Theme: Drink Up - the four theme entries conceal a juice read from bottom to top - as Peter more succinctly puts it in the reveal:
25D. Supercharge, and a hint to what's literally hiding in the four longest Down answers: JUICE UP
3D. Grand Prix, for one: MOTOR RACE. Carrot. Interestingly, Formula One racing cars don't use superchargers, you'd think they would. They use electrically-assisted turbochargers. Here's the famous Monaco Grand Prix in 2018
5D. Edible elephant, say: ANIMAL CRACKER. Clam. I think the sheep is something of an outlier in the Animal Cracker "family".
19D. Skillet dish with ham and peppers: WESTERN OMELET. Lemon. And Food! Officially, it shouldn't have cheese in it, but who makes the rules?
36D. FAQ spots: HELP PAGES. Apple. FAQ is one of those words that used to be written as an abbreviation, now it's a thing of itself. Frequently Asked Questions was the origin.
Across:
1. '90s-'00s Olympic soccer notable: HAMM. The great Mia on the US Women's National Team.
5. Literary captain: AHAB. I bet Starbuck wished he'd thought of opening a coffee shop rather than risk life and limb on a whaling ship.
9. Leaks slowly: SEEPS
14. Burn soother: ALOE
15. Zippo: NADA. If the downtrend in smoking continues, Zippo will eventually sell zippo.
16. Computer text code: ASCII. The American Standard Code for Information Interchange, which is something of a mouthful.
17. They're not loyal: RATS
18. Unyielding: IRON WILLED
20. Golfing group: TWOSOME. There's a course near me that sends out fivesomes at the weekend. I hated playing there, it was grindingly slow.
22. Base for money: TEN. I was tempted by "tin" as the base for a coin. No, the decimal number system. When I was growing up in the UK, the currency system was crazy - one pound was made up of 20 shillings, and there were 12 pennies in a shilling. The smallest coin was a farthing, which was a quarter of a penny. Learning money mathematics was a slog. The UK converted to decimal in 1971, incredibly recently if you think about it.
23. Swallowed: ATE
24. "Harry Potter" reporter __ Skeeter: RITA. Compete guess, but this worked out for me.
25. Not much: JUST A TAD. Or a farthing!
27. Anthem contraction: O'ER
29. Blue, on the Danube: BLAU. Strauss' The Blue Danube used in the soundtrack of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ends a little abruptly here!
31. Noir hero: 'TEC
32. Lose oomph: FLAG
34. Movie SFX: CGI
35. Purim heroine: ESTHER
39. Centers of attention: FOCI
40. What unfixed malfunctions usually do: RECUR
42. Flight-related prefix: AERO-
43. "Burnt" color: SIENNA. Could be "umber", except for here. Not enough letters!
45. Coastal bird: ERN
46. Sound of an angry exit: SLAM
47. LSU conference: SEC
48. Chicago-style pizza chain, informally: UNO'S. Uno Pizzeria and Grill. Creator of the Chicago-style deep dish pizza in 1943, causing arguments with New Yorkers ever since.
50. Education org.: P.T.A.
51. Started, as a conversation: STRUCK UP. You can strike up a conversation or a band.
55. Car dealer's abbr.: M.S.R.P.
57. Acct. that may be rolled over: I..R.A.
58. Half a numbers game: KEN. KenKen. I just tried it for the first time. Fun!
59. Seattle pro: SEAHAWK. NFL player.
62. Going back, in a way: TIME TRAVEL
65. Arch type: OGEE
66. Often harmful bacteria: E.COLI
67. Basmati, for one: RICE. Food! I love basmati, I get it in 10lb sacks from the local Indian market, way cheaper than the supermarket brands. I cooked some just last night to go with tandoori-style chicken and garlic lentils.
68. "What, will these hands __ be clean?": Lady Macbeth: NE'ER. Lady M. bemoaning the fact she can't seem to get Duncan's blood off her hands.
69. Thick: DENSE
70. "Futurama" creator Groening: MATT
71. "Baseball Tonight" channel: ESPN. ESPN started so that some people on the East Coast could watch Hartford Whalers hockey games via satellite. Look how far it's come.
