Theme: Can you spare some speared pears to pare? Scrambles on the theme of "pears".
17A. Led: SPEARHEADED. Here's the Kovel spearhead (or at least a reproduction of it) excavated in the Ukraine in 1858. The original was looted and lost during WWII.
31A. Barbecue favorite: SPARE RIBS. Food! I tried "SHORT RIBS" first for absolutely no good reason. I sous-vide my spare ribs with a dry rub for 36 hours before painting them with sauce and finishing them off in a searing hot oven. Purists tell me that's not barbecue. Taste Buds don't object.
38A. Reduces, as spending: PARES DOWN. Usually only by a few slivers, but a reduction nonetheless.
51A. Cooked fruit dessert ... and a cryptic hint to the start of 17-, 31- and 38-Across: STEWED PEARS. More food! I'm a happy camper today.
Solid Thursday-level puzzle from Paul. There is a reveal entry, and so you can dispense with circles to alert the unwary to the presence of the theme scrambles. The fill is smooth, and the long downs give some pleasing cohesion to the whole. Let's see what jumps out:
Across:
1. Org. that awards the Spingarn Medal: N.A.A.C.P. Awarded annually for outstanding achievement by an African-American.
6. Bochco series: LA LAW
11. Peter, Paul and Mary: Abbr.: STS. Nice clue! Saints, not states and nothing whatever to do with the folk trio. Here's Seal singing Peter Yarrow's Puff the Magic Dragon in my submission for the "Tenuous Link Of The Week" competition.
14. Counterpart of "a": ALPHA. I suppose it is a counterpart, never thought of it that way before.
15. Bacteria in undercooked meat: E.COLI. Let's be clear, the bacteria is present in contaminated meat and if that meat is undercooked can present a health risk. No need to swear off your medium-rare hamburger or your kibbeh nayyeh if you source your meat carefully.
16. Not just "a": THE
19. Bonanza contents: ORE
20. Many a Bon Appétit subscriber: FOODIE. The canny foodie gets Bon Appétit online.
21. Tablet download: E-BOOK
23. Flips, in a way: RE-SELLS
26. Ball beauties: BELLES. Here's a question - can a ball have more than one belle, or do multiple belles have to divvy up the balls between them? We should be told.
27. Hardened: INURED
28. Decline to recline?: STAY UP. Nice!
30. Bursts: POPS
34. Suffix with glob: -ULE
35. Held closely (to): ADHERED
37. "O wad some Pow'r the giftie __ us": Burns: GIE. "Oh, would some power give us the gift ..."
40. Manage (for oneself): FEND
41. Melonlike tropical fruit: PAPAWS. Food aplenty. I know 'em as pawpaws, and long before I'd ever seen one in the flesh, I knew the name from the "Bear Necessities" song from The Jungle Book Disney movie.
42. Slapstick trio member: STOOGE.
44. Loosey-__: GOOSEY
46. Fishing lure: SPINNER
47. Less experienced: RAWER. or rare, as opposed to medium-rare, to continue my food! theme of the day.
48. Plump: ROTUND
50. Mike and __: fruity candy: IKE
56. Part of mpg: PER
57. Quilt filler: EIDER
58. Latin stars: ASTRA. Should be familiar from many mottoes and a ton of cultural references. I know "Per Ardua ad Astra" as the motto of the Royal Air Force.
59. "Star Trek" rank: Abbr.: ENS. ign.
60. Tea go-with: SCONE. If you're ever in Devon or Cornwall, make sure you get clotted cream on your scone.
61. Bikini blast: N-TEST. Bikini atoll. Contrary to popular opinion, the swimsuit isn't a "bikini" because it's a two-piece, it's because of the alleged explosive effect of wearing one when they were first introduced.
Down:
1. Hip-hop artist who narrates Netflix's "The Get Down": NAS. Knew the artist, but not the show.
2. Hurdle for Hannibal: ALP. Also a hurdle for the riders in the Tour de France which is currently heading for the finish in Paris this weekend.
3. Act like: APE
4. Plant-eating scarab beetles: CHAFERS. Thank you, crosses. I will file this away for future scarab reference.
5. Sentence shortener: PAROLE. Nice one. I was on the ET AL, ETC train for a while.
6. City on the Aire: LEEDS. A given for me. We lived in Leeds when I was a little kid and the city was the site of a lot of firsts for me - riding a bike unaided, kissing a girl (on a dare, naturally!), tearing open an artery falling out of a tree (I still have the scar), breaking a leg. I never fell in the river Aire though, which was just as well. Back then, I wouldn't have drowned, I'd have slowly dissolved in the chemicals.
7. Antioxidant berry in smoothies: ACAI
8. Valuable deposit: LODE. What a lode of ore we have today.
9. Tap output: ALE
10. Innocent-looking: WIDE-EYED
11. Informer: STOOL PIGEON
12. Pang: THROE
13. Goes after: SEEKS
18. You might hear music on it: HOLD. Usually really awful, crackly, repetitive stuff. People who implement on-hold music and announcements should be forced to listen to the tape loop for a full day, then see how they like it.
