Theme: Odorless Wine - or "no nose". Actually, the reveal explains the theme nicely:
64A. Taboos, and a hint to the four longest puzzle answers : NO-NOS. Phrases which lose the opening "no"; and so we have
17A. Soda fountain come-on? : [NO] GREAT SHAKES. Make three at once with this handy device on your countertop:
26A. Earthquake coverage? : [NO-]FAULT INSURANCE. You'd thing you'd need fault insurance in my home state. California isn't one of the no-fault insurance states.
43A. List in a quiz program recap? : [NO] QUESTIONS ASKED. Nice clue.
56A. Lower hulls fortified? : [NO] HOLDS BARRED. I think I'd have looked for a more elegant clue here. "Lower hull" seems a little contrived.
There was a similar theme by Jim Page in the NYT a few years ago, but he clued his theme entries as if they still had the "no" attached.
Let's see what jumps out in the fill:
Across:
1. Fall face first while skiing, say : EAT IT. I've done many a face-plant on and off piste.
6. Mighty silly : APISH. Nice word, took a while for me to see it.
11. Part of ROM: Abbr. : MEM. Read-only memory. Which leads me to the question - how do you get anything into read-only memory? We should be told.
14. Longest-serving prime minister of India : NEHRU. He of the eponymous jacket. India's first PM.
15. Austrian actress Berger : SENTA. Completely unknown to me, but the crosses filled her in.
16. Kanye West's "I __ God" : AM A. Nailed it! Thank you, crosswords past.
19. Monarch catcher : NET. Butterfly net.
20. Brooklyn Dodgers legend Campanella : ROY. Imaginatively nicknamed "Campy".
21. In questionable taste : TACKY
22. All excited : AFIRE
24. Radiant glow : AURA
25. Italian cheese : ASIAGO. Oddly, I always thought it was Spanish. Learning moment for me.
31. Aids in illegal activity : ABETS. I see "aid" as a synonym, but the crime is "aiding and abetting", so there must be a difference. We need legal help to explain this one.
32. Roberts of "That '70s Show" : TANYA. She's had some "work" done since this shot was taken, as a Google image search will confirm.
33. Comic Martha : RAYE. Thank you, crosses. Proper names are not my forte.
34. One-named singer with 15 Grammys : ADELE
36. Neeson of "Love Actually" : LIAM
40. Continue gabbing : RUN ON
42. Ship's seepage : BILGE. In the sub-lower hull.
47. Latin ballroom dances : TANGOS
48. Berlin octet : ACHT. Eight, in Essen, and elsewhere.
49. One of a Dumas trio : ATHOS. The Three Musketeers. Athos, Porthos and Aramis. D'Artagnan wasn't a musketeer when he met the three.
50. Civil rights leader Chavez : CESAR.
52. __-tip steak : TRI. This cut of beef is unknown many places other than the West Coast. It's a triangular cut from the bottom sirloin, hence the name - it has three "tips".
55. Barnyard sound : MAA. It's a more accurate representation of the sound than "baa" although the latter is more commonly-used. "Maa maa black sheep, have you any wool?" doesn't have the same ring to it.
59. Directional suffix : ERN
60. Missouri tribe : OSAGE
61. Not-giving-up phrase : I HOPE
62. Completed : DID
63. Fishing boot : WADER
Down:
1. Career for a sci. major : ENGR. Engineer. Definitely not my favorite fill.
2. Flight-related prefix : AERO-
3. Unspecified folks : THEY. I had THEM first, but the baseball great Rom [sic] Campanella fixed that.
4. Sportswriter Berkow : IRA. Boxing, baseball, basketball among other sports. He was jointly awarded the Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 2001. Great writer.
5. Clucks of disapproval : TUT-TUTS
6. __ School: art movement featuring NYC scenes : ASHCAN. I've no idea how I knew this. Here's "McSorley's Bar" by John French Sloan.
7. Top out : PEAK
8. Very dark : INKY
9. Abbr. in some Québec addresses : STE. Ste. Jean sur Richelieu, par example.
10. Contributes : HAS A SAY
11. Oscar-nominated "Flashdance" song : MANIAC. I preferred "Flashdance .. What a Feeling" myself. In fact, let's have a Flashdance Flashback.
