Title: Now where did I put those IOUs?
In a variation of the add a letter or letters theme, JW hid them at the end of the first word of a known two-word phrase or name. As I remarked last week about recognizing a theme because a word or phrase is repeated, seeing -ious (suffix, ious is defined as having or being like the word it follows) opened my eyes. Of course, the light bulb goes on when you parse it as an acronym. Lovely misdirection. At first, I could not understand what the theme answers had in common. The "red" reference in the reveal (debts are ledgered in red) led me to present the theme as below:
20A. Agricultural college facility? : STUDIOUS FARM (12). Stud Farm. The Aggies study hard.
32A. One who got in before a crash? : FURIOUS TRADER (13). Fur Trader. The stock trader is very angry that his timing was bad.
40A. Lancelot bragging about his exploits? : TEDIOUS KNIGHT (13). The late great Ted Knight.
53A. What theater districts offer? : COPIOUS SHOWS (12). Cop Shows. I watched some Police Woman on COZI tv this weekend. It rained here.
The reveal:
67A. They traditionally appear in red ... and in another form in 20-, 32-, 40- and 53-Across: DEBTS (5).
JW also fitted in ONE STEP, SF GIANT, TROOPER, US ASSET, ANALYSTS, GONE AWRY, LOW AVERAGES and TURN THE PAGE as long sparkly fill. Let's do this!
Across:
1. Best-selling book generally not on best-seller lists: BIBLE. They don't know where to send the royalty checks.
6. Benchmark: Abbr. : STD. Standard.
9. Early automaker: OLDS. Old('s) Ransom has been popular again.
13. Won't go near: AVOIDS.
15. Back again: FRO. To and fro.
16. Heist haul: LOOT.
17. Magoo's malady: MYOPIA. Nearsightedness.
18. Ended up off the mark: GONE AWRY. A fun underused phrase.
22. Polling abbr. : PCT.
25. Arrive at hastily, as a conclusion: LEAP TO. Look before you....
26. Sundial marking: VII. A return of the Roman Numeral.
27. Content of little substance: FLUFF. Newspapers had people who wrote their puff pieces.
30. Madrid-to-Paris dir. : NNE.
31. Rose in a field: PETE. Baseball player. HE is now 76.
36. Achilles __: TENDON.
37. Take turns: ROTATE. I love clues/fill such as this.
44. "The BFG" author: DAHL. The Big Friendly Giant, by Roald Dahl also was made into a movie.
46. Intelligence org. : NSA. National Security Agency.
47. Dutch genre painter: STEEN. See his WORK.
48. Juillet's season: ETE. July/Summer French.
49. KFC option: BREAST.
52. Red __: SEA.
57. Financial workers: ANALYSTS.
58. Like merciless opponents: FEARED.
62. Gospel travelers: MAGI.
63. Get: SEE.
64. Not nice at all: UNKIND.
65. Urgent request: PLEA.
66. Decline, with "out": OPT.
Down:
1. Loud sound: BAM.
2. Columbia, e.g.: IVY. No league?
3. "That's lousy!" : BOO.
4. Enlarged Revlon ad image: LIPS.
5. Reduce a sentence, say: EDIT. Not commute, but rewrite.
6. MLBer at AT & T Park: SF GIANT.
7. Highway pursuer: TROOPER. SUPER TROOPER 2 coming in 2018.
8. Bakery item with some shortening? : DONUT. A lovely and clean double entendre - making the word doughnut shorter, as well as the shortening used in baking. A classic JW clue/fill.
9. "Frozen" snowman: OLAF. Disney's movies all seem to have had a comic relief character.
10. What most pitchers have, as batters: LOW AVERAGES.
11. "Little" Dickens title character: DORRIT.
12. Obstruct: STYMIE. My MEMORY.
14. Author Bellow: SAUL. I enjoyed his work when I was young. FIVE.
19. What that is in Spain: ESO.
21. Scout groups: DENS.
22. [It just vanished!]: PFFT.
23. Answer guide? : CLUE. Cute, a guide to the answer.
24. Get on with one's life: TURN THE PAGE. One of the Millenials contributions to the language.
28. Revolutionary first name: FIDEL.
29. Child subject: FOOD. Julia, may she rest in peace, all 6'2" of her.
31. It's not big in France: PETIT. Funny. From French Chef to French pun.
33. Verse lead-in: UNIverse.
34. Prize for Indy: ARK. Indiana Jones, that is.
35. Oxford figures: DONS.
38. Fare-well link: THEE.
39. Italian peak: ETNA.
41. Like the simplest process: ONE STEP.
42. Toyota's Ky. plant, e.g.: US ASSET. Good thing there were perps as this was tough.
43. Old-school diplomatic accessory: SASH.
44. Pack up the tents and supplies: DECAMP.
45. Like some Alban Berg works: ATONAL. I am not a big fan of Schoenberg or other atonal composers. LINK. Unrelated to comedian Sam Berg.
49. Tiny Tim, for one: BOY.
50. Rene of "Thor": RUSSO. Her brief INTERVIEW.
51. Vegan staple: TOFU.
54. Hipbones: ILIA.
55. Direct (one's way): WEND. Another word packed with meaning in four letters; "verb:
go in a specified direction, typically slowly or by an indirect route."
go in a specified direction, typically slowly or by an indirect route."
56. Ginza quaff: SAKE. Rice wine.
59. Barbecue morsel: RIB. Morsel defined: a small piece or amount of food; a mouthful. Rib?
60. Sinus doc : ENT. Ear Nose and Throat.
61. Driller's deg. : DDS. Dentist. har, har.
Well, there it is, another Friday, another Jeffrey Wechsler, and a fun ride. It is the quiet time for South Florida as the summer tourists are gone and the snowbirds have not returned. There are more breezes and I hope you enjoy the time. Thank you, Jeffrey and all who read. Lemonade out.
Well, there it is, another Friday, another Jeffrey Wechsler, and a fun ride. It is the quiet time for South Florida as the summer tourists are gone and the snowbirds have not returned. There are more breezes and I hope you enjoy the time. Thank you, Jeffrey and all who read. Lemonade out.
