Theme: Cubed Rouge - square dancing with the noble grape:
The reveal:
37A. With 40-Across, party supplies found in this puzzle's four corners: BOXED
40A. See 37-Across: WINES
Each corner contains the word WINE rendered as a little cube surrounded by the other entries, hence "boxed wine". Placing the reveal centrally with two stacked 5's means that Bruce had to stretch the puzzle vertically, so it's a 16x15 grid.
Neat theme, especially as Bruce uses the elbow room in the downs to add some nice lengthy fill. The WINE boxes start in turn in each cube in the SW, NW, SW and NW, so very pleasing to the eye.
Boxed wine deservedly had a bad rap at one time, now, if you choose carefully, you can get some very drinkable stuff for your daily house wine or your casual party. A winemaker told me once that you won't get great wine in a box, because great wine needs a bottle to age in, but if you're buying wine for "bulk" consumption, you're not going to be laying it down in your cellar.
Some good advice I once read is to serve it in one of those indestructible Duralex glass tumblers you drink the house wine out of in France, and you're on the right track. Save the Riedel stemware for the posh stuff. Cheers!
Let's see what else we've got to challenge our Thursday minds:
Across:
1. Set of options: MENU
5. Dodge: EVADE
10. "Sing it, Sam" speaker: ILSA. I tried RICK at first without thinking. Sheer nonsense, of course.
14. Gospel singer Andrews: INEZ. This corner was a little tricky for me. INEZ crossing ENID could have been a Natick, but logic prevailed.
15. Annual Big Apple parade sponsor: MACY*S
16. Darned: SEWN
17. New Zealand bird: KIWI. There's a debate about changing the New Zealand national flag. A lot of the proposed designs have a kiwi on them. The rest have the silver fern beloved of the national rugby team.
18. __ Wars: Rome vs. Carthage: PUNIC
19. Tizzy: SNIT
20. Vogue VIPs: EDS. Editors of Vogue magazine. I've cracked this particular crossword code.
21. __ wrench: ALLEN
22. With 22-Down, "People's Court" rival: JUDGE
23. KOA campground area: R.V. LOT
25. Bond film?: GLUE. Nice clue for this little word. Might be my favorite of the day.
27. Ally of "WarGames": SHEEDY. Who? This lady, apparently, from 1983:
29. "Westworld," e.g.: HBO DRAMA. I saw the original movie back in 1816, or something. Yul Brynner was the cowboy. It was quite good.
33. "It's a Wonderful Life" director: CAPRA
34. Juicy fruit: BERRY
35. Up to, briefly: TIL. To quote Bill the Bard:
36. Revlon rival: AVON
38. Beige shade: BONE. I was tempted by ECRU first, but I resisted said temptation.
39. Hard to find: RARE
41. Fail to mention: OMIT
42. Hill builder: ANT
43. Cantina toast: SALUD!
44. __ donna: PRIMA. Is there a seconda donna? We should be told.
45. Fundamental measurement: BASE UNIT
47. __ exercise: upper arm strengthener: TRICEP
48. The "G" of GTO: GRAN. Gran Tourismo Omologato, of course. Lots o' Italian today.
49. Apple __: CRISP. I thought the insurance company was SIGNA, which left me frowning at SR___, that didn't look right at all.
50. Start of a French oath: SACRÉ. BLEU! In French, this is actually one word and the "E" is not accented. There, now you can start a trivia argument in the bar.
53. Norwegian contemporary of Tchaikovsky: GRIEG. Let's have a little "Hall of the Mountain King". The comments on the video are priceless if you've got the time.
55. Bullfight "Bravo!": OLÉ. Huzzah! No "World Cup" clue this week.
58. One-fifth of a limerick: LINE. The actor David Niven's very first audition for Sam Goldwyn included the unexpected request to recite a limerick. I won't quote it here, but apparently it was the only part of the screen test which had any merit and won him a contract with Goldwyn.
59. Guadalajara gal pal: AMIGA
60. Target Field player: TWIN. Minnesota, natch. C.C. would know.
61. Is indebted to: OWES
62. Lacked: HADN'T.
63. Make (one's way): WEND. I picture wending as not being a direct route. Nothing to say you can't wend on a straight line though.
64. Skin pics: TATS. I'm still tattoo-less after all these years. I do have my eye on one. Maybe one day.
65. "My take is ... ": I'D SAY
66. Circle parts: ARCS
Down:
1. Karaoke need: MIKE. Funny, we had MIC a couple of weeks ago, and I was mulling over whether MIKE was an acceptable variant. I guess it is! *drops mic*.
2. Novelist Bagnold: ENID
3. Bulletins, e.g.: NEWS REPORTS
4. "Argo" weapon: UZI. I had "Argo" confused with the Persia vs. Sparta war movie "300", so an assault weapon didn't immediately spring to mind.
