Theme: Naming Names. Five names-as-nouns entries identified by similarities in the cluing.
17A. Nerd's moniker : POINDEXTER. From "Felix the Cat", and later a character in "The Revenge of the Nerds".
25A. Detective's moniker : SHERLOCK.
39A. Traitor's moniker : JUDAS. Thirty pieces of silver was his price, according to some.
47A. Genius' moniker : EINSTEIN.
60A. Old-timer's moniker : METHUSELAH. Also a wine bottle containing 8 standard bottles, or six liters. The bottle on the floor, second from the right, is one.
Greetings! No, you haven't blinked and missed Wednesday, Jazzbumpa and I traded blogging days this week so you'll see him tomorrow. This puzzle certainly felt like a Thursday though - it took me quite some time to get going, not helped by being unfamiliar with POINDEXTER and unable to get off the WEED WACKER idea. Nice theme, some solid longer non-theme entries too, especially TATTLETALES and ARMED ESCORT in the downs.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. New England NFLers : PATS. The Patriots. And the only franchise not geographically aligned to a city or a state, but a region.
5. Workforce : STAFF
10. __ salad : TACO
14. Cornell who founded Cornell : EZRA. Who are Better than Ezra? These guys.
15. Actress Tierney : MAURA. Thank you, crosses.
16. Passionate god : AMOR. This one threw me for a loop, being neither Eros nor Cupid.
19. Unexciting : TAME
20. Actress Gabor : EVA. Along with sisters Magda and Zsa Zsa.
21. Blends : OLIOS
22. Destination for the last flight? : ATTIC. Enjoyed unraveling this one. Clever clue.
23. In the cellar : LAST. Bottom of a league table. From the attic to the cellar in one fell clue.
27. Speak to : ADDRESS
30. Michelle who was the youngest female to play in a PGA Tour event : WIE. She was the youngest person at 10 years old to play in the US Amateur, and she never wanted to stop testing herself against better and better competition. She won the US Women's Open in 2014, having graduated from Stanford while still finding time to play professional golf. Quite a role model.
31. Bubbles up : FOAMS
32. Didn't like leaving : HATED TO GO
38. Ending for marion : -ETTE
40. Gung-ho : AVID
41. Lawn-trimming tool : WEED EATER. The inventor's grandson, Mark Ballas, is a professional ballroom dancer on "Dancing with the Stars".
43. Anti-inflammatory brand : ALEVE
44. Sixth sense, initially : E.S.P.
45. Coming to a point : TAPERED
52. Bonny one : LASS
53. Captain Kirk's "final frontier" : SPACE
54. Young zebras : FOALS
56. "Gross!" : EWW
59. __ avail: fruitless : TO NO
62. Skunk cabbage feature : ODOR. Even the latin name sounds unpleasant: Symplocarpus foetidus.
63. More flimsy, as an excuse : LAMER
64. Ballet move : PLIÉ.
65. Attention getter : PSST! Checho with 55D
66. Krispy __ : KREME
67. Man, but not woman : ISLE. Lies between England and Ireland in the Irish Sea. Nigel Mansell, who won both the Formula 1 world motor racing championship and the Indy Car World Series, was a volunteer policeman on the island while he was still a racing driver and reportedly enjoyed writing speeding tickets with the comment "Who do you think you are, Me?".
Down:
1. First name in skunks : PEPE
2. Sea of __: Black Sea arm : AZOV. Tried ARAL first which slowed me down.
3. Court calendar entry : TRIAL DATE
4. __ Diego : SAN
5. Silvery food fish : SMELTS. I thought "smelt" was the plural but Webster's has both.
6. Airport waiter : TAXI
7. Dealership lot array : AUTOS
8. At risk of being slapped : FRESH
9. A long way : FAR
10. Rats : TATTLETALES
11. Former New York senator Al D'__ : AMATO
12. Word with book or opera : COMIC
13. "Clean Made Easy" vacuum brand : ORECK
18. Pill amounts : DOSES
22. Like Death Valley : ARID
24. Bodyguard, typically : ARMED ESCORT. I had a bodyguard once on a business trip to Mexico City back in the '90s when kidnapping was becoming a serious problem. The guy was armed to the teeth.
26. Lambs' moms : EWES
27. Not many : A FEW
28. Indulge, with "on" : DOTE
29. Sealed tight : SHUT
33. Summer cooler : ADE
34. Bakery offering : TART
35. Presents too aggressively : OVERSELLS
36. Cave in : GIVE
37. Pigged out (on), briefly : O.D.'ED. I'm not a big fan of this word, I don't even know how to punctuate it.
39. Taunting remark : JAPE. Leaning moment. I know jape as a prank, I didn't know it as a taunt.
42. Italian noble family : ESTE. Thank you, crosses. Not familiar with this family, although they date back to 996 so they've been around for long enough.
43. Take __: decline to participate : A PASS
46. Enticement : ALLURE
47. Prevent, in legalese : ESTOP. Yuk. Thumper and move on.
48. Apple players : IPODS
49. Compact 48-Down : NANOS. My first iPod was a Shuttle - even more compact, it didn't even have a display.
50. "My concern is ... " : I FEAR
51. "You've got the wrong person!" : NOT ME!
55. Attention getter : AHEM
57. Cry out loud : WAIL
58. "Look ma, no hands!" : WHEE. Followed by "Look ma, no teeth".
60. March on Washington monogram : M.L.K.
61. Prefix with gram : EPI-
17A. Nerd's moniker : POINDEXTER. From "Felix the Cat", and later a character in "The Revenge of the Nerds".
25A. Detective's moniker : SHERLOCK.
