Theme: Give me a hand, will you?
18A. *One of a group of particles used to demonstrate a magnetic field : IRON FILING. Ruling with an iron hand. The "iron fist' usage seems to be more common, but both variants are out there.
23A. *Mob employee : HIRED GUN. Hired hand. Being critical here (what, me?) the thematic answer seems awfully close to the clued answer, and very close to the next thematic ..
33A. *Salad topping : RANCH DRESSING. Ranch hand. I make my own fat-free ranch dressing, I use it as a dip, a dressing, as a mayo substitute in sandwiches and wraps, and lots of other things. I make two pints at a time! Rather than spending $3 for a sachet of the mix every time I make a cup, I mix my own and make four times that amount for pennies.
48A. *Party clothes : GLAD RAGS. Glad hand. Greeting a crowd with handshakes, usually insincerely (e.g. anyone on a campaign trail!)
and the reveal
52A. In advance, and, literally, where the starts of the answers to starred clues might go : BEFOREHAND
Welcome to Wednesday, you midweek warriors! Steve here reporting from the Lone Star State today - I've got a couple of meetings in Dallas so I'm breaking out the cowboy boots and practicing my "yee-ha's"!
Maybe I've got my grumpy trousers on today, but I wasn't bowled over by Jack Mac's theme for the reasons I've already mentioned. I also get mildly irked when 1A is an abbreviation, I just don't think it's a smooth way to lead in to a puzzle.
Finally, you can get TRIABLE through crosses, but it's obscure enough to have been used only once before in the LAT and it might quality as a bit of a stretch for a Wednesday.
There's a lot on the plus side to like though - I thought the NE corner was really nicely put together and that's where I finally finished up. Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Benchmarks: Abbr. : STDS. Standards.
5. West African capital : ACCRA. Specifically, capital of Ghana.
10. Kazakhstan border sea : ARAL. Or border environmental disaster, take your pick.
14. Tough trip : TREK
15. Like much invasive software : VIRAL
16. Lawless role : XENA. I never remember this actor's last name, even though I did meet her at a charity golf tournament. She gave me a beer on the first tee, in costume, wielding a sword - not something you'd think I'd forget.
17. Agree : JIBE. Gibe vs jibe vs gybe vs jive. Discuss.
20. Churchill Downs shape : OVAL. Home of the Kentucky Derby and Act 1 of this year's Triple Crown triumph by American Typo - sorry, American Pharoah.
21. No-frills sleeper : COT
22. Salami choice : GENOA. Food! This stuff - I'll spare you the argument regarding whether any self-respecting Genovese would ever acknowledge it.
26. Ambles : MOSEYS
27. Loathsome things : NASTIES. A little slangy, but a nice word.
28. Mercury or Saturn : CAR. God? Planet? Nope, auto brands today.
29. Put down : DIS. Contraction of "disrespect", no longer viewed as slang. British English spells it "diss" for no good reason other than to be awkward and confuse the French.
30. Cologne-to-Leipzig direction : OST. Cologne to Leipzig is EAST, surely? Köln to Leipzig is OST.
31. Lord's Prayer possessive : OUR
32. Sup : DINE. From whence SUPPER. Pre-crosswords, I thought it meant "drink".
37. Yellow Monopoly bills : TENS
38. Row : OAR. The verb form. not the noun. A little crossword-esey to my oar - I mean ear.
39. Sounds of pleasure : AHS
40. Fix in a bad way? : RIG. As an election, following a lot of glad-handing perhaps?
41. Prankster : IMP
42. Boston __: '50s TV detective : BLACKIE. Crosses all the way for me. A reformed jewel thief and safecracker, I now discover.
46. Arriving after curfew : IN LATE. And grounded?
49. Winner of six 2011 Grammys : ADELE. Here's a great live performance of "Rolling in the Deep"
50. Vein yield : ORE
51. Arrow-shooting god : EROS. Here's the statue at Piccadilly Circus in London, a memorial to the philanthropist Lord Shaftsbury, for whom the adjacent Shaftsbury Avenue is named.