Down:
1. Roxie __, "Chicago" role: HART
2. "There oughta be __": A LAW
4. Soccer superstar Lionel: MESSI. Subject of furious debates among fans - who is better, Messi, Ronaldo or Neymar?
6. Fabled also-ran: HARE
7. Hubbub: ADO
8. Xhosa's language group: BANTU
9. French holy women: SAINTES
10. Bilingual subj.: E.S.L.
11. Grand display: ÉCLAT
12. Mary-in-mourning sculpture: PIETÀ. Here's Michelangelo's original in St. Peter's in Rome:
13. Agreed (with): SIDED
21. Wagering shorthand: OTB. Off-Track Betting. There's at least one bookies on every English high street.
26. Take the role of: ACT AS
27. Does in: OFFS
28. Morlock victims: ELOI. The two races in H.G.Wells' novel "The Time Machine". Ties in nicely with 62A.
30. Memorable time: AGE
33. Infomercial brand: GINSU. Knives you can cut soup cans with. Quite why you'd want to subject your knives to that treatment I have no idea.
37. Q.E.D. word: ERAT
38. Type of tomato: ROMA. I chop a couple of 'em into my garlic lentils.
41. Spigoted server: URN. Time for tea.
44. Suit go-with: NECKTIE. Less and less nowadays. I have quite a collection of ties but rarely seem to wear one any more.
49. Fed. benefits agency: S.S.A.
51. Located: SITED
52. Jiffy: TRICE
53. Hispanic penguin in "Happy Feet": RAMON. I only know this from crosswords, but it's ingrained now.
54. Render harmless: UNARM. I prefer "disarm", but I think we've had this conversation before.
56. Lake Geneva river: RHONE. Second European river today. The Rhone valley is a beautiful part of France, and home to some great wineries.
59. Religious offshoot: SECT
60. Bawl: WEEP
61. "Ol' Man River" composer: KERN. "There's an old man called the Mississippi ..."
63. Raised trains: ELS. I particularly associate the El with Chicago.
64. Through: VIA
Which brings us to ... the grid. See you all next time!
Steve
Notes from C.C.:
25D. Supercharge, and a hint to what's literally hiding in the four longest Down answers: JUICE UP
3D. Grand Prix, for one: MOTOR RACE. Carrot. Interestingly, Formula One racing cars don't use superchargers, you'd think they would. They use electrically-assisted turbochargers. Here's the famous Monaco Grand Prix in 2018
5D. Edible elephant, say: ANIMAL CRACKER. Clam. I think the sheep is something of an outlier in the Animal Cracker "family".
19D. Skillet dish with ham and peppers: WESTERN OMELET. Lemon. And Food! Officially, it shouldn't have cheese in it, but who makes the rules?
36D. FAQ spots: HELP PAGES. Apple. FAQ is one of those words that used to be written as an abbreviation, now it's a thing of itself. Frequently Asked Questions was the origin.
Across:
1. '90s-'00s Olympic soccer notable: HAMM. The great Mia on the US Women's National Team.
5. Literary captain: AHAB. I bet Starbuck wished he'd thought of opening a coffee shop rather than risk life and limb on a whaling ship.
9. Leaks slowly: SEEPS
14. Burn soother: ALOE
15. Zippo: NADA. If the downtrend in smoking continues, Zippo will eventually sell zippo.
16. Computer text code: ASCII. The American Standard Code for Information Interchange, which is something of a mouthful.
17. They're not loyal: RATS
18. Unyielding: IRON WILLED
20. Golfing group: TWOSOME. There's a course near me that sends out fivesomes at the weekend. I hated playing there, it was grindingly slow.
22. Base for money: TEN. I was tempted by "tin" as the base for a coin. No, the decimal number system. When I was growing up in the UK, the currency system was crazy - one pound was made up of 20 shillings, and there were 12 pennies in a shilling. The smallest coin was a farthing, which was a quarter of a penny. Learning money mathematics was a slog. The UK converted to decimal in 1971, incredibly recently if you think about it.
23. Swallowed: ATE
24. "Harry Potter" reporter __ Skeeter: RITA. Compete guess, but this worked out for me.
25. Not much: JUST A TAD. Or a farthing!
27. Anthem contraction: O'ER
29. Blue, on the Danube: BLAU. Strauss' The Blue Danube used in the soundtrack of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ends a little abruptly here!
