Husker Gary here again on a search for buried (or at least concealed) treasure. Neville has constructed a hunt for us where GEM has been hidden in bigger phrases much as these Emerald Crystals that can be found in veins of calcite in the Muzo area of Columbia.
Our friend Neville has literally taken the word GEM and hidden it where the GE portion ends the first word of a phrase and the M begins the second word. If you search carefully below, you can see where Neville has hidden the GEM in these theme answers:
17. *Intricate feature of some Victorian gardens : HEDGE MAZE - Here is a MAZE near London along side a domestic CORN MAZE in Gretna Nebraska
24. *Politician for whom a Virginia university is named : GEORGE MASON - George Mason refused to sign the U.S. Constitution in 1787 because it had no national bill of rights (if you enlarge the picture below, you will see James Madison's signature in the Virginia section). He then helped author the Bill Of Rights that were added in 1791.
33. *Disney miser who swims in his money : SCROOGE MCDUCK - As seen here
49. *Game to settle a score : GRUDGE MATCH - These "matches" have sold a lot of tickets!
... and the reveal:
57. Diamond in the rough ... or a literal feature of each answer to a starred clue : HIDDEN GEM - American Idol was looking for a hidden GEM in the group of 4,000 hopefuls in 2013 auditions in Omaha
Here are some more of Neville's Gems:
Across
1. Rope often coiled : LASSO - Here's one attached to the cockpit of a working cowboy
6. __ Lanka : SRI - Formerly Ceylon located just off 30. Nepal's continent : ASIA
9. Selassie of Ethiopia : HAILE
14. "One more time!" : AGAIN - Rick actually said, "You played it for her, you can play it for me!"
15. See 16-Across : EAR and 16. With 15-Across, cochlea site : INNER - A cochlear implant can have an external component which can be recommended by an 29. Sinusitis-treating MD : ENT - Ears/Nose/Throat M.D.
19. Anglican leader : VICAR - Enter Murder At The Vicarage in YouTube and you can view an entire Miss Marple adventure (1:20:00)
20. Rainbow hue : INDIGO - ROY G BIV
21. Eye part that may become detached : RETINA
26. Point of giving up : WITS END - The Giants were at their WIT'S END with QB play and so...
28. Quarterback Manning : ELI - After 210 consecutive starts, ELI's mediocre play in 2017 got him benched last Sunday
31. Swig or sip : DRINK
39. Clock radio feature : ALARM
40. Valley : DALE - "Over hill, over DALE" is now "First to fight, for the right"
42. Word after black or photo : OPS - Some celebrities and politicians are avoiding photo OPS these days
52. Badminton court divider : NET
53. President after Jimmy : RONALD - Reagan "The Gipper"
54. "Bob's Burgers" daughter : LOUISE - I have never seen this cartoon! I might have opted for 54. Maurice Chevalier's woman of song (Man, I'm old!)
56. Emcee's opening : INTRO
60. Give direction to : STEER
61. Salinger's "Franny __ Zooey" : AND - Would people think me more literate if I wore this t-shirt?
62. Tender beef cuts : LOINS
63. Frost-covered : HOARY - I had a picture of this last Wednesday
64. "Certainly!" : YES - Alternate pronunciation
65. Lived : DWELT
Down
1. __-di-dah: pretentious : LAH
2. Number on many a birthday card : AGE
3. Extremely cruel : SADISTIC
4. Communicate with a deaf person : SIGN
6. Neptune, for one : SEA GOD
7. Shaving device : RAZOR - I'm a straight edge kind of guy
8. Boiling blood : IRE
9. Collective intelligence : HIVE MIND - Alll 31. Obama, e.g.: Abbr. : DEM's - voted against the tax bill last Sunday and all REP's but one voted for it. Tell me again why they waste hours and hours debating?
10. Baker with Grammys : ANITA
11. Cut into : INCISE
12. Use for support : LEAN ON - The wonderful lyrics from Bill Withers' song
13. Knight-__ : ERRANT - Literature's most famous
18. Demeanor : MIEN
21. Artifact : RELIC - What? You were alive when JFK got shot?
22. Bankrupt airline : TWA
23. Battleship call : MISS - Hasn't every math teacher used Battleship® to teach coordinates?
25. Microbe : GERM
27. Poet Teasdale : SARA - Okay
32. African antelope : KUDU - An amazing looking animal
34. The Stars and Stripes : OLD GLORY
35. Rowed : OARED - It ranks right up there with "APED" on my Verb dishonor roll.
36. Dreadful : GRIM
37. Manhattan concert hall : CARNEGIE - How do you get to CARNEGIE Hall? [You all know the punchline]
38. Bauhaus artist Paul : KLEE - An icon for the Bauhaus Art School in Weimar, Germany and an example of work by one of its students Paul Klee (Senecio 1922)
41. Superlative suffix : EST
42. Like Shrek : OGRISH - My Spell Checker said, "Huh?" and Dictionary.com offered OGREISH as the preferred form
43. "ASAP!" : PRONTO
44. Beverage brewed outdoors : SUN TEA - A summer tradition here in the hinterlands 46. Not seeing eye to eye : AT ODDS - I know our tea connoisseur friends Steve and C.C. would be AT ODDS by my choice of Lipton tea bags
47. Gulf War missile : SCUD - Saddam Hussien's futile weapon of choice
48. Lancer's protection : SHIELD - Here's a Lancer using his SHIELD for protection by shattering his opponent's weapon
50. Challenger : DARER
51. Flared skirt : A-LINE
57. Stable serving : HAY - For the unbridled appetite.
58. Photo blowup: Abbr. : ENL
59. Salt Lake City hrs. : MST - 14th largest city with MST. Seven AZ cities are bigger
Now we await the GEMS you uncover in your mines/minds:
DA GRID:
Note from C.C.:
Happy Birthday to dear Lucina, who's been with our blog since Feb 2010. So sweet to see this picture again. Lucina travels to CA once a year, and she often meets with our Californian Coven there.
