Theme: "SC-ads" - The letters "SC" are added to a plural noun and clued punningly.
17A. What rattlers that never bask in the sun may get? : PALE SCALES. Pale Ales. Plenty of rattlesnakes around the hiking trails in the Hollywood Hills; you need to be careful.
27A. Strikebreakers at a brewery? : SIX-PACK SCABS. Six-pack abs. Try as I did, I never got a six-pack. Something about my body type, according to one trainer.
45A. What berets cover? : FRENCH SCALPS. French Alps. Cute clue. There are alpine regions in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany. I never skied in Germany, but I have skied the other four countries, quite often two on the same day.
60A. Angry looks in the hayloft? : BARN SCOWLS. Barn Owls. I heard an owl close to my home a couple of days ago. Never heard one in LA before.
Nice theme from Jerome; very consistent in adding the letters to the start of the second word of the original noun. The resulting entry and the clues are fun. A good, solid feel to the rest of the fill too. Let's see what jumps out:
Across:
1. Hindu noble : RAJA. RANI for his wife.
5. Like pastrami : CURED. Food! Lovely stuff. I've got the process nailed now. It only takes 18 days to make it.
10. Rum cake : BABA. Two Thursdays in a row for this dessert.
14. "O no! it is an __-fixed mark ... ": Shak. : EVER. The second quatrain of sonnet 116 where the Bard describes what "love" is:
15. "SNL" alum Cheri : OTERI
16. Restaurant in the same corporate group as Applebee's : IHOP
19. Pool element : GENE. Nice clue.
20. Vegetable __ : OIL. I use coconut oil for general cooking, canola oil for making mayonnaise, olive oil for tomato-based pasta sauces.
21. Sore : ACHY
22. Oaf : LUMMOX. Lovely word, You can completely visualize a person who is a lummox.
24. Careless : SLOPPY
26. "This __ test" : IS A
34. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator : DAVID. Crosses for me. Larry David. Talented chap, he was the co-creator of "Seinfeld".
37. Different : OTHER
38. By way of : VIA
39. Controversial sightings : UFOS
40. Demonstrators, often : ANTIS
41. Grammy category : FOLK. Had the "K" and jumped the gun with ROCK. Didn't take long to correct it though. Bruce Springsteen won Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2010 for "The Ghost of Tom Joad" - not the first name that springs to mind in the "Folk" genre.
42. Budgetary waste : FAT
43. Allen who managed the Beatles and Stones : KLEIN. A controversial figure because of sometimes shady business practices. Here's Mick & Co being ultra-cool in 1968.
44. Farmyard noises : OINKS
48. Wee battery : AAA
49. Odorless gas : ETHANE. Certainly looks odorless at first glance, this hydrocarbon.
53. Declare : AFFIRM
56. Comic actor Jacques : TATI. His film "Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot", released in 1953, is still pretty hilarious today.
58. Words in praiseful titles : TO A Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" for example.
59. Track component : RAIL
63. Military wind : FIFE. And Drums.
64. African herbivore : RHINO
65. Lot : FATE
66. Lost traction : SLID
67. Quaker in the forest : ASPEN
68. Adele's brother : FRED. The Astaires, not the singer. At least I don't think she's got a brother named Fred.
Down:
1. They get carried away : REPOS
2. Be of use to : AVAIL
3. Pudding snack cup maker : JELLO
4. It may come after you : ARE. I am, you are, he is.
5. Bone below the sacrum : COCCYX. Love this word.
6. State on the Colorado Plateau : UTAH
7. Fall back (on) : RELY
8. Before, in verse : 'ERE
9. Doesn't care for : DISLIKES
10. Lunch order with "special sauce" : BIG MAC. Just lunch? You couldn't get a burger for breakfast at McDonald's because the grills were at a lower temperature to cook the McMuffins. However, when the kitchen changed over from breakfast to lunch at 10:30, you could order a secret menu item - the "Mc10:35" which is a combination Egg McMuffin and McDouble burger. (N.B. Just because you could order it doesn't mean that you should).
11. "May I speak?" : AHEM
12. Pro __ : BONO. I'm pro Bono - I'm a big U2 fan. I just got tickets for the Joshua Tree Tour concert at the Rose Bowl in May.