31. Noir hero: 'TEC
32. Lose oomph: FLAG
34. Movie SFX: CGI
35. Purim heroine: ESTHER
39. Centers of attention: FOCI
40. What unfixed malfunctions usually do: RECUR
42. Flight-related prefix: AERO-
43. "Burnt" color: SIENNA. Could be "umber", except for here. Not enough letters!
45. Coastal bird: ERN
46. Sound of an angry exit: SLAM
47. LSU conference: SEC
48. Chicago-style pizza chain, informally: UNO'S. Uno Pizzeria and Grill. Creator of the Chicago-style deep dish pizza in 1943, causing arguments with New Yorkers ever since.
50. Education org.: P.T.A.
51. Started, as a conversation: STRUCK UP. You can strike up a conversation or a band.
55. Car dealer's abbr.: M.S.R.P.
57. Acct. that may be rolled over: I..R.A.
58. Half a numbers game: KEN. KenKen. I just tried it for the first time. Fun!
59. Seattle pro: SEAHAWK. NFL player.
62. Going back, in a way: TIME TRAVEL
65. Arch type: OGEE
66. Often harmful bacteria: E.COLI
67. Basmati, for one: RICE. Food! I love basmati, I get it in 10lb sacks from the local Indian market, way cheaper than the supermarket brands. I cooked some just last night to go with tandoori-style chicken and garlic lentils.
68. "What, will these hands __ be clean?": Lady Macbeth: NE'ER. Lady M. bemoaning the fact she can't seem to get Duncan's blood off her hands.
69. Thick: DENSE
70. "Futurama" creator Groening: MATT
71. "Baseball Tonight" channel: ESPN. ESPN started so that some people on the East Coast could watch Hartford Whalers hockey games via satellite. Look how far it's come.
Down:
1. Roxie __, "Chicago" role: HART
2. "There oughta be __": A LAW
4. Soccer superstar Lionel: MESSI. Subject of furious debates among fans - who is better, Messi, Ronaldo or Neymar?
6. Fabled also-ran: HARE
7. Hubbub: ADO
8. Xhosa's language group: BANTU
9. French holy women: SAINTES
10. Bilingual subj.: E.S.L.
11. Grand display: ÉCLAT
12. Mary-in-mourning sculpture: PIETÀ. Here's Michelangelo's original in St. Peter's in Rome:
13. Agreed (with): SIDED
21. Wagering shorthand: OTB. Off-Track Betting. There's at least one bookies on every English high street.
26. Take the role of: ACT AS
27. Does in: OFFS
28. Morlock victims: ELOI. The two races in H.G.Wells' novel "The Time Machine". Ties in nicely with 62A.
30. Memorable time: AGE
33. Infomercial brand: GINSU. Knives you can cut soup cans with. Quite why you'd want to subject your knives to that treatment I have no idea.
37. Q.E.D. word: ERAT
38. Type of tomato: ROMA. I chop a couple of 'em into my garlic lentils.
41. Spigoted server: URN. Time for tea.
44. Suit go-with: NECKTIE. Less and less nowadays. I have quite a collection of ties but rarely seem to wear one any more.
49. Fed. benefits agency: S.S.A.
51. Located: SITED
52. Jiffy: TRICE
53. Hispanic penguin in "Happy Feet": RAMON. I only know this from crosswords, but it's ingrained now.
54. Render harmless: UNARM. I prefer "disarm", but I think we've had this conversation before.
56. Lake Geneva river: RHONE. Second European river today. The Rhone valley is a beautiful part of France, and home to some great wineries.
59. Religious offshoot: SECT
60. Bawl: WEEP
61. "Ol' Man River" composer: KERN. "There's an old man called the Mississippi ..."
63. Raised trains: ELS. I particularly associate the El with Chicago.
64. Through: VIA
Which brings us to ... the grid. See you all next time!
Steve
Notes from C.C.:
1) Dave 2 is finally back to his assisted living place today. Hopefully he'll be on the blog soon.
2) Last night I got an email from Malcolm, longtime friend of Fermet Prime (Lorraine Foster). He told me Lorraine "fell
in the night a couple of hours ago in her bathroom, it took her 3 hours
before she was able to reach her phone and get the paramedics to come. She’s in a local hospital and is going to have an operation for her
broken hip this evening at 9:30 (I’m writing
his at 5:10 PM on Wednesday February 20, 2019)."
Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. I've asked Malcolm for an address to send Lorraine cards. Will let you know.
