TITLE: TOMAYTO/TOMAHTO
I was once part of a committee that spent two hours SPLITTING HAIRS (especially about prepositions) on the wording of the our school's mission statement. Two hours spent on a banality which serves no purpose is time I will never get back. I'll bet you've got a story like that too.
Husker Gary here for our midweek odyessy where Jake has taken the word HAIR and SPLIT it in as many unique ways as he could - 1/3, 2/2 and 3/1 as you see below:
Husker Gary here for our midweek odyessy where Jake has taken the word HAIR and SPLIT it in as many unique ways as he could - 1/3, 2/2 and 3/1 as you see below:
Those SPLIT HAIRS provide the beginning and end of theme fills and satisfy the reveal of
59. Make petty distinctions ... and what 17-, 23- and 49-Across literally do? : SPLIT HAIRS - As some think this is
Here is the balance of Jake's theme answers:
17. Handyman's maintenance field : HOME REPAIR - After our recent hailstorm, we have been contacted aggressively by four companies for this HOME REPAIR
23. Ensemble of ringers : HANDBELL CHOIR - Just remember your color
49. Unofficial Caribbean currency equal to 5 gourdes : HAITIAN DOLLAR - 660 gourdes = 152 HATIAN DOLLARS = $10.48 in Port au Prince - Lundi au Jeudi (Monday to Thursday)!
Now let's see what else Jake has given us with this fun, er enjoyable (Let's not split hairs) puzzle
Across
1. Bygone Apple laptop : IBOOK - Don't like your Apple product? Just wait a minute
6. Verge : CUSP
10. Actress Fey : TINA
14. Italian grandma : NONNA - La NONNA รจ meraviglioso (Grandma is wonderful)
15. Price for part of a deck? : ANTE - Fun cluing for a veteran of the crossword wars
16. "(I've Got __ in) Kalamazoo" : A GAL - Okay, HANDBELL CHOIR, who wants the F#?
19. Story line : PLOT - To whom did Don and Phil sing, "The movie wasn't so hot, It didn't have much of a PLOT" in 1957?
20. 17th-century English poet John : DRYDEN - Not on my literary radar
21. Flexible : LISSOME - Me 50 years ago
26. Cunning plan : PLOY
28. "The Night Manager" actor Hiddleston : TOM - It would appear that Tom is not managing a Motel 6 in Omaha
29. MAX rival : SHO
30. Persistent noise : DIN - One man's DIN...
31. Polishes, as a skill : HONES
33. Team victory cry : WE WON - Like a gazillion people said last year when the Cubs won
37. Botanist's study : FLORA - As opposed the zoologist who studies FAUNA
39. Stat for Clayton Kershaw : ERA - Earned Run Average. All right, get a bat and you try to stay in against Kershaw's curveball which he has HONED to a fine skill.
40. "Same here" : AS AM I - I couldn't hit that curve either
41. Soda machine freebie : STRAW - How you dispose of the wrapper after the straw is dispensed is optional
42. Smooths, as wood : SANDS
44. Sardine container : TIN - Or aluminum
45. Disconnect between generations : GAP
47. Unclogging agent : LYE
48. Fountain of jazz : PETE
54. Bailiff's bellow : ALL RISE
55. Engineer who reinvented the wheel? : FERRIS - He was inducted into their Hall Of Fame 105 years after his Wheel first operated
58. Boxer Oscar __ Hoya : DELA
62. Lacking precipitation : ARID
63. Stride at a track : GAIT - The odd GAIT of Olympic Walk Racing - One foot must always be on the ground at all times
64. One doing sums : ADDER
65. Strengthen, as muscles : TONE
66. See 50-Down : OLDS
67. Orchestra section : REEDS - They are seated in the middle. Woodwinds, if you want to split hairs. ๐
1. How many TV shows air : IN HD
2. Mannerless sort : BOOR
3. Start of the Boy Scout Oath and the Girl Scout Promise : ON MY HONOR
4. At some point : ONE DAY - Put the word FINE in the middle and you have a great 1963 song
5. Actress Gillan of "Guardians of the Galaxy" : KAREN - Not on my cinematic radar
6. Cough syrup cover : CAP
7. Italian article : UNA
8. Even now : STILL
9. Possibilities of harm : PERILS
10. Astaire footwear : TAP SHOES
11. Snow structure : IGLOO
12. Watts of "Mulholland Dr." : NAOMI - I saw this on NETFLIX and when I saw there was only a few minutes left, I knew there would be no resolution to all the bizzare parts. I guess that is standard for David Lynch films.
13. Rework : ALTER
18. Put an __: stop : END TO
22. Pair in "America" : SCHWAS - Unstressed vowels - symbol = ษ pronounced like the uh's below
24. Skin partner : BONES
25. May birthstone : EMERALD
26. Sharable digital docs : PDFS
27. Bouncy rhythm : LILT
31. Only state which shares a time zone with Alaska : HAWAII - This part of Alaska
32. Panasonic acquisition of 2009 : SANYO
34. Disneyland's Splash Mountain, e.g. : WATER RIDE - Wheeeeee!
35. Filter out : OMIT
36. Back-row bowling pin : NINE - You bowlers know that leaving this for left handers is called a "tap"
38. Clothing industry, casually : RAG TRADE
43. Dutch pottery city : DELFT - It's cluing will probably never be "Hometown of microscope inventor Antonie van Leeuwenhoek"
46. Complete a Monopoly circuit : PASS GO - Just like teachers, you get money for just completing a circuit/year
48. Veterans Day event : PARADE
49. Threw oneself into : HAD AT
50. Last car made by 66-Across : ALERO
51. Run-D.M.C.'s "You Be __" : ILLIN - Anyone think it's splitting hairs to insist on standard English?
52. Himalayan country : NEPAL - Your trip up Everest starts with a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla, Nepal's unsafe airport. But, hey, if you're climbing Everest...
53. Operettist Franz : LEHAR
56. Boiling with rage : IRED - Yeah, but still cute!
57. Union members until 1991: Abbr. : SSRS
60. Can cover : LID
61. "__ only me!" : IT'S - Okay, grammarian hair splitters, would you say, "It's only I"?
The ability to SPLIT HAIRS is part of the fun in this venue. Let's see what you have to say/opine/state/muse...
