Theme: G-Minus. No, not the grade for the puzzle, but explaining the theme:
27A. Reason your ears are burning?: (G)LOBAL WARMING
20A. Girl skipping school?: (G)LASS CUTTING
46A. Farm sound after sunset?: (G)LOW IN THE DARK
54A. Knight game impact?: (G)LANCING BLOW
And the reveal:
Aha! No reveal, a nice Thursday-style theme-and-figure-it-out-yourself. With these puzzles, if they're well-constructed, it can be a big help if you do figure out the theme, the earlier the better. This puzzle from Clive is a good example of the genre. Also, look at the stacked 9's in the downs and "we've got a cracking grid (Gromit!)".
Let's see what catches the eye elsewhere:
Across:
1. Throw out a line: CAST
5. Marner of fiction: SILAS
10. Santa Monica attraction: PIER. Iconic venue here in LA. I've never really looked closely at the famous sign, but now I have to ask - where is the yacht harbor? I've sailed the Santa Monica Bay a number of times, and there's no harbor to be seen anywhere near the pier.
14. Funny Bombeck: ERMA
15. Letter-shaped fastener: U-BOLT. I always thought "Bolt" was a very apt name for another U.Bolt.
16. "Young Frankenstein" Fräulein: INGA
17. Meadows: LEAS
18. Siamese fighting fish: BETTA
19. New Mexico resort: TAOS
23. Plate duster: UMP. Lovely clue. Baseball home-plate umpire clearing the aforementioned of dirt. He keeps a little brush handy for the task.
24. Transparent: SHEER
25. "The Prisoner of __": 1937 Fairbanks film: ZENDA. The star, Ronald Coleman, preparing to buckle his swash.
32. Collect over time: AMASS
35. __ juice: MOO
36. Second-largest bone in the body: TIBIA
37. Ticket word: ROW
38. Note from one who's shy: IOU. Very nice. Shy of funds.
39. __ Cruces: LAS. A New Mexico geography puzzle today.
40. Low joint: ANKLE
43. ID with two hyphens: SSN
44. "Totally had you going there!": PSYCH! We had this a couple of weeks ago. Were you paying attention?
49. Backyard game for two: CATCH
50. Saudi money: RIYAL
53. Prefix with pass: SUR
59. Early automaker: OLDS
61. Trunk: TORSO
62. Kitchen floor covering, to a Brit: LINO. We had lino in our bedrooms when I was a small child and no heating upstairs. Getting out of bed on a winter's morning was a bracing experience.
63. Singer's syllables: LA LA
64. Considering everything: IN ALL
65. __ Eats: food delivery app: UBER. I've used these folks a few times when I've arrived home late from the airport and found nothing much to eat in the house. The service is really good.
66. African antelope: ORYX
67. Propagated: SOWED
68. Word on an Irish stamp: EIRE. Here's a nice example. It says "Two Pence" underneath, if you're curious.
Down:
1. "Tainted Love" band Soft __: CELL. Quick, name another Soft Cell hit. In the meantime, here's the 80's again.
2. Measurements made by planimeters: AREAS. Learning moment. Looks like something you'd find in a dentist's office:
3. Tennis shot: SMASH
4. Loafer adornments: TASSELS
5. Many a commuter's community: SUBURB. I went with "SLEEPY" first and had second, third and fourth thoughts until sanity prevailed.
6. Sarcastic comment: I BET.
7. Senate majority leader after Dole: LOTT
8. Some choristers: ALTI
9. Poetry unit: STANZA
10. Racetrack stop: PIT. I was thinking horses for a while. Then .. aha! Motor sports.
11. Lower than low?: INAUDIBLY. INAUDIBLE seemed perfect, until PSECH [sic] emerged.
12. Swellhead: EGOMANIAC
13. Speak harshly: RASP
21. Company VIPs: CEOS
22. Fröbe who played Goldfinger: GERT
26. Feature of a two-ltr. monogram: N.M.I. No Middle Initial. I've had two girlfriends with no middle name. One dropped her last name because she didn't like it and used her middle name instead, the other said her parents ran out of ideas after coming up with her first name.
28. Pennsylvania sect: AMISH
29. Relaxed: LOOSE
30. Wired, with "up": WOUND
31. Big cut: GASH
32. Severely damaged Asian sea: ARAL
33. Like a birder's field glass: MONOCULAR
34. With very little grace: AWKWARDLY
41. Burning: LIT
42. Env. fattener: ENCL. The enclosure fattens the envelope.
44. Puritan: PRIG. Likeable clue/answer. Not obvious off the bat. Nice stuff.
45. Landscape artist's shade: SKY BLUE
47. To wit: THAT IS
48. California governor after Gray: ARNOLD. Der Gübernator. I still like the way he pronounced "California". Here's a highlight reel of just that. There's nothing you can't find on the Interwebs.
51. Defensive line?: ALIBI. Very nice clue/answer. Some corkers today.
52. Hermit: LONER
53. 2018 Ron Howard film subtitled "A Star Wars Story": SOLO. Solo. Han Solo. No wait, wasn't that 007?
55. Faux pas: NO-NO
56. Bird crop: CRAW
57. Cruise stopover: ISLE. Had PORT. That's didn't help progress at the bottom.
58. Became frayed, say: WORE
60. Kenny G's horn: SAX. Nice bookend for the theme. The missing "G" appears in the final clue!
World Cup fever continues for me. There's no cure except for waiting out the crisis in Mid-July. Some of the commentary on the Fox coverage is shockingly bad - I find refuge in the Spanish-language feed on Univision.
Here's the griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid! Griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid!
