Mark is back for his eighth LAT of the year and second this month. I have not had him on a Friday since August 2015. This time we have four starter words in phrases all containing the sound o͞ot derived from the letters "UTE" and Mark then removes the "T" and uses the resulting o͞o sound to select words which will combine with the rest of the phrase to make a new phrase clued wackily. Easier to see than explain. Two are the first word, two are the last word, the only outlier is MAGIC LUTE which maintains the spelling "ute"unlike the other three. We also have no hint or reveal, so you have to 'hear' the gimmick to find the theme. We do have some fresh fill like BLOW BY, SAY BOO (BUTE?), RED CAP, DEUCES, DAYTONA, WHITNEY, ORCHARD and TIDIEST. On with the show...
20A. Number on some beer bottles? : BREW STRENGTH (12). Brute strength. Craft beer tends to be very strong.
35A. Washateria wear? : LAUNDRY SHOE (11). Laundry chute. We have garbage chutes here.
42A. Musical work played where Brits go? : LOO CONCERTO (11). Lute concerto.
59A. Smokeless chimney duct? : THE MAGIC FLUE (12). The magic flute.
Across:
1. Shot in the dark : STAB. My favorite Shot In The Dark
5. Mild expletive : DANG.
9. Contraction used with "up" : WHAT'S. Doc.
14. Confining room : CELL.
15. River originating in Manchuria : AMUR. I wonder how many remember this river from the Wednesday the 7th puzzle.
16. Assails : HAS AT.
17. Woodstock performer before Joan : ARLO. I will not repeat my comments about this performance. Joan Baez was awesome.
18. Sci-fi guru : YODA. And 47A. Sci-fi craft : POD.
19. Rodeo maker : ISUZU. I still miss Joe.
23. Make even the slightest comment : SAY BOO. I do not want to hear a word, not even Boo!
24. Hall of Famer Musial : STAN. Stan the man; I was lucky enough to have watched him and Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle and so many more.
25. Some suits, briefly : VPS.
28. Egg foo __ : YUNG. Some HISTORY.
30. Depot worker : REDCAP. Train depot; bus depot?
32. Flight regulatory org. : FAA.
38. "__ turca: allegretto": Mozart rondo : ALLA. A second helping of Mozart.
41. Floor option : TILE.
48. Exotic journey : SAFARI. Zambia.
51. Terrestrial wiggler : EFT. The clue is open, but it is the juvenile stage of a newt.
52. Storm sound : CLAP. Of thunder.
55. Jefferson bills, slangily : DEUCES. LINK.
64. Bend for a swan, maybe : PLIE.
65. Woodworking tool : FILE. Last week I had rasp.
66. Contemporary of Beethoven : WEBER. This MAN.
67. Trouser parts : LEGS.
68. Chatted with online : IM-ED.
69. Quirky : WEIRD.
70. 2015 World Series-winning manager Ned : YOST. No relation to 1960's Tiger third baseman Eddie Yost.
71. Much of the MTV generation : XERS.
Down:
2. __ firma : TERRA. The dry land on Earth. Latin.
3. Way in the back, often : ALLEY.
4. Pass easily : BLOW BY. Appropriate next to...
5. Prestigious NASCAR venue : DAYTONA.
6. Lima love : AMOR.
7. Many Renoirs : NUDES.
8. Foster __: sunglasses brand : GRANT.
9. Self-titled 1987 pop album : WHITNEY.
10. Diner concoction : HASH.
11. Phil Mickelson's alma mater: Abbr. : ASU. Arizona State University. Phil won a PGA tournament while still a student. The STORY. 25 years ago.
12. Toon devil : TAZ.
13. "The Simpsons" disco guy : STU.
21. Subject of an evil negotiation : SOUL.
22. "Dumb and Dumber" actress : GARR. No recollection of her in that movie.
25. Parental control device : V-CHIP.
26. Italian soccer great Rossi : PAOLO. This football STAR.
27. Dash datum : SPEED.
29. Tortilla chip topper, informally : GUACamole.
31. It's not observed in P.R. : DST. Daylight Savings Time.
32. Pseudo : FALSE.
33. "Half __ is ... " : A LOAF. Is better than a single croissant. Not to be confused with....
34. On high : ALOFT.
36. San Antonio-to-Dallas dir. : NNE.
37. Small craft : DORY. All you need to KNOW.
39. Picasso's here : ACA.
43. Picking site : ORCHARD.Not your nose.
44. Giza's river : NILE.
45. Like the maximum sum : TIDIEST. Odd clue/fill but we all have heard of having a tidy sum.
46. Multinational energy gp. : OPEC. Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
50. Less, when added? : SUFFIX. My favorite clue.
53. To an adequate degree : AMPLY.
54. __ diet : PALEO. A diet based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans, consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit, and excluding dairy or grain products and processed food. wiki.
56. Versifier's weather : CLIME. This is used to rhyme with time and sublime in the psalms.
57. Calculus pioneer : EULER. Do you math wizzes find Euler fun? Here is a LINK that I found amusing.
58. Origins : SEEDS. Nice clue/fill.
59. Echelon : TIER.
60. Touring jobs : GIGS.
61. "What a darling baby!" : AWW. My girls, Harper will be one year old in 12 days...amazing.
63. Cred for bringing someone home : RBI. Cred tells you this is going to be an abbreviation.
Mark is one of the constructors who does stop by so let him know what you think. He made my mind jump all over the place and slid in a few really hard combinations, but in the end it felt smooth, now if I could only think of a phrase that works with CUTE/COO. Loved the Mozart. Thanks all, Lemonade out.
Note from C.C.:
Happy
Birthday to our witty D-Otto (Tom)! Like Argyle, Tom never failed to give me quick and reliable feedback on an iffy crossword entry or clear up a confusing Podcast reference. I can't imagine where this blog would be without his and TTP's guidance a few years ago. Thanks for always being here, Tom!
