Theme: Identified Flying Objects - as the hint clue tells you, the start of each theme entry spends some time airborne.
18A. Online intrusion : POP-UP WINDOW. Browsers can now block these annoyances, so not so bothersome any more.
24A. Complicated material, metaphorically : ROCKET SCIENCE. What do rocket scientists call it?
51A. 1981 Burt Reynolds film, with "The" : CANNONBALL RUN. Pretty sure I never saw this. If I did it was unmemorable.
60A. Early chronicler of the '50s-'60s civil rights movement : JET MAGAZINE. New to me, but then again I'm not exactly their target demographic.
and to tie it together:
40A. Sponsor's purchase ... or what the starts of 18-, 24-, 51- and 60-Across can have : AIR TIME
Hola, compadres. Steve here with July's final Wednesday. I found this to be trickier than the normal midweek fare. A few proper name unknowns that I needed the crosses to crack, a little misdirection here and there with the cluing, and the theme which seemed oddly un-thematic - to me it fell a little flat. A pop-up (fly ball), a rocket, a cannonball, and a jet (airplane) don't seem to be related by very much except that they spend time in the air, which is the theme. Fair enough, I suppose.
Moving right along:
Across:
1. Pretense : ACT
4. Dissatisfied diner's decision : NO TIP. Wow, you've got to be very dissatisfied to leave no tip at all. Remember folks, if there was something wrong with the food or the meal wasn't to your taste, it's not the server's fault.
9. God of Islam : ALLAH
14. To's opposite : FRO
15. Dry-__ board : ERASE. I attended a meeting once in a new conference room that didn't have the whiteboards in place, but the markers were all there. The presenter thought the wall was dry-erase and wrote all over it. It wasn't.
16. Run off : LEAVE
17. Stereotypical rodeo nickname : TEX
20. "Downton Abbey" character Lady __ Crawley : EDITH. Crosses. I watched Season One but couldn't recall the name.
22. "Get it?" : SEE?
23. Helpful contacts : INS
29. Be a debtor of : OWE TO
30. Places to stand and deliver? : DAISES. This is a word I'm pretty sure I have never used. "We're going to need two or three daises for all these speakers". Nope, I can't see me ever saying that.
33. They can call you out : UMPS. Two baseball references today.
36. Garden alignments : ROWS
38. Busch Gardens city : TAMPA. I don't go to theme parks. Rollercoasters scare me half to death. The first time I rode Colossus out here in Los Angeles I almost burst into tears. I was 35.
39. Walter Scott's title : SIR
42. Slender fish : EEL
43. Base exercise : DRILL.I used to enjoy drill on the parade ground during basic training in the reserve. People thought I was strange. They still do.
45. Way : MODE
46. Skort revelation : KNEE. Odd clue. All the skorts I've seen reveal a good deal of thigh too.
47. Heroic son of Aphrodite : AENEAS. Defender of Troy, demi-god and legendary founder of Rome, although Romulus and Remus might have something to say about that.
49. In a damp manner : WETLY. Here's another word I'm not sure I've used. "He came in wetly from the rain". Doesn't really have the right ring to my ears.
56. Voice vote call : AYE
58. Is laid up with : HAS
59. Outscores : BEATS
65. Messy abode : STY. Check out this posh one in Kent, England.
66. Snorkeler's haunt : ATOLL
67. Letter before lambda : KAPPA. I still need to learn the Greek alphabet. I haven't made much progress.
68. Common break hour : TEN
69. Laundry setting : RINSE
70. Fall faller : ACORN
71. Episodic story line : ARC. Some sources say that "episodic" and "arc" story lines are two distinct styles. Here's an in interesting discussion if you have a few minutes.
Down:
1. Hunting : AFTER. In the "I'm coming after you" sense.
2. System of belief : CREDO. I had CREED first until I saw that "EE-ITH was getting me nowhere
3. Like biohazards : TOXIC
4. One saying uncle? : NEPHEW.
5. Galeón load : ORO. I guess I didn't know I knew the Spanish word for "Galleon". I did know the Spanish word for "gold" though.
6. Brew dispenser : TAP
7. Terre Haute sch. : I.S.U. Indiana State, home of the Fighting Sycamores (I'm not kidding).
8. Soft drink with a red-white-and-blue logo : PEPSI
9. Put off : ALIENATE. I was thinking along the "prevaricate" lines at first.
10. Spy thriller writer Deighton : LEN. "The Ipcress File" is one of his best known. He writes cookery books too.
11. Romeos : LADIES MEN. I had the "L" and started entering "LOTHARIOS". I'm not sure what stopped me, it just didn't feel right.
