Theme: North-South Defiled - the themers all run down the grid, and the last word can be prefixed by "dirty" as the reveal much more elegantly explains:
9D. Unvarnished ... or like the ends of the answers to starred clues? : DOWN AND DIRTY
4D. *Dramatic gridiron pass : LONG BOMB. Dirty bomb. Nasty concept, this device.
20D. *Put in long hours : WORK LIKE A DOG. Dirty dog.
24D. *Shopping area loiterer : MALL RAT. Dirty rat. Cagney didn't actually say "You dirty rat", the line was "Come out and take it, you dirty yellow-bellied rat or I'll give it to you through the door" but that's something of a mouthful for a cliché.
39D. *"The Vampire Chronicles" novelist : ANNE RICE. Dirty rice. Food! Traditionally a cajun or creole dish, I had a chinese-fusion version in New York which prominently featured monkfish liver, on of those ingredients you either like ("Yum! Fishy livery stuff!") or don't ("Yeugh! Fishy livery stuff!")
Hail fellows, well met! A nice Thursday-level effort from the popular duo of Don & C.C. The reveal was my final piece of the jigsaw - I couldn't see any connection between the other four themers, and "Unvarnished" is quite an obtuse clue. Unscrupulous, nasty are the definitions that pop into my head. Eventually the crosses helped me unlock it. Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Sound check item : AMP. Does anyone ever get up to "three" at the soundcheck? All I've ever heard is "one-two, one-two".
4. Barista offering : LATTE
9. Colon pair : DOTS. Nice. My mental visuals pre-penny-drop were not pretty.
13. Alicia Keys record label : RCA. Didn't even look at this, the crosses filled it in for me.
14. Silver and gold : COLORS. Took a while. The possibilities of MEDALS and SPECIE distracted me,
15. "Now I get it" : OH, OK. Tough one to parse. I had _OH_ and couldn't "unsee" HOHO
16. Large server : URN
17. Lacking energy : ANEMIC. We toss in an unnecessary extra "a" in the UK.
18. Lean and strong : WIRY. Meet Nigel Gruff, the kicker in "The Replacements".
19. VIPs : BIGWIGS
21. Famous : OF NOTE
23. Take in : ABSORB
24. Gibbs of "The Jeffersons" : MARLA
26. Pooh pal : ROO
27. They catch a lot of waves : ANTENNAS. Nice.
31. Ailing : SICK
34. Canasta play : MELD. I've never played canasta, but with the M in place it went straight in. Not sure where I ABSORBED that word.
36. Deleted : X'D OUT. Difficult to do on a computer, not that you need to anyway. You can usestrikethoughs though.
37. Do nothing : LOLL
38. Modeling material : BALSA
40. Match.com goal : DATE
41. "Live" sign : ON AIR
43. "__: Legacy": sci-fi sequel : TRON
44. Blue-roofed restaurant chain : IHOP
45. Cosmic payback : BAD KARMA
47. "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" airer : NPR. I had NBC originally which slowed me up (or should that be "down") seeing the reveal.
49. Long-plumed fisher : EGRET
50. One of the two : EITHER
54. Photobucket alternative : PICASA. Or as an app sharer in Tijuana might say "Mi Picasa es su Picasa".
57. Ice cream brand introduced in 1866 : BREYERS. It took until 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis for someone to come up with the ice cream cone though.
58. Slugger with the most career grand slam HRs : A-ROD. Didn't hesitate. C.C. would be proud.
59. "Let's hear the story!" : TELL IT! Tried TELL ME! Was wrong.
62. Big D pro : MAV. Dallas Mavericks. The owner, Mark Cuban, is something of a maverick himself. He's a very outspoken critic of what he sees as poor officiating.
63. Helpless? : SOLO. It also crosses my mind that Hope Solo would have felt pretty helpless in the penalty shoot-out against Sweden last week. There's not much you can do when you guess one way and the kicker goes the other.
64. 1805 Beethoven premiere : EROICA. The Third symphony.
