Theme: Hats off to Mr. Kristian.
Mr. House returns after a five year absence from the LAT during which he has 14 or so NYT publications. The theme is rather simple with the second word of each theme fill being a form of 'headgear' but resulting in a phrase that has a very different meaning. No reveal needed. Only 8 three letter fill and some sparkle with CRATERS, LESSONS, ORINOCO, REDOUBT, AD BLOCKER, NAME DROPS. Overall not as hard as I expected when I saw the byline.
17A. Headgear not for amateurs? : PRO BOWLER (9). A CSO to Boomer.
27A. Headgear for a certain batting champ? : TRIPLE CROWN (11). The man with the most three base hits and a term for someone who leads the league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in. Also a horse racing goal accomplished this year for the first time in 29 years.
47A. Headgear for some skaters? : ROLLER DERBY (11).
64A. Headgear for contract negotiations? : SALARY CAP (9).
Across:
1. Two of its members wrote the music for "Chess" : ABBA. Once again...this MUSICAL has not been a success in the US.
5. Angling trophy : BASS. Is the fish the trophy?
9. Not sour : ON KEY. Friday cluing.
14. Chillax : LOLL.
15. Horn accessory : MUTE. JzB?
19. Qualifying words : I MEAN. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
20. Bunk : HOKUM. Two made up words.
21. License-issuing org. : DMV. Department of Motor Vehicles. Driver's licenses.
22. They're not optional : NEEDS.
23. Weak : ANEMIC.
25. Career grand slam leader : AROD. His batting coach last year was Barry Bonds.
33. Princess friend of Dorothy : OZMA. In every book but the first one and in Baum's words, "Her eyes sparkled as two diamonds, and her lips were tinted like a tourmaline. All adown her back floated tresses of ruddy gold, with a slender jeweled circlet confining them at the brow."
37. Gibbon, for one : APE.
38. Dr. Howser of '80s-'90s TV : DOOGIE. I bet most do not associate this series with others created by Bochco and Kelley
39. Done __ : DEED. Deal seemed so right.
40. Sierra follower, in the NATO alphabet : TANGO.
42. Stiff : PRIM.
43. Facilitate : ENABLE.
45. Torque symbol, in mechanics : TAU. Please Fermat and Bill G, tell us more.
46. Utah state flower : SEGO.
50. Bologna bone : OSSO. Just the Italian word.
51. Work together : TEAM UP.
56. Spy plane acronym : AWACS. Airborne Warning and Control System,
59. Tolkien race member : ELF.
63. Breadcrumbs used in Asian cuisine : PANKO. Per wiki Panko is made from bread baked by electrical current, which yields a bread without a crust, and then grinding the bread to create fine slivers of crumb. Come from Japan which learned about bread from Europeans.
66. A lot : OFTEN.
67. Camera that uses 70mm film : IMAX. Where I watched Avatar.
68. Junk, say : SHIP. Asian again, tricky. What you need to KNOW.
69. Shows signs of life : STIRS.
70. A mullet covers it : NAPE. Name the movie?
71. Xperia manufacturer : SONY. They make smart phones and tablets.
Down:
1. __-Bits : ALPHA. A crossword puzzle dream.
2. Element between beryllium and carbon on the periodic table : BORON.
Boring.
3. Chap : BLOKE. Nice Cuppa, Steve...
4. "Help!" is one : ALBUM. Beatles album and movie.
5. German import : BMW. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG English: Bavarian Motor Works.
6. Word sung in early January : AULD.
7. Watch part : STEM.
8. Spotted wildcat : SERVAL. To me it looks like a leopard mated with a bunny and then....
9. River under the Angostura Bridge : ORINOCO. Interesting. LINK.
10. Tries to impress, in a way : NAME DROPS. Like knowing someone famous makes you better; so silly. I remember saying that when I was in the elevator with John Lennon at the Continental Hyatt House...
11. Dummy's place : KNEE. So many come to mind
12. "Good heavens!" : EGAD.
13. Hankerings : YENS.
18. Insult in an Oscar acceptance speech, perhaps : OMIT. Don't forget the make up girl.
24. Significant depressions : CRATERS. Not mood swings.
26. Defensive fortification : REDOUBT. This was NEW to me, the perps brought it home.
28. Bar brew, briefly : IPA. India Pale Ale.
29. Board game using stones : PENTE. Sounds like a derivative GAME.
30. Fiend : OGRE.
31. "SNL" alum with Hader and Samberg : WIIG. Does she pass the Splynter test?
32. Fictional captain : NEMO. 20,000 reasons to remember.
33. River through Frankfurt : ODER. On my list of 4 letter European rivers to remember.
34. Philosopher known for his "Achilles and the Tortoise" paradox : ZENO. It is mostly speculation but he did influence Plato and Aristotle. LINK.
35. Ground grain : MEAL.
36. Pop-up prevention : AD BLOCKER. Nice new fill.
41. Sharp-toothed fish : GAR.
44. Course components : LESSONS. Sorry HG and BE, not a golf course.
48. Rubs out : DOES IN.
49. Oenophile's concern : YEAR.
52. Deep space : ABYSS.
53. Oodles of, in slang : MUCHO. Usually with dinero.
54. Bolt like lightning? : USAIN.
55. Raring to go : PEPPY.
56. Mil. mail drops : APOS. Army Post Office
57. Drift, as smoke : WAFT.
58. Fighting : ANTI.
60. Dharma teacher : LAMA.
61. Door in the woods : FLAP.
65. Tin Man's tool : AXE. An ending toast to our own de-icer and my favorite unknown band. LISTEN.
On that musical note, lemonade out. I hope you all have a great party weekend, our office starts today with the ugly sweater contest, problem, nobody owns sweaters here.
ah well.
On that musical note, lemonade out. I hope you all have a great party weekend, our office starts today with the ugly sweater contest, problem, nobody owns sweaters here.
ah well.
Note from C.C.:
I'm sad to let you know that Lemonade's brother passed away yesterday. Lemonade was very close to his two brothers, now both have left this world. Here is a "Hard to Believe" childhood photo Lemonade shared with our blog regulars in 2011. Lemonade is the one in the middle.