22. Cloud: BLUR
23. Make confetti of: RIP UP
24. Name on a 1945 bomber: ENOLA
25. Dominant states: SUPERPOWERS. My superpower is my Vitamix blender. It's got so much horsepower that if you leave it running for a minute or so the contents of the jug get hot enough to simmer just from the friction of the blades.
26. Spartan: BARE
28. Expels: SPEWS
29. Mountain lake: TARN
31. Larry McMurtry's "The Last Picture __": SHOW
32. __-watch: BINGE. The nearest I've come to binge-watching was settling down to all six seasons of Downton Abbey over a period of a few weeks.
33. Feast where the Haggadah is read: SEDER
35. Bad-mouths: ASPERSES. What a cracking word! We're all familiar with the noun form, as some of the snarky anons in the comments like to throw aspersions around like confetti, but the verb form is new to me. I resolve to use it. Not in the first person active though.
36. "Saving Private Ryan" event: D-DAY. I saw this in the theater when it was first released. There was a stunned silence for the first 40 minutes or so.
39. Let up: EASE
40. Most affectionate: FONDEST
42. 5'7" Webb, shortest to win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest: "SPUD". All-Name Hall of Fame. Another first-round All-Name Hall-of-Famer is the 5'3" "Muggsy" Bogues who was the shortest player to ever play in the NFL and HE could dunk. Think about that. The hoop is at 10'.
43. __ Alley: TIN PAN
44. Beef: GRIPE
45. Like Cognac casks: OAKEN. Or dwarves' shields, according to The Lord of the Rings.
46. About 1.3 cubic yards: STERE. Or a cubic meter, more simply put. There's some discussion about whether to use the cubic meter for cut wood, and the stere for uncut wood, but frankly I shouldn't lose any sleep over it.
48. Give a makeover: REDO
49. "A Prayer for __ Meany": John Irving novel: OWEN. A fabulous novel in my humble opinion, this had me enthralled from start to finish.
52. Personal quirk: TIC
53. Downed a sub?: ATE
54. Syst. of cars on tracks: R.R.S. Railroads. I'm thinking of building a model railway, but it would have to be the super-tiny "N" scale. Not sure if me old bones and eyesight are up to the task.
55. Convened: SAT
And that should do it. I'm hungry after all this food!
Steve
17A. Led: SPEARHEADED. Here's the Kovel spearhead (or at least a reproduction of it) excavated in the Ukraine in 1858. The original was looted and lost during WWII.
31A. Barbecue favorite: SPARE RIBS. Food! I tried "SHORT RIBS" first for absolutely no good reason. I sous-vide my spare ribs with a dry rub for 36 hours before painting them with sauce and finishing them off in a searing hot oven. Purists tell me that's not barbecue. Taste Buds don't object.
38A. Reduces, as spending: PARES DOWN. Usually only by a few slivers, but a reduction nonetheless.
51A. Cooked fruit dessert ... and a cryptic hint to the start of 17-, 31- and 38-Across: STEWED PEARS. More food! I'm a happy camper today.
Solid Thursday-level puzzle from Paul. There is a reveal entry, and so you can dispense with circles to alert the unwary to the presence of the theme scrambles. The fill is smooth, and the long downs give some pleasing cohesion to the whole. Let's see what jumps out:
Across:
1. Org. that awards the Spingarn Medal: N.A.A.C.P. Awarded annually for outstanding achievement by an African-American.
6. Bochco series: LA LAW
11. Peter, Paul and Mary: Abbr.: STS. Nice clue! Saints, not states and nothing whatever to do with the folk trio. Here's Seal singing Peter Yarrow's Puff the Magic Dragon in my submission for the "Tenuous Link Of The Week" competition.
14. Counterpart of "a": ALPHA. I suppose it is a counterpart, never thought of it that way before.
15. Bacteria in undercooked meat: E.COLI. Let's be clear, the bacteria is present in contaminated meat and if that meat is undercooked can present a health risk. No need to swear off your medium-rare hamburger or your kibbeh nayyeh if you source your meat carefully.
16. Not just "a": THE
19. Bonanza contents: ORE
20. Many a Bon Appétit subscriber: FOODIE. The canny foodie gets Bon Appétit online.
21. Tablet download: E-BOOK
23. Flips, in a way: RE-SELLS
26. Ball beauties: BELLES. Here's a question - can a ball have more than one belle, or do multiple belles have to divvy up the balls between them? We should be told.
27. Hardened: INURED
28. Decline to recline?: STAY UP. Nice!
30. Bursts: POPS
34. Suffix with glob: -ULE
35. Held closely (to): ADHERED
37. "O wad some Pow'r the giftie __ us": Burns: GIE. "Oh, would some power give us the gift ..."
O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as ithers see us!
