JW is back and it seems almost as if he and Mark McClain collaborated on the last two offerings. Instead of removing a "T" like we did last week, we add an "M" to each phrase to create a new and entertaining entry. 1/3/5 have the M added at the end, with a complete change in spelling. 2/4 add the M before a final E. The Ms also change all five vowels, E, O, U, I(Y) and A. Using each and every vowel is a cool addition. The rest is vintage JW with ARCADIA, DAEMONS, SPACIER, SINATRA, YOU HEAR ME, WORK FORCE, TOM SWIFTY, I THINK NOT, FOREIGN MAIL, SCIENCE SHOW all fun longish fill. With so many spaces filled by the theme and the long fill, there are some 3/4 letter fillers but all in all a fun Friday.
27A. Comprehensive text on mints? : TIC TAC TOME (10). Tic tac toe. The Xs and Os GAME.
LINK before they found Kelly Harmon.
37A. Reaction to Bugs' continued evasiveness? : ELMER'S GLOOM (11). Elmer's Glue. Poor Elmer Fudd, poor COW. Which leads perfectly to...
48A. How a snail moves? : ON THE SLIME (10). On the sly. LINK.
56A. "I plotted against Caesar completely on my own!"? : CASSIUS' CLAIM (12). Cassius Clay. JW slips a little hint of Shakespeare within a Muhammad Ali reference
1. Out of practice : RUSTY. I like this clue/fill but it actually took me a moment, which suggests that maybe I am....
6. Blue stone : LAPIS. I always think of Lapis Lazuli.
14. Casual opening : INTRO. I was looking for a prefix for casual all too long.
15. Saudi neighbor : OMANI.
16. Part of un giorno : ORA. Italian for a day and an hour.
17. Crayfish habitat : BAYOU. A CSO to all of our Louisiana contingent.
18. Employees : WORK FORCE.
22. Newspaper supporters : ADS. A tricky way to clue a simple one- ads do pay for the newspaper to exist, but...
25. LAX stat : ETA.
26. "You got me there" : SO I DO. This is a bit of confusion for me, though it turns out ok.
So do I is simply "I agree", or "I feel exactly the same" (me too).
"So I do" can mean several similar things. It is a way of agreeing about something you did not realize, as in "well, how about that, what you say is true." (meaning "I do in fact do that, what you say). For example- "Joe Isuzu, you raise your eyebrow when you are lying." Joe responds, "So I do; I never realized that before."
.
It also is a way of agreeing with something fairly obvious, that you have known for some time. "Joe, you raise your eyebrow when you are lying." "So I do (yes, and you are just noticing that?)"
32. Card game : GIN. I have played many hours, including knock gin and all the rummy cousins.
33. Certain cross-country traveler : SKIER. Hey marti.
34. Crane's construction : NEST. Tricky, the bird not the heavy equipment.
36. "One Mic" rapper : NAS. I will NOT link this song.
41. Common ID : SSN.
43. Soaps actress Rylan : EMME. This diminutive actress appears on soaps mostly and changed her name legally from Marcy.
44. Some kissing sounds : MWAHS. Back at you. I am sure this was the work of the cell phone generation.
47. Snap : PIC.
51. Lend __ : AN EAR. Friends, Romans....
54. "That's so cute!" : AWW. Two weeks in a row. Did not help the Dolphins.
55. Brine-cured delicacy : LOX. When I was a kid, there was LOX (salty) and Nova, not salty.Now I know Why.
61. "Doubtful" : I THINK NOT. A classic JW multi-word fill.
62. Be enamored of : FANCY. I can almost hear this in a British accent.
66. Relative of -ista : ERO. Spanish that has invaded US speak. LINK.
67. View from the Eiffel Tower : SEINE.
69. Cold and wet : RAW. The night was...
70. Fragrant compound : ESTER. Not Esther Lessner...oh the other ONE.
71. Quite a while : YEARS.
Down:
1. Kid : RIB. I was slow getting this and 1-across, sad; especially for a kidder like me.
2. A, in Acapulco : UNA.
3. Mess metaphor : STY. Rhymes with Sly.
4. Canter cousin : TROT. Many kinds of GAITS for horses. 49D. Bit of equestrian gear : HALTER.
5. "Am I clear?" : YOU HEAR ME? Another classic JW multi-word fill; words a child does not want to hear from a parent.
6. Dieter's choice : LOW FAT. There are high fat diets as well.
7. Milwaukee : mine :: Marseilles : __ : A MOI. Just French.
8. Last of three Catherines : PARR. 37.5% of Henry VIII wives.
9. Calligrapher's array : INKS.
10. Searches (through) : SIFTS. Even works for emails.
11. Philatelist's source : FOREIGN MAIL. It was always so exciting to get a letter from a foreign country, and look at the stamp.
12. Peloponnesian region : ARCADIA. A reference to both old and new GREECE. Next to....
13. Nature spirits of Greek myth : DAEMONS. BZZZT! That is the Latin term for the GREEK. This is like cluing JUPITER as a Greek god.
19. Plains tribe : OTO.
21. List substitute: Abbr. : ETC.
22. Cadillac model : ATS. A car- whoopee!
23. Hägar creator Browne : DIK. Gone 27 years, his son Chris now produces the strip.
28. Invoice heading no. : TEL.
29. Initiation : ONSET.
30. Ryan of "Sleepless in Seattle" : MEG. Another victim of plastic surgery.
31. Night sch. staple : ESL. It helped Oo and I become a couple.
35. Bit of adverbial wordplay : TOM SWIFTY. "I need a pencil sharpener," said Tom bluntly.
38. Confessional music genre : EMO.
39. LBJ's successor : RMN. Tricky Dicky.
40. Real head-turner in the animal kingdom : OWL.
41. Deeper into la-la land : SPACIER.
42. "From Here to Eternity" Oscar winner : SINATRA.
45. Coverage-providing org. : HMO.
46. __ symbol : SEX. Brigitte Bardot, Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable, Paul Newman...who are they now: Brangelina? Mr. and Mrs. Clooney? Link your favorites.
50. __ Beach, Hawaii, home of the 2005 Little League World Series champs : EWA. I can sense some serious grumbling about this fill unless you all know Hawaii much better than I do. It was filled before I got here, but this is obscure. How about, Adam and Ewa?
52. "__ suspected!" : AS I.
53. Salon procedure : RINSE. As a child when my grandmother would go to the beauty parlor for a rinse and set, I though 'how stupid' it was, since we had a perfectly serviceable sink and shower. I did not know about THIS.
57. Hawaiian strings : UKES. More Hawaii.
58. Agitated state : SNIT. I hope no reader got in a snit over any of the fill.
59. Pothole warning : CONE. Or barrels? ORANGE.
60. Farm female : MARE.
63. Org. assisting museums : NEA. I always get this wrong.
64. Amtrak unit : CAR. How simple.
65. QB's stat : YDS.
Well, fall has fallen, I get home after dark and another Jeffrey Wechsler is in the record books. It fit together nicely and I had a good time unraveling the mysteries and picking the links.. You all have a great weekend. Lemonade out.
