Theme: Blue Clues! Here's my friend who sniffed out the theme:
64A. Hint in a specialty crossword, and, literally, what's found in 17-, 20-, 38- and 59-Across : CRYPTIC CLUE
17A. Infomercial promise : MIRACLE CURE
20A. Powerful 1970s Pittsburgh defensive line, familiarly : STEEL CURTAIN. Tough crowd. Very tough.
38A. "The Card Players" artist : PAUL CEZANNE. These guys.
59A. Sticker on store fruit : PRODUCE LABEL. The process by which Chiquita gets a label on each banana was a closely-guarded secret when it was introduced in 1963.
So, we've got four scrambles of the word CLUE in the theme entries, and the reveal describes this as cryptic. I've got a little problem with this - cryptic crosswords have many devices and traditions, and a scramble is one small and rarely-used convention. Anagrams, yes. Also, the adjacent extra "C" and "E" in MIRACLE CURE and STEEL CURTAIN respectively bothered me a tad. However, easy to be a critic, hard to be the originator.
Across:
1. Jackson with a 1972 Lifetime Achievement Grammy : MAHALIA. "The Queen of Gospel."
8. Rx watchdog : FDA. I just switched my Rx's from one pharmacy chain to another. You'd have thought it would have been a straightforward process. Not so much.
11. Wing : ELL. Wing of a house. Took me a while to see this.
14. Most sober : GRAVEST
15. Curved part : ARC
16. Md. neighbor : DELaware. Maryland neighbor.
19. Md. neighbor : WVA. I had the "W" and was struggling to see how Washington, DC could be abbreviated "in the language," then West Virginia popped into my head.
22. Didst whack : SMOTE. Best clue/answer of the day. Love this one.
25. Spot checker? : VET. My Dog, Spot. When I worked at Warner Bros. one of the theatrical executives was fired for joking in a keynote that the movie was re-titled "My Lunch, Spot" for release in the Philippines.
26. One-named Deco master : ERTE
27. Swiss river : AAR
28. Loot : ROB
31. Storm warning : THUNDER
33. Pair : DYAD. Our educators would describe students working together in pairs as "dyad pedagogy."
35. Algonquin Round Table member, e.g. : WIT
37. Role for Dustin : RATSO. Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy. What a great performance.
42. Amu __: Asian river : DARYA. Thank you, crosses. It's a big bugger at 1,491 miles. I'd have thought I'd have heard about it before now.
44. Verizon subsidiary : AOL
45. Undertaking : TASK
48. Anka song with the phrase "Kiss me mucho" : ESO BESO. Muchos gracias, cruces.
51. Soccer chant : OLÉ. Let's revisit the World Cup in 2014 in Rio.
53. Loving murmur : COO
54. A giraffe has a long one : MANE. Hand up for NECK first. Then TAIL. Finally got there.
55. Org. concerned with briefs : ABA. American Bar Association.
57. "Swing Shift" Oscar nominee : LAHTI. Tried LATTI. was wrong.
63. Fill in (for) : SUB
68. Actor Wallach : ELI
69. Jeans name : LEE
70. Like some lunch orders : ON TOAST. Lunch? I'd more associate this with breakfast. My favorite breakfast in the UK - black pudding (blood sausage) and scrambled eggs on toast.
71. "Amen!" : YES!
72. Inject : ADD
73. "Seems that way to me" : I'D SAY SO
Down:
1. "Mrs. Miniver" studio : MGM. Waited for crosses. Could have been RKO.
2. 2001 W.S. champs : ARIzona Diamondbacks.
3. Guffaw sound : HAR
4. Stop at sea : AVAST. Usually followed by "Me Hearties". Heave-to didn't fit.
5. Hopkins role : LECTER. The gourmand Hannibal. I never asked for any of his recipes.
6. Scotland's Arran, e.g. : ISLE
7. Perfectly, with "to" : A TEE
8. Leak source : FAUCET
9. Diminutive celeb sexologist : DR RUTH
10. Taiwanese PC maker : ACER
11. Pirate on the Queen Anne's Revenge : EDWARD TEACH. Fondly known as Blackbeard. Learning moment, but solid crosses did most of the work. I was almost Natick'ed at LAHTI though.
