Theme: Weight Room Workout. Pretty much a top-to-bottom progression with, in order, LATS, DELTS, PECS, ABS and GLUTES.
18A. Red-eyes, e.g. : LATE FLIGHTS. I pretty much unilaterally declared a few years ago that I won't take red-eyes anymore. I fly the day before and get a good night's sleep.
24A. Wouldn't accept excuses : DEMANDED RESULTS
31A. Hospital department : PEDIATRICS
41A. Black suit component : ACE OF CLUBS. I wanted "Ace of Spades" to mark the passing of Motörhead's Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister on Tuesday. I saw the band in LA about 15 years ago and I'm not sure my eardrums have recovered. RIP. Not to everyone's taste, so no link.
51A. Retirement party speeches, typically : GLOWING TRIBUTES
58A. Like some weightlifters, and a hint to this puzzle's circles : MUSCLE-BOUND. Lovely reveal - the muscles start and finish - so bind - the theme entries.
Well done, Jeffrey. I'm not sure if the head-to-tail order of the theme entries was intentional, but I hope it was. I loved this puzzle. It took me almost as long as the Sunday LAT and I enjoyed every minute of figuring out where I was going wrong. After my first pass, I had so much white space and a few "maybe" entries that I thought I'd post the grid I had at that point to show you the mess I was in:
Oh dear! Bottom-up and right-to-left corrections fixed everything eventually, but it certainly was a fun journey.
Across:
1. Dernier __ : CRI. The latest fashion. I'm not familiar with the term, but it's a crossword staple.
4. They may have EIKs : APTS. Eat-In Kitchens. I'm not familiar with the term. Do you sense a pattern here?
8. Savory Asian pastry : SAMOSA. Food! I'm familiar with the term. Yay! (Crafty cook tip - if you want to make quick and easy samosas, slice a flour tortilla across the equator and fold & fill from there).
14. Kareem, once : LEW. Alcindor/Abdul Jabbar. A UCLA basketball legend in my home town.
15. Berth place : SLIP. The yacht I've chartered lives in a slip in Marina Del Rey.
16. Took to the stump : ORATED
17. Reminiscent of : A LA
20. Fail to meet : MISS
22. Pinky-side arm bone : ULNA
23. Points for a free throw : ONE. Kareem made a few of these on his way to 38,387 career points.
29. 14th-century Russian prince : IVAN II
30. "Grandma" co-star : TOMLIN
35. "Nothing special" : SO-SO
36. One on the shelf, in Christmas decor : ELF
37. Epic creator : POET
48. Number in a Verne title : EIGHTY. Not TWENTY as I confidently entered at first. "Around the World in Eighty Days". I've done the round-the-world route twice (once in each direction) on business. Burbank - Denver - Frankfurt - Mumbai - Hong Kong - San Francisco - Burbank was the most fun. LAX - Hong Kong - London - LAX seemed more of a chore.
50. "60 Minutes" humorist : ROONEY
55. Suffix with part : IAL. Boo. A suffix isn't "three letters at the end of a random word".
56. Bide __: stay briefly, to Scots : A WEE
57. "Phooey!" : DRAT
62. Choler : IRE
63. Willow flower cluster : CATKIN
64. Erase : UNDO
65. Shade source : ELM
66. To a smaller degree : LESS SO
67. Annoyance : PEST. That "Part-ial" is a pest.
68. Bad start? : DYS. Whoa! Here's a pattern.
Down:
1. Cocktail party bowlful : CLAM DIP. OK, Chex Mix - you're toast
2. Substitute for : RELIEVE
3. "That really got my goat!" : I WAS MAD
4. Silent comm. method : ASL. American Sign Language. My friend has a Masters degree in deaf studies and has taught me some rudimentary signs, enough to make a polite exit from otherwise awkward social situations.
5. Enthusiastic praise : PLAUDIT
6. King or queen : TITLE
7. Drop at a shop : SPEND. Fun clue
8. Fifth in a familiar series : SOL
9. Melodic passage : ARIOSO. I think I remembered this. Took a couple of tries after the ARI--- though.
10. Wine buys : MAGNUMS. Two bottles, or 1.5 liters. Here's a couple I pulled out of the fridge in anticipation of the holidays. They don't fit in the rack. The one on the left is signed by the winemaker.
11. "... And when I love thee not / Chaos is come again" speaker : OTHELLO
12. Three of a kind, in poker lingo : SET
13. Much spam : ADS
19. Word with fetched or flung : FAR
21. __-Wipe: cleaning brand : SANI
25. Actress Peeples : NIA
26. "Star Trek" staples : ETS. Extra-Terrestrials. Pretty much all you're going to meet on a mission to explore unknown galaxies.
27. Quaint contraction : 'TIS. I mark my annual "oh really, is that all you've got" calendar by the first of the ADS I hear using this. This year was "Sleep Number" beds, who proclaimed in mid-November that "'Tis the season to save money on a mattress". Shame on you.
