Theme: WHY AREN'T YOU IN BED? or WHY iS THERE A TV IN YOUR BED ROOM? The first words of the theme answers are the first names of a sequence of hosts for a TV show that airs too late to stay up for - at least for me in my time zone.
17 A. *Knave in a black suit : JACK OF CLUBS. A most excellent clue! In Britain, and among bridge players, the Jack of a card suite is known as the knave. This guy's counterpart is the JACK of Spades, offering another theme opportunity, depending on how many letters were needed. The host referred to is JACK Paar [1957-62], who got into a big dust-up with the network suits for making a joke about a toilet.
24 A. *Griddle-cooked corn bread : JOHNNY CAKE. Southern fried fare, and the iconic, always impeccably dressed JOHNNY CARSON [1962-92.]
38 A. *Symbol of nakedness : JAY BIRD. If you ever wondered where this expression came from, here is your answer. In my 'ute, a common insult, slightly bowdlerized was," If you stuck your brains in the hindquarters of a JAY bird, he'd still fly backwards." JAY Leno [1992-2009, 2010-14] is known for his car collection and his chin.
48 A. *Like a well-made lock : JIMMY PROOF. A JIMMY is a short pry-bar used to force open a door or window, and by extension a device to force open a lock. JIMMY Fallon [2014 - ] is the current host of the program yet to be identified.
If you haven't sussed it by now, the unifier completely gives it away. 60 A. With "The," post-prime time fare since the '50s, four of whose regular hosts appear in sequence in the answers to starred clues : TONIGHT SHOW. Since its inception in 1954, this is the longest running regularly scheduled talk and entertainment program on U.S. TV. Not included in this list are the first host, the brilliant Steve Allen, [1954-7] and Conan O'Brien [7+ months spanning 2009-10] whose short stint was sandwiched between Jay Leno's two runs. Carson had the longest tenure, but Leno had the greatest number of hosted episodes.
Hi gang, JazzBumpa here. Not really a TV maven, but I assume everyone knows about this program and its roster of celebrity hosts. Let's get through this quickly so I can go to bed at a decent hour.
Across
1. Senate electee : MEMBER. One who joins, or in this case is [s]elected to be in a group or organization.
7. Russia-Manchuria border river : AMUR. The world's 10th longest river meanders generally west to east, making the border between the Russian far east and northeastern China.
11. Simile center : AS A. Right now I'm feeling smart AS A mule.
14. Esoteric : ARCANE. Secret, mysterious and/or understood by few.
15. Without help : LONE.
Four and a half minutes of misery
16. Amendments 1-10 subj. : RTS. The Bill of Rights from the U.S. Constitution.
19. Prefix with state : TRI-. Referring to a town, city or region that encompasses parts of three states. There are several such in the U. S.
20. Maldives landform : ATOLL. A ring shaped coral archipelago. The Maldives islands are one such, located in the Indian Ocean, 470 miles south west of Sri Lanka.
21. Taxi pickup : FARE. Here is a not at all typical example.
A sad smile, just the same [6:40]
22. Corrosive compound : ACID. In either of a couple different senses.
23. Tofu source : SOYA. Glop made from bean curd.
26. By way of : VIA.
28. Former Yankee manager who's now an MLB exec : TORRE. Joe, who managed the Mets from 1987 to 81, Braves from '82 to 84, Cardinals from '90 to '95, Yankees from 1996 to 2007, and Dodgers from 2008 to 10.
29. Comedy team who voiced the Piel Brothers of beer fame : BOB AND RAY.
BOB AND RAY, the Two and Only
35. Things to avoid : NO-NOS. Just ask Nanette.
37. Goya's year : ANO. En Español y sin tilde.
40. Clinker in a Glas : EIS. And now, in German, ICE in a glass. Tin Man, just skip this one.
41. India's first prime minister : NEHRU. Jawaharlal, in office from 1947 to 1964.
43. Pulitzer-winning WWII journalist : ERNIE PYLE. He died in combat in Okinawa on April 18, 1945.
45. Learns : HEARS. Well, that is one way to learn. If you listen.
47. Casual day, perhaps: Abbr. : FRIday. Dress down day at work. I never could get myself to wear denims, though.
52. Low-__ diet : CARB. A la Atkins.
56. Big name in elevators : OTIS. Big name in crosswords, too, though he had his ups and downs.
57. N.Y. commuter line with a Hempstead Branch : LIRR. Long Island Rail Road.
58. Malia's sister : SASHA. Obama, first and second daughters, respectively.
59. Flight-tracking fig. : ETA. Estimated Time of Arrival.
62. Craving : YEN. Derived from obsolete English argot for opium craving. Meanwhile, I considered going to Japan, but didn't have the Yen to travel.
63. Some Alcan Highway pumps : ESSO. Canadian petrol brand.
64. Email again : RESEND.
65. Soon-to-be grads: Abbr. : SRS. Last year's JRS.
66. Afterwards : THEN. Refers to the ensuing subsequent event that followed.
67. "__ End": 1970-'71 Streisand hit : STONEY.
