We have a palindrome puzzle presented by a constructor who had his debut puzzle here on a Friday in 2010 and was one of my first Friday blogs. LINK. In researching past puzzles, I see 4 or 5 earlier such puzzles, including the use of two of the palindromes, but they are all clued very differently. Also. EGAD NO BONDAGE is all Paul and my favorite. For CED and others, WAS IT A CAT I SAW? is also new. I really enjoyed the cluing of the theme answers, as Paul showed wit and timeliness. We also have the fresh IN A BOX, DEVIANT and IT'S LATE. I await the verdict from the Corner jury.
17A. "The terrible tsar has arrived," either way? : TIS IVAN ON A VISIT (15). Ivan the terrible stops by.
27A. Disappointed reaction to the censored version of "Fifty Shades of Grey," either way? : EGAD NO BONDAGE (13). Very whimsical and a still modern phrase.
48A. Query about the Cheshire's grin, either way? : WAS IT A CAT I SAW? (14). Seeing only the teeth could inspire that question.
63. Mrs. Claus' remark about what she did to keep Santa home, either way? : TOO BAD I HID A BOOT.Would he ride without his signature black boots?
On to the rest...
Across:
1. Plodded (through) : WADED. I am never happy when 1 across does not fill immediately. I am not thrilled with definition, but what do I know.
6. Dies down: EBBS. More trickery but this did not fool me.
10. Not quite shut: AJAR. Of course, it is not a door.
14. Where something can be set for later: ASIDE. I like this one.
15. Protected at sea: ALEE.
16. Queen of Heaven: HERA. Hera is married to her brother Zeus and is titled as the Queen of Heaven. One of her characteristics is her jealous and vengeful nature against Zeus's other lovers and offspring and against the mortals who cross her. For more WIKI click.
20. Gambit: TACTIC. A gimme for any chess players in our readership.
21. __ Field: NYC stadium: CITI. Where the Mets play in QUEENS.
22. QB Peyton Manning has an NFL passing record 539 of them: TDS. Touchdowns.
23. "I could __ horse!" : EAT A. But why?
25. "Sommersby" actor: GERE. Richard. A very odd MOVIE. (2:00)
32. Amused initialism: LOL. Laugh Out Loud.
33. Clumsy boats: TUBS. Number 6 on the dictionary.com definition list. 6. Nautical. an old, slow, or clumsy vessel.
34. Sweethearts: LOVES.
37. Eponymous virologist: SALK. Love the word EPONYMOUS; anyway- polio and the vaccine were important in my childhood, First my grandfather had contracted polio as a child, and as a cure they dug a hole and buried his affected leg to keep it from twisting, Second, my uncle was the county health officer and my brothers and I were used as test subjects.
39. Part of NAFTA: TRADE. North American Free Trade Agreement
42. 39-Across, perhaps: SELL.
43. Hawaiian greeting: ALOHA.
45. "The Americans" actress Russell: KERI. LINK.
47. Magic org.? : NBA. Correct twice, Orlando and Johnson.
52. Chipmaker's prefix: NANO. Personally, I like YOCTO better.
53. A, in many orgs. : ASSN.
54. "__ who?!" : SEZ?
57. DEA agent: NARC.
59. Slip away: ELAPSE.
66. __ Domini: ANNO. A bit unnerving to see these two words both meaning YEAR next to each other in the grid. Latin/Italian
67. Calendario units: ANOS. Spanish/Portuguese.
68. Springsteen's "Born __": TO RUN.
69. Tuts: TSKS. Tut, tut- tsk, tsk
70. Wail: YOWL. We had an owl fall down our chimney one winter. Luckily the grate was up. Our long-haired dachshund was convinced it was meant to be her friend. The both yowled alot.
71. __ innings: EXTRA.
Down:
1. Measure of power: WATT. This too did not jump to mind, so it was a slow start.
2. Tibet's place: ASIA. A gimme.
3. __ jockey: DISC. Many predicted this profession would be gone by now.
4. Polished words: EDITED. He was looking for the verb, not the adjective.
5. Nowhere near the norm: DEVIANT. Harsh.
6. Ending with Tyrol: EAN. Very straightforward clue/fill for a Friday.
7. Common-interest group: BLOC.
8. Harmless: BENIGN. Bingo is back and one of our favorite calls- B9.
9. Ready for the curtain to open: SEATED.
10. Sushi tuna: AHI.
11. Kid: JEST.
12. Moistureless: ARID. Despite its frequent appearance as fill, ARID has never been clued this way in the LAT.
13. Traitors: RATS. Not really that simple.
18. Rebel, in a way: ACT OUT. Right next to traitors.
19. Like some memes: VIRAL.Does everyone know what a meme is?
24. ERA or RBI: ABBR. Tricky, as it seemed like a baseball clue.
26. Coaches' headaches: EGOS.
27. Big cat of film: ELSA. She is back and Frozen takes a back seat. I finally watched the entire movie (a favorite of my granddaughters) and I enjoyed it.
28. Certain score: GOAL.
29. Give the okay: ALLOW.
30. City near Kobe: OSAKA. Okay, we leave Europe for Japan.
31. Roulette bets: EVENS.
35. Actor Idris _ _: ELBA. Interesting choice to avoid ABLE WAS I. Perhaps an intentional extra hint?
36. Sandwich side: SLAW. I make a mean cole slaw.
38. Medieval Tatar chief: KHAN. Was this where the Han came to Geroge? LINK.
40. Ten up front? : DECA. A prefix meaning ten from Latin.
41. Undid: ERASED.
44. Pose in yoga: ASANA. Not one, but all of them.
49. How Rome wasn't built? : IN A DAY. Cute. Nor was...
50. Piemonte city: TORINO. The first car I drove regularly was my Uncle's Torino station wagon. It had the fake wood panels.
51. Ready to be shipped: IN A BOX. Rather timely considering the holiday.
54. ERA or RBI: STAT. A baseball clue fake out.
55. An eternity: EONS.
56. Pass (out): ZONK.
58. Food on the trail: CHOW.
60. Wine named for an Iberian city: PORT. Where hopefully the wine is not made from...
61. __ grapes: SOUR.
62. Sicilian mountain: ETNA. So much Europe in this puzzle.
64. Derek and Peep: BOS. Bo Derek and Little Bo Peep, interesting couple.
65. U.K. component: ISLand. I think this is a great explanation, but I defer to Steve (Nice Cuppa if he stops by) and others. LINK.
Is that some Jingle Bells I hear in the distance? Good luck finishing your Xmas shopping if you haven't. I celebrated 3 years married to Oo yesterday and the beginning of winter. Hope you enjoyed the puzzle Thanks and welcome back Paul C. 2. Lemonade out.