55. Drive filler : DATA. Fun clue/answer combo to unravel.
56. Some summer births : LEOS
.
57. Brie coverings : RINDS. Food! If you can find a triple-creme French brie made with unpasteurized milk, you're in for a treat when it ages and the rind gets a yellowish, waxy appearance. Yum!
58. __-bitty : ITTY. This is one of those "can't be anything else" clues. I'm not sure how else it could be clued though.
59. Is wrong : ERRS
60. "Wrong!" : NOT SO!
61. Beverages sometimes served over ice : TEAS
Down:
1. According to Christian tradition, Bk. of Revelation author : ST. JOHN. Beloved book of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade also.
2. "Jeopardy!" material : TRIVIA
3. Excludes : DEBARS. Your second essay question of the day. Debars vs. disbars. Discuss (or decuss!)
4. Closet occupants, perhaps? : SKELETONS. None in mine (at least that I'm aware of.) Or own up to.
5. Prefix for the birds : AVI. -ation, -ary, you get the picture.
6. Tent event : CIRCUS.
7. Sing like Bing : CROON
8. Talk frantically : RANT. Compare and contrast with CROON.
9. 1920s-'30s politico Landon : ALF. I had to look him up to see why a depression-era state governor qualifies as a Wednesday crossword clue. Apparently he is best known for being roundly spanked in the 1936 Presidential Election by FDR. Still mystifed.
10. Turnpike toll units : AXLES. Part of the tricky (for me) north-east. MILES went in first.
11. Brought under control : REINED IN. This letter sequence has a great "what?" confusion factor when partially completed.
12. Irksome : ANNOYING
13. "Kick it up a notch!" chef : LAGASSE. I'm going to plead a "Thumper" regarding Emeril.
19. Movie lab helper : IGOR. Pronounced "Eyegore" for you Young Frankenstein ("Fronk-en-steen") fans out there.
24. Brake component : DISC. Shoe would fit. Pad, caliper not so much.
25. Finish a commute : GET HOME. Accompanied by lots of AHS. My commute mileage has varied between extremes - 20 feet from my home office to my couch or 8,500 miles from Mumbai to LA.
26. Veal dish wine : MARSALA. Most recipes are very heavy-handed with the butter. I use Lidia Bastianich's recipe as a base and use half the fat (olive oil and butter). Still very decadent, so I like to cut the richness with a little lemon juice and lemon thyme and garnish with plenty of fresh parsley.
28. Pool stick : CUE
31. Legend on the ice : ORR. Bruin Bobby.
32. Cast doubt on : DISCREDIT
33. Sven of "Frozen" is one : REINDEER. I've never seen "Frozen", but given the frequency it now comes up in puzzles I probably should! Crosses all the way.
34. Artfully try to get, as a compliment : ANGLE FOR
35. Skip along the water : DAP. Aptly, given the preceeding answer, this is a fishing term. I don't fish, so I don't DAP
36. Roe source : SHAD. Food! Generally cooked and eaten rather than served caviar-style.
37. Subject to court judgment : TRIABLE. Hmm. Rarely seen - LAT once in 2008, NYT once in 1999.
41. Old Roman road : ITER. Plural "itinera" which gives us "itinerary". Who knew? Not me. An iter was more a pathway than a road, apparently.
42. Mixtures : BLENDS.
43. Self-defense method : KARATE
44. With "go," "See ya later" : I GOTTA
45. Bacon products : ESSAYS. Lovely. I'll forgive you the odd ITERs and TRIABLEs if you can come up with these gems.
47. At __ for words : A LOSS. Read clue. Fill in blank. Move on, nothing to see here.
48. Research money : GRANT
50. West Virginia border river : OHIO
53. South end? : ERN
54. Brit. military award : D.S.O. The Distinguished Service Order, almost exclusively awarded to officers for gallantry in combat.
And .... drum roll .... here's the grid! You can see where I finished up when the "REINED IN" penny dropped and the AXLES/MILES misstep was fixed.
Yee-Ha!