5. Use: EMPLOY
6. Event for which Kerri Strug is famous: VAULT. She sprained her ankle in a prior event, but famously strapped it up and nailed her landing to help the USA to team gold in gymnastics at the 1996 Olympics.
7. Unpopular spots: ACNE
8. Endangered species: DYING BREED
9. PC bailout key: ESC
10. Library, cardwise: ISSUER
11. Give for a while: LEND
12. Belt: SWIG
13. Deal preceder: ANTE. Ante up your stake before a poker hand is dealt.
21. "Bridge of Spies" actor: ALDA
22. See 22-Across: JUDY
24. Fogg's creator: VERNE. Phineas Fogg in Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 days". It's pretty much impossible today if you don't fly. There are no commercial passenger services across the Pacific.
26. Some aristocrats: LORDS
27. Egyptian beetle: SCARAB.
28. Morro Castle city: HAVANA. Learning moment, but I had most of the crosses, so I didn't think more than a beat or two.
29. Threaded fastener: HEX NUT
30. Electricity producer, perhaps: ATOMIC POWER. Is "perhaps" a cover-yourself moment from Bruce here? I think "nuclear power" myself
31. Dr. Evil's cohort: MINI ME. From the "Austin Powers" movies. The actor Verne Troyer who played the character sadly passed away recently. A mini-tribute to Verne with the 24D entry.
32. Pub handle: ALE TAP. I call it a beer tap or hand pump in my pub.
34. Seeing red: BOILING MAD
37. African title of respect: BWANA. From the Swahili.
38. Foe of "moose and squirrel": BORIS. Boris Badenov from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
43. "You bet": SURE!
44. Fussy sort: PRIG
46. Means of escape: EGRESS
47. International agreement: TREATY
49. Insurance giant: CIGNA. Not SIGNA then. Oh.
50. Part of a piggy bank: SLOT
51. Bygone audio brand: AIWA. What happened to them? They were ubiquitous in the '70s.
52. Site for techies: CNET
54. Empties (of): RIDS
56. "The Mod Squad" cop: LINC. Colleague of Pete and Julie, of course we all knew that. The final episode aired in 1973. Needless to say, I never saw it.
57. Circle's lack: ENDS
59. Tuna at a luau: AHI
60. Airline once owned by Howard Hughes: TWA. He gave up control of the airline in the 1960's.
And - grid, artfully colored. I'm glad I got out of New York last weekend; the East Coast has been pounded again by some awful weather. Be safe, everyone out there.
Steve
The reveal:
37A. With 40-Across, party supplies found in this puzzle's four corners: BOXED
40A. See 37-Across: WINES
Each corner contains the word WINE rendered as a little cube surrounded by the other entries, hence "boxed wine". Placing the reveal centrally with two stacked 5's means that Bruce had to stretch the puzzle vertically, so it's a 16x15 grid.
Neat theme, especially as Bruce uses the elbow room in the downs to add some nice lengthy fill. The WINE boxes start in turn in each cube in the SW, NW, SW and NW, so very pleasing to the eye.
Boxed wine deservedly had a bad rap at one time, now, if you choose carefully, you can get some very drinkable stuff for your daily house wine or your casual party. A winemaker told me once that you won't get great wine in a box, because great wine needs a bottle to age in, but if you're buying wine for "bulk" consumption, you're not going to be laying it down in your cellar.
Some good advice I once read is to serve it in one of those indestructible Duralex glass tumblers you drink the house wine out of in France, and you're on the right track. Save the Riedel stemware for the posh stuff. Cheers!
Let's see what else we've got to challenge our Thursday minds:
Across:
1. Set of options: MENU
5. Dodge: EVADE
10. "Sing it, Sam" speaker: ILSA. I tried RICK at first without thinking. Sheer nonsense, of course.
14. Gospel singer Andrews: INEZ. This corner was a little tricky for me. INEZ crossing ENID could have been a Natick, but logic prevailed.
15. Annual Big Apple parade sponsor: MACY*S
16. Darned: SEWN
17. New Zealand bird: KIWI. There's a debate about changing the New Zealand national flag. A lot of the proposed designs have a kiwi on them. The rest have the silver fern beloved of the national rugby team.
18. __ Wars: Rome vs. Carthage: PUNIC
19. Tizzy: SNIT
20. Vogue VIPs: EDS. Editors of Vogue magazine. I've cracked this particular crossword code.
21. __ wrench: ALLEN
22. With 22-Down, "People's Court" rival: JUDGE
23. KOA campground area: R.V. LOT
25. Bond film?: GLUE. Nice clue for this little word. Might be my favorite of the day.
27. Ally of "WarGames": SHEEDY. Who? This lady, apparently, from 1983:
29. "Westworld," e.g.: HBO DRAMA. I saw the original movie back in 1816, or something. Yul Brynner was the cowboy. It was quite good.
33. "It's a Wonderful Life" director: CAPRA
34. Juicy fruit: BERRY
35. Up to, briefly: TIL. To quote Bill the Bard:
O, gentlemen, help!