28. Nestlé's __-Caps : SNO
32. __ hall : REC
33. Martinique, par exemple : ILE. Isle, for example. What differentiates an isle and an island in English? I don't believe any other language makes the same distinction. Discuss.
34. Bus. bigwig : CFO
37. Dowel : PEG
38. Venezuela export : OIL
39. Ones who are me-deep in conversation? : EGOISTS
40. Sharp blows : THWACKS
41. Writer Rand : AYN. Gimme, thank you very much. I was struggling in the middle (and top, and bottom and left, and right).
42. '90s-'00s hit sitcom for 10 seasons : FRIENDS Cue the music. I challenge you not to clap. Pa Pa Pa PAH!
43. Ear piece? : COB. What? Oh! Sweetcorn (sound of coin dropping slowly).
44. Ear-piercing : LOUD
45. Not yet tested : UNTRIED
46. Arrive ahead of time : BE EARLY
47. __ analyst : SYSTEMS. I was one of these once. I'm not sure I really knew what I was doing. Thankfully I was working for a bank, not Boeing.
49. "Coca-Cola Cowboy" singer : TILLIS? Who?
52. Chew the fat : GAB
53. Leading 5-3, e.g. : TWO UP
54. See one's old college chums, say : REUNE. Here's my most recent "reune" in London last month with my chums. I'm the only one wearing glasses, but everyone else needed me to read the menu. What does that tell you?
58. Commonly injured knee ligament, briefly : MCL. The medial collateral ligament, not the anterior cruciate, which was my first attempt. A rugby-playing friend of mine once tore his ACL, but he insisted on describing is as his "crucial ligament" which drove me to distraction. It's on a par with someone saying "pacifically" or "supposably". You're off my Christmas Card list with any of those.
59. Federation in OPEC : UAE. The United Arab Emirates, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It all sounds rather quaint. Are Venezuela in on the OPEC act?
60. "Small Craft on a Milk Sea" musician : ENO. Not ONO. Wake up, Steve.
61. Semicolon? : DOT. Lovely. Half a semi-colon is a single dot. Wonderful.
And with that, here's the grid, circles and all, for those of you who didn't have them in your publication. It's been a fun year, and on this New Year's Eve, please all of you be safe, love your friends and family (and tell them that you do), remember with joy all who have passed and lit up your life and be ready for a new adventure tomorrow.
Steve
18A. Red-eyes, e.g. : LATE FLIGHTS. I pretty much unilaterally declared a few years ago that I won't take red-eyes anymore. I fly the day before and get a good night's sleep.
24A. Wouldn't accept excuses : DEMANDED RESULTS
31A. Hospital department : PEDIATRICS
41A. Black suit component : ACE OF CLUBS. I wanted "Ace of Spades" to mark the passing of Motörhead's Ian Fraser "Lemmy" Kilmister on Tuesday. I saw the band in LA about 15 years ago and I'm not sure my eardrums have recovered. RIP. Not to everyone's taste, so no link.
51A. Retirement party speeches, typically : GLOWING TRIBUTES
58A. Like some weightlifters, and a hint to this puzzle's circles : MUSCLE-BOUND. Lovely reveal - the muscles start and finish - so bind - the theme entries.
Well done, Jeffrey. I'm not sure if the head-to-tail order of the theme entries was intentional, but I hope it was. I loved this puzzle. It took me almost as long as the Sunday LAT and I enjoyed every minute of figuring out where I was going wrong. After my first pass, I had so much white space and a few "maybe" entries that I thought I'd post the grid I had at that point to show you the mess I was in:
Oh dear! Bottom-up and right-to-left corrections fixed everything eventually, but it certainly was a fun journey.
Across:
1. Dernier __ : CRI. The latest fashion. I'm not familiar with the term, but it's a crossword staple.
4. They may have EIKs : APTS. Eat-In Kitchens. I'm not familiar with the term. Do you sense a pattern here?
8. Savory Asian pastry : SAMOSA. Food! I'm familiar with the term. Yay! (Crafty cook tip - if you want to make quick and easy samosas, slice a flour tortilla across the equator and fold & fill from there).
14. Kareem, once : LEW. Alcindor/Abdul Jabbar. A UCLA basketball legend in my home town.
15. Berth place : SLIP. The yacht I've chartered lives in a slip in Marina Del Rey.
16. Took to the stump : ORATED
17. Reminiscent of : A LA
20. Fail to meet : MISS
22. Pinky-side arm bone : ULNA
23. Points for a free throw : ONE. Kareem made a few of these on his way to 38,387 career points.
29. 14th-century Russian prince : IVAN II
30. "Grandma" co-star : TOMLIN
35. "Nothing special" : SO-SO
36. One on the shelf, in Christmas decor : ELF
37. Epic creator : POET
48. Number in a Verne title : EIGHTY. Not TWENTY as I confidently entered at first. "Around the World in Eighty Days". I've done the round-the-world route twice (once in each direction) on business. Burbank - Denver - Frankfurt - Mumbai - Hong Kong - San Francisco - Burbank was the most fun. LAX - Hong Kong - London - LAX seemed more of a chore.