12. Arise : EMERGE
13. San __, California : MATEO
18. Asian dress : SARI
23. Contender for the crown : FINALIST
24. Steve Rogers, for Captain America : ALTER EGO
25. Composer of the opera "Alfred" : ARNE. Thomas Arne's score for the opera about Alfred the Great. The libretto was written by David Mallet and James Thompson. We'll have a test on this tomorrow, so pay attention.
26. At a distance : AFAR
27. Chicago-based law org. : ABA. At least this week's clue allows for no ambiguity, unlike last week's interpretation which brought all the knuckle-dragging anons out of hiding.
28: Illegal fwy. maneuver : UEY
29. Court worker : STENO
30. Co. that merged with Continental : UAL. United Airlines. My carrier of choice. It's been a good week not to be travelling, bad weather all over the place.
34. Queen's subjects : ANTS
35. "And how!" : DO I!
37. Sort : ILK
38. Sit in a cellar, maybe : AGE
39. Club __ : MED. Are they still going? Not seen these resorts advertised for quite some time.
41. Base entertainment : USO SHOW
42. Persian Gulf monarchy : BAHRAIN
43. Persian Gulf native : QATARI. I enjoyed the proximity of this clue pair.
44. Release : UNHAND
45. Egyptian leader for whom a lake is named : NASSER. Formed by the damming of the Nile at Aswan. It's the largest man-made lake in the world. The lake, was formed, that is, not the leader. The leader was formed by Mr. and Mrs. Nasser, presumably.
46. Union foe : SCAB
47. Gained control of : TAMED
50. Dressed : CLAD
51. Advantage : EDGE
52. 1982 sci-fi film : TRON. Plus the recent reboot Tron: Legacy in 2010.
53. Defaulter's risk : REPO
54. Time to beware : IDES. More ides. Shame there wasn't a month named "Tides". Then, when it was close to the middle of the month, you'd be able to say "The Ides of Tides Bides". Thank you, I'm here all week.
57. Spanish she-bear : OSA
58. Frat letter : RHO.
And - here's the grid, stick a fork in me, I'm done.
Steve
3) Agnes just asked about Melissa's granddaughter Jaelyn yesterday. Here is a sweet picture of Melissa's daughter and Jaelyn. Look how she has grown.
64A. Taboos, and a hint to the four longest puzzle answers : NO-NOS. Phrases which lose the opening "no"; and so we have
17A. Soda fountain come-on? : [NO] GREAT SHAKES. Make three at once with this handy device on your countertop:
26A. Earthquake coverage? : [NO-]FAULT INSURANCE. You'd thing you'd need fault insurance in my home state. California isn't one of the no-fault insurance states.
43A. List in a quiz program recap? : [NO] QUESTIONS ASKED. Nice clue.
56A. Lower hulls fortified? : [NO] HOLDS BARRED. I think I'd have looked for a more elegant clue here. "Lower hull" seems a little contrived.
There was a similar theme by Jim Page in the NYT a few years ago, but he clued his theme entries as if they still had the "no" attached.
Let's see what jumps out in the fill:
Across:
1. Fall face first while skiing, say : EAT IT. I've done many a face-plant on and off piste.
6. Mighty silly : APISH. Nice word, took a while for me to see it.
11. Part of ROM: Abbr. : MEM. Read-only memory. Which leads me to the question - how do you get anything into read-only memory? We should be told.
14. Longest-serving prime minister of India : NEHRU. He of the eponymous jacket. India's first PM.
15. Austrian actress Berger : SENTA. Completely unknown to me, but the crosses filled her in.
16. Kanye West's "I __ God" : AM A. Nailed it! Thank you, crosswords past.
19. Monarch catcher : NET. Butterfly net.
20. Brooklyn Dodgers legend Campanella : ROY. Imaginatively nicknamed "Campy".
21. In questionable taste : TACKY
22. All excited : AFIRE
24. Radiant glow : AURA
25. Italian cheese : ASIAGO. Oddly, I always thought it was Spanish. Learning moment for me.
31. Aids in illegal activity : ABETS. I see "aid" as a synonym, but the crime is "aiding and abetting", so there must be a difference. We need legal help to explain this one.
32. Roberts of "That '70s Show" : TANYA. She's had some "work" done since this shot was taken, as a Google image search will confirm.
