Theme: What is the game, an abbreviated military march? Yes, CPT OBVIOUS! (Drat, HG linked that already this week!)
We return to our prolific Friday phenom, Jeffrey, with a simple-looking theme and tons of fun fill. Each in-the- language phrase is re-imagined "on the base" with the three-letter abbreviation for the military rank replacing the first word of the phrase. The original phrases are all very recognizable and the grid has a fairly standard look. The fill ‒ including long ones like BEGONIA, EMANATE, DOG BITES, ONE IN TWO, POLLSTER, and SWEPT OUT ‒ once again presents JW's affinity for multi-word fill with some of the six-letter answers like AS I CAN, BIG APE, BITMAP, DUCATS, PIMPLE, SEABED, TAKE ME and TIN EAR sparkly. The use of cheater squares to balance the 13-letter fill makes this all come together. Let's feast.
19A. Familiar material, on the base? : GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (12). The clue and fill are straightforward -- only the shortening brings in the military.
48A. Important find, on the base? : MAJOR DISCOVERY (12).
Across:
1. Locale of TV's Krusty Krab restaurant : SEABED. From Sponge Bob to reality...
7. "The Hitch-Hiker" director Lupino : IDA. An all male cast; really easy fill but who remembers this movie?
10. Meatless lasagna ingredient, perhaps : TOFU. Because spinach would not fit. A puzzle rich in INFORMATION.
14. "I wanna go too!" : TAKE ME.
15. Presumed threats to letter carriers : DOG BITES.
17. " ... according to my abilities" : AS I CAN.
18. Half, statistically : ONE IN TWO. You had a one in two chance of getting this right.
21. __ loss : AT A.
22. The Hammer of baseball : AARON. Hmmerin' Hank, yes...
31. Natural mole fur hue : TAUPE. Really? The French word for mole is TAUPE. The moles we had in Connecticut had darker coats.
33. Balm source : ALOE.
34. Hand analog : PAW.
35. Fruity quaffs : ADES. A mini CSO for moi.
36. "Actions speak louder than words," e.g. : MAXIM. Saying, adage, aphorism, proverb, motto, saw, axiom, dictum, precept, epigram; truism, cliché.
38. Short pooch, for short : PEKE. Pekingese, the Chinese Lion Dog. The look sad to me.
39. It's hardly a smash : LOB. Not a flop or bomb, but a tennis term.
40. Lowlands feature : DALE.
41. __ metabolism : BASAL. Time to fix your BODY.
46. Undemonstrative sort : STOIC.
47. Med. recording : ECG.
56. Cleaned, in a way : SWEPT OUT.
59. Lethargy cause : ANEMIA. The old iron deficiency anemia.
60. One assessing sentiment : POLLSTER. Please no robocalls! Last election is why I gave up my home phone.
61. Digital image format : BITMAP. Not a word I KNEW.
62. It keeps the team together : YOKE.
64. Studio equipment : EASELS. Art studio, not music.
Down:
1. Companion to Artemis : STAG. Famous ART.
2. Simplicity : EASE.
3. Related : AKIN.
4. 2014 Best Rock Album Grammy winner : BECK. This was hard because Led Zepplin won last year.
5. Spring (from) : EMANATE. Nice word.
6. Mean : DENOTE. One of those needless ten dollar words, if you mean mean say mean.
7. Teen __ : IDOL. Wolf anyone? Michael Landon? Michael J, Fox?
8. "And there you have it!" : DONE. Not even close.
9. Old : AGED.
10. Problem for a conductor wannabe : TIN EAR.
11. 1930s-'40s slugger : OTT. Mel is back.
12. Limited : FEW.
13. Mil. morale booster : USO.
16. Oaf : BIG APE.
20. Lacking color : WAN.
23. Best for consumption, perhaps : RIPEST.
24. Panasonic headquarters city : OSAKA. And why should I know this? Wait for the perps.
25. Staircase support : NEWEL.
26. Southwestern community : PUEBLO.
27. No. twos : VPS. BMS fit.
28. Perennial political debate subject : TAXES.
29. Priest in 1 Samuel : ELI.
30. N.T. book written by Paul : ROMans.
31. Soothing applications : TALCS.
32. Add to the family : ADOPT.
36. "What a piece of work is a __!": Hamlet : MAN. A very simple Will quote for JW.
37. Legendary fighter : ALI.
38. Broadway flier : PAN.
40. Coins of old Venice : DUCATS. Gold or silver coins used as a trade coin in Europe from the later medieval centuries until as late as the 20th century. Also slang for tickets.
41. Colorful tropical perennial : BEGONIA. Very colorful.
43. Clearasil target : PIMPLE.
44. Guys : HES.
45. Mrs. Miller's partner in a 1971 Altman film : MC CABE. Wonderful Julie Christie.
49. Scribbles : JOTS. My meh fill.
50. Hamilton's undoing : DUEL. Death more than undoing. HISTORY.
51. Modest sentence : I TRY. Week after week.
52. November honorees : VETS. My in-laws were married on November 8, so we took them to NYC for their anniversary; when there was a huge Veteran's Day parade, my FIL, an ex-Marine from WWII thought we had planned that as well.
53. Rylan of "Guiding Light" : EMME. A complete unknown but sweet looking.
55. Doesn't shut up : YAPS.
56. Le Carré figure : SPY. The Spy Who Came In From The Cold was my first real spy novel.
57. Ply with flowers and chocolate : WOO.
58. JFK was one : ELK, I did not know this trivia, though it looks more like another Kennedy monogram.
Man the weeks are flying by along with the years; my Charlotte turns 3 before next week's blog. And Harper will be one month. Thanks Jeffrey for another fun Friday, I think this is about 30 of your puzzles since I first blogged you back in February 2013. Happy fall all. Lemonade out from here at
special thanks to a very special John Lampkin. Note from C.C.:
Crosswords LA Tournaments
will be held tomorrow (Oct 24, 2015, Saturday) at the Fowler Museum at UCLA.
You don't need to be a wizard solver to participate. As you can see, they have four
brackets for different skill levels. Or you can just be a spectator,
solving at the same time with other competitors but your grids won't be
scored.
It's an annual charity event Elissa Grossman started in 2009 to raise money for Reading to Kids. I hope our readers in LA area will attend the event and mingle with your favorite constructors, bloggers & fellow solvers.
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