Theme: Horse Play - the four theme entries are equine-related homophonic, or near-homophonic phrases.
17A. Arabian's head covering? : BRIDLE VEIL. Bridal veil. Arabian in the horse breed sense.
26A. Mounting problem at Churchill Downs? : STIRRUP TROUBLE. Stir up trouble.
42A. Something well in hand at Waterloo? : REIN OF NAPOLEON. Reign of Napoleon.
55A. Feature of 50-Down? : HORSE VOICE. Hoarse voice.
and ..
50D. '60s TV personality who would especially enjoy this puzzle : MR. ED
A straightforward-enough punning theme from Bruce with the character reveal tucked away neatly at the bottom of the puzzle.
I'm not sure if I'm bothered or not by STIRRUP TROUBLE - it's certainly an outlier from the other three homophone theme entries, both by not being a homophone and the original phrase having three words, not two.
Not a deal-breaker though, so let's see what else we've got:
Across
1. Unit of heat energy : THERM
6. Like wild boar meat : GAMY and 54. Like wild boar meat : LEAN. Nice clecho.
10. Rock-in-pond sound : PLOP. More like a pebble sound. I think a rock would make more of a KA-BLOOSH sound.
14. Bit part : CAMEO. Konstantine Stanislavsky, the great character actor and theatrical director remarked "there are no small parts, only small actors".
15. Matty of baseball : ALOU. Talented family, those Alous.
16. Most Rembrandts : OILS. Here's one that's not - "Self-portrait, Staring". Aptly titled!
19. "Concord Sonata" composer : IVES. Thank you, crosses. Charles Ives composed what is officially titled Piano Sonata No. 2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-1860". I tried listening to it but gave up after a couple of minutes, it's not my cup of tea.
20. Nevertheless : YET
21. Cools quickly : ICES
22. Physicist Rutherford : ERNEST. His research led to the first atom-splitting by nuclear reaction in 1917.
24. Arequipa's land : PERU. Second most populous city in the country.
25. Pats dry : BLOTS
31. Film that's barely shown? : NUDIE. As a side-theme note, Nudie Cohn was the original "Rhinestone Cowboy" known for his flamboyant clothing design (and custom car design too).
32. Carry on : WAGE
33. 2008 TARP beneficiary : AIG
35. Bit that can be split : ATOM. Rutherford from 22A figured this out.
36. Luges, e.g. : SLEDS
38. Attracted : DREW
39. Sci-fi vehicle : POD
40. Midwestern tribe : OTOE
41. Prairie wanderer : DOGIE. A calf separated from its mother.
46. Stole (in) : CREPT
47. Track piece : RAIL
48. "Wait, start again, please" : I'M LOST. As the dogie said to the cowpoke.
50. Track event : MILE. I like that the mile race is still run even though the other race distances with the exception of the marathon are all metric.
51. Horned viper : ASP
58. Bollywood garment : SARI
59. Help in a bad way : ABET
60. Triage MD : E.R. DOC. Ouch. Least favorite fill of the day.
61. Writer Waugh : ALEC. Elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh. He was a prolific writer, but according to his nephew Auberon "[he] wrote many books, each worse than the last". Tough crowd.
62. Bustle : TO DO
63. Symbols among notes : RESTS
Down
1. Frozen dessert chain : TCBY "The Country's Best Yogurt".
2. Overconfident fable critter : HARE. Beaten by the tortoise.
3. Throw off : EMIT
4. White alternative : RED. Vino.
5. "Le Misanthrope" playwright : MOLIERE
6. Allowed from the mound : GAVE UP. Baseball nomenclature - the pitcher gives up a hit or a run.
7. See 45-Down : ALES.
8. "You think I did it?!" : MOI? Accompanied by innocent eyebrow raising.
9. Christmas cracklers : YULE LOGS
10. Destination in a simple itinerary : POINT B. Early Google Maps didn't always give you quite the correct route.
11. Has extravagant ways : LIVES LARGE
12. Fútbol cheers : OLÉS
13. Attractive sound? : PSST! Attention-attracter.
18. Lampshade shade : ECRU
23. Cad : ROUÉ
24. Stuffy : PRIM
25. "Ratatouille" director Bird : BRAD. More crosses, thank you.
26. Word with brim or bean : SNAP. I'd never heard of a snap bean until today. Live and learn.
27. Coach : TUTOR
28. "My word!" : I DO DECLARE!
29. Many a Belieber : TWEEN. Generally agreed to be the pre-teen years between 10 and 12 when your children start to hate you.
30. Refrain from singing as a child? : EIEIO. Old McDonald and his noisy farm.
34. Singer Stefani : GWEN. She recorded a great remake of Talk Talk's 1984 hit It's My Life
36. "Enough!" : STOP THAT!
37. Room at the top : LOFT
38. Kid's tea party attendee : DOLL
40. Singles : ONES
41. "You bet!" : DO I EVER
43. Like much humor : IRONIC
44. Blue blood, for short : ARISTO
45. With 7-Down, bitter brews : PALE. It's the hops in the ale that gives it the bitter note.
48. "Play it once, Sam" speaker : ILSA
49. Spread, maybe : MEAL
51. Supports : AIDS. We have both aid and abet today.
52. Macbeth or Macduff : SCOT. Aye.
53. Muscle Beach display : PECS
56. "That price is negotiable," in ads : OBO
57. Vein output : ORE
I think we just need a grid and a by-line and we're done, so here they are:
Steve
17A. Arabian's head covering? : BRIDLE VEIL. Bridal veil. Arabian in the horse breed sense.