33. Comic Martha : RAYE. Thank you, crosses. Proper names are not my forte.
34. One-named singer with 15 Grammys : ADELE
36. Neeson of "Love Actually" : LIAM
40. Continue gabbing : RUN ON
42. Ship's seepage : BILGE. In the sub-lower hull.
47. Latin ballroom dances : TANGOS
48. Berlin octet : ACHT. Eight, in Essen, and elsewhere.
49. One of a Dumas trio : ATHOS. The Three Musketeers. Athos, Porthos and Aramis. D'Artagnan wasn't a musketeer when he met the three.
50. Civil rights leader Chavez : CESAR.
52. __-tip steak : TRI. This cut of beef is unknown many places other than the West Coast. It's a triangular cut from the bottom sirloin, hence the name - it has three "tips".
55. Barnyard sound : MAA. It's a more accurate representation of the sound than "baa" although the latter is more commonly-used. "Maa maa black sheep, have you any wool?" doesn't have the same ring to it.
59. Directional suffix : ERN
60. Missouri tribe : OSAGE
61. Not-giving-up phrase : I HOPE
62. Completed : DID
63. Fishing boot : WADER
Down:
1. Career for a sci. major : ENGR. Engineer. Definitely not my favorite fill.
2. Flight-related prefix : AERO-
3. Unspecified folks : THEY. I had THEM first, but the baseball great Rom [sic] Campanella fixed that.
4. Sportswriter Berkow : IRA. Boxing, baseball, basketball among other sports. He was jointly awarded the Pulitzer Prize for journalism in 2001. Great writer.
5. Clucks of disapproval : TUT-TUTS
6. __ School: art movement featuring NYC scenes : ASHCAN. I've no idea how I knew this. Here's "McSorley's Bar" by John French Sloan.
7. Top out : PEAK
8. Very dark : INKY
9. Abbr. in some Québec addresses : STE. Ste. Jean sur Richelieu, par example.
10. Contributes : HAS A SAY
11. Oscar-nominated "Flashdance" song : MANIAC. I preferred "Flashdance .. What a Feeling" myself. In fact, let's have a Flashdance Flashback.
12. Arise : EMERGE
13. San __, California : MATEO
18. Asian dress : SARI
23. Contender for the crown : FINALIST
24. Steve Rogers, for Captain America : ALTER EGO
25. Composer of the opera "Alfred" : ARNE. Thomas Arne's score for the opera about Alfred the Great. The libretto was written by David Mallet and James Thompson. We'll have a test on this tomorrow, so pay attention.
26. At a distance : AFAR
27. Chicago-based law org. : ABA. At least this week's clue allows for no ambiguity, unlike last week's interpretation which brought all the knuckle-dragging anons out of hiding.
28: Illegal fwy. maneuver : UEY
29. Court worker : STENO
30. Co. that merged with Continental : UAL. United Airlines. My carrier of choice. It's been a good week not to be travelling, bad weather all over the place.
34. Queen's subjects : ANTS
35. "And how!" : DO I!
37. Sort : ILK
38. Sit in a cellar, maybe : AGE
39. Club __ : MED. Are they still going? Not seen these resorts advertised for quite some time.
41. Base entertainment : USO SHOW
42. Persian Gulf monarchy : BAHRAIN
43. Persian Gulf native : QATARI. I enjoyed the proximity of this clue pair.
44. Release : UNHAND
45. Egyptian leader for whom a lake is named : NASSER. Formed by the damming of the Nile at Aswan. It's the largest man-made lake in the world. The lake, was formed, that is, not the leader. The leader was formed by Mr. and Mrs. Nasser, presumably.
46. Union foe : SCAB
47. Gained control of : TAMED
50. Dressed : CLAD
51. Advantage : EDGE
52. 1982 sci-fi film : TRON. Plus the recent reboot Tron: Legacy in 2010.
53. Defaulter's risk : REPO
54. Time to beware : IDES. More ides. Shame there wasn't a month named "Tides". Then, when it was close to the middle of the month, you'd be able to say "The Ides of Tides Bides". Thank you, I'm here all week.
57. Spanish she-bear : OSA
58. Frat letter : RHO.
And - here's the grid, stick a fork in me, I'm done.
Steve
Notes from C.C.:
1) Argyle still has his phone off the hook due to the pain meds, but I'm in contact with his sister Klista. Santa is doing OK. Please continue
keeping him in your thoughts and prayers.
2) Happy Birthday to dear PK, who
turns 77 today. So happy that she's now on the blog regularly. PK is a
Preacher's Child, but PK also stands for Passionate Kisser, and she's
passionate about many subjects. She's always so attentive and observant.
She was a reporter before.
