Title: Shhhh the Js are coming!!!
C. C. has returned to the Friday wars with a different type of theme where common phrases which have the second word begin with "SH" it is replaced with a "J" and clued accordingly. I know I often complain that the letter J is left out of so many puzzles so of course I did love this effort, but naming it is was too hard. I loved all the long fill, much of it new and some of it learning moments. For example, we have AUTO PEN, INK SPOT, COSSETS, EASY JOB, BRETHREN, MISNOMER, IN MOTION, U. N. SPEECH, RED AS A BEET, BEER O'CLOCK, BIONIC LEGS, I SMELL A RAT. What a great mix of cultural stuff. Well, speaking of culture, let's solve the puzzle.
17A. Art-loving athlete? : CULTURE JOCK (11). Going to college in 1965 after four years away at all boys boarding school was a definite culture shock.
31A. What you don't know about audio equipment? : RADIO JACK (9). You don't know Jack unless you go to the Shack.
47A. Difficult situation at Bed Bath & Beyond? : PILLOW JAM (9). I have pillow shams on my bed and I am not embarrassed by them.
61A. Gem of a night out? : EVENING JADE (11). Evening shade just sort of sits there...I did love the show with BURT.
Across:
1. Wrap alternatives : PITAS.
6. Ill-fated Corleone hoodlum Luca : BRASI. A real mobster? According to wiki, Luca Brasi is a fictional character in Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather, as well as its 1972 film adaptation. In the film, he was portrayed by Lenny Montana, an ex-wrestler and ex-bodyguard for the Colombo crime family.
11. TD scorers : RBS. Running backs.
14. Response to a raise : I'M OUT. Or I fold, or just muck your cards. Sound familiar from Wednesday?
15. Element #86 : RADON. Perp time.
16. Fish whose blood is poisonous to humans : EEL. Of course C.C. would know eel blood is poisonous to humans and other mammals, but both cooking and the digestive process destroy the toxic protein. The toxin derived from eel blood serum was used by Charles Richet in his Nobel winning research which discovered anaphylaxis (by injecting it into dogs and observing the effect). Wiki.
19. "Agnus __" : DEI.
20. Home of the annual Norwegian Wood music festival : OSLO. Wonderful excuse for
21. Heineken symbol : STAR. . C.C. used this before LINK. Do you remember the puzzle where all the companies that use a Star in their logo?
22. Quick : SMART. That boy is as quick as a whip!
24. Sign on a door : PUSH. P U then the perps.
26. Texas county bordering New Mexico : EL PASO. Did not know it was a County. Read a Lawrence Block mini-mystery where he was trying to rhyme El Paso.
28. "__ Irish Rose" : ABIE'S. The modern version had a really fun cast. Turns out may have married Bernie, but she loves Batya.
34. Chinese checkers, e.g. : MISNOMER. Really fun word, and again we see C.C. playing with her heritage. It is a German variation of an American game that has nothing to do with checkers.
36. Firm : STABLE.
37. Fruit juice brand : POM. Oo buys this regularly.
38. Break up : END IT. Now done by text, I understand.
40. Goddess sister of Selene : EOS. A few years ago, I has this goddess of the dawn many times. LINK.
41. World Heritage Site org. : UNESCO. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization...followed by, inexplicably...
44. Ban delivery : U. N. SPEECH. BAN Ki-moon is secretary general of the UN. (From C.C.: Ban! This is Rich's clue.)
49. Foreigner in "Taxi" : LATKA. The late great Andy Kaufman.
50. Greensboro Grasshoppers' baseball level : CLASS A. Leave it to C.C. to craft a Friday baseball clue. (From C.C.: Rich's clue as well. Along with many others.)
51. Surprised sounds : OHOS.
53. Appreciative sounds : CLAPS.
54. Wine holders : VATS.
56. "The Ghost of Frankenstein" role : YGOR. Or maybe IGOR?
60. "Away From __": Julie Christie movie : HER. This heart wrenching story of a woman who is institutionalized by her husband due to advanced Alzheimer's disease, is based on a short story by Alice Munro who was in a recent Friday puzzle.
64. Turkish bigwig : AGA.
65. Sculpted trunk : TORSO. The human variety.
66. Chocolate-caramel candies : ROLOS.
I loved the juxtaposition
67. It ends 11/6/2016 in the U.S. : DST. Daylight Savings Time. First Sunday in November.
68. Evil figure : SATAN.
69. "No good movie is too long and no bad movie is short enough" speaker : EBERT.
Down:
1. __ de gallo : PICO. No self-respecting South Floridian could get this wrong. Spanish for "rooster's beak," pico de gallo is a relish made of finely chopped ingredients like jicama, oranges, onions, bell peppers, jalapeño peppers and cucumbers, along with various seasonings. This condiment was so named because it was once purportedly eaten with the thumb and finger, an action that resembles a rooster's pecking beak. Food Network. Unlike salsa nothing is cooked.
2. Stern rival : IMUS.
3. Crossing cost : TOLL.
4. Signing facilitator : AUTOPEN. This 60 year old DEVICE.
5. Poker great Ungar : STU. Another sad STORY.
6. Members of a flock : BRETHREN.
7. Punjabi prince : RAJA. 23D. Woman whom Goya also painted clothed : MAJA. We have seen both versions here.
8. Flipped over : ADORED. Not a pancake, or mattress- a girl/boy?
9. A behavioral sci. : SOCiology.
10. Laundry challenge : INK SPOT. Use an alcohol based product, no longer hairspray.
11. Visibly embarrassed : RED AS A BEET. I love these two next to each other
12. Time for a cold one : BEER O'CLOCK. This is actually in the 2015 Oxford dictionary.
13. Skirt feature : SLIT.
18. Web feed document letters : RSS. RSS (Rich Site Summary; originally RDF Site Summary; often called Really Simple Syndication) uses a family of standard web feed formats to publish frequently updated information: blog entries, news headlines, audio, video. Wiki. Unknown to me.
25. Military support gp. : USO. Think Bob Hope.
27. Memory aids : LISTS.
28. Intensify : AMP UP. C.C. has clearly amp-ed up her game presenting more Friday and Saturday offerings.
29. Brain-controlled transportation devices : BIONIC LEGS. Two more exquisite fill.
30. "Something's fishy" : I SMELL A RAT. So cool.
32. Adversity, in the RAF motto : ARDUA. Per ardua ad astra. From adversity to the stars. Good to know some Latin. This was chosen in 1912 for the first royal flying corps.
33. "We R Who We R" singer : KESHA. I have only heard of her as Ke$ha. The song...
35. Catty remarks : MEOWS.
39. Actively operating : IN MOTION.
42. Hit, in a way : SLAP.
43. Mollycoddles : COSSETS. I only know this word from reading scads of British mysteries.
45. West Bank initials : PLO.
46. Not a hard nut to crack : EASY JOB. Seems like a random phrase and clue.
48. "Les Misérables" inspector : JAVERT. A great J word to finish.
52. EVINE Live competitor : HSN. Home Shopping Network. QVC just would not work.
53. Libya neighbor : CHAD. Think we will ever learn African Geography?
55. Archaeologist's handle : ANSA. My son has been on numerous digs but I have no clue what this means
57. Severe blow : GALE. Refers to winds blowing.
58. Pure propane's lack : ODOR.
59. Come to a halt : REST.
62. Intl. broadcaster since 1942 : VOA. Voice of America.
63. Hurdle for srs. : GRE. So many tests...
What an odd ride for me, so much to love, so much to confuse...maybe C. C. will stop by; if not I gave my best shot....Lemonade out.