26A. Mounting problem at Churchill Downs? : STIRRUP TROUBLE. Stir up trouble.
42A. Something well in hand at Waterloo? : REIN OF NAPOLEON. Reign of Napoleon.
55A. Feature of 50-Down? : HORSE VOICE. Hoarse voice.
and ..
50D. '60s TV personality who would especially enjoy this puzzle : MR. ED
A straightforward-enough punning theme from Bruce with the character reveal tucked away neatly at the bottom of the puzzle.
I'm not sure if I'm bothered or not by STIRRUP TROUBLE - it's certainly an outlier from the other three homophone theme entries, both by not being a homophone and the original phrase having three words, not two.
Not a deal-breaker though, so let's see what else we've got:
Across
1. Unit of heat energy : THERM
6. Like wild boar meat : GAMY and 54. Like wild boar meat : LEAN. Nice clecho.
10. Rock-in-pond sound : PLOP. More like a pebble sound. I think a rock would make more of a KA-BLOOSH sound.
14. Bit part : CAMEO. Konstantine Stanislavsky, the great character actor and theatrical director remarked "there are no small parts, only small actors".
15. Matty of baseball : ALOU. Talented family, those Alous.
16. Most Rembrandts : OILS. Here's one that's not - "Self-portrait, Staring". Aptly titled!
19. "Concord Sonata" composer : IVES. Thank you, crosses. Charles Ives composed what is officially titled Piano Sonata No. 2 "Concord, Mass., 1840-1860". I tried listening to it but gave up after a couple of minutes, it's not my cup of tea.
20. Nevertheless : YET
21. Cools quickly : ICES
22. Physicist Rutherford : ERNEST. His research led to the first atom-splitting by nuclear reaction in 1917.
24. Arequipa's land : PERU. Second most populous city in the country.
25. Pats dry : BLOTS
31. Film that's barely shown? : NUDIE. As a side-theme note, Nudie Cohn was the original "Rhinestone Cowboy" known for his flamboyant clothing design (and custom car design too).
32. Carry on : WAGE
33. 2008 TARP beneficiary : AIG
35. Bit that can be split : ATOM. Rutherford from 22A figured this out.
36. Luges, e.g. : SLEDS
38. Attracted : DREW
39. Sci-fi vehicle : POD
40. Midwestern tribe : OTOE
41. Prairie wanderer : DOGIE. A calf separated from its mother.
46. Stole (in) : CREPT
47. Track piece : RAIL
48. "Wait, start again, please" : I'M LOST. As the dogie said to the cowpoke.
50. Track event : MILE. I like that the mile race is still run even though the other race distances with the exception of the marathon are all metric.
51. Horned viper : ASP
58. Bollywood garment : SARI
59. Help in a bad way : ABET
60. Triage MD : E.R. DOC. Ouch. Least favorite fill of the day.
61. Writer Waugh : ALEC. Elder brother of the better-known Evelyn Waugh. He was a prolific writer, but according to his nephew Auberon "[he] wrote many books, each worse than the last". Tough crowd.
62. Bustle : TO DO
63. Symbols among notes : RESTS
Down
1. Frozen dessert chain : TCBY "The Country's Best Yogurt".
2. Overconfident fable critter : HARE. Beaten by the tortoise.
3. Throw off : EMIT
4. White alternative : RED. Vino.
5. "Le Misanthrope" playwright : MOLIERE
6. Allowed from the mound : GAVE UP. Baseball nomenclature - the pitcher gives up a hit or a run.
7. See 45-Down : ALES.
8. "You think I did it?!" : MOI? Accompanied by innocent eyebrow raising.
9. Christmas cracklers : YULE LOGS
10. Destination in a simple itinerary : POINT B. Early Google Maps didn't always give you quite the correct route.
11. Has extravagant ways : LIVES LARGE
12. Fútbol cheers : OLÉS
13. Attractive sound? : PSST! Attention-attracter.
18. Lampshade shade : ECRU
23. Cad : ROUÉ
24. Stuffy : PRIM
25. "Ratatouille" director Bird : BRAD. More crosses, thank you.
26. Word with brim or bean : SNAP. I'd never heard of a snap bean until today. Live and learn.
27. Coach : TUTOR
28. "My word!" : I DO DECLARE!
29. Many a Belieber : TWEEN. Generally agreed to be the pre-teen years between 10 and 12 when your children start to hate you.
30. Refrain from singing as a child? : EIEIO. Old McDonald and his noisy farm.
34. Singer Stefani : GWEN. She recorded a great remake of Talk Talk's 1984 hit It's My Life
36. "Enough!" : STOP THAT!
37. Room at the top : LOFT
38. Kid's tea party attendee : DOLL
40. Singles : ONES
41. "You bet!" : DO I EVER
43. Like much humor : IRONIC
44. Blue blood, for short : ARISTO
45. With 7-Down, bitter brews : PALE. It's the hops in the ale that gives it the bitter note.
48. "Play it once, Sam" speaker : ILSA
49. Spread, maybe : MEAL
51. Supports : AIDS. We have both aid and abet today.
52. Macbeth or Macduff : SCOT. Aye.
53. Muscle Beach display : PECS
56. "That price is negotiable," in ads : OBO
57. Vein output : ORE
I think we just need a grid and a by-line and we're done, so here they are:
Steve