I forgot about this one
Down
1. Subjects of two Goya paintings : MAJAS. Anything worth doing is worth doing twice - right?
2. Muse for Millay : ERATO. The muse of lyric poetry, especially of the romantic erotic, or perhaps even BAWDY variety. Her name, meaning "desired" or "lovely," derives from the same root as Eros. This muse is especially appropriate for Edna St. Vincent Millay, who was both a Pulitzer Prize winning poet and wildly promiscuous.
4. Syrup-topped pastry : BAKLAVA. Filo dough, nuts and honey.
5. Organic compound : ENOL. This always bothers me, first, because the clue is so vague - there are literally millions of organic compounds, and second, because enols are inherently unstable, and quickly transforms into ketones.
6. One who whistles while he works : REFeree. Cute clue
7. God of Islam : ALLAH. Same God as Christians and Jews, just a different name.
8. Grieve : MOURN.
9. Not having yielded : UNBENT. House Martell of Dorne has this motto as it's House Words: "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken."
10. Hi-__ image : RESolution - clarity of image, having nothing in particular to do with New Year's Eve..
11. Ed Norton player : ART CARNEY. From the Jackie Gleason sit-com, The Honeymooners; not to be confused with Ed Norton, the actor who played the un-named protagonist in the movie Fight Club.
This guy, being shown the door
12. Drill successfully : STRIKE OIL. My dentist did some drilling a couple weeks ago. Nothing this exciting ensued, I'm happy to say.
13. Parenthetical comment : ASIDE. A comment a stage-play character makes to the audience, rather than as part of dialogue; or more generally, a comment in a text that is ancillary to the main topic.
18. Fiscal exec : CFO. Chief Financial Officer.
22. Phobia lead-in : ACRO-. Fear of heights. I can relate.
24. Actress Pinkett Smith : JADA. Veteran of many movies and TV shows, including the voice of Gloria the Hippo in the animated Madagascar movies.
25. Over there : YONDER.
27. Strain or sprain : INJURY.
29. Interdict : BAN.
30. Game that's close to perfect : ONE HITTER. A baseball game in which the pitcher gives up only one hit to the opposing team. In a perfect game, there are no hits and no walks.
31. Dvorák and Smetana : BOHEMIANS. Two gentlemen from that geographic region in the Czech Republic, rather than the artsy-fartsy proto-hippies of the 19th century. Though both were composers, so who knows.
32. Deli option : RYE. Bread. Of course, there are also RYE whiskey, and RYE beer, for the trifecta.
33. Like many dicts. : ABR. I guess "dict." is the ABReviation for "dictionary," but I'm have a hard time making sense of this entry. UPDATE: As Argyle and some others pointed out, ABR is short for ABRIDGED, so we have, in ABRIDGED form an ABRIDGED dictionary. Thanks, guys!
36. Kalamazoo-to-Cincinnati dir. : SSE. South-South-East. There's also a song about Kalamazoo, which has been my ear worm for about the past month.
Everything's O-K- . . .
39. Jazz solo : RIFF. Not really. It's more of an ostinato phrase that might support an improvisation. Here's a classic example.
Frank Rosolino on the trombone solo
42. Lambs' kin : RAMS. The kids' dads and uncles.
44. Artist who had a Blue Period : PICASSO. Pablo had his blue period from 1901-4, painting mostly in shades of blue. These works were unpopular at the time, but are very popular now.
46. Jumping-in-puddles sound : SPLOSH. Not SPLISH nor SPLASH?
All wet
48. Young hoppers : JOEYS. Kangaroo offspring.
49. Car wash cycle : RINSE. Heavy metal laundry.
50. Hunter seen at night : ORION. The constellation that is home to Rigel and Betelgeuse.
51. Kin of gov : ORG. Two top level domain url suffixes, for government agencies and organizations, respectively. The ".org" designation was originally intended for non-profits, but now includes other types of organizations such as schools, opens source projects, and communities.
53. Pale : ASHEN.
54. French wine region : RHONE. In southern France along the Rhone river, where wine grapes have been cultivated since around the year 600 A.D.
55. Off-color : BAWDY. Lewd, or, more specifically, dealing with sexual matters in a humorous way.
58. Editor's mark : STET. From the Latin for "let it stand," indicating that a previously noted editorial change should be ignored.
60. Vietnamese holiday : TET. The lunar new year.
61. Billing nos. : HRS. For attorneys and other professionals who bill according to time spent on a project.
Well, that wraps it up. Good puzzle, nice theme, well executed, albeit with a couple questionable entries. Hope you didn't lose any sleep over it.
Cool regards!
JzB
Well, that wraps it up. Good puzzle, nice theme, well executed, albeit with a couple questionable entries. Hope you didn't lose any sleep over it.
Cool regards!
JzB