"A man should keep his little brain attic stocked with all the furniture that he is likely to use, and the rest he can put away in the lumber-room of his library where he can get it if he wants."
The Five Orange Pips
39A. Traitor's moniker : JUDAS. Thirty pieces of silver was his price, according to some.
47A. Genius' moniker : EINSTEIN.
"The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits".
60A. Old-timer's moniker : METHUSELAH. Also a wine bottle containing 8 standard bottles, or six liters. The bottle on the floor, second from the right, is one.
Greetings! No, you haven't blinked and missed Wednesday, Jazzbumpa and I traded blogging days this week so you'll see him tomorrow. This puzzle certainly felt like a Thursday though - it took me quite some time to get going, not helped by being unfamiliar with POINDEXTER and unable to get off the WEED WACKER idea. Nice theme, some solid longer non-theme entries too, especially TATTLETALES and ARMED ESCORT in the downs.
Let's see what else we've got:
Across:
1. New England NFLers : PATS. The Patriots. And the only franchise not geographically aligned to a city or a state, but a region.
5. Workforce : STAFF
10. __ salad : TACO
14. Cornell who founded Cornell : EZRA. Who are Better than Ezra? These guys.
15. Actress Tierney : MAURA. Thank you, crosses.
16. Passionate god : AMOR. This one threw me for a loop, being neither Eros nor Cupid.
19. Unexciting : TAME
20. Actress Gabor : EVA. Along with sisters Magda and Zsa Zsa.
21. Blends : OLIOS
22. Destination for the last flight? : ATTIC. Enjoyed unraveling this one. Clever clue.
23. In the cellar : LAST. Bottom of a league table. From the attic to the cellar in one fell clue.
27. Speak to : ADDRESS
30. Michelle who was the youngest female to play in a PGA Tour event : WIE. She was the youngest person at 10 years old to play in the US Amateur, and she never wanted to stop testing herself against better and better competition. She won the US Women's Open in 2014, having graduated from Stanford while still finding time to play professional golf. Quite a role model.
31. Bubbles up : FOAMS
32. Didn't like leaving : HATED TO GO
38. Ending for marion : -ETTE
40. Gung-ho : AVID
41. Lawn-trimming tool : WEED EATER. The inventor's grandson, Mark Ballas, is a professional ballroom dancer on "Dancing with the Stars".
43. Anti-inflammatory brand : ALEVE
44. Sixth sense, initially : E.S.P.
45. Coming to a point : TAPERED
52. Bonny one : LASS
53. Captain Kirk's "final frontier" : SPACE
54. Young zebras : FOALS
56. "Gross!" : EWW
59. __ avail: fruitless : TO NO
62. Skunk cabbage feature : ODOR. Even the latin name sounds unpleasant: Symplocarpus foetidus.
63. More flimsy, as an excuse : LAMER
64. Ballet move : PLIÉ.
65. Attention getter : PSST! Checho with 55D
66. Krispy __ : KREME
67. Man, but not woman : ISLE. Lies between England and Ireland in the Irish Sea. Nigel Mansell, who won both the Formula 1 world motor racing championship and the Indy Car World Series, was a volunteer policeman on the island while he was still a racing driver and reportedly enjoyed writing speeding tickets with the comment "Who do you think you are, Me?".
Down:
1. First name in skunks : PEPE
2. Sea of __: Black Sea arm : AZOV. Tried ARAL first which slowed me down.
3. Court calendar entry : TRIAL DATE
4. __ Diego : SAN
5. Silvery food fish : SMELTS. I thought "smelt" was the plural but Webster's has both.
6. Airport waiter : TAXI
7. Dealership lot array : AUTOS
8. At risk of being slapped : FRESH
9. A long way : FAR
10. Rats : TATTLETALES
11. Former New York senator Al D'__ : AMATO
12. Word with book or opera : COMIC
13. "Clean Made Easy" vacuum brand : ORECK
18. Pill amounts : DOSES
22. Like Death Valley : ARID
24. Bodyguard, typically : ARMED ESCORT. I had a bodyguard once on a business trip to Mexico City back in the '90s when kidnapping was becoming a serious problem. The guy was armed to the teeth.
26. Lambs' moms : EWES
27. Not many : A FEW
28. Indulge, with "on" : DOTE
29. Sealed tight : SHUT
33. Summer cooler : ADE
34. Bakery offering : TART
35. Presents too aggressively : OVERSELLS
36. Cave in : GIVE
37. Pigged out (on), briefly : O.D.'ED. I'm not a big fan of this word, I don't even know how to punctuate it.
39. Taunting remark : JAPE. Leaning moment. I know jape as a prank, I didn't know it as a taunt.
42. Italian noble family : ESTE. Thank you, crosses. Not familiar with this family, although they date back to 996 so they've been around for long enough.
43. Take __: decline to participate : A PASS
46. Enticement : ALLURE
47. Prevent, in legalese : ESTOP. Yuk. Thumper and move on.
48. Apple players : IPODS
49. Compact 48-Down : NANOS. My first iPod was a Shuttle - even more compact, it didn't even have a display.
50. "My concern is ... " : I FEAR
51. "You've got the wrong person!" : NOT ME!
55. Attention getter : AHEM
57. Cry out loud : WAIL
58. "Look ma, no hands!" : WHEE. Followed by "Look ma, no teeth".
60. March on Washington monogram : M.L.K.
61. Prefix with gram : EPI-
"I don't believe in astrology. I'm a Sagittarius and we're very skeptical."—Arthur
C. Clarke
I think that about does it for me today. See you back in my regular slot next week!
Steve
