The recent floods prevented me from getting a newspaper for four days and forced me to do the crosswords online instead of using my trusty #2 Ticonderoga. I did not enjoy the experience.
Fun fact: John Steinbeck was an obsessive pencil user and used more than 300 to write East Of Eden. You're welcome!
Pawel and I had a nice email exchange when I blogged his Feb. 3, 2018 puzzle and also for this one. He said he wrote the cluing for this puzzle over a year ago and so we had some interesting exchanges about the cluing process as he tried to recall what his thought process was. I told him that he looks like he could be a James Bond super villain and he thought that was pretty funny!
I told him I would love to have a glass of wine with him someday but he says he more or a single malt scotch man and has OBAN (a single malt scotch brand) in a submission. Suffice it to say he is a very interesting guy.
Pawel's license plate tells you both where he lives and what one of his passions is.
Pawel even managed to work his new home state into the first down clue 1. Alamogordo experiment: A-TEST- The first A-TEST detonation for The Manhattan Project occurred 1 hr and 35 min NNW of Alamogordo, NM
Cue the Goldfinger music as we see what Pawel has for us today.
1. SALT topic: ABM - SDS didn't cut it
4. Surface collection: DUST - My dad and his siblings talked a lot about the DUST of their childhoods
8. Territory affected by the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie: DAKOTA - The Sioux got rights to their sacred land - The Black Hills. And then gold was discovered there and George Armstrong Custer, et al soon followed
14. Impulsively attack: TEAR INTO.
16. Panacea: ELIXIR - Good for what ails ya!
17. Makes a pig of oneself: ENGORGES.
18. Coquettes: MINXES - Synonyms for flirts 22. Esteem: REPUTE - Some coquettes can be of ill REPUTE and some can be 44. Smokin': HOT.
19. Showroom surprise: STICKER SHOCK.
21. Every other second?: TOCK - My favorite, Pawel. I proudly sussed TICK but then I had the wrong vowel for 2. Japanese box lunch: BENTO.
23. Keystone figure: KOP.
26. King or queen: BED
28. "Return of the Jedi" dancer: OOLA - A picture of the character autographed by Femi Taylor who portrayed her
29. Article beginning, in newspaper jargon: LEDE - LEAD/LEDE
30. Like some colors: MUTED.
32. Dish-washing liquid: TAP WATER - TAP WATER safety was a real concern during recent Nebraska flooding but it remained fine in my town
34. Lively ballroom dances: BOLEROS - I've never danced with someone who could touch the ceiling with her foot
36. City named for a Suquamish chief: SEATTLE - Below is the grave site of Chief Noah Sealth. Seattle founders mispronounced the chief's name to arrive at Seattle. Sealth was converted to Christianity by French missionaries
37. Interminably: AT LENGTH - Fidel Castro could talk for muchas horas
39. Expand: SWELL.
40. Young follower?: STER - Voila! An description becomes a person
41. College bookstore, perhaps: COOP - This one probably has a lot of books that I would not understand
43. Sylvie's soul: AME - Sylvie a une belle ÂME (Sylvie has a beautiful soul)
45. Surveyor's equipment: TRIPOD - Today that TRIPOD is likely to support a surveying laser
47. U.K. honors: OBES - Here Stella McCartney, Paul and Linda's daughter, receives the Order of the British Empire50. Fix things?: STACK THE DECK - Nepotism can "STACK THE DECK" against you for getting a job
52. Not the usual merchandise amount: ODD LOT - One sleeve is 2" shorter?
55. French actress Adjani with a record five César Awards: ISABELLE - Her Internet Media Data Base page
56. Words of despair: NO HOPE - An ominous doormat "Abandon HOPE all ye who enter here"
57. Smear protection?: LIBEL LAW - Can you sue for LIBEL if it's true?
58. Excessively focus (on): OBSESS - Emerson's take on this
59. Ruhr refusal: NEIN.
60. D and C in D.C.: STS - Here they are just north of the Capitol. Very clever Pawel!
Down:
3. Panacea: MAGIC BULLET - A famous/infamous one
4. __ Nowitzki, 21-season NBAer: DIRK - A great German-born seven footer
5. Neat freak of film and TV: UNGER - Tony Randall was my favorite Odd Couple Felix
6. Sound purchase: STEREO
7. Pink elephant sighter: TOSS POT - A Britsh insult - Beer or ale was customarily served in ceramic pots, so a tosspot was a person who copiously 'tossed back' such pots of beer.
8. Rock samples?: DEMO TAPES - What musicians submit in hopes of getting recorded or published
9. "You're nothing but a pack of cards!" speaker: ALICE.
10. Flaw: KINK - We've all used this as a verb to get a drink from a hose
11. Losing game line: OXX - Top line here
12. Nil-nil, e.g.: TIE - Zero to zero on this side of the ocean
13. Razor edges?: ARS - Yes, R's start and end the word RAZOR
15. Gagarin or Glenn: ROCKETEER - I'm calling a foul, Pawel! Astronaut also has 9 letters. 😏
20. Island dances: HULAS
23. Exercise equipment sometimes swung: KETTLE BELLS
24. New York Giants' star __ Beckham Jr.: O'DELL - Just this month, this flashy receiver became a Cleveland Brown
25. Famille member: PERE - Mon PÉRE, était pompier volontaire (My Dad was a volunteer firefighter)
27. "Nebraska" Oscar nominee: DERN - A wistful look at aging and small town life - Trailer
29. Part of a getaway car description, maybe: LATE MODEL - Thieves can't drive old clunkers?
30. Words often framed: MOTTO.
31. Pet shop buys: DOG CRATES - They were temporary homes during our recent floods
33. Toddler's drink: WAWA - I better remember Gildna Radner's Bawbwa WAWA
34. Disparage: BASH - Ah, next year is an election year so let the BASHING begin
35. Unflappable: STOIC.
38. Brewer's drier: HOP KILN - Along with our cwd friend OAST
42. Friend of Richie, Ralph and the Fonz: POTSIE - Warren "POTSIE" Weber (Anson Williams)
45. 'Vette options: T-TOPS - '68 was the first
46. Abu __: DHABI - Ferrari Abu DHABI is a motor themed amusement park and the world's largest space frame structure
53. Passport nos.: DOB - Speaking of John and Yoko, John had his middle name changed from Winston to ONO. His passport shows both middle names along with his Date Of Birth
51. __ Upton, co-founder of the U.K.'s Raspberry Pi Foundation: EBEN - Here ya go!
54. They don't play the field: Abbr.: DHS - The American League still uses the Designated Hitter and The National League does not.
All right class, pencils down! It's time to electronically comment on this puzzle from the Dr. Fludzinski in the highest (7,000') state capital in America
Psst! When I can't find my #2 Ticonderoga, I use these because they have a great eraser and cost less than a dollar each!
