17A. Sandwich option : WHOLE WHEAT BREAD. A bar's worth of note or rest. When I was taught music back in the UK this was known as a semibreve.
32A. 13-mile race : HALF MARATHON. Minim in Manchester
41A. Equine sprinter : QUARTER HORSE. Crotchet in Croydon
59A. It prohibits cruel and unusual punishment : EIGHTH AMENDMENT. Quaver to the Queen
and
1A. See the 67-Across clue : REST You can have whole, half, quarter or eighth rests ...
67A. It can follow the starts of 17-, 32-, 41- and 59-Across : NOTE And whole, half, quarter or eighth notes.
You'd better be up on your music and your rather obscure miscellany today. In the former category we have the themers, plus ASSAI, DAL SEGNO and TACET. For the latter we have RAILLERY, ARENDT, ITZA, RAWER, BASTA, CUERS and MULETEER. I find it interesting that the first five words in that list have all been used previously in puzzles constructed by Rich himself. As far as I can see, MULETEER has never appeared in the LAT before (nor the NYT either).
What is a sixty-fourth note called in England? I'm glad you asked - it's a hemidemisemiquaver.
1A gets the cross-referenced-clue-dislikers off on the wrong foot today and I'm not sure it actually adds much as opposed to just going with a straight clecho. The one theme entry I don't particularly care for is 59A. The other three are fractional units, or the unit itself, but that last one is number eight in a list.
I don't usually pay a lot of attention to solving times, but this one was close to 15 minutes, and for me that's a long time for a Wednesday.
Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
5. Suitor's purchase : ROSES
10. Geological age : AEON. Handy vowel progression for a constructor.
14. Major follower? : -ETTE. Are you allowed to have these any more? They're probably called Majorpersons now.
15. Like the accent on "passé" : ACUTE
16. Proofer's catch : TYPO
20. Good-humored banter : RAILLERY. Charlotte Bronte used this word in Jane Eyre in 1847. I'm not sure it's been used since.
21. Superstore division : AISLE
22. Mandela's org. : A.N.C. The African National Congress.
23. Wrath : IRE
24. Very, in music : ASSAI. I'll take your word for it. Maybe one of our resident musical experts can tell us the difference between, let's say, allegretto assai, molto allegretto and allegro?
26. Rats, gnats and brats : PESTS
28. Loads : A LOT
29. E. Berlin's land : G.D.R. I stopped myself after filling G-E- and then paid attention to the significance of the "E" modifier in the clue. East Berlin was the capital of the German Democratic Republic during the Cold War.
36. Prefix with European : INDO
39. Words on Alice's cake : EAT ME. She was far too polite to reply "Bite me".
40. Chichén __: pyramid site : ITZA. Located in Mexico on the Yucatan peninsula.
44. Home of the NFL's Rams : STL. St. Louis. I looked sideways at this with one eyebrow raised. I'd be OK with the "on scoreboards" kind of modifier, I'm not sure I like it as a straight abbreviation.
45. High spot : ACME
46. Indian region known for its tea : ASSAM
50. Goldman's son-in-law and partner : SACHS
52. Share of the profits : CUT
54. Poke one's nose (into) : PRY
55. What we have here : THESE
57. Borax-transporting driver : MULETEER. As I mentioned at the top, I think this is the first time the word has appeared in the LAT crossword. I don't really get the "Borax" part of the clue though - mule teams move more than just borax, and borax is not moved solely by mule teams.
62. Coastal bird of prey : ERNE
63. Met event : OPERA. Nice logo.
65. Sign that stands out : NEON
66. Old West trackers : POSSE
Down:
1. Bundle up again : RE-WRAP
2. Natural gas component : ETHANE
3. Unemotional types : STOICS
4. Spill the beans : TELL
5. Less experienced, as a recruit : RAWER. Another rarity. Personally, I'd say "more raw", this comparative form seems clumsy somehow.
6. Natural earth shade : OCHRE
7. Chop __ : SUEY. Food! Finally something to sink my teeth into. A made-in-America "Chinese" dish.
8. DFW posting : E.T.A. Fill in ET and wait for the perp. Dallas/Fort Worth airport covers an area larger than Manhattan, second in size only to Denver. I've missed connections in both places.
9. Arrange dishes and utensils on : SET
10. Skylit lobbies : ATRIA
11. Ophthalmologist's concern : EYESIGHT
12. Australian gem : OPAL. The national gemstone down under.
13. Botanical junction : NODE
18. Woman in a "Paint Your Wagon" song : ELISA. Sung by Clint Eastwood in the 1969 movie version. I'll spare you the link.
19. Enzo's "Enough!" : BASTA! This doesn't fall into the "common Italian" bucket for me. Perhaps Marti uses this quite frequently towards the end of dinner?
24. San Antonio mission : ALAMO
25. More achy : SORER.
27. Hammer-toting god : THOR
28. The Beatles' "I __ Walrus" : AM THE. From the "Magical Mystery Tour" album. Get your dose of 60's psychedelia here.
30. Donut box qty. : DOZ.
31. Genetic letters : R.N.A. Fill in "NA" and wait for the perp. There were three of these for me today.
33. One who won't let go : LEECH
34. Produces produce : FARMS
35. Associations : TIES
36. Educ. testing data : I.Q.S
37. Bolt partner : NUT
38. Repeat symbol, in scores : DAL SEGNO. This thing. I never knew it had a name.
43. Filled to the limit : SATED
47. Maker of brief briefs : SPEEDO. Thankfully, most of the guys at my swim club now wear bicycle-short-style jammers rather than briefs.
48. Political philosopher Hannah : ARENDT. Crosses all the way. I had to look her up - I'm not up on my German-born political theorists.
49. South Carolina's __ Beach : MYRTLE
51. Sickly looking : ASHEN
52. Offstage aides : CUERS. I'm not buying this. Folks backstage that give an actor a line are called prompters, and that line is a prompt, not a cue. A cue comes from an action or an event, usually on stage. The cue for Antigonus to "Exit, pursued by a bear" in "A Winter's Tale" is the appearance of the bear. I'd be off that stage in a cloud of dust.
53. Forearm bones : ULNAE. My final "wait for the perp" fill after ULNA.
55. Babysitter, often : TEEN
56. Charter, as a bus : HIRE
57. Fr. wives : MMES. Madames in France.
58. Eliot Ness, e.g. : T-MAN
60. Bounce : HOP
61. GI's address : A.P.O. Army Post Office.
And ... here's the grid. I'm heading east to Washington D.C. today for a meeting tomorrow. It better have warmed up, I don't do winter!
Steve
