TITLE: A GOOD BEGINNING. In Ron's (aka Jazzbumpa) and OUR FAIR LADY C.C.'s fun puzzle the word FAIR can precede each of the words in their fills for starred clues and generate another phrase.
Here's the grid that shows Ron and C.C. had two horizontal fills and three vertical fills.
This device and fun cluing/fill provide some respite on this First Day of Winter or Winter Solstice which has the fewest hours of daylight north of the equator. The North Pole has reached its maximum tilt away from the Sun but remember, from now on the hours of daylight get longer as we march on to Spring from here.
Let's take a look at the fun theme fill and the phrases Ron and C.C. gave us in this more than FAIR exercise:
6. *"I'd like a hand" : DEAL ME IN - FAIR DEAL Truman's post WWII policy that had mixed results
17. *Exchange insults : TRADE BARBS - FAIR TRADE coffee, certified by Fair Trade USA
11. *Pretend to be out : PLAY POSSUM - FAIR PLAY - One organization he worked for in earnest
27. *Go-getter : BALL OF FIRE - A call of FAIR BALL after a wonderful jete!
...and the reveal
39. Open to attack, and based on the starts of the answers to starred clues, what this puzzle is : FAIR GAME - She never said, "I want to be alone". She said, "I want to be left alone."
Now let's use our fewest hours of sunlight wisely and see what else C.C. and Ron have for us.
Across
1. Herbal emanation : AROMA - Does FAIR TRADE coffee have a better AROMA?
6. Small valley : DELL - I know this farmer...
10. Inconsequential quarrel : SPAT
14. Ring unit : CARAT
15. Website with a Collectibles & Art section : E-BAY - $25,000? Really?
16. "Dark Angel" actress Jessica : ALBA
19. Misses : GALS
20. Long fish : EEL
21. Grief : DOLOR - Produced Doh' ler
22. Biller, eventually : PAYEE
23. Thailand's previous name : SIAM - The Margaret Landon book that inspired the play by Rodgers and Hammerstein
24. Sounding shocked : AGASP
26. "Tap the app, get a ride" company : UBER - An Omaha UBER driver took a lady to Denver for $877.61 two months ago
28. "¿Cómo __?" : ESTAS - "How are you?" Answer - "Muy bien. ¿Y tú?" (Very good. And you?)
30. Cockney's wish? : OPE
33. "Get a move on!" : SNAP TO IT
35. Montreal brewery founded in 1786 : MOLSON
37. 1953 Leslie Caron film : LILI
38. Chaotic mess : SNAFU - There are obscene and sanitized versions of this acronym
41. Words after a long delay : AT LAST - Other versions are just a pale reflection
43. Good news for borrowers : RATE CUTS
45. Former Prizm maker : GEO
46. Cola with emoji bottle labels : PEPSI
49. Indigenous plant life : FLORA
51. Is sorry about : RUES - Red Sox fans RUED the day Boston sold The Babe to the hated Yankees
53. Not suitable : UNFIT
55. Formal wear at the Forum : TOGAS
57. Likely : APT
60. Hurt : PAIN
63. Throw caution to the wind : DARE - We hear his Charlie Brown Christmas music a lot this time of year but this is my favorite Vince Guaraldi song
64. Mixed martial artist Holly : HOLM If you DARE to fight Holly HOLM, you're APT to feel a lot of PAIN
65. Aptly named novelist : READE
66. Washington bills : ONES - The mint has quit making the $1 coin since the Washington ONES remain much more popular
67. Word in a threat : ELSE
68. Spooky : EERIE
Down
1. Entr'__ : ACTE - Intermission for The Agony And The Ecstasy
2. Ruth's Chris request : RARE
3. Type of exam : ORAL
4. Magazine with Don Martin cartoons : MAD - Where all my paper route money went and where my sarcasm was nurtured.
5. Was humbled : ATE DIRT
7. River of Spain : EBRO
9. Lille lily : LYS
12. Up to the task : ABLE
13. Stun, in a way : TASE
18. __ constrictor : BOA and 8. Test rodent : LAB RAT - Dinner for our 12' BOA at school
22. El __, Texas : PASO
23. Old photo tint : SEPIA
25. Entire spectrum : GAMUT - Of Katherine Hepburn, Dorothy Parker wrote, "She delivered a striking performance that ran the GAMUT of emotions, from A to B."
26. Join together : UNITE
29. Marquee listings : STARS - They knew the pecking order
31. Kilmer and Keats : POETS
32. Doesn't continue : ENDS
33. Smelting waste : SLAG
34. Convection oven brand : OSTER
36. Indiana Jones' creator : LUCAS - Amy - "Indiana Jones has no effect on the outcome of the movie, Sheldon. It would have turned out the same with or without him."
42. Stereotypical dog's name : SPOT - SHEP? Not so much.
44. Overgrown lot, e.g. : EYESORE
47. Security group : PATROL
50. Part of 52-Down : LINES and 52. Chi.-based flier : UAL - Yup!
53. French twist, for one : UPDO
54. Leavened flatbread : NAAN
56. Some museum art : OILS
57. Miles off : AFAR
58. Prefix with cure : PEDI - For those of us who do our own:
59. Palm or beech : TREE
61. Article often ignored in alphabetizing : THE
62. Service charge : FEE
Lets now hear your FAIR-MINDED comments:
