Theme: Retirement Party - all the theme entries pun on the hang-up-your-boots topic:
17A. Watchmakers never retire, they just __: WIND DOWN. One of my favorites, along with 12D.
20A. Musicians never retire, they just __: DECOMPOSE. This one is a little bit of an outlier to my mind. I'd say that a musician and a composer are two different animals. That's just me being hyper-critical though.
39A. Beekeepers never retire, they just __: BUZZ OFF.
55A. Tree surgeons never retire, they just __: BRANCH OUT.
61A. Teachers never retire, they just __: MARK TIME. Some teachers are giving up marking homework, citing research that says it doesn't help the student improve in any way. Instead, they have interactive discussion with each student on the work that was submitted.
12D. Farmers never retire, they just __: GO TO SEED.
38D. Lumberjacks never retire, they just __: PINE AWAY.
A neat theme from Pawel, and in fact I'm surprised that it hasn't been done before. Both across and down theme entries, and both the downs interlock with one of the acrosses, that's neat. The rest of the construction and the fill are solid with just one (personal) grumble for my first blog of 2019.
Let's see what else we've got that catches the eye:
Across:
1. Save for later: LAY ASIDE.
9. Place to doodle: MARGIN. I tried napkin first.
15. Smooth talker: OPERATOR. Released in 1984, Sade's album coincided with the emerging CD music boom. It seemed like everyone I knew had a copy of it to be played at every dinner party.
16. 1969 World Series competitor: ORIOLE.
18. Elite area of the pop charts: TOP TEN.
19. Passionate about: INTO.
22. Beetle-shaped artifact: SCARAB.
25. Grad school grillings: ORALS.
26. FDA overseer: HHS. The US Department for Heath & Human Services. I didn't actually know what HHS stood for until today.
27. Urban network: ROADS.
30. First name in architecture: EERO. Very influential figure in architecture and industrial design. Here's the iconic TWA Terminal at JFK which opened in 1962:
33. Prime letters?: USDA. Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner are the seven grades of beef. Most of the Prime beef goes to restaurants and hotels.
34. Acclimate gradually: EASE IN.
36. One not seen on "MTV Unplugged": AMP. Not quite true, but you get the idea. Generally there are no electric instruments. You still need amps for the vocal and acoustic mics. There were some really great sessions in the series.
41. Anonymous surname: DOE.
42. Pal: PAISAN.
44. Polish language: EDIT. Very nice misdirection here - polish as in hone, rather than slavic.
45. Actress Collette of "United States of Tara": TONI. Thank you, crosses.
46. "Chasing Pavements" singer: ADELE. I think Adele might be winning the "singers in crosswords" count at this point.
47. Some mil. hospitals: VA'S.
50. Spew out: EGEST. Not ERUPT them. That set me off down the wrong track for a while.
53. White weasel: ERMINE. Ermine fur is (or was) used on a lot of ceremonial costume.
59. State categorically: AVER.
60. Ides of March word: BEWARE. "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"
64. Roughly three nautical miles: LEAGUE. So Jules Verne's Captain Nemo sailed 60,000 miles submerged in Nautilus. That's about three circumnavigations of the earth, quite a feat.
65. Often-fried tropical fruit: PLANTAIN. Food! I spent some time trying to think of another commonly-fried fruit and came up empty-handed (battered and deep-fried doesn't count).
66. Least candid: SLYEST.
67. It may be diagrammed: SENTENCE. Seems like a lot of work, I don't really see the point, to be honest.
Down:
1. On the paltry side, as an offer: LOWISH.
2. Between-finger-and-thumb quantity: A PINCH.
3. They mind your own business: YENTAS. Nice clue, this one made me laugh out loud.
4. Fervor: ARDOR.
5. Glum: SAD.
6. "What was __ do?": I TO.
7. Columnist Maureen: DOWD.
8. Marine eagle: ERNE.
9. Hustle: MOTOR.
10. Kitchen magnet?: AROMA.
11. Gentle waves: RIPPLES.
13. Dots in la mer: ÎLES. Your french lesson for the day. Paris sits in the middle of the Île-de-France region, an "island" within the larger landmass of the country itself.
