Theme: North/South Divide - The theme entries separate the poles, as the reveal succinctly explains:
58A. In complete opposition ... and a feature of the four other longest answers: POLES APART. Or a Warsaw couple when one of them is away on a trip?
And the themers:
17A. *Finds flaws (in): PICKS HOLES, usually as relates to someone's argument. Polemicists are adept at this.
21A. *Casino fixtures where blinds might be used: POKER TABLES. This one might need some explanation. In some poker games, famously Texas Hold 'Em, after a new hand is dealt there are two "forced" bets to get the action started, the "small blind" and the "big blind". Two players must bet, irrespective of what their cards look like. The blinds rotate around the table as each hand is dealt. The amounts of the blinds are posted at each table so you know what you're getting into before you sit down, e.g. "$5/$10".
36A. *They make nuts healthy: POLYUNSATURATES. The "good" fats found in nuts, fish and other foodstuffs.
50A. *Skilled debaters: POLEMICISTS. Word of the week for me. Excellent.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable solve. It took me just over half an hour which is quite a bit longer than I'm used to on a Thursday. I didn't see the theme until the reveal, and that let me go back to 17A and fill in a lot of gaps in the Northwest. And some great words - polyunsaturates, polemicists, some long entries in the downs and I don't recall any clunk in the fill.
Great job from Roland. Let's take the Grand Tour.
Across:
1. Award named for a goddess: CLIO. Advertising awards. The muse was "the proclaimer, glorifier and celebrator of history, great deeds and accomplishments".
5. Put down: ABASE
10. First choice: FAVE
14. "You're __ luck": OUTA. I looked askance at this one, I'd always seen "outta" before. I acquiesced in the end.
15. __ shorts: BOXER
16. Truth stretcher: LIAR
19. "Star Wars" sentence inverter: YODA
20. Baseball bat wood: ASH. I thought it was ELM at first, but it's too heavy for modern-day bats.
23. Sign-off word: YOURS
25. River through Tours: LOIRE. Beautiful part of the world, the Loire valley.
26. Shot water?: RAPIDS
28. Rash: HASTY
31. Citation ender, briefly: ET AL. Texts with multiple authors in citations are shortened by citing the first author's name, followed by "et al".
32. Usually multilayered dessert: TORTE
33. Place to unwind: SPA
40. __ card: common phone component: SIM. A Subscriber Identity Module, if you ever wondered.
41. Closes in on: NEARS
42. Half of sechs: DREI. German, natürlich.
43. Alaskan cruise sight: FJORD
44. Iris ring: AREOLA
46. Milan's La __: SCALA
49. The Huskies of the NCAA's Big East: UCONN. The women have won 11 basketball and 5 field hockey national titles.
54. Tank contents: GAS
57. Tip: APEX
60. Wild, all-night party: RAVE
61. Tiny swimmer: AMEBA. I still can't get used to not spelling this AMOEBA.
62. Marine threat: ORCA
63. Kept in one's sights: EYED
64. Fixes: SPAYS
65. Urban bane: SMOG. Much, much better here in LA than it was when I first moved here. The worst smog I've ever experienced was last year in Delhi, when the AQI was 440 (out of possible 500); anything over 300 is categorized as "hazardous". I came down with bronchitis and tore a rib cartilage one night I was coughing so hard.
Down:
1. Historic NYC club, with "The": COPA. Crosses filled this in for me, it didn't spring to mind.
2. '60s-'70s All-Star pitcher Tiant: LUIS. Thank you, crosses. Way before my USA time.
3. Sensory omen regarding money: ITCHY PALM. Lovely clue and fill.
4. Wine barrel wood: OAK
5. Can't stand: ABHORS
6. Financial records: BOOKS
7. Roadster rod: AXLE
8. Oracle: SEER
9. Formerly, formerly: ERST. From whence "erstwhile".
10. Airman, slangily: FLYBOY
11. Pungent mayo: AIOLI. Pungent? Odd choice of adjective. Is the aroma of garlic pungent?
12. "Star Wars" heavy breather: VADER. Darth. I like how this crossed YODA. It was world Star Wars Day last Saturday "May the Fourth be with you". Makes me laugh every year.