12. Cosmetic titan : AVON. Final fill for me. My mind went blank and I couldn't think of a single cosmetics company.
13. Fells with an ax : HEWS
19. Nursery intruder : WEED. Great clue.
21. Bout enders, for short : TKO'S
25. Garr of "Young Frankenstein" : TERI
26. Blizzard, e.g. : STORM
27. Chisholm Trail community : COWTOWN. Abilene, for example, at the end of the trail.
28. Org. in many a spy thriller : C.I.A.
31. Olympian's weapon : EPEE. I got stuck on the "Gods of Olympus" train of thought and couldn't get off it for quite some time.
32. Black Friday event : SALE
33. Beef inspection org. : U.S.D.A.
34. Muddy spot : MIRE
35. Bill Bradley's alma mater : PRINCETON. I had the ETON part and couldn't get past thinking about the English school. Something's definitely wrong with my brain today.
37. Cassette half : SIDE B. We've had the argument before about whether anyone says "Side B" as opposed to "Side Two".
40. "Gilligan's Island" co-star : ALAN HALE. Thank you, crosses.
41. Prefix with carpal : META
44. Green span : LEA
46. NASCAR racer Busch : KYLE. He has a racing brother called Kurt, so needed to wait past the first "K". He must feel right at home when he goes to Tampa.
48. Fly in the ointment : SNAG
50. Maine mail order giant : L.L.BEAN
52. Japanese port : OSAKA. Busy place on the island of Honshu.
53. Dreadlocks wearer : RASTA. Time for some Bob Marley.
54. Say : UTTER
55. Backstreet Boys contemporaries : 'N SYNC. Not my cup of tea. Very successful and all seemed to be nice folk
56. Open a little : AJAR
57. Mysterious mountain climber : YETI
61. Chicago Fire's org. : M.L.S. Major League Soccer, in case you don't know.
62. Efron of "Neighbors" (2014) : ZAC
63. Financial pg. debut : I.P.O. Little bit of a clumsy "there's an abbreviation in the clue" here.
64. "Ask Me Another" airer : NPR. Apparently no longer an abbreviation.
Here's the grid, and my work here is done.
Steve
18A. Online intrusion : POP-UP WINDOW. Browsers can now block these annoyances, so not so bothersome any more.
24A. Complicated material, metaphorically : ROCKET SCIENCE. What do rocket scientists call it?
51A. 1981 Burt Reynolds film, with "The" : CANNONBALL RUN. Pretty sure I never saw this. If I did it was unmemorable.
60A. Early chronicler of the '50s-'60s civil rights movement : JET MAGAZINE. New to me, but then again I'm not exactly their target demographic.
and to tie it together:
40A. Sponsor's purchase ... or what the starts of 18-, 24-, 51- and 60-Across can have : AIR TIME
Hola, compadres. Steve here with July's final Wednesday. I found this to be trickier than the normal midweek fare. A few proper name unknowns that I needed the crosses to crack, a little misdirection here and there with the cluing, and the theme which seemed oddly un-thematic - to me it fell a little flat. A pop-up (fly ball), a rocket, a cannonball, and a jet (airplane) don't seem to be related by very much except that they spend time in the air, which is the theme. Fair enough, I suppose.
Moving right along:
Across:
1. Pretense : ACT
4. Dissatisfied diner's decision : NO TIP. Wow, you've got to be very dissatisfied to leave no tip at all. Remember folks, if there was something wrong with the food or the meal wasn't to your taste, it's not the server's fault.
9. God of Islam : ALLAH
14. To's opposite : FRO
15. Dry-__ board : ERASE. I attended a meeting once in a new conference room that didn't have the whiteboards in place, but the markers were all there. The presenter thought the wall was dry-erase and wrote all over it. It wasn't.
16. Run off : LEAVE
17. Stereotypical rodeo nickname : TEX
20. "Downton Abbey" character Lady __ Crawley : EDITH. Crosses. I watched Season One but couldn't recall the name.
22. "Get it?" : SEE?
23. Helpful contacts : INS
29. Be a debtor of : OWE TO
30. Places to stand and deliver? : DAISES. This is a word I'm pretty sure I have never used. "We're going to need two or three daises for all these speakers". Nope, I can't see me ever saying that.
