19-Across. Seedless citrus fruit : NAVEL ORANGES.
32-Across. Dish named for its French place of origin : QUICHE LORRAINE.
39-Across. Recitation from Matthew : THE LORDS PRAYER.
55-Across. Psychodrama technique ... and a literal hint to what's hidden in 19-, 32- and 39-Across : ROLE REVERSAL. Simple theme, with ROLE appearing backwards in the theme entries. Similar to the FLIP SIDE puzzle I blogged last week.
We first saw Rick about a year and a half ago. That sort of frequency does not allow you to get used to a constructor's style, so I was all over the place with this one. How did you do?
Across
1. Fictional Carpathian Mountains resident : DRACULA. Bran Castle is for sale.
8. Bat wood : ASH.
11. Embroidered pronoun : HIS. On bath towels.
14. Protects, in a way : ENCASES. Coddles? Cushions? Sandbags? (I can see I'm gonna need a little perp help here.)
15. "Handcuff Secrets" author : HOUDINI. Gimme.
17. "... folks dressed up like __": "The Christmas Song" : ESKIMOS.
18. Quiet : SILENCE.
21. "Later" : BYE.
24. Traditional observance : RITE.
25. Medical tube : STENT.
26. Gauchos' weapons : BOLAS. I used to have trouble remembering which was the weapon and which was the tie. BOLAs are shaped sort of like an "A" on the business end.
Bolo ties have an "O" that goes around the neck:
28. "__ so fast!" : NOT.
31. Baja bear : OSA. Spanish.
37. Painter Cassatt : MARY. Gimme - one of my cats is named after her.
38. Entice : BAIT.
45. Comic strip boy with a giant squid pal : LIŌ. Never saw this comic strip. The squid's name is Ishmael.
46. North __ : SEA.
47. Work hard : SLAVE.
48. Probably will, after "is" : APT TO.
51. Programmer's glitch, perhaps : LOOP.
54. Car wash option : WAX.
59. Whammy : EVIL EYE.
60. Greets rudely : ACCOSTS.
64. Deeply regret : DEPLORE.
65. "It's better to be looked over than overlooked" speaker : MAE WEST.
66. Logical operators : ORs. Part of that programmer's glitch?
67. Pennant race mo. : SEP.tember.
68. Storehouse : ARSENAL.
Down
1. Low mark : DEE.
2. Med. personnel : RNs.
3. "Egad!" : ACK.
4. Son of Eve : CAIN.
5. Dr. Richard Kimble pursuer : U.S. MARSHAL.
6. Byzantine emperor after Basil I : LEO VI. Sure, I knew that. (Not!)
7. Accounts receivable, e.g. : ASSET.
8. "Oh, I see" : AH SO.
9. Évian evening : SOIR. French.
10. Luau entertainment : HULAS.
11. Contingently follow from : HINGE ON.
12. Tick off : INCENSE.
13. Nogales nap : SIESTA. More Spanish.
16. Trade-in deduction : DENT.
20. Fallon followed him : LENO. Ugh. Fair warning: DO NOT Google about his recent finger injury.
21. Cookout, briefly : BBQ.
22. "__ rang?" : YOU.
23. Member of college music's Whiffenpoofs : ELI.
27. Pinnacle : ACME.
29. Eyes in verse : ORBS.
30. Drainpipe section : TRAP.
33. Cupid's counterpart : EROS.
34. Old instrument played with a plectrum : LYRE.
35. Jurisdictional atmospheric areas : AIR SPACES. The flight to Cancun used to change by 2 hours, depending on whether the airline could get permission to fly over Cuban AIR SPACE.
36. Font choice: Abbr. : ITAL.ics
39. Topple : TIP OVER.
40. "MASH" nickname : HOT LIPS. Houlihan.
41. Valley : DALE.
42. Deviate from a course : YAW.
43. Perón of Argentina : EVA.
44. Stout in the mystery section : REX. The creator of Nero Wolfe.
45. Rio Grande city : LAREDO.
49. Inform : TELL.
50. "Wonderfilled" treats : OREOS.
52. Store display suffix : ORAMA. So would a cookware store display be called a PANORAMA?
53. First name in wieners : OSCAR.
56. Rochester's bride : EYRE. My first thought is always this Rochester from the old Jack Benney show.
57. Ford, but not Lincoln : VEEP.
58. Actor Rob : LOWE.
61. D.C. VIP : SEN.ator
62. Dept. of Homeland Security org. : TSA. Transportation Security Administration.
63. After N.Y., team with the most World Series wins : ST. L. I'm guessing St. Louis?
So, there you have it.
Marti