65. Egyptian snake : ASP
66. Glitch : SNAG
67. Hang : DRAPE. You can hang drapes, but you can't drape hangs.
68. Early video game letters : NES. Nintendo Entertainment System.
Down:
1. Caribbean vacation spot : ARUBA
2. Fast-food pork sandwich : McRIB.
3. Twinges : PANGS
5. Bass output : ALES. Nice clue. Bass registered the world's first trademark, the red triangle, in 1875.
6. Hiddleston who plays Loki in "Thor" : TOM. Thank you, crosses.
7. Cycle starter : TRI-
8. Motorcycle cop, perhaps : ESCORT. Had to work for this one too. ESC didn't prompt me as quickly as it should have.
10. Largest Mississippi River feeder by volume : OHIO
11. Civil wrong : TORT
12. __ terrier : SKYE
14. Giza neighbor : CAIRO. Close neighbor.
22. Show off, in a way : FLEX.
25. "As a result ... " : AND SO
28. Flood survivor : NOAH
29. Pilot, or a prefix with pilot : AUTO. Pondered this and ... oh! The Honda Pilot. Nice!
30. Escalator part : STEP
31. One who is often disorderly : SLOB
32. New Rochelle college : IONA. Nailed it, finally!
33. Dressed : CLAD
35. Words on Alice's cake : EAT ME
42. Joplin pieces : RAGS. Scott, not Janice. Cue "The Entertainer".
46. Not for kids : R-RATED
48. Mary-in-mourning sculpture : PIETA. We had this a couple of weeks ago clued differently. Handy letter sequence.
51. Stud : HE-MAN
52. Prepare to start over, perhaps : ERASE
53. Answers briefly? : RSVP'S
54. Free ticket : PASS
55. Liver nutrient : IRON
56. Pop : COLA
57. Screen signal : BLIP. This foxed me for a second until - aha! Radar!
60. Make a misstep : ERR
61. Mauna __ : LOA "Long Mountain". Not to be confused with "Wakea's Mountain" - Mauna Kea.
That about wraps it up for me today. Enjoy your Thursdays!
Steve
And heeeeeere's the grid!
9D. Unvarnished ... or like the ends of the answers to starred clues? : DOWN AND DIRTY
4D. *Dramatic gridiron pass : LONG BOMB. Dirty bomb. Nasty concept, this device.
20D. *Put in long hours : WORK LIKE A DOG. Dirty dog.
 |
| What? |
 |
39D. *"The Vampire Chronicles" novelist : ANNE RICE. Dirty rice. Food! Traditionally a cajun or creole dish, I had a chinese-fusion version in New York which prominently featured monkfish liver, on of those ingredients you either like ("Yum! Fishy livery stuff!") or don't ("Yeugh! Fishy livery stuff!")
Hail fellows, well met! A nice Thursday-level effort from the popular duo of Don & C.C. The reveal was my final piece of the jigsaw - I couldn't see any connection between the other four themers, and "Unvarnished" is quite an obtuse clue. Unscrupulous, nasty are the definitions that pop into my head. Eventually the crosses helped me unlock it. Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. Sound check item : AMP. Does anyone ever get up to "three" at the soundcheck? All I've ever heard is "one-two, one-two".
4. Barista offering : LATTE
9. Colon pair : DOTS. Nice. My mental visuals pre-penny-drop were not pretty.
13. Alicia Keys record label : RCA. Didn't even look at this, the crosses filled it in for me.
14. Silver and gold : COLORS. Took a while. The possibilities of MEDALS and SPECIE distracted me,
15. "Now I get it" : OH, OK. Tough one to parse. I had _OH_ and couldn't "unsee" HOHO
16. Large server : URN
17. Lacking energy : ANEMIC. We toss in an unnecessary extra "a" in the UK.
18. Lean and strong : WIRY. Meet Nigel Gruff, the kicker in "The Replacements".
19. VIPs : BIGWIGS
21. Famous : OF NOTE
23. Take in : ABSORB
24. Gibbs of "The Jeffersons" : MARLA
26. Pooh pal : ROO
27. They catch a lot of waves : ANTENNAS. Nice.
31. Ailing : SICK
34. Canasta play : MELD. I've never played canasta, but with the M in place it went straight in. Not sure where I ABSORBED that word.