12. Descendants of a son of Jacob and Leah : LEVITES. This area caused me the most trouble. Tried SEMITES first.
13. Venezuelan cowboy : LLANERO. Learning moment which contributed to my puzzlement in the north-east.
18. MDL ÷ X : CLV
21. Studio occupant : TENANT
22. Glum : SAD
23. Kentucky Derby time : MAY. Coming up soon, the self-proclaimed "most exciting two minutes in sports."
24. Latin "pray for us" : ORA PRO NOBIS. I dragged this one kicking and screaming out of the deep recesses of my brain - as a kid I was hauled by my ear to Mass in Latin every Sunday. Is this a fair entry though?
29. Barn __ : OWL
30. Light source : BIC. Hold up your lighter and rock on! Heineken claimed, tongue in cheek, they were responsible for the phenomenon. You can hold up an iPhone app now instead of a Bic.
32. Banquet dispenser : URN
34. Futon kin : DAY BED
36. Sweet __ : TEA
39. OPEC member : UAE. United Arab Emirates, member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
40. Madhouse : ZOO
41. The lot : ALL
42. Portrayer of "McDreamy" on "Grey's Anatomy" : DEMPSEY. No clue. Thank you, crosses.
43. Typically : AS A RULE
46. Boozer : SOT
47. Colorful carp : KOI
49. Revered : SACRED
50. Was loyal to : OBEYED
52. Picks : ELECTS
56. High point of a European trip? : ALP
58. Foil giant : ALCOA
60. Golden St. campus : UCLA
61. Yours, to Yves : A TOI. Very glad I learned French in High School and I've been to the country enough times to have a very basic but working knowledge.
62. Tie up : BIND
65. Not of the cloth : LAY. The non-clerical hoi-polloi. This one bothered the purist in me a little - "a man of the cloth" might be described as mild slang for the clergy, but a layperson is not at all a slang term.
66. __ Nimitz : USS. I thought this carrier was retired, but it is now the oldest-serving carrier in the US fleet, operating out of Kitsap naval base in Washington State.
67. DDE's command : ETO. Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of the European Theater of Operations in World War Two. Question - since the location was Europe, should it be "Theatre?" Answers on a postcard please.
64A. Hint in a specialty crossword, and, literally, what's found in 17-, 20-, 38- and 59-Across : CRYPTIC CLUE
17A. Infomercial promise : MIRACLE CURE
20A. Powerful 1970s Pittsburgh defensive line, familiarly : STEEL CURTAIN. Tough crowd. Very tough.
38A. "The Card Players" artist : PAUL CEZANNE. These guys.
59A. Sticker on store fruit : PRODUCE LABEL. The process by which Chiquita gets a label on each banana was a closely-guarded secret when it was introduced in 1963.
So, we've got four scrambles of the word CLUE in the theme entries, and the reveal describes this as cryptic. I've got a little problem with this - cryptic crosswords have many devices and traditions, and a scramble is one small and rarely-used convention. Anagrams, yes. Also, the adjacent extra "C" and "E" in MIRACLE CURE and STEEL CURTAIN respectively bothered me a tad. However, easy to be a critic, hard to be the originator.
Across:
1. Jackson with a 1972 Lifetime Achievement Grammy : MAHALIA. "The Queen of Gospel."
8. Rx watchdog : FDA. I just switched my Rx's from one pharmacy chain to another. You'd have thought it would have been a straightforward process. Not so much.
11. Wing : ELL. Wing of a house. Took me a while to see this.
14. Most sober : GRAVEST
15. Curved part : ARC
16. Md. neighbor : DELaware. Maryland neighbor.
19. Md. neighbor : WVA. I had the "W" and was struggling to see how Washington, DC could be abbreviated "in the language," then West Virginia popped into my head.
22. Didst whack : SMOTE. Best clue/answer of the day. Love this one.
25. Spot checker? : VET. My Dog, Spot. When I worked at Warner Bros. one of the theatrical executives was fired for joking in a keynote that the movie was re-titled "My Lunch, Spot" for release in the Philippines.
26. One-named Deco master : ERTE
27. Swiss river : AAR
28. Loot : ROB
31. Storm warning : THUNDER
33. Pair : DYAD. Our educators would describe students working together in pairs as "dyad pedagogy."
35. Algonquin Round Table member, e.g. : WIT
37. Role for Dustin : RATSO. Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy. What a great performance.
42. Amu __: Asian river : DARYA. Thank you, crosses. It's a big bugger at 1,491 miles. I'd have thought I'd have heard about it before now.