It wad frae mony a blunder free us,
An' foolish notion:
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us,
An' ev'n devotion!
Robert Burns, "To a Louse".
40. Manage (for oneself): FEND
41. Melonlike tropical fruit: PAPAWS. Food aplenty. I know 'em as pawpaws, and long before I'd ever seen one in the flesh, I knew the name from the "Bear Necessities" song from The Jungle Book Disney movie.
42. Slapstick trio member: STOOGE.
44. Loosey-__: GOOSEY
46. Fishing lure: SPINNER
47. Less experienced: RAWER. or rare, as opposed to medium-rare, to continue my food! theme of the day.
48. Plump: ROTUND
50. Mike and __: fruity candy: IKE
56. Part of mpg: PER
57. Quilt filler: EIDER
58. Latin stars: ASTRA. Should be familiar from many mottoes and a ton of cultural references. I know "Per Ardua ad Astra" as the motto of the Royal Air Force.
59. "Star Trek" rank: Abbr.: ENS. ign.
60. Tea go-with: SCONE. If you're ever in Devon or Cornwall, make sure you get clotted cream on your scone.
61. Bikini blast: N-TEST. Bikini atoll. Contrary to popular opinion, the swimsuit isn't a "bikini" because it's a two-piece, it's because of the alleged explosive effect of wearing one when they were first introduced.
Down:
1. Hip-hop artist who narrates Netflix's "The Get Down": NAS. Knew the artist, but not the show.
2. Hurdle for Hannibal: ALP. Also a hurdle for the riders in the Tour de France which is currently heading for the finish in Paris this weekend.
3. Act like: APE
4. Plant-eating scarab beetles: CHAFERS. Thank you, crosses. I will file this away for future scarab reference.
5. Sentence shortener: PAROLE. Nice one. I was on the ET AL, ETC train for a while.
6. City on the Aire: LEEDS. A given for me. We lived in Leeds when I was a little kid and the city was the site of a lot of firsts for me - riding a bike unaided, kissing a girl (on a dare, naturally!), tearing open an artery falling out of a tree (I still have the scar), breaking a leg. I never fell in the river Aire though, which was just as well. Back then, I wouldn't have drowned, I'd have slowly dissolved in the chemicals.
7. Antioxidant berry in smoothies: ACAI
8. Valuable deposit: LODE. What a lode of ore we have today.
9. Tap output: ALE
10. Innocent-looking: WIDE-EYED
11. Informer: STOOL PIGEON
12. Pang: THROE
13. Goes after: SEEKS
18. You might hear music on it: HOLD. Usually really awful, crackly, repetitive stuff. People who implement on-hold music and announcements should be forced to listen to the tape loop for a full day, then see how they like it.
22. Cloud: BLUR
23. Make confetti of: RIP UP
24. Name on a 1945 bomber: ENOLA
25. Dominant states: SUPERPOWERS. My superpower is my Vitamix blender. It's got so much horsepower that if you leave it running for a minute or so the contents of the jug get hot enough to simmer just from the friction of the blades.
26. Spartan: BARE
28. Expels: SPEWS
29. Mountain lake: TARN
31. Larry McMurtry's "The Last Picture __": SHOW
32. __-watch: BINGE. The nearest I've come to binge-watching was settling down to all six seasons of Downton Abbey over a period of a few weeks.
33. Feast where the Haggadah is read: SEDER
35. Bad-mouths: ASPERSES. What a cracking word! We're all familiar with the noun form, as some of the snarky anons in the comments like to throw aspersions around like confetti, but the verb form is new to me. I resolve to use it. Not in the first person active though.
36. "Saving Private Ryan" event: D-DAY. I saw this in the theater when it was first released. There was a stunned silence for the first 40 minutes or so.
39. Let up: EASE
40. Most affectionate: FONDEST
42. 5'7" Webb, shortest to win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest: "SPUD". All-Name Hall of Fame. Another first-round All-Name Hall-of-Famer is the 5'3" "Muggsy" Bogues who was the shortest player to ever play in the NFL and HE could dunk. Think about that. The hoop is at 10'.
43. __ Alley: TIN PAN
44. Beef: GRIPE
45. Like Cognac casks: OAKEN. Or dwarves' shields, according to The Lord of the Rings.
46. About 1.3 cubic yards: STERE. Or a cubic meter, more simply put. There's some discussion about whether to use the cubic meter for cut wood, and the stere for uncut wood, but frankly I shouldn't lose any sleep over it.
48. Give a makeover: REDO
49. "A Prayer for __ Meany": John Irving novel: OWEN. A fabulous novel in my humble opinion, this had me enthralled from start to finish.
52. Personal quirk: TIC
53. Downed a sub?: ATE
54. Syst. of cars on tracks: R.R.S. Railroads. I'm thinking of building a model railway, but it would have to be the super-tiny "N" scale. Not sure if me old bones and eyesight are up to the task.
55. Convened: SAT
And that should do it. I'm hungry after all this food!
Steve