14. Aloha State bird: NENE.
21. Prefix with play: COS. Cosplay, a portmanteau of costume+play. Some excellent examples of cosplay can be seen each year at Comic-con in San Diego.
23. Oranjestad's island: ARUBA. Stab in the dark, but I knew Aruba was part of the Dutch West Indies at some point, so it made sense.
24. Petty officer: BOSUN. Contraction of boatswain.
28. Woodworking tool: ADZ. You can "adds" an E if you like!
29. Out of it: DAZED.
31. __ Grande: RIO.
32. Only partner?: ONE. The one-and-only.
34. System used for many returns: E-FILE.
35. Word with dark or hours: AFTER.
36. Suitable: APT.
37. 1972 host to Nixon: MAO. Tricky Dickie's groundbreaking trip to China to meet the Chairman.
40. Horatian creation: ODE.
43. Billboards and posters: SIGNAGE.
46. From __ Z: A TO.
47. Vance of "I Love Lucy": VIVIAN. Ethel to Lucy.
48. Lackluster: ANEMIC.
49. Calm: SERENE.
51. Stocking shades: ECRUS.
52. It may be fitted: SHEET.
54. Finish choice: MATTE.
55. OPEC units: BBLS. How does a barrel of oil get abbreviated to BBL? Because the 42-gallon drums were originally blue, so a Blue Barrel, or a BBL.
56. Lively country dance: REEL.
57. Decides what's fair, among other things: UMPS. Baseball umpires. Fair or foul ball.
58. Tall __: TALE.
62. Got on the ballot: RAN.
63. Round Table VIP: KNT. I've grumbled about this abbreviation before, so I'll spare you my moans. I still don't like it though.
Back stateside after my sojourn in England. I got very lucky with the weather, I only needed the umbrella on two days out of 16, which must be some kind of record in December. Here's the beach at Shoreham-on-Sea looking towards Brighton on Christmas Morning:
And that does it for me. Here's the grid:
Steve
17A. Watchmakers never retire, they just __: WIND DOWN. One of my favorites, along with 12D.
20A. Musicians never retire, they just __: DECOMPOSE. This one is a little bit of an outlier to my mind. I'd say that a musician and a composer are two different animals. That's just me being hyper-critical though.
39A. Beekeepers never retire, they just __: BUZZ OFF.
55A. Tree surgeons never retire, they just __: BRANCH OUT.
61A. Teachers never retire, they just __: MARK TIME. Some teachers are giving up marking homework, citing research that says it doesn't help the student improve in any way. Instead, they have interactive discussion with each student on the work that was submitted.
12D. Farmers never retire, they just __: GO TO SEED.
38D. Lumberjacks never retire, they just __: PINE AWAY.
A neat theme from Pawel, and in fact I'm surprised that it hasn't been done before. Both across and down theme entries, and both the downs interlock with one of the acrosses, that's neat. The rest of the construction and the fill are solid with just one (personal) grumble for my first blog of 2019.
Let's see what else we've got that catches the eye:
Across:
1. Save for later: LAY ASIDE.
9. Place to doodle: MARGIN. I tried napkin first.
15. Smooth talker: OPERATOR. Released in 1984, Sade's album coincided with the emerging CD music boom. It seemed like everyone I knew had a copy of it to be played at every dinner party.
16. 1969 World Series competitor: ORIOLE.
18. Elite area of the pop charts: TOP TEN.
19. Passionate about: INTO.
22. Beetle-shaped artifact: SCARAB.
25. Grad school grillings: ORALS.
26. FDA overseer: HHS. The US Department for Heath & Human Services. I didn't actually know what HHS stood for until today.
27. Urban network: ROADS.
30. First name in architecture: EERO. Very influential figure in architecture and industrial design. Here's the iconic TWA Terminal at JFK which opened in 1962:
33. Prime letters?: USDA. Prime, Choice, Select, Standard, Commercial, Utility, Cutter and Canner are the seven grades of beef. Most of the Prime beef goes to restaurants and hotels.
34. Acclimate gradually: EASE IN.
36. One not seen on "MTV Unplugged": AMP. Not quite true, but you get the idea. Generally there are no electric instruments. You still need amps for the vocal and acoustic mics. There were some really great sessions in the series.