Steve
18A. *One of a group of particles used to demonstrate a magnetic field : IRON FILING. Ruling with an iron hand. The "iron fist' usage seems to be more common, but both variants are out there.
23A. *Mob employee : HIRED GUN. Hired hand. Being critical here (what, me?) the thematic answer seems awfully close to the clued answer, and very close to the next thematic ..
33A. *Salad topping : RANCH DRESSING. Ranch hand. I make my own fat-free ranch dressing, I use it as a dip, a dressing, as a mayo substitute in sandwiches and wraps, and lots of other things. I make two pints at a time! Rather than spending $3 for a sachet of the mix every time I make a cup, I mix my own and make four times that amount for pennies.
48A. *Party clothes : GLAD RAGS. Glad hand. Greeting a crowd with handshakes, usually insincerely (e.g. anyone on a campaign trail!)
and the reveal
52A. In advance, and, literally, where the starts of the answers to starred clues might go : BEFOREHAND
Welcome to Wednesday, you midweek warriors! Steve here reporting from the Lone Star State today - I've got a couple of meetings in Dallas so I'm breaking out the cowboy boots and practicing my "yee-ha's"!
Maybe I've got my grumpy trousers on today, but I wasn't bowled over by Jack Mac's theme for the reasons I've already mentioned. I also get mildly irked when 1A is an abbreviation, I just don't think it's a smooth way to lead in to a puzzle.
Finally, you can get TRIABLE through crosses, but it's obscure enough to have been used only once before in the LAT and it might quality as a bit of a stretch for a Wednesday.
There's a lot on the plus side to like though - I thought the NE corner was really nicely put together and that's where I finally finished up. Let's see what else we've got.
Across:
1. Benchmarks: Abbr. : STDS. Standards.
5. West African capital : ACCRA. Specifically, capital of Ghana.
10. Kazakhstan border sea : ARAL. Or border environmental disaster, take your pick.
14. Tough trip : TREK
15. Like much invasive software : VIRAL
16. Lawless role : XENA. I never remember this actor's last name, even though I did meet her at a charity golf tournament. She gave me a beer on the first tee, in costume, wielding a sword - not something you'd think I'd forget.
17. Agree : JIBE. Gibe vs jibe vs gybe vs jive. Discuss.
20. Churchill Downs shape : OVAL. Home of the Kentucky Derby and Act 1 of this year's Triple Crown triumph by American Typo - sorry, American Pharoah.
21. No-frills sleeper : COT
22. Salami choice : GENOA. Food! This stuff - I'll spare you the argument regarding whether any self-respecting Genovese would ever acknowledge it.
26. Ambles : MOSEYS
27. Loathsome things : NASTIES. A little slangy, but a nice word.
28. Mercury or Saturn : CAR. God? Planet? Nope, auto brands today.
29. Put down : DIS. Contraction of "disrespect", no longer viewed as slang. British English spells it "diss" for no good reason other than to be awkward and confuse the French.
30. Cologne-to-Leipzig direction : OST. Cologne to Leipzig is EAST, surely? Köln to Leipzig is OST.
31. Lord's Prayer possessive : OUR
32. Sup : DINE. From whence SUPPER. Pre-crosswords, I thought it meant "drink".
37. Yellow Monopoly bills : TENS
38. Row : OAR. The verb form. not the noun. A little crossword-esey to my oar - I mean ear.
39. Sounds of pleasure : AHS
40. Fix in a bad way? : RIG. As an election, following a lot of glad-handing perhaps?
41. Prankster : IMP
42. Boston __: '50s TV detective : BLACKIE. Crosses all the way for me. A reformed jewel thief and safecracker, I now discover.
46. Arriving after curfew : IN LATE. And grounded?
49. Winner of six 2011 Grammys : ADELE. Here's a great live performance of "Rolling in the Deep"
50. Vein yield : ORE
51. Arrow-shooting god : EROS. Here's the statue at Piccadilly Circus in London, a memorial to the philanthropist Lord Shaftsbury, for whom the adjacent Shaftsbury Avenue is named.
