Priscilla makes her LAT debut with one of the master mentors- Jeff Chen. He previously helped her to publication in the NYT in 2016. Jeff is a prolific constructor, writer, editor and very nice man. He writes daily about the NYT puzzles, where he has 46 collaborative publications. Each theme fill takes a phrase with the "ens" sound word converted to the "ins" sound.
Finding two grid-spanning fill was nice and the grid was very open. Jeff and his partners always include a great deal of sparkly fill and here we have ROTUNDA, VINTNER, ALLOPATH, CURTAINS, REAR EXIT, REGICIDE and TIDEPOOLS. My only unknown was TILSIT a cheese I guess I should remember. As with all sound puzzles YMMV.
17A. Instruction for dolphin riders? : STRADDLE THE FINS (14). Straddle the FENCE. Does the sound of dolphins and fins grate?
22A. Flashy genetic enhancements? : DNA SEQUINS (10). DNA SEQUENCE. They started rerunning the original CSI on ION TV.
34A. Groaners in a routine? : SINS OF HUMOR (11). SENSE of humor. The central themer has the change in the first word, the rest the last word.
50A. Time capsules? : FUTURE TINS (10). Future TENSE. Capsule = tin? Maybe.
57A. Use second fiddles in a pinch? : RESORT TO VIOLINS (14). Resort to VIOLENCE. I am not sure why they needed to be second fiddles, but this is my favorite.
Across:
1. Compass output: ARCS. Last week it was EAST. The other compass. LINK.
5. Gershwin title color: BLUE. This is a wonderful piece of music. RHAPSODY IN BLUE.
He also wrote BLUE LULLABY.
9. Presidential daughter Reagan: PATTI. Ms. Davis changed her last name to her mother's maiden name in an effort to have an independent career.
14. Bird's-nest, e.g. : SOUP. I put this in and took it out and then put it back. INFO.
15. Ounce: IOTA. If you had one iota of gumption...
16. Zac of "Baywatch": EFRON. He was in the movie version with the Rock.
20. Reader with reprints: UTNE. A popular crossword fill, the Utne Reader is a quarterly American magazine that collects and reprints articles on politics, culture, and the environment, generally from alternative media sources including journals, newsletters, weeklies, zines, music, and DVDs. Wiki.
21. Flight attendant's indication: REAR EXIT. Too many politically incorrect thoughts to comment.
25. Ticket: CITE. That is why it is called a citation.
26. Oscar role for Forest: IDI. Forest Whitaker as Idi Amin.
27. Piña colada liquor: RUM. Mixed with pineapple juice and coconut cream.
28. Like "black diamond" slopes: STEEP.
29. Hot-dog it? : PANT. A warm canine pants, the tongue is their sweat gland..
31. New England cape: ANN.
33. __ generis: SUI. This TERM has importance in the Law, likely misunderstood by me and others.
38. "I'm such a moron!" : D'OH. Not just Homer Simpson uses this phrase.
39. Car nut: LUG. Not someone who loves cars, but the lug nut which holds your tire in place on the wheel.
40. Campbell of "House of Cards": NEVE. The puzzle was likely written before the Kevin Spacey scandal, but apparently, Neve was an interesting character. I had stopped watching before the kerfuffle.
43. Filled entirely: SATED.
46. What bills may become: LAW.
48. "Amscray!" : GIT. Our first pig latin in a very long time.
49. Pace often rapid: CLIP.
54. Alternative medicine practitioner's term for a mainstream doctor: ALLOPATH. The expression was coined in 1810 by the creator of homeopathy, Samuel Hahnemann (1755–1843).In such circles, the expression "allopathic medicine" is still used to refer to "the broad category of medical practice that is sometimes called Western medicine, biomedicine, evidence-based medicine, or modern medicine." Wiki. I learned this while auditing a course in alternative medicine that my massage therapist was taking.
56. One might have tears in it: DUCT. Not if it is the TAPE. Lots of fun stuff.
61. Quick: AGILE.
62. Name of kings in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden: ERIC. This was an easy guess, but there is much more to learn about these Constitutional MONARCHIES.
63. Light bulb, metaphorically: IDEA.
64. Pioneer of song who "crossed the wide mountains with her lover Ike": BETSY. This was hard. I did not remember much of this SONG. The lyrics are not the same as the Johnny Cash version.
65. Risqué: RACY. Two old fashioned words.
66. APB quarry: PERP. Two weeks in a row for this fill.
Down:
1. Jenny's offspring : ASS. Not poor Jennny McCarthy, but the female Donkey. All you need to know about ASSES.
2. Capitol sight : ROTUNDA. Just think round, usually with a dome.
3. Disastrous end : CURTAINS. My mental image:
4. Extends over : SPANS. Like the bridges we discused recently.
5. Compete for the job : BID.
6. Online chuckle : LOL.
7. Female marsupials have two : UTERI. The poor male marsupial. Kangaroos have three vaginas. ... Koalas, wombats and Tasmanian devils all share the three-vagina structure. The side ones carry sperm to the two uteruses (and males marsupials often have two-pronged penises), while the middle vagina sends the joey down to the outside world. I can't make this stuff up.
8. Taken back, as words : EATEN.
9. Equal : PEER.
10. Love : AFFECTION.
11. Ed's wife on "The Honeymooners" : TRIXIE. She was played by five different actresses during the life of the SHOWS from 1951 to 1970.
12. Ad time : TONITE.
13. Shoe part : INSTEP.
18. Lots of bucks : DEER.
19. Is afflicted with : HAS.
22. Depression : DIP.
23. Put down : QUASH. A rebellion?
24. "Did you really think I'd go for that?" : UM NO.
28. Largest number in many a column : SUM. This added up for me.
30. Homes for creatures of the not-so-deep : TIDE POOLS. Tide pools provide a home for hardy organisms such as starfish, mussels and clams. Inhabitants must be able to deal with a frequently changing environment — fluctuations in water temperature, salinity, and oxygen content. Wiki.
32. Org. in a 1966 merger agreement : NFL.
33. Raw, brown or white stuff : SUGAR.
35. Third of a kid's poem trio : NOD. I was winken and blinken through this one.
36. TV streaming option : HULU. I have not tried them, using only Netflix and Amazon. Anyone have a review?
37. "Game of Thrones" evilness : REGICIDE. Killing the King- we have both Cersei and her brother, the Kingslayer. Add that to doing away with Joffrey....well it is not a nice place to visit.
41. Wine label info : VINTNER. A CSO to Chairman Moe.
42. "Hitchhiker's Guide" beings, for short : ETS.
43. Many a hieroglyphic insect : SCARAB. Odd to see this again- two weeks in a row.
44. Claim : ALLEGE. A very popular legal word.
45. Semihard Swiss cheese : TILSIT.
47. Declaration at a group wedding : WE DO. I think they each say, "I DO" but I do not know. Oo said I could have only one wife.
50. Target of budget trimming : FAT.
51. Complete : UTTER.
52. Birch of "American Beauty" : THORA. I have had her in a few friday write-ups.
53. Showy bulb : TULIP.
55. Hunted one : PREY.
58. Ford's Crown __ : VIC.
59. Like comets : ICY.
60. Easy mark : SAP. Beacuse they get sucked dry?
Well there was a lot there and much to discuss. Hope you had fun and look forward to all the comments. Lemonade out.