13. Wipe out: ERASE
18. Source of fries: SPUD. Peeled, chipped and double-fried. Yum! Not OILY at all.
22. Let out, e.g.: ALTER
24. Like some fried food: OILY. Yech. No excuse for this. Usually caused by not having the oil hot enough before you start cooking, and not keeping it up to temp.
26. Gym iterations: REPS
27. French possessive: À TOI. "Yours".
28. Squirrel away: HOARD
29. Fine __: ARTS
30. "The Simpsons" disco guy: STU
32. Old Russian ruler: TSAR. Always need to wait for a T or S to decide between this and CZAR
33. Coerce: STRONG-ARM. Nice fill. A lot of quality in the fill today.
34. Thurman's role in "The Avengers" (1998): PEEL. Diana Rigg played Emma Peel in the original British TV series back in the '60s.
35. Home to K2: ASIA. The world's second tallest mountain, and most demanding and second-most dangerous to climb behind Annapurna.
37. Clear, as a copier: UNJAM. My printer has an annoying habit of reporting a paper jam when there isn't one. I still have to go through the rigmarole of "clearing" the non-jam before it'll start working again.
38. Prefix with natal: NEO-
39. Yemeni port: ADEN
43. Showed off a muscle: FLEXED
44. Fills in for: ACTS AS
45. Soprano Ponselle who debuted at the Met opposite Caruso: ROSA. Thank you, crosses.
46. Slash on a score sheet: SPARE. Bowling. Easy for the bowlers among us, less easy for me.
47. Insured patient's obligation: CO-PAY
48. Advil alternative: ALEVE
49. "Best before" cousin: USE BY
51. Hoppy brews: IPA'S
52. Freebie: COMP
53. Intestinal sections: ILEA
55. Violin music instruction: ARCO. Use the bow, as opposed to pizzicato, pluck the strings.
56. Unaccompanied: STAG. Took me a while to see this. I wanted SOLO first.
59. Bldgs. with many boxes: P.O.'S. I was trying to fit apt, condo, some other multi-dwelling building, then the Post Office penny dropped.
OK, I've run out of runway so time to post the grid and take off.
Steve
58A. In complete opposition ... and a feature of the four other longest answers: POLES APART. Or a Warsaw couple when one of them is away on a trip?
And the themers:
17A. *Finds flaws (in): PICKS HOLES, usually as relates to someone's argument. Polemicists are adept at this.
21A. *Casino fixtures where blinds might be used: POKER TABLES. This one might need some explanation. In some poker games, famously Texas Hold 'Em, after a new hand is dealt there are two "forced" bets to get the action started, the "small blind" and the "big blind". Two players must bet, irrespective of what their cards look like. The blinds rotate around the table as each hand is dealt. The amounts of the blinds are posted at each table so you know what you're getting into before you sit down, e.g. "$5/$10".
36A. *They make nuts healthy: POLYUNSATURATES. The "good" fats found in nuts, fish and other foodstuffs.
50A. *Skilled debaters: POLEMICISTS. Word of the week for me. Excellent.
This was a thoroughly enjoyable solve. It took me just over half an hour which is quite a bit longer than I'm used to on a Thursday. I didn't see the theme until the reveal, and that let me go back to 17A and fill in a lot of gaps in the Northwest. And some great words - polyunsaturates, polemicists, some long entries in the downs and I don't recall any clunk in the fill.
Great job from Roland. Let's take the Grand Tour.
Across:
1. Award named for a goddess: CLIO. Advertising awards. The muse was "the proclaimer, glorifier and celebrator of history, great deeds and accomplishments".
5. Put down: ABASE
10. First choice: FAVE
14. "You're __ luck": OUTA. I looked askance at this one, I'd always seen "outta" before. I acquiesced in the end.
15. __ shorts: BOXER
16. Truth stretcher: LIAR
19. "Star Wars" sentence inverter: YODA
20. Baseball bat wood: ASH. I thought it was ELM at first, but it's too heavy for modern-day bats.
23. Sign-off word: YOURS
25. River through Tours: LOIRE. Beautiful part of the world, the Loire valley.
26. Shot water?: RAPIDS
28. Rash: HASTY
31. Citation ender, briefly: ET AL. Texts with multiple authors in citations are shortened by citing the first author's name, followed by "et al".
