner Diana Christopulos and I and do volunteer work for a number of local organizations. He has a website: LINK.
In every theme answer an 'in the language' phrase which includes the letters RE together in that order, are replaced with OL, in that order- RE to OL. The placement of the RE/OL is different in each of the theme answer; some of the fill is humorous, some functional.. The inclusion of the asterisks and the reveal made this one of my faster Friday solves, but then again, I am not a very fast solver, so....Many three and four letter fill for a Friday, with some nice medium fill like AIR RAID, ‘FRAID SO, IRIDIUM, MIRAMAR, SEE THRU, SORRIER, LHASA APSO, OUT SHOOTS. let's see the theme and more....
19A. *Site of preserved ancient gaucho weapons? :LA BOLA TAR PITS (13). La BREA Tar Pits
are in one form or another very common in crosswords. BOLAS is a nasty weapon; I am not sure if the singular is a legitimate word.
32A. *Hip curriculum? : COOL COURSES (11). CORE Courses are the basic ones you need for your degree.
41A. *Second-hand seat? : THRIFT STOOL (11). The Thrift STORE has become big business in the US. They used to be second hand stores when I was a kid.
54A. *Heroine in a reprised fairy tale? : OLD RIDING HOOD (13). My favorite of the theme, and I am sure by now she is the one in bed waiting for her granddaughter.
We revealed the reveal above...
Across:
1. Word with cake or meal : OAT.
4. Doctrinal suffix : ISM.
7. Pat Nixon's real first name : THELMA. I guess she chose Pat, because like most Thelmas, she hated her name. LINK. My ex-mil, Sue, is also a Thelma.
13. Classic sci-fi play : RUR.
14. Tres equivalent : DREI. Spanish to German number 3. An outlier....(sorry brain semi-functional)
15. Clinton's birth name : RODHAM. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, did any others recall that Bill was born William BLYTHE, also 6 letters?
16. Bush spokesman Fleischer : ARI. Staying with politics, Alex....
17. Part of DAR: Abbr. : AMERican. Daughters of the American Revolution. My third and fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Sochor was a proud member; she was in her 80's, frail, and as a very small child I thought the name was literal.
18. Busy enterprise? : APIARY. It be where they have bees and Sherlock Holmes. Leading to...
22. Grouse : BEEF. Can't complain about this clue/fill.
23. Humana option : HMO. Health Maintenance Organization; I just joined their gold plus plan.
24. Cut (it) : HACK. He just couldn't hack it as a salesman.
27. Blitz : AIR RAID.
31. MLB "minors" : AAA. Triple A baseball is the highest of the minor leagues which now go from rookie to A, AA and AAA; no more D leagues.
36. Banned chem. pollutant : PCB. PolyChlorinated Biphenyl; the initialisms adding up.
37. Protective bauble : AMULET.
38. Capital SE of Tallahassee : NASSAU. Capital of the Bahamas.
40. GPS datum : LATitude. Not a CSO to the LA Times.
45. Canadian sentence enders? : EHS. But a CSO to our resident Canadian.
46. Worse : SORRIER. State of affairs?
47. __ Men: "Who Let the Dogs Out" band : BAHA.
49. Andalusian aunt : TIA. Spanish.
50. Emerald City princess : OZMA. The dedicated fans of L. Frank know this half-human, half fairy GIRL.
59. "Ditto" : I DO TOO.
61. Thought : IDEA. Not to be parsed I, DEA.
62. French handle? : NOM. Just French meaning "name." 21D. Versailles rulers of old : ROIS. French for kings. And42D. Roast, in Rouen : ROTI. This is one time where the accent would help. Rôti.We all remember that the accent is replaced with an "s" in many americanized versions of French words as explained by Kazie..
64. Functions : USES.
65. One of quarterback Archie's boys : ELI. With Peyton, the fading Manning brothers.
66. Lover's request : KISS ME. Often followed by, "you fool."
67. Stylish, once : MOD. Ah, the days of the mods and rockers.
68. Symbiont on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" : DAX. probably the most interesting and complicated CHARACTER(s) in the Star Trek universe. Realy only one DAX but two hosts....And the similar 14D. Indian lentil stew : DAL. A much harder clue than Delta. All perps. A CSO to my twin Vidwan and Mangesh Sakharam Ghogre.
Down:
1. Colgate competitor : ORAL B. Even with the O from OAT, my inclination was CREST.
2. Halos : AURAE.
4. Culinary author Rombauer : IRMA. So many to chose from.
5. Sexy, in some ads : SEE THRU. Click if you want to see an EXAMPLE. (for the guys)
6. San Diego Marine Corps station whose name means "sea view" : MIRAMAR. Living in So.FLa. this is a gimme (a) we have a city with the name (b) you hear "mira" a billion times when people want you to look at something or understand something.
7. Trick : TRAP. Not synonymous for me, but it was easy fill.
8. Arizona natives : HOPI. We studied this tribe extensively in my undergraduate sociology classes. And a token cross reference. 3D. 8-Down, e.g. : TRIBE.
9. Archie's wife : EDITH.
10. Himalayan canine : LHASA APSO. This breed's HISTORY is interesting. Also see Caleb and Baha men.
11. Spoil : MAR. Mira! Another one.
12. '70s White House daughter : AMY. Where is she NOW?
20. Taking everything into account : OF ALL. Huh?
25. Evergreen bean : CACAO. Of course we love chocolate, and especially the fine aroma beans from Ecuador.
26. Capital where Pashto is spoken : KABUL. With all the years of war, this should be easy.
28. Rhyme $yndicate Records founder : ICE-T. Not to be confused with Grammy host ICE CUBE. Sorry Tin.
29. Certain IRAs : ROTHS. Names for Senator William from Delaware, also home to Joe Biden.
30. Driller's prefix? : DENTI.
32. Biblical spy : CALEB. Interesting and CONFUSING part of the story of Moses, which happens to be where the cycle of reading the Torah is now. Caleb (which means dog; see Baha Men) was perhaps one of the 12 spies.
33. Home of the Beef, an indoor football team : OMAHA. How perfect; I must get an email per week from Omaha Steaks. Now we would know how to answer when Clara Peller asked her famous question.
34. Makes more baskets than : OUTSHOOTS.
35. Fund drive appeal encl. : SASE. Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.
39. Eponymous brewer Bernhard : STROH.
43. Atomic number 77 : IRIDIUM. Was that easy for you science guys? Not the part of the periodic table that I remember.
44. "'Tis true, sorry to say" : FRAID SO.
48. Certain choristers : ALTOS. Why not chorusters?
51. Subdivided : ZONED. Zoning is part of the process, but a previously zoned property can be subdivided.
52. Scratch : MOOLA. Another interesting word, and one of questionable HERITAGE.
53. Blend : ADMIX. This is a real word, on its own, why I do not know.
55. Not a happy fate : DOOM. Doctor, doctor...
56. Function : ROLE. Super-villain.
57. Mandatory item : NEED. The Avengers? Fantastic Four?
58. It can be natural : GAS. Crepitation? LISTEN? (15:17).
59. Vex : IRK. Yes, vexsome.
60. Agnus __ : DEI. Ah, we finish with classic crosswordese.
Well this was a real admix of information which brought out the linker in me; thanks Mark and I hope you all aol golat. Lemonade, out.