55. Drive filler : DATA. Fun clue/answer combo to unravel.
56. Some summer births : LEOS
.
57. Brie coverings : RINDS. Food! If you can find a triple-creme French brie made with unpasteurized milk, you're in for a treat when it ages and the rind gets a yellowish, waxy appearance. Yum!
58. __-bitty : ITTY. This is one of those "can't be anything else" clues. I'm not sure how else it could be clued though.
59. Is wrong : ERRS
60. "Wrong!" : NOT SO!
61. Beverages sometimes served over ice : TEAS
Down:
1. According to Christian tradition, Bk. of Revelation author : ST. JOHN. Beloved book of the Tinfoil Hat Brigade also.
2. "Jeopardy!" material : TRIVIA
3. Excludes : DEBARS. Your second essay question of the day. Debars vs. disbars. Discuss (or decuss!)
4. Closet occupants, perhaps? : SKELETONS. None in mine (at least that I'm aware of.) Or own up to.
5. Prefix for the birds : AVI. -ation, -ary, you get the picture.
6. Tent event : CIRCUS.
7. Sing like Bing : CROON
8. Talk frantically : RANT. Compare and contrast with CROON.
9. 1920s-'30s politico Landon : ALF. I had to look him up to see why a depression-era state governor qualifies as a Wednesday crossword clue. Apparently he is best known for being roundly spanked in the 1936 Presidential Election by FDR. Still mystifed.
10. Turnpike toll units : AXLES. Part of the tricky (for me) north-east. MILES went in first.
11. Brought under control : REINED IN. This letter sequence has a great "what?" confusion factor when partially completed.
12. Irksome : ANNOYING
13. "Kick it up a notch!" chef : LAGASSE. I'm going to plead a "Thumper" regarding Emeril.
19. Movie lab helper : IGOR. Pronounced "Eyegore" for you Young Frankenstein ("Fronk-en-steen") fans out there.
24. Brake component : DISC. Shoe would fit. Pad, caliper not so much.
25. Finish a commute : GET HOME. Accompanied by lots of AHS. My commute mileage has varied between extremes - 20 feet from my home office to my couch or 8,500 miles from Mumbai to LA.
26. Veal dish wine : MARSALA. Most recipes are very heavy-handed with the butter. I use Lidia Bastianich's recipe as a base and use half the fat (olive oil and butter). Still very decadent, so I like to cut the richness with a little lemon juice and lemon thyme and garnish with plenty of fresh parsley.
28. Pool stick : CUE
31. Legend on the ice : ORR. Bruin Bobby.
32. Cast doubt on : DISCREDIT
33. Sven of "Frozen" is one : REINDEER. I've never seen "Frozen", but given the frequency it now comes up in puzzles I probably should! Crosses all the way.
34. Artfully try to get, as a compliment : ANGLE FOR
35. Skip along the water : DAP. Aptly, given the preceeding answer, this is a fishing term. I don't fish, so I don't DAP
36. Roe source : SHAD. Food! Generally cooked and eaten rather than served caviar-style.
37. Subject to court judgment : TRIABLE. Hmm. Rarely seen - LAT once in 2008, NYT once in 1999.
41. Old Roman road : ITER. Plural "itinera" which gives us "itinerary". Who knew? Not me. An iter was more a pathway than a road, apparently.
42. Mixtures : BLENDS.
43. Self-defense method : KARATE
44. With "go," "See ya later" : I GOTTA
45. Bacon products : ESSAYS. Lovely. I'll forgive you the odd ITERs and TRIABLEs if you can come up with these gems.
47. At __ for words : A LOSS. Read clue. Fill in blank. Move on, nothing to see here.
48. Research money : GRANT
50. West Virginia border river : OHIO
53. South end? : ERN
54. Brit. military award : D.S.O. The Distinguished Service Order, almost exclusively awarded to officers for gallantry in combat.
And .... drum roll .... here's the grid! You can see where I finished up when the "REINED IN" penny dropped and the AXLES/MILES misstep was fixed.
Yee-Ha!
Steve
