Today we have our third LAT puzzle from Alex who had his debut here in NOVEMBER and this month he had his NYT debut (2-2-17) and WSJ (2-4-17). I have read his constructor notes for the NYT, LINK, but he gave no personal information. He did show an incredible amount of work and attention to his creative process. My research suggests he is an attorney in California working as in house counsel specializing in intellectual property. I guess words are his business and his pleasure.
For someone new to creating puzzles, he includes lots of fresh fill such as HALOGEN, OCARINA, MAGELLAN, EQUALING, SHOT CLOCK, BERING SEA, NEAT AS A PIN and ATTENDANCE
The theme is deceptively straight forward as the clue continuity of each being a play by Shakespeare leaves the solver only needing to find a literal definition of the title.
18A. "As You Like It"? : ACCORDING TO TASTE (15). Or as Splynter would say, "chacun à son goût."
28A. "Hamlet"? : SMALL VILLAGE (12). I think of the Pied Piper.
47A. "Twelfth Night"? : JANUARY FIFTH (12). This is outlier, as this play deals with January 5 frivolity and the other fill has nothing to do with the play..
60A. "A Midsummer Night's Dream"? : AIR COOLING SYSTEM (15).This was the hardest for me but the perps got me in the right direction.
Across:
1. New : FRESH. A nice way to begin, making us all happy.
6. Word on a movie ticket : ADMIT.
11. Great white cousin : MAKO. You need to be up on your SHARKS.
15. Like a gymnast : LITHE. Hard to find anything that is not inappropriate.
16. In perfect order : NEAT AS A PIN. An old timey phrase.
20. Thai currency : BAHT. Married to a Thai woman. this is a complete gimme. They are currently about 35 to a dollar.
21. "Night" author Wiesel : ELIE. A survivor and a man to admire. LINK. He died last year.
22. Summertime treats : ICEES.
23. Berkeley sch. : CAL. An abbreviation clue begets an abbreviation fill. I beleive this is Alex's Law School Alma Mater..
25. Moby-Dick, e.g. : ALBINO. The white whale! Sharks and whales-cool.
32. Bing provider : MSN. Part of the Microsoft family.
35. Fluorine or chlorine : HALOGEN. The dictionary tells us any of the elements fluorine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine, occupying group VIIA (17) of the periodic table.
36. Santa __ : ANA.
37. State tie of New Mexico : BOLO.
38. Name on the cover of "Fear of Flying" : ERICA. The BOOK. It is the Fifty Shades of Gray of my generation.
39. __ shui : FENG. Also popularized in he 70s.41. Fix, as a road : RE-TAR.
42. Bill : BEAK. Bird.
43. Web help source : FAQ.
44. Simple wind : OCARINA.
46. Animal in some fables : ASS.
49. What a round increases : BAR TAB. Fun clue, very Friday.
50. Vied (for) : RAN.
51. Diarist Nin : ANAIS. Her name assures her crossword immortality.
54. Island festivity : LUAU.
56. Great Sphinx site : GIZA.
64. It's taken in schools : ATTENDANCE. More good clue/fill.
65. Take care of : SEE TO. It always reminds me of Jean Luc.66. Go slowly : SEEP.
67. Some expirations : SIGHS. A $20.00 word as the clue.
68. High priests : LAMAS.
Down:
1. Lipo target : FLAB.
2. Costa __ : RICA.
3. Drawing toy in "Toy Story" : ETCH.
4. One keeping track of court proceedings? : SHOT CLOCK. Excellent deception, I was listening to a basketball game on the TV in the other room, otherwise this might have been too hard.
5. 2013 Spike Jonze movie : HER. I enjoyed the film. And the parody:
6. Deep blue : ANIL.
7. Stage of grief : DENIAL.
8. Explorer who named the Pacific Ocean : MAGELLAN. Read all about it. LINK.
9. Tech sch. that filed for bankruptcy in 2016 : ITT. ITT Technical Institute was a for-profit technical institute with approximately 130 campuses in 38 states of the United States. All ITT Tech campuses were closed as of September 6, 2016, and on September 16, 2016, ITT Tech filed for bankruptcy. Wikipedia. Is there more to the STORY?
10. Eastern way : TAO. Last week Yao.
11. Collision repair franchise : MAACO.
12. Alcove near the chancel : APSE.
13. Tool in a legendary electricity experiment : KITE. An interesting Ben Franklin reference.
14. Singles : ONES.
17. "Goosebumps" series author : STINE. R.L., he had a cameo in the movie.
19. Dig : DELVE.
24. Simple marine plant : ALGA.
26. City on the Penobscot River : BANGOR. A CSO to Hahtoolah - our quotation queen.
27. Food chain letters : IGA. Very popular in rural Alabama and Georgia this was founded in the United States as the Independent Grocers Alliance.
28. Biblical queendom : SHEBA. All perps and much confusion. .
29. Chincoteague females : MARES. My LEARNING moment.
30. Jennifer Garner spy series : ALIAS.
31. Swaddled one : INFANT.
32. Theme : MOTIF. Cool, next puzzle idea I have I will think of it as a motif.
33. Pitch : SLANT.
34. Singer Jones : NORAH.
37. Pribilof Islands locale : BERING SEA.
40. Totaling : EQUALING.
41. Tennis nickname : RAFA. Nadal lost to Federer in the Australian final. It has been an awesome rivalry. LINK.
43. Remote : FAR.
45. Montana player : CYRUS. Hannah - Miley. I get her as fill often.
47. Fleece finder : JASON.Well hello Alex- a full fledged major CSO!
48. Lots : A BUNCH.
49. __ curls : BICEP.
51. Some batteries : AAAS.
52. When to call, in ads : NITE. Really? NOW, now now!
53. Commedia dell'___ : ARTE.
55. A long time : AGES.
57. Newsworthy couple : ITEM.
58. Sixth in a series : ZETA.
59. Israeli author Oz : AMOS.
61. Takes too much, briefly : ODS.
62. "Love Story" composer Francis :LAI. This COMPOSER.
63. Fashionable initials : YSL. We leave on a fashion note. Please stop by and chat Alex and thank you for your work. YVES was an interesting man. YSL embraced his work even after being fired.
Lemonade out.
