Theme: That joke went over like a lead balloon.
Amy J. comes to Friday after many Sunday and Monday LAT appearances. A conventional Friday with humorous clue/fill combinations based on the nature of certain professions. All are witty, but not laugh out loud for me. The puzzle also had some unknowns, and some very difficult cluing in places as well lots of longish fill like HOFFMAN, KODIAKS, RETORTS, UP TO PAR, PRISTINE, STEAMERS, FULLY GROWN, IN THE STARS. I will be interested to see what you all thought of this puzzle with no gimmicks, just challenges; so let's go.
20A. The joke at the audiologists' convention __ : FELL ON DEAF EARS (14). Is this insensitive?
26A. The joke at the chemists' convention __ : GOT NO REACTION (13). My favorite.
44A. The joke at the firefighters' convention __ : WENT UP IN SMOKE (13). This burned me up.
52A. The joke at the cashiers' convention __ : DID NOT REGISTER (14). Cash registers really do not exist in most stores.
Across :
1. Better protected : SAFER.
6. "Poppycock!" : PISH. I was surprised to learn this term came from the 1500s, with so many modern versions (pish posh, pish tosh, pish and tish etc.)
10. Badlands Natl. Park site : SDAK. Be careful of all the outlaws in South Dakota.
14. Coarse : CRUDE.
15. Suspicious of : ON TO. I think of suspicious as not knowing for sure, and onto as being sure.
16. Pup follower? : TENT. The HISTORY. Apparently the Civil War soldiers who used them thought when set up they looked like a kennel.
17. Up for grabs, in a way : UNLET. Really tenuous tenant connection, very hard for short fill.
18. Lit. intro : PREFace.
19. "Willard" antagonists : RATS. I thought they were the stars?
23. Solo, say : FLY. All pilots look for their first solo flight.
24. Indian author Santha Rama __ : RAU. I have never been aware of this WRITER.
25. Century-starting year : MMCI. In her NYT debut, Amy commented she did not like using Roman numerals; random answers like this are the problem.
32. Not treat lightly : STRESS.
34. Normandy river : ORNE. Just one the many four letter European rivers you need to know to do puzzles.
35. "Defending Our Nation. Securing The Future" org. : NSA. They not only protect but they create puzzles for BILL G and others. LINK.
36. __ swings : MOOD.
37. "POV" airer : PBS. My TV watching is way down but THIS has promise.
38. Extreme degrees : NTHS.
39. "The Trumpet of the Swan" monogram : EBW.
Not as famous as Stuart Little perhaps but an E.B. White children's book which is also a movie.
40. Boxed dozen : JURY. Really nice Friday misdirection as no doughnuts or bagels here and juror do sit in the box.
42. Vail topper : SKI HAT. One of the many Colorado resorts. CSO our missing miss m.
47. Part of a friskiness metaphor : OATS. All you wanted to know about sowing WILD ones.
48. Jersey's chew : CUD. Very cute cow clue, not an old Soprano's reference
49. "The Simpsons" leisure suit wearer : STU.
56. Not even close : COLD. From the old, am I getting closer game.
57. Lightest meson : PION. Someone please explain to me as my knowledge is just from wiki. In particle physics, a pion (or a pi meson, denoted with the Greek letter pi: π) is any of three subatomic particles: π0, π+, and π−. Each pion consists of a quark and an antiquark and is therefore a meson
58. Ex-TV host Stewart : ALANA. Married to Rod and George Hamilton
60. Required bet : ANTE.
61. "R.U.R." writer Capek : KAREL. With JzB's write up Wednesday, everyone should know this author and his famous play which introduced the word ROBOT.
62. Language that gave us "bard" : ERSE. If you want the 'simple' answer, wiki says Erse can be: an alternative name for any Goidelic language, especially Irish, from Erische. a 16th-19th Century Scots name for Scottish Gaelic.
63. Old Royale 8's : REOS. An impressive looking car.
64. Gambling aids: Abbr. : SYSTSems. I know many a poor man who designed a 'perfect' blackjack system.
Down
1. Shining target : SCUFF. My mind went to the movies, not my shoes.
2. Journey frontman Pineda : ARNEL. How do you replace Steve Perry? Apparently with a 5'4" Filipino singer. LINK.
3. Mature : FULLY GROWN. I like this fill even if Arnel and I never got very tall.
4. Henry James biographer : EDEL. This multi-volume work was Leon's career. LINK. Having this name and Arnel crossing made getting the first theme fill very tricky.
5. Backtalk : RETORTS.
6. The Carpenters, e.g. : POP DUO. Her life was so tragic.
7. Regarding : IN RE. Latin.
8. Mississippi travelers : STEAMERS. The river, not the state. Not sure I have heard the term used this way.
9. "Meet the Fockers" co-star : HOFFMAN. Dustin and Barbra were pretty entertaining.
11. Word John doesn't want to see? : DEAR. The kiss off letter.
12. They're seen in columns : ANTS. This old trick did not fool me this time.
13. Lapidary's meas. : KTS. A lapidary is a person who cuts, polishes, or engraves gemstones and KT is the abbreviation for the purity of gold (karat) not the weight of gems (carat). Hmmm.
21. Some flatbreads : NANS.
22. Nero's "Behold!" : ECCE. Latin.
27. Ref. shelf filler : OED. Oxford English Dictionary.
28. Singer Rihanna's first name : ROBYN. No idea. This Barbados born GIRL has been awesomely successful.
29. Where a love story may be written : IN THE STARS. Star-crossed lovers, the Fault in Our Stars...all too sad.
30. Workers' rights org. : OSHA, Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
31. Tweed lampooner : NAST. The political cartoonist. READ.
32. Drake, maybe : SMEW. We have had this duck before, though many might of thought about Serena Williams' boyfriend who started on Degrassi.
33. Start of a dramatic question : TO BE or not to be. A small does of WS.
37. Like new snow : PRISTINE. Such clean perfect fill.
38. End to peace? : NIK. Beat...Neat...This suffix comes from the Eastern European word meaning "one who" but some credit its popularity to the launch of the Sputnik.
40. Evita's man : JUAN. Peron...they liked poodles.
42. Complacent : SMUG. I like this word.
43. Grizzly Alaskans? : KODIAKS. Can you bear these clues?
45. Walk wearing Luvs : TODDLE.
46. Dramatic units : SCENES.
50. Principle : TENET.
51. Dividing range : URALS. They divide Europe and Asia, but my mind went to Australia first.
52. When one __ closes ... : DOOR. Another hits you in the....on your way out.
53. Hardly blessed events : ILLS. meh.
54. Till opener : ROTO. A motorized way to turn your soil.
56. NFL team with a home field bleachers section called the Dawg Pound : CLEveland Browns. The second generation, they often wear dog masks.
Welcome to Friday Amy, look forward to more. Thanks everyone and I hope you are enjoying fall.