44. Verizon subsidiary : AOL
45. Undertaking : TASK
48. Anka song with the phrase "Kiss me mucho" : ESO BESO. Muchos gracias, cruces.
51. Soccer chant : OLÉ. Let's revisit the World Cup in 2014 in Rio.
53. Loving murmur : COO
54. A giraffe has a long one : MANE. Hand up for NECK first. Then TAIL. Finally got there.
55. Org. concerned with briefs : ABA. American Bar Association.
57. "Swing Shift" Oscar nominee : LAHTI. Tried LATTI. was wrong.
63. Fill in (for) : SUB
68. Actor Wallach : ELI
69. Jeans name : LEE
70. Like some lunch orders : ON TOAST. Lunch? I'd more associate this with breakfast. My favorite breakfast in the UK - black pudding (blood sausage) and scrambled eggs on toast.
71. "Amen!" : YES!
72. Inject : ADD
73. "Seems that way to me" : I'D SAY SO
Down:
1. "Mrs. Miniver" studio : MGM. Waited for crosses. Could have been RKO.
2. 2001 W.S. champs : ARIzona Diamondbacks.
3. Guffaw sound : HAR
4. Stop at sea : AVAST. Usually followed by "Me Hearties". Heave-to didn't fit.
5. Hopkins role : LECTER. The gourmand Hannibal. I never asked for any of his recipes.
6. Scotland's Arran, e.g. : ISLE
7. Perfectly, with "to" : A TEE
8. Leak source : FAUCET
9. Diminutive celeb sexologist : DR RUTH
10. Taiwanese PC maker : ACER
11. Pirate on the Queen Anne's Revenge : EDWARD TEACH. Fondly known as Blackbeard. Learning moment, but solid crosses did most of the work. I was almost Natick'ed at LAHTI though.
12. Descendants of a son of Jacob and Leah : LEVITES. This area caused me the most trouble. Tried SEMITES first.
13. Venezuelan cowboy : LLANERO. Learning moment which contributed to my puzzlement in the north-east.
18. MDL ÷ X : CLV
21. Studio occupant : TENANT
22. Glum : SAD
23. Kentucky Derby time : MAY. Coming up soon, the self-proclaimed "most exciting two minutes in sports."
24. Latin "pray for us" : ORA PRO NOBIS. I dragged this one kicking and screaming out of the deep recesses of my brain - as a kid I was hauled by my ear to Mass in Latin every Sunday. Is this a fair entry though?
29. Barn __ : OWL
30. Light source : BIC. Hold up your lighter and rock on! Heineken claimed, tongue in cheek, they were responsible for the phenomenon. You can hold up an iPhone app now instead of a Bic.
32. Banquet dispenser : URN
34. Futon kin : DAY BED
36. Sweet __ : TEA
39. OPEC member : UAE. United Arab Emirates, member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
40. Madhouse : ZOO
41. The lot : ALL
42. Portrayer of "McDreamy" on "Grey's Anatomy" : DEMPSEY. No clue. Thank you, crosses.
43. Typically : AS A RULE
46. Boozer : SOT
47. Colorful carp : KOI
49. Revered : SACRED
50. Was loyal to : OBEYED
52. Picks : ELECTS
56. High point of a European trip? : ALP
58. Foil giant : ALCOA
60. Golden St. campus : UCLA
61. Yours, to Yves : A TOI. Very glad I learned French in High School and I've been to the country enough times to have a very basic but working knowledge.
62. Tie up : BIND
65. Not of the cloth : LAY. The non-clerical hoi-polloi. This one bothered the purist in me a little - "a man of the cloth" might be described as mild slang for the clergy, but a layperson is not at all a slang term.
66. __ Nimitz : USS. I thought this carrier was retired, but it is now the oldest-serving carrier in the US fleet, operating out of Kitsap naval base in Washington State.
67. DDE's command : ETO. Dwight D. Eisenhower in command of the European Theater of Operations in World War Two. Question - since the location was Europe, should it be "Theatre?" Answers on a postcard please.