Steve
Note from C.C.:
27A. Reason your ears are burning?: (G)LOBAL WARMING
20A. Girl skipping school?: (G)LASS CUTTING
46A. Farm sound after sunset?: (G)LOW IN THE DARK
54A. Knight game impact?: (G)LANCING BLOW
And the reveal:
Aha! No reveal, a nice Thursday-style theme-and-figure-it-out-yourself. With these puzzles, if they're well-constructed, it can be a big help if you do figure out the theme, the earlier the better. This puzzle from Clive is a good example of the genre. Also, look at the stacked 9's in the downs and "we've got a cracking grid (Gromit!)".
Let's see what catches the eye elsewhere:
Across:
1. Throw out a line: CAST
5. Marner of fiction: SILAS
10. Santa Monica attraction: PIER. Iconic venue here in LA. I've never really looked closely at the famous sign, but now I have to ask - where is the yacht harbor? I've sailed the Santa Monica Bay a number of times, and there's no harbor to be seen anywhere near the pier.
14. Funny Bombeck: ERMA
"Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth."
15. Letter-shaped fastener: U-BOLT. I always thought "Bolt" was a very apt name for another U.Bolt.
16. "Young Frankenstein" Fräulein: INGA
17. Meadows: LEAS
18. Siamese fighting fish: BETTA
19. New Mexico resort: TAOS
23. Plate duster: UMP. Lovely clue. Baseball home-plate umpire clearing the aforementioned of dirt. He keeps a little brush handy for the task.
24. Transparent: SHEER
25. "The Prisoner of __": 1937 Fairbanks film: ZENDA. The star, Ronald Coleman, preparing to buckle his swash.
32. Collect over time: AMASS
35. __ juice: MOO
36. Second-largest bone in the body: TIBIA
37. Ticket word: ROW
38. Note from one who's shy: IOU. Very nice. Shy of funds.
39. __ Cruces: LAS. A New Mexico geography puzzle today.
40. Low joint: ANKLE
43. ID with two hyphens: SSN
44. "Totally had you going there!": PSYCH! We had this a couple of weeks ago. Were you paying attention?
49. Backyard game for two: CATCH
50. Saudi money: RIYAL
53. Prefix with pass: SUR
59. Early automaker: OLDS
61. Trunk: TORSO
62. Kitchen floor covering, to a Brit: LINO. We had lino in our bedrooms when I was a small child and no heating upstairs. Getting out of bed on a winter's morning was a bracing experience.
63. Singer's syllables: LA LA
64. Considering everything: IN ALL
65. __ Eats: food delivery app: UBER. I've used these folks a few times when I've arrived home late from the airport and found nothing much to eat in the house. The service is really good.
66. African antelope: ORYX
67. Propagated: SOWED
68. Word on an Irish stamp: EIRE. Here's a nice example. It says "Two Pence" underneath, if you're curious.
Down:
1. "Tainted Love" band Soft __: CELL. Quick, name another Soft Cell hit. In the meantime, here's the 80's again.
2. Measurements made by planimeters: AREAS. Learning moment. Looks like something you'd find in a dentist's office:
3. Tennis shot: SMASH
4. Loafer adornments: TASSELS
5. Many a commuter's community: SUBURB. I went with "SLEEPY" first and had second, third and fourth thoughts until sanity prevailed.
6. Sarcastic comment: I BET.
7. Senate majority leader after Dole: LOTT
8. Some choristers: ALTI
9. Poetry unit: STANZA
10. Racetrack stop: PIT. I was thinking horses for a while. Then .. aha! Motor sports.
11. Lower than low?: INAUDIBLY. INAUDIBLE seemed perfect, until PSECH [sic] emerged.
12. Swellhead: EGOMANIAC
13. Speak harshly: RASP
21. Company VIPs: CEOS
22. Fröbe who played Goldfinger: GERT
26. Feature of a two-ltr. monogram: N.M.I. No Middle Initial. I've had two girlfriends with no middle name. One dropped her last name because she didn't like it and used her middle name instead, the other said her parents ran out of ideas after coming up with her first name.
28. Pennsylvania sect: AMISH
29. Relaxed: LOOSE
30. Wired, with "up": WOUND
31. Big cut: GASH
32. Severely damaged Asian sea: ARAL
33. Like a birder's field glass: MONOCULAR
34. With very little grace: AWKWARDLY
41. Burning: LIT
42. Env. fattener: ENCL. The enclosure fattens the envelope.
44. Puritan: PRIG. Likeable clue/answer. Not obvious off the bat. Nice stuff.
45. Landscape artist's shade: SKY BLUE
47. To wit: THAT IS
48. California governor after Gray: ARNOLD. Der Gübernator. I still like the way he pronounced "California". Here's a highlight reel of just that. There's nothing you can't find on the Interwebs.
51. Defensive line?: ALIBI. Very nice clue/answer. Some corkers today.
52. Hermit: LONER
53. 2018 Ron Howard film subtitled "A Star Wars Story": SOLO. Solo. Han Solo. No wait, wasn't that 007?
55. Faux pas: NO-NO
56. Bird crop: CRAW
57. Cruise stopover: ISLE. Had PORT. That's didn't help progress at the bottom.
58. Became frayed, say: WORE
60. Kenny G's horn: SAX. Nice bookend for the theme. The missing "G" appears in the final clue!
World Cup fever continues for me. There's no cure except for waiting out the crisis in Mid-July. Some of the commentary on the Fox coverage is shockingly bad - I find refuge in the Spanish-language feed on Univision.
Here's the griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid! Griiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiid!
Steve
Note from C.C.:
Irish Miss asked about Melissa's granddaughter Jaelyn yesterday. Here she is with her father's day masterpiece. You can click here to see a few more pictures of our beautiful girl.