13. High point : APEX
18. Flavorful : SAPID. Great word. Latin sapidus, tasty.
23. Cold War letters : U.S.S.R.
25. Trident-shaped letters : PSIS. These guys - one uppercase, one lowercase: Ψψ
28. Johnnycakes : PONES. Learning moment for me - I'd never heard of either. A corn pone is a Johnnycake - who knew?
29. Top story : ATTIC. This always takes me a couple of beats to see because in England the building level is a "storey", with an "e".
30. Fine __ : CHINA
31. Lady's company? : AVON. Ding Dong! Avon Calling! Do they sell cosmetics door-to-door any more?
32. Take to the cleaners : BILK
33. Fifth Avenue store : SAKS
34. Keister : DUFF
35. Miles off : AFAR
36. Suffrage, with "the" : VOTE
40. Moorish palace of southern Spain : ALHAMBRA. Beautiful building and gardens in Grenada.
41. Sneakily seek, with "for" : FISH
43. Dodge Aries, e.g. : K-CAR. This seems to be cropping up a lot recently. We had it last Thursday too.
44. Eye-related : OPTIC
46. Aced : NAILED. Crossword solver's triumph. Nailed it!
47. Shows one's feelings : LETS ON
50. Battling : AT WAR
51. "48 HRS." co-star : NOLTE. Nick.
52. Moved carefully : EASED
53. Stray sounds? : ARFS. Sounds from the dog pound.
54. Epic __ : FAIL. Popular Internet meme. No marks for grammar, though,
55. Name for a poodle : FIFI.
56. Vacation plan : TRIP. Because "itinerary" doesn't fit.
57. Diarist Frank : ANNE
61. "I get it" sounds : AHS
62. Not quite right : OFF. Much less serious than an epic fail.
I think that just about wraps it up. Here's the grid!
Steve
Note from C.C.:
Dudley went to Wellesley, MA for business yesterday. He said "Next door is none other than Natick, so along the way, I paused for a tourist photo".
So next time you're stumped by a tough crossing, think of Dudley!
17A. What rattlers that never bask in the sun may get? : PALE SCALES. Pale Ales. Plenty of rattlesnakes around the hiking trails in the Hollywood Hills; you need to be careful.
27A. Strikebreakers at a brewery? : SIX-PACK SCABS. Six-pack abs. Try as I did, I never got a six-pack. Something about my body type, according to one trainer.
45A. What berets cover? : FRENCH SCALPS. French Alps. Cute clue. There are alpine regions in France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany. I never skied in Germany, but I have skied the other four countries, quite often two on the same day.
 |
| 'Allo 'allo |
60A. Angry looks in the hayloft? : BARN SCOWLS. Barn Owls. I heard an owl close to my home a couple of days ago. Never heard one in LA before.
Nice theme from Jerome; very consistent in adding the letters to the start of the second word of the original noun. The resulting entry and the clues are fun. A good, solid feel to the rest of the fill too. Let's see what jumps out:
Across:
1. Hindu noble : RAJA. RANI for his wife.
5. Like pastrami : CURED. Food! Lovely stuff. I've got the process nailed now. It only takes 18 days to make it.
10. Rum cake : BABA. Two Thursdays in a row for this dessert.
14. "O no! it is an __-fixed mark ... ": Shak. : EVER. The second quatrain of sonnet 116 where the Bard describes what "love" is:
O, no! it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
15. "SNL" alum Cheri : OTERI
16. Restaurant in the same corporate group as Applebee's : IHOP
19. Pool element : GENE. Nice clue.
20. Vegetable __ : OIL. I use coconut oil for general cooking, canola oil for making mayonnaise, olive oil for tomato-based pasta sauces.
21. Sore : ACHY
22. Oaf : LUMMOX. Lovely word, You can completely visualize a person who is a lummox.
24. Careless : SLOPPY
26. "This __ test" : IS A
34. "Curb Your Enthusiasm" creator : DAVID. Crosses for me. Larry David. Talented chap, he was the co-creator of "Seinfeld".
