Theme: A lot of Toro! Circles reveal the word BULL four times in the grid.
17A. Music in 62-Across : PASODOBLE. Here's one for blog-background music.
39A. Performer in 62-Across : MATADOR
62A. Fighting venues suggested by this puzzle's circles : BULLRINGS
Ernest Hemingway would approve of this puzzle's theme. Bullfighting and bull-running have been much in the news in recent days.
Neat theme from Matt; once I realized what was going on with the circles they helped me fill in a couple of blanks. Nice that three of the entries cross-referenced the theme. If you don't get circles in your puzzle and you don't like cross-referential clues, then this one probably wasn't entirely up your street.
Let's see what else we've got today:
Across:
1. UV filter once widely used in sunscreens : PABA. New to me. Para-amino Benzoic Acid. Apparently caused allergic reactions in a number of people, so no longer used.
5. Word in Italian dishes : ALLA. Food! Here's spaghetti alla vongole.
9. Italian for "wasp" : VESPA. New to me, but as soon as I had the "V" I knew what it was. Those scooters do buzz around like wasps.
14. Lifetimes : AGES
15. Sign on for more service : RE-UP
16. One-__ chance : IN-TEN
19. Swedish-born Chan actor : OLAND. Thank you, crosses. I've never seen any of the Charlie Chan movies.
20. Cunning : ARTFUL
21. River through Kazakhstan : URAL
23. Dating letters : BCE. Before the Common Era.
24. Fisherman's knot : SNELL. Another new one to me. I don't fish, so ..
26. They may be independent : CLAUSES
28. Race town near Windsor Castle : ASCOT. I'm going to be staying in Windsor next Thursday night. I'll say hello to the Queen and her peeps.
30. People never seen in "Peanuts" : ADULTS
32. Word with smoke or kisses : BLOW
33. Arthurian address : SIR. The Arthurian knights. Here's "the" Round Table hanging in Winchester's Great Hall. I'll be there again on Saturday. My friend is 5' tall to give you some idea of the scale.
34. Very old thing : FOSSIL
38. Sylvan sticker : BUR
41. Thurman of "Henry & June" : UMA
42. More than just suggest : REEK OF
44. Salyut successor : MIR. The Soviet/Russian space station programs. There were six Salyut stations; the last one came out of orbit in 1991.
45. Snead has won three of them, briefly : PGA'S. US Men's golf's PGA Championship. Jason Duffner's wife famously took this picture of him the morning after he won the trophy in 2013.
46. Existing: Lat. : IN ESSE. Never heard of this one, but then again I'm not a lawyer.
48. Work with a team : COACH
49. Misconception : FALLACY
52. Brown shade : UMBER
54. Brown address ending : EDU. Brown University can be found on the interwebs at www.brown.edu.
55. Bausch's partner : LOMB. Ray-Ban Aviators, anyone?
57. Opens up : LETS ON
60. Cover story : ALIBI
64. Levels, in Leeds : RASES. I used to live in Leeds as a kid. One of my earliest memories is being taken by my teenage sister to see "A Hard Day's Night" at the local cinema. I couldn't figure out why everyone in the place spent the entire movie screaming. The cinema was RASED in 1966 to make way for a shopping mall.
65. Comic strip canine : ODIE
66. Mind, with "for" : CARE
67. College near Albany : SIENA. Nailed it!
68. D-Day craft : LST'S. Landing Ship, Tank.
69. What it's risky to build on? : SPEC
Down:
1. Haydn sobriquet : PAPA
3. Visual media soundtrack Grammy Award : BEST SCORE
4. Presently : AS OF NOW
5. Winning, with "on" : A ROLL
6. Med. nation : LEB. Lebanon; the only country with a tree on the flag.
7. Doozie : LULU
8. Brief summary : APERÇU. I try to keep these summaries brief, but usually I fail miserably.
9. Crook, e.g. : VIOLATOR
10. Phot. lab request : ENL. Least favorite clue/entry of the day.
11. They may be taken on "Jeopardy!" : STABS
12. British coin additive? : PENCE. Here's an old sixpence from the Queen's coronation year:
13. Chilean range : ANDES
18. Number for two : DUET
22. Highly in favor of : ALL FOR
25. Metz milk : LAIT. Metz sounds more German than French; as it happens it's only a few miles from the German border.
27. Letters with Arizona or Missouri : U.S.S.
28. Short for short? : ABBR.
29. Swing around : SLUE
31. "Wee" pours of Scotch : DRAMS. Cheers, Tin-man!
33. Mariners' home, familiarly : SAFECO. Seattle's Major League ballpark.
35. Pea variety : SUGAR SNAP
36. Apple variety : iMAC
37. Hit violently, as waves against the shore : LASH
39. Oscar-winning song immortalized by Nat King Cole : MONA LISA
40. "Mon __!" : DIEU
43. About .62 mi. : KILometer.
45. Discourse on verses : POETICS. Aristotle wrote this c. 335 BCE
47. $, for one : SYMBOL
48. Many a trucker : CB-ER
49. Causes of trembles : FEARS
50. Dwight's two-time opponent : ADLAI
51. First two-time Best Actress Oscar winner Rainer : LUISE. Crosses all the way for me.
53. Lille lasses: Abbr. : MLLES. Mademoiselles, milk and OMG today for our French lesson.
56. Pals : BUDS
58. Folklore fiend : OGRE
59. Wee part of a min. : NSEC. Nanosecond.
61. Big __ : BEN. Another excuse to post a photo from my last UK trip. Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge.
63. Brightened, with "up" : LIT.
That's it from me for today. I'm heading back to the UK tomorrow for a quick visit; to see family and eat as much curry as is humanly possible for one person without exploding. Here's a final sample from my last visit. Yum!
Steve
Annnnd ... here's the grid, circles 'n all.
17A. Music in 62-Across : PASODOBLE. Here's one for blog-background music.
39A. Performer in 62-Across : MATADOR
62A. Fighting venues suggested by this puzzle's circles : BULLRINGS
Ernest Hemingway would approve of this puzzle's theme. Bullfighting and bull-running have been much in the news in recent days.
Neat theme from Matt; once I realized what was going on with the circles they helped me fill in a couple of blanks. Nice that three of the entries cross-referenced the theme. If you don't get circles in your puzzle and you don't like cross-referential clues, then this one probably wasn't entirely up your street.
Let's see what else we've got today:
Across:
1. UV filter once widely used in sunscreens : PABA. New to me. Para-amino Benzoic Acid. Apparently caused allergic reactions in a number of people, so no longer used.
5. Word in Italian dishes : ALLA. Food! Here's spaghetti alla vongole.
9. Italian for "wasp" : VESPA. New to me, but as soon as I had the "V" I knew what it was. Those scooters do buzz around like wasps.
14. Lifetimes : AGES
15. Sign on for more service : RE-UP
16. One-__ chance : IN-TEN
19. Swedish-born Chan actor : OLAND. Thank you, crosses. I've never seen any of the Charlie Chan movies.
20. Cunning : ARTFUL
21. River through Kazakhstan : URAL
23. Dating letters : BCE. Before the Common Era.
24. Fisherman's knot : SNELL. Another new one to me. I don't fish, so ..
26. They may be independent : CLAUSES
28. Race town near Windsor Castle : ASCOT. I'm going to be staying in Windsor next Thursday night. I'll say hello to the Queen and her peeps.
30. People never seen in "Peanuts" : ADULTS
32. Word with smoke or kisses : BLOW
33. Arthurian address : SIR. The Arthurian knights. Here's "the" Round Table hanging in Winchester's Great Hall. I'll be there again on Saturday. My friend is 5' tall to give you some idea of the scale.