41. Anonymous surname: DOE.
42. Pal: PAISAN.
44. Polish language: EDIT. Very nice misdirection here - polish as in hone, rather than slavic.
45. Actress Collette of "United States of Tara": TONI. Thank you, crosses.
46. "Chasing Pavements" singer: ADELE. I think Adele might be winning the "singers in crosswords" count at this point.
47. Some mil. hospitals: VA'S.
50. Spew out: EGEST. Not ERUPT them. That set me off down the wrong track for a while.
53. White weasel: ERMINE. Ermine fur is (or was) used on a lot of ceremonial costume.
59. State categorically: AVER.
60. Ides of March word: BEWARE. "Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!"
64. Roughly three nautical miles: LEAGUE. So Jules Verne's Captain Nemo sailed 60,000 miles submerged in Nautilus. That's about three circumnavigations of the earth, quite a feat.
65. Often-fried tropical fruit: PLANTAIN. Food! I spent some time trying to think of another commonly-fried fruit and came up empty-handed (battered and deep-fried doesn't count).
66. Least candid: SLYEST.
67. It may be diagrammed: SENTENCE. Seems like a lot of work, I don't really see the point, to be honest.
Down:
1. On the paltry side, as an offer: LOWISH.
2. Between-finger-and-thumb quantity: A PINCH.
3. They mind your own business: YENTAS. Nice clue, this one made me laugh out loud.
4. Fervor: ARDOR.
5. Glum: SAD.
6. "What was __ do?": I TO.
7. Columnist Maureen: DOWD.
8. Marine eagle: ERNE.
9. Hustle: MOTOR.
10. Kitchen magnet?: AROMA.
11. Gentle waves: RIPPLES.
13. Dots in la mer: ÎLES. Your french lesson for the day. Paris sits in the middle of the Île-de-France region, an "island" within the larger landmass of the country itself.
14. Aloha State bird: NENE.
21. Prefix with play: COS. Cosplay, a portmanteau of costume+play. Some excellent examples of cosplay can be seen each year at Comic-con in San Diego.
23. Oranjestad's island: ARUBA. Stab in the dark, but I knew Aruba was part of the Dutch West Indies at some point, so it made sense.
24. Petty officer: BOSUN. Contraction of boatswain.
28. Woodworking tool: ADZ. You can "adds" an E if you like!
29. Out of it: DAZED.
31. __ Grande: RIO.
32. Only partner?: ONE. The one-and-only.
34. System used for many returns: E-FILE.
35. Word with dark or hours: AFTER.
36. Suitable: APT.
37. 1972 host to Nixon: MAO. Tricky Dickie's groundbreaking trip to China to meet the Chairman.
40. Horatian creation: ODE.
Be wise, and mix the wine, since time is short: limit that far-reaching hope.
The envious moment is flying now, now, while we’re speaking:
Seize the day, place in the hours that come as little faith as you can.
From "Carpe Diem"
43. Billboards and posters: SIGNAGE.
46. From __ Z: A TO.
47. Vance of "I Love Lucy": VIVIAN. Ethel to Lucy.
48. Lackluster: ANEMIC.
49. Calm: SERENE.
51. Stocking shades: ECRUS.
52. It may be fitted: SHEET.
54. Finish choice: MATTE.
55. OPEC units: BBLS. How does a barrel of oil get abbreviated to BBL? Because the 42-gallon drums were originally blue, so a Blue Barrel, or a BBL.
56. Lively country dance: REEL.
57. Decides what's fair, among other things: UMPS. Baseball umpires. Fair or foul ball.
58. Tall __: TALE.
62. Got on the ballot: RAN.
63. Round Table VIP: KNT. I've grumbled about this abbreviation before, so I'll spare you my moans. I still don't like it though.
Back stateside after my sojourn in England. I got very lucky with the weather, I only needed the umbrella on two days out of 16, which must be some kind of record in December. Here's the beach at Shoreham-on-Sea looking towards Brighton on Christmas Morning:
And that does it for me. Here's the grid:
Steve