32. Usually multilayered dessert: TORTE
33. Place to unwind: SPA
40. __ card: common phone component: SIM. A Subscriber Identity Module, if you ever wondered.
41. Closes in on: NEARS
42. Half of sechs: DREI. German, natürlich.
43. Alaskan cruise sight: FJORD
44. Iris ring: AREOLA
46. Milan's La __: SCALA
49. The Huskies of the NCAA's Big East: UCONN. The women have won 11 basketball and 5 field hockey national titles.
54. Tank contents: GAS
57. Tip: APEX
60. Wild, all-night party: RAVE
61. Tiny swimmer: AMEBA. I still can't get used to not spelling this AMOEBA.
62. Marine threat: ORCA
63. Kept in one's sights: EYED
64. Fixes: SPAYS
65. Urban bane: SMOG. Much, much better here in LA than it was when I first moved here. The worst smog I've ever experienced was last year in Delhi, when the AQI was 440 (out of possible 500); anything over 300 is categorized as "hazardous". I came down with bronchitis and tore a rib cartilage one night I was coughing so hard.
Down:
1. Historic NYC club, with "The": COPA. Crosses filled this in for me, it didn't spring to mind.
2. '60s-'70s All-Star pitcher Tiant: LUIS. Thank you, crosses. Way before my USA time.
3. Sensory omen regarding money: ITCHY PALM. Lovely clue and fill.
4. Wine barrel wood: OAK
5. Can't stand: ABHORS
6. Financial records: BOOKS
7. Roadster rod: AXLE
8. Oracle: SEER
9. Formerly, formerly: ERST. From whence "erstwhile".
10. Airman, slangily: FLYBOY
11. Pungent mayo: AIOLI. Pungent? Odd choice of adjective. Is the aroma of garlic pungent?
12. "Star Wars" heavy breather: VADER. Darth. I like how this crossed YODA. It was world Star Wars Day last Saturday "May the Fourth be with you". Makes me laugh every year.
13. Wipe out: ERASE
18. Source of fries: SPUD. Peeled, chipped and double-fried. Yum! Not OILY at all.
22. Let out, e.g.: ALTER
24. Like some fried food: OILY. Yech. No excuse for this. Usually caused by not having the oil hot enough before you start cooking, and not keeping it up to temp.
26. Gym iterations: REPS
27. French possessive: À TOI. "Yours".
28. Squirrel away: HOARD
29. Fine __: ARTS
30. "The Simpsons" disco guy: STU
32. Old Russian ruler: TSAR. Always need to wait for a T or S to decide between this and CZAR
33. Coerce: STRONG-ARM. Nice fill. A lot of quality in the fill today.
34. Thurman's role in "The Avengers" (1998): PEEL. Diana Rigg played Emma Peel in the original British TV series back in the '60s.
35. Home to K2: ASIA. The world's second tallest mountain, and most demanding and second-most dangerous to climb behind Annapurna.
37. Clear, as a copier: UNJAM. My printer has an annoying habit of reporting a paper jam when there isn't one. I still have to go through the rigmarole of "clearing" the non-jam before it'll start working again.
38. Prefix with natal: NEO-
39. Yemeni port: ADEN
43. Showed off a muscle: FLEXED
44. Fills in for: ACTS AS
45. Soprano Ponselle who debuted at the Met opposite Caruso: ROSA. Thank you, crosses.
46. Slash on a score sheet: SPARE. Bowling. Easy for the bowlers among us, less easy for me.
47. Insured patient's obligation: CO-PAY
48. Advil alternative: ALEVE
49. "Best before" cousin: USE BY
51. Hoppy brews: IPA'S
52. Freebie: COMP
53. Intestinal sections: ILEA
55. Violin music instruction: ARCO. Use the bow, as opposed to pizzicato, pluck the strings.
56. Unaccompanied: STAG. Took me a while to see this. I wanted SOLO first.
59. Bldgs. with many boxes: P.O.'S. I was trying to fit apt, condo, some other multi-dwelling building, then the Post Office penny dropped.
OK, I've run out of runway so time to post the grid and take off.
Steve