50. "60 Minutes" humorist : ROONEY
55. Suffix with part : IAL. Boo. A suffix isn't "three letters at the end of a random word".
56. Bide __: stay briefly, to Scots : A WEE
57. "Phooey!" : DRAT
62. Choler : IRE
63. Willow flower cluster : CATKIN
64. Erase : UNDO
65. Shade source : ELM
66. To a smaller degree : LESS SO
67. Annoyance : PEST. That "Part-ial" is a pest.
68. Bad start? : DYS. Whoa! Here's a pattern.
Down:
1. Cocktail party bowlful : CLAM DIP. OK, Chex Mix - you're toast
2. Substitute for : RELIEVE
3. "That really got my goat!" : I WAS MAD
4. Silent comm. method : ASL. American Sign Language. My friend has a Masters degree in deaf studies and has taught me some rudimentary signs, enough to make a polite exit from otherwise awkward social situations.
5. Enthusiastic praise : PLAUDIT
6. King or queen : TITLE
7. Drop at a shop : SPEND. Fun clue
8. Fifth in a familiar series : SOL
9. Melodic passage : ARIOSO. I think I remembered this. Took a couple of tries after the ARI--- though.
10. Wine buys : MAGNUMS. Two bottles, or 1.5 liters. Here's a couple I pulled out of the fridge in anticipation of the holidays. They don't fit in the rack. The one on the left is signed by the winemaker.
11. "... And when I love thee not / Chaos is come again" speaker : OTHELLO
12. Three of a kind, in poker lingo : SET
13. Much spam : ADS
19. Word with fetched or flung : FAR
21. __-Wipe: cleaning brand : SANI
25. Actress Peeples : NIA
26. "Star Trek" staples : ETS. Extra-Terrestrials. Pretty much all you're going to meet on a mission to explore unknown galaxies.
27. Quaint contraction : 'TIS. I mark my annual "oh really, is that all you've got" calendar by the first of the ADS I hear using this. This year was "Sleep Number" beds, who proclaimed in mid-November that "'Tis the season to save money on a mattress". Shame on you.
28. Nestlé's __-Caps : SNO
32. __ hall : REC
33. Martinique, par exemple : ILE. Isle, for example. What differentiates an isle and an island in English? I don't believe any other language makes the same distinction. Discuss.
34. Bus. bigwig : CFO
37. Dowel : PEG
38. Venezuela export : OIL
39. Ones who are me-deep in conversation? : EGOISTS
40. Sharp blows : THWACKS
41. Writer Rand : AYN. Gimme, thank you very much. I was struggling in the middle (and top, and bottom and left, and right).
42. '90s-'00s hit sitcom for 10 seasons : FRIENDS Cue the music. I challenge you not to clap. Pa Pa Pa PAH!
43. Ear piece? : COB. What? Oh! Sweetcorn (sound of coin dropping slowly).
44. Ear-piercing : LOUD
45. Not yet tested : UNTRIED
46. Arrive ahead of time : BE EARLY
47. __ analyst : SYSTEMS. I was one of these once. I'm not sure I really knew what I was doing. Thankfully I was working for a bank, not Boeing.
49. "Coca-Cola Cowboy" singer : TILLIS? Who?
52. Chew the fat : GAB
53. Leading 5-3, e.g. : TWO UP
54. See one's old college chums, say : REUNE. Here's my most recent "reune" in London last month with my chums. I'm the only one wearing glasses, but everyone else needed me to read the menu. What does that tell you?
58. Commonly injured knee ligament, briefly : MCL. The medial collateral ligament, not the anterior cruciate, which was my first attempt. A rugby-playing friend of mine once tore his ACL, but he insisted on describing is as his "crucial ligament" which drove me to distraction. It's on a par with someone saying "pacifically" or "supposably". You're off my Christmas Card list with any of those.
59. Federation in OPEC : UAE. The United Arab Emirates, a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. It all sounds rather quaint. Are Venezuela in on the OPEC act?
60. "Small Craft on a Milk Sea" musician : ENO. Not ONO. Wake up, Steve.
61. Semicolon? : DOT. Lovely. Half a semi-colon is a single dot. Wonderful.
And with that, here's the grid, circles and all, for those of you who didn't have them in your publication. It's been a fun year, and on this New Year's Eve, please all of you be safe, love your friends and family (and tell them that you do), remember with joy all who have passed and lit up your life and be ready for a new adventure tomorrow.
Steve