33. They can call you out : UMPS. Two baseball references today.
36. Garden alignments : ROWS
38. Busch Gardens city : TAMPA. I don't go to theme parks. Rollercoasters scare me half to death. The first time I rode Colossus out here in Los Angeles I almost burst into tears. I was 35.
39. Walter Scott's title : SIR
42. Slender fish : EEL
43. Base exercise : DRILL.I used to enjoy drill on the parade ground during basic training in the reserve. People thought I was strange. They still do.
45. Way : MODE
46. Skort revelation : KNEE. Odd clue. All the skorts I've seen reveal a good deal of thigh too.
47. Heroic son of Aphrodite : AENEAS. Defender of Troy, demi-god and legendary founder of Rome, although Romulus and Remus might have something to say about that.
49. In a damp manner : WETLY. Here's another word I'm not sure I've used. "He came in wetly from the rain". Doesn't really have the right ring to my ears.
56. Voice vote call : AYE
58. Is laid up with : HAS
59. Outscores : BEATS
65. Messy abode : STY. Check out this posh one in Kent, England.
66. Snorkeler's haunt : ATOLL
67. Letter before lambda : KAPPA. I still need to learn the Greek alphabet. I haven't made much progress.
68. Common break hour : TEN
69. Laundry setting : RINSE
70. Fall faller : ACORN
71. Episodic story line : ARC. Some sources say that "episodic" and "arc" story lines are two distinct styles. Here's an in interesting discussion if you have a few minutes.
Down:
1. Hunting : AFTER. In the "I'm coming after you" sense.
2. System of belief : CREDO. I had CREED first until I saw that "EE-ITH was getting me nowhere
3. Like biohazards : TOXIC
4. One saying uncle? : NEPHEW.
5. Galeón load : ORO. I guess I didn't know I knew the Spanish word for "Galleon". I did know the Spanish word for "gold" though.
6. Brew dispenser : TAP
7. Terre Haute sch. : I.S.U. Indiana State, home of the Fighting Sycamores (I'm not kidding).
8. Soft drink with a red-white-and-blue logo : PEPSI
9. Put off : ALIENATE. I was thinking along the "prevaricate" lines at first.
10. Spy thriller writer Deighton : LEN. "The Ipcress File" is one of his best known. He writes cookery books too.
11. Romeos : LADIES MEN. I had the "L" and started entering "LOTHARIOS". I'm not sure what stopped me, it just didn't feel right.
12. Cosmetic titan : AVON. Final fill for me. My mind went blank and I couldn't think of a single cosmetics company.
13. Fells with an ax : HEWS
19. Nursery intruder : WEED. Great clue.
21. Bout enders, for short : TKO'S
25. Garr of "Young Frankenstein" : TERI
26. Blizzard, e.g. : STORM
27. Chisholm Trail community : COWTOWN. Abilene, for example, at the end of the trail.
28. Org. in many a spy thriller : C.I.A.
31. Olympian's weapon : EPEE. I got stuck on the "Gods of Olympus" train of thought and couldn't get off it for quite some time.
32. Black Friday event : SALE
33. Beef inspection org. : U.S.D.A.
34. Muddy spot : MIRE
35. Bill Bradley's alma mater : PRINCETON. I had the ETON part and couldn't get past thinking about the English school. Something's definitely wrong with my brain today.
37. Cassette half : SIDE B. We've had the argument before about whether anyone says "Side B" as opposed to "Side Two".
40. "Gilligan's Island" co-star : ALAN HALE. Thank you, crosses.
41. Prefix with carpal : META
44. Green span : LEA
46. NASCAR racer Busch : KYLE. He has a racing brother called Kurt, so needed to wait past the first "K". He must feel right at home when he goes to Tampa.
48. Fly in the ointment : SNAG
50. Maine mail order giant : L.L.BEAN
52. Japanese port : OSAKA. Busy place on the island of Honshu.
53. Dreadlocks wearer : RASTA. Time for some Bob Marley.
54. Say : UTTER
55. Backstreet Boys contemporaries : 'N SYNC. Not my cup of tea. Very successful and all seemed to be nice folk
56. Open a little : AJAR
57. Mysterious mountain climber : YETI
61. Chicago Fire's org. : M.L.S. Major League Soccer, in case you don't know.
62. Efron of "Neighbors" (2014) : ZAC
63. Financial pg. debut : I.P.O. Little bit of a clumsy "there's an abbreviation in the clue" here.
64. "Ask Me Another" airer : NPR. Apparently no longer an abbreviation.
Here's the grid, and my work here is done.
Steve
