Bruce is back and he tops JW's 4 grid spanners last week with 5, including the reveal. We see that the end of the 4 phrases are measures (each four letters) which wonderfully appear in order from INCH to MILE. With 75 squares accounted for, there was not much room for more, but we do get ENID O.K. (which was a bear to parse) AS IT IS and the lovely SWEAR WORD (how cools to sneak a swear word in the puzzle) and the entertaining BAT SIGNAL. Bruce is becoming a regular here, so I hope you get on his wavelength. Let's look more closely... here
We will begin with the end...
57A. Finishes a task, and a hint to hidden words in this puzzle's four other longest answers : GOES THE DISTANCE (15).
17A. Strapped : FEELING THE PINCH (15). Maybe in ITALY?
23A. "Carefree Highway" singer : GORDON LIGHTFOOT (15). Listen.
37A. Island on which much of "Jaws" was filmed : MARTHA'S VINEYARD (15). I grew up not far from this ISLAND.
Well, take your pick, we must go to work to solve the rest....
Across:
1. Read the riot act : BASTE. This was a very hard place to start, as I had no idea of this definition and resisted the perps.
6. Like tightrope walkers : AGILE. Did you all watch the AGT where the man was struck by the flaming arrow?
11. D-backs, on scoreboards : ARIzona.
14. Physics Nobelist Schrödinger : ERWIN. He and Neils Bohr are very popular in crosswords. Here is a great discussion of his CAT.
15. Attendance count : NOSES.
16. Soft slip-on : MOC. Like ALUM last week a word that may have gone beyond being an abbreviation.
20. Baja bear : OSA. Spanish.
21. Two piece? : DUET. Nicely clued.
22. Paycheck abbr. : FICA. Federal Insurance Contributions Act - though contribution seems a bit out of place.
28. Seasoned cookers : WOKS. Does the clue WOK for you?
29. Golfer McIlroy : RORY. Another 0 for major year...two in a row.
30. Eastern noodle : UDON. More Asian influence.
32. Clued in : AWARE.
34. What might make a ewe turn? : BAA. I LOVE, LOVE this clue.
41. Many a prof : PHD.
42. In base eight : OCTAL. Straight Latin.
43. First name in jazz : ETTA. James, not ELLA.
44. Con : ANTI.
45. Free ride : PASS.
54. "Do or do not. There is no try" speaker : YODA.
55. Hyatt competitor : OMNI. They have lots of golf courses including LA Costa in Carlsbad, California which I had the pleasure of playing many times. The caddies really helped.
56. Informal British address : GUV. Is this LINK accurate Steve? NC?
62. SEALs' org. : USN.
63. Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist : BORAT. Ali G., Borat or Bruno? ALL you need to know.
64. "... bombs bursting __" : IN AIR.
65. High pts. : MTS.
66. Bends with the breeze : SWAYS.
67. __ pitch : SALES.
Down:
1. Obscure : BEFOG.
2. Playground comeback : ARE SO. Same number of letters as AM NOT.
3. Censor's target : SWEAR WORD. Simple.
4. Up to, in ads : TIL.
5. City SSW of Wichita, KS : ENID OK.
6. Source of opera financing : ANGEL. In the earlier years they were called patrons.
7. "The Teflon Don" : GOTTI. The late mob boss, died in prison in 2002 at 62.
8. "More or less" equivalent : ISH. Ir-ish? Swed-ish? Jew-ish?
9. Casual wear biggie : LEE. I never can tell Lee from Wrangler, now I know why. Major players in US jeans include jeans companies such as Levi Strauss & Co (which owns brands like Levi’s, Dockers, Signature by Levi Strauss & Co and Denizen) and VF Corp (which owns Wrangler, Lee and Rustler brands), apparel brands such as Gap, American Eagle, Zara and H&M, and private label brands by major retailers like Wal-Mart Stores and JC Penny. Jeans world.
10. Debatable power : ESP.
11. Test that examines fetal DNA, briefly : AMNIOcentesis. The needle is enough to convince me women are stronger. My wife went through this.
12. "Fidelio" jailer : ROCCO. Beethoven's only OPERA.
13. Phased-out Apple messaging software : I CHAT. I never had any Apple products until recently and by now they switched to messenger.
18. They have their orders : NUNS. These constructors are making a habit of punny clues for nuns.
19. Questionable : IFFY.
24. "Cut that out!" : DON'T.
25. Holy __ : GRAIL. How could I resist this LINK.
26. 38-Down source : HORN. 38D. 26-Down sound : HONK. This seems a bit lazy.
27. Back into a corner, in a way : TREE.
30. One with a stay-at-home job? : UMP. Nice clue; JW and I used UMP as our fan friendly 1 across.
31. Code word : DAH. Morse code; not created by Inspector Morse.
32. Sean of "Rudy" : ASTIN. And Samwise Gamgee.
33. Penn. neighbor : W.VA.
34. Device that debuted in Detective Comics in 1942 : BAT SIGNAL. The signal first appears in Detective Comics #60, for any collectors out there.
35. Knack : ART. This is a tough way to clue this three letter fill.
36. Org. concerned with securing crowns : ADA. American Dental Association.
39. Dramatic start : ACT I. A really nicely put together clue.
40. Respectful rural response : YES'M.
44. Small power sources : AAAS.
45. Discouraging words : PANS.
46. "Given the circumstances ... " : AS IT IS. Ans so it goes.
47. Quaint words of resolve : BY GUM. By golly has never been used, by gum.
48. Place to rule : ROOST.
49. Paradises : EDENS.
50. "No more procrastinating!" : TODAY.
51. Passes over : OMITS.
52. Florida's Port St. __ : LUCIE. This may be a challenge for those who do not live or visit SoFla., as it is a CITY of about 180,000 people not known for much except being perhaps the most devastated by the real estate collapse.
53. '50s-'60s civil rights activist : EVERS. Hard to talk about this MAN and not be political, but then maybe human rights are not political?
58. "Angie Tribeca" airer : TBS. I have never watched this series from Steve Carrell, but it looks...
60. Period : ERA.
61. Santa __, California : ANA.
Is everyone adapting to Bruce's cluing? Of course since Rich edits....did any of you read the flap over at the Fiend about a NYT puzzle where after being criticized by the posters, a constructor called out Will Shortz for changing the fill and clues in that corner? And I thought the NYT was supposed to be the staid civilized place. Ah well I love this Corner, and thanks again Bruce and all of you. Lemonade out. Go USA; Michael Phelps is amazing. This is his 5th Olympics!!!!!!