36. Deleted : X'D OUT. Difficult to do on a computer, not that you need to anyway. You can use
37. Do nothing : LOLL
38. Modeling material : BALSA
40. Match.com goal : DATE
41. "Live" sign : ON AIR
43. "__: Legacy": sci-fi sequel : TRON
44. Blue-roofed restaurant chain : IHOP
45. Cosmic payback : BAD KARMA
47. "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!" airer : NPR. I had NBC originally which slowed me up (or should that be "down") seeing the reveal.
49. Long-plumed fisher : EGRET
50. One of the two : EITHER
54. Photobucket alternative : PICASA. Or as an app sharer in Tijuana might say "Mi Picasa es su Picasa".
57. Ice cream brand introduced in 1866 : BREYERS. It took until 1904 at the World's Fair in St. Louis for someone to come up with the ice cream cone though.
58. Slugger with the most career grand slam HRs : A-ROD. Didn't hesitate. C.C. would be proud.
59. "Let's hear the story!" : TELL IT! Tried TELL ME! Was wrong.
62. Big D pro : MAV. Dallas Mavericks. The owner, Mark Cuban, is something of a maverick himself. He's a very outspoken critic of what he sees as poor officiating.
63. Helpless? : SOLO. It also crosses my mind that Hope Solo would have felt pretty helpless in the penalty shoot-out against Sweden last week. There's not much you can do when you guess one way and the kicker goes the other.
64. 1805 Beethoven premiere : EROICA. The Third symphony.
65. Egyptian snake : ASP
66. Glitch : SNAG
67. Hang : DRAPE. You can hang drapes, but you can't drape hangs.
68. Early video game letters : NES. Nintendo Entertainment System.
Down:
1. Caribbean vacation spot : ARUBA
2. Fast-food pork sandwich : McRIB.
3. Twinges : PANGS
5. Bass output : ALES. Nice clue. Bass registered the world's first trademark, the red triangle, in 1875.
6. Hiddleston who plays Loki in "Thor" : TOM. Thank you, crosses.
7. Cycle starter : TRI-
8. Motorcycle cop, perhaps : ESCORT. Had to work for this one too. ESC didn't prompt me as quickly as it should have.
10. Largest Mississippi River feeder by volume : OHIO
11. Civil wrong : TORT
12. __ terrier : SKYE
14. Giza neighbor : CAIRO. Close neighbor.
22. Show off, in a way : FLEX.
25. "As a result ... " : AND SO
28. Flood survivor : NOAH
29. Pilot, or a prefix with pilot : AUTO. Pondered this and ... oh! The Honda Pilot. Nice!
30. Escalator part : STEP
31. One who is often disorderly : SLOB
32. New Rochelle college : IONA. Nailed it, finally!
33. Dressed : CLAD
35. Words on Alice's cake : EAT ME
42. Joplin pieces : RAGS. Scott, not Janice. Cue "The Entertainer".
46. Not for kids : R-RATED
48. Mary-in-mourning sculpture : PIETA. We had this a couple of weeks ago clued differently. Handy letter sequence.
51. Stud : HE-MAN
52. Prepare to start over, perhaps : ERASE
53. Answers briefly? : RSVP'S
54. Free ticket : PASS
55. Liver nutrient : IRON
56. Pop : COLA
57. Screen signal : BLIP. This foxed me for a second until - aha! Radar!
60. Make a misstep : ERR
61. Mauna __ : LOA "Long Mountain". Not to be confused with "Wakea's Mountain" - Mauna Kea.
That about wraps it up for me today. Enjoy your Thursdays!
Steve
And heeeeeere's the grid!