Mine and your mistress! O, my lord Posthumus!
You ne'er kill'd Imogen til now. Help, help!
Mine honour'd lady!
Cymbeline, Act V Sc. 5
36. Revlon rival: AVON
38. Beige shade: BONE. I was tempted by ECRU first, but I resisted said temptation.
39. Hard to find: RARE
41. Fail to mention: OMIT
42. Hill builder: ANT
43. Cantina toast: SALUD!
44. __ donna: PRIMA. Is there a seconda donna? We should be told.
45. Fundamental measurement: BASE UNIT
47. __ exercise: upper arm strengthener: TRICEP
48. The "G" of GTO: GRAN. Gran Tourismo Omologato, of course. Lots o' Italian today.
49. Apple __: CRISP. I thought the insurance company was SIGNA, which left me frowning at SR___, that didn't look right at all.
50. Start of a French oath: SACRÉ. BLEU! In French, this is actually one word and the "E" is not accented. There, now you can start a trivia argument in the bar.
53. Norwegian contemporary of Tchaikovsky: GRIEG. Let's have a little "Hall of the Mountain King". The comments on the video are priceless if you've got the time.
55. Bullfight "Bravo!": OLÉ. Huzzah! No "World Cup" clue this week.
58. One-fifth of a limerick: LINE. The actor David Niven's very first audition for Sam Goldwyn included the unexpected request to recite a limerick. I won't quote it here, but apparently it was the only part of the screen test which had any merit and won him a contract with Goldwyn.
59. Guadalajara gal pal: AMIGA
60. Target Field player: TWIN. Minnesota, natch. C.C. would know.
61. Is indebted to: OWES
62. Lacked: HADN'T.
63. Make (one's way): WEND. I picture wending as not being a direct route. Nothing to say you can't wend on a straight line though.
64. Skin pics: TATS. I'm still tattoo-less after all these years. I do have my eye on one. Maybe one day.
65. "My take is ... ": I'D SAY
66. Circle parts: ARCS
Down:
1. Karaoke need: MIKE. Funny, we had MIC a couple of weeks ago, and I was mulling over whether MIKE was an acceptable variant. I guess it is! *drops mic*.
2. Novelist Bagnold: ENID
3. Bulletins, e.g.: NEWS REPORTS
4. "Argo" weapon: UZI. I had "Argo" confused with the Persia vs. Sparta war movie "300", so an assault weapon didn't immediately spring to mind.
5. Use: EMPLOY
6. Event for which Kerri Strug is famous: VAULT. She sprained her ankle in a prior event, but famously strapped it up and nailed her landing to help the USA to team gold in gymnastics at the 1996 Olympics.
7. Unpopular spots: ACNE
8. Endangered species: DYING BREED
9. PC bailout key: ESC
10. Library, cardwise: ISSUER
11. Give for a while: LEND
12. Belt: SWIG
13. Deal preceder: ANTE. Ante up your stake before a poker hand is dealt.
21. "Bridge of Spies" actor: ALDA
22. See 22-Across: JUDY
24. Fogg's creator: VERNE. Phineas Fogg in Jules Verne's "Around the World in 80 days". It's pretty much impossible today if you don't fly. There are no commercial passenger services across the Pacific.
26. Some aristocrats: LORDS
27. Egyptian beetle: SCARAB.
28. Morro Castle city: HAVANA. Learning moment, but I had most of the crosses, so I didn't think more than a beat or two.
29. Threaded fastener: HEX NUT
30. Electricity producer, perhaps: ATOMIC POWER. Is "perhaps" a cover-yourself moment from Bruce here? I think "nuclear power" myself
31. Dr. Evil's cohort: MINI ME. From the "Austin Powers" movies. The actor Verne Troyer who played the character sadly passed away recently. A mini-tribute to Verne with the 24D entry.
32. Pub handle: ALE TAP. I call it a beer tap or hand pump in my pub.
34. Seeing red: BOILING MAD
37. African title of respect: BWANA. From the Swahili.
38. Foe of "moose and squirrel": BORIS. Boris Badenov from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
43. "You bet": SURE!
44. Fussy sort: PRIG
46. Means of escape: EGRESS
47. International agreement: TREATY
49. Insurance giant: CIGNA. Not SIGNA then. Oh.
50. Part of a piggy bank: SLOT
51. Bygone audio brand: AIWA. What happened to them? They were ubiquitous in the '70s.
52. Site for techies: CNET
54. Empties (of): RIDS
56. "The Mod Squad" cop: LINC. Colleague of Pete and Julie, of course we all knew that. The final episode aired in 1973. Needless to say, I never saw it.
57. Circle's lack: ENDS
59. Tuna at a luau: AHI
60. Airline once owned by Howard Hughes: TWA. He gave up control of the airline in the 1960's.
And - grid, artfully colored. I'm glad I got out of New York last weekend; the East Coast has been pounded again by some awful weather. Be safe, everyone out there.
Steve