37. Different : OTHER
38. By way of : VIA
39. Controversial sightings : UFOS
40. Demonstrators, often : ANTIS
41. Grammy category : FOLK. Had the "K" and jumped the gun with ROCK. Didn't take long to correct it though. Bruce Springsteen won Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2010 for "The Ghost of Tom Joad" - not the first name that springs to mind in the "Folk" genre.
42. Budgetary waste : FAT
43. Allen who managed the Beatles and Stones : KLEIN. A controversial figure because of sometimes shady business practices. Here's Mick & Co being ultra-cool in 1968.
44. Farmyard noises : OINKS
48. Wee battery : AAA
49. Odorless gas : ETHANE. Certainly looks odorless at first glance, this hydrocarbon.
53. Declare : AFFIRM
56. Comic actor Jacques : TATI. His film "Les vacances de Monsieur Hulot", released in 1953, is still pretty hilarious today.
58. Words in praiseful titles : TO A Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" for example.
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
59. Track component : RAIL
63. Military wind : FIFE. And Drums.
64. African herbivore : RHINO
65. Lot : FATE
66. Lost traction : SLID
67. Quaker in the forest : ASPEN
68. Adele's brother : FRED. The Astaires, not the singer. At least I don't think she's got a brother named Fred.
Down:
1. They get carried away : REPOS
2. Be of use to : AVAIL
3. Pudding snack cup maker : JELLO
4. It may come after you : ARE. I am, you are, he is.
5. Bone below the sacrum : COCCYX. Love this word.
6. State on the Colorado Plateau : UTAH
7. Fall back (on) : RELY
8. Before, in verse : 'ERE
9. Doesn't care for : DISLIKES
10. Lunch order with "special sauce" : BIG MAC. Just lunch? You couldn't get a burger for breakfast at McDonald's because the grills were at a lower temperature to cook the McMuffins. However, when the kitchen changed over from breakfast to lunch at 10:30, you could order a secret menu item - the "Mc10:35" which is a combination Egg McMuffin and McDouble burger. (N.B. Just because you could order it doesn't mean that you should).
11. "May I speak?" : AHEM
12. Pro __ : BONO. I'm pro Bono - I'm a big U2 fan. I just got tickets for the Joshua Tree Tour concert at the Rose Bowl in May.
13. High point : APEX
18. Flavorful : SAPID. Great word. Latin sapidus, tasty.
23. Cold War letters : U.S.S.R.
25. Trident-shaped letters : PSIS. These guys - one uppercase, one lowercase: Ψψ
28. Johnnycakes : PONES. Learning moment for me - I'd never heard of either. A corn pone is a Johnnycake - who knew?
29. Top story : ATTIC. This always takes me a couple of beats to see because in England the building level is a "storey", with an "e".
30. Fine __ : CHINA
31. Lady's company? : AVON. Ding Dong! Avon Calling! Do they sell cosmetics door-to-door any more?
32. Take to the cleaners : BILK
33. Fifth Avenue store : SAKS
34. Keister : DUFF
35. Miles off : AFAR
36. Suffrage, with "the" : VOTE
40. Moorish palace of southern Spain : ALHAMBRA. Beautiful building and gardens in Grenada.
41. Sneakily seek, with "for" : FISH
43. Dodge Aries, e.g. : K-CAR. This seems to be cropping up a lot recently. We had it last Thursday too.
44. Eye-related : OPTIC
46. Aced : NAILED. Crossword solver's triumph. Nailed it!
47. Shows one's feelings : LETS ON
50. Battling : AT WAR
51. "48 HRS." co-star : NOLTE. Nick.
52. Moved carefully : EASED
53. Stray sounds? : ARFS. Sounds from the dog pound.
54. Epic __ : FAIL. Popular Internet meme. No marks for grammar, though,
55. Name for a poodle : FIFI.
56. Vacation plan : TRIP. Because "itinerary" doesn't fit.
57. Diarist Frank : ANNE
61. "I get it" sounds : AHS
62. Not quite right : OFF. Much less serious than an epic fail.
I think that just about wraps it up. Here's the grid!
Steve
Note from C.C.:
Dudley went to Wellesley, MA for business yesterday. He said "Next door is none other than Natick, so along the way, I paused for a tourist photo".
So next time you're stumped by a tough crossing, think of Dudley!