34. Very old thing : FOSSIL
38. Sylvan sticker : BUR
41. Thurman of "Henry & June" : UMA
42. More than just suggest : REEK OF
44. Salyut successor : MIR. The Soviet/Russian space station programs. There were six Salyut stations; the last one came out of orbit in 1991.
45. Snead has won three of them, briefly : PGA'S. US Men's golf's PGA Championship. Jason Duffner's wife famously took this picture of him the morning after he won the trophy in 2013.
46. Existing: Lat. : IN ESSE. Never heard of this one, but then again I'm not a lawyer.
48. Work with a team : COACH
49. Misconception : FALLACY
52. Brown shade : UMBER
54. Brown address ending : EDU. Brown University can be found on the interwebs at www.brown.edu.
55. Bausch's partner : LOMB. Ray-Ban Aviators, anyone?
57. Opens up : LETS ON
60. Cover story : ALIBI
64. Levels, in Leeds : RASES. I used to live in Leeds as a kid. One of my earliest memories is being taken by my teenage sister to see "A Hard Day's Night" at the local cinema. I couldn't figure out why everyone in the place spent the entire movie screaming. The cinema was RASED in 1966 to make way for a shopping mall.
65. Comic strip canine : ODIE
66. Mind, with "for" : CARE
67. College near Albany : SIENA. Nailed it!
68. D-Day craft : LST'S. Landing Ship, Tank.
69. What it's risky to build on? : SPEC
Down:
1. Haydn sobriquet : PAPA
- "Papa Haydn's dead and gone
- but his memory lingers on.
- When his mood was one of bliss
- he wrote jolly tunes like this."
3. Visual media soundtrack Grammy Award : BEST SCORE
4. Presently : AS OF NOW
5. Winning, with "on" : A ROLL
6. Med. nation : LEB. Lebanon; the only country with a tree on the flag.
7. Doozie : LULU
8. Brief summary : APERÇU. I try to keep these summaries brief, but usually I fail miserably.
9. Crook, e.g. : VIOLATOR
10. Phot. lab request : ENL. Least favorite clue/entry of the day.
11. They may be taken on "Jeopardy!" : STABS
12. British coin additive? : PENCE. Here's an old sixpence from the Queen's coronation year:
13. Chilean range : ANDES
18. Number for two : DUET
22. Highly in favor of : ALL FOR
25. Metz milk : LAIT. Metz sounds more German than French; as it happens it's only a few miles from the German border.
27. Letters with Arizona or Missouri : U.S.S.
28. Short for short? : ABBR.
29. Swing around : SLUE
31. "Wee" pours of Scotch : DRAMS. Cheers, Tin-man!
33. Mariners' home, familiarly : SAFECO. Seattle's Major League ballpark.
35. Pea variety : SUGAR SNAP
36. Apple variety : iMAC
37. Hit violently, as waves against the shore : LASH
39. Oscar-winning song immortalized by Nat King Cole : MONA LISA
40. "Mon __!" : DIEU
43. About .62 mi. : KILometer.
45. Discourse on verses : POETICS. Aristotle wrote this c. 335 BCE
47. $, for one : SYMBOL
48. Many a trucker : CB-ER
49. Causes of trembles : FEARS
50. Dwight's two-time opponent : ADLAI
51. First two-time Best Actress Oscar winner Rainer : LUISE. Crosses all the way for me.
53. Lille lasses: Abbr. : MLLES. Mademoiselles, milk and OMG today for our French lesson.
56. Pals : BUDS
58. Folklore fiend : OGRE
59. Wee part of a min. : NSEC. Nanosecond.
61. Big __ : BEN. Another excuse to post a photo from my last UK trip. Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge.
63. Brightened, with "up" : LIT.
That's it from me for today. I'm heading back to the UK tomorrow for a quick visit; to see family and eat as much curry as is humanly possible for one person without exploding. Here's a final sample from my last visit. Yum!
Steve
Annnnd ... here's the grid, circles 'n all.
